Death Stroke

Jessica Drew has a nightmare where she is attacked by Knights of the Round Table before she wakes up she realizes that this is an attack from her old foe Morgan le Fay. Awakened, she doesn't know what her old foe may be planning, but feeling shaken, she goes and seeks some comfort by visiting David Ishima. Their moment alone is interrupted by the arrival of Lieutenant Sabrina Morrel of the San Francisco Police Department, who takes David and Jessica to a construction site where David used to work until the day before. There they are shown the body of a worker who fell to his death from the top floor. When the issue of the dead worker being David's former boss comes up, Morrel begins asking him questions. David snaps at her about being fired for his "own good" because he noticed strange construction practices while on the job. Jessica stops David from saying any more without a lawyer present, and they are allowed to leave.

However, when Jessica takes David to see John DeLuca, a lawyer, David is headstrong and refuses to cooperate. He refuses both John and Jessica's aid and leaves, telling them that he will handle things on his own. Jessica trails David as Spider-Woman and eavesdrops on his conversation with Cynthia Walsh about the murder of his colleague. She slaps him and tells him that she's spoken to the police. However, when David leaves, she calls a mysterious benefactor, warning them that David could ruin their plot.

Changing back to Jessica Drew, Spider-Woman decides to appeal to David once more for help, but this offer is once again rebuffed. She continues to tail him and when he sees him meeting with Lt. Morrel, she calls the police to see if a warrant was issued for David. When this is confirmed, Jessica is held up at gunpoint and taken into a car with David. They are taken to the skyscraper, where they meet the mastermind behind it all: Deathstroke and his squad of ninjas called the Terminators. Deathstroke explains that they were planning on building a secret hideout in the building when David learned too much. They push Jessica off the building. However, she manages to change into Spider-Woman and save herself, as well as saving David when they throw him off. The two then work together to defeat Deathstroke and his goons, making for an easy victory. After the police arrest the men, Spider-Woman departs.

Later in court, David is found innocent. Leaving the court with him, Jessica notices him looking at a card and tossing it into the garbage. Grabbing it, she finds that it's a calling card of the Yakuza criminal organization and worries that David may yet be in more trouble still.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Woman, David Ishima, Sabrina Morrel, Death-Stroke, Morgan le Fay

Continuity Notes

• The narrative reminds readers that Spider-Woman last fought Morgan le Fay in Spider-Woman #6. Spider-Woman recounts the last time Morgan's image manifested before her in Spider-Woman #35 and 37.

• Carillon Tower is identified as a construction project masterminded by Nguyen Ngoc Coy. Coy is referred to as a former general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam -- aka the South Vietnamese Army -- This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616 as the South Vietnamese Army was disbanded in 1975 following the end of the Vietnam War. Per History of the Marvel Universe #2, one could assume that General Coy was involved in the Sin Cong Conflict.