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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟒
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑

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Not even a second after that passed when the Easton girl was forced to hide behind a pillar while Peter jumped on the ceiling, neither of them wanting to be seen by Tony. Alex watched from her hiding place as a cloak came out of nowhere and tapped him on the shoulder, making the Stark man aim his blaster at it. She had to force back a laugh after watching Tony, only for her joy to fade when Peter slowly came down from the ceiling.

"Wow, you're a seriously loyal piece of outerwear, aren't you?" Tony muttered under his breath while lowering his arm, completely unaware of the Parker boy dangling upside down behind him.

"Yeah, uh, speaking of loyalty," Peter said as he jumped down to stand in front of the Stark man, who was staring at the boy with a shocked look on his face. After letting out a sigh, Alex came out from her hiding spot to stand beside Peter before Tony's wide eyes met hers. "I know what you're gonna say."

"You two should not be here," Tony declared without even attempting to hide the annoyance in his voice.

"I was gonna go home," the Parker boy told him while pointing in the direction that he and Alex just came from.

"I don't wanna hear it," the Stark man announced as he continued to stare at the two teens with irritation in his eyes.

"But it was such a long way down and I just thought about you on the way," Peter continued as if Iron Man had never said a word.

"And not I gotta hear it," Tony sighed while glancing over at Alex once again. It wasn't long after that when his attention returned to Peter when the boy continued his long explanation.

"And I kinda 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."

The irritated look instantly returned to Tony's face while Alex cringed, knowing that Peter's words were doing nothing to help their situation. The Stark man just stared at him for another moment before finally opening his mouth to speak. "What did you just say?"

"I-I take that back," the Parker boy stuttered after seeing the look in Tony's eyes before he quickly continued talking to avoid a lecture from his mentor, "and now, I'm here in space."

"Yeah, right where I didn't want either of you to be," the Stark man retaliated before his attention moved toward Alex, "what's your excuse?"

"I didn't wanna come. He dragged me along," the Easton girl responded while using her thumb to point at Peter.

Tony just stared at the redheaded girl for a long moment before letting out a long sigh. Silence surrounded them while the Iron Man glanced between the two young heroes until his eyes landed back on Peter and decided it was time to speak. "This isn't Coney Island. This isn't a field trip. This is a one-way ticket. You hear me? Don't pretend you thought this through."

"No, I did think this through. You can't be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man if there's no neighborhood," Peter declared, only to receive confused looks from both Tony and Alex, "okay, that didn't really make sense, but you know what I'm trying to say."

The Stark man couldn't help but let out a long sigh as he turned back around to stare at what was happening below them. "Come on. We got a situation." After Peter and Alex shared a quick look, they followed Tony until all three of them were standing near the edge of the platform. It wasn't long after that when the brunette man pointed at the sorcerer. "See him down there? He's in trouble. What's your plan? Go."

"I could run down there and break him free of those needle things," Alex said while keeping her eyes glued to the giant alien, causing her to miss the annoyed look Tony was sending her.

"Yeah, let's save that for Plan B," the Stark man stated, earning an eye roll from the Easton girl that the former chose to ignore.

"Okay, I have an idea," Peter announced after turning to look at the Stark man, "did you ever see this really old movie, Aliens?"

After listening to the Parker boy's plan, Tony went to get into position while Alex and Peter made their way down to the lower floor. The two teens just watched the scene unfold in front of them for a moment before the Easton girl turned her attention toward Peter. "Are you sure this is gonna work?"

"I sure hope so," the Parker boy responded without thinking before he realized what he just said. When he turned to look over at Alex, he found her staring back at him with a hint of fear in her eyes. It wasn't long after that when Peter sent her a reassuring smile and continued to speak. "I mean yes. I'm positive this plan will work. You have nothing to worry about."

Alex couldn't help but roll her eyes in response before Peter left to get into position. A shaky fear passed over her lips as she turned around just in time to see Tony and Peter land behind the alien.

"Any one of those needles could end your friend's life in an instant," Ebony Maw announced after turning around to see the two heroes standing behind him.

"I gotta tell you, he's not really my friend," Tony responded while keeping his repulsor aimed at the alien, "saving his life is more of a professional courtesy."

The Easton girl jumped after watching Ebony Maw lift a single finger to bring a metal block toward him. "You've saved nothing. Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine."

"Yeah, but the kid's seen more movies."

As soon as he finished speaking, Tony blasted a hole in the side of the ship to suck Ebony Maw into outer space. Alex waited until she saw the sorcerer move before she sprinted toward him. Not even a second after she got a grip on him passed when she felt herself getting pulled backward. A wave of panic washed over her as she was forced toward the hole, only for her to instantly stop when a stuck to her back. Alex let out a shaky breath as he looked behind her to find Peter holding the other end of the web while four metal arms kept him secured to the ship.

Before Alex had a chance to process what was happening, Tony used his nanotech to close the hole in the ship. That caused the Easton girl and the sorcerer to land on the ground with a loud thud. A groan passed over Alex's lips as Peter rushed over to help her to her feet before the former glared at the Stark man. Tony simply shrugged her off while taking off his suit and looking around the ship. 

"We gotta turn this ship around," the Sorcerer Supreme said after standing up and turning his attention toward the Stark Man, who was still looking around the alien ship without a care in the world.

"Yeah, now he wants to run. Great plan," Tony scoffed after getting to the control panel and turning around to face the man behind him.

"No, I want to protect the stone."

"And I want you to thank me. Now, go ahead. I'm listening."

"For what? Nearly blasting me into space?" the Sorcerer Supreme retaliated without even attempting to hide the annoyance in his voice as he approached Tony.

"Who just saved your magical *ss? Me."

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

"I like this guy," Alex whispered to Peter, who simply rolled his eyes in response before they both turned their attention back to the situation at hand.

"Admit it, you should've ducked out when I told you," Tony said before going back to looking around at the controls of the ship. It wasn't long after that when he turned his full attention back to the Sorcerer Supreme. "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 from Earth with no backup."

"We're backup," Peter announced while motioning to himself and Alex, who waved at Tony with a smile on her face.

"No, you're stowaways," the Stark man retaliated before using his finger to gesture to himself and the Sorcerer Supreme, "the adults are talking."

"I'm sorry, I'm confused as to the relationship here," the magical man said while glancing between Tony and the two teenagers behind him, "what are they, your wards?"

"No," the Parker boy responded while Alex did her best to hold back a sarcastic remark. It wasn't long after that when Peter stepped forward with his hand extended toward their wizard friend, "I'm Peter, by the way."

"Doctor Strange."

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

"Nice save, Parker," the Easton girl sighed, earning a playful glare from Peter that she chose to ignore as she looked back over at the Sorcerer Supreme, "Alex, but my 'made-up name' is Zephyr. Use whichever one you prefer."

Stephen just stared at them with a hint of annoyance in his eyes before he turned around and walked toward Tony. The two teens instantly shared a look before following the Strange man until they were standing a few feet away from the control panel.

"This ship is self-correcting its course. Thing's on autopilot," Tony announced after looking up from the controls to gaze at his allies.

"Can we control it? Fly us home?" Stephen asked, only to receive silence from Tony as the latter went back to looking at the controls, "Stark? Can you get us home?"

"Yeah, I heard you," the Stark man stated before hesitating for a moment. After looking at the confused looks he was receiving from everyone, Tony finally opened his mouth to continue speaking. "I'm not so sure we should."

"Are you kidding me?" Alex muttered under her breath, something that went unnoticed by everyone except Peter.

"Under no circumstances can we bring the Time Stone to Thanos," Stephen declared without even trying to hide the hint of anger in his voice, "I don't think you quite understand what's at stake here."

"What? No. It's you who doesn't understand," Tony retaliated while walking toward the Sorcerer Supreme until he was standing a foot away from him, "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 hesitated as he studied the man standing in front of him. That lasted for a moment longer before he decided to respond. "All right, Stark. We go to him. But you have to understand, if it comes to saving you or either of these kids or the Time Stone, I will not hesitate to let any of you die. I can't, because the universe depends on it."

"I like this guy a little less now," Alex muttered under her breath, earning an annoyed look from the Sorcerer Supreme as Tony walked over to the two teens.

"Alright, kid," the Stark man said as he stopped in front of Peter and tapped both of the latter's shoulders with his hand, "you're an Avenger now.

Peter stood up as straight as possible with a proud smile on his face while Tony turned his attention to Alex. The two of them just stared at each other for a long moment, both unsure about what was about to happen. That continued until the Stark man let out a long sigh and tapped her shoulders like he did with the Parker boy. "You're an Avenger too, Roadrunner. Don't make me regret this."

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