Avengers: Endgame [4]

3

The Benatar, 2023

"Yeah, we boarded that highly suspect warship Danvers pinged," Rocket reported.

"It was an infectious garbage scow," Nebula added.

"So thanks for the hot tip," Astra told Carol through the call.

"Yeah. And now we smell like garbage," Rocket complained.

Astra, Rocket, and Nebula were in a hologram call with Natasha from the Avengers Compound, Okoye from Wakanda, Carol from who knew where in space, and Rhodey from a place on Earth called Mexico.

It had been five years since Thanos had erased half of all life in the universe. And since then, she, Rocket, and Nebula had flown back into space to help other planets recover from Thanos's decimation while staying in touch with the Avengers.

"You got a reading on those tremors?" Natasha asked.

"'Twas a mild subduction under the African plate," said Okoye.

"Do we have a visual? How are you handling it?" Natasha asked.

"Nat," said Okoye, "it's an earthquake under the ocean. We handle it by not handling it."

Natasha turned to Carol. "Carol, are we seeing you here next month?"

"Not likely," Carol replied.

"Why? You gonna get another haircut?" Rocket asked sarcastically.

"Listen, fur face," said Carol impatiently, "I'm covering a lot of territory. The things that are happening on Earth are happening everywhere. On thousands of planets."

"All right, all right, that's a good point," said Rocket.

Carol turned back to Natasha. "So you might not see me for a long time."

"All right. Uh, well, this channel's always active," said Natasha. "So, if anything goes sideways, if anyone's making trouble where they shouldn't, comes through me." She nodded, dismissing the meeting. "All right."

"Great. Thanks, Nat," said Astra. She, Rocket, and Nebula turned away from the hologram, signing off.

That was how it usually went these days. They flew around the galaxy, answering distress calls just like they usually did before the decimation. Stop a crime, then report back to Natasha.

And in Astra's point of view, it was getting really boring.

***

A few days later, Astra was surprised to hear the hologram ringing. Again.

"Already? Hasn't even been a week," she said, standing up.

"Relax, fairy, I'll get it," said Rocket, going over to answer the call.

About five minutes later, he came back, an unreadable expression on his face.

"That was Bruce. Apparently they've found a way to get everyone back," he said.

"How? Thanos destroyed the Stones years ago." Astra frowned.

"Yeah, but this guy came back from a place called the Quantum Realm and shared an idea of controlling it to go back in time. They thought he was snapped but he hadn't aged at all. Which means-"

"We could go back in time and get the Stones and undo the snap ourselves!" Astra exclaimed. "Cool! I'll tell them right away." She ran to the holograms to tell Bruce they agreed to help.

Avengers Compound

"Hey, humie!" Rocket called, seeing a man eating a taco in the landing zone. "Where's Big Green?"