Author Note/Rambling:
Hello readers!
I'm glad to see that there's been any interest in this story at all. I got a lot of ideas with this story, and where I think it'll go. Obviously it's Canon Divergent, so canon events may either not happen or happen differently. Along with that, I'll be including characters that either haven't been used much or would realistically get involved with these kinds of situations that weren't there before.
I know that the chapters are a bit short right now, but I'll try to increase the length of them as we move forward. For all I know, though, I may end up moving straight past the comics in timeline progression, which would be.. interesting to navigate.
Anyways! Here's the second chapter, and I hope you all enjoy.
Ben Reilly stared at the man in glasses, confused as to who he was and why Peter wasn't welcome here. Miles smiled awkwardly, shrinking into himself slightly at the awkward situation.
"My bad, I thought Peter still lived here.. that you two were still together," Miles tried, to which Paul looked over at him, and looked confused.
"And just who are you?"
Ben stepped in front of Miles, getting between him and Miles. A protective fire formed in his heart and soul, and it burned bright.
"He's a friend of Peter Parker's."
Paul squinted his eyes at Ben, giving him a look that Ben interpreted as asking him if he thought Paul was stupid. The current answer was yes.
"Listen, Peter, I like you, but Mary Jane doesn't want you around. And neither do I, honestly. Not when the kids are around."
"I'm not Peter Parker. My name is Ben Reilly."
Ben's stance grew confident the more he spoke. He heard Mary Jane gasp quietly before peering around Paul, looking at him confused.
"I came here because I thought I could get answers from Peter. I can see that's not what's going to happen, so I'd like to at least see if MJ can give me some."
Paul blinked, still looking at Ben, before looking at Mary Jane.
"Does he really expect us to-"
"No, Paul, he's telling the truth. I just- It's Peter's brother."
Paul looked at Ben again, before shaking his head and backing off, going deeper into the apartment. Mary Jane stepped out of the way, and Ben stepped into the apartment, followed by Miles. She closed the door as the two Spider-Men sat down at the dining table. Miles glanced at Ben, and Ben shook his head. He'd explain further later.
Mary Jane sat at the table, looking at Ben with.. confusion. Worry? He didn't know.
"Ben.. You're back?"
Ben snorted.
"Yes, I'm back. I don't know how, I just… wo-"
"Woke up?" Miles interrupted, staring into Ben like he.. Ben didn't know. Like he had seen a ghost.
"Uh.. yeah. Woke up."
"You.. came back at a bad time, Ben. A lot has changed."
"Obviously. Starting with the fact that I do not see a wedding ring on your finger, and have no idea who the hell Paul is," Ben stated, apartment with his thumb towards the back of the house, "And that there's more kids then I remember you and Peter supposed to be having."
Mary Jane raised an eyebrow at the last comment, and stared at him for a few moments, before sighing and looking down at the table.
"Peter and I didn't have any kids, Ben. It was a false pregnancy. We.. divorced, soon after. I couldn't— I couldn't stand the superhero life. Especially after.. you and the other clones happened. I tried to stay with him. I did. But it got too dangerous, I couldn't stay with Peter when he was throwing his life away like that."
Ben blinked several times, before gritting his teeth. Several things were wrong with that statement, starting with the false pregnancy. He had seen the baby bump. And he certainly knew that Mary Jane and Peter's relationship was as strong as it was before when he had died.
"So why isn't he allowed around here, MJ? I know that you wouldn't just.. cut him off."
".. Well…" Mary Jane shifted uncomfortably, and Miles' spider sense went off slightly. He was feeling very uneasy. Ben kept staring at her, and Mary Jane sighed.
"He left me in another dimension, Ben. For years. I knew he was going to come back, but.. I moved on. And he.. did things here, when trying to get me back. Now he keeps trying to get back with me, but—"
"Wait, wait, wait. You're angry he did what he could to get you back?"
Ben stared at Mary Jane, an fury burning in his eyes. Mary Jane's eyebrows furrowed. Miles whistled silently, looking back and forth between the two.
"Guys, maybe we should-" He tried, but he was interrupted by Ben.
"You can't just— Do that to him! He loves you, Mary Jane!"
"It doesn't matter, Ben. I moved on, and he needs to as well."
Ben stood up abruptly.
"What is wrong with you?! This— This isn't you! That— None of this makes any sense!"
Mary Jane frowned at Ben.
"Ben.. maybe working at the Beyond Corporation messed you up worse than—"
"I never worked there! What the hell is the Beyond Corporation?!"
The silence that followed caused Miles to discreetly pull out his phone and check it, trying to avoid getting in between these two.
"I think you should leave. Miles, thank you for dropping by. I'll show you the way out."
Mary Jane stood up and began walking past Ben, and Ben reached out towards Mary Jane.
"MJ-"
Miles' spider sense blew up in a frenzy, causing his eyes to dart towards MJ and Ben. He tried to reach out to stop Ben, but it was too late.
Ben grabbed MJ's arm.
Ben's felt like, for a split second, something changed in the world. He felt something from inside himself get pulled, before he felt like it was connected with something that he couldn't see, and as soon as it happened, it ended.
Mary Jane Watson stopped moving completely, for a single instant. It turned into a display of pain a moment later, her screaming loudly and falling backwards, gripping her head tightly. Snapping back to reality, Ben looked down to Mary Jane with wide eyes, getting down to check on her, pulling her towards him protectively. Miles hopped over the table, landing beside him and looking confused as to what he could actually do to help, but looked at Ben with confusion and panic.
"MJ?! Mary Jane, what's—" "Man what did you DO-?!"
"What did you do?!" Paul's voice rang out as he ran out. Paul pushed, or tried to push Ben off Mary Jane. When Ben didn't budge, he got in his face.
"So help me, Move-"
"Not until I know she's okay!" Ben yelled, causing Paul to slug Ben in the jaw. Ben, not wanting this man to break his hand, went with the punch, which unfortunately caused him to let go of Mary Jane. Miles went with him, not wanting to get involved with Paul at all. Paul picked Mary Jane up, holding her by the shoulders.
"Mary Jane, what's wrong? What did he do to y-"
"I remember."
Paul looked.. confused. Mary Jane looked at him, then at Ben, before trying to push Paul off herself.
"Let go of me, Paul."
"Mary Jane, I don't understand, wh-"
"Let go!" Mary Jane pushed Paul again, causing him to stagger back, still confused. Mary Jane looked at Ben, who looked at her in return, confused out of his mind. Miles stepped forward, somewhat between the two.
"MJ, what happened?" Miles asked, to which Mary Jane repeated herself.
"I remember before. I remember what happened. What.. We had. I remember why Peter and I aren't together."
Ben raised an eyebrow, to which Mary Jane began to shake, looking down with shaky breath. She looked.. conflicted. Upset. Angry.
"He.. we made a deal.. with Mephisto."
Ben recognized that name.
He recognized it from Hell. He recognized it as one of the most powerful devils. The.. whoever he was looking through, fought him. Fought him when he fought with someone who had their own Spider-man suit? Something like that.
Now he recognized Mephisto as someone who messed with the wrong couple.
"May got shot, and Peter and I couldn't— Not even the medical treatment helped her. We—" She looked at Ben, tears in her eyes. But her eyes looked angry.
"We sacrificed our marriage for May. We almost- We almost got back together-!"
"Mary Jane, what are you saying?" Paul asked, walking over to her. He began to reach for her shoulder- "Come on, I think we need to go see a doctor-"
Mary Jane turned towards Paul and punched him in the face. Hard. He stumbled backwards, gripping the counter to keep himself up as he stared at Mary Jane, slack jawed.
"Don't you ever touch me again," MJ all but growled at Paul.
Miles looked at them, then at Ben, before back at Mary Jane and Paul.
"Damn." He couldn't think of anything else to say.
Mary Jane turned away from Paul, turning back to the Spider-Men before her.
"You two, we're leaving, now."
"Now?" "Now?" Both Miles and Ben asked, both growing rapidly confused by the second. Mary Jane glared at them.
"Now."
The Spider-Men were quick to leave with the angry redhead.
Paul sat up, growling as he did so. That wasn't supposed to happen.
"Damn it," He quietly said.
He was walking through the street like a normal person would when he saw the people above him swing by. He looked up just in time to see the one kid Peter had barely introduced him to and—
Kaine's eyes widened and his teeth grit together as he looked at Ben fucking Reilly swing alongside him, carrying a familiar redhead.
Kaine began to run, entering the nearest alleyway. Tearing off his clothes, he nearly tore his mask pulling it on, before jumping onto a wall and beginning to swing himself.
He wanted answers from Ben. Answers as to where he has been. Answers as to why he worked for the Beyond Corporation. Why he was wearing his old costume.
And he definitely wanted to know if Ben knew why rumors about Spider-Man were going throughout the entire superhero and supervillain world. He didn't know, which he thought was pretty fair for someone who was recently erased from existence and brought back.
And that ends that!
I noticed, when I was writing the first chapter, that Kaine had made like.. no appearances at all, recently? And while I understand that he went off to do his own thing, they just don't mention him anymore. So, I figured I'd include him in this story. Obviously if the rumors of what Peter did were that prominent in the superhero and supervillain communities, he'd hear about it, and would probably be wondering why the original is losing his shit.
As for Ben's ability, I plan to expand on/explain it later on. That was another idea I had since I've started writing this. I got it from the one shot of Spider-Man being there for Bruce during the Immortal Hulk run, with the Devil Hulk remembering things from before the deal with Mephisto was made, and I figured "What if someone could help the others remember that?"
Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed, and I'll see you all later.