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.

In Spectacular Spider-Man #183, the long-awaited battle between Peter Parker, a.k.a. Spider-Man and Harry Osborn, a.k.a. the Green Goblin, finally takes place. In a dramatic turn of events, the Goblin takes control of the battle and manages to subdue his opponent. But, as he prepares to deliver the final deadly blow, which Peter himself begged for, he finds himself incapable of going on with it. Grateful to Harry, Peter tries to convince him to turn himself in to the authorities but Harry rejects his offer and glides off into the night, vowing to someday return and finish what he started.

In the final pages of the issue, Peter makes peace with his parents, while visiting their graves at the cemetery. And in his grief, he finds new freedom, and that freedom lifts him up, carries him off...into the dawn.

You are probably wondering what happened to Vermin, right? Well, minutes before Spidey and the Green Goblin engaged into battle, Spidey was able to capture him and send him back to Ravencroft to be further psychoanalyzed by Dr. Kafka. This time however, things will be different, because Vermin's mother requested to be informed about any ongoing development in her son's rehabilitation.

Actually, Spidey's spider-sense is working just fine. The reason it started tingling is that the Green Goblin happened to glide by undetected. The Goblin (i.e. Harry) is in a state of confusion about the recent events that took place between him and Spider-Man. On one hand, he wanted to kill Spider-Man but on the other hand, he couldn't have killed his best friend Peter Parker. As well, he is struggling to make up his mind about whether or not his father, Norman Osborn, the original Green Goblin, was a monster and a killer. The one thing that he seems to be certain about is that he followed in the footsteps of his father (i.e. becoming the Green Goblin) because he could not tolerate the pain associated with being Harry Osborn. He is still confused however, since he doesn't really want to be the Goblin, which is why he wants to get away from it all, from Peter, and from his father, so that he can figure out who he is.

But, before taking off, Harry, still in his Green Goblin costume, stops by his apartment to see his son one last time. Hovering on his glider, Harry/the Goblin enters little Normie's bedroom and finds him in bed, wide-awake, and staring in disbelief at him. Pulling off his Goblin mask, Harry tells Normie to not be afraid and holds his arms out to him. Normie climbs in Harry's arms and gives him a hug, while Harry tells him that he wanted to see him one last time before going away. Normie asks his father where he's going, to which he replies that he's not quite sure yet. He then goes on explaining to his son that he won't be gone for very long, just long enough to take care of some unfinished business. Normie asks his father if there's anything he can do to help. A teary-eyed Harry replies that he can't and puts him back in bed, telling him that he needs to go back to sleep. A heart-broken Normie tells his father that he doesn't want to go to sleep and that he wants to go with him. Harry replies that he can't come with him but promises that he'll be back very soon. Harry then asks Normie to promise him that he'll never forget how much he loves him. Just as Normie makes that promise, the door to his bedroom opens, making way for Liz Osborn, who has come to check up on him. At the sight of Liz, Harry freaks out – he didn't want her to see him with the Goblin costume on – and quickly takes off into the night, while Liz screams for him to come back.

Now totally confused about whether or not he should continue to uphold the mantle of the Green Goblin, Harry goes on a rampage across the city, throwing pumpkin bombs erratically. He then takes off into the night and vows to come back for his family…and for Spider-Man.

Meanwhile at the Ravencroft Institute, Dr. Ashley Kafka appears to be making some progress with Edward Whelan a.k.a. Vermin, who has now almost completely reverted back into his human form. But, as the experiment carries on, Edward is unable to remain in his human form and transform back into Vermin. He starts destroying every piece of furniture inside his cell and throws himself against the cell Plexiglas window vowing to eat Dr. Kafka alive. Just then, the security system is activated and sleeping gas is let off into the cell putting Vermin to sleep. As Dr. Kafka comments on the outcome of that experiment, Spider-Man appears in her office and asks her how things are going with Edward/Vermin, as they did not appear to go very well according to what he just saw. Dr. Kafka explains how a part of Edward has believed – all these years – that he deserves to be trapped in the hideous form and personality that make up Vermin. She goes on explaining that Edward's confrontation with his father, however painful it was for all concerned, was an important step in Edward’s journey back to them, because – for the first time – she was able to physically manifest the change and see Edward face-to-face. Spidey asks what this has to do with Vermin wanting her dead. Dr. Kafka replies that the time is coming fast when Edward won't be needing Vermin's protection anymore and Vermin can sense that. She goes on saying that Vermin is scared, terrified, and angrier than she's ever seen him, because he knows his days are numbered. Preparing to leave, Spidey tells her that he surely hopes so, because Edward’s been through enough already, and thanks her for the update. Sensing that Spidey has something else on his mind, Dr. Kafka bluntly asks him if everything is all right. Spidey asks her about the night he crashed through her office window and whether or not she saw his face, since he wasn't wearing his Spider-Man mask at the time. Dr. Kafka replies that the lights were out and that she was half asleep and proceeded to put his mask back on as quickly as she could. She goes on telling him that she didn't feel she had any right to see what was under his mask, unless he wanted her to. Thanking her, Spidey web-slings away, while Dr. Kafka turns her attention back to her work.

Web-slinging across the City, Spidey can't help but to compare his life to that of Edward Whelan. Suddenly, his spider-sense kicks in, warning him that there's someone dangerous on one of the rooftops below him. Spidey makes his way down to the specific rooftop but there is no one to be seen.

Meanwhile, at the apartment of Liz and Harry Osborn, Liz is being comforted by her brother, Mark, who tells her that he loves her.

Meanwhile, at the Parker apartment, Peter lets Mary Jane know how angry he is with himself for allowing Harry to get away. As he continues venting to MJ, she draws near him and puts her hand on his mouth, shushing him and telling him not to say another word. She then proceeds to kiss him affectionately and well, this is a PG-13 review, so you can figure out what they do after that.

A short time later, Peter kisses Mary Jane, who is sound asleep and, as Spider-Man, takes off into the night to continue his search for Harry. After web-slinging for a little while, his spider-sense picks up something when swinging above a certain rooftop. Thinking that it might be Harry, Spidey swings down towards the rooftop and notices that someone in a green costume is hiding in the shadows. With amazing swiftness, Spidey grabs hold of the individual's arm and pulls him out of the shadows, only to come face-to-face with…the fabulous Frog-Man.

To be continued.