• • May 30, 2018 • •

LIFE WENT ON for Y/N L/N. He was at the tail end of his junior year of high school and summer break was around the corner. Tackling duties as both a student at Midtown and Spider-Man was starting to become an easy task for him since most of the people he cared about knew of his double life.

This also included Gwen, who ultimately figured out his secret at the start of the year, saying that nothing can be kept from her for that long. Y/N figured both girls in his life were either very smart and observant or he needed to do a better job hiding the fact that he was Spider-Man.

His relationship with Peter had been a series of lows and highs. Initially, Peter didn't want to talk to Y/N. By the end of their sophomore year, they began to hang out again but only if their other friends were involved. Still, Peter never really spoke to him during these hangouts. Going into junior year, Peter and Y/N engaged in small talk here and there...mostly if it dealt with schoolwork or the Stark Internship.

Y/N was okay with that though, his acknowledgment of him was a huge step compared to back when he decided to not talk to him.

Now at the end of the school year, it was just that. Small talk between two teenagers who used to be best friends. Y/N hoped they could reconcile one day, hopefully before they graduate from Midtown. Peter felt that way too, but would always brush it off and think maybe another day. Just like Y/N, he had his own duties.

It was just another day in one of the final weeks of the school year. Y/N and Ned took an art class together and for the last class, they went on a field trip to the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan. After the trip was going to be their dismissal, so they were expecting a rather relaxing day afterward.

Y/N and Ned sat together on the way back to Queens. Y/N was getting pretty tired, so he moved to the empty seat behind the one they were on and rested while Ned sat in front on his phone. As they were crossing Queensboro Bridge, a chill alerted him along with the faint sound between his ears.

He lifted his head and looked at the raised hairs on his arm. He spun around and looked out the window of the bus, seeing a doughnut-shaped spacecraft above Greenwich Village. Y/N's eyes widened, and he knew he needed to go and figure out what was happening.

"Ned, hey, man." Y/N tapped his shoulder and then his face unintentionally. Ned didn't mind though, and he took out his headphones to hear what his friend had to say.

"I need you to cause a distraction." Y/N continued.

Ned quickly obliged. He looked out the window and saw the spacecraft in the distance.

"Holy shit. We're all gonna die!" He exclaimed and ran to the back of the bus. "There's a spaceship!"

Everybody at the front of the bus ran to the back and looked out the window. There was panicked chatter, and it allowed Y/N to rummage through his bag and put on his fitness-band-looking web-shooters. He webbed the window across from him and pulled the latch, opening it so he can dive through.

The bus driver kept commandeering the bus, hearing the chattering of the students. He also noticed Y/N climb out of the bus but brushed it off knowing exactly who he was. He had a watchful eye, after all.

"What's the matter with you kids?" The old man called out. "You never seen a spaceship before?"

Y/N stuck to the outside of the bus. He put on his mask before slinging his backpack back on. He then leaped away from the bus and off the bridge, initiating his swing and going back toward the city.

Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and Wong had been battling Cull Obsidian and Ebony Maw through the streets. Bruce Banner tried to lend a hand, but Hulk, unfortunately, didn't want to come out. While he tried to force the green guy to emerge, Tony fought Maw but the Black Order member used his telekinesis to pummel Stark with a chunk of metal. It sent Tony through a building and he crashed into a tree at a park nearby.

"Tony, you okay?" Bruce exclaimed as he ran up to him. "How we doing? Good? Bad?"

"Really, really good." Tony replied sarcastically. "Really good. Do you plan on helping out?"

"I'm trying. He won't come out."

Iron Man groaned as he got back to his feet. He communicated to someone through his comms. "Uh, kid? On second thought, I might need some help."

"I thought you said to stay in the Sanctum."

"Yeah, well, I say things that are meant to be contradicted."

Suddenly, Obsidian crashed through a building and launched his hammer at the two Avengers.

"Hammer!" Tony shouted and pushed Banner out of the way.

Iron Man flew up and fired a beam at Obsidian. He pulled his hammer back and formed a shield that deflected the energy. He fired rockets as well but it didn't deter the large alien and he simply struck the Avenger with his hammer. Tony was sent back and hit the grass, and Obisidian ran over to strike him again.

Before he can land the hit, a force stopped the hammer and kept it from slamming down. Tony looked up and saw Spider-Man keeping away the melee weapon.

"Hey, man." Y/N greeted the alien. He looked back at Stark and said hello to him as well. "What's up, Tony?"

"Where'd you come from?" Tony asked.

"Oh. A field trip to MoMA—"

Obsidian grabbed Y/N and flung him to the side. Iron Man shot a beam at Obsidian, but the alien hit him away with his hammer and proceeded to run at Spider-Man. The teenager, who was laying by the fountain, looked up and saw the incoming Black Order member.

"Uh-oh...big guy incoming. Big guy incoming!" He shouted.

Suddenly, a rocket hit the alien's face and disoriented him. Obsidian looked up to see who it was, expecting it to be Stark. Soaring toward him was an armored man, but it wasn't Iron Man.

He kicked Obsidian in the face and the alien crashed into the fountain. The armored hero landed on the pavement, and Y/N knew who it was. The silver and red plating was the teenager's staple for the last few months when he operated.

Peter Parker. The Silver Centurion.

"Peter." Y/N said as he got up.

"I think he's bigger than the Russian you took on two years ago." He replied.

"Yeah..."

Obsidian recovered and went to attack them. Peter flew up and shot beams while Y/N swung in the air. Tony also joined in to battle Cull.

"So what is this guy's deal?" Y/N asked as he swung around Obsidian.

"Uh, he's from space. He came here to steal a necklace from a wizard." Tony answered.

Obsidian finally caught the swinging Y/N and his hammer latched onto him. He spun around and threw Spider-Man away. Peter fired more repulsor beams at Obsidian and the alien grabbed a wrecked taxi and heaved it at him. Peter dodged it, and Y/N took the chance to latch a web at the flying debris and throw it back at Cull.

"Heads up!" He called out.

Peter moved out of the way of the projectile, where it hit Obsidian instead. The alien grunted as he came back up and attacked with much more anger than before. He slammed his hammer down at Tony, but the Avenger formed a shield with his bleeding-edge suit and blocked it.

Suddenly, a red blur flew by. Tony knew it was Doctor Strange, who was currently unconscious and being flown by his Cloak of Levitation.

"That's the wizard!" He called out.

"I'm on it!" Y/N shouted back and swung away, leaving Obsidian to deal with both Iron Man and Silver Centurion.

He swung out of the park and pursued Strange, whose body was also being chased by Ebony Maw. The alien knew he was being followed, so he used his telekinesis to toss a chunk of concrete at Spider-Man. The web-slinger saw it coming and vaulted over it mid-swing.

"Ha! You missed—" He was suddenly hit with a billboard, which he didn't expect him to throw.

"Ugh!" He quickly recovered and swung back up. "Not cool!"

Maw used his powers to bend the lamposts in the path of Strange. The cloak was caught in one of the poles and the inertia caused Strange's body to fly forward. Spider-Man shot a web and caught him before he can hit the ground.

"Gotcha!"

Before he can swing off with Strange, a blue beam shot down from the spaceship in the sky and began to pull the sorcerer up.

Y/N held onto a streetlight and used his strength to try and pull Strange back down. He kept straining, but Maw took notice and used his powers to rip the streetlight out from the concrete. Now both Strange and Y/N were being pulled up.

"Uh, guys, I'm being beamed up!"

As Peter and Tony fought Obsidian, the teenager heard his friend through the comms and groaned. "Of course he is."

"Hang on, I'm coming, kid." Tony said.

Obsidian was hit by beams coming from Peter, but the alien deflected them and slammed the teenager with his hammer. Tony flew up and fired rockets, but it didn't deter the alien as he hit Tony as well. A contraption from his hammer latched onto Tony and tied him up, giving Obsidian the chance to attack again.

He jumped up and was ready to slam down at Tony, but a portal opened in front of him and the alien fell through. Obsidian landed in the snow, and he looked around to see that he was in the Arctic now. He looked up and saw Wong and Banner through the portal, but before he can jump through, Wong closed it and sliced off the alien's hand in the process.

"Ugh!" Banner groaned in disgust and kicked the appendage away.

Tony got up and broke free from the contraption. He looked at the sorcerer. "Wong, you're invited to my wedding."

He activated his thrusters and flew up into the sky to assist Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. Peter recovered and looked up to see his mentor flying away, then flew up to follow shortly after.

"Get back on the ground, Peter." Tony told him after he noticed him.

"What? So you can call me a minute later and say you need my help?" Peter snapped back, recalling what happened mere moments ago.

Tony didn't reply and kept flying up. He spoke to his AI instead. "Give me a little juice, Friday."

With that, Tony flew up faster. Peter didn't implement that feature yet, but he kept on going anyways.

The billionaire saw Y/N sticking to the side of the flying spaceship. He knew he didn't have long before they left the atmosphere. He spoke to Friday again.

"Open 17-A."

Y/N kept climbing the side of the Q-ship, looking for an entrance to rescue Strange.

"Y/N, you gotta let go. I'll catch you."

He looked down at the incoming Stark. "But I gotta save the wizard!"

Y/N kept climbing. He stopped for a moment, beginning to feel faint.

"I can't breathe." He panted, taking off his mask and gasping for air.

"We're too high up. You're running out of air."

"Yeah...yeah, I can see that."

In mere seconds, Y/N fainted and fell off of the spaceship. Luckily, the package Tony ordered Friday to launch flew in and stuck to the teenager's back. Nanotechnology started to cover his body and it supplied him air after masking him. He hit the bottom of the Q-ship but stuck to it before he can fall off.

"Whoa!" Y/N exclaimed as he stood up in his new suit, the one he rejected over a year ago. "It smells like a new car in here!"

"Happy trails, kid." Tony caught up with him. He spoke to Friday again. "Friday, send him home."

"Yep."

Spider-Man's parachute activated and it sent him flying off the spaceship. The teenager yelled out. "Oh, come on!"

Still flying up was Peter. He saw Y/N fly off but kept his sights glued to Tony and the spaceship. He caught up and was close to Iron Man.

"Mr. Stark, wait up!" He called out.

Tony noticed him. "Uh, this is a no-no. Friday, send him home too."

"What?" Peter exclaimed.

"Sorry, kid. Space isn't for you."

Friday started to commandeer the suit Peter was wearing. It came to a halt and started to fly down despite Peter's wishes. Tony continued up the ship to find a way in.

Before Peter can be sent home, the teenager knew of a way to override the command. He knew Tony would have the Friday AI within his suit act on its own one day, so he created another AI that can he can activate that can trump Friday.

"ADAM. Manual override. Code...Stacy."

After a few seconds, a male voice spoke to him, signaling that the override was successful.

"Override complete, sir."

"Awesome." Peter said, and then flew back up to the ship. He got to the bottom of it as it left the atmosphere and landed on a platform. Peter took a breath but turned to see a familiar face on the same stand.

"Hey." Y/N greeted rather nonchalantly.

Peter replied. "Hey."

"So...we're in space."

"Yeah, we should find a way in."

Y/N already had his sights on where. He motioned him to follow and they entered another platform. Large mechanical doors closed once they went in and from there they traversed their way through the ventilation system.

Tony stood on a platform overlooking Ebony Maw and a restrained Doctor Strange. The alien was preparing to commence his torture session so that the sorcerer could give him the Time Stone.

Suddenly, the Cloak of Levitation floated up to Stark and startled him. The unmasked Iron Man held up his gauntlet but lowered it upon realizing it was the sentient piece of fabric.

"Wow, you're a seriously loyal piece of outerwear, aren't you?" He remarked.

"Yeah, uh...speaking of loyalty..."

Tony turned his head upon hearing the familiar voice. Peter retracted his mask and walked up to his mentor, with Y/N rappelling down from a web and landing on his feet. He also pulled back his nanotech mask.

"What the..." Tony began.

"Look, I know what you're gonna say." Peter interjected.

"You two should not be here."

"I was gonna go home."

"How did you even–"

Peter rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I kinda...overrode Friday."

"You what?" Tony glared.

"Whoa. You hacked into his tech?" Y/N asked in awe. "Again?"

"It wasn't really hacking." Peter added.

"I don't want to hear this." Tony said.

"You really thought you could just send us down?" Y/N asked. "We want to–"

Tony rolled his eyes. "And now I gotta hear it."

Y/N kept speaking. "And this suit is ridiculously intuitive, by the way. So if anything, it's kinda your fault that I'm here."

Tony shot him a look and so did Peter. Even the cloak turned toward him. Y/N continued despite the glare.

"And you know Peter, stubborn as me and we both wanna help. You shoulda known he'd find a way to fly back, especially with the tech you supply him."

"Uh...Y/N–" Peter tried to say.

"What did you just say?" Tony exclaimed, annoyed at the fact that the two teenagers he wanted safe on Earth were now with him in space.

Y/N extended an arm. "I take that back." He sighed. "Look, we're here in space."

"Yeah, right where I didn't want you to be." Tony shot back and looked at the two of them. "This isn't Coney Island. This isn't a field trip. This is a one-way ticket. You hear me? Don't pretend you thought this through."

"I did think this through." Peter replied.

"No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did."

"Liar. You could not have possibly thought this through."

Y/N supported Peter and spoke to Tony. "He knows what he's doing. Like I told you before, he's the one that thinks while I usually act first."

"Oh, so you admit that you didn't think this through." Tony told Y/N.

"No, I know what I'm doing too." Y/N replied. "I can't be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man...if there's no neighborhood."

Tony looked at Y/N for a moment and the teenager assumed he didn't understand what he meant.

"Okay, that might've not made any sense but you know what I'm trying to say." Y/N added.

This time, Peter reciprocated the support and spoke to Tony as well.

"All that work he's done down there...the work we've done...it won't mean anything if these guys wipe it all out." Peter said.

Tony looked at the two teenagers. He let out a breath and shook his head, moving toward the edge of the platform.

"Come on. We got a situation." He pointed at Maw and Strange. "You see him down there? He's in trouble. What's your plan? Go."

Y/N looked down at the ground, eyeing the equipment scattered around the ship. It reminded him of a movie.

"Wow...this looks like the inside of the Sulaco." He remarked.

Peter crouched down and gazed down, hearing the web-slinger's statement and coming up with an idea.

"Yeah...I see it." He stood up and looked at Tony. "Okay. Did you ever see this really old movie, Aliens?"

Below, Doctor Strange was being tortured by the levitating needles piercing into his skin. He screamed as Maw slowly sunk them into his face.

"Painful, aren't they?" Maw taunted. "They were originally designed for microsurgery. And any one of them..."

There was a thud behind him that caught his attention. He looked back and saw Iron Man aiming his repulsors.

"I could end your friend's life in an instant." Maw warned him.

"I gotta tell you, he's not really my friend." Tony replied. "Saving his life is more of a professional courtesy."

Maw lifted a chunk of metal with his telekinesis and held it over his head.

"You've saved nothing." He lifted another chunk. "Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine."

"Yeah, but the kids have seen more movies."

A launcher came out of his shoulder and shot a rocket at the wall nearby. It blew open a hole and Maw was sucked out into space. Strange was about to get sucked out as well, but Y/N swung in and shot a web at the sorcerer's back.

They were on their way out, but Spider-Man's suit activated its extra arms and kept them from being sucked through the hole.

"Yes! Wow! It's like I'm an actual spider!" Y/N exclaimed.

Y/N pulled Strange back up and he jumped away from the hole and back onto the platform. Peter flew in and closed the hole with a frosty material that came out of his gauntlets.

The Cloak of Levitation caught Strange before he can hit the ground and eased him to the floor. Spider-Man landed on his feet and looked at the levitating price of outerwear.

"Hey, we haven't officially met." Y/N held a fist out toward the cloak.

It stood there for a moment before flying away, leaving Y/N hanging without a fist bump.

"Cool." He muttered and lowered his hand.

Tony deactivated his suit and the nanobots went back into the reactor on his chest. Doctor Strange got up as he walked by and the cloak put itself back onto him.

"We gotta turn this ship around." Strange said.

Tony scoffed. "Yeah, now he wants to run. Great plan."

"I want to protect the stone."

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

"For what? Nearly blasting me into space?"

Tony turned around and looked at him. "Who just saved your magical ass? Me."

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

Y/N chuckled at his remark. Peter shot him a look but Tony ignored the kid's reaction and kept speaking to Strange.

"Admit it, you should've ducked out when I told you to. I tried to bench you. You refused." Tony said.

Strange shook his head. "Unlike everyone else in your life, I don't work for you."

"And due to that fact, we're now in a flying doughnut billions of miles from Earth with no backup."

"Uh, we're backup." Peter chimed in.

"No, you're stowaways." Tony butted. "The adults are talking."

Strange glanced at the teenagers then back at Tony. "I'm sorry, I'm confused as to the relationship you have with these two."

Stephen barely got to meet Peter back at the Sanctum when Tony first called him for help. He knew he was a sort of protégé for Stark but didn't know who Y/N was.

"Is this another ward of yours?" Strange asked as he pointed at Y/N.

"No." Y/N answered and stretched out his hand to greet Strange. "I'm Y/N, by the way."

"Doctor Strange." He replied.

"Oh, you're using our made-up names. Um..." The teenager stepped back and nodded. "I'm Spider-Man, then."

Strange stared at the teenager for a moment, tilting his head a bit before walking away. Tony looked around the platform he was standing on and eyed the console.

"This ship is self-correcting its course. Thing's on autopilot." He said.

"Can we control it? Fly us home?" Strange asked.

Peter and Y/N walked over to the two. The young men noticed the billionaire in deep thought as he paced around, and it wasn't long until the sorcerer saw it too.

"Stark?" He asked again.

Tony snapped out of it. "Yeah?"

"Can you take us home?"

"Yeah, I heard you." He clasped his hands and took a breath. "I'm thinking I'm not so sure we should."

Strange knew what Stark was inferring, and the two teenagers had an inkling as well. With the stone being with them, it was more likely that the Black Order would go after them and not back to Earth. Fighting off-world was the best plan.

"Under no circumstances can we bring the Time Stone to Thanos." Strange said.

Y/N arched a brow. "Uh...who's Thanos?"

Strange didn't answer and continued. "I don't think you quite understand what's at stake here."

Tony stepped up to Stephen. "What? No, it's you who doesn't understand that Thanos has been inside my head for six years. Since he sent an army to New York and now he's back!"

Y/N looked at Tony. His mention of the attack in New York brought back memories of the incident and the death of his mother.

"New York? This guy sent the Chitauri?" He asked.

Peter glanced at his friend and noticed his mood. Y/N wished he could've given Loki a piece of his mind for his attack, but now he learned that the person after the Time Stone was the one who commanded the Asgardian.

Tony looked at Y/N for a moment too, but didn't reply and kept speaking to Strange. He was getting emotional as well, recalling the nightmare he had back in Sokovia.

"And I don't know what to do." Tony said. "So I'm not so sure if it's a better plan to fight him on our turf or his...but you saw what they did, what they can do. At least on his turf, he's not expecting it. So I say we take the fight to him, Doctor. Do you concur?"

The sorcerer stood silent for a moment before he replied. "All right, Stark. We go to him. But you have to understand..."

Strange looked at Y/N, then at Peter, then back at Tony. He continued and lowered his voice so his statement could be between only them.

"If it comes to saving you, or the kids, or the Time Stone. I will not hesitate to let either of you die. I can't...because the universe depends on it."

"Nice." Tony pat his arm. "Good, moral compass. We're straight."

Stark walked away and went to the teenagers. He stood in front of them.

"Okay, boys." He did a rather quick knighting gesture to the both of them before walking off. "You're both Avengers now."

It came pretty suddenly. Peter let out a breathy chuckle and Y/N let out a soft laugh as well. He looked at Peter, who gave a smile back.

Y/N nodded, not only happy at the fact that the Avenger name was bestowed upon them, but that his best friend smiled at him. It was something he hadn't seen for over a year, and what they were doing now was seemingly strengthening their bond and bringing them back together.