Is This Where It Ends?

It's Over

"Hey, hey... I need you to cause a distraction," Peter said from behind him, frantically yet gently tapping his face to get his attention. Ned looked out of the window to see a giant alien space ring looming in the sky. Ned knew his friend needed to leave now, and it was up to him to give him that opening. His lips quirked up slightly, "Oh my god we're all gonna die!" He and every other kid immediately pressed up against the windows in order to see, allowing Peter to slip out of the bus, dawning his mask. Everything was going to be fine. The Avengers dealt with aliens before, right? That was no problem. This shouldn't be any different, but Ned had a bad feeling in his stomach, and he knew it wasn't because of his bio chemistry test.

When they arrived at school, everyone was in a panic. Students were asking parents to come pick them up early and every single teacher was going through a drill for every scenario.

"Now I don't want to scare you, but just in case we were ever within range of a nuclear attack, if the cloud is bigger than your thumb, your in the radiation zone. As soon as it happens, you need to fall facing towards the nearest wall and cover your head like this," Ned listened absently, looking out the window wondering what on earth was going on. "Mr. Leeds, you still with us?" Ned snapped his head back to the front, "Yes Sir." He continued to drone on about the effects that a nuclear blast would have on the world, but Ned's mind was in another place. By lunch time, half of the student body had left, and the ones who were left were buzzing with nerves.

With Peter gone, Ned sat alone at their lunch table waiting to see if MJ was still there. He was relieved when he saw her walking towards him with a tray in hand. When she sat down next to him her brows furrowed. "Where's Peter?" she asked, a hint of worry lacing her usually calm and neutral tone.

"Uh, he went home. Honestly I would've left by now but I had to take my test last period." She nodded to herself, and a silence fell over the two of them. It was broken by the sound of MJ's phone vibrating vigorously, with news updates coming from every source from CNN to NBC and so on.

Ned checked his phone too, looking up video footage of the aliens that had just landed. He could see Iron Man along with two other guys, one of which was wearing a cape, trying to talk to them before fighting broke out and the video came to a shaky end. No one could make out what was being said, so everyone was left to their own speculations. Ned was both relieved and terrified when he saw Spiderman in some of the videos. Knowing his friend was okay was a relief, but the fear of the unknown shook him to his core.

Ned's stomach dropped when he read the latest headline. "Tony Stark Missing." What did that mean for Peter? Was he also missing? Did they get abducted? Ned did his best to try and remain calm and closed his eyes, trying to steady his breathing. When he opened his eyes he saw MJ's scared face looking at him. "Ned... Where's Peter?"

She still didn't know, and now was definitely not the time to tell her. "I think May picked him up. I'm just worried."

"Believe me, you aren't the only one."

After lunch he got a call from his dad telling him that he was leaving work early and would pick him up from school. He felt a wave of relief wash over him, but there was still a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach and a nagging voice in the back of his head. It had been all day and still no sign of Spiderman or Iron Man. He sat on the edge of his bed, looking up to the ceiling with pleading eyes.

"Peter wherever you are, please stay safe."

Everyone's phones were going crazy receiving news updated and concerned friends and family checking in. He wasn't sure if he should call May to ask if Peter made it home or not.

He ultimately decided against it, deciding he didn't want to put her through so much stress and pain after everything that she has already been through. He decided that he wouldn't call. Instead, she called him.

"Ned honey? Are you okay? Have you seen Peter?"

"Uh earlier this morning, on the bus."

Ned knew that she knew. Peter had told him that she found out shortly after what they dubbed as the "Vulture Incident."

"He wasn't at school?"

"N-no he left."

Ned could hear her sigh from the other end, "Shit. I never should've let him do this. I should've stopped him as soon as I had found out. Now Tony's missing and I guarantee Peter's with him. When they get back- when they get back I'm gonna- I'm gonna ground them."

He couldn't help but let out a breathy laugh, "Peter I understand, but you're gonna ground Tony Stark?"

"Well... I can ground him from Peter." May drifted off into soft sad chuckles, "God I hope they're okay." They both fell silent before Ned spoke, "Me too, May. I'll tell you if I hear anything."

He tried to behave normally after that, but he just couldn't. No matter what he did. He and his parents had decided to watch a movie together to try and calm their nerves, and Ned was nestled in the middle between them. They were sharing a bowl of popcorn while enjoying the new Jumanji movie. He was shocked that it was any good, seeing as most video game movies were all terrible, and the fact that it was a reboot didn't help it any. And he had been weary of Jack Black playing a teenage girl, but he was honestly his favorite part of the movie. He was about to comment on how well his performance was when suddenly he heard his mother gasp. He turned to her to see her disintegrate before his eyes and quickly turned to his dad only to see that he was sharing the same fate. Tears instantly started falling down his face.

"Mom Dad what's happening?" he asked, but they vanished before they could answer. Ned couldn't help but let out a heart wrenching sob, "Please don't go! I love you!" He sat on the couch, the remains of his parents still on the cushions. After crying for a solid hour, he managed to drag himself off the couch and gathered two vases to scoop their remains in. He fell to his knees in front of the sofa afterwards, leaning forward and crying all over again. He had no one.

He pulled out his phone and called May. Only she didn't answer.

"M-M-Ma-y I-I don't kn-ow what ha-happened but my parents a-are gone now." He didn't know what else to say, so he ended the voice mail and headed over to their apartment.

The city was almost like a ghost town, only more chaotic. Few people roamed, but those who did were distressed and frantic. Piles of remains lay everywhere, a few pieces drifting slowly through the air. Ned kept his mouth closed, afraid he might choke on one. Empty cars filled the streets. He had never been more afraid in his life.

When he entered the apartment, all was quiet. "May?" He called out, hoping for an answer. When he didn't receive one, he ventured farther and for the third time began to sob, seeing yet another pile of ash on the kitchen floor. He didn't even want to think about what happened to Peter.