EYLIS ※ Tony Stark [3]

12 - THE PAIN YOU CARRY

SOMEWHERE OUT IN THE vastness of Space, thousands of miles away from Earth, an alien spaceship in the shape of a giant disc was flying at hyper-speed across the galaxy.

Inside, three warriors from Earth brooded around the main deck. A heated argument was rumbling — which shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who was familiar with the two giant egos on board...

"And who just saved your magical ass?" Tony fumed "Me."

Doctor Strange rolled his eyes "I seriously don't know how you fit your head into that helmet."

"Admit it. You should have ducked out when I told you to," Tony pointed an accusing finger at him "I tried to bench you. You refused."

"Unlike everyone else in your life, I don't work for you."

"And due to that fact, we're now in a flying donut, billions of miles away from Earth with no backup!"

The third person on board raised his hand hesitantly "I'm backup..." he let out, but it sounded more like a question than an affirmation.

Tony's head snapped angrily towards Peter "No. You're a stowaway," he waggled a finger between himself and Doctor Strange "The adults are talking."

Strange opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by a distant crashing sound that sent a shudder across the entire ship.

The three men quickly perked up in shock.

"What was that?!" Peter exclaimed, his spidey-sense in alert.

Tony quickly tapped the arc reactor on his chest and made the iron suit deploy "Sounds like we've got company."

The three of them rushed to the lower deck where the crash had come from. They expected an invasion of Thanos' soldiers, or perhaps Ebony Maw making a comeback, but they saw none of that. Instead, there was only a single spaceship behind the glass-windowed wall giving into space. The intruder spaceship had somehow gotten in from the outside ramp. It was a triangular-shaped aircraft with round edges, painted gold and navy.

The spaceship was far too small to contain more than one person but Strange, Tony and Peter did not let their guards down.

As the internal gate whooshed open, allowing the intruder in, Stephen Strange was the only one to notice the black panther emblem on the side of the ship. He immediately recognised the official coat of arms of the Wakandan Royal Family.

This made Dr Strange roll his eyes. It was a wonder neither Tony nor Peter had figured it out yet.

"You wanted backup..." he threw in Tony's direction "This is as close as it gets."

Tony had a comically confused face. He was about to ask what on Earth was Strange talking about but he didn't have the time. The door opened over the cockpit and out came the last person in the universe he expected to see...

"Angie?!"

A mane of disheveled black hair was swept to the side as she stumbled out of the cockpit, still disoriented. She held on to the side of the ship, taking in her surroundings, along with the three astounded pairs of eyes staring at her. Her gaze landed on Tony and a sob of relief escaped her lips.

"Oh my God, Tony!"

The next thing they knew, Angie staggered forward and threw herself into his arms. His hands folded around her back, holding her tightly as if he expected to snap out of a daydream, only to find out she wasn't really there. But Angie held on to him for dear life and showed no sign of disappearing.

"I thought I'd never see you again..."

Tony was shocked, happy, relieved and horrified all at once. He cupped Angie's face between his palms and kissed her desperately.