Previously on Mayra screws the pooch: everyone's at Oscorp. Peter, Ned argue who'll be a better Spider-Man. Mayra wants to pee. She also is an inquisitive bitch so she wants to explore. Eddie is an innocent unadventurous soul who cares about consequences. But they both explore Oscorp, get into a lab and shit blows up. Black squiggly stuff cocoons them. Peter decides to do hero shit.

Peter's POV.

The sizzling air pricked Peter's skin as he got closer to the explosion site. He asked Karen to activate the cooling inside his suit as he weaved through the screaming people. The closer he got, the more torrid the air became, setting flammable liquids ablaze. The fires moving on to annihilating pieces of equipment and other lab tools. The fire was advancing to the walls of the building, the air inside it getting more ardent. Peter's inbuilt cooling system now did little to numb the heat. Heavy smoke continuously clogged his vision and breathing, his eyes stung and, a dry cough kept erupting from his throat. If there was one thing in this universe that he hated as much as Thanos, then it was the fire. Okay, that may be a little exaggeration, but he still hated fire with passion.

When the atmosphere got irresistibly fervent, Peter stopped. He scanned his surrounding through the thick grey smoke for any signs of fatality, ignoring the abnormality of the situation and concentrating on the main problem at hand. He couldn't see anyone. The area had already been evacuated.

"Karen?" Peter asked. The flames danced around him in circles and, the smoke pushed through his nose like daggers. The heat, from wherever it was radiating, was drowning Spider-Man into an ocean of fire. His body felt like it would self-combust while his lungs felt like they would explode.

"Yes, Peter?" Came a robotic female voice.

"Scan the area for people," Peter managed to say in between his hoarse coughs. A holographic blueprint of the building appeared before his eyes.

"There seem to be two bodies inside the chamber on your left. They're remarkably alive," recounted Karen. Peter rapidly swished his head to the left, and there he saw it. A formidable metallic door, the light above it flickering red, signing danger. The panic bubbled up in Peter's chest.

"Karen, how do I get to open it?"

"There seems to be a 98% chance that you will not be able to get into the chamber," Karen informed.

"What about that 2%?"

"That would be through the vents, but you will burn alive."

"Okay."

Peter shot up a web, sticking to the ceiling and prying off the grille. The metal touching his skin was smoldering hot as he crawled through the vents. Every atom of his body was combusting, agonizing pain like he'd never experienced before, crept up his body. His spandex suit started obliterating from his arms, legs, and face. The smoke inside the vents was even worse. The coughs induced due to the dense grey clouds were like a thousand needles penetrating his chest. But he kept crawling, kept moving forward, giving out guttural cries to let the pain out of his system. On reaching his destination, he kicked down the grille and hopped into the room.

Everything was ablaze. The shadows of the scalding orange flames swayed on the walls. On one end of the room, a metallic ball effused phosphorescent red fluid. The wires outside the glass pane were tingling with sparks, little fires flickering on the red and blue ones. On the other side of the room, lay two bodies in front of the doors that were dented with their shapes. Peter darted towards them, examining their condition.

"Karen?"

"Pulse detected."

Through the smoke, he took a close look at the two bodies which lay in front of him. One was a guy with broken glasses, his spiky brown hair singed with fire, multiple second and third-degree burns were scattered over his body. His skin charred, blistered, and red. But his chest heaved with every shallow breath he took. The other was a girl...which Peter had intruded on two days ago. She had also suffered the same fate as the boy. But they were alive, very much alive.

"Karen, what do I do?" Peter asked desperately through his painful coughs. He vigorously scanned his surroundings for an exit that would be large enough to take the victims out.

"Deactivate the Vegan Chips," Karen said as if it was all a little too obvious.

"The Vegan Chips?! What the fuck are you on about?"

"The bomb Peter, the one behind the glass panel."

"Vegan Chip is a bomb? Okay, whatever, uh-how do I deactivate the bomb, Karen?"

The bomb or Vegan Chips had been set off due to the short-circuiting of the wires which held it stable. All Peter had to do was shut down the electricity supply. He frantically searched for the power source through the smoke and fires, getting various burns in the process. Seeing a huge switch with a lighting bolt drawn above it, Peter dashed through the flames, almost burning alive, his body twitching as the heat took over him. His legs gave out and, he landed on his knees, painfully resting them on the scorching ground. He lethargically dragged his arm up and, with the little amount of power he had left, he pulled the lever down.

The steaming radiations from the red ball immediately died down. The atmosphere was brought back to a cooler temperature, but the fires stills burned, less intense and less violent. The metallic doors hissed open and, the smoke steadily cleared away, giving Peter the view of the two bodies, laying hand in hand. Peter plopped down on the relatively cold ground, his back hitting the wall and his arm still hung on the pulled down lever. He took off his mask, allowing himself to get a whiff of fresh air while coughing out the rest of the soot and smoke. Peter felt like he was dipped in lava, every cell of his body preparing for an implosion. What mattered was he felt the pain, heaving a sigh of relief that the burns weren't too severe and deep to damage his muscles or nerves. Peter knew his burns would heal fast, causing no amount of nuisance to him after twenty-four hours. But he couldn't say the same for the two people that lay there, their breaths were shallow, and their bodies, deeply scarred. It was a magnificent miracle that they survived.

Water sprinkled down, extinguishing the remaining fires of the room. Peter arched his face and hands up, allowing the water to soothe his burns. "Well, that was fucking early, don't ya think?" Peter said sarcastically. But then again, he shouldn't be surprised. This was Oscorp they were in. Everything was compromised at Oscorp.

He carefully got up from his resting position, ignoring the burn in his muscles and the excruciating pain that was igniting his whole body. He put on his mask, limped through the room, grabbed the two people, and walked out.

Mayra's POV.

The sun's rays filtered through white blinds, filling the room with warmth. The smell of antiseptic and medication trailed its way through Mayra's nose. She steadily urged her raven eyes to open, scanning her surroundings. She was in the hospital, lying on a bed with her mom beside her. She had her head laid beside Mayra's arm, her body twisted in an uncomfortable position on the chair. Her golden locks fell on her face like a waterfall. The usual peaceful expression of her dozed face was traded by a worried frown. Her hands engulfed Mayra's, holding it dear to her chapped lips.

It was 9 in the morning, as the sun proudly exhibited his golden self after days of rain. Mayra didn't know how long she had stayed at the hospital, she didn't know who brought her here, and the last thing Mayra remembered was that she was certainly dying with Eddie by her side. Suddenly panic rose to her chest, she got up with a bolt, unintentionally waking her mom.

Mayra's mom groggily sat up, rubbed her eyes, and gave her a warm smile. She extended her arms and wrapped her in a hug, not saying a word and just pressing kisses on her forehead. Mayra returned it, snuggling in the soft cream cardigan her mom wore. She finally took notice of her arms that were bandaged and IV tubes that stuck out of the back of her palms. And the painful scene at the Oscorp flashed before her eyes, the blinding red lights, the oppressive heat, and the blackness enwrapping her and Ed. "I'm so glad you're okay," her mom let out a whisper, holding her tightly to her heart.

"I am too, I thought I was dead but, oh well," Mayra said, shaking out the flashback and trying to lighten up the mood. The question about Ed still burned in her chest. "How's Ed?" Mayra asked hastily, her mind trying to neglect all sort of horrid answers and just concentrating on one. If anything happened to Ed, she wouldn't ever be able to forgive herself. She'd rot in the corner of her room for the rest of her life. Never stepping out to see the world again.

"Ed's great, he gained consciousness last night." Her mom let go of her, now combing the dark, frizzy, strands of her hair. Mayra breathed a sigh of relief, the adrenaline in her nerves finally dying down.

"How long has it been?" Mayra asked.

"You've been out for two days, Ed for one and a half. It's a miracle how you both survived, the doctors presumed, no one would've gotten out of it alive. Even if they did, they'd have major burns that would require skin grafts, surgeries, and even amputation," her mother visibly shuddered. Silence fell into the room as Mayra pondered over worst-case scenarios. She then chided herself for being such a negative asshole.

"Mayra?" Mom questioned.

"Yeah?"

"You are grounded," Ms. Julia Otters said in the sweetest, kindest way possible, giving her an extremely gentle smile.

"I'm sorry, what?" Mayra looked into her mom's ocean eyes in disbelief. "I'm nineteen years old for god's sake, mom," she reminded.

"And yet you behave like a twelve-year-old child!" Mom said, raising her voice and now pacing about the room in worry. "Do you have any idea how scared I was, young lady?! What the fuck were you thinking, running around some labs which blow stuff up every single day?! You are the only family I have, so for heaven's sake just stop." Her mom finished, tears brimming at the ends of her sky blue eyes. She was practically fuming, and she even cussed. Mayra occasionally heard her mom cuss, and those occasions including her being Hulk level angry. Mayra was reckless, she always had been. But this had to be the most reckless thing she'd ever done. Endangering not only her life but her friend's too.

"I'm so sorry," she muttered, wholly guilty of her actions. "You better be, miss," her mom replied.

"I love you though, and I'll promise to never be so reckless again," the innocence on Mayra's face shone like a hundred moons. Her mother left a kiss on her cheek as she walked out of the room, "I love you more, I'll get breakfast while you just try and rest, ok?"

***

Mayra was as good as new the next day. Her arms and legs were still healing, the red scars were scattered around her cheekbones. But she was healing and unnaturally fast which she was thankful for. She'd been feeling nauseous lately but shrugged it off considering it as a side effect of the medicines. She had two lectures lined up today, in addition to some investigation afterward. Mayra stuffed her bag with books, landed a light kiss on her mom's cheek, and left the apartment, hurriedly walking towards the elevator. Holding a chicken sandwich between her lips, Mayra smashed the buttons of the elevator until it arrived on her floor, relieving her impatient self.

The elevator opened with a ding, revealing two tall girls occupying it, both giving her a small smile. Mayra would do anything to avoid an awkward situation inside an elevator, but she returned their smiles. The tall girl with hazel curls gave her a nod, indicating to hop in. Mayra hesitated at first but realized she was running late and stepped inside the elevator, desperately hoping that she wouldn't have to interact with them.

"Hey, I'm MJ," the girl with the hazel curls extended her arm, "and this is my uh... friend, Riley."

And now she had to do some hot girl shit.

a/n: the credits for Vegan Chip goes to starglazess