As Peter Parker (a.k.a. Spider-Man), Dr. Betty Ross, and others watch, a gamma bomb blast consumes Dr. Bruce Banner.

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After the flash from the bomb subsided, the science team checked for Banner. There was no sign of him initially, but Janus reports readings from the radiation meters.

The bomb hadn’t worked as planned; instead of releasing no radiation, it released vast amounts of lethal radiation.

Betty grabs a radiation suit. Her father, General Ross, stops her, convincing her of the folly she’s about to commit. Parker sees Betty’s pain as she stares at the chamber that was still visually obscured by the radiation cloud.

In the confusion, Parker surreptitiously compares the detonated bomb’s data logs with those of the bomb Banner designed. Catching him, Betty checks over his shoulders.

Betty realizes what Parker noticed: the chemical composition of the bomb that detonated was different from the one Banner had shown Parker yesterday — the one they were supposed to detonate today.

Ross turns to Parker and Betty for answers.

Betty explains that someone had to have swapped the bombs without Banner and the team knowing, then set up Banner to die. Ross realizes they have a saboteur in their midst.

Parker’s spider-sense kicks in. He throws up a warning and pushes himself and the Rosses to safety just as bullets flew through their former position. All eyes turned to the shooter — Dr. Janus, firing a plastic handgun.

Army soldiers attempted to retaliate, but the pistol-wielding scientist shot them both. The military brass dive for cover. Ross covers Betty and orders the other soldiers to stop Janus.

Parker lamented not having worn his web-shooters. He’d thought it’d be a bit too obvious if Spider-Man turned up on the other side of the country at a military base to which anyone could track Parker.

However, nostalgia had him bring the items out west anyway.

He couldn’t walk on the base with his Spider-gear without an explanation. Instead, on the way to the base, he’d feigned having to pee and convinced his military escort to stop.

They let him relieve himself on the side of the road. During that time, Parker secured his Spider-Man gear in a convenient drainpipe.

Parker had managed to smuggle in one item. While ducking behind a piece of lab equipment, he fumbled in his backpack. He found the spider-tracer buried under his notebooks.

Behind him, Parker heard more gunshots, more screams of men and women falling away injured — or worse.

Taking advantage of the confusion Janus had caused, Parker stealthily made his way about the room. He eventually got Janus in his line of sight as the man turned to leave the room.

Taking the chance, Parker threw the small tracer. It latched onto the back of Janus’s pants leg. One of the other gadgets Parker had in his Spider-Man pack was the device for tracking the tracer.

If he could get off the base and get the spider-goods, Parker could follow the saboteur within a five-mile radius. That’s if the Army didn’t (hopefully) get him first. Parker hastily made his exit.

Seconds later, the room shook from a thunderous roar. The sound commanded everyone’s attention. They all looked to the gamma-smoke-filled detonation chamber.

A green hand, three times the size of a normal man’s hand, slammed against the detonation chamber’s viewing glass. The glass itself cracked from the impact.

Ross was the first to wonder what the hell the hand was. Another Army brass asked if the glass would hold. They soon had their answer —

No.

To be continued next Thursday!

Author’s Note:

The characters Spider-Man/ Peter Parker, Richard and Mary Parker, Ben and May Parker, the Hulk/ Bruce Banner, Betsy Ross, “Thunderbolt” Ross, SHIELD, and Nick Fury are Copyright Marvel Comics

None of the characters belong to me as this is fanfiction, done for fun and as a creative exercise