Web of Spider-Man #6
Gold Rush!
Story continued from Secret Wars II #2...
The Kingpin is woken up at 3:00 am with some troubling news. He places a call to a man Bainbridge. As he waits for the man to answer, he figures out the financial worth of the current crisis and realizes that it could make the great depression seem like prosperous times. When Bainbridge answers the phone, the Kingpin explains what must be done...
While elsewhere in Manhattan, Mary Jane Watson cannot sleep, her mind keeps coming back to the fact that she had recently revealed to Peter Parker that she's known that he's secretly Spider-Man for years. She struggles with the fact that she can't be with someone that risks their lives on a daily basis, and although she is still friends with Peter she cannot shake the feelings she has for him. As she considers the strange twist of fate she finds herself in, she notices that there is a fire some blocks away and wonders what the cause of it could be.
At the site of the fire is the man of Mary Jane's thoughts, Spider-Man who is at the scene of the office building that formerly housed the Heroes for Hire until the Beyonder recently turned the structure entirely into gold just moments ago. Realizing that there might be people trapped inside the building despite the late hour, Spider-Man enters the building and begins finding those who are trapped inside and finds that everything except for humans has been turned into gold. As Spidey searches for survivors, those few who are still up at this late hour find it almost impossible to believe that a building can be turned into gold. However, before anyone can capitalize on this, the Kingpin calls in to his contacts in Washington D.C. to assist in closing off the area to prevent people from making off or learning about this sudden cache of gold, as it could cause a financial crisis. Hard pressed for resources, the government makes a deal with the Kingpin even though they realize that they are making a deal with the proverbial devil.
Unaware of this deal, Spider-Man continues to rescue those trapped in the building as two police officers arrive. When the cops wonder how they will keep the public away from a giant pile of gold, they soon find themselves surrounded by a heavily armed guard of gangsters and street thugs. They are soon relieved by government agent Charles Anderson who explains to the two officers that these men as assisting in keeping the area secure until the military arrives. When Spider-Man returns to the outside he recognizes some of the armed men as enforcers for the Kingpin. He also witnesses as the owner of the building, Henry Trumpsley, is forced to accept a check buying his property and iRs escorted off the property.
When Anderson tells Spider-Man to leave, the Wall-Crawler refuses to tell him that he can rescue the people trapped inside easier. Despite being shot at, Spider-Man slips back inside, wondering what the Kingpin has to do with the recovery. Seeing that he is unable to stop Spider-Man, and hard pressed for resources, Anderson orders the men to hold their fire and let Spider-Man do his job.
As the work continues on, over in Queens Aunt May and her fiancée Nathan Lubensky mull over the financial problems they're having keeping their elderly boarding house afloat.
By this time, the military has arrived and begun slowly removing the gold and shipping it out of the area and a massive barrier is being erected around the block to prevent people from seeing it. By the time the press arrives, there is speculation going around as to what the military is clearing out of the area. Inside the wreckage, Spider-Man continues to pull people out of the building. For the most part, everyone is alive, but he does come across one dead body within the wreckage. After bringing the body out, Spidey decides to take a break and take into consideration that scope of what the Beyonder has done. Everything, including simple trash, has been turned into gold, a discarded notebook that was considered trash hours earlier is now worth a small fortune. When Peter considers how much he and his Aunt May could benefit from something as small as a solid gold notebook, Peter wrestles with his desires and what he feels is the right thing to do and leaves the notebook behind. Spider-Man's attention is drawn to another individual who is trapped in the building. However, upon closer inspection, the Wall-Crawler learns that the reason why the man is trapped is that he was attempting to carry out all his personal possessions that had been turned into gold and that the weight of it all had pinned him to the floor. The man is unwilling to give it all up until the roof begins to collapse over their head and he begs Spider-Man to save him.
With the last of the people out of the building, Spider-Man is about to web-sling away when he notices a black limo pull up to Anderson. Spider-Man is shocked to see that it is his old foe the Kingpin, and becomes angry when he witnesses a number of soldiers loading several gold typewriters into his limo. Furious that he must struggle through life while a known criminal like the Kingpin gets free gold from the government, Spider-Man finally has enough and decides to get what he believes he deserves. Jumping back into the ruins of the building, he recovers the gold notepad that he previously decided to leave behind. Exiting the building he confronts Anderson and tells him that he saw the transaction between him and the Kingpin and shows him that he intends to keep a reward for himself. After angrily chastising the government official, Spider-Man swings off leaving Anderson to consider what he has just done.
This story continues in Amazing Spider-Man #268...
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, Charles Anderson, Aunt May, Nathan Lubensky, Kingpin, Arthur Chekov
Continuity Notes
Mary Jane revealed that she knew that Peter was Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #257
The Beyonder turned this office building into gold in Secret Wars II #2
Secret Wars II Reading Order
Secret Wars II #1, New Mutants #30, Captain America, #308, Uncanny X-Men #196, Iron Man #197, Secret Wars II #2, Web of Spider-Man #6, Amazing Spider-Man #268, Fantastic Four #282, Secret Wars II #3, Daredevil #223, Incredible Hulk #312, Avengers #260, Secret Wars II #4, Dazzler #40, Alpha Flight #28, Rom #72, Avengers #261, Secret Wars II #5, Thing #30, Doctor Strange (vol. 2) #74, Fantastic Four #285, Secret Wars II #6, Cloak and Dagger (vol. 2) #4, Power Pack #18, Micronauts (vol. 2) #16, Thor #363, Power Man and Iron Fist #121, Secret Wars II #7, New Mutants #36, Amazing Spider-Man #273, Spectacular Spider-Man #111, Uncanny X-Men #202, Defenders #152, Secret Wars II #8, New Mutants #37, Amazing Spider-Man #274, Avengers #265, Uncanny X-Men #203, Fantastic Four #288, Secret Wars II #9, Avengers #266
