The Life and Death of Spider

Peter Parker is spending time after class to help one of his students, Joey Gladstone, with one of his science experiments. However, his mind keeps on thinking about his recent encounter with Shanthra, a creature with the abilities of a spider-wasp that is hunting for him. He wonders why she hasn’t attacked him but decides to focus on mentoring Joey when the boy notices that his teacher is being distant. After Joey is done his experiment, Peter goes to the faculty lounge where his co-workers are all watching news coverage of a woman calling herself Sharon Keller, who claims to be Spider-Man’s lover.[1] This woman is live on the news at that moment claiming that Spider-Man staged a lot of his battles and received kickbacks from the owners of the buildings that get wrecked. Peter’s spider-sense begins going haywire and he instantly knows that this woman is Shantra and she is doing this to goad him into coming out of hiding. As she continues spinning more lies and challenging Spider-Man to prove her wrong, Peter quickly tries to call Mary Jane to tell her that this woman is lying. However, as Peter frantically tries to get ahold of Mary Jane, this news coverage is watched by everyone, including the Fantastic Four, his Aunt May, and J. Jonah Jameson. When he finally gets through to Mary Jane she is in tears. He insists that what this woman is saying is a lie and will do whatever it takes to stop her. Peter gets so angry he manages to crush his cellphone in his hands. Also watching the news is Ezekiel Sims.[2] He turns off the television to look at some ancient hieroglyphics and realizes that it has begun.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man swings towards the television studio where Shanthra is making her statements trying to quash the growing rage that is burning within. He comes crashing onto the set just as Shanthra starts teasing that she knows Spider-Man’s secret identity. Spider-Man demands that Shanthra renounce everything she said because his reputation is all he has. When she begins saying Peter’s real name instead, the wall-crawler strikes her hard enough to send her crashing into the wall. The reporters are in the middle of saying Spider-Man struck a harmless woman when suddenly, Shanthra changes back to her spider-wasp form in front of the camera. The pair come to blows and the fight takes them out onto the street. There Spider-Man decides to give in to his instincts and begins beating Shanthra with a parking meter. However, when his violent actions frighten a nearby child causes Spider-Man to pause. Spider-Man gets ahold of himself and tries to escape the scene as Shantra tries to fight back. She manages to strike him in the back with one of her stingers causing him intense pain. Luckily, Spider-Man manages to get away by clinging onto the side of a taxi cab which then gets lost in a sea of taxi cabs in the area. He eventually crawls out of the taxi and tries to find a place to hide from Shanthra until he recovers from the stinger. Unconsciously running, Spider-Man eventually blacks out in the spider exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. As he goes to sleep, the spiders cover his body in a protective cocoon.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Shanthra, Joey Gladstone, Mary Jane Watson, Aunt May, J. Jonah Jameson, Kyle Jacoby, Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing)

Continuity Notes

1. The news broadcaster covering the story is identified as Fox News. The news ticker also states that there are 2801 people confirmed deat at the site of the World Trade Center, referencing 9/11. Both of these references should be considered a topical per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.