By all rights, 5th Avenue looked like a proverbial war zone between rival gangs. Okay, more like a war between two arachnid-themed rivals. The NYPD had the area, which they dubbed "ground zero," quarantined to prevent the bystanders from interfering in any way. That didn't stop the news crew from attempting to get the full story though. So far, not one officer stopped for more than a nanosecond to even glance at one reporter, leaving said reporters to simply speculate.
It was the same deal at the Daily Bugle, except that the numerous televisions displayed scenes of the previous battle between Spider-Man and the Scorpion. The images made some people cringe, while others tried to go about their business. In the case of the just arriving Peter Parker, it was hardest for him to watch himself getting thrashed by the arachnid maniac.
Next thing you know, I'm going to fight a goofball with a fish bowl for a head! Peter thought to himself.
"Hey, Pete!" Peter turned to spot Ned Leeds approaching him. "Didn't think you'd make it in with all the chaos downtown. You okay?"
"Yeah, I had to take another route to avoid the 5th Ave incident," Peter said in half-truth, which insured that Ned wouldn't know his true method of getting there. "You said you had something you wanted me to check out."
Ned led Peter out of the still hectic offices of the Bugle, all the while missing the sudden arrival of Mr. Jameson. The often boastful workaholic removed his hat and literally breezed passed Robbie Roberson and stormed into his office. The always reliable city editor had known Jonah for years and he could almost always sense when something was wrong with the boss. Robbie entered Jameson's office, where Jameson had just hung his coat up on the nearby hanger and sat down behind his desk.
"Jonah, where've you been? We've been trying contact you since early this afternoon."
"Nowhere in particular," said Jonah in his usual snapping dialog. "I was just out on business like I told you over the phone."
"Are you even aware of what's happening out there?" Robbie asked. "There's a maniac loose in the city. Spider-Man was barely able to drive him off. And what's this "business" you keep talking about?"
Jameson immediately rose from his chair in a confronting matter, more forceful than any of his other manners in the past.
"It's personal business that's on a need to know basis only, Robertson. You keep on questioning me about it and so help me God, you're fired!" Jameson's tone was so loud that the whole office, every corner stopped short. It was as if time came to a screeching halt. Betty Brant didn't even bother to warn her boss about his blood pressure.
"Okay, Jonah," Robbie said, hands in front of him in defense. "You've got a lot on your mind, so I'll leave you alone." Robbie slowly turned and opened the double doors to exit, but he turned back toward Jonah. "I'm your friend, Jonah. I'm sure you'll talk when you're ready."
"Don't hold your breath, Robertson."
Oh yes, Robbie could easily tell that something was bugging Jonah in the worst way. The term "bugging" for once had nothing to do with Spider-Man. Or maybe it did, who knows? That was the problem.
Meanwhile in the A/V room of the Bugle, Peter and Ned were busy setting up a monitor of their own. Peter wondered exactly why Ned was being so secretive, almost like Peter would be about his own nightly endeavors. With the equipment set up, Ned made sure to lock the door to prevent any interruptions. For a brief moment, Peter feared that Ned was coming on to him. Thankfully, that wasn't the case when Ned pulled a black video cassette out of his backpack. Now, Peter feared something even worse.
Oh no, thought Peter in fear. He couldn't have found out I'm Spider-Man. Could he?
"A couple nights ago, when Spider-Man was chasing that Lizard thing," Ned explained, "I kind of snuck back into Dr. Connors lab and I found this cam on the floor. I can't understand why the police missed it but…"
"What did you find on that tape?" Peter asked, secretly wondering why Ned didn't listen to him that night.
"I've watched the video a dozen times or so," Ned said, all the while loading the tape into the VCR. "I figured you'd want to see this, considering your relationship with Dr. Connors."
Peter and Ned stepped back a couple of feet from the monitor as it started playing the tape. A clear picture of Dr. Connors came into view, where he started his explanation shortly before he injected himself with the serum. Their followed the horrific transformation of Connors into the Lizard. The cam was knocked to the floor during that time, but it still caught the image of a reptilian foot and a long tail whipping back and forth. All this video really did was confirm what Peter Parker already knew.
"You didn't show this to Mr. Jameson?" Peter asked.
"No. Like I said, I wanted you to see this video beforehand," Ned answered. Peter practically stared daggers into him. Ned, in his best sheepish voice said, "I was going to show it to the boss. Of course, I've got to have it digitized into CD format and all that stuff."
"No, Ned! You can't do that," Peter protested. "You can't just write Dr. Connors off like he's a retraction."
"I got a news flash for you, Parker," Ned snapped. "Dr. Connors isn't what he used to be. I know he was your professor and friend but I got a job to do."
"He's still my friend, Ned," Peter snapped back. "If you do this, it could ruin him and expose his whole family to the media."
"I'm sorry, Parker," Ned apologized. "But I'm a journalist and a reporter. It's what I do."
It seemed as though Peter's life just pulled a 180 and went back to the worse days, when he seemed to be losing everything. It was pretty clear that young Ned Leeds was determined to go through with his personal mission. Peter left the A/V room in frustration and stormed out of the offices of the Bugle. It seemed like Eddie Brock, Jr all over again, trying to ruin another's life, which in the end bit him in the rear. Peter believed that Ned was a well-meaning guy, but he also knew that Ned was wrong in his plan. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Peter knew he couldn't dissuade Ned Leeds. But he did know someone who could.
Professor Stillwell watched the afternoon news intently. He listened even more intently to the reports of the earlier insanity that the Scorpion had perpetrated. Stillwell really blamed himself for the role he'd played in the creation of that monster. J. Jonah Jameson certainly had a hand in these developments, though he'd have kept tightlipped about it. Stillwell would too but the fact was, sooner or later, they'd both have Hell to pay. Stillwell was actually so focused on the news that he failed to notice several of the security monitors suddenly go out, while others showed officers being tossed about like rag dolls. In any normal situation, that was clearly bad news for Stillwell.
"My god, what've we done, Jonah?" Stillwell whispered to himself. Almost as soon as he uttered those words, Stillwell was thrown off his feet by a sudden rumble. Then the far wall collapsed and the Scorpion emerged from the debris.
"Stillwell!"
Scorpion searched frantically for Stillwell, finding him crawling desperately away from him. He leapt onto and scaled across the wall faster than Stillwell could move across the floor. Stillwell literally clawed his way toward the only doorway out of the lab, as the only other way out was out the window and the lab was four stories up. The horrified professor made it to the exit but he perhaps unintentionally turned around to see if the Scorpion was still there. There was no sign of the Scorpion and for that moment, Stillwell believed he was in the clear. That was until he turned back around and Scorpion was right there in front of him. Scorpion wrapped up Stillwell with his cyber-tail like it was a boa constrictor, and Stillwell was struggling to breathe.
"You little white coat bastard!" Scorpion snarled. "What the hell did you do to me?
"Please…Mr. Gargan," Stillwell pleaded while gasping for air. "You must…try…to calm down."
"CALM DOWN!?" Scorpion shouted in protest. "Look at me, Stillwell! Look at my face. You never said a damn thing about something like this happening."
"Gargan, it's just a minor side effect of the DNA transfer," Stillwell gasped. "But give it time to run its course. You'll get used to it."
"I don't want to get used to it," Scorpion shouted even louder. He drew Stillwell in closer so they were face to face, one normal and the other grotesque. "Fix me, Stillwell! Change me back! I wanna be Mac Gargan again."
"I can't," Stillwell said, even as he was losing breath. "You've just destroyed the necessary equipment when you crashed through the wall. It'll take years to replace it all."
"I can't wait that long. I have to…" Scorpion started to say when he felt intense pain in his sides. His grip on Stillwell weakened a little bit before that suddenly tightened. "You lying piece of scum!"
Rearing back the giant cyber-tail with the hapless Stillwell in its grip, Scorpion violently tossed the poor man clear across the room. Stillwell sailed through the air, not landing on the floor but right into a set of electrical equipment. The resulting impact sent sparks of electrical wires flying every which way. It did worse for Stillwell, who lay in a motionless heap and his eyes remained opened but unmoving. It was at that moment that Scorpion realized he was truly doomed to remain trapped in the suit. He approached the broken body of Stillwell, looking down at it with malice.
If you won't gimme back my life, I'll find somebody who will.
Ned Leeds really wasn't a bad person, not like most other people in the world. But as a reporter and journalist of the Daily Bugle, he had a responsibility to the general public to reveal the truth. No matter what the cost may be. Still, Ned was quite sympathetic to the plight of Peter Parker and couldn't blame him for protesting Ned's intentions. Had the roles been reversed, Ned would've done the same thing. That wasn't the case, obviously. So as Ned Leeds rounded the corner to converge on 32nd. Street, he was suddenly jolted up into the air, something was pulling on his denim jacket with moderate force. Ned soon found himself at least three stories above the ground, and he let out a small shriek when he found himself staring into the lenses of the mask of Spider-Man.
"Man, you scream like a little girl," joked the web-slinger. "Does that come from your mother's side of the family?"
"Don't hurt me, okay," Ned begged. "I haven't done anything illegal; I swear."
"Relax, Leeds! I'm not going to hurt you," Spider-Man said reassuringly. "But you might wind up hurting someone else; namely Dr. Curt Connors if you expose him as the Lizard."
"How did you know about that?" Ned asked.
"I couldn't help overhearing your little spat with that Parker guy," the web head answered. "Granted, I don't like him but he does make me look good in his photos. My point is, Parker holds Dr. Connors in high regard and I promised him I'd find a way to bring him back."
"Look, Spider-Man, I'm not blind to Peter's issue with me about Connors," Ned said. "But this is my job to keep the public informed, and you'd probably do the same in my position."
"Have you looked at the position you're in," Spider-Man asked, regarding Ned being way up in the air. "In all seriousness, I wouldn't try to further my own career at the expense of someone else's livelihood."
"Alright, Spider-Man; you've made your point," Ned sighed in reluctance. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a CD, handing it to Spider-Man. "I copied the video onto this CD and destroyed the original tape; take it. Tell Parker I didn't want to cause his friend any more trouble than he's all ready in."
"I'll make sure Parker gets the message, Leeds," said the web slinger. "Thanks!"
Spider-Man started lowering Ned Leeds slowly toward the sidewalk below. Underneath the mask, Peter breathed a sigh of relief. He was initially concerned that Ned Leeds would tarnish Dr. Connors' name and quite frankly, that's the last thing he would ever need.
As soon as Ned was safely on solid ground, Spider-Man fired off a web line and swung away into the distance. Ned sighed in frustration as he watched the hero soar away among the buildings, then he felt a slight rumble in his pants pocket.
Ned pulled out a cellular phone, with the small screen reading "unknown caller." Most people would be tempted to just ignore the call altogether, but Ned knew full well who was on the other end of the call. Ned took the phone in his hand and hastily answered.
"What!?" Ned answered, followed by a pause. "I haven't learned anything else about your guy, other than the fact that he died a few years ago." (pause) "As for the house, you can go tour it yourself for all I care. If you want more info, why don't you dig him up yourself?" (pause) "You already bought the place?" (pause) "Fine, then you don't need me anymore. Goodbye!"
Ned snapped the phone closed and stuffed it back into his pocket. He breathed a sigh of relief but whoever it was he spoke to moments ago left him shaking. The unknown caller, as he had never revealed too much about himself, was a very scary guy.
He only ever spoke of "the old man" but there wasn't anymore to it than that. Ned pondered exactly why the caller was so interested in this particular individual, dead or not. All he had to go on was the name of said individual, and that didn't give him much to go on. He had been paid for his investigative services and that was enough. He didn't want anything else to do with the scary guy on the other side of that phone.