As he fell to the ground clutching his ruined wrist, the Sorcerer Supreme levitated above them all, and the cosmic being followed suit. Several ghostly symbols swirled around him, shadowed in the mist but glowing regardless. Bright green chords of magic spun out from the sorcerer, intertwining into a web of brilliant, sparking magic. As it continued to twist farther away from the magician, his eyes blazed with a possessed quality, while he and his fluttering cloak flickered in and out of view like a faulty recording. The ghostly symbols gathered closer to the doctor, gaining the cosmic being's full attention. She looked furious and slightly nervous. Soon all Peter could see was a cloud of shadowy magic and the flashes of green magic. The symbols combined, and the cluster brightened like a dying star. The green ribbons surrounding Stephen shot towards the cosmic being, and she shoved her hands out before herself as if she were taming wild animals.
Energy exploded from the light. Piercing rays slashed through the mist. One passed straight through the teenager's heart, and he felt its feral beauty. The green ribbons shot past the cosmic woman's outstretched hands and connected to her torso. The light intensified until Peter could no longer look at the magic without shielding his eyes. But it continued to brighten to the point that it hurt even with his eyes closed.
Abruptly, any and all light ceased.
Spider-Man blinked until he could make out the hazy form of the cosmic being and Doctor Strange's majestic silhouette. She was on her knees, and her outline was significantly smaller.
"You cannot claim the Earth as your own," Doctor Strange commanded her with an eerie, multi-pitched voice. "You may now be able to dissolve shields at will as well as your other talents, but the Earth will never be yours for the taking, nor anyone else's. Don't make me settle this score like I did before, Shielliara." Stephen's complexion was beyond pale mixed with the grim expression the glowed across his face, but his voice was authoritative and confident. The cosmic being tilted her head towards the man and glared at the Sorcerer Supreme with a seething hatred, loathing written on more than just her face.
"You will die one day, Strange. You can't fight forever," Shirlliara snarled.
Peter's eyes fixated on hers, amply picking himself off the ground despite the excruciating torture being reported from various nerves in his body. "No, but he will never be alone either," the superhero's voice shook with solid assurance in spite of the anxiety flowering in his mind. Why can't I talk to girls like this?
Shielliara laughed faintly. "Of course," she answered sarcastically before throwing dark magic towards both Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. The teen attempted to dart out of its path, but it still struck his head.
The world darkened before he registered the fact that it was dissipating. His body crashed gracelessly to the ground, but he no longer had any feeling. All he could see was the street down on Earth. There was no damage, no blood, no pain. He was near a table at a surrounding cafe. Nothing happened, he only sat enjoying the silence. Peter turned to survey the environment. His uncle was siting at a table staring out at the street as well, lost in thought. The teenager smiled lightly before getting up to join him. Peter felt serenity.
"This wouldn't happen, Peter," his uncle broke the silence after a while, gazing at him. "You cause pain, not save people from it. You don't try hard enough. A woman just lost her child because of what you did." The street before them had suddenly faded into a broken mess with people rushing past, trying to find dead or dying family members. Any thought of peace died.
The scene startled him. Guilt washed over him in a wave. "Uncle Ben... I'm trying so hard," Peter whispered quietly, voice cracking.
"That's the problem, Peter!" His uncle's voice rose in fiery anger. "You are so selfish! 'I'm trying'. Do you think Aunt May was just trying to work two jobs to support you useless butt?! With great power comes great responsibility, Peter. You don't deserve the power you have! You don't deserve your aunt or Tony! You deserve to be rotting in a box somewhere hidden from the people you failed!"
Spider-Man's breath caught in his throat as it tensed shut from withheld tears, effectively choking him. "I'm sorry, Uncle Ben. I'm so, so sorry." He couldn't hold the tears that streamed down his checks now.
"No, Peter," Uncle Ben muttered with disgust evident in his tone. "I'm sorry that I couldn't raise you well enough. You are a failure." The words stabbedinto the teenager's heart deeper than the physical pain ever did.
The shriek of a bullet rang through the air. Peter blinked feircely through the tears blurring his vision to see his soaking uncle's chest. The gun that shot the bullet slipped from the elder man's fingers and clattered to the ground.
Peter's Uncle slouched forward, and the teen rushed to catch him. The man muttered his last words once again in the superhero's arms. "You deserve this..."
Spider-Man crumpled to the ground as he wallowed in the unbearable pain of guilt and grief.
Peter was being shaken. It took him a while to realize this. The pain was too much for him to care. He couldn't do this. His chin was being lifted up, tilted towards the sky. Except the sky wasn't churning above the cracked street. Dead, exhausted eyes stared into his own.
"Peter." He could distinctly decipher the soft word. "Peter, please. You are okay. Please, it's not reality."
Peter did his best to latch onto the defined face above him, but the expression of his disappointed uncle still swam at the back of his vision.
A strange sensation of warmth flowing into his chest was enough to startle him from his grief. Peter tensed at the touch, but eventually, he relaxed into the hug that the sorcerer was giving him.
Once the other man retracted, the teenager whipped the last few tears from his eyes.
Doctor Strange was kneeling across from him, swaying but persistent. "Peter, like you told me, you are never alone. Whatever you don't believe you deserve, I assure you, no one would deserve it more than you. I haven't known you very long, but your courage and selflessness rivals any I have ever witnessed."
Spider-Man offered a watery, half-hearted smile, "What happened to Shielliara?"
"I sent her to the negative zone," the doctor chuckled at some inside joke. "She'll certainly have fun there."
Peter took a moment before he attempted to stand up. His balance was questionable, but he managed to stay upright longer than it looked like the Sorcerer Supreme would. Just as he predicted, as the man tried to stand, his rocking intensified, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Before Peter could reach out to support the doctor's body, the sorcerer's cloak levitated him off of his feet and provided heavy support for the injured sorcerer. Doctor Strange came to quickly after, only blacking out for a few seconds.
"Sorry," Stephen muttered. "I probably should have guessed that would happen." After the shaky words, the doctor lifted his arms and began to trace a circular pattern into the hazy mist that was rapidly fading around them. A portal similar to the ones Peter saw earlier burning into the air, releasing mutated creatures. The superheroes stumbled through the portal hastily, and it closed on their heels at the earliest possible moment. Stephen seemed nauseated.
Captain America saw the pair emerge from a portal across from the street, and he dropped the price of debris he had been moving with Hawkeye. Then he began sprinting alongside Clint to get to them. They both appeared beyond dead. Strange even had prominent bags underneath his eyes, but the captain guessed that it wasn't just from the battle. Steve decided to have a conversation with both Tony and Doctor Strange about human necessities.
Soon he was beside Peter, supporting him and offering a shoulder. The teenager nodded blankly and limped heavily towards the makeshift alley that designated for the injured superhumans. They weaved in between several Avengers and sorcerers, including a green tinged Bruce. Steve laid Peter down next to Tony, who was protesting against the numerous sets of paramedics holding him down.
"Spider-Man!" the billionaire almost screamed with desperation, still careful to avoid the kid's identity even in such a situation. "Kid! Crap, Kid."
Peter was enveloped in a delicate hug as the genius rolled over to him. After a moment the hug was broken, and Tony commanded a nearby officer to have the superhero airlifted to the nearest hospital. A few people left to go make arrangements.
Clint arrived with Stephen who was already half-unconscious from the movement. Any determination left in the sorcerer was now forgotten and abandoned.
Through the haze and the chaos of noise, Stephen registered a helicopter speeding towards the battleground. Doctor Strange attempted to track the the incoming vehicle, but after a wave of nausea and a sea of stars, he focused his eyesight on Wong's particularly anxious features. Soon paramedics attended to his battered limbs. Eventually, they prepared him to be transferred to a stretcher, but the moment they attempted to move him onto the backboard, Stephen lost any sense of direction. The world faded soon after.
Second to last chapter:( I wish it lasted longer, but all good things must come to an end! I just want to thank you guys for the reviews. 14brendale, sudoku, and NopeNotTelling, you guys are so sweet! Thank you for all of the support! Just a heads up: once I finish the next chapter, I will be going through the story and re-editing it. Hope you enjoyed, and I don't own anything! See you next week!
~Kenobi1