𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐔𝐒𝐊

16. 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱'𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲

     "Eszter, help! Help . . . I can't--I'm over here . . ."

     "Peter, I can't get to you!" Eszter shouts, but Peter's cries brought tears in her eyes. With a trembling voice, the enhanced does her best to console Peter. "Peter, listen to me. I need you to breathe, okay? Can you do that for me?"

     "I--Okay," Peter slumps, closing his eyes as he takes a deep breath.

      With a shaky breath, Eszter sighs in relief. "Okay, good," she wipes her eyes, but the tears continued to fall down her face. "Do you think you can lift whatever is on top of you?"

     "No, no. I can't . . ."

     "Hey, Peter, listen to me. I know you--you're stubborn, strong, and adamant," Eszter sniffles, wiping her eyes again. "That's what makes you special, Pete, and Spider-Man doesn't give up, and neither should you."

     The words sunk in Peter's head, letting his friend's advice give him motivation. Lifting his head, the hero stares back at his reflection from the small puddle in front of him. Half of his face was covered by the Spider-Man mask.

     'If you're nothing without this suit, then you shouldn't have it.'

     The suit doesn't make him who he is, nor does it define him; Peter Parker is the hero. Spider-Man is a hero, and it took him until not to realize the true meaning of Tony's words.

     Peter sucks in a sharp breath, staring at his reflection as his face scrunched in determination. "Come on, Peter. Come on, Spider-Man. Come on, Spider-Man," the rocks fall as Peter was using all his strength to push the concrete off of his body, shouting from his chest as he pushes through. "Come on, Spider-Man!"

     Eszter gasps when a rock slips from its place where her hand sat, nearly slipping through the opening along with the rock. The enhanced stands up and shuffles out of the way, seeing the pile shifting from the movement down below. Eszter moves further away, standing in the safe zone. A smile makes its way onto her face, proud to see Peter not give up. She knew he could do it, and he needed a little motivation.

     Peter grunts as he lets out a heavy shout as he braces the weight shifting from his shoulders to his arms, holding the yellow metal high above his head. His body was still sore from the collision, but Peter could feel his adrenaline pumping through his veins, hiding the pain. Slowly, Peter rises to his feet, ignoring all the rocks rummaging around him.

     Eszter waits until the rocks were steady, the enhanced coughs as the dirt rises and clouds her fresh air. She jumps over a few metal bars, climbing over large boulders, searching for Peter. Eszter struggled with her dress, but it didn't stop the enhanced from looking for Peter.

     "Peter?" She coughs.

     Then, there was a sound of coughing somewhere in the distance. Eszter squints her eyes through the smoke and carefully maneuvers through the rubble, picking up speed. To her delight, Eszter spotted her best friend trudging through the dirt. She sighs in relief, ducking from a metal object poking out from the ground, then jumping down below.

     "Peter! Oh, my God," Eszter sighs as she suddenly wraps her arms around her friend, holding him close.

     "I'm fine, E. I'm--" suddenly, Peter hisses in pain. Immediately, Eszter pulls away before the boy could reciprocate the hug, gripping his rib when it began to throb in pain. "I'm okay . . . just a bit sore."

     "What the hell happened in there?"

     "The Vulture used his robotic wings to bring down the whole building--thought he was trying to go after me," Peter catches a quick glimpse of Adrian sitting on the top of the billboard. "I gotta go! Go back to the car and follow me, okay? "