While Spider-Man's thoughts are occupied with Flash's predicament, a seemingly unrelated incident occurs across town in the supposedly impenetrable vaults of a sinister viral research company named AGK, Inc. A priceless diamond is stolen from under the noses of the security employees there, and a single piece of evidence is found...a white scarf, emblazoned with a question mark.

The perpetrator of the crime, a young Indian woman, makes her presence known to Spider-Man. The woman possesses strange and undefined powers. She arrives unannounced on the rooftops above the apartment of Spider-Man's alter ego, Peter Parker. After a brief encounter, she leads Spider-Man across the City and directly to the AGK building, where she has left a tantalizing clue to her intentions. Her calling card – the question mark symbol – seems to represent more than a question. It seems to be some kind of message.

ACT 1: Spider-Man meets with a yoga instructor by the name of Mr. Singh who was the main activist in a case against the AKG Corporation years ago. Spidey explains that he found out (on the Internet) that the AGK Corporation was responsible for poisoning the village of Malpura with a chemical leak and that, although they were brought to justice and had to pay millions of dollars in compensation, Mr. Singh is still seeking justice, which means that whatever happened in Malpura was a lot worse than anyone was willing to admit. Mr. Singh replies that the poisoning of Malpura was as sudden as it was unexpected and explains that after a siren was heard coming from the AGK factory up in the hills near the village, a thick black fog suddenly enveloped the village and, in seconds, killed four thousand people, Mr. Singh being one of the few that survived. Spidey asks Mr. Singh to have a look at the red and yellow scarf that the Indian woman left with him. Mr. Singh is taken aback when he sees the scarf and tells Spidey that he was visited by a goddess named Tara, a most beloved Buddhist deity. He adds that the color of the scarf signifies that Tara seeks vengeance and that she wants him to help. Realizing that Tara wants revenge on the AGK Corporation, Spidey thanks Mr. Singh and swings away. Once Spidey is gone, Mr. Singh suddenly transforms into the goddess Tara that Spidey followed in last issue.

ACT 2: Meanwhile at the AGK Corporation, Mr. Kirkland, the chairman of the board, receives a phone call from a young woman with regards to the silk scarf that was found in the vault after the robbery. Mr. Kirkland arranges to meet with the woman in his office at six o'clock. Elsewhere, Spider-Man is web-slinging all over the City, trying to figure out how he is supposed to be contacted by the goddess Tara when he doesn’t even know where to go. On cue, as he swings by a building, he notices a trail of lotus flowers; he follows it.

ACT 3: Meanwhile at the AGK Corporation, Tara, who – it is revealed – was the one that called Mr. Kirkland earlier, shows up and confronts Mr. Kirkland and Mr. Corman, the head of security. Tara tells them that she will give the Star of Persia back in exchange for fifty million dollars, which she will give to the families of those who died in Malpura. Mr. Corman refuses to oblige to her demands and pulls out a water gun that contains a control virus, which can be lethal to her if she comes in contact with it. Mr. Corman explains that AGK accepted a payoff of a hundred million dollars from the CIA (i.e. Central Intelligence Agency) to research and test an undetectable intelligent metal nano-virus into a non-threatening environment (i.e. Malpura), which inadvertently led to Tara acquiring super-powers. Just as Mr. Corman is about to shoot Tara with the control virus, Spidey shows up and kicks him in the chest, which makes him miss his aim. Mr. Corman stands back up quickly and shoots at Spider-Man. Spidey jumps out of harm's way just as the virus hits the top of a nearby table. Tara grabs hold of Spidey and pins him down to the floor and holds him there just long enough for a drop of the virus to drip down from the table and hit his arm. Strangely, the virus acts as a conduit to Tara and Spidey gets a glimpse of the involvement of the AGK Corporation in the Malpura affair. Back to reality, Tara asks Spidey to help her catch Mr. Corman, who has taken off. The two take off after him and soon catch up to him in the research lab. Mr. Corman throws a vial of the control virus at Tara but Spider-Man catches it with his webbing and saves her from imminent death. Tara starts to walk slowly towards Mr. Corman while Spidey climbs on the ceiling to sneak behind him. Mr. Corman only notices Spidey at the last possible minute and Tara uses that opportunity to attack him. Mr. Corman tries to shoot her but Spidey webs up his water gun. Mr. Corman attacks Tara with his bare hands but she jumps out of harm’s way and he lands into a batch of the control virus. The virus envelops his body immediately and it transforms him into a creature made entirely of the virus. Originally, he refers to himself as Virus and vows revenge on Spider-Man and Tara before disappearing through the floor by melting it. Spidey turns around and finds that Tara is gone. Mr. Kirkland, however, is still there and he comes out of hiding. He tells Spider-Man that the men who were behind the creation of the control virus are too powerful to be brought to justice and that he, Spider-Man, has accomplished nothing. Spidey replies that there are surveillance tapes in the control room two floors below that will implicate him in the Malpura tragedy. He takes his leave from Mr. Kirkland, who begins to sob into his hands.

ACT 4: The next day, Peter is reading the New York Post headlines, which says that the AGK Corporation is denying any links to the CIA regarding the poison gas leaks in Malpura. Suddenly, Tara sneaks up behind him, covers his eyes with her hands, and whispers "thank you" in his ear. But when Peter turns around, she is already gone and only a lotus flower sits on the sidewalk before him. As he picks up the flower, he hears the laughs of the four thousand people that were killed in Malpura.