45 || the beginning of the end
"She took my brother, Christa. She wanted to make this a personal fight, so now she did."
Parker Apartment, Queens, New York, Black Friday 2016-
Alison was studying with Skylar when she got the call from Jackie. The woman was in tears, her breath shaky as she informed her cousin over the phone that Absinthe had taken Charles while they were stopped at a gas station to let Charles use the restroom.
Alison, her hands shaking, dropped her phone on her textbook, not saying a word as she swiped her backpack from the table, opening the apartment door and leaving. The teenager rushed down the stairs, speeding to the bottom floor, jarring open the stairs' exit to the clear air of the Queen's street.
As she took a deep breath in, Alison wanted to collapse against the wall, unable to deal with the fact that her brother was good as- well, dead. A warm, steady flow of tears dropped down Alison's face, the teenager wiping them away as she swung her backpack around to unzip the bag. Pulling out her suit, the girl tried to remain calm as she slid into an alleyway, trying to disguise the fact that a superhero was changing into their suit.
Alison wiggled her suit on, and as she did so, she had no idea what to do or where to go. She didn't care though, only wanting to find her younger brother and get him back.
If Absinthe wanted a personal battle, she would have one alright.
Taking a deep breath in, Alison let out a shaky sob, hearing footsteps behind her. Whipping her head around to see who was in the alleyway with her, her eyes landing upon Christa and Skylar standing in front of her.
"Alison-I-we-" Skylar corrected, looking at Christa with a cautious glance. "What's wrong? We heard you drop your phone and-" She stopped, looking at Alison's tear streaked face, understanding what had happened. "You weren't joking when she said she'd ki- hurt everyone you love."
"Ali, we can't let you do this." Christa interjected, looking at her cousin with a pleading look. "After what happened yesterday, I can't help but think that something will go majorly wrong. You almost died. You don't know what you're walking into!"
"I can't let you get in my way." Alison disagrees with her cousin, shaking her head with an impersonal look. "Absinthe, she- she made this a persona vendetta. If she wants this fight to be personal, that's sure as hell what she's gonna get." Ali remarked, walking towards her friends, brushing shoulders with both as she's sandwiched her way between them and out of their grasp.
Skylar and Christa shared a worried look, the girls quickly realizing that there was no stopping the girl now. "Alison, you've gotta think about what you're doing. Because whatever you do normally involves me." Skylar quipped, sounding an awful lot like Sam Wilson.
"And me." Christa piped in, trying to convince her cousin to stay away from her irrational decision and the path that would be created from it. "Clint wanted me to make sure you didn't get into trouble, and you're doing exactly that."
"Well, when a super villain takes the thing you love the most, give me a call." Alison scoffed, racing away from her friends before they could react any further.
"Where's your car parked?" Skylar nudged Christa, looking at the wind whooshing before them. Her eyes were still set on where Alison used to be, almost as if she was trying to silently will the girl back to her spot.
"Front of the apartment building." Christa looked at the empty alleyway, jacking her thumb over to where her car was. Grabbing her keys from her pocket, Christa shot off a quick text to tell her adopted father that "everything was fine", and that they were "both doing great." The texts were lies of course. "Let's go."
As the girls hustled over to the car, Peter Parker raced out of his apartment building, clutching Alison's phone in his hand. Ned was muttering something about physical exercise behind him, panting and muttering as he complained about how much running it had been.
"Where'd they go?" Ned asked, looking at the empty street in front of them, bending over and resting on the doorframe for the stairs' exit. "Did they all get kidnapped too? Oh! Or is it some sort of new superpower-"
"Ned, I need you to track Alison's suit. Peter asked, interrupting Ned's rambling. Placing Alison's phone in Ned's hands, Peter pushed by Ned scrambling back up the stairs. "I can't just let her go out there alone."
Ned's eyes widened in realization at what Peter's request was, his face lighting up with giddy excitement. Carefully holding the phone of the super speedster in his hand, Ned's face grew serious as Peter scrambled up the stairs, yelling for Ned to follow.
"Get on it! Spider-Man's got a partner to help." Peter hollered, the slam of the door to the staircase evident as he sprinted away to grab his suit.
"Guy in the chair." He whispered, dutifully following after his best friend. His excitement dropped when he realized that he had to climb up the stairs. Heaving a sigh, Ned jogged his way back to Peter's apartment, ready to find a super speedster.
Alison had no idea where she was going, her mind a flurry of thoughts as to where Charles would be. Absinthe had left no clue as to where she was, no trace or hidden cookie trail that Ali could track to find the woman.
As her mind assessed every location that the woman might of been in, Alison could only think of one place- and it was a rather obvious one. Racing through the streets, the signs couldn't be clearer to where Alison had to go. Absinthe had once told Alison that "Luciana Villanueva" lived in Apartment 1313, and that was the only thing that stood out from the woman.
It seemed too obvious, too clear, but it was the perfect place that no one would intrude on. All of the Fitz Building tenants avoided the apartment like disease, the whole thirteenth floor occupied by two huge apartments, 1313 and 1310.
Turning hard on the street, Alison raced down the familiar route back home to her apartment, taking the side streets where she wouldn't be as noticed to arrive at her household. When she arrived at the Fitz Building, Alison crept around to the side building, where there were the stairs that the pizza delivery and Postmates people normally took to get up to the apartments without making a fuss in the lobby.
Opening the door to the staircase, Alison hopped up the stairs two by two, taking no time to catch her breath on the way up the countless flights of stairs. Formulating a half-assed game plan in her head, Ali arrived on floor 13 in no time, pushing the door open with a hard jolt.
Stumbling onto the thirteenth floor, Alison saw the door marked 1313, wasting no time to slam the door open, her adrenaline and anger at the woman that had been bottled up finally coming to use. The door fell off of its frame, falling to the floor with a thud.
Stepping into the apartment, her padded feet making a loud noise as she walked on the door, Alison scouted the area for any signs of her brother or Absinthe, not seeing any danger around the area. There was only a note perched on the kitchen counter, bright and obvious as day, almost mocking the girl.
Walking over to see what had been written, Ali saw the note more clearly, the lights in the apartment still on, waiting for her to find the piece of paper scratched out on the table. The writing was unmistakably Absinthe's as Charles' writing looked nothing like the monstrosity of a font before her.
Scanning the note for any clues, Alison only found the writing that was on the note, which read:
MIDTOWN HIGH SCHOOL
GYMNASIUM
YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO.
Ali's breath hitched in her throat, dropping the note with her hands, that had begun to shake violently with worry. Alison was scared, a new wave of worry and fear washing over the girl. What would happen to Charles? And what did "YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO" mean?
A tapping on the glass window startled Alison, causing her reflexes to pick up the nearest thing to her, which in this case was a lamp, and hurling it at the window. Her adrenaline pumped, expecting a not-so-friendly face at the window.
Instead the girl saw a red webbed-mask head peek through the shattered window, the iconic arched eyes of the familiar suit widening at her. "Jeez! Just attack your friend trying to help you out, that'll help." Spider-MAn drly remarked, crawling through the window and onto the ceiling. Looking at Alison from an upside down angle, her partner gave a weird look.
"What's that face for?" Alison scoffed, twirling a piece of her knotted hair into her lazily thrown up ponytail. "Karen yelling at you about what you did wrong again? Or is all the blood rushing to your head?" She teased, trying to keep a fake positive facade on her face.
Noticing the dried tear stains on Alison's cheek and her denial of them being there, Spider-Man shook his head. "Although both are valid points, It's just-" He blushed underneath his mask, searching for the right words. "Well, I dunno, looking at people from this angle is weird.
Alison gave Peter a strange look, shaking her head at the boy. "You are a wonder sometimes, you know that, Spider-Boy?" She laughed, silently crumpling up the note in her hand as she spoke. Alison didn't want anyone to follow her to where Absinthe wanted her to go- not even Peter.
Spider-Man shrugged, dropping down onto the apartment floor. "I mean, I was bitten by a radioactive spider. I'm about as weird as it gets. Well, save for you. You have about a billion things going for you at the moment, and I don't think any of them are good."
His comment earned a snort from Alison, who shoved him away playfully, shaking her head at his remark. "That's a really bad way to try and flirt with any girl." She pointed out, gesturing to herself. "Including me. So if I was your tester for the new flirting method that you just came up with- major fail."
"I was- I was not trying to flirt with you!" Spider-Man exclaimed, the apologeticness of Peter Parker seeping into him, wanting to make the situation less awkward as quickly as possible. "It was a joke, and clearly it did not go the way it was supposed to." He admitted, blushing like mad underneath his mask.
"Parker, you're fine." Alison reassured, waving her hand around her shoulder like she was batting a fly. "I was just giving you crap. Although you're right, it really is a bad joke. And you should take it back. Immediately."
"Okay, okay." Peter grumbled, the red flush in his cheeks still dominant under the mask. "I'm sorry." He muttered, his voice slightly inaudible as he muttered the apology. "What can I do to help you to make up for my crimes?"
"First? Have Karen save that you, on record, apologized to me." Alison requested, almost gloating in the achievement. Her eyes were lit up with an amused glint, a genuine smirk pressed into her lips. "Karen?"
"Audio File Saved." The AI's voice chimed pleasantly over the silent echo of the apartment, broadcasting her voice to Alison, who fist pumped when she heard that it had been saved. "Shall I send it over to Miss Stark so she can save it on her drive?"
"Yes please." Alison crossed her arms, her endeavor successful. "Anyways, now that the matter is settled.. Do you mind looking in Midtown Middle School for Charles? I didn't bother to check if they were there, I just rushed up here." She lied, knowing the exact location of where the both of them were. It was crumpled up in her hand, after all.
Spider-Man nodded, taking off one of his web shooter gloves to reveal the charm bracelet that Peter had gifted her for her birthday. "You know that if you run into danger, I'll be over to wherever you are in a heartbeat."
"If you can run that fast, sure, but until then, stay safe here, and have Karen yell at me from your suit if you find anything. I'm sure Tony hooked them up somehow." Alison cracked her neck, prepping herself to leave the conversation and get her brother back. "Catch you later, Spider-Man."
Breakout zoomed away, releasing her grip on the wadded up paper, the small note dropping on the door that had fallen to the ground. The wind whooshed the note around the door, drawing the attention of Peter, who was shaking his head at Alison's antics.
Spider-Man, curious as to what was inside the small wadded up paper, crept to the door, crouching down and picking up the paper in one fell swoop. Opening the crumpled up paper, Pete's eyes widened as he read it, realizing that it was too late to catch Alison now. The girl needed backup, from what Skylar and Christa had told him about Ali's recent encounter with Absinthe, and luckily, he had a ton of that.
Alison didn't have a plan when she skidded her feet to a stop in front of her high school, only wanting to keep her brother safe with no regard for how hurt she got or who stood in the wreckage of her chaos. Looking at the building in front of her, the girl quickly noticed that one of the black gates that were normally locked shut on the breaks and weekends was jarred open, almost waiting for Alison to arrive.
Casually scaling the steps of her doom, Alison took her time as she roamed the halls, eventually passing her locker. Unlocking the small container, Alison saw her original Civil War suit tucked in the back, safely stowed there in case of emergencies. The sight made the girl smile- along with the bag of trail mix that was thrown in there from the Thursday before.
Hey, unopened free food was unopened free food.
Pacing around the school, Ali took her time to find the longest way to the gymnasium, finishing off her small bag of COSTCO trail mix on the way, disposing the garbage somewhere in the trash cans that were scattered around the math hall. Finally coming upon the hallway in which the gymnasium was, Ali took one last look back at high school civilization and opened the doors to the gym.
Alison wanted to run out of the gym as soon as she saw what was going on. Her eyes fell upon Absinthe, who was standing in the center of the room, straight over the Midtown Tigers insignia on the gym floor. Charles was right beside the woman, Absinthe's grip on his forearm tight as steel.
When the woman's gaze fell upon Alison, Absinthe's devilish look widened into a grin, laughing at the teenager. "I knew you'd get my note. After all, I left you a very small bread crumb trail, and I'm surprised that you picked it up."
"I'm sixteen, not seven." Alison fired back, walking towards the woman who was at the middle of the room. "I thought you would know the difference between a first grader and a sophomore in high school." Alison tried to keep her calm, her eyes flicking back and forth between Absinthe and Charles.
Noticing the girl's eyes landing on Charles, Absinthe chuckled, pulling the 13 year old closer to her. "Worried for your poor baby brother?" Her lip puckered underneath her bottom part of her lip, her face scrunching up as she mocked the super speeding hero. "Don't worry. He's not going to die. Yet." She spat, letting go of Charles, the boy sighing in relief as his knees buckled to the floor.
"Alison!" Charles gasped in relief, seeing his sister before him. "Ali! You can't be here! You need to get out of here because she's-" The boy stopped, unable to choke out the words. "She's going to-"
"Shut up." Absinthe rolled her eyes at the two siblings, over the sentimentality of the situation. "If I wanted you to speak and making me barf in my mouth, I would've told you to." She glared back at Charles, who clamped his mouth shut after she gave him a death glare.
"Anyways." Absinthe turned back to Alison, an evident tone in her voice that sounded like it would bring nothing but trouble. "I wanted to get you here because, quite frankly, I'm tired of our cat and mouse game. You run away, I find you, and then you almost die- someone saves you, and then the cycle starts over again."
"Interesting way of putting it." Alison fired back, a confused and puzzled look coming to her face with a sarcastic tone in her voice. "I thought that it was you that kept getting your ass kicked, and not the other way around."
Absinthe hissed at the idea that she was the one losing the battles between Alison and herself, trying to keep her composure as she spoke. "Be careful with your words, Miss Marnell. We wouldn't want your brother to die a premature death, would we? He has so much to live for."
"You lay a finger on him and I swear I'm going to-"
"Erase my existence?" Absinthe suggested, seeing the genuine look of confusion mold Alison's face into a frowning one. "Oh, right." She shook her head in fake disbelief, almost feeling "bad" for the girl. "You don't know."
"Know what? Do enlighten me on my ignorance." Alison crossed her arms, her eyes staring straight at Absinthe's. "Because if there's something that I should know about myself, don't you think that you owe it to me, you know, before you kill me?"
"Explaining things twice to you like always, huh, Marnell? You don't catch onto things very quickly, now do you?" Absinthe questioned, mimicking the crossed arms stance that Alison had. "The group of terrorists that experimented on your mother wer ex-sorcerers from Kamar-Taj. They had taken the time stone and made a serum with its power. You have the power that they infused the serum with in you."
"What?" Alison questioned, her voice barely above a whisper. "But how did Clint not know about that? He had the whole S.H.I.E.L.D. file and stuff about my mother and that mission. Hell, he was on that mission."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't know everything." Absinthe scoffed, irritated at the ignorance of the girl. "Regardless if your foolish uncle knew about the truth of those events, you have the powers that people would die for. People have died for them. Yet, you don't even use them for anything more than running around the city at light speed. You could go back in time... travel dimensions... the possibilities are endless!"
"How about the possibilities go fu-"
"If we have to do this the hard way, then we will." Absinthe sighed, the woman grasping Charles' by his forearm again, whirling him quickly into a headlock, cutting off his air supply, choking the young boy. "If this is the way that you finally learn that the price you pay for never shutting up, then so be it."
"Just-just let him go." Alison pleaded, unsure of what else to make sure that her brother made it out of the day alive. "Please."
Rolling her eyes, Absinthe just inspected Charles, letting stand back up on the ground. "Stay there. If you move an inch, you're going to pay for it." She threatened the boy once again, Charles obliging without saying a word.
"Alright Miss Marnell. I've decided that you can either shut up and listen to me, or you little brother dies. And after you hear my last words, you say your last. It's your decision. A life for a life." Absinthe offered the teenager, knowing that either option that Alison picked would end up with an ending that no one would ever want.
"Alison! Don't do this!" Charles screamed, looking at his sister with an alarmed look. "Please! I know what you're going to do and-" He was cut off by Absinthe clamping a hand over his mouth, shushing him in an eerie way.
"Speak." Alison decided, flashing an apologetic look at her brother, her eyes staring back into Absinthe's eyes. "Let's finish this thing."
"You need to learn, Alison Marnell. I grow tired of waiting to be in the spotlight. My father has always regarded his traitor daughter Gamora higher than me, and when I complete this mission- if I kill you- then perhaps everything will finally go my way. No more being second best to Sif, Gamora, to fools like you."
"Ooh. You should really make that into a t-shirt. Hey you! Tired of not being in the spotlight? Kill someone and you will be free of your second best life! OH! And be charged for homicide." Alison sarcastically remarked, her witty response irritating Absinthe. "Or I can go get you a gold sticker! Maybe that will be all the validation you need. Want me to do that?"
"No, I want to watch you crumple under the fact that you- you can do nothing as I tear your life apart." The woman shook her head, looking at the girl with a devilish smile that sent a shiver down Alison's spine. Shit was going to go sideways, and there was no denying that. But Alison could only watch the next events unfold, the girl too far away to do anything.
Absinthe gripped Charles' arm again, the boy shoving in an attempt to get Absinthe's grip off of him, and to let him escape. But before the boy could do anything more, the glint and flash of silver flashed before Alison's eyes as the Asgardian brought out a knife and struck her target.
The room was silent as a thud of a body fell to the floor, leaving the wicked Asgardian smiling over a dying Marnell and their sibling.
A cheshire cat-like grin spread over the villain's face, Absinthe turning away from the awful event that she had just caused, watching as Alison scrambled to her brother's side, watching the boy bleed out in her arms.
A single scream escaped Alison's mouth as she felt the warm and steady trickle of blood on her hands from her brother as the 13 year old bled out in her arms. The world blurred out around behind her, the only sound the thumping of her heart in her ears, a steady river of tears flooding down her face.
She didn't even hear Charles whisper one final message of love to his sister, or the alarmed shouts of Peter Parker, who was still donned in his Spider-Man suit, slide into the gym, stumble down beside her.
"Alison!" Peter shook the girl, unable to do anything else to try and get the girl to snap out of it. "Is he- oh god." He stammered, looking between the teenager and the ruin that Absinthe had left behind her. "We need an ambulance right now."
The pounding in her ears was too overpowering for Alison to hear Peter's words, the girl just taking her bloody red-stained fingers and shutting Charles' lifeless eyes, kissing the boy's forehead before rising from her position. Shaking off Peter's hand on her shoulders that she couldn't even feel anymore, Alison looked down at her hands before back at Charles.
"No." Alison whispered, her mind finally processing what had happened, and hearing Peter's constant shouts for them to call an ambulance, or do something. "I've got to fix this. I've got to fix everything." Looking at Peter with a shaky breath, Alison took a deep breath in as she pulled her visor back on, her hands still covered in the blood of her brother, the blood of a boy that would be avenged soon.
"I've got to go back in time."
<~*~>
-ash