Song of the Day: Dear Mr. Fantasy by Traffic (Mr. Fantasy)

…

*Cracka-thoom*

"This is a nightmare." White Wolf said.

"I've had better nightmares." Wasp said.

The two Avengers stared at the monitor that was estimating the total amount of life lost on Earth in the palace's control room. They were joined by Black Panther, Falcon, Groot and Shuri. Shuri was examining the pager that Fury had given them to keep safe. Outside of the control room, a storm was raging. Rain splattered the windows, and thunder could be heard from a distance.

"Hey." Falcon pointed to the pager that Fury had given them to keep safe. "So, that thing just… stopped doing whatever the hell it was doing."

"What do we got?" Wasp sighed.

"Whatever signal it was sending finally crapped out." Shuri said.

"I thought you bypassed the battery, sister?" Black Panther said.

"I did." Shuri explained. "It's still plugged in, it just… just stopped."

"Could you reboot it, send the signal again?" Falcon asked.

"I am Groot." Groot said. "I am Groot. I am Groot."

"Yeah, but I still want to know who's on the other end of that thing." Black Panther said. Groot had spent so much time dawdling around the Avengers, they had now all begun to understand the Flora Colossi language.

"You can't go in there!"

An argument had begun to break out outside of the control room.

"We must."

"Only the king and his allies are allowed in there. You are an outsider!"

"Actually, you'll find I'm an insider. Does this knife mean anything to you?"

"Then you are a thief as well as a savage!"

"Nonetheless, we must speak with your king. It is of utmost importance."

"Move. Or you will be moved."

"I accept your terms, Midgardian."

"Sif, don't-"

*Cracka-thoom*

The sliding doors opened as Ayo, recently promoted General of the Dora Milaje, was tossed over the heads of the Avengers and Groot and skidded to the ground, looking stunned.

Two large, muscle-bound women entered the room impressively. One was light-skinned with dark, flowing black hair, and was wearing a red and white outfit with a feathered helmet. The other was dark-skinned with white hair that was cut in a mohawk and wearing a black, sleeveless leather jacket with artfully ripped pants.

"These savages attacked me! Unprovoked!" Ayo got to her feet and sprang in front of Black Panther.

"Savage?" Lady Sif's nostrils flared. "You poked me with your spear. If I wasn't wearing armor, I'd have a second navel 'pon my stomach."

"SIF! STAND DOWN!" Hadari ordered. "This is all a terrible misunderstanding. We mean you no harm, Avengers. We just want to talk. Sif, apologize to the king's bodyguard."

"I will not!" Lady Sif huffed. "She called you a savage! After what these people did to you, she has the nerve-"

"These people?" Black Panther interrupted. "What do you mean by that? Who are you?"

"We are Asgardians." Hadari said. "Well, partially. Sif is full-blooded. I, on the other hand, am half-Asgardian and half-Wakandan. I bow before you, my king."

Hadari took a knee and bowed before Black Panther.

"Thank you. You may stand." Black Panther said. "I appreciate your respect, wise warrior, but it is tradition to not bow to anyone in the unconquered realm."

"My mistake. I am unfamiliar with the Midgardian half of my bloodline, your highness." Hadari said, holding out her scabbard with the knife still inside it. "May I present to you this knife as fealty? It it long past time since it was returned. Note that the Wakandan alphabet on the hilt spells out my name, and the blade itself pays tribute to Thor, the God of Thunder, whom I have done battle with."

"I accept your gift with much gratitude." Black Panther took the knife and placed it on the table. "Ayo, stand down."

"My king, these aliens have landed on your land wantonly."

"Actually, we were invited." Lady Sif said. "We come to you now on behalf of the Asgardian kingdom with information you may find invaluable in exchange for the sheltering of our people. We have hundreds of men, women and children that are starving and need immediate medical attention. We have nowhere else to go. Thor spoke very highly of his friends, the Avengers. We have been told that you are an Avenger."

"Of course we accept." Shuri blurted out. "I mean - as long as it's okay with you, brother."

Black Panther took the two Asgardians in. In his mind, he began processing what sheltering the peoples of Asgard would cost him, decided the price was well worth it, and nodded.

"Done." Black Panther said. "Ayo, why didn't you tell me another spaceship has landed here after we were just invaded by aliens? Or, for that matter, that there were people that were in need of our help?"

"You were busy, my king." Ayo stiffened. "I apologize for my rush to judgment."

"Don't say that to me, say that to the Asgardians you just insulted," Black Panther said, indicating his new guests with his forefinger.

"You too, Sif." Hadari nudged her comrade.

"I am sorry, colonizers." Ayo said sullenly.

"I am sorry as well, canker-blossom." Lady Sif responded.

The two warriors glared at one another, but beyond that didn't say or do anything antagonistic for the rest of the evening.

"Now that we're all friends now, let's get a little more familiar." Falcon asked. "Let's start with names. I'm Sam, this is Ayo, you've met her, and the rest of us are Bucky, Hope, and King T'Challa and Princess Shuri"

"I am Groot!"

"And he's Groot." Falcon added. "We're the Avengers."

"My Asgardian name is Hadari Yao, and this is Lady Sif." Hadari said. "But my Midgardian name is Ororo Munroe. Feel free to call me that. We are what remains of the Champions of Xandar. We were invited here by this."

The shepherd of her people pulled out Captain Marvel's pager. There was a gasp of recognition.

"Where's Fury?" Ororo asked.

*Cracka-thoom*

…

Spider-Man snorted himself awake from a dream, mask half-off and half-on his face. There was no point in hiding his identity at this point. Everyone on The Benatar knew what his real name was at this point. He had just been using it as a sleeping mask. Most of his Iron Spider armor had been scrapped for parts by Star-Lord in order to patch up the ship, but he had kept a backup cloth version in his utility belt.

Spider-Man pulled it off, yawned, and looked at himself in the reflection of the cockpit. Star-Lord's shaving kit had also been scrapped, and being unable to shave for the past few weeks had left Peter Parker's usually smooth face covered with stubble. He could only imagine what Aunt May would say if she could see him now.

"Hey, Uncle Ben." Spider-Man's reflection smiled back at him. "Love the new look. I hope May lets you keep it."

"It's been hard to tell what time it is. They took my Dad's watch, plus the analog one from the suit, so I have no idea whether it's day or night back home. How much school I missed."

"Being on this ship with the Guardians and Mr. Strange has been better than you'd think it'd be, considering. We're still charting a path back home, and Mr. Strange's magic is keeping the fuel cells running. I asked him if he could open one of those portals to get back home, but he said that one of Thanos' guys had cast a spell preventing him from traveling farther than a mile for a period of one month. He's been meditating for the last week. He's so into it he's not even eating or drinking water. Or… talking to anybody."

"We're good on water, but food? Even with only four mouths to feed versus five, not so much. If - when we get home, I'll talk to Ms. Potts about adding a food pouch to my utility belt."

"The Guardians are… nice enough, I guess. They're definitely weird. I still don't believe that bug lady didn't put her eggs in me. The guy who never wears a shirt, it's hard to tell when he's joking or when he's being serious. I made a joke the other day that maybe we should put Mr. Strange's hand in a bowl of warm water to see if he's sleeping, and he responded by saying we should try stabbing him in the leg because it'd probably work better."

"And Captain Quill, he spends all of his time shut up in the quarters and drinking. Sounds like he lost his girlfriend to Thanos. I keep trying to talk to him because he's the only one around here that makes any sense to me. But I think I screwed it up. When I told him I liked the new Footloose movie more than the really old one, he threw a bottle at me and told me to go rewatch 'the real one.' Even without my Peter Tingle he couldn't have hit me, he was pretty out of it. The bug lady touched him, and he's sleeping it off now."

Spider-Man scratched his cheek thoughtfully.

"I miss you. I miss Mr. Stark. I miss May. I miss Ned. I miss MJ. I miss Happy. I miss Ms. Potts. I miss Mr. Harrington. I miss Earth. I miss school. I miss Joe's Pizza. I miss the smell of the subway. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I even miss Flash."

Spider-Man's laugh echoed strangely in the cockpit.

"Never thought those words in that order would ever leave my mouth."

"When that guy shot you, did it feel like this?"

"Like, is everything just spinning out of control? Or like everything is starting to make sense now?"

Spider-Man had been wondering about this for the last few weeks, but hadn't been able to verbalize it to anyone onboard The Benatar. Even though Doctor Strange had told Spider-Man that he himself had died dozens of times fighting Thanos in his Time Stone loops, he still had no idea what actually happened to people who died because it hadn't stuck just yet. He had promised Spider-Man that when they got back to Earth, he'd give him the recommendation of a good psychologist because he was only a medical doctor. Spider-Man had been surprised to learn that he was a doctor at all, he had just assumed that was his made-up name.

"Brain surgery is easy, kid. Heck, I'm even performing rocket science as we speak. But figuring out what makes people tick? For me, at least, that's a far more difficult subject to master. And I've mastered quite a few." Spider-Man had made his voice extra deep and raspy to better match the timbre of Stephen Strange's sound.

*Cough*

"How does he do that without tearing up his throat?"

"Anyways, it feels sometimes like it'd be easier to give up. To just accept the inevitable. That we're never going home. That this was all for nothing. But I know that you wouldn't want me to give up. Mr. Stark didn't want me to either. Mr. Strange is counting on me to finish his plan, and he's still here to tell me that. Even if he's a million miles away right now. Got any words of encouragement?"

Uncle Ben's face blinked back at him.

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Ben. Good talk. Love you."

Spider-Man slunk back to his chair and took in the view of a shower of shooting stars closer than any human being had ever seen them before.

…

Star-Lord was steadying himself. He was in the airlock, and in order to preserve oxygen for the others, he was going to make a heroic sacrifice by sending himself out into the void to save the lives of the others. Just like Groot had done. Just like Yondu had done. Just like Gamora had tried to do with Nebula.

All he had to do was open the door, and he'd see everyone he loved. His mom. Gamora. Yondu. Rocket. The Ravagers that had been lost by Taserface's rebellion. All he had to do was fly out, close the door behind him, and take his mask off. He wondered if his grandfather Jason or Groot had died because of his stupid mistake. Why couldn't he have just waited until the Gauntlet had been taken off to attack Thanos mid-trance? Just one more deep breath, and his pain would all be over. It was the only way his survivor's guilt could be assuaged.

"Gamora, I'm so sorry. Forgive me." Star-Lord's hand was trembling as he reached out for the door handle. His hand touched the handle, then withdrew back as though he had just touched a boiling pot.

"Aw, man, I can't do it." Star-Lord choked out. Tears were running down his face. "I can't do it, I can't do it, I can't do it. I'm not strong like you are."

Star-Lord ran out of the airlock. He ran and ran and ran across the ship, until he tripped over the comatose Doctor Strange and slid across the ground.

"Quill?" Drax was rounding the corner, eating Zargnuts from a bag.

"Oh. Hey, Drax." Star-Lord said, quickly getting to his feet and dusting himself off. "Didn't see you there."

"That was the intent. What were you doing?"

"I just, uh, was getting my steps in. One sandwich away from fat and all that, you know?"

"I, too, was exercising." Drax said. "Then I got hungry, so I got some zargnuts. And now, I'm exercising and eating at the same time. I believe I have invented a new word: eatercising."

"Yeah." Star-Lord said. "Good for you, buddy. But, you know, gotta keep moving-"

"Quill, why is your mask leaking?" Drax reached out and touched Star-Lord's neck with his finger. He withdrew it and realized that it wasn't oil. Drax wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer (he didn't even know what that expression meant), but he did know what to do next.

"Quill, can you take your mask off, please?"

Star-Lord obliged, a lump growing in his throat.

"Do you need a hug?" Drax asked.

"Yeah." Star-Lord nodded. "Yeah, I do."

Drax pulled Star-Lord in and hugged him.

"Thanks, buddy."

"You're welcome."

…

Neither one of the men had noticed Mantis peeking around the corner to ask Drax if she could have one of his zargnuts. She wanted nothing more but to walk over to her brother and embrace him as well, but knew that he would probably just yell at her again. And besides, they were only half-siblings. Only belonged to half of the same species.

And so, Mantis walked away to give her best friend and her only living relative privacy. She walked up to check up on Spider-Man, who was fast asleep once again. Spider-Man seemed to be having a dream of some kind.

Before meeting the Guardians of the Galaxy, Mantis hadn't understood the intricacies of social interaction, and as such the concept of personal space had never been taught to her by Ego. That's why she wanted nothing more than to put her hands on Spider-Man and feel what he was feeling in order to understand him better, but knew that it wouldn't be appropriate to intrude upon his privacy.

Mantis decided to sit beside Spider-Man and actually take the time to enjoy the galaxy she had spent the last four years guarding. The shooting stars outside of the cockpit truly were beautiful, especially the orange one that looked like it was actually in front of the ship. Before she knew what she was doing, Mantis had accidentally reached out to awaken Spider-Man to point it out to him, and was sucked into his dream instead.

…

*Beep beep beep beep beep*

"All right, all right, I'm up already." Peter groaned, fumbling around to turn his alarm clock off. He got out of bed and got dressed, yawning hugely. "Ugh. What did I drink last night?"

He searched around the piles of clean clothes he had yet to put away in his closest until he finally found his favorite article of clothing, a red and white football jersey that read Property of the Matthew Ellis Raccoons, with his football number being # 4. While looking around for his phone, he accidentally stepped on a framed photograph of himself and his ex-girlfriend on the day she had graduated. Peter winced at the sound of the glass breaking. He told himself that he'd clean that up when he got home from school, as he went to the bathroom to shower and gargle some mouthwash.

He was a few minutes into singing Dear Mr. Fantasy to himself when a loud knock began rapping on the door.

"PETER! HEY, PETER! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME! You've been in there for HOURS!" A familiar voice yelled.

"Aw, don't get your panties in a bunch!" Peter yelled over the sound of the running water. "I was just finishing up. Be out in a few."

Peter wrapped a bathrobe around himself and walked out. His sister, who was wearing all black with green highlights in her hair, gave him a withering glare as she slammed the door behind him.

"Good morning, Peter!"

Peter's younger brother, who was coincidentally also named Peter, was in his Star Wars pajamas and unlike his siblings looked positively bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

"Mandy's in there." Big Peter grunted. "She's being a real pain in the ass today."

"Oh, that's okay." Little Peter said cheerfully. "She's just going through a phase."

"That phase has been going on for the last four years." Big Peter groaned. "Lemme tell you, I can't wait to get out of here in nine months. If it wasn't for that 'Senor Shoe's' estupido Spanish class, I'd be running a frat by now."

"Are you looking forward to the first day of school?" Little Peter asked.

"First day of the new year of high school?" Big Peter said. "Fun at first. But by your fifth time, the magic is gone. Trust me."

"Well, at least Aunt May is making us her special first-day wheatcakes." Little Peter rubbed his tummy hungrily. "Those are pretty magical."

Big Peter wanted to say something snarky to Little Peter but then the scent of May's pancakes wafted up to his nose.

"Yeah, you know what, you're right." Big Peter said. He allowed himself a tiny, rakish grin at his little brother. "I swear, May must put crack in those. Maybe things won't be so bad now that we're going to the same school."

"That's the spirit!" Little Peter said, giving his brother a high-five. "Freshman Peter and Senior Peter, ready to kick names and take ass!"

Mandy popped her head out of the bathroom.

"Actually, it's kick ass and take names, dorks. Obviously." Mandy rolled her eyes, and closed the door once again. Both Peters sighed and shook their heads.

"God, what's even Mandy's problem? It's been four years. Why can't she just, like, pretend to be happy for your Mom and my Dad?"

"Hey, hey, remember. With her, it's just a-?" Little Peter prompted.

"Yeah, yeah." Big Peter groaned. "It's just a phase."

…

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