Fractured Mind

Chapter 7

Time slowed almost to a stop.

Peter threw his arm forward and attempted to catch the sphere with his webbing, just before remembering he did not have his web shooters on. Thinking quickly, he jumped into the air and caught it, flinging it back towards the goblin.

He swiftly landed on the ground and checked around to see if anyone had seen how high he had jumped, but everyone was scrambling to get out of the building. He peered behind him at Aunt May, whose eyes were wide with shock. Hoping it was just from what was going on and that she hadn't actually see what had happened, he went to usher her out of the building when a loud crash shook the building from behind him.

He turned and saw that the sphere he had thrown had missed the goblin and instead hit the lighting above the stage, causing several of them to fall to the ground, followed by more screaming.

"Oh my!" cried Aunt May.

Another sphere landed near the middle of the theatre and began blinking rapidly, causing a strobe effect. The flashing lights caused confusion and made it difficult for people to escape.

Peter's mind was completely chaotic at this point. The overwhelming instinct to save all these people was threatening to tear through him, but he couldn't. He wasn't Spider-Man anymore. Another sphere and the curtains went up in flames.

What should I do!? Peter 's knuckles were turning white as he clenched his fists at his sides. Someone pulled at his arm. Suddenly, the sound of the theatre washed out as he contemplated his choices.

Get these people out and save them!

You'll only cause further damage.

I need to help them! Nobody else can.

Pay them no attention. Look, Harry is right there.

I don't care about him right now, people need my help!

And you need Harry's help, don't you? You know why you want to talk to him. Don't you...?

"Peter! For goodness sakes let's go!" Aunt May finally pulled Peter back into reality and he looked at the fear in her face.

"Right. Let's go," he took Aunt May and Anna by the arm and led them towards the exit. Most of the people had vacated the building already. Peter looked up towards the ceiling but he could no longer see the goblin. Smoke was starting to spread through the big room.

They finally got to the door and as Peter was about to leave, he heard a blood-curdling scream. He looked back and through the smoke he saw that someone was caught under a light fixture that had fallen.

It was Mary Jane.

The light fixture that had fallen was the one Peter had hit with the sphere. His throat suddenly felt very dry.

This was his fault. He had to fix it. He knew Gwen would want him to.

He pushed Aunt May and Anna out of the building and swiftly ran towards the stage.

Everyone else was gone. The smoke was getting thicker by the second. He pulled his shirt up over his mouth and nose.

"Help me! Someone please!" Mary Jane cried out.

"I'm here!" Peter shouted as he jumped up on the stage. He quickly assessed the damage. The light had pinned down her leg and the glass shattered on her. "Do you think anything is broken?"

"My leg- my leg, I think," her voice was getting weak.

Peter lifted it and threw it aside. She wasn't losing too much blood; it was the smoke he was worried about. He scooped her up in his arms and ran towards the exit. The police, fire trucks, and an ambulance began arriving. Right away, two paramedics rushed over to him with a stretcher and put Mary Jane on it.