The Awakening (Spider-Man: The Animated Series)

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[edit] The Awakening (Spider-Man: The Animated Series)

The Awakening is the sixth episode of the fourth season of Spider-Man: The Animated Series. It first aired Saturday, May 10, 1997.

[edit] Plot

The episode begins with Spider-Man, as he is swinging in the air, as he thinks to himself he can't deal with all these mixed emotions: sadness, loneliness and guilt over the loss of Mary Jane Watson. But not only that, but he is feeling even more guilty as he believes he is falling in love for The Black Cat, asking himself if he is betraying his feelings for Mary Jane to The Cat. And finally, he wonders what other kind of curse would bring between him and her as M.J. slowly fades away in his memories. Suddenly, he is kicked off a rooftop by The Black Cat surprisingly and he lands on another ledge, looking back to the roof with Black Cat challenging him to a race. Spider-Man wonders why his spider-sense didn't warn him about Cat's sudden attack but begins chasing her. The superhero then reminds himself he should be out fighting crime but chasing Cat is actually fun to him now! He tries to catch her, but he finds it too difficult and she comments about how poorly his performance is of catching her (even once commenting it was getting boring). And just when Black Cat is a ledge with Spider-Man believing he has her cornered untilshe jumps off the ledge and grabs to another one from across her. But the ledge brakes and she begins falling to her death towards the ground, until Spider-Man swings in and snatches her from out of the air, getting to another ledge and telling Cat she could have died back there, but before he could continue, he tells her he wonders who is her alter ego. Cat agrees and decides it is time for both of them to reveal their secret identities to each other by taking their masks off at the same time. But before they do, Spider-Man disagrees and prevents their revealings. Cat asks why not and says that there is something between them that is special - she asks him also if he can feel it. Spider-Man says he does but if they did reveal their secret identities to each other, the results would be devastating. He then remembers to himself through flashbacks of Turning Point when The Green Goblin realized Spider-Man is really Peter Parker, tried to reveal his secret identity in front of everyone he knew, and when that didn't work, he kidnapped Mary Jane and during their battle on the George Washington Bridge, M.J. fell over a ledge. When Spider-Man looked over to save her, she had disappeared, never to be seen again (unbeknownst to him that she fell into a dimensional portal created by the Time Dilation Accelerator). The Cat comments Spider-Man as being like all the other men in her life - a big disappointment. He apoligizes she feels that way, Cat apoligizes, too, and swings off from Spider-Man. He continues thinking to himself Cat definately has stirred a lot of feelings for him, but he can't take risks - he keeps on remembering, thinking if they did reveal their secret identities to each other, Cat would have ended up like Mary Jane - if The Green Goblin didn't know who Spider-Man is, she would still be around.

Estimated about one day later, Debra Whitman, student Clay and a lot more other men travel to a deserted island with the help of an infrared scanner that was founded by the Herbert Foundation, picking up a significant heat source inside the island's cave. Clay believes Debra was right on the money and this can be the discovery of a lifetime, but Debra tells Clay that what they're finding may not be what it seems. When they get to the entrance of the cave, she tells the others what may be inside the cave is probably dangerous so she'll go in with caution because it's her project. Clay comes in with Debra anyway, believing it's too dangerous for her to go in alone. As they travel throughout the cave in order to find the living vampire, Michael Morbius, Clay asks Debra if her flashlight will wake him up. Debra tells him the light won't because the flashlight's brightness acts like moonlight, so it won't wake up Morbius. They then surprisingly find Morbius hanging from the ceiling in front of them but is sleeping, with Clay commenting in fear that Morbius is more terrible-looking than he imagined. He then looks at Debra and apoligizes to her about the comment, reminding her she and Morbius were once friends. Debra then tells Clay and herself it was much more and reminds herself she used to be in love with Morbius. But despite Morbius, in his human form in the past, had admitted that Debra was a wonderul woman when she confessed her feelings to him, he explained his feelings were more directed to Felicia Hardy. Debra keeps on remembering when Morbius was revealed to have been the plasma-sucking vampire in New York who everyone blamed Spider-Man for the incidents of citizens of New York getting their plasma drained. It was then confirmed by Dr. Curt Conners that Morbius was indeed that vampire but they didn't know where he was. Afterwards, they were looking up on the map to find out where Morbius was likely hiding and when Flash found out, he went bullistic on her because she was helping someone who almost killed him (in Duel of the Hunters, Morbius drained most of Flash's blood) and asks her if Morbius is more important to Debra than him. Debra refused to answer. Debra then snaps back into reality from the flashbacks when someone outside the cave asked her and Clay if they found anything. Debra calls back they sure did and bring the solar-resistant box to trap Morbius in. After answering, she turns back to Morbius' sleeping body and whispers to herself as if she were talking to Morbius for him to just sleep and when they cure him, the monster within him will finally be gone.

Later, Peter Parker and Felicia Hardy exit out of the Children's Science Center with Peter asking him to cover his class because Dr. Conners called him for a press conference and he wants to get some photos. Felicia tells Peter she can't because she is going to the West Coast on a plane ride because the Hardy Foundation is opening up a youth science center and she'll be gone for a few weeks. Peter runs off after telling her to do this little favour for him, he'll pay her back once she returns and doesn't return after Felicia calls him to come back. But after he disappears, she sighs in anger about what Peter told her to do.

When the press conference hosted by Dr. Conners and Debra Whitman occurs, they reveal after their grant from the Herbert Foundation, they have finally recovered the long lost body of Michael Morbius. Everyone goes in total surprise, especially Peter Parker. Conners calms everyone down by telling the audience Morbius is in a state of hibernation and they plan on returning him back to human. Ned Leeds then calls out from the audience to Conners, asking him if he and Debra Whitman are risking New York's life by bringing Morbius back to the city. Debra then protests that they aren't and they are trying to revive a human being who has been infected by a near-lethal virus. The conference ends with Leeds telling Peter Parker that the future headline of New York's next newspaper will have the city go bullistic with Morbius being resurrected. After he leaves, Peter reminds himself it was his fault Morbius had turned into a vampire. We then see flashbacks from the episode Morbius when Morbius had went into Peter's mutated plasma sample (since Peter was mutating into Man-Spider until Duel of the Hunters) and when he was testing it, a vampire bat took some of the sample and bit Morbius, thus turning Morbius into what he is currently. He let Michael down, just like when he let Mary Jane down, but if anyone can help Morbius, it's Debra and Doc Conners because they know more about Neogenics than anyone else. It's risky, though and Peter is glad Felicia is going out of town - being here for Morbius' dramatic return would be too much for her.

Later at night, when Felicia is packing her things for her trip and the limousine driver is telling her it is almost time, she tells him she's packing up. But she is shocked to hear on a report, telling her that Dr. Conners has made a discovery when Debra Whitman had recovered the body of Michael Morbius. This surprises her so much that she accidentally drops a bottle of make-up on a mirror, braking it and when the limo driver tells Felicia it's getting late, she tells him she can't go and she'll call him if she needs him. After the driver leaves, Felicia grabs a picture of Morbius and hugs it in sadness, remembering her love for Morbius. We then see flashbacks of The Immortal Vampire where Morbius goes to Felicia as a vampire and kidnaps her, telling him he will make everyone in the world vampires - including Felicia. But when she refused, Morbius thought the same and wanted to become human again until when Spider-Man and Blade accidentally come into Morbius' hideout, the Neogenic Recombinator is turned on and almost hits Felicia, until when Morbius blocks the way and becomes a non-curable vampire. He tells her he'll always love her and was gone from her life, presumably forever. But now that he has returned, Felicia dresses up in her Black Cat alter ego and begins trying to find him.

Almost the next day, Dr. Conners, Debra and Clay have hooked up Morbius' sleeping body into the Neogenic Recombinator and after some wondering from Clay if Morbius will wake up and drain them of their plasma, Conners replies that the restraints should hold back Morbius if he does wake up and they start the process of reviving Morbius to his normal self again. But the machine is damaged and the process is failed for a time until Debra terminates the power. Clay agrees to fix the machine and Conners advises Debra to get some sleep - exhaustion brings stupidity. Debra then exclaims for a moment, she thought they have finally cured Morbius.

Of course, Debra wasn't the only one who thought they cured Morbius, as The Kingpin and Dr. Herbert Landon watch from cameras watching the lab Conners, Debra and Clay are trying to revive Morbius in. Kingpin begins to lose his patience with Conners, Debra and Clay taking time to revive Morbius into his human form but Landon calms Kingpin down by remidning him it was the crime lord's brilliant idea to name the Herbert Foundation after Landon's first name. And if the scientists can cure Morbius, Landon can get enough information to finally cure himself as well and possibly make both him and Kingpin immortal. Kingpin is pleased with that idea.

Spider-Man swings to his statue gargoyle friend, Bruce, and asks him if Black Cat is still angry at him because of their earlier conversation and he hadn't seen her since. He asks the gargoyle what he thinks and after pretending he gets an answer from the statue, he agrees with his friend that he should quit whining and do his job by getting a visit to Dr. Conners to see how he's doing with curing Morbius, swinging off. But still, he wonders what Black Cat's up to.

Black Cat is then seen going to the back of the theatre Blade and Abraham Whistler use as a hideout. She is confronted by Whistler, who points a gun at her, telling her to stop where she is. Cat tells him he can put the weapon down, referring him by his name, and he is shocked to realize how she knows, asking how. Cat refuses to answer, saying she's an old friend and they then sit down at a table. Whistler explains Blade has gone to Europe to hunt down a more elusive vampire. Cat says it's just as well because she needs help from Whistler in taking down the vampire Michael Morbius. Whistler says he has never helped a stranger before (not even a beautiful one as he carefully comments) but if Morbius is to rise again, then someone has to help Cat.

As Debra Whitman still sits in her desk in the lab with the still-unconscious Morbius, Flash comes in, almost shocking Debra, and he explains he came to apoligize to Debra on how he reacted to the Michael Morbius thing. Debra is pleased with that but they are both interrupted when a wall to the lab is blown up and Dr. Herbert Landon and The Shocker arrive just after Debra and Flash get a chance to hide. The two villains plan on taking Morbius' body but Flash leaps on Shocker in trying to stop him, until the villain throws him away to the machine Morbius is in. It opens the glass Morbius is sleeping behind in and Shocker almost kills Flash by launching his blasters at him. Flash moves out of the way and it hits Morbius, waking him up, throws Shocker at Landon and almost drains the plasma of Debra and Flash until Spider-Man arrives and spouts some webbing to the vampire. He is then confronted by Shocker and Landon, in which Landon reveals the Herbert Foundation is named after him to Spider-Man and unknowingly to Flash and Debra. Shocker tries to blast Spider-Man from off the ceiling and defeats him when he hits a part of the ceiling and knocks Spider-Man unconscious. Afterwards, Morbius tears off the webbing Spider-Man gave him and flies off from the whole where Shocker and Landon had arrived in. Shocker and Landon also leave in their chopper and follow him. Once all the villains are gone, Flash and Debra rush to Spider-Man, waking him up.

Spider-Man then swings to Morbius in the air just when the vampire was looking for another victim to drain plasma from. Morbius tries to ditch Spider-Man, but he wraps a strand of webbing on his web, trying to convince him to get back to the lab he just escaped. But Landon and Shocker return, blasting Spider-Man from out of the air by the web. Morbius flies down to the superhero, who landed on a rooftop in agony on his back, and prepares to drain his plasma until Black Cat arrives and uses a solar gun to have Morbius back off. He flies off with Landon and Shocker still on his tail and when Spider-Man gets up to thank Cat for saving him, he notices the solar gun and asks what is it. Cat refuses to answer since they have both their secrets from each other and she leaves him, swinging off, apoligizing they couldn't chat. Spider-Man swings by to a soda parlor and wonders about Cat's actions about first she saves him and then ditches him. Then he wonders where she's going next.

As Morbius arrives in a park to get his next victim, he is stopped by The Black Cat and his prey gets away. Morbius is furious at Cat for trying to stop him and attacks her, pinning her against a tree. But before he could continue, Cat stops him by telling him she is Felicia. Morbius becomes even more furious about Cat using her name, but unmasks herself to the vampire. Morbius is then sad and curious about what happened to her. She answers a lot has happened to her while he was gone since The Immortal Vampire but they can still be together. Morbius tries to tell her to back off because he is a monster. Felicia tells him there is still a chance and he should meet her at the clocktower where they last met when he was human in Morbius for him to have peace finally - the clocktower was rebuilt.

Spider-Man arrives to Felicia's apartment, telling himself he can't let The Black Cat slow him down and deal with Morbius first. The superhero gets to the apartment because he thinks if he were Morbius, the first thing he were to do would visit the person he loved most - Felicia. When he goes in, he finds Felicia's black cat, telling himself he doesn't remember Felicia having a feline pet, although the creature reminds him of Cat. Suddenly, the cat runs off in fear and Spider-Man's spider senses tingle until Landon and Shocker blast in. Landon tells Spider-Man that they knew Morbius would come for his long-lost love, Felicia, and orders Shocker to finish Spider-Man. But before he could fire a blast, Black Cat arrives and takes down both villains. She and Spider-Man escape from the window they arrived in, avoiding one of Shocker's blast to the next rooftop. After Spider-Man thanks Cat for saving him, he asks her why he is getting a mixed message from her. She apoligizes because she is going through something - something she has to face alone. She leaves him and before Spider-Man can call her back, he asks to himself as if she were talking to Cat, "What is wrong with you?"

Black Cat returns to Whistler. She explains she has feelings for Morbius, and Whistler finds this disturbing for Cat to have feelings for a vampire. Cat tells him she needs something that can end Morbius' agony forever. Whistler then gives Cat a gun which has enough solar power to actually kill a vampire, Morbius, with one shot.

Black Cat meets Morbius at the clocktower and Morbius pleads to Cat for something that can give him peace immediately, as he almost attacked a couple. Cat explains she was given a device which can end his misery which will get him into limbo in between mortal and immortal forever. Morbius sees Cat is going to kill him, but views it as the only way and lets her proceed. But before she can shoot, Landon and Shocker arrive and net Morbius, with Landon telling Cat he knows that this is where Morbius used as his refuge. Cat tells him he had other things on her mind besides him. Landon then tells Cat it is the last thing she'll think and prepares to shoot Cat, telling her it was the kind of execution he and Kingpin originally wanted Felicia's father to wintess. He shoots, but misses when Cat dodges out of the way. This attracts Spider-Man's attention as he is not to far from the clocktower and swings over there, with Landon and Shocker finally caught Morbius in their helicopter but before they leave, Spider-Man throws a spider tracer at the copter and gets to Cat. She thanks him for helping her up and says that it can get her the kind of wrong idea he likes her. Cat explains what she's going though does involve Spider-Man - she's just doubting herself. Spider-Man tells her for what it's worth, he thinks she's doing great. Cat throws sarcasm at him that she did so great that she let Landon and Shocker get away with Morbius. But Spider-Man explains she had just recently placed a spider tracer at their copter. Cat comments on it being smart and they follow Spider-Man's remote where it tells the exact location Landon and Shocker are going to.

When Spider-Man and Cat track down Landon and Shocker at a funeral parlor, Kingpin also arrives to and he goes down to the basement where Landon and Shocker have put Morbius into a machine and Kingpinasks Landon angrily how much longer it will take to finally cure Morbius of his mutation. Landon answers only a few more minutes and the process gets Morbius back to his curable vapire self but Spider-Man and Black Cat get into the action, confronting the villains until Kingpin snatches Cat and begins squeazing the life out of her. But Morbius brakes out after Landon tried to tell Kingpin to stop killing Cat and he releases her once Morbius is free. Kingpin escapes the lab and locks the rest in, commenting that he and Morbius will meet again as he leaves. After Kingpin has escaped, Morbius turns his attention to Landon, leaps on him and drains most of his plasma, which distracts Shocker long enough for Spider-Man to wrap him up in webbing. After Landon is near unconsciousness, Morbius turns his attention again to Spider-Man and Black Cat and he tells the vampire to stay back. But Cat takes out the solar gun Whistler gave her, telling Spider-Man it will stop Morbius forever. The vampire prepares for death because it's the only way that he'll stop hurting people until the end of time, but Cat throws the gun away without shooting Morbius, thinking there has got to be a better way. Morbius then escapes and Spider-Man and Cat fail to stop him as he disappears before morning rises. Cat then blames herself for not getting the chance of stopping Morbius, but Spider-Man tells her she did the right thing - part of the vampire is still human and there is still a chance he can be saved. He'll seek out shelter from the sun and when night falls again, they will find him. He just hopes they'll find him before anyone else gets hurt. Cat then speeches once she became a crime fighter, she would instinctively know what to do. She never expected her emotions to get in the way. She then asks her counterpart how he deals with life behind the mask. Spider-Man explains he wished he had an answer, but he doesn't, but maybe he can help Cat get through this - if she lets him. Cat thanks him, kisses him on the cheek and says she may not be able to get through this struggle alone, swinging off. Spider-Man asks as Cat leaves on why love is so complicated. He then changes his self-conversation that he sure is glad Felicia is out of town - seeing Morbius return like this would leave her devastated, unbeknownst to her that Cat is Felicia, as he swings off.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Trivia

  • It is revealed here even before Morbius made his debut in the series in The Insidious Six that Debra Whitman is in love with him.
  • This is Whistler's only appearance in the series without Blade.
  • When Whistler mentioned Blade was in Europe hunting a more elusive vampire, it is revealed in the next episode of who that vampire is.
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