C256 Spider-Man (Patreon)
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“What’s the Black Order?” Peter asks, though he already knew a fair bit about them from the movies.
“...” Gamora explained everything, hoping that Peter could use the information to protect Nebula.
Based on his knowledge from the movies, the only two in the Black Order that would be tricky to deal with are Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian.
Especially Ebony Maw, who seemed to be the real brains behind the Black Order.
With his genius-level intellect as well as his supreme power in telekinesis, Maw would be the hardest of Thanos’ children to take down.
As for Obsidian, due to his great size, he possesses an incredible level of superhuman strength that could even match the Hulk, not to mention his incredible durability.
And sadly, due to Peter’s interference in this world, the Hulk hasn’t had much of a chance to do anything.
Since Banner continues to bury himself in research and was never needed to help out the Avengers, this world’s Avengers is short one angry green muscle head.
‘Maybe I should separate Banner and Hulk somehow?’ Peter thought as he didn’t see Banner changing his ways anytime soon. ‘Besides, when Banner fused with the Hulk in the movies, I found myself missing the lovable idiot...’
Banner would most likely thank Peter for accomplishing what he couldn’t.
Although that would be a good plan to deal with Obsidian, Peter had multiple other ways that could also do the trick.
Abomination has been progressing well and could easily become a member of the Avengers, making him a good opponent for the Mad Titans' strongest child.
Otherwise, Peter could either handle the guy himself or put a team together to get the job done.
Though the more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea of separating Banner and Hulk into their own individual bodies...
‘When I have some free time, I’ll raid Kamar-Taj’s library and see what I can find on alter egos and their possible separation.’ Peter thought as he listened to Gamora.
“...If we’re unlucky, you’ll be able to meet two members of the Black Order on our journey.” Gamora says as Quill walked by, overhearing her words.
“Black Order? Sounds kinky.” He comments as he takes a seat between Peter and Gamora.
Easily seeing through his actions, Peter found his new friend's jealous behavior amusing.
Of course, Gamora was completely oblivious to the meaning behind Quill's actions.
“The Black Order is not ‘kinky’.” Gamora says in distaste. “They are elite killers who could tear you apart with a flick of their wrist. Even meeting one of them would mean death for us all.”
“Okay...” Quill was officially spooked. “Why would we cross paths with them?”
“Because they’re after the Orb as well.” Peter assumed and received a confirming nod from Gamora.
“Yes, they dispatched me to retrieve the Orb for them.” Gamora reveals with a frown. “And soon enough, they’ll figure out that I’ve betrayed them and come looking for the Orb themselves.”
“You worked for them?!” Quill exclaims in shock, as he still didn’t know much about his current love interest.
“They are my ‘siblings’.” Gamora said with a heavy dose of sarcasm.
Before Quill could ask a hundred more questions, Peter cut into the conversation.
“Which members did Thanos send to get the Orb?” He asks curiously.
“Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive...”
As soon as Peter heard those two names, he tuned out the rest of the conversation.
‘I think Proxima and Corvus are the weakest of the Black Order, which is good.’ Peter thought as he wanted to give the Guardians a chance against at least one of them.
They needed to grow as a team and couldn’t do that without some obstacles to overcome.
After all, even if all of the members of the Black Order came at once, Peter could probably handle them with ease.
Especially since he has full access to the Reality Stone's power.
The only person in the Universe that Peter wasn’t 100% confident in fighting was Thanos, who currently held the Mind Stone in his grasp.
In Peter's mind, they’re evenly matched.
Each of them has an Infinity Stone.
Though Peter has three, he can only wield one at the moment.
When it comes to physical strength, Peter was sure that Thanos bested him in that category, though that doesn’t mean he would win in a fight between the two.
Peter may be physically weaker, but he’s definitely faster, more dexterous, and has a lot more abilities than the Mad Titan.
If they fought now, Peter would definitely bet on himself, as he felt confident in his skills and abilities, but the odds would realistically be around 50/50.
Of course, this is all speculation about a man that Peter has never met in person before.
And they wouldn’t remain so evenly matched forever.
‘I need to finish putting my conduit together.’ Peter thought, as Thanos wouldn’t stand a chance against all three of his Infinity Stones.
Just adding the Power stone to his arsenal would be more than enough.
“Wow, your family is worse than mine.” Quill admitted as he received a brief overview from Gamora. “I thought being kidnapped and raised by Ravagers was as bad as it could get...”
“Boohoo, life is so hard as a space princess.” Rocket appears from the cockpit. “You had it easy if you ask me.”
“Hey, it ain’t a competition.” Quill immediately comes to Gamora’s defense.
‘Simp...’ Peter thought with a shake of his head.
“Because if it was, you’d definitely win. I mean, what are you? Did some mad scientist put your brain in the first road kill he could find?.” Quill asks jokingly.
“I’ll show you road kill!” Rocket leaped off of the floor and latched onto Quill's face.
“I think that’s my queue.” Peter says as he stands up and opens a portal. “I’ll be back when you reach Xanov.”
In front of Gamora’s shocked gaze, Peter stepped through the portal and disappeared.
“How did he do that?” Gamora asks, dumbfounded.
“I am Groot.” Groot answered as he extended his roots, pulling Quill and Rocket apart.
“Let me at him!”
——————————————
While the Guardians were soaring through space, Peter returned to the Avengers Tower, as he needed to at least check in on everything.
They just absorbed a worldwide spy agency, after all.
“Yo, how are things going?” Peter asks as he found Fury in his office.
“Hectic, where have you been?” Fury answers from behind a desk full of paperwork.
“I’ve been off planet.” Peter says as he peeks over at the papers on his desk. “Any problem with the new Shield?”
“Some, but it’s been handled.” Fury says as he leans back in his chair. “What were you doing off planet?”
“I’ll explain later.” Peter says as he makes his way to the door. “By the way, your wife moved in with me for safety reasons. Just until Hydra is fully dealt with.”
“...” Fury frowned, though he kept his mouth shut, knowing that she would be safer this way. “What about MJ?”
“She practically lived with me before all of this, so nothing has changed.” Peter says as he turns back to see Fury’s grumpy face before taking his leave. “See yah!”
Heading to his own office, Peter opened a portal and grabbed his laptop.
‘I should finish this up.’ Peter thought as he sat down at his desk and got to work.
...
A couple of hours later, Peter's door swung open, revealing an eager-looking Captain America.
“Did you find anything that could help Bucky?” He didn’t bother with pleasantries and asked immediately.
“Perfect timing.” Peter says as he turns the laptop toward Steve. “I just finished scanning the data we stole from Zola.”
[Viruses Found: 169]
[Anomalies Found: 13]
[Conscious Minds: 1]
“What the hell does that mean?” Steve asks in confusion.
“It means Zola had a backup plan in case someone killed him and swiped his data.” Peter says as he points to the screen. “Click this please.”
[Run Cleaner]
“Uhh... Okay.” Steve says as he had his pointer finger to tap the screen.
“Your age is showing, old man.” Peter comments as he reaches around and uses the touch pad to click the button himself.
Instantly, a loading bar appeared on the screen, which quickly filled under Steve’s curious gaze.
[Clean Successful!]
“There we go.” Peter says as he turns the laptop to himself. “Now, let’s see what Zola has on Bucky.”
As Peter unlocked the data and searched the keyword ‘Winter Soldier’, Steve invited himself to the other side of the desk and eagerly watched over his shoulder.
“Hmm...” Peter hummed as he scrolled through everything faster than Steve could follow.
“What? Can we help him?” Steve asks impatiently.
“They seem to have used some sort of memory-suppressing machine...” Peter says as he continues to scroll. “Ouch, they performed electroconvulsive therapy on him, which severely damaged his limbic system.”
“The limbic system is the part of the brain involved in behavioral and emotional responses, especially when it comes to behaviors needed for survival, like feeding, reproduction, caring for children, and fight or flight responses.”
Seeing that Steve barely understood what he was saying, Peter explained in simpler terms.
“Hydra shocked the hell out of him, which made Bucky forget himself while also damaging his brain. They then manipulate his broken mind with images and code words, turning him into the killer he is today.”
“Is it fixable?” Steve asks hopefully.
“Yes, but we would need to heal his brain and then have someone like Charles uproot all of his burried memories.” Peter nods.
Hearing the confidence in Peter's words, Steve couldn’t hold back the smile from forming on his face.
Though it soon disappeared...
“How the hell are we supposed to heal his brain?” Steve asks worriedly, as that sounded complicated.
“...” Thinking for a moment, Peter suddenly remembered something. “Follow me.”
A/N: 1656 words :)