Bright Blue Skies [P. Parker] [complete]

Eleven - Darkness

She was wrenched from Peter and thrown into the air.

It felt cold, at first, but then it felt like thousands of tiny knives were digging into her skin.

She was held in the air somehow as she screamed, the pain soon becoming unbearable.

In the midst of her agony, she could hear Peter screaming too, but couldn't focus on him long as more knives seemed to pierce her flesh.

She could feel it, but couldn't open her eyes to check.

She screamed. "Help!" she sobbed. "Help! Please, help!"

The knives seemed to retreat and she was dropped to the cold ground.

"No one's gonna help you, sweetheart." one of the men jeered, nudging her thigh with his foot. "No one cares."

Then she was blasted again, and was floating, tiny knives piercing her one again.

Through her pain, she felt hands all over her body.

She felt sick. "Stop," she said quietly, as it seemed her voice wasn't working anymore.

"What was that, sweetheart?"

"Stop!"

The two men who were around her were blasted away.

One crashed into the guy torturing Peter, and Peter dropped to the ground.

Briar dropped as well, her eyes rolling back in her head and her world turning black.

-☼-

When Peter and Briar were blasted, he thought that was it. That was how they would die.

At least I won't be alone, he thought selfishly, then scolded himself. It was his fault Briar was there. It was his fault that she would die.

Then something happened.

It was like a wave washing over him. It was strong and cold, but didn't hurt him.

Then he fell to the ground, and realised that the three men that were torturing him were dead.

He shot to his feet despite the pain and exhaustion racking his body and turned to Briar and gasped.

Her skin was pale, almost ghostly, and her eyes were closed. Her hair was nearly white, splayed out around her hair like a halo. But it wasn't what she looked like that scared him. It was the ground around her.

The little grass in the cracks was black and dead, and a starburst of black spread out from her body.

It was as if a bomb had charred the ground around her.

Peter staggered away as the blackness continued to spread.

"Bri?" he said nervously. "Briar, wake up!" nothing happened. "Briar! Briar, please!"

Then her eyes snapped open.

And they were as black as the ground around her.

Darkness rolled off her in waves, and Peter broke out in a terrified cold sweat.

"Briar?" he asked weakly.

Her pitch-black eyes turned to him slowly.

"Briar?" he was fully scared now. Hands shaking and heart pounding painfully, gasping for air he just couldn't seem to find and eyes filling with tears.

The darkness continued to spread.

Peter could barely move back fast enough.

"Briar, please stop." he cried. "I'm scared!"

The darkness froze.

Then, with a roaring noise, it retreated back into Briar's chest.

Her head fell and then shot back, staring up at the sky.

When her head fell back to its normal position, her eyes were back to being sky blue.

Then they rolled back in her head.

Peter darted forward, catching her before she hit the ground.

"Briar, what the hell?" he muttered, carefully picking her up.

He looked around. Jesus Christ.

Everything within a twenty-foot radius, except for him, was dead. The was a black starburst on the ground, and as he watched, white lines webbed the black, making swirls, spirals and other designs.

Before his eyes, the white lines wrapped around his ankles and up his body. They glowed brighter and brighter until he had to close his eyes against the glare.

Then he felt great.

His back straightened and his arms strengthened. He felt great. No, he felt better than great. He felt amazing.

The glowing lines receded and the dark patch disappeared.

Peter looked down at Briar, who was still asleep.

Then, before his eyes, a ghostly figure rushed up to them.

He seemed to be shouting something, but the blood was rushing in Peter's ears so loud that he couldn't hear anything but that.

As the rushing subsided, he began to make out the words the person was saying.

"Is she okay?" he was asking. His voice sounded misty and far off, as if he was speaking through a tunnel. "Peter freaking Parker! What happened to my sister?"

"Sister?" he asked dumbly. "Oh. Milo? You're... You're dead."

"Yeah, no shit." Milo scoffed. "What did you do to her?"

"I- I didn't-"

"Why are these people dead? Who are these people?"

"I don't-"

"You're Spider-Man? Why didn't you save her?"

"I tried, okay? Something- Those guys. They did something. Those guns, they... They hurt people. She- They-" Peter was on the verge of panicking now.

Milo sighed. "Okay, chill, dude. What happened?"

And Peter explained what happened, as best he could, at least, since he didn't really know what had happened.

When he finished, Milo looked slightly scared and very, very worried. He looked at Briar. Then he sighed. "You need to get her home. I'll guide you there."

"Wait." Peter said, tightening his grip on Briar. "How... How can I see you?"

Milo folded his arms. "My guess? Whatever happened to Briar affected you. She killed those guys, and I'm guessing that she brought you close enough to death that you can now see me." he tilted his head. "I'm not sure how long it'll last, but you've got this weird glow that normal people don't have. It's fading even now. We should go."

Then he turned, beckoned Peter to follow him, and they left.

~~~

A/N

Hehe did you like it?

I had so much fun writing this chapter, and I'm pretty proud of it.

Briar is so much more powerful than she knows, tbh. Like, this is a HUGE step up from seeing ghosts. But yeah. Fun times.

Poor Peter. Scared and panicking.

It is a sad life.

- amy