In a busy part of southern Queens, a man hurriedly fixes his hair before grabbing his employee I.D. "Sorry, I'm on my way," he said over the phone, "my mother had an emergency…yeah, she's safe in the hospital now. He'll say I should stay with her, but my mom assured me she was fine. I'll be there in fifteen."

He hangs up the phone and opens his apartment door. What he saw on the other side was like looking at a mirror. A man who looked exactly like him creepily smiles and pulls out a tranquilizer gun. The dart strikes his chest, and the effects of the drugs do quick work in knocking him out. The imposter's iris glowed as it dragged the man to a nearby chair and stole his I.D.

The imposter spoke in a robotic voice. [Target tranquilized, creator]

"Excellent, that makes it lucky number seven," its creator's voice crackles, "go and join your fellow actors, help ensure I put on the greatest performance this city has ever seen!"

The android follows its creator's will and heads to the employee's work: Parker Industries.

Issue #4: Rise of the Syndicate

There lies an antique chest in the attic of the Parker residency. It was covered in cobwebs, but its design and the state of its wood material remain strong. Engraved on the front of the lock was the nameplate of its original owner: Benjamin Franklin "Ben" Parker

This was one of the items Peter inherited after his uncle passed away. Since that day, it has been the primary storage place for his alter ego, Spider-Man.

The chest remains locked where the suit of the wall-crawling hero has remained since that fateful night.

The night Peter Parker passed down the mantle and focused on more significant responsibilities.

"Peter?"

He snaps out of his thoughts when his wife calls his name. "Yes, MJ?"

"Curtis and others are waiting," Mary Jane said, pointing to the two doors to lab room ten. They sat in one of the recreational areas, his notes in his hands while MJ's script rested in hers.

"Oh right, thank you, dear."

She stops him by grabbing his hand tenderly. "You have been drifting off all day."

"It's just tonight's event."

"No, it isn't," she said worriedly.

A lab assistant walks out the doors, asking, "Doctor Parker, sir?"

Mary Jane sighs and grabs his other hand. "We'll discuss this after. Good luck," she said.

"Thanks," Peter smiles. He kisses her cheek before entering the large lab.

Nearly two dozen scientists and technicians manned its leading and upper-floor platforms. All worked together to ensure maintenance was kept up and the probability of success was as close to a hundred percent as possible. The large gadget in question was a large metallic sphere, fifty feet tall, with the tip of it nearly touching the ceiling of the lab. It was split open, completely hollow inside. Both halves of the sphere were attached to poles on opposing ends. It sat on a square-shaped platform about sixty feet wide with tall, crooked pillars on the corner edges. At both ends of the platform were two consoles with large pipes connected to the pillars.

It may look half impressive now, but this was the safest contraption he could've devised once this gadget was powered. Peter walks down the steps, noticed by his co-leader of this project and longtime friend Dr. Curtis Conners.

"Peter," he smiled, extending his prosthetic right arm as the two shook hands. He squints and points at Peter's head, "Hey…is that grey I'm seeing?" Peter knew he was joking, but a part of him couldn't help but peek at his hair strands. Curtis chuckles, pointing at his greying hair, "Don't worry, Pete, you're not like me yet."

"You're in a good mood today, Curtis."

"Well, I've been working with our latest members earlier, and I suppose seeing their ingenuity has left me quite optimistic."

"Glad to hear the team on Project 27 has your approval. Any updates for tonight?"

"Yes, it's two things. One, we've been notified that the grant committee is already coming. Two, the coffee machine here is in dire need of repair."

Peter spots the machine in the corner of the room where a quick rest area resides. "I see. This question was given immediate attention, "Peter said, walking with Curtis to the machine.

"Honestly, Aiden and I looked over this twice and can't see what's wrong."

"I see what's wrong," Peter said after just a glance. "Here, this is a little trick my Aunt May taught me." Peter carefully grabs the machine and slaps his hand on it three times. He steps back a moment and grabs a cup. With the press of a button, fresh coffee poured out.

"Blunt but effective," Curtis smiled.

"Helped save her from buying any new ones. Made paying rent easier."

"And look at how far you've come, Peter," Curtis said, looking up at the massive machine and the resources at their disposal. "Now we're building the very future of this city."

"That is if nothing goes wrong," Peter said cautiously.

"Peter, you are in a room filled with some of the top minds in the city," Curtis said reassuringly. "People you helped, people who believe in you because you helped made them believe themselves."

"You always did give some dang good pep talks," Peter said, nodding in thanks. "How's William doing?"

"He's still assigned to East Asia. He and his team made big progress with their latest experiment thanks to the cooperation and aid of Wakanda scientists. Hopefully, he'll fly back to the States sooner than expected."

"Wakanda scientists. I'm sure he has some fun stories to share about that."

A scientist approaches them, "Sirs. We're ready for the test."

"Thanks, Dr. Chang," Peter said.

"Peter, this test is very last minute," Curtis said, "the previous five tests were already greatly successful."

"And what's wrong with six?"

"Nothing, I suppose," Curtis said, "alright. I'm heading up, and then it's your word to begin."

Peter walks to the left console connected to the gadget's platform while Curtis attends to the console connected to the opposing end. The other scientists attend their workstations, gauging every aspect of the machine as Curtis pulls out a unique key. "Ready, Peter?"

Peter pulls out the only copy of the key and nods, "Let's light this candle."

Both men insert the keys and twist them. Instantly the consoles power up and activate the machine.

A low-tone hum intensified as the pillars began to vibrate. A chain reaction is initiated when the surge of energy crackles from the pillars to the open sphere's center. A gust of wind was felt as Peter and the others watched in awe at a small glowing dot appearing and now hovering in the sphere. The fine-tuning use of atoms by the advanced circuitry of the pillars has caused a ball of energy to appear, essentially a mini sun. They watch as this sun begins to grow, and the second phase of the process begins as the two massive domes begin to close inward. Peter marvels as the containment sphere slams shut while a steady flow of electricity crackles from the four pillars and into the sphere.

"Curtis," he said, "what's the readings?"

Curtis checks with another scientist and smiles. "Exactly like last time. Your containment field successfully stabilizes the fusion reaction. It's now perpetuating fusion power and converting that to pure electricity! All without one ounce of carbon or radioactive waste!"

Peter marvels at his team's achievement, "a perpetual, toxic-waste free fusion reactor…one that can last multiple lifetimes…" he whispered to himself. He can already see it. A new and affordable form of city-wide power system, offering constant free energy to all who live there. No longer should people worry about electricity bills or power outages. Problems he and his aunt may constantly face living in a poorer neighborhood, the well-offs get to use all the energy they want. Meanwhile, he and other families suffered outages just so the city could save money.

That won't happen anymore. Peter believes people have a right to energy to power their livelihoods, especially when such energy is limitless and cheaper.

"Umm…"

'Uh-oh,' Peter thought. He turns to Curtis, who scratches the side of his head.

"This is…peculiar."

"Wait? What is?"

"Well, Peter, I-I don't know if I should even call this a problem."

"But it's new, isn't it?"

"It is," Curtis admits, pointing to a bump in the screen, "you see this here? That's a flicker of fusion energy suddenly raising its intended stabilized rate three times. It's only for two seconds but repeats itself every minute."

"How'd we not notice this before? I thought we nailed this whole sequence down to the digit?"

"I guess that's the thing about theoretical physics, Peter. Theory only takes you so far," Curtis said. He sees a look of concern grow in Peter's expression, a look any person who know Peter long enough knew what it meant. He's considering the worst possible scenario.

"What if this is a sign of a problem?"

"Peter."

"If we could overlook a miscalibration of this reactor, what's to say other cities engineers won't do the same and cause a city-wide implosion?!"

"Peter," Curtis said, "or perhaps this is just a blip of energy." He points to the machine; it's humming and functioning, working as intended. "I understand your concern, especially with such tremendous power. It's reassuring to see you take such responsibility seriously. Peter, you've applied every additional safety measure to this device. Any other inventor would've brushed those off to generate more power, but not you."

Peter nods, "Maybe…still, let's follow the routine. Shut off the gadget and send the reports to my brother Ben for him to peer review them. I trust his final judgment."

"Of course, Peter," Curtis smiles, following Peter's lead and shutting the machine down.

Unbeknownst to them was a scientist standing on the upper-level deck. She stared at them with a subtle blue glow within her pupil.

"Wonderful, ain't it?" One of the scientists spoke to her.

"Yes," she smiled, "forgive me, but I got to leave early. My father texted me, and I should attend to it."

"Experiment's over, so yeah, go ahead."

The scientist exists in the room. Once alone, the android reveals itself as its eyes glow blue, signaling that it's relaying its recorded info to its creator.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

[Later…]

Mary Jane stood on the 30th-floor balcony, staring at the sunset in the distance. She memorized her lines a dozen times; she should be nailing them as usual, but one thing in her mind kept coming up. Peter steps out to the balcony and joins his wife, looking at the sunset with her. Amidst the many honks and noise in the air, the couple could spot a particular pair of cars driving up to the entrance. "They're already driving up," Mary Jane said, pulling out a pair of binoculars.

"Did Mayor Cage's committee grow in numbers since last time?"

Mary Jane takes another look and nods. "More people to impress," she said, "oh lovely, it seems those third-party investors and other city's energy representatives are also arriving early. You always did know how to get other people's attention, Petey."

"It's a blessing and a curse," Peter chuckles.

Mary Jane smiles briefly before leaning closer to Peter, "Something happened in there. That's why you're out here getting fresh air."

"An anomaly occurred," Peter answered, "one that could potentially signify a risk to destabilization to the machine."

"Any word from Ben yet?"

"He's still looking through it," he said. As always, Peter opened himself more the longer he was with Mary Jane, trusting any advice she could share. "Over a thousand of my workers and volunteer careers rest on this going right. How could I guarantee their financial security if we don't get this grant?"

"You always found workarounds, Peter, even in the toughest situations," Mary Jane said, "but this event isn't your only concern, is it?"

Peter grips the rail, "The girls never fought those kinds of enemies before. They narrowly stopped a catastrophe, and I'm…so, so proud of them but also so scared of this getting worse."

"The people who'd hurt our family and friends are gone, Peter."

"And they're slowly being replaced by new ones."

"AIM and Empire Unlimited are troubling, but their operations are being observed and contained. Any person walking these streets will tell you they never felt safer." Mary Jane remembers her shock at Miles's report and the pictures of that train. She could barely look at videos where her girls were nearly blasted by lasers or stabbed by blades. "I get it thought," she admits to Peter, "it all looks so fragile…it that why I saw you up in the attic last week? Because I don't think you were only getting rid of cobwebs."

Peter remained silent, a sight MJ rarely sees from him. "Peter…how long have you been thinking of going back?"

Her husband takes a breath and answers, "For a while…don't know what's spurred it, maybe it was a dream or something. Would it be right to do if I ever did, MJ?"

"Our lives have changed so much, Pete. Passing that mask down is a part of it," she said, "I believe that because I trust you're doing the right thing and that it was the best for our family at the time. You fully dedicated to being the father they needed didn't just make me happy. I was proud of the man I married. The world was given more heroes than ever before. I believe you when you saw it as a sign to…to take a rest we long deserved."

"Yeah…I don't regret making that change," Peter said, caressing his wife's hand while the warm breeze of the afternoon wind brushed their faces. "I guess today was a big reminder that seeing our children out there fighting like we did…it still makes me afraid. Now, I'm afraid of the past catching up to us, to our children."

"I worry what's out there for them too, Peter, but I trust our girls to always look out for each other."

Peter smiles lovingly, kissing his wife, saying, "And that's why you're a spectacular mom."

"Well, I do have a natural knack for it," she said while brushing a lock of her red hair.

Before they could share another kiss, a cough drew their attention to Miles zipping down from a web. "Uhm, am I interrupting, Mr. and Mrs. Parker?"

"We're just chatting, Miles," Mary Jane chuckles.

Miles lands down and hands Peter a phone. "It's Ben," he said, "he called me directly."

"The moment of truth," Peter told them and answered the call, "Hey, bro."

"Hey brother," Ben's similar yet distinct voice replied, "about the results, uhm, I wish I had better news to share."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/

[Meanwhile…in the depths of Parker Industries]

Small critters feel a chill in the air in the depths of the building. They scurry away when an intangible white ghost with glowing eyes phases from the sewers and into the dark basement. Her white hood in this form shrouded not only her face but made her utterly invisible to all mortals. She floats further up, exploring several floors until she spots her target. It was a woman in a suit, a member of the grant committee, and she made a good effort to get a clear look on her face.

As planned, the woman begins to feel a stomach problem, perhaps from a coffee shop laced with a tasteless herb. The trickster ghost follows the woman to the bathroom. After peeking outside to see no one nearby, she floats behind the woman, now washing her hands. The ghost raises her hands, touches her face, and tears it off to make herself corporal again. Her target washes her face and stands up to see an orange hood woman behind her.

In a panic, she spins around and looks at this mysterious figure. Her face was powdered chalk white with dark lips, a black domino mask, and glowing yellow eyes. She had deep red hair, a bright orange hood connected to her black and orange suit, and two jack-o-lantern pins. This trickster woman looked like something straight from a Halloween tale. The intruder reached into her purple purse. The committee member was about to scream until the infiltrator raised her hand and blew yellow sleeping dust to her face.

The magic dust caused the committee member to fall asleep instantly. She's then dragged into one of the stalls, and the trickster reaches into her bag to pull out a human mask. Putting it on, her body looks and sounds exactly like the committee member. Locking the door behind her, the trickster walks out in her disguise and spots a scientist approaching her. Recognizing that face, she pulls out a particular hard drive and subtlety hands it to the scientist as they pass each other.

"Angela, I see that coffee didn't agree with you," one committee member said to the disguised trickster.

"Urgh, just been one of those days for me," the trickster said. She devilishly smiles as she blends in with the group that heads to the presentation stage.

[Meanwhile…]

The scientist holding a driver climbs up the stairs to where the main security control room resides. The scientist's eyes glow blue upon spotting a particularly high-ranking guard. "Excuse me, but I wish to speak to the captain," the scientist said.

"I'll be a second," the captain said, joining the scientist in a quiet spot.

Alone, the two androids follow their next directive and exchange the driver for the captain. Their performances continue to trick the others as the captain sees the scientist off and enters the main security room, where three other guards are posted.

"So, are you and Doctor Abrams a thing or…" one of the guards asks until he turns around and is struck by his taser gun. The android imposter was fast enough to knock out the other two guards, all without making a noise that alerted those posted outside. The android follows its next command and activates this room's last line of defense. The doors to the hall outside shut close, startling the several guards outside. Small turrets appear outside the walls and ceiling, firing static pulses, finally stunning the guards out cold.

[Security Room secured, creator. You may now enter.]

In a moment, a cloud of smoke appears and swirls across the control room. A crackle of laughter echoes as a shadow appears within the green mist. Once the clouds dissipate, this shadow emerges as a tall, menacing figure donning a green cape and a dome helmet. She stops crackling and gazes at her new toys, saying, "Ahh, magnifico. I will admit, Parker spares no expense in getting top-of-the-line tools to protect his people."

She applauds her android's performance, grabs the driver, and has her android posted outside. She takes the main seat, feeling the control before activating the communicator on her left gauntlet. "The maestro has secured the stage's controls," said reports, using codenames. "My actors report that the trickster is heading to Parker's demonstration stage."

"Wunderbar," one voice spoke, "and you have my little virus ready?"

"Indeed. It appears you were correct, doctor. Only someone with the captain's DNA could activate emergency protocols."

"Of course, I'm correct. Remember, the system is only vulnerable when it enters reboot mode. Wait for the signal before entering my virus. It will override the security systems and give you all the control you wish over the building."

"So, like any good actor, I wait for my cue, Doctor."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Miles felt that ever-so-familiar tingling at the back of his head. He sat atop the building's roof, peering out to the city block he had combed twice over the past hour. "Nothing…yet something's coming," he whispered to himself. He activates his earpiece and contacts his old mentor, "Peter, you feel this?"

"I did, and now I feel more assured of what I'm about to do next."

Miles knew what he meant the moment Peter finished his talk with Ben. It was a choice that'll have heavy consequences, but more and more, he was beginning to believe Peter's gut worry was right. If only he had Mayday's more attuned Spider-sense, then he could at least better pinpoint where a potential threat is. For now, he'd have to do it the old-fashioned way, and he'll start by swinging back inside the building to see if security had anything to report.

"If they do," he thought, "then the attack may not be coming from outside but inside."

[Meanwhile…]

Peter and MJ pull Curtis into the observation room that looks over the massive device. MJ locks the door and closes the shutters to ensure total privacy. Curtis catches on and asks, "Peter, did Spider-Man detect something outside?"

"Not yet, but he felt his senses tingling just now. I felt it too, heck I still feel it itching the back of my mind, but I can't tell what or where it is."

"Not only that, but Peter got a call back from Ben," Mary Jane said, "he agrees that the gadget is working mostly fine, but this anomaly troubles him too. He warned that it isn't a malfunction we should worry about but tempering."

Curtis's worry grows, "but we have built several safety mechanisms. The team made sure that not just anyone could tamper with this machine. Even if you were to smash the control to bits, the reactor will still be able to power down and be unusable to them."

"There are great minds out there that could still bypass them," Peter said, "Ben believes that someone who possesses such intellect over fusion technology could theoretically amplify this anomaly until it could cause a dangerous chain reaction and…boom goes a whole city."

Curtis thought it over and believed this scenario was possible, but the chances of it occurring were also absurdly slim. Still, with Peter and Miles's spider senses going off, it suddenly felt like those chances just went up.

"Curtis," Mary Jane said, "Peter thinks it is best to stop this presentation together."

"I…I see where you're coming from, Peter, but couldn't we inform the people up there of the potential danger?"

"I wouldn't be exactly keeping my connections to Spider-Man and other Spider-heroes a secret if I do," Peter said, "not only would it also cause a panic, but we'd still get a rejection over fears of our security system seemingly failing."

"At this point, Curtis," Mary Jane said, "it's looking increasingly like a lose-lose scenario."

"But the best we could do is ensure the wrong hands don't handle this device and get as many people out of this potential hazard zone," Peter said.

Curtis takes off his glasses and pinches his brow before nodding in agreement. "If you feel that is safer, Peter, I'll do my best to help. We strategized emergency plans in case the grant failed anyway." Curtis proceeds to leave the room to inform the team of the news.

Peter sits down, discouragement clear on his expression. "I should've stopped this entire," he said, "I should've believed in Annie's warning more. If I canceled the event, maybe I could've talked with the committee and gotten a reschedule. Instead, I wanted to get this grant and show that my team's invention can work."

"You were committed to helping the world as quickly as possible, tiger."

"So quickly, I didn't expect a wrench in the gear."

"But we do now," Mary Jane said, taking his hand and pulling him out of his chair. "Now come on, Pete, you know there's no problem we can't solve. Let's ensure these people are safe first, spot for further danger, and figure the rest out later."

Peter nods, fixing his suit before realizing MJ is coming with him. "What?" she said, fixing her dress, "I'm used to giving impromptu speeches."

Peter chuckles, "Thanks. I knew I should've taken more of your acting lessons. Feel like I'm about to go out naked."

"Remember, just be as honest as you can out there." The two hold hands as they leave the room, heading to the platform that'll lift them straight to the middle of the demonstration stage. Mary Jane puts on her best smile for the soon-to-be disappointed crowd, "Ready?"

With a steady breath, Peter nod and kisses his wife's hand, "I love you, MJ."

"I love you too, Pete," she said proudly. Both are ready to face this issue together.

Both try to retain their smiles as the crowd applauds their arrival. Peter raises his hands as they proceed to stop. Stepping forward, and beings, "Everyone, may I please have your attention…"

[Meanwhile]

"Are you sure the captain is confident on this, man?" Spider-Man asks one of the guards.

"If he said the coast is clear, then the coast is clear, Spider-Man," the guard replied as they spoke in one of the lobbies.

Spider-Man puts his hands on his waist, thinking this isn't making sense as the tingling in his head continues. "Maybe I should go down and talk- "Spider-Man said before a chill ran down his spine, an intense signal from his spider senses. This time, he could faintly feel where this was coming from, but it also signified immediate and deadly danger was approaching. He runs to one of the large windows and web slings up to the roof of the building, his eyes scanning for the source of this disturbance.

"Where are you," he whispered, squinting his eyes. The evening has approached, the sky turning darker with each passing minute. Then he spots a contrast to the night sky, a flying purple dot in the distance. It was whizzing across the sky at a fast speed and was approaching the building.

"Rogue figure spotted," he shouts into his earpiece connected to Peter's and MJ's. Before continuing, he blinks and suddenly sees the purple figure vanish. He leaps to the edge of the building but still can get a visual of the rogue flyer. Nonetheless, his spider senses were still blaring, and he continued speaking, "Lost visual. Engage emergency security protocols, and I'll- "

ZAP! CRACKLE! ZAP!

Spider-Man felt the whole building tremble ever so slightly as an enormous wave of electricity ripples the entire building's electrical system. He saw strands of electricity burst and snap out of parts of the roof. Looking down, he saw the lights flicker until everything went dark. "I saw this before," he muttered, "but…it can't be." He steps down to guard the civilians and ensure everyone evacuates the building.

He fires a web to suspend himself and aims for a window straight for the presentation room when his tingling intensifies. He turns his head, momentarily seeing nothing until he sees a purple fly inches from his face. His suddenly thrown several feet, his jaw rippling from pain as if he was just punched in the face. Spider-Man quickly recovers and slings onto the side of the building when the power suddenly turns back on. Spider-Man switches channels to security, "activate all protocols. Ensure all civilians evacuate this building and- "

"Sorry, Ultimate Spider-man," a new and unfamiliar voice speaks through his comms, "but this building is ours now."

Miles sees all the blast shields in the building activated, sealing off every window and door. Spider-Man leaps to a nearby window but is punched again by his incredible tiny foe, stopping his only shot of getting inside the building. However, he could track where this tiny stranger was and fired his webs. One of them snags the assailant with a small web ball before his opponent grows into the size of a human person. "She has Pym particles," Spider-Man deduced and got a clear look at his foe. She wore an advanced purple and black suit of armor while her yellow bug-like eyes glowed against the night sky. Her method of flying was a pair of glowing pink wings, like that of a beetle's wings.

He swings after his foe up toward the roof of the building. "Just a warning, when you lose this fight, the Wasp will talk sternly with you about stealing her gimmick. Oh, and for stealing the Pym particles too."

As both reach the roof, he fires his webbing, which lands on her back. Catching her, he uses his weight to slam her down to the roof, quickly firing multiple webs to restrain her. He kneels beside her and demands, "You're this Beetle's successor I've been tracking. With those particles, it's no wonder you suddenly went undetected. Now you'll tell me who's your partner and how to get me back inside this building."

"P-part…ners," the Beetle mumbled.

"What?"

"Heh, I think you mean partners, Spider-Man."

Spider-Man senses a tingle and narrowly avoids an influential strand of electricity. He sees a blue humanoid figure made of electricity from exposed circuitry pieces. A bright flash shoots out as the figure fully forms, revealing a woman wearing a whole-body green and yellow colored suit. The strands of electricity coursing through her fists and the infamous light bolts across her mask meant only one thing to Spider-Man: Electro's return.

"First Beetle and now Electro," he said, "shot in the dark, but the lady inside is Mysterio, isn't it?"

"Actually," Beetle grunts, using her suit's repulsor gloves to break free, "you're right on the money, Spider-Man."

"Here has a reward," Electro shouts, firing a blast of lightning.

The two new supervillains battle it against Spider-Man, who can hold his own. However, with every passing second he's fighting out here, everyone inside is in danger from Mysterio's control over the building. He builds energy in his hands as he dodges a punch from Beetle. He discharges a ball of electricity straight at her and flings her across the rooftop. Spider-Man dashes to leap down, but Electro's continued lightning shots block his path. She showed great skill with her powerful lighting, and unless a pool of water were nearby, Spider-Man wouldn't be defeating her as quickly as she wanted.

The Beetle recovers and floats beside Electro, "Oh, I'm gonna make you pay for that, Spider-Man."

"Usually, I'd say something quippy to that," Spider-Man said as his fingers rippled with electricity, "but I need to help those people inside."

He lunges forward and continues his battle.

[Shortly Before…]

"Lost visual. Engage emergency security protocols," Miles said through their earpieces.

"What do you mean no," one of the grant committee members asked.

"Is there a critical danger to this machine you only learned about?"

Mary Jane quickly tries to calm them down and tells them about a sudden emergency. However, Peter can barely hear her as his Spider-sense kicks into high gear. He senses the danger from outside but also feels something much closer. An audible wave of electricity ripples across the building, causing light sources to flicker before frantically. Peter grabs Mary Jane's hand just as it turns pitch black.

Screams erupt amongst the crowd just before power comes back on. This was a momentary rest as the next thing they knew, the main doors to the auditorium slammed shut, and all the windows had steel walls slammed over them.

Mary Jane quickly calls Curtis and the others, "Curtis, don't let anyone in that lab. Curtis? Curtis, do you hear me?!"

Meanwhile, Peter stared on in horror at the crowd. While everyone else in that crowd was too scared to notice, he saw an orange and black-clothed woman suddenly standing in the middle of the crowd. She smirked at Peter as she unveiled six smooth red balls in her hands and threw them across the room. "MJ, hold your breath!" Peter shouts, grabbing her wrist with a watch that was secretly a personal energy shield.

He's stopped when the trickster's hand grabs his wrist, lunging him over, and smashes him into the stage's floorboard. "Peter!" MJ shouts, whipping out her stun gun, and fires at the assailant. She lands two shots, nearly knocking the trickster over until she quickly dons a wolf mask and transforms into a hulking werewolf. Another stun blast was ineffective, the werewolf raised her claws to slash at her, but Peter shoved MJ out of the way.

He hisses in pain as his back is slashed, and falls to the floor. "Petey!" MJ cried, quickly tapping her watch, but rather than activating her shield, she pressed a small red button which caused her watch to blink a bright red. MJ's defense weapon is knocked out of her hands before the werewolf grips her neck. The powerful being restrained Peter and MJ; most attendees had already passed out from the green gas filling the room.

"MJ…" Peter said, reaching out to her before both passed out from the green gas.

[Now…]

Spider-Man is punched squared across the face by the mini-Beetle, a small cost to avoiding Electro's strikes. Landing on his feet, he throws a web trap below Electro, and a tangle of webs restrains her. Beetle returns to normal size and fires a barrage of pulse blasts at Spider-Man, but he backflips away from each blast and blinds her sight with a web to her mask. "Now or never," he told himself, running for the roof's edge when his spider senses tingled. He skids to a half but is caught off guard by seeing four metallic tentacles springing upward.

The liquid metal arms move incredibly fast enough to restrain Spider-Man's limbs and slam him into the ground. He can barely move as the user of these six arms rise above and reveal herself. She wore a crimson-red leather trench coat with an advanced suit beneath it. She wore long-sleeved black gloves with red fingertips. Her square-like shades masked her eyes, and her deep red hair was tied in a ponytail.

"Are you beginning to see what's happening, Spider-Man?" she said with a subtle German accent.

Spider-Man grabs one of the tentacles and sends a ripple of static. The liquid metal goes frantic, and he narrowly frees himself. He's allowed only a moment's breath before a ball of fire grazes his arm; he turns to see the new Mysterio hovering in the air.

"I don't believe he does. Why don't we show him?" Mysterio said, blasting another fireball at Spider-Man. He dodges, using his webbing to do so. He feels a chill before an orange-hooded woman appears out of thin air with a ghost mask. She quickly switches to Frankenstein's mask, becoming the literary monster before restraining Spider-Man. He shocks her off him but is blasted squared in the chest by Beetle's repulsors.

"Told you I'll make you pay," Beetle said.

Spider-Man was cornered, and his enemies closed in. He defiantly swung punches at some of them, trying to swing his way out of the tight corner, but one of the metal tentacles grabbed him by the throat, and Electro electrocuted him. Spider-Man felt this burning intensify until he was thrown to the floor. The four-fingered tentacles morph into a giant fist and slam at Spider-Man until he is nearly unconscious.

"Just had to make sure," the redhead young woman said. She picks up Spider-Man with her tentacles as the five re-enter the auditorium, where a dazed Peter and MJ lie, unable to move. "Mysterio, you are sure the security droids secured the other floors?"

"I have eyes everywhere, Doctor. Not one guard stands against us. The building is totally under my control."

"Mys…terio…?" Peter mumbles, his vision hazy from the green gas. He sees five shadowy figures approach him and gasp in terror. "No…no, you…you're all gone." He subtly realizes at that moment that what he is inhaling is a fear toxin whose side effects include hallucinations. He was petrified to see some of his oldest adversaries return.

"Peace has made you weak, Spider-Man," the illusion of Quintin Beck's Mysterio spoke.

"Oh, and you have a family now," the illusion of Hobgoblin spoke, "good, killing them will make it all the more fun watching you suffer!"

"I…won't let you…" Peter mumbled.

"Haha! How? You're out of shape, old man," the illusion of Max Dillion's Electro spoke.

"And out of time," the illusion of Otto Octavius, "it was all only a matter of time until your world would come crashing down, Peter."

"No…I'll…"

"You'll what, Petey?" a high-pitched voice echoes in Peter's head. He's stunned, speechless at the sight of the Green Goblin, even if it is all just in his head. "I vowed to destroy everything you ever loved, and today you'll see that you could've done nothing to stop me. I may not have lived to see it, but I'll savor it after you join us here, Petey!"

Peters snapped out of his delusions with a slap across the face. He shakes his head and finds himself lifted by liquid metal tentacles.

"I think your formula was a little too strong, dome head," Electro said.

"Watch your tongue," Mysterio warned.

Peter shakes off the last fear gas effects and clearly sees the group. "Who…are you?"

"I'm the Beetle, Lady Beetle, and we have plans for you tonight."

"Indeed. I, the daughter of Mysterio, have used my awesome power over magic and technology to ensure no one outside will stop us."

"So, you better get yourself comfortable," Electro spoke, "If you do any funny business, then prepare to know what a million volts by the new and recharged Electro feel like!"

"You…won't get anything out of me…if you hurt them," Peter said, glancing at Miles and MJ.

"Their fates are entirely up to you, not us," the orange-hooded woman spoke, "that is a promise. Be forewarned, any promise made by the mischievous Hallows' Eve forbodes ruin and even death."

"What do you all want from me?"

"It's rather straightforward, Doctor Peter," the last group member said calmly, lowering Peter's eye level. "It's truly an honor to finally meet you face to face. I am Doctor Carolyn Trainer, but you may call me Doctor Octopus."

"Really? Since when they started handing out doctorates to teenagers?"

"What can I say? I was born into a line of geniuses," she said, "and today, we, the Sinister Syndicate, will initiate a new era for this city. Starting with your destruction."

"So that's it? You just came here to kill me?"

"In due time, Doctor Peter. All in due time," Doc Ock said, "before that, may I ask you a few personal questions?"

Doc Ock pulls Peter closer to her as she looks like contempt. "You're deeply tied to the Amazing Spider-Man, aren't you, Peter B Parker?"


A/N: I hope you like this version of the Sinister Syndicate! To clarify, the lineup is Janice Lincoln as Beetle II, Francine Frye as Electro II, Misty Beck as Mysterio II, Carolyn Trainer as Doc Ock II, and finally, Hallows' Eve, whose Identity I won't give away just yet. I picked this line of supervillains because they're all primarily recent and follow the trend of inheriting the mantles of those before them. For Janice, I added a bit more to her arsenal to make her more formidable, which ties to my ideas for her character later on. Francine, I'm considering taking inspiration from Livewire in powers and personality, which even the comics Electro II supports. Misty as a character is an intriguing concept that got shelved waaaay too early in the comics. Carolyn will see the most radical changes to her comic counterpart.

So yes, I hope you also enjoyed this chapter's Peter, MJ, and Miles parts. Those were especially tricky to get right, especially in ensuring the characters didn't feel potentially OOC. Also, I hope the switching of POVs wasn't confusing. I wanted to show the systematic way the villains got the jump on our heroes, how even with preparations, they genuinely got the rug pulled from under them.

Now, with that said, what will this dastardly Syndicate do next? Is Peter Parker's identity finally exposed? Is there still time for the Spider-Girls to save the day, or will this day mark the first victory for the Sinister Syndicate?!

Find out next time in Issue #5 of THE MARVELOUS SPIDER-GIRLS!