Chemistry

08

SPACE

Maw was interrogating Doctor Strange. Doctor Strange was floating horizontally, face down, and was surrounded by dozens of glassy needles, each about two feet long.

Maw said, "In all the time I've served Thanos, I've never failed him. If I were to reach our rendezvous on Titan with the Time Stone still attached to your vaguely irritating person, there would be... judgement." The needles started to contact Doctor Strange's face, causing an obviously painful whitish subcutaneous glow at each touch. "Give me... the Stone."

Tony was watching, hidden, from above. The Cloak of Levitation tapped him on the arm. He raised his hand to it, ready to shoot, but he saw what it was and stood down.

"Wow you're a seriously loyal piece of outerwear, aren't you?" Tony said.

"Yeah, uh, speaking of loyalty...." Peter and Alessa began.

Tony and the Cloak turned to face Peter and Alessa, dropping down from above. "What the-"

"Lessa and I know what you're gonna say," Peter said.

"You two should not be here."

The Cloak moved to "stand" at Tony's side.

"Lessa and I were gonna go home-" Peter was cut off.

"I don't wanna hear it," Tony argued.

"But it was such a long way down and we just thought about you on the way..."

"And now I gotta hear it."

The Cloak shook its collar in sympathy and shrugged.

Peter continued. "...And we kinda stuck to the side of the ship. And this suit is ridiculously intuitive, by the way. So if anything, it's kinda your fault that we're here."

Tony, under his breath, muttered, "God damnit..." The Cloak looked shocked. Tony's tone became serious. "What did you just say?"

"I take that back. And now we're here in space."

"Yeah." He crossed to stand right in front of Peter and Alessa. "Right where I don't want you two to be. This isn't Coney Island. This isn't a field trip. It's a one-way ticket. You two hear me? Don't pretend like you thought this through. You two could not have possibly thought this through."

Alessa shook her head. "No. Peter and I did think this through."

"You two could not have possibly thought this through."

"It's just... you can't be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man and Shadow Raven if there's no neighborhood," Peter reasoned as he waited for Tony's reaction. "Okay. That didn't really make any sense, but you know what I'm trying to say."

Tony breathed shakily, realizing he couldn't beat Peter's logic. "Come on. We got a situation." He led Peter and Alessa over to a viewpoint on the torture below. Peter and Alessa crouched to study the situation, the Cloak leaning over their shoulders between them. "See him down there? He's in trouble. What's your plan? Go."

"Um. Okay, okay... uh..." Peter and the Cloak popped back upright. "Okay. Did you ever see this really old movie, Aliens?"

The Cloak lifted its collar in surprise.

Alessa sighed. "And here comes the pop culture reference. But yeah. Aliens could work. Nice one, Petey."

---

Maw was still interrogating Doctor Strange, who groaned loudly. "Painful aren't they? They were originally designed for microsurgery. And any one of them..."

At the "thump" behind him, Maw turned to see Iron Man standing there, hand repulsors ready to fire.

"...Could end your friend's life in an instant," Maw finished.