A/N: I'd like to apologize for how long it took to get this chapter out. Unfortunately, I've gotten kind of busy, so it looks like this will be the norm from here on out. I'll try to write whenever I get the chance. Please enjoy the chapter.
"Oh my God, this is the most awesome thing that's ever happened to me in my entire life."
Ant-Man looked around at the heroes around him, as he sat on a bench in the Quinjet, star struck. Not only was he near his all time favorite hero, Captain America, he was also near his fellow Avenger teammates, and to his delight, the Fantastic Four.
"The Fantastic Four?" He asked aloud, not believing his luck. "Seriously, I'm teaming up with the Fantastic Four, and fighting Doctor Doom in Latveria? This is super cool."
"No one is fighting Doctor Doom!" Nick Fury, who was on the other side of the jet, roared. "This is a strictly covert mission." The director then marched closer towards Scott, who had opened his helmet. "If I find out that you openly engaged with anyone, I will personally find the biggest, deepest hole in the world, and throw you in it. Understand?"
"Uh, yes sir," Scott nervously said. When the scary, one-eyed man walked away, Scott turned to his other side, where a newly suited Spider-Man sat. "Is he always that intense?"
Spider-Man didn't acknowledge him, as he stared off into space.
"Uh, hello?" Scott waved his hand in front of Peter's face, snapping him out of it. "Earth to Spidey?"
"Oh, uh, sorry, were you talking to me?" Peter asked, a little embarrassed.
"Bug Bro, what's wrong?" Scott asked his friend. "You seemed out of it since I got on. Are you worried your costume looks stupid? Because it looks really cool."
"No, it's just..." Peter sighed a little. "I got a lot on my mind."
Which wasn't a lie. In between finding out that Tony was retiring and invading Latveria, Peter had a million things running around in his brain. Next to the usual fits of social anxiety and fear for his life, of course.
"Ah, relax man," Johnny Storm, who was sitting on Peter's other side, told him. "We've beaten up Doom hundreds of times."
The web head heard Fury audibly sigh. "Since you all are so gung ho, I'd like to repeat myself. NO ONE IS OPENLY ENGAGING DOOM, OR ANYONE ELSE WHO COULD START WORLD WAR 3! OK!?"
Johnny just nodded. "Yeah, yeah, we get the drill." His sister, Sue, smacked him in the back of the head for his rudeness. He stuck his tongue out at her, before turning back to Peter. "Anyway, just relax. The sooner we're done here, the sooner we can have another video game night."
Scott opened his helmet, a hurt look on his face. "You had a video game night without me? We're suppose to be bros!"
Spidey turned towards him, his arms up in defense. "We are bros! They just invited me at the last second, and I didn't know if you were busy or not!"
"Yeah, right," the tiniest Avenger scoffed. "'I was busy'. I wasn't doing anything! I was watching reruns of Cake Boss."
"Good show," Peter said.
"I know, right?"
Hawkeye smirked from across the jet. "Ah, don't worry about it. I would of crushed you anyways."
"Pfft, yeah right," Scott rolled his eyes. "I could take you any day."
"Please, I'll destroy you!" Hawkeye bragged.
"Name your game!"
"Super Smash Bros!"
"It's on!"
"You're both grown men," Natasha loudly interrupted.
"You're all idiots!" Fury roared, thoroughly annoyed beyond belief. "Seriously," he started muttering to himself. "Where the hell is Duggan when you need him?"
"So, anything else we can know about Latveria?" Captain America asked, trying to get things back on track.
Reed nodded, as he continued sorting through information on a panel, making sure everything was ready. "Latveria was a democracy until a few decades ago when it was taken over hostilely by Victor. Since then, no one has reportedly left or entered the country, and even though most of the funds go straight to Victor's desires, they still worship him as a deity."
Ben, who just woke up from a nap, stretched his arms. "Morons," he mumbled, still waking up. "Entire country is filled with whackjobs."
"Sounds like a fun tourist spot," Peter joked. Suddenly, a hologram of what looked like a town with a castle popped up in the middle of the jet, taking him by surprise.
"Alright," Fury started, as he got to the front of the jet. "Time to review the plan. We're splitting into three teams. Team 1, Agents Romanoff and Barton, along with Captain Rodgers, will shut down substations along the city, causing a distraction. Team 2, the Fantastic Four, will work on the main generators on the outside of Castle Doomstadt, shutting down the security systems."
"Uh, and what about us?" Ant-Man asked, gesturing towards himself and Peter.
"There's a satellite tower in the middle of the town's square. For whatever reason, Doom doesn't have all of his security hooked up to his own personal generators, and uses this tower for a few defenses. Including a laser covering an air vent that's outside the castle and leads straight in. That's where you two come in."
"Wait," Spidey said. "We're infiltration?"
"Yes. Yes you are," Fury answered. "Your job will to be get to the room with the nuke, knock out any defenses inside, and hold the fort until the other teams regroup at your position."
"Excuse me," Reed called, looking up from his computer, and earning the attention of everyone on the vehicle. "But we've arrived."
Fury gave a short nod. "Right. Open the Quinjet!" He ordered the voice activated technology.
In response, the back of the jet suddenly opened up, the whine of whipping air making its way inside. High above the sea of clouds, the Quinjet slowly started lowering itself through, to show a large, almost medevil like castle in the distance, with ancient cottages and cabins surrounding it, stone roads connecting it all together, with only splashes of 21st century technology around to show any signs of keeping up with modern times. The whole placed seemed oddly quiet, and yet, strangely gothic.
"Whoa..." Peter quietly whispered, in awe of the sight.
"Barton?" Fury called.
"On it," Clint stated, as he got up, and broke out his bow. He then crouched to one knee, before pulling an arrow out of his quiver, and placing it on the string of the bow. He pulled back, closing one eye, before firing.
The arrow soared gracefully through the air, before embedding itself into the satellite tower in the middle of town, and emitting an EMP pulse.
"There you go," Barton casually told the others. "You're up, guys," he stated, looking at Peter and Scott.
"Uh, right," Peter mumbled, as the two got up from their seats, and near the opening in the ship.
"Remember," Fury said. "No open conflict."
"Aye aye, Captain," Peter said.
"Was that a pirate joke?" Fury asked, dead serious.
"Uh...no..." Peter drawled. He then turned to Ant-Man, who just closed his helmet. "Can we go before I end up in Siberia or something?" He whispered.
"Sure," Scott said, before raising his fist up. "Bug Bros?"
Peter bumped it. "Bug Bros."
With that, the two jumped off the Quinjet, and into the airspace of Latveria. The wind quickly pushed against them, as they both plummeted faster and faster towards the ground.
"Hey, bro?" Scott called.
"Yeah?" Peter called back.
"Any chance I can hitch a ride on your shoulder or something?" He asked, trying to be heard over the whipping air. "I just realized that I'll die if I hit the ground."
"You just realized that!?" Peter asked. "You didn't think of that before just jumping out of a jet?"
"Hey, I have an eight year old daughter at home, and I stayed up until three in the morning watching Cake Boss," he defended. "You're lucky I'm still functioning."
"Just get on!" Peter responded.
Scott then shrunk down, before throwing himself towards Peter. He rolled down the sleek iron back of Peter's costume, before grabbing onto his collarbone. "Do you have a plan!?" He screamed, a little panicked.
"Yeah! Hold on!" Peter said. He may not of been exactly happy with the man at the moment, but if there's one thing Tony Stark was good at, it was making technology. That faith was the only reason he even considered jumping out of the Quinjet.
Of course, it WAS Tony...
Peter spread his arms out wide, before pulling himself up slightly, going against the wind. After a few moments, he caught himself in the air, as he swooped upwards slightly, before effortlessly gliding along the sky, gently descending himself down towards the outside of the castle.
"Whoa..." Scott gasped.
"Aerodynamic," Peter simply answered.
"This is so cool..."
"Cool? Maybe. Weird? Oh heck yeah."
"Weird?" Scott asked. "How is this weird?"
"I'm flying around in a foreign country to stop a dictator from launching a nuke with a tiny man on my shoulder. This is super weird."
"Actually, that sounds like the plot to a really good children's book," Scott stated. "When we get back, want to co-author?"
"I don't think the Bugle would give me a fair review," Spidey stated, as the two landed right on the ground, next to the air vent they had heard about.
Scott jumped off Peter's shoulder, and landed in among the blades of grass. "Here, let me get that for you," Ant-Man said, as Peter saw a tiny speck fly in through the grates of the vent. After a second, the grate flew off its hinges. "Ta da!"
"Nice work," Peter complimented, as he placed a finger to his ear. "Spidey to base, we're entering now."
"Roger," he heard Fury say. "Proceed."
"Right-a-roonie," Peter said, as Ant-Man started running further into the vent. After a few seconds of checking around, Peter crawled inside after him, ready to do this.
Tony Stark was a man who was used to being the center of attention.
He spent the better part of his life throwing money around, hosting party after party, meeting celebrity after celebrity, showcasing project after project. And when he discovered his tech was being used as world altering weaponry, he became something that could stop it.
He became Iron Man.
He became a superhero.
He became an Avenger.
His fast lifestyle only grew faster, because along with the parties and supermodels, there always came Avengers press conferences, world bending threats, and the occasional superhero gathering.
Now though, Tony gave up on all of that, and for the first time in a long time...
He was alone.
No Avengers around him. No party guests. And no...no Pepper.
He was trying to rectify that last part. "JARVIS?"
"Sir, I don't believe it's wise to-"
"Call her again," he ordered, as he sat on his couch, still in his causal wear, drinking a scotch.
"Sir, she hasn't answered for the last hour, perhaps we should wait, and-"
"Call her again, JARVIS," Tony repeated, sternly.
The AI went silent for a moment. "Very well, sir," he stated, almost regretfully. After a few seconds, Tony could hear the beeps of numbers being dialed over the speakers.
The phone rung.
And it rung.
And it rung.
Tony took a sip of scotch, as he recalled what had happened earlier tonight. The look of disappointment on Peter's face when he found out that the billionaire was retiring from the superhero business. He hated that he hurt him like that, but he needed to stop. This life was tearing him apart.
He was losing himself. And everything important to him.
The phone rung yet again, but was cut off by the receiver picking it up. "You have reached Pepper Potts, if this is a personal call, please-"
JARVIS hung up. "My apologies, sir."
Tony closed his eyes, before taking a stiff drink of liquor. "It's alright, pal," he quietly mumbled.
"Is there anything I can do?" He asked.
"Just...let me relax, JARVIS. I'll let you know if I need anything."
"Very well, sir," JARVIS said, before going quiet, leaving the billionaire to his thoughts.
This was what he wanted. The chance for a semi-normal life. One where he didn't have to worry about dying all the time.
'With great power comes great responsibility.'
This was what he wanted.
Right?
"So wait, you have a friend who dresses like a grizzly bear?"
Spider-Man was crawling along the dusty, and very rustic vents, following the very tiny man in front of him, Ant-Man.
"Yep," Scott confirmed. "All the strength of a bear. Apparently," he stated. "He robbed a bank, I stopped him, realized he was just hard up on his life, and told him I'd help."
"That's nice," Peter said. "Although I can't imagine he was too happy to be beaten by Ant-Man."
"What's that suppose to mean?" Scott asked, a little offended.
"He was a bear. You control ants. Just seems embarrassing."
"How about I call the ants to cover you up, see how you like it?"
"Uh, point taken," Peter mumbled, as he looked through the smalls grates in the air vent. He didn't see any guards of any kind. "Huh."
"What?" Scott asked, as he followed the scanner on his wrist.
"The place seems so...empty," Peter observed. "I mean, this is a castle. Shouldn't there be guards or something?"
"Maybe he likes his privacy?" Scott thought.
"Maybe..."
"Come on, we're almost there," Ant-Man stated. "The sooner we get done the sooner I can wreck Hawkeye at Smash Bros. Seriously, my Yoshi is a force of nature."
"I could go for some ice cream," Peter stated.
"Ice cream's good," Scott agreed. "Ice Cream and Yoshi."
"Sounds like a progressive rock group."
"The best," Scott said.
After a few more moments of crawling around in the vents, Scott's tracker started beeping. The two looked down at the grate nearby, to see that they were right above a room. "We're here," Peter said.
"Wow, that spider sense sure is something," Scott cheekily said.
"Ha ha. I don't think anyone's down there," Peter told his friend.
"How do you know?" Scott curiously asked.
"...spider sense..." Peter admitted.
Scott shrugged. "Eh, works for me," he said, as he jumped down. He landed on the grate, tearing it off his hinges, and landing in the room below. Peter crawled down as well, before slowly descending upside down on a web.
"Oh my God..." Peter gasped, as he and Scott looked at the stone room with unbelieving eyes.
Covered in multiple computers, and high ceilings. One thing drew their eyes, however. The large, intimidating rocket that just barely stopped below the ceiling. It was grey, as it was obvious that the design was for practicality, not for showmanship. On the sides of it were large metallic bumps, that seemed to contain explosives. Nuclear explosives.
"The nuke..." Scott mumbled, in scared awe as he grew to his normal size.
"Well...we found it," Spidey said with slight trepidation, putting a finger to his ear. "Come in, base. We uh...we have eyes on the scary death missile."
"Understood," Fury chirped. "The others are finishing their tasks now. They'll rendezvous at your location as soon as-"
Peter's spider sense tingled. Suddenly, before he could warn his friend, a beam of green energy hit Scott dead in the back, making him scream in pain as he flew across the room, crashing against a stone wall.
Spider-Man quickly flipped right side up, and turned, seeing a sight he was really hoping he wouldn't. "Uh, base? We have a problem."
Stood before him, with his arms crossed, wearing a dangerous aura along with a green robe covering his metallic body, stood the all powerful dictator of Latveria.
"Who dares face DOOM!?"