PREVIOUSLY: In Kraven's Last Hunt, by J. M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck, in which Kraven the Hunter commits suicide, the creature known as Vermin is captured by Spider-Man and sent to the Ravencroft Institute where Dr. Ashley Kafka begins working hard to try and cure him, as he used to be a human before the infamous Baron Zemo turned him into a half-rat half-human creature.

In Spectacular Spider-Man #178, Vermin escapes from Ravencroft. While hiding in the sewers, he comes across a young boy with whom he seems to share a special connection. Elsewhere, Peter Parker/Spider-Man spends entire nights patrolling the city with the hope of capturing Vermin while Harry Osborn hears more than just voices now; he actually hallucinates the ghostly figure of his father, Norman Osborn, tormenting him from beyond the grave.

Spider-Man pays another visit to Dr. Kafka who reveals to him that Vermin was sexually molested by his father as a child. While there, Vermin shows up, begging Dr. Kafka to help him. But Vermin picks up Spidey’s scent and tries to take off. Spidey intercepts him and beats him to an inch of his life before Dr. Kafka makes him stop. She then tries to reason with Vermin but the latter bites her and orders his rats to attack her while he runs off. Luckily, Spidey rescues her.

Also in this issue, Harry Osborn continues hallucinating the ghost of his deceased father, Norman Osborn, which causes him to have bouts of insanity. At issue's end, Norman's ghost appears to Harry, the Green Goblin costume in hand, and tells him that his time has come.

In Spectacular Spider-Man #180, Harry Osborn finally falls prey to the hallucinations of his dead father and takes over (again) the mantle of the Green Goblin. He attacks Peter/Spider-Man while the latter returns home from patrol and manages to render him unconscious. As the issue concludes, Harry pulls Peter's Spider-Man mask off and informs him that the war must not be settled between the Green Goblin and Spider-Man but between Harry Osborn and Peter Parker.

Vermin has a quick cameo in this issue but his status remains the same: he is as crazy as ever.

In Spectacular Spider-Man #181, Peter Parker/Spider-Man is subjected to drugs by Harry Osborn/the Green Goblin and finds himself at the mercy of hallucinations in which he relives the death of relatives, friends, and enemies who have passed on as a direct/indirect result of his actions/inactions. But something happens to Peter while he’s in that condition, which causes him to emerge from his hallucinatory state and go on a rampage inside the warehouse where Harry/the Green Goblin is holding him captive. Harry tries to calm Peter down but he is unsuccessful and Peter manages to take off into the night. At issue's end, Peter crashes through Dr. Kafka's office window, begging her to help him.

While the above takes place, Vermin returns home, grabs his mother hostage and enters his father's bedroom where the latter is resting. Holding his mother by her hair, he tells his father that he’s come back to kill him.

In Spectacular Spider-Man #182, Peter Parker gets some well-needed assistance from Dr. Kafka, who helps him deal with the sudden surge of emotions he was subjected to while at the mercy of hallucinations in last issue. While there, Dr. Kafka and him are informed that Vermin is holding his parents hostage. Wasting no time, Spidey web-slings over to Vermin's parents' mansion, which is now surrounded by the police, and confronts Vermin. A battle ensues and the fight is taken to the rooftop. Vermin gets the upper hand on Spidey and is about to eat him alive when the Green Goblin shows up and neutralizes him, telling him that Spidey is his and that it's time for him to die.

The story then switches to the rooftop of Vermin's parents' mansion, above which the Green Goblin is hovering on his glider. The Goblin tells Spidey to say goodbye to Vermin and throws a pumpkin bomb at Vermin. Spidey pushes Vermin off the rooftop and out of the bomb's path. Vermin lands on the grass down below and is immediately surrounded by armed policemen, who order him to "freeze", or else be shot. Witnessing this developed, Spidey screams at Vermin to remain there. Furious with Spidey for ignoring him, the Goblin draws near but Spidey knocks him off his glider and proceeds to web-sling down and grab Vermin seconds before gunshots are fired. Spidey webs Vermin up, all the while hoping that Vermin won't go vicious on him again. Thankfully, Dr. Kafka, who has arrived on the scene, kneels down next to Vermin and tells him that everything will be all right. Vermin's mother also comes closer to him and tells him that his father won't hurt him anymore and that she'll see to that. Vermin is then strapped to a gurney and hoisted into a waiting ambulance. Just then, Spidey's spider-sense kicks in, warning him of danger. Turning around, he sees the Goblin flying towards him. Spidey leaps in the air and grabs hold of the glider's underside. Then, making use of his amazing agility, he jumps up on the Goblin's back and tells him that, as he mentioned a few nights earlier, the fight is not between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin but between Peter Parker and Harry Osborn. Having said that, he pulls his own mask off and proceeds to take Harry's mask off. Infuriated, Harry finger-blasts Peter right in the face. Peter falls off the glider and lands hard on the ground below. As Peter struggles to stand back up, Harry throws some pumpkin bombs at him. Spidey dodges the bomb with difficulty but manages to get away from the nucleus of the explosion. Wasting no time, Harry once again finger-blasts Peter, who has taking off running through the forest. Harry throws a pumpkin bomb at a huge tree, which would have crushed Peter, had it not been for his trusty spider-sense. All the while, Peter tries to reason with Harry, asking him what he wants from him. Throwing another pumpkin bomb at Peter, Harry reveals that he "wants his life". Standing amidst the smoke from the explosion of the most recent pumpkin bomb, Peter kneels down on the ground and tells Harry to kill him, if it's the only way their feud is going to end. The ghost of Norman Osborn appears to Harry and tells him to do it, to finish what he started. Harry takes flight on his glider and aims it at Peter, while the Norman-ghost cheers on. But, just as he's about to strike Peter with the glider, he realizes that he can't kill him and rapidly changes his deadly path, while the very disappointed Norman-ghost watches on. This quick change in direction causes Harry to crash his glider into a pile of mud. Peter runs over to check up on him and tells him that he's gonna get him some help. But Harry does not want his help and tells Peter that he hates him. As the two foe stare at each other, Harry puts his Goblin mask back on and tells Peter that there is nothing he can do to stop him from leaving because he knows his secret and if he – Peter – tries to take him in, the whole word will find out who is behind the mask of Spider-Man. As the glider slowly rises up in the air, Harry tells Peter that he's going to go somewhere far away from him, from his father, from all of it. Harry then goes on telling Peter that he won't forget him and won't stop hating him and explains that the beauty of all this is that he – Peter – will know that he's out there, hating, waiting, and will know that one day, maybe tomorrow, maybe five years from now, the Green Goblin will return. As the Goblin disappears into the night, Peter is left standing there, wondering if he made the right choice in allowing Harry to leave.

Vermin's father is watching a video footage of him and his son playing in the pool. Finally realizing the pain he caused his son, who later became the living embodiment of that pain when he was turned into Vermin, Vermin's father grabs his head and starts crying.

Little Normie is lying in bed sleeping when Harry, still in his Green Goblin guise, approaches him and caresses his forehead. Normie slowly wakes up, only to find the Goblin gliding off into the night.

Meanwhile, at the cemetery, Peter, as Spider-Man, visits the graves of his parents and tells them that he's shut them out all those years because he was afraid of thinking about them, because he felt responsible for their deaths. As the web-slings away, he tells them that he can now let himself remember them, and love them, and grieve. And in his grief, he finds new freedom, and that freedom lifts him up, carries him off...into the dawn.

The end...for now.