Spider-Man swings by on his way home, reeling from an
encounter with the Kingpin, and he is spotted by the Black Widow who has an
idea. She reviews her comics history for us, deciding she is tired of being the
jet-setting socialite Madame Natasha and wants to return to a life of adventure
to help her forget the sorrows of her recent past (Hawkeye, Red Guardian, etc.)….
The groggy Spidey makes it back to his apartment but a look
through the window shows him his roommate Harry Osborn with Gwen Stacy and her
father Captain Stacy. He goes around to his window and webs some clothes; dressed
in his civvies, he returns to the apartment to greet his guests. Gwen is
overjoyed to see him until everyone notices the bruises on his face. He tries
and fails to brush them off; Gwen wants Peter to promise to have nothing to do
with Spider-Man and not to call her until he can make that promise. Captain
Stace knows Pete is keeping a secret but doesn’t push. After they leave, Pete
is wracked with lethargy and dullness and tries to study, wondering if he is
finally losing his spider-powers….
To cut herself off from the past, Black Widow designs a new costume,
skin-tight with a belt to hide her web-line and powerlets for the Widow’s Bite on
her wrists. But she doesn’t want to live in the shadow of Spider-Man so she
sets out determined to find out how his powers work so she can use it too. She
swings across the city and is spotted by J. Jonah Jameson from his office window;
he realizes it is a woman web-slinger and he assumes Spider-Man put her up to
it. Meanwhile she waits for Spidey….
Peter is too sick to concentrate on his studies so to learn
if his powers are fading he goes out swinging around town but a dizzy spell
fells him outside JJJ’s window. They trade barbs and Spidey takes off. He
decides to check on Aunt May but when he peeks in her window she sees him and
panics; Anna Watson convinces her it was just her imagination. He heads back to
the city and his Spider-Sense tingles…
…because he has been spotted by the Black Widow. She blasts
him with a Widow’s Bite which, in his weakened condition, sends him plunging
toward the ground and BW has to catch him in her webs. They introduce themselves
but she goes on the attack and is surprised he doesn’t fight back. He allows
her to tie him up to find out what she wants but the disappointed Widow just
mocks him as an overrated bum. So he bursts her web, gums up her stings, and chases
her off. She realizes he completely outclasses her, whatever the reason for her
catching him. She goes home and decides not to imitate anyone but to become her
own person facing her own destiny….
Spidey is completely drained by this time and he slowly
makes his way back to the apartment. He takes a sample of his blood to examine
under a microscope to see whether he is losing his powers but he can’t bring
himself to look….