Strange frowned at Tony. "Run it by me again."

Tony let out an impatient sigh. "The readings that were picked up in Afghanistan are similar to the readings Reed got in the Negative Zone. You said that the symbol translated as 'darkness'. What if it's just really absence of everything we consider normal - like matter. What I'm talking about is anti matter. That's what the negative zone is made up of. We know these things have the capability of creating portals, just like you and Davis can. I think that ring opens a portal into the negative zone and uses antimatter as a weapon. If we can open that portal and push him through, we can seal him in the negative zone."

Strange looked at Tony. "Ok. Do they know the plan?"

Tony shook his head. "All I told Peter was they they had to get the rings."

Strange nodded. "I need to find out who has the ring from Afghanistan." He looked between Tony and MJ. "And I'm not portaling you out of here."

MJ nodded and knew it was going to drive Tony nuts but he didn't have a suit and an hour ago he had been unconscious after having a 'cardiac incident'. Him leaving the protection offered by the shielded MedBay wasn't an option. "We're staying put." She'd play the pregnancy card if she needed to but she was damned if she was going to let Tony get himself killed.

Tony started to protest but saw the look on MJ's face and the protective hand across her belly. He let out a disgruntled sigh. "Fine. I'll watch on the tablet feed."

xxxxxxxxxx

Peter stood between Bucky and Steve. The plan was simple. Bobby, Johnny, Groot, and Brunnhilde were the barriers, acting to corral Michael and to shrink the battlefield. Thor, Quill, Sam, Carol, Wanda, and Vision were the fire power. They were the only ones that could really go toe to toe with him. The rest of them were charged with getting the rings. Peter still wasn't entirely sure how they were going to accomplish this but it was all they had. Their enemy was enhanced, powerful, and augmented by not one but six rings. They also had to get the Afghanistan ring to Strange when he portaled in.

Loki walked up behind Peter. "Where is Dr. Banner. I feel like we could certainly use a Hulk right now."

Steve looked over then looked back to the battlefield. "On the Benetar. Mantis is with him. I'm not sure the Hulk feels like coming out to play."

Loki smirked as the battle in front of him unfolded. They couldn't move in until their opponent had been sufficiently weakened. He was extraordinarily thankful this particular line up did not exist when he was attacking New York. He would not have survived the onslaught. Most of the ones charged with attacking were all imbued with power from the Infinity Stones in some form or fashion. Their power was immense and if needed, there was no doubt they could destroy the enemy facing them now. That was not the plan though, which amused him.

Peter bounced on his toes. Sitting still was never something he did well. He understood why he needed to stay back but it drove him nuts. He watched Thor hurl Mjolnir towards the enemy, Michael...his dad had filled in the incredibly benign name. The hammer drove Michael to the ground but he immediately pushed back with lightening of his own, followed by a fire storm. Wanda, Vision, Carol, and Sam hit him with energy blasts while Thor and Quill added another onslaught.

"Now." The quiet command spurred immediate motion. Quill and Thor's attack had pushed Michael off balance. The continued attack had succeeded in weakening him. There were eight of them. Six rings. Two hands. So they attacked. Peter slid under the energy waves and grabbed one of Michael's hands and pulled. Rocket had slid into a hole on the other side and was pulling with the same fervor. Peter could feel one of the rings move under his fingers but he lost his grip and fell backwards. Nat had been next to him and slid her hand in to replace Peter's and finished pulling off one of the rings.

Steve was laying across Michael's upper arm attempting to hold him in place. He glanced across at Bucky who was in a similar position. It would be comical if there wasn't so much at stake. Miles was behind Rocket, bracing him so he wouldn't loose his grip. Rocket pulled a ring off but it flew into the air. Miles managed to snag it before they lost it in the melee. "Two down, four to go."

Michael regained strength and sent out an electrical impulse wave, throwing everyone off of him. To offload the additional energy his suit absorbed, Peter fired charged grenades at Michael which only drew his attention. Deciding to take advantage of it, Peter launched himself at Michael and tackled him to the ground. If Michael had been a normal human, the force would have crushed him. Instead, it just succeeded in knocking him off balance and onto his back. Before Peter could even comprehend what was happening, Drax and Loki appeared on either side. Armed with long knives they succeeded in accomplishing the task of collecting the final rings.

Michael roared in response and threw off his attackers, surging to his feet. The internal energy glowed even brighter, blinding those around to the orange portal opening. Groot's branch extended from his position across the battlefield and dropped a ring bearing a black stone in Dr. Strange's open hand. Sliding it on, Strange closed his eyes and focused. Reopening them, an inky black portal grew behind Michael. In unison, Steve and Bucky landed kicks to Michael's midsection. The force sent him flying backwards through the portal.

When the inky blackness dissipated, silence echoed through the battlefield. Peter let out a sigh as he looked around. No one appeared to be badly injured. He didn't think any of them would be up for saving the world again any time soon and just about everybody needed a trip to MedBay but at least everyone seemed to be moving. He saw the orange cat make his way onto the battlefield. He watched it wind his way through people's legs until he found Natasha who had collected all of the rings. Strange had just dropped the two rings he bore into her hand. As Natasha looked at the rings, Peter watched the cat sit down in front of her and open its mouth.

"What the hell!" Peter slid backwards into Rocket as the tentacles exploded from the cats' mouth, gently grabbing the rings out of Natasha's hands. They then retreated back into its mouth and the cat licked its paws as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"Flerken have pocket dimensions inside their mouths. The rings will be safe until he gets a furball and accidentally coughs them up." Rocket moved next to Peter and sat down. "Nat said you'd put an AI the Benetar if we helped."

Peter chuckled as he looked down at Rocket. A cat having a pocket dimension inside its mouth wasn't much odder than a talking raccoon. At this point in his life he was content to just go with it