Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #209

FOREIGN OBJECTS

Spider-Man is swinging across the warehouse district when he sees the police surrounding a building. Deciding to go in for a closer look, the wall-crawler overhears the officer in charge warning the others to seal off the area. Spider-Man sneaks in through a window in order to get pictures for the Daily Bugle. However, once inside he is disgusted by the sight of a number of dead bodies strung upsidedown with hoods over their head. He takes a closer look and notices that the victims are all wearing hoods over their head. Each one has the letter "F" on them. As Spider-Man struggles to not be sick, he tries to make sense of this scene. That's when the police enter the building, prompting Spider-Man to leave. Overhearing the commanding officer tell his officers that nothing gets out about this scene, Spider-Man is inclined to agree, as he does not want to photograph such a gruesome scene. As he heads out, his spider-sense goes off momentarily, although he is unsure why. The wall-crawler was unaware that he was briefly in the sniper sights of the Foreigner. He considered pulling the trigger, but since he is on the run for his life, and his resources running low, the Foreigner decides that he could use the unpredictability to his advantage.  Unfortunately, as he tries to catch up with the web-slinger he is ambushed by his own assassins: Pulse, Swift, and Silence. Despite this, the Foreigner fights back and regains the advantages. However, the sound of battle attracts the attention of Spider-Man. When he arrives on the scene, he is just in time to save the Foreigner. He recognizes Pulse and Silence from their last encounter.  However, because of his mask and a voice modulator, Spider-Man does not recognize the Foreigner. He quickly unmasks the Foreigner when he tries to flee, but is ambushed by his Deathsquad. While Spider-Man is busy, the Foreigner attacks Pulse and activates the self-destruct sequence on his armor. When Pulse explodes, Spider-Man is bowled over by the blast. When he recovers, both the Foreigner and Swift are gone. Swift is confronted by one of his superiors who kills him for failing to eliminate the Foreigner. Then, using special goggles, the mystery man begins tracking the assassin by his residual aura tracks, telling his master that the Foreigner is following Spider-Man into Manhattan.  Meanwhile, Peter Parker arrives at the Daily Bugle to tell Joe that he didn't get the pictures he was assigned to take. That's when he notices J. Jonah Jameson walk by with an uncharacteristic smile. When Peter asks Joe what's up, Robertson begins telling him about the recent changes at the Bugle. Jonah heads out to a nearby restaurant to show his wife, Marla, the latest edition of the Bugle, something he dares the public to call a laughing stock.   However, this momentous occasion is marred when Marla reveals that they are being joined for lunch with her lawyer, Dirk. She informs her husband that she wants to get a divorce and asks him how much his share of the Bugle is worth. Back at the Bugle, Peter learns -- to his dismay -- of Jonah's new "no Spider-Man" policy. Before he can react, Peter spots the Foreigner entering the office and quickly ducks away. The master assassin then asks Glory Grant to get Spider-Man for him. Before Glory can get over her shock at this request, the web-head comes leaping into the room and strikes the Foreigner. He then pulls the assassin out of the Bugle, intent on turning him over to the authorities. However, the Foreigner explains that he needs the wall-crawler's help and if Spider-Man agrees, the Foreigner promises to turn himself over to the authorities after.  Deciding to listen to what the Foreigner has to say, Spider-Man lets him down at Central Park. There, he learns how the assassin has been ousted out of his organization and his former employees are out to kill him. The Foreigner warns Spider-Man that if his successor wins, the wall-crawler will have to deal with someone more ruthless than the Foreigner. This man intends to turn the world into a charnel house and intends to start with New York City. That's when Spider-Man's spider-sense goes off, and he barely manages to push the Foreigner out of the way of an incoming blast. They have been ambushed by the same man who killed Swift. Spider-Man quickly uses his webbing to pull off their attacker's trenchcoat and hat. Spider-Man is shocked to discover that the man underneath is wearing a high tech suit. The man introduces himself as Dead Aim, and he has come to eliminate them both.

FATEFUL DISTRACTIONS

The Black Cat leaps across the city, mulling over an important decision. She is in love for the first time in her life. Truer love than her infatuation with Spider-Man.  As she arrives home to change out of her costume, she begins to wonder what really caused her to want to push things further with her and Flash.  She has realized how short life can be after Flash was beaten, nearly to death, by Tombstone.  Changing into one of her best dresses, Felicia Hardy pays a visit to Flash in the hospital. He is taken away by how beautiful she looks that night. She is happy to see that he is in good spirits and that he is healing well. She tells him that she has come to have an important talk about their relationship. She then drops a bombshell when she asks Flash if he will marry her.