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 founds 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 his 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.

When Bruiser is released from solitary (in Spectacular Spider-Man #153) – for having mopped the floor with thugs that Tombstone had sent after him – Tombstone makes his move on the big guy. And the outcome is (very) unexpected. Although half the size of Bruiser, Tombstone kills the latter with his bare hands, to the utter astonishment of Robbie. Tombstone gets ready to do the same to Robbie but he is literally saved by the bell when the prison alarm starts ringing. At issue’s end, Robbie is safe but his new friend and protector is dead.

In Spectacular Spider-Man #156, Spidey ventures out to the forest to look for Robbie and Tombstone. He does not find them but does run into some very strange folks living in the heart of the forest. After battling two of its inhabitants – mutant brothers by the name of Banjo and Bugeye – Spidey returns to New York empty-handed. The last page of the issue does reveal that both Tombstone and Robbie did survive the fall.

Spider-Man/Peter makes his way to the Daily Bugle and changes back to his civilian clothing after landing on the roof. Moments later, he finds himself in the Daily Bugle city room where Gloria Grant, Ben Urich, Kate Cushing, Nick Katzenberg, Joy Mercado, and Lance Bannon are waiting impatiently for J. Jonah Jameson to make an announcement. Jonah finally comes out of his office and, after thanking them for all the hard work they've been putting into the Daily Bugle, he announces that, as of five minutes ago, he no longer owns it. This comes as a shock to everybody but Jonah explains how his stock came under attack by the most ferocious corporate raider he’s ever seen, and how he ended up surrendering his private holdings in the company earlier that afternoon. Having said that, he introduces the new owner of the Daily Bugle: Thomas Fireheart of Fireheart Industries.

Back in Pennsylvania, Robbie is riding in a horse carriage with Aaron, one of the Mormon men who have taken him and Tombstone in. Aaron asks Robbie how he broke his leg to which Robbie replies that he fell from a considerable height. Aaron accepts Robbie's answer but wonders why his wounds were worse than Tombstone's. Robbie replies that maybe he had farther to fall and goes on explaining that ever since he's begun living with his family (Aaron's), he's done a lot of thinking, and now he believe it's time he tells him more about how he got there. At that moment, Tombstone appears, frightening the horse in the process. Aaron calms the horse down while Tombstone apologizes to Aaron, telling him that animals seem to shy around him, just like certain people do. He goes on explaining that when people take a look at him, they tend to characterize him as a monster. He adds that he was just talking about that with Aaron's wife and says that they had a good talk. He asks Robbie, in his own threatening way, if he had a good talk with Aaron. Frightened once again, Robbie replies that he and Aaron haven't really talked about anything. Taking his leave, Tombstone tells Robbie that a smart man knows when to talk and when to keep shut, and that they – meaning the two of them – need to have a talk really soon.

Meanwhile in Long Island City, Queens, at the Sensor Security Unlimited building, Electro is angry with Hector, the man who sold him the security plans for the 2nd Savings Bank he tried to rob earlier. Zapping a piece of furniture into oblivion, Electro asks him if he sold the security system blueprints to anyone else. Hector replies that he is his only client, apart from the people whose security systems he installs and services for them. He adds that he wouldn't even sell anything to him, if it weren't for the fact that he possesses certain incriminating information regarding his past dealings with some of his prison friends. Electro tells Hector to call that his business leverage and asks for another set of blueprints for a different bank. Hector hands him the plans to another building and suggests that maybe he should consider allying himself with a criminal organization, for protection. Electro replies that he tried the whole team thing and it didn't work out, so from now on, he's freelance. Electro takes his leave while Hector immediately picks up the phone and calls his employers to let them know that Electro has refused to join their criminal organization.

Later that night, at the Soho loft building owned by Harry Osborn, where the Parkers have recently set up housekeeping, Pete and MJ are getting ready for Harry's dinner party which is being held at his apartment located in the same building but on a different floor (according to the first panel on the page, one can assume that Harry must live on a lower floor than Peter since the text bubble points to the top floor of the apartment building). Pete and MJ take the elevator down to Harry's apartment where Flash Thompson, Little Norman, Harry Osborn and his wife, Liz are getting everything ready. After putting Little Norman to bed, the five of them sit down at the dinner table and are just about to start feasting when a loud explosion rocks the building and sends the whole place into complete darkness. Unable to locate any candles – Liz and Harry haven't unpacked them yet – Peter tells the group to hang tight while he checks upstairs to find some candles. But Peter has other ideas. The minute he reaches the staircase, he switches to his Spider-Man costume and takes off into the night.

When Spidey reaches the source of the commotion – the Headquarters of an Investment Firm, which is now completely destroyed – he finds Electro standing amidst the rubble, blueprints in hand. Electro is furious and claims that somebody else beat him there once again. Spidey tries to stop him but Electro zaps him, willingly yet stupidly drops the plans he was carrying, and takes his leave. Spidey grabs the blueprints and decides to have a look into the security company whose name is written at the top of the blueprints.

Back in Pennsylvania, in the Mormon Village, Robbie Robertson has finally made up his mind: "Tonight, one way or another, it ends". He has been threatened and terrorized by Tombstone long enough, from the time he spiked the story he'd written about him in the high school newspaper to the awful time he spent in prison because he failed to report a crime Tombstone committed. And now Tombstone is subtly threatening Aaron and his family. Robbie has had enough; he won't take it anymore. As if Robbie's wish had been granted, Tombstone shows up and tells Robbie that "tonight, we end it". Tombstone explains how he waited for Robbie to recuperate from his broken leg before finishing his business with him, so that their fight would be fair. Having said that, he launches himself at Robbie, telling him that he owes him because when he – Tombstone – broke him out of prison, he – Robbie – tried to kill him. Robbie retaliates with one solid punch in the mouth, sending Tombstone to the ground. He then takes off running through the hay field, trying to shake off Tombstone, who has stood back up and is not far behind.

Back in New York at the Sensor Security Unlimited building, Electro is zapping Hector's furniture into oblivion, claiming that he sold the same blueprints to someone else. Hiding behind his desk chair, Hector tries to reason with Electro, telling him that destroying everything in sight won't help them resolve their misunderstanding. Advancing upon Hector, electricity sparkling from his hands, Electro demands to know who paid him to sell him out. At that moment, Electro is hit from behind by some kind of shockwave energy and he falls to the floor. When he raises his head, he comes face-to-face with The Shocker who tells him to pick on somebody his own size. Hector awkwardly introduces them to each other and Shocker recognizes Electro as being the one that's been following him on his last couple of jobs. Furious with the Shocker's allegations that it was his jobs, Electro zaps him and sends him crashing through a wall. The Shocker retaliates by zapping Electro using his vibro-shock blasters. Electro is sent crashing into a wall, where the vibro-shocks hold him up. In extreme pain, Electro manages to zap the Shocker by using his own vibro-shock waves against himself. Shocker blacks out and drops the suitcase he was carrying (which most likely contained money). Electro grabs the suitcase, looks around for Hector – who probably disappeared when things heated up – and makes his way out of the building. But as soon as he reaches the exit door, he is confronted by Spider-Man, who – with one solid punch – knocks him out. As Electro lies unconscious on the floor, Spidey wonders what happened there (one can safely assume that the Shocker must have regained consciousness and left the building since Spidey does not acknowledge his presence there).

Back in Pennsylvania, Tombstone has caught up to Robbie. Tombstone grabs him and throws him several feet away into a mud pile, right next to a pitchfork that's leaning against a barn. He then slowly proceeds towards Robbie to deliver the final blow but Robbie grabs the pitchfork and stabs Tombstone in the chest with it. Tombstone is so surprised that he simply stumbles away through the hay field, wondering why Robbie would do such a thing: "Gee. I thought we were friends". Seconds later, Aaron and his wife come out of their house and ask Robbie if everything is okay. Robbie replies that he never felt better in his life and asks Aaron to take him into town, as there are some people he has to phone in New York and in Lewisburg.

Back in New York, Peter returns to Harry's apartment and, to cover his outing as Spider-Man, makes up a bogus story about him going up one too many floors and ending up on the roof where he locked himself up accidentally, and forgetting about the candles when he did manage to jimmy is way back in. Surprisingly, the others buy into his story, and Mary Jane gives Peter a hug and a kiss for being so cute – although I'm sure she knows he was out swinging as Spider-Man. As he and MJ hug, Peter cannot shake the feeling that there is something bigger going on and that he missed something when he took out Electro.

The next morning on Eastern Long Island at the Estate Headquarters of the gang lord known as Hammerhead and his partner The Chameleon, Hector has come to deliver his message that Electro will not be joining their criminal organization. Chameleon is disappointed but adds that perhaps their recently arrived associate from Pennsylvania will have better luck inducing clients to join their organization. At that moment, Tombstone enters the room. Chameleon tells Tombstone that he and Hammerhead are pleased that he has finally agreed to join them, then he asks him if he ran into a little trouble after escaping from Lewisburg, for which they were the masterminds Holding his bloody chest, Tombstone admits that he had a little trouble but it's nothing he can't handle...someday.

The end...for now.