Sign of the Times

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 began.

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

"I know what you're gonna say."

"You should not be here."

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

"I was gonna go home-" Peter was cut off.

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

"But it was such a long way down and I 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 I 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 I'm 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 I'm here in space."

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

"No. I did think this through."

"You could not have possibly thought this through."

"It's just... you can't be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man if there's no neighborhood." 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 over to a viewpoint on the torture below. Peter crouched to study the situation, the Cloak leaning over his shoulder. "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.

---

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.

"I gotta tell you, he's not really my friend," Tony said. "Saving his life is more a professional courtesy."

Maw walked slowly towards Iron Man, beckoning very large, very solid metal objects to float behind him. "You've saved nothing. Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine."