Charlie (somewhat) aces his interview with Tony Stark (a.k.a. Iron Man) and is given a large sum of money and access to very expensive lab equipment. A week goes by before Peter gets any news from Charlie. The manner in which he gets the news however, displeases him very much. The Project Manager at Stark Industries calls Peter inquiring about the status of Charlie's project and Peter is left with no other choice but to lie to her; Peter only agreed that Charlie could use his name as a reference, not put him down as a project partner.

Angry with himself for accepting to help Charlie in the first place, Peter makes his way to Charlie's laboratory to confront him. While there, he realizes why Charlie did not update Stark Industries about his project nor call him. Charlie is using shortcuts with the Vibranium. Shortcuts that Stark Industries would not approve of, that would lead them to cancel the funding for his project. Peter gives Charlie an ultimatum: whether he tells Stark Industries the truth by the next morning or else he'll tell them.

With Peter gone, Charlie freaks out and sets in motion the production of the Vibranium skin-suit but something goes horribly wrong and the whole lab blows up. At issue's end, Charlie lies on the ground, amidst the wreckage, covered in the Vibranium substance.

In Amazing Spider-Man #516, Charlie is rescued by firefighters rummaging through what's left of the laboratory but escapes before the police are able to interrogate him. In another part of town, Peter learns of the explosion so he heads over to the laboratory, as Spider-Man, to further investigate. While there, he overhears the police talking about Charlie mishandling Vibranium during his experiment and how he was not properly licensed to use it. Having heard enough, he heads back over to his apartment and only minutes after he's arrived, Charlie shows up at the door, begging him for help. Peter tries to reason with Charlie and entices him to turn himself in – the explosion killed two people – but Charlie refuses to do so and threatens Peter and his loved ones to help him or else...

In Amazing Spider-Man #517, Peter reluctantly agrees to help Charlie to get money from his accounts to try and get the skin suit off. While Peter notifies Mary Jane and Aunt May to go into hiding, Charlie goes out and kills Rich and Sheila, old classmates of his who used to ridicule him back in high school, after he spots them talking about him to reporters on television. Later, Peter, as Spider-Man, shows up at the rendezvous point and confronts Charlie. The two of them have a bit of a battle but Charlie manages to escape and make his way to the Parker household in Queens, supposedly to kill Aunt May. This is where this issue picks up.

ACT 1: Peter, as Spider-Man, is making his way towards his apartment building when he overhears a television newscast reporting about Charlie having been spotted fleeing the scene of a murder. Pissed off at Charlie, Spidey doubles-up his speed and finally arrives at his apartment and finds the place up in flames. He crashes through the window and enters the apartment. He tries using his spider-sense to pick up on anyone when Charlie suddenly appears behind him out of the flames. Spidey tries to take him down but Charlie grabs him in a bear hug and starts squeezing the life out of him. Spidey's only way out: snagging the ceiling with a couple web-lines and pulling down the whole ceiling on top of both of them. Not used to letting go out of instinct, Charlie is presumably buried underneath the rubble. Spidey, on the other hand, is in better shape, although slightly bruised and unable to figure out where the door or the window is. His solution: punching a hole through the floor and getting out through the apartment below. As he makes his way out of the apartment building, Spidey's head starts spinning from having been subjected to the smoke. As he stumbles across the sidewalk, he finally blacks out and falls to the ground.

ACT 2: As he lies unconscious on the ground, Peter/Spidey starts having a dream where him and Charlie, as adults, are sitting in a high school classroom with younger versions of themselves. While the teacher explains about matter existing in three states: gas, liquid and solid, the younger Peter and Charlie start arguing with the older versions of themselves. As the older Peter grabs his head with his two hands, trying to figure out what is going on, Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, shows up in class and starts to talk about the properties of Vibranium. Tony explains that unlike most molecules, which still vibrate in place when in solid matter and stop only when they reach a temperature of absolute zero, Vibranium molecules, even at room temperature, are absolutely still. He goes on explaining that Vibranium can only be made solid through the use of extreme pressure, maybe a burst of 13 atmospheres. He adds that because of its density, which is greater than carbon or tungsten, it can only be changed into gaseous form at temperatures in excess of six thousand degrees Fahrenheit. On those words, Peter realizes that he might have figured out a way to defeat Charlie.

ACT 3: Back in reality, Peter/Spidey regains consciousness and makes his way to the offices of Stark Industries where he meets with Tony Stark and tells him about his plan to defeat Charlie, which is unfortunately not revealed to the reader. After leaving Stark Industries, Peter/Spidey calls Mary Jane and Aunt May to check up on them and to make sure that they are safe and sound. Then, following the sound of police sirens, he locates Charlie, surrounded by cops. Spidey drops in, snags two nearby cars with web-lines and, pulling on the web-lines, sandwiches Charlie between the two cars. He then webs the two cars and Charlie together before Charlie can recover and get any leverage, then he picks up the whole package and heads towards Stark Industries. When Spidey reaches the building, he throws the whole package right through the window and into some kind of laboratory. Just then, Charlie breaks free from the webbing and advances towards Spidey but Spidey manages to thrust him into some kind of pressurized chamber and shut the door on him. Then using some nearby controls, he increases the pressure in the chamber to 15 atmospheres, which is more than enough to turn Vibranium into solid matter. As this happens, we see a flashback of teenager-Charlie saying goodbye to teenager-Peter before leaving New York City with his family.

ACT 4: Back in the present, Stark Industries personnel are taking away the now solidified Charlie, while Peter and Tony Stark look on. Tony tries to console Peter by telling him that it was the only solution that did not involved Charlie dying. Peter is not so convinced and tells Tony that Charlie is now trapped in the skin suit and might be like that the rest of his life. Tony replies that nothing is impossible and that someday, Charlie will be freed from his prison. Suddenly, one of Stark's employees comes up to Peter and hands him over a cell phone, telling him that it's Mary Jane. Peter picks up the cell phone and hears Mary Jane sobbing. She tells him that Aunt May and her went to the Parker household in Forest Hills, Queens, to stay there since their apartment was burned down by Charlie but when they got there, they found the whole house burned down to the ground...

To be continued.