"Pull our men back," Doctor Octopus told Scorpion. The battle had reached it's tipping point.

The Sinister Six and their cohort had done their best to push back the police and get their crazed member Electro under control, but the arrival of heroes like Daredevil and She-Hulk had turned a difficult situation into an outright impossibility. Electro alone had held back the entire forces of the Sinister Six. Now the New Warriors were here too? Not even Sandman could hold the superheroes back forever, and the longer they stayed the more heroes they would attract.

"So what about Max?" Scorpion asked, even as he helped the injured and disoriented away from the battlefield. The Sinister Six didn't have a fancy quinjet or blackbird waiting to pick them up, but with the perpetual night that had fallen on the city it was easy to slip into the shadows and regroup later. Except for Electro, who stood out like a billion-watt lightbulb.

Sandman had expanded his particulate body from a wall of sand to a swirling sandstorm, blinding and disorienting the heroes and remaining police. It was a short-term move but a great way to cover their escape. Except for poor Electro, who had finally exhausted himself in the gamma-strong grip of the She-Hulk. The gritty winds didn't bother her and the electrical discharges that Max could still generate didn't do more than make her hair frizz up. A green-tinted backhand finally put an end to Electro's manic tantrum.

"Electro caused this mess, he deserved to get caught for his foolishness," Octopus declared. The rest of his loyal troops were at least out of danger now, and Sandman was dispersing into the sky, to re-constitute himself safely elsewhere. Time to clear the scene.

Octopus hated Electro for being the stupid, immature brat that he was. His childish need for attention had gotten him caught, and may well lead the superheroes right into the heart of their operation as soon as this supernatural darkness crisis had passed. The petty side of Doctor Octopus wanted to leave Electro to rot in prison. But Otto had been a teacher as well as a scientist once, and felt also that on some level he had failed Electro as well. Electro was a member of his hand-picked team after all; if he really was so disposable than how crucial were any of Octopus's choices?

Maxwell Dillon had enormous potential. Tonight demonstrated that the kid hadn't even scratched the surface of what his powers could do. Octopus would be a fool to abandon that indiscriminately. But clearly he wasn't the one to teach the boy how to harness it.

As soon as Otto had made it back to Hammer industries, the first one he sought out was Vulture.

"Adrian," he began, "Don't worry. We will secure Electro's freedom. But we need to make sure this doesn't happen again" Octopus stated in no uncertain terms. The Sinister Six did not tolerate ####-ups. If this problem couldn't be corrected now then Electro was worse than useless.

Vulture nodded, having been considering the problem himself for some time already. Probably longer than Octopus even.

"I'll have to make some phonecalls. Dip into the team funds to pay his fee. He's the best teacher in the business. If he'll take the job, then the Taskmaster will whip Electro into shape."