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Peter Parker and Tony Stark made their way up the mountain of Vormir, wondering what would become of them. They both of course had the same question. Thanos and Gamora both went up the same exact mountain in their dimension and only Thanos came back. So, what happened to Gamora?
After the seemingly everlasting minutes of walking, Peter and Tony stopped in their tracks, for they were met by a mysterious red floating figure. “Anthony Stark, son of Howard Stark. Peter Parker, son of John Parker. Welcome to Vormir.”
“How do you know us?” Peter asked. Tony knew Peter was trying to be strong, but he still heard a slight quiver of fear in his voice.
“It is my curse to know all who journey here.” And without another word the ghost like man turned the other way and continued up the mountain.
Once they reached the top of the mountain, they saw a great big cliff. The cliff had an edge with a drop that went for hundreds of feet! “Why such a long drop?” Tony asked curiously in a sarcastic voice.
“You see, the Soul Stone, though highly sought, comes with a great price. For one to receive it, one must lose that which they love, make an eternal sacrifice, a soul for a soul.” The man stopped there and left them to ponder the words he had just uttered.
There was a long silence between Tony and Peter. Peter decided to break it by asking Tony, “My guess is we both know what, “a soul for a soul” means?”
“Yeah.” Tony replied in almost a whisper. Why did it have to be Peter that went with me here? Tony frustratedly wondered to himself. “Listen, Kid, just stay here and I’ll go do it.” Tony had barley even moved an inch from where he was before Peter grabbed him tightly by the arm.
“You’re kidding right?” Peter asked in a mad sort of tone Tony had never heard him use before.
“Peter please-” Tony said frustratedly trying to get loose from Peter’s grip.
“No, I’m not going to let you jump!”
“And you seriously think I’m going to let you jump?” Tony asked sarcastically. “Peter I can’t let you make the sacrifice, I just can’t! I’m supposed to protect you and letting you do this is obviously not safe. You understand, right?”
“Yeah, I understand.” Peter paused for a moment then added, “Fine you win.” He breathed deeply, he knew what he had to do, but it wouldn’t be easy. Tony was about to turn around to prepare to jump but Peter pulled him closer to him and hugged him tightly. Tony felt awkward at first but thought the kid deserved it, so he hugged him back. They stood there for a good few seconds before Peter said,
“I’m sorry.” through his tears. He kicked Tony back with his feet and pushed him to the ground, using the momentum of the kick to backflip off the cliff.
“No!” Tony yelled. He knew he had to act fast! He jumped up and reached out a grabbed Peter’s wrist with his right hand and used his left to hang on the edge of the cliff. Peter and Tony were both dangling helplessly over the cliff.
“Mr. Stark, you have to let go!” Peter yelled to Tony.
“No, I won’t! We’ll think of something else, anything else! Just please don’t do this! Please!” Peter was silent for moment, choking back tears. Then he finally found the courage to say something.
“Mr. Stark, I can’t let you jump, it has to be me.”
“No, it doesn’t, it can’t! PETER JUST CLIMB BACK UP PLEASE!” Tears were streaming down both Peter and Tony’s faces.
“Please forgive me! I’m sorry.” And with that, Peter pulled his hand free.
“Peter no!” Tony screamed. He tried to grab Peter again, but he was too late. He just dangled there while he watched Peter fall, knowing full well that, even though he cared so much for Peter, he couldn’t save him.
Peter felt the freezing air racing over his whole body. He heard Tony desperately screaming his name. Peter hoped that the snap would work. Suddenly he hit the ground. He felt excruciating pain throughout his whole body, but he had peace with it. He knew that, in the end, his sacrifice would be worth more than his life, and then he was gone.
Tony awoke a few seconds later in a clam pool of water, still breathing heavily and feeling tears drop down his face from what he had just witnessed. How could I have been so stupid? Tony thought to himself. Of course he would never let me jump, even if he did understand why! But then, he realized he was clenching something in his hand. He opened his fist to see a little glowing yellow gem. He had retrieved the Soul Stone. He held it close to himself and mumbled to himself, “Why kid? Why?”
When Tony went back the avengers base, he was asked where Peter was. Tony couldn’t bring himself to answer, but his silence answered everyone’s questions. He refused to hand the stone over to Steve. Tony went upstairs to be alone. He just sat there devastated for a few moments, staring at the orange, glowing stone in his hands – the reason why Peter wasn’t there with him now.
Then, Bruce walked in. “I’m sorry Tony, I know you wanna be alone, but Peter told me to give you this if he didn’t come back.” Bruce left the item on the bedside table and then left. Tony reached over and grabbed the object. It was a USB plug labeled “for Mr. Stark”. Tony plugged it into his computer and hit play. Peter appeared on the screen.
“Kid?” Tony couldn’t help but whisper.
“Okay, 3, 2, 1, Hey, Mr. Stark. Listen, I really am sorry. I expect that you’re either mad or upset with me. I probably didn’t have time to explain my whole reason at Vormir, so I thought I’d explain it to you this way. I did what I did because I care. And, of course, I care about the people that got blipped, but, right now, I’m talking about you. My whole life, I was losing people. First my parents, then my uncle Ben, Aunt May, and all of my friends. I’ve lost everyone but you. I couldn’t lose you. I love you and look up to you, always have, always will. This was just something I was meant to do. If you ever miss me, just play this recording again. Just please know I did it because I love you. …bye.”
Tony was speechless. The kid thought of everything. Peter seemed to have this whole thing planned for days. He planned to die. Tony couldn’t let Peter go in vain. Tony would do whatever it took make that snap work. He had to. He just had to!