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Astonishing Spider-Man Vol 1 48

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He already has become me. In his heart of hearts, he always was. And I...I was him. But it's over now, Ben. At long last--it's over.

—Kaine

Appearing in "Chains"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Spider-Man: Redemption #3

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

Races and Species:

Locations:

Vehicles:

  • Prison van

Synopsis for "Chains"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Spider-Man: Redemption #3
Elizabeth Tyne — aka Janine Godby — has finally run out of luck and her past has caught up with her and she has been arrested for the murder of her father.[Continuity 1] She is taken out of her cell so she can be put before a judge. Outside, there is a swarm of reporters hoping to get a word from Elizabeth as she is being loaded into a prisoner transport. The only thing she tells them is that her name is Janine Godbe. This is because, after so many years on the run, Janine Godbe is who she became. Now, as her past is catching up with her, Janine Godbe is another person she has lost running away from it all, just like she also lost Ben Reilly. However, Ben is not as lost to her as she thinks, as a masked man follows the prisoner transport from the rooftops. Meanwhile, the drivers have noticed that the news crew is following their vehicle and decide to try and lose them down an alley. While this works to lose the news crews, it leaves them open to the masked man ambushing their vehicle. This man leaps through the windshield of the van, demanding to know where Elizabeth Tyne, the murderer, is. After incapacitating the drivers, this masked man then rips open the back of the transport, and after announcing that he is going to kill Elizabeth, grabs her and carries her away to the rooftops.

As it turns out, this vengeful man is actually Ben Reilly, who put on the whole show in order to free her from police custody. Despite his good intentions, Janine wasn't entirely sure it was Ben and is upset with him at first because she thought he might have been Kaine.[Continuity 2] However, she is relieved to know that it was Ben after all. Ben tells her that now that she is free he is willing to leave everything behind so the pair can start a new life somewhere else. As they begin to kiss, they are unaware that Kaine is watching them from another rooftop. He was the one who set them up for the police, all part of Kaine's plan to make Ben Reilly suffer as he has. Suddenly, Kaine's body is wracked with pain due to the cellular degeneration of his body. The pain is so intense that Kaine stumbles off the rooftop and falls into the alley below. This is followed with a new wave of anger and loathing toward Ben Reilly and everything he stands for. He is so furious he refuses to wear the costume that hides his hideously deformed body and begins ripping it off his body. That's when he notices a homeless man watching him. At first, Kaine confuses this person for Ben Reilly and is about to kill them with his Mark of Kaine. However, as the homeless man begs for his life, Kaine stops himself and runs away.

By this point, Ben and Janine have ducked into a diner where they begin planning their escape from New York. As Ben plans to sneak back to his apartment to get a stash of money he has saved up, Janine asks if he is sure if he willing to give up this new life he set up for himself. He tells her that the only reason he came back to New York — his Aunt May — is now gone and there is nothing keeping him here.[Continuity 3] Even though he discovered that he is really Peter Parker, that fact is irrelevant because he has lived as Ben Reilly for so long.[Continuity 4] However, before they go, Ben needs to know what happened when Janine disappeared a year ago while they were in Santa Cruz. Janine agrees that the time has finally come to tell him the truth. As she begins to tell her story, Kaine arrives outside the diner.

Then

Ben Reilly and Janine Gadby had started a new life for themselves in Santa Cruz, taking on the alias of George and Mary Bailey. Things were good, the couple had an apartment that they lived in together. One night, as Ben was running late for his job selling septic systems by phone, Janine managed to convince Ben to be later still by seducing him.

Later that evening, after Ben had left for work, Janine's peaceful sleep was interrupted when Kaine broke into her bedroom. Ordering her to get dressed, Kaine forced her to accompany him to San Francisco. There atop the Golden Gate Bridge, he then told her about the fate of the last woman who was foolish to love Ben Reilly, a woman named Gwen Stacy, who fell from a bridge just like this.[Continuity 5] Kaine then goes on to say that he cannot stand to see Ben happy and will do whatever it takes to see it end. He then told Janine that he sees no reason to actually kill her and threatens to call the police on her if she remains with Ben Reilly. He gives her an alternative, leaves Ben and never look back, telling her that he will be better off without her.

Now

Janine then tearfully explains that she went along with Kaine's demands. In order to make sure that Ben wouldn't just follow after her, Janine wrote a convincing suicide note to leave Ben to think Janine killed herself. This comes as a shock to Ben, creating so much hurt. Ben tells her how lost he was after she left, how pointless his life was until he later began working with Seward Trainer.[Continuity 6] Despite this shocking revelation, Ben decides that it is all in the past and decides to move forward. As they get up to leave the diner, Kaine bursts up through the floor. Furious, Ben then attacks Kaine and begins beating him senselessly. However, before Ben can seriously harm Kaine, Janine gets him to stop, pointing out that this is what Kaine wants, to force Ben to stoop to his level. Still, Kaine refuses to lose and since he is laying on a stove with the gas on he causes a spark that ignites the fuel causing the diner to erupt in a massive fireball.

Appearing in "Burning Bright"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Spider-Man: Redemption #4

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Kaine (Main story and flashback)

Other Characters:

Races and Species:

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

  • Police van

Synopsis for "Burning Bright"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Spider-Man: Redemption #4
During what he hoped was his final battle, Kaine cornered Ben Reilly and his lover, Janine Godbe, 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 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.[Continuity 7] 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 court house 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.

Appearing in "Bug Story"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Amazing Spider-Man #413

Featured Characters:

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Antagonists:

Other Characters:

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Locations:

Items:

Synopsis for "Bug Story"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Amazing Spider-Man #413
Spider-Man wakes up to discover himself in an impossible situation: he's trapped in a giant glass jar being carried by a young child. As the boy tosses the jar onto his toy covered bed, the wall-crawler scrambles to try and figure out what's going on. Has he been shrunk down in size? Or is this an illusion like when Mysterio once pulled a similar stunt? He isn't sure who is responsible since Mysterio was recently arrested.[Continuity 8] As he tries to make sense of this situation, he adds it to the list of complications his life has experienced lately.[Continuity 9]

Meanwhile, at the Daily Grind, Shirley Washington wonders what is keeping Ben Reilly, as he is running late for his first shift since the Grind re-opened.[Continuity 10] Buzz, one of the regulars, figures that Ben is likely stuck in the subway. That's when Shirley's ex-husband Garon Lewis comes to see how her business is doing. She is unhappy that he has shown up and tells Garon that her life is none of his business. He tells her that it is when they affect the life of their son Devon. That's when Devon enters the shop and is delighted to see his father has come by for a visit. While back in the boy's room, Spider-Man breaks free from the glass jar he has been imprisoned in. Leaping onto the floor, his tries to figure out a way to contact the Fantastic Four or the Avengers to get him out of this mess when suddenly the toys come to life and start attacking him. While at the Daily Bugle, Peter Parker has accepted a staff job working at the Daily Bugle now that he has decided to stay in New York City.[Continuity 11] Jonah isn't passing up the opportunity to put Peter to work again and pairs him up with Ben Urich and his nephew Phil. Suddenly, Peter is struck with a headache and dismisses it as getting sick and hopes he doesn't pass it along to Mary Jane.

While back in the child's room, Spider-Man continues to fight for his life. His hunch about Mysterio being involved turns out to be correct, as the master illusionist is observing the battle from a secret control room. He is joined by Armada, who is not happy that Mysterio has employed his robots to bring these giant toys to life as he did not agree to put his creations in harm's way. Mysterio asks Armada to be patient, remembering how much work they put into converting a warehouse to look like a massive child's bedroom so shortly after Armada's robots broke them out of their jail cell. A plan that came to fruition when Armada's robots were able to ambush the wall-crawler and gas him before he could recognize what they were. However, can barely bring himself to sit back and watch as Spider-Man destroys his robots. With the web-spinner gaining the upper hand in battle, Mysterio decides to ramp things up by activating all the robots all at once. Still, despite the overwhelming odds, Spider-Man continues smashing the robots, further upsetting Armada. That's when the wall-crawler smashes open a robotic toy that resembles the Juggernaut causing one of Armada's robots to tumble out. Spotting the drone-like automatic, Spider-Man instantly recognizes it. Having had enough, Armada smashes out of the control room in order to battle Spider-Man directly.

Spider-Man manages to take advantage of this, leaping onto Armada and using his jet boots to redirect them up into the control booth. That's when Mysterio fills the room with mist. This doesn't phase Spider-Man who begins using his spider-sense to navigate the thick mist. He then makes contact with what he thinks is Mysterio, but it turns out to be a robotic decoy. By this point, Armada is starting to throw a fit over being manipulated by Mysterio. No longer a threat, Mysterio's sidekick is easily webbed up for the authorities and the wall-crawler departs. Meanwhile, at Aunt May's old house in Queens, Peter Parker begins unpacking dishes as he thinks about how quickly they returned to New York from Portland. Suddenly, he is struck by another powerful headache causing him to drop a dish on the ground. When Mary Jane comes to see what's wrong, Peter brushes it off as being clumsy. However, he realizes to himself that there is something seriously wrong with him and he needs to find out what it is.[Continuity 12]

Notes

Continuity Notes[]


Flashback[]

See Also

Links and References

References


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