(Not Marvel's) Infinity War

Docking Port X-3A5

Knowhere

“All right, remember,” Gamora said as they all met in the lounge “the fate of the galaxy depends on us finding and hiding the Aether.  That means no threatening him, no insulting him, no killing him, and no schmoozing him . . . whatever the hell that means,” she said, muttering that last.  As she’d spoken, she’d glared at Drax, then Rocket, then Nebula, and lastly Peter.  Each managed to look hurt at her accusation.

“It is unimportant; I won’t be going,” Nebula replied.

“Nebula,” Gamora replied “we need everyone to convince him.”

“If you wanted a petition, we should have stopped at Xandar Prime,” Rocket replied.

“It does not matter what you say,” Nebula replied, ignoring the ‘fox’.  “You will fail.  And when you do, we will come up with a real plan.”

“Nebula-,” Gamora repeated before Quill cut her off.

“-it’s not a terrible idea to leave someone to guard the ship,” he said firmly, wondering why Gamora thought Nebula would be an asset in any kind of negotiation. 

Gamora looked like she was going to argue some more, but changed her mind.  “Fine, let’s go,” she added, turning to leave.

“What’s with you?” Quill asked as the descended the ramp into the landing bay. 

“What do you mean?” Gamora asked flatly.

“I mean trying to get the Indigo Psycho to come with us,” Peter replied.

“I’ve told you not to call her that,” Gamora growled.

“Look, I’m not saying she doesn’t have her uses,” Peter continued, ignoring the implied threat.  “But isn’t this sort of thing just a bit outside of her . . . I don’t know, area of expertise?”

Gamora didn’t respond.

>> 

“Aright, everybody, remember where we parked,” Tony said as he, Thor, Brunnhilde, and Banner walked down the recently repaired loading ramp of The Statesman.  Tony’s hopes for christening it after a fifty-year-old movie buried under the rubble of terrible sequels had fallen on their collective faces upon the discovery that the ship already had a name.  Who knew right?

It had taken a surprisingly short amount of time to get the ship flight worthy again, once Thor had explained the basics of the various types of interstellar drive.  Sometimes it helps to have an army of robot workers under the direction of an A.I. of Friday’s caliber.

It had proven quite difficult to leave Rhodes behind for this little adventure.  Like most Air Force officers he’d dreamed of going into space.  Making him sit this one out had almost required sitting on him.  But eventually Doctors Strange and Cho had managed to convince him that this was not the time to risk any damage to his still weak spinal cord.

As they exited the ramp Tony pulled the cuff on his three-piece suit back and spoke to his watch.  “Alright Vision, you can close her up.”

“Yes Mr. Stark,” Vision said in his usual serene voice.  If he was feeling upset about being left to guard the ship, he was doing a good job of hiding it.  Truthfully, Tony would have preferred to have Strange guard the ship, but it had been pointed out that having two infinity stones in one place was just begging Lady Luck to get involved.

“So, what do you know about this Tivan guy?” Tony asked Thor while smoothing the suit’s cuff back over his watch.  For this meeting he’d decided on a red business suit so dark it was almost black.   There were strategic bits of gold and black thread spread over its surface.  His black and gold wrap around glasses were actually a complete interface with Friday. 

Thor had maintained adamantly that Tivan would have been more impressed with Tony’s armor, but Stark had refused.  He’d cryptically insisted on approaching this as a business meeting.  Either that or his revulsion at wearing the suit had gotten worse since Thor had left to begin gallivanting about the cosmos.  The Asgardian wasn’t sure which.

“Taneleer Tivan is a self-interested, greedy, secretive, cretin,” Thor said bluntly.  If Tony hadn’t known better, he’d have said the god looked nervous.  “The nickname ‘The Collector’ was first given to him in jest, but he took it as his own.  Had it occurred to me that I might need to retrieve the Aether without the might of Asgard at my back I never would have approved of storing it with him.  He will not give it up willingly.”

“I’m sure we have enough force to encourage him,” Brunnhilde said from where she was bringing up the rear of their little formation.

“We would not be the first Asgardians he’s killed for attempting to steal from him,” Thor warned.

“Wow, this cruise just sounds more and more like one I shouldn’t have taken,” Banner commented as he glanced nervously about the cosmopolitan crowd they were working their way through.  He hadn’t said much since reuniting with Tony.  They’d clearly been happy to see each other, but there was this dark cloud surrounding the diminutive scientist that Tony had been unable to break.   It was almost as if Banner blamed them for the loss of his last couple years. 

Tony and Thor had both privately wondered if having him with them was a good idea.  But if it came to a fight, they’d need The Hulk.  Perhaps Banner sensed that was what they were keeping him around for and resented them for it.

The rest of the trip to Taneleer’s museum was traveled in silence.  After a short while Thor began to feel like a tour guide for young children.  No matter their reservations neither of the Terrans could seem to stop trying to see all around them at once as if their heads were on swivels.  Reminding them that they weren’t had done little good either.  But eventually they arrived.

Despite the crush of the various denizens of Knowhere, who all seemed to need to be somewhere right now, there was an empty space in front of Taneleer’s estate.  It was as if fear of the man behind the door kept them crushing just a little tighter.

Thor stepped forward and knocked on the heavy door.  After the first impact the door opened, revealing a pink skinned young woman.  “My master has been expecting you Thor, Odinson,” she said, making way for the party to enter.

“He knew we were here?” Thor asked suspiciously.

“Surely that does not surprise you,” she replied calmly “that he would know all that happens in his domain?”

“No of course not,” Thor muttered as they followed her into a rather crowded office.  A group of rather surly aliens was lounging loosely around the room.  It was obvious they’d been waiting for some time, and not for this branch of The Avengers.

A human in a reddish leather trench coat was lounging against one wall, talking quietly with a green skinned woman in black leather.  A blue bear of a man with a bald head was lounging on a couch.  Tony had never seen anyone able to look insolent while laying on a couch before.  Between those two groups (yes Drax qualifies as a group in his own right) was a young vaguely human woman sporting two antennae on her head.  On another wall some sort of rodent barely looked up at their entrance as he fiddled with some sort of holographic tablet.  It was standing next to what appeared to be a topiary of a man that had lost its leaves. 

The Avengers filed in silently, taking up an unoccupied wall.  The Guardians did little more than glance curiously at them before going back to their waiting.  It was inevitable that someone in that grouping of groups wouldn’t be able to restrain their obvious curiosity.  It was only a question of who and when.  It could have been almost any of them.

“The Collector is making us wait,” Thor grated impatiently.

“It’s a standard negotiating ploy,” Stark replied calmly.  “He wants us to know that this is his domain.” 

“It’s his favorite move,” Quill agreed, stepping over to them.  “Peter Quill,” he said holding his hand out.  Tony glanced at it before turning back to stare silently at him.  Quill dropped his hand, but otherwise ignored the slight. 

“So, what brings you guys here?” Quill asked, glancing at Stark’s clothing.  “Fitting Tivan for a new suit?”  Tony continued to stare at him.  “Hey, it’s a very nice suit,” Quill replied, arms up as if in apology.  “Where do you get a suit like that anyway?” he asked.

“You don’t,” Tony replied.  “So, what brings your group here?” he asked surveying the room.  “Find a bauble in a junkyard somewhere?”  This time it was Quill’s turn to simply stare.  “Well, I hope it’s worth enough for a meal,” Tony continued calmly.

“Tony,” Banner said warningly.

“Really?” Tony replied in irritation.  “Two years as The Hulk and you still don’t have a spine?”

Banner flinched visibly.  “Yeah well, neither does he,” Banner murmured to himself.

“We aren’t selling anything,” Quill replied through grit teeth, ignoring the byplay.

“Oh?” Tony replied.  “Reporting in then?  Get all your duties collected?  Maybe a little snatch and grab for the boss?”

“I prefer to think of it as creative appropriation.  And I don’t do that sort of thing anymore anyway,” Quill replied stiffly.  Stark’s eyebrows raised as one of his broad shots hit home. 

“Peter,” Gamora snapped impatiently, concerned that the rogue would be goaded into revealing their purpose.  Quill glanced back at her, caught her meaning, and nodded almost imperceptibly.

“Well run along then,” Stark suggested sarcastically.  As he’d expected those words turned ‘Peter’ back around.

“You still haven’t told me why you’re here,” Quill stated, squaring his shoulders with Stark.

“You still haven’t told me what it is you don’t do anymore:” Stark shot back “mindless muscle, or theft?”

Before Quill could respond Thor jumped in with “Wait, I recognize this human.  He’s a thief.  He calls himself, wait a minute . . . Star Chief,” he continued.

“It’s Star Lord,” Quill corrected him.   “And I’m not a thief anymore.”

“Too bad about that,” Rocket muttered pointedly from the corner.

“I am Groot,” the topiary agreed, causing the whole of The Avengers to stare.

“And I recognize you too Odinson,” Quill replied, bringing them back to current events.  “Perhaps your here on real estate speculation?”  Suddenly the atmosphere in the room became very tense as Thor surged up to Quill, hammer held up menacingly.  Gamora and Brunnhilde rolled their eyes.  Banner and Mantis cringed.  Drax sat up on the couch he’d been watching this little drama unfold on, knives in hand.   The only people that didn’t seem to take any notice were Groot and Rocket.

“Choose your next words carefully, Thief,” Thor rumbled in rage.

Tony put an arm between them.  “We’re just here to make a withdrawal,” he said, cutting off whatever suicidal maunderings might have emanated from Quill before he could get any information out of him.  Besides, he imagined starting a brawl in this collector guy’s place was not the best first impression.

“This is not a bank,” Drax declared, unwittingly breaking the tension.

“No,” Tony agreed, turning to the berserker “more of a safe deposit box.”  He turned back to Quill.

“Peter, come here,” Gamora demanded, suddenly at his side.  She grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the Asgardian.  “Is that what you call schmoozing?” she demanded.

“What do you make of them?” Thor asked Tony, still glaring at Peter.

“I’m not sure,” Tony said slowly, pulling Thor back to the wall they’d been holding up.  “But one thing is certain, they’re worried that we’re here for whatever they’re here for,” he added in hushed tones.

“Should we be worried about that as well?” Thor whispered back.

Before Tony could reply one of The Collector’s servants entered.  “I present to you Taneleer Tivan, The Collector,” she announced with a bow.

“My deepest apologies for the delay,” Tivan said as he entered.  “I’m afraid I was detained by business.  I like your clothes by the way,” he added as he passed Stark.  “Whereabouts does one find such exotic garments?”

“Enough games Taneleer,” Thor interjected with his usual tact as he stepped up to him.  “We’re here for the Aether.”

“What?” Gamora and Quill yelled simultaneously.

Meanwhile Nebula’s voice came over Rocket’s earpiece.  “They want the reality stone as well?” she asked.

“Yeah, probably,” Rocket muttered still working his tablet.  Up until that moment he hadn’t actually decided if he was going to help Nebula or not, but the arrival of these strangers sealed that deal.  He switched to an app that appeared on the surface to be a game of some sort.  In reality it was a cleverly disguised scanning and hacking utility.

“Good,” Nebula replied.

“What’s good about it?” Rocket asked, struggling to keep his voice down.  “What if he gives it to these circus freaks instead of us?”

“He won’t,” she assured him.  “But we will use them to keep him distracted.  Do you have the data yet?”

“No, he just got here,” Rocket replied defensively.

“Make it quick,” she demanded.

“Who does she think she is,” Rocket grumbled to himself.

“Boss,” Friday said over Tony’s earpiece.  “That cybernetic raccoon is attempting to hack The Collector’s security.”

Tony glanced over to where the upright rodent was working.  His own scanners revealed the UI and Tony grinned slightly.  “Clever little rodent,” he muttered to himself.

“Should we inform The Collector?” she asked.

“Not just yet,” Tony murmured.  “There’s no way we could hack an alien security system, and I get the feeling this deal is about to go sideways.  Just keep me apprised of its progress.”

“Yes Boss,” she replied.

“This whole thing’s warped,” Banner said from Tony’s side, making him jump.  Apparently, he’d moved there while Stark had been occupied.

Tony shot him a quick glare.  “What do you mean?” he asked.

“That comment about your clothes,” Banner replied earnestly.  “This Collector guy’s trying to play us against each other,” he added with a nod towards the current argument.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Taneleer was saying with remarkable aplomb.  “But as you can see, that raises a bit of a quandary; were I to just hand over the Aether, to whom should I entrust it?”

“How about to the people who can be trusted to hide it,” Quill jumped in.

“I might remind you that the events encompassing your last visit do not serve you here,” Taneleer replied calmly.

“I could say the same,” Quill shot back before Gamora could wave him to silence.

“Taneleer,” she started “you know we had to give the power stone to The Nova Core.  It was the only way to keep it safe.”

“According to my sources Thanos is planning to move against them next,” Taneleer replied.  “You haven’t protected the stone -as I could have- you’ve doomed all of Nova Prime.”

“He’s moving quickly,” Brunnhilde commented.

“Yes, but why now?” Thor asked.  “He’s sought the infinity stones for eons, yet always been content to let others hold them.”

“My sources say that some misguided band of rogues unwittingly led one of his agents to the last missing Infinity Stone: The Soul Stone.  You wouldn’t know anything about that would you?” Taneleer offered, turning to Quill.  Nebula snorted in disgusted amusement over the comm, causing Rocket’s ears to flatten slightly. 

“To be fair, he already knew where it was,” Peter explained without thinking.

“It was you?” Thor demanded, suddenly bristling.  “You brought this apocalypse down upon us all?  And you think you should be trusted with another Infinity Stone?” he asked incredulously.

“Look just back off bad hair day,” Quill snapped.  “We’re The Guardians of the Galaxy.  We’ll fix this.  Just give us the stone and we’ll hide it.”

“I don’t care what you call your little club,” Thor argued.  “Hiding the stone only works until Thanos pries its location out of you.”

“And let’s face it,” Tony added “your judgement’s already been proven to be suspect.”

“And I suppose you think you can protect it?” Gamora replied.

“The stone belongs to Asgard,” Thor insisted.

“Yes, and it was very wise of you to entrust it to me,” Taneleer replied smoothly.  “And were you still in a position to protect it I would most assuredly return it to your care.  But I feel it is safer with me for now.”

“You can’t possibly believe you can keep Thanos from taking it,” Quill argued.

“Got it!” Rocket muttered to himself as he broke through the final wall of security.  “Nebula, I’m sending the biometrics to you now.  The stone is in the main vault, three floors directly below the foyer.  If I’m reading this right, it’s got a time-based combination lock.  Sending the algorithm now.”

“Got it.  Keep them busy,” Nebula replied curtly.

“Oh, hey you’re welcome.  It was nothing really,” Rocket grumbled to himself.

“Boss,” Friday said as Tony watched the futile struggle.  “I think the rat thing has broken through the security.”

“Can you tell what he’s doing?” Tony asked.

“It looks like he’s copying data and sending it somewhere.”

“So, it’s a heist,” Stark said.

“Isn’t that what I just said?” Friday replied tartly.

“Can you find who he sent the data to?” Tony asked.

“The signal he’s connected to is in the building somewhere below us.”

“Alright, keep track of it and see about a path down there.”

“On it,” she replied just as Thor raised his voice.  Tony turned his attention back to the conversation at hand just in time to see Thor threaten Tivan.

“You will not refuse me again Elder,” Thor said, looming over him with his hammer ready.  As Taneleer returned his glare the room suddenly came alive.  Bits of junk, fixtures, and even furniture turned into weapons.  The entire room bristled with death, and half of it was pointing at Thor.  The other half was liberally spread between the other occupants.  Most froze like deer in headlights; Banner stepped behind Tony.

“How come he gets to threaten him?” Drax demanded, sounding hurt.

“As you can see, I have all the protection I need,” Taneleer stated smugly.  Thor glared around the room as his intellect wrestled with the urge born of frustration to crush The Collector.

“Alright big guy,” Quill said, stepping to Thor’s side.   “I’d really rather not be turned to paste, so why don’t you just back off a little, and let cooler heads prevail.”

“Fine,” Thor said stepping back, but never taking his eyes off of Tivan.  “If you think you can get him to release the stone go ahead.  But it leaves with me.”

“Wow, that doesn’t sound like an epitaph at all,” Quill replied pointedly before turning to The Collector.  He glanced at the array of weapons.  “It’s an impressive collection,” he said to Tivan “but do you think you could” he asked finishing that sentence by holding his hand out, palm down, and making lowering motions. 

Tivan cast one more glare at Thor before disarming his massive arsenal.  It took far longer for the various pieces to fold themselves back into their previous states.  No doubt that was deliberate.

“Thank you,” Quill said with a sidelong look at Thor.  “Now, as I was saying it’s an impressive security system.  But you don’t think it will stop Thanos do you?”

“You think too much in terms involving matched force,” Tivan replied cryptically.  It looked as if he was about to say more, but before he could expound upon that statement an alarm sounded.  Before anyone could ask what was going on the guns all came back out, and heavy shutters closed over the exits.

“Hey, what’s this?” Quill demanded, hands held in the air. 

“This is what happens when you try to steal from me,” Tivan replied with a cold rancor.  “If anyone attempts to leave the room, kill them,” he added to the security system before his image winked out.

“He was a hologram?” Drax asked.

“I am Groot,” Groot replied.

Thor glared at Quill.  “Thief,” he accused.

“It’s not me,” Quill said, hands still up.

“Nebula,” Gamora hissed.

“Wait, what does that mean?” Banner asked from behind Tony.  In answer the entire room lit with accusations.  Only a small part of Stark’s attention was on the conversation.  The rest was on the argument the raccoon was having with itself. 

“What do you mean your locked in?” it was saying.  “How should I know?” It listened for a moment before adding “Those were the algorithms in the security system.”  Then “alright, alright, I’ll get you out of there.”  It started working at the app it had been using.

“Friday, can you patch me into the raccoon’s communicator,” Tony asked.

“I should be able to,” the AI replied.  “The protocols are pretty straight forward.”

“Hurry before it makes things worse,” he muttered, making a quick survey of the room.  Whether he’d intended it or not, Taneleer had created an instant pressure cooker.  Maybe he was hoping they’d take care of his problem for him.  ‘How many angry people constitutes a mob?’ Stark wondered to himself.

“Done,” Friday said, cutting into his thoughts. 

Before he could speak a bitterly angry woman’s voice came over the link.  “I’ll get out myself,” she almost seemed to hiss.  “I should have known better than to trust any of you.”

“Wow, she sounds angry,” Tony observed.

“Who was that?” she asked suspiciously.

“I don’t know,” the raccoon said. 

“Just me,” Tony replied calmly.  “Over here,” he added as the raccoon glanced about the room.

“What do you want monocle?” he demanded, glaring at Tony.

“I want you to not set those guns off,” Tony replied.

“What are you talking about?” Rocket asked, taking his turn to be suspicious.

“You’re not exactly sneaky,” Tony said quickly.  “I know you have someone else in the building trying to steal the gem.  I’m guessing it’s the rather irked woman on the other end of your comm.”

“And your point would be?” Rocket demanded, paws flying over the interface.

“You need help,” Tony replied.

“From you?” Rocket asked as condescendingly as possible.  “Gimme a break hummie.”

“Actually, from me,” Friday replied over the comm.

“How many people you got in that suit?” Rocket asked, squinting at him.

“That’s Friday,” Tony explained.  “She’s an AI.”

“Well good for you two,” Rocket replied “but I don’t need any help.  I know what I’m doing.”

“Is that why you’ve just spent the last ten minutes hacking a dummy security system?” Tony asked.

“What?  No, I haven’t” Rocket said reflexively.

“Then why do the readouts show the system to be inactive?” Friday asked pointedly.  Rocket glared at them before returning his attention to the board.  He’d been so worried about freeing Nebula before The Collector put the two of them together that he hadn’t even paid attention to the main room.  He quickly minimized the vault and expanded the lobby, revealing no warning lights.  Apparently, the dummy screen only updated from automatic alarms as opposed to manual overrides.

“Hrnn,” he growled, as he redoubled his efforts looking for the access point within the overlay that would open the real operating system.

“You fell for a dummy overlay,” the voice accused.  “Are you trying to sabotage me?”

“Shut it psycho,” Rocket growled.  He didn’t like making mistakes.   And he liked having them pointed out even less.  And he really didn’t appreciate it all happening with an audience, specifically some savage from a backwater planet.

>> 

Nebula might have responded, but at that moment one of the black heavy metal walls that had boxed her in opened, revealing Taneleer Tivan heavy one nasty looking two handed cannon of some sort.

“Now I’m sure you’re wondering what this does,” Tivan said casually hefting the massive weapon in his hands.  Nebula lunged at him.  She made it half the distance before Taneleer activated the device.  Its snub end emitted a wide field of reddish energy that caught her in midair and held her there.

“I suppose I should be upset at your intrusion,” Taneleer continued in that same calm, polite way he had “but I’m just so grateful to have such wonderful new editions for my collection.”  As she started to reply he pointed the device at one of the three remaining walls of the trap she’d fallen into.  She found her body flying through the air in the same direction.  That flight ended as she slammed into the wall with a bone shattering crunch.  Her self-repair systems started to correct the errors, but they didn’t get far before she had another violent encounter with a different wall.

“Why didn’t you try to capture us before?” she gasped, pushing herself up from the wall.

“Oh, it’s not a good policy to capture possible business partners” he replied.  “It scares away business.  Thieves on the other hand,” he added slamming her into the ceiling to make his point.  “Well, no one misses them.”

“Out of curiosity, is there a limit to your repair protocols?” Tivan asked before slamming her into another wall.  Her arm broke, then mended itself almost instantly.  “Yes, you will make quite the display piece,” he assured her, clearly pleased with himself.

>> 

“I believe the access point is in Taneleer’s private computer,” Friday put in.  Rocket touched that icon on the schematic.  It opened into another window, one that was hopefully the real security system.

“Wait, you understand this system?” Tony asked.

“It appears to be the same programming language that runs the Statesman,” Friday replied as Tony eyed the room.  Thor was currently squaring off with the Star-Thief and the big blue goon.  Brunnhilde was currently saying something that was probably quite provocative to the green chick.  Banner and the antennaed girl were both huddled against opposite walls.

“Hurry up,” Stark whispered.

“I’m in,” Rocket said a moment later.  “Deactivating security system.”

“Wait,” Tony yelled loud enough to stop everyone in the room.  “Double check it’s the real deal,” he added more quietly, everyone watching him.

“It’s the real deal,” Rocket insisted.  “Not even The Collector is paranoid enough to go three levels deep.”

“Do as he says fox” Nebula grunted over the comm, as if in pain.

“Just activate the fire system,” Tony said.

Rocket sighed.  “Fine,” he said before hitting a few prompts on his screen.  A moment later the entire room was filled with a raucous claxon.  “Oh yeah,” he yelled over its warbling “this is much better.”

“Just shut everything down,” Tony and Nebula shouted at the same time.  A moment later the claxon ended, taking all the guns with it. 

>> 

The walls of Nebula’s torture cubicle retracted back into the ceiling just before yet another face to barrier encounter.  By the time Tivan realized that said blunt object was no longer available, his motion with the rifle had already carried her past the massive front of the vault she’d been attempting to open.  As one of the room’s machines interposed itself between the weapon and Nebula, it switched targets, freeing her.

>> 

The myriad weapons in Taneleer’s greeting room were still in the process of retracting when Tony’s suit turned inside out.  The myriad devices placed throughout its fibers activate, unspooling into an Ironman suit.  The visor he’d been wearing extended, engulfing his head.  Metal plates extended from the soles of his shoes.  His watch formed one gauntlet while the other extended from his sleeve.

It all happened at once, incredibly quickly.  One moment he looked ready for a quarterly stock review meeting.   The next he was encased in the newest of his suits.

“Impressive,” Thor said.

“I agree,” a much deeper voice said from the entrance.  “At least for a race as stunted as yours,” Thanos added as he strode into the room.  He was flanked by a line of henchmen that made the Chitahuri the Avengers had faced over New York into real lookers.  They seemed to have been handpicked from multiple different species.  Almost all of them had at least one technological appendage as if they represented an entire season’s product from that hit show ‘pimp my psycho’.  The only commonality among any of them was a certain sadistic glint in their eyes, as if they couldn’t wait to cause someone -anyone would do- pain. 

“Uh oh, Daddy’s here,” Rocket muttered.

“I appreciate you disabling the security system rat,” Thanos added to Rocket in passing. 

“Well, I can see where Gamora gained her tact from,” Rocket replied as he glared back at the purpled-backed gorilla.  Gamora didn’t respond.  In fact, she appeared to be frozen in place.

“Indeed?” Thanos responded, as if reminded of some task on his to do list.    He turned and stepped over to the green woman.  As he closed the terror in her face came closer and closer to the surface.  “Gamora,” he said, managing to sound both sinister and hurt at the same time; a neat trick that.  “You and your sister have disappointed me.  You’ve betrayed your family.  You betrayed yourselves.”  Gamora didn’t respond, unless you counted shaking in fear as a response.

Thanos reached that massive paw of a hand out to touch her face with one thick finger.  “It is not too late to return to the fold,” he added softly.  “Rejoin your family, and all will be forgotten.”

As much as Gamora wanted to yell defiance at this monster for all he’d done, she found she couldn’t.  She knew what he was capable of.  She knew he’d never let her go, that the pain would never stop if she defied him.  The fear of that end was the strongest force she’d ever felt in her life.  It drowned out love, or hope, or trust.  She knew it was wrong, but she couldn’t help but consider the offer.  And she hated herself for doing it.

The entire room was completely still, as if its inhabitants were afraid even to breathe as that contest of wills took place.   Those who truly knew the choice she’d been given couldn’t understand why she hesitated, while those who weren’t intimately familiar with Thanos’s idea of conditioning couldn’t understand why she was considering it.  But none could speak that in that overpowering presence . . . except one person.

“You know I always thought this is what a Manson Family reunion would be like,” Quill said as disrespectfully as possible. 

Whether due the sound of Quill’s voice, or simply the breaking of the moment Gamora’s fear abated slightly.  “I can’t,” she whispered.  In response Thanos backhanded Quill in the face, sending him flying.  If he hadn’t managed to activate his helmet the blow would probably have crashed right through his skull.  Thanos then reached for Gamora slowly, deliberately . . . arrogantly.  All she was able to do was watch that maw come closer and closer.

But it never got there, instead being deflected by Thor’s thrown hammer.  Gamora used the diversion to slip away and head toward Quill’s unconscious form.  Thanos whipped around, suddenly furious at being interfered with.  “Kill them.  Bring me Gamora’s body, as well as that of her little boy toy,” he added as he walked towards the center of the room.  The blue gem on his gauntlet glowed and a portal appeared flat against the ground in the center of the room.  Through it could be seen a massive desk with what appeared to be an elevated view of Knowhere.

Recognizing where that portal must lead, Thor threw his hammer, attempting to knock Thanos away from it.  It may well have been suicidal to keep him there, but he couldn’t allow the Mad Titan to gain the Aether.

As it turned out, he had little choice in the matter; Thanos had no trouble batting Mjolnir out of the air like it was a tennis ball.  He spared one quick smirk for the god of thunder and then dropped down.

“Yes Father,” a blue skinned woman nearly as tall as Thanos himself said reverently, stepping into the room.  She was wearing a black skinsuit with white and grey highlights along the torso and biceps, and was impressively built.  Her left arm was clad in gold plated armor and hefted a nasty looking spear.

“Proxima Midnight,” Gamora breathed in both fear and disgust.

>> 

“What have you done?” Taneleer yelled as he stalked around the vault room looking for Nebula.  He knew that in the light of recent developments he should really be getting his security system back online.  But he’d planned this moment for centuries.  To have it all undone by a pack of hoodlums in a matter of moments was enraging.

Besides, it should take Thanos some time to deal with the welcoming committee he’d left in his meeting room.  That was more than enough time to exact some vengeance.

Those plans too were altered as he rounded the corner of the massive cylinder of security equipment set next to the vault.  Nebula appeared from around it, kicking the gun out of his hand; she then applied a similar treatment to his face before striding over to the vault door.

“Rodent do you have the actual code?” she asked over the comm.

>> 

“Sorry, Rocket can’t come to the comm right now,” Rocket yelled as he thrusted out of the direction of a flying body.  “Mainly because he’s busy fighting your psycho family,” he added firing off a massive bolt of green energy at Proxima.  Other than knocking her back it seemed to have very little effect. “Please leave a message at the yell,” he finished.

The entire chamber was in chaos.  There were so many bodies flying around, few by their own volition, and shots being fired that it was impossible to make out who was winning.  Proxima had almost managed to kill Quill while he was dealing with the idea of still owning a head, but before she could deliver the coup de grace, Thor and Drax had converged on her.  Rocket’s shot had managed to keep her from impaling Drax, but that fight seemed to be mostly a draw. 

He figured the guy with the metal Armani suit must have some form of death wish, because he’d actually tried to follow Thanos through the portal he’d created.  Fortunately for him that portal had closed after the Mad Titan had jumped down it.  Currently he was flying around launching people into the air with some form of repulsor blast like his great ambition in life was to be a tornado.  He was the chief contributor of debris in the cluttered room, much to Rocket’s annoyance.  But he had to admit the guy was doing a wonderful job of being wherever he was needed to keep one of them alive while he was doing it, and all while yelling at the other guy he’d brought along to get in the fight.  Said ‘other guy’ was currently hiding under a table with Mantis.

Quill and Gamora had fused into an effective unit, taking down spawn after spawn, while still managing to lend a hand occasionally in the fight against Proxima.  But there were so many targets.  Normally Rocket would have simply called that a target rich environment and gleefully discharged his weapon as if auditioning to be the next Rambo.  The problem with that strategy being that there were just too many allies, not to mention the not-enemies that were currently helping out, for that to be what he would classify a good idea.

“Stay out of the center of the room,” the guy in the suit warned.

“Why?” Quill asked.

“Cause I’m about to bring the roof down,” came the response.

>> 

Nebula snarled at Rocket’s message and leapt across the room to stand on Tivan’s gun just as his hands grasped its hilt.  She picked him up with her left hand, gave him a half second impassive glare, and hurled him into a wall.  Then she picked up the weapon, ripped the barrel off, and chucked the parts to one side.

“Perhaps I can help,” Friday said over the comm.

“You stay out of my stuff,” Rocket yelled at the AI.  He was mostly ignored.

“The code is a set of time dependent variables,” Friday explained.  “Their current values are: 72, 53, 108, 9, and 53,” she said.  Nebula pulled her key out of her pocket where she’d stashed it to make sure it hadn’t been broken in the scuffle.  She quickly bent to the keypad and tapped the sequence in.

The vault door opened immediately, splitting along a vertical line that bisected it.  The gap was barely a foot wide before she impatiently slipped through.  It was the size of a closet and dark.  But that didn’t stop her from determining immediately that it was also empty.  No infinity stone.  No artifacts of any kind.  Not even a sack of currency.

“Do you like it?” Taneleer asked smugly.  “Solid neutronium walls,” he added.  “The only known existence of the once theoretical substance.  Completely impenetrable.”  She couldn’t help but glance at the empty vault.  Neutronium had been theorized for thousands of years but no one had ever found a way to synthesize it.

“You didn’t really think I’d put the actual resting place of the Aether in my system, did you?” a much-rumpled Collector asked from the doorway.  She turned quickly to see him holding the rear half of the gun on her.  There was an undulating reddish glow coming from the hole she’d made when she ripped the barrel off.  Nebula wondered if he was going to continue his earlier treatment but the sound of a boulder falling to the ground behind him drew their attentions.

 “I wondered where you might have stashed it,” Thanos said from behind him.  Tivan turned reflexively, his face mirroring the horror on Nebula’s.  He raised the gun, but Thanos backhanded him across the room.  Thanos held an open hand out towards Taneleer while he was still busy counting stars.  The gun flew from beside the downed collector back to Thanos.  It looked puny and insignificant in his giant maw of a hand.

All Nebula could do was stare in horror as he turned towards her.  She wanted to shrink away from him, but she couldn’t make herself move.  Her mind had blanked completely.  The only thing passing through it was the fear, as if no time had passed since their last meeting.

“Nebula,” Thanos said turning towards her.  “Your sister has made her choice and she will pay in the coin of everlasting torment for it.  But you have not betrayed me yet.  Come back.”

Nebula blinked in surprise at that offer.  The very thought that all could be forgiven by the Mad Titan was anathema to his very personality.  

Unless it was some sort of ruse.  But what if it wasn’t?  Who really had to think about the choice of everlasting torture and not everlasting torture?  But, despite her best effort, she couldn’t believe he’d ever let her disobedience go unpunished.  What would it be this time?  A mechanical leg?   The rest of her brain?  Scarring, mutilation?  The list was endless

The more she thought about it the more she realized what he was really offering.  His first demand -to prove her newfound loyalty of course- would be her oversight of Gamora’s punishment.   But wasn’t that better than the alternative?  Gamora’d had everything in this life while she’d had nothing.  Wasn’t it time for the roles to be reversed?

Her deliberations were cut short by a red beam that sliced a circle through the ceiling.  Before they could react the now segregated ceiling fell, crushing Thanos to the ground in front of her. 

If it had been one floor falling on him, the Mad Titan would probably have been irritated.  But it wasn’t one floor.  Tony had stacked the floors at each level, creating a three floor thick mass of rubble that even Thanos couldn’t simply ignore.  Not that he wasn’t irritated by the minor setback of being buried by several tons of stone and metal, of course.  The growl of frustration that came from that pile of debris made that unmistakable. 

At the top of the pile was a metal suited man Nebula had never seen before, but immediately recognized as the strange voice over the comm.  “Third floor,” it said.  “Burial assistance, ego restructuring, and gift shops.”  Then he looked up at her.  “You coming?” he asked simply.

As if on cue the pile of rubble started moving as Thanos began digging his way out of his multi-ton tomb.  Nebula stared at him as if he’d spoken an alien tongue, unable to move.  She had no idea who he was, but she was certain of one thing; he could not help her.

Taneleer on the other hand, felt no such compunctions.  Seeing his moment of escape he bolted for the stairwell.

“Whoa fella,” Tony said as Thanos’s movements increased.  He fought to retain his balance, in the end lifting off of the unstable mass.  “Uh, Thor,” he called up the whole “I think I’m going to need your help with the purple gorilla.”

“You didn’t try to feed it did you?” Thor called from above.

“Now please,” Tony said as one gigantic hand broke through the rubble.

“Fine,” Thor muttered, Joining Drax in an all-out offensive against Proxima.  There were two of them, and she couldn’t possibly block Thor’s hammer.  But she was bigger than either of them, and her spear gave her reach.  She was also adept at guiding Thor’s swings into missing by giving his arm a gentle push with her spear.  More than once she’d managed to guide the hammer into Drax, who had not been pleased by the least.

A flurry of emotions crossed Banner’s face as he watched his friends fight.  They needed The Hulk.  There were still more cybernetic freaks pouring into the room, Thor and his blue friend were barely keeping the blue giantess at bay, and that only because the others were spending a dangerous amount of time watching their backs.  And Tony was below trying to single handedly take on the very thing that had The Hulk cowering in the corners of his mind.

As the fight between Banner’s fear of losing himself and his desire to help his friends peaked Thor and Drax overreached themselves in their desperate attempt to end their own \.  Proxima immediately capitulated by slipping a hammer swing from Thor and thrusting the sharp end of her golden spear at Drax, who barely managed to avoid being impaled.  Unfortunately, he still suffered a scratch along his chest.  He lurched back in pain as the spear’s toxin entered the wound.  Proxima used the sudden opening to kick him across the room hard enough to leave a Drax shaped dent in the wall.  And then there was only one in her way.

Watching the giantess gain the upper hand, Banner realized he was just kidding himself in thinking he actually had a choice in this.  He could either help his friends now or fight by himself; either way he would have to fight.  So, face set in a mask of determination, he pulled himself out from under the table and stood up.

“Excuse me,” he said casually tapping the nearest of Thanos’s goons on the shoulder.  In response it kicked him back under the table and advanced on him, a sadistic gleam in its eyes.

The goon only made it one step before Groot grabbed him, and began extending his tendrils to encompass its limbs.  It looked a bit like he was riding a bucking bull as it struggled.  That didn’t last long as the tendrils contracted breaking bones, and crushing the chest in what was probably the worst death Banner could ever have imagined.  The thing fell to the ground lifeless.  Then Groot smiled at Banner.

“What was that supposed to do?” Mantis demanded.

“It didn’t work,” Banner muttered, more to himself than anyone else.  He pulled his shirt back, revealing the area he’d been kicked in.  Instead of a bruise the skin around it was green and had an amorphous quality.  It looked like the beginnings of his transformation.  But apparently all the Hulk would do was repair his wounds, because a second later his skin returned to its natural color.

“Come on big guy,” Banner muttered as if calming a nervous horse.  “They need you.  Thor needs you.  He’s your friend, isn’t he?”

But nothing would happen.  The Hulk would not come.  For a moment Banner was struck by the pure irony that he would be wanting the Hulk to take over.  But then he got angry.  “Come on,” he demanded, slapping himself in the face.  “Come on.”

“What are you doing?” Mantis demanded, grabbing his shoulder.

“I have to get mad,” Banner told her desperately, as he watched Thor barely fend off Proxima’s attacks.  In fact, if not for a well-aimed shot from the thief, his friend would already be dead.  “I have to get mad right now,” he reiterated, deliberately ramming his head into the bottom of the table.  “Ow,” he said indignantly, holding his head.  But for once he wasn’t feeling anger.  He was feeling fear, fear for his friends.

“You have to get angry?” Mantis asked disbelievingly.

“Yes!” Banner snapped.  But the Hulk would not come.

“Why?” she asked.

“So, I can help,” he told her, smacking himself again.  She seemed to think that over for a second before tentatively reaching out and touching his arm.

“What-” Banner started.  Then her antenna began to glow.

“You feel anger,” she said, then screamed and backed up, as the Hulk finally came out to play.  The transformation wasn’t even complete before he charged, knocking the goons out of the way as if they were made of cardboard.

Proxima barely had enough time to realize that the game had changed before the Hulk punched her so hard that she passed through the metal wall of not only their room but several rooms beyond, and possibly out of the building entirely.  Her spear clattered to the ground where it had braced against the hole her passage had created.  The goons all stopped, as if collectively processing what had just happened.  Then they ran.

“Thanks,” Thor gasped looking around the suddenly roomier room.  “Don’t touch that,” he added pointing at the spear. 

Mantis darted from under the table to where Drax lay.  She rolled him over with great effort and took in his barely conscious form.  The slight scratch from the spear had already widened into a blackened line that deepened as she watched.  “He’s barely breathing,” she said adding a shocked look at them for good measure.

“Oh, come on,” Quill said disbelievingly “we’ve seen him pinball off of trees before.”

“Proxima Midnight’s spear is poisoned,” Gamora informed them.  “But it’s a superficial cut.  If we can get him to a medical facility, we might be able to save him.”

“There’s a medical bay on the Statesman,” Thor said.  “And we have a pretty good part time biologist,” he added looking at The Hulk.  That worthy looked away with a snort.

“Where?” Quill asked.

“Docking port X-3B2,” Thor told him.

“Groot can you get Drax to that ship?” Gamora asked.

“I am Groot,” came the indignant response.

“I am not treating you like a child,” Gamora replied.  Those new to the home game gained varying quizzical looks.

“I am Groot,” the plant demanded.

“Because you’re the only one who can,” Gamora insisted.

“I am Groot.”

“Thank you,” Gamora replied.

“What that mean?” Hulk demanded.

Groot turned a glare on the green giant.  “I am-” he started before a panicky voice rose from below

“-You know, any time would be great,” Tony called up, diverting that entire argument.  The sound of him knocking the last support holding the ceiling above onto Thanos’s pile followed, as if for punctuation.

Groot shrugged and grabbed one of Drax’s arms, working his way under the shoulder.  Then he dragged the unconscious berserker out of the room.

Thor turned, giving a quick glance to his spontaneous allies.  “Shall we?” he asked and dropped down the hole.  Quill glanced at Gamora, who simply shrugged in an attempt to hide her fear and followed.  Taking that cue the rest of the room emptied down the shaft Tony had made.  All except Mantis and Hulk.

At the bottom Tony fired a missile into the groping paw that had emerged, walking dead style, from the rubble.  The hand flinched before grabbing a piece of debris and flicking it blindly back.  It caught Stark square in the chest, launching him into a wall.  Thanos continued his unearthing unopposed.

His head had just pushed through the pile as Thor fell from above.  The Asgardian didn’t hesitate to use that moment of vulnerability to add the momentum of his fall to the most powerful hammer strike he could manage.

Thor’s eyes widened in shock as the force of the blow forced the upper portion of the Mad Titan’s body back into the pile of debris.  He’d been worried that Thanos’s previous feat had shown an immunity to the hammer.  Apparently, that immunity required a certain amount of directed will. 

But, despite that good news, the effect of that one hit fell far short of his expectations.  Any other being would have had their grey matter (or whatever color they used) squishing out their ears from a blow like that; the best that could be said for it was that it seemed to stun the purple gorilla momentarily.

Far too momentarily, in Thor’s opinion, since Thanos’s other arm suddenly sprung from the rubble with blinding speed, and seized him by the torso.  One moment he was standing from his landing and the next he was slammed flat against the pile he’d been standing on by a torso sized fist.  Thor tried to pry that hand off of him, but Thanos placed all of his weight, plus the weight of the debris still on top of him, onto the Asgardian, and pushed.  His form began to rise from the pile once again.

Thanos was only up to his hands and one knee when Tony opened up on him with everything he had in an impressive barrage of missiles and projectiles.  The first few hit Thanos before he could hold an outstretched hand towards the incoming fire.  After that simple gesture every single projectile stopped suddenly.

“Um, not going according to plan,” Tony announced.  Thanos grinned and every projectile reversed course.  The impacts of the shrapnel coupled with the explosions from the missiles sent Stark careening against several walls with a pinball like manner before coming to rest against one of the vaults.  Thor rolled out from under Thanos before that hand could resecure him.

Before Thanos could capitalize on either of his adversaries the rest of their allies showed up.  Then ensued a great melee.  The best that could be said was that due to each member’s constant attacks Thanos was unable to kill any of them.  Yet their attacks were unable to provoke more than minor flinches from him.

At the top of the hole, Hulk paced back and forth in indecision.  He wanted to help his friends.  He should help his friends.  He knew that.  But Thanos was down there.  And Hulk knew he couldn’t beat him.  Yet the sounds of battle would not stop beckoning him.  He pumped his arms, trying to psyche himself up, but he just couldn’t quite get there.

Back below Thanos had had enough.  The minor scrapes and pinpricks his assailants had inflicted had gone beyond the annoyance of gnats.  Minimal as their damage was, each attack had the added effect of impeding his will. 

“Enough,” he growled.  In one flurry of movement he backhanded Thor into Brunnhilde, kicked Gamora into a wall, and telekinetically sent a shotgun blast of rocks at Quill and Rocket.  Thor and Brunnhilde landed in a tangled mass against the far wall.  The force of his kick knocked Gamora out as she impacted her wall. 

Rocket took several rocks in the body and head, causing him to lose control of his flight pack.  His futile attempts to regain control added up to a head first ram into the same wall Gamora had fallen unconscious at.  He was already out cold before his body fell the remaining five feet to the ground.

The impact sent Quill into an uncontrollable tumble whose motion much resembled that of a deflating balloon.  Realizing his attempts to regain control were only making things worse he shut his boot jets off.  Unfortunately, the wild gyrations had been such that he’d lost track of where he was in the room.  To his chagrin it turned out he’d been on an upward track; he barely had time to utter a curse before he landed flat on his back from twenty feet up.

Up until that moment Nebula had been frozen in indecision, hiding in her reinforced box.  No matter how much she hated Thanos, her fear trumped it.   She found it impossible to even consider that he would lose this fight.  Yet, as he gained the clear upper hand in the contest, she found herself stepping out of her cage.  It was as if somehow the very confirmation of his dominance had compelled her to become involved.  She had no idea what she could do, but something in her said she must do something.

Before she could figure out what that something was Thanos snatched Ironman out of the air with one giant maw and raised the other hand up at his side, palm up.  As he did so, the debris in the room floated off the ground around him.  Then he bawled that open palm into a fist and the debris formed a compact shell around them.

“Tony!” Thor yelled, struggling to get back to his feet.

Stark tried to struggle against his captor but nothing worked.  He tried using his boot jets to free himself.  Thanos simply held him against their impulse.  He tried firing a repulsor blast at Thanos’s eyes.  He calmly blocked it with his palm.  Lasers and missiles likewise had no effect on his armor.  Every attack just made his sadistic grin wider.  It was as if he were taking great enjoyment out of watching Tony’s feeble efforts.

Eventually Stark wound down, realizing there was truly nothing he could do to the Mad Titan on his own.  Seeing this, Thanos slammed him into the ground hard enough to make Stark’s helmet fall apart.  Tony was only dazed for a few seconds until a green light emitted from the inside of his suit.  Thanos kindly waited, fist of doom cocked and ready, ensuring that this metal insect of a man would see his end coming. 

Tony’s eyes snapped into focus on Thanos, taking in the meaning of the hovering fist instantly, and glared back defiantly.  Thanos’s fist flew forwards.

And stopped mere millimeters from the tinker’s face.  Thanos pulled his hand back and held Tony up to peer calmly into his glaring countenance, as if finding some interesting new form of fungus.

“No,” the Mad Titan said slowly.  “The thought of your own death doesn’t scare you.  Let’s see what you think about the deaths of your friends.”  Then he flung Tony through the shell, which immediately collapsed.  Tony’s unconscious form impacted a wall as the somewhat wrinkled suit’s healing protocols engaged again.

The rest of his meager opposition stood around Thanos, still clearly recovering from his earlier onslaught, but one figure caught his attention.  He turned to where Nebula had halted, a look that expertly mingled disappointment and anticipation.

“Nebula,” he muttered with menace, taking a step towards her.  That one step was all the further he got, for he was rudely interrupted by a massive green figure landing on him, as if trying to use him for a trampoline.

Hulk took advantage of his surprise by jumping up and down on Thanos several more times.  Then he grabbed the stunned titan by the neck and hurled him into the wall.  Thanos had barely rebounded before Hulk leapt forward, delivering a massive haymaker.  He followed that up with a relentless barrage of kicks, punches, and head buts; not to mention the yells and snarls that usually accompanied Hulk at work.

For a moment it looked as if the embodiment of rage would be able to keep the Mad Titan at bay all by himself.  But his attacks were too desperate, too easy to predict.  Eventually Thanos managed to regain enough wit to counter with a punch to Hulk’s chest.  As the green monster attempted to regain his balance the purple monster snatched one of his ankles and began using Hulk as a ball and chain against the others.  Had Banner been available, he would have sued for copyright infringement.

The flailing green monster’s attempts to extricate himself from the very position he’d put so many others in only made things worse as he was crashed into Avenger after Avenger.  Finally, Thanos threw the barely conscious Hulk into a wall.  The Titan immediately charged after his green play toy but, instead of more punishment, he simply grasped Hulk by the throat and peered into his eyes.

“You’ve got spirit,” he said sadistically, holding the Infinity Gauntlet up.  The green gem glowed and stream of green energy began to weave out of the Hulk’s body.  It was as if an invisible field surrounding Hulk had shifted to green and was being siphoned into the gem.

Hulk screamed in rage and tried to punch Thanos, but the titan was within his reach.  He tried to kick him, but couldn’t find leverage.  He tried to bearhug him, but that just pushed Thanos’s hand further into his throat.  And all the while his screams shifted from rage to frustration, to desperation.

Thor threw his hammer again, hoping that Thanos would be too busy sucking the essence out of his friend to counter it.  But it had barely left his hands when that massive head turned a patronizing look at him.  Then he reached his gauntleted hand out to catch the incoming hammer.  Hulk slumped against the wall, barely conscious, as the hand holding the Spirit Stone was retasked.

Gamora arrived before Thanos could claim Mjolnir, jamming her sword into a chink in his massive armor.  He screamed in rage, turning towards her just as the hammer impacted him in the head. 

He dropped Hulk to the ground, spun counter clockwise, caught Gamora in his right hand, and slammed her into the wall, sword still sticking out of his armor.  As Hulk’s unconscious body hit the ground he began reverting back to Banner, in a manner far too reminiscent of Tony’s witch given nightmares.

“One green soul is as good as another,” Thanos grinned with malice as he pinned Gamora writhing figure, and again held up that green gem.  A moment later Gamora screamed.  Each scream only seemed to delight her ‘father’ more than the last.

Her screams didn’t last long.  Thanos quickly found other concerns for his attention as Nebula bounded forward and latched onto the sword.  She yanked back and forth on it viciously, as if it were a lever.

For a moment Thanos’s back arched in pain as the sword sawed through his incredibly tough body.  He dropped Gamora involuntarily and howled before twisting on his newest aggressor.  Nebula had barely completed two of the back and forth motions before his turn twisted the blade out of her grip, and he backhanded her across the room.

Pure fury burned in Thanos’s eyes as he telekinetically removed the sword and snapped it in two.  Nebula rolled over from where his blow had tossed her to see a visage she’d never known.  She’d thought she knew Thanos’s moods.  She’d thought she was prepared.  But all she could do was scoot backwards on her hands as he launched himself at her. 

Everyone else still on their feet opened up on him with everything they had.  Quill fired his pistols as fast as they could charge.   Rocket went full rock and roll with his oddly disproportionately sized gun.  Thor channeled all the energy out of the Aether he could into a blast of electricity as thick as his torso.  Tony, conscious again, fired everything.  He launched mini-missiles, restraints, lasers, and his chest arc fired a beam of pure energy.

It barely slowed Thanos down.  He put one of those massive hands out to block Tony’s beam, and another to block Thor’s lightning.  Everything else he simply bulldozed through, like some unstoppable tank.

Nebula’s motion backward brought her to the ass end of the severed gun Tivan had used on her.  The gun she’d severed.  Without thinking she grabbed it and pointed it at the looming behemoth and pulled the trigger, all while still kicking further away from him with her feet.  She didn’t know if it would even work.  When she’d broken it, her intent had been to ensure it stopped working.  It was purely a reflexive desperate move. 

But it did work, although the beam was not as stable as it had been.  Her eyes widened at the result.  She’d expected it to grab Thanos as it had grabbed her, not that she was certain of the value of such a maneuver.  But instead, the red wave of energy emitted from the gun created a wall of solid neutronium directly in the berserking titan’s path.  She quickly played the wave back and forth until the barrier had completely sealed off her side of the room.  There was a loud thump as Thanos barreled into the barrier, followed by a few more as he attempted to break through it. 

Beneath that crashing sound was the rumbling counterpoint of her nominal allies’ continued assault.  Thor had run out of energy and fallen back on throwing his hammer at their relentless nemesis, actually denting its armor occasionally.  Tony was down to just his beams, his power supply’s dwindling status reflected in their strength.  But he seemed to be having some minimal effect.  At least the stench rising from their target was suggestive of cooking meat.  Spoiled, cooking meat.  He couldn’t help but wonder if that was the effect of the monster’s soul or his species.

On the other side of the spontaneous black wall Nebula allowed herself a breath.  She’d never seen anything stop Thanos before, but she’d never actually seen neutronium either.

She was just starting to breathe easier, when a suspiciously Thanos shaped section of the wall began to shimmer with a blue glow.  A second later the Thanos shaped emission emitted a Thanos shaped person.  The matching glow of the blue stone in his gauntlet subsided leaving an ordinary neutronium wall behind him.  The pelting and hammering of the others resumed but there was no changing the fact that she was alone.

Nebula raised the gun again reflexively, but this time Thanos held the gauntlet out.  The Aether began streaming out of the device towards it.  Nebula took one terrified look at the stream, dropped the weapon and raced towards the stairs.  As it completed its transition the glow of the other stones became muted and dull.

“Now where are you going in such a hurry?” Thanos asked, holding his other hand out to halt the Luphoid’s flight at the base of the stairs. 

Nebula reflexively grabbed the handrail as Thanos attempted to real her in.  The section she clung to snapped threw it back along his line of sight causing Thanos’s telekinetic leash to switch to the closer target.  He snarled and mentally tossed the bar aside, but she had already disappeared up the access.

His gaze drifted upwards, searching for the sound of her mind, but it locked onto another’s first.  He listened for a moment, in bemused half interest, then realized what that mind had planned.  He crouched and gave a mighty leap that sent him crashing through the ceiling to the floor above.

Meanwhile Nebula charged back up the stairs.  “Rodent, you have to get back into the system,” she said, keying her mic.

“Well look who’s still alive,” came the laconic response.

Nebula ignored the greeting.  “Reactivate the security system,” she demanded.

“That’s a terrible idea,” Rocket replied, as they saw Thanos crash through their ceiling via the hole in its center.  The noise of his passage jerked Tony out of the rage filled gaze he’d been directing at the wall where Thanos had passed.  He glanced upwards to watch Thanos jump again through the next ceiling.  A large part of him wanted to follow, to chase the monster down despite the fact that he wasn’t a match for him.  Instead he jetted over to check on Banner.

“Wait, what’s a terrible idea?” Quill and Thor asked simultaneously.  They each glared at the other.

“That crazy psycho wants to turn the security systems back on,” Rocket explained.

“What for?” Gamora asked as they all heard Thanos leap through the next ceiling.

“What possible reason could she possibly have that would be good for us?” Rocket demanded.

“Because, The Collector had some way to get rid of Thanos, you moronic rat” Nebula nearly shouted.

“Oh,” Rocket replied.  He pulled his tablet back out and began working back through the system.

“Are you reactivating the security?” Quill asked.

“Yeah,” Rocket replied without stopping.

“I’m sorry didn’t you just say that was a terrible idea?” Gamora asked.

“Eh,” Rocket replied without stopping, somehow managing a full body shrug along the way.

“Hurry up,” Nebula insisted.

“Wait this is weird,” Rocket said a moment later.  “The system is already booting back up.”

“Tivan must be reactivating it,” Gamora said.

“Where is he?” Nebula asked, wondering if she could work killing the bastard in besides saving them all from Thanos.

“Looks like the commands are being entered from his office,” Rocket replied.  “One floor above the foyer.  Make a right and then a left after exiting the stairs.”

Tony looked up from where he’d been crouched over Banner.  The short biochemist appeared to be in a coma, but his vital signs were stable for the moment.  According to Friday he should have been awake. 

“Friday do you know where that is?” he asked.  An overlay of the building’s floorplan superimposed itself on his heads-up display.  A line from his current position snaked up five flights through the prodigious hole he’d created, through the entry room’s ceiling, and down a corridor to a rather large room.  Tony gently set Bruce back on the rubble he’d fallen on and jetted upwards.

“Wait a minute,” Rocket added as the others made to follow him.  “Something’s wrong.  According to this the system’s reinitialized, but it hasn’t done anything.”

“Can you activate it from here?” Gamora asked.

“No, it has to be activated from The Collector’s office,” Rocket replied.

“What’s it supposed to do?” Thor asked.

“It looks like,” Rocket said, turning the display around as if not sure which way was up “yeah, it looks like it’s supposed to create a randomized transient wormhole that would shunt the target to the edge of the galaxy.”

“What good would that do?” Thor asked, doubtfully.  “He has the Tesseract.  He could use it to return just as quickly.”

“It might still buy us enough time to get out of here,” Quill replied, holding a hand out to Gamora.  She took it, placing her left boot on his right.  Quill placed his other hand around the small of her back and they jetted up to follow Stark.

As Stark reached their origin room, he cut an X in the ceiling of the foyer and shoulder slammed through the newly formed weak spot.  Those unfortunate enough to be below him dodge quickly out of the way of the falling debris.

“This will be a waste of time,” Thor prognosticated, twirling his hammer up anyways.

“You got a better plan?” Rocket asked, still engrossed in his readouts.

“Plans aren’t really my forte,” Thor replied with a grin before being pulled off of the ground by the hammer.  The smile died as the memory of the Kronan he’d tried to explained this act to intruded. 

Rocket tracked his ascent and cursed.  His out of control flight had left him with a dead jet pack, not to mention a killer headache.  And thanks to the Indigo Psycho, the stairs to this level were cut off, effectively removing him from the fight.

“How do we activate this wormhole generator?” Quill asked.

Rocket zoomed in on Taneleer’s office.  “There should be a big yellow button in a recess at the center of his desktop,” Rocket told them.  “The system’s already targeting Thanos.  You should just have to press it.”

“Then why hasn’t Tivan activated it?” Gamora asked over the comm.

“How should I . . . oh crap,” Rocket replied.

“Wait, what’s ‘oh crap’?” Quill asked.

“I don’t know why The Collector hasn’t hit the button but it’s a good thing.”

“How could that possibly be a good thing?” Gamora demanded.

“Because it turns out that Thanos wasn’t the only adversary The Collector thought was worth getting rid of,” he explained as he resumed manipulating the controls.

“You mean he has us all targeted?” Quill demanded.

“Rocket you have to hack back into his system and change the targeting parameters,” Gamora ordered.

“No, really?” Rocket snapped.  “Gee, and I was just sitting here counting my toes.”

>> 

Nebula rounded the last corner to the hall in front of The Collector’s office and lurched to a stop as she saw Thanos standing in the entrance.  There was a massive hole in the floor just past him.  He had one hand out in his standard ‘I’m channeling my telekinetic ability’ gesture. 

Through the windows lining the corridor long office Nebula was able to see Tivan standing at his desk, finger perched over a button in the center.  He appeared to be struggling with all his might to lower that one hand.  As she watched, his facial features shifted from frantic, to fear, and finally rested on abject terror as he realized how completely powerless he truly was.

Thanos watched the play of emotions on his victim’s face, his delight increasing inversely with his victim’s fear.  He turned to look directly at Nebula, and grinned in anticipation at the matching expression on her face.  Before he could make good on the threat that look had delivered a red shape crashed through the floor at the other end of the hall. 

Nebula hadn’t survived under that monster as long as she had without recognizing an opportunity when it presented itself.  This was her chance.  All she had to do was jump through the window and get to that button while that suited figure kept his attention.  That’s all.

But her fear rooted her in place.  It was as if she was still that little girl Thanos had sadistically kept alive, with no power to resist and no ability to fight back.  She couldn’t move a muscle; not even an artificial one.

Whatever issues she was having were not in evidence in the suited figure.  As Thanos turned towards the sound that figure jetted towards him firing everything he had left.  Missiles erupted from the suit’s forearms and collar bone area and streaked down various sides of the corridor.

Thanos calmly caught them telekinetically.  But, while he was busy with that, the suited figure’s forearm emitted a laser.  Instead of wasting its dwindling energy on the Mad Titan’s armor he directed it at the portion of floor he was currently standing on.  A moment later that flooring collapsed under his massive weight.

Again, Nebula knew she had a chance.  She knew Thanos’s attention would be completely occupied by the split between maintaining his hold on Tivan and dealing with that suicidal assault.  She knew it, but still she couldn’t make herself do what had to be done.

Meanwhile Thanos caught himself in the hole, bracing his body against it with a leg.  Then he ripped a girder member from the hole and hurled it at the rapidly advancing suit.  Tony tried to dodge out of the way but in so doing he managed to put his left leg in the way of the projectile.  The collision sent him careening against the walls.

While he was busy acting as a pachinko ball, Thanos pulled himself from the hole.  He then bent down and ripped another piece of structural member as long as Nebula’s arm from the hole, and cast it directly at the immobilized Collector.  The ageless Elder caught the improvised spear in the chest and was hurled backwards to be pinned against the wall behind his desk.

As Tony began to rise a bolt of energy sizzled past him to impact Thanos in the face.  The Mad Titan recoiled from the hit as Stark turned to see Quill and Gamora standing just inside the hole he’d made.  A second later Thanos reopened his eyes and glared down the hall at the duo.

Quill charged, unleashing a barrage of shots from his weapons.  Thanos countered by ripping a piece of the doorframe off and launching back.  Before it could hit its target, Stark adjusted its vector with a repulsor blast.

Outraged, Thanos picked Stark up telekinetically and hurled him through the wall opposite The Collector’s spacious office.  He tried the same thing with Quill but a well-aimed shot to the right eye convinced him otherwise.

He roared and charged the much smaller man.  As they met, he attempted to grab him in one of those torso sized fists.  Peter, anticipating this, dodged below his arm and activated his thrusters to send him sliding past the enraged monster, all without letting up on his stream of gnat like attacks.  Thanos turned pinning Quill with a feral look.

“Gamora, how about a little help,” he said as he caught the wild fury in their adversary’s eyes.  But she was having the same issues Nebula was.  She’d thought she was prepared for this.  She thought she’d finally be able to stand up to the monster.  But all she could think about was how nothing they were doing really mattered.  All of their attempts were little more than delaying actions.  They couldn’t stop Thanos.  They couldn’t even really hurt him.  All they could do was piss him off.  The others didn’t know what that meant, but the two sisters knew.  And, despite the fact that she’d probably already earned worse, she just couldn’t bring herself to dig that particular grave any deeper.  She couldn’t move.  She couldn’t think.  She could barely breath.

“Gamora!” Quill yelled just before Thanos unleashed a low backhand that sent him flying the opposite direction.  Nebula instinctively stepped to her right to avoid the encounter, but at the last minute extended her left arm to catch the ballistic rogue.  The impact slid them back a few feet before she set him back on the ground.  “Thanks,” he muttered, more in surprise than anything else, before jetting back into the fight.

This time Thanos stood his ground, a superior smile spreading across his face.  Again, before he could enact whatever he was planning he took a hit from Mjolnir in the back of the head.  The blow staggered him forward a step.  He reached up to feel the back of his head before turning and charging directly at Thor standing where he’d exited the hole.

Enheartened by actually having caused damage to the Thanos, Thor hurled his hammer again.  His eyes widened as Thanos caught the legendary hammer and hurled it aside.  Then he was on them.  Thor tried to call his hammer back, but was punched down the corridor for his trouble.     Gamora backpedaled furiously as Thanos turned his attentions on her.  She dodged frantically while managing to misdirect the few blows she couldn’t completely evade. 

Nebula could tell Gamora was barely fending his onslaught off.  Any moment now some strike or other would get through her guard.  And even if the first hit didn’t kill her it would hurt her enough for Thanos to finish the job.

As far as she was concerned, they were all fools for trying to fight that fight.  They had no game plan.  There was no way they could beat Thanos heads up.  Their only exit plan relied on a talking fox to hack into the system that had already fooled him once; by the time he’d done that they’d all be dead.  And that was the best outcome they could hope for.

And she was even more a fool for not using that opportunity to escape.  But she couldn’t leave, no matter how she railed against herself for making that choice.  Yet she couldn’t help either.  She was stuck in a twisted form of limbo, knowing what would happen but powerless to change it.

Fortunately, she didn’t have to; before Thanos could land that deadly blow that metal suit burst from through the wall and shoulder checked him into the wall, shattering its window.  Thanos retaliated immediately, backhanding the metal man with his right arm and kicking at Gamora with his left leg.  Tony took the hit square on the armor, but Gamora dodge rolled out of the way.

The metal man went flying, to regain control about ten meters down the corridor.  “You know, anytime you’d like to help,” he said to Nebula.

Meanwhile Gamora’s dodge had put her directly in the path of Thanos’s returning right fist.  And it would have hit too, if Thor’s hammer hadn’t once again impacted the back of the raging titan’s skull, causing him to stumble and miss his target.

“You keep forgetting about me,” Thor said as he stomped down the corridor, hammer in hand.  “Why is that?”

“Well, you did say he was ancient,” Tony replied from where he was hovering next to Nebula.  “Might be suffering a touch of senility; it’s fairly common amongst the elderly.  You know,” he added directing his comment at Thanos “they say the odds double every five years after sixty.  Perhaps you’d consider-” he added, ending in a grunt as Thanos reached out telekinetically and yanked Tony towards him.  Just before they collided Thanos sidestepped Tony’s ballistic flight, giving him a view of something he’d never wanted to see again: Thor’s hammer coming right at him. 

Fortunately, Thor’s reflexes were up to the task.  He recalled his hammer a suit soiling five millimeters from Tony’s face.  Tony jetted to a stop just before ramming his friend.

“Now I know how a ping pong ball feels,” he muttered as he kicked a wall to spin himself around.

“You will soon know how a spitted animal feels,” Thanos replied snatching Gamora up and throwing her like a rubber javelin at the other two.  Tony immediately angled his palm repulsors to intersect just in front of her and fired.  The resulting shock wave slowed her flight down to manageable levels.

“No thanks,” Tony replied as he caught the projectile of a woman and set her down.  Then the three of them charged.  Thanos acted in kind.  As he passed the door to the office, Quill stepped out from where he’d stationed himself in the hopes that Rocket would succeed in his task and peppered the titan’s back with shots of varying elements.

The two groups merged much like a bowling ball contacting pins.  In this case the ‘pins’ had enough forethought to dodge out of the way of the ‘bowling ball’, but the result was the same.  The five then devolved into a wild melee.  It looked an awful lot like a pack of dogs trying to bring down a silver backed gorilla.  As the gorilla would strike the target would recoil, and the others would attempt to take advantage of any openings left by the strike. 

And still Nebula watched on.  She was surprised at how long they’d held up.  Some part of her was awed at their refusal to accept reality.  They were only making things worse for themselves.  Such rebellious behavior was always factored into Thanos’s punishments.  Then everything changed.

“Guys, I did it.  Hit the button,” the fox nearly yelled over the radio.  “Guys can you hear me?” he added when no response was forthcoming.  “Guys,” he asked again, concern creeping into his voice.

“Rodger,” the suited man said before trying to jet past Thanos.  The Titan was up to that challenge, grabbing his leg and breaking the thruster on that boot before chucking him back the way he’d come.  Gamora tried as well, with similar results. 

In a moment of shared recognition, they all saw the failure of their last chance unfolding itself.  They had a tiger by its tail.  They couldn’t let go, and they could only hold on for so long. 

But Nebula didn’t have that issue; she was on the other side of the hall.  And suddenly resistance didn’t seem as futile as she’d thought.  She dove through the window of the office, rolled to her feet, and sprinted towards the terminal.

She almost made it.  But Thanos caught her telekinetically with one outstretched arm, and lifted her helplessly into the air above her goal.  He was toying with her she knew, keeping her just out of reach of their salvation, helpless to intervene in what was coming.  Then that massive hand turned into a fist and the invisible force holding her began constricting.

She groaned in pain and anger.  It was hard to tell who she was angrier at: Thanos for the pain she’d known he’d bring, or herself for being foolish enough to act against him.  Not that it mattered.  This was a warning not to fight anymore.  He could do worse, had done worse in the past.

But, for some reason she couldn’t just watch, so she pulled one of her stun clubs out of its holster and hurled it at the button.  But a flick of the Thanos’s wrist sent it sailing off target.  Then he snapped his fingers.

Pain coursed throughout her body, just as it had when she’d fought Ebony Maw.  But this time it was worse.  She shrieked once as she fought to adjust to the new level of torment, but it was hard.  She’d never felt anything like this.  She writhed in agony as much as Thanos’s hold would allow her too.  It was as if every nerve ending in her body had been turned against her.  It took a massive effort of will just to stay conscious through it.

As Nebula fought her punishment Gamora finally managed to push through the fears that had held her back.  Instead she raged at the titan, going on a flashing offensive.  His need to retain some control on his levitated victim rooted him somewhat, allowing several attacks to get through his guard.  But still he wouldn’t release Nebula.

The others followed suit.  Thanos dodged Thor’s hammer, turned his armor to take the brunt of Quill’s weapons, and fended Gamora off with his other arm, blocking her sword with his gauntleted hand.

But that left Stark free.  He blasted his way through the window, making a beeline for the terminal.  He was half way there when Nebula’s body suddenly slammed into him.  The force knocked him to the ground.  He tried to get back up but her body hammered him back into the ground like a sledgehammer before rising back up.  As she reached the apex of Thanos’s swing her eyes snapped open and locked on Stark.

But, just as Thanos prepared another slam Thor managed to sweep one of his legs, dropping him to one knee.  Thanos immediately twisted to punch the Asgardian on his way down.  Nebula’s body followed the motion, slamming through the office wall.

“Stop it!” Gamora screamed, picking up the broken hilt of her sword and jamming it under Thanos’s outstretched hand.  The move was a bit of a win loss situation.  Win, because she actually caused him to growl in pain.  Loss, because it left her completely open for his returning punch.  Then she was the one crashing through the wall.

Tony analyzed the situation in a flash.  Thanos had made it clear he’d use the blue woman as a wrecking ball to keep everyone away from the console, but that one brief moment of eye contact was enough to show that she was awake.  Based on the pain erupting from her face it was doubtful she’d even felt the impacts, such were the depths of her torment.  But she was conscious, and he’d seen one more stun stick on her back.  But she needed to be in the room.

“Sorry about this,” he muttered as he jetted up and back towards the console again.  As predicted, Nebula came flying back out of the hole her passage had made towards him.  He immediately thrusted against his momentum, trying to stop himself inside her arc.

Thanos corrected her flight, causing the two forms to collide with sadistic glee.  Tony immediately pushed her up and jetted back at the monster with everything his suit had left.  Thanos prepared to receive him with anticipation, but before he could Thor hammered the blade fragment stuck under his arm further into his massive shoulder.  Nebula’s eyes flew open as the pain response caused him to squeeze her even tighter.

He instinctively turned to deal with the Asgardian, but by then Tony was on him.  But instead of a worthless punch or missile he channeled all the energy of his repulsors into a pure burst of white light emitted just centimeters from the monster’s face.

The flash was so bright that only two people weren’t blinded, even if only for a moment.  Friday, sensing what her boss was up to, damped the flash down on his heads-up display.  And Nebula had the dual advantages of her cerebral processors to help dampen the flash, and the fact that she was shielded from it by Tony’s suit.

Tony was the only one to see her simultaneously draw her remaining stun stick, twist in midair, and cast the projectile directly at the button.  He turned back around to be confronted by an enraged Thanos.  A Thanos who’d clearly regained his sight.  Tony raised one hand and waved at the Titan with its fingers tauntingly.  Thanos tried to make a grab at him, but was immediately sucked into a wormhole and gone.

Quill dove into the hole Gamora’s passage had created.  Tony and Thor got back to their feet warily, as if expecting Thanos to reappear at any moment.

“Why does he not return using the Tesseract?” Thor asked, when no Mad Titan appeared.

“He can’t,” A voice whispered from the office.  They followed it to find The Collector barely alive.

“What was that?” Tony asked, as he scanned the elder’s body.  Unfortunately, his physique was such that he had no idea how to repair his injuries, if that was even possible.

“The stones,” Tivan replied as if out of breath “may have come from one being.  But they don’t . . . play well, together.”

“And the gauntlet forces them to,” Thor countered.

Tivan grinned mirthlessly.  “Children,” he spat before dying.

“What the hell does that mean?” Tony asked.

“If you think you can get answers from a dead man your welcome to try,” Thor replied waving his hand invitingly towards said dead elder.

While they puzzled that out Quill was busy following the trail Gamora’s passage had created.  She’d apparently been punched through two rooms ending up imbedded on the far wall of the second.  Quill’s heart began racing as he saw her, and sped up further when he took in her unconscious form.

A wave of panic exploded in his chest as he rushed across the room to her.  He wasn’t sure if he could handle her being dead.  It was funny really; not too long ago he’d cared for no one but himself.  Now the thought of losing her was almost more than he could handle.

“Gamora,” he called out as reached her.  Her eyelids fluttered.  “Oh, thank god,” he exclaimed, perhaps crying a little bit.  “Hold on, I’ll get you out of there,” he added.

“What happened?” she asked as he braced his foot against the wall.

“You got punched through a few walls,” Quill replied.

“I know that,” Gamora snapped as he grabbed her hands.

“On one,” he told her, ignoring her comment.  She nodded in agreement.  “One,” he said before straining.  A moment later she popped out of the wall, landing on a hand and both knees.  She rose quickly, nearly losing her balance.  Quill put a hand out to steady her.

“Thanks,” she said, in a most uncharacteristic display of gratitude.  “Is,” she asked before stopping.  Somehow asking if Thanos was still there seemed stupid.  After all, he hadn’t come after them yet, there were no loud crashing sounds coming from the adjacent areas, nor any screams.  Yet she couldn’t seem to believe they might have gained a victory over the monster, no matter how fleeting.  It made sense, but she physically couldn’t get her hopes up.

“Your deranged father’s gone,” Quill answered anyway.  “Let’s get out of here before he comes back,” he added as he helped her back the way they’d come.  The encounter had not left her unscathed.  She was pressing one arm tightly against her ribs and limping badly.

They made it back to the office just as Tony was trying to help Nebula up.  She responded by lurching to her feet and unleashing a wild haymaker in his direction before falling against the desk, still in obvious pain.  A moment later she slipped back to the floor.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Quill called out.

“Well then you get her,” Tony replied.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t do that if I were me either,” Quill returned, without moving.

“Then what do you suggest?” Thor asked a bit testily.  “Because if you think our victory here won’t be answered you’re a fool,” he added just as a massive blast shook the entire complex, knocking all assembled down.

“Friday what was that?” Tony asked, as he got back to his feet.

“An energy blast equivalent to a sixty-megaton warhead,” she replied.  “The facility’s shields are holding for now.  However, relocation to another area is recommended.”

“She’s right,” Thor said, standing back up.

“Then let’s all get out of here,” Gamora suggested rather forcefully.

Tony turned back to where Nebula was trying to pull herself up.  Quivering muscles were making that simple task extremely difficult.  “Friday what’s-?” He asked before being interrupted by another blast.  They were able to keep their feet this time, though Gamora needed Quill’s help to do it.

Before anyone could respond Rocket’s, voice came over the radio.  “Uh, guys?” he asked uncertainly.

“Rocket we’re all here,” Quill replied keying his radio.  “More or less,” he added with a glance at Gamora.

“And when were you going to tell me that?!” Rocket snapped.  “Didn’t it even occur to you that I might like to know you weren’t all paste on the deck plates?  Of all the ungrateful, rude-” he started before being cut off.

“Look I’m sorry all right,” Peter replied.  “We got distracted.”

“Rocket how’s the human that’s with you?” Gamora asked before the two of them got into another useless fight.

“He’s stable but unconscious,” Rocket replied.

“All right, keep an eye on him,” she commanded.  “We’ll come and get you.”  Her statement was punctuated by another blast.

“Would it be too much to ask you to make it before the entire building is turned into our final resting place?” Rocket replied sarcastically.  She chose not to respond.

“Friday, what’s wrong with her?” Tony asked again.

“Probably a healthy dose of guilt mingled with a fear of retribution for her crimes, I’d guess,” Thor muttered, drawing a dirty look.

“Scanning,” Friday replied, ignoring Thor’s comment.

 “And I suppose you’ve never done a terrible deed,” Stark replied to Thor’s comment, looking up at the dust floating down from the ceiling.

“I may have made mistakes, but I didn’t revel in them,” Thor replied, doing the same.  “She’s wanted by at least twelve governments.  Odin decreed her death for the massacre of two entire villages of his subjects; nearly a thousand civilians butchered.”

“And then there’s the fact that she tried to steal the stone,” Quill added, gaining a dirty look from Gamora.

“Not to mention the fact that she stood by for most of the fight and did nothing,” Thor agreed.

“So . . . what?” Tony asked over his shoulder.  “We just leave her here; like this?”

“We are not leaving her,” Gamora insisted vehemently, trying to step forward and dropping to one knee in pain for her trouble.  Quill bent down worriedly, to check on her just as another blast hit.

“Well, I guess you can’t argue with that,” Tony said turning back to Nebula.  She’d managed to get herself back into a sitting position and was regarding the lot of them with the air of a wounded dog that had been beaten regularly.  “Time to go,” Tony said extending an arm.  She instinctively lurched away from the gauntleted hand, falling to the floor in the process.

“Friday?” Tony asked.

“I find no evidence of any nerve stimulus that could remotely cause this effect, Boss,” the AI replied.  “Whatever is happening to her must be caused by her cerebral implant.”

“Can you hack into it?” Tony asked.  Friday’s response was interrupted quite rudely buy another blast.

“Once more but without the Earth shattering kaboom?” Tony asked after the shockwave subsided.

“I am not familiar with the programming language running the implants,” Friday repeated.  “I am attempting to search the local information net for any relating educational materials.”

“Well, keep at it,” Stark added before returning his attention to the blue woman sprawled just out of arms reach on the floor.

“Of course, Boss,” Friday replied, in a tone suggesting more than a hint of sarcasm.

Tony ignored it, instead reaching a gauntleted hand out.  “It’s time to go; now,” he told her.  She didn’t move, instead regarding his hand as if it were a weapon.  Another blast hit.  This time the shield covering the complex dimmed visibly as it imposed itself against murderous bolt.

“We’re running out of time,” Thor commented pointedly.

 “Thank you Captain Obvious,” Quill replied as he helped Gamora up once again.

“Just a second,” Tony said before turning back to Nebula.

“When did you become so noble?” Thor asked, only half-jokingly.

“I’m channeling Cap,” Tony replied in kind.

In the back of the room Gamora glanced up at Quill.  “What’s a ‘Cap’?” she whispered.

“A hat as far as I know,” Quill whispered back.

Tony ignored the byplay in favor of fixing Nebula with as stern a visage as he could manage.  “You’d prefer to stay here?” he asked rhetorically before indicating his outstretched arm with a nod.  Despite the question’s one-sided nature, she took quite some time to reach her decision; far longer than could be explained by the facts of the case.   But, in the end, she reached her left arm out.

It was barely in Tony’s gauntleted hand before she passed out.  He quickly pulled her over and maneuvered her into a sitting position.  Then he stood, lifting her unconscious form effortlessly from the ground.  Another blast was all the encouragement he needed to rush out the door.

“I don’t understand,” Quill said as he passed them “why is the ship firing so slowly.  They could have destroyed this entire colony by now.”

“The ship’s weapons are slow firing but devastating,” Nebula explained in pained tones as they followed.  “And there are a lot of buildings obstructing sight lines.”

“Since when has Thanos cared about collateral damage?” Thor asked as he brought up the rear.  Up ahead Tony had shifted Nebula to a fireman’s carry to compensate for the lack of one boot jet.  He completed the maneuver just as he reached the hole he’d created in the floor and dropped out of sight.

“Because,” Gamora gasped as they reached the hole “the more people he leaves alive now, the greater the death toll later.”  She quickly limped onto one of Quill’s boots, suppressing a shudder of pain as his arm secured her.  He then activated his jets as carefully as possible and maneuvered them expertly over the hole before cutting the power back and dropping them expertly through it.

“Makes sense,” Thor replied to himself as he waited for them to clear his path.  As they landed, he casually stepped into the hole.

He landed as Tony was straightening up from setting Nebula’s twitching form down.  Mantis joined the converging group from the table she’d been strategically concealed under.

“Keep an eye on things,” Tony told Thor.  “I’ll get Banner,” he added, making for the hole that had once been the center of the room.  Gamora glanced an order at Quill.  A concerned look crossed his face, but was interrupted by a hardening of hers.  He set her down with a sigh and followed.

“Rocket,” Gamora said over the mic as she eased herself down next to Nebula.

“Are you coming or not?” a gruff voice replied.

“Quill’s on the way,” she said quickly just as that worthy dropped down the hole.  “I need you to hack into Nebula’s cerebral implant.”

“What?!” Rocket yelled.  “No, good job Rocket?  Just on to the next system intrusion?”

“Rocket!” Gamora replied forcefully before hissing at the pain the outburst had engendered.

“Fine,” he grumbled.  “What is it you want me to do, disable her?” he asked.

“That’s already been handled,” Gamora replied bitterly.  “Her cerebral implant is torturing her.  I need you to shut down whatever’s causing it.”

“Oh, is that all?” Rocket replied sarcastically as he hopped on Quill’s shoulder.  He secured himself to the star rogue’s jacket and expanded his tablet back out, looking for connection points. 

Stark had already landed and was in the process of checking on Banner.  “Banner,” Tony called out, gently tapping his face with his gauntlet in an attempt to wake his friend.  “Bruce!” he called out louder when his efforts proved fruitless.

Banner jerked slightly at the outburst and opened his eyes.  “Tony,” he mumbled in confusion as he rubbed his face.  Whatever else he might be he was certainly not a morning person.  “Wha-” he started before the memories of recent events broke back into his consciousness.  “Did we win?” he asked, taking a glance around.

“It’s more of a stalemate,” Tony replied helping his friend up.  “Come on,” he added providing an arm to hold onto “we’ve got to go.”  For emphasis the room shook again, violently this time.  They had to dodge out from under a falling piece of ceiling.

“Get on,” Tony told Banner, indicating his boots.

“I don’t suppose now is a time to mention my fear of heights?” Banner asked as he stepped carefully on the flimsy toe holds, one hand holding his somewhat enlarged pants around his waist.

Tony wrapped the arm opposite his broken boot jet around him for security.  “Care to dance?” he asked sarcastically.  Banner’s no doubt dry response was altered to a scream as Tony launched them into the air.

A moment later a final blast pierced the protective shield that had defended them so loyally, crashing right through the center of the complex.  Tony accelerated as he reached the foyer.  Banner’s voice increased to match.

The others were not in sight.  Clearly, they’d decided that discretion was indeed the better part of waiting and high tailed it.  That was probably for the best considering how much trouble Stark was having dodging around the falling debris.  The makeshift obstacle course would have been impossible to deal with if he’d had to contend with other escapees also contending with it.

He’d no more than thought as much before he burst out the front door directly into said contenders.  He juked hard, losing Banner in the process.  The diminutive scientist tumbled to a stop as Stark thrusted backwards at full power.

“Please don’t turn, please don’t turn, please don’t turn,” he begged as if it were some sort of mantra.  But when Banner didn’t turn, he couldn’t help but be worried.  It wasn’t like the monster to pass up such an obvious chance to stretch his legs . . . and his arms, and . . . well everything.  Tony rushed over to check on his friend, but before he could make it the target of his concern groaned and rolled over.

“Next time we take the train,” Banner mumbled to himself as he stared at the sky.

“You didn’t turn,” Tony said a moment later, in bewilderment.

“You sound disappointed,” Bruce replied, holding a hand out for a help.  Tony reflexively pulled him to his feet.

“It’s not that, exactly,” Stark said even as he wondered if he wasn’t just a bit.  The Hulk had always been their secret weapon.  The unstoppable force.  Now that he hadn’t come out to play it seemed somehow . . . wrong.

“I hate to break up this little bromance you two seem to have going here,” Gamora cut in “but we need to get out of here, and Drax is still on your ship.”

“Drax?” Tony asked as he examined the assembled party.  Thor had Nebula draped over one massive shoulder.  Quill was still acting as Gamora’s walking stick.  Rocket and Mantis were watching from a distance.

“Our crew member,” Gamora snapped.  “Big blue guy, knives as long as your forearm; ring any bells?”  Tony ignored her tone to cast a questioning glance at Thor.

“He was hit with some sort of poison,” Thor answered, gaining Banner’s attention.  “I told them to use our med bay,” he added with a single shoulder shrug.

“What kind of poison?” Banner asked, stepping forward.

“No one knows,” Gamora replied.

“Well that’s helpful,” Banner replied.

“Look, how about we deal with this on the ships,” Quill cut in uncharacteristically, causing the rest of the guardians to stop and stare at him.  Usually he’d have been the one starting an argument as opposed to playing peacemaker.

“Fine,” Stark replied “you two might as well come with us, seeing as we’ve turned into a floating urgent care and all.”

“Great,” Quill replied maneuvering Gamora forward.  “Rocket, you grab the ship,” he added without looking back.  “Meet us on course, two light years from Avina.”

“Right,” Rocket replied as he scampered off.

“I’ll go with you, if that’s all right,” Mantis said to Quill.

“I guess that’s up to the ferry man,” Quill replied.

Tony glanced at Thor, gaining another one shoulder shrug.  “Go ahead,” he said before turning back to Banner.  “So, Bruce,” he said.  “Feel up to some chemistry?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Banner replied with just a hint of bitterness to his tone.  Clearly, he hadn’t forgotten the main reason he’d been brought along.  “What, wait!” he yelled as Tony snatched him back up and blasted for the ship.  The others followed as fast as they could.