Whilst out swinging on a snowy day, Spider-Man once
again spots who he thinks is Gwen Stacy! Thinking he really has gone crazy, he
chalks it up to a lingering effect from fighting Mysterio last issue, and
soberly reminds himself that Gwen is dead, and nothing can bring her back.
Thinking that Jameson may have had something to do with the new Mysterio,
Spidey swings by his office at the Daily Bugle but finds it empty, and
determines that Jameson hasn’t been there for some time. He changes to Peter to
see if Betty knows anything about it, and she tells him that Jameson is in
Europe after “something came up.” Peter heads in to see Robbie, who admits he
was just about to call him. They go get lunch, where Robbie shows Peter the
real reason he wanted to talk to him, a telegram he apparently got from Jonah,
asking to bring a million dollars in bonds to Paris for him. Robbie thinks it
sounds suspicious and wants Peter to come to Paris with him to help
investigate!
Peter agrees and swings over to ESU, where he runs
into Flash and Liz briefly on his way to class, and he invites them over to his
new apartment sometime. Peter sneaks in the back of Professor Warren’s class,
and once the class is over, he explains to Professor Warren that he’ll need a
leave of absence for something urgent. Peter gets his leave of absence from the
dean, and soon enough heads to the airport. Mary Jane sees Peter off at the
airport and asks him to be careful. Peter asks her why she always calls him
tiger and she responds that the nickname’s ironic, because he isn’t one!
The two then share a kiss, their first kiss, and something happens, something
that will forever change things between them! Peter and Mary Jane are both
equally stunned from the kiss, in a good way, before Robbie tells Peter that
their plane is boarding. Peter tells MJ he’ll be back to discuss everything,
and she tells him she’ll be waiting. As Peter’s plane takes off into the night,
he looks down at the airport, where Mary Jane begins to head out, still reeling
from the moment they shared.
Aboout 20 hours later, Spider-Man swings around Paris,
a bit unable to believe he’s really there. He tails Robbie, who was given
instructions to meet the kidnappers at a specific place. After heading to the
meeting place, Robbie gets attacked by masked henchmen, forcing Spidey to swing
down and rescue him. While Robbie is unconscious, Spidey deals with the goons
while having no idea what they’re saying. With the henchmen dealt with, Spidey
thinks about how they had gotten the call to meet shortly after they landed,
and how Robbie had been forced to drive practically all over Paris to lose any
potential followers. As Robbie starts to come to, Spidey gently knocks him out
again, deciding it’s better if he never discovers Spidey was in Paris. Spidey
then gets attacked by a costumed criminal calling himself Cyclone, who bemoans
Americans’ propensity for interfering! His whirlwind sucks up Robbie and his
henchmen, before it knocks a building down on Spidey! As Spider-Man digs
himself out of the rubble, Cyclone zooms off, telling Spider-Man that if the
ransom is not paid in 24 hours, both Robbie and Jameson will die! To be
continued!
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