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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟎
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

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The eerie orangish sun shined down on the heroes as they walked out of the destroyed ship. Alex did her best to stay close to Peter to avoid talking to their new allies. For a reason she couldn't explain, the Easton girl didn't trust the three newcomers in the slightest. She also didn't understand how Tony and Peter could trust them when they were attacking them not even a half hour ago. She didn't like how they just appeared out of nowhere and started fighting them without having all the information. Alex also was confused as to why the Stark man easily decided to join forces with them when he was always skeptical of Doctor Strange. Something felt off to Alex but she couldn't put her finger on it. It may have been that she was just missing Earth, or her gut was telling her something bad was about to happen. But instead of voicing her feelings, the Easton girl kept her mouth shut. She wasn't in the mood for Peter's questions or Tony making her feel crazy. And, if she was being honest, she didn't want to be right about the space people.

A stoic expression found its home on Alex's face as she stood to the side with her arms crossed over her chest. Her eyes were glued to the redheaded man as he walked around in circles with a glowing object in his hand. In the speedster's eyes, the Quill man looked foolish while he spun around with the item held high in the sky. But she also knew that he might find vital information that they would need to survive. It wasn't long after that when the other Peter was talking about how the planet's readings were all over the place and far from normal, which didn't make the speedster feel any better. A small sigh passed over Alex's lips as she turned back around to face her Peter, only for her eyes to land on Mantis. The Easton girl did her best to stifle a laugh as she watched the empath jump up and down on a circle of webbing like it was a trampoline.

"Why haven't you ever made one of those before?" Alex whispered just loud enough for only Peter to hear while her eyes continued to follow Mantis' movements, "it looks like fun."

"She asked me to do it, but I didn't think it would actually work," the Parker boy told her while the two of them continued to watch the woman in green. It wasn't long after that when a small smile appeared on Peter's face as he looked over at the speedster. "Want me to make another one when we get home?"

A large grin instantly appeared on Alex's face before she sent Peter a nod in response. However, before their conversation about the web trampoline could continue, Tony called out to the two teens, making them walk over to him.

"Alright, I have a plan. Or at least the beginnings of one," the Stark man announced, drawing everyone's attention toward him as everyone walked closer to him to hear what he had to say, "it's pretty simple. We draw him in, pin him down, get what we need. Definitely don't wanna dance with this guy. We just want the gauntlet."

The Stark man paused as his attention moved to something behind the Quill man. Alex instantly followed his gaze to find both Drax and Mantis looking around without a care in the world. They both looked as though they would rather be anywhere else but there. It wasn't long after that when the Kylosian man's actions started to irritate Tony. "Are you yawning? In the middle of this, while I'm breaking it down? Huh? Did you hear what I said?"

"I stopped listening after you said, 'we need a plan,'" Drax responded as he looked around at everyone standing in front of him, only to find the trio from Earth staring back at him with annoyance in their eyes.

"Okay, Mr. Clean is on his own page," the Iron Man muttered under his breath while turning his attention back to the Quill man standing in front of him, who was trying his best not to smile.

"See, 'not winging it' isn't really what they do," Peter explained in a tone that made it seem like he was trying to hide how bored he was.

"Uh, what exactly is it that they do?" Spider-Man asked while gesturing to the duo looking around at the planet without a care in the world.

"Kick names, take *ss," Mantis announced with all the confidence she could muster while Drax nodded along beside her.

Peter and Alex instantly shared a confused look while Tony simply stared at them with vexation in his eyes. That continued for a moment longer before the billionaire opened his mouth to talk once again. "Alright, just get over here, please. Mr. Lord, can you get your folks to circle up?"

"'Mr. Lord.' Star-Lord is fine," Peter said with a large smile on his face before gesturing for his teammates to join them.

Alex couldn't help but chuckle as she watched Drax and Mantis reluctantly make their way over to them. Tony responded to her actions by sending her an annoyed look while the Parker boy held back a smile. It wasn't long after that when they were close enough for the Stark Man's liking before he continued speaking. "We gotta coalesce. Because if all we come at him with is a plucky attitude-"

"Dude, don't call us plucky. We don't know what it means," the Quill man interrupted, earning another irritated look from Tony that he chose to ignore, "alright, we're optimistic, yes. I like your plan. Except it sucks, so let me do the plan, and that way it might be really good."

"Doesn't Primrose usually come up with the good plans?" Mantis questioned, earning a pointed look from the redheaded man standing next to her.

"Who's Primrose? And if she's so smart, why isn't she here?" Alex asked, causing Peter to let out a long sigh.

"She's a little preoccupied with helping your friend, Thor, alright?" the Quill man explained while trying his best to hide his annoyance...and hopelessly failing.

"Tell them about the dance-off to save the universe," Drax eagerly said to Peter, who instantly cringed after hearing the Kylosian man's words.

"A dance-off to save the..." the Easton girl trailed off as she turned her attention toward the redheaded man, "are you like crazy-crazy? Or just normal-crazy?"

An irritated look instantly appeared on the Quill man's face as he looked over at Alex. "I'm not crazy!"

"Wait, like in Footloose, the movie?" Peter questioned, drawing Peter's attention toward him.

"Exactly like Footloose," the redheaded man responded with a hint of hope in his voice while Alex and Tony exchanged a concerned look, "is it still the greatest movie in history?"

"It never was," the Parker boy muttered under his breath while Alex did her best to hold back a laugh.

"Don't encourage this, alright?" Tony told the smirking teens while the redheaded man stared at the duo with a hint of irritation in his eyes, "we're getting no help from Flash Gordon here."

"Flash Gordon? By the way, that's a compliment," the Quill man announced, drawing the trio's awareness back to him before he continued speaking, "don't forget, I'm half human. So that 50% of me that's stupid...that 100% you."

"Your math is blowing my mind," Tony retaliated while Alex looked past everyone to focus her attention on Doctor Strange, who had been strangely quiet since they left the ship.

The Easton girl's blood instantly ran cold at the sight in front of her. Stephen was floating a few feet off the ground with his hands out in front of him. What looked to be green rings of light ran up his arms, two on each to be exact, while a matching mist circled around him. The light emitted from his necklace, which was also brightly glowing. But what really made Alex become as still as a statue was how fast the sorcerer's head was moving. It almost seemed to be a blur, similar to how she and Pietro looked at others as they ran. The speedster just watched Stephen for a moment longer before finally gathering the courage to speak. "Hey, I think there's something wrong with our wizard friend."

Tony immediately turned his attention toward the sorcerer before staring at him for a long moment, as if trying to figure out what was happening. It wasn't long after that when he finally called out to the Keeper of the Mind Stone. "Strange, we alright?"

When Stephen didn't respond, everyone began walking over to him with confused and concerned looks on their faces. Tony was only a few feet away from the sorcerer while everyone stood farther back as they continued to watch the sorcerer. It wasn't long after that when Doctor Strange let out a loud gasp as he crashed back onto the ground. Alex instantly jumped, causing her to slam into Peter as they watched Tony steady the Sorcerer Supreme.

"You're back. You're alright," the Stark man said while Stephen took in deep unsteady breaths.

"What the h*ll was that?" the Easton girl questioned, drawing all attention to her before the Strange man let out a long sigh.

"I went forward in time to view alternate futures. To see all the possible outcomes of the coming conflict," the Keeper of the Time Stone explained as he kept taking in deep gulps of air.

Silence surrounded them for a moment as everyone kept their eyes glued to Stephen. What felt like an eternity passed before the Quill man decided to break it. "How many did you see?"

"14,000,605," the Sorcerer Supreme announced without skipping a beat.

"How many did we win?" Tony asked, drawing Stephen's attention back to him.

The sorcerer just stared at the man in front of him for a long moment, making an eerie feeling wash over Alex. By the look on Doctor Strange's face, she knew something was wrong. But she didn't have it anywhere in her to ask about. Instead, she waited a moment longer and allowed Stephen to answer the Stark man's question. "One."

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