A/N: Ok guys, so, I have a bit of surprise. This particular chapter is worth about two chapters, and is over 9,000 words! It might be obvious about why I did this after the end of the chapter, but I don't want to spoil anything in this note, so I'll let you guys connect the dots.
On a more serious note, I want to take moment to pay my respects to a great man in the comics industry who unfortunately passed away. Steve Ditko was an innovator in the industry, and is responsible in part of the creation of Spider-Man, as well as heroes like Doctor Strange, and several DC heroes. He also was responsible for one Spider-Man's greatest moments, which is him dealing with the Master Planner, and lifting the literal ton of metal, representing his responsibility as he tried to save Aunt May.
R.I.P. Steve Ditko. Thanks for all you've done. You will be missed.
Now, please enjoy the chapter(s)."
"Who is that?"
"I...have no idea."
Drax and Gamora surveyed the scene in front of them, in utter confusion. Standing among the dusty winds and rusted wreckage of generations of lost and forgotten space ships, was a man in black and gold metal armor, his arms up and primed with some kind of energy. He had them pointed at Morlun, who had already been hit by one of the armored man's blasts, and was staring at the newcomer with an intent to kill.
Spider-Man couldn't believe it. "Tony..." he muttered, his gold lenses wide as he looked at the billionaire. "What the heck is he doing here?"
Tony gritted his teeth under his helmet, ready for a fight. "Ok, looks like someone wandered a little too far from Medieval Times," he said. "I know you guys don't get fashion magazines this far out, but maybe you want to get a second opinion before you leave the house like that."
Morlun was not impressed at the comments. "You are the same race as the totem and the Guardians leader, correct? You are all completely insufferable. After I devour the spider, I'll be sure to come for you two next."
Iron Man turned his head towards Spidey. "Devour?" He asked aloud, a bit confused.
"Yes," Morlun confirmed, before slowly turning to the young hero as well, a smirk on his face. "Devour."
Tony turned back towards the monster, before realizing his intention. He quickly looked back at Peter. "Kid! Look ou-!"
Before he could even get the words out of his mouth, Tony saw as Morlun moved with lightning speed towards Peter, who was barely able to jump up before Morlun could grab him. Morlun quickly pounced again towards the web head, before Tony flew towards them, grabbing Peter and momentarily getting them out of harm's way as they soared through the air.
"I could barely even see him when he started moving. What the hell is going on? Who is that guy?" Tony asked, as they flew in the air. He then looked down, to see some of the Guardians of the Galaxy conjurgating on the ground, as they looked up at them. "Who are those guys?"
"Ok, so, real quick, that scary guy with the weird costume is Morlun, he's an alien monster that's really powerful but he wants to eat me to become even more powerful and rule the universe. Those other guys are called the Guardians of the Galaxy, and they found me when trying to stop Morlun. Some of them are kinda jerks, but they're cool," Spidey summarized.
"Is...that a raccoon working on a laser gun?" The shellhead asked, still looking down at the scene he arrived at.
"Yep."
"Jeez kid, how did you get yourself into so much trouble? You're in space!"
Morlun eventually caught up to them, as he grabbed Iron Man by the leg, and dragged them back down towards the ground, smashing them down when they landed. Tony quickly turned back around, raising a hand to fire a repulsor beam at him again.
"We'll save you, metal man!" Tony heard someone shout, as Drax and Gamora came out of seemingly nowhere to tackle the vampire, distracting him long enough for Spidey and Iron Man to get back their bearings and recover.
"Is there actually a plan to beat this guy?" Tony asked. "Because I don't think punching him is going to do too much."
"Punching does plenty," Peter said. "It makes him angry, and it makes him hit you back harder."
"Kid, not gonna lie, I missed your dumb jokes, but now is not really the time."
After a few quick moments of struggle, Morlun threw off his attackers, and directed his attention again towards Spider-Man, who promptly took off alongside Iron Man, once again running for their lives.
"OK," Tony started, flying right alongside the web head who was going at full speed. "The green people are down. What's the plan?"
"That raccoon you saw with the laser? He's a super smart engineer. That gun he's working on will be able to make a black hole that can keep Morlun stuck in an isolated pocket of space or something," Peter explained. "Problem is that it got broke."
"Hmm, I see..." Tony thought aloud. "Kid, I hate to say it after spending about two weeks trying to find you, but I think the best thing to do would be for me to help the raccoon out-"
"-While I distract Morlun?" Peter finished.
"Exactly."
"Do what I've been doing, gotcha. Would you mind giving me a hand?"
"Sure thing kid. Which way?"
"Hmm..." Spidey thought for a moment, before pointing to his right. "How about that way?"
"You got it," Tony told him, before giving Spider-Man a good toss in that direction, having the young hero fly through the air.
Quickly, Spidey shot a web line at Morlun, hitting the monster in the face, and snagging him. Using his momentum, Peter flung Morlun down into the ground, before safely landing, crouching down in preparation. "Is there any chance we can stop this? You're really bad at playing tag and I think it's time to head home for the night."
Morlun stood back up, pulling the webbing off of his face. "Do you really think this is a game?" He asked, dangerously low, no longer looking the teenager in the eye.
Peter quickly noticed the change in his demeanor.
"This is my birthright," Morlun continued, still looking at the ground, shaking in anger. "This is my destiny. I am to do with this galaxy, this universe as I see fit. I have waited for centuries for this. But at every turn, lowly lifeforms do what they can to block me. My own prey makes a fool of me.
Spider-Man stood up straight. He didn't like how this was going.
The ground under Morlun's feet started to crack, as his muscles tensed. His breathing became more ragged as he started to let his emotions get the better of him.
Peter knew what was going on. He's seen this before. Morlun was fed up. His anger has taken over. Usually, this would be a good thing. Every criminal that he had met got sloppy when anger clouded their mind. But this wasn't a regular criminal.
This was Morlun.
Not waiting to take any chances, Spidey once again started running at full speed, and once again, Morlun was hot on his heels, always at but a finger's length away from the young hero. Acrobatically, Peter flipped through the air, nimbly landing on the various wrecked spacecrafts around him, before jumping to the next one at the last second as Morlun destroyed the ships each time he landed on one. Peter decided to use this to his advantage, as he summoned the metal arms out of his back, using them to grab the debris flying around with his tips, before throwing them at the vampiric being behind him, trying to slow him down.
Meanwhile, Rocket was working hard on the weapon, sparks flying as he crossed wires, and messed with the circuitry. "Come on you flarkin' thing..." he muttered to himself. Suddenly, a man in a metal suit landed in front of him, causing the engineer to yelp in surprise.
Iron Man put his hands up. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya. I'm Iron Man, or Tony Stark, whichever one you prefer."
"Can I call you 'asshole'? Because you are one," Rocket swore, as he continued working on the gun.
Tony frowned under his helmet. "Great, the raccoon is rude. I love space."
"Ugh, again with this crap!?" Rocket yelled, stopping his work for a second. "Seriously, every single person from that dirtball planet of yours has called me a raccoon, and I'm sick of it! I am an engineer! A genius, badass, engineer! I can fix anything and use anything! And all you idiot humies just decided that I'm a raccoon!"
"Ok, ok," Tony relented. "Sorry. Jeez, it was nothing personal. I just came to help work on that thing," he said, pointing at the weapon.
Rocket gave a dismissive laugh, as he went back to work. "What? You think you can do anything useful with this? Sorry to break it to ya, but I'm pretty sure this is a little above your head."
Tony knelled down to the ground, and looked at it for a few seconds. "You have two of the outer wires in the wrong spots."
Rocket paused, before looking at the spot that Tony was talking about. After a quick moment, Rocket turned towards the shellhead, a frown on his face. "Fine, you can help me out," Rocket told him. "Show off," he grumbled.
Under his helmet, Tony gave a satisfied smirk, and got to work.
In the meantime, Peter was running out of ways to stall Morlun, as the vampiric being was getting closer and closer to actually catching him.
"Can we, huff, just, puff, take a five minute break?" Spidey joked through labored breathing, as he was starting to get tired from running at the speed he was going.
Morlun growled in anger, seemingly done with talking.
"Come on, Morlun, use your words," Spider-Man scolded, continuing to flip through the wreckage, trying to stay out of his pursuer's grasp.
Finally, Morlun got close enough to the teenager to give him a good smack in the back, knocking him out of the air, and having him land with a thud on the side of a wing. Peter rolled onto his back, to see Morlun quickly coming his way from above. Unexpectedly, a large sword flew right above Peter, embedding itself into the side of the ship that Peter was laying on. Without questioning it, he shot a web line at it, and pulled the sword towards him, grabbing it and putting it sideways to use as a barrier between him and his enemy.
It worked, as Spidey, using all his might, was able to catch Morlun and fend him off for a couple of precious seconds. That was all that was needed for Gamora, Drax, and Quill to simultaneously tackle Morlun off of the web head, and having them all tumble onto the ground. The three Guardians quickly got back to their feet, surrounding Morlun, who had rage in his eyes.
"Gamora!" Peter called, throwing the sword back to the daughter of Thanos. She effortlessly caught it, as she got ready to fight.
Morlun, seeing Peter start to swing away, was about to chase him once again, only for Drax to jump on his back, and put him in a sleeper hold. Morlun stumbled a bit, trying to reach behind him to grab the destroyer, and while he was off balance, both Gamora and Quill went in to attack, with Quill going low and shoulder blocking the monster's leg, while Gamora went high with a dropkick to Morlun's face. This was enough to knock him down to the dusty ground, as he started rolling around in an attempt to get Drax off.
While the Guardians were fighting with everything they had, Spidey swung over to where Rocket and Iron Man were working on the gun. He landed on the ship next to them, crouching on it as he looked down at them. "Hey, how much longer is it going to take?" He asked, still trying to catch his breath.
"Longer if you keep bothering us," Rocket stated, not even bothering to look.
Tony looked at his intern. "I agree with the possum," he said.
That earned a blank look from Rocket. "What?" He asked, confused.
"You didn't like being called a raccoon, so..."
"Is possum better?" Rocket sincerely questioned.
"Yeah, sure, of course," Tony confirmed, as he was trying to hold back a chuckle.
"Guys," Peter interrupted. "Seriously, Morlun is getting hangry and it looks like the others are starting to have some trouble with him."
"We need a little more time," Tony said, as he helped Rocket place something on the weapon. "You need to stall him for a bit longer."
"How!?" Peter asked, exasperated. "I've done everything I can!"
"Well, get creative kid!" Tony told him.
"I agree with the terran," Rocket said.
"Terran?" Tony asked.
"Well, you didn't like being called a humie, so..."
Peter stopped listening to them, as he looked around, trying to think of something. "Ok Parker," he muttered to himself. "Time to use that big old brain everyone's always complementing you on."
Spidey observed his surroundings with his wide, gold lenses, as he tried desperately to think of something. He saw nothing but dust and scrap metal, until he looked down to see Morlun still grappling with Drax, as the other two Guardians peppered in attacks whenever they could. Peter cursed himself, as he knew they were fighting for him, and there was nothing he could do to help. At least not directly.
So he needs something that can do damage to Morlun without Peter being too close. But how could he...?
Peter looked up from the fight, to see there was a big, if slightly rusty turret pointing right at the fight. If he could get it to work, then maybe...
Even then, there's no way that he could get it fixed in time, and it looked like the Guardians were on their last legs. He needed one more distraction.
"I am Groot!"
Peter looked to his left, to see the tiny, potted plant sitting on the ground, away from the battle, waving a branch at him. Realizing that he was calling him over, Peter quickly jumped over to him, crouching down to get more to his level. "Hey Groot, what's up?"
"I am Groot!" The plant urgently told him.
"What?"
"I...am...Groot!" He explained, as he pointed a branch at Spidey, and then at Morlun.
Peter blinked under his mask. "Are...are you sure?"
"I am Groot!" He nodded.
"Well...ok..." Peter said, with slight hesitation.
As the two were talking, Morlun was fighting. With Drax still having him in a strangle hold, Morlun was slowly getting up, as he had gotten himself into a kneeling position. Quill ran right up to him, and at point blank range, started firing his lasers right in Morlun's face.
"Ha!" Quill laughed, a smile on his face. "I knew these things would work on you eventually!"
However, his smirk fell when he realized that they had no effect on Morlun, other then having a bit of smoke come off of his face. "Oh, you've got to be kidding-"
Before Star-Lord could finish, Morlun got back to his feet, and kicked the legendary adventurer incredibly hard, sending him flying. With a battle cry, Gamora lunged at him with her sword, only for Morlun to jump above the blade, before landing on it, taking it out of Gamora's hands. He snapped it in half with the heel of his boot, before kneeing Gamora in the gut, making her hunch over. He followed up with another knee in the face, sending her soaring away from him as well.
"This has gone on for far too long," Morlun growled, grabbing Drax by the wrist, and squeezing. Drax cried out in pain, as Morlun snapped the bones under his grasp, loosening the grip. Morlun then grabbed the warrior by the arm, throwing him away once more.
"I am Groot!"
As soon as Morlun thought he was alone, he realized that he was being stared down by the tiniest of the Guardians.
Morlun allowed himself an amused smirk. "What? You think you, the flower, can handle an Inheritor?"
"I...am Groot!" He dangerously warned.
"Haha!" Morlun laughed, malicious. "I wish I could understand what you were saying. I can't help but feel that whatever pathetic sentiment you are going on about would only add to this moment."
Groot had a snarl on his tiny face. "I...AM...GROOT!" He cried, as his arms suddenly grew longer, and he planted them into the ground.
"What...?" Morlun asked aloud, before numerous large, thick branches violently broke out of the ground around him, taking him by surprise. "What is...? Wait!" He yelled, multiple branches started wrapping around him, as one extremely big one held him by the torso, as a few slightly smaller ones grabbed him by each individual arm and leg.
"Stop this!" Morlun demanded, as another grabbed him by the throat. "Stop it right this instant!" He could barely see past the wood anymore, as it was like he was trapped in a dense forest.
Some leaves started growing on the branches, as Morlun started struggling against them, but whenever he broke one, two more took their place, holding him back.
Peter landed on the ship with the turret, before looking back to see the large dome of wood. "Whoa..." he said, awestruck. "Way to go, Groot." He then looked at a panel below his feet, as he went down and ripped it off, exposing the circuitry of the ship. "Ok, let's see if I can't figure out which wires are which."
Inside the dome, Morlun roared in anger, furious over what was happening to him. Not thinking it could get any worse, he started looking around, to see several tiny Groot heads starting to surround him, with tiny branches growing out next to them.
"I am Groot!" One said, before whipping Morlun right in the face.
"I am Groot! Another went, also whipping him in the face.
"I am Groot!" Whip!
"I am Groot!" Whip!
"I am Groot!" Whip!
"I am Groot!" Whip!
"I am-"
"ENOUGH!" Morlun cried, as he began furiously destroying the heads and branches around him. He was moving faster than Groot could keep up, preventing them from being replaced. After only a few moments, Morlun was able to destroy all the branches that kept him imprisoned, only to see Groot himself, alone, in front of him.
"I...I am Groot..." Groot said, shaking from obvious fear, but still defiant.
Morlun breathed out his nose in fury, as he quickly pounced and grabbed the potted plant. He stared at him with disdain, as he was about to completely annihilate him.
"Hey Morlun!"
Morlun turned around, to see Spider-Man on top of a ship, holding two wires in his hands. Staring at the young hero, Morlun threw Groot over his shoulder, discarding him for the time being. Morlun started making his way over to the web slinger.
"Say hello to my little friend!" Spidey quipped, as he put the two wires together, causing them to spark slightly. Suddenly, the turret behind him sprang to life, aiming itself right at Morlun. With a whir, the turret began firing large, plasma blasts. Spidey shielded his face from the light, as the blasts began pummeling Morlun, causing him to put his arms up in an attempt to protect himself. The blasts started kicking up enough dust to cover up Morlun, preventing Peter from seeing him, but not preventing him from hearing the cries of anger Morlun was making.
After a few moments of this, the turret started to wind down, either out of ammo, out of energy, or both. Eventually, the turret turned itself off, as Peter stopped shielding his eyes, to see the spot where Morlun was at. The dust was still in a large cloud, but it was oddly peaceful. For a slight second, Peter thought he actually got him.
Until Morlun jumped out of the cloud, and straight at the turret destroying it and the ship in one blow, causing a large, fiery explosion to erupt, throwing Peter off and straight into the ground.
Groggy, Spider-Man slowly pushed himself up, feeling battered and bruised. He looked up, to see Morlun in front of the fiery wreck, staring daggers at him. Peter jumped, slowly crawling back away from him, as Morlun began to walk over to him.
"Guys!?" Peter desperately called out, hoping someone, anyone, would save him. "Quill?" He called, before looking over and seeing Quill unconscious. "Gamora?" He asked, seeing that she was also knocked out for the time being. "Drax?" He said, before seeing that he was out of commission himself. "Groot?" He yelled, not knowing where the plant was or if he was alright.
"It's over," Morlun told him, getting closer. "Really and truly over. No one left to save you."
"NO!" Peter cried, as he began firing web after web at Morlun, trying to slow him down. Web line after web line bombarded the monster, eventually making a huge cocoon of webbing, only for Morlun to break out of it with ease a second later.
Peter tried firing more webs at him, only to hear a familiar click. He was out of web fluid. And out of options. He would have to try and fight Morlun one on one.
Eventually, Morlun got close to Spider-Man, only for the young man to summon the four metal arms out of his back, and used them to keep the vampire at bay. The two struggled for a few moments, however, Morlun simply grabbed them all, two with each hand, and ripped them out, leaving only tiny, metal nubs protruding out of the Web head's back.
"No..." Peter protested, as he grabbed Morlun's hands, and tried to push back against him. However, Morlun was too strong, and got out of Peter's grasp, before wrapping his hands around the young man's throat. "No!"
"Finally," Morlun said, joyfully smiling.
Blueish energy started to come off of Spider-Man, and enter Morlun, as the monster relished it. "Yes. YES!"
"LET HIM GO!"
Suddenly, Iron Man came swooping in, grabbing Morlun and tearing him off of Peter, causing the teenager to slump down, groaning. The billionaire and monster flew high into the air, struggling against each other.
"Do you really think you stand a chance against me!?" Morlun asked, as the two flew higher and higher into the air. "Even though I didn't get all of his life force, it was still enough to make me stronger! You are an ant compared to me! You are nothing! I am the ruler of this world! I am-!"
"Will you just shut the hell up!?" Tony yelled, before the large, blue circle in the middle of his chest began to glow. Morlun furrowed his brow in curiosity, before Iron Man released a large, powerful Uni-beam, sending Morlun further into the sky. "Rocket! NOW!"
Back on the ground, Rocket hefted the large cannon over his shoulder. "Read ya loud and clear," he said with a satisfied grin. He aimed high into the air, right above where Morlun was going, and held down the trigger. The gun charged itself with a bright, purple energy, before firing.
The beamed stopped right above Morlun, and after a few seconds, a black hole started to form. Morlun looked behind him to see it, his eyes going wide. "No...NO!" He cried, as he began to be sucked into its vacuum.
The Guardians slowly started to wake up and recover, as they looked up at the display. "Holy crap..." Quill muttered, in amazement at what he was seeing.
The mini black hole continued to suck the vampire into its gravity, as Morlun desperately tried to escape, but to no avail. "No! This can't be it! This isn't my destiny! This isn't what was promised!"
With one last cry of despair, Morlun was sucked into the black hole completely, disappearing from sight. The black hole slowly closed itself, vanishing completely after a few moments.
Iron Man landed back on the ground, as the other Guardians started to gather around, all sporting damage, all tired, and all relived. They all looked up at where the black hole was, as they all savored the victory, and the moment of peace.
"We...we did it!" Quill yelled in celebration. "Yeah, baby! WOOO!"
Drax joined in the celebration. "Hahaha! Today is a day we will talk about for the rest of our lives! At the soonest possible opportunity, I say we all get drunk off of our favorite elixirs!"
"I hear that!" Rocket said, leaning on the gun. "And this is the baby that stopped an Inheritor!" He happily said, giving the gun a giant, overly obnoxious kiss.
Gamora, with Groot in hand, also smiled, happy that her teammates and friends won.
Tony looked around, noticing that Peter hadn't joined them yet. Eventually, he found the young hero, slouching against a wrecked ship, weakly trying to keep himself upright. "Peter!" He called, quickly making his way over to the young man, and kneeling down next to him. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm ok..." he quietly told him. "Did...did we win...?" He asked, before passing out, as Tony caught him.
Looking down at him, Tony couldn't help but smile under his helmet. "Yeah, kid, we won. You did it."
Half a day had passed, as the Guardians and heroes from Earth had built two ships from the wreckage found on the graveyard planet, with the Milano getting repaired, and with Spider-Man and Iron Man getting a ship of their own, built by scratch.
Peter was awake, but still woozy. Whatever Morlun had done to him made him feel weaker than usual, and he wasn't exactly happy about that. However, he was alive, the galaxy was safe, and he has a way to get back home now.
But there was one thing that was bothering him. Tony.
"Kid, I know you've been out here for a while, but you are not going home until we can do some tests on you," Tony firmly told him.
"Tony, come on...I just want to see Aunt May first, then we can do whatever you want."
"And what if you contracted some kind of space flu that you don't know about?" Tony asked. "Not to mention what that Morlun freak did to you. We have to make sure everything's kosher, then you can do whatever you want."
Peter sighed. "Can I at least call Gwen when I get back?"
Tony rubbed the chin portion of his helmet, considering it. "You can text her."
Peter sighed. "Oh come on! She'll want to call me if I text her."
Tony considered this. "Yeah, you're probably right. She does seem nuts over you."
"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Peter asked, a bit confused. After a few seconds, he gasped, as it clicked. "Did you see Gwen!?"
"Uh...maybe?"
"Dude!"
"What? I was at a wall, and needed some inspiration. I also met Harry. He seems nice...enough..."
"Ugh, please tell me you at least didn't see MJ."
"No, but she's next on the list," Tony chided.
"DUDE!"
"Hey, can you keep it down!?" Rocket called from the wing of the repaired ship, as he was tinkering with a metal plate. "Some of us are actually working here."
"I am Groot?" Groot asked, next to Rocket, looking at him.
"Yes, I was talking about you too," Rocket confirmed.
"I am Groot," the plant happily said, proud of himself.
Tony sighed. before looking back at Peter. "I should've put a camera on this suit. No one else is going to believe this."
"We should tell Cap," Peter joked.
"We SHOULD tell Cap," Tony agreed, as the two laughed a bit. "He would freak out."
"Uh, hey," Quill said, as he and Drax, now with a cast around his hand and wrist, walked up to the two. "Can I ask you a favor?"
Tony raised an eyebrow under his helmet. "Uh, I guess. What is it?"
"Well, uh, is there any chance you could get me an autograph from Captain America? You know, just sign like a baseball or something and send it to me?" Quill asked.
"...how would we send it to you?" Tony questioned. "You guys got a space mail system or something?"
"Well, no, at least none that go to Earth," Quill said, rubbing the back of his head.
"...so, I guess no?" Tony said.
"...I guess no..." Quill said, a bit dejected.
"I have a question," Drax started. "Do all humans have a metal coating?"
"What?" Tony asked, completely confused.
"What?" Quill asked, not expecting that.
"What?" Peter asked, trying to figure out what the destroyer meant.
"All three humans I have met have some type of metal technology on them," Drax asked, as he eyed Quill suspiciously. "I am starting to think that Quill has been hiding something from me."
Quill was completely perplexed. "You think I've been hiding that I'm an iron person to you?"
"I think that helmet you wear is more than just a helmet," Drax said, on to him.
"Humans are not iron people!" Quill said.
Drax narrowed his eyes, before realization struck. "Ah, I see. It is a secret among your race." He then turned to Iron Man. "I will keep this secret to my grave," he told him, respectfully.
The three humans all stared blankly at Drax. Finally, Tony broke the silence. "Oh my god, you're all idiots, aren't you?"
"Hey!" Quill said, offended. "We are not idiots!"
Behind them, something exploded. They looked back, to see Groot flying through the air, screaming. They then saw Gamora running after the potted plant. "Groot!" She called, concerned.
Tony then looked back at Quill, who smiled sheepishly. "I mean," the former outlaw said, "everyone has an off day."
"Ok!" Rocket called, tapping the side of the ship, and jumping off the wing. "You guys are good!"
"That's it?" Tony asked, kind of surprised at how fast it took him.
"Yep, we found a real good base, so it wasn't all that hard," Rocket told him. "Wasn't able to find a decent cup holder though."
"Eh," Peter shrugged off. "We can do without."
Rocket shrugged. "If you say so."
Under his mask, Peter smiled, as all of the Guardians had circled around him and Tony to see them off. "Guys...thanks. For everything."
Rocket scratched behind his ear, seeming a bit bashful. "Yeah, well, just try not to die or anything too soon, ok? Would make all of the work we did for nothing."
Spidey knelt down to his level. "I'll miss ya too," he told him, rubbing his head.
Rocket growled. "Hey, watch it!"
The teenager stood back up, to see Gamora, with Groot in hand. "It was actually a pleasure to meet you," Gamora told him.
"I am Groot."
"Same here," Peter said, as he shook Gamora's hand. He bent over a little to be face to face with Groot. "Don't tell the others," the teenager whispered, "but I'll miss you the most."
"I am Groot," the plant whispered back, chuckling a little.
Peter stood back up straight, for a large mitt to grab him warmly by the shoulder. He looked to see that it was Drax. "You are a great warrior. Continue what you are doing, and vanquish one or two enemies in my name. I know my next battle will be in honor for you."
Peter rolled his eyes under his mask. "Thanks Drax, I will."
Finally, he stood face to face with Peter Quill. "You know, I'm almost sorry to see you go. You'd make a heck of a Guardian, Peter."
"Parker," Peter said.
"Parker?"
"Peter."
"Quill."
"Quill?"
"Peter."
The two were silent for a moment, before they both laughed a bit. When it calmed down, Quill started to dig something out of his coat pocket. "Here, I got you something to remember us by."
Peter was a bit surprised. "What is it?" He asked.
Quill took it out, showing it to be a tape. "I made you a mix tape."
"Whoa, what?" Peter asked, as Quill gave it to him. Looking at it closer, he saw that it had a label on it. "Peter's Awesome Mix", with a drawing of a spider underneath it.
"I made sure Rocket put in a tape player for you guys to listen to it on your way home," Quill explained.
"This is...super cool..." Peter said, before realizing something. "I need to buy a tape player now." He then slouched slightly. "I don't have the money for a tape player." He then slouched even further. "I might not have a job anymore..."
"Jeez, bummer much?" Quill asked.
Peter straightened up. "Sorry. Thanks."
"Anytime," Quill smiled.
"Hey kid."
Peter turned around, to see Tony holding the door to the ship open to him. "It's time to get you back home."
Peter stared for a moment, estatic. "Right," he said, as he started to board the ship. He waved goodbye one last time, as the Guardians waved back, before getting on the ship.
Tony was about to get on the ship himself, before he turned around, and looked at Quill. He then walked over to him. "Quill, right?" The billionaire asked.
Quill was a bit surprised to be talking to him. "Uh, yeah?"
Tony held out his hand. "Thank you for keeping him safe."
Quill looked at the hand for a moment, before gladly taking it. "You're welcome."
"We were going to kill him, originally," Drax told him.
Quill turned around towards him, wide eyed. "DUDE!"
"What?" Drax asked. "We were."
Tony rolled his eyes in exasperation under his helmet, before he turned around and got back on the ship, closing the door behind him. He looked around, seeing that the ship was fairly simple, with a few chairs, a simple control panel, a few windows, and what seemed like a bed in the back of the cabin. Peter was laying on the bed, his mask off, still a bit out of it.
Tony went over to the pilot's seat, lowering his helmet, and began to start the ship up. It took a few moments for it to seemingly wake up, but it soon began floating, and soon took off at high speed, as they got into space.
Stark smiled. "We're going to get back home in no time, Peter," he called over his shoulder, turning slightly to see him.
"Oh, good," Peter said. "Hey, do you mind if I take a nap? It's been a stressful couple of days."
Tony smirked. "Sure thing, kid," he told him, before turning back to the control panel, and seeing the endless cosmos through the windshield. He looked down slightly, to see the tape player Quill was talking about, and to see that Peter had placed the tape he made inside it. He shrugged to himself. "Why not?"
He pressed play, for "A Horse with No Name" by America to start playing.
"Good song..." he said to himself, as the chords played over the speakers.
"I've been through the desert on a horse with no name, it felt good to get out of the rain," the song played. "In the desert you can remember your name 'cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain."
Tony looked back at Peter, to see him fully asleep, with no signs of waking up anytime soon. The billionaire couldn't help but smile at the sight.
He did it. He found Peter. He's bringing him back home.
"Thank God..." he muttered to himself, as the ship continued to fly throughout the vast quantity of space, the song continuing to go on.
They were going back to Earth.
"Mister Rogers? Mister Barton? Miss Romanoff?"
Late at night, in Avengers Tower, the three heroes looked up from where they were sitting in the living room. "Yes, JARVIS?" Steve answered.
"I believe I have just received a message from Mister Stark," JARVIS explained. "He says to meet him at the top landing bay."
The three shared confused looks, before getting up, and making their way through the many floors up to the landing bay. As they got to the spacious area that held a few Quinjets of various sizes, the large sliding doors that led to the the outside began to open.
"Sooo...what the hell is Stark doing?" Clint asked.
"Does anyone else see that?" Natasha questioned, pointing at something above the New York skyline.
The others looked, to see what appeared to be a shooting star, getting bigger and bigger.
Steve's eyes went wide. "Get back..." he told everyone, worried. "Get back!"
The three ran away from the doors, as the "star" came barreling closer and closer to them, crash landing into the landing bay, sending smoke and small bits of metal flying towards the Avengers. They turned around, to see that it was some kind of spacecraft that had landed in the bay. After a few moments more, the doors on the ship flew open.
Tony, in his black and gold Iron Man armor, with his helmet down, walked out the ship. In his arms was an unconscious Peter Parker.
"Oh my God," Clint gasped at the sight.
Natasha's eyes went wide. "Is he...?"
"He's alive," Tony told them, as they all started walking out of the landing bay. "But he ran into some stuff out there, and he's kinda out of it."
"Out of it?" Steve asked.
"Peter was being chased by some kind of creature that was trying to steal his power or something," Tony quickly explained. "The creature got him for a second, we need to run some tests to make sure he's ok."
"What do you need us to do?" The living icon asked.
"I need you guys to help me set up the infirmary and to start running some tests," Tony told him. "JARVIS?"
"Yes sir?"
"Call Richards. We need more than one set of eyes on this."
"What is this?"
Norman Osborn was staring at the screen in front of him, scrutinizing every single detail on it.
Him and his team have been working on their recreation of the super soldier serum for days on end, with little to no success. However, right now, Norman saw a glimmer of hope.
"Warren!" He yelled, looking over his shoulder at the lowly scientist. "What is this?"
Miles Warren nervously rubbed his hands together, as he slowly walked closer to his boss. "Um, I'm sorry sir, but...what are you referring to?"
Norman, pinching his nose, let out an exasperated sigh. "This, you dolt. What is this?" He said, pointing at the screen. "There's an abnormality in the formula."
Miles fixed the hair out of his eyes, as he looked at what the millionaire was talking about. "Well, that's...very peculiar. The last tests added parts of our other formulas into the data."
"What parts?" Norman asked, interested.
"It's mostly some of the in-house chemicals we used for the Scorpion suit."
"Hmm..." Norman murmured, rubbing his chin. He loosened the tie around his neck, and rolled up the sleeves on his dress shirt. "This isn't what I wanted. But, the chemicals are keeping the formula together, which hasn't happened since we got this prototype."
"Sir?" Miles asked.
Norman gave a smug grin. "I can work with this."
"These readings are incredibly strange."
Reed Richards and Tony Stark were staring at the monitors in front of them. They were in the infirmary, prepped up for Peter. The young hero was laying on a bed, hooked up to several different machines to take several different readings. In the back, waiting for the scientists to figure things out, was Steve, Clint, and Natasha.
"What do you see?" Tony asked his peer.
"For lack of a better word, his 'life force' has been partially taken," Reed explained. "His powers, strength, most of the things that are caused genetically have been partially taken. It seems as though his intelligence and personality are in tact, which is a good thing."
"Wait, how do you know this?" Tony asked, before Reed pointed to the screen in front of them. "Ah, I see."
Steve's curiosity was piqued. "What, what is it?"
Reed turned to the First Avenger, still pointing to the screen. "Do you see this DNA strand?" Richards asked.
"Yes," Steve nodded, as he stared at an image of a DNA strand, with a few particles coming off of the ends.
"This is a piece of Peter's DNA now," Reed explained, before using a stretched arm to press a button on a keyboard across the room. A second picture came up on the screen, to show another DNA strand, this one looking more together than the previous picture. "This picture is how Peter's DNA used to be."
Steve frowned, concerned, as he realized what was different between the two. "His DNA is falling apart?"
"No, but it is damaged," Tony stated.
Natasha walked a bit closer to the others. "So, will it get worse?" She asked, emotionless.
Clint looked at her, knowing better than to fall for her act. He then turned his attention back to the scientists. "Is there anything we can do to help?"
Reed put his hands up, with a reassuring smile on his face. "Don't worry, this looks worse than it actually is. You see, Peter's DNA is actually showing early signs of repair. While he will be feeling weaker for a while, he will eventually be completely healed."
Tony sighed. "The only catch is that we have no idea how long it will take for him to get back to full strength. It could be days, or weeks."
Steve crossed his arms. "OK. Is that all?"
Reed nodded. "Yes, he will be completely fine. He just needs a bit more rest."
"Then let's let him rest," Steve said, as he led the others out of the infirmary.
Natasha took a quick moment before she left to take another look at the sleeping Peter. As she stared at the resting, peaceful looking teenager, she couldn't help but smile to herself, before leaving the room.
Out in the hall, Tony and Steve were seeing Mister Fantastic out. Steve gave a small smile to the scientist, offering his hand. "Thanks for everything, Doctor Richards."
Reed happily took it. "Anytime." He then turned towards the billionaire. "Tony?"
Tony perked up slightly. "Yes?"
Richards put his hand out. "Thank you for finding Peter."
Stark gave a slight grin, as he took the hand. "Yeah, well, someone had to."
Reed rolled his eyes, smiling. "Nice to see some things never change. Well, I best be off. I have to get up early tomorrow. I promised Sue that we would go out for...hmm, what was it? It's after breakfast but before lunch."
"Brunch?"
"Right, that's it," Reed said, as he started to walk away from the other two. "Have a good night."
Steve waved goodbye, as Tony started to walk the other way. Steve noticed, and quickly followed him. "Tony."
"Steve," Stark deadpanned, as the two started walking side by side.
"Can we talk?"
"Sure, it's not like I could stop you either way," Tony snarked. "What do you want to talk about?"
"I want to talk about what's next for you."
"What's next for me?" Tony echoed. "Well, I figured I'd donate the spaceship to the labs at Empire State University. I don't really have any use for it, and I think they could really benefit from having something like that around."
"That's not exactly what I meant," Steve said. "I meant," he gestured towards the armor that Tony was wearing. "This. Are you back?"
Tony pursed his lips, considering it. "Honestly, I'm not sure. Being out there, being Iron Man again, fighting bad guys, it was nerve wracking, but...it felt right. I think I want to come back. But I need to take care of a few things first."
"Such as?" Steve asked, as he stopped, watching as Tony kept walking.
"I need to pay someone a visit," Tony said, a smile on his face.
"Tony?" Steve called.
The billionaire stopped, and then turned around to look at the First Avenger.
"Thank you," Steve said. "Thank you for finding him."
Tony nodded. "No problem," he told him, quietly, as he turned around to finish some business.
Back in the infirmary, Peter was laying on his bed, murmuring as he started tossing and turning slightly. Slowly, his eyes started to flutter open, as he began to look around to see where he was at. Quickly, at least as quickly as his groggy mind could handle, he figured out that he was in the infirmary at Avengers Tower. He looked in the corner of the room, and through fuzzy eyes, saw a man in a metallic suit.
"Hey Tony," Peter mumbled, tired. "Is everything ok with me? Can I go home soon?"
Peter's vision cleared up, to see that he had mistaken who he was looking at.
He had gravely mistaken who he was looking at.
"Be silent," Doctor Doom said, as he walked closer to the young hero. "You do not want to raise any alarms. For your sake, and for the Avengers."
Peter's face fell, as he quickly tried to cover his face, as he searched for his mask.
"Do not bother with your pathetic 'secret' identity," Doom stated, as he crossed his arms and looked down at the terrified brunette. "I do not care to learn your real name, your friends, your family. Although even I must admit how surprising it is that you are as young as you are."
Peter stopped trying to hide his face, as he looked at the dictator with narrowed eyes. "What do you want?" He asked, trying to hide how scared he actually was.
"You being able to survive in the depths of space is no small feat," Doom stated. "You being able to sabotage my weapon was nothing if not impressive. While one can argue how irresponsible it is to have one so young fight monsters and political powers, it is obvious what Stark and the others see in you."
Doom towered over the bedridden hero. "I must make myself clear though. Any feeling of admiration I may have for your abilities pales in comparison to the anger I feel towards you for destroying Doom's work. I have ended the lives of lesser men for lesser transgressions."
"So, what?" Peter asked, trying to stay calm. "Are you here to kill me?"
"I'm here to warn you," Doom threatened, staring hard at the teenager. "The only reason you continue to breathe is due to the little bit of respect you earned in that ill-fated assault on my country. However, Doom's generosity only has so much to give. If you tell anyone of my being here, or if you decided to do anything against me or my beloved Latveria again, then your life, and the lives of those you care about, will end quickly, and painfully. Do I make myself clear?"
Peter swallowed the lump in his throat. "Crystal."
"Hmph," Doom grunted, as he turned away from the teenager. "I am sure I will hear about you again Spider-Man. Let us hope it is not because you made a mistake. "
With that, Doom began to fade away, showing Peter that he was only a hologram this entire time. The brunette looked to see a small robot with a small lens fly out of the window of the infirmary.
Peter sat up, taking a deep breath, trying to calm down. He closed his eyes, rubbing his face with his hands.
"I need to go home."
It was early in the morning, as the sun rose over Westchester, New York. The birds were chirping, the wind was gently blowing, and the world was still.
In the X-Mansion, Logan was up and about, wandering around the place only wearing sweatpants. He scratched his bare chest as he walked into the kitchen, opening the refrigerator, and grabbing a carton of orange juice. He yawned, before opening the carton, and drinking straight from it. It was just another quiet morning.
Until the doorbell rang.
Logan perked up, a bit surprised at the sound. That surprise soon turned to suspicion. They weren't expecting anyone today.
Putting down the orange juice, Logan slowly made his way towards the front door. He made it to the foyer, and stared at the big oak doors. The doorbell rang again, as the mutant furrowed his brow, growling. It could be anyone behind that door. He heard one heartbeat. It seemed calm. Possibly a professional. In a world that hates and fears mutants, and in an mansion filled with them, a professional being sent after them was a worrying prospect.
He drew the claws out of one hand, as he slowly reached for the knob. He took a deep breath, preparing himself. Finally, he opened the doors, ready to strike.
He stopped himself, however, when he saw exactly who it was.
"Hi," Tony Stark, clad only in a three piece suit and sunglasses, greeted. "Can I see Charles Xavier?"
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"Kid, I swear to god, I will shoot you back into space myself."
Peter, finally back in his normal clothes, was sitting in the back of an SUV, as Clint and Natasha were driving through Queens, getting him home. Peter, antsy to come to Aunt May after so long, couldn't wait, and made it very clear to everyone.
"Come on, Clint," Peter said, moving closer to the driver. "You know you missed it."
"I thought I did," Clint replied. "But, you know, careful what you wish for."
"Remember the story," Natasha started. "We're a few days late because of flight troubles, and you're really tired because of jet lag."
"Oh, right," Peter said. "Jet lag. Not a space vampire. Got it."
"Pfft, kid," The archer went. "We seriously need to hear the full story about what happened out there."
Peter looked at him for a second, before going back to his seat. "Maybe later."
"I mean, we could do it now," Clint tried to pressure. "We do have a little bit longer until we get back to your place."
Peter shook his head. "I don't really feel like it."
"Oh come oooon, don't be like-ow!" Clint yelped, feeling something poke him hard in the side. He looked, to see Natasha holding a pen. Clint sighed. "Like you aren't interested."
"Not right now, I'm not," Natasha said, before turning back towards Peter. "How are you feeling?"
"A bit better than yesterday, still not great," Peter honestly answered. "I'm probably going to sleep for a week. No, really, I'm going to be in my bed for an entire week."
Natasha gave a small smirk, before going back to face the front of the car. "It is nice to have you back."
Peter blinked at the comment. "Wait, did you just...? Oh my God."
Natasha frowned. "I didn't do anything."
Peter once more went up to front, and looked at Clint. "You heard that, right? You heard her being nice and sincere too, right."
The shield agent started laughing. "I heard it. I'm having a hard time believing it though."
Natasha crossed her arms. "Shut it."
Peter snickered. "We should tell Cap."
Clint's eyes widened. "We SHOULD tell Cap. He would freak out."
"I'm going to kill you two," Natasha deadpanned.
"Hahaha," Peter laughed, before looking back at Clint. "She's kidding, right?"
Clint looked at Natasha, before looking back at the teenager. "Yes, but we're on thin ice."
"Ok, noted," Peter said, before leaning back into his seat. He looked out the window, to see that he was in his neighborhood. The teenager smiled, overjoyed.
The car pulled to a stop, as they parked right in front of Peter's house. "Ready, kid?" Clint asked, only to be met with silence. "Kid?"
"He already left," Natasha informed him.
The two looked out the window, to see Peter running to his front door, backpack in hand.
"Heh, can't say I'm surprised," Clint said, as he and Natasha smiled at the sight.
"Aunt May!" The teenager called, ecstatic to be home. He pulled out a key to unlock the front door, and quickly got it open, getting into the front room. "I'm home!"
"Peter?" Aunt May called, her voice coming from upstairs. "Is that you?"
"Yes it is!" Peter called. "I just got back!"
Aunt May walked down the stairs, a stern look on her face. She did not look happy.
Suddenly, Peter got really worried.
"Peter Benjamin Parker!" May scolded. "What did we discuss before you left?"
"Uh..." Peter went, not quite sure how to respond.
"We said that you would send as many letters as possible, or call, or text, or anything to let me know you were alright," The older woman reminded him. "And how many times did you do any of those things?"
"None..." Peter relented, sadly. "Sorry, Aunt May, things just got a little...hectic. I wasn't thinking."
Aunt May sighed. "Well, I'm just glad that you're home and ok," she said, giving a sweet smile and patting Peter on the cheek.
The young man smiled back. "Me too," he sincerely said. He then yawned, suddenly realizing how tired he actually was.
"Jet lag?" May asked.
Peter gave a small smile. "Uh huh," he nodded.
"Is there any chance you can stay awake long enough to have a slice of banana cream pie?" She asked.
Peter suddenly felt a slight grumble in his stomach. "That...sounds amazing," he told her, as the two went into the kitchen, happy to be reunited once again.
"I can't believe Tony Stark donated this to us."
Curt Connors and his beloved wife, Martha, were in the Empire State University labs, staring at the spaceship that was recently given to them. While damaged, the Connors' couldn't help but be excited at the prospect of studying it.
"I can't believe we got a chance like this," Martha told her husband. "How many scientists can legitimately say that they studied a spaceship?"
"Off the top of my head, only Richards and Stark," Curt told her, a proud smile on his face. "Well, assuming Stark actually looked at this thing before giving it to us."
Martha laughed, as the couple began to leave the lab. "All I know is that I can't wait to look at this thing tomorrow."
Curt laughed along with his wife. "I couldn't agree more. This can really change things around here."
The two left the lab, leaving the ship alone, as the lights dimmed, coating everything in darkness. Alone, a part of the ship slowly started moving, getting looser and looser, until it finally fell off. Slowly, something started leaking out of the ship, pooling onto the floor. Suddenly, the pool, darker than dark, started to move, as it turned more into the slimy form it usually was.
The black creature began moving around, free at last.