A/N: So, here's the next chapter everyone. I won't say much except that Maria experiences some not so great side effects of the necklace. Enjoy.
Nebula looked Maria up and down and then at Emily who was now sitting up right with another bruise along her jaw and a split lip, watching as the two women circled each other, trying to find the others weak spot.
Nebula kicked under Maria's feet, only for the younger woman to dodge the kick. While the two were distracted, Emily inched along the wall towards the light switch, knowing that Maria had better eye sight in the darkness than most agents, but Emily didn't have to.
There were several explosions in the distance that caused the lights to go out unanimously. The alarms were blaring and the emergency lights turned on in the hall way.
Nebula paused, listening for any movement. The whisper of footsteps to her left, making her turn towards them. The assassin lashed out blindly, only for Maria to grab her arm in a tight, bone crushing grip. Something she wouldn't have been able to do if she hadn't been wearing the necklace. The agent kicked Nebula in the stomach with such a force that the other woman flew to the other side of the room.
Maria approached Nebula so fast that Nebula almost didn't have time to react. She shot Maria with her blaster, sending Maria in a heap, sliding across the floor until she hit the lower part of the wall. Hard, but not hard enough.
Pain shot through her entire body as she tried to get up. The woman's head was throbbing and she was dizzy. The room was spinning as she looked around to see Nebula aiming a kick towards her face.
She ducked and rolled to the right to avoid the blow, kicking out her feet and in turn, kicking Nebula's feet right out from under her. The force in which the other woman hit the ground should have knocked her unconscious, but it only left a dent in the floor.
Maria took this moment to get up and reach for her gun, only to realize that it had fallen out of it's holster when Nebula blasted her. Nebula decided to take Maria's distraction as a chance to reach her leg up and kick Maria in the face and kicking her in the stomach with her other leg. When Maria hit the ground, Nebula took this chance to grab Maria's gun and aimed it at her.
"Get up!" Nebula snapped, aiming the weapon at the agents head.
Emily could hear the sound of fighting from where she now stood at the doorway, helplessly watching as Maria put her arms up in surrender and got into a kneeling position, knowing that it wouldn't be wise to do anything with the other having the upper hand.
The blue woman circled Maria, the gun still pointed at her.
"It really is a shame that you took the child back. She would have made an exceptional assassin. Would have made my father proud," She started, her gaze moving to Emily, "Or perhaps even your sister. She's an exceptional fighter. But he simply will not do. Not made to fight. He's simply nothing more than a shield. You know who i'm talking about? The one Emily speaks highly of? The soldier?" Nebula taunted, moving to stand behind Maria, failing to notice Emily leave the room.
At the mention of Steve, Maria's heart started beating a mile a minute.
"Look, you can beat me, torture me, or even kill me and take the stone. But whatever you do, don't touch him," She started, letting out a shaky sigh, "And leave my family-and Lilith-out of this."
Nebula knew she hit a soft spot when she mentioned the child and Emily, but an even softer spot when she mentioned Steve.
"Oh, I will take the necklace. And even the stone inside it, but not until you're begging for me to kill you," She said, moving the gun up to press against Maria's head, "Or maybe i'll save myself the trouble and just kill you now."
Maria closed her eyes, waiting for the blow to come.
But it didn't.
She did, however, hear a loud zapping sound and the gun hit the ground with a clatter, which was accompanied with a loud thud.
The usually cool-headed woman was now on the verge of tears as she turned around to see Coulson standing with Emily, holding a strange looking gun that had a blue glow to it. She had never been so happy to see him than she was in that moment.
"What the hell is that?" She asked as she got up. Her vision was still fuzzy and the dizziness and throbbing in her head seemed to get worse. She had a sense of nausea when she walked towards them, having to grip Emily's shoulder to keep balanced.
"It's a prototype that FitzSimmons are working on. The night night gun."
"We're not actually calling it that, are we?" Emily asked, crossing her arms.
Phil shrugged and left with Maria, who was now sporting bruises on her face with several cuts and pain shot through her body with every step she took. She knew that she had a broken rib or two and a probable concussion. The two of them summoned another agent, and they left Emily and the agent to bring Nebula to the detention level.
Maria and Coulson shot any of Nebula and Thanos' men that got in their way, and each time Maria shot someone, the dizziness and pain got worse and worse.
Kill him. Kill him now. A voice in the back of her head kept telling her, and she knew that the necklace was trying to control her. It would be a matter of time before she gave in.
"Maria! Phil!" Steve called, running up to the two agents, "Where's Emily?"
"She's with Agent Somers. They're bringing Nebula to the detention level." Maria slowly responded, earning a look from Coulson.
"How's the battle going? Any casualties?"
"A few. Not very many actually, most of the agents are injured more than anything. We need to calm the other guy down so Bruce can help take care of the injured and_" He started, cutting himself off when he noticed how pale Maria looked, "Are you okay?" He asked, noticing the cuts and bruises.
"Yes..I'm fine." She answered, looking increasingly confused. Her eyes were dilated and the nausea in her stomach was becoming worse.
"No. You're not."
No one was expecting what she would do next. She ran, nearly running into Peter and Gamora as she made her way to the bathroom and tried to push all the thoughts from her head. Trying to stop the necklace from trying to control her.
Kill everyone. Now.
The difference between what Emily went through with the necklace and what she was going through, she actually was doing pretty good at not giving into the necklace. Emily had been a thirteen-year-old, who was easily influenced at the time. A lot had changed since then.
She kept pushing the thoughts to the back of her head, running into the bathroom and ignoring the pain and dizziness as she locked the door.
Emily walked up from the detention level as agents frantically rushed around, and she immediately knew that something was wrong when she saw agents crowding around the bathroom..
"Fury! What's going on?" She asked, walking up to the director. The look on his face gave her all she needed to know, "Fury, where's Maria?"
When Fury didn't answer, she turned towards the crowd and started pushing past the crowd of agents.
The sight she saw made her stop in her tracks. Maria was passed out on the bathroom floor, and Steve was kneeling at her side, willing her to wake up. The rest of the Avengers and the guardians stood behind him, not wanting to crowd around Maria incase she were to wake up without warning.
The sixteen-year-old knelt down next to Maria, opposite Steve to check for a pulse. It was there, but barely.
One thing was for certain. If her sister was going to live, she needed to get to a hospital. Maria would die without medical attention.
A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review and I shall give you a cookie :)
(::) -see?