In the Midst of Wolves Part Three

Now

Aracely Penable is on the run from the leaders of the Lobo Cartel. Wounded and trying to evade them, she hides in a dumpster hoping the garbage will mask her scent from the werewolves. Being in this confined space reminds her of how she was the lone survivor of people smuggled into Texas in a cargo container.[1] Suddenly she begins to remember parts of her past that, until now, have been a mystery to her.

Then

She remembers how she was taken prisoner by a man named Mister Moctezuma. She demands to know what he did to her parents and he tells Aracely that her parents want a better life for her and that they will join her soon enough. Aracely is then forced into a shipping container on the back of a truck that is going to take a bunch of Mexicans illegally into the United States. Moctezuma orders his men to leave the truck in the desert sun for a day before making their delivery to the Roxxon Corporation in Houston. When one of his men balks at this, considering how much Roxxon paid the Lobo Cartel for live specimens, Moctezuma tells his subordinates that the Lobos have much more to gain from him than they do the Americans. However, before they can begin their plans Aracely must die.

Inside the sweltering cargo container, Aracely begins to panic. Suddenly, one of her eyes continues to glow and a voice speaks out to her, telling the young girl that she will survive this and will make the world bleed.

Now

Aracely continues to hope that Kaine will save her, but then remembers that the Lobos killed the Scarlet Spider because she felt it. That’s when she notices a spider on her arm and is convinced that it is looking at her. That’s when the Lobos catch up with her. They are furious that she lured them into the territory of a rival gang. However, before Carlos can finally slay the young girl, Esme notices a swarm of spiders have come crawling out of the dumpster. That’s when they look up and see Kaine, who has been transformed into a man-spider after embracing the Other and becoming its totem. Aracely is horrified by Kaine’s tranformation and tries to sense his feelings all she can sense is that he sees the Lobos as nothing more than prey.

The Scarlet Spider then attacks the two werewolves, taking out one of Carlos’ eyes before snatching up Esme and webbing her up. She quickly gets free by turning into her werewolf form. They warn the Spider that he is not prepared for the coming of Mictlan. Kaine ignores all of this and attacks with renewed savagery, becoming less and less human as the fight progresses. Aracely becomes afraid for her life because nobody in this battle is human anymore. As Kaine begins webbing up Esme again, Carlos becomes afraid for her life, fearing that she will end up like his brother Eduardo.[2] When he ambushes Kaine, the man-spider suddenly grows spider legs out of his back, and impales Carlos with one of them. Kaine then rips off his arm. By this point, Esme fears that the Spider will kill her brother. She snatches his brother free from Kaine then flees into the night.

In the aftermath of the battle Aracely asks what happened to Kaine. However, he is totally consumed by the Other and decides that she is now her prey. When the young girl is trapped in Kaine’s web, she tries to reach his humanity and remind him of their link. This causes her powers to flare up and she finally gets through to Kaine. With his humanity reasserted, Kaine then rips off the spider skin revealing his totally healed body underneath. Kaine is horrified by what he has become and tells Aracely that this is what he truly is, a ruthless killer. However, the young girl insists he is wrong and she knows that he will always protect her, calling him her champion.

They return to Kaine’s hotel room where Aracely cuts the hair and bear that had spontaneously grew from Kaine’s rebirth. He also notices that all of his old scars and his tattoo are gone and decides to go out and get his ink redone.[3] Kaine and Aracely resume their lives and go out for dinner with friends. None of them speak about Kaine’s transformation and whenever Kaine looks at himself in the mirror he sees himself as a mass of spiders in the shape of a main, reaffirming his belief that he is a monster.

However, Kaine’s transformation has not gone unnoticed. In New York City, Madame Web wakes up from her coma muttering Kaine’s name. While somewhere between worlds an entity opens her eyes as she becomes aware of the spider.[4] While in a place simply known as the End of All Things, a man becomes aware that the Other has ascended and believes the culling will begin soon.[5]

That evening, Aracely has another dream. A man tells her that Mictlan is rising. She then sees a humming bird. Next she sees a woman feasting on a human heart who tells her that the sixth creation is coming. The young girl opens her eyes on which begin glowing with energy. She then levitates out of bed and pronounces that she will bring the sixth creation by making the world bleed.

Meanwhile, the Lobos have returned to Mexico where Eseme treats her brother’s wounds. They are visited by Mister Motezuma who is unhappy that the Lobos have failed. When Carlos asks to be reunited with his brother, Motezuma obliges him by sucking out the werewolf’s soul. When Eseme offers to go back and finish the job, he denies her this opportunity, saying that Huitzilopochtli has awaken and is not happy. However, he has gathered a team of super-powered beings and next time he goes after Aracely and the Scarlet Spider, he will be ready.[6]

Recurring Characters

Scarlet Spider, Lobo Cartel (Carlos Lobo, Esme Lobo), Aracely Penabla, Mr. Motezuma, Salamander, Wally Layton, Donald Meland, The Other, Madame Web, Rachel Carpenter, Morlun

Continuity Notes

1. Aracely was rescued from this fate by the Scarlet Spider. See Scarlet Spider (vol. 2) #1-2.

2. Carlos had a twin brother named Eduardo who was fatally shot by Glory Grant during a battle with Spider-Man back in Web of Spider-Man #55.

3. The spontaneous regeneration including the removal of the scars is a common effect caused when someone is reborn through the Other as we learned when this happened to Peter Parker back in The Other: Evolve or Die. See Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1-4, Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #19-22, and Amazing Spider-Man #525-528.

4. This is Shathra, an entity that previously fought Spider-Man when he was the spider-totem back in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #46-48. She will clash with Kaine in Scarlet Spider (vol. 2) #24-25.

5. This man is Mourlun who has has had a past history going after spider-totems having gone after Peter Parker in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #30-35 and during The Other: Evolve or Die. This scene here is alluding to the upcoming Spider-Verse event. See Superior Spider-Man #32-33, Edge of the Spider-Verse #1-4, Spider-Man 2099 (vol. 2) #5-8, Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #8-15, Spider-Verse #1-2, Spider-Verse Team-Up #1-3, Scarlet Spiders #1-3, and Spider-Woman (vol. 5) #1-4.

6. The entities that Motezuma has gathered are all unidentified except for the Salamander who we saw in Scarlet Spider (vol. 2) #1-2. As I write this in November 2020, this plot thread has yet to be resolved and this is the last we have seen of Motezuma and his minions.

Topical References

• The hotel that Kaine stays in is identified as the Four Seasons Hotel in Houston Texas. This should be considered a topical reference as that is a real world buisness.