Kapitel 83: Chapter 83: Lighting a Match III
Akihiko coughed, covering his mouth as flames raged around him. He gave a small shake of his head, Peter nodded and put the man's arm around him.
"Stay with me, sir. I'll get you outta here." He spoke calmly, walking as fast as he could out of the apartment and through the hall.
...
He hadn't even been in this place for more than 10 minutes, yet he could already feel how the building grew more and more unstable.
It wasn't obvious, but it was clear that it wouldn't take more for it to come down.
A small crack of a support beam above him made his spider-sense ring, Peter cursing under his breath as he looked up.
A large wooden beam was above him, fire ate at it from both ends. It kept creaking and groaning under the stress, Peter already knew what was gonna happen.
"Look out!" He yelled, covering Akihiko's body with his as he raised an arm to brace for the impact.
The beam fell from the ceiling, the teen groaned as the weight settled on his body and his forearm felt the impact.
It wasn't that heavy, but blocking it still hurt.
"I got you, don't worry!" He told the man, he shook in fear under him as Peter threw the beam up and webbed it back in place.
Alright, that should work for a bit.
"Sorry for the bumpy ride, sir, c'mon." If the man found the joke funny, he didn't say anything.
Yeah, Peter couldn't blame him given the situation.
Once at the window above the web, Peter told the man about how more help was coming before he lowered him onto the web.
For his age, the boy had to admit that the guy could sure move fast.
The fact that he could actually breathe now probably helped.
Peter caught his breath, sticking his head out the window and lifting his mask up to his nose to try and breathe better.
Alright… 3 more people on this floor, then he goes to the next.
God, he hated fire.
Just… so much.
Putting his mask over his face once again, he took a second before going back into the hallway.
3 more people, Parker! C'mon, step on it!
As he ran, the floorboards creaked and groaned under his weight with the sound nearly being drowned out by the crackles of fire around him.
"Hey, anyone in here!? Hello!?" He yelled, not getting a response. "I'm gonna get you out of here, but I need to know where you are!"
Damn it!
Skidding to a stop in front of an unopened and charred door, he kicked it open to reveal an empty apartment.
Peter cursed under his breath, eyes darting around to try and find something before he went back out into the hallway.
He wasn't leaving this place by himself, he'd be damned if he was.
Frantically, the boy kicked down door after door as the building fell apart around him. Support beams and walls collapsed, with Peter pushing them back into place before webbing them down.
This place could fall apart after he got everyone out.
His spider-sense kept ringing, Peter rolled out of the way of a burst of fire coming out from a crack in the floor.
Coughing and gasping for air, Peter pushed himself off the ground and covered the floor crack with webbing.
He pushed forward through the heat and thirst, reaching a door at the end of the hall and kicking it down.
Inside was a sight he didn't want to see. Three 20-somethings lying around the room, covered in soot and ash.
The boy cursed under his breath, taking as deep of a breath as the fire allowed before going into the apartment.
Guess he wouldn't have to bother with making quips, huh? Not like anybody would hear them.
He swung the two unconscious guys over his shoulders, grabbing the third guy and putting him under his arm.
"C'mon, Parker." He said to no one in particular, running out of the apartment as the roof creaked and groaned under the stress of the flames.
Can this building at least wait until everyone is out to collapse? Please? He would really appreciate it! Like, a lot!
A buzzing in the back of his skull made his eyes widen, the floor under him cracking as it began to split apart.
Oh, fuck him!
Gripping the people he was carrying tighter, he flipped forward as the floor he was standing in collapsed.
Beneath was nothing but fire.
He couldn't see people or the hallway or… anything.
Just fire.
Smoke began to rise from the hole, Peter coughed as he felt his mask sticking to his face from the sweat.
A part of him wanted to be realistic.
The 4th floor had exploded! it was probably covered in fire and debris! How could anyone survive that?
But he knew he had to believe there were people somewhere in there. No matter how small the chance was of there being someone to help, he didn't really care.
He had to try to help.
Peter tried lowering his head below the rising smoke, gritting his teeth at the heat all around him before taking another step.
Hopefully, Mirko was having a better time than him.
Ignoring the constant buzzing of his spider-sense, Peter simply kept moving through the burning hallway.
Quickly, he reached the window above the web. There weren't any firetrucks or first responders or… anyone!
Where the hell was the help?! There was a building burning down! Like, actively burning down!
Tightening his grip on the civilians he was carrying, he jumped out the window and onto the web, sliding down to the street below.
The sound of sirens was faint, Peter gritted his teeth as he put the people down on the ground as softly as he could.
Looking around, the only change he could see around was the fact that news crews had shown up and how there were even more people watching the building burn.
In the corner of his eye, he could see Mirko put down a woman covered in soot on the sidewalk before running back into the building.
At least she was doing good.
He saw a woman standing close by and recording the scene around them, Peter sighed and walked up to her.
"Uh, ma'am?" He said, watching the woman perk up and look at him. "Has anyone, uh, called the fire department? Paramedics? Or anyone? To help with the, you know, fire?"
She turned to him, recording him with her phone as if there wasn't a burning building in front of them.
"Oh! Yeah, they're waiting on a few heroes to come assist!"
Peter frowned at that, searching her face for something that told him there was more to that answer.
Why the hell were they waiting on heroes?! They needed help now! People were dying here!
What were heroes gonna do, anyway? Yeah, some of them probably had some first aid but they weren't gonna need a lot of first aid.
And fast!
They needed ambulances and fire extinguishers and all that stuff!
God, what was it with Japan and thinking that heroes were the best option to fix any situation?
Sighing at seeing she was still recording him like he was some celebrity, Peter simply turned away and looked at the building.
Just… whatever.
His body was lit in warm light, the once vibrant red and blue of his suit now darkened with soot and ash.
The sirens were getting close, but not close enough.
Not a moment later, he shot a web and swung back into the building.
...
The paramedic covered another body with a blanket, shaking his head sadly before walking away to treat someone with a broken ankle.
Sitting on the sidewalk was Peter, ripping off his now charred and grey mask to reveal his sweat-covered face.
His costume had tears all over from fallen debris, he could feel the sting of a few burns in the skin his damaged suit exposed.
A few camera flashes went off from behind a line that firefighters had made, Peter did his best to distract himself with the feeling of warmth on his skin.
It wasn't the type of warmth he liked, but he didn't really care right now.
Paramedics and firefighters had gotten here along with several heroes about half an hour ago, a full hour after the fire had started.
There wasn't anyone he recognized in the crowd of heroes called to help, a few no-name sidekicks that big agencies had sent over along with some people with water quirks.
Even then, they barely did anything other than try to combat the fire, given how Peter and Mirko did all of the actual rescues.
By his count and by what people had said, there were 63 people in that building.
His eyes landed on a few bodies covered by white sheets, the sound of camera flashes and reporters asking questions sounding distant to his unfocused mind.
Only 56 came out.
He gave a soft sigh, rubbing his tired eyes before looking back at the still-burning building.
Every entry and exit point to the 4th floor was blocked by fire and debris, leaving everyone inside trapped with no way out.
Peter had tried for half an hour to find a way in to reach the people, he only stopped when Mirko pulled him away when the firefighters got there.
Deep down he knew she was right when she said there was nothing they could do.
A bigger part of Peter wanted to ignore her logic.
His spider-sense buzzed in the back of his skull, making him look to the side to see Mirko sitting next to him.
Like him, her costume had tears all over. The clear white of the fabric was now a dark grey from soot and ash.
Her ears were folded, with the two of them simply sitting there and looking at the building while ignoring the news teams trying to get a statement or an interview.
"You're not wearing your mask." She said to start a conversation, giving him a sideways glance.
"Couldn't really breathe with it on." His voice was low, he ran his gloved fingers through the cloth of the mask on his lap as his eyes looked at the covered bodies off to the side.
She saw what he was doing, but kept quiet for a few minutes before saying something again.
"You did good getting people out, kid. If it weren't for us, a lot of people would be dead right now."
"Apparently not good enough."
Mirko sighed, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"You know we can't save everyone. I'm not sure what exactly you went through before you got arrested or whatever, but I know that you know that."
He wanted to say she was wrong.
But he knew she wasn't.
A part of him wanted to chuckle, remembering what she said about vigilantes and guilt complexes.
Guess she was right about that, too.
He sighed, looking at her for a moment. "Yeah… I know."
Pausing, he ran a hand through his hair before his eyes fell on the mask on his lap.
"That's the hardest thing about this job, isn't it?" A sad chuckle escaped him, he looked back at Mirko. "We can't always save everyone."
Mirko's ears folded a bit more, and she gave a small nod.
"That's why we save everyone else, kid. To make up for the ones we didn't." She said, squeezing his shoulder.
Silently, they simply watched as the building in front of them continued to burn.
...
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