Wages of War

The Wages of War is the twenty-second episode of Spider Riders. It first aired in Canada on September 17, 2006 on Teletoon.

Plot
When Magma decides to go on patrol to see if he can get any new information on Portia, Hunter immediately invites himself along. Once the pair arrives in Cross Town, their task proves harder than they thought.

While at an inn, Hunter spots a young Invectid girl. When he starts shouting at her to leave, he is shocked to discover that the Invectid is a welcome resident of the town. Magma invites her to join them, and explains that she is a peaceful Invectid by the name of Katy. Hunter is surprised to learn that not all Invectids approve of the war, and apologizes for his rude behavior.

The next morning, the Spider Riders are awoken by an attack led by Grasshop and Aqune. Demanding the return of Katy, Grasshop unleashes a deadly Battle Bug upon Cross Town which captures Katy and grows in strength the more Katy pleads for it to stop attacking the town. Things get worse when Grasshop remembers that he forgot to properly install the device that enables the Battle Bug to differentiate between friend and foe.

Hunter gets Grasshop to tell him the machines weakness is it's antenna. But when he cuts them off he discovers that both have to be severed at the exact same time, or else the will simply regenerate. The machine attacks Aqune and Portia, who Magma and Brutus shield. Aqune is confused, do to still wearing her mask. Magma clarifies that they protected Portia, not her. However Aqune sees Hunter trying to attack the Battle Bug again, and this time teams up with Hunter to beat the bug and save the town.

With the Battle Bug destroyed, Hunter manages to save Katy, with help from his armor. Safe now, Katy thanks Aqune for her assistance just before she and Portia leave.

In the episode

 * Hunter acquires a new ability thanks to the Oracle Key in this episode: The ability to shoot a sticky web from his armor.

Characters

 * Hunter Steele
 * Magma
 * Katydid
 * Battle Spider Shadow
 * Battle Spider Brutus
 * Battle Spider Portia
 * Buguese
 * Grasshop
 * Aqune

Quotes
"Thanks Magma, your the greatest." "Look what you did to my tunic!"
 * "Fine, you can come with me."
 * — Hunter urges Magma to take him on his mission. And manages to ruin Magma's outfit.

"Settle down Hunter. It's alright." "But Magma?!" "Hunter, allow me to introduce my good friend Katydid. She lives in this town."
 * "Invectid! Invectids have no business here! Get out, or I will throw you out!"
 * — Hunter and Katydid meet for the first time. And Hunter doesn't make a good first impression.

"It's my fault Katy. I should have told him about you before we came here." "It's not the first time, and it sure wont be the last. But please, call me Katy."
 * "I'm sorry miss Katydid. I'm new here."
 * — Hunter apologies to Katydid for the giving her the forth degree.

"Where are your manners, I'm a member of the "Big Four"! I am a trusted friend and confidant to our Lord Mantid. He often calls me just to chat and we enjoy long walks on the beach together!"
 * "Grasshop? What are you doing here?"
 * — Grasshop tells Hunter all about his time with Mantid.


 * "Yikes! I forgot to install a device to help it tell friends from enemies. AHHHH!"- Grasshop remembers that he didn't read all of the instruction manual when he assembled his new Battle Bug.

"You have no reason to thank me. I merely corrected the mistake Grasshop made." "That doesn't matter you cooperated with Hunter, and together you beat the Battle Bug. Just think about it Aqune. If humans and Invectids work together, what a wonderful world this would be."
 * "Aqune! Thanks for saving me Aqune."
 * — Katy thanks Aqune for her help, and sees hope for the future.