* ITSY BITSY SPIDER !

Titan?

Oh god, he’d never left. He knew it. All of that about finding the stone, finding Peter and Stephen again, going home – it had all been blood-loss induced hallucination. 

He was still here. He’d never left.

Lying on the cold hard ground– 

“Shut up, Taylor Swift,” he choked out. 

Dust swirled around him, like the dust that everyone had turned into, like he was finally, blessedly turning into as well. He stared at his hands, relief sweeping through him. It was cowardly, but he wasn’t going to be left alone, he was–

–“Pete?!” he stared, wide-eyed and horrified, as Peter ran over to him, catching him as his legs started to go. No. No, NO this was wrong. Peter had dusted. Peter was gone–

“I’m sorry,” he sobbed out, because his mind understood what his heart was slow to acknowledge - that he’d not only failed to save the kid, he’d done worse. 

He was going to die and leave him behind on Titan. Alone. Stranded. Facing the thing that Tony himself had once feared the most. ‘Once’ – because now he was discovering that that old fear was dwarfed by something far more awful – the horrible reality unfolding in front of his eyes. “Pete– you gotta–”

Words drifted away.

He opened his eyes, and he was on Earth, somehow. A futuristic version of it, apparently - by his guess, probably ten years, or possibly twenty. He wasn’t sure how this had happened, but maybe Thanos had sent him through time instead of killing him? Maybe that was what Stephen had done with the time stone?

Confused, he brushed himself off and looked around. If he was back on Earth, then – what had happened to Peter? What had happened to his–

You’re not qualified to call him ‘son’.

He cringed at the mental voice, then paused when he heard a familiar voice yell at him. “Pete?” 

A moment later, Peter barreled into him, and Tony swept him up into a hug, yanking him close and refusing to let him go. “Shit. Are you okay? How did you get back to Earth? I’m sorry - I’m so sorry for leaving you behind. God, Peter.”

peter was emotionally exhausted. nightmare after nightmare -- it took a toll on him.

he was sure it took a toll on everyone. anyone who had to deal with this. he wasn’t sure how they’d ended up here or why they were here, but they were. he was shaking. no matter what he couldn’t stop shaking. watching people he love turn to dust -- he thought that was over. he couldn’t tell anymore what was real and what wasn’t.

had they really defeated thanos or had it all been a dream? surely that part had to have been real. it felt real. but so did this -- this felt so real. he’d already relived the death of his uncle. to see his friends -- his loved ones -- disappear... he felt like he couldn’t breathe.

how long had he been runnning? where was he? he wasn’t sure. when he spotted tony, he hadn’t hesitated. ran right for him, hugging him tightly. like if he let go, tony would disappear all over again.

maybe it was a genuine fear at this point.

no, scratch the maybe. it was.

“i-i-i,” he stammered, tears streaming down his cheeks as he looked at his mentor and father figure. “i don’t know. i-i was so scared. i thought i lost you -- you, and mj, and may... i thought i saw you all turn to dust. what’s going on?” he sniffled.

“don’t... don’t blame yourself it’s... it’s not your fault. you couldn’t have stopped it even if you wanted to. i think. why is this happening to us?”

“oh, bugger me.” she replies, stunned. so he’s the kid she’s heard about. the actual spider-man. not just experimented on, turned into this thing to be used as a weapon by his parents and their organisation. an actual, bona fide, genuine superhero. with basically the same powers as her own, the same concept behind both of their identities. and he’s a scrawny little teenager - of course he’s a scrawny little teenager. “so you’re him, huh? no offence, but not exactly what i was expecting.” then she laughs. “not exactly a threat? thanks, kid, but don’t speak too soon. think you can keep a secret?”

he wasn’t really sure what to say when she told him he wasn’t what she was expecting other than to laugh dryly and shrug his shoulders. “yeah, i know, i’m young. but i’m good at what i do -- at helping people. it’s what i like to do. a great man once told me that with great power comes great responsibility.” his eyes fell to the ground at the mention of his uncle. “well -- i meant more like you don’t seem like a threat. but... yeah, i can keep a secret. should i be concerned or something?” he raised a brow.

why does he smell like spiders? jess can barely listen to what the kid says, as the electricity housed inside of her threatens to come to the sufrace. this kid is not a threat, she reminds herself, praying her hands don’t turn green with venom-blasts. “sorry, what?” she replies, staring at the kid in a sort of confusion. she looks down at her bag, then his words register as she realises a sleeve of her costume still hangs out. “oh, right - no, don’t worry. i overreacted.“ she replies, hastily grabbing the red material and stuffing it away. “i can go undetected, i get it.” then her head tilts. weird. the word echoes too loudly in her ears for someone normal, someone without powers. but she can’t help interrogating it - it’s in her nature. “don’t worry - what’s weird?”

his eyes fix on the red material that hangs out of her bag, his head tilting to the side as he watches her tuck it away. “ah... it’s my senses.” he says with a shrug of his shoulders. spider-man’s true identity was public thanks to the anti-mutant activists who had kidnapped him a while ago, so what was the point in attempting to keep things secret? “spider-senses. they alert me to things that could be dangerous. threats. you clearly aren’t a threat, so i was just... commenting to myself that it was weird that they kept going off around you.”

mary jane was still reeling over the events of the last couple days and honestly she had no idea how to feel. new york was her home, it always had been for as long as she could remember, and the fact she had no idea when she was going to be back there made her wonder how long she’d have to call this island her home. it wasn’t all bad, she had to admit. 

she was living with karolina, and her other friends were close by which made things a lot easier than being alone. mj knew what being alone was, and honestly after the nightmare place, and the real life hell they went through just to get here she wasn’t sure she’d survive being alone with her own thoughts. 

she figured the best way to get to know the new city and it’s inhabitants was to walk. she did her best to use major landmarks to know where she was going, and which way she needed to use to go back, though if she was being honest that wasn’t exactly working. she never would admit it but if new york wasn’t a grid she would have been lost everyday of her life. 

as she turned what she hoped was a new corner she found herself right in front of a store front she’d walked past at least once already, if not twice. sighing she noticed someone standing not to far away and decided now was as good a time as any to ask for help. “hi, sorry, i don’t mean to bother but can you tell me where i might be?”

peter was just glad to be away from the chaos at least for a little while. as hard as he knew it would be to adjust to this new place, it was their home now. they didn’t really have much choice in that. but at least they’d be safe here. for now, anyway.

and it was nice here, he’d admit that. but deep down he knew he’d always miss new york. queens. that was his real home, after all. it always would be, no matter what. but at the same time, he was ready for all the fighting to stop. it was just tiring at this point. you’d think people would be grateful towards the many heroes who worked together to defeat thanos and save everyone, but you’d be wrong. they blamed them for it all, and that blame turned into a twisted belief that the world would be better off -- safer -- if everyone with powers wasn’t there anymore.

here, on genosha, peter was pretty sure they wouldn’t have to worry about those people anymore. wouldn’t have to deal with them. and that in itself was a huge relief -- a weight off his shoulders. he couldn’t say that he’d miss reading jonah jameson’s many articles about how spider-man was a horrible person either.

his phone in hand, he jumped when someone approached him and spoke to him, not expecting it. “shoot,” he muttered, laughing softly at himself as he looked to mj. “hey, mj! glad to see you.” he said as he moved to pull her into a one armed hug. “uh... you know, i’m not actually that sure in the first place. maybe if we wander for long enough we’ll figure it out? or we’ll get more lost. either way it’ll be kind of like an adventure.”

jess can’t remember a time where she was unable to climb buildings like it was nothing, when she didn’t have her powers. she can’t imagine living a life without them - much as it would probably make her own life easier. she stares at the costume tucked away in her bag, and sighs. it’s been a long road to become spider-woman, and an even longer one since she took the mantle. she’s so deep in thought, fighting the less savory memories from her mind, that she doesn’t notice the other person arriving in the alleyway - when her skin finally does begin to prickle, and she hears a footstep that feels too close, she drops the bag and jumps. “shit!” she yells out, then sees nothing but a harmless looking kid - but then she notices a smell. something like her own. and she frowns. “ever heard of announcing yourself when you sneak up on a girl?” @thwipswebs

his suit has become something like a second skin. or a protective armor. he wears it underneath his clothes daily now, always ready in case spider-man is needed. part of him thinks he has to be -- needs to be. he was a hero, after all. an avenger. that title -- that weight -- came with great power, and with that came great responsibility. he’s making his way home when he decides to take a shortcut through the alley, preoccupied by his phone as he scrolls through instagram. he’s quickly pulled out of his thoughts as his senses begin to go off in the presence of the other, his brows knitting together as he can’t figure out why they’re doing this -- this woman didn’t seem like a threat. “i-- i was just trying to take a shortcut home. i didn’t even see you,” he replied, his free hand moving to clutch his head. when the ringing in his head finally ceases, he shakes his head, sighing. “weird,” he mutters to himself. “sorry about that. won’t happen again.”

Genosha. 

Tony had been to many places - visited every continent on the planet and even gone to space, but he’d never set foot in a city of metal before.

And he had to say - he really quite liked it. Erik’s city was cleaner than New York, and the towering skyscrapers lent a distinctly high tech feel to it, even if it sometimes almost felt like something out of an evil dictator’s scrapbook. But so far, Erik had been kind to them. Really, the only person he’d actually threatened to yeet off the island was him.

Tony really didn’t understand why Erik disliked him. It probably had something to do with being Iron Man and not having a lot of iron on him.

Either way, he found himself enjoying a relaxing stroll by the water, killing time while waiting for Stephen to finish whatever complex ritual he was working on. Bored, he opted to strike up conversation with the nearest passerby. “It’s nice, isn’t it?” he said, gesturing at the sunset. “Quiet, peaceful. Easy to forget that we’re trapped in a reality bubble that could collapse at any time. But then again, you could get hit by a car crossing the road, so I suppose we live dangerously all the time.” He smiled. “How’re you finding Genosha?”

peter missed new york. 

it wasn’t that he didn’t like genosha -- it was a beautiful city, he would admit that, but it wasn’t the same as new york. new york would, after all, always be his home. there was also the knowledge that he wouldn’t be able to visit his uncle anymore -- or his parents, for that matter -- and that struck him hard. he tried his best to not think of it.

“hey, sandwich, you wanna go for a walk?” peter asked his dog as he jumped to his feet, deciding he probably shouldn’t wallow around the apartment all day. he didn’t wait for a response -- though, he knew it would be a rapidly wagging tail and a happy bark -- as he grabbed the leash and got ready to leave.

the park was nice. peaceful. he put his headphones in, allowing his spotify to just shuffle all his songs, humming along to whatever came on. almost completely disconnected from the world as he quickly got lost in thought. 

in fact, he got so lost that he didn’t even notice tony trying to strike up a conversation with him. he barely noticed the older man at first at all -- nearly walking straight into him. “shit!” he muttered, jumping back as his senses warned him of the incoming person, yanking his headphones out. “uh -- what’d you say?” he tilted his head to the side slightly while sandwich barked happily at tony, rubbing his head against his leg to greet him. “i was sort’ve lost in thought and didn’t catch what you said. sorry, tony,” he smiled sheepishly. 

Emma struggled out from under the rubble of the building she’d been staying in on Genosha, all she could think of was her students. They must have found Genosha and attacked- Magneto should have known they would, eventually. She should have known her students wouldn’t be safe here.

She ripped her cape off, as it was stuck in the rubble, and climbed out of thew hole she was stuck in. She immediately began scanning the building, stepping over rubble and pieces of metal. But each time she found a familiar face, they were dead. The students she had saved from the basement, dead. She had sworn to protect them, told them Genosha was safe, and now they were dead, just like when Selene had dropped a building on her. Charles- was dead too and she couldn’t make herself look at his body. When she passed Charles, she found Jean Grey’s body as well, clad in that brand new uniform. She knelt beside the girl, psuhing her bright red hair out of her face and checking for a pulse before she moved on. The ruby quartz visor was the last thing she found in the rubble not too far away from Jean’s body, and her diamond form melted away as she knelt down to pick it up. Panic set in, as her fingers closed around the visor, the grief begining to kick in as she realized she had failed her students again and this time she couldn’t make up for it. Wait…

This wasn’t right. Scott wasn’t on Genosha when she went to sleep. Something- something was wrong. Why hadn’t she felt the attack? How had she slept through it? Emma rose to her feet, dropping Scott’s visor back into the rubble, her eyes scanning the island until she found a building that was still standing not too far away. She immediately made her way over to it and opened the door, slipping inside. The building seemed to shift, as if she had found her way out of her living hell, and all of a sudden, someone bumped into her. Emma’s first reaction was to fight, but the moment she heard the voice and saw how young he was, she paused. He looked scared and she didn’t blame him- this place wasn’t just any old nightmare.

She slowly closed the space between them after he had scrambled away from her, placing a fuinger under his chin and tilting it up so he was looking at her, “Darling, fear of mutants doesn’t suit a hero Spider-Man at all.” she knew who he was. Peter Parker, the boy who was publicly revealed as Spider-Man, the friendly neighborhood hero from Queens, generally labeled a menace by the local paper. Meeting him in person however- he was the same age as many of her students. “Emma Frost. I’m a teacher at Xavier’s. Or, I was, before that dreadful hate group decided it was alright to attack a place of learning.” she let go of him and scanned the room which had shifted around her the moment she had entered it. “As for where we are, I was about to ask you the same thing. It seems like I was in my own personal hell. And you?”

“i-i’m not scared of mutants,” peter frowned at the idea of that alone. he knew that not all mutants were bad, and was friends with some of them. though he guessed he could see where she’d jump to that, considering how fearful he’d been when he’d scrambled away from her, but that had been more because of his own nightmare he’d just walked out of. “why would you assume that? like, if you’re seeing one of your worst fears, maybe stop to consider that i just got out of one of my own?” he got to his feet, after pushing her hand away from him and taking another step back. he wraps his arms around himself and he shakes his head. “because that’s exactly what happened. not everyone is afraid of mutants, you know. some of my friends are mutants.”

his eyes drift to their surroundings, looking at the wreckage and the bodies among it. he wasn’t sure what had happened but he figured it couldn’t be good. but then the area seemed to shift around them, leaving him even more confused. “i’m sorry. about the school. my friend and i... we went there, after we heard about what they’d done. we wanted to help. stop the hate group and try to rescue survivors.” he sighed, his eyes falling to the ground. they were puffy and red, a clear sign that he’d been crying not long ago. 

“we need to get out of here. something’s not right here. i can... i can feel it.” his senses wouldn’t stop going off, to the point where it was getting a little annoying and giving him a bit of a headache. “i don’t know. one minute i’m in new york watching my uncle get shot and die in my arms all over again, and then i walk through a door and i’m here. i just wanna go home...”

turning around on his heel, he quickly spots his aunt and runs to her, only for the exact same thing to happen. she disappears before his eyes. “peter...” a familiar voice calls out to him. his heart skips a beat and he turns to face tony stark, who stumbles around for a few seconds just like he had before falling into peter’s arms. “m-mr. stark, y-y-you’re gonna be okay,” he stammers. “i’m sorry.” tony says before he disappears in peter’s arms, leaving peter there on the ground, sobbing. 

after a few minutes of just crying, he slowly gets to his feet. opening a door to some wrecked structure on titan, he walks through, only for his surroundings to change entirely. he isn’t sure where he is now, or what nightmare he’s walked into, before he spots tony. he sighs in relief and runs to him, wrapping him up in a hug. “t-tony!” he stammered. “y-you’re okay...”

BANG!

a gunshot rings out. his blood runs cold. “uncle ben!” he cries, running to the man as he lay on the sidewalk, bleeding.”n-no...” he whispered, kneeling down by his uncle, pressing his hands against his chest in an attempt to stop the bleeding. “call an ambulance! someone call an ambulance!” he yelled. “uncle ben! oh my god, oh god,” his voice was barely a whisper at that point, tears streaking his cheeks. his efforts were useless. his uncle was dead. standing up, he shakes his head. “this isn’t... this isn’t real. this is just a nightmare.” he said to himself, getting to his feet and taking off. 

“why didn’t you stop the thief, peter? you could have saved me.” says uncle ben, causing peter to stop dead in his tracks and turn to face his dead uncle. “i-i tried...” he whimpered. “not nearly hard enough. i’m dead because of you, peter.” he shakes his head, tears welling up in his eyes. it’s then that he notices his mother and father standing next to ben. “we’re so disappointed, peter. we had such high hopes for our little boy.” they speak in unison. “i-i’m sorry,” he cries, stumbling away from the mirages of his dead family members, only to come upon a hospital bed... with harry in it. he carefully picks up harry’s hand and holds it gently, looking down at the deathly sick image of his boyfriend that breaks his heart. “i love you,” he whispers, kissing harry’s forehead before he runs away crying into another room. he slams the door shut and locks it, turning around only to slam straight into another person.  he scrambles away from them, eyes wide. “w-who are you? where are we? what’s going on?” he whimpered.

Somewhere deep underneath the alien goop and mess that was Venom, Eddie let out a long exasperated groan, palm to face at the actions the symbiote was taking. This wasn’t okay. He knew that. He protested at every movement, and only found some relief when the other provided the notion that he wasn’t out to hurt the young superhero. Why Venom had taken such an interest in him, Eddie didn’t know, but for now he was just along for the ride.

As Spider-Man landed on a nearby rooftop, Venom followed and Eddie couldn’t help but be relieved that at the very least, they weren’t swinging around anymore. He was getting nauseous and was almost positive they’d terrified every person below them. Venom didn’t seem nearly as concerned over it as he approached, standing tall and head tilting to the side in apparent curiosity.

“We are Venom.” A deep, almost rough voice proclaimed as he leaned forward, not taking much notice the the defensive position Spider-Man was in. “We are not here to hurt you, unless we have to.” He forewarned, a small gruff escaping him as he seemed to confirm what Eddie warned, that following him would be frowned up. Oh well.

“Eddie says –”

‘Why are you bringing me into this? This was all your brilliant idea, man.’

“ –– Eddie says you are spider child. They –” His hand reached out, gesturing to the citizens below that he’d been terrifying just moments earlier with his antics. “They think you’re good, a hero.” ‘Most anyway, kind of a touchy subject these days, buddy.’ “Eddie wants us to good too. I will follow you.”

though it may have been against his better judgement, peter relaxed ever so slightly when this ‘venom’ said he didn’t want to hurt him. “yeah... same goes for you. i don’t want to hurt you either, but if i have to, i will.” he folded his arms across his chest, eyeing the being in front of him both skeptically and curiously.

truthfully, if venom wanted to be good like he was, peter wasn’t opposed. no, of course not. he had his issues with the initial method of seeking him out, but then again, peter couldn’t say that he would’ve reacted any differently had venom, say, walked up to him on the street. people tended, more often than not, to be afraid of what they don’t know.

that was exactly how they ended up in the situation they were in now, with humans wanting to imprison and even murder anybody with powers. enhanced individuals, like him, or inhumans, or mutants. it didn’t matter who they were or what they could do. they were a threat to humanity to these people. no matter if the people were good people who did what they could to help everybody, powered or not.

“okay, first of all, i’m not a child. i’m a man -- spider-man.” he frowned. “but whoever ‘eddie’ is, he’s right. i am good -- i’m a hero. an avenger, even.” he paused, his brows knitting together at his wording. “want to be good? like, you weren’t good before? but you want to be now?” well, he wasn’t one to judge. he always believed that people could change for the better, after all. “okay. uh... follow me where, exactly?”

Gwen shook her head as she pulled away from him, running a hand through her hair. “No, I’m okay. I wasn’t at the compound when it…” She was just glad he wasn’t in the compound when it went. She was so worried- she wasn’t sure what she would have done if another friend had died on her.

“No.” That came out quickly. Too quickly. “We can’t. The place is crawling with Friends of Humanity. We’d never…” she paused, her mind already trying to come up with science-y distractions they could use on those goons. Some of them ancient science projects she’d done. But…

“The school was hit too.” she said, quietly. “Tony and the others would want us to help any of the kids from Xavier’s before we even thought about going to the compound to get them. Just because they have powers, doesn’t mean they can fight the Friends of Humanity. If the Compound is crawling with them, then so is the school.” She hated saying it- but kids- the kids were always going to be more important than the Avengers. She could already see Tony and Stephen demanding they put the school first. “Okay… okay… if we stick together, we should be okay. I’ll keep trying to call Tony and Stephen, just in case. Got any ideas on how we can distract the Friends of Humanity? Because I’m thinking- webbing smoke bombs.”

peter frowned as he listened to gwen explain everything to him. he was glad to hear she wasn’t at the compound -- that meant that she probably wasn’t hurt. he’d almost gone off the deep end when he had lost ben. he couldn’t bare the thought of losing gwen... or any of his other friends or family. harry, may, tony, ned. no, no, he shouldn’t think that way. he pushes the thought out of his head quickly.

“okay. school first, then the compound. we should see if we can help any survivors in the wreckage. but you’re right, we gotta take those guys out first. like you said, both’ll probably be crawling with them. but we got this, gwen. they won’t know what hit them.” peter offered her a small, reassuring smile.

“webbing smoke bombs? gwen stacy, you’re a genuis.” he laughed. “not to like, brag, or anything, but i’m pretty good when it comes to stealth takeouts. electric webs could help too, i think. won’t kill them or hurt them too bad -- just knock them out. there’s also one other thing i’ve been working on...” he trailed off, slipping off his backpack to pull out two small gadgets, tossing one of them to gwen. “i’ve never tested these on like... actual people. but i was working on it before the snap. theoretically, if it works the way i want it to, it’s supposed to emit a sonic wave. should make ‘em stumble backwards. if the wave itself doesn’t knock them out, it’ll at least disarm them, which’ll be helpful because... i dunno about you, but i really don’t feel like getting shot today, y’know?” he chuckled. “let’s go, partner.” he says as his mask forms over his face.