Scarlet Spider (vol. 2) #25
Finale
Now
Kaine has relocated to the city of Monterrey in Mexico. He doesn’t know much about the city. However, when in a bar he overhears a drunk flapping his mouth about a deal going down at a nearby construction site. Although he doesn’t understand all the details, he learns enough.
Later that evening as the illegal deal is going down, the guards are easily taken down. The deal makers demand whoever is responsible to come out. When Hummingbird emerges from the shadows, they get a good laugh. However, her appearance only serves as a distraction so the Scarlet Spider can sneak up behind them for an ambush. Kaine makes short work of them and takes ta duffle bag filled with a million dollars. This is his only interest and when Hummingbird uses her powers to put fear in on one of the mobsters he tells her to stop screwing around. When she brings up what happened in Houston, he tells her he doesn’t want to talk about it.
A Week Ago
Kaine recalls back to how Zoe Walsh came to his hotel room in Houston to get revenge with a rocket launcher. He also recalls how the ensuing explosion sent himself and all of his friends falling out of the building. In his mind, Kaine believes this was all his fault and he should never be forgiven for what happened.
Now
Now Kaine and Aracely are driving down the Mexican coast trying to figure out where they are. Unfortunately, Aracely stopped having her prophetic dreams ever since they crossed the border. Kaine figures this will make it harder to find her parents, but Aracely is certain that the coyote from her dream will point them in the right direction. That’s when she spots a coyote on the other side of the street and is surprised when it speaks, saying Mictlan is rising. Kaine looks, but he doesn’t see a coyote, but decides they should set up camp on the beach for the night.
That night, Aracely babbles incessantly while Kaine is trying to sleep. She complains about missing the hotel, asks Kaine to tell her a story, and expresses concerns that they might get bitten by snakes. When she says that he’ll have to talk about what happened in Houston at some point, he refuses to indulge this conversation. However, as he tries to sleep his mind drifts back….
Then
With everyone falling out of the building, Kaine quickly takes control and uses his web-slinging skills to not only catch everyone falling, but to create a web to catch all the falling debris so nobody on the ground gets killed. Once they are on the ground, Zoe Walsh proclaims she did all of this because she loves him prompting Annabelle Adams to punch her out.
That’s when Shanthra reappears and announces her intention to feast on Kaine, like she once tried to do to Spider-Man.[1] Just as Kaine says he is not a super-hero, his Scarlet Spider costume flutters down from the burning wreckage that was once his hotel room.
Now
Kaine and Aracely are now in Mazatlan, and he is snapped out of his deep thoughts but his travelling companion. Kaine tells her that they aren’t there to sight see and he also is disinterested when Aracely spots a woman being hassled by a group of men in a nearby alley. When she tries to remind him that he is a super-hero, he tells her that he is anything but.
Then
With no other choice, Kaine puts on his Scarlet Spider costume so he can face the threat posed by Shathra. Shathra relishes the coming battle and Kaine begins to feel a sudden urge to kill her. When lunging at his foe one of his wrist stingers pops out. However, instead of impaling it through her head, it passes harmlessly through as her body appears to be comprised of a warm of wasps. These wasps — Shathra’s children — begin swarming Kaine and begin to feast on him.
That’s when Wally orders her to get away from Kaine and begins shooting at him. The bullets pass harmlessly through Shathra who looks forward to killing a human. Seeing his friend in danger, Kaine begins to lose control and starts transforming into the Other.
Everyone then watches in utter horror as Kaine — in his man-spider form — assaults and savagely rips Shathra limb from limb. With Shathra dead, Kaine returns to human form. Kaine then notices how horrified Annabelle is by what she has seen. She then turns around and runs away. Wally, also disturbed by what just transpired, suggest Kaine just leave. Aracely tries to convince everyone that Kaine is a hero because he saved their lives, but everyone walks away. Kaine tells her to stop, because he is convinced that he is not a hero at all.
Now
Kaine has finally found his private beach in Mexico and as he watches the sunset on the ocean he sips a drink and thinks about what happened back in Houston. He thinks about how for a short while he was able to forget he was a monster and tried to become a hero. He thought he had a chance at having friends and loved ones, but has now been proven wrong. He now knows the truth, that he was a monster all along, and is fine with that because not every story has a happy ending and not every sin can be redeemed. This, right here, is who he is and he is done trying to be something that he is not.
Reading his mind, Aracely comments that Kaine totally saved those tourists earlier and he tells her to shut up. That’s when she notices that the water is red and asks why that might be, Kaine chooses not to answer.
Recurring Characters
Scarlet Spider, Shathra, Hummingbird, Annabelle Adams, Wally Layton, Zoe Walsh
Continuity Notes
Shathra previously went after Spider-Man from Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #46-48.
Topical References
The hotel Kaine is staying in is identified as the Four Seasons Hotel in Houston, Texas. This should be considered topical because the Four Seasons is a real-world business.
