Spider-Man: Close To Home
Chapter 9: Phase Two
Finally! After several days of rummaging, tinkering and calculating, his web shooters were finally ready. He'd gone up to the roof every night to test them, refining his work until he was able to get the webs shot out with a strong enough velocity to hit something on the other side of the roof.
Now it was time to put them to the test.
Still inside of his room, Peter strapped the web shooters around his wrists. He adjusted them so the triggers, a small button pad, fit on the palm of his hand where he could reach them by curling his fingers inward.
He shot a web up to the ceiling. It hit the ceiling with an abrupt SPLAT! Peter nodded in approval, taking hold of the web with both hands and lifting himself up so that he was holding up his full body weight. With his new powers, this wasn't too difficult.
"Looks like it's working so far." Peter commented to himself. With a grunt of effort, he lifted up his legs and maneuvered his body so that he was hanging upside down. He pressed his bare feet together with the web between them.
"Ohh… This feels weird…" Peter said with a slight strain. He took a breath, allowing himself to become adjusted. He waited for something to go wrong with either the web or his shooters, but after a minute passed, nothing happened, and he continued to hang there.
"Alright… Time to move on to phase two." Peter decided, looking towards the window. He shot a web at it and yanked it upwards to open his window.
He went to his closet, grabbing his ski mask and red boots. He slipped both of them on and took a breath. He started to turn, but then he noticed a red zip-up vest with a hoodie sitting in his closet. They appeared to be the same color as the boots he had taken from school.
"Eh, why not?" He shrugged, taking the hoodie off of his hanger and slipping it on. He made his way to the window, throwing one leg over and looking upwards.
He leaned outwards a bit, stretching his arm out and shooting a web towards the ceiling. It stuck right to the edge as he hoped it would. He took hold of it, squeezing his hands around it. He used it like a rope as he stepped out of his window and planted his feet against the wall.
"Woo! Alright." He huffed a bit, looking down below him at the ground. He looked back up, and began to climb upwards using the web. He felt his feet slip a little bit, and he yelped.
"Ah! Okay. Just relax, Pete… You got this. You got this." He said to himself, making his way up a little slower. He made it to the roof and pulled himself over. He turned and looked out towards the city.
"What's the point of these things if I can already climb walls?" Peter thought aloud to himself, "I said I would try and swing with these, so I'm gonna swing." He said determinedly.
Peter rubbed his hands together, inching closer to the edge of the roof and looking out again. His eyes scanned his surroundings, looking for buildings that his webs could attach to. He shook his head again as he was starting to psyche himself out.
"Come on, man. Just do it. 'You gotta run before you can walk.'" Peter said, recalling a quote he'd read once from Tony Stark. He took several steps back. He began to bounce a bit, hyping himself up before breaking into a run and leaping off of the roof of his apartment building.
Peter let out a scared yell as his body flailed. With no buildings to land on, he was forced to use his web shooters. He looked up and shot a web at a building across the street. The web hit the corner, and he was pulled into an abrupt swing.
Peter grunted in effort as his momentum shifted. He spun a bit at the end of his web, his shoulder hitting the corner of the building. He groaned in pain as he spun a bit. His web detached at the end of his swing, leaving him tumbling in the air.
"Oh come on!" Peter yelled, shooting a web out with his other hand. It stuck to a fire escape that made him swing forward towards it.
"Wup!" Peter grunted, pulling himself up a bit. He went upwards and straightened his body, flinging himself through the levels of the fire escape. He awkwardly reached out for the building to his left, catching it with his fingertips and flipping himself so he was crouched against the wall.
"Alright… Little more gently this time..." Peter said with a huff.
Peter began to crawl up the side of the building, looking over the corner. He saw an open alley for him to swing through with a building at the end. He looked to where he wanted to go and visualized himself getting there.
"This isn't so bad. It's easy as 1, 2... 3!" Peter leapt off the wall, throwing himself back. He shot a web into the alley and began to swing forward again.
Peter grabbed the web with both hands this time, feeling the rush in his ears as he swung into the alley. He began to swing upwards, and did his best to force his weight upwards by kicking his feet as he reached the edge of his swing.
He rose into the air, flipping backwards over the building in front of him. He landed on it and began to run forward immediately, adjusting his web shooters before jumping out again over a busy street.
"Hello, New York!" Peter laughed out loud and whooped as he swung forward again. His feet could almost touch the cars he was swinging above. He went upwards again and decided to twist his body sideways in the air.
He eyed another corner and webbed it, using his legs to not hit the corner this time. He shot a web at the same building, pulling himself towards it. His body rotated awkwardly, causing his knees to hit the wall before he securely planted his hands and feet on it.
"Ow…" Peter grumbled, looking back again for a place to swing. He eyed a lamppost down below and decided to take a risk with it.
He jumped out again, turning his body in the air and shooting a web at the end of the post. As he dropped down into a swing, he felt the forcefulness of his swing increase, and he let go of the web a little earlier, causing him to go more forward than upwards.
He flung upwards for a bit before finding himself falling towards another lamppost. He tried to shoot a web at it but missed, and ended up hitting it chest first with a loud BANG! Peter groaned in pain, laying limply for a bit.
"Hey, freak show! You okay?" Someone down below called up to him.
"Yeah… Yeah, I'm okay…" Peter said through a pained groan, "Just…getting used to this." He said to himself…