The Enemy Within!

As the newspapers scream with headlines about the escape of Doctor Octopus, Spider-Man scours the city searching for his foe. Spider-Man thinks about their last encounter during the Secret Wars and recalls how they never fought directly and wonders if his old foe is really afraid of him now. His is briefly distracted when a scaffold holding a pair of men putting up a billboard advertisement breaks. He quickly catches them and places them safely on a nearby rooftop and swings away without a word.

Meanwhile, in the secret hideout of Doctor Octopus, some of his minions put the finishing touches on a Spider-Man robot. Worrying that Octopus isn't in his mental facilities after his jaunt into space. They then unleash the robot on their leader, Doctor Octopus savagely battles the robot and destroys it. Even though Doctor Octopus triumphantly boasts over this victory, his minions are still not certain if he could manage to battle the real Spider-Man. The next afternoon, Spider-Man returns home from another fruitless search for Doctor Octopus, although he did manage to help the Rocket Racer. Returning to his apartment, Peter changes out of his costume and decides to call his Aunt May, relieved that they have finally settled their differences. The phone is answered by her fiancee Nathan Lubenski, who tells Peter that Aunt May is out shopping. He takes the opportunity to tell Peter about their financial problems. Peter assures Nathan that he will do everything he can to help. After the call, Peter takes a quick shower and heads out hoping that he can find Doctor Octopus so he can sell photos to the Daily Bugle.

Peter pays a visit to the Daily Bugle offices and checks with J. Jonah Jameson about work for Now Magazine. Jameson tells him that he is busy setting things up and he will call him. Heading into the newsroom he goes looking for Joe Robertson for work. Joe stops Peter and tells him that there is someone he should meet. He soon finds himself in the office of the Bugle's new city editor, Kate Cushing. Kate tells Peter that she is impressed with his work and asks him to try and get exclusive photos of a meeting at the Schavian Embassy. Peter stops at the bank to pull money out of the machine. Although he only has twenty dollars in his account, he is surprised when the machine gives him more money by mistake. However, his luck changes when Doctor Octopus and his minions launch an attack on the bank. Peter changes into Spider-Man and ambushes the armed thieves. Spider-Man deals with the minions and is about to go down and stop Doctor Octopus from raiding the safe. However, he notices that one of the tellers has been struck with a bullet. Unable to let the woman bleed out, Spider-Man is forced to take her to a hospital. By this point, Doctor Octopus learns that Spider-Man was there and is furious that his minions didn't tell him. Suddenly, they hear some police sirens prompting them to flee. As they flee, nobody is aware that one of the minions has been tagged with a spider-tracer.

Later, Spider-Man arrives at the Schavian Embassy, where security is tight. However, this is no concern for the hero, as he climbs into the ventilation system. From there, he crawls down through the vents until he finds a grate overlooking the meeting. As Spider-Man begins snapping the photos, he overhears a guard discovering the open vent. He realizes that this will prevent him from leaving until after everyone has left. While Spider-Man is stuck at the embassy, Doctor Octopus and his minions come crashing into the Daily Bugle newsroom demanding Spider-Man. With Joe Robertson and J. Jonah Jameson out of the office, Kate Cushing is in charge of the office. He demands that Cushing call the authorities and tell them that he is taking the Daily Bugle hostage until Spider-Man faces him. An hour later, Spider-Man is finally able to leave the vents. Changing back to Peter Parker, he quickly finds a payphone to phone in and tell Kate Cushing that he finished his photo assignment. That's when he learns about the hostage situation.

As Peter changes back into Spider-Man and rushes to the Bugle, Doctor Octopus begins to grow impatient. With his escape helicopter arriving, Octopus takes Kate hostage and flees. Spider-Man learns moments later to learn that Octavius will be contacting them soon to reveal where he has taken Cushing. When J. Jonah Jameson returns, he blames Spider-Man for the damage done to the office. Spider-Man takes this as his cue to leave, using his spider-sense to locate the spider-tracer he previously planted on one of Doctor Octopus' minions. Spider-Man then ambushes Doctor Octopus. At first, Doctor Octopus thinks he is fighting yet another Spider-Man robot. However, when Spider-Man begins quipping, Otto realizes that he is fighting the real hero and begins to crack up again. Doctor Octopus enters a catatonic state. His minions consider attacking Spider-Man, but the hero points out that they owe Otto no loyalty and they stand down. That's when the police arrive with Otto Octavius' lawyer Michael Gerdes. When Spider-Man is about to destroy Doctor Octopus' arm, Gerdes orders him to cease and desist as he has a legal order as his client has rights. Since he cannot convince the authorities otherwise, Spider-Man decides to depart. On his way out, he notices the Spider-Man robot that Doctor Octopus used and briefly considers using it himself but decides against it. As he swings away, Spider-Man can't help but feel sorry for Doctor Octopus.

The next morning, Peter has a meeting with Kate Cushing, who is impressed that Peter was able to get those exclusive photos. However, she can't use the photos because of the grating from the vent. As such she had to go with a photo taken by Lance Bannon. With this bit of bad news, Peter walks home, just as it starts to rain, wishing that he could have a happy ending for once.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus, J. Jonah Jameson, Kate Cushing, Glory Grant, Nathan Lubensky, Michael Gerdes

Continuity Notes

• The headline on the newspapers are dated May of 1985. These dates should be considered topical references per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616, as they are relative to the date of publication. Likewise, should Spider-Man's mention of Ronald Reagan is a topical reference.

• As revealed last issue, Doctor Octopus developed a pathological fear of Spider-Man after their battle in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #79. The pair were brought to Battleworld during Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1-12

• Spider-Man assisted the Rocket Racer in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #104.

• Aunt May was upset with Peter when he told her that he quit grad school in Amazing Spider-Man #243. They reconciled their problems in Amazing Spider-Man #265.

• Doctor Octopus is depicted as crushing a typewriter while making his threat. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.

• Spider-Man makes a joke about keeping the robot in a closet and getting a Spider-Dog. This is tongue-and-cheek jab at Superman who used to have an army of Superman robots and a pet dog named Krypto the Super-Dog.