Electro let out a furious roar before charging straight at Spider-Man, his hands already crackling with arcs of electricity, ready to fry him. A few meters away, Scorpion, Sandman, and Shocker exchanged a quick glance before understanding each other with a simple nod.
Without wasting a second, they joined the assault and charged at the young hero as well, surrounding him four against one.
Electro was the first to attack, unleashing one lightning bolt after another with growing aggression. And yet, Spider-Man didn't seem to have the slightest difficulty avoiding them.
He didn't even bother making large movements: he simply shifted his body by a few inches, just enough to let each electrical blast pass beside him. That nonchalance only fueled Electro's anger even further.
Furious, he was about to attack again when, in the blink of an eye, Spider-Man suddenly raised both hands toward his face. Convinced he was about to be restrained around the head, Electro reacted instinctively... but Peter had simply tricked him.
A strand of black web shot toward his legs, instantly binding them together and throwing him off balance. The next moment, he crashed heavily onto the ground, unable to stop his fall.
Taking advantage of the opening, Scorpion immediately made his move. His venomous tail lashed out in every direction, trying to pierce his opponent, but every single strike was dodged with almost insulting ease. More than once, he even had the impression that Spider-Man knew what attack was coming before he launched it.
Annoyed, he immediately changed his strategy and began combining the movements of his tail with those of his arms and legs, chaining together attacks that almost resembled those of a capoeira practitioner.
— "MOVE!"
At his ally's warning, Scorpion instantly stepped back. A powerful shockwave then tore through the street and struck Spider-Man head-on, launching him high into the air. During that brief moment of suspension, Peter immediately noticed something strange.
The attack hadn't merely pushed him back... it had also disrupted his suit. Part of the black substance seemed to quiver on its own, as though a strange shiver had run through it. A sharp pain also shot through his body.
The sensation unsettled him, but he couldn't afford to dwell on it. Still plummeting through the air, he immediately fired a web at one of the nearby buildings. His body abruptly changed direction, propelling him at incredible speed straight toward Shocker like a projectile launched at full force.
Realizing his intention immediately, Shocker raised his arms, ready to unleash another shockwave. But before he had the chance, Sandman intervened.
Without even bothering to warn his teammate, he formed a gigantic sand arm that swept across Spider-Man's trajectory. Forced to improvise, Peter instantly tucked his legs in, braced himself against his web, and used his momentum to launch himself even higher before landing with remarkable precision on top of a streetlamp.
His feet had barely touched the metal when Shocker unleashed another shockwave, far more violent than the previous one. Spider-Man reacted at the very last instant, leaping into the air before performing a spectacular backflip that allowed him to land perfectly on his feet.
But the moment he touched the ground again, Sandman launched another attack. Both of his arms grew to a gigantic size before hardening, then he slammed them together with monstrous force, as though clapping his hands, trapping Spider-Man between his enormous palms.
For one second...
The Terrifying Six believed they had won the fight.
Then the gigantic hands of sand began to tremble.
Little by little, they were forced apart by a strength that seemed impossible to contain, revealing Spider-Man still standing between them, holding back the crushing force through the sheer power of his two arms alone.
The sight sent a chill through every criminal.
— "How... is that possible?!"
Shocker immediately took advantage of the opening to charge up a shockwave even more powerful than any of the previous ones.
But before he could fully capitalize on it, Spider-Man violently shoved Sandman's gigantic hands apart, sprang free in a single leap, and simultaneously avoided both being crushed and Shocker's attack. The shockwave then tore through the empty space and struck Flint's sand arms directly.
The explosion instantly obliterated them.
Torrents of sand were blasted across the entire street, covering the pavement, the nearby buildings... and even the criminals still standing.
All of them froze.
Completely stunned.
But Spider-Man didn't give them time to recover. With a swift motion, he fired a black web at a fire hydrant a little farther away, pulled with all his strength, and ripped it straight out of the ground. He immediately leaped toward it, grabbed the powerful stream of water gushing from it, and redirected it without the slightest hesitation toward Sandman.
— "NO! STOP!"
Under the force of the water, his body immediately began to liquefy. His silhouette gradually fell apart before collapsing into a shapeless mass of mud, unable to maintain its form.
The water continued to gush out, flowing over Spider-Man's black suit as he slowly walked toward the criminals who were still standing.
His stride was calm... almost unsettling.
With every step he took, the aura surrounding him became more and more oppressive. There was no trace left of the Spider-Man they knew.
The remaining members of the Terrifying Six stared at him in silence, unable to hide their disbelief at what they had just witnessed.
— "Am I the only one who thinks he looks... different, or do you guys see it too?"
Shocker never took his eyes off Spider-Man.
— "You're not the only one. It really feels like he's fighting more seriously than before... and that's becoming a real problem now that we're only three left."
— "What?!"
At that very moment, Electro finally managed to break free from Spider-Man's webs. He sprang to his feet, his eyes fixed on Shocker, unable to believe what he had just heard.
— "You're trying to tell me that son of a bitch was holding back against us... and now he's finally deciding to fight seriously?! I don't buy it! It's just a fluke!"
Completely enraged, he let out a furious scream before charging straight at Spider-Man, lightning already crackling all around his body.
— "Electro! Wait!"
Shocker tried to stop him, but it was already too late. Electro immediately unleashed several electrical blasts, each one more violent than the last.
And yet, Spider-Man dodged them with almost terrifying ease, simply shifting his body just enough to let them pass.
Within moments, he had already closed the distance between them. With a sharp movement, he grabbed Electro by the throat before violently slamming him into the ground.
The criminal immediately struggled, flailing his hands as new bolts of lightning burst out in every direction. Not a single one managed to hit its target.
The more he failed, the greater his frustration became, until furious screams escaped his lips. Standing over him, however, Spider-Man remained chillingly calm. Without saying a word, he pinned both of Electro's arms to the ground with his black webs.
— "You bastard! Just wait until I break free! I swear I'm gonna—"
He never got the chance to finish his sentence. Spider-Man's fist slammed brutally into his face. To everyone's surprise, Electro let out a nervous laugh despite the pain.
— "You're just a coward! You're tying me up because you know you—"
A second punch immediately silenced him.
— "D-damn it! Let me—"
But Spider-Man never let him finish a single sentence. Every attempt to speak was interrupted by another punch. He didn't answer the insults. He didn't even try to argue anymore. He just kept hitting him. Again. And again.
As the blows rained down on him, Electro's attempts to break free gradually lost intensity. His movements became weaker, more erratic, until his body almost completely stopped resisting.
Several dozen meters away, Scorpion and Shocker watched the scene, completely frozen. They could hardly believe what they were seeing.
Spider-Man was nothing like the one they knew. He wasn't cracking jokes anymore. He wasn't trying to taunt his opponents anymore.
His face remained hidden behind his mask, but his attitude, his silence, and the sheer brutality with which he relentlessly beat Electro were enough to make it clear that they were now facing someone completely different.
As they watched their teammate being mercilessly beaten, the same thought crossed both criminals' minds.
— "Has this guy always been this strong? Don't tell me... he's been holding back against us this whole time...?"
Scorpion instinctively stepped closer to Shocker before whispering in a low voice, never taking his eyes off Spider-Man:
— "I've got a bad feeling about this, man. We need to get the hell out of here."
He had barely finished speaking when Spider-Man suddenly raised his hand in his direction. Without the slightest warning, a black web shot from his wrist, wrapped itself around Scorpion's body, and violently yanked him toward him.
Caught completely off guard, the criminal was dragged several meters across the ground before crashing heavily at the young hero's feet.
Still dazed, Scorpion immediately tried to get back up. But almost against his will, his eyes drifted toward Electro... and his blood instantly ran cold.
His teammate was lying on the ground, completely unconscious. His face had been pummeled so violently that it was almost unrecognizable. For a split second, Scorpion even wondered if he was still breathing.
He slowly raised his eyes toward Spider-Man.
The latter walked toward him without the slightest hurry. His stride was calm, almost cold, but every single step echoed like a death sentence, instinctively forcing Scorpion to back away as the distance between them continued to shrink.
— "S-Shocker! I need a hand here!"
He quickly turned toward his partner, hoping to see him step in. But Shocker hesitated. He, too, was slowly backing away, unable to hide the fear that was beginning to consume him.
That brief hesitation sealed Scorpion's fate.
Before he even had the chance to turn back around, Spider-Man struck him with a blow of unbelievable force. His body was hurled several meters away before crashing headfirst into the already unconscious Doctor Octopus. The two of them slid heavily across the pavement before finally coming to a stop.
Scorpion didn't get back up.
He, too, had been taken out of the fight.
TO BE CONTINUED.