Strange screamed, filled with utter pain, and that was our jumpstart into action.
I opened up a portal beside Tony. He stepped through, exiting behind Ebony Maw. He remained silent as he let his mask fold over his face and powered up his blasters, holding his hands at the ready.
Peter and I stayed crouching on the rafter.
"..and any one of them.." Ebony was saying. He paused once he noticed Strange's eyes no longer focusing on himself. He turned, folding his hands behind his back. "... could end your friend's life in an instant."
"Gotta say, he's not really my friend. Saving his life is more of a professional courtesy," admitted Tony.
"You save nothing. Your powers are inconsequential to mine," said Ebony.
"Yeah," dragged out Tony. "But the kids seen more movies."
Quickly, he fired at the floating crate Ebony was telekinetically lifting. It was intended as a distraction, though it entirely backfired, as the crate flew to the edge of the cockpit and exploded against the wall. It broke a hole in the ship and sucked Ebony Maw through it, the shards penetrating Strange next, and the Cloak flew to grab Strange before he too was lost to space.
I didn't see much of what occurred because I was sucked by the force as well. Peter attempted to shoot a web for me; it didn't reach. Though my body was flipping wildly through the air, I created a portal near where I believed the hole had been created, and flew through it, barely clearing it.
A metal arm grabbed my leg for stability. I closed the portal. Tony set me on the floor and helped shove me him, protected by his stable grip system from the rush of force.
Peter had lasted a second longer than I had, having the ability to stick to the ledge. Rightfully, he focused on saving Strange. At some point, he attached a web to Strange and was flying behind him as they were both being sucked into the force of space.
I reached to open a portal and land them by us, Tony raised his hands to cover the hole, but suddenly four golden rods came shooting out of Peter's back and hooked onto the edge of the ship.
"Yes!" screamed Peter, looking around. "Wait, what are those?!"
The rods bent and extended outwards, shooting Peter and Strange into the ship. Tony patched the hole as I opened a portal to send them behind Tony and I. When everything in the ship was sealed and still, long exhales came from the adults.
"I'm getting old," I sighed.
"You and I both," muttered Tony.
"Hey, we haven't officially met," said Peter. I turned and saw him speaking to the Cloak. He held out his hand. The Cloak left and adjusted itself back on Strange's shoulder. "Cool."
"Turn this ship around," grunted Strange as he got to his feet.
Tony sauntered to the window, saying, "Great! Now he wants to run."
"I want to protect the Stone," defended Strange.
"And I want you to thank me now. Go ahead, I'm listening."
"For what? Nearly blasting me into space?"
"Who just saved your magical ass? Me?"
Peter walked to stand beside me. He watched me watch them, my arms stationed on my hips. He opened his mouth to ask a question but I held up my finger to silence him. I simply shook my head.
"I seriously don't know how you fit your head into that helmet," chuckled Strange. He turned, irritated, and met my eye. "How can you work with him?"
"Steve balanced him out, usually," I admitted.
"Admit it, you shouldve ducked out when I told you to. I tried to bench you and you refused," continued Tony, ignoring what I had said.
"Unlike everyone else in your life, I don't work for you," snapped Strange.
"And due to that fact, we are in a flying donut millions of miles away from Earth with no back up," said Tony strongly.
"I'm back up!" said Peter, raising his hand.
"No," Tony was quick to decline. "You're a stowaway. The adults are talking."
"I'm sorry, I'm confused as to the relationship here. Who is he? You're ward?"
Peter shuffled forward to extend his hand. "No, I'm Peter," he introduced.
"Doctor Strange."
"Oh, we're using our made up name," Said Peter, bringing back his hand that wasn't shaken. "I'm Spider-Man then."
Tony took their interaction to study the cockpit readings. He said, "The ship is on a course. Things on autopilot."
"Course to where?" I asked.
"Somewhere called..." He paused. He pointed at a corner in the screen on the dashboard.
I looked at it. It was clearly an alien dialect, a different language, and I squinted at it. I watched the words form into English before my own eyes.
"Titan," I said.
Tony's eyebrow raised. "Since when you read alien language?"
"Since I became the Watcher of Time and Space, I guess," I said softly. "Aggie?"
"You are correct."
Tony squinted at me. "Is your power also convenience?"
"Are we complaining?" I retorted.
"Fly us home, Clara," interjected Strange.
"I can't fly a plane, I can just read it," I said.
Tony began to pace slowly behind me.
Strange noticed. "Stark?"
"Yeah," he said.
"Can you get us home?"
"Yeah, I heard you. I'm not so sure we should," he admitted.
I raised my head from the dashboard. "Tony, absolutely not."
"Under no circumstances can we bring the Time Stone to Thanos," snapped Strange. He shook his head. "I don't think you quite understand whats at stake here."
"No, it's you who doesn't understand!" Said Tony, standing tall in front of Strange. "Thanos has been inside my head for six years since he sent an army to New York and now he's back. And I don't know what to do. So I'm not so sure if it's a better plan if its on our terms or his, but you saw what they did. What they can do."
"You want to blindside a man with two Infinity Stones and basically give him another one?" I interrupted, joining the circle. "Tony, all of us were there in New York. We saw everything, the destruction, the death, and that was six years ago. Think about that, Tony, if he planned that six years ago, he's planned for this."
"It sounds like you don't believe in us," Said Tony.
"I don't," I said honestly. "You have no idea what Infinity Stones are capable of. Strange and I are the only ones who do."
Tony turned to Strange. "I say we take the fight to him. Do you concur?"
"All right, Stark," Said Strange.
I huffed, walking away from them and to stand by Peter. His eyebrows fell, worried about me.
Strange continued, "We go to him. But you have to understand if it comes to saving you or the kid or the Time Stone, I will not hesitate to let either of you die. I can't. Because the universe depends on it."
"Do you people not realize my life force is possibly directly connected to that thing?!" I yelled, whipping around. "Do none of you realize what this man is capable of? There's four of us, against Thanos, who could possibly bring an army, o-or..."
Peter placed a hand on my arm when my body started trembling. I hadn't noticed, but Tony and Strange had distanced themselves from me. My frustration had brought my fists to glow green with flames. I shook them out to kill the energy.
"We should be going back to Earth. Blindsiding him, sure Tony, but not with just four of us. If we could get more people, maybe another Stone..." I paused. It was at that moment Tony and I both remembered. "Vision," we said together.
"We have to go back to Earth," I said quietly, strongly. "If our fugivatives don't know, they need to, and we need more people. Going to him is a one way ticket and you're ignoring the other options."
"This might be our only sure chance to blindside him. I can't miss that," said Tony.
Tony and I were never going to agree. That was clear. Instead, I turned to my friend, my protector, and I begged, "Please don't go along with this."
"It's a tactic for battle. Blindside him, use the Stone. If we can take him out while he only has two, we eliminate the chance of more destruction," said Strange.
"Or we give him the chance to inflict more destruction," I countered.
"I thought they called you Smiles," said Tony, tilting his head. "Always thought positively."
"I'm thinking realistically. You want revenge for what he's done to you, Tony, you're incapable of seeing what he is capable of. He made the Hulk too afraid to come out. What do you think he's going to do to a couple of humans?" I said. I noticeably glanced to Peter, the only thing we did agree on. "I am on the side of life, and God, do I wish I had faith in us, but I don't. I trust in the stories I've heard about him. I trust in his plan. Six years ago, Tony, and he planned this. Going to him is not a smart move."
"Yup. I hear ya. But you're outnumbered, and we're going," decided Tony.
I looked at Strange desperately. He nodded his head for me to follow him. We separated ourselves from Peter and Tony for privacy.
"Clara—"
"Why are you doing this?" I asked.
Strange closed his eyes and sighed. "Clara, I think you should return to Earth."
"You know I can't abandon the Stone. You. Peter," I said.
"I'm not saying leave and don't come back. If we fail and Thanos gets the Time Stone, with or without you, your fugatives on Earth should know before it's too late. They should be well aware of Thanos, if they don't already know, and they should have all the protection they can gather," he advised.
"This isn't the time to leave. You and I are its best defensive, I don't know what happens to me if Thanos gets it, I can't take the chance of something happening while I'm not here. I trust you to protect it, Strange, I do, but we're in a whirlwind of unpredictability," I told him.
He noticed my eyes break from him. They cast downwards, which prompted him to say, "But you want to warn them."
"If they don't know, they need to," I said quietly, knowing what my heart wanted was right. Logically, I also knew I should stay with them.
"Why should you go?" he asked me.
"Because I'm the connection we have to Earth and between the Stones. We need to know each other's plans so we have options if things go South," I said.
"You're right," he said. "Clara, go and come back quick."
"Clara," called Tony, joining us. "You do need to go. Anything happens, you can count on Parker and I to keep it safe with Doc.
"No offense, but that doesn't make a difference in my decision," I said.
"You can warn them and make it back before we reach Titan. There's not a planet in sight, I mean..." Tony looked back at the window and saw an approaching rust colored planet in the nearing distance.
I raised my eyebrow.
"It doesn't have to be..." He tried again.
We broke through the atmosphere, gathering us all by the dashboard.
I sighed. "Aggie, is this Titan?"
"Yes."
I looked at the men standing alongside me. "Welcome to Titan, boys."