[Spider-Man had reached the base of the Washington Monument. He tossed his backpack aside, securing it to a tree with webbing before dashing toward the towering structure.]
[Inside the elevator, the tour guide continued his presentation. "The Washington Monument stands at precisely 555 feet and 5⅛ inches!"]
["Observe how marble and granite are cut!" The guide instructed, directing the students' attention to the monument's construction.]
[At the back of the elevator, Ned remained completely unaware that the Chitauri energy core inside his backpack was glowing more intensely, its purple hue deepening. White smoke began to seep from the bag.]
[In the next instant, dozens of energy rays shot upward, piercing through the elevator ceiling. The sheer force shattered the glass above instantly.]
[Tourists inside the elevator screamed in shock as shards of glass rained down, scattering across the floor. The monument's topmost stone was directly penetrated, sending a cascade of debris tumbling from above.]
[Panic spread like wildfire among the tourists below as they looked up in horror.]
[Spider-Man skidded to a stop, his stomach twisting at the sight. "NONONO! Karen, what the hell just happened?!"]
["The Chitauri energy core has detonated," Karen reported. "The explosion has severely compromised the structural integrity of the elevator!" The damage assessment flashed on his HUD.]
["Oh, no!"Spider-Man groaned, his panic momentarily blinding him to Michelle Jones's presence behind him. She had just looked up, noticing something was very wrong. Closing her book, she stepped closer.]
["My friends are still up there!" she shouted, pointing toward the top of the monument.]
[Spider-Man flinched in realization before quickly trying to reassure her. "What? No, no, don't worry, ma'am, everything's gonna be fine!"]
["Make way, make way!" He pushed through the crowd, only now fully grasping just how massive the monument was.]
["Oh my God, why is this thing so high?!" He gulped but steeled himself. No matter how high, he had to climb. With a powerful leap, he latched onto the monument's stone exterior and began scaling it as fast as he could.]
[Inside the elevator, Ned, shaking from the explosion, frantically threw his backpack onto the floor. None of the students realized that the blast had originated from it.]
["Oh my god! Look at the ceiling!" someone screamed, pointing at the jagged circular scorch mark where the energy beams had burned through.]
[The tour guide, maintaining a forced calm, raised his hands. "Please, everyone, stay calm!"]
[But the students were terrified. Murphy groaned in despair, "Oh, man! We're gonna die here!"]
["We're so screwed!" another voice echoed.]
[Meanwhile, Spider-Man climbed furiously. Karen's voice rang through his mask, "Approximately ten minutes before the elevator completely loses control."]
[The tour guide, still trying to reassure them, forced a smile. "Okay! I know you're all scared, but the security system is in place! We're perfectly safe here!"]
[Unfortunately, she had barely finished speaking when Karen coldly reported, "The security system has been completely disabled. The passengers' lives are now in immediate danger."]
[Spider-Man grit his teeth. "I'm going as fast as I can!"]
"Honestly, Ned is ridiculously lucky. Not only did that glowing thing not hurt anyone else, but it didn't even harm him! That's insane!"
"Yeah, and Karen totally shut that lady down. So brutal!"
"Still, what were they supposed to do in that situation? It's not like they knew the elevator was compromised. They had to trust the security system."
"If you ask me, the real problem is security. How did they not detect something that dangerous in Ned's backpack? That's a massive failure on their part."
The crowd watching the broadcast erupted into discussions. Many blamed the monument's security for the oversight. Ned had no idea the energy core was dangerous, but the security personnel? That was inexcusable.
The monument's security supervisor paled as he watched the footage of Ned passing through the checkpoint. He knew what this meant—security protocols were about to be overhauled, and he was likely in trouble.
Tourists currently waiting in line at other sites grew frustrated as security screenings were suddenly ramped up to extreme levels. Tempers flared, arguments broke out, and several guests were even escorted away for causing disturbances.
Meanwhile, Tony and the others were quietly relieved. Had that explosion gone off inside the elevator at full force, everyone inside would have been obliterated. Spider-Man wouldn't have been able to save anyone in time.
[Inside the monument, several security personnel struggled to pry open the elevator doors. The tour guide climbed onto a seat, lifted the ceiling panel, and peered out to assess the situation.]
[They began evacuating the students, unaware that their movements were making the elevator's condition even worse.]
[Karen's sudden alert stunned Spider-Man. "You now have 125 seconds before catastrophic failure."]
["What?! Why so little time?!" Spider-Man gasped.]
[Karen displayed a diagnostic. "Unanticipated movement has further damaged the elevator's structural integrity. The brake system is failing."]
[Spider-Man gritted his teeth. "How do I get inside?!"]
["Deploying reconnaissance drone!"Karen activated a small drone from Spider-Man's suit, launching it toward the monument's peak.]
[As it flew, Spider-Man blinked in shock. "Whoa! Since when did I have this? That's so cool!"]
[The drone circled the top, scanning for an access point. Karen quickly identified the best entry. "Proceed to the southwest window."]
[Spider-Man immediately sprang into action. "Got it! Karen, I'm heading there now!"] He twisted mid-air, adjusting his trajectory as he continued to ascend.]
[A crowd had gathered below, watching in awe as Spider-Man scaled higher and higher.]
[Inside the elevator, the security staff continued evacuating students. Murphy, standing near the edge, glanced down and saw shards of broken glass scattered across the shaft. They had fallen from above.]
[After a grueling climb, Spider-Man finally reached the monument's peak. Swinging himself over the ledge, he collapsed onto the narrow surface, panting. He took a moment to steady his breathing before attempting to stand.]
["Okay... Oh my god..." He exhaled, pushing himself upright.]
[Then he made the mistake of looking down.]
[His legs wobbled as his fear of heights hit him like a truck. His hands instinctively shot out, pressing against the cold stone for support. He was gasping for breath, his chest heaving.]
["What's wrong? You've reached the southwest window! Why are you hesitating?" Karen's voice rang in his ears.]
["I-It's fine! I just… I've never climbed this high before!" Spider-Man stammered.]
[Karen's tone remained neutral but blunt. "You have not reinstalled your parachute. If you fall from this height, survival is highly improbable."]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support me at [email protected]/goldengaruda and check out more chapter of this or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~