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Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man Issue 1a

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Synopsis:

Submitted by: WallCrawler on Mar 04, 2007

Last edited on: Mar 09, 2007

"So I had this weird Dream, MJ..." begins this the first issue of a new title that also happens to be the first issue of a new major story arc. As Peter Parker, your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man, recounts his dream, we are shown a couple of strange incongruous images: Of Morlun, a major new bad guy in our favorite wall-crawler's life who tried in the past to "eat" his spider-powers, wheeling a gurney through a morgue complete with occupied body-bag on top.

"And I'm afraid it's me... except if I'm dead and inside the bag, I couldn't be seeing it, right?"

"To everything there is a season. A time to live... a time to..." says Peter's Uncle Ben, holding a pair of evil looking black fuzzy dice exhibiting "snake eyes."

"And a voice whispering 'you lose.'" continues Peter, "and ever since then I've been afraid I'm gonna lose it all."

Back in reality, we see a bedroom window overlooking Manhattan. A window in the Avengers' Tower where Peter, his wife Mary Jane, and his Aunt May have been living since he joined the team. Peter continues to pronounce his worries to an obviously half-asleep MJ who becomes more and more conscious of his ramblings until trying to alleviate his fears in the most romantic way possible.

Cut to a bright day outside "Bank NY" where a dastardly villain is attempting a robbery while expounding on how the Cops wouldn't be by any time soon, as he "had some fun with the traffic lights here-abouts." How putting them out of sync just a little bit jams up traffic.

The red goggles he wears warn him of the impending danger that Spider-man poses as he comes upon the scene. This isn't unexpected to our villain. He leaves the bank just as Spider-man arrives to greet our new villain. Spider-man can tell, of course because he still has "that new bad guy smell."

Our villain fires off two rounds from a seemingly ordinary pistol, not catching Spider-man by surprise in the slightest, obviously due to his spider-sense. He webs up his assailant's gun hand and makes ready to dispatch him. However, his spider-sense triggers again, as the bullets take a U-turn in mid-air and right back toward him. They continue to follow Spidey as he leaps into the air, leaving the villain to return to his bank robbery, already in progress.

The villain shows he's appropriately devoid of compassion to show that he's not to be trifled with by shooting the guard in the rear, and drawing a smiley face on the forehead of the bank teller who has retrieved the blue-dye canister from the bag of riches on the villain's previous orders.

"you tell your baby girl... that Tracer said 'Hi.' Have a nice day."

Meanwhile, web-slinging furiously away from the seeker bullets, our protagonist thinks back to his training session with Steve "Captain America" Rogers - one that MJ instigated after hearing about his dream. Steve speaks to Peter on the concept of "Chi" - focusing his energy where he needs it the most, how his instincts have kept him alive so far, but instinct can kill you, how on considered move can be better than twenty reactive ones. And how one considered move requires focus.

"Your speed, your strength-- It's amazing, spectacular. But sometimes you need to stop. Take a deep breath. Focus your energy... your Chi... Reach into yourself. Envision yourself accomplishing that which you thought you couldn't."

"See it. Concentrate on it. Slow the world around you so that there's only you... and your goal... and then..."

"Do it!"

With that in mind, Spidey turns around, plants himself on the ground, turns toward the seeker bullets and "Shak! Shak!" catches the bullets out of the air. He first opens one palm, and inspects the bullet, then the other and sees a bleeding hole. The second bullet, it seems has been caught in his shoulder as opposed to his hand, and our hero collapses.

We rejoin our hero in a medical facility housed in a brownstone building. He is being attended, mask still on, by someone apparently associated with Steve Rogers. Peter is cautiously stand-offish with this Doctor Castillo, who alleviates his apprehension by explaining how many rules she is breaking to maintain his anonymity. How she began her... service... years ago after realizing how much the heroes were risking to save innocent lives, and that using her abilities to help them was the least she could do to thank them. She knew Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four and he vouched for her.

Spidey doesn't understand why he's never known of her before... "maybe they didn't trust you... because their initial impulse is to hit you with a rolled up newspaper. They can't see any part of your face, you keep to yourself, and you dress like something icky," she says as she draws a vial of blood.

"I'll call you with the results, okay, Spider-man?"

"Peter. My name's Peter." He replies.

Back in Avenger's Tower, Peter is suiting up in his red and blues again, as MJ tries to talk him out of it. Peter feels like he must get back on the horse or else he might not be able to keep doing what he does. He reveals that he's tracking the new villain "Tracer" with a spider-tracer, and feels compelled to point out the irony.

After about an hour of web-slinging, he finally gets a buzz on his spider-sense from the spider-tracer emanating from a limo driving down the city street. He webs up a camera to catch some action shots for The Bugle before swinging down head-on at the limo, and landing on the windshield on all fours, breaking it and sending the car careening toward a light post.

"Are you out... of your mind?!?!" Screams the limo driver as she stumbles from the front seat.

"Interesting question. Why don't we ask your passenger?" He retorts, while ripping the roof from the car like the top of a sardine can.

Reaching into the car, one fist ready to pound "Tracer" into next week, Spidey yells...

"Hey! Lovebug! The question of the hour is, am I out of my mind?! Why not favor us with an--"

"--answer...?"

"You can read my answer in tomorrow's 'Bugle.'" Retorts J. Jonah Jameson, publisher of the Daily Bugle and Spider-man's biggest detractor. He also happens to be the passenger in the back of the limo. Spidey catches a glimpse of the Spider-tracer on the aerial antenna adorning the trunk of the car.

"Well, this is just bad on so many levels..." concludes Spider-man, soundly.

While lamenting the days activities back in his bedroom in Avenger's Tower, the phone rings - It's Doctor Casillo, and she wants to run more tests, as the initial tests indicated something troublesome. More than troublesome.

"Bad, Peter. Very bad."

"Snake eyes." comments Morlun, who watches from a rooftop mere yards away from our hero. "You lose."

To be continued... In Marvel Knights Spider-man #19