Archive of Our Own

“Ugggh.” Tony groaned as he woke within a dimly lit room and had no idea where he was.

Someone close to him snickered and said “Welcome to the land of the living again, Stark. There are about twenty of us stuck in here right now.”

Tony groaned again and carefully sat up as he rubbed his head and opened his eyes and said “Osborn? Where are we? What is going on?”

Osborn huffed again and said “What makes you think that I would know, Stark? I only woke up a few minutes before you did. All I know is that there are a few other geniuses stuck in the room with us, well, except for Hammer that is. I don’t know why anybody would want him.”

Tony’s brow furrowed as he said “Hammer’s here, too? He was in prison, last I heard.”

Osborn groaned and said “We’ve been abducted, you idiot! Why else would we all be here unwillingly. I would never EVER willingly put myself in a room with that nutjob Hammer for more than a few seconds.”

Tony huffed and nodded. He didn’t really have anything else to add as his senses came back to him. Internally, he was quite worried about Peter. The last thing he remembered seeing was the kid’s eyes widening and then a bright purple flash of light.

Tony sighed again and carefully stood up as Osborn rolled his eyes.

“Sit back down, Stark. We won’t be getting out of here easily, even if you have some of your tech on you.” Osborn said as Tony rolled his eyes.

“Relax, Osborn. I’m just stretching. I also don’t have any of my tech with me. I was in my lab when all of this happened, so I was busy upgrading the tech. I don’t have sub-dermal trackers anymore either, so we won’t be getting out of here via Stark tech, well, at least not yet, that is.” Tony said as Osborn huffed.

Everyone else that was conscious were just watching the two bicker with each other. Hammer was still passed out and wearing a prison uniform. It wasn’t until a few minutes later when both Stark and Osborn quickly went quiet after their abductor shuffled into the room.

Tony grimaced and observed everything he could about the odd alien. This definitely was not a normal abduction type of situation. The alien was huge. It was three times as tall as a normal human being, three times as large, and had an ugly greenish-purple hue to its skin.

The alien’s gritty voice filtered through what could only be assumed as a universal translator on its neck.

“Welcome to Greighan-3. It is an honor that you have been chosen to serve our population. We are a species made up of only beings who reproduce asexually, so our superior scouts for great minds on other planets that can further advance our society, as we are incapable of doing it on our own. You have been declared as those with the best minds of the English speaking parts of your world, therefore, you were chosen by our superior as those who would further advance our society. You will each eventually receive universal translators that allow you to understand the other languages from Terra, as you will likely be working with them sometime soon. A few of your spawn have even been declared worthy of this. If you cooperate, those of you whose spawn was also worthy may have a chance to reunite. If you behave, you may even be inducted into our society of diverse representatives from across the universe.” the freaky alien said as Tony grimaced.

“What do you mean, we’ve been chosen? Why don’t we get a say in this?” Tony snarled as the alien appeared to grimace.

“We do not question our Superior. They know what is best. You will do best if you make peace with your fate. You will never leave Greighan-3 again.” the alien said as Tony grimaced.

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to work. I’m not just going to do everything you guys say. I’ve had experience dealing with assholes like you before, and I’m not too thrilled to do it again. Let us see the kids, and leave this place.” Tony said as he stared at the alien in the eyes.

The alien said “Be mindful of what you say, Terran. Talking back will not be tolerated by the Superior. It is not your place to question their decisions.”

Tony growled as he said “Yeah, right! They’re the one who chose to steal us away from, not just our homes, but our planet! I can’t say anything about the others that are here, but I sure as Hell am not going to be ordered around and made to be a slave!”

Tony and everyone but the alien in the room covered their ears when a shrill and loud sound rang through the room. Tony looked up at the alien when the sound ended.

The aliens seemed to smirk at him as it said “The Superior has ordered that you be punished for your insolence. You will be put into isolation until you can learn your place.”

Tony’s eyes then widened as another alien entered while holding a really freaky looking muzzle. Tony grimaced and backed up as he went into a fighting stance. He wouldn’t be able to do much against these behemoths, but he could sure as hell try to hurt one of them.

Tony fought as the first alien easily dodged his punch and gripped his torso harshly. He could have sworn that he felt one of his ribs crack as its hand circled him. He was short of breath as the other alien came towards him. He couldn’t do anything as the odd muzzle was fastened around his face. He had tried to fight, but the aliens had been stronger.

The initial alien still held him by the torso as he glared with rage towards the one who had just put a muzzle on him.

Tony was furious when Osborn managed to make a quip.

Osborn snickered and said “You should have done that earlier. Stark’s always been an annoying person. How do you even have a muzzle big enough to fit him?”

Tony tried to get out of the alien’s grip, but it was futile, so all he could do was glare at Osborn angrily.

“Restraints are always in supply here. This Terran is far from the first to have ever gone against the Superior initially. He will succumb to their orders in the end if he does not want to die.” the alien said as they dragged Tony towards the large entrance.

“Once I have taken care of the rebellious one, I will be back to escort each of you to the memory room. You will then be introduced to possible colleagues, and will soon work on helping our society. You will each learn the rules soon, or suffer the consequences as directed by the Superior. Let this first actively defiant man be a lesson in what will happen if you do not follow the orders of our superiors.” the alien said as it dragged him out.

The other alien had been left behind to watch the others while Tony was taken away. Tony continued to struggle in its grip, but nothing was working. This thing could squash him easily if it wanted to.

Not very far from where he had been taken from, Tony was shoved into another cell that had no lighting. He was given no explanation as the door was closed before he could even stand up again. He was left in the darkness, and that alone could cause a person to go crazy.

~~~~~~

Peter was among the first of the younger ones to wake. He noted that none of them were bound. He quickly got a grip on his senses again, and scanned the room to see who all was with him. He knew that something was wrong, especially since right before that bright flash of light, his spider-sense went off the charts.

He noted that Ned and a few others from his school were also there. Most of the kids there, he did not recognize. He could hear booming footsteps outside of the large door of what had to be some sort of holding cell for all of them.

He grimaced as he heard the steps coming closer. He wasn’t the only one conscious, and he figured that their abductors would likely return to them soon. He gently rubbed the areas on his wrists where his web shooters still lied. He had no clue if having them with him would have any advantage though.

He kept his head up as the large door finally opened. He furrowed his brow at the sight of a very odd looking alien creature that was really huge compared to any normal sized human. He winced slightly when it began to speak. He could hear the grittiness and shrillness of the voice behind whatever was translating its words into English. He had no idea that something could sound both shrill and gritty at the same time. It was highly annoying.

“Welcome to Greighan-3. It is an honor that you have been chosen to serve our population. We are a species made up of only beings that reproduce asexually, so our Superior scouts for great minds on other planets that can further advance our society, as we are incapable of doing it on our own. You have been declared as the youngest ones with the best minds of the English speaking parts of your world, therefore, you were chosen by our Superior as those who would further advance our society. You will each eventually receive universal translators that allow you to understand the other languages from Terra, as you will likely be working with people who use them sometime soon. You are the brightest young minds of your race, and you will be tasked with learning the culture of our people. This is your home now, and you will make a better world for your new people. You will always be lesser than the native born Greighans and the Superior, but you will be Grieghan workers either way. Follow the orders of the Superior, and you will do well within our society. Your futures are bright, and our Superior has acknowledged that, and you are each going to be assigned to a family that will provide you the proper knowledge to understand and assimilate into our society. I will return with your new guardians at a later time. Goodbye for now, young ones. You are part of our future.” the alien said as Peter grimaced.
Peter looked around him at the other kids. Some of them were still barely awake, yet those who were shared wide eyes full of fear. Peter was at a loss. He had never been kidnapped before, much less taken off-world. He had no clue of anything that he could do to help any of them get home.

~~~~~~

Tony tried to hum to himself just to keep himself occupied in the darkness, but it wasn’t helping. He couldn’t see anything, and he couldn’t hear anything through the walls of the place. Apparently this alien species was very touchy when it came to being questioned. They certainly have no respect for ethics or morality.

Tony walked around the large cell as he continued to delve into his thoughts. It was all he could do. He had no idea how long he had even been in that place. He refused to bow to the aliens either way though. He really wished that he had at least waited to see if Peter was stuck at the place too though. It was making him incredibly nervous, not knowing if the kid was okay.

Tony fell back after hitting one of the walls of the place again. He hadn’t been paying attention, and he had been speed walking, so instead of just hitting the wall, he bounced back a little bit. He was honestly just glad that his hands were not bound, because he was able to keep himself from completely falling.

He then sat down on the rough floor and passed a hand through his hair. He was exhausted, but there was no way that he was going to fall asleep on some foreign planet. He rubbed his eyes as best as he could without nudging the painful muzzle straps, and rested his forehead in his hands as he leaned on his knees.

He was still at a loss for what to do. He had gained little information that could help him escape, and he definitely didn’t have enough information to get anyone else out. Hell, he was stuck in freaking isolation. There wasn’t anything that he could do to even get out of that room until one of the aliens came to retrieve him. He once again drifted into his thoughts as he tried to stay awake. It was a futile effort. He fell asleep as he thought of why these creatures had even chosen Earth as their target.

~~~~~~

Peter got up and sat beside Ned after the alien left.
Ned looked over to him while rubbing his head and said “Woah. Do I have a concussion, or were we really abducted by aliens?”

Peter sighed and said “Yep. We were really abducted by aliens. Let me guess, you were at home with your Lola and you saw a bright purple flash of light, and then you woke up here?”

Ned grimaced and said “Yeah. We were in the middle of dinner. The next thing I know I woke up here. I heard everything that was said. How are we supposed to get out of here, Peter?”

Peter grimaced and said “I really don’t know, Ned. My spider-sense is still off the charts, and these guys are way bigger than anything I’ve ever fought before. Plus, I have no idea where we are in relation to Earth. I don’t think that I can get us out of this one, Ned. I’m sorry.”

Ned gulped and said “It’s okay, Peter. Someone will come looking for us eventually. My Lola, Aunt May, and I’m sure that Mr. Stark, won’t stop looking for us. We’ll get out of here eventually. I hope.”

Peter nodded and left it at that. There wasn’t anything else that he could say that wouldn’t put a damper on his friend’s mood.

~~~~~~

It was two days before one of the aliens came back for Tony. Tony was lying on the floor when he heard the door lock click. He covered his eyes right before the door to his cell opened. He didn’t want the sudden light to overwhelm him too much. The alien’s next words were a little bit concerning to him though.

“Round one of isolation has been completed. Sensory deprivation stage one is over. You will comply with the demands of our Superior.” the alien said as it roughly took one of his arms and forced him to stand.

Tony stumbled as the alien went to move. He tripped, and the alien was practically dragging him down the hall to a new location that would likely be another form of isolation. Tony’s eyes widened and he struggled in the alien’s grip as he caught sight of a very ominous looking machine through some sort of observation window.

The alien dragged him into the new room that had the observation window and creepy machine. The alien then tossed him onto the large medical-like table and held him down as it fastened straps around him. Tony grumbled behind the gag as the alien ensured that he could no longer move on the table.

“Memory scan one will commence within the minute. This will hurt, Terran. Try not to struggle. This process happens to each of the new adults that arrive on our planet, and the Superior wanted this to be done before any more punishments are considered. They believe that after this procedure, you will be compliant.” the alien said as Tony glanced up at the large needle that rested above his temple.

The machine was truly one of horror. It was attached to what looked to be a normal operating table, but the machine was far from normal. It looked almost like it was a lava lamp at the base and had a large and thin metal arm attached to the top of it. The middle of the thing had some sort of computer technology that would harvest memories from the brain. The arm at the top of it had a very sharp needle-like structure at the end of it that was apparently about to be drilled into his brain or something.

Honestly, Tony had no idea how the freaking thing worked, but he didn’t really care. He hadn’t been truly terrified until this moment. He didn’t scare too easily, but this was some scary crap. He grunted through the muzzle as the machine powered up, and before he knew it, all he could feel was pain. The needle had not entered his body, it had sent some sort of laser beam towards his head. Tony’s screams could barely be heard through the muzzle that had been put on his face.

The alien worked at the computer-like part of the machine as memories were harvested from Tony’s mind. The alien had made sure to activate the algorithm on the computer to compare Tony’s memories to those of the other Terrans. The alien had no idea how to interpret the information. It was not its place. The only one allowed to interpret the gathered information was the Superior. Their only job was to perform the tests.

The alien watched as information flooded the screen. They could not help but be curious, as they let their gaze wander over the screen. It watched as Tony’s memories flooded the system. Tony’s memories were quite vivid compared to most of the other Terrans. The alien quickly altered its train of thought. It was not its place to interpret the data. It waited as the machine finished collecting the data after about three minutes of time.

The machine powered down as the collected data was filed away for the superiors. The alien waited for its next round of orders as the Terran shook on the table.

The shrill voice of the superiors sounded, and the alien knew that its orders were coming.

“Ginjuy, report the physical status of the Terran.” the Superior commanded.

“It appears as the others did, Superior. It is pale and shaky. It is quiet though, as it is still muzzled. It is in distress.” Ginjuy, the alien, said.

“Take it to the stasis chambers. Remove the muzzle. Let it relax. It will be a vital part of advancing our technology. Readings show that it will be compliant now, but we will not be sure until after stasis.” the Superior said as Ginjuy nodded.

“Yes, Superior. If I may ask, what happened to the others? This is the first time we have tried harvesting the memories with the newest technological development by the last round of people from Xandar, and I am curious.” Ginjuy asked.

“IT IS NOT YOUR PLACE TO QUESTION US! YOU FOLLOW OUR COMMAND! YOU DO NOT ASK QUESTIONS! WE ARE THE SUPERIOR! OUR METHODS ARE WHAT IS BEST! THIS IS YOUR SECOND OFFENSE! ONE MORE AND YOU WILL BE SENT TO GRIEGHAN-5 FOR AN EARLY DEATH!” the Superior raged as Ginjuy cowered.

“Yes, Superior. I meant no offense. You know best. I am but your lowly servant.” Ginjuy said as he went to move Tony.

Tony had passed out by that time, so he was not privy to the conversation. Little did either one of them know that many of the others who had been taken were killed by the machine. Tony was actually quite lucky to be alive. The Superior’s newest machine was mostly fatal, and it had cost them quite a few new slaves.

~~~~~~

The Superior raged around their habitat. The minds from Xandar were quite useless in the end. They had created that awful memory machine. They would have to be destroyed for their idiocy. They had cost the Grieghans and the Superior many slaves. Only a few out of thousand Terran adults had survived. They were only lucky that they hadn’t tested the machine on the young Terrans.

The Superior soon ordered each of the memory machines on its planets to be destroyed. They run five Grieghan plants, and each one had these useless devices. It had proved successful in harvesting the memories of the Terrans, but the memories were not easy to interpret or use.

Without the vessel who the memories belonged to, they were quite useless. The Superior was unable to understand the technology of Terra hidden within those memories. The Superior was angry, but they still had a little bit of hope.

The adults may have mostly died off, but those who were left would still be useful for the advancement of the Grieghans. Plus, they still had the brightest of the Terran children, and they were likely to be more valuable than the adults ever would have been anyway.

~~~~~~

Ginjuy soon removed the muzzle from Tony’s face. Tony remained unconscious as he was transported to a different area of the facility. His body was placed within a stasis chamber by Ginjuy. Ginjuy activated the chamber, and it closed. Ginjuy watched as an odd mist filled the chamber and the Terran’s body appeared to relax within the chamber.

Ginjuy walked away from the stasis chamber and awaited orders. Little did they know that Tony was suffering within that chamber. The machine had harvested his memories, and in the process it had brought them all to the front of his mind. He was reliving every single one of his worst moments as he laid within that stasis chamber.

~~~~~~

“Greetings again, young ones. Your parental units have been assigned. I will take you to them one by one. Please step forward as I call your Terran name.” the alien said as Peter stood.

Peter was bold and he questioned “How do you know our names?”

The alien looked at him and calmly replied “The Superior knows all of your names and what you are best at. The Superior chose parental units for you to study under. We obey the Superior.”

Peter grimaced. That wasn’t a reassuring answer, but he wasn’t about to argue with one of these things. He watched as names were called by a few differing Grieghan aliens, and gripped Ned’s hand as he was called about an hour after the first person was taken out of the cell.

Ned looked back as Peter said “I’ll try to find a way to get us out of this, Ned.”

Ned was teary eyed as he nodded and squeezed Peter’s hand before he reluctantly stepped forward. Peter watched as Ned left with the alien and the door closed again. He was one of the few remaining within this particular cell. He didn’t know anyone else who remained.

He grimaced when his name was finally called, and the Grieghan alien gently pushed him forward down the hall. They stopped when they got to a cozy looking room with all orange furniture. The color scheme of the whole place was terrible.

Peter clenched his jaw as the alien made him stand in front of two other Grieghans that looked exactly the same.

Peter barely held back a wince as one of them spoke.

“Hello, child. We will be your parental units until you are determined to be old enough to join the upper level minds according to the Superior’s orders. I am Clinetep, and this is Minnter. I will teach you the history of our planet as directed by the Superior and Minnter will nurture your skill set as indicated by the Superior. Follow us to your new home.” Clinetep said as they gripped Peter’s arm in their large hand.

Peter said nothing as he was practically dragged out of the holding facility. He looked at his surroundings and noted that it did not appear to be very different from how Earth looked. The atmosphere was definitely similar if not the same. The main difference was that the light levels here seemed to be lower, but he couldn’t even be sure of that, as he had no clue how time worked on these planets.

Peter was at a loss for what he should do. He knew that whomever the Superior was, they were going to use him for something, and he really didn’t like the idea of being a pawn in someone’s game.

~~~~~~

Minnter soon pushed Peter into the large place that Clinetep had called his new home.

“Your habitat will be in room two of this level. You will be restricted from going elsewhere. You are to stay here unless directed to go elsewhere by the Superior. Your education will commence tomorrow morning. I suggest that you try to sleep.” Clinetep said as Peter scowled.

“Why do I really need to stay here? What does your Superior want? Why did they take us?” Peter questioned as Minnter frowned.

“It is not our duty to question the Superior’s decisions. If you continue to question these actions, we will be forced to enact punishments that have been pre-determined by the Superior to ensure proper behavior.” Clinetep said as Peter scowled.

“Proper behavior? Your superior is the one who took me from my world! Why should I even be listening to you?” Peter said defiantly.

“Defiance will not be tolerated. You were quite docile until we arrived. Return to that docile state, and punishment will be delayed.” Clintep said.

Peter grimaced and said “No. Normally, I’d lay low and wait for back-up, but not this time! I have no clue where I am, and you guys aren’t going to be any help!”

Peter then shot a web at the eyes of the aliens. He had not anticipated that the aliens would be able to easily dodge the webs though. He had miscalculated. He had thought that their weight would offset them, but he was wrong.

Peter jumped out of the way and onto the roof and cursed as Minnter growled with anger and frustration.

“Boy, stop this now. Your punishment will already be great. You do not need another one to be added.” Clinetep said.

Peter was distracted by Clinetep as Minnter stood under him and easily ripped him off of the ceiling. Peter struggled in their grip, but it was harsh. Minnter squeezed lightly as Peter tried to get out of their grip. Peter shot another web and tried to get some leverage, but Minnter growled and ripped the web off of the ceiling and crushed the wrist in which it had come from.

Peter howled in pain as Minnter checked the other wrist and ripped the web shooter off. Minnter kept their grip on him as they spoke with Clinetep.

“The boy would be more useful on Grieghan-1 than here, Clinetep. He is different from the other young Terrans. This one is stronger, and has clearly already developed more advanced technology than the others based upon this little wrist contraption. He can serve multiple purposes there that would be wasted if he were left with us here. They can use him for medical trials on Grieghan-1, and one those are done, they may be able to use him for his knowledge if he survives. Grieghan-1 is looking for young ones that show the traits this boy has. He is needed so that better medical procedures can be synthesized. Grieghan-1 has warranted that we report anything like this! You cannot be emotionally attached to this Terran! Terrans are much lower than us in status anyway!” Minnter said as Peter struggled in their grip as the argument continued.

“I am not emotionally attached. If the Superior wanted him there, Minnter, he would already be there. You also should not have harmed the boy. Physical harm was not one of the pre-set punishments.” Clinetep said.

Minnter growled and said “The boy is obviously good at hiding his abilities. He may have been able to deceive the Superior, and that is not tolerable! We must report to the Superior what we have seen!”

Clinetep frowned and said “Fine, but leave me out of it. I will not agree to this. It seems as if you are questioning the Superior, and I do not want to be a part of that. Especially if it gets you sent to Grieghan-5.”

Peter continued to struggle in Minnter’s grip as Minnter carried him down the hall of their home. Minnter soon stopped at a door of a room that was labeled with the number zero, and they opened the door to reveal a room with a shrine.

Peter grimaced as he got a good look at the room. He had stopped struggling so hard, as he knew that he wouldn’t be able to get out of Minnter’s grip. He listened as Minnter called out to the superior.

“Superior, I have an urgent update.” Minnter said as a shrill noise began to echo in the room. Peter winced and tried to cover his ears, but it didn’t really help. The shrill voice continued to hurt his eardrums. There was no language translator, so he couldn’t tell what the Superior was saying.

Peter listened as Minnter reported “The boy assigned to us is abnormal for a Terran. He has qualities that Grieghan-1 are looking for in test subjects. I was not sure if you were aware of this in the boy, Superior.”

Peter winced when the shrill noise rang out again. He was entirely dismayed when Minnter grinned very creepily as they looked at him and nodded.

“Yes, Superior. I will prepare the boy for transport. He will arrive on Grieghan-1 shortly.” Minnter said as Peter grimaced.

“You should have hidden your talents, boy. You will be bound for Grieghan-1 by tomorrow.” Minnter said as they carried Peter out of the room.

Peter tried to get out of Minnter’s grip again, but it was futile. One of his wrists was still in agonizing pain, and the alien was still stronger than him. He was trapped.

Minnter took him to a different room and tossed him carelessly onto a large sofa. Peter rolled off of the sofa with a grunt and shakily stood as Minnter closed the door. Minnter then grabbed him again and made sure that he was not able to move.

Peter grimaced and continued to curse as Minnter rifled through a drawer. Minnter withdrew some sort of large needle. Peter’s eyes widened in fear as his spider-sense spiked even higher.

Minnter grinned and said “This was supposed to be used as a last resort if you refused to comply with the Superior’s orders. I have just gained permission from the Superior to go ahead and use it on you now, so that you will not struggle during transport. The scientists of Grieghan-1 will want you sedated, so this will benefit them more than me. Goodbye, child. You will likely lead to some of the best medical advancements for the Grieghan culture.”

Peter yelped as the large needle was carelessly stabbed into his shoulder. He began to cry as it quickly took effect. Whatever it was, it must have been meant to keep a person down for quite a while. Normal drugs that worked against humans didn't work well for him, so this was rather odd. Peter cried as he felt the effects of the sedative set in. The last thing he saw was another bright purple flash of light before he completely passed out.

~~~~~~

Tony grimaced as he called out for help. He was confused. No one answered him, and he was trapped in some sort of dark hallway.

“Hello?!” he called again.

He jumped when the sound of someone struggling and in pain soon met his ears. He ran towards the sound, and after a few minutes of not being able to find the location, he stopped to listen again. He grimaced in confusion as he listened.

He could hear the agonized scream of someone. He continued onward cautiously towards the noise. He normally wouldn’t head towards that type of sound, but he realized that it sounded painfully familiar.

He eventually made it to a gold-lit door and could see through it. He tried to walk though it, but he couldn’t. He put his hand against it, and all he felt was the coolness of glass. He looked into it again, and he could see his reflection, but that wasn’t the worst part.

Tony paled as he looked beyond the glass to see one of the worst events he had ever been through. He flinched when he heard his own pained howl echo through the dark corridor again. He teared up as he watched them operate on his heart while he was awake.

He realized with fear and anger that this had been the events that had first occurred during his kidnapping in Afghanistan. This had been filmed and sent to his best friend Rhodey. He had seen the video of this after he had returned, and it had scarred him. It reminded him of how terrified he was, and how his friends had nearly lost hope.

The image soon changed again to show the waterboarding that they had put him through. Tony cried out in fear as he tried to step away from the image, but it was as if he could not move. He looked down with rising fear, and noticed that his feet were trapped within the dark ground. He couldn’t move. He was forced to watch his torture and relive it.

Tony gripped his chest as the image of Obadiah taking the arc reactor from it played out in front of him. He felt just as paralyzed as he had on that same day. Tony watched as his memories played out in front of him.

Some of the memories had been good, like the ones that he had shared with Pepper, or even the times when he and the kid had had lab days. More often than not though, he was tortured by his worst memories, and unfortunately, he had many of those to go around.

He had to watch as his drunken father cursed him out again, and called him some of the worst names in the book. He had to watch as his weapons destroyed entire villages even after he stopped weapons production. So much misery, so much pain, it was endless.

The good did not outweigh the bad memories in Tony’s brain, and nothing could save him from his own memories as he was stuck within his own mind while he was in that horrible stasis chamber.

~~~~~~

“Hey, Gamora? Why did you suggest a fuel stop at Grieghan-2?” Quill questioned as Gamora rolled her eyes.

She turned to him again and said “I suggested it because it’s the closest fuel stop. They also have a few good markets there. Plus, we may run into another job opportunity there. The Grieghans pay well when they hire someone for a job.”

Quill nodded and said “Okay. We’ll land at the fuel station in a couple of minutes. Do we need to radio that we’re coming?”

Rocket shouted out “No, we don’t. Grieghans don’t like our ship’s communication type. Gamora, do you know if they have parts there too? I need a few so I can fix a few things in the engine compartment.”

Gamora sighed again and said “Yeah, they do. Let me handle things. The Grieghans can be quite one minded when it comes to some things. The main thing I know is that whatever they do is directed by someone that they call the Superior. They won’t sell to us unless the Superior says that they can. Be on your best behavior. We don’t want to anger these guys. They’re almost all three times larger than us.”

Groot huffed and said “I am groot!”

“Hey! Watch your mouth, and don’t antagonize them! I know that you’re a teenager, but you still need to be good while on another planet! Normally I wouldn’t give a crap, but even I’ve heard a little bit about these guys. They’re pretty freaky, and that’s coming from me.” Rocket said as Quill’s eyes widened.

“Okay, so this is a place that we don’t want to stay on for too long. Got it. I’ll let you do the talking, Gamora.” Quill said as Gamora scoffed.

“Do not worry, Quill. I will defend your weak and fleshy body if it comes to it. You will not die so long as I am there.” Drax said as Quill scowled.

“Okay. Nice to know. Let’s just get this done. We’re landing now.” Quill said as Gamora prepared to exit.

The cargo bay doors opened as Gamora confidently strode outside and was greeted by one of the Grieghans.

“State your business to the Superior, and they will determine if you may barter here.” the Grieghan said as Gamora nodded.

“We only wish to refuel and purchase a few spare parts. We will only be here for about one hour.” Gamora said as the Grieghan nodded.

Gamora did not wince when she heard the tell-tall shrill of the Superior’s voice. The Grieghan soon turned back to her.

“You may refuel here. You have one hour before the Superior gives an alternative order for your arrest. They know of you, Guardians of the Galaxy, and they no longer wish to offer you jobs. This should be the last time that you return to the Grieghan planet system.” the Grieghan said as Gamora nodded.

“Understood. We will be on our way soon.” Gamora said as the others slowly exited the ship.

“Hey, Gamora? Would you refuel? Me and Quill have gotta find those parts!” Rocket shouted as Gamora nodded.

“I’ve got it. Just head back quick.” Gamora said as Rocket dragged Quill inside the large facility.

Groot and Drax had reluctantly stayed on the ship. Gamora worked to quickly refuel. She really hoped that those two idiots would manage to get what they needed and get back quickly.

~~~~~~

Quill frowned as they passed by a rather odd shop in the middle of the facility. He couldn’t read the signs, so he asked Rocket what it said.

Rocket grimaced and said “It’s a live-being transport office. I’ve never seen one here before. I didn’t know that the Grieghans were into that kind of thing, though it would explain how their society has advanced so quickly within the past few years.”

Quill grimaced and said “What? How have I never heard of this? I’ve traveled the galaxy with Yondu, and I’ve never heard of this? What is it?”

Rocket sighed and said “You really are dumb sometimes, Quill, but I’ll take you in and show you. I hate that they do this. It makes me uncomfortable. They traffic small beings from all over the galaxy for their food trade. That’s what the sign said. This shop is a transport shop between the five Grieghan worlds. Come on.”

Quill followed Rocket as he reluctantly led him into what was apparently a transport office of some sort. Quill grimaced. It smelled way too sterile in there to be a transport office for animals. He looked over to Rocket and saw that he too was grimacing.

Rocket stood still for a moment as he said “I don’t think that this is a regular transport office. Something doesn’t feel right. There aren’t any visible animals. There’s just these empty cages and two stasis boxes. I’ll look at this one, and you look at that one. See if you can figure out what critter they’re storing in these stasis boxes.”

Quill nodded as he headed to the left side of the room while Rocket went towards the right. There weren’t any camera’s but Quill still felt like he was being watched. He was careful as he approached the stasis box.

Quill looked at the label, but he couldn’t read it.

“Hey, Rocket, I can't read the label. You want me to just open it? If they’re stasis boxes, why don’t they have a window or something?” Quill said as Rocket sighed.

“Sure. We get into trouble wherever we go anyway. This will likely be our last time here for a while anyway, so we might as well break a few rules. These type of stasis boxes are actually illegal in most parts of the galaxy. They’re generally used for illegal transports. That’s partially why I’m not against opening them and stealing the product.” Rocket said as Quill looked for a release latch to the stasis box.

Quill heard when Rocket opened the one on his side and snickered.

“This one’s just some type of squid-thing. Don’t know why this would be illegal. It won’t get us any money. Apparently this was just kept in a stasis box to keep it cold for later consumption. What’s in yours? I’m still getting a bad feeling.” Rocket said as he jumped down from the edge of the stasis box he had broken into.

Quill said “Um, ah! There’s the button! I’ll just press it…now!”

Quill cursed loudly as the box opened “OH S**T! THIS IS A TERRAN KID!”

Rocket yelled “WHAT!? A TERRAN KID?”

Quill continued to look down at the kid in the stasis box as the Superior’s shrill tone rang through the facility.

Rocket cursed and said “Quill, grab the kid! I’ll take the front! We need to get outta here quickly!”

Quill quickly picked the kid up and tossed him over his shoulder. It wasn’t the best way for him to carry the kid, but it was better than him having both arms occupied when he still needed one to shoot.

Rocket growled and said “The good news is that the Grieghans don’t usually use guns. The bad news is that they have a size and strength advantage. OH CRAP! THEY HAVE GUNS NOW!

Quill dodged to the side as one of the Grieghans shot at him with what appeared to be a gun like the ones on Xandar.

“Quill, quick, we’ve got to go the other way!” Rocket yelled as he dodged another blast.

“Got it! I’ll radio Gamora and tell her to be ready to fly!” Quill yelled as he quickly tapped the radio communicator on his jacket.

Gamora’s voice rang out “WHAT THE HELL DID YOU TWO DO?! THE GRIEGHANS ARE STORMING THE PLACE!”

Quill winced as he fired a shot behind him while keeping a hold of the kid.

“Um, we’ll tell you when we get back. Just have the ship ready to go!” Quill practically yelled as he dodged more shots.

It took them a few minutes, and shots continued to be fired at them, but they raced into the cargo bay of their ship rather quickly. Angry Grieghans followed behind them, but Gamora had been faster. She had already had the cargo bay doors closing when Rocket and Quill had been coming.

“Hang on, we’re getting out of here, quickly. I don’t want to see if they have ships now. I see that they’ve advanced enough to have guns like those on Xandar.” Gamora said as she piloted the ship out of the danger area.

Gamora set the path on auto-pilot and immediately joined the two idiots in the cargo bay.

“Why do you two always have to get in trouble wherever we go! You can’t do anything right!” Gamora started to rant, but Rocket stopped her.

“WE HAD TO GAMORA! They had a Terran kid stored in a stasis box. We couldn’t just leave the kid there. I read part of the label before the alarm was sounded. He was being sent to Grieghan-1 for experimentation. We had to save the kid. The Grieghans are more screwed up than we initially thought they were.” Rocket said as Gamora finally noticed the kid and started cursing in another language.

“Sorry. I get it now, okay. Check the kid out. We have no idea what they did to him before you found him.” Gamora said as Quill carefully carried the kid into the main part of their ship and Rocket went to get the medical supplies.

Groot and Drax stood to the side as Quill carefully sat the pale and cold kid on one of their spare cots.

“Groot, hand me a couple of blankets. The kid’s cold. They had him in one of those freeze-type stasis boxes.” Quill said as Rocket came back with a first aid kit.

Gamora stood to the side as well and said “Have you at least checked for a pulse. Maybe the kid was already dead?”

Quill grimaced towards Gamora and said “I will now, but even if he’s dead, his body still deserves to be treated with respect, and I don’t think that the Grieghans would have done that. We still don’t even know why they even had this Terran kid.”

Gamora nodded as Quill confirmed that the kid did have a weak pulse. Drax suddenly spoke as Quill put another blanket on the kid.

Drax was grimacing as he said “Quill, the child is freezing, Yes?”

Quill nodded and said “I will sit with him chest to chest. Rarely on my home planet, a child would get a freezing sickness if they were out in the cold for too long. We were taught that body heat is the best cure for this type of freezing on my planet. I’m going to see if it will work with this tiny and weak Terran child.”

Quill was pushed to the side as Drax carefully removed the kid’s shirt and cradled the kid. It was one of the most tender moments they had ever seen Drax have. They said nothing as Drax frowned and teared up.

“I remember cradling my own child like this once before the Mad Titan killed them. I hope that this tiny Terran survives. He is not warming up very fast.” Drax said as he held the kid.

Quill frowned and said “It’s helping him, Drax. He’s already got a little bit of color coming back to him and he’s starting to shiver. That’s a good sign. I’ve never seen a Terran in stasis before. That was terrifying. Where are we heading to, Gamora?” Quill questioned as they all continued to stand around Drax and the kid.

“We’re heading to Terra now. We need a few supplies from there, and it probably won’t hurt to drop the kid off there, if that is where he is from. It’ll take us about three days to get there.” Gamora said as Quill nodded.

~~~~~~

It took the kid two of those three days before he woke up in a panic. They had already bandaged the practically shattered wrist that the kid had. Drax was still close by, as he did not want to leave the weak child’s side. He was also an immensely helpful source of warmth, because the kid tended to get cold easily. It was as if he could not thermoregulate.

Drax had been the one to alert them when the child was close to being awake. Gamora and Groot stood back as Quill and Rocket stood close to the kid and Drax. The kid’s eyes slowly opened and he yawned. Then his eyes suddenly widened, he yelped in fear, tossed the blankets off of himself and leaped, and stuck, to the ceiling of the ship.

Rocket said “Uh, that ain’t normal for a Terran kid.”

The kid looked at Rocket with fearful eyes and glanced around at the others and said ‘W-where am I?”

Quill smiled and said “It’s okay, kid. You’re on our ship. We’re the Guardians of the Galaxy. We’re the good guys. You’re not on Grieghan-2 anymore.”

The kid nodded and carefully climbed down the wall. He stood on shaky legs as he grasped his head and groaned.

The kid then said “I’m safe. What happened?”

The kid was close to collapsing, so Gamora helped him sit back on the cot beside Drax. The kid sighed and surprisingly cuddled up to Drax’s side.

“Well, we’re not really sure about that, kid. Could you tell us where you’re from and how you may have gotten to the Grieghan system in the first place?” Quill said as the kid yawned.

Drax smiled a rare smile and put a protective arm over the kid’s shoulders.

The kid said “I’m Peter. I’m from Earth. I was abducted with a bunch of other kids. I saw a purple flash after sensing that something was wrong, and then I was there.”

Gamora cursed and said “The Grieghans are using that type of technology now!? I knew that they were scum, but they’re even worse than I thought. Where did they even get mass transporter technology? How did they even locate specific people? Who the HELL is the Superior, and why did they target Terra?!”

The kid yawned again and said “I don’t know. All I know is that they were sending me somewhere to be experimented on. I also know that my best friend and many others are still trapped there. Thanks for getting me out of there, but we have to get help to rescue everyone else too.”

Quill nodded and said “Okay, kid. We’ll work on that as soon as we land on Terra. For now, you should probably rest. Do you even remember being put in stasis?”

Peter shook his head and said “No. I was injected with some sort of sedative, and then I woke up here. We’re going to help the others, right?”

Quill frowned and said “Yeah, kid. We will. We just have to take care of a few things on Terra first.”

The kid nodded and quickly passed out against Drax’s side again as Gamora sighed.

“Well, I guess that that’s our next job. We’re going to rescue an unknown number of Terrans from the Grieghans. That will definitely not be easy. We’ll have to pick up some allies on Earth. I’ll see if Nebula can contact anyone. She still knows how to get a hold of some of our other adopted siblings that helped in the fight against Thanos last year where we got lucky that that glowy woman showed up and somehow killed him and destroyed the stones before he could kill me to get another stone.” Gamora said as everyone agreed.

“Alright then, Terra first, then back to Grieghan! Let’s get this done!” Quill said as Gamora rolled her eyes.

~~~~~~

Ginjuy jumped when the Superior’s shrill voice met his ears.

“Ginjuy! Check the stasis pods. Report the status of the subjects. Do not open them unless I direct you after reports are made. I cannot currently monitor them without help.” the Superior said as Ginjuy followed their orders.

There were only about twenty subjects within stasis pods, so the job would not take him very long. It was slightly concerning to them that only twenty of the thousand plus Terran adults they had gathered had survived the memory machines. Ginjuy wanted to speak back, but they were too afraid of the Superior and of being sent to Grieghan-5.

Ginjuy checked each pod, and did as the Superior directed. He had to dispose of a few more bodies. Three more of the Terran adults had died. Two of the newly deceased were female and one was male. The last stasis pod held the one who had been defiant when first approached.

Ginjuy frowned as they checked the vital signs. All they could tell was that the Terran was still alive. They could not interpret the rest of the information. They dictated it to the best of their abilities and the Superior directed them to open the stasis pod.

Ginjuy frowned as the Terran convulsed. They had no clue that a Terran could still move while in stasis. The Superior soon directed Ginjuy to drag the Terran to a different room. Ginjuy had no clue what the Superior wanted with this Terran.

The Superior instructed Ginjuy to restrain the Terran. Ginjuy did as directed and stood as they waited for another command. No more commands came, but Ginjuy watched as the Terran writhed and moaned as it slowly regained consciousness.

The Terran man yelled out as his eyes widened significantly. He tried to sit up, but the restraints prevented him from moving too much. Ginjuy was slightly surprised. He had seen a fearful Terran before, but this one was more so angry than fearful.

Ginjuy stood back as the Terran man raged as he tried to escape his bonds. They then received an order from the Superior.

“The Terran is in distress, and will stay that way. Leave the room. I will take care of the Terran man. He is no longer your concern.” the Superior said as Ginjuy bowed their head.

“Yes, Superior. Do you wish that I stay by the entrance?” Ginjuy questioned.

“Stand guard, but do not try to face me as I appear. The penalty for your next strike will be death on Greighan-5. Beware.” The Superior said as Ginjuy nodded and quickly left while closing the door.

Ginjuy stood outside the now closed door as he heard a sudden whoosh and saw a bright purple light shine through the window on the door. They didn’t dare to look through that window though. The Superior was not a being to be trifled with.

They were very curious about what was going to happen, but they knew better than to interfere. Ginjuy stayed by that door until the Superior told him to leave. All they knew was that they would no longer be dealing with that particular Terran, and it was not their business to ask what would happen to the angry Terran man.

~~~~~~

The Superior grimaced as they looked over the raging Terran man. They made sure that their Grieghan servant was not looking, and they conjured their magic and sent themselves and the Terran Man to their habitat. The Terran man was spitting curses the whole time.

The Superior rolled their eyes and waved their hands in an odd motion while the Terran watched. They could see the man’s confusion as their form changed from one of pure purple energy to that of a Terran female.

The Superior smiled. It’s not like she would ever let the Terran man out of her care to tell the Grieghans anyway. Not that they would care. The Grieghans had seen that she carried immense power, and declared her as their Superior. She was their God. They followed her every order, and in return, she helped advance their society.

The Terran man had gone quiet, but she could still feel the rageful energy emanating from his being.

“Well. I see that you’re at a loss for words now that you’ve at least seen ‘The Superior’. These Grieghan beings are so primitive and easy to fool. Little do they know that I’m just a really old Terran that has a few tricks up her sleeve.” the woman said as the Terran man frowned.

The Terran man snarled and said “Who are you? Why have you taken people from your own planet to work here? What is your goal?”

The woman huffed and waved her hand to summon her magic. She hummed as the magic formed the same muzzle in the air as had been on the man earlier.

“Now, I know that you are Tony Stark, and I know that you’re quite rambunctious and outspoken on certain things. I’m just going to put this on you. I really don’t need your pathetic interruptions as I speak.” the woman said as Tony snarled.

Before Tony could say anything else, the woman waved her hand again and the muzzle was once again tightly fastened to his face. The woman grinned when she saw the rage burning through Stark’s eyes.

“Now I can begin. I’m Agatha Harkness. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of me, but about five years ago I was banished from Earth for crimes against the Maximoff family. The sorceress who sent me here probably hid everything about me. If I had my choice, I’d come back and steal the little Maximoff witch’s powers myself, but, alas, if I come even close to Earth’s atmosphere, the Sorcerer Supreme will take my powers, and I can’t have that happening, so I decided to find the next best option. The main setback is that the witch’s powers are enough to block me out, so I can’t transport her here with my magic. I just needed some workers that knew a few things about technology, so I’ve stolen people from assorted worlds over the past few years, and most things they’ve created have been great. Sorry about the memory wiper. Apparently, the people of Xandar don’t know how to build their stuff properly. Subjugation really is a beautiful thing here though. I have all the power here. I am in control.” Agatha said as Tony rolled his eyes.

Agatha snickered and continued “Everything here was going quite well until you and your little brat questioned things. I should have known that gathering many of the geniuses from Earth would lead to some type of form of fighting back. I cannot let you go, but I can use you. Your little brat of a kid somehow escaped my reach. I’m going to use you to lure him back. My powers are quite extensive, but unlike Maximoff, I cannot reach into people’s minds, and the harvesting machine sent the memories to me, but it was in a form that not even I could understand. I will remove the muzzle temporarily, but you need to tell me something that will get that kid back here quickly. I hadn’t known that he was enhanced when I chose him, but now that I know, he’d be one of the best assets for Grieghan-1. His physiology is quite unique according to reports from the Grieghans, and we managed to get a blood sample before someone stole him from me. You are the key to getting the kid back. Now, what is the best way to lure him here since my powers aren’t working to bring him back?”

She then waved her hand as the muzzle disappeared from Tony’s face.

Tony growled and said “No way in HELL am I ever going to tell you anything! I will NOT be bait! My kid should stay as far away from here as possible!”

Agatha hummed and said “Well, then, I suppose that you need a little bit of motivation. Perhaps from a person who is a friend of your adopted child?”

Agatha then waved her hand as Ned appeared in the room with wide and fearful eyes. He spotted Tony and his eyes widened even further. Agatha approached Ned and draped an arm casually over his shoulders.

“I may not be able to look into your heads for information, but I sure as hell can use my magic to find most of the information that I need on the Terran internet. I’ve seen pictures of this one with your kid. I don’t have access to the girl at the moment because my magic is weakened from bringing so many captives here earlier this week, but I can still use this one against you. I suggest that you tell me what I want to know.” Agatha said as she held a hand with glowing purple magic close to Ned’s face.

“FINE! Don’t hurt the kid! The kid will try to get back here as soon as you show proof that you’ve got me here. You just have to show him proof.” Tony said as Agatha smiled.

“Really? It will be that easy to get the kid back. You two really are precious. How does the aunt keep him from being a self-sacrificial idiot?” Agatha said as she laughed.

Ned cringed and said “What's going on? Dr. Stark, why are we here?”

Agatha rolled her eyes and waved her hand again. Ned quickly disappeared from the room.

“That last question was rhetorical by the way. I don’t really care so long as I can get him back. Plus, I can’t have him exposing my operation. I know that he has information about Grieghan-1 practices that really shouldn’t be brought out into the light.” Agatha said as purple magic swirled around her hands.

Agatha waved her hand and the muzzle was back on Tony’s face. Tony continued to try and yell at her, but it was more annoying than anything. She rolled her eyes as he continued to glare at her.

“Hmmm. How to get the kid back here. I know where he is now, and who he’s with, but I cannot get him back with my magic. Something on that ship is blocking my magic. If I’m lucky, the little imp hasn’t told anyone about Grieghan-1 yet. I think that one of them mentioned that they were taking the kid back to Terra, so I can have a lovely little message waiting for him when they get back. I know just what to send.” Agatha said as she conjured up a deep purple spell.

Tony listened as she recited some strange words and flared her arms out as the purple magic burst forth at a rapid speed. He watched as Agatha then smiled brightly.

“My message has been delivered. It’s waiting in the place that you were taken from. It should be a lovely surprise for him. Goodbye for now, Stark. I’m sending you to Grieghan-5. Your ending should be swift, but I don’t really need you alive in order to lure the kid here.” Agatha said as Tony’s eyes widened.

Before Tony knew it, he was transported to an extremely hot place that was filled with the sounds of screaming. It seemed that Greighan-5 was the literal embodiment of Hell. The first thing he saw was a wall of red in front of him, and that he was restrained on some sort of torture table instead of the witch’s sofa.

He struggled in his bonds, but he still couldn't escape. He wondered what sort of torturous death awaited him.

~~~~~~

Ned yelped as he suddenly arrived back into the house of his freaky alien parental units. He had no idea of what the heck had just happened. All he knew was that Peter must have somehow escaped, because the crazy lady was trying to get Tony into telling her how to get Peter back.

One of his parental units patted his back as he stood silent for a moment.

“You are very lucky, boy. The Superior chose you to gaze upon them. You will go high in our society. We will continue with your studies. You must be highly important if the Superior allowed you to gaze upon them.” the parental unit said as Ned grimaced.

Ned nodded and suddenly smiled. He knew that Peter had somehow got away, and that was proof alone that Peter would come back with backup. It had surprised him that Dr. Stark was there too, but he knew that it had to be because Peter was missing. Ned was more hopeful than ever that Peter would get help and get them all out of there.

~~~~~~

The Guardians soon arrived at Terra. They stopped above the Terran atmosphere close to the North American continent and were hailed.

“This is Maria Hill, Deputy Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.. State your business for being within our air space.” Maria Hill said as Quill pressed the button to respond.

“This is Quill. We have a passenger here that needs to be dropped off, and we wish to ask for assistance. We need to speak and get in contact with Captain Marvel, and we were told that your Director Fury will be the best line of contact.” Quill said cautiously as he hovered.

“Affirmative. One of our vessels will meet you and you will follow them. Do not go off course. Fury will meet you at the landing pad.” Maria said as she verified their identity.

Quill quickly landed the ship once Maria’s people escorted them to the proper spot. She had been right. Fury was waiting for them to arrive. Drax and Groot stayed on the ship with the kid while Gamora, Rocket and Quill left to see Fury.

“Hello, Guardians. I’ve heard about you from Carol. What business do you actually have today, and who is your passenger?” Fury questioned as Quill gulped.

Fury was a very intimidating man.

Gamora spoke “We found a kid from Terra on a planet that we stopped at for a fuel stop. The kid was obviously not from there, and he alerted us that he was abducted with many other Terrans. DRAX, BRING THE KID OUT!”

Fury’s eyes widened slightly when he noticed that the kid Drax held was Peter Parker. He cursed slightly and ran up to them. He didn’t touch the kid, but he did look him over for injuries while Hill called for a medical team.

Gamora continued “Quill and Rocket found him in a stasis box, so he’s pretty tired right now. It took quite a while to warm him up. He’s also got a broken wrist. We did notice that he’s not a normal Terran, and that’s probably part of why he was taken.”

Fury scowled and said “Follow me. You guys need to come to headquarters. This kid is part of an ongoing case of mass abduction. How long ago did you find him, and where did you find him?”

Fury began to walk away quickly as Drax continued to carry the kid. Rocket powered the ship down and they all followed behind Fury.

Rocket answered with “We found the kid three days ago in a stasis pod on Grieghan-2. They were going to use him for experiments. We’re going to go back after we gather some people to help us handle the situation.”
Fury nodded as Maria held the door open while they all entered the headquarters.

“Well, the kid and quite a few other people from all over our planet have been missing for almost a week now. Do you have an approximate time when the kid will wake up? Can your large friend let the kid go so my people can check him out in our medical facility?” Fury said as Drax hummed.

“I will stay with the child. Tell me where to go so you can make sure that the tiny Terran will live.” Drax said as Fury sighed.

“Fine. Follow Agent Hill, she’ll lead you to our medical ward.” Fury said as Drax carried Peter.

They soon turned another corner while Fury led the rest of the Guardians to another meeting room.

“Okay, now that we’re all here and Parker’s being looked after, I’ll tell you what went on about a week ago. At the exact same time one week ago, bright flashes of purple light occurred, and many of the smartest people on our planet disappeared. We have not been able to track any of those who are missing, and we were not able to find anyone who had a tracker on them at the time of disappearance. There were many witnesses, but none of them saw anyone. Now that you’ve brought Parker back, we may have a lead. I’ve already contacted Carol, and she should be here within the next couple of days. Sometimes the emergency message takes a little while to deliver.” Fury said as Rocket groaned.

“Seriously! We need to take care of this now! The Grieghans could be hurting the other Terrans, and we know for a fact that they have multiple Terran kids. We need to act as soon as possible!” Rocket said as Fury sighed.

“I get that, but we have to wait until we have enough people to fight them. I personally have little to no knowledge of the culture you’re talking about, but Carol will. She’ll know how to best handle this situation. I’ve also got a few people who I can call. There’s a particular Sorcerer here who handles crap like this, but he’s been ghosting me all week.” Fury said as he got on his phone to contact that Sorcerer again.

The Guardians present watched as Fury repeatedly tried to contact the Sorcerer. It took him fifteen tries before he got an answer.

“What do you want, Fury? I’m rather busy over here, and I can’t deal with everything that you bring up. I had a few of my students disappear last week because of some sort of purple magic that I’m trying to track down.” Strange said as Fury grimaced.

“You know, Strange, you could have just told me that you were also working on the case. I have a lead. Get to S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters now. I’ll explain when you get here.” Fury said as he quickly hung up.

Gamora jumped up and was ready for a fight when a bright orange ring of sparks appeared in the middle of the room that they were in. She soon calmed down when she saw the Sorcerer that Fury had been talking to.

“Fury, what’s the situation? I see that you have the Guardians here.” Strange said as he glanced at each of the present guardians.

“Well, Strange, I’ll give you a break since you can’t see into the future anymore, but they brought back one of the kids that was taken when those purple flashes of light occurred. Peter Parker was picked up by these guys on Grieghan-2. They gained a little bit of information that led them to believe that the rest of our people were taken to the same territory. We need to make a plan of attack once Carol gets here, and then we’ll get our people back.” Fury said as Strange grimaced.

Strange sighed and said “Fine. We’ll wait for Captain Marvel to arrive, and then we’ll go. If I can get an accurate portrayal of where and what Grieghan looks like, I may be able to portal us there. How’s Parker doing? I’ve interviewed his aunt and friends about the incident, but none of them witnessed it. He was probably with Stark in their lab when they were both taken.”

Fury nodded and said “They said that the kid’s exhausted, but relatively fine other than a broken wrist. My medical team is treating the kid right now. We’ll get more information from him when he wakes up again.”

Strange nodded and said “Let me see the kid. I have a spell that may be able to speed up Parker’s healing. I know that the kid already has a fast healing rate, but we need him to get better quickly. He’ll be able to tell us more accurate information that way.”

Fury nodded and Strange opened a portal into the medical ward. He soon found his way to Peter’s medical bed and frowned.

“He’s really pale compared to usual. What happened other than a broken wrist?” Strange questioned.

Rocket answered with “We found the kid in a stasis box. It took us hours before we were able to get him warm again, and that was purely because Drax is like a walking and talking space heater. We had to be careful with his wrist though. We couldn’t get any nutrients into him because he passed out, but his wrist was healing quite fast. We think that it started to heal wrong.”

Strange grimaced and said “That’s what I was afraid had happened. His healing is exceptionally fast. He also had problems with thermoregulation. I can fix it with a spell. Normally, I wouldn’t do this, but we need the information he has as soon as possible. Plus, I think that the kid deserves a little bit of a break after being on an unknown planet for a week.”

They watched as Strange closed his eyes and did a few odd hand movements. Strange seemed to hold his breath until he was done casting his spell. He exhaled loudly when the spell was completed, and a bright yellowish-orange burst of light hit Peter in the chest and spread over his still unconscious body.

The spell became brighter at the kid’s wrist, and after a few minutes the orange glow left the kid’s body, and the kid finally regained consciousness.

Peter groaned and rubbed his head as Strange opened another portal.

“Hello, Peter. I’ll return with your aunt in just a moment.” Strange said as Peter frowned in confusion.

A few minutes later, Strange came back into Peter’s room with his Aunt May.

“PETER! You’re okay! I was so worried!” May said as she approached the bed and drew Peter into a hug.

Peter was sitting up in the bed, but before he could say anything, Hill came in with an urgent message for Fury.

“Fury, Colonel Rhodes just contacted me from the Compound. He says that an energy disturbance was detected, and the cameras showed a purple flash of light again in the kid and Stark’s lab. Rhodes went down there and found a message scrawled on the wall. I’m sending you a picture of it now.” Hill said as Fury glanced down at his phone.

Fury cursed as May and Peter both furrowed their brows.

Peter reluctantly questioned “What did it say?”

Fury groans and says “They’re trying to bait you, kid. It won’t help you to see the message, but the Grieghans want you back. We won’t let that happen though.”

Peter frowned as May rubbed his back in sympathy.

“I want to know. I need to know what it said. Ned was one of the kids who were taken. I need to know if they’re threatening him.” Peter said as Fury grimaced.

“Kid, they aren’t threatening your friend. They’re threatening Stark. You didn’t know, did you? They didn’t just abduct you kids, they abducted all of the best minds from our world, well, at least those who are good at engineering and coding. Stark was one of the taken.” Fury said as Peter teared up.

“They took Tony. I have to go back there! I have to get both him and Ned back! I can’t just sit here and wait for somebody else to do it!” Peter said as he went to stand.

May gently kept him from standing as she looked at him with worry “Honey, you just got back. I’m not letting you out of my sight. I know that you want to be a hero right now, and you are, but you’re still recovering.”

Peter groaned and said “May! He’s pretty much a father figure to me! I can’t leave him or Ned behind! I have to go after them!”

May sighed and said “I know that honey, but give it a little bit of time. You’ll at least have to come up with a plan first.”

Peter groaned and looked at Strange as he said “Surely you’ve already got a plan. Have you figured out how to defeat them yet?”

Strange winced and said “Not yet, kid. All I’ve figured out is that the abductions were made possible by someone with a large amount of magic. I’ve sensed this type of magic before, but I cannot pinpoint who the perpetrator is.”

Peter sighed and leaned back on the bed as May sighed.

“They’ll get them all home eventually, Peter. Don’t lose hope.” May said as Peter sat up again.

Peter rested his forehead in his hands as he said “I’m not losing hope. I’m just worried. I don’t want to lose another father figure.”

May’s face had gone grim as she took a large breath.

May then tenderly gripped Peter’s chin and made him look her in the eyes.

“Hey, he’s Tony Stark. He’s survived much worse than whatever they're putting him through. He’ll come back to you, Peter. You will not lose him. I just started getting along with him and agreed to share guardianship with him so that you could spend more time at the Compound while I’m working. I’m not going to let him off the hook that easily. He still owes me a lot for blackmailing my kid.” May said as she got Peter to snicker.

“Okay, now that you’ve had a pep talk, I’m going to go to the Compound. I need to analyze the scene so that I can figure out who the heck is using this purple magic.” Strange said as he summoned a portal.

Peter watched as Strange left. Fury just rolled his eyes and checked his pager. Most of the Guardians were just standing around and watching everything happen. Peter suddenly realized that he had never thanked Drax for helping him warm up faster.

Peter spotted Drax standing in the corner and smiled as he said “Oh, hi Mr. Drax. Thanks for helping me warm up a little bit faster. My thermoregulation really did me in for a little bit there.”

Drax nodded and said “It is fine, tiny Terran. I will leave now. I must sharpen my blades for battle.”

Peter smiled awkwardly as Drax left the room with the other Guardians following close behind. Fury was the last one other than May left in the room.

“We’ll get them back, Parker. Leave this mission to us.” Fury said as he finally left.

Peter scowled and let out a noise of frustration.

“I know that I’m still a teenager, but I can help. I need to help. Two members of my family are still trapped on those planets.” Peter said as May rubbed his back in sympathy.

“Well, I won’t really like it very much, but you do what you think is right. If you think that the best course of action is to help them fight, then fight. Promise me this, if you choose to go with everyone when they storm wherever Ned and Tony are being held, be careful.” May said as Peter smirked.

“I’m always careful, May. I promise. I’ll come back, and I’ll bring them both with me. Have you been in contact with MJ?” Peter said as May nodded.

“Yeah. She texted me when she saw someone on the street disappear in a burst of purple light. The public is still going crazy about this whole thing. I’m keeping her in the loop about everything I know, and all I was able to tell her until today was that you were one of those who disappeared. I haven't texted her that you were found yet. I won’t tell her anything until you get back. I know you’ll say that you aren’t going to go, but I know you. You have to go. It’s who you are. You’ll rush into danger to save anyone who needs help, and I’m so proud of you for that.” May said as Peter smiled.

Peter hugged May and thanked her.

“Well, since they’ve left me unsupervised, I think that I’m going to try and eavesdrop on their conversations since I’m going to have to know when I have to sneak onto one of the ships or through a portal.” Peter said as May smiled.

“Go ahead, Peter. Just be careful. I’ll see you when you get back.” May said as Peter left the room.

Peter wasn’t going to just stand by while everyone else fought to get his fellow Earthlings back. It’s just not who he was.

~~~~~~

Tony grumbled behind the muzzle as a new being entered the room. It didn't look anything like the other Grieghans he had seen. Whomever it was must have seen his look of confusion, as it soon snickered.

“I can see the confusion on your face, Terran. I was not born as a Grieghan, but I was assimilated into their society after about a year. I have been ordered to perform your death ceremony by the Superior. They do not want it to last a very long time, so you’re actually one of the lucky ones. You’ll just get a simple round of bloodletting, via knife, maybe a smidge of waterboarding, and then your head will be chopped off by one of the new lasers that the last round of abductees developed.” the torturer said as Tony tensed.

The memories were still running rampant through Tony’s head. He had lost the little bit of calm that he had had when waterboarding was mentioned. He had just relieved that memory ten times over, and this freak was about to waterboard him in real time while he was still seeing all of those memories.

The torturer came up to him and smiled.

“Hm. For a Terran, you’re pretty good looking. Too bad I’m going to have to change that when I slice your face up for the blood letting.” they said as they made the first cut to his face above the muzzle.

The torturer grimaced as Tony writhed in the bonds. They then grabbed Tony by the chin and observed the muzzle closer.

“That muzzle really needs to come off. The Superior gave me free reign on how I will kill you quickly, so I’m going to need this muzzle off. Let’s see, I’ll just slice through the bands that are securing it, and make a few cuts to your weak skin in the process.” the torturer said as Tony glared.

Tony did his best not to make much sound as the torturer cut his cheek when cutting through the bands of the muzzle. Tony flinched when the torturer cut a little bit deeper on the second band that had fastened the muzzle to his face.

The torturer ripped the muzzle away from Tony’s face, and Tony growled.

“Psychotic witch! You should know that you’re just a pawn in some psychotic witch’s game. She doesn’t care about any of you! She’s using you all to inflate her own ego!” Tony said as the torturer huffed.

“Yeah, I really don’t care so long as I get to keep this job. It really thrills me that I was one of the ones lucky enough to be the torturer instead of the tortured.” the torturer said as Tony grimaced.

Tony yelled out in pain when another deep cut was made on the inner part of his left forearm. This torturer was going to kill him before they could ever use that laser on him. Not that he was complaining. He would much rather die before a freaking laser could fry his head off.

Before anything else could happen, Tony heard a large explosion come from outside whatever facility they were in. His torturer then groaned.

“Ugh! What’s going on this time! Someone always goes too far when administering death ceremonies! Why can’t they just keep it simple like I do.” the torturer said as Tony gaped at them with horror.

Tony watched as they walked over to the door of the room he was in, and he gasped when the large door was suddenly blown off of its hinges. The froce had knocked his torturer against the opposite wall, and they were knocked out.

Tony held his breath as he heard new voices shout out.

“Nova Corps! Stop what you’re doing right now! You are under violation of the Interplanetary treaty!” Tony heard as a few new people dressed in odd uniforms quickly burst into the room.

Tony tensed, but said nothing, as one of the ‘police’ people came towards him. He noticed that each of them had one of those universal translator things on their wrists. He knew what they were because Carol had showed him one of them last time she had come to Earth, and he had seen Agatha wearing one while he was trapped with her.

The Nova Corps officer soon removed the bonds from around Tony and slowly helped him up.

They spoke to their fellow officers and said “This one’s another from C-53. He appears to be strong enough for automatic transport. Do you want me to do that, or do you want me to take him there myself?”

Tony could barely hear the response as some odd thing was pressed against his chest. He frowned, but before he could say anything, there was a bright white flash of light, and he was very disoriented.

Tony groaned and fell to the ground after the light dissipated. He was slightly startled when he heard the next thing he heard was the excited voice of Ned Leeds.

“Mr. Stark! You’re okay! It’s been so crazy! These people just showed up a little while ago, and they have Captain Marvel with them! They’re freeing us all! They call themselves the Nova Corps! New favorite hero group!” Ned said as he practically squealed while Tony gripped his head and shivered.

Ned suddenly quit talking when he finally noticed that Tony was injured. He helped Tony sit up.

“Oh, crap. You’re hurt. Is there anything that I can do to help you Mr. Dr. Iron-Man Stark, sir?” Ned asked as Tony groaned.

“It’s just Tony, kid. No, there’s nothing you can do. I’m just wallowing in my horrible PTSD inducing memories. Please tell me that Peter is NOT here.” Tony said as Ned sat by him.

Ned hummed and said “No. I haven’t seen him. I think that this rescue may have been coming even before that lady brought me into her lair.”

Tony hummed in confirmation that he heard Ned. He then closed his eyes until he heard Ned squeal with glee and announce that Captain Marvel was coming over.

“Stark. Glad to see that you’re still alive. Many of the adults didn’t because of that memory machine thing the Nova Corps found on Grieghan-5. We’re on Grieghan-3 right now because that’s where most of the kids from C-53, Earth, were. We’re trying to gather everybody up right now. Nova Corps is working on freeing everyone who had been taken. I’ve been working with them for a few months on this case. We finally figured out who was responsible for the abductions when Fury contacted me. He told me to tell you that your kid really wanted to come find you, but that they were able to stop him after Strange agreed to portal you guys directly back to S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ. Strange should be here in a little while. He’s still working on restraining Agatha. Once Fury contacted me, I knew exactly where to go. I alerted the Nova Corps, and here we are. The Guardians of the Galaxy are having a great time clearing Grieghan-2. That’s where they initially found your kid. I’m sure everything will get explained to you later, but it was rather funny hearing Quill talk about how much trouble he had keeping your kid from stowing away on his ship before Strange made that promise. You guys will be home soon. I’m heading off to help on Grieghan-4. I’ll see you guys later.” Carol said as she jetted into the sky.

Ned stared at the sky with wide eyes.

“Woah. She is so awesome. I’m conflicted. I don’t know who to love more anymore.” Ned said as Tony smiled.

“Don’t worry about it, kid. Just be glad that we’re going home soon.” Tony said right before one of Strange’s portals appeared close to him.

Strange walked out of the portal looking extremely exhausted. Tony didn’t bother to ask him how he won the fight against Agatha. He was just glad that Strange was there to take him back to his family.

Strange smirked when he walked up to Tony after closing the first portal.

“Stark, Leeds. The kid wouldn’t let me leave until I agreed to portal you home from this Hell hole. Just so you know, I’m going to have to ride a crappy ship to get back to Earth after this. It’s going to take a few days for my power to rebuild, especially after opening an extremely long distance portal. Tell your kid ‘you’re welcome’ for me.” Strange said as he opened a portal between Grieghan-3 and Earth.

Stark smiled and said “Thanks, Wizard. See you later. I’m definitely going to need to know how you defeated the psychotic witch.”

Strange rolled his eyes and said “Yep. You’ll see it in a mission report, Stark. Fury’s making me file one this time. He’s such an ass.”

Tony snorted but didn’t reply. Neither one of them could really criticize anyone for being an ass. Ned helped Tony through the portal and into the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters medical ward. Tony quickly accepted one of the doctor’s help as they escorted him to one of the beds and immediately began to treat his injuries.

Ned stood to the side as he was questioned. He luckily had no injuries, but Hill stood with Ned so that she could get a report of what had gone on from him. They would definitely not be able to cover this whole mess up, especially since most of the adults that had been taken had ended up dead.

Tony laid back as an IV was inserted and one of the doctors was preparing to sew up a couple of the deeper cuts that had been made. Tony smiled when he heard the familiar shout of the Spider-kid outside of his tiny room.

“NED!” he had heard Peter shout. He couldn’t hear what they had said to each other, but he had seen through the window that they had embraced, and the next thing he knew, the spider-kid was heading towards the room that he had just been put in.

He watched as Peter carefully avoided getting in the doctor’s way as he approached the bed.

Peter teared up as he gripped Tony’s right hand while the doctor worked on treating the cut on his left arm.

“I’m so glad that you’re okay, Mr. Stark!” Peter said as he cried in relief.

Tony did his best not to smile, so that he wouldn’t aggravate some of the new stitches, but it had been hard. He couldn’t respond yet because the doctor was still working on one of the scars on his cheek. Normally, the kid wouldn’t even have been allowed in the room at that point, but it had been a special case. They all deserved to be reunited after the s**t storm that witch had put them through.

Tony then glanced over towards the door and saw May leaning against the wall. He looked her in the eyes as she smiled. He was home, his kid was fairly okay, and he was on the way to recovery. He definitely was not happy, but he knew that being with the kid would help him. Tony had a long journey of recovery ahead of him.

~~~~~~

A few weeks after all of the survivors had been returned to their respective planets, and Ned had been reunited with his Lola, Tony finally got to see the transcripts of what had gone on in the fight between Strange and Harkness. It had apparently been quite lackluster. Strange had used a powerful spell to make sure that the woman’s magic was never able to be used again. The woman had been incarcerated for her crimes against the people of Xandar and Terra.

The information concerning the mass abduction had leaked to the media, and people were angry that they couldn’t have justice, but Strange had made sure that it was at least released that he had taken her powers. Strange had done his best to reassure the population that for a woman like Harkness, that was the worst punishment of them all.

One of the better events after the abductions, at least in Tony’s opinion, was that Oscorp was handed over to Harry Osborn because Norman hadn’t survived the memory scanner thing. Hammer had unfortunately been one of the survivors, and he had gone insane, so he was stuck inside a mental institution. Tony really did feel sorry for both Norman and Hammer. He hated it that Norman had died from such an invasive and tragic procedure.

Tony’s PTSD was eating him up at the moment, and Hammer’s had driven him insane. Tony was just lucky that he had a much bigger and much better support system. He had been to his psychiatrist at least five times within the past week, and they were busily working on things that could help him cope with the memories being stuck at the front of his consciousness.

Peter, May, Pepper, and Rhodey were excellent at detecting when his thoughts were spiraling into the negative zone. They had dubbed the times when he gets stuck in those past terrors the negative zone. Peter and his Aunt had been spending more time with him over the past week because the kid’s holiday break for school had started early because of a freakish snow-storm that had hit, and no one had wanted to try to force the kids to come back when it was so close to Christmas.

The most recent suggestion by his psychiatrist was to sit in his living room with all of his support group sometime soon and reminisce on the best holiday memories that he had ever had. Tony had agreed to the plan, and he was slightly nervous, because everyone had agreed to meet the next night.

It had started out with a solemn tone as Tony began.

“My first holiday memories aren’t really the best, but I want to get this out of the way before I say my favorite ones. As many of you know, my father wasn't the best guy, so our best holiday memory with him was when we finished building a small car together when I was around six years old. Honestly, my best holiday memories from that period of my life have more to do with Edwin Jarvis and my mother than Howard. Okay, on to another topic. My holidays weren’t exactly joyous until recent years. I should probably skip ahead.” Tony said as Pepper rubbed his shoulders to soothe him.

May then spoke and said “This is your time, Tony. You get what you need to get off of your chest. We’re not going to judge you. We’re your family. We’re here to support you and show that we love you.”

Tony smiled lightly and continued “Thanks, May. In that case, let me share one of the better, though immature memories. It was a little while before Pepper and I entered a serious relationship, and I bought her a huge stuffed rabbit as a present. Honestly, looking back on it now, I see how ridiculous it was to get that for her, but it’s still one of my fondest memories because it reminds me of when Pepper and I were first dating. Plus, it led to some great jokes down the line.”

The evening continued with Tony reciting his best memories as his family listened to him. Tony smiled as he recounted the story of what had happened with Killian during the Christmas of 2013. It had some bad memories, but it ended in some good ones too. It had reminded him of when he was finally able to live life without the arc reactor.

Tony ended the session by saying “I’m glad that you guys are my family. You’ve supported me every time I’ve had a breakdown since the abduction and rescue, and you’ve all been the best. I normally hate a whole lot of human contact, but with you guys, it’s different. You’re all the people that I truly care about. You guys know who I truly am, and I couldn’t be happier about that. Thanks for being my family. I couldn’t ask for better people to be surrounded by.”

Tony was still not okay, but he was happy for the moment. He knew that with time, the good thoughts would outweigh his bad memories, because his family would always be there by his side to remind him that he is loved. The same people who are willing to fight for him, that are willing to find him when he is lost, even if he is lost within his own mind.

He knew that he was loved, and for the moment, none of those bad memories were prominent. His found family had managed to chase them all away, and he couldn’t have been happier to have them by his side.