Late night in Manhattan. The skies were gray and dark, and the streets were filled with the noises of cars and people shouting. It was the last day of summer vacation before school started again for students and teachers. It was just a typical summer night in New York. Except for, you know, the robbery going down at Hollister's Jewelry Store.
Inside the store the owner, Ben Hollister, was bound and gagged on the floor. A tall man with platinum blonde hair, silver aviator sunglasses, and a purple-and-silver jacket was helping himself to the veritable treasure trove of riches around the store. He looked at Hollister and adjusted his sunglasses. "Thanks again for the donation to the 'Make Me Stinkin' Rich' Foundation," he sneered, and bounded out the door.
The thief ran down a nearby alleyway, and touched an earpiece in his left ear. "Mission accomplished, I'm on my way. Don't bail on me like last time, Myers," he said. "Don't worry," came a vaguely Australian voice over the earpiece, "The Boss nearly had my head last time. Just hurry it up!" "Roger that," chuckled the thief. He turned a corner, and suddenly heard a "thwip" sound. He felt his feet being pulled out from underneath him. "Aw crap, not again," muttered the thief as he was hoisted into the air by something sticky attached to his legs. Before he knew it, he was being hung upside down by his feet from an overhead lamp-post.
"Not agaaaaaaaaaaain!" screamed the thief as he struggled. Just then, a voice came from overhead. "You know, Hermie, maybe if you stopped trying to rob stores this wouldn't keep happening." A young man in a blue-and red suit swung down from a nearby rooftop. He had a spider on the front of his suit. "Just saying." "I swear to god, when I get down from here…" "Yeah yeah yeah, blah blah, you're gonna knock my head off with a baseball bat, whatever. Get some new material, Schultz! Say, by the way, where's your partner Myers?" Herman Schultz continued to struggle angrily, to no avail. "He's, uh, elsewhere, bug. Anyways, I'll be out of jail before you get home." "Yeah, and I'll make sure you're back there before noon tomorrow." With that, Spider-Man swung away, leaving Schultz shouting and cursing in his wake. However, he didn't notice Schultz's partner speeding away from the scene.
"WOO-HOO!" shouted Spider-Man as he swung through the streets of New York. Life was good. He had been fighting crime for about a year, and this summer he had stopped numerous crimes. Herman Schultz and his partner Fred Myers were the most persistent crooks he had seen that summer, and Spider-Man had no doubt that Schultz and Myers were working for a larger power, which explained their constant releases from jail. However, the wall-crawler wasn't worried. He figured that he could take care of one problem at a time. At this time, Spider-Man had a bigger problem to worry about, at least in his eyes - romance.
In his other life, as student Peter Parker, he was starting college tomorrow. And, he was dating the girl of his dreams - Gwendolyn 'Gwen' Stacy. The blonde bombshell was both beautiful and incredibly intelligent. They'd been friends since childhood, and Peter had had a crush on her since then. Last year, at the beginning of senior year, he'd finally found the courage to ask her out.
His senior year of high school had also been his first year of being Spider-Man. Peter figured that the courage that came with being New York's premier hero had also leaked into his private life.
However, something that afflicted both his private and superhero lives were a lack of good luck. Ever since Peter's Uncle Ben had been shot down by an unknown assailant, Peter and his Aunt May had been without a really stable source of income. Peter had taken several temporary jobs, but none of them had really paid well. In addition, New York City's head newspaper, The Daily Bugle, was railing against him and calling him as bad as the criminals he stopped, causing citizens of New York to fear him.
Peter decided not to think about that as he swung around the city. Just then, the watch under his glove rang, and he looked at it. "11:36. Crap. I've gotta meet Gwen in four minutes for that new Quentin Beck movie," he muttered to himself. He looked down the city streets and saw the Cineplex about five blocks away. "Let's do this," said Peter, and he propelled himself through the sky, shouting, "WOO-HOOO!"
As Peter soared through the air, he passed the large tower of Oscorp Industries. He looked at the building, and he flashed back to the day he received his powers that day near the end of junior year. He remembered how his science class had had the highest class average in the history of Midtown High, and how Oscorp had recognized that and awarded them the trip there. He remembered how a spider being experimented on in Oscorp's genetics division had escaped and found its way to Peter's class, and more specifically, Peter, and how it had bit him. He remembered feeling sick, but then, manifesting his new spider-like powers the next day. He remembered creating his web-shooters and finding pieces of old wrestling costumes at the local ring to help him become the Amazing Spider-Man.
He remembered all this as he swung past Oscorp Tower. He shook off all his memories - the past was in the past. He was coming up on the theatre.
However, Peter wasn't the only one who was looking out over the city. At the top floor of Oscorp Tower, a tall, imposing man in a business suit stood at the large window of his office and looked out over the city. A man walked in behind him. "Mr. Osborn," the man said, "Mr. Coulson is here to see you…again." Norman Osborn turned around. "Phil doesn't give up, does he? Tell…what was his organization's name again? SWORD?" "No sir, SHIELD." "Ah, yes, SHIELD. Well you tell Coulson once and for all that Oscorp is NOT interested in partnering with SHIELD." "Yes, sir." The man turned and left.
Spider-Man swung down to the area behind the theatre and saw his blonde girlfriend waiting for him in front of it. After making a quick change, he made a web-net and hung his clothes from a nearby fire escape. He came around to there front of the theatre and greeted Gwen. "11:40," he said, "ExACTly on time." "According to my phone, it's 11:41. One minute late, Mr. Parker," Gwen teased. "Nye, my name is Gwen Stacy, my iPhone has the wrong time but it doesn't matter since I'm really cute," Peter imitated. Gwen laughed and she and Peter headed into the theatre to see the film.
Fred Myers' car peeled through the street, causing several honks and screams of, "Watch where the hell you're going, moron!" However, Myers ignored them. He had to, in case Spider-Man was still on his tail. He entered an abandoned part of town and pulled up to an old barber shop, parking behind it. The shop had been closed for years, but he and his employer still had good use for it. He entered through a back door, and inside, he found his employer waiting for him in the shadows near the back of the room.
"Hello, Mr. Myers," the man said in a Russian accent. "I see Mr. Schultz is not with you." "He got nabbed…again," said Fred Myers. The man stood up from the chair he was sitting in and stepped out of the shadows. He wore a silver metal mask on his face. "How…unfortunate," said the man. "Unfortunate?" asked Myers. "What do you mean by that, Chameleon? Aren't you gonna get him released, just like you have every other time we've been arrested?" "Unfortunately for Mr. Schultz, he has outlived his usefulness to me. I've collected all the information I need on Spider-Man. We won't be seeing Mr. Schultz until his sentence ends. Same for you, Mr. Myers. Keep your nose clean." "Wait, does that mean-" "I have no more need for you, Mr. Myers. I only needed you and Mr. Schultz to collect information about Spider-Man. Get out of my sight and hope that I never see you again." Fred Myers ran out of the barber shop, frightened.
After Myers left, the Chameleon smiled. He walked over to his computer monitor and pulled up all of the files and information he had collected about Spider-Man. He then pulled up several video files he had collected from security cameras. The files were of the web-head fighting Schultz and Myers. "Your fighting style, your web-shooters, your costume - they're all very distinct," the Chameleon muttered. "But everything can be copied. Especially by the Chameleon."