Araña - Heart of the Spider #9

Aug 5

Aug 5 Araña - Heart of the Spider #9

Miguel has trapped Anya in a web of mystical energy to prevent her from going after Felix Jade, the man who may have killed her mother years ago. She summons her spider carapace to try and rip free, but this still doesn’t work. As she continues to struggle she wonders why everyone is afraid of the Hunter, since everything she has learned about the entity that is the source of her powers, it seems like it is a protector. That’s when she remembers something said about the Hunter and its partner, the Mage. One is the opposite hand of the other and she figures that connection will allow her to break free from one of his spells. Channeling the power of the Hunter, her body begins absorbing the mystical webbing.

At that same moment, Nina Smith is racing to meet with Miguel to take down Felix Jade, annoyed that her bubble bath was interrupted for this impromptu mission. Elsewhere, Miguel and Ted Mankowski are also heading toward Felix Jade’s location. Knowing that Araña has managed to escape his mystical webs, he is in a hurry to stop Jade before Anya can get to him. Ted is also worried about Nina, but Miguel tells him not to worry as he knows Smith is up to the task as they had been working together since the last Hunter was killed in action. As Miguel continues his plot, Vincent continues to bring escort Felix Jade to his safehouse. However, now they have the police chasing their limo, prompting Vincent to contact Amun again to deal with the authorities. In the meantime, Vincent needs to deal with a police blockade. Channeling his power from the Wasp’s hive mind he creates an illusion of their limo stopping at the roadblock. As the police surround this illusion it suddenly disappears in a puff of smoke. This allows the real limo to speed through the roadblock unmolested. Felix Jade is impressed by this display of power and looks forward to learning anything Vincent might teach him. When they arrive they quickly discover that Jade’s men have been replaced with Webcops decoys. Soon, Vincent and Miguel are locked in a mystical battle. That’s when Nina Smith arrives, knocking Ted to the ground as she comes barging into the warehouse. As she faces Felix Jade, Ted tells her that she has her back and begins hacking away in his pocket computer. That’s when Miguel senses that not only has Araña escaped his web trap and on her way, Amun is also on his way to their location.

Outside, Araña spots Amun and tries to ambush him from above, but he gives her chase with his super-speed. Back inside, Nina discovers that Felix Jade is just as skilled a fighter as she is, able to block all of her blows. Moving quickly, he manages to get behind Nina and put a knife to her throat. However, before anyone can act, Araña comes crashing in through the window and frees Nina. Giving in to the spirit of the Hunter, she intends on destroying Felix Jade. Seeing this, Nina rushes to Miguel and tells her that the Hunter has been unleashed. Unfortunately, he is unable to break away from his battle with Vincent. However, taunts from Vincent anger him enough to find the strength to overpower his opponent. When he rushes to stop Araña he discovers that she has been too busy fighting off Amun to harm Felix. With things getting out of hand, Vincent summons a swarm of wasps to attack his foes, allowing him to get to Felix Jade and teleport both away. Furious over losing her mother’s killer, Araña lashes out at Amun for ruining her chances. However, Miguel gets between the two and tries to get her back under control. Seeing her mother’s amulet around Miguel’s neck is enough to sever her connection with the Hunter, allowing her to return to normal. He tells her that, as his partner, he wants to prevent her from doing something she regrets, promising her that they will stop Felix Jade — but they will do it the right way. He then reveals that he picked up a note dropped by Vincent as he made their getaway and with that, he can find their exact location, telling Anya that she will get another chance to go after Jade. Anya promises to do things his way, but thinks he is wrong about how dangerous the Hunter is. He warns her that it is definitely more dangerous than she thinks, telling her that it led to the death of his last partner, and vows to never let that happen again.