Throughout the trip, Peter's limbs refused to stay still- including his mechanical ones. He could feel the protector's eyes on him, a glaring and burning point between his shoulder blades. He refused to turn around and look at them, preferring to stare at the vast expanse in front of him. Of course, no one would be able to tell that he couldn't resist glancing at them from the corner of his eye occasionally. He also assumed that Dr. Strange and Iron Man opted not to speak due to himself being there, although it could have been because of the tension that lingered in the air, thick enough to be sliced with a knife.
"You know, I could always cover my ears if you would prefer to converse without my input," he stated bluntly. Finally, that burning glare was lessened and a glance from the corner of his eye showed that it was Dr. Strange who had finally looked away.
"I still do not believe we should be going straight to Thanos," he begrudgingly stated.
"Yeah, no, you already agreed to the plan. No going back now. But can we go back to the comment of 'father' you said earlier?" Iron Man snapped, gesturing at Peter.
At this, Peter finally turned around, although his extra legs continued to guide the ship. He assumed they did, at least. The course didn't seem to be altered. He faced the protectors and crossed his arms.
"What about it?" He asked, slightly confused. They knew what a father was, right? He didn't know about Dr. Strange's parents, but Howard Stark didn't seem to be a very... present father if the constant media attention had anything to say about it.
"You're telling me that Thanos, some bizarre alien who probably looks nothing like you, is your father? Actually, on that topic, what do you look like?" Iron Man reiterated. Considering that his red and gold helmet wasn't down, Peter could see his expression of disbelief clearly.
"Of course. He saved me and my sisters," He stated, letting his eyes stare straight into Iron Man's. He ignored the question on what he looked like, he barely knew the man after all.
"Hold on, now you've got sisters?" The man asked, voice rising at least one octave. "Do they take more after him or are they like you?"
Peter pondered this for a moment, grasping his chin between his right thumb and index finger. "More like me, I suppose. Structurally at least. Gamora is green and silver though and Nebula is blue and has black eyes."
Iron Man continued to stare with disbelief while Dr. Strange sighed with obvious annoyance at the trivial conversation.
"As much as I enjoy discussing the concept of adoption, we need to focus here," Dr. Strange stated, casting a glare towards Peter and an exasperated glance towards Iron Man.
"I'm sure we have plenty of time to discuss and plan, so relax, Strange," Iron Man rolled his eyes and crossed his own arms.
Peter nodded in agreement. "He's right, we've got a decent amount of time until we get to Titan. I honestly don't mind the conversation," He shrugged.
"See! Even the creepy spiderling agrees with me!" Iron Man threw his hands up in obvious exasperation. Peter blinked at him in surprise. That man was very animated, wasn't he? It was kind of refreshing after how static the Children of Thanos were. He relaxed slightly, leaning on the console behind him.
"It's obvious I am not going to talk you out of this, so please, continue," Dr. Strange said, voice monotone and obviously annoyed. Seriously, does this man ever sound anything other than annoyed?
"So, kid, wanna remove the face mask?" Iron Man asked, pointing directly at Peter.
Peter groaned. "Will you continue to ask about it until I do?" He asked. He received a look of duh from Iron Man. So, steeling his nerves, he allowed the nanites to collect at the base of his skull, revealing his face to the two men watching. They stared at him with a look of shock while he raised an eyebrow. "Happy?" He asked.
"Kid- you look- human," Dr. Strange stated. Huh, guess he decided to chime in after all.
"Yes, I am a human, what of it?" He asked, his arms crossing tighter as he grew uncomfortable.
"So how did you end up being adopted by Thanos?!" Iron Man shouted, obviously still surprised.
"Ah, it's like I said, Thanos saved me. It's a long story though," He said, clearly not wanting to get into it. He received blank looks from both men and a slight gesture to continue from the red cape.
"Good grief, you are two adult men and I hardly know you. Why on Titan should I share my life story with you?" He snarled and glared at the men. He may have grown more comfortable around them, but they were still enemies. Still two different goals. Still technically a prisoner. "He saved me from a bad situation. Let's leave it at that," He snapped, turning back around and reactivating his mask to hide his discomfort. The only other man he knew that didn't require his backstory was a man he met briefly on a mission. He wore a red mask with black eye rings, reminiscent of a panda. He wouldn't mind seeing him again.
"Look, kid-" Iron Man began. "And stop calling me that! I'm seventeen!" He snarled from where he stood, having regained control of the panel with his arms rather than his legs. He could feel the glances that the two men gave each other before staring back at him. He felt Iron Man come up next to him and rest one hand on the panel. He turned his head as if to say something to Peter, but Peter quickly interrupted him again.
"We're here," he stated monotonously, gesturing to Titan in the distance. Huh, guess that conversation lasted longer than he thought it did. At this announcement, Dr. Strange came up to his other side to stare out the windshield.
"Great, can you park this thing on the surface?" He asked, glancing back at Peter with a look of concentration.
"This ship isn't meant to be parked on the surface. It's meant to be parked, at most, in the atmosphere. The occupants are then lowered onto the ground," he said, voice cracking as it betrayed his thoughts of what they wanted him to do.
"Do it anyway," Iron Man responded. Peter cursed internally. He knew it! "Fine!" He shouted. "But if we all die, it is on your hands," he snarled. He agreed, but his mind was already working overdrive on how to turn the tables. He did not want to die via one of his own designs.
As they neared the surface, passing through the thermosphere, he hit the breaks on the ship, sending the two men flying into the windshield in surprise. He sent webs towards the men before they could recover, determined to fulfill his mission. However, the protectors stared at him, looking almost.. Betrayed? He scoffed. They spoke once and suddenly they think he's on their side? This isn't one of those princess movies. What were they? Didney? Wisney? Whatever.
"Did you forget that we were literally discussing how Thanos was my father?" He asked, smugly. He wasn't one to flaunt his win, but he was glad to finally catch them by surprise rather than the other way around.
The two men said nothing, but stared at something behind him. Just as he was turning around, he was blinded by a soft red object. That darn red cape again! How does he keep forgetting about it? And how does it always seem to be able to predict his moves?!
As he struggled to fling the darn thing off, he felt the ship lurch forward and he stumbled. Yanking the troublesome piece of clothing off his face, he stared at the control panel, where a well-placed repulsor blast had managed to get the ship moving again without allowing Peter any way to stop it. Talk about convenience for the protectors!
"You idiots! We're literally going full speed right towards the ground! If I thought we were going to die before when I was supposed to intentionally crash the ship, then we're most certainly going to die with no way to stop it!" He shouted.
Curling his legs into a tight ball and sending a few spare nanos for extra protection, Peter braced for impact. He only had managed to think briefly of how his Father would react before his world went dark and silent.
Hello again! Surprise update, yay! Please like the story and comment, your comments fuel me! I do not know when another chapter will be coming out because I am still deciding how I want to change the ending of Infinity War for this story. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter though!
