Dichotomies

The story begins with Peter Parker observing how Doctor Donald Blake (a.k.a Thor) performs surgery operation on a homeless old lady without a name in the Mount Sinai Hospital. Suddenly a tall, strange man assaults the hospital seeking for this lady, and soon disclosures to be an alien called Meru. 

Doctor Blake finishes the operation thanks to Spider-man, who interposes between Meru and the operation room. But he is not able to stop Meru from using his power: awake a part of any human being that is hidden and opposes to that person's decisions. Meru uses this power on Spider-man and this quits the scene letting the old lady unprotected. But Doctor Blake transforms into Thor and fights Meru, who escapes.

The day after Robbie Robertson asks Peter Parker about the recent cowardice of Spider-man. Parker has no answer but struggles against that part of him that Meru awake which keeps him from acting as Spider-man.

Meanwhile, Meru keeps using his power on New York's ordinary population until Thor confronts him again. Their fight makes the old lady remember that she is also an alien from the same planet than Meru: Cherron. She happens to be Dalia and belongs to a revolutionary party of people who in that planet fights against the tyranny of the Haif. In fact, they succeeded in their revolution, more or less: Cherron exploded while Meru and Dalia were out of the planet.

They kept fighting each other until she escaped to Earth and erased her own memories to keep safe. The fight between Dalia and Meru ends with both of them unified in a mystic fog.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Thor, Meru the Mind-Bender, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, Dalia the Shape-Changer

Continuity Notes

• Donald Blake makes a passing mention to "sitting on his hands" of late. At the time of this story, Blake lost his job when budget cuts force his clinic to close in Thor #313.

• The depiction of the original twin towers at the site of the World Trade Center should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. The original towers were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. The timescale has pushed forward enough that the modern age does not begin until after that date and continues to move further away.