Which Monster Is Worse?

Anywhere but Here

As Adam began to settle his seat on the dirt beside the burnt down school, a noise struck his ears that sent his mind into overdrive. Perhaps something needed attention? Maybe a gunfight between police and some crooks? A gang fight? The Punisher doing what he does best?

The night was cold, somewhat humid, but devoid of any moonlight around him. In this moment, the sound of silence was loudest of all. The stinging air against his face kept him firmly rooted in reality, and he prayed to be anywhere but exactly where he was right now. More questions than answers and a need to protect somebody he had only just met for the second time were at the forefront of his mind. But the harrowing feeling remained within his stomach as he inched closer and closer towards the truth.

Adam had no clue what the source of the gunfire was, but he would surely find out as he continued walking in the direction of the commotion. Anything else would've done just fine for Adam as he approached the avenue leading to Central Park, a pit deepening in his stomach.

Anxiety, for once, told the bitter truth. The moment previously played within his mind now unfolded before him in gruesome detail. Down to the sunny light within the red haze which seemed to surround the entirety of Central Park.

Studying the haze, Adam remained on the outside, watching the display over and over and over as Wanda tried and failed to do the very same thing Adam had tried and failed to do when it actually happened.

His face faltered and fell, showing grief as his eyes moved back and forth, trailing Wanda's desperate movements. As desperate as he was to help her, he had no clue what to do. She was trapping herself in the trauma exactly as Adam had done months before when he chose to isolate himself before Charles had called him back to help with Anna.

It was as Adam made this comparison that he came to the epiphany of just what to do. He had gone to Wanda in the diner and she had left him something to remember her by. The kiss that led to the memories that led to now. It was all leading up to the scene before him.

With a deep breath, Adam looked beyond the red smoke to Wanda, focusing his mind on her, and only her. As he pushed his hands against the boundaries, the skin on them began to burn, go numb, and shake violently all at once.

The grimace of pain upon his face only got worse as he pushed further, the boundary now reaching his torso and head. At this point, the grimace evolved to a scream as he clutched onto his own self identity with desperation like no other.

It was as if the magic infecting his mind was trying to pull and mold his consciousness back to the day inside the border, to the day everything happened. But he couldn't let that happen. He had to hold onto the purpose of now, the purpose of getting Wanda out of this sick simulation. He had to save her. It was always just going to be her.

As the burning subsided, Adam shook his head violently, clearing the constant buzz of the past humming just beyond his reach. With each step he took towards Wanda, he grew more and more wary of how she might react. Would she lash out? Would they fight? Would it even matter? These questions kept his sanity together as he made it through the final opposition between him and his past. The key to everything he didn't know lay before him.

Hearing her plead to the little girl that she could fix what happened caused Adam to involuntarily cry out, running his hands over his face.

"Wanda, you can't." He spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, hoping he could get through to her.

"Please, you have to listen to me. You have to hear what I'm saying. I was there, I tried to save her, too. I know what you're feeling. Please."

That one word repeated over again caused Wanda to turn on Adam and shout with tears staining her face and rage behind her eyes as she knelt beside Isabella.