Joystick on my Mind

This story continues from Amazing Scarlet Spider #2...

Phil Urich has found himself in a bit of a strange dilemma. During one of his recent adventures of the Green Goblin, he encountered the super-villain known as Joystick and finds himself smitten by the woman. He wonders how other heroes can keep their minds on their jobs when some of their foes they battle are attractive women.[1] He thinks back to how Joystick first showed up at the Daily Bugle looking for reporter Ken Ellis, and how this was merely an attempt to lure the Scarlet Spider into a trap. Although Phil helped the Spider as the Green Goblin, Joystick managed to getaway.[2] However, Phil still has her business card that has the address of the hotel she is staying at. Phil decides to pay her a visit at the Green Goblin, even though he promised to meet up with the Spider later to compare notes. Putting on his Goblin mask, Phil is charged with a painful electrical jolt that triggers his transformation into the Green Goblin.

After some trial and error, the Green Goblin finds Joystick's hotel room. Going inside, he is embarrassed to find nothing but a note for the Scarlet Spider. Still, he decides to read the note anyway. However, this is a trap and removing the note from the night table sets off a gas bomb. Thankfully for the Goblin, his high tech mask filters out the harmful effects the gas and manages to escape before security can come bursting in. Looking at the note left for the Scarlet Spider, the Goblin discovers that Joystick wants the hero to meet her at a nearby power station, or people will die. As the Goblin flies to the power station, Joystick gets a notification that her bomb was set off in from her mobile base. Although she isn't entirely sure that it was the Spider who set it off, she is excited at getting another chance of eliminating him as part of the Great Game. That's when she gets a call from Henri, a Great Game referee stationed in Paris. Henri warns her that he was visited by El Toro Negro, who had vowed to track Joystick down and avenge his defeat at her hands. Despite this warning, Joystick is unafraid of this new threat and vows to win the Great Game and claim the cash prize.[3] At that very moment, El Toro Negro has arrived in New York City and is already stalking his prey.

Meanwhile, the Green Goblin makes his rendezvous with the Scarlet Spider and shows him the note he got from Joystick. The Spider thinks the Goblin is crazy and thinks the threat is bogus. Since Joystick hasn't committed any crimes, he suggests that they warn the police and leave the situation be. Although the Green Goblin agrees to this plan, he goes to the power station alone anyway. There he is ambushed by Joystick, who is not willing to listen to his requests to talk. They then are attacked by El Toro Negro who lashes into Joystick. The Goblin comes to her aid, but El Toro Negro is too powerful for him. Although he manages to stun El Toro with his Goblin laugh, the villain is only staggered by a kick in the face from the arriving Scarlet Spider. While the two heroes battle El Toro, Joystick begins slowly recovering from the attack. Ultimately, the Scarlet Spider knocks out El Toro Negro with an onslaught of punches. Meanwhile, Joystick convinces the Green Goblin to let her go, leaving him swooning after she kisses him on the cheek.

In the aftermath of the battle, the Scarlet Spider is furious that the Goblin lets Joystick escape. However, the Goblin doesn't have any interest in hearing the wall-crawler's speech about power and responsibility, telling the Spider that he isn't a hero and leaves. When Phil gets home he changes out of his costume and begins thinking about what to do with himself next. Slipping out of his apartment, Phil is grabbed by Ricko the Sicko -- the local psychopath -- who has been looking for Phil for days.

... Cyberwar continues in Scarlet Spider #2.

Continuity Notes

1. Phil mentions the new female Doctor Octopus that has been active recently. The original Doctor Octopus was murdered shortly prior to this story in The Spectacular Spider-Man #221. He was succeeded by Carolyn Trainer in Amazing Spider-Man #405.

2. The Scarlet Spider and Green Goblin battled Joystick in Amazing Scarlet Spider #2.

3. Henri states that El Toro Negro was traveling to North America in a Concorde jet. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616 as Concorde jets were retired from use in 2003.