Chapter 82: Lighting a Match II

He couldn't stop it from blowing up, but he could help.

Right now? That was enough of a plan for him.

For a moment, everything was silent as the flame flew into the window. Everyone just stood by in confusion as Peter put his arms over his face.

Boom!

...

And then, everything was bathed in light as a deafening explosion swept the street.

He flew back, twisting his body midair before landing in a crouch as people began screaming around him.

Yeah, guess he would've expected people to panic when a building blew up in front of them.

His spider-sense buzzed as his eyes snapped up, Peter saw tons of debris from the top floors falling onto the street below, fire flying all around and hitting everything in the vicinity.

Crap.

As he jumped up and aimed his web-shooters, he could see that Mirko was already on the move in the corner of his eye.

She kicked huge pieces of debris in small bits of rubble, Peter couldn't help but find it impressive.

Over on his end, Peter created a small net that hung over the street and caught chunks of brick and rock and whatever buildings were made of.

Under the weight, the net sank for a moment before settling right above the people below who were still freaking out.

Normally, he'd make a joke or something to calm them down during stuff like this.

But honestly? Now that the debris and rubble weren't about to crush them, he didn't have a problem with saying that the people outside weren't his priority.

And yeah, that did sound kinda mean… but you gotta understand the situation!

Inside that building, there were five floors worth of people trapped in a burning apartment that was probably falling apart along with oxygen that was slowly running out.

They need help . They needed someone to keep them alive and safe.

Landing on a lamppost, Peter took a breath as his muscles tensed to jump again.

"Oi, kid!" Mirko yelled, already a few drops of sweat on her face from the heat. "You've done this shit before, right?! We can't afford this being the first time you act incompetent!"

"Go in and get the job down! Get people out, keep the building from collapsing!" He yelled back, Mirko gave a confident grin back.

"Damn right! Go in from the top, I'll start at the bottom! C'mon, we got people to save!" She ordered, Peter nodded again

Guess that was all that needed to be said, huh?

That's something he appreciated about working with Mirko, you know? That mutual respect between them.

He wasn't really her intern, honestly. More like… her partner? Nah, that wasn't the right word either.

They just kinda did their own thing… together? If anything, it's unintentionally teamwork most the time. That was probably a better description.

They just did their things while running around together, that was about as simple as he could put it.

Point was, she knew he wasn't clueless about this stuff and trusted him to take care of things.

She wasn't gonna have him stay back and do crowd control or just make him follow her to see how she did things.

Well, he knew she wouldn't outright talk about that trust, but he knew it was there even if it went unspoken.

Mirko would do her thing, and Peter would do his. It worked, that's about all that mattered.

Shooting a web at the roof of the building, Peter launched into the air as Mirko sprinted through the front doors.

Sticking to the brick above a 5th story window, Peter took a moment to think and come up with a plan.

Alright, what do we have here?

Explosion on the 4th floor, fire spreading out into the rest of the building fast. Given where the explosion was, people on the 5th floor were probably trapped since fire may have blocked access to lower floors.

To add to that, people on the 4th were for sure injured and in immediate danger while also for sure being trapped. Heavy structural damage was for certain, making it even more dangerous.

Give them a way to get out, that's the priority. Reinforce the building, make sure it doesn't collapse and get even more people to get hurt

Alright, sounds like a plan.

Mirko could take care of the rest of the building, the 1st and 2nd floors were probably the safest.

Okay, let's get to work

First things first, give them a way to get out.

Quickly, he began shooting webs below the 4th story windows and connected them to the street, creating a slide of silk.

As long as they weren't too injured, people should be able to get down to the ground from there.

Taking a moment to plan his next move, he continues.

Peter flicks his wrist, ejecting the cartridge from his left web-shooter and grabbing it mid-air before putting it back in his belt.

Digging into another pouch, he grabs one of his cement webbing cartridges and puts it in. It's gonna be useful when you're working with a building in the middle of burning.

He takes a quick breath, feeling the heat on his skin even through the cloth of his costume before he readies himself.

Where was Endeavor when you needed him?

With a flip, he crashes through the glass window he was sitting above and into the building, rolling as he landed.

The second he's in, the heat is apparent. Much like during his fight with Endeavor back at the museum, he could already feel how breathing became harder to do as the fire used to the oxygen around him.

"Anyone in here?!" He yells over the crackling of flames, his eyes darting around to try and find anyone.

Empty apartment, onto the next!

He sprints across the small home, kicking the weak door down and getting hit with another wave of heat from the hallway.

"O-Over here!" A voice yells from down the hall, Peter's eyes snap to the apartment with the open door.

"Hold on!" He says, shooting a few webs at the unstable-looking ceiling to try and reinforce it as much as he can while running toward the apartment.

Stepping in, he was met by the sight of a middle-aged woman and a little girl laying on the ground while covered in soot.

"Hey, you're gonna be okay! I got you guys!" Peter reassures, giving a smile behind the mask before running over and crouching down to their level. "Can you move? Do you know of anyone else on this floor?"

The woman coughs, a panicked look on her face as she looks up at Peter.

"The stairs are blocked, a support beam fell on the exit!" She says, the little girl sticks a bit closer to her. "I-I can move, but my daughter fell and hurt her ankle… How are we gonna get out?"

His eyes darted to the girl on the ground, he guessed she was about 6 or 7. Looking at her ankle, he could tell it was swollen already.

Nothing he couldn't deal with.

"Follow me, alright? I'll get you guys out of here, c'mon." He helps the woman off the ground. "I'm gonna have to carry her, alright?"

The lady probably wouldn't mind, but he'd rather have permission for this.

Even in a burning building, he wouldn't be too comfortable with some guy in tights just grabbing his kid.

Looking at the girl for a moment, the woman nodded as sweat poured down her face.

"Relax, I got you." Grabbing the girl and taking her into his arms while keeping in mind her ankle, Peter began to lead them out of the room.

As he walked back out into the hallway, he could feel the child hold tighter onto him.

In things like this, talking calmly to people was key. This wasn't someone where'd he be able to jump all over the place while quipping.

But maybe a quip or two wouldn't hurt.

The floor creaked under him as he led them through the hallway, quickly taking them to the apartment he had come in from and to the window.

Man, he hopes they aren't scared of heights or anything.

Gently handing the girl to her mom, Peter pointed out the window.

"There's a net down there, alright? Just gotta climb down it to the street and you'll be alright! Just make sure to get webbing in your hair." He tried a joke at the end, getting a small chuckle.

Hey, his joke didn't land flat! Nice!

He shot a web at the mom's back, quickly guiding her out the window and beginning to lower her down.

"There's an old man a few apartments down from us named Akihiko! a few more people toward the other end of the hall! I think there's at least 3!" She informed once she was on the slide, Peter nodded and darted back out onto the hall.

Alright, Parker! Plan your next move, fast!

From what the lady said, there was an old man and 3 more people. The old guy was probably in a lot more danger than the others, so he came first.

After he gets the guy out, then maybe he could get the other 3 out at the same time! Then he could move down into the 4th floor!

He had to act fast, he was on the clock here!

Dashing back out the room and into the hallway, he began running back to where he was before while calling out to the old man.

A few doors down from where the woman was, he heard it above the flames.

"H-Help…" Someone wheezed out, followed by a series of small coughs.

Kicking the door down to the apartment, Peter found a frail-looking man leaned against his kitchen counter for support.

"Sir! Sir, are you alright? Can you move?" Peter was already on the move the second he saw Akihiko, running into the apartment and supporting the man.

Akihiko coughed, covering his mouth as flames raged around him. He gave a small shake of his head, Peter nodded and put the man's arm around him.

"Stay with me, sir. I'll get you outta here." He spoke calmly, walking as fast as he could out of the apartment and through the hall.

...

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