Post by Stardrifter on May 12, 2015 22:54:46 GMT -5
by
Stardrifter
PREVIOUSLY IN THE SPECTACULAR SCARLET SPIDER AND THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN!
Peter Parker and his clone, now going again by the name Ben, discover the cloning lab. After a battle with the security guards, Dr. Anton Sevarius is killed and a mutated clone Man-Spider is released. Running on instinct, it heads straight for Aunt May's home. Ben and Peter manage to stop the beast, but not before the events cause Aunt May to have a heart attack.
At the hospital, Aunt May will recover, but despite Peter's assertion that Ben is welcome with them, he decides it's best for everyone if he moves on from the life that was never his.
#6 - You Can't Go Home Again
The streets of New York City are teeming with life as the morning rush moves into full force. Taxi cabs fly down the street, only stopping for the occasional hail. Pedestrians walk shoulder to shoulder along the sidewalk, everyone in their own little world as they head for their various destinations.
Ben wanders though the crowd, his head hung low, so lost in his own mind that he allows himself to be swept along the current of people. Having ditched the torn up Spider-Man costume, he's once again clad in his red long sleeved shirt and sleeveless blue hoodie. The web shooters from Peter are shoved in his pockets.
He can't remember the last time he slept. His mind and body are exhausted from the events of the previous night. The worst part of all was having to walk away from Aunt May and Peter. It was the hardest thing he's ever had to do, especially with Aunt May in her condition, but his presence could only make it worse. How could they ever explain his existence to her? Worse yet, what if she didn't accept him?
No, better to walk away. He's not Peter Parker. He's accepted that now. That life is no longer his, no matter what memories he has. Despite the ache in his chest, a very small part of him is glad to have the weight of the old life off his shoulders. There's a small feeling of freedom.
Ben's head snaps up suddenly as his Spider-Sense goes off. He leaps back just in time to avoid being hit by a car, having wander out into the street. The crowd all stare at him with a mix of pity and disgust, an opinion not helped by his filthy and torn clothes.
The surge of adrenaline clears Ben's mind. He looks up and takes a deep breath, taking in his surroundings. It's a bright, warm day and the city has never looked so good. What's a clone to do in New York City with a whole new life ahead of him?
The crowd passes around him, continuing on as Ben stands still, taking in all his options. Where will he go? What will he do? There's so much to consider, but it's all pushed aside when something occurs to him.
"Shit. The Morlocks."
The events at the Scarab Corporation seem like an eternity ago, but it was just last night. He freed his friends and they scattered, but he hadn't given them a second thought since. No matter what he did with his new found life, he owed it to them to make sure they're okay.
After walking a couple blocks, Ben finds a sewer entrance he is reasonably certain he can find the Morlock lair from. After inconspicuously ducking down through the manhole, Ben crawls up onto the ceiling and makes his way through the dark.
It isn't long before he finds them. Only one guard is posted, and she looks like she can barely stand. She struggles to raise her hand, electricity crackling along her finger tips, as Ben approaches.
"Whoa, it's just me," Ben says, leaping to the ground and raising his hands. "Ben."
"Ben?" he hears a familiar voice call out. Soon Callisto is there, putting a hand on the guards shoulder to stand her down. "Where've you been?"
"It's a long story," Ben mutters as he walks inside. Their ranks are still low, many Morlocks having yet to return in fear. The bodies of the dead, friend and foe alike, are piled up in the corner, little other option available. Many of the mutants are injured, huddled in the center of the room.
Callisto narrows her eye, sensing something more is going on, but she leaves it alone for now. "Not everyone has made it back yet. Have you...have you seen Marrow?"
Ben bites his lip for a moment, unsure what to say. There's too much to tell. If he starts it will all come spilling out, and there are more pressing concerns. He can't take his eyes off the injured mutants huddled together. Some of them look like they're dying.
"She's fine," Ben assures her before changing the subject. "We need to get them to a hospital."
"No," Callisto snaps, so sudden and fierce that Ben turns to look at her with a puzzled expression.
"But," Ben begins before moving in close and whispering, "some of them are gonna die without a doctor."
"I said no doctors!" Callisto shouts. It sends a wave of fear through the other Morlocks, as Ben hears many of them start echoing Callisto's feelings.
Realization dawns on Ben and he turns to address the group. "Look, I know many of you must have had...bad experiences with doctors. But you guys need help. You must see that. Would you rather die than go see a doctor?"
The grumbles of the crowd give a pretty definitive yes. Ben puts his face in his hand and sighs. He's so tired he doesn't know what to think. He's so tired of doing everything the hard way. They need medical attention and no one is willing to go see a doctor.
Ben lifts his head up, a thought racing through his mind. "What if I bring a doctor here?" Ben asks. "Just one doctor and some supplies. That way we can be in control."
There's some uncertain mumbles, but it's the best response he's gotten yet. Callisto asks, "You know someone you can trust? A doctor who will come down into the sewers and treat us freaks?"
Ben smiles. "I think I do."
****
The New York skyline is warm as Ben webslings through the air. So warm that he starts to get uncomfortable in his outfit. Before leaving he grabbed a red t-shirt and put it over his head, tying the sleeves in the back so that only his eyes are visible through the neck hole. It's a crude mask, but he has little choice if he wants to protect Peter's identity, and time is of the essence.
It doesn't take him long to find the clinic he told Callisto about in the Bronx. Set in the bottom floor of a run down apartment building, there's a line out the door of people looking for medical attention. From the look of it, it's mostly poor and homeless people.
It's been some time since Peter's memory of being here, though to him it was only a few weeks, so Ben whispers his hope that they didn't change things as he crawls down the side of the building.
He sneaks a peak into one of the windows on the first floor. No one is in the examination room. Using his strength to snap the locks, Ben opens the window and crawls inside. Once in, he takes the t-shirt off his head, throwing it on his shoulder, and lifts his hood to help obscure his face.
Using his Spider-Sense to help avoid detection, Ben sneaks through the hallways of the clinic, searching. Fortunately it doesn't take him long to find what he's looking for. Making sure no one is looking, Ben silently turns the handle on an office door and rushes inside.
"I'm sorry for busting in on you Doctor..."
"How did you get in here?" the olive skinned woman standing next to her desk shouts. She drops the files in her hands and reaches out, grabbing Ben by his hoodie.
"Whoa whoa whoa, hold on a second!" Ben shouts, holding up his hands in shock. His Spider-Sense didn't go off, meaning she's not trying to hurt him, but her sudden aggressive reaction to an intruder surprises him. "I need your help, Doctor Reyes." The doctor peers up at Ben's face, her eyebrow raised behind her glasses. "Please, Doc. There are people dying."
"You've got to be kidding me," she mumbles under her breath as she lets him go. She steps away and reaches up to pull her dreadlocks behind her head. "You have two minutes."
"Great. Thank you. I'm, uh, Ben. Sorry about...you know, sneaking in. I just..." Ben stops rambling when he sees the doctor cross her arms and tap her foot. "So yeah. Did you hear about the fire at the Scarab Corporation last night?"
"Yes," she says in a skeptical voice. "Did you..."
"No! Well...yes. Kinda." Ben rubs the back of his neck. "Look it's a long story that I'll try to sum up. There's a group of mutants living in the sewers under New York. Outcasts. The Scarab Corporation was experimenting on them. They sent a bunch of mercenaries into the sewers, killing some and kidnapping others. They got out last night and fled back into the sewers, but many of them are sick or injured. They're gonna die without help and they, kinda understandably, are afraid to go to the hospital. It was all I could do to convince them to let me try to bring a doctor down. So...can you come with me to the sewer to help them? Please?"
Doctor Reyes stands there, her arms crossed, staring at Ben for what seems like an eternity. Ben has stared down criminals, cyborgs, lizardmen, and more, yet the look in this woman's eyes makes him want to crawl under a table and hide.
"Okay, I'm going to call security," Doctor Reyes finally says, walking around her desk to grab the phone.
"No, Doc! Please!" Ben pleads, holding the phone down with his hand. "Look I know it's crazy. I know how I look. I know how I...smell," Ben mumbles, taking a whiff of himself to realize for the first time just how bad it's gotten. "But these people took me in when I needed help. They're scared and alone, shunned by society. And they're going to die without help. I owe them."
Ben feels her grip loosen on the phone, so he lets go and takes a step back. "I remember reading a story a while back about how you opened this clinic. Coming here in your spare time to help those who couldn't afford help elsewhere. I remember the controversy over you taking in mutants too. I knew if anyone would help, it'd be you. Please."
Truth is Ben didn't just read the article, but it was one of the first jobs J.Jonah Jameson offered Peter Parker after he started working as a photographer for the Daily Bugle. Ben remembers being impressed with Doctor Reyes' passionate speech about helping not only the poor and homeless, but mutants as well.
"All right," Doctor Reyes says, taking her hand off the phone. "All right. Let me come up with an excuse and we'll go."
"Really?" Ben asks, both happy and surprised she's going along with it.
"Really," Doctor Reyes says as she walks past him. "Stay here and I'll be back shortly."
After she closes the door behind her, Ben lets out a sigh of relief. He turns to lean on her desk, rapping his knuckles on it in triumph. "I did it! Heh. Of course I did it. I am a hero, after all. I...oh I hope she's not calling the police right now...Doc?"
****
"Oh my God this is the most revolting smell I've ever encountered," Doctor Reyes says as she trudges through the murky sewer water. "And I've worked in the ER. You know how many patients shit themselves when they're injured?"
Ben grumbles but bites his tongue. As happy as he is for her help, he was sick of her complaining two tunnels ago. Rather than get into an argument, he just readjusts the bags over his shoulders and continues on. They aren't heavy, for him, but making it seem like they are is a strain in itself.
"How much farther?" Doctor Reyes asks for the fourth time.
"We're just about there, Doc."
"Cecilia," she corrects him. She had asked him during the car ride to call her by name. He's not a patient and doing this off the books work makes the title seem wrong right now.
"Sure, Doc," Ben says. It's a small victory, but it makes up for the complaining.
They round the corner to find not the single guard from before, but four now. At the sight of Cecilia the four jump to attention, like there was a bee buzzing around them.
"Guys it's okay," Ben says, waving a hand to tell them to stand down. "This is Doctor Reyes. She's here to help."
They step aside but lock all eyes on Cecilia as she goes by. She walks through them, her head held high, without a moment's hesitation.
"This is your Doctor?" Callisto asks after they enter. She idly spins a dagger through her fingers, a not so subtle sign to their less than welcome guest.
"Cecilia Reyes," Cecilia answers, holding her hand out. "You must be Callisto?"
Callisto eyes the offered hand but makes no move to take it. "Must be."
"I told you they were great," Ben snarks after dropping the bags of supplies in a heap. "Trust me, guys. She's here to help."
Cecilia finally looks over to the gathered injured. Ben follows her gaze. It looks like more of the Morlocks have made their way back since he left. Including more injured.
"Where do you even start?" Ben asks.
"Does anyone here have any kind of medical experience?" Cecilia asks, her tone strong and authoritative. She takes her stethoscope out of her coat and places it around her neck.
"I used to be a nurse," an old lady changing the bandages on a bleeding boy answers.
"I was studying to be a dentist," a young man with red scales up his arms says.
"Well that'll have to do. Come with me."
Ben watches as Cecilia starts in on the injured Morlocks. It's quick an efficient at first. She assesses them with cold calculation, having the cases beyond help moved aside so she can focus on the ones who still have a chance.
"You sure she can be trusted?" Callisto asks, walking up behind Ben.
"She's a doctor. She treats the poor and homeless, including mutants."
"She also came into the sewers, alone, with a smelly homeless man she just met," Callisto says. Ben would object to the description if it weren't true. "Why would a pretty little thing like her do that?"
"Because I have a trustworthy face?" Ben smiles. Callisto simply rolls her eye. "Believe me, I've thought about it. There's something about her. She's fearless. It's...strange. I'm keeping an eye on her."
"You do that," Callisto says, turning toward him. "Now do you want to talk?"
"About?"
"About whatever happened up there? Your long story."
Ben sighs and rubs his face with his hand. His weariness finally catches up with him. He starts to sway on his feet until Callisto puts a hand on his shoulder. "I don't know. There's so much. I...well I remember who I am now."
"All of it?" Callisto asks, intrigued.
"Yeah, all of it. And I found out it's a life I can never go back to. There's nothing for me anymore."
"And now you wonder if it was worth discovering in the first place?" Callisto asks, squeezing his shoulder. It's a surprisingly affectionate gesture for her.
"Pretty much," Ben sighs. "I mean, in the end I'm probably glad. I don't know if I could have handled never knowing the truth. Always having questions with no answers. But...well when I had questions there was always the chance the answers were good."
"And not anymore?"
"No. No, not really. You can't go home again, as they say."
Offering only a grunt, Callisto turns back to watching Cecilia. She knows when to back off. Ben's not the first Morlock to have secrets. Probably not even the worst.
They watch in silence as Cecilia goes about her work. She moves systematically through the group, assessing each patient, administering the care needed or ordering the others to, then moving on as quickly as possible to the next. All the while she scribbles notes down in a small notepad. Finally, after making her initial findings, she walks over to Ben and Callisto.
"I'm doing all I can," she offers, using her sleeve to wipe sweat from her brow. "Fortunately the injuries are more minor than not. There are some...well there are three that can't be helped. And two more who won't make it unless we get them to a hospital. I told them and...they refuse to go."
Ben coughs uncomfortably but remains silent. He looks over to Callisto, who simply crosses her arms and says, "Better than I expected. What now?"
Cecilia's face drops, shocked at Callisto's cold demeanor. Accepting it's a pointless battle, she continues. "I'll do what I can for the rest, but I need more supplies," Cecilia explains, tearing off a sheet of paper from her notepad. "I need someone to get these from my clinic. It'll be closed at this point, but I can provide my key and alarm code."
"I'll go," Ben offers, happy for something to do. "I know the way and I can make it the fastest."
"Are you sure," Callisto asks. "You look like you're going to fall down dead."
"I've got this," Ben assure her. Truth is he doubts he could sleep right now even if he tried.
Cecilia writes her alarm code down and hands him the list and her key. "I'd say call me if you need any help finding anything, but I don't think I'll get any reception down here."
"I think I got it," Ben smiles, quickly reading the list. "I'll be back in an hour. Hour and a half tops."
****
The sky is dark but for the slight orange glow in the distance when Ben finally steps out of the clinic, a large duffel bag hanging from his shoulder. After locking the door, he starts to walk toward the alley to climb onto the roof as inconspicuously as possible.
Just as Ben finishes tying his t-shirt around his face, a strange sound comes from out on the street. It's reminds Ben of the sound from Inception everyone uses in their movie trailers now. When it's immediately followed by an explosion, Ben rushes back out of the alley.
Down the street Ben sees the parked car now up in flames. The explosion knocked it halfway into the street, blocking traffic. A crowd begins to form as passerbys try to see what's going on. They flee in panic after a second explosion erupts.
Ben pushes his way through the fleeing people, the only person running toward the exploding cars. As he gets closer he sees a masked figure leap up onto an SUV. His mask is yellow and brown, with a strange x pattern of ridges covering it. A black trenchcoat covers the rest of him.
He raises his arms up, pointing his fists at the roof of a limousine in front of him. There's a slight distortion in the air, followed by the strange sound, and the roof of the limo is torn clean off. The blast, which Ben assumes came from the masked man's fists, creates small tears all over his trenchcoat.
"All right, Xanatos," the masked man says, his voice deep and gravely. He leaps down into the limo and grabs another man by the jacket. "You're coming with me."
"This isn't some weird Tinder thing is it?" Ben quips as he swings, feet first, into the masked man. They fly out of the limo and land on the sidewalk. "I'll admit I'm behind the times a bit, but I think there are easier ways to find a date."
The masked man rolls away and gets up on one knee. He doesn't even break stride, no shock or surprise at being attacked, and raises his fists to blast Ben. Ben leaps into the air, contorting his body to barely escape the blast, which then slams into the back of the limo.
"Shit," the masked man grumbles.
"Hey watch where you point those things," Ben shouts from a lamp post. He fires a web at the man's left arm. He catches his trenchcoat sleeve, pulling hard and sending the masked man spinning. "You'll shoot yer eye out, kid!"
The masked man stops himself spinning and points his right arm at Ben. Ben moves to fire another web, but all that comes out is an oozing foam. "Uh oh."
The blast sends Ben careening into the building across the street. He slams into the brick face and falls to the ground. It takes him a moment to recover his breath. He moans as he takes the duffel bag off his shoulder, dropping it on the sidewalk.
"Now where were we, Davey?" the masked man asks, taking his trenchcoat off. His skintight outfits is yellow with the same x pattern, save for brown boots, gloves, and open vest like design on his chest. Over his brown gloves are metallic gauntlets.
"Davey?" Ben asks as he leaps over the limo, slamming his fist into the masked man's chest. "My name's not Davey. Are you seeing other super heroes behind my back?"
The masked man opens fire on Ben, who leaps away from every blast. Chunks of sidewalk fly into the air, breaking windows. "Super hero? What do they call you, the Hopping Homeless Man?"
"Ah! He quips!" Ben runs along the building to avoid the continuing blasts. "A crazed maniac after me own heart!" Suddenly he leaps off, lunging toward the masked man. He avoids the first punch, but Ben's follow up kick knocks him into a parked car.
"So from simple observation, I'm guessing your gauntlets cause the air to vibrate in a high frequency. So what do they call you, the Vibrator? Heh heh." Ben goes to web the masked man to the car, only to remember too late he's out of web fluid.
"They call me the Shocker!"
Ben flips backward to avoid the blast, landing on the building behind him. "Vibrator? Shocker? Either way I'd say you're compensating for something. Is this about Tinder again?"
"Shut. Up." Shocker says through gritted teeth, continuing to fire at Ben.
Leaping off the building, Ben lands about five feet from Shocker. When Shocker fires another blast, Ben flips upside down into the air, grabs a chunk of concrete that flies up after him, and chucks it at Shocker. It hits him square in the stomach, bowling him over.
Rushing over, Ben slams his foot down on Shocker's left gauntlet. He cries out in pain and sparks fly from the crushed machine. Before Ben can break the other one, Shocker kicks him in the back. It doesn't hurt Ben, but it causes him to stumble forward a step.
"Why you little..."
Suddenly Shocker blasts the front of the limo, causing it to spin on the street. A fire erupts from the engine, so Ben runs over to check for passengers. He grabs the unconscious blond man from the driver's seat and then grabs the man in the back before leaping to safety. When the dust settles from the explosion, Ben can't see Shocker anywhere.
"Way to let the bad guy escape," Ben mutters to himself.
"You saved my life," a voice says from behind Ben. He turns to see a face anyone in the city would recognize, David Xanatos. "That's what's important."
Despite some grime and dirt from the attack, Xanatos holds himself with both authority and composure. He stands a little over six feet tall and has long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. A sharply trimmed goatee adorns a face that, despite being in his thirties, could pass for early twenties.
"I suppose you're right," Ben replies. He hears sirens in the distance, so he rushes over to where he left the duffel bag of supplies.
"Where are you going?" Xanatos asks, following behind him. "You just saved my life."
"Uh huh."
"And you know who I am, right?"
"Uh huh."
"So let me repay you for it," Xanatos offers with a grin. His words drip with charm. "Surely there's something I can do for you."
Ben throws the duffel bag over his shoulder and spins around, pointing a finger in Xanatos' face. "Don't ever call me Shirley!" Without another word, he leaps up onto a building and crawls to the top. The trip back to the Morlocks is going to be hell without web fluid.
"Well you know where to find me!" Xanatos calls out after Ben. "If you need anything! Just ask!"
Xanatos watches Ben go, a smile on his face. The blond driver finally walks up to stand beside him, rubbing the back of his head.
"That went well, Owen," Xanatos tells him in a satisfied tone.
"Exactly as planned," Owen replies in his monotone voice.
Emergency vehicles begin pulling up to the scene. Xanatos leans in close to Owen and lowers his voice. "Remind me to offer Mr. Schultz the next job fitting his skills. It's a shame this has to hurt his reputation. Have contract cancelled."
"Of course, sir. So what now?"
"Now, Owen, we start phase two." A news crew pulls up onto the scene and storms over before the police can set up a barricade. Owen moves in front of Xanatos, intending to keep them from his employer, but Xanatos waves him aside. He straightens his jacket and puts his patented smile on his face, preparing to dazzle his audience. He quickly leans to Owen and whispers, "Send the package."
-To Be Continued-