Peter raised his hand, ready to leave and let the police finish the job, but after a few brief seconds, he stopped because his spider-sense started blaring like a drum set at a heavy metal concert.
Taking a few steps in a certain direction, he began to hear a faint beeping sound, causing him to switch the mask to X-ray vision.
"Damn," he whispered when he realized what the beeping was.
As though the entire world had slowed down, he turned his head behind him and saw people cheering Rhino's defeat. His eyes widened at the sheer number of civilians gathered nearby.
With a swift movement, he turned back toward the building and reached into one of the suit's pockets, pulling out a small spherical device.
He threw it toward the building.
He watched as the sphere slowly approached its target.
Unfortunately, the small EMP grenade never detonated.
It was destroyed before it could do its job.
He never even had time to see what had destroyed it.
"NOOOOO!!!!!"
He screamed and immediately sprinted toward the building.
The civilians.
The police officers.
The reporters who had quickly arrived to broadcast the fight.
And the countless people watching the live news...
...all stared in shock as the arachnid vigilante threw something toward the building.
A split second later, several explosions erupted across the lower floors.
Then they heard his scream.
More than one person gasped as they watched Spider-Man run straight toward the collapsing structure.
That single action left many speechless with amazement.
The amazement quickly turned into fear.
Another explosion erupted from the direction in which the arachnid had disappeared.
Everyone immediately understood what was happening.
Panic spread.
People screamed.
They scattered like headless chickens.
....
Xavier Mansion.
"BUB!!!!!"
Logan shouted after seeing his now trusted friend run into a building rigged with explosives.
The room had fallen silent as everyone watched the fight unfold on television.
That silence was shattered by the image of the building exploding.
Watching the vigilante charge directly into the collapsing structure filled everyone with dread.
Only a handful of people knew that the man who had visited the mansion several times might actually be the vigilante they were now watching.
That suspicion existed because some of them had questioned Logan after he had accidentally let a few details slip during one of their conversations.
He had never confirmed or denied anything.
Which only deepened their doubts.
After all...
None of them truly believed Jason Todd could actually be Spider-Man.
But seeing Logan's reaction to the vigilante running into the collapsing building...
...they realized they had been right.
What none of them had anticipated was that a certain redhead had unconsciously read their thoughts.
The instant Jean looked back at the television...
...her eyes widened.
It felt as though something inside her had shattered into thousands of pieces.
No... no... no... no... NOOOOOOOOO!
Jean screamed silently inside her own mind as she stood frozen in place, refusing to accept what she was seeing.
Without realizing it, tears streamed down her face.
A moment later...
...her knees gave way beneath her.
For the briefest instant, she thought she heard the cry of an angry bird echoing from somewhere deep within her.
Logan kept his eyes fixed on the television.
He refused to believe his friend was dead.
Something deep inside him told him otherwise.
Jason was tougher than that.
A simple explosion...
...would never be enough to kill him.
-----------------
Hell's Kitchen. Murdock Apartment.
"Oh my God," Karen said, covering her mouth with her hand.
"Karen? What happened?" Matt asked, uncertain whether he wanted to hear the answer after hearing the explosion from the television.
During the broadcast, Karen had been describing everything that was happening in great detail, but she fell silent when she saw the man she now considered a good friend because of everything he had done for her and Matt.
For a few brief seconds, she hesitated to tell her boyfriend what had happened.
In the end, she gathered her courage.
"He... he won the fight... but then he threw something, and the lower part of the building exploded... and... and he... he..."
She tried to continue, but the expression on Matt's face made the words catch in her throat.
As Matt listened, he gripped the sofa tightly and frowned, initially worrying about how many innocent people might have been caught in the explosion.
But when Karen could not finish her sentence, countless possibilities flashed through his mind.
Only one remained.
After getting to know his spider-friend, he knew exactly what that hesitation meant.
"No..."
"No."
"He would not do that."
"He... he ran toward the building... and... and another explosion went off where he had gone."
The moment she finally said those words, she watched the veins in Matt's neck bulge as he struggled to suppress both his anger...
...and the fear of not knowing whether his friend had survived.
Karen watched as the section of the sofa beneath Matt's hand slowly cracked under the pressure of his grip.
She rested her head against his shoulder and gently rubbed his arm while silent tears streamed down her face.
-----------
Parker Mansion.
"DAD!"
Caesar, Selina, and Itsy shouted as they watched their father disappear into the explosion.
"PETER!"
The girls cried out, instinctively reaching toward the television.
They all knew Peter was tougher than an ordinary explosion.
But logic betrayed them.
It reminded them that, despite everything, Peter was still human in the ways that truly mattered.
Everyone could be hurt.
Everyone had limits.
Tears slowly rolled down their faces as fear settled into their hearts.
Yuri understood exactly what Peter had gone through.
She had been there herself.
She remembered the day she had been left broken, the day one chapter of her life had ended and another had begun.
Susan and Missy remained frozen in shock.
For a brief moment, Susan saw the image of her father in her mind, causing her heartbeat to quicken.
Missy could not bear the possibility that the second most person she loved most might die beneath a collapsing building...
...or in a massive explosion.
She refused to imagine that the man who had accepted every one of her flaws without hesitation...
...would die doing something no one should ever have to do.