February 20th, 2011
I had been on my way back from the tailor when Gideon patched into the communicator in my ear with dire news.
"Master Edward, there has been an attempted robbery of a convoy on the way to the Federal Reserve. Reports have Spiderman already on scene, struggling with two superpowered individuals."
Never a dull moment in the hero business. "Descriptions?"
"A man who appears to have control over electricity, and a giant half-man, half-rhino, along with twenty armed mercenaries."
My eyes widened. Damn, not even a year in and Peter is already getting double-teamed.
Pause.
Not like that… never mind, I have a robbery to deal with.
Moving into an alley, I pulled a Superman and discarded my clothing to reveal the Guardian suit beneath, ready to go, and took off into the sky.
Dulling my other senses, I focused on my hearing until I eventually picked up the sound of gunfire, electricity crackling, and the heavy footfalls of who could only be Rhino before I shot off in their direction.
Coming around a corner, I spotted the chaos instantly.
Two armored cars were already flipped over, their occupants either knocked out or trying to return fire at the nearby goons.
Several of said goons were in all kinds of states, some moaning and groaning in pain, others webbed up in different positions. A few even looked dead, so I assumed that was the guards' doing.
Familiar thwips had me looking up to see Spiderman, looking a bit worse for wear, catapulting himself feet-first toward Rhino's chest, only to be caught moments before impact and slammed into the ground.
Electro then sent a burst of electricity toward the downed web-slinger, who began convulsing from the pain yet still struggled to get back on his feet.
Rhino began charging toward him, picking up speed as he went, the horn on his head poised to impale Spiderman straight through the chest.
Taking the initiative, I dashed in between the two just as Rhino was about to collide with Spiderman, who had only just turned to meet the blow.
Instead, Rhino was met with an immovable object in the form of myself, feet planted into the ground, one hand pressed against his chest, bringing him to a full stop.
"Huh," Rhino said, confused, looking down just in time to see a fist careening straight toward his face.
The force of the blow sent out a small shockwave as Rhino was launched twenty feet away into one of the armored trucks, the impact leaving a significant dent in the metal.
Everyone went stock-still for a moment, even Electro paused in his relentless assault to stare at the newcomer on the scene.
However, I only had eyes for Spiderman, who looked like he was about to keel over at any moment but still managed to push himself back onto his feet.
"You alright, kid?" I asked, and honestly felt a bit weird calling him that, considering he was only two years younger than me.
Spiderman wobbled slightly, placing a gloved hand over his stomach where I now noticed a hole that looked suspiciously like a bullet wound, blood seeping from what appeared to be a clean through-and-through.
"Y… yeah, I'm just dandy," he responded, voice muffled behind his mask before sputtering, "Who you callin' kid! Hey—where…?"
I simply ignored him as I turned toward Rhino, who was slowly getting up from the truck, rolling his head to shake off the disorientation.
"You take care of Palpatine over there. This one's mine." With that, I dashed toward Rhino, who charged to meet me head-on.
As my fist collided with his, an even larger sonic boom erupted from the impact, stopping both of us in our tracks and sending several nearby goons stumbling.
My counterattack was quicker, however, as I grabbed Rhino by the arm, spun him around, and hurled him into three nearby goons who had just begun raising their rifles to fire at Spiderman.
One turned just in time to curse in Russian before the massive body of their ally crashed down on top of them.
I winced slightly, especially at the sound of several bones breaking.
Without the constant pressure on him, Spiderman fared much better against a single opponent, landing blows from multiple angles as he used his web-shooters with an efficiency that was genuinely impressive.
It was clear why so many in the Marvel Universe respected the young hero.
"Alright, Horn-Head, let's see what else you've got."
Rhino, now back on his feet, didn't see me vanish from my spot, only to reappear behind him, both fists clasped together in a double axe-handle as I slammed them down on the back of his head.
The force behind the blow would have been enough to cleave straight through a normal person, and that was me holding back, yet Rhino handled it well.
Well… if you count being driven into a six-foot crater as handling it well.
Seeing as I had a moment before the brute got back up, I scanned the battlefield at lightning speed before my green eyes locked onto a group of goons taking aim and firing relentlessly at Spiderman.
Clearly they weren't completely brainless, seeing as none had bothered to fire a single bullet at me.
Aw, I had a reputation.
However, in slow motion, I caught one of the bullets clipping the Spider in the arm just as he drove a knee into Electro's face.
The hit disoriented him just enough for Electro to fire off another blast of electricity straight into Spiderman's chest, sending him flying into a fire hydrant that burst open, water spraying into the air.
My eyes narrowed, all traces of amusement gone as I dashed toward the remaining goons, appearing in front of them and snapping their guns in half before dropping each of them with a single punch to the face.
The rumbling barreling toward me at high speed signaled that ol' Tubby behind me had woken up, and he was pissed.
Back turned, I lured the Russian into a false sense of security, but just as he neared, I sidestepped at the last second, letting him rush past before wrapping my arms around his waist and suplexing him into the ground.
Deciding to stop fucking around, I rained punch after punch onto his face, blood spraying with each hit as every blow drove him deeper into the crater he'd already made, until Rhino finally went limp, slipping into unconsciousness.
"Hey, Sparky! Catch!"
Spiderman webbed Electro in the chest and swung him straight toward the fire hydrant spewing water.
The combination of his injuries and the water countering his electrical powers sent him into violent convulsions before he finally lost consciousness.
Police sirens approached, and the remaining goons were quickly rounded up by the Spider and me.
I gently touched down behind Spiderman, who had just finished webbing up the last thug.
He looked like hell—burned holes in his suit, blood seeping from multiple wounds, bruises already darkening across his exposed skin.
His senses must not have registered me as a threat, because he startled slightly when he turned and found me hovering a few inches off the ground in front of him.
"You alright, kid?" I asked once more.
Spiderman made to nod, but the adrenaline seemed to wear off all at once as he swayed before collapsing.
I caught him before he could hit the ground, concern flickering through me until I saw the steady rise and fall of his chest.
The police began apprehending the criminals as well—a specialized armored van and restraints were brought in for Rhino, while Electro was simply slapped in cuffs.
Captain Stacey was there, and when he locked eyes with me—and then the unconscious Spiderman—he gave me a nod before turning away to continue his work.
Taking that as my cue, I lifted gently off the ground and headed straight back home to patch up the web-slinger.
When I arrived, Gideon had already prepared the latest invention I had just finished working on.
It was based on a Bacta tank, using the Bacta water to accelerate healing. By combining my holo-scanner and x-ray technology, I had created a kind of healing cocoon that placed the occupant into a deep restorative sleep while a holographic x-ray displayed the internal healing process in real time.
Taking off Peter's suit, I couldn't help but sigh at the sheer number of bruises and wounds covering his body. Removing his mask revealed more of the same, leaving him stripped down to just his underwear.
I paused for a moment, staring at the kid in front of me.
Because he was just that, a kid.
Not some larger-than-life comic book character that I and so many others had looked up to in my past life. Just a kid burdened with great responsibility because of a single line his uncle gave him on his deathbed.
A kid dealt blow after blow, shitty hand after shitty hand, who still got up every morning and chose to help people at the cost of his own health.
So many people in my past life joked about Peter's constant struggle, how he gave everything to a world that kept beating him down.
Maybe I could change that. Maybe I could make things a little easier for him. I wouldn't be able to get him to stop being a hero, that was a given.
But I could sure as hell help him.
The Healing Cocoon lit up blue, signaling the start of the process as the glass dome closed around Peter, submerging him in the cloudy Bacta fluid.
"Gideon, fetch me some Polymer-V," I said quietly. "I've got a new suit to make."
-
Lets see what people have to complain about this time.