-Chapter 10-

Rhino Rampage

It was the dead of night. Outside of New York's Hammer Industries branch, a gang had gathered, Flint Marko's former partner Alex O'Hirn in the lead.

"Alex, you really sure this is a good idea?" one of the goons asked.

" I ain't gonna skip town and give New York to freaks like Spider-Man," Alex insisted. "I need an equalizer, and Hammer Industries will have it."

"Sure, but this place is like a fortress," another goon said. "If we get caught-"

"We ain't gonna get caught," Alex said.

They pulled their ski masks on, creeping up to the facility. They hopped the fence and slowly started making their way inside. It was smooth sailing at first, but it wasn't long before they were caught by a group of guards. They immediately drew their guns

"Chert voz'mi! (1)" Alex cursed.

The situation detonated. As his gang got in a firefight with the guards, Alex turned tail and hurried for the lab.

"Alright, let's see what they got in here."

He searched left and right. Eventually, he came across a hi-tech gray armor suit designed after a rhino, which includes two metallic horns on the helmet. His interest peaked, Alex looked it over, seeing a plaque next to the armor.

"'R.H.I.N.O.: Robotism Heuristic Intelligence Navigable Operative'?" he read aloud before snorting. "Who's the frickin' genius who came up with that name?"

Nonetheless, he got around to the back, feeling around until it opened up…

-X-

Outside, the other goons were being detained. Just then, a large explosion erupted from the lab. As the guards turned, they saw O'Hirn stomping out, donned in the R.H.I.N.O. armor.

"Now this is more like it!" O'Hirn declared.

The guards began firing on him, only for the bullets to bounce off. He knelt down before charging, knocking the guards down like bowling pins. He laughed, looking at his hands

"Watch out, New York. Here comes the Rhino!"

The next day, during study hall, Peni was listening to the radio on her headphones when a news report cut in

"Breaking news from Queens. A creature described by eyewitnesses as looking, quote, 'sort of like a rhinoceros, but bigger', is rampaging through the streets of the city. We have not yet confirmed reports that-"

That was all Peni needed to hear. She leaned over to Peter, getting his attention

"Some new guy's on the loose in the city," she whispered. "Looks like a job for Spider-Man."

"Seriously?" Peter replied. "My trig exam's next period."

"If you hurry, you can be there and back before anyone knows you're gone."

Reluctantly, Peter gave in, closing his book before standing up and heading for the door

"Excuse me, Mr. Parker," his teacher spoke up. "where are you going?"

"Uh... bathroom."

"You sit down right this minute, or-"

"Or what?" Peter asked, turning to face her. "You'll fail me? I could teach this class."

A series of ooh's erupted from the class, allowing Peter to slip out. As he ducked into the bathroom, Peter prepared to strip down to his suit, but perked as he realized something.

"Wait a sec... how can I explain Spider-Man just getting out of the school bathroom?"

He facepalmed before slipping out the window and suiting up in the bushes. With that, he swung into the city, finding a considerable amount of crushed cars, smashed buildings, and small flames burning. He sighed.

"Ohhhh… this hurts already."

He swung over to where the Rhino was smashing things up, landing behind him.

"Hey buddy!" he called. "Is that a rhino horn on your head or are you just-"

He trailed off as the Rhino turned to face him, towering at least two feet over him.

"Happy… to see…" Peter gulped. "I'm so scared I can't even finish my lame joke."

The Rhino smacked him aside, sending him flying back into a building. A moment passed before he shakily stood up.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Nothing's broken," he winced. "Except my spine... and ribs... maybe everything else. Ow."

"Just who I was looking for," the Rhino declared. "It's payback time for all the times you put me away, Spider-Man!"

Spider-Man perked. "O'Hirn? So you jumped on the same supervillain bandwagon Marko did, eh?"

"Not O'Hirn anymore. Call me Rhino!"

He charged right at Spidey, who narrowly dodged before jumping to his feet.

"First Marko becomes Sandman, now this? What next? Flash Thompson becomes the Belligerent Bug-Zapper?"

Rhino then picked up a nearby car and hurled it at Spider-Man. Peter dodged the car, running at him and throwing himself into a jump kick, aiming for the Rhino's crotch. On impact, the Rhino didn't even budge, and the impact and vibration seemed to travel up Spider-Man's feet and through his body before he dropped.

"Okay, ow!" he yelped. "I feel sorry for your girlfriend!"

Rhino then grabbed Spider-Man by the ankle and slammed him into a wall.

"You thought you were a big shot with your super strength and your fancy webs! You laughed at me before, Spider-Man! Well, who's laughing now?!"

"Well... I'm sure somebody finds your outfit funny…" Spider-Man wheezed.

Rhino then punched him, launching him into a car. Before Spidey could react, he was lifted up before being smashed into the car a few times and sent flying through a wall. Spider-Man slowly got up, wincing.

"...Owww." he rasped.

The Rhino stomped toward him, sweating profusely. After a minute, he turned to a nearby fire hydrant, tearing it open and shoving his face into the stream of water. All of a sudden, AC/DC's Shoot to Thrill was playing at maximum over the police radios. Rhino and Spider-Man looked up to see a streak of red and gold jetting towards them. A pair of dual energy blasts shot out, sending Rhino skidding back as the streak landed, revealing itself to be the red and gold armor of Tony Stark, AKA, the Invincible Iron Man. Spider-Man's eyes widened.

"Holy shit…" he let out.

The Rhino got up, scowling.

"This is between me and the web-head, Iron Man! BACK OFF!"

"Yeah, I don't think so," Iron Man said simply.

Iron Man then fired a Unibeam from his chest, knocking Rhino back before he jetted right at him.

"Why are you even here?" Rhino demanded.

"Well, let's see. You come rampaging through Manhattan with a fancy suit the day after a big raid on Justin Hammer's place. Coincidence?"

Rhino just growled before charging at Iron Man. Iron Man jetted right at Rhino, ramming right into him. As the Rhino skidded back, Iron Man stood tall, aiming every weapon in his arsenal at him. Rhino scowled before deciding to cut his losses, but not before pointing threateningly at Spider-Man, who was leaning heavily on a nearby wall.

"You got lucky this time, punk! But next time, Stark won't be around to save your ass from being squashed!"

With that, he hurried away. Iron Man turned to Spider-Man.

"You okay, kid?" he asked.

"Just my pride… and everything else." Spider-Man replied, looking at him. "Honestly, even though I've never felt anything more painful in my life and think all my bones are totally crushed... it is so cool to meet you, Mr. Stark."

"Always nice to meet a fan. Hang on. I'll get you to a doctor."

"Thanks, but I have somewhere I need to be. I appreciate the offer though. Seriously."

He swung off at that, unsteadily before stabilizing. Iron Man watched him go before shrugging.

"Kids."

The next period was just beginning when the door opened and Peter entered, covered in cuts and bruises.

"Mr. Parker, what on Earth happened to you?" the teacher exclaimed.

"On my way back, I fell down some stairs." Peter said simply.

The teacher looked him up and down. "Stairs?"

"Yeah. There were a lot of 'em."

He sat back down at his desk, cringing a bit.

"Well... please be more careful in the future," the teacher said.

"I'll try."

After school, Peter and Peni met back up in the lab, where he outlined what happened with the Rhino. At one part, Peni gasped

"You were bailed out by Tony freaking Stark?!" she let out.

"Yeah," Peter replied between grunts. "it was pretty cool… despite almost something he said was a good tip. O'Hirn stole that Rhino suit from Hammer Industries last night."

Peni was already on her laptop, typing away. Eventually, she got in and found something.

"Yeah, sounds about right. That suit of his is the R.H.I.N.O."

"The actual name of the suit is Rhino?"

"No, no. R.H.I.N.O.: Robotism Heuristic Intelligence Navigable Operative."

Peter raised an eyebrow.

"Sounds forced."

"The point is, apparently that suit was meant to be Hammer's answer to Tony's Iron Man armor."

"Explains why he was so crazy strong."

As she looked for weaknesses, Peni grew wistful, turning to him.

"You remember the day we first met?" she asked. "A little after May and Ben took you in?"

"Oh, big time," Peter nodded. "There was a big standoff in Times Square that day. A bunch of androids had Mr. Stark on the ropes. I had to do something to help him."

"So you put on a toy Iron Man mask and repulsor gauntlet, and stepped right out into the crossfire to distract them. Batshit crazy, yeah, but you saved Iron Man's ass that day."

"And he saved mine. Hell, I got into science after that not just because of my dad, but because I wanted to be like him."

"Well, in a way you are," Peni remarked. "Guy just trying to make a difference. Hero."

"Yeah… you're right," Peter agreed.

At that moment, Peni got an idea. She snapped her fingers.

"And maybe there's another way you can be like him." she pondered.

"What?" Peter asked. "Whip up my own Iron Man suit from pots and pans to take on the Rhino?"

"Well, replace pots and pans with tech and scraps I can discreetly borrow from Oscorp."

Peter perked at that.

"Peni, that's risky. You could lose your job. Or your life."

"O'Hirn has powered battle armor, and would've killed you if Iron Man hadn't shown up. He has to be stopped one way or another."

Peter sighed. "You're not gonna be talked out of this, are you?"

"Nope," Peni said bluntly.

"Just... be careful, okay? Norman isn't someone to cross."

"He won't even know I was there."

Over the next week, Peni managed to procure scrap metal, along with old machine and weapon parts left in Oscorp's storage closets. Once she had everything she needed, she and Peter bunkered down in the lab and got to work. Eventually, after several days of hard work, they stood before the completed suit, a rough, clunky-looking device bearing a resemblance to Iron Man's very first suit, but spray-painted red and blue, bearing a spider logo on the chest, and the usual white-and-black lenses of Spider-Man's mask.

"Bit rough around the edges, but not too shabby," Peni mused. "Not too shabby at all."

"Nice work," Peter agreed.

"All we need now is to wait for O'Hirn to show up again, and we can take the SP/dr suit out for a spin."

Peter turned to her. "SP/dr?"

Peni shrugged. "My screen name on chat rooms and Twitter. I started calling the suit that, and it kinda grew on me."

"Whatever works for you."

Around that time, the police radio went off.

"All units, report to First Bank of Manhattan. The rhino creature has been spotted tearing through a vault and making off with several thousand dollars."

"Speak of the Devil."

"Well, looks like it's showtime," Peter decided.

"Be careful out there."

Peter quickly pulled on his Spider-Man suit, Peni helping him put on the SP/dr armor before he swung off.

Meanwhile, the Rhino charged the bank head-first, easily smashing through the vault and coming out with a sack of money. He began stomping off, prize in hand, when a whistle hit his ears.

"Yo! O'Hirn!"

He turned as Spider-Man swung in, landing somewhat clumsily due to the armor before righting himself.

"You and I have unfinished business."

"You again?" Rhino laughed at the sight of the suit. "What're you supposed to be? The Iron Spider?"

"Let's just say I decided to get an upgrade."

"Great. Showed up in your own coffin!"

Rhino ran right at Spider-Man, forcing him to leap over the charge. He was unable to stop in time and crashed through a wall. He turned around, snorting in rage before pawing the ground and charging at him, horn out. Spider-Man planted both feet and caught the horn, sliding back about a foot before managing to stop him and flip him over.

"Neat!" Peter cheered.

Rhino quickly got back to his feet and charged at him, knocking him back. Spider-Man skidded across the ground, shaking off the attack. Spidey quickly webbed a nearby fire hydrant and swung it at Rhino, hitting him across the face. He tried doing it again, but Rhino just grabbed the hydrant and pulled him in close, clotheslining him. As Spider-Man fell to the ground, Rhino went over to the water shooting out and dunked his head in it. Spider-Man quickly pulled himself back up as Rhino pulled his head out of the water, ready to charge at him once more. Spider-Man leapt forward and tried punching him across the face, only for Rhino to head butt him and use his horn to tear into his chestplate. Rhino then used his horn to lift Spider-Man into the air, thrashing him around a bit before tossing him into a wall. Spider-Man groaned in pain before finding that the suit was damaged and that he couldn't move. He crawled out, cringing in pain, to see the Rhino raiding a vending machine and pouring water bottles down his throat.

"How's that for confidence?" he scoffed. "He stops to satisfy before smashing me." He perked. "Unless…"

Getting an idea, Spider-Man snagged the water bottle with a webline, yanking it out of his hands.

"Okay, break's over!"

He evaded another charge before luring him over to a sewer grate, throwing it open.

"Over here, Moose! Let's play Follow the Leader!"

He dropped down, the Rhino following.

"Running away?" he taunted. "Even the old O'Hirn never ran away from a fight!"

"Just wanted to stretch my legs!"

The Rhino eventually found him in a tunnel full of metal pipes.

"Whew!" Spider-Man made a show of tugging at his collar and fanning himself. "Hot enough for ya? C'mon you big lug, let's go for a run!"

The Rhino ran after him, growling as he did. Spider-Man then quickly leapt over him, causing Rhino to ram into a wall of pipes. Steam escaped from the pipes. The Rhino let out a pained shout before recoiling, his face sweating profusely.

"Can't help noticing: you've stopped spouting off!" Spider-Man taunted. "What's the matter? Mouth a little dry?"

The Rhino attacked him again, punching open more pipes as Spider-Man dodged around. As he did, the steam blew open multiple manhole covers above ground.

"Y'see," Spider-Man said, clinging to the ceiling. "my mistake was trying to crack open that hide of yours."

"Nothing can do that, bug!" the Rhino spat, clearly winded and sweating. "This suit is impenetrable!"

"Too true," Spider-Man agreed. "And if nothing can penetrate, you can't perspire. Your face is sweating for your whole body! It's probably enough, under most conditions... but in a steam tunnel…"

The Rhino perked, eyes widening as he realized his mistake.

"I gotta…" he panted, "get outta here."

"Yeah. Good luck with that."

Spider-Man then webbed several pipes off the walls, pouring steam onto Rhino. His breathing became heavier and heavier. Eventually, Spider-Man kicked him to the ground. As he stood on the Rhino's chest, he clasped his hands together, shaking them triumphantly.

"Come one, come all!" he declared. "Before your very eyes, the world's largest dehydrated turtle!"

"I swear I'll crush you…" Rhino wheezed, "crush you... crush you…"

With that, he passed out. Spider-Man looked between him and the manhole.

"Now... I just need to haul him outta here."

The next day, around lunchtime, Peter was sitting down to eat when a hand grabbed him from behind, yanking him up and spinning him around. Peter sighed at the sight of Flash.

"Oh, it's you, Flash," he greeted casually. "How you doin'?"

"Pissed. And it's because of you," Flash spat.

"Me? What'd I ever do to you?" Peter questioned.

"How about nosing in on my girl?" Flash snapped. "She's been hanging around you an awful lot lately, and frankly, I don't exactly like that."

"Are you her boyfriend, or her warden? Liz can hang out with whomever she wants."

"Tutoring was one thing, but you took her out for coffee!" He shoved him back. "I'm only warning you once, Penis Parker. Stay away from Liz. She's my girl, not yours."

Peter raised an eyebrow. "Penis Parker? Seriously? I'm glad you finally made it to sixth grade... Eugene."

That set Flash off. As the crowd watched, he charged at Peter in a rage, swinging punches that Peter dodged before perking.

"What am I thinking? I can't just duck and weave! I'll give myself away!"

He stood still, letting Flash pin him to the wall.

"Okay Flash, you win," he said aloud. "Do your worst."

"I'm about to," he pulled back his fist. "Don't worry, Parker. This'll only hurt for a second."

"Flash!"

Flash's fist stopped an inch from Peter's face.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

He turned, seeing Liz push her way through the crowd, glaring at him.

"Liz…" Flash dropped Peter at that. "I... I was just-"

"Being a clingy, possessive jackass?" Liz demanded. "What, I can't even go out for coffee with a friend without you freaking out? I'm allowed to have other guy friends! You don't own me!"

"Liz, c'mon-"

Liz sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"Y'know, Sally and a few others asked me more than once what I saw in you, why I'd like you enough to date you. And frankly... I'm beginning to wonder why myself."

"You can't be serious!"

"I am, Flash. We're done," Liz walked over, helping Peter up. "Now get lost."

Flash scowled, glaring at Peter.

"You son of a-!" he began.

"You brought this on yourself, Flash," Peter cut him off calmly. "Grow up and take some responsibility."

The two boys stared silently at one another before Flash, seemingly sensing the truth in Peter's words, turned and stormed off.

"Sorry about that, Pete," Liz told him. "You okay?"

Peter nodded. "I'm fine. And no need to apologize. Flash dug his own grave with that move."

"That's for sure," Liz agreed. "So… meet up tonight at the library for tutoring?"

"Sounds like a plan to me." Peter nodded.

Liz smiled, walking away as Peter sat back down. Peni soon joined him.

"That was intense," she said. "I thought you were gonna spider-whammy him."

"Came pretty close, to be honest." Peter confessed.

"Well your restraint is to be admired, at least."

"Hey, I do have a secret identity to keep up. And Flash may be an ass, but he's no crook or supervillain. Just because I can beat him up doesn't mean I have the right to."

Peni nodded. "Fair enough."

At Stark Tower, Tony was going over news footage of Spider-Man's fight with the Rhino.

"Sir, what exactly are you looking for?" JARVIS, his A.I. assistant, questioned.

"Anything that can tell me who this kid is," Tony explained. "He's good... Real good. And smart too, given the tech he cobbled together."

"Or perhaps he has help," JARVIS suggested. "By my calculations, he's no older than fifteen."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "They start younger everyday. Keep an eye on him, JARVIS."

He leaned back in his seat. "Something tells me this one is gonna be something spectacular."

Author's Note:

(1): Russian for "damn it," according to Google Translate.

Yep! The intro of the first non-Spider-Man Marvel character, and the implications of a bigger universe.

My Rhino is a bit of a mixture. Alex O'Hirn is an alias. He was born Aleksei Sytsevich in Russia before immigrating to America; he's lived in the country long enough for his accent to fade. As for his armor, the name is taken from the Ultimate Marvel version.

Please R&R. Until next time!