𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐔𝐒𝐊

17. 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆, 𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝘂𝘀𝗸

But then the sound of whirling noise caught their attention, struggling from something. Eszter rolls onto her stomach when she sees Adrian trying to take flight with the crates, but he barely lifts the box.

"Your wingsuit," Peter exclaims tiredly. Eszter frowns as she noticed his suit sparking and burning up. The enhanced pushes herself up to a sitting position. "Your wingsuit's gonna explode!"

Peter slowly lifts his trembling arm, trying to stop Adrian for another reason; he rises to his feet as he tugs on the crate. His feet dragged a little into the sand, but Peter keeps his feet firmly in the sand.

"What are you doing?" Eszter furrows her brows.

However, Peter doesn't respond; instead, he struggles to hold the crate down, so Eszter groans in defeat. Quickly the enhanced rushes behind Peter and grabs the web, surprising Peter. Holding her place, Eszter hadn't expected to be dragged through the sand suddenly, and she wonders how Peter planted himself firmly in the sand.

Adrian sighs in annoyance, thinking that these kids don't seem to give up; he turns around. With half of his face caked with dirt and stained with dried blood, Adrian's state resembled Eszter and Peter.

"It's time to go home, Pete."

"I'm trying to save you!"

However, Adrian ignores him and cuts the string with his wings, causing the two friends to fall to the ground abruptly. Eszter yelps suddenly but quickly looks up. Adrian's wings beamed brighter than before, seeming to struggle from being overworked.

Eszter glances back at Peter, but the boy couldn't save Adrian because he had run out of webs; Eszter feared the worst for Adrian. They watched as the wings were letting out a colorful spark in its trail, but Adrian could barely move any more by how weak his wings were. Suddenly, on the last straw, the wings explode.

Peter yelps as he instinctively wraps his body around Eszter protectively, letting the enhanced curl into a ball as she felt the boy lay his arm over her head, shielding her from the sparks and debris. Adrian glances over to his wings, falling from the sky and onto the ground as it explodes again. Eszter shrieks, but once the destruction settles, Peter looks off to where Adrian had fallen.

"No," Peter grits his teeth as he forces his aching body back onto his feet.

"Peter, wait! You can't go in that! You don't even know if he's alive," Eszter claims.

Peter glances back at his friend. "I have to, E. He could be alive, and if he is, I have to save him," with one final look, he runs into the fire.

Eszter huffs as she watches Peter running into the fire, covering her mouth to cough as it was starting to become more difficult to breathe; the enhanced's throat was dry and scratchy, but Eszter didn't want to leave until she sees Peter return. She was stressed and anxious when Peter still hadn't come back, making Eszter panic a little as time passes.

Finally, Eszter perks up when she sees a silhouette emerging from the flames, so she takes a few steps forward to get a good look at the figure; to Eszter's relief, Peter trudged out of the fire with Adrian slumped around his shoulder, struggling to carry the man out of danger.

"Thank god," the enhanced mumbles as she rushes to their aid. Peter drops Adrian on the ground as he falls with him, too weak to carry the man any longer. His muscles were aching. Eszter hurries to Peter's side, examining him. "Are you insane? Are you hurt?"

Peter admires Eszter's caring nature, always making sure someone else was okay before worrying about herself. There it is again--the butterflies. "I'm fine," he assures. Peter feels different around Eszter again, and he didn't fight it.