I Am Soul - Spider-Man / Peter Parker [2]

Prologue - Aftermath of War

Hey, folks this is a long prologue, I'm not going to lie this hurt to write never mind read in parts but it is worth getting to the end of this chapter.

I do not consent to this being posted elsewhere, I have posted it on Wattpad nowhere else.

*************

They had lost. It was as simple as that. The Avengers had never known loss, not like this. They had fought, all fought so hard and yet it all came to nothing. All around them people, animals, plants just disintegrated; half of all life melting away out of sight, turning to dust. Vision was lifeless and dull at Steve's side on the ground whilst Natasha stood behind him clutching her stomach in horror – the situation turning the assassin's insides – Thor, Rocket, Rhodes and Bruce were all stood not too far away silent in their collective grief and horror. What could they do now?

"Cap, what do we do?" Rhodes asked turning to his leader. Thanos had won and the world was falling apart. The silence was deafening. Steve sat upon the ground at a loss. His friends and family were gone. Yet everyone was turning to him for an answer, an answer he just couldn't give. Slowly, the veteran turned to look at War Machine who was staring at him with such need, he wanted Steve to have a way out of this mess but the Captain had none. Without a word, Steve climbed back to his feet even though his body ached.

"Look for survivors" he commanded, the order quiet and soft. He said no more as he walked away from the group back towards the capital city of Wakanda. What else could they do?

As they walked across the battle field, Steve and the surviving Avengers saw the grief all around them. The soldiers who remained were reacting in various ways to the situation. There was cries of anger, tears of grief but above all else silence. It seemed no one knew what to do, what to think, what to say.

Eventually, they reached the bottom of Mount Bashenga where they were pleased to find a familiar face. Shuri was stood staring out on the battlefield with tears running down her cheeks. She had seen the surviving Avengers approaching, she had spotted Okoye among them but could not see her brother. It took one look at the devasted Okoye to see that T'Challa had been taken in the snap.

Once Steve was close enough, all he could do was apologise. The princess furiously nodded, she knew it was not his fault but she struggled to contain her tears, her weeps for her lost brother. But as Shuri looked at Steve, he could see she looked guilty, she looked sympathetic towards them all. And he feared why. However, as he looked down at what she was wearing it slowly began to fall into place.

Shuri was wearing a tight fitted metallic black suit that was lined with golden trim, the design looked awfully familiar, it resembled a suit he knew well. The Iron Man suit. There was only one person in Wakanda, beside Bruce, who would have a suit like that.

"Where is Maria?" Steve asked, finally speaking after minutes of silence, a tremor reaching his voice. It was not a usual sound to hear.

"I don't know, she sent me out of the building in this suit" Shuri answered, however, she suddenly closed her eyes and grimaced as if she knew what she was going to say next would destroy the avengers before her. "But ..."

"But what?" Natasha asked from Steve's side, her eyes had been scanning the area around them but she could find no clue to what had happened to the young Stark.

"Thanos was in there with her" Shuri finally admitted. The news caused a tidal wave of shock and horror to slam into everyone who knew the child of sixteen. A pin could drop among grass and they would all hear it. No one moved, no sound was made. No one wanted to believe Shuri's words. "He targeted her; he specifically came after her. He wanted her dead. I don't think she'll have survi –"