Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Last issue Dr Octopus 'persuaded' Tony Stark to help him by threatening to nuke Manhattan. (Tony can't turn into Iron Man because that would trigger the bomb.) Otto Octavius is dying from a neural disease, and he wants Stark to fix him. He seems also ready to die if it means that the great Tony Stark will have to admit that there's a problem he can't solve.
Stark is investigating Ock's problem, but all the while he needles the villain. He accuses him of copying other people's ideas. He also calls him a joke of a villain. Tony says that first time Doc Ock attacked Stark Industries he just let Spider-Man deal with it. And on later occasions that Ock was easy to beat.
Ock has also arranged for an extra incentive for Stark. Electro and Sandman are holding Stark Resilient employee Tim Cababa hostage in his Broxton apartment. But Pepper Potts turned up last issue unexpectedly as a pizza delivery girl. The villains now capture her as well. But she fights back with the power of her repulsor chest implant. She holds her own against the 2 supervillains, until Electro threatens Tim.
But the situation is complicated further when Len Pimacher arrives with another pizza for Tim. He sees the broken door of the apartment and the situation within. He reacts by attacking Electro, very effectively (much to everyone's surprise). He then tricks his foe into ramming his fist into an electric socket. We won't know the effect of the resulting electric storm until next issue.
Meanwhile Tony has asked Otto his opinion on the problem of a suspected mole in Stark Resilient. Stark has kept his few employees isolated on separate projects for several months, so that he can monitor all their communications. (He says that he's done this with their approval, but Tim didn't seem to know why last issue.)
Ock suggests that the spy will be lying low, and that he will have done things to make himself seem loyal and useful. But he will also do suspicious things as well, to muddy the waters. But he will wait and strike where and when Stark least expects it. Or maybe not.
Stark figures out that Octavius has already consulted doctors and discovered that there's no medical cure. So now he's looking for a scientific miracle. Tony suggests they enlist the help of Reed Richards or Henry Pym. Or maybe Dr Strange. But Doc Ock won't agree. It turns out his desire to humble Stark is greater than his desire to live. (And maybe he doesn't trust the heroes to help him.)
So Tony finally makes it plain. Ock wins. Stark isn't clever enough to fix him. But that's not enough for Otto.
As Doc Ock huddles over the controls of his octo-craft, Tony casually mentions that he once tricked the Hulk by taking off his armour, but leaving an invisibly-thin shell on. He muses aloud that such a thin armour won't trigger the nuke. (He's been experimenting by manifesting bits of armour earlier.)
Now he attacks Ock as Iron Man. As they fight Tony suggests that Otto really wants to live. But Ock replies "Of course I want to live. I just want you to die more!" And he reveals that he has set the nuclear bomb to explode. Iron Man has 6 minutes to save New York.