FLASHBACK: Peter remembers when he got involved with the original tablet when the underworld Kingpin of crime stole an ancient tablet from a college campus because he thought it contained a secret formula of incredible power. Information the Kingpin obtained from Louis, an archaeologist who was more than willing to work on the wrong side of the law! Peter recalls when things got even more complicated when the Shocker took the tablet from the man he’d turned it over to – Captain George Stacy – hurting him in the process and making it a personal matter for Peter. The tablet became the object of a scavenger hunt involving all kinds of underworld maggia types – including thug-for-hire, Man Mountain Marko – and mob lawyer, Caeser Cicero, who bailed out Wilson from prison – so that he could decipher the tablet for the maggia big boss, Silvermane! Silvermane, like Kingpin, believed that when the tablet’s ancient writing was translated it would create a formula that would give someone renewed life – a fountain of youth, so to speak. Wilson deciphered the text but it was Peter’s old friend, Dr. Curt Connors who turned it into a chemical formula that ended up working too well! Silvermane drank it and got renewed life, all right. Turning younger by the second until he devolved into nothingness. This happened years ago and Wilson did his time in prison and tried to go legit but Peter never found out what became of the original tablet. Now, Wilson claims that these additional fragments he uncovered will help complete the original tablet’s writings! Peter isn’t surprised that everyone is curious about an object that could make you live forever.

ACT 2: As Peter looks around the room, he notices Man Mountain Marko – who was involved with the original tablet scheme – working as a waiter. Peter races to change to his red and blue spandex but unfortunately for our wall- crawler hero, the bathroom is taken. Meanwhile, Marko practically runs everyone over and steals the fragments from Wilson’s hands. As Marko tries to escape, Peter, wearing an oversized tribal mask as disguise, attempts to apprehend him. Using his spider-like reflexes, he snags Marko’s leg with a web line and recovers the fragments at the same time. Unfortunately, he does not manage to apprehend Marko as he prevents an enormous statue of a cyclop of falling down – which gives enough time to the felon to escape.

ACT 3: After returning the fragments to its rightful owner, Peter puts his Spider-Man costume on and goes out to figure if Marko’s going to make another go for those fragments. As he waits outside the museum, he notices Wilson coming out. Although he believes Wilson’s really coming across as clean now, he decides to follow him anyhow.

ACT 4: All of a sudden, Marko emerges of a manhole that the car is passing over and completely pulls off the rear of the car. As Spider-Man jumps in the manhole after Marko, he realizes that the felon was in fact acting as bait and that whoever grabbed the fragments is moving pretty fast. He helps Wilson getting out of the car and then proceeds to pursue the real thief. Unfortunately, the criminal is long gone and Spider-Man can’t help but wonder how he managed to go through the alley gated bars. He suddenly realizes that the man in question is Eel.

ACT 5: He goes back to provide assistance to Wilson, who appears to have been shaken up by the accident. Spider-Man interrogates Louis about his involvement with the Eel and Marko but the latter denies all association with these criminals. “No! No – I have nothing to do with any of them anymore!”, says Wilson. “Because I stand to gain more from the fragments on my own – than I ever would working as a patsy for one of those clowns again! And I don’t just mean money, either! The lifeline tablet is exactly what we always thought it was – a fountain of youth – but it’s a whole lot more, too! After my parole, I spent years searching for the missing pieces of the original tablet – exhaustively linking it to the Hyborian Age through the civilizations of Lemuria and Atlantis! I realized that the lifeline formula didn’t work correctly for Silvermane, because small but crucial parts of the equation were missing!” Spider-Man replies: “And if you figured this out, then it stands to reason that the people involved in the original escapade would have as well!” As Spidey’s leaving, he adds: “ Okay, I’ll buy it for now. The police’ll be up in a second...I’m going to track down Eel and Marko.”

ACT 6: At that moment inside a foreboding estate on Long Island, Caeser Cicero rejoices himself as he proudly holds up the additional fragments of the lifeline tablet that Man Mountain Marko and Eel stole from Louis Wilson. Suddenly, the villain known as Boomerang comes crashing through the estate’s roof; taking out Marko at the same time. Using his boomerangs, he unarms Cicero and grabs the fragments from him. Attempting to stop Boomerang, the Eel is caught off guard by a gluemerang and gets glued to a wall. Having successfully recovered the fragments, Boomerang retreats.

ACT 7: Far from this chaos, though intimately connected to it is a man of mystery...a man who resides in a bizarre Greenwich Village townhouse. A man known to some as Dr. Strange. “I am pleased you have come to me with your dilemma, Spider-Man. We have worked together on several past occasions. The lifeline tablet and its corresponding fragments date back to the farthest reaches of recorded history. My library contains some tomes in the ancient Lemurian tongue – as well as a smattering of text in the Cimmerian, Aquilonian and Deluvian languages”. Unable to decipher the additional fragments of the lifeline tablet, Dr. Strange dispatches his astral form to ask a friend for assistance.

ACT 8: Later, in the Queens home of security consultant Arthur Stacy, a gentleman the web spinner has had numerous dealings with. Spider-Man demands that Arthur provides him with his brother’s journals, which may contain relevant information, Spider-Man may use to his advantage. As Arthur leaves to get the journal, Spider-Man sits down and starts reminiscing.

FLASHBACK: “Okay, Spidey, ease up here – always feel on edge with Arthur...because he’s a living connection to his brother George Stacy – and Gwen. High school. Who created that four-year torture chamber? But I finally graduated, and then in College – I met her, Gwen Stacy. I tried to never even look her way. Science nerds aren’t allowed to date the gorgeous girl. But she was more than just a pretty face...and go figure, she thought that I was more than just a nerd. And insecure, angst-ridden bags of worry, that’s what I was! Worry about aunt May’s health all the time – money woes – piled on top of my Spidey responsibilities…it’s amazing she saw through that wall of weird I built around myself – much less that we found the time to actually have some kind of relationship! And through it all, Gwen’s father was a rock – supporting her in everything she did – and giving me the father-figure I’d been missing since uncle Ben’s death. George Stacy was one of the greatest men I’ve ever known…which makes my failure to prevent Doctor Octopus from toppling the rooftop chimney that killed him as the tried to push a child out of the way – all the harder to ever accept. And as if losing him weren’t bad enough, the last thing he said to me made it even worse”. “It…it’s Gwen! After I’m gone…there’ll be no one to look after her. No one, Peter, except you! Be good to her son! Be good to her…she loves you so very much”, were George Stacy’s last words. “He knew. Maybe he’d always known. So not only did the girl I love lose her father – not only did the city lose one of its leading citizens – but I lost a man who could have helped guide me, teach me, to be so much more than I might have ever been on my own. How different would my life have been had George Stacy lived? Gwen lost her life no long afterwards at the hands of the Green Goblin, who was Norman Osborn, a monster who cast a shadow of evil on his son, my best friend Harry – which in turn cost Harry his life when he later assumed the mantle of the Goblin. And having recently lost my wife Mary Jane to a tragic airplane accident, I begin to realize why something like this lifeline tablet is so seductive. Who couldn’t put a mirror to their lives and see reflections of things they’d like to change? Undo mistakes that were made, prevent accidents that happened. Power like that…I’ve seen it used and abused before. But that doesn’t change the fact that wanting to wield such power is totally understandable…if it meant…a second chance at happiness. Then again, with my track record, I’d screw it up and remake the world into the Planet of the Apes or something”.

ACT 9: As Spider-Man ponders that thought, Arthur comes back and hands over George’s journals. Spidey asks if anything is said about the tablet after Silvermane turned into pudding. From the journals, Arthur founds out that the tablet was used as evidence to convict Louis Wilson and was placed into police storage. He makes a call to friends he has on the force and the information he is provided is not good news. Apparently, the evidence locker was removed from its shelf space sometime after the last inventory check six months ago. Common sense dictates it was taken recently, when news of the museum exhibit hit the papers. Arthur wonders who could have possibly taken it. As Spider-Man leaves, he tells Arthur he’s got a list of the usual suspects and will try to narrow them down on his end. He asks Arthur if he could help by making more calls so as to see whose fingers might have dipped into the PD’s archive department.

ACT 10: As Spidey swings away, we turn our attention to a heavily guarded building in Brooklyn, where Boomerang arrives with the tablet fragments. He enters a room where someone is eating lunch. Boomerang shows the content of the package he’s stolen to…Hammerhead. The latter totally freaks out when he sees what Boomerang has stolen from Cicero. “Don’t rough up the linguini, boss. What you see is what he had. You and Einstein here were expecting more”? says Boomerang. “Were we”? asks Hammerhead, turning around to the man standing behind him. “Not necessarily. Though of course, the more that exists, the easier it would be to decipher the full text of the tablet formula. These fragments should provide enough to improve upon the original chemical compound”, says the man. “They better! Don’t forget, we know where your family is, an’ let’s just say – sometimes, accidents happen, even to nice guys, you git what I’m saying – Connors”? replies Hammerhead. “I’ll complete the new formula, Hammerhead after all, it’s not like either of us has a choice! You need me because I’m the one who did it the first time…and I have to do it to prevent you from carrying out your threats to my wife and child”, says Connors. {thought} But also because this might be the last chance Dr. Curt Connors has of killing the savage creature inside me – to once and for all, rid the world of…the LIZARD!! {thought}