It said a lot about Peter's paranoia that he was the least caught off guard when Thanos suddenly reappeared. He was one of the few not thrown into the lower levels of the complex.
"Son of a bitch," said Peter exasperated. Freya meowed loudly in protest. "Freya, time for rescue mode."
She meowed again, louder in affirmation. Without any hesitation, Freya began moving through the debris finding the quickest route to the lower levels. Peter was too busy moving and slinging the bigger pieces out of the way, to make it easier for the Avengers to get out of the mess they were in. All the while, he kept up a shield to prevent any further surprise attacks.
It wouldn't do for them to be buried alive again by another attack.
He may have taken a mite too much enjoyment over the fact that Freya was almost certain to 'eat' them all and bring them up to the surface.
Freya went to work, scouring the rubble for the people inside. This wasn't her first rodeo after all. She spotted Clint first...carrying the gauntlet. His reaction was almost hysterical being eaten.
She dove deeper and spotted Scott shrunk down. He took one look at her and was able to use her vest to climb on. Since he was mobile and didn't smell injured beyond a general concussion, she permitted it.
"Go, go, go!" he said, patting her on the side. She growled slightly, but allowed it because she knew her job. She and her human were a well oiled team at this point.
She picked up a scent, and began running faster. Her sharp eyes caught the little boltholes that most humans would be unable to reach.
In the space above, Peter was fighting with Thor, Steve and Tony to keep Thanos as far away from the stones as possible.
"Good uh, cat," said Scott. The feline was very quick at finding a route below.
Seeing the water, Scott prepared to used his suit. Freya simply unleashed her tentacles, grabbing all three of them to the shock and horror of Scott.
"What the actual fuck," he said dumbly.
Above the debris...
Peter wanted to pause long enough to cackle, but managed to hold it back.
The wild grin on his face couldn't be wiped off with anything as the familiar circle of magical energy appeared. He recognized Strange's handiwork.
Strange gave him an odd look, realizing that Peter had aged at least five years since he last saw him. In all the realities he saw, Peter had been dusted along with the rest of them.
"Avengers...Assemble," said Steve, once he called Thor's hammer to him.
It was too bad he was too far away to see Freya unceremoniously dump Bruce, Rocket, Rhodey and Clint out of her stomach. He was sure their expression were hysterical.
"So Cap, what's the plan?" asked Tony.
"We need to get the stones as far away from here as possible!" said Steve.
"No, we need to return them to the correct timeline!" said Bruce.
"So we need to play keep away with the furball, got it," said Peter cheerfully.
That got him a few odd looks, but then again he knew Freya. Odds were she ate whoever had been carrying the damn thing, and was currently storing it in her stomach.
It was chaos, and Peter did his best not to accidentally aim any of his attacks towards his allies.
Seeing Thanos' minion about to hit Freya, something inside Peter snapped like a brittle twig.
He let out a loud, almost ear-bursting roar of rage as his skin began to ripple and shift. Scales formed along his extremities as he began to grow into gigantic proportions. He could feel his neck lengthen and splinter into multiple parts.
The irony of his animagus form being a hydra of all things was not lost on him in the least.
For a brief, if memorable moment, everything stopped at the sudden and rather startling appearance of a massive beast with multiple heads.
Then Peter slammed his foot down on the offending idiot about to attack his familiar, and all three of his heads immediately leveled themselves with the ship above. Without any hesitation, he let loose and blasted the ever living hell out of it, taking out a quarter of the guns in a single blast.
Freya dashed up his scales and sat rather proudly on the top of the middle head's horns.
"What the actual fuck," said Tony. It had been bad enough dealing with the alien tentacle cat, and now this?
Even Strange was dumbfounded.
A deep rumble emanated from the beast's throat.
"The cat is off limits," rumbled Peter, with Freya loudly meowing in approval.
"Okay, I am going to have a long, serious talk with that brat when this is over," muttered Strange.
Peter let out another loud, defiant roar before his next blast basically one-shotted a leviathan flying too close.
"Ok, who the hell let King Ghidorah loose?" shouted Tony, half in jest.
Peter's chuckle was almost terrifying, even if it wasn't meant to be. His wings were massive, and sent major wind gusts downwards, almost flattening anyone within range. The lightning was doing serious damage to Thanos' forces.
Then again, no one expected a freaking hydra to show up like that.
"Anyone got eyes on the stones?" said Steve through the coms.
"I haven't seen them," said Rhodey. "Tony?"
"Nothing yet," said Tony.
Peter felt a bit sheepish.
"Uh, where exactly were we supposed to take the stones anyway?" he asked.
His voice was like thunder and rumbled across the battlefield.
He found himself eye to eye with Tony.
"Kid, do you know where the stones are?" he asked bluntly, his helmet down.
His two outer heads immediately looked right at his cat. Freya meowed smugly.
"The cat?" said Tony incredulous.
"Flerken," said Peter shrugging, which just looked weird.
Tony shook it off.
"Get the furball to the van, and toss the stones in," said Tony.
"Got it," said Peter, flying towards the van. He began shrinking along the way, since he couldn't exactly aim properly in his animagus form.
By the time he reached the van, he was back to a normal size again.
"So...King Ghidorah?" said Scott.
"Animagus form," shrugged Peter. "I had plenty of free time once I graduated school, so I figured what the hell, why not relearn that trick. I made Wade crap his pants when he found out what I turned into...in between dodging SHIELD for three months."
Giant kaiju that changed the weather that was on par with what Thor could produce? Yeah, there was no way SHIELD would have missed it.
Seeing Thanos' weapon heading his way, Peter didn't hesitate. He threw up a quick and dirty shield to prevent the machine being destroyed.
It worked, but the machine was heavily damaged...there was no way they'd be able to travel with it now.
Peter looked at the gauntlet, then at Thanos heading their way.
He looked at the fighting still going on and remembered Strange's reaction to him being alive and obviously an adult now.
Clearly, his survival hadn't been seen in any of the fourteen million futures Strange had looked through. Then again, time travel was a wizard's plaything.
"Kid, what are you...!" started Scott, seeing Peter put on the gauntlet.
"Screw this. I'm not letting the giant purple dildo win a second time!" said Peter annoyed. Which got a startled snort out of Scott and Hope.
Thanos' reaction to the fact Peter was able to calmly channel the power of the stones was priceless...as Peter snapped his own fingers before Thanos could even touch him.
Seeing his entire army dusted was incredibly satisfying. It was likely on par with how Wade felt when he shot the asshole who forcibly activated his mutation and left him disfigured in the head.
Peter mentally made a note to get very, very drunk and get laid after this. He earned it dammit.
~*~*~*~*~
May broke down and cried when she saw Peter. He gave her an awkward, one-armed hug since his right arm was still feeling the effects of the gauntlet. His magical abilities were all over the place and it was going to take weeks if not months before he was able to do any magic for a while. Since Strange was back, he was able to retake his position as the Sorcerer Supreme, but at least now Peter was on equal footing with him.
Freya meowed proudly, before stealing her usual spot on the couch.
"Look at you. You've grown up so much," said May. She was almost close to tears all over again.
Hearing the phone go off, Peter ignored it. Then May broke down crying all over again when she heard the message left on the answering machine.
It was Peter's boss calling him to let him know he had the next month off at least due to his broken arm and getting his family back.
It was heartwarming and at the same time awkward as hell because he had gotten used to living alone save for his cat.
Though it wasn't nearly as awkward explaining he had bought the house in cash and had let the lease on the apartment he had grown up in lapse. Or that the reason there was a side room that May had found by accident was to act as a safe house for mercenaries who needed a place to crash.
"So...you're a paramedic?" said May.
"Part time. I'm still studying to be a doctor on the side, but for the most part I work as a paramedic," said Peter. "It took forever to get Freya permitted in the bus."
May hugged her nephew, and the tears this time were of pride.
"What about your hobbies?" she asked.
"Well I'm still part of the theater, though I work as a stage hand rather than an actor. They seem to be happy because it means they don't have to worry about an on-site accidents, having a licensed paramedic on the team..." started Peter, relaxing a bit.
It had been too long since he just let go and trusted someone. And this was his aunt May, who had gone above and beyond to raise him with Ben.
May observed her nephew...in between trying to regain some of her old life back. The hospital welcomed her with open arms, but she wanted to get another apartment closer to work. Peter had no issue with his aunt living with him, but he was a grown man now and she really didn't want to know what his sex life was like.
It had been jarring enough seeing him drink and having to remind herself that he was now of legal age.