At Midtown High everyone is collected together in their respective groups conversing about anything and everything. As Peter Parker arrives through the front door however, everyone stops and stares at him. After a few seconds of awkward silence they all gather around him, bombarding him with questions. "I guess you guys all read the Bugle huh?" he says feeling a bit crowded.
"Make way everybody. Give the guy some room." Flash Thompson says, Sha Shan Ngyuen standing next to him and the rest of the group not far behind. The large crowd of students disperses as Flash and his friends make their way to Peter. "So Parker, how's it feel to be on the front page a second time?" He says referring to the "Identity" fiasco.
"It's a lot more fun now then it was when the picture was taken believe me." He tells the group.
"Yeah but come on." Kenny says, "How awesome was it to be saved by that Spider-woman? She was hot." He stops himself and looks back at a not too pleased Glory Grant. "Uh not that I care if she was hot or anything, because I got you babe."
Randy pats him on the back. "Nice save bro." he says humorously.
"Hey everybody." A voice from behind the group says as they turn to see Liz Allen with a rather determined expression on her face. "Peter could we talk? Just you and me?"
Though hesitant at first Peter agrees. "Sure Liz. I'll talk to you guys later." Liz leads the way down the hall as Peter follows.
"Uh oh post break-up fight." Kenny says only to be elbowed in the stomach by Glory. "What I say?"
As he follows Liz, Peter can't help but feel he knows where this is going to lead. "Liz probably just wants to get in another scream session. Better brace for it." He thinks to himself as they round a corner and stop.
Liz takes in a deep breath and then breaths out. "Peter I'm sorry." She says in a calm voice, taking Peter completely by surprise. "I've been giving you a hard time lately and you haven't done anything to deserve it. The only thing you've done is be a good friend, even though I didn't deserve you as one."
"Come on don't blame yourself Liz. I should be the one to apologize. After all you've been through the least I could have done was be there for you."
"It's okay Peter. Look I know you like Gwen. And I know she really likes you two. And I should have handled it better than I did. I just wanted to apologize for everything and if you ever need anything I'm here to help."
"Thanks Liz, appreciate it."
"No thank you Petey," she kisses him on the cheek. "for everything." She walks down the hall and disappears from sight.
"I take it my little talk with Liz paid off." Mary Jane says from behind Peter. "Hope you don't mind tiger."
"Not at all MJ. Actually I wanted to talk to you."
"Sure. What about?" Peter reaches into his backpack and pulls out yesterdays issue of the Bugle. "A little birdie told me you're quite the photographer."
Mary Jane lets out a short sigh. "Well I guess it was only a matter of time. I just didn't think it would be so soon."
"Something you want to tell me MJ?"
"Can you keep a secret Pete?" she asks as he silently nods. "I started taking pictures of that Spider-woman for the Bugle. It's part of the deal we made."
"Deal?"
"It was about a week ago. I was on my way to the bus stop when I heard some noise coming from an alley nearby. I went to check it out and that's when I saw her. At first I thought it was Spider-man. She was fighting some thugs who were robbing this old man. She beat most of them pretty easy but one of them had a gun and she didn't even see him. I yelled out to warn her and the guy turned and aimed at me. Lucky for me she was quick with those webs. After she was finished with him she thanked me for the help and said she owed me one."
"So what happened then?" Peter asks, increasingly intrigued.
"I told her about Mark and asked if she could help find who was responsible. She agreed and said she'd follow some leads. Meanwhile I'd take photos of her for 'promotional reasons'. She contacted me two days ago and told me she got a few leads."
"So that's how you've been getting those shots of her?"
"Yeah, but you can't let anyone know about it. You remember what happened when everyone thought you were Spider-man."
"Well that's kind of hard to forget. And don't worry my lips are sealed."
Later that day Spider-man swings through the city still sorting through all the information he'd taken in ."I don't know I can believe MJ's story. I mean her story seems convincing and it does make sense, but it could just be a really good cover story. A cover story I wish I had come up with when Eddie tried to expose my identity." As Peter ponders this possibility he spots something out of the corner of his eye. He turns to see a sight he can't believe, Spider-woman perched atop the Empire State Building dangling a civilian by the foot. "What is she thinking?" he asks as he hurriedly makes his way to the building and begins scaling the side. As he gets closer, he listens to the conversation between the two.
"Okay Gaxton last chance." Spider-woman says clearly frustrated. "Where is he?"
"Sorry girly wouldn't tell you anything even if I knew." The bookie says rather calmly.
"Oh really? You're a bookie Gaxton. How about 3 to 1 odds of you making a disgusting splat when you hit the pavement?"
"Is this a private interrogation or can any web-head join? Spidey says as he lands next to the two.
"Oh great itsy bitsy is here too. Do me a favor and tell your girl here to let me down."
"If that's what you want." The female hero releases Gaxton's leg and swings off as the bookie plummets toward the ground screaming."
"Oh man!" Spider-man immediately goes after the bookie. It only takes a quick and focused dive to reach him and he lands the two on a rooftop nearby, after which he webs Gaxton's feet to the ground. "Just in case I have questions later, I'll be back when I can." He says as he swings off after Spider-woman.
"Don't hurry." Gaxton says annoyed as he tries to remove the substance from his shoes.
Spidey pursues the other hero and after a short time locates her hopping across rooftops. He then leaps in front of her. "Hold on a second. I know your new to the super hero game, but last time I checked heroes don't hurl innocent bystanders off of buildings."
"Blackie Gaxton isn't the first name that comes to mind when you use the word innocent. Besides I needed information and he knew more than he was telling."
"So that justifies you throwing him off a building?"
"You wouldn't get it. You wouldn't understand."
"I understand more than you know Ms. Watson. That's right I know who you are and I want some answers."
Spider-woman says nothing as she stares at him for a moment before charging straight at him and leaping over his head, swinging off. Not a second after, Spidey is quickly on her heels as they weave through buildings and hop over roofs. As the chase continues Spider-woman spins around and fires a barrage of web-shots in an attempt to slow Spider-man down, but the web-slinger seems to dodge them almost effortlessly. As they race across a long roof Spidey uses his exceptional agility to bound forward and ahead of her. "Hold it I just want to talk." He says as he blocks her path.
"That's funny, because I don't." Spider-woman says as she jumps up, planting her feet firmly in Spider-man's chest, knocking him on his back and darts off. Before she can get far however, Spidey gets to his feet and fires a web-line to her back, yanks her backward and slams her against an air conditioning unit.
He walks over to her and pulls the mask from her face. As he holds it he notices that the long blonde ponytail is still attached. "A wig, I kind of figured." He then turns his attention back to Spider-woman. "Alright time to talk Ms. Wat…" he cuts himself short as he sees the heroine's face. One he recognizes but not the one he expected as she lifts herself up, and after finding her mask gone simply sits on the edge of the building. "I know you. You were one of the girls I saved from Molten-man."
"Yeah my names Liz Allen. Molten-man, Mark is my brother."
"Okay now I'm really confused. Let's start from the beginning of the story if you don't mind."
Liz sighs then takes in a deep breathe. "It all started about three weeks ago. My friend Mary Jane spotted you going into the ESU lab so she snuck around back.
"She was following me?"
"Well she actually wanted to talk to you. You see she and I were hoping to get your help in finding out what happened to my brother. But when she got to the entrance she saw that someone had broken in so she went around front and she saw you inside fighting those crooks. She called the police during the fight but they didn't get there in time to catch the guys so she followed them herself to some old warehouse and snuck in after them."
"I guess I have to thank her for saving me. So what did she find?"
"When she got inside she said there was some kind of lab. After a while some guy named the Jackal showed up. It turns out he hired these guys, Marston and Harrison and I think there was another guy there, to steal some chemicals to make a formula that could copy your powers. He made it right there and then and when the four of them left the room she snuck in and switched it out as fast as she could and made an anonymous call to the police. But before they could get there…"
"They torched the place. I got there just as the place went down. What did you do after that?"
"Mary Jane called me and we discussed what to do with the formula. After a while I said that one of us should use it on ourselves and get out in the field, you know draw these guys out of hiding."
Spider-man is both shocked and impressed with the girl's ingenuity. "So you volunteered yourself? Sounds a little risky."
Liz then gets to her feet and continues. "I figured even if it was untested this guy must have known what he was doing. Anyway, after I made my own costume, got out there and I've been investigating while Mary Jane's been taking photos and getting them in the paper to coax him out. That's why I was so rough on Gaxton, he was one of my brother's contacts, and knew a lot about what goes on in the crime world."
"Wow impressive work. And you've really done a great job with handling your powers. And that's why this is going to be really hard for me to ask, but I need you to stay out of this."
"What? But why? I can help you. Besides this guy's responsible for what happened to my brother."
"And that's what makes you too close to this. I don't want you doing something you'll regret later. Just look at what happened with Gaxton. What would have happened if I hadn't been there?" For your own good stay out of this." He tosses her back the mask and swings off. "I hated to do that to Liz, especially after all she's been through. Still can't believe it was her under the mask all along. Even with her powers she still doesn't have the experience, and I'd ha for her to get hurt. This Jackal sounds like he could be the baddest guy to hit New York since the Green Goblin and I haven't even seen him. Hopefully Blackie has the info I…" As he looks down where he left the bookie, he sees only the left over webs and chunks of the roof that looks like it had been ripped out. "It's official, I'm gonna have to stop underestimating Gaxton."
"I can't believe him! Can you believe him?" Liz says furiously as she paces up and down her room as Mary Jane Watson leans against the wall attempting to calm her down.
"Maybe Spidey's right Liz. I mean what if you did run into this guy? What were you going to do?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean. Were you gonna turn him in or…you know?"
"No,of course not. How could you even ask that? Your just as bad as him." Liz accuses as she puts on her costume, removing the wig and sliding her natural dark hair through the back.
"Liz just calm down. Where are you going anyway?"
Liz turns to her head to her as she sticks one foot out the window. "I need to clear my head. Just lock up on your way out."
As Spider-woman she swings through the streets, contemplating her next move. "What am I going to do? I'm so close to helping Mark but now, now I don't know. Spider-man says he wants me out and he knows who I am. Think Liz, there has to be something you can do."
Just then she spots a bright light out of the corner of her eye, and before she can react she is jolted by a blast of energy that sends her flying onto a roof. Before she can regain her senses she is struck by a shadowy figure in the face. The blow almost knocks her over the side of the building. The figure is then joined by two more as they walk over to her."
"Haven't seen you around girl." One says.
As her vision straightens out, Spider-woman can now clearly see the three attackers. The first wearing a blue and red costume, the second wearing a pair of knuckle-dusters is the one she identifies as delivering the last blow, and the third unusually tall man who casually walks toward her. "Stay back." She shouts as he continues his advance.
"Calm down kid, if we wanted to finish you we'd be done already. Just want to talk. The name's Marston, Snake Marston, that's Hammer Harrison, and that's Eel." He offers his hand to help her up.
Spider-woman accepts his hand and is lifted on her feet. "You know a simple, 'Hey Spider-woman over here!' would have been preferable to being blasted."
"Yeah we could have, but this way is so much more dramatic." Eel says as he walks over. "But that's beside the point. We have a deal you might be interested in."
"Really? Well I'll hear what you have to say but make it quick, I've got an 11:30 appointment across town."
"Oh don't worry we'll get straight to the point." Marston says. "We work for avery talented employer."
"The Jackal, yeah I know all about him."
"Well I guess we can skip that and get straight to the point then. He knows you took his serum and he wants it back, simple as that."
She instinctively jumps back ready to fight. "Getting it might not be as easy as you think."
"Relax kid the doc doesn't want you he just wants a sample of it from your blood." Harrison says. "You'd still be able to keep your powers and do your little hero thing. He's even willing to offer you a tidy sum if you cooperate."
The heroine relaxes and considers the offer. "You can keep your money. I want to meet him, in person. Otherwise you guys can do this the hard way."
"I can see we're not going to dissuade you easily." Marston notes. "I'll call the doc and let him know. Be at the docks at 10:00 tomorrow night, and come alone." He and the other two turn to leave. "Oh and one more thing, if you want this to go down right, there's just one wall-crawling factor you might want to take out of the equation." The group then leave Spider-woman on the roof.
"You really think she'll take out Spider-man?" Harrison asks.
"If she really wants to meet the old man that badly then yes. If not, then I need you boys to make a purchase, just in case."
The next day Spider-man is finishing his rounds in town before calling it a day. As he swings through the air he spots Spider-woman hailing him from a roof top.
"Hey Spidey. Now I know what you said the other day but I need you to listen." After a few minutes she finishes informing Spider-man of the night's happenings.
"So they want you to come, alone, and you agreed? You might not know a trap when you see one, but this is pretty obvious."
"Look I know this seems dangerous but this might be my only chance." She says defensively.
"You do realize what he wants from you don't you? If he makes that serum he'll have an army of spider powered thugs. I can't let that happen. I'm coming with you."
"No way! If they even smell you the deals off and I might never get another chance. I'm going alone, that's final!"
As she turns to leave Spider-man grabs her by the wrist. "Over my dead body." He insists.
Spider-woman immediately spins around and kicks him in the chest sending him across the roof. "Actually that was another part of our deal." She says as she walks slowly towards him, cracking her knuckles.