

Peter meets Rogers at the cemetery where they begin a lesson on fighting smart versus fighting foolishly and how the second one can lead soldiers right to a cemetery like the one they are standing in. Peter and Mary Jane are having lunch when they are visited by a very begrudging Steve Rogers, who tells Peter to suit up and meet him for training. During the party he professes his love, once again, for MJ and the two kiss. When they arrive at his house, he is surprised by many of his friends, including Sue Storm, Ben Grimm, Johnny, Bobby, Gwen, Aunt May and Mary Jane, who are throwing him a surprise birthday party. He convinces her to rejoin his circle of friends. Peter, knowing she's really his ex-girlfriend Kitty Pryde, begs her to talk to him. The Shroud also shows up to take them down. Shortly after, Peter responds to an explosion caused by the same group of roller blade hooligans that he encountered before. Jonah tells Peter that he owes him his life and wants to make up for all the lies that he has ever said about him in the media. Jonah Jameson who offers him his job back (with the added bonus of not being fired due to absence because of being Spider-Man), as well as a gift in the form of a scholarship for when Peter attends college, in exchange for exclusive rights to Peter's stories as Spider-Man to publish on the Daily Bugle website. The next day Peter gets fired from his job at Burger Frog because of his frequent absence from work (due to him secretly being Spider-Man).

Jonah Jameson offers Peter his old job back. Distraught, Peter swings to Mary Jane's house and she invites him inside. Tony then takes the Zodiac Key and returns to his lab to study it, thanking Peter and informally offering him a job to work for him. Mysterio almost regains the Key but is then grabbed from behind by Tony, who manages to subdue him, and reveals that Mysterio is nothing more than a robot that is being controlled remotely by someone elsewhere. Spider-Man, Mysterio and Black Cat fight over the Zodiac Key. However, he accidentally opens a singularity in the sky by using only his thoughts, making the same mistake that Felicia did. Peter manages to take the key while Mysterio is distracted by an attack from Black Cat. Another blast from Mysterio completely destroys Tony's armor. Tony's armor emits a force-field that absorbs the energy blast, but this leaves him drained of power. When they arrive, Mysterio uses the Key against them by firing a blast of energy.

Meanwhile, Tony Stark is with Peter Parker when they are alerted to the blast and head off to investigate. Black Cat refuses and in an attempt to attack Mysterio, ends up to accidentally level many city blocks with the Key. The Black Cat, having not too long ago stolen the great The Zodiac Key from the office of the late Wilson Fisk, who knew how dangerous the key was and kept it hidden, is visited by Mysterio in an attempt to persuade her to give it to him.
