A/N I was inspired by Agent G's "Spider-X" stories and at the same time a growing fascination for the character of Ben Reilly. I was originally going to base this in the aftermath of the six part "REAL Clone Saga" that was released in 2009 in which Ben Reilly survived and the issue of who was the clone tabled as less important than letting Ben and Peter live their own lives. Peter remains Spiderman and Ben rides out of town.
Unfortunately I realized that with that story was the fact that Ben Reilly had been on the road for five years and therefore was just a little too old for this story to work and so we return to the night where Ben was originally believed killed in battle against the Jackal...
Ben Reilly: The Uncanny Scarlet Spider
Chapter One: Leaving Home...
He loved New York. He had lived there nearly his entire life. Raised by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May... Gone to school there... Learned painful lessons...
Except maybe he hadn't...
He was not certain how he had ended up in that smoke stack. He remember blacking out. He could only assume the other Spider-man... had thought him dead. And he would have done the same. There could only be one Peter Parker. He had gone back to his apartment for a shower, intending to go see Aunt May, feeling much like the little child he remembered being and needing a comforting presence to calm his addled mind. As he looked in the window of the apartment, he had seen him with MJ...!
And then it went off in his head. He WAS the clone. He was merely a copy looking in on the life of the real Peter Parker. He could not seek comfort and solace from Aunt May, nor could he take refuge in MJ's arms. MJ wasn't his girl and this wasn't his life.
Who was he then? He needed to think and to put some distance between himself and his other... Unnoticed by his twin, he took some clothes from a box that Peter Parker had planned to donate. Heading out of the city in the pouring rain he saw the sign...
Bayville 35 miles.
It seemed as good a destination as any. He was not sure of what he would do when he got there but he would think of something.
Watching him discreetly from the shadows, Seward Trainer sighed. His instructions were simple: Follow Parker's clone and keep his employer informed. This was an ugly matter he had stepped into. He would need to take care to survive. For now that meant being an obedient pawn. Despite only being an assistant to Miles Warren, Seward understood genetics and cloning nearly as well but more than that. He understood that; beyond the realm of scientific disciplines, he and Parker and his clone had much in common. They were all people born or made and whose lives were now considered playthings to dangerous individuals whose aims would not be stayed on account on notions of humanity. For a moment Trainer wondered if his own humanity would survive this business. But only for a moment. Questions of humanity couldn't be answered by the dead. Survive first. Grieve later.
To Be Continued...
So... Comments? Suggestions? Please Review.