He turns around, and his expression automatically lights up, "...it's you?"
"Yeah, I know it's me. Who are you?" Spider-Man asks.
Electro takes a step forward, igniting the sewer grates around him with electricity, "You don't remember me?"
Spider-Man watches carefully as the electricity runs its course along the Times Square sidewalk, "No...should I?"
"I...I walked into the street, the car almost hit me, you swooped me up...you saved me...you said, you needed me," he explains.
"The guy...you're the guy with the blueprints," he remembers aloud.
"Yes, blueprints," the hooded man clarifies.
From one of the billboards high above the skyline, Tarantula swoops in, and surveys the situation. She spots the army of police vehicles surrounding Times Square, with Spider-Man and the blue-skinned man right in the center.
"Yes, I remember you. Of course I remember you, you're my eyes and ears," Spider-Man recovers, regaining his confidence as he jumps off of the car and starts walking towards the man. But he suddenly stops again when he realizes something, "Uh, what's...what's your name again?"
In shock, the hooded man asks, "How could you forget me?"
Spider-Man holds his head with both hands, trying to keep his cool, "No, I do. I know it, I know it, don't tell me."
He doesn't bother to wait for him, "It's Max."
"Is it Max?" Spider-Man fake-guesses, after having heard him.
Hearing their conversation from above, Tarantula gasps. It's Max Dillon, the Oscorp engineer who was supposed to have been killed in the power plant explosion.
"Yes," Max responds, seeming to have fallen for Spider-Man's trick.
"I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you with the...you look different. How are you?" Spider-Man apologizes, trying to get back on track.
Out of view of either Spider-Man, Max, or Tarantula, a sniper has climbed up onto a nearby billboard maintenance rig, lying down in order to line up a shot.
His tone shaky, Max explains, "I don't know what's going on with me."
"I can see that. I can...I believe you," Spider-Man's tone suddenly becomes very understanding, the laid back air having disappeared.
"It's strange. The power, that I got so much...I got so much anger," he tells him, as he glances down at his hands where electricity runs through.
"I can see that," Spider-Man repeats, "I can see you don't wanna be here. I can see you're scared. I can see you don't know what's happening to you. I can see that you don't want to hurt anybody. You're gonna be alright."
Tarantula breathes a sigh of relief. Out of the two of them, Spider-Man is the better person of the two to handle this situation. In his words, she senses a little bit of himself implemented there as well, maybe even all three of them. People who were normal one day, and the next, not so much.
The sniper radios in to his superior, his scope aimed right at Max, "I've got a clear shot. Standing by."
"I don't want them shooting me anymore," Max's voice lowers to a growl, as he gestures to the police.
"They're not going to shoot you," Spider-Man points to the police, "you guys! This is my buddy Max! I told you about Max. No one shoots Max!"
From the crowds of people being kept back by the police, Gwen makes her way to the front of the crowd to watch Spider-Man negotiate the situation.
"Please..." she mutters to herself, "it's so weird knowing it's you..."
Spider-Man gestures for Max to come closer to him, "You and me, okay? It's just between you and me talking-"
Max takes a step closer, and his foot sends electricity zipping through the sewer grates.
"Woah, woah! Stay right there, stay right there. Just be careful with the grid and the electricity. Just..." Spider-Man stops him just before he can lay his foot completely on the ground.
"I just...I just wanted them to all see me," Max mumbles, as he looks back up at the Times Square screens, which are all still projecting his image.
The lead officer radios back to the sniper hidden from view, "If he makes a move, you take that shot."
Spider-Man senses that he's running out of time, and tries to push the conversation forward, "How about you come with me, we'll go somewhere, we'll talk...away from all these people, okay?"
"Yeah. I guess-" Max accidentally steps back into a puddle, causing electricity to surge through the water.
Spooked by this, the sniper fires, hitting him right in the chest.
Spider-Man immediately turns to where the fire came from, "No! Stop! Stop!"
Going on the offensive, Max turns around and fires two blasts of electricity from both hands, collapsing the maintenance rig and shattering the screen behind it.
People from the crowds scream as Spider-Man snaps a shot of web to pull back Max's hand. The two lock eyes for a second, before Max fires an electric blast with his free hand, throwing Spider-Man up into the air.
Spider-Man hits a nearby cop car, slamming into the door and creating a human-sized dent. He shakes the shattered glass off of his arm to discover that Max's blast had destroyed one of his web shooters.
Meanwhile, the billboard that Max had hit starts to tumble down, its supports snapping with police officers just under it. Using the one good web shooter Spider-Man has left, he attaches a web onto it and yanks it down, collapsing it just far away enough for the officers to escape. The crowds surrounding the scene start to cheer as the cameras switch from Max to Spider-Man.
"Spidey! Spidey!" the crowds chant, as Max watches his face disappear from the screens.
From the corner nearest to him, Max hears boos from the Times Square patrons.
"You stupid freak!"
"Get outta here!"
"Electro dummy!"
Max mutters to himself, "He lied to me...he shot me..."
"Boo!"
"Get outta here you freak!"
Max lashes out, "Leave me alone!"
He looks up at the Times Square billboards, all showing Spider-Man's face. Max grimaces, "You're so selfish."
"Stay with me, Max," Spider-Man shouts to him through all the cheering and booing.
Max's eyes glow with anger, "You set me up."
"No, I didn't set you up."
His hands start to tingle with electricity, "You lied to me!"
Spider-Man shakes his head, "No, I'm trying to help you! Let me help you!"
Max glances down at his hands one more time, before slamming his hands down directly onto the metal grid. Electricity fires straight for Spider-Man, as he blackflips over the police car's hood to get away. As the car is hoisted into the air by the electric shock, he does another backflip, but as he lands, he spots the electricity snapping off the grid and onto the nearby railing of a staircase where people are trying to get away. He spots the electricity about to connect with the people closest to the railings, and amid the panic, and in mid-air, Spider-Man takes his good web shooter and sprays a large web which connects to two streetlights. It creates a net, catching the police car just as it's about to hit someone, and springs it back onto the ground.
The electricity fully connects with the railways now, climbing up the metal cylinders at breakneck speed. Spider-Man takes a single string of webbing from his good shooter and uses it to yank people's wrists out of the way, just as the electricity courses through the entire railway, cracking the glass around it.
The civilians make their escape, as Spider-Man stands triumphant in the middle of Times Square. However, on the other end, Max is already preparing another attack.
"It's my birthday, now it's time for me to light my candles!" he swirls the electricity around with his hands before releasing them in a stream of light.
Spider-Man jumps out of the way, bounding off of the stairway railing and web-slinging his way towards Max. He attaches his string of web to a fire hydrant and pulls it out of the ground, using it as a throwing hammer to swing around. However, before he can launch the hydrant at him, Max fires another blast of electricity, sending Spider-Man careening into a news stand. The fire hydrant is released and lands into a nearby building, causing glass to rain down below.