Spider-Man: The Journey Home

Chapter 2 - Peter

Peter Parker was exhausted. He'd been running around all day, working his butt off. Now, all he wanted to do was sleep. He barely even managed to change into his pajamas and brush his teeth before falling back onto his bed, grateful for the lumpy mattress.
He had just about fallen asleep, when his Spidey-Sense decided it had other ideas. Merely seconds later, he started smelling smoke coming from somewhere close by.
The seventeen year old groaned. Can I just, like, let the fire department deal with that one?
Peter groaned even louder. He couldn't do that. He couldn't just abandon the people in their time of need.
Why can't you? his drained body asked.
"Because," Peter replied out loud, his pillow muffling his voice. "What if something that I could've prevented from happening tonight happened, just because I was a little tired?" He forced himself out of bed.
But... but you were just about to fall asleep! his body protested.
"I know," the teen mumbled, nearly losing his balance as he slipped the Spidey suit on once again. "I know."

As Peter swung his way to the burning building, he thought about his daily routine.
His days started off in the early mornings, before the sun even rose. He'd wake up at four thirty, go out as Spider-Man for a couple of hours, and return to his small, rented appartement in order to get ready for work.
Throughout the entire day, he would travel all over the city, working where he could; he'd wash cars, deliver pizza, sell newspapers, wait at restaurants... Anything, really.
By the time he got home, it would usually be around seven PM. He would then take a short break, quickly eat something, and set out again as Spider-Man. He would usually stay out until around midnight. Sometimes later... but that only happened on bad nights.

Tonight was a bad night.
Had it been during the day, a building collapsing due to a fire would've been awful enough. At night, when the darkness increased the confusion, fear and panic, it was even worse.
Spider-Man landed next to a police cruiser, stumbling a little when his vision went out of focus for a second. He straightened himself, and turned to the cop nearby. "Did everyone get out safely?"
The officer looked at him, recognized who he was, and pulled out his walkie talkie. "Come in John."
Static... and then, >Go for John. Over.<

"Spider-Man wants to know if everyone got out okay. Over."
Silence. The web-slinger held his breath in anticipation. He tried clearing his mind from all the negative thoughts bouncing around in his head. He should come up with a plan in case he had to go in.
There was a sound of splintering wood, and the entire building crumbled a little further. The screams grew louder.
Peter's chest tightened even more.
The police officer's voice was frantic when he said, "I repeat. Did everyone get out safely? Over."
A moment of static...
>Negative. There is a civilian on the seventh floor. Facing middle window. Do you copy? Over<

"I copy." The officer turned to look at Spider-Man... but the young vigilante was already climbing through the seventh-floor aperture.

Everything glowed orange. Flames were shooting everywhere, burning everything. The air was black and heavy with smoke and soot. What once might have been a beautiful apartment, was now a chaos of blazing wreckage.
Peter coughed. His mask offered some protection... but not enough.

The young hero decided to go right first, and carefully made his way around the burning apartment. Not finding anyone, and nearly choking on the smoke, he called out, "hello? Anybody home?"
There was no answer.
The web-slinger tried again. "Hello? Somebody? where are you?"
Nothing.
He turned left and called out again, but, still, there was no answer.
By then, Peter's heart was in his throat. What if I'm too late? He thought. Oh, God. Please don't let me be too la-
"Help."
Spider-Man whipped his head around. The voice was small and weak, but it was there.
"Help... please... I'm stuck." The voice broke into a coughing fit.
"I'm coming," the hero called. He rushed over to a pile of pipes and debris. There, with her legs pinned under the wreckage, lay a girl who looked to be no older than twelve. She was trembling, her eyes were red from the smoke. She was probably hurt, too.
"Hey," said the masked vigilante, as he knelt beside the girl's head. "You're going to be okay. I'm gonna get you out of here." He scanned the trap, trying to pinpoint a way in which he could relieve the weight off the girls legs without causing further damage.
"Alright," Spider-Man said in the calmest voice he could muster. "I'm just going to-"
The girl shrieked. "Watch out!"
Peter rolled, narrowly escaping a huge block of stone that would've landed on his head as it came crashing down.
Both of them coughed at the fresh plume of smoke and dust.
The young girl started sobbing hysterically.
"Hey, hey, hey." Peter reached out and took one of the girl's hands in his. "You're going to be okay. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. I promi-"
He felt an electric tingle in the back of his skull. A shiver ran down his spine... and before he could even gasp, the entire building exploded.

A/N: I want to thank SlopyNutz, MatteaMay24, and Spidey-Lover3550 for being the first to vote and comment. Love you guys! ❤️

Word count: 911

Once again, if there are any mistakes (which there probably are, 'cause I finished writing this when I was half dead), please let me know.

I need sleep 🥲
-Harmony 🎶