The Side They Don't See

Family

Chapter 3- Family

"What do we do now?"

Peter felt panic rise in him for what felt like the millionth time. He felt helpless, an impending doom looming over him. He looked around and saw his emotions mirrored in the people around him.

They stood in a semi-circle, with Gamora and Doctor Strange in the middle. They had become the natural leaders of their group, given that they knew the most about their current environment.

To be honest, even after Doctor Strange's explanation of where they were, Peter still had trouble wrapping his head around everything. Supposedly, they were trapped inside one of the infinity stones, specifically the soul stone.

They were trapped inside a stone, yet they were in an endless orange plane. They were trapped inside a magic rock, and they were surrounded by trillions of the people wiped out by the snap.

And every single one of them was asleep, except for the 11 people standing in this circle.

By now, he was acquainted with everyone. There was T'challa, the king of Wakanda, and Shuri, his little sister. There was Peter Quill, who was a half-human, half-god. There was: Mantis, an insect lady, Drax, an angry alien who took everything literally, Groot, a walking tree, and Gamora, a violent green lady who reminded him of MJ. There was Stephen Strange, who he already met on Titan. And lastly, there was Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes. Sam was the falcon, and Bucky was a brainwashed ex-assassin for hydra. Both of whom were Captain America's best friends.

For the first few hours (not that he could really tell the passage of time in the soul stone) after he met everybody, he was in a silent shock. Even though he should have been worried about other things (see: dead), he couldn't help but freak out over the fact that he was literally walking among some of the biggest heroes in the galaxy.

But by now, it had been a couple of days, and Peter had gotten over his shock. He came to realize the depth of the situation they were in and the fact that they might not ever be able to make it out of here. And now, the situation had somehow become worse.

After days of walking around and only finding people in a coma-like state, Doctor Strange had finally come to a conclusion.

"They're not waking up. Nobody is. And, if I'm correct, which I am, it means that we are the only people here left who are awake." His face was grim, and he waited while everyone processed what he had just said.

They could sense there was more, so they stayed silent and waited for him to continue, their faces grim with a mixture of horror and acceptance.

"If we are indeed the last people awake right now, then it means that we might start to fall asleep as well."

For a moment, everyone was silent. Peter could tell that they were most likely just trying to understand precisely what that meant. Before they could contemplate too long, Strange explained, "We are in the soul stone. Technically, we're not supposed to be conscious. In here, everyone asleep has succumbed to the power of the infinity stone. I think that it wants us asleep."

Nobody had any clue as to what he meant when he said the stone wanted them to be asleep but remained silent. "Somehow, we are all awake. I think it's because we are among the strongest-minded, and we were all somehow able to overcome the stone. But, the soul stone is incredibly powerful. Over time, that power will chip away at our minds until we can no longer resist it."

With the way he described it, it was no surprise that everyone was horrified. The idea that they might soon become like the people around them, just mindless bodies lying on the floor, was genuinely terrifying. Peter felt his chest tighten, and his throat close, and his breathing became weaker. As soon as Strange had mentioned it, Peter felt the pressure of the infinity stone pressing on his mind, ever-present, trying to get in.