Meanwhile, at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, Carl Greenberg is running for his life from a masked female carrying a whip. After catching him, the mysterious woman accuses Greenberg of raping a girl during a fraternity party. Carl denies it at first but admits his guilt just before the woman snaps his neck with her whip.

The next day, Rich Rider's girlfriend, Laura Dunham, is reading the school paper. The headline is about Greenberg's death at the hands of the mysterious woman. The newspaper identifies the woman as Tailhook. Laura is upset by a diary entry she has found. The entry talks about how certain men have to pay for what they have done. Laura suspects that the diary's writer is Tailhook.

Rich meets Laura for dinner at Fitzwilly's. They discuss their relationship and Laura is concerned about how much she doesn't know about Rich. She then tells him about an abusive boyfriend she had once and her fear that it would happen again. Rich is shocked that she would even think he was capable of such abuse. Later, Nova returns to check up on Laura. He suspects that there is something she is not telling him. As he looks in Laura's window, he finds his girlfriend holding Tailhook's mask in her hand! He uses the Nova helmet's Telescopic Lens to confirm his fears. Two hours later, Tailhook is back on the streets and kills another accused rapist, Paul Davidson.

Meanwhile, Rich's friends, Bernie Dillon and Roger "Caps" Cooper, are searching for an apartment in the section of New York known as Alphabet City. They are talking to the landlord, Mrs. Frushlugginer, about the apartment. After discussing it, the two decide the only way to afford it is to bring Rich in as a roommate.

Back at the New Warriors' Crash Pad, Nova is having his teammate, Hindsight Lad, hack into Yale's computer records. They find out the truth behind Tailhook. Rich appears at on the Yale Campus the next day to confront Laura. Laura demands to know why Rich is so interested in Tailhook. He takes her aside and reveals to her that it's his job to care. That he is Nova! Laura tells Rich that the person she shares a mailbox with at Yale is Tailhook. Laura had discovered it after she began exchanging notes with her mailbox partner. Tailhook was the one who had left Laura the diary entry and considers Laura her friend. Nova convinces his girlfriend that Tailhook must be brought to justice and that he has a plan.

Two nights later, at Yale's Harkness Tower, Tailhook arrives looking for Laura. Instead, she finds Nova. Nova and Laura had left her a note asking for a meeting. Nova tells Tailhook that he knows who she is and that murder won't bring back her sister. Tailhook's sister had been a Naval officer who was attacked by fellow officers at the Navy's Tailhook Convention. The officers were never brought to justice and Tailhook's sister was passed over for promotions due to her testimony.

Nova asks Marissa (Tailhook's real name) to let him help her. She refuses and tells Nova that she wants to jump. He points out that he can catch her long before she hits the ground. Suddenly, Laura tells Nova that he can't catch two at the same time and jumps from another building! Nova catches Laura but is not able to stop Tailhook from jumping off the other building. Marissa decided to commit suicide instead of going to jail.