Chapter One: Sacrifice.

Peter knew that in order for Thanos to be defeated, he needed to stop holding back. He was worried about killing him, but stark had drilled it into his head that the world did not have the luxury of a choice.

It's either they win, or the universe loses.

With great power, comes great responsibility. He can't afford to not give it his all against Thanos, because it he didn't, trillions could lose their lives.

When it came down to it, Thanos had to die.

Peter quill had gotten angry, something to do with Thanos killing his girlfriend. Which was messed up, but unfortunately, Quill reacted with his heart, not his head. They lost their advantage, and Thanos put the gauntlet back on while blasting everyone back.

Everyone except Spidey, who stuck to his back with his adhesive spider powers.

"Its going to take a lot more than you think to get rid of me!" the teenager quipped, flipping over Thanos head to punch him square in the face.

The mad titan staggered, feeling his jaw crack under the spider's fist. Spidey dodged each attempt to grab him and retaliated with a smack, kick or punch to the giant's body.

"That actually hurt, it seems you are more than just an insect!" Thanos sneered out, finally catching Peter with his hand before tossing him onto the floor.

Spidey grunted as he landed on his feet, having flipped in the air. "Thanks, but there's Wrong thing you got wrong about that..."

Four metal legs shot out of his back and curved around his side, aiming forwards. "I'm an arachnid."

The teenager then leapt forwards and stabbed his legs through Thanos chest, with the ends of said appendages going out of the titan's back.

The purple giant froze, shock and anger evident on his face. He looked down and spat blood on the floor before staring back up at Peter. He was a conqueror, a true lord of space, an emperor of galaxies, and yet this mere human filth had injured him so greatly!?

"If I can't win boy, neither can you." Thanos snarled, holding up the gauntlet.

Spidey's lenses widened as he realized what the titan was about to do. The Avengers tried to get away, but Thanos used his free hand to hold the legs in place, keeping the teenager stuck where he was. Unable to escape his fate.

A purple light filled the air. And a loud explosion was heard.

"Peter!" Tony yelled out in horror, too late to do anything as he watched the power stone light up.

Seconds later, Peter collided with the floor, a smoking hole in his chest. His mask rescinded into his suit, showing the sweaty and dirty face of the teenager.

"Friday." Tony asked, his helmet folding back into the suit as he kneeled next to his protégé.

"life signs critical" the AI replied, her tone sad.

"H-Hi mister stark." Peter greeted, a small smile on his face. He coughed a few times, each one forcing blood out of his mouth. "I got him good huh?"

"His healing factor is trying to repair the damage, but its too extensive!" Friday revealed

"Stay with me. Quill, bug girl, grab a med pack or whatever you have in your ship!" Tony yelled to the others, who had stopped in shock after witnessing what had happened.

Strange put a hand on Tony's shoulder. "Stark.." he muttered, but Tony shrugged it off.

"Do something Steven, use the time stone and rewind the effects or whatever!" The billionaire begged him.

The sorcerer sighed, his heart heavy. "A wound inflicted from the power stone, cannot be healed by conventional means. My magic nor the time stone will work on him, I'm sorry." He told the man.

Tony's face went ashen white, and he was about to yell at the man, only for Peter to tug on his arm.

"It's okay mister stark. Everything is going to be okay. Just do me a favour and Keep an eye on my aunt, if you're able to." The boy asked.

"I promise kiddo, she'll be okay. I'll make sure of it. You're friend too, don't worry okay? Just stay awake." Tony vowed.

He'd do anything for the kid. The teenager had just saved the damn universe! He didn't deserve to die. He was supposed to have his life ahead of him.

"I don't think I can do that mister stark, I'm sorry, but I just feel so...cold." And with that, Peter's body went limp, and his eyes lost their light.

Spiderman was dead.

Peter Parker, was dead.

Tony brought the boy onto his lap, tears falling from his eyes. He had tried to protect him, he had told the kid not to follow, but he had ignored it, Consequences be damned.

He owed it to the kid to tell the world just what this boy had done. This was a wake up call to humanity.

To the avengers, to the team.

A child had died, saving the universe. Not a grown warrior, or a seasoned tactician. Not a god or a super soldier. A child.

"Look.. stark, I'm sorry-" Starlord tried to apologise.

"NO, you don't get to speak. So zip it star face. You are not welcome on earth, you failed to stop Thanos. We have all lost people, but we have to push it aside otherwise something like this happens. I want you to take a good look at this kid's face, his name was Peter too. And he is dead because of us. I for one didn't protect him enough, but your the one who lost his cool and caused his death. This, this is on you." Tony told the man, glaring directly at him.

Starlord remained silent. Unable to say a word in reply. Because what was there to say? The armoured man was right. Quill had blown it.

"His sacrifice will be remembered." Nebula said softly, looking at the boy's body with guilt and sorrow.

"He avenged my wife and daughters, I will spread his story amongst the stars." Drax added, agreeing with nebula.

Tony nodded. "Thank you, Strange, grab the space stone. The so called guardians can have the power one, I don't want to be anywhere near it. Let's go home... I've got a funeral to plan."

~ - ~

"Your story is not over yet."

Peter shot up with a gasp, his eyes widening as he looked around in a panic.

He just died... he had felt the blast of energy go through him, he saw Tony kneeling with him. He was dead. And yet, he now wasn't?

Unless this was heaven.

Or hell?

I mean, the poor kid knew he had made a lost of little mistakes, but if he was in hell then he guess they were BIG mistakes.

"You are not in hell young one." A soft older voice chuckled.

Peter shot up, holding up his fists in front of him. Ready to fight-

Was that a floating man with a giant bald head? Also what is with the robe..

"Greetings Peter Parker, Spiderman. I am the watcher."

~ - ~

Tony walked out of the portal to an army awaiting Thanos. However upon seeing him instead, they relaxed.

Steve, T'challa and Natasha began to walk over, only to see what the man was carrying. The body of a teenager.

The body of Spiderman.

"What happened." Natasha asked, her tone cold.

"We had him, right there. But someone lost their cool and thanos broke free, Spiderman held thanos back and beat him down. As the madman was dying, he used the stones to take Spidey's life." Tony explained, brushing some hair out of Peter's eyes.

"He was that petty?" Bruce muttered. Aghast at what he was seeing.

"A boy...saved us?" Okeye muttered, disgusted that a child had to die so they could win agaisnt the titan.

"A hero, saved you. An avenger." Tony growled, eyes narrowed.

Okeye bowed her head, embarrassed by her own words.

"His sacrifice was not in vain." Captain Rogers muttered, eyes soft. He remembered fighting against Spiderman in Germany.

"There didnt need to be a sacrifice, he died because of our mistakes Steve. And now I've got to face his aunt and tell her that her only living relative, who should have outlived her, is dead. So excuse me, but I'm going to the Quinjet. If you don't mind King T'challa I have a funeral to arrange, so I apologise for not being so...associative while I'm here."

The black panther merely shook his head. "No apology is needed stark, take him home. We will clean up here and then meet you in New York."

"Thank you." Tony whispered, walking through the line of men and women. They parted as he walked forwards, everyone wanting to get a glimpse at the hero Tony held.

"How old was he." Steve asked Nat, who pursed her lips.

"Steve I dont-"

"How, old?" the man repeated, tone leaving no room for argument.

Natasha bowed her head. "Sixteen.."

Bruce turned to look at her, eyes wide and mouth agape. Steve put his face in his hands, not uttering another word.

Thor was pale, and he felt Stormbreaker become heavy. How was he worthy, if he could not stop a child from dying by thanos hands?

They had failed.

The Avengers were supposed to protect families, to protect children.

They had utterly, without a doubt in any of their minds, failed.

~ - ~

"So I'm dead...but also not dead?" Peter blinked, confused as to what the Watcher had just explained.

"Yes and no. You are dead in that universe, but here, you are very much alive. You see I grew tired of seeing you die, again and again. There are an infinite amount of Peter parkers, most who are spiderman. They almost never have a happy ending, they either die, or lose everything. You deserve so much more than that. And so I made a decision, I would take a version of Peter Parker, you in this instance, and give him a choice."

"What is that choice?"

"You can die fully, leave here, see what happens to this universe after your death. Then you will meet your loved ones in the soul stone."

"That doesn't sound so bad." Peter muttered.

"Or...you can choose to be reborn. There is a universe that is about to be destroyed, its fate sealed after a great cataclysm. Trillions of lives will be gone because there was nobody to save them. I could place you there, you could change their fate. It would be difficult, and I would not be able to see the outcome. But you will be able to save people, to be a hero. To be Spiderman. They need you." The watcher stated.

Peter sighed, already knowing his answer. "Well I can't ignore a cry for help. If you have the means to stop bad things from happening but you don't, those bad things happen because of you. You need Spiderman? I'm here. But could I ask for a favour?"

"More than being reborn in a new universe? Why not. I'm already breaking two rules today, why not a third?." The watcher chuckled.

"Can I... see my aunt and Ned one last time."

The watcher smiles. "Of course." He whispers kindly.

~ - ~

Three days after Thanos defeat the world media gathered outside a local Cemetery in Queens, new York.

The Avengers, UN leaders and everyone else watched from outside the gates as Peter Parker was lowered into his final resting place.

This was written on his grave stone:

A nephew, A friend, An Avenger.

-

Ned Leeds approached the mic, his hands shaking from all the nerves he felt. May had asked him to say a few words, and so in honour of his best friend, he accepted.

"Peter was my best friend. I was his guy in the chair. We met in kindergarten, I had no friends, other kids were making fun of my weight and here comes this short nerd with round glasses to my rescue. He made me feel less alone. We played with lego together, we watched cartoons, read manga. Then we grew up together. As teenagers things didn't change much, we still played with Lego, we still watched cartoons and instead of just reading Manga we began to write some of our own. Peter wasn't just queen's hero, he was mine. He loved being Spiderman, even when others were spreading falsehoods about him or were rude, he didn't care. He said he liked to look after the little guy, the big heroes like thor could take care of the universe, I'll keep the neighbourhood safe. Well you took care of the universe too Pete...I miss you"

May walked up, gave the boy a hug and whispered a thank you before gesturing for him to go find his parents. Then she cleared her throat and with misty eyes began to speak.

"Peter wasn't just my nephew, he was my son. He was my nephew through marriage. But I loved him like my own. I always worried about him, when he was at school and I was at work, was he okay? Is he eating enough? The usual parental worries. But they got worse after I found out he was Spiderman. I tried to tell him to stop, I took his suit and threatened to destroy it and he just looked me in the eyes and said: 'May, no matter what you say or do. No matter how many suits you destroy, I will always be Spiderman. Because Uncle Ben told me that with great power comes great responsibility, I have the power, it's my responsibility to use it for good. To help and protect others.' After that I couldn't, so I gave him some ground rules and made him promise to stay as safe as possible. I made sure to tell him I was proud...and I still am proud Peter. I wish you were still alive so I could tell you it personally, but I love you."

-

"Spiderman is an example to us all. Despite his age he still tried his best to do what was right. He struggled with everyday things, schoolwork, grades, girl trouble. And then decided to clean up the neighbourhood also. We do not forget our heroes. We do not forget our Avengers." - Daily Bugle.

~ - ~

"Thank you...I think I'm ready now." Peter told the watcher. A small smile on his face.

"You're welcome... Spiderman."

(End of chapter one)

I hope you enjoyed this first chapter of many! I am looking forward to writing out this AU.