HOURGLASS

Chapter Six

Meanwhile, back on the ground, Peter, Eden, and the mother and son landed. The shadow being watched them briefly before disappearing back int the stretched shadows of the late afternoon. Peter shot up, his head spinning briefly, keeping a firm hold on Eden. He stared up at the building, the crowd of people who had been near him when he suddenly appeared out of nowhere backing up and giving the pair of heroes space.

The younger hero began to stir in his arms, and he quickly looked down at her.

"Eden? You okay?" Peter asked, reading his HUD and sighing in relief that aside from the somewhat small cut on her forehead and signs her powers were extremely weak for now she was fine. Eden's bright green eyes opened and she looked around slowly.

"Where is she?" She asked, her tone quiet and confused. "The last thing I remember is we were fighting that guy and he-" she cut herself off. "Why can't I feel my powers that well?"

"Everything used up a lot of your powers but they'll come back soon." Peter assured, looking up in time to see a EMT approach.

"I can take her, Spider-Man." The EMT said, then turned her attention to Eden. "Hey there. My name is Tina and I'm going to make you feel better, okay?" Tina extended her hands towards the smaller girl, who looked at Peter with uncertainty.

"It's okay, Eden. Hourglass and I'll come get you when you're all better. I promise." Peter assured, helping Eden get to her feet, keeping a hand hovering near her until the EMT led her away.

"Oh my god! Hourglass!" Peter cried out, looking up at the building. The destroyed upper floors were still raining dust and small bits of debris onto the crowd. Several police officers who had been within eyesight and earshot of the situation had arrived and were trying to herd the crowd away from the immediate vicinity.

Taking a running start, he launched himself up several floors of the slowly crumbling building. He began climbing up as fast as his rib injury would allow him to. Once he was out of potential earshot of passerby, he began to talk once more. "Charlie, can you hear me?" There was no response, only some muffled, hushed voices talking. "Please be okay! Charlie, say something!" Peter begged, beginning to panic even more. "Karen, why isn't she answering?!"

"Charlie is not wearing the mask at this time. However I am detecting significant trauma to the right shin and calf. I have already notified the fire department and paramedic services." Karen stated. Peter was near hysterics by now, his heart racing a trillion miles a second. "I apologize for Charlotte's absence. Perhaps I could assure you of her condition? I am unable to directly communicate with her, but I can still access her vitals and immediate surroundings. Ask any question you want, Peter."

"Is she in danger right now?" Peter asked, still racing up the building. "I mean I know she's in a partially collapsed building and that question sounds stupid but is she in danger?"

"A scan of her surroundings indicate there are eight civilians trapped with her, and one of them has a background in paramedic service. The pocket they are in is stable for now, but if more of the structure begins to fail, it will collapse." Karen offered. "However, the leg injury may result in amputation of the limb if not treated soon."

Peter froze where he was, two hundred feet up. "What?" On his HUD, he saw a diagram of Charlie's body, with the right lower leg highlighted in red. "Significant blood loss has been detected." Karen reported. "Costa's drone feature has been activated and she reports that the civilian with a background in paramedic service is tending to her wounds as best he can."

Suddenly the building rumbled, and the wall Peter was sticking to began to shake. His lenses widened as he saw a piece of the wall break free and begin to fall towards him. He leapt off the building with a graceful flip, watching the piece shoot past him, then fired a web. The web attached itself to the chunk and launched Peter down with it. Thinking fast, he shot a web to a nearby building and held on tight to both web lines. Fortunately for him, the wall looked heavier than it actually was, and he was able to stop it from hitting the crowd below and ease it carefully to the ground. He landed on top of it in his crouching pose, very dramatically, and saw several camera flashes.