Shadow of Hope(Book 2)

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

I stood on the roof, staring out over the city, when Peter sat down next to me. " You said there was an emergency." He told me, and I nodded.

" Something big is about to happen." I explained. " Something that could be end of us all."

" What do you need me to do?" He asked, and I smiled shaking my head. " Nothing. I just wanted you to be prepared, just in case..."

" Alice, you're talking like you've already lost. Whatever it is that you're talking about, you and the other Avengers will handle it."

" I'm scared, Pete." I muttered, and he took my hand. " More scared than I've ever been." I admitted.

" You've stared down elven kings, traveled to other worlds, and fought in wars much bigger. If you can do stuff like that, you can do anything, Alice, I know you can." Peter told me, and I leaned my head against his shoulder as I squeezed my eyes shut.

" I don't think I've ever thanked you, for being there for me. I dont know what I would do without you." I whispered, and I felt him smile. " Aside from Aunt May, you're all the family I have left. We have to stick together." He said. We sat there for a few more minutes before he spoke again. " Alice, I-"

" Alice, time to go." Steve's voice called out over my comm., and I let out a sigh pulling away from Peter. " Hold that thought?" I suggested getting up.

" Yeah." He agreed, before I turned and walked away.

As I descended the stairs, Clint met me at the bottom and tossed me a quiver, which I slung over my shoulder and clipped into place as I followed after him into the building. I pulled my hair back, adjusted my hood, and then pulled up my mask. " You ready for this, kid?" Clint asked.

" Change anything if I say no?" I responded, and he shrugged." Not really."

Several hours later, as the sun rose over the small town of Sokovia, we took up positions and began to empty it out as fast we could. The evacuations were only just beginning, however, when the fight began; robots began to pop out of the ground and river, crawling up buildings and flying through the air, blasting everything and creating utter chaos. 

I teleported over when I saw Wanda hit the ground, throwing out my arms toward the attacking robots, every shot they fired at us vanished before it hit its mark, and when their attacks ceased, I make a flicking motion causing the shots to suddenly rain down on them from above. Behind me Wanda got to her feet, a thankful expression on her face, as she helped the citizens across while I held back the robots on the other side. 

I looked down as the ground under us began to shake, losing my footing as it began to break apart, and I nearly went off the end of the bridge with a nearby car. " Do you see the beauty of it? The inevitability. You rise, only to fall." Ultron's voice called out from a nearby robot, and my eyes narrowed, the gap between the city and ground getting larger, and larger. " You, Avengers, you are my meteor. My swift terrible sword. And the earth will crack with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world will be metal."

I smacked the air with my hand, and the nearest robots head disappeared. 

*******

" Alright, everyone group together. Hold tight." I called out, motioning the crowd. They shared a look, and I made a face at them before I waved my hand over them. Little by little people began to disappear, reappearing on the helicarrier that now flew several feet away. Seeing what I was doing, the citizens moved a little quicker and bunched closer together. Pietro slid to a stop next to me, setting down two children, one of which was a little red-haired girl with pigtails. She stared up at me wide-eyed, before pulling away from Pietro and wrapping her arms around my waist. " Um..." I trailed off, patting her head awkwardly as she cried out something I couldn't understand.

" She's saying Shadow." Pietro told me when he saw my look of confusion before running off to get more people, and I moved the little girl away, kneeling down to her height as she said something to the other kid next to her, her brother I guess, but he didn't seem as happy, more nervous. " You're going to be okay." I told him slowly, and he nodded before moving closer so that I could wrap my arms around both of them. " Hold tight." I said before flickering to Helicarrier.

As we landed, the little girl let out a giggle of excitement, while the boy looked around with a dazed look, just before two people came running over; their parents." Momma." The little girl cried, and I smiled at their reunion, just before a loud rumbling had me turning back to the city as it began to plummet.