In a Wakandan building, all the heroes were gathered at a glass table. At the head was T'Challa, King of Wakanda, and next to him were Bucky and Falcon listening attentively and in awe to the story they were told.
The Black Panther took the floor:
-So you are two lucky aliens who found one of the "deleted" Infinity Stones and took it?
-I am Groot," nodded the tree. Sam stared into the void. He was still thinking about Shuma Gorath's prophecy.
-Then they came here and found the scary mercenary and a blind Samurai," Falcon continued.
-I told you I'm not a Samurai," reproached Daredevil.
-You have a Samurai sword," Falcon replied.
-Then, they fought a giant tentacled ancestral eye with the help of a wizard and the Guardians of the Universe," continued Bucky.
-We are the Guardians of the Galaxy..." reproached Mantis.
- They failed to mention the part where Thanos is still alive," said Star Lord.
-Did all this sound credible?" asked Punisher.
-You should see what happened two weeks ago," said T'Challa, getting up from his chair.
-Well, boys, follow me... it's time to get to work," continued the king.
The boys followed the Wakandan king to the tech shop. On the way, Frank sees War Machine's armor, damaged and stored on one of the lecterns. He is impressed to see it.
They finally arrive at the workshop where T'Challa's sister SHURI was working on a new Wakandan suit.
- Wait, is that a Samurai sword?" asked Shuri when she saw Daredevil. Matt simply sighed.
-What's the reason for his visit then," he continued.
Nova pulls the Reality Gem out of his backpack.
-We think it may be the key to bringing them back," Falcon said.
- Or at least try to," continued Bucky.
According to what Strange said, the Stones traveled to different Realities. If we can locate them and bring them back here, we can do the Snap back.
-How do you plan to locate them? There are infinite multiverses," said Shuri.
-All the Stones in this Universe radiate the same energy," said Drax.
-If we analyze this Gem well, we can use it to get the others," said T'Challa.
-Okay, do we build a machine or something and travel to different universes to find them?
-Basically, yes," answered Bucky. Shuri stared at her brother in surprise. It was a crazy plan.
-Okay, where do we start?
-We must prevail together," Sam said. All eyes focused on him.
-What does that mean?" asked Shuri.
-We have to get the gang together," said Bucky.
T'Challa opened the door to a room; there stood Wanda. Wakanda was the only place where she could find peace after Vision's death.
The Black Panther tells her that something big is happening and she must recruit one of the members.
-Wait, what's going on, T'Challa, who do we have to recruit," asked Wanda.
-The arachnid.
In Queens, Peter Parker was eating noodles and sauce at the kitchen table. He looked a little depressed. He sighed and took a sip of his orange juice as he looked at a picture of Tony and him on one of the shelves.
A silhouette stood in front of him, blocking his gaze from the photo; it was his Aunt May, home from work.
-What's the matter, Peter? You didn't answer my calls all day," May scolded.
-I'm sorry, Aunt. I left the phone in my room, probably.
-For four hours?
Peter forced a smile and ducked his head.
-Yeah, I haven't been doing much lately, I'm just thinking about some things.
May turned around and saw the picture of Tony and Peter. She sat down next to Peter and sighed.
-May said, "None of this is your fault, Peter. Even the Avengers couldn't do it, you're just an ordinary guy. You should be thankful your friends didn't disappear.
Peter couldn't resist the urge to vent, but he couldn't because it would reveal his secret identity.
-It's not about how much we lost, it's about how much we have left," said Aunt May. Peter smiles at her, a little more relieved.
Suddenly, Peter's phone started ringing from his room. The young man enters and sees that it was a call from an unknown number. Suspicious, he closes the door and answers the phone; it was Wanda.
Wanda introduced herself and quickly told him the plan.
-Listen, I know you have friends, family and many loved ones left. But there are people all over the Universe who don't anymore. And we have another chance to undo it," said Wanda, trying to motivate him.
-I've already had my second chance, Wanda. I'm not going to risk everything I have for a suicide mission," Peter replied.
-Peter, understand. Half the Universe needs your help, Spider-Man's help.
-He's gone.
-And what would Tony say about that?
-He's gone too." Peter swallowed. Wanda sounded surprise
-It's not about how much we lost, it's about how much we have left," Peter continued, hanging up the call. The boy leaned back on his bed, as he looked helplessly at the Spiderman suit in his armory.
Meanwhile at the Wakandian base, the boys were already in the workshop building a small device to find the location of the Stones.
Punisher was busy repairing War Machine's armor. He and Drax share feelings about losing his family and feeling revenge against Thanos.
While, Sam was helping in the kitchen (as he was forced to be the Chef of this team as well), he heard a familiar voice from the shadows:
- "I'm Sam Alexand'r and we don't have much time for long introductions..."- Quill said, reading Sam's journal in his hands.
-Hey, that's private!- Sam pulled it out quickly and violently. Star Lord simply laughed derisively.
Sam and Star Lord express their feelings.
-Are you sure you're ready for this suicide mission, kid?
-Yup," Sam assured him, as he continued to search for ingredients for the Scamoli.
-Oh right, I forgot. "Sometimes you gotta take a gamble, kid." Are you following your father's advice?
-Did you get as far as that part of the diary? -Yep.
-Yep. Actually, those are pretty cheesy last words. Or at least I wouldn't say them when I die...
-You won't say them because you're not able to sacrifice yourself for anyone, Quill.
-The last time I did, I lost Gamora to Thanos, and mostly because of me," Quill said. After that I started making stupid decisions and I don't want that to happen to you," he continued.
-I'll do it anyway.
-You won't gain anything by risking your life, kid.
-That means I have nothing left to lose, Quill," answered Sam.
The night came. All the boys are gathered at a large table dining on Sam's Escamoles. Star Lord started telling about his dance that saved the Universe; called the Supreme Dance. The others start laughing and making fun of the absurd plan.
While Bucky and Punisher shared army anecdotes, Mantis and Drax wondered if Bucky was a robot because of his metal arm. On the other side of the table, Nova kept staring at Wanda, smitten. Quill takes advantage and makes fun of that; Sam blushes and gets annoyed again. Matt found out about the legal problem with the Sokovia Accords and gave his bar card to Falcon. While T'Challa was distracted, Groot stole bits of food from his plate.
Suddenly, Shuri entered the room and reported that she already knows the location of the five remaining infinity Stones. The boys quickly get up from their seats, excited.
That's five Locations; five Universes; and it was to be five teams. One chance.
Now all they had to do was build a machine that would teleport them to those locations. The Reality Gem teleported Thanos, maybe it can teleport them too. Starting tomorrow, they will begin to build it.
As the boys returned to the table, Shuri pulls her brother away from the group. She implores T'Challa to join this adventure but he refuses. Despite her insistence, the king cannot allow himself to endanger his people, much less his younger sister.
-What do I do if something happens to you, sister?
-T'Challa, remember that it is the body that dies, so my soul will always remain," Shuri replied. -We must make Thanos pay for what he did to our people, brother.
-Dying is easy, Shuri.
-You are right. We must make him suffer and let him know what it feels like to lose someone.
-The answer is NO, Shuri," said T'Challa angrily.
-You are a lousy king and brother," Shuri leaves the place even angrier and returns to the table.
The next day...
In his apartment, Peter was going through the Spiderman suit in his closet hiding from his Aunt May. In the suit he finds the card that Strange had given him in Wakanda. He stared at it for several seconds, remorsefully.
In the kitchen, Aunt May was preparing breakfast. Parker was faced with a difficult choice: recover the fallen or take advantage of the people who are still there.
Donning the Spider-Man costume he headed to the address on the card; the Sanctum Santorium. When he arrived, he saw all the chaos from the other night; reporters, neighbors and everyone else was around that block. The Mordekaiser II was still destroyed but there was no sign of either Outriders or Shuma Gorath.
The hero approached the entrance of the shrine and climbed the stairs. He knocked once, twice and then WHOSH! Out of nowhere, he teleported to another place. But it wasn't Strange's sanctuary. Spidy stood in the middle of a pasture, confused.
Quickly, some Wakandan warriors intercepted him and pointed guns and sharp spears at him; Peter was in Wakanda.
At the base a few meters away, the boys were still building a large prototype machine to travel between dimensions. There was a lot of tension between the Wakandan brothers and Nova could feel it. Finally, the machinery was ready. The heroes looked around it with uncertainty and insecurity. It was a large device forged from Wakandan metal, the only element available that could withstand the energy of the Reality gem, which was connected by wires.
There was only one way to prove the invention worked; someone had to do the multiversal travel test.
"I'll do it!" a familiar voice was heard behind one of the columns.
Peter Parker entered the base, escorted by the Dora Milaje. T'Challa confirmed the young man's presence and asked the warriors to calm down and stand down. The heroes rejoice and quickly get ready for Spider-Man's test ride.
Shuri gave him a device. When she gives the signal he must activate it, so he will travel to another random dimension. Shuri pressed buttons on the computer connected to the machine. Spider-Man looked nervous and a little regretful.
Nevertheless, Shuri gives the order and, pressing the button, the gem was activated and the machine formed a reddish portal right in front of Peter; that was the door to another World. Peter hesitated a little but decided to enter.
Spider-Man stepped through the portal and arrived, indeed, in a totally different place from the one they were in. He was on the roof of a building; on the rooftop. It was definitely Queens, the giant sign the shoe store gave it away; it was Peter's neighborhood.
Still, Parker felt different there. Maybe the mission failed and teleported him somewhere else on the planet. Peter tried to communicate with Shuri on the transmitter but the signal kept cutting out.
-Shuri, I don't think it worked. I'll have to go back to Wakanda...
-Shuri, I don't think it worked. I'm on the other side of the world. I'll have to go back to Wakanda..." Peter began to worry.
His senses began to alarm him. He glanced up at the deserted rooftop only to see a silhouette on top of the water tank. He aims at it and begins to shoot webs at it, which the figure deftly dodges.
The masked man blocks Peter's triggers with another web from the shadows. The subject steps into the light, revealing a costume very similar but different from the arachnid suit. This version had the classic blue and red colors, but with silver webbing. His spider on his chest was much larger. And most importantly, he had no visible triggers on his wrists.
-You pretend to shoot webs with your device? Don't try it anymore, kid. You could put your life in danger," said this version of Spider-Man, looking out for Peter's safety.
-"Simulate? Ah, I think I know what's going on... Listen, I'm Peter Parker and I'm the one and only Spider-Man," Peter removes his mask, revealing his face.
-Oh yeah, right," said the masked Spider-Man, sarcastically. - If you are the Peter Parker, prove it!
-I am May Parker's nephew... My middle name is Benjamin... My first and greatest love was MJ... My best friend is...".
-Enough..." The masked Spider-Man lifted Peter off the ground and then took off his mask, revealing Tobey Maguire's face. -I'm Peter Parker and I've been Friendly Neighbor Spider-Man for 15 years.
-I traveled from my Reality to here to test a multiversal machine," explained Peter from our Universe.
-Wait, "Multiversal"... I can't believe it... Quantum Theories... Alternate Realities... Parallel Universes... Did you do it with magic, science or...?
-A bit of both.
-Incredible," replied Tobey, amazed. "And why did you come all this way?
-Well, in my world there was a big problem on a cosmic scale that we can no longer fix. And we believe that the solution is to be found in other, different Realities.
-To be honest, I was expecting a more ridiculous explanation. How can I help you, little version of me?
-Nothing. We've already lost enough lives and I don't want to keep risking people. But thank you. This was just a trial run," Peter replied.
There's always going to be something Spider-Man can help with. Remember that.
-After losing half the population, it's hard to get back on your feet.
-Did you lose a loved one?" asked Tobey.
-My mentor... Tony Stark.
-Yes... I understand, it's irritating... We may be late, but we always get back up.
-I don't think you understand the pain I'm going through...
-Peter, I think I'm the only person who understands; or at least in this Universe... I lost my Uncle Ben, I'll never forgive myself for that... From that day on I've remained Spider-Man, honoring his memory.
-And how did you move on in your life and carry that guilt?
-Because it's what he would have wanted?
Peter reflects.
What if I don't want to be Spider-Man again? What if I'm really afraid?
-I know you're young and not ready for many of the challenges ahead... but it's your duty to do it.
-And why should I be the one to do it?
-Because with great power comes great responsibility... And that Tony Stark didn't die in vain, Peter. You mustn't let that happen.
A call comes through on Tobey's phone. Meanwhile, Peter puts on his mask and readies his device to return to Wakanda.
-I'm sorry, Peter Parker. I've got to go. Reed Richards called me to continue our technology project. - Tobey said.
-So, I guess this is goodbye, Peter Parker?
-No. It's goodbye, Spider-Man." Tobey leaves the scene, swinging between the buildings. Peter crossed the portal and returned to his Universe.
When he returned, Peter reported that the test trip between Dimensions had been a success. Soon, they'll get the gems and be able to snap their fingers.