Chapter Twelve: I Walk the Line

The Hulk

Everything too loud. Too bright.

Hulk bellows, drowning out screaming, beeping, crashing, tearing.

"Hulk!"

Hulk turns, growling, ready for fight. Thor looks up at Hulk, puny face worried.

Hulk not worried. Hulk angry. Hulk claws at metal walls and shiny wires.

"Hulk, stop it, you stupid beast! You're going to tear the ship apart!" Thor shouts.

"Ship breaking anyway!" Hulk slams fist into sparking wall to show Thor. Thor grabs Hulk's fist with tiny hands. Hulk thinks of breaking Thor instead.

"Those are the escape pods, you moron!" Thor yells again, always yelling, makes Hulk want to yell back. "My people are trying to get out of here! The aliens are that way!"

Thor points. Hulk grins.

Ship under attack by bigger ship, alien ship, swarming like ants. Hulk will smash them to pieces, crush more than puny Thor will. Hulk runs, shoves Thor into wall, pushes past screaming people.

Ship ride boring. Asgard people boring. Hulk ready for fight.

Hulk roars, daring aliens to come close.

Aliens bigger than tiny Thor. Tall, but still smaller than Hulk. They throw sharp sticks that sting. Hulk gets angrier, a raging fire, hitting sticks away before Hulk crashes into aliens. Hulk swings fists, punching and slamming and throwing aliens through walls.

Hulk will win fight. Hulk wins every fight.

Bright lightning shoots by Hulk, and Hulk grunts and squints as it hits alien warrior Hulk was about to crush with huge fists.

"Hey! Mine!" Hulk shouts as Thor swings small sword, lightning blasting off metal and barreling into aliens.

"This isn't a game! We have to hold them off long enough for Valkyrie to get my people to safety," Thor spins, driving weapon into alien's gut.

More aliens flood hallway. More aliens for Hulk to smash.

Sword-man with bright eyes comes behind them, swinging and stabbing and getting in Hulk's way. Hulk roars, grabbing two aliens by necks and pummeling them into wall, tearing wall down with it. More room to fight.

"There's too many of them!" Sword-man calls out.

"We just have to keep them back until the escape pods are a safe distance away," Thor shouts back, lightning bright. "Where is Loki?"

"Gone. Captured or snuck onto one of the escape pods."

"Damn it!"

Hulk not surprised. Loki baby. Sneaky baby.

Sword-man say too many aliens, but Hulk not think so. Not too many for Hulk. Maybe for Sword-man and Thor with their baby arms and baby swords-

Arms wrap around Hulk's neck, squeezing tight, stronger than Hulk expect. Hulk reaches up to peel alien off and smash their skull, but chains wrap around Hulk's arms, pulling down hard. Hulk falls to knees, roaring angrily, thrashing and bucking. Hulk tries to fall, to crush alien on Hulk's back, but chains pull tighter.

"Hulk!"

"I can't get to him! We're being overrun!"

"Are the-gahh! Have the escape pods moved out of range?!"

Hulk roars too loud to hear useless words. Hulk rages and struggles, using all Hulk's strength to stand. Hulk twists hard, yanking aliens off feet, whipping chains across more aliens, bellowing victory.

Hulk reaches behind, grabs alien by head and slams it into ground, lifting and smashing, lifting and smashing until alien stops moving.

Hulk always wins.

"We have to warn them, we have to call for aid! Can you do it?" Thor still wastes breath talking. "Heimdall, can you do it?!"

"I...will do...my best," Sword-man grunts.

More aliens come. Endless aliens with bigger guns and nets and spears. Hulk runs forward, roaring, yelling, fists raising-

"All Father, let the Dark Magic flow through me once more."

Light burns Hulk's eyes. Hulk throws arm up, yelling, but light is brighter, white and colors-it's pulling Hulk, dragging Hulk away.

"NO!" Hulk bellows, stomping, digging feet into metal ship, pushing against light, reaching for aliens. "HULK STAY!"

"Warn them, Banner!" Thor shouts, quiet, far away, and Hulk is pulled back, staggering. Hulk no go. Hulk stay! "You have to warn them! The Dravec are coming! They come for Earth!"

"HULK STAY!"

Hulk smashes light, but light too strong. Light pulls and yanks and drags and then Hulk's feet in air and Hulk flies, yelling and roaring and friends and aliens and ship gone, gone, nothing but light and color and-

SLAM!

Bruce Banner

Oh god.

Oh my god.

Hulk is bellowing inside me, the roar deafening, my heart racing so fast it threatens to leap from my chest. I'm yelling through clenched teeth, my fingers digging into my scalp, pulling at my hair.

I can feel his rage, my rage, building and swelling and cracking beneath my skin-tendons straining, bones jerking, my breath ragged and heaving-

"Dr. Banner!"

Tiny spider's voice grates, buzzes in my ears-angry, so angry, Hulk will smash-

No-no!

Peter. That is Peter Parker's voice near me, a fifteen year old kid who needs me to stay calm, to keep it together-

RAGE AND HEAT AND BREAKING-

NO! We can't Hulk out. We can't. It will draw every alien on this damn planet to us. They'll kill Peter. They'll kill Bucky. They'll-

THOR LEFT HULK-THOR SENT HULK AWAY-THOR NOT FRIEND-

Thor had a reason, we had to warn them, we were supposed to-

HULK NOT CARE-HULK SMASH PUNY ALIENS-HULK SMASH EVERYONE-

"Dr. Banner?! You're-oh god. Oh god oh god oh god. Don't turn green! Shit, you're turning green! Hey, hey, hey, stay with me! You gotta calm down!"

"Don't tell me to calm down!" I roar at him, fists clenching at my sides, my voice layered and deepening, my skin stretching over bulging muscles, my heart like Thor's hammer slamming inside my chest.

Peter's eyes are huge, his hands flying up placatingly as he takes a couple jerky steps back. "Ok, ok! Just...what do I do? Tell me what to do!"

I half groan, half yell as I cradle my head in my hands, caught in the transformation, teetering on the edge between violent rage and petrifying fear, dragging and pulling and shrinking and swelling-

"Distract me," I order through grinding teeth, my body shuddering, convulsing. I can no longer stay still. I lurch to my feet, stumbling into the wall as I thrash, feeling my body grow, my rage grow even faster.

"OK! Ok, um-oh shit! Oh man, uhh-uhhh-holy crap you're getting ginormous-UH-Dr. Banner! Why can't you trust atoms?!"

I punch the wall, the stone shuddering beneath my growing fist, dust raining down on us.

"Because they make up everything!"

I blink, turning my head to stare at the petrified teenager, his body utterly still, his eyes wide and frantic, frozen like a deer in the headlights.

I take a breath, then another.

We just stare for a moment, a long, drawn out, tense moment.

Then I let out a snort of laughter.

And just like that, my rage dulls to a simmer, my muscles contracting, shrinking down as I force my breathing to slow, to even out. Sweat drips down my neck, my forehead, and I wipe it away shakily as I slump to the ground, blood rushing to my head, making me dizzy.

"A science pun?" I raise a brow, still shaken by the near transformation. "Really?"

Peter lets out a massive sigh of relief, slumping to the ground himself and giving me a shaky grin. "It worked, didn't it?"

"Yeah kid, it worked," I scrub at my face, suddenly feeling more exhausted than I've ever been. "Crap that was close."

"You're telling me," Peter breathes, his eyes still bulging a little. "Even with the red lights all over the rocks I could see you turning green. That was insane! What happened?"

"What do you mean what happened? I nearly introduced you to my large, angry friend. I thought that was pretty self explanatory."

"No, I mean duh, I knew that. I meant why? What triggered it?"

My head is throbbing with residual pain, my stomach contracting with dread, with anxiety as I reach back down for the fallen eyepatch, cradling it in my slightly trembling palm. "This did," I answer heavily.

Peter's brows crease with confusion. "What is that?"

"This belongs to Thor. It's his eyepatch."

"Wait, what? Thor has an eyepatch?! What happened to his eye?"

"His sister stabbed him."

"In the eye?!"

"Pete, you're kind of missing the point here."

Peter frowns at it, eyes still round with shock, and then I see it click in his expression as his gaze snaps to mine. "What the hell is it doing here? Why did the alien hunter have it in its pack?"

There it is.

Peter asked the right question, and now, thanks to this eyepatch and the Hulk sized migraine I'm sporting, I have the answer.

My eyes squeeze shut, and my fingers begin to rub circles at my temples.

There's no hiding from the horrifying truth now.

"I was on Thor's ship, with the rest of the Asgardians, heading for Earth. Asgard had been destroyed, and his people had nowhere else to go," I begin slowly, my mind racing with blurred images, seen through larger eyes than my own. "But our ship was attacked, and until now, I couldn't remember by who or what. I couldn't remember anything of what happened."

I open my eyes, leaning my head back against the wall. Peter's jaw is hanging open, his eyes wide as he hangs on my every word. I don't know that I've ever had such a captive audience. I think of how cool this must sound to an outsider, to a teenage kid who idolizes heroes and probably reads an unhealthy amount of comic books.

I wince at how I'm gonna have to watch that awed expression turn to horror.

"Thor's ship was destroyed by the same one that came to Earth, that took us," I say heavily. "By the same aliens that are hunting us right now."

"No way," Peter breathes, eyes wide as saucers.

"Unfortunately, yes way. Most of his people were able to escape. Valkyrie-," my stomach constricts. "One of our friends was leading them to safety. Our ship was overrun, and though the big guy would never admit it, we were losing, badly."

I feel a grumble in my chest at that, anger stirring up once again. But I have a hold on it this time, even as the images race across my brain, the torn metal walls of the ship, the sparks showering the halls we fought in, the alien hunters, ruthless and armored and fighting to capture, not kill.

"One of Thor's friends...I don't think I ever heard his name, or Hulk never cared enough to remember it, used…some kind of quantum teleportation through hyperspace to send me back to Earth. I don't know how the hell he managed to do that. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in a crater in the middle of nowhere with no memory of how I got there."

I scrub at my mouth, guilt knotting in my gut. "I was supposed to warn the Avengers that they were coming...the...the Dravec, he called them. Instead I spent two weeks catching up with old friends and trying to remember what happened. Real useful."

"Holy shit," Peter breathes, staring at me. "So...so if the aliens-the Dravec attacked Thor's ship...they must have taken the survivors like they took us! They must have dropped them here in the jungle! Which means-"

I watch as his excited realization shifts to dawning horror as his eyes dart down to the eyepatch.

Because it was highly likely that Thor and the others had been captured, that they'd been marooned and hunted like we are now.

And Thor's eyepatch was shoved into an alien hunter's pack like some kind of trophy.

"No!" Peter shakes his head. "No way! There's no way they got-I mean, it's Thor! He's a freaking god! They couldn't have-"

"I know, Pete. I know," I swallow, my thumb rubbing against the leathery material of the patch. "Look, it was probably a close call or something. And the alien was using the eyepatch to...I don't know...track him, or something? Maybe to catch the scent? If these things even have that kind of smell. God, I don't know."

I want to believe it.

I want to believe that Thor is out here somewhere, hiding in the jungle, waiting for us to stumble over him so he could do something spectacularly heroic to save our asses. I want to believe that I didn't fail him and the others, that I didn't damn them to horrific deaths at the hands of monsters while I knocked back drinks with Tony.

And hey, the kid does have a point. Thor is a god. I'd seen first hand exactly what he is capable of. I know he could survive a long time in this environment, against these aliens. There's a chance he's still out there, that this eyepatch doesn't mean anything.

There's a chance.

I've gotta believe he's out there.

The alternative is too horrible.

"I doubt the aliens have a superior sense of smell."

Peter and I both jolt, heads whipping towards Bucky as he pushes up on his forearms, wincing at the pain.

"Bucky!" Peter cries, lunging forward and stopping himself at the last minute. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got stabbed."

Peter winces, his face falling a little before Bucky's mouth forms a tight smile. "It's not as bad," he assures the kid, then frowns as he looks down at his side. "Where the hell did you find bandages?"

"Uhhhhhhh," Peter's face goes blank as he not so subtly shakes his head at me as if to say 'don't say anything'.

Bucky's eyes snap up to the kid's face, narrowing in on him like a hawk after prey. The kid's stammering gets worse as he rubs the back of his neck, looking every bit the cornered rodent.

I take pity on him.

"I found it," I tell Bucky wearily, and the man's intense gaze moves to me.

"You found it," he repeats doubtfully.

"Your confidence in me is very heartening. Yes, I found it. Left the kid to watch you and found this alien pack in the jungle. You're lucky I did, too. Wound was getting infected."

Bucky eyes me suspiciously, then Peter, who blinks at him with wide eyed innocence before he leans back and examines the bandage covered wound. In the corner of my eyes I see Peter's shoulders slump in relief as he mouths "thank you" in my direction.

I move closer to Bucky, trying to hide my exhaustion as I peer at the bandages. "How's it really feeling?" I ask.

"I've had worse," he murmurs, and I believe it.

"The fact that you're conscious right now is a good sign," I lift my head towards his face. "May I?"

He nods, and I press the back of my hand to his forehead. "Your fever broke. Damn, those things work fast."

"I wish they'd work faster," Bucky winces, grunting in pain as he shifts his body into a more comfortable position. "We shouldn't stay here."

"Yeah, you aren't going anywhere anytime soon, pal," I tell him. "So don't be getting any ideas. That has a ways to go before you can trek through an alien jungle."

Bucky looks inclined to disagree, but just shifting positions seems to have sapped what little energy he had out of him.

"How long have I been out?"

"A while. It's the middle of the night now. You might be good enough to go by morning."

"Are you sure you're ok?" Peter asks. "We were really starting to-"

He cuts himself off, his body going rigid, pupils blown as his head whips to the entrance of the cave, completely alert.

"What is it?" I ask, a chill shivering down my spine.

"I don't know," Peter's voice drops to a whisper. "Something's wrong. Hang on."

He moves to the narrow opening of the cave, and Bucky, clenching his teeth in pain as he slowly pushes himself up to a sitting position, sends a grim look in my direction.

I'm not a fan of that look.

That's the "I'm a soldier and we'll all go down fighting together if we have to, look."

We wait with bated breath, bodies tense as Peter edges slowly to the thin gap leading out of the cave, slipping on his mask to no doubt use his night vision to get a better look. It makes me nervous, him moving so close to the open like that.

I get to my feet just as Peter moves back, his lenses wide and body stiff with fear as he whispers in a hiss, "We got company."

Shit.

"How many?" Bucky demands in a near silent voice.

I can see the kid's throat bob through his suit. "Four."

"Jesus," I breathe, fear shooting through me. There's no way we could take on four with all three of us at our best, not without unleashing the Hulk and calling more to us. And Bucky is in no shape to fight or run.

If they find us, we're done for.

"We stay quiet," I mouth, barely whispering. "Stay hidden until they leave."

Peter shakes his head, dismay radiating off his tense body. "They're heading straight for us. I think...I think they might have followed me from the lake."

Oh god. I stare at him in horror as Bucky tries to pull himself to his feet, gritting his teeth to fight back his cries of pain. The lenses in Peter's mask widen as they stare at me, and I can tell he's realizing what I already have.

Bucky can't fight back. Bucky can't run.

And I'm going to have to turn into the Hulk.

I heave a breath, the grim reality settling over me. The big guy can take those four no problem, but he won't be careful, and he won't be quiet. I can hope that he will lead any other hunters away from Bucky and the kid, that he'll have enough sense to cause a big enough diversion that no one thinks about this small, hidden cave. But I can't know that for sure.

And if enough alien hunters try to take the Hulk down...they might even succeed.

Those pale lenses narrow at me, then at Bucky, and those skinny shoulders roll back, the kid's stature determined...decided.

Bucky sees it for what it is before I do.

"No," he hisses. "If you even think of setting one foot outside of this cave-"

"I'll lead them away, then double back when I've lost them."

I grab for him, but he darts away before I can so much as touch him. "No, you won't! I-"

"You can't turn green. Not yet. You'll get swarmed," he hisses quietly, edging for the cave's exit. He looks at Bucky, those white lenses narrowing resolutely. "I'll come back. I'll find you."

I lunge for him again, but by the time I reach him, the kid is gone.

Scott Lang

"You sure you got this, Lang?"

"You doubting me, Romanov? Or are you just jealous that I get to do the stealth stuff this time?"

"Someone's still bitter."

"Not bitter, just...acrimonious."

"That means bitter."

"Potato, potahto."

"Perhaps we should focus on the task at hand," Okoye interrupts before I can say more, her voice dry and unamused.

I appease her, falling into silence as I, the size of an ant, race down the hall of the alien ship.

The floor beneath me is wide metal grating, the dark, intersecting roads like massive bridges, the holes like huge yawning pits ready to swallow me up if I slip. If I were my normal size, the gaps would only be large enough to drop a quarter through.

Red light gleaming through cracks in the black stone walls on either side pulse like rivers of lava, lighting my path and casting everything in a villainous glow like I'm on the set of Alien or something. And high, high, high above loom the arched ceilings, tall enough for the height of the alien warriors who'd attacked Earth to stride through without having to worry about ducking.

I feel extra small.

"What happened last time?" Princess Shuri asks curiously.

"Huh?"

"You said you get to do the stealth stuff this time. What happened last time?"

"Nothing," I say quickly, leaping over several dark chasms and bridges of metal to run closer to the wall.

Natasha, the sweetheart that she is, decides to answer for me.

"Lang volunteered to seduce a sixty three year old male Hydra operative as a distraction while I got the incriminating evidence locked in his bedroom."

Snorting, scandalized teenage laughter echoes in my earpiece, making me clench my teeth as I skid to a stop at the corner of the hallway, peering around the edge to make sure the coast is clear before darting down it.

"First off, I did not volunteer. Second-"

A door hisses open.

I drop, sliding across the metal beam to drop into one of the many gaps, clinging to the edge with my gloved fingers at the last possible moment.

Holy shit.

This is my first real look at the alien species that had captured our friends, and it is even more horrific than my imagination had come up with. Being as small as I am makes it doubly as intimidating with its gleaming black armor, mottled, stone like skin, the black and red eyes looming over a badass metal mask covering the lower half of its face, the spines running across the center of its bald head, down its spine.

Its footsteps thunder across the hall, making the metal I am clinging to shudder violently, my fingers nearly losing their grip.

I watch with bated breath as it passes over me, the tremors so powerful, I have to swing my leg up for an extra hold before I fall. I had worried for a moment that with those sharp, dark eyes, it would be able to spot me, even as small as I am, but the alien continues down the hall, oblivious of my presence.

I pull myself the rest of the way up, blowing out a breath of relief and shaking out my arms before sprinting for the door the alien had exited from.

"You were saying?" Shuri reminds me, a smile in her voice.

"Ah forget it. You all will mock me mercilessly no matter what I say."

"True," she concedes. "But it would be more entertaining with details."

That's definitely not happening. Natasha, surprisingly, doesn't offer her any either.

I run faster, leaping into the air at the last moment to cling to one of the ledges created by the sharp stone pieces making up the wall, and then I begin scaling up towards the control panel.

Reaching it, I slip through a crack, finding myself in a rectangular space stuffed with wires and circuitry, but like none I have ever seen before. The wires are translucent, red light pulsing within them like veins carrying blood. The circuit boards and outlets are more organic in shape, with odd looking runes glowing dimly as well.

"Uhhhhhhh...thoughts?"

"Give me a moment," Shuri murmurs.

A steady, electrical hum vibrates the air around me as I scan my surroundings, making sure the princess has an excellent view of all the components through the video feed emitting from my helmet.

"Interesting. They have their own energy source," muses Shuri, speaking her thoughts aloud as she tries to work through the alien technology. "They're using a split cable entry system, but the current within the wires is flowing up…"

"No shield clamps either, they must have worked their way around that," I add, circling and ducking through the wires. My background in electrical engineering can only assist me so far when I'm surrounded by advanced alien technology.

"I got it," her voice oozes satisfaction. "Reroute the third wire on your left. Insert it into the first outlet at the control panel base."

"Are you sure? This isn't going to accidentally trip their security system, is it?"

"I am positive," Shuri shoots back, her voice taking on a dangerous tone. "Unless you doubt me?"

"No, no, definitely not," I reply as I do as the princess instructs, grunting as I wrap my arms around the thick wire, twisting and pulling to drag and insert it into the base.

The hum around me shifts to a deeper pitch, then a series of clicks and whirs echo loudly within the small space, and I peek out the crack in the side to see the door slide open. I leap out, running into the room and diving behind a chunk of rock jutting out from the wall.

I'm in what has to be the security center of the entire ship, though the layout is different than any I have ever seen before. I mean, duh, it is an alien spacecraft. There are no monitors or screens, instead crimson 3-D holographic images rise up in the very center of the room over a gaping hole in the floor, a mess of diagrams in a foreign language and images depicting the layout of the ship.

Two aliens stand on either side of it, both stiffening as the door opens, their gazes shooting towards the empty threshold. One lets out a hiss, striding to look out into the hall before shaking its head and muttering something to the other.

I let out a breath of relief as they return to their work, the alien's creep eyes cooly observing as their long fingered hands swipe through, moving images this way and that, highlighting lines of symbols and exchanging them with other.

"I've got two hostiles," I murmur into my communicator. "Damn these guys are ugly. Preparing to engage."

"You'll have to be quick, Scott," Natasha warns. "If they sound the alarm, we're all done for."

"Yeah, yeah, take down the aliens, do it quick, have Shuri walk me through disabling their defenses and then let you all aboard like one big happy family. Anything else?"

"Don't die," says Okoye.

"Aaaand thank you for that."

Okay Scott, despite their thoroughly encouraging commentary, you totally got this. Show these guys what Ant-man can do.

It's go time.

I leap from my hiding place, charging forward, arms pumping, heartbeat quickening.

Fighting aliens in space. No big deal. This happens all the...never. This happens never. Oh god.

I go up behind one of the aliens, kicking off of the floor and bounding up through the air like a bullet, higher and higher until my fist slams into the side of its neck. It stumbles, slamming into the stone wall with a surprised hiss as I use the momentum of the blow to backflip straight through the massive tower of 3-D holograms. The sole of my boots slam into the second alien's chest, and the creature goes flying back.

My body falls, and before I can hit the ground, I press the trigger on the side of my hand, my body enlarging within seconds.

"Evening gentlemen," I say, giving them a small salute. "Or...well, I assume you're male based on how completely hideous and masculine you are. If you're female, my sincere apologies...and yeesh."

The aliens shift into defensive positions, hissing as they bare their wrists, black, jagged daggers sliding out of them and gleaming in the crimson light.

"Shit! Wow, that is absolutely next level, with the knives in the wrists thing. I'm very uncomfortable right now."

They charge for me as one, the second one I'd hit reaching me first, slashing down its knived arm in a killing blow. But I'm already gone, smaller than an ant, my boots landing on the blade as it stabs for me. I spring up the alien's arm, its eyes widening in shock at the place where I once stood, then narrowing in suspicion.

It doesn't even register that I am now at its shoulder, delivering a spinning kick to its masked jaw.

There's a loud crack, a pained hiss, and as I spin, landing on its shoulder, my eyes widen. The two halves of the metal mask encasing the lower half of its face fall to the ground, clattering on the metal floor.

"Oh my god," I breathe, eyes widening as I stagger back, nearly slipping. "Are you guys seeing this?"

Two gaping holes are set into its grey skin where a nose should be, and beneath that is the mouth, looking more like someone had torn a gash into the alien's face, a jagged line of ripped skin that begins to separate, stretching open, releasing a layered shriek of fury. A handful of misshapen, gleaming black fangs set into pale gums stare back at me.

"Jesus Christ!" I flip back into the air as its jaws snap for me. "No wonder you guys wear masks!"

"Scott, you're running out of time-"

"Give me a sec!'

My back arches as I leap over the second alien's head, my hands reaching out to seize one of the black, red tipped spikes protruding from the back of its skull. Hanging on by one hand, I cup my other in front of my helmet and shout, "Hey! Over here!"

The unmasked alien, its face nearly rabid in its fury, locks eyes on me and charges. I swing on the spike, pulling with all my might and yanking the alien's head so it tilts sideways, making it stumble to the left.

Its body jerks in my grasp as the unmasked alien's blade stabs through its throat.

Oh geez. That was more violent than I had expected. I figured it would receive a punch in the face, but there's no time to dwell on it. The alien's body drops beneath me, and as I fall, I trigger the technology in my suit, my body growing rapidly. I use the momentum of the compressed energy to surge up, slamming my fist straight into the alien's teeth.

Its head snaps back, cracking into the stone wall sharply before it drops to the ground, eyes rolling back into its skull.

"And that, ladies, is how it's done," I pant, rolling my neck from side to side as I move for the holographic images in the center of the room.

"We're all very impressed," Natasha says dryly.

They should be. I am. I sort of expected to die.

As before, I examine every angle of the diagrams so that the others have a clear view through the camera in my helmet. It takes Shuri longer this time to figure out a general idea of what the images mean, which strange runes apply to what.

I'm pretty sure something like an alien language or advanced technology from outer space is supposed to take decades to begin to understand, but the princess is clearly a grade A genius, taking minutes where others would take years.

When I comment on it, she replies, "It's not like I just decoded their entire language. I'm just cross referencing the diagrams to the layout of the ship and comparing it to our own security programs back in Wakanda. Mostly guesswork."

Genius guesswork.

I follow her instructions to the letter, having to stand nearly on my toes to reach some of the lines of code, but within minutes, at least to the best of our knowledge, security systems are down; alerts silenced, alarms disabled, recording technology that transferred the images into the holographic images before me disengaged.

And, as an extra measure, Shuri is able to figure out how to lock the aliens out of their own network to prevent them from undoing what we just meddled with.

This kid is kind of scary. Glad she's on our side.

Casting a final glance at the aliens in a heap in the corner, I stride across the room, shrinking down and leaping up into the control panel. Right before I exit down on the other side, I sever what has to be the central line of power to the doors, essentially locking anyone in or out of that room.

"Okay guys," I say as I drop to the floor and begin sprinting back the way I came. "We're good to go."

"Nice work, Scott," Natasha replies. "Stay low. We're coming aboard."

A/N: DUN DUN DUN

So now you guys know! Thor's ship wasn't attacked by Thanos at the end of Thor: Ragnarok. They were attacked by the Dravek (bonus points to whoever looks up that word to find out what it means and it what language). What will this mean for our heroes? Are Thor and Heimdall dead? Still on the alien planet? Imprisoned on their ship? Guess you'll have to keep reading to find out. ;)

Peter's atom joke was a reference to a moment in the comics where Spiderman was able to bring Hulk back to being Dr. Banner by simply telling him a knock knock joke. :)

Sorry for the long wait! I am SO pleased to inform you though, that I finished the first draft of my novel! 299 pages, nearly 150,000 words, all raw and ready for serious bouts of editing! I am beyond excited and proud of it, and I can't wait to see where it goes. For those of you who are interested, the title is Raven Rising, and it's the first book in a trilogy I am writing and hope to get published! Definitely a dark, YA fantasy novel whose heroine is comparable to how I write Wanda, if I had to pick the closest comparison. ;) For more updates and artwork on that and in general, you can follow me on instagram. My insta name is mscrystalbeard :)

Ahhhh yes, and SO sorry about the little cliffie where I let Peter run off by himself into the dark against four alien hunters in a ridiculously self sacrificing maneuver. I tried to stop him. Really, I did. But you know him. ;) Hey, at least Bucky is safe and out of the woods with that wound of his!

Scott! I loved Ant-man and the Wasp, so was really excited to write Scott again! A few of you forgot that he was one of the non-powered Avengers on the rescue mission. He's been there the whole time. lol. Remember the ice cream discussion a few chapters back? Yeah, that was him. Clearly he wasn't getting enough screen time, so this chapter was needed. lol

Special thanks as always to the world's greatest beta, PippinStrange, who is hard at work on her own Avengers fic, Where They Go, an aftermath of Infinity War focused on Peter Parker, and holy CRAP is it amazing. She depicts all the characters so freaking well, and this story is action packed, hilarious, full of all the feels, and a seriously plausible imagining on what might have happened to those who were killed by Thanos's snap of doom. HIGHLY RECOMMEND

SummerMistedDragon: Because I can :D

Heroes21: Hope you liked!

Puppens101: Yay for Bucky being alright, right? lol, it's something! More answers about what happened to Thor soon!

sparklydog9 THOR!

StarStepper: I don't know! Because I'm mean and I have issues. lol. Thank you so much! :D And also sorry. lol

AppleSpongeCake: I know! I'm sorry! Too long of a wait!

cargumentluv: Thanks! so happy to hear that!

kittymyth96: :D

Seawell: Yay Thor! Love throwing surprises at you guys. :) And it's true, people do crazy things to survive, but luckily Peter didn't have to find out exactly how far he'd go just yet ;)

missgemmaaa: Awww thank you! That is so sweet of you!

LoonyLovegood1981: Gosh me too! And thanks so much! I definitely recommend Thor Ragnarok. It's hilarious and my favorite of the Thor movies for sure

DarylDixon'sLover: ah you know me. lol

AltoOwl: Thanks so much! Will try to do a quicker update next time!

twylght: Thank you! I agree that going old school is probably a good exercise for Peter, although poor kid could really use the upgrades in this life or death situation

Kairianna864: Thank you very much! Excited to tie in Ragnarok with this fic!

Guest: Thank you very much! It was fun doing an underwater scene, hadn't done one of those yet! Hope you likes this chapter too and that it answered a couple questions!

Guest: Ah thank you! Thanks very much!

Kirby Lane: Ok first off, adored that you referred to me as "her majesty". Literally the best. Second, my HEART! Thank you SO SO much. I try to get better and better as I write and put a lot of thought into the plot and characters and everything, so I sincerely appreciate your kind words. WOW. I absolutely did NOT mind the long review. It was glorious to read and made my heart so very happy. Truly, thank you for taking the time to leave me your thoughts. Made my month!

KiernanCo: Peter's heart is DEFINITELY bigger than his brain. Poor kid. Lol

GinaBoo: Yep! A couple of semi-chill chapters to prepare for what's coming up :D THings are definitely starting to pick up pace for sure! Glad you're enjoying it! AND YES THAT MID CREDITS SCENE OMG

screechyfangirl: I am. And proud of it :D

Shadow-wolf78: Thanks!

gandalf537: Thank you sooooo much! :D Shuri is definitely a blessing, and I'm so glad you enjoyed Bruce's POV! I really surprised myself by how much I enjoyed writing from his perspective. SUper fun!

Shoyzz: Definitely a great sequel! And lots of answers to come!

Guest: X-men would be sick. As would Deadpool. lol. But I have too big of a cast to handle without adding in TOO many more. I'd probably go crazy. lol

Andy Frost: Ant-man! Wooh!

Jeyfeather1234: Lol! I'd say no, they're usually not. XD

Leiah Cloud: Thank you SO much! I always appreciate it when anyone takes the time to review. I do spend an unhealthy amount of time thinking about this story and these characters, so when it's noticed it make me SO happy. Truly, thank you! And Peter's suit at this point is basically just spandex, droney, changing lenses, and web-shooters. lol. So when he dived in after the alien, he just shoved his mask up above his nose and held his breath and came out soaking wet. lol :)

smolpeter: Wow! Thank you so very much!

COMING UP

Chapter Thirteen: Devil's Right Hand

Natasha, Shuri, and Okoye board the alien craft and make some grim discoveries. Steve, on his own in the alien jungle and on the search for Dr. Banner, receives the shock of his life that he never saw coming. Peter flees for his life and takes on four alien hunters in the most intense segment yet.

Guys, you're gonna wanna get your popcorn for this one.

Also, you're welcome in advance.

Also, I'm SO SORRY in advance.

I'll let you guys think that over. :D Much love!