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The Day the Dominators Came

For @fezwearingjellybananas

When the Dominators came, six heroes came together to defend the Earth. Future heroes scattered across Earth and the universe watched what happened.

A Marvellous Ladies of DC fic.

AO3

“How are you feeling?”

Kara shrugged as Aunt Astra put her hand against her forehead. Getting sick was the worst. She was supposed to be at school right now. Today was egg drop day- something she and Alex had worked so hard on. Instead, Alex would have to drop their project alone because Kara threw up in the middle of the night and started running a fever.

“I’m sorry you aren’t able to go to school today,” her aunt told her. “And I’m sorry that your parents had to go into the city today.”

“Me too. But thank you for looking after me.”

“I’m happy to,” Aunt Astra told her. “And I had sick days to spare.”

“Alex is going to have to drop our design alone.”

“I know you were looking forward to it. I don’t have an egg drop, but we find something fun to do after lunch.”

“Yeah.”

Aunt Astra reached over to grab the landline and dialed a number. “Your mom should be at lunch right now. How about you give her a call while I figure something out for us?”

That perked Kara up. She sat up on the couch and took the phone from her aunt. Pressing in the buttons for her mother’s cell phone number, she waited to see if the call would connect.

“Hello?” her mother’s voice came from the other end.

“Mom!”

“Kara! How are you feeling?”

Kara climbed off the couch. “My throat still hurts but I haven’t thrown up again.”

“That’s good news. I’m sorry you couldn’t go to school again, but you were so sick this morning.”

“I know,” Kara looked out the window. Somewhere across the river, her mom was outside a courthouse talking to her.

“I did see something very cool,” her mom continued. “Just a few minutes ago, Iron Woman flew over me.”

Kara gasped. “You saw her?”

“I did! I know she’s got a tower going up here that runs on clean energy. Your father thinks it’s going to revolutionize the city if it works.”

“I think it will, Mom.”

Her mom didn’t say anything.

“Mom?”

Astra’s cell phone started ringing. Kara heard her aunt pick it up. “In-Ze speaking.”

Out the window, something changed in the sky. Far off in the distance, probably right over top of the city, a hole opened in the sky.

“Mom?” Kara tried again. “Mom?”

Something was coming out of the hole.

“Say that again?” Aunt Astra exclaimed from the kitchen. “I need to make sure I heard you right.”

“Kara,” her mother finally came back on the line. “Kara, get your aunt.”

“She’s on the phone. Mom, what’s happening?”

“I have to go. Whatever happens, listen to Astra.”

“Mom?”

“I love you, Kara.”

The call ended. Kara pulled the phone away from her ear, confused.

What was happening?

~0~

Nora tied her shoes and stretched her neck from side to side. At least this was going to be a relatively routine surgery. She’d read the case file yesterday twice before working on her statement for the hospital benefit dinner. Some people would see giving an address to donors as a snoozefest. Nora saw it as opportunity to further the hospital, her department, and herself.

While she washed her hands, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the glass. Once, she had struggled to look at herself without seeing her father looking back at her. For all the mess of her childhood, she’d come a long way. She traded whatever cult magic her father wanted for her for medical school. Now, she was proud of the surgeon that looked back at her. Maybe sometimes a little too proud, but she’d come far enough. She deserved the indulgence of pride.

The rest of the surgical team scrubbed up and prepared for the craniotomy. Their patient was brought in and put under. Aneurysm clipping. That was all that she needed to focus on for the next four hours. Nora was capable of that.

But barely halfway into the surgery, another doctor burst in. Nora didn’t recognize their face but didn’t shout at them. Not when she had just removed the piece of skull. Instead, she fixed the newcomer with a stone-cold glare.

“You need to stop the surgery, Dr. Darhk.”

“We’re halfway there,” Nora said calmly. “Why are you interrupting me?”

“Manhattan is under attack.”

Nora bit back a snarky response and turned back to her patient.

“Dr. Darhk, did you hear me? You need to stop now.”

“Doctor, she just started,” the anesthesiologist explained. “We can’t just backtrack.”

“You’re gonna have to figure something out,” the doctor said. “Aliens swarming Midtown and spreading out. We’re locking down.”

Aliens. That was more serious than she’d expected, but she couldn’t turn back now. “So why are you trying to stop me?”

“Because if we get hit, and you clip the wrong vessel-”

“I won’t.”

“-the hospital will be held liable because of you.”

He was right, but she’d already come so far. She had to see it through.

“I can shave a half hour off,” Nora announced. “But if anyone has a greater concern for their own personal safety, you’re free to leave.”

The operating room was silent.

One nurse and an attending looked at her, then departed the room. Everyone else stayed rooted where they were. The doctor who had come into the room shook his head in disgust and left.

“Acts like doctors haven’t done surgeries in war zones before,” Nora muttered to herself before returning focus to her patient.

~0~

Kendra pulled the tie out of her hair and ran her hands through her hair. Up or down? Up or down? Up gave her less temptation to fiddle with it. Down meant that she didn’t have to worry about her hair tie being too loose or too tight. She really needed to replace this one, but she always ended up hanging onto them until they snapped.

With a sigh, she looked up at her reflection again in the bathroom mirror. Kendra knew she was looking back at a regular woman in regular jeans, a t-shirt, and a nice vest she’d found at a secondhand store. There were less bags under her eyes than there had been in a while. She told herself that she looked like a completely normal civilian and not someone who had gotten back from overseas a year ago.

She wasn’t wearing anything army green, let alone owned by the Army. It hadn’t been days since her last shower. She had gotten six hours of sleep last night. It might have been seven if she hadn’t woken up from watching Carter fall out of the sky again through her night vision goggles. Again.

At least she’d found a good support group. Still, it was odd that the guy who ran it wanted to speak with her outside of the church basement where meetings normally took place. Crap, had she overstepped after last meeting to walk Eric to the clinic so he wouldn’t be alone?

Exiting the bathroom, Kendra walked over to one of the empty tables and took a seat. She had a clear sight of the doorway and could see out the glass wall that stretched along the side of the street. It allowed her to see Mike approaching and enter. He ordered at the counter first, then headed over in her direction.

“I haven’t kept you waiting, have I?” he asked, taking a seat across from her.

Kendra shook her head. “Just finished my shift. I work here as a barista.”

“Do you like being a barista?”

She gave a half-hearted shrug. “It’s a job, which is good. I need something that pays the bills.”

“I was the same way when I got out too,” Mike told her. “Just needed something to get by. Eventually, I needed something else that filled my cup. That’s how I got to leading groups.”

Kendra nodded, wondering where this was going.

“Kendra, I think that’s a pathway you might want to consider.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’ve seen how you interact with others and listened to what you’ve said. You care about others. I reached out to the VA and if you’re interested, there’s some certification courses-”

“Oh my god!”

Kendra watched Mike’s cup and saucer fall out of the approaching server’s hands. The few other people in the coffeeshop turned and gasped. Mike leaned back in his chair, eyes wide and expression baffled. Kendra turned around in her seat and looked up to see the television behind her no longer showed the daytime talk show, but media coverage. Live camera footage was broadcasting from a building in New York City, but the place now looked like a battlefield.

The lower third read “Breaking News: Alien Attack in NYC”.

~0~

Lisa dropped into the chair at her desk with more force than she had intended. Traffic had been a nightmare today when she’d dropped Ivy off at preschool for the morning before coming to work at VistaCorp. It hadn’t helped that she’d been slow getting the two of them out of her place. But her daughter had made it to her class and Lisa had reached work with seconds to spare. She’d even looked Devin dead in the eye so her coworker, who loved to rat out late arrivals, knew she had made it.

At least tomorrow would be the weekend. She didn’t have to go into work then, so that meant she could spend the whole Saturday with Ivy. They could make pancakes for breakfast or visit the park or go to the wharf or whatever Ivy wanted to do. Come Sunday, she would have to bring Ivy over to where Sam was living and he’d have her for the next week. And Lisa would be alone during that time. Unless Leonard came over.

Maybe she could squeeze in a session at the skating rink next week. Just an hour away from the world and nothing but herself and the ice. Perhaps the next time the weekend got rained out, she could take Ivy to the rink and start teaching her.

“Snart.”

Speculative planning had to wait. Work was unfortunately calling.

“What’s up, boss?” she asked her supervisor.

“You’re taking calls on the front end today.”

“Cool.” As if she wasn’t doing that most days anyways. Working chats always gave her a little more freedom to do some backend exploration, but she still had her ways of looking at what she wanted.

She put on the headset and picked up the first call. “Hi, my name is Lisa. How can VistaCorp help you today?”

“Uh, hi. Yeah, I’ve got two questions.”

“Yes, and what would those questions be?” she asked, slipping into her most charming voice.

“Well, my family has been using your company for years. We just paid our bill for the last month, but I think we got overcharged.”

“Overcharged?” Lisa repeated. “Okay, can you give me your account number please?”

The caller gave her the information and Lisa used it to pull up the electronic record. She frowned at the details. There was a discrepancy between what was listed to be paid and how much they’d actually been charged. This was a deeper issue, but nothing she couldn’t get a better look at.

“I might have to do some backend work, but I will figure this out for you. What was your other question?”

“Are you guys going to allow extensions for bill payment this month because of the aliens?”

Lisa frowned, wondering where this was going. “The what?”

“The aliens. In New York.”

Lisa opened another tab on her browser and typed in her go-to news site. The air left her body when she saw the red bar at the top of the screen.

She needed to call Ivy’s school. Or Sam. Probably both.

~0~

Jax’s phone buzzed in his pocket as he shut the locker outside of the engineering lab. The display showed that Clarissa was calling him. He pressed the green button on the screen to accept the call.

“Hey,” he said, stepping around a few students as he headed towards the stairwell. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything is great,” his godmother said on the other end. “Your application essay is on my desk right now.”

“Oh sh- really?” Jax was surprised. He had applied for the Stein Technologies summer intern program back in February. It had been so long that he didn’t think he had moved past the initial essay stage in the process.

“It’s one of several. The emails were just sent out confirming movement to the next stage of the application process, so I can call to congratulate you on that. It’s an exceptional essay.”

“Thanks, Clarissa,” he toed the linoleum tiles as he leaned against the wall of the landing. “I know there’s still a way to go. I get it if they won’t take me. I mean, you’ve brought me there so many times that I got invited to Tabitha’s retirement party this year. So I get it if they want to go with someone else who isn’t as…connected to the company.”

“We’ll see what happens in the next round. Everyone on the committee must remain impartial. Though I have a feeling Henry will want to speak with you the next time you visit.”

“Oh yeah? Has he let up about the-” Jax looked around him. “Tall tale yet?”

A heavy sigh came on the other end. “I don’t think he ever will.”

“He’ll let it go someday. Hopefully.”

“Hopefully.”

Jax glanced at his watch and cringed. “I need to get to class now. I’ll talk to you later. Thanks again for the update.”

Jax hung up and continued up the next two flights of stairs. His godmother was probably calling his mom now to tell her the big news. Everything that had happened to their families when he was small had made them all very tight-knit. He and his mom knew about the Ant Woman and the Wasp, making them part of a very select few.

When he arrived at the classroom, no one noticed him come in. Not even Dr. Macallan, who could always be counted on to give the eye to tardy arrivals. Everyone was fixated on the Smartboard playing what looked like some alien invasion movie. He didn’t recognize which one it was.

Jax dropped into an empty seat and leaned over to his neighbor. “No one told me we were watching a movie today.”

They gave him a confused look. “Dude, this is real.”

Jax turned back to the front. A slow horror dawned on him as he realized it was live footage of New York City.

~0~

The windows of the classroom had been opened to let the spring breeze filter in the classroom. Thunder was rumbling in the distance though. Behrad could see the edges of the dark cloud approaching his suburban town. Rain was forecast for later, right when school let out. Which meant that Behrad had a soggy walk to the bus stop in his future.

Having a study hall early in the morning was something Behrad liked. Everyone minded their own business for the most part. It gave him a little extra time to wake up his brain for the day at school, work on homework, or do his own personal research. Which was what he was taking today to do with his stack of library books on magic.

Over spring break, his parents had taken him to Atlanta. His father’s cousin’s daughter had gotten married, and Behrad guessed they’d garnered an invite because the cousins had been close as kids. It had been an okay gathering. He’d had to explain to a few people that yes, his sister was that missing cold case girl on the West Coast. There were usually pitying looking that were sent his way after that, which threatened to bring up all the complicated feelings he had of a sister he never really got to know.

It reached the point where he escaped to the rooftop garden of the venue to get some air. The plan had been to take a few minutes to stare out over the edge, then go back in and fake being sick so he could go back to the room. Behrad had just been about to leave when he saw something flash in the alley below. When he looked down, he caught sight of fire burning. Despite the height he was looking down at, Behrad could still make out that it was coming from a man’s hands. He stayed and watched the man in a trench coat create sigils on the ground that glowed and did things.

Since getting home from Atlanta, Behrad had been doing research into what he could only describe as magic. That was the best description he could figure out for what he had seen. It turned out that magic was a broad category, so he had to specify his search terms when looking into websites and chat forums. Still, there was apparently differences in the kinds of magic that existed and even something called the Witches’ Road. That one sounded sketchy and sent him down a rabbit hole of music for a bit. His playlist rewind at the end of the year was definitely going to be affected by that.

Yesterday, Behrad had found something of a lead. A news story of some accident at a rental car company in Atlanta. It had come up in his search history because one interviewee’s wild account of it. But then Behrad had caught sight of the man in the trench coat in the background. He was next to a yellow taxi talking heatedly with another man. Behrad was certain it was the same man. Something was happening in Atlanta, and he was determined to find out what it was.

Maybe it would lead to something that would tell him what happened to his sister and Lily Stein.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. Behrad slipped it out to check what was going on. Other students were doing the same. Even the teacher was checked his phone.

There was something from the news, but there was also one from Jax.

“DUDE ALIENS INVADED NYC”

Behrad looked around the room. His peers looked confused, some even scared. The teacher was typing at something on his monitor. One of the debate club members who owned a laptop was typing hurriedly into it. Behrad got up from his seat and joined a few of the other students crowded around it. A live cam with a view of Smoak Tower was pulled up. There was a hole in the sky and aliens flying about and chaos.

Also, a man in golden armor fighting a woman with a hammer.

“So does this mean we get to go home early?” someone asked behind Behrad.

-0-

Mari gazed out from the throne room at the setting sun. How beautiful Zambesi looked when the sun went down in the spring. The sweltering summer heat hadn’t set in yet for the country, which was a miracle. Soon, she’d be longing for nights like this.

Sometimes, it was a shame that she had to keep this all quiet. The rest of the world had no idea how beautiful her home truly was. Mari understood why Zambesi had to keep its secrets from the greater world. She had seen what greed from small men in small countries did to others. After all, her mother insisted on a well-rounded education when it came to world affairs. But sometimes, Mari still wanted to shout how instead of putting Zambesi down, some of the world leaders could learn a thing or two from them about their energy practices and scientific advances.

“I knew I’d find you here.”

Mari turned around, seeing her mother standing in the doorway. Queen Esi walked over to join her daughter’s side, putting an arm around her shoulder.

“The sunsets here are truly the most beautiful in the world,” her mother murmured. “I will never tire of them.”

“Me neither,” Mari agreed. “Everything okay?”

“I am not as young as I used to be, Mari. But Shawna has given me a clean bill of health.”

“That’s good. I was worried when you fainted.”

“I know,” Esi kissed her brow. “I’m sorry, my darling.”

“It’s okay,” Mari turned to hug her mom. “It’s not your fault.”

“But it has been a wake-up call,” Esi looked her dead in the eye. “I cannot be the Vixen forever, yet Zambesi still needs her.”

Mari froze. “What are you saying?”

“That it is time for Zambesi to have a new Vixen.”

It took everything for Mari’s mouth to not drop open. She’d grown up knowing there was a possibility that one day, she would become the Vixen she’d read about in her family history. Hearing that her mother was ready to pass the mantle to her brought up a lot of emotions.

“I’ll make you proud,” Mari promised.

Before anything else could be said, Anissa ran into the throne room. “My Queen. Princess.”

“General,” the queen nodded. “Is everything alright?”

“We have just received word that aliens have begun an attack on New York City.”

“Aliens?”

“In America?” Mari asked.

“These aliens must have been watching American movies to know to attack that city,” the queen shook her head. “We must take precautions. Monitor the airspace. Contact the council members and ensure they are ready if this is not an isolated event. Mari, stay with me.”

-0-

“Are you watching that show again?”

Linda lifted her head up from the beaten down pillow to look up at Jesse. Her adoptive sister was leaning over the edge of the couch. On the television in the corner, a sitcom from their childhood was playing. It always helped Linda feel a little better when her body decided it was time for pain.

“It’s funny,” Linda told her, snuggling towards the back of the couch. “And it takes my mind off my uterus rebelling.”

Jesse shrugged. “Sure, if that works. I also got some meds out for you though. Dinner’s ready too.”

“Good.”

Linda rolled off the couch and landed on the floor. The apartment they lived in had old wooden floorboards that gave out splinters if they didn’t walk carefully. One of the boards creaked at the edge of where the kitchen began. Linda opened one of the cabinets that she and Jesse had painted last years and pulled out two bowls. Jesse turned off the stove and dished out their dinner. It was leftover stew, but it still tasted good on a rainy night.

“I started making a list for next week,” Jesse said, adding a pinch of salt to her stew. “We’re breaking dead even on the budget.”

“At least we’re set for now,” Linda added. “If only the news blog paid.”

“Maybe one day it will. And you’ll be a famous reporter.”

Linda smiled at the praise, then got up to get the bottle of hot sauce. There wasn’t much left, but the stew needed some heat. As she picked up the bottle, she found herself looking at the window at the city. Rain pattered against the glass, blurring the lights of the city.

Someone started pounding at the door.

Jesse raised an eyebrow. “Were we expecting anyone?”

“Nope. You paid the rent?”

“Of course.”

“Girls! Open up!”

It sounded like their landlady. Jesse got up and ran a few feet over to the door. She peered through the window before opening it up. Indeed, their landlady was on the other side. She didn’t look angry, but scared.

“Mrs. Vaher,” Jesse put on a winning smile. “Is everything okay?”

“I know it is late, but what is the television showing?”

Linda looked over to the sitcom, which was rolling credits. “Is something happening?”

“You haven’t heard?” Mrs. Vaher’s head whirled back and forth between them. “There are aliens in America.”

Aliens in America?

Linda put down the condiment and moved over to search for the remote. After a few frantic seconds, she located it and changed the channel to see if she could get a signal. Jesse left the door and joined her. With the rain, the reception was somewhat affected by static, but they could still see the images of New York City. Strange bipedal creatures roamed the streets like a conquering army, but they were met with resistance. Two archers. A woman who could create ice. Another woman dressed like Captain America. A lady in a red cape with a hammer who could fly and command lightning.

And the Iron Woman, Felicity Smoak.

~0~

“Prepare for landing.”

That wasn’t something that was supposed to happen for another day. Something must have happened if Mary Xavier was landing them early. Zari looked up from the sink, toothbrush still in her mouth. She spat out the remnants of toothpaste and wiped her mouth against the back of her hand. Pulling open the door, the Ravager nearly ran into Eve.

“What’s going on?” she asked, noticing the other Ravagers hurrying around to their quarters or jump seats.

Eve shrugged. “No idea. Kelly said there’s an invasion happening on Terra.”

The mention of her home world caught Zari’s attention. “Any idea who’s behind it?”

“Mary probably knows. Go ask her once we land.”

With that, Eve was off. Zari decided to head back to her room to get in the chair before they reached the atmosphere of whatever planet Mary was touching them down on. She palmed the panel that opened the space. Lily was already strapping herself into one seat. Zari stepped over the well-loved Beebo on the floor and strapped herself into the other seat.

“Eve said Terra is being invaded.”

“Terra?” Lily’s hands gripped her straps. “Are you sure?”

“It was already secondhand information by the time it got to me. I’m going to ask Mary when we land.”

“If it is Terra, where do you think it’s happening? And who decided to even invade?”

“I don’t know.”

Lily’s questions made the time it took to land stretch even longer. Their families had lived on the west coast of the United States. She could remember they lived in a suburb. A city had been nearby. Cities were often attacked by outsiders first. They’d seen that the more they’d learned about intergalactic politics.

Where were her parents now? Her baby brother? Behrad had to be nearly grown by now…

Lily’s leg was bouncing up and down. Zari turned to their porthole and watched them enter the atmosphere until it grew too bright. She had no idea what planet Mary was landing them on yet. It hovered at the bottom of her list of current pressing questions. When trees came into view, Zari unclipped her harness and moved to the door, Lily on her heels as she hurried down the halls of the ship to the bridge.

“What’s going on?” Lily demanded as soon as they both arrived at the bridge.

Mary turned away from the monitor where another Ravager was fiddling with something. “Girls, we’re not even on the ground yet!”

Zari folded her arms. “Eve heard Terra’s being invaded. Is she right?”

“Zari-”

“Is she right?”

Mary looked between the two of them before giving a single, curt nod. “She heard correctly. The Dominators are invading Terra.”

“I thought they completely closed off from intergalactic society?” Lily questioned. “Something happened there and they withdrew from everything. I can believe they have the tech to get to Terra, but wouldn’t someone have noticed-”

“There’s a massive warship that was sited by other Ravagers in a deep pocket of wild space,” Mary interrupted. “A wormhole opened up so they can access Terra without undertaking a long journey.”

“I didn’t realize the Dominators don’t have the technological capabilities for wormholes,” Zari exchanged a look with Lily. “Did you?”

“They don’t. At least, I thought they didn’t.”

Mary nodded. “The Ravager who sent in the call confirmed it wasn’t the Dominators. Their description of what they saw matched what I know of Terra. Dawson is trying to hack into their technology to get a better idea of what’s happening there.”

“A few more seconds and something should be on the feed.”

The ship landed with a thud as soon as the monitor lit up with an aerial view. Dominators were descending on the streets and buildings by foot or chariot. Lily and Zari stepped closer to take in the details. As the source turned around a building, they watched ant-sized people flee in fear. A group of six at the end of the street in front of a wide building held their ground.

Terra. Earth. Home.

It was still there for now. Maybe if the Dominators lost, she and Lily could still find their way home.

“It’s not where we lived,” Zari said as a detail caught her eye. “That car says ‘Big Apple Taxi Service’. It’s New York.”

“Hang on,” Lily pointed to one of the people on the screen. “Is that Captain America?”

~0~

Miranda knelt before the two grave markers. She had dug into the earth with a shove, then with its blade when the handle broke. Whenever she’d hit rocks, she ripped them out with her bare hands. The scrapes had healed by now, but the ends of her nails were still chipped and cracked. Soon there would be no outside trace of what she had to do.

Her hand brushed over Jonas’s marker. Miranda had been a strategist, not an artisan. She didn’t know any stonemasons who had survived the massacre. She’d cut two discs from a fallen tree and carved Rip and Jonas’s names into them. There was no telling how long they would last upright. But it meant something to her. This was where they would always be from now until the end of time.

Most everyone on the planet was grieving in some way. Everyone knew someone who had been on the other side. Miranda was angry that she had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. She should have been with them or taken them with her or been the one who had stayed home. Anything that would have kept the ones she loved alive.

There was nothing left for her here now. Miranda had heard there was talk of rebuilding and rising from the ashes and such. The people appeared to be content with that. She did not share that vision. Her future led to the invading forces and their leader. It might be her ending as well.

There were still mercenaries on the planet. Enough whispers had been spoken about how they had staked out the port, monitoring who tried to leave. They were still on the take from the invader. If Miranda wanted to find where she needed to go next, the port was where she needed to go.

She pressed a kiss to her fingers, then to Rip’s grave. The action was repeated for Jonas’s.

A steed was borrowed from a surviving neighbor. Both knew that she would not being the beast back. They told her they hoped she found what she was looking for when she left. Thunder rumbled in the distance as Miranda journeyed to the port.

By the time the port came into sight, it was starting to rain. Miranda dismounted her ride, staring through the rain ahead. At least three mercenaries were outside the port. If the rain kept up and she stepped carefully, she had the advantage to sneak up on them.

“For Rip,” she whispered, pulling out the daggers her husband had gifted her at their wedding. “For Jonas.”

As the rain started to fall faster, Miranda moved forward swiftly. She dispatched one, then a second before they could alert the third what was happening. By the time he looked over at her, her dagger had left her hand. It pinned his hand to the side of the port wall. He screamed in pain.

For a moment, Miranda was thankful Rip nor Jonas was present to witness what she was going to do.

“There is no help to scream for,” she said, her tone neutral as she stepped over to him. “Now, tell me. Where is Cassandra Savage?”

~0~

“I am Fern?”

Axl looked at his partner-in-crime and shrugged. “Look, we gotta make money somehow. What better place than a bar at the Hub? A little gambling, a wager here and there, some good old-fashioned hustling, we’re in business.”

“I am Fern.”

“Yes, you can get a drink. And maybe try and steal that guy’s money while you’re at it”

The towering plant creature brightened, a few new fronds unrolling from her head as she lumbered over to the bar. Axl padded after her, leaping up on a stool to get a better lay of their current environment. It was grimy and colorful and milling with life. All ripe for the picking he and Fern could do to live another day.

Axl spun around on the stool to look at the bartender. “What’s good around here?”

The bartender adjusted his false eye as he took in Axl. “Kinda small to be drinking here, aren’t you?”

Axl bared his teeth and slapped down some credits. “House pour.”

Fern came back with something thick and sludgey in her hands. “I am Fern.”

“No, I’m not saying please!”

“You did say it,” the bartender remarked, obliging to Axl’s request. “Haven’t seen either of you around here before.”

“Eh, if your place is fun, maybe we’ll come back again,” Axl remarked before hoping off the stool, eyes set on a roulette table.

An hour later, Axl and Fern had gathered a respectable number of credits through gambling and Axl’s light paws. Fern wasn’t great at the fine motor skill things like that. She was good at being tall and intimidating even if she was really a big tender heart under all that green. Not to mention her fronds really made for good hiding places. Axl didn’t know where he’d be without her sometimes.

Fern was also a comforting presence. She was the first real friend he’d had after…everything.

“-invasion’s gonna make such a mess of things.”

Axl’s ears perked up. It had come from a group of people at the corner table. Axl nudged Fern and nodded to the table.

“Let’s listen for now,” he whispered.

“I am Fern.”

The guy who Axl had first heard kept talking. “Why would a society such as the Dominators invade such a backwater planet?”

“Showing off maybe?” another member at the table said.

“Nahhh, they’d do it with a bigger target. Their queen is much more intelligent than that.”

“Except their society locked down and closed off their planetary space months ago.”

“You know why, right?” a third person chimed in.

“I think you’re going to tell me anyways.”

“Rumor has it that their queen was killed by Mallus, and the population enslaved.”

“Mallus is a rumor,” the second person scolded. “And even so, you ought to be careful saying that name.”

“I am Fern?”

Fern had wandered over to the trio. Axl hurried his way over to her.

“Huh?” the first speaker gawked up at the plant lady.

“She wants to know which planet is being invaded,” Axl told them. “Which one are the Dominators going after?”

“Terra.”

Axl snorted. “That is a backwater world. Yeesh.”

~0~

M’gann had not accepted Mallus’s invitation to watch the Asgardian’s invasion. The other children of Mallus had taken up the “generous” offer, but M’gann had smoothly lied that her time would be better spent searching for Infinity Stones rather than seeing if the one they were gambling with would yield Mallus a second. And of course, then Leslie had decided she wanted to go searching as well, albeit in a different direction than her. She always tried so hard to impress Mallus that it made M’gann roll her eyes.

She hadn’t technically been lying about searching for Infinity Stones, but she certainly wouldn’t be bringing any of them back to Mallus.

Her search for the Soul Stone had brought her to a planet with low habitation. Where she had landed, there wasn’t another person around for miles. The soil was red, just like her home world’s had been. It was not Mars though. She hadn’t gone back there in a long time. Not since Mallus had turned Martian against Martian. If she hadn’t tried to hide herself so well that he’d been impressed with her, M’gann would be dust intermingled with that red soil.

Now was not the time for reflection. M’gann rose in the air and flew over towards a craggy plateau. If she had walked, this would have taken so much longer. Instead, she coasted past the butte and towards her destination. Her eyes scoured the sides of the landform, searching for a way in. Another reason she was grateful for flying- climbing while looking for a needle in a haystack would have only left her frustrated and exhausted.

It took two passes around the plateau before she noticed something amiss. A small ledge with boulders resting on it, but closer inspection indicated they were blocking something. M’gann flew closer, then shifted into a snake to creep between the spaces of the rocks. As she suspected, a larger cavern was behind them. The entrance had been cut off, likely on purpose, to protect something.

Returning to the form she felt most comfortable in, M’gann pulled a glowstick from her belt and snapped it to life. The walls seemed to be painted in some way that might have been important to someone else, but meant nothing to her. At least, they did until she saw one depicting six stones. It confirmed that she had found the right place. Now to see if there was anything here about the Soul Stone.

M’gann searched in the dim light for several minutes for anything. Finally, by chance, a kicked pebbled led her to discover hollow cavities carved into the stone by her feet. Most were empty, but a few held scrolls. M’gann retrieved them, carefully unrolling each one to examine the contents. Most of it was rubbish for her purposes, but might fetch something with the Collector. Although there was more physical object collection on that end.

Then she unrolled one that was part map, part journal. Exactly what she was looking for.

M’gann spent the next ten minutes pouring over it. Committing it to her memory. Making sure she could name the planet the Soul Stone was hidden on as well as the planets and stars around it. Everything that might be necessary to get there.

The Martian reached to her belt and took out the lighter she’d taken from Leslie a while back. As she struck it, she watched for a moment as the heat turned her skin to its true hue.

Then M’gann lit the map on fire, making sure every last bit was ash and nothing could be salvaged.

As far as Mallus was concerned, her search for the Soul Stone had resulted in a dead end.