Amazing Spider-Man #214

Issue Details

Synopsis

THEN SHALL WE BOTH BE BETRAYED! Spider-Man is attacked by the Wizard at his apartment building, and is forced to evacuate the tenants when the villain lights the building on fire. Just when he finishes rescuing everyone, he spots a local homeless man named Wino Charlie sleeping off his drink on the roof. Trying to save him, Spider-Man leaps back onto the roof of the burning building, only for the roof to collapse under his feet. Luckily, both Spider-Man and Wino Charlie fall on a neighbor's waterbed, which the wall-crawler uses to keep themselves wet and escape the blaze. Surprisingly, Wino Charlie slept through this entire ordeal, so Spider-Man leaves him in an alley to sleep off his drunk. Not far away, the Wizard and his mysterious confidante are furious that Spider-Man managed to evade their trap. His associate is unimpressed and tells the Wizard that he must now help her get revenge against her enemy, as part of the conditions of breaking him out of prison.  The following morning, Peter Parker checks in at the 5th Avenue Hotel where the insurance company is putting up all the tenants in his building. As he waits for the elevator, he sees a man and whom he believes he can identify as the next door neighbor who has been singing country music late at night. He assumes as such because the man looks like a country-western singer. He wishes this tenant could be as timid and unassuming as a much shorter man standing next to him. Peter is surprised at the size of his hotel room and the amount of luxury that was afforded. As he begins to relax, Peter's good spirits are ruined when he discovers the mystery singer is in the room next door to his, much to his chagrin. Suddenly, there is a knock at the door and Peter answers it. It's the beautiful woman who had just recently moved into his building. Once again, Peter finds himself completely taken by her beauty and doesn't think twice when she asks to watch a special report on the recent break out at Ryker's Island in his room.   Meanwhile, at the prison, Senator Marion Stensgard is reaming out Warden Percy Rue over the number of breakouts that regularly happen at the prison. Rue tries to explain that the number of supervillains that are incarcerated here is difficult to keep locked up without the proper government funding. As he explains this, the alarms begin to sound all over the facility. They soon discover that the cell block which includes both the Sandman and the Trapster is being flooded. The pair of villains are confused, but there is nothing they can do as Sandman is being drugged to prevent him from using his powers. Before they are in over their head in water, the wall of their cell breaks open and they are swept out into the ocean. There they are recovered by the Wizard and his benefactor. As they make their escape, they are witnessed by an Atlantean scout. Recognizing who the Wizard's ally is, the scout heads back to Atlantis to warn his ruler, Prince Namor. Back on shore, the reunited members of the Frightful Four listen to the Wizard and their new ally's plan to get revenge against their enemies. At that moment, the scout reports back to the Sub-Mariner, who vows to go to the surface world and deal with this situation on his own.   Back in Manhattan, Spider-Man web-slings across the city, he is puzzled by how he acts around his new neighbor. As he heads back to the hotel, he spots the Sub-Mariner crash into the room where the woman in question is staying. Namor demands to know what the woman is doing, but the woman plays dumb. Spider-Man enters the room and thinking that Namor is attacking a helpless woman attacks the Atlantean monarch. Namor fights back, but Spider-Man manages to slip outside with the woman. The web-slinger lures Namor onto an adjacent rooftop where their brawl continues. Spider-Man has the advantage due to the fact that Namor's time away from water is slowly weakening him. However, when the web-spinner demands answers, the Sub-Mariner arrogantly refuses to explain himself. Spider-Man makes a serious mistake when his next lunge sends both crashing through a water tower, restoring the Sub-Mariner's strength.   As the two continue their battle, the Frightful Four and their ally -- who reveals herself to be Namor's foe Llyra -- make their presence known. While the two heroes are distracted, the Wizard blasts both of them with a specially made weapon for this occasion. As Spider-Man and Namor writhe in pain, the Frightful Four stand over them gloating over their victory and the apparent demise of their foes.