Whatever It Takes
Leaving most of their weapons behind, the guardians lined up one by one until they were in the drop chamber. Wanting to remain hidden the only weapons they had we Venom, Nebula’s arm and their shared combat skills but it wasn’t like they needed them. This was going to be a quick in and out.
Adjusting the Zune was easy as Quill quickly settled on the song “In the meantime” By Spacehog. Only a band with a name like that could be fit for this space walk on an organic implant business. “Alright people once we get down there Nebula will open up an breach before we all slip inside. After that we split into two groups: Mantis and Drax, you guys keep an eye on the main open areas of this place whilst me, Vee, Nebula and Gamora hunt down what we need.” Peter explains.
Next he flips the switch before they all abruptly drop out and start floating down towards the skin like surface. The song kicks off as one by one they slowly descend down, some with more control than others aptly being that Mantis who often twirls and spins on her descent before eventually landing on her back and bouncing back up.
Soon enough they all get their footing after engaging their gravity boots, courtesy of Rocket. “That was fun.” Mantis gleefully laughs as she is the last of them to land “I’ll get us in.” Nebula announces before crouching down and engaging the fine laser built into her arm.
Between them there is silence only beaten by the sound of a quiet hum. Peter’s thoughts start to trail as he eyes Gamora. She could probably give sound advice with only minimal bias. Eyeing the various multicoloured wrist mounted buttons. Gamora was wearing the blue suit so it was most likely the blue button in order to privately talk to that suit right.
Pressing the button down it lit up for a second “Hey Gamora I was just wondering if you had any advice.” Quill inquires as the women glances up at him “On what?” She asks with a raised brow
“It’s just about everything that happened since you left us to join up with the ravagers. Well firstly I stayed on Earth for a bit then me and Thor and Venom had a kid, so now we have a symbiote son, We then got kidnapped, I nearly died, then when we got back I went on a spirit journey to see Thor’s parents, then we sorta broke up and now I sorta left him, our adopted daughter and my son there. The last of which I think is currently bonded to a pretty cool reporter dude in a complete other city.”
As soon as Peter was done with the strange recounting of events he could see how Gamora eyed him with bewilderment as Mantis suddenly chimes in with “I didn’t realise that two males and a slime alien could make children.” Before Drax adds his own two credits on the matter “That is embarrassing.” He shakes his head “You could have at least press the right button and spare us that.” He complains.
Peter looks down at the device “What do you mean? I pressed blue, for the blue suit.” Peter exclaims “Blue is the open line for everyone.” Nebula mutters nearly finished with the cutting. “Orange is for blue.” Mantis calmly explains as Peters burst out with a loud “What?!”. “Black is for orange, yellow is for green, green is for red and red is for yellow.” She continues.
Drax meanwhile lists of a different string of combinations “No, yellow is for yellow, green is for red and red is for green.” With a monotone voice and he stood of folded arms. Mantis contemplates it for a second before shaking her head “I don’t think so.” She disagrees “Try it then.” He challenges with a smirk.
“HALLLLOOOOO!!!” She shouts through the mic.
It distorts the audio and sends an ear-piercing wave of noise that sends Venom screeching out with its own scream mixing with Peter’s “AAAAHHHHH!!” before it eventually ended as Quill flutily attempted to cover his ears before he sighed as the mutual pain slowly receded “Do that again and we will kill you.” Venom threatens “Ignore him.” Peter insists as the breach slowly is pulled away. “We’re in.” Nebula mentions.
Shortly thereafter they eventually manage to slip past the gap one by one until the gap is suddenly plugged with a muffled squeak. “What’s the hold up?” Gamora hisses looking back to see Mantis and Nebula pulling Drax through the gap whilst Peter quickly moved to stop the creepy eye from spotting them for too long.
“Hurry it up, they’ll be here in seconds!” Peter orders as he looks back and sees Drax be suddenly pulled through in a floating heap of people before Nebula speeds back to reseal the gap. As she did the rest of the Guardians and Gamora removed the bulky space suits and looked around trying to spot a place to hide them. “Over here!” Mantis yells lifting a container lid and shoved the suit into it.
The others followed suit and managed to close it in time and get into a natural ‘looking position’ just as the bug-looking guards stormed past the weird organic door. “What are you doing here?” The human-headed guard asked with an eye of suspicion. Peter quickly sprung into character “What took you so long? And why are you being so careless? This whole place could have blown up with the leak we were having.” He shouts.
The guards look between themselves for a moment. “It can’t be that easy.” Venom mentally tenses “Watch.” Peter assures.
---
Sure enough its that easy
The guardians advance further into Orgocorp after splitting into the aforementioned two groups. Mantis and Drax no doubt causing some form of chaos either with each other or messing with random people, there only real job was to scout for any sources of danger such as guards that were getting a little close. Meanwhile the others began to sneak over to where a women sat at desk pressing various buttons nonchalantly.
“Alright I’m going to go in and lay on the charm, get her to tell us where they store all the info. Stay back for a minute.” Peter explains before quickly brushing his hair into position before walking over with a forced swagger before leaving heavily on the desk “You know…Ura, your smile is always beautiful. It always brightens my day and even specially when you think no one is looking.”
“You’re acting is very bad. If I was her I would have run away.”
“Shut it, we are supposed to be a team. Besides I gotta save my good flirting for you.”
“Hhmm.”
The women seems to squint for a moment but doesn’t do much beyond that as Quill continues to flirt “And honestly I was looking over this universal year’s newest top romantic places and was thinking that both should visit that new Gragori Restaurant, I hear they sell Livus Pies.” He winks as Ura gives a small smile.
Yet Gamora deemed it a waste of time and pounced from around the corner with her previously stashed gun draw “You’re going to take us to where we want to go and you’re going to take us now!” She demands finger on the trigger. “Woah wait a second this wasn’t the plan!” Peter panics stepping back.
“You’re plan was terrible, she clearly wasn’t falling for it.” Gamora scowls.
“Nah she was totally falling for it.” Quill argues.
“I actually thought you were kind of a douche.” Ura muttered.
“See?” Venom Laughs.
“Oh shut it you.” Peter thinks
“Just get us to where you store all your files and stuff so that we can take it, get out and save our friend.” He pleads putting a disappointed hand over his face. Ura looks between them as an annoyed Nebula steps forward with slouched shoulders. “This way.” Ura glances around presumably for guards before slowly walking towards another large organic door.
---
Past the various vein like halls and cartilage appearing hallways they eventually arrive at a sickly coloured room with an expansive wall of what could only be described as a bodily pinball machine where hideous graphic spheres of metal and flesh were the pinballs.
“This thing is just plain gross now.” Peter retches as the other move past him “To access them you need a code. I assume you have one if you’re going through all this effort.” Ura activates a device as the screen blinks with a series of texts describing the need for a password and authentication of some sort.
“89P13.” Nebula remembers as Ura inputs the combination before a small jingle plays. Following, the mechanisms switch and flip in place as one of the fleshy pinballs cascade down the device and eventually fell not a pool of ominous yellow-orange liquid. The captain steps towards the catch and eyes the pile with disgust “I don’t know if I wanna touch that.” He scrunches his face at the sight.
Gamora rolls her eyes “Just pick the damn thing up.” She insists eyes dropping down to the dish for a second, unbeknownst to them Ura had slipped a hand under the console and engaged the silent alarm. “Vee, could I get a glove and you take it.” Quill requests as the black material forms a clawed hand over his own before they grabbed the ball.
“Gross.” Venom shudders sending repulsion through the shard link and of course the man eating goo alien is disgusted by some unknown liquid. With the package secured the three (four) of them began to leave the room with Gamora still holding a gun the back of Ura’s head as the group slotted into an elevator. Unlike the many others they had travelled on there instead was nothing but an awkward silence.
“So like did you ever think up of that advice for me? Because I still haven’t got any more of my own input. I mean I love Thor but after everything we’ve done it’s just too convoluted for me to figure out what to do. I could go back after all this is done but that would be awkward after a while apart. I mean out daughter probably hates her loser of a step-dad. Then I think Guardian is fine. Like Eddie is nice and all but he’s also just a man so who knows if he even lived past the things need to eat some weird hormone.”
The second train of thought eventually derails once again as the women stare him down before Venom even joins the impromptu staring contest by material. “You still are missing big details. But that is the gist of it.” It rumbles deeply as the sisters share a mutual eye roll.
The elevator ride continues for a few more awkward moments before it comes to a stop “I’m just saying it wasn’t by best moment is all.” Peter shrugs as he tosses the information containing ball into the air and catches in the same symbiote covered hand before the doors peel open to reveal various guards standing in a clearly less than happy manner. “Damnit! She triggered the alarm!” Gamora realises grabbing using Ura as a human shield as she pointed between the guards. Meanwhile Nebula and Peter each took a side and pressed their backs against it for cover.
An order breaks the tension filled artificial air “Put the weapon down and come out with your hands up.” One of them shouts, his voice familiar. Probably the guy from before. “Like hell I will now move aside before a put a hole in her head and then one in yours starting with carrot top over there just to prove we’re serious!” Gamora threatens whilst the other two exchange a look as a silent plan forms.
“Hey Vee I think it’s time we tick off that request you had.”
“Great! So many heads, it will make a delicious meal.”
“I bet. Now or never, big guy!”
Peter abruptly lurched from the wall and raises his arms up in the air in a display of fake surrender “Aren’t you guys hungry? I’m sure we can all resolve this during some good old… snack time.” Venom finishes the sentence as the large monster forms with a hungry smile of fanged teeth and large white excited eyes.
He pounced forward and grabbed the first guard within reach before biting there head off in a gory display of hunger as miscoloured blood splattered against the pristine surfaces, the body was quickly discarded and remaining remnants were quickly licked away.
“Delicious.”
“What the flark is that thing? Shoot!” One of the guards instructed as panic began to set in. They all began to fire wildly as Venom lunged at the men, occasionally tearing limb from body or crushing the guard against the ground in a visceral manner. Once only one was left, the symbiote called down to an almost stalkerish prowl while it trekked towards the survivor.
Just as it was about to deliver the coup de grace and keep the head as a snack for later there was a sudden muffled crackling from a covered com device.
“Drax.. Hit… here.. To leave” a panicked voice scrambled before being answered by three words “I am Groot?” The Sentient tree asked and god if what Groot had just suggested wasn’t a bad idea that Venom didn’t know what was.
Yet it wasn’t shot down literally or figuratively as a sudden sound of a certain large ship colliding and smashing through the walls of the corporation resounded in the crashing being heard floors below as debris and blood is kicked up along with the various strewn bodies. “I swear if that is what I think it was.” Gamora shakes her head in disbelief “It was the ship.” Nebula fills in.
Venom looks down, surely one last bite couldn’t hurt but as he went to chomp down on the survivor’s head a sudden smack on the back of their head sends it looking up to reveal an angry friend “You’ve eaten plenty. Leave him alone and let’s go!” Nebula instructs as Venom releases the man before grumpily retreating back leaving a disgruntled Peter staring at the face a traumatized guard before giving a sheepish “Sorry.”
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Reuniting with the other two was something of a bittersweet reunion as Mantis supported Drax’s weight on her shoulder as she dragged the man towards the ship’s lowered ramp whilst they were surrounded by destruction and chaos, clearly having lived up the title he held dearly.
The guardians dodge the various incoming attacks from the remaining Orgocorp guards as each of them eventually throw themselves against the ramp’s cold mental surface. Groot providing a covering fire with his poor aiming resulting in numerous close call shots nearly colliding with his own team but eventually they all get onto the ship in a messy heap, some in the more literal sense, before the ship is hastily pulled back.
Even as Groot outmanoeuvred the Corporation’s AA defences, because of course the creepy company ran by the creepy guy who thinks he’s a god had stupid AA defences, the guardians are just happy to be alive and have successfully retrieved the thing they needed to save rocket.
Now just to see what was on it and pray that it saved Rocket’s life.