Chapter 24: And Sinister Was His Name Part One

And Sinister Was His Name Part One.

A pair of thieves ran from the school quickly as possible, with their stolen loot. They had managed to make off with several hundred dollars from the cash register and had ran as quickly as they could manage.

“Hurry, to the car and back to the hide out, we’ll divide it up there,” said one of the hoodlums.

“Yeah, you don’t want Spider-Man to catch us,” said the second hoodlum, but he opened the door, a line of webbing shot out against the door, before Spider-Man swung around to pull it shut.

“No, I don’t think you would want that, but you could never get what you want,” said Spider-Man as he jumped down. One of the hoodlums attacked him but the wall crawler dodged the attack, before he nailed the hoodlum right in the chest with a kick. The second thief swung a crowbar but Spider-Man was too quick. He dodged it with ease and the thief charged in again, but he was tripped up. Before they knew it, they were hung upside down from the light post and Spider-Man took a couple of steps back, nodding as the situation was completely wrapped up. A small crowd gathered around to watch. He turned to them, with a bow, which got more than a few laughs and a few cheers. “No need to thank me, just doing my job.”

Spider-Man swung off into the distance. It appeared that he might actually make it to school with plenty time to spare. He thanked his lucky stars each and every day that no one dangerous had put together exactly who Spider-Man, well no one except to the Green Goblin that was but from what Harry told him, Norman was still safely locked in a mental institution and had not remembered one second of his time as the Green Goblin. That was more than fine with Peter and he dodged quite the bullet there.

Still the fear was always in the back of his head that his status as Spider-Man could put those close to him in danger.

-

The news media had caught Spider-Man’s little morning exploits and a figure in the shadows had watched, with Miles Warren.

“Just think Dr. Essex, all of his extraordinary abilities were off of our work,” said Warren. “Imagine what we could do with an army of Spider-Men…”

“Please don’t flatter yourself Warren, your work would have amounted to nothing had it not been for my help and technically it’s my work, you have barely added to my overall plan for evolution,” said Essex coldly.

“Countless hours and long weekends and I’ve barely added anything!” challenged Warren but Essex just laughed at his bold, but foolish attempt to challenge him.

“Please, you have no idea how insignificant that your meager contribution is,” stated Essex. “Still you do raise one point, the fact remains that Spider-Man has been given great abilities that we can utilized. Out of some strange sense of honor and morality, he has held back in his powers. But there are many unanswered questions. From what little I’m able to find out about Spider-Man, I know enough that there are questions that must be answered and I plan on answering them by any means necessary.”

Warren could have sworn he felt a chill in the room as Essex made this proclamation.

-

“Meeting today,” said Harry but he looked in a cheerful mood as if nothing could get him down. Perhaps it was just Peter, but he would not be looking forward to a board meeting of all things.

“What is it about this time?” asked Gwen.

“Oh, nothing big, just a bunch of environmentalists got their shirts all in a bunch because Oscorp dumped chemicals in the ocean,” said Harry. “Some family sued us even, because their daughter got sick and lost her hearing from playing near the contaminated water.”

“That sounds serious,” said Peter having heard about the scandal Oscorp went through though the Bugle and how it would cost the company millions but Harry just shrugged.

“Not much of my problem, I just have to sit in, be the figure head, I mean it sucks to be the little girl and her family, but hey, it’s not like I did it and it wouldn’t have been the only time that Dad was careless about chemicals,” said Harry with a shrug and this brought up another point to Peter that he was thinking about earlier.

“Any word on how your dad is recovering?” asked Peter curiously.

“Nothing, more of the same, he refuses to cooperate with anyone, he barely talks,” said Harry. “I’m sure if he really wanted to get out, he would, but the goblin formula must have done a number on his brain.”

The horn of a limo could be heard from the drive outside of the school.

“Got to go, hey, maybe later tonight, you two can meet with Liz and me, for dinner,” said Harry brightly before he paused and looked at Peter. “That is unless you’re not busy at the Bugle again…”

“I’m sure if nothing comes up, we can join you,” said Gwen.

“Yeah it might be fun,” replied Peter.

“Right, cool, got to get going,” said Harry as he quickly moved off, as he nearly knocked over a couple of hapless bystanders on his way out.

“Harry seems to be in a good mood lately, a bit too good to be honest,” said Peter. “It’s scary almost.”

“Well maybe it’s because he doesn’t have to deal with his father,” said Gwen with a shrug of her shoulders.

“No kidding, Norman Osborn gives me the creeps and that’s even not when he’s goblined up,” said a voice which caused Gwen and Peter to jump and suddenly Kitty had just stepped out from behind them.

“Must you phase out of the wall behind us like that,” muttered Peter. “You nearly scared me half to death.”

“Sorry, everything was so crowded, it would be shorter now and I need to be home for Danger Room practice,” said Kitty with s shudder as she remembered the last practice and considering it wasn’t up to Logan’s high standards, they were in fact having a second one. “Don’t worry no one saw me…at least I don’t think they did.”

“Well let’s hope that’s the case,” said Peter with a sigh. That would be a hard one to explain and he just had the strangest feeling that Wolverine would blame him for Kitty inadvertently blowing the entire mutant secrecy thing for some reason.

“Well wouldn’t people be freaking out if they saw me?” asked Kitty.

“She’s got you there, Peter,” said Gwen.

“Parker,” grunted the voice of Logan, also known as Wolverine which caused Peter to turn around in surprise, moving away from Gwen to see what Wolverine had wanted. Kitty moved over as well, looking equally curious at what Logan had wanted. “Over here, I want a word with you, in private, away from prying ears and eyes.”

Gwen opened her mouth to say something.

“It’s okay Gwen, I better see what he wants,” said Peter as he moved over. A look from Logan had caused Kitty to back up. Logan looked at Peter. “What’s up?”

“What’s up is that Xavier got a letter regarding your codename, that has the Professor in a strange mood, I’ve never seen him like this in all the time I’ve know him,” grunted Logan as he looked at Peter. “He’s shut himself up in his study, he barely talked to anyone all day. The only thing he did was to tell me to give you this message and I don’t like playing messenger boy so I’m going to make this brief. Get in your costume and swing on to the Mansion right away. Xavier wants to meet you about this, it’s urgent. Got that Parker?”

“Yeah, I got that,” said Peter as Gwen looked at him with a curious expression on her face but Peter just shrugged and mouthed “got to take care of this, might be late, hopefully talk to you later” before he ran off to don the outside of Spider-Man.

-

Spider-Man raised his hand to knock on the door of the study but the door was opened.

“Come in Spider-Man, I was expecting you,” said Xavier who turned around in his wheelchair, offering a seat to Spider-Man who took it immediately. “Logan told you that I received a letter regarding you or rather your unique origins. Perhaps it is best for you to read this letter so you can understand out serious this situation is.”

Spider-Man reached forward to take the letter and unfolded the piece of paper to read it.

“Xavier, send this message to Spider-Man and let him know that his powers belong to me,” read Spider-Man. “The genetic experiment that created the spider that bit him and gave him his powers was commissioned and funded by me. Therefore, he has stolen his abilities from my research and I intend to take them back one way or another. Tell him that there is no way he could hide. Dr. Nathaniel Essex.”

Spider-Man put down the letter, to digest the contents of it. It was not too difficult to piece everything together at this point.

“He tried to collect me once before already, with those robots,” said Spider-Man as it struck him suddenly. “And now he’s going to try it again, but if he knows how I got my powers, that means he must know exactly who I am.”

Xavier looked thoughtful for a brief moment before he decided to respond.

“Not necessarily and Nathaniel Essex will no doubt be more interested your DNA, than who you are,” responded Xavier and Spider-Man looked at him with a curious, yet startled look. “Perhaps it is best if I tell you who Essex is and the danger he poses to you. Nathaniel Essex was one of the greatest genetic experts of the nineteenth century. In fact, he was in line for several scientific awards his research contributed to curing several diseases in his day. That was until he went mad and decided to turn his research towards more unethical matters.”

“Wait a minute, of the nineteenth century?” asked Spider-Man startled as his eyes widened in awe. “That means if this Essex guy is still alive, he has to be what, almost two hundred years old?”

“Perhaps even older, no one is certain of his age,” inputted Xavier. “The fact remains he wanted to take the evolution of humanity to its ultimate stage. He wished to eliminate the weak where only the strong and powerful would survive. He conducted radical, even for this time, experiments on humans. Unfortunately, willing test subjects were not forth coming. So it goes without saying that Essex managed to gain test subjects through a variety of underhanded means. Blackmail, extortion, cutting deals with corrupt government officials in England and other European countries, and just kidnapping hopeless people off the street. Essex became more and more obsessed in proving his theories, to a point where he tested chemicals on himself. He sought immorality and achieved it, but in a twisted form.”

“What do you mean by that, Professor Xavier?” asked Spider-Man.

“His mind was warped, his skin became chalk white, red eyes, fanged teeth, deformed clawed hands and feet, he could not even walk the streets without causing a panic and many rioted, discovering Essex’s lab, burning it and much of his research to the ground,” said Xavier. “Many thought Essex had perished, but given the fact that there is now distinct evidence that he remains alive to this day in your hand.”

“And he’s still experimenting, those spiders, but they were done by Miles Warren,” said Spider-Man in confusion. “So how can…”

“Warren was merely an intermediary to the outside world, Essex could scarcely show his face in public, there must have been other scientists that has worked for him over the decades, but they are mere puppets and serve as only a means to collect data from the outside world where Nathaniel Essex can scarcely venture,” said Professor Xavier. “Nathaniel Essex has had a chance to become much more than human or mutant in the century and a half that he went underground.”

Spider-Man just nodded, he got that Essex was dangerous and rather deranged, but suddenly alarms went off around the mansion. The windows around the student began to snap shut with metal. Xavier rolled forward to investigate the disturbance.

“Professor!” shouted Cyclops in a loud voice, shocked that the security of the Mansion, had been somehow breached. “We have a breach of some kind!”

“At least a half of a dozen mutant energy signatures have been detected by our outer defenses,” added Beast in a calm voice, in an attempt to maintain a level head “And none of them look rather too friendly.”

“Stand by and prepare to defend the mansion and wait for my orders,” said Xavier as Spider-Man got to his feet, but Xavier waved his hand. “So Spider-Man, I detect the presence of a dangerous and quite advanced mutant. It can only be Essex and the letter that he sent was on the express purpose of trapping you here.”

“All the more reason for me to fight,” said Spider-Man.”If Essex is after me than I have to fight…”

“Professor, I’ve activated the defense parameters for the mansion but they don’t seem to be working!” called Marvel Girl in frustration.

“Jean, stand back, I’ll be there momentarily, try and hold off the intruders, whoever they are,” said Professor Xavier as he turned but he paused, sensing the sounds of combat and several loud grunts. The next thing he saw along with Spider-Man was Wolverine and Sabertooth crashing right through the wooden door, brawling. Xavier was just looked at them, not deterred, almost as if this was a common occurrence that he saw dozens of times before.

“Thought you with Magneto, Sabertooth,” grunted Wolverine as he tried to push his head back in an attempt to snap his neck but Sabertooth blocked, before Wolverine was knocked backwards right to the ground. Sabertooth stepped forward and grabbed Wolverine around the throat, as the two mutants struggled against each other.

“That bucket headed chump left me for dead, but this guy, he lets me hurt people, spill their blood and the fact I got to tangle with you is just an added bonus, runt,” said Sabertooth as he shoved Wolverine into the wall and attempted to smash him but Wolverine blocked the attack with his claws. Spider-Man leapt up, somersaulting right towards Sabertooth and catching him right with the both of the feet in the back. Sabertooth was staggered, before he turned around. “Ah you, the boss wants you, breaking Wolverine in half will have to wait.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I won’t be that easy,” said Spider-Man as he shot webbing right into the eyes of the mutant, who staggered, but it allowed Wolverine to spring up, poised for the attack. A slash with his claws and Sabertooth was knocked right backwards into the metal over the windows, before Wolverine smashed his foe’s head right into the metal. A punch and Sabertooth was knocked for a loop. Another punch and Sabertooth was temporarily put out of commission.

“You seem to be popular today,” grunted Wolverine as he looked at Spider-Man before he turned towards Xavier. “A new group of mutants have gotten together, they’re saying that they’ve wanted to claim the kid for some guy named Sinister.”

“Sinister?” asked Xavier but something clicked in his head. It had made perfect sense, it was a wonder that he did not connect the dots before but there would be time for theory later.“Then this is more grave then had realized. Stay alert both of you. As much as I hate to put you in danger, Spider-Man, the others need your help.”

“No problem Professor, I’m on it,” replied Spider-Man, as he walked with Wolverine, as the two moved forward, with the sounds of combat in the hallway. The X-Men were in a battle of the lifetime with a group of nasty looking and foul tempered mutants in dressed in black. Iceman slid down the ice slide but a young man known as Harpoon moved forward, holding a spear in his hand, charging it with his mutant power before he threw it right at the ice. It exploded into bits, sending the ice everywhere, before he leapt up, and smacked the wooden part of the charged spear right over the back of Iceman.

Marvel Girl lifted a table into the air with her telekinesis but a female mutant with green hair named Vertigo released a super sonic scream, causing her concentration to break and to drop to the ground. Beast moved forward, grabbing Vertigo from behind and placed his hand over her mouth. Vertigo struggled as she was promptly silenced.

“I’ll believe we’ll have none of that,” replied Beast as Vertigo tried to struggle, before Beast ran up the walls, with the woman upside down but another mutant, by the name of Riptide spun around at a high speed, generating winds, which caused Cyclops, Marvel Girl, and Shadowcat to be knocked off balance, but Spider-Man shot a line of webbing around the mutant, wrapping it around him. Riptide struggled but was unable to spin for the moment, as he had been trapped.

“Okay, I don’t know who you people are, but I’m pretty sure that breaking and entering in a private property is forbidden, even for mutants,” said Spider-Man but Riptide spun around, causing Spider-Man’s webbing to snap and causing the web head to land on the ground with a thud, as Harpoon rushed in, throwing an exploding spear right at him but Spider-Man used his expert agility to dodge the attack. Another mutant, named Arclight, stepped in, waving her arms and sending a shockwave attack, knocking Spider-Man off of his feet.

“The boss wants Spider-Man, do whatever with the rest,” said Archlight, as Spider-Man swung out of the way. Iceman struggled to his feet, before sending a blast of ice but the shockwaves had caused the ice to fly right back at him. Iceman was knocked right off of his back and caught right with another shockwave, but Wolverine leapt in, claws drawn, but Vertigo knocked him off balance with a sonic scream. Wolverine tried to push himself up but another sonic scream and he was further taken down.

“Not going to defeat us that easily, bub,” said Wolverine as he struggled back up for a second time, staggered, dizzied, but while the other X-Men had been knocked off of their feet, along with Spider-Man, Wolverine continued to press on. Professor Xavier wheeled in using his physic abilities.

“You will no longer continue to attack our team, you will decease this at once,” said Xavier, but Vertigo was not willing to be pacified, instead letting out another sonic scream.

“Here, the boss gave us this, send to release it to knock these chumps out!” said Harpoon sadistically as he released a grenade, which blew up, sending a blast of energy right towards the X-Men. Professor Xavier dropped to the ground, clutching his head in agony. Marvel Girl looked dizzied, but barely managed to put up a physic shield, protecting her and Cyclops but she did not have the power to increase it, as Spider-Man, Wolverine, Shadowcat, Iceman, Beast, and Xavier had all been rendered unconscious. Archlight and Riptide grabbed Spider-Man by his arms.

“Let’s go, we have the Spider-Man,” said Archlight in a triumphant voice. “The boss will be pleased with us, he has big plans for him.”

-

Spider-Man groggily opened his eyes, before looking around. He was in a dark room that appeared devoid of all human life, at least the friendly sort and it was musty, cold, damp and there was just something about it that sent shivers down his spine.

“Okay Spidey, here’s the million dollar question,” thought Spider-Man as he found himself strapped to a table. “How did you end up in a place that looks out of a 1950s horror movie? Don’t tell me Mysterio’s taken another crack at directing.”

“Excellent, you’re awake,” said a soft, deadly sounding voice as Spider-Man attempted to pull himself free but found that attempt quite futile. “I would not attempt to free myself, it would eliminate what little strength you’ve had. I have used a chemical on you that will eliminate your Spider Strength. As for any other side effects, well I guess you and I will both have fun figuring that out. Well I’ll have fun figuring out what happens, I can’t say you will.”

The man laughed at his own cruel joke as Spider-Man collapsed. This man, whoever he was, was right, his Spider Strength had been completely eliminated. He had been drugged and now he could not free himself. He could squirm all night long but until this chemical wore off there would be nothing.

“I’m sure Xavier has told you all about me, I hope I spooked him with that letter I sent,” said the mystery man, hidden in the shadows, as Spider-Man was unable to get a close look at his face from his position. “I bet he hoped that I was long gone, as my experiments accounted for many of the mutants that exist in this world today but it is only a small step in the ultimate evolution of this world.”

“Dr. Essex, I presume,” said Spider-Man weakly as he attempted to pull himself free even though it was no good. It was instinct.

“Indeed Spider-Man and you’ve been very naughty,” said Essex in an accusing manner. “Stealing genetic material without permission, you see while Miles Warren had conducted the experiments, it was based off of my research. That one spider bite turned you into the web slinging do-gooder that you are today but I’m curious to exactly why you’re still breathing. Because the genetic material in that spider was meant to kill a normal Homo-sapien had it been interjected into them. Well alone it was harmless, but combined with the DNA of the specimens, it was quite deadly indeed.”

“Wait a minute, if that was the case, then how did I survive?” asked Spider-Man, the most morbid of curiosity getting the better of him.

“That is a question that you or rather your DNA will answer in do time,” responded Essex coldly. “Once I find that out, once you’re picked apart one strand at a time, your DNA will be harvested for future reference. I can gain years of research studying what I’m going to gain from you, it’s a pity that you may only have hours to live once I get to work.”

“You mean you’re going to dissect me alive!” shouted Spider-Man in horror, losing his cool and he was beginning to panic. “That’s…that’s…that’s….sinister.”

“Mr. Sinister to you, Spider-Man,” said Essex or rather Mr. Sinister with a twisted grin and a chilling voice, devoid of all warmth whatsoever, as he stepped out of the shadows to allow Spider-Man to see him for the first time. What he saw caused his blood to run completely cold.

Xavier’s description did not do him any justice, his genetic experiments had given him extended life, but it had warped his looks and perhaps his sanity. Unfortunately, he was both completely insane and a genius as well, a rather powerful combination.

And Spider-Man doubted that he could have been in a more perilous situation. How was he going to get out of this one? 


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