Dr. Strange told Spider-Man that Shade usually brings his victims to the Astral Plane in order to allow himself to occasionally return to Earth. Having an appointment with Death, Strange was unable to directly assist Spider-Man, but imbued him with the Hand of Vishanti's energy. This allowed his astral form to enter the Astral Plane. He warned Spider-Man to stay on the path in the Astral Plane.
Meanwhile, Shade's thug trapped Jennifer. Shade arrived, sucking her into the Astral Plane. Spider-Man (in his astral form) followed and fought Shade, while Jennifer freed the other prisoners from their mystical cell. Spider-Man tossed Shade into the cell, trapping him. Using the Hand of Vishanti's power, he summoned an Earth-bound portal. However, Spider-Man was drawn to a large spider creature and left the path to investigate. The creature banished him back to Earth, where (still in his astral form) Spider-Man realized that time had moved faster than on the Astral Plane. Therefore, he had missed MJ's visit. He raced to the airport but MJ was unable to see him in his astral form. Helpless, Spider-Man watched as MJ returned to LA.