ACT 1: While Flash tries to defuse a bomb Spider-Man takes care of the Red Skull and Kingpin's cronies. Once the bomb is defused, Flash captures the perpetrators of this mayhem and hands them over to the police.

ACT 2: Later that day at yet another ceremony held in honor of Flash and Spider-Man, Peter Parker interrupts Flash's speech with allegations that there is some kind of space anomaly and that something is just not right. Flash asks Peter to take a breath and tell him what he has discovered but Peter snaps at him, yelling at Flash not to humor him. Peter is escorted away by the police and then transferred into an ambulance where he is straight jacketed and strapped to the gurney.

ACT 3: Gwen Stacy tags along and tries to calm him down. However, when Peter takes a look at Gwen, she seems to transform into Jill Stacy for a second. Peter totally loses it, saying that he shouldn't be in a wheelchair and that he should be able to walk. Gwen tries to reason with him, telling him that it was the accident that turned Otto Octavius into Doctor Octopus that also rendered him unable to use his legs anymore. Peter replies that Mary Jane should know, should remember. Gwen retorts that Mary Jane and Flash are getting married today. Peter totally freaks out at the news and kicks the door of the moving ambulance open using the gurney. He is immediately propelled out of the ambulance and starts rolling down the street into the path of an upcoming transport truck. Something incredible happens here. Knowing deep down that he is not suppose to be crippled, he suddenly breaks free of the straight jacket and the straps holding him down, and he jumps over the truck, which crushes the gurney that Peter was laying on.

ACT 4: The wedding is about to start but Flash has the jitters. Spider-Man asks him what is wrong and Flash replies that he is upset about some of the things Peter said earlier at the ceremony held in his honor. Spider-Man tells Flash not to worry about what crazy Parker said. Flash decides to go in and check out the crowd, in hopes that this will clear his head, leaving Spider-Man outside by himself. Peter, who we see crawling down a wall in the background, takes that opportunity to attack Spider-Man, whom he takes out with one solid punch. When he pulls Spider-Man's mask off, the identity of the mastermind behind this alternate reality is revealed: Quentin Beck, a.k.a. Mysterio II (who pretended to kill himself in Daredevil #1-7).

ACT 5: Peter takes Beck's Spider-Man costume off and puts it on. He then proceeds to climb the outer wall of the church, the limp body of Beck in his arms, and then goes inside through a window. Flash asks him where he was, when suddenly there is a terrible explosion and in comes a cavalcade of villains: Kraven the Hunter, the Beetle, the Green Goblin, the Tarantula, the Vulture, Doctor Octopus, Scorpion, the Rocket Racer, Tombstone, the Shocker, Carrion, the Chameleon, the Rhino, the Sandman, Hammerhead, Hydro-man, the Kingpin, Venom, the Hobgoblin, Electro, Silvermane, and the Whizzer.

ACT 6: The villains immediately attack Spider-Man. The latter still manages to tell Flash that he has the same sneaking suspicion as Peter Parker, that something is just not quite right. However, as he is about to reveal the identity of the mastermind to Flash, he simultaneously attacked by the Sandman and Hydro-Man, and he is knocked to the ground. Flash comes to his rescue and asks him to finish what he was just saying. Spider-Man asks him if all of this feels right to him. Flash replies that he's just suddenly felt like he was somewhere else. An image of Flash, submerged in water, hands tied together, and tubes plugged into him, is quickly shown to the reader once again. Spider-Man tells Flash to hang on to that feeling, and asks him to look around and figure out which villain is not there right now. Flash realizes that Mysterio is the missing villain. Beck who was laying unconscious on the ground a few seconds ago, wakes up and starts running away, transforming into his alter ego, Mysterio. Spider-Man asks Mysterio how he managed to do something this great. Mysterio explains that he has been studying true mind control and created this entire scenario simply to reveal his identity (Spider-Man's). To do so, Mysterio kidnapped all of those who had the most contact with him and tapped into their minds in an attempt to discover his civilian identity through this mind-play. However, Mysterio had no idea that Flash's mind would overwhelm all the others, determining the direction of their virtual world, and even going as far as bringing the real Spider-Man into this made-up reality (Mysterio is still unaware at this point that Peter Parker is in fact Spider-Man and that he was in the virtual world all along as the wheelchair-bounded Peter Parker). Spidey tells Flash that it is up to him (Flash, not Spidey) to fight Mysterio; their only road back to reality. Flash appears resilient at first to put an end to his perfect world. But he fights every instinct in his body and he punches Mysterio, breaking his fishbowl helmet in the process. Suddenly, everything starts fading away and next thing you know, Flash comes out of the immersion tank he was submerged in and confronts Mysterio. However, Mysterio takes off in an escape pod before they can capture him. Seconds later, Peter, MJ, Aunt May, J. Jonah and Marla Jameson, Robbie Robertson, and Jill Stacy emerge from the immersion tank, all dripping wet in an underground laboratory. All are trying to figure out what just happened. Peter asks Flash if he is okay, since he took the brunt of it from Mysterio. Flash snaps at him, and tells him and the others that that he doesn't and never needed any of them, nor did he ever need Spider-Man. He rushes out of the laboratory.