Relapse Times Two

At the costume shop owned by Melvin Potter, Melvin is distracted from his work by the sound of gunshots, but dismisses them and considers that it's not his business. The gunshots are the cause of three young hoodlums who are fleeing police after committing an armed robbery. When one of them shoots down a police officer, they panic and begin trying to find a place to hide. One of them knows just the place to go and breaks into Melvin's costume shop for them to hide in. When Melvin confronts them, one of the hoods recognizes Melvin as Daredevil's old foe the Gladiator. They ask him to help but he refuses, but when he attempts to call the police they try to shoot him, hitting his arm and force him at gunpoint to don his Gladiator costume. The shout rouses the police who head to the scene, unaware of what is in store for them.

Meanwhile, Dr. Octopus has had his arms repaired and is making his way to the Columbia Presbyterian Hospital to get revenge on Spider-Man and the recovering Black Cat. Spider-Man is roused from a nightmare about Dr. Octopus when the real Otto Octavius arrives on the scene and attacks. Spider-Man tries his best to stop Dr. Octopus, but fails to prevent the criminal from ripping out Felicia's life support before fleeing and vowing to return to finish them off. As doctors rush into re-stabilize Felicia's condition, Spider-Man is confronted by Jean DeWolff who asks Spider-Man to move Felicia to a more secure hospital. Spider-Man refuses to do so fearing that it might kill Felicia and so Spider-Man leaves the scene to prepare for his rematch against Dr. Octopus.

Along his way home he spots the police surrounding Potter's costume shop. When they fire tear gas into the store, the Gladiator is forced to fire his razor discs at a nearby sign that topples above the police sending them scattering. Spider-Man gets involved and takes down the Gladiator with a single blow, and then easily beats down the crooks and captures them for the police. The combination of Spider-Man's punch and blood loss from his bullet wound causes the Gladiator to hallucinate and think that he is indeed a Roman gladiator and attacks Spider-Man, slicing his back open with a razor disc in an attempt to kill the thugs that attempted to extort him into helping them escape.

Spider-Man fights off the Gladiator in an attempt to make him see sense and not commit murder. Eventually, the Gladiator snaps out of it and gives the crooks a scare by firing his discs at their feet and telling the police to get out of his sight. With the battle over, and the crooks in police custody, Melvin thanks Spider-Man for his help and gladly offers to repair his costume.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Black Cat, Jean DeWolff, Gladiator, Doctor Octopus

Continuity Notes

• Spider-Man recounts how he ripped off Dr. Octopus' mechanical arms. That happened in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #75.

• The wall-crawler also recounts how the Gladiator was previously delusional, as depicted in Daredevil #166, 173-174 and 186.