C19 A MOMENT WITH NEBULA

Nebula took a heavy blaster and emptied the clip into the target dummies, destroying them into tiny pieces. The loud noise and smoke coming from the blaster filled the shooting range. She then turned around, "I'm trained to adapt to any weapon available and use it effectively under any circumstances."

"Really? Then prove it," I challenged her.

Nebula holstered the blasters and smirked, "Challenging me? Fine! Pick whatever you want," She tilted her head slightly and stared straight into my eyes with a confident look, challenging me back.

I looked around searching for suitable weapons to choose from. There were several racks filled with pistols and submachine guns of various models and blasters of different sizes hanging on the walls. After analyzing them for a minute, I picked up two custom-made blasters with extended barrels from one of the racks and handed one to her.

"How about a bet?" I asked with a confident smirk of my own.

"Bet? Sure. I like betting. But what do I gain if I win?" Nebula accepted the challenge, accepting the blaster.

"My undying respect," I chuckled.

Nebula narrowed her eyes, looking at me, "Undying respect? Fine. What about if you win?" She said with her usual serious tone, but I could feel a hint of excitement hidden beneath it.

I shrugged my shoulders, "Nothing. Except bragging rights, I guess."

"How's that a bet? Shouldn't bets involve rewards?" Nebula tilted her head and asked, confused about the wager.

"Nah! I don't think you can afford to pay me if you lose," I shrugged again with a smug look on my face. Considering how prideful she is, I'm 100% sure that she will take the bait and fall right into my trap.

"What? Are you looking down on me? Tell me what you want if you win," She frowned angrily and challenged back.

I rubbed my chin for a few seconds pretending to think hard about it. Then the System quest screen popped up.

[Ping!]

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Quest: A challenge- Defeat Nebula in the range

If you win: Ask for a kiss

If you lose: Be a man and own up to it

Final reward: Increase focus by 10%

****

"Hmmm... How about if I win you kiss me?" I proposed with a playful grin.

Nebula froze for a moment, unable to process what she heard, "Huh!? Kiss you!? Why do you want me to kiss you? You should ask your girlfriend to kiss you, not me."

I crossed my arms and snickered at her response, "So, you're chickening out?" I purposely taunted her to make her accept the bet.

Nebula looked kinda baffled, even though she was maintaining her usual stoic expression.

"Fine, I don't have a girlfriend, and a kiss from such a blue beauty like you will surely make my day, so, deal?" I continued taunting her to make her agree to the bet.

"Blue beauty? Me?" Nebula raised her brow, clearly surprised, hearing my words.

I gave her a nod with a sly grin plastered across my face.

Nebula remained silent for a few seconds, "No one ever called me beautiful before. Everyone thinks Gamora is more beautiful than me..." She muttered under her breath, sounding rather depressed. "She even has fan clubs with millions of followers all over Xandar and other planets. They even use her face and model to promote their products. I never got any fan following or anything like that... Are you sure you aren't joking with me?" She said sadly.

Ah! Did I scratch a nerve here? Is Gamora some kind of a celebrity in the galaxy? Well, considering how hot she looks, it's not really surprising if there are indeed fan clubs dedicated to her. I mean, she almost resembles those high-fantasy elf princesses we have in fiction back on Earth, except for her green skin color. Well, who cares! Even if Gamora is as beautiful as those elves, Nebula is also very attractive, albeit in a more unique way compared to Gamora. So, I'm pretty much telling the truth when I called her a 'blue beauty'.

Besides, Nebula has her own unique charms, like how she always speaks her mind and always tries to maintain a serious expression most of the time, hiding her real face under that fake mask. Or how she doesn't hesitate to fight anyone even if they are stronger than her just because they offended her. Or how sometimes she's clueless about certain things despite being a deadly assassin. Nebula reminds me of these tsundere characters we often see in anime shows back home, especially with how she acts cold towards others, but deep inside she cares for people she considers important to her.

"Duh! What's there not to like about you? You have a beautiful face and an amazing body figure too. Besides, I love blue beauties!" I replied with a shrug. Nebula's eyes widened upon hearing my words, making me wonder whether she ever dated someone before or not.

"Is that so? Fine! Deal!" Nebula accepted my challenge after a few seconds of hesitation.

Perfect! Hook, line, and sinker. Now, I just need to defeat her to get myself another kiss from a hot alien babe. Although, defeating Nebula won't be that easy. She's a pro veteran, after all, trained by Thanos himself to be the best assassin in the galaxy. However, I still believe that I can win against her due to my new skill, <Keen Eyes> which increases my focus to the max. And, not to mention my ability to absorb information and fuse it with my body. I can do it.

"So, how many rounds?" Nebula questioned, holding her blaster firmly while staring at me with a determined look in her eyes.

"Best of three. The one to score the most points after the third round wins. Agree?" I answered.

"Agreed!" Nebula nodded without any hesitation.

"Well, you first," I gestured Nebula to shoot first since I'm a gentleman who lets ladies go first.

"Alright," Nebula positioned herself and fired ten shots consecutively in less than five seconds, hitting the target dummies right at their heads. "Your turn," She turned around and signaled me to start shooting.

I looked at the scoreboard, a perfect 100 points. Each headshot equals 10 points. Damn! This girl is good. Okay, let's do this! I positioned myself similarly to Nebula and held the blaster firmly. Then activated <Keen Eyes> focusing everything I had on the target dummies located approx. 50-70 meters away from me. Everything became clear as if time itself stopped moving. I pulled the trigger ten times in quick succession, hitting every single dummy right in the head each time.

"Not bad. Looks like I'll have to try harder then," Nebula commented with a slight smile, seeing my perfect scores on the scoreboard.

Ah! She can smile?! I mean, I've never seen her smile, ever...

Nebula took the stand again and fired ten consecutive shots once more. This time she missed one headshot by just a centimeter, scoring 95 points instead of a perfect 100 points. But, on my second turn, I got yet another perfect score. I wonder if she missed it intentionally or just misfired. I mean, she got her cybernetic enhancements, so there is no way she'd miss such an easy target.

"Seems like luck isn't on my side today," Nebula shrugged and commented.

The final round...

Nebula scored another perfect and I missed a headshot. Our scores tied with each of us scoring a total of 295 points each.

"You are really good. To think you can keep up with me using only your natural abilities... Impressive," Nebula complimented me after the last round ended.

I scratched my cheek awkwardly, "Well, what can I say? I've trained really hard to reach this level." Half truth, half lie.

Nebula nodded, "Let's decide the winner through a tiebreaker. One moving target, double headshot wins." She suggested with a determined look in her eyes.

A moving target? Sounds fun! Let's do this!

I nodded in agreement. Nebula pressed something on the control panel, activating a drone-controlled robot. The robot moved randomly between multiple barriers, making it harder to hit. Nebula went first again and managed to land two headshots perfectly. Now it's my turn! I focused <Keen Eyes> once more, increasing my concentration to the max, and aimed at the robot. Then pulled the trigger twice, hitting the robot's head both times.

We tied once again...

Over the next few hours, we continued to shoot, forgetting about the time. We even switched to throwing daggers instead of blasters, yet, we tied.

"Are you doing this purposefully?" Nebula questioned me suspiciously after I scored another tie.

I shook my head, "Of course not! Do you really think I would throw the match and miss a kiss from you?"

Nebula blushed upon hearing my words and lowered her head, muttering something under her breath.

After practicing for hours, we finally decided to call it quits. Since neither of us lost nor won, I didn't get my kiss, or so I thought. As I was about to place the remaining daggers on the rack, Nebula grabbed my shoulders, turned me toward her, and pressed her lips against mine.

Ah! Wait! Nebula kissed me? Wow! She's actually kissing me? This is so unexpected. Her lips felt soft and tasted sweet like candy. I grabbed her waist and pulled her closer, kissing her deeply. Nebula wrapped her hands around my neck and returned my passion with equal intensity. After a few minutes, we broke our kiss panting heavily. I was flustered and my cheeks were probably red like tomatoes. Well, she's kinda more bluish around her cheeks.

Nebula cleared her throat and averted her gaze, "Last round. Blind throw. Winner gets another kiss. Deal?" She proposed.

Another kiss? Hell yeah! I ain't gonna pass this chance.

I grinned, "Deal!"

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