How Alexi and Courtney Got To Outer Space

"What do you mean you can't get a Nova ship down here?!" Peter yelled into the com unit. With the Milano in ruins Nova was their last chance of rescuing Drax and Harmony from whoever had grabbed them. Courtney was pacing back and forth, her hands knotted behind her back. She was the one who had seen the ship that had grabbed their two friends. Alexi, Groot, and Rocket were on their way from Alexi's house but as of the moment they had no way to get to outer space and follow that ship. Unless Rocket could work some sort of miracle on the wreaked Milano they needed Nova Prime's help.

"I mean exactly what I said Quill." Denarien Dey said from the com. "Nova Prime can't waste valuable resources by sending a ship on an incognito mission down to Terra." Peter sighed in exasperation. Apparently Nova Prime wasn't in the mood to fix their screw up today.

"Can't you at least try?!" Peter cried out. He was done with being nice, it was time to plead and beg. "C'mon Dey! Drax and Harmony are in trouble! The Milano can't fly; it's one wing is completely bashed in, the front is exploded, the sides are falling apart, the gear only slightly works, and I bet you 200 units that the engine is fried." Peter took a deep breath to calm down. "Then again, that's only what we can see, who knows how much internal damage there is!"

"Okay Quill look. I know that right now things aren't looking to hot for you guys, but you need to understand what's going on up here as well." Dey said in what was most likely the calmest voice he could muster at this point.

Now Peter was intrigued. "What's going on up there?" He asked.

"It's Thanos trouble." Was the reply. Peter's blood ran ice cold. Dey continued. "We think that Thanos is enlisting the help of new soldiers and somehow the Reality Stone plays a part in all of it. It was reported that he was seen at the Reality Shield with a girl made entirely of metal. Now our reports from Sanctuary are picking up signals that another entity is approaching. We believe that Thanos is in partnership with a scientist who of recently has been under Nova suspicion of taking and turning kids with specific DNA mutations into elemental fighters. These entities are powerful beings and somehow the Reality Stone is involved in all this. My thoughts involve an odd disturbance awhile back near the shield when we thought something had gotten in. It was around that time that the science facility we had been watching, which is conveniently located out of Nova range, turned into an uproar of constantly moving ships and weaponry enhancements."

Peter just kept nodding his head as his mind struggled to comprehend what Dey was saying. "So, to clarify, you think that Thanos and a scientist are creating warriors with immense power and now the Reality Stone, the only Infinity Stone that we don't have in safety, is involved." Peter relayed. He heard Dey cough out a reply that was a cross between 'yes' and 'yeah'. "Well isn't that just great!" Peter shouted with a feel of defeat as the situation sunk in. He told Dey about Alexi, Courtney, and Harmony and how they touched the stone and became the three entities.

"This is not good." Dey whispered. "If our two accounts of this line up the way I think they do then Thanos just got your Guardian and the wind entity." A pause was heard from Dey's end. "Okay look Quill, I think I can get Nova Prime to help, only because this now involves Thanos hence it now involves us." Peter wanted to jump for joy, but instead he kept it professional, internally promising to hug Dey the next time he saw him.

"Thanks so much Dey, you have no idea how much this helps us out." Peter thanked him. Just then Alexi pulled up on a bicycle and Rocket jumped out of her backpack looking like he was about to hurl. Groot was then gently lifted out by Alexi and set on the ground. Peter hung up the call and repeated to the others the information he had just been given.

"So these things that possessed us when we touched the stone are from a science lab?" Alexi asked skeptically. Peter nodded. She sighed. "Great, just great. Crashing ships from outer space I can believe, aliens I can believe, being possessed by some weird fire sprite I can even believe, but this crazy science lab and mad titan thing with alien governments and shit I cannot believe!" She shouted.

"We've all seen some crazy things in our days, this is oddly not the craziest thing to ever happen to us." Courtney said quietly. Peter thought she was still in shock from seeing the ship lift Drax and Harmony off. Now that he knew about her cancer though he was worried that maybe going into outer space on a rescue mission wasn't the best thing for her.

"The Nova ship should be here in 15 minutes so we better start working on a plan for what we'll do when we get up there." Gamora said. Peter nodded.

"Good plan Gamora. Does anyone have any ideas?" He asked. His question was met by blank looks.

"You guys are the ones who are from outer space, don't you have any weird alien tricks up your sleeves or something?" Alexi asked kind of sarcastically.

"Our only 'alien trick' was that hunk of junk Quill calls a ship." Rocket growled, making quotation marks around the words alien trick. Quill rolled his eyes and ignored Rocket's remark. "Plus," Rocket continued. "Quill ain't one for making elaborate plans right before doing something crazy."

"Who said we needed an elaborate plan?" Alexi asked. "We get up there, we find Harmony and tattoo guy, we kick some alien ass. Sounds easy to me!"

Gamora sighed. "You've never seen or even heard of Thanos, nor have you ever witnessed or seen the things he can do." She looked Alexi right in the eye. "We have a greater chance of getting slaughtered then making it out of there in one piece." Courtney looked terrified but Alexi just shrugged.

"I'm cool with either outcome." She remarked. Courtney, Rocket, and Groot seemed to be the only one's not surprised by this comment.

"I agree with Alexi." Peter spoke up suddenly. "We get up there and fight our way through. I mean c'mon, it's not the first suicide mission we've been on!" He smiled at the still unswayed Gamora. She rolled her eyes.

"With that logic you're going to get us killed Peter Quill." She said. After a few more minutes of silent thought Gamora finally relented. "Fine." She said annoyed. "We'll follow you're 12% of a plan."

"12%?" Courtney laughed. "Not even!" It's 5% at best!" Everyone cast her a glaring look and she shut up. After a couple seconds Courtney asked, "Alexi, what are you doing?" Everyone looked at Alexi who seemed to be trying an odd form of meditation.

"I'm trying to channel that odd fire power thing." She answered. "I'd guess it would be helpful in this situation."

Rocket scoffed. "When is a giant fire spirit on our side a bad thing?" He asked sarcastically. Alexi shot him a look and continued doing her weird meditating.

"Ya know," Courtney interjected. "The last time that thing came out it was when you were scared." Alexi whirled around and Courtney flinched backwards.

"I don't get scared!" Alexi shouted at her. Her pupils enlarged, nearly turning her eyes completely black and her hand curled into a fist at her side. Alexi stepped backwards and away from the cowering Courtney and punched a nearby tree, leaving a nice dent in the side. Groot winced in his pot.

"Well apparently she gets angry." Peter whispered to Gamora. Gamora in turn kicked his shin rather hard. The sharp jab sent Peter pitching forward to grab his bruised leg. With oh so perfect balance he fell in the process and reached out to grab the nearest support. Unluckily for him the nearest support was Alexi's shoulder. When Peter's arm wrapped around her shoulders and his other arm grabbed her waist, she reacted instantly. Alexi's body convulsed and she threw out her fist, lashing Peter across his face. As he stumbled backwards her body let out another convulsion as her gaze drifted far off, and her whole body erupted into flames.

"Holy shit!" Rocket shouted launching himself and Groot backwards. Courtney stumbled over her own two feet as Alexi lunged at Peter. He let out a high pitched scream as her fire licked at his clothing. Alexi's eyes glowed with malice as she lashed out a hand that left a burn mark along Peter's chin. He grabbed for his element gun but Alexi's fire burned through his holster and the gun fell and slid along the ground. Peter looked around for a way out but found instead that his back was now to the house with Alexi and her smoldering fire blocking any escape.

Alexi moved closer to Peter until he had to turn his head to avoid getting scorched. Her flames danced around him as her glowing eyes stared him down. "Don't EVER touch me again Peter Quill." Her voice sounded like crackling embers. Peter nodded mutely, his face red from the extensive heat flowing off of her. Alexi stepped back and slowly her fiery form dissipated until she was normal again. Everyone stared at her watching to see what she'd do. Alexi just turned away from Peter and grabbed her backpack off the bike. "Well c'mon everyone, that alien ship won't hover there forever." Alexi pointed upwards at the Nova starship materializing above them.

"I've never been more happy ta see the cops before in my life." Rocket whispered as he grabbed Groot. A beam of light came down and surrounded Alexi, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot. They were pulled up into the ship while another beam came down and grabbed Peter and Courtney. When everyone was safely inside the Nova ship it took off, going hyperspeed into orbit.

"This is so cool!" Courtney shouted with glee. She threw her arms around Alexi in a big hug, a large smile splitting across her face. Alexi tensed by let Courtney hug her. Just as Courtney released her from the bearhug Dey approached them. As he opened his mouth to speak Peter gave Dey his own bearhug.

Dey didn't even look shocked at Peter's sudden hug. "Quill." He said. Peter released him from the hug and just smiled sheepishly.

"Just wanted to say thanks for not leaving us on Terra." Quill explained. Dey just shook his head and sighed.

"Anyway," he began. "While we approach Sanctuary I want to talk to you two elementals." He looked at Alexi and Courtney. "Now which one of you is fire and which one is water?"

Alexi stepped forward, her arms crossed in front of her. "I'm fire," she angled her head to Courtney, "and she's water. Our friend Harmony is wind."

Dey nodded. "Okay, I have some more information on your entities. Our Nova hackers got into the systems of the planet where the lab that built your entities is." Dey pulled up a hologram of what looked like a common warehouse. "This lab is run by a notorious scientist known only as Hijinx. He has been caught before experimenting with the very forces of nature. Now it seems he has finally perfected his craft."

The hologram changed to show seven hovering spirits. One was made of swirling fire, another flowing water, another whooshing wind, another hard metal, another growing vines, another crackling electricity, and finally one that seemed to reflect space. "These are the seven elements of life; fire, water, wind, metal, planet, electricity, and cosmos." Dey explained. "Each entity gets an upgrade and a downgrade from another entity."

The hologram changed to show a chart of some sort. It was an downgrade chart. "As you can see," Dey explained. "Water downgrades fire, fire downgrades metal, metal downgrades planet, planet downgrades cosmos, cosmos downgrades electricity, electricity downgrades wind, and wind downgrades water." Another chart appeared, upgrades. "Here for upgrades; water upgrades planet, planet upgrades wind, wind upgrades fire, fire upgrades electricity, electricity upgrades metal, metal upgrades cosmos, and cosmos upgrade water."

"So Harmony's power would upgrade my power but Courtney's would downgrade mine." Alexi said watching the chart. "I actually have an advantage against the metal girl." She whispered.

"Well an advantage is always helpful." Courtney summarized. She glanced down at her hands. "I wonder how to activate my power." Alexi was pacing back and forth across the ship, hands knit behind her back in concentration. The tips of her hair were sparking with flames and her eyes had taken on a fiery yellow glow. The Guardians watched as Courtney started concentrating and Alexi continued to pace.

A few more minutes passed of this before Gamora glanced out the window. "We're here." She muttered, drawing her sword. Everyone watched as the stone structure of Sanctuary rose up before them. Hovercraft surrounded it, numbering in the thousands. They looked like small black dots from the distance the Nova ship was but the Guardians knew the high powered weaponry that was stored underneath that black steel. The golden Nova ship couldn't just waltz right up to the front door and expect to be let in, especially since Thanos had the people he wanted in his grasp.

Just then the ship shook slightly and slowly the outside world seemed to dim. The ship had just cloaked. "We'll sneak in like this and park on one of the empty hangars around back." Dey explained. The Nova ship flew with precision closer to Sanctuary, trying not to disrupt any of the asteroids that served as a blockade against intruders. "This is just a little too easy." Dey mentioned as they slunk past the surrounding ships. Peter watched each one they passed and started to get an uneasy feeling. Dey was right, this was too easy.

Gamora seemed to sense something was off and dropped into a battle stance. "I don't like this." She hissed. Her slender finger pointed at the cockpits of the disappearing ships. Peter and the others strained to see what it was that Gamora saw. Peter couldn't see anything. Then it hit him, he couldn't see anything or anyone, the cockpits were empty!

Everyone else noticed it too. "Where're all the soldiers?" Rocket growled, drawing his gun. Before anyone could answer one of the ships exploded. The cloak fell down and everyone was sent tumbling with the ship. Emergency lights flashed from where the ship had been struck. Just as Dey started trying to reorient them another blast sent them hurtling back into the middle of the bomb ships. More explosions threw them around like rag-dolls as the ship started losing altitude. The Nova ship and all of it's passengers fell in a downward spiral towards Sanctuary.

When they crashed it was in a firestorm. the ship exploded, much like the Milano had earlier, and all of them were left stuck underneath heavy shafts of metal. Coughing was heard as smoke filled their lungs and dust made their eyes sting. Heavy footsteps, like that of armored guards, approached. The sound of guns being drawn was a familiar sound in all of their ears. They were surrounded.

"We're gonna need a new plan." Alexi whispered.