It was only their third day in the school, and already the kids in Generation Next were disgusted.
Not by the usual school things, but rather by the fact that they had a mission, and it wasn't going as smoothly as they wished.
"I don't like this," Hawk said, looking down the crowded hall, and then at the handheld device Argent was holding.
"Be patient," Chamber replied.
"But we've been looking for two days! And all we've run into is interference . . . "
"Chill. It's a big place. Of course, we were going to run into some interference."
Argent shook her head. "I don't know. I have the strange feeling that this isn't regular interference."
"What do you mean, 'regular interference'?" Hawk asked.
"Regular interference is having a whole lot of people in the way," Argent explained. "But, it's almost as if something is blocking the scan."
Hawk looked at his watch. "We better give up for now, class starts in two minutes."
As Peter Parker rushed into the cafeteria at lunchtime, he nearly knocked a fellow student over. She was able to keep her balance, and Peter turned to apologize.
"I'm sorry," he said. "Natalie?"
"Yeah, it's me," Natalie Casswell replied.
"I've been wondering something for the past couple of days - how's Vic? I haven't heard from him since Saturday."
Natalie shook her head. "He's doing . . . okay. He had a sort of . . . accident, but he should be back to school next week."
"Oh, that's too bad," Peter replied. Then, he lowered his voice so no one could hear. "Did it have anything to do with the Shadow?"
Natalie nodded, and then looked at her watch. "Oh, I have to hurry up and get some lunch. I have to be at a meeting in twenty minutes!"
Peter watched as she scurried off.
That afternoon, after school, the five Generation Next members reported to Power Woman.
"We tried hard, Ms. Starsmore," Argent pleaded, "but all we got was interference."
Sarah Starsmore sighed and turned to the other two members: Husk and Valor. "Were you able to get anything?"
Valor shook his head. "Nothing more about Cody. Same as we knew before."
"Has anyone heard anything about Spider-Man?" Sarah asked.
All of the Generation Next member shook their heads. "He hasn't been seen since DEO started watching Driscol," Chamber said.
Sarah sighed once more. "Wonderful. This mission just isn't going the way we planned. Okay, let's forget about this other meta. More than likely, he'll show up soon enough on his own. DEO can grab him then."
Lois Lane and Ben Urich were eating lunch together after begin out on assignment all morning. The topic of the possible selling of the Daily Planet had come up.
"There's something that I don't get," Lois said after taking a bite of her salad. "Why would Osborn be in on Luthor's scheme? What's in it for him?"
"What makes you think there's a scheme?" Urich asked.
"Come on! We're talking about Lex Luthor, the most influential crook in town! When he wants something, he'll get it."
"Again, what makes you think it's all a scheme?"
"Every time Luthor buys something out, it's after a period where the company either goes bankrupt or come pretty close," Lois replied. "The Planet's ad revenue had been cut recently, and the cover price has been increased. Add to that a minor drop in readership, and you have financial trouble."
"And you think Luthor is behind all of that?"
"Well, maybe not all of it, but at least part of it. I did a check. Most of the companies and businesses that stopped running ads had some connection to Luthor."
"And the rest?"
"They had some connection to Osborn."
"Hmm." Now, Urich was starting to see the logic, and accept Lois's point of view. "So, you're saying the Luthor and Osborn have ordered their companies and all subsidiaries to stop buying ad space?"
Lois nodded as she took another bite of her salad. "I also think that Luthor has pressured some smaller businesses into not buying ad space."
"How?"
"I don't know. He is one of the most influential men in the city. He has his ways."
"So, we come back to your original question: Why would Osborn go in with Luthor on this scheme?"
"I've been trying to come up with a reasonable explanation," Lois said. "And I can think of is that maybe Osborn is helping Luthor take the newspaper, so Luthor will help him with something else."
Urich thought about that for a while. "Or maybe Luthor is pressuring Osborn for some reason . . . "
"Interesting," Lois replied. "But if that's the case, why would Osborn be touring the building with him?"
"Maybe Osborn has his own agenda, and plans to get the Planet to himself."
Lois shook her head. "It's hard to tell with this corrupt businessmen . . . "
"Let's go," the DEO agent said. He had brown hair, and a mustache.
"You mean, raid the place, now?" the other asked. He had black hair, and was clean shaven.
It was night, and the DEO van was still watching the Driscol residence.
"You know the orders, Agent Arthur," the first man said.
"Of course, Agent Newman, but we've been monitoring the kid for days, and there's no sign of - "
Newman interrupted. "Trust me."
"Okay," Agent Arthur replied. "I'll call the backup."
Coming up the street behind the van, Peter Parker was going to visit Cody Driscol, to help him with a homework assignment. As he neared the Driscol home, his spider-sense went off, warning him of something. He looked around, and saw the van.
Pretending that nothing was wrong, Peter continued to walk, and strolled right past the van. He turned the corner, and nonchalantly crouched behind a bush. He activated his spider suit, and jumped up into a tree. He used that to jump down on top of the van.
"He's not the Spider," he overheard coming from inside the van.
"So what? He's more powerful than the Spider. We'll take him anyway," a second voice said.
They think Cody is me? Spidey thought.
"Hey!" Spider-Man heard someone shout.
The wallcrawler looked up and saw someone flying above him. "Who are you?" he asked.
"I'm Valor, and you're in trouble!" the flying person shouted, firing heat vision at Spider-Man.
"Yikes!" Spidey exclaimed as he jumped up, and somersaulted off of the van.
"Huh? What was that?" Agent Arthur shouted.
Agent Newman looked at his scanner. "It's the Spider! Right above us!" He kicked the back doors of the van and jumped out, grabbing one of the tranquilizer rifles. Turning and looking up, he saw Spidey leaping over him.
However, Spidey wasn't going to be taken by surprise, as his spider-sense warned him of the DEO agent. He quickly fired two balls of impact webbing at Newman. One sent the rifle flying up, and the other knocked the agent back and restrained.
The impact caused the rifle to be fired, and the tranquilizer dart embedded itself into Valor's semi-invulnerable skin.
"Ah, crap," he said as he became more drowsy and fell to the ground, landing on his right arm. Valor stood up, and began running after Spider-Man.
However, Spidey had started webslinging and had a pretty decent start. But even drugged, Valor could still fly at a decent speed. He was able to follow the webslinger for a few yards, but then Spidey turned and fired some impact webbing at Valor. It hit him in the face, knocking him down. He could only watch as Spidey swung away.
Peter was sitting alone in The Crib, slowly sipping his chocolate milkshake. It was a slow night, and not many people were in the hangout, so Mary Jane was able to come over and sit down.
"What's up, Peter? You look troubled," she said as she slid into the booth, facing him.
"Really?" Peter asked.
"Yeah," MJ said, nodding and smiling.
"It's Cody."
"That kid you've been tutoring?"
"That's him. I think something is wrong."
"Like he has a family problem or something?"
"Oh, nothing like that," Peter replied. "It's just that . . . well, I was going over to his house about an hour ago, to help him with some homework. Before I could get there, I see a van parked nearby, kinda hiding. It looked like it was watching Cody's home or something."
"So, what did you do?"
"Nothing, really. I watched as Spider-Man appeared out of nowhere, and got attacked by some other guy who came out of nowhere. They fought for a while, even involving the people in the van, I think, but then Spidey ran away after KOing the guy who attacked him."
"So, did you go see Cody?"
Peter shook his head. "After that, I figured it was too dangerous to have any contact with him."
"What are you going to do?"
"What can I do?"
Mary Jane was silent for a moment. Before she could say anything, some people came in. "I gotta go. Duty calls." She stood up and left.
Peter continued sipping his milkshake.
Peter returned home shortly after eight PM.
"Peter, is that you?" Aunt May called from the living room.
"Yes, Aunt May." He walked into the living room, where his aunt was watching television.
"Peter, I do think it is wonderful that you are helping out your fellow students, but I do wish you wouldn't stay out so late. I get so worried."
"Relax. I can take care of myself. Besides, it's not that late. It's barely even prime time."
"So, have you finished your homework?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Good," May replied as she turned back to the television. Peter went to his room.
"Hey, Peter! I thought you were going to be coming over last night!" Cody Driscol exclaimed.
Peter turned around in the crowded hall and saw the student he had been tutoring come up to him, falling into step to his left as he walked to homeroom. "Sorry, man," he replied. "Things kinda came up. I ran into Spider-Man on the way to your house . . . "
"Spider-Man? Cool!"
"He said that he wanted to tell you that you were in danger."
"Danger? What kind of danger?" Cody asked.
"I'm not sure," Peter replied. "I was halfway to your house when I ran into him. He told me to turn around and go home that it wasn't even safe for me to come to see you." Peter stopped walking and faced Cody. "I think someone might be watching you," he whispered.
"Strange . . . " Cody said. Just then, someone caught his eye. "Gotta go, see you later?"
"Sure," Peter answered. He looked over and saw who Cody was heading towards. The guy looked about his age, maybe a year younger. Peter noticed that he had a black eye. When Cody tried to give him five, he grimaced, as if his arm was sore.
I don't believe it . . . Peter thought. It's Valor! So, he's posing as a student to keep an eye on Cody.
"Wait a minute," Peter said out loud, to himself. "There were at least four new students on Monday. What are the odds that he was one of them?"
Cody and his mother were sitting at the dinner table that evening. They had just finished their meal, and Cody was telling his mom about his day.
Just as soon as Mrs. Driscol put the dishes in the sink to soak, there was a knock at the door.
"I'll get it!" Cody volunteered. He ran to the door and opened it up. Standing before him were two men in black suits, and one woman wearing a black mini-skirt and black jacket. She flashed her badge.
"Agent Starsmore, DEO. With me are Agents Newman . . . " She pointed to the man to her right. " . . . and Arthur." She pointed to the man on her left.
"What's this about?" Cody's mother asked, coming out of the kitchen.
"We're from the Department of Extranormal Operations, Mrs. Driscol," Starsmore replied. "May we come in?"
"Sure," Mrs. Driscol said. "Please, make yourselves comfortable."
The three DEO agents walked in and sat on the sofa. Cody and his mother sat in armchairs on either side of the sofa. Agents Newman and Arthur remained silent.
"Let's get down to business, shall we?" Starsmore said. She looked straight at Cody. "Cody, we've been monitoring you for a while now, and we have noticed your special abilities. You are quite intelligent, and you have shown tremendous athletic abilities. We've come here tonight to tell you about the fine opportunities you will be presented with if you choose to attend the DEO academy. You will be taught by some of the finest teachers in the country, and the extracurricular program is like none other . . . "
Spider-Man was patrolling the city, keeping an eye out for trouble. He headed over to Cody's neighborhood, just to see if DEO was causing any trouble. Strangely enough, he saw the DEO van, but it was parked in plain sight.
This isn't cool, Spidey thought. Why would DEO be out in plain sight, unless . . . Then, it finally hit Spidey. They're recruiting him.
A few webspins and leaps later, he was standing in front of the sliding glass window that was part of the Driscol's living room. He tapped on the glass.
Inside, Cody turned and saw the wallcrawler. "Spider-Man! What's he doing here?" He walked over and let him in.
"Isn't this a nice surprise," Starsmore said. "We've been wanting to talk to you as well, Spider-Man."
Spidey ignored her and turned to Cody. "What are they doing here?" he asked.
"They're offering me a position at the DEO academy," Cody answered.
"Are you going to accept?"
"Sure, why not?"
"Cody, the DEO is bad news. I think it's too great a risk if you go there."
Cody gritted his teeth. "Then, it's a risk I'm willing to take." He turned to Agent Starsmore. "I'd like to accept your offer."
Starsmore looked at Mrs. Driscol. "Is this all right with you?"
"Of course! I don't wish to be a hindrance to my son's best interests."
Starsmore turned to Spider-Man. "And what about you, Spider-Man? Would you like to join the DEO?"
Spider-Man snorted. "I'd rather fight the entire Avengers League and lose." He began walking away. As he was getting ready to sling away, he turned to Cody. "Good luck," he said as he fired a web.
Starsmore walked to Cody. "I think you'll love the academy, and will make a fine addition."
Next Issue: A new mystery!