𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐒𝐈𝐗 — the guardians

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 "𝐇𝐄𝐘... 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓'𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 on?" Peter mumbled, his eyes glued to the monitor that flickered and flashed with whatever passed them by outside the Q-ship. He had been watching intently, counting the stars as they drifted by, he'd lost count after thirty.

 The boy had been sitting on the ground, fingers trailing over the rusted and dusty grating, bobbing his head as some tune from a commercial pulsated through his mind, promptly disrupting his counting session.

 He had risen to his feet, almost stumbling as he went when the window showed something different, something other than a vast, blank expanse with white dots hovering here and there.

 Emilia cocked her head, arms folded over her chest as she stood between Stephen and Tony. It looked as though they had arrived at the planet Ebony Maw had been planning to drag Stephen and the Time Stone; Titan.

 The hairs on the back of her neck bristled. There would be a fight, there was no doubt about it. Thanos and Maw had planned to rendezvous, only now, It'd be Emilia and her trio of companions that would be confronting the titan. Their goal was to protect the Time Stone from Thanos... But the being had already gathered at least two of the Infinity Stones, he'd won in a fight against the Asgardian princes and The Hulk... So would they be able to protect it?

 "Right..." Tony muttered as his fingers tangled with the hair at the back of his head, scratching for a moment, "I don't think this rig has a self-park function. Pete," Tony called over his shoulder, watching as the boy jogged over with wide and attentive eyes. Tony waved a hand towards the device, "Get your hand into that steering gimbal. Close those around it, you understand?"

 "Mhm." Peter chimed lightly, his brows creasing as he followed his instructions and slipped his hand into the gimbal. The metal was cold, even despite the suit he wore, "Yeah — yeah I got it."

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

 "Okay. Okay. Ready."

 Emilia tensed the closer to the planet they got. They didn't seem to be slowing down at all. If they kept going, they'd crash and the ship would likely blow into a million pieces, leaving all occupants... Well, she didn't want to imagine that.

 "You uh —" Emilia swallowed hard, her eyes growing wider and wider as the ground grew closer and closer, "You might want to turn!"

 "Yeah! Turn! Turn!" Peter cried out, as he gripped the arm that was shoved into the gimbal with his free hand, using all of his supernatural strength to turn the damn thing.

 Tony followed suit, grunting as he pushed the gimbal with white knuckles.

 Emilia locked eyes with Stephen, and even without words, the pair knew to raise their hands. Stephen bumped his closed fists together, Tao Mandala's vibrantly blossoming to life and dancing over his scarred fingers before he thrust his arms forth. The golden shields spat a multitude of sparks across the grating of the ship as they grew larger in size, eventually forming one large shield around the four occupants of the ship.

 Emilia wasn't far behind with her own actions; her calloused fingertips brought her abilities to life. Pale blue danced around her short nails, disappearing here and there like a glitch before she blew out a heavy breath and copied Stephen. Two shields were better than one. The bubble of blue that had protected herself, Stephen —and Tony for that matter — with a multitude of times, sprung to life and surrounded them all. It was smaller than Stephens, creating a layer inside of his sparking shield.

 They wouldn't land softly, that much was clearly obvious from the way the Q-ship collided with a star-like structure that had decayed on the abandoned planet. A chunk of metal... or rather, half of their ship was snatched away, tumbling to the ground in a plume of smoke. Their legs rattled from the collision, feeling like jelly as they stumbled to and fro. Still, the shields remained intact, and their hearts were still beating... Albeit incredibly fast, and Emilia was certain her own would leap from her chest at any given second.

 In mere seconds, the bottom of what little was left of the ship began to scrape against the ground of their destination. Metal against rock screeched and made the quartet cringe, though neither of the four faltered in their tasks. Emilia and Stephen kept their shields steady as they continued to drift across the ground. Peter and Tony kept their arms locked in the gimbals, tugging with all their might to turn the ship and hopefully halt it in its path.

 It did slow, eventually. The metal creaked and whined as sparks jumped around, as metal continued to dangle from mere threads. A mere quarter of the original ship was intact, and even that was being generous about the state of their vehicle.

 A dust cloud had sprung from their hasty landing and it filed into the ship, casting a haze before their eyes until finally, the ship once more collided with a structure that had been rotting and falling apart whilst the planet's inhabitants were nowhere to be seen. It jolted to a pause, knocking Emilia from her stance. Expecting it, she simply stumbled before catching herself.

 Tony and Peter hadn't been so lucky. The pair had both tumbled to the ground with a heavy thud echoing over the metal grating. Tony groaned in what almost sounded like annoyance, as though his fall was nothing but an inconvenience.

 Emilia started forwards. Her hands were now bare of her shield and she reached for Peter, taking the boy's forearm into her grip as she hastily pulled him to his feet.

 She planted her palms on the metal that surrounded his shoulders, steadying him as he blew out a sharp and quivering breath, "You okay?"

 He bobbed his head, eyes mildly unfocused as he waited for the dizzy spell to pass, "I'm okay... Thank you, Doctor Clemente."

 "Emilia." She corrected the boy, leaving no time for him to respond as she pivoted to face Tony, ready to help him to his feet, though Stephen had beaten her to it.

 Stephen had released his hold on his own, amber barrier. The sound of fizzling sparks came to a close as he reached his own, trembling hand forth, willing Tony to grab ahold, and he did.

 Stark gritted his teeth as his hand grabbed Stephens, pain shooting through his back as he stood to his full height. A swift, yet thankful nod was offered to the wizard, "That was close, I owe you both."

 A small, rather short, moment of peace passed them by. Tony panted until his chest had finally settled into a more rhythmic pace of rising and falling. Peter looked around, warm brown eyes darting to and fro as he skimmed what little was left of the ship.

 Stephen surveyed each member of their little crew. Even though he could easily look down his nose in distaste at Stark when they'd first met; he had to hand it to the man, he was quick in such situations and had managed to land them somewhat safely. He'd never admit that, of course. His eyes trailed over Emilia last, watching as she doted on the teenager within their midst. He had repressed a chuckle as her eyes crossed over his face, looking for any tell-tale signs that he was in pain.

 Emilia, well her focus was on the air around them. With her abilities came certain... Odd occurrences. Yes, she could lift a boulder as though it weighed nothing more than a brick. Yes, she could probably crush the remnants of their ship into a ball if she had the time and patience to do so. But there were other things too; being able to feel shifts in the air around her, as though particular senses were enhanced... She had to focus to feel such things, but the occurrence was there.

 She'd first felt it mere months ago. Her legs had been crossed beneath her, a candy pink yoga mat settled between herself and the mahogany wood of one of the rooms within the Sanctum; meditation helped to calm her nerves, helped ease the anxiety that would spark within her blood at any given chance. That day, she'd felt a book falling from its shelf mere seconds before a thud sounded out. Her eyes had cracked open to see the item sprawled next to her, pages opened whilst dust particles happily danced around her, tickling her throat.

 From then on, she practised with it. She could sense Stephen entering a room, could feel Wong arrive at the Sanctum, even that damned cosy cloak of Stephens made the hairs on her arms stand on end when she concentrated hard enough; if only she could use such senses without having to devote her entire being into concentration.

 "Let me just say..." Peter spoke up, his unusually high voice should have irritated Emilia, for her concentration was lost, yet all it did was provoke a smile to curl on her features, "If aliens wind up implanting eggs in my chest or something and I eat one of you, I'm sorry."

 "I... What?"

 "I do not want another pop culture reference outta you for the rest of the trip." Emilia and Tony chimed at once. Confusion twisted Emilia's smile until it wobbled into somewhat of a grimace, whilst Tony sighed so damn deeply that he had to suck a deep breath back in as he pointed a finger in Peter's direction, "You understand?"

 "I'm trying to say that something is coming." Peter elaborated as he scratched the back of his neck before something prompted him to cover his features with the intuitive suit that Tony had provided him with.

 Emilia liked to think she had fast reflexes, and Stephen... Well he very much knew she did. If their training had proved anything, it had certainly proved that Emilia Clemente was light on her feet and swift with her decisions; a scientist's brain. She had been far too used to dashing across tiled floors to prevent chemicals from bubbling until they exploded, after all.

 So when a small, round and metal ball rolled between the four of them, Emilia made the first, and only move. Stephen, Tony and Peter rather comically stared at the item as it trailed between them, jolting on the uneven flooring; they did nothing.

 Emilia's first thought was what the hell is that, get it away from me. Apparently, her internal narration was wonderfully smart, and the woman wasted no time in scooping the item up with her pale-blue powers, and throwing it back in the direction it'd come from.

 It was a good thing too; for the damn ball exploded in a blast of orange flames.

 However, whilst one might have thought that a randomly appearing, exploding ball would have been their one and only worry... until Thanos came, that is... They would have been entirely wrong.

 "Thanos!" A burly voice screamed. The strangers' words echoed throughout the dismantled ship as an odd-looking... Man? Thing? Came into view with daggers drawn. Whatever and whoever he was, he didn't seem willing to simply talk.

 They were an odd-looking lot; though Emilia wouldn't have blamed them if they'd thought the same thing about herself, and the three that flanked her sides. A grown man and a teenager barely taller than herself were dressed like flashy, cartoon robots, whilst she and Stephen were dressed as though they were getting ready to perform magic tricks at a child's birthday party. So, really, there wasn't much room for judgement on either side.

 Emilia had heard the biggest, burliest of the group yell Thanos' name; so whether they believed that Emilia and her odd-balls were involved with the purple beast, she had no idea. It wasn't quite like she could raise a hand and call a time-out for a quick conversation to get their facts straight, for a fight was already well underway.

 The one who had called out the mad Titan's name was already in a heated battle with Stephen's cloak; the being had daggers clutched tightly in his grip, doing whatever he could to swing them whilst the cloak tangled around him, effectively halting his movements. It didn't seem to matter to the man, for he continued to grunt and struggle nonetheless.

 The man who appeared to be the leader had a helmet covering his features. A maroon leather jacket was draped around his form, yet clung to his arms whilst his feet were fitted with, what Emilia assumed to be, blasters. Not completely unlike Tony's. He was whirring through the air in a blur whilst Tony jetted into the air and followed swiftly after him.

 Emilia didn't quite have much more time to scan their area, for Peter's loud gasp rang through the ship. Emilia whipped her head around, eyeing Stephen for a mere moment, then Tony who was apparently hugging part of the ship... Though judging by the way electricity was buzzing from his chest, Emilia assumed the ship-hugging wasn't Tony's idea.

 They were both... Relatively fine.

 So, the moment her eyes landed upon Peter Parker and the woman hovering over him, she darted forwards. She threw a hand to her side, and with the power that bubbled atop her calloused fingertips, a rather large chunk of dented metal was in the air and following her like an obedient animal.

 "Please don't put your eggs in me!" The teenager shrieked, his hands and feet in a mad scramble to get him as far away from the woman as possible.

 As Emilia neared, she caught a better view of the scene; the woman... Was an alien. Or at least, was an alien in Emilia's regard. The woman was neither tall nor short, she had a meek, almost innocent looking face; but the black eyes that blinked similarly to a bug, and the antennas that sprouted from the woman's forehead were enough for Peter to shriek once more.

 Emilia used the metal as a bat. She smacked the woman — though admittedly, she didn't wack her nearly as hard as she could have — and watched with wide eyes as the creature groaned and rolled to the side, clutching at her head.

 "Peter!" Emilia called out, metal still hovering over the woman, "You okay?"

 "Thanks!" His voice came out in a crack, shattering like glass halfway through.

 Peter dashed off the moment he crawled to his feet and plunged himself back into the fight, whilst Emilia narrowed her gaze on the slab of jagged, rusty metal. She brought it closer and closer to the woman until her opponent gasped at the cold material.

 Emilia's pinky and ring fingers curled inwards, slowly closing to her palm. They shook under the pressure, but the metal creaked and whined nonetheless as it followed her movements; the sheet of steel groaned as it too, curled into a pipe large enough to trap the woman inside.

 Behind her, Emilia could still hear the sounds of an ongoing fight; Tony and Peter's suits clanged with every step and punch. The whirring sound of both Tony's and the other group's leaders' boots sparked here and there. The familiar sounds of Stephen using the Mystic Arts to aid him filled her senses; whooshes and crackling sparks.

 A sheen of sweat had gathered on Emilia's forehead as she finally let go, knowing that the bug-like woman would serve no further threat to herself and the others. She was well and truly trapped... Though, in all honesty, she didn't seem all too bothered.

 The lady with the antennas blinked lazily, as though she were ready to curl up for a nap and use her metal cocoon as a blanket. She made absolutely no move to even attempt to free herself.

 "Everybody stay where you are!" An unfamiliar voice called out, prompting Emilia to glance over her shoulder, "Chill the eff out!"

 Emilia, and the alien encased in metal, weren't all too far from the group, and it only took a single, swift look for Emilia to see the state of both groups. Somehow; in the short time that Emilia had lost sight of Peter Parker, his head had become trapped by the other group's leader. Thanks to the man removing his helmet, Emilia could see that he was a taller man with dark hair, a short, scruffy beard dressed his chin and cheeks, trailing to the top of his lip where it was only slightly longer.

 One arm of his was tightly wrapped around Peter's throat, holding him in a headlock whilst the other was firmly holding a gun, the barrel of which was pressed directly against Peter's temple.

 Emilia knew she could grow angry, and she knew that her abilities often gained a life of their own when she did. Chaos, destruction, just like Dormammu had craved from her. A hot flush trailed over her skin, and she pondered whether she was scorching to the touch. Her eyes had narrowed into slits, mouth curling into something animalistic as she watched the man jam his gun closer to Peter.

 She had barely registered that the others were all in rather precarious situations; Tony with his repulsor pointed at the burliest of the group — the one that had stormed in with a loud yell and shining daggers at the ready.

 Stephen, on the other hand, was by Tony's side with his hands balled into fists. A sparkling Tao Mandala shield glowed as it danced on one trembling hand, the other — the hand that held his sling ring — was bare of any weapon, though he was certainly ready to make one spark to life at any given moment.

 Emilia, in her red and anger-fueled haze, missed the look Stephen directed her way. It wasn't necessarily one of worry — for Stephen Strange knew Emilia better than anybody, and he knew she'd handle herself — but it was more so a look he'd expected her to return. A nod perhaps, a small tick of the lips, anything that conveyed 'I'm fine. Are you okay? Good, I love you.'. That look, the one they always knew and always shared after a fight — be it training or against an actual threat.

 Instead, she crept forth a single step as the man holding Peter tightly, continued to speak.

 "I'm gonna ask you this one time. Where's Gamora?"

 Who? Emilia thought, blinking rapidly as the haze cleared for a short second.

 Tony, obviously thinking the very same as Emilia, allowed his helmet to disintegrate from his face. A frown was present, "Yeah, I'll do you one better. Who's Gamora?"

 "I'll do you one better! Why is Gamora?" Came a quip from the creature that was trapped beneath Tony's stone-like gaze and readied repulsors. It seemed as though, even in the face of a threat, the man just had to get his own two cents in.

 The man holding the gun to Peter's head scoffed. A grin slipped to his lips, though it was certainly one devoid of any mirth, "Tell me where the girl is, or I swear to you..." He jabbed the gun once more, "I'm gonna French fry this little freak."

 "How?" Emilia chimed. And Tony promptly snapped his mouth shut, whatever retort he had planned, died on his tongue.

 The billionaire had been planning to shove a rather robust gun towards the creature that was trapped beneath his hold... Yet as he looked at Emilia and digested the sheer stoicism on her face, he simply cocked his head and eyed the man holding Peter.

 It didn't take a genius — though Tony obviously fell into that category — to see that Emilia had already shown an affectionate liking towards the teenager that had stowed away on the ship. Oh, Tony thought, She'll handle this. He wasn't often willing to put the lives of his loved ones within another's hand... yet the way Emilia had positively doted on Peter since his arrival; Tony knew she wouldn't let a single scratch mark his skin.

 If anything, it wasn't Peter's life he feared for now... it was the newcomers.

 "What?" The man growled out as though the question was stupid.

 "I said," Emilia cocked her head, a small smile brewing on her lips. "How?"

 "Do you not see the gun against his head?"

 Emilia laughed. The sound was like a bell, light and airy as it carried throughout the ship. The newcomers thought she was mad. Tony might have too, but Stephen only grimaced to himself.

 Emilia gestured towards the one with the gun, her hand making a flourishing movement in the air; though the action was merely to get her hand right where she needed it. Her brows curled inwards, as though she were completely and utterly concerned about the situation, though she was anything but.

 With her hand now before her, hovering in the air, that unmistakable blue began to simmer and stir around her fingertips. It glossed over her nails, crawled down to her knuckles as she lightly jostled her slender fingers. The man had been too busy staring at her with utter bewilderment, and thus he didn't catch the way his gun had been encased in blue.

 Emilia sharply curled her fingers to make a balled fist and pulled it swiftly to her chest. The gun was pried from his hands and his eyes widened as he stumbled at the sheer force. Peter, still in the man's grip — though it was far looser — stumbled with him.

 All eyes were on the metal weapon now floating in the air. It bobbed and jostled, barrel pointed towards the ground before Emilia cleared her throat and the gun whipped around. The glinting barrel had shifted, forced to face its owner as Emilia willed her hold to twist it.

 The leader of their opposing group was horrified. Green eyes had blown wide, it was almost comical. The lady with the antennas — still swathed by metal — gasped at the sight, fingers quivering by her side, yet out of sight. The one with a repulsor pointed at his nose, snarled and shifted, trying to stand. Tony's repulsors whirred in warning.

 "Peter?" Emilia called. Her voice had changed dramatically compared to how she'd spoken to their intruder; it was lighter now, like a gentle caress of silk against bare skin. Comforting.

 Her head cocked quickly, imploring for Peter to join her side now that no weapon was against his head, and the grip upon his neck was far from unable to keep the teenager trapped.

 The boy wasted no time. Nimble, metal-coated fingers pried the man's grip from his neck, and it sounded as though he was mumbling apologies as he carefully lowered the man's arm whilst stepping back.

 He nodded to himself and swiftly turned on his heel, darting to join Emilia's side. He watched in awe as she so nonchalantly tore her gaze from both the gun and the man it was pointed at.

 "Are you alright?" She questioned, genuine concern lingering in her eyes.

 "I'm okay... Thank you, Doc — uh, I mean, thank you, Emilia."

 "Now, you." Emilia faced the man staring down the barrel of his own gun once more. "What are you doing here, who are you?"

 The man scoffed. His arms were now hanging by his side, and whilst he certainly tried to shield his contorted features from Emilia's penetrating stare, his mild fear still poked through. Somehow, his tone remained even, "What are we doing here? We're trying to find Gamora! Now tell us where the hell she is, or we'll kill you, and beat it out of Thanos ourselves!"

 "You'll kill —" Emilia had almost laughed at his words, ready to retort and jostle his gun in front of him once more to firmly reestablish who could kill who... But her brain had finally caught up with her hazy red rage, "— Wait... Thanos?"

 She blinked once, twice, three times as she digested his words. Thanos. They knew about the mad-titan, and by both the look on the man's face, and his rather blunt threat, they were not fans of his either.

 This could work. A team of four taking on a being with the power of multiple Infinity Stones sounded like suicide, and perhaps it was... But if they could get these three to join their side... Maybe, just maybe, they could think of a plan.

 "Wait... What? Thanos?" Stephen mumbled, his eyes finally straying from Emilia and back to the man who still had the decency to warily eye his own weapon that was drawn on him, "All right, let me ask you this one time. What master do you serve?"

 Their enemy finally trailed his wide green gaze from the floating weapon. His left eye twitched as he regarded Stephen, "What master do I serve? What am I supposed to say? Jesus?"

 Jesus. So he was from Earth... How in the world did he get out here? Emilia pondered to herself as she once more eyed the man beneath Tony's repulsors and casted a quick look at the lady still within her metal cocoon. She looked as though she was truly dozing off.

 Tony's lips parted, his hand ready to slam against his forehead and leave behind a permanent pink hand-print, "You're from Earth?"

 "I'm not from Earth. I'm from Missouri."

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

 Peter, for the first time since he'd scuttled to Emilia's side, finally found his voice. He swallowed before taking a small step forward, missing the way Emilia's hand only slightly reached forth for him — though it silently lowered back to her side, "So, you're not with Thanos?"

 "With Thanos?" Their opponent repeated incredulously, as though the mere thought of being on the titan's side was an impossibility... and it was. "No, I'm here to kill Thanos. He took my girl —" He stuttered for a moment, eyes moving from Tony and his shining suit to Stephen whose shields had been lowered. Finally, they landed on Emilia, who despite her counterparts letting their guards down, still held his gun in her magical grip with utmost diligence, "Wait, who are you?

 "We're the Avengers, man."

 "You're the ones Thor told us about." A small voice piped up from behind Emilia. Antenna lady.

 "You know who Thor is?" Emilia questioned the man, finally guiding the gun towards her hands.

 The metal was cold in her grasp and it felt odd, for Emilia's only weapon was herself. Still, keeping a hold of an item — even a small one — quickly drained her energy for she was used to flinging items to and fro without much of a care. A bead of sweat had gathered on her hairline, ready and waiting for further exertion to prompt it forth.

 "Yeah. Tall guy, not that good-looking, needed saving." The leader responded, shrugging his shoulders. It was a false statement, everyone in the room knew that... Even Peter's face had contorted with confusion at the assertion.

 Even as the words had left his mouth, they were tight and strained. The man himself didn't believe his remark.

 Emilia, gun still dangling from her fingertips, slowly approached the man. She assessed the way he swallowed and defiantly lifted his head; trying to appear even taller, though he had many an inch on Emilia already.

 A sly smile crept on her lips at his reaction to her. But for now, she quelled her satisfaction in favour of asking an important question. If they had Thor — the God of Thunder himself — on their team... Their chances of winning and keeping the Time Stone safe would rise drastically.

 So, with a sigh, Emilia held her hand out. The man's gun rested in her light grip and she slowly nodded to it, waiting for the fellow to take it back from her. It, if nothing else, proved that neither side saw one another as a threat.

 Emilia parted her lips, tongue darting to wet them before she spoke, "Where's Thor now?"

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30-03-2022

i hope you all enjoyed this chapter! please remember to vote and comment, let me know what you think as i do require a certain amount of comments before i post another chapter!!