Of Apocalypses and Revenge

3

The Avengers fought off the tides of creatures and HYDRA agents. They rested for a few minutes and then Rhodey was the first one to notice that his best friend wasn't there. He got up and asked if anyone had seen Tony and they said no. The last time they remembered seeing him was when he flew up to engage in combat with Strucker. Nobody had seen him ever since.

They searched for Tony into the night. They carried torches and shouted his name. The Avengers had hoped to find him alive somewhere but they found absolutely nothing, not even a drop of blood that contained his DNA (not that they would know who's it was). They set up camps and split into groups. They looked for him until the sun rose over the horizon.

The hope was almost gone.

Rhodey wept silently. Everything Tony had been through had only just led to this. He had died and nobody could even find a body. The others' spirits were down but they kept on moving and killing the creatures. They traveled for three days until something unexpected happened.

It was dawn. The skies were clear with red and orange streaking across the white clouds. The Avengers were just getting up from bed and packing up their camp to move on to a new spot. They cleaned up the ground and was about to start walking when a figure dropped out from the trees.

Instantly every weapon was raised.

Natasha had here knives ready, Steve's shield was in position, Bruce was ready to turn into the Hulk any moment, Clint had three arrows knocked and was ready to fire, Loki had his daggers out, Wanda had red magic swirling around her fingertips, Vision had levitated up into the air, Bucky had a machine and Sam had deployed Redwing, they were both ready for battle. Rhodey was in his suit and had his really big guns mounted on his shoulders. They all faced Peter, who a mask that covered his mouth and nose.

"Who are you?" Was that the most intelligent thing Steve could come up with? Seriously?

"I am someone who you once knew." Peter replied simply.

"Are you from HYDRA?" Bucky asked.

"Yes, I am. In fact, I am the person that all the agents and creatures are searching for." Peter said with no emotion.

"Then surrender. And we will take you to HYDRA in order to stop this invasion." Sam said.

"No, we talked about this. No." Steve was not that stupid anymore, it seemed. He had gotten some brains in Peter's absence.

"I would advise you to not try and take me by force. Also, I have your friend. His life is on the line and only I can take you to him." Peter explained.

"He's alive?" Rhodey questioned.

"Yes. He is very much alive. Only resting." Peter said, summoning the Force, "come with me." He led them to his house in the trees and let down the ladder. They climbed up and Peter took them to the infirmary where Tony was resting. He was pretty banged up, with bandages everywhere on his body and small cuts healed by something. After they all had a chance to check him out, the Avengers gathered around Peter.

"Okay so... thanks for saving him. May we know who you are?" Steve asked.

Peter flicked off his mask.

"I am Peter."

<•>

Peter

Peter actually enjoyed the looks of shock on their faces. After all, they were looking at the boy that they had ignored, neglected and then finally driven out.