Ben Reilly

With Great Power

Ben dashed through the tables off a small Manhattan diner. His feet stomped the greasy floor, as both of his hands held together a plate "Whoa- Careful! Comin' through!" He'd quickly apologize as he used the best of himself to either not fall face-first to the floor or bump into a patron. It was a busy day. As always. Times Square does that! As soon as he reaches the counter, he gently puts the plate there and sighs in relief

"'Nother tough day, Benny?"

"Huh?" Ben looked over his shoulder, giving a half-smile and a nod at the manager, using his right wrist to rinse his blonde locks off his sweat "I'm alright."

"You're doing good, kiddo. Just remember to take out the trash before you end your shift, alright?"

He let a small frown slip on his features, then simply nodded and shrugged "Okay, no problem."

"That's my boy." He'd give him a toothy grin and a wink, and head back into the kitchen. Ben watched him, then walked back to the counter to wash all the dirty dishes and the cups. Several drops of sweat came off his face, his hands tired only after 15 minutes of doing just that. They felt like they were boiling, his hands. The tip of the fingers were all droopy and disgusting. Made him cringe as he looked at them "...Ugh..."

"Yo, kid! What the hell are you doin'?" One of the other workers asked, making his way closer to Ben. He walked with a hunch, his drippy, fat and stubby cheeks already parting to shout

"I'm... washing the dishes, obviously..." Ben responded with a flick of his brow, in confusion

"You wanna' be a smart-ass? I told you to take care of these five minutes ago!"

"And I am?... Clearly?" Ben pauses, then pulls his hands out of the sink, and holds them up "Seriously, dude. Try tic-tacs. Man..." Ben would fake a sigh, and side-step to walk past him. Hated that guy. Always shouted and for some reason thought he was in charge. Whatever. Ben grabbed a nearby towel, and dried his hands off, heading into the kitchen. Trash took out. Job done. Shift ended. He was -out- of there!

As fast as he could, he took off, putting on his hood and starting to make his way to the subway. Tough day, indeed. Well, considering who he was, it wasn't that bad. But, recently, he started considering if being covered in spit from some diner dude's angry shouting was worse than having bombs thrown at you by a flying lunatic dressed as a goblin. This thought actually made him chuckle to himself, clipping his phone out of his pocket and ringing someone

Ring. Ring "...He-yo?"

"Hey, Tif."

"Ben! Wassup?"

"Not much." He dragged his throat, and made his way into a subway car "Just ended my shift. Was wondering if you'd wanna hang out. Or something. I' unno."

"Told you, Ben, I'm seeing someone" The female voice at the other end replied with the ever so slight hint of annoyance in her casual warm tone

"Not in -that- way though. I mean, actually just go out.. see a movie... I dunno. I'm not very good at this. Kinda new, in fact."

"Uh-huh."

"Soooo... waddya' say? Yay or nay?" He insisted, slipping in a free seat inside the car

"Look..." She began with a dry sigh "...You seem like a really sweet nice guy... but I have someone. I'm not trying to be rude, and I hate to do this but..."

He bit his lip, and simply nodded to himself "...I know, I know... Sorry."

"Maybe for an icecream, tomorrow. I have some free-time, just... I don't want to be one of those girls who lead you in and then..."

"No, yeah, of course." Ben would pause, and drag his throat "Ice-cream sounds neat, though!"

"Good. Then, I'll see ya tomorrow, 'kay?"

"Alrighty."

"Bye."

Ben smiled to himself, and nodded "Bye-bye." With that, he closed the call, and stashed his phone in his pocket. Some minutes passed as the cart made it's way from Times Square all the way to Soho. Ben leaned in to his chair, relaxing

Some minutes later, he was there. Went inside the building, then inside his apartment. Set his bag down. Took his jacket off. Flopped on the bed

"Unghn." Ben escaped as he leaned and arched his back. Reaching for the TV remote, he powers the thing on, and sits up lightly, rolling his shoulders and scratching the back of his neck. He had to get a shower

**Good evening, New York. I am Whitney Chang, Daily Bugle, reporting. This morning several masked men were apprehended by the vigilante calling himself 'Spider-Man'. No casualties were reported...**

Ben stood up, listening in as he went inside the bathroom and went forward with the shower. Whitney continues

**Although his deeds good and appreciated, there are a great deal of people in this city that are still considering what are this so called 'hero's' motivations for doing this. One of the most famous people for this, aside Jonah James, is the chief of police, Commisioner George Stacy.** The TV flickers, and a video of Commisioner Stacy being interviewed appears

"Mr. Stacy - What are your opinions on unregistered vigilantes such as, erm... going by their nick-names, The Punisher... Wolverine, and the most infamous, Spider-Man?"

He grimaces "Frauds. Thieves and murderers. There are eye-witnesses who are able and willing to confess against these so called 'heroes'. The Punisher is a known psychopath who brutally tortures people and considers himself responsible for cleaning up this city by whatever means he sees fit. The same with the Wolverine fella... and Spider-Man, he's as bad as they are. There's no reports of him murdering, sure, but... I mean, the guy can climb walls, I don't mean to sound absurd, but he does. Who knows what else he is capable off? I'd rather have them show up so we know what they can do exactly"

The reporter nods in agreement, and gestures for him to continue "...I mean, I have children. People have things they need to worry about. They don't need this. They don't need to worry about coming home from work and looking over their shoulder for these guys. Criminals are bad enough. Crazy people that think they are above the law are not t-"

Ben grunts, and switches the TV off as he steps out of the shower "Oh, blah-blah... shuddup." He rolles his eyes, and tosses the remote back on the bed "...Man, the mouth on that guy..."

"Heh, I know, right?!" Another voice spoke out, giving Ben the slightest second of panic as he hopped up on his feet and looked towards the direction the voice came from

"Um... sorry. Didn't mean to do that." Same voice uttered, stepping out of the shadows. Ben sighed in relief, and finished drying his hair

"Heh... no problem, Pete. You do know you can like, use the door, right?"

Spider-Man shrugs, and takes a seat on the bed "...Yeeeah, but this is more fun, you know? Plus you should've totally seen your face."

Ben snorts, and enters his kitchen

"Nice digs!" Spidey utters, leaning back on the bed and putting his hands on the back of his head

"Thank you very much, my good sir." Ben replied with the slightest bit of sarcasm, taking some cereals out then grabbing his carton of milk "...Want something to eat?"

"Nah, I'm good. Wait... are those - Oh, of course it is. I forgot we're the same." He'd leap off the bed, and nod with some excitement as he made his way into the kitchen, following Ben "I'd love some, actually."

Ben poured the cereals in two bowls, then finished it off with some milk "So, what brings you here?"

"Nothin'." Spidey chuckled, taking a seat at the small table inside the kitchen "...Well, actually it -might- be something. Like, really small, micro-molecular-nano-stuff that brings me here. Like, totally not important and in no way over-asking..."

Ben offers him a bowl of cereals, setting it down in front of him with a joking sigh "...I haven't done it in months, bro."

Spidey lifts his mask over his nose, and smiles at the cereals "...Yeah, yeah, I know. But Fury wants me to collect something from L.A. and well... can't. I got Aunt May. And my apartment. And the Bugle. And well... this..." He gestures to his costume, then sighs as he takes a mouthful of cereals "...Ah' jus' nee' som' he'lp.."

Ben chuckles, and takes a seat "Right."

"So..." He swallows down, then coughs "...I came here asking you to... uh... be me... for a while..."

Ben blinks "...Like... be Spider-Man..."

Spidey shrugs, and then continues "Eh, not really. You can still be yourself. I mean, Scarlet-Spider. Is that correct? - Anyway, you can still be that, because Spider-Man, that's me, will be in Los Angeles, so it'll look iffy if I'm in two places at once, you know?... I just need someone to stand in for me as Peter Parker. That's it!"

Ben blinks again, then sighs and rubs his temples "Last time I did that you -"

Peter cuts him off, his somewhat joking tone diminishing with a more serious voice "Dude, last time you did that I thought I was a clone. That's... not very fun. No offence. But... thinking your entire life was a big lie is... ugh, I'm not helping at all, am I?"

"Forget it. No bother... I need to dye my hair, right?"

"...Uh, yeah... people might wonder why I spontaneously decided to dye my hair blonde..."

"Right, yeah. And how long will you be gone anyway?"

Spidey shrugs, and takes another bite "Dunno. That's why I'm asking you to do this. Because, if I knew it was like, for a day, I'd zap there, get whatever Fury wants me to get, then zap back here. No problemo. But without that, I actually have no idea how long I'll be there. Might take a week. A month."

"Can't you say 'no'?"

"I'm talking about S.H.I.E.L.D., Ben. These people don't take 'no' for an answer. I mean, they might, but they wouldn't be very happy about it."

"Right."

"Just... please? I'll owe ya. Just... I have no reason to go to L.A. as myself. Spider-Man, yes. Peter Parker? No."

Ben sighs again, and leans back into the chair a bit "...Alright... I guess..."

Spidey smiles widely, and sits up immediatly. He reaches forward across the table and hugs Ben "Thanks, dude!

Ben chuckles, and pats him on the back awkwardly "...Uh... no problemo?"

Spidey grins, then takes off towards the living room "Sorry I can't finish those cereals. Gotta be out there! You know? Be cool, and all mysterious and stuff!" He uttered as he made his way towards the window

"Hey, Peter - " Ben cuts him off

"Hm?"

Ben grins, and gives him a wink. Peter frowns "...Oh, no... come on!"

"It's totally that. I'm gonna do it."
"You want to - ugh, fine! I'll tell Felicia to bring my black Spider-Man suit out. Man..." He sighs, and leaps off into the city, taking off

Ben chuckles, reaching into a drawer "...There it is..." He says to himself, taking out his old Scarlet-Spider-Man costume. Still looked great. Ben looks at it, then tosses it on the bed