Chapter 7
"So... What do they say?" Peter asks and I look at him.
"It says a bunch of letters. That I might not even be translating correctly."
"Ya could a'ways use one 'a 'em visors, girl."
"Why didn't I think of that?" I roll my eyes and look at the letters some more. "I don't have my visor. The Kree destroyed it. They destroyed most of my stuff. Other than my weapons. Which they took for themselves." I arrange the letters the same way they were originally and softly read them aloud. "'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good?' Why does that sound familiar?" I chew on the end of the pen a bit as I think and freeze slightly when I remember.
"The Maurder's Map. That's why it sounds familiar. One point to geeks that wished they could go to that school," I smirk and go over to find the book it's from, picking it up from the floor by the bookshelf. "Alright..." I thumb through it and find another clue in the other language. "Seriously?" I rub my face and take a deep breath to stay calm, looking at Yondu. "You got one of those visors?"
"'Ere, kid." Kraglin tosses me one and I attach it where it needs to go, setting up the brain waves part quickly.
"'Preciate it, dude." I activate it and look at the clue. "'What can be played but isn't a board game, has keys but no locks, has hammers but no nails, has pedals but isn't a bicycle, and can be tuned but isn't a radio? When you figure it out, look with the hammers.'" I murmur and think, tapping my finger against the open book. "Played with keys, hammers, and pedals that can be tuned... Piano." I go over to the piano and lift the lid of it, looking around the hammers and underside of the lid for anything.
"What's that?" Indri points to something and I look where he was pointing.
"Coordinates and a note. 'Raziah, this is your life source. Keep it protected and, with some help, you can take it with you.' Wait, seriously? Cool..." I put the coordinates into my wrist com and look at it, entering them again.
"What?"
"It's saying it's here... On Terra..."
"That makes sense, Rogue. But, if the Kree are aware of that, where are they?" Indri looks at me and I deactivate my visor.
"How about we don't wait around to find out?" He nods and I set up a path to get me to the life source. "At least it's close." I shrug and follow the path, Indri walking by my side while we talk. "It's time you learned our secret code for when you need to drop to the ground. And make sure the Avengers and Morgan know it, too." He nods and looks at me.
I pause at the edge of the frozen water behind the cabin and have Indri stay there. "I doubt the ice is sturdy enough to hold two people. So, hold onto my stuff for me, alright?" He nods and I take off my jacket, gloves, boots, and weapon holsters, leaving my arrow on me.
"You want to take your long sleeve off too?" He scoffs and I think about it.
"That's a good idea." I do that and he rolls his eyes as I give him my visor too.
"I was being sarcastic, Rogue."
"OK. And?" I look at the wrist com and he notices.
"It's a newer model that lasts for a while in the water. It'll be fine if you fall in." I nod and continue to follow the path across the frozen water. "Don't fall in!" I flip him off and compare my location to where the life source is, looking around. "What?"
"It's supposed to be here! So, I guess that it's in the water!" He looks at me and I pop my knuckles slightly.
"Do you know how to swim?" Loki calls and I look at him, confused as to when he and the other Avengers got there.
"Yeah... Why?" He doesn't respond and Thor throws his hammer at my feet when Loki motions for him to do so.
The ice cracks beneath my feet and I nod slightly, annoyed. The ice gives and I'm plunged into icy waters. I emerge to the surface and tread water, shaking my head slightly.
"Loki, remind me to kick your fucking ass!"
"Duly noted! However, I suggest finding your life source first," He calls and I glare at him, taking a deep breath before diving back into the icy waters to find the life source.
I swim to the bottom of the water and use some of the vegetation there to help me stay down while I search for the life source, lungs burning after a little while. I make the vegetation shrivel up enough to let me go and emerge from the surface, gasping for a few moments to catch my breath before diving in again, determined to find it before the Kree got there.
I surface every two minutes or so and the crowd at the edge of the water grows while my body temperature lowers from being in the glacial water. I descend into the water again and continue to search the bottom for my life source, focused on finding it.
I see something glowing from inside of a chest and swim over to it, rolling my eyes slightly. Seriously, Mom? Sunken treasure? Gods... I open the chest and pull out a jar of dirt? I hold the jar and see the glowing object, pulling out a closed compass. I hold onto both and swim to the surface, slipping the compass into my pocket as I do.
"Hello, 22-3-16," A Kree says as two more pull me out of the hole in the ice and I see that the crowd was being detained by other Kree soldiers. They take me over and throw me to my knees in front of the crowd, keeping me there with a sword to the back of my neck. "We had to bring all of our armies, civilians turned into army soldiers, and royalty here to find all of you. Do you know why that is?"
"Because you finally realized we're bigger and badder than you are?" I grit my teeth against the pain that explodes across my shoulders at that statement and a Kree royalty smirks from where they had Yondu in the same position as me, minus the pain but with a gag. Kraglin, Morgan, and Indri were being held with blasters to their heads and I glance at the three of them, before settling on Yondu again. "Hey, Gramps. Quick question. You trust me?" He looks at me like I was crazy and I grin my version of his knife smirk at him before he barely nods.
"Don't ignore me, slave 22-3-16." The pain explodes across my shoulders again and I growl slightly.
"Of course. You're right. I should give you all of the attention you deserve. Every last one of you. But, first. I have one request."
"Never let it be said that I am an unreasonable owner. What is your request?" I make eye contact with Yondu then Kraglin, then Morgan, and finally Indri, and holding it with him.
"Don't hurt my family," They do as we're supposed to, dropping to the ground, and I whistle sharply to have my arrow slice through Yondu's gag, rolling away from the Kree. "Indri!" He slides me my blaster and I go over to him quickly, blasting the Kree next to him. "Eat blaster, you Kree son of a bitch!" I guard Indri with my body and blast Kree, whistling others as I attach my visor again. Yondu whistles some and Kraglin stabs some while the rest were blasting them, the Avengers using their abilities to their advantage.
"Rogue! Get Morgan somewhere safe!" Pepper yells and I grab Indri, running over to where Morgan was hiding after she ran. She lets me pick her up and I run into the woods a bit, blasting any Kree that followed me. I set them on the ground and give Indri a spare blaster and Morgan the compass.
"Keep that safe and keep each other safe." I hug both of them and twist my wrists, tree branches coming down to surround them before carrying them to the treetops where they couldn't be seen easily due to the darkness that an early sunset brought on. I run back to the fight and whistle to get a Kree off of Natasha.
"Thanks." I help her up and she starts to say something when I feel electricity erupt at the base of my skull, yelling in pain. The pain turns to anger when it keeps going and I grab the electric stick from the Kree, using it on them as a club, bludgeoning them to death easily. I snap off an icicle from a nearby tree branch and throw it through another Kree's eye before whistling them dead. I whistle to go check on the kids and they're fine so I continue fighting, keeping my arrow by the kids.
I see someone sneak into the woods and follow them quickly and quietly. They shapeshift into me and tell the kids to blast a hole in the ball of branches so they can toss the life source down. I kill the Skrull and climb a tree, using my arrow to help end the fight while using my blaster on any Kree or Skrull that comes this way.
Once Kraglin sends me a message that it was over, I get the kids down and go to the battlefield, seeing a small group of people left alive. I go over and one of them was Kree royalty, one was the leader of the army, and the third was a Skrull. "Whose idea was it to destroy Jay Feltch's life source?" They say nothing and I take the compass from Morgan, looking it over a bit. "I'm going to give you until the count of ten to tell me what I want to know. If you don't... Well," I use my new fighting staff to tilt up the Kree royalty's chin to look at me and smirk coldly. "Let's just say Tressit taught me a few things on how to make someone suffer. And I will enjoy it. Every. Single. Second," I snarl and he spits at me.
"Five. Four. Three. Two. One." None of them say anything and I slam the end of the staff into the faces of the Kree, looking at the Skrull. "I'll give you one chance and one only. Your answer will choose how you die, quick or slow. Were you part of the scheme to destroy my life source and did you help destroy Jay's?"
"No and no," They growl and I look at them while Pepper takes the kids away from the bodies and blood.
"Kraglin?" He comes over and looks down at the Skrull.
"You're going to have a slave kill me?" They scoff and I slam the end of the staff into their mouth, shutting them up. Kraglin blasts them between the eyes and they fall to the ground, green blood staining the snow beneath them.
Pain explodes in my foot and I look to see that the Kree army leader had stabbed me in the foot with the knife he stole from me. I pull it out and look at him. "Thanks for giving me my knife back." I stab him in the throat and pull my knife out, letting him fall to the ground to bleed out as I look at the Kree royalty. "Last chance to have a quick death, jackass. Whose idea what is to destroy Jay's life source?"
"Mine. We were wasting too many resources to get the two of you back just to kill you. So, we... How do you say it? Cut out the middle man, yes?" He smirks at me and laughs.
"I see." I grab the collar of his clothes and throw him into a tree, causing it to splinter and crack around his body. I pop my knuckles and look at him as he struggles to his feet, walking over to him. He pulls out my katana and swings it at me, his form terrible. I block it with my staff and send it flying into the air, catching it while pointing the staff at him. "What? Was swordsmanship not a class for you, asshole?" He attacks me and I trip him as I move to the side, taking the Saya from his side before slipping my katana back in it. I toss it to Kraglin and he catches it.
"Die!" The Kree tries to stab me and I sidestep while he turns the blade to stab me in the shoulder, smirking as he lets go of the blade.
"That's not a fair fight, now is it?" I hit him across the back with the staff and move to the side, tossing the staff to Drax while taking the knife out of my shoulder. "You guys are invested in using my stuff to kill me, aren't you?" I toss the knife behind me and look at the Kree as he stands.
"I told you what you wanted to know. Why haven't you killed me?"
"Oh, well. If we had written up a contract, the fine print would have read that the offer is voided if you were the one that destroyed his life source, thus meaning I can do whatever the fuck I please when it comes to your untimely demise."
"What?"
"You killed him, the offer of dying quickly is gone, and I get to do what I want to kill you. Life's a bitch, ain't it?" I smirk and he lunges at me, knocking us both to the ground. "Oh, that's adorable." I flip him over my head so he lands hard on his back before I roll into a crouch and watch him try to catch his breath, watching the rapid fall and rise of his chest, his fingers twitching.
He gets up and growls at me. "You are a slave! You have no right to do this!"
"Wrong." He comes at me and I sweep his legs easily, watching as he falls into the snow again. He swipes snow into my face and knocks me into the snow, pressing a blade to my throat.
"Today is the day you die, Slave 22-3-16."
"Wrong again," I smirk and take the blade as I flip us so I'm pinning him to the ground with the knife to his throat. "I'm not dying today. And my name isn't a number. And, last but not least, I ain't a slave. Have fun wherever the Hell you're going and I hope it isn't pleasant." I shove his head back and stab him through the throat, maintaining eye contact as the life slowly drains from his.
I take my knife out of his throat and wipe the blood off on his clothes before twirling it around my fingers, looking it over as I stand. "Rogue!" Indri runs over to me and I kneel to catch him in a hug, barely managing to keep us upright. I hold him out in front of me and look him over, patting him gently.
"You alright, kid?" He nods and I nod back a bit. "Good, good."
"Are you OK? Your shoulder's bleeding..." I look at my left shoulder and it was bleeding kinda badly, pain starting to come in since the adrenaline was wearing off.
"Oh. See, I forgot that even happened," I scoff and he looks at me, simply pressing his fingers against it. I grab his wrist and move it away from my shoulder, teeth grit against the pain that he brought on. "Y'know, there's this chemical reaction in my body called adrenaline and when that's pumping, I don't feel pain. And it's wearing off, so I remember that I got stabbed in the shoulder. Didn't need you to press against it, you little shit."
"Then don't be an idiot." He shrugs and I glare at him, hitting him on the side of the head.
"Smartass isn't a good look on you, kid." I stand and he shrugs one shoulder, handing me my boots. "What? Did you use my boots as weapons? Hold them by the laces and spin them around?" I scoff and he looks at me.
"Yes."
"Oh. OK, then." I chuckle and pull them onto my feet, lacing them up quickly.
"You're gonna get sick if you don't change your clothes," He says simply and I roll my eyes, looking at him as I finish lacing my left boot.
"Last I knew, my mother was dead. You gonna become her now?" I smirk and lace up my right boot when he just glares at me.
"You're an idiot."
"Guess I did get something from Dad other than his stubborn streak, then."
"Guess so." He rolls his eyes and I stand, dusting my pants off.
"You got my stuff? Cuz, I gave it to you to hold onto. And if you don't have it, I'll kick your ass."
"I'm, like... Twenty years younger than you! You can't kick my ass!"
"Says who? Kraglin kicked my ass when I was your age. So, I can kick yours. For teaching methods, of course. And I'm twenty-five years older than you. Where's my stuff, Indri?" He grabs my stuff from behind a tree and throws them at me. "Ah, yes. Tantrums. Gather up what didn't make it to me and give them here." He glares at me but does as I say and hands my stuff to me. I ruffle his hair and take it, holding the shirt and jacket over my arm.
"Your arm's still bleeding." I press my hand against my shoulder and it comes back bloody.
"Very good observation. C'mon." I nudge him toward the cabin and we walk side by side back.
"Where we going?"
"Hell in a handbasket."
"Seriously?"
"Well, I mean..." He hits me in the leg and I laugh. "I need to be able to clean my stab wound up so that I can bandage it up and I need dry clothes. And to figure out how to take this 'with me', kid." I toss the compass slightly and look at it.
"Hey, question."
"Shoot."
"What's the best way to make you look like an idiot?"
"Not gonna answer that cuz then it'd make me an idiot."
"Damn." I roll my eyes and go to get changed into some dry clothes, taking the stairs two at a time. "I'll ask Gramps and Kraglin," He calls after me and I just shut the bathroom door, going to take a shower too so I can warm up.