Spider-Scarecrow

Chapter 6 : A New Threat

Three years had passed since the Infinity War and the world had moved on. People went back to their jobs, smiled, laughed and were pretty much back to how they were before the Dusting. Of course, for the heroes who fought in the war, this was much harder for some.

They had been through a traumatic experience, being turned to dust does that. They usually were up late at night due to nightmares and if anyone saw any tears, they didn't comment.

For Tony Stark, it was really hard to move on. His fiancé, Pepper Potts, had been killed during the war. She was walking down the street when it happened, some guy turned to dust whilst he was driving and the car hit her when it swerved off the road. He locked himself in his lab for weeks.

The only thing he lived for was to see Peter again. He loved the kid as a father would a son. He'd missed the kid so much it hurt. He also lived for his team. They had become friends again after the experience in the soul world and the others would often find the original Avengers curled up around each other on the living room couch late at night. The Guardians of the Galaxy sometimes popped up and spent a few days at the compound.

Everything was peaceful, and that's what was making the heroes anxious. Something had to be coming, the world seemed to be warning them. Although, when people began talking about a man who could walk on walls and run on water, they should have known something was happening.

~Tony P.O.V.~

I woke up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily after the nightmares. Turning to dust and my fiancé's death was still haunting me so waking up frightened had become normal.

I got dressed in something comfortable before heading to the kitchen. I could tell Cap was cooking since I could smell his famous pancakes. I strode towards the dining table and sat down beside the other early birds. A stack of pancakes was placed in front of me and I dug in gratefully.

The room was filled with quiet chatters, most people physically touching another person for comfort. That was something we all began doing after coming back, we felt safer when we were holding someone's hand or leaning against them. Nobody complained, instead they would accept the comfort happily.

I didn't notice I was holding someone's sleeve until a hand grabbed it and clutched it softly. I felt the metal touching my skin and immediately relaxed. Contrary to popular belief, I didn't hate Bucky. After the Dusting, we sorted out the misunderstandings about my parents deaths and became friends almost immediately afterwards. I felt safe around him and I often went to him for comfort after a particularly bad nightmare. I hoped Steve wouldn't get jealous but I often caught him staring at us with an understanding look when I went to Bucky for comfort.

The tower suddenly went into alert mode, lights flashing red and a constant beeping could be heard in the background. "Boss!" FRIDAYs voice was heard by the team. "There seems to be an attack down by the square, an unknown man is attacking people and taking hostages." We stood and left to suit up.

~Third Person P.O.V.~

They reached the square rather quickly and immediately saw the problem. A man dressed in dark clothes and metal armour was standing in the middle of a group of people who were tied up and gagged.

The team rushed in immediately and began to fight. After ten minutes of constant attacks, they still hadn't done any damage. The man laughed deeply. "You weaklings are pathetic. Conquering this world should be a piece of cake if you are the ones protecting it. I swear, genin could hit harder than you."

That stopped the heroes in their tracks. If the information Peter had left them was correct, the term genin was something used by ninja and if that was true...

The mysterious man laughed loudly at the looks of realisation on their faces. "Ah, I see you've figured it out! Yes, I am a shinobi that has come from the Elemental Nations. I was reanimated in order to serve justice to the one who destroyed our population but unfortunately, another man has already taken his revenge, therefore it is only right for me to take my revenge on the one who took it away from me in the first place. That man is Spider-man and I will stop at nothing to find him and kill him."

The man then vanished in a puff of chakra smoke, startling the Avengers. They immediately felt overwhelmed with fear and sadness. Another war was coming, this time against a whole new enemy and they didn't know how to stop it.

But they did have someone on their side who would.