War Games

Following his battle with Kaine, Ben Reilly is horrified to discover that his lover, Janine Godbe, is apparently dead. He is found inside a closed shop by a bunch of police officers who demand to know why he is trespassing. Furious that Kaine killed Janine, Ben lashes out at the police officers, easily overpowering them before giving in to his grief. Realizing that he needs to get away before his double-identity is blown he goes to collect Janine's body. That's when he finally gets a good look and realizes that this is just a mannequin dressed like her. Pelling off its false face, Ben sees a message from Kaine scrawled on its blank face that reads "meet me at the womb" and quickly leaves. As the police officers recover from Reilly's attack, they find the mannequin and wonder what is going on.

Meanwhile, Kaine is in his hideout looking at his naked body in the mirror. He looks at how the cellular degeneration in his body has turned him into a twisted mockery of human life. For a brief moment, he can see the image of Ben Reilly in himself and he angrily punches the mirror. Putting on his costume, Kaine decides to go and check in on his prisoner, Janine Godbe. When she cowers in fear, he assures her that he will never hurt her, that she has always been bait for Ben Reilly. Kaine then tries to kiss her, but again, Janine recoils in disgust. At first, Kaine loses his temper but stops himself before he can harm Janine and leaves the room. By this time, Ben Reilly has changed into Spider-Man and has come to the lab where the Jackal created his clones. As he wanders around looking for Kaine, Ben thinks about how this was the place where his life was turned upside down.[1] His thoughts are interrupted when Kaine turns on all the lights and confronts him. When Spider-Man asks where Janine is, Kaine assures the wall-crawler that she is safe, for now.

When Ben demands that Kaine let her go, Kaine refuses and pulls off Spider-Man's mask. Kaine then starts talking about the pain he experienced, not just from his cellular degeneration, but from the rejection he received from the Jackal, his creator. When Ben tries to tell Kaine that he understands, Kaine attacks him out of anger and beats Reilly into unconsciousness. While unconscious, Ben has a nightmare where Kaine injects him with a strange drug that makes his skin feel like it is burning. Ben wakes up screaming outside in the pouring rain and learns that Kaine has brought him to Aunt May's old house, the home where Peter Parker and his wife Mary Jane now live.[2] Since the Parkers are not home right now, Kaine takes Ben inside the home and takes him into the childhood bedroom of Peter Parker. There Kaine taunts Ben about how the Jackal took this whole life away from him, trying to get him to remember how much he had suffered. However, Kaine assures Reilly that the suffering will come to an end. As Kaine carries him back out of the house again, Ben blacks out once more.

When he wakes up, Reilly discovers that he is back in his apartment. Remembering that Janine was Kaine's prisoner, he finds her alive and well in the next room. After preparing some coffee for themselves, Ben explains to Janine that Kaine is trying to mess with them. Suddenly, his spider-sense begins going off again and he fears that Kaine has come back to terrorize them again. Ben grabs Janine and they attempt to flee the scene, but outside they find the police waiting for them outside. A detective among the officers informs Janine Godbe -- aka Elizabeth Tyne, aka Sarah Porter -- that she is under arrest. Ben tries to fight the police officers, but Janine tells him that it is time for her to stop running. Although Ben tries to explain that Janine's father was the real criminal, the officer explains that she will have a chance to explain herself down at the police station.[3] That's when Ben and Janine are placed under arrest. From the shadows, Kaine watches as the couple is loaded into squad cars and driven away.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Janine Godbe, Kaine

Continuity Notes

1. Ben refers to himself as the real Peter Parker here when in reality he is the clone that was created by the Jackal in Amazing Spider-Man #149. At the time of this story, Ben was led to believe he was the real Parker in The Spectacular Spider-Man #226. However, this is a lie created by the Green Goblin in Spider-Man: The Osborn Journal #1.

2. 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.

3. Janine's father molested her for years until she killed him in self-defense. Accused of murder, Janine has been on the run from the law ever since. This was all detailed in Spider-Man: The Lost Years #1-3.