"Well. Yes. I mean, everyone knows that the Rhino isn't all that bright."
"What if he's bright enough to be hiding it from everyone?" Mary Jane asked. "When people expect you to be an idiot, assume you haven't got a brain in your head, letting them continue to think so can be very advantageous." She gave me a wry smile. "Believe me. When it comes to people's assuming abject stupidity based on expectation and appearance, I know what I'm talking about."
I blinked and thought about that one for a minute. "Then how come when he fights me, he keeps falling for the same routine, over and over?"
"Exactly," Mary Jane said. "Even a moron would have changed their tactics by now. I think it's become a matter of principle for him. He wants to beat you his way, and he won't be satisfied until he does." She mused. "You know, I'll bet you anything that he wasn't unconscious as long as you thought he was, when you brought him in here. If he was as stupid as everyone thinks, do you really think he would have been so calm and rational when he woke up blinded and bound?"
"Admittedly," I said, "I was sort of surprised that he let me talk to him. I knew the webbing would hold him long enough to let me throw him out a window if he got rowdy, but all the same, he did take it awfully calmly."
"Right. I think that was because he'd been listening and he already knew you had no intention of hurting him."
The Rhino with a brain. That notion was at least as disturbing as the occasions when the Hulk had managed to hold on to Banner's intellect. "I don't know…"
"I'm not saying he's going to be a Jeopardy champion or anything. But think about how many mad geniuses he works with. The Goblins, Doc Ock, Mysterio. I think he knows that they're a lot smarter than he is. So he hides the brains he does have, so that if it ever comes to a fight, he'll have a card up his sleeve."
I hated to admit it, but I knew MJ might have a point. "If that's true," I said, "then he might have heard my name. Or yours."
She nodded. "If he did?"
"If he did…" I shook my head. "He's just got first names. And I don't think he'd do anything with them, anyway."
"Why not?"
"Because you're right about one thing: He wants to beat me his way. Man to man."
Mary Jane smiled. "Then you've got nothing to worry about. You're more of a man than anyone I know, Mr. Parker. Russian Rhinos included."
"You sound awfully certain about that, Mrs. Parker," I murmured, and kissed her.
"I am," she said, gorgeous eyes half-lidded. "Let me show you why."
And she did.
The End