Armed and Dangerous

Elias Hargrove has called together members of the Sinister Six to retrieve the mechanical arms of his late cousin, Doctor Octopus.[1] Unfortunately, as they have begun planning to steal the device they are interrupted by the Scarlet Spider. The wall-crawler has the element of surprise, easily holding his own against the five villains.[2] While battling it out with the villains, he tells the villains that he is no mere imitation of Spider-Man, reminding them that he recently took down Venom.[3] Although the Scarlet Spider has the element of surprise, ultimately the battle turns when the Hobgoblin uses his pumpkin bombs to send the roof crashing down on the wall-crawler. Thinking the hero destroyed, the Sinister Six then leave to carry out their mission.[4]

Back at his home, Elias Hargrove cuts the video feed that put him in communication with the Sinister Six. He hopes that the Scarlet Spider got a good enough look at his face, fearing that he might be identified as the last surviving relative of Doctor Octopus. He then continues watching the video will of Doctor Octopus to learn what the next phase of his final plan is.[5] Meanwhile, at a secret government facility, Doctor Moretti continues to try and learn the secrets of the final pair of mechanical arms created by Doctor Octopus. He is being pressured into bringing results by a government agent named Reinholdt. Moretti has just made a breakthrough, inventing an encephalo-helmet that will imitate the brainwave patterns of Otto Octavius, tricking the mechanical arms into obeying the commands of whoever wears it. Suddenly, the alarms go off as the facility is attacked by the Sinister Six. As the Hobgoblin and Vulture attack from the air, Electro blasts through the electric fence allowing him and Mysterio to gain access to the grounds.[6] As they infiltrate the facility, they are unaware that someone is watching them from the shadows.

As the villains break into the main lab, Agent Reinhold scrambles to have the mechanical arms remove from the property. Unfortunately, his efforts are too late as he is killed by a fatal jolt of electricity from Electro. However, before they can recover the mechanical arms they are interrupted by Spider-Man. The wall-crawler isn't sure how his spider-sense picked up their presence but isn't going to dismiss his good fortune.[7] As Spider-Man is occupied battling the Sinister Six, the mysterious figure uses the distraction to take a canister that they have come to recover. Getting ahold of Mysterio, Spider-Man warns him to retire as villains like him are getting killed off these days.[8] This leaves Spider-Man open to being blasted by one of Electro's bolts.

Recovering, Spider-Man tries to leap to the mechanical arms but seems to be struck by one of Hobgoblin's pumpkin bombs. The villains think they have finally destroyed their greatest enemy, however, they are suddenly attacked by the mechanical arms of Doctor Octopus. When the smoke clears, they are shocked to discover that Spider-Man is now wearing the mechanical arms and is controlling them with the encephalo-helmet. Jokingly referring to himself as the "Amazing Octo-Spidey", the wall-crawler begins trouncing the Sinister Six, thanks to a combination of the mechanical arms and his spider-sense. Realizing that they are out of their depth, the Sinister Six flee the scene. As Spider-Man tries to pursue them, the Hobgoblin destroys the encephalo-helmet with a finger blast. No longer able to control the mechanical arms, Spider-Man tries to break free, but the Hobgoblin's blast has left him too weak to break loose. Outside, the Sinister Six flee, but Electro and Mysterio are ambushed by Kaine. With Mysterio's dome shattered, Kaine prepares to give the villain the fatal Mark of Kaine.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider, Elias Hargrove, Sinister Six (Vulture, Electro, Mysterio, Hobgoblin), Kaine, Doctor Octopus (recording)

Continuity Notes

1. At the time of this story, Doctor Octopus had just recently been murdered in The Spectacular Spider-Man #221.

2. The Scarlet Spider thoughts make reference to his being a clone. He was created by the Jackal to fight Spider-Man back in Amazing Spider-Man #149. Thought to be dead for years, Ben Reilly returned to New York in Web of Spider-Man #117.

3. The Scarlet Spider fought Venom during the Exile Returns story arc.

4. The Hobgoblin mocks Electro for being a power company lineman. This was Electro's job prior to getting his powers as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #9.

5. Chronologically speaking, Doctor Octopus recorded this video prior to his appearance in Spider-Man Unlimited #8.

6. This is not really Mysterio, but a mechanical construct that he is piloting from afar, as revealed next issue.

7. The signal that Spider-Man picks up is from the micro-dot tracer that was planted on the Vulture by the Scarlet Spider last issue.

8. Spider-Man is referring to both the death of Doctor Octopus in The Spectacular Spider-Man #221 and the Grim Hunter in Spider-Man #55. The wall-crawler also makes reference to "Star Search '95", which should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. Aside from a specific year mentioned here, Star Search was canceled in 2004.