PREVIOUSLY: Joe Robbie Robertson is found guilty of misprision of felony and sentenced to three years in prison at the Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately for Robbie, his troubles are far from over when he finds out that Tombstone, whom he helped put in jail, is assigned to the same cellblock. To make matters worse, Tombstone appears to have a lot of influence on the prison guards and on his fellow cellmates. Fortunately for Robbie, a humongous black man named Bruiser comes to Robbie's rescue during a particular incident with Tombstone, and the two become good friends. Still, that doesn't stop Tombstone from plotting to "take care" of Robbie when Bruiser is not around to protect him. In Spectacular Spider-Man #152, the reader gets a taste of what Bruiser is capable of when Tombstone sends a half-dozen men after him. Bruiser mops the floor with them and is consequently sent to solitary for a week. Although Robbie is without protection, Tombstone doesn't dare cause him any problems because the "rules of prison" forbids it.

The Chameleon usurping Jameson's identity explains why Jonah (the fake one) has been acting so erratically over the last few weeks and why he's been favouring Nick Katzenberg's pictures over Peter Parker's and Lance Bannon's (Katzenberg shares Jonah's obsession to destroy Spider-Man and will go to extreme measures to get front-page material). Things take a turn for the worse when Peter, as Spider-Man, confronts J. Jonah Jameson after the Daily Bugle runs a story about him being connected to an attempted prison breakout, when he was in fact visiting Robbie Robertson. However, things might be getting better for Spider-Man soon because miles away in New Mexico, Thomas Fireheart, a.k.a. The Puma, is planning to help Spider-Man regain his reputation after he reads the latest edition of the Daily Bugle.

Having made a deal with the Arranger (in Web of Spider-Man #51) to help him and his boss, the Kingpin, fight the Lobo Brothers, so as to avoid a full-fledge gang war, Spider-Man goes out of his way to stop an arms shipment intended for the Lobos. Unfortunately, the wall-crawler fails when a large brown-haired werewolf attacks him and sends him swimming in the East River. He meets with the Arranger once again and tries to convince him to sue for peace before it's too late. The Arranger refuses to cooperate and gives Spidey an ultimatum: whether he stops any more arms shipment or else share responsibility for the violence that will engulf the city if the Lobos are not stopped. Spidey reluctantly agrees to continue his quest to stop the Lobos.

New York City. Soaked from a dive into the East River ten minutes ago, as seen in Web of Spider-Man #53, Spider-Man speeds across town hoping to avert a gang war about to erupt at the office tower of Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. The Kingpin of Crime. It's a faint hope and it's dashed less than two blocks from Fisk Tower when shots are fired at him from a nearby rooftop. His spider-sense allows him to dodge the incoming bullets and the combination of his amazing agility and spider-webs allows him to stop some of the shooters by webbing them up. But there are too many gunmen on the rooftops and Spidey is unable to manoeuvre out of their range. As he rests on a nearby wall, he wonders who the gunmen are and why they're trying to kill him. Suddenly, down at street level, J. Jonah Jameson – of all people – emerges from a nearby building and howlers at him to hurry up and come inside the building with him. Spidey, who finds it odd that Jameson is there, swings down (carelessly) and enters the building. For several minutes more, the fusillade of bullets continues to rip the night until Hammerhead barks out the order to cease fire because "he's in". Hammerhead informs his men that everything is going according to plan: "The Kingpin and the Lobo Brothers are getting ready to wipe each other out, our (and the Chameleon's) mob is ready to move in when they're finished, and my partner – the Chameleon – is measuring Spider-Man for a concrete overcoat and the web-slinger can't even guess he's in trouble" (Remember: Chameleon = fake Jonah Jameson). Then he tells his men: "Tomorrow morning, when this city wakes up, everybody and his sister is gonna know that Hammerhead is back in town".

Meanwhile in Forest Hills, Queens, Mary JaneAunt May's boarding house, after having been to her aerobics class, when she notices an ambulance parked in front of the house. She immediately thinks that it has to do with Aunt May but she sees her standing in front of the house with the other tenants. Freaking out and thinking that it might be Peter, she rushes towards Aunt May to find out what has happened. But she doesn't find Peter lying on the stretcher; she finds her cousin Kristy. Aunt May explains that they found her in the bathroom unconscious, her mouth caked with blood, and they called the paramedics, who told them that Kristy had a mild heart attack. MJ is flabbergasted; after all, Kristy is only thirteen years old.

Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary. Five minutes before lock-up and lights out, Robbie and Bruiser are on their way out of the shower room and back to their cell when they suddenly realize that nobody is in sight. Thinking quick, Bruiser realizes that they've been set up and pushes Robbie out of harm's way. At that moment, three of Tombstone's thugs, armed with guns, fire some kind of pointy wooden spikes at them. Two of the three spikes embed themselves into Bruiser's chest and shoulder and the other one misses his head by a few inches. Robbie grabs hold of Bruiser and the two of them barricade themselves inside an empty cell. The thugs try to open the cell door but it's locked. Tombstone, who has just shown up, tells one of his men to get a key from their "friendly trustee".

Back in New York City, inside the building where Spider-Man has barricaded himself with J. Jonah Jameson. As Spider-Man peeks out the window to see where his attackers are, he can't help but notice that his spider-sense hasn't stopped tingling since he entered the building with Jonah. He asks Jonah exactly what he is doing there and Jonah replies that Joy Mercado had an exclusive interview with one of the Kingpin's lieutenants but he – the lieutenant – wanted to meet him – Jonah – personally. All of a sudden, gunshots are fired through the window that Spider-Man was peeking out of. Warned by his trusty spider-sense, Spidey leaps out of harm's way. Just then, a few armed thugs break through the door with every intention of killing both Spidey and Jameson. Spidey throws himself at them and he takes them out (almost too easily). More thugs show up and again, Spidey defeats them effortlessly. All the while, his spider-sense continues to warn him of incredible danger. He knows that something just isn't right but he can't put his finger on it. The thugs are just going down too easily, as if they're faking an attack, and more of them keep filing through the door. As Spidey continues to fend off their attack, Jameson takes a syringe out of a little box and advances towards him. Outside the building, one of Hammerhead's men asks him why he told the other men to play kid-gloves with Spider-Man. Hammerhead replies that Spider-Man is too fast and too strong and has some kind of sixth sense that warns him when someone gets too close. He explains that this is where his partner, the Chameleon comes in (Have you figured it out yet? Remember: Chameleon = fake Jameson). Back inside the building, Spidey is busy taking care of the thugs that keep coming inside when his spider-sense warns him of grave danger to his left. As he turns to see who is coming his way, he comes face-to-face with Jameson. Believing that it is another false alarm, Spidey doesn't pay close attention to what Jameson is holding up in his hands. Seconds later, it is too late; Jameson pricks Spidey with the syringe. His arm burning up, Spidey falls to the floor, asking Jameson what he just did. Jameson explains that he injected him with a highly efficient and nearly lethal experimental virus and goes on explaining that if he – Spidey – had the chance, he could possibly fight it off after a while but his partner won't probably give him that chance, as he waited a long time for this and he isn't a very patient man. On those words, Spidey blacks out.

Back at the Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary, Robbie pulls the spikes out of Bruiser's chest and shoulder, and using his shirt, creates makeshift bandages to stop the bleeding. Outside the cell in which Robbie and Bruiser are barricading themselves, one of Tombstone's men arrives with the key to the cell. Back inside the cell, Robbie tells Bruiser that he's the one Tombstone really wants, not him, and that maybe he can make a deal with him. Bruiser replies that he (Robbie) might be a smart guy, just like his brother Stuart was, but he doesn't understand the streets. As Tombstone opens the cell door, Bruiser stands up and gets ready to fight.

Back in Manhattan, Spidey regains consciousness and is confronted by Hammerhead (who recaps the story about his origin). Hammerhead charges Spidey head first and sends him flying into a pile of theatrical supply (the building is home to the Eastman and Son Theatrical Supply Warehouse). Hammerhead then grabs him by the throat, then throws a massive punch that sends Spidey flying off into the air once again.

Back at Lewisburg, Robbie implores Tombstone not to fight with Bruiser, as the latter is bleeding to death and won't stand a change against him. Tombstone tells Robbie that if Bruiser doesn’t want to fight, then they don't have to fight. Tombstone even suggests to Bruiser that he can quit, as long as he kisses his ass. Ticked off by Tombstone's comments, Bruiser punches him right in the chin. Tombstone falls to the ground then Bruiser proceeds to advance towards him. Tombstone kicks Bruiser in the stomach, then proceeds with a right, then with a left.

Back in Manhattan, Hammerhead goes to punch Spidey but Spidey leaps out of harm's way. Now holding himself up against a wall, Spidey continues to fight off the virus that's coursing through his veins. Wasting no time, Hammerhead grabs Spidey by the leg and tosses him into the theatrical supplies like a 5lb bag of potatoes.

Back in Lewisburg, the battle continues between Tombstone and Bruiser. Tombstone punches Bruiser in the chest right exactly where the spikes injured him earlier. Bruiser falls to his knees with extreme pain, Tombstone standing above him. Tombstone tells Bruiser that because Robbie used to be a friend of his back when they were in high school, he is willing to give him one last chance to beg for his life. Bruiser tells Tombstone to "get stuffed". Robbie is furious and implores Bruiser to beg for his life and to forget his pride. Tombstone tells Robbie that after all these years, he still doesn't get it and that is why he is weak and why he'll always be his "meat". He then tells Robbie to "watch now".

Back in Manhattan, Spidey lays unconscious in the pile of theatrical supplies, Hammerhead standing above him, gloating about having defeated him. As he continues to revel in his victory, Spidey slowly regains consciousness. Suddenly, Spidey stands up and punches Hammerhead with all his might. Hammerhead is sent flying into a coat rack where he gets tangled up in the metal tubes. Spidey takes advantage of his predicament and starts punching him in the face, until he blacks out. Feeling sick and nauseous, Spidey takes his leave, leaving Hammerhead behind.

Back in Lewisburg, Tombstone is pummelling on Bruiser, while two of his men are holding back Robbie. After pummelling on him for what appears to be an eternity, Tombstone finally stops and tells Robbie that Bruiser is dead and that it's time the two of them have a little talk, man-to-man. Suddenly however, the prison alarm starts ringing. As Tombstone's men begin fleeing the scene, Robbie asks Tombstone why he killed Bruiser. Tombstone replies that "in a place like this where a guy like Bruiser's got nothing left but the skin he was born with and what's inside it, real men die for a little self-respect". As Tombstone leaves the scene, Robbie bends over his late friend, his eyes tearing up.

Back in Manhattan, Spidey is swinging away from the warehouse, wondering why Jonah Jameson injected him with that virus back in the warehouse. He comes to rest atop the roof of a building to catch his breath when he suddenly hears and sees gunfire tearing up Kingpin Tower. The gang war has started.

To be continued in the page of Web of Spider-Man #54.