Chapter 143

[Third Person's PoV] 

Rhino charged towards Spider-Man with his horn down, galloping fiercely. The ground shook beneath his massive frame as he thundered forward, his eyes locked onto his target. Spider-Man stood his ground, the lenses of his mask narrowing in focus.

As Rhino closed the distance, Spider-Man leapt high into the air, executing a perfect somersault. Rhino barreled through the space where Spider-Man had been, smashing into a concrete wall, cracking it with the force of his charge. Spider-Man landed gracefully behind him, immediately shooting a webline at the stunned Rhino's back.

Rhino roared in frustration, ripping the webbing off with a single powerful tug. "You think your little tricks can stop me, bug?" he snarled, turning to face Spider-Man.

"Well, they usually do, and Spiders are arachnids" Spider-Man quipped, his voice light despite the tension. He dodged to the side as Rhino lunged again, moving with the fluid grace of a practiced martial artist.

Spider-Man's bio-electricity crackled to life, visible sparks dancing across his hands. He dashed forward, slipping past Rhino's guard, and delivered a sharp, electrified punch to Rhino's side. Rhino grunted in pain, staggering slightly from the unexpected shock.

"You've got a bit of a sting, I'll give you that!" Rhino growled, swinging his massive arm in a wild arc. Spider-Man ducked under the blow, countering with a series of rapid kicks to Rhino's legs, targeting the joints.

"That's the idea!" Spider-Man retorted, backflipping out of range. He shot another webline, this time aiming for Rhino's eyes. The sticky substance covered Rhino's vision, causing him to thrash about blindly.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Spider-Man somersaulted over Rhino, landing on his back. He unleashed a surge of bio-electricity directly into Rhino's thick neck, the voltage coursing through the villain's body. Rhino howled in agony, stumbling forward before quickly getting his bearings together. 

Rhino's thick hide protected him from the jolts of electricity. He grabbed Spider-Man's arm and spiked him to the ground over his shoulder. But as Spider-Man was flung over Rhino's shoulder, he landed on the ground on his own two feet while his arm was still being held.

Spider-Man took a deep breath, drawing on his training. With a swift motion, he twisted his body, using the momentum to flip Rhino over his shoulder. Rhino landed with a thunderous crash, cracking the pavement beneath him.

Rhino snarled and got to his feet, his anger only growing. He charged again, but this time Spider-Man was ready. He sidestepped and shot webbing at Rhino's feet, causing him to stumble and crash into a parked car, the vehicle crumpling under his weight.

"Ole!" 

"Come on, Rhino! Let's see what you've got! You want to ignore my warnings, so you better have the strength to back it up" Spider-Man taunted, his bio-electricity crackling around him. Rhino roared and swung wildly, but Spider-Man danced around his blows, landing quick strikes to sensitive areas.

Spider-Man's fists glowed with bio-electric energy as he struck Rhino's jaw, sending a shockwave through his body. Rhino staggered, but his durability kept him standing. In retaliation, he swung his massive arm, but Spider-Man blocked it with his forearm and uppercutted Rhino with enough force that blood sprayed out of his mouth and his feet lifted off the ground as he went flying back. 

As Rhino stood up he wiped his lip and spit to the side, as he used his knee to lift himself back up. Rhino barely had time to orient himself as Spider-Man surrounded himself in his bio-electricity and charged towards him. 

He landed a double kick to Rhino's chest, then flipped backward, shooting webbing to entangle Rhino's arms. Rhino roared in frustration, tearing through the webbing with sheer brute strength.

Realizing Rhino's skin was too tough for direct attacks, Spider-Man changed tactics. He darted in close, using his agility and martial arts skills to land precise blows to Rhino's joints and pressure points. Each strike was accompanied by a jolt of bio-electricity, aiming to wear down the larger foe.

But Rhino's movements only changed ever so slightly. Seeing this, Spider-Man became more aggressive with his attacks. Rhino tried to bear hug him, but Spider-Man held Rhino's face and jumped, arching slightly above Rhino's arms.

Using gravity to build momentum, Spider-Man kneed Rhino in the face, the only place where his hide didn't protect him. Blood splashed everywhere, tainting Spider-Man's knees.

Spider-Man then somersaulted over Rhino and grabbed his horn with both hands. "Is that a horn I see or are you just really happy to see me?" Spider-Man quipped. In the same sequence, Spider-Man lifted Rhino off the ground by his horn and slammed him onto the road.

The asphalt erupted from the ground as it caved in under Rhino's weight, the surrounding area shook from the impact. Rhino lay dazed in the crater, struggling to regain his bearings.

Spider-Man landed nearby. "Looks like it's bedtime for you, big guy," he said, shooting webbing to secure Rhino's limbs to the ground. He took a step back, observing his work.

Rhino roared in frustration, but the combination of the beating and the restraints kept him immobilized. "I'll get you for this, Spider-Man!" he bellowed, his voice echoing through the street.

Spider-Man then joined his hands together and cracked his knuckles. "Alright, here's the deal… I'm going to make you regret coming to my city…"

Thanks to Spider-Man's mask, Rhino was able to see Spider-Man's little smirk as he joyfully said, "Remember, the safe word is pineapple."

Spider-Man got onto Rhino and began to relentlessly punch him. "What did I say?" Peter said after each punch, which echoed through the empty streets except for the flying helicopter recording everything.

Spider-Man's punches started to become heavier and heavier, blood splashing everywhere. "Didn't I say I'd make you face the consequences?"

"Do not—"

*Splash*

"Take—"

*Splash*

"My warnings—"

*Splash*

"Lightly!"

Spider-Man slammed his fist towards Rhino's hide, causing some of his ribs to break.

Spider-Man grabbed him by his skin-hide and brought his bloody and teary face closer to him.

"I'm sorry," Rhino cried out with a few missing teeth, his eyes swollen shut, with blue and purple markings.

Spider-Man whispered so only Rhino could hear it, "The next time I see you doing villain work or attacking my city again, I don't care for the reason, whether it is simply for money or because you have a vendetta against me. Then prepare to lose an arm and a leg. Do I make myself clear? If I do, nod your head yes."

Rhino was shedding tears as he rapidly nodded his head. "I'm sorry," he kept repeating.

"If you're really sorry, then make up for it by doing something good with your life," Spider-Man scoffed as he released Rhino.

Spider-Man flicked the blood off him and tapped the side of his helmet. "Alright, Aria, what do you have for me?"

Aria recounted everything she had learned. "Alright, I think I'm getting the big picture. Thanks for the help, Aria."

Just then, the others began to appear, each carrying their respective opponents, except for MJ, who just had Ursula's hand tied up, walking behind her.

"I see you made a friend," Spider-Man teased.

Before Scarlet-Spider had a chance to say anything, they heard Aria informing them, "You guys have company!"

They all looked around, waiting for their senses to pick up what Aria was talking about. "It's in the sky, and it's invisible," Aria informed, directing their gazes.

"Who is it?" Nightwing asked, his HUD showing a faint outline of what appeared to be a large jet.

"S.H.I.E.L.D!" Aria said as the jet started undoing its invisibility.

The jet landed on an empty intersection, its backside facing them. As it opened, a black bald man wearing an eye patch walked down with a faint smile.

"You guys are really hard to track. It was almost like you people don't want to be found."

"Literally the whole concept of the mask," Spider-Man said, motioning towards his face.

"Fair enough. My name is—"

"Nicholas Joseph Fury, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. I know who you are," Spider-Man smirked as he saw the smile on Nick Fury's face disappear.

"You know who I am?"

Spider-Man shrugged his shoulders. "You guys are very easy to hack. You should really fix that," he said, wiggling his finger at them.

"Sonofabitch…" Nick muttered. "That's illegal, you know, hacking into government-sensitive information…"

"Then you shouldn't have had your agents following us around, trying to find out where we live and what's our identity. I get easily paranoid. Teehee," Spider-Man said, acting cutesy.

Spider-Man then stopped and got serious. "So what do you need, Nicholas?"

Fury felt his lip twitch. "Don't call me that. The name's Nick Fury. You can either call me Nick or Fury. We ain't close, motherfucker."

"Oooh, you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Spider-Man teased, which earned him a chuckle from the others.

"Anyways," Nick said, changing the topic, "Spider-Man and friends, of course, S.H.I.E.L.D could use your help at the moment."

Ghost-Spider stepped up towards Spider-Man with a scoff. "You ask for help but have a man with a bow and arrow kilometers away and a woman with a high-caliber sniper in the other direction, aimed right at us. I'm not sure if you're new to asking for help, but people don't do that. They ask nicely."

"You heard the girl, Joseph. Are you asking for our help or demanding it?"

Fury glared at Spider-Man as he tapped his ear. "Stand down," he then looked back at them. "They were only there for my protection, nothing else."

"Alright," Spider-Man nodded. "So, Nicholas Joseph, what do you need?"

"It involves them," Nick Fury motioned towards Rhino and the others while looking irritated at Spider-Man for calling him by his full name.

Fury then motioned him to wait and looked up towards the news helicopter that was flying around them.

"Can we have this conversation elsewhere?"

"Afraid of the spotlight?" Spider-Kat asked, amused.

"I wouldn't be a good spy if I wasn't."

"Touché," Spider-Kat nodded.

Just then, Hawkeye jumped from a nearby building and landed next to Fury, with Black Widow following right after.

(Images)

Spider-Man turned into a streak of lightning and appeared in front of Natasha with her hands in his.

Hawkeye had an arrow already aimed at him, while Fury had his pistol ready, but Spider-Man paid them no mind. "Why don't you join our Spider Family?"

Natasha was taken aback. "Huh?"

"You would fit right in. After all, your code name is Black Widow, right? It couldn't be more perfect."

Ghost-Spider and Scarlet-Spider appeared from behind him and grabbed his shoulders, pulling him away. "What is the matter with you!?" they both asked.

"She's a Black Widow! She's perfect! Perfect, I tell you!"

Nightwing was covering his mouth, trying to maintain a serious expression, but his eyes showed great amusement for what he was seeing.

Hawkeye leaned towards Nick and whispered, "Are you sure we really need their help, sir?"

"I'm beginning to question that myself," he muttered back.

Natasha held her hand with a weirded-out but amused look.

Spider-Man then stood where he once was and showed a serious expression. "Let's have this conversation in a more private setting."

Nick nodded his head. "You can bring them with you as well. Follow us."

They all nodded. Spider-Man grabbed Rhino by the horn and began dragging him towards the jet, with the others bringing their opponents along.

They all sat down inside and secured the others in their seats. Hawkeye went to drive. The hatch of the jet closed as it took off and slowly turned invisible.

Natasha turned towards the others. "So, are you calling yourselves the 'Spider Family'?" she questioned, curious about his earlier words.

"It was honestly something I said in the heat of the moment. We haven't really come up with a name," Spider-Man said, rubbing the back of his helmet.

"I kinda liked 'Spider Family'… it sounds nice," Spider-Kat added.

"I'm not related to a spider, though," Nightwing joined in.

"And Red Hood doesn't relate to anything about bats, but he's still considered part of the Bat Family," Scarlet-Spider added.

They all slowly turned to look at her in surprise.

"What?" she asked, beginning to feel self-conscious of their stares.

"Since when do you read comic books?" Nightwing asked.

"I saw you guys reading them when we were younger and I got curious… I kinda got hooked."

Spider-Man wiggled his finger towards her. "Learning new things about you is good."

"So, Spider Family?" Spider-Man asked.

They all smiled as they nodded. Spider-Man turned towards Natasha. "So yeah, we're the Spider Family… want to join? We promise you great benefits."

Natasha was all too amused by the conversation. "Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Well, for starters, upgraded gear and, need I mention, free health care?"

Natasha inhaled sharply in a joking manner,  like she was really considering the offer. "The free health care does sound enticing."

"Please stop trying to poach my agent," Nick said with a straight expression. "And get ready; we're here."

The jet started to become visible again as they landed on a large helicarrier with the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo present in the middle.

As they landed, Fury turned towards them. "Come, we have much to discuss…"