Welcome back! Today we continue our story from issue 1, where we left Ben Reilly Jr. and our mysterious dual protagonist Connor about to engage in pitched combat for the honor if their respective high school classes!

-Co-creator Richard Wilson III

Spider-Man and ALL related characters are owned by Marvel Comics and Stan Lee respectively

All original characters were created for the purposes of fan fiction. This is in NO WAY connected to Marvel Comics or the ongoing Scarlet Spider title produced by Marvel.

Scarlet Spider

Issue 2

Something New, With a Twist

                  Part 2

The Other Guy

By: Tim Ruppenthal and Richard Wilson III

Midtown High School, 7:53 AM

(Ben Reilly Jr. and Connor Parker are seen in the center of a circle of students)

Connor: “What’s wrong? Don’t you wanna get your ass kicked by a puny underclassman?”

Ben: “Fine! Let’s do it your way!”
(Ben and Connor both leap towards each other, fists raised and ready for a fight)
Wilson: “Don’t hurt him too badly Ben!”

(Ben and Connor are engaging in some Spider-Powered melee)

Ben (internal): “How the hell is he moving that fast?”

Connor (internal): “He has powers too?”
(Ben goes to punch Connor, his Spider Sense finally decided to awaken and causes Ben’s to overload painfully)

Ben: “AH!”
(Ben falls over and rolls into a crouch as Wilson comes to break the two of them up)
Wilson: "Alright, we're done here Ben... How about we let the underclassman go?"

Ben: “Yeah, let’s do that”

(The two walk away and Wilson leans close into Ben)
Wilson: "So what was that back there? It was like some karate match from the Karate Kid Part 2 Reboot"

Ben: (still thinking about the way Connor fought) “Uh... yeah. Karate, well more like kung fu”

Wilson: "Well, that aside, thanks to you I lost $20 BEFORE you even got here, and that fight cost me even more... (Mockingly) I hope you're happy"

Ben: (sarcastically) “Thanks for the concern Wilson”

Wilson: "You know me, the manager of the Midtown Bank of Concern... So how about we go and get ready for that Algebra Quiz?"

Ben: “You means a physics quiz, right?”

Wilson: "We have an Algebra Quiz too, Einstein"

Ben: “GAH!”

Midtown High School, 3:23 PM

(Ben and Wilson walk out of Midtown, both looking physically exhausted)

Wilson: "How about that? A test, a quiz AND the rope climb... What are the odds?"

Ben: “Ugh I know, at least I kicked your trust-funded ass at all three

Wilson: "That may be true, but I SHALL WIN THE WAR!"

Ben: “Sure Wilson, whatever you say; I’ll be seeing you”

Wilson: "Later Ben"

(Ben walks down the street and cuts into an alley, changing into Scarlet Spider and begins swinging to his dwelling)

The Parker Family Apartment, 3:56 PM
(Connor walks into his family apartment and sees his parents, Mayday Parker and Wesley “Wes” Collins-Parker [he took his wife’s name], in the living room watching the Daily Bugle Network)

Connor: "Hey Mom, hey Dad"
Mayday: "Hey there Connor, how was your day?"

Connor: “It was alright. Some jerk senior named Ben tried to give me some trouble”

Wesley: "You didn't hurt him did you?"

Connor: “Not at all. I couldn’t even touch him for some reason”

Mayday: "That's weird"

Connor: “Yeah it was. Almost like he had powers too”

Wesley: "It's not unheard of, with the things I hear around the office"

Connor: “Right; what do you guys think about this new guy Scarlet Spider?”

Mayday: "Scarlet Spider? I haven't heard that name in years..."

Connor: “There’ve been OTHER ones?”

Wesley: “The SHIELD Mainframe says that there's been at least 3, but there might be some holes"

Connor: “Does SHIELD have anything on this one?”

Wesley: "Only that he exists, but you can ask your Grandpa if you want to know about the original"
Connor: "Grandpa's coming over for dinner?"
Mayday: "Surprise!"

Connor: AWESOME!

(Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson-Parker walk through the door)
Peter: "GREETINGS true-believers!"
Mary Jane: "Hi honey"

Connor: Grandpa! Grandma!

(Connor hugs his grandparents and begins to ask them about their day)

The Parker Family Dinner Table, 5:39 PM 
Connor: "Grandpa, what do you know about the Scarlet Spider?"
Peter: "Scarlet Spider? I haven't heard that name in a very long time... But he was just as good of a webslinger as I was, and a few people decided to take after him, rather than moi"

Connor: “Really? But you were around longer!”

Peter: "I know, that was my reaction too, but he deserves the recognition… the original was a dear friend of mine"
Connor: "What do you think of the newest one?"
Peter: "As long as he upholds the values and morals of the original, he's alright in my book"

Connor: “You think the Bugle is EVER going to get a good enough picture of him?”

Peter: "It's all touch and go nowadays without Jonah, Robbie and all the rest no longer around, but it's possible"

Abandoned Meth Lab, 5:39 PM

(Ben pulls on his jeans, shoes and coat to hide his hoodie, trying to keep warm despite the chill of the evening)

Ben (internal): “Well that was a productive patrol… Glad I helped out that old couple though”

(Ben slides into an abandoned meth lab, carefully closing the door, fixing the CONDEMNED sign so it looks undisturbed)

Ben: “Well… no place like home…”

(Ben looks around his dwelling, consisting of an old futon cushion, old newspapers, a small furnace, a single bowl, a plastic spoon and a box of cereal. Ben starts up the furnace, shoving some of the old newspapers inside for fuel, eats and finishes the box cereal, all the while doing his homework and waiting to see if Wilson would call)

Ben (internal): "Well, that was just as productive as my patrol… not much got done, except for running out of cereal, of course, and I don't think that I have enough money for more..."
(Ben slips outside of the building with his school bag as a $100 flutters down from the sky in front of his face)
Ben: "What the hell?" 
(He looks up and sees a giant man in a bird suit flying above him with sacks of money dangling from his arms)
Ben: "A giant bird man? Really?"
(Ben grabs the $100, pockets it, and runs into the alley and changes into his costume)

Ben (Internal): “Sue me New York, I need to eat too”

Ben (to Vulture): "Hey! Bird Guy! Aren't you a little too 1960's for this generation?"
Vulture: "What the hell?"

(Ben flips onto Vulure’s back)

Ben: I cant believe I’m gonna say this... but time to fly south bird brain!

Vulture: "You first!" 
(Vulture activates an electricity generator and electrocutes Ben and throws him into an air conditioning unit on top of a building)

Ben: “ARGH”

(Vulture activates his electricity generator to energize his wings and dives towards Ben, who struggles to get out of the broken air conditioning unit)

Vulture: “Dodge this you scarlet speck!”

(Ben groans as he attempts to move out of the way of the Vulture’s attack…)

To Be Continued…