.·˙˙·..·˙˙·..·˙˙·  On the upside, he’s at least heard of the Guardians of the Galaxy. On the downside… well, he blurts that out pretty quickly. “Oh yeah, I’ve heard of you guys. Don’t you guys have a raccoon on your team?” Sure, the idea of an intergalactic team of aliens (and one Earthling) who protect the entire Milky Way with their kickass assortment of godlike powers and futuristic super-weapons is incredible, but the part that really stands out is… that. Maybe something else would capture his attention more if he ever met them, but by all accounts, he swears he hasn’t.

“Skrulls, huh? I’m starting to think they’re the universal scapegoat. Killed someone? Nah, it wasn’t me; it was a Skrull. Kidnapped? By a Skrull. Someone farted at the dinner table? Probably a Skrull. Not that I’m complaining, ‘cause I’ve never exactly had a rip-snortin’ good time with a Skrull, but can’t we pin the blame on someone else for once? What about the Kree? Or the Klyntar? The Klyntar seem pretty likely.”

     Well, that did sting her pride a little bit. Out of everyone on their team, he has only heard of Rocket? She shows her distaste with a frown, suddenly feeling less friendly toward the human spider. “Yes, that is us. Though, a word of warning, Rocket has shot others without warning for calling him that.” Rocket had killed people for less. Most of them had, aside maybe Quill and Groot.

     Spider-Man goes on and on about Skrulls, and while she can’t really blame him, it begins to grate at her nerves. So, she ignores it. 

     “I need to know everything you know about this place. Our captors, the sectors, who is dangerous in here, if there is a way out. Judging from just who is trapped here, I doubt it. But if you know anything that may be useful, I’ll owe you a debt in the future.” Not that she wanted to, but she would be fair to anyone willing to help her.

     The rifle swung over her shoulder was perhaps overkill, but Natasha had hardly ever been a woman to do things by halves. She’d only survived this long by being cautious —- or what the naive ones would call paranoid. She’d outlive them, just like she had already outlived so many that she had known in her life. 

      And life in the Hive had her growing restless. Without missions to carry out, she would have to make her own. Reconnaissance, she decided, would keep her occupied well enough. And after all, a good predator always knew who walked onto her web. The gun was merely a back-up plan, in case the city decided to suddenly unleash another horde of robots or pariahs or whatever else with the intention of making her life harder than it needed to be.

      It was meant to be an easy night. Meant to, until she noticed someone tailing her. There was no fault to her steps, even and almost carefree as she rounded the corner in the shadows of the alley, away from prying eyes in case this got ugly. Her fingers remained curled around the strap of her gun, her other hand resting on her hip; nonchalant. 

                                     Human. Now where had she been addressed like that before? 

     “You followed me because you wanted a gun?” Natasha asked in return, the question accompanied by a curious tilt of her head and the narrowing of green eyes. “I’d say the fewer of these around the city the better, don’t you?”

     This woman is cautious. Smart. Gamora could tell a fighter from someone untrained, and this woman was that. The way she held herself, how she carefully had a hand close to her gun, ready to shoot at any moment. And, like this, if Gamora couldn’t dodge her, then she would die from such a wound. The assassin felt as though this was a fall from grace. Everything Thanos had equipped with had been taken from her, and Gamora was not used to being weak.

     “Perhaps. But I’ve never been one to take away protection from those who need it. And considering how every other unlucky sap thrown in here had magic or abilities at their fingertips, the rest of us have get power other sources.” If this was going to go nowhere, then Gamora would prefer to walk away now. But something caught her eye about this woman. Curiosity for curiosity’s sake, maybe.

batsheir:

             When he had first opened his eyes, the light had been dazzling. He had covered his field of vision with one gloved hand, squinting to try to reduce the glare. For a moment, confusion had settled over Damian. His last memory had been of the sudden crackling of a loud-speaker, and the voice that had echoed across all of the Hive. And then, darkness. So to wake up in such blinding conditions had been a shock, to say the least. To sit up and find himself among soaring buildings that sparkled and glittered, the sun and the clouds so close he could reach out and touch them. It was a beautiful sight, and so, naturally, Damian had immediately been wary.

        It was a feeling that hadn’t let up, even now. Not when he’d encountered his older brother, the Red Hood, or when they’d found the green-skinned assassin Damian had briefly tangled with before. It showed in the permanent scowl that furrowed the skin between his brows as he listened to Gamora speak, and in the arms crossed over his chest. Despite his hostile appearance, though, the boy did agree with her, and so when he opened his own mouth to reply, his words were not quite as harsh as they might otherwise have been.

          ❝ Only a select few are permitted to enter Olympia, and if I am not one, then Todd surely isn’t either. ❞ He clicked his tongue then, the sharp TT sound emphasizing his point. ❝ And despite previous attempts, I have only been able to dig up vague information about the city itself. But now that we are here, I assume it will be possible to learn more. However, I suggest our first priority would be to find a map of some kind. Or do you disagree? ❞ A glance was thrown from Jason to Gamora, one slim eyebrow raised.

batsheir→@wingedoutlaw→galactikkiller

Damian did warn him, all of those months ago. It certainly was not some giant, city-wide parade, oh no. This was a whole other level of bizarre that he, Red Hood, was not prepared of. That was his mistake of course, underestimating just how much power this city held within itself to manipulate reality to such a degree that would it made his own world’s craziness minuscule in comparison. It was by luck, though much to his chagrin, that he happened to run into a couple of familiar faces after waking up on this floating, foreign land.

Current Boy Wonder, Robin and the green-skinned alien space babe with a bone to pick with everyone, Gamora. Both who happen to have sticks so high up their rear ends, they could match Jason’s. Perfect. The fact that they knew each other beforehand helped with skipping introductions, however.

They were tense about the whole ordeal and who wouldn’t be? It’s understandable, given the situation. But even Jason can see just how much tension these two put off, though fortunately, despite Damian’s shade, all members of the party remained somewhat amicable. After shooting the younger Robin a brief glare through his crimson helmet, Jason eventually agreed to his suggestion.

“If we all know nothing about this place, then getting the lay of the land down would be the way to go,“ he added in, eyes forward now. Finding a map shouldn’t be too hard. Downloading one to a mobile device would be better, but they didn’t have that luxury. “Guess we’re going old school on this one. First thing’s first though. How in the hell did we end up all the way up here? Didn’t catch any of the chatter back down in Hivesville.“ 

@galactikkiller | @batsheir· | @wingedoutlaw

     That had not been exactly what she meant. Her mind goes back to the message the scientists had left for them. This was just a test, the first of many. But to decipher what was truth, what was lies, and how the scientists wanted them to react was what Gamora was most concern with.

     “A layout may take too much time beyond the possibility of getting something simple.” She is calm, and to the point. “It doesn’t matter how we got here. They dragged us to the Hive, they can drag us anywhere. The only thing that I am sure of from all of this is something is happening in seven days time. We need to prepare for that. Weapons, food, water, shelter, providing help.” She wasn’t any happier about being dragged and forced into this game either, but there was very little she could do about it now.

     Eyes scan the street ahead of them. No movement. No sound. No other way out of the corner they had woken up in. Slowly, Gamora takes a few steps out into the open. Nothing happens. “We can get a layout if you want, but I’d rather find a place to hide out before it gets dark. I suggest picking a building, going several floors up, and barricading it.”