I was thinking, after the Spidey stuff is done, should I do the other Phase 4 project reactions in this fic? The team all watch them, see what their choices lead too, and then they go back and change the past? Or just leave it as a Spidey fic and do an unrelated change the past fic?
"Where am I?" A new voice spoke up, as the people in the theatre room turned around.
"THOR?!" Bruce asked, calling out his old friend.
"Banner? It's good to see you again!" Thor cheered, as he approached, he saw Tony, Steve and Nat all sat there as well, smiling at him. "What is this? What trickery is this?!"
"Calm down big guy." Bruce tried to assure him.
"What has happened here, Banner? What illusions are these?!" Thor demanded to know, his skin crackling with electricity as he got himself agitated.
"Easy Point Break." Tony tried to reassure his old friend. "We're really here. It's some kind of theatre thing and we're here due to Peter. You remember him, Peter Parker?"
"Who?" Thor asked, confused.
"Guess not." Tony sighed.
"Well to cut it short, Thor, we're all in a theatre, learning about the life of Spider-Man, or Peter Parker, as he's known under the mask." Steve explained.
"The Man of Spiders? He is this Peter Parkerson?" Thor questioned.
"Yeah, let's go with that." Clint groused.
"Hello? Where am I?" A new voice said from the corner, turning to the new voice, they saw two young women there.
"Wherever you are, Kate Bishop, so am I."
"Yelena, this isn't helpful." Kate said.
"I try...WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" Yelena yelled as she saw Natasha before her.
"Yelena?" Natasha asked, her eyes widened, her voice cracking, as the people in the room saw a whole new side to Natasha Romanoff.
"Natasha...How?" Yelena questioned, not daring to hope. "What kind of sick nonsense is this, Barton?!" She yelled, seeing Clint there as well.
"HEY! Whatever this is, Clint isn't behind it! Are you?" Kate asked him.
"Kate, I'm glad to see you're alright. What happened?" Clint interrogated her. "Also, no, I'm nothing to do with this. This is to do with wizards and Spider-Man, I think."
"Wizards and Spider-Man? So cool." Kate grinned.
"Please, Kate Bishop, he is a liar, like I have said. Now who are you, and if you don't stop pretending to be my sister, I will slit your throat." Yelena spat at Natasha, moving threateningly towards her.
Natasha looked sadly at her before she began whistling a tune, causing Yelena to halt in her tracks. Hesitantly, she whistled back.
"Nat..." Yelena said, reaching towards her, tears in her eyes.
"Yelena." Natasha smiled, moving towards her, wrapping her sister in her arms, burying her head in her hair, not letting anyone see the tears falling down her own face.
"Who is this? Another agent?" Tony questioned as everyone except Kate and Clint looked confused.
"This is Yelena Belova." Natasha introduced, pulling away, but keeping her eyes on her sisters face, memorising every detail. "She's my sister."
"I didn't know you had a sister." Steve said, shocked.
"Well I haven't shared my entire life story with you, Rogers." Natasha joked with him.
"I'm her younger sister." Yelena told them. "We lived together in Ohio and stopped Dreykov together."
"Who are you?" Flash asked Kate, who stood awkwardly at the side with Clint.
"I'm Kate Bishop, yes, of that Bishop family." Kate said, as Flash's eyes lit up with recognition. "I'm Clint's partner."
"Partner?" Natasha asked, teasing.
"Yeah, needed a new wingwoman." Clint joked.
"Please, you're my wingman." Kate told him.
"How are we here? How are you here? What has happened?" Yelena asked, not letting go of Natasha for a moment.
"I don't know. We're here to see about Spider-Man's life, apparently, for reasons I'm not sure. But why we're all here, I don't know." Natasha told her.
"Why Spider-Man? What does he have to do with all of this?" Yelena questioned.
"He's here?! Where?!" Kate asked, wondering if she could meet a hero.
"He's not, um, no." Tony stated. "We're hoping this will explain why."
"Can we get back on with this? I want to see what happens now he's stopped the Vulture." Scott said, interrupting before it could go much further.
The scene opened up on the hairs rising on Peter's arm, as he stuck his head up and looked around for the danger, he noticed a giant circular spaceship had parked nearby. Nudging Ned, he told him to make a distraction, seeing the ship, Ned screamed they were all going to die, as everyone went to look at the ship, Peter slipped out of the window, grabbing his mask, and putting it on, he swung away towards the ship, as an elderly driver at the front asked them what the issue was, and if they had somehow not seen a spaceship before.
"Well, that's a good way to make a distraction, Ned." MJ told him.
"Well I clearly have my moments, even if I don't recall this." Ned laughed.
"There's the old guy again. What is he doing in all of these?" Natasha asked.
"Clearly he's planning an attack. He shaved my hair once. We have to stop him." Thor remarked.
Tony was about to be hit by a giant metal claw when it suddenly stopped, before Peter peeked his head around, greeting the thing he was fighting before asking Tony what was happening, being told to help save a wizard and his necklace, Peter helped them fight the two aliens, before he was caught in a tractor beam and lifted to a spaceship.
"God this kid is loyal to a fault." Clint murmured.
"Never gonna give up when he has a chance. Reminds me of someone else." Bucky smirked, nudging Steve, who flushed.
"Alright, he's basically what if I were enhanced as a teenager, I get it." Steve said.
Getting to the outside of the ship, Tony told him to let go, sending a new suit out to catch Peter, now in his Iron Spider suit, Tony told FRIDAY to send him home, unleashing his parachute. As the ship left orbit, it showed Peter, still hanging on outside, sneak into the ship.
"If only he had listened to me." Tony frowned, thinking back to what had happened on Titan and what he knew had happened to Spider-Man, he had dusted, along with half of the universe.
On the ship, Tony looked at Stephen was tortured by Maw, seeing the Cloak was there too, when Peter swung down, telling Tony that he was gonna go home, but the suit knew what he wanted to do, so it was kinda Tony's fault that Peter was there, as Tony and the Cloak both looked at Peter like he had fucked up.
"That cloak is truly magical." Thor marvelled.
"Does he have a death wish?" Ned wheezed as Tony flushed.
"I'd forgotten Spider-Man had said it was my fault he was there." Tony gritted his teeth. "Going to be having words with him, that's for sure."
Peter then told Tony that he couldn't be the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man if the neighbourhood was gone. He then told Tony he had a plan, and asked if he had seen the really old film, Alien.
"ALIEN IS NOT OLD!" Rhodey moaned.
"THERE IS A FILM CALLED ALIEN?! EDDIE, I DEMAND WE EAT ANYONE WHO LIKES IT!" Venom growled.
"Woah, calm down, buddy, it's not that bad, really." Eddie tried to placate him.
"I get what he means, he can't do what he does if there's nothing for him to do." Scott stated.
"What is that?" Yelena asked, as Venom reappeared for the first time since she arrived.
"This is Venom." Eddie awkwardly explained.
"A Symbiote? I haven't seen one of them in many years!" Thor boomed. "Worthy opponents, they are!"
Peter and Tony blew the side of the ship open, Peter saving Stephen as Maw was sucked into space and Tony closed the hole. Strange and Tony argued as Peter awkwardly tried to make small talk with the cloak, introducing himself as Peter Parker then Spider-Man to Strange, before Strange told Tony that to save reality, he would let Tony or Peter die without hesitation. Tony then went over to Peter and did a knighting ceremony, before telling him that he was an Avenger now.
"Wow, you're a real asshole, Strange." Tony told him.
"I did what I needed to do." Strange simply shrugged. "I needed to keep it safe at the time, I did that."
"Is he an official Avenger, is that how someone becomes one?" Flash asked excitedly, Ned and Abe also looked to be vibrating in their seats at the idea.
"He is, I guess, but no, that was just some dramatic effect for me." Tony explained, rubbing the back of his head. These young ones were going to be the death of him. Well, that or a giant purple alien, at any rate.
Helping Tony to land the ship on Titan, Peter told him and Strange that someone was coming, in a quick fight with a new group, Peter was captured by one, before they all explained that both groups were there to kill Thanos, and agreed to team up.
"So, who are these clowns?" Yelena asked.
"They're the Guardians of the Galaxy." Natasha explained to her. "They're...how to say, idiots."
"But useful morons." Thor agreed.
"So they're going to kill Thanos as well?"
"They certainly wanted too. Thanos had taken one of them with him, to Vormir. They wanted her back." Strange explained, remembering the reaction that Quill had when he learnt of what had happened.
Peter and Tony argued with Quill about their plan and Footloose the movie, as Strange looked forwards in time to view possible outcomes of the fight.
"What are you doing?" Kate asked Strange.
"Using time magic to see the future, to see how we won." Strange told her, as if speaking to a small child.
"How many did you see?"
"Fourteen million, six hundred and five."
"How many did we win?" Tony asked.
"One." Strange replied.
"ONE? ONE OUT OF FOURTEEN MILLION?!" Yelena yelled. "Surely, there must have been more ways to win than just that one?"
"None that would have been a permanent win." Strange told her in a tone that brooked no argument.
"Couldn't you have looked for more? Surely if you looked at more, there would have been more ways to win?" Kate asked.
"I'm sure the wizard knew what he was doing." Thor reassured them.
On Titan, Thanos stepped through a portal, telling Strange why he was doing this and what his final plan was, as Strange revealed there was more than just him there, as the Avengers and Guardians attacked Thanos. Peter shot webs at Thanos' face before using portals to kick and punch Thanos from every direction, until eventually he caught him and slammed Peter into the ground, growling "Insect." at him.
"YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Ned yelled at the screen.
"Isn't he an arachnid, not an insect?" Scott asked, trying to inject some humour into it. Most of the room had seen Thanos, if not fought him directly, and the sight of the giant purple grape on the screen did little to ease them, some of them were visibly distressed seeing it, even before what was happening to Peter.
"Tony?" Happy asked, seeing Tony beginning to sweat, eyes just staring at the screen, unblinking.
"Tones?" Rhodey questioned, putting his hand on his shoulder.
"All my fault..." Tony muttered, staring at Peter's struggling form. "I failed him...I let this happen."
"Tony. None of this is your fault." Steve assured him, looking up as Tony finally tore his gaze away from the screen. "Peter's alright, you know that."
Tony said nothing, his thoughts still all in a maelstrom in his mind.
Eventually they managed to subdue Thanos as Peter and Tony pulled the gauntlet off, just as it was released, Quill accidentally woke Thanos up, attacking him as he learnt Gamora had been killed by Thanos, Thanos knocked them all aside and grabbed the gauntlet again, as Peter launched himself after Mantis to protect her.
"This Quill man is an idiot." Yelena said.
"Well I wouldn't deny that. I only know him a little, and, well, yeah." Rhodey said. "He's definitely not the brightest that Earth has ever produced."
"I can't believe Thanos had killed his own daughter. What heartless bastard would do something so abhorrent?" Cindy Moon asked.
"Thanos." MJ dead panned.
"I mean, I can't deny that Quill messed up, he's an idiot, yeah." Tony started. "But, I can understand. Grief. It makes people do things that seem irrational, but it drives us forward."
"Was this part of the fourteen million? Did Quill have to react emotionally and let Thanos get loose?" Wong quietly asked Strange.
"Yes." Strange replied. "Or else we would have failed."
Thanos fought Strange and Tony as Peter rushed around, catching the Guardians as they were thrown throughout Titan, the planet coming apart as Thanos used the Stones to draw entire moons into it, Thanos revealing he knew Tony. As Peter grabbed the others, Thanos was given the Time Stone by Strange in exchange for sparing Tony's life.
"How did he know you?" Happy asked Tony.
"He's cursed with knowledge, like me. He studied us." Tony said.
"Why would you do that? Why would you give him the thing he needs?" Kate demanded to know of Strange who fixed her with a withering look.
"It was the only way." Strange merely replied.
On Titan, Mantis mentioned something was happening before she faded to dust right before everyone's eyes. Drax whimpered "Quill?" before he too vanished into the ether.
"What's happening?" Spider-Man 2 asked, confused, Spider-Man 3 also looked disturbed by all of this.
"What do you mean? It's the Blip." Rhodey said, eyes sad and tone angry, why were these two asking about this, was it a joke? They knew what this was.
"In our universes, none of these events ever happened." Spider-Man 3 explained. "We don't have Avengers, or anything like that, no Thanos, no Infinity Stones, at least, that we know of. I've never even fought an alien. We've never seen anything like this."
"Right." Steve said, wondering how they could explain such a thing to someone who would have no frame of reference for what had occurred.
"Before creation itself. There existed six singularities. In the Big Bang, these things formed into concentrated ingots, each controlled a different aspect of creation. The six Infinity Stones. Power. Mind. Soul. Reality. Time and Space." Wong informed the two Spider people.
"Thanos wanted to save the rest of the universe from dying off like Titan did, as he explained." Strange said. "To do this, he planned to wipe out half of all life in the universe, indiscriminately, so the other half could thrive. With all Six stones, he could do it with a snap of his fingers. He's just gotten all Six, and done the Snap. This...this is the aftermath of it, for the rest of us."
"Oh God." Spider-Man 2 said, looking sick. Spider-Man 3 also looked queasy.
"Steady Quill." Tony said, as Quill simply said "Aw man." before he too vanished.
"What's happening to them all?" Spider-Man 3 asked, too afraid to find out the answer.
"They're not existing anymore. That's what's happening, they're fading away." Steve said.
"Tony. There was no other way." Stephen simply stated, as he too vanished.
"Bullshit, Stephen. You know there must have been other ways." Tony spat, eyes alight with fury as he turned his gaze to the sorcerer.
"None that would have worked long term, you know that as well as I do." Strange informed him, meeting Tony's gaze with a cool one of his own.
"We won. That's what matters at the end of the day." Thor told them all, before others could start to argue on this. "We won."
"At what cost?" Clint asked. "Some of us died, and I think we'll have to see those deaths. King T'Chaka was right, in a way. Victory, at the expense of the innocent, is no victory at all."
"We did what we needed." Natasha assured him, as Yelena looked at her, a pained look in her eyes. "Now I know we succeeded, if I have to go back, and I do have to die, I'll be happy, knowing my life has helped save trillions."
"Natasha...Please..." Yelena said, holding her hand out to her sister, who took it and gave her a gentle squeeze.
"Mr Stark." Peter said, as Tony turned to him, fear in his eyes.
"No...Please, don't show me this, please, whatever is causing this, please!" Tony begged, closing his eyes.
"Peter! No!" Ned and MJ yelled.
"This can't be happening, please tell me he's just confused about all of this." Flash said.
"Peter..." Spider-Man 2 said, his heart breaking as he heard that tone in his alters voice.
"No...Come on, there's no way...Please...No..." Spider-Man 3 said, feeling his eyes filling up as he watched the scene unfolding.
"I don't feel so good. I don't know what's happening...I don't know...Hey...Hey..." He said, collapsing into Tony's arms as Tony tried in vain to comfort him.
"Pete..." Spider-Man 2 said, feeling the tears flow from his own cheeks. "He can feel this?"
"Oh God." Steve said, as the realisation hit everyone else who was watching as well.
"I remember nothing, only seeing myself vanishing, and being happy it was all over, the pain was going." Wanda told them. "From what I gathered, nobody else who Blipped felt anything either, just noticed they were going, and they were gone. If Peter could somehow feel it all..."
"It would have been an unbearable agony." Strange explained, as kindly as he could. "Are you sure you want to know?"
"Yes, dammit. He was our friend. We deserve to know." Tony hissed at Strange, his eyes bloodshot. "I held him, he cried and rambled and begged. Strange. Please, tell me."
"He would have felt every molecule in his body dissolving, as his enhanced healing tried to restore them, failing. Peter would have truly suffered the greatest agony you can possibly think of, until he finally vanished with the rest of us." He said quietly, hoping only Tony and a few others had heard. Judging by the horrified looks, and the tears streaming down most faces, he guessed everyone had heard.
"I don't wanna go...I don't wanna go...Please, Sir, please...I don't wanna go...I don't wanna go...I'm sorry." Peter whimpered as he faded away.
"No. No. You do not apologise, Peter. This is not your fault. Not in any way at all. And I'm going to tell you as much when I see you again." Tony said, looking back at the floor, promising aloud what he'd do, as everyone else seemed to agree. They'd be telling Peter that too, he did more than he could have been expected to do against a foe like Thanos, it was not his fault, not at all, what happened.
"We need to find Peter-1, tell him it's not his fault, he has to know we're there for him." Spider-Man 3 said, pulling his alter self aside, who nodded. They wouldn't abandon their little brother, no matter what.
"He did it." Nebula simply said, as Tony clutched at the ash that was once Peter, crying into his hands.
"I'm sorry, Tony." Steve said, walking over to him and hugging his friend, Tony just sank into his arms, refusing to look up at the screen. He refused to see what had happened, because then the memories would come back, far harsher than they already were. He could see it all. Peter, in his apartment, being recruited for the airport battle. Peter in his lab with him on afternoons after the Vulture, working on new web fluids or better designs for his suits. Peter, annoying him with as many pop culture references as he could spit out, no matter who much Tony protested about it. Peter's begging, pleading, as he faded to nothing.
Cutting back to Earth, Rhodey asked "What the hell is happening?" Steve Rogers merely said "Oh God."
"Language." Clint said, no trace of humour in his voice, nobody bothered to even try fake a smile at the old joke, so broken were they at the scene.
On a distant world, the sun rose as Thanos smiled. The screen cut to black.
"That bastard doesn't deserve his happy ever after. When we get back, we are stopping him." Steve said to Natasha and Tony, who grimly nodded. This solidified it for them. There was no happy ending for Thanos, no matter what. They would undo his life's work, and his death would amount to a zero sum.
"Excuse me, um, does anyone want to tell me where I am and how I've gotten here?" Said a man in a nice suit, with red tinted glasses and a small white cane in his hand.
"Well, we can't really answer either of those, but...who are you?" Clint asked the man.
"My name is Matthew Murdock." The man introduced himself. "I guess, if nobody knows how I'm here or why, it's a pleasure to meet you all at least."
I'VE JUST LEARNT THAT DISNEY PLUS IS FILMING WITH SAM L JACKSON IN MY CITY THIS WEEKEND! AND I'M WORKING THE DAY IT FILMS :'( Hoping some kind family member will get some set photos for me at least whilst I'm in work.