Adventures in Babysitting ↠ Peter Parker [1] ✓

11 | Satan's Backyard

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ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING
xi. SATAN'S BACKYARD

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   ESSENTIALLY, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. At least, to a child that is. Children are the foundation of the future, and constituted upon that future exists the building blocks of their minds. Their dreams are their reality. They learn how to imagine before they can formulate words. Hand-drawn pictures display their dreams in physical form, and when they fall asleep, their dreams live on. Fantasies don't exist to children, for anything is possible.

   But at some point, children wake up. They discover the truth about the world around them and learn to locate the line between what is and isn't real. Magical realms aren't hidden in the back of wardrobes. There isn't a magical fairy that steals your lost teeth and rewards you with gifts. Horrific monsters don't live under your bed, nor do unicorns exist.

   Riley Stark, on the other hand, was one of those rare cases in children who found it more and more difficult to determine the truth between reality and fantasy.

   She had always been convinced that fantasies were for little kids and that they were nothing close to reality until she proceeded to work her way up in S.H.I.E.L.D. and learned more about the world she resided in. Magic, superheroes, Norse Gods — they're all real. Fantasies become reality.

   But if there was one thing she would have never believed until she saw it herself, it was that aliens were real. Time and time again, she fought against gruesome aliens and other various beings from outer space. However, this time was different. Why?

   Because Riley Stark had never been kidnapped off of Earth by an alien before until about one week ago.

   "I really hope this works."

   She sat with her legs crossed on the grass. Where she was, she didn't know. It certainly wasn't Earth or any planet in the near Solar System. Her arm was propped up against a rock with one of her silver cuffs emitting a blinking light, indicating that it was recording.

   "It's been, uh, I think a week since I arrived here. I've been trying to keep track of the days by making marks on that tree over there." Riley moved her arm to show the tree behind her with seven tally marks carved into the bark. "It doesn't sound like very long, but I swear it feels like it's been forever."

   She glimpsed away from the camera that always seemed to be recording footage due to the protocols Tony put in her suit. She plucked the blades of grass beneath her with her free hand.

   "I wanted to make this for myself... to remind myself of what's happening in case I start losing it or something," Riley lightly admitted. She glanced back up at her silver cuff. "A week ago, Thanos acquired all six Infinity Stones and annihilated... uh, 50% of all life. I watched a lot of people turn to dust. I thought I would join them in death, too, but I didn't. Actually, I just passed out from blood loss. I wish I could say I was relieved, but... I'm not."