Chapter 174: Slingshot

Twip. Twip.

Twip. Twip.

After quickly stopping a few minor crimes, he finally reached the bridge. Seeing the towers around him, he shot two webs and started moving backward. This was one of the few times he would use the slingshot technique, one that Peter-616 had used more than once in various circumstances, both to travel faster from one point to another and during combat.

Whoosh!

Releasing the webs, he shot through the air toward the bridge at tremendous speed, plummeting downward. He raised his arm to steady himself.

But then he saw a car being thrown, so he had to change his plans and shoot a web at the vehicle, connecting it to another web attached to the bridge, leaving the car dangling beneath it. When he tried to climb up to see what was happening, he had to repeat the same action with several more cars that were being thrown.

With the seventh car hanging safely, he prepared to jump, but a scream coming from inside one of the cars stopped him. He dug his fingers into the glass, ripped it open, and saw a frightened child trapped in his seat because the seatbelt was jammed.

"AHHHHHHHH!"

"Hey, hey. Calm down. It is me. I am Spider-Man," he said, and that had a positive effect on the child, making him stop screaming and look at him.

"S... Spi... Spider-Man!"

"Listen. I need you to stay calm...."

He looked at the boy’s backpack.

"Jack, can you do it, little one?"

"Y-Yes."

"Listen. I will slowly get into the car so I can take off your seatbelt, okay?"

"Yes, sir."

Nodding, he slowly and carefully made his way to the child’s seat. When he reached him, he grabbed the seatbelt and looked at the child.

"Okay. Now I will unbuckle your seatbelt, alright? Get ready to hold onto the front seat. Ready?"

The boy nodded, and Spider-Man took a deep breath before breaking the seatbelt. The child spun around while clinging to the seat, causing the car to sway slightly.

"Well done. Very good."

But the tension increased when he noticed flames spreading along the sides of the car.

"Cough, cough, cough."

Seeing the child, he noticed he had started coughing because of the smoke. Unlike the boy, Spider-Man had a filter in his mask that protected him from various airborne chemicals as well as smoke. Looking beside the seat, he spotted a small inhaler, which made him curse inwardly. He quickly took a small device from his pocket and handed it to Jack.

"Here. This is a small mask. It will protect you from the smoke."

The boy quickly took the mask and put it on, allowing him to breathe more easily.

Suddenly, the car lurched downward because the section attached to the web had come loose. Spider-Man immediately fired another web at the bridge and caught the car just in time. He quickly assessed the damage and saw that several structural points of the car had already been compromised, making him groan in annoyance.

For a brief moment, he turned his head away because the spotlight from a helicopter shone directly into his face.

"AHHHHH!"

"Jack. Come on. Get in!" he said once he refocused on the boy.

"I cannot. I am scared."

"Listen! Everyone is afraid, but that just means everyone has the chance to fight that fear. I am afraid, and I face it. Now you have the chance to be brave and face your fear. So get in! Come on! I know you can!"

He saw the boy nod, and the child slowly began climbing over the seats. Spider-Man noticed the section supporting the car starting to give way.

"That is it! You are doing great! That is it, Jack! You can do it!"

Little by little, the boy climbed closer, but just as he was only a few centimeters away, the part he was holding onto broke away.

As if time had slowed to a crawl, Spider-Man watched fear and despair spread across the boy’s face.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Twip.

He fired a web just in time, catching the child before he could fall. Letting out a sigh of relief, Spider-Man slowly reeled him in until the boy reached him.

Once Jack was close enough, he wrapped him in a hug. The child immediately burst into tears from everything he had just experienced.

"Well done, Jack. Well done. You were very brave."

For a few seconds, they simply hung there before Spider-Man finally began climbing back up.

"Jack! Jack! God, my son! My son! Are you okay?" a woman cried through her tears as she pulled Jack into her arms. Before climbing out, Jack had taken off the mask Spider-Man had given him and handed it back.

With a quick glance, Spider-Man confirmed that there was no trace of his DNA on the child’s clothes, making him sigh quietly. The father noticed and turned toward him.

"Thank you, Spider-Man. Thank you. Thank you for bringing my son back. You are a hero."

Shaking his head, Spider-Man looked at Jack’s father.

"I am sorry, sir, but I am not a hero."

The father shook his head and met his gaze with quiet determination.

"You are. To us, you are Spider-Man, and you always will be. You always will."

"Sigh."

Spider-Man looked away.

"Get out of here. It is dangerous, and I do not know if the situation will get worse."

Hearing a deafening roar, he looked up to find the source of all the chaos.

"Go away!"