I gaze down to the floor at the mention of Dad's name knowing Tony probably still hasn't forgiven Dad for what he did.
Strange sighs in exasperation, knowing this too. "Oh, great." He mutters.
"Maybe. But..." Tony sighs.
"Call him," Bruce says, completely confused about the situation.
"It's not that easy. God, we haven't caught up in a spell, have we?" Tony turns to Bruce.
"No." Bruce answers.
"The Avengers broke up. We're toast."
Bruce is surprised by this new information. "Broke up? Like a band? Like, like The Beatles?"
"Cap and I fell out hard. We're not on speaking terms." Tony says.
Bruce turns to me. "What about you? How come you're not with him?" Bruce says.
"He uh... he wanted me to stay back and to live my life without him holding me back. Thought that a life on the run wasn't for me and I deserved better. So I got cuffed." I explain to Bruce as I try not to get all weepy and show Bruce the cuff.
"Tony, listen to me. Thor's gone. Thanos is coming. It doesn't matter who you're talking to or not." Bruce says, pleadingly to him.
Tony looks at Roy and me.
"He's right. There are way bigger things than your pride right now so stop being petty and call him." Roy says.
Tony hesitates before pulling out the flip phone Dad mailed to us, more like Tony, two years ago. "Flip phone," Tony mutters as he gets Dad's contact up. He hesitates to press the call button and hands the phone to me. "He'll probably be more willing to answer to you." I take the phone and am about to press the call button when we hear rumbling noises. My hair starts to move and I see Strange's start doing the same. "Say, Doc, you wouldn't happen to be moving her hair and yours, would ya?"
Strange looks up at his hair. "Not at the moment, no."
We all look to the hole in the ceiling and see debris flying by outside. Tony steps outside first with Roy and I following quickly behind. Roy grabs his katanas he placed on the floor earlier. We see the chaos as soon as we step outside, people running and screaming in fear. A woman falls by Tony and he helps her up.
"You okay?" He asks her, but she only screams as a car crashes into a pole near them. "Help him! Wong!" Tony says, referring to the person that crashed into the pole.
"Go, go! We got it!" Banner tells him.
Tony then puts on some glasses and starts talking to FRIDAY. "Hey! You might wanna put that Time Stone in your back pocket, Doc!" Tony shouts back to him.
"Yeah, Sherlock. Shouldn't you be running away from the fight to protect that thing or at least leave it at the Sanctum somewhere?" I ask him as we follow Tony.
"Might wanna use it." He says as he prepares a spell to fight.
There's a loud humming sound as we turn a corner to see a giant circular spaceship, that looks like a flying donut, come floating down the street.
"Tony this is gonna get ugly real quick. You might wanna take this thing off of me. I need to help you fight." I tell him.
"You sure? You haven't used your powers in two years." He says to me.
"Take the cuff off and we'll see," Roy says to him.
Tony looks at me and I nod. "It's now or never."
He nods, coming over and bending down to my ankle, where the cuff is. "You know if you get killed Spangles won't be happy about that." He says to me as he opens up the hatch on the cuff and types in the passcode, unlocking the cuff.
"Well like he said before, 'Walk it off.'" I say. I feel a surge of energy course through my veins and I run around in circles, around the group. I smile widely at Tony and Roy as I stop. "Just like riding a bike! Man it feels good to use my powers again!"
Tony tells FRIDAY to notify first responders and Strange uses some type of magic spell before looking back at the three of us and wink. The dust settles and we step toward the ship a little. A bright light comes from the ship and two aliens exit it. One looking like a squid and the other I have no idea how to fucking describe his ugly ass.
The squid looking alien starts talking. "Hear me and rejoice. You are about to die at the hands of the Children of Thanos. Be thankful that your meaningless lives are now contributing to..."
"I'm sorry, Earth is closed today. You better pack it up and get outta here." Tony says to him as he cuts the squid looking alien off.
"Stonekeeper." The alien says as he looks at Strange. He gestures to Tony as he speaks. "Does this chattering animal speak for you?"
"Certainly not. I speak for myself." Strange steps forward as he creates magical shields. "You're trespassing in this city and on this planet." Strange warns him. Wong steps forward too and does the same spell as Strange.
"He means get lost, Squidward!" Tony shouts.
Roy and I laugh because that's exactly who he reminds us of.
"He's probably looking for some spare change," I say to Tony.
"SPARE CHANGE! SPARGE CHANGE, MA'AM!" Roy mocks as the three of us get a good laugh in.
The alien turns to his companion. "They exhaust me." His companion speaks in some sort of alien language. "Bring me the stone."
The huge alien drops his hammer and drags it along as he obeys his orders and slowly makes his way to us.
"Banner, you want a piece?" Tony asks him.
"Mmmm, no, not really. But when do I ever get what I want?" Bruce says back.
"That's right."
"Okay. Push!" Bruce says to himself as he tries to Hulk-out.
"It's been a while," Tony says as he still has his eyes trained on the incoming alien. "It's good to have you, buddy."
"Okay. Shh. Let me just... I need to concentrate here for a second. Come on, come on, man." He strains as he tries to get Hulk to come out. "God!" He strains some more.
Tony, Roy and I look at him.
"Where's your guy?" Tony asks.
Bruce sighs. "I don't know. We've sorta been having a thing." Bruce says.
"It's no time for a thing." Tony retorts.
"I know," Bruce says.
"That's the thing right there," Tony says as he points to the incoming alien. "Let's go."
"Tony just say something that will make him mad. You're good at that." I say to him.
"Uhhh," Tony says, trying to think of something.
"Black Widow doesn't love you anymore." Roy blurts out.
Bruce stops straining and looks at Roy. "Well that just makes me sad."
"It was worth a shot," Roy mutters.
Strange looks at the four of us. "Dude, you're embarrassing us in front of the wizards," Tony says.
"Tony, I'm sorry." Bruce apologizes, completely upset about this. "Either I can't or he won't."
"Well didn't you tell us he got his ass kicked by Thanos? I wouldn't want to come back out either." Roy says.
"It's okay. Hey, stand down." Tony says to him. He looks at Wong. "Keep an eye on him. Thank you."
"I have him," Wong says.
"Damn it," Bruce mutters.
Tony steps towards the alien as he presses his nanotech on the center of his chest. His Iron Man suit appears and he creates a shield on one arm as the huge alien swings his hammer at him. Tony then punches the alien in the chin, before stepping back and making his repulsors appear on either side of him, shooting the alien. It goes flying back toward the squid-like alien who easily deflects his companion into some cars.
"Where'd that come from?" Bruce asks him.
Tony turns to face us. "It's nano-tech. You like it? A little something I—" He doesn't get to finish as Squidward creates a spike of earth that throws him in the air.
Squidward then tries to attack us with tree roots and other debris, but Wong steps forward and creates a shield in front of us to protect us.
"Dr. Banner, if the rest of your green friend won't be joining us..." Strange says as he creates a portal and pushes Bruce through it.
He closes the portal and we look back at the alien dude. I hold my ring out. I always kept it with me just in case. My suit comes out of it as I run into it.
"It feels good to be back in this," I say. "Although it's a little tight." I move around to try to get comfy.
'So the alien can deflect things and I think he pretty much has telekinesis so I have to be smart about my attacks.'
I pick up Roy bridal style.
"What are you doing?" Strange questions me.
I ignore him and look at Roy. "Hold on." I warn him.
He nods as I run at Squidward, hoping to get Roy close enough to slice him up. Squidward tries to throw debris at me, but I easily move out of the way. I then feel the ground grab my ankle and I lurch forward due to the sudden stop of momentum. Roy launches forward from my hands at full speed as I see him hold his katanas out. Squidward doesn't have enough time to react and deflect Roy so he comes flying at him, low though. Roy slices at his leg, leaving a deep cut, but not enough to affect him as much. Squidward's leg gives out, but he immediately stands back up and looks at Roy, who's just getting up off the ground. Squidward glares at him before raising his hand and making Roy fly through a window in a building nearby.
"Roy!" I shout as I phase my leg out of the ground.
Squidward turns back to me and uses his powers to throw a car at me, but Tony flies in just in time and blasts it back at him, but Squidward just cuts it in half. Roy comes stumbling out of the building and towards Tony and I. He now has a few cuts and bruises on his face but is still standing.
"Gotta get that stone outta here, now," Tony says to Strange.
"It stays with me." Strange replies.
"Exactly. Bye." Tony says as he flies at Squidward who tries to stop him, but fails. Just as Tony is closing in, the huge alien dude behind Squidward decides to get back up and throw his hammer at Tony, sending him through buildings as I move Roy and I out of the way of the hammer's path.
Roy and I stand behind Strange and Wong as they fight Squidward who lifts several bricks from the ground and turns them into sharp points. He sends them towards the four of us, but Strange and Wong make portals, boomeranging them back to Squidward. Squidward moves a car to protect himself, but one of the spikes hits his head, leaving a cut. I take this opportunity to run forward, running as fast as I can and attack Squidward as Roy comes towards us to back me up. I punch Squidward in the face and then kick him as hard as I can, with the help of my speed, knocking him back into a car. Roy comes running up behind me, katanas ready in hand, as he jumps off of a car and goes to swing at Squidward, but he moves out of the way so Roy's blade only cuts him on the face a little. Squidward tries to throw a car at Roy, but I pick him up and bring us back to Strange and Wong. Angered, Squidward uses a broken fire hydrant's water stream to knock Wong and Roy, who was standing close to Wong, back several meters, knocking them unconscious which leaves Sherlock and me.
Strange snaps a magical whip he made and tries to bind Squidward's hands. He yanks Squidward towards him, but Squidward flies at him as Strange pulls him and he pins Strange upside-down against a building, using bricks to trap him. I run up on the side of the building, ready to knock Squidward down, but he had other plans as he uses his powers to get utility cables to wrap around my legs, waist, and all the way up to my neck as I fall to the ground.
"Stay put while I take this stone." He says to me and looks back at Strange. He tries to grab his necklace that contains the Time Stone in it, but it only burns his hand.
"It's a simple spell but quite unbreakable." Strange tells Squidward.
I manage to phase myself out of the cables and hide behind a car, watching the scene play out.
"Then I'll take it off your corpse," Squidward replies.
Squidward throws Strange to the ground and he quickly gets up, ready to use the Time Stone, but Squidward notices I'm gone and decides to use the utility cables that were once wrapped around me, on Strange. It interrupts his spell as the cables slither around his torso and neck as it did with me, but this time it squeezes Strange's throat. I take this as a time to run up on Squidward while he's distracted, but he sees me coming and uses his powers to lift the ground up, creating a wall right in front of my eyes. I don't even have time to try to stop as my face collides with the concrete wall and I fall, laying on my back as I hold my face. I close my eyes and groan in pain as I feel blood trickle down my nose which I'm positively sure is broken.
I get up, knowing I have no time to groan in pain right now because Sherlock needs my help. I start breathing through my mouth because it hurts to breathe through my nose now. I start running again and see Squidward carrying an unconscious Strange on a piece of pavement. I manage to sneak up on the concrete he's on and I touch his shoulder so I can vibrate him through the cables while Squidward is distracted. Once he's loose I pick him up and start running the opposite way, not caring how loud I am this time.
"NO!" I hear Squidward scream behind me.
I look back to see him chasing after me now. I make multiple turns to make it harder for him to catch me. I look behind me once again to catch a familiar red suit coming after Squidward. It's Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, swinging after us, but then I see Squidward raise his hand and a billboard smacks Peter right in the face. I wince as I look back ahead just in enough time to dodge the debris Squidward is sending after me. I'm mostly surprised Squidward can keep up with me, but I don't question it. Right now I need to get Strange to a safe place.
I continue to run with Squidward right on my tail. He uses his powers to have more utility cables grab at my ankle, causing me to stop and lurch forward, dropping Strange in the process.
"Shit!" I yell as I see Squidward about to get to Strange, but then Peter swings in just in time and webs Strange's back and swings away with him.
I manage to phase through the cables just as I see Strange getting beamed up by the donut spaceship. Peter grabs onto a light pole, trying to pull Strange back, but then it gets uprooted and I can only guess Squidward did that.
"Pete!" I yell as I see him getting beamed up and there was nothing I could do.
"Uhh, Mr. Stark, I'm being beamed up!" Peter calls out.
"Hang on, kid!" Tony says in the com.
I watch as the ship starts going into space and Tony follows after it.
"Tony take me with you," I say to him in the com.
"No you stay down there. You can't breathe in space and we'll need someone to look after Earth while I'm gone."
I look down, closing my eyes knowing he's right. "Just bring Peter back and come back to me."
"I will, Squirt, promise. Love you."
"Love you too," I say before the com goes silent. Bruce, Wong, and Roy all walk over to where I am.
"You look like shit," I say to Roy as I spot all the cuts and bruises on him. He's gripping his side in pain. I don't blame him though because that hammer alien dude was huge.
"Have you looked in the mirror recently?" Roy says, indicating to my nose as he smiles at me and nudges my shoulder playfully. I just roll my eyes at him and smile. We then look up to spot Bruce picking up something off the ground. Wong creates a portal back to the Sanctum. "Where you going?" Roy calls out to Wong.
"The Time Stone's been taken. The Sanctum remains unguarded. What will you three do?" Wong asks us as he steps through the portal.
"We're gonna make a call," Bruce says, holding up the flip phone Tony gave me.
Wong nods in understanding and closes the portal. Bruce walks over to stand beside Roy and me as he opens up the phone. All of us staring down at it.
"You should make the call," Bruce says to me as he hands the phone over. I shake my head and try to give him the phone back, but he pushes my hand away. "He'll want to hear your voice more than mine."
"It's been two years, Bruce," I say softly.
"Which is more the reason why he would want to hear your voice more than ours," Roy says and puts a reassuring arm across my shoulders.
I nod as I look back at the flip phone's glowing screen that only has one number inserted in it. My hands tremble as I hesitantly press the dial button and listen to the phone ring.
—ASE715