The ship travelled through the vacuum of space faster than light. As compared to the trip before, the trip back was made in complete silence. Each person was lost inside their own heads. To Peter, it hadn't sunk in before this. He always assumed that when he came back to Earth, he would have another chance at getting revenge. He, and everybody else, somehow assumed that there would be a solution, a way to fix this loss. Only now did the truth of this devastating defeat and the decimation of their friends, and the universe at large, seem real.
Valkyrie was clenching and releasing her fist repeatedly, and Peter's enhanced hearing could pick up her teeth grinding from where he sat. Her emotions seemed to be stuck in a perpetual rage to compensate for the deep emptiness in her soul. All her friends were gone, and she was now left with a massive responsibility to care for all her people. She had left Korg and Miek in charge temporarily, but she knew she had to go back before. She only arrived at the Avengers Compound to search for a way to save everyone, but that was impossible now.
Rocket was steering the ship, but one could see his hands shaking if they looked closely. While he initially started off completely indifferent to their lives, his crew had become as close as family. Quill, Gamora, Drax, and Mantis were the people he was closest to, and they were gone. The only person he was closer to was Groot, his best friend, and nowadays almost his own son, and he was gone too. Rocket had almost lost them multiple times, but this time they were all gone for good. A tear sneakily made its way out of his left eye and drifted downwards.
Carol's head was leaned backwards against the headrest and her eyes were closed, but a few tear tracks could be seen on her face. While it had been many years since she had stopped anywhere in the galaxy long enough to make a good friend, she still remembered her friends from before. After arriving on Earth, the first thing she did was check the status of Maria and Monica Rambeau, but both of them were missing. Nick Fury was dusted too, along with his right hand Maria Hill. They were all that Carol could remember from her past life. She still remembered her best friend, and her kickass attitude towards anything in life. Monica's cheerful and bright personality. Fury's deadpan stare that gave you no indication about what he was feeling. All of that existed only in her memories now.
Nebula was completely still, lost in thought. For the longest time, she was indoctrinated with Thanos' ideas. Her sole wish in life was to make her father proud. Gamora was the one who first rebelled against him. She had her beat there too. Nebula eventually understood what she tried to do, what she fought for, and she didn't like it. She did everything possible to try and take him down, almost succeeding in killing him in his bed before he caught her. She was tortured for a year at his hands, but she never lost sight of her hatred. Her seething emotions towards Gamora had cooled down to what could loosely be called sisterly, but her rage at Thanos knew no bounds. Now that both of them were dead, though, she was confused as to where she could go from here.
Jane was sobbing quietly in the corner, Stormbreaker resting beside her seat. Jane was the newest to the hero thing and to combat, and had never dealt with loss of this scale before. Her closest friends, Eric and Darcy, were snapped away, as was her ex-boyfriend Thor. She had nobody left and nothing to do. She had hoped that the other heroes would have an idea about what to do, but they all seemed equally clueless. Despite having the powers and skills of a god, she still found herself to be useless.
Peter himself was blankly looking out into the passing nebulae and stars. His hands seemed to be twitching, and he wasn't even paying attention to the journey. He was stuck inside his own mind, with every enemy he had taunting him for his failure to win, his failure to be a hero. He imagined May denouncing him, Mr Stark mocking him in that sardonic tone he used when Peter messed up, Ned's face scrunched up angrily like never before, and MJ turning away from him. Tears came to his eyes, but he blinked them away. He had to be strong now for the future. He could grieve later.
The ship went through the last space gate and came up on Earth. Rocket piloted the ship towards the Avengers Compound, where the ship's docking happened quickly and quietly. Opening the doors, all six of them trudged out in various shades of grief. Pepper, who was waiting outside, had a hopeful face that crumpled when she saw their expressions. Carol shook her head in silent sorrow at her while helping a crying Jane inside. Rocket walked a little bit away from the others with his gun and started firing madly at the ground, screaming in frustration. None of them had the heart to stop him.
Peter came up to her while the others went inside. Without saying anything, he grabbed her in a tight hug. Slowly, he started sobbing, repeating "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," under his breath to her. Pepper too shed some tears, but gently carded her hand through his hair trying to calm him down.
"It's okay," she crooned. "It's not your fault, Peter,"
After a few minutes of calming down, both of them walked back in silence to the Avengers common room.
Peter went and sat down in a chair off to the side with his head in his hands. Valkyrie paced around the room, joined this time by Carol. Pepper stood off to the side, Nebula and Rocket sat down on the couch, and Jane collapsed into a loveseat, her bloodshot eyes staring brokenly at the rest of them.
"What happened?" asked Pepper softly.
"He'd destroyed them," Jane said softly, "He'd destroyed the stones."
"We killed him, but there was nothing we could do about what happened," added Nebula.
"So what now?" questioned Rocket. "What, do we-do we find something else, ask someone else to help? What now?!"
"Nothing," replied Carol quietly, "There's nothing we can do."
"No! That's not true! I refuse to accept that!"
"It doesn't matter what you accept you insufferable rodent," exploded Valkyrie, "because the truth is WE LOST! THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO! IT'S! OVER!"
At the end of her shout she collapsed into the nearest chair and held her head. Everyone could see her shoulders shaking. Carol approached her and carefully lay a hand down on her shoulder in comfort.
There was silence for a few moments before a quiet voice spoke up from the corner. "That's not true." Everybody's heads swivelled to Peter. The boy in question slowly raised his head and gazed at the rest of the room with glassy eyes. "It isn't over. We do have something we have to do."
"And what's that?" Jane asked in a shaky voice.
"Help," came the reply. "We aren't the only ones who lost someone. But we sure as hell are the only ones who know what went down. There's a whole world out there that I'm sure is mighty confused about what's going on. It's our job to help them. We're the only ones who can." Turning to Pepper, he asked, "What does the public think is happening?"
"They have no idea what's happening. There have been numerous calls to Stark Industries and the Avengers Organisation to ask, though, because they saw Tony going to space on that ship."
"We need to talk to them," said Peter.
"I'll set a press conference tomorrow. But, I think it should be held by you, Pete."
"What!" exclaimed Peter.
"Peter," said Jane, trying to move past the grief, "you're the only one who was there during the fight itself. You know what happened. It makes sense."
"I'm only a teenager!"
"Nobody knows anything about Spider-Man. They won't know he's a teenager, they'll only know he's a superhero," replied Pepper.
Peter contemplated the thought for a few moments before sighing. "Fine, I'll do it. But I don't think the super secret identity is necessary now. I want them to look me in the eye when they blame me for the loss of their loved ones. It's what I deserve."
Pepper and the others were stunned. "Peter, you can't possibly think this is your fault," said Carol.
"I almost had the gauntlet in my hand. If I had just pulled a little harder..."
"Peter, don't do that," warned Valkyrie. "The 'what if I done something different' thought process is a dangerous slope. You fought an enemy unlike anything you have ever dealt with. You performed admirably, but it was too much for you. There is no shame in losing a fight to a stronger enemy."
"But this fight had grave consequences, didn't it, Brunnhilde?" replied Peter wryly. Before anyone could add anything else, he swiftly stood up. "Anyway, it's time to get some sleep. Goodnight guys." Saying that, Peter quickly walked off towards his room.
The next morning, muttering and confusion filled the room. Nobody knew what was going on, and this was the first time that the world's greatest heroes were breaking their self imposed silence to speak. The grief hung like a fog over the room, illuminated in every action and movement of the hundreds of reporters in the chamber. This was also the most watched and live streamed video in the world even before it started. People everywhere were crying, screaming, and begging for answers, and hoped that the Avengers had them.
Pepper Potts entered the room and approached the podium. Everyone could see that she too was grieving. Who, people didn't know (they hoped it wasn't who they thought). Her makeup, perfectly done as always, still couldn't hide her red eyes, while her hands visibly quivered until she steadied them over the podium. Tapping the microphone twice, the reporters all sat down and listened, having great respect for the CEO of Stark Industries. The world seemed to stand still in order to listen to her words. She was engaged to Iron Man, of course she knew what was going on.
"Thank you for coming," she began, voice steady despite her hands shaking again. "I know that everyone in this room, everyone around the world is having a tough time. I know people are asking what happened and why, and they deserve to know the truth." Muttering began after the conclusion of her sentence. Speaking over the whispers, she continued louder. "That's why I have someone here who can explain what went on."
Saying this, she stepped to the side and looked over to her left. The reporters and cameras followed her line to sight only to make out a wounded teenager. He slowly hobbled towards the podium, limping due to the large cast over his right leg. He was dressed in a shirt and jeans, but seemed to be covered with bandages and bruises. His sunglasses were clearly to shield his eyes from the flashes of the cameras. Completely ignoring the shouts of questions to him, he made his way up and hugged Pepper, who helped him forward to lean on the podium.
Looking out over the crowd, he patiently used a strategy that Pepper had taught him earlier: to wait for the journalists to exhaust themselves before speaking to a silent crowd. In the back corner, he could see Carol, Jane, and Nebula in disguise, wondering what he was going to say.
The crowd stopped speaking and sat down, understanding that he wasn't going to start without their silence. This was an old Pepper Potts trick, after all. As all of them sat down, he took off his sunglasses and stared out with dead eyes. The bruises on his face seemed more apparent now, as was the black eye. He then looked down at the stack of notes he had with him.
"Hi," he began. Clearing his throat to hide his nervousness, he continued in a louder tone. "So, I don't know how this is usually done, but I'm going to say my piece, and then open the floor to questions, okay? Okay." He took a deep breath, and began again. "My name is Peter Parker. For the past two and a half years, I have been operating in New York City as the vigilante known as Spider-Man."
A flurry of shouts and flashes filled the air. Spider-Man was considered Iron Man's superhero protege, and most were wondering who he was. All over New York, people stared in shock as a teenager declared that he was their protector. More importantly, he was last seen with Iron Man on the ship that left New York a few days ago.
"Please, ladies and gentlemen!" Peter called out, trying to get them to sit down. The security for the event also helped usher the journalists to their chairs. As the shouts died down, Peter looked down at his notecards and continued. "Thank you. I know it's a shock. I have an explanation about what happened. I was there."
"As I'm sure you know, an alien craft was spotted over New York a few days ago. That was the start of this. The occupants of this craft were hostile, and were confronted by Iron Man, and a couple of sorcerers. Yes, sorcerers exist," he said over the shouts of confusion and denial. "Just as the Avengers protect," here he stumbled a bit, but recovered, "'protected' the world against physical threats, the secret order of sorcerers protect the world against mystical threats, the likes of which we never encounter in our lives."
"Back on topic, at this time I entered the scene to provide further back up, and we managed to take down one of the two hostiles, while the other one kidnapped one of the sorcerers and escaped into space. Luckily, I managed to web myself to the ship, and Iron Man's newest armour allowed him to catch up to the ship before it left the atmosphere."
Peter paused for a few moments, before deciding to abandon the notecards. He tapped a few buttons on his watch, and a holographic projection was created in the middle of the room. It showed a nine to ten feet tall, bald, purple giant with a serrated chin. He had a cold expression, and was very muscular. He wore what appeared to be an armoured tank top and something like cargo pants. The other very noticeable feature was the golden glove he wore on his left hand.
The reporters all gasped and scrambled backwards, before realising that it was just a projection. Peter gave them all a minute to calm down, before continuing.
"This," he gestured at the projection, "is Thanos. He's the one responsible for what I'm terming 'The Decimation'. He's a genocidal alien warlord with a twisted agenda. He believed that population of all intelligent species was growing too fast for the resources of the universe to keep up. He also believed that the only solution to this was to kill half of all life in the universe."
Peter scoffed loudly at the thought. Several cameras were capturing the alien's image. All of them wanted to hear what Peter had to say, though, so they kept quiet.
"To this end, he assembled a massively powerful weapon with parts that were scattered across the universe. One of the parts was with the sorcerer that travelled with Mr Stark and I to the planet Titan, where we attempted to stop Thanos once and for all. Another part was hidden in Wakanda by the Black Panther and the rogue ex-Avenger fugitives led by Steve Rogers. Both our teams attempted to stop him, only to fail. Which brings me to the other reason I'm here today."
Peter's eyes grew teary as he looked over at the crowd, who seemed to be listening to him in fascination. He looked straight at a video camera, before continuing. "I'm here to apologise. The Avengers were created to protect the world from threats that regular people couldn't face themselves. This time, they failed. While I may not be an Avenger myself, I've definitely worked closely with one in the past, and am in the same line of business. I failed in what I set out to do, protect people. Just yesterday, the few remaining heroes and I went on one last mission to find this monster and try to undo what he's done. We killed him, but we found out that he's destroyed the machine. No one can rebuild it. So, I'm here to beg for forgiveness. We really tried, I swear. But sometimes, even our best isn't enough."
There was silence for a few moments. Peter closed his eyes to regain control of his emotions while the reporters were stunned. Nobody expected an apology for not doing the job well enough. They weren't going to blame him, but they couldn't speak for everybody on the planet.
"Hm-Hhm, so, any questions?" Peter asked when he had cooled down.
There was a moment of stillness, before everybody in the room jumped to their feet and erupted into noise. Pepper moved forward seeing that Peter was visibly uncomfortable. Quieting the crowd down slightly, she pointed to a blonde male reporter in the front.
"Mr Parker, Joseph Bell, Evening Post, do you think this could have been avoided with either the acceptance or retraction of the Sokovia Accords?"
Peter frowned in confusion. "I don't know what that has to do with the issue at hand, but I'll answer it anyway. Maybe it could have. Maybe, if the Avengers were together, they could have stopped him. Maybe, if Ultron and the Sokovia Accords never happened, Captain America and Iron Man would have been best friends. Maybe, if Captain America wasn't so stubborn, we might have had a fighting chance. But we can't dwell on what-ifs," he said, paraphrasing Valkyrie's advice to him. "We can only ask ourself 'what next'."
Pepper looked over and picked a black haired woman from the back.
"Mr Parker, Sofia Carlsen, Schengen Herald, you've always been protective of your secret identity, why are you telling us openly now?"
"At this point Ms Carlsen, I don't think it really matters anymore. My whole family's dead. The risk of my identity getting out and causing harm isn't there anymore. And besides, I would rather have people look at my face and into my eyes when I apologise so they know I'm sincere."
"Alright, one last question," said Pepper, looking around, before selecting a tall, dark skinned man in the middle.
"Mr Parker, Michael Stern, Daily Globe, some of us have lost everything in The Decimation. What do you think we should do now?"
The room was silenced with this question. Everyone wanted to know what the young man had to say. Peter stood silent for a few moments before opening his mouth.
"I know what it feels like to lose everything. My last remaining family, my best friends, my mentor, they're all gone. I understand all of it, the rage, the helplessness, the terror. Not being able to do anything as your family faded to dust around you. I know you want to break down and cry. I know you want to scream and yell and should and rage, so do it. Let it all out of your system, because your life isn't over. You want to know what to do? Help. There are so many children out there who have lost their parents, old people without anyone to take care of them. This can't be the time we let out differences come between us. Each and every single one of us, wherever you are, have lost someone. But we cannot let this be the end of the human race. It would be insulting to their memory to do that. So grieve, mourn, pray, cry, but we have to get back up. Help each other do that, regardless of who you or they are. Your religion doesn't matter, your creed doesn't matter, age, nationality, gender, skin colour, none of that matters anymore! Remember those we've lost for who they were, and then focus on who you will be. Thanos thought us a weak race, who can be easily broken. I intend to show him that we won't bend, and we won't break. So, in their memory, because they would want you to, move on. Lean on each other, trust each other, and help each other, and we'll build our way back together, as a race."
The whole room was quiet. Not a whisper was heard after he finished his impromptu speech. Feeling embarrassed that he ranted so much, he quickly spoke a thank you into the microphone and hastily tried to exit the stage. Before he could take a step, though, he heard a clap. He looked over to see the same reporter, Michael Stern, standing up and clapping. He was slowly followed by everybody else. All his friends stood up and joined them. Not one person in the room didn't have teary eyes, but all of them were filled with a new blaze of hope. They all agreed with the message. Grieve, but it's time to move on.