October Moon

It a rainy night and at an abandoned building in New York City, a strange misshapen creature walks down into the dark basement. There it's dark red eyes and joined by the eyes of other such creatures.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man bounds across the city on his way home. There, his wife Mary Jane waits for his eventual return home.[1] She suddenly hears a creak from the other room and goes to investigate it. She is delighted to see that the room is filled with flowers. Peter had brought them to apologize for yelling at her earlier that night.[2] Mary Jane tells her husband that it is a start, and that's when he takes her up to the roof for a moment of romance. At that moment, the Vermin fights against Ashley Kafka's efforts to expunge him from Edward Whelan's body. As he trashes the room stating that he was the one who kept Edward alive and safe. Running out of strength, the Vermin begins losing his control as he reverts back to human form. It's an exhausted Edward Whelan who ultimately collapses the floor. When Ashley enters the room to see how Edward is doing, he tells her that he feels as though a tumor was removed. She notes that his transformations into the Vermin are lasting shorter and occurring less frequently. Somewhere else, the creatures that hide in darkness call out to Edward as he begins a session with Dr. Kafka. He explains that he now understands that when Baron Zemo first experimented on him, he brought out his Vermin personality, the part of him who buried all the hurt and pain from his abusive childhood.[3] That when unleashed upon the world, Zemo unleashed a creature of hurt and pain that was capable of murder. Kafka tells him that he can't let Vermin control who he is, that he wasn't responsible for Vermin's crimes, that Baron Zemo was. As their session ends, Ashley tells Edward to get some rest. Elsewhere in the city, the creatures continue to call out to Edward.

As Peter Parker and Mary Jane take their romance to the bedroom, Edward Wheland fitfully sleeps by himself. The voices continue to call out to him, over and over, louder and louder. He wakes up in fear, and slowly begins transforming into the Vermin. Hearing his cries, Ashley comes to his side. She talks him down, telling him that Vermin is trying to get out through his dreams, and that the urge will pass. Sure enough, as Edward begins to calm down, he returns to human form. Late that night, Peter Parker suddenly awakens and begins changing into his Spider-Man costume. This wakes up Mary Jane, and he tells her that he needs to go out and clear his head after his ordeal earlier in the evening with the Puma.[4] Mary Jane asks him if he's sure everything is okay, but he tells her that everything is fine and swings out into the night. While Spider-Man is out web-slinging, the creatures come out of their hiding place and storm the facility where Edward Whelan is being held. They fight through security and capture both Ashley Kafka and Edward and carry them off into the night. The following morning, Mary Jane wakes up to breakfast in bed, just as Peter promised he would do. He tells her that the city was quiet for once for a change. He was surprised but glad that he was wrong, unaware that the NYPD are investigating the disappearance of Ashley Kafka and her patient.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, Ashley Kafka, Vermin

Continuity Notes

1. Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. However, years later, their marriage is erased from existence by the demon Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. They should be considered a common-law couple here.

2. The argument in question occurred in The Spectacular Spider-Man #191.

3. Baron Zemo transformed Edward into Vermin in Captain America #272.

4. Spider-Man's recent battle with the Puma occurred in The Spectacular Spider-Man #191-193.