Remember that mess a few years back where someone cloned yours truly and set off an extremely confusing and (to some) insulting chain of events that led to said clone dying dramatically?

Well, apparently he never really died, but instead got trapped in a hell void. Thanks to Doctor Strange and the Defenders, we were able to get him out and back into the world of the living. So now Ben Reilly’s back and just in time for me to ask a huge favor from him…

EVERYBODY LOVES A CLONE, SO WHY DON’T YOU?

By Tobias Christopher

Peter leaned against the wall of his apartment, talking to the person on the other side of the bathroom door. “I can’t thank you enough for doing this, Ben,” said Peter as he waited for his cloned twin to emerge. “I know you’re still adjusting to the whole ‘being alive’ thing, so I hope I’m not pushing you too soon.”

“Hey, no problem, Pete,” said Ben from the other side of the closed door. “It feels good to be in this costume again. It’s a little loose, though. Either I’ve lost weight or you’ve gained some.”

“What can I say, Spider-Man runs on Duncan,” replied Peter. “You know, high metabolism and all.”

“You need to start eating more of Aunt May’s wheatcakes,” said Ben as he continued getting dressed. “They’re good for you and it gives you the carbs you need to kick Doc Ock’s ass when he causes trouble.”

“You actually like wheatcakes? What kind of perfect clone are you?” asked Peter with a raised eyebrow.

“You just don’t appreciate good home cooking,” replied Ben. “I even keep the recipe on Doc Strange’s fridge. A clone’s got to watch out for his health, you know.”

The door opened as Ben stepped out, wearing the Spider-Man costume. “How do I look?”

Peter smiled as he looked at his costume on Ben’s body. “Perfect. Now I can literally be in two places at once for this. Drew’s going to be here any minute, so you should head out. We’ll catch up with soon.”

A knock came at the door as Ben headed for the window. “I’ll see you in a bit, bro.”

Extending his hand and shooting out a line of webbing, Spider-Man swung away, ready to help Peter out with a promise he’d made. After Ben had left, Peter opened the door and saw his young photography apprentice, Drew Michaels, standing on the other side of the door.

“Morning, Mr. Parker,” said Drew, his camera in hand. “Ready to go take some pictures?”

Rhett Carson was in his Hobgoblin costume, standing in his bedroom. His gray mask sat on the bed as he prepared to head out on the mission that Norman Osborn had assigned to him. As he got ready to go, he heard a knock at the door downstairs. Quickly kicking off his boots and grabbing a long bathrobe, he put it on and headed downstairs. He opened the door and saw May Parker standing there.

“Good morning, Ms. Parker,” said Rhett nervously. “Everything alright?”

“Yes, Rhett, I just wanted to bring you over this fresh batch of wheatcakes,” replied May as she gave him the container. “I made too many again.”

“Wheatcakes…yum,” said Rhett with a forced fake smile. “So, anything exciting planned for today?”

“I’m meeting with my gardening club today,” replied May. “You’re not going to sit around the house in your pajamas all day, are you?”

“No, ma’am,” replied Rhett. “I’ve got a lot of errands to run. Today’s going to be brutal.”

“So, how’s A.J. doing?” asked Peter as he listened to the police scanner sitting on the coffee table. “Is he awake yet?”

“Yeah, they’re trying to wean him off the painkillers, though,” replied Drew as he sat back on the couch. “He was doing great until…they told him about Billy. It’s killing him that they won’t let him out of bed to visit with him.”

“You don’t seem too upset about it,” noticed Peter.

“A.J.’s going to get through this and find a nice girl to date when he’s better,” said Drew confidently. “This whole thing with Billy’s just a phase.”

“Drew –”

“It’s just a phase,” repeated Drew.

An awkward silence filled the room until the police scanner advised them to go to the scene of a hostage situation. Spider-Man was sure to show up there to save the day. The two grabbed their cameras and headed out the door.

“Okay, just a hypothetical situation,” said Flash as he sat across from the social worker. “Say two underage kids were abandoned by their father. What are the odds they could be emancipated so they could be on their own legally?”

“Zero,” the woman behind the desk told him. “The only option would be foster care until both children reached the age of 18. Do you know of such a situation?”

“Like I said, it’s hypothetical,” replied Flash. “You know, being in the educational system, I have to keep my eyes open for this sort of thing. Well, I’ve taken enough of your time, I should really be going.”

“Mr. Thompson, I hope you realize that if this situation was to happen and you did nothing to report it, your career as an educator would be over?” asked the woman.

“Oh, uh, of course,” replied Flash with a slight laugh. “Aren’t hypothetical situations hilarious?”

The woman still had a serious look on her face as Flash quickly got out of her office.

Peter and Drew had arrived at the bank, where the hostage situation was taking place.

“Alright, now when you’re getting a good shot, you want to stay out of the way of the line of fire as much as you can,” said Peter as he got Drew to a good spot. He saw Spider-Man swinging towards the building and nudged Drew to get a shot. “We’ll get a few shots here, then I’ll show you some great spots that you can use to get some closer shots.”

Drew started snapping the camera as Spider-Man landed on the side of the building and made his way inside.

“The cops aren’t going to meet our demands, we’re going to have to start killing some hostages,” one of the gunmen said as he looked at a woman holding her little girl’s hand. “You, come here.”

“Mommy!” the little girl shouted as the gunman grabbed the woman. As they dragged her toward the door, Spider-Man crawled along the ceiling. He shot down a strand of webbing and pulled the gun out of the man’s hand.

“Criminals must have real short term memory in this town,” said Spider-Man as he shot balls of webbing rapidly at each of the gunmen’s weapons, jamming them all with exact precision. “You’d think in a town with Spider-Man…,” Spider-Man dropped down and punched one of the gunmen, “…the Fantastic 4, the Avengers…,” Spider-Man ducked as one of the robbers punched at him, as the hero backhanded him to the ground, “…the X-Men, the Defenders, the Punisher…,” the hero shot a line of webbing at another gunman’s legs, pulling him off balance, “the Champions, Daredevil, Heroes For Hire…,” Spider-Man grabbed the last gunman and slammed him into the wall.

“Wait…where was I going with this? Oh, yeah!” Spider-Man shot a long string of webbing at the robbers, trapping them all under big net. “Bad guys are dumb.”

The crowd cheered as Spider-Man dragged the net of crooks outside for the police to have. He waved and blew kisses to the crowd as Peter lowered his camera.

“He’s showing off,” Peter said to no one in particular as he and Drew stood on the roof of a low level building next to the bank. “Why is he showing off? He’s supposed to get the bad guys and leave. Why is Spider-Man showing off?”

“It’s…been a while since you’ve seen Spider-Man in action up close, hasn’t it?” asked Drew innocently as he snapped the pictures.

After May had left, Rhett finished getting ready and took off. He took a secret sewer tunnel to an alley a few blocks away and emerged on his glider, ready to find his target.

Spider-Man, after interacting with the crowd and signing a few autographs, waved goodbye and swung off toward his next destination, going by the building Peter and Drew were standing on. As he swung by, Drew snapped the pictures of the hero.

“These are the best shots yet,” said Drew excitedly. “Jameson’s gonna love these!”

“Don’t count on it, kid,” replied Peter as he put a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “The only shots of Spidey that Jameson loves are the ones that make him look like a criminal.”

“So, where to next?” asked Drew as he put his camera away.

“Let’s get a bite to eat then we’ll use the scanner again to see what else is happening in the city,” replied Peter as they headed toward the roof entrance. Peter’s spider-sense started going off as he looked around.

“Something wrong?” asked Drew as he opened the door.

“No, I just thought…I heard something,” replied Peter.

“Yeah, my stomach growling,” joked Drew as they headed downstairs.

As they got out to the street, Peter was on guard. His spider-sense never went off randomly. Something bad was about to happen. “You know, on second thought, why don’t we just get lunch and take it back to the apartment so we can develop these shots?” asked Peter as he eyed a hot dog cart.

“All right, I guess,” replied Drew. As they were about to cross the street, several pumpkin bombs dropped around them. Peter shoved Drew out of the way, taking most of the blast himself.

The Hobgoblin laughed as he circled around. “Spider-Man’s personal photographer! I knew I’d find you sleazing around somewhere.”

Peter stood up, looking around to make sure Drew was okay, happy to see the young man was on the sidewalk and only slightly scuffed up.

Damn. Ben has my webshooters and costume, and I can’t fight Hobgoblin with all these people around. My best bet is to lead him somewhere where I can fight him one on one.

“What do you want?” asked Peter as Hobgoblin flew down, hitting Peter and knocking him into a light pole.

“Your head,” said Hobgoblin as he tossed several pumpkin bombs at Peter. Drew pushed Peter out of the way before they exploded, which caused the light pole to fall over, pinning Drew underneath. Before Peter could get to him, Hobgoblin rammed him again, knocking him out into traffic.

A large semi headed toward Peter, which he could easily stop even without his webshooters, but the truck wouldn’t look so good after he did and that would lead to raised questions about how a man could total a truck with no effort. Luckily, just before the truck hit, Spider-Man swung by and grabbed Peter, pulling him to safety.

“Go on your way, citizen, I’ll take care of this,” said Spider-Man as he eyed Hobgoblin.

“Careful, he’s got goblin level strength,” warned Peter as he backed away. Spider-Man rushed toward Hobgoblin, shooting a line of webbing before taking off to get airborne.

“Stay out of this, Spider-Man, this is between me and your lapdog!” shouted Hobgoblin as Spider-Man swung towards him, kicking the villain off his glider. The glider’s remote sensor picked up on Hobgoblin falling and retrieved him before he fell too far.

“You have a problem with my lapdog then take it up with me!” Spider-Man shouted back as the two collided in midair.

“Lapdog?” asked Peter as he remembered Drew was pinned under the light pole. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” said Drew as he looked up at his teacher. “I can’t get out, though.”

Peter pretended to try to lift the light pole, but there were too many people watching to use his spider-strength. But, so long as Drew was in no real danger, he could wait until Ben finished the fight to save him.

“The last time I took your mask, Spider-Man,” said Hobgoblin as he punched the hero as they both wrestled for control of the glider. “Now I’m going to take your paparazzi!”

“Why you don’t take this, instead?” asked Spider-Man as he elbowed the Hobgoblin, knocking them both onto the roof of the bank. Hobgoblin was the first to stand up, pitching several pumpkin bombs at Spider-Man.

The hero jumped to avoid them, but got caught in the afterblast, knocking him forward. As he fell onto his stomach, he looked up in for the Hobgoblin to launch several throwing blades at him. Quickly getting out of the way, he started shooting several balls of impacted webbing at the villain, hitting his hands.

“It’s time to take you down once and for all,” said Spider-Man as he rushed toward the Hobgoblin, but the glider rammed him just as he was two inches away from the man. Hobgoblin jumped on the glider as two guns emerged from the front and started opening fire.

On the street below, Peter looked up at the explosions and gunfire coming from the building. He hoped Ben was able to hold his own against the Hobgoblin.

“Peter?” asked Aunt May as she walked up to him. “What’s going on?”

“Spider-Man’s fighting the Hobgoblin,” replied Peter as he kissed her cheek. “I’ll explain later. Could you stay with Drew while I go help out?”

“Of course,” replied May as Peter looked at Drew. “Hang tight, buddy, I’m…going to find someone who can get you out of there.”

As the two found they were evenly matched, Hobgoblin tossed one final bomb at Spider-Man, hoping it would put the odds in his favor. As it flew toward the hero, he jumped out of the way as it flew off of the roof and exploded midway down, causing several chunks of debris to fall.

As Spider-Man and the Hobgoblin both watched, they saw the debris was heading toward Aunt May on the street below. The Hobgoblin immediately pushed Spider-Man out of the way and flew down toward the street below as fast as he could, grabbing Aunt May before she was hit.

“Put me down!” Aunt May shouted as she hit the Hobgoblin with her purse. Realizing that she didn’t know who he was under the mask, he stopped the glider and turned around, facing Spider-Man as he swung towards him.

“Back off and I’ll let the old lady go!” shouted Hobgoblin. “I promise I’ll put her down safely once you’re out of sight.”

“Are you crazy? I’m not trusting you!” shouted Spider-Man as Hobgoblin held Aunt May in his arms over the street below. “Okay, okay! But if you hurt one hair on her head, you’ll pay for the rest of your short life!”

Spider-Man swung away as Hobgoblin watched, not realizing he was circling around. Once he was out of sight, Hobgoblin lowered his glider to ground level, letting May go. “Get out of here.”

May slapped him as hard as she could before rushing back to where Drew was trapped. As the glider was about to fly off, Spider-Man swung back around and kicked Hobgoblin off, landing him onto the pavement.

“Time to go to jail, goblin,” said Spider-Man as the villain reached under his cloak.

“Not this time,” replied Hobgoblin as he tossed a smoke bomb down. Spider-Man tried to see his way through, but by the time the smoke cleared enough to return visibility, Hobgoblin was gone.

It was at that point that Peter, dressed in Ben’s Scarlet Spider costume, arrived. “Am I too late?”

Peter, Ben and May were sitting at the dinner table at May’s house after having rescued Drew. Ben felt odd sitting at the table again after so long, but found that it felt good to be in a familiar surroundings. “You’re sleeping on Doctor Strange’s couch? I won’t hear of it,” said May as she looked over at Ben. “You’ll stay here until you get back on your feet.”

“I don’t know…,” replied Ben. “I don’t want to be an inconvenience.”

“Never,” said May as she took his hand. “It’s good to have you back with us.”

A knock came at the door as May answered. Rhett was standing on the front porch, having just returned. “Rhett, come on in, I want you to meet my nephews, Peter and Ben,” said May as she ushered him inside. Peter and Ben looked at each other, both of them immediately sensing something about Rhett. “Boys, this is Rhett. He’s living in the house next door.”

“So, you’re Peter,” replied Rhett as he eyed the two men. “May’s never mentioned you, Ben.”

“Ben’s been down South for a long time,” answered Peter. “The deep South.”

“Are you proud of that line you just said?” asked Ben under his breath as he took a drink from his glass.

“Come, join us for dinner, Rhett, I insist,” May said as she went into the kitchen for another plate. Rhett took a seat at the table, all three men visibly uncomfortable with being around each other. No one could put their finger on it but there was something off in the room. Soon, May returned with the dinner she’d made. “The three of you are very lucky, I’m trying out a new recipe: Wheat Pasta.”

Norman Osborn was watching the news reports of Spider-Man fighting the Hobgoblin. Coupled with what Rhett told him about attacking Peter before Spider-Man showed up, as well as the appearance of the Scarlet Spider, he quickly pieced together that Ben Reilly was back in town.

No matter, one Spider-Man or a dozen, things were going according to plan. He picked up the phone and dialed an associate.

“Is it done?”

[Yes, sir. The bio-scan from the Goblin Glider got everything we needed.]

“Excellent,” replied Norman as he smiled devilishly. “I want the project completed within two weeks time.”

Norman hung up and looked out the window. He needed a bio-scan of Peter Parker, something he could have easily got without making a spectacle, but sending the Hobgoblin to attack him in broad daylight? That should send the message that Spider-Man wasn’t safe, even out of costume.

Norman went to pour himself a drink and sneered upon looking at the date of the wine. It was a mere twenty years old, not worth the time to open. He summoned his butler and handed it to him.

“Send this to Flash Thompson at the usual place,” said Norman as he turned back around. “And send along a cork opener with the bottle. Wouldn’t want him struggling to open the bottle, now would we?”

As the butler left, Norman smirked to himself. Aunt May, Flash Thompson…anyone who was close to Peter Parker. He was going to tear down Peter Parker’s world one piece at a time. Then when Peter Parker was at his lowest point, Norman would reveal the last piece of his grand scheme, the one that would kill his greatest enemy.