Web of Spider-Man #98
Uneasy Alliances
During Blood Rose's siege on Fisk Tower, Spider-Man, and Joe Robertson finds themselves surrounded by Blood Rose and the Foreigner's Cyber-Warriors. Spider-Man tells Joe to run for it just as Blood Rose and the Cyber-Warriors take aim. Thanks to his spider-sense, Spider-Man manages to leap out of harm's way at the last moment. The web-slinger then lures his opponents upstairs so that Joe can escape. They manage to snare Spider-Man in an electrified net. Although the web-slinger manages to rip free, the electricity has weakened. When Blood Rose attempts to shoot Spider-Man, Joe Robertson leaps between them. Because of his sense of honor, Blood Rose doesn't kill Robertson and decides that he has wasted enough time on Spider-Man. He orders the Cyber-Warriors to blast an escape route for him. As they prepare to leave, one of the Cyber-Warriors turns to eliminate both Robertson and Spider-Man. However, Blood Rose shoots this Cyber-Warrior in the back for disobeying his orders. This momentary delay allows Spider-Man to tag Blood Rose with a spider-tracer. With the authorities arriving on the scene, Spider-Man gets Joe Robertson out of there.
The following morning, the Foreigner wakes up and is disappointed that he hasn't gotten word back from his Cyber-Warriors. He assumes that they have failed on their secondary mission. He contacts the rest of his Cyber-Warriors and orders them to eliminate Blood Rose. He then contacts his current employers, the New Enforcers and tells them that everything is going according to plan. They are pleased and look forward to taking control of the Kingpin's empire.
Two weeks later, on a remote Carribean Island, Richard Fisk flees from the man known as Trench.[1] However, Trench has mastered this island and eventually catches up to Fisk. However, this is merely a training exercise to get Richard back in shape after getting shipwrecked on the island. Trench then gives Richard a new outfit and an eyepatch to cover his injured eye. After putting on this new outfit, he tells Trench to stop calling him Fisk, as the name no longer fits anymore. That evening, Fisk has decided that, after his near-death experience, he has some issues to deal with, but this can wait until he gets back to New York City.[2] With Tench out hunting, Fisk decides to look through his tent to try and learn more about his mysterious benefactor. He is caught before he has a chance to open Trench's briefcase. Making an excuse that he was looking for his old clothes, Trench tells him to put the breifcase down and get some rest as they will continue Richard's training in the morning.
Back in New York City, Spider-Man finally has a chance to return to the Daily Bugle with the photos he took of the siege on Fisk Tower. He thinks about all the things that have been keeping him busy. Between his recently returned parents, spending time with his wife, this is the first chance he has had to come back to the Daily Bugle.[3] He kind of wishes that his Doppelganger from the Infinity War was around to pick up some of the slack, but recalls how it was dragged off into the sewers by the Deathspawn.[4] Changing into Peter Parker, the hero goes down to Joe Robertson's office. However, Joe isn't interested in any of Peter's photos since he rushed out on him during the siege on Fisk Tower. Peter decides to leave before things get too heated. As Peter steps out of the office he runs into his wife Mary Jane. When he kisses her, he's kind of disgusted because she was smoking.[5] Once they have left, Betty Brant is glad they have finally gone, because she doesn't want anyone to see her having a secret rendezvous with Joe Robertson.
Meanwhile, in the sewers beneath the city, the Spider-Doppelganger tries to fight off a swarm of rats that are trying to eat him. Suddenly, from his wounds emerge two of the Deathspawn that were hiding inside. Later, Spider-Man is scouring the city trying to pick up the spider-tracer he planted on Blood Rose earlier.[6] Meanwhile, at the Foreigner's headquarters, one of his Cyber-Warriors returns after seemingly eliminating Blood Rose. However, when the Foreigner admits the warrior into his office, it turns out it is Blood Rose in disguise who has come to eliminate the Foreigner for trying to kill him.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Joe Robertson, Betty Brant, Blood Rose, “Richard Fisk", Foreigner, New Enforcers (Blitz, Eel, Vanisher), Spider-Doppelganger, Kevin Trench, Ben Urich
Continuity Notes
This is not the real Richard Fisk, but his friend Alfredo Morellli, who disguised himself to look like Richard in order to infiltrate the Kingpin's organization as revealed in Web of Spider-Man #100.
"Richard Fisk" was shot in the back and left for dead by Blood Rose in Web of Spider-Man #89.
People claiming to be Richard and Mary Parker recently appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #365. These are actually impostors as revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #388. The real Richard and Mary Parker died years ago as seen in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5. Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. However, years later, their marriage is erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such they should be considered a common-law couple here.
The Spider-Doppelganger first surfaced in Infinity War #1. Unlike the rest of the Doppelgangers, the Spider-Man duplicate survived after the end of the Infinity War thanks to Demogoblin's magic as seen in Spider-Man #24. It was last seen in Web of Spider-Man #96.
Mary Jane started smoking in Amazing Spider-Man #361 as a means of dealing with the stress of Peter being Spider-Man.
The original twin towers of the World Trade Center are depicted as part of the New York City skyline here. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. The original towers were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, and have since been replaced by the Freedom Tower.
