When Peter Parker walked into his physics class on the fourth day of school, he had a pack of papers in his hand. He handed it to Victor. Vic flipped through the four stapled pages.
"What's this?" he asked.
"It's all of the background information I could find in the Daily Planet's archives, in relation to the shooting. Basically, there's only one connection I can find between the two guys," Peter replied.
Victor read the first page. "They are both in gangs," he noted.
Peter sat down. "Exactly. But it's the weirdest thing. They appear to be in different gangs, but both gangs look awfully familiar."
"You have a plan."
Peter smiled and nodded. "Feeling like busting some butts this afternoon?"
"I am so ready," Victor answered, smiling. "Where should we meet?"
"Out front of the school. We can change on the way."
About four o'clock that afternoon, Spider-Man and the Shadow were in an alley, waiting above for the gang to come in.
{Are you sure that they come to this alley?} Victor asked, using his telepathy. {Just respond by thinking your answer.}
{Of course I'm sure,} Peter replied. {I got the information straight from the gunman.}
{When?}
{Two days ago, I paid him a little visit.}
{How do you know he wasn't trying to fool you?}
{He was too scared to tell a lie. He's a new member. Besides, he's only a sophomore.}
{What!} The Shadow exclaimed. {What is this world coming to?}
{Quiet!} Spidey said. {Duh! They can't hear us. Anyway, they're coming and we need to hear them.}
Four teenagers came up, all males, all from different directions. They stood in a circle. Two wore blue coats, while the others wore red.
"So," one of the blue coats asked, "you got it?"
The red coat standing directly in front of him pulled something from his pocket. "Right here," he said. "Are we going back to the original plan? Tommorrow night?"
The guy nodded. "The bosses aren't happy with the setback. Intergang has lost quite a bit of revenue."
{Intergang?} Spidey asked. {Have you ever heard of that?}
{Not once,} the Shadow replied. {Ready to go?}
Spidey pressed a button on his right wrist. His camera detached.
{Nice,} the Shadow commented.
{Let's go,} Spidey said.
The two heroes leapt down, and took out two of the gang members, one of each color.
"It's Spider-Man!" the other blue coat shouted.
The Shadow punched him. He fell to the ground, grabbing his bleeding jaw. "How'd he do it?" he asked.
"Very simple, moron," the Shadow replied. "He's not alone."
The red coat turned, taking his concentration off of Spider-Man. "Hey, it's the Shadow! He busted Jolt a couple weeks ago!"
That was all the time Spidey needed to club the boy in the back of the head. He fell to the ground, but the other three were able to get back up. The Shadow was able to take care of the kid he had punched out, but the other two rushed Spider-Man from different sides. Spidey put his arms out, and fired two weblines, attaching one to each of his foes. He jerked his arms together as fast as he could. This made the two guys on the end of the weblines to be smacked together and knocked out.
Meanwhile, the Shadow chose to finish the fight rather quickly, and used his invisibilty powers to make a battering ram, sending his opponent flying. Spidey used a webline to bring him back, and slammed him to the ground.
Then, he picked him up, and put him in a headlock. "Who are you scum working for?" he asked.
"Nobody!" the gang member replied.
Spidey tightened his hold. "What is Intergang?"
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
Spidey tightened the hold once more.
"Don't give us that!" the Shadow exclaimed. "We know good and well that you do know. Your leader mentioned it!"
"Doesn't mean I know!"
"Bull!" Spider-Man replied. "Now, what's the plan? I know you guys have some plan!"
The gang member began laughing. "You'll never get it out of me!"
Spidey slammed the guy's head into the brick wall, and then set him down on the ground. Within minutes, the two heroes had tied the gang members together, and Spidey had called the police. Less than five minutes later, Spider-Man and the Shadow had fled the scene and the police had arrived.
Peter Parker and Victor Cranston entered the Daily Planet's city room only moments later. They were greeted by Jimmy, who was coming out of the darkroom.
"Hey, guys," he said. "What's up?"
Peter held up the roll of film that had been in his camera. "We saw Spider-Man and the Shadow take out members of some gang."
"Cool. Wanna develop them now?" Jimmy asked.
"Actually, I wanted to talk to Lois first," Peter answered. "Tell me, have you ever heard of Intergang?"
Jimmy thought for a second, and then shook his head. "No, I don't think so."
"Okay," Peter said. "Catch you in a minute."
"Nice seeing you, Jimmy," Vic added.
Peter and Vic walked over to Lois's desk. She was on the phone.
"Yes, I understand, Mr. Slow," she said. "I know you really want to get your message out. But, I am very busy." She paused as the person on the other end said something. "Look," she said when she was able to speak again. "I'd love to come interview you right now, but as it is, I have a hot scoop coming in right now." She looked up at Peter and Victor. "Goodbye, Mr. Slow." Hanging up the phone, Lois turned to the boys. "What's the story? I hope you have one."
"What do you know about Intergang?" Peter asked.
"Intergang?" Lois wondered. "I don't ever recall ever hearing about that."
"What is the gang activity like in this city?" Victor asked.
Lois thought for a moment. "I'm not sure, that's never really been my beat, but come to think of it, I have noticed something."
"What's that?" Peter asked.
"None of them have had any major gang war. Sure, there's been a few squabbles, but nothing major."
"Can you see what you can find out about this 'Intergang'?" Peter requested. "Vic and I happened to see a gang get busted up by Spider-Man and the Shadow on our way here. I got some pictures."
"I'll try," Lois replied.
"Thanks," Peter said. "I'll go develop these now." He turned to Victor. "I guess I'll see you later."
"Actually, I'll stay here until you're done. I can help Lois out," Victor replied.
"All right." Peter walked to the darkroom.
If he had stayed in the city room just a little longer, he would have seen J. Jonah Jameson enter. He walked over to Lois, and gave a mean look to Victor.
"Uh, I'm kinda hungry," Victor said. "I'm going to the vending machines downstairs. I'll be back."
"All right," Lois said quietly, just as Jameson reached her desk. He leaned on the top of her cubical.
"Lois," he said. "How much do you know about the situation that the paper is in?"
"I know that someone is trying to buy it."
"Do you know who?"
"Of course not. But I'm assuming you do. Plus, I'd bet that he is threatening you," Lois replied. "I'd also say that whoever it is has started."
"How do you figure that?"
Lois held up the latest edition of the Planet and pointed to the cover price. It read 30 cents. "Last time I checked, it was only a quarter."
Jameson shrugged. "Okay, so you've proven why you're a good reporter. What have you heard around here? Have the employees been talking?"
"We tend not to talk about that kind of stuff. Most of us don't like the possibilty of losing our jobs, which is what could happen."
"How much do the photographers know?"
"Not much," Lois answered. "Peter and Jimmy are mostly in the dark. Especially Peter, since he's newer. Of course, everyone has noticed that you've been acting strange for the past couple of months."
"Is it that noticable?" Jameson asked.
Lois nodded. "We're reporters. It's our job to notice."
Jameson grunted and turned to walk away.
Half an hour later, Peter and Victor were walking out of the Daily Planet's main building.
"Any luck?" Peter asked.
Victor held up a printout. "This is all. One page. Intergang is obviously very good at keeping a low profile. I'll look over it some more tonight."
"You didn't happen to go into that creep's mind earlier, did you?"
Victor shook his head. "I tried, but something was blocking me."
The two boys were silent. Finally, Victor spoke. "So, did you get anymore information from the pictures?"
It was Peter's turn to shake his head. "Not yet. Jimmy is going to analyze them tonight. I'm going to come back and join him, so we can get them ready for the morning edition. You tell Lois the story?"
"Yup. Now it's all a matter of time. I have a feeling that Intergang will either become more careful, or less careful."
"Either way, it's good," Peter said. "The more careful they are, the easier to have a screw up, it's just a matter of time. Less careful, and they go public."
"Exactly," Victor replied. He looked at his watch. "Say, I have to get home. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Sure," Peter said as Victor began walking away. "Oh! And are you going to the football game tomorrow night!"
"Of course! Who doesn't?"
When Victor got home that night, his mom had gone out shopping. His grandfather was sitting at the table, reading a mystery novel. Sitting at the place where Victor usually sat were three ring boxes.
"What are these?" he asked.
Lamont looked up from his book and smiled. "Why don't you find out?" he answered coyly.
Victor picked up the larger of the three boxes, the one which was sitting in the middle and opened it. Sitting inside was a beautiful gold ring with a glowing red stone in the center. His eyes grew large. "Wow! What is this?"
"It's something I found the other day," Lamont said. "It's the ring I wore as the Shadow. The others were for my agents. Whenever I needed them, I just pressed the stone in the middle. It channeled my thoughts, and only contacted those that I wanted. And now, I give it to you."
"Thanks," Victor replied. "I guess this means you want me to create a sort of 'Shadow Underground.'"
Lamont nodded. "Something like that. It's a dangerous place out there, and you'll need all the help you can get. But first, make sure that you can trust the person first."
Victor picked up the other two boxes and opened one. The ring was just as beautiful, but smaller. He pocketed them both. "Thanks, grandfather," he said, putting the bigger ring on his finger, and admiring it.
Lamont wiped his eyes. "I wanted to give them to your father," he said. "But I never had a chance. They were lost in storage, and by the time I found them . . . "
Victor walked over to his grandfather. "What happened?"
"No, I can't tell you. It was an accident."
"That's the exact same answer I've gotten all my life. I think it's time I deserve to know!"
"Some other time," Lamont said. "Now, go do your homework."
"Okay," Vic sighed, as he left to go to his room and call Natalie.
"Hey," he said.
"What's up?" Natalie asked.
"Can you come over real quick?" Vic asked, looking at one of the rings. "I have something for you."
"Okay," Natalie replied. "I think I can make it there in fifteen minutes."
Sure enough, fifteen minutes later, Natalie was standing in front of Victor's door. He let her in and took her to his room. She sat at the foot of the bed.
"I have something for you," he said, pulling out one of the ring boxes from his pocket.
Natalie took it and opened it. "Victor!"
Vic smiled. "I knew you'd like it. But watch." He pressed the stone on his own ring, which caused hers to light up. "Natalie," he asked. "Will you be an agent of the Shadow?"
Natalie smiled and put the ring on. "Of course," she said, standing up. She grabbed Vic and they kissed.
Finally, a while later, they stopped. "But you do have to tell me one thing," Natalie said.
"Oh, yeah?" Victor asked.
"Yeah. How do I turn this thing off?"
Victor stepped back and took hold of her hand and tapped the stone on her ring.
"Thanks, Vic," Natalie said. "When will the Shadow be calling?"
"Whenever he needs you. Most likely when I need you to get me out of a trap."
Natalie smiled. "Like this one?" she asked as she pushed him on the bed and began kissing him.
Back at the Daily Planet, Peter and Jimmy were sitting at Lois' desk, trying to search the photos for clues to Intergang.
"The thing that gets me," Peter said, "was that two of them wore blue, and the other two wore red. That's gotta mean something."
"Maybe some of them have been members longer," Jimmy suggested.
"Although I hate to say it," Lois added, "some of them might committed bigger crimes than the others."
"Of course, with our luck, it could end up not meaning anything," Peter replied.
"Did you see what was in the package?" Jimmy asked. "That could have something to do with it."
Peter shook his head. "I wish I could, but I don't think that we can enhance these pictures to tell us." He fell silent for a moment. "You know, I just remembered something. They mentioned something about tomorrow night. What's going on tomorrow night?"
Jimmy and Lois thought.
"The only thing I can think of is the football game," Jimmy replied. "But there are several football games, and they could mean any of them."
"Of none at all," Lois said.
Peter shook his head. "No, I don't think so. They are teenagers, after all. More than likely, they'll do whatever under the bleachers or something like that."
"Do any of you recognize these people?" Lois asked.
"Hey, don't look at me!" Peter exclaimed. "I've been the school nerd! It's only this year that I haven't had my nose in a book."
"I don't recognize them either," Jimmy said. "However, this one," he added, pointing to the one who appeared to be the leader, "I think I've seen him. But I could've seen him anywhere."
"Maybe we should call the police," Peter said. "Get them to do some checks at all of the high school games tomorrow night."
"Not a bad idea," Lois said. "I'll get them a call in the morning. Are you guys going to the game?"
Both boys nodded.
A thought ran through Peter's head. "Hey! Maybe Victor will know who some of these guys are."
"Wouldn't he already know that?" Jimmy asked.
"We didn't exactly get a good view. I used a special lens for these, so it's a wonder we have these pictures."
Lois spoke up. "I'll take them over to him tonight. You boys go on home now, okay?"
"Yes, ma'am," they said simultaneously.
Meanwhile, a few stories up, the phone rang in Jameson's office. He was afraid to answer it. He was tired of messing with it. He let his answering machine pick it up.
"Jonah," the voice said. Jameson hated the voice. "I know you're there. You can't fool me."
Jameson grunted and stood up. He picked up the phone and threw it across the office. Jonah stood there, his right hand covering his face. His world was coming down around him, and there wasn't anything he could do . . . .
Next: The storyline continues in Detective Comics #8! Spider-Man and The Shadow deal with Intergang and the gridiron!