Now the government has cast a crucial move against the webslinger by enlisting his arch-nemesis, Adrian Toomes, a.k.a. the Vulture, to track him down. Armed with the knowledge that Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker and that ex-girlfriend Deb Whitman has written a scathing, tell-all memoir, about her relationship with Peter, the Vulture crashed a book signing where both Deb and Peter were present.

A battle ensued between the webslinger and his winged enemy during which the Vulture slashed Spider-Man with his new poisoned claws. The poison caused Spider-Man to lose consciousness hundreds of stories above ground, sending the webslinger into a perilous plummet. The Vulture had barely celebrated this victory when he was knocked unconscious by a mysterious affliction and joined Spider-Man in his fatal plunge towards the pavement.

ACT 1: As an unconscious Peter Parker/Spider-Man plummets towards the pavement, the results of his battle with the Vulture, his mind rages a battle of its own against Deb Whitman, his former girlfriend. Deb tells Peter that he humiliated her, even after she opened his heart to him. Peter apologizes for the way things worked out, an apology that does not sit well with Deb. She retaliates that he drove her out of her mind and that it was his secret life that was doing it – she is mad because he let it happen. Peter contends that he did not let it happen and that he even told her who he was. Deb replies that he only told her knowing she would not believe him, at which time the damage had already been done. Peter argues that she is not being fair to which she responds that he does not get to lecture her about what is fair and unfair. She then tells Peter that he understands nothing and that she was falling for him. As she says the word "falling", the reader sees the limp body of Spider-Man falling through the skies.

ACT 2: At ground level, Deb Whitman, Flash Thompson and Betty Brant are freaking out. Betty comments that he only has seconds, while Deb notes that Peter looks unconscious. Flash rudely remarks to Deb that she probably does not care what happens and she responds by telling him to shut up. While Betty tries to calculate how much time Peter has left before his demise, Deb screams at Peter to wake up. In his mind, Peter is still battling Deb Whitman. Deb asks Peter if he was conscious of the effect he had on her and if he thinks it is her fault that she did not put two and two together. Peter replies that he did not think that. Again in his mind, Deb calls Peter an idiot and screams at him to wake up. She then calls him a hopeless dreamer who is wasting his life dreaming of a life that won't ever be, dreaming that he can make the world a better place when it does not want anything to do with him. An angry Peter replies that she does not know what the world wants and that she does not know him, even now, when she thinks she knows everything about him. Peter goes on ranting that he has had herds of people slamming him for everything he has ever done and believe the worst of him every time out. He then says that if she cares for him and still cannot even give him the benefit of the doubt, then she may as well forget it. His whole life, people have been blaming him for everything and talking trash about him and he is not going to fall for it again. As the word "fall" resonates in his mind, Peter suddenly regains consciousness and manages to halt his descent using a few well-placed webs; this he does only a few feet from the ground. He then immediately swings back into action to try and locate the Vulture. He does not have to look very far because as he swings upwards, the unconscious body of the Vulture slams into him. At first, he thinks the Vulture is attacking him but soon realizes that his winged nemesis is out of commission. Peter is not sure what happened to him so he heads towards the nearest hospital where he hopes they will be able to figure it out.

ACT 3: At ground level, the crowd has started to disperse. Nurse Arrow, who had been worried (see FNSM#15) that Flash would do something stupid, arrives on the scene just in time to see Flash get slapped in the face by Deb Whitman, because he rudely commented that she probably was looking forward to seeing Peter die so that things would be square between them. Unbeknownst to any of them, Nurse Arrow slowly pulls out one of her stingers and walks towards them. Betty Brant steps between Deb and Flash and tells Deb to leave Flash alone. Furious, Deb decides to leave them all alone and takes off. Betty checks up on Flash and as they discussed how they used to date, after she makes a sexual joke, Nurse Arrow joins them. Flash is surprised by her presence and proceeds to ask her what she is doing there. Nurse Arrow explains that she was worried he would get himself into trouble, since he was so worked up about Deb Whitman's book, so she thought she would come over and try to talk him out of it. Before Flash can answer, Betty tells Nurse Arrow that when you know Flash as long as she has known him, you know that no one can talk him out of anything. At that point, Flash introduces Nurse Arrow to Betty and vice versa, omitting the fact that he and Betty used to date, which Betty is quick to point out. Unbeknownst to Betty or Flash, Nurse Arrow retracts her stinger and shakes Betty's hand, telling her – with a look of evil on her face – that she is so sweet, she could just eat her up.

ACT 4: Later that night, in the emergency room of a hospital, a doctor informs Adrian Toomes (a.k.a. the Vulture) that he had a cerebrovascular accident – a stroke – that affected neuromuscular activity on the left side of his body, causing some paralysis. The doctor explains that it was only a mild incident that time and physical therapy will heal, which prompts a very feeble Toomes to tell the doctor to kill him. The doctor is shocked to say the least and leaves the room, just as a bulky orderly walks in the room to change the bedpan. As the doctor talks to a nurse, he is accosted by Special Agent Madrox from the FBI, who wants to know what Spider-Man did to the Vulture. The doctor tells Madrox that, as far as he knows, Spider-Man did nothing and that it was advanced age that did it, nothing more. Madrox tells the doctor that where the Vulture is concerned, Spider-Man is always going to be more involved than anyone expects. As he says that, the orderly that went into the Vulture's room is revealed to be Spider-Man in disguise – having made use of the image projector Beast gave to him in FNSM#14.

ACT 5: Betty Brant is sleeping when loud knocks on her door wake her up. She opens the door and finds Deb Whitman standing there holding up what looks like a medical bill, which she tells Betty to read. Betty is surprised at the costs outlined on the bill and asks if they are Deb's. Deb replies that they are her mother's, who has been quite sick. She tells Betty that she has been out of work and that her mother’s Medicare has not covered the expenses, causing them to be indebted considerably. She then explains to Betty that when J. Jonah Jameson's people approached her to write a book about Peter, she took the offer so she can pay for her mother's bills. With that said, she throws herself into Betty's arms and starts to cry, telling Betty that she (meaning herself) is a horrible person. She admits that she was mad at Peter when she found out he was Spider-Man – felt lied to and everything – but the man Jameson sent to write the book made it sound so much worse than it was. She did not want to say anything because she really needed the money. She feels like a traitor, like Judas. Betty tells Deb to calm down and to keep the mea culpa for later. Deb tells Betty that she cannot go public about how the truth was distorted because her contract prohibits her from doing such thing. If she goes ahead and goes public, they will take back the money. Betty comforts Deb by telling her that her hands will be clean – but the truth as a way of getting out. Betty then tells Deb that she is going to put a pot of coffee on, as she wants her to tell her everything.

ACT 6: At the hospital, Toomes wakes up to see Spider-Man and asks to be killed, as he does not want to live as a half-man, a weakling, because it is wrong and unnatural. Toomes tells Spidey that he would not understand because he is weak and has always been weak and that it is lucky that his Uncle Ben is dead so he would not see what he has become. Ticked off, Spidey grabs Toome's pillow from underneath his head and stuffs it on Toome's face, preventing him from breathing. Outside the room, Special Agent Madrox is warned via his cell phone that they can hear Toomes – through the device in his ear – asking someone to kill him. Madrox tells the caller that Toomes asked the doctor to kill him as well but the individual at the other end of the line tells Madrox that Toomes is talking about someone being lucky his uncle did. Madrox is perplexed, until he overhears a nurse mentioning that they are getting elevated readings from the monitor in Toome's room. Realizing that something is wrong, Madrox pull his gun out and races toward the room. Inside the room, Toomes is struggling to stay alive and manages to pull Spidey’s mask off, revealing Peter Parker's infuriated face. Peter takes the pillow off, puts his mask back on, and tells Toomes that for someone who is begging to die, he fought for life pretty hard. As he makes his way out the window, Peter/Spidey tells Toomes that he can spend the next few months talking about how much he said he wanted to die or remembering how much he fought not to die. Before disappearing, he also tells him to think about what he would call weakness – and others, compassion, because it is not always such a bad thing. A fraction of a second later, Madrox bursts into the room but Spidey is long gone.

ACT 7: The next morning at the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson is in one of his moods, as he has just found out that the Daily Globe has published a story about how Deb Whitman was manipulated by the Daily Bugle into changing facts about her relationship with Peter Parker to sensationalize her tell-all book. Jameson is threatening to have his lawyers all over her until Robbie Robertson points out that the story claims that Deb did not cooperate and that the information was obtained from an anonymous source. Jameson asks who wrote the story and Robbie responds that there was no byline. Jameson wants to get to the bottom of this and asks none other than Betty Brant to investigate how the information was leaked to the Daily Globe. Betty tells Jonah that she will get right on that. Obviously, Betty was the anonymous source.

The end...for now.