Aleksei Sytsevich's perspective, two weeks ago:
Senior Lieutenant Aleksei Mikhailovich Sytsevich of the Russian Army and Agent Dmitri Anatoly Nikolayevich Smerdyakov were awakened by Dr. Isakoff Raspuvov, the scientist who had performed an experiment on them. This experiment was a variation of the accidents in America that had given a few people superhuman abilities.
As the two human test subjects awakened, Aleksei looked at his partner and Dr. Raspuvov before saying, "I feel so much stronger!"
"Yes," declared Dr. Raspuvov. "But to ensure your strength and speed have been increased as much as possible..." He pointed to a line of dummies suspended above the ground by wires. The 6'8 Aleksei stood a distance away from them and charged, head-first. The dummies were all launched forward or sideways at walls.
"And you're not even in a proper suit yet," clapped Dr. Raspuvov.
"He's fortunate," said Dmitri. "Why have I turned into an albino and lost my hair?"
"Must be a side effect, Agent," confessed Raspuvov. "But it's not necessarily a problem if your powers also work."
Dmitri concentrated. His skin turned light peach again. He changed his appearance some more so that he looked like he did before the experiment. "Let's try famous people." He cycled between a few world leaders, famous actors, and Russian sports stars before changing into an attractive woman. "You boys have no chance with me." All three of them laughed as Dmitri transformed back into his new default look.
"Report to the President for orders, Rhino and Chameleon," beamed Dr. Rapuvov at his two greatest achievements.
Peter Parker's perspective, present day:
Like all of Jonah Jameson's employees or associates, Peter had been called to the Daily Bugle building. They were watching Colonel John Jameson, son of Jonah, give a speech at West Point, an elite military academy.
"Congratulations, Jonah," grinned Joe "Robbie" Robertson to Jonah. "You've gotta be proud."
"I am," beamed Jonah with pride. "He's an Afghanistan war hero who saved many lives. And he's going to be one of our greatest military leaders moving forward. I raised a great boy."
For once, Peter agreed with Jonah. He must take after his late mother.
But five minutes into the speech, an alarm sounded.
"West Point is under attack by unidentified saboteurs," shouted someone over a loudspeaker. "I repeat, West Point is under attack! To arms!"
Peter immediately began walking out but was stopped by Robbie. "Peter, you better not be going to West Point. This isn't like taking pictures of Spider-Man from a distance."
"That's right," said Jonah. "To have lasted this long against West Point's defenders, they've got to be good. And you're only a boy."
"Don't worry," promised Peter. "Peter Parker wouldn't be caught dead at West Point."
General Williams' perspective:
African-American General Roberto Williams, the superintendent of West Point, was also leading the defense. This seemed like a rather sloppy attack. They were attacking one of the top military academies with only machine guns and did not seem to be using any particular plan of attack.
Suddenly, someone dressed like a rhino smashed into West Point. Someone very large, very fast. Many defenders fired upon him, but he seemed immune to bullets. This man rushed in and at a very high speed, snatched Colonel Jameson away.
"Stop that man," shouted Williams. "He must not be allowed to escape with the Colonel." But even as he gave the order, Williams knew this to be easier said than done. Only explosives seemed capable of hurting this rhino person. And how could one be used without risking the Colonel's life as well?
Another problem soon arose: by the time anyone entered a vehicle, Colonel Jameson and his kidnapper were out of sight.
Suddenly, the saboteurs were in retreat. General Williams snapped his fingers as he realized that the entire attack had a diversion. A successful diversion.
Spider-Man's perspective:
Peter had promised not to go help the defense of West Point, but no one said anything about Spider-Man. He had used his Spider-Speed, amplified by web swinging, to get upstate faster. It was still a long trip; by the time he got to West Point, the saboteurs were in retreat. A man in a rhino costume in the distance seemed to be taking Colonel Jameson into a nearby forest.
Spider-Man pursued. He was not able to keep sight of his target once he entered the forest; he was as fast as Spidey, maybe faster. But then Spider-Man heard huffing and puffing. It was John Jameson. His kidnapper was nowhere nearby.
"Are you alright, Colonel?" asked Spider-Man. He was not sure what kind of reception he was going to get. John had no doubt been fed the lies his father told of Spider-Man. It hardly mattered. John was in trouble. Spider-Man had to help.
"Yes," said John. "Just barely got free of The Rhino. T-thank..." he paused. "You don't seem like the man my father talks about."
"It's a long story," said Spider-Man. "Let's get you back to West Point." He walked a few more steps towards John when suddenly the Spider-Sense went off. "If you're planning on unmasking me for your father..."
"Why would I do that?" asked John. "In my shape, I need your help to get back." Spider-Man was cautious wrenching John's arm around his shoulder so his web swinging out of the forest would get them both out. But John never took any offensive action towards Spider-Man. In time, they were back at West Point.
"Colonel," saluted a general with joy, "It's great to see you back. And I haven't been sure what to make of you, Spider-Man, but you've done a great service to your country."
"Stop," said Spider-Man. "I'm blushing. Besides, I don't think this is the real Colonel Jameson." The Web-Slinger felt nervous. He was accusing an American hero of being an impersonator. He had to play this carefully.
"I think that mask is cutting off blood to your brain," snapped a surprised John.
"What makes you think that?" asked the general.
"I have a danger sense that he's triggered," said Spider-Man. "Hook him up to a lie detector..."
"Absolutely not," snarled John. "This is an invasion of privacy. Place this man under arrest, men!"
Soldiers were pointing guns at Spidey when the general said. "Belay that order," said the general. They refused so the general added, "This is General Roberto Williams. I may not have the same renown as the Colonel, but I am still the superior officer. You disobey me, you'll pay a price."
The soldiers lowered their weapons. Spider-Man sighed in relief. He would have been in trouble if Williams were less open-minded.
"I have my doubts about Spider-Man's accusation," admitted General Williams, "But the John Jameson I know would handle it better. He would hear it out. And he certainly wouldn't be scared of a lie detector test. Frankly, 'Colonel,' an interrogation may be in order. No soldier wants to leave doubt in the smoothness of his good name."
John transformed into a bald-headed, chalk-white figure, and pointed his pistol at Williams. Speaking in a Russian accent, the spy said, "That's it. You're coming with me. By order of The Chameleon."
But Spider-Man was quick enough to knock the gun away. "All we need to call you is inmate number whatever."
"Wrong," grinned The Chameleon. "You've accomplished nothing. My partner, The Rhino has the real Jameson. You can't stop your precious little war hero from being taken out of the country. We have ways to get information out of him without him even talking. As you Americans would say, we have so much leverage over you, it's not funny."
"We also say don't count your chickens until they've hatched," said Spider-Man, dashing and then web swinging back towards the forest where he had found The Chameleon. Still, Chameleon was right. If Spider-Man was not able to catch Rhino before he got away with John, this mission was still a failure.
Jonah Jameson's perspective:
"Spider-Man's on the case?" shouted Jonah. Everyone in the room at the Daily Bugle building in which much of the staff was watching coverage of the of the kidnapping of Jonah's son were frightened by the yell.
"Y-your son needs help, doesn't he?" said Robbie.
"Ugh," groaned Jonah. "To think that I have no choice but to root for The Wall-Crawler to prevail. And not for the first time. Oh, the pain."
"Well, he pulled through for us once," said Robbie. "I'm confident he will for your son."
I hope so. My heroic son has so many great things left to do.
Spider-Man's perspective:
Using every bit of Spider-Speed in his body, Spider-Man went in the direction he had chased The Rhino before The Chameleon had fooled him. Spider-Man web swung where there were trees, and ran where there were not. Soon enough, he found a large airplane parked on the ground. But it was moving along the grassy ground and soon took off!
Guess this is where I find out just how far my Web-Shooters can reach. He fired a web line up at the tail of the plane just far enough to stick to it. Knowing that the plane would likely shed the webbing once its pressurization increased, Spidey climbed up quickly! Still, he remained careful enough to not override the instincts of a spider that enabled him to touch his own webs just right so as to not stick to them.
Eventually, Spider-Man scaled over where he guessed the cargo hold would be. Could his Spider-Strength and stickiness withstand a plane's top speed? Rather than test that, he tore open a hole and dropped in before quickly resealing the plane's ceiling to keep anyone from being sucked out.
Out from behind a crate was a female soldier pointing an AK-74 at him. Spidey's Spider-Sense had stopped her from getting the drop on him.
"Private Daleiskov," said the soldier. She turned the mounted light of her AK on that now shined on Spidey's chest. "Spider-Man, isn't it?"
Spider-Man nodded. "You know English?"
"We Russians are far more prepared than you lazy Americans who know no other language," smiled Daleiskov. "For example, we were shown videos of you hopping around. I know to jolt my gun up and about to tag you if you try that. Unmask and cooperate and you will not be harmed. You'll even have a nearly ten percent chance of ever setting foot on your home soil again."
Spider-Man raised his hands to his neck to unmask but kept a palm pointed at the soldier. To cover his bases, Spidey tried his hand at distraction. "Very generous. Then again, with a sexy Russian girl like you, I don't think I'll miss America."
Daleiskov chuckled and smirked. "Trying your charms on a woman who's after you in a bad way doesn't even work in your movies, American idiot. You must be desperate to try this in real life. Now pull off the mask or I pull the trigger." But it had worked; Daleiskov had gotten cocky and annoyed. So The Web-Slinger launched web in her eyes with the palm that had been facing her all this time. She fired her gun but missed without sight. Spidey quickly ran in, knocking away the gun.
"Hey, you kept your word and pulled the trigger," taunted Spidey. Suddenly, his Spider-Sense tingled just in time for him to dodge a dagger thrust and knocked the sharp weapon away.
Daleiskov cursed so Spider-Man asked, "Is that Russian for 'Die in a fire'"?
"More or less," grumbled Daleiskov.
As Spider-Man wrestled Daleiskov down and webbed her to the floor, he realized that his wisecracks might be getting out of hand. He used them in part to make opponents angry and sloppy, but it was clearly important to know when their time was up. Not realizing that had almost gotten him killed.
The Spider-Sense revealed that the other men were waiting with guns on the other side of the door to the passenger's room of the plane. So Spider-Man broke the door free of its hinges and threw it at the men, toppling them. Some follow-up punches and kicks knocked them out.
Looking around, Spidey found Colonel John Jameson tied to in a seat and freed him.
"I don't know what you father's told you," Spider-Man assured John, "But I'm here to help."
"I see that," nodded John. "But Dad and I disagree on a lot."
"Just another father and son who can't find common ground on..." Spider-Man was cut off by the door to the cockpit being broken off. It was The Rhino.
"You're not screwin' this up, costumed American," declared The Rhino. "I'll teach you to dress like a child."
"Look who's talking," said Spider-Man as he dodged a bull rush. He charged in himself. He delivered four quick punches to Rhino's gut but he barely felt them. The Rhino's own punch sent Spidey flying! Only by using a web line fired at the ceiling could he keep from going out of the plane.
The Rhino charged again. Spider-Man quickly put a stop to that by webbing Rhino's knees together. Spider-Man had delivered several punches before The Rhino decked him with a punch. Spider-Man log rolled away just before The Rhino broke free of the webbing.
I can't begin to break my webs but he tore one apart. Oh, boy!
The Rhino prepared to charge yet again when John emptied an AK-74's magazine into him.
"You're lucky I have to bring you back alive, Jameson," sneered The Rhino.
"What about me?" asked Spidey, getting near a plane wall.
"You're one dead bug," threatened Rhino, charging at Spider-Man. But The Web-Slinger had counted on that. He dodged the charge at the last moment and The Rhino crashed through the wall and was saved only by a web line. He instinctively reached up to tear it off.
"I wouldn't," warned Spider-Man. "That's what's keeping you from falling. You're a tough guy, but we're up in the clouds. By the way, does your job have an IQ requirement?"
"Go to Hell," screamed Rhino.
John clapped and got another AK-74. "Good work, Spider-Man. I can take it from here." moments later, Spidey heard John say, "Alright, pilot, get us back to New York. I don't need you to fly a plane." Within the hour, the plane was landed, but not before Spider-Man had dropped The Rhino from high enough to knock him out but not kill him.
Jonah's perspective:
The Daily Bugle staff was watching John get questioned by the press, including reporters working for Jonah Jameson.
"How did you escape?" asked a reporter.
"I didn't," John clarified. "My father may not like me saying this, but I was saved by the famous Spider-Man. He's the hero. I wish he had stuck around so I could have awarded him the medal of..."
Jameson turned off the TV. I thought I raised him better than that.
Peter's perspective:
Peter returned to his room at home to see MJ visiting. "I saw on the news that Spider-Man was busy."
"He had to be," said Peter. "A hero was in trouble!"
"Who says John Jameson was the only hero out there today?" MJ kissed Peter on the cheek.