Web Swinger

Prologue

The night was moonless, the darkest it ever truly got in the city that never sleeps. He crouched in the centre of the street, the lab in his sights, the bright, glaring Alchemax logo nearly stinging his eyes as it shone through the darkness.

The small bag at his hip swung back and forth, the even smaller glass containers inside clinking against each other. He drew one out carefully, checking for the twelfth time that night that it was indeed the correct transportation container.

He inspected the small, small holes in the lid that wouldn't allow for escape but would let enough air in so that the creature he would later place inside wouldn't die. He checked it for cracks, and flicked it once with a finger to test the glass. Then he carefully placed it back into the bag beside the others, and set his sights on the Alchemax lab once more.

It was a tall, tall building, the kind that told you that the company's owners had plenty of money. It was fancy, inlaid with the newest tech and had advertisements blaring from every inch of its surface.

He knew that the research that came out of that building was always the highest grade, the best of the best. And he knew exactly what he was after on this very night.

If he failed his mission, he wouldn't get another chance. The creatures he was after were being moved in the morning, being transported out for more testing. The labs they would end up at were far from here, and much more high-tech.

He wouldn't stand a chance breaking through their security. He was just lucky that security here wasn't as tight as it could be.

He finally began to put his plan into motion, flicking down high-tech goggles over his eyes, creeping forwards towards the lab and circling around to find the optimal entry point. The goggles he wore scanned the building, pointing out the weakest and strongest points, and soon enough he'd scaled the side of the building up to the fourth floor to creep in through an already-broken window.

The place he was looking for inside was only a level up from here, and few scientists were here this late. He crept carefully across the level, keeping to the shadows, which favoured his dark coloured suit.

He reached the stairwell undetected, and ascended to the fifth level of the lab. From here, he simply located the creatures he'd come for; they were in a glass enclosure not far from the stairwell exit, which made things easier for him.

He opened his bag, pulling free one of the four glass containers there and quickly made his way over to the enclosure. Four spiders crawled around inside, but he wasn't dumb.

These were no ordinary spiders; they were the same kind as that which had created Spider-Man himself. He carefully caught one in the first container, then placed it back into his bag and drew out the next container.

He caught the next two without problem, but when he looked back to capture the fourth, it wasn't there. His eyes narrowed in suspicion, but before he could investigate further, voices echoed up the stairwell.

Quickly, he dropped out of sight behind glass cases containing snakes and lizards and all sorts of animals. He'd barely gotten out of view when two scientists entered, headed towards the back of the room.

Holding his breath, he slowly crept around the room, careful to move when they did so he wouldn't be spotted. After a moment, their backs were to him and he was able to make a break for the stairwell. He darted downwards and escaped the way he'd came in, making off with three of the four spiders he'd tried to steal.

The fourth spider, the one that he had deemed missing, was crawling across the floor of the Alchemax lab. It found a small crack near one of the building's windows and slipped out into the city.