The Amazing Spider-Man 3

Chapter 30

I awoke with a start when the power clicked off. What was going on? The house quickly heated up from the lack of air conditioning, even though it was nighttime.

I headed outside to check if any of the power lines had been disconnected. They were all fine, but none of the streetlights were on, either. Everyone in the entire neighborhood must have lost power.

I was about to turn and head back inside when I heard a buzz. The power flickered, then went off again. I cocked my head, confused. Then, a streetlamp exploded, shattering on me. I jumped back, gasping. A few shards of glass were embedded in my arm. I carefully pulled them out, then sighed. This was my third encounter with broken glass in the last week or so. First, Harry had shown up in my house, leaving through the living room window. Second, the Vulture had shattered the guest room window. Now this. We'd already replaced the living room window, but not the guest room one.

I was navigating my way through the street, continuing back to the house when another streetlamp, several feet away, flickered then exploded. This set off a chain, each streetlamp exploding all in a line.

This was no coincidence.

I heard several people shout, waking up in their houses to the noise. I imagined them flicking on their light switches, only to find them not to work. Then, they began to pour out of their houses, their front doors slamming, trying to figure out what on earth was going on.

Lights everywhere began to flicker, pulsing to an imaginary beat. Some exploded, and others decided not to. Lights in houses began to turn on and off, and some burst.

Had Electro returned? Was he alive?

I was caught in the mob of people, scrambling through the streets, crunching their feet on broken glass. Some cried out, evidence that they hadn't put shoes on first. I looked back down at my arm, where I had been cut. I squinted in the dim light. The cuts were already beginning to heal.

I struggled to reach my house. My web shooters were sitting on my nightstand, so I couldn't web my way out, even if I'd wanted to. Besides, I would have blown my cover.

I fought through the croud, shoving some people aside. Where were they even running? I shook my head, then finally broke free. I ran inside, tearing through the front door of my house.

Aunt May was awake, scrambling through the house, looking disheveled from sleep. If this hadn't been a serious moment, I would have laughed at her distressed state.

"What's going on?" She asked, sounding panicked. It was difficult to see her, with her being in the dark shadows.

"Someone's messing with the power," I said, running through the hallway to my room. "The streetlamps are exploding, and lights are turning off and on." As if on cue, our kitchen light turned on and off.

"Are you going to go after them?" She said, but we both already knew the answer.

"Yes," I said, closing my door so it was only cracked. I slipped on my spandex suit, then strapped on my web shooters. I ran back through the house as I pulled my mask over my face.

"Be careful," Aunt May said, giving me a slightly concerned look.

I paused for a second, looking at her sympathetically. "I'll be fine." And with that, I slipped out the back door where no one would see me.

I climbed on top of our roof to get a good vantage point. I could hardly see anything, because it was so dark, but I managed to catch the sight of a glowing figure running through the streets, only a few blocks away. I jumped down, shooting a web before my feet hit the ground. The web stuck to another house, and I jerked my wrists to cause myself to flip through the air, landing on top of the roof of that house. These houses weren't tall, but I had a few tricks up my sleeve to make them sustainable.

As I lept from house to house, they grew taller and taller, meaning that I was getting even closer to the main city. The glowing figure was running in that direction, stopping every once and awhile to mess with some device in his hands, sending another pulse and explosion through the lights.

I knew one thing for sure: this wasn't Electro. Electro...Max...would have done all of it with his powers, not a handheld device that he didn't even need.

I found myself relieved that I wasn't going to face Electro again. That was a difficult...and painful...experience. Perhaps this guy would be easier to defeat, or at least less painful.

I reached my first skyscraper, closing in the gap between me and the glowing figure. That's when I discovered the light source that caused him to glow...a bowl-like object atop his head.

Mysterio.

It was easier to get around, now that I had taller buildings to shoot webs at. I used the sides of the buildings to walk on as I continued to shoot webs, causing the world to tip sideways, as I was the one leaning sideways.

Then I was over him. Mysterio was below me. I squinted in the dim light at the device in his hands, which was some kind of remote. I waited for the perfect moment, then fired a web at it, yanking the remote from his hands.

Mysterio's odd bowl-head whipped up at me, and I imagined his eyes, or whatever was really behind that thing, glaring at me. I looked down at the remote, which was now in my hands, and examined the buttons. There was a large green one at the top, and a red one beside it. There were several other buttons, but I decided to try the green one.

As soon as I pressed the button, lights flicked on all around me. The electricity was restored. Before the remote could be used again, I created a slingshot with my webs, shooting it through the air at a high speed. It crashed to the hard ground below, breaking into several pieces, varying in size.

I heard the Mysterio-guy shout, then I released my webs, allowing myself to drop to the ground. I stood several feet in front of Mysterio, who was already pulling something else from one of his pockets. I laughed to myself, preparing to take it away, when Gwen, dressed in her own spider suit, landed beside me, on my right.

"Let's get this guy," she said.