The citizens of New York City were delighted to discover that their friendly neighborhood Spider-Man had a new teammate lately, a superhero called Shining Locust.
Both were represented by insects, both had unusual belts and dazzling transformation effects. It would have been strange if there wasn't some connection between them.
And to those in the know, Shining Locust's real identity was practically self-evident.
Among them, Nick Fury, who had been running around trying to put together the Avengers, was the happiest. Harry Osborn's father happened to be in his custody, so talking this "Locust-Man" into joining the Avengers would be a piece of cake.
Of course, Director Fury thought it remained to be seen whether Harry Osborn would turn evil like his father, but he was at least a decent backup candidate.
On top of that, he had helped Tony Stark resolve his palladium poisoning, which more or less secured Iron Man's participation. Even Nick Fury, the king of spies, couldn't help feeling a little excited.
After all, this was a plan Nick Fury had dreamed of for decades. Only now had he finally seen a glimmer of hope.
Compared with the delighted Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., however, our Mr. Iron Man was in a rather less pleasant mood.
Ever since seeing Spider-Man's transformation last time, he had felt outclassed when it came to the spectacle of suiting up. Even his portable suitcase armor fell far short of Spider-Man's belt.
However, he had been busy analyzing vibranium's weaknesses lately, and he also needed a few days to research nanotechnology. Most importantly, he didn't want to copy Spider-Man's belt, so he had to think of some other way to show off. That was why he had postponed making his new suit for a while.
Who would have thought that during that brief