The New Sinister Six

Chapter 4

"So, Spiderman, eh," Reed Richards said to Spiderman.

Spiderman had been waiting in the lobby of the Baxter Building for about an hour before Reed came down to meet him.

"Yeah, it's me, Reed," Spiderman said.

"Look, son, I don't really have the time for this," Reed said, "please see yourself out or I can have you escorted out."

"Reed! Come on, don't you recognize my voice," Spiderman asked. "I can tell you all about the time you got the Venom suit off of me or the wonderful time we had in the Secret Wars."

"Hmmm, I guess it is you," Reed said, "but this is a little unorthodox for you to be waiting in the lobby."

"I can explain, but not here," Spiderman said.

Reed and Spiderman went upstairs to Reed's main lab. Spiderman explained to Reed that Beetle and the others had a gas weapon that temporarily removed his powers and that he needed to find a way to reverse the effects or, even better, prevent the gas from having any effect at all.

"I think there's some residue on my costume," Spiderman said.

"That makes sense," Reed said, "go ahead and remove it."

"I'll need a mask," Spiderman said, "I have to protect my identity."

"Understood, my friend," Reed agreed. "I'll see if we have anything."

"Johnny, bring me a bandana for Spiderman to wear," Reed said into his com-link.

Johnny walked in and tossed the bandana to Spiderman.

"You know, after all this time, you can trust us," Johnny said to his old friend Spiderman.

"I know, it's just kind of important to me," Spiderman said as he removed his costume, leaving his mask on.

"Nice Spidey-whiteys," Johnny laughed as Spiderman undressed. "Now I see why you wear the mask!"

"Very funny, Torch," Spiderman shot back. He put on his street clothes and turned around to remove his mask. Once he had the bandana tied on to conceal his face, Spiderman gave Reed his mask.

"This may take a while, Spiderman," Reed said.

"All right, let's get to work," Spiderman told him.

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"I find this turn of events unacceptable," Kingpin told Smythe. "We must find three more men to fill the void left by Beetle, Eel, and Blizzard."

"I can make new suits if you wish, though, I should say that we may do well to enlist other operatives," Smythe said.

"Agreed, Smythe," Kingpin said, "I will contact the Rhino and Otto Octavius. I will persuade them to join me."

"And what of the third person," Smythe asked.

"I will find the Hobgoblin," Kingpin said, "he owes me a favor or two."

Kingpin left Smythe and went to his office to summon the three new members of his Sinister Six. Smythe picked a hair sample out of the mask Beetle had taken off of Spiderman and continued his work to permanently remove Spiderman's powers.

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After a couple of hours, Spiderman felt his powers return to him. He and Reed were able to find a counter-agent to the gas. They coated his costume with the agent. Temporarily losing his powers was no longer a worry for Spiderman, which was comforting, to say the least. Spiderman changed back into his costume and left for home. He had a busy day already and it was time to rest for a while.

Spiderman entered his apartment through the sky-light and took his costume off. He hung it in his closet and took a shower. Once he was out of the shower, he turned on the TV.

"Oh great, here we go again," Peter said as he saw JJJ's face on the screen.

"This picture was taken by an ESU student as Spiderman was nearly unmasked by campus security," Jonah said. The image was flashed on the screen. It showed Spiderman's mask pulled up with half of the face it hid revealed. "If anyone recognizes this man, please contact me here at J3 Communications. I am offering a one million dollar reward to anyone who can provide definitive proof of Spiderman's true identity."

"This again," Peter asked.

"For too long, Spiderman has been a menace to our city and it is high time he was captured and unmasked for good," Jonah proclaimed. "Any coward that has to wear a mask is hiding something. I propose, once again, that Spiderman himself was behind the recent theft at The Vault and that he is planning to plunge New York into a new crime wave!"

"Doesn't this ever get old," Peter thought.

"I encourage all who are watching to rip his mask off if he is within reaching distance of you," Jonah said. "As you can see, it is easy to take off."

"That's going a little far," Peter thought.

"Take a picture of his face and I will pay you one million dollars," Jonah said.

Peter stood up and walked over to his closet. He pulled his costume out and put it on. He leapt out of the sky-light to go on patrol.

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"Deploy the spider-seekers," Kingpin ordered Smythe. "We will find the vermin and put an end to his interference once and for all."

"As you wish," Smythe said. He hit a button on his hover-chair. The spider-seekers flew into the night to find their target.

"Now, gentlemen," Kingpin said to Shocker, Scorpion, Vulture, Doctor Octopus, Rhino, and Hobgoblin, "your objective is quite simple."

"I don't like this, Fisk," Hobgoblin said, "I work alone."

"Not anymore, Hobgoblin," Kingpin said, "don't forget that I can reveal your secret identity if I choose to do so."

"Yes, I remember that well, Fisk," Hobgoblin said.

"I want you to bring Spiderman to me. Do not unmask him. That will be my honor and mine alone," Kingpin told them.

"I have a score to settle with Spiderman," Rhino said.

"As do I," Doc Ock told Rhino.

"We all do, gentlemen," Kingpin said. "Working together will assure that we are all rid of his nuisance."

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Spiderman swung through the city. He had already been on his usual patrol route, but nothing was happening. He headed toward downtown to see of he could find something there. Suddenly, his spider-sense alerted him. He landed on the side of a building, but saw no threat.

"What was that," he thought. Then he saw a spider-seeker. He caught it in his webbing and slammed it into the side of the building he was perched on. It exploded, but he knew what it meant to see a spider-seeker. "Smythe."

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"Go," Kingpin ordered his Sinister Six.

Vulture and Hobgoblin flew on their own. Doc Ock, Shocker, Rhino, and Scorpion got into a helicopter following the other two.

"At last, with the combined might of my Sinister Six, the day will be mine," Kingpin told Smythe.

Within moments, Vulture and Hobgoblin arrived at the coordinates the spider-seeker had transmitted.

"He's gone," Vulture said to Hobgoblin.

"No he's not," Hobgoblin told Vulture. "You are definitely not the man who has worn that suit for years. Spiderman is here."

"Come on, Vulture," Spiderman said as he leapt onto Vulture's back, "have a little faith in me."

Vulture flew through the air as Spiderman held on tight. Hobgoblin threw a pumpkin-bomb at them. It missed, but the explosion was felt by Spiderman.

"Be careful, Hobgoblin," Vulture shouted.

"Shut up, you fool," Hobgoblin said, "Toomes designed that suit to take a lot more than that!"

"He's right, you know," Spiderman told Vulture.

"Shut up," Vulture said to Spiderman. He was still trying to get Spderman off of him. His erratic flight was not doing much good.

"Ready for the big unveiling," Spiderman asked Vulture.

"What are you talking about," Vulture asked.

Spiderman reached down and pulled the green mask off of Vulture.

"No! My mask," Vulture cried.

Spiderman used the Vulture's confusion to steer him into the side of the building. When they crashed into it, Spiderman leapt off and webbed Vulture up. Spiderman tossed Vulture up to the roof and jumped up to the roof himself. Spiderman ripped off the webbing and tore Vulture's costume off, leaving the Vulture in his red briefs.

"I'm pretty sure you can't fly in those," Spiderman said to the unconscious Vulture.

Spiderman felt his spider-sense tingling. He turned around to see the Hobgoblin throwing an array of pumpkin bombs at him. He was able to dodge them, but the Vulture was not. The Vulture, whoever he was, suffered the brunt of the blasts.

"Hobgoblin! You're going to kill him," Spiderman said.

"Who cares? He's an amateur," Hobgoblin laughed, "but you and I are seasoned pro's!"

The helicopter carrying the others approached and dropped them off on the rooftop.

"Who's that," Rhino asked when he saw Vulture laying bloody and out cold.

"That's John," Shocker said, "Spiderman tried to kill him!"

"Ah, the troops have arrived," Hobgoblin said.

Spiderman's spider-sense was almost overwhelming him. Danger was all around him. He saw a cloud of gas envelope him.

"Let's hope Reed and I were right about this," Spiderman thought. He jumped out of the cloud in case they were wrong. "Better safe than sorry," he thought.

Before he could land, Spiderman was hit by vibro-blasts from Shocker, an energy blast from Hobgoblin, and a laser blast from Scorpion. As he landed in a violent thud, he knew his powers were intact. There was no other explanation for him surviving such an onslaught.

"Get up, Spiderman," Rhino said as he tossed the web-swinger across the rooftop. "I wanna fight you."

Spiderman was barely coherent as he landed on his back. He fired a webline at Scorpion and tried to pull the costumed man down, but Scorpion did not budge.

"Ha ha! I got strength boosters in my suit now," Scorpion gloated.

"Great," Spiderman thought. His spider-sense was still going crazy. Shocker hit him with another vibro-blast. Scorpion smashed him with his tail.

"Not bad, amateurs," Hobgoblin laughed. "But I think we should continue." He tossed a pumpkin bomb at Spiderman.

"No," Doc Ock said and deflected the bomb away.

"Octopus, that was a mistake," Hobgoblin said in anger. He flew over to Doc Ock and prepared to attack.

"Really, Hobgoblin, Spiderman is beaten," Ock said. "If you are so foolish as to attack me, I warn you that you will perish."

Hobgoblin and the others looked at Spiderman. He was motionless. They had succeeded.

"Let us return to the Kingpin with his prize and be done with this," Ock told them.

"We did it! We really beat him," Rhino said.

"Yes, we did, Rhino," Hobgoblin said, "let's go back and finish him for good."

"What about John," Shocker asked, referring to the man who lay bloody and unconscious.

"Put him in the 'copter and let's go," Scorpion told him.

The Sinister Six flew back to Crime Central with their trophy. Spiderman was shackled in adamantium and left for the Kingpin.