Together.

We'll lose.

Then we'll do that together too.

Location: Somewhere in Space

"We are arriving." Mantis announced from her seat at the back of the ship.

Peter Quill nodded in acknowledgement. He was scared, but he didn't want to admit it to his team. Humor seemed to be his only defense mechanism against his fears.

"Alright Guardians don't forget this might be dangerous so let's put on our mean faces."

They had caught word of the massive ship that came seemingly out of nowhere, blowing up a smaller ship to pieces. They knew little about the situation, except that innocent people had died- who these people were they did not know.

Chaos had erupted. Big metal chunks of debris flew freely throughout space.

"What happened?" Asked Mantis.

Peter didn't know. None of them knew- which was terrifying.

Drax's eyes seemed to be following something hurtling towards them, but Peter couldn't pinpoint what the man was seeing, until he was startled by a sudden BANG on the windshield in front of them.

"Woah!" Gamora screamed from behind him.

"Wipers! Wipers! Get it off!" Rocket shouted.

"No!" Peter exclaimed. It wasn't just a piece of debris that had crash-landed on their ship. It was a… person?

"We need to get him inside." Peter said, making his way to the back of the ship to grab his mask. "I'm going to go and get him; he might have information on what happened here."

"If he's even alive…" Gamora stated.

Within minutes the unconscious man was lying on a table in the middle of the ship. Peter, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, Groot and Mantis all staring at him, confusion evident on their faces.

"Wake him up." Peter commanded, although anxiously, unsure of what to expect.

Mantis nodded and gently placed her hand on the man's forehead.

"Wake." She instructed.

The Guardians startled as the man jumped off the table, screaming in alarm, Peter immediately aimed his gun at the possibly dangerous man.

As the man heaved and panted, he slowly turned around to face the strange ensemble of people behind him.

"Who the hell are you guys?"

Peter cautiously moved forward. "I think the question is: who the hell are you?"

The man turned around again to look out the window, at the debris floating around him before introducing himself to the Guardians.

"I am Thor, son of Odin and King of Asgard."

Rocket laughed. "Okay buddy, who are you really?"

The man's eyebrows furrowed. "I am being truthful."

"Alright, then 'Thor', do you mind telling us what your business is crashing into our ship like that?"

Thor was silent for a moment before raising his arm and pointing at the floating chunks of metal. "That… Was my ship. My people were on that ship."

"You survived the explosion?" Gamora asked.

Thor nodded. "Yes. And I fear that many of my people did not. We were attacked by something- someone extremely powerful."

"Who was it?" Peter asked.

Thor shook his head. "I do not know. I was knocked unconscious by the blast. We must get back to Earth… I have friends there who can help."

"Why do you think we would trust you?" Rocket asked.

Gamora nodded in agreement. "How do we know you're telling the truth?"

Thor put his hands up in surrender. "If you must restrain me, fine. But, please assist me in getting back to Earth."

Peter frowned, unsure of the man's motivations, but given the damage surrounding them, ultimately decided to help.

"We'll get you back to Earth."

"What!? Are you crazy? We don't even know this guy he could be batshit insane!" Rocket screamed in anger.

Peter signaled for Rocket to stop talking. "We'll help you, but if you betray us, then you're going to be screwed over by the Guardians of the Galaxy."

Thor nodded. "Thank you."

The Guardians climbed back into their designated chairs as Thor stood by the windshield, watching as the ship flew through the debris.

As they made their way towards Earth, Thor felt an uneasy feeling in his stomach. Something didn't feel right…

"Something's very wrong." He announced.

And as he said this, a flood of memories came back to him.

"Do you really think it's a good idea for me to go back to Earth?" Loki had asked.

"I'm sure it will be fine."

They're conversation was interrupted by a shadow appearing overhead. As Thor moved to see the cause of it, he noticed the massive ship hovering dangerously close to them.

Before he could warn the other Asguardians present on the ship that they were under attack, the two brothers were thrown backwards by a sudden blast of energy.

He was knocked unconscious, but a vague memory of seeing Loki standing up, tesseract in hand ready to offer it to their attacker.

Impossible. Thor had thought.

Before he could yell at Loki not to hand over the tesseract, a second blast erupted. The blast that had caused the ship to fall apart, sending Thor into his collision course with this strange group of people who called themselves the "Guardians of the Galaxy."

Death Follows Him Like a Shadow

That's Who Thanos is.

Location: Queen's, New York

Peter sighed as he sat with his chemistry book on his lap, trying to get some last minute studying in before his test that morning. Thank God for traffic. He thought, as the school bus was idling, not making much movement due to the long line of cars in front of them. Maybe if the bus is late to school, he wouldn't have to write his test.

Peter smiled at the idea, but it quickly faded as an uneasy feeling came over him. A shiver went down his spine and he frowned as the hairs on his arms began to stand.

"What the-?"

His sentence was interrupted as a feeling of intense worry settled over him. He looked out the bus window, only to see that nothing was wrong.

What is happening?

Ever sense the spider bite, Peter had always experienced increased senses. He called it his spidey-sense, but it had never been this severe. Something is up. I need to find Mr. Stark.

***
He's coming to us. So that's what we use.

Location: A Destroyed Section of Earth

Tony didn't like this idea at all.

He didn't know who these people were. He didn't know if they were allies, or enemies… Yet somehow he found himself getting prepared to fight alongside these so-called "Guardians". Drax, the big one stood on his left, anger evident in his expression. The leader, "Star-Lord" staring in front of him, a look of fear present. And the strange alien-girl, Mantis looked beyond terrified.

Tony didn't want to trust these people, but he didn't have a choice. A threat bigger than anything he had ever faced was on their way and he needed all the help he could get. He turned around to see the teenage boy that he considered a son staring ahead of him in fear, wearing the new suit that he had turned down not so long ago.

Tony had told the kid not to come, not to get involved, but Peter came anyways, much to Tony's disapproval. When Peter came running into the compound, spurting out words about his "senses going crazy" Tony thought the kid hit his head or something, until he received the call from Wanda that she and Vision had been attacked in broad daylight in the middle of Times Square.

Tony took the kid aside, telling him to stay out of this fight. To go home and keep his aunt safe, but the stubborn teen refused.

"I can help." He had said.

Tony couldn't argue anymore and so he told Peter to suit up and stay behind him at all times.

The group continued to stare in fear as Gamora spoke over their headsets.

"I know who this is."

"What?" Tony asked his voice shrill.

Before Gamora could answer, a strange portal began to form only a few meters in front of them. Tony instinctively put his hand out in front of Peter, not wanting any harm to come to him. He was just a kid. He shouldn't be here.

A booming voice echoed through the portal. "Fun really isn't something one considers when balancing the universe." A large threatening- looking, purple-skinned man stepped through the portal, his eyes immediately landing on Gamora.

"But this does put a smile on my face." He said, menacingly.

Tony heard Star-Lord gasp from beside him. "Oh man." He said his face now in an expression of absolute horror.

"Let's get into position." Tony said, taking the lead.

The group nodded and disbanded, prepared to battle.

***
Location: Wakanda

A sharp smell was the first thing Bucky registered before his eyes shot open in alarm.

He sat up, too fast causing a wave of dizziness to overcome him. A gentle hand pushed him back down.

"Easy, Buck." He turned his head to see none other than Steve Rogers, staring back at him.

"You've… changed…" Bucky said, noticing the beard that the man had grown.

Steve nodded. "A lot of things have changed."

Bucky's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Why did you wake me up?"

"We're at war." A new voice answered. Bucky sat up to see T'Challa, the King of Wakanda standing at the other side of the room.

"We need everyone we can get." Steve said.

I know what it's like to lose.

To feel so desperately that you're right.

And to fail all the same.

Location: A Destroyed Section of Earth

Peter Parker looked around him, tears welling up in his eyes. This can't be happening… This wasn't possible.

They were all dead.

All of them.

Tony, Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Mantis… They all lay on the ground, lifeless.

No. Peter thought. I couldn't save them.

He could distantly hear a voice calling him. "Peter!"

He ignored the voice as all he could do was stare at the bodies of his friends… the people he failed to save.

"Peter!"

Thor was dead too, his skull crushed by Thanos and Peter just watched it happen. He watched the man scream in pain. There was so much blood.

"Peter!" He recognized that voice… Was that the sorcerer?

"Peter, protect them. They're not dead." Dr. Strange was trying to get the attention of the teen, who's brain was being warped by the mind-stone. He was seeing all his teammates dead and the Doctor was trying to pull him out of this trance, while continuing to fight the mad villain.

Before the doctor could do anything, Thanos gripped the boy by the neck and body-slammed him into the ground. A sickening crack was heard and the teen yelped in pain.

Tony, who had been fighting elsewhere, was suddenly alerted by his suit that Peter had been hurt. He quickly flew over to the kid's location. His heart stopped when he saw the teen lying on the ground, his face in an expression of extreme pain.

Forgetting the battle taking place around him, Tony quickly exited his suit and knelt down next to the teen, placing a hand on his shoulder. Why did I bring him into this? He's just a kid… And now he's hurt.

Peter looked up to Tony, tears in his eyes.

"Tony, I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He said.

"Shh." Tony said, running a hand through his hair.

"I thought you were dead…"

"I'm still here, kid."

"I can't fight anymore, Tony. I'm hurt."

Tony nodded. "I know kid. It's okay."

Dr. Stephen Strange had already run over and began checking over the teen.

A scream echoed from behind him and the two men turned to see Star-Lord being thrown to the ground.

"Stark, you need to go fight." Dr. Strange commanded.

"I'm not leaving him."

"I'll take care of him. Go help the others."

Tony nodded and reluctantly got back into his suit, giving Peter one last glance.

"He'll be okay." Dr. Strange said.

Tony flew off, ready to fight; he wasn't ready for the punch that headed his way.

Blackness.

Dread from it.

Run from it.

Destiny still arrives.

*End*