When Slays the Silver Samurai!

Spider-Man is just about to give up on another uneventful patrol of the city and return home to his studies when he spots a bunch of costumed crooks making a getaway from a robbery. Attacking the costumed crooks, Spider-Man makes short work of them until he is attacked by the Silver Samurai, who catches the Wall-Crawler and easily defeats him in combat.

Meanwhile elsewhere, the Black Widow has taken an absence from the Champions to come to New York seeking out Nick Fury. Going to the barbershop that is a secret base for SHIELD, the Black Widow enters the secret command center and is surprised to find that everyone is missing. Returning to her Champscraft, she spots the battle between Spider-Man and the Silver Samurai and prevents the Japanese warrior from killing Spider-Man. As the two old enemies tangle once more, the Silver Samurai is unprepared when Spider-Man regains his feet and gets the drop on the Samurai.

Fighting at a construction site, the Samurai compromises one of the building's main utility cores, causing the foreman on the job to topple to his doom. He is saved by Spider-Man, but the danger is not over yet as the building is at risk of falling thanks to the compromised utility core. Spider-Man works quickly to create a temporary fix to prevent the building from falling on their heads while the Black Widow faces the Silver Samurai alone.

By the time Spider-Man is done, the Samurai is gaining the advantage against the Black Widow. Out of web fluid, Spider-Man tosses a steel bar at the Silver Samurai disorienting him briefly, although he still manages to strike down the Black Widow. Spider-Man enters the fray and lands a number of punches while avoiding the slashing of the Samurai's sword. The Black Widow gets back up and contributes to the fight before Spider-Man lands a knockout punch that leaves the Samurai unconscious.

Searching the Samurai's body, he finds the item that the warrior had come to steal: A strange clay statuette. This leaves Spider-Man and the Widow to wonder if they've been had.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Black Widow, Silver Samurai

Continuity Notes

• The Silver Samurai mentions how the Black Widow was once enslaved by the Mandrill. He is referring to the events of Daredevil #108-112.

• Spider-Man worries about snapping the neck of the construction worker who falls out of the building, like what happened to his girlfriend Gwen. He is referring to the death of Gwen Stacy from Amazing Spider-Man #121 wherein Spider-Man accidentally broke Gwen's neck trying to save her from falling off the Brooklyn Bridge.

• This story states that some of the mysteries in this story will be resolved in future issues of the Champions. Unfortunately, they never are as the series was cancelled after issue #17.