sakaar
I woke up the next morning, instantly tugging at my arrow charm on my necklace as the sky warmed up those deep blue hues into radiant gold. I had to get us out of here. I had to find the quinjet. I had to get Thor and Hulk out of the Grandmaster's possession.
Since I was still one of his guests, I might be able to get up to their room where they're kept. It's only a few floors above the guest's chambers so I slipped out of my room, trod around the drunken man passed out on the floor and pressed the glowing floor number once in the elevator. The light 'ping' sounded out in the small metal box and the doors slid open to reveal a long red and white, hexagonal corridor. As I peered down it, dismissing the absurd design choices, I saw a sharp left turn, presumably leading to the bedroom.
Once I stepped out of the elevator, I tried to walk straight past the two guards who flanked the rest of the corridor. Just as I reached them, they grabbed my shoulders and roughly pushed me back.
Well, fuck.
"You don't have authorisation to go past this point," one of them said in a gruff voice.
"The Grandmaster has given me permission to see the Champion and the competitor," I answered simply, lying with the first thing that came to my head and hoping they'll take it.
"We've not been told any instructions from the Grandmaster," the guard replied stubbornly, keeping a straight gaze to behind me.
I groan inwardly, frustrated that they hadn't believed me. I stood, staring at the man coldly for a few seconds, trying to intimidate him yet he didn't relent. I really only had two options here. One, walk away and find the quinjet. Two, strike down these guards and grab Thor. Truthfully, the second option was pretty stupid since I still didn't know where the quinjet was so I decided on the first.
Gritting my teeth at the two guards, I muttered, "Fine," but before turning away, I yelled, "Είμαι στο δρόμο μου, αγάπη μου. Απλά περίμενε (I'm on my way, my love. Just wait). " I spun on my heels before the guards caught on to what I was trying to do. I let out a low breath as the elevator dropped, hoping Thor heard me, knowing that he understood 'αγάπη μου.'
Striding out of the elevator, I entered into the scrambling city that is Sakaar. I weaved through the maze of people, scanning the cramped areas around me for any sign of the quinjet. Just as I decided to get to a high vantage point to get a better view, I remembered how I passed a scrapyard of sorts when I first arrived on the planet. Trying my best to retrace my steps, I made it into a much more secluded area. Kids climbed atop of piles of rusted aircrafts like they were bunk-beds with cracked windshields and metal work while their parents scavenged through the spare parts. It was then when I realised that the Grandmaster's planet wasn't as lavish as it seemed. Sure, they all had this weekly entertainment provided to them free of charge but other than that, they were living in poverty and I could do nothing to help them.
Walking up to a small child shrouded in a deep sage cloak, I twisted then yanked off a small piece of the armour from the lining of my pteruges. I knelt down and handed it to them, placing it in their small fingers.
"Sell it, it'll be worth a fair amount," I smiled up at them before ruffling their auburn hair and continued through the cluttered street.
I ducked from the sparks of a machine, squinted through the worker's smog and there it was; the quinjet in all of its glory. The nose of the jet was stone grey with the rest of the plane's sliver panels far standing out with its modern style among the vibrant scraps of metal.
Dropping my head in momentary relief, I jogged to a nearby stack of neon green boxes and hopped onto them then propelled myself to the top of the quinjet. Pushing myself off my knee, I tugged up the hexagonal, top entrance and jumped down, my feet clanged as they made contact with the cold metal floor. I stood still and glanced at the wreckage inside after Hulk's crash with a slight frown. The metal walls had been bent by Hulk's touches and boxes were scatted across the dented floor. Nonetheless, my heart beat with joy at its still intact structure.
"This thing better still run," I muttered while dashing to the cockpit. I clicked a button that Clint always pushed to start up the quinjet. The screens lit to power and I settled in one of the pilot seats. "Right," I sighed, scanning the panels in front of me. I leaned forward and placed my palm gingerly on the scanner, praying to the gods that this'll work.
"Welcome," the computer sounded around me. "Voice activation required."
"Selene," I answered, my face contorted into concentration as I waited for the computer to give me access.
A beep echoed through the quinjet and the voice said, "Access denied."
"What?" I questioned, furrowing my eyebrows as to why it didn't work. "Selene Ariti."
The booming beep only sounded again which made me let out a low groan in annoyance.
"Selene of Olympus," I tried only to be met with the same rejection.
"Daughter of Artemis."
Nope.
"Olympian Demi-God."
Nope.
"Xena, warrior princess."
With a surge of energy, the lights on the rest of the screens glowed to life as well as all panels and buttons across the whole of the quinjet. The voice said, "Welcome, Xena, warrior princess."
"Nice, Tony," I said, rolling my eyes at his game but a smile quickly returned to my face as I angled my head around to see the jet come to life. "Right, what now?" I questioned, glancing quickly at the panels in front of me.
I'd still never flown an aircraft myself before; even when Thor and I were scavenging across the galaxy for the Stones, I let Thor do the flying. Let's just say that it isn't my forte.
Gnawing at my bottom lip roughly with my teeth, I tapped a few buttons, hoping they'll turn on the engine but after clicking an orange one, a screen popped up with Natasha's face on it.
My face softened as her voice rung out across the quinjet, it was a message for Bruce.
"Nice work, big guy. We don't know where Ultron's headed but you're going very high, very fa-"
I quickly clicked the button again, turning off the message. Despite it not even being for me, it struck a chord within. It's been around two years since the whole Ultron fiasco and oh, how things have changed. I almost missed the simpler life of tracking down the HYDRA bases, shutting down the arms deals and searching for Loki's sceptre. I missed seeing the team every day, Steve, Nat, Tony, Bruce, Clint, Maria and Wanda. I didn't get a chance to find out about the whole Accords situation, I was supposed to meet them in Vienna but then I received the vision from Heimdall.
Dismissing the urge to simply bash all buttons until the engine turns on; I scanned the panel in front of me to see a simple one labelled 'on.' Tapping it with a shrug, a loud whirring started, seemingly from the engines. Breathing out a sigh, I slipped my feet onto the rubber pedal and gripped my hand on the throttle. Anxiously, I pushed it slowly forward and the quinjet began to rise into the air. I tapped the buttons above me with my face set and placed my hands on the steering wheel.
"You've come so far, now don't kill yourself because you can't fly a goddamn plane," I muttered to myself in Greek as I turned the wheel to get back to the Grandmaster's tower. The quinjet gradually rotated around until a clear stream was lined up into the Champion's room.
"No going back now," I laughed nervously before pushing the throttle all the way up. "Oh shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit." I screeched as the quinjet hurtled as fast as a bullet to the tower. With a great BANG the nose of the jet smashed into the window, creating webs of indented glass to spread.
Well, that was anti-climactic.
I noticed, Thor, Hulk and another woman's face peak through the window with wild expressions on their faces but as soon as Thor realised that it was me, he raised his arms high in triumph.
"One second," I grunted, holding up a finger to him before lowering the handle to reverse the quinjet, my eyebrows creased with uncertainty. Once I got a safe distance away, I urged to handle all the way and crashed right through the window and onto the floor of the bedroom. Laughing at my success, I tapped the button to open the side entrance, letting Thor in.
I hopped out of my seat as his feet hit the metal ground. Shaking my head at him with a wide grin spread across my face, I ran into his arms and buried my face into the crook of his neck. I giggled as he picked me up and spun me around, my head lifting off his shoulder. After he settled me back down, I took his face into my hands, brushed my fingers through the bristles of his beard then captured his lips into mine.
"How did you know Banner got here with the quinjet," he chuckled, tucking a stands of hair behind me ear.
"It was the only logical explanation, really," I responded, grinning while stroking his newly cut hair.
"I've missed you," he beamed, bumping his forehead onto mine.
I laughed at him and pulled away, "Gods, how I missed you too my love but we have to go." I said, noticing the blaring alarm echoing through the Grandmaster's tower.
"I'll drive?" He offered, taking the seat I was in moments before.
"Yeah, please," I said, rolling my eyes at my terrible flying skills. "I tried."
He hummed in return making me slap his firm shoulder in retaliation.
"Piss off," I joked, as Thor pushed up the throttle and we began to speed off to get out of this dreaded planet. "What about Bruce? We can't le-"
I didn't get to finish as a great tearing sound echoed behind of us. I snapped my head backwards to see that Hulk had grabbed onto the end of the quinjet like King Kong and ripped the jet open. His green face howled in sadness as if he didn't want Thor to leave.
"Hulk, what are you doing?" I shouted as he hauled himself inside the jet and his large body scrapped the top, powering the quinjet down slowly.
"Friend stay!" He boomed.
"No, no, no, stop!" Thor shouted, tapping buttons frantically to stop the quinjet from crashing to the ground.
"Don't go!" Hulk moaned as the quinjet began to shudder down.
I gripped onto the side of the jet as Thor tried to reason with the Hulk but to not avail. Suddenly, I remembered the video of Nat so I rushed forwards, pushing Thor's arm out of the way so I could tap the great, orange button.
The video popped onwards and Nat's face appeared in front of the Hulk but as his face dropped in recognition of who it was, it was too late. The quinjet was already spinning out of control and sending us crashing to the ground. I held onto Thor's arm as the quinjet collided with the other scraps of metal harshly.
"Hey there, big guy. We don't know where Ultron is headed but you're going very high, very fast," the video of Nat said. Hulk slowly started towards it, eyes full of emotion. "So, I need you to turn this bird around, okay? We can't track you in stealth mode so I need you to help me out, okay?"
Hulk grunted and began to back away as Nat's video cuts off. He began to punch himself violently then slammed himself into the wall. He roared and punched himself again, trying to keep Bruce submerged. He shrunk downwards but jumped back to his Hulk size again as his grunts morphed from Hulk's voice to Bruce's.
"No, no, Banner!" Hulk groaned as he shifted down in size again before growing.
He slammed himself against the wall before doubling over and falling to the floor, his hands on his head. He exhaled sharply as his body slowly transformed back into Bruce's, the green fading away.
I touched Thor's arm gingerly before we stepped forwards towards Bruce's trembling figure.
"Hey, it's okay. It's just Selene." I started, lowing myself towards Bruce as he lay with haggard breathing on the floor. "You're okay, Bruce."
Thor placed a hand on his shoulder but he jolted away. Thor shushed him gently as Bruce stopped scampering away from us.
"The sun's going down. The sun's going down. That's it, breathe," Thor lulled, holding his hands out.
My heart softened to see our friend in so much emotional confusion.
"It's okay, Bruce. We won't hurt you," I said, giving him some space by backing up slightly.
Bruce groaned and placed a hand to his forehead. "Selene, Thor," he breathed. "Wait, what happened to your hair?"
I surpassed a smile at Bruce's words, finally becoming himself again.
"Oh some creepy old man cut it off," Thor answered.
"It looks good," he said, reaching out.
"It does," I hummed, pushing a hand through Thor's short hair.
"Thanks."
"Where are we? Where's Nat?"
"She's fine...I think," I said, saying the last part quieter than the rest.
"And what about Sokovia?"
"Sokovia?" Thor questioned.
"The city, Sokovia. Did we save it?"
"Banner listen, Sokovia, Ultron, that was two years ago," Thor said shaking his head.
"What are you saying?"
I glanced at Thor uncertainly, not knowing how Bruce was going to react.
"I've been Hulk for two years?"
"I'm afraid so," I answered, touching his shoulder gently.
Bruce sighed deeply and took off those great necklaces that Hulk wore, his face expressing huge confusion.
"What the hell happened?" He asked, pushing himself to his feet and rushing to the cockpit. I bit my lip anxiously as Thor and I got up and followed him.
"Banner, there's something you should know," Thor said as Bruce placed his hand on the palm reader.
"Voice activation required."
"Banner," Bruce answered.
"Welcome, strongest Avenger," the voice said and I tried to keep in my laugh at the annoyance on Thor's face.
"Ship's log," commanded Bruce and another screen popped up showing Hulk's decent to Sakaar. I looked hesitantly towards Bruce and back at the recording as Hulk desperately tried to hold onto the wall of the quinjet. "Where are we?" Bruce asked his eyes laced with remnants of anger.
"Yeah about that," Thor began, glancing at me with an unsure expression but the Grandmaster's voice suddenly boomed out around us. I ducked down slightly to look through the front of the quinjet to see the hologram of the Grandmaster in front of his main tower.
"Sakaar, hear ye. Attention please, I have some bad news. My beloved exalted champion has turned up missing. Take to the streets. Celebrate my champion."
"Who's that?" asked Bruce.
"He kind of runs the place. You kind of lived at his house for a while."
"I did?"
"Yeah," I sighed, if only he was easier to access, I'd have them out a long time ago. "A lot's happened, Bruce. You and Thor even bloody fought."
"Did I win?"
"No, I won," Thor answered quickly. "Easily."
"Doesn't sound right."
"Well, it's true," said Thor.
"Not sure about that one," I piped.
"I knew it," smiled Bruce.
"It seems like that criminally seductive Lord of Thunder and a deathly gorgeous guest of mine, who goes by Selene, has stolen him away."
"Um what did he call you?" Thor sassed, crossing his arms over his broad chest causing me to snort at his odd yet adorable jealousy.
"We need to move, now," I ordered, regaining hold over the situation. I looked at both of them before grabbing a change of clothes off the floor and tossing them at the semi-naked Bruce. "We need to get off this damn planet."