***MORAG(2014)***
In the year of 2014, on the cloudy, abandoned planet of Morag, eight people arrived, flashing onto the planet surface. The eight: Sam, Riri, Nikki, Cassie, Frankie, Kamala, Kate, and Nebula.
Once they touched down, they immediately took in their surroundings. One in particular was freaky... and it was headed right for them.
"Ahh!" Sam exclaimed, firing an energy blast at a rodent-reptilian looking creature, known as an Orloni. "Damn, those things freak me out!"
Frankie too was freaked by this as he kicked one away.
The girls laughed, aside from Nebula, and they all got to work. They took the Benatar ship which was currently shrunken, via Pym Particle Disk, and grew it back to it's normal size, via Pym Particle Disk. A blue one, of course.
Once it was up, they lowered the ship's Space Pod, just in case the Morag team would need it.
"Alright, it's all set up." Riri said, her and Nebula walking out of the Pod. "You guys come back, alright? No playing around."
It was almost like an order, but there was care there.
"Awwww, Riri! You do care!" Nikki teased.
The curly-haired genius rolled her eyes and laughed before pulling her friend into a hug. From behind Nikki, Kate and Cassie joined in the hug, pulling Frankie in as well. Then came Sam and Kamala. It was one big group hug.
When they all broke up, Sam and Kamala reinitiated a hug of their own.
"You guys watch each other's back." Cassie said, almost like a plea. What could she say, she loved these guys. And she didn't want to lose them. Any of them.
"We'll do our best." Kate replied with a nod.
Meanwhile, with Sam and Kamala, the two broke their hug and held each other close. "Be careful, Sam."
"I will, K. You better be too."
Kamala smiled and playfully poked his nose. "See you back home."
"C'mon, Sam! You can kiss when we get back home, let's move!" Frankie called out as he and the girls boarded the Benatar.
Riri and Cassie snickered at that as Sam and Kamala departed. As Sam headed for the ship, Nebula gently stopped him.
"Be careful," Nebula said to him bringing a hand to his shoulder. There was worry but also care in her voice.
"We will." He nodded back to her, patting her hand and nodding to the others before running to join the others on the ship.
On the Benatar, following Rocket's instructions, Sam flew the ship above the ground and into the sky and stars above.
Kate looked down out the windows of the ship and waved to their friends below who were waving to them.
"Long way from the yard, huh?" he joked.
To which Nikki and Kate smiled at him and laughed.
It took a lot of patience, and a few levels of Candy Crush for Cassie and almost a whole two chapters of fanfiction for Kamala to keep from boredom. An hour and a half of waiting and it was enough to make them want to call it, but the waiting finally paid off as Riri, Cassie, Kamala, and Nebula heard the sound of a ship approaching the area near the temple.
"He is here." Nebula stated, looking over to the doors of the temple.
Taking note of her warning, the other three hid and waited. Nebula jumped over and hid next to Riri just as the doors to the temple opened. They watched as someone, most likely the 'Quill' guy they were waiting for, entered the temple.
"That's him? Star-Man?" Kamala asked, keeping her voice down to a whisper so as not to be heard.
"Lord. But yes." Nebula whispered back.
They kept watching and saw him reach to his side and pull out something that looked like-
"Is he putting on headphones?" Cassie asked.
And she soon got her answer as they saw the man begin to bob his head as he walked further into the temple. With each step, he began to move more. He was dancing! He started with a pelvic thrust before jumping up and down to whatever he was listening to. He even used one of the Orlonis as a microphone as he sung along before throwing it away.
The four heard his singing way off key and could only watch as he kept on.
"Good grief, this guy's weird!" Riri whispered with a freaked out look.
But Nebula, having known about Quill and his quirks could only agree. "...yeah."
"I mean, he's obviously feeling his music. I could vibe with that." Kamala said.
Riri scoffed and rolled her eyes at Kamala's words before her helmet came up.
Still in his own, music-filled world, Quill danced along and slid to a halt as if he was a music star. As he did this, though, he didn't notice a long arm stretch out in front of his feet, tripping him, sending him to the ground.
The fall wasn't enough to put him out as he tried to get back up. But he was sent back down when a metal hand backhanded his face, knocking him out cold.
"Nighty night, Dirty Dancer." Riri said before her helmet opened up and folded back.
"He'll definitely feel that when he wakes up," Cassie said, walking up next to her.
While they stood, Nebula knelt down beside Quill and went through his long coat's pockets before pulling out a long white and silver tool that favored a screwdriver...a space screwdriver.
"What's that?" Riri asked.
"The tool of a thief." Nebula replied.
The four, led by Nebula, made it to the chamber of the temple where the Power Stone was kept. Taking the tool, Nebula knelt down and went to work on the ancient lock on the doors. In less than six seconds, the lock clicked and turned before a louder click was heard and the doors opened slightly.
Riri turned on a glowing orb that Nebula had also taken from Quill and held it up for light as their Guardian leader pushed open the doors to the temple.
Nebula moved to step forward but was stopped by Kamala's "embiggened" hand blocking her.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I wouldn't just walk in if I were you." She warned. "This is the part where spikes come out with skeletons on the end and everything..."
"She's got a point," Riri agreed.
But Nebula looked at them completely confused. "What are you talking about?"
"Haven't you ever seen Raiders Of The Lost Ark?" Cassie asked.
Nebula shook her head.
"When you break into a place called the Temple of the Power Stone, there's probably gonna be a bunch of booby traps or something!"
At this, Nebula just shook her head and walked into the Temple.
"Wow, and she just walks right in." Riri said sarcastically. "Frick that."
Riri's helmet came up again and she slowly walked in, Kamala right behind her. Cassie instead had shrunk down and was currently riding on Kamala's shoulder.
Meanwhile, Nebula had walked over to the other side of the room of the temple where the Orb containing the Power Stone, which was held in a cylindrical type of energy container.
Knowing that the energy would burn and destroy her fleshly hand, Nebula took her robotic arm and pushed it through the force field. The three girls watched as the Guardian pushed through and grabbed the Orb before pulling it out of the field.
She had done it, Nebula had retrieved the Orb with the Power Stone.
Turning back, she walked over to the girls and held it out for the, Riri taking it. As she did, the eyes of Cassie and Kamala were on the woman cyborg's arm, slightly smoking from the energy of the force field. They were surprised that it didn't hurt, but were glad at it at the same time. She looked at her arm and was examining it with a look of longing. As if she missed her actual arm...which she did.
"Are you ok?" Kamala asked, concern in her voice.
Nebula looked up to her and had a solemn look on her face. "I wasn't always like this."
It was obvious what she meant, and it helped that she didn't have to explain. It was an unspoken understanding.
"Me either." Riri said. "Hell, none of us were. Before all of this, our lives could almost be called..."
"Normal," Cassie helped her.
"Right...it's not easy all the time. So you sometimes replace with anger and you might push those away that try to help you."
The blue cyborg felt tears coming up as she listened to the words. It was surprising to think that a girl so young could understand and relate to her. Yet here she was, speaking exactly what Nebula had gone through on the inside for years in the past.
"But lemme tell you, when you finally let them in and slowly begin to accept the help, and the love that comes with it...it makes it all worth it." Cassie and Kamala smiled and they could tell Riri was talking about herself and how she opens up to them. And they couldn't agree more.
"Still hard at times, though," Cassie added, gaining a nod from Kamala and Riri, "but we work with the best we got, right?
At that, Nebula nodded, almost wanting to cry from being understood and liked by ones as young as these. And it only increased when Kamala stepped up and pulled her into a hug. The gesture shocked Nebula as she wasn't really used to it. The only one she really remember hugging her was her sister, Gamora. And Peter, when he and her were drifting in space years ago. Now, Kamala was doing it. That warm feeling that came with the embrace began to run through Nebula.
Feeling moved by it, she slowly brought her arms up and returned the hug with Kamala. Seeing this and smiling at it, Cassie jumped in and embraced them both while Riri stood there watching. That is until Kamala stretched one of her arms out and pulled her into the group hug. Riri couldn't help but laugh with her and finally gave into the hug.
A few seconds passed and the group came back to the now.
"Alright, let's sync up, ladies." Riri spoke up, pulling out of the group hug. This resulted in smiles from Cassie and Kamala as they knew that rough exterior of hers. But they did as was ordered, as did Nebula, and synced their TT-GPS's and their Quantum Suits came up.
"Ready?" They all nodded and their helmets came up, ready to go. "Okay. Three.. two.. one..."
They all pressed the button and were out of there. Or so they thought.
Little did the three Avengers know that as they were transported back to 2028, something was happening with Nebula. Something that would lead to a very big challenge in the very near future...
And ba-boom! π₯π₯π₯Next chapter done! I loved this one because I got to do another emotional piece with Nebula, I love seeing her interact with others and have a moment with it too. And, to have it with these three other girls who have in some ways been broken, I think that's just great. So yeah ππ. Sorry or the delay, but it's here. Just two more Stones left: the Space Stone and the Soul Stone!π« Then we're home free. I hope you guys are still with me. ππ
For those of you wanting me to keep updating this story, I think you'll be happy to know that I've been hard at work on the sequels to this fic. They'll follow the Next Avengers on their solo adventures until it's time for them to come together again. Now I don't want to give away TOO too much but the titles will be revealed soon. ππExpect more from Jamie, Torunn, Viv, everyone! I'm sure you guys will love them.π―
Well, that's it for now. Lmk what you guys thought and I'll see you guys in the next chapter. Adios! β β
