A/N: Not much to say here. I'm happy of how fast I've been getting these out, but don't expect this to be a regular thing. I have no idea when my schedule will get hectic again. Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Spider-Man looked at the sight before him, his brain having a hard time processing what was happening. Six of his greatest enemies, all gathered together, all here for one thing and one thing only. Him.
Peter couldn't help but think of the first times he fought all of them. Each one of them were dangerous, and each one of them made him step it up in terms of his abilities. He couldn't help but remember the first time he ran into Doctor Octopus. Otto Octavius was a brilliant scientist at Oscorp, but a lab accident caused the metal arms he created to safely handle dangerous materials to fuse to his body, forever altering his mind. Otto was one of the first super villains Spidey ever faced. Peter thought he was going to get killed the first time they fought.
Now, with a metal arm gripping him tightly around his throat, Peter feels like that again.
"All the times you foiled us," Doc Ock started, satisfied with the situation. "All the times we were so close to greatness, and then you showed up."
The grip tightened on Peter's throat, the metal arm threatening to crush his windpipe. Peter struggled against it, thrashing around slightly, doing his best to try and get out of Doc Ock's grasp, but failing.
"I would like to thank you though," Otto said. "If it wasn't for your incessant need to in my life, I wouldn't have met my new cohorts. Just think of the things we can do."
"The money," Electro said.
"The power," Vulture added.
"The fame," Mysterio chimed in.
"We'll be able to do whatever we want," Scorpion told him.
"And nothing can stop us," Rhino agreed.
"And it's all because of you," Doctor Octopus smugly told him. Spider-Man struggled harder, desperately trying and failing to escape, causing the evil genius to laugh at the display. "There's no use in fighting it. There's no one who is going to come and rescue you. We made sure of it."
Scorpion smirked behind Otto. "We don't know what your deal with the Avengers is bug brain, but this isn't going to be like last time. No Iron Man, no Captain America, no nothing."
"We've been keeping tabs on Avengers Tower," Octavius told the choking vigilante. "And we noticed very recently that they have left the city. Why take the chance of having them intrude before the time was right? Besides, we'll deal with that glorified imbecile Stark and his helpers soon enough. I promised Gargan."
Peter saw his opening, as he shot out two web lines, one of each side of Doc Ock's head. With them, he grabbed a mailbox and a newspaper dispenser, pulling them towards him and sandwiching the genius's head. Otto groaned in pain, as Spidey was quickly able to escape his grasp while he was distracted. The Web Head took a deep breath, before backflipping on the side of a building, away from his attackers.
"Jeez guys," he said, still slightly coughing. "You know how to throw one heck of a surprise party. But you forgot the cake! I'm gonna blame Electro for that one."
"Still with those stupid ass jokes!?" Scorpion cried, angry. "Kill you! Rip your head off! Then you'll stop talking!" The large mechanical brute jumped, using the talons on his feet to embed himself into the side of the building as well.
"You seem a lot more coherent than last time Scorpy," Spider-Man chided, staring him right in the face. "Did you take a class or something?"
"The doctor fixed my suit!" He told him, as he started swinging his claws at him, forcing Peter to try and dodge them. "Stopped it from hurting me, helped me to think straight again. It's still stuck on, but with all this power, who the hell am I to complain!?"
"You say that now, but wait until you want to take a shower," Spidey joked, still dodging. Scorpion's tail suddenly flailed behind him, before it was pointed at the teenager, firing laser blasts at him. Peter quickly jumped off the side of the building, having the Scorpion follow in pursuit. Peter then grabbed the top of a light post, swinging over it and flinging himself backwards, flying back over Scorpion and grabbing his tail, using his momentum to throw him back down to the street. This didn't affect Scorpion much, however, as he simply landed on his feet.
Peter felt his spider sense tingle was he was still in the air, making him turn his head towards Mysterio, who was floating on a cloud. Several flying, disembodied hands surrounded him. They closed themselves into fists, before they started barreling towards him. Spider-Man wasn't fast enough to dodge them, as they started hitting him over and over, causing him to fall down to ground, landing on a car and denting it in the process.
"The Spider-Man seems to be slower than usual," Mysterio bolstered, crossing his arms on his cloud as he summon his hands back.
"He felt weaker too," Scorpion added.
"Really?" Spidey asked, weakly, as he got himself back up. "Must be your imagination. I feel great," he stated, as he jumped at Mysterio to try to take him out. However, he got a dizzy spell halfway through, making him unable to follow through on his attack. Instead, he was intercepted by Electro, who held him in a bear hug, and started electrocuting him, causing the teenager to scream in excruciating pain.
"Did ya see that?" Electro asked the others. "Looks like Old Bug Brain is feeling under the weather."
Peter cried out in agony, as he knew that they were right. He was still feeling the affects from Morlun draining some of his energy. He was weaker, slower, and definitely not in the right state of mind or body to be handling six of his most dangerous foes at the same time. He was in over his head.
"Come on, Dillon!" Rhino called from below. "Let me get a piece of him!"
Electro laughed, still shocking Spider-Man. "Sure thing, big guy!" He said, letting go of the hero, dropping him. Peter fell straight down, only to be caught by a large punch in the back from Rhino, causing him to go flying into the side of a parked delivery van, tipping the whole thing over and making him fall behind it, inadvertently giving him some cover.
With a groan, Peter pushed himself up, sitting against the van. "This is bad," he said, trying to get his bearings back. He looked at his arms, seeing the feathers that had been embedded into him from earlier by the Vulture. He slowly started removing them, letting out a yelp whenever he got one out. "I have to get out of here. Now."
"Too bad we won't give you the opportunity!"
Spidey looked, only to see Vulture swoop in, grabbing him by the collar and dragging the wall crawler up into the air. The teenager struggled against the older man, as they flew higher and higher into the air. On the way up, Adrian shoved Peter against the wall of a building, breaking the teenager through brick window sills and whatever was on them. Peter felt the impact of every bump, as he was finally able to force his way off of it, but was still being dragged up.
"Toomes, can you please give up this Tweety Bird suit and just go back to your retirement home?" Spider-Man joked, as the air was starting to get thinner and thinner. "I hear Tuesdays are pudding night."
"When you die, I will take great pleasure in that mouth of yours being permanently closed. And then, Osborn will feel my wrath," The former government agent stated.
Peter threw a punch, hitting Vulture right in the face, before twisting around and getting to the flying villain's back. Spider-Man stuck to his harness, as Adrian started spinning in the air, trying to shake him off.
"Still with the Osborn stuff?" Peter started, as he shot two web lines, one at each of the tips of Vulture's wings, using them to steer and redirect where Vulture was going. "Seriously, you need a hobby. And not one where you dress up as a giant bird. I'm thinking model ships." With that, Peter started steering Vulture towards a billboard that was sitting on a rooftop.
"And I'm thinking that you should pay closer attention to your surroundings!" Toomes told him, smirking.
Spidey looked at him, confused, before he felt his spider sense tingle. He looked up, to see the billboard start to fade from existence, only for it to be replaced by Mysterio, simply standing there, waiting.
"Industria radium!" Mysterio yelled, as he fired a large beam of energy from his hand, hitting Spider-Man right in the chest, knocking him off of Vulture and sending him flying through the window of a nearby building.
The glass shattered in a million pieces, as Peter rolled onto the floor of the building he landed in. His suit had multiple tears at this point, showing his bruised and scratched up skin. The pieces of fabric that were still on him were slightly burnt, as Peter laid on the ground, hurt and trying to recover. His shoulder was killing him, as it felt like it was on fire any time he moved it. Using his good arm, he pushed himself up to his feet, as he held his side. It hurt to breathe, but he needed to move. He could feel blood dripping down his face under his mask. He was pretty sure he was bleeding in multiple other spots too.
He looked around, seeing that he landed in a decently furnished apartment. "Looks like no one's home," he said to himself. "One less thing to worry about."
Meanwhile, back down on the street, Doc Ock frowned at the Web Head getting thrown through the window. "Dolts! Don't let him out of your sight!" He cried, as he used his metal arms to quickly move down the street. Once he got to the building, he quickly climbed up the side of the building, getting to the broken window. He smashed his way inside, only to see that Spider-Man had disappeared.
Otto gritted his teeth, trying hard to contain his fury. He escaped. The blasted pest escaped. This was the greatest opportunity they had and dumb luck saved him!
"Doc? You ok?"
Octavius turned around, to see Electro, Vulture, and Mysterio floating outside the apartment, staring at him. Otto took a deep breath, and composed himself. "Gather Gargan and Rhino. Spider-Man was able to escape this time, but we are ready. Our teamwork today was superb."
Otto used his metal arms to get closer to the hole, as the others backed up slightly, making room for him. He looked down, to see Rhino and Scorpion down below, looking up at him.
"Soon, the Spider shall be exterminated."
Down the street, in the crowds of people who were watching the villains in fear, a damaged Peter limped his way through the crowds, wearing a slightly oversized blue hoodie with the hood up, and grey sweatpants to keep his costume out of sight. He walked away from the commotion, hurt, scared, and not quite sure how he could actually stop this madness.
Soaring high above the Pacific Ocean, the Avengers were riding high in a Quinjet, getting ready to meet Captain America in Australia, and getting ready to face Hydra.
Hawkeye was driving, as Black Window was sitting on one of the benches, preparing her weapons, and Iron Man was sitting across from her, wearing his red and gold suit, his hands folded together, deep in thought. His helmet was off, revealing Tony's slightly worried face. His brow was furrowed, as he was obviously thinking of something that was troubling him.
Natasha, of course, noticed this. "What's the problem?"
Tony perked up, getting out of his daydream. "What?" He asked, not hearing her.
"I said-"
"Oh, nothing," Tony answered, her words finally registering in his mind.
Natasha cocked an eyebrow, not buying it.
"Just...thinking," Tony said, shrugging. "I mean, this is my first real mission back as an Avenger. Gotta be prepared for anything, right? Especially when you're as rusty as I am."
The former assassin looked at him, reading his emotionless expression like a book. "There's no reason to be worried."
Tony's eyes widened, as he started looking right at her. "What? I'm not worried," he said. "I'm just making sure I'm ready for Hydra. Just because I'm not a super cold spy doesn't mean I'm afraid or something."
Natasha rolled her eyes. "Stark, you did the impossible task of getting Peter back from space. No one else was able to find him, but you did. You found him, you fought a monster for him, and you brought him back. You're ready for this."
Tony slouched slightly, looking at the floor. "And...what if you're wrong?" He asked, looking back at her again.
The red head smirked. "That's the thing...it's up to you to make sure I'm not." With that, she stood up, and made her way to check on Clint.
Tony watched her as she left, as he continued thinking about the mission in front of him. The Avengers were counting on him. He wouldn't let them down.
"We gotta get-a, get-a, get ahead of the game, come on, get'cha, get'cha head in the game!"
As the sun was setting over the city, Gwen was in her room, organizing and cleaning her stuff. She held a tiny wastebasket, tossing old papers and snack wrappers from her desk and nightstands in it to straighten the place up. While she was doing this, she danced around in her sweats and a purple tank top, singing along to one of her favorite songs from one of her favorite movies as the soundtrack played from her laptop.
"Come on! Get'cha head in the game, gottta get-a head in the-"
Suddenly, a loud series of taps came from her window, making her jump. She screamed when she turned, and saw what was outside.
Peter, wearing a hoodie, bloody, and obviously hurt.
Gwen's eyes widened, as she was frozen in place for a second. After the initial shock wore off, she quickly went over to the window, and opened it. "Peter!" She harshly whispered. "What the hell!?"
"Sorry," he said, crawling in through the window, dropping to the floor. "Sorry. I didn't know where to go."
"Jeez, what happened?" She asked, worried beyond belief as she gently put one of his arms over her shoulders, picking him up and moving him to her bed. "What are you wearing?"
"Couldn't get to my clothes," Peter explained. "Had to steal some from a guy's apartment. Feel kinda bad about it," he muttered, as he was laid down on the bed.
"Peter," Gwen interrupted, pulling back his hood to get a better look at his battered face. "What happened."
Peter groaned, as Gwen gently touched his head to see his injuries. "The Sinister Six," he said, earning a confused glance from his girlfriend. "Doctor Octopus found a bunch of guys that I stopped before and gathered them all up. They found me, and..."
"Oh my god," Gwen gasped. "They could've killed you."
"Yeah," Peter agreed. "After that whole Morlun thing, I've been a lot weaker. Stuff that wouldn't be that big of a deal really hurts now. Even if I was at full strength though, I don't know if I could handle these guys. Not when they're all together like this."
Gwen quickly got up, and hurried out of her bedroom. "Gwen?" Peter asked, trying to sit up, only to feel a stabbing pain in his chest that made he lay back down. After a moment or two, the blonde came back, holding a small med kit. "You're lucky I'm used to patching up dad," she said, getting back towards Peter and kneeling next to the bed. "Take off your hoodie."
"Ok, sure," Peter said, as he slowly peeled the hoodie, and his costume that was laying underneath, off of his damaged torso, showing his cut, bruised, and surprisingly fit body.
Gwen sucked in some air at the sight. "Ok," she quietly said, looking at him. "All the injuries notwithstanding, you have a really hot body," she joked.
Peter chuckled. "Who needs a gym when you have spider powers, right?" He joked back. His face fell as he stopped laughing. "How bad is it?"
"Nothing I can't handle," She said, opening the med kit. "I hope." With that, she rolled up her sleeves, and went to work. She cleaned off the blood on his face and chest, making the young hero wince the entire time. She went to work on his wounds, trying her best to properly stitch the lacerations together. "So, six super criminals are wandering the streets," she stated, trying to make sense of it. "That explains why dad is staying late at work today. And they're only together because of you?"
"See, that's the thing," Peter started. "I don't know if that's it. I mean, I think that's why they got together in the first place. They made it painfully clear that getting me was their first priority. But, Ock said something about going after Tony."
"Stark?" Gwen asked. "I was wondering why you didn't go to the Avengers. Or just back home."
"The Avengers are out of town, and I don't want May to see me like this," Peter told her. "That reminds me..." He said, as he dug his phone out of his costume pants. He started texting on it, before putting it away. "If she asks, I'm staying the night at Harry's."
"Sure thing," Gwen said. "So what about Stark?"
"Right, Otto said that he promised one of the others that they would go after the Avengers when they got back," Peter said. "They kept talking about taking over the city. If I know anything about Doc Ock, it's that he always has a plan. He has the next three steps laid out. After me, it's the Avengers. There's no way they're just stopping at that."
"So, what's next?" Gwen asked.
"I need to figure out what they're planning," Peter said. "I need to find their base."
"Oh no," Gwen said, as she looked at his arm. "Not like this you're not."
"Gwen, I have to-"
"Put this in your mouth," she said, handing him a Popsicle stick. "Bite down on it. Hard."
"Uh, ok?" He said, doing as he was told. Gwen then grabbed a hold of his shoulder, and quickly yanked it towards her, putting it back in place. "MMMMMMMM!" Peter cried in pain, muffled by the stick. When Gwen was done, he slowly moved it around, removing the stick from his mouth. "A little warning would've been nice," he weakly said.
"It's usually better when you're not expecting it," Gwen said. "Like a band-aid."
"Worst band-aid ever."
"Like I was saying, you can't just fight them like this again," Gwen told him. Peter opened his mouth, but Gwen gently put a finger on his lips before he could say anything. "I'm not saying you should just stop. But you need to think of something else. Just throwing yourself at them isn't going to be enough."
Peter thought about it for a second, realizing she was right. He started thinking, trying to figure out what to do. "Hey Gwen?"
"Yeah babe?"
"Can you please turn off that music?" He asked, sweetly. "High School Musical is kinda distracting. Because of how terrible it is."
"God you're lucky you're cute," Gwen joked, as she went over to the laptop and turned it off. She went back to Peter, before crawling into the bed, and cuddling up to him.
Peter moved his arms around her, holding her close. "I know," he responded. "Thanks Gwen, for everything."
Gwen smiled at him. "No problem. Please don't make this a normal thing."
"The cuddling or the nursing me back to health?"
"I'm gonna stitch your mouth shut," she said, before putting her head in his neck. "Later."
Peter smiled down at her, before he looked out the window, still trying to think of a way to win.
"Do we actually have a plan to find him?"
"We're scouring every nook and cranny in a ten block radius."
On the dark streets of New York, Doctor Octopus walked down the street with his metallic arms, alongside Rhino and Scorpion. The street was clear, as anyone who had seem them stayed as far away as possible.
Scorpion snarled. "Can't believe we lost him."
"Well, we did," Otto stated. "No sense getting stuck on the past. We must look towards the future."
"Jeez, you sound really optimistic Doc," Rhino said, before looking behind him, noticing a few cop cars in the distance, following them. "We're getting tailed by the cops," the brute said.
"Do not engage," Octavius told him. "They won't be a problem unless we make them one. And of course I'm optimistic," Otto said, matter of factly. "Have you ever seen the arachnid as hurt as he was? Have you ever seen him actually retreat in fear?"
"...no."
"Exactly. Once we find him, he's ours."
The flyers, Electro, Vulture, and Mysterio, soared down from above to the others, gathering together. "No sight of him from above," Vulture told the evil genius. "He disappeared."
"So what now?" Electro asked. "If he's hiding, how do we find him? Not like we know where the little bug likes to hang out."
"Ugh, can't believe this," Scorpion said, angry.
"Aw, look at the Scorpion," Beck taunted from his cloud. "Upset that he doesn't get to mindlessly beat something up."
Scorpion turned to the Master of Illusions. "You wanna get off of that stupid puffball and say that to my face you reject principal?"
"Better that then a never was crook," Mysterio fired back.
"Ladies, please, can you shut yer mouths?" Electro interjected, rubbing his temples. "You're giving me a damn headache. Can you believe these guys, Rhino?"
"Nope," Rhino answered, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall of a store front. "I think it's stupid. And I know stupid."
Vulture let out a dry laugh as he overheard that.
Rhino cocked an eyebrow at him. "What's so funny?" He dangerously asked.
Toomes smirked. "Nothing. It's just that I'm sure you know stupid."
"What's that suppose to mean, grandpa?" Rhino asked, as he stomped over to the former government agent, towering over him.
"Enough!" Otto yelled, making the others freeze in place. "This is getting us nowhere. This petty discourse will come to an end right now, otherwise we will never accomplish our goals."
The others looked around, guilty, as they slightly calmed down. "Sorry, Doctor," Beck said. "But how do we find the Spider-Man?"
Otto looked across the street, at an abandoned newspaper stand. He smiled, as he sent one of his four arms over to it, and picked up a newspaper. "It's simple, gentlemen. Tonight, we go back to base, and rest up. Tomorrow? Well..." he trailed off, as he brought the paper back towards him.
"If we can't find him, we go to the people who can," he said, as he showed the paper to the others, showing an issue of the Daily Bugle, with Spider-Man on the front page.