Peter stood frozen, staring at the familiar figure before him. His mind struggled to ascertain what was happening.
"Aunt may!" He called out subconsciously, his voice louder than intended.
His beloved aunt was currently held at gunpoint. A man… no humanoid figure put a gun to her forehead. Moreover, this gun wasn't just any weapon; it was a highly advanced laser weapon.
The humanoid figure who also attacked her was one he could identify as the team had destroyed tons of them. It was a tyrannodrone, but this was more advanced and felt more powerful than the ones he had fought before.
Its former color was no longer black but deep blue, with veins appearing all over its skin.
But why would it attack his aunt? And it also coincidentally appeared where he was?
"This matter is strange, no matter how I look at it. It feels like a staged play." Peter thought. "Then again, I will think about that later; saving Aunt May comes first."
May Parker also noticed his arrival, but as she didn't know he was Spider-Man, there was no shock on her face. Instead, it was relief. She said nothing, but her gaze towards Peter seemed to say. "Spiderman, save me."
Peter, with his experience and strength, did not disappoint and instantly went into action.
Ziiip! Thwack!
Webs shot out of his hand, binding the blue tyrannodrone. Following that, Peter shot out another web, sticking it on May's back, hurling her towards himself. This series of actions happened so fast that the tyrannodrone couldn't react.
Tear!
Peter's actions seemed to enrage the tyrannodrone, as it roared to the sky and snapped the webs binding it like twigs.
Whoosh~
Peter couldn't even react as the tyrannodrone appeared before him, sending him flying with a punch.
Bang!
His feet were pulled off the ground as he was sent tumbling towards a building's wall. His body caved in, hitting the wall, which shattered upon impact.
Peter only had time to toss May to another building, binding her safely to another building with his webs.
"Damn it, since when were tyrannodrones this strong?" Peter murmured with shock, but he still dodged the incoming attack.
The tyrannodrone seemed to sense the trajectory of his landing and shot a laser beam towards him.
Ziiiing! Boom
With a massive roar, the blue beam pulverized several buildings, including their residents. None survived, only ash and smoke drifted in the wind as if remembering their passing.
"No!" Peter howled in pain, not even bothering to check his injuries. He swung towards each destroyed building at lightning speed, frantically searching for any survivors. But he was destined to be disappointed.
No one was left alive after that attack. Even May, webbed in another section of buildings, had her mouth agape. Not believing what had just happened.
The blue tyrranodrone didn't seem to care about the destruction it had caused. It swung its arm upwards and charged another pulse of laser, ready to fire at Peter once more.
What it didn't know was that Peter was not going to give it that chance. Before the blue tyrannodrone could even react, a layer of hard web blocked the nuzzle of the laser and its face.
This time, harder and sturdier than before.
Roar!
The tyrannodrone roared in frustration and struggled to get the webs off, but it was useless. Maybe due to Peter's anger or rushing adrenaline, the webs he shot were thicker and harder than ever before.
Peter wasn't going to give it any chance to escape. He rushed like wind towards the tyrnnodrone, his body twisting with legs dropping in a kick to its head. Though he still wasn't aiming to kill, or rather, he wasn't used to killing moves.
Bang!
The head of the struggling tyrannodrone caved in, hitting the floor with a loud rumble. The dropkick was so strong it caused a dent in the ground, but Peter didn't stop. With his super-strength, he grabbed the tyrannodrone by its feet and swung upward.
Fwoosh!
The tyrannodrone body hurled through the air faster than any bird. On its track was Peter, who had used two buildings to propel himself to catch up. And he did more than catch up.
Peter took the tyrannodrone by its feet again and threw it downward like trash. This astonishing strength had never been shown by him before. He always held back in a fight, and with Zayne's training, that strength elevated to an even higher level.
The tyrannodrone couldn't even muster a counter and allowed itself to be treated like a ragdoll. But as time went on, its rage increased, accumulated, and made its body sturdier. It was as if the more it was beaten, the stronger it got.
Although Peter did not notice it due to the speed of the battle. He would notice later on, as they fought.
Peter was frantic as he tried his best to move their battle away from crowded places. He didn't want the former destruction to happen again.
"I have to destroy this thing now, or the situation would worsen." Peter fought midair with the blue tyrannodrone, trying to find its weakness or shut it down.
Since he couldn't deliver a killing blow, shutting it off was the best option. Generally, this might work on other tyrannodrones as they were half dinosaur, half robot, but the blue one was different.
It was no different from flesh and blood, so Peter was doomed to fail.
The battle went on. In search of weak points, Peter struck every angle of the tyrannodrone, even breaking some of its parts, but to his horror, it healed the next moment.
Boom!
Channeling all his strength, Peter punched, sending the tyrannodrone tumbling towards a no-man zone. With his strength at C tier, the punch weighed several tons. It was capable of sending a small cruise ship flying, not to mention the tyrannodrone.
Twiip~
With a swing of his webs, Peter arrived at the tyrannodrone fall site, planning to confirm its current state.
The no-man zone was clouded with dust after the tyrannodrone's fall. This made it hard to see through anything in the area, so Peter could only wait for it to clear before he could confirm anything. It would take a minute at most.
But, as he waited, his mind was in utter chaos.
"I let those people die." Sadness and guilt clouded his heart, making breathing under his mask extremely hard.
This type of situation has never occurred in any of his solo missions. He was relatively new to the hero job, so his mind was still immature and indecisive. Casualties were bound to happen in this line of work; one can either look for an immediate solution or adapt to the situation.
Peter couldn't achieve either at the moment. He was still too inexperienced.
A minute passed, and the dust cleared. Peter focused his gaze, trying to find the tyrannodrone, but he couldn't.
"Uh…. where is it?" Peter muttered and moved closer to the center of the area. He cautiously scouted the place, relying on his spider senses to track down any movement.
This situation was a first for him, so he had to be rational.
Whoosh~
"Hmm," His spider senses pricked as he felt something move behind him. He spread his spider senses to the limit, trying to pinpoint the movement.
Then –
"Damn it," Spider senses blared with danger, as Peter dodged to the left, catching the incoming hand behind him.
With an application of force in his wrist, Peter threw the caught hand forward, hurling the blue figure to the nearest wall.
Bang!
The tyrannodrone hit the wall, denting it with its tough body.
"A tyrannodrone is this hard to deal with?" Peter muttered, moving forward at his max speed as he bound the tyrannodrone with more webs.
Roar!
The tyrannodrone, less like a cyborg, more of a beast, howled in anger, trying to break free from Peter's web, but how could he allow it?
Twiiip!
Peter added even more sturdy webs, covering the tyrannodrone like a cocoon. Even with that, the tyrannodrone was still struggling to break free.
Seeing this, Peter knew he was no match for this monster. So, he did the only logical thing: call for backup.
Every omni-force teammate had a communication seal stored in their mind, which could instantly contact the base. It had once been a device, but after some upgrades, Zayne changed it to a mind seal. This made it easier and faster to communicate. This is extremely useful in emergencies, as one could not have a split mind during that battle.
"Peter here. I need backup ASAP. I've opened my location." Peter spoke through the seal as he took the cocoon, swinging to a more secluded area.
Peter shot up to the sky like an arrow. His speed was so fast that it caused the surrounding air to tremble around him. His expression under his mask was grim.
The cocoon in his hand was trembling, trying to break free, and the frequency was getting louder and higher. Moreover, there were still about five minutes before the team's arrival. He couldn't allow it to break free.
"This thing seems to be getting stronger. What the hell is happening?" Peter thought to himself as he noticed the weird change in the tyrannodrone. Before, it couldn't take a single punch from him, now its aura was getting terrifying each minute, making Peter's spider sense blare at each interval.
I have to get it out –"
Crack! Boom!
Before he could complete his words, the cocoon shattered and sent Peter tumbling downwards. With a boom, Peter crashed into a construction truck, which caved in and broke.
Roar~
The tyrannodrone, enraged, moved downward, landing directly on Peter, shattering many of his bones. It didn't stop there. With a folded fist, the tyrannodrone punched Peter's jaw, sending him flying and crashing into a building.
"Ah." An involuntary scream escaped Peter's lips as he felt his organs shaking. Before he could even stand back up, the tyrannodrone was already before him, this time with its laser hand.
"Shit," Peter exclaimed, dodging with all his strength.
Zoom~ Boom!
The laser, missing Peter, hit other cars and buildings, pulverizing all in its path. Be it humans, cars, buildings, animals…. none were spared.
"Not again…not again." Peter ignored the attacking tyrannodrone and went to save the rest of the survivors.
But how could the tyrannodrone allow it? It continued to attack Peter, making him look extremely miserable.
His suit was torn, while his mask was even more tattered. But even as Peter got beaten, he still saved people.
The civilians being saved were filled with pity and tears as they saw Spiderman's miserable state. They couldn't take in the scene before them. Someone so selfless was extremely rare in the world.
Some might find it foolish, but it was what a hero should do, and this was Peter's drive currently. The more people he saved, the more this mindset stabilized. It reached a level where he didn't even care about the tyrannodrone beating anymore and just saved who needed it.
The tyrannodrone, whether controlled or just cruel, attacked the people he tried to save, but Peter saved them every time. This scene was everywhere in the city, as many people noticed it.
The seemingly world-ending apocalypse now looked like a form of motivation for many, with many of the citizens praying for Spider-Man's survival.
All this happened in a span of minutes, as both of them moved around the city fast, battling at each moment. Even the media outlet was before Peter called for help.
"Just a minute more, help will get here soon." With ragged breath, Peter kept this conviction in mind. He knew the casualties had exceeded hundreds, but he still kept the hope that Zayne would do something about it in his mind.
Even if it meant sacrificing his life, he would stall for time.
Seconds ticked by as Peter kept on saving, and the tyrannodrone attacked. Then –
"Help," A childlike voice echoed in one of the wreckages. It was so faint that without Peter's spider sense scouting, catching it would have been impossible.
"There," Peter locked the voice eastward, dodged the attack of the tyrannodrone, and zipped towards the voice. The chasing tyrannodrone also followed, its speed matching Peter's.
Peter looked back, his face grim. This tyrannodrone was like a parasite, always attempting to sabotage his rescues. Normally, tyrannodrones were unintelligent, but this one seemed different.
But he had no time to think of that. Saving the child came first. Seconds later, Peter located the child.
It was a little boy stuck under rubble. He looked about ten to twelve years old. The boy's current state was not favorable. There were numerous wounds on his body, especially his arms, that seemed to be paralyzed.
"Damn it. If I had killed it in one go, this wouldn't have happened. Is this what Zayne meant?" Peter's heart turned cold as he stared at the little boy, not knowing how to react for a moment.
This moment of hesitation gave the tyrannodrone time to attack, but this time it didn't attack Peter. It charged at the boy instead, with eyes gleaming with wickedness.
Arriving before the boy, it pointed the laser gun at his head, ready to strike.
"No! Stop!" Peter screamed, hands outstretched as he tried to stop it.
Then, to Peter's utter horror, the tyrannodrone looked at him and laughed. "Hehehehe"
Something that hadn't said a single word apart from roaring just sneered at him. Peter couldn't believe his eyes. Even worse, the laser was already charged to the point of shooting.
Then it pulled the trigger.
--- ✦ ---
So, another chapter. The updates are really slow, and I'm sorry. I don't know if it's the fanfic author's curse, but I seem to have more things to do when I began writing. But I'm back now.
This chapter was a little boring and hard to write. What do you guys think?
Power Stones guys.