Please read the Final Words.
"This place looks so grim."
The Chameleon tried every way possible to get to Queens quickly but in the end, the mishaps of his "civilian identity" consumed much of his time so he can't make it until nightfall.
At least the major bump in his other self wouldn't be bothering him for a while.
Walking through the warehouse, he could recognize dried blood on the walls, drawings and scratches that, he assumed, were made during some psychotic attack of Norman's being in this place.
He didn't foresee what was up ahead.
"You've got to be kidding me...".
He knew the skeleton was fake but it still didn't stop him from finding it sickening that Norman would imagine something like that. It was just too uncomfortable.
In one corner, impaled with a prototype of the Green Goblin's Aero glider, was a fake skeleton dressed as Gwen skeleton's surroundings had a variety of words written on them, some illegible and some too vulgar.
"Who knew, I was right. Osborn really had a grudge against that girl. Pff, if only he knew the truth, heh..."
Knowing it would be of no use to his current business, The Chameleon opted to ignore him and continue towards his goal.
"Aah, perfect. I knew you'd be here."
At the end of the hallway was a large room lit by dim blue lights and screens whose image was frozen. On said screens were displayed both a DNA strand and the composition of Venom and other such symbiotes such as Carnage, Toxin, Scream, etc.
In the center of the room, there was a sealed capsule that appeared to be a high-tech coffin. Knowing that Norman had had all this built, he didn't find the shape of the capsule a coincidence.
"So you're Project MAH302? I imagined you bigger, but meh, you're no good to me, on the other hand to my employer... You're the perfect vessel for her," a crazed grin formed on his gray face. "How much would Parker break to know the truth behind you?".
... ... ...
... ... ...
"Really, you followed me out here?".
"Ha, I had no idea you were coming to California too. It was a very big awareness, though I consider it a lucky one."
"And that's why...?"
"Imagine; Mary Jane Watson, the renowned actress and model, giving publicity to the West Coast Avengers led by the reformed super hero, Mysterio."
MJ looked at Quentin like he was a complete idiot. Well, he was.
The surprise of finding the former supervillain in California shooting a new movie was no greater than when she found out he wasn't wearing an alias or hiding his appearance, everyone knew Quentin Beck aka Mysterio was directing a movie and as if that wasn't enough, rumors that something was up his sleeve were spreading fast.
Now I knew that plan was to retry the Avengers on the West Coast. Something that in MJ's opinion, felt out of touch with reality.
"Yeah... I won't do that. Besides, I'm not acting or modeling anymore, I'm just mentoring other young models or aspiring actresses at the moment."
"Oh, and what's the reason for that, for how long?"
"Until further notice and the reason is not something you should know even if we are friends."
Annoyed, Mysterio muttered something that was barely identifiable as "I know." Mary Jane didn't pay much attention to those words.
He already had a solid clue as to why she had fled to California but he couldn't just blurt it out, it was serious.
When the Plague of Sins happened, Kindred forced Mysterio to go after MJ. What the demon didn't count on was that Quentin would reveal himself against Kindred's Followers upon learning that Spider-Man was confronting Kindred.
He was finally seeing a chance to escape the clutches of this "Faceless Demon."
That's when he became suspicious.
As he stood up for MJ, he noticed those dizzy spells, the discomfort she claimed to feel...
It could only mean one thing.
'I don't think it's fair to his aunt or to him that you left without saying anything,' he thought giving his stomach a discreet glance.
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"That son of a bitch...".
Slowly but surely, Andi stood up rubbing her eyes. She felt as if she had been poured with lemon and hadn't wiped it out for a while because she couldn't focus her eyesight properly.
Using her phone as a mirror, she discovered that she had a slight stroke, most likely from the increased blood pressure from enduring the pain she suffered due to the emitter.
"I'm going to smash his face in, I'm definitely going to do it."
"I'll back you up on that," Flash told him who, though not recovered, could now start looking for the only clue they had.
How ironic that said lead was provided by the very man who had left them in this state.
Gently, he took the transmitter in one hand and began to open all the compartments in it. As he checked the battery compartment, a smoking object, which Flash assumed was the battery itself, almost shot out, dropping a small device in the shape of a circle that was protected by a black package.
Andi steeled herself with the knowledge that the thing might be boiling and grabbed it with her whole right hand. To her surprise it was cold.
It was something else that made her regret grabbing it.
He couldn't believe that device had the Life Foundation logo on its packaging
"... This day is a mockery of us, isn't it?", said Andi feeling the onset of her headache.
"You're telling me... This has some pretty interesting stuff in it, though."
"Hmm? Let me see."
Turning them on, both symbiote wearers found that the screen was a touchscreen hologram that let them choose from different scanned documents and files, from PDFs to videos.
There was one specific video that caught Andi's attention that Flash inadvertently overlooked.
The thumbnail showed two men talking outside a large opaque structure, one of whom appeared to be holding a gun and the other a briefcase.
"Hit play on that one."
Wasting no time, Flash began playing the video.
[... Really? Was that what you were looking for?]
[Yes. Is there something wrong?]
[Bad? What if there's something wrong?! How dare you ask that?! Everything went to hell because you killed Fiers! We couldn't even fool Parker's sister properly!]
[Never mind, my new employer has a bigger and better plan than yours, it was worth it!]
[Don't try to fool me you asshole, I know you killed Fiers so the blame would fall on me and you'd have a free ride].
What was implied was clear to Agent Anti-Venom and Scream.
"Two chameleons...".
[I see you're smart, Dmitri]
[... I made a big mistake in agreeing to teach you how to be a Chameleon...]
The Chameleon, Dmitri, called out the name of the other impersonator in front of him.
Flash began to boil with fury as he heard it.
"Andi, call Brock. We're going to New York as soon as possible."
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That's how it all came together.
In just a few days, the final threads moved until they began to converge.
It was in Europe that Andi and Flash Thompson began to discover the truth about The Chameleon and why he had murdered The Finisher.
Somehow, Betty Brant and J. Jonah Jameson had gotten in on it and didn't even know it.
Indirectly, the Avengers, Fantastic Four, Dr. Doom, Mockingbird and Teresa Parker discovered The Chameleon's true purpose by seeing what was revealed in Karl Fiers' autopsy.
Stephen Strange was beginning to notice something about his arachnid colleague, that something was moving the chains around him that allowed him One More Day and he had a suspicion of what it was.
Felicia Hardy was looking forward to her date with Peter.
Peter Parker and Otto Octavius were also acting behind the scenes.
In New York itself, Shathra used the plan Kindred had for Spider-Man on a larger scale. She didn't want to make it private, she was looking for everyone from a human child to a Person X on Arakko to witness the Wasp's absolute triumph over the Spider.
And, then...
Everything started to come to a single point at 13 PM the next day.
"I tell you officer, this Spider-Man looked different."
"Define 'different' kid, there's like seven people with Spider-powers."
"H-his suit had this pattern similar to when Spider-Man worked alongside former Mayor Jameson, also his suit was bullet proof and he had really crazy moves..."
"Huh, that's a lot like what I heard they saw in D.C. Meh, maybe a new suit or he's testing his powers."
The officer had had a "normal" day, so to speak.
Things were in chaos at the Police Department, if it wasn't the fallout over the loss of Mayor Fisk, it was that case about a woman dressed as a ghost that was terrorizing thugs all over New York.
It was confidential, but it had come to his ears that a few days ago that woman had had a confrontation with Luke Cage and Daredevil and had emerged victorious.
Be that as it may, these weren't things he cared about, it wasn't his department.
And yet, here he was, listening to a citizen who saw him during his break in Times Square tell him about a strange Spider-Man spotted a few moches ago around the place.
"Well boy, there's not much I can do to help... What the heck is that thing?!".
Every person in Times Square at the time stood still in panic at the sight of what was growing in the center of the area.
"Is that a... purple web?".
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East Harlem.
"It feels good to get back to work."
In front of a small store a white van with no license plates pulled up and a group of men got out. They all wore fancy suits and Oni or Yokai masks.
At the front of them stood a man who was easy to identify.
"Guys, Shathra gave us the opportunity, so let's make a triumphant return!", he exclaimed as he shot a wave of his energy toward the tent and passing cars.
Martin Lee, Mr. Negative, began his assault.
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Tribeca.
"Is this where the suspicious activity is coming from?".
Jessica Drew and Elektra, were standing in front of an abandoned apartment building.
Not far behind them, Matt Murdock, Luke Cage and Danny Rand were investigating for any other clues that might have been left behind.
"This doesn't make any sense, why are we going by anonymous information that Jones conveniently received last night?"
"The source was reliable, or so she said," Luke said justifying his wife.
Everyone stopped dead in their tracks as they heard a rumble a few feet away.
The first to leave was Spider-Woman, she was the one who could get there the fastest. She was followed by both Daredevils.
"What the fuck...," Jessica said instinctively.
Lagging everything in their path were the Savage Six along with a group of supervillains led by The Foreigner.
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Midtown East.
Cindy Moon wanted to know how her day had been turned upside down in a matter of seconds.
On business, she had to go to Central Park. Once she finished her business there, she headed to Midtown East to patrol.
She did not expect to encounter The Syndicate accompanied by the Superior Foes, unaccompanied by Boomerang to his surprise.
With that information, it was easy to tell why he was currently behind a wall trying to catch his breath.
"Ugh, I guess I won't be going to work tomorrow .
... ... ...
... ... ...
"Daaamn, this is serious," Fred Myers said with a seriousness that was overshadowed by the fact that he was holding ice cream. "I knew I shouldn't have left my boomerangs at home."
... ... ...
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Chaos grew by the second in New York as that network grew larger and larger.
At its center, something resembling a throne worthy of a ruler was formed.
Said throne was occupied by the shadow-clad woman.
"Go ahead, face me and die at once, Peter Parker."
Final Words.
And so, we enter the home stretch of the first arc. All the pieces will begin to fall into place soon.
Okay, I'm writing this because of a question that literally just came up.
I've been thinking about the idea of Team-Up arcs. In fact, after Superior Problems, I would follow one of these to act as an intermission to arc 2, Radiacting Love. But first I want to know your opinion, would you like me to do something like this?
To give you a better idea of what I intend, these "mini Team-Up arcs" would have the following order and would be with these characters:
01: Wasp.
02: Doctor Strange.
03: Iron-Man.
04: Venom.
05: Wolverine (Laura).
06: She-Hulk.
Now, why would Wasp be at the beginning? Well, to that I have only one answer: Beyond Corporation and Ben Reilly.
Let me know your opinion, I'd really appreciate it.
-Mr:Soul.