Fall of the Mighty ★ [4] ✔

Out of Time

My senses pricked suddenly. My fingertips tingled and a shiver rattled down my bruised spine. Something felt wrong. I could feel the tension in the air. I turned to look behind me. There was nothing but white, but I could sense there was more out there.

And then I saw something. I saw the sun reflect off it in the distance. The gunshot was loud. I could hear it from a mile away.

My instincts kicked into gear. I raised my hand. A golden ring of power flashed, circular waves pulsing out as far as the eye could see. The snowflakes falling from the sky slowed. The wind was a thin breeze. The thundering of the quinjet tailgate dropping was low and sluggish. Steve and Bucky staggering towards it froze.

There, hanging in midair, was a flying bullet. It moved slowly like through honey, aimed straight at me. In the distance, I saw the recoil flash of whoever fired it on a snowy ridge.

The stark black hair of someone familiar caught my eye. She strolled to stand in front of me, watching me with mirror imaged bright green eyes. She looked so different. So unlike our last encounters. She wore a black dress, the sleeves beginning along her biceps and cascading down like a river. Her dark hair flowed out of her like a veil. Her makeup wasn't dark, but hardly there, allowing those green eyes to shine even more.

She looked like she was attending a funeral. And she was. Because knew what this was. 

"Hello, Andi," she greeted in a hushed tone.

I swallowed roughly. "Are you the Reaper?"

My dark double began circling me, watching me with grim eyes and a steely expression. She shook her head, her black hair shimmering in the cold light. "The Reaper will come in due time. For now, we talk."

I squinted. "About what?"

"You know what." Those eyes flicked to Steve. "It's time to make your decision."

I bit down hard, so hard that it felt like both my jaw and teeth would shatter with the pressure. This was the payment. This was the trade for Strange's spell. This was the decision.

"I...I can't," I stuttered, trying desperately to hold back the flood of tears.

Dark Andi tipped her head, her hair pooling over her shoulder. She raised her chin in turn. "This is not for the spell. This is for the good of mankind. This is for all of time."

What? What did that mean? Of...of course this was about the spell. Eilian had said that I had to make a decision. She'd said that too. If this wasn't about that, then what the hell was going on here?

"The Reaper is coming to collect a life today," Dark Andi said. "Whose life is up to you." She continued her prowling. "The world needs heroes. The world needs a leader. A freedom fighter to protect everything it stands for. To defend the world we've spent many a millennium to defend." She halted, turning to face me full on. "An Avenger." Her eyes flicked to Steve again. "The Avenger."

My eyes fell on the bullet as Dark Andi moved to stand behind it, the choice and decision to be made fuelling its path forward. Dark Andi pointed at it. "This is your decision, Andromeda. Captain America. Steve Rogers. He has saved the world. And he has damaged it. The Second World War. New York. Sokovia. The Battle for the Chronos." She gestured around the cold plains. "This. He has saved people. And he has sentenced them to death."

"What are you saying?" I whispered, and yet I was afraid to hear the answer.

Dark Andi glanced at me. Her expression was like a stone angel. But her eyes spoke what her look did not. Her eyes expressed more than her face ever could. "The world needs Captain America," she said. "But he dies here today. Unless you make the choice."