A Twist Of Marvel || Infinity War

64. Prove It

The palace interior was reminiscent of a grand, golden cathedral on Earth. Naomi was getting rather sick of the gilded decorations, as was Bruce. However they tried to be polite and not comment on it, unlike their new guests. A certain raccoon made his thoughts on the interior design very clear the moment he walked through the door. But neither Rocket, or anyone would be making such jokes after they realized the gravity of the situation. Naomi's mention of the name 'Thanos' had shaken Gamora, but it had done little else to deter the spirits of the others on the team. The Guardians allowed themselves to be led into a large meeting room without concern. Naomi, Loki, Thor, Valkyrie, and Bruce took their seats at the table, and the Guardians sat across. Naomi waited until any chatter amongst themselves had died down, and silence filled the room.

"You can call me a prophet if you like, because I do know the future. There's a long-winded explanation of why involving a separate dimension, but i'm hoping we can skip past that for the sake of time." She began, resting her forearms on the table and peering at them intently. Gamora matched her gaze with intensity, but the rest of her team seemed much less passionate about the entire affair. They were only silent due to the morose atmosphere- Groot had even put his game down and tried to act like he was paying attention.

"I'll pretend I believe you." The green woman said, eyeing Naomi. Naomi shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, but carried on speaking.

"Thanos's goal is to collect all six infinity stones, and use them to wipe out half the universe's population. And in the future I saw, he succeeded."

"Huh?" Peter asked, raising an eyebrow and squinting at her. Naomi hesitated for a second, unsure because she had never gotten that kind of reaction before.

"She means that if we do not collect the infinity stones ourselves, Thanos will, and he will win." Thor intervened in the conversation, the serious side of him emerging as the topic matter grew ever darker. Even in the present situation, Naomi took a moment to appreciate his leadership skills. She knew that he would make a good king, if they managed to defeat Thanos.

"Okay, time out." Rocket interrupted, his chin just barely making it over the table. Asgard didn't have any chairs fit for raccoons, unfortunately. "That guy's been going on about the stones forever, nothings changed about that."

"Things have changed," Naomi stressed, her brow furrowing. "You have to believe me." The air was clear for a moment as everyone formulated their thoughts on the matter, now thoroughly engrossed in the conversation. Even Naomi's companions, who had all already heard her lecture on the future, paid rapt attention.

"I am Groot." The teenager spoke up, crossing his arms in a haughty manner. Though Naomi couldn't speak Groot, she had a fairly good idea of what he had said. She opened her mouth to say what she thought the answer would be, but looking at Groot while thinking of Infinity War brought some unwanted thoughts to her mind. In fact, looking at any member of the Guardians made her feel incredibly melancholy.

"He's right, you must prove yourself." Drax said, his eyes wide and his expression intense. Naomi nodded to him, knowing that she would likely have to dig up some painful memories of theirs t prove her knowledge.

"I know about how you all met, the fight with Ronan, and most recently the fight with Ego." She revealed, greeted with many wide eyes and disbelieving faces. Though Mantis seemed to have believed everything so far, the rest of the Guardians were not so ready to hear it.

"Okay then lady, what's my favorite color?" Rocket sneered, still making light of the conversation. Gamora shushed him, intent on figuring out whether or not Naomi was legit. The raccoon rolled his eyes at his unreceptive audience. However Peter, seated next to Gamora, took note of her serious expression and seemed to sober up.

"Alright." Peter grunted, his expression darkening as he faced Naomi. "I'll throw you a real curveball, see if you're legit." He shrugged, and Naomi tensed. She had to get the question right, or else she could lose her chance of having the Guardians help taking down Thanos. Without them, she didn't want to imagine what could happen. "What were his last words?" Peter asked, leaning back in his chair.

"That's not fair, you didn't give her a name-" Loki immediately protested, his voice laced with frustration. He had been silent next to Naomi thus far, but apparently felt the need to rise to her defense under the unclear question. But it wasn't unclear to Naomi, because even though she had just met Peter Quill, she knew him well.

"It's okay Loki." Naomi said, cutting him off with a hand on his shoulder before he could speak further. She kept he eyes on Peter, who tried not to show it but seemed surprised at her confidence. Silence ensued, and the entire table leaned in slightly to Naomi as if she would whisper it as a secret.

"I'm sorry that I didn't do none of it right, I'm damn lucky you're my boy."

Peter sucked in a breath, his face falling. Naomi regretted the words, but she knew that she had to convince them. There were other ways, but time was running out before Thanos made a move, and they still had two stones unaccounted for. The silence in the room grew thicker as everyone watched Quill's devastating reaction. Naomi's companions could only guess at whose final words it had been, but the Guardians could figure it out easily enough. Gamora put a comforting hand on his arm, and Peter took the opportunity to look away from Naomi. The grief was still fresh for him, but it was not enough for everyone.

"I don't believe you." Rocket glared, his animalistic features still intimidating even though he could barely see one the table. "Sorry Quill, but i'm not buying this whole prophet gig." He shrugged, ignoring the annoyed looks from the others. Naomi supposed he had a point, though. Peter had heard Yondu's final words in private, and it was possible that he could have spouted them out to random people if he was drunk enough. It would take more than that to convince the Guardians.

"What else do you want to know?" Naomi sighed, preparing herself to make another devastating quote. The Guardians were quiet, unsure of what to ask after what had happened to Peter. But a small voice spoke up, just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"i am groot?" He asked, his posture meek and shy. Naomi was surprised at the tree's demeanor, she had never seen teenage Groot act so timid onscreen. She had no idea what he said, but a small gasp from Thor, and the somber expressions from the rest of the guardians, excluding Mantis tipped Naomi off.

"Groot..." Rocket trailed off, taken aback by the teen's question.

"What is it?" Naomi asked softly, tentatively from the solemn drop in the already dark atmosphere.

"He asked what his father's last words were." Drax spoke up, laying a hand on the tree's shoulder. Groot shoved it off quickly, and kept his eyes low. Naomi nodded quietly, ready to oblige to the young tree's request. She hadn't known that Groot knew so little of his father, likely because it was painful for the Guardians to discuss it, but she had no choice other than to tell him.

"We are Groot." She said, and Groot's head shot up. Naomi wasn't sure if she had said it correctly since it was technically a complex foreign language, but Groot seemed to understand what the words meant. He nodded to her, his expression indecipherable, and turned his eyes back to his lap.

"Fine." Rocket spat out, direction the table's attention. "I believe you." He told Naomi. While she was relieved that they believed her wild claim of prophetic knowledge, a deeper part of her despised how she had to prove it to them. Dredging up painful moments from their pasts just to prove a point was never something she anticipated.

"Hey." Gamora spoke up, her face guarded and cleared of emotion. "You said that you saw Thanos get all six stones, but he can't." She protested, jabbing a finger into the table. "No one knows where the Soul Stone is, it's lost."

Naomi stared at her for a moment, a scene that she did not want to remember playing in her mind.

"But I know that's not true, Gamora." Naomi whispered, and the green woman's guard slipped for a moment, revealing fear. For she too, knew that the Soul Stone was not lost, and Gamora knew that there was only one way Thanos could've found it.