Chemistry

15

Peter arrived at the base of the monument.

"Did you hear that?"a tourist asked.

"No, no, no, no, no, no," Peter said. "Karen, what's going on up there?"

"The Chitauri core has detonated and caused severe structural damage to the elevator," Karen replied.

The spider suit provided Peter a view inside the monument and showed that several people were gathered inside the elevator.

"Oh, no."

"My friends are up there!" MJ said.

"What? Uh... Don't worry, ma'am. Everything's gonna be okay. Excuse me, excuse me. Oh, my god, that's tall."

Peter ran through the crowd, leapt onto the side of the monument, and crawled up.

On the elevator, Ned dropped his backpack. The small space was filled with smoke.

Alessa shot Ned a look as she sunk into the wall. Being trapped in an elevator with a glowing bomb was definitely a nightmare she'd never imagined come to life.

"Oh, my god. Look at the ceiling," Charles stated.

A glowing, red crack cut across the elevator ceiling.

"Just stay calm, everyone," Liz instructed.

"Oh, we are all going to die here," Abe mattered.

Alessa held onto a bar and tried to steady her breathing. A panic attack would be about the worst thing in her current situation.

Ned glanced at her and said softly, "Peter's coming. He'll get us out of here, okay?"

"Ned, I- What if we don't get out of here?"

"We will. He's on his way. I know it."

Outside, MJ peered up at Peter. He was climbing on the monument, and had gotten so high that he was merely a dot seen from below.

"Estimating 10 minutes before catastrophic failure," Karen informed.

Inside the elevator, Charles was still freaking out. "We're freakin' screwed."

"Okay guys, I know that was scary, but our safety systems are working," the tour guide said.

"Safe enough for a glowing bomb?" Alessa muttered. "I doubt it. Oh Dios."

(Oh God.)

[As he climbed, Peter was panting.

Karen said, "The safety systems are completely failing."

The tour guide droned on in order to calm the students. "We're very safe in here."

"The occupants are in imminent mortal danger."

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Peter retorted.

Peter pulled himself up with double strands of web.

Park rangers opened the doors to the elevator shaft. The tour guide opened a hatch in the ceiling of the car, and looked out.

Peter continued climbing.

Cindy was pulled out of the elevator.

"Let's go," the park ranger said. "Give me your hand."

"You now have 125 seconds until catastrophic failure," Karen told Peter.

Peter's hands slipped a little as he asked, "What? Why?"

"Unexpected motion has caused the deterioration to escalate."

The spider suit showed the elevator. The park rangers rescuing the students were making the elevator move.