Chapter Text
FIVE YEARS AGO
It all starts with a distress signal and the Rubberband Man.
Normally, Peter would probably ignore a distress call. Maybe he’ll run it by the others before deleting it from their system or he’ll just make the call and not tell anyone. Sure, he’s a Guardian of the Galaxy, but he sure as hell isn’t charity. This time, though, it’s different. The distress signal was sent out by an Asgardian ship.
Anyone who’s someone knows Asgardians are practically untouchable. Nobody’s even laid eyes on Asgard, much less step foot in it. Peter grew up with tales of Asgard and their royal family, rumours of how they have a bridge made of light and a kingdom plated with gold. Peter thought of it as myths, but grew up realising that Asgard wasn’t just a fairy tale. There was a golden kingdom and there was a royal family. Peter doesn’t know anyone who’s even seen the inside of Asgard. Rocket loves the place despite never having been. He talks about the advanced armour and arsenal they possess and the deadly warriors they train. Immortal gods and civilians who live like kings. Peter thinks it’s all hype and pure bullshit. Rocket tells him his brain is too small.
But now, now that there’s a distress call from an Asgardian ship, Peter knows it’s not a myth. It’s all real, and if Rocket is right about their riches and their weaponry, answering the call would be considered a privilege. He returns a signal to let the ship know that they’re coming to help and he puts on a song, Rubberband Man by The Spinners, and sings to it, mood lifted.
“Hey y’all, prepare yourself for the Rubberband Man! Sing it, Drax!” Peter shouts, laughing. Drax snores loudly in response. Gamora lip-syncs to the song and Peter shoots her a smile, glad that over the years, she’d learnt the lyrics to some of the music Peter plays on their ship. He announces, “Right, so I answered a distress call from an Asgardian ship. We’re gonna help.”
Rocket yawns, questioning, “Why are we doing this again?”
Gamora answers him, annoyed, “It’s a distress signal, Rocket. Someone could be dying.”
Rocket nods half-heartedly, “I get that, but why are we doing it?”
“‘Cause we’re nice. And maybe whoever it is will give us a little cheddar cheese for our help,” Peter grins.
Rocket’s bored expression slowly grows into a smile and Gamora sighs, “Which isn’t the point.”
Peter returns, “Which isn’t the point... I mean, if he doesn’t pony up...”
“We’ll take his ship,” Drax pipes up. He’d woken up when Peter announced their move to help the troubled ship.
Rocket laughs, agreeing, “Exactly!”
“B-B-B-Bingo!”
Gamora stares at him, partially in concern and partially in pure disbelief of how shallow Peter is. Peter catches her look and grimaces, giving her a ‘don’t worry about it’ expression. She moves closer to him, asking, “We are going to help them, right?”
Peter nods, waving her off, “Yeah, we will. I’m just humouring the little shit.”
“We are arriving,” Mantis suddenly pipes up, reading her console. Immediately, everyone gets serious and stops joking around. Peter leans forward, concentrating on manoeuvring the ship.
“All right, Guardians. Don’t forget, this might be dangerous so let’s put on our mean faces,” Peter calls out. Behind him, Mantis snarls, and Gamora notes mentally that she should probably help Mantis with that at some point if the empath ever wants to be threatening. Groot rolls his eyes at the others, returning his attention to his video game. Peter turns around and orders, “Groot, put that thing away. Now. I don’t wanna tell you again.” When the beeping continues, Peter calls Groot again.
“I am Groot.”
“Whoa!” Peter exclaims, offended, and Rocket scolds Groot about his language. Drax mumbles ‘wow’ out of bewilderedness and Gamora glares at Groot. Peter frowns, “You got some acorns on you, kid.”
Rocket grumbles, turning around to face Groot, “Ever since you became a little sap, you’ve been a total d-hole. Keep it up and I’m gonna smash that thing to pieces!” Groot rolls his eyes again, choosing to ignore Rocket’s threat.
Peter and Rocket slow down the ship when they reach the coordinates sent by the Asgardians, and it is only Mantis’ gasp that snaps everyone back to reality. There’s bodies floating all around, fragments of a destroyed ship scattered. Mantis asks, voice quiet with devastation, “What happened?”
Rocket mumbles, “Looks like we’re not getting paid.”
Gamora glares at him, asking, “Is that really your concern, Rocket? They’re all dead!”
Rocket nods, frowning as he leans forward to the window to look closer, “I can see that. I just... I don’t really know what you want me to say! Shit.”
Drax questions, squinting as his eyes search the destruction, “Do any of you see any survivors?”
His question is answered by a body colliding with the glass. Rocket jumps in surprise, waving his hands as he shouts, “Wipers! Wipers! Get it off!” The man’s eyes snap open and all of them gasp in shock, realising that he’s alive.
“We gotta get him in here,” Peter says, standing up to get a space suit. Gamora and Drax follow him out of the ship as well, all three of them activating their space suits. Peter reaches the man first, and yeah, he knows when someone is attractive and this guy definitely is.
“Drax, help me out here. Gamora, keep the door open,” Peter orders. Gamora stays at the opening, waiting for Drax and Peter to bring the man back into the ship. Rocket puts the ship on autopilot, kicking things out of the way so Drax, Gamora and Peter can set the man down on the table. Even Groot comes closer to see who they brought in, although he doesn’t put down his video game.
The three of them drop the Asgardian on the table Rocket cleared for them as Mantis and Groot walk over. Peter glances at him, giving himself a moment to appreciate that perhaps the Asgardian has very nice facial features and that perhaps Peter would really like to do something with this guy, but he also knows this isn’t really the right time for it.
“How the hell is this dude still alive?” Peter mumbles, looking over the Asgardian to see if he’s modified like Gamora is.
Drax stares at the man, saying in awe, “This is not a dude. You’re a dude. This... This is a man. A handsome, muscular man.” Peter can’t say he disagrees, but the thing is this; the Guardians don’t really know that Peter kind of likes men too, and he’s not that jazzed about letting them know yet. He’s never met anyone in space yet who’s just like him. None of the Guardians seem to be into their own gender either. Years of tormenting on the school fields and dirty words delivered with a blow to the face have taught Peter that he probably shouldn’t be feeling this way. One of the reasons Peter hates Earth.
“I’m muscular,” Peter mumbles.
“Who are you kidding, Quill? You’re one sandwich away from fat,” Rocket says, snorting. Peter tries to ignore how easily Rocket throws that out there, but it’s a little hurtful.
“Yeah, right.”
As if Rocket isn’t enough, Drax adds on, “It’s true. You’ve gained a little weight...” Drax motions to his chin and belly, and Peter feels his self deprecation smack him in the face. Gamora doesn’t say anything, but she leaves his side and goes to Thor’s right, circling around the foot of the table.
Peter splutters, a little desperate for someone to not make him feel like shit, “What? Gamora, do you think I’m —“
“He is anxious. Angry. He feels tremendous loss and guilt,” Mantis interrupts, her antennae glowing as she rests her hand on the man’s head gently. Drax comments something about the man being like a pirate and angel’s baby.
Peter feels like fucking crap. He just saved the guy and now his family is insulting him and treating this dude like he’s God. Sure, the man is attractive, muscular, and maybe Drax is right in calling him an angel’s baby, but Peter’s certain that’s no reason to shit on him. It just reminds Peter that the man is out of his league. Probably doesn’t even like men anyway, Peter thinks to himself. You’re a fucking freak, Quill. Get it together.
“Wow. This is a real wake-up call for me. Okay. I’m gonna get a Bowflex. I’m gonna commit. I’m gonna get some dumbbells,” Peter says instead.
Rocket mocks, “You know you can’t eat dumbbells, right?”
Okay, so maybe Peter isn’t the hottest guy to walk the galaxy, but fuck Rocket for always making him feel like shit. Yeah, Rocket’s always like this. The raccoon rarely gets soft. But it wouldn’t hurt him to just not be so rude sometimes.
Peter is about to say something when Gamora picks up the man’s arm, stroking his triceps, “It’s like his muscles are made of Cotati metal fibres.”
Another reminder. Just breathe, Peter. You’re good.
“Stop massaging his muscles,” Peter says snidely. Gamora drops the arm, glaring at Peter, who says to Mantis, “Wake him up.”
Mantis places a hand on the man’s forehead, whispering, “Wake.”
The man wakes up with a jolt, sitting up violently and throwing himself off the table. He stumbles forward slightly and catches himself on a wall, trying to orient himself. He turns around to see who is with him. By then, each Guardian has a weapon each pointed at him, spare Mantis and Groot, the latter of which is still invested in the video game.
“Who the hell are you guys?” the man asks. Peter blinks — even his voice is hot. Jesus. He has to kick himself mentally to come up with a response.
“We’re the Guardians of the Galaxy, man,” he answers. “Who are you?”
“Thor,” he says slowly. “Son of Odin. God of Thunder.”
The ball drops.
Peter’s fingers graze his wrist lightly, thumb skating over the black lightning bolt on it. Ego had mentioned before, when they met, that there was something about Celestials nobody else knew. They had soulmate marks. Peter thought it was absurd — what use would a Celestial have for a soulmate mark? Peter doesn’t even believe in soulmates. Ego proved it by baring his wrist to Peter — it was a little print of a cassette tape — Meredith Quill. Peter honestly doesn’t even know if he can even consider the soulmark accurate. Ego did kill his so-called soulmate, so he wasn’t exactly selling his point...
Peter’s fingers circle around his wrist, covering the lightning bolt. Maybe the Asgardians have something similar too. He’ll have to find some way to check Thor’s wrist to be sure.
While Thor introduces himself, Gamora went to get the soup they’d been making, pouring some of it into a bowl for Thor. Thor accepts the bowl graciously, mumbling a quick thank you as she hands him a spoon. Drax questions, “What happened?”
“Thanos came for me and my people. He was after the Tesseract. Destroyed our ship,” Thor explains. He pauses for a while, deep in thought, before he mutters, “Thank you for answering the distress call. Regardless whether you were too late or not.” Drax nods as to say it’s no big deal.
Gamora says, “The entire time I knew Thanos, he only ever had one goal: to bring balance to the universe by wiping out half of all life. He used to kill people planet by planet, massacre by massacre...”
“Including my own,” Drax adds bitterly.
“If he gets all six Infinity Stones, he can do it with the snap of his fingers, like this,” Gamora says, snapping her fingers to show just how simple Thanos could accomplish something so frightening. While Gamora explained Thanos, Peter kept his attention on Thor, who seems to be splitting his own attention between Gamora and his soup. He tries to drag his gaze away, get back to the serious matter at hand, but thoughts of lightning bolts keep crossing his mind. What if Ego wasn’t lying about the whole soulmates thing? If this is all true, he can’t possibly hide this from the others anymore... Can he?
“You seem to know a great deal about Thanos,” Thor says, glancing up at Gamora from his bowl of soup. Peter’s attention returns to the conversation, called back from the Asgardian’s voice.
“Gamora... is the daughter of Thanos,” Drax decides is the best thing to say to a guy who just lost half his people to Thanos. Thor’s eyes — well, eye. He kind of has a situation with his right eye — widen as Drax says so, and he stands and strides towards Gamora in what Peter would constitute as aggressive.
He says, voice low, “Your father killed my brother.” Oh, shit.
Peter steps between them to play mediator, pointing out, “Stepfather. Technically, she hates him as much as you do.” Thor’s stare falls on Peter, as if assessing him. His eyes trail up and down Peter before he softens up, giving Gamora a pat on her shoulder.
“Families can be tough. Before my father died, he told me I had a half-sister... that he imprisoned in Hel. Then she returned home, and stabbed me in the eye, so... I had to kill her. It’s life, isn’t it? I guess. Goes round and round and... I feel your pain,” Thor tells his story, sending Gamora a sympathetic look. Peter watches from beside them, thinking how similar they are. Thor’s hand lingers on Gamora’s shoulder longer than Peter would prefer. He and Gamora broke up about eight months before, deciding that they were better off as best friends, but this is Gamora getting closer to ever dating this god than him.
His stupid jealousy forces him between the two of them, saying, “And I feel your pain as well. I mean, I’ve been through a lot too. Not a competition or anything, but my father killed my mother, then I had to kill my father. And that was hard. Probably even harder than having to kill a sister. Plus, I came out of it with both my eyes...” Gamora raises an eyebrow at him, mouthing ‘Really? Now?’ at him. Thor glances between them for a moment.
The god gives Peter a quick smile, “You are strong, Lord of Stars.” It’s not sarcastic at all, and Peter kind of gets whiplash from the barrage of insults given by his family earlier.
“I—“
“I need a hammer, not a spoon...” Thor notes to himself quietly, not realising Peter was about to say something. Peter deflates a little, earning him a weird look from Gamora, though she doesn’t say anything.
Thor fiddles with the machinery, mumbling, “How do I open this thing? Is there some sort of a four-digit code, maybe... Maybe a birth date or something...”
Peter squints in confusion at him messing with the control pad of the escape pod and asks, “What are you doing?”
Thor answers simply, “Taking your pod.”
Peter frowns, subconsciously deepening his voice as he says, “No, you’re not. You’ll not be taking our pod today, sir.” Thor stares at him, circling back around to look at Peter. Peter swallows hard under Thor’s gaze, and he hopes he wasn’t loud about it.
Rocket questions, “Quill. Are you making your voice deeper?” Peter denies it, out of some stupid pride thing, but he can’t stop. He’s pretty sure his face is red by now, but he can’t stop.
Drax shakes his head, “You are. You’re imitating the god-man. It’s weird.” Peter denies it again.
Mantis gasps, pointing at him, “He just did it again!”
Peter says, voice still deep, “This is my voice!” He just wishes he can stop. This is so embarrassing.
Thor’s eyebrows furrow and he walks up close to Peter. His face is just inches away — his lips are just inches away from his own — and Peter’s breath hitches, trying to keep his eyes trained on Thor’s, not letting them drop to Thor’s lips.
Thor asks, “Are you mocking me?”
Peter repeats after him, “Are you mocking me?” Youaresuchafuckingidiot,Quill.
“Stop it. You did it again,” Thor frowns.
“He’s trying to copy me.” Okay, you are officially the dumbest Terran.
Thor stares at him questioningly. His attention falls on Peter’s lips for just a second — a second Peter doesn’t miss — and then they’re trained on Peter’s eyes again. Thor hesitates for a moment, like he’s scanning Peter, before he just says, “You’re right. I apologise.” The other Guardians look on in surprise at Thor’s false admission. Peter is rendered speechless for once in his life.
“Okay... If you two are done comparing voices, we need to stop Thanos. Which means we need to find out where he’s going next,” Gamora interrupts, clearly having enough of Peter’s antics.
Thor answers, still in Peter’s personal space, “Knowhere.”
Mantis says, confused, “He must be going somewhere.”
“No. Knowhere? It’s a place. We’ve been there. It sucks,” Peter explains to Mantis. It’s kind of sad that she had that amazing pod but hasn’t seen anything past Ego’s planet. He should probably bring her to see some cool places after this thing with Thanos is over. Thor nods, stepping away from Peter to raid their storage.
“Excuse me, that’s our food,” Peter says weakly.
“Not anymore,” Thor replies. Peter doesn't attempt to stop him.
Gamora ignores Thor blatantly stealing their food and asks, “Thor, why would he go to Knowhere?” Thor takes a bite of the snack he took.
“Because for years, the Reality Stone has been safely stored, there with a man we call the Collector,” Thor answers her question.
Peter frowns, “If it’s with the Collector, then it’s not safe. Only an idiot would give that man a stone.”
“Or a genius,” Thor says, sending Peter a brief smile. Peter looks away. Rocket catches that.
“How do you know he’s not going for one of the other Stones?” Gamora asks.
Thor explains, stepping in front of Gamora, “There’s six Stones out there. Thanos already has the Power Stone because he stole it last week, when he decimated Xandar. He stole the Space Stone from me when he destroyed my ship and slaughtered half my people. The Time and Mind Stones are safe on Earth. They’re with the Avengers.”
“The Avengers? There’s no such thing,” Peter says, laughing a little. What the hell is an Avenger?
Thor blinks at him, “You are from Earth, yes?”
“Well, yeah, but... It’s been a while, I guess,” Peter says slowly. Thor looks curiously at him, like he wants to ask something, but he decides against it.
“They’re Earth’s mightiest heroes,” Thor explains. He’s still looking at Peter.
Mantis asks excitedly, “Like Kevin Bacon?”
Thor thinks for a while before saying, “He may be on the team. I don’t know. Haven’t been there in a while. As for the Soul Stone, well, no one’s ever seen that. No one even knows where it is. Therefore, Thanos can’t get it. Therefore, he’s going to Knowhere. Hence, he’ll be getting the Reality Stone. You’re welcome.”
Gamora nods, deciding their next course of action, “Then we have to go to Knowhere now.”
“Wrong. Where we have to go is Nidavellir,” Thor rejects.
“That’s a made up word,” Drax says.
“All words are made up,” Thor replies bluntly.
Rocket jumps up onto the table, saying gleefully, “Hold up, Nidavellir is real? Seriously? I mean, that place is a legend! They make the most powerful, horrific weapons to ever torment the universe. I would very much like to go there, please.” Thor’s grin widens with every word Rocket cheers.
“The rabbit is correct, and clearly the smartest among you,” Thor says, smiling. Rocket frowns, bewildered at ‘rabbit’, and Thor continues to Rocket, “Only Eitri the dwarf king can make me the weapon I need. I assume you’re the captain, sir?”
Rocket smiles, liking the authority, “You’re very perceptive.” Peter glares at him and Rocket rolls his eyes.
Thor nods once, requesting eagerly, “You seem like a noble leader. Will you join me on my quest to Nidavellir?”
Rocket basks in the mistake made by Thor, rubbing in, “Lemme just ask the captain. Oh, wait a second, it’s me! Yeah, I’ll go.” Thor grins again, commenting about how wonderful it is that Rocket has agreed to go.
Peter pipes up, “Except for that I’m the captain.” Thor pauses, turning to look at Peter again. His stare is a little longer now, like there’s something about Peter that’s nagging at him. Peter returns the look, raising his eyebrows, “What?”
“You never did tell me your name, Lord of Stars,” Thor mutters. Rocket glances between Peter and Thor, confused at the random question. Peter shrugs at Rocket, not knowing what’s Thor’s deal either.
“Peter,” he says. “Peter Quill. Why?”
Thor’s eye widens a little at that, but he covers it up with a quick nod, picking up a backpack, “Just wasn’t aware. I’ll be borrowing your captain, Quill.”
Peter points at the bag as Thor slings it over his shoulders, pointing out, “That’s my backpack.” Thor pats the strap once.
“Just think of it as something to remember you by. It’s just a backpack,” Thor says. Peter furrows his eyebrows in question, but he decides not to push it further.
“What kind of weapon are we talking about here?” Peter asks.
“The Thanos-killing kind,” Thor answers. Peter thinks about it for a moment as Thor shoves some more stolen food into Peter’s backpack.
“Don’t you think that we should all have a weapon like that? Maybe all of us should hit Needlevalley or whatever it’s called. For a weapon,” Peter says. Gamora looks slightly interested when Peter raises the question.
“It’s Nidavellir,” Thor says softly, stopping in front of Peter. They’re basically as close as they were when Peter was copying his voice. “and no. You all simply lack the strength to wield them. Your bodies will crumble as your minds collapse into the madness.”
“Okay,” Peter whispers.
Rocket asks, practically bouncing off the walls by now, “Is it weird that I wanna do it even more now?” Thor nods slowly, a little weirded out.
Gamora tries to convince Thor not to go to Nidavellir, “If we don’t go to Knowhere and Thanos retrieves another stone, he’ll be too powerful to stop.”
Thor sighs, “He already is.”
Rocket waves dismissively, already working on the pod’s control panel, “I got it figured out. We got two ships, and a large assortment of morons. So me and Groot will go with the pirate-angel here, and the morons will go to Knowhere to try and stop Thanos. Cool? Cool.”
“So cool,” Thor grins. Peter’s heart kind of speeds up a little.
Peter pulls Rocket aside, whispering, “For the record, I know that you’re only going with him because it’s where Thanos isn’t.” Rocket stays silent for a second, thinking of ways to respond to that.
“You know, Quill, you shouldn’t talk that way to your captain,” Rocket settles on saying. Peter rolls his eyes as Rocket gestures to Groot, “Come on, Groot. Put that game down, you’ll rot your brain.”
Thor takes his seat in the pod, saying loudly, “I bid you farewell and good luck, morons.” He looks towards Peter when he says, “Maybe we will meet once more.”
Everyone waves goodbye except Peter, who just blinks blankly as the pod detaches itself and flies away. Gamora turns to Peter, asking quietly, “Can I talk to you, Peter?” Peter nods, allowing Gamora to drag him aside. She calls out at the doorway, “Mantis, set a course for Knowhere, please.” Mantis lets her know she’s on it, and Gamora pulls Peter into his room, shutting the door.
“What did you want to talk about?” Peter asks.
“This is an intervention,” Gamora clarifies. “What was with you and Thor?”
“Nothing,” Peter replies a little too quickly. “What makes you think that?”
Gamora gives him an unimpressed look, “Ever since he introduced himself, you’ve been acting strangely. More strange than usual. Is something wrong? You know you can tell me anything.”
“Nothing to tell you. Look, I’m fine, okay? Thanks for asking,” Peter mutters, leaving his room.
Peter checks back on Gamora after an hour or so — pretty hard to keep track of time, sometimes — and sees her brooding, activating the spring-action blades on the same dagger. He asks, “What’s up?”
“I need to ask a favour,” she says, turning to face him.
Peter nods slowly, “Yeah, sure.”
“One way or another, the path that we’re on leads to Thanos,” Gamora starts. Peter nods again, beckoning Gamora to continue, and she does, “If things go wrong, if Thanos gets me, I want you to promise me... you’ll kill me.”
Peter looks at her, confused on multiple levels, before asking, mind blank, “What?”
Gamora explains, “I know something he doesn’t. If he finds out, the entire universe could be at risk.” Peter asks what does she know, and she tells him the obvious: that if she tells him, he’d know too.
“If it’s so important, shouldn’t I?” Peter asks, trying to convince her to tell him.
She says sombrely, “Only if you want to die.” Peter sighs, stressed.
“Why does somebody always have to die in this scenario?” he asks, tense for Gamora’s sake.
She hesitates for a moment before saying, “Just trust me. And possibly kill me.”
Peter tries to joke to lighten the mood, ease Gamora out of the demanding favour, “I mean, I’d like to. I really would —“ Gamora cuts him off by covering his mouth with her hand.
“Swear to me. Swear to me on your mother,” she says quietly.
She’s serious. 100% serious. Holy shit.
“Okay,” Peter finally says. “I don’t like this, though. I don’t want to kill my own family.”
“Then let’s hope it doesn’t come down to that,” Gamora responds before she leaves the area. Peter sighs heavily, mood dampened by the favour. He looks out the window at the stars and wonders if Rocket, Groot and Thor are at Nidavellir already.
They arrive at Knowhere and Peter immediately observes, “This place looks deserted.”
Drax informs him, staring at his device, “I’m reading movement from the third quadrant.”
Peter agrees, “Yep. I’m picking that up too. Let’s put it down right here.” Peter lands the ship in an obscure location and the four of them disembark it. They sneak into the Collector’s collection room, and Peter’s surprised at how much of it is in ruins already. He takes a peek, and all of them hide behind the rubble when they see Thanos threatening the Collector.
“I don’t have it,” the Collector says desperately.
Thanos sneers, “Everyone in the galaxy knows you’d sell your own brother if you thought it would add the slightest trinket to your pathetic collection.” Peter holds up a fist to tell the other Guardians to stop moving, but as expected, they ignore him. They walk past him quietly and Peter rolls his eyes, following close behind. Thanos continues, “I know you have the Reality Stone, Tivan. Giving it to me will spare you a great deal of suffering.” He places a heavy boot on the Collector’s chest and steps down.
The Collector says, strained, “I told you. I sold it. Why would I lie?”
“I imagine it’s like breathing for you,” Thanos quips.
“Like suicide,” the Collector chuckles weakly.
Thanos smirks, “So you do understand. Not even you would surrender something so precious.”
The Collector defends, “I didn’t know what it was.”
Thanos asks, unimpressed, “Then you’re more of a fool than I took you for. Last chance, charlatan. Where’s the Stone?” Peter, Gamora, Mantis and Drax watch quietly, trying to plot their next move.
“Today...” Drax mutters.
Peter notices Drax beginning to move and he hisses, “Drax. Drax!”
“... he pays for the deaths of my wife and daughter,” Drax growls. Peter reaches out and grabs his arm, trying to pull him back. He’s not exactly very effective, considering that Drax has arms twice the size of Peter’s.
“Drax, wait,” he says. “Not yet, not yet. Drax, Drax! He doesn’t have the Stone yet. We get it and then we can stop him. We have to get the Stone first. Yeah?” For a moment, Peter thinks he got to Drax, but he glares in Thanos’ direction, continuing to move forward.
“No. No. For Ovette. For Camaria.”
Peter struggles to stop Drax from going over until Mantis presses a hand on the back of Drax’s head, mumbling, “Sleep.” Drax is instantly knocked out, his falling body causing a loud crash. The three of them duck just as the Collector and Thanos look over. Thanos frowns, picking up the Collector and throwing him into a glass case, walking towards the sound.
Peter whispers, “Okay. Gamora, Mantis, you go right. I’m —“ Gamora goes left, towards Thanos, and Peter whispers more harshly, “The other right!”
Gamora cries out in vengeance, leaping on Thanos from a stack of boxes. She swings her sword at him and Thanos snaps it in half easily. Gamora jumps up and stabs him in the throat with the stub. Thanos’ lower jaw sags and he lets out a hoarse groan, before Gamora stabs him again in the chest with the dagger Peter saw her with earlier.
“Why?” Thanos mutters weakly as he falls. “Why you? Daughter...” He holds his arm out towards her, blood pooling out of his neck wound, before he collapses entirely. Gamora begins to sob in relief — it’s over.
Peter looks on, surprised, as he lowers his gun, “That was quick.”
The Collector claps, cheering, “Magnificent! Magnificent! Magnificent!”
Suddenly, Thanos’ disembodied voice fills the place, saying, “Is it sadness I sense in you, daughter? In my heart, I knew you still cared. But one never knows for sure. Reality is often disappointing.” Gamora switches from crying to being alarmed, and Mantis, Drax and Peter are instantly on guard again. The scene fades out with a wave of red — instead of being in ruins, everything is destroyed or on fire, and the Collector waves goodbye as he also disappears. Thanos continues, stepping into view, “That is, it was. Now... reality can be whatever I want.”
Gamora glares at him, no longer crying, stating, “You knew I’d come.”
“I counted on it. There’s something we need to discuss, little one,” Thanos begins. Gamora hesitates for a beat before she reaches for her broken sword. Thanos grabs her by the neck and swings her around. Drax leaps into action, screaming Thanos’ name, but with a gesture, Drax and Mantis are broken down — Drax tumbles into cubes and Mantis bursts into ribbon. Peter moves in on Thanos, gun raised at Thanos.
“Let her go, Grimace!” Peter shouts.
“Peter...” Gamora says weakly, unable to move under Thanos’ tight grip. Peter gives her a pained look. There’s so much he wants to say to her. It’s gonna be okay. I’m gonna get you out of there. We’re gonna beat this piece of shit together. He’s not gonna hurt you. He will never hurt you again.
“I told you to go right,” he says instead.
“Now? Really?” Gamora asks, starting to cry again.
Peter yells once more, “You let her go!”
“Ah, the boyfriend,” Thanos says, a light smile on his face. Peter wants so badly to slap it off him.
“Not anymore. I like to think of myself more as a Titan-killing asshole. Let her go,” Peter says. Gamora calls his name again, and Peter knows what she’s trying to tell him, but he doesn’t want to face it. So he threatens, “Or I’m gonna blow that nutsack of a chin right off your face!”
“Not him,” Gamora says softly. Peter slows down. His gun is still pointed at Thanos, but he doesn’t pull the trigger. Gamora shouts, a little more desperately this time, “You promised! You promised.”
“Oh, daughter. You expect too much from him,” Thanos mocks. He looks at Peter, commanding, “She’s asked, hasn’t she? Do it.” Peter’s gun is still trained on Thanos and Gamora sobs quietly, though her silence is broken by her scream when Thanos shoves her forward, towards Peter’s gun. He encourages, “Do it!”
Peter’s hand is shaking as he brings the gun down. It’s pointing right at Gamora’s face now. He tears up, saying once more, “I told you to go right.”
“I love you, Peter,” Gamora says, crying. “Thank you, all of you, for everything.”
“I love you too,” Peter says genuinely, hand shaking more than ever. He squeezes his eyes shut and pulls the trigger painfully.
A gentle stream of bubbles is ejected from the gun.
Peter gets a sinking feeling in his chest when he doesn’t hear Gamora go down and they both open their eyes, watching his gun disappear into bubbles as well.
“I like you,” Thanos grins.
Thanos teleports Gamora and himself away without another word. Peter catches Gamora’s desolate look before she disappears with Thanos. Drax and Mantis’ bodies reassemble as Peter picks up Gamora’s sword. The gun returns to Peter’s spare hand, the Reality Stone’s effects reversed in its absence. Peter stares at the sword in silence, wondering just what the hell to do next. The lightning bolt on his wrist peeks out from under his jacket’s sleeve, and he remembers that Rocket, Groot and Thor are still getting the Thanos-killing weapon. He doesn’t know where Thanos has taken Gamora so he can’t follow.
“What do we do now?” Mantis asks.
“I don’t know,” Peter answers, tired. “Let’s just go back to the ship.”
Peter sits up when the quietness of the ship hits him. He yells, “Turn it back on!”
“No!”
Peter grits his teeth, annoyed, and gets up, trying to find Drax. He demands again, “Turn it back on!”
Drax denies, coming into view, “No! You’ve been playing the same song for five hours!”
Peter argues, trying to grab Drax who avoids him by circling the opposite end of the table, “I need to get back into my groove! Specifically, the New York Groove!” He holds out a hand, “Give me the Zune.”
“No!”
“Give me the Zune!”
“No!”
“I said give me the zune, Drax!”
“You can’t keep playing this!”
“I will kill both of you if it will stop that blinking yellow light,” Mantis says, swaying in a daze as she stares at said blinking yellow light.
Peter stops in his tracks, his original cause for anger at Drax transitioning into another, “Mantis, that’s supposed to mean we have secret important messages! Drax, you were supposed to watch the blinking yellow light!” Drax stops as well, looking at the light.
“I was following your orders,” Drax defends himself. Peter frowns at him, confused, and Drax explains, “You said if it was yellow, let it mellow. It it was brown, flush it down.”
Peter stares at him in disbelief, saying, “I wasn’t talking about the light — Ugh. Whatever.” He walks over to the device, checking it, and he laughs bitterly, “Look at that! Twenty-four secret important messages! Twenty-five!” He glares at Drax, noting, “Would’ve been real helpful. We’ve been sitting here. Five hours. Five hours, we’ve been sitting here.”
He opens the messages, and realises that they’re all from Nebula, telling Mantis to go to Titan and that Thanos has Gamora.
“We’re going to Titan,” Peter announces, walking away to set a course. “Let’s kill the son of a bitch.”
“I sense activity,” Peter informs as his helmet activates.
Drax nods, determined, “It has to be Thanos.”
This time, Peter doesn’t try to stop Drax, Mantis and him following as Drax leaps out of the ship.
"Thanos!"
Drax jumps down onto the man suited in red and gold armour. Peter and Mantis follow him out, Peter’s mask activated and guns raised for combat. Mantis seems to have chosen the least threatening of all three to go for — the shortest and skinniest of them, in armour with a spider sprawled across the front. The armoured spider person falls in shock, shouting, "Oh, my God! Please don't put your eggs in me!" The cape belonging to the funny looking dude flies over to Drax, bounding itself firmly around his hands so he can't hurt the armoured man. They’re formidable opponents, actually. The red and gold guy’s technology is advanced an Peter’s sure he didn’t get it from space. The skinny guy doesn’t seem that impressive from what Peter’s seen — him cowering from Mantis. The magician doesn’t look like he wants to hurt them. He’s not actively attacking them.
Drax yells, trying to tear the cape off, "Die, Blanket of Death!"
Peter grabs the skinny spider dude, pressing his gun to his temple as he says loudly, catching everyone's attention, "Everybody stay where you are, chill the F out… I'm gonna ask you this one time. Where is Gamora?"
The three strangers frown at Gamora’s name and the red and gold one replies, "Yeah, I'll do you one better. Who is Gamora?"
Drax shouts from under Tony's foot, "I'll do you one better! Why is Gamora?"
Red and gold dude blinks at him, a weird look on his face. Peter withdraws his mask and threatens, pressing the gun harder against his hostage, "Let him go, or I swear to you, I'm gonna french fry this little freak."
The armoured man tenses up at that and his arm transforms into a fucking blaster as he aims it down at Drax, countering, "Let's do it. You shoot my kid and I'll blast him. Let's go!" His kid?
Drax calls out to Peter, "Do it, Quill. I can take it."
Mantis cries out, "No, he can't take it." Peter realises that she’s bound by webbing, no doubt by the spider kid.
The magician agrees, "She's right. You can't."
Peter says impatiently, "Oh yeah? You don't wanna tell me where she is? That's fine. I'll kill all three of you and I'll beat it out of Thanos myself! Starting with you."
He directs the last word to the kid and the magician raises an eyebrow, "Wait what, Thanos? All right... Let me ask you this one time... What master do you serve?"
Peter stares at the magician like he's a weirdo and asks sarcastically, "What master do I serve? What am I supposed to say, Jesus?"
"You're from Earth," Red-And-Gold realises.
Peter corrects, "Not from Earth. I'm from Missouri."
Armour man stares at him like he's stupid and replies, "Yeah, that's on Earth, dipshit. What are you hassling us for?”
The kid asks timidly, “So you're not with Thanos?” Peter gives him a bewildered look.
"With Thanos? No! I'm here to kill Thanos. He took Gamora. Wait, who are you?" He asks, lowering his gun from the kid’s temple.
The kid answers from Peter’s grip, "We're the Avengers, man."
Mantis pipes up excitedly, "You're the ones Thor told us about!"
Red-And-Gold raises his eyebrows in surprise, "You know Thor?"
Peter thinks, “Yeah, I know Thor. He’s the most handsome guy I have ever seen and I’ve been to most parts of the galaxy. He took my backpack and he said it was to remember me. He said we might meet again. He asked me about my name. He’s the god of thunder. I have a lightning bolt soulmark on my wrist. I think Thor’s my soulmate.”
Peter says instead, "Yeah. Tall guy, not that good-looking.”
“Where is he now?” Red-And-Gold asks. Drax tells him Nidavellir, and all rivalry is forgotten. Peter releases the kid from his hold and the armoured man steps off Drax, letting him stand again.
The kid turns to face Peter, introducing enthusiastically, “Hi, my name’s Peter Parker.” The red and gold man rolls his eyes a little at that.
Peter replies, “Star-Lord.”
“Oh, made-up names. Right. Um, I’m Spider-Man,” Parker says.
“Yeah, what’s your actual name?” Red-And-Gold asks flatly, ignoring the kid. Peter sighs.
“Peter Quill. That’s Drax, and that’s Mantis,” he says. Red-And-Gold introduces himself as Tony Stark and the magician as Stephen Strange. Peter nods, making a mental note of who’s who.
“So why are you after Thanos? Maybe we can work together. Quid pro quo,” Tony begins.
Groot mutters, irritated, “I am Groot.”
Rocket rolls his eyes, “Tinkle in the cup. We’re not looking. What’s there to see? What’s a twig? Everybody’s seen a twig.”
Groot argues, “I am Groot.”
“Tree, pour what’s in the cup out in space, and go in the cup again,” Thor replies, staring out the rear portholes. Rocket looks up at him, surprised and impressed.
“You speak Groot?”
“Yes, they taught it on Asgard. It was an elective,” Thor explains.
Groot asks, “I am Groot?”
Thor replies, “You’ll know when we’re there. Nivadellir’s forge harnesses the power of a blazing neutron star.” He gets a nostalgic look in his eyes as he sits down by the window, “It’s the birth place of my hammer. It’s truly awesome.” The nostalgia melts into a daze as he looks out, sad.
Rocket notices Thor and sighs, muttering to himself, “Okay, time to be a captain.” He walks to a console near Thor, pressing two buttons as he starts up a conversation, “So, dead brother, huh? Yeah, that can be annoying.”
Thor shrugs slightly, but it’s clear that he’s pained, “Well, he’s been dead before, but this time I think it really might be true.”
Rocket asks, “And you said your sister and your dad?”
“Both dead,” Thor says.
Rocket blinks, asking, “Still got a mom, though?”
“Killed by a dark elf,” Thor answers. Rocket’s running out of people to list, and Thor just seems to be getting sadder by the second.
“A best friend?” Rocket tries. He can’t have lost everyone. Not yet.
“Stabbed through the heart,” Thor says. Rocket can’t believe he’s admitting this, but he actually feels sorry for him. Hell, if he’s honest, he feels sorry for the other Guardians as well. Rocket’s family abandoned him because he became different. Gamora was abducted and raised by flarking Thanos. Rocket’s pretty sure Mantis was abandoned as a child before Ego of all people picked her up. Drax lost his family to Thanos. Peter lost his mom to cancer, got abducted, then had to kill his dad. They’re all pretty messed up — except Groot — but Rocket would never admit it.
The thing is... The Guardians, they’re all conditioned for this type of thing. Sure, maybe it’s taxing at times, but they’re used to it. People like them don’t get what they want. They steal it. If they’re lucky, they’ll find it at the ass end of the galaxy. This guy’s a king. He’s had stuff handed to him his whole life.
“Are you sure you’re up to this particular murder mission?” Rocket finally asks.
Thor smiles widely, but Rocket knows it’s plastic, just for show. Thor nods, “Absolutely. Rage, vengeance, anger, loss, regret... They’re all tremendous motivators. They really clear the mind. So I’m good to go.”
Rocket says hesitantly, “Yeah, but this Thanos we’re talking about... He’s the toughest there is.”
Thor replies, “Well, he’s never fought me.”
Rocket stares at him, “Yeah, he has.”
Thor corrects, “He’s never fought me twice. And I’m getting a new hammer, don’t forget.”
Rocket mumbles, “Better be some hammer... Could be worse, Quill made us turn back during an escape mission to get a walkman.”
Thor’s gaze snaps to Rocket at the mention of Peter, but he doesn’t talk about it, returning to the original subject, “You know, I’m 1500 years old. I’ve killed twice as many enemies as that, and every one would have rather killed me but none succeeded. I’m only alive because fate wants me alive. Thanos is the latest in a long line of bastards and he will be the latest to feel my vengeance. Fate wills it so.”
“And what if you’re wrong?” Rocket asks quietly.
Thor’s hand traces over his wrist, muttering, “If I’m wrong, then... what more could I lose?” He sniffs and hastily wipes his eye, standing. He moves towards the front of the pod, and Rocket catches a glimpse of a tattoo on Thor’s wrist. He sees a ‘Q’ for a brief moment before it’s out of his view. Do Asgardians even get tattoos?
“I could lose a lot. Me, personally, I could lose a lot,” Rocket mumbles to himself, thinking about his newfound family. He stands still for a moment before he pulls out an eyeball from his pocket, walking back up to Thor, “Okay. If fate does want you to kill that crapsack... You’re gonna need more than one stupid eyeball.”
Thor takes the eyeball from Rocket, asking, “What’s this?”
“What’s it look like? Some jerk lost a bet with me on Contraxia,” Rocket says, taking a seat at the pilot’s seat.
Thor questions, “He gave you his eye?”
Rocket shakes his head, taking the pod off autopilot, “He gave me a hundred credits. I snuck in later that night and stole his eye.” Thor thanks him, still calling him sweet rabbit, he places the eyeball into his socket. Even Groot looks away from his video game to watch in awe. Rocket glances at him and says nervously, “Oh, I would’ve washed that. The only way I could sneak it off Contraxia was up my —“ A beep interrupts him and he announces, “We’re here!”
Thor smacks his palm against the side of his head to calibrate the eye, “I don’t think this thing works. Everything seems dark.”
Rocket shakes his head, “It ain’t the eye.” Nidavellir is dark and motionless, looking inhabited.
Thor frowns, standing and moving closer to get a better look, “Something’s wrong. The star’s gone out. and the rings are frozen.” Rocket steers the pod down, landing it. The three disembark, walking through the messy and abandoned place. Groot follows blindly, still playing his video game.
Rocket mutters, “I hope these dwarves are better at forging than they are cleaning. Maybe they realised they live in a junk pile in the middle of space.”
Thor rejects the idea, “This forge hasn’t gone dark in centuries.” One of the items on a pedestal catches Rocket’s attention.
“You said Thanos had a gauntlet, right?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Look anything like that?”
Thor gets a sinking feeling and Groot mumbles uneasily, “I am Groot.”
“Go back to the pod,” Thor says to the young tree. Suddenly, a massive figure storms towards them, whacking Thor away with one swing of his arm. He kicks Rocket and Groot against a wall of equipment.
Thor holds out a hand, shouting, “Eitri, wait! Stop!”
“Thor?” Eitri realises, slowing to a halt on his attacks. Rocket and Groot get up, a little disoriented from the sudden ambush. When Thor said dwarf, Rocket assumed the guy wouldn’t be this huge.
Thor asks, standing when he knows Eitri isn’t going to attack them anymore, “What happened here?”
Eitri yells, distraught and accusing, “You were supposed to protect us! Asgard was supposed to protect us!”
“Asgard is destroyed!” Thor says before Eitri gets any ideas about taking his anger out on Thor. Eitri finally believes that Thanos destroyed Asgard and that Thor is in a similar situation. Thor points at the gauntlet, asking, “Eitri, the glove. What did you do?”
Eitri walks brokenly across the space to sit heavily, leaning against an ore skip. Rocket and Groot stand, and Groot checks if his video game console is alright. Eitri tells Thor, “Three hundred dwarves lived on this ring. I thought if I did what he asked, they’d be safe. I made what he wanted, a device capable of harnessing the power of the stones. Then he killed everyone anyway. All except me. ‘Your life is yours’, he said. ‘But your hands are mine alone’.” Eitri holds up his immobile fists, encased in hardened molten metal. Thor glances at the hands apologetically.
“Eitri, this isn’t about your hands. Every weapon you’ve designed, every axe, hammer, sword... It’s all inside your head. Now, I know all hope feels lost. Trust me, I know,” Thor says, easing Eitri into helping them. Rocket catches a glimpse of Thor’s wrist again, for a quick second. There’s a ‘P’ on his wrist as well. Thor continues, “But together, you and I, we can kill Thanos.”
Peter sits alone in the ship, listening to Fooled Around and Fell In Love, reminiscing about Gamora. That bastard has her and there’s nothing he can do about it. Stephen walks into the ship and asks, “What are you doing? The others are outside.”
Peter looks up, startled by the sudden appearance of the wizard, before his head drops to stare at his shoes, “Hey, Doc. Uh, nothing.”
Stephen doesn’t bother prying, but he points toward the cassette tape next to Peter and asks, “What's that?”
Peter takes the cassette and answers, “This? My mom made it for me before she died.”
“I'm sorry,” Stephen apologises. Peter shrugs him off, assuring him that he’s good.
“It’s fine. I avenged her.”
Stephen raises an eyebrow in vague interest, “Avenged her? She was murdered?”
Peter nods, kicking absently at a stray screwdriver, “By my dad. He put a tumour in her head and I killed him. Nobody fucks with my mom.” Stephen has a look in his eyes — Peter can’t pinpoint exactly what it is, but it looks like he’s a little envious. Maybe of his relationship with his mom. Peter knows not everyone is on good terms with their parents. He’s lucky he was so close to his mom.
“She was everything to you,” Stephen says, not revealing much about what he’s thinking.
“She is,” Peter corrects. Meredith will always be everything to him.
Stephen listens to the track for a few more seconds before noting, "Fooled Around and Fell in Love, Elvis Bishop."
Peter looks at him in surprise, "You know this song?" None of the Guardians — or the Ravagers, for that matter — know the music he listens to.
Stephen forces a smile, asking, "How couldn't I? It's good." Peter assumes the fake smile is due to the stress of their current situation. Peter gives him a smile, hoping to ease him up.
Peter tell him, "This is the first song I ever showed her."
Stephen asks for clarification, "Gamora?" Peter nods and Stephen compliments, "It's a great first song to show your girlfriend."
Peter agrees, "Yeah, it is.” Though Gamora isn’t his girlfriend anymore, she was his girlfriend before, so Stephen technically isn’t wrong in calling her his girlfriend. He changes the subject before his grief over Gamora takes over the fight in him, “Okay, listen. I wanna make a mixtape for you."
Stephen is clearly taken aback by the sudden offer and asks, "Now? I appreciate the thought, but now isn't a good time for that."
Peter speaks quietly, "Please. I need this. I need to keep busy until Thanos arrives.” It’s not like Peter to talk quietly. He’s always loud. Stephen sighs, but he relents anyway. He insists it be made for Tony instead.
Peter nods, already coming up with the track-list in his mind, as he asks, “Hey, yeah, I wanted to ask you about that. Are you guys together? Which is totally cool, by the way. I —“
Stephen cuts him off, “Yeah, we’re dating. Have been for two years.”
Holy shit. Holy fucking shit. They like boys. I’m not alone. I’m not a freak. You’re normal, Quill. There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re okay. You like boys and that’s okay. A million thoughts bombard Peter’s brain when Stephen confirms him and Tony’s relationship. Peter breaks into a genuine smile, the first time Stephen’s seen him do so since their violent first meeting.
“Okay, cool. I’m bi, so it’s really nice to see other humans like me around,” Peter says, sincerely happy. He’s putting it far too lightly. It’s better than cool, it’s freaking amazing. Peter feels like a huge weight has dropped off his chest. He feels more him than he’s ever felt. Who knew validation was all he needed to not feel so shit about himself?
Peter’s sure Stephen knows what’s going through his mind, because the smile he gives him is genuine and understanding as he says, “I can see how that can be.”
Peter turns around, newfound energy in him as he grabs an unlabelled cassette tape, saying, “Okay, I’ll make you guys a mixtape. Thank you for this, Doc. I need it. I hope she’s okay.” Stephen nods, agreeing.
When Stephen steps off the ship, Peter laughs to himself, a thumb running over the lightning bolt. You aren’t a freak.
“This is the plan? We’re gonna hit him with a brick?” Rocket asks, unimpressed.
Eitri explains, “It’s a mould. A king’s weapon. Meant to be the greatest in Asgard. In theory, it could even summon the Bifrost.” Thor asks if it has a name, and Eitri responds with Stormbreaker,
Rocket mutters, “That’s a bit much.”
“So how do we make it?” Thor asks, ready. Eitri tells him that they have to restart the forge and awaken the heart of a dying star. Thor tells Rocket to fire up the pod. Rocket obeys, getting back into the pod while Groot sits down somewhere, playing his game. Thor jumps from the hull of the pod onto the ring surface with a cable in his hand attached to the pod.
“I don’t think you get the scientifics here. These rings are gigantic. You wanna get them moving, you’re gonna need something a lot bigger to yank ‘em loose,” Rocket says. He’s hooked Thor and Eitri up with communication devices so they can talk easily.
Thor replies, “Leave that to me.”
Rocket almost laughs in disbelief, “Leave that to you? Buddy, you’re in space. All you got is a rope and a —“ He’s cut off with the pod’s sudden movement. He screams when he realises it’s from Thor swinging it around him like it’s nothing. After building up momentum with three good loops, he slacks his grip enough to send the pod shooting away from Nidavellir, trailing him behind it.
“Fire the engines!” Thor calls out. Rocket gets over his surprise and puts the proverbial pedal to the metal. As the pod skims over the surface of the next sing, Thor reaches down and digs one hand into the surface, then both feet. The accumulation of ice on the ring’s surface cracks when Thor’s legs cut through it. Thor demands, “More power, rabbit!” Rocket accelerates even more and the ring finally spin free, realigning into effective configuration as the star bursts back into life.
Eitri watches from the ground, smiling as he praises, “Well done, boy.”
Thor laughs, pointing to the star, “That’s Nivadellir!”
Rocket gazes at the blazing core, amazed beyond words. An iris on the cladding around the star opens, firing pure stellar heat through the ring portals and into the forge until the damaged mechanism fails, crumbling loose and slamming shut. The iris closes and the beam of light trails off.
“Damn it,” Eitri mutters under his breath.
“‘Damn it’? What’s ‘damn it’?” Rocket asks, looking for an explanation as to why it closed.
Eitri explains, “The mechanism is crippled. With the iris closed, I can’t heat the metal.”
Thor asks, “How long will it take to heat?”
“A few minutes, maybe more. Why?”
Thor stands up, saying, “I’m gonna hold it open.”
Eitri tries to talk him out of it, “That’s suicide!”
Thor leaps from the pod to the star’s iris, replying, “So is facing Thanos without that axe.” He lands on it, saying to himself, “Allfathers, give me strength.”
Eitri checks, “You understand, boy? You’re about to take the full force of a star. It’ll kill you.”
“Only if I die,” Thor says, taking deep breaths to prepare himself. Eitri stares up at Thor from where he is, boggled.
“Yes. That’s what... ‘killing you’ means,” Eitri says. Thor grasps two levers and pulls them down and towards himself, slowly opening the iris. The stream of stellar energy blasts past him and into the forge once again. Eitri shouts, “Hold it! Hold it, Thor!” Eitri watches the metal ingots melt under the intense heat while Thor gets increasingly charred by the star.
Somewhere in the light, when Thor is screaming to force his consciousness not to leave him, he sees someone. A woman. Thor thinks her to be of Midgard descent. She looks a little familiar. The woman only says five words, “Take care of him. Please.” Before Thor can even comprehend who’s ‘him’ or her identity, she disappears, and Thor passes out.
Eitri pours the metal into the mould, finally able to tip the cauldron. The jet carries Thor off the forge, Rocket following hastily to try and catch him. He isn’t fast enough and Thor crashes into a structure, falling limply off it to land on the floor. Groot glances up from his game, looking over at Thor in concern. Rocket gets off the pod, running over to Thor and falling to his knees next to his body.
“Thor! Say something. Come on. Thor, you okay?” Rocket asks, shaking his arm. Thor looks far from okay. Eitri urgently drags the mould, still glowing red with hear, onto the floor. It breaks it loose from its frame when it collides with the floor. Eitri starts to punch the mould itself with his metal fists to free the axe. Rocket shouts, anxious, “I think he’s dying!”
“He needs the axe! Where’s the handle? Tree, help me find the handle!” Eitri says, just as anxious as Rocket. Groot finally tears his eyes away from the game, looking at Thor’s charred and unmoving body.
In Thor’s mind, the woman is there again. Her face resembles someone, but Thor can’t place his finger on who exactly. He calls out to her, “Who are you?”
She gives him a light smile, “Well, that’s not really important.”
“It’s important to me,” Thor insists. “Who are you? Who’s ‘him’? Why do I have to take care of him?”
“You’ll know,” she says. A song plays — Thor can only make out the faint lyrics ‘My life, my love and my lady is the sea’ — and the woman fades away again.
Thor shouts, “Wait! Who’s ‘him’?” There’s no answer.
Groot scowls with determination and extends his fingers towards Stormbreaker. He twines them around the two parts, crying out at the burning pain, but keeps going. He slams them together, locking them into a singular structure with his hand. He raises it above his head and chops his extended arm so that it is now the handle of Stormbreaker.
Thor’s fingers twitch, and lightning sparks between Thor’s fingers. Rocket notices it, shouting to Eitri, “He’s waking up!” Eitri runs over to see Stormbreaker levitating to Thor’s hand, lightning flashing bright.
Thor sees a flash of a location on Earth when the Stormbreaker enters his grip — that’s where he has to go. The Mind Stone. Rocket stares in amazement at Thor, how he was almost dead a few moments ago but is now crackling with revived power. Rocket grins, nodding, “Great. Now let’s go send Quill a message. We can join up with them.”
“No,” Thor says. “We have to go to Earth.”
“Wh— Earth?” Rocket repeats. “No way they’re there. Quill hasn’t been to Earth in thirty years.” Thor’s interest is piqued slightly, but he ignores it. There’s no time.
“We need to go there for the Mind Stone. I’m sure Quill has the Power Stone by now and the Strangest of Doctors has the Time Stone,” Thor explains, walking back towards the pod. He turns to Eitri and nods once, “Thank you, Eitri. I will end this.”
Eitri nods, “I believe you, boy. Now go. You don’t have much time.”
In the pod, Thor asks while Rocket sets a course for Earth, “When I was dying, I saw a woman. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Very young. Do you know anyone like that?”
Rocket immediately shakes his head, “She sounds Terran. I don’t know any Terrans except for Quill. Why, did she tell you anything?”
“To take care of ‘him’, though she failed to clarify who ‘him’ is supposed to be,” Thor frowns.
Rocket shrugs, “Figure it out later. We’ve got bigger problems than that right now.” Thor nods, agreeing, before he lifts the Stormbreaker.
“Eitri said this could summon the Bifrost? Would you like to try?” Thor offers. Rocket immediately jumps at the opportunity, knowing that this is a once in a lifetime thing.
They land on Earth in a rainbow-hued beam of light in the middle of a battlefield. Thor doesn’t recognise the place, and obviously Rocket and Groot don’t. Thor throws his Stormbreaker out of the light. Wreathed with lightning, it tears through the hideous creatures, lightening up the battle slightly for the heroes present. The Stormbreaker flies back to the light into Thor’s hand as the beam fades away, revealing Thor, Groot and Rocket. Groot doesn’t have his video game console anymore, and Rocket is armed with a hefty gun.
Natasha, Steve and T’Challa pause in astonishment, and Proxima Midnight and Cull Obsidian pause in apprehension at the arrival of Thor. Thor sees a few new faces — a large number of soldiers, a blonde man with a glowing fist, a man built like a tank, a lean lady with dark hair and a leather jacket, and one more man in a red suit adorning horns. Bruce laughs with joy, shouting, “You guys are so screwed now!”
Thor yells, charging forward, “Bring me Thanos!” He decimates a large number of Outriders in a single blow. The three of them enter the fight, and Thor notices Rocket pairing up with a brunet man with a metal arm. He thinks he heard Rocket ask how much the arm costs.
Thor finds himself next to Steve in the middle of the battle and Steve asks, panting, “New haircut?”
Thor grins, glad for the breather, “Notice you’ve copied my beard.”
Steve nods wearily, gesturing to his own face. Thor notices that the shield on his hand is black and grey and very not-circular. Beside them, Groot skewers three Outriders with his right arm. Thor makes a mental note to talk to Rocket about how violent that tree child is for his age.
Thor introduces, pointing to Groot with the Stormbreaker, “By the way, this is a friend of mine, Tree.”
Groot snarls viciously, “I am Groot!”
Steve, not really getting that Groot’s vocabulary is limited to three words in a very exclusive configuration, simply answers, “I am Steve Rogers.”
When Thanos arrives, Thor can feel it. He can feel the power radiating from him. He’s keeping the Outriders at bay while the other Avengers team up against Thanos. Thanos definitely has the Power Stone and the Time Stone. So what has happened to the other Guardians and the sorcerer? The Iron Man is not present as well, so Thor assumes he’s with Strange.
Thor doesn’t know how they let it happen, how he himself let it happen, but Thanos manages to obtain the Mind Stone. He knows the Outriders is the least of their concerns now that he has all the Stones.
Thanos studies the completed gauntlet in pride, but a massive bolt of lightning strikes him, digging him into the ground and grinding him back a few metres. Thor’s eyes glow with power, stooping down from the sky. He pauses his attack, reverses his position, raises Stormbreaker above his head and hurls it. Thanos fires the whole might of the gauntlet against it, but it does nothing to slow down the Stormbreaker as it slams right into Thanos chest.
Thor lands in front of Thanos, who has fallen onto a knee. He says hatefully, “I told you. You diefor that.” He holds the back of Thanos’ head to steady his grip on Stormbreaker as he forces it deeper into Thanos’ chest. Thanos cries out in agony as Thor stares vengefully into his eyes.
“You should have... You...” Thanos says weakly, before he suddenly perks up. “You should have gone for the head!”
Before Thor can stop him, Thanos snaps his fingers, just like Gamora demonstrated.
The gauntlet is charred, and Thanos left arm looks damaged. Thor shouts, “What’d you do? What’d you do?!” Thanos doesn’t answer, using the Space Stone to teleport away, leaving Stormbreaker to fall to the ground.
Steve stumbles into the clearing, holding his side, “Where’d he go? Thor, where’d he go?” Thor searches for an answer, but he has none.
“Steve?”
The brunet Thor saw with Rocket earlier walks towards Steve, looking down at his hands. He glances up at Steve before he suddenly stumbles over, collapsing into ashes. Thor’s eyes widen as Steve stares in silence. He walks over and touches the ground where Bucky once stood. Thor tries to find something to say, anything at all, but Steve’s pained scream stops Thor.
The soldiers on the battlefield disintegrate as well, and M’Baku watches in horror. T’Challa reaches for Okoye, trying to help her, “Up, general. Up! This is no place to die.” As Okoye grabs his hand, he turns to ash, and Okoye falls back on the ground. She stands hastily, looking around in anguish and confusion. From the building, Shuri sees T’Challa fade away and she cries out, sliding down the glass.
Luke Cage turns to ash in Jessica Jones’ arms. The Iron Fist and Daredevil stand aside solemnly as Jessica cries.
Thor watches in horror from afar as Groot slowly corrodes into ashes. Groot says sadly, fear lacing his voice, “I am Groot...” Thor frowns when he realises Groot has just called Rocket his father.
“No... No, no, no. No! Groot, no,” Rocket stumbles over to Groot, voice growing fainter as Groot disintegrates.
Wanda mourns over Vision, and a peaceful look falls on her face as she, too, turns to ash.
The War Machine searches for the Falcon, who turns to ash among the grass.
Thor watches it all in trepidation and confusion, and he quickly lifts his sleeve to look at his wrist.
The ‘PQ’ on it fades into nothing.