A Call to Arms

08

"I gotta tell you, they're not really our friends," Tony said. "Saving their lives is more a professional courtesy."

Maw walked slowly towards Iron Man and Steel Iron, beckoning very large, very solid metal objects to float behind him. "You've saved nothing. Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine."

Ben smirked. "Yeah, but the kids have seen more movies."

Iron Man and Steel Iron fired a rocket from their shoulders which pierced the side of the ship to Maw's right and began to suck everything out with depressurization, especially Maw and his large objects. Doctor Strange and Madison were pulled loose of their pinnings, lost the needles, but also headed for the hole, helpless to resist. Madison took her husband's hand and he tried reassuring her as best he could. The Cloak wrapped around his arm and an anchor point, but Doctor Strange's arm slipped loose and he and Madison kept going. Spider-Man shot a web strand at Doctor Strange and Madison with one hand and held onto a piece of the ship with the other. It broke, sending them each towards space when his Iron-Spider suit's metal arms braced him to keep him from being sucked out. Fortunately, Doctor Strange and Madison were still surrounded by the ship's atmosphere making haste to leave.

"Yes!" Peter cried. "Wait what are those?!"

Spider-Man crouched with his new spider-legs, and made a mighty leap to pull them both back inside. Iron Man quickly sprayed nanites onto the hole to plug it up. Doctor Strange and Madison safely, if emphatically, hit the floor. Maw was floating in space, quite dead, ice from the escaped atmosphere frosting over his grimace. Spider-Man landed on his new legs, retracted them, and found the Cloak "standing" next to him.

"Hey, we haven't officially met," Peter said, offering the Cloak his hand to shake. It ignored his offer and continued to Doctor Strange and Madison. "Cool."

Iron Man and Steel Iron walked past Doctor Strange and Madison, shaking their heads and their armor retreating into its containment as Doctor Strange got to his feet and became en-Cloaked.

"We've gotta turn this ship around," Doctor Strange said.

"Yeah. Now he wants to run. Great plan," Tony retorted.

"No, we want to protect the Stone," Madison shot back.

Tony walked towards the expansive front view-port, showing a hyper speed/warp effect before saying irritably, "And I want you two to thank me now. Go ahead, I'm listening."

"For what?" Doctor Strange asked. "Nearly blasting me and my wide into space?"

"Who just saved your magical asses? Me and my son."

"I seriously don't know how you fit your head into that helmet."

"Admit it. You should have ducked out when I told you to. I tried to bench you. You refused."

"Unlike everyone else in your life, I don't work for you."

"And due to that fact, we're now in a flying doughnut billions of miles away from Earth with no backup."

Madison placed a hand on her husband's chest. "Can we talk about this without elevating testosterone, please?"

Peter and Nathan raised their hands. "I'm backup."

"No. You're stowaways." He waggled a finger between himself, Madison, Ben and Doctor Strange. "The adults are talking."

"I'm sorry, I'm confused as to the relationship here," Doctor Strange said. "Wh -- what are they, your wards?"

"No," Peter replied. "I'm Peter, by the way. And that's my cousin Nathan."

"Doctor Strange."

"The Sorceress," Madison said.

"Oh, we're using our made-up names. Um... I'm Spider-Man, then."

Nathan waved. "I'm Nightwave."

"This ship is self-correcting its course," Ben informed. "Thing's on autopilot."

Doctor Strange walked closer to Tony and Ben and asked, "Can we control it? Fly us home?" Tony was lost in bad memories and didn't respond right away. "Stark?"

"Yeah?" Tony said.

"Can you get us home?"

"Yeah I heard you. I'm thinking... I'm not so sure we should."

"Under no circumstance can we bring the Time Stone to Thanos. I don't think you quite understand what's at stake here."

Tony stalked over to Doctor Strange. "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?"

Doctor Strange paused. "All right, Stark. We go to him. But you have to understand... if it comes to saving you, your son or the kids 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."

"Nice. Good. Moral compass. We're straight." Stepping over to Peter and Nathan, he formally tapped both of Peter's shoulders with the edge of his hand, dubbing him as was done at a knighting, then did the same to Nathan. "All right, kids. You're Avengers now." He didn't look at them as he said those words, knowing well what he was signing them up for.

Peter and Nathan looked at Tony in disbelief, then cycled through delight, satisfaction, pride and determination, and braced themselves for what was to come.