The Unassigned Mission

The Night We Met

"I shouldn't have skipped."

"We didn't think this would've happened, Sophia."

A questionably calm May sat at her worn down kitchen table, steadying her shaking hands on her cup of tea that has gone cold. Sophia paced the tiled floor as she kept eyeing the door, hoping Peter would burst through at any moment blurting out an excuse then take Sophia into their room to discuss the misadventure he got into today.
Except that wasn't happening, Peter is missing. He wasn't at the pick up spot May was meant to gather him from after his field trip with the school. Peter wouldn't answer his phone. Ned who rushed off the bus, along with other chattering students about the alien ship they saw, wasn't much help. He was too flustered to fully explain and the situation that went down in Manhattan was still so recent that no news station has covered it yet. So, they were left feeling hopeless as they just waited.

"I just thought the science museum was a lame choice for me," she chuckled wetly, "I have something far beyond science discovery in my fingertips. I have such an ego."

May arose and stilled the girl, pulling her into a hug, "Tony must be rubbing off on you. Now, don't start blaming yourself for this. Peter takes on so many things, he's capable of this challenge."

"Aren't you scared?"

"Far beyond what you can comprehend but I'm going to be strong for him. If he at least found Tony, he's in good hands."

Sophia nodded against her chest and pulled away, "I need some air."

She made her way into their bedroom and closed the door; not fully so she didn't shut May out. She ran her hand along her red dress she purchased for prom that was hanging next to Peter's pressed suit on his closet door; The dance was in two days. Sophia's back slid down the metal of the bunk bed as she looked out the open window. After some minutes of silence, her phone started ringing. She scrambled over to the couch in the living room and looked at the  caller ID; unknown.

"Hello?"

"Sophia, hey!"

"Peter," she whispered and sat down on the couch.

"I know you guys must be scared but I'm okay. I'm with Mr. Stark on an alien ship, passing Earth's atmosphere, calling you off of an upgraded suit. With all of those factors, I'm still okay and I will be."

"I shouldn't have convinced you to go back to being Spider-Man this quickly."

"There was no stopping me. It's in my blood to act on my spidey senses, I don't know why I thought I could fight it off. You just helped me realize I can be stronger."

"Yeah, stronger when it comes to car jackers in Harlem not an extraterrestrial with space weapons that could kill you!"

"This situation may be for the greater good. In a way I could be helping out not just New York but the entire planet."

Sophia covered her face as she masked her tears into her hand, "how long will you be gone?"

"I'll be back soon," the boy promised; leaving it at that before hanging up and going to explore the Alien ship.
________________________________

Sophia unwillingly found herself in the unbearable strobe illuminated dance hall. She felt off since Peter's disappearance but Michelle would be damned if she let Sophia become the damsel sulking on Prom night. Even though she was questioned on why she cared so much by Ned, since Michelle hates big ticket dances that get too much hype when there's more to worry about. Michelle mumbled something unintelligible before leaving May's apartment.
Of course May asked for a picture of the pair before she hugged Sophia tight; begging her to be safe. She didn't want to leave May, a kind woman, aging too quickly with fear for the two kids she vowed to protect, but May insisted she go.
So, Sophia went to please the people around her. When in fact she did just want to curl up and sulk; looking out the nerdy bedroom window of the person she wanted to search the galaxy for.
Sophia blinked herself out of the gloomy thoughts and realized she'd been standing in front of a rambling Michelle. As she tuned back in, the other girl had been complaining about this very dance that she forced Sophia to come to. She sighed and picked up one of those plastic decorative cups for punch,

"Of course," Michelle groaned, "how stereotypical. A punch bowl with a serving collection that belongs in an eighties prom movie."

"You'd think with this advanced of a school, we'd be able to update some cups," Sophia entertained a conversation.

Michelle had a smile playing on her face but she immediately froze and the smile faded just as quick.

"Michelle?"

The faux glass cup dropped from the girl in question's hand and bounced slightly on the wooden floor boards. Sophia reached over to console Michelle but she fell to her knees,
"What a clique."

Sophia took a step back in shock as Michelle turned to dust. She scanned the room as she held back her anger as she witnessed her fellow classmates die the same as Michelle. Her eyes paused on a very familiar figure approaching her.

"Ned!"

Sophia's breath quickened as she rushed over to her friend, right as he had fallen on his knees. She knelt down to her best ability in her dress. Ned clutched at her arm and looked over with a saddened look,
"Don't leave me too."

"You have to find Peter. He can fix this."

"What if I can't?"

Ned still held onto Sophia's burning flesh but the grip felt weaker. She looked down to see his hand crumbling around her still intact arm. His hold slowly dissipating before her eyes, just like half the students around them in the dance hall.

"Then, I'll see you in a different life."

"Ned, please. I need you!"

"No you don't, you're stronger than me. I'm just the guy in the chair."

Sophia shook her head while tears rolled down her flushed face,
"Ned," she sobbed as the boy completely disappeared into thin air.

The girl stood up and looked around her, dust scattered the air as it flowed out through open windows that kept the students cool when they danced. She noticed the dust flew in one specific direction instead of following the regular breeze outside. Sophia didn't recognize the few remaining faces while the strobe lights flashed wildly and music still played with the DJ booth empty. She felt her hands start shaking and shot a current towards the irritating lights.
The hall immediately went black, the couple students looked at her in fear before she rushed out of the building. Her heels clacking against the wood was muffled from underneath her dress. She reached the cool air of outdoors and curled over, still sobbing from anger and shock.

Sophia soon straightened up and looked back over to the slow flowing dust in the evening sky. Where is that going? Are her friends truly dead?

"Are you okay Peter?"

Her last thought was spoken out loud as she watched the dust and took a step forward as if it would lead her to him. Sophia then felt numb, she looked down to see her body slowly joining the floating dust in the air. Her electrically charged body finally dulling out as she died. Her red and pale blue corsage falling from her wrist and onto the sidewalk as it slipped through her fading body.
___________________________________

A shiver ran through Peter's spine and he felt his arm hairs raise after a moment of silence on the barren planet. He just witnessed these strangers he'd grown to care for turn to dust next to him. Yet, he can't shake the feeling, a natural feeling of warning, that something was wrong on Earth. He then felt pain.
He took a staggering step forward. Feeling every nerve in his body tingling like it was being burned from the inside out.

"Mr. Stark..."