FIVE DAYS AGO.
In a room surrounded by cameras stood one of Spider-Man's most iconic villains, Aleksei Sytsevich, better known by his villain name, Rhino, a member of the Sinister Six.
He was reviewing footage from all over New York, months after Spider-Man [Octavius] had beaten him so badly that he spent over three weeks in the hospital.
The hatred Rhino felt was indescribable. He was so furious that after escaping death's grasp, he fled the hospital in search of tools to help him capture Spider-Man.
Though Rhino wasn't the brightest, he knew he couldn't defeat Spider-Man in direct combat. So, he decided to ruin the hero's reputation instead. He observed every location where Spider-Man had been active and quickly noticed that the hero appeared most frequently during bank robberies. With that in mind, he devised a plan to tarnish Spider-Man's image—and it worked.
Even though his plan succeeded, Rhino felt no satisfaction. Not everyone in the city believed the thieves' words, so he began searching for evidence of Spider-Man's misdeeds that would disgust the public. And he found it—a video of Spider-Man making a deal with a man whose face screamed *evil*, the same man who had left Rhino nearly paralyzed and on the brink of death for weeks.
"Who are you?" Spider-Man asked.
"You've returned, Spider. Seems waiting a year to make this deal wasn't a waste of time after all," the other man's voice replied.
"Listen, pal, I've had the worst days of my life lately, so cut the crap and tell me who the hell you are!" Spider-Man demanded.
"As I said before, what I want from you is your totemic essence. In exchange, I'll give you something you desire, along with the essence of the one who took it from you," Solus spoke.
Rhino's mind stopped listening the moment he heard the villain proposing a deal to Spider-Man. He knew he had found what he was looking for. So consumed by his thirst for revenge, he ignored everything else and focused only on the meeting location between Spider-Man and the mysterious man.
Without bothering to analyze the conversation further, Rhino left his "secret" base and headed to the abandoned warehouse where Spider-Man and Solus had agreed to meet, carrying a handful of tiny cameras he intended to hide in the most concealed spots.
Once inside, he carefully placed the cameras in the hardest-to-find locations, ensuring neither of his targets would discover them.
After finishing, Rhino immediately left the warehouse and returned to his hideout, worried that Spider-Man or the other man might arrive early and catch him in the act.
Back at his base, Rhino made sure that once the footage of Spider-Man's deal began broadcasting, no one could alter or interrupt the transmission. For this task, he enlisted Mysterio, who gladly provided him with a signal-jamming device upon learning it was for revenge.
---
PRESENT, TWENTY-FIVE MINUTES AGO.
BAXTER BUILDING.
Johnny, Susan, Thing, Valeria, and Franklin were watching a soccer game when suddenly the broadcast was interrupted by static.
"Little sis, you should tell Reed to fix the TV. I mean, we can travel to other dimensions with his inventions, but he can't keep the TV from glitching? Especially during the most important part of the game!" Johnny complained as soon as the screen flickered.
"Relax, matchstick. It's just signal interference. No need to call Reed—it'll fix itself," Thing said, glancing at Johnny before turning back to the TV, waiting for it to stabilize.
"If Uncle Peter were here, he'd know how to fix it," Valeria and Franklin said in unison.
"Kids, you know we don't mention his name," Susan gently reminded them.
"She's right. He stopped being family the moment he threatened us," Johnny added, reinforcing why Peter was off-limits.
"That wasn't Uncle Peter!" Franklin protested, upsetting Susan, who was about to correct him when suddenly, a familiar voice echoed through the room.
"Who are you?" Spider-Man's voice asked from the TV.
They couldn't believe it. They were hearing Peter's voice, and it sounded like someone had secretly recorded him.
"Seems the new Spider-Man falls for kid tricks easily," Johnny mocked.
"You've returned, Spider. Seems waiting a year to make this deal wasn't a waste of time after all."
Hearing those words sent a chill down the adults' spines. They immediately connected them to Spider-Man's words weeks ago when he suddenly reappeared, trying to explain what had happened.
Still, they couldn't believe it—especially Susan and Johnny. If it were true, they would have been the most ungrateful people in the world to someone who had done everything for them.
"Listen, pal, I've had the worst days of my life lately, so cut the crap and tell me who the hell you are!" Spider-Man demanded again.
"Johnny… tell me we weren't wrong," Susan whispered, fighting back tears. Her brother remained silent, his eyes distant.
If what Peter said about the body swap was true, and they had just exiled him from the Baxter Building, she couldn't imagine how hurt he must be.
"We don't know each other well, but you've fought my sons many times, and that's why I've come to you. I have something you want, and you have something I want. That's why I'm here—to make a deal," Solus spoke.
With those words, everyone in the room knew this man was likely one of Spider-Man's worst enemies.
"And what exactly do I have that you could possibly want?" Spider-Man asked.
"To answer your first question, I am Solus, patriarch of the Inheritors," the man declared.
The moment he said his name, Susan's children immediately hid behind the adults.
"What's wrong, kids?" Susan asked, alarmed by their reaction.
"We don't know, Mom, but as soon as we heard his name, our minds screamed that he's horrible," Franklin said, trembling alongside Valeria.
"YOU CAN'T BE SOLUS! KAINE KILLED YOU IN THE SPIDER-VERSE!" Spider-Man shouted in desperation.
"No, Mr. Kaine only destroyed my projection in the Web of Life," Solus corrected.
"As I said before, what I want from you is your totemic essence. In exchange, I'll give you something you desire, along with the essence of the one who took it from you."
The moment he said that, the children began shaking uncontrollably.
"Mom, Uncle Peter is going to die! He's going to die! We have to do something!" Franklin and Valeria cried out in unison.
"What? Relax, squirts, Peter's not dying," Johnny said dismissively.
"You don't understand, Uncle Johnny! Totemic essence can only be extracted as someone dies! Uncle's going to die—we have to help him, please!" Valeria begged, her voice frantic.
"Karen, locate Spider-Man's current position—now!" the adults ordered simultaneously.
"Understood. Approximate location: George Washington Bridge. Please keep the TV on to maintain tracking," Karen responded swiftly.
Without hesitation, the adults grabbed the kids—they couldn't leave them alone—and rushed out.