Jaws of Death

Chapter 30

Spiderman struggled with his full strength against Toomes's arms. He was choking him. Spiderman felt his throat walls crush his windpipe as he struggled to breathe. His arms flailed wildly, trying to hit his assailant hard enough to loosen his grip. But he couldn't. His eyes bulged outward in suffocation and he could see himself racing towards the sea. They were already crossing the coastline. They were moving farther in...

Before he could do anything else, Spiderman's face was shoved beneath the water. The mask wasn't enough to hold the water at bay. As he fought hard to breathe, water entered his nose and mouth. His nostrils burned as he gagged for air.

Toomes kicked his body deep into the water. Spiderman was submerged beneath the sea. He found himself moving deep down, drowning...

He was completely gagging and struggling for breath...

He was going to drown...

Not today, he screamed out in bubbles as he kicked out his legs. His body rose a few inches. Trying not to take in any more water, Spiderman kicked out his legs and rose himself up. Everything was pitch black to his eyes until his face broke the water.

He gasped and choked in the night air, breathing in rugged gasps.

That's when he felt The Vulture attack him again. Toomes pounced on him and kicked him back below the sea. Spiderman fought to rise himself back to the surface of the water when another kick caught him right on the face.

"Die! DIE!" Alexander's voice shouted into the night as he pummelled Spiderman to push him back into the sea.

Spiderman caught his leg.

With a sharp intake of breath, he pulled The Vulture along with him, beneath the waters. Now, it was his enemy's turn to gag and gasp for air. Spiderman didn't let go of his leg and tried to pull him deeper into the water when he saw him press a button on his armour. The wings boosted up and with a whooping sound, they were out of the sea, racing towards the coastline again.

Spiderman let go of Toomes's leg and as he gravitated towards the ground below, he shot out a strand of web to the nearby tree and launched himself into the air.

Spidey's back in the game, bitch. He rose above into the air and with a flex of his fingers, shot out a trap made of webbing. It caught Toomes's and enveloped him. For a brief few seconds, Toomes struggled under the web trap as he hurtled downward. He tried to set himself free... his wings were slashing at the webbing...

That was all the time Spiderman needed. He used another strand of web to propel himself onward, kicking the struggling ball of web that was Toomes. His nemesis flew in the air and crashed into a deserted building window, his body showered with glass.

"Karma is a bitch!" Spiderman yelled as he landed on the shattered window sill.

The Vulture was already untangling himself from the web. His talons slashed the web and broke him free.

"You are such a menace!" Alexander bellowed.

"You and J.J. should share notes over coffee!!" Spiderman leaped into the room and was already punching and kicking The Vulture on every bit of skin not protected by the armour. But his assailant was more experienced in combat than he was. Most of his hits were blocked and before he could react, he was on the receiving end of blows.

Alexander kicked him hard in the face that nearly shoved him out of the shattered window. And he leaped into the air, flying out through the opening.

Spiderman struggled to regain his balance while The Vulture was poised in the air. Alexander pressed a button and a flurry of bullets shot out of his armour. Spiderman leapfrogged himself out of the building and dodged the bullets. They made contact with bricks and glass.

Another set of bullets met with the same fate.

"Now, you are qualified to be a Stormtrooper!" Spiderman guffawed as he sprung himself forward with a web-strand and flew to meet The Vulture in air. "Want me to talk to Disney?"

The Vulture dashed at him again and together, entangled in a fit of punches and blows, they flew in the air. Spiderman could sense the frustration in Alexander's kicks and jabs. The Vulture's hits were becoming repetitive. He found himself predicting most of them beforehand and responded with his several punches of his own.

A jab caught Spiderman right in his face and that, he knew for sure, broke his nose. He felt the hot burning sensation as blood poured inside the mask and his eyes welled up in tears from the impact.

Another punch sent him crashing against the fire exit of the closest building. His body buckled in pain.

Alexander Toomes grabbed Spiderman and locked him in the chokehold again. He rose up to the air and flew.

"I'm going to kill you before the others! That'll get them to respect and fear me! Yes!"

Spiderman struggled to gasp for breath again. His broken nose burned and stung. His arms and legs were flailing again as he was carried in the air. He could see the warehouse getting closer and closer. From up here, it looked like he was racing towards a battle field. Fire and chaos! Dead bodies!

Through the corner of his eye, he noticed an electric utility pole. Instantly, he knew what he could do. Somewhere in the corner of his brain, Dr. Connors' words echoed. There's a lot of probability that you could die. With his last remaining gasp, he shot out a web strand towards the pole. The web caught the live wire.

Spiderman braced himself for pain but it was nothing like he had imagined. Electric current shot through his body and into Toomes. For a brief few seconds, they were writhing in air, two bodies entangled as one. Every inch of his body felt like they were on fire. He shook and shivered furiously.

The web strand snapped just as Toomes's metal armour short circuited. With a haze of sparks and bursts, Toomes swayed still, motionless.

The two men hurtled towards the warehouse, barely conscious.

They smashed against the unfinished terrace floor.

It gave way.