"What's the plan?" I asked as we trudged back out of the room. "We fight, give Shuri long enough to get the stone out so it can be destroyed," Steve said. "Wait, the universe is at risk because of a rock?" I asked in disbelief. "They're not just any stones. They're immensely powerful and each is tied to a different aspect of the universe. The 6 stones are the Space Stone, the Mind Stone, the Power Stone, the Reality Stone, the Time Stone, and the Soul Stone. The Space Stone is the real identity of the Tesseract, the Mind Stone is the one in Vision's head, a man named Dr. Strange is in possession of the Time Stone, The Reality Stone is also known as the Aether, and Thanos already has Space and Power Stones. No one knows where the Soul Stone is so that one's safe," Bruce explained. "The Aether?" I asked, my eyes wide.
"You know it?" T'Challa asked. "Well. It was originally in the possession of the Dark Elves, but Asgard's King Bor hid it away 5000 years ago. About 5 years ago, it was rediscovered by a woman named Jane Foster, and she was brought to Asgard. They brought the stone to Malekith, the leader of the Dark Elves, but it ended up destroying him and killing someone I cared about. I don't know what happened to it after that," I said. "Are you from space?" Bucky asked. "Sort of. My mum's an Aesir. But, she died before I could meet her. A Dark Elf killed her and kidnapped me. So...my childhood's been fun," I said. "Fun is not the word I would use to describe that," Natasha said.
"Sarcasm, Romanoff. It exists," I said. "You know me?" She asked. "Any reason I shouldn't?" I fired back. "Hey, let's save the fighting for the actual battle," Steve said as we mounted Wakandan transport boats. "You might want to use this. It's gonna be a rough battle," Natasha held out a pistol, which I hesitantly took.
"You know how to use one?" She asked, and I nodded. "Just...aim and fire, right? It's not that hard, not like I'm taking the life of someone who has a family, friends..." I trailed off, thinking of all the prisoners I had killed. "You sure you're up for this particular murder mission?" She asked and I nodded firmly. The boats took off, as Bruce appeared in large Iron Man armor, leaving Shuri and Ch'tasi behind to help Vision.
"How we looking, Bruce?" Natasha asked. "Yeah, I think I'm getting the hang of it. Woah! This is amazing, man! It's like being the Hulk without actually--" He was cut short because he tripped on a rock and face-planted. "I'm okay. I'm okay!" Bruce said, standing up and getting dirt off his face. Okoye, the general of the Dora Milaje gave him a strange look. As troops slid off the boats onto the field, a mass of people in brown and white furs approached.
"You called for us, T'Challa?" The leader, a large ape-like man, asked. "Wakanda is being threatened by intergalactic armies, M'Baku," T'Challa said. "You mean aliens are coming?" A younger, smaller woman asked. "Basically," I said. "Kedu ihe nke a pụtara?" She asked M'Baku.
"Amaghị m," He said back. "Who leads this army?" M'Baku asked. "Thanos," Bruce said nervously. "There are heat signatures emerging from the treeline," Okoye said, and Steve, Natasha, and T'Challa went to confront them. The armies shuffled into formation, becoming large blocks of fierce warriors that were armed to the teeth.
"They surrender?" Bucky asked as Steve retook his spot. "Not exactly," Steve said. Things came out of the ships and started charging towards the dorms. "Yibambe! Yibambe! Yibambe! Yibambe! Yibambe! Yibambe! Yibambe! Yibambe!" The Wakandans chanted, thudding their spears on the ground. One of the treeline people lowered her sword, and these creatures came bolting out of the treeline.
They were horrible, snarling beasts. "What the hell?" Bucky asked. "Looks like we pissed her off," Natasha said. "Can I borrow one of those beads?" I asked T'Challa, and he passed me one. It sat in my palm, a little screen pulled up in front of me.
I tapped furiously, hooking up to Sam's glasses footage. "Sam, get me a visual!" I called, and he soared closer. The aliens ran into the dome, beating against it and dying as they collided. They tried pushing themselves through but ended up getting cut in half. "They're killing themselves!" Oyoke exclaimed in horror.
"Do you know what these things are?" Steve asked me. "They're called Outriders," I said, peering closer at the footage. "Great! We can die knowing what killed us," Sam exclaimed. "Be quiet, the battle hasn't even started yet. Plus, that's the thing. The Outriders went extinct 5000 years ago, around the same time as the Dark Elves first vanished," I said, recalling the information I had read from a book. "Well, obviously that's wrong," Sam observed.
"Really, Wilson? I had no idea,"