Chapter 3
Death steps forward with an arm extended as if to shield Peter. Her face remains casual, but her stance is tense and alert, like she's preparing for a fight.
Peter looks between Death and Oblivion. He remembers Death mentioning a brother—Eternity—but she never said anything about another sibling. Death is, obviously, the entity who oversees death, and Eternity oversees the opposite, which is life. So what does Oblivion do? The way Death keeps shifting her gaze from Peter standing slightly behind her to Oblivion leads him to believe it isn't anything good. And, if his spider-senses are anything to go off of, Oblivion isn't here to just pay a friendly visit.
Inconspicuously, Peter checks his web-shooters. His left web-shooter is at 80% capacity and his right is at 65%. While not ideal, it's better than empty.
Death's stance shifts slightly. Peter looks up, noticing her hands clenching into fists as she grounds out, "What are you doing here?"
Oblivion steps forward. Death subtly nudges Peter to take a step back.
"You know why," Oblivion replies. His voice is thunder and a gravel road. "What happened to us, Death? We used to be a team; us against Infinity and Eternity. We can—"
"You can leave," Death interjects sharply. "I told you, you are not welcome here anymore."
Peter feels Oblivion turning his gaze upon him. He tries not to cower, but he can't help but shrink back.
"What are you doing with this mortal's soul?" Oblivion questions with underlying suspicion.
Death's stare hardens. "We shall talk later, I have a task I must complete."
"What task . . . ?" Oblivion's voice trails off, then a belittling laugh reverberates from his chest. "You actually did it, Death. You actually killed a mortal and brought them here." The laughter dies down. In a sneer, he spits, "Pathetic."
"Death's not pathetic," Peter counters. Death shoots him a warning glare, but he keeps his shoulders squared and jaw clenched. "And she told you to leave, so—"
"That is enough Peter," she hisses, eyes sharp as steak knives. Reluctantly, Peter keeps his mouth shut. Death turns back to Oblivion. "I am bringing him to Eternity to bring his soul back to his body, it was only a temporary arrangement. I have everything handled."
Oblivion laughs again, the malicious undertone sending shivers down Peter's spine. "Oh, sister. I don't think you do."
A sharp pain explodes in Peter's head a split second before a wispy tendril shoots out from Oblivion and wraps around his neck. Peter lets out a choked noise as he's yanked away from Death's side and aggressively dragged to Oblivion's.
"NO!" Death shouts, reaching out but unable to grab him in time before he's no longer in reach.
He kicks and tries to grab the secure hold around his neck, but somehow his fingers go right through it. It tightens around his neck and cuts off his air supply, lifting him higher. His toes barely brush the ground.
Lungs burning and head spinning, Peter's wide eyes snap to Death for help.
Her white eyes are enveloped by pitch black. Peter feels a tug, and suddenly the hold on his neck puffs away and he's collapsing to the floor.
Chest heaving and gasping for air, Peter tries to scramble away from Oblivion, only for his ankle to be grabbed by another tendril. It lifts him up into the air upside down. Peter tries to grab ahold of something—anything—to resist, but his fingernails only scrape the smooth floor until the tendril holds him up high enough that he cannot reach the ground with his arms locked straight.
Still catching his breath, Peter's eyes flicker between Death and Oblivion—who, much to his horror, is literally only two feet to his right.
Death's eyes remain endless holes of darkness. Standing with one foot set in front of the other and her arms poised for battle, she growls, "Let him go."
"I don't think I will," Oblivion taunts, flicking his wrist. Another tendril shoots out from the smokey wisps around him and wraps around Peter's throat. His heart beats fast in his chest, but the tendril only applies an uncomfortable amount of pressure, not enough to completely cut off his oxygen. ". . . Not, less, you have changed your mind?"
Peter's head spins. He has no idea what's going on, but he realizes with a churning stomach that he is caught in the middle of whatever it is.
Death snarls, "I will never join you, not when what you want is a universe-wide wave of mass destruction."
"What I want is the power and control god posses but refuses to use. The potential of that power is unmatched, and our father is wasting it."
"You wouldn't be able to wield such power," Death says. She doesn't meet Peter's fearful eyes and keeps her deadly gaze upon her brother. "Everything would go to chaos and ruin."
"Everything is chaos and ruin!" Oblivion barks, the tendril around Peter's neck tightening. He gasps for air but comes up short. "You should know this first-hand, you are the one who has seen the tragic and horrific deaths that occur every single second of your immortal life."
"I also see the merciful deaths," Death counters, voice hard despite the pleading look in her dark eyes. "The ones where people are surrounded by their loved ones. To die isn't necessarily to perish."
Oblivion sighs. It's deep, disappointed, and exhausted. "You have given me no choice, sister."
The mixture of low oxygen and the blood rushing to Peter's head makes his vision spotty and his head spin. He tries focusing on Death, to try to gauge whether or not she has a plan, but she doesn't move. Behind the angry and cold exterior, she almost seems . . . scared.
Fear shoots down Peter's spine. If Death is scared, then he should definitely be terrified.
It's obvious she doesn't have a plan by the way she keeps shifting her weight between feet and her lack of action. Something is holding her back.
With the lack of oxygen, Peter can't really focus enough to figure out what it is, but he is able to gather enough brainpower to realize that he needs to get himself out of this before he passes out. And, judging by the dots spotting his vision, he can't last much longer with the tendril wrapped around his neck.
"If you refuse to join me in my efforts to dispel our other siblings and overthrow god, then I will take this mortal and—"
With a flick of his wrist, Peter cuts Oblivion off and shoots a web that sticks to his leg. Before the entity can even comprehend what's happening, Peter yanks his arm back and sends him flying into the bookshelves.
Instead of disappearing like he had expected, the tendril around his neck tightens even more with Oblivion knocked down. Peter can't even make any noise anymore with how tight the iron-like grip is.
Death doesn't hesitate to rush forward and wave her hands around, dispelling the tendril into smoke that disappears into the air. Peter lands on his back, hard, and sucks in a painful gulp of air that gets caught in his throat.
Coughing and holding his throat, Peter pushes himself up to a knee. "That sucked."
Death makes a fighting stance in front of him as Oblivion stands. Without looking over her shoulder, she orders in a low voice, "I'm sending you to Eternity. Tell him what's going on and to send you back to your physical body."
"What about you?" he asks, stumbling to his feet and rubbing his throat with a wince.
"Do not worry about me," she assures.
Peter doesn't have any warning before she snaps her fingers and he's thrown into the tunnel of colors and shapes.
One second he's in Death's realm, and the next, he's standing on the shore of a beach. The waves crash against the shore like soft cymbals before getting sucked back into the sea, then rising and crashing again. A spray of cool salt water hits his face.
Squinting against the bright sun, Peter looks up, wondering where the heck is he now.
"Can I help you?"
Peter spins around, cursing his spider-sense for not picking up another presence. He supposes that must mean they don't pose a threat, though, so at least he's got that going for him.
His eyes land on a figure standing by a tall tree similar to a palm tree but much thicker and taller with bright orange leaves. The figure himself is cloaked with a blue cape, the same shade as the skin of his angular face. But his body . . . well, it's not really there. His head seems to float above a human-like figure that isn't very human-like at all. Instead of skin or clothes under the cloak draped over his shoulders, the man's body is like staring into space. It's a glinting celestial body of planets, stars, galaxies, and nebulas. It looks as if Peter can reach his hand in and grab a planet and throw it around like a baseball.
Swallowing and wincing from the soreness of his throat, Peter asks, "A-Are you Eternity?"
The man nods. His eyes—black with yellow pupils—give Peter a once-over. "How did you come here?"
"Death sent me," Peter explains, stepping forward with urgency. "Oblivion, he's—he's probably attacking her right now."
Eternity's eyes widen. "Oblivion?"
"He tried to get me, but I got away," Peter says, breathless. "I-I don't, I don't really know what's going on, but it sounds like he's trying to make Death team up with him to overthrow god."
Eternity's jaw goes slack, then he clamps his mouth shut and presses his lips in a hard line. "I knew he was up to something." Eternity walks forward, brushing past Peter, then pauses and looks back at him. Brow furrowed, he asks, "What part do you have in this?"
Peter stumbles over his words. "Oh, uh, I was hanging out with Death, and then Oblivion showed up."
He knows should mention that he needs to go home, he's been dead for long enough, but Death—as well as the fate of the universe, it sounds like—are in danger.
"But I can help," Peter adds, eyes flickering to Eternity's. "On earth, I'm an Avenger, we—"
"I am aware of the Avengers," Eternity interrupts. His voice is deep, but far less heinous than Oblivion's. "And I am aware of Spider-Man."
Peter's face flushes and he looks away. "O-Oh, okay."
"I am also aware that you are not supposed to be dead," Eternity continues. Peter's gaze snaps to him. "However, I must first deal with Oblivion for that situation has higher stakes, but I cannot leave you here alone."
His heart does a little jump. "You're bringing me with you to help?"
"No," Eternity immediately shuts down, making Peter's excitement falter. "I'm bringing you along to watch over your soul before I can deliver you back to your physical form. There is no repairing a damaged soul, so you must stay out of harm's way. Oblivion's power far outweighs your own."
Gulping, Peter nods. "Right, of course. I'll stay out of the way." And, yeah, Peter has every intention to obey the entity, but he knows deep down that if something went amiss he'd jump in without a second thought.
Eternity nods, too. "Good."
Like Death, Eternity only has to snap his fingers to transport them back to Death's realm.
Peter's head blares with sirens that cause him to sway upon reentrance. Catching his balance on an overturned desk, he squeezes his eyes shut tight.
Wait.
Overturned?
His eyes shoot open.
The library, once peacefully silent and in-tact, has bookshelves knocked over like dominos and shredded books and papers scattered all over the place. The dim light from before is flickering like a strobe.
In the middle of the chaos are Death and Oblivion. They're standing at opposite sides, Oblivion's dark tendrils trying to grab onto her as she holds them back with her hands grasping onto them. A roar rips through her throat as she pushes against his power with all her strength.
"Help her," Peter whispers, turning to Eternity. Panic seeps into his voice as he repeats, "Help her! She can't last any longer!"
Eternity's jaw clenches. Rising from the overturned bookshelf they appeared behind, he flies straight towards the pair and grabs the tendrils pushing towards Death. Oblivion lets out a pained noise and falls to one knee at the contact. The tendrils fall limp. Smoke appears where Eternity is holding on before they disappear midair.
"Thank you for coming so soon, brother," Death says, chest rising and falling erratically as she catches her breath.
Eternity squares his shoulders with Oblivion as the latter rises to his feet. "You should have sent for me sooner."
Oblivion tries to shoot a ball of thick, smoke-like darkness at the pair, but Death throws a reflector at it that knocks it aside.
Straight at Peter.
Peter yelps and ducks, narrowly missing getting struck directly in the face with the ricochet of Oblivion's attack. The constant blaring of his spider-senses isn't helping his reflexes at all.
All three heads snap to the fallen bookshelf Peter's knelt behind. Slowly, he rises, first poking his head up to peer at the battle only to find that everyone is watching him.
Death turns on Eternity with fury. "You brought him?"
"I couldn't possibly leave him in my realm alone."
"You were supposed to bring him back to life!"
"Guys!" Peter shouts above their bickering, causing both of them to look towards him. He points at Oblivion.
Their eyes follow his finger. As they're turning, Oblivion hurtles a large ball of darkness at them.
Everything moves in slow-motion. Death and Eternity are still turning, they don't see the danger they're in. By the time they do see it, it'll be too late to move. The realization settles at the pit of his stomach like rocks.
But Peter sees it. The ball—a wispy, dark, moving missile—sails through the air straight at their heads. Oblivion's arms are still held out straight, fingers extended.
Peter doesn't hesitate to haphazardly aim his wrists at Death and Eternity. Pressing down on the web-shooter triggers in his palms, two thin strings of web cut through the space at a much faster rate than Oblivion's ball of darkness.
As soon as both webs attach to their targets and Peter yanks them out of the way, time resets and everything resumes at its regular fast-pace.
Eternity hits the ground—hard—while Death manages to catch herself on her hands and knees. Behind them, the ball of dark energy hits a pile of bookshelves. Instead of just exploding them like Peter expects, the bookshelf disappears before his eyes.
His heart clenches in his chest.
Alrighty then. He definitely doesn't want to get hit by one of those. Where did it even go?
Doesn't matter, he berates himself, tuning back into the fight. You probably don't want to know any—"Woah!"
His hand shoots to grab the one around his throat again, eyes darting to the faceless dark figure that somehow managed to sneak up on him.
"Do you—" Peter gasps around the pressure being applied to his throat. "—have a thing for ch-choking or something?"
Oblivion flings him aside like a nuisance. He lets out a shriek as he soars through the air towards the glass guarding the endless void outside. Like a fly on a windshield, he splats into the window, his face smushed and body aching. He really wishes being a ghost would mean he couldn't feel pain, but alas, everything hurts just as bad as if he were alive.
Scraping himself off the floor, Peter winces and holds his shoulder. "I swear I wasn't kink-shaming," he mutters, rolling his shoulder.
Peter freezes when he looks up.
Oblivion tosses Eternity like a rag doll against the window. Unlike Peter, the entity smashes right through. His unconscious body is sucked into the void within seconds.
"Eternity!" Death screams, lunging towards the broken window, but Oblivion catches her by the arm and shoved her to the floor with a force that goes beyond his own enhanced strength.
Oblivion's tendrils slither towards Death like faceless snakes inspecting fresh prey. In a snap, they shoot forward and secure her to the floor by pinning her torso, legs, neck, and arms down. A lone tendril slowly hovers above her face. It moves around her head, grazing over her defined cheekbones and her sharp chin, before splintering into two and slithering up her nostrils.
The sirens in Peter's brain reach volumes he's never experienced. Head pounding, Peter tries to think of his next move, but all logic is thrown out the window when he sees Death's blue-ish tinted pale skin start to turn an ashy gray and her eyes roll back into her head because he's killing her.
But he can't move. His feet are rooted to the floor, his lungs refusing to expand, his spine shock-still.
A crash from behind startles Peter from his fear-induced stupor. Eternity flies in—unsteady and sluggish—but before Peter's hopes can lift, the entity collapses to the ground.
Oblivion flicks his wrist to shoot a ball of dark energy at Eternity's weak form.
No, Peter thinks, watching with horror. He can't make Eternity disappear like the bookshelf, they need him to beat Oblivion!
The sirens in Peter's head must be blocking out all common sense and self-preservation, because the next thing he knows, he's throwing himself in front of Eternity, straight into the line of fire.
He doesn't even feel the impact of the energy. He doesn't feel anything.
He just . . .
Stops.