Cassius's POV
"Cassius!" Alenna screams my name with dangerous anger flashing through her dark eyes. I quickly side step away from her outraged bolt with widened eyes and a fast beating heart. Before she turns, I dispel my appearance under a simple invisibility spell.
She obviously doesn't see me, and looks incredibly confused and flustered at first until the realisation hits her petty brain. She sighs and mutters something under her breath and I smirk. Alenna will never be able to outwit my sorcery.
I turn towards the hallway, running quickly and being cautious not to make too much noise. There are guards lying on the floor with largely open wounds and oddly bended bones caused by punishments from either Nebula or Ronan. That could have happened to me.
I move along at an even quicker pace, recalling the turns that I had made from the main hall where Ronan almost killed me. I need that Orb. I don't even know why anymore, it's like a fatal attraction. Then again I still do crave the power, subjugation, and protection of Thanos.
I halt as I finally reach the hall, spotting Ronan standing in front of the grand glass window. Outside the window were thousands of Nova Corp ships conjoined to form a protective yellow barrier to prevent Ronan and his armies from harming Xandar and any of its people.
I fall into focus and realise Ronan is addressing Nova through audio connection, threatening them.
"'Tis the tinder on which you burn!" Is what I hear clearly and Ronan raises his Kree war hammer to the glass threateningly, the purple aura of the Orb quickly charging up. Then in an instant, a power shot blasts through the glass and through the wall of Nova ships.
The lash sends vibrations through the warship as a terrible aftershock, and glass is being spluttered absolutely everywhere – which isn't exactly bothering Ronan. I duck behind a wall to avoid the shower of glass shards, and Ronan noticing me here. Then I realise that I am still invisible and he can't possibly see me.
I can feel the explosions going on even outside the ship. That hammer is one powerful thing. Then suddenly, I can't keep my balance and feel myself sliding down into the small hallway I had just come from.
"Whoa…" I mummer and finally straighten up even though the floor is still vibrating.
What is going on?! We may be falling out of the sky right now. I need to get out of here, and then find Ronan.
I dismiss the invisibility spell and find a door further ahead. It automatically opens when I come near, and reveals a dark gloomy room filled with either escaping prisoners or angered guards. The other half of the room is bright and windy, complete with no walls. One wrong step and you'd be taking the leap of death down to Xandar. The damage must have been caused by one of the recent explosions. Surely there must be a proper exit somewhere around –
It's Alenna again, with none of her team mates to accompany her.
She stops fighting off ballistic prisoners and notices me with a hard glare. The wind from the other half of the room dances around her hair, and blows through the maroon jacket she wears. She doesn't say anything. She just stares at me with those dark narrowed eyes and has a fierce looking gun in hand.
"Alenna." I smirk and walk forward.
"Cassius." She mumbles back, gripping the gun tighter.
"We both know what's going to happen now. Or do I need to explain it for you? Are you still that dull?" I question her with a bright smirk.
That's how the fight begins.
She attempts to whack a gun over my head. I duck and jump back up, then grab her by the collar. Her eyes show no sign of fear, just pure anger. That's different. I throw her to the wall, and she lands with a thud but no groan.
"Cassius, the Orb is playing with your mind!" she shouts out to me, desperately.
I walk towards her, ignoring her words as best as I can. "It's too late now! The Infinity Gems shall be conquered."
Alenna grabs her gun and shoots at my leg, which I'm merely affected by. She lunges back up towards me with a clenched fist and punches me in the jaw. I stagger back, and bang my head on to the wall. I groan and grip where my head was hit. Her punch didn't hurt at all, it was just that bang on the head. My vision impairs for a few seconds.
I frown and conjure a holographic knife in my hand. I raise it above my head and force in it her direction, but she stops the lash with that ridiculous gun. I try to hit her again but she keeps blocking my hits.
"You know, it's not too late to turn back." She tells me, becoming breathless throughout the fight.
"Never." I reply back and knock the gun out of her hands. It skids across the floor and flies off the edge of the ship. I abate the knife from my hands and watch the spot where her gun once was.
We stop fighting for a quick moment and she looks at me with a shocked look on her face. "That was my favourite gun." she tells me.
"Was the RH078 one?" I raise a brow.
"Prototype." She nods her head in confirmation.
We both just stand there for few more seconds, silent and motionless. And then we just start fighting again. She pushes me to the floor with all her force and I fall to my back. She is strong…for a girl. She runs towards me now with one of her daggers, and I kick her hand but she doesn't let go of it this time. We are dangerously close to the edge of the ship.
I quickly rise to my feet in a mad scramble, and dodge her swings. This is starting to get annoying, we are only wasting time. The ship could crash any minute now.
I push her back, she slips over the edge of the ship and I hear her yell. For some reason I gasp. Alenna? I slowly make my way to the edge of the ship to see where she had fallen and how far we were from the ground. I find her clinging on to the rubble with one hand. She looks desperate and pleading.
"Cassius, please." She says quietly, with wide eyes. "Help me."
I look down at her, expressionless, and recall all the times she hasn't helped me. All the times she insulted me and ignored me. But does she really deserve to fall to her doom?
I gradually sink down to her level and her eyes widen in shock for a minute. A smirk appears on my face and I tilt my head, "What makes you think that I would ever help you?" I ask. She opens her mouth to say something convincing, but I kick I stomp down on her hand. Her fingers slip and she yells, continuing to fall through the space and all the war.
I decide to watch her fall. Unexpectantly, the Milano swoops under her and she lands on the glass screen with a heavy thud.
I narrow my eyes and rise to my full height. I still needed to find a proper exit.
Sorry for the long wait and shorter chapter! I had to re-write this chapter a few times and I'm still not happy with it. Next chapter, there may be some signs of recovery from Cassius's end. Thank you all for the follows, reads, and reviews! I will be posting ASAP!