In Amazing Spider-Man #25, a new Green Goblin attacks Randy Robertson and Gloria Grant (who are out on a date), rampages the offices of the Daily Bugle, and tries to kill Arthur, Jill and Paul Stacy at their home. However, this new Goblin does not appear to be Norman Osborn, as he is handling his glider clumsily and without style.

In that same issue, Peter falls prey to Norman Osborn when he gets drugged (by means of his toothpaste) by the latter right in his own apartment. When he awakens from this drug-induced trip, he finds himself in the Osborn Mansion seen at the beginning of ASM#25. He is confronted by Norman who reveals to Peter that it was he, Peter, who was recently running around in the Goblin costume terrorizing his friends and loved ones. This is where this issue picks up.

ACT 1: Peter is still unconscious and is dreaming about his own demise at the hands of the Green Goblin. He sees his family and friends at his burial, his casket being lowered into the ground. He also sees himself trapped in the casket, unable to get out, screaming for help. He finally awakens on the floor of the Osborn Mansion, the Green Goblin mask in his hands, Norman Osborn standing above him. Norman tells him not to fight the hallucinogen he's drugged him with but to accept it, as it contains traces of the goblin formula, enough to open his eyes to its potential. Peter tries to fight it but the battle appears to be quite painful. In the mean time, Norman tells Peter about something his own father, Norman Osborn The First, taught him a long time ago in the very house they are in. Norman recalls a childhood experience where his father taught him a lesson about fearing darkness by forcing him to stay alone overnight in the dark family mansion. Although petrified beyond belief, the young Norman Osborn survived the ordeal and now, years in the future, it's taken him until now to understand the lesson his father tried to teach him that night: "we must accept the unknown or be devoured by it".

ACT 2: The story switches back to Peter's hallucinations of being buried alive in a casket, his Aunt May throwing a rose down his burial hole. In his delirium, Peter implores Aunt May to help him but she’s already gone. Suddenly, Uncle Ben emerges from the darkness and talks to Peter. Peter approaches him and they embrace. Peter apologizes for causing his death. As Uncle Ben forgives Peter, he transforms into Norman Osborn and back into his former self, and then he transforms into the Green Goblin, all the while telling Peter to embrace the darkness. Peter realizes that there is something wrong going on so he punches the Green Goblin. Back in reality, a drug-induced Peter punches Norman Osborn at the same time. Norman smacks him back and knocks him out. He then disappears into the darkness once again.

ACT 3: Minutes later, Peter awakens, strapped to a chair, with Norman Osborn standing nearby. Norman taunts Peter by having him choose between two glasses that are sitting in front of him. One contains water, which Peter needs desperately, and is illuminated by a light glowing from above. The other is hidden in darkness and is filled with the Goblin Formula. There is a catch though: the one filled with water will hurt Peter if he chooses that one. Peter, however, does not care and he goes to grab the one containing water. Instantly, he gets a severe electrical shock that makes him hit the other glass, which spills all over the floor. Norman is furious and extremely disappointed with Peter. He walks out of the room, telling Peter that sooner or later he will join him in the darkness.

ACT 4: Meanwhile, back at the apartment that Peter shares with Randy Robertson, Randy is on the phone with Aunt May, who is looking for Peter. Randy lies to Aunt May about Peter's whereabouts since he really doesn't know where he is. Good old gullible May believes him.

ACT 5: Back in the Osborn Mansion, Peter is chained to the ground in a dark room. At regular intervals, a light illuminates the room and Peter instantly gets electrocuted. He tries hard to break the chain holding him but to no avail. Just outside the door, Norman is looking out the window, reminiscing about that night where his father locked him up overnight in the Mansion. He hears Peter screaming from inside the room, asking him why he is doing this so he turns his attention to him. Norman starts explaining to Peter (through the door) that when his son's (Harry) wife, Liz Allan-Osborn, gave birth to Little Normie a few years ago, he came back from Europe to see his grandson, even though he was believe to be dead at the time. Outside the hospital, in his Green Goblin guise, he had glided down towards the window of the infant ward to catch a glimpse of Little Normie. However, when he had reached that floor, he was surprise to see that Spider-Man/Peter had been crawling outside the window, watching over his grandson, wanting to protect him, just as Norman did. It was then that Norman realized that Peter should be his heir and it was then that he came up with the idea of having Peter carry the Osborn tradition. So he brought Peter to the Osborn Mansion to try and convince him to follow in his footsteps and to become his son; the decision to accept this, however, remains that of Peter's.

ACT 6: A few minutes have passed. Peter/Spider-Man, still locked in the dark room, is falling in and out of consciousness. Suddenly, Norman Osborn, now dressed as the Green Goblin, opens the door, allowing the light to enter the room. Peter begs to him to turn it off and the latter acquiesces to his request and turns the light off, letting Peter choose the darkness. He grabs Peter and leads him to a table upon which sits a vial containing the Goblin Formula. Norman implores Peter to drink it, to join him, to fill in the void that was created by the death of his own father and only child. As Peter brings the vial closer to his lips, he suddenly gets a vision of Aunt May telling him that he has always been a good boy. He hesitates, knowing that drinking the formula is wrong, and he throws the content of the vial all over Norman's face. Norman is furious so he starts pummelling Peter but the latter, having regained some of his strength, manages to fight back ferociously; considering he's been drugged for quite a while now. The battle continues throughout the Mansion and spreads outside the Mansion onto the rooftops where a lighting storm illuminates the New York City sky. The battle rages on between the two foes, neither one gaining advantage on the other. However, after a brutal combat, Peter finally gets the upper hand on the Goblin. Holding him down on the ground, Peter tells Norman that he, Norman, has never beaten him and that he never could and never will beat him. Norman replies that he already did beat him and goes on explaining that when Peter reached towards the darkness, back when he was trapped in the room, he showed his true self. That is, he is no longer the unselfish hero he alleges to be. By allowing himself to choose the darkness, as a result of Norman turning on the lights in the room, he has set a precedent in that if it happened once, it will likely happen again. Having said that, Norman/Goblin manages to set himself free from Peter's restraint and jumps back onto his glider, which is hovering nearby (conveniently). He tells Peter that they are alike and that one of these days, one of them will inevitably kill the other. He adds that when the day comes, he, Peter, will have to choose. As he flies away, he asks Peter if he, Peter, knows which way he’s going to die when the day does come. Bruised and battered, Peter lies on the rooftops and does not answer.