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.

In Spectacular Spider-Man #191, a new individual by the name of Jessie Black Crow, who, though crippled, has the ability to transform into a black crow, uses his powers to convince Spider-Man and the Puma into believing that they are fighting each other when in fact they are fighting psychological manifests created by Jessie. At issue's end, Jessie metamorphoses into some kind of super-powered Navajo Indian chief, who goes by the (unoriginal) name of Black Crow, and uses his powers to bring Spider-Man and the Puma together and transport them to the middle of some desert somewhere.

A mist starts surrounding Black Crow and he tells them that they both have reached a turning point in their spiritual growth and that they must now each make a choice that will determine the path that they will walk for the rest of their lives. As he says that, a duplicate copy of himself appears next to him. Then, the two of them take off in different direction, one of them calling for Spider-Man to follow him while the other calls for Puma to track his scent. After a quick discussion, Spidey and Puma split up and run off after their individual Black Crow duplicate.

Minutes pass and Spidey finds himself at the bottom of some large mountain. The caw of the black crow echoes into the night, calling for Spidey to follow it, as it flies towards the mountaintop. Spidey starts to climb the mountain in pursuit of the crow; the strangest of feeling coursing through his body. Suddenly, Black Crow appears out of nowhere, grabs hold of Spidey by the ankle and he slams him into the rock face. In retaliation, Spidey tackles Black Crow. Then, the two of them tussle along the edge of the façade. Black Crow gets the upper hand and hits Spidey with a solid backhand. Spidey is sent flying downwards towards imminent death. Fortunately, he manages to halt his descent by grabbing onto a protruding rock. He then shoots a webline at Black Crow but the latter uses his extraordinary powers and dissolves into thin air only to reappear further up the mountain, free of Spidey's webbing. Black crow then clambers up out of sight, his laughter echoing into the night, taunting Spidey, whose rage grows hotter in his heart. The ascension continues.

Thomas Fireheart fears Black Crow because he has the ability to gaze into the depths of his soul and see the awful secrets hidden there. He wonders if that is why Black Crow has come to pass judgment on him. A roar is heard and as Fireheart looks up, he comes face-to-face with a speaking lion mountain, inhabited by the spirit of Black Crow, who tells him that he has not come to judge him but to help him judge himself. The lion goes on saying to Fireheart that he must choose between being the servant of the mountain lion medicine or its master. The lion then leaps at Fireheart and tackles him into the hard ground. The lion then accuses Fireheart of using the gift of the puma-medicine that was bestowed upon him to kill and become a hired assassin. In an amazing display of strength, Fireheart grabs the mountain lion and slams it into the ground, telling it that he never asked to become the Puma and that it was thrust upon him. As they continue fighting, the lion asks if the reason he abuses his power is as an act of rebellion and interestingly, Fireheart responds that he does. Just then, the realization batters him, paralyzes him. All these years, he's run wild and killed men because it was his release from bondage, from the burden of the tribe's demands. As Fireheart holds down the lion, it slowly transforms into Black Crow who tells him that he understands the torment that drove his actions but counsels him to change his ways, or else the cat within him will take over. Having said that, Black Crow knees Fireheart in the gut, then slams his face into the hard ground. Black Crow then transforms into an actual crow and flies off into the night. Inside Fireheart, the Puma roars, demanding release and blood. A part of him wants nothing more than to give the Puma what it wants, what it's been demanding for so long: his complete surrender. But Fireheart resists; whatever challenge this night may bring, he must face them not as a cat, but as a man.

Spidey reaches the summit of the mountain and waits for the Black Crow to make an appearance. A mist starts surrounding the mountaintop and the sound of drums can be heard in the valley down below. Then chanting starts and with the chanting comes a vision: that of dancers carrying bows and spears and whose faces are that of the Green Goblin, the Rhino, the Vulture and Wilson Fisk. Spidey tries to grab onto them but his hands go right through them, as a result of them being hallucinations. But using this trusty spider-sense, Spidey manages to find Black Crow amidst the hallucinations. Infuriated, Spidey does not waste any time and he knocks out Black Crow with two solid punches. Anger coursing through his body, he then grabs hold of Black Crow and prepares to throw him off the side of the mountain.

Thomas Fireheart finally reaches the mountaintop. But as he does so, a large black crow, about twice his size, appears and attacks him; as it flies towards Fireheart, the crow tells him that if he does what he is planning to do, he’ll be carried over the edge. Totally furious, Fireheart manages to seize the bird by his feet and slam it into a large rock. He then leaps atop the bird and starts beating the living crap out of it, while transforming into Puma; the cat has won, it is now in control of his body.

Holding the Black Crow above his head, Spidey stares down at the valley running between the mountains. And as he does so, he comes to the realization that the Black Crow was not conspiring against him, he was guiding him...above the world...where he can now see the spider’s web, woven so delicately through all beings and things. Spidey also realizes that there will always be pain and struggle in life...and times of suffering. But that too, is the web, that too is shimmering and perfect. The thoughts dance, vibrate and sing in his brain, but what he feels isn't in the words, but in the web...and the web dissolves and the mist returns. Spidey lowers Black Crow while the mist surrounds him. As he does so, Black Crow disappears from his arms and reappears behind him. Black Crow explains that the spider-medicine is strong in him, referring to Spidey, and that he (Spidey) freely chose to accept its vision. Black Crow goes on explaining that all he did was provide the opportunity, just as he did for Fireheart. As he says that, a growl is heard and Puma arrives on the scene. He leaps towards Spidey but Spidey dodges the attack. Just then, Spidey no longer finds himself on the mountaintop where he was last standing. He is now clinging to the side of the Chrysler Building, along with Puma. Puma screams at Spidey and says that he has work to do; then he takes off. Confused, Spidey wonders how he made back to New York City. Black Crow appears behind him (again) and says to him that there is an innocent life at stake and that Puma must be stopped. Spidey tries to question Black Crow but the latter dissolves into thin air. Realizing what he must do, Spidey web-slings into the night to search for Puma.

To be continued.