Author's Note – I do not own any of the characters, Marvel and DC do.
.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Welcome To My Parlour
.
Peter laughed as he danced through the air. Below him, the river of humanity that was rush hour flowed with a kind of glacial inevitability, but even from his rapidly-changing angle he could see the differences that had occurred over the previous week.
When he had accepted the offer to join the Guardians, Xavier had removed the Spider-Man action figures and other Spider-Man paraphenalia from the shop that the Institute had recently opened in Bayville (now run by Mariah Dietz and which served as invaluable work experience for anyone hoping to get into retail). Within a week, new figures (updated with his new shoulder-patch) appeared in Bayville as well as in the shop that had been set up in the lobby of the skyscraper that held the Angel's Rest at its top.
The other members also had their own action figures, as did the unfortunately deceased Angel, but the sales figures showed that Peter was currently the most popular by a significant margin.
Samual's reaction to the first week's sales figures had been rather amusing.
Spinning through the air, Peter fired another web-line and swooped down, waving at a young boy who was clad in an official replica Spider-Man bodysuit of his very own. The boy waved back even as his mother looked up and smiled at him, then his arc carried him high enough that he could fire another webline to send him soaring higher, continuing his ariel ballet amongst the buildings of Manhatten, buildings that occasionally held large posters of the New York Guardians.
.
"He's taking route seven." Mysterio's voice sounded over the radio. "At current speeds, I estimate he will reach the target area within ten minutes."
"Excellent." Vulture said, then he glanced across at where Rhino was sat against the side of the van, a device that Otto had made for him clutched in his mechanical hands. "Aleksei, get ready."
"Hold on…" Rhino said, absently, his attention fully transfixed by the device.
"What are you doing, anyway?" Vulture queried, squirming out of the drivers seat and into the back. Half-standing, he leaned across so that he could see what Rhino was so intent on.
"Almost…" Rhino whispered, then he tapped a button. Vulture's eyebrows shot up as on the screen, a red-cheeked yellow mouse suddenly vanished into a red-and-white ball which rocked a few times before settling.
"Got him!" Rhino exulted. "Just gotta name him, then I'll save and be ready to go."
Vulture nodded, then turned to where his wingpack was hanging. Unhooking it, he started to struggle into it.
"Saved." Rhino said, placing the modified gameboy into a small compartment in his armour. "Okay, ready to kick spider-butt! Hey, Toomes, don't spiders normally spin web from their butts?"
Vulture froze in the middle of snapping closed the fasteners that secured his wingpack.
"Ummm, yes?"
"Then how does Spider-Man fire it from his wrists?"
Adrian Toomes blinked several times.
"I… don't actually know."
.
Otto raised the welding mask and looked closely at the final anchor-point. After a few moments, he nodded and then used his tentacles to descend back down to the ground.
"I cannot reinforce it further without altering the buildings themselves and there is no time for that." He stated, unhooking the straps that held the tanks for the welding torch. "I only hope that it is strong enough."
"We think it will hold for as long as it needs to." Venom hissed as he crawled down the wall on the other side of the alley.
Otto nodded, then looked round. "Mysterio, If you would be so kind?"
The bars seemed to ripple slightly, then they slowly faded out of sight, leaving the alley looking as if it were still open to the sky.
"Now all we need to do is get into our positions and get ready for our allies to return with our target. Venom, are you ready to do your part?"
"As soon as he is in, we will use our webs to close the entrance." Venom nodded.
"Excellent." Otto almost purred, then he looked round as Mysterio rippled into visibility.
"They have begun."
.
Rhino charged in through the doors to the bank, tearing them off their hinges. Without slowing down, he sprinted straight through the line of tellers desks, leaving a massive hole in his wake, then slammed through the wall into the Bank Manager's office.
"Where's the Vault?" He roared, then he paused.
"Rhino, Spider-Man just landed outside, fight him but remember the plan!"
Rhino spun round and growled as he saw the silhouette of the man who had dropped him into an icy lake months prior. With a slight movement of his head, he prepped and launched one of the missiles stored in his shoulder pauldrons.
"Nice." He laughed as the smoke trail whipped round to follow Spider-Man, then a flash of light marked its detonation. "Did I hit him?"
"No, he threw a brick at it. New get out here and follow the plan!" Vulture snapped and Rhino dropped to all fours, accelerating out of the bank as he did so.
"Where is he?" He shouted, then he almost stumbled as something hit him. "The bastard's on my back, isn't he?"
"Why, yes. Yes he is." Toomes replied, his voice showing his amusement. "Turn left and run as fast as you can."
Rhino obeyed the directions, his teeth gritting as a voice shouted "Yeehah! Ride'em, Spidey!"
"I'm gonna kill him!" He snarled.
"We'll see. Next right."
Rhino slammed into the wall as he turned, then used his augmented-vision screens to see if he'd scraped his rider off.
"He's still there." Vulture supplied.
"Not! Helping!"
Vulture's laughter echoed across the comm as a line of webbing blocked the view of one of the cameras embedded in the faceplate. With another snarl, Rhino angled across the street and into the alleyway.
"Get offa me!" He roared as he skidded to a halt before trying to use his arms to swat Spider-Man. Another web-line cut his vision in half, then a tentacle swept across, smashing into the wall. Spinning round, Rhino looked round quickly, then he looked up even as multiple thwips marked Venom's contribution to the trap.
"Parker." Otto said in greeting. "You were a superior student when I taught, so I would like to offer you this chance to surrender peacefully. Do so and I promise that we shall not injure or kill you and you will soon be released."
"Doctor Octavius?" Peter queried. "Wow. What happened?"
"A minor accident during the testing of one of my inventions." Otto replied. "Will you surrender?"
"Why should I?" Peter laughed as he leapt across the alley and swarmed up the wall, only to pause as the bars just below roof-height rippled into view. "This is going to suck, isn't it?"
"Parker!" Venom hissed and Peter inhaled sharply.
"No! I got rid of you!"
"You rejected us, Parker." Venom hissed as he crouched. "We are now Venom and you will pay for insulting us."
Peter hurled himself to one side as Venom leapt at him, then ricocheted off the wall just in time to avoid a sudden wave of sand.
"What the heck?" He yelped as Sandman reformed. "Four of you?"
Rhino clenched his fists, leaving his pinkies sticking out and the armour plating on his arms shifted to reveal the inbuilt guns. Taking aim, he opened fire, only for Parker to flip away a bare instant before the bullets chewed into the wall.
"You know, I called my friends." Peter called as he bounced around the enclosed alley, just managing to keep ahead of the bullet stream. "They should be here soon!"
"But I have concealed us. They will not find you." A new sourceless voice said and Parker briefly face-palmed.
"Goldfish-bowl? That you?"
"That's Mysterio!" The annoyed villain shouted.
"So, Venom, Doc Ock, Sandy, Rhino and Goldfish-bowl." Peter managed to sigh while somersaulting over Rhino's head. "So… the Felonius Five?"
"We prefer the Sinister Six." Otto said as he ducked out of the way. "Dammit, Rhino! Watch where you're pointing those things!"
Rhino snarled, then blinked as the guns stopped firing. "What happened?"
"You are out of ammunition. Thankfully." Otto explained. "Now if you would, please leave the rest of the mission to those of us with more then three brain cells."
Rhino snarled as Otto used his tentacles to swing up to the higher reaches of the alley, working to reduce the space availabe for Peter to dodge in. At the same time, Venom started to fire webbing at the evading hero.
"Not good!" Peter swore as he tried to avoid the attacks that for some reason he couldn't sense.
.
"Where is he?" Samual worried as he looped round, scanning the alleys below for any sign of his missing 2IC.
"I can't see him!" Firestar called as she drifted across the sky. "Anyone?"
"Sorry… still getting my breath." Tele-Girl panted, then a new voice sounded.
"Daredevil here, I can feel where he is, heading there now."
Samual triggered the HUD to highlight Daredevil's location even as he pulled up into an Immelmann turn.
"Watch out!"
Samual flipped into a wingover as another winged figure slashed through the space he had just vacated. Spinning to face it, he found himself staring at a bald man clad in a green jumpsuit and wingpack almost identical to the one he had used to wear.
"Dammit." He muttered, then he triggered his comm. "Matt, you're in charge. I'm gonna be busy with the knock-off up here."
"Understood."
.
Daredevil sprinted across the rooftops, using his Parkour and free-running skills to cover the distance between him and his team-mate as quickly as he could when he felt Peter slam into the ground and stop moving.
"Shit!"
.
Peter groaned as the world slowly stopped spinning and then his mask was torn away.
"We need to hurry." Mysterio stated. "My cameras have picked up Daredevil, he will arrive here in under a minute."
"I have this." Otto said as he carefully rolled Peter's sleeve up to where Venom's webbing had stuck him to the ground. Producing a syringe, he carefully inserted the needle into Peter's vein and pulled back the plunger, filling the glass tube with Peter's blood. "I have a blood sample."
Peter bit back an exclamation of pain as Venom yanked out a hank of his hair. Otto held out a plastic bag and Venom placed the hairs into it. "Let's get moving!"
Venom nodded, then punched down, sending Peter into blackness.
.
Matt Murdock swung down to land at the mouth of the alley. Even as the mono-molecular cord of his multi-function staff retracted, he sprinted into the alley and knelt by Peter's side. Dropping his staff, he touched Peter's neck, then sighed with relief.
"All points, I've found him. He seems to be webbed down, but it doesn't feel like his webbing. He's out cold, but no apparent injuries."
"The winged person just bugged out too, went down an alleyway and I lost him." Samual transmitted. "I'm homing in on your location now."
Matt nodded as he started to check Peter over more thoroughly, making certain that he didn't have any broken bones.
.
"Gentlemen, a toast!" Otto said as he lifted his wine glass. "To the Sinister Six, may we have many more profitable missions."
"To us!" The other five chorused and Victor Toomes leaned over.
"I assume that Fisk was happy?"
"He agreed that our actions were wise." Otto stated. "We secured samples for his tame geneticist and proved that we could work together for a common goal."
"As long as we don't have to go against Superman or any of his kind." Toomes nodded. "Angel II was tough enough. Bastard was more agile than I was."
"Then I will be happy to help you upgrade your wings." Otto replied, earning a nod of thanks. "Aleksei!"
The hulking man looked up from his dish of strawberry meringue and ice cream. "Huh?"
"My contacts have supplied me with designs for a small impulse cannon similar to the ones Iron Man uses." Otto stated. "If I replace your arm-guns with them, you won't have to worry about running out of ammo again."
Aleksei grinned. "Nice."
"I also have a plan for fixing six of them together to form something similar to a Gatling gun." Otto added. "It'll give you a lot of offensive power while the power cells last."
Aleksei's grin grew wider.
.
"…ow."
Peter forced his eyes open and found himself looking at a featureless white ceiling.
"Hey, the sleeping beauty awakes." A teasing voice he didn't recognise said and Peter managed to roll his head, only to blink in shock.
"Ummm, I think I hit my head or something because… well, you're… green?"
"I sure am." Jennifer grinned. "Angel said that you guys could use another heavy hitter given what happened to you, so here I am. Plus, it lets me finish taking my law degree since Matt can help me."
Peter blinked a few times, then he smiled.
"Peter Parker, Spider-Man. Nice to meet you."
"Jennifer Walters, She-Hulk." The green lady replied with a wide grin. "Looking forwards to working with you."
.
.
.
.
.
Authors Afternote – I'm setting up more Chekov's guns for later. Some will be fired in upcoming chapters, others will wait for if I decide to write IS4, although if I do, it won't be for another year or so at the very least.
And yes, Rhino caught a Pikachu.