It wasn't supposed to happen like this. It wasn't supposed to be him. This was a future Strange hadn't gotten to see. This was uncharted territory.
Even the people on Earth could feel the aftershock of what happened, not knowing what it was in the slightest.
The universe was saved. Five out of six of the stones were gone, nnothing happened. Those who would have been sacrificed would never know. They would not be grateful, thankful. But at least they lived.
Except for one. The boy who saved them.
He couldn't even bring himself to say his name. He failed as a teacher, an icon, and even as a father. The one thing he wanted to hear: "This was how we won". Not even that.
Strange opened a portal back to Earth for him and Tony, even bringing along Quill, Mantis, Drax and Nebula to save the Melano's fuel.
The Avenger found himself in the infirmary of the Avengers Compound for days on end on account of his injuries from Titan. Pepper was by his side the whole time.
The Melano had been stationed in a landing zone of the base, and in their time Quill was the only one to leave the ship. The only one who left the compound. And, aside from Tony he was the one most affected. For he too had lost someone he cared about. He'd leave in a food run, and when he came back wouldn't leave his quarters.
Drax, he was at peace. Believing now that the monster who took his loved ones from him could no longer take anything else from anyone
Nebula mourned. For both the Mad Titan and the fiercest woman in the galaxy. While she grew to dissgree with his methods, she understood why he tried to do it. Wished there was another waybti achieve such a goal. And for her sister, deep regret. Regret for all the lives she had taken in the name of Thanos. Regret for the time she wasted fighting among her sister. Regret, that dispite everything, she couldn't make her father proud.
Steve Rogers decided it was better not to return. After the years on the run, he still wasn't ready to hurt Tony even more. He learned what happened however. Pepper had contacted him through tight security, told him everything. That he was recovering. That his nightmares were no longer poised by the end of the world. But by the end of one boy's life.
Banner decided to leave it all. He was done, ready to finally live his life, even being able to take Natasha with him. They made a promise to each other. And they were both determined to keep it. Two monsters, making each other even more human.
Thor left, taking Rocket and Groot with him. He felt the disappearance of the stones through Stormbreaker, he could have rested, believing Thanos was gone for good. But he wouldn't stop. For his people that died for the Mad Titan's twisted vision, for Heimdall and his brother. He would stop at nothing to get his vengeance.
Vision and Wanda, they decided. No more sneaking off. No more hiding what they felt. If being hunted for the stone taught them anything, life was far too short for them to wait. They gained refugee in Wakanda, after what happened. The king was not against bringing more criminals through his boarders.
It had been three months since Thanos. Since Peter left this world. Everyone who knew him, loved him, did there best. tried to move on. But Tony couldn't. He just had thid feeling that the kid was out there somewhere. Even if it was someplace he couldn't get to, he would stop at nothing to find him.
"Tony? Tony. Earth to Tony!" he heard Pepper speak softly. It was enough to knock him out of his enclosed trance. It's always enough.
It took a moment for Tony to get a grasp of his surroundings. He was at home, or a home. Without everyone else he could barely call it that. He was in a seat, comfortable at least, with his arms on the armrests. His wife seated right beside him. She put a gentle hand on his shoulder, pushing gently as Tony turned his head towards her.
"Oh, hey..." Tony soghed softly, leaning away anand looking over at her. His glasses covered his eyes.
"Were you paying attention?" She questioned, laying a brow. Her voice was full of nothing but concern.
"Yeah, yeah...I was...I was here the whole time." The philanthropist nodded and put his head in his hand while Pepper gave a slow nod and a cyclical hum. "Yeah, here the whole time."
"What were we talking about?" She tilted her head as she leaned closer.
"Oh, yeah...We were..." He started, looking over at his orangette wife as she nodded her head and twirled her wrist with every word. There was a growing smile on her face, for even after all these years she hadn't gotten used to Tony's cynical personality. "We were talking about-I'm sorry, I was...I wasn't here. I was..."
"Somewhere else..." She gave him a gentle, assuring smile as she runbed his shoulder. "Tony, if you're still thinking about...him...don't.."
To that, Tony tilted his head away from his hand, looking straight at her. "And how can I not?"
"Because," Pepper got up out her seat, standing in front of the genius, leaning close and planting her hands firmly onto his armrests. "He wouldn't want his icon sulking over his death or feeling guilty about it! It was his choice. And he wasn't going to let millions of people die."
Tony stared up at her for a moment, before looking down to his legs. "It wasn't your fault. Okay?" She continued and put her soft hand on his left cheek while looking down on him. "He saved you. He saved me. He saved our little girl.."
"You know it could be a boy." Tony interjected as he looked back up at her.
"Oh! Oh no!" She hastily replied with a chuckle. "I really don't think I can handle taking care of two of you at once."
"What? What's that supposed to mean?" He asked in a sarcastic tone, while Pepper stood up straight while putting her hands on her hips.
"You know what I mean." she shook her head.
It had been three months since they lost Peter, three months since that night. Pepper reached out and took his hand before guilding it to her stomach.
"Oh, christ.." He chuckled softly and looked up at the ceiling. "You know he's not developed enough to really do anything right?"
"She's your kid. I never know what to expect with you."
All of sudden, the soothing scotish voice of Tony's AI assistant F.R.I.D.A.Y. filled their ears. "Boss, you got a call. Sounds important." she informed the two, of which her 'boss' gave a soft groan. "It's about Vision..." And that got both their attention.
"Hasta la vista, baby." The holo display on the counter of the room that held a majority of the ship's food. A kitchen, if you will.
Sitting back with his feet up on the counter and his third cylinder of pringles in hand, Quill stared at the movie as it played. It was his first time on Earth after decades, and the first thing he did, aside from ball his eyes out, was binge watch all the movies that came out since he was abducted. Which included James Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
While Arnold Schwarzenegger fired his shot at the frozen T-1000 and shattered him to pieces, Quill broke out into a cheer. A drunken cheer at that as he clapped his hands wildly. "Yeah! Take that ya silver fuckin' turd!" He cried out, much to Nebula's dismay. But Drax and Mantis were right there with him.
"Now that is a man!" Drax called out from right beside Quill, patting him on the shoulder. "He'd rip you in half!" Which caused Quill to slowly turn his head towards the destroyer.
Meanwhile Nebula sat all the way in the back of the ship, by the ramp lever. her left hands fingers held her head up, with his index and middle finger ready to literally drill inti the side of her skull. She let out a sigh. "I'm surrounded by morons..." She groaned.
"Hey!" They all heard from within the ship, along with a bang against the metal of outside the ship. "Quill! Open the goddamn door!"
The Starlord let out a groan as he leaned his head back, before lifting his feet off the table and jerking himself up onto them. Hunched over he made his way to the back of the ship while Drax and Mantis watched the rest of the movie.
The ramp of the Melano slowly lowered itself as Tony and Pepper stood before it. The billionaire with his arms crossed and the CEO holding a metallic silver and blue type of briefcase.
The captain of the ship stood there as the ramp fully lowered itself. He was a complete mess. His facial hair had turned into a mess, with chips, crumbs and all assortments of junkfood. His hair was longer, terribly groomed with some of it going over his eyes. And he had a long way to go before he got rid of the gut he he gained in the last three months. In his hand was a beer.
"What. Do you. Want?" Quill spat out at the two.
"I need a ride. To Wakanda." Tony Explained, taking a step forward while the space-drunk let out a held back chuckle.
"Oh no. No, hell no!" He replied as he looked away for a moment. "I'm not wasting my fuel to send you two to some resort planet. Aren't you like the God Father or something?"
Tony squinted his eyes on that, looking to his side at Pepper she gave a simple shrug. He then looked back up at Quill. "Okay, First, The fuel in that ship is mine. Second, Wakanda is a country, near the south east coast of Africa. Third, I'm not Italian, Elvis."
"Oh blah blah blah!" Quill rolled his eyes, spinning himself around and walking back inside his ship. The two wasted no time running onboard.
"Quill, we need your help!" Tony attempt to explain, to which his only response was a middle finger. "We need all hands on deck for this! The entire universe could be at risk!-"
"Ohh BROTHER!" He spun back around towards the two with a passionate rage in his voice. "Why the Belgrade-fuck should I care? You can fly can't you? Just do that!"
"We need all the help we can get!" Tony walked towards him.
"What would your mother think?" Pepper questioned, taking a step closer as well.
Quill turned his head slowly towards her, squinting his eyes. "Don't...Don't, don't ever do that..." he then turned back around to walk off, but was stopped by a third voice.
"What would Gamora think?" Nebula questioned as she sat in her seat by the entrance. The three turned towards her, with Quill giving a type of angered glare. "When she told me about you, I thought you were possibly the bravest man in the galaxy. But seeing you now...If the universe is in danger, you need to do something. For Gamora."
The four then fell into silence. Starlord slowly tracked his gaze to his feet. She had to use her name.
Why should he even care anymore? The universe hasn't done anything for him. The universe took his mother away from him, abducted him when he was only a child. The universe gave him a family and took it away. The universe took Gamora for someone else's ends.
But, what if Gamora was here? What would she say? What would she do if half their family was gone?
The captain lifted his head towards the two humans, and after a moment rolled his eyes as he turned himself back around. "Give me the coordinates for this...Wakaka place or whatever." He mumbled just loud enough for them to hear as he headed towards the cockpit.
The flight to Wakanda took only five hours, on account that for a spaceship made for planetary travel, it was still essentially a place when gravity was constantly in effect.
When they arrived, they were taken aback. Drax, Mantis and Nebula had no idea what to expect from the rest of Earth. Much less Africa. But just seeing it they were in awe. The green of the jungles in contrast to the cities they had seen. The wildlife that traveled through the land in variety. The clear blue sky to hold it all together.
And Wakanda itself was even better. It was like a Utopia locked away behind a door, that you could only get to after miles of leaps and hurdles. And that's exactly what it was like. Such a secretive place that have only just revealed itself to the outside world.
The Melano had landed onto a landing platform just in front of the gates to the capital building of Wakanda. Around them the Dora Milaje, their spears up ready to strike any moment.
As they circled the foreign ship, the ramp began to lower itself. When it fully lowered itself a voice came out. It was Tony. "I got a call from here! Telling me to come here! Where's your boss?!" He asked as he took a few steps towards the ramp, looking down at the female soldiers. "Please?"
Despite this statement no one of those dozen warriors moved an inch, giving a glare that itself would kill any normal man.
All of that went away the moment Mantis walked into sight, making her way down the ramp as she stared at the Malije. "Ooh! Are you all friends of the Iron Giant?" she asked a question filled with cluelessness.
The dark skinned soldiers, for a moment, lowered their weapons to look over at each other, but in mere seconds their spears were lifted right back up.
Meanwhile, behind the oblivious Mantis everyone else stood together. Tony turned his attention to Quill and squinted his eyes with a hint of irritation in his voice. "Iron Giant? Really, are you even trying?"
To that Quill shook his head, lifting his hand amd his beer towards his lips. "I don't call you that."
As Starlord leaned his head back with his beer pouring down his throat everyone else turned their attention over their shoulders towards the Destroyer behind them. Who was getting out the yawn of kings with his hands firmly on his belt. After such a yawn he stepped forwards casually. "Lets do this." Drax said as he made his way down the ramp in a nonchalant manner. Almost like there wasn't a dozen unstoppable spears aimed directly at his head.
"What is happening..." Tony muttered to himself as he made his way down the ramp. His wife and Nebula weren't far behind.
There was much debate to begin with. With why they were all here. Why they brought with them an obnoxious green man, an oblivious yellow woman with antennae, A cyborg and a moron with a beer belly. But in time, they came to an understanding.
The Malije had indestructible weapons, and they could rip through anything the Guardians of the Galaxy and Ironman could throw at them.
That being said, the group was of course escorted to where they were supposed to be. On the outskirts of the capital. Taking the Melano there it wasn't long before they reached their destination: The Vibranium Mine. What also doubles as an RD lab for its easy access to the material. And the view from inside was amazing.
The moment the Melano landed onto the landing platform, the ramp of the back lowered itself for the passengers. Both the Starks went down the ramp first, taking a look around the platform at work. Vibranium was being loaded onto ships straight off the lift in efficient time. But that wasn't why they were there. They were there for Vision.
There waiting for them, with his hands square behind his back, stood the king od Wakanda. The Black Panther. King T'Challa.
The group walked towards the king, Quill stumbling as he followed but catching his balance with Drax as a crutch.
"How is he?" was the first thing out of Tony's mouth. He looked T'Challa in the eyes, a look of guilt plaguing his face tenfold.
T'Challa simply nodded to him. "His outburst was contained. He is still alive, and stabilized. Come, we may not have much time-"
There was a sudden rumble beneath their feet, the clouds above darkened, beginning to form together into a blackhole, with a beam of bright colorful light shooting down not moments after before crashing down right before everyone.
Everyone jumped, the nanites of Stark's suit spread like a fire across his body, coating in the shing red and yellow armor.
The briefcase Pepper held began to shift, pieces of it moving up her arm quickly, covering her entire arm in seconds. She lifted her armor covered hand ip towards the light as the rest of her 'Rescue' armor wrapped around her.
T'Challa got into fighting position, his Wakandan tribal gown disintegrating as his suit spread onto him.
Quill pulled his guns from his hips, lilifting them up and taking aim while the rest of his crew got into fighting position.
When the light dimmed down and disappeared, there stood the God of Thunder known as Thor, streams of electricity flying off from his body but soon dying down. "Where is he?!" he called out to all of them. "Where's Thanos?!
"He's gone, buddy!" Tony stated. "What are you doing here? And...who are they?"
Thor looked back at his crew. An energetic aggressive Rocket Raccoon, a maturing young man Groot and stoic blonde haired woman that looked in her early thirties, Captain Marvel.
the God of Thunder turned his attention back to Stark and the others, gripping the handle of Stormbreaker as he spoke once more. "Lies! I can sense the power of the Mind Stone! I know he has it, now where is he?!"
Quill stepped forward, his hands up and his fingers away from the triggers. "He's dead, guy! Me and Tinman saw it personally!"
"No, we didn't." They all heard. A yellowed shined from behind Tony and Pepper. They both turned around, and right in front of them was a portal. Doctor Strange's portal. He walked through, standing tall before looking over his shoulder. "Okay you two! Time to come out!" He stated before stepping to the side.
Out of the portal two more people walked through. Two monsters by the name of Natasha Romanoff and Bruce Banner.
"Bruce?...You're..." Pepper stared, her entire helmet shifting its shape until it showed her face. She looked at Tony, slapping the back of her metal hand against his metal chest. "Why didn't you tell me he was alive!"
"Wha-Hey I was gonna invite him to the wedding!" the billionaire defended as he shrigged while looking at his wife. "He ran away before I could even tell him!"
The doctor let out an awkward chuckle, adjusting his shirt with a slight sigh. "Yeah, sorry about that..." He said in a reserved tone. "But congrats! On the wedding and all!"
"Down to business." Natasha stated, stepping forward to the king. "Where's Vision?"
"He is resting." T'Challa spoke, looking over the entire group. "He said to get you, Stark. Said you would know what to do."
"The Mind Stone, I felt it." Thor stepped up slowly. "It's power, like it's at its limit."
"It's near that." Stephan nodded. "Its compensating to keep the universe together, like it originally did with the other five."
"Okay, what the hell is going on?!" Quill shouted out for everyone to hear. They all turned to him, like they had some sort of answer. But none of them did. Except for one.
"The end of the universe as we know it." Doctor Strange spoke solemnly.
Shuri and Strange were the ones to put it all on the table for everyone. About what's happening. Everything they could.
Doctor Strange told them about the stones. Space, Power, Reality, Time and Soul. They all believed the stones were destroyed. But they were wrong. They simply transported themselves somewhere else. And likely, whoever had them at the time. But not in their universe.
"What do you mean not in our universe?" Scott questioned, sitting by the table of the lab with Rocket, Mantis and Pepper, while everyone else stood around it, including Hope Van Dyne, Hank Pym and his wife. While in the corner Steve Rogers leaned against the wall and listened. Wanda was by the hovering medical bed, where an unconscious Vision laid. On the table was a hologram display. Of the stones, the Earth.
"Our reality is one of infinite. Some of them the similar, some of them drastically different." Stephan stated. All of them have their own barriers to keep from melding together. Barriers that require quite a lot of power to break through, and that snap right back together."
"So, what are you saying?" Carol questioned, trying to get a closer look at the display as it showed a visible barrier between two Earths.
"The Infinity Stones are the raw power of the universe. They could make you the most powerful person in the universe if you could wield just one." Thor Explained.
"That Grimace fucker had four of them." Quill added, with more than a hint of anger in his voice. "Almost got five. Until that kid grabbed the green one. Right, Tincan?"
Everyone looked towards Tony, as he looked down slowly looked down. It was something that he couldn't believe took now to realize. Exactly what stones Peter grabbed.
"What if they used the Reality, Time and Space stones at once?" He he looked up at Strange and Shuri.
Shuri lifted her arms up with her hands together, aimed at the six Infinity Stones displayed. She then pulled her hands apsrt from each other and magnified the stones to be the focus.
"Time, Space and Reality is indeed the building blocks of the universe. So, that may solve that problem." She started.
"But that also means that those stones traveled with Thanos and the boy to wherever they went." Strange continued.
"So if we find the kid, or Thanos, we find the stones?" Rocket raised a brow at that. "Am I thinking too optimistically here?"
"Wanda told us she knows in what reality they are in, just not any specific places." Shuri explained to them all. "Much less if either of the two have any. Or...if they're still alive..."
Tony looked back down, his right hand grabbing onto his left wrist firmly. No, that waswasn't the case. far from it. That kid, Peter doesn't give up. that he knew.
Suddenly, the humanoid tree lifted his hand up for everyone to see, before speaking in a mature, deep but soothing voice. "I am Groot?" he asked. Which got no reaponse. Just confused or quizzical stares from every in the room. Aside from The Guardians and Thor.
Rocket was the first to voice the question in a way they understood. "Yeah! Why should we give a rat's ass about it? It's not our problem anymore!"
With that, Strange turned his eyes to Shuri, raising a brow. "You uh...think you can explain? Cuz I feel like they won't understand if I say it."
The protege gave a simple nod, and with the flick of her wrists she projected the old image of two Earths and the barrier. five stones on one side, and one stone on the other.
"Think of these stones like magnets in this sense. They attract to their original universe, keep everything from collapsing on top of each other. Because of that, it is more than possible that if these stones stay in the wrong universe, while Vision's stone is here, it could quite literally tear our existence apart. Best case scenario."
"Best case?!" Banner questioned with the tone of terror in his voice. "What do you mean best case scenario? W-What's the worst case scenario?"
"Our reality could bleed into theirs, and assuming the laws of physics still hold up at that point, then both of our universes will collide with each other. It'll kill everyone." Shuri answered with a snap of her fingers.
"Oh..." Scott stared, wide eyed as he looked around the room. "That...That does not sound good."
"So what are we supposed to do?" Natasha asked, looking around the place. Only silence. No one had an answer. It was hopeless.
"We gotta get them back." Tony spoke firmly. He lifted his head, with everyone staring at him. They were in disbelief at such a thing. "Ya know, this is kinda perfect for something I was working on before...Ya know all this. I mean, I never actually did it, but it works in theory."
Hank cleared his throat, leaning against the table as he stared at Stark. "And what would that be, exactly?"
Tony put his hands together, looking away for a moment. "My...dad...He had this crazy idea at one point. That there were more than one reality, and that he could build a bridge there. He used the Tesseract for that and he got damn near close before Shield shut him down..." He looked back at everyone, before letting off a sigh. "I'm gonna be honest, I haven't figured it out fully either."
Scott then suddenly slapped the table below him harshly, growing a grin. "I think I got something!"
"Hey!" Shuri spoke out. "Don't hit my workshop table like that! It can be very sensitive..."
To that, the former thief winced a bit in regret, leaning a bit away from her for a moment. "Right, sorry!...What about the Quantum Realm?" He asked everyone, which got even more confused looks. Mostly from the Guardians, Thor and Captain Marvel.
"Quantum Realm, what's that?" Carol asked as she looked down at Scott, only for Janet to answer.
"It's like its own universe where the laws of physics are less fixed, and are to change on a whim." She explained.
"We sent Scott in at one point for five minutes. For us." Hope stated.
"Yeah. And for me it was hours!" Scott finished. "Hours! I thought you were gonna leave me there!"
"Oh, trust me we tried." Hank mutter under his breath, before promptly getting a slap on the chest by his wife. "What?..."
"So we use both methods then?" Pepper attempted to clarify. "Of course we need to tweak both of them to work, but..."
"We have to try." They all heard, and looked over to the corner where the grizzled veteran stood. "If we don't, everyone loses. Even if it doesn't work, we need to try."
"Alright..." Tony stared at the captain for a moment, before looking away. "Lets get to work!"
And so they worked. All together. With Wakandan tech and the combined intelligence of Tony Stark, Shuri and Hank Pym, they were successfully able to figure out how to jump from their reality to another. Still an extremely dangerous process, since it essentially involved manually creating a blackhole anf containing it, with a variety of semivariables.
It took two days to create it. A Jump Portal. A wide platform stationed outside the lab, with a thick ring cut into fourths being held up by four pillars. A command console connected to the platform, ready to be activated. Shuri stood at the controls, her brother beside her as she ran diagnostics.
T'Challa slowly leaned over to his sister, a look of slight worry as he lifted his head towards the device. "Are you sure this is going to work?"
"Yes, of course!" She turned to him as she spoke in a reassuring tone. "In theory. But it's better than nothing, no?"
"Yes, yes..." T'Challa straightened himself while he looked up at the machine. "Let us pray...That this works.."
"It'll work..." Bucky stated as he made his way to the two, looking up at the machine. "It has to..."
It had been decided who would go. Tony was the first to volunteer. He had a lot to make up for with Peter, anand he was determined. The second was Wanda. Then Steve, Scott and Hope. Though Thor wanted to join, he couldn't. Their theory accounted for the Bifrost jumpstarting the bridge. So instead Carol volunteered in his place. After much, much debate between the two even Pepper offered to travel with them.
After the platform was finished the protection suits were made. Using Stark and Shuri's advanced understanding of Nanotech, along with Hank's Pym Particle, they were able to get multiple suits up and running for the trip.
"Okay, last chance. Are we actually doing this?" Tony pressed his wife, who was in full 'Rescue' armor, but without the helmet as they made their way from the lab towards the lift to ground level. As the volunteers all stood there on the lift he continued. "I mean, you shouldn't exert yourself, as an..." He stopped himself when Pepper tunred her head towards him. But it wasn't a look of irritation like she expected. Instead it was a small smile, to contradict the visual fear in her eyes.
"It's okay, Tony. I know how much he means to." Pepper spoke softly with a nod. "We're gonna find him. We"ll get him back." She lifted her cold armored hand up to hee husband's face, before placing it gently on his face with a warm touch. "If anything happens, I just want you to know that..."
"Yeah...I know." Tony smiled solemnly, lifting his hand and gently holding her cheek.
Carol watched from in front of them, looking over her shoulder silently. Dhe believed she knew what it was between the two. But she had no idea. Much less who she'd even had it with.
Every one of the group said their goodbyes, for the moment at least. Tony and Pepper saying their farewells to Bruce and Natasha, for this may be the last they'd ever see them again. Carol to Rocket and Groot, the first family she'd had in decades, even if for such a short time. Steve to Sam, Bucky and the king, thanking them for their help for everything
Scott didn't get to say goodbye to the person he wanted. But, he made sure that his daughter knew just how much she meant to him.
It wasn't long until they all stood on the platform, facing each other. Steve, Tony, Pepper, Wanda, Scott and Hope. The only one left was Marvel.
She was about to step onto the platform, before her arm was grabbed with a firm grip. It wad Thor, staring down at her with a look of restrained anger.
"You either kill that bastard Thanos...Or you bring him back here..." He spoke softly to her.
With that she gave a simple nod. "You have my word. I promise..."
The God let her go, and she stepped onto the platform with everyone else.
"We're ready!" Wanda shouted as a signal to both Shuri and Thor. He nodded, stepping back as his eyes began to glow a bright blue, surging with power.
"Alright, we got one shot!" Steve said firmly. "Everyone, stay together! We grab the stones, and meet up!"
"Right!" Scott nodded. As he looked over at Hope he reached out to grab her hand. "We got this..."
"Yeah..." She nodded back.
"On my count!" Shuri shouted to Thor, while gave a simple nod. "Three!" The clouds in the sky began to crackle, shifting and swirling together. "Two!" Thor lifted his mighty axe as electricity pulsed against the metal weapon and his skin.
"One!" Shuri swiped up on the monitor of the console, activating the machine. At that very moment the God of thunder swung Stormbreaker down, a beam of light shooting down feom the heaven right to them. The Bifrost beam slammed down on the seven teavelers, and it wasn't long until the machine reacted to it. It took all the transwarping energy, leaving a red glowing energy within the disconnected ring above the seven.
"Good luck my friends!" Thor shouted out to them, before seconds later a crimson red beam of energy shot up to the heavens, engulfing the seven completely. Everyone watched in silence.
Seconds gone by, and the red light dimmed to nothing, as the last of the modified Bifrost energy shot up into the sky. No one was standing at the platform.
They did it. they sent them. For better. Or for worse.
The citizens of Hosu looked up at the crackling red hole in the sky, a look of confusion, fear even. What was this? A new villain was the first thing to come to mind.
"What's going on?..." A young pink skinned woman asked as she looked up at the crackling vortex some blocks away.
This was Mina Ashido, first year in U.A's hero course 1-A. With her Quirk simply titled 'Acid': She can create acidic fluids through her body, including the tips of her fingers and soles of her feet, ranging from harmless saliva to deadly corrosive acid.
She, with a handful of her classmates, had arrived to Hosu for a little...Or more massive Comic Convention just a few blocks away. They were getting lunch and waiting things out until certain lines in this Comic Con died down just a bit. Then this happened.
"Another villain attack?" another one of these students, ine with spiking red hair groaned, looking up at the vortex.
Ejiro Kirishima, part of U.A's 1-A. His Quirk was pretty simplistic. With his Quirk 'Hardening' he could harden any part of his body at will, allowing for drawn out defense or a strong offense.
They both looked up at the sky, towards the ominous clouds. Until Mina caught something out the corner of her eye. It was young man in red and grey, sprinting as fast as he could. Which wouldn't be weird at all under normal circumstances. Instead he was against the side of a building, going at full speed before jumping off, flicking his wrist and shooting out a white substance. Once it hit another building, he used it as a way to swing off.
Mina watched as he came and went, her jaw dropping at the sight of it. Her head filled with far too many thoughts to be voiced out. Instead she grinned wide, in amazement.
"Karen, give me a rundown!" Peter shouted into his mask, the HUD of his mask filled his vision.
"I'm trying!" Karen replied back with a panic in her voice. "I know the type of energy in that vortex! But it's different somehow!"
The young masked hero flew in the air, thrusting both arms forward flicking his hands back and pulling the trigger on the palms of them. A line of webbing shot out of each of them, aimed at and hitting the ledge of two buildings. He then pulled on them both, jerking his entire body forward as a method of gaining even more momentum.
"Heroes and law enforcement are on the scene! Be careful, Peter!"
"Got it!" He responded as he fell from the sky and landed feet first on a moving bus, rolling forward so the rest of his body absorbed the impact. He rolled back onto his feet, crouching on the roof of the bus. The eyes of his mask squinted as he asked. "How many?!"
"At least two Pros on the scene!" The young hero nodded, pushing himself up with all the power of his lower body. He leaped forward into the air, shooting another webline as he headed towards ground zero.
Ground Zero used to be an intersection in the middle of Downtown. But now it was simply a man shaped crater with buildings surrounding it. Luckily the citizens in the middle of it all were able to get out the way before the impact, so the only collateral damage was property.
In the middle of it all was a man in a red and black getup, and a silver helmet covering the whole of his head. Holding him, a woman in green and black of the same suit.
"You alright?" Hope asked as she gently lifted him up. He gave a groan, wincing at the sharp pain from just having her hand on his back.
"Instantly starting to regret this..." Scott got out while his eyes kept a fixed sight on her. "I'm sore...really...really sore..."
"I got you..." the Wasp stated softly. She grabbed his left arm, before draping it over her back. She then looked up, as she heard an unfamiliar voice echoing.
"This is the Hosu City Police! You are surrounded!" They both heard. They looked forward, both their eyes widening as they saw an entire swat team. Plus a sixty-seven foot tall blonde woman in blue and white tight spandex. As well as a man with a mask made of wood...and arms made of wood.
"Ugh...Perfect..." Scott mumbled to himself as he stared at them all. "Got a plan to get outta this?..."
"Not really..." She whispered back to him, looking down at her partner.
Peter had arrived to the scene, landing on the ledge of a building just in front of the blockade. He looked down at the scene with the eyes of his mask narrowing to magnify the image. The people he saw, at least one of them, was familiar.
"Hey...I know that guy!" He whispered into his mask as he leanes over the edge some.
"Yes...You fought him in Germany two years ago with Mr. Stark." Karen explained. Her voice was filled with dumbfoundment. How could he even be here?
"Stand down!" Peter heard a swat member shout out. The eyes of his mask widened as he stared at the scene. "You are under arrest for the charge of destruction of public property, and unlicensed Quirk use! Get on the ground, both of you! Or we will consider you hostile!"
The giantess blonde stared down at the two, ready to spring into action if either were to do anything. Meanwhile the wooden man watched, as the Wasp slowly got Antman onto his feet.
"We aren't here to hurt you! We don't want any trouble!" Hope shouted out to them. And her voice with filled with concern, severe concern for the man. That was enough to get them to put their weapons down, albeit slowly. "We need an ambulance! My friend, he's really hurt! Really hurt!"
From a distance Peter let out sigh of relief with the eyes of his masks relaxing. He lowered his head, and shook it some. "Okay...I think their okay but...How did they-"
All of a sudden, all at once everything stopped for him, moving at merely a crawl. His vision became more saturated in color, with a tingling in the back of his head. Something was coming.
He looked up over his shoulder as his eyes widened. A figure, a feminine body was falling towards him at great velocity. He barely had time to react.
He sprung into the air, the body just missing him while he threw his whole body into a backflip.
The body crashed into the side of a building, grabbing everyone's attention. Even the half conscious Scott Lang.
And the first person to react, was Peter. The second he landed back on his feet he leaped forward off the ledge, flying into the air for all of the police and heroes to see. With his legs pushing into his stomach he dove in feet first into the small hole left from whoever went through the wall. Once he fell in, he grabbed an pipe, using his momentum to swing his whole body back before his feet landed upright on it.
The building seemed abandoned, of course. Also under renovation with the floors ripped out, and one of the walls teared off.
The young hero looked around the room. debris from the wall was everywhere, not to his surprise. The only source of light came for the whole in the wall, which was enough for him to see the body.
It was mangled. Slumping against the wall on her side, her left leg bent in all different types of ways. Her arm limp and beaten.
He was about to move in closer, but something else was coming. All of a sudden a massive hand bursted through the hole in the wall behind him, growing it open more. As Peter looked over his shoulder his eyes widened as those massive fingers wrapped around his body and swiped him up.
"Gotcha!" The blonde giantess smirked as she reeled her arm back from inside the building. "A feisty one..."
"Mt. Lady, focus!" shouted Kamui Woods, who's hand had stretched out into three moving tree branches. Much to Hope's surprise as he slowly picked Scott'd limp body up.
Mt. Lady scoffed and rolled her eyes, looking down at what she had caught. Peter squirmed and struggled in her grasp, almost able to get out. It was actually pretty cute to her, but that cuteness was greatly overshadowed by annoyance. "For the love of-calm down ya little!-"
It wasn't long until Peter stopped his struggles. It was no use at this point. Everyone was watching them, and even if they weren't this woman's grip was too strong the way he was now. He just let out a sigh in defeat.
As the red sun set things died down for the situation. Scott was taken to the nearest hospital to be examined for his injuries, of which their were a multitude. When authorities entered the building a citizen was allegedly thrown into, they found nothing. The body was gone with no trace.
Hope was taken into custody of the Hosu police, not ruled out as a villain however. During questioning they were somehow able to find information on her and her accomplice. At first they were confused, figured that there was an error in their records, because it said neither Hope Van Dyne nor Scott Lang had any Quirks to begin with. She was eventually released hours later when she fed them a fake story about how they were fighting some villain with a teleportation Quirk in a small American town.
Peter didn't get off that easy. He was kept in that police station for hours, in an interrogation room without his mask or webshooters. They ran his background, found his records and his Provisional Hero ID. Which didn't at all explain why he was acting at a crime scene already covered. There was no harm directly or indirectly inflicted by the young hero that they knew of, nor property damage. That coupled with how he was indeed foreign to Japan and there for any stricter laws over Hero Work, meant that technically he wasn't at extreme fault of anything. He would still be punished, however. His Provisional Hero would be revoked until he earned it back. Likely through the exam for it.
He was only released when someone came for him. And as anyone could imagine she wasn't happy.
"Peter!" Nemuri's voice filled his ears from across a hallway and behind a metal door.
It wasn't long until that door flew open, nearly ripping it off its hinges with how much strength was put into it. Peter jumped from his seat near the table onto his feet in instinct, with a wide spread stance and his hands up.
"Peter! Are you okay? Are you hurt?!" The R-Rated blurted out in nothing but pure concern for her student. Peter put his hands down as he looked at the teacher.
"You gave me a heart attack!" She wrapped her arms around his upper body, holding him as close as she possibly could.
All the while the hero-in-training did the best he could to get some breath. Not surprising, since she was smothering him with her cleavage.
Soon she let go, stepping back some feet and putting her hands on her hips. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh, fully composed. She was no longer in Concerned-Mother Mode. Now she was in Scolding-Teacher Mode.
But before she could get a word out Peter spoke. "Listen, I know what you're about to say, I've heard it from...my teachers, my friend, my Aunt..."
"You had no idea just how dangerous that was!" Nemuri lifted her finger to point. "You could've been hurt even more than you probably already are or worse!"
"Yeah, maybe. If that's what it takes." Peter replied, before looking away to the side. "My Uncle had a saying...If you have an opportunity to do the right thing, and you don't...and then thr bad things happen...It's on you." He looked back at Nemuri. "I can't do nothing again..."
Again? What does he mean by that? What happened to make him say that?
It was at this point she realized. She believed she figured out just what this young man's motivation is. Not for money or for fame.
The two fell silent for the next few seconds. Peter let out an exasperated sigh as his gaze went down. While Nemuri stepped closer once more, lifted her arms and wrapped them around him. She held him close for comfort. And he didn't try to get away.
Kayami decided it'd be better for Peter to take a cab home, since he couldn't use his equipment to do so. The whole time neither of them really said a word. Peter didn't feel up to that and Nemuri didn't want to open any old scars.
When they reached their destination, Peter wasted no time pulling the lever of the door and pushing it open. He was about to get out, but stopped himself and turned back towards his teacher. He smiled weakly as he spoke. "Thanks...for today. I really enjoyed it." Was all he said, before getting out and shutting the door.
The young hero stepped towards the apartment complex while his cab rolled off. He made his way inside, greeted security and made his way up to the third floor, to the end of the hall at the last door, sweeped the top of the frame and found the key, before pushing it in and turning.
Pushing the door open he made his way inside, immediately closing it once inside. He looked down at where thr briefcase from earlier was. Gone. Mei must've put it in his room. He walked deeper into the apartment. Nothing of any danger it seemed. Just the lights coming from the TV in the livingroom, where Mei was.
He walked over to the couch, where Mei laid fast asleep. Oblivious to anything and everything. Even the explosions from the action movie she was watching wasn't doing it.
Peter looked up at the television screen. On it was a scene of a muscular blonde man, fighting against what looked like a monster.
He smiled softly and looked back down at his host sprawled out everywhere.
Without a word he picked up the remote to the TV and shut it off, before carefully picking her up from the sofa and taking her back to her room. The whole time a genuine smile was on her face.
After he set Mei back in bed he went back to his room, where the briefcase for his school uniform was right beside his bed. He dropped his mask on the floor, and tossed himself onto the bed face first into his pillow, as he slowly dozed off into an exhausted sleep.
Then he realized something. He didn't have his bags from the mall. Or the stones!
Upon this sudden realization his eyes shot open wide. He jumped in the bed, before slumping over.
It was gonna be a long night for him. Goid thing some of the Spider-Tracers still worked.
Okay, hope you enjoyed this chapter, even if it might be all over the place. I probably didn't do a lot of characters justice in this, but I tried and continue to try. So please tell me.
Also, next chapter we're heading to U.A. Peter is gonna need a 'teacher'. I wanna see just you guys want that to be.
Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch?
Pepper Potts/Rescue?
Steve Rogers/ Captain America?
Choose, and if there's enough, I may make them the first of the U.A staff and Finals Exam.
