Burning Bright

During what he hoped was his final battle, Kaine cornered Ben Reilly and his lover, Janine Godby, in a diner and triggered an explosion. The searing heat and flames remind Kaine of his painful first moments of life after being created by the Jackal as he carries out the innocent patrons of the diner. He gets everyone outside except for Ben and Janine and finds that they are still alive. Although Ben was knocked out in the blast, Janine managed to pull him into the tunnel that Kaine dug under the diner. Kaine explains that he never wanted to cause Janine any harm, it is now too late to do anything but join Kaine and Ben Reilly in the flames. Kain believes that neither he nor Ben deserve life and that they need to be die in this blazing inferno. Janine tries to convince Kaine that Ben is a good man who deserves to live. However, Ben has come around at this point, who calls out Kaine for dragging an innocent life into their war with one another. Although he may deserve to die in the flames along with Kaine, Ben insists that Janine has suffered enough and pleads to Kaine to let her go.

Kain thinks about this for a long moment, and pulls them both out of the flames, taking them up onto a nearby rooftop. After caressing Janine's face, Kaine tells the pair of them to go and love each other and find whatever happiness they can get. However, Kaine insists that Ben kill him as he has nothing left to live for. Unfortunately for Kaine, Ben refuses to take a life and insists that Kaine face justice for all of his crimes. This angers Kaine who attacks Reilly as police arrive on the scene. One of the officers recognizes Kaine from the Peter Parker trial and orders his officers to get up on that roof and arrest him.[1] They interrupt the battle between Ben and Kaine. Seeking to commit suicide by cop in order to end it all, Kaine charges at the officers. Although they open fire on him, none of the shots are fatal. Kaine then grabs one of the officers and leaps to another building. Surrounded by a SWAT team, Kaine threatens to kill his hostage.

By this time, Ben has recovered from Kaine's attack, but regrets that there wasn't more than he can do. Janine is afraid that the police might recognize her and suggests that they run while they are busy with Kaine. However, Ben's sense of responsibility prevents him from just sitting back and letting Kaine get taken out by a sniper. Using his shirt to cover his face, Ben then leaps to the other building and forces Kaine away from his hostage and pulls him out of the sniper's crosshairs. When they get into a nearby alley, Kaine pleads to Ben, telling him to let him die. However, Ben can feel nothing but pity for the imperfect clone and reaches out a hand. Surprisingly, Kaine takes it, accepting the fact that Ben wants to help. That's when Janine catches up with them and tells Ben that she has decided to stop running. She doesn't want Ben to give up on this new life he has created for himself. Since Ben and Kaine have confronted their own past, she has decided that she must do the same herself. As she and Ben kiss, Janine's words resonate with Kaine, who slips away and turns himself over to the police. Also turning herself over to the police, Janine soon finds herself being transported to the courthouse the following morning. This is the repeat of her previous arrest, as there is a throng of reporters wanting to get the story.

When one of the reporters asks Janine -- aka Elizabeth Tyne -- why she turned herself in. She explains that she had helped from above. As she is led away by the police, Spider-Man watches silently from a nearby rooftop. From there, Ben Reilly vows that he will always love Janine and watch over her as both himself and Spider-Man.[2]

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Janine Grobe, Kaine

Continuity Notes

1. Years earlier, Kaine murdered a woman, as seen in Spider-Man: The Lost Years #3. Years later, Peter Parker was arrested for this murder in Amazing Spider-Man #400. However, Kaine was eventually forced to confess to the murder during the Trial of Peter Parker story arc, clearing Peter Parker's name.

2. Ben never gets to live up to this promise as he is later killed in Spider-Man #75. Janine's fate is yet to be revealed.