No Matter What- Peter Parker

Chapter 25

*Peter's POV*

I sat in the same spot I did every night that gave me the best view of y/n's window and fire escape. I rubbed my eyes as the tiredness was beginning to set in the later it got. Man, this week has been a tough week. Every day after school I've been putting off my patrols as Spiderman to try and figure out a way to stop Norman, and I haven't been able to come up with anything yet. And every night, I sit here to watch y/n to make sure Norman doesn't try anything. It's been killing me staying away from her this week. I want to talk to her every chance I get, but she keeps avoiding me.

I spoke with MJ about her conversation with y/n on the subway today. She said she could see right through her, that this was killing her as much as it was killing me. But she really thinks she's doing the right thing. As much as I want to believe that, I just can't. Villains like Norman don't just give up that easily. I've tried to have Karen track him, but he is somehow able to mask his location. I can't stop him if I can't even find him. Thus, I will sit here every night until he is stopped, and I know for sure that y/n is safe.

Suddenly, in the darkness, I thought I saw movement at the top of y/n's apartment building. I squinted my eyes to try and get a closer look, but nothing was there. "Karen," I started. "Yes Peter?" she immediately responded. "Can you scan the top of that building for any heat signatures? I thought I saw something," I instructed. "Right away Peter," she responded. I continued looking at the roof of the building, but I didn't see anything else. "No heat signatures detected," Karen said as she completed her scan. Huh, the lack of sleep must be getting to me. I know Karen said there's nothing there, but I still had an off feeling.

All of a sudden, an explosion was heard that seemed to make the ground rumble. I whipped my head in it's supposed direction, trying to find the source. "Karen, where did that come from?" I said as I began to panic. "Explosion detected across town on the other side of Queens. Creating the fastest route," she responded, my suit beginning to highlight points I should web to swing towards the explosion.

I looked back towards y/n's window, internally debating if I should stay. Her lights were off, meaning she must be asleep. As much as I want to stay, I can't let more people get hurt in my absence this past week. I'll solve this problem quickly so I can get back to watching over her. With one final huff, I began swinging as fast as I could across town.

About 10 minutes later, I finally arrived to the destination. I was in an open field in a small park surrounded by trees to mark the perimeter of the park. In the center of the field was a crater that I assumed was caused by the explosion. Smoke rose above the trees as the fire was ablaze, slowly getting bigger as it melted the snow and caught onto the dead grass on the outside of the crater. Luckily, no one was around in the late hour, so no one was hurt.

I heard sirens in the distance, signaling that the fire department was on the way, but I wasn't sure if they would get here in time before the fire grew too big and uncontrollable. I quickly located a fire hydrant, webbing to a tree branch above in and swinging in its direction. Landing in front of it, I webbed one of the parts that was facing the fire. Grunting as I pulled as hard as I could, I finally was able to loosen the fire hydrant as it released water in one powerful surge. It blasted in the direction of the fire, slowly beginning to put it out.

The fire department began to arrive and unload their gear in an effort to further put out the fire. They nodded in my direction to let me know they could take it from here. I saluted them and swung into a nearby tree to watch, just making sure they didn't need any further help or that no one would get hurt.

As I watched the fire fighters do their job, I began to think. Where did the explosion come from? No one was around, so how would it even be activated? Why would someone set off an explosion in the middle of the night? What would they have to gain from it? None of this made any sense. Then I started to think, what could cause such a large explosion, but small enough to be contained to this specific area? It was enough for me to handle until help arrived, but it was too big to leave without doing something first to stop it. Was this explosion made.....for me?