CHAPTER SIX:
"We're gonna save that damn animal, because
I don't know what I'll do if I loose him"
"HEY, GUYS, YOU'RE ABOUT TO BE BOARDED BY THE UNITED RAVAGERS." Mainframe's floating head had intercepted the Bowie's transmissions, appearing on a screen nearby. Its eyes blinked green with every word spoken happily in a very obvious threat. "You can surrender and turn over any stuff worth anything and live or you can die. Totes up to you!"
A loud clang echoed through the ship as the roof and walls quivered under the sudden weight of attaching ships. Next, a whoosh passed through the halls and abrupt sparks sprinkled over the grated floors. A student of the mystic arts stepped through the open portal, leading a small group aboard. As he slithered, his long orange body leaving gooey puddles in his wake, he threw his arm either way and summoned a collection of more portals and even more Ravagers suddenly boarded. That wasn't their only entrance however as more and more appeared, flooding every possible exit and cornering the Guardians in the main deck.
Blinking was all Allison needed to do before Frost took over. Lifting her open palms, mist flooded the room and Drax was quick to follow her lead as he armed himself with the knife tucked neatly in his boot. However before he could lunge, Peter extended an arm to cut of Drax and quickly grasped onto Frost's arm. Her icy glare sharply turned and Peter shook his head in a quiet plead for her cooperation.
"Guys! It's me!" Peter insisted to the Ravagers, glancing through the groups who watched on in amusement. "Peter Quill, I'm one of you, remember?" Some of the bandits chuckled, others lifted their guns and Frost took that as a sign of battle.
Lunging forward, she took hold of the blaster and froze it, letting the ice continue to grow before the creature's hands were frozen solid to the weapon and his teeth chattered. The sudden attack made the other Ravagers arm themselves, lifting their weapons as Peter took Frost by her waist and pulled her back to the group.
The Ice Demon screamed. "What the hell are you doing? We must attack first!"
"Hold on! We have an appointment," Nebula interjected, hurrying to the group with Groot hot on her tail.
"We have an appointment!" Frost hissed, finally squirming out of Peter's grasp. She stuck her tongue out childishly to the Ravager who shrunk in the corner, trying to shake his hands free of the ice whilst his body shuddered.
The bandits ignored her, one stepping forward and pointing his weapon cautiously to Nebula. "With who?"
"With Gamora."
"With Gamora," Peter repeated before he paused. He glanced over his shoulder to Nebula who only watched the Ravager as she waited for her sister's arrival. "What?" The other Guardians had mimicked him, glancing to the cybernetic woman with looks of both confusion and a sudden resurgence of grief. It wasn't their Gamora. It'd never be their Gamora.
Frost felt her grieving heart sink.
"You're early!"
The sound of her voice made Frost immediately slip away. Allison awoke with a startled breath, glancing to Peter expectingly for an explanation when she saw her push through the surrounding group.
Allison's lips parted, the instinctive response to cry out in joy being caught as she was reminded silently that this wasn't the same woman who helped her confidence grow. The one who had told her Frost wasn't a burden but instead a gift.
Gamora looked different. Aside from knowing she wasn't the same woman that had helped put the team together, she visibly was more rugged. Adjusted to the Ravager lifestyle with her lips seemingly always pulled back in a disgusted scowl.
Nebula and Gamora exchanged short grunts as their silent greetings to one another.
What followed was an extremely awkward exchange between the Guardians of the Galaxy and the leader of the Ravagers, whom looked down upon them as if they were scum. Uncomfortable was a severe understatement for the Guardians.
A grunt passed Allison's lips as an orange jumpsuit was shoved into her extended arms. She held it up by the shoulders of the suit and her face twisted with disgust, the material rough between her fingers.
"What are these?" Drax voiced the confusion.
"OrgoCorp uniforms. You're gonna have to wear these to move through the Orgo without attracting attention," Starhawk explained, purposely moving toward Peter and staring him down like a piece of meat. The man was incredibly intimidating and Allison shrunk behind her boyfriend with a gulp.
Drax looked over the uniform with a pointed look. "This isn't my colour," he remarked.
"What did you say?"
Allison forced a smile. "Drax, shut up." She really didn't need the Ravagers more pissed then they already were.
Drax shook his head. "No, it clashes with my eyes. You told me that," he insisted to the Ice Demon who gave a nervous laugh as Starhawk glared at her as the surrounding Ravagers' laughter filled the ship. The wizard beside Peter and Allison summoned a laughing emoji with his magic.
Starhawk rolled his eyes. "Put it on!"
Allison gulped and dashed in front of Nebula to reach the cubicle before her. "Nope, us first."
"No wait, Allison! Let me in, don't leave me out here alone, no-!" Peter stammered as Allison slammed the door closed and locked it.
Allison flicked a hand above the stall door apologetically to her boyfriend. "Us means Frost and I. Not you and I, sorry darling."
Gulping, Peter rocked back and fourth on his feet and he glanced around at the Ravagers with an awkward laugh. They stared at him as if he was a piece of meat. He grabbed Nebula's and pulled her towards him. "Nebula, why would you not tell me that you've been in contact with Gamora?"
The robotic woman tore her arm from his grasp with a dark glare. "Because I didn't want you to get freaked out."
Peter's voice jumped a few octaves to a high pitched whisper. "Freaked out how?"
"Like that."
The jumpsuit felt like sandpaper and Allison was certain she could feel her skin being scratched. Not to mention how tight it was around her poor neck and how restrictive it made her movements. Clearly, comfort wasn't the Orgo's main concern when manufacturing their uniforms. How did those workers spend days at a time in this shit?
Allison heard Mantis in the stall beside her. "Gamora, we are grateful for your help," the girl said only to be confronted by a harsh glare from Gamora.
The assassin rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'm not doing this out of the kindness of my heart. I'm doing this for the hundred thousand units my sister promised."
"Do we even have a hundred thousand units after buying Knowhere?" Frost asked softly, sounding genuinely curious to know what Allison's answer would be. It was indeed a good question considering how much the Collector had wanted for Knowhere.
"OrgoCorp is in possession of some of the most advanced cyber genetic IP in the galaxy, so they're heavily guarded by the deadly Orgosentries." Starhawk explained, pacing back and fourth through the tunnel. "Now, I know you don't have documentation to dock, so you're gonna have to get in there on your own. Once in, Gamora is gonna lead you to the records, where maybe you can find the passkey to override the kill switch and help you save the hedgehog. But if you get into trouble, we will not be able to bail you out."
Nudging the stall open with her clothes folded between her trembling arms, Allison shrunk under the soldiers gazes but still managed to find her voice. "There is no maybe," Allison insisted, holding a mocking tone towards the Ravager leader as she passed him. "We're gonna save that damn animal." She huffed a sigh as she left the room. "Because I don't know what I'll do if I loose him."
Pacing to the med bay, Allison paused by the doorway. She watched Rocket's chest rise and fall in quick increments and shallow breaths.
"I wonder what he's dreaming about," Frost remarked and Allison hummed in agreement.
The truth was that Rocket was lost in his memories of the High Evolutionary. He flinched every now and again as he felt every stab and prick of the experiment as if it was just yesterday that they occurred. And he sure could remember the first time he shuddered as Frost had entered the room.
He had stared up at her, his small head tilted in awe of the small child. He rose a paw suddenly and Frost flinched away. "Hi," a baby Rocket had greeted the girl.
Frost managed a small but crooked smile. "Hello," she whispered.
"A remarkable thing she is," the High Evolutionary had insisted, coming up being the girl and resting a hand over her shoulder possessively. "Now, show us what you have been working on, 89P13."
"Oh, okay. Well..." the small animal turned to his work space scrambling over to the large chalkboard that stretched higher then his little arms could reach. A small ladder was made to rest beside the wood to assist him where he was able. He plucked a photograph from the collection, hesitantly holding it to The High Evolutionary, speaking on the subject in the image and explaining how this specific girl had the most closely aligned system to Frost's. "The machine should be able to align their individual systems and allow for the sickness to be shared between two people. Therefore, she would no longer be in pain."
High Evolutionary nodded slowly as he recounted the raccoon's explanation. He crouched slowly, eyes glancing over Subject 89P13 with a growing grin that sent a shudder through the animal. Slowly, he backed away, stepping behind the godlike man and glancing up and Frost. His head was still tilted in confusion.
"You don't look sick?" Baby Rocket remarked.
Frost crouched before she fell back on her bottom, sitting down with her legs pulled to her chest. She leant her chin on her knees. "I am," she whispered, the words coming with freezing mist in its wake. "My... my body is freezing over. And with it, everything is beginning to shut down."
"Why?"
Frost jutted her chin out to direct the animal's attention to their maker. It was something she could not say but the simple motion was enough to tell Subject 89P13 that she was made as well. That she didn't have a life beyond the walls of the laboratory.
"It's okay," Rocket said softly, resting his fuzzy paw on Frost's arm. "It won't hurt for much longer."
The Ice Demon smiled softly, lifting a trembling hand to squeeze Rocket's paw.
"It's ready!" High Evolutionary exclaimed in a strangled breath. He turned, falling on knees and suddenly crawling to Rocket and Frost, leading the two to lean back anxiously. He pointed a trembling finger at the animal. "You!" The man grabbed Subject 89P13's head with such aggression that made Frost gulp in fear for her new friend. "Your mind... your mind is remarkable 89P13. We can start straight away." Letting go of baby Rocket, he turned to Frost and stood on his knees, cupping her freezing face between his hands, pulling her close. "You will no longer be in pain, child. We can start straight away." He tightened his grasp on Frost's face, making the girl cry out and grasp his wrist, trying desperately to free herself. "It is time to take a pathetic clump of matter such as yourself and create something perfect."
Tears slipped down Frost's face, freezing before they trickled from her chin. She gasped when the High Evolutionary finally released her, but he quickly stood and grabbed her arm, pulling her along.
"Take Subject 89P13 back to his cell and prepare the birthing pod for the merging," he exclaimed to the workers and scientists that had watched on quietly from the sidelines. "And bring me Subject 88P10. Prep them both for surgery."