The Final Chapter story arc saw Norman Osborn disappear into obscurity once again. And when Norman is off in obscurity, the nut-jobs seem to come out of the wood work trying to exploit or deride him. The Cabal of Scrier is revisited in the Amazing Spider-Man 2000 Annual, but this time it is not the Scrier members loyal to Osborn. Rather, a younger splinter sect aimed at removing Norman's influence from the ancient mystical cult.
The story begins with Spider-Man perched high upon a water tower looking down upon the city. His gazing is interrupted by a scream coming from the penthouse apartment of Liz and Normie Osborn. When Spidey arrives at their home, he finds a group of armed thugs who are after Liz and her son. He quickly dismantles the thugs, but when he approaches Liz to see if she is okay, she screams for him to leave, blaming him for the trouble she consistently finds herself in. As Liz is telling Spider-Man to "just leave", a shirtless, pony-tailed, albino skin-toned figure waltzes into the room whom Spidey dubs 'Scrier Jr.' This Scrier is only interested in Normie Osborn claiming that he "requires the boy" and of course Spider-Man is not going to let that happen. The two square off and the Scrier bests Spidey and convinces the young Osborn that he is superior to the wall crawler and that he can protect him from the man who killed his father. The Scrier takes off with Normie and Spider-Man is soon on his tail, but along the way he runs into an old friend, Harry Osborn! Its not really Harry though, it appears to be some sort of apparition and Spidey is convinced that he's hallucinating. As the Harry apparition assures Spider-Man that he is the real deal, the Scrier has Normie in his custody as he unveils the reason for this kidnapping. This rebel Scrier loathes Norman Osborn and blames him for destroying the "purity" of the cabal and for sending it on a "tainted, foul path." He tried to create a younger order of the cabal but the old guard remained loyal to Osborn and forced him out. He now has Normie in his possession and has plans for Norman's imminent return.
Spider-Man is able to eventually track down the Scrier and after handing him a solid beat down, the Harry-holograph appears and provides an explanation for his existence. He was created by the rebel Scrier who used computer technology experts to gather every bit of information regarding Harry's life to form this holograph. They wanted to use this Harry as bait to get Normie, then they wanted Normie to kill his grandfather. The Harry-holograph then helps Spider-Man to remove the gauntlets from the Scrier, which are the source of his power and he also informs young Normie Osborn that Spider-Man had nothing to do with his death. In one last attempt to capture Normie, the Scrier grabs the young Osborn, but as he backs away with the child, a shadowed figure grabs him and snaps his neck. Spider-Man searches the building to see who this mysterious figure was, but he cannot find him. The insinuation from the story is that it could have been Norman himself, or even a dedicated Scrier.
The developments of Brand New Day put this story into interesting context considering that Harry never actually died from the Goblin Formula during Spectacular Spider-Man #200. Could he possibly have been the mysterious figure? Also, in the realm of continuity flubs, in one of the flashback scenes involving Harry/Peter/Green Goblin, Peter states that he and Harry were "friends through high school." This, of course, is incorrect as Peter did not meet Harry until he enrolled in college at Empire State University.
| The rebel Scrier promises to protect Normie Osborn from any harm caused by Spider-Man, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man 2000 Annual
Peter erroneously states that he and Harry "were friends through high school", as seen in Amazing Spider-Man 2000 Annual The Harry-holograph appears to Spider-Man as Spidey is convinced that this is just another one of the numerous traps set for him by his enemies, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man 2000 Annual
Scrier Junior discusses his reasons for hating Osborn and his influence on the Scrier Cabal, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man 2000 Annual A mysterious figure kills the rebel Scrier, freeing Normie Osborn, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man 2000 Annual |