Spider-Man swings through the city, worrying about finding a
new apartment. Hercules walks the streets, musing on the unequal distribution
of wealth in America. Suddenly, the impossible happens: the city is shaken by
an earthquake. A woman is hurled through a window on the building Spidey is
clinging to so he catches her in a web and returns her to her office. Herc sees
a pier collapse and rescues a homeless man who fell into the river….
Peter Parker goes to the University to speak with Professor
Aldritch. The Prof has detected two sources for the tremors where there shouldn’t
be even one: one in the northernmost point of Manhattan and one in the southernmost.
Pete changes into Spider-Man and decides he will need help to solve this
problem….
In the south of the island, Hercules, knowing this disaster
must be man-made, finds the tremors starting again underground. He rips up the
ground and discovers a gray-armored figure using a device that fires an energy
beam down into the earth. Spider-Man, unable to locate another superhero, encounters
another armored man with a device at the north end of Manhattan. Spidey attacks
the green-armored villain and discovers that his foe is surprisingly strong,
strong enough to grab Spidey and slam him to the ground, knocking him out….
Spider-Man awakens to find himself chained up next to
Hercules who allowed himself to be captured so that he could learn the villains’
plan. He breaks free but a blast from one of the armored villains knocks him
out. Spidey asks the baddie what his plan is; the plan is to cut Manhattan
loose and tow it away so they can demand a ransom of two billion dollars; if it
is not delivered, the island will be sunk, killing everyone on it. So Spidey
breaks free and he and the recovered Herc defeat the green baddy. The fact that
these two armored men speak in the second person suggests to Spidey that are receiving
orders from a third party; Spidey wrecks the gray villain. He tears open a
panel in its chest to discover that the armor was operated by a little old man,
frightened of mysterious masters called “They.” Spidey has an idea….
So Hercules pulls Manhattan back into place with chains. The
Mayor of New York arrives, accusing them of causing the disaster and bemoaning
the destruction of all the city’s bridges and tunnels. Spidey refers him to
Reed Richards and the two heroes go on about their business….