In December 2025, Peter Parker is a year removed from losing his loved ones and is now about to complete his first semester at Empire State University. However, he's distrusting of others to the point of being antisocial and constantly relives his torment from the events of No Way Home by working for J. Jonah Jameson at the Daily Bugle. However, when a chance encounter with Martin Li entices Peter to start volunteering at FEAST, a shelter for the homeless, he starts to see the good in people again.
When Peter is assigned to cover Spencer Smythe's promotion to CEO of the infamous conglomerate Roxxon Corporation, the celebration dinner is hijacked by an individual who seeks justice for Roxxon's crimes from over the years. Peter subsequently draws parallels between Smythe and Norman Osborn, and when it is revealed that Jameson was coerced by the unknown individual into giving him the whereabouts of Smythe's mansion and having Bugle representation at the event, Peter quits the Bugle in fury and desperately attempts to incriminate Smythe out of fear for a repeat of the Green Goblin, again shutting people out of his life.
When he meets vigilantes Tyrone Johnson and Tandy Bowen as well as Silvija Sablinova, a fellow emotional recluse who heads the company Smythe hires to protect him and Roxxon, Peter realises the value of having allies as well as the importance of providing hope to those around him as they together take down Mister Negative, an alternate personality of Martin's.
