Asgardian refugee vessel

"I'll send a message to Tony and ask if he still has property rights over the old tower. It should be more than enough room. Maybe-" Olivia started to reply, but the three of them suddenly noticed a large shadow being cast over the ship. Loki suddenly started to panic and run to where the others were.

"We need to get everyone off of this ship. NOW!" he said breathlessly.

"Woah, woah, what? Why? Who's that?" Olivia asked, pointing to the ship surrounding their small vessel. Loki turned around and made eye contact with his wife.

"Thanos." He said simply. Now Olivia was panicked and pulled Thor and started running.

"So this is the guy who..." Thor stared to ask.

"Sent me to New York six years ago? Yeah." Loki replied. They made their way to the main holding area with the huddled together families. A few people looked up, but Olivia practically crashed into Valkyrie.

"Val, you need to start up the escape pods. Get as many people out of here as possible. This really bad guy named Thanos is here. He's gonna kill everyone if we don't get them out of here." Thor told her. Her eyes widened.

"Everyone! We need to evacuate. Get as many people into the escape pods!" Valkyrie yelled. No one questioned it. If something was said by the last of the Valkyries and backed by the royal family, no one dared to object or ask questions. Suddenly, a loud bang could be heard and the ship rocked. Everyone went into full panic mode and ran for the pods, Korg trying his best to keep everyone calm before running for the pods himself, Miek in his arms. More bangs rocked the ship and debris started to come down in piles.

"Val, you need to go help the others. Then get on a pod. If something happens to us, you're a voice of reason wherever you end up." Olivia told her friend.

"The Valkyrie are supposed to protect the vulnerable. Shouldn't I remain here and fight back?" she asked.

"The people who escape need a protector. We'll take care of this. Go." Olivia said.

"I hope to see you again soon." Valkyrie said, before running to the pods. More debris was falling all over the place. Seconds turned to minutes where all that could be heard were the falling of metal, the fires that were starting, and the screams of the panicked people. After a few minutes, there were no more escape pods, about half of Asgard still trapped.

"No matter what happens, you have to be prepared to fight. Defend yourselves and those around you." Thor told the last of his people. There was suddenly a loud bang, louder than all the others. A huge hole was opened in the side of the ship. There was silence before gunshots cane out and hitting some of the people and the debris around. The people began to spread out. Just before Olivia could get a good look at the attackers, a large piece of metal hit her on the head and she collapsed onto the floor. The last thing she heard was someone screaming her name, and a large, glowing, purple dot on something gold before she blacked out.

***

Olivia's ears were ringing. Her vision was spotty and she was trying to grasp her surroundings. She was behind a large pile of debris. It was almost silent. She carefully and quietly got to her knees and crawled to peer around the pile. She almost screamed when she saw all the bodies of her people strewn about. She looked around a little, keeping herself hidden. Her hearing returned to hear someone talking. The voice was unfamiliar to her.

"...I assume you have a preference?" the voice said. She saw where the voice came from. A big, purple man in gold was holding Thor in one hand and pressing a gold glove to his temple, a purple thing stuck to it. Olivia looked to where the man was looking to see bunch of ugly looking aliens, the one female pointing a spear at... Loki? This must be Thanos and his soldiers. Olivia deduced. Then that purple stone must be the Power Stone... Olivia had done brief research on the Infinity Stones on Asgard when she was younger. Anyone who could harness the power of all six...

"Oh, I do. Kill away!" Loki said harshly. What the Hel are you doing? Olivia thought to herself, staring in horror as the Power Stone was pressed to Thor's head, his hoarse screams echoing throughout the wrecked ship. It took all Olivia had to not intervene. Loki's face quickly started to fall apart at the sight of Thor suffering. "Alright, stop!" he screamed.

"We don't have the Tesseract. It was destroyed on Asgard." Thor claimed. Loki looked at Thor and sighed as he summoned the blue cube. Olivia started internally freaking out. No,no, no, I thought you left that behind she thought.

"You really are the worst, brother." Thor groaned. Loki stepped forward, the Tesseract still in hand.

"I assure you, brother... the sun will shine on us again." Loki told him quietly. Thanos smiled a little.

"Your optimism is misplaced, Asgardian." he said.

"Well, for one thing, I'm not Asgardian. And for another... We have a Hulk." (A/N SCREEE One of my favorite parts!!!) Loki said before a roar sounded and he dropped the cube, pushing Thor away behind the debris pile that Olivia was hiding behind. Chaos ensued behind them.

"Are you alright?" Loki asked her.

"I'm fine, just a sprained ankle." she said, before smacking him in the arm. "Why in the Nine Realms would you take that? It's another Infinity Stone, if he gets to it, he'll be completely unstoppable. The universe is doomed." Loki said nothing, just wrapped is arms around her for a moment, before the sound of the Hulk being smashed to the floor. Thor nodded to the pair before picking up a broken pipe and charging. They watched as he hit Thanos with it and then get trapped in a twist of metal. Olivia heard a shift from a few feet away.

"Allfathers... let the dark magic flow through me one last... time." Heimdall said, before the rainbow Bifrost crashed through the ship and took the unconscious Hulk away from the wreckage. Thanos approached the gatekeeper.

"That was a mistake." Thanos told him, before grabbing a spear and thrusting it through Heimdall's heart. Olivia started to scream, but Loki put a hand over her mouth.

"Shh, don't scream. No one knows you're still alive. I don't want to put you in danger. Whatever you do, don't scream." he told her. She nodded, tears spilling over, and Loki pulled his hand away from her mouth.

"You're going to die for that!" Thor yelled.

"What are we gonna do? I-I don't want to die. We have to find our people." Olivia spluttered.

"You are not going to die. You will get out of here. And there's only one way to do that." Loki told her, a look in his eyes that she hadn't seen since he was dangling over the Bifrost seven years ago.

"No, please, we can get out of here, find the others, prepare Earth for-" she started, but a blue shockwave burst through the ship. They peeked out from the side of the pile. Thanos had the Space Stone. Loki turned to Olivia and wrapped his cape around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her bruised head.

"My love, take your time... I'll see you on the other side." he said before standing up and walking out.

"If I might interject..." he started. Olivia bit her lip hard to keep from letting out any sort of noise. She tasted her own blood. "If you're going to Earth, you might want a guide. I do have a bit of experience in that arena."

"If you consider failure experience." Thanos said with a small smirk.

"I consider experience, experience." Loki corrected. He took a deep breath. "I... Loki... Prince of Asgard..." He looked at Thor, then glanced at the debris pile with sadness. "Odinson... The rightful King of Jotunheim... God of Mischief... do hereby pledge to you, my undying fidelity.

There was a pause. Then Loki lunged forward with a dagger. Thanos stopped him with the Space Stone.

"'Undying.' You should choose your words more carefully." Thanos mocked. He gripped Loki's arm, causing him to drop the dagger. Thanos let go and moved to Loki's neck. Gripping it tightly, Loki struggled and started choking. Thanos's face remained placid. Thor was trying to wriggle out of his bonds and Olivia bit down harder on her lip, her hand going to her stomach.

"You will... never be... a god." Loki said weakly before a horrible crunch was heard. Loki stopped moving.

"N-No!" Thor screamed, though it was muffled because of the metal covering his mouth. Olivia, her lip numb and bleeding, covered her own mouth to keep from screaming in horror. Whatever you do, don't scream. Loki had told her. Her tears dripped to the dirty floor and ran in waves down her cheeks. Thanos dropped Loki's body in front of Thor.

"No resurrections this time." Thanos said and raised the Gauntlet, activating the Power Stone and started breaking the ship, purple cracks and fire springing forth. He activated the Space Stone and teleported him and his "children" away. Olivia ran forward and tripped because of her ankle. She fell a few feet from Thor and dragged herself to Loki. She started shaking the body, her tears falling on his unmoving face.

"Wake up, tell me this is a trick, please!" she screamed, refusing to believe what she just saw. Sobbing hysterically, Olivia pulled Loki's body close, almost cradling it in her arms. She tried not thinking about the way his arms fell loose around them, or how his eyes looked upon nothing.

As the ship started shaking and falling apart, Olivia looked at Thor and gripped onto his arm with her right hand, the other arm still wrapped around Loki's torso. Thor looked at Olivia with pursed lips and a dejected expression. She understood what he was wordlessly saying

She had to let go.

Shakily, Olivia let her arm gently drop Loki's body to the breaking floor, her sobs wracking through her body. She didn't want to let him go. She frankly thought that if she died here, she would find him in eternal bliss fast enough. She'd gone through this once before and didn't want to again.

Though, like last time, Thor held Olivia back. He looked at her with a wordless expression that Olivia understood. They shared a long look before embracing and their world became a flash of white and purple as the ship exploded.

***

New York

"So, Peter, do you understand the essay we have to write? Cause I don't." Maya asked Peter Parker on their bus ride back from MoMA.

"Nope. But I'll ask when we-" he started, but he felt his arm hairs rise. His Spidey Sense. Maya saw it too and they shared a look. Peter tapped Ned's head.

"Hey, hey, we need you to cause a distraction." Peter told his friend.

"Holy shit! We're all gonna die! There's a spaceship!" Ned exclaimed. Everyone crowded around he window, pointing at the donut shaped spaceship over New York.

Maya and Peter climbed out the window on the other side of the school bus.

"What's the matter with you kids? You've never seen a spaceship before?" the bus driver asked. Peter swung from his webs off of the bridge with Maya, them landing a few minutes later in a small park. They turned around to see a weird alien about to attack Tony Stark. Peter jumped in front of it.

"Hey, man. What's up, Mr. Stark?" Peter asked.

"Kid? Where'd you and Maya come from?" Tony asked the kids, Maya kicking the alien and Peter still holding up the alien's large weapon.

"Field trip to MoMA." Peter said, before the alien grabbed him and flung him to the nearby fountain.

"What is this guy's problem, Mr. Stark?" Maya asked.

"He's from space. He came here to steal a necklace from a wizard." Tony replied snarkily. After a few minutes, a man in a red cloak flew by.

"Guy's, that's the wizard. Get on it." Iron Man told the students.

"On it!" Peter called back. Peter and Maya ran to catch the wizard, the pair being knocked back by a billboard into a blue beam.

"Uh, Mr. Stark? We're being beamed up!" Peter called.

"Hold on!" Tony called, before rocketing himself to the ship. Peter and Maya hid in a closing capsule so as to not run out of air.

"Kid, where are you guys? Peter, where-" Tony asked in the comm before the connection fizzled out. Maya and Peter shared a look.

"We should have stayed on the bus." Maya said.

***

Space

"Alright, Guardians, This might be dangerous, so let's put on our mean faces." Peter Quill reminded his friends. A few beeping noises came from behind him and he turned to face the teenage Groot playing his game. "Groot, put that thing away. Now, I don't want to tell you again."

"I am Groot" the tree said rudely.

"Woah, woah." Peter replied.

"Language!" Rocket Raccoon snapped.

"Hey!" Gamora scolded.

"Ever since you got a little sap, you've been a total d-hole. Now, keep it up and I'm gonna smash that thing to pieces!" Rocket yelled to the tree. "Why are we doing this again?"

"It's a distress signal, Rocket, someone could be dying."

"I get that, but why are we doing it?"

"'Cause we're nice. Plus, whoever sent it might give us a little cheddar cheese for our efforts." Quill said, rubbing his fingers together.

"Which isn't the point." Gamora replied.

"Which isn't the point, but-" Quill started, but was cut off as their ship stopped at the wreckage before them. Everyone stared in disbelief at the scene in front of them.

"What happened?" Quill asked.

"Looks like we're not getting paid..." Rocket said, before something hit the window. "AAH, Wipers!" A man and a woman had hit the window, the woman gripping onto the man's arm. Suddenly, their eyes opened, screams going through the area.

"Bring them on." Quill ordered. The two people outside were brought on board and put on two stretchers. Quill felt and found a pulse on both of them.

"How the hell are these guys still alive?" he asked. Mantis put her hand on the man's forehead.

"He's anxious, angry, he feels tremendous loss..." she said, before moving to the woman. "And she... she feels pain and sadness, a desire for revenge..."

"It's like a pirate had a baby with an angel." Drax said in awe about the man. Gamora picked up the man's arms

"It's like his muscles are made of Cotati metal fibers." she said.

"Stop massaging his muscles." Peter said defensively. Gamora dropped the man's arm and stared at Quill.

"Wake them up." Gamora said. Mantis moved back to the man.

"Wake..." she whispered. The man suddenly shot up and lurched forward, trying to take in his surroundings. He whirled around to face the Guardians.

"Who the hell are you guys? And where is my sister in law?" he asked. As if on cue, Mantis woke up the woman, who stood up and ran to the man.

"Thor... Thor, where are we? What happened?" she asked quietly. She turned around and faced the group behind her. She drew her sword.

"Who are you? Who..." she started before suddenly sobbing and crumpling to the ground, dropping the sword. The man, Thor, came down and embraced her softly, allowing her to cry into his shoulder. Rocket coughed once and Gamora hit him on the back of his head. The woman stood up and wiped her eyes.

"I am sorry, it's been a hard few hours. May I have your names?" the woman asked.

"First, who are you two?" Quill asked.

"Oh, right. I am Olivia La... Iridottir and this is Thor Odinson, king of Asgard." Olivia said. Was there any point to using her married name anymore? Olivia fought back tears again.

"Alright, I'm Peter Quill, aka Starlord. This is Rocket, Groot, Mantis, Drax, and Gamora." Peter introduced. Olivia seemed to tense up.

"Gamora? Daughter of Thanos?" she asked. Gamora nodded once, a bit embarrassed.

"Your name sounds familiar, too." she said.

"You knew my husband." Olivia said quietly.

"What did he look like?" Gamora asked.

"Tall, pale, black hair, green eyes. You might have seen him about six or seven years ago. He told me a bit about you." Olivia described. Gamora thought for a moment.

"You mean Loki?" she asked. Olivia nodded. "Where is he?"

"Dead. By Thanos." Olivia said stiffly, trying not to break down.

"I'm sorry." Gamora said.

"What did Thanos do to him exactly? When he first found Loki? I was told a little bit, but Loki was never super open about it." Olivia asked. Gamora gestured for her to sit down.

"I was still on Thanos's ship with my sister, Nebula when we got a proximity alert about seven years ago. A lifeform had just appeared out of nowhere."

"Right, the portal." Thor said.

"Anyways, Thanos had him brought on board and he was in pretty bad shape. He was thrown into a cell until he was able to wake up. Thanos had me be the one to look after him. I had brought him food one day, about a slice of bread and some old fruit. He sat up and said he had to get home, to Asgard. I asked him what he was talking about. He launched into some backstory that I'm sure you were aware of. Never knew someone could get that spiteful just because you find out you were adopted."

"It was a little more complicated than that." Olivia said.

"In all his ranting about how he wished he could go home and see to it his adoptive brother and father to be gone, he said he missed his mother. He said some things he shouldn't have to her or something, I don't really remember. But he also said he had to return to his love, he knew she missed him. I'm assuming he meant you."

"So... what would have caused him to attack Earth?" Thor asked. Neither Loki, nor Olivia had really told Thor what happened for a few reasons.

"Thanos heard his backstory and realized he could be an asset. He... he had one of his other children, Proxima Midnight... torture him, day in, day out. Break his spirit until he became complacent. Drag knives along his skin, strap him to tables and inject non lethal poisons into him... but something I never understood was how he was sometimes put close to the ship's engines, he'd come back to his cell sweaty and spent."

"Loki is a Frost Giant. Extreme heat would certainly be a source of pain." Olivia replied.

"I see. But behind everyone else's back, I'd come to his cell late at night and bring him some decent food and company. He'd tell me stories of his youth, I'd sometimes bring my sister with me. He'd often talk about you like it was the only thing he had left. This went on for months. Each day he'd come back in even worse shape than the previous night and each night, I'd bring him more food and he'd tell me stories.

"About a year after we had first found him, he was on the edge of insanity. Just before he was taken to be personally seen of by Thanos, he was crumpled into a ball in the corner of his cell, crying, asking for you. Wishing he was home and none of this had happened, that he was with you, that he loves you, asking for your forgiveness. He was dragged away, only to return with his eyes glazed over, the only thing I saw before he passed out. Next day his eyes opened blue. He was under the influence of the Mind Stone and sent to the Other, one of Thanos's advisers to be set to Earth to attack. I never saw him again." Gamora finished. There was silence for a long time.

"I swear to the Allfathers, I'll end Thanos myself." Olivia whispered. Thor had found a bowl of soup and handed it to her. Thor stood up and walked to the pod.

"How do I open this thing? Is there some sort of a four-digit code maybe... Maybe a birth date or something..." Thor muttered.

"What are you doing?" Quill asked.

"Taking your pod." Thor told them.

"No, you're not! You'll not, be taking our pod today, sir." Quill said, deepening his voice.

"Quill. Are you making your voice deeper?" Rocket asked.

"No."

"You are. You're imitating the god-man. It's weird." Drax said.

"No I'm not." Peter defended.

"He just did it again!" Mantis said.

"This is my voice!"

"Are you mocking me?" Thor asked.

"Are you mocking me?" Quill asked in response.

"Stop it. You did it again." Thor said.

"He's trying to copy me." Peter said.

"Would you stop doing that? He's doing it first." Thor said. Olivia smiled a little as she ate another bite of the soup.

"Enough! We need to stop Thanos. Which means we need to find out where he's going next." Gamora stepped in.

"Knowhere." Thor said.

"He must be going somewhere." Mantis said quizzically.

"No. Knowhere? It's a place. We've been there. It sucks." Quill said.

"Thor... Why would he go to Knowhere?" Gamora asked.

"Because for years, the Reality Stone has been safely stored, there with a man we call the Collector."

"If it's with the Collector, then it's not safe. Only an idiot would give that man a stone." Quill said.

"How do you know he's not going for one of the other Stones?" Gamora asked.

"There's six stones out there. Thanos already has the Power Stone because he stole it last week, when he decimated Xandar. He stole the Space Stone from me when he destroyed my ship and slaughtered half my people. The Time and Mind Stones are safe on Earth. They're with the Avengers." Olivia said.

"The Avengers?" Peter asked.

"They're Earth's Mightiest Heroes." Thor said.

"As for the Soul Stone, well, no one's ever seen that. No one even knows where it is. Therefore, Thanos can't get it. Therefore, he's going to Knowhere. Hence, he'll be getting the Reality Stone. You're welcome." Olivia said.

"Then we have to go to Knowhere now." Gamora said.

"Wrong. We must go to Nidavelleir. Forge weapons." Thor said to her.

"Nidavelleir? It's real?" Rocket asked.

"Nidavewhat? That's a made up word." Drax asked.

"All words are made up." Thor said.

"Nidavelleir, that place is a legend, the place that forged some of the greatest weapons to ever torment the universe. I would very much like to go there." Rocket said.

"The rabbit is correct and clearly the smartest among you." Thor replied.

"Rabbit?" Rocket asked. Olivia shrugged.

"Wait, wait, what kind of weapon are we talking about?" Peter asked.

"The Thanos Killing Kind." Olivia said.

"Shouldn't we all have a weapon like that?"

"No. Even holding it could make all the molecules inside of you explode into a fiery dust." Thor said.

"Is it strange that I want to do it more now?" Rocket asked.

"A little bit." Olivia said.

"I got it figured out. We got two ships, and a large assortment of morons. So me and Groot will go with the pirate-angel here, and the morons will go to Knowhere to try and stop Thanos. Cool? Cool." Rocket said.

"So cool." Thor said.

"Come on, Groot. Put that game down, you'll rot your brain." Rocket said.

"I bid you farewell and good luck, morons. Bye." Thor said. Olivia smacked his arm and waved to the Guardians.

***

Scotland

"How are we supposed to find them now?" Carson asked Steve.

"I have no clue. But we did get a distress signal from Vision. We get to the coordinates, we find them." Steve replied.

"A distress signal is a good way to find someone, but it is a distress signal, and it is a bad thing. What if they got arrested? Or worse?" Carson replied.

"We're here. Cap, you're up." Natasha said, opening the hatch. Steve nodded and lept out behind a passing train. Sam lept out behind him, his metal wings unfolding. Natasha followed, pulling out an assortment of weapons from her endless arsenal. Pietro dashed out of the jet after her. Carson made sure the jet was on autopilot and lept out last. He pulled out a pistol and started shooting at unidentifiable creatures. One bullet landed on one of the creatures, causing it to double over. Team Cap surrounded the downed creature and his seemingly female accomplice.

"We don't wanna kill you. But we will." Nat said coolly.

"You'll never get the chance again." The female creature said, before being beamed up into a ship.

"Can you stand?" Pietro asked an injured Vision.

"Thank you, Captain." Vision replied. Pietro rolled his eyes at being ignored.

"Let's get you on the jet." Steve said. The jet landed and opened, allowing the group to board. Natasha closed the doors, then turned sharply to Vision and Wanda.

"I thought we had a deal. Stay close, check in. Don't take any chances." she said coldly.

"I'm sorry. We just wanted time." Wanda said, hanging her head a little.

"What were those things?" Carson asked.

"No clue. But they were after the stone. I don't know where they came from." Wanda said.

"Where to, Cap?" Sam asked.

"Home." Steve replied.

***

Avengers Facility

"Still no word from Vision?" a hologram of Ross asked James Rhodes.

"Satellites lost him somewhere over Edinburgh." Rhodes replied.

"On a stolen quinjet with six of the world's most wanted criminals."

"You know they're only criminals because you've chosen to call them that, right, sir?"

"My God, Rhodes, your talent for horseshit rivals my own."

"If it weren't for those Accords, Vision would've been right here."

"I remember your signature on those papers, Colonel."

"That's right. And I'm pretty sure I've paid for that." Rhodes said, gesturing to his braces.

"You have second thoughts?" Ross asked.

"Not anymore." Rhodes replied, gesturing to the fugitive Avengers. Sam was supporting Vision as they walked in.

"Mr. Secretary." Steve said.

"You got some nerve. I'll give you that." Ross said coolly.

"You could use some of that right now." Natasha said.

"The world's on fire. And you think, all is forgiven?" Ross asked.

"I'm not looking for forgiveness. And I'm way past asking for permission. Earth just lost her best defender. So we're here to fight. And if you wanna stand in our way... we'll fight you, too." Steve said to Ross. Ross turned to Rhodes.

"Arrest them." he said.

"All over it." Rhodes said, swiping at the holo, ending the transmission. "That's a court-martial. It's great to see you, Cap."

" You too, Rhodey."

"Well. You guys really look like crap. Must've been a rough couple of years."

"Yeah, well, the hotels were not exactly five star." Carson said sarcastically.

"Uh, I think you look great." a voice said from behind them. Everyone turned to see Bruce fidgeting with a jacket sleeve. "Uh... heh... Yeah. I'm back."

"Hi, Bruce." Nat said.

"Nat." Bruce said curtly.

"This is awkward." Pietro said quietly.

After a brief explanation of what went down, the team moved to another room to contemplate.

"So we gotta assume they're coming back, right?" Rhodes said.

"And they can clearly find us." Wanda finished.

"We need all hands on deck. Where's Clint?" Bruce asked.

"After the whole Accords situation, he and Scott took a deal. It was too tough on their families, they're on house arrest." Nat replied.

"Who's Scott?" Bruce asked.

"Ant-Man." Carson said.

"There's an Ant-Man and a Spider-Man? Okay, look... Thanos has the biggest army in the universe. And he is not gonna stop until he... he gets... Vision's Stone." Bruce said.

"Well then, we have to protect it." Nat concluded.

"No, we have to destroy it. I've been giving a good deal of thought to this entity in my head, about its nature. But also, its composition. I think if it were exposed to a sufficiently powerful energy source, something, very similar to its own signature, perhaps... Its molecular integrity could fail..." Vision said, turning to Wanda.

"And you, with it. We're not having this conversation." Wanda snapped.

"Eliminating the stone is the only way to be certain that Thanos can't get it."

"That's too high a price."

"Only you have the power to pay it." Vision said, cupping Wanda's face into his hands. "Thanos threatens half the Universe. One life cannot stand in the way of defeating him."

"But it should. We don't trade lives, Vision." Steve said firmly.

"Captain, 70 years ago, you laid down your life to save how many millions of people. Tell me, why is this any different?" Vision said.

"Because you might have a choice. Your mind is made up of a complex construct of overlays. J.A.R.V.I.S., Ultron, Tony, me, the Stone. All of them mixed together. All of them learning from one another." Bruce supplied.

"You're saying Vision isn't just the stone?" Wanda asked.

"I'm saying that if we take out the stone, there's still a whole lot of Vision left. Perhaps the best parts." Bruce explained.

"Can we do that?" Pietro asked.

"Not me. Not here." Bruce said, shaking his head.

"You better find someone, and somewhere fast. Ross isn't exactly just gonna let you guys have your old rooms back." Rhodes said.

"I know somewhere." Steve said.

***

Wakanda

"You'll have the Kingsguard, and the Dora Milaje have been alerted." Okoye told T'challa.

"And the Border Tribe?" The Wakandan king asked.

"Those that are left."

"Send word to the Jabari as well. M'Baku likes a good fight."

"And what of this one?" Okoye asked, gesturing to Bucky Barnes working on a small goat farm in the distance.

"This one may be tired of war. But the White Wolf has rested long enough."

The pair called Bucky forward and presented him with a new arm.

"Where's the fight?" he asked.

"On its way."

***

Thanos's ship

The Cloak of Levitation appeared behind Tony Stark, surprising him as he assessed the situation, figuring out how to free Strange.

"Wow you're a seriously loyal piece of outerwear, aren't you?" he said.

"Yeah, uh, speaking of loyalty..." A female voice said. Maya and Peter dropped down from the ceiling to face Tony.

"What the-"

"I know what you're gonna say." Peter said.

"You should not be here." Tony said coldly.

"We were gonna go home, but-"

"I don't wanna hear it." Tony snapped.

"But it was such a long way down and we just thought about you on the way..."

"And now I gotta hear it."

"...And we kinda stuck to the side of the ship. And now we're here in space." Maya finished.

"Yeah. Right where I don't want you to be. This isn't Coney Island. This isn't a field trip. It's one-way ticket. You hear me? Don't pretend like you thought this through. You could not have possibly thought this through." Tony explained sharply.

"No. we did think this through." Peter defended.

"You could not have possibly thought this through."

"It's just- You can't be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man when there's no neighborhood. Okay. That didn't really make any sense, but you know what I'm trying to say." Peter said.

Tony sighed and gestured the teens over. "Come on. We got a situation. See him down there? He's in trouble. What's your plan? Go." Tony said.

"Um. Okay, okay...uh... Okay. Did you ever see this really old movie, Aliens?" Maya asked.

The alien man kept speaking to Strange. "Painful aren't they? They were originally designed for microsurgery. And any one of them..." he paused to see Iron Man in attack mode. " ...could end your friend's life in an instant."

"I gotta tell you, he's not really my friend. Saving his life is more a professional courtesy." Tony said curtly.

"You've saved nothing. Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine."

"Yeah, but the kids have seen more movies." Tony said, before blasting a hole in the side of the ship, sucking the alien into space. Peter held Strange back with his webs while Maya kept Peter from slipping. Tony patched the hole with his microtech. Peter let Strange go.

"We've gotta turn this ship around." Strange said.

"Yeah. Now he wants to run. Great plan." Tony said, removing his helmet.

"No, I want to protect the stone."

"And I want you to thank me now. Go ahead, I'm listening."

"For what? Nearly blasting me into space?"

"Who just saved your magical ass? Me." Tony said. Peter opened his mouth to retort, but Maya shushed him.

"I seriously don't know how you fit your head into that helmet." Strange said sarcastically.

"Admit it. You should have ducked out when I told you to. I tried to bench you. You refused."

"Unlike everyone else in your life, I don't work for you."

"And due to that fact, we're now in a flying doughnut billions of miles away from Earth with no backup."

"We're backup." Maya said.

"No, you're stowaways, The adults are talking." Tony said.

"I'm sorry, I'm confused as to the relationship here. Wh-what are they, your wards?" Strange asked.

"No. I'm Peter, by the way." Peter offered.

"Doctor Strange."

"Oh, we're using our made-up names. Um... I'm Spider-Man, then."

"And I'm Maya. Peter and I go to school together." Maya said brightly.

"This ship is self-correcting its course. Thing's on autopilot." Tony said, ignoring the teens.

"Can we control it? Fly us home? Stark?" Strange asked.

"Yeah?"

"Can you get us home?"

"Yeah I heard you. I'm thinking...I'm not so sure we should." Tony said slightly absently. Maya and Peter shared a look.

"Under no circumstance can we bring the Time Stone to Thanos. I don't think you quite understand what's at stake here."

"No. It's you who doesn't understand, that Thanos has been inside my head for six years since he sent an army to New York and now he's back! And I don't know what to do. So I'm not so sure if it's a better plan to fight him on our turf or his but you saw what they did, what they can do. At least on his turf, he's not expecting it. So I say we take the fight to him. Doctor. Do you concur?" Tony said, inches away from Strange. Strange sighed

"Alright, Stark. We go to him. But you have to understand... if it comes to saving you or the kids or the Time Stone... I will not hesitate to let any of you die. I can't, because the fate of the universe depends on it."

"Nice. Good. Moral compass. We're straight." Tony said.

***
Guardian's pod

"I am Groot." Groot said.

"Tinkle in the cup. We're not looking. What's there to see? What's a twig? Everybody's seen a twig." Rocket said.

"I am Groot."

"Tree, pour what's in the cup out in space, and go in the cup again." Thor replied.

"You speak Groot?" Rocket asked.

"Yes, they taught it on Asgard. It was an elective. I personally took more Earth languages like Spanish." Olivia replied. staring out into space.

"I am Groot."

"You'll know when we're there. Nivadellir's forge harnesses the power of a blazing neutron star. It's the birth place of my hammer. It's truly awesome." Thor said with slight nostalgia. He sat down next to his sister and wrapped an arm around her. Rocket stared at them and stood up.

"Okay, time to be the captain." he said to himself. He started pressing a few buttons. "So, dead brother, huh? Yeah, that can be annoying." he said.

"Well, he's been dead before, but this time I think it really might be true." Olivia said.

"Have hope, sister." Thor said, gripping her tighter. She sighed and continued staring out the window.

"And you said your half sister and your dad?" Rocket asked.

"Both dead." Thor said.

"Still got a mom, though?"

"Killed by a dark elf." Olivia replied.

"A best friend?"

"Stabbed through the heart." Thor said.

"Are you sure you're up to this particular murder mission?" Rocket asked the two.

"Absolutely. Rage, vengeance, anger, loss, regret...They're all tremendous motivators. They really clear the mind. So I'm good to go." Thor replied.

"Me too. If anyone is gonna kill that grape, it's gonna be me or him." Olivia agreed.

"Yeah, but this Thanos we're talking about... he's the toughest there is." Rocket said.

"Well, he's never fought me." Thor said.

"Yeah, he has. Look where that got us?" Olivia replied.

"He's never fought me twice. And I'm getting a new hammer, don't forget." Thor said.

"Better be some hammer." Rocket said.

"You know, I'm 1,500 years old. We've killed twice as many enemies as that, and every one would have rather killed us, but none succeeded. We're only alive because fate wants us alive. Thanos is the latest in a long line of bastards and he will be the latest to feel our vengeance. Fate wills it so." Thor said.

"And what if you're wrong?" Rocket asked.

"If we're wrong then... what more could we lose?" Olivia asked sadly. She looked out the window again and a few tears rolled down her face. Thor stood up and went to the front of the pod.

"Okay. If fate does want you to kill that crapsack... You're gonna need more than one stupid eyeball." Rocket said, pulling an eye from his pouch.

"What's this?" Thor asked.

"What's it look like? Some jerk lost a bet with me on Contraxia." Rocket said.

"He gave you his eye?"

"He gave me 100 credits. I snuck in later that night and stole his eye."

"Thank you, sweet rabbit." Thor said, inserting the eye into his empty socket. Olivia rolled her eyes. He's not a rabbit. she thought.

"Oh. I would've washed that. The only way I could sneak it off Contraxia was up my..." Rocket started. A few beeps came from the console. "Hey, we're here!"

"I don't think this thing works. Everything seems dark." Thor said.

"That's not the eye." Olivia said, walking over.

"Something's wrong. The star's gone out. And the rings are frozen." Thor said. Rocket set the pod down and the group stepped out.

" I hope these dwarves are better at forging than they are cleaning. Maybe they realized they live in a junk pile in the middle of space." Rocket said.

"This forge hasn't gone dark in centuries..." Thor said.

"You said Thanos had a gauntlet, right?" Rocket asked.

"Yes. Why?" Olivia asked.

"Look anything like that?" Rocket asked, pointing to a mold that looked exactly like the gauntlet.

"I am Groot..."

"Go back to the pod." Thor said. Something suddenly smacked Thor back. He stood up quickly.

"Eitri, wait! Stop!" Olivia called, holding her hand up.

"Thor? Olivia?" Eitri asked.

"What happened here?" Thor asked.

"You were supposed to protect us. Asgard was supposed to protect us!" Eitri yelled.

"Asgard is destroyed. Eitri, the glove. What did you do?" Olivia asked. The dwarf sat down.

"300 dwarves lived on this ring. I thought if I did what he asked, they'd be safe. I made what he wanted. A device capable of harnessing the power of the stones. Then he killed everyone anyway. All except me. 'Your life is yours.' he said. 'But your hands are mine alone.'" Eitri recounted.

"Eitri, this isn't about your hands. Every weapon you've designed, every axe, hammer, sword...It's all inside your head. Now I know all hope feels lost. Trust me, I know. But together, you and I, we can kill Thanos." Thor said confidently.

***

Titan

"Hey, what's going on?" Peter asked.

"I think we're here." Strange said.

"I don't think this rig has a self-park function. Get your hand into this steering gimbal. Close those around it. You understand?" Tony instructed.

"Yep, got it." Peter said, putting an arm into one of the steering things.

"This was meant for one big guy, so we gotta to move at the same time."

"Okay. Okay. Ready."

"You might wanna turn. Turn! Turn!" Maya said. The pair tried to turn, but wound up crashing the ship, Strange summoning a protective shield around the four.

"You alright? That was close. I owe you one." Tony said to Strange. Peter hung down from the ceiling.

"Let me just say, if aliens wind up implanting eggs in my chest or something, and I end up eating you, I'm sorry." he said.

"I don't wanna hear another single pop culture out of you for the rest of the trip. You understand?" Tony snapped.

"I'm trying to say that... something is coming." Peter said, before the entrance opened and blaster fire was whizzing around the ship. A bug like woman came up to Peter, who lied on the floor.

"AH! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! PLEASE DON'T PUT YOUR EGGS IN ME!" Peter shrieked before slinging webs to trap the woman. A man in a red eyed mask grabbed Peter and put his gun to his head, Tony trapping another man with red markings.

"Alright, everybody, stay where you are... Chill the F out. I'm gonna ask you this one time. Where's Gamora?" the man holding Peter asked, deactivating his mask.

"Yeah, I'll do you one better. Who's Gamora?" Tony asked, powering down his helmet as well.

"I'll do you one better! Why is Gamora?!" The man being held down by Tony asked.

"Tell me where the girl is, or I swear to you, I'm gonna French-fry this little freak." the man with Peter said.

"Let's do it! You shoot my guy, I blast him. Let's go!" Tony said, pointing to the red marked man.

"Do it, Quill! I can take it." the man said.

"No, he can't!" the bug woman said.

"She's right. You can't." Strange said.

"Oh yeah? You don't wanna tell me where she is? That's fine. I'll kill all three of you and beat it out of Thanos myself. Starting with you!" the man, Quill, said, pressing his gun to Peter's head.

"Wait, what. Thanos?" Maya asked, peeking out from her hiding spot.

"Alright, let me ask you this one time: What master do you serve?" Strange asked.

"What master do I serve? What am I supposed to say? "Jesus"?" Quill asked.

"You're from Earth?" Tony asked.

"I'm not from Earth. I'm from Missouri." Quill replied. Maya rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, that's on EARTH, dip-shit. What are you hassling us for?" Tony asked.

"So, you're not with Thanos?" Maya asked.

"WITH Thanos?! No, I'm here to kill Thanos! He took my girl. Wait... who are you?" Quill asked. Peter powered off his mask.

"We're the Avengers, man." Peter said.

"You're the ones Thor and Olivia told us about." the bug woman said.

"You know Thor and Olivia!?" Tony asked.

"Yeah. Tall guy, not that good-looking, needed saving." Quill said. Peter looked at him like he was crazy.

"Needed saving?" Maya asked.

"Yeah, poor girl was pretty upset." Quill said. Before Maya could press further, Strange interrupted.

"Where is he now?"

***

Nivadellir

"This is plan? We're gonna hit him with a brick?" Rocket asked, looking at the mold.

"It's a mold. A king's weapon. Meant to be the greatest in Asgard. In theory, it could even summon the Bifrost." Eitri said.

"Did it have a name?" Olivia asked.

"Stormbreaker."

"That's a bit much." Rocket said quietly.

"So how do we make it?" Thor asked.

"You'll have to restart the forge. Awaken the heart of a dying star." Eitri said.

"Rocket, fire up the pod." Olivia said.

***

Titan

"The heck happened to this planet? It's eight degrees off its axis. Gravitational pull is all over the place." Quill said, looking at a device in his hand.

"Yeah, we got one advantage. He's coming to us. We'll use it. All right, I have a plan. Or at least the beginnings of one. It's pretty simple. We draw him in, pin him down, get what we need. Definitely don't wanna dance with this guy. We just want the gauntlet." Tony said. Drax started to yawn. "Are you yawning? In the middle of this, while I'm breaking it down? Huh? Did you hear what I said?" Tony asked.

"I stopped listening after you said, 'We need a plan.'" Drax said.

"Okay, Mr. Clean is on his own page." Tony said.

"See, "not winging it" isn't really what they do." Quill said.

"Uh, what exactly is it that they do?" Maya asked.

"Kick names, take ass." Mantis said. Tony stared into space as if accepting the fate of the universe.

"Alright, just get over here, please. Mr. Lord, can you get your folks to circle up?" Tony asked.

"'Mr. Lord.' Star-Lord is fine." Quill said.

"We gotta coalesce. 'Cause if all we come at him with is a plucky attitude..." Tony said to the group.

"Dude, don't call us plucky. We don't know what it means. Alright, we're optimistic, yes. I like your plan. Except it sucks, so let me do the plan, and that way it might be really good." Quill replied.

"Tell him about the dance-off to save the universe." Drax said.

"What dance-off?" Maya asked.

"It's not a... it's not... it's nothing." Quill said.

"Like in Footloose, the movie?" Peter asked.

"Exactly like Footloose. Is it still the greatest movie in history?" Quill asked happily.

"It never was." Maya said.

"Don't encourage this, alright?" Tony told the teens.

"Okay."

"We're getting no help from Flash Gordon here." Tony said.

"Flash Gordon? By the way, that's a compliment. Don't forget, I'm half human. So that 50% of me that's stupid? That's 100% you." Quill said, gesturing to the Avengers.

"Your math is blowing my mind." Tony said sarcastically.

"Excuse me, but... does your friend often do that?" Mantis asked. The group turned to see Strange twitching and surrounded by a green haze. They went to stand around him until he yelped and dropped to the ground.

"Strange! We alright? You're back. You're alright." Tony said.

"Hey, what was that?" Maya asked.

"I went forward in time to view alternate futures. To see all the possible outcomes of the coming conflict." Strange panted.

"How many did you see?" Quill asked.

"14,000,605." Strange replied.

"How many did we win?" Tony asked. There was a pause.

"One."