Peter felt his throat scratchy and irritated, his arms numb without having the mobility of them when there was debris all over his body crushing him, with each minute the pressure being stronger against his skin. Drops of his sweat falling into the puddle of water in front of him. Puddle where his mask was soaked.

A loud rumble sounded throughout the area. Dust fell from the debris as Nikolas crash-landed not far from where Peter was. Peter blinked a few times until he raised his eyes and saw that the boy was looking at him from a few meters above. Peter was really stuck, Nikolas got his arm into the gap that divided them. He roared in frustration when he didn't help at all.

"I-It's alright. E-Everything...will be alright."

Even with his shaky voice, Nikolas didn't listen to him and kept trying to get him out, the distance between the two was long, only his fingers reached to touch centimeters of the water. Peter heard the sound of wings flapping against the rubble and it made it worse, his body ached even more. Nikolas' weight only made everything go faster, no matter how hard he tried to help him.

"You have to stop." Peter suppressed the pain squeezing his eyes shut as he bit down on the inside of his cheek. "If you don't stop I'm going to end up crushed. I know you know it well because you are listening to me and you understand what I am saying, even though you have these phases."

Nikolas stopped and looked at Peter silently, his gaze begging him not to give up. That he wouldn't let him give up. Peter forced himself to move his arms despite feeling a strong internal pain. His DNA responded to his body and when he least realized it, in his arms he was holding all the debris he was stuck with, throwing it out of his reach. With his first mask sunk and lost forever.

The boys gathered and Peter noticed that the entire upper part of his partner's was completely torn, exposing part of his chest. Peter hesitated but he put his hands on his cheeks feeling the heat that his body produced when he was upset.

"I-I'm sorry Peter." Nikolas said, letting himself be taken in his hands, leaning one of his cheeks into Peter's hand to feel him close. "I shouldn't have let you go alone. I should have known.

"Then let's stop that plane together."

Nikolas grabbed Peter tightly and he held on what he could, Peter felt how he took something as tough as a bone. When he got a look, he realized that he was taking one of his ribs. Nikolas detected a flickering plane failing in its mechanism, he tossed Peter into the air at the same time he launched a web at one of the turbines. Nikolas had never flown so high, but being in the dark sky made him feel free. Peter looked for an entrance to the plane, Nikolas watched his back from the air.

Nikolas observed the vulture's wings embedded in the lower part of the plane, he got close enough to cling to them and try to rip them off and make them disappear in a long fall, but the plane rocked to one side and the wings answered the call of their owner. Peter rolled all over the plane's roof until he got caught in a turbine with his hands.

"The Bird and the Spider, what a surprise! Why don't you guys stop being nosy and do things your age?" Adrian Toomes warned them, holding something in his hand. "Last chance! you two are beginning to gauge my patience."

But neither of them was in a position to answer. Toomes threw the object in his hand towards Nikolas, which turned out to be an explosive that would blind the teen's eyes in midair. This move took Nikolas off the radar as his sight had a hard time getting rid of the smoke. Toomes used his mechanical wings to split the turbines, sending the plane hurtling towards the ground when one of them exploded.

The force of the air made it impossible for for Peter to hear Nikolas's screams telling him to jump out of there when half the plane was already on fire, but Peter stayed, forcing the wings to direct the weight towards the beach.

The sand was getting closer. Nikolas lunged, stretching out his arms and without warning he grabbed Peter hugging him while protecting him from the fall the moment they crashed into the beach. Their bodies scraped slamming across the sand with a trail of fire behind them. A sharp sound attacked his ears, slowly adjusting to the natural sound around them.

Peter crawled out of Nikolas's arms taking a deep breath. His swollen eye looking at Nikolas lying beside him without opening his eyes, with one of his wings totally bent and broken reducing their size little by little as they returned inside the scars.

"N-Nick...Oh...Nick..." Peter muttered, blood smearing his suit-glove as he wiped what was coming out of Nikolas's nose. 

His senses alerted him and he quickly moved away from Nikolas's body when he saw that Adrian Toomes was still standing.

A short circuit was coming out of the vulture's wings, which now he thought the two of them weren't worth it anymore when he saw the ware-boxes with the Stark Industries logo. Nikolas began to regain consciousness, but the pain in his back prevented him from getting up as he moaned in complaint.

Peter felt the urge to help him, but also to help Liz's father. Spider-man doesn't let anyone die. Peter thought. That wasn't his purpose as a hero. He released one of his last web charge, his feet clinging to the sand while his hands held onto the wings.

"YOUR WINGS! THEY WILL EXPLODE IF YOU DON'T STOP THIS MADNESS!"

"Be normal teenagers! This is none of your business if you don't understand why people like me do these things! I hope we don't cross paths again Peter, I'd hate to hurt you if I see you again."

Toomes didn't get far when he tried to take the supplies. His wings exploded and Peter covered himself with his arms. When things seemed quiet, some red and blue colored sirens seemed to be approaching them. Peter got up almost crawling towards Nikolas who was breathing rapidly with a tear coming out of his eye when they had returned to their normal color.

"I-It hurts P-Peter. It hurts everywhere."

"I know. I know. You did enough." Peter caressed his hair feeling helpless when he couldn't do anything to lessen his pain, that only depended on Nikolas.

Tony was right. Peter thought. I may never get to know how it works.

"Now it's all over Nicky. I already took care of something."

Peter picked him up putting Nikolas's arm around his shoulders to walk him. They both took one last look at the place before leaving.

Happy arrived with all the police starting to investigate while they covered it as a restricted area with yellow tape. Happy looked at Toomes and at the note that was on top of the cobwebs that immobilized his body.

"The friendly neighborhood spider man has already taken care of the situation, he and well...you know who ;)"

(08/01/2023)