Chapter 4. Breathless
"Hey, Shannon." A voice called over the radio. "How we lookin'?" A man by the name of Shannon Ingram reached his hand down to his chest and keyed the mic to his radio.
"Almost there." He replied as he used his other hand to signal the crane that was lifting a huge drum into place. He was standing on top of a large structure and could see most of the refinery. He had worked there for fifteen and was a model employee. He had never taken a sick day or left on vacation. He is one of the few people on Earth that truly loves his job. He signaled the crane driver to slowly lower the load. He was a new operator with very little experience. Shannon had requested someone else that he had worked with many times over the years, but he was tied up at the moment. The load jerked a little as it was lowered. He hadn't yet developed the soft touch that his position required.
"New guys." Shannon said to himself as he shook his head. He failed to notice that one of the straps that held the several ton drum aloft had torn slightly when the heavy load jerked. Shannon made a fist and signaled for him to stop. Once again, the drum jerked to a halt. Shannon, again shaking his head looked around for his final check before completely lowering the drum. When his eyes rested upon the rigging, they widened. As he watched, the strap broke, sending the drum ripping through the others and careening toward the ground. He watched as people began to flee no one seemed to care that he was still up there. The drum crashed it's way through several live lines and crippled the structure. There was no way for Shannon to escape. Alarms all over the refinery were sounding and workers were running for their lives. The broken pipes were releasing huge amounts of Hydrogen Sulfide, an extremely poisonous gas. As he received a lungfull of the gas, an explosion below propelled a small amount of radiation up at him. Everyone who witnessed the terrible accident claimed that they saw him vaporized.
"I can't believe that only one person was killed in that refinery accident three days ago." Peter said as him and M J sat on the couch, watching the news coverage of the cleanup effort.
"You know full well that Spider-Man had a part to play in that." She replied, snuggling closer to him.
"It was just blind luck that I happened to be in the area. If I had just been there sooner, no one would have died."
"Don't blame yourself. Even the almightily Spider-Man can't be everywhere at once."
"Well as long as I'm here with you."
"You're such a dork."
"Okay boys." The shift foreman said. "Let's pack it in. Night shift's coming." The crew began to pick up their coats and lunch pails and began to leave the cleanup area of the refinery. Between shifts, the area was not populated for only ten to fifteen minutes. As the last day shifter headed out, a dark yellow gas began to emerge from the rubble. No one was around to notice it began to converge together.
"What is that?" The night shift foreman had come in a few minutes early. Had this happened any other day, he would still be alive.
"Trapped pocket of H2S gas claims another life." Jonah read the headline of the paper aloud. "What is H2S?"
"It's used in oil refining to remove metallic and organic impurities." Peter said as he entered his boss's office.
"Whatever genius. I don't pay you for science lessons."
"You hardly pay me at all."
"You'll get what I give." J. J. held out his hand. Parker placed in it a file that contained several more pictures of Spider-Man. "What are you waiting for? Get out. Go get me some coffee or something."
"You know what makes this job worth while? You're cheerful disposition." As he left, Parker was somewhat troubled by what he had heard. He picked up the latest Bugle and began to read about the second refinery death.
"Hmm." He thought to himself. "His gas monitor never went off but the autopsy revealed that is how he died. It's almost like the gas was concentrated only in his nose and mouth." He leaned back in his chair.
"PARKER! Were's my coffee." A breeze blew into the open window next to were Peter had been sitting.
"Nothing out of the ordinary here." Spidey said to himself as he stealthily swung his way around the refinery later that night. He clung to the side of a tall tower and watched the night shift continue their cleanup effort. He yawned beneath his mask and pulled up the sleeve of his costume to look at his watch. 8:53 PM.
"M J should be home by now. I'll hang out for another minute before I head out." Just as he finished his thought, his spider sense went off. "Me and my thoughts. I should've left." He watched as yellow gas began to seep through the wreckage. "Oh it's just some trapped gas. I better go warn everyone." As he swung down to ground level he could not believe his eyes. The gas had taken a human form. It looked like a ghost surrounded by poisonous gas. It made it's way behind a worker who was shoveling away, not knowing that death loomed over him.
"Look out!" As he swung down, he caught the man in the back with a webline and pulled him away from the living cloud. The workers all looked at the figure in the yellow gas and began to run. Spider-Man landed in front of it. "Rotten eggs." He thought. "That's a sure sign of H2S." The cloud looked in the heroes direction.
"He fella," Spidey said. "Who're you supposed to be? Gasman? Or maybe...Fluterblast? Oh, I know. It's Flatulous, isn't it?"
"You mock my sorrow? Do you find it humorous that I was left to die while everyone else fled for their meaningless lives?"
"You're Shannon Ingram."
"How astute of you, Spider-Man. Now get out of the way or breathe the death of Sulfide."
"I can't just stand idle while you and your stink run rampant."
"Then you will be the next to die." Sulfide flew at Spidey with incredible speed, he was barely able to evade the attack. He jumped up and swung to a nearby smoke stack. Sulfide caught him up there with a fist to the face. Spidey dodged another and jumped back down to the ground.
"Looks like he can make himself tangible. Maybe I can make that work." He stood his ground and waited for the villain to attack again. Spidey managed to duck under another fist and hit Sulfide with an uppercut to the jaw. He tried another swing, but this one passed right through his head. The H2S was beginning to enter the superhero's body. Spider-Man shot out a webline and escaped the poison. It took several breaths to expel the gas from his lungs.
"I hardly inhaled any of that stuff and I almost went down." He was so busy trying to get his breath back that Sulfide was able to make his way in front of him and strike him in the face yet again. Spider-Man was sent careening into a live steam line. It broke and gave the hero a burn on his right shoulder. The steam fired out of the pipe and hit Sulfide square in the chest. He seemed to be injured by it and he soared off and into the city. Spider-Man's shoulder was in a great deal of pain as he tried to keep up with his new adversary. Sulfide was flying along the sides of buildings, taking corners at such a pace, that the webslinger was having to muster all of his strength so as not to loose him. The gaseous villain then took a nose dive and entered a sewer vent on the side of the street.
"He's just not giving me a break." Spidey landed on the street and pulled open a sewer cover before entering Manhattan's underground.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to the smell of this place." The hero began to cautiously make his way along the old brick waterways, a stagnant smell hung in the air. "Pretty smart. Down here, his smell isn't as easily discernable." Just then, his spider sense buzzed in his brain and he leapt up and grabbed onto the ceiling, barely averting another attack. Spidey pushed off of the bricks with his feet and came down on the back of Sulfide's head with both fists. He once again made himself intangible and began to filter his way through bars that were mortared into the wall.
"C'mon now," Spider-Man said as he ripped the bars from the wall. "Play fair." Sulfide continued to phase though the rusted iron bars while his pursuer tore his way through them, hot on his trail. They eventually emerged in the middle of the subway tracks. Sulfide stopped and turned toward the hero.
"You ready to give up?" Spidey said, trying to cover up the fact that he was out of breath. Without a word, Sulfide's arms reached all the way to the wall crawler and wrapped around his head. Spidey's eyes stung while he tried to hold his breath. As his nemesis attempted to get away, Sulfide closed in on him, made himself tangible and held him in place, H2S still circling the heroes head.
"Hear that?" Sulfide whispered. The sound of the subway making it's way toward them rumbled in the spider's ears. Just as it neared, Spider-Man thrust his head back and hit Sulfide in the face with the back of his skull. The grip was loosened enough to were Spidey, near blacking out from lack of oxygen, was able to escape and leap to safety. The subway roared through Sulfide, breaking up his gaseous form. Spider-Man coughed, trying to fill his body once again with air.
"I never thought sewer air could taste so good." He picked his head and his eyes fell upon his adversary, whole again. The corners of his mouth turned upright in an evil smile. Spider-Man backed up slightly into a hot pipe. He was burned a little again.
"Our game is at an end, Spider. Take a deep breath and it will be over before you know it."
"You know something, sulphur head? You're a gas." Spidey thrust his elbow into the hot pipe behind him, cracking it. Steam rushed out of it, forcing Sulfide back in pain. The hero was burned again as he ducked under the heat. He could almost feel his skin blistering.
"Is it cold in here? I better turn up the heat." He kicked upward and broke out a chunk of the pipe. More steam forced it's was out, dissipating the villain even more. Sulfide tried to flee, but Spidey shot a webline that went through his head and stuck to another pipe behind him. With a swift tug, Sulfide was bathed in steam on both sides, the sound of it flowing out covering up the villain's cries. Spidey rolled out of the heat and watched as he evaporated into the air. He slumped onto the floor and sat down for a moment. He felt the area of his burns through his costume.
"That stings a little. Hope Mary Jane has some of that green burn ointment." Spider-Man exited the sewers just as the city workers made their way to the busted steam lines to investigate.
At home, M J had finished dressing Peter's numerous burns while he told her the story.
"Five new faces in just one week?"
"Yeah, it's been a crazy few days. I think Mr. Spider-Man is going to take the rest of the night off."
"Well," M J said as she put her arms around her husband's neck. "He's earned it."
The End
Bio
Name: Sulfide
Real Name: Shannon Ingram
height: (before transformation) 6' 5" (after transformation) Unknown, no legs
Weight: (before transformation) 265 lbs. (after transformation) Unknown
Eyes: (before transformation) Brown (after transformation) Yellow
Hair: (before transformation) Brown (after transformation) None
Age: 36
Superhuman Powers: Body comprised entirely of Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) gas. Capable of flight and can force his body though even microscopic cracks. With a matter of will power, he can force himself to become tangible, though his normal state is that of a gas. He is also capable of spreading out his molecules allowing him to change size and extend his body an indefinite amount.
Source of Powers: Bombarded with H2S gas and a small amount of radiation.
Special Skills: None
Weapons: None
First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man, New Faces #4
Origin: Shannon Ingram was performing a routine activity at his job in a refinery, until a freak accident caused a huge piece of equipment to fall from a crane. Shannon was exposed to the deadly gas Hydrogen Sulfide. As he took in a breath of it, he was hit by a small amount of radiation that was also released in the accident. His body was wracked with pain as he was transformed into the villain Sulfide. As he writhed in agony, he watched as everyone around him ran for their own lives, not even attempting to help him. Angered by their selfish acts, he became murderous, deciding that people only care about themselves and deemed them unfit to live.