Forever and Always

Chapter 31

Clint and Clara followed Nebula and Gamora through the labyrinth of debris. Clara hopes that every turn they took would lead right to the outside, but it ended up being another tunnel. Clint was holding the gauntlet. He looked tired, but a little exhaustion wasn't gonna keep him from fighting. He had been doing this for awhile now. Up ahead, Nebula was catching Gamora up on what has happened from her time, which was 2014, up to the present. She even went as far to say that Thanos had killed her in 2018 when retrieving the infinity stone.

Clara, herself, felt a little drained as well. Her feet would drag, and she could feel her eyelids droop. It's been a long day: time travel, they lost a friend, Thanos from the past plotted a scheme to send 2014 Nebula back and create a portal for them to get through so they could blow up the compound. A lot's happened. Fortunately, they were able to snap their fingers successfully, unfortunately we don't know if it worked and who else survived the bombing. Nebula just said that "teammates" needed help.

       Clara, starting to lose hope of getting out of the maze they were in, just wanted to collapse right then and there and take a nap. But everyone else showed no sign of stopping, and she wasn't gonna be that one person. She did, however, ask how many more turns until they were out. The answer was always "soon". Nebula and Gamora had stopped talking away well, and it was just silent except for their footsteps.

         Suddenly, static filled Clara's right ear and echoed through her brain. She winced a bit, and was about to turn the earpiece off, but mingled in with the static, she could vaguely make out a voice. Was that? Clara's eyes widened and she looked at Clint. His hand was also to his ear, and he heard the same thing. Nebula heard it too, because she was looking at Clara and Clint.

         "What is it?" Gamora asked.

           "Hold on," Clara pressed the earpiece into her ear, hopefully picking up an faint talking, but instead, she heard the voice again, this time much clearer and very distinctive.

           "Cap, can you hear me? On your left." Clara suddenly felt an energy boost. She took her hand off her ear and smiled.

           "It worked! The snap, it worked! That was Sam!! That was Sam!" Clara honestly couldn't believe how happy she was to hear Sam again. Clint looked happy as well, but he didn't share the same enthusiasm. "Why aren't you celebrating?" Clint smiled.

           "I already knew it worked. Laura called me a few moments after Bruce snapped."

          "And you didn't tell me! I was worrying the entire time if it worked or not!" Clint just smiled.

           "I wanted you to find out for yourself." Clara suddenly felt very enclosed in the tunnels. She was more aware of her surroundings. She had to get out.

            "We gotta get out of here quickly. Nebula, Gamora, I can take it from here." Clint and Nebula backed up against the wall, and Gamora followed as well. Clara let her body expand as she changed back once again. She stood in the middle of tunnel, and she held her nose to the ground. Once she picked up Nebula's faded scent from earlier, she lifted her head up and trailed it.

"Follow me." Clara would've sprinted, but she resorted to a light job so the others could keep up. She lead them through the dark tunnels. They were almost there, she could feel the air getting cooler and drier as they neared the exit. However, a bright orange glow appeared in the dark tunnel. Clara skidded to a stop, and she felt one of the three accidentally bump into her.

"What that?" Gamora asked, and none of them knew the answer. They all watched, mesmerized by the swirling orange sparks, and Clara was in even more awe when it had started to form a huge circle. But the circle didn't show the other side of the tunnel. It instead showed the outside. The battlefield. On the far side of the tunnel, she saw Thanos' army: waves of aliens and the flying centipedes that invaded New York all the way back in 2012, Thanos' followers, who they killed five years ago, and those damn alien dogs Clara from Wakanda. But closest to the entrance of the tunnel, where they stood, large crowds were marching towards the army. She saw a mix of aliens, men and women in red robes with the same orange swirls around their hands, and even Wakandans.