Family Tree ~ An El Hopper and Peter Parker Story

Chapter 19

Everyone stared at the God of Thunder, who was standing right in front of them. He looked back at them with a stern look on his face. Thor then took notice of the kids, who were freaking out over his appearance. El looked over at them, chuckling at her friends, but then looked back at the god, who didn't seem to be too amused.

"What's going on?" Thor asked the Avengers.

"Thor, where did you go?!" Nat asked her old friend with a glare. "You just disappeared on us when we needed you in the battle! The hell?!"

"I'm sorry," Thor apologized. "I just... I felt like I could've done something that wouldn't have taken so many lives. If only I had just aimed for the head like before, no one would be dead. We lost all of our friends and it's my fault."

Nat's look softened when she saw Thor's distraught face. "Don't be sorry. It's not your fault, alright?" She reassured him. "It was Thanos's fault for taking away our friends and then taking away more when the others came back. I blamed myself too, especially since I had to watch the people who I considered as my family die in front of me. We all had it hard, but you can't blame yourself."

Thor looked down at the ground and nodded at her. Nat then pulled him into a hug, the other Avengers joining in on the big. Thor was surprised, but he hugged everyone back, happy to be with his family once more.

"Look, I hate to interrupt this reunion," Hopper called out. "But we need to go!"

"Right," Nat said, pulling away from everyone. "Get into the Quinjet!"

Everyone boarded the Quinjet and they flew far away from the cabin. The monster roared at them in the distance, angry that they got away. Mike and Max laid El down against a wall as she groaned in pain. Peter sat beside her and rolled up her pant leg, looking at the bite that the monster left her.

"Ouch, that looks really bad," he commented. "Does anyone still have any leftover stuff from Bradley's Big Buy? We could use that!"

"I got them," Mike said. He pulled off his backpack and took out all the supplies they had from the store. He used a tissue to press against El's wound, who squirmed in her place. Mike cringed when he saw her in pain, taking her hand and squeezing it tight. She squeezed back with a small smile on her face.

"Where should we go after this?" El asked. "Anywhere we go, the monster could still find us. Or any of the supervillains. They found us at the cabin."

"Well, we need a place that we can all stay at while someone goes to the lab to shut off that machine," Peter said. "You guys know anywhere? You all know this town more than I do."

"We should go to Starcourt," Max suggested. "They have a good court, good reception so we can call for help, and bathrooms. We can all rendezvous there while the Avengers could go to the machine?"

"Good idea, but if the Avengers all go to the machine to shut off the gate, who's going to hold off the supervillains?" Mike asked. "We took them on ourselves and we nearly died. And in El's condition, who knows if she could even fight?"

"I can fight, Mike," El told him. "I know I can."

"I know, it's just..." Mike started to say. "I don't want you getting hurt again. I nearly lost you again and I can't have that happening. Not again."

"You won't lose me, okay?" El replies, squeezing his hand to reassure him. "Mike, I need you to trust me. I can handle this."

Carol then came over to the four teens and knelt down by them. "We overheard you talking about Starcourt," she said. "We're going to drop you kids off there while we go fight the supervillains. Hopper and Joyce are going to the gate to shut off the machine."

El's eyes widened when she heard her father's name. "No, my dad needs to stay with us!" She begged.

Carol gave her a reassuring smile. "He'll be fine, alright?" She said. "Besides, I know this isn't the first time you guys dealt with this kind of alternate dimension thing. You guys will be fine and he will too."

"What about the monster?" Peter asked.

"We'll take care of that too," Carol said. She then got up and walked back to everyone else.

After a few minutes, the Quinjet landed in front of Starcourt Mall. Everyone exited out of it and walked inside the mall's doors. They went over to the fountain in the middle of the food court and started to discuss their plan. El, Peter, Mike, Max, Lucas, Will, MJ, Happy, Nancy, and Jonathan would stay at the mall together and help with El's leg. Dustin, Steve, Robin, Erica, and Ned would go back to Cerebro on the mountain to keep up communications between everyone. All of the Avengers would look for the supervillains and take them down along with the monster. Joyce and Hopper were going to the lab to shut down the machine.

As they were talking about their plan, they jumped when they heard a noise. Someone was walking up to them, waving his hands around. Hopper groaned when he recognized the man, rolling his eyes at him.

"What the hell are you doing here, Murray?" Hopper asked the man.

Murray rolled his eyes at the police chief. "Good to see you too, Jim," he greeted sarcastically. "I overheard your whole plan when I was about to leave, so here I am. I'm going to help you and Joyce get around the lab."

"And how are you going to help?" Joyce asked him.

"By helping you, of course," Murray replied with a sarcastic smile. "I'm going to help you break in and find where this machine in. And I guess that's where these five children can come in and help me."

Murray handed Dustin a map of the lab. "Use this to help me break in. Then I'll open the door for them and then you direct us to wherever the machine is, got it?"

"Yes sir!" Dustin replied with a grin.

"Hope you three idiots don't die in there with all those freaks out there, trying to kill you!" Erica spoke up. "If they catch you going in there, then you're not coming back alive!"

"I'm sorry," Murray said. "Why is this four year old speaking to me?!"

"Uh, I'm ten you bald bastard!" Erica shouted at him.

"ERICA!" Lucas yelled at his little sister, annoyed.

"JUST THE FACTS!"

"Okay!" Hopper interrupted. "Let's just go through with the plan. And if we die in there, then we'll just walk it off."

El walked up to her father and hugged him tight. Hopper was surprised by the hug, but he hugged his daughter back. Peter stood back when he saw his sister and his new father hug, not wanting to intrude. Hopper took notice of him and he motioned for him to join in on the hug. Peter smiled and hugged the two of them, hoping that his new father will be okay.

The three pulled away after a few minutes as El and Peter smiled at the police chief. Hopper smiled back at them. "Protect her, okay Peter?" He said, putting a hand on Peter's shoulder. "If I don't make it back, promise me that you'll keep her safe."

Peter bit his lip at Hopper's words, but nodded. "I promise," he replied.

Hopper nodded at him and motioned for Joyce and Murray to come with him. The three adults left with the Avengers and the Scoops Troop behind them. Peter looked over at El, who looked extremely worried. He wrapped his arm around her and rubbed her back. El leaned her head on her brother's shoulder, happy that he was still there to be with her.

"Let's go get something to patch up that leg, okay?" Peter said.

El nodded at him with a smile. "Okay," she replied.

Little did they know of what was going to happen that night. El and Peter's lives would forever be changed.