The Invincible Spider-Man

Chapter 26: Collateral Damage

Alex O'Hern walked to the construction site carrying a heavy sack of cement. He kept thinking of Flash, and felt terrible for what his current predicament. There was a group of workers all eating hotdogs near a table.

"Hey guys." Said Alex.

"Oh! O'Hern, hey what's up? Listen, can you just fix the concrete mix on the 6th pit?" Asked the man.

"Sure, but I was hoping you have like a spare hotdog or something?" Asked Alex.

"Yeah sure. It's just, the boss wants it done quick. So, after you finish doing that, we'll give you one? We cool?" Said the man.

"Yeah…cool." Muttered Alex, as he walked towards the pit. But that's when he saw a man, wearing a business suit walk up to the group and ask them something, and they pointed at Alex.

The man, who had a buzzcut and a scar near his right eye, walked up to Alex and held out his hand.

"Mr O'Hern, my name is MacDonald Gargan, I represent Tricorp Industries." Said the man.

"Oh. Wait, how do you know who I am?" Asked Alex, curious.

Mac chuckled. "No need to be afraid, Mr O'Hern. We are currently looking for volunteers for a certain experiment and we could use someone with your…expertise." He informed.

Alex hesitated. "Look, I'm pretty sure you mean well, but I have a lot of work to do. So, I'm sorry but I have to decline the offer." Said Alex, walking back towards the cement pit.

"We know about your financial issues, and your dispute with your son." Called out Mac. Alex looked back, both confused and furious.

"How do you-" Before Alex could finish, Mac raised one finger.

"We are always sure of who we ask. You see, if the experiment is a success, you will be paid a lot. Enough to support your retirement and your son's football dreams." Said Mac. Alex just stood there, hesitating. He thought of how his relationship with his son was literally six feet deep, but this could help revive it.

Alex nodded. "Okay. What do I need to do?" Asked Alex.

Mac smiled. "Follow me." He said, as he walked towards a Black Benz car, something Alex could never even dream of riding in.

Mac pulled out his phone and called up a number.

"Mason? He's ready, tell Tombstone he'll see Alex in about an hour." Informed Mac.

"Excellent. The exoskeleton is almost perfected." Informed Mason, over the phone.

"Great. I'm bringing Alex to Tricorp." Informed Mac.

"WHOA! Just missed me!" Shouted Spider-Man, as he did a corkscrew and dodged the circular rings thrown at him. "Come on, Ringer! Just head back to jail!" Protested Spider-Man.

Ringer looked flustered. He was wearing a black armored suit with a huge circle in the middle. "Hell no! We're just getting started!" Shouted Ringer, as he threw more circular rings towards Spider-Man, who dodged all of them. Spider-Man then jumped in the air, webbed up one of the rings and threw it back at Ringer.

Ringer fell to the ground, as Spider-Man picked him up and uppercutted his jaw.

"OOF!" Grunted Ringer, as he got thrown back. But he landed on his feet and threw more rings at Spider-Man.

Spider-Man jumped high, grabbed one of the rings, did a flip and dunked it on The Ringer. Ringer was now trapped in his own ring.

"Ah! Goddammit!" Cursed Ringer.

"Yeah, your rings shouldn't be "human sized". That's a lesson for you." Said Spider-Man. All of a sudden, two cop cars showed up at the scene.

A red-haired police officer stepped out, aiming her gun at Spider-Man.

"Hey whoa whoa! I'm the good guy here. I've got two years of proof to back that up!" Protested Spider-Man.

The officer put her gun down. "Name's DeWolff. Captain Jean DeWolff." She said, outstretching her hand.

"Man. Mr Spider-Man." Joked Spidey, shaking her hand.

"George Stacy respected you. That doesn't mean I automatically will." She said, sternly.

"Duly noted…" Muttered Spider-Man, as he walked to Ringer and gave him to the police, but not before taking one of his rings.

"Ringer used to be so weak when I fought him a month back. I could literally break his rings in a second. But now, they feel as strong as steel! Even Basilisk had received an upgrade." Informed Spider-Man.

"They all improve once they're defeated. It's escalation." Said DeWolff, before getting back in the car with Ringer and driving off.

"Yeah…unless…" Thought Spider-Man, as he swung away. "Ah crap! I'm late again! Aunt May's gonna kill me!" He lamented before swinging back home.

Peter finally reached home, and sneakily entered through the front door.

"Hey May." Said Peter.

"Peter…It's 8 pm." She said.

"I know, I'm so sorry! It's just, the bus took so long to come and then traffic was a nightmare." Said Peter, trying to explain himself.

"It's okay, but we need to talk." She said, calling him to the old couch.

"What's up?" Asked Peter.

"I think it's time I start looking for a job again. And I might just have one." She said.

"Oh! That's great!" Said Peter. "Where though?"

"Do you know about that homeless shelter in Chinatown? The F.E.A.S.T Shelter?" Asked May.

"Yeah, run by that Li guy. That's so great May! I'm proud of you." Said Peter.

"Thank you Peter. It means a lot." She said. "Ben always wanted to help people. It was his dream to become a doctor. It's a shame he didn't have the money." Sighed May, tiredly.

"He'd be proud too." Said Peter, but May had already fallen asleep.

"She's so tired. I hope she's not stressing herself out too much. I should go on patrol." Thought Peter, walking up to his bedroom to get his outfit.

Mac led Alex on the 69th floor of the Tricorp building, into a long corridor.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Asked Alex. Mac chuckled. "Don't worry, sir. Everything will be alright." Said Mac.

Mac opened up a door at the end of the corridor, and Tombstone was sitting at a desk in the elongated room.

"Alex O'Hern. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Lonnie Lincoln." Greeted Tombstone, through his sharp teeth.

"Um… there was some experiment, and there is money involved, apparently…" Mumbled Alex, intimidated by Tombstone.

"Ah yes. Do you know why we chose you, Alex? Because, we see something in you. It's taken us a long time to get a volunteer. But you, you might just be the key to the success of this experiment." Said Lonnie.

"I-I am?" Asked Alex.

"Yes! And your name will most definitely go down in history. Mac, tell Mason to bring in the armor." Said Tombstone.

Mac talked through his earpiece, and a skinny man walked in. He was dragging a huge cart, which was covered by blue tarp.

Lonnie unfurled the blue tarp. Revealing an exoskeleton armor, which closely resembled a rhinoceros.

"If you test this out, not only will you be recognized by nearly everyone, but you would swim in money. Think about it."

Alex smiled, as he thought of the look on Flash's face when he finds out that his dad isn't a loser.

"Yes!" Alex exclaimed.

Lonnie snickered. "Perfect. I'll see you here tonight." Said Lonnie, as Mac escorted him out. Once they left, Mason turned to Tombstone.

"Um sir…Oscorp hadn't completely finished this project, so I haven't been able to perfect it-"

"What's your point, Phineas?" Asked Tombstone.

'"It-it might…malfunction." Stuttered Phineas.

"We'll see." Replied Tombstone.

Flash was studying in his living room that night, when Alex burst in.

"Flash! My boy, you won't believe what happened today!" He shouted ecstatically, as he narrated the events of that day.

"No way! No way!" Exclaimed Flash, as he stood up. "Does-does this mean…football?" Asked Flash.

"Yes!" Exclaimed Alex, as he did something he hadn't done in a long time. He hugged his son.

After the excitement died down, he sat down next to Flash.

"Listen, buddy. I just wanted to say sorry. For everything, these past 4 years. After your mom died…I sort of…lost myself." He apologized.

"It's okay dad. Whatever happened in the past is history. Tomorrow is a mystery, but right now is a gift, that's why it's called the present!" Said Flash.

"Did you take that from old tortoise from that panda movie you would watch as a kid?" Laughed Alex.

"Maybe." Joked Flash.

Spider-Man was swinging around, looking for some crime to stop. It was 1 am and it was getting super boring.

"The city seemed quite, but corruption coursed through the xylem vessels in its roots and- Oh goddammit, I messed up again!" Groaned Peter, as he narrated himself. Swinging around got boring, so he would talk to himself to prevent him from dozing off.

All of a sudden, the most unexpected thing happened. He got a call from Gwen.

"Hey Gwen. You're up late." Said Peter.

"Pete, hey. Can you come over?" Asked Gwen.

"Uh, right now? I don't think you noticed, but it's pretty dark outside." Joked Peter.

"I need to talk to you about something. Please?" She pleaded.

"Oh, okay. I'll be there." Assured Peter, swinging to Gwen's apartment.

Peter quickly took off his outfit and jumped up her fire escape to the 22nd floor and knocked on Gwen's window. Weirdly enough, Gwen seemed wide awake.

"Hey Peter. How'd you get here so fast?" She asked, chuckling.

"Oh, haha. There was very little traffic." Lied Peter. Gwen looked like she had been crying.

"So, what's wrong?" Asked Peter.

"Mom's starting therapy for both of us." Said Gwen, morosely as she sat down.

"Well, that's a good thing, right? It would really help." Said Peter.

"Yeah. But I don't want to be treated like a victim. Like, so many people in school give me looks of pity. Harry's going through stuff too, but nobody pesters him." Vented Gwen.

"Gwen, they're just trying to show sympathy. Just give them time. When I lost Uncle Ben, we couldn't afford therapy. So, if anything you're super lucky." Reassured Peter.

"But, do you think therapy will do any good? I still can't stop thinking about him." Said Gwen, sighing heavily.

"I'm not gonna lie to you, I still think about Uncle Ben. But the worst thing you can do is blame yourself. If you blame yourself, it's not going to help anyone especially yourself. Trust me." Replied Peter.

"Thanks Pete. I'll give therapy a try." She smiled as she hugged him.

"Oh wait! I had to tell you one more thing. It's about Harry and MJ." Said Gwen.

"You're trying to get them together aren't you?" Asked Peter, grinning.

"Well, Liz and I are planning to, and we could definitely use your help." Informed Gwen.

"Alright cool. Operation Watson and Osborn is a go!" Joked Peter

"Also, Flash's party is tomorrow. You are coming, right?" Asked Peter.

"Obviously! Oh, do you wanna see the dress I just bought for tomorrow?" Asked Gwen.

"Sure." Said Peter. Gwen got up and walked towards her closet, pulling out a black, sparkling dress.

"Woah…that's amazing!" Said Peter.

"Thanks, Pete! I'm glad you like it." She smiled.

"Of course! Okay, I gotta go. See you tomorrow!" Said Peter, as he hopped out of the window and down the fire escape.

Meanwhile that night, Alex went back to Tricorp industries, only to see Mac waiting by the same Black Benz.

"Ah! Good to see you, Mr O'Hern. Mr Lincoln is at Tricorp Labs. Allow me to escort you there." Said Mac, gesturing for Alex to get in the car.

The car ride was a long one. For some reason, Alex felt super uncomfortable. Eventually, they reached the labs, which was basically a huge warehouse, with a huge container in the middle

Inside, Lonnie and Phineas were waiting by the container.

"Good to see you, Alex. Please, take off your clothes and stand in the cylinder. First, we will inject you with a serum so you can withstand the exoskeleton being fused to your body." Said Tombstone.

What Alex didn't know was that he was being injected by a mind-submission serum created by a man called General Stryker. This would basically make Alex O'Hern a slave to whatever Lonnie had planned.

Alex stood in and got injected. "Okay Phineas. Initiate the experiment." Said Tombstone.

Immediately, two mechanical arms extended out, and they attached the exoskeleton to Alex's body. The insides of the plates of armor had tiny needles, which pierced through Alex's back, and they were stuck on by a special incorrodable, gel-like adhesive.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH! MAKE IT STOP!" Shouted Alex at the top of his lungs, as the needles pierced him.

"Mr Lincoln, his vitals are dropping! Should we stop?" Asked Phineas, panicking a little.

"No! Come on, Alex!" Shouted Tombstone.

Eventually, the experiment stopped. The armor had fused to him, but Alex had no heart rhythm.

"He's…he's dead. Oh god!" Panicked Phineas.

"Shit. Anyway, let's find another test subject. There was another one, right? That Aleks-"

Before Tombstone could finish, he heard a huff, like that from a huge animal. The container broke open, and there stood a 9 feet tall Alex, wearing the rhino armor.

"Stop!" Shouted Tombstone to Alex. Alex stopped dead in his tracks due to the serum he was given. At this point, Alex had no mind of his own due to the effects of the serum.

Mac had a ping on his tablet. "I have a visual on the target. Tombstone, Spider-Man's in the Financial District." Said Mac.

"Wonderful. Alex…no, Rhino! Yes! Rhino, go kill Spider-Man." Ordered Tombstone. Rhino nodded, his huge horn nearly hitting Phineas, and he rampaged off towards the Financial District.

"Perfect. The experiment worked." Laughed Tombstone. "We gave Basilisk and Ringer new armor, but Spider-Man had already fought them. Let's see how he stands against The Rhino!"

Spider-Man was swinging around the Financial District, having just left Gwen's house. All of a sudden, his police scanner had multiple pings at once.

"ALL UNITS, WE HAVE A RAMPAGING RHINO-"
"ALL UNITS! A CREATURE IS DESTROYING-"
"THERE'S SOME CRAZY-ASS RHINO IN THE FINANCIAL DISTRICT!"

"A Rhino? Sheesh, first Vultures and Lizards and now Rhinos? What's next, snakes?" Thought Spider-Man, as he swung towards the chaos.

Spider-Man arrived, only to see a nearly 9 feet tall creature in Rhino armor, with a huge horn.

"Hey! The Bronx Zoo is pretty far from here, so where'd you come from?" Asked Spider-Man, hopping on a lamppost.

"Spiderrrrrrr!" Growled Rhino, as he charged towards the lamppost. Spider-Man front-flipped away, dodging the Rhino's huge horn.

"Alright, look. You're an endangered species, so I'm giving you a chance to put the horn down!" Shouted Spider-Man. But Rhino was surprisingly fast, as he charged and swung his horn towards Spider-Man, smacking his side and sending him flying into a street-side shop.

Rhino then grabbed Spider-Man, lifted him and slammed him to the ground, before throwing him away.

Spider-Man tumbled down the street. However, he managed to stand up.

There were many cars trying to drive away, and Rhino grabbed one which had two people in them. He lifted it high above his head.

"Hey, whoa! There are people in there!" Shouted Spider-Man. Rhino threw the car towards Spider-Man, who barely managed to catch it. Using a lot of power, he managed to put the car down safely, as the civilians got out and ran away.

However, just as he did that, Rhino charged and slammed into Spider-Man. He then picked up more empty cars and threw it at Spider-Man.

Gracefully, Spider-Man dodged them. As he dodged one of the cars in mid-air, he ripped off one of their doors, did a side-flip and threw it at the Rhino's face, who stumbled backwards.

Spider-Man then shot two webs on either side of the street, making a makeshift catapult, as he flew straight towards the dazed Rhino and kicked him straight in his chest. He then shot two webs at Rhino's chest and flipped over him, landing on his back. He started to ride him like he was a raging bull.

"Now sir, I don't think you have a license to rampage across the city!" Joked Spider-Man, trying to control the Rhino's movement as he ran across the streets. However, Rhino grabbed Spider-Man and violently threw him into a small park. Children ran across the park, screaming for their parents as Rhino stomped in.

"Hey stop, stop! There are children here!" Protested Spider-Man, but Rhino charged and slammed him into a tree.

"UNFF!" Groaned Spider-Man, as Rhino lifted him and slammed him on a wooden bench, completely destroying it.

Just as Rhino was about to finish the job, something happened. The serum he was injected with was wearing off.

"Wha-what's going on? Spider-Man?" Asked a confused Alex.

"Oh so you talk now?" Asked Spider-Man, kicking his face and double backflipping out of the way.

"O'Hern. Get back to base. Ignore Spider-Man for now!" Ordered Tombstone, through a speaker in Rhino's helmet.

Confused, Alex rampaged away, trying to avoid causing damage.

Spider-Man just stood there, confused.

"Where do these guys even come from?" He thought, painfully swinging away.

The next day at school, everyone was talking about Flash's party. 12 year old Peter never would've guessed that he would be invited to a party by Flash Thompson when he turned 16.

He had to put a ton of concealer to hide his bruises, but his chest and back still hurt like hell. He walked up to Harry, MJ and Liz.

"Hey, Harry. MJ." Said Peter, winking at Liz, who got what he was doing.

"Hey, tiger. What's up?" Asked MJ.

"Just wanted to see you guys. How's it going, Har?" Asked Peter.

"Pretty good." Said Harry, blushing a little.

"Well, guess what? I got two discount coupons for Coffee Cabin. Only thing is, I'm super busy to go there anyways. So I was wondering…" Asked Peter.

"Sure, I'll take one." Said MJ.

"Yeah, me too!" Said Harry, promptly as he took another one. "Can I talk to you for a sec, Pete?" Asked Harry.

"Uh, sure yeah." Said Peter, as they both walked away.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Harry started chuckling.

"Bro, I get what you're trying to do." He laughed.

"Well, I think we all can tell you're into Mary Jane." Joked Peter.

"Yeah. But she's so hard to read. It's like you can't tell when she's flirting and when she's being serious." Explained Harry.

"Which is why I got you thee coupons." Said Peter, as he held Harry's shoulders. "You helped me so much with Uncle Ben, and then you helped me with Gwen too. And as your eternal best friend, I am morally obliged to help you." Said Peter.

"Aww, thanks Pete. That was really heartwarming." Chuckled Harry.

"Yeah, yeah. Now go talk to her!" Said Peter.

That's when Peter heard a voice call him. It was Otto, calling him from his office.

"Peter! Come quick." Said Otto. Peter walked towards Otto's office, only to see him super excited.

"Hi, Doctor Octavius." Greeted Peter.

"I've got great news! Oscorp finally delivered the OCK-8 Project!" Said Otto.

"That's great news, so we can work on it now?" Asked Peter.

"There's just one issue: Some parts I need are at Oscorp. And I am never going to head there again. So…I need a favour." Said Otto.

"You want me to go and get the parts required?" Asked Peter.

"Precisely! I hope it's not too much to ask." Said Otto.

"Oh, not at all! Can't wait to work on this, doc. Plus, I'll get to meet Alistair Smythe." Said Peter, leaving the office.

Rhino charged back in the warehouse. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" He shouted.

"Calm down, Alex. We will get you out of that soon." He said, gesturing to Phineas.

"I was…hurting Spider-Man…why?!" He shouted.

"Don't worry, Rhino. Everything will be better." Said Tombstone.

The needles that were on the armor plates weren't only to make sure it fuses with the body. It was also a way to inject Stryker's serum.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Shouted Alex, as the serum was injected through many tiny needles.

Soon enough, the screaming stopped, and Rhino looked back at Tombstone and Phineas.

"Perfect." Snickered Tombstone

Well, that was a pretty long chapter, mostly because a lot is going to go down in Season 3 and I don't wanna keep too many episodes. I hope you guys like how I handled the Rhino. Many iterations just make him like a stupid brute (I'm looking at you, TASM 2) but I wanted to give my own spin on the character as a person stuck in a monster's body against his will. Episode 3 will be out soon so stay tuned for that! Also, I hope you guys liked the X-Men reference I put in there.

Things have actually gotten better where I live. I went out for a drive a couple of days and things seemed like 80% fine. Still, it doesn't feel completely normal yet.

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT: I have started my own shared universe of Marvel characters that i'm naming " Marvel's Invincibles." Sort of like Marvel's Ultimates. from the Ultimate Universe, Earth 1610. I have written few episodes for a miniseries known as "The Invincible Doctor Strange" in the Marvel sub-category, so be sure to check that out too! And yes, i have huge plans for both Doctor Strange and Spider-Man, but i'm not revealing all my cards just yet. Stay tuned for further updates!

My universe, "Marvel's Invincibles" is set on Earth 9180.

TheGreatGodzilla: I honestly feel like MJ is a better fit, but then again I have no plans to kill off Gwen yet. And yes, The Avengers do exist in this universe. I'm not sure about the Guardians of The Galaxy yet though.

Shawna1999: Thanks! You never know, Peter might just take up a job as a scientist in the future.

Guest: I still have plans for Flash, and I don't think I'll introduce Venom so early on in Peter's life. Maybe sometime in the future, though your idea is quite interesting.

Yours Truly,

Shadow Strike.