Wrath Part Two

The Scarlet Spider has been hired by the Assassins Guild to eliminate Wolverine of the X-Men. It appears that he has succeeded after stabbing Logan through the heart with one of his wrist stingers. Watching from outside the Jean Grey School a scout for the Assassins Guild radios Bella Donna Bordeaux and informs her that Wolverine no longer has a heart beat. The scout is then ordered to return to base.

Inside the Jean Grey School things are getting tense when suddenly Storm arrives and uses her command of the winds to throw Kaine into a nearby wall. When his partner, Hummingbird, tries to get them to stop attacking Kaine Iceman uses his powers to drop the temperature in her brain, slowing her ability to think. That’s when the time displaced Marvel Girl tells everyone to stop because the assassin is now gone. That’s when the Beast’s enhanced hearing picks up the fact that Wolverine’s heart is knitting back together, but not beating. Taking evasive action, McCoy slams his fits on Logan’s chest hard enough to jumpstart his heart. Back on his feet, Wolverine is spoiling to get revenge and although he charges at the Scarlet Spider with his claws out, he retracts them at the last second before he punches Kaine in the face, knocking him out.

Later, Wolverine is changing into his X-Force uniform, telling Storm that he is going with Kaine to get back at the Assassins Guild. As it turns out, Hummingbird and Marvel Girl shared thoughts and agreed to work together to carry on the ruse that Wolverine was dead in order to get the scout to leave. Storm is also less happy that they are leaving Hummingbird behind because none of the school’s telepaths want to go near her. Logan jokes that she’ll fit right in and asks Ororo to trust him to be careful enough to come back alive.

Meanwhile, in New Orleans, Bella Donna Bordeaux and her Assassins Guild have captured their latest target. The man begs for his life but is told that they need to satisfy the Red Death and shoots the man in the head. Bella Donna tells her minions that these sacrifices are needed as penance for their sins.

At that same moment, the Scarlet Spider and Wolverine are heading to New Orleans in the X-Men’s Blackbird. Along the way, Kaine explains how he got involved with the Assassins Guild.[1] Kaine also admits that he is a clone of Spider-Man, something that doesn’t impress Wolverine since he has a clone of his own.[2] As they reach their destination, Wolverine tells Kaine that if he sees him again after this he’ll kill him, Kaine agrees. While back that Jean Grey Institute, the X-Men’s top scientists are performing tests to find out the source of Hummingbird’s powers.[3] They confirm that she is not a mutant but detect a strange energy signature in her brain leading the Beast to suspect that something is inhabiting her body.

Back in New Orleans, the Scarlet Spider and Wolverine arrive at the Assassin Guild’s headquarters. They take out as many of the guards using stealth as they can. Eventually, one of the guards raises the alarm and soon they are swarmed by assassins. As they fight, Kaine wishes he has a spider-sense to guide him as he is getting by on luck alone. That’s when he is ambushed by Harvester who wants revenge against Kaine after he cut off his leg. Wolverine tries to come to Kaine’s aid but is blasted aside by Smithy. That’s when the little girl known only as Flower arrives and tosses Kaine across the room.

The Scarlet Spider manages to pull Wolverine to safety with his webbing and as they deal with the assassins, Bella Donna joins the fight. Running for cover, she tells them that both the Scarlet Spider and Wolverine need to die or she will kill them all. Using his costume’s stealth capabilities, Kaine manages to sneak behind Bella Donna and holds her hostage. However, moments later, Bourdeaux says that they are too late and they are accosted by a woman known as the Red Death. After killing Smithy, she wraps her scarves around Wolverine and Kaine’s throats. As the life gets choked out of him, Kaine begins to think that maybe killing Wolverine was the right decision after all.

Recurring Characters

Scarlet Spider, Hummingbird, Assassins Guild (Bella Donna Bordeaux, Red Death, Smithy, Harvester, Flower) X-Men (Wolverine, Storm, Beast, Iceman, Shadowcat, Cecilia Reyes), X-Men Students (Marvel Girl (past), Beast (past), Rockslide, Anole)

Continuity Notes

1. Kaine was a rival assassin that earned the ire of the Assassins Guild years ago. They learned he was still alive when he interfered when they were hired to eliminate his friend Donald Meland. See Scarlet Spider (vol. 2) #3-4.

2. Ah clones, clones, clones. Let’s talk some clones:

   • Kaine is the first clone of Peter Parker created by the Jackal. See Spider-Man #61 for more details on Kaine’s creation.

   • Wolverine says he has a clone as well. He is referring to Larua Kinney, aka X-23 who first appeared in NYX #3.

3. Hummingbird asks a lot of questions and makes a few statements of note. They are:

   • She asks if there are any mutants at the school from Mexico. While the school is home to many Latino/Hispanics, at the time of this story there was only one student that was born in Mexican at the time of this story. That would be Velocidad (first seen Uncanny X-Men #527) Trust me when I say there are a lot of Latino/Hispanic X-Men characters, I’m not about to list them all here.

   • Hummingbird mentions how she once fought werewolves. This would have been the Lobo siblings in Scarlet Spider (vol. 2) #13-15.