I Am Karen - Spider-Man / Peter Parker [1]

Chapter Twenty-Three - Beneath The Rumble

Maria was speechless. She vaguely saw the Vulture flying off, away from the crime scene but her mind was solely fixated on Peter. As she stared at the mountain of rumble, her feet slowly carrying her towards it, she felt her heart breaking at the sight - there was little chance Peter had survived such an attack. Not wanting to believe the logical side of her mind, Maria halted at the edge of the rumble and yelled

"PETER!"

Silence. Its terrified Maria to no end. Peter had just been covered by a building, buried beneath tonnes of cement. And she could hear nothing.

"PETER!" the name tore from her throat. Once again silence answered her call. She didn't know what to do; her mind was racing, unable to comprehend Peter's potential death. Sighing, Maria concentrated on focusing her mind, stopping herself from spiralling down into panic. "K-KAREN scan the rumble for ... l-life signs." Unable to stand and just do nothing, Maria lifted her foot and carefully placed it on a piece of the rumble, slowly moving her way across the scene whilst she scanned the area with her own eyes for any sign of Peter. She was trying with all her might to not cry at the hopelessness of the scenario - as she stared at the stone all she kept thinking was 'Peter is beneath it'. Maria's feet stumbled upon the broken, cracked and heavy stone that lay beneath her feet.

"Hello? Hello! Please, hey!"

Maria's head snapped around the moment she heard the echoes of the scared words. It sounded like Peter. Freezing in place, Maria's eyes scanned the area whilst she strained to hear for any signs of life. There had to be signs; she didn't imagine those shouts.

"Hey, please! I'm down here!"

That was Peter! Relief flooded Maria's system as she heard his voice; it was scared and he was crying but it was his voice, loud and clear.

"I'm down here. I'm stuck. I'm stuck. I can't move. I can't—"

"PETER!" Maria hollered towards the area his voice came from.

"I'm here!" he shouted back. Maria glanced down at her watch to find the x-ray Complete and showing his location exactly. With careful yet hurried motions, Maria made her way across the rumble, the dust covering her hands and skin, her dress officially ruined as it kept snagging upon the jagged rocks as did her skin that was getting covered in little nicks but she didn't care. Though it only took a dozen of seconds for Maria to reach Peter it felt like a lifetime. Eventually, Maria was crawling her way down into the crevice that Peter had found himself just beside.

"Peter ... thank god, you're alive" Maria breathed out in relief as she dropped to her knees. She completely ignored the fact she had knelt down into water and was just glad to be looking at his face. He had taken his mask off at some point and Maria was grateful for she could see him staring right back at her. Whilst his body was pinned, Peter could move his arms. His hand automatically reached out for Maria whilst one of her hands cupped his cheek, his hand grasped her upper arm as if he was checking she was real. She leaned forward and gently placed her head against his. He was alive. Maria had never been so grateful that a radioactive spider and decided to take a bite out of Peter before – his powers had saved him and they both knew it. Quickly, Maria pulled back so that they could see each other properly. "You're going to be alright; I'll get you out, ok." Though she said the words, she knew she was facing one hell of the task. How the hell was she going to get him free?

They had to try the most obvious choice first and they both knew it. Getting to her feet, Maria grasped the concrete block that lay across his back and with Peter pushing from beneath the pair of them tried to shift the concrete. Maria's arms ached at the immediate strain. Both of them were groaning in pain and it quickly became clear that the concrete was not going to move. Maria and Peter stopped pushing/pulling and Maria dropped back to her knees.

"I'm sorry" Maria panted. She hated that she couldn't help. She had to figure out a way to get the concrete off of him. Lifting her gaze to the rumble, Maria's mind raced. There had to be a way to shift this weight. Then it hit her, her father's suits! They could practically do everything and lifting/blasting concrete off of Peter was a simple task. "You know what I'll call my dad and order his suits here so they can blast this stuff off."

"You need to contact Happy" Peter suddenly said, his eyes wide as if he was remembering something. Looking at Peter, Maria frowned.

"What? Why?" she asked whilst she brought up her hologram and began to search for Happy's number.

"Toomes is going after the plane ... Moving Day" Peter explained. Maria's fingers momentarily froze. It was Moving Day! He was going to rob directly from Tony, the man who had taken everything from him. Maria should have seen this coming. Swearing, Maria turned back to her screen but before she could press anything more. Something went very, very wrong.

"Well what do we have here?"

Maria knew that low menacing voice. She quickly span around to find the Vulture hovering just behind her. Before Peter or Maria could do anything, the Vulture lifted his leg and made his metal claws, that covered his feet, to suddenly clamp around her Maria's waist. Pain radiated across her mid-section but there was nothing she could do but gasp and grasp the metal with her fingers. Maria screamed as she was suddenly tugged up into the air, her feet leaving the ground – her knees scrapping against the concrete. The Vulture kept her elevated just out of Peter's reach but in his eye-line despite being trapped beneath rubble.

"No, please, leave her alone!" Peter called up; terror clear in his voice. That sound did nothing to slow Maria's racing heart. Toomes only laughed at Peter and Maria's obvious distress. Peter tried again to push the concrete off of himself but he just couldn't and both teenagers were aware that if he didn't, Maria was dead. Maria struggled against the metal, she wasn't that high off the ground, if she was released, she would not come out unscathed but she would live (hopefully).

"I warned you" the Vulture mocked Peter as his wingsuit's propellers picked up more speed, much to Maria's horror. "Her death is on your head." Maria's eyes widened in terror; he was actually planning on killing her. Panic began to set in as she felt herself being pulled higher into the air. She didn't want to die.

"PETER!" Maria's scream tore from her throat. He was the superhero, she felt safe with him and she was being ripped away from that safety.

"NO! Maria!" Peter shouted back though the words were becoming faint the higher the Vulture flew up. Maria could only watch as the ground fell further from her. With white knuckles, she clung to the talon around her waist - it was the only thing keeping her alive.

The wind pushed down against her back, bellowing her hair into her face whilst her breaths were short and shallow. It didn't take a genius to figure out what he planned on doing, he was going to drop her out of the sky!

"Why are you doing this?!" Maria shouted over the rushing air. She didn't want to die, she had to stall him, had to stop him from killing her. However, the Vulture's mind was too far gone.

Completely ignoring her words, the Vulture lifted his leg higher to ensure that the last thing Maria saw was his suit's green piercing eyes. It was the last face she would see; she wouldn't see Ned, Michelle, Happy, Pepper, Peter, her father - everyone she loved, she'd never get to tell them she loved them again. He was taking her away from everything. Her eyes filled with tears as the truth of her eminent demise hit her full force. In that moment, Maria's reaction, what she wanted more than anything, was to be in her father's arms. He kept her safe, he loved her, he would protect her. All she wanted was her father!

She was going to die but the Vulture had one last thing to say.

"You shouldn't trust in Peter Parker."

With that the metal talon opened up and the young Stark began to plummet towards the broken ground, her scream caught in her throat.