Chapter 13

Spiderman stood atop the rooftop, gazing down for a moment at the destruction occurring below at the hands of the Rhino. Spiderman watched as police officers fired upon the Rhino, but the bullets instead bounced off of the Rhino's impervious hide, ricocheting off the hide as one of the police officers was forced to duck and avoid the bullet as it shot back towards him. Shaking his head, Spiderman's eyes swept over the path of destruction at the hands of the Rhino, as his eyes flickered over the overturned cars, the loud blaring of car alarms, the shouts of frightened bystanders, a fire hydrant shooting out water, and a building on fire, being reduced to cinders at a rapid pace. Frowning, Spiderman wondered exactly what to do. Rubbing his shoulder, he took a moment to reflect on exactly what he knew about the Rhino.

Originally from Russia, Rhino was an immigrant who had no real skills, but used his impressive size and strength to work as an enforcer for several varied criminal organizations. Aleksei Sytsevich was one day contacted by some agents from the Eastern bloc who offered him a vast amount of money if he would participate in an experiment. Desperate to bring the rest of his family over to America, Aleksei agreed. Throughout the experiment, he was forced to undergo intensive treatment, both chemical and radioactive. As a result, there was a super-strong polymer that bonded to his skin, but also increased his strength and speed to extreme levels. Here, Aleksei was given the code-name "Rhino".

Spiderman remembered encountering him for the first time, when the Rhino's first job was a contract to capture Colonel John Jameson for his military secrets. Spiderman was fortunate enough to defeat him that first time and at several other times throughout his career, but it was always the Rhino's lack of intelligence which swung the battle in his favor. Physically, the Rhino was one of Spiderman's strongest foes, standing around 6'5' and his weight estimated at 700 pounds. The Rhino possesses incredible strength, able to lift up to 90 tons and also has been gifted with superhuman speed, able to run at 100 miles per hour for short bursts. The latter gifts of strength and speed were what the Rhino employed at the moment, lowering his body as he charged forward. This was one of his favorite attacks, using his brute size to knock over a police car as he then used his horn to impale it as he lifted it into the air, hurling it at a helicopter that had arrived on site for assistance.

As the police car flew through the air towards the helicopter, it exploded in mid-air as the helicopter made a wild evasive maneuver, spinning a few times, seemingly about to crash before it managed to regain its balance. However, this was not before the rippling shock waves of the explosion sent one of the people riding in the helicopter toppling out towards the concrete. Spiderman knew he had to get involved now, as he'd known from the beginning as he shot out a webline. Webbing his way through the air, he weaves through the falling rubble, managing to shoot out another webline so that he can swing over the police officer. Spiderman then reaches down with one arm to snag the officer's collar, tugging him upwards and preventing him from splattering onto the concrete. Giving a yelp as his arm was almost tugged out of its socket again, Spiderman managed to set the police officer down safely onto the concrete. Wincing in pain, Spiderman accepted a shaken thank you from the police officer as he took a second to rub his shoulder. The Rhino appeared not to have noticed as the police officers still standing continued to fire bullets upon him, which annoyed him as much as bee stings. The Rhino's skin was basically impervious to assault by any type of conventional weaponry, and it would take more than just bullets to take the Rhino down.

Shooting out two lines of webbing, attaching them to the ankles of the Rhino as he used all of his strength to tug backwards, arching his back as he managed to catch the Rhino by surprise, knocking him off balance as he sent the Rhino toppling facefirst into the concrete. This did daze the Rhino for a second as he shook his head, pushing himself back to all fours with an angry shout, "Who did that?", turning his head to see the wallcrawler, "What are you doing here, webs?"

"Well, you can't expect to destroy a city block without me showing up, Rhino." Spiderman said, leaping up as he perched on a fire hydrant, which considering the chaos, was miraculously unharmed so far, "Now is that just your Rhino horn or are you happy to see me?"

Rhino frowned, shaking his head as he was confused, either from the joke or from the blow to his head, "Haven't you used that one before?"

"Well, I knew elephants never forgot!" said Spiderman as he then used a piece of falling rubble, shooting a webline to catch it as he sent it smashing down into the Rhino's head, which only served to infuriate him as Spiderman smirked, "Didn't know it worked for rhinos too."

Giving a furious cry of rage, the Rhino shot forward without warning, lowering his body as he charged forward, aiming to impale Spiderman on his horn as Spiderman leaped up out of the way as he sent webs across Rhino's eyes to blind him for a moment as he planned his next move. Just as Spiderman turned around, landing on his feet, he heard a piercing scream fill the air as his Spider sense blared wildly. Turning his head, Spiderman realized that the scream was coming from the burning building.

Spiderman's eyes widened even as the Rhino took a second to rip the webbing from his eyes. The Rhino spun around as his horn tore the water hydrant, water shooting through the air as it fell down like rain, soaking the Rhino and Spiderman both in a gentle drizzle as it poured down.

Spiderman leaped up as the Rhino charged forward, arms extending for Spiderman, obviously intending to catch him in a bear hug as his webs shot out towards the building to find the source of the screams. As Spiderman used his weblines to head up towards the building, which was ablaze, Spiderman winced at the intense heat of the flames.

Spiderman swung his way through a hole in the side of the building, some of the cinders stinging him slightly as below the police officers resumed their futile attacks on the Rhino.

"Please come save me and my baby!" the wailing screams continued, then was joined by a shout from somebody else, a male this time as Spiderman frowned, knowing there were at least three people in this building who were in danger and obviously even more outside with the Rhino on the loose. However, these civilians would die any second unless Spiderman saved them

Coughing from the smoke inhalation as Spiderman pushed through the burning building, lunging forward from a falling piece of timber, narrowly avoiding it as he called out, "Where are you?"

"I'm in here!" came the male voice again, as Spiderman leaped over a section of the floor falling through as he then kicked upon a door, finding a man dressed in a superintendents outfit trapped underneath a fallen piece of ceiling tile.

The man lay there, pushing weakly upon the ceiling tile as he couldn't seem to budge it, flames licking around the apartment around Spiderman's feet and around the trapped Superintendent, whose name tag read "Wade", a robust man with a thin gotee framing his face.

Panting out, coughing as well as his face was bright red, Wade grunted out, "I think I broke my leg."

Spiderman said calmly as possible, "Stay still!" as he leaned down, planting his feet as he heard that scream again, from the woman with the baby as he then pushed the ceiling tile off of him.

Spiderman heard the siren of fire engines as they finally arrived to help put out the fire, the frenzied shouts of rescue workers as they struggled to find a working fire hydrant. Spiderman picked up Superintendent Wade, taking special care with his broken leg as he rushed over to the window, blinking back a few tears as he coughed from the fumes.

Shooting out a webline from the window, he then used one hand to hold onto Wade with the other arm anchored by the webline, lowering him towards the ambulance that had also arrived. The sirens blared through the air as Spiderman looked at the fire department, with some members of the ambulance bringing over a stretcher to help Wade as they lowered him onto it.

One of the members of the ambulance brought him over an oxygen mask, designed to help him ward off the effects of smoke inhalation, waving off the offered oxygen mask as he shook his head.

Coughing heavily as he looked up at the building, "There's somebody still in there." as he then spun around, shooting out a webline to head back into the building, which continued to smolder as the flames incinerated the building.

"The building's about to fall down," one of the fire marshals shouted, gripping his arm to hold him back, "You can't go back in now!" An explosion occurred in one of the second floor windows of the apartment building, serving to reinforce his point.

But Spiderman only shook his head, tugging his arm free as he looked at the fire marshal, "It doesn't matter. I couldn't look myself in the mirror tomorrow if I let her die." as he pulled the webline taut, then used the webline to pull himself back up towards the building. Following the scream of the trapped woman, which was shockingly more faint than it was earlier, he swung himself into a window on the third floor.

Plunging into the building, he was greeted with a blitz of smoke and cinders, stinging his eyes again even underneath the mask as he winced, debris raining down from the ceiling as the screaming suddenly stopped, which seemed to coincide with Peter's heart stopping for a second. He could only hope he wasn't too late.

A working fire hydrant was finally located, cracked but otherwise in fine shape as the officers attached a hose to it, attempting to douse the inferno but not doing much good as Spiderman tried to push forward. The floor creaked underneath him as another explosion rocked the apartment building. Staggering to the side, he felt like he was almost suffocating underneath the mask.

The flames licked up all around him as he kicked in a door, calling out loudly, "Is anybody in here?", but knowing there would no answer as he brought his arm up against the flames, trying to cover his face from the smoke but finding it offered scant protection as he pushed through, but after a swift inspection of the room, there was nothing there.

Leaping out of the room, he saw ceiling tile about to fall down and cover the rest of the hallway as he shot up webs, using it to hold the ceiling up as he panted out, coughing as it shot waves of pain through his chest. Another slightly smaller explosion occurred, but it seemed that it almost caused the building to fall to one side, swaying as Spiderman was dizzy. Knowing that the webs wouldn't hold the ceiling forever as he shot forward, kicking in yet another door. But, nothing was in there either, although it was hard to tell from the smoke billowing out from the room.

The building shook and Spiderman knew he had enough time to search one more room before the building collapsed as flames seemed to surge up around him, his skin seeming to tingle underneath the suit as he almost dropped to a knee. Gripping the frames of the door though, he used his good shoulder to smash it in, stumbling forward as he looked around the room. Searching for somebody or anybody, he tried to wave away the billowing smoke as the floor seemed to creak with every step. Moving as swiftly as possible, the building appearing to tremble as he moved, trying to peer through the smoke as he moved through what must have been the living room. A quick search of the kitchen revealed nothing and Spiderman was running out of time.

Stumbling towards the door, he felt genuine panic running through his body. He refused to lose a mother and a child, but he didn't want to die either. Life and death weren't options that a Superhero should have to make, but fortunately, it looked like today wouldn't have to be when he would be forced to. In the closet, he could barely make out the bodies of a young woman and a child, clutched in her arms as he leaped through the air towards the closet. Upon landing, the floor almost fell through as his feet hit the singed carpet, but he tore open the door and tossed it on top of the bed.

His heart sank like a stone as he saw the both of them, entwined together, covered in soot as their eyes were closed, both apparently unconscious if not worse. Tucking them up in his arms as he pulled them both close, praying that it wasn't too late as he surged for the window, but his Spider sense suddenly flared with urgency, but with hardly enough warning as the floor collapsed beneath them.

Clutching the little boy with his bad shoulder, shouting as it creaked as if too much was being demanded of it and the mother with his other arm, he managed to invert his wrist and shot out a web as he relied on the webline to pull himself and his unconscious passengers through the window. Shooting forward as the rest of the floor collapsed beneath them, charred floorboards falling away, as Spiderman twisted his body slightly to absorb the impact of the window as it shattered. His body crashed into it and his other shoulder crashing across the window, scraping as he yelped in pain.

Clutching them tightly as he shot out another webline now, flames shooting out from the window as the building rocked on its foundations, using his webs to pull himself around the building. Seeing other people, covered in suit and suffering from various burns being treated down there by the ambulance as he wearily lowered himself down to the ground, depositing them softly to the ground, amid a few scattered applauses, cheers of approval and pats on the back.

Coughing heavily as he couldn't hardly breathe, unable to wave off the oxygen mask this time as he accepted it, sucking air as he pulled up his mask slightly. Droping to a knee as he gripped the side of the ambulance for support as he blinked a bit, watching them immediately work on the little boy and the mother. As the oxygen took its effect, he pushed himself to his feet. Through blurry eyes, he watched as the mother was revived, sitting up as she jacknifed in the air, sucking in air as she clutched her chest. The moment her eyes were able to focus, they searched frantically for her little boy, who unfortunately lay there next to her on the cement, still not moving.

Tears ran down her face as she shrieked out, coughing a bit in between each fo her words, "What's wrong with my baby? Why isn't he moving?" His heart sank like a stone as he watched them work frantically to revive the little boy.

His little body looked like a broken doll down there, laying limp on the ground as they administered CPR, the mother's sobs filling the air when suddenly the ground shuddered. The building started to collapse as flames enveloped the entire structure, the hoses still running on full blast but to no avail as the building seemed to implode. But, as the building crashed down, the little boy jerked slightly, coughing as his eyes fluttered open weakly.

"Simon!" the mother cried with relief as she slid forward, clutching the sandy-haired child in her arms, tears running down her ash-covered cheeks. Spiderman pulled his mask back down, unable to fight back a smile as it was moments like this that reminded him of why he had become a superhero.

But, then a helicopter flew overhead and reminded him of why he had been summoned down here in the first place. Eyes flickering around, it was painfully obvious the Rhino was no longer here. He was kind of hard to miss, but his eyes followed the helicopters as they headed downtown. That and the police sirens made that the likely destination to find the Rhino.

Stepping away from the ambulance workers as he extended his arm upwards, preparing to shoot out a webline towards the sky once again. Before he could though, the mother gazed up at him and tearfully said, "Thank you, Spiderman."

"Just your friendly neighborhood Spiderman, ma'am." Spiderman said with a solemn nod, unable to think of much as he once again shot up towards the air. The wind hit his face with a rush, coughing as his body was still sore, his Spider suit streaked with suit and singed, but determined as Rhino couldn't be allowed to get away with this. Spiderman didn't have a clue why he was here in the city, causing devastation and risking innocent lives, but he was certain to find out. It was another few moments before he swung underneath the helicopters and saw the Rhino tearing through the streets.

Taking a second as he dropped onto a rooftop, watching the officers follow the Rhino and in the second helicopter was a news camera, shaking his head as he knew the Daily Bugle would certainly be following this. What could be more important than chaos and destruction in the city? Suddenly as Rhino streaked down the street, police cars appeared at the end of the street, parking as they attempted to form some kind of roadblock. Shaking his head as Spiderman knew the futility of the gesture, swinging forward as Rhino lowered his head, his horn extended, preparing for the battering ram assault he used so often. The officers got out of their cars, firing at the Rhino, but once again, he appeared oblivious to them as if they were gnats. The officers finally had the good sense to dive out of the way as the Rhino took one of the police cars, letting it sail through the air. Spiderman sat perched upon a lamppost as he shot forward both hands, weblines extending forth as he caught the police car, then pulled it back down towards the Rhino as the police car crashed onto the Rhino, smashing him into the concrete.

This appeared to stop Rhino in his tracks for a moment as the helicopters maintained their hovering position overhead, Spiderman swinging down towards the police car and the momentarily immobile Rhino. It wasn't for long though as the police car is pushed off to the side and the Rhino pushes himself back up to his feet. Pushing himself on adrenaline now and the rage following the near death of innocent civilians as Spiderman swung through the air, using one hand to swing towards the Rhino and the other to shoot down, catching a manhole covering. Swinging it up like he would a frisbee, remembering the success of his "Captain America" maneuver earlier as he shot it towards the Rhino's face, smacking into it with a loud crack that send the Rhino stumbling backwards. Clutching his face as Spiderman leaped up, perching himself onto yet another lamp post as he then swung forward, knowing he couldn't give the Rhino even a second to recover.

Leaping up towards the top of a nearby building, approximately five stories tall, standing on top of it as the Rhino cleared his vision, looking around with rage as he shouted out, "Where are you, Spiderman?".

By way of an answer, Spiderman used both hands to fire weblines, both of them catching Rhino by his ankles once as he tugged backwards, yanking him off of his feet. But, instead of letting him fall flat to his face, he continued to pull backwards as he lifted Rhino into the air. He heard the Rhino's yelps of surprise as he lifted Rhino through the air, not even bothering to stop until Rhino's body cracked into the wall. His muscles strained with holding 700 pounds of Rhino on the strength of two weblines, sweat dripping into his eyes slightly as he shook it out of his eyes. The Rhino cursed in surprise, upside down as Spiderman fired out a few more weblines, attaching various weblines to lampposts and adjacent buildings. After a few moments, Rhino was left suspended five stories in the air, blood rushing to his head as Spiderman was able to release the weblines as Rhino was practically caught in a web.

Eyes narrowing as Spiderman took a second, catching his breathe from the fire and the pursuit of the Rhino. The Rhino was a formidable adversary and it was never easy to capture him, but Spiderman didn't have the patience or energy for a prolonged fight with the Rhino today. Listening to the Rhino curse and demand his return back to the ground, both of which showed his limited intelligence as Spiderman lowered himself down next to the Rhino, but out of his reach as Rhino's arms flailed around.

Spiderman took a deep breathe, gazing at Rhino as he planted himself along the wall, but just as he started to speak, "You know you almost killed some people today Rhino….." when Rhino managed to reach up, his fingers clutching the webs that held him in place as he suddenly ripped them to the side. His 700 pound body held up by absolutely nothing now as he plummeted towards the ground, eyes widening in shock, seemingly just grasping the realization that by getting free he would be falling five stories to the ground headfirst.

Spiderman shot out two strands of webline, catching him by his ankles again but unable to slow his momentum this time as he crashed to the ground with a thud that echoed through the air, snow flying upwards as the cement cracked underneath where he landed. The shockwave was enough to cause a lampost to fall over as Spiderman lowered himself to the ground, frowning at Rhino, "Who are you working for? What were you doing in the middle of the day rampaging through the city?"

Laying there on his back, Rhino was clearly dazed from the fall as police officers arrived, immediately radioing for reinforcement as an armored truck pulled up. It took two officers to pull one of Rhino's arms back and Spiderman helped the officers by pulling the other arms back as they used a special pair of handcuffs as they started to read him his Miranda Rights. Spiderman couldn't help but shake his head, remembering how he had been in this position only hours before.

"Who are you working for, Rhino?" as Spiderman frowned, looking into Rhino's eyes as they pulled him into the armored truck, repeating the question as Rhino gazed at him in real terror. Spiderman gazed at him, almost feeling sorry for him, but surprised to see the fear in his eyes as Rhino shouted out, "I can't tell you, Spiderman! I don't know!" Sounding almost like a child as the armored car doors slammed shut with a loud thud, but not loud enough to cover up the sound of Rhino muttering, "They have my family."

Spiderman's eyes widened again, gazing at Rhino as he slumped into the back of the armored car in chains, "Who has your family, Rhino?". The Rhino though just looked back at him and wouldn't answer. Seconds later, he couldn't answer as the armored truck drove away, taking the Rhino back to the superhuman division at Rikers, the tires squealing in the snow the only answer Spiderman would get.

Spiderman pounded on the building wall in frustration, panting out as he tried to comprehend yet another turn of events. Somebody was holding the Rhino's family hostage in order to force him to comply with whatever instructions somebody was giving him. That didn't answer any questions, but instead raised a host of new questions. Questions such as who was Rhino's current employer, who was vicious enough to hold his family hostage, and what were Rhino's instructions?

Once again, however, his ruminations were interrupted by yet another problem. A number of police officers stood around, discussing their capture of the supervillian Rhino when their radios all seemed to squawk simultaneously, "10-42! Robbery in progress! All available officers report to the Bank of New York! The Joker has been sighted there immediately! Repeat! The Joker has been sighted at the Bank of New York!"

Spiderman went to swing up towards the rooftops when their radios squawked again, "10-42! Robbery in progress at the Bank of Manhattan! The suspect appears to be the Joker?" as the police officer reporting it let the last part trail off in obvious confusion. Spiderman's frown intensified as he also wondered how the Joker could possibly be in two places at once. The only possible way that the Joker could be robbing two places simultaneously is if one of them wasn't the Joker at all. If one of them was the Chameleon, it would be possible, But, which one?

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Spiderman thought, then immediately shot towards the rooftops as he heated towards the Bank of Manhattan to check out the second Joker sighting. Snagging the corner of a building with webbing as he was filled with adrenaline once again, whipping himself through the air, in search of a Chameleon and hopefully an answer to the ever increasing series of questions that had started since his arrest.