Boiling Point

Spider-Man and the Net-Prophet have escaped from Alchemax, much to the frustration of Tyler Stone. He demands to know how this happened, and one of the Public Eye soldiers explains that when they tried to apprehend the Net-Prophet he was able to deflect the blasts from their weapons. The stranger then leaped into the portal to recover Spider-Man. When they attempted to go after him, they noticed that Thanatos was coming back through the portal. In order to prevent him from crossing over again, Jordan Boone shut down the Virtual Unreality projector. That's when Dana D'Angelo bursts into the room demanding to know where her fiancee Miguel O'Hara is, figuring he must be worried sick since Thanatos tried to kidnap her. All Tyler can tell her is that Miguel is not in the office.

Back at O'Hara's apartment at Babylon Towers, Spider-Man checks the Net-Prophet's wounds. They are superficial but he is bleeding all over the place. Unable to take him to a doctor without alerting Alchemax, Spider-Man gets a heat sealer but warns that it will be an unpleasant experience. The Prophet tells the masked hero to do it and endures the pain without making a single sound. When Miguel calls for Layla, his holographic assistant, she doesn't respond to his commands.[1] When Spider-Man asks the Net-Prophet what his real name is, the Prophet says he doesn't know.[2] While Downtown, Gabriel O'Hara pays a visit to his girlfriend Kasey Nash. Seeing her Throwback teammate Raff treating her, he asks what happened. Raff tells her that Kasey is sick and it is Gabriel's fault. Thinking that Kasey is pregnant, Gabriel is struck speechless. Back at Miguel's apartment, the Net-Prophet marvels over Miguel's holos of himself and Dana. Seeing no point to keep his identity secret with this stranger, Miguel takes off his mask and asks the Net-Prophet what he can remember. The Prophet doesn't remember much prior to arriving in the year 2099. The only reason he helped Miguel earlier is that he looked "familiar". The Prophet also has powers, but the ones he had before were different prior to being pulled through the portal. His abilities have changed in some way that he does not fully understand. It was these powers that he used to go into Innerspace and rescue Spider-Man from Thanatos. Outside the bedroom, Layla answers a call from Dana, and tells her that Miguel is not home and quickly ends the call.

Back in the room, the Net-Prophet has decided that he wants to see what this future world has to offer, despite Miguel's reservations. When they leave, Miguel is happy to see Layla up and running. She lies and tells him that Dana has not called, so he tells Layla that if Dana does call to tell her to stay put and that she loves him. The Net-Prophet tells Miguel to think about where they should go first and both are teleported away. While back at Kasey's place, Gabriel tells her that he will marry her and help raise the child. She doesn't know what he's talking about until realizes he thinks that she is pregnant and starts to laugh. She then tells him that she isn't pregnant, she is suffering a concussion from the bullet wound that she got when Gabriel accidentally shot her.[3] Meanwhile, Miguel and the Net-Prophet have gone Stark Tower, owned by Stark/Fujikawa, the highest point in Nueva York. There, Miguel tries to find out more about Thanatos. All the Net-Prophet can remember is that there was some kind of massive battle, that Thor was involved and was killed by the villain, then there was a white flash of light. He can't remember anything else except the fact that he has a daughter, who is now long gone but can still feel like some kind of phantom limb.[4]

They next go to St. Patrick's Cathedral where Father Jennifer is under attack by members of the Fenris street gang. Their leader, Ogunn, is surprised to see Spider-Man suddenly appear. However, it is the Net-Prophet blasts Ogunn out of the church with his eye beams. Spider-Man then webs up the rest of the gang and tosses them out of the church. Ogunn warns the two heroes that their leader, Bloodsword, will not take this lightly. Spider-Man is unphased and tells the Fenris that St. Patrick's is off-limits in the future. This whole altercation is seen by Kasey Nash and Gabriel O'Hara, who are among the crowd. Kasey is happy to see that Spider-Man is back. When she passes out again, Spider-Man hears his brother call out Kasey's name. When Nash wakes up, she finds herself in a Docs-in-a-Box and learns from Gabriel that Spider-Man brought her to here for medical attention. Later, Spider-Man finds the Net-Prophet, who thanks to the hero for his assistance. Deciding to see the rest of the world on his own, the Net-Prophet teleports away, telling Spider-Man to go in peace.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Net-Prophet, Dana D’Angelo, Raff, Gabriel O’Hara, Kasey Nash, Jennifer D’Angelo, Tyler Stone, Jordan Boone, Lyla, Oguun, Thanatos (flashback)

Continuity Notes

1. Layla disincorporated after trying to understand emotions in Spider-Man 2099 #12.

2. The Net-Prophet is really John Tensen, a fact that is revealed in Spider-Man 2099 #44.

3. Gabriel accidentally shot Kasey in Spider-Man 2099 #7.

4. The details of this battle are vague and have never been depicted. Readers can find some explanations in the Justice and Thanatos entries of Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #6 and 12 respectively.