-Broadcast-
Peter Parker pushed open the door to his apartment, his body aching from the fight in Germany. He tried to move quietly, hoping to slip into his room unnoticed, but luck wasn't on his side.
"Peter?" Aunt May's voice called from the kitchen.
He grimaced, touching the bruise on his cheekbone gingerly. There was no way to hide it.
May appeared in the doorway, took one look at his face, and her expression immediately shifted from casual to concerned. "So... who was it? Who hit you?"
Peter pulled up his sleeve, revealing the web-shooter strapped to his wrist. He pressed the mechanism absently, the clicking sound oddly soothing despite his nervousness.
"Some guy," he said casually.
May's eyes narrowed. "Some guy? Some guy have a name?"
Peter's mind raced. "Steve."
"Steve?" May crossed her arms. "From 12C? The one with the overbite?"
Peter accidentally triggered something on the web-shooter. A red targeting laser suddenly projected from the device, shining directly into his eyes. He turned his head away quickly, squinting against the light.
"No, no, no! You don't know him. He's from Brooklyn."
Peter looked up and saw that the targeting system was projecting a pattern onto his ceiling. At that exact moment, May started walking toward him. He immediately shoved his hand behind his back and winced, touching the bruise on his face to sell the injury.
"Well, I hope you got a few good licks in," May said.
"Yeah, I got quite a few in, actually," Peter said, managing a weak smile.
"Okay." May handed him a warm compress. "Here."
Peter took it gratefully and pressed it against his bruised eye. "His friend was huge. Like, huge. That's way better. Thanks."
"Okay, tough guy." May smiled and ruffled his hair before standing to leave.
"Love you, May. Hey, can you shut the door?"
"Sure." May pulled the door closed behind her.
The moment she was gone, Peter yanked his hand out from behind his back and aimed the web-shooter at the ceiling. The laser projection appeared again, and this time Peter could see what it really was.
A spider emblem.
A grin spread across his face as he stared at the symbol on his ceiling.
-Real World-
"I got quite a few in, actually!" Barton looked at Captain America with a teasing grin.
On the other side of the room, Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes exchanged uncomfortable glances. If Captain America had managed to salvage some dignity during the highway fight, the two of them had lost all of theirs.
It was embarrassing that they couldn't even beat the inexperienced Spider-Man!
After Spider-Man had defeated them both, many people had immediately regarded him as a qualified superhero. At least in terms of strength, he was recognized and considered to be no less powerful than the first and second generation Spider-Men.
But then when Spider-Man faced Vulture Toomes later and struggled significantly, the status of Bucky and Sam had plummeted in many people's estimation. People started thinking the two of them were "just okay."
-Broadcast-
The broadcast shifted back to Avengers: Infinity War.
Tony sat alone in the New York Sanctum, the flip phone from Steve in his hand. He stared at the simple contact list—just one name. His thumb hovered over the call button.
He'd been holding this phone for two years. Keeping it charged. Carrying it with him. But he'd never made the call.
Maybe now was the time.
He took a breath and pressed the button.
Suddenly, a loud rumbling sound came from outside. The entire building shook.
Tony's head snapped up. The cup on the table beside him was vibrating, its contents rippling. Strange's hair was moving—not from any breeze, but from something else. Something powerful.
Strange noticed it too, his expression shifting to alarm.
Tony gestured at Strange's head. "You're not seriously doing that hair thing right now, are you?"
"Nope," Strange said flatly. "Not right now."
He turned toward the entrance to the Sanctum. Everyone else followed his gaze. Through the ornate doorway, they could see people running past on the street outside, their faces panicked.
Tony walked straight to the door and pushed it open. A massive crowd surged past, screaming, running in the same direction—away from something.
Tony stepped out into the chaos, moving against the flow of people. A woman stumbled and fell directly in front of him. He immediately reached down to help her up.
"You okay?" he asked.
As he pulled her to her feet, a car lost control and slammed into a streetlight nearby. The woman screamed and ran without answering.
Tony shouted back toward the Sanctum. "Help him! Banner, get over here!"
Banner sprinted out and ran toward the crashed car. "We got this, Wong! Get moving!"
Tony pulled on his advanced sunglasses—the ones connected to Friday. "What am I looking at, Friday?"
"I'm not sure I'm even seeing it," Friday replied, her voice uncertain as she processed the data.
Tony started jogging down the street, then remembered something critical. He spun around and yelled back at Strange.
"You might wanna put that Time Stone in your back pocket, Doc!"
Strange's hands moved in practiced patterns, golden magic swirling around his arms. "Might wanna use it."
Tony rounded the corner onto the main street and had to shield his face as a massive canvas sign tore loose and came flying at him. He ducked just in time.
When he looked up, he understood why everyone was running.
Dust filled the air, blown up by powerful downdraft. The wind was so strong Tony had to squint against the debris.
And floating above the street, impossibly large and utterly alien, was a massive ring-shaped spacecraft. Its engines created the windstorm, holding it perfectly stationary over New York City.
Miles away, on a school bus heading through Queens, Peter Parker dozed in his seat. His spider-sense suddenly flared—a tingling sensation that shot up both arms, instant and undeniable.
Something was wrong.
He turned his head and looked out the window. In the distance, over the city skyline, he could see it. The ship.
Peter immediately reached forward and tapped Ned Leeds on the shoulder frantically. "Ned! Hey, I need you to cause a distraction."
Ned pulled out his earbuds and turned around. His eyes went wide as he saw what Peter was looking at.
"Holy shit."
Ned stood up and ran to the back of the bus, yelling at the top of his lungs. "We're all gonna die! There's a spaceship!"
"Oh my god, what is that?!"
Every student on the bus immediately rushed to the windows, crowding together to see the alien vessel hovering over Manhattan.
Peter used the distraction to dig his web-shooters out of his backpack. He aimed at the emergency window and fired. Web fluid struck the glass, and he yanked hard, ripping the window open.
While all his classmates pressed their faces against the windows, the elderly bus driver glanced in the rearview mirror and muttered, "What's the matter with you kids? You've never seen a spaceship before?"
Peter pulled on his mask, grabbed his backpack, and dove through the emergency window. His web shot out, catching a building, and he swung toward Manhattan at full speed.
-Real World-
"It's this old man again! I really wonder if he is watching us nearby right now?" Rhodes covered his face, no longer surprised by the man's omnipresence.
"Be careful if he hears you, you'll be in big trouble!" Tony glanced at him, then wondered aloud, "Why didn't he give you a nickname too?"
He'd seen countless memes and jokes online about "Tony Stank."
Scott tried to be helpful. "Maybe that IS his nickname for you?"
"God! I'd rather not have any nickname!" Tony immediately rolled his eyes.