super super. peter parker

𝗙𝗜𝗙𝗧𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗘

CHAPTER FIFTY THREE
the endgame

Doctor Strange's portals ripped holes through the sky for miles, opening out onto the battlefield. Eddy stood back for a moment, observing the black of the sky, the expanse of alien technology suffocating the horizon. Thanos stood at the head of his army, the same commanding figure he had been the last Eddy had seen of the real world. That felt like both years and minutes ago.

He felt his suit unfurl around his body like a second skin, black and edged with neon green. The familiarity felt cool but his body felt foreign as his feet stepped upon solid ground for the first time in what felt like an eternity.

Yet like muscle memory, Eddy's body seemed to know what to do as the fighting began. Split had returned completely, but something else had joined him. That familiar darkness seemed to seep from his body, materialising in thick, black clouds, clinging to the ground like a fog. Eddy closed his eyes, feeling everything around him. The dangerous noise filled and clogged his senses but he could feel that power responding to his movements, following him loyally.

Eddy didn't question it.

But while his body screamed for a release of energy, his mind screamed for something else. His eyes scanned the battlefield. Looking for familiar figures, one most of all. When his search came up empty, he closed his eyes, took in a breath, and teleported.

"You will not believe what just happened. Do you remember when we were in space? And I got all dusty? And I must've passed out because I woke up and you were gone. But Doctor Strange was there, right? And he was like, 'It's been five years, come on they need us'. And he started doing the yellow sparkly thing that he does all the time."

Peter was rambling, the sound and sight pulling something light back into Eddy, the feeling affectionate and warm against the cold that trembled his body. Tony shook his head, the look on his face haunting yet filled with relief. In one swift movement, he pulled the boy into a hug, trapping him in tight arms.

"What are you doing?" Peter stuttered, but then after one single, unsure moment, he held him just as tightly. "Oh, this is nice."

"Forget about me?"

Eddy dropped down beside them. With barely enough time to finish his words, the two were pulling him in with them, trapping him in the middle. He almost wanted to cry, beneath the weight of it all. So long in solitude had left him unfamiliar with the presence of others and unable to remember the rawness of being with those he loved.

"God, I'm so glad you're both okay," Tony said, pulling away slowly, wary of their surroundings.

Eddy looked to Peter next, finding him already staring with a smile. Yet as he opened his mouth to speak his own truth, a huge hulk of metal came flying down from the spaceships above, sending them both flying in opposite directions. Uncontrollable, Eddy felt his power slip out from beneath him, shooting as fast as a bullet at the aliens that streamed out from the fallen carrier, engulfing them one by one, suffocating them on the spot, some disappearing entirely.

With Peter gone, Eddy looked for a familiar face in the sea of invaders and found that he could see none. At that moment, the battlefield did not feel so dissimilar to the place he had been caged after the snap. The isolation amongst a field of enemies, all wary of his newly-found presence.

As if sensing his loneliness, Wanda dropped down beside him, stumbling slightly as she landed. Here eyes were dark and hollow, stricken with a grief he had not long shared. She engulfed him in a hug, the lingering tendrils of her power wrapping around them both like a shield. Wanda's eyes were glossy and her lip quivered, but she nodded away whatever pain she was holding and widened her stance. No words were shared. They didn't need to be. There was a silent agreement hanging between them. Together.