Chapter 10: Sibling Rivalry Part 1: Family Reunion
A/N: here we go, the tenth chapter! This combines Superior Spider-Man team-up 2 and Scarlet Spider 20. This one is probably the one I've been looking forwards to the most, and you'll see why later this chapter. Enjoy!
Carlie awoke to a room with dim lighting, Miles Warren's deranged face looking at her. "Good morning, Detective! Or is it evening? Oh I can't tell down here!" Jackal said. "Tell me, how has your week at Casa Warren been?"
"Gonna…kill…" Carlie tried to say, but she barely had enough energy to keep her eyes open, weak from injections Miles had given her over the past week.
"Oh trust me my dear, you will. Just not me." Warren said. "Tell me, how does killing Peter Parker sound?" He said, and injected her with the contents of a syringe labeled 'AV MK 2', causing Carlie to immediately scream in pain as a white ooze began coming out of her mouth, eyes, nose, and other pores.
Peter Parker's Tribecca Apartment
Peter and Mary Jane entered the apartment, their lips locked in an embrace that usually promised NSFW activities. Peter shut the door while reaching for the zipper to Mary Jane's jacket, when someone cleared their throat.
"Sheesh, I forgot how often you two were all over each other." A voice that sounded exactly like Peter's, except maybe a little more gruff, said. Peter and MJ separated as Peter readied his web shooters, prepared to fight whatever costumed crazy had broken into his apartment, when he saw the speaker, a man hanging from the ceiling on a web in a red and black Spider-Man costume.
"Kaine." Peter stated. "Or should I call you Scarlet Spider?"
"Kaine? As in the crazy clone who tried to kill you multiple times?" Mary Jane said, and Kaine nodded, hopping off the ceiling and removing his mask.
"Hello, Peter." Kaine said. "Sorry for dropping by unannounced, but I wanted to see you before we went back to Houston."
"We?" Peter asked, when he heard the toilet flush in the bathroom, followed by Aracely exiting.
"Kaine? Why are there two of you?" She asked.
"Kaine, who is this?" Peter asked.
"Aracely, this is Peter Parker. Peter, meet Aracely." Kaine said. "I guess you could say that he's my…brother, more or less."
"That's awesome! What was Kaine like growing up? Was he always this grumpy? Since he has spider powers, does that mean your Spider-Man? How did you get your powers? How do you make your webbing?" Aracely asked, stunning Peter with how fast the questions came out of the Mexican girl.
"Well, since Kaine here seems to trust you, yes, I am Spider-Man. I make my webs using a special formula I made when I first became Spider-Man." Peter explained. "As for the first two questions, well…"
"Aracely, the reason me and Peter both have Spider Powers and look exactly alike is because I'm his clone." Kaine said. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but the whole thing sounds kinda crazy when you say it out loud."
"It's ok, Kaine. I can sense that it makes you really sad when you think about." Aracely said, and Kaine noticed Peter and MJ's confused looks.
"She does that sometimes." Kaine said.
"So, Aracely, care to tell us how you met Kaine?" MJ asked.
"He saved me from some bad people." She said.
"Human traffickers from Mexico. She was the only one I could save, and even then it was barely." Kaine explained. "Someone who worked with the traffickers came after her, and I decided she would be better protected with me." He left it at that, but sent Peter a look that said he would explain more later.
"So, what're things like in Houston?" Mary Jane asked.
"Pretty quiet compared to New York. The most supervillain I got in the past week was the Armadillo, and he only acted up because he was drunk." Kaine said.
"He was sad because his girlfriend broke up with him. But they got back together, and Kaine rode a bull!" Aracely said.
"It was the fastest way in. Swear to god." Kaine said.
"Look, I get the feeling you two have a lot to talk about. Aracely, how about I show you New York at Night?" Mary Jane said.
"Oh! Can I Kaine? Pleeeeeease?" The young Mexican girl pleaded.
"Go ahead." Kaine said. "Mary Jane, there are a few things I should warn you about…"
30 Minutes Later
"Waste these fools!" Hammerhead said, firing twin submachine guns as he and his gang engaged what looked like the White Dragon and his gang. That wouldn't appear unusual, if Hammerhead didn't know for a fact that White Dragon was one of the casualties of the fight between Mister Negative's gang and the Hood's supervillain crime syndicate a while back while Osborn was still America's Top Cop. "So what are you? One of Kingsley's little flunkies?" Hammerhead said as he headbutted one of White Dragon's henchman, instantly killing him.
"It doesn't matter. What DOES matter is that I'm gonna take all your territory and mount your fat head on my wall!" White Dragon said, when webbing covered his face.
"Spider-Man?!" Hammerhead said, and aimed his gun upwards, only to see not only the Web Head, but also the Scarlet Spider descending from the air.
"Not just me, Hammie. Meet my brother, Scarlet Spider. Together, we are the Spectacular Spider-Siblings!" Spider-Man said as he kicked two thugs in the face, before backflipping over a crowbar swing.
"Never call us that AGAIN or I will end you. Very slowly and painfully." Scarlet Spider said as he took the legs out from underneath one thug, before extending his stingers and lightly pricking the neck of two. Instantly, their bodies went numb, and they fell over unconscious.
"It'll catch on. Just you watch." Spider-Man said as he webbed two together, and White Dragon ripped the webbing off his face.
"I'm gonna- yearghhhhh!" White Dragon said, having yanked off a few patches of skin with the web.
"They can fix that, right?" Scarlet Spider said as he broke the arm of one, before cracking three ribs in another.
"I think they can using skin grafts. I'm studying to be a different kind of doctor." Spider-Man said.
"You're getting your doctorate?" Scarlet Spider asked as he grabbed the wrist of a man with a knife.
"Yup. All I have left is to write a thesis, and I'll be Dr. Spider-Man." The wall crawler said, before leaping over a headbut from Hammerhead.
"You're both gonna need a doctor when I'm done with ya!" Hammerhead yelled, and began trying to headbut Scarlet Spider, who dodged each attempt.
"Does this guy always sound like something out of those old monster movies?" Scarlet Spider asked as he ducked Hammerhead's attacked.
"All the time. It's kinda distracting actually." Spider-Man said as his clone delivered an uppercut to Hammerhead's jaw, sending him flying. Scarlet Spider jumped up, webbed the mobster to the wall, and landed next to Spider-Man.
"Nice takedown." The original web slinger said.
"Thank you. I've been practicing." Scarlet Spider said, and the two swung away.
"So, tell me about all the crazy adventures you've had since you left." Spider-Man said as he let go of his web, performing a backflip before firing another webline.
"Can we do this without the swinging? I can barely hear you over the wind!" Kaine yelled, and the two spider powered beings touched down on a building overlooking an apartment complex.
"Sorry. It's been so long since I've had to talk to another web swinger." Spider-Man said, and once he made sure the coast was clear, removed his mask. "So, amaze me with the crazy adventures of Kaine."
"Like I said earlier, not a lot happens in Houston." Kaine said as he removed his mask. "After I took in Aracely, someone recognized me from…before." Kaine was referring to the days when his cellular degeneration plagued him, and he worked as an assassin for hire.
"Who was it?" Peter asked.
"The Assassin's Guild. I stole one of their contracts a while back." Kaine said. "Long story short, I managed to make a deal to get them to stay out of Houston. Then, about a week later…" and so Kaine told Peter of how he worked with the Rangers against Roxxon, fought Carnage in the Microverse with the new Venom, died fighting against the wolves, and how he came back as the Other.
"Damn. 'Quiet' my ass." Peter said. "Sounds like you've had an interesting few months. I have to ask: why are you in New York?"
"Well, remember how I made a deal with the Assassin's Guild?" Kaine said. "The deal was that I would carry out a contract one day, no questions asked, and kill whoever they wanted me too in exchange for them staying the hell out of Houston."
"You actually agreed to kill for them?" Peter asked in disbelief. Kaine had told him his days as a monster were over, yet here he was at the Assassin's Guild beck and call?
"Relax, Peter. I didn't kill anyone innocent." Kaine said, and Peter noticed how he said 'innocent.' "I believe you're familiar with Wolverine?"
"Wait-they had you try to kill Wolverine?" Peter asked. "You didn't actually find a way to kill him, did you?
"I turned it around on them. Me and Wolverine went to their headquarters and ripped them a new one." Kaine explained. "By the way, you may want to stay out of Louisiana for a while. But let me ask you something, Peter: what happened to you?" This question confused Peter.
"What do you mean?" He inquired.
"Since Octavius died, you've gone through two costumes, created all sorts of new tech, and even have your own headquarters now." Kaine said. "What's with all the overhaul?"
"It's Octavius. With his last day getting closer and closer, he was faced with his own morality, but naturally, his ego wasn't so content to just die. So, in order to keep his legacy going, he used a device to switch bodies with me." Peter said, and Kaine's jaw dropped, before he clenched his fists.
"That motherf**ker! He should have stayed f**king dead the first time I killed him!" He yelled.
"Easy, Kaine. Obviously the switch didn't work, or this meeting would be a LOT more hostile." Peter said, and Kaine calmed down. "When I switched us back, he made me promise him something: live with no regrets, and become the Superior Spider-Man. Since then, I've gotten back with Mary Jane, stopped the Sinister Six, Vulture, and Electro, and took down Shadowland. Of course, everything hasn't been a complete success." Peter said, remembering his killing of Massacre and subsequent beating of Screwball and Jester, prompting the two month long disappearance of Spider-Man.
"What do you think Ben would say if he was here right now?" Kane said, slightly laughing. "His source material fulfilling a promise he made to his worst enemy, and his insane fellow clone trying to live up to his name."
"I think he'd congratulate us on a job well done." Peter said, when his phone began to vibrate. He pulled it out of the spider-emblem on his back, and saw that the caller was an unknown number. "Hold on. I need to take this. Probably just a telemarketer." He said as he answered the phone.
"Spider-Man?" The voice of Yuri Watanabe said on the other end. "It's captain Watanabe. I found this number in Carlie's address book."
"Hey, Captain. Why're you snooping in her address boom?" Peter asked, worried that Yuri had deduced the true nature of Spider-Man and Carlie's relationship.
"Because no one's heard from her in a week." Yuri said. "I've tried her cell, her home phone, I even checked with the brass to see it she was working with another department. We tried pinging her phone, but it's either broken or turned off. You and I both know that staying off the grid isn't something she would normally do, and I'm worried that, given the nature of our investigations-"
"That a superhuman she arrested may have gotten revenge." Peter said, masking the worry in his voice. "Alright, I'll swing by her place and see if anything's out if place." He hung up, and looked at Kaine. "I think we may be busy tonight."
15 minutes later, Carlie Cooper's Apartment building
Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider landed on the side of the building, and Spider-Man noticed that the window leading into Carlie's apartment was open. "Something's wrong. Carlie never keeps the window open this time of year." Spider-Man said, and Scarlet Spider poked his head in, before making gagging noises.
"Goddamn that's rank!" The clone said, and the two spider powered heroes entered the apartment, and what smelled like the odors a dead boy emits when it decomposes filled the air.
"Oh god…" Spider-Man said, and began to search all over the apartment. "Carlie! Carlie, it's Peter. Where are you?!"
"Peter, relax." Kaine said, and sniffed the air. "This smell isn't so much as a corpse in here, but more lingering, like one of those air fresheners they put in cars. Besides, from what I know of her, Carlie's a tough girl. No way she'd let someone kill her in her own apartment."
"So how do you explain the smell?" Peter asked."they could have moved her, and-"
"If she was killed in here and immediately moved, then there wouldn't be a smell like this. As for what caused it…I'm as lost as you are." Kaine said.
"How do you know so much about the smell a dead body makes?" Peter asked.
"I picked up a few things in my previous line of work." Kaine said, and changed the subject before he could reminisce about past kills. "Peter, you know her a lot better than me. If she was attacked, do you have any idea where she could have gone?"
"Not that I know of." Peter said, before remembering something that happened a few weeks ago. "But I may know who does."
Avengers Tower
Spider-Woman and Captain America sat across from each other, a chess set in between them. Sweat covered Spider-Woman's forehead, ignoring the eyes of Hawkeye, Captain Marvel, Hyperion, Hulk, Iron Man, and Thor on her, while Captain America sat with a relaxed expression. "Go on Jess. It's your move." The super soldier said, slight arrogance in his tone.
"C'mon Babe, you can do it!" Hawkeye cheered for his girlfriend.
"Go on Jess. We believe in you!" Carol said.
"Shut up!" Spider-Woman said, suddenly regretting challenging Captain America to chess. No one-Iron Man, Wolverine, Cyclops, Scarlet Witch, Beast, Thor, even Black Widow- had ever been able to defeat Cap in chess, with the exception of Reed Richards, but it was such a close call that the Internet still spoke about it in hushed tones. "I need to focus."
"What…is this?" What sounded like a more gruff Spider-Man said, and everyone glanced back expecting to see their wall crawling teammate, but were shocked to see Scarlet Spider standing there with him.
"Ah, I forgot tonight was the monthly Challenge Cap to Chess night." Spider-Man said, before shuddering. "I still have nightmares about when it was my turn."
"Spider-Man, care to introduce us to your friend?" Hawkeye said.
"Right. Guys, this is Kaine. Kaine, these are the Avengers." Spider-Man said, before heading to his quarters in the tower. He didn't stay here often, only at times like whenever his apartment gets fumigated, or for a few minutes of shut eye whenever he had to pull monitor duty. He only kept one thing here: a cell phone that was registered to no one, no internet capabilities, and only one blocked number. This number belonged to someone he had only spoken to once, and told Spider-Man that if he ever needed info, to call them. 'Please, let me be able to find her.' Peter thought as he hit the call button, and it rang a few times.
"Hello?" The filtered voice said.
"It's me. You told me that if I ever needed intel, you were the one to call. Well, that's exactly what I need right now." Peter said.
"What do you need to know?" The voice said.
"I need to know the location of Detective Carlie Cooper. She's been missing for about a week, and no ones been able to find her." Spider-Man said. "You told me the people you work for are very resourceful. Please, I'm begging you…help me find her."
"Alright. I'll see what I can do. It'll take about a minute for my people's techs to track her phone, longer if it's turned off or broken. Expect coordinates to be sent to your Spider Bots soon." The voice said, before hanging up. Peter placed the phone on his bed, before walking back to the rec room, where Kaine was sitting on the wall talking to Hawkeye and Hulk.
"So you're saying that no one, except Reed Richards, has been able to beat Flag Boy at chess?" Scarlet Spider asked.
"That's right. Not even Banner could beat him." Hulk said.
"Do you see that head?" Hawkeye said. "That is the head that comes up with strategies that have kept us alive against all kinds of freaky s**t over the years." Everyone watched as Jessica moved her knight, but she realized that once she finished moving it she had left her King wide open.
"S**t!" She exclaimed, and Captain America used his Queen to take her King.
"Checkmate." He said, and Jess fell back in her chair, defeated. "You did your best, Jessica. So, Kaine, I take it you're that Scarlet Spider I've heard about in Houston?"
"The one and only." Kaine said.
"So, Peter, is something wrong? You only head to your quarters if something's up with your place, and the first time you drop by here since Shadowland fell, you bring your clone. Is something the matter?" Captain Marvel said.
"It's…it's Carlie, guys. She's gone missing." Peter said. "She may not be my girlfriend anymore, but she's still one of my closest friends, and I WILL find her. I've got a contact, I guess. Don't know who it is, but I've got a few suspicions. They're helping me and Kaine find her."
"Do you know anything about them? Who they are, what they want, or who they work for?" Hawkeye asked.
"They know I'm Spider-Man, which means that at some point, they've either deduced it, I revealed it to them, or someone else did." Peter said. "And they said I saved them and their brother once, so I doubt they'll do anything."
"Still, be careful, my friend. The trickery of those we fight is endless." Thor said, when Spider-Man's gauntlets beeped. He checked them, then looked at Kaine. "We've got a location. Let's go."
Abandoned Warehouse, New York Harbor
Scarlet Spider and Spider-Man swung in through a hole in the ceiling, and they saw Carlie's cell phone laying in the middle of the floor. "Hey Kaine, you ever get this little buzzing in the back of your head?" Spider-Man asked.
"No, I don't. Seems I lost that power when I was reborn. But I know what you mean." Kaine said.
"Well, remember in Return of the Jedi when they attacked the Death Star? Right now, I've got a little Admiral Ackbar in my head saying-" the two Spider-Men leapt out of the way just as a blast of red slammed the ground. "-it's a trap!" Two creatures resembling humanoid spiders fell through the ceiling, each attacking a different Spider. Spider-Man's shot red energy from its eyes, while Kaine's had some sort of bone claws coming from its knuckles.
"Great. I get to fight Spider-Wolverine the day after I got my ass kicked by the original. Fan-tucking-fastic." Scarlet Spider said as he extended his stingers and Spider-Man activated his mechanical legs.
'Wait a minute, those claws do look an awful lot like Logan's. And those eye beams are a lot like Cyclops'. It's almost as if someone took them and have them an ex…tra…' Spider-Man thought, mentally slapping himself for not realizing it sooner. "Spider Humanoids with mutant powers…he is really running out of ideas!" Spider-Man said as he used his legs to keep the creature pinned as Kaine grabbed his creature's face, flesh sizzling as he applied his mark.
"Who is running out if ideas?" Scarlet Spider said as he extended a stinger and rammed it through the head of the creature Peter was holding, and they swung out of the building, where several more of the creatures were waiting.
"Everyone's favorite mad geneticist, Miles Warren himself." Spider-Man said as he leapt over lighting bolts from one, kicking another in the face.
"I hate that guy. I really f**king hate him. How do you know this is his dirty work?" Scarlet Spider said as he used his webbing to blind two creatures, before uppercutting one in the chin.
"A few months back, I fought a giant spider creature with the X-Men that turned into a Gwen Stacy clone." Spider-Man said as he slashed two with his claws.
"Wonderful. This is why I don't come here often." The clone said as he snapped one's neck, only for another to teleport behind him and kick him in the back, sending Kaine flying. As if things weren't unpleasant enough, Spider-Man's spider sense went off, and a burning sensation filled his lungs.
"*cough* Carrion!" Peter said, and looked to see that Carrion was indeed standing on a nearby crate, the Jackal right beside him.
"Easy, Peter! No hello for your old teacher?" Jackal said, when Kaine threw a Man-Spider at him.
"Warren! I'm not going to let you put anyone else what I went through!" Scarlet Spider yelled, and leapt at Warren, but cried out in pain as some sort of blast hit him, knocking him unconscious.
"Kaine!" Spider-Man yelled, and was about to face his 'brother's' attacker, when a bright flash knocked him down.
"Hello Peter." A female voice Peter knew all too well said, and when his vision cleared, he saw Gwen Stacy, holding some sort of rifle while standing next to a Miles Warren clone.
"Gwen…" Peter said, and tried to stand, only to find he was rapidly losing conscious.
"I'm sorry Peter. I truly am." The Gwen clone said, and that was the last thing Peter saw before blackness swallowed his vision.
Sometime Later
"Wake up!" A man with scars all over his body opened his eyes, seeing a man with a grey mustache looking at him through some sort of greenish-yellow liquid. "Wake up, you pathetic excuse for a facsimile!" The man with the mustache said, and the man with the scars turned to see a blonde woman looking at him.
"Wake up, Kaine." The woman said, and scars rapidly began to cover her face. "WAKE UP!"
"Gah!" Kaine gasped as he jolted awake, but found he was bound by chains.
"Hello, Kaine." The Gwen clone said. "I'm sorry to see you here. We were all so happy when you escaped."
"Um, can I ask a question?" Peter asked, and Kaine noticed that both his and Peter's masks were removed. "Why the hell should we believe anything you say? After all, you did knock us out."
"I really am sorry about that. I didn't want to, but Miles made me do it. If it was up to me, I would have let you do whatever you want to him." 'Gwen' said. "I even would have let the police woman go."
"Police-? Do you mean Carlie?" Peter said, and started struggling against his bonds. "Where is she?! What did you do to her?!"
"Peter, calm down! It makes daddy so sad when his boys are unhappy." Jackal said as he entered the room they were held in. "Except when I plan for it. Ha ha!"
"Where's Carlie, Warren?" Kaine demanded.
"You really want to know? Alright. Detective Cooper, come on out!" Warren said, and Peter and Kaine heard large footsteps start to come closer. "You really shouldn't have distributed so much of that cure for my little 'spider flu', Peter. It was child's play to snatch a sample and reverse engineer it. Plus, I managed to take a few samples from your little star spangled friend with the shield, and combine that with someone who had not only been exposed to my spider virus, but also used to share toothbrushes with Spider-Man, and I made a new playmate for you. Introducing to the world the new Carlie Cooper, or as I like to call her-" a large humanoid creature with a white muscular, humanoid body with spikes on the shoulders, elbows, and legs, a black spider symbol that reached all around the torso, black markings around the face, red eyes, black teeth, and a black tongue. "-the Superior Anti-Venom!" Peter and Kaine's jaws dropped in horror, speechless at what Warren had created.
"What did you do to her?" Kaine said, and Jackal sighed.
"Kaine, I know you're not a good listener, but please, don't embarrass yourself." The mad doctor said. " it was easy to leave enough bread crumbs about 'GeneWeb,' then wait until she was alone. After that, I just had to swoop in and take her to my little cave. So what do you think? Did I do a good job?"
"Hellll…" what used to be Carlie said.
"That's right, Anti-Venom, you're going to send them straight to Hell!" Jackal said, and Peter looked at her red eyes.
"Peterrrrrr…Parkerrrrrr." Anti-Venom said.
"Miles, how are the nanites working? Do we have a good little symbiotic slave?" Jackal asked his clone.
"All's good on my end, sir. She's putting up little to no resistance." Warren said.
"Excellent. Anti-Venom, would you be a dear and put these two out of their misery?" Jackal said. "I think I may make another set. Who knows, maybe I'll get another Ben Reilly on the first go! Though maybe a little mental residing will be in order to get rid of their little youthful rebellion."
"They'll always fight you, Warren." Peter said. "It's something you'll never understand. As long as you keep making Peter Parkers, no matter what, they'll always do what's right. That's something hard wired into Parker DNA."
"I'll breed it out of them eventually. In the mean time, I'll make sure Mary Jane and your Aunt get some nice flowers, and I'll send a postcard to Kaine's little group of misfits. Though that Mexican girl that hangs around Kaine does seem like she'd be an interesting subject." Jackal said. "Anti-Venom, we should round her up as our next subject."
"Stay the f**k away from her Warren!" Kaine yelled, struggling against his bonds. "If you touch any of them, I swear to whatever God there is that I will rip you to f**king shreds!" As Kaine struggled, Peter couldn't help but notice that his voice started sounding more feral.
"Well, it seems like I've struck a nerve. Gwendolyn, would you be a dear and prepare a sedative for our poor old friend?" Jackal said. "It's useless, Kaine. I know you and Peter down to the last atom, and I calibrated those chains accordingly." As soon as he said that, Kaine broke free, a feral look in his eyes.
"Prey." He said, before his eyes returned to normal. "Believe it or not, you don't know everything about me, you sick twisted f**k."
"Oh dear, it seems I've miscalculated Kaine's bindings." Jackal said, and Kaine extended his stingers.
"Jackal, I might not deserve to live-" he rushed at Jackal. "-but you deserve to die!" Just as he was about to reach the mad doctor, Anti-Venom caught him with the back of it's hand, sending him flying.
"Excellent work, Anti-Venom. Now, if you'd be so kind as to rip out his beating heart and show it to him, that'd be fantastic!" Jackal said, and Anti-Venom marched over to Kaine.
'The Anti-Venom symbiote…if what I learned about while I was Tarantula is true, then that means she can cure any disease of impurity out there. Including the radioactive elements of Peter's blood.' Kaine thought as he leapt over a swing from Anti-Venom, and dodged a kick from the massive creature. 'I don't know if that'll work on me, since I'm a clone, but I'd rather not find out this way.' Kaine grabbed Anti-Venom's leg, and threw her into a few Man-Spiders.
"Kaine, Don't hurt her! The real Carlie's still in there, I know it!" Peter said.
"Tell her that! I'm not going to be a Scarlet Punching Bag for your ex!" Kaine said, and prepared himself as Anti-Venom stood up, only for an orange dust to cloud his vision.
"Let me in, Kaine." Carrion said, and fully dissolved into gas and entered Kaine's mind.
"Jokes on you, Carrion…" Kaine said. In his mind scale, Carrion went about settling into his new host, when what looked like a humanoid spider attacked him.
"PREY!" The Other hissed, and drove Carrion out with a claw to the face.
"…but my tenant doesn't like roommates." Kaine said as Carrion exited him, and Anti-Venom looked at Peter.
"Parkerrrrr…" it said, and stomped over to him.
"Fight it, Carlie! I know this isn't you, that it's all Warren making you do this." Peter said, and Peter noticed that its footsteps were becoming noticeably slower. "The Carlie Cooper I know is an amazing cop, and an even more amazing woman! She'd never go along with someone like Warren, even if he was controlling her!"
"It's useless, Peter. These are based off the kind of nanites Tony Stark used to control his Supervillains during your little 'Civil War', minus leaving their individuality intact." Jackal said. "Now, please kill him, my dear policewoman." Anti-Venom raised its claw, and brought it down over his head…
When it stopped an inch from his face.
"Peter…Parker…" Anti-Venom said.
"Yes dear, that's Peter Parker. We've covered that. Now kill him dead!" Jackal said.
"Spider-Man…hero…Avenger…friend." Anti-Venom said, before it's body started to writhe in tendrils.
"Jackal! The symbiote…it's rejecting the nanites!" Warren said, and Anti-Venom grabbed its head, tearing at the mask.
"Get…out!" Anti-Venom yelled, and Carlie's face became visible. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Her suit exploded into a mass of tendrils, and when it subsided, there stood Carlie, clad in what looked like a female version of Spider-Man's Future Foundation costume, minus the black markings on the side, and her head had two red lenses and black markings around the face.
"I feel…amazing!" Carlie said. "I feel stronger than I've ever felt in my life!"
"Well poop. I didn't see that coming." Jackal said. "X-Spiders, kill them!"
"X-Spiders? Really?" Peter said. "Little help here?"
"Sure. Now how do I-" Carlie started to say, when her arms turned into axes. "Whoa. Ok, that's kinda cool." She chopped the chains off, and Peter activated his mechanical legs.
"Who's ready to rumble?" Kaine said, extending his stingers.
"Carlie, you should get out of here. This isn't the time to figure what you can-" Peter started to say, when Carlie shot a hammer tendril out of her arm that knocked down to X-Spiders.
"I've read the police files on Venom, Carnage, and Anti-Venom, even on that Toxin guy from a few years ago. I know what these things can do." She said.
"Well then. Are we gonna kick some ass, or are we just going to stand around and talk?" Kaine said, and charged three creatures. He drove his stingers through ones head, snapped another's neck, and applied his mark to the third one, killing it instantly.
"Damn. I am really glad he's on our side now." Peter said, and extended his claws. He swiped at two, used his mechanical legs to throw three into a row of jaws, and webbed the face of another before he kicked it down.
"My turn." Carlie said, and she shot webbing out of her wrist, grabbing two creatures, and flinging them at Warren. "This is just like having Spider-Powers, only-hrrk!" Carlie was flung back by a punch from behind from Carrion, who quickly surrounded her with orange dust.
"I may not be able to infect you and your damned symbiote, but at least I can still kill you!" He yelled, and charged at her with a punch, which she caught. Instantly, Carrion's hand started smoking, and he screamed in pain.
'What the-? Oh right, healing powers. Carrion's a living virus.' Carlie thought, and flung Carrion into a wave of advancing X-Spiders.
"Kill them my babies! Kill these fools!" Jackal commanded, and Kaine was facing an X-Spider covered in some sort of organic armor.
"Well s**t. This is gonna hurt." Kaine said, and braced himself for the coming pain, when Peter jumped on the back of the X-Spider.
"Stay the hell away from my brother!" He yelled. "Here's a little number I whipped up for organic armor types like yourself!" Peter shot out what looked to be a spider tracer, but when it made contact, the armor started dissolving. "Like that? Little mixture of savage land Vibranium and a few secret ingredients, like love and sugar."
"Funny." Kaine said sarcastically as he punched the creature in the face. As Peter leapt, he took out two masks: his Spider-Man mask and Kaine's Scarlet Spider mask.
"Take it." He said, offering Kaine his mask. "You've earned this, Kaine. Ben always saw the best in you, and it looks like he was more than right." Kaine looked at the mask, before taking it and putting it on.
"Thanks, Pete." Scarlet Spider said as Spider-Man out his mask on.
"This whole 'brother' moment is nice and all, but I could use some help here!" Carlie said, almost swarmed by the X-Spiders.
"Shall we?" Spider-Man asked, and Scarlet Spider nodded. What happened next could only be described as a thing of beauty. Scarlet Spider and Spider-Man worked in perfect tandem, leaping all over the place and dealing out Spider-Powered punches that instantly knocked out whatever they hit. When it was done, not a single X-Spider was left standing.
"Well, that was a thing. Oh well, there's more where they came from!" Jackal said, and more X-Spiders came out of the wetworks.
"We need to end this!" Scarlet Spider said, and Spider-Man noticed a tank of hydrogen nearby.
"And end it we shall!" Spider-Man said as he grabbed a valve and flung it at the tank, causing a fire to instantly break out.
"No! My babies!" Jackal said as the flames consumed several rows of jars. "I have to save them!" He cried as he ran towards them.
"Leave to burn if he wants!" Kaine said, before he and Carlie shot out webs and swung away. Spider-Man looked at the Gwen clone.
"Come on, we need to move!" He yelled.
"No, I can't. I'm sorry, Peter." 'Gwen' said, and Peter extended his hand.
"Just take my hand! I can get you out of here!" He yelled.
"Goodbye, Peter." 'Gwen' said, and she was consumed by the flames.
Outside the Warehouse, Kaine and Carlie were on a nearby rooftop. Carlie's symbiote flowed from her face, and she began breathing heavily.
"Holy crap holy crap holy crap. Did that actually just happen?" She said. "Oh my god. The past week really just happened. I really just spent a week being a part of a crazy doctor's experiments."
"Calm down, Carlie." Kaine said. "We made it out safely, and now we're going to-wait, where's Peter?" At that moment, the warehouse exploded, and out sailed Peter, his costume slightly burned, but otherwise no worse off.
"Peter! Are you ok?" Carlie asked, and he took off his mask.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He said. "What I should be asking is are YOU ok?"
30 Minutes Later, Baxter Building
"Fascinating." Reed Richards said as he examined a screen. Carlie was hooked up to all sorts of scanners, and Reed was examining the data. "It's very similar to the original Anti-Venom, but it's clear why Warren called you 'the Superior Anti-Venom.'"
"Can you explain what that means?" Spider-Man asked. He and Kaine were sitting nearby, and watched as one I the World's smartest minds worked.
"Well, while this symbiote posses all the abilities of the original Anti-Venom symbiote, it's abilities are vastly increased. The suit has stronger anti-bodies, and I believe I'm picking up trace amounts of Captain America's super soldier formula in it."
"Warren did say he had a few samples from Cap left over from when he was Spider King." Kaine said.
"It appears he added that to the mix." Reed said. "All in all, I'd say that this is twice as powerful as the original Anti-Venom."
"Is there any way to remove it?" Peter asked.
"I'm afraid not. When it drove out the nanites, it had to bond to her nervous system to completely expel them. With time, I could find a way, and-" Reed started to say, when Carlie cut him off.
"Maybe that's for the best." Carlie said. "My whole life, I've wanted to do something that makes a difference. We cops can only do so much on the streets, and every day the cycle resets itself." She unhooked the machines from her, and strode over to the window. "This city is sick, Peter. Maybe what it needs is a cure."
"Are you sure about this, Carlie? Once you start down this road, there's no turning back." Peter said.
"Positive. See ya around, Pete." Carlie said, and leapt out the window, web swinging away.
JFK International Airport
Peter, MJ, Aracely, and Kaine were all standing in front of the departure line. "It was great seeing you two. Feel free to come back anytime." Peter said. "Kaine, Ben would be so proud of you right now. He always believed there was good in you, no matter what."
"Thanks, Pete. That means a lot." Kaine said. "If you're ever in Houston, look me up at the Four Season's Hotel." The two met in a brotherly embrace.
"Thanks for showing me the city, MJ." Aracely said. "I had a great time!"
"You're welcome, Aracely. Give 'em hell down in Houston for me!" Mary Jane said, and Kaine and Aracely waved goodbye as they entered the departure line.
"I'm proud of Kaine." Peter said. "After so long, he's finally found a chance at happiness."
Epilogue 1
Jackal and Carrion shifted through the wreckage of Jackal's lab. "A pity Miles burned up in there. Oh well, we can always make a new one, right?" Jackal said.
"I grow tired of your eccentricities, Warren." A voice said, and out of the smoke came Goblin King and Jack O'Lantern.
"Yeah, I have to admit, you're a bit too flamboyant for my tastes." Jack said. "Just say the word, boss, and I'll put a nice glowing smile on his face."
"Stand down, Lantern." Goblin King said. "Warren, why on Earth are you looking through this piece of scorched Earth?"
"I'm looking for something…here we go!" Jackal said, and pulled out a canister. "Thank god this survived." He showed the canister to the members of the Goblin Underground, and they saw that it was labelled Kaine. "I always said making a clone of a clone was a terrible idea, but what the hell right? Who's up for 'Spidercide 2.0'?"
Epilogue II, Houston International Airport, Hours Later
"That was awesome! We went shopping, saw a broadway show, ate hot dogs from a hot dog cart, we even went to the Empire State Building!" Aracely said.
"Sounds like you had one hell of a time." Kaine said. 'Peter's proud of me. Me, the one who tormented him for years, who nearly beat him to death…he even called me brother.' He thought, a small smile on his face. 'It feels like nothing can ruin this moment.' He swatted at the back of his neck. 'Not even Houston's big ass Mosquitos. Ever since I was reborn, I've though of myself as a monster. But now? I see myself as a hero.' He thought as he entered his apartment. 'And this hero is going to…to…' he stopped as he looked in the mirror, revealing his face was covered in scars. 'My scars…the degeneration that plagued me for so long…it's back. And this new life I've built? It is officially over!'
A/N: and so starts a new chapter in the life of one of Peter's closest allies. Imagine Carlie's Anti-Venom costume as a black and white version of MC2's Spider-Girl costume. Meanwhile, it looks like Kaine's life is over! Will Peter save his brother save him from his curse? Find out, in…
Next Time: Sibling Rivalry Part 2: The Final Hunt