Avengers: Reborn

Chapter 1: Never Gone

It was difficult for anyone to believe that it had been exactly a year since the battle against Thanos, especially Peter Parker. This day was more of a loss to him than a victory, and no matter what kind of smile he put on his face, the scene that played out on that battle field could never quite leave his mind. That field trip he went with his classmates was supposed to help him deter his thoughts from Tony Stark's death, and help him have a good time with his friends for once.

However, that war affected everyone, leaving them with scars that may need more time to heal. Peter didn't think his scar would heal, even with time. The empty void left in his soul could possibly be mended, but the mark would be everlasting. Always there to remind him what happened a year ago from this day.

"Hey, did you order something?" Aunt May peeked her head in through the small gap of his bedroom door, and opened it slightly to wave a small package in her hand. There was nothing out of the ordinary about this package, about half the size of a shoe box. Peter was sat on his bed, quickly shoving the photo of him and Tony back in the small drawer of his bedside table and slamming it shut.

Once the slight panic of almost being caught depressed was gone, a look of confusion was left on his face. "I-I didn't order anything…Are you sure its-" Before the teen could speak further, his Aunt answered his unfinished question. "It has your name and our address." She replied and finally stepped in to the room, gently handing it to the boy still sat on his bed. Peter took it and double checked anyway, and indeed it was his name and his address on a printed out shipping label. His eyes glanced to the top corner of the label, wondering where it came from. "Where's the senders address?" He asked curiously whilst staring at the blank space where that address should have been.

There was no immediate response, so he looked up to find his Aunt looking down at him with sorrow on her face. "I don't know…" She sighed. "You've been in your room all day today, and I know you're not sick, mister Spiderman." With a jokingly tone, she sat beside him on the bed. "And I think I remember you saying Spiderman doesn't take days off." The worry was back on her face as the two made eye contact. "Im worried about you Peter.. I know today must be.. a very hard day for you..and for a lot of people.." She was carful with her words as she saw Peter's expression give up on the poker-face. No more hiding emotions, and no more holding back tears that he had been holding back all day. His eyes became glossy as he attempted to respond through his tightening throat. "I..I miss him, Aunt May. I wish.. I could have done something.." With his shaky voice, his Aunt instantly had her arms around him. The flash back going on in his head became too much, and he couldn't return the hug. "I had just come back to him. 5 years.. it felt so quick to me, but he waited 5 years.. 5 years just to-" The boy's voice gave up on him, lost somewhere.

However, Peter learned a trick from back at Tony's funeral. Of course he cried like a baby for the first half hour, but was able to calm down and remain tearless for the rest of the event. He took deep breaths, and remembered what he has now. Every good thing he still has, every person that loved him and was there for him, including the person hugging him right now. "Peter." Aunt May's voice interrupted. "Tony sacrificed his life so that we could all live. Especially you." She backed away, putting her hands on the sides of his head to straighten his face to meet her gaze. "He gave you your best chance at life, as Peter Parker and Spiderman. And we will always remember, everyone will. The whole world is grateful for what he did." She moved her hands from her face, now grabbing his free hand tightly while his other held the package. "I can't tell you to stop being sad.. But I can tell you that if Tony was here, he wouldn't want to see you sad." She smiled comfortingly, and the teen wiped away his tears with the sleeve of his sweater whilst resting the package on his lap. He returned the smile, and replied. "He would probably tell me to stop being such a baby." He chuckled along with his Aunt, who was just happy to see him smile for the first time today.

After the slight laugher died out, May got up. "Well, I was going to make your favorite homemade lasagna for dinner, unless you want to stay cooped up in your room-" She teased, making Peter chuckle again. "No no-! I promise I'll come out for dinner!" He quickly answered as she made her way to the door with a smile. "You better, or I'm eating everything!" With that said, she walked through the doorway and was about to close the door when she remembered something and turned around briefly. "Oh and please give your friend a call- He's worried sick about you and says you haven't been replying to his texts!" She said as she once again, saw that confused expression return to Peter's face. "How do you-" as if knowing his question again, his aunt answered. "That time you went to England, I gave him my number for emergency's.. And I'm glad I did!" She let out a chuckle and finally left the room, closing the door behind her and making her way to the kitchen.

Peter just shook his head with wide eyes. "Thats not weird.." He mumbled to himself as he looked down at the package on his lap. His mind was racing, trying to recall a memory of him ordering something- but he couldn't find it. Of course a small part of him started to be cautious, since there have been 'bad guys' in the past that tried to kill him. Maybe this package was a bomb that would activate once opened? He had to be prepared, so he set the box aside on his bed and hopped off, changing in to his suit within mere seconds. "Karen?" He called for his guide, who responded to the name. "Hello." The echoey voice was heard through out his mask. "Activate defense mode!" The command instantly activated it, and so he slowly approached the box with a new expectation. One of the spider legs extended out from his back as the sharp bladed end skidded along the taped side of the box, and then the other… Until he reached in the opened box with his hand and retrieved what was inside, and the inside was heavily padded as if whatever the item was- it was expensive and fragile.

The item inside- he kind of recognized it. A small circular mechanic device, that was about the size of of a jar lid and fit perfectly on his palm. As soon as the device was in his palm, it glowed blue, making the boy flinch a little. "K-Karen, can you scan this?" He asked and she obeyed. Well, tried to at least. "There are micro-electrical waves emitting from the device you are holding, and it's disturbing my scanning system." Unable to scan the thing, she apologized as Peter became more suspicious. "Thats never good..But thank you for saying it in my language!" He commented, and Karen replied. "Your'e welcome." But after that- a very different voice was heard. Not from the suit, but from somewhere else.

"Finger print scan required." The female voice said as the middle of the blue-glowing device he was holding showed an outline of an oval. The blue screen remained the same while Spiderman contemplated. "Karen, what should I do?" The nervousness in his tone was obvious at this point, but compared to when he just became Spiderman- it was a lot better. "It is up to you, but these electrical waves are nearly identical to the ones that I picked up when your new suit was being made by Tony Stark." She said so plainly, and it took him back a little. Hearing that name in the sentence that Karen just said- a small part of him couldn't help but feel happy about this familiar device. Without anymore questions, he made the glove of his suit vanish on his left hand and placed a thumb on the screen where the oval was. It scanned it about three times, leaving the adrenaline rushing through his veins until finally, a sound of approval was heard from the device. "Facial scan required." It spoke again right after the finger scan was complete, and Peter most certainly recognized this voice now that he heard it a second time. The voice of the AI in Tony's newer system.

He took off his mask, and let the device scan his face before it then asked for a voice verification. "Karen, what should I say?" He asked, but Karen didn't need to reply as the sound of approval pinged through out the room for the third time after hearing the teens voice. Followed by a sudden projection being projected right above the device from the centre. It had a blue hue to it, and the holographic screen hovering in front of his eager face seemed to be loading. "I don't think Tony would allow anything that takes this much time to load in his house." Spiderman joked as he waited for something to load. "Agreed." Karen's reply made him smile, but the smile instantly faded as the loading was complete.

"Playing message." Tony's AI said before the holographic screen changed and a man appeared.

"If you're watching this, you are a… spider mutant teenage boy with occasional voice cracks, who has the unfortunate knowledge of all pop culture even from before he was born, and has the strongest and coolest Avenger to ever exist as their mentor."

Peter gasped, his eyes shimmering while a smile appeared on his face again. " .." He mumbled, overjoyed to see him moving and talking to him. Even if it was just a message, the joy in his heart was off the charts.

"If you're none of the things I said, then congrats to you for getting through this security system. But please go away, you're not wanted here." Tony cleared his throat. "Kid.. I want to start off by saying sorry. Because this video… it's here because I died. It was never my intention to leave unless absolutely necessary." There was a sigh. "But this time… It was necessary. However, if there was anyway for me to come back- maybe with future tech or some shit-" He paused. "I want in. I want to be there for my daughter, and be there for.. well.. everyone. And you kid. Wow, that sounded weird coming out of my mouth.. Anyway, as you may know, I always have a backup plan because I am smarter than most people. I mean- why do you think I installed my very own infinity gauntlet in my own suit with the very little time I had? I was prepared for that scenario, and knew I would most likely die trying. But to save the world- to save my family.. to save YOU, It was worth dying for."

Tears where streaming down Peter's face at this point, followed by a sniffle and an attempt to remain as quiet as possible as he listened to the message.

"You better thank me later for making a heroic speech if I come back! But besides the point- I died using the infinity gauntlet. Using the stones- meaning, the Soul Stone has my soul. I'm probably throwing the best celebration party in there right now- but all party's come to an end. When I…" He stuttered a bit. "When I died, my suit was programmed to preserve my body. Because ever since I started Stark Industries, its been a dream of mine to try and conquer death if that was even possible! I mean- I made a goddamn time machine! Whats next? Am I right?" He chuckled to himself. "My body is being preserved, and if you're seeing this- it means my dead corpse is almost fully healed. Every speck of gamma radiation from the gauntlet? Being removed as we speak. Every injury caused by the radiation? Same thing. My body has to be in tip top shape for this shit to work. Because science. I understand you don't speak smart, but maybe you'll learn one day."

Peter's smile grew, and he replied, knowing it was just a message. "Maybe."

"So, I'm also going to need the exact soul stone I used when I snapped my fingers. And I don't know if you guys followed through with the whole 'putting the stones back where you found them' plan, but if you did, I'm going to need one stone for one last project. Then we're done, pinky promise from Ironman." He winked. "So, in the next few days or hours, Happy will come to pick you up and explain everything else because I need to get going now to save the world or die trying. He'll also explain why I'm giving this mission to you, and not some other avenger. Especially not Thor or the new Hulk, I don't even know what to call him anymore- do you? I'll never get used to that.. But to conclude this message…I'm sorry that it took so long, and who knows- I never even considered that you might have moved on and might not want any part in this project..So if that's the case, I'm just glad you're having a happy future." He seemed sad at that last part, but Peter was surprised Tony would even think that. The man who showed him how to be Spiderman, and acted like a father to him? How could he say no?

"This message- is a top secret one. Pepper got a similar one, probably sooner than you did, since she is going to be helping with managing this project." He seemed to have suddenly remembered something. "Oh! And I know some people call you spolier-man, but you better not tell any one- not even your aunt or your friends about this. You are an Avenger, with a mission.. its up to you if you want to be a part of it kid." He sighed, then approached the camera- or his helmet- to turn it off. "Again..I'm sorry for taking so long..but being fashionably late is my style! So, if you have any questions, Happy will answer them, but ask him in person. If he doesn't, then you have to annoy him till he does with pop culture references. Got it?"

Peter laughed with tears still in his eyes, and nodded.

"I'm going to assume you do. Good luck kid, and seriously wear deodorant before being Spiderman." He joked and turned off the camera. Peter couldn't even move, or muster up any words to speak- even Karen didn't say anything.

Meanwhile, Aunt May was in the middle of making dinner when she heard a loud overjoyed shout from Peter's room. "WOHOOO!YES!" The boy jumped up and shouted loudly, and started pacing around his room. "I can't believe it! I mean- I should have expected Tony to want to create some kind of resurrection machine, but this- this is crazy! Can you believe this Karen?!" He shouted, despite her being his suit. "I believe you should keep quiet and do something about that device." And as if on cue, the device said. "Activating self destruct." The words activated an instinct, and he threw the thing to the other side of his messy bedroom before putting his mask on and rushing to the opposite side.

But the device merely overheated itself and turned in to ashes. "..oh." Was all he said as he stopped cowering behind his arms and swept the remains in to a trashcan. "I want to tell everyone-" Karen didn't let him finish. "You can't." Peter sighed at those words. "I know I know.. I just.. I'm so happy!" He opened his drawer and held that picture of him and Tony again as his mask went away. "There was always a part of me that felt like he wasn't truly gone.. and maybe.. maybe this is another chance. I know I shouldn't get my hopes up, but.. I have to try. For …"