Spider-Man leapt and dodged, his agility pushed to the limit as he attempted to evade Sandman's relentless assault. Despite his best efforts, he found himself being slowly but surely overwhelmed.
"Come on, Sandy," Spidey quipped, his voice betraying a hint of strain. "Don't you ever get tired of playing in the sandbox?"
Sandman's gravelly laugh echoed through the warehouse as his massive fist barely missed Spider-Man's head. "I'm gonna bury you, insect!"
"Arachnid," Peter corrected automatically, firing off another web that passed harmlessly through Sandman's shifting form. "And here I thought we were past the name-calling stage of our relationship."
'Jeez, I am tired of people calling me insect for the past two days and me correcting them. This is getting so boring and tiring.' Peter thought
As clever as his quips were, Peter was running out of options. His webs were useless against Sandman's malleable body, and he couldn't land a solid hit. With each passing moment, he found himself more on the defensive, barely avoiding the crushing blows.
Just as Sandman seemed poised to finally overwhelm him, Spider-Man felt a strange sensation in his mind. A cool, calming presence brushed against his thoughts, and he heard White Queen's voice in his head "Need some help, darling?"
Peter eyes widened at that sudden voice in shock.
Above him, Sandman's form suddenly went rigid, his sandy features contorting in confusion and pain. Emma stood a short distance away, her eyes glowing with telepathic energy as she launched a massive psychic assault on Sandman's mind.
His sandy body began to crumble, his consciousness unable to maintain cohesion under the telepathic onslaught. With a final, guttural cry, Sandman collapsed into an inert pile of sand.
Spider-Man stared in amazement, his chest heaving as he caught his breath. "That... that was incredible," he managed to say, looking at Emma with newfound respect. "I didn't know you could do that to, well, sand."
Emma smirked, brushing an imaginary speck of dust from her pristine white outfit. "The mind is a powerful thing, Spider-Man. Even beings like Sandman have a consciousness that can be... persuaded."
Across the warehouse, another battle was reaching its climax. Rhino charged blindly, his massive form crashing through crates and support beams as he attempted to catch the ever-elusive Quicksilver.
"Too slow, horn-head!" Quicksilver taunted, zipping around Rhino's legs. "My grandmother moves faster than you, and she's been dead for years!"
Rhino roared in frustration, spinning around only to find Quicksilver had already moved. "Stand still, you little pest!"
"Now why would I do that?" Quicksilver laughed, delivering a series of rapid-fire punches that, while not enough to seriously harm Rhino, certainly annoyed him.
As Rhino prepared for another charge, Mystique stepped into view. To Rhino's confusion, she had taken on the appearance of his own massive, armored form.
"What's the matter, Rhino?" Mystique-as-Rhino taunted. "Don't recognize your own ugly mug?"
The real Rhino hesitated, his tiny brain struggling to comprehend the situation. That moment of confusion was all Quicksilver needed.
Moving at super-speed, he began to run circles around Rhino, creating a silver blur that disoriented the villain even further. As Rhino stumbled, trying to track the speedster, Mystique made her move.
With a running start, she charged at Rhino, using his own signature move against him. The real Rhino, caught off guard by the sight of his own form barreling towards him, didn't react in time.
The impact sent Rhino staggering backward. As he teetered off-balance, Quicksilver delivered the coup de grâce – a super-speed assisted trip that sent the massive villain crashing to the ground with an earth-shaking thud.
Rhino lay there, dazed and defeated, as Quicksilver and Mystique (now back in her blue-skinned form) exchanged a victorious high-five.
"Not bad for a shape-shifter," Quicksilver grinned.
Mystique smirked back. "You're not so terrible yourself, for a hyperactive teenager."
'I would not have been able to do that without Law's training. To think that Shapeshifting is not the only superpower have, my physique also gives me enhanced strength, agility and flexibility. And with Law's help in understanding my muscle structure, I was further able to increase my physical strength.' Mystique thanked Law internally. She finally felt that she did not need to rely on others to solver her problems.
Spider-Man watched these exchanges with a mix of awe and amusement. These people, these unlikely allies, were incredible. They were so strong and co-ordinated. He remembered that they were not even superheroes and were just mercenaries. He shuddered to think what if they turned his enemies someday.
The White Queen could simply obliterate his mind with just a glare or shift to her diamond form and kick his ass to Vegas. That Quicksilver kid who looked even younger than him would punch him in the face with the speed of sound.
'And that Mystique girl was pretty creepy and scary. The Gambit guy was pretty skilled too And that Redhead hotty dealt with Mysterio within seconds. Not to mention the mysterious Death Surgeon. Yeah, it wouldn't be ending well for me or rather the world.' Peter thought as he went towards the beaten down Sinister six and started webbing them down.
"Now Let's wait for the police to show up and...." Peter was interrupted by the sound of foot steps just behind him. He turned to see who it was.
"BLACK MASK!!?"
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