The Weight of the Universe | Avengers

25. Silver Lining

"So, this is supposed to be the warship Carol mentioned?" Aurora frowns at the big spaceship in front of them. H-67, a deserted and abandoned planet in the corner of the galaxy. It's literally just a big desert with nothing else but five suns in the green sky. Actually, the sky is blue but the strength of the suns have colored it. There's no water, no inhabitants, absolutely nothing. "And why's it so suspicious?"

"H-67 was visited the last time ten years ago." Nebula scans the warship, waiting until it's analyzed and calculated. "But this ship was used two months ago. It's new and doesn't belong to this planet."

"And why the hell are we doing this and not Danvers?" Rocket huffs in annoyance as he prepares his guns. "She found it, she gotta finish it."

"Well, because she's on the other side of the galaxy, we were closer. Besides, she technically only heard about it, she didn't find it. And we should help her out with the universe, she can't always do the job while we're lazy and do nothing." Aurora shrugs and motions them to follow her into the ship.

The arid air in the desert has already become a struggle for her and the heat is unbearable, so the cool air in the spaceship is more than welcoming. It's dark inside, only a few rays of sunshine beam through the glass ceiling that is almost completely covered in sand. Aurora pulls out the plasma sphere and uses it to see through the darkness. It looks abandoned, there are at least no heat signatures shown in her monocle device. With a disappointed sigh, she puts it away.

"Nada. Here's nothing. Let's go back to Terra." Aurora decides and is about to turn around and leave until Rocket stops her.

"Do you two smell this?" He sniffs and goes forward with a frown. "This ain't right."

"What do you mean?" Nebula asks and before she can get her answer, the ground beneath them suddenly moves away and disappears in the walls. The three plummet down with panic screams and Aurora quickly activates her jet boots, grabbing Nebula's arm. Nebula then catches Rocket and the two hold onto Aurora, the plasma sphere crashing down. Beneath them is an ocean of the worst reeking garbage she has ever smelled and the smoke of the trash is almost burning in her nose.

"Fuck, fuck, fuuuuck!!!" Aurora yells and tries to pull them all up by flying upwards but her jet boots can't bear that much weight. "Oh, my God, we could've died, this is like Star Wars. Whoever dropped their garbage here: Please think of the environment, you fucking moron!!!"

"This garbage is infectious! Damn you, Danvers!!" Rocket swears and Nebula wonders why they're flying so slow, barely moving up.

"Aurora, get us out of here!"

"Oh, damn, why didn't I think of this sooner? Maybe because I am trying to get our asses out of here right now!!" Aurora screams back, pulling them up as much as possible. "The maximum weight is already reached, Nebula!! I'm trying my best here!"

"Oh, shit, the garbage is rising." Rocket mutters and holds tighter onto Nebula as if it would make a difference.

"The garbage is what?!" Aurora's eyes and she looks down, seeing how the acid garbage is bubbling and indeed growing. The toxic smoke increases and panic settles down in her stomach, the pressure growing. "Oh, my God, crap. Okay, Nebula, haul Rocket towards the gate, we need to get rid of weight."

"Wait, she should do wha– " Rocket's sentence is cut off when Nebula suddenly throws him out of the ship and his scream echoes through the place.

"Much better, thanks." Aurora pulls Nebula and herself out of the dangerous garbage zone and she can now fly them a bit faster out of there. When they're finally out of there, the two women land in the sand and are panting, relief and adrenaline still kicking in their veins.