OK, here's another update. Enjoy it!
The five of us followed the pink woman as she lead us along a corridor that seemed to go on forever. None of us said anything to one another as we walked closer and closer towards getting paid. Gamora was at the head of the pack, closely followed by Quill, who looked as though he wanted to say something to her, but knew she would just ignore him. Then there was Rocket, slouching along behind them with a surly expression on his face. He wouldn't even look at me. Groot and I brought up the rear, the two of us falling into step with one another. He was being unusually quiet, but then again, so was everyone else. Even the pink woman didn't speak much.
I found that my eyes kept darting to Rocket's figure in front of me. I glared at him as I shoved my hands into my jacket pockets.
"Stupid jerk," I thought bitterly to myself. "He rams his tongue down my throat, then doesn't even freaking look at me afterwards. Bastard ... " But even as I continued glaring, I felt my hurt and anger ebb away. No matter what he does, I always find it impossible to stay mad at Rocket for long.
Eventually, the pink woman lead us to a huge room filled with glass display cases. Inside the cases were a number of strange artifacts that I'd never seen before.
"OK," said Rocket. "This isn't creepy at all."
One case that caught my eye especially was one that contained a weird furry creature wearing some weird white suit with a glass bowl on its head. I walked closer to the case, cocking my head in confusion as I stared at the creature.
"What the Hell is that thing?" I asked to nobody in particular.
"It's Hella ugly, is what it is," said Rocket suddenly from beside me. I jumped slightly in surprise, as I hadn't noticed he was there. He glared at the creature, his hackles raised. The creature raised its own hackles and growled at him. Rocket growled back.
"I think it's cute," I shrugged, turning away from the case to look around some more. Rocket glared at the creature some more before joining me.
"We house the galaxy's largest collection of fauna, relics and species of all manner," the pink woman told us, leading us further into the room. Standing beside a long table in the middle of the room was a tall man with whitish hair and a weird furry coat who had his back to us. "I present to you, Taneleer Tivan: The Collector." the woman introduced.
The man slowly turned around and surveyed us through a very weird pair of glasses that stuck out from his face. I could tell that these probably weren't meant to improve his eyesight.
He slowly stepped towards Gamora. "My dear Gamora," he said, bringing her hand to his lips, "How wonderful to meet you in the flesh."
"Let's bypass the formalities, Tivan," said Gamora coldly. "We have what we discussed."
However, Tivan's eyes had strayed over Gamora's shoulder towards ... me?
"Is that ... " he said slowly. "A Ralaarian?" He moved away from Gamora and walked towards me, studying me closely. "I thought you were extinct ... " he murmured. "I must ask; may I perhaps add your corpse to my collection? After your passing, of course." He moved his hand to rest on my cheek.
OK ... This isn't creepy at all.
I stepped back smartly away from him. "Thank you, Mr Tivan," I said through a forced smile, "But I'm afraid I'll have to decline."
"Are you quite certain?" Tivan pressed. "Because I would pay a handsome price ... "
WHAT GOOD IS MONEY TO A DEAD PERSON?!
Before I could punch Tivan's creepy head off, Rocket stepped in front of me and pushed me back.
"Hey, she said no, all right?!" he snapped. "Leave her alone." I felt a sudden rush of affection for him.
Tivan glanced condescendingly down at Rocket, then back at me. "That your pet?"
"WHAT?!" demanded Rocket, reaching for his gun. I quickly clamped my hand down on his shoulder and shot Tivan a death glare.
"No." I told him. "He's my friend, actually." I said the last part through gritted teeth, narrowing my eyes at Tivan until he stepped away.
"Tivan," said Gamora. "We have been halfway across the galaxy, retrieving this Orb."
"Very well then," said Tivan, "Let us see what you brought."
Quill then took the Orb out of his jacket and held it out to Tivan. I could tell he was trying to look cool while doing it - however, the effect was kind of ruined as he dropped the Orb. I snickered as he caught it and handed it to Tivan.
"Shut up," he muttered at me, blushing slightly.
Tivan set the Orb in a strange contraption that slowly twisted the halves open.
"Oh, my new friends," he said to us as strange holograms appeared above us. "Before creation itself, there were six singularities. Then the universe exploded into existence, and the remnants of these systems were forged into concentrated ingots." The holograms above us displayed this happening, and at the end, there were six gemstones glowing different colours. "Infinity Stones."
The Orb continued to twist itself open. The small gemstone inside, which must have been one of these stones Tivan was telling us about, was revealed.
"These Stones, it seems, can only be brandished by beings of extraordinary strength," Tivan continued. I noticed Groot messing around with a hologram, and Rocket looking both bored and skeptical. I wasn't too sure what to make of the situation. "Observe." Tivan pointed to a hologram just behind us that we all looked at. It displayed some gigantic bronze monster thingy holding a staff that must have contained the Stone. He touched the staff to the ground, and all the people running from him - and even the planet itself - were instantly vaporised. A shiver ran down my spine and out of habit, I found myself clutching Rocket's wrist. He glanced up at me concernedly.
"These carriers can use the Stone to mow down entire civilizations like wheat in a field." said Tivan.
"There's a little pee coming out of me right now," whispered Quill. I would have laughed, had I not been so scared.
And to think I almost picked that thing up ...
"Once, for a moment, a group was able to share the energy amongst themselves, but even they were quickly destroyed by it." continued Tivan, as an image of a group of people being disintegrated by the Stone appeared. I let out a little whimpering noise that sounded similar to Rocket whenever someone stepped on his tail.
The Orb then opened up completely, revealing the Stone. Immediately, I felt the almost overwhelming urge to reach out and grab it.
So much power ...
Shaking my head quickly, I looked up and saw Tivan's assistant staring at the Stone. She looked confused, yet determined. Shrugging, I glanced away from her at Tivan.
"Beautiful," said Tivan, shaking his arms in delight and gesturing towards the Stone. "Beyond compare ... "
"Blah, blah, blah!" interrupted Rocket. "We're all very ..." He imitated Tivan, "Fascinated, Whitey, but we'd like to get paid!"
The holograms died away. "How would you like to get paid?"
"What do you think, Fancy Pants?!" snapped Rocket. "Units!"
"Very well," said Tivan, sliding open a drawer. I then noticed that Tivan's assistant was stepping closer and closer towards the Stone, staring at it with a sense of fascination.
"Carina," said Tivan sternly upon noticing this. "Stand back!"
Carina looked at him with hatred. "I will no longer be your slave!" she screamed.
"NO!" yelled Tivan. But it was too late - Carina had already grabbed the Stone.
The result was immediate - sparks began to fly from the Stone, knocking all of us backwards. I sat up from where I had fallen, only to see Carina being slowly disintegrated by the Stone's energy. Purple cracks began to form on her skin and slowly spread upwards. Chunks crumbled off of her face, leaving only glowing purple flesh. I wasn't sure if the piercing scream I heard was mine or hers.
More sparks began to fly as my eyes darted madly around the room, trying to figure out where to go and what to do. I saw Rocket crawling on the floor, hacking and coughing, as Groot scooped him up and turned to me. Through the haze of purple fog, I held out my hand towards them. My lips were shaping their names when Carina was completely vaporised and the Stone exploded.
"MOM!"
The figure dressed in all-black armour laughed as he pulled the sword from my mother's stomach. Her body fell limply to the ground, blood oozing out of the stab wound. He then turned, sword raised, to my father. Several ore men and women dressed like him ran through the broken-down door and surrounded my father and sister.
"DAD! SCARLETT!"
I pounded on the windows of the escape pod and screamed their names. Dad had told me to stay on the pod no matter what happened, but I couldn't just stay in there and watch as my family were killed. I wrenched open the door of the pod and looked out, only to see Dad be completely overpowered by Thanos's minions. Scarlett, however, had managed to get free, and was running towards me, the one who had killed our mother in hot pursuit.
"HURRY!"
I lunged towards her, and she reached towards me. I was about to grab her hand and pull her on board when the minion grabbed hold of Scarlett and pulled her back.
"SCARLETT!" I screamed, but my feet stayed frozen in place. Scarlett struggled against the minion, her red hair hitting him weakly in the face, but ultimately he was too strong.
"Go!" Scarlett screamed at me as he continued to pull her away. "GO!"
"I'M SORRY!" I managed to cry out, before running back inside and slamming my hand down on the emergency takeoff button. The escape pod immediately shot upwards. I looked out the window again just before the pod got out of the bunker, and saw my dad and Scarlett being dragged away. I screamed their names one last time, before I collapsed on the floor of the escape pod and began to sob.
"Ugh ... "
My head ... Where am I? What happened?
"I AM GROOT!"
"She's waking up?! Solo, can you hear me?!"
Groot ... Rocket? Is that you?
"I am Groot!"
"Whadda ya mean, she's not breathing?! Oh shit, what are we gonna do?!"
"I am GROOT!"
I then felt some pressure and light pain on my chest, and I was able to breathe again. I lay there on the ground, choking.
"R - Rocket?" I whispered. "Groot?"
"Yeah, it's us," I heard Rocket say.
My eyes slowly opened. Every part of my body ached. I groaned and gingerly tried to sit up. Big mistake. My insides constricted horribly, and I immediately leaned over and puked up my breakfast. Hacking and coughing, I leaned back and saw that I was outside the bar, Groot kneeling in front of me and Rocket beside me with his hand on my shoulder.
"Jesus, are you OK?" Rocket asked in a surprisingly gentle voice, rubbing my back a little. The gesture calmed me down a little, but I was still very freaked out.
"W - what happened?" I managed to choke out. "Last thing I remember was Carina grabbing the Stone, and then ... it's all hazy after that."
"We don't really know what happened," said Rocket. "The Stone's power killed that girl, and then there was an explosion. You got caught up in it. It probably would have killed you if Groot hadn't grabbed you in time."
"A - and what about Gamora?" I asked, "Quill? Tivan?"
"I am Groot," said Groot.
"I didn't see them either." said Rocket.
As if on cue, Gamora and Quill exited the bar with worried expressions on their faces. But that wasn't what I noticed - it was that Gamora had the Orb clutched in her fist.
"WHAT DO YOU STILL HAVE IT FOR?!" shouted Rocket.
"Well, what was I gonna do?" said Quill. "Just leave it in there?"
"I can't believe you had that in your purse!" yelled Rocket, pointing at the Orb.
"It's not a purse!" said Quill indignantly. "It's a knapsack!"
"Oh, will you both please just SHUT UP!" I yelled over them. They fell silent and looked at me. "You've seen what that thing can do. We have to keep it away from Ronan!"
"Oh, who cares?!" snapped Rocket. "Let's just give it to him!"
"So he can destroy the galaxy with it?!" yelled Quill.
"Oh, what, are you some saint all of a sudden?" said Rocket sarcastically. "What's the galaxy ever done for you? Why would you wanna save it?"
"Because I'm one of the idiots who LIVES IN IT!" Quill retorted.
"Peter, LISTEN TO ME!" said Gamora to Quill. In the back of my mind, I wondered when she'd started calling him by his first name. "We cannot allow the Stone to fall into Ronan's hands. We have to give it to Nova. There's a chance they can contain it!"
"Yeah, I think you're right," said Quill. " ... Or, we could give it to someone who's not going to arrest us and who's really nice for a whole lot of money."
Gamora stepped away from him in disgust. I looked at Quill, incredulous. How could he be so cold?
"Hey, I think it's a really good balance of both your points," said Quill.
"You're despicable." said Gamora coldly. "Dishonorable. FAITHLESS!"
"She's right," I said to Quill, glaring at him. "You're an asshole."
"Oh, no!" I suddenly heard Gamora say. For the first time since I'd met her, she actually sounded scared. I turned around and my jaw dropped.
Before us was Drax, standing with his back to us, holding knives and laughing. But that wasn't the scary part.
We were surrounded by ships. Ronan's fleet, to be exact.
"Oh, holy crap," I said weakly, standing up shakily.
As if that wasn't bad enough, we suddenly heard a yell.
"QUILL! Don't you move, boy! Don't you move!"
It was Yondu Udonta and the Ravagers, making their way towards us.
Rocket grabbed me by the hand.
"RUN!" he yelled. And we did. The five of us, together, running from a band of intergalactic highwaymen and a genocidal maniac. Who only wanted to kill us in the first place because of a freaking rock.
My life is so goddamn weird.
Eventually, we reached several small pods that the citizens of Knowhere used to get around. Gamora, Quill and Rocket all climbed into one.
"I told you, you can't fit!" Rocket said to Groot. "Now wait here, I'll be back." He turned to me. "You, stay here with Groot."
"WHAT?!" I exclaimed. "But Rocket - "
"NO." he said fiercely. "Solo, it's way too dangerous. I'm not gonna let you put yourself in danger like that. Wait here with Groot, he'll protect you. We'll get the Milano and be back here soon." Before I could argue any further, he climbed into his pod and flew off.
Angry at how overprotective he was being, I made towards a pod, but Groot held me back.
"Groot, let go!" I yelled, but he shook his head.
"I am Groot," he said.
"It's no safer down here!" I replied. But still, he wouldn't relent.
However, he was forced to let go a split second later, as someone - or something - grabbed onto him from behind and pulled him away, tossing him to the side.
"GROOT!" I yelled, just before whoever had thrown Groot knocked me to the ground and knelt on top of me. My vision blackened and I could barely see my attacker.
"WHERE IS THE ORB?!" a voice yelled. The voice was female, and very familiar. I couldn't place who owned it, though.
"HELP!" I yelled, but the woman hit me across the face and then gripped me by the jaw, putting her face close to mine.
"Answer my question!" she spat.
I blinked furiously, and my vision returned. The woman was thin and wiry, with pointed teeth like fangs and eyes that glowed completely red, no pupil or whites. It then dawned on me who she was. My eyes widened and my mouth opened in an O of shock. Even with the teeth and the eyes, even though I hadn't seen her in twelve years, even though she was supposed to be dead, there was no mistaking that red hair, that purple skin.
"S - Scarlett?"