𝗕𝟮 | There are only bad decisions beyond us. With the vulture gone, it was time to work on bonding. However, a threat out of their hands attacks once again, causing their actions to have until the last consequence of their will.
(𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗻�...
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Nikolas could still hear Clint's voice echoing in his mind, carrying the weight of finality:
"It's irreversible."
He'd left Clint and the others behind in that moment—he knew he had to—but the weight of the encounter pressed down his neck.
First Peter, then Romanov. Nikolas clenched his fists, hating the helplessness of it. The idea formed quietly, almost shamefully, in his mind—a feeling of possibility. Maybe, just maybe, there was a way to undo this, a way to a possible resuscitation. Sacrifice was supposed to be an exchange. Somewhere in his heart, he couldn't fully accept that it was absolute, that lives were just...gone.
He tried to push the grief aside, but it clung to him, as inescapable as his own heartbeat. He could feel the questions twisting inside him—the "what ifs" that gnawed at his resolve.
if only I could give them their lives, he thought.
if only i could rewrite the rules of life itself.
But Clint's words returned to him, haunting like a endless loop: irreversible.
He closed his eyes, moaning softly as the reality of their mission replayed in his mind, step by agonizing step. This plan had seemed like their salvation, a way to mend the fractures in their lives and to stitch together what Thanos had torn apart. And yet, it worked.
Collect the stones.
Bring them back.
Create the copy.
They were steps he'd memorized, rehearsed a hundred times.
Nikolas drifted back to consciousness with a start, his heart pounding at the low hum of the quantum model. He blinked, disoriented, and rubbed his eyes, trying to recall when he'd even closed them. As he struggled to his feet, his gaze landed on a figure hunched over the model's control panel.
"Hey! They're over there—you don't need to mess with those controls if..."
But before he could react, she turned and fired a precise shot. The blast hit him squarely, knocking him to his knees as an energy field surged outward, deflecting the shot just enough to send it careening toward the ceiling. It collided with one of the crystalline power conduits above, shattering it in a burst of sparks and light. Nikolas gritted his teeth, pain lancing through him as he struggled to push himself up—a team member he hadn't even had change to get to know—slipped her hand into the model's mechanism port and triggered the quantum tunnel.
Why did she attack me? Why did she activate it?
Nikolas limped toward the control panel, his legs burning with each strained step. He hurriedly checked the settings, his mind racing, but the answers eluded him. He had no idea what she had done, or what it meant for their mission—but a gut-wrenching feeling told him it wasn't good for a good reason.
From above, the crystals began to fall, shattering into jagged, deadly shards. Larger chunks of debris rained down, crushing prototypes and scattering equipment in all directions. Panic surged through Nikolas as he looked up, his heart pounding. A ship loomed overhead, its thrusters roaring to life, propelling it straight toward their location. The ground trembled beneath him, and he knew they didn't have a chance. Nikolas' heart pounded in his chest as he sprinted toward the main assembly area, desperate to warn the others.
"IT'S A TRAP! IT'S A TRA—"
He stretched out his arm, desperately trying to signal to the others, but his voice was swallowed when the missiles struck with ruthless precision, detonations reverberating through the base, tearing everything apart. Nikolas felt the shockwave hit him, his body sent hurtling backward as the ground cracked beneath him. He was weightless for a moment, then crashing, floor after floor, until he finally hit the rubble-strewn bottom with the impact jolting through every bone in his body.
Water surged through the shattered ruins, creeping over the debris that buried Nikolas, turning the already darkened space into a suffocating, cold tomb. His chest tightened gasping for air as the water rose steadily, engulfing everything in its path. Desperation clawed at his throat, his limbs heavy and unresponsive beneath the weight of fragmented wreckage with a fire coming from a short circuit beside them.
"LET ME UP. LET ME UP! I CAN'T BREATHE!"
"R-Raccoon..." Nikolas whispered, torn between relief and fear. They were still alive, but they were trapped. And the water—the water was rising fast.
He tried to move, to crawl toward Rocket, but as he shifted, a sharp, searing pain shot through his right arm. His body paralyzed. Broken pieces of rubble were stuck above his limb, keeping him pinned in place. The pain was blinding, the sensation of it stabbing through him. Rocket was struggling to breathe. Every second mattered.
With a grimace, using his left hand, he tried to extend a ripple of energy. The familiar crackling force surged from his fingers, cutting through the weight and the debris, until it freed Rocket's half body from the crushing pressure. The raccoon gasped for air, pulling himself out from beneath the rubble.
"Come on!" Rocket's paw slashed weakly, urging Nikolas to move.
Nikolas couldn't—his arm, still trapped, claimed in protest. Blood pooled around it, dark and sticky, as his arm seemed to bend in ways it wasn't supposed to. His fingers twitched helplessly as the bones inside shattered. He could feel them broken. It felt as though something foreign was crawling beneath his skin, tightening its grip on his nerves.
"Get out of here!" Bruce's voice came from the other side, strained and desperate. The green giant was holding up what was left of the ceiling, holding back the full weight of the collapsing structure. He pushed, sweat and blood mingling on his brow, urging them forward. "NOW!"
Rhodey was there, too, crawling toward them with what little strength he had left. His legs were barely working, but he pushed through the pain, helping to clear the way from Nikolas's arm. His hand reached out and Nikolas took it with his oppositive arm, and as the last of the debris was pulled away, the horror of his injury became clear.
His left arm, once whole, was nearly destroyed—bones shattered, torn apart, and held together only by the sickening, writhing black veins that had replaced his flesh tracing paths like a web of shadow beneath his pale skin. He couldn't feel the fingers, or his arm. But still, it was there, he was seeing it. The feeling of those veins slithering beneath his skin made him nauseous.
Nikolas's vision blurred, his body fighting the overwhelming urge to black out. He couldn't focus on the pain—he couldn't focus on anything—except the urgency in their movements.
His world was spinning, his vision blurring. Bruce managed to free them both, lifting the weight off them just as the water surged in with a violent crash. The force of it sent them sprawling forward, Rocket jumping onto Nikolas's back as they were pulled into the current.
Nikolas squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the impact. Just as the floodwaters surged, drowning everything in their path, something massive reached for them.
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