Tomorrow's Guardians

By Michael Weyer

I know, the title is a bit cliché but best I could do. Just another wild idea that hit me and had to get it out as it plays more into the cosmic storyline.

France, 1626

"Will you keep this thing steady?!"

"This is not an SUV!"

Ray Palmer cursed as he tried to pull on the reins of the horses. The carriage bounced on the rough road as it shook hard. Next to him, Mick Rory let out a groan as he held the large floppy hat to his head. Like Ray, he was dressed in a dark outfit that fit him rather poorly. "Gonna be sick…"

"Not on the royal coach!"

Inside the carriage, Sara Lance was doing her best to handle the blade-wielding assassin trying to strike at her. She was held back by the close quarters as well as the huge white dress she was wearing which restricted her movements. She was attempting to block the man's attacks even as she was hampered by her outfit. Next to her, a wide-eyed Queen Anne leaned as far back in her seat as she could, watching what she had thought was just a lady-in-waiting fighting a killer.

On the roof of the carriage, Zari had just punched a man off the side and watched him fall in a heap onto the ground. She had tossed aside her hat to allow her long hair to be shown, a contrast to the musketeer uniform she wore. Her sword was in her hand and moving to block a thrust from another of the rough and tumble killers trying to attack the coach.

The sound of hoof beats got her attention and she looked over to see Laurel Lance riding up on a horse. Her own musketeer outfit was tattered as her hair flowed back behind her. Doing his best not to make it seem like he was grabbing her in an uncomfortable way, John Constantine held on to her as the horse rode up. He was in his usual outfit which stood out in 17th century France but he'd insisted on taking a "backstage" role in all this.

Laurel was coming up to the coach, handing the reins over to Constantine. "Wait a bloody…" the warlock started but Laurel was already leaping off the horse and grabbing the coach. She yanked the door open and kicked at the man Sara was fighting. He grunted as he was knocked back. Both sisters lunged out with kicks that sent the guy flying out the other door and rolling on the ground.

Sara looked to Laurel and raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you ride a horse?"

Laurel frowned. "Your Laurel never went to summer camp?"

"She did. She hated it."

"Huh." Black Siren gave a shrug as she glanced out the window. "I think we lost them."

A loud cry echoed as another would-be killer was tossed off the roof of the coach and to the ground. Ray managed to bring the coach to a stop as Laurel hopped out and helped Sara out as well. Constantine came up on the horse, wincing as he got off it. "Vampires are dusted and the Three Musketeers are still alive," he announced.

Anne smiled to Sara. "It appears I owe you a debt…again." She moved to give Sara a long kiss as Laurel had to raise her eyebrows.

"Um…thanks," Sara finally said as it was broken. "Um, sorry but, Ray?" Anne turned in time for Ray to flash her with the memory eraser. He led her back to the coach as Sara saw Laurel smirking at her. "You…and the Queen of France…"

Sara sighed. "It was a while ago and yes, Ava knows."

"Oh, I bet. You must have amazing pillow talk…"

"Okay, I think I actually preferred you hating me."

Mick was puking on the ground before rising up. "Can we get going? I hate this country. No matter what time period, I hate it."

"For the tenth time, Mick, French fries won't be invented for centuries and they don't come from here in the first place!"

"I miss beer. You know how crappy the wine in this time is?"

"He actually has a point…"

"Shut up, Laurel."

In her months with the Legends, Laurel Lance of Earth-2 had come to several conclusions.

First, it was great to have a sister again. It wasn't the same one, of course, but this Sara understood Laurel fighting her dark side quite well and was doing her best to help her out. Likewise, Laurel didn't have the same blame for this Sara, seeing how she paid the price for that affair with Oliver. The two had bonded well, much better than Laurel and her Sara had.

Second, she was on a ship packed with absolute morons. Oh, Sara could be sharp but still prone to nutty stuff (especially with Ava) and for a supposed engineering genius, Ray could be a goof. The less said of the others, the better.

Third, there was literally no situation this team could not find a way to make ten times worse and half the time was cleaning up messes they themselves had created.

Finally, whenever this team did manage to save the day, it was more by luck, chance or borderline divine intervention than anything they actually planned.

It had been a ride for Laurel since joining them. This latest trip, preventing vampires from turning Queen Anne and making France a vampire nation, was actually calm compared to stopping demons from attacking 1979 Camp David or werewolves assaulting Queen Victoria. She was doing her best to handle it and getting to know her teammates. Which could be rather tricky.

"Still say I could have been of help with you lot," Charlie stated. Laurel was pretty much the one person who didn't give the former shapeshifter flack. After all, she hadn't known Amaya so didn't have any judgement of someone else wearing her face. And she actually liked the woman always speaking her mind and not holding back her opinions. People with little tact appealed to Laurel well.

"You wouldn't exactly blend in well," Sara stated. They were assembling on the main bridge of the Waverider, the group back in their usual clothes. Laurel had been ditching her usual tight leather outfits for jeans and a blouse although she just couldn't get rid of her long coat.

Charlie was in one of her usual "punk" outfits of a dark jacket, blouse and mini-skirt that seemed to fit in any time period. "Right and Mick sets in place perfectly."

"She's got you there," Laurel noted. She accepted the bottle Charlie was offering to take a long swig. "Ugh, have to agree with Mick, not a fan of old-time France."

"Bad trip there?"

"Ah, never happy how they stabbed us in the back siding with the Russians after World War II on my Earth."

"At least we got it handled," Sara announced. "I'm gonna check in with Ava and Nate and then we can enjoy some down time."

It was at just this point that the Waverider was rocked hard by a collision with another ship.

Ten minutes earlier…

"This is all your fault."

"Are you going to say that every day?"

"Yes. I most likely am."

"She is right to."

"Oh, like you had better ideas…"

"Any idea was better than this!"

"I am Groot."

"He agrees with me!"

"He's a maroon!'

"I am Groot!"

"Sorry, buddy but ya are in this case."

"I relish the chance for battle!"

"Do you like it?"

"I did not say that."

"Dear God, you're all idiots."

The Guardians of the Galaxy were never what one might call the most sedate group in the best of circumstances. These were not it.

Peter Quill let out a yell as he set their ship spinning around. The Benatar moved to dodge the cannon fire from one of the two dozen smaller ships swarming after them. Next to him, Gamora cursed as she also worked the controls of the craft. Behind them, Drax held on to the straps of his seat while Mantis yelped as the ship shook.

"Dammit, Quill, stop fighting me on this!" Rocket snapped from the rear of the craft where he was manning the cannons. "I can barely get a bead on these guys!" He grunted before firing back to knock one ship off course in a blast of fire.

"I'm trying to avoid them!" Peter snapped back. The ship shook under a blast.

"Winning on that, boss!"

"This is all your fault!" Gamora repeated.

"She's right on that," Nebula growled from her own chair, her real eye flaring more than her artificial one. "You're the one who wanted to explore this universe."

"Yeah and I regret it! The rock acts aren't as good as the ones I know, I'm dying here!"

"We shall mourn you as a worthy ally," Drax stated in his flat voice. "And curse you for your role as captain."

"It was your idea to try and rob that place," Gamora continued.

"Hey, how was I supposed to know these Kind…"

"Khund," Gamora corrected.

"Khund were going to take that bit so personally?"

"The massive armored suits, armada of ships and the high security around their temple weren't a sign?"

"I figured they were just showing off?"

"How in God's name have you managed to live this long?"

"Look, I thought the wormhole thing would be fun!"

"Who the hell told you that?" Gamora demanded.

"It just looked like something to check out. Who would have guessed it could be that dangerous?"

"Everyone!" Everyone (except Groot) yelled. Sparks flew the Benatar took a random shot from a pursuing fighter. "We need to lose these freaks!" Rocket yelled out.

"Right…right…" Peter nodded. "Okay, seeing something ahead of us!" He nodded to the strange pool of energy that seemed to have formed out of nowhere roughly a mile away.

"Are you nuts?" Gamora snapped. "That's what got us into this mess in the first place!"

"Since when are you so wimpy on things?"

"Since I was dead, you asshole!"

"I was too!"

"It's not the same!"

"You're arguing which of you died worse?" Nebula declared in disbelief.

"They enjoy bickering a lot," Mantis stated. "It makes their couplings far more intense."

Peter ignored her to bank the Benatar and send it toward the wormhole. "This is a bad idea!" Gamora yelled.

"Which is right up our alley!" Peter pointed out. The ship entered the hole which snapped shut behind it, leaving several Khund patrol ships flying through empty space.

Peter let out a laugh as he flew the ship through a bright green tunnel. "Wow, going full Tron here!"

Gamora was checking the readings. "This is…bizarre. It's not like any sort of wormhole we've encountered before."

"Probably another of those weirdo things in this universe," Rocket stated as he came up and slipped into his usual seat next to Quill. He took up the co-pilot controls as he looked over the tunnel ahead of them. "Huh, maybe we can use this to get back ta our own universe and-"

It was right about then that the Waverider seemed to pop right into view from a turn in the tunnel and the Benatar smashed into it.

"Vehicle collision!"

"Yeah, thanks for the heads-up, Gideon!" Laurel yelled as she grabbed a nearby chair for support. Sara was crawling into the main control chair as she fought to handle the craft. "What the hell hit us!" she demanded.

"A secondary craft whose origin I cannot determine at this time. I would suggest we table its origins before we suffer full integrity collapse."

"Good call," Sara grunted as she wrestled with the controls. "Is it…stuck on us?" She looked out to see the other craft with its right wing wedged in the forward struts of the Waverider. They were close enough so the Legends could see into the front window of the craft and make out its passengers.

"Rocket!" Mick said with a grin. "I'd know that mug anywhere!"

"Wait…that's really a gun-wielding talking raccoon?" Zari blinked.

"I told you about him!'

"Yeah but…you know, I figured you were just drunk."

Sara felt the other ship bumping against them. "Gideon, try to open a communications channel!"

It took a few moments for the AI to respond. "Channel open, Captain."

"Quill!" Sara barked. "What the hell are you doing, you idiot!"

"I'm the idiot?" his voice barked back. "You flew into us! How could you possibly miss us? We're the only thing in this tunnel for miles!"

"There's no such thing as miles in the timestream."

"Fine, kilometers! That doesn't change how bad you messed this up!"

"You flew into….never mind. Just try and ease off on the thrusters before…"

A shaking overtook both crafts as the two ships burst out of the tunnel. "We have been forced out of the timestream," Gideon stated. "Sensors indicate a planet below capable of holding human life."

Sara shook her head. "Okay, Quill, we need to get separated before we crash! Ease back and reverse your thrusters and I can do the same!"

"Hey, you don't talk to me, I'm the boss-"

"Ignore him," Rocket's voice echoed over the line. "Just give us the signal and we can pull it off."

Laurel saw the planet coming at the two craft quickly, the ships already rocking as they entered the atmosphere. "Someone better do something because I am not dying on some alien planet!"

"Actually, you're not from this universe so any planet would be an alien planet…"

"Shut up, Ray!"

On the Benatar, Rocket was throwing switches as he pulled back on the controls. "Dammit, I told ya we needed to improve the engines!"

"It was on the to-do list!'

"I am Groot!"

"No backseat driving!"

With a snarl, Rocket finally yanked back as the Benatar broke free from the Waverider. Both ships spun about before they could right themselves. The Waverider was cutting over the tops of the trees of a huge forest while the Benatar barely avoided slamming into a large hill. Both of the craft managed to land onto a large field, skidding about the grass before finally coming to stops. Sara gasped out as the Waverider finally stopped.

"That cured the hangover," Constantine announced as he crawled out from under his chair. Charlie was groaning herself as she got back to her feet. The other Legends were likewise shaken but okay.

"Damage is minimal," Gideon announced. "Although the main time drive is offline for now."

"Any idea where we are?" Sara demanded.

"Scanning…It would appear in the Earth calendar, it is August 11th, 2420. I am having difficulty figuring our exact location but we are at least 175 light-years away from Earth."

"Huh, the far future for once," Ray noted. "That's a twist."

"Can we contact the Time Bureau?" Sara asked.

"Negative. Our usual link appears to have suffered a disconnection."

"All right, we'll figure that out later." Sara pulled herself out of her chair. "Right now, I've got an idiot to punch and for once, it's not Mick."

The Benatar's ramp was down to allow the Guardians to step out, snapping at one another as they did. "Once more, this was not me!" Peter yelled. "You're all witnesses!"

"I am Groot."

"Yes, you did see it! You're backing me up here!"

"I did not see it," Drax intoned.

"How can you say that?"

"I open my mouth and utilize my vocal cords."

"Watch it," Rocket announced. "We got company and their bitches are set firmly to 'on.'"

Sure enough, Sara and Laurel were leading the way as the Legends poured out of their ship. And just as Rocket stated, the two sisters did not at all look pleased at who they were facing. "You!" Sara yelled, pointing at Peter who made a "who, me?" face. "Han Loser! What the hell were you even doing there?"

"I was attempting to make a simple flight," Quill fired back. "And the official title is Star-Lord."

"No one actually calls you that!"

"Yes, they do."

"No, they don't, your own crew says that!"

"Hey, Rocket," Mick said with a wave.

The raccoon waved back with a grin. "Mick, good ta see ya again. Ya heard from that Jessica gal?"

"Nah, some reason, Lance won't let me go visit her."

"Because we actually care about that version of New York," Laurel stated.

"I am Groot."

"Oh, like you fit in that town!"

Zari and Charlie both had to take in the Guardians for the first time. "Talking trees," Charlie mused. "Nice to know I can still see something new round here."

Sara crossed her arms. "Just what are you idiots doing here anyway? How'd you even get into our universe?"

"Well, we were exploring," Peter announced. "Saw a wormhole and we…"

"You," the rest of the Guardians chorused.

"Decided to check it out. Found ourselves in what I guess is your universe, just did our best to fit in but then Nebula ticked off these Khunds…"

Nebula let out a slow growl to show Quill was bending the truth of the incident.

"We were on the run and then ducked into that light show-tunnel." Peter crossed his arms. "So again, in no way was this our fault. We will now accept your apology."

Sara just stared, uncertain whether to laugh before or after punching Peter in the face. She moved in, her face tight with anger. In a flash, Gamora was there, a sword at Sara's throat. "The only one who gets to hit Quill for his mistakes is us," she intoned.

Sara glared at her. "Do you even realize what happened? You're not just in another universe, you're in the 25th century!"

The Guardians were thrown before slowly directing ugly glares at their captain. For his part, Quill simply pursed his lips and shrugged. "Okay...slight issue. But, guess far future is better than alternatives. I mean, we could have landed in the Old West or a land of dinosaurs." He shivered at that. "I hate dinosaurs. Worst museum trip of my life."

Rocket threw up his hands. "This is...this tops it all, Quill! I mean it, this is hands down the biggest mess you have ever gotten us into!"

"Again, do you see any dinosaurs? No! Therefore, not the biggest mess it could be!"

Zari raised an eyebrow. "This man is a master of claiming situations can only be worse."

"Which means he fits in around here," Laurel muttered.

Peter glared at her. "Oh, sure, mock my pain! Let's see you get chased by a dino!"

"I have been."

"Then you agree with me! Seriously, folks act like I never make sense but my logic is shining here!"

Laurel growled herself, preparing a scream. Drax appeared to tense up as Ray moved ahead, holding up his arms. "Whoa, whoa, hey, come on, guys! Can we just avoid this total cliché of a fight? Come on, let's just calm down, figure things out and then maybe get back to where we're supposed to be."

"What, work together?" Rocket barked.

"Sure, where's the harm?"

"Wherever it is, we'll find it," Laurel muttered.

Groot was glancing around suddenly, the "brows" of his face twitching a bit. "I am Groot."

The Guardians were instantly alert. "Where?" Rocket demanded, lifting up his large rifle.

"I am Groot."

"How many?"

"I am Groot."

Ray shook his head. "Just so I know it's not me, no one else is getting this?" The rest of the Legends shook their heads.

Quill looked to the group. "Groot says we've got guys coming in. He can feel them through the trees."

On any other day, that would have been an odd statement. Sara had learned a long time ago to ignore such bizarre utterances to just accept a serious threat. "How many?"

"I am Groot."

"A dozen, maybe more."

"How do we play it?"

"We attack and crush them in droves!" Drax announced.

"Or we try a non-suicidal approach," Sara fired back. "We get into groups, try to pick these guys off fast."

"You want us to split up?" Ray asked. "That can hurt our effectiveness."

"He's right, you're far more effective causing messes as a cohesive unit," Laurel dryly stated.

Sara just rolled her eyes. "Fine, we get into some small teams and try to stop this before it gets out of hand."

Nebula scoffed. "Like that's an option."

"Preaching to the choir, sister," Laurel agreed.

Drax frowned. "I did not know you had another sibling," he told Gamora, who just let out a tired sigh.

The figures moving through the forest were all clad in solid black armor with large helmets that blocked almost all of their faces. They moved in the formation of professional soldiers, their large rifles raised. Their leader was looking around, holding up a hand to get the group to stop. He slowly looked around, the sensors in his mask showing shapes flowing. He barked out orders in a guttural language as two of the soldiers moved to his side. Without hesitation, they opened fire, streaks of energy ripping into the forest.

A set of branches flew out to grab two of the soldiers. They gasped out as they were yanked off their feet and sent flying through the air. The rest of the group were moving to fire at the large shape coming at them. Before they could, a loud shriek erupted to knock them off their feet. A louder roar came out as Drax burst from the foliage with his knives flashing. He knocked down one attacker before slashing at another, the metal bouncing off the armor.

An alien was blasted off his feet by a large laser as Rocket scurried among the branches to get a new vantage spot. Before he could move, Zari had unleashed a blast of wind that carried two aliens in the air. She let it go as they dropped down to land right on the swords of Gamora and Nebula.

Mick was rising up to unleash a blast of flame that drove one of the armored figures back. Mantis and Sara were moving in, using their various martial arts moves to take down some more of the warriors. Ray was lacking his full suit but his gauntlets were enough to knock an attacker off his feet. Star-Lord was firing off his own blasters to take down two others while Nebula and Gamora slashed down another pair.

Laurel joined Sara in knocking some of the armored figures back as Groot once more sent some flying off with his branches. One attacker snarled as he lunged at Sara. She dodged and brought her staff up to smash the helmet off his head. Under it was a mostly bald grey reptilian face marked with several ridges. He charged at Sara, who pushed him out of the shadows and into a bright spot on the field where the sun shone.

As soon as he hit the sunlight, the figure began screaming in agony. His skin seemed to ignite as if on fire as she collapsed to the ground, withering in pain. "Sunlight hurts them!" Sara cried out.

"My cue then," Constantine remarked. He waved his hands as he whispered under his breath in some odd language. He threw his hands out to create a blast of pure sunlight struck the armored troops. They all screamed out as they collapsed, clawing at their helmets. A few managed to get them off to show the same smoking skin. They were soon collapsing in place with their scaly skin completely charred.

Rocket rubbed at his nose. "Yow, that is not a good smell."

The tree was wincing as he brushed off his barky arms. "I am Groot!"

"Sure it wasn't intentional, buddy," Peter stated. He leaned down to look at one of the corpses. "Huh, these guys look like bad Kree knock-offs."

"Whatever they weren't they weren't friendly," Sara stated. "We need to get off this planet fast before more of them show up."

"We shall crush them in far more effective ways!" Drax declared.

"There is something deeply wrong with you," Ray noted. Drax merely shrugged.

Laurel rubbed her temples. "Can't we just go to our own ships and leave?"

"We need repairs first," Ray stated. "Plus, we have to figure a way to get these guys back to their own time and universe."

"We can explore here first," Mantis suggested.

Laurel gaped at her. "Seriously? We didn't even go five minutes before getting attacked! You want to risk that more?"

"Risk is reward, baby," Rocket pointed out. "We got bills to pay!"

"Indeed," Mantis stated. "Plus, we have our reputation."

"From what we gather, it's more like an epic rap sheet of chaos," Sara noted.

"Not always," Mantis proclaimed with a bright smile. "We are also known for grand mayhem!"

Laurel stared at her. "Good lord, you people are idiots."

"As I've been saying," Nebula agreed.

"Ease up!" Rocket snapped. "Aint' like your bunch is much better."

Laurel glared at him. "Watch it or I turn you into a coonskin cap."

"Hey, come on!" Mick fired at her. "He's my friend."

"Really not a winning endorsement, Rory."

"Crazy bitch," Peter muttered.

Laurel whirled on him, her eyes flaring. "Excuse me?"

Peter blinked. "Um, crazy woman of questionable morality but whose rights as a person are equal to my own."

"Much better."

Constantine fired up a cigarette. "Maybe we push this aside until we get away from here?" He nodded to the corpses. "This is freaking me out a bit."

Zari stated at him. "You work with demons and literally have gone to Hell. Yet aliens are freaking you out?"

"Degrees, luv. It's all in the degrees."

"I sense no change in temperature," Drax announced.

Rocket looked over to Mick. "Ya got any beer?" He was answered by a loud chuckle.

Sara clapped her hands. "All right, settle down! Let's get to our own ships, get them repaired and then figure out how to get back to our own homes!"

"Hey, who put you in charge?" Peter stated.

The Legends all raised their hands. After a pause, Mantis, Drax, Rocket, Nebula and Groot did the same.

"Thanks a lot, guys…"

"You are welcome," Drax intoned.

Gamora sighed. "At least we can get going before…"

A loud roaring came overhead and they all looked up to see a rather large and imposing black spacecraft appear above them.

"Wow," Ray dryly noted. "They didn't even give her a chance to finish."

Somewhere in space…

The ship cut through the skies of space like a silver gem. It looked like a mostly straight arrow with some unique slopes along its decks. The rear of the craft spread out in what looked like interlocking arches. The ship was clearly military but also a proud vibe to it that made it stand out in the cosmos.

Captain Ed Mercer paced into the main bridge of the U.S.S. Orville, trying to be as all business as one could be while dressed in an Old West outfit. He'd been enjoying a long overdue afternoon off in the ship's environmental simulator when he heard the alarm go off. "What's going on?" he demanded.

Turning in her chair, Commander Kelly Grayson didn't find anything at all odd about her ex-husband's attire. "We picked up a Krill signal a dozen light-years off." Her dark blonde hair offset her attractive face even as she tried to be all business.

Mercer frowned. "That's weird. The Krill don't stray this far away from their usual routes."

"Perhaps it is a scout ship." As always, any declaration from Lieutenant Commander Bortus was a deep rumble. The Moclus native was notable for his dark brown skin marked with ridges and a massive build that made him look like he was forged out of rock. "They may be attempting to expand their horizons."

"It is a logical move," the flat electronic voice of Isaac echoed. The robotic science officer was at his usual station, his blue eyes gazing out of its mouthless face. "Regardless, the signals did cut off suddenly. As if the ship was damaged somehow."

"Maybe we shouldn't go in then," Lieutenant Talla Keylai: piped up. The attractive Xelayan rubbed her brow, whose ridges were as notable as her large pointed ears. "Perhaps they sent out a distress call. We could be facing more Krill vessels."

"On the other hand," Isaac stated. "If it is a crashed ship, it would offer an opportunity to capture and study Krill technology."

Mercer stroked his chin in thought. At the console of the ship, Gordon Malloy and John LaMarr exchanged looks. The red-haired helmsman and the black chief engineer were good friends who each trusted their captain, no matter his often odd behavior.

Mercer finally nodded. "All right, let's head there. Keep all the sensors up to make sure we don't stumble on any other Krill in the sector."

Kelly coughed. "We still have the issue of that…agent the Union insisted we take on."

"The bounty hunter," Talla snapped. As the head of security, she was naturally not happy about such a threat so close by. "Why do we need him here?"

"Something about how he's needed for another job and we're giving him a lift." Kelly shook her head. "I'm not happy about it either but orders are orders."

Mercer sighed as he rubbed his head. "Fine, fine. Let's get set. Where's that new guy, anyway?"

"Right here," a sardonic voice answered. Shepherd looked up to see a handsome man with a crew cut marching forward. Instead of a standard uniform, he wore a dark blue coat with a lining on it over his suit. His lips seemed curved in a permanent smirk and a large weapon lay at his hip. He threw a mocking salute to the captain, who just let out a tired sigh.

"Leonard Snart reporting for duty, Captain."

The idea of adding the nuts from the Orville into this was too good to pass up. And as you can guess from that last line, a few twists to come.