Flames danced across the sand as debris littered the area, smoke wafting upwards and drenching everything with its intoxicating scent, hot sparks hazily floating in the air. Laying eagle spread on the ground was Kennedy as her eyes fluttered open, everything was hazy and blurry as she groggily blinked, feeling the coarse metal part from the plane digging into her back as her ears rung loudly, all of her senses feeling completely muted. Waving a hand in front of her face hazily, as if that would somehow help, Kennedy began to cough loudly, her lungs full of smoke.
Sputtering, she forced herself upwards, nearly choking as an intense ringing noise went off in her ears. Sitting upwards for a mere moment, Kennedy struggled to regain a sense of consciousness and then she remembered --
Peter.
Without hesitation, Kennedy was pulling herself upwards, using large chunks of burning metal to push herself up, ignoring the pain that burst everywhere in her body as if the whole thing was on fire. Her knees nearly buckling, Kennedy forced herself to run, her eyes burning as smoke stung them, her airways clogged with smoke as her feet sank in the sand, her eyes widened so much that the whites of them were visible as she began to shovel through smaller pieces of rubble from the plan.
"Peter!"
Her voice was raw and raspy as she screamed his name loudly, her throat soar and scratchy, speaking being more painful than anything. As she received no response, Kennedy grew more and more frantic, beginning to sift through everything as she struggled to make herself move faster on top of the heavy sand, flames licking at every part of her as her panic grew like wildfire as she searched and searched for Peter but he was nowhere to be found.
"Peter?" Kennedy yelled desperately again. "Peter!"
Then she spotted him.
Laying flat on his back, completely motionless, was Peter, about ten yards away from her as he rested in the sand. Small fires blazed around him as small chunks of debris rained around his body, smoke billowing overhead and still he did not move. Her breath cutting off completely, Kennedy pushed off from the sand, running as fast as she could, ignoring all of the horrible pain that swept through her body. As she reached him, her legs completely gave way and she was sent tumbling onto the sand, falling to her knees as she latched onto Peter's jacket, shaking him.
"Peter!" Her voice was nothing but pure pain as she called out his name for what seemed like the hundredth time, her grip around his jacket so tight her knuckles were white while tears began to form in her eyes. "Wake up! Peter, please! Please, wake up!"
Suddenly, he began to cough wildly. Nearly laughing in relief, Kennedy let go of his jacket instantly, falling backwards as Peter shot upwards. Clawing frantically at his mask, Peter's chest was heaving as he gasped for air before ripping it off, a hacking cough erupting from his chest as he drank the air in wild gulps, sweat pouring down his face, his eyes wild and fearful as he glanced frantically around, only mildly relaxing as he took in Kennedy beside him.
"Kennedy," his voice sounded miles away from Kennedy as she blinked at him, her senses still out of whack. "Kennedy, what's going on, what's -- ?"
Peter was cut off as Adrien made his big entrance.
Sweeping out of the darkness in all of his glory, firelight lighting up his absolute maniacal face, Adrien soared, low to the ground, his wings barreling straight into Kennedy as she was sent flying backwards while Peter managed to duck under them, although he to went soaring across the sand. Clutching at her shoulder, which was bleeding slightly from the impact of the wings, Kennedy was on her knees, sand in her mouth as she stared in shock at Adrien. Stumbling upwards was Peter as Adrien turned around to ram back at him, struggling to be the hero.
"Hey, Pedro," Adrien sounded insane as he spoke, a twisted smile pulling at his lips. "Stark."
With that, he launched back towards them.
Tumbling underneath him, Peter managed to duck out of the way just in time however, Kennedy was not so lucky. Talons grew out from Adrien's boots as he clawed onto her, the sharp points of them breaking into her skin and Kennedy let out a strangled shriek, wriggling like mad in a wild attempt to free herself, but it didn't work. Lifting her up with ease, Adrien threw her as hard as he could, sending Kennedy's body flying through the air as she landed on the sand with a loud thump, her eyes involuntarily closing as a strangled gasp of pain was torn from her throat.
As she lay there, wishing death would put her out of her misery, Peter didn't end up faring much better. Doing the same thing he had done to Kennedy, Adrien was considerably rougher with Peter as the two tumbled through air for a moment before Adrien repeatedly punched him in the face, Peter groaning loudly in pain the entire time. Then, lifting him up in the same manner he had done to Kennedy, Adrien slammed Peter straight into the ground again and again and again until suddenly Peter fell completely limp, no more noises escaping him.
Before Kennedy knew what she was doing, she was stumbling upwards, nearly falling over with every step she took as she limped furiously over to Adrien.
"Stop!" Kennedy croaked out weakly as she limped into his view, one hand on a broken crate half buried in the ground as she struggled to look up at Adrien, her body shrieking in protest. "Please -- stop hurting him! Or I'll -- " a hacking cough racked her body as she spluttered, "I'll -- I'll kill you!"
"Little Stark has come out to play," dropping Peter's motionless body to the sand, Adrien turned to Kennedy with an insane gleam in his eyes, his wings sputtering as the flashed blue, the wires exposed to the elements, the wings having fallen apart drastically. "She threatens me to protect a boy who doesn't love her who came here to protect her father who doesn't love her."
"You -- " Kennedy stumbled over her words as she fell into the sand, picking herself up as Adrien's mocking laugh echoed loudly. "You don't know what you're talking about!"
"Your father took my entire life from me," Adrien was hovering in midair as he spoke, his voice low and threatening. "He ruined me. And, at first, I was distraught... but not anymore... not anymore because now I've been blessed with the chance to take everything from him -- and I'll start by killing his only daughter."
With that, Adrien barreled forwards.
Feebly raising her arms in a vain attempt to fend him off, Kennedy nearly collapsed from exhaustion as her face was met with Adrien's fists. Unable to dart out of the way, sluggishly attempting to sidestep him, stinging pain bloomed across Kennedy's face as Adrien's metal hands collided with her face again and again. Her legs crumbling, Kennedy swayed on her two feet before she began to fall, only Adrien wouldn't let her.
Talons digging into her shoulders, Kennedy was lifted into the air by Adrien as her body sagged underneath him. With that, Adrien dropped her, sending her plummeting into the sand as she collapsed face first into it. Crawling to her knees, Kennedy coughed wildly as her entire body ached, battered and bruised beyond belief as pain cried out from every square inch of her as blood smeared into the sand, mixing with the fabric of her war torn dress as tears of pain stung in her eyes, her lungs crying for fresh air as she continually inhaled smoke.
But Adrien still wasn't done with her
Slamming into her with his full weight, Kennedy didn't even have the energy to cry out in pain as about two hundred pounds firmly rammed her back, creating a small crater in the sand around her. Then, talons clutched at her skin once again as she was lifted before her fully body was slammed with full force into the ground over and over again, Adrien lifting her five feet and then barreling her straight into the firm ground as Kennedy's entire body screamed for mercy. Choking wildly on sand, dust, and smoke, Kennedy couldn't even begin to protest as she was given absolutely no time to recover from each assault until suddenly, Adrien dropped her near Peter and didn't pick her back up.
Falling limp on the ground, Kennedy struggled to lift up her head, straining to see why Adrien had left her there instead of killing her. About twenty yards ahead, several Chitauri cores lay scattered along the sand and fires, shining with a blue electricity in the dark of the night.
Beside Kennedy, Peter stirred.
"It's over," Kennedy mumbled dully, her voice cracking as she realized what happened, her body in a state of shock as she watched Adrien throw some of them into the crate before picking it up and struggling to gain flight from his broken wings, which hummed loudly with electricity. "It's all over... that's it... he won."
"No... " Peter rasped, struggling to pull himself up in the sand. "His wing suit... it's going to explode... "
Her eyes glossing over partially, Kennedy watched as Peter, hissing and moaning in pain the entire time, struggled to pull himself up into a sitting position in the sand. Against her better judgement, Kennedy's entire body shrieked in protest as she copied him, dragging her cut up knees in the sand as she strained in order to get a better view of what was going on.
"Your wing suit... " Peter called out, his voice wavering as he flicked his wrist, a single web latching onto the back of Adrien, forcing him to turn. "Your wing suit is going to explode!"
"Time to go home, Pete," Adrien responded, his eyes shining as he clutched the Chitauri cores tightly. "I'm letting Stark live... for now!"
"I'm -- I'm trying to save you!"
But Adrien tore himself from Peter's web with ease, beginning to turn around, not listening. Flicking his wrist again and again, no webs shot from Peter, his web shooters completely emptied out. Then, just as Adrien began to fly further, his wings began to shake rapidly, the entire piece of technology practically having an anxiety attack as it snapped and crackled loudly, blue shots of electricity popping around it and then --
BOOM
It exploded.
Throwing herself against the sand for cover, Kennedy hissed as fiery hot bits and pieces of the wings rained down around her and Peter, shielding her eyes as the sky seemed to light up where he was, a fiery blue explosion booming in the dark night air before, very suddenly, everything fell silent once more.
"We -- we need to help him," Peter's breathing was heavy as he staggered up.
"He just tried to kill me," muttered Kennedy as flames flickered near her, unwilling to get up from the sand and she wasn't even quite sure if she was capable of it at that point. "I don't need to help him with -- hey!" She exclaimed as Peter surged forwards, "come back! Parker -- ugh!"
Swearing loudly, Kennedy's legs threatened to buckle out from underneath her as she staggered upwards. Dragging her broken and tired limbs furiously after Peter, Kennedy covered her mouth with her hands as she entered the thick of the fire, flames burning up to ten feet taller than her as she ran after Peter in the sand, following him to where Adrien collapsed. There, underneath all of the metal of his wings, surrounded by flames, lay Adrien, unmoving.
Without hesitation, Peter immediately went to free him. Crying out loudly in pain, Peter struggled to lift the metal upwards as it burned hot. Knowing what the right thing to do was, Kennedy sucked in a deep breath and ran into the true thickness of the fire, trying her best not to breath in any smoke as her hands gripped the metal wings that Peter was struggling to lift.
For a moment, they locked eyes.
Then, with a brief nod, the two lifted harder than ever. Straining under the weight of the thick wings, Kennedy cursed her entire existence as her hands practically burned off before finally her and Peter were able to shove it off from him, the wings collapsing several feet away. Adrien lay, looking as if he were dead, not even looking as if he were breathing. Without even having to talk to Peter, Kennedy grabbed one half of Adrien, slinging the heavy adult man partially over her shoulders while Peter did the same with Adrien's other half.
Carrying him firefighter style, the two exhausted teens half dragged Adrien out of harms way, both nearly collapsing multiple times as they struggled to bring him over to a safer part of the beach. Finally, when they were a good distance away from the flames, Kennedy and Peter sort of tossed Adrien to the ground before both of them collapsed face first onto the sand.
There were a few minutes of silence as both regained their senses. Laying face first in the sand, Kennedy's head was on her hands as her eyes shut, able to clearly hear the distant cackle of the fire, Peter's groans and moans of pain as he lay only a few inches away from her, even Adrien, who was beginning to cough as he regained consciousness, was fully audible to Kennedy. Paying to mind to any of them, Kennedy stayed within her own head, an incredibly faint smile tugging at her lips as she realized something --
They had won.