Chapter Twelve: Down To Earth
"How can we be sure that he's telling the truth? What if he is lying?" Rhodey questioned.
The remaining Avengers and Rocket were gathered in Shuri's lab. The kid genius had somehow managed to pull up a hologram picture of the universe. How she had found a map of the universe was beyond everyone, including Thor.
"We have to trust him. My brother is no threat to us right now; Thanos is. Thanos is our main priority, and you saw how much he hates Thanos," Thor stated defensively.
Natasha scoffed. "Of course you defend him. He's your brother. Plus, how do you think Clint will react when finds out that we are listening to Loki's plan; who, by the way, mind-controlled him."
Thor sighed and leaned against a table. Shuri shooed him away and started fiddling with the technology sitting there.
"Loki may not be entirely trustworthy, but he's dead. He can't harm us, even if he tried. As far as I know, he hasn't come back as a vengeful spirit. He can't touch us and we can't touch him," Thor said.
"He came here to talk to us. How is that not considered a ghost?" Rocket asked, irritation heavy in his voice.
"There's a difference. He came as a peaceful spirit, one who only ventures into the Land of the Living when they need to send a message. They are harmless and can do nothing other than send the message they came here for. Usually, the Queen of Valhalla would send a reaper or visit herself, but I'm sure that they are rather busy there," Thor explained.
"The Queen of Valhalla?" Shuri asked, setting down a bundle of wires and metal only to pick up another. Rocket was also toying with the Wakandian technology. Having something to do seemed to help keep their minds away from their losses.
"Hela, my niece. Loki's daughter." Thor held up a hand before Bruce could ask. "We were cursed to forget about Loki's children. Yes, children. He has three older boys. Hela is the only girl. It's complicated."
"How do we know we can trust Hela? I assume she is working with Loki or Thanos? None of them are good people. You saw what Hela did to Asgard. Even if Loki wants to help, his kids might not," Bruce pointed out.
"I highly doubt that," Thor said. "Loki is different. I haven't seen his kids in centuries, but I'm sure that they grew up to know that mass murders are bad."
"Loki didn't think so," Rhodey muttered under his breath, but Thor could hear.
"My brother has a history with Thanos. I doubt that he wanted innocent people to get hurt or killed. I admit that he wasn't entirely sane when we fought on the Bifrost, but you didn't fight him, I did. I saw the look on his face. He had given up. He let go with the full intention to die. Loki is smart. He wouldn't have teamed up with a murderer willingly." Thor stared out the window. The sun was setting. They had been in the lab since noon. "Loki had changed when he attacked New York. He never was one for fighting. He preferred to sit in his room alone and read or practice his magic. He hated fighting. I have a feeling that he isn't telling us the whole truth. Something else must have happened when he was in the Void; something that Thanos did to him."
"Captain," Bruce said to Steve. Steve was sitting on a chair; unnaturally silent about the situation. "It's your call."
Steve stood up and looked around at the group. Everyone had bags under their eyes and were still covered in dirt and blood from the battle.
"Thor is right. We might not be able to trust Loki, but right now he's our best bet. Thanos is a bigger concern. If something happens—if Loki is working with Thanos—we will deal with it when the time comes. Right now we need to focus on who is willing to help us fight. Contact Clint and every available hero or soldier who wants to help. This plan of Loki's has some risks, but they are risks that have a better outcome. Everyone rest up and we will face Thanos tomorrow," Steve ordered. "Now, has anyone been in contact with Tony?"
Tony was exhausted. He had just watched a teenager die in his arms. Peter was his responsibility. How had he let him board the ship without his knowing? How was he supposed to tell Peter's aunt that her nephew was never coming back? How could he live with the guilt that he had was so close to ending the biggest threat in history, but ended up with a minor dead? The kid could barely drive! Why was he so stupid to think that despite the superpowers, the kid had zero experience and Thanos didn't care who he killed?
Tony groaned as he shifted his weight. The stab wound wasn't mending very well and he could barely walk. The blue alien let him lean against her for support, but she was tired and lost too.
"What now?" Tony coughed out.
The blue woman gritted her teeth. "We kill him."
The blue, alien lady scared and fascinated Tony at the same time. He didn't know if it was because of her mechanical parts or her willingness to murder anyone who got her way for revenge.
"That's wonderful," Tony muttered. He also wanted to kill Thanos for what he had done, but he wasn't so confident in his answer. He wasn't even sure what to do next. Should he go back to Earth or follow this alien lady around? She seemed to know what she was doing. "I never got your name."
"Nebula," the woman said flatly. They were near the Black Order's ship. Somehow it was still intact and looked capable of flying.
"I'm Tony Stark. You may know me…" Tony said, trying to make small talk.
"Never heard of you," Nebula responded and opened the door to the ship. She helped Tony climb inside and gently lowered him to the ground. Tony grunted and clutched at his wound. At least the bleeding had stopped.
Nebula came back with what looked like a first-aid kit. She wrapped the bandages around his stomach.
"Thanks," Tony said. Nebula glared at him in response and stood up. "A simple 'your welcome' isn't that hard," Tony pushed.
"I'm not feeling very welcome right now, so maybe you should shut your stupid, ass mouth and actually help get this ship flying," Nebula snapped. She spun on her heel and stomped off to the control console.
"Nice to meet you too," Tony muttered to himself. He pulled himself to a standing position and wobbled over to the scary, blue, alien woman.
"Where exactly did you say we were going to again?" Tony asked once he reached the control console. He leaned heavily against the center device and stared out the windshield. Dust was blowing through the air. He didn't know if it was the sand or the dusted Guardians or both. Tony shivered at the thought.
"I didn't say we were going anywhere. Right now we're stuck if you don't get this thing running." Nebula gave the center console an angry kick.
"I don't know how to control this. It's all new to me," Tony said.
"Don't you have technology like this on Earth?" Nebula asked.
"Well, we do..."
"But?"
"But, this will take some time to get used to," Tony answered.
"Figure it out then!" Nebula shouted.
Tony jumped a bit at the sound and hurried up his pace. He didn't want the scary, blue alien girl hurting him or doing something that would cause this situation to become worse.
After a few minutes of fumbling around with the control console, Tony finally found the "start/on" button and pressed it. The ship came alive with the roar of the engines. More dust billowed up outside. Tony hit the thrusters and the ship shot out into space with a sudden jolt.
"Houston, we have liftoff!" Tony exclaimed, his excitement masking his hurt. He turned to see if he got a reaction from Neblue. No response.
"Are we heading?" Nebula asked. The stars flew by in streaks of light.
"Hopefully to Earth. We can get backup there so we can—"
"Kill Thanos?" Nebula interrupted.
Tony paused. "Uh, yeah…"
"Good."
Tony turned his focus back to controlling the large ship. He was still upset about the turnout of things. He knew he needed help if there was any chance remaining at defeating Thanos, but his relationship with half of the Avengers was still a bit shaky. Tony knew that Steve was probably his best bet, but he wasn't ready to talk to him yet.
"Guess I don't have any other choice," Tony thought sourly. Maybe they could fix their relationship as friends once this whole nightmare was over.