Good evening/morning/afternoon all! Here is the conclusion to the Choices Arc and I hope it is satisfying. Please let me know what you think in the reviews! Let's get to it. Hope you enjoy!
Choices Part 3
The Scarlet Spider crept through the vents of Oscorp. Movies lie, Scarlet thought angrily looking around at the small disgusting air vent. It is a good thing I'm skinny. How the hell did The Prowler fit through here? How do I even find him here? Scarlet let out a dry chuckle. I really did not think this through.
Suddenly, his Spider-Sense flared. Scarlet stopped moving and a jet of green flame flew down the intersection in the vents. Found him! the hero thought. As the flame died down, Scarlet pulled himself into the intersection and shot a line of webbing to the left. He yanked hard and sent himself flying across the vent. Dammit! I just cleaned this thing!
As he lost his speed, Scarlet found himself just above the exit of the vent. He shot a web at the ceiling of the vent and slowly lowered himself out into an empty hallway. It was dark, with only traces of light ahead of him, but there were no traces of any green flame or purple mask. Scarlet flipped to the ceiling and crawled along it, heading for the source of light. This is the creepiest place I've ever been to, he thought.
The young hero reached the door where the source of light poured through and pushed it open. He didn't hear the usual alarm clock sound with his Spider-Sense, so it was probably safe.
He strode through the door and entered a large lab, climbing onto the wall to crawl toward the vaulted ceiling. The stations were full of clutter and research that The Scarlet Spider couldn't decipher was scrawled all over the whiteboards littered across the room. In the back, in front of a giant freezer, stood The Prowler.
Scarlet climbed higher into the vaulted ceiling, finally getting a good look at the vials. He saw four of them labeled: Molten Man, Electro, Tombstone, and Sandman. The Prowler snatched the Electro and Tombstone vials of blood and the vial of Sandman's sand.
Why does anyone want these guys' blood? Scarlet thought to himself. I thought they were all purposeful experiments, all you need is to recreate the same conditions. Wait, the blood could allow anyone smart enough to replicate the experiments! That's just what New York needs, more super-powered psychopaths.
The Prowler closed the freezer with a snap and turned around; in his hand, a small metal box. "Got the vials, Jackal. Meet you at the drop-off point."
Scarlet's eyes widened. The Prowler could lead him exactly to where he needed to go in order to kill two birds with one stone. However, he didn't know where that could be. For all he knew, this 'Jackal's' meeting point was in a crowded public area. This Oscorp lab was empty and safe (as much as anything Oscorp-related can be). The perfect place to engage The Prowler.
Scarlet shot out a line of webbing, snatching the case and pulling it to himself. The Prowler whipped around and his cold green eye's bored into the young hero. "You know, you really gotta be careful with copyright infringement," the hooded wall-crawler said. "Moon Knight's not gonna be–hey now!"
The Prowler shot at Scarlet like a bullet with his claws outstretched, but Scarlet was ready for him. The hero dove toward his caped adversary dodged The Prowler's sharp claws, and wrapped his legs around The Prowler's waist. Scarlet shot his web at the ground and yanked hard. He flipped through the air and sent The Prowler crashing into the floor of the lab, cracking it.
"Incomi-i-i-ing!" The Scarlet Spider called out as he flew at The Prowler with his fist wound up. Before The Prowler could move, Scarlet's fist made contact with his chest, breaking the lab floor and dropping the two on the lab beneath them.
However, Scarlet hadn't put nearly his full strength into the punch, allowing The Prowler enough time to activate his thrusters. Quickly, The Prowler's hands wrapped around Scarlet's wrist and neck respectively, and the green-and-purple thief locked The Scarlet Spider in place in front of him. The Prowler's thrusters roared to life and pushed the two through the air and into the wall.
"I'm–" Scarlet said as The Prowler forced him through wall after wall. "Really–"
CRASH!
"Not a fan–"
CRASH!
"Of this–"
CRASH!
"Arrangement!" Scarlet shouted as he and The Prowler broke through the last wall of Oscorp and flew out into the bustling New York City street. Crap! Where am I gonna take him now!? Scarlet's thought process was interrupted again by The Prowler smashing him face-first into the roof of another building. "That's it!"
Scarlet let his elbow fly wildly behind him, and he felt a buzzing feeling course through it as The Prowler reeled back from the blow. The young hero got to his feet and looked at his suit; the red bodysuit had scratches all along it, but the worst part–the part that made his blood boil–was the tattered remains of his hoodie. The hood was still connected to his neck, but the rest of it floated in the wind like a poncho. The Scarlet Spider clenched his fists. "You put innocent people in danger, and screw up my hoodie," he said, his voice gravely low and thick with anger, "just for some blood!?"
"Those people were never in danger," The Prowler retorted, flexing his claws.
Scarlet gave out a harsh laugh. His boiling blood ignited his anger. "Yeah, throwing cars and buildings at people is completely safe!"
"If you weren't there, those people wouldn't have been in danger in the first place!" The Prowler shouted, his voice full of disgust. "You and Spider-Man, you think you're helping. All you do is make things worse for people like us."
"And you think you're better!?" Scarlet fired back, throwing his hands into the air. "If you cared for people like you–whoever you are–why were you putting those people in danger!"
The Prowler roared at The Scarlet Spider and shot towards him, claws extended, but Scarlet flipped out of the way. "Because I don't live in a fantasy world!" The Prowler screamed as he turned in the air and flew back at Scarlet. "The real world is full of dirt! You can't clean the world without getting your hands dirty!"
Scarlet shot two lines of webbing at The Prowler; one connected to his boot, and the other latched onto his claw. He pulled hard, causing The Prowler to lose his balance and slam into the roof. Scarlet jumped into the air and cocked his fist back, he was going to put a little extra oomph into this punch. After all, The Prowler deserved it. He'd put innocent people in danger all because of his twisted sense of doing good. Your hands don't have to get dirty to clean the world, it's all a matter of what tools you use. And The Scarlet Spider was going to use his.
Scarlet shot another line of webbing at the roof and used it to propel himself toward The Prowler. His fist complained with pain as it connected with the hard purple metal mask, slowly cracking it. Scarlet looked at it for a second, his breathing labored and drawn out. Then, he slammed his free hand into the mask again, and again, and again; the pain in his hands was just a mild inconvenience compared to the mask that just wouldn't break under his strength. His beating heart thundered in his ears, blocking out the weak pleas from The Prowler for him to stop.
Something tugged on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off. He had to stop The Prowler from giving those vials to whoever this Jackal guy was. This wouldn't clean the world, this would make it a damn warzone!
"Scarlet," the voice sounded far away.
Scarlet's fists screamed out in pain as the part of his suit that protected his fists tore away.
"Scarlet!"
"..."
"Ben!" A strong pair of arms wrapped around The Scarlet Spider's chest, and the hooded Spider felt himself get dragged away from The Prowler.
On instinct, Scarlet reached behind him and flipped his unknown restrainer. However, rather than slamming into the ground, his restrainer landed gracefully in front of him with his hands cautiously raised.
"It's over," Spider-Man said. "The Prowler's down."
The pounding of Scarlet's heart went on, and he took several deep breaths to reign himself in. Then, he looked past Spidey and at the unconscious Prowler on the ground; he had to take him and the vials to Captain Stacy, he promised. Scarlet walked past Spidey, bent down, and removed The Prowler's cracked mask.
"What?"
"What's wrong?"
"No way," Scarlet said to himself. "No. Way." Unconscious in front of Scarlet, was the familiar face of Hobie Brown. Scarlet clenched his fists. No, Hobes is not The Prowler! That makes no sense, Hobie helps people at the Youth Shelter. He doesn't hurt people. Scarlet smacked himself in the face. I'm dreaming, it's just a dream. I'm gonna open my eyes and it won't be Hobie laying right there.
Scarlet opened his eyes, expecting to see someone else lying in front of him, but there was Hobie Brown with bruises on his face and blood seeping from his nose. "I did this," Scarlet said quietly. "I just beat the shit out of my friend."
"What're you–Hobie!?" Spider-Man said, shocked. Then, in almost a whisper, he said, "It's happening again."
That got Scarlet's attention, he stood and turned around. "What are you talking about?"
Spider-Man looked at the ground. "A friend of mine, he was…framed as being the Green Goblin," he answered. Then he looked at Hobie and moved toward the unconscious senior and wrapped him in a cocoon of webbing. "I didn't turn him in…and it wasn't pretty–"
Scarlet shot to his feet, standing between Spider-Man and Hobie. "Whoa, you think Hobie is on the same level as that flying gremlin?" Scarlet asked, the pit in his stomach was starting to boil.
"I'm not taking that chance again," Spider-Man said. He tried to move past The Scarlet Spider, but the hooded hero didn't move. So Spidey tried again, and this time, Scarlet pushed him back. "Ben–"
"Tell me your joking."
"What?"
"You're not seriously going to put him away, are you?"
Spider-Man pinched the part of his mask where his nose was and sighed. "He put people in danger and broke into Oscorp to steal their property–"
Scarlet scoffed. "Oscorps hardly innocent!"
"That doesn't make it right!" Spider-Man said. "He has to answer for what he's done! Face consequences for his actions and learn from them."
Scarlet turned away and slammed his fist into the roof, cracking it. He knew his cousin was right, Hobie broke the law and put innocents in danger, but Hobie was forced into this choice. However, there was something he wanted to know, something that sat in some far-away corner of his mind ever since he heard Peter mention his best friend's father. "Did Harry face those consequences?"
Spider-Man shook his head. "He didn't have to, I did for him," he answered. "But none of it would've happened if I had just taken Norman when I had the chance."
"You mean you could've stopped the Goblin and you did nothing?" Scarlet asked, his voice raised and eyes wide. His frustration with his cousin had reached its breaking point. Peter preached secrecy and doing the right thing, but when it came down to it, he made a selfish choice that caused more damage. No, Ben wasn't going to do that. As much as it caused him pain to look down at his hands and see them stained with his friend's blood, it would cut deeper to see the blood of innocents painting the town. He was going to be better. Peter's mistakes wouldn't be his.
"Ben, I—"
The Scarlet Spider turned around and picked up Hobie's unconscious body. "I won't make your mistakes, I'll take him and the blood to Captain Stacy," he said shortly.
"Ben!" Spider-Man reached for him, but Scarlet jumped out of the way.
"I'll see you tomorrow." With that, The Scarlet Spider swung off for the Midtown Precinct with Hobie Brown tucked under his arm.
Parker Residence
Peter climbed through the window of his room and angrily tore off his suit. Why Hobie? Why did you make that suit? You could've been doing some good with that suit, you could've gotten a job at Oscorp or Stark Industries! Use your tech to help the Youth Shelter!
Peter threw his suit into Uncle Ben's old suitcase and slammed it shut. I should've taken Hobie to Captain Stacy. Ben shouldn't have been the one to do that, Hobie was in this mess because of me! I'm the one that caused all of this! Peter slammed his fist into his desk, splintering the wood.
"Peter? Ben?" Aunt May called from below. "Is that you?"
"It's Peter," he called down to her. Peter scrambled to cover the splinter in his desk as he heard Aunt May walking up the stairs.
"Dear, are you alright?"
"It's been a long day," Peter answered. "I think I'm going to head to bed."
"Alright," Aunt May said. "You wouldn't happen to know where Ben is, would you? It's getting late."
Peter bit his lip. He knew exactly where Ben was, but he couldn't just say it. Ugh, sometimes I really hate my secret ID. If she knew, maybe–no, NO! I can't do that to her, not when her heart's finally stable. I wish I could talk to someone about this, but the only person who would understand currently hates me. Typical Parker Luck. "No, I uh, don't know where he is," he answered. "But I'm sure he'll be home soon."
"Alright, goodnight Peter."
"Night, Aunt May."
BZZZZ!
Peter pulled out his phone and looked at the message on the screen, it was from Ben: Stacy has The Prowler.
That was it. Peter's fingers hovered over the keyboard on his phone; was this a talk that could be handled over the phone? Should he try to reach out, work this out with Ben before it can fester? He didn't know how long he sat there staring at his phone, and the more time went on, the more Peter felt this wasn't the right time. He'd never really seen Ben carry this kind of cold anger, and he didn't really know how to deal with it. Space, all he needs is a little space and web-slinging. That always helped me get through some of my toughest times.
Peter closed the chat with Ben and his eyes fixated on MJ's contact. He couldn't tell Aunt May, but maybe MJ should know. This was the girl he was with, and he'd seen how badly his double life affected his relationships when he was with Liz. He didn't want the same thing to happen with MJ. What Peter felt for Liz was strong, but it was nothing compared to what he felt for MJ. With MJ, Peter never felt safer, never felt like he could open up to someone before.
However, despite this, he still hid a huge part of who he was away from her. He knew it was for her own good, but it still felt…wrong. Mary Jane 'Free Agent' Watson had chosen him to be in a relationship with, and here he was lying to her.
That's how Peter ended up staring at the request for MJ to meet him at their spot during lunch. But, for all the strength that spider had granted him when it bit him, he couldn't bring himself to press send.
Somewhere in New York
The Scarlet Spider swung angrily through the skyscrapers. He'd just dropped off The Prowler, Hobie Brown in front of the Midtown Precinct with a note for Captain Stacy. Normally, he would've stayed, but he couldn't bear to stick around and look at Hobie's face or receive congratulations from the father of the girl he liked.
He hadn't even bothered to go by Stark Tower and get his suit and hoodie repaired by the Fabricator. Scarlet didn't even deserve that, instead, he just zipped back to the Lincoln Youth Shelter to retrieve his backpack full of clothes. He didn't even feel the sharp sting of the cold air on his exposed flesh as he swung through across the skyline Though no one else could see it due to the color of his bodysuit, Scarlet could still see the blood of his friend on his bruised hands. A reminder of the pain his secret identity had caused.
If he had just told Hobie who he was, maybe he could've stopped this. Hobie could've seen that Ben was in his corner in more ways than one, but it was too little too late. Hobie was eighteen and committed a crime. He'd be sent to jail all because he did the only thing he thought he could, and Ben didn't help him.
The Scarlet Spider let go of his webbing and landed on a roof overlooking a single lit window. It was a place he was familiar with, and it housed one of his favorite people. She was awake, leaning against the window and reading a book. Scarlet stood, he made up his mind the moment he grabbed Hobie and he wasn't going to back down from it.
Scarlet looked around in order to make sure no one else was looking, and then jumped from the roof and landed on the fire escape just above Gwen's window so as to not startle her. Then, he walked down the fire escape and knocked on the window to the tune of 'Shave and a Haircut.'
Gwen's head twitched, then she jumped when she saw who was sitting outside her window, causing Scarlet to let out a much-needed chuckle. She then scrambled to open the window. "You-your The Scarlet Spider!" she exclaimed. Gwen then grimaced as she saw him put his finger up in a 'shh' gesture. "What are you doing here?"
"There's something I need to tell you," he said.
Gwen furrowed her brow. "Sorry, but we don't know each other."
"That's where you're wrong, Gwen," Ben said as he pulled off his scarlet mask. "You got any hot dogs?"
Since I don't know when the next update will be because of classes, I figured I'd give you guys a sneak peak at what the title of the next arc will be: Behind the Curtain. Do with that what you will!