Valen: A Collector's Item

Nitro

Valen's eyes were heavy, but she was jarred awake every time the prison-like transport hit a pothole. Her hearing was back in one ear. The other still rang like somebody was in the bell tower of her head and wouldn't stop pulling the rope. She had her back to the door and her knees against her chest. Every now and then Peter would side-eye in her direction, but he never said anything.

Tony hit the wall separating the back from the front. "Watch where you're driving!"

Whoever was on the other side hit the wall twice back. He must not be good at driving or wherever they were had poor quality streets. There were no windows to tell where they were even at.

But the long drive finally ended when the truck came to a full stop. Whoever was behind the wheel pressed the brake too hard forcing everyone to lurch toward the front. Valen could see Tony roll his eyes now that he had taken off his sunglasses.

The front door squeaked open and then slammed shut. Valen sat up, taking her back off the door. She picked up her feet and placed them on the bench she was sitting on, knowing the doors were about to open.

"Welcome home." A man in his early thirties greeted. He had a green cap on and a very youthful smile. Valen had never seen him before.

Peter was the first one out. "Home? This is an empty field. What are we doing in the middle of a field?"

Behind him, the sky was pink with purple-colored clouds. The navy blue sky was chasing after it as it followed the sinking sun. For a moment, Valen felt like she was back in Wakanda staring up at the sky. There was not a single light for miles other than the stars and the moon. She could get lost in the constellations trying to identify every one without help.

"You'd think we'd come all this way to stand in a field?" Nat chuckled as she whispered into her watch.

Something hissed behind her. Valen hopped out of the truck and over to a painted hatch door in the ground. It mimicked the colors of the soil and grass. If it didn't emit a sterile white light through its cracked opening, nobody could have found it.

"Help me with Unabomber over here." Tony requested from Peter as he grabbed ahold of the man still unconscious in the truck. Earlier, Nat had given him a shot of something to continue to sedate him to make sure there were no surprises.

Nat opened the hatch all the way, holding it for the three men. As Valen looked down, she saw stairs that didn't look like they would stop descending. But she quickly fell in line behind the men before Nat shut the only way in. The driver didn't join them. He hopped back into the driver's seat and drove off.

A metal door with no handle waited for the five just below. Valen kept close to the boys while also watching Nat to make sure she didn't bump into her. She wondered what this place was as they reached their final step.

Tony, still holding the man's wrist over his shoulder, leaned toward a rectangular pad beside the door. He widened his eyes as a green laser scanned his left pupil.

"Welcome, Tony Stark. There are foreign bodies present. Please confirm entry." The robotic voice repeated itself. "Please confirm entry."

"Entry confirmed." Tony said, sidestepping to go through the door first when three locks clicked and hissed open.

"What is this place?" Peter asked the same question Valen was thinking.