PREVIOUSLY: In Spectacular Spider-Man #139, Joe “Robbie” Robertson left a tape recording and some files for Peter Parker revealing his connection with the mobster known as Tombstone (a.k.a. Lonnie Lincoln). While Peter/Spider-Man listened to the tape, which described how Robbie first met Lonnie and how Lonnie intimidated Robbie into silence about a murder he committed some 20 years ago, Tombstone and the Arranger – the Kingpin's assistant – kidnapped Roland Rayburn, a mutant with the ability to persuade others to do his will, and subjected him to drugs so as to brainwash him to do their bidding using said abilities. At issue's end, Robbie met Tombstone at Battery Park and tried to kill him but Tombstone broke Robbie's back, leaving him to be found by Spider-Man.

In Spectacular Spider-Man #140, Joe Robertson is lying in a hospital bed and there is chance that he may have suffered irreversible damage to his spinal chord. Friends and family are in shock and Peter Parker blames himself for what happened. Once everybody is gone, Joe gets an unpleasant visit from Tombstone who threatens Robbie into keeping his secret or else.

Peter and Mary Jane pay another visit to Joe Robertson at the hospital. While MJ tries to comfort Martha, Robbie's wife, Peter has a talk with Joe who tells Peter to burn the tape he gave him back in SPSM #139. Peter refuses but Robbie explains how Tombstone came in his hospital room and threatened him and his family. As Peter exits the room, Robbie implores him to burn the tape. Peter and MJ make their way out of the hospital, discussing the whole tape situation and Robbie's connection with Tombstone. Unbeknownst to them, a shadowy figure hidden in a nearby room is eavesdropping on their conversation.

While at the Daily Bugle, Peter is given a phone number that he has to call back. He calls the number and the shadowy figure seen earlier tells him to meet him on Liberty Island in one hour. Peter switches to his Spider-Man costume and makes his way there. He arrives at Liberty Island and within minutes, he is being shot at presumably by the shadowy figure (the individual was waiting for Peter Parker and seeing that Spider-Man was there instead of Peter, he decided to scare off Spider-Man, but the wall-crawler doesn’t scare easily). Using his amazing web-slinging abilities, Spidey manages to tackle the gunman who turns out to be The Punisher. The Punisher pulls a gun out and points it at Spidey, telling him to hand over the tape and demanding that Spidey tells him where he can find Tombstone, or else.

Between Spectacular Spider-Man #140 and Spectacular Spider-Man #141, The Punisher and Spider-Man make peace.

In Spectacular Spider-Man #141, The Punisher and Spider-Man meet aboard The Punisher's yacht to discuss what they know about the hitman known as Tombstone. The Punisher explains that he's been tracking down Tombstone from one city to another for months and that he knows that Robbie Robertson has an audio tape containing information about Tombstone's crimes that might put him behind bars for the rest of his life. The Punisher also explains why he's been after Tombstone and how he found out that he was now in New York City. Spider-Man asks The Punisher to give him until sundown that night to talk to Peter Parker who, in turn, will talk Robbie Robertson into giving them the tape, which is just a ruse because Spider-Man IS Peter Parker and HE has the tape. The Punisher reluctantly agrees. Inside a nearby sedan parked at the wharf where the Punisher's yacht is anchored, Tombstone orders his men to handle The Punisher while he takes care of Peter Parker and the Robertson tape.

Ben Urich is getting closer to finding out the whole story behind the incriminating tape and confronts Robbie about it at the hospital. Robbie denies everything but Ben knows there’s more than meets the eyes.

Back aboard his yacht, The Punisher is suddenly attacked by Tombstone's henchmen. One by one he takes them out and finds out, from one of them, that they are working for Tombstone and that they were hired to prevent him, The Punisher, from following Tombstone to the Cloisters on the West Side. Against Spider-Man's wishes, The Punisher decides to take matters into his own hands.

Peter tries to get Mary Jane to help him decide what he should do with the Robertson tape but Mary Jane tells him that she can't handle the pressure of such a decision. Peter apologizes and makes his way to the hospital to visit Robbie, while MJ contemplates her life as the wife of a superhero. After Peter leaves for the hospital, Tombstone shows up at his apartment building and checks the mailboxes in the lobby to confirm where the Parkers live.

The Punisher shows up at the Cloisters and easily takes out a couple of armed guards, which strikes The Punisher as being odd. He then makes his way across the lawn when he decides to use a fresh clip in his weapon. In that moment of carelessness, a half-dozen professionals ambush him. Meanwhile at the Parker apartment, MJ is attacked by Tombstone who is looking for Peter.

Back at the Cloisters, The Punisher fights off the half-dozen professionals that are attacking him. When no one is left standing, The Punisher heads towards Tombstone's black sedan parked nearby. He opens the door and comes face to face with the Arranger and Roland Rayburn, now referred to as the Persuader. Using his powers of persuasion, the Persuader convinces The Punisher to drop his gun and then he continues persuading him to crawl on the ground. Meanwhile at Midtown Hospital, Peter is trying to convince Robbie not to destroy the tape but Robbie refuses to change his mind. While there, a nurse comes running into Robbie's room to inform Peter that Mary Jane has been brought into the emergency room (courtesy of Tombstone). Peter runs off to the ER, leaving Joe Robertson behind, his eyes filled with tears.

Spectacular Spider-Man #142 opens up with Spider-Man swinging above the rooftops of Atlanta, Georgia on his way to meet Tombstone. This comes after Peter Parker/Spider-Man gets a phone call from Tombstone – while at the hospital with Mary Jane, who got injured by Tombstone in last issue – who tells him that he wants to meet him away from both their individual turf. Tombstone picks Atlanta because Peter/Spider-Man has a book signing there. When Peter/Spider-Man arrives in Atlanta at the bookstore where he is having his book signing, he finds a note that Tombstone has left for him, which directs him to meet him on the tenth floor of Tara Place at sundown that night, with the tape.

Back in New York City, The Punisher is strapped into a chair in some kind of laboratory and the Persuader is trying to convince him to join the Kingpin's team. The Arranger is also in attendance and is very much disappointed that the Persuader hasn't been able to break the Punisher, even after trying for ten consecutive hours. The Persuader tries again and, although he collapses to the ground exhausted, he finally manages to break the Punisher's will, to the satisfaction of the Arranger.

Meanwhile at Midtown Hospital, Robbie Robertson is undergoing physical therapy with the help of his therapist and son Randy. Although resilient at first to use the parallel bars to teach himself how to walk again – claiming that Tombstone broke his back – Robbie finally gives it a try. As he holds himself up in between the bars, he hallucinates a vision of Tombstone standing at the other end of the bars, taunting him and telling him that he should continue to keep his mouth shut and that he should have stayed in bed. In a moment of rage, Robbie charges the vision of Tombstone, which dissipates as he goes through it, and then he falls to the ground. Randy and the therapist run over to check on him and Robbie tells Randy to call J. Jonah Jameson to let him know that he has a story for page one.

Meanwhile at Baxter High School in Lansing Michigan, Gwen Stacy's clone comes under attack by some members of the High Evolutionary flying some kind of hovercraft that can shoot laser beams. She manages to escape through a drainage pipe but all the while, she keeps thinking about Peter Parker coming to her aid.

Back in Atlanta, we find Spider-Man at Tara's Place where he's been waiting for Tombstone to show up for the last forty minutes. Tombstone finally arrives and wasting no time, he tackles Spidey off of the safety of the building, sending the two of them plummeting towards the asphalt concrete several floors down. Meanwhile, back in New York, Robbie starts telling the story of his connection to Tombstone to J. Jonah Jameson, Kate Cushing, Ben Urich, his wife, Martha and son Randy. Back in Atlanta, Spidey shoots a webline to slow his and Tombstone's descent but Tombstone uses the momentum of the swing to drive Spidey into the girders. Tombstone then pummels the wall-crawler using an iron pipe until Spidey is sent flying into the chain link fence surrounding the elevator shaft in which he becomes entangled.

In New York, Robbie goes on explaining how he spiked an article for his high school newspaper and how, a few years later, while working in Philly, he witnessed one of Tombstone’s murders and kept quiet about it until now because he feared Tombstone's retribution. Back in Atlanta, Tombstone continues pummeling on a helpless Spider-Man using the iron pipe until Spidey falls down the elevator shaft. Meanwhile in New York, Robbie continues explaining that when Tombstone showed up in New York, he made a tape, which he left for Peter Parker, and then he confronted Tombstone alone, with a gun, and we all know the rest of the story. Back in Atlanta again, Tombstone thinks Spidey is dead but he can't find his body anywhere. Spidey suddenly reappears and after a long and arduous battle, manages to defeat Tombstone. Tape in hands (miraculously), Spidey hopes that Robbie Robertson will come clean about his involvement with Tombstone or else Tombstone will go free.

Robbie informs everybody that the Justice Department has been contacted and that there is a chance he might be indicted for being an accessory to murder. He offers his resignation to Jonah who refuses to accept it and tells Robbie to show up to work on Monday as usual. Meanwhile at the Kingpin's headquarters, the Arranger is disappointed that Tombstone was arrested by the police because of Spider-Man but revels in the fact that The Punisher is now a member of the Kingpin's team.

The Punisher is in fact at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport accompanied by Roland Rayburn, also known as the Persuader, and one of the Kingpin's goons. As they make their way through the airport, one of the security guard recognizes The Punisher from an FBI circular and confronts them. Using his powers of persuasion, Rayburn convinces the guard to let them pass through. A woman sitting nearby – a TV news reporter getting ready to go on vacation in Mazatlan – also recognizes The Punisher and wonders why the guard let him go. She decides to stick around and follow the three men in hopes of getting a scoop. As the three men pass by a newsstand, The Punisher notices the headline of the Dallas Times Herald, which mentions something about the Lobo Brothers having been freed in mistrial. The Punisher tells the other two to tell him who they want him to kill.

Back in New York City at the Kinpgin's Headquarters, The Arranger meets with the Kingpin and summarizes the events that have transpired over the last few issues, from capturing Roland Rayburn (a.k.a. the Persuader) to brainwashing The Punisher to join their team, as well as acquiring the services of Tombstone for a short while. The Arranger also informs the Kingpin that Rayburn and The Punisher are now in Dallas to assassinate the Lobo Brothers. The Kingpin tells the Arranger to shut up as the day-to-day operations of his syndicate no longer interest him and tells him that all he cares about is destroying Daredevil. As the Arranger takes his leave, he is thinking about what could happen if the Punisher fails to kill the Lobo Brothers.

At a bus station on the outskirts of Columbus, Ohio, the Gwen Stacy clone boards a bus bound for New York City. It's taken her a week to get this far but by morning, she'll be in New York where she'll find Peter Parker. The bus takes off but a few minutes into its drive, it comes under attack by some members (two) of the High Evolutionary flying the same kind of hovercraft seen in Spectacular Spider-Man #142. The bus is forced out of the street and crashes into a hydro pole. As the passengers frantically start coming out of the bus, the two members of the HE climb down from their hovercraft and start looking for the Gwen Stacy clone. Unfortunately for them, their gene tracer is not functioning well and they’re unable to track down her genetic pattern long enough to find her. They board the hovercraft and leave the scene. All the while, the Gwen Stacy clone is seen peeking around the corner of a nearby building. She doesn't know what is going on but she knows that Peter Parker will have the answer. She takes off into the night to try and get to New York City.

Meanwhile in New York City, Peter Parker/Spider-Man arrives at Mike's Place for his dinner date with Mary Jane. He finds her at the bar fending off Wall Street stockbrokers trying to charm their way up her short skirt. Peter apologizes for being late and tells MJ that he's really tired. MJ suggests they forget their dinner date, grab sushi and go back to their apartment to cuddle. At that exact moment, a news report of the Punisher's presence in the Dallas area is shown on the television above the bar (a reference to his connection to the notorious Lobo Brothers is also talked about). Peter grabs Mary Jane and tells her that he's got to catch a plane to Dallas because he has a feeling that a friend of his might be in trouble. He then takes off into the night, leaving MJ to be preyed on by the stockbrokers.

Meanwhile in Dallas, at the Herdling Refinery Company, The Punisher is interrogating a worker and is trying to force him to admit that the refinery is a front for a sophisticated drug smuggling operation. The worker comes clean about the operations going on at the refinery and begs The Punisher for mercy. The Punisher lets him go unscathed and makes his way back to a nearby Jeep in which the Persuader and one of the Kingpin's goons are waiting. But just as he is about to climb aboard the Jeep, shots are fired at him. He turns around and comes face to face with some of the Lobo Brother's goons driving a Jeep and shooting at him. The Punisher strikes back by shooting one of the oil tanks at the refinery, which blows the whole refinery along with the Lobo Brother's goons. The Punisher climbs back on board his Jeep and leaves the refinery unharmed.

Meanwhile at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Peter arrives from New York and is greeted by a woman named Andrea who is very pleased that Peter has agreed to attend a convention where he's going to sign copies of his book entitled "Webs", which features pictures of Spider-Man he’s taken over the years. They climb aboard a limousine and make their way towards the City, all the while discussing how Peter’s book hasn't been selling very well in Dallas. Using his interest in crime photography as a pretext, Peter asks Andrea to tell him about the Lobo Brothers. Andrea explains that Eduardo and Carlos Lobo first became known in South Texas close to a year ago where there was some kind of gang war going on down there that involved drugs and smuggling. A lot of people were being killed but somehow, when the Lobo Brothers came, they all stopped fighting. She goes on explaining that they made some kind of pact, a kind of peace treaty, and all the gangs joined forces, calling themselves "Los Hermanos de la Luna", which means "Brothers of the Moon". When it was all over, the other gang leaders somehow all disappeared and the Lobo Brothers ruled South Texas. She adds that six month ago, they moved to a mansion on Grapevine Lake outside Dallas and that even though the police say they're criminals, there hasn't been any evidence found to prove them right. As they continue driving towards the City, Peter believes that The Punisher might be in very serious trouble.

For the next few hours, Peter is occupied with signing autographs at a local Dallas bookstore where a costume contest is being held. After a while, he asks Andrea if he can take a two hours break and she agrees. Peter heads to the back room and changes into his Spider-Man costume, then walks out of the bookstore amongst the costumed contestants. He then hitches a ride atop a tanker truck and makes his way to Grapevine Lake, where the Lobo Brothers reside. When he arrives at their mansion, he immediately notices that the lock on the gate has been broke. Hearing voices coming from behind the mansion, Spidey jumps atop the roof of the mansion and slowly crawls over to the other side. As he approaches the edge of the roof, he recognizes one of the voices; that of The Punisher. As he looks over the edge of the roof, he gets an eyeful of the scene going on down there, next to the swimming pool. On one side, you have The Punisher, armed to the teeth, the Persuader and one of the Kingpin's goons seen earlier and on the other side, you have the Lobo Brothers (in Speedo!!) and three of their men lying dead on the ground. The Punisher tells them that wasting them will be a pleasure to which the Lobo Brothers reply that they spit on the Kingpin for being too coward and sending others to do his work. This confuses The Punisher just long enough for Spidey to drop down and take his gun away using a web-line. Seeing this, the Persuader orders The Punisher to kill Spidey. The Punisher grabs another gun out of his holster just as Spidey leaps towards him. Spidey tackles him but his gun goes off and the bullet grazes Carlos' shoulder. Carlos shrugs it off with disdain and the Lobo brothers take their leave, unnoticed by the others who are too busy watching Spidey and The Punisher. Spidey and The Punisher continue to battle it out and fall into the swimming pool. As they slowly sink down to the bottom, The Punisher has Spidey in a chokehold, preventing Spidey from bracing himself and setting himself free. The Persuader and the Kingpin's goon are ecstatic to see that Spidey is going limp and passing out but their mood changes quickly when they realize that the Lobo Brothers are gone. Back in the swimming pool, Spidey is actually not passed out but pretending to drown so that The Punisher may loosen his grip around his neck. But The Punisher is not letting go so Spidey has no choice but to use strength to get The Punisher off his back. Spidey breaks free from the Punisher's grip and tries to knock him down. But as he does so, both him and The Punisher are knocked off balance and the Kingpin's goon takes a shot at Spidey. His spider-sense kicks in but not fast enough for him to dodge the bullet completely. The bullet grazes his skull and renders him unconscious, half his body in the water, the other half on the concrete surrounding the pool. When Spidey regains consciousness, The Punisher is standing over him, a gun pointed at his head. The Persuader persuades The Punisher to kill Spidey but The Punisher suddenly turns around and shoots the Kingpin's goon instead. The Persuader is stunned and doesn't understand what is going on. The Punisher tells The Persuader that he never broke his will but only bent it and that everything he's been doing so far under his control, he would have done without him anyways. He adds that killing an innocent, even someone like Spider-Man, that's something he'd never do because it's murder. Having said that, The Punisher shoots the Persuader through the heart before Spidey can stop him. Spidey is angry with The Punisher and tells him that they could have used his testimony to nail the Kingpin for conspiracy. Spidey is also furious because killing anybody, unless in self-defense, is against the law, immoral and flat-out wrong. The Punisher replies that their opinions differ on the matter and he takes his leave. A few minutes later, Spidey also takes his leave. After they're both gone, the Lobo Brothers return and seeing all the carnage left behind, they vow revenge on the Kingpin for what he tried to do to them.

To be continued.