Mantis, listen very carefully. I need you to meet me on Titan.
Riley was beside Maria as the ship jolted a bit and Maria looked to see that the ship caught orbit on Titan. Peter was with the two girls and looked at Tony "Hey, what's going on?" He asked. Stephen went towards his wife and he looked at the screen in front of them. Tony rushing towards the control panel
"I think we're here. I don't think this rig has a self-park function." He said and he looked over at Peter and pointed at the other side of the machine "Get your hand into this steering gimbal. Close those around it. You understand?" He said as Peter nodded and rushed towards the other side of the machine and he successfully closed it on his hand, Tony following him.
"This was meant for one big guy, so we gotta to move at the same time."
"Okay. Okay. Ready." Peter said as Tony nodded as Riley went towards them "This Isn't going to end well" She muttered as suddenly the ship started crashing into a building's side and Tony yelled towards Peter "We might wanna turn."
"Turn! Turn! Turn!" Peter said. Maria and Stephen looked at each other before they nodded. Maria stepping forward and creating the Shield of Seraphim around the group, to prevent the group from being killed. Stephen grabbed Riley's wrist to make sure she didn't go flying.
Soon they heard a loud boom as the ship jolted once more, almost all of the ship being destroyed when it crash landed. They had finally landed on Titan.
Stephen released Riley and she nodded at him in thanks before Maria released the shields and Tony jogged towards her "You're okay?" Tony asked and Maria nodded and Tony had a huge grin "You're amazing you know that? Thank you" He said and Maria looked over at Peter
"I know how much you wanna protect him.. I see a lot of him in me when I was younger.. So good, so innocent. I will do anything to make sure he gets out of this and makes it home to his family"
"He has a great aunt.. A great support system. I wanna make sure he gets back to them soon." A voice said and they turned to see Riley behind them. Stephen going towards his wife and he looked at Maria "No wounds?" he asked as he looked down at her and she grinned "Nope"
Maria looked up in amusement as she saw Peter descending from above in spider-like fashion and he looked down at the group
"Let me just say, if aliens wind up implanting eggs in my chest or something...And I end up eating you, I'm sorry.. I'll make sure you get eaten last Mrs. Strange" Peter said as he blushed at Maria and she laughed softly "Thank you, I'm quite honored Peter"
"I don't wanna hear another single pop culture out of you for the rest of the trip. You understand?" Tony said giving Peter a pointed look and Stephen narrowed his eyes at the teenager. Riley saw Peter's eyes widen a bit as he shook his head
"I'm trying to say that something is coming." Peter said. At the corner of Riley's eye, she saw a grenade rolling towards them and before she could act, it blew everyone back.
Stephen covered Maria for most of the blast while Riley and Tony coughed a bit. Riley saw that Peter was laying on the ground but before she could get up to run to him, they saw three figures in the smoke come into view
"Thanos!" A voice yelled as it suddenly threw knifes at Stephen and Maria but Stephen quickly created a force field to stop the knife from getting to them. They heard soon a battle cry but both cloaks suddenly flew off their masters and into the attackers' face and feet.
Riley was soon face to face with a figure in a space mask. She shot a beam at him but he quickly dodged. He flew up to the air while Riley did the same, Tony saw this and quickly tackled into their attacker's side. The man was taken off guard at first but quickly planted something on Tony. Riley punched the guy off Tony and the man slid back but Riley heard a chuckle before he pressed a button, causing Tony to be stuck at the wall.
The man soon shot at Riley who was dodging as best as she could and she looked over to see that Maria suddenly created a shield in front of the man, causing him to clash into it.
Riley saw that Peter was on the ground, crawling back as a weird bug lady was coming towards him. Peter shot webs at her and she was wrapped around them. Riley swore she saw horror from the lady's eyes.
Tony started firing at the flying man as Peter extended his spider legs and jumped at him, but the man threw an electric cord that wraps around Peter, sending him to the ground
"Peter!" Maria called but before she could reach him, a huge blast of golden energy blasted each member of Tony's team away. Riley's eyes widen as she looked around, who could be that powerful to send all of them back? Thanos wasn't even here!
Drax was Struggling with the Cloak of Levitation and Teleportation "Die, blankets of death!" He said while Maria looked over and saw a lone figure in the smoke as well, the eyes were golden.. Yet she felt an odd feeling of comfort when she saw it.
Tony broke free of the magnet. Everyone getting up, Stephen and Maria having shields on them and stood next to Mantis while Riley and Tony were aiming at the man. Tony stepping over Drax with a gun. The man had Peter in a head lock and Maria saw the look of fear over Tony and Riley.
"Everybody stay where you are. Chill F out." The man said as he powered down his helmet, Maria saw it was a very handsome man. He looked over at Tony's group "I'm gonna ask you this one time. Where's Gamora and Sylvia?"
"Yeah, I'll do you one better. Who are Sylvia and Gamora?" Tony said as Riley narrowed her eyes "I swear you even poke our guy, I will blast you away. Don't think I won't do it"
I'll do you one better! Why is Gamora and Sylvia?" Drax said and Maria gave him such a look.. She couldn't help but also be amused. Quill looked at them and shook his head "Tell me where the girls are, or I swear to you, I'm gonna French fry this little freak." Qull said, pointing his gun at Parker's head. Maria suddenly created a spear and she looked at Quill "You'll regret it for the rest of your life if you even dare"
"Let's do it! You shoot my guy, I blast him. Let's go!" Tony shouted as he extends his nanotech gun at Drax who didn't look scared at all "Do it, Quill! I can take it." He shouted but Mantis shook her head "No he can't take it!"
"She's right. You can't." Stephen said and Maria nodded in agreement "You guys may be from outer space but you can still die" She pointed out and Quill looked at her, unimpressed.
"Oh yeah? You don't wanna tell me where they are? That's fine. I'll kill all five of you and beat it out of Thanos myself." He said as he looked down at Parker "Starting with you."
"Wait, what, Thanos? All right, let me ask you this one time. What master do you serve?" Stephen said as he looked at Quill, who looked confused. Quill scowled at Stephen "What master do I serve? What am I supposed to say? "Jesus"?" He questioned and it suddenly hit Maria that this man wasn't an alien at all.. He was from earth! Riley noticed that too and she looked at the man
"You're from earth!" She said and Quill scowled at her "I'm not from Earth. I'm from Missouri." He pointed out and Tony narrowed his eyes "That's in earth you dip-shit. What are you hassling us for?" He questioned and suddenly they heard a voice
"They aren't with Thanos" A woman's voice said and suddenly they saw the figure coming towards them and it was a woman with short ginger hair, her eyes went from golden to blue. She walked towards Quill and placed a hand on his arm "Let him go, Quill" She ordered. Quill looked down at her for a moment before releasing the teenager, Riley quickly grabbing him and moving him towards them as well.
"I told you to stay behind" Quill said to the woman and she narrowed her eyes at him "As if you think I'll listen. I heard a lot of noises and I got worried, I didn't know if Thanos was around" She said and Quill took her hands "I didn't want anything to happen to you" He muttered to her and Riley saw the soft expression in his eyes when he looked at the girl but also noticed the look of pain in the woman when she looked down at their hands.
"I can handle myself" She muttered and she released their hands, Anthea didn't notice the look of hurt in Quill's eyes and looked away. Maria suddenly got a good look at the woman and it hit her.. She seen her before. "Anthea.."
Anthea looked over at Maria and her eyes widen as she saw the blonde woman "Maria" She said softly before going towards the woman and embracing her into a tight hug, Stephen was tense and then he saw Maria hugging her back with such force. The two women were embracing each other in a tight hug before Maria released her and she looked at Anthea
"I thought you didn't make it.. I thought you maybe died." She whispered and Anthea shook her head "I found them.. I found my cousin and the family" She whispered and she looked back at Quill, Maria knew that something was wrong when she saw the look of sorrow from Anthea's eyes. Maria took Anthea's hands and Quill looked at the others as he went towards Anthea and Maria, protective of the ginger hair woman
"Who are you guys?" He questioned and Parker looked at him with big eyes "We're the Avengers!" He said and Quill looked down and at Anthea "Oh.." He said and Mantis looked at the group with wide eyes "You're the ones Thor told us about." She said and Riley's eyes widen.. She remember when Thor left earth three years ago to look for the stones and his former fiancée Aya.. Were both of them even alive?
"You know Thor?" Tony questioned as he looked confused. Anthea opened her mouth to say something until it was Peter who spoke "Yeah. Tall guy, not the good-looking, needed saving." He said as Parker gave him a look, Anthea glared at him "That's debatable" She muttered and Quill's eyes widen "Excuse me?!" He squeaked and looked at her "You think Thor is better looking than me?" He said and Anthea shook her head
"No!" She quickly said. Maria saw the looks on Quill and Anthea's eyes.. Quill having a look of lost in his eyes.. As if he was trying so hard to remember something but he couldn't.. Suddenly he whined as his head started to hurt more
"Don't touch her" Peter growled as he went face to face with the blue man who grabbed Anthea the wrong way. Anthea looking at Quill with admiration in her eyes as she looked at the man who was ready to fight someone who was twice his size.
"Where is he now?" Tony's voice said as Quill shook his head, snapping out of his thoughts as he looked at Anthea.. This spells, what were they? And why did it feel like him and Anthea had a past? They didn't even know each other until now!
Nivadellir
Eitri was walking slowly towards two molds. Thor, Rocket and Groot following and he turned back towards them and Rocket scowled at Eitri "This is plan? We're gonna hit him with a brick?" He snorted and Eitri looked down at them and shook his head
"It's two molds. A king and queen's weapon. Meant to be the greatest in Asgard. In theory, it could even summon the Bifrost." He nodded towards one mold while looking at the other mold "The other one has the power to harness all stones at once, and even out power the three's powers at once when together.." He muttered and Thor looked up at Eitri, a sense of worry went through him as he thought of Aya.. Did Thanos manage to get her? Was she even alive?
"Did these two have a name?" He asked Eitri who smiled a bit when he looked down "Aya helped me with the names.. Yours is.. Stormbreaker. Hers is Endbringer" He said and Rocket frowned as he shook his head "That's a bit much.. I see why you two love each other" He muttered and Thor beamed at that. He looked over at the King of the Giant Dwarfs "So how do we make it?"
"You'll have to restart the forge. Awaken the heart of a dying star." Eitri muttered and Thor nodded, taking a deep breath before looking at Rocket "Rabbit, fire up the pod." He said as he looked up "Aya.. Please come back to me soon"
Anthea was watching Quill measuring the planet's tilt. Maria went towards her and she looked at the other woman "What happened? I know that you were looking for Quill and the Guardians.. Now I just notice all the looks you've been giving him and his face expression.. He's trying to remember something, what's wrong?" She questioned. Anthea looked at Quill for a moment before looking at Maria
"He forgot me.. His memory of me was completely erased from his mind, I never existed to him until now.. Maria, we were engaged until he thought I died. He nearly went crazy until one day he forgot me. Then I heard that he was with another woman for four years? Someone who he was probably ready to go down on one knee to also?" She whispered with tears in her eyes. Maria looked at Anthea with sadness in her eyes as she brought Anthea into a tight hug
"I'm so sorry it happened to you.. You didn't need that at all" Maria said and she released Anthea and gave her a questioning look "If we do manage to stop Thanos.. We all go home alive, what will you do?" She whispered quietly and Anthea looked down and shook her head
"I'm going to leave.. Not stay with the Guardians. I'll make sure that Sylvia and the others are fine and then I'm gonna leave.. Go explore and find myself and figure what I actually am.. Because what am I if I wasn't one of the three and a Guardian?" She whispered and Maria gave her a soft smile
"You're more than welcome to stay with Stephen and I if you need to.. It gets quite lonely when Stephen and I aren't together.. But we love company" She whispered and Anthea smiled a bit as she nodded "I'll stay with you.. Maybe finally find my family while I'm with you guys too"
"I know a good tracking spell that would be useful" Maria suggested and before Maria could say anything, they heard Quill's voice
"The hell happened to this planet? It's eight degrees off its axis. Gravitational pull is all over the place." Quill's voice was loud and Anthea turned to see that Maria was soon sitting in the air, joining her husband as they were using the Time Stone.
"Yeah, we got one advantage. He's coming to us. We'll use it." He muttered and Riley came towards him "It may take all of us.. We do need to work together" She said nodding towards the Avengers and the Guardians. Tony nodded and looked at the Guardians and Anthea
"All right, I have a plan. Or at least the beginnings of one. It's pretty simple. We draw him in, pin him down, get what we need. Definitely don't wanna dance with this guy. We just need the gauntlet. Then Maria and Anthea break the gauntlet and we'll be fine" Tony muttered he was about to say more until the group heard loud yawn and Tony looked offended as he saw Drax yawning
"Are you yawning? In the middle of this, while I'm breaking it down? Huh? Did you hear what I said?" He questioned and Drax looked uninterested as he shook his head "I stopped listening after you said, "We need a plan."" He muttered and Tony raised and eyebrow and turned to Anthea
"Okay, Mr. Clean is on his own page." He said to Anthea who smiled softly "That's the Guardians for you.. They don't plan, they just go with it" She said and Peter nodded in agreement "See, "not winging it" isn't really what they do." He said and Parker pointed at them and looked at Quill "Uh, what exactly do they do?" He said and Anthea was about to answer until it was Mantis who spoke
"Kick names, take ass." She said proudly and Anthea couldn't help but smile a bit while Riley burst out laughing, they heard Drax saying quietly "Yeah, that's right"
Tony stood for a moment with an expression of hopelessness while Parker looked lost. Riley came towards Tony and snapped her fingers and he looked down and sighed "Alright, just get over here, please. Mr. and Mrs. Lord can you get your folks to circle up?" He questioned and both Anthea and Quill blushed as they looked at each other and Peter looked at Tony
""Mr. Lord." Star-Lord is fine.. She isn't my wife, we're not even together" He said and he didn't notice that Anthea flinched but Riley sure did and Quill motioned for Drax and Mantis to come towards him
"We gotta coalesce. 'Cause if all we come at him with is a plucky attitude.." He said and Quill stopped him and scowled
Dude, don't call us plucky. We don't know what is means." He said and he looked over at Anthea.. Suddenly the idea of wanting to impress her overcame him and he turned to the others "Alright, we're optimistic, yes. I like your plan. Except it sucks, so let me do the plans, and that way it might be really good." He said and Anthea looked at him and he winked
"Tell him about the dance-off to save the universe." Drax said and Anthea couldn't help but smile at the thought of when Peter saved the universe.. By just having a dance-off. Quill looked over and saw that Anthea was smiling a sense of fear overcame him.. What if she was thinking he was an idiot?! A dance off to save the universe?! She wouldn't be impressed.
"What dance-off?" Tony asked and Riley looked at the Guardians and couldn't help but think.. This group was a bit weird.. But fun at the same time. Quill shook his head "It's nothing."
"Like in Footloose, the movie?" Parker asked softly and Riley couldn't help but smile at the teenager who looked somewhat impressed with the Guardians and Quill looked excited as well
"Exactly like Footloose. Is it still the greatest movie in history?" Quill asked Excitedly and Parker frowned and shook his head "It never was." He said while Quill frowned. Riley spoke up
"I loved the movie.. I had to beg my.. Nevermind" Riley muttered and she looked down.. She remembered the day that she begged Steve to watch the movie with her, it was before they began dating. He ended up liking the movie and was very amused when he saw Riley singing and dancing to it.
"Don't encourage this, alright?" Tony gave a pointed look towards Parker and Riley who muttered an 'Okay' and Tony narrowed his eyes at Quill
"We're getting no help from Flash Gordon here.. The only useful one is Princess Merida" He said turning to Anthea who looked as confused.. Who was Merida?
"Flash Gordon?" Quill scoffed and he narrowed his eyes "By the way, that's a compliment. Don't forget, I'm half human" Quill said and pointed at Quill, Riley and Parker "So that 50% of me that's stupid... That's 100% you." He said and Tony shook his head
"Your math is blowing my mind." He said and Riley sighed and shook her head "You're right.. The only smart one here in this team is Anthea"
"Excuse me, but...Does your friends often do that?" They heard Mantis say softly and the group turned to see The Stranges, the time stone's energy wrapped around them as their heads were jerking rapidly from side to side.. Anthea could notice the tears streaming down Maria's face as her face was full of sadness.. All while her eyes were glowing green from the stone. Tony and Riley rushed towards the married couple and Tony called to them
"Stranges, we alright?" He said as suddenly Stephen and Maria snapped out of them, both falling to the group with Maria sobbing, Stephen quickly gathered his crying wife into his arms as he tried to comfort her, whispering softly to her. Maria just kept shaking her head. Riley couldn't help but notice there were a bit of tears in Stephen's eyes as well.
"You're back. You're alright. Hi." Tony whispered and Anthea jogged towards Maria, bending down to her level and rubbing her back. Parker frowned "Hey, what was that? Mrs. Strange are you okay?" He asked, worried for Maria. Stephen spoke, out of breath.
"We went forward in time to view alternate futures. To see all the possible outcomes of the coming conflict.. Both of us" Stephen said looking down at his crying wife.. Anthea resting her head on Maria's shoulder. Maria quickly grabbed on to Anthea's hand and squeezed it tight..
"How many did you see?" Quill asked uneasy.. He saw the look on Maria's eyes when he saw her looking at him and then Anthea.. Something was going to happen.. He suddenly felt scared.. Was Thanos going to kill Anthea?
No.. Thanos wouldn't kill Anthea, Quill wouldn't make sure of that. He would make sure he would die to protect her, he would do anything to make sure she survived.. It wasn't until Quill shook his head.. Why was he thinking like this?! He just met Anthea a little while ago, why was he already swearing to die for her?
"14,000,605." It was Maria who spoke with a hushed voice.. Stephen looked down and kissed Maria's temple. Tony looked at the couple and frowned and it was Riley who spoke "How many did we win?"
Maria and Stephen were silent for a while.. Anthea's heart felt like it stopped when she heard Stephen's voice.. It felt like a punch to the stomach when she heard that one word.. She knew once Thanos would come, it was truly the end.
"One."
Author's Note:
We're half way done with the story!
Maria knows more than she's letting on, she is the Sorceress Supreme after all. She knows that Anthea and her will play a key role in this whole war, and she does know the outcome.. And I think that is what hurts the most.. She knows who will live and die by the time this is over.
I love Maria and Anthea's relationship. They both know how important they are to each other and how both will be quite protective of each other. Maria offering to let Anthea to stay with them is a way of Maria knowing the pain of basically loving a loved one.. She lost her baby and she almost lost her husband.
I think Anthea's mindset is basically once this is done.. Anthea is leaving the Guardians. But something in Quill's mind is screaming at him to remember.. He's just lost at this point too, he doesn't know why he has these strong feelings for Anthea.
Parker's little crush on Maria is quite cute, and how just Maria just adores Parker too!
Next Chapter:
Sylvia's Fate is revealed
Leave reviews! Thoughts?
Until next time!