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Appearing in "The Swords Are Drawn"

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Synopsis for "The Swords Are Drawn"

After a failed attempt on his life, Blood Rose has come to the Foreigner to learn who hired the master assassin to eliminate him. However, the Foreigner was prepared for this, and when Blood Rose opens fire, he actually hits a massive mirror. The Foreigner tries to ambush him, but Blood Rose manages to dodge this attack. However, the battle is a stalemate because the Foreigner's office is protected by bulletproof furniture and bullet proof screens. That's when Spider-Man comes crashing through the window, having tracked Blood Rose via a spider-tracer. This distracts the Foreigner long enough for Blood Rose to toss a grenade under his bullet-proof screen. When the explosive goes off, Spider-Man webs Blood Rose to a nearby wall and goes to the Foreigner to get him aid. Getting a closer look, he discovers that this isn't the real Foreigner but one of his agents in disguise. Still, the man is seriously wounded, so Spider-Man quickly leaves with the man over his shoulder in order to get him to a hospital. With Spider-Man gone, Blood Rose frees himself and begins looking for the information he was searching for before security arrives.

Two weeks later, Mary Jane has come to Aunt May's house in Forest Hills to see if Aunt May or Peter's parents have seen her husband.[Continuity 1] They haven't seen him recently, and Richard and Mary suspect he may be out with one of his friends.[Continuity 2] When Mary Jane is invited to stay for breakfast, she says she has to go because she has to discuss a career opportunity that popped up. As she finishes telling this lie, Mary Jane heads out, lighting a cigarette as she goes.[Continuity 3] Mary Jane then takes a cab to Betty Brant's apartment. When she arrives, she gets upset when she sees the silhouette of a man putting on his jacket from Betty's living room window. However, she is relieved when it turns out to be Joe Robertson. He tells Mary Jane that he sent Peter upstate on a photo assignment. Watching from the window, Betty is impressed with how Joe handled this situation.

That night, Mary Jane finds Peter at home, and she tells him about the strange encounter with Joe Robertson. Peter thinks that it's Joe and Betty's business and they should stay out of it. Mary Jane then tells Peter about the job opportunity she has: She tells him that "Secret Hospital" needs more publicity shots. Peter isn't sure if he can take the job with his hectic schedule. When Mary Jane turns on the television, they catch a news report about the man that Spider-Man brought to the hospital and how he was murdered. Hearing this, Peter quickly begins to change into Spider-Man, telling his wife that he needs to deal with this before he takes on more responsibilities as Peter Parker. As the wall-crawler climbs out the window, Mary Jane lights up a cigarette. Seeing this, Peter is worried about how much Mary Jane has been smoking to cope with the stress of their marriage. He puts this out of his mind, as he needs to focus on picking up the trail on Blood Rose at the Foreigner's headquarters. As he webs up the security cameras, the wall-crawler is suddenly ambushed by the Eel and Blitz. Spider-Man tries to stop them by shoving Blitz into the Eel, but this has little effect since both use electrical powers and are grounded against each other's powers. He learns that the pair are part of the group that hired the Foreigner to eliminate Blood Rose. After dealing with the two villains, Spider-Man comes to a dead stop when the mutant criminal known as Vanisher teleports in with Dragon Man, the Super-Adaptoid, and a Dreadnought into the battle.

While on a Caribbean Island, Richard Fisk has continued his recovery and training under the tutelage of the mysterious man named Trench.[Continuity 4] When Trench comes back from one of his hunting expeditions, Fisk tells Trench that he intends to return to New York tomorrow. Trench insists that nobody can leave this island. However, Fisk has other plans, revealing that he found Trench's motorboat and stole one of the power gloves he has been stashing on the island. He quickly incapacitates Trench and leaves in the boat. Trench is horrified that this weapon is going to be brought back to New York City and rushes back to his tent. Despite the fact that the fates are working against him, he puts on his costume so that Nightwatch can recover the stolen weapon.[Continuity 5] While back in New York, Blood Rose has taken the opportunity to go over the information on the New Enforcers and why they are trying to kill him. He has decided that it is time to abandon the identity of Blood Rose and reclaim his rightful position as the real Richard Fisk.

Notes

Continuity Notes[]

  1. Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. However, years later, their marriage is erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such they should be considered a common-law couple here.
  2. The people claiming to be Peter's parents are actually impostors as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #388. The real Richard and Mary Parker died decades earlier while on a government mission as seen in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5.
  3. Mary Jane started smoking in Amazing Spider-Man #361 as a means of coping with the stress of Peter being Spider-Man.
  4. The narration mentions how Fisk was recently shot, that happened in Web of Spider-Man #89. This is not really Richard Fisk, but his friend Alfredo Morelli who disguised himself to look like Fisk to infiltrate the Kingpin's organization, as revealed next issue.
  5. This "fate" is explained in Web of Spider-Man #100, in that Kevin Trench's future self died giving his past-self the Nightwatch costume. He had come to this island to avoid this fate. However, it was recently revealed in She-Hulk (Vol. 3) #12, that Nightwatch used to be a villain named Nighteater until he cast a spell to alter reality so everyone thought him to be a hero. How this affects Nightwatch's original "origin" has yet to be explained in any detail.

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