13
Space
The Milano
The first one they dragged in was the skinny guy. Star-Lord and Mantis set him down on the bed resting on the left side of the Milano. The second they laid him on the bed, Mantis draped the blanket over him, her hand resting across his forehead. Star-Lord watched as her antennae glowed softly.
She spun around, eyes wide with concern and a bit of panic. “His heart is weak, but he is still alive,” Mantis explained, turning back to the man. Star-Lord let out a breath of relief, knowing that his conscious would be clear when he turned in to rest later on. At least they saved one of them. Still, the cuts on the guy's chest still sent shivers in his gut.
As for the others, he didn’t know. Gamora dropped the second man they pulled out from space onto the bed resting opposite to them. The only way Peter Quill could identify him was his longer black hair and dark cape and suit. Gamora studied the man, feeling his near-frozen skin and checking his neck for a pulse. She waited several seconds, looking elsewhere. Quill came to her side, staring down at the second man they plucked out of space.
Gamora brought her green-colored hand back, turning to Quill and saying, “He’ll make it, but we need to warm him up.”
“Got it,” Peter said with a nod, reaching down and tossing the blanket right across the man’s face and body. Gamora stared at him, dumbstruck. Peter just sniffed, rubbing his nose.
“How stupid are you?” Gamora asked.
“Is that a rhetorical question?”
“Unbelievable,” she said, standing up and retreating out of the room. “I’ll be right back. Keep him alive!” she called back.
Peter scoffed, pulling the blanket off the man’s face. “Gamora, I’m just messing around! Come on!” Peter called, trying to laugh off the situation.
“You should really take things more seriously, Quill,” Drax said from behind Peter’s shoulder. Star-Lord nearly jumped out of his skin, turning on Drax and clutching his own heart.
“Jesus, dude,” Peter gasped. “We need to get you a bell or something. Weren’t you asleep like five minutes ago?”
“Much longer than that,” Drax answered, his eyes beyond the point of serious. Peter shook his head, still clutching his recovering heart. “But listen to me, Quill. These men almost died out there in the vacuum of space. No suits, hardly any clothes, and the only thing separating them from the cold, cold embrace of death… was us. We should be proud of what we’ve done.”
From the bed beneath them, the man’s hand weakly reached out and touched Drax’s pant leg.
“Zombie!” Drax screamed, delivering a punch right into the man’s face. His eyes rolled back into his head, his body slumping back into the cushions. Drax looked to Peter’s horrified expression, smiling wide in return. “I saved us!”
“No, you idiot!” Peter said, bending down and wiping the trail of blood leaking from the man’s nose. He constantly checked for a pulse, Drax just staring in bewilderment behind him. Gamora stumbled back in the room, holding a bottle in her hand, already annoyed by the situation and knowing little to nothing about it.
She saw the blood and the growing bruise from the man Peter tended to. “What did you do?” Gamora yelled, shoving Quill away.
“He came back alive!” Drax declared, pointing at the man. “He was going to kill us!”
“All he did was touch your leg!” Peter yelled.
Gamora shook her head, shaking the steel bottle in her hands. “I think they grow up one day… and I’m hilariously wrong every single time.”
She dumped a large portion of the strange fluid into her hands. It was gelatin-like, about as clear as water. Gamora rubbed the substance together in her hands, leaning towards the man’s face. Gently, she applied the substance to his frozen skin, moving in small, circular motions that only grew larger until she finished off his entire face. Gamora backed away, rising to her feet and shaking off the goop from her hands. Quill backed away as she flung some of it his way, be it intentional or not.
“Check his forehead,” she told Quill. He nodded without question, minding the goop on the man’s head and feeling around. It was cold at first, but then the substance began to grow warmer, then became hot. Soon enough, Peter felt the skin beneath actually warm up.
Turning to Gamora, Quill said, “He’s warming up.” He brought his hands back when Gamora tossed the bottle to him.
“Give it to Mantis,” Gamora ordered, sounding almost like she was in charge all of a sudden. Peter sneered at that. Gamora glared at him. He cringed at that, quickly turning to approach Mantis.
“I hate every single one of you!”
Gamora, Peter, and Drax turned to the voice, watching as Rocket struggled to pull the largest man across the Milano’s floor. He growled, his claws tugging harder and harder on the man’s collar. It was ultimately fruitless, the raccoon falling on his back and grunting as he did so. He let loose several more curses, to the universe and his fellow Guardians.
Gamora just sighed. “Peter, help Mantis. Drax, come with me.”
“Oh, no, don’t mind now! I completely got it!” Rocket screamed with his back on the floor.
“Shut up and help me get him on the table,” Gamora ordered, stepping over him and grabbing the largest man by the arm. Drax grabbed his other arm, hoisting the man onto the table without Rocket’s help. The raccoon growled, standing back up and dusting himself off.
After tending to the shirtless man, Peter and Mantis walked past Rocket, joining Gamora and Drax as they studied the largest of the group they saved. Rocket watched them for a second, then turned around once the obnoxious beeping sounds from Groot’s video game grew larger behind him. Spinning around, Rocket watched as Groot stumbled his way, ignoring the two men on the beds and staring only at the game in his wooden hands.
“You could’ve helped, Groot!” Rocket told him.
“I am Groot.”
“‘Back problems’?! You’re gonna have back problems when I get done with ya!”
“Will you two knock it off and get over here?!” Quill called, his annoyed gaze joining Gamora’s.
Grumbling to himself, Rocket turned around and joined his fellow Guardians around the table. He muttered, “Back problems my hairy ass” under his breath. Hopping up on his stool, Rocket joined the rest of the Guardians in observing the largest man in the room. And that was saying something, considering Drax was standing right next to him. Not Quill, though. Rocket always thought he was kind of scrawny.
Rocket sneered, getting more and more disgusted looking at the dried blood on the man’s face. “What’s the big deal over here anyway?”
“The big deal,” Gamora said, glaring at the raccoon, “is that this is one is still warm. We won’t need the substance to warm him up.”
“Oh, thank God,” Peter said, tossing the empty steel bottle back to Gamora. “We just used the rest on the skinny guy back there.”
Shaking her head, Gamora tossed the empty bottle behind her, her gaze falling back to the man. He truly was unlike the two previous men they pulled in. Similar to them, blood covered his lips and scratches across his face and exposed arms. Bruises and dirt splotches stained his skin, making him appear even more filthy than the last two. Other than that, he was completely different from them. His short, spiked hair was pointed near the forehead. His beard was just as filthy as his person, if not filthier and more unkept. He wore an eyepatch over his right eye, but Gamora wasn’t focused on his face any longer.
Her gaze was centered on the man’s biceps. She gently caressed his arm, Peter slowly turning her way. “His muscle structure is unlike anything I have seen,” Gamora said, flinching a tad as she touched his bicep, almost as if she was shocked by electricity. “Simply… powerful.”
“Hey, hey, I think that’s enough fondling the poor man, okay?” Peter said, but his voice told Gamora otherwise. It told her of the jealously arising in his tone, to which she replied by simply dropping the man’s bicep on the table. It hit with a solid thump.
Pursing his lips at that, Quill brought his fingers forward and felt near the man’s neck. He felt for a pulse, found it to be pretty faint, and backed away. “Mantis, see if you can bring him back,” Peter told her, to which Mantis nodded and stepped forward.
Groot stood behind Rocket, but he wasn’t looking at the man. He was too focused on beating his high score. Rocket sniffed the man, turning to Mantis as she lowered herself to her knee and gently pressed her palm on his filthy forehead. Her antennae dipped low, nearly touching the man. Each orb on her antennae shimmered softly, Mantis closing her eyes.
“If he wakes and eats your brains, don’t come crying to me,” Drax muttered, everyone slowly looking at him. All except for Mantis, who raised her head and opened her eyes.
“Wake,” she commanded with a single breath.
Instantly, the man shot up like a bomb went off beneath him. He roared as he pushed himself off the table and knocked away both Rocket and Drax. Mantis screamed and fell on her back. Gamora stepped back, pulling out a short blade. Peter Quill pulled out one of his Quad Blasters, setting the weapon for stun and aiming it at the back of the man’s head. As for the large man, he stumbled forward, palm pressed to the wall near his right.
He breathed.
He actually breathed actual air. The man took in several calming breaths, trying to soothe the adrenaline running through his veins, but he just couldn’t. Flashes of his previous encounters flooded back into his mind, causing him to nearly keel over when he remembered his people lying in their own blood before him. He remembered seeing Xandar erupt into nothing but purple dust. He remembered but one being responsible for it all…
Looking down, he found some form of relief to see his brother breathing softly on the bed beneath him. “Loki…” he said, turning his gaze over to the bed opposite of him. “Banner…”
Banner didn’t reply. His eyes were closed, his naked chest barely rising, indicating life, being more than enough for the man to acknowledge. Then, very, very slowly, the man turned back around, his only eye landing on the group that had saved them from certain death. And if they weren’t some of the strangest group of people he had ever seen…
One was a human, another a green human, a third a gray human with red tattoos, the fourth a large-eyed woman with tentacles rising out of her forehead. Then there was a rabbit and another a walking tree. And they all stared at him.
Thor stared right back, trying to remember how to breathe.
“Who the hel are you guys?”
“So… let me get this straight…”
Thor nodded towards Rocket to let him continue. He sat on Rocket’s small bedside, the Guardians of the Galaxy standing around the God of Thunder and appearing just as awestruck with his story as Rocket was confused. Thor sipped the warm drink with content, pulling the blanket tighter across his shoulders.
“You come from a place called ‘Asgard’ that just blew up when a fire monster drove his sword into the entire city. And now, Thanos, the most dangerous son of a bitch in the entire universe, attacks your ship, kills your people, makes a deal with a giant fire serpent, destroys Xandar, and is on his way right now to acquire the rest of the Infinity Stones?”
Thor took another sip, nodding. “Yes, that is all I can remember. I wish I could be more of use.”
Still trying to process everything Thor had told them, Star-Lord still nodded, smacking Thor’s shoulder. “Hey, don’t sweat it. After all the shit you just went through… I’m surprised you’re just here to tell it to us in one piece.”
“Well, there’s more to me than meets the eye,” Thor said, pointing to his remaining pupil and smiling to that. Peter breathed a laugh at that, watching as Thor took another long swig from his drink. He brought the cup down, licking his lips. “By the way, this drink is fantastic.”
Peter smiled. “Oh, it’s noth—”
Thor slammed the cup onto the ground, splattering the remaining liquid over Quill’s boots.
The Guardians turned to Thor with quite possibly the most bewildered looks they’ve ever put on. Thor just blinked. He asked, “What?”
“The hell is wrong with you?” Peter asked, bending down to pick up the remains. He shook his head, groaning, “Aw, you broke my favorite cup!”
As Peter tended to the remains of his Darth Vader mug, Gamora remained hiding in the shadows of the Milano, listening to their discussion and remaining deathly silent whenever Thor mentioned Thanos. Still, she felt her heart drop when he spoke of his world being lost, of his people dying by her father’s hand. Because of what he wanted…
“I’m sorry for what happened to your people,” Gamora told him, cutting off her own thoughts. Thor looked at her, Gamora trying to put on a strong face. She felt she owed him that. “I know what it’s like… to lose everything… especially at the hands of my father.”
Thor raised a curious brow, which transformed into a hate-filled frown. “How is that murderer your father?” Thor growled.
“Adopted,” Gamora replied, crossing her arms. “Killed my parents in front of me, took me away from my people after he slaughtered half of my world’s population. Over the past twenty years, he… made me into a weapon. I managed to get away.”
She left out the part where she didn’t get away. She left out the part where her father let her go, to begin her mission for the hunt of the…
Once more, she cut off her thoughts. Sighing, she said, “I just didn’t imagine we would be seeing him again so soon.”
Thor nodded sadly. “I am sorry.”
Gamora simply nodded, staring at the floor.
Wiping his mouth and rubbing his beard, Thor turned to Rocket and Groot. One sat on a swivel chair and the other played with his video game. Thor stared at Drax, who was ready to cut him down with the look he gave him. He looked at Peter Quill, the man dumping the remains of his favorite cup into the disposal, shaking his head as he did so. “I can’t thank any of you enough for saving us out there. A few more seconds, and I fear we would’ve been killed had you not arrived in time.”
“What are their names?”
Thor turned to the bug-eyed woman. “Come again?”
“The other two we saved,” Mantis said, her eyes wider than usual. “What are their names?”
“My brother, Loki. The one with the… girlish hair,” Thor explained, caressing his own filthy hair as he did so. “Then Banner, a friend of mine who hails from Earth.”
“Earth,” Peter repeated, finally turning back to Thor. “You mentioned that Earth was in danger from Thanos. What was the name of the other planet you mentioned?”
Thor nodded. “Equus,” he said, his smile growing as fond memories of the planet returned to him. “I have many pony friends there.”
“Ponies…” Quill said. The remaining Guardians reacted differently. Some looking away, Gamora and Groot being them. Some stared at Thor in silence and thought, Mantis and Drax being the only two. Quill had a smart-ass grin growing across his face. He narrowed his eyes and slowly looked to Rocket, who only sighed when he met Peter’s growing grin.
“Ponies…” Rocket repeated, groaning and rubbing his eyes.
Thor raised a brow. “You know them?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” Rocket said, exhaustion and annoyance in his tone. “We had an annoying encounter with a few of them a couple years back.”
“Oh, come on, they were adorable,” Peter said, holding his hand out to Rocket.
“They were a pain in my ass!” Rocket yelled.
“I still think we should have eaten them.”
Everyone looked at Drax.
Drax looked down, hands on his belt. “No one likes my ideas.”
“Come now, I’m certain you can come up with a swell idea one day,” Thor declared, standing up and smacking Drax’s shoulder. Drax stared at his shoulder, glaring at Thor as if he had just been struck. Thor wasn’t even looking at him, turning instead to Rocket and saying, “The ponies will grow on you, Rabbit, just as they have grown on me.”
Rocket leaned forward on his swivel chair. “What the hell did you just call me?”
Thor chose to ignore his question and instead stood in front of Quill. Peter stared him down, almost measuring him up. He hated the fact that Thor was taller, more muscular, and had better facial hair than him. It didn’t help that Gamora was checking out his backside with his back turned, an interested brow rising from her green forehead when she went a little lower. Peter frowned at her, turning back to Thor with that same frown.
“Star-Friend,” Thor began.
“Lord,” Quill corrected him, groaning.
“Star-Friend-Lord,” Thor began again. Peter’s frown worsened. “Remind me again of our exact coordinates.”
Still not keen on Thor messing up his name twice in a row, Quill just sighed, shaking his head. “Just outside where Xandar once was.”
“Then we are not too far,” Thor said, stepping aside and approaching the nearest glass window. He stared out into the vast space beyond the glass, almost losing himself in the memories. “Many years ago, some close friends of mine deemed the Aether too powerful to be kept on Asgard. So, they left it in the hands of the Collector in Knowhere.”
“The Collector?” Gamora said, earning a nod from the God of Thunder.
“What’s the ‘Aether’?” Rocket asked.
Gripping the blanket tighter, Thor continued, answering their concerns. “I’ve done some searching over the years for the whereabouts of the Infinity Stones, and the very first one I found just happened to be the very substance that nearly fell into the hands of Malekith.”
Thor spun around, eyeing the Guardians of the Galaxy. He said, “The Reality Stone.”
The Guardians remained silent. Gamora looked pale, her condition only worsening as Thor continued, her fears becoming more and more reality.
“I left it in the hands of the Collector, but only after he swore to me he would never sell it, not even to the highest bidder,” Thor explained, returning to stare at Rocket’s bed. “I can bet my last eye that Thanos is headed to Knowhere right now to retrieve the Stone.”
He dropped the blanket draped across his shoulders on the bed. Wiping away the raccoon hair that lingered on his shoulders, Thor said, “We need to leave now.”
“Whoa, whoa, hold up!” Rocket immediately fired back, catching Thor by surprise. He pointed a claw at him, shouting, “Since when did we agree to do this? This is your crusade, pal! I don’t want any part of it, and I think I can vouch for everyone here when I say… we don’t want any part of it!”
Peter nodded. “Going up against Thanos…” he muttered, shaking his head. Mantis shook with fear from where she sat, Peter resting his hand comfortingly on her shoulder.
Gamora said nothing. She kept her eyes closed and tried not to shiver.
“I know it is terrifying to think about,” Thor said, turning to each Guardian, desperation growing in his eye. “But I have lost… so much… Thanos has taken away… almost everything from me… and still I will not run away when I know what he wants. If he gets all the Infinity Stones, he can destroy the entire universe—”
“Not the entire universe.”
Thor slowly turned to Gamora. Everyone followed him. She hated it when the silence grew, when everyone’s eyes were on her.
She forced herself to say it, to say, “Just half of all life in the universe… with a snap of his fingers. That’s what he’s always wanted.”
“And we cannot allow that,” Thor picked up for her. He fell to a knee, staring Rocket in the face, turning to Groot who couldn’t give less of a damn of what he said. “I know you’re scared and you want to save your own skins; trust me, I have seen that firsthand. But we cannot allow Thanos to achieve his goal. We cannot stand idly by as he kills trillions of lives, our own possibly being some of them.”
Standing back up, Thor breathed steadily. He slowly looked to each Guardian, and this time they could see the despair in his eye, hear the near-hopelessness in his tone. Most of their concern for him was gone when he messed up their names again. “Star-Friend-Lord, Gamora, Rabbit, Tree, Drax, and… whatever your name is,” Thor addressed them, turning to Mantis. She still smiled despite him not remembering her name yet.
“None of you look very strong, but believe me,” Thor continued, ignoring everyone’s frowns turned his way at the insult, “… that only together… can we stop Thanos.”
They remained quiet after that, only Thor’s steady breaths being the last sound in the room for quite some time. Thor stared at them, shifted his gaze from each Guardian, and meeting the same expression each time: eyes low, face crestfallen, body language showing defeat, fear, and whatever else. That is until he felt the strong palm on his shoulder.
“I am with you, Pirate-Angel-God,” Drax declared, Thor turning his way and smiling. “Thanos will pay for what he has taken away from me.”
“Did you just call Groot ‘Tree’?” Rocket asked, Thor giving him a glance before turning towards Peter Quill. “All he ever says is his own name!”
“I am Groot,” Groot mumbled, returning to his game.
“What do you say?” Thor asked, facing Quill and slowly smiling. Peter didn’t say a word, didn’t smile, just stared into Thor’s eye and tried to size him up. His smile was starting to creep him out. Add that to the many things Quill didn’t like about Thor.
“Quill…?” Gamora prodded, bringing Peter out of his daze. Thor turned to Gamora, noticed how her tone and attitude hadn’t shifted ever since they started talking about Thanos. About her father. He kept those thoughts close for future observation.
In the end, Quill sighed, nodding to Gamora and turning back to the God of Thunder, determination ripe in his eyes. Thor liked that look. He really did. It meant only one thing…
“Buckle up, asshole,” Star-Lord said. “We’re gonna go get ourselves killed and blame you for it.”
Andromeda Galaxy
Just Outside Knowhere
Thor watched as the Milano exited the jump, the wormhole disappearing and the massive head of the deceased Celestial hovering amongst the ruin of a dead star. And nearly hidden in that stardust, appearing just as horrifying as when he first laid his eye on it, was Thanos’ ship, Sanctuary II. It remained near the Celestial’s head, appearing almost like a speck to the massive skull.
Thor grinned. Once more, he was right. Things were already turning around for him. They would stop Thanos here, prevent him from retrieving the Reality Stone, and avenge Asgard and Xandar. The billions lost already in Thanos’ twisted end goal would not stay in vain.
Spinning away from the glass window, Thor entered the main bridge of the Milano. To his left, Banner remained in critical condition. His chest barely rose, he shivered constantly despite having the warming gelatin applied to him earlier. He appeared pale white, and not green which would have been very beneficial for Thor at the moment when they were about to face Thanos.
To his right was his brother. Loki would remain on the ship, as he still appeared to be resting and recovering. He wouldn’t appreciate the large bruise Drax left for him, but he would get over it. Thor knew he would. Or he wouldn’t. Sometimes he couldn’t really tell. Sometimes he didn't care, too.
Directly ahead of him, Thor could hear the banter from the Guardians of the Galaxy grow louder as they approached Knowhere. Thor listened in, standing above his brother.
“All right, Guardians, we’re approaching Knowhere,” Star-Lord said, increasing the speed slightly on the Milano. “I want no funny business. You listen to me and we’ll make it out of this alive.”
“I’d rather listen to Gamora, to be honest.”
“Rocket!”
“What, she’s had more experience with Thanos!” Rocket explained, only seeing as Quill shook his head and glared at the Celestial’s massive eyes. “I’m just saying, she might want to take the reins from you this time around!”
“I am Groot.”
“Ha! ‘Wouldn’t be the first time’! Ain’t that the truth!” Rocket exclaimed, slapping his paws together.
“Groot!” Quill yelled, turning back to the adolescent with furious eyes.
Gamora just shook her head, a slight crimson blush growing in her cheeks. It didn’t seem to end, Groot constantly spouting off more and more vulgar jabs at them. She didn’t have the strength to talk back, not with her father’s ship hovering in the distance. Her heart only ached when she saw it, knowing what was coming and still dreading it.
“I am Groot.”
Rocket just laughed, smacking his paw on the control panel.
“Don’t encourage this!” Star-Lord yelled.
Rocket shook his head, turning to Quill. “What, it’s hilarious!”
“I am Groot!”
Rocket laughed even harder, Drax quickly joining in. Peter turned his disgruntled gaze downwards to Drax.
“I am Groot!”
Another fit of laughter from Rocket and Drax. Rocket wiped a tear from his eye and Drax slapped his knee. Both Mantis and Gamora barely hid the blushes on their faces.
“I am Groot!”
Rocket’s laughter died, his smile fading away. “Okay, now that’s just gross,” he said, focusing on steering the ship in silence.
Drax turned his eyes towards Rocket, his brow furrowing. “I find Groot’s humor to be very entertaining!”
Groot looked up from his game, smirking down at Drax as he said, “I am Groot.”
Drax laughed at that, possibly harder than he had previously. Rocket bit his tongue, looking towards Quill. His face was similar to the raccoon’s, just as cringy. Each of the Guardians minus Drax slowly turned to one another, sharing the same expression as Drax continued to laugh.
Finally, breaking through Drax’s laughter, Peter asked, “You have no idea what he said, do you?”
Drax’s smile slowly left him, his eyes looking back towards Quill and telling him all he needed to know. Pursing his lips, biting his lower one, Peter admitted, “He called your mother a cancerous whore.”
“You son of a bitch!” Drax yelled, popping out of his seat and going for Groot.
“Someone stop him!” Rocket yelled, focusing on controlling the ship alongside Quill. Despite the screams from his fellow Guardians, Drax charged on, quickly approaching the teenager with fury in his eyes and fists balled. However, he was stopped just in time by a certain God of Thunder.
“Calm yourself, my friend!” Thor told him, his mighty palm pressed to Drax’s chest, and with his superior strength, held back Drax. “Save your anger… for Thanos.”
He should. He would. Backing away from Thor, Drax cast Groot one more evil glare before returning to his chair. Groot smirked his way, returning to his game. He wouldn’t be on his game for long and was forced to turn it off as they entered through the empty eye socket of the Celestial and landed within Knowhere.
Several moments passed as the Milano settled itself in Knowhere’s strangely empty hangar bay. The steps to the ship fell and touched the metal plating of the floor, each of the Guardians and Thor stepping out and entering upon the inside of the Celestial’s head. They observed their surroundings, Star-Lord and Thor leading the group with Gamora right by Quill’s side. Drax strode forward with Mantis close to him, her wide eyes gazing in wonder and worry over the unnatural silence that filled Knowhere. Most of the time, they would see workers harvesting the brain matter and spinal fluid from the several tanks and walls within the Celestial. However, everything was so… empty.
So quiet.
Rocket didn’t like that. He growled and gripped his laser rifle tighter, his free hand held out to Groot. The adolescent Groot only yawned, waving Rocket’s hand away from him. As if he needed protection. He could take care of himself, Groot thought to himself.
As they traversed Knowhere, it wasn’t long before they entered the market place. Surprise, surprise, it was just as dead as the rest of the place. Walking slowly down the center path between the abandoned markets, Quill almost smiled, feeling like Clint Eastwood in some of his favorite western flicks as he entered the ghost town with his fellow outlaws.
But the time for nostalgia was not appropriate, as they soon came upon the Collector’s Museum. The front doors were busted open, though it did look like it was repaired since the Guardians’ last visit, back when they were still trying to sell the Orb to him. Both Thor and Star-Lord entered first, Quill trying to be first in order to lead his team. Thor wouldn’t have it or just didn’t care, quietly sneaking around the burning museum and listening steadily.
They entered the Collector’s personal collection, finding nothing but utter horror left. Several pods that once housed different creatures from across the universe had been destroyed, said creatures either missing or lying dead in their own lifeblood. Wires and debris hung from the ceiling of the museum, the rest of the building covered in small flames and surrounded by death and destruction. It looked just as nothing changed since the Guardians left it, like another Infinity Stone had gone off.
They didn’t need to have that dreaded thought plague them. They needed to hurry.
Until Thor stopped them when he raised his fist.
Star-Lord nearly crashed into Thor’s backside. Growling, especially when the rest of his team listened to Thor, Star-Lord asked, “What do you think you’re—?”
Thor turned back, shushing Peter quickly.
Ready to let Thor have it, his pent-up anger finally ready to release on the God of Thunder, Peter stopped himself, listening. Then he heard it, the voices coming deeper within the museum. Thor slowly moved forward, stepping over the broken glass from a nearby pod. Peter bit his tongue, hating the fact that he followed behind him. The other Guardians followed suit.
“Need I break your mind any further?”
They all stopped, peeked out from cover, and observed the scene before them. Lying with scratches upon his face and blood dripping from his lips, the Collector, Taneleer Tivan, stared up in horror as the four members of Thanos’ Black Order surrounded him, their weapons jutted his way.
Drax narrowed his eyes, clenching his fists. “I don’t see Thanos,” he whispered.
Thor shook his head, whispering back, “He must have sent his scavengers instead. I’d recognize them anywhere.”
His hate-filled glare was particularly focused on the one with the glaive. The one responsible for killing one of his best friends. He tightened his fists, spurts of electricity crawling across his forearms.
Gamora remained silent, a small sense of ease entering her heart and calming her nerves when she realized Thanos was nowhere to be seen. However, a new sense of dread began to build when she saw the familiar faces of each of her siblings center around the helpless Collector. She tightened her jaw, slowly pulling out her sword.
The Ebony Maw smiled down at Tivan. “Last chance… where is the Reality Stone?”
The Collector hissed, breathing steadily, refusing to look at any of them. “I don’t know what you’re talking abou—AHHH!”
Corvus Glaive touched the sharp end of his glaive right over the Collector’s heart, pressing softly but slowly increasing the pressure. The Collector reached out with his gloved-hands, clutching the floor as tight as he could, his teeth pressing tighter together. The pain only increased the longer he remained silent. Finally looking up to the Maw, finally feeling the wetness build over his chest and stain his favorite robes, the Collector gave in, nodding quickly.
“Okay, okay, okay,” he stated, pointing across the room. The Black Order turned their eyes to a lone drawer amongst several others, hiding beneath the base of his control panel. “The Stone is in there… but you’ll need a—”
Cull Obsidian crushed the entire control panel, including the drawers beneath. The Collector just stared, blood dripping from his lower lip. He finished by saying, “… key.”
The largest of Thanos’ children stepped back, looking at his own palm as he approached the rest of the Black Order. And within his hand, the one that was free from the grip of his hammer, Cull Obsidian opened it and gazed upon the Aether. A dark red essence glowed from within the container, a smile growing across the faces of each Black Order and only a look of dread appearing on the Collector’s.
That dread quickly changed into near-shock as a great roar appeared from his right. He turned that way, as did every member of the Black Order, and were not prepared as Thor Odinson leapt forward and drove his lighting-fueled fist into Cull Obsidian’s face. Obsidian was launched backwards, bringing the Aether with him as he and Thor crashed through several untouched pods.
The rest was utter chaos.
“You were supposed to go when I—Ah, screw it!” Star-Lord screamed, leaping out from cover and firing away with his duel Quad Blasters. Rocket trailed him, firing from his rifle and screaming every step of the way. Drax followed closely behind them, both of his knives already unsheathed as he gave off his own war cry. Gamora was right behind them, saying nothing but charging with determination and hatred ripe in her eyes.
Both Mantis and Groot stayed behind, one out of fear and the other out of boredom.
Star-Lord jumped in the air, his Jet Boots giving him that extra speed he needed to drive his right leg into Corvus Glaive’s chest. Glaive grunted at the hit, rolling and already back at his feet, charging ahead. He was stopped by Rocket Raccoon’s blaster fire, each shot hitting him somewhere else on his body. Corvus roared at them, trying to block the shots with his glaive. Star-Lord joined in, hovering several feet above the ground and unloading shot after shot on the helpless member of the Black Order.
He was impaled with the laser’s, pushed back and eventually falling over a crushed pod, disappearing behind the carnage on the other side. Both Quill and Rocket kept their weapons trained on that area, slowly moving in closer and closer.
Corvus popped back up, screaming a pain-filled cry as he chucked his glaive right for Quill. He barely swerved out of the way from the weapon, unable to prepare himself as Corvus shot up into the air with unreal speed and latched himself onto Star-Lord. The two came tumbling down, Rocket hurrying to Quill’s aid.
Drax the Destroyer yelled as he charged Ebony Maw. Though somewhat confused at first from the strange animal bellowing his way, the Maw readied himself, flinging several pieces of broken glass his way by just raising his finger. Drax was ready, sliding into cover behind the base of a destroyed pod. The glass hit the pod in an onslaught of fury, Drax growling and peeking out from cover. The glass shards were few, and he found his opening.
Quickly shooting up from cover, Drax tossed one of his knives right for Maw’s head. The blade was frozen in mid-air, mere inches from Ebony’s face. The alien sneered, waving the blade away but surprisingly unprepared for the charging Destroyer. Drax used his other knife to stab the Maw in the shoulder with speeds he wasn’t prepared for, Ebony screaming at that. He used his mind to force Drax into the ground, keeping him steady as he pried at the knife in his shoulder.
Drax kicked out his leg, the Maw screaming once again. And once again, Drax kicked him, this time in the chest. Ebony Maw flew backwards, hitting the floor several yards away.
Gamora charged without a sound, swinging her blade Godslayer and hoping to see the unsuspecting head of the member of the Black Order flying into the air when she turned around. Unfortunately, she felt the impact of the spear against her blade. She spun around and glared into the wrathful eyes of the alien woman.
She held her spear tight, lowering it slowly but still kept it pointed Gamora’s way. “Hello, sister,” Proxima Midnight said with a sickening smile. “It’s been a while.”
Gamora just growled, gripping Godslayer even tighter.
“Father misses you,” Midnight said, her tone slick and menacing. “He always talks about you, his favorite daughter!”
She lunged for Gamora, the two’s weapons connecting and sending sparks across the floor.
Midnight held her spear outwards, slowly circling Gamora. The assassin did the same, blade pointed Midnight’s way. “I always hated you for that,” Proxima growled.
“The feeling was mutual.”
The two continued to circle one another. Gritting her teeth, Proxima said, “I hated you before, but I absolutely despised you for the mission he gave you!”
She watched as Gamora’s strong expression suddenly fell apart. Her eyes fell to the ground, her shoulders slumping, her weapon dipping only slightly. Midnight caught the change in attitude, her brow furrowing and eyes narrowing.
“What? Did you find it?” she asked. Instead, Gamora just shifted her eyes quickly over to Peter and Rocket struggling with Corvus Glaive, then to Ebony Maw strangling Drax in mid-air, and finally to Thor catching Obsidian’s hammer and flinging Cull across the room. Midnight chuckled, Gamora eyeing her once more. “Oh, I see… You haven’t told them of your true mission… have you?”
Gamora screamed and rushed her, blade swinging for her head. The two struck, weapons igniting several sparks as they connected, but not once did either draw blood. In the end, they were about as equally matched as two sisters could be.
“We don’t have time for this!” Cull Obsidian roared. Each child of Thanos shifted their attention to Obsidian. He managed to get away from the God of Thunder, stumbling out in the open. In his hand, he held the Aether. Quickly, the Black Order abandoned the fight and retreated towards Obsidian. Midnight hissed Gamora’s way one last time, spinning around and running as fast as her legs could push her towards her siblings.
“No!” Gamora screamed, chasing after her.
“Stop them!” Thor bellowed, rising from the debris Obsidian tossed him in, but it was already too late. The Black Order crowded together, a beam of blue energy falling down and surrounding them. The Guardians of the Galaxy could only watch as the Black Order were sucked up straight into the air, straight into Thanos’ ship that hovered dangerously close to the Collector’s Museum. Their hope to chase the ship down was lost when it vanished, only trails of stardust remaining.
Mantis and Groot stepped out of the carnage and approached the group. Drax rubbed his neck, placing his knives back into his holsters as he stared at the hole in the ceiling. Gamora was unnaturally silent, her breathing sporadic, her eyes glazed over as she thought back to her encounter with her sister. Star-Lord looked to Thor, the God of Thunder stepping out of the wreckage and approaching them.
“That Aether thing…” Peter said, Thor turning his way, “… that was the Reality Stone, right?”
Thor nodded grimly.
“Shit,” Rocket cursed, lowering his rifle and gazing to the floor.
“You can’t let them escape.”
The Guardians picked themselves up, Thor following them as they turned and approached the bleeding man lying on the floor. Tivan gasped as the Guardians surrounded him, Quill bending down to get a closer look at him. His concerned gaze fell to the Collector’s heart, seeing the rising pool of blood building right over it. He sighed.
“The Reality Stone…” the Collector gasped, staring into Quill’s eyes, “… its power… can warp the very fabric of reality itself! If Thanos gets his hands on it… there’s no telling what he’ll… what he’ll…”
He died right there, choking on his own blood. His crimson pooled around him, leaking from his jaws. Frowning at that, Star-Lord rose to his feet, placing his Quad Blasters back into his holsters. “Now what?” he asked, the question held in the air but clearly focused towards Thor.
As for the God of Thunder, as he watched the Collector die right in front of him, the gravity of the situation finally caved in. Thanos had three Infinity Stones now. That only left three to go, then the universe was doomed. If they could not simply defeat Thanos’ children, then how could they hope to defeat the Mad Titan himself?
Not alone by any means.
“We’re going to need help,” Thor finally answered.
“What kind of help?” Rocket asked.
Thor turned to the raccoon, breathing heavily. “The rest of my team.”