Cat & Mouse

Spider-Man and the Black Cat has just been captured by the assassin-for-hire known as Arcade. Awakening in Murderworld, Spider-Man demands to know what Arcade is up to. The assassin informs wall-crawler that he was passing his time by kidnapping drug dealers and forcing them to survive his death filled amusement park when he saw an opportunity to kidnap the wall-crawler and his partner for some added fun. He then dares Spider-Man to try and get out of the cell he and the Black Cat are trapped in, pointing out that a constant flow of polymeric lubricant will prevent him from crawling out of the pit. However, he points out that if Spider-Man somehow does manage to find a way to climb out a nest of lasers will blast him to pieces. Quick thinking, Spider-Man uses his webbing to clog the drains so that the pit fills with polymeric lubricant. Swimming up to the top, Spider-Man then uses his webbing to redirect one of the laser cannons to blast the others, allowing himself and the Black Cat to escape from Arcade's first trap. Appearing on another television monitor, Arcade commends the wall-crawler for his ingenuity and invites him to fight his way through the rest of Murderworld, showing the web-slinger and the Black Cat that he has Dougie Horton -- the boy the Black Cat was hired to find -- as a hostage.

Meanwhile, Billy Walters invites J. Jonah Jameson into his apartment. Billy informs Jonah that he has been investigating Norman Osborn. His investigation found a paper trail connecting Osborn Industries to another company called Multivex. From there he followed the leads to a woman named Alison Mongrain, a woman who was in Osborn to do his dirty work. However, she recently disappeared when the yacht Norman set her up in on the Mediterranean was blown up. Jameson is impressed with Billy's work and thanks him, admitting that it is not that easy for him to say. However, Billy has more, warning Jonah that what he is about to say next will come as a shock.[1]

Back at Murderworld, Spider-Man and the Black Cat are forced to go through a trap-laden maze. Thanks to Spider-Man's spider-sense, the wall-crawler is able to get himself and the Black Cat through most of the tracks. While Arcade mocks them, Spider-Man deduces he is able to follow their progress through the maze using tracking devices he planted on them while they were knocked out. Pulling off the device and tossing it at a wall, they narrowly avoid getting blown up. On the other side, they discover that Arcade has robotic duplicates of them waiting on the other side. Meanwhile, in Queens, Mary Jane answers the door and is surprised to see Hope Higgins waiting outside. The deaf girl from next door signs that she wants to see her husband, Peter, instead of Mary Jane's Aunt Anna.[2] Mary Jane tells the young girl that Peter is working for the Daily Bugle and tells her to come back later after school. As Hope goes to catch the school bus, Mary Jane wonders if Peter's concern that Hope has discovered his secret identity is valid.[3]

At that moment, Spider-Man and the Black Cat battle with robotic duplicates. Although the robots are destroyed, the Black Cat is knocked out by a blow to the head. Picking Felicia up and carrying her into the next room, Spider-Man finds himself as a disadvantage as Arcade unleashes a swarm of buzzsaw bumper cars. However, Arcade is shocked when Spider-Man tosses the Black Cat at the whirling blades. As it turns out, Spider-Man was carrying the robotic Black Cat and while Arcade was distracted by this, the real Black Cat has managed to sneak into his control room and get the drop on the assassin. With Arcade wrapped up for the authorities, the pair begin looking for Dougie. Searching various rooms they discover that, horrifically, Arcade stashed the boy in a room filled with the dead drug dealers who failed to survive his course through Murderworld. Once back home, Peter meets with Hope who asks him why Spider-Man was coming out of the Parker's bedroom window. Peter is about to explain his secret identity when Hope writes down that she thought Peter and Mary Jane were in danger since Spider-Man was considered a criminal. Relieved that she hadn't figured out that he is really Spider-Man, Peter explains that because of his job at the Daily Bugle he and Spider-Man have become friends and assures her not to worry because Spider-Man just wants to help people. With Hope's fears assauged, Peter suggests they go check on Aunt Ann in the kitchen to see if dinner is ready.

Continuity Notes

1. There is a lot of unspoken things being referenced here. They are:

   • The reason why Billy is investigating Norman Osborn is that Norman threatened J. Jonah Jameson, forcing him to sell half of the Daily Bugle to Norman in The Spectacular Spider-Man #249.

   • Alison Mongrain was initially hired by Norman to force Mary Jane to go into labor while she was pregnant, forcing her to have a miscarriage during the "Revelations" storyline. Norman then left something in Mongrain's care.

   • Norman attempted to kill Alison to cover up what she knew in Amazing Spider-Man #434.

   • What Alison knows is eventually revealed during both the "Gathering of Five" and "The Final Chapter" story arcs.

2. 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.

3. Hope spotted Spider-Man hanging out at the Parker house in Sensational Spider-Man #18. Peter has suspected that Hope knows his secret identity since Sensational Spider-Man #28.