Stand As Heroes » Quicksilver

chapter twenty two

22 x back into the frying pan, which is also on fire

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Megan was glowing, Thor crackled with lightning, and both looked unsettlingly disheveled.

"Guys!?" Peter Parker's voice came over the comms. "They're closing in on not evacuated spaces! And it's— it's not easy keeping all the civilians safe!"

"Or alive!" Scott agreed. "Like, holy crap— I'm gonna have so many nightmares after this—"

"—and you guys didn't get all of that, did you?" Bruce asked with a resigned sigh.

"No, we didn't," Strange answered. "But I think it's safe to say everything's about to get worse."

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[ Megan's POV ]

"--safe to say everything's about to get worse."

That was what I heard as Thor and I landed back in San Diego. I was still glowing, now breathless, and trying not to let myself fall victim to the shock that wanted to overcome me. 

Doctor Strange and Wanda were both right there, which was a small mercy. 

"It's not just Hela," Thor told them as soon as he'd touched down. "She has made use of the Enchantress." 

Meanwhile I stood there, breathing heavily, glowing with high intensity in an effort to keep our area clear so a conversation could be had without the living dead creatures trying to destroy us. 

"No idea who that is," Doctor Strange said, "but if Hela's not alone in this, that's bad." 

"Enchantress implies magic," Wanda said as she watched Thor. "She is magical in nature, yes?"

"Magical, and Asgardian," Thor agreed. "She is a formidable opponent on her own. Together with Hela..."

"Yeah." Doctor Strange sighed. "We get it. Bad news. Listen--" 

I was focusing so much on trying to keep my power levels up so that they could have this conversation, that was when my ears started ringing. I missed whatever else Doctor Strange told Thor as my eyes went out of focus. 

Next thing I knew, Wanda was before me. She had a hand on my shoulder, and when I focused on her face, her brow was furrowed and she was frowning. "You cannot keep this up forever," Wanda warned me quietly. "Even you are not omnipotent."

I managed a slight nod with what I knew was a weak smile. But it was the best I could do. "I know that," I assured Wanda, in the same quiet tone she had used. I was still trying to get my breathing to steady. "But planning is... important. Right?"

Wanda did not seem impressed with my answer. "I suppose." 

"Hey! Are you two listening?" Doctor Strange asked, and I realized he was referring to me and Wanda. 

"In a manner of speaking," Wanda answered calmly as she turned back to Doctor Strange.

"We have a plan," Strange said. 

Wanda nodded slowly. "Tell us." 

Before I could agree, the ringing in my ears returned, this time more intense, and my light flickered like something out of a cheesy horror film. 

Right as I let go, as I stopped trying to keep up the perpetual light, I heard Wanda shout. I glanced up, obviously out of breath, in time to see some massive cyclops that stood over me with what looked like a huge axe. 

Before I could even think, familiar arms were around me, and I was in a completely different location. Right beside Wanda, in fact, as she dispatched the cyclops. Though I only was barely aware of that part. 

Pietro smiled down at me, though his smile was more grim than I was used to. "Perhaps you need someone to watch your back," he said, still holding me, "while you are busy trying to save everyone else's."

I was about to reluctantly agree when there was an ear-splitting shriek. 

Some flying, skeletal being -- I did not have the presence of mind to even begin to identify it -- swooped down on Pietro and I both. 

I didn't even think, I just reacted. 

A blast of light left my hand, and right as its giant, tooth-filled mouth got close to Pietro and I, it dissolved into a shower of light. 

After which my head dropped to Pietro's shoulder. "I got your back, too," I told him, even as I tried again to catch my breath. 

I didn't have to see his face to hear his grimace. 

But before Pietro could say another word, Hela, the Enchantress, and the Executioner all finally stepped through the tear in spacetime and onto the streets of San Diego.