The Midtown Construction Site was supposed to be empty.
Steel beams glinted under the afternoon sun, casting long shadows over half-poured cement and skeletal structures. The workers had clocked out early, spooked by a series of unexplained tremors that morning—"underground shift," the foreman muttered, though his shaking hands told another story.
Raj stood at the edge of the site, just beyond the yellow hazard tape, his eyes scanning the grid of towering cranes and concrete skeletons. A flicker of instinct had pulled him here. Not a sound. Not a call. Just... something gnawed at him all day.
And now, standing here, that something felt closer.
Peter arrived seconds later, clambering down from his web-slinging perch on a distant building, mask off, eyes narrowed. "This place is giving me all kinds of red flags," he muttered. "My Spidey-sense started screaming five blocks away."
Raj didn't answer. His eyes were focused on the center of the site.
The ground was cracked.
Not normal cracks—these were heat-seared fractures, the kind you'd expect if a small sun had slammed into the pavement and then politely evaporated. Debris shimmered with residual heat, though the air wasn't warm.
Peter edged closer. "This the guy you felt coming?"
"I don't know," Raj said quietly. "But whatever it is, it's strong."
There was a pulse beneath their feet. Faint at first—like a heartbeat echoing through steel and cement. Then stronger. Steadier.
And then he arrived.
A figure emerged from the shadows of the unfinished scaffolding, slow and deliberate. He looked like a man forged from molten pressure. Tall, muscular, armored in obsidian plates etched with crimson circuitry. His eyes burned faint orange, and his bare chest radiated low-level energy like a furnace under glass. One hand clutched a long iron rod, glowing at the tip.
"Finally," the man said, his voice distorted like it came through a machine. "The solar boy."
Raj's fists clenched. "You know who I am?"
"I know what you are." The man raised the rod and pointed it directly at Raj. "And I know what you'll become. Hydra sees the light in you... and we intend to use it."
Peter stepped in front, eyes flicking behind the man, calculating exits, weaknesses, patterns. "Hydra, huh? What, you guys just dig yourselves out of the rubble every few years like cockroaches?"
The man ignored him. "You are not a threat yet, Raj. But we've studied the footage. You will be."
Peter whispered, "Great. Now you're trending on terrorist watchlists."
Raj didn't move. His chest tightened. Not from fear—something colder. The villain's words rang in his ears like a bell tolling too early. Not a threat yet. You will be.
"Why show yourself?" Raj said. "You could've sent a drone. A file. A threat."
The villain tilted his head. "Hydra doesn't waste effort on warnings. This is a message. To you. And to them."
Without another word, he leapt forward.
Peter moved faster—webs firing in rapid bursts, trying to bind the man's legs. The villain spun mid-air, catching one strand, igniting it with a flare of heat that snapped it mid-tension.
Raj reacted instinctively. Light flared from his palm and exploded into a beam aimed at the villain's chest.
But it bounced.
The beam deflected like light off a mirror. The villain landed hard, sending up a shockwave that crumpled a steel beam beside them like a soda can.
"What the hell is he made of?" Peter shouted, backpedaling.
"Plasma-absorbing alloy," the man said, amused. "You're not the only one who eats sunlight."
Raj's jaw tensed. "Then let's see how you handle the real thing."
He launched forward—no warmup, no finesse. Just raw, brutal speed. One punch to the gut, reinforced by solar compression. The air split with a thunderclap.
The villain moved with it, sliding back but not toppling. He grunted, hand snapping up to slam the glowing rod into Raj's side.
Pain burst through Raj's ribs like fire. He flew across the site, crashing through a stack of bricks. Peter dove in, webbing the villain's face before he could press the advantage.
"Annoying," the man muttered.
With a flick of his rod, a surge of kinetic energy burst from the base, flinging Peter into a half-finished wall.
Raj shook himself off, teeth grit. He stood again, slower, glowing now—not out of control, but defensive. The light hugged his skin like golden armor, flickering with restraint.
"Why are you doing this?" he demanded. "What does Hydra want from me?"
The villain paused, just long enough to reply.
"You are light incarnate. We are the shadow that follows. Every star casts darkness when it burns too bright. Hydra wants... balance."
Then he raised his rod.
A beam of red light shot into the sky, slicing through a crane and sending the massive metal arm plummeting toward Raj.
Raj's eyes flared molten gold.
He jumped, catching the crane mid-fall, skidding back in the dust with the weight of it. Groaning, sweating, legs digging into the ground, he shifted the load and hurled it aside before it could crush him.
Peter reappeared, swinging low and hurling bricks like missiles. One cracked the villain's head, making him stumble.
"Gotcha!" Peter yelled triumphantly.
The villain turned toward him. "You first, then."
Before he could move, Raj was there.
No glow. No energy blast.
Just fists.
Raj tackled him, both of them slamming through a metal pillar, crashing into cement. He threw one punch after another, light flaring with every impact. The villain grunted, raised his rod—
Raj grabbed it, fingers melting the hilt with his bare hands.
"Balance this," he growled.
And with a flare of light, he shattered the rod.
The villain's eyes widened. "Impossible—"
Raj didn't wait. He threw him. Launched him, actually—across the entire site. The man slammed into a concrete wall and didn't get up.
Not right away, anyway.
Peter landed beside Raj, panting. "Dude. That... was awesome. Terrifying. But awesome."
Raj didn't answer. His eyes remained on the motionless figure.
"Think he's done?"
The villain groaned, pushing himself up. Blood—or something glowing like it—dripped from his mouth. His armor was cracked, but not broken. "Not yet," he rasped. "But soon. We'll be back."
And with a final surge of energy, he teleported out in a cloud of red static, leaving the construction site in silent wreckage.
Peter looked around. "Well. That happened."
Raj wiped his brow. The glow faded, his breath coming shallow.
Peter elbowed him gently. "They want to turn you into a weapon, huh?"
Raj nodded.
"They're gonna regret that."
Raj looked down at his trembling hand. The one that had held the rod. The one that had shattered it.
"I hope so," he whispered.