USM One Shots

What Happened? {Pegasus Adventures: Epilogue}

A/N There are going to be a few references in here, tell me if you get them! Also, tysm for 300+ reads! Like, bro. If you like Percy Jackson, too, please read my other stories! I have a USM story too, but it's on hiatus. I'd really appreciate if you read them, love you!

 The cold December winds blow sharply against the tall, seemingly ominous buildings of New York City. The buildings looked bright, happy even, but anyone who had grown up in the city would know something was off. 

 The city seemed to be mourning. Of what, the man could not figure. He was hoping for a warmer welcome. Maybe even a cake?

 He shook his head, ridding himself of the poisonous, selfish thoughts. He looked up at the sky. Dark clouds flooded the darkness of the void up above, thick and bulging in the sky. They sat low and heavy, weighing against the top of the Empire State Building. They looked sorrowful, almost ready to break and sob down on the city bellow at any moment. 

 A man stood on a rooftop watching the city that never sleeps, his steady gaze softening into a bit of confusion as he looked for a hero fighting crime. But there were none. It had been so long since he'd been in the glorious capital of New York, with it's twinkling lights, pollution, and noisy pedestrians. It had been too long.

Oh, how he desired to be back in the city, one with it's organised chaos. It had been so, so long. But.. he couldn't. Not yet. 

He tore his gaze away from the sparkling city and focused on the grey waters of the ocean that surrounded him. Far in the distance, his old home loomed, seemingly out of place. The old, jagged black shape stood over the murky water. It looked different than the man remembered it. Not the same.

As he grew closer, he could make out its shape in the dim moonlight. The building stood, refined, and its windows looked broken and shattered, having once held a beautiful, shining sun reflecting on the no-longer-clear glass. The ledges, now broken and cracked metals, once stood proudly in the light of both Apollo and Artemis. He attempted to tear his gaze away from the broken down, shell of a building that had once been held proud and tall by the raging sea.  

 The man stepped of the boat, wearily stepping onto the crumbling surface, a confused yet sad frown etched across his face. Only an hour ago, his heart had yearned for the city, but it now cried for the hollow remains of his second home.

  As he took a step forward, he felt something break under his foot. He lifted his foot up, and to his avail, there stood a broken beer can. What the hell?

  As he looked around, he realized the former beach was littered in trash: beer cans, wrappers, plastic bags, take-outs, cups, and just about anything that you could think of. The man had to keep himself from hurling. Now that he noticed it, it appeared that every delinquent and thug in the city had thrown one large, disgusting party on the place that was once used to stop that. The thought made him furious.

  Taking a step into the building, he widened his eyes at the sight. There was red spray paint covering the walls in different messages, like "all gone now" and "their dead." Clearly some of them didn't go through school; it's obvious in their grammar. The floor had beer cans and such spread around, a bit less than outside, though. He made his way to stairs, and was surprised to see that they were partially caved in. What in the name of the seven hells happened here?

  The man shook his head, dismissing the questioning thoughts that held him in place. He walked up the stairs, and with each floor he reached he felt as if he would puke. By the fourth floor, bile had risen up to his throat. Every floor was worse than the next. But what was worse than this floor was the dried brown substance smeared across the walls. Blood. But.. who did it belong to?

  The man shook his head, and ran down the stairs as he swallowed the vomit back down into his stomach. He sprinted outside, dodging trash and his fears. He leaped into his boat, and left the shell of his former home. He made his way back to the city, and only one question remained.

With one last glance at his old home, Peter Parker turned towards the city that never sleeps. He found himself asking, "What happened?"