Chapter 37
Flashback
A younger Alice sits on a stool drawing when an older man with messy dark hair, dressed in hospital scrubs, tosses a bag of pretzels on the counter in front of her, sitting down in the stool next to her with a sigh. " All they had." He tells her.
" Thanks." Alice mutters, barely glancing up, and he frowns glancing at her book. " What are you coloring?" He questions, but she doesn't respond.
" Look, I know I promised we would go to the park when my shift was over-"
" Its not that." She muttered quietly.
" What's wrong then?" He asked, poking her side, and she looks away, her red hair falling over her face like a curtain. " What was mom like?" She asked, but he didn't respond, instead he stood up and kissed the top of her head. " Ice cream later." He promised before hurrying away, leaving her to stare after him, before her eyes went to the half drawn picture in front of her. It was a picture with two stick figures, one with dark brown hair and grey eyes, and a smaller one with red hair and green eyes, and then off to the side was a featureless third figure.
Tears welled up in Alice's eyes, before she crumbled up the drawing and tossed it toward the trash in frustration. The paper ball bounced off the wall, hit the floor, and then rolled to a stop where someone picked it up. " Are you okay?" A small voice asked, and Alice looked over with a frown when a small boy with dark hair sat next to her.
" I'm fine." Alice whispered, looking away as she sniffed.
" You dropped this." He told her placing the paper ball on the counter next to her elbow, and she glanced at it, before looking back up at him in confusion.
He was several years younger then her, his clothes looked several sizes to big, and there was a cut on his face." I'm Peter. Peter Parker." He told her offering his hand. She stared at him for a moment before she reached out to shake his hand with a small smile. " Alicia Stevens." She told him.
" Can I call you Alice?" He asked, and she giggled with a nod.
It was then that Peter Parker decided he never wanted to see Alice cry again, and with that silent promise an unbreakable bond was formed. A bond so powerful, that it echoed out across the multiverse.
Present Day
As I teleported in, Tony had just had a moon thrown at him, the impact from the plummeting rock had also launched everyone into the air. Using all my focus, I pushed my power to its limits and threw out my hands. There was shimmering in the air around me, before one by one my allies began to appear around me on the ground. " Alice" Peter said as he appeared, but I barely glanced at him as I teleported away in search of tony and Stephen. When I found them, Thanos was just about to kill Tony, who had been stabbed in the stomach by a piece of is own suit.
I appeared above Thanos, the blade of my sword aimed toward his back, but at the last he moved to the side, and I rolled across the ground, my sword now raised in a defensive position as I stood between him and Tony. " Alice, I told you-" Tony started to say say, and I made a face.
" Seriously? You want to have this argument now?" I questioned, before a large rock came flying toward us. in one motion, I sheathed my sword and threw out my hand, causing the rock to vanish in an instant. Several more pieces of rock and debris began to rain down around us, but with each turn of my hands, I sent them away until Thanos finally paused in attacks a frown on his face.
He raised the hand which held the gauntlet, the familar glow of the reality stone caught my attention, and I smirked holding out arms. " Feel free. That thing doesn't work on me." I told him, and immediately he dropped his hand. " Who are you?"
" My name is Alice." I said, before I made a sweeping motion with my fingers, and loud rumbling shook the ground causing Thanos to look up as a huge piece of rock appeared above him. There was an explosion of purple energy as he fired a blast from the power stone, and when it cleared Thanos was gone. Not dead gone, but he had vanished. " Alice-" Tony cried, just before something grabbed me by the throat, and I kicked my legs out as I fought against the hand around my throat.
I tried to teleport, but I couldn't focus long enough through the panic, and my quickly darkening vision.
" Stop." I heard Stephen say, and the grip on my throat lessened." Spare their lives... and I will give the stone."
" No tricks." Thanos told him, and Thanos' grip on my neck tightened causing me to cry out in pain. Stephen pinched the air in front of him as if pulling a star out of the sky, and the time stone appear between his fingers. Thanos dropped me as it floated toward him, and I gasped out, coughing as my air supply was restored. " One to go." Thanos said before disappearing in a cloud of smoke just as Starlord came charging through the air toward him.
" Why?" I asked looking at Stephen.
" Why did you do that?" Tony questioned.
" We're in the endgame now." He responded.
A while later, as the others gathered around us, Mantis stopped with a scared look on her face. " Somethings happening." She said, and we all frowned before she suddenly disintegrated into dust. I stumbled back in fear, my eyes widening as Drax and Quil went next, before I turned to look at Stephen. " Tony. There was no other way." He said, before crumbling into nothingness.
Then the worst of all happened.
" Alice. Mr. Stark. I dont feel so good." Peter said. " I don't... I dont know what's happening. I dont know..." He lost his footing, and we rushed to catch him.
This was it.
The end was coming.
I could sense it in my bones, but I ignored it as I fought to focus on the face of my best friend, cradling his head in my lap, tears streaming down my face. As I struggled to hold on to his quickly fading form, he smiled up at me, the light already fading from his deep brown eyes; eyes that even here at the end of the world were still filled with such joy.
" Its okay, Alice." He whispered, his voice breaking as he struggled to breath, but I shook my head. I knew the truth, deep in my heart, but I refused to accept it. I wasn't ready to say goodbye, not to him. That monster would not, and could not take him from me.
He raised a hand to brush a tear from my cheek, but I grabbed it in my as he quickly lost all the strength to hold it up. I held it to my cheek as I squeezed my eyes shut, before looking down at his smiling face.
" You were going to say something before. What was it?" I asked quietly, he only smiled at me before disappearing, and I stared at the spot where he had once been.
Inside my soul I felt something break open.
YOU ARE READING
Shadow of Hope(Book 2)
Fanfiction" But the worst thing about losing you was that you took my heart with you." - Nikita Gill " Why did you leave, Alice?" " Because, my adventure wasn't over yet." Alice has left the forest behind, and retur...
