Man Mountain Marko threatens Curt Connors, in order to
make him decipher the ancient tablet, revealing they’ve taken his wife and son
hostage as well! Silvermane prevents Marko from harming Connors, establishing
that he still holds dominance even in his old age. Connors and Wilson are set
to work in a laboratory prepared for them, while Connors can feel himself start
to change into the Lizard. He thinks of his wife and son, which allows him to
retain his humanity and hold back the change, but for how long, he has no idea!
Meanwhile, Spider-Man grabs a newspaper and learns that the Maggia bailed out
Wilson via their top lawyer Caesar Cicero. Spidey heads over to Cicero’s office
and catches him just as he’s leaving and Spidey interrogates Cicero about where
Marko made off with the tablet.
Cicero alerts his guys and they come to his rescue.
Spidey handles the henchmen and one of them let’s slip that Connors’ wife and
son are being held hostage there! Cicero slips away into the secret tunnel that
his men arrived from and Spidey follows him, prying open a large metal door
before it can close on him! Cicero leaves a decoy of his hostages with a bomb
waiting for Spidey, while he escapes with Martha and Billy Connors in tow.
Spidey crawls his way out the debris, having avoided the direct blast and promises
to save the Connors! Back at his hideout, Silvermane derides Cicero for
possibly leading Spider-Man right to them, but Cicero assures Silvermane that
he took care of Spidey.
Silvermane demands an update from Connors, who reveals
that he’s translated the ancient tablet! Turns out the tablet contained
biochemical symbols for a specific serum, meaning that the various linguistics
experts had no hope of deciphering it, until a biologist like Connors attempted
it. Silvermane demands that Connors replicate the serum, while Connors
continues to secretly try and keep his transformation into the Lizard at bay!
Elsewhere in the hideout, Billy tries to assure his mom that everything will be
okay. He also admits that he knows his father is the Lizard and promises to
keep the secret. Meanwhile, Spidey fruitlessly searches the city for them and
decides to try and get some sleep.
The next day, Pete heads to class and Harry surprises
him with the new mustache he’s grown. Pete blows Harry off, feeling the need to
continue his search for the Connors, which ticks Harry off a bit. Gwen realizes
something must be wrong and suggests that Harry help Peter, as his friend,
rather than getting angry with him. Spidey furiously swings through the city,
just waiting for his spider-sense to tingle. Meanwhile, Connors finishes the
serum and Silvermane hurriedly drinks it, ignoring Marko’s warnings that
Connors could have poisoned it. Silvermane doubles over in pain and Marko
threatens Connors, thinking he was right. However, Silvermane then stands
upright, a young man once again, revealing that the tablet secretly held the secrets
to the Fountain of Youth! To be continued!