Bumpkin: Yeah I wanted them meeting Ben to be one heck of a shock.
TheUnknown325: Kaine will show up eventually, and no Betsy/Ben close but wrong telepath.
Cjh: Well I'm glad you're back, and that you like where it's going. Thanks for that, I'll get right on it with more Kitty and other relationships as well. I may bring Jean back, but there's a few things I want to do to set up her return.
Danrilor : Interesting idea but I think she's a happily married woman now, but I think I might have something for later on, it may not be what you wanted but you might still like it.
Winblades: Yeah it kind of is, I mean when my reviews started to drop off my inspiration goes with it, but I'm glad you reviewed it. As for Warren/Paige, tell me about it what were the writers thinking?
trecebo: Glad you liked it, and I'm honored you think so highly of the story.
Joseph McKinley: Yeah I always liked Ben, and that will be interesting too.
Star Lin: Glad you found that funny, and you'll soon why he needs his blood.
Beastdog: I was wondering where you were, you kind of fell off the Earth there for a second.
Ldypebsaby: Oh you'll see who they are and it's something I've always wanted to see done. And yes Ben might be a little popular with everyone.
Vegabond: I'll try but I got other stories too. Dani and Ben huh, I'll think about it I wanted someone else though.
The Uncanny R-Man: Well I figured Ben had a thing for redheads from Peter you know. Yeah Shadow Spider was kind of mysterious in that chapter to make that mistake wasn't he?
Thanks to: TheLegendaryManHimself, qwerky, matt3671, spyder616, Angora, Red Jeanie
Disclaimer: Shadow Spider is an OC of my creation.
THE NEW TEACHER
CHAPTER 37: THE GATHERING
Early Monday morning Peter and Ben made their way to Xavier's, Ben couldn't believe he was going through this, this was Peter's thing not his...but since Peter said he enjoyed it and since Ben was his clone with all his memories up to the cloning he might also like this. Plus he had to admit he always thought he could be a better teacher then the ones in his high school, no not him, Peter. He sighed to himself, that was the problem being a clone like himself...having someone else's life in your mind made things both confusing and kind of depressing, since they weren't 'his' memories, just copies...like him.
He pushed those thoughts aside, he didn't like to think of those things it only made him depressed. They walked up to the mansion and he couldn't believe how much it had changed since he last saw it-when Peter saw it.
They walked up to the main door and Peter opened it up and they walked in. "So Pete, am I supposed to wait here or something?"
"Yeah, Dani Moonstar is going to meet you and take you to Emma and Scott." Peter told him. He could see how Ben was a little nervous and he knew why, a place like this wasn't exactly the kind of place you liked to walk into with secrets but Peter had gotten over it. "Well she should be here, I'm sure Frosty has picked us up on radar and call Dani over to meet you."
"Yeah, sure thing." Ben said as Peter walked off to get ready for his next class. Ben looked around the foyer and tried to keep himself busy.
"Damn...you do look just like Peter." Ben turned to see a fairly attractive Native American woman with long dark hair walk over to him.
Ben smiled and put his hand out for a handshake. "Yeah, I've been getting that a lot. Dani I presume?"
She smiled back and shook his hand. "You got it, Emma and Scott are waiting for you." She gestured for him to follow her and they walked on. "I hope you don't mind me saying this but I hope you join up, I mean it's hard to get teachers here considering how people feel about mutants, plus if you're anything like your brother I think the kids will love having you here."
Ben shrugged. "I'm not sure if teaching is for me though, plus I've always been a bit...uneasy...around telepaths."
Dani nodded. "Oh yeah, been there. I mean it took me a couple of weeks to get over how Xavier used to call us with his mind." Then her face fell as Dani thought about those days when she first got here, they seemed like a lifetime ago. "I miss those days...things were so simple back then."
"Everything is more simple in the 'good old days', it's just because we have to grow up and take responsibility that things seem so much harder." Ben told her.
"Yeah I see your point...plus...things haven't been the same since Jean was dead and Xavier left. I should warn you though that Emma and Scott are kind of not on friendly terms with each other, so if they're a little cold then it's not about you."
That got his attention. "Why is that?"
"Well...a few of our friends came back from...well from the dead. Some not for the first time, but Scott was hoping the Jean was among them, Emma must have picked that thought up and well...let's just say from there it got ugly." Ben winced at the mental image of how that had gone down.
They made it to the main office and there he saw Scott in his black X-Man gear was sitting behind a chair behind a desk and Emma in her usual scantily clad clothing that made Ben think of how popular she must be with all the male students was in another chair to the side but even Ben could feel some tension in the room. He sat down in front of them. "Thank Danielle, you can wait outside." Scott told her and she nodded and left.
Scott looked though a pile of papers. "Well this has definitely been a strange week, first we get back a few old friends and now a brother we didn't know existed of one of our teaching staff is looking for a job." Scott looked up at him and behind the visor he blinked a few times. "You two must really be twins if it wasn't for the blond hair I would swear you were him."
Ben shrugged. "Kind of the reason I dyed it blond, so we were more distinct." Both Scott and Emma could relate to trying to be different then their other siblings.
"So Mr. Parker." Emma began but Ben cut her off.
"Reilly, my name is Ben Reilly since I wasn't raised by the Parker family." Ben corrected her, he gave them the cover story and he had to admit the more he used it the more he got better at it.
"Well that's interesting." Scott said to him. "So we looked you up and it seems you have qualifications in the sciences, chemistry and math. Since Peter handles science and Hank with math, would you be interested in teaching the chemistry classes?"
Ben thought about it. That was one of the things he loved actually and that he excelled in. He was also wondering how that kind of information was out there but then he guessed his 'benefactor' hadn't just given him the personal paper work but also put it in the system. "Well I would like it, but what if some of the students picked my head for the answers?" He had to think of some reason to bring up the telepath thing.
Emma smiled at him. "If you want I could place a mental shield like your brother has, I could try right now and..." Emma tried to read him but for some reason she couldn't. "What the hell?!"
"What is it?" Scott asked.
"I can't get into his head." Emma said shocked at this and they both saw the same shocked expression on Ben's face too.
'What? She should be able to get into my head.' Ben thought to himself. 'I mean how could I be blocking her?' Then the answer came to him. 'Oh...he must have done it...damn how the hell did he know I would need it? Never mind I might not like the answer, not like I could get a straight one from him.'
"You sure about that?" Ben asked playing up the dumb act, this only seemed to piss Emma off a little.
"Maybe he's a resistor?" Scott offered, it was rare but there were a few humans that were resistant to mental powers, like those that couldn't be hypnotized.
"Maybe." Emma said crossing her arms she didn't like this and but she didn't find any of the usual barriers a telepath could place in someone's head...but still.
Ben was grinning on the inside though, if his mind was telepath proof then maybe things might work out here, plus he needed a job. "Well this is weird and if you're fine with this...development...then I was wondering if I could get started?"
Scott thought about it, this new development was a surprise...but he had his doubts about Peter and that turned out fine, so why not his brother too? That and maybe this was the beginning of what Xavier had dreamed of, mutants and humans working together? With Ben that would make three humans working here with Peter and Annie. Well Juggernaut was still here but he didn't count with him having powers.
"I don't see why not, you can have Dani show you around while we work out a schedule for you."
Ben stood up and smiled. "Thanks, I hope I'm as good as Peter."
When he left Emma turned to Scott. "I don't like this, how can he just block me and this is all a little too convenient...I think those two are hiding something."
"Name someone who isn't." Scott said flatly. "Besides I'm in charge and I say we give him a chance."
"Fine." She said coldly and got up and walked out, Scott sighed and sat back in his chair. It was going to be a long day.
-Peter's Class-
Peter was finishing up his science class he had also noticed how Jubilee and Angelo had stayed in the back the entire time making eyes at each other talking and holding hands. Peter had let them continue, it wasn't everyday that you got back someone you loved, but if this kept up he would have to have a talk with them.
"Mr. Parker?" Peter turned to see Paige walking over to him, she seemed to wait until everyone was gone and they were alone. "I was wondering if I could take the GED and have you give it. I need an actual teacher to watch over it and I don't want anyone to be influenced to do it."
Peter was a bit surprised at that, all Paige had left was one more semester before she was officially had a high school degree but he guessed she wanted more responsibility. "Sure I can do that, I'll set it up with Scott or Emma."
"Thanks." Paige said and nodded but there was something about her, she had seemed kind of distant and out of it lately.
"Paige...what's wrong? And before you say nothing you don't have to me a psychic to see something is bothering you." He saw her tense up and bit her lower lip as he could tell she was thinking it over, from what he had learned from Kitty and Hank he had a feeling what it was about. "It's about you and Warren isn't it?"
Paige just sat down in one of the empty chairs. "I don't know what to do...I mean I'm glad Betsy is alive again...but there's a part of me that whishes she had stayed dead." She hated how that sounded but it was the truth. Peter walked over and sat down next to her. "When I saw how happy Warren was when he saw her...I knew...I knew he still loved her."
"When you love someone even if you lose them there's some part of you that will always love someone Paige." Peter told her placing a hand on one of hers making her looked up into his eyes. He could see how mush this was hurting her and how she was consumed by all of this. "I loved one woman and I lost her, actually two but I got MJ back, and I can tell you a small part of me still cares for her."
"If she came back would you leave MJ though?" Paige asked.
She didn't know that Peter had faced this, he had met the Gwen Stacy clone and even though he had feelings for the original his love for Mary Jane was stronger. "Honestly? No, but that's because I love MJ more. I know this is all hard on all three of you...but you have to ask yourself how much do you love Warren?"
"I do love him!"
"I didn't say you didn't. Just how much? Can you see yourself spending the rest of your life with him? And if you can then there's only one more thing...how he feels. A relationship is built on the feelings of two people Paige, you need to confront Warren and ask him how he feels, if he loves you or Betsy...but I should warn you to be prepared for the worse. I know you think it can work and you may want it to work out...but it doesn't always work out the way you want it."
Paige thought about his words, she knew she had to confront Warren and she was afraid that if she did she would get the answers she didn't want to hear, but if she didn't she was sure to lose him. "Thanks for the advice...I...I need to think on this...but you're right I do need to talk to Warren."
"Anytime Paige my door is always open to either students, or friends." He said smiling at her. Despite how she felt she smiled a little back, sure enough she wasn't going to be his student anymore even though he was the best teacher she ever had, she hoped that maybe they could be friends though.
-Somewhere in the Caribbean-
In his own personal hut was a slightly older man nearing his 50's. He had short white hair, blue eyes and his skin deeply tanned from nearly a year living it up in paradise. His name was Roderick Kingsley, former head of a company, and the one and original Hobgoblin. Sitting on the beach watching the sunset it was a bitter sweat life. The sweat part was obvious, living here in paradise with a fat bank account.
The bitter part was because of one Norman Osborn. Norman had taken over his company and Kingsley had been exposed and sent to jail. It was only because he had proof that Norman was the Green Goblin that he was able to blackmail Norman to break him out of prison, then again blackmail was something he was good at. He smiled at the memories of he used the Hobgoblin persona to ruin his competitors, and brought up hit drink to his lips.
"Ahhh...the good old days." He mused to himself. That was before he last everything...well not everything. He still had an assortment of Goblin weapons and the secret account to live off of. In fact he could live the rest of his life here very comfortably. But then again it wasn't his style to just lay down and give up, he would go back to New York and finish his business there.
"Interesting place, hard to find and isolated."
Roderick jumped off his chair and turned to see none other then one of the people he would love to see dead, Norman Osborn himself. He knew Norman was younger then him, but he too had taken the Goblin formula only Roderick had altered it so he didn't go insane from it, so he was just as strong as Norman, in fact the last time they had met it had been a stale mate.
"You got balls coming here, but I guess it saves me the time and effort to take this fight to New York!"
Norman just smiled at him. "As much as I like to rip your head off, and I do, I'm here on business. Now I know you don't like me, hate me in fact, and the feeling is mutual." His expression darkened at the memories of dealing with this man. "But I was given an idea by an...ally. It's something I certainly never would have considered but then again it's also something I never tried."
"Get to the point or get ready for a fight Osborn!"
"Such a temper...anyways how would you like your company back?" Roderick who was moving forward slowly stopped and eyed him suspiciously. "Tell you what? You help me deal with Spider-Man, a thorn in both our sides and I'll give you back your company lock, stock and barrel. But after Spider-Man's death...all bets are off and we settle things between us."
Roderick looked at Norman with contempt. "Why should I believe you?"
Norman reached for his back pocket slowly and pulled out a folded up piece of paper and placed it on the table. "This is a contract me sighing over all the assets I acquired from you."
"You mean stole." He said flatly and took it not taking his eyes of Norman.
"Semantics." Norman said simply. "You now have control over your old company...now...will you hear me out?"
Roderick looked at the paper, sure he wanted back his company but he also wanted Norman's head on a stick, but...he also had a score to settle with Spider-Man. If he can get his company back and deal with the Spider then things were looking up...besides after he and Norman could always settle things, and he did miss New York. "Start talking."
Norman grinned. "Of course, and I think you'll be interested if not intrigued by the idea. I just hope my ally is doing his part of the recruitment process."
-New York Cemetery-
It was late and George was tired. For over thirty years ha had been watching over this plot in New York, sure it wasn't the most glamorous job but it was easy enough and he was more of a night person anyway for these late hour shifts. He walked his old body to the place where he thought he had seen something.
Every now and then some damn kids always snuck in here to turn over tombstones, spray paint them or just break them. "No respect for the dead at all." He muttered to himself. He felt his old knee giving him some pain, it was close to retirement, five more years and he was going to move to Florida and get himself a nice year round tan.
Then he came onto an open grave, but it wasn't just the fact it was open it was the fact it had been dug up. The ground was disturbed and the coffin was gone. "Damn." He muttered the boss wasn't going to like this, in all the years he'd been here this had never happened to him.
Then he noticed the name of the open grave on the tombstone. It seemed familiar somehow but he couldn't place the name, but with all the names it was hard to tell and impossible to remember all of them. He looked back down at the now empty grave. "Well this is going to piss someone off...god I hate the paper work and the police questions that are going to happen because of this." He muttered to himself, before he left he took out a small note pad and started to write up the information he would need. He got the plot row and number then looked once at the name to be sure he was spelling it right.
"Well then looks like a Mr. Jason Macendale's eternal slumber was disturbed...why is that name so familiar?" He asked himself but it wasn't until later that when the police had come that he over heard the report on the name. The man named Jason Macendale was killed in prison by the Hobgoblin the weird thing was...Macendale even though with new cybernetics, he was in prison because he was the Hobgoblin.
NEXT UP CHAPTER 38: EVIL FORCES
Alright I've had a few people give me different ideas so I want you're opinions on who would be the best match for Ben to get romantically involved with an X-girl. So far I got Dani, Rachel, Magma, as the single girls. So I want to know who you think is the best choice. Betsy is taken though.