Scarlet Spider (vol. 2) #20
Sibling Rivalry Part Two
This story continues from Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #2….
Kaine dreams back to the day of his birth. He finds himself in a cloning cask and being ordered woken up by the Jackal. Suddenly, the Jackal changes into a Gwen Stacy clone who continues to plead with Kaine to wake up as cellular degeneration begins to consume her entire body.[1]
That’s when he wakes up and finds himself in the lab where the Jackal created him. A Gwen Stacy clone is pleased to see that he is awake and apologizes for what has happened to him and Spider-Man, who is also a prisoner. He tells them both to stop mewling over their past and focus on today. They are soon joined by the Jackal, a clone of himself, and Carrion. The Jackal jokingly asks them not to fight. Spider-Man tells the Jackal to stop patronizing them and get to the point about what he wants. The Jackal admits that what he wants is to harvest Peter Parker’s DNA for his latest batch of experiments. Spider-Man refuses to allow this, but the Jackal insists he need a fresh sample in order to create a perfect batch of clones, mocking Kaine for being an imperfect clone and comparing him to the late Ben Reilly.[2] The Jackal then goes on about how he intends to create an army of mutant powered spider-clones to take over the world.[3]
Spider-Man grows tired of the Jackal’s gloating and vows to never give up the DNA samples. However, his bravado is sent sputtering when the Jackal reveals he already got the needed samples. By this time, Kaine has managed to break free the the chains and tries to attack his creator. Unfortunately, he is blasted aside by one of the mutant spider-clones that the Jackal has created. He then orders the monsters to destroy Kaine. Quickly, he grabs the head of one of the clones and uses its optic blasts to free Spider-Man from his shackles.
Carrion then unleashes his gas on Kaine in an effort to get in his head. However, instead of tapping into his fears he instead conjures up images of Kaine turning into the Other. He quickly knocks out the Carrion while Spider-Man deals with the clone of Miles Warren. He tries to do likewise to the clone of Gwen Stacy, but Kaine stop him, reminding the web-slinger that Gwen is a helpless pawn of the Jackal. Spider-Man, on the other hand, sees her as nothing more than an abomination, just like all clones. This cuts deep, and although Kaine somewhat agrees with Spider-Man he is determined to make sure the Jackal doesn’t create anymore. While Kaine is busy with the spider-clones, Spider-Man digs through Peter Parker’s memories to try and find a means of victory.[4][5]
Spotting a tank of hydrogen near the cloning vats, Spider-Man causes it to explode. Seeing his work going up in flames, the Jackal races towards the raging inferno in an futile effort to save his “babies”. Kaine tries to stop him, but the flames keep him at bay. He then spots the Gwen Stacy clone and tries to convince her to come with him but she also refuses to go and runs into the flames. With the building coming down around him, Kaine manages to escape and finds Spider-Man outside watching the building collapse. Kaine is furious and punches Spider-Man in the face for almost killing him. He is appalled by the way Spider-Man has been acting this whole time. While he knows who he is and what he has done in the past, Kaine points out that Spider-Man is the one who is supposed to be a hero and he should be acting like one. As Kaine walks away, Spider-Man vows that this isn’t over.
Epilogue One
When Kaine returns to Texas, Aracely is waiting for him at the airport. She has a whole bunch of questions but he doesn’t want to talk about what happened. As they leave the airport something strikes his neck painfully, but dismisses it as a bug bite.
That night, at his hotel room, Kaine can’t sleep because he can’t understand what has changed about Peter Parker. During their last meeting, he believed in Kaine becoming a better person now he calls him a monster. He gets up to go to the bathroom and when Kaine turns on the light he is horrified to see scars on his face signaling the return of the cellular degeneration that once threatened to claim his life.[6] Seeing it now convinces Kaine that his signals the end of his new life.
Epilogue Two
The Jackal and Carrion have both survived the destruction of the lab and are now searching through the rubble. Although the samples he took of Peter Parker were destroyed, he finds a canister of samples he took from Kaine. Holding it up for Carrion to see, he asks the ghoul if anyone is ready for Spidercide 2.0.[7]
Recurring Characters
Scarlet Spider, Spider-Man, Jackal, Carrion, Hummingbird
Continuity Notes
For more on Kaine’s creation see Spider-Man #61.
Ben Reilly was another Spider-Clone created by the Jackal. First seen in Amazing Spider-Man #149. At the time of this story, Ben Reilly had been dead for years after ending up on the business end of a goblin glider in Spider-Man #75.
The Jackal’s inspiration for creating mutant spider-clones is because the Jackal recently raided one of Mister Sinister’s lab in Avenging Spider-Man #16.
If it wasn’t obvious already, this story takes place after the events of Amazing Spider-Man #698-700, when Doctor Octopus swapped bodies with Peter Parker. Now in Parker’s body, Otto Octavius has access to all of Peter’s memories.
One of the memories Otto finds is about a smoke stack and how it is the source of anxiety for Peter. After fighting and seemingly killing the Ben Reilly Spider-Clone in Amazing Spider-Man #149, Peter disposed of the body in a smokestack in Amazing Spider-Man #151. The reason this would cause Peter anxiety is because the smokestack was a central part in schemes by both the Jackal and Norman Osborn to make Peter Parker and Ben Reilly question who was the real Peter Parker and who was the clone. Long story short, see Spider-Man: The Osborn Journal #1 for all the details in one concise place.
Kaine is referring to how he and Peter left things following the Spider-Island event. See Amazing Spider-Man #666-673. This was obviously prior to Otto’s take over of Peter’s body. Spider-Island was also when Kaine’s degenerative illness was cured.
Spidercide was another clone of Peter Parker that was a shape-shifting homicidal maniac. This clone first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #399 and it existed to try and kill Mary Jane Watson. It became Spidercide in New Warriors #61 and eventually destroyed in Spider-Man: Maximum Clonage Omega #1. As I write this in November 2020, the the Jackal has yet to create his Spidercide 2.0.
Topical References
The hotel Kaine is staying at in Houston is identified as the Four Seasons. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world company.
