Scarlet Spider (vol. 2) #3
Scarlet Fury!
Three Weeks Ago
At the Park Plaza ER, Doctor Donald Meland tries his best to save a woman and her daughter that were involved in a serious car accident. Unfortunately, he is unable to save them and has to go out and tell the husband, a man named Terrance Mitchell.
Mitchell is deeply upset that his wife and daughter are dead and takes out his frustrations on Meland. He blames the doctor for their deaths and, as security carries him out of the waiting room, vows that Donald is a dead man.
Now
Kaine is on patrol in the stealth suit he took from Peter Parker. He keeps a close eye on a woman emerging from an underground tunnel and, as he predicted, she is dragged into an alley by a man with a knife. He quickly sweeps in and nabs the guy and carries him up the side of a building. He orders the man to leave Houston, threatening to break his bones and strip his flesh if he fails to do so, promising to keep him alive through all the agony. Unaware that he is being filmed by someone, Kaine leaves the scene after the crook pisses himself. He figures this is how Spider-Man would have done it and continues his search for a pharmacy to get drugs for Aracely, an undocumented immigrant he saved from a human trafficking ring. He is so lost in thought he doesn’t notice when he runs out of high rises to web-sling from and crashes on a nearby roof.
Kaine returns to the luxury hotel he has been staying at and goes to the bar. There he asks the bartender for a favor. However, she refuses to help unless he gives her his name. She can hardly believe it when he tells her that he is simply known as Kaine. Still, the bartender — who introduces herself as Annabell Adams — asks how she can be of assistance.
Upstairs, Aracely wakes up from a nightmare where someone named Mictlan is chasing her and is surprised to find herself in a penthouse suit in a hotel. That’s wehn Kaine and Annabelle come in. Kaine has brought Adams up to his room because she can speak Spanish. Thinking they are intruders, Aracely attacks them, hitting Kaine in the face with a bottle. She stops her attack when Donald Meland also arrives to check on her. The young girl recognizes him as the doctor who helped her at the hospital. As Meland gives Aracely a medical examination, Kaine explains that he needs Annabelle’s help looking after her. She doesn’t buy his cover story and he ultimately has to admit that the young girl is in the country illegally and he has been looking after her to prevent her from being deported until he can figure out what to do with her. Donald helps convince Annabelle that Kaine’s story is true before leaving to get some supplies from the hospital. Annabelle agrees to stay and look after the girl, but warns them that if she attacks her again she won’t hesitate to use the mace she keeps in her purse.
Donald returns to the Park Plaza Hospital which is still being investigated by the fire marshal. He manages to convince the guard to let him in to get his laptop. However, Donald makes a stop in one of the store rooms to get the medicine Aracely needs. In his office he is joined by Kaine who is able to sneak in undetected thanks to his stealth costume. Inside, Kaine looks around the office and finds a photo of Don with Officer Wally Layton on vacation and learns that they are married. As Kaine is assuring Don that this isn’t a problem he notices the tell-tale red dot of a sniper’s target on Donald’s forehead and shoves him out of the way.
Kaine manages to ambush the sniper thanks again to his stealth suit. The shooter puts up a good fight and when Kaine demands to know who hired him, he tells him that the Guild keeps the names of their clients confidential. Hearing the name of the Guild causes Kaine to pause and his attacker sprays him with tear gas forcing Kaine to rip off his mask in order to breath. The assassin recognizes him instantly and quickly disappears without a trace. When Wally Layton arrives on the scene, Kaine tells him and Donald that the sniper is gone but warns them that a contract has been taken out on Don and that the killers will be back in force.
Later, the assassin returns to New Orleans headquarters of the Assassins Guild. He tells their leader, Bella Donna Bourdeaux that he failed to eliminate his target because he got interference from Kaine. Bella Donna is interested in hearing that Kaine is still alive and that this change things. Back in Texas, Kaine tells Don and Wally that they have been targeted by the Assassin’s Guild and now they’ll be after him as well.
Recurring Characters
Scarlet Spider, Assassins Guild (Bella Donna Bordreaux, Smithy, Harvester), Annabelle Adams, Aracely Penabla, Donald Meland, Wally Layton
Topical References
The hotel that Kaine is staying in is identified as the Four Seasons Hotel in Houston, Texas. The name of the hotel should be considered topical because it is a real world business.
