Spider-Man #66

Issue Details

Synopsis

THE RETURN OF KAINE PART 4 - END GAME Spider-Man uses the spider-tracer he planted on Muse in order to track her and Kaine down after their recent clash with members of the Great Game. The wall-crawler insists on turning Kaine over to the police, who are now surrounding the alley they are in. However, Kaine has no intentions of being incarcerated and uses his wall-clinging abilities to bring one of the alley walls down, separating Spider-Man from his foes. While Kaine and Muse easily force their way out of one side of the alley, on the other, Spider-Man has to deal with officers who want to arrest him for stealing a skeleton out of the city morgue. Upon making their escape, a police officer tries to shoot Muse, but Kaine takes the bullet for her. Still, the couple getaway, and Kaine realizes that he is starting to develop feelings for Muse. This causes him to remember his last lover, Louise Kennedy. However, he also remembers how Louise betrayed him and he killed her as a result.  By this point, Kaine has decided that he is fed up of being manipulated by the Great Game and tells Muse to lead him to their headquarters so he and shut them down personally.   This headquarters happens to be the corporate headquarters owned by James Johnsmeyer, who at that moment is on a conference call with other bidders in the game. While at the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson has called in Joe Robertson, Ben Urich, Angela Yin, and Ken Ellis. He wants to know what they have on the stolen skeleton story. When they all respond with silence, Jonah chews them out and sends them out of his office. He decides to call someone who can get to the bottom of this story. After he places the call, he begins making arrangements to have this person brought in to New York City. Meanwhile, Kaine attacks the Johnsmeyer building activating its rooftop defenses. Although he destroys the weapons, his gunshot wound starts bleeding again. As Muse is checking out his wound, she notices that his face is bleeding as well. She convinces him to take off his mask, something Kaine is reluctant to do so because of his cellular degeneration. However, she is not repulsed by his features and feels he has a strong face. That's when Kaine has one of his precognitive flash that shows Muse dead with the Mark of Kaine on her face. This horrifies and enrages Kaine who decides that this all needs to end and rips open the roof of the building to get at James Johnsmeyer. However, before he leaps into the building, Spider-Man stops him with a webbing net. However, this causes them to fall inside the building anyway. There Spider-Man, Muse, and Kaine are being observed by Johnsmeyer and his colleagues who are watching from massive television screens. It's here that Johnsmeyer reveals that Muse has been working from him and manipulating Kaine this whole time. However, Muse has genuinely grown to care for Kaine and renounces her allegiance to James.   Hearing this angers Kaine and he decides that muse has to die. However, as he approaches the woman, Spider-Man tries to stop him and is knocked aside. However, the wall-crawler convinces Kaine that killing Muse is exactly what Johnsmeyer and the others want. Vowing never to be manipulated again, Kaine decides to spares Muse and trashes the monitor screens. Even though the crisis is over, Spider-Man insists on turning Kaine over to the authorities. However, Kaine refuses to surrender to the wall-crawler. However, Muse blasts the wall-crawler stunning him long enough for her to blow a hole in the side of the building. She apologizes to Kaine for tricking him and admits that she fell in love with him, but it is too late to repair the damage she has done. She then leaps out of the building, prompting Spider-Man to save her with his webbing. This, of course, was all part of Muse's plan to distract Spider-Man long enough for Kaine to make his escape.   The next day, J. Jonah Jameson is informed that his 11 o'clock meeting has arrived and welcomes Peter Parker and his wife Mary Jane.