In a secret lair, the Punisher blasts apart a plaster
statue of Spider-Man while the Jackal watches with glee! The Jackal is pleased
that their alliance will result in Spider-Man’s death and the Punisher
clarifies that he takes no pleasure in this. He only kills those who deserve to
die, and he’s deemed Spider-Man one of those unlucky people! Speaking of whom,
Spider-Man himself swings past an armored car robbery in progress and stops the
thieves in his usual stylish fashion, making sure to get photos of the whole
thing. He leaves the group for the police and heads to the Daily Bugle while
mulling over all the troubles he’s been going through lately. Peter tries to
put on a cheery face and heads inside where Betty invites him to a Christmas
Eve party she and Ned are throwing. Peter then heads in to give his newest
photos to Jameson, who isn’t very happy to see him. Robbie shows Peter a
competing paper that got pictures of the Punisher, and Jameson angrily demands
that Peter get some as well!
Spidey swings away, trying to figure out how to find
the Punisher, when his spider-sense starts to go crazy! Turns out Punisher
found him as Spidey narrowly avoids a concussive sniper shot! Spidey spots the
Punisher on a nearby roof and quickly tackles him. Punisher retrieves a
speargun he had hidden in a chimney and shoots at Spider-Man, tying him up with
titanium wires! The Punisher tells Spider-Man that he doesn’t enjoy this, but that
he feels he has to eradicate evil whatever way necessary! Spidey snaps free of
the wires and starts wailing on the Punisher. Hidden in the chimney as well,
the Jackal fears this may derail his plans and claws at the back of
Spider-Man’s head while he’s preoccupied with Punisher. Stunned by the
electro-prods in the Jackal’s claws, Spidey stumbles off the roof and narrowly
manages to snag his web on a ledge, causing him to crash right through a window
into an office! Spidey quickly returns to the roof to find his two foes gone,
but discovers the speargun the Punisher used with a clue about where he got it!
Back at his apartment, Peter inspects the damage the
Jackal’s claws did and bemoans having to awkwardly sew his mask back up. As
Peter does a haphazard sewing job, Harry listens in just outside the front
door, his sanity slipping ever farther as he feels that’s he’s truly now all
alone! Meanwhile, at ESU, Professor Warren asks Mary Jane to let Peter know
that he wants to see him to apologize about their little run in (from ASM
#127). Mary Jane says she will but wonders to herself if she really wants to
see Peter again. She’s worried about getting too involved again, with
everything that’s happened, and starts to retreat into her party girl persona
once more. Elsewhere, back at their lair, the Punisher expresses his
frustrations with how the Jackal did things, feeling that Spider-Man’s death
wasn’t just! The Punisher questions if their goals are really aligned and the
Jackal concludes to himself that the Punisher’s usefulness to him has ended.
Some time later, Spider-Man heads to check out Reiss
Armorers, where the plate on the Punisher’s speargun indicated it was from. His
arrival is spotted by the Punisher from an alley across the street. Spidey
heads inside to find Reiss dead and the Punisher smashes through the window and
attacks Spidey, concluding that he killed Reiss! The Punisher ignores
Spider-Man’s attempts to explain, forcing Spidey to bounce around the room
avoiding the Punisher’s shots, until he’s able to ricochet off the wall and
take the Punisher out! Once Punisher comes to, Spidey has him inspect the marks
on Reiss and they both conclude that the Jackal was responsible. Spidey then
has Punisher confirm that he removed the plate on the speargun he used, meaning
the one Spidey found was left by the Jackal in order to incriminate the
Punisher once he’d gotten rid of Spider-Man. Furious at being used like a pawn,
the Punisher stalks off just as the police arrive, leaving Spider-Man to take
the blame, as usual. Spidey swings off, being watched the whole time by the
Jackal, who swears that he’ll get rid of Spider-Man one way or another!
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