ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING
INTERMISSION
( The Show Must Go On )
Another hero, another mindless crime
Behind the curtain, in the pantomime,
Hold the line! Does anybody want
to take it anymore?
The show must go on!
Or, alternatively, in which—
BOOM!
Guns discharged through the warm air, shattering her eardrums. Bellows and shouts of war filled their lungs. Vicious aliens called Outriders moved wildly, clobbering and tearing apart anything they could get their claws on. Blood leaked down the sides of their mouths as growls rumbled from within.
BOOM!
She slammed her head against the dirt ground as she lost balance. Tears welled up in her eyes from the sensation. A wail of pain poured from her mouth as the wind was knocked out of her body from Outriders leaping on top of her. A bone-chilling scream of agony slipped out as the sharp fangs of an Outrider sunk down into her forearm.
BOOM!
She begged and pleaded for the creatures to get off of her. She pushed at the Outriders, desperately trying to get them away. Their claws dug deeper and deeper into her skin, tearing at her muscles. She had lasted this long in the great Infinity War. Was now her time to die?
"Wake up."
Grunting and panting, she pushed her weight against the Outriders. She wished something would swallow her whole from beneath her. At least then these strange aliens would be far, far away from her. With a skewered face and tensed muscles, she continued to desperately fight for her life.
"I said, wake up!"
Riley Stark awakened from her nightmarish slumber with a sharp gasp slamming into her lungs. Her heart pounded against her bruised and shredded chest so aggressively that she could hear the harsh palpitations thumping in her ears. With her head laying on the soft grass, she blinked furiously and peered up. She had been hoping to be greeted with clear skies that painted the afterlife; however, she was instead greeted by a gruesome face staring down at her.
"Wake up!"
"I'm... awake," Riley spat out through gritted teeth. Her throat cried for a drop of water, for a drought seemed to have passed through in her sleep.
"It's been two days. Have you made your decision?"
She struggled to push herself upward from where she had been not-so-peacefully sleeping. "I won't do it, Thanos," Riley sneered.
"WHY NOT?" roared the purple Titan. The vibrations of his bellow shook Riley to her core. She visibly flinched, slamming her eyes shut. Thanos paused. "I gave you food, water. I gave you a home—"
"You took me away from my home. Earth is my home," sharply interjected Riley. She stared up at him with hatred swirling in her brown irises. She could feel his rage, as well as the energy of the six Infinity Stones attached to his golden gauntlet. "You took me away from the people I care about—my family. Why should I do anything for you?"
Their heated glares found each other as they sat there in silence. Then, Thanos hummed. "I will bring you home if you do this for me," he bargained.
"I don't care," Valor immediately fired back. "If it means you can't win this time, then I refuse."
"You will destroy the stones!" he roared. "You survived the snap, you will do this!"
"You can't make me!" she weakly yelled.
He released a frustrated grunt, balling his hands into fists. Riley tensed again. "Fine," he grumbled. "Then, I'll wait. We'll see how long you remain stubborn when you're starving, begging me to kill you before your body does the job for you."
Without another word, Thanos turned around and began to walk away, leaving Riley Stark abandoned once again. But then he paused and looked over his shoulder at the quivering girl he had taken from Earth.
"Then, we shall see which one of us truly has valor."