Chapter Summaries

Henry met Cathy Weber, Marty Franklin, Anya Corazon, and Julia Carpenter beneath a bridge and drove them toward his vacant apartment in Tribeca, warning them about being tracked and seen by surveillance cameras. The group left the stolen taxi behind and headed for shelter in Henry’s old Cadillac.

• Henry removed the battery and SIM card from Marty Franklin’s phone and explained how to avoid cellphone tracking.
• Henry told Cathy Weber to leave the stolen taxi behind, warning that the Bowery King’s people might find it if she kept driving it.
• Henry had Cathy and the three girls get into his Cadillac, then told them to keep their faces hidden from cameras.
• Henry drove them toward his vacant apartment in Tribeca and promised he could keep them safe if they followed his instructions.
• Marty Franklin questioned why Henry drove a 1965 Cadillac despite owning a place in Tribeca.

While driving the four girls away from their pursuers, Henry learned more about their encounters and troubled family lives. He warned Julia Carpenter that her family in New York might be targeted, leaving her anxious about how to protect them.

• Henry questioned Cathy Weber and the girls about their experiences and learned that Poison Spider had a hit squad and had killed a woman who looked like Marty Franklin.
• Henry asked about the girls’ families, and Marty Franklin said her parents were away in East University and seemed to prefer having her out of their lives.
• Julia Carpenter explained that her mother was in a mental hospital and that she lived with her father, stepmother, and younger brother, who she felt did not care about her.
• Anya Corazon revealed that her father had been deported and that she lived alone while hiding from authorities.
• Cathy Weber mentioned that she had lived in a foster home after leaving an orphanage, and Henry joked that nobody in the car was normal.
• Henry pointed out that Julia Carpenter’s family was in New York and might be in danger, prompting her to ask how she could help protect them.

Henry proposed pretending to kidnap Julia Carpenter to keep the people hunting her from discovering her family’s whereabouts. The group reached Henry’s apartment garage, still uncertain whether the police could protect them.

• Henry called Julia Carpenter’s father and falsely claimed that Julia had been kidnapped, warning him not to contact the police.
• Henry explained that the kidnapping story might keep Julia’s family safer, and Julia accepted the plan despite fearing her father’s reaction.
• Anya Corazon asked whether the police would focus on them, and Henry explained that the police might investigate but could not guarantee their safety without a victim willing to testify.
• Henry drove the women to his underground parking garage and led them out of the car.

Henry sheltered Marty Franklin, Cathy Weber, and Julia Carpenter in his Tribeca apartment after they escaped the killers. Cathy left to investigate her mother's old research into spiders, while Henry stayed with the other girls and asked them to help sketch their pursuers.

• Henry showed the girls his sparsely furnished apartment, offered them sleeping bags and pizza, and gave Cathy Weber his car keys.
• Cathy Weber said a French pursuer and the Black Spider-Man reminded her of her mother's spider research, and she went home to search the old materials.
• Cathy asked Henry to look after the girls, and he told them they could leave or call someone as long as they kept their names and location private.
• Henry brought up a radio and stopped Julia Carpenter from exhausting herself trying to help, then asked the three girls to describe the killers so they could make composite sketches.

Cathy Weber showed Henry and the girls a photograph connecting her mother, Constance Weber, to their pursuer Ezekiel Sims, then confessed that visions of the future had led her to save them. Henry left the group considering whether her ability was possible in a world of Mutants and other unexplained powers.

• Cathy Weber returned with her mother's notebook and recognized Henry's sketch of Ezekiel Sims as the man in a photograph from the Peruvian Amazon in 1973.
• Cathy Weber explained that the woman in the photograph was her mother, Constance Weber, and said she had known nothing about Ezekiel before searching through her mother's notes.
• Marty Franklin and Anya Corazon questioned Cathy Weber about her connection to Ezekiel and why she had rescued the girls.
• Julia Carpenter recognized Cathy Weber as the paramedic who had helped take her stepmother to the hospital.
• Cathy Weber confessed that she could see visions related to the future, and Marty Franklin challenged her claim by throwing a snack bag at her.
• Henry said future visions were not impossible in a world with Mutants and other unexplained abilities.

Cathy Weber and her friends discussed her unexplained ability and the accident in which she nearly died, then decided to investigate the Spider Tribe mentioned in her mother’s notebook. Henry studied the notebook and considered how they could reach the tribe in the Peruvian rainforest, though Cathy’s current predicament might prevent her from traveling.

• Cathy Weber asked Henry whether she was a mutant, and he suggested her ability might have another source after explaining that she had nearly drowned in a bridge accident.
• Cathy Weber decided the group should investigate the place shown in the photograph before trying to solve the mystery.
• Henry identified the location as the Peruvian rainforest near the Spider Tribe and examined Cathy’s mother’s notebook about the spider-worshipping people.
• Cathy Weber explained that her mother had been a biologist who conducted the research independently and that her foster guardian might know more about her work.
• Henry considered routes into the rainforest and realized that the journey would be difficult, while Cathy’s current troubles might make international travel impossible.

Henry offered to take Cathy Weber and the girls to the Peruvian rainforest aboard an experimental vessel, in exchange for their keeping the trip secret. They agreed to the risky plan and would leave the next day after Henry made preparations.

• Cathy Weber doubted the girls could travel to Peru because of money, passports, guardians, and the danger of Ezekiel Sims's killers.
• Henry proposed using his experimental ship to get them to Peru, and the girls learned that the trip would also test the vessel.
• Marty Franklin and the other girls agreed to go after weighing the choice against staying in New York and hiding from their pursuers.
• Henry asked everyone to keep the voyage secret and said they would rest for the day and leave tomorrow.

Henry prepared to take Marty Franklin, Anya Corazon, and Julia Carpenter to investigate who had been hunting them. He brought them to his yacht berth in Lower Manhattan, where the girls saw his experimental boat among the marina’s expensive yachts.

• Henry returned to the Hepburn Family home, where Catherine Hepburn agreed to his plan and he arranged care for her and Kitty.
• Henry served breakfast to the girls and challenged them to take charge of their lives instead of dwelling on their hardships.
• Anya objected that she had worked hard to live independently before a lunatic began hunting her, and Henry urged her to eat so they could find the reason.
• Henry, Cathy Weber, and the three girls drove to a Hudson River marina in Tribeca to board Henry’s experimental boat.
• Marty, Anya, and Julia looked around at the expensive yachts and realized their owners were far from ordinary.

Henry took Marty Franklin, Julia Carpenter, Cathy Weber, and Anya aboard his shabby little boat, Dragon, and sailed out of New York Harbor toward Peru. He waited to get farther offshore before calling in the real Dragon.

• Marty Franklin and the other girls discovered that Henry’s Dragon was a battered little fishing boat, not a yacht.
• Henry persuaded the girls to board, warning Marty that the killers might already be on their way.
• The Dragon started shaking violently, but Henry steered it out toward the Hudson River estuary as the girls worried about drowning.
• After the boat reached Lower Bay, Cathy Weber asked how long the journey to Peru would take.
• Henry said he needed to sail farther from shore before calling in the real Dragon, and waited to avoid attracting the Coast Guard’s attention.

Henry and the four girls came under attack from a helicopter while sailing, but Henry shot it down and prepared the boat to escape underwater. The Dragon plunged beneath the surface using Isu technology, leaving the passengers to discover its high-speed underwater mode.

• Marty Franklin noticed a helicopter approaching the Dragon, and Cathy Webb pulled Anya Corazon back as a gunman fired at the boat.
• Henry took a Barrett from his tackle box and shot off the helicopter's tail rotor, sending it crashing into the sea.
• Henry told the girls to buckle into their seats, disabled the AIS transponder, and shut down the engine.
• The Dragon was lifted out of the water and plunged beneath the surface, activating its underwater high-speed mode.
• A mechanical tail named L00NG extended the boat's Distortion Field and helped repel water around the hull.

Henry piloted the Dragon underwater toward Peru’s Amazon Rainforest, carefully controlling its speed while the passengers endured the rough trip. After two hours and thirty-six minutes, the boat surfaced in Peru, where Henry pointed out the local scenery and warned them about piranhas, prompting the three girls to vomit.

• Henry kept the Dragon’s speed under control and monitored the passengers’ vital signs as it raced beneath the Atlantic.
• Henry navigated the Dragon through Brazil’s winding Amazon River toward Peru, slowing down as the turns upset the girls.
• The Dragon surfaced in Peru and transformed back into a small motorboat while its tail remained underwater.
• Henry announced their arrival and described the rubber trees and piranhas in English and Spanish.
• The three girls unfastened their seat belts and vomited after the long, turbulent journey.

Ezekiel Sims learned that Cathy Weber was Constance Weber’s daughter and concluded that she and the others were headed to Peru’s Amazon Rainforest. He ordered his group to fly there while leaving Amaria Mamed behind in New York, where she secretly sought a way to escape.

• Ezekiel Sims dismissed Henry Brown as a minor nuisance after learning the helicopter crew had survived their crash.
• Amaria Mamed could not locate the ship after its AIS transponder was switched off, and Ezekiel Sims suspected its passengers were seeking a Spider like his.
• Amaria Mamed identified Cathy Weber as a paramedic and found that her mother was Constance Weber, prompting Ezekiel Sims to guess they were going to the Amazon Rainforest in Peru.
• Ezekiel Sims ordered Amaria Mamed to book the group on the fastest flight to Peru and stay in New York to handle the rescued helicopter crew and provide support.
• After Ezekiel Sims and the others left for the airport, Amaria Mamed contacted an online message board to seek help escaping.

Henry and Cathy Weber searched the Peruvian Amazon for the Spider Tribe, using Cathy’s mother’s notes and Cathy’s visions to guide them. Cathy led the group off the river and ashore, where their search continued.

• Cathy Weber woke aboard the Dragon, and Henry told her they had reached the Amazon Rainforest in Peru while the other three girls recovered from seasickness.
• Henry used satellite imagery on his tablet to show the group their location in Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, and they discussed the notes and photographs left by Cathy’s mother.
• The group considered searching from shore, while Henry decided to follow the clues and let Cathy’s precognitive abilities guide them.
• Cathy Weber directed the group to leave the river at a particular stretch, and Henry beached the Dragon and helped the four women ashore.

Henry and Cathy Weber’s group followed her mother’s journal to the Spider Tribe, where an old man recognized Cathy and led them to a sacred cavern. He revealed that the cavern’s pool was a node connecting countless worlds.

• The women followed the journal’s locations through the rainforest, while Henry noticed the tribe members surrounding them.
• An old man emerged, spoke to Cathy about her mother’s promise, and invited the group to follow him.
• Cathy, Anya Corazon, Julia Carpenter, and Marty Franklin followed the old man, while Henry cautiously watched over them.
• The old man led the group to an underground cavern and identified it as sacred ground with a pool connecting countless worlds.

Cathy Weber underwent a Spider Tribe trial that helped her understand her mother’s sacrifice and the truth of her past. The tribe revealed that Ezekiel Sims had stolen spider power and hinted that the three girls might be meant to stop him.

• The Spider Tribe leader pushed Cathy Weber into the pool, leaving an unconscious version of her standing as the others watched.
• The leader told the girls not to interfere while Cathy moved and spoke as if she were inside an illusion.
• Cathy realized her mother had loved her and sacrificed herself, while the leader said Cathy’s ability came from the spider.
• The leader explained that Spider-Man in New York was chosen by the totem, while Ezekiel Sims was a cursed thief fated to be dealt with by others.
• The leader looked toward Marty Franklin, Julia Carpenter, and Anya Corazon, prompting them to realize the black Spider-Man might have been hunting them for a reason.
• Anya Corazon told Marty Franklin that they had come to the Spider Tribe to gain spider powers.

Cathy Weber explained the Spider Tribe’s power-granting ritual and revealed how her mother had brought her there for a cure before Ezekiel Sims killed her. Henry warned that Ezekiel Sims could soon pursue them to the tribe, leaving the girls to choose between accepting spider powers or facing him unprepared.

• Marty Franklin and the other girls asked whether they could gain superpowers, and the tribal elder described the painful spider-bite ritual.
• Cathy Weber explained that her mother had sought the spiders to cure Cathy’s congenital disease, then died giving birth to her after Ezekiel Sims attacked the tribe.
• The tribal elder said the tribe would not shelter them and warned that it would defend itself if they threatened the tribe’s secrecy.
• Henry reasoned that Ezekiel Sims could guess they had come to the tribe seeking the spiders’ power.
• The girls weighed their options, with Marty Franklin framing the choice as fighting back or dying obediently.

The three girls underwent a Spider Tribe ritual that connected them to the spider network and began transforming their bodies. A fourth spider chose someone connected to Henry—Gwen Stacy—and left him to decide whether to take it to her.

• Henry stayed silent while the three girls began the ritual in the pool under the elders’ care.
• Red-and-blue spiders descended on strands of silk, and three bit the girls, drawing them into the spider network.
• The spiders’ venom transformed the girls while the tribal elders watched over them in the cold pool.
• A fourth spider approached Henry and tried to climb onto him.
• A tribal elder explained that the spider had chosen someone connected to Henry, and Henry realized it meant Gwen Stacy.
• Henry weighed whether to take the spider to Gwen, knowing the choice could affect her future.

Henry made a deal with a mysterious spider and watched as the spider tribe carried the three girls away to recover from their ritual transformation. Henry and Cathy Weber followed them to the village, where the girls began their uncertain recovery and Henry received news of their pursuers.

• Henry offered the spider a chance to meet the person it sought in exchange for cooperating with his research, and it climbed onto his hand.
• Henry considered whether spider intelligence came from a multiverse-spanning network, then stopped when the spider tribe and Cathy Weber noticed his thoughts.
• The tribal elder told Cathy Weber that the girls needed three to seven days to transform and could die if they failed to adapt to the spider's power.
• The tribe carried the girls to its village for special care, and Henry and Cathy Weber followed them to their resting place.
• While resting in the village, Henry received news of the pursuers from an unexpected source.

Henry learned from Skye that a hacker inside the group pursuing him was leaking their intelligence, including the pursuers’ identities and travel plans. He estimated the group would reach the Amazon in about a day and considered using their mistaken assumptions to strike back.

• Skye told Henry that a hacker from Rising Tide feared her boss and wanted help escaping, and Henry asked whether she could be trusted.
• Henry showed Cathy Weber Skye’s messages and explained that the hacker had helped Ezekiel Sims behind the scenes.
• Skye sent Henry the pursuers’ identities, flight information, and other intelligence, revealing that Ezekiel Sims was coming with eight mercenaries, including some from Alpha Squad of Abstergo Industries.
• Henry estimated the pursuers would arrive in Peru that night and could reach the rainforest location no sooner than the day after tomorrow.
• Henry told Cathy Weber the pursuers might not know they were already in Peru and considered exploiting that miscalculation to eliminate the threat in the rainforest.

Cathy Weber struggled with whether protecting herself and the others meant killing their pursuers, while Henry prepared the tribe and gathered poison dart frogs as a possible weapon. He warned that the approaching fight would be badly uneven, leaving their survival dependent on the girls waking and the group finding some luck.

• Cathy Weber asked Henry what he meant by fighting outside the law, then wrestled with whether they could protect themselves without killing their pursuers.
• Henry spoke with the tribal elder, used his language skills to learn about the tribe and rainforest, and returned carrying a basket of poison dart frogs.
• Henry explained how poison dart frog toxins could be used to paralyze enemies, and Cathy Weber considered them as nonlethal weapons.
• Cathy Weber reported that the three girls were recovering and might wake the next day, and Henry said they needed to learn their new powers before the battle.
• Henry warned Cathy Weber that their group would face Black Spider-Man and eight armed mercenaries without the tribe's help, and privately hoped to avoid the front lines.