The Amazing Spider-Man 4

Chapter 2

After ducking into a dark alley and changing into his Spider-Man suit, Peter hurriedly swung in the direction of the sirens. It didn't take him long to deduce what they were responding to; even as he was still a significant distance away, he could see smoke rising towards the sky. Shortening his web lines and tightening the arcs on his swings, Peter accelerated more quickly as he tried to get to the scene as fast as possible.

When he finally did, he couldn't believe his eyes: one of the newer apartment complexes in the area was completely engulfed in fire and smoke, the whole thing illuminating the surrounding area nearly all on its own. It was a fire the likes of which he had hardly seen before, and he'd seen A LOT. Usually when he arrived at such a scene, it would be towards the beginning of the event, or perhaps sometimes in the middle, but this one looked like it had either been burning forever or had spread incredibly rapidly. Even the worst he had seen were rarely this bad.

Leaping down from his perch spot, Peter trotted up to the fire chief, who was screaming something over a radio.

"Pardon me," Peter said, grabbing the man's shoulder to get his attention.

"Spider-Man," the man said, turning his attention to him. Peter recognized the face of the guy now; they had worked together in a few situations like this before.

"Sorry we have to keep meeting like this," he said. "How can I help? Is there anyone still inside?"

"We think so," the man replied. "Some of my own guys went in after them, but they haven't come out yet. We're trying to get some backup trucks to get here, because our water supply won't even put a dent in these flames."

"Copy that," Peter said. "I'll try and see what I can do on the inside."

As Peter looked at the flaming building, he realized that what he'd just promised might be easier said than done. There wasn't exactly a clear entrance point to use that didn't have flames bursting out of it. Still, if he was going to get in there, he had to pick one of them. Perching himself on a nearby lamppost, he shot two webs at adjacent buildings, pulling tightly. The way he figured it, the faster his entrance was, the further he could delay potentially getting set on fire himself. Hopefully, at least.

Releasing his feet from the streetlight, Peter flung himself forward, the built-up tension of the webs sending him flying straight through the window. He managed to catch himself on a nearby wall, turning and surveying the scene. Even with his enhanced vision, the flames and smoke combined were thick enough to make it difficult for him to see, and he swore he could already feel himself sweating underneath his suit, despite having been inside for less than thirty seconds.

"Hello!?" Peter shouted at the top of his lungs. "Can anybody hear me??"

At first there was nothing, but then Peter swore that he heard a faint noise that sounded like someone calling for help. Following where it seemed to be coming from, he repeatedly called out to them, trusting that some combination of his hearing and his spider sense would guide him to where the victims were located. Eventually, he found two people, a man and a woman, trapped underneath a significant chunk of debris.

"Spider-Man!" the woman screamed, "we can't lift it!"

Rushing over, Peter squatted down and slid underneath the debris. Placing his hands against it, he hoisted it up, and soon it was steadily rising off the ground. Once he got it high enough, the two civilians were able to crawl out from underneath it, and Peter sat the weight over his shoulders back down on the floor. He then turned his attention back to the two, seeing that the man was still lying on the ground, gritting his teeth.

"His leg is hurt," the woman explained. "I don't think he can put any weight on it."

"Okay," Peter replied. "I need to get you all out of here quickly, but I'll try and be careful."