The Vampire Queen (Spider-Man: The Animated Series)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“The Vampire Queen”
Spider-Man: The Animated Series episode
Episode no.	Season 4 Episode 48
Written by	Meg McLaughlin John Semper
Production no.	317
Original airdate	May 17, 1997.
Episode chronology
← Previous	Next →
"The Awakening"	"The Return of the Green Goblin"
Spider-Man (1994 animated series) Episode List

The Vampire Queen is the seventh episode of the fourth season of Spider-Man: The Animated Series.

[edit] Plot

The episode begins with Felicia Hardy, at night in her apartment, who goes to her cat, Piggins, after she took a shower that she is afraid that she will have to help destroy the man she loves - Michael Morbius, the living vampire. We then see flashbacks of "The Awakening" when Felicia, as The Black Cat, confronted Morbius, revealed her secret identity to him and when she had the chance to kill him with the solar gun Abraham Whistler gave her, she thought there would be a better way than eliminating him finally. He escaped and Cat thought she blew it, but Spider-Man thought what she did was right by not killing. Felicia then dresses up as Black Cat and asks Piggins as if the cat could actually talk on when her powers came with such great responsibility. She swings out of her apartment and after she is gone, Spider-Man swings by, not noticing Cat again, wondering if he'll ever see Black Cat again because she had seemed to have soured on the superhero life ever since she refused to kill Morbius - he then thinks he should have made her his partner in the first place because he needs her now more than ever - if he is to find Morbius and cure him of his vampire disease, because vampire hunting isn't his forte.

The story shifts somewhere in Europe at night again where a man is out of a closed shop when he is confronted by a vampire woman in 1800s vampire clothing, hypnotizing him with her powers into having him stand still so she can drain him of his plasma. But before she can do so, Blade arrives just in time and fires a garlic gun near the vampire. This causes her to lose concentration on hypnotizing the human and he runs off, with Blade giving chase to the vampire. He rides on his bike down a highway when it is tossed off the curb and onto some rocks after the vampire woman had controlled some rocks herself with her powers. Afterwards, she flees into a tower with Blade still on her tail and also inside the castle, trying to shoot the vampire dead with a solar gun. One of the shots, which nearly kills the vampire, opens up a hole for her to fly out, but Blade jumps onto her cape and tries to defeat her in mid-air. However, the vampire is smart enough to take her cape off, with her flying off after Blade misses a shot at her when he was trying to kill her again. As Blade falls, he lands on the ledge of a rooftop with the vampire's cape. He goes into it and finds a newspaper which tells him ESU students have found Michael Morbius. Blade throws it away with anger because Morbius is still alive and is shocked even more when he looks at a picture he finds most disturbing as he cries out, "No!"

Black Cat lands at the ledge of a building, thinking she doesn't need Spider-Man's help in finding Morbius but wondering if it's okay to hope he's still alive. She then hides behind the building when Cat sees Spider-Man swinging by and thinking she can't confront the superhero yet until she can sort out her feelings for him and Morbius.

As Spider-Man keeps on swinging, he wonders why no one's had their plasma sucked by Morbius yet, as he was missing for days. And if he is out there, he must be starving.

A man walks into an alley and finds a pale white man leaning in front of a wall. The man tries to see if the other guy is all right, but Morbius, who is the leaning man, turns to him and tells him to stay away. Shocked, the man runs off. Morbius speaks out his vow never to hurt anyone, even in spite of his weakness due to a lack of plasma, even if it means to the -. Suddenly, Morbius is interrupted and contacted by the vampire woman Blade was chasing back in Europe and she introduces herself as Mirium. Morbius asks her how she managed to find him. Mirium explains when Morbius became a vampire, he gained a psychic ability to her and every other vampire still existing. She also tells him she knows about the Neogenic Recombinator Morbius knows about, because it turns humans into vampires. He refuses to tell the secret and Mirium tries to get into Morbius' mind. Morbius flies off but is too late as Mirium has gathered up enough information on how to use the Recombinator and where it is, flying off to get to it.

The episode then cuts to Debra Whitman, Flash Thompson and student Clay as they are working in the lab, with Debra blaming herself that Morbius is now loose. Flash tells her it's not her fault, even though it was Dr. Herbert Landon and his thieves who took the Recombinator and they never would have guessed the Herbert Foundation was a fake. Flash and Clay try to cheer Debra up by telling her once they release Landon from the hospital, the cops will ask him where the Recombinator is. But before the students can continue, Mirium arrives and hypnotizes them into telling her where the Neogenic Recombinator is. Debra tells Dr. Herbert Landon took it.

As Landon is still sleeping in his hospital bed in the hospital with a guard watching out for him while sitting in a chair near the door, reading a newspaper. Mirium arrives and puts the guard asleep with her powers, waking up Landon with her powers as well and commands him to show her where the Recombinator is.

When Kingpin goes into the lab where the Neogenic Recombinator lays, he is shocked to find it is gone and absent from its place, knowing it was stolen.

As Debra, Flash and Clay are being strode in ambulance trucks, Spider-Man arrives near Police Lieutenant Terri Lee who is investigating the scene. Lee explains Debra, Flash and Clay have suffered major plasma drain and they assume it is Morbius. Spider-Man believes there is still a chance to save Morbius, but Lee sees it if Morbius is hunting people down again, then that makes him public enemy number one and is too dangerous to be kept alive. Cat, who is at a nearby rooftop, hears of this and is shocked. After Spider-Man and Lee's conversation, she leaves back to Whistler's hideout at the theatre but Spider-Man arrives with her. He asks her if they have the same goal of helping Morbius, shouldn't they be helping each other. Cat reminds him it is something she has to do alone and goes inside. Spider-Man thinks that it was his mutated blood sample in Morbius that turned the former ESU student into what he currently is, so he has a stake at this, too (no vampire pun attended) as he also enters the theatre.

As Spider-Man and Cat are confronting Whistler in the theatre, the wall-crawler tells him his weapons are best used for catching Morbius. Whistler says his weapons are best used for annihilating vampires - he then asks the heroes if they're ready to destroy him. Cat refuses that decision and asks Whistler if there is another way of helping him. Spider-Man believes Cat understands Morbius' plight, and Cat tells Whistler that the vampire saved both her and Spider-Man in Landon's lab in the previous episode - he deserves their help. Suddenly, Detective Lee barges in and mocking their plot of how to finally kill Morbius. Spider-Man tells her they're accessing their options and their might be a chance of stopping Morbius without hurting him. Lee believes it impossible and that Whistler has what they need.

As Whistler is driving their vampire-hunting van in trying to track down Morbius with Lee as his co-pilot and Spider-Man and Black Cat on the roof, the wall-crawler asks the other superhero on why she's so interested in Morbius. Cat tells him someone close to her once became a victim of vampirism (which she isn't lying because Morbius is someone close to her and he became a vampire). Cat refuses to take that discussion any further and as for Whistler and Lee, Lee asks where Blade is. Whistler answers that he was in Eastern Europe tracking down a dangerous vampire, but he hadn't heard from him in days - he is most worried about him. He then turns his attention on Lee, stating she was wise not to get a relationship with Blade, because it would have been hard on her. Lee says it's something she already feels - "Tell me something I don't know."

Spider-Man, Cat, Whistler and Lee arrive at Keishi Electronics with Lee wondering why Morbius would be doing here. They enter inside and see a vampire had already drained the plasma of a guard, assuming it's Morbius but realize it's not him and it's Mirium. She attacks Lee, knocking her down and tries to leave until Cat tackles her. A paper flies out from Mirium and Spider-Man looks at it, seeing it is the printout for plans of the Neogenic Recombinator. After Mirium tackles off Cat, Spider-Man tries to wrap up her and find out why she is so interested with the Recombinator. Mirium answers she has a responsibility to use it and uses her vampire powers to throw off everyone in the room trying to stop her. But they are not stopped when Whistler is about to throw a vampire-killing grenade at Mirium until Blade arrives on his bike, preventing every attempt made by the others who are trying to kill Mirium, revealing two broken lockets which he puts together, telling everyone that the lockets belonged to him and his mother, which confirms Mirium is actually Blade's mother. Mirium sees it this way and Whistler reminds him she's an evil vampire. Blade states he knows and must find a way to cure her, but Terri Lee believes this should not be that way and must be stopped for the crimes she has committed. Blade is shocked to hear this coming from Lee, the one woman she almost had a relationship with, and they will have to fight him if they are to kill Mirium. Spider-Man leaps on Blade in order to distract him and Lee fires from a bow-and-arrow-like weapon to Mirium. But Mirium catches it with her powers and uses them again in freezing Lee for her to stand still so she can stake her with the arrow. But Black Cat leaps on her, but Mirium throws her to the ground, even knocking out Whistler with the throw, and plans on sucking Cat's plasma because she wants to see how it's like because she is strong. But before she can suck Cat's plasma, Morbius flies in and flies at Mirium. She then throws him through a group of boxes and Cat rushes over to him. Mirium uses her powers to lift up a crate and brake it, taking parts for the Neogenic Recombinator. She leaves with the parts after Terri Lee made failed warning shots in an attempt to kill her. Blade prepares to leave with Spider-Man asking why they can't work together. Blade tells him neither of them have been team players and shots a net from his gun, trapping Spider-Man and then throwing a gas bomb in order to distract him while the vampire hunter makes his getaway. But before he leaves, he drives to Lee, gets the vampire tracker, throws it to the ground, braking it and warns Lee to not come after him for both their sakes. After he leaves, Spider-Man gets to Whistler and asks him if he's all right. Whistler answers him he is not because he is disappointed in Blade because he thought he taught him better than this. Everyone then turns their attention to a dying Morbius as he lays front to the ground and Cat says they should take him into their custody and help him. Lee thinks that they've done their job and leave Morbius to die. However, Cat disregards because Morbius wasn't responsible for the last attacks, since Mirium was, and he just saved her life from being killed by Mirium herself. Lee says even if it is a good idea, she wonders what could they do. Spider-Man then turns his attention to Whistler and asks him if the serum he gives to Blade to make him more human than vampire if it can make Morbius human. Whistler replies he has to want to be human and that's the only way it works. Cat believes Morbius does want to be human and the serum can be possible to work. After Cat pleads Whistler for this to come to pass, Whistler, who considers this against his better judgement, agrees and they will get him back to the theatre.

When Spider-Man, Black Cat, Whistler and Lee return to the theatre with the near-dead Morbius, Whistler gives Morbius Blade's serum and Whistler states it odd to be saving a vampire, or otherwise, "one of them". Cat asks Whistler if Morbius will be all right, and Whistler believes it is likely. Lee states out that saving Morbius gets them nowhere because the vampire locater has been destroyed and they have no way of finding either Blade or Mirium. Morbius then wakes up and states he can help the others find Mirium. He says that she is evil because he knows about a psychic link between all vampires currently alive and that is how he found her and about her plans for using the Neogenic Recombinator. He fails to answer what it is because he is still weak from the serum and Cat puts him out to rest. She states it's almost dawn and they have no help in finding Morbius now, and they also need rest like Morbius. She then reminds everyone in anger that they can't do anything anyway because Blade will never lay a finger on his mother. Spider-Man then comes to the conclusion that it also makes Blade their enemy, too. Whistler cuts in by saying Blade is merely a lost child with a mother he never knew. He then asks the others still awake that surely, they all must know that. Spider-Man reminds himself he knows that since he never knew his parents before who-knows-what happened to them. Whistler then tells everyone that Blade must understand once a vampire, always a vampire, but he can still be counted on in the end. Lee says she certainly hopes so - all their lives depend on it.

The next day, Blade and Lee meet at a park with Blade thanking her for meeting him now and apoligizing for what he did last night, but his mother tells him she wants to be human again. Lee asks him how he can trust her, and then Blade says he hoped she would understand since it was Lee who lead Blade into the beauty of feeling with his heart. They hug and share a small kiss and Lee states she understands, but she's so scared for him. Blade says as long as he has her love, he is strong, but now, he must go and pleads for her as before to not follow him, which has him leave. She says to herself as if she were talking to Blade for him not to worry, because she probably wouldn't have kept up with him anyway.

Peter Parker, with his suit on and with his mask off, and realizes it's torn, remebering it was Blade who tore it. Luckily, Peter keeps a spare and plans on putting it on, but when Harry knocks on the door outside to come in, Peter realizes he doesn't have the time and rushes out with his old mask. After he leaves, Harry comes in after he though Peter was just inside and sees the spare Spider-Man mask sticking out, remebering that when he heard Peter inside in "Partners", he was gone and Harry then thinks about what this is about.

Back at the theatre, Black Cat asks Whistler how Morbius is doing as he's lying on the resting table behind a red curtain. Whistler answers he is as well as can be but his blood will always burn for the desire of human plasma - his serum isn't a cure, but it can keep the regular vampire urges away from Morbius for a time. Afterwards, Whistler asks Cat what kind of attraction she has to vampires - Detective Lee loves Blade, Cat loves Morbius and what is Whistler missing - fangs maybe, as he jokes. Cat then goes behind the curtain to Morbius, wondering if he's all right. Morbius replies to Cat, calling her by Felicia, saying he does not know if he can rely on a serum that can outlast his vampire desires for the rest of his life. Cat agrees she will give some of her strength to Morbius and feeds him some of her superhuman plasma.

As two punk-rockers are passing by an alley, they confront Mirium and she lures them over and fires the Neogenic Recombinator at them and transforms them into something.

Spider-Man swings in by at Terri Lee who is sitting at her car near the theatre and the web-swinger asks her if she can come in. Lee says she can't and drives off, with Blade driving in front of her on his bike.

Blade then arrives at a disco ball place and travels into the basement, entitled The Dungeon, and meets up with his mother. After they have a reunion hug, Mirium says that she was so lost without Blade - for years, she had been searching for the family she had wished but was rejected from because she was a vampire, but at last, her wish can finally come true tonight. Blade says that they can use the Recombinator to turn them both human and make them together again, asking if it's ready. Mirium answers it is so because she tested it. Blade asks on what she means by testing it and suddenly, Blade is grabbed by two vampires (the punk-rockers Mirium turned into two scenes ago) and Blade asks what is the meaning of this. Mirium tells Blade struggling free against the vampires is useless because unlike Blade, the vampires holding him are full ones - stronger than him. Her true goal was never to change herself, but create a family of which she wanted - a family of vampires, and she will be their mother, as well as Blade's. Blade reminds her in anger he trusted her, but Mirium replies she must forsake. Blade reminds her again she was the one who gave him his humanity. Mirium replies that was before she had seen the wonders of the night as a vampire and insists Blade to join her, as the Recombinator is how he'll become a vampire instead of the halfling she is now. Spider-Man, Black Cat and Morbius then arrive inside the disco place because Morbius sense Mirium's presence here and everyone believes they're fakes. Back with Blade and Mirium, Blade tells his own mother she can't do her evil plans just when she turns on the Recombinator and directs it at Blade. But Spider-Man comes in just in time and says that what Blade says is true, as he redirects the Recombinator at a side of a wall and swings over to the vampire mother. But she throws him away, but he lands safely as he sticks to a wall and Blade escapes the vampires holding him. Mirium then flies out of The Dungeon and Morbius, as he is in the crowd, spots Mirium flying in the air with the Recombinator but just as they fight, the Recombinator is accidentally activated and fires at a disco ball in the ceiling, reflecting off and hits almost everyone the crowd, turning them into vampires. Mirium then calls her children of vampires to help her in battle against Morbius and the machine keeps on turning people in the crowd into plasma-suckers. Spider-Man and Blade witness the conflict and Spider-Man sees it as incredible, yet still terrible, that Mirium has used Dr. Herbert Landon's knowledge on how to turn on the Recombinator and make it a vampire-creator. But while Morbius and Mirium are still fighting, Morbius finally drags the Recombinator out of Mirium's hands but when he is attacked by more vampires, he accidentally drops it to the ground and Mirium grabs it, firing a beam out of her eyes to a window, shatters it and flies out from it with the rest of her vampires. Spider-Man and Black Cat swing out of the disco to stop Mirium and Whistler arrives to help Blade and Morbius fight off vampires, throwing a garlic bomb once Morbius has shielded himself. The vampires also leave and Morbius tries to stop the vampires from escaping and succeeding in Mirium's plan, flying out. But Blade believes it does not matter anymore because he has no more will to fight - not even against his own mother. But Lee comes over and Blade asks her in surprise on how she followed him. Lee says it doesn't matter and tells him he must keep on fighting - she believes in him. Blade's mother is trapped in that vampire's body and she needs Blade's love to rescue her. Blade knows she's right and agrees to keep on fighting.

Spider-Man, Black Cat and Morbius confront the vampires in the sky and Blade arrives to help out. Mirium commands her vampires to have the heroes turn into one of them but Blade gives out his disregard as he throws a solar gun at the plasma-suckers. It has them fall to the ground while Mirium still floats in front of the light in weakness. Spider-Man spouts out a web the Neogenic Recombinator and it falls out of the vampire's hands, having the machine fall to the ground and explode, transforming everyone turned into vampires back into humans. Mirium is devastated that her plans are foiled and the possibilities of a complete world-wide vampire family is lost that she flies off in fleeing and vows her enemies will pay.

Blade rides his bike over to Lee and Whistler, vowing he must track down his mother and make her realize he is the only child and shares another small kiss with Lee, leaving Lee and Whistler. Whistler tells Lee he must make more weapons and serums Blade must use and asks her if she is all right. As Lee is crying, she says in sarcasm that she feels real gitty after all this.

At the top of the tower with Spider-Man and Black Cat, Spider-Man reminds Cat they have just lost Mirium and Cat tells her counterpart that she's going after the vampire queen. Spider-Man says he'll come with her but says he must be left out of it and she had just learned that with this great power, there comes a greater responsibility - and she must use that power in stopping Mirium, and Spider-Man is left out. After making a hard decision, she finally made her decision of picking Morbius over the wall-crawler. Spider-Man asks her why he can't go with her. Cat tells him he must stay in New York to protect the city because it needs him. Spider-Man tells her he needs her, and he won't let her go. Cat says he will because she's asking him to do make her do this one favour. After giving him a short kiss, Cat says she will leave and will always remember she loves SPider-Man, swinging off with Spider-Man calling her out to come back, but it is useless because now, she is gone from him, presumably for the rest of their lives.

As Blade is riding his bike out of New York, Black Cat and Morbius stop in front of him and he stops to know what they want. They explain they want to join him, because it will give some purpose to Morbius' life - Blade will find Mirium faster with Morbius helping him because thye share a telepathic link. Blade refuses and drives off from them. Cat is disappointed that Blade didn't join them ("Well, that went well"), but Morbius tells her love if they follow him, he'll go accustomed to them and some day, he may be their friend. Morbius then asks Cat if she is sure if she wants to hunt down for Mirium. Cat answers she does, and they proceed onto following Blade.

Spider-Man and Lee are then seen sitting at the curb of the sidewalk outside the theatre, sitting with each other because they have just both lost the loves of their lives, Blade and Black Cat, and after discussing their feelings now that they lost their affairs, Lee drives off to respond to a police unit.

The epilogue and final scene of the episode shows Spider-Man swinging, thinking to himself and asking what he did wrong with Black Cat. Now that both she and Felicia are gone, not to mention Mary Jane is still missing, well, at least there's no where here to go but up.

[edit] Cast

• Christopher Daniel Barnes – Spider-Man / Peter Parker
• Jennifer Hale – The Black Cat / Felicia Hardy
• Nick Jameson – Michael Morbius
• J.D. Hall – Blade
• Oliver Muirhead – Abraham Whistler
• Roscoe Lee Browne – The Kingpin / Wilson Fisk
• Gary Imhoff – Harry Osborn
• Dawnn Lewis – Detective Terry Lee
• Nichelle Nichols – Miriam

[edit] Trivia

• Harry Osborn finds out about Peter's spare Spider-Man mask somewhere in the episode (as already mentioned). He does not know Peter is actually Spider-Man, but does in the next episode, as already noted.
• This is Whistler's last appearance in the show.
• This is Mirium's first appearance on the show.
• This is the last time we see Detective Terri Lee and Blade together.