World Without X-Men

By Michael Weyer

My apologies for the delay, had a computer crash that threw me off. All comments welcomed.

The Clone Truth part 1

"Stop wiggling."

"I'm not wiggling."

"You're wiggling."

"You're a stubborn bastard, you know that?"

"You're really just insulting yourself, you know."

Peter Parker rolled his eyes upward at Ben Reilly. He was hanging onto the back of his clone, clad in the Spider-Man costume, as they swung high over Manhattan. It was a crisp and beautiful day in New York, the type of day Peter always loved to take to the skies. Apparently, Ben shared that feeling as he easily fired lines between skyscrapers to swing them along.

"Why so nervous?" Ben asked, his voice a bit muffled by the mask. "You did this for five years on your own plus the memories of earlier times."

"That was when I had reliable powers," Peter retorted. "The last thing I want is to be swinging between buildings and my agility goes out."

"Not to mention doing it without a costume calls attention," Ben pointed out. "Maybe you can whip together an outfit to blend in."

"Oh, yes, because the Scarlet Spider costume just screamed high fashion."

Ben smirked under the mask as they swung about a building toward Four Freedoms Plaza. Even in a city filled with unique structures, the headquarters of the Fantastic Four stood out, the huge "4" carved on each side marking it on the skyline. "I hope they're in," Peter said. "I'd hate to think we came all this way and they're dimension-hopping or something."

"That robot secretary said they're in," Ben stated. "I just hope they can help."

"Matt was right, Ben. If anyone on the planet can figure this out once and for all, it's Reed Richards."

"I know but we already went through the data."

"Which could be flawed."

"Seward didn't think so."

"You really trust him?"

"I do," Ben intoned, glancing up at Peter as he fired off another line. "He helped me a lot, Pete. He was my only friend when I was on my own, he helped give me focus. That he could have been wrong…or worse, lying to us…it's hard to take."

"We have to know, Ben," Peter pointed out. "It's what we should have done in the first place, get a second opinion."

Ben nodded as they swung upward and then landed onto the roof. Peter gratefully let go, happy to have his feet on solid ground once more. "So, you see a bell to ring?"

Before Ben could reply, a series of panels opened and a half-dozen cannons of various types rose up. The whine of energies built up filled the air as the cannons targeted the duo.

"Man, I miss Spider-Sense," Peter muttered as the weapons seemed to close in on the pair.

It was tricky finding a remote control to fit Ben Grimm's bulky hand. The oversized device rested in his orange rocky palm as the thick thumb scrolled through the channels in the main living room of the apartment, stopping at a newscast.

"-And in political news, it appears that Graydon Creed's Presidential campaign has taken a severe hit. Recent polls indicate Creed's outburst as the X-Men Memorial service has backfired as he has fallen as much as twenty points in some states. Also, it sounds that Creed's campaign has lost several volunteers, some citing how uncomfortable they felt with the candidate's strong anti-mutant rhetoric…"

"Good fer the people," the Thing grumbled. "Last thing we need is that idiot in office."

"What's the big deal?" Johnny Storm asked as he came up behind the couch, clad in jeans and a dark t-shirt. "Not like you can vote anyway. You have to be able to read the ballots."

"Very funny, matchstick," Ben snorted. "At least I know who the last few Presidents were."

"Hey, I know Franklin, he's on the hundred."

The Thing was rolling his eyes when a loud alarm began to blare. "Warning. Intruder alert. Two unauthorized persons on rooftop."

The two were instantly moving, Johnny pressing a panel to open a doorway on the wall, showing a tunnel. He leapt into it, transforming into flame as he flew upward toward a roof hatch. Ben was right behind him, taking an express elevator lift hidden nearby. The two emerged onto the roof to take in the sight before them.

Three of the cannons were in ruins, another with its large barrel bent upward. Peter was tied up in what appeared to be a large bola while Spider-Man leapt about, avoiding the bolts of energy thrown at him by the remaining two cannons.

The Thing and the Human Torch looked at each other, then back at the two men. "Would it kill ya to just once ring the bell for the novelty of things?" Grimm asked.

To outsiders, Reed Richards' lab was a study in contrasts. It was large in size, taking up two levels and a large part of the top floors of the building. But it seemed smaller as it was so crammed with technologies and equipment. Most of it was tidy and orderly but other parts were a mess with instruments whose purpose no one besides their inventor could figure out.

Reed himself stood at the main computer console, his arms extended long to work a pair of keyboards, his neck stretched to look at a monitor ten feet away. "How's it look on your end, Bruce?" he called out.

Bruce Banner checked his own screen. He was wearing light slacks and a shirt with the collar unbuttoned, eyes narrowing behind his glasses as he checked the readouts. "I think we got it. It appears that it wasn't a full-scale mutation but rather an overlap of the alien force on her own DNA."

"So it can be reversed?" Reed looked at the main monitor which had a side-by-side comparison of two images. One showed Janet van Dyne, better known as the Wasp, in her human form. The other showed her in the bizarre alien form she had transformed into after being attacked by a crazed Tony Stark months earlier.

"I think so," Bruce nodded. "Tricky but doable."

Reed let his neck and limbs return to normal. "Thanks for helping, Bruce. I couldn't have gotten this far without you."

"Hey, I know all about being trapped in a monstrous body," Bruce replied. "I'm happy to help Janet out. Plus, it gets me out of that military lab."

"How are things?" Reed asked with concern. "Really?"

Bruce let out a breath. "It's…different. I've been so used to feeling the Hulk in me and without that…"

"Are you sure he's gone?" Reed pressed.

"Well, the other day, a tech spilled coffee on me and the base is still standing," Bruce dryly said. "So it looks like he's out of my system and in solid form after the Onslaught attack."

"He's still sedated?"

"Pumped with enough drugs to knock out Los Angeles daily," Bruce confirmed. "They're still discussing what to do." He sniffed. "Personally, I'm all for throwing him into a rocket and blasting him into deep space."

Reed frowned. "I don't know if that's called for…"

"Reed, I lived with that thing for years. I know what it can do. The further away from Earth, the better." He sighed. "At least with me in there, there was always a modicum of control or a check. Without that….I don't want to think of what could happen if it somehow gets out."

Reed took notice of how Bruce referred to the Hulk as "it" instead of "he." Before he could reply, the door opened and Susan Richards entered, a white coat over her uniform, holding a tray. "I'm hoping that one way you don't take after Reed, Bruce, is how you'll ignore food while you work."

"Actually, I've been working up a good appetite," Bruce said, taking the sandwich on the tray with pleasure. "Thanks, Sue."

She glanced to her husband. "How's it going?"

"I think we may have cracked it," Reed said with confidence. "It's not like Ben with the DNA transformed on a level nearly impossible to reverse."

"I'm still confused by it," Bruce said. "I wasn't around but it seems odd an energy attack by Tony's armor could have mutated her so dramatically."

"It might have been influenced somehow by Kang's energies," Reed mused. "There's still a lot of that we need to find out."

"Hey, Reed?" The trio turned to see Johnny and Ben entering with Spider-Man and Peter behind them. "We got visitors."

Reed smiled. "Spider-Man, good to see you again. And Mr…Parker, right? What brings you both here?"

The two exchanged glances. "It's…kind of complicated," Peter said. "And, well….personal."

"Maybe I should go, then," Bruce said, rising from his seat.

"Actually, maybe stay," Spider-Man intoned. He looked to Peter. "Another mind can help."

Reed frowned. "If this is really serious, you can trust us. Believe me, we can keep a secret."

The two looked at each other for a long moment and then nodded. The costumed figure reached up and pulled off his mask. Despite the shock of blond hair, the stunning similarity between the two men was clear. "It's…sort of a long story," Ben began.

It actually took less than forty-five minutes for Peter and Ben to detail the entire sordid affair, from that high school experiment all the way to the revelations by Seward Trainor as the Fantastic Four and Bruce Banner listened in rapt attention.

"Wait a minute," Johnny said, holding up a hand. "You mean all these years, Jameson has been paying you to take photos of yourself?" He laughed. "Oh, man, that's brilliant! How come I never thought of that?"

"Who'd pay for it?" the Thing snorted.

"Oh, says the guy who'd only get offers from Ripley's."

"Boys," Susan said. She looked over toward Ben and Peter. "I always suspected you were young but in high school when we first met?"

"He was voted most likely to achieve," Ben said. "Or I was."

"That's why we're here," Peter said. "We need to know, one way or another and I figure if you can't tell us, Reed…"

Mr. Fantastic nodded, his face showing the whirring in his mind at the idea. "I'm more than willing to help, of course. It sounds like whoever this Seward is, he may have made mistakes in the study."

"Let's get started now," Peter said. "I just need to make a quick call first."

Mary Jane Watson-Parker had been to Four Freedoms Plaza before as a tourist but never gotten past the main guest spots. She couldn't help but tap her toe as she rode up the elevator, doing her best to keep calm. Her hand stroked at her swollen belly as she knew any worries might upset the baby. She brushed back her long curly red hair as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened to reveal a smiling Sue Richards. "Mrs. Parker? Welcome to Four Freedoms Plaza."

"Thank you," Mary Jane said as she exited. "Sorry, carrying a bit of a load here."

"I know how it feels," Susan smiled reassuringly. "Come in, we can get something to eat. Reed is still working the tests on your husband and Ben."

"They told you," Mary Jane stated.

"Don't worry, we'll keep it secret," Susan said as she led the way to the kitchen. She got out a carton of milk to pour a glass, handing it to a grateful Mary Jane. "How are you handling this?"

"It's…hard," she sighed. "I was sure Peter was out of it totally, his powers gone and now…" She shook her head. "Part of me is hoping the tests are still right and he's not the real one because then he wouldn't be obsessed with keeping at this."

Susan gave a soft smile. "I understand how it is. There are days I also worry about our life and all."

"It's Peter," Mary Jane said as she sipped her milk. "He told you why he does this, right?"

Susan nodded. "His uncle."

"It wasn't his fault," Mary Jane sighed. "It wasn't but he keeps bringing it on himself so much. It's what I fell in love with, that man who's willing to do whatever it takes to help out others." She smiled softly. "But it also makes it so aggravating to stick with him."

"I know all about that," Susan laughed. She rubbed Mary Jane's arm. "He has you and the baby. That will bring him to earth, trust me." She smiled. "It's okay to worry but no need to let it consume us."

Mary Jane smiled. "Thanks, Susan." She felt oddly better as it had been far too long since she could unload like this to another woman.

"I just wish I had known about you a while ago," Susan stated. "We've got a nice support group that gets together, discusses things like this. You'd fit right in."

"I'd love that," Mary Jane smiled as the two continued to chat, feeling more at ease than she had in weeks.

The beginning of the night chill was starting to crawl over the city, blowing over the docks. The armor lining of his costume prevented Baron Helmut Zemo from feeling most of it as he paced along the empty pier. "Are you sure he'll be here?" he called out.

"I gave him the call," Abner Jenkins, aka the Beatle, replied. He was out of his heavy armor and wearing jeans and a dark shirt under a leather jacket, the wind blowing at his hair. "He's reliable. Well, most of the time."

Zemo shook his masked head. "I am still not sure of this."

"We've worked together before," Jenkins insisted. "He's cocky and has an attitude but hell, same with the Fixer. We could use a guy like him if you intend to have this work right."

Before Zemo could reply, a new wind picked up, a whirlwind that blew harder than the gusts from the ocean. There was a blur and a figure appeared before them wearing a dark costume, mostly black with red boots and streaks of red and yellow on his chest, goggles over his eyes attached to the full cowl. "Hey, Abe. Been a while."

"James," Jenkins nodded back to Speed Demon. "Wasn't sure you'd be taking my call."

"Ah, been pretty dull lately," the speedster answered. He glanced at Zemo and frowned. "Whoa, Abe, since when did you go Nazi?"

"It's not like that," Jenkins quickly said. "Zemo's putting something big together and I thought you'd have a good place in it."

Speed Demon bit his lip. "I don't know, Jenkins. The Sinister Syndicate fell apart and really not that crazy on joining a new Masters of Evil."

"If you don't have the commitment, then you can leave," Zemo snapped. "I simply thought you might be interested in taking part in a plan that will not only net us great wealth and greater power…but win everyone involved a respect they have lacked for most of their lives."

Speed Demon studied him and slowly nodded. "Okay…Okay, you got me interested." He crossed his arms. "So what's the scam here?"

Jenkins smiled. "Sanders, old buddy…We are going straight."

Peter and Ben sat next to one another in the lab, both looking over at the computer consoles were Reed and Bruce were furiously going over the data. After two hours of extensive scans and tests, they were taking a break while the scientists went over the data. "What are you thinking?" Ben asked.

Peter was quiet before speaking. "I'm thinking of stuff we should have been thinking about for a while now."

"Such as?"

"Just who the Jackal really was."

Ben frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

Peter scratched his neck. "Miles Warren was a sad, pathetic old guy who convinced himself he was in love with Gwen. He snapped when she died and took on the Jackal thing to recreate her. That's what he was, just a sad old man wanting something he never had in the first place. Suddenly, he's a lean and mean psycho with plans to wipe out the human race and replace them with clones?" He shook his head. "There had to be something more than that."

Ben nodded. "I've been thinking the same thing. I chalked it up to how things seem to have gotten so much crazier since I wore the costume but now…You're right, something always seemed off about the Jackal but things happened so fast, I couldn't concentrate on that."

"Maybe that's just what someone wants," Peter intoned, his face darkening. "Maybe someone else has been playing us for a while."

"That's a long line of suspects," Ben pointed out. "Mysterio?

"Nah, too complex even for him," Peter said. "Besides, no way his ego would allow him to keep out of the spotlight this long."

"Ock's dead," Ben muttered, stroking his chin. "Of the rest of our usual goofballs, no one who has the smarts of the resources for something like this. Not anyone alive that is."

Something about that tugged at Peter but before he could follow it, Reed's voice cut through the air. "Peter? Ben. We have it."

The two exchanged a long look before rising to their feet and heading over to where Reed and Bruce were standing by the consoles. Reed was next to a set of monitors which featured the stream of data he and Bruce had been working on for the last half hour. "We've triple-checked the results," Reed began. "I have to say, the comparisons are truly fascinating, the way whoever did this replicated not just your basic DNA but your powers as well. It was an amazing piece of work, just examine the dual patterns of-"

"Reed," Peter cut in. "Can we just cut to it? No build-up, no softening us, just….say it."

Reed glanced from one man to the other and took a deep breath. "The similarities are close but the genetic code giveaways are clear when we studied them." He glanced to one man. "Peter…You are and always have been the true Peter Parker. Ben, you're the clone."

A long silence went through the room at the pronouncement. Peter let out a huge breath he didn't know he'd been holding, rubbing at his head. "Holy crap," he whispered. "Just…wow…I mean, I had hoped but…"

For his part, Ben felt a surprising weight lifted off his shoulders. After so many months feeling guilty over the pain of taking on Peter's life and the responsibility with it, discovering the truth was almost a relief. It was hard but then, he'd spent five years dealing with being a copy of a man. Finding out it was still the case wasn't as hard to deal with. He focused on the present as he looked at Reed. "You said, 'whoever did this.' What do you mean? Warren had help cloning me?"

"We're saying it wasn't Warren at all." Bruce's pronouncement was met with confused looks from Peter and Ben. The scientist turned around to type on the keyboard and a window opened to show a photo of Warren and the man's biography. "Miles Warren. A top genetic researcher, near the top of his class before joining New York University where he spent the next thirty years teaching biology and doing private research." He looked to the others. "Nowhere in his biography is the slightest indication he was smart or capable enough to pull off something like full-scale human cloning."

Ben frowned. "He claimed to have taken the research of an assistant of his, Anthony Serba."

"Right," Peter agreed. "Who he ended up killing by accident, turned him into the Jackal."

Bruce shook his head. "That still doesn't explain how a man who never put out so much as a single published academic paper could find a way to clone a human being perfectly, in record time, do massive genetic reengineering on his own makeup and continually create cloned creations of various types. That's not to mention the sheer amount of equipment he'd require to do all of this and surviving explosions and the like." He shook his head. "I don't know who was behind this but whoever it was is not only a genius but, quite frankly, ahead of the curve when it comes to this sort of thing."

Reed nodded in agreement. "As I was telling you, the genetic trademarks are remarkably advanced, more so than the most cutting edge research. You'd need decades to get this good, not just a few years on and off."

Peter frowned. "That doesn't make sense….If it wasn't the Jackal, then who did it?"

Reed shrugged. "Someone who has a lot of brilliance and a lot of dedication."

"And a mad-on for us," Ben intoned as he glanced at Peter. "Never a good combination." His double had to nod in agreement at that.

Johnny stopped as he entered the kitchen, taking in the sight of Mary Jane with Susan. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me," he muttered.

The two women looked up, startled. "Johnny?" Susan asked.

Her brother waved at Mary Jane. "You're telling me that geek I picked on in my brief college excursion ended up married to one of the hottest models of all time? What does he got that I don't?"

"Should I start with the 'A's?" the Thing smirked as he opened the refrigerator to get a beer.

Johnny glared at him. "Laugh it up, ugly. The only models interested in you are in the 'before' pictures for Weight Watchers."

"Least they got brains, instead of the bimbos you date."

"Don't knock it, at least I find some fun."

"Ain't your mind any of those gals go for either, Matchstick."

"Thank God for that, I'd be ruined if they did."

Mary Jane looked to Susan. "No wonder you're such a good mother, you had plenty of practice."

Susan was laughing when without warning the wall nearby exploded inward. Instinctively, Susan created a force field around the table, protecting herself and Mary Jane from the shattering glass and pieces of plaster mixed with the flames that billowed out. The redhead still cried out, startled, as she nearly fell out of her chair but with a speed that belied his size, Ben Grimm caught her.

Johnny saw an object flying in and threw out his arm, firing a trail of flame to strike it. It erupted into a fireball but Sue's invisible force field continued to protect them. Johnny was about to flame on when another object flew in toward him. It was a globe the size of a softball with some odd markings on it. It burst open a few feet from Johnny to let out a spray of a thick substance. Johnny gasped as he was knocked back, the substance spreading and started to harden like cement to pin him down. He grunted as he pushed at it. "Some sort of retardant in it…can't flame on…."

The door to the kitchen burst open as Peter, Ben, Reed and Bruce all raced in. Ben had pulled his Spider-Man mask on as Peter raced to Mary Jane's side. He grunted as he bounced off the invisible field. "Mary Jane!"

"Peter!" she gasped out. Reed was moving to Johnny to try and pry the hardened substance off him. "It's okay, hon," Peter said, seeing Susan holding out her hands and figuring out what happened.

Reed looked to the Thing. "Ben, get Susan and Mrs. Parker to safety. Someone must be after us and better they're not here when they come back-"

"After you?" a high-pitched voice echoed. "What makes you think I'm after you, Mr. Fantastic?"

Ben, Peter and MJ all froze in horror as they heard the voice. "Oh, God," Peter whispered. "It can't be…"

They all looked up as a figure appeared outside the ruined window, striding a small glider with sharpened wings and a battering ram head marked by sharp ears. The figure was clad in a garish costume, a scaly green bodysuit with a purple vest and shorts, purple gloves covering his forearms and a long-tailed purple cap. His face was marked by a huge grin, the plastic ears sharp and his yellow eyes gleaming with triumphant madness as he bounced what looked like a small pumpkin in his hand.

"Peter, Peter, pumpkin-eater, had a wife and could not keep her…" The Green Goblin let out a cackle as he took in the group before him. "What? No hug?"

Norman Osborn. Harry Osborn. Their names have been linked together in the face of Spider-Man's greatest foe.

Which of them lies under the mask? Or is it either? What connections have this Goblin to the true face behind the Spider-Clone?

The search shall lead to new answers…Ones that will shake to the core Peter Parker and Ben Reilly…and the fate of many they know.

"The Clone Truth Part Two" coming soon.