Raaguleh
Nebula was pulling him backwards.
His feet stumbled over rock as the explosions roared and bit and hissed into the choking sky.
“Two of us, Raaguleh,” she answered to a masked woman.
Her mouth opened with a slippery voice, a high accent with contractions and muted cheer. He heard nothing the masked woman said as he searched for the kid’s body. Where was his body?!
He pawed at her metallic arm.
He shook his head, irrationally focusing on his own behavior instead of the mission. He was a man dammit. He didn’t paw at people like a drowned kitten.
“Where’s the kid?” He shouted over cracks and crumbles of earth and metal.
Her black, button eyes bent at his shout. “What?!”
His eyes widened; he raised his dirty hands with each word. “Where’s the kid?!”
She shook her head, the ship whirring loudly behind her. “There’s no one else!”
“That’s not right,” he said with flickering eyes, scanning his former position on the ground.
There was no red and blue suit, no dark eyes, no one.
He turned to her, ignoring the other man.
“He was there. He was right next to me!” He shook his head, dismissing her protests.
“We have to keep looking.”
That explanation would have to suffice. He turned away from her, jumping from the ship’s boarding path. The thin metal shook beneath his boots as he ran towards the explosions.
“Kid! Kid!” He cupped his hands over his split lip.
Flames crackled and hissed; a piece of metal collapsed to his right. He tripped over a large stone and watched the ground quaked and collapse as result of Thanos’ plan. The results of Thanos’ plan-
He shook his head. He shouted through a dry throat, dirty hands cupped around his mouth.
“Peter where are you?!”
*
“We cannot wait any longer, Nebula,” Raaguleh said calmly. “The planet is collapsing.”
She removed her mask to glance back at the colored children, all clInging to one another. They were pale and thin, arm to arm on the ship’s seats. A blue child whimpered as she clung to her brother’s shaking arm.
He stared at Raaguleh.
“I am sorry but I must protect them before anyone else,” she whispered to Nebula. “If we stay here any longer we will all die.”
Her mouth tightened. “My ship was destroyed, my sister murdered, and my home broken. I can’t leave him to the same ruin.”
Raaguleh frowned. “You do not know this man.”
Her frown tightened, and with it her resolve. “He fought with Gamora’s friends.”
She glared at Raaguleh, challenging her to question the task at hand. Nebula didn't speak another word, her eyes said enough- dark, vacant, desperate to help, desperate to not be alone. The women nodded at her- they were both on a mission. Raaguleh placed the mask over her red skin.
The children stared at Nebula with fear- was she a new threat? Raaguleh calmed their fears before turning to the former assasin. She locked eyes with her, calm, white eyes meeting black.
“Be quick, Nebula. I cannot promise we will be here if you return.”
*
“Peter!” He screamed. “Peter!”
A cliff fell to ruin, shattering the ground with its size. He shut his eyes and mouth, his mind reprimanding his silence. How would Peter hear him if he flinched at every quake and sound?
He looked up at the dark sky of fire and rock. His suit was damaged, but not broken. He shot off into the air, ignoring the rocks hurtling past him.
Even from here the ground was barren. It was red ground of dust and fire. He scanned the quaking red earth, desperate to see a colorful suit or a hint of brown.
There!
A blue and red figure- thank god. He surged forward, already planning to lecture Peter about using his programmed headpiece within the suit. How many times had he they had this discussion?
All Tony asked was- between fighting monsters and helping old ladies across the street- for a little heads up, especially when in another galaxy. Normally the kid could have a conversation with a wall. Of course Peter would go silent when he needed him the most.
If he'd had things his way Peter would be at home right now with his aunt, working on homework or playing videogames with Ned. Peter was good at games; he was good at beating the odds, he told himself. Video game scores didn't ease his nerves. A hundred scenarios of innocent little boys falling victims to men like Thanos flashed in front of his eyes like a horror movie which never ended.
No. He refused to entertain the tricks of his mind; it was hard to make a phone call in the middle of an intergalactic earthquake. The kid was fine- Tony had just talked to him a few minutes ago before the earthquake separated them. But the kid was safe now, that's what mattered- that's what mattered.
The image of Peter disappearing played through his mind on repeat. He raised a hand to his head. He had enough to worry about without his mind conjuring false, violent fantasies.
The flames of his boots flickered to nothing as he set foot on the ground, worried and upset.
“Kid, what have we talked abo-“
Nebula turned around, angry with his reckless disappearance.
“I’ve been looking for you,” she shouted.
His eyes widened.
“Wha-“ his feet stopped as his mouth dropped open. “You’re not-“
“Listen whoever you’re looking for is-“ she closed her eyes, looking away. She inhaled deeply, fearful of what the oxygen now held- their bodies, they had just... faded away.
“I’m sorry but they’re gone. And we have to leave. We’ll die here!”
“I’m not going anywhere without him. I haven’t seen the kid and I’m not giving up-“
“He’s gone!”
Her mouth trembled like a child’s hand over paper. Her black eyes held back nothing. If he’d been focused he would have felt sorry for her.
“He’s gone, okay?! Whoever you’re waiting for isn’t- they’re not coming back!”
“Listen Smurfette,” he hissed, “I have to find the kid! I can’t go home without him- he’s here! If you don't want to help I can respect working alone, at this point you're an obstacle."
He glared at her. Some part of him felt an unexplainable need to prove himself to her. He could find the kid himself without her snide comments.
"But go sulk in your own corner when you work alone, because I don't."
Nebula exhaled harshly, his stubborn nature remindering her Gamora- she closed her eyes. Stupid man, he was going to get them both killed. Sorrow was buried in between her bones, but she had learned to spill over her tears with fire and ferocity.
Tears never brought mercy and she of all people knew that cold truth. His naivety and his hope would be his end. Hope was the end of everything.
Perhaps if Nebula hadn't, if she'd been stronger- She held back the urge to hit him. She knew she was looking for any opportunity to lash out after Gamora... She growled and shook her head.
They needed to get out of here.
Nebula grabbed his arm and shoved him in what she hoped was the right direction. In the back of his mind he wondered why he couldn't fight her off. He was strong enough to find the kid so why couldn't he?
Why was his chest so heavy and why was everything was too loud and why were his hands were red and- the knowledge of something worse, something he refused to think out loud pressed against his mind.
He was a man of science, did he really believe the delusions of his traumatized mind? He was jumping to conclusions- he simply needed to keep looking. All of these thoughts passed through his mind like rushing water, fast and dragging away him from so many other concerns such as the dead weight which was his body.
He cursed her for taking him. She blocked out every expletive which fell from his mangled mouth of cuts and blood. Her black eyes hardened with her mission.
Somewhere between screaming at her and staring at his hands the man fell silent and became malleable as clay. Not that Nebula could hear much over the ear piercing explosions. But his final words gripped her focus and refused to let go.
His breath and words were one- like a thousand sparks, hot and sharp and all consuming. He was beginning to hyperventilate- breathing quickly before gaping for more oxygen. His eyes were wide with terror, confusion, something else between denial and realization.
His boots pushed against the dirt as they approached the ship. Raaguleh called her forward as the passengers cried and shook with each burst of fire. The man cried out as well, his eyes still searching the planet’s fires.
“We can’t leave- I didn’t-“ he took a deep breath. “Oh god I didn’t- I didn’t- I didn’t find his body I didn’t-“
He scrubbed a hand over his face.
He had to find him he had to find him he had to find him. She looked down at his shaking arms and told herself she was doing the right thing- she was saving him. She held back another shout, held back the irrational urge to toss this man away from her and avenge.
She wasn’t a hero goddamnit- they weren’t heroes! Gamora shouldn’t have been here. They didn’t belong in this mess of a game their father had forced them to play. Again, the man pulled her from her own thoughts.
He was staring at her, begging her. “We can’t leave. Where did he go- where is he?Where’s the kid?!”
She kept her mouth shut as she pulled his dead weight into the ship, her mouth a firm, cobalt line. He felt rage coursing through him, hot and strong as the flames his suit created. This kid was going to be abandoned all because she wouldn't help look for him. The kid was waiting for him! He pulled her down to his level, shaking her with anger.
“WHERE’S THE KID?!”
He screamed and spat like an animal. All the while she said nothing, her face impassive to his destress. Why wasn't she running back with him?
They could find him if they just looked! She stared at him as if he were a ghost, as if he was the crazy one for wanting answers. As if there wasn’t a body bac- a kid back there who needed his help.
The children cowered at the bloody man’s hot words and skittish movements. The black eyed woman only encouraged their terror. Raaguleh hushed their fears with a soft, flowing voice.
But nothing could block out the cries as the ship shot into space.
“Where’s the kid?!” He screamed at her, his face a mix of anger and fear.
She shut her eyes as Raaguleh pushed a needle into his arm.
“Where’s the kid?! Where’s the kid where’s the kid WHERE’S THE KID?!”