I'll Follow You To...

Aftershock

Loki rolled out the time door and tumbled several times, kicking up dust as he went, until he finally came to a halt. 

Toxic smelling smoke filled the air and obscured his vision.

"Sylvie!" he yelled but received no response. He called several more times trying to listen for any noise around him but it was impossible to see more than a few inches.

Loki clenched his fists and screamed in frustration as he sent out a shock wave that cleared the air in a thirty metre radius. A few of the smaller fires in the immediate area were put out in the process so that he was at least able to see a bit of his surroundings.

The bodies of soldiers lay strewn about. The uniforms and the fact some had blue skin told him he had been led to the Kree homeworld of Hala.

The broken torso of a robot lay twitching on the dusty ground. He recognized it as belonging to one of the Kang variants.

He called again out as loud as possible, "Sylvie! Don't do this! Not alone!"

When he heard nothing in reply he sank to his knees, breathing heavily. "Don't leave me", he whispered.

He eyed the sparking remains of the robot beside him and raised his arm to dispatch it with a blast of magic. It shattered and rained small pieces down in the immediate area.

Not feeling any better, he got to his feet and began walking into the city.

Everywhere he went, buildings were toppled and fires burned. Remains of Kree soldiers and civilians, and legions of destroyed robots lay all around.

A moan, then a cry of pain caught his attention.

It was coming from near a small black tower that had been sheared off its foundation, supported upright for the moment by the rubble around it.

As Loki got closer he could see the person was young, likely an adolescent, and their leg disappeared under the broken side of the tower.

The teen became aware of Loki, stopped crying, wiped his face and put on a hardened expression.

He knelt down beside the boy and tried to see how bad his leg was, "Don't worry, I'm here to get you out".

"I'm training to be a warrior, so I am well prepared to face death"

Loki looked the boy over, he was clearly trying to hide his distress. He wasn't sure whether the boy's leg was the primary cause or the fear of appearing weak. Having been raised in a militaristic culture himself Loki was sure the latter was at least part of it.

"They're taking them young these days" Loki mused. "Do you have a name?"

The boy winced, failing to hide his pain, "Dun-Rogg, my father is a leader in star force".

The unprompted information confirmed Loki's suspicions. He hummed, "Sounds important, do you think if I get you out of here they'll throw me a parade?"

This managed to draw a small laugh from the boy, "Uh, I don't think they do that."

Loki finished his assessment of the boy's condition with the help of his magic.

"I don't think your leg is broken but it's badly pinched. I can't seem to break material around it, whatever this building is made of it's incredibly stubborn."

Loki placed his hands under the boy's arms, "Brace yourself, I'm just going to give you a gentle tug to see if I can move you at all".

The boy howled in pain at the smallest tug, stopping Loki immediately.