The sky above Queens was a moody gray, thick with humidity and unshed rain. Raj leaned against the edge of the school rooftop, his elbows propped on the brick wall. His eyes flicked back and forth between his phone and the horizon, where clouds were rolling in unnaturally fast.
Peter sat nearby, quietly sketching a map of the city in his notebook—marking places Raj had glowed, fought, or nearly exploded.
"I feel like a lab rat," Raj muttered, squinting at the clouds. "Except rats probably get more sleep."
Peter didn't look up. "Rats don't punch fire-mutants into dumpsters, either."
"That was one time," Raj said, then paused. "Okay, maybe twice. But still."
Peter smirked and turned the page. "Look, I'm just saying—ever since the cafeteria incident, you've been running hot. Literally. Your powers are evolving faster than we can track."
Raj flexed his hand, watching the faint glow ripple along his skin. It was less chaotic now, more controlled, but still unpredictable. He had strength, speed, solar absorption, the energy burst—and lately, his body had become a shield. Bullets crumpled against him like wet paper. He hadn't even flinched.
Then there was the X-ray vision, which Peter had deemed "creepy but cool" after Raj accidentally called out the model of Peter's smartwatch—while it was still on his wrist, beneath a jacket.
"I'm not scared of the powers," Raj admitted. "I just… I don't know what's happening next. And that's what scares me."
Peter gave him a sideways glance. "Welcome to superhero puberty. One day you're a normal nerd, next day you're glowing like a Christmas tree and punching holes in concrete."
Raj chuckled. "Did your Aunt ever find out about the concrete?"
"Not yet. But I told her it was a meteorite. She believed me. Mostly."
Raj smiled, but it quickly faded. The clouds above had begun swirling in a tight spiral. Not the kind that brought rain. The kind that brought trouble.
Peter noticed too. "You seeing this?"
A thunderclap cracked across the sky, so loud it rattled the rooftop pipes. A streak of lightning shot down, blinding and blindingly close—but no thunderstorm followed.
Instead, something burned across the clouds like a comet and crashed just beyond the city skyline, in a burst of golden light. Trees swayed from the shockwave. Birds erupted into flight.
"What was that?" Raj asked, shielding his eyes.
Peter's jaw dropped. "I… I think something just fell from space."
Another phone buzzed. Peter checked his.
"News says something landed in New Mexico. A crater the size of a small stadium. Government's already cordoning off the site."
Raj frowned. "We're not in New Mexico."
"No, but the lightning storm that hit our sky at the exact same moment? That's not coincidence."
Just then, Raj's own phone lit up—not with a message, but a warning. One he hadn't seen before.
ALERT: UNAUTHORIZED ENERGY SIGNATURE DETECTED.
"What the—" Raj stared at it. The message faded, then glitched back in, like static.
Peter leaned in. "Dude… are you sending alerts to yourself now?"
"No," Raj said slowly. "And that energy signature… it's not me. It's someone else."
Before Peter could respond, his Spidey-sense triggered like a fire alarm. He grabbed Raj's arm and yanked him down.
A bolt of orange energy blasted through where Raj's head had been.
They dove behind a rooftop air duct just as the second shot followed. It scorched the concrete.
Across the adjacent rooftop, a figure emerged—a mutant. Not the wild, rampaging kind like before. This one was armored, fast, precise. His hands glowed with condensed plasma energy, and he wore a helmet that flickered with blue scanner lines.
Raj peeked around the edge. "Who the hell is this?"
Peter nodded grimly. "Definitely not a good Thing."
The mutant stepped forward, launching another pulse of energy. It blew the duct apart, sending shards of hot metal flying.
Raj rolled out, glowing faintly now—just enough to absorb the heat. Peter fired a web-line to the next building and swung across to flank.
"You've been targeted," the mutant said, his voice robotic through the helmet. "Comply or be destroyed."
"Not a fan of your customer service voice," Raj said dryly.
He dashed forward. The mutant fired again, but the energy splashed against Raj's chest like water on steel. Raj didn't flinch.
Super Defense
Peter zipped in with a flying kick, knocking the mutant off balance. "Friendly reminder: you're not the only science experiment here!"
The mutant recovered fast, activating wrist blades, but Raj was faster. He charged in, fists glowing, landing a solid hit that cracked the mutant's chest plate.
The mutant staggered, recalibrated—and for the first time, hesitated.
He scanned Raj again. The data blinked on his HUD.
SOLAR SIGNATURE: CONFIRMED POTENTIAL THREAT LEVEL: TIER 1 RECOMMENDATION: RETREAT AND REPORT
Without a word, the mutant activated a teleportation beacon and vanished in a flash of orange static.
Raj stumbled back. "Did… he just leave?"
Peter dropped beside him, panting. "Yeah. And that freaks me out more than him staying."
Raj stared at the scorch marks on the roof, then at his hands. The glow faded.
"They sent him to test me," he said quietly.
Peter nodded. "And now they know exactly what you're capable of."
Hydra Underground Facility – Unknown Location
A woman with cold, calculating eyes studied the footage on a holographic display. Around her, agents in black suits worked silently.
The mutant soldier's video ended with Raj's glowing form standing over the roof, unscathed.
She turned to a nearby officer. "File the report under Operation Solblade. We've confirmed solar core integration. He's not just an anomaly. He's a potential weapon."
The officer nodded. "Shall we prepare a containment strategy?"
She smirked faintly. "No. Let him grow. The sun shines brightest just before it burns."
Back to Queens
The rooftop was quiet again. Distant sirens wailed, chasing rumors of the fight. Raj sat down, drained but clear-eyed.
Peter sat next to him. "You okay?"
Raj nodded. "Yeah. Just… realizing that every time I use these powers, someone new notices."
"You're not alone," Peter said. "You've got me. And I'm not going anywhere."
They sat in silence, watching the horizon where the clouds were still swirling.
Far away, in New Mexico, a hammer lay embedded in a crater. No one could lift it. Yet.
Raj didn't know it yet, but the world was about to grow much bigger.
And much more dangerous.