Biography - Page 5
Stripped of his powers and new equipment, Moon Knight returned to serving the principles of justice and vengeance rather than literally acting in Khonshu's name. He reclaimed his Long Island mansion and became active again in the New York area. Spector International Galleries became the more diversified Spector Enterprises, with the day-to-day business often overseen by Marc's accountant, Hal Parkinson. Frenchie piloted the Moon Copter once more, but Jean-Paul began to question the value of Moon Knight's mission, when they could be performing more lucrative mercenary work together. Marlene resurfaced in Marc's life as well, and she too questioned why he still bothered with acting as Moon Knight.
Bushman also returned. While Spector was focused on the Avengers, Raoul Armand Bushman rose up in a revolution to become General and President for Eternity of Burunda, the poor Central African nation where he was born. Adding diplomatic immunity to his weapons of terror, Bushman renewed his feud with Spector by kidnapping Marlene. She was transported back to his war-
ravaged homeland, forcing Moon Knight and Frenchie to follow. The rescue mission was a success (with Marlene half rescuing herself), but Marc chose to merely escape with his friends rather than take permanent revenge on Bushman. It seemed the Avenger Moon Knight's take on murder also came largely from Khonshu -- Marc Spector was committed to putting his killing days behind him. [Marc Spector: Moon Knight #1-3]
Marc took the time to visit Gena in Houston. She had set up a new restaurant out there with her brother after her diner closed down. Marc had grown concerned over whether Moon Knight was a worthwhile pursuit, and if he had merely harmed the people who went along with his crusade. Gena reminded him that he had given good work to her, her kids and Crawley. While the dangers had been real, it had given them each a better life in their own way. Marc left Houston more secure in his efforts as Moon Knight. [Marvel Super-Heroes (2nd series) #1]
While tracking a drug addict who ate a gerbil in a pet store, Moon Knight ran across the Punisher working the same case. Spector and Castle bonded as they uncovered a snake cult behind the Save Our Society homeless and rehab centers. Madame Viper was posing as the benefactor of SOS on behalf of the Serpent God Set, and using her "cure" for drug addiction to turn addicts into Snake Men for her service. Moon Knight and Punisher broke up her clinic and formed a good working relationship for the future. [Punisher Annual #2]
A series of break-ins threatened Spector Enterprises, looting many of Marc's properties of their most lucrative assets. The systematic targeting drew the suspicions of the Feds and insurance companies to Marc, but the clocks broken at the stroke of midnight at each scene told Moon Knight his old nemesis Anton Mogart, the Midnight Man, was back in action. Well, almost. Moon 
Knight met Midnight, also known as Jeff Wilde, Mogart's eighteen-year old son. The Midnight Man barely survived his last encounter with Moon Knight, but he told his son all about Marc Spector and taught him his craft as a burglar before passing on. Jeff was a cocky punk who thought it would be a kick to become Moon Knight's sidekick, and committed his burglaries as an introduction of sorts. [Marc Spector: Moon Knight #4-5]
Moon Knight thought Midnight's sidekick idea was ridiculous, and tossed him out of Spector Mansion. Jeff was persistent in trying to stay in Marc's life, however, basically forcing Spector to take the kid under his wing in order to keep him out of the way. Moon Knight and Midnight worked together with Brother Voodoo to wipe out a group of zombie hitmen, and also had a run in with the Punisher, who was hunting the anti-nationalist Flag-Smasher and his ULTIMATUM group. [Marc Spector: Moon Knight #6-9]
Things got serious during the Acts of Vengeance affair, however, where super-villains were counseled to seek out unfamiliar foes in an elaborate "pay it forward" scheme against the heroes. 
Killer Shrike, Ringer and Coachwhip of the Serpent Society attacked Moon Knight on the streets. Frenchie was dogfighting with the flying Shrike when the Moon Copter crashed, crushing his legs. Marc blamed himself for Frenchie's injuries, lamenting how his crusade as Moon Knight continued to hurt anyone BUT him. [Marc Spector: Moon Knight #10-11]
Bushman decided to rebrand Burunda as a narco-republic, pushing heavily into the drug trade with new heroin crops. A team of mercenaries led by the new Arsenal intended to press Moon Knight into service against Bushman, swatting aside Midnight and kidnapping Spector for their plans. Arsenal lied about being sponsored by the CIA and that lie, combined with his heavy-handed attitude, led Moon Knight to disable and abandon Arsenal's crew to proceed into Burunda himself. Spector allied himself with another mercenary named Mustang and General Jonathon B'kosa, a former Burundan Air Force officer leading the rebellion against Bushman. [Marc Spector: Moon Knight #11-12]
Moon Knight burned the poppy fields and called out Bushman to face him one more time, drawing the General and President for Eternity's laser focus towards Spector. B'Kosa was killed in an attack on the rebel camp, leaving Moon Knight and Mustang on the run in the wilderness after their chopper crashed. Bushman ignored the rest of the rebel forces to pursue Spector and 
Spector alone, allowing Arsenal to arrive and lead the rebels in overthrowing the capital. Meanwhile, Bushman caught up with Moon Knight and Mustang, but he again challenged Spector to single combat and again was defeated in front of his men. The remaining members of Bushman's army abandoned the tyrant for the new regime. Spector and Mustang managed to crawl across the neighboring border to Wakanda, immigrating thanks to Moon Knight's Avenger ID card opening doors with the king. [Marc Spector: Moon Knight #13-14]
Marc Spector's past came back to haunt him when Raposa was finally overthrown in Bosqueverde. The new democratic government led by Hector Silva and the former ruler's widow Carmilla Dominguez wanted justice for Raposa's horrid reign and worked around the world to 
locate and capture Raposa's supporters for trial. Raposa himself managed to escape their dragnet, but the high-profile Marc Spector of Spector Enterprises was easy to find. Silva hired Silver Sable and the Wild Pack to bring to justice the man who murdered their ruler. Spector fought and managed to elude Sable's team, but his conscience got the better of him and he delivered himself to the Wild Pack to face justice. [Marc Spector: Moon Knight #15]
Marc spent weeks in a Bosqueverde prison cell with his fellow former mercenaries and Raposa's elite. Marc had very nearly resigned himself to his fate, accepting that all the good he had tried to do since killing Dominguez didn't rob these people of the debt he owed them. His trial before Silva and the widow Dominguez was a showy spectacle for the crowds, but the facts were no less valid. Spector only perked up when Carmilla Dominguez gave her testimony and faltered for a moment, explaining how she escaped from Bo Ollsen after Spector left Dominguez's office years ago. Marc remembered he only fired because his partner claimed to see a gun, and started to realize there might be more to the story than even he knew. Nevertheless, Marc Spector was found guilty at trial before the people of Bosqueverde.
Raposa's loyalists in the prison arranged to escape their cell in the hopes of killing Silva and restoring the Raposa regime. Marc escaped with them, but when Marlene and Frenchie arrived to help him flee the country, he remained behind to protect Silva. Switching to his Moon Knight identity, Spector disabled Raposa's lieutenants and saved the new president's life. Revealing his identity, Moon Knight asked Silva for clemency at his sentencing. In exchange, he vowed to bring Emmanuel Raposa himself to justice in Bosqueverde. President Silva agreed and Marc returned to his cell to receive the official ruling before the crowds the next day. President Silva was true to his word and Marc Spector was released with a new mission in life. [Marc Spector: Moon Knight #16-18]
Back in New York, however, Jeff Wilde had been busy in Marc's absence. Midnight had turned bitter towards Moon Knight for constantly sidelining him and started to blame Marc for the circumstances that led to his father's death. Midnight entered Spector Mansion and stole a Moon Knight suit along with Marc's gadgets, using them to return to life as a high-end thief. On one breaking and entering, Midnight accidentally uncovered the Council of Ten for the Secret Empire and barely escaped with his life. Because of his attire, the Secret Empire came to believe Moon Knight was planning to interfere with their activities, and intended to eliminate him before he could bring other costumed crimefighters into their business.
When he discovered the missing equipment, Moon Knight went hunting for Jeff and found Midnight and Spider-Man being accosted by Secret Empire soldiers. Marc had to get involved in 
the brawl and confronted Number Six of the Council of Ten. Midnight was furious about being made to look like an amateur again by Moon Knight's arrival, and impulsively tried to prove himself. He jumped in between Moon Knight and Number Six, goading the robed villain to fight him. Number Six obliged and blasted Jeff with his electric dagger, ravaging Midnight's body before Moon Knight could do anything to stop it. [Marc Spector: Moon Knight #19]
The hovercraft with Number Six and Jeff's body eluded Moon Knight, leaving Marc uncertain whether Midnight was alive or dead. He teamed up with Spider-Man and Punisher to rattle the cages and find out what the Secret Empire was plotting. Spector's working relationship with the Punisher deteriorated as Castle kept pushing him for letting an amateur into the field in the first place. They captured Number Six, who claimed Midnight was alive last he saw him, before Punisher killed the Councilman for information. They discovered Number One's plan was to launch Skyclaw, a killer satellite able to knock other satellites out of orbit, letting the Secret Empire hold the world's communications network hostage. Moon Knight, Spider-Man and Punisher uncovered the hidden launch silo in the Empire Mall construction site in Manhattan, disabling Number One's plans. When they captured the Empire's leader, however, Number One insisted Midnight had died of his wounds. [Marc Spector: Moon Knight #19-21]
Marc wasn't willing to fully accept Jeff was dead at Number One's word, and he continued investigating the Secret Empire. His research uncovered a faction called the Pretorians, a white 
supremacist biker gang led by Chainsaw. Cross-referenced in the Empire's files was Bo Ollsen, his old mercenary contact who may have known the truth about Raposa and Dominguez. During a fight with the Praetorians, Moon Knight ran across Bo Ollsen. His former comrade from Bosqueverde was on a mission of vengeance, having been sold out by the Secret Empire on a mission which cost him his entire unit. In exchange for Number One's location in prison, Spector got the truth about Bosqueverde from Ollsen.
It turned out Dominguez had already been bought off by Raposa before the siege of the capital. For one million in gold, he and his wife were going to disappear, leaving the country to Raposa. The revolutionary decided to renege on the deal, though, and ordered Ollsen to kill Dominguez and retrieve the gold. In the presidential office, Ollsen pretended to see a gun in order to get Spector to fire on Dominguez, who was expecting Raposa's men to escort him to safety. Ollsen then convinced Carmilla Dominguez to show him where the gold was hidden and split it, so Ollsen could tell Raposa that Dominguez was killed before he could reveal the location of his payoff. Moon Knight sent Ollsen on his way after learning that Raposa was setting himself up in Miami as a drug trafficker. Marc infiltrated Raposa's organization and managed to recover the sadistic crimelord. He turned Raposa over to agents of Bosqueverde, fulfilling his promise to President Silva. [Marc Spector: Moon Knight #22-24]
One day, Spider-Man contacted Moon Knight through their Avengers connections and reported he had a run-in with the Secret Empire. Worse, Jeff Wilde had become an agent of the Empire by this point, revived as a cybernetically-enhanced enforcer as Midnight. The Secret Empire was still in a 
state of unrest after the death of Number One in prison, and were trying to rebuild their power base with cyborg soldiers and other super-powered operatives. Moon Knight joined Spider-Man and Night Thrasher in a fight with Midnight when Jeff attempted to kidnap Thrasher's teammate Nova from the New Warriors for experimentation. During their pursuit of Midnight, they were joined by the Punisher, though Jeff got away with Nova.
Moon Knight and his comrades had a series of running conflicts with Midnight and the Secret Empire as they tried to rescue Nova. Marc tried several times to reach out to Jeff and get him to see reason, but Midnight was too far gone. In his twisted mind, he now fully blamed Spector for his father's death, for mistreating him as a partner and for leaving him to die at the Secret Empire's hands, leading to his current predicament. His cyborg upgrades made him powerful, but a pain inducer implanted in his spine also made him subservient to the Empire's needs. When his nurse Lynn Church arranged to deactivate the pain inducer in Midnight's latest round of surgeries, he didn't choose to leave the Empire. Instead, he murdered his tormenter, Number Seven, and claimed leadership of the Secret Empire by force alone. Any potential Midnight had as a hero or friend for Marc was now gone.
In the final conflict, Moon Knight was joined by the combined forces of Spider-Man, Punisher, Nova, Night Thrasher and Darkhawk in opposing the Secret Empire. Midnight discovered Lynn Church had also been a cyborg, the secret prototype of Number One, who remained undiscovered by the Council of Ten after their leader's death. At first it seemed as if Jeff and Lynn 
would become a bionic Adam and Eve leading a new era of the Empire. However, Lynn revealed she intended to keep Midnight in line using the pain inducer, which still functioned but had only switched frequencies so she alone could use it. Once again facing a lifetime of subservience, Midnight went mad and suicidal, bringing down the warehouse with his force blasts. Moon Knight was unable to do anything to reach his former partner and the heroes barely escaped the building collapse. In the aftermath, the severed cybernetic arms of Midnight and Church were recovered from the wreckage. [Amazing Spider-Man (1st series) #353-358]