I'm Done Listening To Peter Quill
The guards had pulled the rubble of the Nova ship off of the Guardians, Dey, Alexi, and Courtney. They had been cuffed and now all of them were being marched down the halls of Sanctuary towards their inevitable doom. At least, that's how Courtney saw it. All the guards were decked out in metallic armor with helmets covering their faces entirely. They carried large guns that were taller than Courtney and possibly heavier. Her eyes darted around, scoping out the area like Alexi had taught her. All escape routes were either closed off, heavily guarded, or invisible. The dim light made it harder to distinguish a stationary shadow from a moving one and made it harder to anticipate what was going to be around the next corner. Suddenly the procession stopped midway down a hall. Courtney strained to see what had caused the pause but couldn't see over the guards.
"At ease dear soldiers. These guests are not dangerous, yet." A voice spoke from up front. The guards parted to allow a man to walk up to the group of prisoners. He looked to be your average Earth man, except the orange eyes and blue hair of course. He wore black army boots, black gloves, a plain yellow jumpsuit, and an open lab coat with a shiny name-tag on the pocket. His name was Hijinx. The name was very familiar to Courtney. Dey had mentioned it, this guy was the scientist responsible for the three entities that had possessed them.
"Sir Hijinx we have direct orders from Thanos to bring these two to him at once." The head guard spoke up. His voice was robotic but his movements fluid as he indicated Alexi and Courtney. Courtney felt her blood run cold as Hijinx gave a slightly crazed laugh.
Hijinx pushed past the guard and approached Courtney, his lab coat swirling around his legs like a dog following its owner. She tried to step away from him but the guards behind her prevented that. "Oh don't worry Corporal, these girls are still mine. I have not yet sold them to Thanos. Technically I have the right to make sure their powers are fully unlocked before I give them up to destroy the galaxy." Courtney felt her eyes widen. They were supposed to do what now?!
Apparently the others were thinking the same thing. "Destroy the galaxy! C'mon man! What type of sick wackjob would kidnap a bunch of kids and poison them with some sort of element only to have them go and do a bunch of evil shit with it? Plus, what's the galaxy ever done that was so bad to you to make you wanna use some lab experiments to get rid of it?" Peter shouted. Hijinx turned to him with a look of disgust on his face.
"I do not give responses to Terran scum such as yourself." He replied curtly.
"Okay first, half Terran. Second, you just did give me a response." Peter clarified. Hijinx's uncaring expression barely changed a fraction of a millimeter as he backhanded Peter across the face so hard blood spat out of his mouth.
"Okay men." Hijinx turned away from the shocked Peter. "Grab those two and follow me." He motioned to Alexi and Courtney who were promptly grabbed by two of the guards and pulled after Hijinx.
"Don't worry guys!" Rocket called after them. "We'll think of somethin!"
"Yeah!" Peter shouted as well, wiping blood from his mouth. "I'm already devising a plan!"
"It's your stupid plan that got us into this mess in the first place!" Alexi screamed. It echoed off the walls and rang down the hall with a force Courtney wasn't entirely sure was human. "It's finished, I'm done listening to you Peter Quill!"
The lab was brighter than Courtney had expected. It wasn't like, 'alien spacecraft from the movies' white but more like 'hospital that just got a glowup' white. A metal table with padded arm, leg, and head rests was elevated in the middle of the room. Assorted needles, scalpels, fluids, and other surgery items were laying around, sanitized and ready for use. A row of wall computer tablet things stretched across the back of the room. What looked like coding numbers ran across the screens, emitting some kind of data.
"Well if they were going for a futuristic Frankenstein's lab they sure as hell nailed it." Alexi whispered to Courtney. Sarcasm seemed to be Alexi's number one way to cope with a life or death situation. The guards stepped forward and roughly pushed the two into the center of the room. Hijinx then entered and shut the door. Alexi and Courtney struggled against their captors holding them but they were stronger than they looked, keeping them in one position without even straining.
"Now that we have the girls all we need is that stupid element stealing stone." Hijinx remarked. Courtney and Alexi exchanged looks of confusion. What did this psycho need the Infinity Stone for? Hijinx must've noticed their look because one moment he was standing near the door and the next he was grabbing Alexi by her collar and lifting her up into the air. "Do you know where the stone is?" He asked in his eerily calm voice.
"Even if I did know," Alexi growled. "Who said I would tell you?" Hijinx stared at her for a few seconds before throwing her to the ground.
"I don't believe you." Hijinx motioned to the one guard. "Put her on the table. If she won't tell me where the stone is on her own accord than I guess we'll have to do this the hard way." As the guard grabbed Alexi Courtney wracked her brain for where the Infinity Stone could be. The last time she had seen it was on Earth. Could it still be there? Even if it wasn't, the lie was worth a try.
Alexi was being strapped down onto the table and thrashing like crazy, trying in vain to bite one of the hands holding her down. "Stop!" Courtney shouted. "I know where the stone is!" Hijinx acted like he couldn't hear her. "I said stop!" Courtney shouted louder. Hijinx just smiled a cruel smile at her.
"Oh sweetie." He crowed. "Do you really think I'd believe a word you say?" He laughed. "No, I want to hear it from her mouth." Hijinx indicated towards Alexi who was now completely immobile. Still she was writhing and twisting as best as she could to loosen the straps binding her to the table. "Now let's begin." Hijinx nodded to the guard poised over Alexi like a hungry hawk. The guard turned around and presented Hijinx with a small platter filled with small sharp knives. He selected a silver knife with a tip pointed like a dagger.
"If Courtney says she knows where the stone is then listen to her!" Alexi snarled, her eyes trained on the knife. "I don't know anything." She remarked defiantly. Hijinx shook his head.
"Oh my dear, that is entirely the wrong answer." Then, without his eyes ever leaving hers, Hijinx plunged the surgical knife into Alexi's thigh.
Peter knew something was wrong the moment he heard the scream. The guards had been marching them quickly down the hall ever since Hijinx had taken Courtney and Alexi. Gamora was the only one who knew this place and its layout but they weren't allowed to talk among themselves. When the scream echoed past them and down the corridor the guards halted part in shock and part in confusion.
"That was Alexi!" The Guardians exclaimed together.
"How could you tell?" Dey asked in confusion. They didn't answer him, instead Peter kicked his leg up and sent the guard closest to him flying into the wall, taking down two other guards at the same time. Gamora dropped out of the shocked guards eyesight and quickly knocked them over with a few slicing jabs to their legs and stomachs. Rocket wriggled his small wrists out of the over-sized cuffs and grabbed a gun from one of the guards Gamora had knocked over. The last three remaining guards, who were converging on Peter, fell writhing to the ground as Rocket took them out with expert shots.
"We need to get out of the hallway before reinforcements come." Gamora said as she unhooked the keys to the cuffs from one of the guards belts. Soon Dey, Peter, Gamora, and Rocket were running back down the hall towards where the scream had come from. Before they could get more than a few yards though, another wave of 20 soldiers came racing at them with guns blazing.
Gamora drew her sword, Peter his element guns, Rocket the large soldier gun, and Dey his Nova pistol. The guards rushed them but they were ready. Gamora sliced and diced at bodies, her sword breaking through the metal armor of the guards. Rocket and Dey sent soldiers writhing in pain to the ground while streams of water and fire shot out of Peter's gun to drive back more approaching forces. After about three minutes of endless fighting they realized that the soldiers just kept on coming no matter how much they killed or drove them back.
"What're we gonna do?" Rocket shouted to Peter. "I don't know how much longer we can fight these guys!" Peter took down two guards with an electrical blast from his gun and drove four more back with a spray of fire.
"I'm not sure Rock!" He called over the sounds of Gamora's sword and Dey's pistol at work. "Thanos has an infinite amount of Sakaaran soldiers according to Gamora!"
Rocket fired three quick shots from the gun in his hands before leaping over a fallen Sakaaran and landing next to Peter's ankle. "Well the last time I checked, there wasn't an infinite amount of us!" He hollered.
As Peter went to answer him and loud declaration of "I AM GROOT!" was heard. Groot, having been left behind under the Nova wreckage, bust through the soldiers in his scrawny but powerful form. Apparently mortal danger made him gain a growth sprout. He was no taller than Gamora and about as wide as Peter but he still packed a mighty punch as he flung three guards out of the way with one swipe.
"Groot's out of the pot a little early." Peter murmured. None of that mattered as Groot knocked over the remaining soldiers with a mighty swing of his arm. Now the hallway was clear, except for the Sakaaran bodies littering the floor.
"C'mon." Gamora motioned for the others to follow her as they finished retracing their steps back to where Hijinx had first grabbed Courtney and Alexi. Then they went down the hall they had watched Hijinx take and crept along until they met a fork in the road.
Dey looked down one hall and then the next. "I don't see them." He turned back to the Guardians. "Any ideas where they might be?" Before someone could answer him a banshee sounding shriek came echoing down from the left hall. They all took off running after the noise, eardrums dying from the sound. "Man, someone's got a set of pipes." Dey remarked under his breath.
A solid metal door was bolted at the end of the hall but it didn't last against a fire blast from Peter and a sharp kick from Gamora. The rag tag group entered into the lab to find Alexi on the table, blood soaking her stomach, shoulders, and thigh, and Courtney sporting some bruises and a black eye hanging limply in the two guards grasp. Hijinx stood over Alexi as he yanked a long knife out of her shoulder. She had two wounds to her thigh, one to her stomach, and three to her shoulders.
"Why hello there Guardians!" Hijinx smiled. "Welcome to my humble little lab!" He motioned to the room around them with the blood soaked knife. "I do hope you don't mind watching my little interrogation." As he spoke he slid the knife down Alexi's right arm, drawing a light stream of blood.
Rocket aimed his gun at Hijinx's chest. "What're you interrogating them about? They don't know anything 'bout space." His gaze swiveled around. "And this looks more like hitting and slicing than interrogating."
Hijinx shrugged. "Well when I say I'm interrogating your friend apparently little water sprite here likes to try to play hero. That can earn you some nice marks on your person honey." Hijinx crooned at Courtney. He laughed. "You Guardians don't realize what you've interrupted. Thanos will have my head if he knows I hurt his elementals." Hijinx sighed. "Which is why the interrogation must end soon." Hijinx stabbed Alexi right in her new stomach wound and twisted the knife. A scream loud enough to break glass left her mouth.
Courtney raised her head up and looked at the Guardians, her eyes glassy and unfocused. "They want to know about Reality." She whispered. Instantly all the Guardians remembered the orb on Earth, buried underneath Milano wreckage.
"Look here Hijinx buddy." Peter started. "Let them both go, and we'll tell you where the Infinity Stone is." Hijinx let out a chortled laugh.
"And what? Ruin all my fun?" He smiled a cruel psychotic smile. "I don't think so friends." Hijinx held the knife to Alexi's ribs as Rocket fired his gun. Hijinx was sent sprawling backwards against the wall. The two guards drew their weapons, dropping Courtney limply to the floor. Pandemonium broke out.
Gamora took her sword to Guard 1 who quickly evaded her sword. A look of shock fell over Gamora's face. She sent a spiral kick up into the guards face. The helmet and visor over their face broke in half. Nebula's face was underneath. "Hello sister." Nebula growled. Drawing her own sword the two sisters went into a mad duel.
Meanwhile the other guard was taking shots at the Guardians while ducking under and around equipment to avoid Dey and Rocket's wild blasts. Groot was being Courtney's support beam as he helped her off the floor while Peter unstrapped Alexi and started putting compression on her heavily bleeding stomach wound. "You two will be okay." Peter shouted over the sounds of gunfire and swords clashing.
"All this chaos, and for what?" Courtney asked as her still unfocused eyes surveyed the battle waging around them. "Sisters fighting each other, stray bullets pinging off priceless work, death and destruction following in the wake of every step." She looked Peter in the eye. "Where does it all end?" She asked. Peter had no answer for her. "I hate it all!" She screamed. "All outer space has shown me is pain and suffering! All the stories make the cosmos seem like a beautiful and perfect heaven for those seeking refuge from their horrible war torn lives, even the stupid rock showed me that when I touched it! Instead all this is just Earth, but worse." She stood up on shaky legs, brushing Groot to the side as her strength came back. "I hate it all." She whispered. Then louder. "I HATE IT ALL!" Her wail drew the attention of everyone, even the near delirious Alexi.
Courtney's whole body convulsed. Groot went to grab her as her legs nearly gave way beneath her. Instead, a wave of water swelled up and around her. It hoisted her up as her whole body transformed into a cascading waterfall. Her bandanna transformed into a flowing river of water hair that rippled with waves. A beautiful dress of water flowed over her blue skin. The water swelled up and around her like a protective shield. Everyone watched in shock as Courtney stood before them as a flowing water sprite. Then with a wave of her hand a wave came out of nowhere and swept Nebula, the guard, Dey, Hijinx, and all the Guardians out the door.
Peter sat up, spluttering on water from Courtney's wave. He heard Alexi coughing beside him. Peter leaned over and put his hand back over her stomach wound to stem the continuous blood flow. When his hand found her stomach her whole body sparked up into flames. Peter lept backwards in fear as Alexi rose up into the air, her whole being a deadly inferno. "I think I can heal myself Peter Quill." Alexi smiled as her orange-red fire skin melded her wounds back together. Everyone was stunned in silence as Alexi and Courtney, fire and water stood together.
"Oh and Peter," Alexi grinned. "I'm done listening to your stupid plans." Then Alexi and Courtney both took off down the hall. Alexi hovering with swirling tendrils of fire and Courtney riding on a semi tidal wave rising underneath her. The Guardians and Dey quickly chased after them, leaving the guard, Nebula, and Hijinx floating in the aftermath of Hurricane Courtney.
When the Guardians turned the corner they followed closely behind the two elementals as they headed towards what could only be Thanos chambers. Loud shouts were heard coming from the end of the maze they had been trapped in for the past near hour. Just as they were getting ready for an onslaught of guards rushing to stop their approach two figures came flying around the corner and crashed into Alexi and Courtney.
"Harmony, Drax!" Alexi shouted with joy.
Harmony jumped to her feet in a rush. "No time for talk, just run!"
AN: Sorry I haven't updated in months. School is coming to an end so that means tests and field trips and finishing study units and concerts and stuff. So less time to write. I promise to start up more regular updates with the next book. If you can't tell this one is coming to a close. Only two or three more chapters before the end, so sad. Anyway, hope you all enjoy this long chapter!