cassandra will be the first to say it- the ani-men are a creepy ass species.
the town looked uncanny to the few photos of earth she had the treat of seeing in her life. when i say uncanny, i mean uncanny. cassandra could feel her breath catching in her throat as she stared at it. it was almost unsettling- the statue of the high evolutionary with a monkey huddled in his arm. gamora wasn't kidding when she said corners of the universe see him as god, cassandra saw that now.
"it's like a replica of earth," her dad shook his head. "makes no sense."
"atmospheres inhabitantable, gravity's xandar minus one." nebula explained, huddle over the control as the ship hovered over what looked like a suburban area, and cassandra can't say she's ever been in a suburb ever, but this was uncanny to the image in her mind. would it be wrong to feel some sort of exhilaration, like living out a childhood dream? riding a pony in a cotton candy cloud, standing in an uncanny replica of a terran suburb.
as the ship landed on its feet, people(or ani-people? cassandra couldn't figure out which was more socially acceptable) started crowding around the ship, staring up at it with wide eyes. cassandra followed her dad out the ship.
"hello," her dad greeted. "we mean you no harm."
a little girl, who was an animal that cassandra was not aware of, tossed her ball towards them. the ball rolled it's way to drax's hands, and cassandra already knew this would end terribly.
the ball smacked the girl's face and sent her falling straight onto her back, and cassandra smacked a hand to her mouth to conceal whatever sound had come out of her in that moment- a weird mix of a gasp, a startled laugh, and a cough.
one of the men started yelling in their language, which was, weirdly enough, not one cassandra knew. when she was a toddler, peter had a communication chip put into her- with most known languages implemented into it- which basically makes it easier for cassandra to understand other languages and communicate with other species, but this one wasn't registered. probably because ravagers and high evolutionary don't usually mix- gamora's protesting earlier proved that.
"listen to me, he was just trying to throw her back her ball-" cassandra let out a laugh that she honestly couldn't help as a rock was thrown at peter's head, and he let out a yell and stumbled back. cassandra quickly ducked a rock that was thrown her way, letting out a squeak as she did so. a man suddenly approached her with a bat, and cassandra's instincts caused her to grab ahold of the bat and kick him in his crotch, sending the man stumbling over, hands tucked to his crotch as he squeaked in pain.
".. i'm so sorry. still your fault, you shouldn't try to hit a girl with a-" a rock collided with her temple. "-fuck!"
"groot, full kaiju!"
"not full kaiju!"
groot started to grow quickly, largening himself as the ani-men stumbled away from him. "this will make us look worse." cassandra breathed out, and peter huffed.
".. i'm fully aware of that!"
"groot, down! c'mon!" cassandra tried to calm groot down, while peter tried to settle the ani-men. "groot! get down here now!" she shouted, and groot sighed before shrinking himself back to his original height.
"i am groot." sorry.
cassandra sighed. "you're fine, groot."
‐
the woman's house smelled kind of familiar- something vanilla and something nostalgic, something cassandra knows she has never actually experienced herself, but the smell is so strong it makes her tear up as she walked in the house. the woman led them through a small hallway to a dining room, with a table in the middle which she gestured to.
"she wants us to sit?" cassandra hummed.
"yeah. sit. let's sit." peter confirmed, taking a seat, and cassandra tried to follow, but hesitated a little, feeling uncomfortable just sitting in someone's house, for some reason.
cassandra tapped her fingertips at the oak table, trying to calm herself, but her dad reached forward and squeezed her hand. "stop that. impolite."
"its impolite to put my fingers on the-"
"yes." the sofa sunk beneath drax as he laid on it and sprawled across it like he owned the place, which groot immediately protested. "i am groot." stop that. it's rude.
"it's not rude. it's what it's here for."
"drax, sit up!" nebula huffed under her breath. ".. idiot."
peter looked up at the woman. "thank you." which the woman bowed slightly and repeated in her own language. her husband came over and set glasses infront of each of them. cassandra smiled at him, and peter thanked him.
peter looked over at her. "our friend.. he's dying." just that sequence of words, our friend is dying, made cassandra's drink look absolutely nauseating. nebula, of course, showed a projection of rocket's body, which made cassandra push away her glass slightly. her stomach wasn't settled with the idea of eating or drinking anything.
".. we love our friend, but he is dying."
mantis stuck her tongue and made what was supposed to be a dying noise. "that's not dying, that's already dead." nebula muttered. "they'll think he's already dead."
"they'll think we're here on a quest of revenge." drax, still laying down, stated.
"drax, sit up." nebula huffed.
"that's what it's here for!"
"drax, it isn't. it's made for people to sit shoulder to shoulder, right next to eachother- get your boot off her pillows!"
"i find it hard to believe it doesn't have multiple purposes!" drax argued as he struggled himself back up.
"i'm sorry. my friend.. is a dumbass."
mantis made another face, which looked the same as her dying face. "that's the same as you dying!" nebula pointed that out.
"why do you criticize everything!?"
"well, why is it oblong then?"
"it was a totally different sound!"
"uh, no it wasn't." nebula made the face. "dying." she made the exact same face, just slightly different sound. "dumbass. see? it's the same."
"our friend is literally dying, by the way." cassandra reminded them, wanting to stay on track.
"thank you, cass. can i proceed, please, to try to save our friend?" drax began to lay back down, and peter quickly looked over at him. "drax, i see you!"
peter turned back to her. "i understand that none of this makes any sense to you right now." he pointed towards the group as he spoke. "we need your help.. in finding a man." peter looked at the table before landing on a pen and a notepad. "i'm gonna- i'm gonna draw the man that we're looking for.. actually. cass, you're better than me. draw him."
cassandra looked at her dad like he was insane- because he was- as he slid the notepad and pen over to her, and the woman's full attention turned to her. "uhm.." cassandra stared at the paper. the image of the man was clear in her mind- clear as glass. his pale eyes, the computer built in the side of his head, his white coat, his wide body. she just couldn't draw it. she struggled for a minute, looking at the others, before landing on nebula.
"her." she pointed the pen at the side of nebula's head. "he has a computer.. built into the side of his head. are computers invented here yet? does she- whatever. here." she started quickly sketching, trying to get the image of him perfect. the pen pressed deep into the paper- probably staining the pages below it. the sketching was thick as she tried to focus on the image of that computer- the way it was built into his head. she then moved on to his eyes, wide and pale. pretty noticeable and foreign, compared to the ani-men's animal-like beaded eyes. she was literally hunched over the table, with peter, the woman, and nebula watching over her shoulder as she tried to imagine every single wrinkle on his face, every single carve and mechanic in the computer built in his head. his face was probably ingrained in her mind by now. she finished, staring at it for a minute to confirm the likeness before showing it to her.
it wasn't incredible- but it was good enough that the woman was able to recognize him.
"you really captured his ugliness." nebula commented, and cassandra was willing to take it as a compliment.
".. can i have that to hang in my apartment later?" drax asked.
cassandra nodded slowly. ".. sure. uhm.. this is him." the woman nodded, before saying what sounded like mowtio. peter nodded. "his name is mowtio?"
the woman shook her head, before getting up and walking over to the window. she shook away the people crowded at the window, who were listening to their conversation. peter got up and walked over to the window. she pointed at a large building across from them. cassandra's brows furrowed.
".. many mowtios. there?" the woman nodded. "at the pyramid?" the woman nodded again. peter looked into the driveway, before gesturing to a car parked in it. "is that your car? in the driveway?"
the woman nodded, and cassandra sighed to herself.
she followed after peter as he pulled out the door and jogged towards the car. "drax! stay here with rocket! watch him. thats who they're coming for."
"i wanna come!"
"no." peter cringed at seemingly just the idea of drax coming and pulled open the door for the driver's seat. "mantis, watch drax."
peter turned to groot. "groot, you know what to do with these. cass, got your guns?"
".. yeah?"
"good. you're gonna need them."
cassandra got into the backseat with groot as peter got into the driver's seat. nebula tried to pull open the door, struggling with it and slamming her hand against the handle.
"push down on it!"
"what?"
"push it down."
"i am pushing it down."
"push the button."
nebula pushed the keyhole.
".. it looks like you're pushing the keyhole."
"the what?"
"there's a button under the handle, press that in."
nebula finally found the button, it clicking as it was pressed in. "now what?"
"open the fucking door!" nebula finally pulled the door open and climbed inside. "that's a stupid design, and your instructions were very unclear."
peter started the car, a soft rumbling emitting from it that made cassandra a little concerned but she had also never been in a car before, so this was new to her. also weirdly scary, she was getting nervous just being in that seat. maybe because it was smaller, feeling more cramped then in a ship.
".. let's get that passkey and save our friend."
cassandra had a realization. "dad, do you actually know how to drive-" with that, he ran over a trashcan and nearly three people, and cassandra hummed.
".. you don't. okay."
"cut me a break, cass! i was eight years old when i left earth! why would i know anymore about driving one of these things then you do!? don't see you volunteering!"
".. do you want me to drive? i can switch with you-"
"of course not, what are you, crazy? i'm not letting you put yourself in danger like that- you've never even been in a car!" he then muttered under his breath. "crazy ass kid. thinks i'm gonna let her drive. you're crazy, cass."
".. okay dad." cassandra sighed, giving up on that conversation.
peter finally got them out the driveway and onto the road, and cassandra leaned against groot and pressed her legs up to her chest and sat sideways in the seat, watching out the window as they passed the suburb, which was really kind of becoming kind of uncanny for her. advertisements in a language she barely understood, a species she had never seen before staring at her like she was weird. she began to wonder why she left her walkman in the ship. she then began to daydream about having her walkman.
they passed a fight in an alleyway, with a man being smashed into a trashcan. cassandra's brows furrowed at that, and then her eyes widened as she watched the man begin to get beaten with a bat.
"this is the perfect society?"
-
the pyramid was much larger when you were right infront of it. looking up and seeing the top of it was a challenge. peter was the first out of the car. cassandra found herself hesitating as groot and nebula got out the car, having second-thoughts about this. she tentatively made her way out, following nebula and peter as they walked forward.
"we're here to see the-"
"the high evolutionary is expecting you." the guard stated, voice low.
".. which means it is a trap."
"it's a face-off."
the guard, who had the face of a bird but definitely not the body of one, gestured to nebula. "she stays here."
"why?"
"policy against weaponry. your arm is a gun."
the pig-like guard stepped forward and ran a scanner over peter, and then beckoned for cassandra to come forward. hesitating- cassandra decided to just go with it and walked forward, letting the guard run a scan over her body, before it beeped and turned green, confirming she was (cassandra assumed) clean from weaponry. which wasn't true, but cassandra wasn't dumb enough to say anything about it. the pig hummed, stepping back. "they're clean."
nebula looked over at peter. "hey." she protested, voice hushed.
peter looked over at her, giving her a small smile, trying to reassure her. ".. it'll be okay."
-
the pyramid was large, the group following after the guard through a myriad of different rooms. cassandra could tell the room they were entering was the one designated for this high evolutionary- considering it was one of the largest, and the guard's walking had slowed to a stop as he turned to the group and pointed them forward. cassandra followed close after her dad as they entered the room, noticing the man sitting in the large throne, who looked like the man built in the statue they saw when they first entered the town. this must have been the high evolutionary. cassandra's hands tightened around eachother as she stared at him, taking in everything she possibly could about him, comparing him to the statue, trying to figure the likeness. she realized something- his face looked placed on, like a mask, stitched together at the edges on the side of his face, covering something underneath. cassandra couldn't help but wonder what could be so bad underneath, or maybe, ironically, there was nothing wrong with him at all, his own insecurity may have just consumed him.
her dad's stare could probably burn a hole through the average person, it was persistent and harrowing. it kind of gave cassandra chills, to see her own dad, someone who had always had abit of that kind of recognizable gleam in his eyes, staring at someone with such a visceral, guttural hate. it made cassandra's teeth ache, looking at it.
the high evolutionary held a patient finger up to them as he typed something, the three of them standing across from him. cassandra's hands folded over themselves as she looked around the room, and then her eyes landed on him.
this man- the man who's image had practically burned itself into her brain. he was talking to someone, glancing over at her as she stared at him, trying to keep her emotions calm. peter glanced over at her and turned to see where she was looking. his expression dropped when he saw him.
"you!" cassandra and the man both looked over at him. peter walked forward, steps heavy, almost stomps.
"hey, yeah, you!" he pointed a finger at him. groot followed him, cassandra hesitating before slowly following them. "i take it that the passkey, it's in that thing on the side of your head."
cassandra thought of drawing him. the way she pressed the pen deep, deep into the paper, sketching out that exact man, line over line, tracing out his every feature. the man glanced back at the high evolutionary.
"i would advise against aggression." cassandra looked back at him over her shoulder. peter turned around, a small smirk making its way across his features. "oh! got time for me now?"
"your friend once took advantage," the high evolutionary began making his way down the steps, joining them on the level ground. "i learned my lessons. i aim some small part of my mental capacity back in my own direction, and now.. gravity itself serves my whims."
cassandra brows furrowed slightly at that. the high evolutionary walked forward. "you must find counter-earth familiar."
"counter-earth?" peter questioned, almost like he was taken aback from this guy in general.
"i visited your planet many years ago."
"earth hasn't been my planet in a long time."
the high evolutionary ignored that. "your people had.. wonderful spirit." peter hummed, like he didn't believe in that as much as the high evolutionary did. "the art and music and literature were some of the finest in the whole universe. earth would be a fabulous place were it not for the ignorance and bigotry."
"okay." her dad hummed, having heard this too, too many times.
the high evolutionary walked forward. "it inspired me to create counter-earth."
"i don't care!" peter groaned out, rolling his eyes.
"all of the good and none of the bad."
"i don't need another speech from some impotent whackjob whose father didn't love him rationalizing why he needs to conquer the universe."
"i'm not trying to conquer the universe, i'm perfecting it."
peter huffed. "i just want the passkey."
the high evolutionary shrugged, a small smile that made cassandra's skin crawl playing at his lips. "then bring me 89P13."
"i am groot." suck my dick. cassandra sighed as peter translated that. "he said 'suck my-"
"why are you so angry?"
"because i know what you did to our friend." peter gritted out. the high evolutionary seemed to take offense to that, stepping forward and gritting his teeth as he talked.
"anything i have done, i have done for the betterment of the universe."
"betterment of the universe?" cassandra suddenly blurted out, peter and the high evolutionary both turning to her. "i.. i don't think better universes usually include drug-trafficking and gangs.."
the high evolutionary's neck physically tightened as he gazed at cassandra for a moment, and peter looked over at him, trying to figure out what he was thinking.
".. they do not, no." he breathed out, before gazing out the window. "which is why.. as i have done many times before.. i'm going to have to raze it all.. and start again."
cassandra's stomach turned at that, as she followed his gaze out at those people- those innocent people who had lives, complex lives, with families, friends, jobs. her breath caught in her throat as she looked over at him.
".. what?"
a woman, dressed similarly to the man, walked forward. "we're in possession of the subject." the high evolutionary barely nodded in understanding as the ship started to shake, cassandra quickly grabbing her dad's shoulder for support and taking quick glances around the room, her stomach brewing with nausea as she realized what was happening.
groot turned to them. "i am groot?" kill them all?
"kill them all."
a large, heavy surge of energy blasted the three of them to the ground, cassandra landing stiffly on her elbows with a grunt as a heavy pain bruised her elbows, then a sharp energy sent bone-snapping pain through her as she let out a sharp gasp in pain and her eyes shut tightly, so tightly it hurt, at the pain.
as soon as the pain stopped, cassandra fell onto her back and struggled herself around onto her knees, slowly sitting up and looking up through her bangs, which had dampened abit with the excessive sweat she had experienced through that blood-curdling pain.
"it's amusing, really. how stupid are you, hmm?" that man said, and cassandra felt that familiar anger bubbling its way back into her veins; staining her entire being an anger that was ugly and broad, and still oddly beautiful, like an ocean. rough, coarse, mean, deep, washing over her in such aggressive waves that it made her choke out a gasp as she struggled to her feet.
"it was so obviously a trap."
"it's not a trap, it's a face-off." peter looked over at groot. "now kill them all."
groot slowly opened his chest and reached into it, pulling out a bomb and activating it, before throwing it across the room. cassandra and peter quickly ducking down, cassandra throwing an arm over her head. most of the ceiling caved in with the explosion, and cassandra cringed as her ear rang at the blast, smoke clouding around the room. the survivors struggled to get up, peter and cassandra looked back as branches, meant to be arms, started sprouting out of groot's torso, guns tightened in the grip of each of his branches. he pointed them at each direction across the room, and cassandra and peter both jumped to their feet and ran over, grabbing their respective guns and moving with eachother to shoot at them, cassandra ducking to avoid one of groot's arms, and then leaning back on her dad's arm to shoot at one of them, before he pulled her back up.
cassandra sighed and lowered her arms as she stared at the rest of them, dead among the floor. cassandra then turned to the man they needed, who was squirming on the ground, letting out hushed whimpers. cassandra walked forward and pointed a gun at him.
"no, don't!" he began to protest, reaching a hand out. "no, no, please! spare me!"
cassandra's finger wavered around the trigger, hesitating slightly before lowering her gun slightly as the man struggled to his feet, putting his hands together and letting out a, frankly, pathetic sob.
"thank you! thank you!"
another wave of anger washed over her; bubbling, tickling under her skin, irking her as she stared at him, teeth digging into her bottom lip so harshly the skin was beginning to rip and bleed that dark blood that held all of that pent-up anger she felt. she pictured rocket's chest, rocking harshly with his manual breathing, the way wires sprouted out of his body when this should have never happened in the first place.
cassandra isn't sure what happened in the next five seconds; what she remembers is her dad letting out a startled yell, and suddenly her and the man were both out the window, and cassandra's grip on his neck was tight. she pressed her thumb deep into his windpipe, watching intently as he gasped for air, reaching forward and trying to pry off the consistent grip she had on his neck. the man tried to scream, but her fingers pressing tightly to his neck only allowed choked-out sobs and gasps to escape him. his neck tightened and spasmed around her hands, but cassandra knew she wasn't going to stop. not until he was dead.
"you're.. you're.." he gagged as cassandra tightened her grip. ".. kill.. us both.."
she didn't respond, keeping her stare fixated on him, and when his eyes met her and he saw the pure intensity of her stare, it made his eyes widen and he released a choked cry, and the grip around her wrists loosened slightly as he began to slip into an unconsciousness, eyes fluttering close and then shooting back open. cassandra placed a foot on his thigh and let out a throat-tightening grunt as she flipped him over, balancing herself by placing a leg on his thigh before kicking her leg off. suddenly, she felt groot's arms wrap around her waist and, very faintly, she could hear her dad yelling something at her, but she ignored it, persisting. the rage she felt in that moment was harrowing, blinding, and cathartic.
it was so cathartic to watch the life leave his eyes.
he let out a last gag before cassandra and him, plus groot and presumably peter, plummeted into the ground. she pushed him down into the ground, dirt and grass flying around them at the intensity of his landing. groot's wings fluttered and allowed cassandra to finally let out a yell, a yell that she had never heard come out of herself before, so deep and guttural and vengeful as she slammed him back down into the ground, knowing he was probably dead by now. they flew forward into a river, water splashing onto cassandra as groot and peter fell off her back beside her, and cassandra grabbed his head and pulled him forward, cradling his head in her arms. she choked out a gasp as she pressed her thumbs deep into his skin and began prying the computer out his head. peter looked up at the clouds of smoke and dust forming at the explosion. "whoever's at the cockpit, activate the brake!"
cassandra could feel her temples bursting and pulsing, and she could taste a puddle of blood forming over her teeth and onto her bottom lip, which she could only assume was from her nose, as she pried it fully off, sparks emitting from his head.
"cass, you got it! let's go!" her dad pulled her up by her and let her lean against him as the three of them ran out the river and away from the ship, which cassandra hadn't even realized was coming at them in such a ferocious speed. peter pulled her down as they fell down and laid onto their stomachs as the ship was heaved upwards. peter covered cassandra's head with one arm and used the other to crawl away from the ship, cassandra struggling to crawl away from the ship, before turning onto her back and looking up at it. she put the hand holding the computer onto her chest and she let out what could only be described as a cough mixed with a gag.
".. you're kind of scary when you're mad." and cassandra laughed. for the first time in what seemed like awhile, she let herself cackle and roll towards her dad, resting her forehead on his shoulder as she laughed. her chest heaved and some coughs escaped her, but she laughed, really laughed, until her lungs hurt. until her heart was aching and tears were pricking her eyes from her laughter.
".. i got the computer." she finally breathed out.
"i can see that, pyscho."
ஓ๑♡๑ஓ
𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓 ; 4436
will you guys even read this entire chapter holy shit. sat down and wrote this in a day and didn't proofread it so if it's ass and if theres grammar and spelling errors im so sorry. no chapter will be this large again i promise. also sorry i probably made cassandra really annoying by giving her a big moment considering how everyone was talking about how much they liked that cassandra didn't feel over-powered and I kind of feel like I did that here so I'm so sorry. but I thought that it would make more sense if cassandra was the one who jumped out the window like a psychopath here instead of peter. anyway I hope yall enjoyed and I hope it didn't like get pretentious anywhere.