At the Shanghai World Financial Tower, Cloak teleports himself, Dagger, Mister Negative, and Peter Parker to the roof. In response to Peter's flippancy, Mister Negative orders him to show respect and speak only when spoken to. Mister Negative exposits about Parker Industries' upcoming deal with philanthropist Shen Quinghao, ordering Peter to administer an extra-potent Shade patch to him in order to reveal his dark side to the world. Mister Negative asks if Peter has a problem with his orders, and Peter replies that he doesn't with a cruel smile. Internally, Peter reveals that he is faking having been corrupted, since Mister Negative's darkforce powers can only affect a person once and he had already been affected years ago as Spider-Man. Mister Negative has Cloak return Peter to Parker Industries, and Peter pretends to be nauseous, using the distraction to plant a Spider-Tracer on Cloak.

Once Cloak leaves, Peter immediately contacts Dr. Wu and asks if he's been able to engineer an antidote to the Shade. Dr. Wu responds that he is endeavoring but hasn't made much progress due to constant interruptions. In the lab, Dr. Wu gripes to Lian Tang that now he'll have to deal with both her and Peter. Lian demands to know why Dr. Wu stopped his cancer research, and Dr. Wu responds that Peter's company policy that they drop everything to help Spider-Man when needed forced him to do so. Peter arrives and delivers the Shade patch to Dr. Wu, and Lain tries to talk to him but is blown off. She chases after him, but finds he's disappeared.

Web-swinging through town, Spider-Man notes that he should have taken the Spider-Mobile to chase Cloak down, placing a call to Min Wei to check on Shen Quinghao, who is holding a tree-planting event for schoolchildren. Just as Min Wei informs Peter that Shen's held three events but has yet to mention Parker Industries, Shen calls them up. Min Wei and Phillip Chang try to discuss the upcoming business deal and Chang's fuel, but Shen dismisses the importance of ceremonies and awards and asks if they would help him plant a tree. As they do so, Shen comments that Chang's new green fuel will help reduce pollution, but that the trees they are planting will remove it. He asks if Chang would like to plant another tree, and Chang responds he would be honored to.

Over the city, Peter weighs his options, with Prowler and Mockingbird being else-wise occupied with Zodiac. He calls Chief Inspector Sun to inform him of Mr. Negative's activities, and is surprised when Sun offers to send his best men and thanks Spider-Man for calling it in. Impressed, he calls Anna Maria in London, but she tells him that ever since he fired Sajani she's been swamped with work and things have been going crazy, hanging up. Put off, Peter calls the New York office and is surprised when Clayton Cole answers. When he asks where Harry is, Clayton says he doesn't know and that he's not answering his e-mails or texts.

In a diner in the West Village, New York, Harry Osborn, Liz Allan, Normie Osborn, and Stanley Osborn sit around a table eating pizza. Normie expresses annoyance and jealousy towards Stanley, griping when Harry suggests he give his half-brother a chance. As they leave the restaurant, Liz complements Harry for not talking about their rival corporations over dinner. Harry says he just wants to be a good dad to both his sons, thanking her for letting him see Normie and for giving family night a shot. As they cross the street, a speeding car pursued by police cruisers almost runs them over, but a figure drops out of the sky into its path, demolishing the front half of the vehicle. The figure, Regent, coldly chastises the driver of the now-wrecked car for not obeying the police. Liz asks if the children are alright and Harry says he got them out of the way in time, but Normie fumes over Harry's prioritization of Stanley over him. Stanley points to the Regent and asks if he's Spider-Man, and the Regent introduces himself as a new superhero and announces his intent to watch over the citizens of New York.

In Shanghai, Spider-Man eavesdrops on Mister Negative's conversation with Cloak and Dagger over the spider-tracer. In his lair, Mister Negative states he's starting to turn back into Martin Li and tells them to chain him to the wall and leave to make their rounds and check in on the Shade factory. Cloak teleports and Spider-Man loses the location of Mister Negative's lair, but radios Chief Inspector Sun with the location of the Shade factory. In the lab, Cloak and Dagger threaten the workers, whose families Mister Negative has taken hostage. A team of armored police break into the lab, while Spider-Man engages Cloak and Dagger. Insulted when the two say they never found his banter amusing even before being turned evil, Spider-Man tells them to surrender since they're outnumbered. In response, Tyrone expels a flurry of Shade patches, corrupting the police.

In Mister Negative's lair, Martin Li and his evil alter ego hold a conversation via a pre-recorded video of Mister Negative. Mister Negative proposes an alliance to expose Shen Quinghao, who was once the leader of the Snakehead syndicate, and the one who wrecked their life. When Mister Negative asks whether he will oppose him or if they will join forces to eliminate their common enemy, Martin Li accepts his proposal and the manacles pop open.

In the Shade factory, Spider-Man finishes webbing up the police when he is attacked by Dagger. Spider-Man scolds her for being mean in addition to being evil, then admits he knows where she's coming from and urges her to resist Negative's control. He's struck by her darkforce daggers, noting that they hurt much more than her lightforce daggers did and comparing the sensation to going through Tyrone's cloak. While Cloak and Dagger discuss eliminating him, Spider-Man has a sudden realization how to defeat them and throws a box of Shade patches at Tandy, who is overloaded with darkforce energy. Cloak embraces her and siphons off her excess energy, promising to return as he teleports away. Spider-Man notes that while it doesn't feel like a win, he has all the cards: his spider-tracer is still attached to Cloak, he has all the Shade samples he needs for an antidote, a rough idea of where Mister Negatives headquarters is, and Mister Negative thinks Peter Parker is his slave.

At the Shanghai Cancer Institute, Lain meets with her ill mother, telling her they'll fight together. As she leaves, she uses her Webware to call Scorpio. Scorpio asks why she's disturbing him, noting that as far as he's concerned she's a loose end that should be terminated. Lian begs him for more medication for her mother, but Scorpio rebukes her, saying there's only so many times she can give him Parker Industries' security codes. Lain offers something more substantial: the life of Spider-Man. Scorpio mockingly asks how she can be so certain she can kill Spider-Man when hundreds of super villains failed spectacularly, and Lain replies she has something they didn't, climbing into the Spider-Mobile and turning it on.