A Bad Man's Second Chance
Highway To Hell
Chapter 14: Elton John - I'm Still Standing
Ravagers are bad news on a good day. On a bad day they just might be good enough to save it.
"Greetings Ego. Captain's a bit busy at the mo' so I'll be the one takin care ya from now on. Name's Horuz..."
Whipping about in an icy fervor; the perpetual blizzard winds howl. A dreadful keening sound as storm clouds heavy with ice and snow boil with arctic thunder overhead. It is dark, and the intermittent crash of lighting does more to blind than to illuminate. But more than the dark, it is cold. It is a bitter, biting, deathly cold that cuts deep into the bone like a lance of fire. Every inhale of freezing air is painful, each breath more gasping and desperate for air than the last.
But there's no stopping now, because to stop is to die.
Into this frozen hell of a storm, a figure runs with all the frantic desperation of mortal peril.
More than the dark snow choked night, it is pure blind terror that clouds the way.
More than the cold, it is fear that chills his blood and panic that has numbed his frantic flailing limbs; blue feet plunging deep into the side of a mountainous snowbank as blue hands scrabble for purchase upon the icy crust- clumsy and heedless of the sharp edges of ice as they cut deep into his exposed flesh.
The shrieking winds wail and cry, but carries with it something far more threatening than blades of ice and endless snow. Between the echoing rolls of thunder sounds terrible beastial howls. Hungry wails. Ululating hunting cries.
And drawing closer rapidly.
Scrabbling over the deepening snow of Jotunheim, a young frost giant runs for his life yet again.
"Flee! Flee!" The rolling thunder overhead seems to say. Mocking him like the cruel voiced taunting of the villagers, the chieftain's son and his brothers, "Flee Einar Whoreson! Unwanted. Unclean. Begone and let the ice and wild things take you."
With a booming crash, lightning flashes- splitting the night with light and sound and Einar is running blind again.
Ears ringing in tandem with the pounding of his heartbeat, loud enough to drown out the imagined sounds of his childhood tormentors.
But not so loud as to drown out the sound of his very real pursuers- dread unspooling as he hears the sounds of their feral baying, so near he can nearly feel the slathering jaws snapping at his heels.
Einar doesn't dare look. Not while he can barely see to run. His very life depends on it.
He must run. Run, despite the freezing cold and his flagging energy. Run, because he knows the truth: If they catch him, they will kill him. If he does not run he will die.
Run. Because no one is coming to save him.
Light flashes, a booming crack of thunder as lightning splits the blizzard clouds a second time- just in time for the snow bank beneath his feet to turn into a shallow cliff face. The abrupt sight leaving him no time to react, merely giving him a brief glimpse of doom before Einar Whoreson falls. The ground disappearing from below his feet as his momentum carries him toppling over the edge. And Einar falls, rolling head over heels to land painfully at the bottom.
There is no time to catch his breath, his tumble has slowed him and to slow is to die.
Quickly, desperately, he rolls and he is up and he is running again- and Einar realizes that his pursuers have caught up to him moments too late.
And as the jaws of death close around him, with a desperate cry Einar looked up..
From the gray thunderous clouds, a shifting shadow suddenly takes shape- a hulking craft hanging heavy in the sky, unmoved by the tempestuous winds.
And the blizzard storm splits open and all is bathed in blinding dazzling white light.
Blaring raucous sound and emitting light from all ends. The beams of light it emits swing through the sky like pillars, cutting effortlessly through the howling darkness of the storm. Swinging, searching, circling...
And with dread Einar can see them now. The light glinting off of bared teeth and dripping savage fangs, shining in the red eyes that gleam with an evil malicious hunger.
Seven giant starving feral wolves. And they have him surrounded.
Numb with cold. Numb with fear. Einar closes his eyes. Resigns himself to his end.
Because he is most certainly dead... his heart just hasn't stopped beating yet.
And Einar closes his eyes against the radiance as all the beams of light circle round to shine down upon him... and the vicious pack descends.
The boy would live. But it was a damned near thing.
They'd swooped down to the scene of what was sure to be the lad's final moments, and Yondu couldn't hit the blast doors open fast enough. The shock of cold air blowing in like a wave of physical force blowing him back, but it weren't nothing compared to the chilling sight of this adolescent boy surrounded by gigantic wolf like monsters- enormous hulking beasts that would dwarf a grown giant let alone some scrawny half-grown teen.
Yondu had dropped into the fray before he'd realized exactly what he was doing. That well honed protective instinct had him lunging down on a zipline- blaster fire and arrow flying through the howling winds before the ship even slowed to a hover.
The bolts from the blaster barely did more than irritate the creatures, and with precision strikes near impossible in the dark the sharp whistles of his arrow just drew their attention- and their teeth in his direction. Which would have been great except that the kid was already pinned under the teeth and claws of the biggest and baddest looking motherfucking hulking beast of a wolf he'd ever seen.
Yondu didn't think so much as react- A shrill shrieking whistle pierced the air and his arrow pierced through one gleaming malicious eye and, after scrambling about in the brain cavity, launched it out through the other. The beast didn't even have time to yelp, swaying and lurching as it dropped, dead before it hit the ground- landing with heavy finality on top of the boy still held underneath it.
It took coverfire from the ship still flying above to drive the rest of the gigantic beasts off. With the apparent pack leader dead the rest of these giant beasts lost whatever little courage they had of their own- and quickly scattered, vanishing to the four winds and disappearing into the blizzard.
Sparing only a glance to the retreating monsters, making sure that they weren't gonna try and be clever and double back, Yondu was turning and floundering through the deepening snow as he scrambled to where the boy last was.
"Fuck, fuck . Common kid, don't be dead." Yondu grunted as he heaved ineffectually at the hulking wolf's already cooling carcass, struggling to push up and off of the boy lying underneath. A pair of boots crunched down into the snow beside him, and then two more- as it takes four of them heaving and pulling to roll the dead thing off-
"Oh fuck. Goddamn." Yondu gasped, echoing the similar statements all around as they saw the state of the boy lying crumpled in the snow like a mauled chew toy. And Martinex knelt into the snow, checking the boy's vitals before looking up at Yondu and Stakar in alarm.
"Shit, shit - we gotta- Grab him quick! We gotta get him onto the ship an' to a medic. Now!"
It took the two of them to get the boy onto the ship. Even scrawny and mangled, the boy was tall and as gangly as the name 'frost giant' implied, for all he was obviously adolescent. Just a boy.
And apparently frost giants were hardy as fuck, cause the boy's eyes squinted open as he groaned in pain as they carried him on board.
"Take it easy kid, we gotcha," Yondu said as Stakar slammed the doors shut on the blizzard. And with the sudden absence of the howling wind, he could hear the boy's low chanting mutter.
"Dead. m'dead. M'dead," the kid was moaning under his breath, and Yondu tightened his grip on the boy instinctively. And the kid rasped, "M'gonna die, ma-make it quick. D-die quick."
"Hell no," Yondu snarled in response as the boy's eyes rolled in his head from pain, "Like hell you're dyin' on my watch. Charlie, get us the fuck out of here!"
And now they were on the Eclector.
And there was nothing left for Yondu to do but stare through the glass into the infirmary where, the boy had been ever since he arrived.
Layin' still as the dead under the tender mercy of the heaviest anesthesia the ravagers had to offer, as the kid was in for a hell of a recovery after the surgery Martinex and the tailor had just done to patch the kid up and keep him on this fucking mortal coil.
And goddamn if that wasn't a hell of a thing.
The boy had been shredded six ways to sunday and his leg looked like it'd been torn off of him like a chicken wing. The only reason he was still kickin now was cause frost giants were hardy as fuck, and apparently didn't suffer from hypothermia or frostbite or any other such cold-related things... which thinkin' about it now, makes more sense than it don't.
Still didn't keep Yondu from feelin just as sick from worrying about it as he had been when they had dragged the boy into the medbay in the first place. Twice their size, and severely underdressed for the weather, the last thing the kid needed was a sickness on top of his missing limb, just an infection would be bad enough.
They were damned lucky they'd gotten there when they did.
And twice as lucky that Stakar and his crew had decided to tag along for as long as they had. This kinda brutal maiming was far an' away outside of Tailor's wheelhouse. Stitchin' the big man could do, but that required there be something left to stitch. And the look on Martinex's face when he'd seen the boy, well it didn't help Yondu's worry much either, for all that he was desperately glad the plutonian was there. Martinex was the best field-surgeon across twelve galaxies. If anyone could get this kid back on his feet, it would be him...
So yeah the boy would live. But frost giant hardiness or no, you don't just walk off a missing leg.
But that really wasn't the problem.
Problem was Yondu hadn't really expected to find the kid.
He hadn't the first time around, scanned the planet pole to pole an' found not a blip. Figured the kid had managed to get himself off planet somehow. Jotunheim might not be the most space-faring planet out there, but the Frost Giants had their own ways of traversing the stars, so it hadn't been that much of a stretch to think he'd missed his chance to nab the kid and figured he'd swing back around later for the pick up...
But then he'd eventually gotten wise to the shit Ego was feeding him, and he'd taken Peter and run without a second thought to the one he'd left behind. Couldn't even lie to himself and say he thought the boy'd been better off... cause he hadn't. Too busy lookin' over his own damn shoulder to think about anything else, let alone look after the boy he had in front of him proper like either.
A low nauseous feeling rolled in his stomach, like guilt and worry all knotted up and tangling in his guts, and Yondu dragged a hand down the back of his neck as he pulled his eyes away from the glass. And looking away, Yondu's eyes fell on the sight of Anushka, curled up with her fluffy tail wrapped tightly around her as she leaned up against Tr'll- a huddle of warmth and comfort as they both lay snuggled up together in peaceful restful slumber.
"Our new brother was hurt real bad," She'd asked, as they'd all been shooed away from the medbay, blinking up at him with her large black eyes, "Wasn't he, Yondu."
He could still remember how she'd stood at his side, bouncing up on her toes as she tried to look in on the goings on in the infirmary. How she'd watched with a sort of worried fascination before looking up at him with a grave expression on her cute little face.
"Don't worry, we're gonna make him all better," She'd said with the self assured confidence that only children seem to still have, "He's gonna be alright. You'll see."
And although she hadn't meant it as a joke, the unintentional wording of her innocent statement had him cracking a smile. "That I will."
She'd fallen asleep before it was over, fighting it with every heavy blink until Tr'll-fed up with her jostling him with every waking jerk of her head- pulled her in close and they both fell into an exhausted sleep there on the spare med-bed. Everything was calm and quiet now, nothing to see but the slow movements of the kids' breathing- both inside the infirmary and out. But still, Yondu couldn't bring himself to turn away, like if he kept watch he could make it so that it would be true. That it would all turn out all right and he could will away the worry that still gnawed away inside him with restless energy.
A hand clasped his shoulder, and Yondu turned to see Stakar standing at his side.
"M'fine," Yondu said reflexively, despite the fact that Stakar had said nothing at all. Not that he needed to- Yondu recognize the look on the other man's face well enough. "Martinex got him all takin care of and we done what we could. Boy's gonna be alright. We.. we got there in time."
"I know," Stakar said, giving his shoulder a shake, "Just wanted you to hear you say it. You did good out there Yondu."
Yondu grunted at that, neither acceptance or denial, "Kid's gonna be hurting for a long time. He's got a long road ahead of him."
"We'll get him there," Stakar said, then huffed a laugh giving him a pointed nudge, "Rather, you'll get him there. If anyone can teach this kid how to stand on his own two feet again, it's gonna be you."
"Well," Yondu said, tilting his head with a considering air, "It ain't like we don't got a box of legs lying around here somewhere. We'll find somethin' that'll fit him," And he managed to crack a smile at that, the slightest upturn, "An' if not... Havin' somethin' custom made ain't so bad neither."
"Ain't that the truth," Stakar grinned at that, eyes flicking a glance at Yondu's fin, finally letting go of his shoulder to give him a heavy pat on the back. And Yondu feels something deep inside his chest ease...
"I'm glad yer here," Yondu said, the words escaping him before he could really think about it, and Yondu looked away with a gruff uncomfortable cough, eyes going back to the medwindow and shifting his feet.
Stakar huffed, a short laugh that accompanied the smirk on his face, "Yer a stubborn ass boy. But you come by it honestly." And as Yondu looked the smile grew, a fond look in the other man's eyes. "M'glad I'm here too. I'm glad... I could be here for you."
And Yondu had to duck his head at that, biting his cheek and gnawing at his lips as he suppressed a small smile. A bewildered disbelief rattling in his chest even as that easing feeling grew into something a little more unwieldy. It still hasn't quite sunk in yet; can't quite bring himself to believe it yet.
On his chest, the ravager badge glints in the low light, he brings his hand up to touch it.
Still there, and not going anywhere.
And ain't that something.
Standing before the blast doors to face the culmination of his trial, this had been the farthest possible outcome to the point that it never even crossed his mind.
Before those doors, Yondu had felt nothing but a resigned kinda dread. Teeth grit and expression grave, he'd strode to the doors like a man facing the gallows. He knew, through and through, to the deepest part of his bones. He knew what he'd find on the other side. Hopes, and excuses and lying to himself wouldn't change a damn thing- it would hurt. It would hurt like nothing else, but there was nothing left to do but to face it... and so he strode towards those doors unfaltering.
That's a lie. Before those closed doors, Yondu's stride had faltered just a half step as the urge to turn and run washed over him, near overwhelming in its intensity. But he didn't stop. He kept marching. Yeah, he could run, the option was still there- had always been there. But Yondu was tired of running.
So with a scowl on his face and a set to his jaw, Yondu threw the blast doors open, pushing them open with all the stubborn, willful pride he could muster and a gut full of resignation. And with dramatic flair strode in to face his inevitable fate...
And was largely ignored.
The room before him was a chaotic storm of ravagers, all speaking one over another and scurrying this way and that. With so much going on, Yondu's meager attempt at drama was like throwing a stone into the ocean and expecting ripples when there are already waves. The only one deining to notice his entrance being a purple archernonian- shoulder checking him as he strode out of the room with a furious scowl on his face.
Perturbed and more than a bit confused, Yondu had pressed on. The ravager horde was clustered around a makeshift table made of crates, a near unintelligible din as they called one to another. Mainframe sat in the middle of the mess, her lights flashing and the high whine of her metalic voice carrying over the rabble surrounding them as Stakar and Aleta called to the other captains in turn- all hands on deck as they passed print-out datapads to each other.
The ruckus was such that Yondu could barely make out a purpose to the chaos, save for the fact that everyone seemed to be on board, intent and engaged in a way that a angry mob simply wasn't. And could never hope to match.
This... wasn't quite what he expected from his trial- but confusion didn't ease the tension in his guts as Stakar finally looked up and made eye contact with him.
"Yondu!" Stakar said and imperiously waved him over, his call barely noticed by the crowd save for a few bobbing heads looking up in his direction before they were again drawn away, "Get over here an' show us where you been."
"Been?" Yondu said, confusion echoing in his voice as he waded his way through the crowd,"I ain't been nowhere. You already made sure of that."
"No, not that. That's not-Just get over here," Stakar said before turning back to Martiex and Charlie-27 at his side, "Do you think we should give Aristarko the Archernon system or no?"
Martiex hissed at that, a cringing inhale, as Charlie abruptly shook his head, "I would not recommend it sir." "-Yeah, bad idea. A very bad idea-" "It would be in poor taste, at the very least." "-Privahl was like his son ."
"Alright, I hear you," Stakar said, waving his hand at them, " Bad idea. Forget I even said it."
Turning to look at where Yondu was loitering, Stakar reached back and grab hold of his arm, hauling him to stand at his side before the makeshift table, "Now that you're here, you can tell us where you picked up those kids. One's a Shi'ar right? There was at least a few from Shi'ar space, did you get them all from there, or did you pick some of them up from somewhere else?"
"Why?" Yondu asked, brow furrowed as he peered at him suspiciously- before a thought struck that had him scowling thunderously, "You ain't intendin' to send those kids back , now are you? Cause I ain't gonna let you do that. I already told you that it ain't safe for them-"
"Back? No- why...," Stakar said taken aback as he shot a glance at Yondu's stubborn expression, only to look back again as he stared, "You- you honestly have no idea?"
And as Yondu scowled at him, Martinex at his side dramatically rolled his eyes.
"Of fuckin course he's got no idea," Martinex said, a hand dragging down the facets of his face, "Boss, he literally just got here. Last he knew he was gettin'airlocked -"
"Yes perhaps some explanation would be prudent," Charlie-27 chimed in with a belated, "Sir."
"You're not getting airlocked, by the way," Martinex said abruptly as he turned to clap Yondu on the back, causing him to stagger forward, "What you aregetting, brother... are Reinforcements."
"That's right," Stakar said as he looked Yondu over, as the centurion gazed around him- taking in the flurry of commotion with apparent bafflement. Ravager calling to ravager, as Aleta managed the disputes over territories and claims- and realized with utter certainty that Yondu has no idea what is going on.
"Alright you lot!" Stakar hollered over the commotion, which died down only a touch to bring the rabble to attention, "I know I've made my decision but we got a Trial conclude."
And Stakar grinned. "So let's make it official. Krugarr, if you would?"
And from attop his crate, Krugarr flashed them all a glowing double thumbs up before whipping his arms around in a complicated glif, that shoved ravagers out of the way of a space that then glowed with its own golden light- before appearing with a flash was several large casks of beer.
Cheers and laughter rang out then, as with an afterthought Krugarr flicked his wrist and mugs appeared in everyone's hand-
Save for Yondu, and the single solitary mug that landed in the middle of the makeshift table.
The ruckus quieted down considerably at that, and Yondu braced himself for the worse even as he could hear Charlie chuckle, and Martinex at his side audibly rolling his eyes the captain's dramatics.
"When I was a much younger man," Stakar began, mug in hand as his voice rolled through hush, "I found a cause. I found the badoon brotherhood guilty of crimes that I could no longer let stand unchallenged. I vowed their end. And to the end of slavery- wherever it could be found- and if I had the power, to stop it in its tracks. I am proud to say i have done that, and will keep doing that... And too that end many of you stood with me. And because of that, a good deal of you can call yourselves ravagers today. It is the foundation of our Code and a just cause that we all keep."
"We are Ravagers." Stakar continuing, lifting his mug to silence the resulting cheers, "And we have our Code. And we have been gathered here to determine if Yondu Udonta has gone against that code and all that we uphold. We've found our evidence, we've said our peace, and now it's time our decision is known..."
And with his mug in one hand, Stakar reached out and grabbed the lone mug on the table and held it up as if for a toast. "Yondu Udonta has found his cause, and I have found it to be a just one! Ravagers! Will you have his back? Is Yondu Udonta a Ravager still?"
The resulting cheer was near deafening, an exultant roar from all sides as the horde lifted their drinks as one and bellowed in affirmation, stomping their feet and beating their chests in salut.
Charlie-27's rolling rumble of laughter washed over Yondu as Martinex slapped his back once more. Yondu staggered forward a few steps, clumsy and blindsided.
"There you have it," Stakar said bringing down the lifted mug as he turned back to Yondu and offered him the mug, "My only regret is that you didn't come to us sooner."
Staring at Stakar like he'd never seen him before as he reached out to take the offered mug with numb fingers and was utterly and completely... blown away.
"There you have it! What did I tell yah," Martinex said as he cuffed Yondu's shoulder again, and Yondu was sure to have a bruise there tomorrow for sure. At Yondu's still stunned expression, Martinex rolled his eyes and continued, "If you ain't gettin it yet, let me make it crystal clear- we're on your side brother. And yer gettin help stickin it to this Ego fella whether you like it or not."
"You worry too much," Charlie said, reaching out to steady him with a large hand on his shoulder, "Your cause is a noble one and Ego is a force that must be stopped. We will support you in this, have no doubt. The others will as well, for the sake of the children if nothing else."
"Honestly," Mainframe chimed in, her vocaloid voice a good natured whine, "What were you thinking, trying to go it alone like that. I don't know if you realized it or not, but technically speaking, two thousand kids is a fuckin' lot for one ship. Even for one like the Eclector."
"But take two thousand kids," said Aleata, as she looked over at her Firsts Mate with a secret smile, "An' spread 'em out over one hundred ships. Well that works out to about twenty each. Still a lot mind, but much more manageable wouldn't you say."
"A lot more manageable I'd think," The woman said, and shot her a wink.
Stakar stepped forward and clasped his hand to Yondu's arm, grounding him, "I told you, son; if there was proof to be found, we would find it. And find it we did. There ain't a single ravager here that'd stand for letting a bunch of kids be turned into batteries for whatever is powering Ego. That's why I asked where you picked up your kids. We're dividing the list up into territories- twenty each- and we need to know which ones to strike off the list."
"Right now I'm sorting them by galaxy," Mainframe churred, her eyes flickering in binary code, "In the meantime if you wanna call dibs on a system- now's the time."
"Sol," Yondu managed to say, still rattled and blindsided, but not nearly enough to forget his boy, "I've got dibs on Sol. Tera. There's one on Tera... an' a few others."
"Hey, that's our neighborhood," Martinex said, jerking his head towards Charlie, "Damn, that fucker sure gets around."
"You'll get Sol," Stakar said with a determined nod, "We wouldn't have it any other way."
"If there is one on Jupiter," Charlie-27 said, "Make sure you call me first. I have information that would be helpful for you. A dangerous place, where I am from. And I don't mean just the planet."
"Hell yeah," Martinex grinned, punching Charlie on the shoulder before turning to Yondu, "Ditto with me. I got a lot of clout with the ol' iceball compound. You visit Pluto, and I can put in a good word for ya."
"What are you idiots waiting for?" Aleta said, slinging her arm around her first mate as she lifted her mug at them pointedly, "Drink up! We got work to do."
"That we do," Stakar said, and raised his mug at Yondu who lifted his in turn, "We'll bring them home son."
"Damn right." Yondu said, and if his voice was gruff and choked no one noticed, "Damn right."
With a smash, the mugs were knocked together with cracking force and then knocked back as they both drank to the sounds of the roaring rolicking ravager hoard.
The alcohol burned all the way down, but Yondu didn't mind.. Especially when the warm glow lingered long after the impromptu planning party died down and the Ravagers started to go their separate ways.
Even now, days later, Yondu could still feel that burning warmth tingling deep down inside as stood alone once more in the med bay. Stakar's hand a phantom warmth still lingering on his shoulder as he pulled off his coat to drape it over the two kids sleeping peacefully on the bed before him. Turning at last fully away from the med window, Yondu strode over to lean against the wall and look out a portside window and out at the stars.
They made it in time. This time. they'd made it in time- beat a clock Yondu hadn't know was ticking. And that was good. That was great. Better than great. Kid would need some time to heal, but this time, this time , heal he would.
The Ravagers' had his back. They would rescue all these goddamn kids and there was nothing, nothing , that Ego could do to stop it.
His kids will be safe. Yondu was gonna make sure of that. Damn right.
And sooner now than ever, Yondu would get his boy back, would bring his boy home.
Next stop. Sol. Next stop. Terra. Next stop. Peter.
"Hold on Pete," Yondu murmured to the stars, "Daddy's coming."