The New Sinister Six
Chapter Two
"They are coming along quite nicely," Kingpin said to Smythe.
"Yes," Smythe said, "indeed they are."
The new Sinister Six had been practicing with their new powers for last two weeks in Kingpin's compound. It was the equivalent of the X-Men's Danger Room.
"I must ask," Smythe said to Kingpin, "why did we even steal the costumes in the first place? I could have designed far superior suits for these men to wear."
"You see, my dear Smythe, it was to capture the attention of Spiderman," Kingpin told him, "with the exception of Blizzard, all of these are the costumes of some of Spiderman's most notorious foes. I thought it fitting that they should be used to engineer his final defeat."
"I see," Smythe said with a smile.
"And how are you progressing on a means to rid the wall-crawler of his powers?", Kingpin asked.
"It's slow going at this point, but, I believe I have found a way to temporarily relieve him of them," Smythe told Kingpin. "I'm not sue how long the effects will last, but, it will work for a time."
"I did not ask for a temporary effect, Smythe," Kingpin said coldly.
"I realize that, but, what you ask requires changing his very genetic structure," Smythe said. "We'll need the neogeneic recombinator."
"Then that will be the next mission for my Sinister Six," Kingpin proclaimed.
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"I wonder why they haven't surfaced in the last couple of weeks," Spiderman thought to himself as swung toward the campus of ESU. "Oh well, I'm going to be late for Dr. Connors' class if I don't hurry."
Spiderman landed in a secluded area of campus and changed into his street clothes. Peter entered the science building and made his way to class. Suddenly, his spider-sense alerted him.
"Here," Peter thought.
There was a loud explosion down the hall. Peter could hear students screaming and the sounds of people running. Peter ran into a mens room and changed into his costume.
"Get out of here! They're trashing the lab," a young man yelled as Spiderman wall-crawled in the direction of Connors' lab. When he entered the lab, he saw the six men he had confronted before.
"I see you boys have a good tailor," Spiderman quipped. He fired a webline that ensnared the Eel and used it to launch Eel into Vulture. Both men fell down in a daze. Shocker used the distraction to hit Spiderman with a vibro-blast. Beetle flew over to the neogenic recombinator and tore it off its base.
"Careful with that, Beetle," Blizzard warned.
"Be quiet! I'm the only one with the strength to carry this back to base," Beetle said.
Scorpion fired a laser blast at Spiderman, hitting him. Next, Scorpion used the point on his tail to free Eel. Blizzard encased Spiderman in an icy cocoon. Eel fired an electric blast at the cocoon causing it to shatter and at the same time electrocute Spiderman.
"AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH," Spiderman screamed as his body was in agony.
Vulture swooped down and pushed Spiderman down. Then, he took out a small gas grenade and pulled the pin. "Let's see if this thing works," Vulture said. He threw the grenade down beside Spiderman and it released the gas within.
Spiderman coughed as he inhaled the grey gas. The gas quickly dissipated and when he rose to his feet, the six men were nowhere to be seen in the lab.
"What was the gas for," Spiderman thought to himself. He saw Vulture hovering outside of the hole they had blown in the wall. "Why doesn't he attack?"
Vulture hovered silently watching Spiderman.
Spiderman ran over to the hole. "You probably should have ran with your buddies, Vulture," Spiderman said. As he stepped to the edge of the hole, his balance was way off and he almost fell out onto the ground. "Whoa...what was that?" He tried to steady himself by sticking his hand to the wall, but his hand did not stick.
Vulture saw the disoriented Spiderman and he knew that Smythe's gas had indeed worked as planned.
"Something's wrong with me," Spiderman thought.
"Freeze, Spiderman," a campus police officer ordered. There were three officers with their guns drawn and aimed at Spiderman.
"Sorry guys, but, I better get out of here," Spiderman said. He tried to leap up to the ceiling, but his jump was that of an ordinary man. "Uhhh, okay, I don't suppose I can just walk out of here can I," Spiderman asked.
"Not a chance," the officer said.
"That gas took my powers away," Spiderman realized.
"Cuff him," the officer told the other two. "I've got him covered."
Spiderman had no choice but to comply as he was handcuffed.
"All right," the officer pointing the gun said, "let's get that mask off of him."
"Wait! You can't," Spiderman protested. He tried to break the handcuffs, but his spider-strength had left him.
Several students had gathered in the doorway. "They're gonna unmask Spiderman," one shouted.
"Someone get a picture," another shouted.
"Great," Spiderman thought, "half of my science class is here to see me get unmasked."
"How do I get it off, Spiderman," one of the officers asked the hero.
"Just leave it where it is," Spiderman told him, "I'd kind of like to keep it on."
" I think it just pulls off," the other officer said. He felt around Spiderman's neck and found the bottom of the mask. "Yeah, I think I can just pull it up. It's not attached to his shirt." The officer took a grip on the mask at the top of Spiderman's head.
"Can we at least do this in private," Spiderman asked.
"Be quiet, Spiderman," the officer gripping the mask said, "for all we know, one of these kids will recognize you!"
"You don't say...," Spiderman said quietly.
"Here we go," the officer said. He slowly pulled up on the mask. "It's pretty tight," he said. Finally the mask stretched out far enough that it began to lift up.
"I bet he goes here," a student said as the mask rose slowly.
"Stop this at once," Dr. Connors said as he burst into the room.
"Listen to the man," Spiderman said. He felt the air on his nose. In another inch, his face would be revealed for all to see.
"Leave him alone," Connors commanded, "Spiderman is no more a criminal than you or I and he doesn't deserve this!"
"Dr. Connors, we were just trying to obey the law," the officer with his gun drawn said.
"Put your gun away and fix his mask," Connors told the officers, "this is my lab and I know Spiderman was attempting to stop those other men from stealing anything."
"All right, fix the mask and set him free," the lead officer ordered.
A few minutes later the room was cleared and Connors shut the door and locked it.
"Thanks, doc, that was too close," Spiderman said.
"What happened in here," Connors asked Spiderman.
"They stole the neogenic recombinator," Spiderman told Connors.
" Oh no! They could do anything with it," Connors said, " why would they steal such a valuable piece of technology?"
"None of them have any real powers, maybe they want to try to give themselves powers," Spiderman said.
"Why didn't you go after them? That was risky to let yourself be captured like that," Connors said to Spiderman.
"Well, that's the thing," Spiderman told him, "they used some kind of gas that took my powers away."
"You mean you've lost your powers," Connors asked.
"I'm afraid so," Spiderman said. "It looks like I'm just a regular guy once again."
"Let's see," Connors said.
Two hours later, after extensive tests, Connors and Spiderman found the answer.
"Incredible! The radioactive properties in your blood are still there, only they've been somehow blocked from affecting you," Connors told Spiderman.
"So I still have my powers," Spiderman asked.
"It seems so," Connors said. "The effects of the gas will wear off eventually and you'll be your old self."
"That's a relief," Spiderman said.
"I just can't say how long it will take," Connors said.
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"Well, Smythe, we know your little concoction can render the wall-crawler powerless," Kingpin said to Smythe.
"Yes, and it almost resulted in his unmasking," Smythe said.
"Once again, he escapes," Kingpin said. "That man has the most astounding luck."
"So it would seem," Smythe said. "The bright side is that we now possess the neogenic recombinator. Not to mention, the Sinister Six functioned as a powerful team."
"Indeed," Kingpin said, "they have proven themselves. Now you must do the same. Find a way to remove Spiderman's powers permanently."