7

While MJ took a photo of the water phenomenon with her cell phone, Peter’s attention turned to a manhole cover on the street. Specifically, the water that started to flow out from around the manhole cover.

Something was definitely, absolutely, most assuredly, not right.

The water continued to flow out from the manhole. Peter cocked his head toward MJ and saw whatever it was beneath the water’s surface moving with great speed. It went underneath the gondola that Ned and Betty were sharing, rocking the boat.

The next thing Peter knew, water exploded into the sky.

Then came the screams.

People on the street scattered, shoving, desperately trying to get away from whatever it was that had erupted before them.

The gondola carrying Betty and Ned was flung onto the street right in front of Peter and MJ.

“Betty! You okay?” Peter asked as he helped her from the gondola.

“Yeah!” she gasped, catching her breath.

Then Ned jumped over the side of the gondola, and Peter grabbed his shoulder as he said, “Come on! We gotta get—”

“Guys, we gotta go!” Betty shouted.

That’s when the water rose into the sky, and roared.

Yeah.

It roared.

Also, it had a head.

A BIG head.

“What is that?” Ned asked, dumbfounded.

“I don’t know!” Peter said, staring at the column of apparently living water in disbelief.

“What are you gonna do?” Ned questioned, shaking Peter.

“I left my suit in the hotel room!” Peter replied. He couldn’t very well run at the thing unmasked in full view of everyone.

“Why？！”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Because I’m on vacation, Ned! Everyone’s gonna see my face!” He jerked his head at MJ and Betty. “Just get them out of here. Go!”

“Go! Let’s go!” Betty called to them. Ned didn’t need to have it repeated. He ran for her and MJ, and they sprinted up the steps away from the water creature.

Peter was relieved to see his friends out of harm’s way, but he had no time at all to think about it. As he turned to face the water creature, the beast let out an inhuman roar and swung a massive fist made of water at one of the buildings, smashing it to rubble.

Then it punched another building, sending debris flying everywhere. The creature moved away from the buildings and raised both watery fists into the air, then brought them down upon a boat in the canal.

Before he could do anything else, Peter had to make sure everyone on the street was safely away. He grabbed a gondolier and gave him a push up a flight of stairs. At that moment, the water creature reared up and launched a fist careening toward Peter!

“Oh, my God!” Peter yelled in surprise as he dodged the watery fist. The thing hit the ground right where he’d been just a second ago!

Ducking around a corner, Peter crouched down low and crossed his arms. He activated the web-shooters on either wrist and took a couple of deep breaths.

It was now or never.

He got up and turned the corner, firing off a burst of webbing at the water creature. The webs sailed right through the beast as it continued to wreck boats in the canal.

Clearly another strategy was needed.

But before Peter could think of what that strategy might be, the beast turned its attention toward a bridge in the distance.

A bridge loaded with people.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” Peter countered as he sprinted for the bridge. Leaping off the street, he landed on a wooden piling sunk into the channel. Then he jumped to the top of another piling, and so on and so on, before his feet hit the bottom of a gondola. Grabbing onto the gondolier’s pole, Peter vaulted away, finally landing on the bridge.

“You okay?” Peter asked a woman who had been left behind. Once he could see she was, he encouraged her, “Get out of here! Go!”

Just as she ran away, the water creature punched at the bridge, smashing through a railing. The blow caught Peter and hurled him backward into the other railing.

Spitting out a mouthful of water, Peter struggled to catch his breath. The creature was waiting just beyond the broken railing, ready to strike.

Until something else struck first.