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008. drones
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐋𝐘 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐃'𝐒 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐄, her dark hair snapping in every direction. She spat, her mouth suddenly full of strands, and pouted in frustration as she tried to push the unruly mess out of her eyes. Every gust stung her skin, the cold biting into her cheeks, but she ignored it. There were bigger things to focus on.
She and Peter clung to the side of the jet piloted by Happy. Well, Peter clung — Ingrid was wrapped tightly in his arms, her back pressed against his chest as they dangled precariously. The sensation of being so high up, only Peter’s grip keeping her from plummeting to the ground below, made her stomach churn. But she trusted him. She always did, even if her instincts screamed otherwise right now.
"All right, comms check. Kids, can you hear me?" Happy’s voice crackled through the earpiece, casual as ever, as though they weren't in a life-threatening situation strapped to the side of a jet.
Ingrid, still trying to control her hair, could only nod mutely. The wind made it impossible to think straight. But Peter, composed despite the situation, raised his voice over the roaring wind. "Yeah, we can. It's just a little loud out here!" His words had a lightness to them, a forced ease Ingrid knew all too well. He was trying to keep calm, probably more for her sake than his own.
Happy glanced their way, a small grin tugging at his lips as he saw Peter’s new suit. “I like the new suit.”
“Thanks,” Peter replied, but Ingrid could feel the slight tension in his voice. Her own pulse quickened, and she fought to control her breathing. They had faced worse before, hadn’t they? But something about being out here, exposed, just the two of them… it made everything feel so much more fragile.
Then she saw it.
The creature appeared out of nowhere — massive, twisted, and more terrifying than anything she’d imagined from Peter’s brief descriptions. It was all elements in one, an unholy fusion of fire, water, earth, and air, swirling together in a chaotic mass that made her heart skip a beat. Her throat tightened, her grip on Peter instinctively tightening as well.
“Peter…” Her voice came out a little more shaky than she intended. “You sure that thing isn’t real?”
Peter hesitated, and she didn’t miss the slight waver in his voice as he responded. “Yeah… it’s just… 100 times bigger than I expected.”
