Regrouping after the fateful snap was a somber affair.
Rhodey, Rocket, Thor, Steve, Bruce, and Natasha, along with the remaining Wakandans met inside the palace. Ramonda and Shuri were sitting at the elongated table located in the center of the vast room. General Okoye led the group inside and immediately went to stand with the Queen and the Princess.
Deep down, Shuri knew that her brother was gone. She didn't bother to ask for confirmation, because if her gut instinct wasn't proof enough, the defeated gleam in Okoye's eyes told her all that they had truly lost. Everyone was quietly grieving. Of course some showed their grief more than others. Rocket, Thor, and Bruce were among the worst of them. Natasha and Steve were fairly composed.
Surveying the room, Steve stepped in towards the center of the area and cleared his throat. Everyone's gazes tiredly focused on the captain.
"I know we took some very heavy losses today. We will have time to grieve later, but I'm willing to bet that there are billions of people out there that have no idea what is going on. We have a responsibility to keep what's left of Earth in check."
Those who didn't know Steve Rogers gaped at him. Surprisingly Ramonda snapped out of her daze. "Captain Rogers is correct. There will be time for ourselves later. As for right now, we all have a job to do." As soon as those words left her lips, M'Baku rushed in with an urgent message.
"Your Majesty! Four alien ships have been spotted and are closing in on Wakanda." At that, nearly everyone who had fought earlier sprung into action. They took off, running outside to see if Thanos had come back for round two, or if this was something else. Thor was the first one out, and held up his hand to stop the rest of the Avengers and their fellow comrades, as they held up their weapons, ready to attack.
"I know these three ships!" Thor exclaimed.
Bruce looked over at Thor, eyes wide in disbelief.
"Those can't be... the Asgardians made it!? This is... this is great news!"
Thor turned to the rest of the group, blushing slightly. "It has become suddenly clear that I have much to explain. 'Tis a lengthy tale, but seeing as they are about to land, I shall make haste. There was a prophecy for Ragnarok to fall upon Asgard and be the end of my home world. We rescued everyone and we were all on the ship that Thanos attacked. Those are the escape pods. Ah! Here they are now!"
The doors to the escape pods opened simultaneously and many people came flooding out of each one. Bruce and Thor rushed forward excitedly.
"Valkyrie! Korg! Miek!"
"Hullo!" Korg replied cheerfully as always. "Half of the people on our ships turned into dust right before our eyes!"
Valkyrie smacked her forehead. She had enough of that idiot to last a lifetime.
"Your whole world was destroyed?" Shuri pushed forward to the front of the crowd.
The Asgardians nodded their heads, eyes downcast.
"General Okoye! Gather any Dora Miljae that are able-bodied, and anyone else who isn't super-powered. Show the Asgardians around Wakanda. They are to stay in Wakanda for as long as they care to."
The majority of the rather large greeting party departed, and Thor bowed his head to the Princess, expressing his gratitude. Valkyrie looked both Bruce and Thor up and down.
"So you both survived then. Who would've thought." She turned her attention to Korg."You should take Miek and learn your way around this part of Midgard. I will remain here to help."
"Alright then," Korg said, "we'll be seeing you in a bit. Come on Miek." They ran off in the direction that the Wakandans and Asgardians had gone off to.
"Hey guys, I hate to ruin the mood of this happy little reunion, but do we have any idea who or what is on that ship that just landed?" Natasha asked.
In the heat of the moment, and the joy of finding more survivors, they had forgotten all about the last ship.
"Does it look familiar to you Thor?" asked Steve.
"It looks as though it belongs to Thanos." Thor replied grimly, lightning crackling around his body. "Prepare yourselves."
In an instant everyone's weapons were up. The ramp to the severely damaged donut-shaped ship opened, with smoke from the beat up ship covering the entrance way. An oddly shaped silhouette approached. Nobody would admit it, but they were all holding their breath, preparing for the worst. Ready to strike, Thor, Steve, Rhodey, and Romanoff slowly made their way towards the figure, until the smoke cleared.
"Holy shit, Tony!" Rhodey cried.
Tony was slumped over, leaning on a blue robot alien woman. It was clear that she was supporting most, if not all of his weight, including what was left of the Ironman suit. Rhodey shot forward with the War Machine suit, and Natasha sprinted after him to relieve the woman.
"Oh my God Tony, you're alive. Thank God." Rhodey sighed in relief. Tony moaned, barely conscious.
"Come on Stark. We're going to get up and get you looked at and you'll be good as new. Princess Shuri!" Natasha waved her over.
The teen ran to the Black Widow, ready to help. "Let's take him back to my lab and see what I can do."
Rhodey, Shuri, and Natasha rushed off with a limp Tony Stark. Rocket shot towards the blue woman. "Nebula! You're alive! Where's the rest of..." She looked surprised for a moment, not expecting anyone to recognize her, until she saw the raccoon barreling towards her. She gave the slightest shake of her head and Rocket stopped dead in his tracks. "Oh man. Oh man. I can't believe it."
'Nebula,' Steve made a mental note to remember her name, had a very deep, gruff voice. She crouched down, and ever so quietly to the talking animal, "I'm sorry." She showed her emotions for approximately two and a half seconds before this stony mask came over her facial features.
"I see the pirate angel man made it" Nebula stated. Everyone looked around confused, until Thor stepped forward. He dipped his head, "Nebula, my condolences for your losses." She swallowed. "Yeah. You too." Her and Rocket made their way towards the palace.
Steve turned to Thor. "Who did you lose?"
"Loki."
Bruce raised his eyebrows, surprised. "What? Before Heimdall sent me back to Earth he was alive! What happened?"
Thor's posture sagged as he recalled watching his brother die for a third time. 'No resurrections this time.' "My brother was not lost in the snap. Thanos had snapped his neck before he blew up the ship. That is how the sweet rabbit, tree, and the rest of the morons found me. But never mind that. Come, we must go and see how friend Stark fares."
Back in Shuri's lab, Stark was laid out on a metal table, with some odd holograms scanning over him.
"Nebula, right?" Bruce asked. She arched and eyebrow and gave a curt nod. "What happened?"
"Stark made a plan. It was pretty good plan too. Of course things went awry pretty quickly. We nearly had the gauntlet off of Thanos. Then shit hit the fan, throwing our whole group out of action. The rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy, myself, the wizard, and the spider boy were all out of commission. Stark took on Thanos by himself. He made the mad Titan bleed, which is impressive to do by any standards, and even more impressive for a human to accomplish. Stark's armor formed a blade of sorts, and he went in for the kill shot, when Thanos caught the weapon and broke it off of his armor. Thanos flipped it around and stabbed him right through his own armor and through his midsection."
"And he survived that?" Steve asked incredulously.
"Yes, but only because the wizard- Doctor Strange, gave Thanos the Time Stone in exchange for Stark's life. I can't fathom why he would give that maniac the stone."
The room became uncomfortably quiet, when Tony spoke up, making everyone jump.
"He said it was the only way." He took a deep breath, wincing as Shuri applied some metallic orbs to the open wound on his abdomen.
"Only way for what?" Natasha asked.
Tony's breathing became shallow and his voice sounded pained. "I don't know."
His eyes fluttered, and then everything faded into black.
Author's Note: Please read and review! The next chapter should be up in a couple of days.