Destiny Arrives

- - - - -

Ana was mesmerised by the tunnel of stars. The bright flares of blue and black and silver radiated all around the X-Wing ship as they soared through the galaxies at lightspeed. Kept them concealed. Protected. It also made Ana focus on something other than the dull pain and aches she felt. As much as she tried to ignore the growing wave of charcoal black spreading from her left wrist and up her forearm, she couldn't. It was a concerning sight. Proxima's black energy lance had rendered her left arm immobile. Senseless. She could twitch her fingers if she really wanted. It just took a lot to flex the tendons to get any movement. Every time she tried to get a spark to form in the centre of her palms, she would fail with a collection of outright curses. Why would they suddenly stop? The plasma energy she inherited from her father liked to test her patience when she wasn't keen on dealing with it then, and now, nothing happened.

She could make out her reflection on the windscreen. Her short hair was disheveled. Scrapes and bruises lined her jaw and nose. Her leather jacket was ripped at the left arm completely, leaving her damaged limb exposed to the chilly air of space. She wanted to hide underneath a warm blanket and rest her eyes for a few minutes. Ana managed to find a folded navy blue blanket in the ship's chamber room earlier though instead gave it to her father. Marcus was shaking against the floor of the ship, arms wrapped around his knees that were pulled up to his chest. Ana didn't know if the shivering was because of the cold or the shock of what he just went through. She didn't ask, and draped it over his shoulders, resting her hands on his shoulders as he sent her a soft smile in thanks.

As Ana looked back at Marcus from the pilot seat, she frowned. He was still wearing Irani's Nova helmet. There was still spots of blood on the side of it. A few scuffs and grazes. Some dirt too. Though the Centurion star in the centre of the helmet was untouched. It held strong. Unlike the person wearing it.

"Marcus..." Ana called out, partly unsure. "Uh, why are you still wearing that thing?"

Marcus looked up from staring at the ground, "It's good for me. Good for Worldmind." He muttered. By keeping the helmet on, it allowed him to remain in a time where the Novas were still prominent in the universe. He wanted to go back to the past, to when Xandar wasn't drifting in pieces towards the suns it used to orbit around and burning up entirely.

"What does it sound like? When it talks?" Ana questioned, spinning around in her pilot seat to face him.

"Irani." Marcus answered with a hint of a smile. "But it's not really her. Just her voice. When a Nova dies, their consciousness, their knowledge, is drawn into the Xandarian Worldmind."

"Does this mean you're a Nova?" Ana squinted thoughtfully.

Marcus shook his head from his place on the floor. "No. I never went through the academy so I don't have a rank. I'm just a friend of theirs. I'm keeping it safe."

"Find out anything about Richard?" Ana asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"He went missing a couple of years ago, searching for me." Marcus revealed. "He could still be out there. I've just gotta go looking for him."

"That, uh, Cosmic Awareness doesn't tell you if he's alive?"

"It doesn't work that way."

Ana looked down at her clasped hands, and sighed. "I'm sor-"

"Ana, don't." Marcus cut her off, pursing his lips together as he looked at her through the lens of the Nova helmet. "None of what happened is your fault."

"Then why does it feel like it?" Ana mumbled, swallowing thickly.

"I never thought I'd see him again." Marcus said out loud, curling his hands into fists.

Ana's jaw clenched. "Thanos?"

"When I first started out as the Sentinel, I was given a simple task from the one who welcomed me into this universe — guard the Infinity Stones. I moved them around, took them from beings who wished to unleash the dark side of their capabilities, used them only when necessary, and... and I failed every time. There was never a moment when the Infinity Stones were at ease. There was always conflict over them. Death and devastation was what followed. And now, Thanos has come back. And with it, his ambition to rid half of this universe of its life. I fear we won't be able to stop him." Marcus finished off quietly, tone displaying the disappointment he carried for himself.

Thanos was real. He was coming for them. For everyone. Everything. And with a total power upgrade. Ana wanted to believe that they still had a chance. To stop him. To put an end to his Infinity Crusade. To prevent a universal crisis. She had heard stories — tales she thought of as myths and punch lines to foolish jokes. Thanos dreamt of ridding the galaxies half of life. For what? Ana wasn't entirely sure. Maybe it was some dimwitted solution to his fear of overpopulation and scarcity. A possible task he had to complete at any cost. Or maybe because he wanted to succeed in a second attempt that failed long ago when he wanted to save the people of his home world from extinction — to prove he was right.

Gamora never really indulged Ana whenever she would ask about her adoptive father. The Zehoberei assassin would get hostile at the mention of Thanos. Eyes would harden. Fists would tighten. One time, Ana had to be waiting for a solid five minutes when Gamora stopped right in front of her. Peter was in the corner of his ship, the Benatar, laughing to himself when he caught Ana's shit-scared expression. Eventually, Gamora replied with a casual 'not right now' response that left Ana hanging.

"Thanos only has one of them. If we can get to the Statesman first, we could secure the Tesseract before he gets to it. Stupid Loki and his stupid cube..." Ana grumbled to herself, slouching in her seat as she folded one hand over her churning stomach. Now was not the time for a space fast food drive-thru.

Marcus thought back to when Ana had declared Odin dead and Asgard destroyed during her stand off against Thanos. He sat up from his comfortable position on the floor and walked towards her, head down. He lowered himself into the seat next to her, and glanced at her for a few moments. He knew all he had to do was ask, and Ana would tell him the truth. What he wasn't sure on was if he wanted to hear any of it. But he had to know. "Tell me what happened to Asgard."

"Ragnarök happened." Ana stated bluntly. She blinked when vivid memories of the Realm Eternal's destruction entered the front of her mind. Ana supposed she never really got over the fact that Hela and Surtur obliterated Thor's home. She always thought she could've done more to help.

"Of course..." Marcus whispered, "And Odin?"

"Gone." Ana answered softly with a shake of her head. "His passing allowed Hela to break free from Hel. She broke Mjolnir and the Sword of Light."

"My sword? You're telling me it found you after all these years?" There was a hint of a smile on his face.

Ana nodded. "It's a shame I don't have it with me."

Marcus leaned back in his seat and let his memories roam free. "It was originally Hela's blade. I took it from her when she slaughtered most of the Valkyries in battle. She was relentless. Overcome with so much darkness. Brunnhilde, the last of the Valkyries, couldn't move past it. How could she? She lost everyone she loved. I lost all of my warriors to Hela's wrath. I helped train them. I presented them with their Dragonfangs at the ceremony. They were family. After that... I-I decided to take a break from Odin and Asgard. I only returned when Thor was born. He and Loki are like sons to me. And I protected them with my life. The day of my fall, Outriders... thousands of them, they swarmed the Realm Eternal and threatened everything I loved. I prevented Odin from ordering his army to attack. I couldn't watch anymore people die. So, I stopped them at the gates. I turned myself into a bomb and took the Outriders with me."

Echoes of the day of the Sentinel's fall faded in and out of Ana's mind. Their memory link seemed to be intact, though faintly. She could make out the image of Marcus curling into himself as he unleashed every cosmic powered cell in his body to enter a form consisting of pure light. She frowned when the explosion she pictured fizzled away and she stared into her father's blue eyes.

"And then you fell?" Ana guessed.

Marcus shook his head. "No, Thanos got to me. Locked me up when I was completely drained of power. That was his plan, to overwhelm me and steal me from Asgard after they all believed I had died in the blast. And then, he took it. Took the Mind Stone."

Ana leaned forward and placed her head in her hand. "With the Tesseract, Thanos can travel anywhere in the universe within a second. He can collect the Stones faster and no one will see him coming."

Marcus looked at the tunnel of stars. "And he'll do anything to finish that gauntlet so he can snap his fingers and complete his mission."

Ana straightened up. "We can't let him."

"I have to stop him. I couldn't before, but now..."

Ana smiled slightly when he sent her a pointed look. "You got me." She added.

Marcus framed his daughter's face with his hands and gazed at her with admiration. "I got you." He echoed.

"And lucky for you, I've got friends." She chuckled lightly.

Ana's eyes landed on the radio transmitter propped up next to the ship's controls. She reached for it, but just before her fingers could meet with the gold exterior, she heard something. Felt it too. The nameless X-Wing ship lurched suddenly and without warning. Only then did every single alarm in the systems go off. Red lights illuminated the flight deck in alert. The tunnel of stars wasn't all that appealing now that they weren't alone. Something was closing in. Something big. And fast.

Marcus adjusted the blanket over his head. "It's them! They found us!" He exclaimed.

Ana gripped the armrests a little too tight and Marc noted the metal denting because of her grip. "How?" She questioned, brows furrowing. She pulled her good hand back when she had unintentionally ripped the armrest from its position. It clanked against the metal floors and slid across to the other side of the hull when the ship reared upwards.

Marcus placed his hands on the edge of the controls. "We've got to lose them. Can this thing go any faster?"

Ana recalibrated the radar monitor when it would crackle constantly, unable to show them a true image of what was behind them. "No, and we've got less than a quarter of a tank left. We can't outrun them." She explained, chest heaving as she tried to breathe. The alarms were messing with her head. It was all too much.

Marcus lit up with an idea. "Does this thing have escape pods?"

Ana absentmindedly flicked off a couple of switches to save their power and took the radio in her hand. "Yeah, why?"

Ana then met Marc's eyes and she groaned.

"But they're so small!"

"Captain Quill!... This is... Michaels... calling for... Something... bad... to happen... I need... you... I need... the Guardians..."

Peter Quill shushed his chatty teammates when an incoming transmission caught his attention. The frequency was way out of whack, so he reached over to spin the knobs and adjust the relay. Gamora leaned forward in her seat when she could recognise the female's voice, and glanced at Peter when the message began playing back clearly.

"Captain Quill! Can you hear me? This is Ana Michaels calling for your help. Something really bad is about to happen. Over? Please, Pete... I need all of you. I need the Guardians of the Galaxy!"

Gamora snatched the walkie from the control pad immediately and pushed down on the side button, anxiously brushing her hair back. "Ana? This is Gamora. Can you hear me?"

Gamora released the button, waiting for her response. The Guardians all huddled around the pilot seats, dead silent. They all shared confused and relieved looks when they realised Ana was alive. Word had spread that she had died by the hands of an evil Enchantress quickly. Although most of them believed Ana could take the sorceress on in her sleep, they still had doubts. Hearing her voice let them breathe a little easier.

The radio crackled as the person on the other side responded. "Gamora, it's so good to hear your voice! You have to get to these coordinates I'm sending in right now."

"Ana, what's wrong?" Gamora asked, concern lacing her voice. "Are you hurt?"

"There's a ship with hundreds of innocent civilians that need our help to get them to safety. I'm counting on the best Guardians I know to guide them away from the crossfire. My friends are on that ship. I can't lose them. And Gamora, it's Tha-"

Rocket grabbed the hairs on his head when the transmission cut off abruptly. "What the hell just happened?!" He shrieked.

Mantis clutched her hands nervously. "Sounds like she's in deep distress."

Teen Groot barely looked up from his gaming device. "I am Groot?"

"Where are the coordinates?" Drax asked Peter as he craned his neck to see the incoming upload.

Peter's knee bounced up and down as he read the coordinates, rerouting their trek to Ana's destination. "Just some empty piece of space in the south quadrant. It'll take a few jumps, burning through a lot of our fuel, but it'll be worth it if we get to the people on time. Ana sounded pretty..."

"Scared." Gamora finished for him, meeting his eyes. She had her mind on the last words Ana had uttered before she was cut off. "Whatever this is, it's serious. Serious enough for her to call for help."

Peter tapped away at the controls, and nodded with determination. "Okay everyone, strap in and hold on tight. We've got a fellow Guardian who needs our help. Mantis, music!"

In the dead of space, an escape pod carrying two beings was drifting towards a large vessel named the Statesman. Ana and Marcus had successfully exited the X-Wing ship in hopes to delay Thanos for a short while. The Titan was expected to continue following their ship in hyperspace while they met with the Statesman, giving them a limited amount of time to warn the Asgardians and get them to safety. Marcus had mentioned to Ana that Thanos may not be so easily misled, and constantly questioned their odds. What mattered to Ana is that they had a chance — a long shot.

Ana had used the blue sash from the Nova's rifle as a sling for her dead arm. Her fingers were completely numb at this point. She poked and pinched for some type of response but came up short. Marcus had assured her that it could be healed, having been shot by the same type of lethal energy in the past. The radio in Ana's hand was broken. Her fault. During the conversation with Gamora, Ana felt a sudden pulse of energy rise up her arm, and her fingers twitched. The slight action caused her strength to break optimum range and crush the device. She had looked to Marcus for an answer. He stayed silent.

Marcus could tell something was not right with Ana. He could practically sense it, as if it was happening to him. She was quiet. Reflecting. Thinking. Planning. Hoping for the best. But victory wasn't in her line of sight. It was out of the ball park. As much as Ana depended on everything turning out exactly the way she wanted — no, needed — it to, the voice in the back of her head told her she was being delusional. Naive. The more she thought, the harder it was to hear her father. She was getting stuck in her own head. Finding it was a lot safer in there than out here.

A nudge got her back to reality.

"Hey, Ana." Marcus retracted his hand from her shoulder and clasped it with his other, sending her a glance. "We're locked on the Statesman. In less than a minute, we'll be with the Asgardians." He told her, trying not to lose his mind. He was controlling his breathing, which was new for him, and a surprise really. He was about to come face-to-face with the people he considered family. After so many years of being apart from them, Marcus was afraid to reunite with his old friends. What if they hated him? What if they were angry at him for leaving? For staying away for so long?

Ana flicked her father on the forehead with her thumb and index finger. His head reared back in bewilderment. "I know what you're thinking, Marc. So stop it. I get that it's been a long time since you've seen any of them. I know you've missed them. I know that they missed you... but you have to remember what's coming, and what needs to be done to make sure they're kept safe and out of harms way. We can't let what happened to Xandar happen to those people down there. They've already been through hell and back."

"I understand." Marcus mumbled, looking down at his hands.

The pod had been drawn in by the artificial gravity the Statesman emitted. Whoever was behind the controls, they saw the escape pod and thought to help the lonely and stranded. They were well aware of what it was like to be apart from home. Away from safety. And truth be told, they were in desperate need of guidance. They were twenty-two jump points away from where Asgard used to be, and after weeks of floating around, trying to find a safe haven, a place to stand still and collect their bearings, it would be helpful if their new guests could point them in the right direction.

Ana was looking forward to seeing Thor and Bruce. She didn't realise how much she missed them until now. It was difficult getting used to having her Avengers teammates scattered around the galaxies. In the beginning, they shared a home. They were a family Ana never really knew she needed until she finally had it. She took a moment to think of how she would have ended up if it weren't for any of the Avengers. She saw nothing. Darkness. Void. Then, Ana smiled to herself. That was exactly what she thought.

The smile soon dropped when a cloud of emerald smoke came out of nowhere, filling the space inside the ship entirely. Marcus stood up abruptly, accidentally slamming the top of his head against the roof of the cramped pod. He winced and grabbed his helmet with both hands while Ana narrowed her eyes at nothing in particular.

"Amora."

- - -

Amora the Enchantress had her strict glower pointed at the male who had took it upon himself to welcome an unknown escape pod that had appeared out of thin air. One hand was planted on her hip as the other was pointed at the ceiling, spilling with her signature green magic. Thor was right beside her, questioning the father of Solveig — the young girl who had fought alongside Ana during the Battle of Asgard — on what went through his mind when he allowed the escape pod to land on their vessel.

"Bjorn, this wasn't your choice to make." Thor started to say, "For all you know, they could be trouble."

Bjorn stared up at his King, folding his arms over his chest in defiance. He may have been a little irked at the fact that he and his family have been milling around the same ship for weeks. He was tired. He was restless. He needed a sign to point him in the right direction. He needed something to break the dull tradition of living in space. "Or they could be in trouble, my King. Shouldn't we help those who were once like us? Without a home? Without loved ones?"