"What the hell happened to this planet," Quill says, holding out a device that allows him to measure the planet's tilt. "It's eight degrees off its axis. Gravitational pull is all over the place."
Behind Tony, Mantis is jumping in the low gravity, her arms thrown wide as Peter Parker watches. Anna stands next to Dr. Strange, allowing the surgeon to provide what little first aid he can before she pushes him away.
"Thanos happened," she says, walking toward Tony. "I've seen what he can do with my own eyes, and he won't stop, Tony. Not until he gets what he wants."
"Yeah, we got one advantage," Stark sighs. "He's coming to us. We'll use it."
Anna frowns, "Tony..."
"All right, I have a plan," he interrupts, turning back to face the others. "Or at least the beginnings of one. It's pretty simple. We draw him in, pin him down, get what we need. Definitely don't want to dance with this guy. We just need the gauntlet."
The big one, Drax, yawns.
"Are you yawning?!" Tony snaps at him. "In the middle of this, while I'm breaking it down? Huh? Did you hear what I said?"
Drax glances at Mantis before muttering, "I stopped listening after you said, 'We need a plan.'"
"Okay, Mr. Clean is on his own page," Tony says to Quill.
Quill shrugs, "See, 'not winging it' isn't really what they do."
"Uh," Peter waves his arm. "What exactly is it that they do?"
Mantis grins, "Kick names, take ass."
"Yeah, that's right," Drax adds.
Tony stares for a moment, his expression lost, before he exhales. With Peter and Anna on either side of him, two of the people he feels most responsible for in the entire universe, the weight of their impending conflict with Thanos weighs heavily on him. They can't afford mistakes—he knows this—but he's also fully aware that beggars can't be choosers. And in this situation, he's unfortunately one of the beggars.
"Alright, just get over here please," Tony says softly. "Mr. Lord, can you get your folks to circle up?"
"Mr. Lord," Quill smirks. "Star-Lord is fine."
He motions to Drax and Mantis, and the two of them step toward Tony. Anna glances over her shoulder at Dr. Strange, who is now hovering in the air behind them, his eyes closed as he does some sort of meditation. Her life had never been ordinary, especially after meeting Loki, but here—on this planet, with this ragtag crew—this is beyond anything she could comprehend.
Thanos took Loki from her, one of the most powerful beings she'd ever met—a literal god among men—and used him like a plaything for what felt like an eternity in the Void. He tricked them, he tricked The Trickster, leaving Anna pregnant, trapped, and alone on Asgard.
Having faced Thanos herself in the time since she bargained for Loki's release, her optimism about Tony's plan is waning. She believes in him, believes in her friend and everything she knows he can do, but Thanos...Thanos is different.
"We gotta coalesce," Tony says. "'Cause if all we come at him with is a plucky attitude..."
Quill scoffs, "Dude, don't call us plucky. We don't know what it means. Alright, we're optimistic, yes. I like your plan, except, it sucks. So let me do the plans, and that way it might be really good."
Anna groans, and Tony shuts his eyes in disbelief.
"Tell him about the dance-off to save the universe," Drax urges.
"What dance-off?" Tony asks.
Quill shrugs, "It's not a...it's not...it's nothing."
"Like, in Footloose?" Peter asks. "The movie?"
"Exactly like Footloose. Is it still the greatest movie in history?"
Peter lifts an eyebrow, "It never was."
Quill frowns, and Tony turns toward Peter with a shake of his head. The conversation is taking a detour past useful and straight into Crazy Land, and he has a feeling that if he doesn't stop Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum then they're all gonna be dead before he can even finish a sentence.
"Don't encourage this, alright?"
Peter glances at his feet, "Okay."
"We're getting no help from Flash Gordon here," Tony puts his hand on Peter's shoulder, steering him away from the so-called Guardians of the Galaxy as Anna trails behind. "We gotta figure something out, and we need to get Anna out of here."
"Wait," Anna puts her hand on his forearm, stopping him. "I can't leave without you. Tony, Thanos wi--"
"Flash Gordon?" Quill interrupts, stepping toward them. By the way, that's a compliment. Don't forget, I'm half-human. So that 50% of me that's stupid," he motions toward Tony, Peter, and Anna, "that's 100% of you."
"Your math is blowing my mind," Tony replies.
"Excuse me?" Mantis says, her eyes wide as she finally notices Dr. Strange hovering in the air in the distance. "But does your friend often do that?"
Tony sighs, "Strange, you alright?"
With his legs crossed in front of him, Stephen Strange is hovering slightly above the ground with his hands extended in front of him. An eerie green glow emanates from the device hanging around his neck, with tendrils of green laced with intricate markings wrap around his forearms. His head is jerking rapidly from side-to-side in a decidedly inhuman way until his eyes snap open, a cry escaping from his mouth, and he falls into Tony.
"You're back, you're okay," Tony says with a concerned look, waiting for the other man to calm down.
"Hi," Strange replies breathlessly.
Peter rushes up behind them with the rest of the group, "Hey, what was that?"
"I went forward in time to view alternate futures," Strange explains, his breathing still heavy, before his gaze lands on Anna. "To see all the possible outcomes of the coming conflict."
Her face pales, and she takes a step back before grabbing Peter's arm for support. He looks away quickly, hiding the obvious remorse before anyone else notices it, and her other hand comes to rest on her stomach.
"How many did you see?" Quill asks, breaking the other's stunned silence.
"Fourteen million, six hundred and five," Strange replies.
Tony's face falls, almost as if he knows the answer before the question is even spoken. He glances at Anna, then the kid, before turning back to Strange.
"How many did we win?"
Dr. Strange hesitates, swallowing hard, and Anna can feel the dread creeping up her neck at the sight of him. The look he gave her, Tony's question, she doesn't need to hear the answer to know what's going to come. Her heart twists, a pit forming deep in her stomach, as she realizes that the only reality worse than life without Loki isn't just a possibility. No longer a matter of "if," she realizes, Thanos' victory is more like a matter of when.
"One."
