Web of Spider-Man #22
Profit of Doom
As Joy and Pete are driving into Belfast, where they see the devastation caused by ongoing clashes with the authorities and the Irish Republican Army. As he takes pictures of the scene, Peter's spider-sense warns him of danger and slams his foot on the breaks. This allows them to narrowly avoid a Molotov cocktail that is tossed at soldiers by members of the IRA. As both sides exchanged gunfire, Joy, and Peter are ambushed by an armed man wearing a black hood on his face who tries to take them hostage. Peter temporarily blinds the man with the flash from his camera. Suddenly, soldiers arrive and gun him down forcing other men in masks to flee the scene, leaving their fallen comrade behind. They are confronted by the soldiers and once Joy and Peter explain that they are American reporters, the soldiers begin searching their car to verify their claims. Soon they are cleared and the soldiers tell them to get moving and not come back this way if they can help it. Soon they arrive at their hotel in Belfast. In his room, Peter places a call to his Aunt May back in New York City. She tells him that Victor and Rose Palermo are just heading out to visit family. However, she decides not to tell Peter her concerns that the Palermo's might not be coming back.
After ending his call, Peter is joined by Joy Mercado who wants to get started looking into the Black Hoods they encountered outside of town. She takes Peter to the local headquarters of the Roxxon Energy Corporation. She explains that after their encounter with the corporation in Appalachia she has been researching the company and is convinced they are involved in the unrest here as well. When she spots some military transports passing by, she suggests that they follow after them. They are led to a local housing project that is on fire. As soldier rush inside they are pelted by fruits and vegetables from at them. As Peter takes photos of the scene, a young man in a leather jacket tries to flee and trips over some garbage pails. The young man begs Joy and Peter not to let him get caught. When a soldier approaches them to see what is going on, Joy tells him that they are American tourists and they they accidentaly knocked the garbage can over taking photos. Satisfied, the soldier returns to his post. That's when they notice the young man they helped is fleeing down an alley. They eventually catch up to him and explain that they are reporters. He admits that it was his apartment that was fire bombed and tells them that he isn't afraid of the soldiers, but the Black Hoods.
The young man, Liam, explains to them that the Black Hoods have been trying to kill him for some time now. He suspects that it has something to do with his brother who disappeared a few months before the Black Hoods appeared on the scene. When they ask why he doesn't go to the authorities, he explains that there are too busy with other issues and that he wants to avenge his brothers death himself. They go to a local pub where Liam introduces them to his associates. They explain that unlike other terrorist groups in the region, the Black Hoods don't let their intentions being known and nobody knows what they are trying to accomplish. As they are being told this, a man is listening to the conversation from the bar and eventually leaves. Thanking the men for the info, Peter and Joy head out, and no sooner are they outside does Peter's spider-sense starts going off. Suddenly, they are surrounded by members of the Black Hoods who take them hostage. When their blindfolds are removed, they find themselves inside the Roxxon facility. There they are greeted by Ian Forbes. With their lives on the line, Joy demands Ian explain what Roxxon is planning before they are killed.
Forbes obliges, showing them the AK-X Antipersonnel Particle Beam Cannon that was designed by Roxxon. He explains that they were hired to develop the weapon for the United States military until the Pentagon cut their funding. As a result, Roxxon went looking for other markets to sell this powerful weapon. He explains that with Roxxon being forced out of the Middle East, thanks again to the United States government, they have decided to escilate the conflict between the United Kingdom and Ireland so they can convince the British to purchase the weapon. When Peter asks how he can get them to do so, Ian Forbes introduces them to Duncan O'Neill, a member of the British Secret Intelligence Service, who is also in Roxxon's back pocket. With their plans all laid out, Forbes orders their prisoners to be eliminated. Locked in a room and awaiting execution, Peter wonders how he can get them out of this situation without revealing the fact that he is secretly Spider-Man. Suddenly, their guard is knocked out by Liam who has come to rescue them. However, Peter and Joy can't leave without gathering evidence that exposes Roxxon's plans. While Peter goes one way, Liam follows after Joy. This allows Peter to slip away and change into Spider-Man.
Crawling through the vents searching for Ian Forbes. In one of the labs, members of the Black Hoods spot the wall-crawler and begin opening fire. Spider-Man begins making short work of the terrorists until one of them activtes the particle cannon. However, Spider-Man is able to dodge the blasts from this weapon as well. The operator eventually panics and pulls a gun, threatning to shoot the web-slinger if he doesn't surrender. By this point, Spider-Man hears a helicopter on the roof. Ian Forbes and his cohorts are trying to make their escape with Joy and Liam as their prisoners. Spider-Man intervenes, but Forbes and his men get away. While Spider-Man tags their chopper with a spider-tracer, Joy is saved from a Black Hood gunman by Liam. To Liam's surprise the man he fatally shot was his own brother. Dying, Rory tells his brother that he did it all for money and regrets not being able to turn it down. As the authorities arrive, Spider-Man slips away and changes back to Peter Parker and rejoins Joy and Liam. Peter is furious that the members of Roxxon were able to get away with everything they have done. He tries to get Liam to side with him, but he has lost all will to fight now that his brother is dead. Meanwhile, Ian Forbes and Duncan O'Neil are heading toward the Atlantic. They are still confident that they can salvage their plan when suddenly their helicopter explodes. At Roxxon's head office, a high ranking member of the corporation is informed that Forbes has been taken care of. The Roxxon executive is satisfied that they have purged this extra expenditure.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Joy Mercado, Roxxon Oil, Aunt May
