Chapter 7
The black car finally arrived at its destination as Peter hopped out of the vehicle.
"Huh", Peter nodded in amazement, "Been a while since I've been here."
The Sanctum Sanctorum stood before him, just as pristine as always. The boy grabbed his bags and walked up to the door, knocking it twice before suddenly…
"Welcome, Mr. Parker."
On the third knock, Peter found himself inside of the building, like he simply teleported right in. The teen darted his eyes around and found the house's owner standing at the top of a staircase, waiting for him. Alongside Strange was Colonel Rhodes, grinning at the look on Peter's face.
"Wait, did...did that just…?," Parker stuttered.
Rhodey chuckled, "Is that how I looked when-?"
"Yup," Strange nodded, "It's been a while, Peter."
The doctor slowly levitated down to greet the kid, reaching his hand out to shake the teen's.
"Mr. Strange, hey!," Peter shook his hand, "Um...how's the whole protecting reality thing?"
"Not exactly going as great as he says."
Peter turned to see an Asguardian and an intergalactic warrior walk into the room, smirks on their faces.
"Peter Parker, right?," Carol asked, recognizing the boy from the battle for the planet.
"Ohmygosh," Peter gasped, "Ms. Danvers! Or, I'm sorry, Captain Danvers! Or Captain Mar-I'm still not really good with this-"
"Chill, kid, Carol's fine," the soldier grinned warmly.
Peter nodded earnestly, "Alright, Captain Carol!"
"This kid's the one in the red suit?," Valkyrie asked, wondering why some child was brought to the team.
"I mean, I'm eighteen, so technically not really a kid," Peter stumbled, "Um, hiya, Peter Parker."
Valkyrie snickered, "I'm Brunnhilde, King of Asgard."
"Oh my gosh, you're the woman who saved me with the pegasus! Oh my gosh, you were so badass! And that sword? Oh, man, that thing slicing that space whale thing, that was," the boy kissed his fingers, "Chef's kiss!...Sorry, was that too much? I'm not really good at this."
Brunnhilde raised an eyebrow and turned to Strange, who nodded, as if to say "trust me, he's good."
"Now, I believe we still have a few members still coming in," the doctor muttered before a knocking sound was heard. With a wave of his hand, King T'Challa suddenly appeared before the group with a look of surprise on his face.
"By Bast…," the king whispered.
Peter snickered a little, "Huh, I guess it is a little funny."
Rhodey began to walk down the stairs, "Nice to see Cat-Man here's on board."
T'Challa straightened his back, "Colonel. A pleasure seeing you again. I'm assuming you're the one behind all of this."
Rhodey scoffed, "I wish. No, our fearless leader should be arriving about now."
A thud came from the roof, getting everyone's attention.
"What the hell?," Carol asked.
"Hang on," Strange began to spin his arm, creating a portal to the roof. From it came a familiar bird-themed hero. Sam Wilson's wings folded back into his suit and his goggles came off.
"Whoa," Peter breathed.
"'Sup, everyone?," Sam waved to the group before turning to Rhodey, "Gang all here?"
"Still waiting on Dr. Pym and Orange Slices," Rhodey answered.
"You mean to tell me I wasted that entrance before we all got here, man?," Sam incredulously asked.
"I liked it, sir," Peter spoke up.
"Well, if it isn't Mr. Spider," Sam sarcastically noted.
"Hey, man, I'm sorry about Germany," Peter apologized, "I mean, it was cool and all, I mean I got to fight Falcon and the freaking Winter Soldier and...Sorry."
"All good. But trust me, Barnes wants that rematch," Sam joked.
"Yes, Barnes never stops talking about that," T'Challa said, joining in on the joke. Peter squirmed a little, not wanting a giant metal arm to slam into his face.
Suddenly, another portal opened up next to Sam as Scott and Hope flew through it, screaming. Hope quickly was able to land on her feet while Scott slammed into the wall.
"What the-Where the-Who the-?!," Scott began screaming.
"Hey, Tic-Tac. Ms. Tic-Tac," Sam greeted the two.
"Where in the hell are we?!," Hope shouted.
"Bigger question: Where is our car?!," Scott asked, Hope turning to him, surprised by the man's priorities.
"Welcome to the Sanctum Sanctorum," Doctor Strange explained.
The two turned to one another confused before Rhodey spoke up, "New York."
"Ohhh," the two realized.
"Great, now everyone's here," Sam grinned.
Rhodey turned, frowning, "What about Wanda?"
"The Scarlet Witch is coming?!," Peter enthusiastically grinned.
"Um...Wanda...she's not gonna be able to make it," the ex-pilot explained.
"Dammit. She doing any better?," the colonel sighed.
Sam shook his head. This was all badass and everything, but it was a shame that one of his closest friends couldn't make it. Unfortunately, the show had to go on.
He turned to the others and nodded, "Welcome, everybody. Let's get to work."
…
At the center of a large room was a display Stephen conjured, displaying a map of the planet. Most of the group members looked amazed by the display, while Sam stepped up.
"Since the Battle of New York, Earth put a target on itself. Not only were we the first to defeat Thanos's army, but we also had three Infinity Stones on our planet," Sam explained, "The only reason we didn't end up dead a million times over was because a group of people decided to step up."
"The Avengers," Carol nodded, "Even all the way in space, people knew their names. And they were itching for a way to come at them."
"And they eventually did," Rhodey sighed, "Enter Thanos. Guy comes in when we're all split up, kicks all our asses, and poof! Bye bye, half of the universe."
Peter, Sam, T'Challa, and Hope shifted uncomfortably, remembering their bodies turning to ash and dust and the sound of their friends screaming. Strange, however, didn't appear worried as he made a few gestures. The display changed to show six glowing stones.
"Now, we're the planet known for killing Thanos and destroying the Infinity Stones," Sam noted.
"I thought Thanos destroyed them?," Scott asked.
"Yeah, well, tell that to the rest of the universe," Valkyrie said.
"Just as Fury said," Rhodey shrugged, "Now, every world knows we're ready for a higher form of war."
"For once, that asshole was right," Carol snickered, "So, now, what? You got us together for the next time someone comes knocking our door looking for trouble."
"Right on point, glowstick," Rhodey smiled.
"Call me that again and you will see stars," Carol threatened the colonel. Rhodey only smirked.
"Quiet, glowstick," Valkyrie shushed, "Wizard, show them."
Stephen exhaled, "Everyone. You may want to brace yourself. This will get ugly."
Scott scoffed, "Oh c'mon, I'm sure we've seen worse th-"
From the center of the room, another portal opened, a blue corpse floating from it. Scott shrieked, grabbing onto Hope.
"What is this?," T'Challa asked, visibly concerned.
"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh," Peter stuttered, starting to panic. Rhodey grabbed the boy's shoulder, hoping to calm him down.
"This specimen is a Kree," Strange explained, "A group of fascistic aliens bent on spreading their rule across the cosmos and gaining control where they can."
Carol shifted, looking down at the ground with something that looked like shame. Valkyrie couldn't help but notice, recognizing guilt when she sees it.
"This blue bugger and his buddys broke in last night and almost took us out," Brunnhilde explained, "We don't know what they wanted, but where there's one Kree, there's always more."
"See? This is why we need y'all," Sam explained, "The Avengers are gone now and we're all that's left of them. I know you've all got your own things going on right now, but if we don't do anything, we're up a creek."
"Jesus," Peter gulped. He knew he had to step up and join the big leagues, but jumping straight into alien invasion territory, especially after Thanos was...a new level, to say the least.
"That's an understatement," Hope agreed.
Sam shook his head, "So, we need your help with this. We can't do this alone. Everybody here has got a skill, a connection, a power, something that can give us the upper hand against this invasion. We need to find out what's going on and how we can stop it."
The group each shared a look at each other, trying to read the room. Were they up for something this insane? Most of the guys they faced were more grounded. Criminals, terrorists, the occasional pick-pocket, not straight up intergalactic warriors. But they couldn't just ignore something like this.
"What did you have in mind?," T'Challa asked.
"I'm glad you asked," Strange grinned, "Captain?"
Carol pulled a case from behind her, "I picked this off of one of the soldiers."
She opened it up to reveal the remains of a bomb, pieces of metal shrapnel within it, "Most Kree weaponry is supposed to be untraceable, no evidence left over to find out which spot in the empire it came from. This thing, however, doesn't look like anything I've seen. The Kree are smart, but they're not exactly creative when it comes to advancing their tech."
"You seem to know a lot about them," T'Challa noted.
"Of course she does," Valkyrie spoke up, "She was one of them."
The rest of the group turned their eyes to Carol, who merely tightened her grip on the case. Even Peter shifted a little, a wary look in his eyes.
"I already told you, I used to be one of them. Until I found out they brainwashed me into being their personal A-bomb," Carol explained.
"Like the Winter Soldier?," Scott spoke up.
"Kind of, yeah," Sam shrugged in agreement.
Carol sighed, "Thing is, I can't figure out where this thing came from. At least, not on my own."
"I've looked it over. Definitely from this reality," Strange said.
"This reality?," Peter asked, "Oh god, there really is a multiverse? Holy shit!"
"Yeah, take it from me, kid, it ain't as cool as you think," Scott warned the boy, Strange nodding in agreement.
"That's why we need you guys. Dr. Pym, Peter, T'Challa, you guys know how to work with tech," Rhodey explained, "Think you can trace where it was made?"
Hope sighed, "I can try, but I make no promises."
"We will do our best," T'Challa nodded.
"I mean, you sure you don't want my help?," Scott asked, "I mean, I'm no Einstein, but I know my way around tech."
"Let him nowhere near this thing," Hope warned the others.
"Hey, come on, you can trust me with it," Scott argued, "After all, I am the guy who saved the universe."
"Oh for god's sake," Hope groaned, covering her face with her hands.
"Pretty sure that was Mr. Stark," Peter spoke up, defending his former mentor.
"I agree. I'm sure it was Stark," T'Challa nodded.
"Now, let's not lose track," Strange rolled his eyes, "...Besides, technically it was me."
"You were dead!," Scott shouted.
"Well, I'm immediately feeling the bonding experience," Rhodey sarcastically smiled.
Sam groaned, "Now, as for everybody else, if we're going to go up against one of the biggest empires in the universe, we're going to need to be ready. It's time to train."