The Black Spider - 13. Chapter 13: Inevitable - Part 2

“What are you autistic or something, didn’t you hear what I said?” the girl snapped at Peter, who hadn’t moved and hadn’t responded to her last statement.

Ten seconds was the amount of time that’d passed since then. During it, Peter experienced a succession of emotions. Initial horror, bewilderment…returning horror.

“Did you…” he started, but couldn’t finish.

The girl gave a brief look down at Tony’s body, the focus of Peter’s attention.

“He’s still alive. I just made him take a nap,” she remarked, then added, “And if you don’t want to take a nap with him then, like I said before, you need to let me out of here.”

The girl took a few aggressive steps forward in Peter’s direction.

“So how ‘bout it?” she inquired.

Peter played the odds quickly in his mind. He was pretty sure that the girl had no idea J.A.R.V.I.S. was watching everything. If he were to let her out, J.A.R.V.I.S. would have no problem finding out her identity, the identities of her parents, where they’d lived, and so on.

Peter further reckoned that letting the girl out would also mean not having to reveal that he had super abilities to her. She might’ve been younger than him, but she was more than old enough to remember a face. His face. And even if he did take her down in a fight, she would always remember it.

What juvenile detention center was equipped to hold a kid with super abilities?

Those were what the girl possessed. Peter was clear on that. It was the only explanation as to how she’d done what she had. And if she’d done what she had to Tony under unprovoked circumstances, it left little to the imagination of what she capable of while provoked.

“Okay.” Peter nodded. “I’ll let you out.”

The girl’s aggressive demeanor softened enough for her to smile a little.

“Thank you. That’s all I want,” she said.

“You’ll have to go out through here. It’s the only door I can unlock.” Peter indicated the door that he and Tony had entered the warehouse through earlier.

“Whatever. Just as long as it lets me out of here.”

The girl began to walk in Peter’s direction.

A few moments later, Peter felt a light vibration against his left wrist. While it did startle him internally, it didn’t show externally. He knew what the cause of the vibration was. His Starkwatch had just received a correspondence.

The vibration from the Starkwatch hadn’t been one continuous vibration. It’d been broken up into three short pulses. Peter knew that Tony and J.A.R.V.I.S. were the only two senders who were capable of sending a message that would result in that pattern of vibration. With Tony unconscious, that left only one other sender.

In a gentle and inconspicuous a manner as possible, Peter turned his Starkwatch-clad wrist from center to left, then from left to center. The motion was a signal for the Starkwatch to open the message that had been sent. Turning his wrist just enough so that he would be able to see the Starkwatch’s face with a casual glance downward, Peter checked to see what the message was.

‘Cover your eyes’ it read.

He knew what the message meant. Among the warehouse’s ceiling mounted lights were security devices known as flasher lamps. Each lamp housed a specialized bulb that was capable of producing a light so vibrant that it physically hurt the eyes to look at it. When activated, they would deliver a bombardment of flashes, which were capable of causing temporary blindness.

Peter immediately followed the instruction and covered his eyes. J.A.R.V.I.S., able to see Peter’s compliance with the message, activated the flasher lamps. The eyes of the girl, who’d noticed Peter cover his own and was about to ask him what he was doing, were suddenly assaulted. Her high-pitched scream of agony ripped apart the silence of the warehouse.

Peter felt another vibration from the Starkwatch. It was one he was not familiar with. It wasn’t broken into pulses, like a Tony or J.A.R.V.I.S. message, but it was longer than the short vibration that signaled a regular correspondence. Whatever it was, he dared not risk taking a look at his Starkwatch. The flasher lamps were still active. He could still see their dim, flashing illumination behind his closed and hand-covered eyelids.

The girl unleashed another ear piercing scream that started off small then grew in both power and volume. The sound that Peter heard next was strange considering the circumstance. An explosion. But it wasn’t a normal, ear-shattering explosion. It sounded like one that a land mine would give if it were buried deep underground instead of just slightly.

Before the explosion-like sound had a chance to settle, it was overtaken by the sound of a low rumble.

Peter felt his danger-sense trigger.

Trouble from…above?

The sound of shattering glass erupted from the east end of the warehouse. Though he had no idea how it was happening, Peter knew what was going on. It wasn’t the windows that were being broken. They were protected by metallic plates that were positioned over them from the interior of the warehouse. It was the glass of the flasher lamp lights, which could not be covered due to the heat they generated.

The sound of shattering quickly moved from the top of the east end and over to the top of the west end. Peter wanted to see what was going on, but he could still see the pulsing luminescence of the active flashers.

Suddenly, his danger-sense triggered.

The trouble from above again. Only this time it was coming in his direction.

Peter immediately dropped down to his knees and maneuvered himself into a laying position with his face down on the ground. He took his hands away from his eyes once he was face down and used them to shield the sides and front of his face.

The rumbling sound drew closer to where Peter lay. He felt the still air around his feet kick up into a slightly higher than gentle wind. The wind traveled from his feet and across the rest of his body as whatever was above traveled by.

“Peter can you hear me?” the voice of J.A.R.V.I.S. asked.

It did not come from the warehouse speakers, however. Peter heard it near his ears.

“Shit, J.A.R.V.I.S. you scared me!” Peter whispered, startled. “How are you talking in my ears?”

“I have activated your suit as part of the security protocol. You did not notice because you were preoccupied.”

Peter figured that that was what the un-pulsed vibration had been signaling.

“Does my A.R. suit give me some kind of protection I didn’t know about?” he inquired.

“You do not currently have on your A.R. suit. You have been outfitted in your battle suit. I have adjusted your eye sights so that you will be immune to the effects of the flasher lamps. If you do so now, you should be safe to disrobe and discard your clothing into the garage, then, retrieve Mister Stark’s body and evacuate to the garage.”

Peter heard everything that J.A.R.V.I.S. said to him, but it was finding out that he was currently outfitted in a battle suit that made his jaw drop.

“When did Mister Stark build me a battle suit?” he wondered out loud.

“I will leave that for him to discuss with you after both of you are safe. Now, you must act, young sir.”

Peter now understood why J.A.R.V.I.S. wanted him to get rid of his clothes. He quickly got up from his spot on the ground and began to undress. Fortunately, it was a causal dress day for interns, and thus for him. It was going to make his task much easier.

Seven seconds was how long it took for him to get out of his clothes and shoes. During, he noticed two things. The first thing was that he didn’t see the girl anymore. He couldn’t take a full view of the warehouse, but he didn’t see her standing anywhere near where she had been. The second thing was that the color of his battle suit was different from his A.R. suit, and the surface was no longer simply smooth. The battle suit’s color was dark blue and the surface was riddled with what looked like tiny black capillaries that had arranged themselves in a pattern that looked eerily similar to a spider’s web.

Peter didn’t bother with putting anything into his backpack. Instead, he threw it, his clothing, and shoes through the door that led into the garage, which had been opened by J.A.R.V.I.S. Then, setting his focus on Tony’s fallen body, he made a b-line toward it.

As Peter was crossing the halfway point between himself and Tony’s body, he caught sight of what his danger-sense had sent him warnings about earlier.

“What the hell is that?” He gasped.

It was a large airborne mass that, if he didn’t know any better, he would’ve sworn was a tornado made out of sand. It wasn’t traveling like a normal tornado, which would’ve stood vertically and traveled horizontally across the ground. This tornado was both standing and traveling horizontally through the air. It’s rapidly churning body was what had made short work of the already destroyed flasher bulbs, and it was quickly working to destroy what little bulbs remained.

Keeping his focus on the task at hand, instead of allowing it to ponder how a tornado that looked like sand had gotten into the warehouse, Peter continued to close in on Tony’s body.

One hundred yards away became seventy-five.

Seventy-five became fifty.

Fifty became twenty-five.

The unusual tornado destroyed the last of the flasher lamps. Then, as if it had actual eyes to see with, it seemed to notice Peter and the action he was taking. Had Peter been watching, he would’ve seen as the fat, churning funnel pulled into itself, taking on a shape much like a ball. He also would’ve seen as a thick, spiraling tendril shot out from the center of the spherical mass and directly at Tony’s body.

What Peter did see, or rather sensed, was the tendril as it fired. His attention cut to it in time to see it cascading through the air. He could tell where it was going. And although he was traveling fast, it was traveling faster. It would reach Tony’s body before he did.

“MISTER STARK, WAKE UP AND MOVE!!!” he screamed.

The tendril did not strike Tony’s body. Instead, it struck three yards to the side of his body, putting it directly in the path that Peter was running. He skidded himself to a halt, leaving seven yards between him and Tony’s body, and watched as what he could only call sand exploded from the point where the tendril made impact.

The explosion did not occur like a regular explosion. It did not expel from all sides. It only expelled to one side. The one that Tony’s body was on. It also did not travel outward like a regular explosion. It traveled upward. Peter watched in shocked surprise as it continued to travel upward, before it fanned out and curved itself to become a dome.

The tendril that caused the explosion fed the creation of the dome. It pulled from the spherical mass, until the mass was no more. Then, the tendril fed itself into the dome, as the dome itself moved inward; creeping three yards closer to Tony’s body on all sides.

There was no time for Peter to ponder what he’d just witnessed. A shape formed in the dome on the side that was facing him. He realized the shape was that of a human body. A child’s to be exact.

The body emerged from the dome and stood in front of it. It looked like a living sculpture, etched with clothing, and made of light brown sand. The dome began to slowly feed itself into the body.

“What the hell are you?” the mouth of the body spoke in a voice that Peter recognized as the girl who’d mysteriously gone missing.

“Security automaton: Blue has been activated. Please stand down and await the arrival of the authorities. If you refuse, lethal enforcement will be employed.” J.A.R.V.I.S. answered, speaking over the warehouse sound system.

Peter heard this and quickly put two and two together.

“J.A.R.V.I.S….what the hell?” he whispered.

“You are not the lethal enforcement I was referring to. The first priority is still for you to recover Mister Stark’s body and retreat to the garage. However, there are still seven minutes and thirty seconds remaining before the sleep-vapor systems are fully armed. I will not be able to lend any further assistance that would not put you into harm’s way until then,” J.A.R.V.I.S. explained. “Also, you may speak freely. Your external audio channel has been disabled.”

“Don’t you think it might be easier if we just let her out and track her down later? You can do that, right? You’ve seen her face.”

“I’m afraid allowing her the option to leave is no longer available to us. This person is of high threat and must be detained for collection.”

“By who?”

“A branch of law enforcement that is equipped to handle persons such as this.”

The answer contradicted Peter’s knowledge of law enforcement branches, but he was aware that there was no time to debate.

“So, I need to distract her long enough, or find a way around her and out of here with Mister Stark’s body.”

“It is a request that I do not desire to ask of you, but yes.”

There was no time to hesitate, no time to worry if he was up to the task. The task was already at hand. And it gave not a care if he was ready for it or not.

Taking in a deep breath to steel his courage, Peter exhaled, and pushed his fear out of the way.

“Okay, J.A.R.V.I.S., I can do this. I got this. Just keep me updated on the time – ”

“So, security automaton: Blue, huh? Where’s the boy?” the girl, who now looked as she had upon first discovery, interrupted.

The dome that had previously incased Tony’s body was gone.

“She doesn’t know it’s me.” Peter whispered the realization.

“And we must keep it that way. I will digitize your external audio to complete the charade. Please be careful,” J.A.R.V.I.S. said.

“I’m gonna try.”

“I am placing a timer for the sleep-vapor on your sights. Your external audio is now live.”

Peter took a second to find his words, as the timer that appeared in the upper right corner of his sights indicated he had six minutes and forty seconds to go.

“I have rescued the boy and taken him to safety,” he answered, hearing his voice come out in a robotic, gender neutral tone.

“And I’m going to take a wild guess that I’m not on your rescue list,” the girl began.

She then pointed with her thumb in the direction of Tony’s body, which was behind her. “But he is, isn’t he?” she concluded.

“Incorrect. My objective is to rescue Tony Stark if he is in danger. If you stand down, there will be no danger.” Peter answered, seeing an opportunity to deescalate the situation.

“What’s going to happen to me if I do that?”

“Your situation will be explained to the authorities. If you did not break in, then you have nothing to fear.”

The girl shook her head.

“I don’t think they’re going to overlook me assaulting your creator, or the things that I can do.” She disagreed.

“The assault was due to your human emotion of fear.” Peter countered.

“Incorrect.” The girl mocked. “That was me wanting to get out of here, and I still do. So, let me out, and you can have your creator without me becoming a threat.”

Peter still felt that letting the girl out was the best route to himself and Tony getting out of the warehouse unharmed. But, he couldn’t overlook J.A.R.V.I.S’s point. How many other people would be put at risk with a child on the street who could do the things that this girl could do?

Five minutes and twenty-seven seconds remained before J.A.R.V.I.S. could activate the sleep-vapor.

“C’mon, Pete, she’s younger than you. She might have better abilities, but you’re older and smarter. You can do this.” Peter gave himself a final mental pep-talk.

He saw no other way to detour the girl that didn’t require breaking robotic character and trying to reach her on a human level. Although it could work, it could also fail devastatingly.

“Unless you are in the custody of the authorities, I am unable to let you leave this facility,” he replied.

The girl’s sinisterly sweet smile creased her lips.

“Well then, it looks like I get to see just how well Stark built you.”

The girl spoke no other words. From her seven yard position, she struck out at Peter with her right fist. Peter felt the tingling warn of his danger-sense, as the girl’s arm began to extend beyond its normal reach. Her arm continued to extend, driving her fist forward in his direction, as the fist itself grew to become four times bigger in size. Already forewarned, he dodged to the left and out of the way of the freakish oncoming punch.

The girl gave him no time to breath.

As her right arm began to retract back toward her, she struck out at Peter with her left fist. It performed the same maneuver as the right fist by extending and doubling in size, and charged at Peter. He dodged to the right and out of the way, causing yet another miss.

From the girl’s chest, and almost directly beside her two arms emerged another set of arms with hands. The arms extended outward in Peter’s direction with unexpected speed, as the hands attached to them grew giant in size. The hands were not attempting to punch their target. Instead, they extended out to block off Peter’s left and right sides. Then, they moved in quickly, and attempted to smash him together between them.

Peter sensed what was coming. As the two giant hands moved in to smash him, he jumped up into the air. He heard the dull rumble and felt the rush of air as the hands clapped emptily together beneath him.

As he began to descend from the jump, Peter saw that the hands were staying where they were. The arms were not retracting them. He was going to land right on top of them. A horrible thought crossed his mind.

“Oh, please let these things solid! Please let these things be solid!” he pleaded silently, as descent and landing occurred.

The hands were indeed solid. They felt as firm as concrete underneath his feet.

“Oh, thank you, lord.” Peter sighed in relief.

But there was no time to dwell on the minor success. Peter saw an opportunity to attack and took it. Leaping down off the hands and onto the ground that was in between the two extended arms, he broke into a run toward the girl.

The girl, who’d been stunned by the height of Peter’s jump, returned to her senses. Her new arms had repositioned themselves to occupy the spaces that her old arms had. With the old arms gone and replaced, she unleashed a third arm from the center of her chest, extending its four-times-enlarged fisted hand directly at Peter.

Anticipating the possibility of such a move, Peter hoped that the solidness that had been in the giant hands would also be in the extending arm as well. If not, then he knew he was about to make a mistake.

Leaving the fist mere feet before it hit him; Peter jumped up and forward in an attempt to propel himself toward the girl. His momentum carried him through the air and landed him right on the girl’s extended arm. Fortunately, it was solid, which allowed his momentum to send him sliding sideways down the girl’s arm and toward her face. With both feet, and at full strength, Peter kicked the girl in the head.

The impact felt to Peter as if he’d kicked something with the resistance of a brick or rock wall. Very strong, but not immovable. He felt the point where he’d made impact give just a little, and heard the girl let out a sharp grunt of pain.

Immediately, Peter reoriented his position and leapt off of the girl’s outstretched arm just as it began to lose its solidity. He landed behind her and, not knowing if he had enough time to accomplish it or not, made an attempt to run for Tony’s body.

He was on his eighth running step when his danger-sense tingled. An attack was coming from behind and seemed to be moving toward his leg. The leg the attack was moving toward had already pushed off of the ground to continue the run. It was too late to try and evade.

What was traveling behind Peter was a thin, sand colored tentacle. It lashed out at his leg as it was leaving the ground and wrapped itself around his ankle. With its target ensnared, the tentacle tensed, preventing itself from slacking any further. The result not only halted Peter, but swept him off his feet and sent him face down to the floor.

Quickly, Peter turned his body around so that he was facing right side up. He could see the tentacle wrapped around his ankle. The source was the girl’s arm. She was facing him, and her body had once again taken on the look of an expertly carved sand sculpture.

Giving her target no further time to react, the girl began to retract the tentacle. Peter sensed that movement was about to come from the tentacle and immediately planted both of his hands and his free foot down onto the ground. If the girl was going to pull him, she would have to pull him and the entire floor he was stuck to.

The girl felt the unexpected resistance from her target. She increased her pull on the tentacle. When Peter still didn’t budge, she increased her pull again, and again, and again.

“What are you, super glued or something?” the girl growled in anger and effort. “Get…”

She increased her pull significantly.

Peter buckled down harder. The effort from resisting lifted his body upright. His hands and free leg worked as his body’s supports.

“Your ass…” the girl continued, angrier, applying more pull.

Peter felt it, but it still was not enough to move him. He knew that she would need quite a bit more strength behind her pull before she budged him. The floor hadn’t even begun to give.

But how much pull could his leg take before it was ripped clean from his body?

That was the thought that suddenly occurred to Peter. Though he recalled that he was in a battle suit, he also noticed that it fitted, and felt internally, the same as having his A.R. suit on. Because the battle suit fit his form so closely on his arms and legs, he figured that there would be no way to rip the suit itself off without taking the limb it was protecting with it.

Thinking fast, Peter readied himself in preparation for his next move.

“OVER HERE!” the girl roared, increasing her pull to its fullest.

As soon as Peter felt the warning of the tentacle’s action, he released himself from sticking to the ground. At a speed that he wasn’t quite ready for, the tentacle snatched him with enough force to lift his body off of the ground, and right in the girl’s direction.

The girl hadn’t expected Peter to give as easily as he had. She also did not expect his body to be propelled at her at a high rate of speed. It was too fast for her to effectively react. All she could do was take an unexpectedly powerful kick from Peter’s free leg straight to her stomach.

Peter felt the difference in resistance as soon as his foot made impact with the girl’s body. It felt as if he’d hit a hard surface, but instead of resisting or giving slightly to impact, it gave considerably. The impact of the kick was enough to project the girl’s body seven yards backward through the air. Peter felt the tentacle that’d been holding on to his leg unravel and retreat.

The girl’s sailing body descended and made impact with the ground. It did not strike the ground and react as a regular body should’ve. Instead, it exploded into a large blast of light colored sand.

Peter got to his feet, able to see as the blast curled back and up into the air. It looked to him like a wave forming in reverse direction, but without actually moving across the ground as it did so.

Suddenly, the top portion of the wave-like formation curved itself forward and projected in that direction. Now, it looked and was acting like a normal wave, complete with forward movement. A quick forward movement that was heading in Peter’s direction.

It couldn’t be helped the expletive that leapt out of Peter’s mouth as he saw the wave-like formation starting toward him. He didn’t need his danger-sense to tell him to turn around and run.

With his back to the oncoming wave-like formation, Peter didn’t see as the top portion crashed into the ground, as a normal wave would’ve, before rebounding off of the ground, like a rock skipping across water, and propelling itself forward. Starting at the front and ending at the back, the wave-like formation changed its shape to become a large funnel. The change in shape increased the speed of formation’s propulsion, allowing it to close in on its target.

The tingle Peter felt from his danger-sense was strong, almost to the point of discomfort. It was the first time he’d ever had a sense like it.

Danger was imminent

…and there was no way to escape.

No dodge, no jump, no duck, no run faster.

Whatever was about to happen was going to happen.

Peter found out what exactly was going to happen a moment later. The funnel reached him and began to engulf him. He couldn’t help the shocked and surprised scream that must’ve sounded strange to hear a “robot” give, as his body was lifted up off the ground and high up into the air. Then, still held by the gale force inside the funnel, it plummeted his body onto the ground.

The battle suit absorbed the majority of the impact, but Peter still felt the minor repercussions. The funnel gave him no time to focus on them, as it suddenly caved in on itself, pouring the entirety of its sand-like body down onto its ensnared victim and burying it.

‘Oh shit’ were the words that repeated in Peter’s mind with the rapidity of his greatly stimulated heartbeat. Everything was dark, whatever he’d been buried in felt like incredibly viscous liquid.

“It looks like Stark is gonna have to build himself another security bot, because I’m about to break you,” the girl’s voice spoke from somewhere inside the darkness.

Peter felt his danger sense trigger uncomfortably again. Inescapable danger, but this time from all sides. He wasn’t given a moment to wonder what the danger was. The viscosity of the darkness he was trapped in started to become less, giving him the answer.

“J.A.R.V.I.S. HELP! SHE’S GOING TO CRUSH ME!” Peter screamed out in horrific realization.

“Activating Stingers,” J.A.R.V.I.S. replied.

Peter didn’t know what those were. He’d never heard of them. He had no idea what to expect. Then, he felt it. A strange sensation that came from all portions of the suit. It made his entire body feel a slight, non-danger-sense related tingle. Suddenly, the darkness he was surrounded in was illuminated by a rapid succession of bright whitish-blue flashes.

The sound that Peter heard sounded as if it wanted to be a loud cry, but instead came out as if it were on a compact disc that had a horrible skipping/stutter problem. The thickening viscosity Peter felt around his body suddenly became non-existent, and the darkness surrounding him expelled him violently from within it.

Peter’s body slid across the ground to a halt, free. He quickly noticed his change in surrounding and got to his feet. He saw what the darkness that had been surrounding him looked like from the outside, though he assumed that what he was seeing was not how it had looked while it’d had him inside of it. It had probably been dome shaped before. Now, it couldn’t seem to decide if it wanted to be dome shaped, pyramid shaped, or spiral shaped.

“Thirty seconds until sleep-vapor systems are armed. Use your advantage to escape with Mister Stark now, young sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S.’s announced and advised.

The words put Peter back on task. He went and finally made it to Tony’s body. He gave one last look at the shifting mass, noting that it was still having problems with holding its shape, before he picked Tony’s body up, held it securely in his arms, and ran as fast as he could for the door leading out to the garage.

Peter couldn’t see as the shifting mass behind him began to shift less and less erratically. J.A.R.V.I.S. could see this, however, and deduced that the mass was recovering from the electric shocks that had been delivered to it.

J.A.R.V.I.S. had not been able to use the walls or other items in the warehouse due to the slots that opened in the floor. The slots allowed the walls and other items to be fastened down into the ground. Having the slots open would’ve caused a hindrance to Peter’s ability to run and fight. Now, though, J.A.R.V.I.S. saw an opportunity to take action. It would just require precise timing.

Peter heard the sound of the machines that moved the walls and other parts start up. He wondered what J.A.R.V.I.S. was up to, but kept to the plan of escape.

The mass, now solid and non-shifting noticed that its target was attempting to complete its objective.

“NO!!!” boomed the girl’s voice angrily, as the mass snaked its form into that of a large, horizontally shaped funnel and charged over the ground in Peter’s direction.

Up above, J.A.R.V.I.S. moved all of the various wall panels toward their position. The charging funnel didn’t make any indication that it noticed the goings on above it. Still, J.A.R.V.I.S. did not exclude the idea that the funnel could’ve been very much aware and decided it would be a good notion to provide incentive for it to continue directly after Peter. With only fifty yards left for its young charge to run, J.A.R.V.I.S. opened the door leading into the garage.

The funnel was closing its distance from Peter with remarkable speed. Only thirty yards remained until it would have him in its grasp again. Peter knew it was coming. And as the strength of his danger sense continued to rise in its tingle, he began to realize that he might not make it to the door in time. He thought quick.

“J.A.R.V.I.S., I’m not going to make it. Can you activate Mister Stark’s suit and have it catch him if I throw him into the garage?” he inquired.

“Continue running as you are. I will detour the threat,” J.A.R.V.I.S. instructed.

Peter didn’t doubt J.A.R.V.I.S.’s instruction. The running warehouse machines assisted in that.

“Okay,” he complied.

As Peter said his compliance, his right foot, which was trailing behind his left, lifted up off the ground. Milliseconds later, the portion of the floor where his foot had been collapsed into itself to form a trench with a depth of two feet. The trench did not only form at that single location. If formed across the entirety of the floor, running horizontally from the north and south ends of the warehouse.

As the milliseconds reached one full second, J.A.R.V.I.S. dropped the wall panels that were situated above the trench. Their controlled, but speedy fall triggered Peter’s danger-sense. Unlike the warning of the funnel that was closing in behind him, he knew he could escape the dropping panels if he just kept running. That was exactly what he did.

The funnel, with a mere ten yards to gain before it acquired its target, did not anticipate that a barricade would suddenly fall from the ceiling and land right in its path. There was no time for it to stop, but there was time enough for it to react. With only five feet left before it would’ve made impact with the barricade, the funnel split itself into left and right halves, which began traveling parallel to the wall in north and south directions instead of directly at it.

Before the center that was fueling the left and right halves of the funnel was gone, the two split halves curved around and traveled in the opposite direction of the wall, before curving around again so that they were in each other’s collision path. When they collided, they began feeding themselves into another central, spherical shaped point of collection.

Peter didn’t see the home made barricade drop down behind him, though he did hear the sound it made as it landed, and he couldn’t see what the funnel was up to on the other side. However, the strength of the tingle from his danger-sense regarding the funnel had lessened significantly. It no longer felt inescapable. He was going to make it out.

In a quick motion, Peter repositioned his body, which turned his run into a skidding stop. As it had proven earlier, the feet of the battle suit were able to handle the friction, allowing its owner to skid across the floor, covering the last set of yards, through the door, and into the garage.

Seeing that the skid was not going to stop him before he hit Tony’s car, Peter readjusted slightly so that only his body would impact the vehicle, and not Tony’s head and legs along with it. Then, he braced for impact, as his body continued to skid and collided with the front passenger door of the vehicle.

The force of the impact should’ve been enough to cave the door in on itself a little, and cause the passenger side window to break. Instead, the door seemed to absorb the impact and only dented slightly where Peter’s battle suited body made contact.

J.A.R.V.I.S. had already shut the door leading into the garage the moment Peter slid inside and locked it down. Even though the door was forged from reinforced steel, J.A.R.V.I.S knew better than to take chances.

“Job well done, young sir. Now, please place Mister Stark’s body into the backseat. Then, collect your things and get into the passenger seat, and I will drive you both out of here.” J.A.R.V.I.S. instructed.

Peter did as he was instructed, quickly and carefully putting Tony’s body into the backseat of the car, before he grabbed his clothing and backpack off of the ground. As he was going toward the car to get in, the sound of splintering wood was heard from the other side of the door. Then, his danger-sense triggered. Something was approaching the door. And it was approaching fast.

Peter opened the car door and got himself and his belongings in just as a powerful thud that rumbled the walls slightly came from the door leading back into the warehouse.

“Thank God that door is reinforced.” Peter thought, as J.A.R.V.I.S. started the car and raised the door leading out of the warehouse garage.

Sensors located on all sides of Tony’s car allowed J.A.R.V.I.S. to see, as the rising garage door reached enough height for the vehicle to back out. Putting the car into reverse, J.A.R.V.I.S. halted the movement of the rising door, and backed out of the warehouse garage. Once the top of the car was clear of the garage door, J.A.R.V.I.S. reactivated it, making it descend. The car had enough of time to get out of the way, before the door completed its descent.

As J.A.R.V.I.S. put the car in drive to begin transporting Peter and Tony to safety, the sleep-vapor system began dispersing its gas into the warehouse. There was no one to hear the second wall shaking thud against the reinforced door leading out of the warehouse and into the garage. There was no one around to hear the screaming roar that came a few moments after the thud, or the sounds of internal warehouse destruction that followed after that.

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