time lapse ⇒pietro maximoff

XXII

Third Person

The Avengers were at an impasse. They were stuck in the middle of finding Ultron, and finding Eden. They needed to decide which of them was of the highest priority. But when you're stuck between earthly peril that The Avengers can manage, and universal peril that's out of their reach, you're bound to find a hole in the road somewhere.

Steve was trekking back to the Stark Tower, stopping Tony from creating what would bring Ultron in for the final battle. Tony was using the biosynthesizer to produce a body for his artificial intelligence system, fondly known as Jarvis. But considering the aftermath of Tony's previous attempt at producing an Artificial intelligence, Steve was all but thrilled.

On the other side of the world, Michael had warned Eden of Tony's current plans. And she had less than fifteen minutes to stop him from putting them into action. She turned to Pietro and his vibrant sister, and they had a plan to get there in time. But a risky one.

"You fly over the Atlantic, and carry Wanda and I. I'll create a jet stream by running while you're flying." Pietro explained, and Eden shook her head.

"I've flown 3 times at the most. I've manipulated the gravitational force on a water bottle. What makes you think I could propel us across an expanse of water that large?" Eden asked her lover, her eyebrows furrowed together in thought and her plush lips were puckered.

Pietro of course found it increasingly difficult to take the Archangel seriously, as he found her so astoundingly adorable as she thought.

"It'd work, I can support you." Wanda chimed, and Pietro even cracked a smile, revealing his pearly whites.

"C'mon m'love. I wouldn't let anything or anyone hurt us. I'll do everything within my power and beyond to protect you." Pietro pleaded, grabbing ahold of the white haired creature's petite hands within in his own, and Gabriel urged in her head to decide immediately.

Eden shut her eyes and muttered a prayer of luck to her father, and looked back at the twins.

"If we want to get there in time to stop Tony, we've got to start now." Eden said, her wings ejecting from her back like a bullet being fired from a gun. All six of the ashy wings were spread elegantly, gleaming in the sunlight in all of their celestial glory.

"Grab ahold of my hand, I do believe I can manage to fly us over the forest to the coast with no issue. but I may tire before that, in that case, Wanda, I'm depending on you." The Archangel said righteously, the twins grabbing ahold of her porcelain hands.

Eden bent her knees and skyrocketed into the air, her hair flying out of its ponytail, and whipped behind her. Pietro smiled at the exhilaration, and began to propel his feet back and forth, as Eden soared.

You're a lot stronger than I would've ever thought. Michael quipped inside of his younger sister's head, and his whiskey-eyed brother snorted.

Then schedule an arm wrestling contest then, why dontcha ace?

Eden snorted out a laugh, but directed all of her focus and might to flying. Wanda's hands glowed as she hung onto the Archangel, easing some of the pressure that attempted to drag Eden down towards the ground. They had soon began their journey across the Atlantic ocean, and Wanda applied for kinetic energy, to propel Eden farther.

Even though Pietro had his face scrunched up and eyes closed as he worked his body to the max, Eden marveled at him, when she needed a reminder why she was performing this nearly impossible act.

"We're almost there!" Eden shouted, her icy eyes narrowing at the spot in the distance, that grew every second.

The twins put everything they've got stored inside of them, anger, fear, sadness, happiness, and aggressively pushed it outward and Eden soared, reaching the city in a matter of seconds. The trio burst through the window in which Tony and Steve were at war with each other, and rolled in a confetti of glass. Although the Archangel's arms were torn up at the impact, she healed instantaneously, and she pushed herself upward to face the two feuding Avengers.

"Eden?" Steve whispered, and she nodded with kind but feverish eyes.

"Tony, please hear my words. You cannot precede with this plan you've got swirling in your mind, it could cause much peril to the people in your world." She begged, straightening her back.

The two avengers were too stunned to respond to Eden's pleas, instead they marveled the changes she had undergone. She'd matured from a vulnerable doe, to a mighty lioness. Steve internally sighed a miniature breath of relief at the sight of her, safe and alive. But his fears weren't gone with the wind. In fact, they'd amplified.

"Where have you been?" Tony asked viciously, and Eden was taken aback by his anger.

"Tony please, the notion of creating another artificial intelligence system won't correct your faults." Eden pleaded once more, her eyes shifting to a heartbreaking glance.

Tony clenched his jaw, and glanced at Steve.

"Another pal in arms, huh, Rogers?" Tony snorted, as the twins began to recover and they weakly stood up together, forming a small wall as they approached Eden from behind.

"Listen to her, Stark. She is an Archangel of the Lord, and who are you? A man who straps pieces of iron to himself and call himself a hero? A man that avenges the people? When she tells you to shut it down, you must believe that she is correct. She answers to a being much higher than you could comprehend." Pietro defended his lover, and Eden extended her hand backward, and enlaced her finger's with the the white haired speedster.

Tony didn't have enough time to respond, before Thor came tumbling into the building, his hammer swinging and collecting lightning. He smashed it onto the machine and wires blew into showers of sparks and the power blew.

Everything from there moved in slow motion, Eden began to run towards the machine but Steve and Pietro restrained her, and Wanda moved for her. Pietro tugged at Eden's hands, and Steve stood in front of her, moving to place his hands on her shoulders to calm her down. But the Archangel couldn't manage the fury and disbelief that coursed through her.

The heavens quaked, a piercing noise erupting from Eden's mouth, causing both Steve and her lover to fall to the ground in agony, and the machine to burst open with a figure levitating from it.

The figure had piercing blue eyes that were similar to Eden's, that locked with hers in a split second. The figure had held his glance with the Archangel, and formed a mental link.

"You, are of Heavenly origin."

"And you of earth. We have no reason to quarrel, but you must be annihilated."

~~~