The Second Master Part Two

Several Months Ago

David Walsh, CEO of Roxxon Oil, arrives at their oil rig on the Gulf of Mexico after an incident on the rig. After firing the lead scientist, he is taken into the facility he is told about the strange magnetic field that was encountered while the rig was drilling for oil. The new lead scientist tells him that the energy was contained. He brings him to a brig where they have restrained an employee named Bob Kyle because the energies are contained in him.

Now

The Scarlet Spider has come to Roxxon Tower to get answers regarding an explosion caused at their head office by David Walsh’s daughter Zoe, and the incident at the oil rig. In response, David Walsh has contacted the authorities and the Rangers, the Texas based team of heroes, have arrived to remove him from the property. Outside the window are Firebird, Living Lightning, Fifty-One and Texas Twister. As the Scarlet Spider measures them up he is distracted enough to allow Shooting Star and Red Wolf to sneak up behind him. While Kaine figures he could take any one of the Rangers on their own, he figures that taking on the entire team is a problem. He quickly notices that there is no love between the Rangers and Roxxon and figures they are only there to abide by the law. While everyone is squabbling, the Scarlet Spider decides to grab Zoe and quickly grabs Shooting Star and throws her out the window.

This prompts Texas Twister to order his team to attack, but they fail to stop the Scarlet Spider from snatching Zoe and escaping.[1] Their escape is cut off when Firebird and Fifty-One catch up to them. When Kaine tries to get away, he is slowed by Fifty-One’s mental probes. Despite the added fire-power from the Living Lighting, Kaine manages to get away thanks to his costume’s built in stealth ability. When Fifty-One can’t pick up a trace of either the Scarlet Spider or Zoe Walsh they decide to leave. Later, when police arrive, Officer Wally Layton takes a statement from David Walsh. Although both Layton and the Texas Twister suspect that the Scarlet Spider must have had a reason to break into Roxxon Tower, Walsh reminds them that the vigilante kidnapped his daughter and insists that he is the villain, not his corporation.

By this point, the Scarlet Spider has taken Zoe to the local baseball stadium. By this point, he has decided that the Walsh woman is insane for trying to blow up her fathers office. However, Zoe insists that her father is up to something evil and offers to show him proof if he takes her out to Galveston. Kaine wonders how he is going to get them out that way when he spots a motorcycle in a nearby parking lot and decides to borrow it.

Forty minutes later the Rangers arrive at the stadium, thanks to Red Wolf being able to follow their trail. Although the group is looking to capture the Scarlet Spider, Texas Twister isn’t convinced that he is such a bad guy considering the good he has done for Houston in the past.[2] That’s when the Living Lightning arrives to tell them of reports that alarms have gone off at the Roxxon facility off the coast of Galveston.

Back at Roxxon Tower, David Walsh prepares to head to the oil platform as well. He orders the use of Roxxon’s mech suits. He says that he is willing to kill anyone, including his daughter and the Rangers,if they get in his way.

By this time, the Scarlet Spider has fought his way into the lower levels of the oil rig only to discover the room Zoe was leading him into is empty. Kaine is upset because he fears that Zoe has led him on a wild goose chase that will make him a fugitive of the law again, putting an end to his second chance at life. That’s when he is ambushed by the Rangers. When they tell him to surrender, Kaine activates the stealth function of his costume to disappear from sight. That’s when Fifty-One suddenly uses his powers to blow open the floor causing everyone to fall into another level of the rig where they discover a lab full of dead bodies. Firebird is particularly disturbed because the corpses all appear to be members of the indigenous population. They all spot some scientists on the other end of the room that are trying to do the same thing to yet another victim and try to stop them.

The scientists try to warn them that the entity they are trying to contain is growing too powerful. Suddenly, the latest victim starts to scream as energy pours out of him and takes the shape of a demonic creature. Shocked by this sudden development, the Scarlet Spider suggests that the Rangers deal with this themselves.

Recurring Characters

Scarlet Spider, Roxxon (David Walsh), Rangers (Texas Twister, Shooting Star, Firebird, Living Lightning, Red Wolf, Fifty-One), Mammon, Zoe Walsh, Aracely Penabla, Wally Layton

Continuity Notes

1. Red Wolf mentions how his wolf, Lobo, was recently killed. Each Red Wolf has a wolf that aids them in their adventures. Traditionally each wolf is named Lobo and when one dies a replacement is eventually found. This story happens relatively soon after Avengers: The Initiative #19. In that story, which took place during the Secret Invasion event it was revealed that the most recent Lobo was killed and replaced by a Skrull invader. By this time of this story, Red Wolf has yet to find a replacement.

2. Mention is made of how the Scarlet Spider prevented a bomb from going off in the city. That was in Scarlet Spider (vol. 2) #5.

Topical References

• The baseball stadium in this story is identified as Minute Maid Park. This should be considered a topical reference as the stadium has undergone many name changes in the past as corporate sponsors have changed over the years. For example, it was previously named Enron Field while it was sponsored by the oil company.