Ellie became aware of something damp on her face. Blearily she moved her limbs slowly as she woke from her sleep, silently cursing; Is that – yep, I was dribbling in my sleep. Great. With a quick jerk of her arm she wiped her face, rubbing her eyes and yawning. Looking around for a second, she found herself on the floor in the corner of Quill's 'Butterfly' ship, wrapped up like a little sushi roll in a blanket. The hum of the ships engines was gentler now than when they had been escaping from the Kiln: they had roared like a primitive animal then, just about scaring the living daylights out of her.
Quill was to her left. He was messing around with his Taser gun, whipping it out of his jacket, pointing it at an imaginary foe with blasting sound effects and then replacing it in his jacket. What a kid. Ellie couldn't help but seethe a little over how Quill was representing the rest of the human race; I know this is a movie (Right?) but because of him the rest of the galaxy probably thinks we're all crazy, pop culture obsessed Twinkie eaters. Looking at his cheesy and somewhat absent minded grin, she felt no guilt in what she was thinking whatsoever. Casting her mind back to earth, she wondered how Quill would fit into the earth as it was now; he'd been away for a while. He'd fit right in at Comic-Con.
I wonder what he'd think of the new 'Transformers' movies.
"Heads up!" Rocket's voice echoed from the main control room above.
Quill shifted his gun back into its holster, scaling the ladder swiftly. Not wanting to leave her little nest in the corner, Ellie groaned as her curiosity got the better of her; throwing off the coverings, she hobbled in her half asleep state to the bottom of the ladder, grasping the cool metal carefully as she climbed. I feel like an old woman. She clambered up into the main control room, and she saw it floating in front of them almost instantly. She made a sort of strangled noise in the back of her throat which everyone ignored.
There is no way to describe it but this; before them drifted a severed head the size of a small moon. It was the largest dead thing she had ever seen. It was alien, bearing familiar features such as eyes, the shape of a skull and a mouth, but nothing else about it resembled anything Ellie had ever set eyes on before. It floated eerily, its blank eyes staring into the vacuum of space, its dead jaw slack open in a permanent leer; beside the far off blinking stars and the graceful and glamorous nebulas, it seemed like a sick joke.
Quill of course was able to sum all this up into one word.
"Wow."
"What is it?" Drax asked in a hushed tone, in stark contrast to his usual booming voice.
Gamora answered at once. "It's called Knowhere. The severed head of an ancient celestial being. Be wary when heading in rodent: there are no regulations whatsoever in here."
"Great. One more question; will it hurt when I die?" No one gave any indication to have heard her but Groot, who gave out a grumble in his chest, partnered with a reassuring pat on Ellie's head.
Silently, Rocket guided the ship in with ease, passing into the limp jaw of the head. A sudden glare of light blinded them all momentarily.
Ellie blinked, trying and failing to take in everything she could see all at once. The place, the head, was like an enormous city; there were buildings and streets, people in these buildings and on these streets: who could have imagined this sort of settlement? Ellie thought with wonder. She then frowned a little when the answer came to her; the screenwriter, that's who. Around and above all of this, what looking like little 'space pods' shot around like flies, mining the interior with a proficiency Ellie wished could be demonstrated back on earth; the coffee breaks the builders on earth have: in that same time these pods will have bled this head dry. The pods passed dangerously close by one another; a matter of inches existed between them. Death missed by inches.
As Rocket set the ship down and they all clambered out, Ellie felt an uneasy prickle at the base of her spine and on the back of her neck. It was a sense that she was becoming used to. The sense of danger.
"Not that I'm not totally cool with the idea of hanging around in a giant severed head or anything," she said, looking at the grey walls of the street. "But why are all these people here?"
Gamora once again provided the exposition. "Hundreds of years ago, workers sent in miners to harvest the organic matter in the skull. Bone, brain tissue, spinal fluid; all rare resources highly valued in black markets across the galaxy. It's dangerous and illegal work. Suitable for outlaws."
From the front of their group, Quill let out a bark of laughter, striding on ahead as he spoke.
"Well, I come from a planet of outlaws; Billy the Kid, Bonnie and Clyde, John Stamos… Am I right, Kid?"
"I was thinking more along the 'Charles Manson' line, but Billy the Kid was pretty bad…"
Drax caught up, sauntering on Ellie's left. "Sounds like a place I would like to visit." He said thoughtfully.
Quill nodded. "You should."
"Yeah," Ellie chimed in, "But before you do, think very carefully about exactly which part you want to visit. For instance, when it comes to Essex…"
Out of one of the smaller alleyways came the pattering sound of many small feet, and in an instant they were all surrounded. The children swarmed around them, their pinched little faces looking up at them all imploringly, hands outstretched.
"Watch your wallets." Quill muttered under his breath.
"Could you spare a unit?" Came a small voice.
Ellie bit her lip. She had always been told by her father to never give money to the homeless: 'if you must' he said 'buy them a coffee or a sandwich,' but the hollow look in those children's faces was haunting. Subconsciously feeling in her pockets, she felt terrible that she had spent her last few pounds on Doritos and Guacamole. I really don't think they'd appreciate these chewing gum wrappers.
Ellie paused in her walk, realising one of their party was missing. Turning back she saw Groot crouched over, branches spreading around his head just like the sun shielding kind back home, all charity and kindness. His face was nurturing. He extended one of his arms before him, and as Ellie watched, a small yet beautiful flower sprouted from within, its petals unfurling and stem lengthening as she watched. He plucked the beautiful flower from his arm, handing it to one of the small children. She looked at it through her wispy hair for a moment, before smiling up at the gigantic creature; the gentle giant.
"Hey, I never got one of those!" Ellie whined, punching Groot playfully in the arm as the child scampered away with the rest of them.
"I am Groot." He said gently. He wasted no time; before Ellie knew it another flower had sprouted from the palm of his barky hand. He held it out to her carefully by the stem. It was a light blue; the most fragile and beautiful thing she had seen since being sucked into the TV. She tucked it behind her ear, pushing her curls out of the way.
"Danke schön, big guy!" Ellie grinned.
"Get out of here." Rocket was hissing at one of kids. Probably thought he was a plushie toy.
The lights of the many other buildings in the distance could be seen, alive and buzzing with activity; Gamora however was heading to one building in particular. The glaring lights and the unpleasant characters outside could mean only one thing. Dear mamma…it's a club. Bass pumped through the ground. Neon lights danced. Antics were inevitable.
"Your buyer's in there?" Rocket sounded sceptical.
Ellie felt no better about the situation, squinting up into the neon lights of the building with distrust. "God, it reminds me of this one club in Nottingham…I hate clubbing!"
"We are to wait here for his representative." Gamora said curtly, walking gracefully into the leering open arms of the club.
"This is no respectable establishment!" Drax said as they watched a rather burly looking security guard toss a drunkard out into the dirt, sounding affronted. "What do you expect us to do while we wait?"
"Yes! Yes! Yes!"
Drax's drunken roar soared above all other sounds, joining the hoots and yells of the rest of the intoxicated rabble; one of his fists hammered the air in glee, the other clasped around some unnamed alcoholic beverage. His eyes were alive with excitement; a welcome change from his usual bloodlust.
The shadowy inside of the club was a bustle of activity, the majority of the occupants were surrounding one table in the centre, drink in hands and shouting at the top of their voices; hoping, praying that luck is on their side. Bets flew between them like deranged bats. They were all watching what unfolded on the table before them; one large reptilian alien stood tall next to many smaller lizard type alien things, and the former was devouring the latter with scrumptious ease. Which of the smaller creatures would last the longest? Ellie didn't care to know.
She was hunkered down a little away from the table, her back against the wall, hands in pockets. She knew she must look sullen, I'm not usually a party pooper, but she didn't care for this kind of sport. She never even drowned ants as a child. Unfortunately even from that distance, she caught every moment of the action.
"Yahoo!" Rocket hooted in glee as yet another small creature was devoured.
The largest creature on the table bounded forward, shrieking in the way only reptiles can before leaping forward, catching the final smaller creature between its jaws. It flung it upwards in the air and devoured it whole. The crowd roared at the grand climax. Ellie blanched. Poor little lizard alien thing. The match had been won, money began to change hands and Drax's baritone went up yet another notch in volume.
"…won in all things!" He was slurring, slopping his drink all over the tables surface. "Now let's put more of this liquid into our bodies!"
"That's the first thing you've said that wasn't batshit crazy!" Rocket bellowed in approval, following suit with throwing his drink everywhere.
Ugh. Not that the odd nightcap wasn't perfectly okay with her, Ellie just didn't really see the point in attaining 'blind drunk' status, especially when one was about to come into a huge fortune.
Ellie puffed out a breath of air, squinting at her surroundings. Most unsavoury. Wondering if it was worth her time to take a jaunt outside, she found herself meandering towards the door of the club, leaning against its edge and drinking in the outside scene with her eyes. Of course it was no landscape, (just don't think about the fact that you're inside a giant head, swimming in its synapses…yuck!) but it was quieter by a long shot.
Despite the futuristic nature of it all, Ellie couldn't help but pick out similarities: things like home. The sounds. The far off sounds of the bustle of ordinary people going about their lives could be heard: soft voices, the footsteps echoing off an alley wall; accompanied only by the occasional sound of an industrial space pod soaring past. The sights also reminded her of home. The lights in the windows winked from far away, the colossal buildings piling on top of one another into many giant masses; for a mining colony it certainly resembled a city. It was also dangerous, unpredictable and unsavoury: bad news.
This particular galaxy had been nothing but bad news so far.
She found her thoughts turning to Ronan the Accuser. The most I know about him isn't great news either. Suddenly while examining the giant inner skull of the ancient being, another more unsettling thought occurred to her.
All this time I've been comforted in the fact that space is huge, so there's no way he could ever find us. But this is a movie right? And I'm with the main characters? Therefore, movie solution to creating drama is to get them to meet at some point, right?
Holy mother. Ellie looked worriedly upwards, as though expecting the Accuser to swoop down then and there. Lee Pace is smokin' and all, but I don't really want to meet his Kree persona. Or that nasty looking hammer he had in the promotional poster.
It was about then that the ruckus began.
At the piercing sound Ellie jumped about a foot in the air. Oh Jeez! She turned and peered back into the gloom. The sound had been guttural, animalistic and incredibly loud; it was immediately followed by a chorus of whoops, whistles and the unmistakable sound of a crowd egging it on.
Those roars sound very familiar… Ellie dashed back inside of the club and pushed her way through the rabble, her small stature making it easy. She reached the edge of the circle. She felt her mouth dry up.
Drax and Groot were at each other's throats, landing blows and yelling as they did so; it was a full on brawl. Groot's face was twisted in an unfamiliar warlike grimace, which Drax wore with as much vigour.
Suddenly they bowled each other right over the table, smashing and tearing at one another's respective bark and flesh. Grappling, Groot reached up with his twines and wrapped them tightly around Drax's thick neck, squeezing tighter and tighter. Drax roared, his hands groping and hooking at the vines as he struggled to breathe, and then with one violent motion he tore the vines from his body; Ellie threw in her hands to save her eyes from the flying wood, which battered against her hands like tiny needles.
"Stop it, you guys!" She yelled as loudly as she could over their battle cries and the crowd egging them on. "Everyone's staring!"
Either they didn't hear her or they ignored her, because Groot suddenly pummelled one giant fist into Drax's stomach, sending him flying backwards before climbing back onto his feet with almost frightening swiftness. Drax was on his feet too. He roared and began to charge.
"Stop it!" Gamora Yelled. She flung herself in front of Drax, pushing both her hands into his shoulder to stop his advance. Quill was even faster, leaping between them and Rocket with lightning speed. Good thing too; Rocket had just unsheathed his 'almighty gun of awesome destructive power.' Ellie felt her eyes widen.
"Rocket, no!"
"Get out of the way, blondie!"
"No! Whoa!" Quill said, grabbing Ellie under one arm and pulling her out of shooting range with one hand and putting his other hand up in the direction of Rocket's gun. "What are you doing?"
Drax was almost beside himself with rage. "This vermin speaks of things he knows nothing about!"
"That is true!" Rocket hissed.
"He has no respect!"
"That is also true!"
"Hold on! Hold on!" Quill's eyes had widened in alarm; Rocket looked ready to unload a truckload of shots at any given moment.
"Keep calling me vermin tough guy!" Rocket yelled at Drax, his paws shaking in the tight grip on his gun. "You just wanna laugh at me like everyone else!"
"Rocket, you're drunk; alright? No one's laughing at you!"
"He thinks I'm some stupid thing he does!" Rocket was bawling now, every word seeming to claw up his throat against his will; his rage allowed nothing else. "Well I didn't ask to get made! I didn't ask to get torn apart and put back together over and over and turned into some…some little monster!"
"Rocket, no!" Ellie couldn't hold her tongue any more. She held her hands up appealingly, treading to stand next to Quill. "I promise you that no one's calling you a monster."
Ellie tried to forget the gun between them as Rocket's beady eyes found hers. They were swimming with pain, both memories of physical torment and emotional humiliation; it was wrenching to look at, but impossible to look away from. Looking at Ellie he must have found sympathy, because he ground his teeth in frustration.
"He called me vermin!" He jabbed his gun in Drax's direction and then in Gamora's. "She called me rodent! Let see if you can laugh after five or six good shots in your frickin' face…"
Rocket readied his gun. Ellie stumbled backward a step. Quill leapt further forward, his arms tense and reaching out. "Whoa! No no no: 4 Billion units, Rocket! Come on man! Suck it up for one more lousy night and you're rich!"
Rocket was looking up at Quill, every muscle in his body tense and quivering as he held up the gun. The seconds trickled by. Ellie felt all the moisture dry up from her mouth; Rocket is a foul mouthed merc, but a killer..? She clenched her jaw, not daring to look away.
After an eternity, Rocket lowered his gun; it powered off with a clunky electronic hum.
"Fine." He said hoarsely. "But I can't promise when all this is over that I'm not going to kill every last one of you."
Quill huffed in exasperation, throwing up his arms. "See, that's exactly why none of you have any friends! Five seconds after you meet someone you're already trying to kill them!"
From behind Gamora, Drax leaned forward menacingly. His blind rage had vanished, but there was now a coldness present; Ellie couldn't decide which was worse.
"We have travelled half way across the Quadrant, and Ronan is no closer to being dead."
Freeing himself from Gamora's grip, Drax turned and stalked away, his back taut and corded, frustration simmering from every part of him.
"Hey, wait! Come back!" Ellie found himself calling after his retreating figure.
"Drax!" Quill called.
"Let him go. We don't need him." Gamora said curtly. Groot gave a dismissive wave of his arm in Drax's direction.
God, that was dramatic. Ellie exhaled, instantly wishing for her favourite stress reliever. What I wouldn't give for some decent Jacobs Crackers right now. She couldn't help but notice how everyone else seemed noticeably less ruffled by the proceedings, as the moment the gun was down Gamora, Quill, Groot and Rocket were all calm; no recovery time necessary. Ellie looked down at her still shaking hands. Nutters.
"Milady Gamora." A clear voice echoed across the room. "I'm here to fetch you for my master."
Ellie turned in the direction of the voice.
"Wow!" She said, her eyes almost popping out of her skull. "Tickle me pink much?"
Hello all! ^_^ I hope you enjoyed the next installment; please leave an update, it's extremely motivational!
- Sarah