And
Then There Were Six Part II.
Peter
struggled to his feet, slipping on the snow. By now, Gwen was long
gone. The chaos around him had subsided enough, where police could
get in. Electro had done plenty of damage, the distraction allowed
Sandman to slip in, along with the Vulture, to take her.
“If
I had my spider powers, none of this would have happened,” thought
Peter dazed. The joy he had felt was replaced by fear, dread, and
worry. “Why did they take her? There had to be a reason….well
Peter, don’t jump to conclusions. Her father is the police captain,
she said it herself, that she would be in danger regardless if I was
Spider-Man.”
“Peter?”
prompted the voice of the last voice of the last person that Peter
wanted to see and his eyes snapped up.
“Captain
Stacy….I…they took her….Gwen….” started Peter shakily and
the eyes of his girlfriend’s father was right on his face. “I
couldn’t….I tried to stop….”
Captain
Stacy just guided Peter out of the cold. Peter could not determine
whether or not he was being blamed for this.
“I’m
not blaming you for this, Peter, but I need to know everything that
happened,” said Captain Stacy, after taking a moment to compose
himself, as much as a father could compose himself when he just found
out that his daughter had been kidnapped. “Who took her?”
“The
Sandman, the Vulture, and Electro,” said Peter in a bit of a shaky
voice, a bit uncomfortable that Captain Stacy’s eyes were on his
face before he turned away. The next few minutes were a blur.
“Those
powers, that I was so happy about losing…they would have saved
Gwen, I can’t win,” thought Peter in despair. “Now
she’s…captured…who knows what. Still alive, she has to be.”
The
snow continued to fly, as Peter stood hopelessly. At least George
Stacy could do something to find his daughter. Without his spider
powers, Peter had neither the resources nor the abilities to save
Gwen.
These
thoughts haunted him and it was difficult to shake them off. He no
longer had the great power that he needed to live up to his
responsibility.
-
Gwen
slowly began to stir. At first, she was groggy, unable to piece
together where she was. Not to mention she was incredibly sore but
when she realized her predicament, it all came flooding back to her.
Those three super villains, Peter being attacked by the Sandman and
the Vulture’s attempt to kidnap her. The last thing she remembered
was Electro using his powers to render her unconscious.
The
fact she was tied up became clear not too long after.
“Where
am I?” demanded Gwen shakily, but there was no one answering her at
the moment. She felt a mixture of fear and anger at being captured.
“LET ME OUT OF HERE! LET ME GO! S-someone answer me. ANSWER ME!”
“No
need to shout, that’s quite rude for a young lady,” said the calm
voice of Doctor Octopus who stepped forward, to face Gwen, with a
calm, cool, and collected demeanor. Facing a dangerous villain like
this face to face was quite the experience and Gwen felt a bit less
confident.
“What
do you…what do you want from me?” asked Gwen with less
conviction. “My father….”
“Will
stay out of this if he knows what’s good for him and for you,”
said Doctor Octopus coolly. “Trust me, you’re life is not in
danger, as long as your father plays by the rules. You’re merely
bait. For Spider-Man.”
Gwen
paled.
“Surely
Octavius couldn’t have figured out that Peter is…no Gwen, calm
down, remain cool, you don’t know that he knows anything about
anything,” thought Gwen. “How does Peter do this? How does he
keep his cool in the face of these people?”
“Why
me?” asked Gwen after a few seconds and the good doctor looked at
her.
“I’m
sure an intelligent young lady such as yourself could have put it
together yourself,” said Doctor Octopus but he just smirked, the
obvious chance to state his superiority was too tempting to pass up.
“Your father approves of that vigilante and he will trust
Spider-Man in making sure that you’re successfully retrieved.”
“What
makes you think Spider-Man would save me?” asked Gwen, trying to
somehow convince Doctor Octopus not to lure the alter ego of her now
powerless boyfriend into a trap.
“He’s
a do gooder, he can’t help himself, he’d save me if my life was
in danger,” said Doctor Octopus simply. “And if anyone but
Spider-Man makes a heroic attempt to save you, well I can’t be
responsible for what might happen.”
With
that, one of the robotic arms shot forward, just a mere few inches
above Gwen’s head and smashed a hole through the wall below her,
reducing the cinderblock to mere dust.
“I
do apologize for the dreadful accommodations,” said Doctor Octopus
as an afterthought, as he turned to leave, as Gwen was still tied to
the chair, in an attempt to struggle, but whoever had secured her had
managed to leave no room for maneuvering.
“Got
to find a way to free myself,” thought Gwen. “I’m not going to
play a helpless damsel in distress and get Peter killed, not if I can
help it anyway…knowing him, he’s going to try to rescue me,
powers or not.”
With
that Gwen endeavored to find a way out.
-
Peter
sat on the couch, wrapped around a blanket, shivering, in a deep
funk. Completely helpless and uncertain about what to do next, as he
watched Aunt May, who was watching him closely, move around the
kitchen, fixing dinner.
“As
much as I wished I wasn’t Spider-Man at times, it did solve a lot
of my problems,” thought Peter. “Too many of my problems, I did
kind of rely on my powers. Think Peter, there has to be a way where
you can do something.”
Peter
was brought out of his thoughts by a call on his cell phone.
“Hello,”
said Peter in a tired voice.
“Pete,
I’m sorry I couldn’t call you sooner, but I heard what happened
with Gwen,” said Harry. “Kidnapped, I can’t believe it and
right in front of you. You must feel bad.”
“Bad,
helpless, whatever you want, Harry,” said Peter.
“Any
clue on what might happened?” asked Harry. “I just caught it on
the news.”
“I
know just as much as you do, Harry” said Peter as he did in fact
have the news on in the background, but was not really paying too
much attention to it. It was the usual bad news, although Peter could
not think of anything worse right now than what happened today.
Perhaps he was being selfish, but at this point, he frankly did not
care.
“So,
are you holding up well?” asked Harry.
“I’m
hanging in there,” replied Peter shortly, as he just leaned back on
the couch, but the image of Doctor Octopus appeared on the news
suddenly, which caught Peter’s attention. He made a movement with
turn up the volume so he could hear, as it appeared that this was
some kind of video tape.
“Hello,
citizens and Spider-Man I have a feeling you may be watching,” said
Doctor Octopus. “If not, well that’s not my problem. As you have
found out, some associates of mine have kidnapped young Miss Stacy.
I’m not a monster by any means but my hand has been forced.
Spider-Man has victimized me and that is something I cannot stand
for. So this goes out to Spider-Man, one final battle, to the finish,
between the greatest scientific mind this world has ever seen against
this meddlesome pest who calls himself a hero. Further instructions
will be issued by eight o’ clock tomorrow morning, directed towards
Captain Stacy. All further contact will be made through him but one
final warning. If any other costumed do gooders or police attempt to
make a heroic rescue, then the consequences will be most disastrous
for Miss Stacy. Until tomorrow morning, Spider-Man.”
“Did
you hear all of that, Pete?” asked Harry. “Peter?”
“Yes,
I did,” said Peter, as he felt himself between a rock and hard
place. “I hope Spider-Man heard the message, wherever he is.”
“What
if he didn’t?” asked Harry. “I mean, sure Spider-Man would save
anyone in a heart beat but what if he doesn’t learn about this
until it’s too late.”
“Then,
I’ve got to make sure that Spider-Man saves Gwen,” responded
Peter coolly so Aunt May could not hear him from the other room. . “I
need to make sure that Octopus gets what he wants.”
“How?”
questioned Harry. “I mean, what are you going to do? Put up a
Spider-Man suit yourself and surrender yourself to Octopus.”
“Yes,
Harry, that’s exactly what I’m going to do,” said Peter
sharply.
“Pete,
even I know that’s a dumb idea,” replied Harry.
“Yeah,
Harry, I guess you’re right,” said Peter.
“We’re
just going to have to have faith in Spider-Man,” replied Harry.
“Listen Pete, I got to go, call me if something else breaks or I’ll
call you if I hear it first.”
“Will
do, bye,” said Peter but he knew what he had to do. Really there
was no choice.
-
In
Doctor Octopus’s lair, Gwen continued her attempts to free herself.
Several hours she had tried, but she did not give up.
“Finally,”
thought Gwen, as she felt one of the ropes loosened. “Now the hard
part, if there was only something sharp to cut this…but I guess I’m
going to have to make do with what I have.”
-
“Listen,
we need more time, Spider-Man hasn’t been seen since he foiled your
last crime,” argued Captain Stacy over the speakerphone.
“Please,
Captain, if you had wanted to find Spider-Man, I’m sure you would
have figured out a way to locate him by now,” said Doctor Octopus
in a bored tone. “And don’t bother attempting to trace this call,
I have technology that can block any tracking attempts.”
“I
have people searching for him, but he’s not something you could
look up,” said Captain Stacy, with a sigh. He was battling with a
mental dilemma to begin with. On one hand, his daughter was in danger
and the only person who could save her was Spider-Man. On the other
hand, this looked to be a trap that even Spider-Man could not get out
of. Spider-Man had done so much for the city. This was the very
definition of a no win situation.
“Not
my problem,” replied Doctor Octopus coolly. “I’m a fair man,
but even I have my limits. And unless you can somehow get Spider-Man
shortly, then I’m afraid that I must offer my condolences on the
tragic loss of your daughter. Truly it is a shame.”
“I’ll
take it from here, Captain Stacy,” said Spider-Man as he showed up.
Relief filled the man’s, but he could not help but notice that
Spider-Man walked in on his own two feet, with no hint of powers.
Spider-Man walked over. “Okay, Octavius, I’m here.”
“I
knew you wouldn’t disappoint, arachnid,” said Doctor Octopus over
the telephone.
“Where
is she?” asked Spider-Man.
“You’ll
find out in due time, Spider-Man,” said Doctor Octopus in a calm
voice, that was slowly grading on the hero’s nerves.
“Listen
Octavius, you tell me where you’re keeping her or when I find you,
I’ll rip those robotic arms of yours off and ram them down your
throat!” shouted Spider-Man loudly, losing his patience and thus he
stopped to take a deep breath, when Captain Stacy was looking at him
with a perplexed look and Spider-Man realized that he let his own
emotions get the better of him.
“You’re
in no position to threaten me Spider-Man, not with an innocent life
hanging in the balance,” taunted Doctor Octopus. “I’m sure you
wouldn’t want that to happen.”
“No,”
said Spider-Man through gritted teeth. Powers or not, he had the
strongest desire to strangle his enemy with his own arms. “You said
you have instructions.”
“I
did,” said Doctor Octopus. “Times Square, from there, it
shouldn’t be too hard to find what you need. My associates will
point you in the right direction.”
“Associates,
I don’t like the sound of that,” thought Spider-Man in a panicked
voice. “But I have to play his game…if I ever want to see Gwen
again…”
“If
I fight you, you’ll let her go, alive,” said Spider-Man.
“You
have my word, Spider-Man,” said Doctor Octopus. “Whether you
choose to believe it or not, that’s your problem. And the police
are not to be involved or don’t even get any of your little super
powered playmates involved or the girl dies. No exceptions. Until we
meet Spider-Man.”
With
that, there was no further communication.
“Spider-Man,
I’m sure we can find another solution,” replied Captain Stacy.
“Your
daughter’s life hangs in the balance Captain,” replied
Spider-Man. “There’s no other solution. None at all, this is
something that I have to do.”
“No
matter how hopeless this is, I have no choice,” thought Spider-Man,
as he walked out. He had his web shooters, filled, but once again,
without his spider powers, his webbing might not serve that much of a
use.
Captain
Stacy watched Spider-Man. At first he just merely had his suspicions
but now he was nearly convinced.
“A
no win situation,” he muttered to himself.
-
“Pete,
what in the hell were you thinking this would accomplish?” thought
Spider-Man in desperation, as he moved through the heavy snow and ice
fall, thankfully it had stopped, on foot. “Oh that’s right, you
really weren’t, because you were concerned about Gwen’s life
being in danger. This is a no win situation. If I don’t do
anything, then Gwen’s doomed. If I do something that gets me killed
and she has to live with the guilt just like I did with Uncle Ben. If
we had just decided to not go out that day, none of this would have
happened”
Spider-Man
gingerly climbed over a parked vehicle, nearly slipping. Without his
spider powers, it was like climbing a steep mountain, with someone
with his lack of coordination.
“Well
here, I am,” thought Spider-Man as he looked around. “No one
here, not even one thug, not that I could have even handled a thug…or
no one I can see. Well, I don’t need my spider sense to know that
I’m walking into some type of trap.”
Little
did Spider-Man know that on a concrete slab behind him, in the middle
of the snow and ice, was sand. A hand rose up and turned to a fist,
with Spider-Man just luckily turning around to see it.
In
time for the hand to smash right into his chest and knock him to the
ground. The form of the Sandman rose up to face Spider-Man.
“Yep,
a trap, about figured that much, Doc Ock’s not going to play fair,”
thought Spider-Man as he was in pain and he tasted his own blood. He
struggled to his feet, slipping and sliding, before another sand fist
struck him back down.
“Ah,
what’s the matter web head?” taunted Sandman. “You don’t look
so hot today. A bit under the weather I see, well the flu’s going
around. Good thing Dr. Sandman brought you a sedative.”
A
hammer swung down towards Spider-Man but he somehow managed to avoid.
Slipping and sliding, he attempted to regain his footing. Sandman
dove at him with both fists, but he somehow ducked out of the way, by
virtue of slipping on the ice and falling right on his face.
“So
embarrassing right now,” thought Spider-Man. “Focus, Peter,
Gwen’s counting on you to save her.”
Back
to his feet and the Sandman turned to face Spider-Man but two web
lines shot out. They passed right through Sandman and latched onto a
dumpster. With all his might, Spider-Man tugged, but he couldn’t
even move the dumpster a fraction of an inch.
Sandman
moved right back into the attack and Spider-Man was knocked right on
his back again. A hammer moved down but Spider-Man slid underneath a
parked car and avoided the attack.
“Come
out and fight you wall crawling chump!” called Sandman. “You
can’t hide forever!”
Spider-Man
moved over and he removed one of his web shooters.
“I
really hope this will slow him down, because I’m running down of
ideas,” thought Spider-Man as Sandman rose up as Spider-Man swung
the metal web shooter. A loud smash and Sandman was smashed into
dozens of sand particles. “And I just threw out my shoulder!”
Sandman
reformed, as Spider-Man tried to make a break for it. Seeing a snow
plow, an idea formed in his head. He dodged around, as Sandman was
back in the game.
“Over
here!” called Spider-Man shortly, as Sandman turned and moved right
towards him. Sandman swung his large sand hammer but Spider-Man slid
out of the way. Sandman impacted the side of the building, which
caused it to crack and Spider-Man moved around.
“Keys
in the ignition, door unlocked, it’s a wonder that we still have
such trusting souls in New York, well not that I’m complaining,”
thought Spider-Man as he moved inside the snow plow and started it
up.
Sandman
turned and spotted Spider-Man, but the plow drove right towards him,
picking up snow accumulation.
“One
of these levers has to fling the snow,” thought Spider-Man and
after a few seconds, he figured it out, as Sandman smashed right into
his windshield. “Right, here, please work”
A
large amount of snow was flung right towards Sandman. The villain
gave a pained grunt as he was buried underneath the snow. Spider-Man
crawled out of the passengers side, breathing relief, but suddenly, a
figure rose up. The Sandman was covered from head to foot from snow
and ice and he was not amused.
Spider-Man
managed to somehow avoid an ice hammer and move his way inside a
department store, with Sandman giving chase, covered in snow.
Spider-Man ducked behind a clothes rack, as Sandman smashed up the
store.
“Wait
melting…all that water,” thought Spider-Man before it clicked.
Spider-Man
summoned what little strength he had to push a shopping cart right
towards the Sandman. It smashed into him, causing bits of mud to
splatter everywhere.
“Hey,
mud man, think you can catch me!” shouted Spider-Man.
“I’ll
make you pay for humiliating me like this!” shouted Sandman who was
a bit slower then normal, as the slushy mud that formed his body
raked against the floor and even Spider-Man was able to keep away
from him at a decent pace.
Back
outside, Spider-Man stood as Sandman made his way out, right into the
winter air. Once Sandman realized that he had been duped.
“Ah
hell!” shouted Sandman as he turned to move back inside, but
several lines of webbing barricaded the door. He raised his arms to
smash his back inside, but the water condensed, into ice, basically
limiting his movement.
Spider-Man
stared at an ice statue of the Sandman. He collapsed in the snow,
breathing heavily, but the villain incapacitated, he could breath
more easily.
Or
maybe not, as now with the villain out of the picture, there was no
way to get information out of him about where Doctor Octopus was and
thus no way to save Gwen.
“Back
to square one,” thought Spider-Man. “But, Vulture and Electro
haven’t showed yet, so I bet my webbing that they’re lurking
around somewhere.”
-
Doctor
Octopus had monitored the situation closely from his hideout, with a
smirk on his face. Spider-Man had defeated the Sandman, despite
taking a bit of a beating. There was something off about the hero but
that was neither here nor there.
“Electro,
you’re up,” said Doctor Octopus through his communication link.
-
Gwen
watched as Doctor Octopus was preoccupied. It was a constant job, but
she had just about freed herself. Now all she had to do was find a
way to slip by.
“Got
to get to Peter somehow once I’m free, let him know,” thought
Gwen. “Then he call for help, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, get
the Hulk mad and sick him on these six goons, anyone. Just about…now
careful Gwen, don’t make a sound…nice and easy, the door’s over
there, straight shot.”
Gwen
moved towards the door, quickly as she could without making a racket
and turned the knob, but it creaked, which caused her to wince. For a
second, she thought Doctor Octopus was distracted, but as she pushed
the door open. She felt something grab her from behind roughly by the
shoulders. Gwen turned and felt the ends of Doctor Octopus’s
robotic arms clamped around her shoulders. Enough to hold her but not
enough to cause serious lasting injury.
“I
do hope that you weren’t making a foolish attempt to escape,”
said Doctor Octopus as he watched Gwen struggle. She looked down, in
despair, the power source for the arms taunting her, it was just out
of reach. If she had not been held so far away, she could have easily
kicked it out. “Well, we wouldn’t want you to ruin my plans. I do
still fully intend on releasing you once I have assured Spider-Man’s
demise, despite your less than grateful response to my hospitality.”
“Of
course there would have to be a cage in the criminal hide out,”
thought Gwen cynically, as Doctor Octopus placed her inside and
locked the door tight.
“One
chance, and you blew it big time. Guess I know how Peter feels
sometimes.”
She
sat, helpless, in despair. Ropes were one thing but she doubted very
much that she would escape from that one.
-
Spider-Man
shivered, his costume was not built too well for the winter months
and his fingers and toes were beginning to get numbed but he gave
himself a shake of his head, he had to stay focused on the matter at
hand. He moved around and it was not too long before he heard a loud
crack, and the form of Electro appeared. A blast of electricity was
just very narrowly dodged by Spider-Man and it caused sparks to fly
everywhere once it hit the ground.
“This
time, Spider-Man, this time I’m going to get you, you aren’t
going to fool me again!” shouted Electro as two more blasts of
electricity went towards Spider-Man. One of them shot up and hit a
power line, causing it to fall to the ground, right into the ice.
Several sparks flew and it was a dangerous situation.
“Well
the only good thing about the snow and ice is no one in their right
might is going to be out here in the weather,” thought Spider-Man
as he just tried to keep away from Electro, but the blasts of
electricity was going for him and got closer to hitting. “Got to
try this!”
Spider-Man
aimed and a line of webbing went right towards Electro but with a
motion, it was zapped and it melted. Quickly, Spider-Man moved
towards a building, in an attempt to make a strategic retreat.
“Oh
right, forgot,” thought Spider-Man as his attempt to climb the wall
had gone awry, sliding back down. “No spider powers, no hope of
getting out of here the easy way.”
A
huge burst of electricity and Spider-Man was lifted off of the air
from the power charging the wall and he landed on the ground with a
massive thud. Electro stepped forward, a twisted grin on his face, as
he held his hands, before he blasted two bolts simultaneously. One of
them had struck a store, causing several appliances to go haywire and
the other had blown a ice patch of ice and a section of the street to
bits. Another blast and Spider-Man was not struck but the backlash
had launched him backwards. Thankfully he landed on a snow bank,
which broke some of the fall.
“I
hate my life,” grumbled Spider-Man as he pulled himself up.
“Don’t
worry, Spidey, I hate your life too!” yelled Electro with a crazed
look in his eyes, as sparks flew from his fingers. “Why don’t I
do us both a favor and end it now!”
Electro
aimed and Spider-Man could not move in time this time. A large blast
of lightning struck him right in the chest. Spider-Man flew backwards
and smashed right against a truck but much to his ever lasting shock,
he was somehow breathing. Sure he was in a lot of pain and his
costume was blackened slightly where Electro hit him
“That
should have killed me,” thought Spider-Man, as he wondered whether
he just play dead . “I’m not sure if it was lucky or not it
didn’t.”
The
thought of Gwen motivated him to struggle up to his feet. He felt his
hair standing up on end underneath his mask and Electro aimed right
at him, but Spider-Man instinctively shot a line of webbing upwards,
before he, with a little effort pulled himself up. He swung over
Electro and dropped down right behind him. Quickly, he managed to
sweep the legs of Electro out from underneath him. Spider-Man slumped
against the wall, dazed and a bit shaken but Electro was up and he
was not pleased.
“You’re
wish that would have killed you, Spider-Man!” shouted Electro but
Spider-Man picked up a trash can lid and flung it with what little
might he could manage in his condition at Electro. It blocked the
lightning blast but Spider-Man continued to move on, every muscle in
his body aching.
“Can’t
climb the wall but maybe I can climb that ladder,” thought
Spider-Man, as he looked towards a ladder and climbed his way up the
ladder. Somehow, he managed to beat Electro but he looked down, the
ladder reduced to melted metal as Electro climbed it.
“Come
on, Electro, I’m up here, unless you’ve shorted out already,”
taunted Spider-Man as he looked behind him. He had no idea where he
would go.
“Okay,
this will either give that nutcase even more power or so much that it
overloads him,” thought Spider-Man. “Well here goes nothing and I
do mean nothing.”
“You’re
not going to get away from me this time, web head!” shouted Electro
as he blasted another couple of bolts of electricity but Spider-Man
avoided them, mindful that one slip and he would plummet straight
down the streets below.
“With
aim that bad, I don’t think I have to worry about you,” said
Spider-Man. “You’re aim is about as bad as your outfit.”
“Well
at least it’s not as bad as your insults, you wall crawling idiot!”
shouted Electro.
“Like
yours are any better, starfish face,” said Spider-Man as he ducked,
as he slowly maneuvered Electro over. One in a million shot, he had
to do this right now. Quickly, he wrapped a line of webbing around
the electrical line and quickly ripped it out, before it wrapped
around Electro.
“You’re
joking right?” asked Electro in disbelief, as Spider-Man removed
one of his web shooters and took careful aim, before he threw it at
the circuit box. It connected and caused an electrical overcharge. A
large burst of electricity surged right through Electro and the
villain screamed in agony. The electricity from the power lines and
the electricity from Electro had caused a super powered surge, that
had within moments blacked out the city.
Spider-Man
watched, unable to do anything, as Electro flew backwards and landed,
eyes glazed over. Cautiously, Spider-Man stepped forward, but a large
shower of sparks flew from the downed body of Electro. The web
slinger carefully retrieved his web shooter, which was now a melted
“Damaged,
now I’m down to only one web shooter, not exactly one of my better
ideas,” thought Spider-Man as he stepped forward, once the shower
of sparks, as he looked down at the downed Electro. “Shallow
breathing, still alive, just going to be catatonic for a while. Two
down, now got to keep my eyes peeled for Vulture and then hopefully I
can get closer to finding Gwen.”
-
Doctor
Octopus was not deterred by the face that Spider-Man defeated
Electro. Nor was he even irritated by the fact that the fight and
Spider-Man’s method of defeating Electro had blacked out the entire
city. He had his own backup power source in the hideout, if nothing
else as it could not be tracked.
“Mysterio,
you’re up,” said Doctor Octopus through the communicator.
-
Spider-Man
managed to climb down off the building, where he had left the
unconscious Electro downed and webbed up. A quick check in the
distance saw that Sandman was still frozen and he looked up in the
skies. There was no Vulture in sight but he was very tense. He knew
something was bound to happen and sure enough, seconds later it did.
“My
spider sense it’s going insane,” thought Spider-Man but then he
paused, when he had realized what had just happened. “Wait a
minute, spider sense?”
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