the battle
I went forward in time to see all the possible outcomes of the present situation.
An exhausted, dirty Tony Stark lifted his head in desperation, a streak of blood streaming from his left temple.
How many did you see?
Fourteen million six hundred and five.
The demolished scenery around them seemed to billow with dust and agony
How many of those did we win?
A trembling hand rose slowly into the air, index finger lifted to the clouded gray sky.
One.
Peter Parker’s face fell, gazing upon the struggling wizard as he held an entire ocean from crashing into the battlefield. Adrenaline pumped furiously in his veins as he remembered the conversation with Doctor Strange about the likeliness of a victory. It seemed incredibly unlikely a triumphant group of heroes would walk out of there, leaving Thanos and his minions behind. Peter crouched back behind a piece of debris, probably from a fallen monster, just enough so he could see the entire field.
He tore his gaze from the wizard and back to Tony who lay propped up on his elbows, dragging in gulps of air. He looked terrified. No, not terrified.
He looked mortified.
Following his mentor’s line of sight, Peter found himself staring at Thanos, tearing a purple stone from his gauntlet and sending Captain Marvel into oblivion.
“Oh no…” Peter mumbled, voice barely audible. His chest heaved, tightening with a haunting realization.
Someone isn’t coming home today.
Thanos groaned and cried as waves of colorful lighting enveloped his body, contorting his face in pain. All six Infinity Stones lay secure in his massive gauntlet of inescapable doom. Peter gazed down at his armored hands as they shook violently, seemingly aware of the inevitable disaster this could turn out to be. Those hands he held out before he was the same hands he held Ben with, covered in sickly red blood. Those hands were the same hands he invented his web shooter with to complete his Spiderman vigilante ensemble. Those hands were the same hands he clung tightly to as he faded from Tony’s secure arms, begging to stay.
Those hands were the same hands he curled into fists, as he prepared himself for the inevitable.
Suddenly, a blur of red and gold seized Thanos’ arm, clawing desperately at the gauntlet. Even with all the strength Tony mustered, he couldn’t rip the golden hand off. As Tony struggled with the gauntlet, Peter crept behind the two, crouching down into his typical pose.
“Hey, Karen?”
“Yes, Peter?”
“Can you… send a message to May Parker?”
“What would you like the message to say?”
“I- uh… I love you, Aunt May. Th-thank you for everything,” Peter cried breathlessly behind the mask, preparing for one last waltz with Thanos.
He lept into the air, shooting two webs- one on the back of the gauntlet and the other on Tony’s back. Peter tugged his right hand, tossing his mentor at least fifteen feet away. He wrapped his hand around the web strung to the gauntlet as a shocked Thanos attempted to pry the webbing off. Peter slammed to the ground, pulling Thanos to his knees.
“You’re only making this worse for yourself,” Thanos bellowed, pulling apart the sticky white substance preventing his hand from closing. Peter desperately clambered on his back and clawed at his eyes, causing Thanos to cry out in confusion. This allowed Peter to fling himself at the gauntlet, clawing at the six glowing stones illuminating Thano’s arm. Thanos clutched his torso and hurled him effortlessly toward the ground, landing in an unmoving heap.
Thanos raised the gauntlet into the air, a haunted smile creeping onto his massive face.
“I am…
…inevitable.”
The clang of metal on metal resounds, but nothing follows. Instead, the entire world seems to drown in a deafening silence louder than any noise heard before. A confused Thanos looks down at his malfunctioning gauntlet, turning it over to find all six Infinity Stones missing. He gazed in shock at the golden spaces the stones laid just a few seconds ago. Thanos turned to see Peter, kneeling on the ground, hand raised in the air.
Peter’s armored hand no longer trembled but pulsed furiously with the electricity of all six stones flowing through him. Adrenaline sped throughout his body like wildfire as he heaved in gulping breaths of hot air. His spidey senses erupted in his skull- a feeble attempt to pull him away from the electric fire burning in his body.
“No… no, Pete, please- please don’t…” Tony stuttered, parental instincts flaring louder than he’d ever experienced before. He leaped to his feet and started towards Peter, but he knew deep inside what the outcome of this would be.
Peter gazed at his mentor and gave a weak smile before pulling his hand close.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, bringing his fingers together.
“Pete!”
Snap.
A hot white flash enveloped Peter’s senses, sending fiery pain down his very nerves.
Every fiber in his being seemed to tear apart, but most of the pain erupted from his right arm.
He staggered to a large piece of debris, barely catching himself with his left hand as the corners of his vision grew dark. Peter collapsed on the ground and leaned his charred body against the metal. Shallow, painful heaves rattled his chest, unable to draw in a full breath. The mask of his suit melted away, leaving a too-young boy’s face, blank with shock.
Through the white haze which clouded his vision, he saw Thanos’ army slowly fade into oblivion. A blurry red figure stood in front of him, but he could barely attach his gaze to it.
“Hey, Underoos… it’s Tony,” Tony exhaled, on the verge of a breakdown. His kid, only seventeen, sat dying in front of him, right arm and face completely scorched. Tony choked on a sob, reaching out and cupping Peter’s unburnt cheek. He heard a couple of sets of footsteps behind him but refused to leave sight of Peter.
“We won, Pete,” he whispered with a shaky smile. The corners of Peter’s mouth turned upward slightly, but his glazed-over eyes told Tony they didn’t have much time left.
“Karen?” Tony whispered in despair, pressing a hand to his kid’s chest to monitor his breathing. Peter drowsily reached up and clamped onto it.
“Life functions critically low.”
Tony’s breath sped up, the weight of the AI’s words settling in his chest. He’d only just gotten his kid back, but he was going to lose him again.
“You did good today, Roos. Next time, let’s work on our self-preservation skills,” he joked in an attempt to stay positive in this horrid situation. It worked- he could see a small smile dance to Peter’s pale face.
As hard as he tried to stop it, a black void seemed to slowly overtake his vision. He couldn’t bring himself to care, though. All he focused on was the erupting pain sprouting from every corner of his veins. A soft cry left his chapped lips, even the action pained his throat.
“You’re okay, you’re gonna be alright,” Tony whispered desperately, brushing his kid’s cheekbone gently with his knuckles. With every shallow breath Peter took, his lungs rattled and ached. He was so tired.
“I jus’ wan’ed to be like y-you, Mis’er St’rk,” Peter slurred between gasps of air, ripping Tony’s heart in two.
”You… you’ve done more than I could’ve ever done, kiddo. I’m so proud of you” he smiled shakily, resting a trembling hand on his cheek again. It was a small comfort for what he could only imagine was an excruciating amount of pain.
“Hurts,” Peter rasped between gulps of scalding air, tears slipping from his glazed-over baby browns.
“It’s okay. It’s okay to let go, Pete. You’ve been so strong, so you can rest. You can rest now,” Tony said, trying his best to console his obviously exhausted and scared kid. He made a vain attempt to control his tears, but they fell from his tired eyes ruthlessly anyway.
The void almost covered Peter’s entire vision now. He felt so tired. He wanted nothing more than to fall asleep to escape the burning and suffering of his body. His wheezing heaves slowed, now gasping in short, struggling breaths. All Peter could think about was his terrified mentor in front of him.
“I- I love… you T’ny,” Peter mumbled numbly as the pain melted away, leaving him in a dream-like calm. The black void completely covered his vision now, but he could hear his mentor whisper a final goodbye for him.
“I love you too, bambino , so much,” Tony cooed, hand swirling tenderly through Peter’s brown curls.
A soft smile danced to the boy’s lips before his face slacked all together. One last horrible, wheezing exhale left Peter’s body before his chest stilled. His hand loosened grip from his mentor, sliding to the ground with a sickening thud.
Tony let his head hang as a bone-chilling sob rippled through his body, resting both trembling hands on Peter’s shoulders.
Tony made Peter’s suit, the Iron Spider, by hand. He double and triple-checked every parameter possible; a parachute so Peter wouldn't fall like Rhodey, a heater so he wouldn’t freeze like Tony, and a tracker so he could never get lost. He even added a Baby Monitor Protocol to protect Peter from anything he couldn’t handle. He thought he could protect his kid from anything.
He was wrong.
“I’m sorry, Pete. I’m so sorry,” Tony whispered, gazing into Peter’s doe-brown eyes. He longed for their usual warmth and softness, but they were cold and distant, fixed at a blank point far in the distance.
“Oh, Roos…” he cried, resting a gentle hand on Peter’s now cold cheek one last time. Something heavy and painful sat firmly in his chest; a mixture of panic and grief. Not just grief, but a parent’s grief- stronger than any emotion known to mankind.
Another sob ravaged his body as he curled inward, something tearing him apart from the inside.
He felt a hand on his shoulder, with no doubt it was Pepper, but couldn’t tear his gaze from the too-still child sitting in front of him.
“Tony… look,” Pepper whispered. Tony turned to face her and followed her line of sight. He nearly collapsed with what he saw.
One by one, every hero on the field knelt on one knee. Even people like Wanda and Thor who hardly knew Peter knelt in respect for him. Doctor Strange took a knee, face blank with anguish. He understood how all of this would end, but he still felt somber knowing a child had to die for their victory.
Tony Stark wanted a suit of armor around the world, but what he needed was a stronger suit of armor around his world. He should’ve snapped, he should’ve died- not Peter. Never Peter.
Tony collapsed to the ground, the last to kneel, and choked out another blood-curdling sob.
They all took a knee for the fallen hero.