𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐔𝐒𝐊

17. 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆, 𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝘂𝘀𝗸

PAIN IS TEMPORARY. Eszter focuses on that mindset, but she doesn't deny that the pain was excruciatingly agonizing. The enhanced whimpers softly as she shakily pushes herself up, slowly making her way to her feet when Eszter stumbles. Black dots instantly flood her vision, standing too quickly; Eszter's green eyes shift along the beach--the plane had dragged across the short stretch of the beach, leaving a trail of fire and debris. Suddenly, Eszter coughs from the thick smoke entering her body, but as her cough racks through her body, the enhanced felt her headache intensify. It felt like someone had gone by and whacked a thick glove across her head.

However, that all leaves her mind as she thought of Peter--oh, God, she needs to find him.

Eszter drags her feet into the sand, not caring that the sand jumps up and into her boots. Walking through the smoke, Eszter fans it out of her face while her other hand covers her nose but pulls it away when she felt something wet; glancing down at her fingers, Eszter was surprised to see blood dripping from her nose. However, she doesn't worry as she wipes her nose clean before she carries on.

"Peter . . ." Eszter weakly calls, barely raising her voice. "Peter!"

When Eszter walked deeper into the destruction, she spotted Peter lying in the midst of the fire, surrounded by broken pieces of the plane. Eszter nears Peter when she suddenly trips over a piece of metal poking out from the sand, causing the enhanced to fall on her knees; almost instantly, Eszter can feel the heat of the sand burning on her skip.

Peter peels off his mask, gasping for air, the ringing in his ears as he blinks slowly, looking around desperately for Eszter.

"Eszter," Peter tries to shout, but it was raspy and inaudible.

Somehow, Eszter hears him. "Are you--are you okay?"

Still, Peter couldn't hear the enhanced speaking; he furrows his brows questionably, but he scrunched his face in pain as he slowly pushes himself up to his feet. Eszter helps him; even through her own struggle, the enhanced does her best as she crawls back to her feet.

If Pepper were to see Eszter's dress, the woman would have a heart attack to see the tear that rides up her thigh--which grants the enhanced more mobility. A light color of smoke and dust filters the dress, barely noticeable. And Tony would be disappointed to see the scuff on the side of her boots, and now, they're covered with dirt.

Eszter unexpectedly limps but quickly hides it from Peter.

She walks in front of Peter with concerned eyes, trying to get his attention, but he wasn't looking at her. Eszter doesn't notice Adrian soaring after them with a battle cry, but the enhanced gasps in surprise as Peter suddenly shoves her out of the way. Eszter couldn't find her balance as she stepped on her bad foot, causing her to collapse and fall on her butt.

Peter yelps as Adrian knocks into him, spinning him around to the ground with a hard impact. When Eszter looks up from the ground, her eyes widen. Peter manages to push himself back up to his feet, ready to take Adrian on.

As Eszter climbs onto her feet, the enhanced gapes up at Adrian as he hovers before them.

"Hey, Pedro," Adrian taunts beneath his mask but cocks a brow at the enhanced. "You, I don't know. I wouldn't hit a girl, but if I have to go through you, too, then so be it."

"Jesus," Eszter wheezes as Adrian swoops toward them.

"Duck, Eszter!" Peter warns her as he quickly rolls to the ground, avoiding Adrian.

Obliging, Eszter drops low to the ground as Adrian soars above her; however, Adrian clamped his robotic claws on Peter as he steps on him, making the boy cry out. Then Adrian yanks his arm forward with a good swing, punching Peter right on the nose, causing the boy to retract.