Mind Full of Roses // Peter Parker

3.6: 'We Don't Abandon Family'

Darkness swallows us. So black and so so cold that for one small moment I think that my fight is over. That this terrible dream has finally ended. Yet as I pinch my leg, the pain that follows leaves a foul taste in my mouth. A bittersweet taste that makes my throat close with guilt. Guilt for the world that I failed to protect and guilt for the world that I oh so hoped to abandon.

Yet, if this was the end, then it'd be a fitting one for someone who's world abandoned them when they were so young. A payment that if I look closer, doesn't seem as expensive as it did yesterday.

My abdomen aches with a pulsing sting, a wet warmth making my suit stick to my skin. A mixture of blood and sweat that can only mean one thing: I'm still alive. But as I feel the warmth spread slowly spread across my stomach as the darkness continues to warp around me and Thanos' fist remain ironlike around my throat, I start to doubt the ratio of blood to sweat that I first thought it was.

We lurch forwards as though stepping off an escalator and we seem to step out of the dark realm that I was in and back into a world full of colour. I almost feel as though I'm trespassing as my eyes clear and focus on the greenery around us. The large trees stretching overhead and dewy grass seem as though they're too pure for the blood and war that I bring with me. Even the birds in the trees stop singing as they catch sight of us.

Thanos' grip leaves my throat and trails down a couple inches before closing over the base of my neck to guide me into a clearing I hadn't seen before. In the middle I see two people. A woman and a man. Wanda and Vision. I remember sitting down in Peter's room as he told me all about the Avengers and their powers. He said that Wanda was experimented with the Mind Stone. When he told me the story I felt somewhat attached to her. We've both been through almost the same thing and I always wanted to meet her. But not like this.

Not with tears rolling down her eyes as the love of her life begs her to kill him. Not as her heart shatters into pieces when Thanos throws me to the ground and steps towards them. Not with her soulmate dying by her hand.

Her cries of anguish fill the woods, creating a scattering of birds as they fly from this cursed place. If only the birds could take us with them. If only the birds could teach us to fly. Maybe then I wouldn't have to grip onto a branch to stand on my feet as my vision sways from blood-loss.

I take a step forward and take a dagger from my belt. My last dagger. My last hope for saving at least one person's life. I close an eye to steady my aim and try to tame my shaking hand. Wanda stares at Vision as he cracks begin to form on his face but they falter when Thanos manages another step forward. This is the time. I throw the dagger and watch as it sails through the air, slipping past Thanos' armour and into the small crack where his helmet and chest piece meet.

Thanos hardly blinks. He turns to me with a growl and knocks me to the ground, my eyes blurring from blood loss and a concussion. Yet when he turns back around, Vision lays on the ground, the stone in his forehead destroyed along with Wanda's heart. She lay kneeling on the floor next to him, quite sobs wracking her body as she cradles his lifeless head in her hands.

I feel the emotion rolling from her and feel my own tears begin to form from the raw sounds coming from the crying girl. They really were a match made in heaven, but unfortunately this is earth.

Thanos merely rolls his eyes at the sight and clicks his finger. Vision's body begins to lift and contort as time rewinds. The birds fly backwards and I feel a small twinge of sadness for the poor animals that never manage to escape in the end, and instead got dragged back.

My dagger returns to my belt and finally, Vision stands before me once again, only to be killed by Thanos. Thanos buries his large fingers into Vision's head, twisting and pulling until the yellow Mind Stone comes free into his colossal palm. Vision's eyes cloud over with a storm-cloud-grey and falls onto the floor in a colourless heap. Wanda stares blankly at his body, too devoid of any emotion other than grief to care about Thanos next to her who has moved onto the next stone. Me.