A Farewell to Arms!

In order to stop the Sinister Six, Spider-Man put on the mechanical arms of Doctor Octopus in order to prevent them from stealing it. Unfortunately for the wall-crawler, the Hobgoblin destroyed the encephalo-helmet that allowed him to control the device. Now he struggles to break free as the arms run wild. Spotting the web-spinner, Doctor Moretti orders the government agents protecting the facility to open fire, as the government still needs to learn the secrets of the device. However, the mechanical arms instinctively lash out against the soldiers. Not wanting anyone to get seriously hurt, Spider-Man uses his webbing to keep the mechanical arms restrained. Meanwhile, the Scarlet Spider digs himself out from the rubble he was buried under at the hideout of the Sinister Six. By this time, he has recalled that the Sinister Six's employer is none other than Elias Hargrove, the last surviving relative of Doctor Octopus.[1] The Scarlet Spider decides to pay a Hargrove a visit and then intends to hunt down the Sinister Six once he's finished.

Back at the government facility, the mysterious assassin known as Kaine has ambushed Mysterio and Electro, the two members of the Six who failed to escape. Kaine is about to give Mysterio his lethal Mark of Kaine when he discovers that this is not the real Mysterio, but a robotic duplicate. Furious that he has been denied the opportunity to destroy another one of Spider-Man's foes, Kaine tosses the construct aside.[2] This delay allows Electro to recover and he tries to blast Kaine. However, the mystery man easily shoulders the electrical jolt and gets close enough to strike Electro. Not far away, Spider-Man still struggles to protect the soldiers from the mechanical arms of Doctor Octopus. This, however, doesn't stop them from trying to eliminate the wall-crawler in order to reclaim the device. By this time, Spider-Man's strength has returned and he manages to rip apart the chest harness that keeps him shackled to the arms. Seeing that the mechanical arms have been destroyed, Doctor Moretti scolds Spider-Man for what he has done. Unphased by this chastising, Spider-Man webs Moretti's mouth shut and swings off.

Meanwhile, Kaine is about to kill Electro, when he spots Spider-Man and decides to flee before he is observed.[3] Spotting Electro, Spider-Man wonders who knocked him out. He is further confused when he finds the Mysterio robot nearby. At that moment, Elias Hargrove crashes in on Michael Gerdes, the lawyer of Doctor Octopus. Hargrove accuses Gerdes of altering Otto's video will.[4] He explains that he discovered that the footage had been digitally manipulated because of the inverted reflection in Otto's sunglasses. When Gerdes gets up and starts approaching Elias, he panics and fires the gun. However, the bullet passes harmlessly through Michael. As it turns out, this is nothing more than an illusion created by Mysterio.

Disarming Elias and tossing him aside, Mysterio reveals the truth behind his deception. He fooled Elias into reforming the Sinister Six in order to cover his theft of something far more valuable from the government facility: a cache of data about the entire criminal underworld that was collected by Doctor Octopus prior to his death. However, Mysterio has yet to find a means to gain access to the data stored in the canister without setting off the built-in self-destruct. He manipulated Elias Hargrove in the hopes that Otto's last surviving relative would know how to crack the security code. He then threatens to kill Hargrove if he refuses to help. That's when the Scarlet Spider comes crashing in through the window. Mysterio tries to confuse the wall-crawler by creating holographic duplicates of himself. To try and find the real Mysterio, the Scarlet Spider begins firing his impact webbing at all of the duplicates. When they pass through every Mysterio, the Spider correctly deduces the villain has disguised himself as Elias Hargrove. With his scheme failing, Mysterio sets off the self-destruct sequence, forcing the Scarlet Spider to grab the real Elias Hargrove and leap to safety before the building explodes. In the aftermath of the battle, the Scarlet Spider decides to let Elias Hargrove go free, having overheard his conversation with "Gerdes" and knows he was manipulated into helping out with Mysterio's scheme. However, the wall-crawler vows to go after Hargrove in the future if he hears that Elias has gotten back into the family business.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man is watching the sunrise, thinking about all of the lives he saved today by preventing the mechanical arms of Doctor Octopus. However, he is still no closer to learning who was responsible for killing his old foe and vows not to rest until the man who killed Otto Octavius is brought to justice.

... Kaine's hunt for Spider-Man's old foes continues in Spider-Man Unlimited #9. The Clone Saga continues in Web of Spider-Man #122.

Continuity Notes

1. At the time of this story, Doctor Octopus had just recently been murdered in The Spectacular Spider-Man #221.

2. Kaine was responsible for killing Doctor Octopus and the Grim Hunter in The Spectacular Spider-Man #221 and Spider-Man #55 respectively.

3. The narrative of this story states that this story takes place prior to Spider-Man's first meeting with Kaine. That happened during the Smoke and Mirrors story arc.

4. The will is depicted as being recorded on a VHS tape. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616, as it is an obsolete technology.