Chapter 27
The heroes ducked and weaved as Goblins began raining down at them and attacking them. Carol was firing beams of photon energy at the cackling monsters. A horde of bombs began smashing into her, but the energy from the explosions only caused Carol to glow brighter.
"Power-up!" Carol smirked before firing back, zooming through the air and destroying any that came her way.
Scott was trying to grab as many as he could in his Giant-Man form, "Nope! Nuh-uh! Where do you think you're going?"
Some were beginning to attack his helmet, trying to invade the suit, but luckily an idea popped into his head.
Scott pondered, "I wonder…" before reaching a finger to his ear.
Before any of the Goblins could break in, the sound of buzzing filled the air. Shrieks were heard from the Goblins as tiny Kree insects began attacking them, flying into their suits and biting at them.
"Huh, guess every world's got a pest problem."
Valkyrie on her pegasus slashed at as many as she could with Shuri was riding behind her, blasting at any who came close.
"WOOOOHOOOOO!" Shuri and Valkyrie yelled as they soared through the skies.
Wanda used her powers to grab any pumpkin bombs flying at her friends and tossing them right back at the enemy. Strange and Wong opened up portals to redirect bombs at their opponents and send them crashing into one another.
Nakia even used one of the portals they opened to toss one of her blades at an enemy several feet away from her who was about to strike Okoye and Rhodey. After clawing at one enemy, T'Challa jumped into the air and grabbed her blade, tossing it back at her.
"Yeah, I can definitely see why you're getting married" Rhodey chuckled, "Hop on!"
Rhodey flew forward as T'Challa lept over and grabbed onto him. In mid-air, Rhodey tossed T'Challa forward as the Panther darted from glider to glider, swiping away at Goblins and watching them fall off, with Rhodey blasting at their rides.
Bucky spotted one of the Goblins soaring towards him and pulled out one of his blades, sending it flying into its chest. As the Goblin fell off its glider, Bucky jumped into the air and caught himself a ride, balancing himself on it.
Shuri laughed at the sight, her on the pegasus right next to him, "Found yourself a new whip, Sergeant?"
"Who says Sam's the only one who can fly?" Bucky grinned.
Hope was shrinking in and out through the gaps in the Goblins' armors, bursting out of their green chest-plates and blasting them off their gliders.
Okoye noticed her and yelled out, "Doctor!", before throwing her spear in Hope's direction.
The Wasp lifted herself up into the air and, while shrunken down, grabbed onto the flying spear as she was pulled through the air. Wong spotted this and began opening portals for the spear to fly through, as Hope fired her stingers at any Goblin coming her way.
A final portal was opened as the spear gracefully returned to its owner, who in a swift move, jabbed it into the heart of an oncoming Goblin right before Hope enlarged and blasted it in the face.
"Nice work", Okoye complimented the physicist.
"Thanks, I-", Hope struggled not to vomit in her helmet from the ride, "Let's not do it again."
And at the center of the chaos was Peter and Sam vs Norman Osborn.
Osborn had finally lost it, cackling mad as he flew through the air in his armored suit, firing as the two heroes circled around him. No longer was his suit sporting the patriotic colors of America, but now the green and purple of the Goblins.
The torso and gauntlets a violet hue, the neck, limbs, and helmet a shining green. The faceplate now stuck in a sinister golden smile, the back of the helmet pointed and purple.
Gone was the Iron Patriot, here was the Iron Goblin.
Sam was using his shield to defend himself as he tossed it past Norman's head.
Norman laughed, "Missed me! Missed me! Now you gotta-!"
His taunts were interrupted by Peter swinging forward with the shield and slamming into him from the back of the head with it, the arachnid sticking on Norman's back with the shield lifted high.
"Kiss me? Rather not!" Peter joked.
Norman growled as he fired at the kid. Peter was quick to defend himself with the shield but the blasts still launched him away.
Sam swooped in, legs out and ready to kick Norman dead center in the chest but the businessman was able to bend backwards, grab Sam by the waist, and toss him downwards into an oncoming Goblin.
The captain crashed into the creature, knocking it off its glider, as he tried to catch himself before he could fall any further. But Osborn's throw caused Sam to glide unsteadily once the wings were out and he struggled to reposition himself, only narrowly missing the concrete below.
Osborn aimed his wrist launcher at Wilson, grinning, "So long, 'Cap'."
"Chirp! Chirp!"
He could only give a quick confused reaction before Sam's drone blasted from behind him, knocking Osborn off-course.
"WOO! Way to go, Redwing!", Sam yelled out as he began flying back up.
"Is he talking to the robot?" Strange asked as he fended off Goblins.
"Don't question it" Wanda sighed.
Peter swung around, knocking away Goblins in his path, as he threw the shield at Osborn's back. It crashed right into his shoulder and flew back into Sam's arm, right before Sam slammed the disk into Norman's face on the way up.
Sam stopped his ascent, blue and white wings spreading out and shining brightly in the sunlight, as Peter swung onto his back, peering over his shoulder at the enraged Iron Goblin.
"Think we ticked him off?" Sam asked.
Osborn began chuckling sinisterly, his face-plate lifting up to show off his green-tinged, deranged face.
"I'd say so" Peter nodded.
"You know, I gotta hand it to ya! This was impressive, I really have to give you all props!", Osborn smiled, "I can't think of anyone else who's managed to be enough of a roadblock like you folks. It's gonna make killing you so much more rewarding."
"Yeah, he's definitely lost it" Sam muttered, as the nutcase began firing at the two.
Strange looked up from fighting off the Goblins to see the two fighting Osborn.
"Hey, Maximoff" he called out, "Remember when you said I was holding back?"
Wanda tossed an enemy away before turning to the sorcerer, "Yeah, why?"
Strange readied himself, "Everybody might wanna hang on!"
His hands lit up as a ripple of energy burst outward from him, the world shifting like a giant mirror. Building began dropping down, gravity was becoming flipped, the floor itself was shifting like a river. The Avengers had now entered the Mirror Dimension.
"Trippy magic shit for the win!" Rhodey cheered.
Skyscrapers began crashing onto fleets of Goblins as our heroes knocked them around using the now bizarre environment to their advantage.
"What in God's-?" Osborn muttered, staring at the sky.
While he was distracted, Sam zoomed forward and crashed into Osborn, pushing the tin man forward and letting go, the force of the push sending him crashing through one of the buildings bending down.
Norman yelled as it toppled onto him, damaging his suit's thrusters and repulsors, and leaving him in free-fall.
Goblins tried to fly away as they were crushed or lost in various structures collapsing, as Strange worked his powers and showed his enemies who the Sorcerer Supreme was.
Peter swung around the floating structures as he fired a web at Rhodey flying by, being pulled forward through the air as they flew through a chasm of skyscrapers being formed.
"WOOOOOO!" the two yelled as Peter fired webs at any monsters still popping out at them and Rhodey stretched his arms out and fired from his gauntlets.
T'Challa and Bucky landed on the ground as the super-soldier looked around at the Goblins still circling the skies, "How many of these damn things are there?!"
Wanda turned her gaze up ahead as doubt began to cloud her head, the numbers becoming too overwhelming, her breathing growing faster and faster.
"Wanda" Strange looked to the witch, a caring look in his eyes, "Wanda, just breathe. Look ahead. You have destroyed robots, battleships, monsters. The power is in your hands…Just focus."
"...Okay…Okay, focus…Focus…"
Maximoff's face softened as she closed her eyes, energy flowing through her hands, her feet rising off of the ground as her head turned to the skies.
And in a moment, her eyes flashed wide open, a bright red hue shining from it as tendrils of crimson energy shot her fingers and struck the minds of the Goblins.
Within one second, the creatures went from cackling mad and bombing the heroes, to stopping mid-flight right in their tracks. With a flick of her wrist, they descended to the ground and stood in place, incapacitated and in her control.
Wanda chuckled a little in surprise, "Holy shit, that worked."
Strange grinned, "Told you."
Wong hummed in agreement, "Question, have you ever considered a path in sorcery?"
The other Avengers rushed forward, uniting at the center of the city as they stared at the defeated Goblins. With a wave of his hand, Strange returned the world to the way it was, the group now no longer in the Mirror Dimension.
Carol landed to the ground, tossing away the remains of a glider, "Well, I'd call that a win, right?"
"I'd call that awesome!" Shuri whooped as she hopped off Valkyrie's horse, "If this is the type of crazy nonsense you people get into, sign me up as an Avenger!"
"I wouldn't celebrate so fast" Okoye warned.
"She's right" Sam walked forward, "Anyone got eyes on Osb-?"
Before he could finish, from up above, "Can the Avengers come out to play?!"
Aboard a glider he no doubt stole from one of his minions, Norman soared downwards at the Avengers, the front of his helmet shining its disturbing grin.
And in his hands, now sharpened and almost claw-like, were a set of pumpkin bombs he lobbed at the heroes below.
"Get down!" Sam yelled as he raised his wings up to protect the others, Scott enlarging to guard them with his giant hand as well.
The bombs exploded upon impact as the Goblin flew overhead. Wanda stretched her arms out and used her abilities to stop the glider from flying off, but right as she did that…
"Clink! Clink!" went the bomb as it landed right beside the mutant.
"OH CR-!" she barely managed to yell as it exploded right beside her, her powers only activated fast enough to guard her from its detonation as she and the others flew through the air before crashing back down.
The witch dropped to the ground, trying to get up. With a last move, she waved her hand so the Goblins she managed to paralyze dropped to the floor unconscious, with her following right after.
The resulting explosion shook the ground as one of the buildings near the center, already unstable from the fight, began to tremble and fall forward.
"Danvers!" Sam yelled out.
"On it!" Carol blasted off of the ground and grabbed onto the falling structure, pushing forward and struggling to find a way to center it without the whole thing crashing down.
Strange began to work his magic by opening a portal beneath the building, allowing it to fall through to…somewhere else where it wouldn't pose a danger.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!" Norman laughed as he flew off.
Sam's face sunk into a deep glare as he inhaled, lining up his shot, stretching back, and SWING!
His shield spun through the sky, red, white, and blue in a blur of motion, as it nailed the back of the glider, the Iron Goblin being knocked off of his balance and falling off of it.
"I got him!" Peter flicked his wrist as a string of web fired from it, reaching Norman's back and being yanked back to pull him in.
However, before the businessman could reach the ground, the glider swung back around and caught him, slicing off the rope of webbing as he rebalanced himself on the glider.
"Good effort, I'll give you that!" Osborn chuckled.
Carol and Strange lifted off of the ground after Norman, but with only a small tap from his left foot onto a button on the glider, BOOM!
A wave of vibrational energy blasted outwards, sending the two flying back to the ground. Valkyrie and Wong quickly rushed over to help them up.
"That attack!" T'Challa looked up in surprise, "It looked like-"
"Vibranium tech" Osborn sneered, "How do you like it? Put your fancy metal to good use, real helpful. The vibranium weaving on the suit is a nice plus as well."
"Great" Rhodey muttered, "Now we've got an impenetrable asshole to deal with."
Scott chuckled, "Lucky for us, any asshole can be penetrated if you know where to look."
"Why the actual hell did you phrase it like that?" Hope turned to Scott disgusted.
"Of all the words to use, man" Rhodey tilted his head.
"The point is we know his weak points!" Scott exasperatingly whispered in his defense.
"What's the plan now, huh, Norman?" Peter yelled out, "Your Goblins are down, I doubt the Kree are gonna strike up another deal with you! What've you got?!"
"Like I said, Peter, this is a minor roadblock. I kill you, destroy your little spider-drone, world never knows about any of this. Off-chance you loaded that recording somewhere else, shouldn't be hard to say it was faked" Osborn explained, "Either way, I win and you..."
He twiddled a bomb in his arm, "Well, I'll make sure the press knows about how my valiant Avengers gave their lives to save the world."
Osborn zoomed forward, his glider firing blasts of kinetic energy to keep the stronger heroes down. As he swooped over them, he stopped mid-air to let down a beam of the energy to make sure they stayed down, the force pushing the heroes into the ground.
Scott struggled but slowly, he reached towards his belt and pulled out a shrinking disc, "Here…it…goes!"
With a desperate throw, the disc hits its target as Norman's glider shrinks down, the madman falling through the air but managing to land on his feet, the street cracking underneath him. The heroes encircled them, everyone's powers and weapons readied.
With a loud yell, he rose back up and began firing kinetic energy from his gauntlets at all angles, his arms stretched out at his sides.
Everyone ducked in and out, each tried to attack, but Osborn either weaved through it, managed to hit them with a blast, or found a way so they can be attacked by their own teammates' assaults.
Carol launched herself forward and was the closest to wearing him down, but the stability of the suit and the vibranium's covering and reinforcements kept her from simply busting through it.
She began to heat up the suit, hoping to cook out Osborn, but right as she did so, he grabbed her and turned her in the direction of a golden beam Strange was firing at Osborn's back, the captain flying off of his body.
She skidded next to Hope, rolling back her shoulders, "Okay, heated him up, but this suit's strong."
"Yeah, well, there's always a gap to go for" Hope shrunk down and soared towards the Goblin.
As Bucky and T'Challa managed to grab both of his arms, Hope tried to shrink into Osborn's suit, letting her stingers attack the inner-wiring now weakened by Carol's heat attack.
Lights flashed inside Osborn's helmet, warning him of an intruder, "Oh how I do hate bugs."
He managed to charge up his suit and release a blast of energy outwards, sending T'Challa, Bucky, and Hope off of him.
"Anyone else think they're strong enough to-?!"
Before Osborn could finish that, he quickly had to save himself from Scott's massive foot crushing him, the businessman holding the giant shoe above his head for dear life.
"Sorry, what was that? Couldn't hear ya?" Scott joked.
Osborn grunted, the serum in his veins and the vibranium reinforcements being all that was keeping Lang from crushing him.
From behind, Valkyrie dove in and with her sword, slashed at the joints of Osborn's armor, causing Norman to buckle a little from the pressure. She held her blade at his throat and pulled back, trying to slice it into his throat.
"Come on now" Brunnhilde groaned, "Stop fighting it."
Osborn grunted as he fired a blast into the ground that sent him flying out of the way from beneath Scott's foot and pushed Valkyrie back off of him. He steadied himself as he lobbed a bomb at Scott's belt, the explosing sending the poor man back to regular size.
Scott yelped, "Shit!", as he began rushing to fix the device.
Norman prepared another strike before Sam's shield crashed into his head and ricotched back to its owner.
With the whackjob disoriented, Strange levitated into the sky as a swarm of arms swirled around him, before he burst into a horde of copies which encircled Osborn, each with their own whip.
"How hard did I get hit in the head?" Osborn muttered.
"Believe me, headache's about to get a lot worse" Strange smirked.
With their golden whips, the Stranges managed to rope up Osborn, pulling him apart by his limbs.
Peter leaped forward and began webbing up Osborn's legs, sticking them to the ground, before jumping through the air and landing a kick to his face.
Rhodey began blasting at the armor's back, hoping to weaken it so they could rip Osborn out of it.
"Come on, almost there, almost there" Rhodey muttered.
Carol launched forward, trying to dig her hands into the chest plate to rip it off, allowing her photon energy to start scorching the suit.
But even for Osborn, enough was simply, "ENOUGH!"
With a blast of kinetic energy, the heroes were sent flying off, the Strange clones disappearing as well. Everyone was sent rolling to the ground, disheveled, tired.
Osborn staggered forward, breathing heavily, "This game was fun, but…I'm tired of playing…Don't you get it? You can wear the suits…Call each other whatever you'd like…But you're not the heroes here."
Peter looked up, pausing. His ribs felt like they were crushed, his vision was woozy, his head was pounding. He should've stayed down, let himself pass out.
But instead, up the spider rose.
"You're right, Osborn…We're not the heroes" the Spider-Man said as he got back on his feet, readying himself.
"We're the Avengers."
He roared as he rushed forward, Osborn running towards him as well. Peter jumped into the air and landed right on Norman, beginning to wallop the businessman as hard as he could to disorient him.
Peter jumped into the sky and fired two strands at Norman's shoulders and landed on the ground to try and pull his arms back, with Norman resisting the kid's attempts.
But before he could do anything, Carol blasted forward and sent the man soaring, a punch from Bucky's vibranium arm sending him flying right back.
In mid-air, Sam's shield smacked right into Osborn's face again and a ring blade from Nakia got him in the neck, sparks flying from beneath Norman's helmet as he dropped to the ground.
Valkyrie and Okoye took this chance to slide in and slice at his ankles with their weapons, the joints of Norman's suit falling off and leaving his legs exposed.
Both Hope's stingers, Shuri's vibranium energy, and Rhodey's repulsor beams smashed right into Osborn, pinning him to the ground with the power of the beams.
Norman tried to shrug it off but before he could do so, red tendrils of energy wrapped around his body and pushed him down.
Wanda rose up, her powers trying to seep into Norman's mind, but his jumble of thoughts and confusion making it difficult to pacify him.
The Iron Goblin fired his gauntlets at her but rather than the beams hitting their target, a portal opened between her and Osborn, the beam being sent to hit Osborn's chest.
Golden whips from Strange and Wong encircled both arms, pulling Osborn's arms apart as he strained from their pulling. Strange rose himself into the air using his cloak and with Rhodey, pulled at the magical rope, while Wong stayed on the ground to hold Osborn down, Valkyrie, Bucky, and Okoye rushing over to help him pull.
He tried to start up the rockets in his boots to flip his way out but a glob of webbing splattered onto his right leg and trapped him from raising it. Peter pulled at the thread, Sam and Shuri helping him hold it.
And his left one? Swarmed by ants who were pinning it down.
Scott smiled underneath his helmet, clicking his now repaired belt, "ANTS, bitch!"
"YOU CAN'T STOP ME!" Osborn yelled, "THIS ISN'T HOW IT GOES! THIS ISN'T HOW IT ENDS!"
"Yeah, well change of plans" Sam watched as Osborn was pinned down from every angle and yelled out, "DANVERS, T'CHALLA!"
T'Challa readied himself as he rushed, his body glowing purple from the stored up kinetic energy, as Carol flew downwards, golden with photon energy. Carol aimed for the front and T'Challa the back and at the exact same time, a fist was launched from each other.
The two punches landed on Osborn's body at the exact same second, BOOM!
A ripple of light flashed, the world going white.
And once it returned to normal, there was dust, clouds of it. The street destroyed and smoke in the air.
At the center was Norman. On his knees, his suit in pieces. His helmet gone, one of his arms bare and armor-less. His face was messy, covered in sweat and dirt, his hair no longer neat and combed but disheveled. His chest-plate looked like it was barely holding on, the reactor at the center of it flickering on and off.
He panted as his eyes looked up. And circling around him were the Avengers.
Osborn sneered, trying to rise back up, "You…You think this is over?...YOU THINK-?!"
Right before he could even finish, Peter calmly walked up and smashed his fist right through Norman's chestplate.
"Yeah" the teen spoke, looking the scared Norman right in the eyes, "We do."
With a quick tug, the arc reactor was torn clean from Norman's suit, flickering off as Norman dropped back down, the power lost in his suit. The bright green and purples faded away and left only a dull gray in its place.
Peter smirked as he handed the reactor over to Sam. He looked at it in his hand, nodding as he gave a look of respect to Parker.
"Nice work, Spider-Man."
"Thanks, Cap."
Sam marched forward, shield in his hand, his posture straightened and serious, "Norman Osborn, you're under arrest."
Norman could only glare at the captain in rage as Rhodey from behind cuffed him.
"Yeah, not gonna lie, this feels good" Rhodey cheekily grinned, walking away to signal the ship to return to pick them up.
While the others were getting prepared to head off, Peter looked down at Norman, disappointment in his eyes.
"You know, I really did think you were on my side earlier" Osborn grumbled.
Peter scoffed, "I wasn't lying when I said I looked up to you. You are one of the greatest scientists in the world, your work amazed me…I really didn't want this to be another Mysterio."
From behind his back, no one could see Osborn's cuffed hands slowly and sneakily reaching for a small remote stored in his suit.
"It's not too late, Peter" Norman said, "There is so much potential in you. More of a son to me than my own boy."
A click of a button allowed for his glider to rise back up, it's sharpened edges pointing out and aiming right at Peter.
"You and I" Osborn looked up pleadingly, "We can still be a team."
Peter looked him dead in the eyes and with no hesitation said, "I have a team. They're called the Avengers."
Norman's face dropped to a deadpan glare, "Godspeed, Spider-Man."
Another push and the glider shot forward, zooming past the other heroes.
The kid felt the danger arriving even before Scott could yell, "PETER, LOOK OUT!"
Right before it could hit him, Peter flipped into the air, the glider missing him.
However, it ended up finding a new target.
Osborn didn't yell, no attempt to run, only a tiny and scared, "Oh."
As the glider found its way to his chest and pierced his armor, sending him flying back and dropping to the ground.
"Peter, are you okay?!" Strange rushed forward.
"Yeah, I'm fine!" he said before looking to Norman's still body, "Oh my God…Is…Is he-?"
Shuri stepped forward and gave a quick kick to Norman.
"Ohhh" Norman moaned in pain.
She gave a happy thumbs-up, "Nope! He's good! Suit saved him!"
"Oh God, that was a bad call" Norman groaned in pain.
"Yep, really was" Carol agreed.
"Yeah, what was the plan there?" Strange asked.
Rhodey and Bucky grabbed Osborn and lifted him away to the ship, holding him tightly.
"So what do we do about those guys?" Hope asked, pointing to the unconscious Goblins.
Wong answered that by simply opening a portal beneath them, the green monsters simply falling through it.
"Huh. Guess that" Hope nodded.
"Wait, where'd you send them?" Wanda asked.
…
Talos marched to the control room of the Peak, "Does someone want to explain to me why there's a bunch of weird, green men in the middle of the ship?"
The other Skrulls looked to one another, confused.
"No, not green men like us, I meant" he groaned, "Danvers better have an explanation for this."
…
Osborn was strapped onto the ship as the heroes began preparing to lift off, returning to home finally.
"What're we gonna do with him?" Bucky asked.
"Well, we got the recording. He confessed, can't lie about whatever serum he's got going on in his body" Sam noted, "Five bucks says our boy's heading to the Raft for a looong time."
T'Challa nodded, "As for the other Goblins, their powers and what they have done to their minds, I am sure Shuri can come up with something to cure them."
"You bet your royal bum I can!" Shuri yelled out from inside the ship, earning a smile from T'Challa, who walked inside, sitting beside his fiance and greeting her with a kiss.
"So just to recap" Nakia shifted in her seat, "In just a few days, I have battled insane men dressed like monsters, alien soldiers, and now I have traveled to space with the Avengers."
"We live very strange lives" T'Challa noted.
"Agreed."
T'Challa nodded as a smile crept on his face, "But you were right. The world needs hope and maybe the Black Panther with the Avengers can give it to them."
Nakia grinned, placing her hand on his cheek lovingly, "I will never get tired of you admitting I am right."
"Then lucky for you, he is wrong half of the time" Okoye snarked, cleaning her spear and earning a laugh from Shuri, "Ooooh! Burn, brother!"
"Ey, I could fire both of you right this moment" T'Challa joked, Nakia giggling and burying her face into his neck.
"Try me, the kingdom would fall in five minutes" Okoye grinned.
…
Strange clicked on his seatbelt as he turned to Wanda on his left, who was icing her forehead from the blast, "You alright?"
"Yeah, just still a little woozy from the blast and the Goblins" Wanda sighed, "I don't really like using the mind control trick, so, y'know."
"I can get that. But you saved our asses out there, can't overlook that" Strange noted.
Wanda chuckled, "That was pretty awesome, right?"
"Bit reckless, could use some finesse" Wong noted as he sat down beside her, "But yes. Awesome."
Strange looked at her for a moment, "You know, Wong and I are serious. About if you're interested in sorcery."
Wanda stared at him, and then turned to Wong, "Are you sure? My powers are a bit of a handful. Even I don't fully get them."
"Eh, we've taught worse" Wong shrugged, "I mean, we turned him into a sorcerer."
"Hey!" Stephen exclaimed, insulted.
Wanda chuckled, "You know, I…I could always use an excuse to get out of the house."
"Good to hear" Wong smiled.
"Welcome to the magical world of mystic wonders, Miss Wanda" Strange grinned.
…
"Antoine, Antoinette, Ulysses S. Grant" Scott counted as his ants piled into a small case on his belt, "Yep, everyone's counted for.
"You really count every single ant, dude?" Rhodey raised an eyebrow at this.
"He likes the personal connection" Hope explained.
"Weird" Rhodey rolled his eyes, "But they came through. And so did you, Lang."
"Ah, no biggie" Scott shrugged, "Only got us the info on the gaps in Osborn's armor and design flaws that allowed us to weaken it and defeat him, no biggie. Hashtag humble bra-"
"Aaaand I'm gone" Rhodey walked over to his seat.
"Oh, and off he goes."
Hope turned to Scott and gave him a grin, "You did good."
"So did you" Scott placed his hand on hers and leaned in for a kiss.
He buckled his belt as he sighed, "You know I feel so good, I almost don't want to ground Cassie for apparently getting involved in hacktivism. Almost."
…
"VERS!" yelled out Yon-Rogg as he marched towards the captain.
"Oh you gotta be joking" she groaned.
"You. You think you can come to my planet and stop us? Again?"
"Look, bro, it's done. If you need help cleaning up, I'll come back once I'm finished with this."
"Oh you are not leaving now" Yon growled, dropping his weapons and putting up his fists, "Not until we have our rematch."
"Okay, dude, I honestly don't care right now" Carol bluntly stated, "Our beef…Frankly, I'm above this, Yon. I used to think you were the devil, this demon who ruined my life…But really, you're just some pathetic dick."
Yon looked up in confusion.
"I mean, you got punked by a Terran in a green D&D costume, this is a fail for you" Carol pointed out.
"Enough!" Yon-Rogg shouted, "I am not letting this day end in failure. I am not going to let you leave like this! I AM NOT-!"
Before he could finish, a pumpkin bomb was tossed his way and blew up right in front of him, sending him soaring across the air before smashing into the side of a building, dropping unconscious.
Carol turned to see who threw it, shock on her face.
"What?" Valkyrie asked, "He talks too much."
"...True."
"Oi!" Valkyrie yelled out, holding up some more bombs, "Any of you got something to say too?!"
The rest of Starforce stared at her in surprise before dropping their weapons.
"I don't get paid enough for this" Minn-Erva quickly said.
"Nope" Att-Lass spoke.
"I never really liked him!" Bron-Charr stammered.
"What I thought!" Valkyrie smirked as she walked off, Carol following her, "I'm definitely keeping this."
Carol snickered, "...Thanks. For sticking around and helping."
"Eh" Valkyrie shrugged, "Not like I've got much else to do back home."
"Sure, right…But thanks. I know you don't like me and I know I messed things up with you earlier, so…Thank you."
"...Anytime, Danvers."
"Hey" the captain stopped, putting a hand on the other's shoulder, "Call me Carol."
Valkyrie blushed before letting out a quick chuckle, "Alright…Carol."
…
"You know, I only knew that Osborn guy for like a little bit and already I hate his guts" Bucky joked, standing on the ramp as Carol and Valkyrie piled in.
"Yeah, imagine being stuck with him for a whole adventure" Sam replied.
Bucky smiled before turning to Sam with pride, "First mission, a success. How you feeling?"
Sam contemplated on this for a moment before saying, "It was a bumpy road, y'know. Ups, downs, but you know what?"
He looked inside of the quinjet at his newfound friends, "I'm proud of us."
"You should be…Cap."
"Yeah, still feels weird."
"Eh, it'll grow."
"Maybe" Sam said, "You know, team can always use an extra hand. Maybe even a metal one."
"Classy" Bucky joked, "I don't know if I'm the type of guy you'd want."
Sam scoffed, "Have you seen who we've got so far? Can't be any worse than Lang."
Bucky considered it for a moment. Someone like him, an ex-assassin, at the frontlines with the others. Would someone with that big a body-count even belong next to Captain America?
But he saw one glimpse of Sam's face and said, "You know what? Gotta have someone to watch your feathered ass. Might as well be me."
"OHhohoh! Oh, you wanna do it like that!"
"Yeah, just like that" Bucky walked into the ship.
"Okay, okay, I see you" Sam chortled as he walked onto the ship, the ramp lifting up as the it began to take off.
…
Ned Leeds walked around his room with a gown in hand, when his phone began ringing.
"Hello?"
"Dude?"
"Peter!" Ned exclaimed.
"Oh my God, Ned! Dude!" Peter shouted happily, "You're-! Wait, are you out?"
"Got out an hour ago! They said the charges were dropped, I was free to go!" Ned explained.
"Great! They got the results back!"
"Results?"
"Oh yeah, it's a long story, I'll tell you all about it" Peter quickly said, "Short version, you're not the Goblin, Osborn was."
"NO! What?!"
"I know, right! It was crazy, he had this whole plan! Framed a bunch of people, he tried to kill us!"
"My boss tried to frame me?!"
"I know, crazy, right?!"
"Yeah! Dang, that means I'm out of a job now, right?"
"Uh, maybe, I don't really know. You were too good for him anyways."
"Thanks, man. Wait, where are you?" Ned asked.
"Uhh, a bit far out. Just have to finish some stuff up before heading back."
"Cool. You think you'll get here on time?"
"On time? For what?" Peter asked.
"Uh, graduation, dude. Ceremony starts in a half-hour!"
"...Graduation?" Peter whimpered, eyes wide.
"Yeah! Where are you?"
Peter turned his head towards the window of the Peak, the inky blackness of space ever present.
"I gotta call you back" Peter hung up before yelling, "Uhh, can someone give me a ride?! Anyone?!"
One more chapter left to go!