The Defenders of Remnant (Marvel x RWBY)

Chapter 30: Trauma

Previously, on The Defenders of Remnant...

Prowler coughed hoarsely and hacked up blood before slowly pulling his shattered mask off, revealing a bruised and bloodstained face. "Next time you look at yourself in the mirror, I want you to think about all the kids that will die when you do what you're going to do, then look at yourself... and see if you can keep a straight face in the middle of that massacre."

Tarantula's fist tightened, and he reeled his fist back to deliver a final, fatal blow.

Then webbing enveloped his fist and he looked above to see Spider-Man in his classic suit holding the line of web. "I like the cosplay, but if you're trying to copycat, I usually don't kill the bad guys!"

"You!" Tarantula exclaimed before yanking on the webbing and pulling Spider-Man towards him.

Peter tore off the mask to see Tarantula's face...

... And only saw his own. He took a step back in pure shock. It wasn't a mirror image; the other face had a shaved head, blue eyes instead of brown, and the other face looked a year or two younger, but it was still undoubtedly his face, the face of Peter Parker.

"W-What...? H-How...?" Peter stammered, still trying to comprehend what he was seeing.

"W-What? H-How is this...? This isn't..." Tarantula was trying to come to terms and failing just as Peter was.

"W-What are we looking at?" Yang asked.

"Genetic replication," Peter sighed.

When he saw my face, his face... it looked like he was as confused as I was. They're not treating him as a partner, as another assassin. He's being used just as a tool. He doesn't even know what it's like being a human being."

"Taskmaster didn't like you up and running like that.

"They want you alive, but they didn't say they wanted you unscathed!" Electro shot a storm of electricity at the man before he could recover, forcing screams of pain from his lungs. He began convulsing and squirming helplessly as endless currents of electricity shot through his body.

Penny narrowed her eyes and pulled more swords out of her pack before rotating them quickly in a circle in front of her, soon forming a ball of energy in the center, just as she had done at the battle at the docks. As soon as the energy reached its peak, she fired the massive beam of energy directly at Electro. The superpowered criminal was too preoccupied with torturing his victim to notice the attack until it was too late. Electro was sent flying away with the blast

"Sir! Are you alright?" Penny turned the man over, feeling the extreme heat of his body after the electrocution. When she flipped him over, his hat was gone and his mask had been burned off, and she saw a face she recognized. "Peter?" Tarantula, meanwhile, groaned and barely moved.

The Defenders of Remnant

Chapter 30: Trauma

Peter sat in one of the chairs set off to the side, rubbing his eyes as he struggled to stay awake. The team had been right, he needed more sleep. His body wasn't healed up enough to keep up with his work, and he was starting to feel it, the aches in all his wounds. He took one deep breath and looked blankly forward.

"Are you alright, Peter?" Penny asked, breaking him from his trance.

"Uh.. yeah, yeah, just... just tired. Been busy, and things will only get busier," Peter answered.

"Ruby said you've been working yourself too hard, right? Does it have to do with the hero work?" Penny asked.

Peter was surprised at first, then remembered she was there when Ruby found out who he was. "I keep forgetting you were there that night."