𝐝𝐞𝐣𝐚 𝐯𝐮, peter parker

lii. the night nina hart died

chapter fifty-two
the night nina hart died

    AN UNEASY FEELING was in the air. One not any breath could quite understand. In every universe, a fog settled━foreboding a presence that hung heavy in the multiverse that told them: something was coming. Something wasn't right. Little did they know, the multiverse was starting to fall apart━and its one constant leaked through; dripping slowly through the cracked walls of each dam into each time stream. One by one ... by one ... by one. It passed through; gradual. Falling and falling until it settled in the eerie smoke that hovered in yet another world.

    Nina Hart walked out of the control building, rushing over to where Peter lied in the midst of the rubble. Max was nowhere in sight. There was not even a dead body; he had just disappeared into nothing. Spider-Man groaned, clutching his side as he rolled over; his suit smoked. Nina gasped and ran over, quickly blinking away the sudden drop of rain that struck her cheek. 

    "Pete?" she ran to him, concerned. She stopped just by him, eyeing his burnt suit as he struggled to get up. She reached out, but was hesitant, not too sure whether he had completely absorbed the shock or not. "You okay?"

    "Yep," he managed, shaking his head. "Yep. I'm great..."

    There was a chime above them; it rang out. Nina glanced upwards and frowned at the time shown on the old clock tower that still stood on the ground of OSCORP's power grid. The hand moved past eleven.

    She sighed and turned her attention back to Peter. "We did it," she told him. 

    He chuckled, nodding as he stood up straight. He stretched out his arms and shook out the rest of his limbs. "You bet we did! Oh!" Peter felt his chest, as if double-checking he was still alive. "That was intense..."

    Nina nodded. "Yeah," she muttered, "tell me about it..."

    Her voice trailed off when a chilling sound echoed in the night air. Peter stood on edge. Nina thought she had imagined it; some random bird or plane passing over ... but then, she heard it again. And she couldn't mistake it for anything else this time. A laugh ... a bone-chilling, haunting laugh.

    She frowned, keeping an eye on Peter as he glanced up and around. She went to say something but he quickly held an arm out, stopping her as he listened. Her fear started to return.

    "Nina..." he murmured. "Nina, get back ... get back right now..."

    Nina was too scared to object, shuffling back towards the doors of the control building. Peter stood in front of her, and she followed his gaze upwards to where something emerged from the dark━it veered around the clock tower ... and it laughed yet again. It came closer and once it met the light, Nina saw a figure flying━except it wasn't flying. The figure stood on a sharp, winged hover-board that glowed a power of ghastly green. Standing on it, was a creature in a nightmarish suit. She only caught a glimpse of it before the figure shot away.

    She spun around, following the sound of the stranger's laughter━high-pitched, childish ... unnatural. It wrapped around the broken power grids and Nina lost sight of it.

    Peter shuffled towards her, keeping his hand out, "Nina━stay there..."

    The glider returned. It swooped down low and Nina raced backwards further, nearly stumbling as it slowed and pulled to hover right in front of Peter━blocking the path between them. Nina frowned, seeing a man that was not a stranger at all. He was almost unrecognisable; his skin horrific with what looked to be sickly green scales that crawled up his neck and boils that festered on his forehead. His teeth were yellowed and cracked, his eyes wild and crazed. He looked like some goblin, dressed in a strange, green armour-plated suit ... she almost didn't recognise him, but she did: it was Harry Osborn.