Miles Morales: New Spider Chapter 23.

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I held onto his sides as we flew, bursting through clouds, the whizz of the wind and the hum of the repulsors filling my ears.

"You're heavier than you look. Thor and Loki spotted. I'll take blondie; you take Loki."

"Fine by me." I prepared myself for the drop. As soon as Loki was in my line of sight, I let go of Iron Man. I really was heavy, considering that as soon as I let go, he sped up even more, delivering a spear to Thor that sent them both over the cliff.

Loki saw me coming and tried to dodge, but I was quicker. My webs hit him square in the chest, perplexion clear on his face as he observed the webs. It was short-lived, though, as I yanked him toward me and, using the momentum from my downward descent, took him down with a lariat that nearly took his head off. "It's not personal. I just really want to kick a god's ass." He lay on the ground, vigorously coughing. Kneeling next to him, I jammed my reinforced alloy-tipped syringe with a vacuum canister into his exposed neck, extracting his blood. Loki wasn’t a pure Asgardian, being part frost giant, but he acquired his godhood in Asgard. I didn’t know what effect his blood might have on me, and though I might not use it on myself, I wouldn’t pass up the chance to get god-blood. It might have a use in the future.

"Procedure complete, boss," April confirmed. I pulled out the syringe, stored it safely in my utility belt, and webbed both his arms and legs before dragging him by the feet toward a clear spot that would serve as the pickup location.

"Nat, I have Loki," I reported.

"Okay, arc heading for your location."

I spotted Cap as he descended toward Tony's location.

Should I help out? No, let them handle it. I wasn’t going to get involved. I already had Loki's blood, and that was enough. Selfish? Maybe. But I had to be if I wanted to survive. Plus, I got the chance to test my strength against Loki. I now knew I was stronger and faster than him, and that made me feel great. What? You can never have enough power. You either have too little or more than enough. You’re either stronger or weaker than something—there’s no in-between. I wanted to be powerful. I would use any means necessary, even questionable ones, as long as they didn’t sacrifice my principles. I would do all this to ensure I stayed on top, that I wouldn’t become prey, and that I had the strength to back myself up. After all, what’s the use of immortality if I couldn’t?

"I will make you pay for laying your filthy mortal hands on me," Loki groaned.

"Two cents is all you're getting from me, Mr. Grinch." I webbed his mouth shut and dragged him a little more roughly.

Boom! A blue wave spread out, forming a blast radius that left the surrounding trees in splinters. I watched as the three men—Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man—stood before each other, quietly observing one another. Cap with his shield, Thor with Mjolnir, and Iron Man in his banged-up armor.

"Are you guys done?" I asked. "Because the Quinjet is here." I backed away, boarding the jet.

I found myself in the SHIELD meeting room with the Avengers.

On the smart table was a display of Fury trying to intimidate Loki, which Loki used to his advantage, poking holes in Fury's logic and subtly pitting the Avengers’ ideals against each other.

"He really grows on you, doesn’t he?" Banner remarked.

"Yeah, he really does," I smiled, rubbing my knuckles.

"Loki is going to drag this out, so Thor, what's his play?" Steve asked, directing his gaze at Thor.

"He has an army called the Chitauri, not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, and in turn, I suspect, the Tesseract."

"No, they’ll try, like many before them, and they’ll get the same result—failure. And that’s a fact. Don’t underestimate humans. We bite back harder." It might have sounded like a rant, but I was tired of everyone looking down on humans. The greatest heroes of the galaxy were mostly humans. The people who had saved the universe the most were humans, and the people who had tried to destroy it the most were also humans. The point was, people from Earth shouldn’t be messed with. Humans strike back—viciously.

"He's right, you know. We do bite back harder," Widow added, smiling as she turned to Cap, who shared the same sentiment.

"An army from space... well, there’s a first time for everything."

That brightened the mood in the room, steering the discussion in a more positive direction.

Banner pointed out, "So that’s why he needs Selvig. He’s building another portal."

"Selvig?" Thor turned his attention to Banner.

"He's an astrophysicist," Banner nodded.

"He's a friend," Thor emphasized.

"Dr. Selvig’s under some kind of spell, along with one of ours."

"I don’t know why Loki let us take him. He’s not leading an army from here."

"I don’t think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy’s brain is a bag full of cats. You could smell the crazy on him."

"Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he is my brother," Thor said, his voice tense.

"Is he now? But so what? Should we bow before Asgardians and stay silent in your presence? Is that what you're saying? Because last I checked, your brother invaded Earth," I stated, almost angrily.

"He also killed 80 people in two days," Widow added, glancing at Thor.

"He was adopted," Thor muttered, adding, "And that was not what I wished to convey, Man-Spider. I have respect for your people." Yet, it seemed he looked down on us.

Banner, looking uncomfortable, continued, "I think it’s about the mechanics. Iridium—what do they need it for?"

"It’s a stabilizing agent," another voice joined mine. It was Tony Stark, who had just walked into the room.

He smiled at me briefly, having just branched away from Coulson.

"Means the portal won’t collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD. No hard feelings, Point Break, you’ve got a mean swing," Tony said, tapping Thor as he passed him. "Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay as long as Loki wants."

He moved to the main control consoles. "That man is playing Galaga. Thought we wouldn’t notice, but we did," he quipped. I tuned out the rest of his words, focusing instead on his actions.

I had to act at the same time as him to stay unnoticed.

Watching his fingers, I noticed the flat silver pellet he was holding.

"April, get ready to piggyback on JARVIS’s decryption. Stay unnoticed at all times."

Tony turned, sliding his fingers over the metallic casing beneath the console screen. *Now*.

"April, commence Operation Parasite."

"Operation Parasite now in effect, Boss," April confirmed.

Maria Hill, with her arms crossed, asked Tony, "When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?"

"Last night. The package, the extraction papers, Selvig’s notes. Am I the only one who did the reading?" Tony raised his arms dramatically as he walked forward.

"What kind of power source?" Cap asked.

"He’d have to heat the cube to 120 million Kelvin to break the Coulomb barrier," Banner said, eyes brightening.

"Unless Selvig’s figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect," Tony added.

"If he succeeds in doing that, he could achieve heavy-ion fusion at any reactor in the world," I concluded.

We were like nerds geeking out over comics. I was glad to share my passion for science with people who actually understood.

"People who speak English," Tony smiled, arms wide open.

"Nice meeting you, Dr. Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled, and I’m a big fan of when you lose control and turn into an enormous rage monster." He then turned to me. "How about you join me at Stark Tower? We’ve got floors dedicated to R&D, all the tools you could ever dream of, and more. It’s a tinkerer’s paradise up there."

"Uh, how about when we’re done with this issue, we can talk more about it?"

Fury approached us.

"Dr. Banner is only here to help find the cube, and I was hoping you could join him," Fury said.

"Let’s start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it looks an awful lot like a Hydra weapon," Cap remarked.

Fury visibly tensed at the mention of Hydra.

"I don’t know about that, but it is powered by the cube," Tony said. "And I’d like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his own flying monkeys."

"Flying monkeys? I do not understand," Thor said, confused.

I walked toward Steve’s seat. "I do! I get that reference," I said, ignoring Tony, who rolled his eyes. I raised my hand. "High five!" Steve gave me a crisp high five, clearly happy.

"Shall we play, gentlemen?" Tony asked.

"This way sir." Banner motioned towards the general direction of the lab.

"Go on ahead without me I'll join you guys later" I stated, walking out the other end.