• Published 26th May 2018
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Infinity Era - JDPrime22



Avengers: Infinity War / Avengers: Endgame crossover. The culmination has arrived. The Mad Titan has waited so long for this moment. Long live the Infinity Era.

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Chapter 39 – Spidey-Sense

39

New York, USA

Queensboro Bridge

Class Field Trip to Museum of Modern Art

8:12 a.m.

“Um… excuse me… but is this seat taken?”

Peter Parker lifted his head up from the seat directly in front of him, turning his drowsy attention over to his left. Instantly, all the weariness flooding his systems had rejuvenated with fresh life when she came into focus. His eyes widened at the sight of her, forcing him to take out his headphones and give his full attention… to her.

Her green eyes, her long, red hair tied up in a ponytail, even the freckles on her nose and cheeks were perfect. Everything about her was just so perfect. Her clothes, her skirt, her boots, even the way she held her books in her arms was just so… perfect. Peter couldn’t describe it any other way. He couldn’t describe her any other way than just perfect. He could feel his face starting to warm the longer he kept his eyes locked with her brilliant emerald gems, his heart thumping sporadically beneath his skin.

Peter was so enamored with her appearance that he nearly missed her leaning down to him, eyes wide and a smile on her face. “Um… hi?”

Mentally slapping himself, being so profound he actually shook his head to fall out of his stupor, Peter blinked several times and tried to smile back. “O-o-oh! Hi!” he stuttered. She giggled at how loud he was, leaning back a tad. He shook his head one more time. “Sorry… what did you ask again?”

Still holding that smile, even as she rolled her eyes playfully, she asked, “Is this seat taken?” She pointed downwards, to the empty seat on Peter’s left. He followed her direction, staring blankly and dumbly at the seat, like he had lost his voice. “It’s okay if you’re saving it for a friend or—”

Eyes widening at that, Peter shot his head back to her, holding his hands out. “No, no, no, I’m not saving it for anyone!” he stated rather loudly, turning his attention forward to his friend Ned sitting in the seat ahead of him. He was busy on his phone, headphones deep in his ears. “Sorry, it’s… No, it’s fine. You can s-sit here.”

She smiled sweetly at him. Peter gulped nervously as she settled herself on his left. Her leg just so happened to brush against his own, Peter instantly bringing his back and blushing profusely. “Thanks,” he heard her say, settling her books on her legs and bringing her backpack to rest by her feet. She sighed, staring straight ahead. “I would’ve stayed in my seat in the front of the bus, but some of the girls just decided because I was the ‘new kid’ that I should start from the bottom. ‘Work your way up’, they said.”

Her tone was in a mocking manner, clearly mocking the more popular crowd taking the front seats. Peter shot his eyes to where she stared, spotting Flash Thompson laughing with some of his buddies, the most popular girls on their phones and laughing with their friends. And near the back of the bus sat Peter Parker and his gang of misfits. Directly ahead of him, Peter could see Michelle already fast asleep and listening to her music, her forehead pressed to the window. Ned was sitting next to her, playing on his phone. Other than a few remaining nerds and band geeks in the back, it was just them. Just Peter and his closest friends on a field trip to the Museum of Modern Art.

And now her.

And he had completely missed everything she had said afterwards. Quickly shifting his eyes back to her, he saw her sigh, shaking her head and facing him. “Sorry, I’m rambling,” she apologized with a wide smile, hand pressed over her chest. That hand suddenly snuck forward faster than Peter could have reacted, held out to him.

“My name’s Mary Jane Watson.”

After Peter finally stopped being an idiot and realized her hand was meant for shaking, he nodded to that, shooting out his hand and gripping hers as gently as he could. Not too soft, though. He didn’t want her to think he was a weakling by any means. It felt right, Peter shaking her hand before he realized he was supposed to give her his name. That’s how meeting people worked, after all.

“I-I’m Peter-Man,” he said, almost slapping himself at what he just said. He tried to make it better. “I-I-I mean, I’m Spider-Parker. I-I mean—! Oh, crap…”

His hand fell from hers and landed flatly in his lap. Just his luck to blow it in the worst possible way in front of the prettiest girl he had ever seen. His luck wasn’t the greatest thing in the world. In fact, it screwed him over more times than he could count. The Parker Luck, a term he started coining not too long ago. It fit well for how stupid he felt sometimes.

To his great relief, she just laughed it off. Peter’s heart picked up even faster just seeing that smile on her face, the way she giggled afterwards. His face was heating up again, Peter quickly scratching his hair to keep the attention away from his cheeks, especially when she turned back to him.

“Peter Parker, I think you meant?” she said, trying to suppress her giggles.

Peter nodded to that for her confirmation, still scratching his head. “Yeah,” he mumbled, shaking his head. “Sorry, I’m just—”

“Blushing?”

He raised his head in a split second at that statement, turning his eyes to Mary Jane. His eyes were as wide as the bus tires, his voice traveling at a thousand miles per hours. “N-no! I-I—!”

Mary Jane just laughed again, and he found ease in that laughter. So calm, so playful, so perfect. Just like her. She gently shoved his shoulder. “I’m just messing with you, Peter!” she giggled, watching his expression slowly begin to calm down. She smirked his way, brushing her ponytail over her shoulder. “So… Spider-Man is your favorite superhero, too?”

“Huh?” Peter asked dumbly. Realizing he needed to capitalize on her current assumption—and not one he dreaded to think she already figured out—he suddenly jerked his head up and down. “Oh, yeah! Yeah, totally! Spider-Man’s my favorite… alongside Iron Man. I kinda have… two favorites.”

“Oh, my gosh, same!” Mary Jane said, eyes wide as she scooted herself to fully face Peter. He could feel his heart beating rapidly against his chest just at her movement, at how much closer she was to him. She placed her hands over her chest, sighing, “Iron Man has been, like, my favorite superhero since I was a kid… but Spider-Man took that spot when he…”

She suddenly paused, darting her head back and forth. “Can you keep a secret?”

Peter nodded like a moron.

Mary Jane leaned in closer, so close that her lips were practically inches from Peter’s own. He felt his face burning up at the sudden proximity between the two. It didn’t help that he felt her breath on his lips, her scent filling his nostrils. She smelled so good. Like strawberries.

God, you’re so weird, Peter. Stop focusing on that and listen to her!

“A couple years ago… when I was walking home from work… these thugs tried to steal my purse,” she began. Peter’s eyes widened, but his shock was just as fake as the expression he put on to look surprised. Because he knew what she was going to say. “And then, when they backed me into an alley, Spider-Man himself swooped in and beat them to a pulp!”

Peter blinked. He forced himself to shake his head. “No way.”

Mary Jane bit her lower lip, nodding excitedly. She sighed, falling back into her seat. “He saved me that night…” she said, her voice nearly lost in a dream-like state. Peter had to take a double take to make sure he heard that correctly. “And despite what people say about him, all the rumors going around that he’s a ‘menace’ or a ‘brute taking the law into his own hands’… I can tell he’s just trying to do what’s right in the world.”

Parker slowly began to smile at her, the first real, genuine smile he had since he met her, and not one that was nervous or forced. “Oh, and he’s a total goof,” Mary Jane admitted, giggling at Peter’s shifting expression, from satisfaction to confusion. “Yeah, when he was trying to swing away on his webs, he totally hit a fire escape and landed in the dumpster.”

Mary Jane tried to hold her laughter in. Peter just slowly shook his head, sighing. “What an idiot, right?” he said, staring blankly at the back of the seat.

“Yeah,” Mary Jane nodded. Her eyes were elsewhere, staring upwards, smiling like she just couldn’t help herself. “But he’s still the best idiot in New York. If I could see him just one more time…”

Peter looked back at her, watched as she began to daydream of Spider-Man. “Yeah…”

He sighed and faced away, his left arm rising to rest on the seat in front of him. He let his head rest on his forearm. He put one of his headphones back in, his other ear empty just in case Mary Jane wanted to tell him something, maybe to make fun of him some more. He knew she didn’t mean anything harsh, but that didn’t mean she was wrong. Peter really was an idiot. Not only had he failed several times to stop the Vulture, but he had managed to disappoint Tony Stark to the point of him having to take back the suit he made for Parker. If that wasn’t the most depressing moment of his life…

No… No, he knew it wasn’t.

Yet, even the Parker Luck seemed to fail at times, and it was at those moments of failure did Peter truly rise above and accomplish what he once thought was impossible. He managed to put an end to the Vulture’s crimes, managed to save him in the crossfire, and finally proved himself not only to Tony Stark and New York… but to himself. That felt better than any specially-designed Avengers suit. Well… just a little bit.

Peter smiled to that, to his decision he made last summer to remain a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. To remain the hero of Queens, and maybe even the rest of the New York City. Wishful thinking, but he could dream. He held that smile even as he pulled up his phone and flicked through the songs. He almost picked one, his thumb hovering over “Castle On The Hill” by Ed Sheeran, when he stopped. When his smile faded.

When he felt it.

The… tingling sensation.

It was oddly similar to goosebumps—like he had felt several times before—but it was specific. Oddly directional. So very odd. He felt it crawl all across his forearm, prompting his head to rise up and his concerned expression to latch with his left arm. All he noticed were several strands of hair on his arm pointing straight upwards. Every strand of hair. Peter furrowed his brow at that.

“Peter…?” the unmistakable voice of Mary Jane Watson prodded. She turned right, noticing Peter’s arm and his somewhat startled expression. “What’s wrong?”

Peter didn’t answer. He just couldn’t seem to find his voice at the moment. Luckily for him, he never needed to say a word. The blinding streak of light gave Mary Jane all the answers she needed. Some of them. “What—?” she gasped, watching with awestruck eyes as the streak of light broke across the skylines, diving down and striking Manhattan.

Utterly blinding everyone in the aftermath. Mary Jane Watson caught her breath, flinching.

Several students did the same, many rising out of their seats to get a closer look at what had transpired. They all suddenly fell back down in their seats when all of Queensboro Bridge began to shake. The whole world shook, cars veering and trying to maintain control. Even the bus driver, as elderly as he was, managed to keep control of the bus. Both Peter and Mary Jane turned to one another, then back towards the city they were approaching. A ball of light, of fire, emerged from where the light had struck, several buildings collapsing from the eruption and continuing to spread.

The screaming came shortly. “Oh… Oh my… God!” Mary Jane screamed, hands covering her mouth. She wasn’t the only one. Practically every student, at once, proceeded to lose their minds. They jumped out of their seats, rushing towards the front of the bus to gaze out the front windows. Others pulled down the windows near the seats, leaning out of the vehicle and pointing towards the devastation. Every student was in a frenzy, a panic. Even Flash Thompson and the popular girls.

Everyone except for Peter, Ned, and Michelle.

Already hearing the sirens, the screams, and whatever else came from the explosion, Peter leaned forward so his head was between Ned and Michelle, who were still either asleep or playing games. Peter tapped Ned’s shoulder several times, his best friend pulling out one of his headphones and turning back to him.

Keeping his eyes locked on the devastation in New York City, Peter said, “Ned, I need you to keep their attention to the city.”

Curious at that, Ned turned his own attention to the city. His mouth fell, his breath leaving him. “Holy shit,” Ned muttered fearfully, leaning forward and pressing his palms to the window. Unfortunately, Michelle was caught beneath him, her face smushed into the window. She instantly woke up, trying to push Ned off of her. “We’re all gonna die!” he shouted.

“Ned, you fat shit, get off!” Michelle cried, her eyes, too, eventually turning towards the fires.

During the added commotion—every student abandoning the left side of the bus and moving towards the right—Peter scooted past Mary Jane, her focus all too preoccupied on the burning hellscape within New York City. When he exited out of his seat, Mary Jane crawled forward on her knees, hands pressed to the bus window as she and her fellow classmates stared with horror-filled eyes onto the devastation.

The bus driver was having none of it. He adjusted his large glasses, turning back. “What’s the matter with you kids? You never seen a meteor hit Manhattan before?” he stated, making sure to keep his eyes on the road. He paused, frowning. “Come to think of it… neither have I. Hold on, I’m turnin’ this bus around!”

The old man spun the wheel sharply, students screaming and falling back in their seats or on the floor. “Excelsior!” the bus driver declared, driving over the concrete barrier and steering back into traffic, back towards Queens to keep the students safe. They were his number one priority, after all.

As the students picked themselves up, groaning in pain from the sudden lurching of the bus, Mary Jane Watson rubbed her forehead and looked about, suddenly noticing a lack of students. One student in particular.

“Wait… Peter?”

Peter Parker was already on the outside of the moving bus, donning his Spider-Man mask and leaping straight off Queensboro Bridge.

And the old man steering the bus looked back in his rear-view mirror, spotting the figure disappear beneath the bridge. “Was that a bug?” he asked.

The Spider-Man swung directly beneath the bridge. He swung towards the opposite direction to where the bus was ahead. He swung towards the fires, towards the chaos, towards the devastation, towards the sirens and the screams. Because that’s what he did. That’s who he was.

That’s what heroes did.

Peter tried to convince himself of that even as the fear gripped his heart, the unknown still lingering in his mind. What was that that hit New York? Their creepy, old bus driver said it was a meteor, but what did he know? Whatever it was, it caused an explosion to rock even the Queensboro Bridge. There were people in trouble, people who needed a hero to save them. Whether he did it on instinct or not, Peter knew that no matter what… it was the right thing to do.

No matter how much he was scared to know what it was. Good thing he wore the mask.

As Peter swung from under the bridge, he finally came across the rest of Manhattan, firing a strand of synthetic webbing towards the nearest building he saw. There were some gawkers, some turning their eyes away from the fires and spotting Peter swing over their heads. Some called out his name, yelled to Spider-Man, but Peter ignored them, already losing their attention when he swung out of sight into the nearest alley he could find.

Slowing himself to a stop, Peter reached into his backpack and pulled out the rest of his suit. Laying it aside, he began to strip, starting with his shirt, his shoes, then his pants. He kept his Captain America boxers on. No need to remove those. Peter proceeded to don the rest of his costume. He sent one last look in his surroundings. No one was in the alley, and everyone in the streets were flooding in the opposite direction, away from the fires.

Perfect. Pulling his suit on, Peter went in feet first and then jammed his arms inside. The suit was incredibly loose, but all of that changed when he smacked the small spider symbol over his heart. It instantly tightened to fit his body smoothly. The eyes of his mask narrowed and widened, Peter looking down to his wrist and tapping once on his Web-Shooters. They activated to his touch, the several hundred web combinations rolling across his palms. Peter selected the simplest one, just the standard types of webs to get around faster.

And once again, Spider-Man took the scene. Peter sighed, flinging his backpack to the brick wall to his left and firing a strand of webbing on it. “Don’t get stolen this time!” he shouted to his backpack stuck to the wall, running out of the alleyway and straight into the madness.

He didn’t even run into the street, just leaping into the air and firing two strands of web at the building directly ahead of him. He pulled hard, using the momentum to launch himself across the air. Feeling the air wrap around his body, the whistling of the wind crying against his ears, Peter focused instead on where the screams were coming from. He landed on a rooftop, rolling once before he was already up and running again, jumping off the building and falling down to the street below.

Peter caught himself with a strand of webbing, flinging himself across the street and towards the massive firestorm already growing near Central Park. He landed on another building, gripping a flag pole resting on said building and leaning off of it, one hand gripping the pole and the other hovering off the edge. Just like him. The white eyes of his mask narrowed, analyzing the firestorm where the supposed meteor had hit.

“Okay… maybe that creepy, old guy was right all along.”

The idea of it being a meteor was starting to make more and more sense, considering the impact had managed to destroy several nearby buildings. Pillars of smoke emerged from the impact zone, as well as several other areas of devastation. He wasn’t too far from where the impact was. He could get a closer look and help as many people as he could along the way.

That was his plan… at first.

When the low, horrifying hum came directly above his head, Peter Parker knew that plan was bound to change. A dark shadow fell over him and the city, blanketing several blocks, maybe even more that he couldn’t see. When he lifted his head—his white eyes widening just to catch a portion of it—Peter’s jaw fell when he saw it.

When he saw the clouds break apart and the alien spaceship entered New York City.

It was massive in size, Peter having to strain his neck just to look from one end of the ship to the other. The alien spacecraft was as dark as the shadow it cast, several hundred blue lights glowing off its surface and quickly becoming larger and brighter the closer it descended upon the city. The wind seemed to pick up from the spaceship’s descent, the heated air and burning ash from the fires washing over Peter and the city streets below him. As if things couldn’t possibly get any worse, the ship halted in its descent, another powerful growl escaping it.

Right as it unleashed its armada.

“Oh, God…” Peter muttered, the eyes of mask growing as wide as they could when he saw the alien ships exit out of the mothership. The hundreds upon hundreds of chariots exiting the ship and invading the helpless and shaken city of New York. Peter didn’t know what the worst part of it was; whether it was the fact that it was the Chitauri invading New York again, or that the Avengers weren’t there to stop them.

It was just him. Alone.

“Oh, God. Oh, God! Oh, God!” Peter screamed, leaping off the flag pole and firing a strand of webbing, catching the side of a nearby building. He didn’t have a clear direction on where to go next. His first intention was to go straight into the fires, to help as many people as he could. But as he thought earlier, that plan was bound to change. And it did.

To the point where he didn’t know where to go. He didn’t even know what to do when the Chitauri fired down upon the buildings, the streets, and even at him. Peter yelped as he swung back and forth, continuously moving onward down the street, continuously dodging the bright blue lasers shot from the chariots right for him. He could see as the blasts impacted the street below, innocent civilians fleeing the scene and rushing into their homes or away from the scene. Peter didn’t know if he would do the same.

More blaster bolts fell over him, Peter managing to swing out of the way, that same tingling sensation constantly directing him where to go. He didn’t know how it worked or why it worked, but he appreciated it nonetheless. Spider-Man could see as several chariots flew past him, dive bombing the street and dropping off many of their soldiers. He watched as they fired on the hopeless civilians trying to escape.

“No, no, no, no!” Peter panicked. He barely thought what he did next, just knowing he needed to protect as many lives as he could. When he was low enough, he fired a strand of webbing directly on one of the alien’s blasters, then as he swung past them, he yanked hard and pulled the Chitauri with him, smacking the creature right into its allies.

Looking back, Peter could see as the aliens tumbled in the road, lying from the impact almost like they were dead. Wait… A blue stream of alien gunfire prompted his attention backwards. “Hey, watch it!” he shouted, eyes narrowing on the Chitauri chariot directly on his tail. It fired again, Peter swinging to the right side of the street.

He looked back, the whites of his mask’s eyes widening to see the side of the nearest building approach quickly. Not having enough time to fire a web in the opposite direction, Peter shot out his legs and ran across the side of the building effortlessly. The chariot continued to fire at him, demolishing the side of the building he ran against. Looking back once more, Peter fired a strand of webbing directly in front of his feet, right on the building. He leapt off, still holding the web strand and firing a second towards the building opposite to him. Catching and holding himself in-between, Peter looked over and watched as the aliens riding the chariot were clotheslined by his web. They fell to their deaths, the chariot falling and crashing into an empty vehicle, the two erupting into nothing but flame.

“Whoa… I just killed those things,” Peter breathed, still holding both strands of web and hanging between the buildings. His head slowly fell to the street, the sounds of the war falling down all around him quickly growing numb. “I just killed…”

What many say about their first kill, how they never forget it, how it completely changes them, how they feel like the worst thing on planet Earth afterwards… it was all true. Because right then and there, Peter Parker felt like the worst thing on planet Earth. He had just taken a life, several lives already, and didn’t even know how to properly react or recover. Peter had never killed anyone, especially not since he became Spider-Man. The very thought was something he would never dare to consider. He wouldn’t hesitate to give a few punches and kicks some criminal’s ass every now and again, but taking away their life… a human life…

Then again… they weren’t really human.

They had a one-track mind… to destroy and kill as much as they could.

Spider-Man lifted up his head. The screams of New York City finally came back to him, riper and more horrifying than ever before. The whites of his eyes slowly narrowed, and beneath that mask, a determined expression began to form. No fear. No hatred. Just strength.

He used that and swung his way into the chaos. Right into the madness. And all around him, the Chitauri swarmed. He always had a target, an enemy to take down. He made sure they didn’t take another innocent life. He fired a strand of web towards a chariot beneath him, ripping the pilot right from his seat. The two others standing on the chariot dropped alongside the ship, impacting the road and exploding.

“Heh! You guys aren’t so tough!” Peter said as he was instantly sideswiped by a flying chariot.

Grunting heavily at the hit, Spider-Man looked up to see the Chitauri snarl down at him, lifting up its rifle and aiming right for his head. Peter’s eyes widened, already vanishing and crawling underneath the chariot as the creature began firing. Slowly, he snuck to the backside, popping his head up and studying what the threat was. Three Chitauri, all focused ahead. Peter smiled beneath his mask, crawling on top and joining them with their backs turned. He switched to another web combination, spraying a large ball of the white substance into his other palm. The sound caused the remaining two Chitauri to spin around, spotting Parker standing right behind them.

“Grenade out!” Peter shrieked, leaping off the ship. He tossed the Web Grenade towards the chariot, the ball of webbing exploding and encompassing the entire chariot in sticky, synthetic webs. The Chitauri struggled under the webbing, the chariot falling down towards the street where it eventually crashed and burned.

Landing and rolling on the nearest rooftop he could find, Spider-Man stopped to catch his breath. He felt like he just ran a marathon, his chest burning and sweat already beginning to wet his hair. Peter took off his mask, breathing heavily as his sweat-covered hair started to blow in the wind. It was then did Peter realize just how hot the wind had become.

The ashes falling like snow also caught his interests. All of which led back towards the firestorm near Central Park. Peter’s eyes remained frozen, his body tensing up at the horrific scene and the carnage that laid between him and it. Constant explosions, constant alien ships, constant screams were in the air and filled Peter with so much dread that he actually felt his heart ache at the scenery. He was quickly reminded of similar scenes of destruction and chaos six years ago in the very same city, with the very same alien army invading their world. He knew he had to help them, because the way he saw it, there wasn’t anyone else able to fight back against them. No one except the Avengers, and they were gone. Disbanded. Not there to save them now.

Peter gulped. Despite how far he had traveled, the alien warship was still hanging over his head, almost like he hadn’t even moved. The Chitauri still greatly outnumbered him, swarming New York like they were locust and the buildings were blades of wheat. The city burned, pillars of smoke towering higher than even the tallest skyscrapers he could see. Sirens wailed. People screamed. The Chitauri bellowed and destroyed all in their wake.

And Peter Parker just couldn’t seem to act on it.

Except…

Except when he saw them already flying past the island of Manhattan, towards the rest of New York and the cities beyond. Especially towards Queens. Towards home. Towards…

“May…” Peter whispered.

He didn’t waste another second not to act, pulling his mask over his face and flinging himself off the rooftop.

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