Chapter Summaries

The girls awoke quickly after the spider ritual and discovered the different powers they had gained, while Henry prepared the tribe for a likely attack. The chapter left Henry hoping his dense network of rainforest traps would stop Ezekiel Sims’s hunters from returning to New York.

• The girls woke on the third day after the ritual, recovered by eating, and learned that the Spider Tribe believed the spider had chosen them.
• Marty Franklin and Anya Corazon demonstrated warrior abilities, Julia Carpenter showed her Psychic Spider-Silk, and Cathy Weber displayed unusually powerful prophetic abilities.
• The girls began emergency training with the tribe and learned to use Henry’s poison-tipped hand crossbows.
• Cathy Weber followed her intuition into the rainforest and found Henry returning with a Barrett sniper rifle after setting traps.
• Henry explained that he wanted to force their opponents to fight on land, while the tribal men revealed that he had filled the area with more than a hundred interconnected traps.
• Henry prepared to confront the hunters because Skye’s photo had shown that Ezekiel Sims had taken notice of him.

Henry prepared Cathy Weber, Anya Corazon, Julia Carpenter, and Marty Franklin for the pursuers’ arrival and explained how they would lure them into a battlefield near the research base. The girls questioned his plan and their role in the fight, while Henry left them facing the reality that they had been forced into danger.

• Marty Franklin asked Henry to spar, but he showed the group a map and warned that the pursuers’ ship would arrive the next day.
• Henry explained that they would use the research base near Cathy’s mother’s former research site as bait and lure the pursuers into a prepared battlefield.
• Anya Corazon asked how they would force the pursuers to disembark, and Henry said he would disable their ship with his sniper rifle.
• Henry told the girls to stay in the treetops and avoid the ground, warning them that the mercenaries were armed and intended to kill them.
• Cathy Weber and Anya Corazon asked how they should fight, and Henry urged them to treat the crisis as a test of their responsibility and abilities.
• Julia Carpenter questioned why they had to follow a path they had not chosen, and Henry answered that life was unfair.

Henry prepared the girls to ambush Ezekiel Sims and his mercenaries, then hid with Cathy Weber to cover the river. When the boat arrived, Henry fired at Ezekiel, but Spider-Sense let him narrowly evade the shot.

• Henry showed Cathy and the other girls the traps and instructed them to wait until the enemy entered the area before attacking stealthily.
• The three girls took positions in the treetops while Henry led Cathy to a concealed sniper hideout near the river.
• Cathy worried that they were putting the girls in danger, but Henry argued that their new spider abilities made confrontation unavoidable.
• Henry and Cathy sensed the approaching boat, and Henry warned her before aiming his Barrett through the observation slit.
• Henry fired at Ezekiel Sims, but Ezekiel ducked at the last moment and stared toward the gunfire.

Henry disabled the mercenaries’ boat and concealed himself after the exchange of sniper fire. Ezekiel Sims then led Mike’s team deeper into the Amazon Rainforest to look for other intruders, while secretly planning to deal with the Spider Tribe and his companions later.

• Henry used three shots to damage the boat’s engine and force it to drift powerless.
• The mercenaries took cover ashore and fired toward Henry’s position, while he shielded Cathy Weber and pretended to be dead.
• Mike questioned Ezekiel Sims about who might be targeting them, and Ezekiel recalled his past conflict with the Spider Tribe.
• Ezekiel Sims decided to continue into the rainforest to investigate other factions before pursuing his main targets.
• Mike ordered Ezekiel Sims and some mercenaries to lead the way, and Ezekiel silently resolved to kill Mike.

Henry and Cathy watched as Marty Franklin, Anya Corazon, and Julia Carpenter silently incapacitated two mercenaries and lured the rest into Henry’s chained traps. The surviving mercenaries were left gravely injured in the rainforest, where the Spider Tribe might be their only chance of receiving help.

• Cathy Weber worried that the approaching mercenaries would find their hiding place, but Henry told her to trust the three girls.
• Marty Franklin poisoned one mercenary with a crossbow bolt, while Anya Corazon shot another and Julia Carpenter suspended him from a tree with spider-silk.
• After confirming both mercenaries were incapacitated, the three girls returned to the canopy and entered the trap zone.
• Ezekiel Sims sensed danger and escaped the first swinging log, but his squad scattered into Henry’s successive traps.
• The traps left the mercenaries severely injured, and Cathy Weber judged that they would probably die without treatment from the Spider Tribe.

Ezekiel Sims pursued the three girls through the treetops while Henry’s sniper fire forced Mike and the mercenaries to retreat. After Henry’s shots freed Marty Franklin from Ezekiel’s toxin-coated grip, the girls confronted Ezekiel, who insisted he had to kill them because his prophetic dreams showed they would kill him.

• Ezekiel Sims recognized that the girls had spider abilities and chased them through the canopy, targeting them one by one.
• Henry fired on the mercenaries from the rear, killing one and prompting Mike to order a retreat toward the shore.
• Ezekiel Sims caught Marty Franklin and poisoned her through contact, but Henry’s sniper shots forced him to release her.
• Marty Franklin recovered and warned Anya Corazon and Julia Carpenter about Ezekiel’s hands and their painful toxin.
• Ezekiel Sims argued that the girls were threats because his prophetic dreams foretold his death, while Julia Carpenter challenged his reasoning.

Ezekiel Sims ambushed Julia Carpenter, Anya Corazon, and Marty Franklin in the rainforest canopy, forcing the girls into a desperate close-range fight. Meanwhile, mercenaries on the riverbank planned to burn the forest and began spreading incendiaries, threatening everyone inside.

• Ezekiel Sims used a falling log to distract the girls, then attacked Marty Franklin from behind and smashed a tree trunk with an elbow strike.
• Julia Carpenter, Anya Corazon, and Marty Franklin regrouped and fought Ezekiel Sims with poisoned wooden bolts, but the experienced mercenary kept the advantage.
• Henry watched for an opening to help the girls while mercenaries led by Mike decided to siphon gasoline from a boat and set the forest on fire.
• The mercenaries found a crate of incendiary grenades prepared by Ezekiel Sims and divided them among themselves.
• The mercenaries went ashore and began throwing incendiary grenades and gasoline bombs into the forest.

As the mercenaries set the rainforest ablaze, Cathy Weber went to help the three girls fight Poison Spider while Henry Brown headed for the riverbank. Henry survived the mercenaries’ gunfire, killed them, and sent the Peruvian captain downriver as the fire spread.

• Cathy Weber asked Henry how many bullets he had left, then went to support the three girls fighting Poison Spider with the knife Juan had given her.
• Henry carried his Barrett toward the riverbank while Cathy Weber used her precognitive visions to navigate the burning forest and traps.
• Mike and two other mercenaries told Henry to put down his weapon, then emptied their guns into him when he approached.
• Henry survived the gunfire and killed the three mercenaries, including their leader, Old Black.
• Henry asked the Peruvian captain to leave in his boat, and the captain headed downriver with a spare motor.

Cathy Weber joined the Spider-Girls’ fight against Poison Spider and used her Astral Projection to disrupt his attacks. The battle entered a new phase as Cathy and the three girls fought together in the canopy.

• Cathy Weber abandoned Henry and confronted Poison Spider after finding the three girls badly injured and in danger.
• Cathy accused Poison Spider of betraying her mother and destroying families, while he defended himself through survival-of-the-fittest arguments.
• Cathy revealed her Astral Projection, which struck Poison Spider with soul-rending pain and helped two of the girls disappear from his sight.
• The Spider-Girls launched a coordinated counterattack, and Cathy’s astral form rescued Anya Corazon from Poison Spider’s grasp.
• Cathy joined the three Spider-Girls in the canopy, beginning the battle’s third phase against Poison Spider.

Cathy Weber lured Poison Spider into the burning rainforest while a sniper forced him into a hidden pit trap. The chapter ended with Poison Spider clinging to the pit’s edge as Cathy called for Marty.

• Cathy Weber questioned Ezekiel Sims about his motives, but he rejected her appeal and attacked the group.
• A sniper’s shot drove Poison Spider to retreat, and he pursued Cathy Weber as she ran into the flames alone.
• Cathy led Poison Spider deeper into the rainforest, where she tripped and narrowly avoided his leap.
• Poison Spider evaded another sniper shot but broke through the cover of a pitfall trap and caught himself on its edge.
• Cathy Weber called out, “Marty!” while Poison Spider hung over the sharpened stakes.

Marty Franklin, Anya Corazon, and Julia Carpenter defeated Ezekiel Sims at the cost of Cathy Weber's life-threatening injuries, then struggled to escape the burning rainforest with her. As the four girls lost consciousness, an icy storm swept through the fire.

• Marty Franklin and Anya Corazon kicked the burning tree into the pit while Julia Carpenter pulled Cathy Weber away with Psychic Spider-Silk, but Ezekiel Sims grabbed Cathy to escape.
• Cathy Weber cut Julia Carpenter's Psychic Spider-Silk, and the falling tree crushed Ezekiel Sims into the pit and pinned Cathy beneath it.
• Marty Franklin, Anya Corazon, and Julia Carpenter lifted the trunk and pulled Cathy Weber out, finding her gravely injured and unconscious.
• The three girls carried Cathy through the smoke and flames, but could not find a safe escape route and collapsed together.
• An icy storm swept through the burning rainforest as the girls' consciousness faded.

Henry extinguished the rainforest fire and found Ezekiel Sims trapped in a pit, where he learned that Ezekiel had lied about arranging Skye’s kidnapping. Henry killed him and planned to treat Cathy Weber’s injuries before returning to New York.

• Henry put out the rainforest fire, and the girls recovered after briefly losing consciousness from oxygen deprivation.
• Henry uncovered the tree trunk over the pit and found Ezekiel Sims alive beneath it.
• Henry asked Ezekiel whether he had arranged Skye’s kidnapping and recognized his denial as a lie.
• Ezekiel tried to poison Henry and then threatened him with Abstergo Industries, but the toxin had no effect.
• Henry killed Ezekiel by driving the Barrett through his body.
• Henry planned to find herbs to treat Cathy Weber and then return to New York.

Cathy Weber woke at Metropolitan General Hospital after being rescued, and Henry explained that her injuries had left her blind and unable to walk. She revealed that Astral Projection let another version of her act in her place, then reunited with her coworker Ben Parker.

• Cathy Weber asked Henry about Marty, Anya, Julia, and the Amazon situation, and he assured her they were safe and everything was over.
• Henry told Cathy Weber that her eyes and spine were badly damaged and that doctors doubted she would walk again.
• Cathy Weber said she had accepted the sacrifice to protect what she cherished and used Astral Projection to tease Henry.
• Cathy Weber explained that her projection was a version of herself from a parallel world, then it vanished while she practiced the ability.
• Ben Parker brought lilies to the hospital room, learned Cathy Weber had awakened, and urged her to take better care of herself.

Cathy Weber woke in the hospital and learned that the fire department was dismissing her, while Ben Parker worried about their understaffed shifts and urged her not to worry about money. Marty Franklin, Anya Corazon, and Julia Carpenter visited her, and their talk revealed how little their families and schools had cared during their absence.

• Ben Parker told Cathy Weber that workers' compensation would not cover her injuries and that the fire department's dismissal process had begun.
• Cathy Weber said she would resign regardless and refused Ben Parker's offer to ask their coworkers to raise money for her.
• Marty Franklin, Anya Corazon, and Julia Carpenter visited Cathy Weber, and Claire Temple ordered them to keep quiet before going to fetch a nurse.
• The girls told Cathy Weber that their schools and families had barely reacted to their absences, and Cathy reassured them that things would get better if they stayed together.

Cathy Weber moved into an elevator-equipped apartment with Anya Corazon, whom Henry had made her legal ward through forged records. As the girls settled into their new life and gathered together, Henry fitted Cathy with a custom electric wheelchair and demonstrated its capabilities.

• Cathy Weber moved into an old New York building with an elevator so she could live with Anya Corazon, whose guardianship and citizenship records Henry had forged.
• Anya Corazon accepted Cathy as her guardian and planned to become independent, though gaining spider abilities had left her uncertain about her future.
• Marty Franklin and Julia Carpenter helped with the move and continued gathering with Cathy and Anya, finding comfort among others with spider abilities.
• Henry settled Cathy into a homemade electric wheelchair and showed the girls how it handled obstacles and small changes in terrain.
• Henry advised Cathy to use the elevator rather than rely on a stair-climbing wheelchair, while continuing to design a separate tactical wheelchair for special situations.

Henry refused to become the girls’ equipment supplier and warned them that good intentions and powers were not enough to fight crime safely. He encouraged them to train and use his “Grand Summoning Technique”—calling 911—while Cathy Weber agreed they were not ready to act as vigilantes.

• Henry offered to make Cathy Weber a wheelchair as an investment in an alliance with her.
• Marty Franklin proposed appointing Henry head of equipment and logistics so the girls could fight crime, but Henry refused.
• Henry challenged Marty’s ideas about rescuing people and explained that the girls lacked the training and judgment needed for vigilantism.
• Henry taught Marty Franklin and the others his “Grand Summoning Technique”: calling 911 when they witnessed a crime.
• The girls stormed off, and Cathy Weber agreed with Henry that they needed to learn and train before stepping forward.
• Henry asked whether Cathy Weber had deliberately let him play the bad guy, and Cathy Weber replied that someone had to say what the girls needed to hear.

Henry researched a transforming tactical wheelchair for Madame Web while weighing the limits of nanotechnology. When the team returned from Europe, Alexei struggled to remove his Ursa Major armor, and Henry used its emergency release.

• Henry decided to base Madame Web’s equipment on an adaptable tactical wheelchair rather than an exoskeletal suit.
• Henry postponed nanomachine research until he had mastered Kree and Skrull machinery, citing nanomaterials’ limited supply and the risks of self-replicating machines.
• Alexei took Gilgamesh, Thena, and Cassandra to Europe to investigate the Red Room and confront growing supernatural activity.
• Dog Squad Saint Bernard, Bullhead, Bonnie, Skyhawk, and Ursa Major returned to the secret base after more than a month in the field.
• Henry saw Alexei struggling to remove Ursa Major and triggered the armor’s emergency release with a high-frequency command.

Henry discovered that the mechs’ poor ventilation left Alexei and Cassandra drenched in sweat after combat, so he prioritized improving the design while maintaining the machines. As Alexei and the others described Hungary’s covert conflicts, Henry learned that a struggle between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Red Room had emerged alongside supernatural wars.

• Alexei Shostakov and Cassandra climbed out of their mechs covered in sweat, and Cassandra teased Henry about their smell.
• Henry learned that the mechs amplified Alexei and Cassandra’s strength, making combat strenuous inside their poorly ventilated suits.
• Henry recorded ventilation as a high-priority flaw and had BB-3 and BB-4 clean and repair the mechs.
• Alexei and the others told Henry that tensions in Hungary reflected wider upheaval after the collapse of the Red Empire.
• Henry learned that Vampires and Werewolves were at war, Vampires were divided by civil conflict, and intelligence organizations were locked in a confrontation between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Red Room.

Alexei explained how the spread of silver nitrate and UV bullets had intensified the Vampire-Werewolf conflict and turned Budapest into a battleground for supernatural and intelligence factions. He told Henry that the Red Room likely still existed and that Dreykov might have survived, leaving its secrets and leadership unresolved.

• Henry asked Alexei about the turmoil in Europe, and Alexei described the Vampire-Werewolf conflict that followed the arrival of silver nitrate and UV bullet technology.
• Alexei said rogue Death Walkers had helped Werewolves attack the Vampire stronghold in Budapest, while the intelligence world also grew unstable.
• Alexei explained that S.H.I.E.L.D. had apparently killed Dreykov, cutting off leads to the Red Room, but that his death would not automatically destroy the organization.
• Henry asked whether the Red Room still existed, and Alexei said the Kremlin would likely preserve it as a KGB training institution.
• Alexei suspected Dreykov was still alive because no one had uncovered the Red Room's personnel or legacy despite widespread efforts to find them.

Henry rejected Alexei’s suggestion to recruit defecting Vampires and explained that he was preparing for the possibility of alien attacks on Earth. The chapter left the Eternals weighing whether invasions powerful enough to destroy humanity fell within their duty to protect Earth.

• Alexei offered to contact Selene and the defecting Vampires, but Henry refused because he disliked Vampires and could not manage the trouble or cost of taking them in.
• Henry joked about avoiding work and customer service, while Thena pointed out that he had a more selfish reason for keeping his inventions to himself.
• Cassandra asked Henry what he was preparing for, and Henry recounted Earth’s past encounters with the Diberians, Kree, and Skrulls.
• Henry said he was developing technology to give Earth a chance against future alien threats, and Gilgamesh asked whether those events had really happened.
• The Eternals considered whether they should intervene in alien invasions that could exterminate Earth.