Hey, guys! Two weeks, right? Long time, huh?
So, I've found out that Fanfiction is not letting me put dividers in of any kind, so it is getting very difficult to actually format. My apologies. Hopefully the ones I added in this one actually stay.
also, I can finally use the school wifi to post, so I might be able to go back to weekly for a while. In addition, I've been asked if this takes place after Volume 3. Given how it ended, I don't think most of the plot would make any sense here, so, no.
Other than those, I hope you enjoy this chapter of Gods Among Women!
—
Another restless night.
Another stupid, restless night.
This night was worse than last night. Last night, it was simple visions. But tonight...
At least last night was a sleep-filled one. Yang could sleep through her exhaustion. Now she couldn't stay comfortable, much less asleep.
She sat up in her bed and looked around despite how much energy and effort it took. Ruby, asleep. Blake, likely asleep. Weiss...
Gone.
Yang jumped down from the bunk and stumbled—her lack of sleep off-putting her balance—then rushed to the heiress's bed. No sign that she had even left, yet she wasn't here.
She whipped around to look into the bathroom, then ran to it. She opened the mirror cabinet.
The Stone was gone.
"No. No, no, no, no."
Where did it go? What happened to it? Where is it? Where—
"Yang, what's wrong?"
Yang whipped around and spotted Weiss, standing behind her, looking worried.
"The Stone! It's gone!"
Weiss lifted an eyebrow. "It's in the wardrobe. In your section. You put it there."
Yang stood stunned for several seconds before blushing and sweating. She leaned against the counter behind her. "Oh. Right."
Weiss half-frowned and leaned against the counter beside her friend. "What's wrong? You couldn't remember something that you did only hours ago. Are you okay?"
Yang hugged her waist and looked out the door, where there was a good view of the window. The shattered moon peeked into the room, the shattered satellite seeming brighter and closer than normal. "That stupid Stone. It's too much. I can't sleep because it keeps putting thoughts in my head, telling me about what will happen if somebody gets it. It's doing something to me. It thinks I need to be the one to protect it, and it won't let me rest. I haven't had restful sleep in two days, and I'm exhausted."
Yang yawned in response to her own statement. "I'm scared, Weiss. I'm scared that we're gonna fail and that Remnant is gonna pay for it. I-it terrifies me. I-I-I don't want that. I-I...I-I-I..."
A combination of the exhaustion, fear, and several other emotional pressures forced her to break, and she lifted a hand to her cheek and held her head up as she began to cry in frustration.
The weight of the task was just too much. To protect an Infinity Stone from some alien being whose power was unmatched...it was too crazy. Too much.
Yang wept softly into her hands. "I can't handle this. I-i-it's too much," whined lowly.
Suddenly, she felt arms wrap around her, and she looked down to find that Weiss was hugging her. After a moment of trying to solidify her voice, Yang said, "Wh-what are you doing?"
"You need comfort, and I'm providing," Weiss said, "And I've already talked to Ruby. We're taking the Stone to Ozpin tomorrow after Goodwitch's assignment, barring anymore visits by our supernatural friends. Even if he doesn't help us, he may give us some advice on how we can protect it."
Yang hugged Weiss back, sniveling. "Thank you." She absentmindedly played with Weiss's hair as she embraced her friend.
"We'll get through this, Yang," Weiss reassured her friend, "We'll make it. I'm sure of it. We always do."
The two remained hugging for several minutes before Yang reluctantly let Weiss go, and the two returned to their beds, with Weiss falling asleep in seconds and Yang finding comfort where she couldn't before, and she was capable of some less-than-restful sleep, but it was something. The two slept till morning, and Yang made an effort to remember Weiss's words.
"We'll make it. I'm sure of it. We always do."
—
"Natasha and I found them in a park near the center of the city."
Pietro reported this with his hand stroking his stubble, his facial hair which barely even warranted being referred to as a beard. Strange that for a man so fast, his hair didn't grow faster.
"In the middle of the city?" Cap echoed, then tapped his fingers against the table. "That's gonna make the job a lot harder."
"That's not all," Natasha continued, "They've got military forces all throughout the city and a whole academy specifically for combat nearby. These girls are students there. If we try to take the Stone by force, then we have to deal with an army and a school of highly-trained warriors."
"They're called Huntsmen, Miss Romanoff," Friday corrected.
"Huntsmen."
"What about you, Stark? Thor? What're we looking at here? Find out anything?" Cap asked.
"I found out that they have really good peanuts down there," Stark replied, popping one into the air and catching it in his mouth. He and the nearby Agent Barton threw their hands in the air like they were celebrating a field goal in football.
"Seriously, Stark."
"Oh, right. I didn't find much on the girls we're after, but I did find that they use this stuff called Dust to fuel just about everything. Comes in crystals. Lots of different effects. It's pretty frickin' cool. I may have to put together a suit that runs off the stuff, it's powerful."
"Thor?" Cap turned to the Asgardian.
"These humans are much more advanced technologically than most worlds, including yours. It may be the Dust that allows them to become so advanced. Some of it resembles Asgardian—perhaps my people helped to create this civilization."
"How about Starlord? Where is he?"
"He's in the hangar with his team," Barton answered the captain, "He told me he would talk to you later."
"Right now, we don't have "later," Barton," Cap replied, "The sooner we get the Stone, the sooner we can decide what to do with it."
"He has his team, Cap, and we have ours. We need to try and remember that sometimes here. You didn't exactly put a lot of thought into teaming up with them, and you certainly never asked anyone."
"I asked you."
"Yeah, but I'm also just one person. You should have talked to the team first. I don't think Starlord was expecting to show up and get recruited, either. All I'm asking is that you think this whole thing through, with your team there to help."
Cap nodded in agreement. "Fair enough. I'll ask the rest of the team tomorrow, after everyone is awake and gathered. Until then, get some shuteye. Something tells me we might end up in a fight tomorrow."
The team dispersed and returned to their respective quarters, awaiting morning to continue their search for the Stone.
—
"I don't think this was a good idea."
Quill heard the raccoon say the sentence for the third dozenth time in the past three hours.
"We can't just show up and trust some group of freaks that rolled up to our side of town. WE'RE supposed to BE that group of freaks!"
"I am Groot."
"Exactly!" Rocket pointed at Groot in approval.
"I agree with the rodent," Gamora said from her standing position beside Drax, who was sitting down, "This group of people very well could simply be agents of Thanos. One of them is an Asgardian; Thanos once worked with an Asgardian to find a gem known as the Tesseract. That was on Terra."
"What exactly is an Asgardian?" Quill asked the adopted daughter of Thanos.
"They are beings that have existed long before your Terra and even Xandar have. The power of an Asgardian is a force to be reckoned with, and they have been known to conquer planets in a matter of hours. I do not trust them; they are arrogant and greedy. Be wary of the one known as Thor."
Quill looked out the cockpit of the Milano. He could see the two dark-skinned men—what was it they called the darker skinned people on Terra?—conversing as they performed maintenance on their equipment, one of them a jet pack of sorts and the other a big metal suit of armor. Their equipment was hanging on chains from a rack that was yellow in color. The one with the suit, however, seemed significantly more dangerous.
Of course, looks were deceiving with these people, especially that Natasha.
"I think these Avengers are our only chance at finding the Stone," Peter said, still watching the man with the armor suit, "Unless we want to start an invasion with the Nova Corp's help, or call in Yondu, but we all remember what happened last time we told him about a Stone, so we only have these guys here to help."
"Do you trust them?" Gamora asked, following Starlord's gaze to the two dark-skinned Avengers outside. After a few moments, Quill answered.
"Yeah. I think they're the guys we need help from. If we don't, we might have to do all of this ourselves, and we just can't. We need the Avengers' help, so yes, I do trust them."
Gamora sighed. "Very well. We will follow your lead, Peter Quill."
"Thanks. It would suck to have to do this by myself."
"I am Groot."
Quill and Gamora whirled and faced Groot. The tree was smiling and had stuck his thumb up.
"Thanks, Groot," Peter replied.
"I am Groot."
"Starlord!"
The shout came from the back of the ship, at the landing ramp. It was Steve.
Peter activated his mask and ran to the back of the ship, where the star-spangled Avenger stood.
"What is it?"
"Friday just told us about a ship that passed across our radar a minute ago. Is that one of yours?"
"What?"
—
It was a ship, alright. But nothing of any design he was familiar with.
It was huge, first of all. It was probably ten times as large as the giant warship Quill was already on. It looked like two gigantic, vertical rectangular prisms attached by another horizontal one between them. It was gray and had blue-glowing thrusters behind and below it that kept the behemoth aloft, but how something to massive could stay in midair was a phenomenon in and of itself, much less the fact that it had probably come here bearing a passenger that likely wanted the Stone.
It also did not seem concerned about Stark's warship, either, which for something that massive, it probably ignored the smaller Goliath of a ship.
"That's..." Quill scratched his head and tried not to become slack jawed in the process. "That's a bit big, huh?"
"That isn't one of yours, then?" Stark asked the rogue, who shook his masked head.
"That's bigger than the Dark Aster..." Gamora said, looking at the holographic image with angry resolve.
"Gamora? Do you know something about this?" Quill turned to his teammate and pointed at the ship.
"...y-yes. It is the ship that Thanos used to conquer my homeworld. It...I didn't think...I don't..."
"Hold on, this thing conquered your home world?" Steve asked with urgency, "As in, another planet? By itself?"
"Yes. It singlehandedly obliterated all of my kind but I. I do not believe we will defeat it in combat."
Peter and Steve looked at each other and then back at the holotable. The latter spoke first.
"This complicates things. It doesn't have any backup, but I don't think it needs any. We need to avoid it altogether if we want to find the Stone."
"Think the green one could take it down?" Stark asked.
"Not without help I couldn't," Gamora answered.
Stark turned to her. "I didn't mean you."
"No," Steve turned to the philanthropist, "We have to find the Stone first, and soon. Once we have it we can take that thing down."
"That is the ship of Thanos," Gamora slapped her hands down on the holotable. "We cannot stop it, only avoid it."
"Who is Thanos?" Steve asked the assassin, "You keep saying his name."
"Thanos is my...my adopted father. He destroyed my homeworld and took me from my family. He tortured me and turned me into a machine of death and destruction."
"He destroyed your planet?"
"Yes. He does all of this in hopes of earning the love of the Goddess of Death. He searches for the Infinity Stone so he might lay waste to the universe and impress Death herself."
Stark and Steve looked at each other, then at Quill, who nodded to confirm this.
The armored avenger returned to the holotable. "I guess it's time I get an upgrade. If we're fighting a delusional borderline deity with weird fetishes, I'm gonna need a better suit."
"Then hop on it. We're in stealth, so we're fine for now, but we need to get some rest to keep looking for the Stone. We have to get it before Thanos."
"Right. Gamora, let's get some sleep," Quill said, "Big day tomorrow."
The assassin nodded, but the stress on her face did not look to be the sort that she would be able to sleep with. She followed Peter back to the Milano, but then broke off and went to the bunk room to restlessly toss and turn for the night.