A Superhuman Registration Act is passed which requires all people possessing paranormal abilities to register with the government. Those who do not register are considered criminals. Some heroes, such as Iron Man, see this as a natural evolution of the role of super humans in society, and a reasonable request. Others view the Act as an assault on their civil liberties. After being called upon to hunt down fellow heroes in defiance of the Registration Act, Captain America goes underground and forms a resistance movement.

In Amazing Spider-Man #532, Peter Parker is given an ultimatum by Tony Stark: whether he joins him in his support of the Superhuman Registration Act, thus being forced to reveal his identity, or he is going to be hunted down like a criminal, as will Mary Jane and Aunt May, who will be considered accomplices.

In Amazing Spider-Man #533, Spider-Man takes off his mask and reveals his secret identity for the whole world to see.

In Sensational Spider-Man #29, Mark Raxton, the Molten Man, is coerced into joining forces with the Chameleon, after Chameleon threatens to have his subordinate Electro kill Normie Osborn, should Raxton refuse to join him. Elsewhere, Peter Parker, as Spider-Man, is confronted by Scarecrow and Will O'The Wisp, Mary Jane is being spied on by the being known as Swarm, and Felicia Hardy (a.k.a. the Black Cat) comes to the realization that she still has feelings for Peter, though she currently is involved with Thomas Fireheart (a.k.a. Puma). After escaping from Scarecrow and Will O'The Wisp, Peter visits Madame Web, who, as usual, predicts that worse things are about to happen. At issue's end, Mark Raxton, in full Molten Man form, shows up at the home of Liz Allan Osborn, his step-sister.

In Sensational Spider-Man #30, Swarm attacks Mary Jane and her follow actors while Electro and Spider-Man trade blows at the Whitney Museum of Modern Art. Later, Spidey is lured to Liz-Allan Osborn's home under the pretense that Normie Osborn has been kidnapped by the Molten Man and, at issue's end, the Chameleon, who is behind it all, pulling the strings, tricks his way into Avengers Tower, right under Aunt May's nose.

In Sensational Spider-Man #31, Spider-Man trades punches with the Molten Man while his backup, the Black Cat, makes sure that Liz-Allan Osborn and Normie Osborn are safe from Will O'The Wisp and Scarecrow. After trading blows for what seems like an eternity, Spidey manages to defeat his opponent (and Will O'The Wisp) and the Black Cat takes care of the Scarecrow. Wasting no time, Spidey takes off towards Avengers Tower, having found out from the Molten Man that the Chameleon is going after Aunt May. Arriving at the tower, he is surprised to see that Aunt May figured out that the Chameleon was impersonating him and is even more shocked to discover that she defeated him by hiding drugs in some oatmeal raisin cookies she cooked for him. The issue ends with them talking about the grim future that awaits them.

In Sensational Spider-Man #32, while Mary Jane ponders her relationship with her husband Peter Parker, Spider-Man is caught in a battle with the Rhino. At issue's end, when Mary Jane returns home, she is stunned to find Peter/Spider-Man severely beaten and bloody, in the arms of a distraught Aunt May.

In Sensational Spider-Man #33, Peter Parker/Spider-Man recuperates from the wounds received during his battle with the Rhino, with a little help from Aunt May and Mary Jane. In another part of town, Felicia Hardy, a.k.a. the Black Cat, hears about Spider-Man's beating at the hands of the Rhino and decides – with the help of her boyfriend, Thomas Fireheart, a.k.a. Puma – to go out in search of the Rhino.

ACT 1: At the seedy motel where the Parkers are temporarily holding base, Mary Jane and Aunt May are visited by Felicia Hardy, a.k.a. the Black Cat, who is looking for an update on the status of Peter, who was severely beaten by the Rhino in Sensational Spider-Man #32. The Black Cat gets a bit of an icy reception from Aunt May and almost as equally a reaction from Mary Jane, though MJ does not let it show. MJ and May inform the Black Cat that Peter is not home, prompting her to ask if he went back looking for the Rhino for a little payback. Aunt May rudely answers the question, insinuating that only a criminal like her would do something like that. MJ interjects and tells the Black Cat that Peter has bigger fishes to fry and that payback is not high on his priority list. Seeing as she will not get any more information as to Peter’s whereabouts from them, the Black Cat takes her leave, not before letting MJ know that she is going after the Rhino.

ACT 2: Seconds after jumping on her motorbike – a gift from her boyfriend Thomas Fireheart, a.k.a. Puma – Felicia contacts Fireheart to find out if he has located the Rhino. Puma explains that he stopped by the Jungle Club, which – according to his contacts – has been appropriated by Dmitri Smerdyakov, a.k.a. the Chameleon – and found it completely trashed. Fireheart deduces that the Rhino must have agreed to meet with the Chameleon at the Jungle Club, once he was done with Spider-Man, and he must have trashed the place after finding out he was not going to get paid by the Chameleon for taking down the webslinger, since the Chameleon is rotting in jail after his own failed coup against Spider-Man. Fireheart continues to explain that a ticked off Rhino went on a bender and knocked over a Washington Mutual Bank on West Broadway and a liquor store on 7th avenue and he is now at Battery Park, getting drunk as a skunk. Felicia answers that she is on her way and that Spider-Man is nowhere to be found. As she says that, Spidey is shown meeting with the anti-registration team led by Captain America.

ACT 3: As Felicia races toward Battery Park, she reminisces about the special bond she shared/shares with Peter/Spider-Man. When she heard on the news that the Rhino had beaten him, several events that have transpired in her short life came flooding back. One event in particular – that time when she and Spider-Man battled Doctor Octopus in the Owl's aviary – seems to have had a defining impact on their unique and special relationship. The story goes that Doctor Octopus had badly injured her during a battle and she had literally lost pints of blood. Spidey had rushed her to the hospital – carrying her in his arms the whole time – and had sat by her bedside until she came back from the dead. After going through such an ordeal with him by her side, Felicia had realized that, as of that specific moment, they were linked forever. Even after he dumped her because she was in love with Spider-Man and not Peter Parker, they (eventually) continued to be friends. But before they rekindled their friendship, she went through another nightmare when she agreed to have the Kingpin graft a "bad luck aura" onto her, like some mad scientist, because she worried that Spider-Man did not love her because she did not have actual powers. She felt so pathetic and needy and hated herself so much that all she could think of was ripping off her costume, like peeling away a layer of skin and scalding it away until there wasn't anything left. A call from the Puma brings Felicia back to reality. A pack of drunken sailors are trying to pick a fight with the Rhino and, unless she gets there fast, there won't be anything left of them if they – meaning she and him – don't interfere soon. Felicia tells the Puma to sit tight, unless the sailors are in immediate physical danger; otherwise, the Rhino's hide is hers.

ACT 4: The Rhino wants nothing to do with the sailors but they – on the other hand – are obviously looking for a fight, and they sure haven't picked the most stable opponent. Luckily, before they get pounded into the ground like hamburger meat, the Black Cat shows up and saves their butts. She tells them to take a hike and rather than engaging into battle with the Rhino, she calmly asks to speak to him. Strangely, the Rhino agrees and asks what she wants. Felicia replies that she wants full disclosure and explains that she original wanted to find him to try and take him down. Perplexed, the Rhino asks why she wanted to take him down and if it had something to do with him attacking Spider-Man. Felicia replies that she wanted to prove something to Peter/Spider-Man. For as long as she has known him, so much of what she has done has been for him to get him to lover her again, respect her, to tolerate her. Peter, on the other hand, does not do the same for her because he has other concerns, other people in his life that take precedence over her, which she must accept. Confused as to what she is saying, the Rhino asks if they are going to fight. Felicia answers that they will not fight, if he tells her his rampage ends right then and there. If he does not end his rampage, then – lying through her teeth – she tells him that her backup, the Puma, will take him off using a special bazooka that Reed Richards designed (Hidden in the shadows, the Puma wonders what the heck she is talking about). She then tells the Rhino that he does not have to be some easily manipulated, lumbering, completely idiotic lackey and that he should just go home, sleep it off, forget about the money the Chameleon owes him and start again the following day; but this time, start smarter. Surprisingly, the Rhino turns around and walks away. The Puma steps out of the shadows and tells Felicia that there is no way the two of them could have taken the Rhino down. "Do I?" is her answer.

ACT 5: Later that night, Felicia visits Mary Jane to tell her about the Rhino. MJ is confused that Felicia let him go after what he did to Peter. Felicia answers that maybe – when she touched his shoulder – she planted a tracking device on him and/or maybe she knows that someone with more firepower is going after him now – maybe someone like the Punisher. MJ sarcastically comments that the Punisher is so well-adjusted and that she has never understood super-powered people. Felicia replies that they are not that complicated and turns to leave. As Felicia makes her way towards her bike, MJ asks if she has a message for Peter. For a second, Felicia considers leaving a message explaining what he is missing, for not being with her, but she does not and tells MJ that she doesn't have a message for him. As she sits atop her bike, she ponders about one message she should leave him and that's thanking him for taking off his mask and reminding her that it is never too late to figure out who you really are.

The end...for now.