Chapter 8: Back In The Swing II
Bouncing from foot to foot, Peter checked each web-shooter to make sure they were loaded with fresh cartridges, taking them out and putting them back in so they didn't jam on him.
His belt held enough to last him about a couple of days or so, so he didn't have to worry about running out mid-test.
Almost time.
That familiar buzzing in the back of his head came again, but it wasn't like his Spider-Sense.
"Alright! Are y'all ready?!"
Everyone around him tensed some flared up their quirks or got into traditional running stances.
Peter pulled up his goggles over his eyes, letting them widen and squint to adjust to being used suddenly. Quickly, he pulled up the red face mask over his nose and mouth, getting that familiar feeling of breathing through the cloth.
His lenses narrowed as his eyes landed on the edge of a building, his hand already hovering over the trigger as he took aim.
"Get ready!"
A breath escaped his lips as that buzzing continued, it was different from his spider-sense.
It wasn't warning him of danger, it felt like pure adrenaline.
His feet became less planted on the ground in preparation for what was about to come.
Almost time…
"Go!"
Twhip!
Showtime!
Suddenly, he was off the ground and swinging several feet in the air. He could imagine people and cars passing below as he flew by.
"WOOOHOOO"
Peter whooped, reaching the apex of his swing and doing a flip before shooting another web.
That feeling wind of his face?
That feeling of gravity leaving him?
That feeling of being Spider-Man again?
Oh, he didn't realize how much he missed it.
God, it was magic!
Peter swung around a street corner, spotting a group of robots standing around in an intersection filled with nothing but a few cars and pulling himself down with a web.
The crunching of metal rang through the air as Peter landed on a 3-Pointer, crushing it under his weight.
Shooting a web at a 2-Pointer, he grinned and swung it around him like a flail, taking out what must've been at least seven 2-Pointers.
His spider-sense rang, Peter flipped backward and landed on a lamppost, narrowly avoiding the swipe of a 3-Pointer's tail.
"Hey, T-800! You missed!" Peter yelled to no one in particular, shooting webs at the building behind the green robot and slingshotting himself through it.
Peter stumbled the landing, rolling on the concrete as the sparks of the robots flew around him. Shaking his head, he jumped back up to his feet and stumbled before catching himself.
He may be a bit rusty on the whole landing thing, but can you blame him?
To be fair, he wasn't good at it to begin with.
His lenses scanned over the street, all the robots that were once looming over him now laid in pieces scattered around.
Counting the numbers painted on the prices of scrap around the street, Peter guessed he might have about 21-23 points so far, not bad but not good.
"Oh, I've missed this…" Peter said fondly to himself, already feeling the rush and adrenaline flow through his veins.
The only thing that would make this test better would be that the robots reacted to his jokes.
It would've been nice if they at least groaned in annoyance at his Terminator 2 reference.
Or was it Terminator 1? Man, it's really unprofessional to forget your own references like that!
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as the sound of dozens of footsteps reached his ears, he jumped up to a lamppost to avoid the stampede of exam takers that flooded the street.
As he crouched up there, he couldn't help but be amazed at how cool and useful some of the quirks these guys had were, there was a guy who looked to have some sort of speed quirk! He never even sees those!
Although, it kinda bummed him out how most of them weren't even creative with using them, you know?
Part of being a hero is using your power to its full extent, and yet some of these people were just doing the most basic things with them.
Peter's quirk was straightforward, but he still found ways to be creative with it! He guessed he just wanted to see some cool powers today.
His eyes looked around the area, the lenses on his goggles widened at seeing robots lurking around inside the buildings of the testing site.
No one seemed to have noticed them, Peter watched as countless people just ran past the buildings filled with free points to try and fight over robots on the street.
This… felt weird.
From what he heard back in America and while he's been in Japan, UA was a place where only the best of the best could even apply!
Was this it? Just people running around shooting off quirks with no creativity?
The brunette couldn't help but feel a weird amount of… disappointment? Yeah, that was the word for it.
With a sigh, Peter flicked his wrist and launched into the air and through the glass window of an office building, kicking the head off of a 2-Pointer before he landed.
Four 1-Pointers dove for him while making low and metallic hums, Peter jumped up and stuck to the ceiling, watching as the robots crashed into each other.
"You guys really gotta work on your teamwork!"
With a small chuckle, he springboarded back onto the floor and crushed one of the 1-Pointers, he shot two webs at the heads of two others and smashed their heads together.
That familiar buzzing in the back of his skull blared in his ears, giving him just enough time to duck beneath a claw swipe from a 2-Pointer that crashed through the weak wall.
He spun around with a kick, his lenses widening when his leg was caught by a 3-Pointer that had also crashed through the wall.
Oh jeez.
Spinning itself a full 360 degrees, the robot swung Peter through the air and threw him through a wall and into the dim hallway.
Ow.
"Couldn't you have thrown me through the holes you guys already made?! I'm not invincible!" Peter yelled, groaning as he stood up and frowning at the robots not reacting to his comment.
How did he go around getting through walls all the time for five months? This sucked!
He wasn't even getting that satisfaction of annoying anyone! That would've evened it out.
Shooting two webs, Peter pulled himself through the air and the chest of the 3-Pointer.
At least they were weak, but they still hurt!
This was probably Eraser's idea, wasn't it?
Backflipping, Peter dodged a swipe from the 2-Pointer and a tackle from the 1-Pointer he hadn't destroyed yet.
As the two robots fell to the floor after missing their attacks, Peter quickly rushed forward and stomped through the 1-Pointer's chest. Not wasting any time, he ripped one of the 1-Pointer's arms off and threw it at the 2-Pointer.
Surprisingly, the robot dodged, only getting its right arm ripped off by the projectile and dove at Peter, the boy simply rolling out of the way and catching his breath for a second.
God, his back hurt.
A lot of him hurt, now that he thought about it.
Did he still have those painkillers Knuckleduster gave him?
He kinda forgot being Spider-Man hurt so much.
At least the adrenaline was helping him out.
You know, for now at least.
As the two got up from the ground, they stared each other down.
Well, Peter stared the robot down while it just stood there waiting for him to move.
It was a lot less dramatic now that he thought about it, but whatever.
"Alright, good old Mexican standoff! You and me, robocop!" Peter yelled at the 2-Pointer, the metallic creature simply standing in front of the broken window that brought light into the room as its severed arm sparks.
Peter sighed at the silence.
Yeah, fighting robbers is way more engaging than robots.
Peter shot his hand forward as his fingers inched towards the trigger before the ringing at the back of his skull stopped him.
It was blaming in his ears, the boy nearly falling to his knees as the world began to be drowned out. The robot simply looked at him as Peter tried to listen to his surroundings.
"Hey, there's robots up there!" A deep voice rang out; the world seemed to stand still as Peter heard that voice seem to strain against something made of metal that creaked and groaned before he let out a huff.
His spider-sense screamed at him to run, to dodge, to do something against a threat that Peter knew nothing about.
A threat that presented itself soon enough.
With a thunderous crash that made Peter wince, an SUV crashed through the window the 2-Pointer was standing by, destroying it and taking out most of the wall along with it.
Usually, Peter would probably say it was cool that there was someone with a strength quirk good enough to throw around SUVs like it was nothing, Peter himself strained when trying to do that, or complain about that guy stealing his kill.
And he was about to.
That was until he realized something.
Most of the car was outside the building, with only the two front wheels actually making it inside.
Peter stared in horror at the vehicle, dreading what was about to come.
He prayed to whatever god there was for that car to stay there, for gravity to just not exist for that moment.
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Hey guys I really need to throw some power stones to elevate the ranking :)
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