| “ | With great power must come great responsibility. With great power also comes the ability to rain down hell on those who prey on the weak, people who couldn't fight the monsters. To stop people like me. I think that's the way I'll go.
— Scarlet Spider
|
” |
One of many botched cloning experiments of Spider-Man, Kaine Parker was initially a mentally unstable assassin and criminal. Although kept alive as an experiment by his creator Miles Warren, Kaine eventually left Warren's services become a brutal assassin. Kaine's mental state deteroriated to the point that he sought to kill Ben Reily, another clone he believed to be the real Peter Parker. Kaine and Reily sparred multiple times, until Kaine was convinced by Mary Jane Watson to assist the other two Spider-Men. Kaine would go on to fight Spider-Man multiple times over the years, until he sacrificed his life for Spider-Man when Kraven tried to kill them.
During the events of Spider-Island, Kaine was resurrected and saved from his degenerative disease, making him fully aware and conscious of his actions. Seeking to finally retire for good, Kaine sought to flee from the United States to Mexico. While in the city of Houston, Kaine saved the young girl Aracely from human traffickers. In his conflict with the traffickers' leaders, Kaine came to see Houston as his responsibility and became the city's very own vigilante superhero Scarlet Spider.
Battle vs. Red Hood (by MovieStuff65)[]
Pulling down the navy blue hoodie that protected him from the rain, Kaine Parker cautiously stepped into a large, glass building. As he walked through the sleek, garish lobby of Ice-T Puppy Incorporated's main headquarters, a young girl with blond hair approaches him. "Are you Kaine?" she asks expectantly.
He nods, and Annabeth gestures for him to follow her. Several minutes later, they arrive in a much more rustic and tasteful room. Kaine glanced at the two men in dark blue, metallic armor, and slipped into a scowl. Even without that logo tattooed onto their uniforms, Kaine could recognize SHIELD Capekillers from a mile away. One of them lowered his rifle and put his hand in front of the door.
"Clearance?"
Annabeth clicks her tongue in annoyance as she sits back down at her desk. "He's good. Let him in."
Kaine glares at the security guards as they open the door, revealing a well-lit office and several people in mid-conversation.
"...Doom has taken control of most of them," a red-haired woman finishes saying as she eyes Kaine walking in. "Who is he?"
"Continue, Sister Nightingale," the young man sitting down, wearing a yellow domino mask and sipping on a bottle of beer. "He's new here - he wouldn't even know who to snitch to."
Leliana nodded as Kaine took a seat, carefully moving the grey wolf-like mask in his way.
"...As I was saying, others have split off into factions. Bane leads a cell in the slums, as does Ventress. Additionally, Corleone is waiting in the wings to see which way the wind blows, but he may be left alone for now."
Cfp nods, before gesturing to the door. "Thank you Sister Nightingale." He stands and opens the door, before pulling her close and whispering in her ear. She nods, slipping out the doorway. The third person in the room approaches Kaine, looking him over. "You sure he should've heard that?"
The user nods as he takes a seat. "Give us the room, Raiden. I'll call you if Kaine becomes a problem."
The cyborg nods and leaves the room. Kaine scoffs, burying his hands in his pockets. "Jesus, you people have a crazy city here."
"Tell me about it," Cfp says with a scoff, before presenting a folder to Kaine. He looks it over, taking note of the long wrap sheet of crimes, skills, and history. "So this is why you brought me here?"
Cfp takes a final gulp of his beverage, before tossing the bottle in a nearby recycling bin. "A close...acquaintance of mine has hired me to take out the Red Hood. He's a bit of a loose cannon even by criminal standards."
Kaine tossed the paper into the waste basket. "Why should I help you? I'm not a fan of being used by some bureaucrat who can't solve their own problems."
"Aside from a decent house and a cut of the profit?" Cfp turns his computer monitor to face Kaine, where a face eerily similar to his own looked back at him. "I can get you Ben Reily."
Spinning the Kris dagger in his hand, Jason Todd looks over a laundry list of who's who in DFederal's underworld. With the cops still wrangling in the rest of the Wolves and the heroes kissing the pigs' boots, making his move on Penguin was simple and quick. A couple dozen bullets in his men and a crowbar to the face had sent the fat bastard scurrying uptown. Jason knew he'd eventually come kicking back, but if he did he'd find the Iceberg Lounge's clientele much colder to him.
A knock on his door interrupted his train of thought. Placing his crimson, metallic helmet over his head, Jason turned around. "Come in."
A buff and handsome blond-haired man enters his office, tipping his cowboy hat at his new boss.
"Status report."
"What?"
"That's why you're in here, isn't it?"
"Oh, well not really. Anyway, not much of an update, boss," Hol Horse said. "Trevelyan is throwing his lot in with you, same with Bane and his crew."
"And what about the rest of Cobblepot's pals?"
"Those that ain't caught up in all that civil war nonsense gone underground. Same with all the high-rollers like Corleone and The Greek. Those boys had this city carved up nice and clean before you stepped in, and they're letting Penguin deal with shit on his own."
Hood nodded, crossing his arms and staring expectantly at Hol Horse. "Can I help ya, boss?"
"You said you didn't come in for a status report. What is it you did want?"
"Oh, right," Hol Horse stammered. "The talent just showed up. Told 'im ta wait by the stage, and I'd come fetch ya." Hol Horse says, taking a drag of his cigarette. Hood nods and the two exit his office.
On stage, a young man looks up from his phone as the two men arrive. He casually strides off the stage, leaping down and offering a hand. "Gotta say Red- like what you've done with the place. Much less tacky compared to Pointy's style."
Hood smirked under his helmet as he took Damien Marcato's hand. "Glad to see you approve of it. How's Markus?"
"He's doing good. We just got a house up in the White Collar. Amazing what you can get away with with nothing but a wink and a smile," Damien says as they sit at a nearby booth. Hood lets out a grunt of a laugh, leaning back. Damien raises his eyebrow, and pouts. "Straight to business? Where's the foreplay?"
Hood shrugs and snaps his fingers, and Hol Horse pulls out a contract. "I'm a busy man Damien. Unfortunately, not everyone's been as cool with the new management as you."
Damien shrugs. "What can I say? Struggling musicians don't get to be picky about who pays the bills."
"I'll pay the same rate as Cobblepot did, plus a little extra for picking the right side. Sound fair?"
The singer nods, and the two men shake on it. Hood removes the helmet on his face, and beckons to the bar. "Now how about that drink?"
Looking down on the Iceberg Lounge, Scarlet Spider observed the front door as three men walked outside. He recognized his target, Red Hood, as the leaner of the two. Activating the invisibility function of his suit, Scarlet Spider slung a web across the night sky to get a closer look.
"You should invite Markus here one night. I'm sure he'd get a kick out of it," Red Hood said as Damien began walking away. From the corner of his eye, he hears a distinct crack in the air, barely noticeable. Subtly placing a hand on his holster, Hood turns around to look for the source of the sound. Seeing nothing in front or around him, Hood grunts before walking back inside his club.
Scarlet Spider sighs in relief from above, gracefully landing where Hood had just been standing. Confident in his suit's stealth function, Scarlet Spider quietly snuck in through the door. Just as he crossed inside, he could hear the unmistakable click of a safety being turned off.
"I don't blame you for thinking you were in the clear," Red Hood said as he held his pistol to Scarlet Spider's head. "It's a textbook play for us costumed freaks, realizing how often people just don't look up."
"How can you even see me?"
"Did you think the helmet's just for show?" Hood taunted. "Let me guess- Cobblepot sent you. Tell him if he wants this place back, he's gonna have to waddle-"
Scarlet Spider quickly crouched and launched a web at Hood's chest, yanking him forward. Todd unholstered his second pistol as he fired the first . Scarlet effortlessly dodged each bullet. leaping over the shots and landing behind Todd. A quick kick sent the criminal flying through the air and into his club, where he crashed into a nearby table.
"Ouch." Hood groaned as he sat up, aiming his pistols at Scarlet Spider. Whoever this guy was, he had a kick like Kori. No way he could take him out up-close. The clone lunged forward before Hood could get his aim, forcing him to roll to the side to avoid getting pummeled. Hood fired a series of shots at Scarlet Spider, who quickly launched himself into the air and crawled along the wall.
Hood stopped firing to reload, only to feel his hand get caught in webbing as Scarlet Spider shot a bolo web at him. The gun was knocked out of his hand as the projectile launched him arm into a wall, trapping it. Hood holstered his second pistol as Scarlet Spider honed in on him.
"Just give up, kid. You're not gonna beat me." Scarlet Spider grabbed Red Hood by the collar, and shoved his hand into his shoulder. Hood let out a scream of pain as the Mark of Kaine burned into his arm.
"I don't need to beat you," Hood taunted. "People like me are basically walking armories, after all."
The taser in Hood's uniform launched out of his chest, sending a jolt of electricity into Scarlet Spider. He grunts in pain and leaps back, giving Hood the space needed to pull out his knife. He slashes apart the webbing, and swings a fist into Scarlet Spider's face. The blow sends Scarlet Spider reeling back, exposing his chest for Hood to thrust his knife forward.
Scarlet Spider flips backwards, slamming his foot into Hood's head as he falls back. Hood's helmet cracks under the strength of Scarlet Spider's blow, and Hood's HUD fades out. "You son of a bitch..." he mutters, taking off the helmet and pulling the pin on smoke grenade. The mist steadily overtakes the room as the two men glare at each other.
Scarlet Spider takes a moment to catch his breath, looking at Hood's face for the first time before it disappears in the haze. "You're a lot younger than I thought. What's the matter, mad you can't fill daddy's shoes?"
Hood yells and chucks the helmet at Scarlet Spider. The clone can't help but laugh. "How mature of you. And I thought Parker was-"
Scarlet Spider's words are interrupted by an explosion as the helmet explodes. In a daze of confusion, Scarlet starts to rise only for a bone-crunching blow to shatter against his knee. Screaming in pain, Scarlet Spider barely has the concentration to grab the crowbar swinging towards his face.
Ripping the weapon out of Hood's grip, Scarlet Spider leaps forward and thrusts his hand at Hood's face. His hand burning with the Mark of Kaine, Scarlet Spider grips Hood's face. Before he can turn up the heat, Scarlet Spider stops short as he feels a sharp pain in his chest. He lets out a gasp in shock, as Hood casually pulls his dagger out of Scarlet Spider's gut. He thrusts into Scarlet Spider's chest again, feeling a satisfying lack of tension as it slides between his ribs.
Scarlet Spider falls back, bleeding, as Red Hood gingerly rubs his jaw. "You're dying anyway," he says, grabbing Scarlet Spider by the collar of his costume. Hood rips off the mask and tosses it aside. "Just tell me who sent you, and I won't have to drag it out."
This elicits a laugh from Kaine, who just spits in Hood's face. "Pfft, I've been dead before. Nothing you can do that'll make it worse."
Hood tosses Scarlet Spider into a nearby wall, before grabbing his fallen pistol. "Fair enough." Hood says, firing his pistol point blank into Scarlet Spider's head.
The clone snaps forward, before sagging down onto the ground, dead.
Jason feebly grabs a nearby table for support, relaxing his muscles as he hears Hol Horse approach. "What in tarnation?" the cowboy asks, seeing the corpse on the ground and his boss taking deep breaths.
"Give Damien a call and let him know tonight's cancelled," Hood starts, steadying himself as he walks to his office. "Get a cleanup crew to fix this place up, and-" Todd stops, cracking his sore neck. "Get a doctor."
Expert's Opinion[]
Many believed that despite Kaine's far greater physical strength and speed, he didn't bring the right mental versatility to go up against Red Hood. The former Robin was able to keep up with Kaine thanks to his training and experience against metahumans, while his hard-hitting arsenal and tactical know-how were able to present challenges to the Spider-clone that didn't have an answer to.