Blood Oath

Attempting to rescue his brother's girlfriend Kasey Nash from the Specialist, Spider-Man finds himself overpowered by the martial artist. At the Specialist's mercy, Spider-Man struggles while his foe tries to remove the reluctant hero's mask. However, the Specialist finds it almost impossible to remove because Spider-Man had the forethought to web his mask to his face. Breaking free, he extracts his finger talons and slashes through the Specialist’s chest armor. Watching this from his office monitors, Tyler Stone calls in his assistant Winston. He orders Winston to interrupt all Public Eye feeds with the battle between Spider-Man and the Specialist. Back outside, Spider-Man continues to battle the Specialist, Kasey tries to make a run for it. That's when she sees a number of Public Eye fly-boys heading to the scene of the battle. Although it is against her better judgment, she turns around and heads back to see what she can do to help Spider-Man.

As the battle continues, Spider-Man wonders why Alchemax would hire a Stark-Fujikawa assassin to do their dirty work. At that moment, at the headquarters of Stark-Fujikawa, their leader Hikaru and his board of directors observe the battle as well. The other directors insist that they do something as the Specialist has never lost a battle before. However, Hikaru insists that it would be dishonorable to interfere. At the scene of the battle, Spider-Man notices the Fly Boy's hovering over him to cut off any chance of escape. The distraction almost costs Spider-Man his life as the Specialist swings his sword. Spider-Man responds by slashing the Specialist's hand, forcing him to drop the sword. However, the Specialist is far from helpless as he pulls out a pair of nunchucks. While above, one of the Fly Boys wants to fly down and attack Spider-Man, despite orders to do otherwise.

Elsewhere in the city, Gabriel O'Hara is working on a VR simulation of a Native American village when someone rings his doorbell. He hopes that it is Kasey, but it turns out to be Miguel's fiancee Dana D'Angelo. She is worried about Miguel because he hasn't been answering her calls. Gabriel says he doesn't have a tight relationship with his brother. Dana tells Gabriel not to be distant with her, that they are still friends even though she left Gabe for his brother.[1] Their moment is interrupted when the Public Eye feed turns on showing them the battle between Spider-Man and the Specialist. At the scene of the battle, Kasey spots the Fly Boy who is circling close to the ground and leaps up onto his hovercraft. She kicks him off and then races toward Spider-Man. Seeing an escape, Spider-Man fires a web-line onto the hovercraft. Unfortunately, the Specialist manages to grab Spider-Man's leg as he tries to escape. The Specialist continues to attack, mocking Spider-Man for not having the killer instinct to eliminate a foe.

With the added weight, Kasey is having a difficult time keeping the hover-craft steady. With no other choice, Spider-Man digs his claws into the Specialist's wrist and tells him to let go. The Specialist refuses to let go, but he ends up getting slammed into the side of a building. Despite his better judgment, Spider-Man swings down and rescues the Specialist. The Specialist still refuses to give up fighting. Losing his temper, Spider-Man slashes the Specialist's throat open. Seeing this, Sargeant Estevez orders the Public Eye to open fire on Spider-Man. This goes against Tyler Stone's orders, but they fire anyway. Struck by the bullets, Spider-Man is sent falling over the edge of a building and down into the darkness below.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Kasey Nash, Gabriel O’Hara, Dana D’Angelo, Specialist, Hikaru, Tyler Stone, Winston

Continuity Notes

1. Details regarding the end of Gabriel's romance with Dana and the start of her relationship with Miguel is detailed in Spider-Man 2099 #37.