WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Spider-Woman #9 by Karla Pacheco, Pere Pérez, Frank D'Armata & VC's Travis Lanham, on sale now.

Jessica Drew has been making a lot of poor decisions recently, but her latest one may be her worst. Due to the radiation sickness ravaging her body and the Marchand Serum affecting her mind, Spider-Woman has her priorities out of whack, to say the least. Her condition has led her to join forces with Octavia Vermis. Although Jessica herself was once a part of the villainous Hydra organization, Octavia is especially vicious and should not be handled carelessly.

Spider-Woman #2, by Karla Pacheco, Pere Pérez, Frank D'Armata and Travis Lanham, introduced Octavia Vermis to Jessica and the world. While Jessica sought out an extremely rare spider to help cure her illness, she encountered a formidable opponent going after the same spider -- Octavia. Octavia revealed she knew exactly who Jessica was and explained their sordid connection. Octavia is the daughter of Otto Vermis, a lecherous commander of Hydra who brainwashed Jessica and kept her in the fold of villains, even making her think she was a highly evolved spider instead of a human woman. When Jessica realized Otto's deception, she sought answers about her past but ended up killing him in a boat explosion.

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After a few different encounters, Octavia told a desperate Jessica that they could help one another out and cure Jessica of her illness. The two set out on a scavenger hunt for various ingredients for the supposed cure before heading to the secret lair of the High Evolutionary. Jessica was surprised to find the High Evolutionary there, but she was almost more surprised to meet Octavia's daughter Ophelia, who regarded the High Evolutionary like an uncle. While in his hideout, Jessica found that the High Evolutionary had cloned her mother several times as well as Octavia, creating Ophelia.

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The High Evolutionary's clones have a flaw where they need to be exposed to "the source" regularly or else they will decay. This keeps Octavia and Ophelia reliant on him. After creating a laser beam "cure" for Jessica, the High Evolutionary spoke his access code out loud -- just what Octavia had been waiting for. She had used Jessica's illness as a way in, Octavia was able to get what she needed to keep her daughter safe and attacked the High Evolutionary. Ophelia begged her mother not to kill him but Octavia asked Jessica to help her murder the villain, saying revenge against the man was better than just a cure. Jessica agreed and the two women killed the High Evolutionary. Clones of Jessica's mother attacked them and during the fight and Jessica was knocked into the laser beam that may or may not be her cure.

When Jessica opened her eyes again, they were no longer blue but the same shade of green as Octavia and Ophelia. In front of her, Ophelia attacked Octavia. The two exchanging blows before Octavia admitted that Ophelia was her only weakness and snapped the neck of her daughter. Watching the scene in horror, Jessica realized how vicious Octavia truly was. Both women were raised in pain and suffering to be molded into the ruthless fighters that they are. Jessica had worked the rest of her life trying to undo the damage of Hydra and start a family of her own. Octavia's life is a dark mirror version of Jessica's, showing a more disturbing path that Jessica could have taken. Now that the two are teamed up, it could be harder for Jessica to find the right path again.

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