Initiative 2028
Spider Woman II
Ben Ulrich was an old man, and had become the lead editor of Front Line, an semi-underground paper in New York. He had started it after being fired from the Daily Bugle for ethical reasons, and had survived years of craziness and political shifts. Now, he was chasing the story of Valeria Richards and what happened to her enemies.
With, annoyingly, an unwanted bodyguard.
"I do NOT need a nurse, Julie," Ben growled.
Julie Power, also known as the heroine Lightspeed, shrugged. "The staff would kill me if something happened to you," she noted.
Ben grunted.
"I heard you had a line on the new Spider Woman?" Julie changed the subject.
"More like she contacted me. Asked for a meeting," Ben noted.
"Aren't you worried it might be a sting of some kind?" Julie asked him warily.
"Some. I'm wired with a relay back to the offices AND to cloud storage," Ben added. "Don't teach your Grandma to suck eggs, as they say..."
"I never understood that saying," Julie said, amused.
"Heh," Ben smiled. Damn younger generation with their smart phones, wireless internet, itunes and such...
The dive bar was one that Daredevil had hung out at, way back in the day. The smell of old fashioned cigarette smoke lingered, along with beer and a hint of vomit in the air.
"Hey, Ben," the older bartender nodded.
"Turk," Ben nodded to the former gangster who went straight. Probably due to Daredevil flinging him around so often...
"Your guest is at the usual table," Turk quietly said as they neared the bar.
"Thanks," Ben nodded.
"And try to keep that pretty friend of yours from starting too much trouble," Turk nodded towards Julie.
"I'll try," Ben chucled as they moved by.
Sounding slightly alarmed Julie leaned in and whispered to Ben, "Does he know I'm really Lightspeed, or something?!"
"No," Ben reassured her, "or at least I doubt it. But if you survive long enough doing the sort of things we do, you develop a sense of who's dangerous."
"Ah," Julie nodded, looking faintly pleased by the idea.
The corner booth was a spot Ben had met many contacts over the years, but as time went on he had to be more careful. He check the bug scanner he had picked up on the grey market. Based around a old Parker Industries phone, it could spot most bugs and block them.
"Clean," Ben noted.
"I should hope so," the woman sitting in the booth noted, "I even showered."
"Smart ass," Ben smiled wryly as he sat down across from the brown haired woman.
The strange woman was strikingly familiar looking to Ben. With a slightly more masculine jaw line, a few other changes, and he'd be looking at the spitting image of Peter Parker. If was eerie.
"Mister Ulrich. It's... nice to meet you," she smiled. "Reilly Parker."
"Ms Parker," Ben nodded, "this is my associate, Julie Power."
"Ms Power," Reilly nodded, "I've seen your by-line at both the Bugle and Front Line. You do good work."
"Thank you," Julie smiled. "Is it OK, my being here? I can sit in a nearby booth..."
Reilly hesitated, then shrugged. "It's fine, I assume you're maintain confidentiality," she said.
"Understood," Julie nodded.
Ben decided to be blunt, "You look almost exactly like Peter Parker, who disappeared a few years ago. Sex change?"
"Female clone," Reilly answered equally bluntly.
"Huh," Ben grunted.
Julie, meanwhile, was looking at both of them in disbelief. "You're taking this awfully calmly," she noted.
"I saw a Spider-man MELT once. And weirder shit," Ben noted, "You get used to it."
"Yeah," Reilly agreed. She fidgeted uncomfortably, "I should start with saying that Spider-Man is actually..."
"Peter Parker," Ben finished for her.
Reilly looked at him blankly, "You knew?"
"I think the whole newsroom knew," Ben noted wryly. "Other than J Jonah Jameson, anyway. And in his case I suspect extreme denial." At Reilly's blank look he continued, "We ARE reporters, you know. We're not going to be stupid or blind."
"Point," Reilly conceded.
"So you're Spider Woman, now," Julie noted.
"Yeah, though that's not really why I called you, Ben," Reilly admitted.
"I'm all ears," Ben nodded.
"Reilly started to make a joke, then stopped herself. "Anyway...," she continued, "when I started out as Spider-Man, I set up certain precautions. I knew SOMETHING bad could happen, so I set up drops so I could, in an emergency, leave messages and such for my loved ones."
"And you got a new message on one of those drops?" Ben asked intently.
"A short burst transmission. Not much but...," Reilly took out a phone and opened a app.
A distorted but familiar voice came on "...with Fantastic Four. We're in the Negative Zone, and..." then it cut off.
"Well, it SOUNDS like Peter," Ben conceded.
"You don't sound terribly excited," Reilly noted.
Ben made a face, "It's exciting news, but I can't base a story on just a digital recording. Especially one that we can't verify." He added quickly, "No offense."
"None taken," Reilly sighed. "I worked in a newsroom, I know how it works," she conceded. "But..."
"I'll dig into it," Ben promised. "There HAS to have been evidence left when they investigated the Baxter Building bombing. If the attack was meant to send them elsewhere, we can find out."
"Thank you," Reilly said.
"Can I get a copy of the recording?" Julie asked after a moment.
Reilly looked at her curiously, "Sure, but why?"
"I have some... contacts that are outside the usual reporter stuff," Julie said evasively. "I don't know if they actually can DO anything, but it couldn't hurt to pass this on."
Reilly nodded, "Fair enough."
The trio exchanged phone numbers, each promising to keep the others informed, then they split up. As they passed the bar, Ben nodded to Turk. "Any sightings of Daredevil?" he asked quietly.
Turk shook his head. "Just the copy-cat in black, and the dude who's wearing that odd armor suit DD wore. No sign of the original."
Matt Murdock and Daredevil had both vanished not long after President Richards came to power. Just a coincidence, of course.
Ben slipped Turk a hundred. "Keep a eye open for me, okay?" he asked.
"Will do," Turk slipped the bill away. "Heard a rumor: new 'kingpin' in New York. Claims to be a kid of Fisk's."
"Richard?" Ben asked, though he thought Fisk Jr was dead.
"Nope. Cain, he says..." Turk shrugged.
To be continued...
Notes: YES, canon-wise Peter Parker didn't have wireless internet and so on when he started out. But Marvel Comics has a 'five year' timeline for it's continuity starting from Fantastic Four #1. So IN THEORY Pete should have had anything technology available five years ago.
Also, yes it's morbid that Pete would have a mail drop set up if he died. Again, in canon he had some very close calls early on. I could see him setting that up, anyway.
I haven't decided yet what I want to do with Daredevil yet. On one hand, I could tie him into the larger storylines. On the other, he's been through SO MUCH SHIT as a hero, I could kinda see him just quitting and walking away.
