"Hey, what's this next part?" Bucky asks.
[Screen title: SPACE]
"This should be interesting," Wanda comments.
"What is with the music choice?" Tony asks, making face.
"You got a problem with it?" Clint asks in amusement.
"Oh, that's Rubberband Man Mr. Stark," Peter explains.
"I know what it is but who would ever chose it?" he retorts in exasperation, waving a hand dismissively.
Peter slumps into his seat glumly, a little embarrassed. "I kinda like it..."
The Guardians of the Galaxy are travelling through space to investigate a distress call while listening to the tune of "Rubberband Man".]
"Real question is who are we about to see?" Fury states with a frown.
Peter Quill is sitting in the pilot's seat and chair-dancing to the song.
"Oh my gosh..." Rhodey mutters.
"Sing it, Drax!" he says
Drax is snoring with his mouth open from his seat in front of Quill.
Tony laughs in amusement, some of the other Avengers snickering.
"That is exactly how I'm feeling," he states victoriously.
However Gamora is lip-synching with the song along with Quill.
"She seems to have good taste," Natasha remarks.
"Wrong," Tony retorts.
In the back, Groot is playing a game while Rocket looks bored.
"Why are we doing this again?" he asks.
"What's with the talking raccoon?" Bucky asks.
"It's a distress signal, Rocket. Someone could be dying," Gamora says in annoyance.
"A distress signal?" Steve asks.
"Perhaps the one we heard at the start," Vision theorizes. "The Asgardian vessel."
"Oh no..." Wanda mutters.
"I get that, but why are we doing it?" He asks again.
"'Cause we're nice. And maybe whoever it is will give us a little cheddar cheese for our help," Peter says hopefully.
"I don't know who this group is, but I'm not feeling very encouraged by a space-traveling band of misfits," Fury states in annoyance.
"Who the heck are these people? No respect!" Tony exclaims. Everyone just rolls their eyes at the irony.
"You don't say..." Sam mutters.
"Which isn't the point!" Gamora states warningly.
"Which isn't the point..." he adds quickly, before thinking. "I mean… If he doesn't pony up…"
"We'll take his ship," Drax says, suddenly waking up.
"Exactly!" Rocket states.
"B-b-b-bingo!" Peter states.
"At least someone here has common sense," Natasha remarks. "I can relate when I'm trying to get you boys to focus."
"Hey, we focus when we need to," Clint remarks.
"These people can't focus at all," Tony adds.
Gamora looks up at Quill in with a raised eyebrow, a little bit concerned. He just returns her look and grimaces with a 'don't worry about it' expression.
"We are arriving," Mantis suddenly says from her console.
"All right, Guardians. Don't forget, this might be dangerous, so let's put on our mean faces," Peter says more seriously.
"I know it's slim... but if there's any hope Thor is alive, I hope they find him," Steve says.
"The odds are unfortunately low Captain, it's unlikely he survived," Vision states grimly.
"Just gotta hope," Bucky mutters.
"His ship exploded! He can't survive the vacuum of space!!" Tony burst out in aggravation, surprising everyone. He quickly calms himself down with a sigh. "Sorry."
He's distracted by Groot playing a game. "Groot, put that thing away. Now. I don't wanna tell you again."
"Whoa, where'd he get The Defender's game?" Peter asks curiously.
"That's supposed to be an Earth thing!" Tony adds in surprise. "And the Rubberband Man!"
"I'm thinking this guy may be from Earth..." Clint says thoughtfully.
Fury frowns at the theory, trying to think of any strange events that happened to his knowledge, regarding aliens or strange disappearances.
However he continues playing, and Peter looks at him in annoyance.
"Groot," he says again.
"I am Groot!" he replies mockingly.
"Whoa!" Peter exclaims.
"Language!" Rocket adds in bewilderment.
"Hey!" Gamora scolds.
"Wow..." Drax says, both insulted and a little impressed.
"Wait, what's the deal?" Rhodey asks in confusion.
"Maybe Groot is a space insult?" Sam offers.
"But that's the name of that teenage Treebeard," Tony points out. "Whatever. These people are weird."
Peter shakes his head in annoyance. "You got some acorns on you, kid."
"Ever since you got a little sap, you're a total d-hole. Keep it up, and I'm gonna smash that thing to pieces!" Rocket threatens, but Groot rolls his eyes.
"Definitely a teenager," Tony remarks.
"Excuse me but-" Peter starts before faltering sheepishly. "Okay, I guess that's pretty true."
The Benatar then decelerates into regular space, and Thanos's devastation suddenly covers the Guardians' field of view, revealing the distress signal to be the one from the Asgardian vessel at the beginning of the movie. Bodies are seen floating dead in space along with the pieces of the shredded ship.
Everyone goes quiet at the sight of the destruction, all jokes and funny banter gone in a second. Seeing the remains of the destroyed ship floating through space, and with bodies... is even worse. It only hits home the loss of Thor. Those who knew him the best, namely the original Avengers in the room, feel an aching in their chest.
"Is that where..." Peter trails off uneasily.
"It is kid," Tony answers grimly.
"What happened?" Mantis asks meekly.
"Looks like we're not getting paid," Rocket says quietly.
Gamora stares around at the destruction with a growing sense of horror and familiarity. She knows exactly who did this.
The former SHIELD agents all recognize the look on her face, even Rhodey to a certain extent, being associated with the military himself.
"She knows what happened..." Natasha says quietly.
"Then she knows who Thanos is, and what he can do," Fury states. "Hopefully she knows a way to stop him."
Suddenly, with a thump, Thor's body is plastered to the hull of the ship, straight on the cockpit window. Everyone yelps in surprise.
"OHH!" Sam yelps in surprise.
"Thor!" Clint exclaims.
"That's Thor?!" Peter asks in surprise.
"Is he alright?!" Tony asks urgently.
"He's gotta be alive," Steve mutters.
"Wipers! Wipers! Get it off!" Rocket says.
However, Thor's eye suddenly opens, and they all gasp in shock.
The Avengers all gasp at the same time as the Guardians, widening their eyes in complete shock and relief.
"What the heck?" Bucky says.
"He's alive!" Clint shouts.
"You've got to be kidding me..." Wanda whispers, shocked and relieved.
"How did he survive his ship exploding?!" Rhodey asks incredulously.
"Better yet how is he alive in freaking space?!" Tony adds in disbelief.
"Hopefully he can get to earth," Steve says, relief filling him at the knowledge that Thor survived.
"Hopefully Rogers," Fury says.
[Cut to the Guardians settling the still-unconscious Thor onto an examination table]
"How the heck is this dude still alive?" Peter asks incredulously.
"Yeah that would be nice to know," Tony says.
"Did you know he could breathe in space?" Peter asks.
"He is not a dude. You're a dude. This... This is a man," Drax says, and everyone looks at him in bewilderment. "A handsome, muscular man."
"...okay what?" Rhodey asks in bewilderment.
"This guy doesn't seem to be the brightest of the group," Clint remarks.
"As if they weren't dumb already," Tony adds.
"Guys, focus," Natasha scolds.
"I'm muscular," Peter says.
"Who are you kidding, Quill? You're one sandwich away from fat," Rocket retorts.
Peter scoffs. "Yeah, right."
"Oh my gosh..." Tony groans, rubbing his head tiredly.
"If we ever have to team up with them to defeat Thanos then... I'd worry a little bit," Steve remarks uneasily.
"It's true. You have gained a little weight…" Drax says, gesturing at him and causing Peter's face to fall incredulously..
"Wait a minute... Quill," Fury mutters thoughtfully. "Peter Quill?"
"You think it's him?" Clint asks.
"It has to be," Natasha states.
"Who's that?" Peter asks in confusion.
"In the 1980s SHIELD received a call about the strange disappearance of some boy named Peter Quill," Fury explains. "We couldn't find any trace of where he went."
"So he was kidnapped by aliens..." Bucky comments. "Sounds right."
"Wow," Peter whispers. "I seriously hope that the movie Alien doesn't turn out to be real, because I really don't want eggs in me."
"Seriously kid?" Tony asks.
"Sorry," he apologizes.
Gamora ignores the conversation, moving around the table and eyeing Thor with a critical gaze. Mantis lays a hand on Thor's head.
"They really don't know how to focus," Natasha sighs.
"What? Gamora, do you think I'm…" Peter trails off.
"He is anxious. Angry. He feels tremendous loss and guilt," Mantis says.
"Because of Loki..." Steve says sadly, a hint of understanding. "He feels like it's his fault he died."
Bucky glances at him knowingly, knowing exactly what he was referring to. His fall from the train in Germany.
"I may not like Loki..." Clint says slowly. "But after what we just saw he didn't deserve a death like that."
"It's like a pirate had a baby with an angel," Drax remarks.
"Wow. This is a real wake-up call for me," Peter continues. "Okay. I'm gonna get a Bowflex. I'm gonna commit. I'm gonna get some dumbbells.
"At this point I've just given up," Tony states, and everyone eyes him incredulously.
"You? Of all people, you are tired of the complete bullcrap?" Clint asks with a grin.
"Hey don't get started Legolas, I have limits too," he retorts.
"You know you can't eat dumbbells, right?" Rocket asks sarcastically.
Gamora reaches Drax's side and picks up Thor's left arm, stroking his triceps, narrowing her gaze. "It's like his muscles are made of Cotati metal fibers."
"Stop massaging his muscles," Peter says snarkily.
"Someone's a little jealous," Natasha remarks.
Wanda and Vision glance at each other, and the former just shrugs in amusement. They can both notice a relationship when they see one now.
Gamora glares at him in annoyance and drops Thor's arm. Peter grimaces before glancing at Mantis.
"Wake him up," he says.
Mantis's antenna begin to glow. "Wake."
Thor suddenly snaps awake with a yell, sitting up violently and throwing himself off the table to stumble a few steps away, then turning to see the Guardians all pointing their weapons of choice at him.
"Who the heck are you guys?" he asks, breathing heavily.
"Everything is starting to turn around hopefully. Thor's still alive," Steve comments.
"Yeah, and me and the kid are stuck in space trying to rescue a wizard from Voldemort," Tony reminds him irritably.
"I bet we can do it!" Peter exclaims.
[Cut to later as the Guardians stand around Thor eating soup. He has a towel wrapped around his shoulders.]
"The entire time I knew Thanos, he only ever had one goal: To bring balance to the Universe by wiping out half of all life," Gamora states grimly. "He used to kill people planet by planet, massacre by massacre..."
"Like what Bruce explained," Vision notices. "From my understanding, Thanos believes he's doing what is good for the universe, but in a completely warped up way."
"He's insane," Sam comments.
"Including my own," Drax adds angrily.
"If he gets all six Infinity Stones, he can do it with the snap of his fingers," she continues, snapping her fingers for emphasis. "Just like that."
"That doesn't seem good at all," Rhodey adds.
"We can't let him get the stones then. If all he needs to do to accomplish his goal with all six is a simple snap, then we lose the moment he gets them," Steve says firmly. "We can't let that happen."
"If we destroy my stone, then we can assure it won't," Vision points out.
"We're not doing that, we already decided we won't!" Wanda argues angrily.
"Wanda it's a simple calculus. One life cannot stand in the way of half the universe," he reasons, looking at her sadly.
"We aren't destroying you Vision," Steve says.
"Captain Rogers, you were willing to give your life to save millions. How is this any different?" Vision questions.
"We don't trade lives," he replies firmly.
"Whatever happens, one thing is certain. Thanks cannot be allowed to take all six," Fury states fiercely.
"You seem to know a great deal about Thanos," Thor remarks.
"Gamora... is the daughter of Thanos," Drax reveals.
"What?" Rhodey asks in surprise.
"She's like one of those same goons from earlier?" Tony asks incredulously.
"She certainly isn't as ugly that's for sure," Clint scoffs.
"No wonder she knows so much about him," Natasha comments.
Everyone tenses up in alarm as Thor looks up at Gamora, a fierce and angry look in his gaze.
"Uh oh," Clint says.
"He doesn't look very happy..." Peter says meekly.
"Your father killed my brother!" Thor growls, standing up and moving towards her aggressively.
"Oh, boy," Peter says in alarm, moving forwards defensively. "Stepfather. Technically, she hates him as much as you do."
Gamora remains still, looking nervous but accepting of any anger Thor might show towards her, even bracing herself for a physical attack. However after a few moments, Thor's gaze softens slightly and he claps an arm on her shoulder.
Everyone blinks in surprise.
"Wait, just like that, he's cool?" Sam asks.
"He was nicer to her than me," Tony grumbles irritably.
"Well, you did create Ultron using the scepter..." Clint points out.
"And you fought him in the forest that one time," Steve adds.
"Alright fine, I get the point," Tony sighs in exasperation.
"Families can be tough. Before my father died, he told me I had a half-sister...that he imprisoned in Hel," he says, and Gamora looks up at him in surprise and slight confusion.
"Wait Thor has a sister?" Sam asks.
"Well there's something new," Rhodey remarks.
"Great, a female version of Loki. We'd get along great," Clint states sarcastically.
"But Odin is dead," Natasha points out.
Everyone widens their eyes in surprise and uneasiness at the knowledge they missed, releasing she was right. Thor just said that... so what happened?!
"Then she returned home, and stabbed me in the eye, so... I had to kill her. It's life, isn't it, I guess. Goes round and round and... I feel your pain."
"So that's why he's missing an eye," Tony comments.
"Doesn't sound very fun," Peter grimaces.
Peter glares at Thor's hand on Gamora's shoulder, on the verge of full snarl of jealousy, and then moves around her to push between her and Thor to separate them.
Despite the situation, Wanda can't help the bit of amusement that surges upwards upon seeing Quill acting like that. The idea of Vision being that way is even more hilarious.
"And I feel your pain, as well," he interrupts. "I mean it's not a competition, but I've been through a lot."
Gamora walks off while Thor continues eating his soup, vaguely listening to Peter talk.
"My father killed my mother, then I had to kill my father. And that was hard. Probably even harder than having to kill a sister. Plus, I, came out of it with both of my eyes-"
"Didn't need to know that, let's move on," Tony states.
"Quill's mother died of brain cancer..." Fury says with a frown.
Thor nods in disinterest, glancing at his spoon with a frown.
"I need a hammer, not a spoon…" he says, and starts fiddling with a control console.
"Yeah where's his hammer?" Clint asks.
"How do I open this thing? Is there some sort of a four-digit code maybe… Maybe a birth date or something…" he mutters.
"What are you doing?" Peter asks suspiciously.
"Taking your pod," Thor answers bluntly.
"He seems a lot more funny than when we last saw him," Tony comments.
"Maybe you've finally made him crack," Clint teases.
Peter steps forwards and clears his throat, straightening up to appear more fierce.
"No, you're not!" he declares, and everyone pauses to look at him incredulously. "You'll not, be taking our pod today, sir."
"Is he serious?" Rhodey deadpans.
"That's not even a good impression!" Peter exclaims. "It should be like: 'I am the mighty Thor. Now before my might!"
"Are you serious?" Tony asks incredulously at his mimicking attempt.
"Is it good?" he asks hopefully.
"Oh geez..." Bucky mutters.
"Quill. Are you making your voice deeper?" Rocket asks.
"No," he replies, voice still deep.
"You are. You're imitating the god-man. It's weird!" Drax says.
"No I'm not!"
Mantis gasps and points at him accusingly. "He just did it again!"
"This is my voice!"
"Ladies and gentlemen, your 'Guardians of the Galaxy,'" Clint says sarcastically. "Weird how they're call themselves that."
"Well we can really complain, we are 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes,'" Sam points out.
Thor strides slowly over to Peter, marching down the steps until he's face to face with him. Even when Peter is trying to appear intimidating, Thor is still much bigger and taller, and is staring at him with narrowed eyes.
"Are you mocking me?" he demands.
"Yeah he's terrifying up close," Tony deadpans.
"Are you mocking me?" Peter mutters back.
"Stop it. You did it again," Thor says.
"He's trying to copy me," Peter says with a sarcastic smirk.
"Would you stop doing that? He's doing it first!" Thor complains, rather pitifully.
"Can these people just focus?" Fury says irritably.
"Enough!" Gamora interrupts in annoyance. "We need to stop Thanos! Which means we need to find out where he's going next."
"Knowhere," Thor answers, moving away.
"Is he brain damaged or something?" Rhodey asks.
"Why would he go nowhere?" Sam asks.
"He must be going somewhere," Mantis says.
"No. Knowhere? It's a place," Peer says in realization. "We've been there. It sucks. Excuse me, that's our food."
"Huh," Tony remarks.
"Oh, there's a place called Knowhere?" Peter asks in bewilderment. "That's kinda dumb. Who names a place 'Knowhere?'"
Thor starts to rummage through their food stores, much to Peter's annoyance, and takes some pieces of food.
"Not anymore," he replies with a grin.
"Thor… Why would he go to Knowhere?" Gamora asks.
"Because for years, the Reality Stone has been safely stored, there with a man we call the Collector," he explains.
"So we can't do anything about that," Steve sighs. "Tony I really hope your team can rescue Strange and the Time Stone."
"Of course we will," Tony scoffs.
Everyone glances at each other in surprise and annoyance.
"If it's with the Collector, then it's not safe. Only an idiot would give that man a stone," Peter says with a frown.
"Or a genius," Thor retorts.
"Reverse-phycology," Natasha muses.
"How do you know he's not going for one of the other Stones?" Gamora asks.
"There's six stones out there. Thanos already has the Power Stone because he stole it last week, when he decimated Xandar," he explains, and the Guardians widen their eyes in shock and alarm.
"Well that doesn't sound good," Rhodey mutters.
"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," he continues.
"He'll come for me last then. He'll only come when he has the other five stones," Vision says grimly. "Meaning he'll be at his second most powerful state."
"And we'll be here to fight him," Steve declares.
"I'm not gonna let anything happen to you," Wanda whispers to him.
"The Avengers?" Peter asks in confusion.
"They're Earth's Mightiest Heroes," Thor explains.
"Like Kevin Bacon?" Mantis asks.
"...He may be on the team. I don't know. Haven't been there in a while," he answers.
"Seriously? Now we're talking about Kevin Bacon?" Tony asks incredulously.
"Guess we should've informed Thor more about the culture of Earth," Clint comments.
"Kevin Bacon is a really good actor. Have you ever seen the movie tremors?" Peter asks. "I hope we don't have to fight giant underground worms."
Peter makes a face at the comment.
"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," he states.
Nobody notices the uneasy and worried look on Gamora's face at his words.
"Oh my gosh..." Natasha breathes out. "I know that look."
"Gamora does know where the last stone is," Fury states.
"Then Thanos will be coming for her too," Vision says grimly.
"Are you sure?" Rhodey asks. "How could he know that she knows?"
"From what we've seen and know of Thanos he's far to cunning. He's been shifting events in the universe to make it easier to gather the stones. We've been pawns, just like Thor told us after Ultron," he explains.
"If that's true, then he's a lot more dangerous than we thought," Fury states, looking very disturbed.
"Therefore, he's going to Knowhere. Hence, he'll be getting the Reality Stone. You're welcome!" Thor states sarcastically, a hint of smugness with him.
"Then we have to go to Knowhere now," Gamora declares.
"Wrong. Where we have to go, is Nivadellir," Thor states.
"That's a made up word," Drax says.
"All words are made up," he retorts.
"That is true," Peter comments.
"Really?" Sam asks dryly.
"Yeah! Marry Poppins anyone?" he replies.
"Can you please stop with the pop culture references?" Tony sighs in exasperation.
"Sorry."
"Nidavellir is real?" Rocket asks in awe, climbing onto the table. "Seriously? I mean, that place is a legend. They make the most powerful, horrific weapons to ever torment the Universe. I would very much like to go there, please."
"The rabbit is correct, and clearly the smartest among you," Thor says happily.
"Rabbit?" Rocket asks in confusion.
Everyone chuckles a little bit at the comment, finding it funny.
"He's a talking raccoon," Clint comments.
"Only Eitri the dwarf king can make me the weapon I need," he says, turning to Rocket. "I assume you're the captain, sir?"
"You're very perceptive," he replies with a grin.
"You seem like a noble leader. Will you join me on my quest to Nidavellir?" he asks.
"Lemme just ask the captain," Rocket asks sarcastically. "Oh, wait a second, it's me! Yeah, I'll go!"
"What do you think he's gonna forge?" Clint asks.
"New hammer probably," Tony shrugs.
Thor smiles eagerly. "Wonderful."
"Except for that I'm the captain," Peter States irritably.
"Quiet!" Thor orders, grabbing Peter's backpack.
"Ha! That's funny!" Tony laughs.
"We should do that to you more often," Natasha comments with a smirk.
"That's my backpack," he protests.
"Go sit down," Rocket says in amusement.
"Look, this is my ship. And I'm not goin' to…" Peter says, trying to regain control before faltering. "Wait, what kind of weapon are we talking about here?"
"The Thanos killing kind," Thor states.
"Don't you think that we should all have a weapon like that?" he asks.
"No. You simply lack the strength to wield them," he replies. "Your bodies will crumble as your minds collapse into the madness."
"I kind of believe that, but it still has gotta be a trick," Clint says.
"What sort of magic fingerprints does it need now?" Tony adds in amusement.
"Still won't be able to hold it I'm sure," Rhodey teases.
"Unless you're Vision," Clint says, gesturing at him.
"What do you mean?" he asks in confusion.
"You're the only other person besides Thor who could life the hammer," Tony explains.
"Oh. You all cannot?" he asks in surprise.
"You didn't know this?" Clint exclaims.
"Thor did leave pretty quickly after he was born," Natasha points out.
"Is it weird that I wanna do it even more now?" Rocket asks.
"A little bit. Yeah," Thor admits.
"If we don't go to Knowhere and Thanos retrieves another stone, he'll be too powerful to stop," Gamora says firmly.
"He already is," Thor states.
"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," Rocket says, glancing at Thor. "Cool? Cool."
"So cool," Thor replies, still smiling.
"For the record… I know that you're only going with him because it's where Thanos isn't," Peter accuses.
"Busted," Sam says with a grin.
"You know, Quill, you shouldn't talk that way to your captain, Quill," Rocket says smugly, winking at him. "Come on, Groot. Put that game down, you'll rot your brain."
"I bid you farewell and good luck, morons," Thor says with a nod. "Bye."
"Is Thor always like that?" Peter asks curiously.
Tony shrugs in response. "More of less. Usually not as funny though."
"I hope he can join us soon," Steve says.
The remaining Guardians watch as the pod closes and detaches, an irritated frown on Peter's face, while Gamora is more worried and nervous.