Bullets || Peter Parker

Twenty nine

Emil watched anxiously as Tony and Bruce slowly operated the machine. All the stones were held by tiny mechanical hands. The two scientists gently manoeuvred the stones into position. Emil tapped his fingers against his elbow, Rocket watching at his side. The glove, one of Tony's nano tech Ironman ones, absorbed the stones smoothly. Four across the knuckles, one on the thumb and the yellow stone on the back of the hand. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, tension fading.

"Boo!" Rocket shouted. Tony and Bruce jumped. Emil and Rocket sniggered loudly. Tony glared at them while Bruce sighed.

It took a while but after a few frustrated voices and careful, tense movements, they managed to get the glove into a small containment box. Magnetic forces kept the glove hovering in midair inside the container. All they were waiting for now was for a hand.

"Alright the glove's ready", Rocket announced. They were all gathered around the main meeting room next to the courtyard. The same meeting room where they had planned this mission barely a week earlier. Everyone was spread out around the white space. Everyone, Emil noticed, but Nebula. He wondered if seeing the stones was too much for her.

"I'll do it", Thor volunteered. He began marching towards the glove. "I'll do it. It's okay".

"Whoa whoa". Steve, Tony and Rhodes all gestured for him to stop.

"Thor, just wait", Steve placed calming hands on his shoulders as Thor stopped. "We haven't decided whose going to put that on yet".

"Oh I'm sorry. We were all sitting around waiting for the right opportunity?"

"We should at lest discuss it first", Scott objected.

"Look, just sitting here staring at it is not going to get everyone back. I'm the strongest avenger. Therefore I should be the one to do it". Tony stepped forwards to cut him off but Thor waved his hands wildly. "Shh shh shh, just stop it! Let me. Just let me do it. Let me do something good, something right". He clutched at Tony's hand as tears welled up and his voice trembled.

"Look", Tony stated, not cruelty but factually. "That glove is channeling enough energy to light up a continent".

"What do you think is coursing through my veins right now?" Thor asked.

"Cheese wiz?" Rhodes suggested.

"Alcohol?" Emil added.

Thor spared them both a brief glance. "Lightning". Tony nodded and patted Thor comfortingly on the back.

"Lightning won't help you pall", Bruce sighed. "It's gotta be me. You saw what those stones did to Thanos. It almost killed him. None of you could survive". Bruce talked as he began walking slowly towards the glove. No one tried to stop him. He gazed down at the stones with a unreadable expression.

"How do you know you will?" Steve asked.

"I don't", Bruce answered. "But the radiation is mostly gamma. It's like... I was made for this". He didn't sound particularly happy at the prospect.

"You're not the only option". Everyone looked up in surprise at Emil's voice. Emil stepped up to Bruce, staring at him challengingly.

"You're right. The energy radiation is mostly gamma and you were created by gamma", he spoke slowly. "But I absorb gamma radiation. I can absorb all forms of energy. I was created directly from the stones themselves. If anyone was made for this, it was me".

"No!" Tony objected firmly. "We can't let you do this. You're just a kid".

"I am seventeen years old", Emil shot back. "Technically I should be in my twenties. I have lost just as much to this as you have, why can't I do something?"