EXCITING NEWS: www.spideytas.cjb.net is up! It has special features to go along with this series. I recommend reading these there. There are pictures and short video clips if you're able to handle the download. I hope you enjoy the site and the rest of the final season of Spider-Man: The Animated Series!
Spider-Man: TAS
Season 6: The Final Chapter
Episode 1: Welcome Home
Spider-Man stood upon the rooftop looking over the city he knew so well and had grown to love. He contemplated what had happened over the past few minutes. Mary Jane was still alive, Spider-Man was told. Madam Web promised to find Mary Jane for him, yet Madam Web had just left and now Spider-Man stood overlooking the city a bit confused. He had just saved the universe, and all he wanted to do was go home and sleep next to his beautiful wife, despite the fact the woman he married was a clone.
"Welcome home, Spider-Man," Madam Web had said when they appeared on the typical New York building. "I made sure Mary Jane made her way home safely, although her return has come with sacrifice. It's one I'm sure you would have made had I told you about it."
Then the woman was gone. The woman who had confused, helped, and simultaneously intensely annoyed the webbed wonder was gone, out of his life to never return.
Spider-Man looked down at the street just below. He smiled as he watched people busily carry on their everyday lives, and Peter had to wonder what it must be like to be so innocent and oblivious to the truly complex universe around him. Not that he had all the answers. Peter had never pretended he really knew what was going on, but he had certainly been through a lot more than the average person. That's the conclusion he came to, at any rate.
It didn't take long for people to realize whom the figure was standing above them. A faint ecstatic cry calling, "Spidey!" reached Spider-Man's ears. Peter smiled beneath his mask as he thought how great it feels to be welcomed home.
"Time to find my wife," Spider-Man said to himself. "Although, I might have a though time explaining that fact to her… I hope she's okay with it… I think I'm in for a long day."
Spider-Man leaped off the building and shot out a web. Nothing had changed. The pure exhilaration of web-swinging across the New York skyline remained the same as it was before Spidey had been across the universe and back again.
As Spider-Man began to relax, despite the polluted air he had to acclimate to once more, a sharp warning via spider-sense sent a jolt through Spidey's brain. Not now, Spider-Man complained with a thought. For the love of God, not now.
Spidey glance back as a green blur sped overhead and snapped Spider-Man's web-line.
"It seems that it's impossible to be rid of you," whined the unmistakable voice. Of course, the voices of all Spider-Man's mainstream villains were now unmistakable to him. He could identify the voice of any villain he's fought more than once, and this voice distinctly belonged to…
"Vulture! You realize that I'm not going away, yet you're so persistent." Spider-Man had done an summersault through the air and now stuck to the side of a building, which drew the attention from onlookers not only from below, but also from nearby windows.
"I'm not going to get into a quarrel with you. Not now, anyway," Vulture explained. He was standing on a roof and now spread his wings to begin flight.
"You're the one who snapped my web. I'm afraid I can't let that slide. That's disturbing the peace. And I was beginning to get very comfortable."
"I don't care what you were doing, but you should know that I'm out of the crime business. I'm going about my own ways now. I have my youth, I'm no longer interested in anything else?"
"Then what's with the flying? Do you really need those wings anymore?" Spidey wisely inquired.
"There's a small matter I need to take care of," Vulture replied. "But I'm done with crime!"
"Then you won't mind if I take those big bulky wings off your hands. Literally!" Spider-Man propelled himself off the wall with as a threatening advance on his greed garbed opponent.
"Why do you continue to peruse me?" the vulture wailed as he soared off.
"Superhero duties. I can't neglect those, although I doubt it'd affect my salary if I did. Besides, just because you stopped committing crimes, doesn't mean you get off for the ones you committed earlier."
"I don't' have time for this!" the vulture continued to complained.
"Neither do I. So let's make this quick." Spidey made another leap at his adversary, but was greeted with an unexpected attack.
His spider-sense blared, but there was nothing the wall-crawler could do as his chin collided with the Vulture's foot. Spider-Man groaned and began to fall. The flying super villain didn't give his wily adversary a chance to recover. Vulture scooped Spidey up and raced to the top of the building where a water tower lay. Vulture smiled as he ensured he had a good grip on the hero's leg, and then he spun Spider-Man around before releasing the leg to let Spidey soar through the top of the water tower. Vulture flew away cackling while Spider-Man was left to debate how to escape his new predicament.
"Why water? I hate it when my suit gets wet. By the end of the day it starts to smell and grow mold… Eck! For once, I'd like a villain that respects my preferred way of getting smacked around."
Spider-Man swam over to the side and tried to stick.
"Great. The sides are too wet. I can't stick." Spidey let out a sigh followed by a reluctant decision. "I guess I'm going to have to do this the hard way."
Spider-Man swam to the bottom of the tower. He turned upright so his feet were touching the water-covered floor, then he propelled himself upward, through the hole made by his initial impact. Spidey perched himself on the side of the building top wile he whipped out the yellow handheld device used to trace his spider-tracers. Glad I stuck one of my trusty tracers on that birdbrain. He should be easy to track now! Then he shot a web and swung away.
"Spider-Man, Spider-Man. Does whatever a spider can," Spider-Man sang. "That sure was a catchy tune I heard in that Stan Lee guy's world. I should copyright it in this world as Peter Parker and make millions. Nah, I wouldn't even know what to do with that kind of money. Besides, I'd feel guilty. Remember, kids, plagiarism is a crime! Who am I talking to? I really need to get my own TV show."
The Vulture swooped down to the ground once he reached his destination. He looked up and smiled at the large letters that spelled out OSCORP.
"Before I leave this wretched city, I want you to fall before the might of your true superior, Osborn." With that, Vulture burst through the doors yelling at the top of his lungs for Osborn to come out and play.
Workers started to scatter about, mostly making for various exits. Eventually Harry Osborn, the new owner since his father's disappearance, came out of his office to see what the commotion was all about.
"Osborn!" the Vulture cried as he swooped down to meet his loathed enemy. Then he realized who he was looking at. "No! You're not the Osborn I want! Where's your father? Where's that scumbag, Norman?"
"My father is gone. I am now the owner of Oscorp," Harry explained.
"Very well then," Vulture said followed by a sigh. "I'll have to settle for you."
An expression of horror quickly crossed Harry's face as the Vulture advanced.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man was swinging as fast as he could across the Big Apple skyline. He didn't want to waste any more time than he had to. There was one crucial stop he had to make. He neared the ESU science building and smiled with glee.
It feels to good to be home, Spider-Man thought. He landed outside the window belonging to Doctor Connor's office. I hope the good doctor still has what I need.
Spider-Man crawled in through the window. The lights were off and no one was around.
Oh well. Good thing I know where he keeps the thing. Spider-Man proceeded over to the light switches and flicked them on. He moved to a cabinet that happened to be locked. Ah! Now this is getting annoying. He broke the lock and opened the two flimsy metal doors. I'll pay him back…sometime…maybe…if I ever get my hand on some money.
Once the cabinet was open, Spidey searched through the different shelves until he found the device he was looking for.
Excellent, he thought. It's still like I remember it. Though I don't know how I expected something like this to change.
Within a few seconds, the lights were off, the window was closed, and Spider-Man was quickly making his way in the direction of the Vulture.
The Vulture made a dive at Harry Osborn. Harry ducked and barely made it out of harms way.
"If I can't have your father's head on a platter I'm going to make sure you can't carry on the plague that is the Osborn gene," Vulture ranted.
"Can't we all just get along?" called a voice from behind.
The Vulture stopped his attack on the young business owner, but not willingly. There was a strand of webbing stuck to his back.
"You again?" cried Vulture.
"An astute observation," Spidey retorted as he jumped down from the window so to allow his foot to meet Vulture's jaw. The Vulture let out an "umph" before stumbling back then taking the air again.
"Sorry, Vulture. But I've decided to take away your flying privileges." Spider-Man reached for his utility belt he wore under his costume shirt. He whipped out a gray handheld device with a clearly marked red button. Spidey's webbed finger hit the button and the Vulture fell wailing to the ground.
"What have you done?!" the vulture whimpered.
"That's simple, you cringing carnivorous dolt!" Spider-Man said, proud of his new discovery. "This thing is an anti-magnetic inverter. I always had a hunch that your flying had something to do with magnetism; it just took me a while to put that knowledge to use."
Spider-Man slipped the wings off the Vulture's arms and snapped them over his knee. Then he said, "There we go. Don't plan on flying any time soon."
Harry was looking on with a confused look.
"You okay, Osborn?" Spider-Man asked.
"Peter?" Harry said. "Is that you?"
"Uh, no. I think you have me confused with a photographer," Spider-Man said before taking off out the window. Harry had called after him with no response.
I'm sorry, Harry, Spider-Man thought while swinging once again. You may never make sense of some of the things in your past. At least, I hope you don't. Otherwise, you'll know who I am and that could be dangerous information.
Suddenly, a figure in the distance could be seen waving to him. Spider-Man prayed it wasn't another adversary, because he just wanted to go home. However, once he was close enough, the figure started to take a feminine form, and Spidey immediately guessed whom it was.
"Hello, Spider," the so familiar voice greeted as Spider-Man landed beside the black leather clad woman.
"Hey, Cat," Spidey greeted back. "How are things with you? Aren't you supposed to be off somewhere with Morbious and Blade."
The Black Cat sighed as she brushed back her platinum blonde hair. "Vampire hunting gets old so quick." Then her eyes met the blank stare coming from Spider-Man's expressionless mask. "Do you ever miss me, Spider? I mean all that we shared?"
"It wasn't much, Cat. I…"
"Spider, I love you. I've always loved you." She lifted the bottom of Spidey's mask and kissed him. Spidey let her, just as he let her do the same thing during the Secret Wars. He wished he could have resisted, but he still had feelings for her. They weren't as strong as his feelings for Mary Jane, though. He had to remind himself of this constantly and he did so now.
Spider-Man pulled away and said, "Cat, I care for you a lot. I really do. It's just that… There are weird things going on in my life now. I…"
"We never did get around to taking our masks off, Spider," Cat interrupted.
"Stop interrupting me. I have to…"
"It's okay if you don't want to show me your face, Spider. I respect that. But I want you to know who I am." Before Spider-Man could object, Black Cat's mask was off and she morphed back to her common alias. She now had normal blonde hair and Spider-Man was stunned.
"Felicia! How… What?" Spider-Man was too stunned to say anything more.
"You must know how much I love you, now. I've loved for so long and…"
"I can't do this. I can't get involved with you," Spidey broke in. "I… I'm sorry, I have to go."
Felicia's sigh let Spider-Man know she was hoping for more, but there was nothing he could do about it. Spidey flipped into the air calling back, "We'll talk later." It was time to go home.
Peter made it back home and changed back into his normal, everyday clothes. His "civvies," he often referred to them as, which was short for civilian clothes. Not knowing how long he had been gone, or if according to this world he had been gone at all, Peter decided it would be wise to not walk downstairs calling, "Hi, I'm home!"
So he crawled back out the window and walked around front. Just before his hand reached the doorknob that he had turned so many times before since he had lived there in Queens, he turned his head left to see the woman he loved standing there.
"Mary Jane," Peter breathed. He could hardly believe what he was seeing. Perhaps he never really expected to have her back. But there she was. Peter knew it was she. For some reason, a feeling deep inside assured him that the woman standing no more than ten yards away was not a clone.
"Mary Jane!" Peter said once more, with clear ecstasy this time. He left the doorstep and ran up to the beautiful redhead and kissed her. It was a long kiss, and one Peter dreamt about every night since the clone evaporated and Mary Jane disappeared for the second time in his life.
"Peter," Mary Jane said as she pushed away with her hands to Peter's chest. "I'm happy to see you, but where have I been. I don't know what's going on. I just appeared at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge, which was the last place I remembered before…"
"Mary Jane, I think we need to have a talk," Peter said. He put his arm around MJ's shoulders and they went for a walk together.
To be continued…