Although the safety factor of the subway system boasts a rate above 99%, some argue that such statistics are meaningless if it's not 100%. After all, life is filled with unforeseen events, where fortune and misfortune can strike without warning. There's even an old saying that some people are so unlucky they can choke on cold water or trip over their own feet. Today, it seems that a train full of such unfortunate souls has found themselves caught in a random, catastrophic event—an incident with a lower probability than winning the lottery.
Without warning, a perfectly normal subway ride on Subway Line 9 turned into a nightmare. The train, which had been speeding along its usual route, suddenly became out of control, leaving its passengers helpless as it rocketed forward. The situation escalated quickly from confusion to panic, as there seemed to be no way to stop it. It felt like fate had thrown them into a cruel, unpredictable disaster.
Within moments, Riverton City erupted into chaos, with news outlets covering the runaway train incident. Fiber optics and wireless signals carried the breaking news across the city, spreading a wave of panic. People's attention shifted from their daily routines to their screens as the horrifying news of the runaway subway filled every home, café, and office.
The streets buzzed with urgency. But amid the spreading panic, a beacon of hope appeared.
"Excuse me~ coming through!"
Pedestrians on the sidewalk and café-goers sitting in the open air only had time to hear the energetic call before a fierce gust of wind followed. Napkins flew, skirts lifted, and cups rattled as something—no, someone—sped by faster than anyone could register.
All eyes were glued to the news broadcast about Subway Line 9, so no one initially noticed the blur of red and blue darting past. For the sharpest eyes in the crowd, there was just a streak of color, but even they barely caught it. Before anyone had time to react, the figure had vanished, diving straight into the subway entrance like a phantom.
"Excuse me! Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man coming through!"
Down in the subway station, the bystanders were even more baffled. The blur of color was gone in an instant, but they heard the echo of the voice lingering above them. Some looked up just in time to catch a glimpse of Shilouette swinging past the ticket gates, disappearing down the stairwell at lightning speed.
"Was that—?"
"The hell is a Spider-Man?" A bystander murmured, but by then the figure was long gone.
Charlie, playing Spider-Man, felt immersed as Spidey darted through the subway tunnels with expert precision. Using 'his' web-shooters, 'he' fired strands of sticky webbing at the tunnel walls, swinging from side to side as 'he' accelerated. Time was of the essence. 'His' heart pounded, adrenaline coursing through 'his' veins as 'he' chased the speeding train.
"Friday, how far are we from Subway Line 9?" Charlie asked through his headset, keeping his focus as 'he' zipped past electrical panels and dimly lit sections of the tunnel.
"Three kilometers. You're close," Friday's voice responded in his ear. The AI had linked to the system and displayed a map of the subway route on Charlie's heads-up display. "I've sent the track map to your screen."
Friday's precise calculations marked the location of the out-of-control train on his HUD. The train appeared as a glowing red snake, barreling down the tracks, charging towards its inevitable end.
At this speed, closing the three-kilometer distance was almost instantaneous. Within seconds, the speeding train came into view, a hulking metal beast roaring through the tunnel, throwing off sparks as it pushed through the limits of its engineering.
Spider-Man didn't hesitate. He fired two web lines, launching himself over the tracks and avoiding the front of the train by mere inches. With a well-timed flip, he attached a web to the roof of the train and landed on the top car.
The passengers inside the train screamed in panic, having no idea what was happening outside. The conductor, pale and drenched in sweat, frantically tried to override the controls in the front compartment. His heart skipped a beat when he saw Spider-Man land on the roof of the train.
"What the—how did he—"
"The brakes aren't working?" Spider-Man's voice cut through the chaos as he swung down from the roof, landing on the platform next to the conductor.
The conductor, half in disbelief, replied with a shaky voice. "The entire system's gone haywire! The electric brakes failed, the air brakes are malfunctioning, and nothing's responding. It's like the whole train's possessed!"
Charlie processed the information quickly. With Friday feeding him data, he could understand some of the technical jargon, but fixing a malfunctioning train's braking system on the fly? That was a bit beyond his skillset.
"What about the emergency brake?" Spider-Man asked.
The conductor shook his head, his face etched with frustration. "No response either! The system's completely locked up. We're heading straight for disaster!"
"All right, no need to panic," Spider-Man said, his voice calm but mixed with a bit of teasing. "I've handled a few runaway vehicles in my time."
The conductor looked at him in disbelief. How could this Halloween enthusiast stop a speeding subway train without brakes? Was he about to try and stop it with his bare hands?
A quick-time event (QTE) notification popped up on Charlie's HUD. Friday marked key structural points along the subway tunnel where the webbing could have the most impact. Spider-Man quickly jumped to the front of the train, the intense wind from the speed hammering down on him like a torrential downpour. He fired a series of web lines, attaching them to the tunnel walls with precision. The passengers in the front compartment watched in awe and confusion as the man in spandex shot out webs as if he were a spider, their puzzlement almost causing them to forget about their predicament.
With a swift motion, Spider-Man pulled back on the webs, bracing himself as the threads grew taut. Muscles rippled under the suit as Charlie pulled with all his might. The tension in the webbing grew unbearable, stretching tighter and tighter as the train fought against it.
Inside the train, passengers stared in disbelief as Spider-Man's thin web lines held back the force of tons of speeding steel. The tension mounted, and for a moment, it looked like he was actually going to stop the train.
But the strain became too much. The webbing snapped one by one, the sound of breaking threads echoing through the tunnel like gunshots. Spider-Man was flung off the train, tumbling backward, but he fired a new line and swung back into action almost instantly, sticking to the roof once more.
"Hang on, everyone!" Spider-Man shouted, still confident. "It's going to get bumpy!"
Charlie quickly adjusted his strategy. He couldn't rely on just the webs and sheer strengeth stop the train; it was moving too fast, and they didn't have enough time. He swung into the tunnel ahead of the train, sticking himself to the tunnel's ceiling and firing webs toward the track in front.
Then, Spider-Man aimed higher. He fired multiple webs to create a net of sorts. Finally, he reinforced the first structure he made on the tracks and gradually pulled up part of the track.
Sparks flew as the train's wheels screeched against the newly angled rails. The passengers were thrown against their seats as the train began to lift off the ground. The entire subway car rose into the air, tilting upward as it followed the trajectory Spider-Man had created with his webbing.
Boom!