Initiative 2028
Spider-Woman
The woman leaped, her slim but athletic body gracefully stretching. She was dressed in a mostly red costume, with a black spider logo on her chest that had 'arms' extending into her black gloves and boots. She gestured as she fell and a web line shot from her wrist, snagging a building as she swung out over the void between the office towers.
Reilly Parker's long brown hair flowed in the breeze as she swung across the city, firing off web lines as she patrolled the city much like Spider-Man had years before. She almost did it from memory, though she had to be careful of how the skyline had changed in the years she had been gone.
'It's been a hell of a trip,' Reilly thought to herself, the woman once known as 'Ben Reilly' sticking to a wall as she swept the night with her eyes.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Her new life began in a laboratory, a pod popping open and spilling clone juice on the clean floor. She staggered out, choking and coughing as she sucked in air, her mind in turmoil. The last thing she remembered was fighting beside the original Spider-Man against the Green Goblin, being impailed by the goblin-glider then... blackness.
"Hello, Ben," the voice laughed as a video screen lit up, revealing a familiar inhuman face. The Jackal grinned from beneath his mask, the master of cloning looking smug and self-satisfied as he sat in a fancy office chair.
"Warren." Ben growled, surprised that her voice sounded higher than it should, "what are you up to now?"
Jackal leaned forward, looking amused. "I'm giving you a new lease on life, as well as a little surprise," he said, "look down."
Unwillingly Ben did... then screeched. "WHAT THE HELL?!" SHE yelped, taking in small breasts, girlish hips and a certain lack of male sex organs.
Jackal was nearly killing himself laughing, almost falling out of his chair. "I've been waiting for years for you to awake," he snickered, "but it was worth it, just to see the look on your face."
"You are a sick puppy," Ben growled, realizing as she did that her voice was higher than it had been, too.
Jackal was still chuckling as he said, "You should be greatful, I'm the only reason you're alive right now." He sat back, clearly wanting to boast like most super-villains did. "Have you heard of Arim Zola?" he asked curiously.
Ben shivered, realizing she was slightly cold. "Nazi geneticist?" she ventured, recognizing the name from reading about Captain America's exploits.
"A gold star to you," Jackal nodded. "He perfected a technology to transfer minds from one body to another...."
Ben put the pieces together quickly, "You implanted that technology in me."
"You were my test subject, after I traded my rapid cloning technology to Zola," Jackal agreed cheerfully. He leaned forward, "Sorry about the girl-body, but it was what I had available."
"Why save my life?" Ben asked, frowning. "You have no reason to like either me or my brother Peter," she added.
Jackal sat back, his expression through the mask thoughtful. "No, I don't," he agreed, "but I hate being manipulated more."
Ben blinked, then thought about the recent battle, "The Goblin."
"Yes," Jackal said coldly. He looked angry, "I had prided myself on my schemes against you and Peter, to find out I had been manipulated by Norman Osborne...."
"So what does that have to do with me?" Ben asked flatly.
"You cannot help Peter now," Jackal noted, "his life is settling down without you, your return would only make his life more difficult." A smile, "But you can help him in other ways."
"Oh?" Ben asked skeptically.
"Much of the money Norman uses to torment Peter comes from his criminal network in Europe," Jackal smiled coldly, "if someone were to disrupt that network... well, Norman wouldn't like that at all."
"Getting your revenge on him too," Ben noted. "But why should I trust you?"
"Oh, I'm not expecting you to," Jackal said cheerfully. A drawer in the control station popped open revealing towels, clothes and a red and black jumpsuit, "Investigate yourself. This facility is in France, not far from Paris."
After checking over the stuff Ben dried off the last of the cloning goo then got dressed. "So why Paris?" she asked.
"Because Norman has investments there," Jackal shrugged, "a good a place to start as any." He waved, "Good luck on your new life."
The screen went dark, leaving Ben alone in the lab. In addition to the clothes she found currency in the container, as well as ID apparently made up for her new body. She took the money but left the ID, not trusting Jackal not to have rigged the ID to make trouble for her somehow. She made her way out of the lab and up a tunnel into a wooded area, standing for a moment at the tunnel enterance and taking in the scenery.
'Well,' Ben mused as she set out, 'let's see what's really going on.'
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Back in New York Reilly watched from the shadows as a Scarlet Spider swung by, the armor clad 'hero' patrol;ling the city for the Initiative. Part of her was tempted to explode from the shadows, jump on him and start pounding away, but she restrained the impulse.
'The Scarlet Spiders aren't necessarily bad guys,' she mused as Reilly shifted about, 'even if they are working for one.'
Reilly braced herself against the side of the building, glad the Spiders didn't have her danger sense. She looked out over the city, taking in the gutted shell of Four Freedoms Plaza, former home of the Fantastic Four, and over there the ruins of Avengers Mansion. It was a bad time to be a hero, but that had never stopped her before.
A slight smile teased Reilly's lips as she took off, swinging across the city even as the sun began to set. She liked sunsets, they reminded her of... interesting times.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The kingdom of Symkaria was uncomfortably near Latervia, home to the villainous Dr Doom, and was the home base of one of the most well known mercenary organizations in the world, the Wild Pack. Headed up by Silver Sable the Pack was a mix of human and super-human operatives who took on jobs around the world for companies, countries and private citizens. They were the best of the best, and the tryouts to join attracted people from around the world.
The newly renamed Reilly Parker had worked her way up through the ranks of try-outs, covertly using her abilities to advance. She felt a little bad about it, even though there were several obvious super humans also competing. An announcement was made of the semi finals, and the t-shirt and shorts clad woman got in line, her brown hair tied back in a pony tail.
"Next up, Parker vs Battlestar!" the manager of the test yelled.
Battlestar was a former American hero, a side kick of Captain America, or something like that. He was also superhumanly strong, Reilly had heard, which meant she couldn't go easy on him. The black man in red and blue smiled grimly, hefting his triangle shapped shield as he said, "Sorry, miss, but you're going down."
"Oh really?" Reilly smiled casually.
"I want back in the Pack," Battlestar said as he charged, "and you're in the way!"
Reilly waited until he was nearly atop her then leaped, bouncing over his head agilely. He stumbled but recovered, wheeling around to throw a punch that she easilly ducked. Using her spider sense and speed she easily dodged around the fighting circle, bouncing and jumping to stay clear of his increasingly frustrated blows.
"Stay still, damn it!" Battlestar cursed as she leaped and dodged.
"Nope," Reilly landed on his head as the crowd laughed, then jumped away before he could grab her.
Silver Sable stood up, the blonde haired inheritor of the tile watching curiously. "Your speed is impressive," she called, "but we need fighters too. Please demonstrate that you can stop Mr. Battlestar, please, or this trial has no point."
"Understood," Reilly nodded.
"Ain't gonna be that easy," Battlestar growled, bracing himself for a fight.
Reilly move even faster than she had dodging, bouncing around him as he swung wildly, the woman landing powerful blows and staggering the fighter. Helplessly he tried to land a punch but she was just too fast for him.
Battlestar swung again desperately as he cursed, "You have got to be kidding me!"
Reilly dropped into a crouch, almost like a tightly wound spring, then exploded into a powerful uppercut that sent the older man flying backwards, out cold. She rubbed her sore knuckles as the crowd watched in awe and murmured, "Sorry."
"Winner, Parker!" the announcer cried.
Reilly walked over to the stunned Battlestar as medical teams looked him over and asked, "Is he going to be all right?"
"Just knocked out," the nurse replied cheerfully as they dragged him out of the arena.
"Reilly Parker?" one of the men dressed in the red and black Wild Pack uniforms tapped her on the shoulder, "Miss Sable wants to see you."
Reilly was escorted to the viewing platform where Anna Sable, the modern Silver Sable, watched the fights. The niece of the first Silver she had inherited the position after her predicessor's death, and had striven to maintain the good reputation of the organization. She was well known in the international community as a ruthless but honorable woman who would complete any job, no matter the personal cost.
"Miss Parker," Anna smiled, the pretty young woman in the skin tight bodysuit studying her thoughtfully. "You are provisionally accepted in the Pack."
Reilly stiffened, "Thank you, ma'am."
The sun was just setting on a long day as Anna leaned forward, her breasts straining against the uniform, "I'm curious, though. Why do your abilities so resemble Spider-Man's?" At Reilly's surprised look she added, "My Aunt told me a lot about him."
Reilly looked sheepish as she said, "It's a long story."
Anna reached out to lay a hand on her arm, "I look forward to you telling me all about it, eventually." She sat back, "We'll have time, I think."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Reilly smiled as she stretched, then swung out over the city once more. She and Anna had become friends, and even more than friends, during her time in the Pack. But as much as she had enjoyed that life home had called her, and eventually she decided to return to the United States. This time not as 'Ben Reilly' lost clone but as Reilly Parker, freelance agent of Wild Pack and registered heroine of Symkaria and 'safe' from US law, more or less.
To be continued....
Notes: I had the idea of turning Ben Reilly into a female clone long before the Ultimate Spider Woman story, by the way. ^_~ Still, Bendis got it into print first, so....
