Previously: Silkblade was revealed to be a Trojan fragment for the Unweaver, the entity corrupting the multiverse. Now, the Web-Core hunts for their sixth member — a Spider who renounced the web: Kaine Parker, the failed clone of Peter Parker.
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🌆 Location: Earth-TRN9009 — Brooklyn Wastes
Kaine sat alone on a rusting rooftop above a city that had long since stopped pretending to be alive.
No Avengers.
No heroes.
No hope.
Just silence and the red tint of a sickly sun forever caught in mid-fade.
His fingers traced a cracked photo. Gwen. Her eyes were always brighter than the world deserved.
He muttered, "You don't get to call me 'Spider-Man.' Not anymore."
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> 📘 SYSTEM ENGAGED
Target Acquired: Kaine Parker
Codename: The Lost Fang
Status: Disconnected from the Web
Compatibility: 82% (Dormant Potential)
> 🧠 DUMAS: "Well, if attitude was power, this guy would be cosmic-level. Still think we can recruit him?"
Peter landed softly behind Kaine, removing his mask. "I was hoping you'd be the easy one."
Kaine didn't turn.
"I told the Web to burn."
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🕷️ Dialogue Begins
Peter approached slowly. "You don't have to wear the suit again. Just listen."
Kaine's voice was hollow. "I've heard that before. From another you. From him." He jabbed a finger skyward. "The one who let Gwen die. The one who didn't stop the Jackal. The one who left me in the tank and forgot."
"I'm not him," Peter said.
Kaine turned. His face was scarred, jaw clenched. "But you look like him."
Peter didn't flinch. "And you're not the monster they made you out to be."
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Suddenly, the sky above them cracked.
A single thread — black and twitching — pierced the clouds.
The Unweaver had found them.
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⚔️ Combat Sequence: Kaine vs. Corrupted Gwen (Wraith Form)
A glowing figure descended in a blur of white and red — a twisted form of Gwen Stacy, her Spider-Woman suit warped into ghostly rags.
Her voice echoed like an old song played backwards:
"You let me fall."
Peter shouted, "Kaine — don't listen to it! It's not her!"
Kaine stepped forward, fists clenched. "Don't tell me what to feel."
He lunged — claws flashing — and struck the Wraith-Gwen in the chest, but his claws passed through her spectral form.
She giggled, distorted. "You think pain is enough? You think rage will rewrite fate?"
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Peter swung in and web-yanked Kaine back just before the Wraith lashed out with shadowy web-knives.
"Stop fighting alone!" Peter yelled. "You're not supposed to carry it all yourself."
Kaine roared, "I don't need a team. I don't deserve one."
America Chavez's portal opened nearby, and she stepped through with Wanda and Miguel.
Wanda extended her chaos magic toward the Wraith, but it only slowed the ghostly projection.
"She's a memory bound to pain," Wanda murmured. "Only he can break it."
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Peter turned to Kaine. "You want to suffer. I get it. But Gwen didn't die because you were weak. She died because we all broke — and now we're building something stronger. Something that matters."
Kaine looked down at his hand — at the same claws that once tore his enemies apart.
"...And what if I fail again?"
Peter extended his hand. "Then we fail together. But we don't stop."
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🧬 SYSTEM SYNC IN PROGRESS…
> User: Kaine Parker
Status: Accepted
Connection to Web of Life: Re-established
Codename Assigned: The Red Fang
> Trait Gained: Phantom Break — Strike that nullifies spectral/illusion-based entities
Web-Core Member #5 Acquired
Heroism +12
Emotional Stability: Fluctuating
Kaine stepped forward, claws glowing with real light now — the Web accepting him again.
He turned toward the Wraith. "You're not Gwen. You're the guilt I let fester."
He struck — and this time, the claws connected.
The Wraith screamed and shattered into red-glass shards.
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🕸️ Aftermath — Rooftop Silence
Kaine sat on the edge of the rooftop, staring at the city.
Peter sat beside him. "It's not about being a hero. It's about being there when it counts."
Kaine didn't smile, but his voice softened.
"I don't want to lead. Or inspire. I just want to hit things that deserve it."
Miguel smirked. "Good. You'll fit in perfectly."
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> 📘 SYSTEM UPDATE:
Web-Core Member Count: 5/7
Final Two Candidates:
➤ [REDACTED: Cosmic Thread Carrier]
➤ [REDACTED: The Spider Who Watches]
> Loom Signature Detected: 37% Unweaver Expansion
Multiversal Integrity: Cracking
Loomkeeper Remnants Found: Next Location — Earth-1999 (Sanctum Ruins)
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⚠️ Elsewhere — The Unweaver's Domain
Silkblade stood suspended in a void-web, eyes empty.
A twisted figure stepped forward — neither man nor beast — wearing fragments of every Spider's face.
The Unweaver whispered:
"He draws them together. Good. Let the web tighten. Then I will cut everything."