Ltl Rody Shop.
"It is not that kind of suit, Mr. Sytsevich. You will never be able to take it off."
"But will I be strong? Will I be unstoppable? Right, Doctor?"
"Undoubtedly. But your skin will fuse with the armor," the doctor replied.
The man standing beside the doctor frowned at what he was hearing.
"A titanium-resin armor combined with tungsten carbide. A permanent transformation....."
"Am I mistaken, or is your man doing his best to dissuade my man?" a voice asked from behind.
From the shadows emerged a gray-skinned man dressed in an elegant suit. He slowly approached the others, watching the proceedings with anticipation.
"Listen, Sytsevich! You will become strong enough to eliminate... you-know-who!"
"The one who left those scars on your face as a reminder!"
The man inside the chamber let out a low growl as the memory resurfaced.
"So what are you waiting for?"
Before activating the procedure, the doctor inserted several syringes into different parts of Sytsevich's body.
Each syringe contained a glowing green liquid, immediately drawing the attention of the two criminals.
"Tell us, Doctor."
"Or rather..."
"What exactly is that liquid for, Mr. Hammerhead and me?"
"Well, Mr. Big Man[1], that liquid is a muscle-enhancement serum. It will reinforce his cellular structure and add hundreds of pounds of muscle tissue to his body. This will greatly increase his strength once the armor is fully integrated."
With a few button presses, the liquid flowed through a series of tubes into Sytsevich's body.
He immediately screamed in agony.
Just as the doctor reached to stop the process...
...a gray hand clamped tightly onto his shoulder.
"Continue, Doctor."
"If you want me to keep funding your little science project."
Resigned, the doctor continued.
"AHHHHHHH!!!!!"
"Why does my client resemble an animal?" Hammerhead asked.
"The animal kingdom provides many excellent design concepts."
"The rhinoceros represents generations of evolution toward the ultimate assault platform."
"The horn structure provides exceptional defensive capabilities, making the armor nearly unstoppable."
"What is happening?"
"Nothing important."
"Mind your own business, and I will mind mine."
"Yes..."
"My affairs."
He fell silent for a moment.
A certain spider came to mind.
"I will take care of them."
With that, he began smashing through the reinforced glass.
Crash.
Crash.
Crash.
The moment he broke free, he charged toward a wall...
...and smashed straight through it as though it were made of paper.
"Because Rhino is not going to keep Spider-Man waiting!"
He burst into the street at full speed.
Each thunderous step sent tremors through the pavement, overturning parked cars as he charged forward.
Watching Rhino rampage through the city, Big Man realized he had been handed a unique opportunity.
Stepping away from the others, he made a phone call.
After a brief conversation, the person on the other end gave their approval.
A small smile spread across his face.
....
While everyone ate dinner together, chatting and laughing, Peter had promised that he would explain today's events later.
The most persistent of the group was Yuri, who refused to let go of the question of how he had managed to curve a bullet.
Peter merely smiled in amusement and promised he would both explain it...
...and demonstrate it later.
Once the girls and his children finally stopped trying to interrogate him, he retreated to the peace room.
There, he sat before the piano.
He played quietly, trying to calm himself.
The memories of that woman...
...and the little girl...
...still lingered in his mind.
Every time he recalled them, he felt as though he might lose control and do something he would later regret.
Fortunately, years of mental training allowed him to restrain those emotions before they clouded his judgment.
His expression darkened when his phone suddenly lit up.
A spider symbol flashed across the screen.
Peter immediately stood.
"Thanks for dinner, May."
He quickly wiped his mouth before heading toward the Spider-Cave.
As the elevator doors closed, the alert appeared on the display.
He frowned.
"Aleksei Sytsevich."
"I did not think you would show up so soon."
----------
"WHERE IS HE?! I WANT HIM! I WANT SPIDER-MAN!" Rhino yelled as people ran around him in terror.
As if throwing a tantrum, he began throwing and crushing cars in every direction. At one point, he grabbed several cars and hurled them toward groups of people. One of them missed its intended target, but seeing that the second one would not, he smiled like a madman, waiting to hear the sound of bones breaking.
That melody never came.
Instead, it was replaced by a sound that made his blood boil.
Twip.
Twip.
Twip.
The people who were about to be crushed by the car closed their eyes and awaited their end.
When nothing happened, they cautiously opened them and saw the car suspended in place, wrapped in thick webs.
Rhino turned his head toward the person he hated most.
He grabbed another car and hurled it at Spider-Man.
It missed spectacularly.
He smiled when he saw where it would land, but the smile quickly vanished when it failed to do its job, only making him angrier.
"Get the civilians out of the buildings and bring in the paramedics. Some people may have bruises or other injuries. Scan the area. There are no fatalities," Spider-Man said while looking at the officer he had just saved before the man could be crushed.
"Jefferson, wake up and do what I ordered!"
"Right away, sir," Jefferson replied before speaking into his radio and immediately helping evacuate the civilians.
"Aleksei Sytsevich, stop this little tantrum of yours and surrender peacefully. You do not want another reckoning added to the list of bad deeds you continue to pile up," Spider-Man said calmly as he took a few steps forward.
"NEVER! ALEKSEI SYTSEVICH IS DEAD! NOW ONLY I REMAIN! THE GREAT RHINO! I WILL CRUSH YOU! I WILL DESTROY YOU!"
He pounded the ground while glaring furiously at the man standing before him.
"Do not say I never give people a chance," Spider-Man whispered before charging toward him.
Seeing him charge, Rhino did the same, lowering his horn as he thundered forward.
Just before the collision, Spider-Man leaped into the air, fired a web downward, and spun around it, striking Rhino across the head.
Taking advantage of the opening, he quickly followed with an uppercut beneath Rhino's jaw, forcing his head upward without moving the massive body itself.
Rhino immediately grabbed him by the shoulders and hurled him into a concrete pillar, smashing through it and several walls behind it.
Without flinching, Spider-Man quickly got back to his feet.
Rhino prepared another charge.
Spider-Man sidestepped at the last possible moment, narrowly avoiding the horn.
As expected, Rhino failed to stop and crashed through several more walls.
Rhino turned around and charged again.
Spider-Man clenched his fist and steadied himself, waiting for the perfect moment.
When Rhino entered the range...
"You are in my range."
His punch landed squarely on Rhino's cheek with far greater force than before.
The giant flew to the left and burst out of the building.
Spider-Man immediately pursued him.
He fired a web at the ground, slingshotting himself forward before delivering a powerful double kick that slammed Rhino back into the pavement.
Stepping aside to avoid another attack, Spider-Man watched Rhino stand as though nothing had happened.
This time, however, Rhino spat out a little blood before giving him a deranged grin.
"HAHAHAHA! WHAT IS WRONG, INSECT?! YOU CANNOT BEAT ME LIKE YOU USED TO!"
"Spiders are not insects. They are arachnids."
Spider-Man's eyes widened slightly before he let out a quiet growl.
Fuck it... You made me say that.
Rhino snorted and charged again.
With a sigh, Spider-Man began jogging.
Then both of them broke into a full sprint.
Their fists collided.
The impact cracked the pavement beneath them.
Rhino grinned and began pushing harder.
Spider-Man matched his strength little by little.
Soon, it became a contest of pure will to determine who would yield first.
"AHHHHH!!!"
With a shout, Spider-Man suddenly shifted his grip, seized Rhino's arm, turned him just enough to grab one of his legs, and hoisted the giant onto his shoulders.
With a sharp pivot...
...he threw Rhino straight into a bus.
Rhino climbed back to his feet.
The smile on his face immediately told Spider-Man why.
Just before the bus reached him, he raised both hands at precisely the right moment, sending it flying over his head before it crashed into the pillars of the building they had just destroyed.
Enough.
Spider-Man rushed forward.
Rhino barely registered more than a red blur.
Then...
Pain.
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
"Your armor really should not have included conductive materials, Aleksei," Spider-Man remarked after tossing several miniature electric shock bombs onto Rhino's body.
Taking advantage of the opening, Spider-Man unleashed a relentless barrage of strikes against different parts of Rhino's body.
Every impact rang like a bell.
Rhino could only see flashes of red as pain erupted throughout his armored frame.
The final punch struck his face, launching him into a parked car.
Spider-Man began walking toward the nearest police officer.
Suddenly...
His spider-sense flared.
Without thinking, he leaped aside just as Rhino's attack tore through the space where he had been standing.
"YOU WILL NOT GET AWAY! RHINO WILL KILL YOU! RHINO WILL NEVER LOSE TO VERMIN LIKE YOU AGAIN! I WILL KILL YOU! I WILL KILL YOU! DIE, SPIDER-MAN!"
"My patience is running out," Spider-Man replied casually.
The instant Rhino landed, he lunged again, trying to impale him.
Spider-Man dodged once more, slipping behind him.
Rhino growled, spun around, and threw another devastating punch.
Spider-Man answered with an effortless somersault.
Still airborne, he twisted his body and drove a kick toward Rhino.
Unlike before, Rhino anticipated the attack.
He raised both arms to guard against it.
But he had failed to account for the momentum behind the blow.
The impact still launched him backward.
Realizing Spider-Man was steadily taking control of the fight while minimizing the damage he received, Rhino became even more enraged.
He used that fury to fuel a series of surprisingly quick and powerful attacks.
Many of the onlookers would never have believed someone with Rhino's massive frame could move that way.
Spider-Man calmly avoided every punch through subtle movements of his head and body.
From what I am seeing, if Rhino fought several people from this dimension, he could actually win.
This armor is incredibly durable and surprisingly effective. Stark's reactors would probably not be enough.
Missiles, arrows, and most conventional projectiles would accomplish very little. He could probably hold his own against Luke or Jess... perhaps even Danny. He is not nearly as simple as I originally thought.
During our previous encounters, I never had the opportunity to see this. He has genuine fighting experience, Spider-Man thought as he recognized Rhino switching between different boxing stances, street-fighting techniques, and other combat styles.
At times, Spider-Man simply raised his forearms and redirected the incoming blows.
After making a quick mental calculation of Rhino's speed and strength, he waited for the perfect opening.
Then he struck.
A heavy punch slammed into Rhino's stomach.
Another followed to the face.
Using every ounce of determination, Rhino endured the punishment in an attempt to land a crushing overhead blow powered by all of his strength.
Spider-Man avoided it.
Taking a deep breath, Spider-Man drove a knee into Rhino's chin, leaving him dazed.
He immediately followed with a spinning kick that launched the giant into the air.
Using his webs, Spider-Man quickly cocooned him before attaching another web line and spinning him around several times.
Finally...
He released him.
Rhino crashed into a nearby car with enough force to knock him unconscious.
Spider-Man covered Rhino with reinforced webbing, ensuring it would be extremely difficult for him to escape once he regained consciousness.
[1] [Comic Reference: Big Man is a major New York crime boss in Marvel Comics, best known as the leader of the Enforcers and one of Spider-Man's earliest organized crime enemies.]