Treasures!

Following their defeat at the hands of Spider-Man, the Vulturions return to their hideout. They are both furious and confused, as Spider-Man kept on talking about his costume being alive. After their first foray, Honcho has decided that they will need weapons in order to equal the playing field against Spider-Man. He orders Sugar Face to open one of the crates. Inside, Sugar Face finds blowguns and some darts. Gripes thinks the idea of using blow darts against Spider-Man to be ridiculous. However, Honcho asks Sugar Face to use a dart on Gripes. One single dart causes Gripes to black out and collapse onto the floor. Honcho explains that the tarts include a toxin that relaxes the muscles until ultimately the victim dies. Honcho briefly considers letting Gripes suffer this fate but applies the antidote instead.

A week later, Spider-Man is web-slinging across the city, thinking about how he narrowly avoided defeating the alien costume that wanted to bond with him and is glad that it is gone. Along the way, the wall-crawler stops a mugger from picking a pocket. As he continues on his way, Spider-Man thinks about his clash with the Vulturions and wonder why they are and why they are after him. Needing to buy a birthday gift for his Aunt May, Spider-Man sneaks into a store washroom and changes back into Peter Parker. Searching the store, he finds a hat that he thinks will be perfect for his Aunt May. Meanwhile, the Vulturions rob an armored car, using their new blow darts to incapacitate security guards.

Later, Peter Parker pays a visit to the Daily Bugle to show off his Aunt's birthday gift to Joe Robertson in the hopes that it helps fix their strained relationship. Suddenly, J. Jonah Jameson enters the room, excited about reports of the damage caused by Spider-Man's battle with the Juggernaut. Joe tries to quash this editorial, pointing out that as the new editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle, he would be presenting balanced stories. Seeing an opportunity to make money off the photos he took of the fight, Peter pretends to agree with Jonah, much to Robertson's disappointment. Jameson tells Joe that he missed a perfect opportunity and explains that he is starting a news magazine so he can publish his own stories and intends to take Parker with him. As Peter Parker tries to explain himself to Joe, they are interrupted when a copy boy informs them of the Vulturions' attack at the bank. Joe assigns Peter to get photos of this story. Peter then goes up to the roof of the Bugle Building where he changes into Spider-Man. Spider-Man is looking forward to a rematch against the Vulturions, but has to go to the hospital to see Harry and Liz Osborn's with Mary Jane first.

Back at their hideout, the Vulturions gloat over their recent haul, Honcho suggests that they need to convince the Kingpin that he should hire them to be his chief assassins by killing Spider-Man. The group then head out to search for the wall-crawler. Elsewhere, Spider-Man swings across the city, a job made more difficult by the hat box that he is carrying. As he heads for home, he thinks about Mary Jane and how her recent revelation that she has known he was Spider-Man affected their relationship. On the way, Spider-Man is stopped by the Vulturions who begin to follow him. When the wall-crawler gets close to his apartment, he notices that his neighbors, Randi, Candi, and Bambi are on the roof varnishing a dresser. He tries to hang back, but when one of the women spots him, he is forced to head uptown. Spotting this, the Vulturions continue their pursuit of the masked hero.

While at the Kingpin's tower, the head mobster is watching a film with his catatonic wife, Vanessa, in the hopes that she will snap out of her condition. He then gets a call from one of his men, telling him about how the Vulturions are planning to kill Spider-Man outside of his building. The Kingpin recalls how Spider-Man had recently interfered in his business and struggles with seeing his wife recover, or witness the destruction of Spider-Man. Witnessing the wall-crawler sing by, the Kingpin notices that the hero is carrying a hat box and wonders why. Suddenly, the hero is ambushed by the Vulturions. His spider-sense warning him of a barrage of poisoned darts, he uses the hat box to shield himself. Swinging into his action, Spider-Man exposes his belt camera so he can snap photos for the Daily Bugle. Although the hero manages to down one the Vulturions, another manages to tag him with one of the blow darts. As Spider-Man struggles to stay conscious, his thoughts are on making peace with his Aunt May. Meanwhile, in Queens, Aunt May is worried about the bills that are mounting on her home. Her fiancee Nathan Lubensky suggests that she go to her nephew Peter for help. However, Aunt May is still angry at Peter for dropping out of school and refuses to tell him of their troubles unless he decides to go back to school.

Back in the city, Spider-Man begins to feel the effects of the dart. He still manages to knock out another one of the Vulturions. However, during the battle, the ribbon keeping the hat box close is cut open causing the hat to blow away. Seeing this, the Kingpin finds this revelation to be strange. When his wife begins to become agitated, the Kingpin assures her that there is nothing going on. Meanwhile, Spider-Man manages to recover the hat but is struck with yet another dart and begins falling to the ground. As he falls, he thinks about how his ex-girlfriend the Black Cat hated him being Peter Parker and how Mary Jane hates him being Spider-Man. While at the hospital where Liz Osborn just recently gave birth to her son. Noticing that Mary Jane is pacing the room waiting for Peter, Liz tells her to relax but also wonders why she keeps watching the skyline.

By this time, Spider-Man is still trying to avoid the Vulturions and keep the hat he bought for his Aunt May safe. However, although he managed to knock out the rest of the Vulturions, he was struck by additional darts and falls into a trash-strewn alley and the hat drifts away in the wind. In the aftermath of the battle, the Kingpin was impressed with Spider-Man's performance. However, he is still confused as to why the hero was so focused on protecting the hat, as he could have easily win sooner. Seeing that the hat is still blowing in the wind, the Kingpin orders one of his helicopters to take off and recover it. When Spider-Man wakes up, the Vulturions are gone and he realizes the hat is missing. Trying to find it, the hero swings up to the rooftops where he spots the helicopter lowering the hat box nearby. He recovers the hat and finds a note from the Kingpin, thanking him for defeating the Vulturions.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Vulturions (Honcho, Gripes, Pigeon, Sugar Face), Kingpin, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, Aunt May, Nathan Lubensky, Vanessa Fisk, Bambi Modica, Candi Muggins, Randi Muggins, Mary Jane Watson, Harry Osborn, Liz Osborn, Normie Osborn

Continuity Notes

• The costume seemingly perished last issue. However, the alien costume is revived in Fall of the Hulks: Alpha #1 by the Intelligencia. Eventually, it will return to haunt Spider-Man again after bonding to Eddie Brock, as revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #300.

• Spider-Man recalls how the store was recently damaged during his battle with the Juggernaut. That happened in Amazing Spider-Man #229-230.

• Aunt May has been upset with Peter since he revealed to her that he quit grad school in Amazing Spider-Man #252.

• J. Jonah Jameson's draft about Spider-man fighting Juggernaut near Rockefeller Center is likely another reference to the encounter in Amazing Spider-Man #229-230.

• Joe became editor-in-chief after Jonah resigned in Amazing Spider-Man #251.

• Mary Jane broke up with Peter back in Amazing Spider-Man #183 after she rejected his marriage proposal. She later revealed that this was because she knew he was Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #257.

• Vanessa has been in a catatonic state since Daredevil #180.

• The Kingpin last clashed with Spider-Man in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #100.

• At the time of this story, Spider-Man had just recently broken up with the Black Cat in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #100. This was because she had secretly gained super-powers from the Kingpin in Spectacular Spider-Man #89 and kept it secret from Peter for quite some time.

• At this point, Harry and Liz have yet to name their child. The boy is named Norman after Harry's father in Amazing Spider-Man #265.

• Although the Kingpin's gesture seems innocuous here, he actually planted a tracking device in the brim. Something that will come back to sting Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #19.