Scarlet Spider (vol. 2) #24
Hands Covered in Blood Part One
Kaine is back in the confessional telling his priest about a nightmare he had. In it, Kaine was in a world of fire and chaos. He thinks he was in hell and since he appeared in his old costume he figures he fit right in. The priest tells him that a nightmare is not really a sin, but Kaine isn’t convinced this wasn’t a vision of the future. He tells them how until recently he had friends who saw him as a hero until they were all captured by Kraven the Hunter and one of them almost died because of this altercation.[1] Kaine blames himself for what happened, but the priest suggests that perhaps he is being tested. Kaine hopes not because he usually makes the wrong choice. The priest refuses to believe that pointing out that he came for spiritual guidance instead of running away from the problem.
Kaine then goes to Park Plaza Hospital to check on his friend Donald Meland, who is still recovering from being disemboweled by Ana Kravinoff. Annabelle Adams is with him and when she tells him that the doctors have a better prognosis for Donald than they did when he first came in, Kaine isn’t quite so optimistic since Donald’s life will be forever changed due to the severity of his injuries. While Kaine still blames himself for what happened to Don, Annabelle tries to get him to see that they are all alive because he saved them. Annabelle decides to leave because she wants to go and check on Donald’s husband, Wally Layton, and says they’ll talk about this further when she gets back, even though Kaine wants to drop the subject. Getting into his own cab, Kaine heads for home unaware that someone has confirmed his identification and is now following him.
When Kaine returns to his hotel he and Aracely go into a back alley so he can burn his Scarlet Spider costume in the trash. She wonders why he is doing this and he tells her that the costume has brought him nothing but pain and suffering. Unfortunately for Kaine, when he tries to light the costume on fire it refuses to burn because it is comprised of Unstable Molecules. He angrily kicks over the garbage can and storms off. Aracely apologizes to the costume like it’s a living thing and pulls it out of the trash once the fire goes out. She catches up to Kaine in the elevator and tries to convince him that he needs his costume because he is her champion and it is his armor. Kaine refuses to accept this reasoning but becomes concerned when Aracely reacts to a sudden buzzing in her head.
Kaine goes into his bedroom and is shocked to find Annabelle waiting in his bed. She tells him that she wants to make him feel better. After kissing him she then throws off the covers wrapped around her revealing that she is totally nude. Kaine accepts this invitation and begins stripping off his own clothes.
In the living room, Aracely tries to fight off another vision because she is awake. However he struggle fails and she finds herself in a desert wasteland. Suddenly a flaming bird and a snake appear before her. The bird warns her not to enter Nahuatl or she will die. The snake, on the other hand, warns her that if she doesn’t everyone else will die. That’s when a rotting corpse breaks out of the ground. As it tries to grab hold of Aracely it tells her that Mictlan is coming and that it cannot rise without her help. That’s when a snake comes out of the ghoul’s mouth and hisses in her face, ending the vision.
By this time, Kaine and Annabelle have finished their love making. Annabelle tells him that he is everything she dreamed of and makes an odd statement about how her children are going to love him as well. Before he can get a clear explanation, Aracely comes barging in to tell him about her waking dream and that someone came knocking at the door. When Kaine goes out to see who it is he is shocked to see Wally Layton in full tactical gear. He has learned that Kaine is wanted by SHIELD, the FBI, Homeland Security, Interpol, and the city of New York and has come to put him under arrest.
Meanwhile, in the hotel lobby, Annabelle Adams arrives to visit with Kaine. Something that confuses the front desk since they thought she just went upstairs. Grabbing the elevator, Annabelle finds another woman — Zoe Walsh — also heading up to the presidential suit where Kaine is staying. When Annabelle asks why she is visiting Kaine, Zoe says that she was his lover, making for an awkward ride up. Back upstairs, the situation is growing more tense as Wally orders Kaine to surrender. Aracely tries to remind Layton that Kaine is their friend, but Kaine tells her that all the charges against him are true.[2] Although Aracely and Annabelle try to reason with Wally, he still insists on taking him in because Kaine failed to save Donald from serious injury. Kaine tells the two women to stand aside and surrenders to Wally. Aracely tries to use her ability to project emotions to make Wally change his mind but he resists her attempts.
This tense scene becomes even worse when someone comes knocking on the door and another Annabelle Adams comes barging in demanding to know why Zoe Walsh is calling Kaine her lover. Everyone becomes instantly confused that there are two Annabelles when the one that just slept with Kaine reverts into her true form and reveals herself to be the mystical being known as Shanthra. Things continue to fly off the rails as, while nobody was paying attention, Zoe has pulled out a rocket launcher. She then tells Kaine she has come to avenge her comatose father, whose condition she blames on Kaine.[3]
Kaine pleads with Zoe not to pull the trigger, but this falls on deaf ears as the presidential suit of the hotel explodes.
Recurring Characters
Scarlet Spider, Shathra, Hummingbird, Annabelle Adams, Wally Layton, Zoe Walsh, Donald Meland, Courtney Johnson
Continuity Notes
Kraven the Hunter kidnapped and tortured Kaine’s friends in Scarlet Spider (vol. 2) #21-23.
Kaine mentions all his past crimes, specifically mentioning how he killed people he loved. A flashback during this run down is of Kaine snapping the neck of Louise Kennedy. They were lovers back in the days when Kaine hounded Ben Reilly and he snapped her neck when he learned she had betrayed him. See Spider-Man: The Lost Years #1-3.
David Walsh was the CEO for the Roxxon Corporation and found himself in a comatose state after briefly being possessed by the energy creature called Mammon. See Scarlet Spider (vol. 2) #7-9.
Continuity Errors
In the flashback where Kaine is snapping Louise Kennedy’s neck, he is depicted as wearing the suit he wore to slow the cellular degeneration he suffered from. However, Kennedy’s murder pre-dated Kaine obtaining that costume. Kaine was first depicted wearing said costume in Web of Spider-Man #118 which took place about five years after the events of Spider-Man: The Lost Years. I would suspect that this was a stylistic choice on the part of the creative team behind this issue. As having Kaine in his old costume was for better narrative contrast between Kaine back then and how he is presented in the present day of this story.
Topical References
The hotel Kaine is staying at is identified as the Four Seasons Hotel in Houston, Texas. This should be considered a topical reference since the Four Seasons is a real-world business.
