Peter and Nathan 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 and Nathan ran through the crowd, Peter leapt onto the side of the monument, motioning his cousin to keep the bystanders calm, and crawled up.
On the elevator, Ned dropped his backpack. The small space was filled with smoke.
Grace 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 dreamt 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.
Grace held onto a bar and tried to steady her breathing. Being afraid of both heights and her claustrophobia wasn't helping.
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? I can't-"
"We will. He and Nathan are on his way. I know it."
Outside, MJ, Nathan and Gabriela 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?" Grace muttered. "I doubt it."
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."
YOU ARE READING
The Spider, The Night's Wave, The Tempest, The Archer
ActionPeter, Nathan and Grace are trying their best to balance school life, civilian life and superhero life. It's a rather difficult task as they've found. Their recruiter, turned mentor, Tony Stark takes it upon himself to keep an eye on the three, giv...
