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Chapter 7: Hornet's flight.
Queens. New York City
"you know Peter your father and I used to buy quite a few fireworks for New Year's when we were younger."
- Really, Uncle Ben? - asked a curious 10-year-old Peter Parker.
- Yes, I remember one time we ran off to Chinatown and got a big box of all kinds of pyrotechnics at a discount. I remember your mother scolding Richard for buying so many, on that occasion he just laughed it off, but that only made your mother angrier.
Peter nodded.
"If I remember correctly I mentioned about the accidents and burns that result from handling these things!
"which reminds me" a woman's voice interrupted the conversation "that we will be very careful when using them, I don't want you to hurt yourself dear."
"come on May what's the worst that could happen?"
"Ben Parker may I remind you that the last time you assured me of this you and Peter ended up with remnants of your chemistry project on your face."
"hehehe" laughed the boy remembering that.
"I assure you May that Peter will be unharmed and we'll be careful won't we champ?"
"Yes! I'm not going to burn myself," he assured
"Yes, Aunt May," the monstrously thick voice made Peter turn his head to meet a green being, "Peter won't get burned," assured the Green Goblin with a grin as his breath exhaled sulfur and flames could be seen between his fangs.
Peter's eyes snapped open. A bad dream, his pulse shot up, slowly his senses came back to himself and his breathing calmed down. What happened to him, why was he in so much pain?
"Dr. the patient woke up" a woman's voice distracted him from his introspection, by the white clothes the woman was wearing he was quick to recognize her as a sick woman.
Wait, why was a nurse with him? It was obvious that his memory was not yet fully recovered.
Peter were wondering what to do when a man-dinosaur? approached.
"Calm down boy" The man who frankly reminded him of "Barney the dinosaur" calmed Peter "I'm Dr Ishida, you suffered an accident last night, you are currently in the emergency unit of the central hospital, you suffered serious burns last night".
Burns?
Suddenly Peter remembered the whole incident last night and what happened with the explosion. He had to be careful how he would respond to any kind of questions he was asked.
"can you answer a few questions for me?"
Peter tensed slightly.
"First can you tell me what your name is?"
"y-yes...I'm Peter...Peter Parker "his mouth and in general his body was wrapped in bandages, he didn't notice it until he spoke, wearing his mask for so long somehow the bandages didn't bother him.
"well that confirms your identity, your ID got badly burned, but we were able to manage to contact your legal guardian. We were certainly surprised that she was such a famous heroine."
"Nemuri?"
"She was very worried about you she came running, she just left a little while ago I don't doubt it will take her long to get back."
Peter sighed he didn't like to worry people, least of all those who were close to him, it was much like the feeling that tightened his chest when he thought of the times May had seen him beaten against a supervillain.
"your wounds were serious, although I deduce that your quirk managed to prevent them from being worse, I managed to confirm that whatever it is, you have regenerative qualities."
"is that good?"
"if I may is what I intend to verify" the doctor reached over and carefully took Peter's forearm.
Slowly and carefully, he began to unwrap part of the bandages that covered him, but the doctor was excited to see something he had not expected.
"but what..."
"Is something wrong, doctor?"
"your skin... is healthy, a few hours ago you had a second degree injury and now... it's as good as new".
Peter knew firsthand that one of his powers was an accelerated healing, maybe not as good as Logan's, but it was functional, he still remembers when he was trapped in the rubble during the massacre generated by Magneto, on that occasion many of his ribs were broken, he even dislocated his leg, he really thought he would be bedridden for a couple of weeks, the reality was that it didn't take much for his body to recover, even his leg was as good as new in two days, he had to pretend to limp so the doctors wouldn't think he was one less mutant at that time.
Peter had never had that kind of extreme injuries, even norman's flames didn't burn him that bad, he thanked that spider for giving him a healing so fast, maybe he wasn't Wolverine, but he couldn't complain.
The doctor continued for the next few minutes to check Peter's wounds to the point of completely undressing him and to his amazement the burns were healed.
"i-incredible your regenerative sense is more advanced than I estimated what's your quirk kid?"
Peter thought about it for a few moments
"my quirk is hmm "spider" you know I do spider stuff."
"I've never heard of a spider regenerating, but well I'm a doctor not a zoologist, you're a lucky young man."
"I guess so doctor."
Peter sighed in relief, fortunately even the glider wound was healed, surely Nemuri would not take long to return, for the moment he could only rest.
Peter didn't know it at the time, but his actions would have a more profound impact than he imagined.
- the actions of the night monkey vigilante have unleashed a new wave of illegal vigilantes.
- authorities have criticized the activities of these vigilantes.
- Heroes exist for a reason, these vigilantes can't go around so carelessly," declared one officer.
- what happened with the night monkey is something that must not be repeated.
- Whether their actions were well-intentioned, correct or not, they only showed the result of skirting the rules that our society has proclaimed so much.
- as a counselor I deeply regret the loss of this young man.
"I have no comments dammit!" a man looking almost like a homeless man abruptly pushed the microphones and cameras away.
-I am deeply sorry for my performance, a young man with a whole future ahead of him, and we haven't even been able to identify him," said Kamui Woods.
- the night monkey showed us the way today's heroes are not enough
- the truth at the end of the day is that being vigilantes is dangerous and usually ends in tragedy, this guy I don't know why he did what he did, but it's just another example of why our hero system is the right one it may not be the most foolproof system, but it's the one we need.
- in other news the vigilante group revenge has been gaining popularity in recent weeks however Endevor has openly shown himself to this group.
Peter sighed turning off the TV, he was in the apartment he shared with Nemuri, it had been 5 weeks since the Jack'o lantern incident and the "death" of the night monkey. His actions had an unexpected effect and a very negative one in his opinion.
A wave of vigilantes "inspired" by him had manifested themselves in society, turning his image into a sort of outcast he just wanted to be of help before entering the U.A. to find a way to find whatever it is he is in that crazy world for, not to create a revolutionary movement. To his relief Japan's number two hero Endevour had been relentless against these vigilantes eliminating 99% of these groups.
However, then there were them. The 3 big problems:
Ricochet, Prodigy and the most annoying Dusk, a trio of extremely problematic vigilantes who, unlike the rest of the aspirants, seemed to know what they were doing.
Ricochet a loudmouth perhaps even more talkative than himself, apparently possessed a quirk that worked like his spidey sense a danger detector, but it seems it was much more accurate, so far he had managed to dodge heroes like Death Arms.
Prodigy, a sort of caped Iron Man with the ability to fly, Prodigy had already managed to capture several gangs throughout the western part of the city, heroes such as the heroine Dragon Ryuko were personally looking for his capture.
And lastly, the violent Dusk, as relentless as Moon Knight, as careful as Daredevil and as violent in his fights against common criminals as the Punisher, he didn't kill them like Castle, but with the beatings he gave them more than one would prefer to die, besides Dusk was one of the few who had given a testimony to the media.
- "this society is rotten and full of false heroes. They are nothing but hypocrites who get carried away by flashes and nice words, but that's over, the era of real heroes has arrived."
Peter regretted it all, since the burns Nemuri had taken his role as guardian more seriously, now not only did he have a curfew but he had to give up his part time job, occasionally Yu or Makoto would stay with him until the heroine returned.
However, the wave of vigilantes in recent days kept the heroes over saturated so that Nemuri used to arrive late at night, Peter had to measure his time well and keep his quarters so as not to arouse suspicion, he had to work with some pressure betting everything on the few hours he was alone.
But it was finally ready.
It was 7:00 pm. I noticed the message from Nemuri mentioning that she would again be late apparently she and other heroes along with the police would foil a coup by several criminal groups at the docks.
Springs.
Among the old warehouses in the farthest reaches of the docks several criminal leaders of small cells were gathered, even the former yakuza had sent a representative to this meeting.
The meeting was organized by the new and growing group the mysterious "Octopus" Gang.
"Ladies and gentlemen I thank you for coming to this meeting" a burly Gorilla looking man with albino hair and a purple jacket spoke "my name is Silver and I have organized this small meeting to offer you totally free and without obligation the new product that I and my boys have developed".
"this is a joke" spoke one of the leaders "you wasted our time for a damn live commercial".
"it is more than that my dear it is an opportunity".
"Well, if it's free, I don't see what's so useful about it, aren't you trying to give us some trinket?"
"How much distrust you show my dear ones, didn't we give you the same Modified Trigger for free before? In the last few months you witnessed how our improved product endowed you with a power you never felt possible your little thugs were suddenly able to give a fight to heroes of Hawks' stature."
"very nice, except for the part you forgot to mention that in the long run your drug causes codependency and its withdrawal syndrome is far, far more violent than that of any other drug, three of my men are in intensive care thanks to you."
"a mild side effect, but today I bring you its improved version with longer lasting effects and without that annoying side effect of course"- his smile revealed his gold teeth "bring the boy".
Everyone could see a boy of about 19 maybe even less, quite skinny, he had a pair of large square glasses and even looked like the wind could knock him down, perhaps the most striking thing was his gray skin and the presence of a horn cut on his face a little above his two small nostrils.
"my young boy here is an unlucky little guy, his quirk manifested late so he was a victim of bullying, however to his misfortune his problems did not end there, you see my young friend Alexander had the ability to generate a horn, more specifically how that of the White Rhinos, naturally the Bratva when they found out about this and their precarious economic situation was using his horns to sell them on the black market given that they had the ability to grow every so often they kept young Alexander as their golden goose."
"tragic why do we care?"
"that's my point, unfortunately his horn started to take longer and longer until the poor state in what you see now" explained Silver "it wasn't until my men found him that young Alexander was free".
"ha! now you're a hero?"
"please don't offend me, in return Alexander agreed to be the example of our new serum, we call it, The Higth formula."
"You can call it whatever you want to call it What makes it different from a trigger?"
Silver smiled.
"proceed boy, show the power you have."
Alexander nodded, taking out a metallic syringe with a red liquid in it, without hesitation he injected it into his body, his heart did not take long to start beating faster and faster, his veins and arteries were marked on his skin, he felt his body burning, he was clenching his teeth so hard that at any moment they would split from the pressure, he could feel his muscle fibers tearing and growing.
With astonishment everyone saw how the scrawny boy grew at an accelerated pace gaining mass and size, his horn was completely regenerated, his clothes were torn in its entirety showing a thick gray skin as if it were metal, now he easily measured about two meters maybe more, the pupils of his eyes had disappeared leaving a totally yellow eyes.
"With you my friend RHINO!"
To say they were impressed was an understatement,
"hmp and that just got bigger" the one who spoke was the yakuza representative "no big deal" it was about one of the eight Rappa bullets.
"Do you have something to say, little guy? - spoke Rhino with a defiant smile "Why don't you come over here and tell me to my face? Or are you afraid, little one?" threatened Rhino.
"You're a dead man child. Let's see what you're made of" Rappa stood up and walked towards Rhino.
The truth is that Rappa had orders to kill Plata since his group had stolen trigger samples and created a derivative formula. The Yakuzas had eyes on the octopus group, at first they were cooperative, but little by little they were taking over their territories.
Rappa approached firmly planned to knock Rhino out with one blow and finish off silver.
Rappa was not intimidated by Rhino's size, he was just a brat with airs and graces, he was not the first guy with a quirk that gave him great size that he had come across.
"Rhino crush him" ordered Silver.
"with pleasure"
Rappa looked at Rhino and with a smile and a clenched fist was the first to attack.
"Arrg!" the Rappa's fist, the fist that was his main weapon his trusty right hook was...bleeding "but what?"
Rappa's knuckles cracked as they touched Rhino's armor.
"My turn" Rhino smiled and then punched Rappa, his blow was as strong as knocking out 5 of the yakusa's teeth and knocking him down.
The yakuza may have lost the status they once counted on, but Rappa's reputation was not small to see that in one fell swoop the boy who a few moments ago was nothing more than a skinny kid had so simply taken down one of the most dangerous men in the region left everyone dumbfounded.
Rhino approached Rappa slowly.
"What's the matter? Come on was that it? Pathetic."
Rappa spat blood and struggled to his feet.
"don't think you're a big deal brat, this is just getting started."
"you're like a yakusa puppy, you just bark and don't bite".
Rappa was now furious he clenched his fists tightly, ready to finish off the Yakuza, but.
¡BOOM!
Before the fight could proceed, the dock gate was knocked down, giving way to the law enforcement officers.
- the police!
- heroes must flee!
"Tsk, Rhino buy us time while we retreat" ordered Silver.
Rhino nodded, even if he was captured he was confident that Silver would free him one way or another.
A large number of police and heroes were surrounding the site.
The pro hero Enigma was the one who knocked the place down and a small fight between the bodyguards and trusted men broke out against the law enforcement officers.
Rhino took charge by ramming Enigma, the Chinese heroine held her ground thanks to her great mass.
"You think you can stop Rhino? no one can stop Rhino!" declared Rhino!
"I differ with that" a man's voice diverted Rhino's attention before he was tackled "take that villain."
It was the hero Crimson Riot, using his Quirk he managed to knock down the gray Goliath.
"that didn't hurt"
Both heroes present confronted Rhino.
"surrender!" Midnigth appeared tearing his suit and managing to overpower several criminals who were immediately controlled by the police officers.
Rhino watched as Crimson Riot hit him again and again, Rhino took him by both arms.
- But what the hell! -Riot didn't expect the guy with the mutant quirk to be so strong.
Rhino held Crimson Riot tightly and threw him with great force towards the heroine plus 18.
- Midnigth watch out! - Enigma's warning failed to take effect and Nemuri was abruptly knocked down.
Crimson Riot managed to deactivate its hardening to reduce the impact as much as possible.
"Mi-midnigth are-you okay?"
" I have been better Riot."
Enigma tried to stop him with his hands but Rhino's power was so strong that it was impossible to stop him.
Like a wild beast Rhino rampaged through everyone in front of him whether they were police or not, Rhino's horn was getting dangerously close when a portion of the roof was blown off the hole that formed a humanoid figure appeared.
Without measuring time, the newcomer attacked Rhino and managed to deflect his deadly onslaught.
"damn you, who the hell are you?!"
Midnigth caught a glimpse of the new guy, a man with what looked like an armored suit and two pairs of wings that gave him the ability to fly, wearing a helmet that covered his entire face.
- Who am I? You can call me Hornet
To be continued.
I introduced Rhino to this universe, his appearance is based on the one seen in the ultimate spider-man animated series.
I also included the alter egos that Spider-man used in the identity crisis arc as vigilantes.
Silver was based on an enemy of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from Saban's live-action series (the ones with the crossover with Power Rangers in Space).
The next chapter will be: Trouble and more trouble.