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Spider Island

"Spider-Island" is a comic book event storyline published by Marvel Comics in 2011.

Plot[]

Peter Parker is with his girlfriend, Carlie Cooper, while she soon shows him she has spider-powers. On the way back from the airport, both he and Carlie hear a news report telling of several hundred New-Yorkers who have manifested spider-powers. Carlie web swings to see if she can help, much to Peter's dismay. The Jackal is disco behind the disturbance, as he had collected several prominent crime figures with spider-powers and gave them Spider-Man outfits. The Avengers attempt to defend the city against spider-powered villains.

Although Shang-Chi is able to confirm Spider-Man's identity to the other heroes, he is nevertheless ordered to stay out of the fight due to their inability to distinguish him from the other Spider-Men. However, inspired by a conversation with Mary Jane, Peter is able to rally various other New Yorkers to help him stop the villainous Spider-Men by posing as another random spider-powered citizen.

As Anti-Venom works on 'curing' various Spider-People of their powers, Madame Web reflects on the need for both Venom and Anti-Venom to fix the Spider-Island problem. Meanwhile, Carlie and Peter attempt to investigate the Jackal's lab reasoning that he is the most likely candidate to have caused this event, unaware that they are being watched. Jackal is then seen working on Spider-King (who is filled with tiny spider embryos). Horizon Labs works with Mr. Fantastic into finding a cure for the spider-powered people while the Avengers and other heroes are trying to keep Manhattan quarantined to keep the Spider Virus from spreading.

Meanwhile, Madame Web has a precognition that Venom and Anti-Venom will have a large role to play in all of this. While at an abandoned lab at Empire University, Peter Parker and Carlie are attacked by Chance, Scorcher, and White Rabbit (who also have spider powers). When White Rabbit manages to attack Carlie, Peter uses some moves that he learned from Shang-Chi in order to knock out the villains. Carlie then takes the villains back to the precinct and tells him that she wants to have a talk with him and Spider-Man to Peter's dismay.

Meanwhile, Jackal has been watching them and tells Tarantula to study the tape of the fight as he will soon be tested. The Avengers then close off Manhattan keeping everyone in the city. Reed Richards develops a vaccine that can keep people from gaining spider powers, but does not work on people who already have them. Right as J. Jonah Jameson is about to get the vaccine, Reed tells him he has spider powers and has been infected. Anti-Venom continues to cure the victims of Manhattan, while Madame Web passes out from too many spiders accessing the web of life; Carlie is told that Spider-Man is waiting for her at the top of her precinct. Carlie and Spider-Man head to take down another spider-powered villain as Carlie becomes suspicious of where Peter is. When they arrive at the scene, they find a six-armed Shocker, and Carlie and Spider-Man take him on. Shocker reveals that he wants money so that Mad Thinker can cure him. Shocker then pulls off his mask to reveal that he's slowly mutating into a spider-like creature. Then Carlie begins to mutate. While the Spider-Queen tells the Jackal that all the infected people of Manhattan are beginning to mutate, she states that New York will soon belong to her.

Mary Jane Watson evades the citizens who have been transformed into spider-like creatures. When Spider-Man tries to get a mutated Carlie to Mr. Fantastic, more spider-like creatures begin to appear, giving Spider-Man a hard time to find out which of the spider-like creatures is Carlie. As J. Jonah Jameson ends up becoming a spider-like creature and defeats a Spider-Slayer, the Spider-Queen uses her Web of Life to control the spider-like creatures. Mary Jane also starts to develop spider powers, while Madame Web loses her precognition.

Despite Jackal's contrary advice, Reed Richards and the Horizon Labs manage to develop a serum from Anti-Venom's symbiotic antibodies, able to kill the Spider-Virus and instantly reverse the mutations. The Spider Queen sends Tarantula, able to breach through Peter Parker's personal lab due to their common DNA.

However, Peter discovers the breach of security and starts fighting Tarantula, preventing him from poisoning the serum. As Tarantula, now more physically powerful and still enabled with a functioning Spider-Sense, starts gaining the upper hand, Reed Richards mentions to the Horizon Labs scientists how Spider-Man lost his special sense. Thus, the main Horizon Lab equipe manages to jury-rig a counter-frequency, restoring Peter Parker's Spider-Sense to an enhanced level (due to Shang-Chi kung fu training being merged to his reflexes). Now fully empowered again, Peter Parker bests Tarantula, drowning him into a pool of serum.

Moments later, Tarantula emerges from the pool, with his mutation gone, and even his clone degeneration reversed. The now healthy Kaine, looking like a perfect clone of Peter Parker, shakes off Spider-Queen's mind control, and offers to help Peter.

Meanwhile, a side effect of the counter frequency used on Peter restores Madame Web's and Spider Queen's connection to the Web of Life: as Spider-Queen used an evolved version of her sonic scream to kill Jackal (later revealed as yet another clone), she realizes to have been given the whole powers of the Web, becoming a Spider-Goddess.

By the time Captain America and Venom reach the Spider-Queen, she uses her enhanced powers to evolve into a massive, spider-like creature of enormous strength, siphoning new power from every individual infected by the Spider-Virus. Mary Jane, discovering that owing to her long-term relationship with Peter Parker has developed a partial immunity to the Spider-Virus, uses her newly acquired spider powers to reach the Horizon Labs and reunite with Peter.

Meanwhile, Peter Parker has Kaine outfitted with the "Spider-Armor" from Big Time, which is able to deflect Spider-Queen's sonic scream. Kaine, Mary Jane and Spider-Man then join the fight, as the whole heroic community of New York bravely tries to fight Spider-Queen and Madame Web's apocalyptic prophecy. When Spider-Man seems bound to lose, Mary Jane reminds him that as powerful as Spider-Man could be, she had always trusted the brain power of Peter Parker the scientist.

Thus, leaving Kaine behind to fight with the other heroes, Spider-Man and Mary Jane flee to the Police Precinct stealing Doctor Octopus' Octobots that Spider-Man easily converts into a small army of impromptu Spider-Slayers (each one carrying a dose of the cure). While Mary Jane bravely defends him, Peter connects with the antenna on the Empire State Building, reversing the mutation of a large part of New York's population at once. Emboldened by Spider-Man's example and seeing Spider-Queen losing her powers, Kaine has himself thrown in her mouth using the Spider-Armor to deflect the sonic scream and bony spider-stingers (similar to the ones held by Peter Parker during The Other) to slay the Spider-Queen. While Madame Web claims that her prophecy entailing The Hand of Spider-Man felling the Queen must had been wrong, Kaine (now fully reconciled with Peter) claims that he was merely an executor and Spider-Man's bravery and quick thinking enabled him to deal the final blow. The Jackal, in disguise as part of Damage Control, harvests some of the deceased Queen's marrow for use in future cloning experiments.

On the Empire State Building, Mary Jane admits her love for Peter, but he doesn't hear her. They simply stay there to rest, musing about the aftereffects of having the whole New York walk a mile into Spider-Man's shoes.

The following day, Peter discovers from Doctor Strange that the psychic blindspot that was put in place to protect his secret identity has now been compromised. This was due to Peter revealing his spider-powers in a viral video to encourage other New Yorkers to use their new spider-powers for good and not mayhem. As a result of this, Carlie is able to deduce who Peter actually is. Tired of being lied to, Carlie accuses Peter of being a mask for his "true self" and breaks up with him.

Peter locates Mary Jane and administers the antidote to her. The two once again bond with each other over their recent experiences. Mary Jane tells Peter to look at the Empire State Building, which is projecting a red and blue color scheme. This is a way of saying "thank you" to Spider-Man for his heroic deeds during the crisis.

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