"Ordinary people!" Wolverine's voice rose, his tone laced with disbelief. An ordinary person couldn't possibly be that strong.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of explosions roared from the street below. The three of them peered through the hole Wolverine had made in the wall. "It's the military!" Peter exclaimed. Several armored vehicles and a large number of soldiers had arrived on the scene, some armed with rifles, others with rocket launchers.
The Abomination simply plucked a flying rocket-propelled grenade out of the air, a wicked grin spreading across its monstrous face. It then smashed the projectile against its own chest. The resulting explosion did nothing but momentarily set the creature on fire. The Abomination casually patted out the flames, completely unharmed.
"That's insane! Even a bazooka can't hurt him!" Peter complained.
Wolverine nodded grimly. He knew firsthand how tough the monster's hide was; his own adamantium claws had barely managed to break the skin.
"Oh no! The monster is heading toward the crowd!" Gwen cried out. Having dismantled the military's armored vehicles, the creature was now charging toward the crowded streets of Broadway, an area the military had not yet evacuated.
"I have to help!" Gwen prepared to jump down and begin evacuating the civilians.
"Don't go! It's too dangerous!" Peter pleaded.
Gwen turned, her expression resolute. "Peter, I know you're worried about me, but you also know my father is the Police Commissioner. He taught me from a young age that with great power comes great responsibility. Now that I have these powers, I can't just hide here and watch that monster attack innocent people. I think I have the ability to stop him!"
Peter knew Gwen's character. He knew that nothing he could say would change her mind. He nodded, his voice filled with concern. "Just evacuate the crowd. Don't confront that monster head-on. This area is close to the Marvel headquarters. The superheroes should be here soon. You don't need to do anything else."
"Okay, Peter, don't be such a mother hen," she said with a small smile. "I still have my wits about me. I won't go toe-to-toe with that thing." With that, she leaped from the building, using the walls to propel herself toward the chaos below.
Watching her go, Peter suddenly had a thought. He looked at Wolverine. "You seem like a superhero too. Why don't you go down and stop that monster?"
Wolverine looked at him, his expression one of world-weary resignation. "Kid, I can't fly. I'm waiting for the elevator." He gestured toward the elevator doors, which were stuck. "Damn it! The elevator's jammed on the ninth floor. The impact must have broken it." He glanced at Peter. "Kid, looks like we're taking the stairs."
"Okay," Peter said, glancing at the floor number beside the elevator. "But this is the twenty-third floor." He offered a moment of silence for his knees.
Gwen moved with incredible speed, leaping between buildings in a display of breathtaking parkour. She quickly reached the area where the Abomination was rampaging. She ducked into a destroyed storefront and found a large mask, the kind used for masquerade balls, and pulled the hood of her sweatshirt up. She had no desire for the whole world to know about her new abilities.
The Abomination was destroying everything in its path—people, buildings, cars—all tossed aside like a child's toys. Gwen hid in the chaos behind the creature, then sprinted toward the terrified citizens who were still frozen in panic. Grabbing a bystander, she pulled them to what she hoped was a safe location.
The man she rescued was still in a daze. He had only felt someone grab his shoulders, and then an incredible force had dragged him across the street. "Run! It's dangerous here! Get out of here!" Gwen shouted at him.
Ignoring the man, Gwen quickly scanned her surroundings. Pulling people away one by one was too slow. She needed a tool. She spotted her target: a high-rise window-washing platform that had been smashed against a glass wall. She leaped up, grabbed the safety rope, and gave it a hard tug. It was strong. Tying a chunk of concrete to one end as a weight, she swung the rope, hooking it around a streetlight high above the Abomination's head. Then, she leaped, swinging through the air.
Gwen had been a member of the school's dance troupe, and her natural flexibility and coordination had been greatly enhanced by her new powers. Swinging on the rope felt as natural as breathing. Maybe I should ask Peter to help me build a device that can shoot ropes, she thought mid-swing. With his skills, I'm sure he could do it.
An electrician was about to be crushed by a car thrown by the Abomination when a rope suddenly wrapped around his waist, yanking him out of harm's way. Max Dillon landed hard at the other end of the street, dazed and confused. He heard a voice warn him, "It's dangerous here! Leave, quickly!" He looked up and saw Gwen's retreating back as she swung off to save another person. "She saved me," he whispered. He stared after her for a long moment, imprinting her image in his mind before turning and running to safety.
Gwen didn't know she had just become a beacon of light for someone. She continued her rescue efforts, pulling bystander after bystander away from the Abomination's path of destruction. The work was not difficult or tiring, but it was attracting unwanted attention. Using her core strength, she twisted in mid-air, and a flying car just grazed her clothes. She landed against the side of a building, her body parallel to the ground, and patted her chest, her heart pounding. She had almost been hit.
The Abomination turned its hateful gaze on her. "Little bug," it snarled, "you're the one causing all this trouble!" It bent its powerful legs, crouched low, and then leaped with explosive force toward her.
Does this monster have springs for feet? Gwen thought, her eyes wide. How can it jump so fast? She quickly jumped to the opposite wall, narrowly avoiding the attack. The Abomination's hands and feet dug into the building's facade, anchoring it to the surface. It then launched itself at her again.
Gwen didn't hesitate. She began to run horizontally across the face of the building, confident that the clumsy monster couldn't match her speed and agility. This was her advantage. A fantastical scene unfolded on the streets of New York: a young girl running along the walls of skyscrapers as if on flat ground, a hideous yellow monster in hot pursuit.
"This shot is amazing!" an excited young man with a camera exclaimed. He was following Gwen and the Abomination, professionally recording the chase. The chaotic terrain didn't seem to affect him at all. He would vanish from one spot and reappear in another, always keeping them perfectly in frame. "We'll call it 'Beauty and the Beast'!"