Opening panel, The Tick is shown surrounded by padded walls while wearing a straitjacket. Proclaiming his boredom for the past two months within a mental asylum, he has a brilliant idea - simply leave the facility.
Without any further explanation, Tick is suddenly jumping between rooftops, and following his destiny of being a superhero. Not the most graceful, Tick takes quite a few stumbles along the way, destroying parts of each building he comes in contact with. Eventually stopping to take a break, he uses his trusty viewfinder to survey the area for crime activity.
Due to the weight of his character, Tick falls through a roof, landing directly into a crime scene, led by sword-wielding ninjas! The ninjas are currently interrogating a man on the whereabouts of a future character to the series, Oedipus. Oblivious to the incident surrounding him, the Tick dismisses the ninjas, and continues his pursuit for legitimate crime by jumping out the window.
Encountering yet another rough fall, Tick crashes into the pavement below. Startling a nearby homeless man, he engages in a conversation. Rather than continue his pursuit, Tick explains his superpowers to the man, in a amusing attempt to "Develop character". After several arguments with the homeless man, the Tick throws him aside and quickly disposes of the ninjas which followed him.
Next panel, the Tick is shown sitting at a diner named "Hopper's" - a parody of artist Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks" painting. Continually being questioned by other visitors on the accuracy of his tick costume, Tick threatens to suck the blood of a fellow customer. Vigorously inhaling through a straw, Tick knocks himself out and the panels fade to black.
Due to the darkness, when the Tick eventually comes to, he makes the conclusion that he must be within a whale. In reality, Tick eventually discovers that he is mysteriously on a subway track instead. Aware of an incoming train, a nearly superhero, Caped Wonder, parody of DC's Superman, quickly springs into action. Ultimately, Tick and Caped Wonder do get hit by a train, but are left unscathed due to mutual invulnerability. The Tick mentions this fact, and Caped Wonder runs away to hide his identity.
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