Amazing Spider-Man #354
Wilde at Heart!
Following their battle with Midnight, Spider-Man and Darkhawk watch as a Secret Empire flying platform head towards a group of innocent bystanders. Quick thinking, Darkhawk tells Spider-Man to throw him in the direction of the craft and uses the extra momentum combined with his gliders to catch the craft and redirects it to a nearby building. When it crashes, it drops debris on the crowd below. However, before they can get harmed, Spier-Man swoops in and catches the debris in webbing. Darkhawk blames himself for not thinking his plan through. Spider-Man tells him not to be so hard on himself as his instincts were in the right place, even though his execution was sloppy. Going up to the rooftops, Spider-Man asks Darkhawk why his force field faltered when they had Midnight pinned. Darkhawk explains that Midnight's accusations of being abandoned by Moon Knight struck a chord with him.[1] Spider-Man understands, but tells Darkhawk an abridged version of his origins, telling the young hero that and how his inaction to catch a crook led to the same crook murdering his Uncle Ben.[2] Seeing that the wall-crawler is visibly upset, Darkhawk promises to take his speech about power and responsibility to heart. The two heroes part ways and Spider-Man feels that Darkhawk is going to be okay as a hero.
When Peter recovers his camera and returns to his Aunt May's house, he discovers that both his aunt and wife Mary Jane lost track of time while he was out as Spider-Man.[3] As Peter and Mary Jane leave, Mary Jane notices that Peter is in a somber mood, but knows her husband well enough not to press him to talk during one of these moods. The couple then goes to the Daily Bugle, where Peter drops off the photos of Spider-Man and Darkhawk's battle with the Secret Empire to Joe Robertson. When Peter finally tells the story to Mary Jane, she finally understands why Peter is in such a down mood. Peter points out that this particular battle hits close to home because both Darkhawk and Midnight are two sides of the same coin. That evening on the Upper West Side, Midnight and Elliot Franklin arrive at a nondescript dry cleaner that functions as the passageway to the Secret Empire's secret facility. They are greeted by Number Seven who is upset with the amount of attention that he drew to himself. Midnight is angry by this criticism, pointing out that he was able to hold his own against both Spider-Man and Darkhawk. He also points out that if Eliot Franklin is as good at weapon design as they say he is, Midnight will become even more powerful than ever before. Number Seven orders Midnight back to his room. Although the cyborg complies, he vows to make Number Seven pay for it later.
Number Seven gives Franklin a tour of the facility and the various weapons they are developing for Midnight. Eliot points out that Midnight doesn't appear to be a team player and that any cyborg armies the Empire is looking to create may not be happy with the enhancements they intend to make. When Number Seven asks about recruiting former super-villains for augmentation, such as his former teammates in the Wrecking Crew. Eliot reminds them that he and his former allies no longer have their powers, and that super-villains are hard to control.[4] He suggests that their best bet is to try and recruit young and impressionable super-heroes to join their cause. At first, he thought that the New Mutants would be useful candidates, but mutant is suspicious of humans.[5] However, he points out another group of super-humans that might be ripe for manipulation, the New Warriors, and particularly the unfocused Nova.[6] At this moment, Midnight is losing his temper in his quarters. That's when his nurse, Lynn Church, who insists that she has a legitimate concern for his well being. He expresses his anger over being left for dead by Moon Knight, the man who was also responsible for the death of his father.[7] He has now vowed that he will destroy Moon Knight. Tossing a broken chair leg at the mirror, it shatters revealing a listening device hidden there. Having developed feelings for Lynn, he promises her that after he has destroyed Moon Knight, he will give her the whole world.
Later, at the Punishers warehouse headquarters, his assistant Microchip reads the recent edition of the Daily Bugle. He radios the Punisher about Eliot Franklin's jailbreak by Midnight and his connection to the Secret Empire. The Punisher finds this interesting and tells Micro that he will look into it after he has eliminated a gang of drug dealers he had been stalking. With that, the Punisher leaps through a skylight into the warehouse below, gunning down the drug dealers where they stand. While at Avengers Headquarters, Spider-Man meets with Captain America in the hopes they can reach Moon Knight through their mutual connections with the Avengers.[8] They are able to get in touch with Moon Knight through the Avengers ID card that he still carries. After hearing Spider-Man's news that Midnight is still alive, he tells the wall-crawler to keep in touch with him as he conducts his own search. Meanwhile, Nova is flying across the city when he is suddenly ambushed by Midnight. However, instead of looking for a fight, he begins trying to convince Nova to join the Secret Empire.
By this time, Peter Parker has returned to his apartment and when Nova and Midnight fly by overhead the spider-tracer he planted on Midnight triggers his spider-sense. Peter quickly changes into Spider-Man and follows after the signal, much to the chagrin of Mary Jane. En route, Spider-Man contacts Moon Knight to tell him about spotting Midnight. Meanwhile, Nova counteracts Midnight's offer by pointing out the times that the Secret Empire attacked a police station and their recent attempt to launch a missile from an office building.[9] Midnight explains that the Secret Empire works outside of the law for the good of mankind. Nova doesn't totally buy this but decides to play along. He agrees to see the Secret Empire's operations just as he is passing over the New Warrior's headquarters, activating the emergency communications channel in his helmet so Night Thrasher and the other Warriors can know what's going on. However, at that moment, Spider-Man attacks Midnight, leading to a fight. Inside the New Warrior's headquarters, all Night Thrasher hears is that Spider-Man is attacking his teammate.
As Spider-Man defends himself from Midnight, Night Thrasher comes out to defend his teammate. However, seeing that Midnight is attacking his Spider-Man, a long time ally, it confirms to Nova that the Secret Empire is on the up and up. As Nova battles it out with Midnight, Moon Knight also arrives, lowering himself from his Moon-Copter by a rope ladder, and tries to convince Midnight to stand down. Instead, Midnight blasts the ladder, sending Moon Knight falling to the ground. The hero manages to lessen his fall by using his cape to glide down to the streets. Meanwhile, Midnight uses an electro-bolt to disrupt Nova's nervous system so he can abscond with the hero. After introducing Night Thrasher to Moon Knight, Spider-Man suggests that they pool their resources together to rescue Nova.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, Joe Robertson, Darkhawk, Punisher, Secret Empire (Midnight, Lynn Church), Thunderball, Aunt May, Nova, Microchip, Captain America, Moon Knight, Night Thrasher
Continuity Notes
Midnight was Moon Knight's partner from Marc Spector: Moon Knight #5 until his apparent death in Marc Spector: Moon Knight #24. It was revealed last issue that Midnight survived and was rebuilt into a cyborg by the Secret Empire. How this relates to Darkhawk is the fact that his father, a police officer, is missing and accused of being on the take, as seen in Darkhawk #1.
Peter first got his powers, and the death of his uncle happened in Amazing Fantasy #15.
Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. However, years later, their marriage was erased from existence by the demon Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such, they should be considered a common-law couple as opposed to husband and wife.
At the time of this story, the Wrecking Crew had recently been stripped of their powers, as seen in Thor #430.
Franklin mentions that the New Mutants are now called X-Force. At the time of this story, Cable had just recently reformed the New Mutants into X-Force in New Mutants #100.
Also at the time of this story, the New Warriors had just recently formed, as seen in New Warriors #1.
Midnight's father, Antonio Mogart was the original Midnight. He died battling Moon Knight in Moon Knight #10.
At the time of this story, Spider-Man had recently became a reserve member of the Avengers in Avengers #329. Moon Knight was a member of the West Coast Avengers from West Coast Avengers Vol 2 #21-41.
These events occurred during last issue and Marc Spector: Moon Knight #21 respectively.
