Arcade’s Superhero Showdown: Wasp vs. Rocket Raccoon

*Sigh* Arcade was bored. Sure, he’d had his fun. His Murderworld boasted the X-Men, Spider-Man, and the Young Avengers as “guests,” let’s call them. And it had been thrilling to watch those guests go at each other’s throats as they were forced to reckon with his deadly gadgets and gizmos, his holograms and death robots.

But that was so…yesterday. Today Arcade was bored and what could be more exciting than a roll of the dice? That’s it! He’d select two heroes at random, volunteering them to be his next guests at Murderworld!

Arcade smiled. Now this was amusing.

Arcade’s Murderworld: Wasp vs. Rocket Raccoon

Rocket shook his whiskers. His head hadn’t been this fuzzy since he and Drax spent a weekend drinking Contraxian gin in a miner’s bar on Knowhere.

Well, maybe fuzzy isn’t the right word. Rocket’s head is always fuzzy, after all. Fur is like that, you know? But it’s like he’s not in his right mind…like he’s being compelled toward aggression. Not that he’s ever needed that nudge.

Like, he can control his body and behavior but also…can’t, like he’s being manipulated. He shakes his whiskers a second time but he has no more luck shaking away this feeling than he did the first time.

Zap!

Well, he had better shake it off! And quick! An area high on his left leg was no longer fuzzy. In fact, where fur had once been was now only singed hair. And, wowzers, it smarts!

Combat instincts kick in and Rocket raises his weapon as he pivots toward the direction of the zap. He sees nothing, so he fires off a couple shots in the general direction just in case, then nimbly rolls back and to his right to take cover behind…wait, what is this? Fake boulders?

He doesn’t have time to consider it any further as he soon realizes an attacker is present after all! Beginning impossibly small, a figure zooms into view and launches a kick at his black, wet nose.

That’s fine. Rocket has been kicked around before. He can take it. In fact, experience has taught him to use it to his advantage.

While it was like he was shooting at gnats before, the figure was now full-sized. A girl. Winged. And she is good.

But Rocket gets the impression she doesn’t have the experience he has. He knew that to look at him was to underestimate him, and he was willing to bet that was what was happening now.

She pressed the attack. She was agile. Quick. But Rocket has fought those types before. As he backpedaled, he fired off a couple shots wildly. He wanted her to think he was panicked; out of control. She returns fire from her wrist as she continues to advance. Well now he knows where that zap came from.

Rocket fires two more shots, attempting to strike this time. Almost too quickly for the eyes to track, she shrank down again, just as Rocket figured she would. Yeah, he’s done this before.

Rocket fires three more quick shots to make it appear he remained panicked, but he was really just setting up his opening. Then there is an almost imperceptible twitch of his whiskers as his senses take over…

He wheels just slightly to his left and in a smooth motion he uses his right hand to bang a release on his weapon, then slaps the top of it, generating a click.

His whiskers twitch again and he raises his weapon 15 degrees higher.

One shot was all it took. What had been a tight beam now blast out like scattershot.

The figure, still small, increased in size as the ground approached. She was full-sized by the time she slammed unconscious against the ground.

She’d be alright. He’d reconnoiter a minute, then wake her up gently. He had some questions. But he also knew he liked her style. He’d want her on his side when it came to figuring out what was going on.

Arcade gasped! Then he giggled. “That was quick,” he thought. But it was amusing. Time for Arcade to roll the dice again.