Disappeared- {Pietro Maximoff}

Chapter 22

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I should ask the same of you. What the hell was that?"

"I needed to speak to my brother."

"I heard. Are you going to tell me what the hell that's about? And what the hell that was with you being drugged and still going to Italy?"

"I know, a lot happened. I've been spiralling slightly, I should talk to my therapist again but it's over now," Alex quickly checked the square, still packed with people, "You need to go though, I'll find you later."

"What? Alex, I'm not—" she teleported him away, not focusing too much on where, she just needed him away.

The person who had thrown the shield at Alex had also been knocked over by Pietro but now they advanced towards her, now holding what looked like a stick with blades attached to the ends. Their dress had fallen away to reveal a simple black jumpsuit— although a dramatic cape trailed behind them.

Alex pulled Theundruk out of her pocket and held it warningly in front of her.

"Look, I don't want to hurt you."

The person moved so fast Alex barely had time to block as they jabbed the spear forwards. She responded by teleporting backwards and pulling out a second knife. The person moved forwards and Alex threw the knife but just as it hit their arm, the person disappeared.

"What the—" Alex crumbled as someone kicked her in the back. She landed on the ground but quickly teleported onto her back, just managing to knock the spear coming towards her away using Theundruk.

"Who are you?"

"Nyx." The person appeared to summon a knife out of nowhere, the spear fading away as Nyx had before. Alex swore and teleported a few feet away,

"Alternate question, what are you?"

Nyx didn't answer, darting forwards again and Alex threw her hand out to control their mind.

There was nothing to grab onto, just darkness.

|| Too powerful ||

"You're an infinity stone. There's nothing more powerful!" Alex's distraction resulted in a knife being driven into her stomach and she groaned, grabbing Nyx's wrist so they couldn't pull the knife out of her. Nyx let go, pulling another knife out of thin air and driving it at Alex's face.

Out of nowhere, Pietro appeared and pulled Alex back just a moment before the knife caught her. Alex teleported them both back to the square and cried in pain as she examined the stab wound.

It was bad, really bad.

"Wanda's on her way," Pietro's hand brushed her shoulder, "Don't you—"

Alex teleported him again before vanishing and reappearing at the top of the stairs herself. Nyx, who had been running towards Alex in the square, wheeled around and again made her way up the stairs.

Already, Alex could feel fatigue pulling at her and she knew she wouldn't be able to keep up with the fighter. She should be alright if she kept the knife in her stomach but that would limit her dexterity. Nyx was good, too good and that meant they were probably working with her brother.

Alex had been gunning for his attention but not like this.

"Alex!" Wanda landed roughly next to her, having used her magic to fly through the air, "Are you okay?"

"Bleeding a little," she shot back, moving her hand so Wanda could see the wound, "Can I have your cardigan?"

Wanda obediently took it off and gave it to Alex. A second later, without even looking, she used her magic to lift and push Nyx back into the crowd, "Where's Pietro?" She asked.

"I was told he's gonna die soon so we need to keep him away from here." With a grunt, Alex pulled the knife out of her and tightened the cardigan around her wound. She needed to get everyone out of here, "Protect me."

The Mind Stone glowed in her hand and Alex focused. It was harder than it had been on the train, far more people and more approaching after no doubt seeing pictures and videos of her.

There was rapid gunfire and Alex's concentration broke slightly. She fought to regain it, throwing her arms out and welcoming everyone's minds to join her own.

"Alex, help!" Wanda shouted.

"Hold...on," with a groan, Alex curled in on herself, buckling under the weight of everyone, "Block off the square."

"I-"

"Now!" She threw her arms up and it was like throwing off a blanket when she woke up, a great weight lifting off her shoulders and she almost let herself relax before she saw Wanda struggling to hold back five people, all of them approaching.

One of them was Nyx, another a normal-looking boy who looked just a few years younger than Alex but who had a mace strapped to his back. Just behind them was another boy Alex's age with spikes or quills sticking out of his head. When he turned to look at the next people, Alex saw the quills went all the way down his back too.

The last people were two girls. The shorter one moved like she was made of air, with grey skin and a mournful expression. She was holding the hand of a girl with wings sprouting out of her back- but Alex supposed they could only be called a wing frame as there was no feathers or skin, just metal shards sticking out of her in a way that gave the illusion of wings.

These girls stopped as the rest continued and Alex watched as they raised their joined hands in the air. The air suddenly became charged, dark clouds rolling in.

"Calling a storm," Wanda muttered. She turned to look at Alex, "How confident are you that Pietro would die here?"

"Something that can tell the future told me he wouldn't be around for much longer."

"As much as I'm grateful for you protecting him, he would have been good here. Neither of us are suited for the offensive."

"I can't teleport Nyx," she pointed at them, "away. If I can get closer to the others, touch them, I should be able to. You need to focus on keeping this square closed off and try and distract Nyx. They're really good, better than Natasha, I'd say."

Alex moved on instinct, teleporting both her and Wanda a few steps away as lighting struck the spot where they'd just been. Meeting Wanda's eyes, Alex jerked her head and nodded, hoping Wanda would understand what she meant.

As Alex went to teleport again, the ground beneath her feet began to shake and a fire hydrant partway down the street burst. A wave of water rose from it, arching over the entire square and Alex saw who was controlling it- another tall figure at the far end.

Trusting Wanda, Alex snapped her fingers and teleported to the stranger. Her eyes were covered by ugly, steam-punk like goggles and Alex was caught off guard as a burst of flames shot out from her open hand. She stopped, dropped and rolled but then the ground seemed to grab her, concrete hardening over her skin and dragging her into the ground.

She wasn't strong enough to teleport, not without snapping her fingers to channel it, and so Alex could only scream, "Help!" as she was slowly buried alive

Closing her eyes, prepared to feel the excruciating pain that would be inflicted on her, Alex slowly opened them when nothing happened.

The girl crouching over her. Her goggles had been shoved onto her forehead, revealing soft brown eyes as the ground slowly let go of Alex.

The face was slightly familiar.

And evidently she recognised Alex too because she held out a hand which Alex used to pull herself up with. The brown eyes shifted to green as the wave still dangling over the square rolled back and Alex couldn't believe that she was seeing this person.

It wasn't someone she would have normally remembered but now the face had given her back some memories of her time at C.R.Y.P.T. There was even a dream once that she remembered having that this girl appeared in.

Kore de Luca.