Seeing half of his crew wiped out in seconds, the bandit leader began to panic.
"Kill that Iron Man kid first! Open fire!"
The remaining robbers swung their rifles toward Peter. A rain of bullets shredded the air, striking the family car Peter had been using for cover. The two robbers who had been pinned under the vehicle didn't stand a chance; they were sent to their graves by their own friends' bullets. Dark red blood pooled on the pavement, mixing with the gray smoke of the battlefield.
Behind the car, Peter was pressing his hands against the frame. With a sudden burst of strength, he began to push the heavy vehicle forward like it was a shopping cart.
Peter hadn't been bitten by a spider, so he shouldn't have been this strong. This was the power of technology. He was wearing his very first prototype suit: the Parker One.
For his own gear, Peter focused on weapons. His arms were encased in heavy metal gauntlets that stretched to his elbows. At the back of each gauntlet sat a high-pressure nitrogen thruster. When he fired them, his punches and pushes carried enough force to shatter concrete.
However, the "Parker One" was still a prototype. It didn't cover his whole body, leaving him vulnerable to a stray bullet. Deep Blue had solved this problem with a clever addition: a multi-jointed mechanical arm that sat on Peter's shoulder.
As the bullets flew, the mechanical arm deployed a thick, rectangular metal shield.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The bullets sparked against the shield, unable to pierce it. The bandit leader kept pulling the trigger even after his magazine was empty, his eyes wide with terror.
"My God... are you really Iron Man?"
Peter's voice echoed from behind the shield, sounding cold and deep. "Sorry! Wrong answer. I'm Batman."
"Batman? What a dark name..." the leader whispered. He felt a chill of dread. If a normal hero caught him, he'd go to jail. But this "Batman" felt like he would take a life without hesitating.
He didn't have time to think about it for long. Peter ignited his thrusters, slamming the shield forward with incredible speed.
BANG!
The bandit leader was sent flying like a cannonball. He smashed into an SUV with such force that he left a massive dent in the metal, his body slumped and broken. He was barely clinging to life.
George Stacy, watching from a distance, felt a shiver of unease. This new "hero" was ruthless—nothing like the ones he saw on the news.
While Peter was being brutal, Gwen's side of the battle was much more elegant.
Even though this was her first real fight, Peter and Deep Blue had trained her well. She moved through the air like a dancer, tearing the bandits' formation apart. She used her webs to wrap them up one by one, leaving them tied like mummies on the ground. Within minutes, the threat was neutralized.
As the last robber fell, a familiar "ding" sounded in Peter's ear.
[Mission Complete!]
[Rewards: 1,000 Points, 1 Skill Point issued.]
Peter let out a long breath. The pressure of their debut was finally over. He landed softly in front of George Stacy, with Gwen landing right beside him after a nimble flip.
George looked at the two mysterious figures. "Who exactly are you two?"
"Spider-Woman!" Gwen answered eagerly, her voice full of hope. "You can call me Spider-Woman. From now on, we'll handle the criminals in New York. No one has to get hurt anymore!"
George Stacy frowned. He found her words naive. In a city like New York, evil was like a shadow—it was everywhere. No one gets hurt? He didn't think that was possible.
But the celebration didn't last long.
In a parked car at the edge of the street, a man with crazy eyes and a buzz cut watched them. His name was Aleksei Sytsevich. He was a top enforcer for the crime boss known as Kingpin, and he was obsessed with money.
"What bad luck," Aleksei hissed. "I thought I could make some easy cash without doing anything, but then these two rookies show up. I guess I have to teach them that being a hero is a cruel business."
Aleksei gritted his teeth. His eyes turned bloodshot, and his skin began to transform. It turned a thick, leathery blue-gray, becoming as hard as a stone wall.
He didn't just change color; he grew. The 6-foot man ballooned into a 10-foot giant. A massive, sharp horn burst through his forehead, piercing right through the roof of the car.
The Supervillain Rhino had arrived.