The Kick Inside

This story continues from Amazing Spider-Man #406...

Peter Parker sits up in bed watching his wife Mary Jane sleep.[1] After feeling his unborn child kick for the first time earlier that evening, he can't help himself and reaches out to see he can feel it kick again.[2] When he does so, he wakes up Mary Jane, who understands Peter's excitement, but insists that she needs some sleep. Since he Peter is alert and awake, Mary Jane suggests that Peter go out web-slinging to burn off energy, telling him to be safe and make it back in one piece. Changing into Spider-Man, Peter goes web-slinging, happy with where his life is going, even though he just learned that he is actually a clone.[3] He finally believes that his life is going in the right direction and wonders if Ben Reilly can say the same.

At that moment, the Scarlet Spider is reeling back from the revelation that the new Doctor Octopus is the daughter of his friend Seward Trainer. Despite this, the new Doctor has broken into Seward's lab and the Scarlet Spider is intent to stop her. Doctor Octopus is particularly angry that Seward has treated Ben like a son while abandoning and ignoring his own daughter. When the Spider leaps at her, he slams right into her force field. She then tosses Seward into his would-be savior. Seward demands to know what his daughter wants, but she is uninterested in sitting down to talk about it, feeling that that opportunity is long past. She has come to take his father's research on cyberspace, but he refuses to hand it over. As the Scarlet Spider insists on getting Seward to safety, but Trainer refuse to run from his own daughter. Still, the web-slinger insists on it and leaps out a nearby window with Seward in his arms. Meanwhile, Spider-Man has been spending his time catching crooks all over the city. Spotting some squad cars speeding across the city, the wall-crawler's spider-sense begins going off and he decides to investigate. For some reason, he thinks that this might have something to do with the Scarlet Spider.

At that same moment, the Scarlet Spider has gotten Seward to safety and demands to know more about this new Doctor Octopus. Seward, however, points out that this isn't the time to go into his family history. The Spider is inclined to agree when his spider-sense goes off warning him of an ambush by Doctor Octopus. He tells Seward to get to safety as he engages in battle again, but the Scarlet Spider can't get through the Doctor's force field. That's when Spider-Man arrives to lend a hand. Unfortunately, Doctor Octopus manages to strike Spider-Man from behind, sending him over the side of the roof. Disorientated, the wall-crawler in unable to prevent the Doctor from getting a good grasp on him. She then offers a trade, Spider-Man for her father. While over the edge of the building, Spider-Man is slowly being strangled. As he struggles to break free, he fears for what might happen to his wife if he were to die right here. Meanwhile, the Scarlet Spider manages to disorientate Doctor Octopus with his impact webbing, which manages to weave it's way up her mechanical arms and through the tiny gaps in her force field. He then leaps over the edge of the building and rescues Spider-Man, swinging to the ground below.

Unfortunately, this allows Doctor Octopus to get away. By the time the authorities arrive, Seward Trainer decides that his daughter is out of control and agrees to let the Scarlet Spider stop her his own way. When he asks Spider-Man to help, the wall-crawler is still shaken by the fact that he almost died. He has a lot of thinking to do and swings away to talk to Mary Jane before he decides what to do next.

... The Greatest Responsibility concludes in The Spectacular Spider-Man #229.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider, Mary Jane Watson, Seward Trainer, Doctor Octopus,

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 Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such they should be considered a common-law couple here.

2. Mary Jane revealed that she was pregnant in The Spectacular Spider-Man #220.

3. Peter was told that he was a clone in The Spectacular Spider-Man #226. However, this was a deception created by the Green Goblin as explained in Spider-Man: The Osborn Journal #1.