The sun has set hours earlier. To the untrained eye, the Port Authority Marine Terminal in Red Hook, Brooklyn, is pretty much vacant. Except it is not. The sound of machine guns and large explosions suddenly fill the air, followed by the hearty laughter of some unknown maniac with the ability to fly, or the least glide. At ground level, several men are shooting back at their attacker, but to no avail. It appears that the assailant is equipped with his fair share of weaponry; which he uses to disarm his preys. The men, assuming that the attacker is some kind of superhero, tell him that shutting them down will not affect their operations all that much, as they will just relocate elsewhere and continue on with their criminal activities. The attacker replies that they have the wrong idea about him. He wants them out of the warehouse for the simple reason that he needs it and, as much as he would like them all to leave, he doesn't want them to talk. Having said that, he decapitates them all in a matter of seconds.
The following morning, atop the roof of the Daily Bugle building, construction workers are busy changing the large sign that has been the bastion of the paper for years (the Daily Bugle has been purchased by Dexter Bennett and officially renamed the "DB"). Suddenly, laughter chillingly tears the skies and something, or someone, swoops by, severing the cables holding the elevated platform in place. One of the workers is knocked off the platform and sent falling toward the ground below. Thankfully for him, Spider-Man happens to be swinging by and sees him falling. Wasting no time, Spidey plunges after him and snags his foot with a web-line. With his other web-shooter, Spidey grabs hold of the platform to stop their descent but the already weakened cables cannot withstand the impact and the (very large) letter U is sent plummeting down in the process. Having landed on the sidewalk, Spidey points both his web-shooters upward and discharges as much webbing as he can, hoping that he'll have enough to stop the falling letter. After several agonizing minutes, the letter comes to a stop, inches above Spidey's head. Once again, he’s saved the day.
Minutes later, Peter Parker is inside the building, on his way to a staff meeting. As he walks through the halls of one of the many newsrooms, he runs into another Bugle worker by the name of Jack, who reveals that he’s just lost his job because the story he pitched to the new boss would have been good for the Daily Bugle, but not for the DB. He was essentially made an example. Peter comments that it must have been one heck of a story for him to be fired over and asks what it was about. Jack explains that his story was about a spider-tracer having been found on a body that was recently dredged out of the river, and proceeds to ask Peter if he knows what a spider-tracer is. Peter replies that he knows (too well) what it is and asks Jack what he is going to do. Jack replies that he's going to try and sell the story to the competition but Peter doesn't think he has much chance of success, as the Daily Bugle pretty much owns any stories related to Spider-Man. With that said, Peter wishes Jack good luck and heads off. As he continues his walk, Peter realizes that he has a problem on his hands.
The staff meeting has already begun when Peter enters the boardroom. Dexter Bennett, the DB's new owner, notices Peter arriving late and surprisingly commands him on having such a great work ethic that he had to be late for the meeting because he worked so hard. Peter is taken aback by Bennett's praise and knows all too well that he's in for a lot of trouble with something else later on, as Karma normally has a way to come back and bite him in the butt. Moving right along, Bennett talks about the new villain that has been causing havoc all over the city. It so happens that this felon has broken into one of Stark's labs uptown, stolen Kevlar from a police precinct downtown, and then was behind the attack on the Daily Bugle's own construction workers, an attack that, had Spider-Man not thwarted, could have meant the death of several innocent bystanders. Bennett is frustrated that no one was able to get a picture of the attacker, especially as it happened right outside their windows. Peter interrupts Bennett and lets him know that he got pictures of Spider-Man saving the day but Bennett is uninterested. He feels that Spider-Man is yesterday's news. He doesn't care if Spider-Man is a threat or a menace. What he cares about is finding the new menace that has been terrorizing the whole city. And the first person to get a photograph of him gets a ten thousand dollar bonus.
A short time later, Peter has donned his Spider-Man costume and is swinging across the city in search of the new "menace". Suddenly, he hears a commotion coming from an alley down below. He swings down to have a closer look. The female superhero known as Jackpot is going toe-to-toe with a man twice her size, as Spidey lands in the alley next to them. Before Spidey can do anything to help her out, the large man sends Jackpot flying into him, knocking the two of them down in the process, while he takes off running. Spidey and Jackpot get back on their feet and run after the assailant. They follow him into a subway station, where he hops on a departing train. Spidey manages to grab hold of the speeding train and smashes a window to try and get in. But the assailant is waiting for him and he unloads a barrage of bullets in Spidey's direction. Thankfully, Spidey's spider-sense warns him of impending danger and he leaps out of harm's way. But as he does so, he loses his hold on the train, thus on the assailant.
Jackpot rejoins Spidey a few minutes later, sarcastically applauding his effort. Spidey in turn sarcastically replies that she didn't seem to be doing too well when he ran into her back in the alley. Jackpot answers that she was about to take the man down when Spidey showed up and screwed everything up. Spidey asks why she was taking the (heavily armed) man on. Jackpot replies that he apparently knows where the "Gray Goblin" is hiding out. Having fought his fair share of goblins through the years, Spidey asks Jackpot not to start throwing goblin names around for the guy. Jackpot responds that the villain may look like the goblins Spidey's fought, but he's her arch-nemesis. Spidey cannot believe what he's hearing. The fact that she's calling dibs on the villains is totally absurd in his opinion. In fact, he wants her to go back home and leave the crime fighting to the professionals. Having said that, he notices a light shining in his direction from the tunnel up ahead. Realizing that a train is heading their way, Spidey asks Jackpot if she is invincible. Jackpot replies that she almost is and asks why, as she turns around and sees the train.
Seconds later, Spidey is hanging on the front of the train, Jackpot in his arms. His quick reflexes evidently allowed them to get out of harm's way before getting crushed by the train. As they travel along, Spidey asks Jackpot if she goes by the initials of "M.J.". Jackpot offers a sarcastic response to his question, so Spidey drops the issue.
Later that evening, at Coney Island in Brooklyn, Peter has joined Harry Osborn, his girlfriend Lily Hollister and Lily’s friend Carlie Cooper at the Triple Play batting cage facility. While Harry hits away at baseballs, Peter asks if he’s heard from Mary Jane Watson. Harry is quick to point out that, should MJ be back in town, Peter, not him, would be the first one she would call; having said that, he asks Peter if they are still fighting. Peter answers that they are not fighting; they are merely not talking. Harry then asks Peter if he tried emailing her to which Peter responds that she changed her email address. Amused, Carlie and Lily both comment that they are fighting, despite what Peter may think. Ignoring them, Harry tells Peter that MJ must not be that hard to find and suggests he simply follow her trail; she is not in witness protection after all. That suggestion actually ignites something in Peter's brains and he takes off running. When Harry asks Peter where he’s going, Peter replies that he’s off to make ten grand.
A short time later, Peter, as Spider-Man, clings to the new sign atop the DB building, holding a pair of special binoculars, which he used in the past to track exhaust trails from goblin gliders. Spidey hopes that Menace's glider operates similar to that of his predecessors, so his binoculars can pick up the villain's trace. Pointing them out at the sky, his wish comes true, as he can clearly see a trail of exhaust disappearing into the horizon. Short on web-fluid, Spidey bounce from building to building, following the trail left by Menace.
A few minutes later, Spidey lands in the middle of a bunch of abandoned warehouses at the Port Authority Marine Terminal. As he makes his way through the maze of buildings, he notices the silhouette of what he assumes is a sentinel for Menace. Rounding the corner of a building, he punches the alleged guard, without looking twice. It turns out that it is not a guard after all; it is Jackpot. As Spidey helps her back to her feet, Jackpot explains that she caught up to the assailant she was facing earlier in the alley and he spilled the beans about Menace's whereabouts. According to said assailant, Menace killed all of his buddies in a very graphic manner and took over their hideout. Jackpot comments that Menace is the real deal. Spidey replies that it is one the more reason for her to get the heck out of there and leave the fighting to the professionals. Jackpot replies that the fact she is registered makes her more professional than him. Before Jackpot can say anything else, Spidey's spider-sense kicks him, warning him of danger. On cue, someone off-panel calls to them and announces that they are engaged in conduct falling under the jurisdiction of the Superhuman Registration Act. They are to identify themselves immediately or face immediate arrest and incarceration.
To be continued.
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