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ere-the-sun-rises · 1 year

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Why Certain Male Superheroes Have Such A Strong Female Fanbase

I discussed this on another post, but I think the trend of certain male superheroes having huge female fanbases has its roots in how relatable their characterization and struggles are. Despite being male characters, they are very strongly female-coded. I’ll use four examples, two Marvel (specifically their MCU portrayals) and two DC: Tony Stark, Bucky Barnes, Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson.

I apologize in advance if you click the Read More, this will be a very long post.

Tony Stark gets a lot of shit from the fandom, especially after Civil War. Yet, he remains arguably the most popular character from the entire series and adored by female fans. I think there’s a very good reason for that - he takes on a very female-coded role in relation to everyone else he interacts with.

For starters, he’s constantly slut-shamed. Steve, in particular, takes his sexual habits as a measure of his reliability and ability to be serious/commit. He alludes to knowing Tony from news coverage in A1, and we know from JARVIS’ quip in IM2 that Tony’s sexual escapades are highly covered by media. He looks down on Tony for his displays of sexuality (and more importantly, how shameless he is about them). Mia in IM3 also takes her digs at him about this.

His intelligence is constantly underestimated. Tony is incredibly smart and knows what he’s doing. In every Avengers movie, he is the one who formulates and carries out the plans that save the day. He is the plot device through which everything gets resolved, yet no one actually gives that any weight. In A1, Hill needles him about Selvig’s notes. In AoU, no one listens to him when he tries to explain that he was not responsible for Ultron gaining sentience or turning evil. In Civil War, Steve doesn’t listen to him when he tries to explain his decision to agree to the Sokovia Accords. Don Cheadle’s Rhodey never has any faith in Tony’s actions and constantly treats him like a child in need of supervision.

His emotions are continually disregarded. A major plot point in IM2 is Tony’s Reactor poisoning him. He exhibits all the signs of a suicidal person (even though he’s not) - giving his possessions away, retreating from public and personal life, making rash and/or unsafe decisions, emotional instability - but neither Pepper nor Rhodey even notice. In Civil War, when he tries to relay the human cost of the Sokovia disaster to the team (when we were shown how much that affected him), they dismiss his emotional outreach as manipulative. Steve disregards his friendship at every turn (indeed, being actively hostile to him through almost all of AoU) and doesn’t trust him at all (not telling him that Bucky was programmed). He also doesn’t consider that Tony may have feelings about finding out that his parents were murdered and seems surprised that Tony would be distraught. He never apologizes for hiding such important information, or even admits he shouldn’t have. When Tony returns from space in A:IW, he’s dismissive of Tony’s anger. Right until the end of A:E, Tony has to ask if Steve trusts him to make the right decision and Tony isn’t certain the answer will be yes. Natasha also treats him like he’s unrelentingly selfish, despite having been close enough to him to be wearing his clothes (in CA:WS, she’s wearing the same sweater Tony was wearing in IM2 when the only other person she does this to is Clint, with whom she is incredibly close).

Another major theme is the continued violation of his bodily autonomy. IM1 establishes that Tony’s autonomy is represented by his Reactor and armour, and that his use of both are a means to regain control over his autonomy. Obadiah continually enters Tony’s personal space without invitation or reciprocation, going so far as to undress him without permission to look at the Reactor and this comes to a head with the theft of his Reactor. Pepper gets upset with Tony about his suits in IM3, even hinging the continuation of their relationship on him getting rid of them without addressing why he’s so reliant on them. Steve in CW, once he has Tony on the ground, goes right for the Reactor (not to mention that Tony raises his arms like he anticipated that Steve was going to behead him). Then Steve leaves him there.

I think Tony appeals to so many female fans because it’s so easy to see the way we are ignored, overridden, used and discarded in him. He never seems to be good enough for the ones that he loves. He also knows he can’t turn to any of his closest people for comfort and doesn’t bother to try. He’s been taught by experience that if he’s disruptive or not useful, he’s not welcome. It’s incredibly difficult for him to accept kindness, but very easy to shoulder blame and responsibility. He’s easily hurt, but so good at concealing it no one notices. No one takes him seriously in anything he does, even when he’s proven it with actions. He’s always fighting against preconceived notions of him that aren’t him.

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Despite being a physically imposing character with a deadly skill-set and high body-count, Bucky is characterized almost exclusively as a caregiver or a victim.

In CA:TFA, he’s got a severe case of “Eldest Daughter Syndrome”, concerned above all with making sure that Steve is taken care of and kept from harm. Bucky consistently cleans up after Steve, both by running off the people he fights and ensuring that Steve’s living situation is assured. As the team sniper, he’s always watching Steve’s back and making sure he doesn’t get hurt. Steve loves Bucky, but he doesn’t ever take care of him. In CW and afterward, Bucky’s still more concerned for Steve than himself. He would have resigned himself to whatever punishment INTERPOL would have give him, and it’s not until Steve is threatened in their fight with Tony that he actually gets involved. Even in FATWS, he helps Sam not only with the terrorists, but with the boat and he reaches out to the Wakandans to replace the Falcon suit that got destroyed. He helps Sam train with the shield, even mentioning that he was the one who helped Steve get a handle on how to use it.

His victimization also starts near-immediately, with him being the sole survivor of Zola’s experiments in CA:TFA. He’s victimized and abusively controlled through his entire time as the Winter Soldier. Like Tony, his autonomy is also materially symbolized by his arm, which is used against him by Natasha in CA:WS and Ayo in FATWS. Perhaps most upsettingly relatable, he’s held accountable for the actions of the Winter Soldier in FATWS as exemplified by the therapist, who victim-blames him and seems more concerned with checking off a box for the government than actually helping him recover in any meaningful way. Zemo capitalizes on this spectacularly in FATWS.

I think a lot of women can relate to the kind of exhausted resignation of Bucky. He’s so rarely in control of anything that happens to him, but he still tries to be useful and kind when he can. He’s scared and hurt and alone, abandoned by the only person he knew in a world completely alien and hostile to him. His body language screams for someone to take care of him, but he’d die before asking for it. He tries so desperately not to be a burden, but always feels like one. He’ll put the needs of those he cares for above himself without exception, even when it causes him a lot of distress. His body and skills don’t feel like they belong to him, and he feels like it’s only a matter of time before someone steals them away again.

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Bruce Wayne as Batman might seem like an odd example, and there are certainly iterations of him that won’t fit this characterization. However, there’s a lot about him that is highly relatable to the feminine experience.

For starters, he’s guilt-ridden as shit. Bruce always takes it hard and personal when something goes wrong, even when he’s not responsible for it. This is most obvious in relation to his parents or Jason Todd, where he blames himself for something he didn’t do and couldn’t control. While every failure he has is met with a practical reassessment of his tactics, he also looks inward, trying to find what it is about him personally that makes these things happen and/or why he isn’t enough to stop it. He has a tendency to just accept blame instead of pushing back (ei. whenever Jason throws his death in his face).

He’s been raped. However much it may be payed down, Talia drugged and had non-consensual sex with him to conceive Damian.

His main motivation isn’t revenge, it’s prevention. While he’s not above revenge, the purpose behind Batman is to ensure that tragedies don’t have the chance to happen and that, even though he uses violence to accomplish his goals, he will never be the source of that tragedy. He wants to lash out in violent retaliation, but he cares more about redressing the balance of pain than he does inflicting it back. That’s how he can be friendly with people like Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy and Two-Face.

Bruce is a single mom at his core. He might not be the best parent all or even some of the time, but he loves his children and would do almost anything for them. He gets accused of creating child soldiers (both in canon and by fans), but none of his kids are soldiers to him. They work for him as Batman, but they are so much more than his co-vigilantes. He loves them like a parent and would die for any one of them. Indeed, this is a sentiment that extends to a few members of the JLA too, especially amongst the OG crew.

Bruce’s emotions are also discounted a lot, though that’s generally because he’s taken as cold and emotionless. He feels very deeply, about nearly everything, but he’s very good at hiding it. He views his heart as incredibly vulnerable and so only reveals it to a select few. The more this backfires on him, the less he’s willing to open up and the more guarded he becomes. He cares so much, but he’s so gripped by the fear of being hurt that it has to be forcefully pried out of him.

Brucie Wayne is an expertly crafted persona that plays into the female stereotype of “ditzy bimbo”. The “tall, dark and handsome” persona could have done just as well for his public face, playing into a more mysterious and alluring figure, but he chose to portray himself as a charming drunk, always down for a good time and with all the depth of a puddle. Brucie Wayne is such a shallow and vapid personality, comparable only to that of Paris Hilton’s public profile.

As I said, not every Bruce Wayne is portrayed this way, but some of the more famous examples of him certainly are: Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series/Justice League Unlimited/The Arkham games), Bruce Greenwood (DCAMU, Young Justice), Robert Pattinson (The Batman 2022) and arguably even Ben Affleck (DCEU). He’s capable of being brutal, demanding and uncompromising, but he ultimately wants the pain to stop, not to inflict it.

I think a lot of women see him almost as a kind of power fantasy, a way to exact violent vengeance on the ones who hurt people but maintain an inner kindness. This may be a bit of a self-projection, but I also think women can relate to his “going too far” notion - for those who have been victims before, it is so, so easy to slip into the cycle of perpetuation and become the abuser. He manages to thread the needle of striking back at an abuser without becoming one.

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Dick Grayson is perhaps one of the most sexualized male characters in existence, and almost exclusively catering to the female audience, particularly once he’s Nightwing. He’s kind, warm, funny, charming, attractive and considerate. But I think a lot of his appeal comes not only from being made of boyfriend material, but the way he demonstrates these attributes.

Dick pretty generally falls into the Eldest Daughter role once he’s an adult, becoming very close with his siblings and often acting as an intermediary between Bruce and the other kids. He’s the one that the rest of the family turns to when something happens to Bruce, and he’s often the one to take up the temporary mantle of Batman when Bruce is otherwise unable. Even with the Teen Titans, he’s a tentpole figure that guides his teammates and helps them mature despite often being the same age or younger than them.

Partly due to his past as a performer, Dick is a people-pleaser. This goes for his home life, romantic relationships and general public persona. Dick is Bruce’s charming first son, Bludhaven’s affable vigilante or [insert love interest]’s considerate boyfriend. He’s a lot more genuine in his public persona than Bruce is, but he’s gracious in the way a retail employee is - a certain measure of forced cheer that’s expected of him.

The way other characters sexualize Dick is also very female-coded. They always comment on his body, the tightness of his suit and how pretty he is. While they may also comment on his charm or personality, often the first things they discuss are physical. He usually plays along with this in good humour, but even other members of his family who share a lot of characteristics - Bruce, Tim, Jason, older Damian - don’t get the same kind of horny-on-main attention. He’s also usually paired with very strong/dominating love interests (Donna, Kory, Barbara) and has a tendency to be more passive in the relationship and get pursued when dating.

I think Dick acts like a lot of women do (or feel like they have to): upbeat and cheerful, attentive to their partners/family and always available for emotional caretaking. His body is a spectacle that receives unsolicited comment and judgment constantly. He fills the gaps where Bruce falls short and struggled to find his own path and identity away from the needs of his family.

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Women are used to having to relate to male characters in media, since female characters are generally so sparse, inauthentic or underdeveloped. I think that’s why, when we see ourselves in male characters, we latch onto them so tightly and care about them so much. While none of these attributes are exclusive to women, there’s a certain way that these aspects of characterization blend together that is generally more familiar to women than it is so men. There’s an echo of lived experience in their portrayals that hits very close to home.

#long post #very very long post #batman #bruce wayne #nightwing #dick grayson #iron man #tony stark #winter soldier #bucky barnes #marvel #dc #mcu #theory on fan appeal #female fans about male characters

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averagewriter-inthedark · 2 years

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Infinity War I 🔥 | Dark Phoenix Series P.1

takes place during A:IW

Series Masterlist | Marvel Masterlist

Characters & Pairings: Dr. Evelyn Alice Stark (OC)/Host of the Phoenix Force, Wanda Maximoff/The Scarlet Witch (platonic), Steve Rogers/ Captain America (platonic) Doctor Stephen Strange (implied romance), Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier (implied romance), Tony Stark (platonic/Newphew), Howard Stark (Platonic/brother), a lot of the marvel characters will be involved in this series.

Content Warnings: profanity, near death experience, slight canon divergence, angst, violence. | Female OC (she/her) | word count: 5k roughly

Premise: Two years after the Avengers were drawn apart due to the events of the superhero Civil War, Dr. Evelyn ‘Eve’ Stark finds herself struggling with the amount of pressure the world has put on her. Though she has the help of her nephew, Tony, Eve still fears of potential future threats. And when a glowing orange ring appears in her bedroom with a strange man telling her to go with him, Eve realizes her fears are about to become reality.

Note: So the way I have these chapters set will make them very long heads up. Which is why they may take a few days—maybe even a week to come out. This chapter is basically the first half of Infinity War (Tony’s scenes) and then in part two it will be the second half. That’s where the Phoenix Force will come in for what I have planned because like in the comics, the host of the Phoenix Force absorbs it so that is what I have planned for Eve. Make sure to let me know if you wanna be tagged in the tag list for notifications on chapters. And hopefully I don’t get shadow banned anytime soon. The past three months I was and it was a pain.

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2018

“Did you know?” Three words. Three words was all it took to shatter one’s world. To snap the already thin tightrope. While the truth was already in the air, the confession was needed. Her hand was clutching the nape of his suit, fingers trembling as the numbness already began to fill her.

“I didn’t know it was him.” Her hand tightened at the lie.

“Look me in the eyes, Steve Rogers,” the crack in her tone could not be hidden. “After everything—everything I have done for you, you don’t get to bullshit me now. Did. You Know?”

Steve could no longer stray away from the truth. Staring into Evelyn Stark’s eyes, his best friend since 1942, he muttered the one word that would shred the final bit of trust she ever had in him. “Yes.”

The endless nightmare rolled on like it always did. The feeling of disbelief and betrayal, before fury as Eve hurdles her fist across Steves face while Tony preoccupies himself with Bucky. The 2v2 battle is brutal and bloody. Three super soldier—each equipped with their specialty: A vibranium shield, a steel metal arm, carbon fiber wings, and a man with a billion dollar suit.

“How could you!?” Eve’s voice carried through the facility, throwing everything she got at the man as he countered each attack. “After everything—a-after all we’ve been through—THAT I’VE DONE FOR YOU STEVE—-.”

“Eve please—.”

“I TRUSTED YOU!!!”

Emotion took over logic—no room for peace and surly no room for forgiveness.

Any excuse or explanation was out of the picture for Steve. Neither Tony nor Eve would hear it. To them, all they saw was a man who kept the truth of what happened to their family hidden for two years.

“He’s my friend.”

“So were we.”

The vision always ended the same. It flashed quickly giving no time to see what preceded or followed. First a bright light as Tony’s arc blasted Bucky’s arm off. Then Steve on top of Eve as he wrenched the wings from the pack. And finally Eve shooting a bullet into Steves side before he could bring the shield down once more on Tony.

Eve awoke with a choked gasp, moisture coating her forehead and immediately reached for the glass of water on her nightstand to quench the feeling of her dry throat. After taking a few sips, she let out a sigh while wiping away the sweat before placing the glass back on the stand.

Two years. Two years and the same nightmare took over Eve’s mind each time she slept. Then the days followed the same routine which involved barely eating while trying to keep the peace between the government and the world. Ross was like a flea, always checking in and making sure none of the remaining Avengers were stepping out of place.

Like they even would if they could. The threat of life in prison was enough for them to stay behind the line the U.N drew and not even think about crossing.

Although that didn’t stop Tony from mentoring the kid vigilante known as Spider-Man. And when Tony does something, usually Eve is there to clean up the mess if need be. But the scientist would be lying if she said she didn’t have a soft spot for the boy—despite the chaos he’s caused in New York the past year.

“Ms. Stark?” H.O.W.I.E, her A.I system’s voice rang out causing Eve to sit up straight with a ‘yes?’ “Tony is on the line asking for you. Shall I patch him through?”

Throwing the covers off, Eve picks up the earpiece on the nightstand as she makes her way to the closet. “Yeah put him through.” The moment the earpiece is inserted, Eve hears Tony’s voice through the com.

“Are you decent?” She makes a face although he can’t see her.

“I literally just woke up Tony, I’m still in my night clothes—what is it?”

“How fast can you get dressed?”

The woman scoffs, pulling down a random Henley shirt with pair of black jeans. “That depends. Are you going to tell me why the hell you need me to rush?” She could hear arguing in the background, voices she couldn’t recognize. “Who are you with?”

“Some wizards and Banner.” Her hands freeze while pulling the jeans up her legs.

“Come again? Did you just say ‘some wizards and Banner?’ Bruce Banner?”

“Yes the one and only,” Tony sighs in her ear. As Eve secures her belt before removing her nightshirt to put on her bra and Henley, she hears a voice on the other end say to Tony, ‘we don’t have any more time to wait.’ “Just one more minute—Eve I need you to double time before this wizard ends up making an unexpected visit.”

The clip of her bra snaps into place, “What the hell do you—.”

“That’s it, time’s up,” the other voice cuts in just as Eve begins to hear a strange noise coming from her bedroom. On the com she heard Tony shouting, “no-no-no, wait-wait!” Eve throws open the door, Henley in hand only to drop it as a gasp escapes when she spots a bright glowing orange ring in the middle of her bedroom. A man in a blue tunic and red cloak steps through, eyes going wide and spinning around with a ‘ah!’

“I told you she was getting dressed!” Tony yells causing Eve to spot him in the room behind the ring with his hand up to cover his eyes. That’s when she notices Bruce Banner in the flesh beside Tony, also with his hand up and blush coating his cheeks. Another man, dressed in a tunic like the cloaked man, turned around with his back toward her.

“Who the fuck are you!?” Eve screams, reaching down for the shirt and pulling it over her head in a hurry. “Ever heard of knocking?” She turns back to the closet to retrieve her leather jacket and boots, returning to the room to put them on. “You can turn around now.” All four men do so, the one in the clock visibly red with embarrassment and refusing to make eye contact with the Avenger.

“I’m sorry,” he breaths out, but Eve waves a hand with a roll of the eyes.

“Don’t worry about it, wizard,” she rises from the bed to take her wrist cuffs from the opposite nightstand, securing them on before walking up to the man. “Shall we then,” her hand gestures to the glowing ring. ‘Whatever this is must be important—otherwise you would have magically teleported her in a hurry.” The unknown man raises a hand, gesturing to Eve through the portal in an ‘after you.’

The moment the two enter, the portal closes causing her to jump back. “To think some things still surprise me,” she mutters, adjusting her jacket. When she turns back, the first person she makes eye contact with is Bruce. “Lord have mercy,” Eve breaths out, moving to the man and embracing him in a hug that he returns immediately. “Where the hell have you been?”

“It’s a long story—.”

“And one we don’t have time for,” the cloaked man interrupts, moving past the two to the middle of the room. Eve sends daggers into his back, glancing briefly at Bruce as if to say ‘we’ll continue this later,’ which he nods back in agreement. Eve then looks at Tony for answered, but he just shrugs back. That’s when she sees the giant hole in the staircase and raises a brow, “What in the hell?”

They all look to the man waiting for him to begin. “My name is Doctor Stephen Strange. This is Wong,” he motions to the other man in a tunic, who bows to them in greeting. The name sparks familiarity in Eve.

“You’re Stephen Strange?” She asks, stepping forward. “The neurosurgeon Doctor Stephen Strange?” This makes Stephen look taken aback.

“You know me?”

“Yeah,” she scoffs, nearly glaring at him. “I do. When our friend, Colonel James Rhodes, became paralyzed I hoped you would look at his case. You refused before seeing it.” Stephen clenches his jaw, glancing at the ground briefly.

“Yeah well, I’m no longer equipped for the field. And as you can see,” he gestures to the room around them, “this in the New York Sanctum Santorum of the Masters of Mystic Arts. Your friend, Dr. Banner here, happened to crash land through our roof this morning with some vital information of an impeding threat heading our way.”

“Impending threat?” Eve’s ears perk up, momentarily forgetting about the animosity she had for the former doctor.

“What do you know of the infinity stones?”

The two Starks share a look, neither finding the name familiar. “Never heard of them.”

“Oh you have,” Stephen says causing Eve to tilt her head. He continues before she could say anything, “You’re actually quite familiar with a couple of them. Wong.” All eyes go to the man standing on the opposite side. His hands were behind his back as he moved closer.

“In the dawn of the universe, there was nothing,” Wong thrusted a hand and out shined an image resembling a Big Bang, “then boom. Big Bang sent six elemental crystals hurdling across the virgin universe. These infinity stones each control an essential aspect of existence.” Eve’s breath catches in her throat when she sees the colors of the gems, realizing Stephen was right about her being familiar with some.

“Space,” Stephen calls out as the blue stone shines, followed by the red, “Reality. Power. Soul. Mind. And Time.” Bringing his hands in front of his chest, the symbol pendant opens to show a glowing green stone in its possession.

Eve and Tony share a look ridden with unease, Eve’s hand coming up to her chin as Tony says, “tell me his name again.”

“Thanos,” Bruce answers, approaching the two. “He’s a plague, Tony. He invades planets, he takes what he wants—he wipes out half of the population. He sent Loki. The attack on New York—that’s him.”

“This is him,” Tony whispered to himself while Eve closed her eyes as the hand covering her mouth began to tremble. “What’s our timeline?”

“No telling. He has the power and space stones—that already makes him the strongest creature in the whole universe. If he gets his hands on all six stones, Tony,—.”

Stephen finishes the sentence, “He could destroy life on a scale hither to undreamt of.”

“Did you seriously just say ‘hither to undreamt of’?”

“Are you seriously leaning on the cauldron of the cosmos?”

“Is that what it is—?” The billionaire is cut off when the cloak around Stephen smacks his shoulder causing Tony to jump back. Offense takes over his face, “I’m going to allow that. If Thanos needs all six why don’t we just stick this one down the garbage disposal?” Even Eve has to face palm at the idea.

“That’s not how it works, Tony.”

“No can do,” Stephen agrees.

“We swore an oath to protect the time stone with our lives,” Wong looks at Tony like he’s mad for suggesting such a thing.

“And I swore off dairy—,” Tony interjects, “but then Ben n Jerry’s named a flavor after me, so?”

“Stark Raving Hazelnut,” Stephen looks down with an unimpressed tone.”

“It’s not bad.”

“a bit chalky.” Eve stifles a giggle, trying to hide her smirk at Tony’s offended expression when Wong adds, “A hunka-hulka burning fudge is our favorite.”

“That’s a thing?”

“Also Eagle Eve’s toffee crunch,” Stephen points out causing Eve to lightly blush when they make eye contact.

“Whatever. Point is, things change,” Tony cuts in annoyed.

“Our oath to protect the time stone cannot change,” Stephens eyes narrows. “This stone may be the best chance we have against Thanos.”

“Yeah so conversely, may be his best chance against us.”

“So if we don’t do our jobs—.”

“What is your job exactly, besides making balloon animals?”

“Tony,” Eve snaps, but he ignores her and continues his stare of with Stephen.

“Protecting your reality, douchebag.”

“Okay guys,” by now Bruce has had enough with the two, moving forward to grab their attention. “Could-could we table this discussion right now? The fact is, is that we have this stone—we know where it is. Vision is out there somewhere with the mind stone and we have to find him now.”

Eve drops her shoulders with defeat as Tony looks down. Neither of them want to break it to Bruce about all that happened in the past two years he was missing, but it was inevitable. “Yeah, that’s the thing….”

“What do you mean?” Bruce looks between the two.

“Two weeks ago Vision turned off his transponder,” Eve tells him, scratching the back of her neck. “He’s offline.”

“What?!” He turns to Tony, seeing the confirmation of the billionaires face. “Tony, you lost another super bot?”

“I didn’t lose him, he’s more than that!” He defends. “He’s evolving.” Stephen steps around behind him asking, “who could find Vision then?” The question once again has the Starks glance at one another. Eve shakes her head, already refusing the idea despite knowing it was the only chance they had.

Only one man on the planet could locate Vision. And it was the last person she ever wanted to see.

“Probably Steve Rogers,” Tony finally answers and Eve turns away to avoid the inevitable discussion about to happen. The Sorcerers, knowing what took place in 2016 with Avengers, curse under their breath. “Maybe.”

Bruce, oblivious to the tension, walks up to Tony. “Call him.”

“It’s not that easy. God, we haven’t caught up in a spell have we?” Tony moves closer to the scientist, looking to see Eve has moved further away to stare at the walls of the room. “The Avengers broke up. We’re toast.”

“Broke up?” Bruce tilts his head. “Like a band? Like-like The Beatles?” If it wasn’t such a sore topic, Eve would’ve laughed at Bruce’s analogy.

“Cap and I fell out hard,” Tony looks away before adding, “Him and Eve even harder. We’re not on speaking terms.”

On any other day, Bruce would sympathize and understand the situation for the Starks. He wouldn’t expect them to drop everything and call Steve right away if they weren’t ready.

But today was not like any other day.

Time was not on their side. Thanos loomed over the horizon and was on the move. They had no way to know if he already possessed the two other stones in space or if Thor made it out alive. If they didn’t work now then the fate of the universe would be forever altered. “Tony, listen to me,” Bruce takes a step forward, voice going low to emphasize the message. “Thor’s gone. Thanos is coming it doesn’t matter who you’re talking to or not.”

“He’s right,” Eve finally says after being silent for so long. The whole time she was thinking, wondering if she could come up with a plan to track Vision instead of calling Steve. But with time at an essence and not knowing what Thanos’s next move was they needed to act quick. They all turn to her, watching her bring her arms to chest as she slowly moves back to face them. “He’s right, Tony. Believe me the last thing I want is to see Steve, but we need to act fast and if Vision is with Wanda then chances are Steve knows where they are. He can get to them faster than us.”

It goes quiet. Tony thinks for a moment before eventually sighing, stepping away to remove a small flip phone from his pocket. Flipping it open, Tony locates the only number listed on the contacts, ‘Steve Rogers,’ with the digits right below. As his thumb hovers over the call button, his attention is drawn up at a sudden sound.

Eve unfolds her arms, glancing around as it reaches her ears. It was almost like the wind, more so like a plane, but devious. It sounded a far yet drawing closer—closer with each second.

When Eve turns back to face the group of men, that’s when her attention catches Stephens. And she notices the loose strands of his hair moving side to side. “You wouldn’t happen to be moving your hair would you, Stephen?”

His hair moves faster, “not at the moment. No.”

Eve gulps, glancing up to the hole in the ceiling, “I think someone found us.” They all follow her gaze, the flicker of paper and leaves moving rapidly in the sky as the sound grows louder. Slowly, they face the door.

Silhouettes of people running on the streets skid past the stained glass. Muffled shouts of distress are heard as they approach the door, Tony leading the way and he opens it to reveal the scene before them. There’s dust in the air making it hard to see, frantic pedestrians running down the streets.

Tony heads toward the direction they are running from. As they rush past him a young lady trips, falling to the ground and he rushes to help her up. “Are you okay?” She shrieks in response, pushing him away to run. Eve feels her nerves heighten as she watches after her, gasping when a car collides with the street pole right next to her. “Help him!”

“Go, go!” Bruce waves to him as he and Wong assist the man. “We got it.” Tony quickly removes his glasses from his pocket to place them on, “F.R.I.D.A.Y, what am I looking at?” “Not sure, I’m working on it.” Tony glances back at Strange, “Hey! You might wanna put that time stone in your back pocket, doc!”

Stephen waves his hands and orange rings encase his wrists, “Might want to use it.”

Eve taps the com in her ear, “H.O.W.I.E, call for an emergency evacuation in the three mile vicinity around Bleeker Street and have emergency services en route.” “I’m on it, boss. Stand by.” Picking up the pace Eve moves beside Tony, the two walking across the street to see the source of the chaos unfolding in New York. “Is that a flying donut?”

It sure as hell looked like it. The large red spaceship was circular with a gaping hole in the middle. As it lowered down onto the city, dust gathered in the air and sent paper flying.

The five moved directly in the middle of the intersection so they were head on with the spaceship. Tony relayed the same info to F.R.I.D.A.Y that Eve said early while Strange began doing some movements with this hands. When he thrusted him forward, the dust flew back until it disparate beyond the ship, making it visibly clear to the eye.

Taken aback, Tony looked to Strange only to receive a cocky wink from the sorcerer. He rolled his eyes, missing the smirk was trying to fight, and turned back just in time to see a blue light cast down from the ship. When it touched the ground, two figures were standing in it’s wake.

“Here me,” the shorter one, Ebony Maw, called out. “And rejoice, you are about to die at the hands of the children of Thanos.” Eve felt her jaw clench, eyes narrowing as the man went on. “Be thankful that your meaningless lives are now contributing to—.”

“I’m sorry! Earth is closed today,” Tony interrupted the speech, making everyone look at him. “You better pack it up, and get out of here.”

“Stone keeper,” Maw addressed Stephen, who raised a brow in return. “Does this chattering animal speak for you?”

“Certainly not, I speak for myself” he stepped forward, clapping his hands together to form shields. “You’re trespassing in this city and on this planet.” Wong repeated the action, forming his own shields.

“That means get lost Squidward!”

“He exhausts me,” Maw sighed to his companion, Cull Obsidian, who grunted. “Bring me the stone.” Cull grips his weapon and begins moving toward the group.

Eve straightens, reading to tap her bracelets to unleash her suit when Tony says to Bruce, “Banner, you want a piece?” Sweating, Bruce fumbles with his blazer, “mmm, no. Not really. But then again when do I ever really get what I want.”

“Been awhile,” Tony cranks his neck, not seeing how Bruce was beginning to struggle transforming to Hulk. “Good to have you buddy.”

Eve glances to Bruce, wondering what was taking so long and sees the green veins poking out, but not taking full control. “Bruce you okay?” She realizes Hulk isn’t wanting to come out and becomes concerned.

“I have to concentrate one second.” Meanwhile Cull is inching closer to them, looking menacing as ever. Bruce bends his knees, trying to will Hulk out but failing all the less.

“Where’s your guy?”

“I don’t know—we’re sorta having a thing,” he sighs.

“There’s no time for a thing,” Tony pats his chest and points to Cull. “That’s the thing right there—let’s go.” Bruce leans back, green taking over his neck and groans out while leaning back. Stephen, Tony, and Eve all share a look—Stephen not looking impressed at all. “Dude you’re embarrassing us in front of the wizards.”

“I’m sorry—I can’t—or he won’t.”

Tony places his hands on Bruce’s shoulders, drawing him back a few steps beside Wong. “Okay, stand down. Keep an eye on him. Thank you.” He moves back to Eve, the two connecting eyes, “You ready?”

“When am I not?” She zips up her jacket while he tightens his just as Cull begins to run toward them. Eve taps twice on each bracelet, while Tony taps his chest, and together they unveil their new and improved suits. Golden armor runs up Eve’s arms until it’s around her whole body—wing pack and helmet to form the Iron Eagle.

It was the first time she was using the suit after completing it with Tony, so Eve prayed it did it’s job.

Tony’s Mark L fully took over just in time for Cull to bring down his hammer like weapon. Thrusting a shield out, he deflected the attack and sent Cull flying with his energy blasters. Maw then waved a hand to direct Cull into a car before he could hit him.

“Were’d that come from?” Bruce said in amazement, glancing at Eve’s golden form as well.

“It’s nanotech. You like it? A little something—,” Tony went airborne as Maw raised his hand upward, causing Eve to shout, “Tony!”Maw then three two trees at the four and Wong stepped forward while circling his hand to deflect.

“Dr. Banner, since the rest of your green friend won’t be joining us,” Stephen opened a portal beneath Bruce to the nearby park. Bruce shouted in surprise, grunting when he landed on the ground only to move quickly so he wouldn’t get crushed by the taxi that also fell through.

Together Wong and Strange used their magic to bring a car toward them, which Eve then used the blaster under hand to send it flying back towards Maw—who only lifted a finger to cut the vehicle in half. Tony landed beside Eve, letting out a frustrated huff. “You gotta get that stone out of here, now.”

“It stays with me,” Stephen says annoyed for the fifth time.

“Exactly. Bye!” Eve unleashes her wings and the two fly toward Maw, weaving through debris he sends their way. What they didn’t expect was Cull to fling his hammerhead. It trapped Tony and with Eve distracted Maw threw her into the nearby building, the glass shattering as she went through a window.

For Tony, he collides with a tree a the park, the park Bruce just so happened to be at. “Tony! You okay? How we doing—good?”

“Really-really good. Are you planning on helping out?”

“I’m trying. He won’t come out.” Cull breaks through the building across with a grunt, flinging his hammerhead again. Tony pushes Bruce out of the way and into the grass before flying back to Cull. He sends an energy beam, but Cull holds a shield causing it to hit a tree which nearly falls on Bruce.

The two circle each other, Tony blasting Cull until he’s thrown to the ground. He’s pursued by Cull, who raises his weapon to bring down on Tony only to stop midair. “Hey man,” a voice greets, clad in a red and blue suit holding back the metal from hitting Tony. “What’s up, Mr. Stark?”

“Kid, where’d you come from?” He asks Peter.

“A field trip—ahh!” Peter is cut off when Cull yanks him away. Eve shows up in the nick of time to catch the vigilante before he could smack the ground. “Oh hey, Miss. Eve!”

“Hey, kid,” She greets, setting him down. “You shouldn’t be here,” she then flies off before he could protest. Peter huffs, flinging out webs to assist the heroes, “Uh what is this guys problem, Mr. Stark?”

“Uh he’s from space. He came here to steal a necklace from a wizard.” Eve rolled her eyes beneath her mask, sending blasts to Cull while flying high to dodge his attacks. Peter goes for a shot only to get in Culls hold once more and tossed to the side. Together, the three go neck and neck with Cull. At some point Peter flutings the half taxi cab at Cull to knock him down and Eve sticks her feet out to send him flying across the grass.

A few moments later a figure skids past them. “Kid, that’s the wizard. Get on it.”

“I’m on it!“ Peter swings off with a shout. Distracted, Eve grunts when Cull wacks her full on with the hammer. The impact has her skidding several yards away and she quickly recovers to her feet.

“Uh, Mr. Stark, I’m being beamed up!” Eve curses to herself when she hears Peter’s frantic voice.

“Hang on kid,” Tony says as he fights Cull. “Eve, go!” Wings at the ready, Eve takes to the skies. Already the flying donut is airborne and moving fast towards the atmosphere.

“H.O.W.I.E, I need more power,” she says and the thrusters on her wings and feet extended before firing her up. The new suit was equipped to make her travel as fast as an F-18, faster than Sam’s wing pack and even Tony’s suit. Now Eve was reaching full speed and Tony was not too far behind her.

“unlock seventeen-A,” he said to F.R.I.D.A.Y. Knowing what it entailed, Eve looked to her right in the direction of the Avengers compound. A little trail of smoke pin pointed the object in question. “Pete, you gotta let go. I’m gonna catch you.”

“But you said save the wizard!” The boy removed his mask, “ugh I can’t breath.”

“We’re too high up, kid,” Eve tells him, the distance between her and the ship closing rapidly. “You’re running out of air. You need to let go now.”

“Oh yeah,” she heard him pant. “That makes sense.” His body fell back in time for 17-A to fly past Eve, hitting his back to allow the nanotech to unveil. Before he could collide with the ship and fall, Eve caught him in her arms. “Woah!” He shouted when she set him down. “Mr. Stark, it smells like a new car in here!”

“Happy trails, kid,” Tony came up from the side. “F.R.I.D.A.Y, send him home.” “Yep.” Before Peter could react, a parachute deployed from his back and he was off the ground, “Oh come on!” Eve shook her head, sighing as she flew up to Tony. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t relieved the boy was gone—this was far beyond Peter and she wanted him safe.

“Kid’s got heart and guts,” she held her wrist up to the wall of the ship, “I’ll give him that.” A beam hit the surface, Eve moving her wrist in a rectangular shape until it gave way and allowed an opening for the two.

Tony entered first just as F.R.I.D.A.Y said, “Boss, incoming call from Ms. Potts,” before Peppers voice filled his ears. “Tony? Oh my God, are you alright? What’s going on?” “Yeah Im fine,” he tells her, “I just think we’re going to have to push our eight-thirty res.” “Why?” “Just cause I’ll probably not make it back for awhile.”

Eve lets her helmet retract, frowning as she listens in to the conversation. “Tell me you’re not on that ship.” Tony’s helmet also retracts, his expression full of distress and regret. “Yeah.” “God—no, please tell me you’re not—.” “I’m sorry. I’m sorry—I don’t understand—.” “Come back, Tony! I swear to God.”

Pepper continues to plead to Tony, but the reception begins to give out as they draw further away from Earth. “Boss, we’re loosing her.” Eve glances to the ground, unable to see the pain in her nephews face. The call eventually cuts out, and Tony is left standing still. It’s silent between the two for a moment. “I’m sorry, Tony.”

There was nothing they could currently do. They were on a spaceship going God knows where and the only person they were aware on it were Maw and Strange. A jolt forward, nearly sending them to the ground, confirmed their suspicious they were now far away from Earth. They had to have been traveling faster than the speed of light.

“We need to find the wizard,” Tony leans against the wall when it’s finally stable again. “Then go from there.”

“Agreed,” Eve nods and the two make their way to the nearest exit. “You think he’ll break? Give up the stone?” She asks when they find a door leading to a platform.

“The wizard?” Tony scoffs, “not a chance. He wouldn’t even leave the stone some place safe. I doubt magic squidward’s gonna crack him.”

“Let’s hope not,” she sighs following behind him closely. They walk for a few minutes, climbing up platforms and railings until they finally reach an open area. It doesn’t take long for them to figure out it’s the heart of the ship. There’s a large screen-like projection taking up wall to floor and Tony leans over the edge to find Strange trapped in some needles while Maw looks on.

“Found them,” he mutters to Eve, who glances over to see the scene below. Neither notice the familiar red cloak sneak behind them until it pats Tony on the shoulder. Instantly, Tony raises his hand ready to send the threat blasting. When he realizes it’s the cloak he relaxes, “Wow, you are a seriously loyal piece of outerwear aren’t you.”

“Yeah speaking of loyalty….” Eve’s eyes nearly pop out of her head when she sees Peter hanging upside down. Tony matches her expression, “What the—.”

“I know what you’re going to say—.”

“You should not be here.” Eve cuts in angrily, before Peter begins to ramble.

“I was gonna go home—.” “I don’t want to hear it.” “—but it was such a long way down and I just thought about you two and—.” “And now I gotta hear it.” “—I got stuck to the side of the ship— and this suit…is ridiculously intuitive by the way so if anything it’s kinda your fault I’m here.”

Tony’s eyes brows go straight to his hairline, “What did you just say.” Even the cloak was shook, glancing between the two. Peter starts to stutter, his cheeks going red from his mess up, “I-I-I I take that back. And now I’m here in space.”

“Yeah,” Tony agrees, moving toward him. “Right where I didn’t want you to be. This isn’t Coney Island or some field trip—this is a one way ticket. You hear me? Don’t pretend you thought this through.”

“I did think this through,” he defends. “I did think this through! You can’t be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man if there’s no neighborhood.” Eve wanted to facepalm at Peter’s naiveness, but decided against it. The kid was there and with now way to get him home, he was stuck with them whether they liked it or not. “Okay that doesn’t really make sense, but you know what I’m trying to say.”

The stress on Tony’s face spoke a thousand words. Eventually he just gives up. “C’mon we got a situation.” Tony points over the edge to where Maw currently has Strange trapped. “See him down there? He’s in trouble, what’s your plan? Go.” Eve crosses her arms, moving to stand on Peter’s right as he crouches down to get a better look.

“Umm,” he hums, “Okay-okay umm.” Another second ticks by before he stands up. “Okay, ever see this really old movie, ‘Aliens’?”

“‘Aliens’?” Eve repeats with concern, seeing the look on Tony’s face. She wasn’t really keen on trusting the kid if his plan was based off a movie. Especially one she hasn’t seen. “Tony, you trust this?”

The man thinks for a moment shrugging, “He hasn’t failed me yet.” For a few minutes, they work together on who does what until they finally set it in motion. Tony flies directly above and behind Maw, which accordingly catches Strange’s attention and therefore causes Maw to turn around. It gives Peter, the cloak, and Eve time to get in position.

“I could end your friend’s life in an instant,” the alien threatens.

“I gotta tell you he’s not really my friend. Saving his life is more of a professional curtesy.” Eve rolls her eyes at Tony’s words but finds no surprise in them.

“You save nothing. Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine.”

“Yeah, but the kid’s seen more movies.” With that a rocket launches from the side, catching Maw off guard as it blasts a hole into the ships wall. The winds vortex pulls him in into the cold, dark world that is outer space and Strange also finds himself being pulled. The cloak catches his hand first, but the wind is too powerful and loses his grasp.

“I got him!” Eve springs into action, her wings ejecting out as she falls off the platform. Her hands wrap around Stephen tightly, colliding into him from the side so they’re not pulled into the vortex. She flies them away from the hole so Tony could seal it and sets Stephen gently down on the platform by the controls.

“Thanks,” he says to her with a huff, feeling a little dazed from what just happened. She gives him a nod, “No problem, doc. Glad to see you still have the gem causing all the trouble.” She walks away before he could answer, missing how the man watches her and focuses her attention on the large screen.

“Hey, we never officially met,” Peter drops down beside the cloak, extending a hand. The relic ignores him, moving toward Stephen and Peter drops his hand. “Cool.”

Tony lands on the platform, passing Stephen as he retracts his suit. Eve does the same by tapping her bracelets, letting the golden armor disappear. “We gotta turn this ship around,” Stephen says as Tony walks up to Eve, moving past to get a good look at what they were dealing with.

The billionaire scoffs, “Yeah. Now he wants to run. Great.”

“I want to protect the stone,” Stephen argues, but Tony isn’t having it.

“And I want you to thank me now. Go ahead I’m listening.”

“For what? Nearly blasting me into space?”

Tony spins around so fast, Eve has to step back. “Who just saved your magical ass? Me.”

“I seriously don’t know how you fit your head into that helmet.”

“Neither do I sometimes,” Eve mutters, turning away to not deal with the two going at it again.

“Admit it,” Tony continues, either not hearing his aunt or downright ignoring her. “You should’ve dubbed out when I told you to. I tried to bench you and you refused.”

“Unlike everyone else in your life, I don’t work for you,” Stephens rebuttals has Eve turning around, offense in her expression.

“Excuse me?”

Stephen raises an apologetic hand, “Okay except you—I know that.” She huffs, crossing her arms. ‘Damn right he better take that back,’ she thinks to herself.

“And due to that fact,” Tony get’s their attention once more. “We’re now on a flying donut, billions of miles from Earth with no backup.”

“I’m backup,” Peter offers, which has the Starks immediate refusal.

“No, you’re a stowaway,” Tony motions a finger between him, Strange and Eve. “The adults are talking.”

“I-I’m sorry, I’m confused as is to the relationship here. Wh-what is he? Is he your ward?” Eve couldn’t help but laugh at the assumption, “That’s a new one.”

“No,” Peter answered and goes to introduce himself. “I’m Peter, by the way.”

“Doctor Strange.”

“Oh you’re using your made up names. Um, i’m Spider-Man then.” The look on Stephen’s face nearly sent Eve into hysterics if the situation wasn’t so serious. The man looked so offended, she wondered what was going on in his head. Eventually he just walks away from the boy.

“This ship is self correcting it’s course,” Eve voices to the group. “It’s on autopilot.”

“Can we control it?” He asks. “Fly us home?”

“It’s possible…..” Eve starts and eventually trails off when she notices Tony’s expression. It’s a look she’s seen all too well. A look when he’s planning something. “What are you thinking, Tony?” The sorcerer follows her gaze at the question, noticing Tony had been quiet for awhile.

“Stark,” Stephen snaps him out of his thoughts. “Can you get us home?”

“Yeah I heard you,” his hands cross in front of him, brows furrowing as he thinks. “I think I’m not so sure we should.” Stephen’s refusal is eminent.

“Under no circumstances can we bring the time stone to Thanos. I don’t thin you quite understand what’s at stake here.”

“No—,” Tony walks up to him, clenching his fist. “It’s you, who doesn’t understand that Thanos has been inside my head for six years since he sent an army to New York and now he’s back! And I don’t know what to do. So I’m not so sure if it’s a better plan to fight him on our turf or his, but you saw what they did-what they can do. At least on his turf he’s not expecting it. So I say, we take the fight to him, doctor.”

Eve, having been silent to let Tony make his point, strokes her jaw lightly. It was a good plan. Thanos would think the ship being there was Maw with the stone as he planned, but having them there would catch the Titan off guard. “We don’t have many options here boys. At frankly I’m tired of watching you two compete on who has the biggest ego. Time isn’t on our side and I’m gonna have to agree with Tony on this one. Going to wherever this ship is heading is our best bet—and if we’re lucky, maybe we can buy time before Thanos gets more stones.”

Tony holds back a smirk, feeling triumph that his aunt agrees with him. Which is something she rarely does nowadays after the Ultron fiasco. “So, do we concur?”

“Alright, Stark,” Stephen finally says. “We go to him. But you have to understand if it comes to saving you two or the kid, or the time stone, I will not hesitate to let any of you die.” Though not surprising, it still makes the Starks clench their jaws. “I can’t because the universe depends on it.”

“Nice,” Tony pats his shoulder. “Good, moral compass. We’re straight.” He walks away, trying not to let his emotion show. Both Tony and Eve accepted this was a one-way trip, but hearing Strange say it puts it into perspective.

As he looks on after Tony, Stephen ends up connecting eyes with Eve. The super-soldier appeared stoic, doing her best to not look affected like Tony, but Stephen could pick up on her distress. Something in his chest tightens at the way her chocolate eyes stare back at him. They were piercing into his soul and part of him regretted how he spoke earlier about not hesitating to sacrifice her. She quickly looked away, pushing off the consul she was leaning against to turn her back on the sorcerer in time to see Tony approach Peter.

“Kid,” Tony says when he stands before him. The boy perks up, watching Tony’s arm go up to make the shape of an ‘A’ across the boys chest. “You’re an Avenger now.”

All Evelyn Stark could do now was hope and pray the mission goes as planned. Get to wherever it was the ship was going, have Thanos find them and defeat him before any more stones could be collected. Earth was far from their grasp, their only hope being the remaining heroes that assembled.

The fate of the universe was in their hands.

And chaos is sure to follow if the odds don’t fall in their favor.

…………………………….

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