WHO: Emma Swan, Peter Parker 616 WHEN: During the battle WHERE: Outside WHAT: Peter starts to mutate again, Emma comes to the rescue. WARNING: No one dies!
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Peter breathed in, and it felt like he’d been submerged. This wasn’t the best idea. In a long line of not-so-great ideas, this was probably at the top of the list.
He should’ve stayed inside. They hadn’t figured out how to deal with the fact that his genes were a runaway train without brakes. He was outside, giving himself up to even more radiation exposure, and he was pushing himself as the waves of attacks kept coming. It was typical Parker fashion, but it was typical Parker sacrifice, not smarts.
And that had to be why this was going badly.
Whatever was going on around him, Peter couldn’t focus. His vision was going blurry, and something struck his knees. No -- his bleary mind corrected -- they had folded and he must have fallen down. It was a brief clarity of mind that registered as much, but then that was gone beneath a rush of white, hot pain. Something was screaming. It didn’t even occur to him that it was his own voice, even as he crumpled up on the ground.
The Dark Swan had never been tested in battle, and for her part, she remained as neutral as she could. Always going for unconsciousness, never going for a death.It was easy to make one, two, three fall asleep and drop to the ground. Keeping them from getting trampled on by the next waves wasn't.
--that won't last. Sooner or later, dearie, you will give in to the Dark Side. Everyone does. All it takes is that one. Sweet. Spot.
Her hand reached out, grabbed its victim though she was ten feet from him. The orc's feet kicked from under him as he growled for air and fought with the invisible hand at his throat. She could feel it, then, the icy fingers of death within her, waiting for that one pressure second when the fight stopped.
"No! I won't do it."
Summoning gifts, boosting other's powers, fireworks — all of that was child's play. They never even touched the surface of the Dark One's powers, and the Rumpelstiltskin that she saw almost everywhere she went pointed that out to her every chance he got.
An ungodly scream from behind her, from behind their line caught her attention. It was agony, and Emma had never been able to keep her head down and keep moving when someone was in pain. She turned, holding her hand out in front of her and bringing a shimmering blue shield in a wide arc around her. None of the army was getting near her while she surveyed the injury she could hear.
It was too far away to judge. The shield held its place even as its owner departed in a swirl of grey smoke and instantly arrived near Peter Parker's twisted form. The six arms were troublesome, but there was more to it than that. Even her non-scientific eyes could see that.
She dropped to her haunches and took his face in her hands to look at him. He was going through another metamorphosis. She could stop this. This was a cake walk. "Peter Parker? Can you hear me?"
Despite that his head felt like it was overflowing with just… sound, heat, pain -- despite that, Peter heard his name. His unfocused eyes looked up, trying desperately to make out who was calling. His thoughts were falling apart too quickly, like sand spreading out underneath each step he tried to take. He wasn’t going to be able to hold this off with sheer willpower. Panic seized hold of his expression as he kept on fighting anyway.
“G-get away. I ca…” Her hair was nearly white. He knew the face. Emma? “Can’t suh… can’t stop --”
"I can help you."
And she could. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was the sort of power she could wield now. No, not now. She always had it in her; it just came with a price now. But there was no way she was going to charge anyone a price for their life.
Make a deal or this will end badly. Rumple was right over her shoulder, looking down at Peter's face with that nonchalant calm he always wore, like he was in on a secret.
Under her breath, she muttered, "You can't hurt me. I'm the Dark One, remember?" All the Dark Ones inside of her needed her; that was why this one constantly taunted her, tried her to give into the darkness that the others had. Sooner or later, she might, but not today.
Emma's finger splayed out as she scanned him for damage, to see what she needed to fix. To tell the truth, it wasn't that bad from a magical standpoint. But then again, she'd turned a dwarf into a statue with flick of her wrist. She'd created another Dark One just by willing it. "I can fix this, Peter. I can stop this from changing you, and I can make you the way you were before."
She might have been holding his face, but his strength multiplied by convulsions of pain was enough to pry away. Beneath his fingers, earth and stone was reduced to dust by a vice-like grip. Never one to listen, he’d decided the last ditch effort had to be trying to run before anyone got caught up in this. This had to be the worst time -- the battle was raging. He was going to be one more problem, and all because he couldn’t maintain his own humanity for long enough to help.
Another wave of pain tore through Peter’s body, though this time it started at his spine. Clothes shredded, his voice was snuffed out by a bestial cry, even as his form shifted and spread. His mind was fogging over too quickly to keep his head above the clouds.
From behind her, Rumple clapped, laughing that obnoxious, smug laugh of his. The one that made her wish he was real enough for her to use magic on to get him to shut up. I can't wait to see what you do here! Save this man you barely know — he turned dramatically to direct her attention to the battle around them — or save all these other people.
Emma's jaw tightened. He knew damned well that she'd do both of those things. She would always try to save as many people as she could. Right now, that was Spider-Man who had just evolved like some horrendous Pokemon. This creature could overtake her if she didn't use magic on it, and god knew what else it would do to the people around here. If there was one thing she knew about Peter Parker, it was that he'd do anything to save other people.
The shield spell she'd had shimmered away, even as other Mount Weather fighters took up the call. Emma had to concentrate to force the creature to stay still. Who knew where he would head off to? It wasn't a chance she was willing to take. Her hands rose ever so slightly as she lifted the creature in the air. His legs (or arms or whatever they were now) flailed everywhere as he tried to catch some kind of traction. No such luck.
He could be useful like this. A pet of sorts. One to do all your nasty bidding with. Just keep him. No one would be the wiser.
Emma closed her eyes and concentrated. It wasn't as easy as returning Sneezy back from a statue, and it sure as hell wasn't as easy as summoning hot chocolate from a table in front of her and setting it down by Killian
Oh yeah. About that. I've got some ideas about our Captain Guyliner. Keep this creature and I'll tell you how to get your pirate back.
Coming from anyone else's mouth, Emma might have been tempted. Dark Ones lied, though. Dark Ones thought they could everything they wanted, and have others pay the price for their deals. Emma was not going to be one of them.
The magic in her hand burned brighter and brighter as she prepared to blast him with it. "I'll find Killian my own way." Everything she had enveloped the giant spider in white light.
The noise coming out of the creature’s mouth was nothing like human, but that only followed considering that every shred of humanity had been ousted. All the spider knew was that the light stung its many eyes, and it tried to gouge at it, as if it would beat a hasty retreat when struck. It hurt. It was angry. It wanted to feed.
The blast swallowed every last bit of the creature: legs, abdomen, even the hair on its appendages were disappeared into the light. One final push from Emma and there was Peter Parker, good as new — down an extra four arms and definitely not a spider creature. He was unconscious though, and there was not a chance in hell she was going to leave him out here. No one would be around to protect him.
Before he could even drop to the ground, Emma flicked her hand. He disappeared in a puff of smoke which sent him directly to his bedroom. He'd have to sleep this off. At least there was one person who was safe.
That done, she headed back into the battle, ignoring the glittering that crept up her arms and the way that Rumpelstiltskin cackled behind her.