A powerful gust of wind suddenly hit Peter from behind, making him stumble forward. Where was this wind coming from? He was certain the base had been completely sealed when he'd entered it earlier.
Then again, he was pretty sure several holes had been blown through the walls and ceiling. But even accounting for that, the wind hadn't been nearly this strong before.
Peter Parker's eyes snapped wide open as he spun around in mid-air, letting out a startled yelp of surprise.
What the hell was happening?! Or more importantly—where exactly was he right now?!
He clearly remembered that the base that he came with the other Avanger definitely didn't have flying cars zipping around like this. Not unless Tony had been holding out on some serious tech upgrades.
Spider-Man quickly shook his head to clear his thoughts and fired a web line at the nearest building, swinging frantically through the air to dodge an oncoming speeder that had nearly clipped him.
"Whoa!" Peter shouted, doing his best to weave between the aerial vehicles as he searched desperately for somewhere solid to land.
Wait—solid ground?
He'd just landed on what he thought was a rooftop, but it was moving. Peter dropped to all fours and practically glued himself to the surface with his spider powers, realizing he was now crouched on top of some kind of flying transport vehicle.
As he tried to make sense of his surroundings, Peter's mind raced with the same question over and over: "What the hell is going on?!"
All he could remember clearly was that blinding, overwhelming flash of light. One moment he'd been fighting in the Hydra base, and the next... this. Whatever 'this' was supposed to be.
Usually when people found themselves somewhere they didn't recognize, they tried to piece together the details of how they'd gotten there. But Peter was already certain of one impossible thing—he had somehow traveled to another world entirely. This wasn't a dream or a hallucination. This was definitely, terrifyingly real.
Peter Parker, a somewhat genius high school student from a world full of superheroes, was now absolutely convinced he was no longer anywhere near the Hydra base.
Actually, Peter was growing more certain by the second—his head was pounding worse now—that he wasn't even on Earth anymore. He had to be on some kind of alien planet.
"This cannot be happening right now," Spider-Man muttered to himself, his voice tight with barely controlled panic.
"Hey there!"
Peter blinked and looked down through his mask to see a creature with a distinctive crested head, an unusually large mouth, and long, droopy ears staring up at him from inside the vehicle's cockpit.
"What exactly are you doing on my transport?" the alien asked, sounding more curious than angry.
"That... that alien thing can speak perfect English. What is going on—" Peter mumbled to himself, his mind struggling to process this new impossibility.
"Sorry about this," Peter said aloud, his voice cracking slightly with nervousness. "I just... really needed a ride, I guess."
"Well, whatever you say, kid." The way the crested alien spoke seemed oddly familiar to Peter somehow. Had he somehow ended up in some kind of space-age version of New York? That would explain the English, at least.
"Look, I'm really sorry for jumping onto your ship without asking permission first," Spider-Man said, his tone apologetic but still shaky with confusion.
Without any warning, Spider-Man suddenly leaped off the transport, causing the crested alien's heart to skip a beat as he watched the figure in red and blue spandex plummet toward the sprawling cityscape far below. The alien pilot stared in amazement as he witnessed the strange young man shoot out some kind of rope or cable and begin swinging away between the towering buildings. Stunned into silence for several long moments, the crested alien finally scratched his head in complete disbelief at what he'd just seen.
Spider-Man eventually came to rest on a curved rooftop, his legs shaking from exhaustion and adrenaline. His whole body trembled as he staggered over to sit down, gazing out over the alien city that seemed to stretch endlessly in every direction.
When Peter finally pulled off his mask, his face showed a mixture of shock, confusion, and deep worry etched across his young features.
Where had he ended up after that mysterious bright flash? More importantly, where were all the others Avenger who had been with him? Peter's eyes widened with sudden panic as he quickly pulled his mask back on and activated the built-in communication system.
"Hello? Mr.Stark, are you there?" Peter called out frantically into his comm system. "Mr.Pym? Can anyone hear me? Matt? Mr. Clint...? Is anyone out there? Please, somebody answer me!"
The only response that came back was cold, empty silence.
Peter's shoulders slumped as he felt his whole body begin to tremble again. He wasn't just thinking about his own impossible situation anymore, but about all the Avenger that with him on that base with him. Most importantly, he was thinking about...
Peter pulled off his mask once more, buried his face in his hands, and rested his elbows on his knees as he asked himself in a voice filled with confusion and despair: "What am I supposed to do now?"
Meanwhile, across the galaxy at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
The magnificent structure rose proudly into the sky with its five distinctive spires, having served as the headquarters of the Jedi Order for countless centuries. The Jedi had long been the peacekeeping guardians of the Republic, a role that had become even more crucial now that a devastating galactic war was raging across the stars.
In one of the Temple's many training rooms, Ahsoka Tano moved forward with focused determination, gripping her lightsaber in the basic stance her master had been patiently teaching her to perfect.
Her current sparring partner was none other than Barriss Offee, a fellow Padawan who studied under Jedi Master Luminara Unduli. Barriss had become one of Ahsoka's closest friends ever since their first mission together, when they had been tasked with escorting the captured Neimoidian leader Nute Gunray back to Coruscant for trial. Although that particular mission had ultimately failed due to unforeseen complications, the experience had forged a deep and lasting friendship between the two young women.
After finishing their intensive training session, the two Padawans were walking together through one of the Temple's many long corridors when their attention was suddenly caught by the familiar, distinctive sound of a LAAT gunship flying past the tall windows.
Moving closer to one of the large transparisteel windows, they looked outside and could see the temporary clone trooper base that had been established right next to the Jedi Temple. Multiple military ships were constantly flying in and out of the facility, while countless white-armored clone troopers could be seen moving about in the distance, preparing for their next deployment.
"Our little vacation is almost over," Ahsoka observed with a slight sigh. "How many days do you have left before you're back on active duty, Barriss?"
Barriss shrugged her shoulders and replied, "Tomorrow is actually my last day of leave."
"Same here," Ahsoka said as she settled herself on the wide windowsill. Barriss joined her, sitting beside her friend as they both gazed out at the bustling military activity.
"Do you know where you're being deployed next?" Ahsoka asked. "I overheard Anakin mentioning something about Felucia, but nothing's been confirmed yet."
"Probably one of the Outer Rim planets," Barriss replied with another shrug. "Master Luminara said we'll get our official assignment by noon tomorrow. The whole atmosphere around here has been pretty tense for the past few days."
"Yeah, that hostage situation in the Senate building last week really shook everyone up," Ahsoka said, her expression growing more serious. "I think that's one of the main reasons why Anakin and I, along with a lot of other Jedi, were given this extended break from active duty."
"What exactly happened there?" Barriss asked, a note of genuine concern creeping into her voice. "I heard some rumors about bounty hunters taking senators hostage, but I never got the full story."
"That's pretty much the situation," Ahsoka confirmed with a nod. "This bounty hunter that the Republic has been tracking—they call him Cad Bane—managed to capture several high-ranking senators and used them as leverage to force Chancellor Palpatine to release Ziro the Hutt from prison."
"Wasn't that the same Hutt who worked with Count Dooku to try and destroy the Republic's alliance with the Hutt Clans?" Barriss asked, remembering previous conversations they'd had about various missions.
"Exactly right," Ahsoka said with a slight smile. "That whole mess was actually the very first real mission that Anakin and I went on together as master and Padawan." Her smile grew wider as she shook her head at the memory. "We spent so much time running around, dodging attacks, getting into trouble..."
"That sounds absolutely exhausting."
"It definitely was sometimes," Ahsoka admitted with a laugh, gazing out the window at the endless cityscape of Coruscant stretching to the horizon. "But... Anakin told me afterward that having me there beside him as his Padawan was the will of the Force. That we were meant to be a team."
Barriss studied her friend's face for a long moment, noticing the way Ahsoka's expression had softened. "You really do look up to him, don't you?"
Ahsoka blinked in surprise, then felt her cheeks grow warm with a slight blush after a moment of consideration. "Is it really that obvious?"
Barriss just smiled knowingly. "I think it's wonderful to have someone you can look up to as a role model. Someone who inspires you to be better."
Ahsoka's face lit up with a happy smile. "We definitely have a lot of hard work ahead of us if we ever want to measure up to our masters someday."
Both young women laughed together at that thought, enjoying this peaceful moment of friendship. But suddenly...
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