And how about the Bugle's new star reporter! Ethan Edwards is his name, and he's the ace in J. Jonah Jameson's deck and the bane of Peter's existence. When Jonah gets the bright idea to pair up Ethan and Peter to cover his number one fixation – Spider-Man – it's only a matter of time before they fall into trouble.

Happening upon the scene of one of Creel's hits, Peter ditches Ethan – and his civilian clothes – and rushes to the rescue. He's barely traded blows with Creel, however, before help comes: a mysterious being swoops down from the sky, punches the Absorbing Man to another state – literally – and then flies off without a word, leaving a puzzled Spidey behind. And when Spidey goes to recover his clothes, he discovers something is missing: his wallet. This is where this issue picks up.

ACT 1: Just as Spidey realizes that the mysterious woman has stolen his wallet, policemen storm into the penthouse apartment and order him to put his hands in the air. Raising his hands up in the air, Spidey slowly walks backwards towards the gap in the wall behind him – while trying to reason with the cops – then, before giving them the opportunity to make their move, he jumps out the window and web-slings away. But as he does so, he runs into the mysterious super-powered being that helped him earlier. The being apologizes to Spidey but Spidey is way too concerned about his missing wallet so he asks him if he saw where the mysterious woman went. The individual replies that he did not see where she went but tells Spidey that they will look for her together. Grabbing hold of the wall-crawler, the being throws him on his back and flies off. Feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable, Spidey tells the individual to slow down, as he cannot see anything at all. The individual tells Spidey not to worry since he can see through almost anything. Taken aback, Spidey asks him if he can see through his mask, to which, clearly not thinking, the individual replies: "I would never tell anyone, Peter". Frustrated that someone else learned of his secret identity, Peter/Spidey tells the being, whom he figures is Ethan Edwards from the Daily Bugle, to land on one of the nearby rooftops. After landing, Peter/Spidey asks Ethan how he got his powers. Ethan replies that it is a long story and that perhaps they should find the bad guys first. Having almost forgotten about his wallet, Peter/Spidey tells Ethan to head back to the office while he tries to find the mysterious woman.

ACT 2: Meanwhile, at the Parker household, or what is left of it (it was destroyed by Charlie Weiderman in Amazing Spider-Man #514-518), the mysterious woman and Crusher Creel realize that if Peter's New York apartment and his next of kin's home have both been destroyed, someone must have figured out who he was before this, meaning that he is probably deep undercover now. Unable to figure out what to do next, the mysterious woman and Creel get back in their vehicle and take off.

ACT 3: Meanwhile in Cresskill, New Jersey, Spidey pays a visit to Hank Pym, also known as Ant-Man, formerly of the Avengers to get some scientific assistance. Spidey tells Hank that he left a spider-tracer in his wallet but he can only feel it with his spider-sense within a 100-yard proximity, thus making the task of finding his wallet quite difficult. Impressed and somewhat jealous that Spidey was able to create such a sophisticated electronic device that can interface with his arachnid powers when he was only a teenager, Hank proposes to recalibrate his helmet to have every ant in Manhattan looking for the spider-tracer's signal, then he'll give him a call whenever he finds something. Thanking him for his help, Spidey web-slings away.

ACT 4: Meanwhile inside her vehicle, which is crossing a bridge, the mysterious woman gets a phone call from the Owl who reminds her that she is behind schedule. The woman replies that they got detoured and that they are now heading to Murdock's now. Creel, who realizes that the Owl is on the other end of the line, tells the woman to tell him that is rate doubles if he has to go to outer boroughs. The woman shushes him just as a bullet crashes through the window and hits him right in the chest. A second shot is fired and the woman maneuvers the vehicle so that the bullet misses her by a mere few inches. From the top of one of the bridge's pedestals, the Punisher, high-powered rifle in hand, is impressed that the mysterious woman managed to dodge his bullet. Back inside the car, Creel is bleeding profusely and almost passing out from the pain. Ticked off at the sniper, yet quick witted, the mysterious woman yells at Creel to turn into the bullet, which he does, smashing through the roof of the car. Back on the pedestal, the Punisher had hoped to avoid heavy ordnance but the situation now warrants it. Pulling the clip off one of his grenades, he throws it at the mysterious woman's vehicle down below. As the grenade plummets towards the vehicle, Ethan Edwards, wearing a purple spandex suit with the letter "E" on his chest and a green cape with matching boots, appears and grabs the grenade in mid-air, to the utter amazement of the Punisher. Ethan tries to get the grenade away from the bridge but it explodes in his hands before he reaches a deserted area. Back in the mysterious woman's vehicle, Creel recognizes Ethan as being the guy that punched him to another state – literally – and the mysterious woman realizes that the sniper that shot at them was the Punisher. Stepping heavily on the accelerator, she speeds off out of the range of the Punisher's bullets. His new spandex suit completely destroyed, Ethan tries to cover his private parts with what's left of his cape, causing the Punisher to finally understand why superheroes wear capes.

ACT 5: A short time later, at the Daily Bugle, Peter walks in, looking for Ethan, when he runs into the new blonde that works for J. Jonah Jameson and who was introduced in Marvel Knights Spider-Man #1. The blonde asks Peter if he remembers her to which Peter replies that he met her the other day but didn't catch her name. After giving Peter a few clues about herself, Peter recognizes her as being Laurie Lynton with whom he went to Midtown High School all those years ago. Flashback to a time where Peter and Laurie were in school together. Laurie used to sit next to Peter in science class, and was, according to the pictures, madly in love with him, not that he would have noticed that, as he was too preoccupied with school and geek-related stuff. When Peter won the school's science fair and Laurie finished in second place, the two of them had to climb on stage to receive their prizes. A comment from then-jock, Flash Thompson, about how Peter and her standing side by side was the only time two nerds could make a ten, alluding to Peter's skinny frame (reminiscent of the number one) and her short and fat body (reminiscent of the number zero), caused her to wolf down a half dozen candy bars when she got home that night. Back in the present, Peter apologizes to her for not being there when she needed help, as he was himself preoccupied with his aunt and uncle. Laurie stops him right there and then and tells him that it is really sweet of him but she already has done her years of therapy. She explains that upon graduating from high school, she moved to Northern Carolina and got a graduate degree in engineering. The change of scenery made her want to lose weight so she started to exercise, changed her diet and figured out what she really wanted to do with her life, which turned out to be journalism. She started doing a science column then got an offer from Robbie Robertson to come back to New York to do a special column in the Pulse about the science on super heroes. Peter tells her that he should be writing this special assignment with her but Laurie replies that she will be doing a sidebar to his piece and that Ethan is the rising star, not her. Realizing that he had come to the Bugle to look for Ethan, Peter asks Laurie if she's seen him. Just then, Ethan appears at the end of the hall. Excusing himself, Peter grabs hold of Ethan’s arm and the two make their way to the rooftop of the Bugle.

ACT 6: Ethan asks Peter if he found his wallet. Peter replies that he did not but that he is working on it. Ethan offers to help. Peter replies that he appreciates the offer but adds that he is too green at the whole superhero business. Ethan concurs with Peter's statement and asks him to train him. Peter tells Ethan that he needs to work with someone who can train him on how to use his powers, as it doesn't seem that he knows what they all are. Ethan replies that all Peter needs to do is ask questions so Peter asks where he's from. Ethan replies that he's from Iowa so Peter asks him if everybody is as strong as he is down on the farm. Ethan replies that they're not and we are treated to another flashback sequence. Ethan explains that he was rather unique and the flashback shows him lifting a hay bail when still in diapers. Peter asks if his brothers and sisters had any powers to which Ethan replies that he only had a sister who was kind of slow. As the flashback sequence continues, Ethan goes on explaining that one day, after leaving church, his parents and sister were driving home when a spaceship suddenly appeared in the horizon. The ship, a giant ball of steel with weird symbol on it, landed right in front of their car and began to glow in a rather peculiar way. His parents got out of the car and slowly approached the ship. Suddenly, a small hatch opened in the ship's hull and a greenish ray of light swept over their faces. Then, another larger hatch opened and a child was delivered to them. Ethan was that child. Peter asks if that really was what happened to which Ethan replied that his parents would not have lied to him, as they wanted nothing but the best for him, a strong moral background to make sure he always did the right thing with his special gifts. He goes on explaining that they taught him the value of hard work, taught him humility, not to show off his powers because vanity is a sin. Peter asks Ethan if he ever have to get doctor check-ups. Ethan replies that he never got sick and that his dad didn't think it was anybody's business anyway. As he says that, the flashback sequence shows his dad pointing a rifle at government employees in radioactive suits. Ethan continues explaining that he finally told his parents that he wanted to leave the farm, as he felt he had a higher calling in life, that he had to see more than the country fair and the state capitol building on a field trip. Ethan goes on explaining that when it was time for him to leave the farm and go to the city, his dad gave him a piece of advice he would never forget: "With Great Power, There Must Also Come Great Responsibility". Back in the present, Ethan tells Peter that he wants to do the right thing and realizes that he needs training. Ethan asks Peter if he will help him, be his guide, his mentor. Reluctant at first, Peter finally agrees to help him out. Ecstatic, Ethan jumps about 20 feet up in the air. Peter grabs him by the foot and gives him his first lesson, which is to at least attempt to be cool.

To be continued.