Venom
“…ny….!”
"...uit….ony….!”
“...ony…!”
“...uit….ony….!”
Strobes of red pulsated to the wail of alarms, muffled under the growing pressure inside his head. Building inside his skull, pushing against his temples with each blare of klaxons ringing through his ears.
Gradually, the noise became sharper as awareness came crawling back.
“...ake….up…!”
“To…!”
Peeling his eyelids apart felt like tearing through lead. Each blink was harder than the last. The flashing red lights only intensified with small cracks clearing the way for sight.
Hands gripped his shoulders and shook his body.
“…wake….up!”
Tony blinked and blinked — eyelids moving at a rapid-fire pace, desperately clinging to consciousness before it could abandon him.
He clenched his eyes shut, tight enough to rip the skin apart. Even closed, the onslaught of strobe lights pierced through the darkness. Hammering to the pulse that throbbed at the base of his skull.
“…Tony!”
That was all it took.
Tony gasped, a guttural inhale that nearly brought him right off the floor. The hands on his shoulders grounded him, clinging to the fabric of his shirt so firmly he could feel it stretch across his back.
The voice that shouted in his ears was like a tether. He latched onto it for dear life.
“Tony!” Steve kept shouting, his voice cutting through the fog that crippled his senses. Suddenly, the cotton in his ears was ripped away — clarity barreling down at full force. “Put on the suit! Put on the suit, Tony!”
Tony’s eyes shot wide open — dangerously wide. The toes of his shoes was the first thing he saw, his legs akimbo and his body half titled over. The only thing keeping him from kissing the floor were the two hands gripping his shoulders, tight enough that it was impossible to tell where his pain came from; Steve, or the blast that knocked him straight into the next decade.
Tony figured it was safe to assume the debris raining down from the ceiling was at some fault.
“Wha—?”
“Your suit, Tony!” Steve shouted, his voice straining over the sirens. “Get your suit, we need to—!”
Tony was stumbling to his knees before he even knew what Steve was saying.
“What happ—?”
An explosion rocked them both sideways.
Steve caught Tony before he could hit the ground, his fist clenching to his shirt. It was the only thing that kept Tony from tumbling away.
The other hand raised his shield high, covering them both from the debris that came hurtling down.
Tony let out a slew of curses as the wall next to them exploded, bursting open at the seismic activity quaking Citadel. It nearly deafened his already aching ears. He could hear as each piece of drywall pelted against Steve’s shield, bouncing off the Vibranium and scattering to the floor.
It nearly masked the roar that sounded from behind.
“Is that—!?” Tony whipped his head around, ignoring the spike of pain that arched through his neck. Every nerve laced throughout his spine lit up with a hot fire, racing straight down his back.
Another explosion nearly took him off his feet, this time from straight ahead. The wall burst apart, sending chunks flying towards them.
Steve grabbed Tony’s arm, hauling him to his feet in one fell swoop.
“Your suit, Tony!” They were running towards the entry way before Tony even knew his legs were moving. “C’mon! We gotta go!”
Alarms blared like an inferno in his ears as they bolted down the halls, Tony’s feet tripped over themselves more times than he could count. It was only with Steve’s iron grip on his arm that he stayed upright — multiple explosions rocked them sideways, an earthquake within the facility rumbling through the structures that kept it intact.
Tony swore his heart was threatening to beat out of his chest — the adrenaline hurt, and for a split second he worried he may be having a heart attack.
“Where’s Peter —!?” Tony almost failed to dodge falling ceiling tiles as the question ripped from his throat.
Steve didn’t dare waste a second. “We need to GO!”
Red strobe lights colored them with the alarms that ceased to sound. Even the star plastered across Steve’s chest was more crimson than it was silver.
They turned a corner blindly. Hurrying so fast that as two bodies came gliding across the floors, Steve had to forcibly yank Tony back to avoid a collision.
“Ooof — guuuHHCK!” Clint’s face was a contorted mess of pain as he slid across the ground, smooth in descent like ice was beneath him. He didn’t stop until his body hit the end of the corridor, smacking into the wall with a belligerent shout.
“GodDAMN—!”
Clint held on tightly to the small person in his arms — as tight as one arm would allow him — shielding them from the rain of rubble.
The walls of the Citadel blew open, bit by bit.
What Steve’s shield didn’t block, Clint’s body did.
He didn’t wait for things to clear up. On his knees the instant he could manage — a blatant struggle with one arm trapped in a sling — Clint forcibly pushed away the person he’d been holding onto.
“Go!” Clint didn’t just yell, he screamed. It took Tony a second too long to realize there were small sparks coming from his left ear. The alarms weren’t the only thing that took his hearing. “Get out of here, now!”
The person — one of the many scientist that occupied the Citadel — didn’t need to be told twice. She was scampering away before Clint could utter another word; disappearing around the corner, hands protectively covering her head, vanishing beneath the strobe lights that flashed wildly.
Clint spun around, clutching his bad arm with white knuckles — just as the ceiling from above shook and rumbled, sending tiles down below and wires that nearly struck him across the face.
“What the HELL is going on!?” Clint narrowly dodged the loose electricity that dangled from the ceiling. He was still staring at the wires when Steve knocked them aside with his shield.
“Evacuate!” Steve shouted, equal parts enraged and panicked. “Find Bucky and Wanda, get everyone out of here —!”
“Barnes is barricaded inside with Wanda, Wilson, and a handful of doctors!” Clint shook his head, stone-cold. The blood from a gash on his forehead caked into his eyebrow, seeming all the more visceral when followed up with his words. “They ain’t leaving here!”
Tony looked at Clint like he’d shot an arrow straight through his chest.
“Like hell they aren’t!” Tony’s shout was barely loud enough for Clint to hear. It was barely enough for his own ears — his heart was louder, thundering, with fear coiling deep in his gut. “Round up the troops, we need all —!”
A wild and guttural roar cut him off.
Everyone in the hallway froze.
Everyone but Natasha, the faintest outline of her body seen running up the hallway. She ran at a speed that had her arms swinging frantically, so fast that she had to slide to a stop as she approached them.
“What are you still doing here!?” Natasha looked at the three like they’d lost their goddamn minds. The shine of sweat that covered her face somehow looked more damp underneath the emergency lights. “I’ll handle the code green, everyone else —!”
Clint blanched. “That’s Hulk?!”
A CRASH, followed by an unmistakable roar, had Tony pushing away from Steve and stumbling towards the sound. Just a few feet, enough that his ears could confirm what his mind already knew.
“No,” Tony started, shaking his head and making himself dizzy in the process. “That’s Hulk —”
A scream interrupted his words, echoing with enough strength to vibrate the bone morrow throughout their bodies. Howling, high-pitched and shrill — all four slapped their hands over their ears the very second it pierced through the air.
Tony turned to Clint, palms still pressed against the sides of his head.
“That’s Venom!”
If Clint’s eyes had gone any wider, they’d be lost among the rubble on the floors.
“What the fuck is a Venom!?”
The answer came in the form of an explosion — far down the hall, veering to the left and out of sight. Debris and rubble exploded outward, followed by a cry of a brute they knew all too well.
Straight ahead, Hulk came flying down the hallway, a slack weight that’d been tossed no differently than a rag-doll.
He hit the wall with enough force to smash straight through it, rumbling the floors with the quakes that surrounded them; the cause for every piece of the Citadel that collapsed and crumbled in front of their eyes.
Tony nearly lost his balance, had Steve not crouched low to keep them both on their feet. Clint wasn’t as lucky, tumbling to the side, hitting the wall next to him with a smack that couldn’t be heard — not over the next angry roar of the Hulk.
“SHIT—!” Clint squeezed his eyes shut as his bad arm, once again, became familiar with the structure of the Citadel.
The same structure that was dangerously close to collapsing ontop of them — two creatures tearing through the building with reckless rage and abandonment to the damage they caused.
A blaze of cobalt electricity lit up the hallways, painting over the red with its fierce voltage.
“You must be kidding me!” Blast by blast, Shuri came charging backward down the same corridor Hulk fell victim to. Wild, unfaltering steps brought her towards the group at the end of the hall, each step she took accompanied by a single shot from her gauntlets.
Left hand, right hand.
Re-load.
Left hand, right hand.
Re-load.
The Vibranium gauntlets smoked as she used every bit of ammo inside. Desperately and senselessly, aiming at whatever threatened her — not pausing to consider who, or what, it could be.
Shuri craned her head around, her back still facing them, her arms still high. Gauntlets reared to fire.
“If we do not stop this thing —!”
Shuri screamed as a sheet of glass came hurling towards her, the edges already jagged from the window it was ripped from.
Steve grabbed her by both arms, pulling her low to the ground with his shield held high.
A confetti of glass shattered at impact, shards slicing through anyone in its way.
Tony cursed as a large chip dug into bicep and stayed there. He didn’t give himself two seconds to think; plucking it out and tossing it aside no sooner than it had wedged into his arm.
Okay, yeah — the suit was a good idea after all.
“You must hurry!” Shuri lifted her head from beneath Steve’s cover, meeting his face head-on. The look on her face was one Tony never wanted to see in his lifetime. “Every second it is alive is a second that it grows stro—!”
An earsplitting wail of toxic poison screeched through the halls.
They all shot their heads towards the sound. None were immune to the fear that crossed their faces, vividly highlighted under the red strobes from above.
The roar of Hulk came after — a pained cry, a yelp of agony that sounded like nothing they’d ever heard from the green beast.
“Oh, Jesus Christ…” Clint murmured, slowly pushing away from the wall. “That thing’s taking out the Hulk…”
The BOOM that followed turned his well-educated guess into a startling reality.
Natasha was pulling at his arm before he’d even taken his next breath.
“In my quarters,” Natasha started to say, stopping only when Clint didn’t acknowledge her. She grabbed the bottom of his jaw and turned his head around, facing his good ear towards her mouth. “In my quarters, second to last dresser by the window, bottom shelf— the plank of wood is loose, lift it up and underneath a stack of photos is a box. I have a birthday present there for Cooper.”
Clint immediately shook his head. “Nat, don’t —”
“Make sure he gets it.” Natasha locked eyes on his, fiercely, giving no room for argument.
Clint opened his mouth to say something — what, he wasn’t sure. He knew damn well that his protest would be weak. He knew damn well — they all knew damn well — that Natasha was the only one who could get Bruce back.
The screeching howls from both creatures was nearing closer — Hulk in startling pain, Venom with a frightful rage — the floors were actively trembling underneath his boots, vibrating his teeth, even as he clamped his jaw shut.
Natasha did her best to offer him a smile.
And then she turned away, running straight into the chaos ahead of them.
“Suns getting real low, big guy!”
The charge of her widow bites was nearly as loud as her shout. Natasha slammed both her wrists together, activating them with one hard smack. She disappeared around the corner, jumping through the Hulk-shaped hole that took her to a different level of the Citadel.
Klaxons continued to sound.
“Get everyone out of here!” Steve spun on his heels, all but pushing Clint down the other end of the hallway. And then again when the archer stood stunned, still gawking at the space Natasha had been standing. “Now!”
Clint shot him a look — frustration and fear mingling together as one — before he ran off.
Steve didn’t wait to see him disappear behind the corner. He immediately turned back to Tony, desperately pulling at his arm.
“Your suit — let’s go!”
Tony lifted his eyes away from the blood that dripped down his arm, slipping in-between his knuckles and dripping off his finger nails. He didn’t need to be told twice — he was one-hundred percent on board with that motive.
They both made a run for it.
“Wait!” Shuri shouted, reaching out for them with a hand that was sealed inside her gauntlet. “In the lab —!”
Something below them crashed and thundered. All three looked to the ground, practically able to see the vibrations trembling along the marble floor.
It was making its way out of the Citadel — and fast.
“Across from your suit,” Shuri quickly continued, her eyes locked steadfast on Tony, even as Steve tried to tug him away. “Near monitor labeled AxCVk, next to the station Banner worked at — underneath the console and within a cabinet on the left side —”
Tony eyes blew wide. “We don’t have time for a wild goose chase!”
“There is a box!” Shuri yelled over him. “There is a box, a box the size — the size your hand. It is small, transparent — it is wired with Vibranium! The same sort of frequency we used in the mesh, a pulse cage of sorts. I designed it while you were in the jungle — in hopes that, if you can kill this creature and detain the symbiote from it, you can trap it in the cage! It should strip it of its power!”
“Should!?” Tony’s brows creased deeply. Capturing the symbiote hadn’t even crossed his mind — his gut clenched until he could feel his heart in his throat.
This wasn’t even the symbiote anymore.
Would they even be able to stop it?
An explosion nearly rocked them all off their feet. Shuri slammed into the wall, her braids knocking loose at the impact. With a gauntlet covered hand, she pushed herself away and reached down, tapping swiftly on the outer edges and bringing them back to life — fully charged.
“I haven’t exactly had the means to test it!” Her rebuttal was too heavy with panic to be argued with. Her fear-stricken face, more-so.
Steve yanked at Tony’s arm.
“We’ll find it,” he insisted, already pulling Tony away. “Come on — let’s go!”
They ran in two different directions — two different hallways. The last they saw of Shuri was the back of her head running away, and the cobalt blasts of her gauntlets shooting ahead.
Tony and Steve rounded six corners before finally coming up to the lab that had his suit.
The holotable was still shattered, an empty frame sitting in the middle of the room. But the glass scattered across the floor was buried beneath rubble that fell from the ceiling. It was impossible to tell if the damage it took on was from hours prior, or the slow collapse of the Citadel.
Hulk could do enough damage on his own. Sokovia proved that much. Now with Venom on their tail…
Tony pushed the thought back. There wasn’t time to think — just do.
No thinking about a monster that named itself.
No thinking about how it had a brain — an intelligence.
How it became creature of its own.
Tony pushed the thought further back as he forced himself into the lab.
Do. Just do.
Steve had to dodge multiple loose wires that sparked freely as they bolted inside, squeezing between a wall pillar that had splintered in two, crumbling in on itself. The ceiling was partially collapsed, and broken plumbing pipes rained down water in a free-fall.
Tony risked the chance of electrocution as he made a mad dash for his suit. The wires he tore through sparked even brighter at contact, singing against his shoulders and leaving burn holes in the fabric of his shirt.
The armor was opening up before he could utter a single word to FRIDAY — subcutaneous implants heeding to his command the moment he was nearby. He stepped inside and let the suit swallow him whole, each piece of metal locking onto his limbs and securing him in place.
Water from burst pipes rained down on him, pelting like hail against the alloy metal. The helmet wrapped around his head, molding around him, covering his face completely with LEDs that lit ablaze. Both at the same time.
Across the way, Steve was rummaging through every inch of the lab without a care to what he broke. Drawers were ripped open hard and fast, anything they contained inside flying out and tumbling onto the floors. Faster by the second, his blind panic a tornado that blew through the room.
“Where’s this thing at —!?”
Tony was already half way to the console when he spoke.
“Here, here — move!” With the strength of his armor, he ripped away the drawer underneath the computers. Literally — breaking it out.
The lights above flickered as another blast shook the Citadel. Right as Tony reached deep in the drawer and grabbed the small cube in his hands.
Shuri wasn’t kidding. The damn tesseract had been bigger than whatever this thing was — the size of his palm swallowed it whole, tenfold while wearing his Iron Man armor.
“That it?” Steve paused, equally as puzzled.
Tony shot him a look, his mouth forming into a hard pressed line beneath the concealment of his helmet.
“Sure as hell hope so.”
The scream of the symbiote sent a chilling tremble down Tony’s spine. It was gaining distance, sounding further away with each uproar that bled through its throat. Not even his worst nightmares could conjure up such terrorizing howls.
Calling it a monster had been far too kind.
It sounded like a demon.
“We need to get the hell outta here,” Steve needlessly ordered, already heading towards the door. Just as more pipes burst open, crashing down on the computers and creating a cascade of broken electricity. Flames began to mix with the outpour of water. “It’s heading for the outside —!”
“Here!” Tony didn’t hesitate to slam the cube against Steve’s chest, stopping them both in their tracks. Handing it off with every ounce of trust he could ever have in someone.
Whatever doubt, whatever conflict had laid between them — it fled fast.
Even under the flashing strobe lights, Steve’s eyes recognized that much.
With a stiff nod and unspoken words — far too many unspoken words — he pocketed the small box away. Right as the floor began to quake, the vibrations blurring the outline of his legs.
They ran for it.
“I thought these buildings were made out of Vibranium!” Tony craned his head behind him as they bolted out of the lab, his eyes impossibly wide at the destruction taking place.
Steve narrowly dodged a large industrial pipe as it toppled down from the ceiling. It collided against the shield on his back and nearly threw him forward.
“Doesn’t matter when that thing can tear through Vibranium!”
A chain reaction of thunderous explosions from down below was enough to rattle the already damaged structure of the lab. Tony and Steve narrowly made it to the threshold in time, hands covering their heads and wires sparking fiercely ahead of them. They were merely inches out of the doorway when the ceiling collapsed and sealed the room off.
There wasn’t any time to look back.
“Where are we going?!” Tony’s demand was borderline engulfed in the annihilation, destruction meeting them at every corner.
They bolted down long corridors with heavy breaths, the pounding of their feet muted underneath the growing chaos.
“Wherever it goes!” Steve shouted.
When Tony turned the wrong corner, Steve blindly yanked his arm and pulled him in the right direction. It was only then Tony realized Steve hadn’t even found the time to put on his combat gloves — or his helmet. His protection was severely incommensurate to Tony’s.
It did nothing to slow Steve down. “We have to stop this thing before it kills anyone!”
Tony didn’t know the layout to the Citadel before the lights were stripped and the hallways became a mess of wreckage. Aside from a few coffee runs, his time in Wakanda had been spent camped out in the labs —now demolished beyond access.
As they ran like lightning down hallway after hallway, he came to realize that Steve did know. It was clear that while he’d been consumed with finding a cure for Peter, Steve was busy studying every turn inside the large building. Preparing for a moment like this.
And thank God for it. Because the ceilings weren’t holding up, and the walls were breaking apart, and if they didn’t get out now, they’d be buried here — dead or alive.
The hallway came to a dead-end, leading to a single door which Steve nearly ripped off the hinges. Had it not been made of Vibranium, Tony had no doubt he would’ve done just that.
Not a second later and they were bolting down a staircase, leaping two steps at a time.
“Is it too late to get Strange here?” Steve’s words ricocheted as he bounced down the stairs, colliding into the wall at the very end before throwing himself down the next flight of steps. Not daring to take pause, not even to breathe.
“We’re in Wakanda!” Tony’s voice was high-pitched and panicked. “How the hell—!”
“He said he had a spell,” Steve rattled on, his legs springing with each leap taken. “One that could extract the symbiote entirely.”
Tony didn’t respond.
“Right!?” Steve spun around — slamming into Tony when he kept pace down the stairs. Nearly knocking him to the ground with a forced stop.
Explosions from outside were muffled through the walls of the stairwell. And yet in the moment of silence that followed, they seemed impeccably loud.
Tony floundered, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
Steve reached for his arm and shook him. “Tony!”
“It’ll kill Peter!” The words clawed out from Tony’s throat, throttled underneath the stress that swelled his windpipe twice its size.
Steve frantically shook his head. “Peter’s dead!”
The next explosion rocked them sideways.
Tony cursed as he toppled forward, landing on his knees at the bottom of the stairwell, his head crashing straight against the wall.
His HUD fritzed with static and bright colors that had him seeing double. He immediately retracted his helmet with a thoughtless command.
“I don’t know how to contact him,” Tony answered in a tight, shaky voice, taking Steve’s hand as the soldier hauled him back to his feet. Debris from hundreds of floors above began to rain down, and they both looked up at the vast open space of the stairwell. Everything above was a danger to come down at any second. “Maximoff was the only one who could —”
“We need to kill this thing,” Steve’s command was laced with a tremor neither of them wanted to acknowledge. He shot his head back down to Tony. “Use whatever force is necessary —”
Tony whipped his head towards Steve. “That’s still Peter in there!”
“Peter’s dead!” Steve’s shout echoed the stairwell with a frightening volume. Reality etched into every feature on his face — it was hard. Certain. Leaving no room for argument. “He’s dead, Tony! Venom’s using his body as a host, and if we don’t use all force, we’ll be dead next!”
Even as rubble showered down from high above, neither Tony or Steve dared to break eye-contact. Dust and drywall dirtied Tony’s hair, turning locks of brown into gray and embedding into the deep lines of his exposed face. Sweat trickled down his jaw, and ice pricked the back of his neck.
He opened his mouth to speak.
No words.
Suddenly, Tony felt cold all over. And frighteningly hollow.
“Tony!” Steve shouted.
“Fuck!” Tony spun around, bolting down the stairs as his helmet re-formed to his head, reaching over until it covered the integrity of his face. “How do we —!?”
A sharp gust of wind almost knocked him aside.
“Quick!” T’Challa barely lessened his speed as he leapt down from above, skipping the steps entirely in favor of pouncing to each banister. Already six floors below both men before he spoke again. “Follow me!”
Though it was near impossible to make out the sight of the Black Panther springing from banister to banister, they both somehow managed.
Steve was the first to follow suit — and in quite literal terms. He swung over the banister and plummeted down, free-falling with his shield curled tightly around him.
Tony lit his repulsors to life and dove after them both.
Despite their pursuit, there was no catching up with the growing distance of noise. Every time Tony thought they were nearing it, the sounds kept dwindling away. His jet-boots shut off as they landed at the bottom, immediately running before their feet touched the ground.
The lights in the hallway flickered at a pace that kept him from seeing the doors they ran towards.
“Where are we going!?” Tony fought to ignore every alarm from his HUD — he could only process so much at one time, and the alarms of the Citadel were more than enough. Screaming for them to get out before it was too late.
“To the fields.” T’Challa didn’t dare look behind him as he dashed through the double doors, both Steve and Tony hard on his heels. Each word he spoke came with five leaps of his legs. “We must get this thing as far away from the city as possible — a dome has been activated over Birnin Zana, but there’s no telling if it will hold against the creature. Come, we must hurry!”
It took Tony’s brain far too long to catch up with his eyes. By the time he realized they were outside, he’d already taken multiple lungfuls of fresh air.
It was pitch dark — not even the city from miles away offered any light. Not when they already evacuated most of everyone to safety. Skyscrapers that put New York to shame were suddenly veiled in shadows, sealed away under a dome they could scantily see from a distance.
Those who remained in Wakanda were the same who charged forward into greenlands, a blur of red and gold running into a war-zone — armies of men and women carrying weaponry greater than anything he ever created.
Tony suddenly froze mid-run, stumbling to an abrupt halt. He wasn’t alone; both Steve and T’Challa lost speed the moment their boots touched on grass, rooting hard in place.
“Oh my god…” Steve breathed out, the words strangled in their escape.
Tony’s terror seemed to have crystallized. Only his eyes moved, becoming impossibly large with each passing second. They flittered the enormous length of the fields, repeatedly, with his next breath trapped deep in his chest. Suffocating himself at the sight ahead.
Chants raged on — “Wakanda forever!” — a chorus of shouts that echoed the land like thunder. One after another, in unison; a battle cry that ran in parallel with never-ceasing wails of an inhuman abomination.
For each monstrous screech that lacerated the night skies, gruesome screams followed — ripped from the throats of dying soldiers, red and gold becoming a depraved collage of human crimson.
All at once, the fear that had been pooling in Tony’s stomach rose up in his throat, choking him. Acidic.
“͞W̨̦é̤͓̗͓e̯͚̫͈e͈̳̹͙̺̞e̼͙͙ ҉a͏̶̜͖͘ŗ̡̪̱̞̫̱e̴̘͇͚̺͔̮͍ͅe̛̱̜̗̲ę͈̥̺͔̰ ̹̺̪͢F͚̲̝̬̮̜ͅR̵̨̘̪̥͎͚̲Ẹ̦̹̬͕͞È̳̦͟E͔̪̜͙̕!͏̸҉͔͈͈̘͉”͕̤̀ ̜̗̱̻̰
Bodies were tossed in the sky — flung across, landing on the hard soil with sounds of death that were never heard. Not over the demonic sounds of a monster twice the size of the Hulk — three times the size of the green beast — the black substance that birthed its body convulsing with every howl it released.
Blood sprayed the green grasses, covered by dark skies; the scarce beam of moonlight far too weak to highlight the torn limbs hurled through the air.
“̛҉͉͈̼̫̻W̶̠̗͠ẹ͎e̸̙̺̙͖̙̟é̲͚̙̹̜͕͓̟ȩ͇͓͉͇͕̞ ̱̪͙͟w̡̢̖̭̫͚͘i̵͇̫̣̻̗̠̰̟͞l̻͖̗̤̦̯͚͘l̙̰̲͔̦̥͍͢͝ ̟̟̲̪ͅç̦͚o̡̠̥̘͖͘͢n̕͞͠ͅs̼͚̭̰̬̠̥̥̕u҉̵̻̙͖͖m̵̡̭̙̯̬̮͉̯̫͞è̶̻͚͝ͅ!̵̼̩̪̜̗͓̟̤̰”̡͍̩͉̥̻
The voice was no longer ethereal, no longer disembodied. It came straight from the mouth bearing a hundred teeth, its white eyes larger than the moon; its jaw covered with its own salivation.
Slobbering on every word.
Chewing down on the heads of the soldiers that dared to get too close. Heads decapitated with a single crunch.
Fear like knives stabbed into Tony’s temples, through his eyes. Eyes he couldn’t close, couldn’t will himself not to see it. Ice coursed through his veins and froze him in place.
The same piercing screams that paralyzed Tony’s muscles invigorated T’Challa’s, his legs bounding ahead with one single shout that set loose from his throat.
“Yibambe!” T’Challa charged into the fields with the speed of his namesake. Running at a pace only a panther could draw upon.
Steve shot his head around, breaking free of the horrified trance that had his chest spasming for oxygen. He stared at Tony, eyes grim — wide and frightened. Exposed without the covering of his helmet.
Tony looked back at him, unable to twist his neck the whole way — unable to fully look away. The shakes that twisted his body could be seen even underneath his suit of armor.
A single look was all either of them needed.
No words, no sounds.
It was a connection of sorts — time, and many missions under their belt, had endued them with that form of communication.
And it was enough.
The creature bellowed, a sound that shook the ground and made the trees sway. It was a cry of triumph, of victory, as it slaughtered those who crossed its path.
"Ẃ̀͞w̕͡ę̷̨͜ȩ̛͘e̢̧͘͢è͟e̸̷ ̴a̡̕̕͝r̴͞e̸̶̡̨ ͟V͏͢é̶̡n͘͜͝o͏́͜m҉̨͞!̷́”̧͘͟͟ ̧̀̀̕
Steve pressed a finger, hard, into his ear.
“Shuri!” The terror-stricken look never left his face, even as he forced away the fear that stole the next beat of his pulse. “Shuri! Can you hear me!?”
The small device nestled deep in his ear canal crackled fiercely with static. Just when Steve was sure their means of communication had been ravaged, a voice finally broke through.
“...ba...ley…!”
“Listen!” Steve dragged in a deep breath, turning behind him where the Citadel stood — fire poured out from broken windows and the exterior showered down remains in the aftermath of destruction. The flames from afar lit up the blue in his eyes. “The dome! Get it off the city, get it over us — over the fields!”
Steve waited with bated breath, hoping — praying — that Shuri heard him.
Please God, let her hear him.
As it were, the high-pitched howls shaking the very ground they stood on pierced through his eardrums like a hot knife through butter, making it difficult to concentrate on anything else. Even the hammering of his heart was lost beneath the screams.
He whipped his head around, eyes watching in horror as the fields were doused with pools and streams of blood — spurting from dismembered limbs and sprinkling through the air with a crimson rain.
“...hat...trap...inside with...eature!”
The broken words barely made it through.
Steve was smart enough to put together the missing pieces.
Tony hadn’t moved — still half turned to Steve, still half turned to the fields ahead. Though his expression was entombed under the casing of his helmet, it was somehow visible all the same.
He knew what that meant.
Steve nodded with a single, curt bob of his head.
They both knew.
It was too dark to tell how many soldiers were left, or how many corpses littered the grass. How many body parts laid scattered on the soil of a land that had offered them help — offered them refuge.
The massacre hid well under the cloak of the night.
“Do it,” Steve commanded, all in one breath.
Shuri’s next response didn’t come through as words. The static in his ear died out, ceasing entirely. The only answer to his command came in the form of the spectacular from above.
Both Tony and Steve craned their necks back, looking high as the same energy that laid protectively over the city began to disperse, instead spreading towards them with a slow descent.
While Tony watched the barrier rain down, Steve immediately shot his head back to the fields — taking in a lungful of air that expanded his chest to the point of bursting.
“T’Challa!” Steve shouted with every ounce of strength he had. “Retreat, now! Get the hell out of here!”
The invisible enclosure grew closer to touching the same ground their boots stood on. Just scarcely, the white lining of the Black Panther helmet could bee seen far away, highlighted only under a sharp ray of moonlight. It was the only distinguishing feature that brought an outline to his figure.
T’Challa shook his head wildly, and his arm alongside it. “My people will not surre—!”
“You’ve lost enough men!” Steve couldn’t have yelled harder if he tried, cupping his hands around his mouth in an effort to amplify the sound. His voice might as well have shook the earth the same way the creature rumbled the ground, rampaging through the fields with a thunderous weight. “This is our battle to fight — now go!”
“̴́W͟҉e̴̴̛͟͢ę̸҉̨ę̶̢̧͠È̢̀Ȩ̸̴E̴͝É͡͏͏ ̵̕͟͡w̷̢̡i̕͘͟͜͏l̸̢͟͟͠l͢͏ F̜̦̹̩E̤̭͔͎̼̠̪͔̖̣̬͙̳A̞̝̮̼̘S̺̖̘̱T͚̣̹̠̺͓͙͉͖͔͇̯̻̪͔ͅͅ!̲͚͈͙̟̼̹”̬̹̫͖̝̱̜̮ ͎͇͉̤̜̺̱
The same white lines that etched along the Vibranium of T’Challa’s helmets were suddenly painted red, a gush of blood spraying across the polished black of his armor.
A victim to the creature’s hunger covered him from head to toe, and it was only when T’Challa looked back at both men that somehow — even beneath his helmet — his terror could be seen.
If the King held any hesitance — any hesitance at all — he failed to let it show.
“Ukuhlehla!” T’Challa waved frantically to those who remained standing, leading them away from the monster with gestures that followed.“Ukuhlehla! Ukuhlehla!”
A herd of soldiers followed the Black Panther without question, speeding away from the battleground of their own home; racing to clear the path of the dome.
It only burgeoned the rage that slaughtered through so many.
“̢͠͝Ẃ̶͢͡e̵͜ę̸̛͝ę̶̀e̴̷͠e͟͞é͜ ̸w̸҉̶͝í̶͘l̸͝͏͜l͘҉͡l͏͢͏͢l̷̢̨͢ ́̀͏̮̹̳̦̟͞͡ KI̬͎͔͈̩̲̮ḺL!"
At the very edges of where the dome descended, T’Challa came sliding to a stop, all but pushing those who charged forward through the open space before its energy touched the ground.
For a split second — one that clenched dreadfully at his gut — Steve was sure T’Challa wouldn’t make it out in time.
With a gap of open space that narrowly let his body through, T’Challa rolled through the barrier — and only once every soldier in his army had departed first.
It wasn’t a second too late; the dome made impact with a resounding noise, sweeping a gust of wind across the exterior until the trees of the jungle, miles deep away, swayed with the aftershock.
Tony shot his head to the sky as a flicker of light washed down from above. A glimmer of its brilliance cascaded along the shield before disappearing entirely.
And trapping them inside.
The creature — Venom, Tony’s throat closed shut — shot his head towards the only two remaining men. Eyes with no pupils stared at them both.
His mouth burst wide open, vocals exploding with a scream that sent liquid spurting out; a foul mix of rotting drool and blood coating the sharp edges of his teeth.
“S̨̛̜̺͔͓̟̃ͮͪͧ̔͒ͭ͠K̶̪͚̱̞̜̜̣̫̫͚̟ͧ̒ͣ͌̉͊̈́͑ͪ͊̎̍͡Ṛ̴̵̨̨̜̰̦̞̹̗̘̞̣̯̞ͣͤ̔͒̈́̌̔ͬͪ-̀ͨͯI͂̒͆̋̈̾́ͬ̋ͯ̋̓ͭ́̚҉̴̗͖͈̼̙̝̜͔͕̱͙̰̫͜Ȋ̧̝̝̼͇̻͍̖͍̞̈́ͬ̔̾̓̓̓͒͋̌ͣ͗͂̄̎̕͝G̯̞̹̦͙̫̱̟̝̖͌ͪ̑ͧ͐ͧ̅͆͒̍ͥ̃͑̕̕͞Gͬ̇̈̂̐̀̈́̎̉̓͑̕͟͏̨̼̭͍̪̪͖̻̣̳̦͍̟̗͢ͅĢ̡̬̹̳͉̻͙̤̞͔̲̻ͤ̋̋̋ͪ̓ͨ͋̑̽̓̔̂ͭ͋́ͬ̚͞G̢̟̟̳̙͎̣̝̮̎̎ͩ̀̀ͦ̔͛͂̊ͯ͊̈̈́̌̆̂ͣ̋͜͠͞-̨͆ͤͪͭ͛͗̃͜͝͏͓͎̹͕̝͎ͅI̴̷̧̻͍̻͕̰͍̹ͧͦ̿̂ͯ͗̈́ͤͣͣͫͤͪ̍̈͘C͖̲̭͓̘̲̹̜̖̖̤͈̤͎̻͎̙̣͚̊͛̈̊͂͛ͮͭ̌̀̓́̓͌̚̕͢͡K̴̸͇̰̝͈̱̯̦͚̣̖̜̬̦̫̈͒͐́̾͐̍̅̏̒͋ͦ͌̚̚͢ͅK̸̢͓̟̲̪̏̔͐͊̆̀ͧͩ̅ͫͭ͗ͪ͘̕͞K̢̨̛͈̣̜̤̘̪̞͎̤͔͇̹̀̃̌̈́̿͝͡Ķ̹̦̭͇͕̩̤̬̟͖̫̖͈̗̥͕̑̾̿ͬ̉͆̂ͣ̓̀͠K̵̗̞̮̠̫͚̄̐̉ͤ͛̌̓͆̓͋̓ͪ̌̊̑͆̀͟͜K̸̵̶͔̦̠̮͚̗̭̬̖͖̰̙̦̰͚̥̫̱ͧͭ̐ͤ͋̓͐̈́ͪͅK̺̫̙͔͉͖͍͕̠̜̝͍͇̹̺̘̠ͭ̒ͨ̄̾̐͘͜͜͞K̢̥͇̖͓̞̖̯̱͕̏̎̑͊ͮ͝͝ͅ ̷̨̈̽͂̅̽̽̊͛̿̑̉ͦͫͭͧ͋ͯ͠҉̺͓̯̥͚͈͙̥͖̱ͅ "
Though it all, Tony swore he heard Steve gulp.
“What’s the plan here, Stark?” Steve didn’t dare look anywhere but ahead, even as he spoke. It was nothing more than a whisper, released in what little air he managed to pull into his lungs.
Tony offered him a glance, but nothing more. Following suit with his eyes fastened ahead.
“It’s like you said…” his voice drowned in the metallic timbre of his helmet, and the glow to his eyes intensified by the passing seconds. “Use all force.”
The crisp blue of LEDs brightened until they reached a blazing white, casting over the same grass that covered the fields. His chestplate joined in sync, simultaneously, the arc reactor growing with energy until it became a floodlight nearly touching to the ends of the dome.
“FRI…” Tony clenched down on his jaw as he grounded his feet. Planting them firm and hard. “Give it everything you got.”
Venom looked to the beam of light, shining bright on every spasming tendril sprouting from his body. A snarl broke through wet teeth as it reached blinding levels, innervating him. Enraging him.
And then, without warning — without command — a unibeam blasted from Tony’s chest. Hitting straight ahead.
It sent Tony flying back.
Right as Steve charged forward.
"Gͭ͛̏̚҉̡̱̫̘̦͘͢A̵̵̧̛̙̯̟̺͔ͨ̒ͪͦͭ́A̴̸ͥͣ͐͊͛ͤ҉̶̯͔̝̠̘͖́͡I̡͗́ͧ̄ͤ̐̐҉̵̵̨̱͖̼̘͉̙͓͘͢I̵̵̛͕̞̥͚͔̭͕ͩ̑̈ͦ́ͩ̽͟͠͠͡F̉̒̎̈́̐̈̉̆͏͏̵̸̴̼̼̩̗͖̹̗̙̕͟͠F̸̵̧͌͑̈ͨ̓ͬͧ̍̀͢͢͜͏͎̩͚͕̮̜͉̯G̴̸̶̴̡̢̺͇̙̻̬̥̩̗̃́ͦͮ͐ͫ͂̅̀͝G̵̴̨̧̨̛̪̹̬̪̗̮̙͛͐̌̊̈̑̏ͮ́̕ͅH͗̐ͧ̈̊ͫͨ͛͢͞҉̶̶̡̧̫͇̥̱̜̩̘̗͘H̴̷̴̴̴̶̨̪̣̳̱͓̭͉̦͖͂̆̓ͣͦͣͤ̌͛͡͝H͌̿̋͐̎̄̈́̏̕҉̸̵̨̛̹̭̖͉̱̫͈̫͢͞A̴̷̵̴̷̴̢̫͈̮̱̝̝̯̤ͯ͗͒̅̿͌̎͂͡L̴̶̨̢͕͇̦͇̤̱̟͑̔̊̔͑͐́̿́̕͜͝ͅF̨̡̛͛̑̃͌͐̐͐́͟͝͝͏̡̥͉͍̟̫̣̗̪F̶̷̨̼͍͍̭͚̱̖̬ͧ̓̾ͫ̈͒̈̍̕͘͜͡͝F̷ͬ͋͛ͮ͋̈ͤ͘҉̶̵͙̱͈̩̟͚͇̀̕!̵̢̗͓̭̤͇̥̣͋ͩ͌̏ͧ̒́̀̚̕͜͞!ͮͯͫ͒̇ͦ̀͏̸̵̛͔̟͉̞̻̲͠!̵̨̛̮̙̗̟̼͑̆͛̀̀̀͘!̵͋ͮ̑́̀͏̘̣̦͞ͅ”
Steve didn’t wait until the blast finished to start attacking. Still running — and with a barrage of energy still outpouring from Tony’s arc reactor — he threw his shield with a laborious yell, swallowed whole by Venom’s screams.
It impacted somewhere in the hundreds of convulsing tendrils that screeched in agony, each piece of symbiote matter detorting with pain.
Steve ran like a bat out of hell, sliding to his knees the moment he drew close enough to yank his shield back into his hands.
"Y͂ͪ̎̽̂͐ͭ̋̓̈ͦ̐̌ͩ͠o̴̾͊̄͐̀̂ͧͪͮ͑ͭ̂̏͐̿̌̽ͮͮ́u͑͊ͭͤ̂ͦ͂ͪͣ̄͐ͨͬ̋͜͝ ̵͋̔̏ͭ̄͗͛̎ͧ̓̀̀͡͝D̵̓̀͑̑ͨ̊̋̏̎̏̿̓̈́ͯ̇͡Į̷̇́́̓́̋̔̔̑̾̔͛̏ͪ̿̈́͑̀̚͟͞Ě̷ͦͨ͋̒͏̨Ę̢̉ͥͣ̆ͣ̚̚͘Eͨ̌̑ͩͫ̓̊͗ͪ͋́̀̚͏̀̕͜͝Ẻͯ͊̓ͫ͗͛͌҉̴̡E̴ͫ̒͆͒̊̔̇̚͡!̊̑̽̾̉ͯ͏͢"̴̡͂ͧ͗͌͟͡͞
His fingers barely graced the edges of the shield, embedded deep in Venom’s body, when the creature struck him.
Tony was too blinded by his own unibeam to see the attack — the same light that highlighted Steve’s body being flung through the air, landing far away at the end of the field.
“HEY!” Tony barred his teeth. His blast threatened to push him further back, his boots so deep in the soil that the ground reached up to his calves. “That’s enough!”
His threat fell on deaf ears.
Venom turned his back on Tony — the unibeam still blasting against him, sending chunks of symbiote ooze flying through the air. Each step of his colossal body quaked the ground with trembles of an earthquake, heavy stomps that shook even the infrastructure of the dome.
Abruptly, the arc reactor began to flicker and fritz.
Tony shot his head down to his chest, eyes wide beneath his helmet.
“Power depleted,” FRIDAY rang through his ears, accompanied by loss of light that had lit up the fields. Tony’s eyes wildly flittered across his HUD, his panic showing in the deep crease on his forehead. “Energy reserves at 0%. Beginning re-charge in three —”
The next screeching roar stopped Tony’s heart.
He couldn’t see Rogers — no shield, no sign, nothing.
Only a shadow of Venom was discernible, a dark form wreathed with oozing paroxysms. Approaching its prey with a hammer of each step taken.
“Now, FRIDAY!” Tony forced his boots out from the dirt, using his jets to lift him before they sputtered to death. “Re-charge now!”
The indicator display lit up in the corner of his HUD, a loading bar that started at zero percent before inching up with numbers — too goddamn slow, too fucking goddamn slow.
Five percent.
Seven percent.
Ten percent.
Tony was already running.
The fields were large; miles of empty land enclosed within the dome. Tony couldn’t get there fast enough — every time he activated his jet boots, they stuttered with weak life and barely lurched him forward. Sputtering before shutting off completely.
Twelve percent.
Sixteen percent.
Nineteen percent.
“̧̧̧Ẃ́͘e̛͢e̶͝e̕E̸͘͜Ę̛ w͍̥͎̺̘̫ḭ̣l͔̻l̮̥ ͖̤͇F̣̯̗̰̠̥E͖A̤̺̰S̙̼̭̪͇̠T̼̰̘͎̪ ̫ ̶̢̀ó̵͟ņ͟͡ ͠y̨҉̕o͜úr̀ ̷̤͙̫̠̜͖́́ F̮͔̥̠̜̰̳̹L̗̩͖̰̲̜E͎͖̼̝̰̱̹̝S̩̮̭̹Ḥ̝̮͖!̲̞͇̟͉”̪͙͎̖̲ ̜̙̜̙
A blood-curdling, gut-wrenching scream almost froze him in place.
“All power to repulsors!” Tony hysterically shouted, halfway to domes edge and not fast enough. “Everything you got, now!”
Tony didn’t want for an answer. His arm shot out, a glow of his palm weak but lit with a blast that struck ahead.
Again.
Again.
Again.
The sounds grew louder as he raced forward, spine-chilling screams that were coated with Steve’s voice yet sickening as they ruptured from his throat. Noises drenched with raw agony nearly reached the same level as each scream erupting from Venom’s mouth.
Tony waited until he was close enough — his armored legs too heavy to run any faster, his chest on fire as he bolted ahead. The extra time gave him seven percent more to his power reserves.
“All of it, FRI!” Tony pressed his palm directly into the oily burrows of Venom, the whir of his repulsor charging to life before he shot out a blast.
Symbiote matter blew apart, heaps of it — landing on the grass and spasming in the throes of death.
Venom spun around, face so close to Tony the steam from his mouth fogged the metal of his helmet.
“̛̎̽̊W̓́̐͊͞ē̛̒̈́̆eė͛̆͊̕e̾̑̄̎͠ w̄͌͆́̕í̀̋͊̈́͝l̆̃̀̒͞l̇̓̓͝ K̅͆̀͑̀͡Ȉ̍̕—͊̋͞!͆̇̐͋̀̕”̈̾̉͝
Tony shot the repulsor inside his mouth.
"Gͭ͛̏̚҉̡̱̫̘̦͘͢A̵̵̧̛̙̯̟̺͔ͨ̒ͪͦͭ́A̴̸ͥͣ͐͊͛ͤ҉̶̯͔̝̠̘͖́͡I̡͗́ͧ̄ͤ̐̐҉̵̵̨̱͖̼̘͉̙͓͘͢I̵̵̛͕̞̥͚͔̭͕ͩ̑̈ͦ́ͩ̽͟͠͠͡F̉̒̎̈́̐̈̉̆͏͏̵̸̴̼̼̩̗͖̹̗̙̕͟͠F̸̵̧͌͑̈ͨ̓ͬͧ̍̀͢͢͜͏͎̩͚͕̮̜͉̯G̴̸̶̴̡̢̺͇̙̻̬̥̩̗̃́ͦͮ͐ͫ͂̅̀͝G̵̴̨̧̨̛̪̹̬̪̗̮̙͛͐̌̊̈̑̏ͮ́̕ͅH͗̐ͧ̈̊ͫͨ͛͢͞҉̶̶̡̧̫͇̥̱̜̩̘̗͘H̴̷̴̴̴̶̨̪̣̳̱͓̭͉̦͖͂̆̓ͣͦͣͤ̌͛͡͝H͌̿̋͐̎̄̈́̏̕҉̸̵̨̛̹̭̖͉̱̫͈̫͢͞A̴̷̵̴̷̴̢̫͈̮̱̝̝̯̤ͯ͗͒̅̿͌̎͂͡L̴̶̨̢͕͇̦͇̤̱̟͑̔̊̔͑͐́̿́̕͜͝ͅF̨̡̛͛̑̃͌͐̐͐́͟͝͝͏̡̥͉͍̟̫̣̗̪F̶̷̨̼͍͍̭͚̱̖̬ͧ̓̾ͫ̈͒̈̍̕͘͜͡͝F̷ͬ͋͛ͮ͋̈ͤ͘҉̶̵͙̱͈̩̟͚͇̀̕!̵̢̗͓̭̤͇̥̣͋ͩ͌̏ͧ̒́̀̚̕͜͞!ͮͯͫ͒̇ͦ̀͏̸̵̛͔̟͉̞̻̲͠!̵̨̛̮̙̗̟̼͑̆͛̀̀̀͘!̵͋ͮ̑́̀͏̘̣̦͞ͅ”
There wasn’t any time to think about Venom’s retreat, as narrow as it was. Tony immediately fell to his knees — not close enough — fingers digging through the dirt as he crawled his way to Steve.
It was painfully twisted how the one stream of moonlight landed directly on them both, giving light where there was otherwise darkness. It illuminated what his arc reactor couldn’t, bringing a revolting sheen to the mangled limb below him.
“Shit!” Tony went to put pressure on Steve’s leg, stopping inches short of the flesh and muscle that had been ripped away.
His hands hovered uselessly as blood squirted in fast, heavy streams against his open palms. Crimson splattered across the circular casing of his arc reactor, spraying hard against the glass and stripping him of light.
“Oh, god, shit,” Tony cursed again, this time focusing his attention on his HUD. The info it gave him was nothing more than a nuisance — he didn’t need to be told the damage, he could see it for himself.
The only thing connecting Steve’s thigh to his knee was the sliver of tendons that Tony could see through broken pieces of muscle and bone. Very exposed bone, laying deep within a leg that’d been partially eaten and torn apart.
“Shit shit!” Tony froze, hands still hovering — shaking in place.
If Steve had anything to say, it was lost in the torrent of his screams — full-throated screams, his face pressed into the grass, his lungs exhausting every ounce of air he could drag in for the next cry.
He didn’t see the sentient hands lunging for Tony.
Neither did Tony.
“GODDAMN —!”
His curse was strangled in a gasp, his breath knocked out of his chest as he struck the ground — the back of his head bounced with whiplash, cracking down on the grass twice.
Tony’s eyes shot open, right as Venom came barreling down.
His repulsors lit to life faster than he could think, palms outward and tight at his side as he forced his body to glissade back.
It wasn’t fast enough. Symbiote limbs reached for his arm, hands made of sizzling ooze yanking him back in one ruthless tug. Claws sharper than knives latched onto him.
The same claws that dug through his armor —inside his armor — slashing through alloy metal until it pierced through, ripping inside of him.
Tony screamed.
There wasn’t any air left in his lungs when the claws ripped away. Nothing to exhaust when Venom’s mouth clamped down into his flesh, a dozen teeth biting through his suit until they buried deep into his forearm — holding on to the limb like a wild animal catching its prey.
A wordless, soundless cry tore from his mouth. Right as a blast of his unibeam shot straight from his chest.
It wasn’t at his command. FRIDAY’s quick seize of his controls was nothing short of a last ditch effort to keep his suit — and the man inside of it — alive and functioning.
For a fleeting second, with eyes clenched shut and throat paralyzed, Tony was sure his suit would outlive him.
The force of the unibeam explosion violently propelled him back, the clamp of Venom’s bite ripped away with one brutal launch of his arc reactor. The feeling of daggers ripping out of his arm was unmerciful — he blacked out almost immediately.
Tony didn’t feel his body impact the dome.
The sound forced him back to consciousness, long after he fell face-first from a height he never remembered soaring.
The sight of the dewy grass was the first thing his eyes managed to make sense of, the dark edges to his vision pulling away as he fought — using every ounce of strength he could muster — to not be pulled back under. To not let the sweet bliss of unconsciousness take the upper hand.
Grass was the first thing he saw.
The noise was the first thing he heard.
“G̩ͦ͡Gͭ͛̏̚҉̡̱̫̘̦͘͢A̵̵̧̛̙̯̟̺͔ͨ̒ͪͦͭ́A̴̸ͥͣ͐͊͛ͤ҉̶̯͔̝̠̘͖́͡A̷͍̖̝̤̰͔̰̹͍͍͓Í̞̟̜͕̱̗̗͍̬̠̞́͢͜R͏͠҉̻̬̲͔̖͍̮͖̘͈̭̥̭͇͓̱̤̖Ṛ̶̴̨̢̼̙̤̪̙̫̼͖̦̣͘R̵̸͎͚̖̞̥̳̹͜Ŕ̢̡̟̩̠̬̩̬͟I̢͔̣͓̣̗̼I̵̵̛͕̞̥͚͔̭͕ͩ̑̈ͦ́ͩ̽͟͠͠͡F̉̒̎̈́̐̈̉̆͏͏̵̸̴̼̼̩̗͖̹̗̙̕͟͠F̸̵̧͌͑̈ͨ̓ͬͧ̍̀͢͢͜͏͎̩͚͕̮̜͉̯G̴̸̶̴̡̢̺͇̙̻̬̥̩̗̃́ͦͮ͐ͫ͂̅̀͝G̵̴̨̧̨̛̪̹̬̪̗̮̙͛͐̌̊̈̑̏ͮ́̕ͅH͗̐ͧ̈̊ͫͨ͛͢͞҉̶̶̡̧̫͇̥̱̜̩̘̗͘H̴̷̴̴̴̶̨̪̣̳̱͓̭͉̦͖͂̆̓ͣͦͣͤ̌͛͡͝H͌̿̋͐̎̄̈́̏̕҉̸̵̨̛̹̭̖͉̱̫͈̫͢͞A̴̷̵̴̷̴̢̫͈̮̱̝̝̯̤ͯ͗͒̅̿͌̎͂͡Ạ̷̫̲̗͈͓͉̪̳̺͎͟͝ͅH҉̸̼̣̼̬̬̲̮͕̗̠̱̣̖͈͍H̷̨͔̮̫͖͎̦͔̖̖̣̫̜̝̪̘͇̭͇͡H̷̷͖̻͓͕̙͕̻͓̠̹̖̖͉̠̝̭̦̮͢͠H̵͏̰͔̗̙̩L̕̕͠҉̗͚̬̳̠̻̦̠͡L̴̶̨̢͕͇̦͇̤̱̟͑̔̊̔͑͐́̿́̕͜͝ͅF̨̡̛͛̑̃͌͐̐͐́͟͝͝͏̡̥͉͍̟̫̣̗̪F̶̷̨̼͍͍̭͚̱̖̬ͧ̓̾ͫ̈͒̈̍̕͘͜͡͝F̷ͬ͋͛ͮ͋̈ͤ͘҉̶̵͙̱͈̩̟͚͇̀̕!̵̢̗͓̭̤͇̥̣͋ͩ͌̏ͧ̒́̀̚̕͜͞!ͮͯͫ͒̇ͦ̀͏̸̵̛͔̟͉̞̻̲͠!̵̨̛̮̙̗̟̼͑̆͛̀̀̀͘
Tony shot his head up, his forehead creasing with pain as his neck begged for relief. Every column in his spine could be felt, like the spinal fluid in his back had been replaced with gasoline — and yet he didn’t dare waste a second.
Palms down on the grass, Tony pushed himself off his belly, a hoarse and pained cry bursting from his chest as he did.
It wasn’t heard — not over Venom’s torturous scream, not over the reverberation that sent oscillating waves across the dome.
Stumbling to his knees and cradling his arm tightly to his chest, Tony looked all around him. The LEDs to his helmet flickered before one went out entirely. The static that flashed across his HUD was the least of his concern — wide, wild eyes roamed the length of the empty land, left to right, bottom to top.
His eyebrows furrowed as he watched the ripples course over the otherwise invisible shield.
The same ripples that created shock waves, blowing through the dirt and grass below him with resounding effect.
̛̟̱“̧̛͙̰̹̬͚̕͡ͅͅG̴̢̛̮͕̻̻͙̯̹͇̺̣̖͍͈̜̙̮͘͟A̧͠͏̸̜̠̫͙̻͖͙̳͈͉̲̫̠̖̜̤̱͚͔Ú̵͓̹̻̦̤̜̰͉̠̬̟͎̱̞̕͜͞H̶҉̨͕͈͇͓͈̫̟̹̳̲͉̮͉̤̝̩̹Ḩ̻̤̗͉͍̗̖͔̫̣̱̪̹͎͓̮̘͓̻͞͝D̷̗̥̹̳̝̮̰̜̺͘͞͠I̵̯̜͔̙̝͓̦̝̳̳̹̱͚̲͖̱͜ͅE̷̷͈̗͓̩̳͖͎͉͍̤̩̟̞̭͖Ę͇̜̱̗͈͕̕É̶̞̙͕̭̤́͝E͏̛͓̭̥̩̲͟͜!̨̢̮̹̘̠̼͖̲̙͈ ̵̨̢̞̯̭̣̞̜̹̱̪̕”̷̵̪̠̱̗̝̦̥͘͞͠ ̗̣̥̳̀͝ ͡҉̦̘͚̥̳̗̰͉͖͓̜
Venom spun around, enormous white eyes staring Tony down from across the field. His entire body spasmed, every ounce of ooze convulsing with fierce tremors. Reacting viciously to the sudden, tumultuous sound.
The shine of each tendril was all the more visible underneath the moons light.
Tony shot his head around, staring at the dome behind him. Slowly, it became less visible as the ripples ceased.
As quickly as he turned around, Tony looked back at Venom. The thunderous quakes of each stomp the creature took caused his body to sway and nearly topple over on his knees.
He didn’t think about his next move.
Just did.
Tony threw his arm up, his hand clenched tightly into a white-knuckled fist. It hit hard against the dome behind him — re-creating the ripples, re-creating the sound.
"G̩ͦ͡Gͭ͛̏̚҉̡̱̫̘̦͘͢A̵̵̧̛̙̯̟̺͔ͨ̒ͪͦͭ́A̴̸ͥͣ͐͊͛ͤ҉̶̯͔̝̠̘͖́͡A̷͍̖̝̤̰͔̰̹͍͍͓Í̞̟̜͕̱̗̗͍̬̠̞́͢͜R͏͠҉̻̬̲͔̖͍̮͖̘͈̭̥̭͇͓̱̤̖Ṛ̶̴̨̢̼̙̤̪̙̫̼͖̦̣͘R̵̸͎͚̖̞̥̳̹͜Ŕ̢̡̟̩̠̬̩̬͟I̢͔̣͓̣̗̼I̵̵̛͕̞̥͚͔̭͕ͩ̑̈ͦ́ͩ̽͟͠͠͡F̉̒̎̈́̐̈̉̆͏͏̵̸̴̼̼̩̗͖̹̗̙̕͟͠F̸̵̧͌͑̈ͨ̓ͬͧ̍̀͢͢͜͏͎̩͚͕̮̜͉̯G̴̸̶̴̡̢̺͇̙̻̬̥̩̗̃́ͦͮ͐ͫ͂̅̀͝G̵̴̨̧̨̛̪̹̬̪̗̮̙͛͐̌̊̈̑̏ͮ́̕ͅH͗̐ͧ̈̊ͫͨ͛͢͞҉̶̶̡̧̫͇̥̱̜̩̘̗͘H̴̷̴̴̴̶̨̪̣̳̱͓̭͉̦͖͂̆̓ͣͦͣͤ̌͛͡͝H͌̿̋͐̎̄̈́̏̕҉̸̵̨̛̹̭̖͉̱̫͈̫͢͞A̴̷̵̴̷̴̢̫͈̮̱̝̝̯̤ͯ͗͒̅̿͌̎͂͡Ạ̷̫̲̗͈͓͉̪̳̺͎͟͝ͅH҉̸̼̣̼̬̬̲̮͕̗̠̱̣̖͈͍H̷̨͔̮̫͖͎̦͔̖̖̣̫̜̝̪̘͇̭͇͡H̷̷͖̻͓͕̙͕̻͓̠̹̖̖͉̠̝̭̦̮͢͠H̵͏̰͔̗̙̩L̕̕͠҉̗͚̬̳̠̻̦̠͡L̴̶̨̢͕͇̦͇̤̱̟͑̔̊̔͑͐́̿́̕͜͝ͅF̨̡̛͛̑̃͌͐̐͐́͟͝͝͏̡̥͉͍̟̫̣̗̪F̶̷̨̼͍͍̭͚̱̖̬ͧ̓̾ͫ̈͒̈̍̕͘͜͡͝F̷ͬ͋͛ͮ͋̈ͤ͘҉̶̵͙̱͈̩̟͚͇̀̕!̵̢̗͓̭̤͇̥̣͋ͩ͌̏ͧ̒́̀̚̕͜͞!ͮͯͫ͒̇ͦ̀͏̸̵̛͔̟͉̞̻̲͠!̵̨̛̮̙̗̟̼͑̆͛̀̀̀͘!̵͋ͮ̑́̀͏̘̣̦͞ͅȘ̸͔̲"
It was less noise than before, far less noise than his body slamming into the dome, but it was something. The echo of his gauntlets against Vibranium clearly pissed off Venom, his painful cry nothing but proof to that.
Tony couldn’t help but grin.
“̛̮̬͈̳̲̬̕͝W̴̨̞͙̪̜͍͉̪̺͔̥̦͡ͅe̡͓̯̞̤̮̬̗̰̞̱̹͓̜͙͟é̵̡̢͔̯̭̫͍̠͖̟͚͈̩̟͍͢ͅe̷̴̡̞͚̯͙̰̪͕̪̭͇͇̹̤̬̬̩͈̩E̷̵̕͞͏̬̰̫͇͕̼͚̫͎͙͈̤͖̺̤ë̛́̈e͒̚͠e͊̐̅̒͌͠ê̌́̕ a͆̂͐̇͂͡ř̅̽͛̀͡e͂̐͂̏͌͡ in͑̃̕
Ç̸͉̞͎̺̘̰͇͇̻̱̼̃͑̀͗͋͊̊͒̓̊͜Ò̶̫̞̮͓̰̗̗̹̙̗̥͕̤̐͐̀̃͒͗̂̈́̐͌̿̓͜͠Ǹ̵̨̨̢̦̭̻̺̠̱̀̇͗̀͌́̈̔͐̍T̷̢̧̧̤̬̯̟̳͔̹͕͈͔̙̈̃̒̈́̓͗͐̾̓͐̌̇́̚Ṝ̴͈͆̀O̷̧̩͉̮̹͝l̶̢͚̗͍͆!̶̱̻̝̺͓̣͎̦̣̪͎̲͕͒͊̏̏͑̓̕̕"
“Oh, crap.” Tony went from smiling, to frantically running, at the blink of an eye.
There was no time to think about Venom charging full speed at him — he stumbled to his feet, nearly fell down twice as he cradled his profusely bleeding arm to his chest — and desperately willed his jet-boots to do something, anything, for the love of God just do someth —!
Repulsors sputtered to life and died as quickly as they engaged. Tony yelled as his suit dumped him somewhere across the field, spilling him across the grass — across the way, away — it was all that mattered to him.
Get away from the threat before it goddamn ate him alive.
He rolled to a stop, tumbling along the grass until momentum was lost.
Adrenaline was the only thing that brought him back to his knees.
“It’s sound,” Tony was talking to himself before he’d even gotten back on his feet, his one knee buckling and sending him back to the ground. Pain shot up his arm and he couldn’t bite back the cry that followed.
A reflection of light caught the corner of his eye.
Tony whipped his head around, rash and hasty, primal instincts nearly causing him to blast what he saw, with whatever weapon was still working in his suit.
Lack of power, and hesitance, was the only reason Steve was still standing.
Their eyes locked — vision shaky, trembling with every stomp of Venom’s body — but they locked onto each other, refusing to look away.
Tony hauled in a deep breath of air, the grip on his arm so tight he could feel his pulse underneath the metal of his gauntlets.
“It’s sound!” he shouted — screamed. Shaking with shock and adrenaline. “It was always sound!”
Steve froze in place, his body leaning forward with his leg dragging behind him. Each step he took nearly lurched him back onto the ground — his knees more bent than they were straight, his back more hunched than anything else.
The blood that sprayed across the grass was strikingly visible even with the distance between them, burning through goosebumps that scattered along Tony’s skin.
Steve looked back and forth, eyes wide yet narrowed, his skin far too pale under the moonlight — too fucking pale, Tony gulped — before he set his sights on Venom. And didn’t dare look elsewhere.
Tony tore his eyes away for the same purpose.
The shakes had their way with his body, all the way down to his toes. He watched the creature trample through the fields, a long distance split between him and Steve. Quickly growing shorter with each step Venom took.
“E͞͏ỳ͘҉ę͞ş͘…̘̼̦̠̺.̭̠͈͍.̳̤͈̠.̝̱̠.̦͖.̩͖.̺.̮"
Tony craned his neck up, swiveling his head as he looked to the top of the dome.
“̶͢͞L͟͜u̡n̵g͘͟s҉͞͡ …̘̼̦̠̺.̭̠͈͍.̳̤͈̠.̝̱̠.̦͖.̩͖.̺.̮"
The ripples began to subside, the shock waves leaving a ringing in his ears.
“͘͘P̛̕à͝nćŗ͞e͘à͟s̶ …̘̼̦̠̺.̭̠͈͍.̳̤͈̠.̝̱̠.̦͖.̩͖.̺.̮"
Sounds.
He needed sound — something loud, anything loud —
“FRIDAY,” Tony forced out — his eyes never stopped moving, back and forth over the top of the dome. His brain worked frantically to put together the pieces, as fast as humanely possible. “How many hits can this dome take before it smashes to smithereens?”
Vibranium made sound — he remembered that night in the forest as if it were yesterday, five years ago now. A hammer made for Gods striking hard against the star of a shield, and the reaction it caused goddamn near nuclear.
If this dome was made of Vibranium —
“It doesn’t matter!”
Tony couldn’t believe he rolled his eyes at a time like this.
But he did.
“It’ll take eight minutes and forty-six seconds to get power restored to full capacity for a single blast to have any effect — you don’t have the time to wait!”
Venom’s speed increased with each stomp taken, charging forward with steaming, boiling saliva flying out of his mouth.
“̨͕̳̻̻̜̟̱̮S̮͔̠͎̩̣o̰͙̻̪ ̧̞̭̮͖̀m̶̵̧̺̮̫̪̲̳͖͚a̘̥͇͘ͅn̵̴̛̟̬̺͖͖̙y̡͎̬̖̣̥͕̦ ̨̡̰s̞̩n̸҉̦a̵͍̭͍̼̗͖̟̯ć͓̝̀k̺̖̗̟̭̰̕s͇̞̞̥͕ͅ…̘̼̦̠̺.̭̠͈͍.̳̤͈̠.̝̱̠.̦͖.̩͖.̺.̮" ̹̖̞̺̗̀
Venom hissed with each bounding leap of his body.
“̵͍͖͚̰͇̕͝S̵̳̻͜ͅo̠̭ ̢̱̼̭̩̲̥̜̱̀l͈̝̼̜̣͢͠ì͓̘̩̪̲͓̦͓͕t̵̫̱̠͍͘t̟̤̯̬̱͖̥̺ĺ̜̬͢e̬̯̬̥͎̘̭̕͝ ̲̤͈̠̀t̜͉̕i͎̰̦͖͠m̸̱͉̤̼͞e̩͟!̯̙̠͎͉”͎͍̣̝̯͍
Tony shook his head to the point that his HUD nearly cut out.
“Come on, FRI, don’t let this be it for us!” he yelled, his voice laced with desperation, stumbling back as if the few inches of space would save him from the monster ahead. “What have you got!?”
Steve shot his head around to Tony, one hand gripping the remains of his leg — practically severed, the pressure of his palm not doing anything to stop the bleeding — and he swallowed, hard.
Tony met that gaze with his own.
His heart skipped a beat when FRIDAY didn’t respond. He could feel it, the pounding of his pulse that throbbed each jagged hole in his arm briefly coming to a stop.
This wasn’t the end.
This couldn’t be the end.
Not after all they’d been through.
Steve locked eyes on Tony, and for a painful second — a second that the universe stretched on into an eternity — Tony couldn’t look away.
Not even the static of his HUD could hide the fear that he saw in Steve.
A fear that he was sure, if his helmet didn’t protect his head, would be mirrored back to the man.
“Boss!” FRIDAY’s voice sent an electric rush through his body. “The Pym Particulars within the Ultrasonic Pulse allow it to function completely separate from arc reactor energy! It’s currently at full power, but once depleted it will require the arc reactor for its recharge —”
“Load it!” Tony barked, hysterically, already wordlessly commanding all non-essential functions to shut down and fuck off. “Load it, now!”
The constant stream of static flooded his HUD, preventing him from understanding most of what he needed to see. Instructions, power levels, target direction — the entire thing could’ve shut off and it wouldn’t have mattered to Tony.
After all, he invented the damn thing.
He just never tested it before.
A whirring pulsation began to creep up his arm — his non-mangled arm, he noted with silent gratitude for his AI — and Tony managed a small smirk.
“Lets see what this bad boy can do,” his voice vibrated as the thrumming quickly grew louder, the charge shaking half his body. Vibrating every hair on his skin.
Not a second too late, and Tony shot his arm out. Aiming directly ahead.
Venom didn’t stop running.
Not until the sound shot from his gauntlet.
The denotation of the sonic-pulse nearly rocked him right off his feet. Tony stumbled back until his heels dug into the dirt, grounding him like a statue as he began to release shot after shot. Blast after blast.
Blast after blast.
Blast after goddamn blast —
Each strike hit Venom with a thunderous force, each release of the ultrasonic pulse creating a cacophonous, strident bust of sound against its body.
There was no hearing. There was no thinking — no breathing, Tony could scarcely see through the vibrations that shook his eyeballs dizzy. Pym Particulars were the only thing keeping his eardrums from bursting open like popcorn, the micro-condensed blasts saving anyone not in the path of the sonic-pulse from its effects.
Blast after blast.
Venom’s screams were lost in the head-splitting, deafening explosions that struck his body. Using no ammo other than sound.
Tony forced himself forward, one leg at a time, getting as close as possible without risking the threat of losing another arm. Hoping that a shot at close contact would finally do the trick, watching with narrowed eyes as symbiote matter burst apart with each discharge aimed its way.
Close contact did little to improve the damage.
Tony held his breath as he shot again. And again. Aiming only at Venom. Knowing damn well he couldn’t dare risk hitting the dome straight-on.
Vibranium or not — he couldn’t dare risk breaking the dome and letting Venom loose.
And yet despite each blast that impacted the creature, each tendril that screamed and convulsed and spasmed — Venom remained standing.
Static clouded his HUD, but the fifty-percent remaining marker that flashed dead-center of his vision was enough to stop him.
Tony’s back heaved for the air he hadn’t realized he needed, his lungs paralyzed in the moment, ceasing to breathe all together. Rows of razor sharp teeth greeted him, glistening with each torturous scream that Venom shrieked.
It was nothing short of a miracle that Tony heard Steve’s shout.
“It’s not loud enough!”
Tony’s jaw unhinged and he whipped around, the remaining LED to his helmet giving out as he locked eyes on Steve.
“It’s two-hundred decibels!” Tony screamed back. “It’s —!”
Steve shook his head. “Not loud enough!”
Tony cursed. The dysequilibrium of adrenaline kept him from knowing if the swears actually left his lips or not, and he looked to the sky, forcing the wheels in his head to turn as fast as they could.
They were stuck.
“Goddamnit!” Tony knew that time he said it out loud, clenching his jaw so tight after the fact that it nearly locked in place.
The only other option was to hit the dome.
Hit Vibranium with two-hundred decibels — as loud as a space shuttle taking off — and hope it did the trick.
Tony shook his head — if they broke through the dome, if they let Venom loose without killing him first…
“Stark!”
Tony’s eyes darted back to Steve — surprised to find his blue eyes there waiting for him. Vivid even under the clouds of darkness — vivid even under the cloud of fear.
The only thing more vivid was the star on his shield, hitting the moonlight in just the right way that it accentuated every streak of red, white and blue painting the Vibranium.
Slowly, with a trembling arm and a shaking core, Steve lifted the shield in front of him. Speechless, and yet saying it all without a single word.
Tony shook his head.
“That’ll break the sound barrier!”
Steve nodded, so tight that it couldn’t be distinguished from the shakes that wrecked his body.
“Do it,” he commanded.
Tony wasn’t sure he could shake his head even harder.
“It’ll shatter the Pym Particulars!” he yelled, and not because of the distance that separated them. No, his shouts were hysterical — desperate. Firm with denial. “It won’t micro-condense the blast, that’s two-hundred decibels in a tightly contained space —!”
“We don’t have a choice!” Steve matched his stubbornness with his own.
Tony dry-swallowed, hard.
The beat that followed felt like a lifetime.
“It could kill you —!”
“DO IT!”
Tony didn’t hesitate.
He knew if he did, he wouldn’t have gone through with it.
Seeing the blast discharge from his gauntlet was like watching it take off in slow motion.
The sonic pulse shot straight ahead, the trail of shockwaves left behind the only sign of its destination. An invisible bullet pierced through the air, the pressure of sound creating a ring of ripples in its wake.
It was never seen impacting against Steve’s shield.
And Tony never saw the reaction it caused.
An explosion obliterated through his every sense, an atomic bomb of sound that ripped the earth in two and sent him barreling through the sky — everything spinning, his screams completely muted, the noise so loud it became his only existence.
There was no dome for him to impact this time around.
It shattered. A combustion of energy disintegrated the shield, so strong that trees far off in the jungle uprooted from the ground, toppling over one after another — a dominion effect that didn’t stop for miles. Shedding them of any leaves, clearing the forest until it was nothing but barren land.
The shock wave cleaned the fields of grass, shaving the green away until there was only dirt in its place.
The same dirt that Tony landed on, tumbling and rolling, his suit creating crevices and chasms in the land until, after a time he wasn’t aware of, his body came to a stop.
He didn’t get back up.
Far away from him, a trail of broken metal scattered across the field. Pieces littered the ground, shards of different colors finding their way back to its source. To its owner.
Somewhere on the land was a chunk of metal with a star etched across it. It was hidden underneath the many stars from high above; the moon shifting, and taking light away from the shattered shield.
With eyelids hardly at half-mast, Steve rolled onto his back, pressing against shards of Vibranium that stole the cushion of the ground. He landed there with a thud, and a guttural gasp broke through his chest. Wetting his lips with the blood that tainted his teeth.
None of which was audible.
Not even a ring bounced through his head.
Not even the stars shining in the sky above him could be seen.
His senses were extinguished, and his hold on consciousness wasn’t far behind. Slipping faster than he found his eyes closing: the same eyes that had witnessed the battles of war unable to see the moon that danced ontop of him.
Steve never remembered digging into his pocket. Fingers sticky with blood gripped the small box nestled away, and his arm trembled as he fought to grab it. Every time he got a grip, his fingers slipped away.
He never remembered retrieving it from its hiding spot in his uniform — only throwing it, an action that came without thought.
Dark spots danced at the edges of his vision. Pure instinct and his remaining strength was the only thing that gave the small device flight, tossed into the air before rolling to a stop.
Neither men were conscious when the symbiote matter, pouring off the body of a young boy, was seen sucked into the cage. No larger than the palm of a hand, a box smaller than a fist, yet held enough power to absorb the toxic substance until every ounce was gone.
Not a trace left behind.
Just the body it once consumed.
The box lit up with a purple reflection, a light that briefly highlighted both men scattered across the battlefield. Unmoving, as still as the night sky above them.
Slowly, gradually, that light dimmed away.
The next light was seen at sunrise.
The soft melody of birds chirping floated through Tony’s ears, creeping into the aching corners of his eardrums like the air that graced his face. A gentle pressure of wind bristled the hairs on his jaw, tickling his eyelashes until his eyes squeezed tight. It was the first movement of his muscles, tightening his brow in the middle.
It was some time after that he managed to open his eyes, vaguely aware of that much. The birds didn’t get louder, but remained the same. A song that played high in the skies above him, conducted by the morning. A canvas of the dawn.
The time it took to peel his eyelids apart felt like an eternity. Tony wasn’t sure if he was fully conscious during it all, or if he continued to drift away — in and out, no different than the birds that flew above him.
They flew back and forth. He drifted in and out.
His head rolled to the side, just narrowly.
Tony realized his eyes were open, and they stayed that way. A flock of birds flew past him, too high up to see what their colors were, or even how many soared above. Little imprints of black were the only distinguishable trait he could see.
His eyes drifted to the side until he couldn’t see them anymore. They flew away, the spots of blackness soaring out of sight. A wall that stood between him and the world, between cooperative senses and incoherent thoughts. Slowly but surely flapping their wings until they were no more.
Remembering reality clenched so hard at his chest, he was sure his heart was about to give out.
Tony’s entire body was trembling when he rolled to his knees, suddenly desperate to get off the ground.
“Rog —” Tony doubled over as a wave of dizziness sent him back onto his side, face first into the ground where dirt and his own blood caked into the skin on his cheek. The tacky puddle of moist dirt lined up exactly where his arm was before he’d gotten up.
And just like that, the entire limb was ripped asunder.
Tony clenched his eyes tight as he croaked out a cry, his voice too hoarse to reproduce any noise outside of a deep wheeze.
When he dared to open his eyes, his vision was too blurry to see anything. Wetness coated the edges and the sun rising over the fields blinded him, making him blink too many times to get any sense of lucidity back.
When he saw it, he was still seeing double. Still blurry, still blobs of unfocused color mixing with the sunrise behind it.
Tony didn’t need full focus to know what it was, though.
He’d make it out half blind with eyes on fire.
Dragging his arm across his chest, Tony rolled onto his back, again climbing to his knees with a laborious grunt. It was muffled and quiet, but only on the right side. It hit his left ear with striking clarity.
With a thought that took too long to comprehend, and senses that were only now slowly returning to him, Tony realized his helmet was broken — shattered.
With his good arm, he reached up for his face. Ripping off the broken half of the helmet and exposing his head in full; letting it drop somewhere off to the side where the noise never penetrated his ears.
Tony stumbled forward. One leg tripping, one knee buckling. He moved, one step at a time — his leg gave out, he collapsed down onto his knee. And he crawled the rest of the way there, clinging his arm to his chest, never once breaking his eyes away.
“Peter,” he rasped, dragging himself across the ground. Pushing his heels into the dirt to bring himself closer. “Peter.”
His voice sounded like rocks against gravel. Vocal cords damaged, swollen from screaming. The closer he got, the brighter the sunrise colored the face he didn’t dare look away from. Casting a glow of amber and pink where there was otherwise gray and blue.
Tony collapsed next to him, his body giving out at contact. It wasn’t until he clung to Peter’s shoulders that he was able to drag himself off the ground, pulling at any part of small body — desperate to get the boy into his lap. Desperate for touch.
There was scarcely anything to tug onto. Bare skin laid below him; the burnt, tattered remains of a red and blue suit resting over Peter’s body like an over sized blanket. The skin of his chest was a gray as the skin of his face, the pale blue lips unable to catch the warmth of the morning sun.
Tony wrapped an arm around his shoulder, and squeezed. Jostling the body with unintended tremors of his own.
“Peter.” The shakes grew harder, as Tony’s voice grew stronger. “Peter!”
Sans the movement of each shake from Tony’s hands, Peter didn’t move. His eyes remained shut, without a single breath lifting his chest. His face was far too expressionless to even hold peace, let alone serenity.
It simply was.
Peter — normally so boyish, young and excited, could only be discerned by the features of his body. Not a trace of life where there used to be plenty. An empty shell that laid cold and wasted in his arms.
Tony swallowed, blissfully unaware of the pain that swelled his throat — stifled under the all encompassing pain of his arm — and yet even that overtaken by the pain in his chest. A hole that burrowed deep inside, ripping through the spread of his broken ribs and digging where it hurt the most.
The gauntlets kept him from feeling anything. No texture of skin, no feel of muscle, no signs of life.
He knew there weren’t any. The armor did nothing to spare him that truth.
Tony squeezed the body as hard as he could, forcing pressure to his chest where he couldn’t feel it.
His jaw cracked with the force of trying to get his mouth to speak.
“We did it, kid.” Tony lifted his shaking arm, ignoring the blood that caked dry and the tremble that shook his hand fiercely. He brushed away the tuft of hair covering Peter’s forehead as thunder crackled deep in his soul. “We won.”
The quivering of his bottom lip matched the shakes of his arm.
A slight pressure found its way to his shoulder, where the metal of his suit barricaded the pressure of another persons touch.
Tony could see, in just the corner of his eyes, the vibrant claws catching the suns glare. The unmistakable glisten of Vibranium touched down on him, grounding him to the present moment. Reminding him of the horrors that they’d faced.
If the clasp on his shoulder squeezed, he couldn’t feel it.
If T’Challa had spoken any words, they never found a home in Tony’s ears.
His eyes clenched shut and he dropped his head, a deep breath arching his back and rattling his chest with wet wounds of sorrow. Choking on the taste of grief.
“We did it,” Tony breathed out, his voice only able to produce a thin, aching cry.
Everything after was silent.
The sun began to rise over his shoulders, a light that burned out the shadows of the night. A saturated sunrise, creeping over the mountain cliffs, giving life to every color that nature owned. Warmth that offered its rejuvenation to the lands of Wakanda — and with it, brought a new day.
