Thor's hand shot up and grabbed the piece of soul energy floating away. Even if it was just a little bit of energy, it could do a lot of damage in the wrong hands. Matt looked at peace even with the pain he left the world with. Steve stood and lifted Matt off the ground.
"Let's get back to the Helicarrier." Steve stated before walking out of the ruins of the cave. It was obvious why the women had chosen this place, it was where it all started. This was the place Matt, Steve, and Andrew had gotten there powers, and this was the place the Soul Energy was strongest. And this was the place the last of the three fell to the hands of madwoman. Steve went out with a bolt of lightning, Andrew with a stone javelin, and Matt with energy beams.
One by one the Avengers filled into the craft and left, not even bothering to care about the cops who continued to pull in. It was two days after Matt was taken in by the Avengers, and while they had tried to take care of him, all they did was kill him. It was so beyond fast how the events happened before them. Matt was dead, the women had the stone, and Avengers had failed. No one looked at the teen as his body was zipped into a bag and the course set to the helicarrier.
It was 5 hours before the helicarrier confirmed their codes and the Avengers landed on the deck. The ship was a stream of activity as always, no one even knew who Matt was. Hell, the Avengers didn't even know him. For them, he was a kid who was taken under their wing, nothing more nor less. They walked into Banner's laboratory before setting Matt on the table and opening the bag. The color was gone from his face and it was obvious it was dead. Even Nick Fury stood off to the side a bit as the silent mourning continued.
Thor opened his hand and let the energy into a small container. It swirled around a bit before hovering in the middle. Without the source of its power it wouldn't be long before the energy blinked from existence. Thor set the box on the counter and joined his team in front of the open bag. It was a complete silence as the small vigil was held. Finally Nick spoke from the corner. "That's enough gazing, we'll give the kid a proper funeral. I'll get ready for your debriefing." Nick stepped out of the room.
One by one the team filtered out until Steve was left, he put a hand on Matt's chest before walking out the room. The other agent's could take care of the body. The door closed leaving the corpse in the dark lab, the only light coming from the faint glow of the Soul energy. Inside the box the energy was dimming more and more, but it felt a new home, one close. It was a familer home, one the energy was used to, one it liked. The lid of the box shot open and the energy hurled itself into Matt.
Matt:
The light was the most powerful thing Matt saw, which was strange because the world felt so dark and cold. He knew he was dead, he didn't feel his heartbeat, or the warmth in his hands. He didn't move like a human, and he felt like he was in a daze. Matt Garetty was dead. It had felt like an eternity for Matt, sitting in the bright light, waiting.
"Wow, I expected you last longer. Guess you won the bet, man." Matt lazily turned like a sloth. Of to his right was the two people Matt never thought he'd see again. Steve and Andrew, talking and laughing. Steve and staring at Matt with a grin and Andrew and laughing. It was like the good days.
"Why are you guys here?" Matt asked. His voice was slow and empty.
"Same as you, empty shells. We called it limbo, but I think it's more of a 'you held cosmic energy and now you get to spend eternity in light'." Steve replied. Matt almost laughed but he didn't think he was capable of it. Steve was wearing his coat that he wore when they flew, it had burn holes on his chest and shoulder. Andrew was clothed in the bloody hospital gown. Matt figured he was covered in his training outfit, that he never got to use.
"Yeah, not the best choice in clothes, but it's peaceful." Andrew spoke up, his voice had lost the coldness, it now sounded like him, like Andrew.
"I'm sorry I d-."
"It's fine, Matt. I mean, it sucked, but you did the right thing." Andrew stopped Matt from apologizing.
"But I killed you!" Matt protested.
"And I killed Steve. This gift that the Soul Stone gave us, it sucks at times. But hey, it was fun while it lasted." Andrew replied. Matt took a few steps forward before wrapping Andrew in a hug.
"Uh, you have idea how much I wanted to do that." Matt said releasing Andrew, he thought his cousin died hating him, he was wrong.
"Yeah, well Matt. I think there's some good news for you." Steve said pointing behind him. Matt turned to a see a small green light appear in the world. It was soul energy.
"No, you guy's deserve it. Take it." Matt said stepping out of the way.
"Well, not to be rude, but no. Our bodies can't take it anyway, but Matt. It's for you." Andrew told him.
"I just got here. I have so much to tell you." Matt said feeling a sting in his eye. Andrew and Steve glanced at each other before shooting their hands out and sending Matt flying into the energy.
"We'll be here, Matt. It's perfectly okay. Steve and I already made our peace, don't worry about us." Matt tried to speak but he felt a movement in his chest stop all speech, his heart restarting.
"Live your life, Matt. Don't let us hold you back. Oh, and don't forget, vote Steve." The faces of both of his friends smiling was the last thing Matt saw. Than, his eyes flew open.
Welp, all that's left is the epilogue. I know this ending was probably confusing but hey, it's my first fanfiction. Okay so I'm planning a sequel already so I'll keep you posted. Thank you so much for reading this to this point and I'll post the last edit soon. Thank you so much!
