𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴 , shuri udaku - discontinued

UNDERGROUND TUNNELS

CITY OF STARS.
35. ❛ underground tunnels. ❜

THE SOUND OF BOMBS nearly deafened Aquaria as she tumbled down at least four stories. Her body bounced against rough concrete and metal and it wasn't until she hit fell harshly right beside Clint Barton did she finally let out a breath. A few of her vibranium arrows clattered to the ground but she didn't worry about that right now.

Aquaria groaned in pain, as she took a moment to collect herself. After all, she did just fall face-first on a metal grate.

She balled her hands into fists and slowly pushed herself up while grinding her teeth together. Her head was pounding and her vision began to distort and blur. She let out a hoarse cough as a sharp pain came from her right calf.

"Fuck!" She hissed out quietly as she managed to sit down properly and examine her leg. Looking around, she ran a hand through her disheveled short blue hair and down her dusty face.

By the smell and flow of water, Aquaria assumed she had landed in the sewer system underneath the facility. "Clint?" She tried to shake awake the man but he seemed to be out cold. "Barton!"

With a roll of her eyes, Aquaria looked back at her right leg where a shard of metal impaled her calf. It was in the same spot where Glaive had cut her back in Wakanda five years ago so it made the pain ten times worse.

Aquaria flinched when suddenly the man beside her wheezed out several coughs and sat up, looking at the girl in worry. "A-Aquaria? Are you okay?"

"Mhm." The princess nodded and glanced down at her leg, "Just sandy."

Clint furrowed his eyebrows, muttering under his breath, "Sandy?" Shaking his head, he kneeled over Aquaria's leg and tried to figure out what to do. "Okay, uh, I'm gonna have to pull this out. So on the count of three, okay?"

Aquaria bit her lip and looked away from the shard of metal. Clint sucked in a deep breath, applied pressure on her leg, and gripped the metal, "Okay, one-"

Aquaria yelled out in pain and threw her head back as Clint harshly ripped out the piece of metal. "Stupid surface people! Do all of you lie so often?! You said three! Three!"

"Sorry." Clint pursed his lips and watched as Aquaria's Wakandan suit enclosed itself around the wound on her leg. "Come on, get up."

Clint stood up slowly and offered his hand to the other archer but she just smacked his hand away and stood up on her own.

Aquaria sucked in a deep breath and moved to collect her fallen arrows before grabbing her bow as Clint moved on to grab the infinity gauntlet that was laying on the side.

The girl groaned and put all of her weight on her left leg as she blinked a few times so her vision could clear up, "Was that Thanos?"

Before Clint could respond a loud clang rang out from the other end of the pipe system making both Aquaria and Clint whip their heads toward the sound.

Clint carefully pulled an arrow from his quiver and shot it, creating a light to illuminate the dark tunnel, Aquaria froze as her eyes caught sight of multiple alien creatures lurking at the end of the tunnel.

Clint turned to the princess and grabbed her hand, "Let's go! Run!" He yelled, and Aquaria painfully put one foot in front of the other.

A creature caught up to the young arched and grabbed onto her leg, making Aquaria fall back. "Hey!" She yelled and pulled out an arrow and stabbed the creature in multiple places only it didn't do anything.

Clint turned and quickly shot the creature, causing Aquaria to stumble back up. "Keep running!" Clint panted, as hordes of creatures ran toward them.

The girl nodded and Clint shot an explosive arrow, Aquaria grabbed Clint's arm and dragged them both away. A loud crash rumbled through the pipes and both Clint and Aquaria tumbled out onto another small platform, where they both collapsed tiredly.

Aquaria coughed and dropped her head against the floor from exhaustion, "I'm never helping the Avengers ever again."

"I second that." Clint nodded and relaxed on the floor, dropping his sword.

At the sound of footsteps, Aquaria's exhausted, half-closed eyes looked up, only to see Nebula standing above her analyzing the two.

Nebula walked over to Clint and he held up the gauntlet tiredly, "Oh, hey. We know you." He mumbled, handing the gauntlet to Nebula who smirked at the touch of it.

Nebula raised her wrist to her mouth, "Father. I have the stones." She spoke clearly.

"What?" Aquaria whispered before she clambered away from the blue woman and into a dark corner, aiming an arrow at her chest.

"Stop." A green woman yelled, appearing from out of the smoke followed by someone else who looked like Nebula.

Clint scrambled to his feet and ducked behind some rubble next to Aquaria, their eyes flickering between the green woman and the two Nebulas. The green woman and the Nebula with the gauntlet had drawn their guns.

The Nebula holding the gun scoffed, "You're betraying us?" She asked in disbelief.

"If one of them shoots, I'm throwing you in front of me," Aquaria whispered to the man with a mohawk.

The Nebula who stood beside the green woman stood forward. "You don't have to do this." She replied calmly. "You've seen what we become."

The green woman tilted her head, "Nebula, listen to her." She pleaded. "You can change."

The Nebula with the gauntlet wavered slightly, "He won't let me." She concluded, pointing her gun at the green woman.

"NO!" The green woman screamed, but before Nebula could fire, the Nebula from beside the green woman shot her in the stomach and Aquaria released her arrow that impaled her chest. The gauntlet fell alongside the dead body, clattering to the floor.

Aquaria slowly stood up from the rubble, racing forward to let her fingers clutch the gauntlet. She looked down at the stones with a searing hatred before she chucked it in Clint's direction, "Here, take your stupid stones. I don't want anything to do with all this shit anymore so tell Stark and the Captain not to contact me again."

Clint caught the gauntlet and watched the princess limp away slowly, "Where are you going?"

"To finish the assignment," Aquaria answered lowly, not looking back.

"And what's that?" Nebula called out.

Aquaria paused and took in a deep breath, turning around to face the three tiredly with a laugh bitter as nightshade, "To kill Thanos."