Peter was in way over his head.
Okay, he had felt that way ever since that spider bit him over two years ago, but this was something else. Stopping buses with your bare hands, that was one thing, but swinging around in a meteor shower on an alien planet while fighting an intergalactic nutcase who used some magic stones to bring down a whole moon t hat cause d said meteor shower was more than he'd dreamt in his wildest of dreams.
"Focus," he said quietly to himself as he swung through the mix of rubble and meteors. Mr. Stark was likely fighting Thanos as they spoke, and maybe the sorcerer as well, but the others they had run into were all somewhere in all this debris, and it was up to Peter to catch them all. His head was practically on a swivel, but it was difficult to concentrate while also trying to avoid colliding with anything.
Out of the corner of his eye, Peter spotted one of them, shooting a web almost instantly.
"I got you!"
Another one of them. He landed on the underside of some debris, the mechanical legs of his new suit doing the hanging on for him.
"I got you!"
Then the third one.
"I'm sorry I can't remember anybody's names!" Peter called out, feeling a bit rude. He was the best student in his class at school and could remember the most complex of equations or the most random scientific facts, but he was THE WORST when it came to remembering names. He put aside his embarrassment as he attached the webs holding those he'd rescued together to make it easier to grip.
For a few minutes, Peter just held onto the torn remains of...whatever it was that he was holding onto. He was trusting that if a meteor was coming straight towards them, that strange feeling that he got whenever something dangerous was coming would indeed come again. Taking the moon out of the atmosphere and bringing it to them must've done something weird to the gravity where they were, because Peter and those he was clinging to were just kind of riding this floating piece of a lien technology.
"Man," Peter said, looking around at the bizarre sight, "I'm definitely looking into this once I get out of here." He already couldn't wait to discuss theories with Ned on why gravity was behaving this way, or how...
No, he couldn't think about that right now. Peter wouldn't allow himself to get so far ahead, lest he lose focus and mess things up any more than he already had. He had already messed up once by not getting the gauntlet off when they had Thanos at their collective mercy; he wouldn't fail again.
Peter suddenly felt the webs shifting around in his grip just little, and he looked down to see the ones he had rescued were beginning to stir awake. The one that was human, or at least looked the part (he had said he was from Missouri earlier) seemed to be the first to fully come to , his head suddenly shooting in every direction as if he were looking for something.
"It's okay; I've got you!" Peter called out.
"Where is he!?" the man yelled, and before Peter knew it, he had cut himself free, falling only briefly before flying off. At least he didn't have to worry about one of them anymore, but then the others started getting fussy.
"Let us down, small man!" called out the big one.
"Excuse me!" Peter shouted back, taking more offense to this statement than he would've anticipated, "I'm still growing ... probably!" He wasn't exactly the tallest in his class, but he wasn't exactly the shortest either.
"Please," the female one with the antennae who looked like something out of a sci-fi alien movie spoke up, "we have to help him! He's no match for Thanos; he'll get himself killed!"
Peter looked around to assess their situation. The meteor shower seemed to have died down, and his special sixth sense (he really needed to come up with a proper name for it) wasn't going off, so he figured it was worth taking the chance to finally venture back out into the fight. While the man who flew off had held him at gunpoint earlier, it had all been a big misunderstanding, and while thinking Footloose was the greatest movie in history was normally unforgiveable, Peter would have to force himself to look past that at this time.
Retracting the mechanical arms back into his suit, Peter fired a web at the nearest chunk of debris, pulling the web tight and arcing them in the direction in which their friend flew off. It didn't take long before they were coming out of where the mess, so Peter gradually swung lower until they eventually made it safely to the ground. The big guy tore the web off himself, letting out a growl of pain as he did.
"Sorry," Peter said, cringing as the memory of his early days experimenting with the webbing. He knew very well it was like ripping off a bandage from skin. "Its kind supposed to be really sticky."
"It's fine," the man said gruffly, as if trying to save his manhood. They freed the other two before continuing back towards the battle on foot. With any luck, maybe they would catch up before Thanos has had any real chance to do some major damage to his new ally, the doctor or even Mr. Stark...
Peter suddenly found himself running well ahead of the others, occasionally using a web to yank himself along as the thought of his mentor stuck in his mind. Mr. Stark was constantly innovating his suits to prepare for any kind of crisis imaginable, but he was pretty sure that none of them had imagined anything, or anyone, like Thanos. He had to get there, fast.
It didn't take long before Peter finally reached the others. Unfortunately, judging by the looks of things, Thanos had likely gotten away and had been gone for a little while now. Doctor Strange was sitting against some of the planets remains, while the friend of his new allies was standing there, eyes wide and face contorted in a mix of shock and anger.
What really caught Peter's attention though was Mr. Stark, who was lying on the ground, helmet removed, and his suit torn in some areas. Moving quickly once more, he made his way over to the man.
"Mr. Stark!" Peter said once he got close, and as he bent down next to the man, he could see the true extend of the damage: a stab wound that went clean through his midsection.
"Oh man," Peter said, and his mind began racing a million miles an hour as he began trying to think of a solution while also conjuring up words to assure Mr. Stark that he'd be fine.
A hand against his shoulder put all those thoughts on hold.
"Kid," Mr. Stark said, his eyes holding an intensity and a focus that gripped Peter's attention, "I need you to do exactly as I say, you understand?"
Peter nodded enthusiastically in response.
"I need you to pull this thing out of me," he said.
"Okay," Peter said, more nervousness coming out in his voice than he wanted. "Okay." He grabbed hold of the blade with his hand, forcing himself to remain steady. Removing blades from himself was one thing, but doing so from somebody else...
"You ready?" he asked.
"Yep, go for it," Mr. Stark replied in one breath.
Peter slowly began pulling at the blade, glancing at Mr. Stark to see that the man's eyes were closed tightly , so he dared to pull just a little bit faster. The back half of the blade basically slid out on its own, causing Mr. Stark to let out a yell and Peter to let out a breath he didn't even realize he'd been holding.
"Alright, step one down," Mr. Stark said before trying to sit himself up more properly, grimacing as he did so. Peter moved to his side, clutching the top of his arm and his opposite side to help steady him.
"Thanks kid," he said.
"Now what?" Peter asked, wondering what he had in mind for the actual treatment of the wound. His mentor said nothing in response, instead raising up his right arm and bringing it over so that his fingers were pointing at the wound. Peter watched as a spray began emitting from a couple of the fingers of the suit, and the wound began to slowly come up. He thought about making some comment about how it was like some kind of bacta spray in Star Wars before thinking better of it. After all, Mr. Stark had specifically asked for no more pop culture references for the remainder of their little trip, and he intended to do his best to honor that request.
Peter stayed next to Mr. Stark for the next several minutes as nobody dared to say anything. There was a mood going around, and Peter could feel it too. It was one of failure, of a realization that they had been so close to stopping perhaps the worst the galaxy had to offer, only to let it slip through their fingers. His own failure came to mind as well, but Peter forced those thoughts back as best he could.
The reality was that they were all still here; by some miracle, Thanos hadn't killed any of them. That means that they had a chance. If that big purple intergalactic despot had what he wanted, he would've done exactly what he'd talked about right then and there: he would've snapped his fingers and effectively wiped-out half of all life in the universe. Peter had to keep his focus on that, on the hope that they would get another crack at Thanos before this was all over.
Peter finally dared to ask a question that had been on his mind for a while now.
"So, what now?"
Mr. Stark's eyes closed and his head turned to the side. Peter wondered if he'd aggravated him and had asked the question too soon, but then the man responded.
"We need to get back to earth."
"Are there any of those stones there?" Peter asked.
"Yes, and one of them is in Vision's head."
Woah! That yellow thing in that vibraniumn synthezoid's head was an infinity stone? That was new... and potentially deadly for said synthezoid .
Mr. Stark was right, they needed to get back to earth.
"Help me up kid," Mr. Stark said . Peter grabbed the man's upper arm with one hand and his back lower with the other, standing the both of them up. Mr. Stark stumbled at first before steadying himself enough where he didn't require Peter's support anymore. The others started coming around them, and it felt like a plan of action was about to be formed.
However, before anyone could speak, a loud crack of what sounded like thunder rang across the sky, and it sent shockwaves through Peter's entire being. He looked up and around them, but there didn't appear to be anything that could have caused it: no ship forthcoming, nothing that exploded or anything like that. Still, Peter felt a strong sense of dread overwhelm him from the inside out. It was a feeling unlike anything he'd ever felt before, greater than any time he'd been in an immediate life-threatening situation even. Something was coming, or about to happen, he just didn't know what.
It didn't take him long to find out.
It happened to the big green guy first. His hands started to dissolve, almost as if turning to dust.
"Quill?" the man said, looking at his human companion before the rest of his body dissipated into dust, floating away.
Peter's eyes went wide, looking on in shock as the same thing happened to the others he and Tony had encountered, one by one dissipating into nothingness. Finally, it was just the human left from that group.
"Steady Quill," Mr. Stark said, but it was already too late.
"Oh, man," Quill replied as his body dissolved just as his cohorts did, his dusty remains blowing away.
Peter and Tony both turned to face Dr. Strange.
"You knew this would happen?" Tony asked. Peter's eyes widened, looking intently at the doctor. What did Mr. Stark mean by that? The man stared at them with a quiet, steady conviction even as he clearly anticipated something bad.
"It was the only way," the man said quietly but firmly before himself disintegrating.
Now it was just the two of them.
Peter turned to face Mr. Stark, holding his breath as he was waiting to see which one of them would be next. The answer came quickly, as soon Mr. Stark's legs began to disintegrate into dust, the process overtaking his body, causing him to collapse.
"Mr. Stark?" Peter said, his voice shaky as he caught the man's upper half.
"Make it home, kid," the man said, barely managing to get out the words before the process was complete and what little remained of him floated away and out of Peter 's grasp as the boy reached out for it unsuccessfully.
As Peter's hands slowly came back down, he just stared at them, bracing himself to watch them disintegrate. Everyone else with him had disappeared: Mr. Stark, Dr. Strange, the Guardians...all of them. Maybe this was Thanos's punishment for trying to stop him. He sat there, anticipating his time.
That time never came.
So, I'm clearly doing this backwards. I've been on AO3 for a little over a year now, but decided to begin cross posting some of my works as I seek to do some networking and get my stuff out there some more. I'm still getting use to the formatting, so please forgive me if there are any issues!
Also, this is actually a relatively recent story that I've already technically finished. I will be posting the chapters frequently, and I'll begin cross posting some other stuff I've done soon too. Between multi-chapter and one shots, I've written 80 works, so it's going to take some time!
It's a pretty brutal story regarding Peter surviving the Snap and what that might've looked like, so be ready for a fairly rough read at times!
Anyway, please feel free to let me know what you think! I am open to critiques, as long as they are respectful.
Hope you enjoy!
Praying for you all! Stay safe and healthy out there!
"My soul is worry with sorrow; strengthen me according to Your Word." Psalm 119:28
