Spider-Island: Heroes for Hire #1
It is the third day of the spider-plague infestation in New York City. Mayor J. Jonah Jameson has called on the Heroes for Hire to assist with the quarantine efforts. Misty Knight tells him that her organization is already committed to helping but is glad to have official sanction from the city. She assures him that their services won’t cost the city as hiring them is merely symbolic. Paladin is not impressed to be acting as border guards for the city and while this will raise their profile, he assumes it is going to be a dull day.
He’d be wrong, as on the Spuyten Duyvil Bridge, the Heroes for Hire finds themselves trying to stop the Flashmob from breaking quarantine. This is a task made more difficult by the fact that their foes have all caught the spider-plague and now have spider-powers. Making the job harder are normal citizens who are also trying to get across into the Bronx. When a mob starts swarming Paladin he decides to get some distance and instinctively runs up the side of the bridge. Meanwhile, the Black Cat finds the mechanism to swing the bridge partition further away. As the infected fall into the water below, they get tranquilized by the Heroes for Hire. Once the immediate crisis has passed, Misty asks Paladin how he managed to jump so high during the fight. Stripping off his glove, Paladin finds his entire arm is starting to grow coarse hairs, a sign that he has the spider-plague. Paladin decides to look on the bright side because at least now he can teach Spider-Man what a professional can do with these powers.
By that evening, the borders have been secured and thanks to Max Modell’s spider-sense jammers nobody with the plague can leave the city. Mayor J. Jonah Jameson calls the Heroes for Hire and asks them to start dealing with hot spots of civil unrest, starting with a riot at Grand Central Station. Misty and her operatives meet with Luke Cage who tells them that the violence is being caused by AIM operatives. Going inside, Misty is shocked by the site of AIM agents — all in varying stages of mutation — attacking innocent people. As Misty and her team start helping Luke Cage quell the violence, they learn that the AIM soldiers have grown paranoid, fearing that they will be dissected for study. Misty tells Black Cat and the Shroud to stop the violence before someone gets hurt. That’s when Paladin begins blasting AIM agents with his gun. Looking up to his vantage point, Misty is shocked to see that Paladin has grown four spider legs out of his back. He tells her not to worry because he feels better than he has before. With his newfound spider-powers, Paladin is able to quickly take down the insurrectionists. Misty Knight is furious that Paladin disobeyed her orders to get treatment, but he refuses to go see Night Nurse for treatment because there is still a crisis to contain.
On day four, Misty is back at control headquarters and checking in on her units. The Black Widow reports in and says things aren’t going well because people are transforming into spider-creatures and turning violent. Unfortunately, Misty has to go dark, leaving her operatives without co-ordination. This upsets both Elektra and the Falcon, who wonder what can be so important that Misty had to break contact so suddenly.
Misty rides her motorcycle to Paladin’s penthouse apartment to check on him. Getting up to his apartment she is horrified to see that Paladin has wrapped himself up in a cocoon of webbing. He tells her that he quarantined himself and now that she has intruded on his domain he attacks her. Jolting Paladin with her mechanical arm, Misty races for a nearby stun gun. That’s when Paladin lunges at her sending the both of them crashing through a window. Paladin manages to cling to the wall, but when he sees that Misty will fall to her death fires a web line to save her. It misses but Misty suddenly fires a web-line of her own. She then swings up and knocks Paladin out with a kick to the face. Checking her hand, she sees that she is growing coarse hairs on her arm as well.
She wraps Paladin up in webbing and watches over him until down. During this time she thinks about how Paladin has feelings for her and for the longest time she denied her own feelings for him because she was still hung up over her ex-boyfriend, Danny Rand.[1] Now, as she begins transforming herself, Misty hopes a cure can be found soon so she can finally tell Paladin how she really feels.
Recurring Characters
Heroes for Hire (Misty Knight, Paladin, Falcon, Gargoyle, Silver Sable, Shroud, Black Widow, Elektra), Flashmob (Chemistro, Nightshade, Cottonmouth Cornell, Mr. Fish, Spear), AIM, Red Hulk, Cloak
Continuity Notes
Misty Knight and Iron Fist first started a romance back around Marvel Team-Up #63-64, at least that’s when writers were finally open about it. The pair has been apart since after Danny seemingly died back in Power Man and Iron Fist #125 (tl;dr version: he turned up alive again in Namor the Sub-Mariner #23.)
