"After the departure of Rogers and Barnes from Hydra's Siberian Compound, Stark recalled the Stark Industries satellite network to return to New York and update Secretary Ross."
"I bet that went well for him." I comment as I swipe to the next page of the file.
Rogue Avengers…
"Ross, incensed, blamed Stark for the failure of the mission, and ordered him to stay out of the headlines, or he would have no issue prosecuting both he, and the remaining rogue Avengers."
"Stark did just that, returning to the Avengers compound and retreating to his laboratory, where he made a critical breakthrough regarding nanotechnology, spurring from the public declaration of Wakanda's King T'Challa that Wakanda would open itself up to the outside world."
"Stark Industries was the first corporation into Wakanda, primarily due to its prior history and recent track record in regards to clean energy and Stark's connection to the Avengers. It is unknown if Stark and T'Challa ever spoke face to face or intera—"
My train of thought is knocked aside by a sudden knock on my door.
"Come in!" I call out while pushing myself up by my elbows.
Uh oh.
"Hey." Romanoff's head pokes in. "Got a second?"
I quickly answer "Yeah." before she closes my door behind her and moves to lean on the small door frame.
"Somebody hasn't come out of their room in a while."
Another smirk.
"Been reading." I say. "Files and stuff."
"I know." She smiles, then grabs one of the two chairs meant for the table and sits on it backwards. "You had to access to central server to do it."
Which I have been able to do for months now…
Romanoff smiles again at me. "You're not in trouble."
"Kind of feels like I am. I've been able to access that server for months."
"But…" She pauses. "You've been in your room, except to go eat. Surely you have some thoughts on what you read."
I can't stop a laugh, which gets a small smile out of her. "So, tell me. You don't have to sugarcoat it."
Yeah. Well…
"I'm sorry I was such a pain to you guys."
Constantly demanding information. Yelling at Hill. Not using my suit. Butting heads with everyone.
And I didn't even know what was going on.
To my surprise, Romanoff shakes her head then lets out a breath. "You are not a pain. Intent matters."
"But with Hill, and Dr. Strange—"
"You didn't know about that." Is her instant counter.
"It didn't make anything easier."
She appears to consider this for a moment. "Like I said, you meant well. Nobody is frustrated or upset with you. We know it takes time to understand everything, and to properly let it all sink in."
Like it's something that only takes time.
"C'mon." She gets to her feet, motioning for me to do the same. "Get some shoes on."
"Okay." I leap into action. "Where are we going?" I ask, then slip past her to where my shoes are by the door.
"We've got to get you on the same page as everybody else."
Huh?
"I thought that was what that was about." I respond, pointing to my tablet as I tug my left shoe on.
Romanoff looks to my tablet, then back to me as I slide into my other shoe. "Not quite. Being an Avenger is a lot more than just knowing everything. And we don't even know everything."
Right. I need to ask about that.
"Do we, uhh—" I start, then stop as Romanoff gives my room a quick scan. "Do we know where Cap is?"
Romanoff avoids my eye for a second, then shakes her head. "No."
From what the final file on the last fight in 2023 said…Cap just vanished.
He was fighting Thanos, like Thor and Danvers and everybody else. Then the second Snap happened, dumping us all in New York.
The Cap from that day apparently was a double, or something. The file didn't really go into it. But it was noted that day of, they knew that Cap didn't come back with us.
"And all that's true."
"Yes." She nods, then ushers me out the door, into the hallway. "You now know what we know."
"There are massive holes." I reply.
"Which is why we're here."
Romanoff starts leading us down the hall. "Do we think that the Nova Corps or anyone else has the answers?"
"Possibly." She succinctly answers, then falls silent.
Possibly.
Seems like a lot to hang on 'possibly'.
"I know it seems hard to get past." She says after a few turns. "But we know a lot more now than we did before Thanos came down."
If you say so.
"What about you?" I ask mid-turn, then nearly walk straight into her. "Sorry, sorry…"
Romanoff doesn't respond, staying quiet for a second before shaking her head. "I don't know. We just don't. I…" She starts, before I see her jaw barely quiver.
Whoa.
"I remember Vormir. With who we now know is Red Skull. I remember jumping. But I woke up…in New York. Today."
Modern times. Not 2023.
"Can't explain that either." She shrugs, then looks away from me and swipes a card at the door in front of us, which pops open. "Inside."
I obey instantly, then hear "There he is."
"Hi." I smile to the room, specifically Dr. Banner, who is standing near a rolling metal container. Off to one side sit Rhodey and Wanda, with Thor and Danvers nearby.
"You know what you're here for?" Danvers calls out.
I shake my head before Romanoff slides past me. "Didn't get to that part. Spent too much time on the apology.
"Apology for what?" Danvers fires back.
Romanoff simply turns to me. "How'd you say it?"
"Sorry for being a pain." I answer, then glance to the container.
Keep your eyes somewhere else.
"You're not a pain." Thor says instantly.
"Not at all Pete." Rhodey turns to really look at me. "You were just trying to work thru everything. And you still will. Just because we brought you here doesn't mean it's over."
"Just that it's really getting started." Romanoff puts the cherry on top.
"What do you mean?"
Danvers hops off her seat. "Well, we're out here in space. We have to answer all their questions. Then Thor's taking us…where are you taking us again?"
"Can't tell you that. It's a surprise." Thor answers, only for Rhodey and Danvers to look mildly irritated.
"And!" Danvers gets herself back on track. "We're going to start teaching you how to be an Avenger."
"What do you mean?"
There's no 'How to be an Avenger' handbook.
"We're going to teach you how to be an Avenger." Rhodey repeats the point. "It's not all fighting and looking cool."
"Stealth techniques. Fight training. Situational awareness. Concealment techniques—" Romanoff says before Banner jumps in.
"Not just a hat and sunglasses either. The real stuff."
"The gadgets and tricks Hill has been trying to get you to work into your everyday heroics?" Romanoff looks to me expectantly. "More of that."
"And maybe some decent advice along the way too." Rhodey adds, throwing in a smile at the end.
Okay.
"C'mere Pete." Banner waves me forward. "Put your hand on the scanner." Doing as he asks, I walk up to the unmarked metal container, and place my hand onto the scanner.
"Beginning biometric scan…" A foreign voice speaks up. "Biometric scan complete."
Keeping my hand where it is, I turn back to Romanoff. "What is this?"
"Shh." She spins me back around.
"Hello Mr. Parker." The voice says.
"Uhh…hello?"
What's going on.
"What is this?" I ask Banner, just before the female voice speaks up again.
"Would you like to access the suit?"
The what?!
I look to Banner, who smiles and nods once. "Yeah, sure."
A loud, compressed air type of sound hisses out, followed by the metal container instantly shifting into a rectangular display case.
For the Iron Spider Suit.
I hear Danvers behind me as I move to get a better look. "Is it made of the same stuff as Stark's suit?"
"Yeah. Nano-particle core with a gold and titanium interweave. Quickly and easily deployable." Banner explains to Danvers.
"You separated it from the suit?" I ask him.
Last time I heard they had trouble with it. It took them hours to get me out of it in the first place.
"Took us awhile. Ended up having to dig into Tony's archives to find the magic instructions."
Rhodey adds "Knowing Tony, I assume 'band practice' means something?"
Band practice.
"Yeah." I laugh, then smile at Rhodey. "Long story."
"I bet." He returns the smile.
"What'd he do, pull you out of practice?" Romanoff asks.
Banner adds. "It'd explain how his classmates suspect so much."
"No, that's…that's my fault." I confess.
I need to be better at that.
And I need to go back with B.A.R.F and really investigate that whole ferry fiasco.
"No it's not." Danvers quickly corrects me.
"Don't worry about what they think Peter. They can either get with the program, or not. Their choice." Rhodey tells me.
Okay.
"Then why are you giving me the suit back?" I ask the room.
"Because we're arriving tomorrow." Danvers informs me.
"Already?"
She smirks at me, then adds "Time flies when you're digging into years of Avengers history."
Guess so.
"Where are we arriving?"
Romanoff answers this time. "It's in the packet you haven't looked at yet."
"I've been busy." I defend myself.
She laughs. "I know."
"The plan…" Rhodey gets to his feet. "Is for you to wear this underneath your disguise at all times, in case of an emergency."
"I'll be wearing the suit the entire time?"
Rhodey nods, and Romanoff picks up where he left off. "Along with a mask to disguise your true identity."
The whole time.
"And we're meeting with allies?" I double check.
Danvers nods. "Better to be safe than sorry."
"Try it on Pete. See how it fits." Rhodey encourages me, before I feel everyone else take a slight step back.
Okay…it's activated upon contact or thought. And I don't think it's connected to my wristbands…
Cautiously, I reach out and set my hand on the suit, only for it to quickly adhere to me and begin covering up my body. Once complete, the helmet portion snaps over my face, and a new display pops up.
"Did you install a display?" I ask, hearing footsteps behind me.
I think it's Thor.
"No, is there one showing up?" Banner asks me.
I nod. "There wasn't really one last time."
I stumbled into everything by accident.
"Fascinating. This is one of Stark's most impressive works." Thor says, then claps me on the shoulder.
"Considering how he deployed it too? Absolutely." Rhodey adds.
Where are…the arms.
Banner glances at a laptop close by. "Whatcha looking for?"
"There's these arms..." I try to explain as I keep cycling thru options. "Last time I only used them on accident. I'm trying to find them."
"Arms?" Romanoff turns to Bruce.
"Keep looking." Rhodey instructs me.
Not viaduct, not airfield, not air show either…
Give me 'Missulena'.
Immediately, I feel something pop out of the back of my suit, then glance to my left while popping off my helmet, only for two arms to be deployed.
"Whoa!" Thor says quickly, causing Banner, Romanoff and Rhodey to turn.
"That was fast." Rhodey jokes.
"How'd you know which one it was?" Romanoff asks me.
"Missulena. It's a type of venomous spider."
Banner chuckles. "It's one of the most venomous spiders in the world."
"I believe it." Wanda speaks for the first time, eying the metal limbs.
"Does it fit alright?" Danvers asks, just to my right now.
I nod. "Yeah. I just don't have much experience with it honestly."
"That's why we're here." Romanoff tells me. "To get you used to that suit and comfortable. Among other things."
"Among other things?" I turn back to her.
"We've got to teach you to dance too." Danvers adds.
"Dance?" I whip back around, only for her to be smirking at me.
"Yeah. Dance." She smiles. "Can't have you looking like a fool at that wedding with Michelle."
Michelle.
"I know how to dance." I quickly explain. "A little bit."
"Well we're really going to teach you." Romanoff declares. "Formal, ball room—"
"Slow dance…" Danvers smiles.
"I…don't have a choice. Do I?" I ask, then look to her and Romanoff.
"Nope." Romanoff smiles at me.
Helplessly, I turn to Banner and Rhodey, only for them to shrug their shoulders.
"Alright, if we're going to be so formal about this…" Romanoff says, approaching me before forcing me to turn around.
The outline of the keypad turns green as I slip the card Daisy gave me back into my pocket then walk into the cockpit, where everyone is seated and in position.
Crap.
As quickly as I can, I slide into my seat and strap in before I hear "You made it."
"Yeah. Reading stuff for too long."
Yeah. More like swiping thru pictures on my phone.
"About what?" Daisy asks, throwing a smile on top.
I shrug. "Not much. Couldn't focus."
That's what everything's said about me.
And I got straight A's.
"All this is covered." She says reassuringly, then leaning down to get better eye contact.
"I know." I nod, then try to give her a smile in return.
I've already got my suit on, underneath my clothes in the same style Mr. Stark did. Mask is waiting to be deployed.
"All set then." Daisy looks pleased, as behind her I see Danvers smiling.
Well, here we go I guess.
Xandar, whatever that is. Traveling thru over 1000 jump points.
True interstellar travel. Using planetary systems as navigational points.
To the rest of the galaxy, we're from the planet Terra, also known as C-53.
The sun is just another average star. Our solar system doesn't stand out from the billions of other systems in the galaxy.
But here we are. We're not even in our own galaxy. Apparently we're in the Andromeda Galaxy now.
In front of me, I hear a loud click, followed by a telephone being hung back up onto the ceiling. "Everybody strapped in?"
Daisy looks to me, then looks to the others. "Yup." Is all anybody adds.
"Coming out of hyperspace in three, two, on—."
Immediately, the cockpit rocks before coming to a halt, revealing a large formation in front of us.
The report said—
"Whoa." I hear Daisy blurt out.
That's…not a natural formation.
The cockpit is silent for a second before the Asian woman, who must be the pilot turns back. "Colonel, did they say anything about a greeting party?"
"No." Danvers shakes her head.
It…kind of looks like a procession.
There's two rows of spaceship, one after another lined up in front of this blue-ish green planet. Leading directly to it.
On the planet itself it looks like—
"Earth Vessel One, this is Xandarian Captain Day speaking. Do you copy our transmission?"
Immediately, our pilot responds. "Loud and clear. Is all that for us?"
"It is." The male voice. The initial ship on your right will pull out front and lead you in whenever you're ready."
I finally look away from the scarred, burnt portion of the planet. Back to the massive formation of ships.
They were waiting for us.
"Did that Thanos guy do that?" Deke asks.
Yeah.
"He did." Danvers answers quietly, getting Daisy to move in her seat.
The decimation of Xandar.
"That's the first ship." Mack calls out as things begin moving.
"Let's get moving then."