The Room With 1000 Stories

Stranger by the Second

Avery's POV

(Possible IW spoilers ahead)

SPACE

Once again, Avery found herself being lulled to consciousness in an unfamiliar setting. Her nose twitched at the metallic smell and she opened her eyes. She was relieved to know she wasn't dead but this peace did not last long. She soon realized that she was inside the alien spaceship. She was propped up against a cold, metal wall that matched the rest of the ship. There was a bright blue light coming from her left and when she looked over she saw there was a sort of window there. But instead of glass, it was simply a blue force-field. And outside of that window, was the starry depths of space. If Avery had not been so frightened, she might've thought this view of space was amazing.

"Oh look, your little friend is starting to wake up." said the Squidward-like alien, and Avery turned. There she saw Doctor Strange floating on his stomach in midair. Glassy spikes were floating around him with a few piercing his skin.

The alien walked around him coldly, "If you won't give me the Stone," he continued, "perhaps I could use her to convince you." Doctor Strange grunted as another shard pierced his face "Painful aren't they? They were originally designed for microsurgery. And any one of them..." the alien's voice trailed off as he turned round to see Iron Man in front of the space window.

"...could end your friend's life in an instant." The alien finished.

"I gotta tell you, he's not really my friend." Tony said, his dawning his face guard, "Saving his life is more a professional courtesy."

Avery sat frozen in place as the alien walked slowly towards Tony, beckoning very large, solid metal objects to float behind him. "You've saved nothing." He said, "Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine."

"Yeah, but the kid's seen more movies," Tony replied just before firing a rocket from the shoulder of his armor. In a flash, it blew a hole in the side of the ship to the alien's right and Avery felt herself being sucked towards it along with the alien and Strange. Avery flailed her arms about helplessly screaming. Then, she saw something red fly past her and knew it to be Strange's cloak. Only, it did not go for her this time, instead, it went straight for Strange. The cape wrapped around his arm and pulled him from danger. Meanwhile, Avery was still being dragged towards the depths of space.

"Help!" she cried.

"I got you!" exclaimed a boyish voice and Avery felt an arm wrap around her waist and looked to see Spider-Man. He used his other hand to grab onto the ship as the force fought to suck them out into space. Avery watched as the alien flew out pat them through the hole and was relieved to know that this had not been her. No sooner had she thought this, however, had Spider-Man's grip on the ship slipped, sending them both flying back towards space.

"Don't worry!" exclaimed Spider-Man shakily, causing Avery to worry even more. But it was too late, she was at the entrance. Just when she thought all was lost, she felt a strong tug like that of when a rollercoaster halts. She looked back to see that Spider-Man had grown multiple metal arms and had latched onto the frame surrounding the hole, bracing him and Avery from doom. She was now an inch into space and could see the Squidward alien floating away, dead, with ice from the escaped atmosphere frosting over his grimace. With a mighty leap, Spider-Man pulled both him and Avery back inside while Tony quickly sprayed something onto the hole to plug it up. As soon as he had done this, the vacuum abruptly stopped and Avery, Spider-Man, and Strange fell to the floor of the ship with a thud.

Avery caught her breath, the events of the last few moments swirling madly around in her head. She could feel herself beginning to hyperventilate again. The others, however, were quick to recover. Doctor Strange had donned his red cloak and had gotten to his feet. So had Spider-Man. Tony's armor had disappeared and he was once again in his tracksuit. He shook his head as he walked past Strange towards the large window. Avery watched them breathlessly, as she hugged her knees in the corner, rocking back and forth.