Chapter 24

Peter leaped down from his hiding spot and landed in a few feet in front of Norman and Yon-Rogg. He fired webs at Osborn's feet, sticking the man to the ground before aiming his web-shooters at the aliens. Yon's soldiers quickly lifted up their rifles and prepared to shoot at the teenager, but Yon lifted his arm up, signaling them to hold their fire.

"Nice of you to join us, kid," Norman grinned, "Part of me was hoping you'd show up here, but I'd have preferred if it was as teammates. Though the offer's still up."

"You're working with the Kree? The guys who tried to kill us?" Peter growled, clear anger in his voice.

"Less 'tried to kill us' and more 'told to act like they want to try and kill us'," Osborn replied.

Peter faltered, confused, "What?"

"It's simple, really. I told them to launch the attacks. Make a big show of it. Fire a few rounds at us and everything. Make us look great for all the world to see!" the billionaire explained, "And as they did, they got a couple things for me in the background. Vibranium, info on you guys, that sort of thing."

The kid couldn't believe what he was hearing. The tricks. The deception. Toying with everyone's trust.

"How...How could you do this?! How could you sell out your own world? And what, just to pretend to be some hero?!"

"I'm not selling out my own world. If Yonny here keeps up his end of the bargain, we never have to hear from his kind again!" Osborn flashed a smile, as though this was entertaining to him, "They'll be too busy wiping out their own enemies to care about us."

"But...But they're gonna kill people! Innocent people!"

"Yes, but not our people. Spider-Man, something I respect about you is how you always look out for the little guy. Focus on the smaller things that all the other big-wig heroes would ignore. So really, what does something like intergalactic war between random planets you've probably never heard of matter to you?"

Peter took a few steps forward, keeping his eyes on Norman, "Why? Why help them?"

Osborn snickered a little, "I mean, you heard why. You heard the tale, right? If one wants to survive, they have to adapt. Negotiate. That's what this is. Heroing is no different than running a business. You make the right plays, make some sacrifices, and soon...you'll get everything you want."

"...And what do you want?"

"...You. By my side. I wasn't lying. I want you on my team. On my side! You and I, we're the same! We both want the same things!" Osborn looked at Peter pleadingly, offering a hand to the kid, "Please...Do the right thing."

Peter tilted his head down, gazing at the floor. So much of this chaos, all the damage caused, it was because of Osborn. The attack on Kamar-Taj. The invasion of Wakanda...Ned. All his fault.

"Okay...I'm gonna do the right thing."

Peter fired a web at Yon-Rogg before leaping at him, arms sticking out and his webs being fired at any Kree that tried to shoot out. However, before he could land a blow on the Kree commander, the enhanced Kree quickly swatted Peter away. Peter crashed into the lab, chemicals flying everywhere as Oscorp scientists began evacuating the area.

The enhanced Kree charged at him and the two began to fight. Typically, Spider-Man didn't have much trouble when it came to blocking punches from his opponents and dodging them. But with this guy, his reflexives and moves were almost as fast as he was.

As the two fought, Yon-Rogg lit up his Kree energy swords, which burned through Parker's webbing and freed him.

"Mind lending a hand over here, partner?" asked Osborn, pointing the webs sticking him to the floor.

Yon-Rogg rolled his eyes as he used his swords to free the businessman. The alien turned his eyes to his newest super-soldier and watched with awe.

"You came through with your promise," Yon whispered.

"Never back out of a deal," Osborn straightened his tie before pushing a button on his watch, "I recommend you pull out your guy."

"And why should I?"

"Because that kid's blood is the only thing stabilizing the formula that's in your friend's veins. You want more of my serum, best to keep him alive."

Yon rolled his eyes as he watched the enhanced Kree put Peter in a chokehold, the boy struggling to pull the muscular, blue arm off of his neck, "Galen-Kor, we need him alive."

The enhanced Kree, Galen-Kor, loosened his arm a little. Still enough to choke Peter, but just enough not to kill him.

"You know, you remind me so much of Vers," Yon mused as he walked closer to the two combatants, "The determination. The spirit. But as much as she would disagree, she can be broken...Just like you will be."

Peter coughed out his words, the voice becoming high-pitched from the lack of oxygen, "Y'know...I can see...Why she wants you dead!"

Right as the alien commander was distracted, Parker delivered a swift kick to his chest and fired a strand of webbing at his rifle before it could fall to the ground. He pulled back at the web and grabbed the gun, smashing it into Galen-Kor's face.

The super-soldier released Peter, who quickly flipped around and fired a web at Galen, sticking him to a wall. However, it wasn't long before the Kree ripped the webbing apart.

"Uh oh," Peter gulped as Galen charged towards him.

As the fight started up again, Norman turned to Yon-Rogg and said, "Get you and your men back to your ship. Wait for me at the meeting place."

"You believe you can handle this?" Yon-Rogg raised an eyebrow.

Osborn gave a proud smile before something crashed through the ceiling. The Iron Patriot armor burst into the lab, smoke and debris flying everywhere as it flew towards its owner. The suit wrapped around the billionaire's body, the faceplate dropping to cover his face.

The Starforce commander scoffed before he signaled his troops to exit, leaving alongside them.

Galen smashed Peter's body into the ground before following his comrades, passing by a fully-suited Osborn as he left the lab. The kid groaned as the Iron Patriot stood above him, observing him.

"Would've thought you'd put up more of a fight against him," Osborn mused, "Feel a little disappointed. But at the same time, nice to know my serum does work."

"Y...You lied to me. You only needed me for my blood."

"At first. But no, Pete. It's not just that," Osborn sighed, genuinely sounding remorseful, "You amaze me. Your courage. Your strength. Your intelligence. It's...amazing...It's everything I've ever wanted out of my son, to be honest."

The armored traitor placed a hand on Peter's shoulder, "If we give the Kree what they want, we get what we want. Weapons. Intel on other species. True power."

"And how do we know they won't go back on your deal?" Peter groaned, trying to lift himself up off of the ground.

He chuckled, "You think I handed them a super-soldier serum without a back-up plan? Believe me, if they try to betray me, they're gonna regret it. Though either way, I'm probably going to be playing that card soon."

"What does that mean?" Peter asked, pure anger on his face.

"Serum may be advanced, but it works just like with the Goblin formula. Little additives put in that put me in control," Osborn gleamed with pride, "Kree will think they're the ones in charge. Give more and more of their own soldiers my serum and by the end, once their guards down and all their enemies are done for...we will be in control of the strongest empire in the galaxy."

Peter shook his head, his breathing growing louder and louder, "You're just like Mysterio."

That comment wiped the happy look from Osborn, "No. Beck was a fraud. No real powers. No real way of fighting whatever threats come our way. But me?...Us? With our teamwork, our resources...We will be the heroes the world deser-"

In an instant, Peter's fist collided with the helmet, sending Osborn crashing into the wall behind him.

Peter winced, grabbing his injured arm, "And people say I talk too much."

Suddenly, from the hole created by the Iron Patriot armor, arrived three Goblins, each on a glider and each with pumpkin bombs in their hands. What horrified Peter was how their horrific masks weren't on.

Instead, the faces of the Goblins were fully visible, revealing them to not be the alien soldiers the team believed they were, but humans. Just like with Ned, their veins glowed a bright green and an eerie laughter filled the room.

Osborn groaned, getting back on his feet, "Capture him. But don't kill him!"

"Crud," Peter whimpered before the emerald enemies flew straight towards him.

…

Carol blasted at every enemy ship coming her way, with Rhodey and Wanda backing her up and defending the Peak. Each time a Kree launched one of their missiles, Wanda would use her powers to stop it in mid-air and send it flying back, blowing it up. Rhodey fired every weapon he had in his arsenal. Bombs, missiles, smoke-screens, everything he had to give him an advantage.

The captain soared through space and propelled herself into oncoming ships, crashing straight through them as though they were made of cardboard. Her Skrull allies followed her in their own ships as they did whatever it took to keep their home safe.

"Feels like the good old days, huh, buddy?" Carol chuckled as she slammed her body into one ship, causing a chain reaction as it crashed into another, which crashed into another, and so forth.

"You and I have a very different definition of good, Captain," Talos replied, firing enemies in his own battleship.

As Rhodey blasted away at anyone coming for him, Wanda grabbed one vessel with her powers and tossed it at the colonel, "Hey, Rhodey! Heads up!"

He turned around to fire a small bomb at the ship being thrown his way, watching it crash into another Kree spacecraft and reducing it to scraps of metal.

"Nice!" Rhodes grinned under his helmet.

...

Meanwhile, the Skrulls inside of the vessel were being led to escape pods by the other heroes, avoiding the occasional explosion and tremor. Sam, Scott, and Strange covered the north end of the Peak and T'Challa, Hope, and Valkyrie took the south end.

"Move! Move! Move!" Sam yelled, placing a finger to the communication device in his ear, "South end, what's your status?"

"We think we've got this so far!" Hope yelled out, "How are you on the north end?"

Strange opened up some portals to allow the refugees to escape, Scott helping them move as quickly as possible.

"We're sending them off to Kamar-Taj for now, but we need to keep this place steady!" Stephen shouted, "My portals only work if I'm in a still location!"

Suddenly, a massive tremor shook the base as one of the Skrulls' dwellings began to topple over. The Skrulls screamed as Sam's eyes widened.

"TIC-TAC!" Sam yelled.

"ON IT!" Scott replied as he clicked the button on his hand, enlarging himself and catching the tower in his arms. He couldn't grow to full height due to the limits of the Peak, but it was just enough to hold the building over his head.

Unfortunately, debris still managed to escape the giant's grasp as a large piece of rubble fell towards a Skrull family. As the mother and father wrapped their arms around their two children, hoping to shield them, someone came to their aid.

Sam leaped over them with his wings spread out and covered them, groaning as the wreckage crashed onto his back. He yelled as he tried his best to prevent them from harm, holding the shield up above his head for extra protection.

Suddenly, a large gust of wind blew from behind Sam, freeing him and the Skrull family from being stuck under the remains of the dwelling. Wilson looked up to see Strange, his hands glowing from the spell he just used.

"You alright?" asked the doctor.

"Yeah. Thanks for the help," Sam nodded, "Lang?"

Scott slowly placed the remains of the building down where it couldn't hurt anyone, "I think I'm good on this end."

The Falcon turned to the aliens he just protected, kneeling down next to them, "What about you? You guys okay?"

The aliens looked at the man with awe, viewing him almost with reverence. The parents nodded while the children smiled with glee and amazement.

"Alright," Sam grinned as he helped them up, "Okay, come on! Let's go!"

He looked outside as he watched Danvers fly by outside, "Danvers, what's your status?"

"Easy peasy, Wings," Danvers replied cheerfully.

"Okay. I think I have a plan," Sam shouted out.

Rhodes groaned on comms, "If it's more awkward stammering, then-"

"Rhodes, Maximoff, you're defense. Cover the escape pods at the south end. Make sure they get to Earth and that the Kree don't get to them. Danvers, you and your buddies are defense. Take down anything coming your way as fast as you can!"

"...Whoa," Carol muttered.

"There's the Sam I know!" Rhodey laughed.

"We're on it, Sam," Wanda responded.

…

Peter leaped out of the Oscorp building and began to swing away, his slender body soaring above New York as the Goblins chased after him, laughing their heads off.

"Come back, Spidey! We just wanna play, little boy!" one Goblin chuckled.

"Shoot shoot shoot shoot!" Peter panicked under his mask, "What do I do? What do I do? What do I-?"

Lightbulb moment, "BINGO!"

He began to swing faster, moving as quickly as possible around Manhattan with full knowledge of where he needs to go.

Eventually, he saw the building he was looking for, "Perfect!"

However, just as he said that, one of the Goblins leapt off of their glider, its claws digging into Peter and pulling him down to the street. The two crashed to the ground as Peter kicked the minion off of him.

He leapt onto his feet and assumed battle position, "Alright, look, this has been a long, hard week for me and I know you've got someone to answer to, but could you just leave me alone right now, guys?"

Their response was to whip out their pumpkin bombs and begin closing in.

Peter sighed, "For once, can't that actually work?"

Suddenly, before any fighting could even begin, a glowing golden disc flew from behind Peter and crashed into each of the Goblins, ricocheting off of each one before dissipating. Before they could get back up, the world around them became crystal-like as the three were pulled into the Mirror Dimension.

The kid turned to see the only other sorcerer in Greenwich Village standing behind him.

"How has Strange gotten himself into trouble this time?" Wong groaned.

…

The escape pods fired off into space at the south end of the Peak. T'Challa, Valkyrie, and Hope aided the extraterrestrials into the small ships and made sure to send them off to Earth.

"Okay! Up you hop! In you go!" Hope helped a child into a pod and watched as it flew off.

Suddenly, everyone felt as a massive missile crashed into the large window, the glass slowly cracking ominously.

After a moment of horrified silence, T'Challa turned to the refugees and shouted, "GO! GO! GO!"

"Wilson!" Hope shouted on the comms, "The windows not going to hold for long! What's the plan?!"

At the other end of the base, the other three heroes could see the massive crack forming.

For a moment, Sam paused, unsure of what to do. The fate of all of these people was in his hands and he needed an idea right now.

What would the original six do?

What would Steve do?

...What would Sam do?

"Okay," Sam exhaled, "Strange, can you keep the portals open while you do your thing?"

"Will be difficult but yes," Stephen nodded.

"Whatever spells you got that can keep that crack from sucking us all out, use it!" Sam ordered the sorcerer, "Wanda, Lang, gonna need you to help him. Scott, use that big hand of yours to cover it up. Wanda, shield it from the outside."

"On it, Sam," Scott gave a thumbs-up as he began marching over to it.

"Okay, I'm on my way," Wanda nodded as she pushed towards it.

"Danvers, Van Dyne, Rhodey, do your best to seal it up. Photon blasts, lasers, anything hot that can put it together."

"What about the Kree?" Talos asked, "My men can't handle this alone."

"You're not gonna have to," Sam shook his head, "Valkyrie?"

Oh, this should be fun," the Asgardian smirked, seeing where the Falcon's mind was going.

T'Challa marched over to her, mask off, "Good news! I was able to get the refugees of the south end off of the base! We should be good here!"

"Perfect!" Sam exclaimed, "Kitty Cat, you're with Valkyrie."

"Wait, what?!" T'Challa yelped as Valkyrie grabbed him by the arm.

"Off we go, your Majesty!" the goddess shouted as they ran towards the battleships.

Everyone went off to accomplish their tasks as Sam continued to aid the Skrulls through the portals.

...

"-So he says that he's gonna give this serum to the Kree to power them up and help them take over the galaxy, but I was like, 'no way that's happening!' But then this big alien dude got all roided up and hulked out on me and tried to kill me! And now, they're gonna go kill everyone and man, do you have anything I can drink? I'm really parched."

The librarian handed the child a cup of water which he drank in one gulp, "Thank you. You know, I gotta ask, where were you when I first got here?"

"After Strange left to join in your crusade, he asked me to take over for him as guardian of the New York Sanctum," Wong explained, "The moment I got word from my allies back in Kamar-Taj that green men were suddenly appearing in the courtyard, I knew something was wrong. It appears I was right."

"Yeah, things are gonna get rough. Or rougher, I guess," Peter nodded as he followed the older man up the stairs of the Sanctum, "By the way, I didn't catch your name."

"Wong."

"Oh, cool. I'm-"

"Peter Parker," the sorcerer finished the boy's sentence as he grabbed a satchel and began filling it with magical weapons and potions.

"You know me?"

"Yes," he nodded, "Strange never goes a day without mentioning you at least once."

"Wait, really?" Peter raised an eyebrow in confusion, "He...He talks about me?"

"I remember when the day the news accused you of terrorism. Strange couldn't shut up about finding you or looking for a way to help," Wong sighed, "Unfortunately, his duties as a Master of the Mystic Arts prevented him from doing more regarding your situation...Honestly, it's rare I see the man care for someone that much."

Peter listened carefully, surprised by what the man was saying. He thought for the longest time that none of the other heroes really cared about what he went through in Europe or how he was framed. But hearing this, hearing that Strange wanted to help but couldn't...Maybe Strange, maybe the others cared more about him than he thought they did.

"So where are they right now?" Wong asked.

"They're on S.W.O.R.D.'s off-world base. I think it's somewhere orbiting the Earth," Peter answered, "How're we gonna get there?"

"Simple," Wong replied as he opened a portal, "We ask them."

The two walked through as they arrived at Kamar-Taj. Surrounding the temple were scores of Skrulls, all gathered and looking for someone to help them.

"Whoa," Peter's eyes widened, a small smile crossing his face at the sight of an entire race of aliens, "So cool."

"Come along. I'm sure one of them should know the coordinates for where Strange is."

"Wait, what about your house? Don't you need someone guarding it?"

"Hm. You're right," Wong paused, considering this for a moment, "Frederick!"

A random sorcerer popped his head up from amongst the emerald crowd, "Yes?"

"Go watch over the New York Sanctum!"

"Ok."

"Alright. Let's go," Wong nodded.

…

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Valkyrie cackled as she fired at incoming Kree, "OH, HOW I HAVE MISSED THIS!"

"Did I really have to go with you for this?!" T'Challa gulped as he dug his claws into his seat, "I do not exactly have experience in aerial warfare!"

"Oh calm down and enjoy the ride, your Majesty! It's time we live a little!"

From behind the two kings arrived an enemy ship, which began firing at them with everything it had.

"Hey, can your suit withstand space?" Valkyrie asked.

"Yes? Why?" T'Challa asked, eyes widening with worry.

Valkyrie slammed her hand onto a button next to her seat, ejecting the Wakandan out into space. On instinct, his mask came on as he flew into the cold vacuum, his body propelling towards the incoming ship.

He crashed through the window and began slashing at the pilots within. As the ship went off-course, the panther was able to pilot it long enough to crash into another Kree ship, his body sent flying through the window of that ship.

As he did this, Valkyrie continued to shoot at everything in her way, laughing madly while doing so.

"Are all Asgardians this crazy?" Talos asked.

"This one definitely is," Carol joked.

Meanwhile, Strange was placing a massive golden shield around the crack in the window. Next to him, Scott placed his gloved hands on the glass, doing his best to prevent the vacuum of space from sucking everyone away.

"You get the left side, I get the right?" Scott asked.

"Fine by me. Just hold on as tight as possible," Strange replied.

"You guys might wanna cover your eyes. It's gonna get bright," Hope spoke up on the comms.

She flew onto Scott's shoulder and grew back to regular size, setting her stingers at full power and firing a bright yellow light at the crack.

On the other side of the glass, Carol and Rhodey began sealing the glass, the glowing woman utilizing her photon blasts and the armored man using red hot lasers on his wrists. Wanda aided them by covering the window in red mist, preventing air from being sucked out from the base.

"Okay, Sam, I think it's working!" Rhodey shouted out.

"Great! Everyone's off of the base!" Sam called out as he flew onto Scott's shoulder, "We just need to protect this place so these people have a home to get back to!"

From the corner of his eye, the Falcon spotted a Kree spacecraft aiming its cannon at Carol, a missile targeting them.

"DANVERS, BEHIND YOU!" Sam yelled out.

Carol turned her gaze towards the enemy looking to fire at her. Before she could react, Talos's battleship zoomed in and began firing away, guarding Danvers and shooting anyone trying to take her out.

"Talos, what are you doing?!" Carol yelled.

"I'm buying you some time! Keep doing what you're doing, Danvers!" the general shouted back.

"GET OUT OF HERE! YOU'RE GONNA GET YOURSELF KILLED!"

"Just focus on healing my home!"

As he continued to fire at the Kree, Danvers tried her best to multi-task, using one arm to seal the Peak and another to blast away the Kree.

"Hang on!" Rhodey yelled, "You guard his right, I guard his left!"

His shoulder cannons turned backwards and began annihilating anything coming towards Talos, with the colonel doing his best to focus on both objectives.

However, the crack began widening as Carol was forced to focus her attention solely on sealing it. And as she turned back around, an enemy ship began rushing towards Talos from above, aiming its missiles at his engines.

"TALOS, ABOVE YOU!" she shouted, trying to alert her friend.

"Hang on!" someone else shouted, "I've got this!"

From out of nowhere, Valkyrie's battleship zoomed in and shot the Kree down, protecting the general from above.

For a split-second, the intergalactic warrior and the king of New Asgard shared a glance at one another, a look of mutual surprise passing between them. Both surprised that Valkyrie chose to help Danvers.

While the cracking was slowed down, it continued to grow, the window's stability weakening more and more.

Strange groaned, "This isn't enough. We need back-up!"

"And back-up is on the way!"

The sound of sparks and fire crackling caused the group within the base to turn to see a portal opening up behind them.

"Hey, everyone! We miss anything?" Peter flipped in.

"Peter! Wong!" Strange exclaimed, "Think you can lend us a hand over here?"

"Good ol' webbing comin' up!" Peter chuckled as he swung over and started firing webs at the window, stopping the cracking as best he could so the others had more time to seal it up.

Wong used his powers to summon a defensive barrier around the crack, one larger than Strange's, which aided in keeping the others from being sucked out into space.

"I take it all is going well?" Wong sarcastically noted.

"It's been an odd week," Strange sighed, "The New York Sanctum?"

"Frederick has it."

"Seriously? Frederick?"

"Can't do any worse than you."

Within time, the window was finally repaired. Scott shrank back down as the others inside landed on the ground.

"Okay. I think that should hold," Hope nodded.

"Good," Wanda panted, "Now, I think I'm gonna pass out now."

As she drifted off into unconsciousness, the red bubble around her slowly fading away.

"WHOOP! Okay! I got you, kid!" Rhodey swiftly grabbed his friend and began flying back into the Peak, "Sam, I'm coming back."

"Good. You all might want to step back right now," Talos warned.

"Why?" Valkyrie asked.

That question was quickly answered as Carol unleashed a massive burst of energy, a warning to the remaining soldiers to leave or get blown up.

"Leave. Now," she growled.

She watched as the Kree warships evacuated the scene, their ships jumping into lightspeed and leaving the battle.

"Yeah, you better run!" Carol laughed.

Talos breathed a sigh of relief, "Good work. All of you."

"Um, excuse me? Can someone please help me here?"

Carol's attention turned to the king of Wakanda, who was awkwardly floating next to her in his vibranium suit.

She chuckled, "Cats in space. Guess some things never change."

"Pardon?"

"Inside joke. Come on, fluffy, let's head back inside," she said as she lifted the man into her arms.

"Thank you...Though I prefer you never call me that again."

…

Sam looked at the now sealed window, a smile growing on his face as he felt a sense of pride for the first time in a while. This was an actual success. He was actually able to get everyone to work together and push back the Kree. No relying on Osborn or some deus ex machina.

"I think we can call that a success," Sam sighed.

"I THINK WE CAN CALL THAT AWESOME!" Peter exclaimed, "I mean, oh my God! This is like real-life Star Wars! Okay, sure, last time I was in space, I, y'know, died, but holy crap! This is so-!"

"You came back," Strange interrupted the boy, a genuine look of surprise on his face.

Peter paused before chuckling a little, "Yeah, I mean...I couldn't leave you guys behind...We're a team, right?"

Strange grinned before a cough from Wong ruined the moment.

"Is that a smile I see, Doctor?"

"I will portal you to Muspellheim, I swear," Strange groaned in frustration, "Wait a minute, why is it only you two here?"

"Yeah, where's Osborn? Weren't you with him, kid?" Scott asked.

Peter's smile faded away as he gulped, "Guys...I need to tell you something…"