As soon as Steve and Bucky leave, Ned sits in the seat next to Eloise and Peter grabs his backpack, pulling out his suit.
"I don't think it's motion sickness," Peter supposes as he quickly strips down to his boxers. He stumbles slightly on his jeans, but tugs them off his feet and then slips on the red and blue attire.
"Are you sick or something?" Ned asks with his brow drawn.
Eloise licks her chapped lips. "No," she lets out. "I don't know. Probably." She turns her head and watches as Peter's suit clings to his body as he presses the emblem on his chest. "Don't worry about me, though, I just have, like, a stomach bug or something. If I start to feel better, I will help you guys out, but either way, we need to stay focused on the task at hand."
The boys nod.
"Getting to the wormhole," Peter says.
Ned adds, "And stopping Russo from going back in time."
A moment passes between them when they just look at each other. How did they end up here, anyways? Months ago, Peter was just her neighbor and Ned was a guy who came around to build a LEGO set. Now, the three of them are held together with a special bond that none of them can explain. None of their families know where they are, no one else knows about Spider-Man's identity, and they're all gathered across the country with Captain America to save the world. Eloise's entire life has changed within a few short months that feel like lifetimes. She may have only known Peter and Ned for those few months, but she is willing to die for them.
Something tells her that she's not the only one who's thinking that as she studies the two boys in front of her.
The plane lands with little bumps. Finally, the pain clutching to Eloise's body subsides and she feels her head clear and stomach settle. Her sides no longer feel cramped up and she lets out a small breath of relief.
"I think I'm good now," she tells the boys. Eloise turns her head and she looks at Ned. "I can help you now."
A nervous smile wavers on Ned's lips. "Good, because I didn't think I'd be able to do it alone."
The plane stops moving and Steve and Bucky make a reappearance, this time in their suits. Steve's is darker than Eloise remembers, the bold red now dull and less visible and the blue darkened to a navy color. Even the star on his chest isn't white anymore; it's dark gray. As tough and threatening Steve looks, Bucky still outweighs him on the threatening level. His chest is clad in a navy vest that covers one arm, leaving his metal limb on display. His emotionless stare has returned to his eyes, but it isn't as cold as before. It's just serious.
Peter shoots to a standing position. Steve goes over their plan one last time to him, and as he does, Bucky's gaze slips from Captain America to Eloise. She can't read his expression.
When Steve pats Peter on the back, Bucky returns his stare to the two superheroes in front of him.
"There's no going back," Steve says to Peter.
He nods. His face is set and his jaw is locked. He's ready. "I know."
A ghost of a smile crosses Steve's lips as he looks down at Peter. Maybe he sees himself in him—young, strong, and willing to do whatever it takes to keep everyone safe.
Bucky opens the door and light floods in. He looks back at everyone. "Let's go."
Steve follows closely behind Bucky, Steve's shield in hand and Bucky's arm carrying a large, terrifying gun.
Peter hesitates. He looks back at Ned and Eloise and takes one long stride to his best friend before wrapping him in a tight hug. Ned squeezes him back just as tight.
"We got this," Ned assures him.
Peter nods and the two separate. Then, he looks at Eloise. The look in his eyes—worry swirled with fondness and something else she can't place—causes her stomach to flip, but in a good way. She pushes herself out of the leather seat and meets Peter halfway. His strong arms wrap around her frame as she pulls his body closer to her. Eloise's head rests against his shoulder, his chin on her head.
"Be careful," she whispers.
"Always."
Just as he's about to let go of her, he suddenly tenses and his body goes rigid.
"Eloise," he whispers. "Something's not right. I can feel it."
Eloise pulls back from him and looks at Ned. He didn't hear him, so she returns her questioning gaze to Peter.
Her mouth opens, about to ask Peter what he's talking about, but he cuts her off.
"Stay safe," He says, the statement directed at both Ned and Eloise as he backs towards the door. He picks up his mask from his seat and pulls it over his head. "Don't get caught."
And then he's gone. He exits the plane and secures the door behind him, leaving Ned and Eloise alone in the private jet.
A thought hits Eloise like a brick wall: that might've been the last time she'll ever see Peter again; he might not make it out alive.
Determined to not let that happen, Eloise turns to Ned. "Let's hack the system."
He instantly moves into action, pulling out his laptop and Peter's. He sets them side-by-side and pulls up different tabs. Eloise's mind can't keep up with his fast coding as he enters the system like the genius he is and a password screen pops up. He digs deeper into the coding and gets zoned-out from the surrounding world, his mind only on hacking into security as his eyes zip back and forth across the screen for the next few minutes.
The pain in Eloise's head and side comes and goes in waves. One moment she's fine, but then the next she's doubled over. It's like a switch being turned on and off.
Ned breaks into the security system and unlocks the back door. Steve, Bucky, and Peter are supposed to be hiding somewhere near there, but there are many guards dressed in protective uniforms holding guns on patrol. She leans closer to the screen and counts at least seven by the back door.
Ned slides on a headset that he and Peter wired so that they could talk back and forth easily. He modifies the settings of it on the computer so Eloise can hear what Peter says through the computer's speaker, too.
"North door is unlocked," Ned speaks into the mic attached to the headset. "Looks like about a half a dozen guards patrolling, though, so you'll have to take them down first."
Peter's muffled voice replies, "Copy that."
A sharp pain shoots through Eloise's chest. Her breath is caught in her throat.
"Okay, your turn to guide them, Eloise," Ned says, oblivious to the searing pain that plagues the girl standing behind her. Somehow, this pain is more severe, the sensation of a knife plunging into Eloise's chest over and over again becoming overwhelming.
She cries out and collapses onto the floor of the jet, her fingers grasping onto the carpet.
Ned springs up from his chair, almost knocking over the set up of laptops.
"Okay, where do we go?" Peter's cracking voice comes through the laptop.
A scream rips through Eloise's throat as a searing white pain erupts in her abdomen. Her eyes squeeze shut in pure agony as she writhes on the floor. Ned curses over and over, and Eloise can't tell what's going on anymore because the pain is too consuming. It overlaps all her senses, the only thing she knows in this moment is pain.
A blood-curdling scream tears through the air. Her whole body feels like it's on fire. Is she on fire? She can't open her eyes long enough to see what's happening to her.
"What was that? What's going on?" Peter's voice breaks through the cloud of pain ringing in Eloise's ears.
Shaking hands touch Eloise's arm and she violently flinches away, the spot of contact burning even fiercer than before. "Make it stop!" Eloise cries out, her voice cracking as she thrashes. Her limbs kick wildly in attempt to make the burning stop. "MAKE IT STOP!" Her voice is already raw.
"I don't know what to do!" Ned's shrieks. "What do I do?!"
"What's going on?" Peter's voice shouts with urgency. When there's no reply right away, Peter tells, "NED!"
"It's Eloise!" He exclaims in terror. "She won't stop screaming, something's wrong!"
More shouting is exchanged, but Eloise can't make out any of it as her voice howls and screams. Everywhere, her body is in an unimaginable amount of pain.
She curls onto her back. Her legs kick spastically as tears run down her cheeks. Eloise's desperate, agony-filled screaming doesn't stop. Second after second, the pain doubles.
Then, all at once, it stops.
Silence follows immediately and her body goes rigidly still. Eloise's limbs are parallel to her body as she just lies there, staring blankly at the ceiling. Then, slowly, she sits up.
Her head turns and Eloise sees the boy with the headset. His eyes wide, he stares at her like he's seen a ghost.
"She stopped," he whispers into the mic.
The voice of Peter Parker flows through the computer's speaker. "Is she okay?!"
Eloise's head snaps to the computers. In one swift motion, before the boy can even anticipate her actions, Eloise springs forward and throws the laptops off the desk with inhuman strength. The screens crack and shatter against the wall. There's a spark, but it dies out quickly.
Slowly, she turns to the terrified boy. His jaw goes slack and his eyes fill with fear.
"El—"
Eloise sprints past the boy, pushing him harshly aside, and tears open the door. She hears his footfalls behind her, but she doesn't bother looking back and takes off as fast as her legs will carry her towards the large building a mile away.
Her legs burn and strain by the time she reaches the big white building. Letting out a low growl at the sight of a tall barbed wire fence, Eloise leaps forward and climbs it like an ape. She kicks off the top of the fence and lands in a somersault. She never stops moving.
Guards with large guns and hefty suits charge towards Eloise.
"Hey! You can't be here!" A female guard hollers at her as she lifts her weapon and aims.
Eloise tears toward her direction and tackles the guard to the ground. Her gun fires, but Eloise feels no gunshot. Her hands claw at the dirty face of the guard, scratching and scarring the skin as the guard attempts to push her attacker off with all her strength. She cries out and curses at Eloise above her.
Eloise kicks her arm and a satisfying crack comes from her bone. She screams out in pain, but with a quick movement of Eloise's hands around her neck, it's cut off short.
A force tackles the girl off of the limp guard. They roll on the ground with grunts until Eloise jumps up to her feet in a crouch position, and baring her teeth at the figure that rammed into her.
She snarls and eyes the metal arm creeping out from the dark vest covering the man's sturdy chest. His long hair sticks to his forehead as his eyes rack up and down Eloise's body with confusion, anger, and horror.
"What the hell are you doing?!" The man shouts.
Eloise doesn't waste anymore time and lunges forward, her hands wrapping around the man's neck and squeezing as hard as she can. He lets out a choking sound and falls back.
Just when his eyes start to roll to the back of his head at the lack of oxygen, a blunt object collides with Eloise's head.
The force sends her sprawled onto the ground, but as soon as she rolls onto all fours, she looks up and glare.
A blond man with chiseled features picks up his shield and stares at Eloise in disbelief. Beside him, the metal-armed man coughs and pushes himself up.
"Eloise, what—"
She charges. He lifts his shield over his chest and steps out of the way, but Eloise's arm shoots out and her hand wraps around the edge of the shield. Holding on tight, she whips herself around with her feet out in front of her and uses all the force in her to kick the Avenger to the dirt.
He immediately springs up to his feet. His shield is raised above him for protection, but he does not advance towards her.
"Eloise," He says, voice steady as he locks eyes with her. "Listen to me, you need to stop and just calm down."
Eloise's stare hardens, but she doesn't move forward. She shifts back and forth on her feet.
He lets his guard down and lowers the shield, holding his arms out in front of him and staying low. "That's it, just—"
"Eloise!"
Eloise's head snaps in the direction of the voice. A figure in red and blue swings down with his web connected to the top of the building and lands on his feet. Behind him, a man—Russo—hovers above the ground. Her eyes steady on him and he nods slightly when his hard gaze meet hers.
Eloise zeroes in on Peter Parker and attacks. His white mechanical eyes widen at her advancement and he points and shoots a web at the corner of the building, but before he can pull himself up, she pushes off the ground and propels herself right at the teen hero.
He falls to the ground with the girl landing on top of him. Eloise rips his mask off his head and throws it off to the side, wanting to see the look on his face when she kills him.
"Stop, stop! What are you doing?!" He shrieks in terror. His eyes, much like everyone else's, are open wide and reflect fear and confusion.
Her fists clench tight and she pulls them back above her head before rapidly punching him in the face. His head snaps to the right and to the left as her fists crash against his jaw, nose, and wherever else she can hit.
His hands push against Eloise's chest at a failed attempt to get her off of him. She cackles darkly and grips his face in her hands.
Her face lowers so their noses are brushing against each other's. Eloise smirks, "How ironic, someone you care about so deeply is going to take your life and smash it to pieces." She slams his head against the ground hard.
Peter Parker winces and lets out a hiss of pain.
"Stop!" He cries. "I don't want to hurt you."
Eloise pulls his face close to hers again. She gives him a twisted smile. "Oh, but I want to hurt you."
Suddenly, he's launching the girl forward with his upper body strength and her face is in the dirt. Anger runs through her veins and Eloise pops right back up, not feeling any pain, and turns around.
The same evil grin tugs at her lips as she scans the panicked boy in spandex before her. His hands are raised to show he's unarmed, but Eloise spots the web-slingers on his wrists and narrows her eyes on them.
Eloise's eyes slide to the side at the sound of a helicopter. Its blades cut through the air as reinforcement guards file out. She smirks when they all march toward and fight Russo, whom is fighting off the man with a metal arm and the man with a shield.
Eloise's attention returns to Peter Parker, but when she looks back in front of her, he's gone.
She doesn't have time to do anything before she's knocked to the ground by a swinging Spider-Man. His webs unattach from the helicopter and he lands in front of her.
Eloise goes to tackle him as she springs up, but he shoots webs that enclose her hands and attach them to the ground. Her feet kick in frustration when she can't tug them free.
"This isn't you," Peter Parker tries to keep his voice low and steady, but his fear and emotions cave in on him and his voice cracks.
Eloise growls and, with newfound strength, rips through the webbing holding down her hands.
Peter Parker's eyes go wide. "Shit—"
Eloise strides over to him and throws a punch at his face. He dodges it and takes ahold of her wrist, but he doesn't move in time to get out of the way of her second punch from her other fist. The hit disorients him and he stumbles but then catches his balance. He shoots Eloise's hands and webs them together.
With each step she takes toward him, he takes two steps back.
"Look at what you're doing," Peter Parker pleads pathetically. "You're helping the bad guys."
Eloise rips her hands apart and lets out a war cry. Her feet take off under her and she collides with his body hard. The air is knocked out of him from the impact.
No more funny business, it's time to end this.
Eloise's fingers wrap around his throat, closing his airway. His legs kick under her and his arms flail. First he tries to wrench her iron grip from his throat, but when he fails, he pushes against her face.
Annoyed, Eloise bites his finger and tastes the satisfying metallic flavor of blood fill her mouth. He lets out a cry.
Short and desperate gasps slip through his lips, but no air makes it through to his lungs. She squeezes tighter.
Peter Parker's hands slowly start to go limp. Once they fall to his sides, his eyes roll to the back of his head and his eyelids close. Eloise grins wickedly at the life draining from his face.
Just when his body goes completely still, something hits her head hard, and then there's nothing.
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Attached Song: Monster by Paramore
It's not a Friday, but this book has 1K reads and, as a celebration, I'm updating early.
Seriously though, 1K reads? 1,000 reads???? That's a whole lot more than I expected! And it's all thanks to you guys, my lovely readers! Thank you all for reading and for supporting my work. I send you all the love in the world!
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