#those car honks. in chapter 2 during the traffic jam

[dubious-solutions]

I'm getting ready for metal crusher 2 in chapter 3. Maybe even mettaton who know

[amoristt]

Remembering Yesterday | Chapter 2

A story of Peter Parker and the mess he reaches for.

-

Found unconscious and alone, a girl with a mysterious past is held at the Avengers Tower, it’s workers set on discovering who she is. Just as lost as they are, ___ finds herself searching for answers, ones that prove to be just as destructive they are healing when the pieces of her past begin to rebuild themselves. Misunderstood and afraid, she embarks on a journey of self discovery- and for the first time, love.

a/n: sorry for the huge absence! i’ve been so busy with work lately, i havn’t had much time alone to spend writing :( regardless, here’s chapter two, i hope you all enjoy! feedback greatly appreciated <3

Chapter Two: Time and Place

Something about this town is familiar.

Maybe it’s the buildings- tall, broad, looming over you and casting great lengths of shadows, or maybe it’s the architecture. The bricks are rough against your fingers, child-like curiosity urging you reach out and inspect every element of the world surrounding you. Somewhere far away there’s a bell, and it sings you a lovely song before chiming three times.

You follow along alleyways and paths that you’ve never explored, but oddly enough, there’s an instinct you can feel in your heart. A tugging that has you deliberately choosing directions but you’re unsure what the outcome is going to be. Overhead you notice helicopters soaring over buildings, their blades humming. With your hood up and head down, you have a feeling that those helicopters are searching for you.

Pathways turn winding, and eventually, you find yourself at another busier area. There’s hundreds of people traveling the sidewalks and loads of cars honking at one another during the traffic jams.

“Good afternoon,” Someone calls out, catching your attention. You turn to follow it, and notice a man at a stand wearing a hat with a hotdog on it. “You seem hungry!”

He watches you with a white smile sitting upon a square face, his brown hair catching rays of sunlight. His eyes are dark, they’ve got a lively sparkle to them, a certain warmth that you don’t think you’ve come to meet before.

Now that you’re thinking about it, you are. Your stomach growls when the scent of the stand reaches you, and though you feel like you should stay along the walls, you slowly leave your spot beneath an archway and approach the friendly man.

“Interested?” With metal pinchers, he lifts a hot dog and waves it tauntingly, but not mockingly. “Only two-fifty, I think that’s a steal, don’t you?”

You immediately hunch your shoulders, shying away. “I don’t have any money.”

“No problem! Are you parents around?” He’s so cheery that you can almost feel it radiating off him. “Seems like a good day to get the whole family involved!”

“I don’t have any family.” The words, sad as they are, leave you without much emotion.

The man’s smile drops but it’s more confused, sad even, than angry. “I see.”

“Sorry.”

Before you’re able to turn and sink back into the background, he calls out to you again.

“Now now, wait just a minute,” He slides the hotdog into a bun and wraps it within seconds. “Now, don’t go telling all your friends, but here.” He reaches out and gently nudges the tinfoiled-wrapped food towards you. “Go on, take it. Like I said, you look hungry. You seem like a good kid, it would be a shame to see you up and starve.”

You reach out and grasp it gently, staring at him, taken aback.

“I-...” Instinct tells you no. Don’t accept, but you swallow and nod. “Thank you.”

“No problem, kid. One day when you’re up there with the big players don’t you forget me, got it?” For the first time, you laugh, and he does too, a deep laugh that rumbles in his chest. “Get on outta here, you seemed like you were heading for something.”

You shrug. “Just checking everything out. Getting to know the city.”

“Ah, to be youthful in New York. World of opportunities.” He sighs meaningfully. “See you later, kid.”

Nodding at him again, you wave goodbye, and turn. There’s a strange buzzing in your chest- not quite infatuation but also not anxiety. Those few sentences were the most you’d talked since you’d been awake, and surprisingly, it was a conversation you enjoyed while it lasted.

As you tore into the meal he so kindly gave you, you smiled.

---------

Night comes quicker than you’d anticipated.

The moon hangs heavy in the sky, stars barely visible through the glow and fog of the city lights. Still, you allow yourself a moment to appreciate the colors of it all. Even the flickering neon lights, and the silhouettes of exhausted workers taking their smoke breaks to lean against shabby brick walls. The bench you found yourself resting on wasn’t the most comfortable, but you’d been on your feet the entire day. You needed the rest.

Along with the aesthetics you strangely felt drawn to, the night shadows also aided in your ability to slink in the darkness without detection. You passed like a ghoul in the night, hood up, hands shoved in your pockets. Even if someone could see you, they wouldn’t approach for fear of you mugging them.

Behind you, light showered your back in electric blue and white. A TV shop with dozens of monitors on display, and though there was no sound, you could see the reflection of the scenes changing on the ground by your feet in puddles near a sewage drain. You wondered what was being displayed, so you stood from the bench and stretched. Sitting down only made your feet hurt worse when you stood back up, but you knew that you needed to get moving anyways.

Slowly you approached the thick glass window. Your fingers reached out and touched the smooth surface, the pads of your fingers pressing against it. The TV’s were blinding in front of you, but oddly, you couldn’t look away.

There were four smaller TV’s on each side, with two slightly larger next to them, and then one large TV in the center. It was so bright- the colors hypnotized you.

Your breath caught in your throat.

A bright, bright light shines in your eyes.

It’s moving, but never leaving your sight. Someone’s speaking but it sounds like it’s underwater.

There’s a voice calling you, reaching out to you, beckoning you closer. It fill you with absolute terror. You know what comes next, you know what’s going to happen.

Hands grip your shoulders tight.

You tear away from those clawed fingers.

Nothing.

All you can see is static, but then you blink. It’s-

“TV’s.” You barely whisper to yourself.

They’re just TV’s, playing rolling static as the display scenes run through and change. You swallow and it feels like you’re eating needles.

You’re all alone, standing before the glass window, hand still reaching out to feel it. Slowly, you pull your hand back to yourself. The inside  of your body feels like it’s been drained. You can’t remember what you were so terrified of, now. You don’t know what comes next.

As you shake yourself off from whatever you’d experienced, you reach up and wipe sweat away from your temples. You’re shaking but you don’t know why,  a long lost memory nagging at the back of your mind.

The Tv’s play a scene from a movie you’d never watched before, and you’re suddenly hyper aware of your surroundings. In the window, you see your reflection. You shouldn’t be out in the open like this, not when you’re having episodes of delibiliation. Someone could capture you in seconds flat.

Like a cat shying from the open sky, you take to the alleyways once more. You need cover, something to make you feel safe. With the webs of darkness to protect your identity you slink into the maze, out of sight. Your shoes were noisy against the concrete and it agitated you like a fly buzzing in your ear.

The sound didn’t silence, nor did you learn to ignore it, even after it felt like you were moving for hours.

That is, until another sounds catched your attention.

It’s so much louder- you can’t help but freeze in your place. The noises are sharp and short- it’s a voice. A person.

Your inner alarms ring, sirens making your blood turn to ice. You were still on the run, still being searched for, you couldn’t get caught now.

After a few moments of silence you almost feel like you were hearing things- maybe  experiencing another episode of sorts- but then the voice howls again. Pain, you realize. A thud sounds and then laughter, and you narrow your eyes, deciding to investigate.

It’s so close by, just a few turns and you’re peeking around a corner that leads to open sidewalks. The streetlights silhouette three figures, two of which larger than the smallest- which is pressed firmly against one of the walls. One of the larger forms holds him by the collar, the other a few feet away, laughing like a coyote.

For a brief moment the smallest is pulled from the wall only to be shoved back in, his breath leaving him in an audible ‘oof’, followed by a pained groan. Only the tips of his toes touch the concrete beneath him, held up by the strength of his attacker. His hands grip and tug feebly to free himself but to no avail- which the one feet away notes.

“Fight, come on!” He snickers, and you realize he’s holding a small device in his hand. “Show the world your strength!”

Once again there’s a thud as the smallest is violently yanked forward, only to be pinned harshly. He wheezes and coughs, and tells them to stop.

There’s an angry flash of red that shoots through you. It’s violent, but it’s also another wave of instinct. Shouting, conflict. Enemies to be stopped.

Your fingers twitch and without a moment of hesitation to think your feet begin approaching the trio. You’re low to the ground, fingers outstretched and dragging along the wall as you grow closer. The two are unaware of you, too focused on humiliating their victim, who cries out for help once again frantically. It’s a short lived attempt as he’s yet again slammed against the bricks, his glasses clattering to the ground. One of them, he who holds the recorder, laughs, but that too is a sound that’s cut off.

Instantly as you were within range, you straightened, reeling your leg back before kicking the back of his knee cap. Though it’s not a painful strike, it is effective, and he drops to his knees with a strangled curse. His camera hits the ground and breaks, pieces spreading over the ground sparingly. He gets up quickly and pivots to take a blind swing at you but you’re faster. Like clockwork, you dodge and land a harsh blow on the junction of his shoulder. His balled fist un-clenches, his mouth falling agape with the sharp pain.

His friend, taken aback, tries his luck with you. Like the first he takes a swing, aiming for your face, but you put all your effort in catching it mid swing. You do, and when you squeeze, there’s a satisfying pop that sends shivers down your spine. This is something you’ve done before, you’re sure of it now. It’s even more convincing when he falls to his knees, crying out as you roughly shove his possibly broken hand away from you. You’re unsure of when you gained all this power, but you don’t stop to think about that now.

The recorder, recovered, gives a mighty shout as he lunges for you. He swipes at you with both arms, trying to grain purchase, but you duck and canter to the left. You deliver a brutal right hook directly above his lower abdomen and the wind is knocked him his lungs, body turning into lead despite his feet trying to stand their ground. He passes you in a wheezing blur.

When you blink, the scenes have changed.

Or maybe it hasn’t.

You don’t have time to realize you’ve been here before, or that you were somewhere else entirely just seconds ago. There’s only that one moment- and it’s coming fast. You’re walled inside a massive cage with a figure standing before you, hands holding his gut from the hit you struck. His face is blurred, you can’t see his expression. With his hunched frame, for good measure you don’t let up. Heaving a breath, you lift your leg and drive the heel of your foot into the center of his spine. He hits the ground with a hefty thud, a pained groan reaching you.

It pulls you back into the world you’d left for a moment, the memory you lived in dissipating in seconds. You don’t register it, instead attacking one last time to make sure he didn’t get back up to try again. One more kick- and you aim it at his chin. His head snaps back at the collision before he rolls agonizingly onto his back, contorted and his chest shaking with uneven breaths.

He’s over. One more.

When you turn and raise your fist, you find that his friend is already off the ground. He’s still holding his hand but he doesn’t seem like he’s willing to fight, his stand guarded but submissive. His expression is one of hate- eyes dark and scorching you even with his raised shoulders. He’s quick to work his way around you, keeping distance as he drops beside his grounded friend. The two get back to their feet and saunter away, not breathing a single word as they go.

“Thank you.” A voice says, catching your focused attention. The smallest teen, still sitting on his ass with his back to the wall, is staring at you with a fearful but an ultimately thankful expression. He doesn’t know what’s coming next.

“Get up,” you breath. “Get out of here.”

He swallows and nods, not wasting time in picking his glasses up from the ground before taking off. In just seconds, you’re alone again, a familiar ache weighing on your knuckles.

You feel as though you’re supposed to report back to someone, but you don’t know who.

So, instead, you shove your hands back into your pockets after flicking your hood back over your head. Paranoia starts to set in, and you glance over your shoulder. Now, you feel  exposed. You shouldn’t have let them see your face- but what else could you have done?

Glancing along the walls, you check to make sure that there aren’t any cameras facing you. Save for on the one laying dismantled on the ground, all of it’s content surely destroyed, you weren’t recorded. A sigh leaves you as you turn to sink back into the shadows, like a hunter taking it’s leave after a kill.

“Woah,” a voice says. Peril shoots through you like a rocket, and you whip around. No one’s behind you. “That was intense.”

Taking a step back, you look up. There’s still nothing.

“Show yourself!” You demand, hands balled tight into fists.

You hear a shifting to your right and you follow the sound- and what you see makes you freeze in your spot for the first time that night. Resting crouched atop the railing of a balcony several feet overhead, you see a figure. It’s outline is illuminated by the window behind him, yellow light letting you barely make out it’s physique.

“Shit.” You hiss.

In a split second, you’re launching off your heels, bounding down the alleyway and taking every turn in sight. From the fight you’re already short of breath and this isn’t helping, but you keep on anyways. Basement windows and tipped over garbage bins  blur past you as you go.

“Wait- don’t run!” The person shouts, and the sound of him gaining on you has your feet moving even faster. You’re reckless- frantically searching for any means of hiding or a way out of the labyrinth. “Do you even know where you’re going?!”

Just as those words reach you, like a foreshadow, you make a sharp turn. Immediately you’re stopped, the air forced from your lungs when you hit a fence dead on. If not for your fingers latching onto the openings, you would have fallen on your ass. You look forward and feel your stomach drop at the height of the obstacle-  it almost reaches the midsection of the giant complexes it separates. Clearly this was not a space meant to be passed, as you can’t find a gate on either side.

Across it is a busy road, active with cars and pedestrians. If you could get passed this, you could be free, hidden amongst the crowds.

The moment your foot catches onto the fence, you hear a shuffling behind you.

“You move pretty fast,” It says, not out of breath. “Why are you running from me? I know I kinda came in there outta no where but I didn’t think I was that scary.”

Your eyes stare forward, body unmoving. Your mind races for a plan.

Escaping would be futile. Even if you kept trying to climb he would surely catch you. There was nowhere to hide, nowhere else to run.

Hopping off the fence, you tighten your fists and slowly turn towards the person chasing you.

They’re a man, you note. His shoulders are broad, a suit covering every inch of his body. He doesn’t look too large in size, and his figure doesn’t paint him that old. Maybe the same age, or slightly older, than yourself.

He takes note of your defensive stance and lifts his hands, palms open and facing you. “Hey, look, I don’t wanna fight you. This suit is new and if Mr. Stark found out I was beating up civilia-”

“What do you want from me?”

Taken aback by your hostility, he seems to try and make himself look smaller. “You- You just beat up those guys like some sort of pro.”

“And?”

“Well- I just-” He’s so animated when he speaks, hands moving with every word. “You took off and I thought maybe you were running from something. Like- You know,” He cups one side of his mouth with a hand, “A bad guy.”

“I was running from you.” You grumble, not letting up on your position.

“Oh,” He stands up straight, hands falling to his sides. “I’m sorry for chasing after you, I was just-... Sorry.”

Next to you, a light turns on at a window you hadn’t even noticed was there. A woman stands before it wearing only a bathrobe, her hair pinned up by rolls of pink. From beneath the green paint on her face, you can make out a frown. Without a word, she roaches out, shuts the window and dramatically pulls the curtains over it.

“Geez, sorry to you too lady.” The boy mumbles, and you blink at him. You know that voice.

When he looks back up at you, the light now offering a better view for your hooded face, he gasps audibly.

The eyes of his mask somehow widen, then shrink, like they were mechanical.

“It’s you.”

Your heart stops beating, your blood turns to ice. Now you’re sure you know that voice.

“Oh god.” You breathe.

“We were all looking for you,” he takes a step forward, and you take one back. The fence touches your shoulders and you feel your pulse quicken. “You just disappeared- I thought you were an apprentice like me and then suddenly you’re plastered on TV, everyones freaking out! When Mr. Stark found out you went right past me- Man, he was pretty mad.” He starts motioning with his hands again. “But- maybe he was just looking for someone to take his anger out on- he does that sometimes- well, more than sometimes.”

He’s rambling again but soon shakes it off.

“You need to come back with me.” He tries to order with as strong of a voice as he can. His hand outstretched to you, waiting. “We can help you.”

You feel your corners of your lips pull down, brows knitting.

“I don’t want your help.”

In the distance you can hear sirens, all coming closer. The boy starts to liven up even more.

“They’ll be here in any minute- I sent my location, just go back with me and it’ll be easy!”

“No!”

You don’t dare take his hand.

Turning back on your heel, you catch the gaps of the fence again. This is your only move, even if it’s a useless one. The sirens come closer and you can see the flashing lights drawing near trapping you on both sides.

Suddenly, you’re glued fast to the fence by one hand. It’s covered by a sticky substance, all webbed and hardening against your skin. You try to yank it away but find you can’t move, and when you claw it at with your other hand, more is shot.

“Let me go!” You howl, feeling your heart sink.

When you glance over your shoulder, you see not just one person, but two. The one in the suit has his mask off now, his expression crestfallen, dark eyes saying they’re ‘sorry’. The man next to him is much older, and also wearing a suit. His is much thicker- built like metal.

“Neutralize.” He says- and you know that voice too.

Your hand tingles, and sensation that shoots up your arm and infects your chest, and then your head. Around you, the world begins to tip on its side. It’s an awkward fall with your hands still stuck fast to the fence, but you cave and crumble regardless.

The last thing you hear is the grown man’s voice again.

“Shut it down, We got her. Good work, kid.”