|Towards the Endgame|

•Chapter 12• We're Backup

Down, Tony almost blasted Strange's cloak. "Wow, you're a seriously loyal piece of outerwear, aren't you?" He spoke. Peter appeared behind the man and the cloak. "Yeah, uh, speaking of loyalty." He spoke. Tony and the cloak turned around to look at the Spider-Man. Tony glared at him. Peter let go of the web, standing straight again. "I know what you're gonna say." Peter started. "You shouldn't be here," Tony said. Peter holds up his hands. "I was gonna go home-" Peter replied. "I don't want to hear it," Tony said. "But it was such a long way down and I just thought about you..." Peter continued. "And now I gotta hear it," Tony replied. Peter holds up one of his hands. "Y/n just grabbed me and cut off the parachute. We kind of stuck to the side of the ship. And this suit is ridiculously intuitive, by the way. So if anything, it's kinda your fault that I'm here." Peter rambled. Tony's eyes widened slightly. "What did you just say?" He asked. "I take that back." Peter quickly replied. Y/n flew down to stand next to her boyfriend. "You have to admit. The suit is cool." Y/n spoke. Tony's eyes opened even further, only realizing now that Peter told him his daughter was here too. "And now we're in space," Peter said. "Yeah, right where I didn't want you to be. This isn't Coney Island. This isn't a field trip. It's a one-way ticket. You hear me?" Tony tells Peter. Tony then turned to his daughter. "This isn't some honeymoon trip, young lady. Don't pretend like you thought this through. You could not have possibly thought this through." He said. Y/n folded her arms over her chest. "I did think this through," Y/n replied. Tony puts on his face. His angry dad's face. "You could not have possibly thought this through." He responded. "Mr. Stark, we thought this through. I thought this through. It's just...you can't be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man if there's no neighborhood." Peter spoke up. The two Starks looked at the boy with a confused expression. "Okay. That didn't make any sense, but you know what I'm trying to say." Peter continued. Tony sighed and looked at his daughter. They both rolled their eyes. Y/n turned to her boyfriend and kissed his cheek. "You're a dork." She tells him. "Come on. We got a situation." Tony spoke up. The three of them walked up to the edge. Tony pointed at Strange being tortured. "See him down there? He's in trouble. What's your plan? Go." He said. Peter squatted down. He looked at the doctor for a second. Y/n turned to her father. "Man, that guy looks like Squidward." She whispered. Peter stood back up and turned to Tony. "Um. Okay, okay... uh...okay. Did you ever see this really old movie, Aliens?" Peter questions. "Aliens? What- oh! You mean the-" Y/n started. Peter nodded in response. Tony sighed loudly. "I'm gonna regret this." He said.

The three of them got into their positions. Down, Squidward 2.0tauntst the doctor. "Painful aren't they? They were originally designed for microsurgery. And any one of them-" the alien started. A loud thud was heard behind him. The alien turned around to see Iron Man standing behind him. "Could end your friend's life in an instant." The alien continued. Tony shrugged, hand repulsors ready to fire. "I gotta tell you, he's not really my friend. Saving his life is more a professional courtesy." Tony tells him. "You've saved nothing. Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine." The alien spoke. "Yeah, but the kids have seen more movies," Tony replied. A rocket flies from the Iron Man suit. The rocket blasts a hole in the ship. Y/n lands next to the alien and blasts him into space. Doctor Strange is pulled from his position. Peter jumped up and saved him from being blasted into outer space. But the web string snapped. The Iron-Spider suit's metal arms brace him to keep him from being sucked out. "Yes! Wait, what are those?" Peter questions. Y/n flew up to the two. Peter crouches with his new spider legs and makes a mighty leap to pull them both back inside. Y/n quickly sprays nanites onto the hole. They all returned to the middle. Peter landed next to the flying cloak. "Hey, we haven't officially met," Peter said. He offered the cloak his hand. The cloak ignored him. "Cool," Peter added. Y/n's suit retreated into her bracelet. She puts her hand on his shoulder. "You're doing great, sweetie." She giggles. Peter's mask retreated as well. He blushed slightly at her comment. "We gotta turn the ship around," Doctor Strange said. "Yeah. Now he wants to run. Great plan." Tony complained. Strange looked at the man. "No, I want to protect the stone." Strange spoke. "And I want you to thank me now. Go ahead, I'm listening." Tony snapped at him. "For what? Nearly blasting me into space?" Strange questioned. Y/n leaned over to Peter as she watched her father argue with the wizard. "They're like an old married couple." She whispers. Peter nodded as he watched the two men as well. "Who just saved your magical ass? Me." Tony pointed out. "I seriously don't know how you fit your head into that helmet," Strange said. "Admit it. You should have ducked out when I told you to. I tried to bench you. You refused." Tony replied. Strange glared at the Stark. "Unlike everybody else, I don't work for you." Strange tells him. "And due to that fact, we're now in a flying doughnut, billions of miles away from Earth with no backup." Tony pointed out. Peter and Y/n raised their hands. "We're back up," Peter said. Tony shook his head. "No. You're stowaways. The adults are talking." Tony tells the kids. Strange narrowed his eyes at them. "I'm sorry, I'm confused as to the relationship here. Wh-what are they? Your wards?" He asked. Peter stepped forward. "No. I'm Peter by the way." He said. He offered the man his hand but got refused once again. "Doctor Strange." The man replied. "Oh, we're using our made-up names. Um...I'm Spider-Man, then." Peter said. Y/n kissed his cheek. "Major dork." She whispered. The girl walks over to her father. "This ship is self-correcting its course. Thing's on autopilot." She said. "Can we control it? Fly us home?" Strange questioned. Y/n and Tony we're both thinking. Neither of them paid attention to the doctor. "Stark." Strange called. The two turned to the man. "Can you get us home?" Strange asked. "Yeah, We heard you," Y/n tells him. She turned back to her father. "I'm thinking...I'm not sure we should." Tony said. Strange stepped forward. "Under no circumstance can we bring the Time Stone to Thanos. I don't think you quite understand what's at stake here." He said. "No. It's you who doesn't understand, that Thanos has been inside my head for six years since he sent an army to New York and now he's back! And I don't know what to do. So I'm not so sure if it's a better plan to fight him on our turf or his but you saw what they did, what they can do. At least on his turf, he's not expecting it. So I say we take the fight to him. Doctor. Do you concur?" Tony replied. Strange sighed loudly. "Alright, Stark. We go to him. But you have to understand... if it comes to saving you or the kid or the Time Stone... I will not hesitate to let either of you die. I can't because the fate of the universe depends on it." The doctor spoke. Tony turned and walked up to Peter. He formally taps each of Peter's shoulders with the edge of his hand. "Alright, kid. You're an Avenger now." He said.