PREVIOUSLY: In Web of Spider-Man #50, Puma mistakenly accused Spider-Man of being a common thief so Thomas Fireheart, Puma's alter ego, vowed to correct this imbalance of honour by purchasing the Daily Bugle and starting a campaign of positive promotion aimed at making Spider-Man into a local hero, as oppose to a criminal, which is what J. Jonah Jameson was known as doing.

There were many occasions where Spidey felt that Puma had repaid his debt of honour but Puma made it clear to him that it was not the case, leaving Spidey to be frustrated about the whole thing. To settle the debt of honor, Peter Parker and Thomas Fireheart head to New Mexico, in Spectacular Spider-Man #171, where they partake into a purification ritual, from which they realize that the only way to settle the score is if one of them dies and the other lives on. At issue's end, they get ready to battle to the death.

Puma and Spider-Man battle it out in Spectacular Spider-Man #172 but they soon come to the realization that they are too evenly match and that killing one another is not the right solution to settle the debt of honor between the two of them. At issue's end, they part ways, neither as enemies, nor as friends.

Mary Jane Parker returns home to her apartment, which is dark and silent like a tomb. She goes to turn on the lights but realizes that the bulb on the overhead is out. She then makes her way towards the window and pulls the blinds up. She looks out the window and stares at the full moon, loving the night air and the flood of moonlight. She turns around and comes close to having a heart attack when she sees Peter hanging (bat-like) straight down from the ceiling. She starts to scream for help, just as Peter suddenly awakens. Peter drops down from the ceiling and tells her everything is okay. Still shocked, MJ tells Peter that she thought he was dead and asks what he was doing up there. Peter replies that he couldn't sleep so he started pacing around the apartment and eventually climbed up the walls, literally. He then simply dozed off, as far as he can remember anyways. MJ explains that when she saw him up there like that, she thought that maybe one of his enemies had finally managed to kill him. She goes on saying that she is glad that he's all right and suggests that they go off to bed, as she's had an awful day and is exhausted. Peter replies that he cannot go to sleep, as he is too restless. MJ doesn't understand why he wouldn't be able to sleep, since he just was asleep, or close to it anyway. Peter replies that he was, until her screaming woke him up. MJ is taken aback and asks Peter to explain himself. Peter apologizes to her, claiming that it came out all wrong, and tells her that he needs to get out and be alone for a while. Furious, MJ cannot believe that Peter wants more time to himself, especially since she's been gone for the better part of the day. She asks him what is wrong with him, as she has the feeling that he's been pulling away from her over the past few weeks. Peter starts yelling at her to stop nagging him, as he's got enough on his mind, without her dumping on him too. He then adds that he is going out and that he'll come back when he feels like it.

Seconds later, as Spider-Man, he web-slings into the night, unaware that the black crow seen earlier is following him. The pursuit only lasts for a few minutes and soon the crow flies on in a different direction. Its journey brings it to an apartment building where it lands in a wheelchair and transforms into a man named Jessie Black Crow. Crow awakens hungry and afraid and starts reminiscing about the days of old. He remembers his life as a young Navajo boy listening to his great-grand-father talking about the past. He also remembers his life as a construction worker; a life that left him crippled when he fell down twenty stories. He recalls telling the doctors they were fool when they told him he had lost the use of his legs because he could feel himself flying. His mind began playing tricks on him as well; he started to relive historical moments of his people’s past and more importantly to this story, he had a new disturbing vision: that of a spider weaving a web of life, entangling and devouring, and a mountain lion, powerful and ferocious, dripping with blood. Back in the present, Jessie Black Crow falls down from his wheelchair, and begs to be left alone. A thick mist surrounds him and another transformation takes place. Jessie Black Crow metamorphoses into some kind of super-powered Indian Chief and starts calling himself Black Crow. He then stares out the window at the full moon and he disappears in a flash of light.

Thomas Fireheart, as the Puma, is running across the Manhattan rooftops, in search of an answer for what has been happening to him. He has always been the unquestioned master of the Puma and the cat has always been his willing servant Recently however, the cat has been fighting (savagely) to rule him. As Puma comes to a stop on one of the rooftops, he growls at the moon. Just then, a voice is heard telling him to give his pain and rage to him. Puma turns and comes face-to-face with a black-costumed Spider-Man. The beast wastes no time and leaps at Spidey with his claws out. Spidey is no match for the Puma who tears through him with his razor-sharp claws; within seconds, Spidey lies dead on the rooftop. Puma slowly transforms back into Thomas Fireheart, who is left to wonder how something so horrible could have happened so quickly. Fireheart kneels down next to Spidey and starts lifting his body with tenderness that most would find surprising. But as he does so, Spidey's body transforms into the black crow seen earlier and it flies off into the night. Puma takes off after it.

Peter, as Spider-Man, picks up flowers for Mary Jane to try and make up for the way he's been treating her. As he ponders about how bad he's treated her, the world suddenly starts to bend and distort around him. Dozens of eyes penetrate the darkness now surrounding him. Then, the darkness takes the shape of a puma and attacks him. Spidey starts to fall towards imminent death but he manages to throw a web-line and slow down his descent. As he lands on a nearby rooftop, he notices the Puma standing on a rooftop across from his, telling him to come with him and learn the truth, if he has the courage to make the leap. Ticked off, Spidey jumps the distance separating the rooftops and lands where the Puma WAS standing, as he is no longer there. Laughter is heard; Spidey turns around, only to find that the Puma is on the rooftop from which he leaped. Spidey once again jumps the distance separating the rooftops. This time however, he strikes the Puma in the chest with both his feet. Then he starts pummeling him, anger boiling in his veins. Suddenly however, the Puma transforms – just like the black-costumed Spider-Man did earlier – into the black crow seen earlier and it flies off into the night, followed by Spidey.

A few minutes later, Spidey and Puma are brought together on the same rooftop by the black crow. A thick mist develops around them and when it dissipates, Spidey and Puma find themselves in the middle of the desert.

To be continued.