Xandar was usually a bustling metropolis, but after Thanos' attack had decimated the entire city-planet, it was now eerily silent and still. A flash of bright yellow light soared over all the carnage-ridden buildings, keeping an eye out for anyone who had survived. An old L.S. 157 kept pace behind her, which was a silver and red ship that had been its Captain's home for the past twenty years as she traversed the Galaxy in search of adventure.

*Any sign of stragglers?* The co-pilot of The Hoopty asked.

*None so far, Hadari. Maybe we should make another sweep with the G-SXM1.* The crew's Captain said over the radio. *There has to be someone out here.*

*Captain Marvel, I don't mean to contradict my superior, and I want to save as many lives as we can, but our time is better spent back at headquarters.* The pilot of The Hoopty said. *Figure out where the Mad Titan is, and snuff him out.*

*I agree with Lady Sif.* Hadari said. *We've passed over this area enough times. I'm sorry, Carol. But there are a lot more people out there who'd be better served by our presence there. And the Nova Corps already has rescue crews, so any stragglers are in good hands.*

*Okay.* Captain Marvel said. *Okay. Message received. Let's head back to base.*

Captain Marvel and The Hoopty accelerated back to the ruins of the Nova Corps headquarters.

…

"C.M.! Sif! Some broad whose name I don't know yet!" A talking duck in a red suit sipping a daiquiri was there awaiting the Champions of Xandar on the platform. "It's been too long."

"Howard." Captain Marvel knelt down and returned the Duckworldian's handshake. "It's good to see a friendly face after all that's been happening lately."

"Yeah." Howard said as the group began trekking back to the communication center. "Lately, it's felt like everything's been going down the crapper the last few years. First, the Dark Elves kill Queen Frigga during the Convergence. Then, Xandar is invaded by a big turd blossom. Then, some jackass planet gentrifies some of my favorite bars in the universe. Asgard blows up one day, the Sakaaran Rebellion cancels the Grandmaster's Contest of Champions the other, and just a few minutes ago I got word that Knowhere's been hit. We must have run out of things to happen, because now we've come around to Xandar being invaded by another big turd blossom. Mind, the Collector's and the Grandmaster's respective empires going to shit doesn't ruffle any of my feathers, but it's still crazy."

"I know." Lady Sif. "I wish I could have been with my people when it happened."

"But if the false Odin hadn't banished the both of us, then we may not have lived to regret our survival." Hadari pointed out. "We wouldn't be here now to help others who are in need."

"Exactly. Listen to your friend." Howard downed his daiquiri, and tossed away the glass. "Waugh! By the way, you never did tell me your name."

"Hadari Yao." Hadari extended her hand formally. "Former General of the Einherjar. Distinguished service during the Sacking of Asgard. Dismissed by the person I thought to be my king, but was in fact his insufferable son play-acting the role of one."

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance." Howard had to climb up on a piece of rubble in order to meet Hadari's gaze as he took her handshake. "Howard T. Duckson. Been in a fair share of brawls myself."

"Ooh, like the one with the Dark Overlord of the Universe?" Captain Marvel said.

"The… Dark Overlord of the Universe?" Hadari frowned. "You'd think I'd have heard that name if he's our boss."

"He was your boss." Howard corrected. "Not anymore. Current universe is under new management."

"Tell her about the final duel with this Dark Overlord, 'tis the best part of your fable." Lady Sif nudged Howard.

"It was one of those standard sky portal to bring your army through type situations." Howard said. "He was all like 'If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen!' And I said back, I said, 'Two options, freakazoid. Easy option, you just walk through the portal, no harm done. Then there's the trouble option, where I drop-kick you through the portal. Now, is this gonna be easy, or is this gonna be trouble?' He chose the trouble option. Yeah, he was a pretty tough son of a bitch, but no one can keep the undisputed master of Quack-Fu at bay for long."

"Uh-huh." Hadari said. "Well done, waterfowl."

"Eh. It's my lot in life. It's not a lot, but it's my life." Howard puffed up his chest as the group entered the command center. A grim-looking Nova Corpsman greeted them. "Yo, Rhomann. Wassup?"

"Well, good news is that we found my family and they're okay. And we got news about survivors from Asgard." Rhomann Dey looked pensive. "Bad news is the message is from the last remnants of Asgard, and they aren't doing so hot. You better listen to this yourselves."

Hadari and Lady Sif exchanged a look that was a mixture of anticipation and dread. Captain Marvel opened the message.

*This is the Asgardian refugee vessel Statesman. We are under assault. I repeat, we are under assault. Our crew is made up of Asgardian families, we have very few soldiers here. This is NOT a war craft, I repeat, this is not a war craft."

Something seemed to have distracted the broadcaster. A loud boom could be heard in the background.

*Our coordinates are T-85/587-12-2004. All our escape pods have been jettisoned already. If anyone is out there, save us. Save whoever is left. We thought we had left Ragnarok behind us when Asgard fell, but it followed us here. May Odin and Frigga be there at the gates of Valhalla to shepherd us-*

*Squark*

"Can we spare a relief ship?" Captain Marvel asked. "Some Nova Corpsmen?"

"Most of our fleet was destroyed in the battle, but there are a few larger vessels that could carry the refugees," Rhomann said. "I'll set you up with one at the platform. But as for Corpsmen, only a handful of us are still here after the purge."

"We'll make due. Champions, converge." Captain Marvel said, and the Champions of Xandar made their way towards the platform again, with Howard waddling behind them.

"I'm coming with ya." Howard asked. "If it's an Asgardian ship, their grog has gotta be better than the swill that's left here. Unless this is more of a girls trip thing?"

"I guess I can reschedule our Contraxia Spa appointments for next week." Captain Marvel said. "Congratulations on making the team, Howard."

"Waugh!" Howard quacked happily.

With a team of several Nova Corpsmen rescue workers and the four Champions of Xandar in tow, the moderately-sized relief ship prepared to enter a jump point.

"The Saal is ready for take-off." Sif said. "Entering the jump point… now!"

The Saal blasted off through the cosmos at the speed of light. It was slow by Captain Marvel's standards, who could exceed the speed of light if she really pushed herself to the limit.

*Beep beep beep*

"Oh, no… Not now… Not now…" Captain Marvel muttered, tapping her foot impatiently and tapping a strange device.

"C.M.?" Howard turned in his chair. "Is that a beeper? Haven't seen one of those in decades. Who's on the other side of it, your drug dealer?"

"Fury." Captain Marvel said. "He's a friend. He only calls me when things get really bad back on Earth. Usually, I'd bounce no questions asked, but…"

"Is this not a good time, Captain Marvel?" Lady Sif asked. "We can handle this ourselves if you need to step away."

"No." Captain Marvel said firmly. "Whoever did this might still be slinking around, you'll need me if things get hairy. I can do both. Okay. Let me sound this out. I need to pick up Asgardian refugees. I also need to get back to Earth and meet with Fury. Think, think, think… I got it! We'll take the refugees to Earth. Xandar is already a disaster area, they can't handle any more mouths to feed. Earth, though, they have a lot more food and water and space for them to spare."

"Earth? Do you mean Midgard?" Hadari's eyebrows raised. "I don't know, Captain Marvel. From what I remember of Earth, they're not especially in touch with the rest of the universe. Wouldn't they react to a bunch of what are essentially aliens to them with hostility? And where you're going, won't it be a dangerous mission if you need to be there in person?"

"True." Captain Marvel said. "But it's better than being stranded out here, or on Xandar where they'll just languish in a different place. We can't even house our own civilians, let alone refugees. And besides, Sif, doesn't Earth love Thor?"

"That it does." Lady Sif admitted.

Perhaps a little too much, the warrior thought to herself jealously, thinking of that scrawny Earth scientist Thor seemed so fond of.

"Well, how about we put it to a vote?" Captain Marvel said. "Best out of four. I vote yes."

"I vote yes as well." Lady Sif said. "It's what Thor, the true king, would have done."

"I'm with C.M. on this." Howard said. "It may be confusing to figure out what it's actually called - Cleveland, Earth, Midgard, Planet C-53, Terra, just pick one already for duck's sake. But I've been there personally. Humans are good eggs."

"Even though it's going to happen regardless of my vote or not, I vote no." Hadari bit her lip. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it unanimous. I trust you three, I trust the Corps. I trust my people. I just don't know if I can trust Midgard. You know my feelings about that realm. But ultimately I will do what is best for my people and pledge my knife to this adventure."

The former Einharjar withdrew a shining blade and saluted Captain Marvel with it.

"That's valid." Captain Marvel said. "At ease, Einherjar. But yeah, Fury is a good guy. He'll make sure your guys' people are safe and sound."

"Hold up. That can't be Vibranium, can it?" Howard said. "I've only seen that type of metal once before. Stumbled into a Council of Godheads party in Omnipotence City, got sloshed and rode this panther goddess through the city on her back for fun. She bucked me right as we reached a fancy restaurant and tried to have them cut my head off and cook me. But my own personal lord and savior, J.C., stopped 'em and got me outta there before my goose was cooked. Her sacred saddle was made of that metal. Where did you get a Vibranium pigsticker?"

"It's one of the few things from my past I've held onto." Hadari said, replacing her knife in her scabbard. "I don't share my past as freely with beings I don't know especially well. It has less to do with you than it has to do with me, I assure you."

"Yeah, I get that, Toots." Howard nodded. "Say no more."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, Howard, can we rewind to the J.C. part?" Captain Marvel shook her head in disbelief. "Were you saved by the actual Jesus Christ?"

"J.C.?" Howard asked. "Oh, I misspoke. I meant J.B. That stands for-"

"Coming up on the ship." Lady Sif interrupted. "Exiting jump point."

"To be continued." Howard said in dramatic fashion, holding out his hands.

Dozens of escape pods were drifting about in outer space.

"Rescue teams, follow my lead." Captain Marvel hovered in midair and flew towards the air lock. Hadaari, Howard, and Lady Sif joined her, using their own ships' tractor beams and tow cables to bring the escape pods to safety within The Saal. Soon, the docking bay was filled with hundreds of Asgardians being offered blankets and medical attention.

"Sorry." Hadari said to the Asgardian who seemed to be in charge of the survivors. "We're running low on food and water where we're from too."

"This is already more than we expected." Valkyrie embraced Hadari. "Those tattoos - are you Einherjar? I'm Valkyrie Brunnhilde."

"I've heard the stories. Most impressive. I was a member of the great Einherjar, before Loki cast me out." Hadari said. "I have heard that his deceptions were exposed by Thor, and the true king now sits on the throne. Is he amongst thy weary procession? I have an ear to either talk off or chop off."

"Your score is already settled." A Kronan gladiator named Korg said. "Loki is dead."

"Again?" Hadari said. "I don't believe it."

"Click. Skit-Chit." A Sakaaran Native called Miek hissed.

"Miek's right, as per usual." Korg nodded. "I don't have the history with Loki that you clearly had with him that has led to you wanting to either talk his ear off or chop his ear off, I just saw the guy that led us out of Sakaar and saved his people."

"Did you actually see this happen?" Lady Sif asked.

"No. But I do know that when Thanos and his entourage want you dead, you tend to die, bruv." Korg said. "Lived up to his honorific, The Mad Titan, didn't he? The guy sure was angry, unless the Eternals called him mad in the context of him being crazy. He was also that."

"Thanos?" Captain Marvel repeated, eyes widening with horror. "Did he just say… Thanos?"

"Yeah. He said Thanos." Valkyrie said bitterly. "The Mad Titan was merciless. His G-SXM1 scanned our ship and identified how many of us there were. Gave us just enough time to evacuate half of the ship. He didn't even bother talking to us, he just did it. His hype man did that. Told the other half how lucky they were. How merciful his master was. Arsehole."

"We told Thor we wanted to fight the good fight for those who couldn't fight good with him, but he ordered us to protect his people." Korg said a little sadly.

"Click click click." Miek echoed.

"Yeah. He's probably dead too." Valkyrie agreed. "You know what the saddest part of all of this is? The Grandmaster's finest stores of wine were on that ship, and I didn't even get a chance to taste them. No one will."

"What a flarkin' tragedy." Howard said in full sincerity. "Usually when something bad like this happens, I can at least get drunk as a skunk and forget why I drink to begin with. But you an' me, we can't even have that."

"I think we're going to be friends." Valkyrie said. "But at least I still have my flask if you want the hair of the dog, duck."

"Don't have to ask me twice." Howard accepted the flask, took a generous swig, and handed it back to Valkyrie. "Waugh!"

…

The Champions of Xandar had begun the day with three members and had now expanded in the past few hours to more than double its membership. Korg, Miek and Valkyrie had joined the other four in the break room, which was now their hastily assembled headquarters. Miek was brewing coffee as the other six stewed in their own juices.

"This doesn't make any sense." Captain Marvel said, tapping her foot. "Why would Thanos attack a ship full of refugees? His M.O. is usually reserved for planets, like he did with Xandar."

"First, he attacks a planet that can defend itself." Lady Sif paced back and forth. "Then he attacks a random ship that was designed for pleasure cruises that cannot."

"What do these two slaughters of innocents have in common?" Hadari drummed her fingers on the break room table.

"In my experience as a private duck who's both seen and been privy to the seedy underbelly of space society, it all comes back to one thing." Howard had lit a cigar and was blowing smoke rings. "Who benefits?"

"Thanos!" Korg said.

"Let me rephrase," Howard said, eying the Kronan curiously. "When a ducktective knows exactly who drew the painting, but can't see the bigger picture, you snoop around the museum next. Who? What? Where? When? Why?"

Valkyrie dragged over a holographic blackboard and propped it up.

"Who." Captain Marvel said. "The Xandarians and the Asgardians."

"What." Lady Sif said. "Kills 50% of them and lets the other 50% of them live."

"Where." Valkyrie said. "Xandar and the Statesman."

"When." Korg said. "Thanos invaded Xandar, which took longer and I imagine would be a lot harder, before he started shooting at us a few days later."

"Click." Miek said. "Skit-chit?"

"Hmmm." Hadari said. "What are we missing? Maybe we should be more specific. Who exactly was on Xandar and The Statesman when Thanos attacked?"

"Any number of people on Xandar are important." Lady Sif frowned. "He could be trying to take out military and policing figures like Nova Prime, maybe. Send a message about how powerful he is."

"But then why attack us?" Valkyrie said. "Nobody knew that Thor or Loki or anyone were on here."

"Previously I had assumed that Thor had died alongside his people during Ragnarok." Hadari said. "The last thing we heard from the monarchy was that Loki had been exposed for impersonating Odin, and that those he had banished were now welcomed back with open arms by Thor. The next thing we heard through channels of gossip was that Asgard had fallen."

"Hmm." Howard said. "Let's skip ahead a bit. When. I said earlier today that it feels like the universe has gone down the crapper because of all the crazy shit that's been happening the last few years. Maybe something in the headlines could help us connect the dots. What about Sakaar, was he behind that?"

"No. That was a revolution by the people of Sakaar with some assistance from Thor, Loki and Hulk." Korg said. "After that, Loki took The Statesman to Asgard to evacuate his people. Valkyrie, did I miss anything?"

"Well, I was with Hulk and Thor." Valkyrie mused. "We went through the Devil's Anus and came out just in time to fight off Hela and her army of zombie Einherjar. Then you guys came. And then, we figured out that the only way to stop Hela was to let Ragnarok happen and destroy Asgard. Loki went off to set the Crown of Black Fire with the Eternal Flame in Odin's Vault. That did the trick, and we all escaped just in time for happy hour."

"Wait." Lady Sif said. "Did you or Thor accompany Loki to Odin's Vault?"

"No, we stayed and fought off the Berserkers." Valkyrie said. "I'm guessing leaving the prince to his devices wasn't a good thing?"

"It never is." Lady Sif groaned. "If I know the God of Mischief, then he took more than he was supposed to."

"You said something about a vault." Captain Marvel said. "What's in there?"

"The greatest treasures in all of the Nine Realms." Hadari said. "I served as a guard there for a few decades. The most valuable objects there were the Tesseract, the Casket of Ancient Winters, and the Destroyer."

"The Destroyer was destroyed. I saw that with my own eyes." Lady Sif offered. "I am also familiar with the Casket of Ancient Winters. It is capable of plunging an entire world into an ice age if left unchecked. But Thanos wants to slaughter only half of each planet he conquers, and he already employs a fair share of cryomancers to do that on his behalf."

"I remember when I was living on Asgard that he gave the Tesseract away." Valkyrie said. "Wasn't it a gift to the people of Midgard? What happened between the centuries I've been gone?"

"He did give it away, but Loki stole it back." Lady Sif said. "Tried to use it to conquer Midgard with the armies of-"

"THANOS!" Captain Marvel blurted out. "Fury told me about that, tried to get me to step in to stop him a few years back! But I was busy fighting the Brood at the time, and couldn't make it. So, Loki was a member of the Black Order at some point. He took it and was going to give it to Thanos along with Earth. It was one of those standard sky portal to bring your army through type situations. I'm familiar with the Tesseract as well, that baby gave me my powers."

"Okay, we're really starting to cook now." Howard puffed out an immaculate smoke ring, and stood on top of the table so he could face everyone. "Stay with me on this."

"Thanos hired Loki to execute a hostile takeover of Earth, and needed the Tesseract to do so. But uh-oh, Thor and his friends put a lid on Loki's tupperware. The big guy's been humiliated in front of the entire universe by a backwater planet no one's ever heard of before."

"So, he moves on to Xandar, the top dog in the junkyard, and sends in his prize-winning pooch, Ronan the Accuser to do it. But Ronan bites the hand that feeds him and invades Xandar anyway without the guy who holds his leash. The Guardians of the Galaxy make Ronan face the music."

"At this point, if I were Thanos I'd start to think; Why go through the middle man if they keep letting me down, keep getting curb-stomped by do-gooders? Why not just do it myself? So he steps up to the plate, and corrects the mistakes of his lackeys big time. He invades Xandar and wins this time. Then he goes looking for Asgard. But uh-oh, Asgard ain't there no more. So he goes for the next best thing, Odin's crown jewel, the Tesseract, which Loki has stolen away for himself."

"But where do I go next? If I was him, I'd go to Knowhere, hit the Collector up. He's the only one with shinier shit than the All-Farter. That explains the call from Knowhere, I'll bet my beak that's where Thanos went next! Eureka!"

"Click click!" Miek announced.

The refreshments were ready. She began to serve her fellow Champions. Howard sat back down in his seat and dusted off his suit proudly, clearly quite pleased with himself. He put his cigar in an ashtray and helped himself to Miek's java.

"Well done, waterfowl!" Hadari said.

"They didn't call me Howard 'Bird-Brain' T. Duckson back where I come from for my good looks." Howard propped his legs up on the table. "Only thing I can't figure out is what toy the big guy would want to pull from the Collector's chest. He had so many…"

"Oy, feet off the table!" Korg said. "It's inconsiderate."

"Well, I don't have feet, technically they're called palmates." Howard said. "So I can't- OWWWWWWAAAUUUGGGGHHHH!"

He had accidentally knocked over the cup Miek had made for herself on his lap, and in his pain dropped his own coffee into his lap as well. Both cups made a loud crash as they collided with the floor.

"That flarking hurt!" Howard cried, ripping off his pants and tossing them aside. "Waugh! Somebody get me a towel, jeez…"

"Told you, bruv." Korg said smugly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Howard grumbled. "Next time I'll order a frappuccino. That coffee Miek made was red-hot. Waugh."

The other Champions helped get Howard a towel as well as a clean pair of pants, but Lady Sif sat at the table, completely removed from the situation. A funny look was dancing across her face.

"Red-hot." Lady Sif repeated. "Oh, no. By Odin's beard, I hope I'm wrong. Please let me be wrong."

"What's wrong with her?" Valkyrie asked. "Oy, princess? Not the time to be daydreaming."

"It's really more of a nightmare." Lady Sif said. She stood up and faced her fellow Champions. "I know Thanos' plan. He's after the infinity stones."

"Right after the Convergence, Asgard had in its possession an ancient object of great power called the Aether." Lady Sif explained. "Previously used during the convergence by Dark Elves. It was one of those standard sky portal to bring your army through type situations. But Lodin (Loki slash Odin) didn't want to keep two Infinity Stones in the same place, so he had me sell them to the Collector for a hefty price. I didn't understand his logic at the time, but now I think I do. Lodin wanted to send one of the stones away so Thanos wouldn't find two of them in the same place."

"The safest place was with a greedy, corrupt dictator?" Valkyrie said.

"Optimistically perhaps he thought he could kill two ducks with one stone and get billions of units for it in the process." Howard said. "Pessimistically, he just wanted to sell something when he already had one of them already. Yeah. I remember the Aether now. He kept me as his pet for a year before I busted a cap in his ass then busted out. Went on and on about this great catastrophe that was going down, and how with the Aether he'd turn the Annihilation Wave back to whence it came from or some such garbage."

"Sort of like a mash-up of Moses and the Red Sea with Noah's Ark?" Captain Marvel asked.

"I have no idea who those people are, but yeah." Howard shrugged. "Then one day the Guardians of the Flarking Galaxy come into his joint. (This is before they were famous.) Try to sell him this Orb, I caught the whole thing. He specifically referred to it as an Infinity Stone, and he was trying to collect the set. But then the Orb went kablooey, then Ronan the Accuser took it, then the Guardians took it back during the Battle of Xandar, and that's the last I heard of it."

"The first thing Thanos hit was Nova Corps Headquarters." Captain Marvel said.

"Move over, toots, lemme use the board." Howard pulled out a chair to help him reach the board, used six colored markers and began to draw a diagram. "I remember the Collector said there were six of these beauties."

"The Orb I'm going to represent with this purple scribble. Nova Corps Headquarters. Infinity Stone # 1."

"The Tesseract, blue scribble. Odin's Vault. Infinity Stone # 2."

"The Aether, red scribble. The Collector's Museum. Infinity Stone # 3."

"Orange Scribble. No one knows where that is. Infinity Stone # 4."

"Green Scribble. No one knows where that is either. Infinity Stone # 5."

"And finally, you've got this yellow scribble. No one knows where that is either, either. Infinity Stone # 6."

"If we can figure out where the other stones are, and use 'em before the big guy does, we can stop Thanos right in his tracks. Nobody else dies by his hand." Howard snapped his fingers.

*Snap*

Rhomann Dey.

"Just like that. Waugh."

"I'll bet one of them is on Earth." Korg volunteered. "And that's why Furry called Carol."

"And he doesn't know we're coming." Valkyrie said. "So we have the element of surprise on our side. What places on Midgard do you think he'd go looking for the stones?"

"Birnin Zana, Wakanda." Hadari said immediately. "It's where the heart of their monarchy resides. Wakanda is just like Knowhere and Sakaar. Full of treasures that have been hoarded from the rest of their world, guarded greedily for centuries as everyone else around them languishes slowly. If they had an infinity stone, they wouldn't use it to help the rest of Midgard."

Hadari pulled out her knife once more and laid it on the table. It was clearly Wakandan in design with symbols of the Wakandan alphabet on the handle, but also distinctly owned by an Asgardian with the image of Mjolnir surrounded by tiny lightning bolts carved into the spine.

"It's where I got this." She admitted. "I stole it from their weapons foundry when I was eight years old. It would go for millions of units at most auctions. But the price for obtaining it was still far too high. They have an entire mountain full of Vibranium. Perhaps one or more of those stones are held in the mountain as well."

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Captain Marvel said. "Let's put it to a vote. Now, before that, I'd like to give anyone the chance to opt out. Most of you are new here. No judgment. We're potentially going up with someone who has anywhere between one and all of the Infinity Stones."

Six hands were raised in favor of revenge. Hadari was the only one who voted otherwise.

"I don't mean to keep being contrarian." Hadari said. "But somebody has to stay committed to our original mission. Make sure the Asgardian people get what they need from Earth."

Hadari saluted her commander.

"The time has long passed where you had to explain yourself to me, soldier." Captain Marvel saluted Hadari right back. The Champions of Xandar all stood up impressively, regarding one another with grim anticipation.

"I like this one." Howard toasted Hadari. "Waugh!"

"Let's go get this son of a bitch." Captain Marvel cracked her glowing knuckles.

Captain Marvel.

Valkyrie had been taking a swig of coffee, wishing Miek brewed something a little stronger.

Valkyrie.

Miek had been adding cream and sugar to her cup.

Miek.

Korg had been about to give Howard a lecture about the dangers of smoking.

Korg.

Howard had puffed out the biggest smoke ring yet.

Howard the Duck.

The deaths of five of these warriors had all happened within a matter of seconds, and were now all piles of dust on the ground indistinguishable from one of Howard's cigars. All Hadari and Lady Sif could do was look on in horror.

…

The Champions of Xandar had begun the morning according to Xandarian measurements of time with three members. In the afternoon, it had swelled to seven members. And in the evening, only two members remained.

"If Thanos knew what we were planning to do, why not kill us as well?" Hadari asked a few hours later as the already thrice traumatized Asgardian people had been cut down once again. The ship was now approaching the Earth's upper atmosphere, en route to the destination of Nick Fury's pager.

"He did it." Lady Sif hadn't spoken a word since the Collector's prophesied Annihilation Wave had washed over the universe. She was shaking with disbelief. "The monster actually… did it. What else could it be? We didn't change anything. We weren't even important enough to warrant his notice. We're supposed to be gods."

Hadari had never seen her comrade express fear before. Lady Sif had always been the toughest of the three women that had composed Captain Marvel's original roster of Champions. Hadari had already broken down when a building collapsed on her during a clean-up on Sakaar, inconsolable until her body was free to move once again.

Captain Marvel had often drank as a way to deal with stress, and promised her crew that last night would be the last time they ever had to see her like that. The woman who could slice through a Kree Warship like a warmed knife slices through butter sobbed uncontrollably at the memory of her family, who had never once supported her outside of their ambition for her to become someone's wife.

Hadari supposed that she had to be the strong one now. She was about to spout words of empty encouragement, false optimism, but then someone entered the room who could express all of that better than she ever could.

"Goose?"

The orange-furred Flerken trotted over, happily rubbing herself against Hadari's leg.

"Here." Hadari picked up Goose, and handed her over to Lady Sif. Lady Sif's breathing began to slow down, and wasn't shaking as much as she had been a few seconds ago as her fingers stroked a warm, purring Flerken.

"Hadari?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

…

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