chapter twelve
fight or flight
"ALL RIGHT, comms check," the voice of Happy echoes out from a small communication device in the ear of Analisa Morgan, his voice muffled only ever so slightly by the static of the device. Happy sits in the driver's seat of the plane he'd picked up the two heroes in, flying them toward the Tower Bridge of London, which was currently under attack of one of Quentin's elementals. "Can you both hear me?"
Analisa, who stands toward the back entrance of the plane, prepared to take a free-fall down into the city when the time is right, turns back to face Happy in the driver's chair, sending him a thumbs up in response. Peter, on the other hand, who clings upon the outside of the plane, peers in through the window, replying, "I can, it's just a little loud out here."
"I like the new suits," Happy compliments the both of them on their new attire, which Peter had created for them, receiving a mumbled thanks from the boy, and a vague grin from the woman. His attention is quickly drawn back to the task at hand though, his gaze upon an elemental which stood taller than any other that'd appeared before, and was conjured from a mix of fire, air, smoke; the definition of destruction. "Whoa, you sure that's not real?"
"Yeah, it's just 100 times bigger than I expected," The boy dressed in blue and red replies, his gaze falling on the illusion of the creature, as all eyes had since it had appeared. However, unlike the terrified citizens of the city below, he, and his two companions knew that it was merely a display intended to appear as reality.
"Still the play?" Unsure of if they should proceed with their initial plan, or fallback and rethink, Happy asks those prepared to him into the fight; doubt enlaced in his voice.
"It has to be," Analisa reasons, knowing that they had come too far to simply back out because what they'd expected fell short. No, they needed to bring a halt to the antics of Quentin Beck before it can claim the lives of many. "Happy, take us higher, we can't let Quentin see us coming."
"Copy. Hold on," Happy responds, his grip upon the wheel of the plane tightening in anticipation. His gaze momentarily shifts back to the boy that holds on to the window beside him. "Stay sticky."
With warnings uttered to the two heroes, and their plans confirmed, Happy directs the plane upwards, the aircraft at nearly a straight slope. The knuckles of Analisa quickly become a pale white colour due to her tight, nervous grip upon the plane, her heart speeding up slightly.
The harsh winds slam into Peter as he is yet to release his hold on the plane. When he believes that they had reached a height that was enough to offer them some small amount of stealth, he launches himself off the side of the plane and into the city below, however, not before saying one last thing to Happy. "We need to have a serious conversation about you and my aunt!"
An expression of both surprise and embarrassment crosses over the features of Happy, and, nervously, he glances back to Analisa. The woman, whom, before this moment, had never heard of such a connection between the two, smirks obviously at him, pointing a single, playful finger at him. "When I get back, you better tell me all about that. But for now, open the back door."
Muttering an incoherent curse beneath his breath, the man flips a switch within the cockpit, causing a door toward the back of the plane to open. Analisa pauses for a moment, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm her nerves, muttering beneath her breath "Huh, jumping out of planes never gets less terrifying, does it?"
Closing her eyes, Analisa leaps out of the plane, a parachute not on her person as she does. At first, she falls freely through the sky, the wind slamming against her face with brute force. Despite this all, she forces her eyes open, watching as the ground of the city approaches at a quick pace. It is only when she is close to the ground that she shoots out dark-coloured magic from the palms of her hands, using it to take control of her flight, and propel herself through the air.
"Kid, remember, if things go south, we're gonna need your Peter-Tingle," Analisa falls out to Peter through the comms, swiftly catching up to the boy, who glides toward the elemental using these small wings he had included within his suit. "I can't see past his illusions, but you can."
"Copy that," Peter responds, a slightly giddy feeling emerging within him as he says those words, words that'd he'd heard in countless spy movies. However, this childlike excitement is snuffed out as he comes to be close to the elemental, moments away from flying through the realistic illusion of its exterior. "It's not real, it's not real, it's not real!"
And, with Analisa following close behind, Peter glides through the exterior of the illusion. Behind the facade of chaos that is the 'elemental' lies only drones, flying around to create a destructive appearance. He grips onto one to steady himself upon first being within the illusion, his eyes widening beneath his mask, a mix of shock and awe flooding his veins. "Whoa, that is awesome."
"Don't get too off track," Analisa off-handedly tells the boy, shooting out an outburst of black energy toward a near-by drone, shattering it into many pieces upon impact. Peter quickly follows suit, sending out large strings of webbing and connecting them to the drones Analisa had yet to touch, all the drones linking at the hands of the webs.
"I hope this works," Peter mutters to himself as he jumps off one of the drones he'd webbed. While in the air, he sends an electrified web upward toward at the drone he had once stood upon. The web sends blue pulses throughout the drone, and, due to the webbing which links it to the other machines, all the others by it short-circuit.
Areas of the illusion which create the element fade away as the drone which concocts it fail, doing so with one final shimmer of vibrant blue. From the outside eye, one could view the drones which circle within in seemingly chaotic creature, showcasing what truly lies inside. And, through the gap that had emerged within the illusions, both Peter and Analisa are able to view Quentin Beck upon the Tower Bridge, the former uttering, "I see you."
With Peter leading the way, the two partners in crime, or more accurately, stopping crime, manoeuvre their way to Quentin with great haste, exiting the interior of the 'elemental' through one of the gaps in its illusion. However, before they can close in on the man in question, a drone slams into the side of Peter, the impact slamming him violently to the ground.
The same fate is taken upon by Analisa also, another drone throwing her to the ground only mere seconds later. A dry, painful cough erupts from the depths of her throat as she gingerly pushes herself up from the ground, a singular hand hovering over the area above her rib as she does so, sharp pain within. Her eyes flicker over to where the elemental had once stood tall, her brows furrowing together as in its place are now only drones; all illusions having faded. "What're you playing at, Beck?"
Her mumblings to herself are cut off as the drones in which had once formed the elemental come swooping down toward her and Peter, shooting powerful blasts directly toward them. They both flee from explosions that follow closely behind, each one sprinting, along with sending them through the air using any possible means available to avoid the wraith of the technology.
Somehow, within the midst of the explosions, the two heroes become split from each another; having gone in opposing directions. Peter finds himself behind a crashed car to be briefly protected from the onslaught of destruction waltzing his way. He, unsure of how his teammates may be faring against the battle, calls out desperately into the comms. "Happy, Miss Morgan, say something, please, to let me know you're alive!"
"I'm here. I'm here." Happy is the first to respond to the frantic words of the boy, followed closely by a few short, out-of-breath mutters by Analisa; receiving an overly relieved sigh from the boy. Happy, his attention elsewhere, then elaborates, "I bought us some time, but not much."
"I'm trying to get to Beck, but I can't shake these drones!" Peter informs the man, barely peeking his head out from behind the car to try and gain an idea of the whereabouts of Analisa, however, he is quickly forced back into cover as a rain of gunfire falls upon him.
"Pete, I see a way I can get up there," While the majority of the drones had focused their attention upon Peter, an opening had become visible for Analisa. With the same rage burning within her heart as had emerged when she was first told of the betrayal, she stares up at the Tower Bridge, sparing barely a glance back at the boy. "I'm going to take the chance. Don't die, kid."
"Wait!" Peter attempts to prevent the female from foolishly jumping into the battle, but she'd already launched herself into the air, leaving only a trail of dark magic in her wake. She glides through the air, narrowly missing a few drones which lie in her path, absentmindedly sending outbursts of energy to destroy them; her focus upon Quentin.
Shattering the window with a violent outburst of her magic, she enters the bridge through the now opened window. Quentin Beck, who adorns the same grey-coloured CGI suit he'd worn at his last meeting with the heroes, barely has the time to glance backwards at Analisa before she directs a brutal string of energy at him, throwing him back and causing him to slam into a wall, a pained groan rippling from his throat. "Nice to see you, too."
"You can't win," Analisa, forcing away any emotion other than anger from her voice, sends out a ball of destructive magic directly where Quentin Beck lies idle. But the dark energy merely passes through him, sparking confusion within Analisa; her brows drawing together slight. However, the realisation that it must be yet another illusions stiles her suddenly, but not quick enough, as a drone slams into her back, sending her flying into the same wall Quentin's illusion had prior.
"If I'm going down, you're coming with me," The words of Quentin erupt from all angles, an ear-shattering, near-deafening sound. Analisa, only flinching slightly at the noise, pulls herself up from the ground, using not her hands but her magic instead; what appears as an aura of darkness surrounding her.
She conjures a shield concocted by dark energy, using it to protect her body from any sudden attacks whilst the battle is in a lull. Before her eyes, the scene of the Tower Bridge morphs into the inside of a bar; the bar in which she and Quentin had last met before news of his betrayal had reached her. This time, however, it is empty, not a soul insight, and the music that'd played that night is replaced by Quentin's echoing voice.
"You know, it's a shame. I had big plans for you, but now, you're going to die because of some hormonal teenagers, how does that feel?" And, without so much as offering the woman a moment to process what had been said, vibrant, violent tendrils of electricity slam into the outside of her shield, a crackling sound filling her ears. The bright blue colouring of the pure energy contrasts with her dark magic, the two combining in a battle to concoct an odd mixture of light and dark.
Analisa tilts her head slightly to the side, unaffected by the attack, which she'd been able to anticipate, her shield protecting her from the electricity. In turn, she projects large amounts of dark energy into her shield, before sending it outwards a powerful, blast-like manner; a tsunami of darkness washing over the illusions around her, utterly destroying the drones which linger close. And, with the destroying of the drones comes the faltering of the illusions, even if for a short moment, but this minuscule amount of time proves enough for Analisa to gaze upon the position of Quentin; and set her targets on him.
Taking a singular step forward, Analisa is unable to progress much further, as a drone takes the place of one she had destroyed, electrocuting her with shocks of the same vibrant blue energy. This time, without her shield ready to protect her, she is struck by the pain, her next step prevented by it. And, in this short hesitation, yet another drone takes advantage of her weakness, adding upon the pain. Many more follow suit, the pain increasing with every fleeting second.
Yet, unlike the battle prior, she does not allow for this agony to be her end, as she knew it meant more than just her life being taken if they were to lose. Stretching out her arms, a noise of pain bypassing her lips, she draws back the dark energy she'd used prior into her body. In tendrils conjured only by darkness, energy seeps back into her body, her veins appearing black through her skin. And, for a moment, the dark energy merely lingers within her aching body, before she sends it out in a vicious ripple of magic, greater in power than any had been before.
A singular droplet of blood runs down from her eye as she stands once more, the crimson liquid cascading down her cheek freely, no longer hidden beneath her mask, the item having been utterly shattered during their prior altercation. Yet, she cares not to wipe it away, her attention directed towards fending off the drones, and defeating Quentin Beck.
And, for a while, it appears as though Analisa Morgan is set upon the path of winning, the woman destroying any drone that stands between her and Quentin Beck. Turning around to crush a drone which had attacked her back with her dark energy, the first spark of hope that all their struggles wouldn't be for nothing crosses her mind, and that the hidden enemy that is Mysterio would finally be seen for who he truly is. But then, a singular, ear-shattering gunshot echoed out within the Tower Bridge, followed closely by the sound of a body collapsing to the floor.
For a moment, all is silent. An agonising pain, one that is masked mostly by the utter shock of such an action, erupts vaguely from within the chest of Analisa. Her hand gently grazes over the place where the pain had sparked, and, upon pulling her hand back into view, all she can see is crimson coating her palm. And, only mere moments later, her legs utterly collapse from beneath her, her body helplessly slamming into the ground.
Momentarily, a flicker of guilt passes through the eyes of Quentin Beck, but he quickly pushes this down, his usual arrogance emerging in its absence. Glancing at the still-conscious Analisa one last time, the woman staring back at him with a dazed gaze, Quentin checks the chamber of his pistol, stating with a smirk, "One bullet left."
And he knew exactly where to put it. And, almost as if his words had been planned and timed to perfection, Peter Parker comes crashing through a window only mere seconds later, prepared to fight against Quentin Beck, or, more precisely, Mysterio.
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A/N
next chapter tomorrow (:
please don't murder me
for this yet. hope you
enjoyed this? now please,
feel free to dwell in the
anticipation of what will
happen next hehe
Anyway, hope you
have a good day 😊💛