Bullets || Peter Parker

Twenty six

"Alright guys just bring it down a little. Down, down. Yeah that's it. Just there", Rhodey called as Emil and Nebula lowered the smaller escape shuttle onto the grey rocks on ground. They were on the planet of Morag. A desolate and destroyed place of darkness and grey earth. Once the shuttle was set down carefully, Nebula landed the ship and they went out to join the others.

Natasha and Clint were watching the process from a few feet away. Emil giggled as Nat kicked a scaley rat like creature. It landed with a squeal before turning and hissing at her and scampering away. He had forgotten the Name Carol had told him back when he was travelling with her. They were a weirdly colourful and unpleasant creature that was rather indigenous to many planets. Emil just called them space rats, as that was basically what they were.

"Guys could we hurry it up a little", she called at Nebula and Rhodes, who were messing with the ship.

"Chop chop!" Clint called. "Come on, we're on the clock".

"All that", Rhodes called back. "It's really helpful". It didn't take too long for them to finish though. The two groups moved to separate. Natasha gave Rhodes a brief hug.

"Take care".

"Hey you get that stone and come back, no messing around", Rhodes reminded them. He pulled Emil closer and gave him a quick squeeze, patting him on the shoulder. "You take care of yourself kid".

"You too", Emil reminded as he stepped away. He turned to Nebula and gave her a nod. She returned the gesture, eyes big. No words were needed.

"You guys watch each others sixes", Rhodes called as Clint, Emil and Natasha boarded the ship. Clint and Emil both gave them waves. Natasha smiled as the hangar doors closed behind them. They made their way to the pilots deck and strapped themselves in. Emil was in the pilot seat as he was the only one with experience flying a space ship. (Carol and Rocket had both taught him during various space missions. Both had a slightly chaotic but different style of teaching that made Emil learn fast. He would never forget that asteroid belt in a hurry). The coordinates for Vormir were already keyed in so all he really had to do was take off and land.

The ship gave a shudder as it jolted into hyper speed. Emil relaxed back in his chair comfortably. Clint was smiling stupidly as the rollercoaster sensation. "This is a long way from Budapest", he commented. Natasha laughed.

"It's a long way from the friendly neighbourhood", Emil sighed as he watched the stars blur outside the window.

——

It wasn't a too long trip. Time seemed to pass differently in space, Emil found. When not on a plane, hours could seem like minutes and minutes could seem like hours. It felt like soon that he was disengaging hyper speed and pulling the ship down into a slow descent onto the planet vormir. The ship gave a slight shake as it landed but apart from that, it was a smooth operation.

Everyone unbuckled their belts. Clint clapped Emil on the shoulder. "Good flying kid". Emil grinned as he got to his feet.  They all climbed off the ship and examined the environment.

Like Morag, Vormir was desolate and destroyed. It was a place of black rocks and sand. Nothing grew but large pools of water like ponds littered the sand. Ahead of them loomed a large black mountain, lit by the deep red sun. "Wow", Clint commented as he stared at the landscape. "Under different circumstances this would be totally awesome". Nat hummed in agreement. They stepped out of the ship and began walking over to the mountain.

"Do we have to climb that mountain?" Emil asked. He looked up at the sheer size of it and decided that he would rather not.

"I bet the raccoon didn't have to climb a mountain", Natasha grumbled. She too grimaced at the thought.

"Technically he's not a raccoon", Clint corrected.

"Shut up", Emil panted. It had been quite a trek from the ship. Why did he have to land so far away?

"He eats garbage anyway", Nat said. She gazed up at the mountain again and sighed. With a grin, she held her hand out to Emil. "Emil, a little help?" Emil sighed but took her hand in his. (He was grateful that his new powers emailed him to transport more than one other person now). He placed his other one on Clint's shoulder and together they disappeared with a blue flash.

They landed at the bottom of a set of stairs carved into the stone. Emil let go of his friends and peered over the cliff edge and down bellow. Judging from the distance they were almost at the top. Nat and Clint were both twisting their necks to get rid of the feeling of Emil's transportation. They had it experienced it before and it was always weird on the first go.

"Welcome", a voice echoed. In unity, as quick as a blink, all three of them drew their weapons. Clint and Emil unsheathed their blades and pointed it at a dark robed figure while Nat levelled her gun. The figure seemed to be floating just off the ground. He was clothed head to toe in a long bedraggled cloak.

"Nasgal!" Emil hissed as he tightened his grip on his weapon. Clint shot him a 'be quiet' look. The robed figure hovered towards them and held out its hands in a placating gesture. He appeared unarmed but Emil still didn't trust him. There was a red skulled face hidden under his hood. Emil saw flashed of human eyes and white teeth. It didn't make him any more trusting.

"Natasha daughter of Ivan", the red skull greeted in a cold raspy voice, loud enough to be heard over the strong winds. "Clint son of Edith and Emil, son of Emilia. Consider me a guide to you and all who come seeking the stone".

"Can you take us to it?" Nat asked as they slowly lowered their weapons. Emil was biting his lil anxiously as he watched the red skull. It lowered its head in a nod and began floating up the stone stairs. All three avengers exchanged looks before holstering their weapons and following him.

On top of the mountain was a large stone arch. It was obviously carved by some old forgotten civilisation. Markings covered the stone, stretching out across the floor to the edge of the cliff. The red skull lead them through the arch and towards the edge where it stopped and floated. Emil peered over at the drop. There was a section like a semicircle, edged too sharp and straight to be a natural form. The markings on the floor and the sharp straight drop on the other side reminded Emil of a religious cite. A sacrificial cite. The thought sent chills down his back.

"Where is the thing?" He asked. "Is there something we must do? A challenge we must complete?"

Red skull stepped forwards. "If it was only that easy. What lies before you is the thing you love. And the thing you fear. For one of you, it's the stone, for the other.." he drifted off ominously for a second before continuing. Emil, Clint and Natasha all peered over the edge of the half circle and down to the ground far bellow. The drop was too high for anyone to survive. Dread was growing in Emil's stomach.

"To achieve the soul stone you must sacrifice what you love. A soul for a soul".

Unedited.