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

Chapter Twenty-Three - The Soul Stone

2014

Once more Maria was jumping out of the Quantum Realm. This time she was pulled back to her full size in the year 2014 on Vormir. Vormir certainly was a dominion over death as Nebula had described it as. It was a murky place of little to no life. Everything around her was dead, the ground was black and cracked with no life, tree roots were brittle and dead along the ground as well.

Maria understood Nebula's words completely. Removing her Timesuit, Maria scanned the area around her stood in her Iron Suit with her mask lowered. She didn't like this place at all, it just screamed trouble and death. Slowly, Maria began to make her way across the land. She spotted a large hill raised above everything else, the only statement on the planet. Maria assumed it was where the Keeper was .... where members of her family currently were.

It took a little time but Maria found herself reaching the top of the hill. As she climbed she was suddenly hearing voices. People talking quietly amongst the silence. Maria quickly slowed down and decided to creep up the rest of the way in order to not be seen by those of the past.

It wasn't long before Maria's eyes locked onto three figures though it was the ghostly apparition that caught her attention first. There he was the Keeper, the villain once known as Red Skull, standing to the side of the grand altar of a cliff. Black smoke hovered around him as he stood in his ragged black cloaks with his hood concealing a great deal of his face. He stood as if a priest beside a sacrificial altar that fell to the core of the planet instead of lifting up to the skies. Just before the Keeper, stood two people Maria knew all too well. Her Uncle Clint and her Aunt Natasha.

Maria took a shaky breath ... she knew what came next.

The pair of assassins stood foreheads resting against one another as tears ran down Natasha's cheek. Maria clung to the rocks she rested against as suddenly Clint grabbed Natasha and flung her to the ground moments before Natasha returned the favour. Natasha stood above Clint before she fired one of her immobilising stun pieces at Clint's chest. The assassin who was to give her life turned to run towards the cliff. She planned on throwing herself straight into the sacrifice. But her friend had other plans. Clint jumped back to his feet and sent an exploding arrow at Natasha's feet sending the Black Widow flying away from the cliffside. She hit the ground hard giving Clint the time he needed. He nodded towards her before he threw his bow to the side and ran for the cliff. With no one to stop him he jumped.

Fighting to save each other, they fought with a determination like never before, had brought the impossible to life. Maria watched as Natasha somehow fought through her pain and ran off the cliff to grab for her best friend, for the man who had saved her so many years before. Maria saw just as Natasha reached Clint, wrapping her hands around his waist and grabbing something from her belt. Then there was nothing. Maria could see no more, they had both fallen from sight. Tears tore down her face.

Maria felt herself gasp sharply at the bright blue light that flashed briefly beyond the cliff. That meant only on thing...

Natasha had just died. Her soul had been a part of an everlasting exchange.

Maria struggled for a moment to control her tears and her racing mind as it registered what she had just seen. Pulling back her gloves, Maria wiped her cheeks using her fingertips, removing any sign of her distress whilst she tried to calm her mind. Natasha had died for everyone else but it made the sight and knowledge no easier. Auntie Nat's death was still fresh, still raw and painful. It was just another death Maria could never forgive herself for.

Maria pushed aside her pain as she looked down at the case she held in her hand. She had a job to do. Kneeling down, Maria unclipped the case and retrieved the stone from inside. The moment her hand touched the stone she felt the power run from the stone into her body. Her cells back to hum with the power. To say it wasn't intoxicating would be a certain lie.