Eli had made his choice. There was no turning back now. He'd put it off for so long, but after what he saw on the news hours earlier, he knew he could no longer sit on the sidelines anymore. He had the power to help, and now he needed to act.
So why did he still feel guilty?
It might have had something to do with the fact that his grandfather had been resting at the time he'd made the decision to leave, so he left a note instead of talking to him. He hoped what he'd written conveyed everything he wanted to say, and how he meant to say it. The man wasn't exactly one to watch the news, but even he knew about what happened with the attack on New York in 2012 and everything with Thanos and the Snap, so hopefully the part in the note about an attack of killer machines wouldn't sound too out there.
He was about the only family that his grandfather had left, however, and he hated to think about what would happen to the old man if something were to happen to him in battle. The man had lived a rough life that, frankly, he should've been celebrated as a hero for. He had served in the armed forces during the Korean War and was part of an attempt at recreating the super soldier serum that gave Captain America his powers. For whatever reason, Eli's grandfather had been the only one the serum worked on, so they made good use of him, even sending him to take on the one called the Winter Soldier. The man had told him the story of how he fought him, even tearing his mechanical left arm off in their battle before the man got away.
The man had not shared this with him to boast or to relive his glory days, but to tell a cautionary tale. Despite everything he had done, including saving the lives of several of his fellow soldiers at one point, Eli's grandfather had been thrown in prison to be experimented on as the doctors and scientists tried to figure out why the serum had worked on him in order to properly duplicate it. In time, a kind nurse had helped him fake his death, allowing him the opportunity he needed to escape and disappear from the world. It was only after this that the man had met and fallen in love with Eli's grandmother, and they had a son, his father...who would inherit the same super soldier abilities.
Those genes had been passed onto him as well. In a way, his grandfather had made it possible for him to go out there and make a difference.
As he sat on the bus enroute to New York, Eli just really hoped that his grandfather would be able to see it that way.
Kate woke up from her nap, slowly sitting up. It was still sore, even painful for her to do so, but at least she was able to do it a little easier than before. She put her feet to the floor on the side of her bed, clutching lightly around her still sensitive midsection. As much as she wanted to just stay in bed, she was finally starting to get hungry again, and the call for food was beginning to win out. Working her way to a standing position, Kate got up and walked out of her room, heading to the kitchen.
She had no idea how long she would be out of commission for, but she hoped it wouldn't last too long. It would be okay though; if nothing else, it would give her time to fashion some more arrows, and she would gradually retrain to be even stronger and faster than ever before. She would bounce back from this; it would be all good.
Still, she was likely to have plenty of time to kill right now, so what should she do? Her mom was gone on her trip, so Kate had the run of the place to herself. She eventually made it to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, grabbing a bottle of orange juice. She got a glass and poured it, and was about to have a drink, thinking of what movie she would put in later.
She stopped just short of taking her first drink when she saw the TV.
"Attacks Around The World."
Kate's mind ran as the news spewed out details of what seemed to be coordinated attacks by machines that fell from the sky and landed in major cities all over the world. Spider-Man and another unidentified individual were trying to help evacuate an area downtown while fending off the New York invaders as best they could. Everything she'd wondered about ever since her injury less than 24 hours ago had come to pass.
Except it was far worse than she ever imagined.
A strange feeling began to fill Kate's heart and mind. It was a feeling she wasn't normally used to, which only served to make it worse: fear. She'd had moments, especially in the last few days, where she was momentarily nervous at best, but never anything like what she was feeling at that moment. It was a sense of dread that sent shivers down her spine.
Kate noticed her breathing was starting to get heavy, so she focused on steadying it, leaning her hands against the centerpiece of the room for support. In and out, in and out. She looked away from the television and down towards the floor as she finally started to regain control of herself. She dared to look back up at the TV, but this time, instead of stunned nervousness, it was steady determination that was rising in her.
She may have been afraid, but she still had to do something. The big question was, what could she do?
Kate reached down to her midsection again, remembering her injury. It was still sore, and it was likely going to take a while to fully heal. The wound was sure to limit her in battle, so should she really go out there? Doubt started to creep into her mind as she pondered what it might be like. Knowing Spider-Man, he was likely going to do everything in his power to protect her, even at the risk of his own wellbeing. If he died because she was limited in a fight, and thus couldn't defend herself properly, she would never forgive herself.
Plus, what could a bow and arrow bring to a fight like this? Sure, Kate had some trick arrows up her sleeve so to speak, but if Spider-Man was struggling with these things, her own weapons were not likely to be much better. She was just a normal person surrounded by things way beyond her.
Kate looked up at the TV again, seeing footage of people running scared as the machines cleared the area around them. Those were normal people too, and they were terrified. So much had happened in the last 8-9 years, but the Avengers had been around to deal with most of it. They weren't here anymore though, and that likely accounted for the hopeless looks the news cameras were able to briefly capture.
Kate clenched her fist so tightly that it was almost shaking. Her mind was made up: she was going to do something. She NEEDED to do something. It might not end up being much, and her body was telling her this was a terrible idea. Plus, her mom might end up finding out this time if she was caught on camera at all, which would come with its own problems if she survived.
She ignored all of that.
If she even helped save one life, it would be worth it.
Peter continued working with Sam as they aided in the evacuation of the downtown area. After the much-longer-than-he-wanted-it-to-take process of trying to figure out how to get in touch with Riri or Amadeus, he'd told Sam that they needed to do what they could while they were here. The best decision in his mind was to focus more on getting civilians out of harm's way and deal with the machines if they got too close where it wound endanger people, since they had proven more difficult to deal with than Peter anticipated at first glance.
Interestingly, the machines didn't seem too concerned about taking human life unless they were provoked. The military had sent in fighter jets to try to take them on, but they were dispatched easily, only further adding to the fear and dread in Peter's mind. Other than that instance though, the machines seemed less like they were trying to kill everyone and more like they were clearing out an area, creating a perimeter or something.
Hopefully, once the civilians were out of the way and his reinforcements arrived, things would go at least one percent better...hopefully.
Suddenly, Peter felt the ground rumble beneath his feet. It was subtle, but still noticeable. He could hear something too, and he turned around to see the part of the machine that hadn't broken off began to expand and open. Four leg-like mechanisms emerged from it, looking less like the legs of the other machines and more like tree trunks as they protruded out, slamming themselves into the concrete ground. A device that looked kind of like a satellite dish came out from the top center. A blue energy sizzled through it before it shot into the sky, and the same energy began to spread once it hit a certain height, gradually descending and forming a circular shape.
Peter's spider-sense suddenly went off, but it wasn't for him. He looked to see a woman emerge from a building nearby, carrying her child in her arms. She appeared to be limping on her right leg, and the shield was slowly beginning to close in around them.
Acting swiftly, Peter leapt up and swung over to them, with Sam following him. He landed right next to the woman.
"Here, let me take him," Peter said, gently removing the boy from the woman's arms as Sam came behind her, scooping her up underneath her arms. The shield was nearly done, so the two heroes worked quickly, and they made it outside of the area just in time to get the mother and son to safety.
Once the civilians they had helped were free, Peter turned around and looked to observe the sight before them. A small section of the city was now encased in some kind energy field in the shape of a dome. The center machine was continuously releasing energy for the wall to be maintained, ensuring that no one could get in.
What were they supposed to do now?
Peter then heard the slightest hint of a rumbling sound coming from the sky, and he turned and looked. Sure enough, it was a figure in an Iron Man style suit, with a green goliath flying through the air as well, seemingly from a gigantic leap. After a while, the two landed nearby coming up to him.
"Oh man," Riri said, walking up to the forcefield wall.
"Yeah, it's not a good situation," Peter said.
Amadeus came up to them too, and Peter glanced out to the area behind them. Most of the people were long gone, but there were a few stragglers that remained who were either staring at the dome or at them.
"Let's find somewhere at least a little more private to talk," Peter said.
"Wait!" a voice called out just as Peter was about to fire a web into the air. He looked to see yet another person close to him in age running up to them. The young man was carrying a bag and was wearing a thicker shirt and pants, almost military looking. He came up and joined the group, not even out of breath despite that he'd been running.
"I'm here to help too," he said.
Caught off guard by yet SOMETHING ELSE unexpectedly being thrown his way, Peter uttered the only response he could think of.
"Okay, um...do you, like, need a lift or something?"
After properly explaining what he meant the group made their way over to a nearby building rooftop a decent distance away from the dome-encased area of the city. As they gathered around, Riri spoke up, her helmet coming down from her face.
"Wow, this is really happening," she said. "Umm, for those of you who don't know me, I'm Riri Williams, and this is Amadeus. Really happy to meet you all, even if I wish it was a under better circumstances and all that..."
Peter looked at her, and she appeared a little embarrassed when she caught onto it. He felt a little guilty at her reaction; she had only reminded him of how he was when he first met the Avengers in Germany all that time ago. Before he could say anything, however, their newest arrival spoke up.
"My name is Eli," he said. "Basically, I'm like a much younger Captain America, except without all the stars and stripes. Basically, I can do what he could in a physical sense at least. You know, just wanted you to know what I could do as we, like, plan this whole save the world thing out."
"Right, of course," Peter said, clasping his hands together as he realized he had absolutely no idea how to proceed. Running with what popped into his head, he continued: "Well, thank you all for coming. Like Riri said, I wish this had been under better circumstances and stuff, but we..."
He paused when he heard something else. It sounded like a grappling device of some kind, but he wasn't sure.
"Now what?" he thought to himself.
The sound got louder; it was definitely a grappling device. Seconds later, a familiar looking figure in a purple jacket came onto the rooftop, crumpling to their knees on the ground when landing.
"Kate?" Peter said, running over to her. She didn't look up initially but did respond.
"You didn't actually think you were going to have this little party without me, did you?"
"What are you doing here?" Peter asked, helping her as she stood up. "You're still hurt; you need to be resting."
"I saw what was happening on the news," she replied. "I couldn't just stay home and do nothing."
"You're going to get yourself killed," Peter said. "It's dangerous out here right now."
"Like this isn't true for you either," Kate countered. "Look, I know I might be limited, but I can still help, even if it's with distance shots or something."
"You should listen to her," Sam said. "We're going to need all the help we can get now that it's begun."
"Now that WHAT'S begun?" Amadeus asked. "What in the world is even going on right now?"
Sam looked back at Peter, then scattered across the others as well before looking down. After a moment or two, he looked back up at them.
"Guess I better start at the beginning."
Hope you all are still enjoying!
Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!
"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Proverbs 15:1