╔══════════════════╗

MISADVENTURES IN PARADISE
vi. MYSTERIO'S POWER

╚══════════════════╝

   IT WAS HARD IMAGINING times where Fury wasn't like this: strict, an asshole, the beholder of unreasonably high standards for his agents, especially Riley. She was a force, after all. She had to be tamed, contained, and maybe it was for the best. Maybe he knew something about her that she had yet to learn about herself. Though as she grew older, her tolerance for it wore away, like overstretched elastic.

   Fury wasn't all bad. He was cautious but wise. Back then, he defended her most fiercely against those who didn't understand what he saw in her. His morals were gray, he was stingy with his smiles, and he never went anywhere without a gun in his clutch, but he wasn't bad at all. Fury was one of her first heroes before she knew any super ones.

   At the end of the day, Fury's interests aligned with protecting the world. So were Riley's. Their worlds just looked a little different these days.

   She circled back around the city, passing the cathedral where Peter and Beck were chatting. It was a relief that they seemed to be getting along. It gave her hope that her premature spikes of suspicion were nothing more than thoughts in her head. Then again, Peter was inexperienced. He didn't see a reason to distrust people. Not yet.

   Turning visible, she landed on the silent streets. Not a soul could be seen, as most were heading for the Carnival of Lights on the opposite end of the city. Riley was supposed to head there, too, as that was the predicted location of the final Elemental's appearance (Convenient, wasn't it? That the Fire Elemental happened to crave an audience?).

   "Riley?"

   Riley whipped around, clenched fists glowing alight, only to relax when she spotted Beck seated beside a dim streetlight, a newspaper clad in his hand.

   "Beck?" Riley greeted. But she could have sworn she saw him with Peter a minute ago. "What are you doing out here?"

   "The same as you, I assume. Getting some air before what could be the end of a long run. Mind if I join you?" Beck offered. She had no reason to oppose, so she nodded. "I'll admit, I needed some space after earlier. Is Fury always that intense?"

   "Unfortunately." She motioned to his newspaper. "Anything interesting?"

   "No clue. I don't speak Czech." Beck chuckled as he abandoned it on a rusted table. "Yeah, I've fought alongside plenty of troops like Fury in my day. I don't think it ever gets easier working with them. Though I'll admit, their drive is always strangely impressive."

   During tranquil nights like these, Riley heard her thoughts clearer than usual. She thought back to the other night spent with Peter, but in the serenity and security of her memories, she noticed she could only hear her own footsteps as she walked beside Beck.

   "I was used to it for a while, but after so many years apart... Fury's different but the same, in a way. I always thought I'd never change, but maybe it's me who's different," she confessed. "It's been an adjustment, especially lately. I can't figure out where my head's at."

   "Boy problems, family problems, and trying to save the world? Yeah, that's an interesting mix, I'll give you that. Has anyone told you that you take on way too much for a kid?"

   "I don't know what I'd be doing if I didn't. It helps to have people supporting you through it all."

   "You mean your village?" Beck asked. She shot him a wary glance. "Oh, sorry. Peter mentioned you call your team that. I think it's sweet. Shows how much you care about them."

   "Peter's been talking to you about me?" Riley blurted, only to shake her head. She sheepishly smiled. "Sorry, that's not important right now—"

   "Ah, young love," Beck hummed. "You and Peter remind me a lot of my wife and me when we were young. We were always chasing each other, always one step off from the other, but never too far apart. It wasn't easy, but we made it work."

   That did sound a lot like her and Peter. It should have been reassuring, knowing things worked out between Beck and his wife, but instead, Riley mentioned, "You never talk about your wife."

   "You noticed?"

   "I notice everything, Beck," she assured. "If you said that to Peter, he'd freak out. I can tell he really admires you, even though we don't know you too well. I could see it on his face when you guys were talking to each other."

   "You mean in HQ?"

   "No, on the cathedral just now. I passed by you two," she corrected. "How'd you get down here so fast, by the way?"

   "Oh? Are you following me, Valor?" Beck teased. Though she didn't laugh, his smile remained as if pinned with bloodied staples to his chiseled face. "Did you forget I can fly?"

   "You must've been in a hurry to be alone if you flew down here so fast," Riley said. "If you're hiding something, Beck, you should know I'll figure it out long before the others do."

   "I have nothing to hide. I just want to save a planet from facing the same brutal fate as mine," Beck promised. "Paranoia's a mind-killer, Stark."

   There was something in the way he said Stark that sounded different. His voice was sharper, laced with poison. It was scathing, ominous. The hairs on her arms stood, and Riley suddenly felt like the man she was speaking to was someone else.

   Was something wrong, or were her nerves amped up because of Rob? The line between the two was so blurred that she couldn't tell.

   At the end of the street, a figure stepped out of an alleyway. The person could have been anyone, but all things considered, Riley froze.

   The figure was mostly a shadow. He didn't speak, only standing beneath the streetlight. Sickness filled Riley as she locked gazes with his familiar, beady eyes. His sinister smile stretched, the same smile she often saw in her nightmares.

   "Riley? What's wrong?" Beck trailed her gaze. He gulped, his expression falling. "Is that...? That can't be... Is that your father? I thought he was locked up?"

   Rob O'Dair walked toward them.

   Riley couldn't breathe.

   "This can't be happening. Not again." Every inch of Riley's trembling skin lit up. "He's supposed to be in the RAFT..."

   Clouds of green collected around Beck as he took a fighting stance. "STOP! Don't move any closer, O'Dair!"

   Was she right? Was the man in the RAFT a fake? Or was the one in front of her fake?

   Looks pretty real to me, she thought.

   "This is our chance," Beck rallied. "We can stop him here and now. We can prove to Fury he's been stalking you all this time—! Hey, wait!"

   Riley broke out into a sprint, bringing her hands in front of her and blasting Rob. She fired again. Again. Again. Rob countered each attack with a towering wall of darkness, swallowing the light before it could touch him. The wall split in two, stretching in either direction until it completely engulfed the world around her.

   The darkness was everywhere. Even the cobblestone ground vanished, and she could no longer see Beck despite his energy clouds sailing among the shadows. In the heart of the darkness was Riley, a white-flamed torch.

   Rob's bone-chilling voice came as a whisper in her ear. "Did you miss me, mija?"

   "DON'T call me that! How did you escape!?" Riley spun in circles, firing in every other direction. "ANSWER ME! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?"

   "It's not so fun being unable to see your opponent, now, is it?" Rob taunted. She tried to track his voice, but without her sight, every turn felt like she'd been walking in a straight line. "All I want, if I must be honest, is a second chance."

   "You lost that chance a long time ago, Rob." Riley fired again, but this time, the light shot back at her as if reflected by something. She cringed as she fell, her head slamming against the ground. Was Rob always capable of that?

   "A second chance to kill you, my valiant Riley. A second chance to restore my honor, to reclaim my life!" Rob shouted. "It's always the same with you Starks! Causing accidents, being praised by the world for putting it together again like you didn't ruin everything first!"

   "If I recall correctly, you were the one who let a toddler wander into your lab unsupervised—"

   "I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT THAT, YOU BRAT!"

   A gust of dusk blew against her. Chairs and tables swung at her, some hitting her, others missing. She protected herself with a forcefield after the first few hits, already anticipating the bruises that would greet her later.

   The darkness felt different than the last time she faced him. Last time, the darkness was cold, bleak. It was draining not just physically, but mentally, too. Rob's shadows could suck your hope, joy, and dreams and shoot them back at you in the embodiment of all of your grief and life's failures. This, however, felt more like a super-powered fan. Like an intense burst of wind.

   "You've gotten weaker, Rob. But I haven't," Riley declared. She breathed the darkness in, conjuring the ultraviolet energy weaved into her DNA. The more she called upon it, the more it bit at her insides, wailing and pleading to be freed. "Wanna see?"

   Without a moment to spare, light exploded all around them — the same move she used to defeat him last time. Only this time, the light was bigger, brighter. It sparked across the empty half of the city, but it could have been seen from several countries away and felt from the astral above.

   The light faded, peeling back the darkness. All that remained were the pained groans from the man she once called Dad. He laid stiffly in the streets, blood spilling from his mouth, cheeks hollowed as if the light evaporated his soul. His clothes were tattered and singed, revealing sizzling burns and desaturated skin. The color in his once brown irises paled into a cloudy white. Meanwhile, Riley hadn't even broken a sweat. She was just warming up.

   She couldn't say she was relieved though. It was just too easy.

   She crouched beside his dying body. "Was that seriously the best you could do? You know you had, like, five years to prepare for this," Riley cooed. "What do you want? Who are you working with?"

   "Didn't... Didn't I-I tell you...?" Rob coughed. She watched warily, pushing away the part of her that pitied him. But then Rob stopped choking on his blood. He licked his lips, revealing his crimson-soaked canines, and despite his newfound blindness, he looked her right in the eyes. "Focus on what's in front of you. That's what's real."

   That sounded an alarm in her head.

  Behind you.

   But by the time she turned and raised a forcefield, it was too late. Riley yelped as her skin ripped open. "MOTHERF—!"

   Bullets tore through her shoulder, her side, and her leg. She was lucky she moved when she did. All of those bullets were clearly aimed at more vital spots: her head, her heart, her femoral artery. She toppled back. Her hands fluttered as she tried to figure out where she needed to put pressure most and if the bullets went straight through or not. Her survival of those initial hits meant nothing if she bled out.

   He'd known not to attack her with daylight on her side. The sun would've healed her in mere minutes. When the moon was at its highest, she was most vulnerable.

   "Wh...? What are...? How...?" Riley panted. "J-JO?"

   JOCASTA wasn't responding. Normally, she would've been droning in her ear, reporting her vitals and the like. If she could access JO, she could call for help. She could call Peter, Fury, anyone. But it was radio silence. She glanced down at her wrists, where her cuffs had been shot and snapped.

   Rob rose, his voice clanged against the ringing in her ears. Focus on what's in front of you. She'd heard those words before.

   "B-Beck?" Riley finally choked out.

   "I'll deal with him once I'm through with you," Rob snarled.

   "N-No," she spat, grimacing. "You're... You're not... Not him. Not Rob."

   Rob raised an eyebrow, and with his next blink, his eyes turned blue. With every step forward, his features morphed until the face of Quentin Beck was staring at her. Only Beck hadn't been harmed from her attack at all. He stood unscathed, shoulders relaxed. He even smiled at her.

   "Well, this is an interesting turn of events," Beck chirped. "Though you went straight for that last move sooner than expected."

   "Where... Where's Rob?"

   "Riley, Riley, Riley, when will you learn?" Beck wondered. "He's in the RAFT, just as everyone said. My colleagues say he's quite the crossword enthusiast these days."

   "You-You planned this. All of this. How... How long?" Riley demanded.

   "Actually, I'd like to get your approval on this last headline. Let's see, ahem." He cleared his throat. "Valor was brave but weak, just like her conniving thief of a father. She fought long and hard, but she was always delaying the inevitable: the day when it was revealed that she was never strong, only good at hiding how weak she truly was. She died honorably in her final fight against the Fire Elemental, and in her death, we rejoice as a real leader steps forth to take his rightful place. The next Iron Man, the next Valor, the next beloved leader of the Avengers: Mysterio."

   "Little wordy, I think," Riley coughed. "No one will believe you. They're going to... to know. No one can kill me that easily."

   Beck snapped his fingers. "Yes, that's why we're giving you a flashy death with the final Elemental. You know, to make up for the lack of audience this one will have."

   "Why not... use your powers to finish me off?" she interrogated. "What's with the bullets?"

   "My real power, Valor, is the truth. And soon, everyone will know the truth, delivered by a real hero. ME!" Beck swore. "Feel my power, Valor. Let the truth set you free."

   The world went dark again.

   Sweat collected at the base of her neck. Blood drenched her palms as she ripped off her belt and secured it around her leg. She held her side, letting her shoulder bleed freely.

   It was clear Beck had some kind of power he'd been hiding this whole time. Optical manipulation, maybe something in the same vein as her and Wanda's abilities, though not nearly as powerful. Beck had manipulated his appearance, their surroundings, but he couldn't replicate powers. Riley still had the upper hand if she just ignored how her head was spinning and her body had a few too many extra holes at the moment.

   "You're not still afraid of the dark, are you?" Beck questioned. She wasted no time, releasing light with her free hand. "Ah, ah, ah. Let's begin, shall we? Little Valor's truth."

   "I'm not scared of you! Nothing you show me can... can scare me." The darkness pivoted. The once night sky became lighter, cloudier. Buildings became ruins, cobblestone became pavement. Gunshots reverberated in the distance. S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents sprinted past her, but they didn't seem to detect her. "What...?"

   A hushed voice, nearly washed out by the chaos, begged, "Make it stop, make it stop..."

   Riley limped forward. It was so... vivid. So... familiar.

   The voice continued. "Please, please, please..."

   A woman with bright red hair, dressed in a fitted black uniform, walked past her. She sighed heavily. "Great. I should've known... Where is she...?"

   Riley's eyes softened. "Nat?"

   "They shouldn't have sent her out here," Natasha mumbled. She kept stealing glances over her shoulder, pistol at the ready. "...Just a kid."

   Riley sluggishly followed the ex-assassin as she sifted through the rubble, kicking aside debris until she located her target. Beneath a piece of fragmented concrete was a much younger Agent O'Dair. Blood trickled down her temple as she embraced her knees, failing to turn invisible.

   A chill ran through Riley. She was only seven.

   "You hurt?" greeted Natasha.

   "W-What?" Agent O'Dair murmured. "How did you find me?"

   "You always pick the same hiding spots. Come on, we have a job to finish," Natasha ordered. She didn't help the child stand, leaving and expecting her to follow, which she did. No matter what, Agent O'Dair always followed orders. Together, they walked past present-day Riley.

   Back then, Riley remembered Natasha being disgusted by her failures. Riley's failures made her a disgrace, a disappointment. Time after time,  she thought she remembered that sneer Natasha always gave her perfectly. Looking at her now, Natasha wasn't disgusted. Instead, she looked... sad.

   Natasha suddenly stopped in her tracks and turned. BANG!

   Riley was never more grateful for her reflexes than at that moment. The bullet flattened against her forcefield, and the illusion of her younger self vanished. That snapped her back to reality. Or whatever hell this was.

   "Я нашел тебя," Natasha lowly sang. I found you.

   Riley spat, "ты не настоящая." You are not real.

   It was true. This version of Natasha wasn't real. She knew it because she knew she was still in Prague, waiting for the Fire Elemental, where Beck was still watching her.

   What was his goal? A sheer projection of her dear friend shooting at her wasn't going to rattle her. That was just a regular Tuesday.

   Yet Natasha kept shooting, and it was apparent that Riley needed to find a way to break Beck's illusion.

   Riley hesitated, but she let light tingle against her palm as she struck Natasha. Not real, she kept reminding herself.

   "ты слаб," snarled Natasha. You are weak.

   "You're not her," Riley ricocheted.

   "Are you sure?" Beck queried.

   The illusion of Natasha aged up. Her red hair was longer, skin a bit wrinkled. She looked around, disoriented until she laid eyes on Riley. "Riley? What's going on? Where are we?" she asked.

   Not real, not real, not real.

   Riley pushed a forcefield forward, sweeping her off her feet. The ground abruptly shifted beneath them. The sky darkened again, the ground climbed into a snowy mountain, and Natasha was screaming at the top of her lungs as the forcefield pushed her off a cliff.

   It suddenly looked too real to not be.

   "NAT!" Riley lunged for the edge. "NO!"

   A hand clamped down on her shoulder, yanking her back. Before she could face her savior, their fist collided with her cheek. She fell flat on her back, her head dangling over the edge.

   "YOU MONSTER!" Clint stood over her, his boot pressed to her neck. Riley clawed at his leg, gagging. She turned her head, hoping to open up her airway, but all it achieved was a better look at Natasha as she clung to the side of the cliff. "HOW COULD YOU?"

   "Let-Let me go—!" Riley wheezed. "I didn't do— anything—!"

   "RILEY!" Natasha cried.

   "I can— I can save her!"

   "You're a disappointment. I always knew it. We all did," Clint snarled. "It was only a matter of time—"

   BANG! Clint's eyes rolled back, and he tumbled beside her. Air rushed into Riley's lungs as she sat up. Despite everything, she turned to help Clint, pressing down on his wound to stop the bleeding.

   "Clint? Stay with me, Clint—" Riley encouraged.

   "RILEY!" Natasha begged. "PLEASE!"

   Her frenzied breaths were drawing shorter and shorter as she glanced between them desperately. Her indecision would kill her before her wounds did. She was about to throw herself over the edge to save Natasha when a clap of thunder shook the earth. Riley winced, covering her ears as Thor plunged from the bruised heavens. The earth split as he crash-landed. Chitauri aliens pounced on him, clobbering him. There were so many, too many for even a god to endure.

   Riley didn't know how she had it in her to move, but she did. "GET OFF HIM!" she shouted, shooting light at them. It worked in distracting the aliens, but they all jumped on her instead.

   They climbed onto her, snarling and yapping. Venomous saliva dribbled onto her cheeks as she tried to push them off. Her throat was close to collapsing. Her vision blurred. Riley was sure she was dead until a green figure ripped the aliens off her frame. Except it wasn't the Bruce she knew today. It was the rageful, uncontrollable Hulk.

   Riley tried to catch her breath, but when Hulk was done with the Chitauri, he clamped her neck and raised her skyward, roaring into her face.

   "B-Bruce—! It's me, it's me, please—!"

   A silver blur darted around them, trying to distract the Hulk. Pietro. Hulk wasted no time, swatting Pietro across the battlefield. Pietro flew the same way Thor had, and he didn't move again after that. If Riley wasn't being choked to death, she would have screamed.

   A hue of red captured Hulk. Against his will, he dropped Riley and levitated off the ground, eagle-spread telepathically. His muscles strained as he yelled in pain. Red chaos magic stretched him, daring to tear him apart limb by limb. It was the first time she ever saw Hulk shed a tear. He flew higher and higher, giving Riley a clear line of sight as she spotted Wanda in the distance.

   "STOP! STOP! WANDA, PLEASE! DON'T LET THEM MAKE YOU THEIR VILLAIN!" Riley raised a wavering hand. A little blast wouldn't hurt her. It would distract her long enough to free Bruce. But as she tried to shoot her, Vision swooped in and attacked her.

   It was endless. With Vision, came Sam. With Sam, came Rhodey. Then T'Challa, then Bucky, and Dr. Strange. Her teammates spawned around her, either aiming to harm or save her, which didn't matter because she got hurt both ways. She tried to intervene before everyone killed each other, but that only hurt her, too. Each person hit harder than before, striking again and again until Riley was a bloodied pulp.

   "YOU CAN'T SAVE THEM ALL," Beck gibed. "YOU CAN'T EVEN SAVE YOURSELF."

   "This isn't... This isn't real—"

   "DO YOU KNOW WHAT'S REAL? DO YOU? YOU THINK YOU CAN SAVE THEM? LOOK AT YOU."

   A ring of Rileys gathered around her. They were all different versions of her, mostly young. It was hard seeing herself like this, in any form, in any state. It was hard facing herself, especially as a child, knowing what she had yet to go through, knowing what she was already going through at that age.

   "THIS IS YOUR TRUTH, VALOR," Beck chanted. "YOU ARE A COWARD. YOU ARE WEAK. YOU ARE A MISTAKE. YOU AREN'T SPECIAL. YOU'RE AN ACCIDENT. YOU ARE NOTHING."

   Riley turned invisible, hoping to throw him off, but the Rileys grabbed her, yanking her in every other direction until she lost her footing.

   "YOU CAN'T HIDE ANYMORE, VALOR."

   She felt herself fall through the ground. Glass shattered, colored lights flaring and glaring in her eyes. Bullets rained over her. The world kept morphing. It was day, it was night. She was inside, outside, falling, flying, pulling, pushing, climbing, sinking, diving, dying, dying, dying.

   "You were never meant to exist. You can try, but this is all you are! This is all you will ever be!" Beck yelled. "You're a toy. A weapon. You're only as strong as the person using you, and with me as your superior—"

   The illusion splintered, and Riley was in Prague again. She was laying on a rooftop. How she managed to get there, she had no clue. An unconscious Beck was laying across from her, his cape creased as Roman loomed over him.

   "R-Rome?" Riley greeted. "What are you...?"

   "We wrapped up the Belmont Trials about a half-hour ago. I thought I'd stop by and help you with this Elemental shit," Roman greeted, rubbing his knuckles. "What the hell happened to you?"

   "B-Beck... He... He's not who he says he is..."

   "Yeah, I can see that." Roman offered a hand. "God, you look like shit. Come on, let's get you to a hospital—"

   Roman's figure fluttered, vanishing as Riley shot at him.

   "Mother of Stars," she spat. "He always says Mother of Stars. Beck, you piece of shit..."

   Her gaze fell as a blinking light caught her eye. Where Roman once stood, an object clattered, smoking as it seemed to have been fried. She squinted at it.

   Was that a drone?

   Before she could get a closer look, the illusion resumed. Sunshine streamed through the tall trees, leaves swaying. A dried river carved out the peaceful land.

   "A week ago, Thanos acquired all six Infinity Stones and annihilated... uh, 50% of all life. I watched a lot of people turn to dust. I thought I would join them in death, too, but I didn't. Actually, I just passed out from blood loss. I wish I could say I was relieved, but... I'm not."

   Riley's blood ran cold. No.

   "After I passed out, I was taken from Wakanda to... um... Thanos called it Titan II. Sometimes he called it the Garden. I, uh, I haven't exactly been in the mood to give it a new name. Maybe the Garden of Evil would work? Satan's backyard? I dunno."

   Riley followed the sound of her own voice as it carried weakly. Tears pricked her eyes as she found another past version of herself, alone, talking to the small camera in her suit. She'd been starved, dehydrated, and beaten several times by Thanos by this point. She was hopeless, helpless. You're not really there, Riley tried telling herself, no matter how realistic it was.

   Riley blinked, and suddenly, she was the girl she was watching. Frail. A hollow shell. Her cheeks were sunken in, lips chapped. Dried blood contoured her bruised nose. She could hardly move. Riley promised herself she would never see herself like this again. This wasn't happening.

   "Riley?" a sweet voice called.

   Riley's head snapped forward. "Morgan? MORGAN!"

   Despite her weakness, she pushed herself forward. She tripped over her feet, muscles unwilling to cooperate, but she ran. She ran as fast as she could. It was all she could focus on. Her little light at the end of the tunnel. Not her. Not Morgan. Please.

   Thanos's camp came into view. Morgan wasn't there, but what she saw instead was somehow worse.

   The Mad Titan stood with an outstretched arm. One hand snared Peter by his neck, choking him. The other wore the Gauntlet containing the shiny Infinity Stones, and he aimed it at a beaten Tony and Pepper.

   "CHOOSE," Thanos ordered once he saw her. His scarred face made her feel sick all over again. "YOUR PAST, OR YOUR FUTURE."

   Riley's brain was shutting down. She glimpsed between them back and forth. "W-What? How...? You're not— You're not real—"

   Peter was in his Spider-Man suit, clawing at Thanos's purple hand. "Don't... Don't listen— to him—!" he wheezed. "R-Run! Run, R-Riley—!"

   "PETER!" Riley cried. She wanted to rush to them, but her feet were sinking into the earth. She couldn't move, she couldn't even raise her hands. "I don't, I don't understand! LET THEM GO! WHERE IS MORGAN?"

   "It's... It's okay, sweetheart!" Pepper promised. Mascara streamed down her cheeks. "We love you so much!"

   "Look at me, Tink! LOOK AT ME!" Tony insisted. She could hardly look at him. His suit was destroyed, chipping off his bleeding body. A shard of metal was pierced through his stomach. "It's okay. We'll be okay."

   Finally, Riley felt herself stumble backward into a cold object. An iceberg was mounted in the ground behind her, with Steve inside of it. He didn't look like himself though, despite the shield in his grasp and old uniform on his figure. He was older, much older than she remembered him looking, and his eyes were closed. A man out of time. A man frozen in time. Forever.

   "CHOOSE," Thanos commanded again.

   "I-I can't! I can't—!" Riley panicked, flinching as someone grabbed her and turned her back around.

   "Save us, Riley," Natasha begged, revealing her broken neck and mangled limbs from when she fell before.

   Clint yanked her next, his wounds making him unrecognizable. There was so much blood on his hands. A broken arrow was lodged in his skull. "You want to be a hero? Save us."

   One by one, the Avengers gathered around her, each dismembered, bleeding, broken. The faces she knew and loved so dearly were haunting, with their guts hanging outside of their bodies, blinded eyes, and shattered bones. Vision's head crumbled around the spot where the Mind Stone once was. Roman was covered in burn marks, his skin brighter than a star, and his eyes wept blood. Some of them cried, others were scarlet with rage. Some turned to dust in her grasp as she reached for them. Ultron robots soared above, battling with the Chitauri, but none of that mattered as her village turned against her.

   "STOP! PLEASE, I CAN HELP! WAIT!" Riley begged as they closed in on her. She sank to the ground, unable to shove them away. Between their legs, she could see Peter's lifeless body. His mask was shredded, revealing his empty eyes. Tears streamed down her face as she tried to reach for him. "PETER! NO, NO! STOP! STOP, PLEASE!"

   Tony shoved his way to the front. Dark, jagged veins crawled up his neck. The left side of his body was charred and ravaged, exposing his bones and entrails as the Gauntlet smoked on his arm. "You can't save us all," he seethed, grabbing her with his other arm. "You're too late."

   Tony snapped his fingers, and Riley squeezed her eyes shut.

   "Riley? Riley, come on! Snap out of it!"

   "Stop," Riley whimpered as she hugged her legs. She was sitting on the ground, the same spot she was in before this whole mess began. "Please, make it stop."

   "Look at me, champ. Focus. You're okay. It's me," Beck urged. It took more coaxing, but Riley soon peeled open her eyes. Once it registered who she was looking at, she flinched and scooted back. "Riley? What's wrong—?"

   "DON'T TOUCH ME."

   "Easy, easy. I'm not going to hurt you. I don't know what Rob made you see, but—"

   "YOU," Riley hoarsely yelled. "YOU—"

   "I don't know what you mean, but I didn't do anything. I'm trying to help you," Beck warmly said. "I took care of Rob. It's over."

   She stared. "...What?"

   "Rob, he... I don't know how he did it. He had these... these drone things," he explained. "I think that's how he escaped from the RAFT. He used those with his shadow powers to mess with our heads. He showed me the Elementals destroying my home. I was only able to snap out of it because certain details were off. I can't imagine what he did to you, knowing how long he's been stalking you. Can you stand? Let me help you—"

   "Do. Not. Touch. Me."

   "Okay! Okay." Beck held his hands up, surrendering. "But we need to get your wounds looked at before you bleed out. I'm surprised you haven't already."

   Riley wanted to believe it. She was so close to losing her sanity that she wanted to believe it. He didn't look so great, after all. Contusions and abrasions tarnished his weary face. His cape was torn, and the burn marks on his skin suggested that he accidentally got in the cross-fire when Riley was blasting through the illusions.

   "It... It was Rob?" she weakly rasped.

   "All of it," Beck promised. "I won't touch you, but we need to hurry. If I can get you to safety, I'll still have time to reroute a plan with Peter to finish off the Fire Elemental. Can you fly?"

   She was soaked in her own blood, her head was spinning, and her eyelids were heavy, but Riley nodded.

   "Okay. Let's go. Follow me," Beck coached. "Take it easy, okay? Say the word, and I'll carry you the rest of the way there."

   Riley ignored him, focusing on keeping her heart beating instead. She held her side and allowed a forcefield to spread underneath her, carrying her skyward. It was taking everything she had left to keep herself steady. Beck flew ahead with his energy clouds, paving the way.

   "Try to breathe, okay?" Beck called. "I know it sucks right now, but you'll get through this."

   Riley was hoping to at least catch a glimpse of the glittering stars, but it was too dark and too cloudy. At least the clouds cushioned her as her tense muscles refused to relax. Something wasn't right. She knew, deep down, that something wasn't right. But when you're on the verge of death, are you allowed to be picky with your company?

   "Yeah. It really does suck," Beck went on. "I was actually starting to like you."

   Her eyebrows furrowed. That was an odd thing to say. But before she could ask what he meant, Beck's figure vanished mid-air, leaving behind the ghost of his smile.

   The last thing she saw were the bright lights of an airplane before Riley Stark left the world.