While defusing bombs on the Thames River flood gates, Spider-Man is ambushed by Assassin-8, the cyborg who blames Spider-Man for his condition. The cyborg tries to toss the wall-crawler into the wall below, but he wakes up and tries to save himself. Instead, Assassin-8 grabs the wall-crawler's hands and flies him into the sky and tries to drop the hero to his death. Spider-Man saves his life by snaring a web-line onto Big Ben and swings down to the group. Spider-Man asks Assassin-8 why he is attacking him and learns how the cyborg blames Spider-Man for planting the landmine in Angola that crippled him.

Spider-Man tries to convince Assassin-8 that he has never been to Angola, but the cyborg is unwilling to listen. Their battle takes them to a nearby Underground subway station. The battle drags on as Spider-Man ensures that people get to safety. Ultimately, Assassin-8's blind obsession gets the better of him. While flying over the subway tracks, the mercenary is struck by an oncoming subway train and lands on the electrified third rail. This jolts Assassin-8 with a powerful shock that shorts out his entire body seemingly killing him. With the battle over, Spider-Man walks up to the streets.

He is approached by a newspaper man, Spider-Man is given the latest headlines that continue to praise the hero for his activities in Britain. Unaware that this is the mysterious Dark Man who set Assassin-8 after him, Spider-Man is passed a hypnotic suggestion telling him he should return to the UK sometime in the near future. On his flight back home, Peter Parker begins to seriously consider returning to the UK. However, he can't shake the feeling that his encounter with Assassin-8 was part of something bigger. Observing Spider-Man's return to the state is the Dark Man who gloats over the eventual destruction of Spider-Man.

Back at his apartment, Peter unpacks his bags and tries to relax when he suddenly hears gunshots. Changing into Spider-Man, Peter leaps outside to see who is responsible.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Assassin-8, Dark Man

Continuity Notes

• Assassin-8 was convinced of this by the Dark Man as seen in Spider-Man (UK) #608.

• Although not identified as the Dark Man here, the villain is identified in Marvel Fact Files #97.