Also in this issue, J. Jonah Jameson makes the executive decision not to mention Spider-Man in the pages of the Daily Bugle. Robbie Robertson does not agree but Jonah has the final word.

At issue's end, two crooks break into an abandoned meat-packing warehouse in Queens and make a gruesome discovery: bodies of dead people hung upside down from the ceiling.

This issue picks up not long after the bodies are discovered.

REVIEW: Cops have cordoned off the area around the abandoned warehouse and the captain in charge of the investigation orders all those present not to go inside. Spider-Man, who happens to be web-slinging nearby – he is covering the story for the Daily Bugle – lands on the rooftop of the warehouse and makes his way inside undetected. The sight of the body dangling from the ceiling leaves him flabbergasted. He draws near them, and tries to find some clues that could lead him to the perpetrators. The one thing he does observe, which strikes him as being oddly out of place, is the fact that the faces of the deceased are covered by what looks like flags with the letter "F" on them. Spidey wants to further investigate but, just then, the police captain and some of his men enter the warehouse. Spidey quickly and silently exits the warehouse through a small window and climbs back on the rooftop. Though he failed to take any pictures, he knows Robbie Robertson will understand why he couldn't take any pictures of such a gruesome scene. As he stands on the rooftop, his spider-sense suddenly starts tingling. He starts to look around to try and pinpoint a possible source of danger but he sees nothing. He web-slings away.

Unbeknownst to Spidey, the Foreigner had a gun pointed at him, which is why his spider-sense went off. But Foreigner decided against shooting him, as he sees Spidey's unpredictability as a resource. Foreigner readies himself to leave when an explosion almost sends him flying off the building. As he climbs back on the rooftop, he comes face-to-face with Pulse, Silence and Swift-I, members of the Death Squad, a group that he created, which is comprised of assassins who have been given super powers through the use of special costumes. Obviously, something must have happened because it is apparent that he is not their boss anymore. Wasting no time, Foreigner makes his move and tries to tackle Silence. This does not work however and Silence grabs hold of him around the waist in a vice-like grip. Struggling to break free, Foreigner grabs one of Silence's katanas and slashes his throat with it. He then turns his attention to his other two attackers.

Spider-Man is web-slinging a few blocks away when he witnesses a large explosion, which actually takes place on the rooftop where Foreigner and his attackers are fighting. He heads in that direction. Back on the building, Swift-I punches Foreigner and sends him to the ground while Pulse destroys his katana using his hand-blaster. The two of them prepare to kill him when Spidey arrives on the scene and attacks them. Spidey recognizes them, from Web of Spider-Man #91-92, but does not immediately recognize Foreigner. So he shoots a web-line at his mask and pulls it off his head. As the mask comes off, he recognizes Foreigner right away, though he is confused as to why his own men are attacking him. Suddenly, his spider-sense kicks in, warning him of danger. Just as he jumps up, Pulse fires his hand-blaster and (obviously) misses his shot. Spidey drops down and lands on Pulse, who falls to the ground. As Spidey turns his attention to Swift-I, Foreigner approaches Pulse and activates the self-destruct button built-in into his (Pulse's) costume. Within seconds, Pulse blows up. Spidey is caught in the blast and rendered unconscious. When he awakens, both Foreigner and Swift-I are gone.

Several minutes later, after searching the area, Spidey resolves to go home. Yet he cannot help but to be confused as to why Foreigner was fighting his own people. As he web-slings away, Foreigner watches on from behind a brick wall and vows to find Spidey later on. He too then takes off running. Not far from there, on another rooftop, Swift-I cannot believe that both Pulse and Silence are dead. Suddenly, a man wearing a trench coat and large hat shows up behind him and tells him not to trouble himself with excuses. Swift-I is taken aback and cannot believe that this man has been able to find him. The man replies that finding people is what he does, which is only one of the many things he can do. Swift-I replies that the "master" cannot blame him for what happened, as it was Spider-Man's fault. The man tells Swift-I that he was created to handle anything and that he failed. As he says that, he shoots Swift-I in the chest and kills him. The man then slowly walks away and calls the "master" to inform him that everything has been taking care of and that he is following the Foreigner's trail, who, in turn, is following Spider-Man's trail. The "master" reminds the man to remember all the facets of his assignment. The man replies that he hasn't.

Some time later, Peter Parker stops by the Daily Bugle to talk to Robbie Robertson about not being able to get any pictures from the gruesome scene at the warehouse. The story then switches to J. Jonah Jameson, who is on his way to meet his wife, Marla at a nearby restaurant – Jonah seems to be very happy. He arrives at the restaurant, finds her, and even before allowing her to speak, slams the new Daily Bugle on the table in excitement. Marla comments that it undoubtedly reads well but explains that she did not invite him there to talk about the Daily Bugle. Just then, this nice looking blonde guy walks up to the table, calls Marla "babe" and asks if Jonah is the guest of honor. Completely taken aback, Jonah asks to be told what the heck is going on. Marla introduces the blonde guy as her lawyer, Dirk and tells Jonah that she is divorcing him.

Back at the Daily Bugle, Robbie Robertson is telling Peter that Jonah will not be buying pictures of Spider-Man anymore when Peter notices that Foreigner is walking through the newsroom. Excusing himself – he pretends he has somewhere to go – Peter takes off. Gloria Grant approaches Foreigner – she does not know who he is obviously – and asks if there is something she can do to help. Foreigner tells Gloria to tell Spider-Man that he'd like to speak with him. Confused, Gloria suddenly realizes that she is talking to a super-villain. Just then, Spidey shows up and punches Foreigner. He then grabs hold of him, crashes through a window and swings off. As he web-slings over the rooftops, Spidey tells Foreigner to tell him why he's after him or else he'll let him fall to his death. Foreigner replies that he came to him for help and promises to turn himself in to the police and confess his crimes if Spidey helps him out. Spidey agrees to hear him out and lands them down in a nearby park. Foreigner tells Spidey that he's been ousted from command of his organization and explains that the new "master" has ordered the other agents to kill him. Spidey does not feel bad at all for him and asks for more explanations. Foreigner goes on explaining that his successor has no rules, no scruples, and sees the world as a black pit waiting to be filled with blood, and his successor plans to start with New York City. As Spidey asks Foreigner to name his successor, his spider-sense suddenly kicks in, warning him of danger. Just as he's about to tackle Foreigner to the ground, a beam hits Foreigner in the back, knocking him out and almost killing him. As Spidey checks up on him, a man wearing a trench coat and a large hat – the same one who killed Swift-I – walks towards him and tells him to stay away from Foreigner, as it is none of his business. Spidey couldn't care less, shoots two web-lines at his assailant and pulls his trench coat and large hat off. Spidey then pounces at the man like some wild cat and punches him. Just then does Spidey realize that he is fighting more than just a normal man; he is fighting some kind of cyborg, who reveals himself as Dead Aim.

To be continued.

WRITER: STEVEN GRANT
PENCILS: NELSON ORTEGA
INKS: HARRY CANDELARIO
COLORS: CHIA-CHI WANG
LETTERS: DAVE SHARPE
EDITOR: MARK POWERS
GROUP EDITOR: DANNY FINGEROTH
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: TOM DEFALCO

PREVIOUSLY: Flash Thompson was several beaten by Tombstone in Spectacular Spider-Man #204 and subsequently hospitalized. His girlfriend, Felicia Hardy, also known as the Black Cat, tries to avenge him but fails to do so, in part because of Spider-Man.

REVIEW: Black Cat is jumping from rooftop to rooftop in search of danger. But she finds none so she heads back home. On her way there, she keeps thinking about Flash Thompson, whom she almost lost to the hands of Tombstone. She reaches her apartment and switches back to her civilian clothing. All the while, she continues thinking about Flash and reaches a decision about her relationship with him.

She heads over to the hospital and after a bit of small talk, she pops the question and asks him to marry her.

To be continued.