So, yeah, being Spiderman in his different outfits was really working well, and the YouTube videos with Jasmine anonymously asking questions to interview Spiderman is quite interesting, with gifts and such via Jasmine's po box in the mail office, with the name of Spectacular New York Archaeid on the address and anonymous name for Jasmine, making it very hard for anyone to track.
And thankfully it didn't seem like anyone was trying to track down, except, of course, the occasional 'internet' investigator that didn't make too much progress. So far, it seemed like the bases were covered for the time being at least.
As it was a Friday, with the prom tomorrow, Peter was doing a usual patrol with Jasmine on his shoulders, swinging and all when he heard sirens, gunshots, screams, and he swung as close to the scene, landing on a rooftop, placing Jasmine down, "Probably an insane robber. I'll be quick and careful, alright?", and Jasmine mewed, nodding, and Peter then leaped, leaving Jasmine to watch in worry, anticipation, and trust.
"You are always saying that, and it still makes me worry, Peter...'', Jasmine sighed as she waited, hopeful that Peter can quickly get the drop on whoever it was.
'Shit, sounds like some real big trouble up ahead...' Peter thought to himself as he swung onto a wall and stuck to it for a moment, trying to catch a glimpse of what the hell was going on.
He heard more gunshots, shouts, sirens, hearing some sort of primal roaring screams...From a far distance, somebody would mistake them for normal screaming, but up close, it sounded like a wild animal...
He crawled closer to the corner, and peeked over, widening his eyes underneath the mask, 'Jesus, so this is what the professor meant by supervillains...', glad that he trained in the Danger Room often in Xavier's school on the weekends, Spring Break, having used simulations of supervillains from his comic books he read about, but this is a whole new level of something else.
Right there, on the street, is a gigantic robotic metal rhino, manned by not just a man, but two men in there, seeming to control the robot together as one, and the metal looks really, really strong as it clearly defected gunshots like grains of corn.
He can see the crowd of policemen and policewomen protecting themselves by their cars, trying to hit the glass views of the bad guys inside the robot and all, but the glass is also strong too. He widened his eyes as he saw Gwen's father, George Stacy, calling orders and all.
Peter took a deep breath, and webbed at a fire hydrant, pulled at it, and swung it at the robotic rhino. The hydrant hit its target, knocking the robotic rhino off kilter as now he was certain that he was able to get its attention. He hoped that the officers would back off, clearly knowing they didn't have the firepower to take this thing on, unless one of the cops had an anti-tank rifle on their hands. Peter quietly prayed that Gwen's dad would make a strategic retreat as well.
"Okay, I didn't hear any news about a pachyderm escaping from the Bronx Zoo but shall you two head back to your pen?", Peter said as he made sure that the mechanical beast was focused on him.
The men roared as one, "Spider-Man!", and Peter retorted, "The one and only, dudes! Shooting up the street, attempting to kill police, scaring civilians, destroying public property, that gonna earn both of you years in jail, probably for life!", glad that Gwen taught him about the laws of New York City.
"No way! But if you wanna take us, take us!", the first man responded, and Peter stretched his arms casually, "Is that right? You sure you can take a swing at me when rhinos are known to be stupid?".
The second man shouted, "You calling us cowards?!", and Peter nodded, "That's right, so are you a rhino, or are you a chicken?!".
They clearly got mad and started to charge Peter, who very much knew it was not a good idea to stand in the way of a charging rhino, even if it was all mechanized. Peter refrained from making a bullfighting joke since they weren't a bull when he got out of the way.
"Boy, you Russkis really need to lay off the vodka; you clearly can't drive that thing straight!", Peter called out.
The two men roared, and Peter went to web the robot rhino up as the two men tried to stab at him, swinging here and there, but it was no use when the robot rhino revealed to have machine guns, shooting at him, and Peter webbed a sewer lid, protecting him from the machine guns, but with two men at the controls, it wasn't long until one of the gun machines hit him in the side below him, causing him to fly, rolling into the cement, groaning and shaking his head as he quickly jumped out of the way when the rhino charged at him again.
The rhino men roared as one as it spun around, stomping its feet, and went to rear upwards, standing on two legs as its belly opened, revealing a series of rocket launchers, and fired at Peter who swung, leapt, jumped, rolled, and ducked, webbing the dropped sewer lid again, but those rocket launchers were harder to avoid than the machine guns, as he tried to swing the lid at the rhino, hitting them with minimal success.
Peter avoided the horn, watching out for a giant fist-hoof swinging at him when he couldn't focus on all the things surrounding him, as the rhino kept viciously fighting, and he was getting weary when suddenly, a rocket launcher hit him in the chest from the other side of the rhino while he was trying to web the fist-hoof to the suit, and he hit one of the stop signs, rolling over into the cement.
He earned many bruises and minor cuts in the battle, and now he's swearing that he got really bruised ribs as he groaned, trying to get up, looking at the charging rhino when there was an unfamiliar yowling-chuff, and suddenly, he was grabbed by the neck, and thrown to the side, looking up and widening his eyes as the rhino hit the ground by a big long-furred black tiger, no, wait, tigress who snorted, looking back at Peter, seeming to smile at him as the tigress stood up on two legs, changing into a tigress lady.
"You alright, Spiderman?", she asked, and Peter gasped as he recognized the voice, whispering, "J-Jasmine?", and she gave a very familiar smile he knew. The rhino roared as it got up to its feet, the two men staring at the new arrival on the scene.
"Who are you?!", the first man snarled, and Jasmine growled sharply as she protected Peter, "I have no name yet, but I'm a trainee of Spiderman, and no one gets to hurt him, not even you two bastards!".
The second man laughed harshly, "You?! Don't make me laugh! You're a freak! Just like Spider-Man!", and Jasmine growled, "But can you defeat a tigress?", before changing back into her big tigress form, chuffing and snarling.
"Shall we, brother? It isn't every day we squish a spider and maim a tigress.", the first man asked, chuckling, and the second man cracked his neck slightly, "Sounds good to me.", before the robot rhino, out of rocket launchers and machine gun bullets, whirred up, revealing metal spikes opening up on the sides, along with knives hidden in the spikes, ready to be fired on command.
Jasmine narrowed her eyes, growling lowly, her tail twitching, and then the first metal spike fired at Jasmine, and she ran, avoiding it with ease.
Peter widened his eyes in shock and worry, grunting in pain as he tried to get up...How is this possible? Did the curse break, freeing her? But she's not human!
His mind was absolutely racing at what just happened... Jasmine... she... ugh, he couldn't focus on that right now, not while she was out there fighting that machine. What Peter needed to do was shut that thing down and fast before the whole city block would come down from all the guns and bombs.
If he could be able to penetrate the protective armor that was protecting the brothers and gain access to the controls, the whole beast could be stopped on a dime and those two Russian brutes didn't look like they'd be able to handle too well in a fist fight against someone like him.
He grunted, holding his ribs, webbing a makeshift bandage around his chest, and breathed deeply, and narrowed his eyes as he swung upwards and around, searching for the spot, that control box or something as the rhino robot kept firing at Jasmine who was incredibly avoiding the fired spikes, with a few close calls before leaping and clawing at the glass.
The fist-hooves went frantically to grab her as she went atop the horn, chomping at the mechanics of the spikes, breaking and creating sparks, and Peter then saw the control box, right under the neck, below the glass windows, and the rhino went crazy, rolling over, charging at mailboxes, to jostle Jasmine off, while Peter went to land on the belly, crawling up to the control box, going to grab at it when sensor tasers went off on him, shocking him, causing him to shout in pain.
Jasmine chuffed out loud, growling, going to help Peter as she held on, when the rhino reared, slamming into the wall, and she yowled in pain as one of the spikes cut her deeply into the side, her claws barely latching into the control box, and she ripped the door away when one of the fist-hooves grabbed her, and the first man chortled, "Too bad your coat is too ruined to make a fabulous pelt.", before the second man replied, "Maybe the dogs will like some wild cat meat.".
The brothers laughed, and the fist-hoof threw her hard and fast into a alley, and Jasmine yowled even more in pain as she hit her injured side into an open, empty dumpster, and she can feel blood leaving her, panting heavily, seeing blurry spots in her eyesight as she changed into her tigress lady form, realizing that she's losing her second life.
She rested back, panting, waiting for darkness to claim her, remembering back to the moment when as a house cat, she watched Peter battle the robotic rhino, worried increasingly within every hit Peter got, and when she saw him down for the first time, she saw memories flashing of him, not wanting to lose him as she loves him!
She realized what she said, and she searched in her heart, realizing that she had grown in love with Peter and the girls over the past months of the new year, now 99% full of romantic love for him specifically, with the other girls like 95%, and when she heard the roar of the rhino, she saw Peter hit by a rocket launcher, hitting a stop sign, down, and that was when she yowled for Peter to get up, that she loves him, that he can't leave her, hitting the 100% point, and she felt something happening, her body enlarging, her cat harness breaking open, her cat collar tearing open.
Instincts came, and she leapt from the rooftop, jumping from the fire escape, rescuing Peter, and before she knew it, she realized that she was a tigress girl when she blinked, instincts dimming down for her to focus on Peter for a second.
She never imagined that she would be thrown in a survival situation with a supervillain of all things, yet, with Peter by her side, she felt like she could do anything, but granted, it was the first time, and she's not used to fighting for a long time like Peter, and now she's dying from her second life.
Peter didn't catch that moment, he was much too focused on the fight, but he did see the severe damage the mech had gave her; if she didn't lose a life there, he was going to be freaking amazed.
"Come on, you overgrown Poo-chi!", Peter referenced an old robot dog toy. "Just try and finish it!", Peter shouted as he leapt onto the mech and webbed the viewports, pulling hard to rip them off.
Peter then saw the sparking control box that was somehow exposed, and he narrowed his eyes as he webbed at the wires, and with two arms in full strength, he pulled the wires straight out, and ripped the viewpoints off in an insane amount that it blinded the men as the robot rhino went dead, and fell, causing a smashing noise.
Peter webbed the men out of the suit, and dragged them outwards, and got them up into marching, tying their arms, hearing cheers and shouts from the police.
Glad for the voice disguise tech, he told George, "Here you go, two men for the slammer.", pushing the men into the crowd of the police, anxious to find Jasmine.
Peter didn't stay long to hear thanks or any shouts of him being put under arrest for vigilantism; no, he moved fast and got out of range of anyone trying to keep track of him before he was back on the roofs. "Jasmine!", he called out, hoping that she was alright, somehow.
Peter felt his phone vibrate in his belt, and he grabbed it, seeing Jean on the phone, and picked the call up, "Jean!", and Jean replied, "Two alleys down to your left!".
Gwen and Jean were riding on the subway, having a date, and was picking up Jasmine's prom dress when they saw people looking on their phones, watching something, and Gwen replied, "What's going on, man?", asking a young man, just out of his early 20s, seeing him watching his phone.
"Some robot was trashing up things and getting into a shootout with the cops...", the guy explained. "That Spiderdude showed up and started fighting him... then some tiger woman came out of nowhere and joined in...".
Jean widened her eyes, "What? Which channel?", knowing that there are apps to news channels on phones nowadays, and the man replied, "Fox 5.".
Gwen whipped out her phone, clicking buttons, and opened the Fox 5 app, to the live video that's literally happening, realizing that one of the ground or helicopter cameras is watching.
The two of them watched the fight, their eyes widening at what was happening. 'No way that this is something normal for Peter to deal with...' Jean messaged Gwen. 'And what was that about the tiger woman? Couldn't be Jasmine... could it?'
Gwen responded, 'Who else could it be? You know that she refers herself as a tigress in our lovemaking sessions and all.', watching the fight closely, and gasped when she saw the mech rhino injury Jasmine, and looked for the street signs quickly, and messaged Jean back, '7th Ave, West 39th St!'.
Jean looked up at the subway stops, and heard the ding as it stopped, and she replied, "Let's go.", and Gwen nodded, handing the bag that held Jasmine's prom dress hidden to Jean, and pocketed her phone, and after the exit, and within a pillar, Gwen picked up Jean, and zoomed at superspeed, leaving people to think that it was a freak blast of air from the subway or something.
Jean focused on Jasmine's mind, and gasped, "I can't feel her mind!", as they landed at a point near the address, and Gwen listened for Jasmine's heartbeat, and heard just one slow beat before it was gone, "That way!".
They ran to the nearest block, looking everywhere in every direction of the alleys, every corner, every weird shape, every trash can and dumpster before Gwen saw blood droplets across an alley as if it were falling from an angle from the sky, "I found blood, Jean! Come on!", running to track it, and saw an open dumpster, hovering over to look, and gasped, "Jasmine!".
"Please tell me she's not in that...", Jean bit her lip with fright as she was expecting the worst. After all, maybe the nine lives thing was prematurely ended somehow, and Jasmine won't come back from her injuries.
Gwen replied, "The dumpster's empty of trash, thank goodness, but she's really bad!", getting in, "Call Peter now!", as she went to lay her head on Jasmine's newfound body, hearing shallow breathing, a dying heartbeat, seeing the deep wound in her side, and blinked in surprise as she saw that the deep wound is very slowly stitching back on its own, but so much blood loss...
She whispered into Jasmine's ear, "Hold on, Jazz, we'll get you to Xavier's school.", and Jasmine gave a very weak audible whisper, "Aladdin...".
Gwen widened her eyes, realizing that she's reuniting with an old familiar face from her past, and knew that Jasmine always wanted to see Aladdin, to tell him that she forgives him and all.
She heard a yell coming down the alley side, "Gwen, Jean!", knowing that it's Peter, and she muttered, "I hope Aladdin is okay about Peter...and us girls.".
"Jasmine!", Peter ran up as he grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight, "Come on, Jasmine... please... don't do this again...". He was trying to keep himself from crying. The strong worry of if maybe the nine lives thing was already broken if her curse may have been.
"Come on, Peter... We've got to get her out of here... I'll carry all of us, you two just make sure to keep pressure on her wounds.", Gwen advised as she got a good grip with the trio, especially Jasmine, and took off, heading fast for Xavier's school where hopefully Jasmine could be patched up without any unnecessary questions from vets or doctors.
Meanwhile, inside the darkness of limbo, Jasmine, in her human form is staring upon Aladdin, the first man she had ever fallen in love with...