Scorpio

THREE - Another Earth

The orange moon was flickering.

"Estella? Is that you?" Thick cotton sliding between her fingers. Wool pressed against her face, her mouth, her eyes. Muffling the sounds in her ears. Blocking the air from her lungs, suffocating her.

"Not good enough."

A vortex of voices, a mounting crescendo in her head, gripping her skull, rattling her. A tremulous shout, jarring, shivering.

Then cold, blissful, silence.

***

Estella awoke on a cool surface complemented with the bumpy texture of granite; feeling dazed and surprisingly not as cold as she expected to be. She sat up and winced slightly, noticing prominent dent marks beneath her back.

Then she gasped: the dent marks seemed to have come from her.

I was flying around with a giant scorpion from outer space...then I was sight-seeing in the cosmos...

And now I'm breaking granite?

Estella shook her head slightly, then shrugged and decided to look around the seemingly-deserted place in which she had landed on.

But, as soon as she managed to stand Estella felt the odd, cool sensation of sinking in quicksand start her bare feet and quickly slide to her ankles.

Her knees, stomach and shoulders followed the rest of her body as she froze in surprise; and unintentionally started melting through the concrete.

Where in the cosmos am I? Estella asked herself in panic as she fell. Her nose itched with a building sneeze, but she willed herself to hold it. Where's Scorpio?

Her vision blurred for a second, then refocused as her eyes finished the alien process of 'melting'. Unable to contain her sneeze any longer, she released a loud, explosive noise that echoed through the room beneath the granite.

A messy-haired man - who seemed to be studying a large, metal A - nearly dropped the mug in his hand to the floor as he jumped and whirled around.

"Holy- Who the hell are you?!"

Estella cleared her throat awkwardly. She hadn't anticipated a person, but she was relieved she wasn't the only human being in this strange, dream world.

"Excuse me. Sorry, um- is this your house? Would you mind telling me where I am?"

But the man didn't respond to her, instead yelling, "FRIDAY! We've had a security breach by - by a purple kid who will not identify herself-"

"Purple kid?!" Estella exclaimed, clearly offended. She raised her arms, seeing they indeed were some marbled shade of blue and pink - hence the 'purple kid' name.

"Secure the enclosure! Run a file test!"

"Yes, sir." A bodiless voice replied.

"File test? Is that...uh...really necessary?" Estella asked tentatively. "If you want my name I could just tell you..."

A web of blue lights emitted from a hidden source, passing straight through Estella's body. The man continued to stare open-mouthed at her as the bodiless voice claimed there were 'no living beings on the floor besides himself'.

The man groaned as he set his mug on the ground, looking stressed.

"Now I'm seeing ghosts? Must've been the coffee..." The man muttered to himself as he swept his hand through the web of light, turning off the sensors. "On to Plan B."

Estella watched the man walk towards her, taking in his stubble, tufted hair, and slightly bagged eyes. A strange blue light emitted from his chest, piquing Estella's curiosity slightly.

"So...kid, what's your name?" He had a fast manner of speaking, as well as a tendency to use his hands while he talked.

Estella smiled slightly to herself, ignoring the strange wave of nausea building in her head. So that was Plan B, talking to people he couldn't search up. Why didn't he start with this plan first?

"My-my name's Estella." As soon as she spoke, she felt as if all the air had been squeezed from her lungs. Why is it so difficult to breathe in here? Estella began to feel slightly light-headed and tried to tread in the general direction of fresh air.

"What's yours?" She asked, trying to keep a conversation. Estella flailed her arms around, wondering if she could swim through the air like she could in water. When she found it didn't work the same way, she hid her hands behind her back and thought as hard as she could in an attempt to move towards fresh air. She wondered if her purple-ness had any powers of telekinesis.

"Stark...Tony Stark. Now, what are you doing here- and what on Earth are you doing?"

So I am on Earth...

"Honestly - I don't know." Her airway tightened as Estella panicked, choking for breath. "Need...air..."

What was happening? Even Tony looked concerned.

"Hey, uh, kid. Do you need help?" He extended a hand to touch her, but she suddenly shot through the ceiling again, this time taking pieces of the roof with her.

"Or...do that..." Tony stared at the hole where Estella had left, then grinned. This was an opportunity he couldn't pass up. "FRIDAY?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Can you fix the hole in the ceiling?"

"Right away, sir, but who-"

"Nuh-uh-uh." Tony interrupted, still grinning. "I wasn't finished."

If AIs could roll their eyes, FRIDAY would of then and there.

"I need you to activate the Mark L and be ready for deployment."

"Activated and ready, but I really don't see-"

A powerful thrum of thrusters interrupted the AI, and Iron Man shot through the ceiling, widening the hole.

"-what the fuss is about..." FRIDAY finished to an empty room.