81 Chapter 81: Time Changes Everything and Nothing

…Three Months Later…

"It's not bad, a bit over the top if you ask me."

Pietro looked up at the twelve-foot bronze statue depicting the Ghost Rider. The bronze figure was posed in a classic heroic pose, both fists on the hips as a puffed-up chest as the head looked out in front of it. Below the statue was a plaque. It read 'The Ghost Rider: Hero of Los Angeles'. All in all, it was very out of character.

"I don't know, I kind of like it." Wanda said from beside him. 

In front of the statue were several packs of people. They were either taking pictures of the statue or taking selfies with it in the background. Even after being erected two months ago, the statue still had several groups of locals and visitors that would come to see it. 

Pietro couldn't help but sigh in disbelief in remembering how packed it was when the statue was first unveiled. There were many discussions and debates over where to erect the statue, but it was ultimately decided to be placed in the Los Angeles Plaza Park, near the city hall. There must have been at least several hundred people present; traffic that day was a nightmare.

Not to mention the view count on the official broadcasts of the opening ceremonies. They reached numbers in the high millions across America. Eventually, though, everyone calmed down, and things returned to normal. Well, as normal as Los Angeles can get.

"Well, I don't." Pietro mumbled and stretched. "Still, it's nice the city gave him a statue. It is thanks to him they still have a city after all."

"Don't be such a buzzkill." Haley said as she snapped a picture of the statue. "When you get your own statue, you can whine about how it looks."

"Yeah, yeah." Pietro said as he looked back and saw a police car chase after a car, its sirens blazing loudly.

"Are you gonna go after them?" Luke asked as he leaned on the bench they were all sitting on. 

Haley and Wanda turned to look at him questioningly. After all, with Harvey still in Hell training. He was the city's only superhero at the moment, a term Luke and Manny liked to call him. Speaking of Harvey, he still hasn't come back. They only knew he was alive and well because he wrote them all once a month. 

When Pietro first received a letter the day after, he disappeared. He was pleased to read its contents. Harvey told him that he did manage to kill the Demon Blackheart, burning him to the last atom, as he put it. He thought Harvey would have returned then, but Pietro was wrong. What he read next confused him and everyone else. Harvey said he would stay in Hell for a while to train, which boggled Pietro. 

After all, Harvey was the strongest person on earth as far as he knew. Pietro couldn't help but wonder if that was an excuse he used to avoid Wanda and Alex. Just remembering the day they all found out Harvey left without so much as a note was a hectic and scary one. Wanda and Alex were initially sad and scared, but they grew furious when they also received their letters. Sure, they've calmed down since then. Three months is a lot of time to cool down.

"I'll give the boys and girls in blue a chance if they can't knab them, then I'll go." Pietro said as he raised a high-tech watch and listened to the police radios through the small speakers. 

The watch was a gift from Alex; she built one for everyone so they could get in contact with each other quickly. It was packed with several features, but for him, the police radio feature was his favorite. It made it easier to know when the police needed help and when extremely dangerous crimes were happening immediately. 

"We're back! Sorry for the wait; the line was pretty long." Pietro looked over at Manny and Alex. They were carrying several coffees, some hot and some iced.

"I'm not surprised, considering where we are. A wait should be expected." Alex sighed and handed an iced coffee to his sister. "Here you go, Wanda."

"Thank you, Alex." Wanda smiled and accepted the caffeinated drink.

Another thing that's changed was that everyone present grew closer to each other over the course of three months. They were all already friends before, but after going through the events of that night, they gravitated closer to each other. What was most surprising was that Wanda and Alex put aside their dislike for each other and became good friends. Pietro couldn't help but chuckle at that; it seemed all you had to do was remove Harvey from the situation, and they ended up finding out that they had a lot in common.

It was fascinating how women could be at each other's throats at one moment and be each other's best friends at the next. It didn't make much sense to Pietro, but he didn't dream of getting involved in whatever was happening.

"Here you go, Pietro." Manny had a hot coffee in his hand, the speedster's name written on the cup.

"Thanks, Buddy." Pietro smiled and grabbed his drink.

Looking over the Colombian boy, Pietro couldn't help but be proud of what his friend had become. Gone were the days when Manny was a short and overweight teen. He now stood with a well-built body shaped through hard work and determination; he even grew a few inches. It was as if he was a completely different person.

"Luke." Manny then handed said teen his drink. Luke responded with thanks and grabbed his iced coffee.

On the other hand, Luke's body was even more toned and built. It didn't help that he was slightly ahead of Manny by being in better health, but his determination to train hard and as much as he could significantly increased his results. Pietro still couldn't believe his friend's aptitude for learning from Harvey's teachings. He was becoming a proficient fighter if the bruises Pietro received from him during their spars were anything to go by.

"Alex, how is the internship going? Stark giving you a hard time?" Wanda asked after sipping from her coffee.

"Didn't he give you an impossible project?" Haley turned to her sister and tilted her head. "He sure is a slave driver; you've been trying to figure out that battery thing for over a month."

"It's not a battery, Haley. It's an arc reactor." Alex said as she rubbed her head; the slight bags under her eyes showed how much sleep she was getting. "To answer your question, Wanda. Mr. Stark is a great mentor; it's just that he expects me to be able to figure out how to build his prototype arc reactor."

"Oh! The one he built in a cave!" Luke said with a surprised expression. "Shouldn't be too hard then!"

"You'd think that." Alex sighed as she sat next to Haley and Wanda. "But I'm not a super genius like him… at the rate I'm going, I'll probably never figure it out. It's frustrating!"

"I can imagine." Pietro nodded and threw his empty cup into a nearby waste bin. "I'm sure you'll have a breakthrough soon; just keep at it."

"Thanks, Pietro. I will." Alex nodded. "After all, I have to live up to Mr. Stark's expectations."

"Ah, it seems they caught the guy." Pietro said as he listened to the police saying that they apprehended the suspect. "Good for them. I can't keep doing their job."

"Oh! It's almost six! We should get moving before the trailers start!" Luke said, alarmed, and drank the rest of his coffee. "Let's go people!"

At that, everyone finished their coffees and gathered their things; nobody tried to dissuade Luke that the trailers didn't matter. After all, they've tried before and failed. Eventually, everyone stood up and began following Luke to the black SUV.

Pietro stopped walking and watched the group walk to the parking lot. He looked over at the statue and stared with a somber expression. Pietro couldn't help but wonder when Harvey would return. He missed his friend. He missed…

'Stop it.' Pietro thought grimly. 'Don't think about her. I can't think about her.'

A flash of blonde hair appeared in his mind, even after three months. Amy's death still hurts to think about. Not even after his talk with his sister over what happened helped. Pietro's heart refused to move on and accept that she was gone. How could you possibly accept that the person you ended up falling in love with was dead? To never be seen again? But Pietro knew. He saw the blood that covered Harvey's body, the way his friend's eyes reflected nothing but grief and rage. And most of all, a deep sadness.

So Pietro pretended everything was okay. It wouldn't sit well with him if he continued to worry Wanda as he had. He had to be strong, at least on the outside. Maybe one day, he wouldn't need to pretend… 

"You'd probably call me a mopey idiot. Wouldn't you, Amy?" Pietro whispered with a tiny smile.

"Pietro!" Haley ran up to him and grabbed his hand. "Hey, you okay?"

"Ah… yeah, sorry." Pietro smiled and rubbed the back of his head. "Let's go."

Haley looked at him for a second and looked over at the statue—a sad frown on her face. "I miss him too. We all do… but I'm sure he'll come back soon. So we have to be patient a while longer."

The silver speedster stared at Haley and nodded. She was correct; he just had to wait. Pietro grinned and looked up. Harvey did owe him a punch, after all. He'd see him soon enough. They all would.

"Right... Thanks, Haley."

"No problem, Pietro."

•••

A few miles from City Hall, a large flaming portal opened over the roof of the US Bank Tower. Stepping out of the portal was a young man with brown hair wearing a skin-tight white shirt under a black bomber jacket. A long silver chain was wrapped across his chest loosely; the chain clanged occasionally as he moved. A pair of loose grey jeans and black combat boots swayed back and forth as the young man walked over to the roof's edge and peered down at the city with gold-red eyes. 

"Even after so much has happened to this city, nothing has changed." Harvey said as he closed his eyes and focused. Immediately, he was assaulted by hundreds of thousands of cries of the innocent and shouts for justice. "People never change."

Sighing in disappointment, he turned his head towards the vast mountain fields outside the city. As the spirit of vengeance, he had a passive ability to sense all those who had committed the worst sins; with that knowledge, he could go after them and punish them accordingly. There were times that he could sense the moment the blood of the innocent had been spilled, giving him a short window to get there in time to save the victim, hopefully. That was how he was able to find Alex to save her from her kidnappers.

But now, thanks to Amy's gift of positive energy, he can sense all those who have been wronged. All those that need justice to be served so they can be at peace. It was how Amy was able to look after everyone on earth for centuries and to make the world a little better by serving righteous justice.

After combining both of those abilities, Harvey created a much more powerful hybrid. It almost breached the level of omnipotence, but not quite. No, his mind couldn't possibly handle all that information. There was so much sin and evil on the earth that it would fry his mind if he tried taking it all at once. So he could only perform that ability on short bursts. 

"Someone is about to be buried alive." Harvey said as he slipped on his bomber jacket. "By a serial killer who likes to torture, bury, and burn his victims… What a disgusting person."

Orange flames exploded from his head and enveloped his now exposed skull. Tilting his flaming head to look down at the streets below, the Ghost Rider saw his flaming Hell cycle brake to a stop. It idled patiently, waiting for its master's arrival. Nodding in satisfaction, the spirit of vengeance jumped. 

It was time to get back to work.