Chapter 33: And Then There Were Six Part I

Chapter Thirty Three: And Then There Were Six Part I.

“We have it, Dr. Octopus,” said a henchman as he had managed to disable the last of the security protocols and a vault swung open, to reveal several hard discs of data.

“At last, the information I’ve been searching for,” said Doctor Octopus with glee, as he moved over to look at the vault. “Schematics of every major computer system in the city. With it, I can cripple the Kingpin and take control of his empire.”

Octopus moved over, tentacles at the ready to collect his gains, but several lines of webbing shot out, before it pulled the vault shut.

“You know, this isn’t a lending library,” said Spider-Man as he dropped down, finally after a few days of on and off searching, he had found Octopus. “You know, you really should stop talking about your plans out loud, I might have not found you as soon.”

“I had always knew you would catch up with me, arachnid,” said Doctor Octopus coolly as he turned to his henchmen. “Dispense with him.”

The goons charged Spider-Man but the web head outmaneuvered them one at a time. With several fluid motions, they dropped to the ground, as Octopus began to slice his way through the webbing that held the vault shut. He pulled it open but Spider-Man aimed a kick right towards his head. Octopus shot out his robotic arm and it hooked Spider-Man around the ankle, before he swung the web slinger around.

“Oh, I hate this ride,” thought Spider-Man, as he tried not to lose his lunch, before he nearly smashed into the wall. The spiked part of the arms shot towards him but Spider-Man dodged the attacks.

“Time for your demise, Spider-Man,” said Doctor Octopus.

“Yeah that line never gets old,” said Spider-Man dryly as he shot webbing but Octopus sheered through it like it was nothing. Octopus wrapped the robotic arm around Spider-Man and flung him right to the ground. Octopus lifted up a second unopened vault and flung it right on top of Spider-Man. Spider-Man dodged the assault, but Octopus smashed the ceiling, causing the building to crumble, before he took the vault containing the schematic discs.

“What about us boss?” asked one of the webbed up thugs, as he struggled, with Spider-Man shooting lines of webbing to keep the room of caving in.

“You got caught at your own peril,” said Doctor Octopus as he held the vault in two of his robotic arms, while he moved out on the other two. “I suppose it is my fault that I hire such inept help.”

Spider-Man breathed heavily, as the room was held up.

“Not going to get away that easy, Ock,” said Spider-Man as he gave chase towards the good doctor. Spider-Man began to scale the walls as he ran down, as Doctor Octopus moved throughout the city, smacking several parked cars out of the way. Spider-Man somersaulted down, before he shot two lines of webbing down, that wrapped around the vault. Spider-Man attempted to pull the vault up but Doctor Octopus held on.

“Let go, you fool!” shouted Doctor Octopus. “Do you realize how valuable and irreplaceable this information is?”

Spider-Man suddenly lost his grip, slipping on the side of the roof and he spiraled down. He struggled to readjust himself in mid air, almost as if he lost his equilibrium. He managed to somehow brace his fall at the last minute, at least partly but his webbing had stuck to the vault. He shot two more lines, latching to the other two and he pulled.

“Something’s not right here, I shouldn’t be having to exert this much force,” thought Spider-Man as he struggled, with the added bonus of having to dodge the bottom two arms of Doc Ock as they tried to hack his legs off.

Finally, he managed to pull the vault away from the grip of Doctor Octopus, but it smacked him right in the chest, before landing right on top of him. For a brief second, Spider-Man had to struggle, before the web slinger had managed to push the heavy object off of him. He staggered a bit, as Doctor Octopus looked tentative. If he attacked Spider-Man, he would risk smashing up vital information that he would need to carry out his plans.

The arrival of the police would complicate things slightly.

“Until we meet again, Spider-Man,” said Doctor Octopus, as he rose up on his robotic arms and moved his way towards the city. Spider-Man was not going to let one of his greatest enemies get away that easily. He began to web slinger right at Doctor Octopus, who now could gain more speed, having four robotic arms available instead of two.

In an instant, his shoulder sagged, unable to keep the webbing secure, before it snapped. Spider-Man was caught off guard and he spiraled towards the ground. He reached out to grab onto the wall, but he could not grab onto it.

“I can’t stick!” thought Spider-Man desperately as he tried to do a death defying acrobatic move to slow his descent, but he just proceeded to knee himself right in the face. “Something’s very wrong here.”

Spider-Man landed on the ground, thankfully managing to mostly hit the grass and not break anything. Still as he got to his feet, he felt an aching pain that made it a chore to stand.

“Spider-Man, what happened?” asked Captain Stacy, as he took note of the pained way Spider-Man had walked.

“Doctor Octopus managed to get away,” said Spider-Man. “At least I managed to save whatever he was after.”

“Detailed schematics of computer systems in the city,” replied Captain Stacy. “It would have been disastrous if he had put them to use but we’ve recovered them and they’re being moved to a safe location. Once we recover Doctor Octopus, we’ll be able to find out what he wants with them.”

“Good, I better get going, so you can do your job,” said Spider-Man as he shot a line of webbing, but much to his dismay, he found himself remaining on the ground and he nearly fell on his face when he tried to pull himself up.

“Is there a problem, Spider-Man?” asked Captain Stacy.

“No, I just seem to have an off day,” said Spider-Man. “Guess, I’m walking today.”

“I don’t know what just happened, it’s just if someone had just turned my powers off,” thought Spider-Man. “But what if they were only temporary? What if they had worn off? No that’s too much to hope for, or is it? Could it be that I don’t have to be Spider-Man anymore? No, Pete, you’re just thinking what you want to happen. It’s just an off day, they’ll be back tomorrow.”

-

“Once again, Parker, I don’t know how you do it, but you seem to be regressing!” boomed Jameson as he looked at the pictures. “I almost regret giving you, your job back but it’s not like Brock’s been delivering. I handed him a sure fire story weeks ago and he can’t seem to get one picture. Still that accursed web head, obviously he had some sort of dispute with Octopus, callously putting sensitive and irreplaceable data in the middle of their battle. Mark my words, Spider-Man should be locked up in Ravencroft with the rest of the lunatics he puts there. Not that I’d sleep much better, given the fact Octopus escaped from there.”

Jameson just looked at the pictures, throwing several off to the side, while he took some that depicted Spider-Man on the losing end of the battle.

“These will have to do,” said Jameson in a gruff voice. “Fifty bucks Parker.”

“For the whole set, right, Mr. Jameson?” asked Peter in a deflated voice.

“Well, I was going to give you fifty per photo, considering its almost Christmas, but if you insist, fifty just for the entire set,” said Jameson. “Now get out of my sight before I change my mind and fire you.”

“Technically Jonah, you can’t fire Peter, he’s only a freelancer,” said Robbie as he had walked by the desk at that time

“Well I’ll give him a job and then I’ll fire him,” said Jameson stubbornly as he returned to his office.

“Bustling with all sorts of holiday joy, that one,” thought Peter. The last day of school until January was today, but his fading spider powers was a case of interest. He had to be certain that he was not imagining things. He would give it a couple of days, before he determined for sure whether or not he had lost his powers. Perhaps he was merely having an off day.

-

Doctor Octopus was none too happy to say the least as he arrived at his underwater base of operation.

“Spider-Man, once again, foiled me!” shouted Doctor Octopus in frustration. He was robbed of the vital information that would take the Kingpin down and make him the most powerful man in New York. “Ms Trainer, has any of my employees managed to escape custody?”

“No, Doctor Octavius,” said Carolyn Trainer as she looked up from the computer screen. “News says the entire gang was captured by Spider-Man and are now in police custody.”

“It is just as well, just common hoodlums, not a match for a super powered enemy such as that meddlesome arachnid,” said Doctor Octopus as he moved around his base, robotic arms raised in the air. “I need those who would be more than a match to Spider-Man. Who could also be more of a match physically to Spider-Man. Despite my genius, he has proven to be a more problematic thorn in my side than I had imagined.”

Doctor Octopus turned around, deep in contemplation before it struck him suddenly. He berated himself for not thinking of it before.

“An entire asylum full of those who have tangled with Spider-Man, villains that have powers and abilities that someone with a bit of cunning can manipulate for their own advantage,” muttered Doctor Octopus with an expression of glee appearing on his face. “Much like I have fallen short in my goals in defeating the web head, they have failed as individuals. However, if we combine our efforts, then we can bring down Spider-Man and eliminate him for good.”

Doctor Octopus moved on his tentacles, a twisted smirk on his face. He had proven that the security in Ravencroft was faulty before, having arranged his own escape. Now, he plotted the escape of others to put together a team of super powered villains that would eliminate Spider-Man for good.

-

“I don’t believe it,” said Gwen the next day with a frown as she looked at Peter. “I mean your powers just faded like that.”

“Well, I have been feeling a bit off the last couple of days,” said Peter with a shrug. He had no idea why his powers had suddenly stopped working. There was a part of him that was happy but it was a much smaller part than he thought it would be. He supposed that as much as there were times where he wished he was never bitten, being Spider-Man had become such an integral part of his life. “I always thought there might be a possibility that the powers might be gone one day.”

“Yes, I know,” said Gwen. “Don’t get me wrong Peter, if there gone, that’s great…unless you want to keep being Spider-Man.”

Peter just stopped and thought for a minute. Did he want to keep being Spider-Man? He had very nearly given up when he and Gwen had their big fight. Still, always there was nothing behind that, he never seriously considered stopping being Spider-Man.

“Gwen…it’s not as simple as wanting to be Spider-Man or not wanting to be Spider-Man,” said Peter after a moment’s thought. “They were there and now gone.”

“Nothing’s working, it’s almost like you never had them?” asked Gwen and Peter nodded. “Something’s not right.”

“Plenty is right,” said Peter and Gwen looked at him. “These powers, they helped me do some good but…I don’t know what they would turn me into in the long run. Too much unknown, they were never something meant to be intermingled with human DNA.”

“So this is it, Peter,” said Gwen as she looked at Peter. He looked a bit more upbeat than usual. The past couple of months, ever since that night, he looked constantly beaten and worn down. Being Spider-Man had aged him. “Isn’t it?”

“Looks that way,” replied Peter with a bright smile. “Normal again, got nearly a year out of them but all good things have to come to an end.”

Gwen and Peter looked at each other for a minute. There was happiness but also a feeling of uneasiness. Life without Spider-Man, it was so strange. It would take some getting use to.

“I’ve been trying to call Harry, but he’s been in meetings all day,” said Gwen abruptly changing the subject and Peter looked at her. “How can we talk to him if he’s never around?”

“Harry’s becoming his father, well hopefully not completely,” thought Peter. “The world doesn’t need another Norman Osborn.”

“We’ll talk to him soon Gwen, with all this free time I now have,” replied Peter and Gwen responded with a smile. “How about we catch a movie and lunch?”

“That would be fun Peter,” said Gwen with a smile as they walked off, a bright new future ahead of them.

-

The staff at Ravencroft were on edge, at the recent escape of Otto Octavius. They looked from side to side, as they jumped at every little noise. One of the guard paced around the cells, ready to lash out at anything that moved wrong.

“Good evening, staff of Ravencroft, this is your better speaking!” boomed the voice of Doctor Octopus which caused the guards. “As you have seen, I’ve hacked into your security system. Not too difficult for someone of my genius.”

“Get all hands on deck, shut the power off!” shouted the guard but all the exits had sealed themselves, to prevent the guards from reaching the control room.

“Spending some time as a guest of Ravencroft, I have familiarized myself with several of the guests and know that many of them having something in common with me,” continued Doctor Octopus, as his voice continued to echo over the intercom, with the guards powerless to stop him. “A deep hatred for Spider-Man and a desire to see that web head destroyed.”

There were several grumblings from the cells.

“Yes, I know all of you wish to have an opportunity for revenge but only the best and most powerful of you have been selected for a team to take down Spider-Man once and for all,” continued Doctor Octopus. “Quintin Beck, Flint Marko, and Maxwell Dillon, you have been chosen. Your cells will be unlocked at this time and you will be given your freedom.”

The doors swung open and the after mentioned villains escaped. The guards moved in, but Flint Marko, also known as the Sandman, rose up, before a wall of solidified sand smashed onto the guards, knocking them unconscious. Maxwell Dillon, better known as Electro, stepped forward with a manic expression on his face.

“I will need to procure my confiscated equipment before we depart,” said Quintin Beck, better known as Mysterio.

“It’s located on the storage room to the side,” said Doctor Octopus over . “It cannot be accessed from this computer system, it will need to be overloaded from inside.”

“I’ve got this one!” yelled Electro as his hands raised in the air, sparks flying from them, before it fried the control box, causing it to melt and the door to swing open. Beck walked over, a grin on his face, as he collected his Mysterio costume, along with holographic projection gloves.

“Glorious!” yelled Mysterio in triumph. “Now all shall tremble for the magnificent might of Mysterio!”

“Yes, we know,” replied Doctor Octopus dryly. “Now, you are all to leave, I will direct you out of here and an associate of mine will direct you, where we will discuss a potential opportunity that you will find most interesting.”

“Wait a minute, you want us to work with you!” challenged Electro, as sparks flew from his hands. “What if we don’t want to?”

“Fool we need his help to get out of here,” said Mysterio as the Sandman nodded in agreement. Electro just looked sullen but appeared to come to the conclusion that he needed to rely on Doctor Octopus to get him out of here.

“Yes, indeed, I’m a fair man, I only require one favor in exchange for your escape,” said Doctor Octopus, as he began to give directions that would lead the three super powered villains out of Ravencoft, while avoiding the most amount of staff possible.

-

Snow was beginning to fall from the sky, as Gwen and Peter stood outside.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” asked Gwen.

“Yeah, until you have to dig your way out to leave the house in the morning,” replied Peter, as he felt he had to watch his step. His body ached slightly, residual effects of losing his spider powers he supposed. Other than that, he was feeling great, the burden of being Spider-Man lifted right off of his shoulders. “But it is nice to be out here with you, not having to walk away when something happens.”

Peter felt his cell phone vibrate and he quickly took it out, before he saw it was Jameson.

“Jameson, thought it might be Aunt May, but I’m sure he can find someone else to do whatever he wants to,” said Peter as he put the cell phone away. “There’s going to have to be a few changes for my job.”

“What are you going to do now that you can no longer take pictures of yourself and sell them to Jameson?” whispered Gwen.

“Maybe I’ll get pictures of that devil, that would really hack Brock off, he’s been at it for weeks,” said Peter. “Problem is, while Spider-Man might be able to catch him, Peter Parker won’t have a prayer.”

Gwen looked at Peter, with a raised eyebrow and Peter had a hunch that he knew what she was thinking.

“But I’m pleased, no more Spider-Man, no more worries, let’s go catch that movie, it’s not like anything else is happening in this city,” said Peter, as he walked away with a smiling Gwen, backs turned on the store televisions, which detailed the escape of three more criminals from Ravencroft and a further two from Ryker’s Island, Adrian Toomes and Sergei Kravinoff, also known as the Vulture and Kraven the Hunter.

-

Kraven, the Vulture, the Sandman, Electro, and Mysterio stood around, awaiting Doctor Octopus. It was several minutes before Doctor Octopus arrived, robotic arms raised, poised to strike, as he turned towards his fellow super villains. Octopus was currently at a secondary hide out, as he felt it would be foolish to let so many in on the location of his hideout.

“Greetings gentlemen, welcome and thank you,” said Doctor Octopus. “All of you have been liberated by the genius that is Doctor Octopus. Only someone with an intellect such as myself could have arranged such a prison break of five of the most dangerous men this city has ever known.”

“Will you please get on with why we’re here?” grumbled the Vulture. “I’m not getting any younger.”

“Ah, is the old man getting cranky because he hasn’t had his nap,” taunted Electro and Vulture turned to him.

“Listen, you impudent young punk, I can still spank you, even if you do have super powers,” said the Vulture as he stared down Electro, who stared back, sparks flying from his fingers but Doctor Octopus cleared his throat.

“Gentlemen, please,” said Doctor Octopus. “As I was saying, you have all been brought here for a reason. Each and every one of you have faced off against Spider-Man and have been defeated at least once.”

There was some angry mutterings around the group of super villains.

“Yes, even I, Doctor Octopus, have fallen to Spider-Man,” said Doctor Octopus. “As much as it pains me to admit it, I’m no closer to defeating Spider-Man, than I am to realizing my goal of taking control of this city. And that is where I need your help. As individuals we have failed. Together, we can bring down Spider-Man. That meddlesome arachnid could not defeat our combined might.”

“Bah, all I need is one more chance to corner the web head, now that I have scouted him,” said Kraven. “Kraven now knows what it takes to bring down Spider-Man.”

“The brute does raise a point,” said Mysterio. “What if we have our own schemes in defeating Spider-Man?”

“Schemes that will lead to failure and return to imprisonment,” said Doctor Octopus. “I have given you one more opportunity to defeat Spider-Man and it should not be squandered.”

Doctor Octopus paused before he resumed his speech.

“As always, I had planned every detail to the letter,” said Doctor Octopus, as he realized this would be the only step to take. “We will face Spider-Man one by one, each given a chance to defeat him.”

“Doesn’t that fly in the face of this entire working together thing?” questioned Sandman.

“No, if one of us can defeat him somehow, than we have done our job but our efforts in defeating him will increase by the web head being worn down by our attempts to destroy him,” replied Doctor Octopus with a twisted smile. “The odds are not in Spider-Man’s favor to say the least. As an act of good faith, I will go last and you will draw numbers at random, as to what order you will take your turn against Spider-Man.”

“Of course, I expect none of these fools to finish Spider-Man,” thought Doctor Octopus. “I fully anticipate destroying what’s left of him once their efforts have failed.

“How are we going to find him?” demanded Electro, who was chomping at the bit for another chance to fry Spider-Man to a crisp.

“Do not think I haven’t planned for everything,” said Doctor Octopus, as he motioned for the other five to move forward, so they could determine what order they would face Spider-Man. “I have a perfect plan to draw him out of hiding. I know the one person who will help us reach Spider-Man and given the proper incentive, he’ll help us draw that meddlesome fool out.”

-

“Man, this is great,” thought Peter happily, he was in the best mood that he was in for several months. “True, it’s a bit hard to watch some thief go by without slipping my the suit and going web slinging, but really, not my problem anymore. Just a nice quiet day, on a date, without any worries that some super powered nutcase bent on taking over the world or the city or getting revenge is going to ruin it. Even if they did, it wouldn’t be my problem…well the snow’s coming down pretty hard and it might cut our day short, but that’s hardly my problem.”

Little did Peter or Gwen know that they were being watched from a distance. Without Peter’s spider sense, there was no way to see this coming.

-

The Vulture flew over the city, as he looked for the target. He was quite familiar with the target through her association with the Osborn brat, so he knew precisely what she looked like. After he flew around the city once, he looked down. Even in the snowstorm, he could spot a figure and as he moved in as close as he could afford, he spotted the couple down below. He sneered, two teenagers in love, it was quite sickening.

“Sandman, move in, the target is right by Time Square, I will inform you once they have moved,” said the Vulture over a headset. “Electro, cause a disturbance that will allow Sandman to move in. I will brief you on any changes.”

The Vulture kept a safe distance, as he followed the progress of the two teenagers. It was becoming more difficult to do so in the heavy snowfall but it would be over soon. The first phase of the destruction of Spider-Man was in play.

-

“Look Peter!” shouted Gwen in surprise and Peter’s eyes snapped up, as the stop lights began blinking, changing at a rapid rate and combined with the snow storm, it was causing mass chaos in the city.

“Something very strange is going on,” muttered Peter as he looked up in confusion.

“Yeah, I guess that much,” said Gwen as she looked at Peter, as they backed up at a safe distance on the sidewalk. There was screaming, and mass chaos, as the cold wind whipped in their faces and sparks flew. Peter and Gwen stepped out of the way, as a power line hit the ground and mass chaos, with sirens blaring through the side.

“I don’t need my spider sense to know that something’s very wrong,” thought Peter as he looked up and he saw a very familiar figure in the distance whose powers were causing a disturbance. “Electro, great, who let him out of the asylum?”

Suddenly a hand burst from the ground from behind Peter and Gwen and grabbed Gwen by the legs. She screamed, before she tried to pull herself from the ground.

“Gwen!” shouted Peter as he moved over, nearly slipping on the ice as he saw Sandman rise out of the ground. He slammed into Sandman, causing bits of sand to fly out. He pulled Gwen out of the way, as Sandman rose into from the ground.

“You’d wish you hadn’t done that,” said Sandman coldly, as his sand swirled around, before it covered Peter. Peter tried to push his way out but without his spider strength, he was unable to find, as Sandman’s form close in around Peter, engulfing him, smothering him. He struggled. Gwen moved over but suddenly the Vulture swooped down and grabbed her.

“Gotcha!” shouted the Vulture but Gwen was not going to be kidnapped that easily.

“LET GO OF ME!” shouted Gwen as she struggled against the Vulture’s grip, trying to move away from him. The Vulture was having a bit harder of a time than he would have liked with the girl.

“Stay still!” shouted the Vulture but he was elbowed in the face and she nearly got away, but he swooped in to grab her away. She kicked and thrashed but Electro stepped in.

“Can’t even capture one weak teenage girl, old man?’ asked Electro as he raised his hand, sparks flying, as he advanced on Gwen, who was still kicking up a bit of a fuss. “Shall I do the honors?”

“Shock her but whatever you do, don’t kill her, the boss needs her alive!” yelled the Vulture, as Gwen struggled to get away but Electro was a bit too fast. The villain moved in and raised his hand. She screamed, as Electro put enough power into her, where it was like she was zapped by a stun gun. She slumped, unmoving, as Sandman came over, as Peter dropped to the ground, rendered unconscious.

“That one’s taken care of,” said Sandman as he nodded to Peter.

“We don’t need him, let’s finish him off,” said Electro, as he heard the shallow breathing coming from the teenager and was prepared to zap him with a lethal blast of electricity.

“No, don’t bother with him, he’s unimportant, we have the girl, let’s get out of here,” said the Vulture, as he rose into the air, with the limp form of Gwen, as Sandman and Electro left as well.

Meanwhile a barely conscious Peter Parker laid in the snow, powerless, helpless, and unable to do anything, as he watched the Vulture fly off with his girlfriend.

Without his spider powers, he was useless.

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