Symbiotes and Surprises-Chapter Three
Will Spidey be felled by the Headsman's ax? Will Carnage make another appearance? What happened to the Venom symbiote? What's the Red Skul'sl new plan? That means a lot of trouble for Spidey, but it also means a lot of story for you!
The Red Skull was still seated, watching the Headsman head out towards Spider-Man. He saw the colossal giant glide on his disk, brandishing his ax in his right hand. He wanted to kill Spider-Man, that much was quite clear. Not that the Red Skull actually believed he could. He could have left the Headsman to die, told him to fight to the death. Instead, he decided to keep the Headsman under control. Let him rough Spidey up and then retreat. All the Red Skull needed was a barely weakened Spider-Man and victory would be assured.
No one had ever been able to truthfully assure victory over Spider-Man. Many had predicted their victory and then been defeated, such as Doctor Octopus. But now, the Red Skull had the ultimate weapon. Someone Spider-Man had faced before, but then again, not really faced at all. And just at that time, that certain someone walked into the room.
"Hello, Rhino." The Red Skull said, pressing a button that sealed the door behind him. "I see you are out of costume."
"Well, I'm in the Rhino outfit still. But if you mean, the suit, then no."
"Yes, I refer to the suit." The Red Skull answered, lighting a new cigar. "The symbiote. You are still bonded with it, are you not?"
"Yes, I am. And it's the best think that ever happened to me. I don't have to look weird anymore. I can change my look to blend in on the street. I'm even stronger than I was. I now have speed and agility. It's really an amazing thing." The Rhino answered, smiling.
"Good. So you enjoy my gift to you. But remember what you must do to earn full possession of it."
"Yes, yes, of course. You said I had to kill Spider-Man first. With my new powers, it will be all too easy to dispose of him. For now, he challenges not the Rhino, but something even more rare and powerful … The Black Rhino!"
"But all the same, Rhino, I've put some insurance into our plan. This fool called the Headsman is going to take a whack at him first, you know, be the storm preceding the hurricane."
"Of course. That's fine. All I want is my whack at the Spider and my reward afterwards. I'm in it for money and revenge."
"Yes, as is the Headsman, even though he's only faced off with Spider-Man twice in the past."
"Speaking of, Skull, what's your motivation for this? Just want to make your mark by picking off Spider-Man. I thought Captain America was the one you were after."
"Let's just say that he's interfered with enough of my plans to anger me. I see him as one of the many obstacles in the way of global domination."
Spider-Man only had a split second to guard himself from the oncoming attack, a split second given to him by his trusty spider sense. However, for someone with the agility of a spider, a split second was enough. He dodged the Headsman's ax blow with ease and jumped onto the side of an apartment complex. The Headsman, however, quickly recovered and came back with another giant ax blow. Spidey barely dodged it, and it grazed his suit, slamming into and smashing a wall. He quickly pulled the ax out, but Spider-Man sent a blast of webbing right into his face, causing his glider to jet backwards out of Spidey's line of fire.
Spider-Man then used a strong, single strand of webbing to grasp onto the hover-disk. He then pulled the Headsman to the side with all of his strength, sending him straight into the apartment complex's brick wall.
Spidey waited until he was sure the Headsman was either knocked out or deeply rattled, and then crawled into the hole. That was a big mistake. As soon as Spidey entered, the Headsman brought his ax down on him. Spidey jumped back, alerted by his spider sense, but not quite in time the Headsman's ax narrowly missed his hand and came down on his web cartridge on his wrist, shattering the cartridge everywhere.
However, this really worked to Spider-Man's advantage. The ax became engulfed in liquid webbing, and then stuck to the ground below where the ax had struck. The Headsman gave a huge heave, almost but not quite freeing the ax. However, even if he had freed it, it would not have been in time. Spider-Man was already back in the empty apartment, unleashing a mighty punch into the Headsman's face. Then, Spidey used his undamaged web-shooter to bond the Headsman's hands with the ax. Now both the ax and the Headsman were stuck.
"Stuck there, pal?" Spidey chuckled, punching him again. "It's so nice that I don't have to pull my punches with someone as huge as you." He unleashed another furious punch, this one causing the Headsman to drop to the floor. "Catch ya later, big boy!"
Spider-Man turned to swing back out of the wide hole. Unfortunately, something was blocking the way. Something big. Something bulky. Something black. Something with two horns and a very nasty grimace.
"Hey, Spider-Man." The figure said, smiling. "It took you longer than we thought it would. He's really just a big, bulky push-over."
"And if I were you, I would not be talking about big, bulky, push-overs, Rhino."
"Heh." The Rhino chuckled. "Watch and learn, Spider." The Rhino put his hand up, shooting a strand of webbing onto the ceiling. He jumped up, holding on firmly to the ceiling and smiling at Spider-Man. "The name's Black Rhino these days." He leaped across the room, crawling on another wall. "And we don't like spiders very much."
No. It can't be. Not the Rhino. Spider-Man thought, If that symbiote found him, I have no chance of winning. He's too powerful. It was bad enough when he was just big!
"Thinking about your death, Spider?" Rhino said, leaping off of the wall. "Here we come!" He landed firmly on top of Spider-Man, knocking the wind completely out of him. He stood and began to web Spider-Man to the floor. "Hah. I always wondered what it'd be like to be the one with the webbing."
"Too bad webbing isn't quite capable of holding a spider down!" Spider-Man shouted, leaping up through the webbing. He unleashed a punch to Black Rhino's jaw, expecting to see the usual reeling-in-hurt super villain after a spidey-powered punch. However, Black Rhino barely even moved.
"Hah! Is that the best you can do, Spider?" the Black Rhino scoffed, pulling back his fist. "Now this is a punch!"
Spidey tried to duck, but with Rhino's new-found agility the punch virtually couldn't be avoided. It hit Spidey square in the jaw, and Spider-Man reeled backwards. He turned to run, but had forgotten one thing: the hole in the wall. In his haste to retreat, he slipped out of the room and into the sky. In mid-fall, he shot a web upwards towards the room. The shot was all to accurate. The Black Rhino caught the strand of webbing in his outstretched fist and held it high above his head. "Spider-Man!" he shouted down towards Spidey, "You are through!"
Just at that moment, Spider-Man used the web to leap at the brick wall of the apartment building. He had waited until just the right time in order to make the Black Rhino think he was dead. The line had slacked just as the Black Rhino released it. Spider-Man paused to rest, hanging on to the huge wall like only a select few could do.
The Black Rhino laughed at Spider-Man's defeat. With his new power, it had almost been too easy. It had been, in fact, almost too easy to really enjoy. However, almost doesn't count for much.
In his moment of rejoice, the Black Rhino had lost all thought of anything else in the world. Sometimes, you can get away with that. Sometimes, you can't. That particular time was one of those cant's. Because of letting his guard down, he was caught unawares. Caught unawares by Carnage, filled with fury at the birth of another symbiote warrior.
"So you found our spawner!" Carnage shouted, making blades out of his fists. The Black Rhino, however, was now ready. Carnage had lost the advantage of surprise.
"We will kill you!" Black Rhino yelled, driven by the symbiote's fury. He made a mad dive for Carnage, making connection but only barely. Carnage spun out of his grasp and attempted to drive a hand sword into the Black Rhino. The Black Rhino flipped as Carnage struck at nothing but air, and landed right behind Carnage. He landed a solid, super-powered punch right into Carnage's back. Carnage fell down, but immediately got back up and ran around the room. He stopped, realizing that the Black Rhino was gone.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Carnage screeched, smirking.
The Black Rhino fell from his spot on the ceiling, landing his feet squarely on Carnage's head. "Take that, Carnage!" he yelled stomping on his back.
Carnage caught his leg with his hand and grasped it firmly. He spun him around and threw him into one of the walls. The Black Rhino went through into another room that looked like it had been hastily abandoned. When Carnage entered, he was ready. The Black Rhino charged, horns first. The horns connected, straight into Carnage's chest. Carnage screamed as the Black Rhino grabbed him and tossed him out of the hole in the side of the building. Carnage fell out, into the sky and out of sight in the consuming fog.
"He'll live." The Black Rhino said to himself. Or, then again, was it to himself?
Somewhere deep in New York, where no one could hear.
"Good." The large, shadowy figure said, his face cracking into a malicious grin. "And you are sure Spider-Man is alive as well?
"Yes." The voice of the Black Rhino came through on the other end.
"Even better. This means he believes he has a chance now. Very good."
"I will report to my so-called boss, now. Don't worry boss, I won't fail."
"Good for you. Remember that with the Kingpin, failure means death." Wilson Fisk hung up the phone, smiling to himself. I've got Spider-Man right where I want him. The Kingpin thought, The Red Skull is fooled and Carnage has been proved beatable. All is falling into place now. The Black Rhino will fulfill his duty and then I will dispose of him in an oh so tragic fire. He's too powerful to leave my grasp.
Several miles away, Peter Parker was being comforted by his wife, Mary Jane Parker. But then again, had he known what he was up against, he wouldn't have been comforted at all.
"It's all right." Mary Jane said, looking at Peter across their kitchen table. "They may be pretty strong, but you've beat all of them before and you can do it again if you have to."
"Well, MJ, it's not the same anymore. The Rhino is a symbiote! How am I supposed to deal with a symbiote Rhino? He's was already strong enough! Now he's stronger than me, faster than me, he's even more agile than me now!"
"But you're still stronger than him. The Rhino can have all the strength, speed, and agility in the world and you could still outsmart him, tiger!"
"My brain didn't do me a bit of good while I was in there with him last time! He just used his strength to bowl me over with a few jaw-breaking punches."
"Tiger, that was last time. You're just going to have to come up with a strategy. Use some fire or that sonic gun you used to have."
"I'm not even sure that would work on him." Peter said, sighing, "I mean, he's more powerful than either Venom or Carnage, maybe even combined. Maybe he doesn't share their weaknesses. You never know."
"Well, he's a symbiote, isn't he? Just because he's a really stong sumbiote can't erase the fact that he is one and shares their weak points."
"You're probably right." Peter answered, attempting a smile, "Or at least I hope so."
So, the Headsman was beat. (Not that it really matters.) Both the Red Skull and the Kingpin think they have the upper hand. A symbiote/rhino has emerged, and he took down both Carnage and Spidey. What can this mean? A lot of loose ends in an amazingly complex plot, that's what! Tune in next chapter for an unpredictable death (or two) and the coming of some more Spidey villains!