-Broadcast-
Spider-Man swung forward, Strange's unconscious body trailing on his web line. He rounded a corner between buildings—
A beam of blue light shot down from the ring-ship, catching Strange in its grip. The sorcerer's body went rigid, pulled upward by the tractor beam.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What?!" Peter felt the sudden resistance on his web line, the momentum yanking him backward. He looked up and saw Strange floating toward the ship, being pulled inexorably upward.
The Cloak of Levitation fought against the beam, flapping frantically, but it couldn't break Strange free.
Peter dug in his heels, then shot another web at a streetlight, using it as an anchor. The web went taut, and Peter held on with all his enhanced strength, caught in a tug-of-war with alien technology.
Ebony Maw arrived on his debris platform. With a casual flick of his fingers, the streetlight tore free from the concrete, roots and all.
Peter's anchor point disappeared. The tractor beam won.
"Mr. Stark! I'm being beamed up!" Peter yelled as he and Strange were lifted into the air.
Back on the ground, Tony was still engaged with Cull Obsidian, trading blows and repulsor blasts.
"Hang on, kid!" Tony shouted back.
The distraction cost him. Cull Obsidian's hammer caught him mid-sentence, the chain wrapping around Tony's torso. The alien yanked, and Tony crashed into the street, plowing a furrow through asphalt.
The hammer pinned Tony's arms, locking them against his sides. He struggled against it, servos whining.
A blade extended from Cull Obsidian's right arm—gleaming, serrated, deadly. The alien charged forward and leaped into the air, blade raised for a killing strike, a roar of triumph in his throat.
A circular portal opened directly in his path.
Cull Obsidian had no time to react. He fell through—
—and landed face-first in snow. Freezing wind howled around him. Mountains stretched in every direction.
The alien looked around in confusion, then spotted Wong and Banner standing at the portal's other end, back in New York. It roared and lunged toward them, reaching through the gateway.
Wong closed the portal.
The edges snapped together, severing space itself. Cull Obsidian's left arm—the one reaching through—was cut cleanly at the elbow. The stump cauterized instantly by the portal's energy.
Banner stared at the severed arm lying on the New York street, his eyes wide.
In the frozen wasteland, Cull Obsidian howled in pain and rage, clutching its stump.
Tony broke free from the now-slackened chain and immediately rocketed skyward. "Remind me to get Wong a gift basket. Friday, what am I looking at?"
Far above, Spider-Man clung desperately to the outer hull of the ring-ship as it continued its ascent. The city grew smaller below him. The air was getting thin.
"Boss, the ship is heading out of the atmosphere," Friday reported.
"Give me a little juice, Friday," Tony commanded.
The thrusters on his boots reconfigured, nanoparticles shifting to create larger exhaust ports. The flames intensified, and Tony's speed doubled.
Inside the ship, Ebony Maw guided Strange's floating body into the main chamber. As the exterior hatch sealed shut, he approached the ship's control console and placed his hands into the interface. The ship responded to his touch, accelerating.
Tony closed in on Spider-Man, who was still climbing higher on the hull, fighting for purchase. "Unlock 17-A."
At the Avengers compound upstate, a launch bay opened. A sleek pod shot out, its specialized rockets firing with tremendous force. It streaked across the sky at supersonic speed, heading for New York.
Spider-Man kept climbing, hand over hand, but each breath was becoming harder.
"Kid, let go. I'll catch you."
Peter looked back at Tony. "But you said save the wizard! I can't just—"
His words cut off. He couldn't breathe. The air was too thin. He ripped off his mask, gasping, but that only made it worse. The freezing air burned his lungs.
"Yeah, we're too high up," Tony said. "You're running out of air."
Peter's vision started to blur. His fingers loosened. He fell.
The pod overtook Tony, decelerating precisely. Its front section opened, and the armor inside ejected—sleek, red and blue, laced with black and gold accents. The armor pieces locked onto Peter's body in midair, forming around him in seconds.
The new Iron Spider armor's life support kicked in immediately. Pure oxygen flooded Peter's lungs. His vision cleared.
"Mr. Stark, it smells like a new car in here!"
Peter shot a web and caught the ship's hull, pulling himself back up. He looked down at the armor—the one Tony had offered him after the Vulture incident, the one he'd turned down because he wanted to stay a "friendly neighborhood Spider-Man."
Tony flew up beside him. "Happy trails, kid. Friday, send him home."
"Oh, come on—"
A parachute deployed from Peter's back, the drag yanking him away from the ship.
-Real World-
"Is this the armor that Tony showed Spider-Man after he defeated Vulture? I didn't expect that he would give it to him like this!" Banner said, looking at the familiar nano armor.
"It seems that this guy was not sent away by Tony! Otherwise he would not be able to go to outer space to fight Thanos!" Captain America rested his chin on his hand thoughtfully.
"Probably! He is similar to us, not so conventional!" Scott glanced at Captain America.
"Hahaha! You're right!" Thor laughed and clapped Scott on the shoulder.
"God! Can't you be a little gentler?" Scott rubbed his sore shoulder and complained.
"Oh! Sorry! You should exercise more!"
Scott rolled his eyes. "Go train Quill instead! Didn't he say he felt something strange when you shocked him? Shock him harder!"
Star-Lord suddenly stared at Scott with wide eyes, unable to believe such cold words could come from someone with a body temperature of 37 degrees Celsius!
-Broadcast-
Tony maneuvered to the side of the ship and pressed his right hand against the hull. Nanoparticles formed a large suction pad, anchoring him firmly.
His left hand reconfigured into a cutting laser. The beam ignited, burning bright red, and he began carving a circle into the alien metal. Sparks flew as the laser cut through, the hull's integrity failing section by section.
The circle completed. The cut section blew inward as pressure equalized explosively, and Tony climbed through into a cargo bay. Objects tumbled around in the rush of escaping air.
Tony sealed the hole behind him with nanoparticles, and the wind stopped.
"Boss, you have an incoming call from Miss Potts," Friday announced.
"Tony? Oh god, are you alright? What's going on?"
Tony looked around the alien interior, taking stock of his surroundings. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just think we might have to push our 8:30 reservation."
"Why?"
"Because I'll probably not make it back for a while."
There was a pause. When Pepper spoke again, her voice was tight with dawning horror. "Tell me you're not on that ship."
"Yeah."
"God, Tony, no. You're not on that ship—"
"Honey, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I don't know what to say—"
"Come back here right now!" Pepper's voice was getting fainter, overlaid with static. "Tony, I swear to God, come back—"
"Boss, we're losing her," Friday interrupted. "I'm also losing connection—"
The signal cut out entirely.
Tony stood alone in the alien ship, surrounded by strange technology, hurtling away from Earth at impossible speed.
He looked up at the ceiling, toward where he knew Strange was being held.
"Okay," he said to himself. "Guess we're doing this."