Along Came a Virtual Spider

This story continues from Green Goblin #3...

At the secret Staten Island facility owned by Doctor Octopus, FBI agent Joe Wade has been working undercover to infiltrate her organization. He believes he has finally gotten into the Doctor's facility by seducing Linette Martinez in order to get inside. However, this is a trap set by Doctor Octopus, who ambushes him the moment he enters the facility. Stripping off his uniform, Ken finds himself placed in one of her new virtual reality projectors. As his set up is explained, Ken tries to get Linette to help him. However, she reveals that she is married and her husband is one of the technicians hooking him up into the machine. Just as he is realizing how trapped he is, Joe screams in agony as the virtual reality goggles are forcibly implanted into his eyes. At that moment, high above, the Scarlet Spider has hitched a ride under a cargo plane to get himself over the facility. Thanks to the information provided to him by Seward Trainer, he has managed to track down this facility.[1] Leaping off the plane, he fashions himself a web parachute to safely land on the roof of a nearby building. Before the hero can go into action, he is stopped by FBI agent Stephanie Briggs who orders the wall-crawler not to enter the building as it would compromise the Bureau's investigation.

Back inside, Doctor Octopus continues hooking Joe Wade into the device, explaining that she is going to implant information about the Scarlet Spider directly into his mind. Observing this procedure is the Master Programmer who is handling the programming from cyberspace. As they begin creating a virtual avatar, they are unaware that they are being spied upon by Seward Trainer. However, when the avatar begins taking the shape of the Scarlet Spider, Seward cries out, alerting the Master Programmer of Trainer's presence. Back outside, Briggs order the Scarlet Spider to stand down. Suddenly, the heroes spider-sense begins going off and he pushes Stephanie to safety as the side of the building explodes. They then witness a solid hologram of the Scarlet Spider leap out of the building. Realizing that he doesn't need this, the Scarlet Spider quickly chases after the impostor. In cyberspace, Doctor Octopus enters the virtual world to confer with the Master Programmer. She admits that they have lost control of Joe Wade by activating the Scalet Spider avatar and assures him that they will be taking control of their virtual Spider and departs so the Master Programmer to deal with the intruder in their midsts.

While beneath the streets of Manhattan, Alistair Smythe has an audience with Jason Tso and his bodyguard Orlando Kannor. Smythe is working on completing his Cyber-Slayers and is not happy about Tso interrupting his work and tells them to call next time. As they leave, Tso asks if his other bodyguard -- Ben Reilly -- has reported for work. Orlando explains that Reilly hadn't shown up for work before they left, and doesn't like the fact that Ben is always late for work. Meanwhile, the Scarlet Spider arrives at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and sees that his impostor has created a mess. He continues after this impostor, intending to stop him before someone gets seriously hurt. While back at the lab, Stunner tries to reach out to Joe Wade and convince him to stop fighting his integration into the virtual reality machine. She explains that she was given a virtual self by the original Doctor Octopus who created her a beautiful body. However, Joe refuses to give up fighting, thinking that the "gift" of a virtual avatar is actually torture and shuts her out as well. At that moment, the virtual Scarlet Spider is running amok in Manhattan, webbing up everyone in his path. He eventually arrives at the Daily Bugle building and covers the building with webbing and begins pulling at its foundations. Inside, J. Jonah Jameson orders his staff to record everything that is happening.

That's when the real Scarlet Spider arrives to fight off his impostor. The virtual Spider then manages to create an automatic weapon out of thin air and begins opening fire on the hero. Realizing that his opponent is getting more dangerous by the moment, the Scarlet Spider begins assaulting the impostor with a series of impact webbing. With the fake Scarlet Spider subdued, the wall-crawler rips open the ball of webbing but is surprised to find nothing inside. By this point, the police have arrived on the scene to arrest the wall-crawler, but he manages to escape. Witnessing all of this, but unaware that the attacker was an impostor, J. Jonah Jameson orders Ken Ellis to use the bugle's resources to crucify this new menace.

... Cyberwar continues in The Spectacular Scarlet Spider #2.

Recurring Characters

Scarlet Spider (Reilly), Seward Trainer, J. Jonah Jameson, Ken Ellis, Angela Yin, Doctor Octopus, Master Programmer, Scarlet Spider (Wade), Jason Tso, Orlando Kannor, Alistair Smythe, Stunner, Linette Martinez, Stephanie Biggs

Continuity Notes

1. The Spider mentions how Seward Trainer's mind is trapped in cyberspace. That happened in Amazing Scarlet Spider #1.