Continued from Detective Comics #6.
Spidey leaned his head back. He had been thinking of every possible solution to his current predicament. How in the world was he going to get out of the energy bonds holding him?
I know that if I cut the power source, then I'll be free. But how do I find the power source? Spider-Man thought.
Suddenly, he thought about his suit. Of course! he thought. I can make the nano-machines into a mirrorlike substance and reflect the energy!
Spidey immediately began to concentrate on this task.
Meanwhile, in a Manhattan subway, the Dark Knight was having problems of his own.
Batman stood, facing Stegron, the Dinosaur Man. A velociraptor stood on each side of him, licking their lips in anticipation of their next meal. They began coming closer, slowly stalking the detective hero. The tunnel was surprisingly quiet, considering the number of commuters trapped.
Batman listened. He thought he heard something. He looked back, at the tracks and smiled. The train which was attacked by dinosaurs had been moved far down the track, thanks to the enormous strength of its attackers.
Suddenly, the velociraptors lunged at Batman. However, Batman had already leaped back, landing on the opposite platform. He quickly grabbed a Batarang and threw it at the dinosaurs, which felt to the tracks, right on the electric rail.
"You!" Stegron yelled. "You killed my pets!!!!" He began running toward the tracks. At the same moment, a subway train came rushing through. Once it had passed, Stegron could not see Batman.
"Dinosaurs! Stegron commands you to attack him! Attack Batman!" he ordered the other dinos who had dismantled the other subway.
Meanwhile, Batman had ran up the subway exit as the train passed him.
"Batmobile, auto-pilot," he said into his gauntlet. The Batmobile's armor slid back, and the car guided itself to the homing signal in Batman's gauntlet.
He jumped in, and the hatch shut, just as the dinosaurs jumped on.
"I don't have time for this," Batman muttered. "Nitrous feed." He pushed a button on the control panel and the Batmobile soared off, knocking its ambushers off.
At Gracie House, the mayor and his staff were sitting at the meeting table, trying to find all possible solutions to their problem. This included foiling the ransom plan of Doctor Octopus. Outside, the assistants were gathering money as ransom.
"Mr. Mayor," one of the advisors asked. "How are we going to get 36 million dollars? These so-called Sinister Six took control of the banks. We cannot get that money."
"I know," the mayor replied. "We have to use that to our advantage." He turned to another advisor. "Have you contacted Gordon?" he asked.
"Yes, sir. However, he is too busy to come here at the moment."
"Of course. But, does he have any ideas?"
"He said he was working on it. Something about an ace up his sleeve."
"Ace up his sleeve?"
Doctor Otto Octavius, better known as Doctor Octopus, sat back in his chair. His plan was going nicely. Catman had taken care of the banks, Mysterio had made sure that everyone was trapped, Joker had taken out 911, Dr. Phosphorous ruined the water, he himself was holding the government hostage, and Stegron took control of the subway system.
Or so he thought. A red light blinked. Doc Ock tapped his headset.
"Report."
"Doc?" Stegron said on the other end.
"Ahhh. Stegron, have you taken the subway?"
"Well, we took out one train, but Batman got in the way."
"Batman? This is not good. Now our plans are ruined!"
"Not to worry. I sent my dinosaurs . . . on . . . him . . . "
"Stegron? What is wrong?"
"They just came back."
Doc Ock sighed. "Well, take over the sub system. I'll worry about Batman."
He ended the connection and sighed.
Suddenly, one of the monitors in front of him was smashed to bits. Webbing lay on the jagged edges.
"Okay, Octopus, what's the plan?" Spider-Man asked.
Doctor Octopus spun around and saw the wall crawler behind him, stepping off of the platform. "Spider-Man!" he exclaimed. "How did you get out of your bonds?"
"That's none of your business," Spidey said, walking over to the leader of the Sinister Six. He grabbed Ock's shirt and lifted him in the air. "Now, tell me what your little sinister plan is!"
Octavius smiled. "Why, certainly." Suddenly, his tentacles began moving and lifted Spider-Man into the air. He also pushed a button on his wrist. "Sinister Six, this is Doctor Octopus. We have an intruder."
"Who is it?" one of the six responded, a voice which Spider-Man recognized.
"An old friend of yours, Joker. Spider-Man."
"You're in cahoots with Joker!" Spidey exclaimed. "Are you crazy?"
"No, but you most certainly must be." With that, Doctor Octopus began to squeeze on Spider-Man, attempting to break his rib cage. But Spidey wasn't going to let that happen. He fired webbing into Octopus's eyes.
Doc Ock dropped him and stepped back, grabbing the webbing on his eyes. "My eyes!" he shouted.
Spidey took that as his cue to leave, and he ran as fast as he could for the exit. He had to get back to the city.
Commissioner James Gordon stood in his office, looking at the portrait on the wall behind his desk.
"Where can he be?" he said. "Maybe everyone is right. Maybe the Batman is nothing but a myth."
"Commissioner."
Gordon turned around, startled. "Wha--?"
The commissioner's jaw dropped. Standing in front of him was Batman. "Y-you came," Gordon said.
"Sorry I took so long. Had a little problem in the subway."
"Part of the Sinister Six?"
"Is that what they call themselves?"
"From what we can tell, yes."
"What's the latest status report?" Batman asked.
"The bank's nightly transactions were interrupted by someone named Catman. It might be years before the city can recover from that. Joker shut down 911 services."
"Joker?" Batman asked.
"Yes," Gordon replied. "He's been a real pain in the neck recently. Spider-Man brought him in a few weeks ago, but he busted out just a few days before all this happened."
"Spider-Man, huh? I wonder if he's been involved in this yet."
"We haven't heard from him. But who knows what could have happened. Anyway, back to the rest of the Sinister Six, we have Stegron who has been trying to take over the subways. And somehow the Brooklyn Bridge has disappeared. We don't know who's behind that, but it's one of the six. Then, Dr. Phosphorous polluted the water supply."
"That's only five. Who's the other?"
"That would be Doctor Octopus. We think he's the leader. He's taken control of the power supply and is holding the city ransom. Thirty-six million dollars, or the power is out."
"Hmmmm." Batman thought for a moment.
"That's why we needed you. We thought that if we let you give him the money, then you could somehow overtake him and take out this Sinister Six."
"Hmmmmm," Batman repeated.
Meanwhile, over the city, Spider-Man was webslinging. He was deciding on where to go. He looked down and saw a strange vehicle parked beside the Gotham police station. He figured that that would mean help, so he landed beside the Batmobile.
Up above, in the commissioner's office, Batman turned toward the window. Gordon sat down and looked down at his desk. "I don't know what to do."
"I'll be in touch," Batman said.
"Okay," Gordon said, looking up. But, Batman was already gone.
As Batman flew down to the Batmobile, he spoke into his gauntlet. "Open." The Batmoblie opened. Then, Batman saw the man dressed in red and blue beside it. He landed in the driver's seat.
"Spider-Man, I presume," he said.
"How did you know?" Spidey asked.
"Gordon told me as much. I'm Batman. Hop in. If we're going to stop the Sinister Six, we're going to have to work together."
Spidey hopped over the driver's side and landed in the passenger's seat. The top slid back over.
"Buckle up," Batman said.
Spider-Man did so and the Batmobile took off.
"So, where are we going?" Spidey asked.
"The Brooklyn Bridge," Batman replied. "The middle of it disappeared, and the cops don't know who did it. Do you?"
Spidey thought for a moment. "I have an idea. So, what's the game? Who are these Sinister Six?"
"I thought you knew."
"No, I have been held captive by their leader, Doctor Octopus. All I know is that they took control of Manhattan and that Joker is one of the six."
"Doctor Octopus, eh?"
"Yes," Spidey replied. "And what really takes the cake is that he and I were created in the same accident."
"Pardon?"
"It was about a year ago. I was watching a scientific demostration by Dr. Otto Octavius. Something went wrong. I was bitten by a radioactive spider, and Doc Ock got his metal tentacles bonded to his back."
"Octavius? I remember that accident."
Just then, the Batmobile pulled up to the Brooklyn Bridge. Traffic was backed up, so the two superheroes were forced to walk to the edge.
As they got there, Spider-Man's spidersense began to tingle.
"I have a strange feeling. Almost deja vu," Spidey said. "Batman, I think I know who is behind this. Watch."
As Spider-Man said that, he began walking, getting closer to the edge. However, when he walked off the edge, he didn't fall. Instead, he looked as if he was standing in mid-air.
"Mysterio," he said.
Back at Gracie House, it was nearing midnight, and the city had yet to gather the 36 million dollars.
"Get me Gordon on the phone, now!" the mayor shouted.
One of the secretaries ran up to him with a cell phone. "It's the commissioner, sir."
"Thank you," the mayor said, grabbing the phone. "Gordon!"
"Yes, Mr. Mayor?"
"What is the department doing about the money?"
"I have officers currently putting counterfeit money together. Hopefully, that can buy us some time."
"Who is going to deliver it?"
"That would be the special agent I told you about."
"Who is this special agent?"
"I am unable to disclose that information at this time."
"Gordon!"
"I am sorry, Mr. Mayor. I think you should be working on giving control to Doctor Octopus." With that, Gordon hung up.
At the Daily Planet, Jimmy, Lois, Perry, and other staff members were staying late to cover the story.
"Lois," Jimmy said. "I'm going out to take pictures of the damage. You want to come and get a story?"
Lois looked up from her computer. "Might as well," she said. "Nothing much to sort through here."
She grabbed her coat and notepad and followed Jimmy outside.
Batman and Spider-Man ran to the Batmobile. When they jumped in, Spidey looked at the clock. 11:15.
"Who is this Mysterio?" Batman asked.
"He's a nut I ran into a few days ago. He can create illusions. That's what the bridge is - an illusion. However, last time I saw him, he kinda went ka-boom."
"Kaboom?"
"Yeah. We were down in a cave and it exploded."
"Oh."
"Where are we headed now?" Spidey asked.
"Back to the police department. Gordon wants me to deliver the money to the Sinister Six at midnight."
"It's only a little after 11 o'clock. Will they have it ready?"
"That's not our concern. They want us to somehow delay."
"Delay? How?"
"I was thinking of making you a diversion."
"Diversion?"
Back at the warehouse, Doctor Octopus had called all of the Sinister Six together.
"My partners, soon we must leave to collect the ransom," he said. "Six million for each of us. I need you there, in case those stupid cops try something. Or worse, that infernal Spider-Man."
"Don't worry, Ocky!" Joker said. "I'll take care of that annoying bug!"
"Wait a minute!" Mysterio interjected. "I have dibs on Spider-Man!"
"Joker! Mysterio! Calm down. If he shows, then it will be six of us and one of him." Doc Ock turned to the rest of the Six. "I need you to hide in various places, behind me. . . "
When Batman and Spider-Man arrived at police headquarters fifteen minutes later, Gordon was waiting with the money. He was a bit startled to see the wallcrawler.
"Spider-Man!"
"Hey, no need to be scared. I don't bite."
Gordon smiled. "How did you get involved with this?"
"First I was captured by the leader, and then I found out that I had already fought with two of theSinister Six."
"Sounds like you know them."
"Commissioner," Batman said. "Where is the money?"
Gordon pointed to two cases sitting on his desk. "Mostly counterfeit, but enough real money that they won't be able to pull anything at the dropoff site."
"Will we have police back-up?"
"Of course."
"Good, we'll meet you there," Batman replied, picking up one of the cases and leaving. Spidey glanced at Gordon and picked up the other case. As he climbed out the window, he waved.
"It was nice to meet you! I look forward to your cooperation many more times!"
Central Park. Ten minutes to midnight.
Batman stood, waiting. Behind him were half a dozen police cruisers, with officers ready to act. Above him, Spider-Man waiting in a tree, hidden from view.
A man was walking up. He wore a brown trenchcoat, and his back was a weird shape.
"That's Octopus," Spidey whispered into the special headgear Batman had given him. "Watch out. My spider-sense is going off so bad, the whole gang has to be here."
Batman nodded, as if to say he understood.
Doctor Octopus approached him. "Now, why would the mayor send a costumed vigilante to give me my money?" He paused, and walked around the Dark Knight. "Of course. Because they were expecting trouble. If you want trouble, I'll give you trouble!" Ock pressed a button on his wrist and the Sinister Six came out from hiding, all charging at Batman. "The money, please."
"Are you going to keep the power on?"
Octopus pulled a device from his trenchcoat. "This is what controls the power. You give me the money, I give you the device." He held out the device. Batman held out the case of money and grabbed the device. However, Doc Ock pulled back and kept both. "Fool!" he yelled as his mechanical arms tore the coat. Just then, the rest of the Sinister Six caught up.
Spidey jumped out of the tree, and immediately tackled Joker. Fortunately, he had already dispatched his camera, which caught the shot.
Meanwhile, behind the police lines, Lois and Jimmy were watching the battle as it began. Lois was taking notes and Jimmy was taking pictures.
"I wonder where Peter is?" Jimmy asked.
"Probably home with his aunt. Or maybe he's busy with another set of photos," Lois replied.
Batman pulled out his Batarang and threw it at the nearest villain. That happened to be Doctor Phosphorous.
"Batman," Phosphorous said. "You must die!" The not-so-good doctor then put his hand out and sprayed Batman with poison. Batman flung his cape up in front of his face, so the poison wouldn't harm him.
In a swift motion, he dropped the cape, twirled around, and smashed his elbow into the madman's face.
Phosphorous dropped, and Stegron ran from behind him, trampling over Batman.
On the other side of the battlefield, Spider-Man was under attack from Joker and Mysterio. He knew the best way to defeat them was to have them take each other out. That, or use impact webbing to the head.
He backflipped far enough away to fire the webbing and have enough time. He crouched down and aimed. Joker and Mysterio began charging. Spidey pushed the webshooters.
FOOM! FOOM! Two balls of impact webbing left from each wrist, both impacting in the faces of the villains. They fell to the ground.
Spidey looked over at Batman, and saw Stegron pounding him. He began to run over to help his new friend, but was stopped by Catman.
"Spider-Man . . . " Catman said with a hint of interest in his voice.
"I don't have time for this," Spidey said. He began to charge Catman, but the villain leapt out of the way, turned and ran back at Spidey.
Cat's don't like water. Good, Spidey thought, and began webslinging to the pond.
Catman foolishly followed.
Spidey stood in front of the pond, and shot webs at Catman. He shot the webs all around, so the acrobatic villain wouldn't have anywhere to jump. He pulled the webs tight and flung him into the water.
"You little bug!" Catman yelled.
"Spiders aren't bugs!" Spidey yelled back.
Batman was stuck under Stegron. Spidey leaped on the dino-man's back and webbed up his eyes.
"Get off!" Stegron shouted, flipping Spider-Man off.
"Sinister Six!" Doc Ock shouted. "We have completed our mission! It is time for us to leave!" He came over to Spider-Man and Batman, who were laying on the ground. "But we will be back."
That was the last thing the two heroes heard before they passed out.
A few minutes later, Batman and Spider-Man sat in the Batmobile, thinking about the night's events.
"You know, that was a pretty lame fight," Spidey commented. "I mean, I beat most of them just with my webbing."
"True," Batman replied. "At least the Brooklyn Bridge is back."
"But the banks are going to be screwed up for months. What about the water supply?"
"It will take a while, but not too long. At least 911 services have been reactivated."
Both were silent. Finally, Spider-Man spoke up. "So, how long before they come back?"
Batman was quiet. "Not long enough."
Meanwhile, back at the warehouse, Doctor Octopus opened up the case containing the money.
"Ah, sweet money," he said, pulling out a bundle. Some bills fell out of the middle.
"Hey!" Catman said, picking one up. "This isn't money! It's paper!"
"What? They tricked us?" Mysterio asked.
"Let's go back and get our money!" Joker exclaimed.
"No," Doctor Octopus said, calmly. "They'll be expecting us. We must wait."
"But!" Joker exclaimed.
"Joker, we shall play this my way. If we wait, then we can attack when the city, and those blasted 'superheroes', have forgotten about us. We must plan . . . "
The Batmobile sped through the city. Inside sat two passengers.
The person in the passenger side turned to the driver. "So, Batman," he said, "where are you taking me?"
Batman kept looking straight ahead. "We're going to the GCPD, Spider-Man."
"To straighten things out with the Commissioner?"
"Something like that."
Spidey was silent for a moment. "Do you think the Sinister Six has figured out that we've fooled them?"
"I'm sure of it."
Before either superhero could say another word, something beeped.
"What's that?" Spidey asked.
Batman lifted a panel on the dash. It was a small monitor. A picture of an oracle was showing. A man's voice began to speak.
"Batman. This is Oracle."
"Come in, Oracle."
"Batman, I heard about your adventure tonight. Are you okay?"
"Of course I am."
"Pretty bold move giving fake money."
"Not my idea."
Spidey stared closely at the monitor. A phone number was printed on it. He quickly memorized it.
"Well, I'm sure you're looking forward to getting some rest after that fight."
Spidey spoke up. "I don't know about you, Bats, but I sure am!"
"Who's that?" Oracle asked.
"Don't worry, it's only Spider-Man. You can trust him," Batman replied.
"You know I don't like people finding out about me."
"Oracle, we all know you do. Batman out."
The monitor went blank, and Batman flipped it down.
"Who was that?" Spidey asked.
"Oracle. He gathers information and gives it to other heroes. He's helped me quite a bit."
Spider-Man said nothing. He saw the GCPD building. "Looks like we're here," he said.
Moments later, Batman and Spider-Man were standing in Commissioner Gordon's office once more.
"I would like to thank you both for helping save the city and take down the Sinister Six," Gordon said.
"All in a day's work," Spidey replied.
"This victory is great, but we must be prepared for whenever they strike again," Batman replied.
Spidey looked at his new ally. "Man, you should know how to ruin a good mood!"
"I am sorry. I realize that I am a bit of a pessimist, but even you have to admit that the Six are angry about not getting their money."
"Especially since they were so close to victory anyway," Gordon added.
Batman turned back to the commissioner. "How long before all their damage is reversed?"
Gordon pushed his glasses back up on his face. "Well, most of the minor damage can be repaired in the next week. However, the major stuff, like the money transfer probably will never recover."
Spidey looked at the clock. It was well after one in the morning.
"Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm kinda tired. Thanks for your help, Commissioner. See you around, Batman!"
With that, Spidey leapt out the window.
Gordon smiled. "He seems like a good man."
Batman agreed. "We could use a lot more like him."
Spidey swung over the city, and landed on the roof of the Daily Planet. He squatted down, and added a new number to the speed-dial on his built-in phone.
Oracle probably won't like this, but no doubt, I'll be needing his help someday, Spidey thought.
After he was sure that the number had been saved, he fired off a strand of webbing, and went home.
Meanwhile, on the other city of the city, Doctor Octopus sat alone in his warehouse. On the table in front of him, the briefcase full of psuedo-money lay open. Doc Ock was rather relaxed, for someone who had just been cheated out of thirty-six million dollars.
He was thinking of the battle, how the Sinister Six had Batman and Spider-Man nearly beat. But now, they have nothing to show for it. Several of the Six wanted to go back and take the money from the GCPD. However, Octopus advised against it, because it would be expected. Now, he was thinking of when the Six should strike.
It couldn't be too soon, but it couldn't wait forever. It would have to be something even bigger than their last caper, something that they would have to show for no matter how badly they might be taken down.
A smile cracked Doc Ock's lips. The perfect plan was forming in his mind. And it would only be a matter of time before Batman and Spider-Man would pay for interfering with the plans of the Sinister Six!
Next issue: Spider-Man meets another hero as school begins!