Comic Book Darling

Dust In The Wind

Joanna

"-, you're a seriously loyal piece of outerwear, aren't you?" Tony asked a floating red cape.
"Yeah, uh, speaking of loyalty..." Peter started as we hung upside down, facing him.
"What the-" Tony started as I walked over to the cape. "You're a part of this too, miss." He said as he and Peter went back and forth.
"There is no way to send us home, Tony, so I suggest that we get down to business and stop wasting time." I winced as Strange yelled in pain.
"What's your plan? Go." Tony took in a shaky breath.
"Ok, uh... Ok. Did you ever see this really old movie, Aliens?" Peter asked as he when over the plan with us.

Tony jumped down into his superhero pose, and Ebony Maw turned around.
"I could end your friend's life in an instant."
"I gotta tell you; he's not really my friend. Saving his life is more of a professional courtesy." Tony said.
"You've saved nothing. Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine." Ebony said as he lifted blocks.
"Yeah, but the kids have seen more movies," Tony said before he shot a hole into the spaceship's wall, which sucked Ebony out and started to pull the wizard out with him. First, the cape grabbed his hand before losing the grip, and then Peter webbed him, and his new spider legs popped out.
"Yes! Wait. What are those?" Peter asked, looking at the legs. He jumped and pulled the wizard along with him as Dad and I sealed the opening shut with our ice powers. I heard a grunt as I ran over to the wizard and helped him up.
"Are you ok, sir?" I asked.
"Yes, I'm fine, thank you." He dusted himself off. "We gotta turn this ship around."
"Yeah, now he wants to run. Great plan." Tony scoffed.
"No, I want to protect the stone." Wizard corrected.
"And I want you to thank me. Now, go ahead. I'm listening." Tony added as I rolled my eyes and walked over to Peter. He took my hand in his. I shook my head and laughed at him as they continued to bicker.
"- with no backup," Tony growled.
"We're back up," Peter said as he held me in his arms.
"No, you two are stowaways. The adults are talking. " He snipped.
"I'm sorry, I'm confused as to the relationship here." started.
"This is my daughter, Joanna Stark." Dad introduced.
"Hello." I waved politely.
"I'm Peter, by the way." Peter cut in.
"Dr. Strange." Strange introduced.
"Oh, you're using our made-up names. Um... I'm Spiderman, then." Peter tried as I giggled and shook my head.
"Come on, let's go sit for a little bit." I smiled softly at him as we walked over to the stairs and sat down on them. I rested my head on his shoulder as he rested his head on mine. He kissed my hair as I felt the anxiety coming from Tony.
"Alright, kids. You're Avengers now." Dad said as he 'knighted' us.
"Hey, are you ok, Tony?" I asked softly as I grabbed his hand.
"I just hope we can defeat him." He sighed as I squeezed his hand in support before he walked off, and I sat back down next to Peter.

"Mr. Stark? I don't feel so good..." Peter said as he ran over to dad.
"Where the hell am I in this?" I asked.
"You put yourself in between your father and Thanos when Thanos impaled him. You died." My actual dad said.
"Daddy!" I exclaimed as I went over to hug him.
"Hi, sweetie. You are a brave young woman, and I have been sent here, into your subconscious, to show you what you have to do." He said as he kissed my forehead and stepped back into the light just before I woke up.
"Joanna! What's wrong?" Tony asked.
"N-nothing, just a bad dream." I stuttered as I shook my head and got up.
"Are you sure?" Dr. Strange asked.
"Yeah, but I know what I need to do now." I choked but cleared my throat as we neared Titan.
"I don't think this rig has a self-park function. Get your hand inside the steering Gibble, and close those around it." Tony said to Peter.
"Got it got it got it," Peter repeated as he did as he was told.
"We have to act like one big guy," Tony instructed.
"Ok, ready?" Peter asks as they attempt to land. "Turn, turn, turn, TURN!" Peter exclaimed as we hit something. The giant doughnut starts to break apart as I touch the earrings Tony made for me to form my suit, and Dr. Strange forms a protective dome around us.
"I have to say if aliens end up planting eggs in my chest or something, I just wanna let you know, I'm sorry," Peter says as he comes down, upside down, on his web.
"I do not want to hear another pop culture reference out of you for the rest of the trip. Do you understand?" Tony scolded.
"I'm trying to say something is coming," Peter says right as a ball rolls in and explodes right in front of us.
"THANOS!" Someone yells as Drax throws something at Dr. Strange, making a shield. Drax yells as Strange's cape attacks Drax and Peter Quill starts attacking Ironman.
"Whoa whoa whoa! Please don't put your eggs in me!" Peter yells as he webs Mantis.
"Stay down, clown!" Quill says as he kicks Peter to the ground and fires at him.
"Quill stop!" I yelled, but he didn't listen. Ironman steps on Drax's chest and points his hand beams at him as Quill grabs me and puts me in a chokehold with a gun up against my head.
"Ok! Everyone chill the F out! I'm going to ask you this one time, where's Gamora?" Quill asked.
"I'll do you one better; who's Gamora?" Dad asked.
"I'll do you one better; why is Gamora?" Drax asked dad as I tried to hold back a laugh.
"Tell me where the girl is, or I swear to you, I'm going to french fry this little freak." He said, putting his gun up against my head again.
"Who are you calling a freak, Mr. Half-alien?" I sassed.
"You shoot her, and I'll shoot him," Dad said.
"Do it, Quill! I can take it!" Drax exclaimed.
"No! He can't take it!" Mantis shouted.
"She's right; he can't take it," Strange said.
"Quill put the gun down," I said as my mask came off.
"Fine! You don't want to tell me where she is? I'll kill all four of you and beat it out of Thanos myself! Starting with you!" He pressed harder.
"Alright, let me ask you this one time; what master do you serve?" Strange asked.
"What master? What am I supposed to say? Jesus?" He asked.
"You're from Earth." Dad scoffed.
"Duh." I scoffed.
"I'm from Earth. No, I'm from Missouri." Quill scoffed.
"Yeah, that's on Earth, Dipshit," Tony said. "What are you hustling us for?"
"So you're not with Thanos?" Peter asked.
"With Thanos? No, I'm here to kill Thanos. He took my girl; wait, who are you?" Quill asked.
"We're the Avengers, man," Peter said as Quill let me go.
"You're the ones Thor told us about," Mantis said.
"Hold on, you know them?" Tony asked me.
"I know everyone." I frowned, looking back at Quill. "I hope you realize what a horrible mistake you've made."
"How do any of us really know that you're telling the truth?" Quill shot back.
"Something horrible happened to Gamora, and it did, didn't it?" I snapped.
"Then tell me, are we going to win?" He asked.
"I can't tell you or anyone. If I did, I could be risking more lives than I save." I frowned as I walked off the ship.
"Joanna, are you ok?" Peter asked as he swung over to me.
"No, everything is still going the same way! I can seem to fix anything! I'm going to be the reason why-!" I started to cry as Peter held me.
"You're not the reason; if and when anything does happen, it'll be Thanos' fault, not yours." He tried.
"Peter, I was shown the future so I can fix it; I have done nothing. I can't even convince someone to do nothing! I'm so useless!" I sat down and hugged my knees.
"You are anything but useless. J, you are trying so hard to prevent whatever this future has, and I am so proud to call you my bestfriend." He smiled as he brought me into ha ug. "I need to be real with you for a moment, but as much as I hate to say it, this may be one time that everything has to stay the same. This one future may not want to be changed. I know it's hard to sit back and watch it unfold again, but that may be what needs to happen. I'm sorry." He frowned.
"To be completely honest, I think I needed that, more than I needed the sweet moment before. Thank you, Peter, you always know just what to say." I hugged him again.
"So, are you two done now so that we can go over the plan?" Tony asked as a light blush took over my face. "Ok, so- are you yawning?" He asked as I stopped listening until Peter spoke up.
"So what exactly do you two do?" He asked Drax and Mantis.
"Kick names, and take ass," Mantis said as I busted out laughing.
"I'm sorry, sorry, that was just one of the funniest parts in this movie, and hearing it in real life? That was just... better." I laughed as I tried to regain my composure. "Ok, let's put some plan into motion." I started as they nodded, and Quill told us his plan.
"What about the dance-off?" Drax asked.
"What dance-off?" Dad asked.
"It's nothing..." Quill started.
"Like in Footloose, the movie?" Peter asked.
"Exactly like footloose! Is it still the greatest movie in history?" Quill asked.
"It never was." Peter sassed.
"I like footloose," I mumbled as Tony took us to the side and tried to insult Quill.
"Uh, excuse me? Does your friend always do that?" Mantis asked as I walked over to Dr. Strange as he got out of his trance.
"Hey, hey, it's ok, you're safe." I soothed as I held onto his hands.
"Hey, what was that?" Peter asked.
"I went forward in time to view alternate futures. To see all the possible outcomes of the upcoming conflict." Dr. Strange said.
"How many did you see?" Quill asked.
"15,568,391." He said as I paled. "What was it in your world?"
"14,600,005." I choked as I squeezed my eyes shut.
"How many do we win?" Dad asked.
"One." Dr. Strange whispered.
"Joanna?" Tony asked.
"Even still in my world. I can't fix anything." I cried as dad held me in his arms. Tony made me go to sleep for a while, and that's when I had another dream.

Dust. That's all I see, but it feels like it's not just dust, like there was once a life connected to it.
Anxiety pounded on my chest as I woke up with a start.
"Joanna! What's wrong?" Tony asked.
"N-nothing, just a bad dream." I stuttered as I shook my head and got up.
"Are you sure?" Dr. Strange asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I shook my head and cleared my throat.

***

A few hours later, we were about to put our plan into action when I took Peter to the side.
"Peter, stay safe, ok?" I smiled sadly up at him.
"You too, J. What's wrong?" He asked.
"A lot, but I have to do something, to save someone soon, and I needed to tell you that, just in case I don't get the time to tell you later." I tried to keep the smile on my face.
"What do you mean, you won't get the time?" He asked as worry lined his features.
"Don't worry; I will come back. I'll always come back for you." I gently placed my hand on his cheek and pulled him into a soft kiss.
"Joanna?" His voice cracked, and his eyes widened as I kissed his cheek and flew away to my position, and waited.

***

I waited and watched in horror as my friends and family got beat to a pulp, but I had to wait a little bit longer.
I finally ran in after my Tony as Thanos beat him up. With tears in my eyes, I pushed myself in between Thanos and Tony as Thanos impaled me through my chest.
"NOO!" Tony yelled as Thanos brought me to sit on a rock.
"You're not from here, are you?" He asked.
"No, I'm not." I hissed as I felt my grasp on life slowly slipping away.
"You saved him; why?" He asked me.
"That's my dad. And don't worry, I'll be back with fire in my eyes, and you will be reduced to nothing." I hissed as Dr. Strange woke up.
"Joanna! No!" Peter yelled, and I slipped away.