The Stark Internship // Spider-Man [Book 1]

twenty-six {Peter's POV}

I shot as much webbing as I possibly could at the engine so that when I was engulfed by it, it was only webbing. "Yes!" I heard Arya call out. The engine burst out of its casing as I pulled myself loose and it fell toward the surface of the Earth.

The Vulture was still hot on our heels. We needed to come up with a plan and we needed to come up with one fast. I swung myself back onto the jet. "See if you can get inside to reroute the jet!" I called to Arya over the howling over the wind. 

"Okay, don't die!" she replied. 

I shook my head. "I won't!" We parted ways and Arya climbed to the other side of the jet. 

With one engine down, the jet quickly began losing altitude and I realized we were going to crash if we didn't do anything. The Vulture didn't seem to care, but he had wings so why should he?

We passed through a cluster of clouds and my eyes widened at the view ahead of us. "Oh, my God." We were headed straight for the coast of New York City. I saw the beach and the tall skyscrapers behind it, Coney Island to our left. 

I realised Arya couldn't do anything to fix the jet from inside, so I shot a web at the left wing of the jet to pull it up and change the direction of the jet. We narrowly missed a few skyscrapers. Without warning, the Vulture slammed his wing through the top of the jet.

The impact snapped my web in half and I lost my balance. I was just in time to hold onto the side of the jet before I would have fallen off. Even though I didn't want to, I looked up and saw the beach approaching. I shut my eyes and braced myself. 

The jet's wing hit something and it broke off. The jet crashed into the beach and I lost grip. With a yell, I fell to the ground. The jet ploughed through the sand and slid over the beach. I lay in the sand and unwillingly inhaled the smoke. My lungs felt like they were on fire as I rolled over to cough. 

I sat up and felt every cell in my body scream out in pain. I tore off my mask and gratefully inhaled the small amount of oxygen in the air. I scanned my surroundings. Pieces of debris were on fire, making it hard to see through the thick smoke. My ears rang but I felt myself call out Arya's name. 

I stumbled to my feet and willed my legs to run toward the burning jet. I jumped through a cloud of smoke and the Vulture threw me back. 

My back hit the ground, knocking the air out of me. "Hey, Pedro," he sneered. He pinned me to the ground with the claws of his suit. I let out a scream as the claws pierced my skin. 

He landed a few punches in my face and my consciousness started to slip. I caught his fist mid-punch and held on, but he took off into the air, taking me with him. I released myself but immediately regretted it as I fell to the ground, which was now far beneath me. I quickly webbed myself to his suit and pulled up, kicking him in the side.

I dropped to the ground and the Vulture's claws caught me yet again. He slammed me to the ground. My body hurt in every way possible until it started to go numb and I knew it wouldn't be long until I passed out. I couldn't react as the Vulture pierced a claw through the hood of my suit, lifting me from the ground. I willed my body to move but it refused, my limbs hanging loosely by my sides.

The Vulture stared at me for a few seconds before his eye fell on something behind me. 

He let go of my body and I hit the ground again, staying still in the sand as I caught my breath. The Vulture took off his helmet and flew toward something behind me. I looked up and saw sparks flying from his suit. I figured that it was going to explode and for a second, I didn't care. But then I realised that this was Liz's father. She was going to lose him if I didn't do anything. He was going to die if I didn't do anything. My eyes went blurry as a memory rose from the back of mind. A memory I had tried to hard to suppress. 

"Uncle Ben? Uncle Ben!" I choked out as I ran toward the body of my uncle that lay a few feet away from me. My cheekbone stung where the robber had punched me. I knelt down next to him and took in his appearance. Blood stained his shirt and I felt myself go lightheaded. 

"P-Peter, listen to me," Uncle Ben muttered, taking my hand in his. I nodded as he continued, "Y-You have to take care of your aunt. You have to f-finish school and get everything out of this life of yours, okay? Y-You have to p-promise me that," He said. A thick, crimson liquid was on his lips and my eyes pooled with tears, making it impossible for me to see clearly. 

"N-No, I'm not leaving you! You have to see me graduate and help me decorate my d-dorm room and-and..." I choked out. 

"Pete, please. Promise m-me," he pleaded. 

"N-No, I can't, I won't," I cried. Choking sobs came from my throat and I felt a stone-cold fist clasp around my heart. 

"Peter..." he said and he stared at me before his eyes turned misty. 

"Un-Uncle Ben?" I whispered. "Uncle Ben!" I shook his shoulders in an attempt to wake him up, but I knew I would never hear his voice again, or feel his warm embraces, or see him laugh at May's terrible jokes. He was gone and he was never coming back.

I snapped back to reality. "Your wingsuit is going to explode!" I yelled at the Vulture, but there was too much noise for him to hear me. It took me most of my strength but I shot a web at his suit and tried to hold him back. 

He turned around with a grin on his face. "Time to go home, Pete!"

"I'm trying to save you!" I cried out. He cut the web and flew off. His suit started to malfunction and it crashed down. I shielded my face from the explosion. I immediately jumped to my feet and ran into the smoke. I found his body under the wingsuit that was too hot for me to touch, so I dug him out via the sand and dropped his body in a safer place. He was unconscious, but I knew he would wake up soon.

I ran back into the fire in search of the jet. The side door was blackened as it hung on one hinge. I found Arya seconds later, hunched over in the sand. She'd taken her mask off and she was gasping for air. I screamed out her name and she shot up, her eyes wide.

"Peter!" She stumbled to her feet but nearly fell down again. "I was so worried about you, are you-"

I cut her off by pressing my lips to hers.