Guest who left a comment on Ch4 on Jan 8: I'm glad you're enjoying the story and that you trust my judgment on the pairings. I know a lot of people would love to see Spectacular Gwen and Peter be a thing, but with the way season 2 ended I just always felt it would take too long for them. Plus, I won't lie, I am heavily biased toward MJ. She's one of my favorite Spider-Man characters, and I really love their pairing. The fact that Spectacular MJ is extremely comic accurate but with a bit of a twist makes me root for her hard core.
TheTypingAvocado: Glad you find my idea of Gwen dating Ben interesting. Technically, since Ben is a clone of Peter its kinda like she's dating Peter. Just kidding, they are two different characters, but it does have story potential.
Authros note time! So, yeah, this took longer to get out than normal, but that's gonna be the schedule now since classes have officially started. College does take priority, but I will be finishing this. Hope y'all enjoy!
Choices Part 2
Gwen sat on the couch in her living room, anxiously watching the door. She'd texted Mary Jane and Liz last night and asked if they could come to talk. She didn't exactly know if they could help her, but they were the only people she knew who dated a guy that constantly disappeared due to a job. Ben's disappearance wasn't quite the same as Peter's, but it was the closest Gwen could get.
To be honest, the only person Gwen expected to show was MJ. She hadn't really seen Liz all that much during the summer or during school, the most she saw her was at the football games. All she knew about the girl was that things were extremely hectic with the Allen's trying to get Mark moved out of the Vault since he was technically a victim of his powers. It was a case she'd heard her father working tirelessly with Mr. Murdock (the Allen's lawyer) to get through.
Even though they had 'buried the hatchet' in a sense, Gwen still felt a little bit of animosity coming from Liz. She couldn't blame her for feeling that way, Gwen did essentially plot to steal Liz's boyfriend away from her. Gwen didn't know what she would do if she were in Liz's shoes, but she knew it would probably be petty.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Gwen stood up, that had to be Liz. Mary Jane tended to just walk into the house without knocking. She opened the door to find the exact person she thought wouldn't show up.
"Hi Gwen," Liz said uneasily.
Gwen smiled at the Latina. "Hi, Liz. Come on in." She stepped to the side and let Liz in. The young woman shuffled past the blonde, looking around the Stacy household and a slightly awkward silence fell over the two.
"Would you like some–" Gwen started.
"What's up–" Liz said at the same time. "You first."
"Would you like something to drink?" she offered, gesturing to the kitchen. "We're waiting on one more."
"Just some water, thanks" Liz answered. Gwen nodded and hurried into the kitchen, taking her sweet time in preparing three separate glasses of water. Then, she heard Liz's voice from the living room say, "Who else is coming?"
"Mary Jane should be here any minute," Gwen called back. She walked back into the living room and placed the glasses on the coffee table. "Thanks for coming by the way…to be honest, I wasn't sure that you would."
Liz gave a dry chuckle. "Me either."
Gwen furrowed her brow. "So…why did you–"
The front door opened with a bang and there stood Mary Jane Watson. "So, you're having boy troubles, huh," she said, getting right down to business. She strode to the coffee table, grabbed one of the glasses of water, and sat down in the chair next to the front window. "Is it Ben?"
Gwen felt heat rise to her cheeks. "How did you–"
"You guys haven't exactly been subtle," Liz said, sitting down on the couch. "Well, Ben hasn't. Is this what we're here to talk about?"
Gwen shook her head. "We actually went on a date yesterday," she said, smiling widely.
"Atta girl!" MJ said, raising her glass to Gwen. "Tell us everything!"
Gwen chuckled and recounted their short date from how Ben appeared out of nowhere on her way home from ESU and asked her out to their walk through Central Park, all while a smile played on her lips. However, it faltered when she got to their kiss. Should she tell them how Ben pulled her out of harm's way without prompting? Should she tell them about her suspicions about Ben and The Scarlet Spider?
"Gwen?" Liz asked. Gwen shook her head and looked at the two girls.
"Something really good happened after you told him about the internship," MJ said, jumping in her seat. "You kissed didn't you!"
Gwen looked away shyly causing Liz and Mary Jane to giggle.
"How was it?" Liz asked.
Gwen took a breath, okay, time for the real reason you asked them here. "Short," she said.
Liz tilted her head and MJ's eyes narrowed slightly. "Well, that's not bad," Liz said, taking a sip of her water.
"It was great," Gwen said, "only he left right after." Liz and MJ looked back at each other then Gwen, seemingly unsure of what to say. "This is actually why I wanted to talk to the two of you. I wanted to ask how you guys did it?"
"Did what?" Liz asked.
"Dealt with Peter disappearing all the time?"
Liz glanced at Mary Jane with a grimace on her face. "Well," she said shakily, "Pete has money problems. The Bugle was the best way for him to get it, but after a while, it started to get at me. Understanding why he had to go, made me numb to the sting, but I still felt it." Mary Jane nodded in agreement to Liz's words, and opened her mouth when Liz's phone buzzed.
Gwen and MJ watched as Liz's expression lifted slightly. "Sorry," she said. "Mr. Murdock was able to get an appeal date for Mark's transfer! I have to go, we're meeting with Mark at the Vault!"
"That's great!" Gwen and MJ said, jumping to their feet.
Liz approached Gwen. "I'm sorry I couldn't help more, but…if you ever need to talk about this, I'm here for you." With that, Liz left the Stacy house, leaving Gwen and MJ alone with each other.
Gwen had never experienced an uncomfortable silence with MJ before, the redhead was always so vivacious, so alive, but in this moment Gwen saw something in the young woman that she couldn't quite place. Almost like there was something she wanted to let out, but held herself back from doing it.
"MJ, if you knew something about someone, something they hadn't told you about, would you keep it to yourself or tell them you knew?" Gwen asked, glancing at her friend out of the corner of her eye.
MJ's face closed off, her eyes searching the floor like she was reading the most intense scene of a script. Gwen didn't know what was going through her head, but she recognized the signs of deep thinking. "I-I can't tell you what to do," the redhead said. "People keep secrets for a reason, it's just a matter of if you can deal with keeping them until they tell you themselves."
MJ's phone buzzed, and she answered it, leaving Gwen alone with her thoughts. She had no proof that Ben and The Scarlet Spider were one and the same, or that Ben was even keeping anything from her. For all she knew, he really did just want to help as the normal…well close to normal person he was. The only problem is that the coincidences and evidence were just too damning to ignore. She was the daughter of a police captain, after all, he did teach her to trust her gut in the heat of everything.
"Sorry, Gwen. That was Aunt Anna," MJ said. "I gotta get home."
"Of course," Gwen said, looking down at the floor, her mind still a whirlwind of thoughts.
MJ placed a hand on Gwen's shoulder. "Just, be there for him, when he needs you to be," she said before leaving.
Gwen walked back up to her room and stared at the pictures of The Scarlet Spider fighting 'The Prowler' from yesterday's paper. This was going to be a lot tougher than she thought.
Midtown Precinct
Captain Stacy sat in his office going over the details of the failed Oscorp heist. The convoy had been transporting different samples of blood from the various supervillains Spider-Man had come to blows with. Oscorp had offered to create a cure for those villains so they wouldn't be a danger to society anymore and the mayor had jumped at the chance to clean her streets of super-criminals. The added bonus that Spider-Man would no longer be needed was the icing on the cake to the politician's ears, but it didn't sit well with Captain Stacy.
Spider-Man had gone above and beyond the call of duty for this city. He'd battled flying demons and an alien made of black goo to keep innocents safe, in some cases risking his life to save the very people trying to kill him. Turning on the hero was not something the captain was eager to do.
Of course, Spider-Man was not the only topic of conversation. No, since the first of September there had been another web-slinging hero zipping across the city stopping criminals. The Scarlet Spider.
The Captain didn't know what to make of the new hero. He was excitable, energetic, and fast, but reckless. He was so similar to Spider-Man, but The Scarlet Spider lacked the seriousness that Spider-Man possessed. There was one thing he could respect Scarlet for: he did a damn good job at keeping the bad guys focused on him.
"Evening Captain," a voice said brightly behind him.
"Hello Spider-Man," Captain Stacy replied, turning around. "Oh…Scarlet."
The Scarlet Spider bowed his head, dropped from the wall, and sighed. "I know we sound similar, but we wear different suits for a reason."
George turned back to his desk and grabbed the files. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"The Prowler," Scarlet said, "I've been looking for him since yesterday, but every lead has come up dry. You mind helping a Spider out?"
"What's the Prowler to you?" Captain Stacy asked, eying The Scarlet Spider carefully. He'd been witness to the start of their scuffle and seen the scar The Prowler left on the young hero's chest. He'd seen a vengeful Spider-Man before, but that had been under the influence of alien goo. He didn't want to give the mayor and Jameson any more ammo to paint the good works of Spider-Man in a negative light.
The Scarlet Spider crouched on the fire escape. "He may not have hurt anyone yet, but that could change at any second," he said. "I didn't catch him, and that makes it my mess, my responsibility to clean it up."
George placed a hand on his chin. He could tell by his body language alone that Scarlet was sincere in his words, but his actions were what gave the Captain pause. Could The Scarlet Spider be trusted to take on a supervillain on his own? What kind of fallout could he look at if the hooded hero failed? But then again, how could The Scarlet Spider become better if Captain Stacy never gives him a chance. "What we know about the Prowler is limited," he said, handing the file to Scarlet. "The boys looked over the footage from the street and body cameras and his tech doesn't match any of the previous villain's MO's. Seems more like he cobbled it together from whatever scraps he could find. He was last sighted by the Lincoln Youth Shelter."
"Do we know The Prowler's a dude?" Scarlet asked, looking at the still images.
"The build fits a male description, but for all we know that's just how The Prowler built their suit," Captain Stacy admitted.
"You said The Prowler was last sighted by the Lincoln Youth Shelter?
"In that area, they could've just chosen an alley there to change into their streets to hide their identity," Stacy said.
The Scarlet Spider laughed, handing the file back to Captain Stacy. "We masks do like to keep everyone guessing," he said. The hooded hero rolled back through the window and landed on the fire escape. "I'll bring this guy in, Captain, I promise."
With that, The Scarlet Spider thwipped off, leaving Captain Stacy to watch as the hero turned into a dot in the distance. A sense of ease fell over the old Captain's shoulders. After helping with the cleanup and coming to him for help instead of hunting down The Prowler on his own, George's faith in this new web-swinging hero grew a little. Of course, with one problem out of the way, for now, George could turn his sights to another problem: the teenager trying to date his daughter.
Midtown High the next day
Ben strode through the halls of Midtown High during his free period. Usually, he would've gone out on patrol during the period, but he had a buzzing feeling in his head for the past thirty minutes that he didn't know the meaning of. He wanted to ask Peter about it, but his cousin's free period was in the morning.
Ben had never been happier to be in a period essentially by himself. He hadn't been able to focus on anything all day, his mind was occupied with clashing thoughts of a certain blonde and a masked purple and green flying nutjob.
Wait, if The Prowler's a flying nutjob, does that make me a swinging nutjob? Ben shook his head. That's about how his thought process worked today, jumping from one conclusion and thought to the next.
He barely had time to separate his two lives at this point. Ben was smart enough to have straight A's but he didn't really care all that much about them, so homework often came last. It was really his social life that was beginning to become harder to keep separate. At lunch, he had every intention of talking to Gwen about the end of their date when his Spider-Sense went off and he rushed to stop a runaway car while texting Peter that he could handle lunch patrol on his own. By the time he returned to the school, lunch was ending and he smelt like burning rubber. The whole time, Ben couldn't help but feel that if he just told Gwen who he was, things would be just a smidge easier. He didn't even have an excuse planned when Gwen texted him asking where he was. He just panicked and fat-fingered a message.
Keeping his identity a secret was really starting to become a hassle. Ben didn't know how Peter managed to keep it a secret and have a steady relationship with MJ. Keeping something like this a secret from a girl that he cared about, and would be ditching constantly to go save lives just felt wrong to him. Like he was taking a part of himself and shoving it in the shed outside. Gwen hadn't hidden anything from him, so why should he hide anything from her.
"Oof," Ben grunted as he rounded the corner and bumped into someone. "Sorry 'bout–Hobes?" Before Ben stood a tired and agitated Hobie Brown. He had deep bags under his eyes, and he looked about as pale as his dark skin could allow. "Dude, you good?" he asked as Hobie bent down to pick up the scraps that fell from his arms.
Standing up, Hobie nodded. Then without doing anything more, Hobie strode off down the hall with Ben hot on his heels.
"Hey man, seriously," Ben said, placing his hands on Hobie's shoulder. "What's going on?"
"Look, Ben," Hobie said, rounding on the blond. "Don't play dumb, I know Peter asked you to talk to me."
"Do I look like a guy who 'plays dumb' Hobes?" Ben retorted. "What's the deal between you and Pete? I thought you guys were cool?"
Hobie narrowed his eyes at Ben, taking carefully controlled breaths like he was holding back an explosion. "We're…fine," he said through gritted teeth. Ben gave Hobie a deadpan look, anyone with two brain cells could tell that was a lie. "Fine, he keeps trying to come around the Youth Shelter!"
Ben furrowed his brow. "Uh, I'm gonna be honest, isn't more people helping out at the Shelter a good thing?" he asked. Ben immediately put his hands up in surrender as Hobie's eyes flared. "Okay, so how can I help?"
"Get it through his thick head that we don't want his help!" Hobie exclaimed.
Ben looked to his left and saw heads turning in the classroom next to them. Not wanting to deal with a nosy teacher, Ben decided to slightly change the subject. Hobie did spend all of his time at the Shelter recently, and that was the last place The Prowler had been spotted. If anyone knew anything about that, Hobie was his best bet. "How is everything else at the Shelter?" he asked, as the pair walked into the empty engineering classroom. "I heard there was some purple and green vampire flying around over there."
Hobie's hands faltered on the scrap metal he had in his hands. "No," he said after a moment of silence. "It's just been the usual scumbags."
"You ever thought about reaching out to Spider-Man or The Scarlet Spider?" Ben asked.
Hobie snorted. "Those guys don't care about us," he said harshly. "We're just a front for the bad guys, a place for them to use for and hide their illegal activity."
"You won't know that until you reach out," Ben tried to reason.
Hobie threw his hands up in the air. "Where have they been then, huh? They claim to look out for the little guy, but all I see is them stopping the same costumed freaks they created! No, because you don't get on the front page for helping a little shelter!" Hobie took his scraps and stormed out of the room.
Ben stood shocked at Hobie's outburst. Had they really been ignoring the little people? No, no, we don't ignore anyone in need. We help, we do whatever we can. It's not our fault that supervillains take priority. Ben felt anger bubble inside him. How could Hobie think that he didn't care about the little guy? If Pete and I didn't stop those supervillains, the little guys would get trampled. Why couldn't Hobie see that? Why couldn't he see that Ben did care for them? Wait, he knows Ben cares for them. Hobes doesn't know it's me under the mask. Ugh, this secret ID is really starting to piss me off!
Ben didn't consciously recognize the bell ring, but his body went on autopilot through his last class of the day. He didn't notice the concerned glances that Gwen threw at him or the looks of confusion Peter sent his way. His mind was just too occupied with Hobie and The Prowler. What if The Prowler does something to the Shelter? The place can't afford any more damages, hell it can barely afford to take care of the kids! What do I do? This is my mess. I let The Prowler get away, I just had to get my little quips in rather than taking him down.
The bell rang and Ben left the classroom as fast as he could, not noticing Gwen's hand reaching out to him. He moved fast through the halls and out the front gate of the school. Ben broke out into a full sprint as he rounded the corner into an alley, stripping his clothes off and replacing them with his scarlet bodysuit and his inverted hoodie. He felt a small complaint from his scarred chest but ignored it as he put his mask over his head and thwipped off for the Lincoln Youth Shelter.
The Prowler was in that area of town, he felt it in his gut. He would keep the Shelter safe, and clean up his mess. Ben had promised Captain Stacy, and Ben Reilly kept his promises.
Back at Midtown High
Peter had been so distracted by Ben in Chemistry that his lab partner had gotten pissed at him. But Peter could really care less, the look on Ben's face worried him. Like he was taking the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Is that what I look like? Out of the corner of his eyes, Peter watched as Ben's hand squeezed the edge of his lab table, causing the corner to crack. But before he could do anything, Gwen reached over and gently put her hand on Ben's.
Peter didn't think Ben was even aware of what was going on, but he watched with mild curiosity as Ben's hand relaxed. Then, the bell rang, and Ben disappeared faster than anyone he'd ever seen. He watched as Gwen tried to keep pace with Ben, but it was all in vain as his cousin had disappeared.
Watching Gwen's face fall as she realized Ben was gone struck a chord inside Peter. He'd never been on the other side of his disappearing act before, never saw just how much his absence affected those he cared for. The way her head bowed, and her shoulders sagged. But nothing cut Peter more than the disappointed sigh that escaped Gwen's lips.
Is this what Mary Jane looked like every time he left? Every date cut short? Every time he had to call and ask to reschedule? What did she think of him every time?
"Gwen," he said hesitantly, "is everything alright?"
Gwen jumped slightly, then collected herself. "I-I'm fine Pete," she said. Peter watched her for a second, unsure of what to say. He had no idea how to deal with these scenarios, he was better(ish) with the aftermath. Then, Gwen turned to face him. "Have you…noticed anything odd about Ben?"
Peter tilted his head. "More than normal?" When Gwen's eyes narrowed Peter's hands shot up. "Okay, okay," he said. "What do you mean by odd?"
Gwen gestured down the hallway. "He's never that quiet during class; has he been like this at home?"
Gwen had a point, Ben definitely seemed different than normal. But the why was completely unknown to Peter, for all he knew, Ben was having a normal life problem and not a Spider-related one. "Maybe he's just having a bad day," Peter suggested.
The blonde's face didn't move, she still held the same concentrated look. "During lunch, it was like he was dancing on air," she said. "Then he came in here and looked like someone kicked his puppy. I mean, look at—"
"Look at what?" Peter asked when Gwen abruptly stopped herself.
Gwen's eyes flickered back to the classroom, then to Peter. "N-nothing," she stammered. "You're probably right. I-I'll see you later Pete."
Peter's brow furrowed as he watched Gwen's hunched form walk away. He knew Gwen and Ben had grown close over the past few months, and he was happy to see how well his cousin adapted to the new environment. Peter knew that if it were him that was new to Midtown High, he wouldn't have adapted so well.
Ben had done a good job as The Scarlet Spider as well. There was definitely a bit of a learning curve for both parties, the few times Peter had teamed up with anyone, it was always temporary. Having someone out there who didn't have an ulterior motive while they watched his back was a welcome change. He and Ben had even set a schedule where they alternated days for super-heroing; the biggest bonus of that schedule being the fact that he could actually finish his dates with MJ…for the most part.
However, Peter had noticed something about Ben since the weekend. He seemed oddly focused on something, but Peter had no idea what it was.
"Hey, Tiger!" MJ said in his ear as she jumped on his back. "You ready to go?"
Peter wrapped his arms around her legs, and walked down the hall, giving her a piggyback ride toward the courtyard. Though he was happy to spend time with MJ today, Ben's actions and Gwen's cautious words weighed on his mind like a ton of bricks. "MJ, I'm sorry, but is it okay if I raincheck?" he asked. "I think somethings going on with Ben."
MJ's grip on his shoulders slackened and she slid off his back. "What do you mean?"
Peter shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure," he answered. "I just feel like something's in his head, and I could help." MJ's face fell a little, and Peter scrambled to follow up. "I'm sorry, I just–Aunt May asked me to look after him, you know?"
"It's okay," she said. Her face then changed, like a mask being put on top of it. "I could use the extra time to rehearse for the school play auditions."
"Cool," Peter said, but before he turned to leave, he took MJ's hands in his. "Let me know if you need a screen partner later."
MJ snorted. "Pete, no offense, but I'd be better off talking to the wall," she said with a smirk.
Peter cracked a smile and nodded in agreement. With that, he gave her a peck on the cheek and walked off in search of an alley for him to change. He had a cousin to find.
Lincoln Youth Shelter
The Scarlet Spider sat on the side of a building just a few blocks from the Youth Shelter with his mask pulled up to expose his mouth as he munched on a few chips. He'd spent all the afternoon and evening waiting for any sign of The Prowler. He knew it was a long shot, but it was the only lead he had.
It was also an extremely boring lead. The day had been so quiet, not even a peep of a siren. Ben wanted to be happy that nothing was happening in the city, but when you're a teenager with a lot on your plate, being busy is always preferable to spending quality time with your own mind. Especially when he had gotten texts from both Gwen and MJ asking him if he was okay.
He just couldn't bring himself to answer those. What was he supposed to say; hey guys, I'm fine just looking for some dude that flies around the city and who nearly clawed me to death! Yeah, that would go over so well. Of course, that line of thinking also decided to let his doubts rise into his head.
He kissed Gwen a few days ago and said nothing of note to her since then. He didn't even realize how hard it would be to keep this secret from her until he had to leave mid-date to stop the thugs from getting at the Oscorp convoy. Then today, he just blew her off after school to waste his time waiting for the Prowler. It would be so much easier if they just knew.
The sun disappeared over New York City just as Ben was about to crack and call it a night, then, his Spider-Sense went off. Someone was moving, and they were not happy. Is this it? Is this The Prowler?
A bright green light lit up the area, and in front of it was a masked purple man flying off in the opposite direction of Ben. Ben pulled his mask down, swung by a trash can, and tailed the Prowler. He got lucky that there was an abandoned construction site for him to pull the flying demon towards. Scarlet wasn't about to engage The Prowler where innocent people could get hurt.
Keeping his distance, Scarlet found The Prowler outside of Oscorp. Scarlet narrowed his eyes, What's The Prowler doing here? The young hero didn't have time to think further about it as The Prowler entered the building through an air vent. He didn't know what that Oscorp convoy was carrying, but knowing that company's track record, he knew it couldn't be anything good.
Scarlet shot out a line of webbing and zipped toward the same air vent, it was time to fulfill his promise to Captain Stacy.