Chapter Text
Madeline woke to the face of her brother, Pietro, peering over her. His white streaked hair was all over the place as he glared at her, moving back as she sat up. As she tried to wake up she took his appearance in. A blue sweatshirt (one that she had sworn she saw Wanda wearing before she left for Europe) was over a gray crewneck short sleeve, protection from the fall air that was quickly turning into winter. He wore black pants and white sneakers, and, as always, his messed up hair that looked like it had not been brushed highlighted his features. Freckles, much like Madeline’s but more faded, stood against white skin, and his brown eyes held anger as his brown eyebrow arched in annoyance.
“Your alarm has been going off for the last twenty minutes!” He drawled, voice crescendoing as he finished his sentence. He watched as Madeline’s brown eyes widened, the crust in the corner stretching momentarily as she turned it off.
“Shit…” she mumbled as she jumped out of bed, fingers scrolling through the many missed texts from Ned, MJ, and Peter. She glanced up as Pietro walked off to finish getting ready for school, and called out “Can you give me a ride in 15 minutes?”
His grunt of a response made her smile, and she threw her phone to her unmade bed, beginning to run around for clothes while her hand ran through her brown tangled hair.
***
As Pietro sat her down outside the crowd of students he waited with a hand on her shoulder for the nausea to pass, a grimace on his face. He thought it would get easier as time went on, expecting the sickness feeling to disappear with Madeline. It had with Wanda, why not her?
When Madeline lowered a hand from her mouth he gave her a half hug, bolting into school before she could return it. She instead walked over to Peter, tightening her leather jacket over her shoulders. A fall breeze blew through the students, and Madeline tried to hide her smile as she remembered the night Peter had took her out on their third date. They were walking back to her apartment, he insisted on going to hers first even though she lived farther from where they were.
It had started to rain, and even in the summer heat it was cold. They tried to outrun it, and they were still 20 minutes away when they decided fuck it, and started dancing it the rain, flicking each other with water and laughing, her phone playing music through an open slit in her backpack.
Madeline walked to the back of the crowd towards Ned and her boyfriend, who was smiling and waving to her. She stifled a yawn behind her hand as she moved over, her sneakers slightly scuffing against the street as the crowd moved forward slowly, the students filling the bus quickly.
“Where are we going again?” She asked, her earbuds draped around her neck as she fell in step with her friends.
Ned peered around Peter, watching as she stuffed her phone in the back of her blue jeans, the tiny bag she brought with her bouncing against her leg. “MoMa” He answered simply, watching as she nodded in agreement.
As the three settled into the back of the bus Madeline leaned her head on Peter’s shoulder, smiling as he pressed a kiss to her head. One hand brought out her phone, the other pressing an earbud into her ear and playing music. As Iron Maiden filled one ear and the chattering of students filled the other Peter ran his hand along her arm, lightly tracing over a scar from HYDRA that was given a year prior. Her black short sleeve shirt rose up and down lightly against Peter’s touch, and he smirked as he read the words on the shirt. It was a cut out square filled with roses (her favorite type of plant) of various colors, and on top of the roses was a phrase against a white rectangle so you could read it easier. The shirt read “I’m allergic to stupidity, I break out in sarcasm” and was one he had seen her wear multiple times before, only now was adorned with a leather jacket that rested atop her lap.
As the students towards the front of the bus started cracking jokes the bus filled with half laughter and half conversations, more of the students ignoring Flash’s remarks than the boy would’ve liked. At the front of the bus the driver, a man with white hair and wrinkled skin, drove them over a bridge, and the bus soon filled with something else.
Fear.
As Peter sat up straighter the hairs on his arm rose, and he unwrapped Madeline from his hold. As both moved over they could see some students starting to stand, and moved to see what the commotion was.
A space ship flew from the skies, descending on a street full of houses in Manhattan. As Madeline mumbled a curse her eyes widened, and Peter desperately tapped Ned’s shoulder. The two stood up, Madeline’s fingers glowing purple as Ned yelled out to the students,
“We’re all gonna die!”
Whoever wasn’t standing now was running to the left side of the bus to get a better view of the donut shaped spaceship. With Peter’s hand in hers Madeline led the way, slightly slowing down the bus with her powers while making sure no one saw them leave. Peter opened the doors and both stepped out onto the bride, her hold on the wheels ceasing.
As cars slowed to look at their impending doom the two kids used the stopped traffic to run to the edge, Madeline mumbled about how she hated this while Peter set his mask on his face. He wrapped his arms around her waist before jumping off, Madeline’s arms tightening around his shoulders while her legs tightened around his stomach. He held her back with one hand while the other swung them under the bridge towards Manhattan.
Towards the ship.
***
“F.R.I.D.A.Y.,” Tony started, staring at the chaos all around him. Civilians ran from the scene in front of them in terror, and Tony was beginning to regret ever signing the accords. At the end of all of this he would have to answer to Ross. Probably. “Evac anyone south of 43rd Street, notify first responders.”
“Will do.”
Tony watched in slightly veiled amazement as Strange (The wizard who he had met literally not even an hour ago, because wizards were real. Apparently. But hey, what else is new?) stopped the ship’s engine. As the dust settled on the city and another civilian pushed past him the doors opened, and two people walked out.
One of them was skinny and tall, his skin a gray color. It reminded the billionaire of the cartoon, Spongebob. The man looked like Squidward, if squidward became an alien, lost his nose, and actually gained fingers. He wore a black outfit, a suit of armor with gold plates laced down the middle and rings on his fingers.
Beside him stood a…creature was too nice a word, Tony decided. It looked as if a turtle had sex with an alien, and then was given drugs and enhancers to make him huge and bulky. He also wore armor, and carried a chain-like hammer with a claw function to grab things that were far away.
“Hear me, and rejoice.” Squidward called out, smiling as he reveled in the screams of Earth’s inhabitants. “You are about to die at the hands of the Children of Thanos. Be thankful, that your meaningless lives are now contributing to…”
“I'm sorry, Earth is closed today.” Tony yelled, walking closer as Banner stood behind him. On the side Doctor Strange stared at him, a glowing shield protecting him. “You better pack it up and get outta here.”
Squidward regarded him with disgust, like he was gum on the bottom of his shoe. He instead turned to Strange. “Stone keeper... Does this chattering animal speak for you?”
“Certainly not. I speak for myself. But you're trespassing in this city and on this planet.”
Tony glared at Ebony Maw, watching as the pair of aliens moved closer. “It means get lost Squidward!”
“He exhausts me.” Ebony mumbled, turning to his companion, the Black Dwarf. “Bring me the Stone.”
Tony looked at the turtle smiling, and he grimaced. The dude really needed to see a dentist. Or a person to fix his face. No, scratch that. Fix his whole body . He turned to Banner, who was standing behind him in a random shirt and suit jacket, looking like he wanted to curl into a ball and disappear.
“Banner, you want a piece?”
Bruce looked at the two, then turned back to Tony, his hands fidgeting. “No, not really, but when do I ever get what I want?”
Tony smiled. “That's right.” He watched as Bruce concentrated, beginning to like slightly constipated as he tried to release the Hulk. Instead of becoming a giant green monster that could actually help , the most that changed color was the green in Bruce’s neck, and the redness of strain in his face. “Been a while.” He tried to console, “Good to have you, buddy.”
“I just... I need to concentrate here for one second. Come on, come on, man.” He mumbled to himself, trying desperately with the failing amount of time he had.
“Where's your guy?”
Bruce shrugged helplessly. “I don't know. We've sort of been havin' a thing.”
Tony stared in disbelief. “There's no time for a thing.”
“I know.”
“That's the thing right there. Let's go.” He tried once more, this time turning to him slightly to side-eye him. He had always respected the doctor, and was glad he was back. But seriously was wishing he was just a bit more help. He listened as Bruce gave out a loud grunt, failing to bring out Hulk. “Dude,” He glanced at Strange before staring at Bruce again. “You're embarrassing me in front of the wizards.”
“Tony, I'm sorry.” Bruce continued with a stammer, his anxiety worsening. “Either I can't or he won't-”
Tony tried for a smile. If he was going to have kids with Pepper he needed to get better at consoling people, right? “It's okay. Hey, stand down.” He shook his head minutely, turning to Wong. “Keep an eye on him. Thank you.”
Wong nodded like he had been given the most important task in the world—which, to Tony, he had been. “I have him.”
Bruce’s face flushed red. “Damn it.”
As the Black Dawrf started to lumbar towards the group Stark donned the Iron Man suit, pressing the glowing reactor in his chest to do so. As the turtle went to hit him Stark defended himself, casting the Dwarf back to Maw, who dodged him with boredom.
Bruce started in amazement. “Where'd that come from?”
“It's nano-tech.” Tony smiled, “You like it? A little somet-” He was cut off by Maw lifting his hand, picking up Stark from 20 feet away.
Apparently when Squidward went to space he got telekinesis. He threw the billionaire towards the team, and Wong summoned a shield to make sure he didn’t get hit.
“Dr. Banner,” Strange started, angling his body towards the man, “If the rest of your green friend won't be joining us…” He trailed off, instead of finishing his sentence he simply waved his hands in a circular motion, and a circular wave a magic appeared out of nowhere. Banner fell through, looking around wildly when he noticed he was now in a park. The same one he had found Tony in less than an hour ago, when he was talking about his wedding to Pepper.
“Gotta get that stone outta here, now.” Tony warned as he flew back over, glancing at the empty spot where Banner once was. He missed the scientist already…
Strange glared. “It stays with me.”
“Exactly.” He smiled, his tone dripping with fake enthusiasm. “Bye.” He promptly flew away before being cut off by Black Dwarf, who grabbed him by the ankle and threw him towards the park.
“Tony,” Bruce called, voice cracking with concern as he ran over. “You okay? How we doing? Good? bad?”
Tony stared, voice dripping in sarcasm as he looked at the scientist. “Really, really good. Really good. Do you plan on helping out?”
“I'm trying. He won't come out.”
Before Tony could get up the turtle arrived, hammer ready to hit the two. He lumbered closer, and Tony could feel the ground slightly vibrating as he walked over. He lifted his weapon, throwing it towards Bruce.
Tony’s eyes went wide as he stared at the upcoming danger, “Hammer.” He said simply before pushing Bruce out of the way. He shot an energy beam towards the giant, face dropping as it simply deflected off Black Dwarf's shield, slicing down trees. He stared helplessly as Bruce crawled away, towards one of the fallen trees.
“Come on, Hulk.” He begged once more, beginning to hit himself to egg the monster out. “What are you doing to me? Come out! Come out! Come out!”
His face changed, morphing into Hulks slightly as his alter ego screamed, “No!”
“What do you mean, “no”?”
He looked over to see Tony standing, trying to bait the giant farther away from Banner. The “Dwarf” knocked him down, and was about to hit him with his hammer when a boy swung in (quite literally) wearing a red and blue spandex. He landed in front of Tony, holding up his hands to block the giant’s hit. Behind them Madeline ran up, slightly out of breath from her short run.
“Hey, man. What's up, Mr. Stark?” He glanced back, digging his heel into the ground slightly as Tony backed up.
“Kid,” Tony smiled, “Where'd you come from?”
“Field trip to MoMA.” Madeline’s voice called out from behind him. She helped the billionaire up, her left hand waving through the air. A purple glow trailed from her fingertips, and the side of the aliens head glowed purple to match before he shook his head, and the smoke dissipated. He grabbed Parker, throwing him to the side and making him roll against the grass.
“What is this guy's problem, Mr. Stark?” He called out, standing with a groan.
Tony backed up, hand in front of Madeline and ignoring her glare if disgust as he moved the two back, shielding her. “He's from space. He came here to steal a necklace from a wizard.”
Madeline moved away, sidestepping Tony and moving towards Peter. “Weirdest sentence I’ve heard since Ultron, Stark.”
Peter threw himself at the Black Dwarf, only for the alien to grab him in his three-in-one weapon and spin him round and round. He released him after a minute, throwing the boy into a tree. Tony flew up, blasting the alien and barely making it through the dude’s shield while Madeline ran behind him, trying in vain to either paralyze him, or make him tired enough to either pass out or just lower the shield so he could die.
The dwarf backed up, forcing Madeline to step to the side while he picked up a thrown over cab, wielding it as a weapon. He threw it into the air, trying to knock Tony out of it before Peter leapt to the skies, grabbing the yellow car with a web and swinging it back at him. Madeline leapt to the side just in time, listening to his cry of ‘sorry!’
***
As Madeline, Peter, and Tony played a game of “don’t-die-and-help-the-other-two-not-die”, Wong and Doctor Strange focused their attention on Maw. Or rather, keeping the time stone away from Maw.
Strange watched as Maw lifted several bricks from the ground, turning them into sharp points. He sends them towards Wong and Strange, staring in annoyance as the two make portals, sending them back towards the alien. He quickly lifted a car to protect himself, missing one spike and groaning when it hit his head, a line of blood trickling from the newformed cut on his gray skin.
He looked towards a fire hydrant, and with a wave of his hand sent the water towards Wong, knocking him back into rubble and a car, falling to the ground unconscious. Strange made a glowing lasso out of magic, wrapping Maw in it and tugging. As Maw flew towards him he stretched his arms out, and used his powers to control their flight. Maw maneuvered them towards a building, bricks trapping Strange upside down against the structure.
“Your powers are quaint.” Maw’s head tilted to the side, “You must be popular with children.” He reached his hand towards the stone, the amulet glowing a red hit. With a yell he drew his hand back, seething in anger.
Strange smiled smugly. “It's a simple spell but quite unbreakable.”
“Then I'll take it off your corpse.” Ebony sneered. He pulled Strange away from the building, throwing him to the ground. Several wires leap around different parts of Strange's body, one cord slowly tightening around his neck
“You'll find…” He gasped, struggling to breathe, “Removing a dead man's spell… troublesome.”
Ebony tightened his hand into a fist, the wire wrapping tighter and tighter against Strange’s skin. “You'll only wish you were dead.” As Strange falls unconscious Maw lifted his hand, the patch of concrete he was on lifted him up. As he turned to leave he missed the Cloak of Levitation wrapping around his skin, whisking him out of the wire’s hold, towards safety. “No!” He called in anger, following the piece of clothing.
***
Tony watched as Strange passes through the park. Madeline dodged a hit, her and Peter working together to confuse the alien as much as they could. “Kid,” Tony started, staring at them both. “That's the wizard. Get on it.”
As Peter yelled, “On it!” He jumped down, Madeline wrapping her arms around his neck.
The two swung through the city, Madeline trying to paralyze Maw whenever she could. As Peter set her down on a building roof so he could swing off to find Strange better, Madeline waved her hand. Maw’s eye began to close, and since Peter was focused on finding the wizard he didn’t notice the sheet of concrete heading towards her when she turned her back. It hit her head with a crack, and she began to fall towards the ground.
He turned around just in time to see her fall, and quickly swung back over. He shot at her back with a web, watching as her body bounced slightly. As he swung through the city to get closer to Strange he slowly moved the web up, Madeline getting farther away from the ground until Maw caught up to them again. He picked up a discarded billboard, hurtling it towards Strange.
“Not cool!” He yelled as he fell. He couldn’t see what it was, put the thing floating Strange off towards safety was suddenly plucked away, and Strange began to freefall. “Gottcha!” He yelled as he webbed Strange. The ship they were moving to sent a tractor beam down, collecting the wizard. Peter grabbed hold of a lamppost, struggling to keep the doctor from being sucked into the spaceship. Maw intervened once more, and as he lifted his hand the lamppost they were anchored to shot off the ground. Peter (joined by two very unconscious people) started getting sucked into it, encased in the blue gradient tube that was moving them inside the ship.
“Mr. Stark?” Peter called, Madeline trailing slightly above him. Beside the tube the cloak billowed before moving in, desperate to be with its master. “I'm being beamed up.”
“Hang on, kid.” Tony called. As Black Dwarf jumps towards Tony he is sent through a portal. Tony turned in confusion, the emotion melting into gratitude as he walked towards Wong. “Wong, you're invited to my wedding.” He called before beginning to fly towards the large ship slowly lifting off the ground. The ship was no above the clouds, the beam no longer there. The kids were either hanging onto the ship or worse. And Tony couldn’t handle it if it was worse.
“Give me a little juice, F.R.I.D.A.Y.” Tony ordered, his feet thrusters morphing together into a larger one. “Unlock 17-A. Pete, you gotta let go. I'm gonna catch you.”
Peter glanced up from his hiding spot. The hatch had closed a minute ago, Strange and Madeline stuck in there from the beam that brought them to the ship. He had been cut off, and was now crawling up the inside of the side of the donut ship. “But you said save the wizard!” Peter panted, pulling off his mask to try and get more oxygen into his body. “I can't breathe!”
“We’re too high up. You're running out of air.”
“Yeah!” He spoke with delirium, nodding as his voice raised in pitch. “That makes sense.” Before he could say anything else he passed out, free-falling, but not before the pod reached him. It attaches itself to him, spreading over his body and encasing him in the Iron-Spider Suit. His body hit the ship, sending him head over heels before it fully completed the suit. Peter stood, standing heroically and smiling.
“Mr. Stark, it smells like a new car in here!” He called.
“Happy trails, kid. F.R.I.D.A.Y, send him home. I’ll get them both, OK? Don’t worry.”
As a large parachute extends from the new suit, Peter was sent spiraling back to Earth, yelling in anger. “Oh, come on!”
***
As Tony crept through the ship he spotted Madeline, her body discarded due to its uselessness now that Maw had Strange. She lay unconscious on a bridge, and he ran over, her vitals popping up in his suit’s mask. Sighing he hoisted her over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes, carrying her with him. Once he was off the ridge and slightly closer to where Strange was being kept he sat her down, laying her against a wall.
Anxiety settled in his stomach. How was he supposed to get her out of there? Natasha would kill him if anything happened to her.
Before he could move far enough away from her FRIDAY sounded out.
“Boss, incoming call from Miss Potts.” Before Tony could decline Pepper’s face filled his suit, condensing into a small square in the corner of his mask.
“Tony? Oh, my God. Are you all right? What's going on?”
Tony smiled at the concern. “Yeah, I'm fine. I just think we might have to push our 8:30 res.”
Pepper paused, and Tony braced himself. “Why?”
“Just 'cause” He moved farther away from the girl, looking around the ship as quietly as he could. “I'll... probably not make it back for awhile.”
“Tell me you're not on that ship.”
It was Tony’s turn to hesitate this time, wincing. “Yeah.”
“God, no.” her voice was a whisper as she pleaded. “Please tell me you're not on that ship.”
“Honey, I'm sorry.” His voice cracked before he steeled it, trying to reassure her and himself that everything would be okay. “I'm sorry, I don't know what to say.”
“Come back here, Tony. I swear to God…” Her voice started breaking. And not because of the tears flowing down her cheeks but because of the reception losing their connection.
“Pep…” He tried, only for her to cut him off. Because despite losing their connection and literally being carried away from space, she had to have the last word. It’s what he loved about them.
“Come back here right now! Come back!”
“Boss,” FRIDAY called, “We're losing her.” Her voice cracked, and Tony closed his eyes. He was losing his AI too. Fuck… ”I'm going, too…”
***
“Oh my God.” Peter tried to keep his voice steady as he climbed through their air duct, something he had conveniently found after sticking to the side of the ship. “I should have stayed on the bus.”