Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Scarlet Spider Issue 8

So soon you may ask? My answer is "YES SO SOON!"! We are booking the hell out of this story arc, and it only gets better from here!

-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 8
To Be Taken With a Grain of Sand


Part 3

Man vs. Beach




By: Tim Ruppenthal and Richard Wilson III

Parker Family Apartment, 10:02 AM

(Wesley, Mayday and Connor all sit in the living room, watching a TV Movie, when it’s interrupted by a Special News Bulletin as Peter and Mary Jane enter the apartment)
Helicopter Newscaster: We are coming to you live from Times Square, where a giant sand monster, confirmed to be Flint Marko, aka the Sandman, is currently engaging a masked vigilante with what appears to be Spider Powers. We are unable to get a closer look at the mysterious—
Helicopter Cameraman: Oh my God!
Helicopter Co-Pilot: PULL UP! PULL U—
(The helicopter is suddenly hit by a sand column, breaking the transmission)
Newsroom Anchor: We have confirmation that the Strategic Homeland Intervention Espionage Logistics Division, or SHIELD, is on route to Times Square as—
Wesley: They won’t get there fast enough; SHIELD’s dealing with a situation in Northern Russia right now!
Mary Jane: Peter?
Peter: I’m too old for this, and in my condition, I wouldn’t be of much help anyway
Mayday: My old suit’s in storage across town, so I—Connor?
(Connor ran to his room, and was busy rummaging through his closet, pulling out an old Spider-Man Halloween costume)
Mayday: No, you are not—
Connor: YES I am! The Scarlet Spider needs my help!
Peter: Connor, your father is trying to get a call into SHIELD to get a strike team here as soon as they can…
Connor: Ben’ll be DEAD by then! I’m going!
(Connor grabs the costume and leaps out his open window, onto the rooftops heading towards Times Square)
Mayday: Dad…
Peter: He’ll be okay dear, we’ll watch from here and if anything gets out of hand, we’ll go ourselves…

Times Square, 10:08 AM

(Sandman has reabsorbed much of the surrounding sand and stands at 15 feet tall, continues to pull in more to resurrect the columns of sand damaged by the helicopter crash)
Sandman: What? No more sand jokes!?
Ben (Struggling to keep his footing): I don’t know, though a friend of mine would ask is you’re compensating for something right now…
Sandman: That hurts! But not as much as this is gonna!
(Sandman makes a giant fist out of sand, and reels back for a finishing blow)
Connor: HEY! SANDY McSANDPANTS! YOU LEFT YOUR LIGHTS ON!
Sandman: What the hell!?
(Connor comes flying in from one of the buildings and kicks a hole through the Sandman’s face, making him drop his fist and fall to the ground in a pile of sand)
Connor: BLUGH! And I thought the beach was bad…
Ben: What the hell are you doing here!? And what the HELL ARE YOU WEARING!? HAVE YOU NO SHAME!?
Connor: Saving your life, again, and this is all I could come up with on short notice!
Sandman: Great, now there’re TWO OF YOU!?
Ben: HE’S NOT AFFILIATED WITH ME! (His head sears with pain) AUGH!
Connor: Says you—LOOK OUT!
(Connor shoves Ben out of the way as spikes appear out of where they were standing)
Ben: THE HELL!? WAS THAT YOUR SPIDER SENSE!?
Connor: Yeah, still causing head pains?
(More spikes appear and Ben and Connor leap, flip and dodge their way through them)
Ben: Mine stopped working during the fight!
Connor: I guess mine’s not as sensitive as yours!
Ben: You little—
Sandman: Will you both just SHUT UP!
Connor: MY TURN!
(Connor leaps at Sandman, while Ben’s head erupts in pain)
Ben: KID STOP!
(The cameras, as well as the Parkers, continue to watch as Connor leaps at Sandman, who turns his body into a wall of spikes)

TO BE CONTINUED…



Monday, September 17, 2012

Scarlet Spider Issue 7


Greetings all! I proudly present Scarlet Spider Issue 7, where Ben gets his ass kicked with bad puns!
-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 7
To Be Taken With a Grain of Sand
Part 2
Beach Sweep


By: Tim Ruppenthal and Richard Wilson III


Times Square, 9:25 AM

Ben: OOF!
(Ben flies back into an abandoned car, Spider Sense buzzing, while the Sandman forms in front of him)
Sandman: I learned from the last time webhead, your Spider Sense can’t help you here!
(Ben flips back, running up the wall of a nearby building)
Ben (internal): He’s right… Maybe if I distance myself from the sand?
(A giant sand wave appears and pulls Ben off of the building and into the street)
Sandman: Oh no! I ain’t letting you get away from me!
Ben: Listen, Sedimenthead, you’re OBVIOUSLY confusing me with someone ELSE!
(Ben leaps on top of a streetlamp)
Ben (cont.): I’m the Scarlet Spider and I—
(A giant fist comes from behind him and knocks him into a pile of sand)
Sandman: I don’t care which one you are; I’m still going to kill you--
(Ben slides deeper into the sand and leaps out kicking Sandman’s face as he does so)
Ben: ‘For what happened last time’? I never even SEEN YOU UNTIL 5 MINUTES AGO!
(Ben does a spinning jump kick to a fire hydrant, breaking it so the stream of water hits Sandman)
Sandman: AUGH!
(Ben webs a manhole cover and hurls it at the now drenched Sandman, while attempting to leap into the hole)
Ben: OOF!
(He hits a layer of sand, is thrown into the air and punched across the street into a music store’s drum display)
Sandman: Cymbalism’s a bitch ain’t it?
Ben: “Cymbalism”? Really?
Sandman (forming am axe out of his right hand): You think you’re the only one that can make some bad jokes?
(He swings his axe into the drum set as Ben jumps to the ceiling)
Sandman: I coulda sworn I just axed you a question!
Ben: Stop, just stop! You’re embarrassing yourself here!
(Ben’s Spider Sense suddenly flares, worse than it’s been during the entire fight, as he nearly gets impaled by sand spikes)
Ben: WOAH!
Sandman: I think you missed the point of all this!
Ben (leaping at him): I’VE HAD IT WITH YOUR CRAP SANDY!
(Ben successfully hits the Sandman, but slumps back in pain, because he made himself as thick as concrete. He picks Ben up and hurls him into the street)
Sandman: Ain’t that like hitting a brick wall?
Ben: Son of a bitch…

Above Times Square, 9:45 AM

(As Ben and Sandman fight below, a Daily Bugle Communications Helicopter soars overhead)
Newscaster: (To the pilot) Can you get us any lower? (To the camera man) Is that who I think it is?
Cameraman: You bet your life it is!
Newscaster: We’ve just found the story of the decade…


To Be Continued…


Monday, September 10, 2012

Scarlet Spider Issue 6



Welcome back to our regularly scheduled program! In this installment, we see Ben having to contend with his bodily injuries, while Connor learns of his family's problems with legacy...

-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 6
To Be Taken With a Grain of Sand
 Part 1

By: Tim Ruppenthal and Richard Wilson III

Midtown General Hospital, 2:54 PM

Ben: (internal) Mmmm....(beep)....So....comfortable....(beep)...what’s that beeping sound? Then again, where exactly am I?
(Ben opens his eyes to see a crisp white hospital room)
Ben: WHAT THE HELL!?
(Ben tries to get out of bed, but his entire chest is tightly wound in bandages, along with his head)
Ben: Where—OW MY HEAD!
(Wilson pokes his head into the room)
Wilson: Hey kid, he's waking up!
(Wilson walks into the room, with Connor following behind him)
Connor: Well, if it isn’t ‘Sir Sleeps a lot’?
(The Doctor walks in and interrupts the reunion for a quick evaluation and leaves not long after)
Ben: What the hell happened?
Wilson: Well, you collapsed in the hallway at school and got hit in the head by a door by the captain cheer team... She gave me her number to give you by the way
(Wilson hand the slip of paper with the girl’s number to him)
Ben: Ugh...great, the I.Q. of a gnat....Wait, WHERES MY BAG?!
Connor: Relax; it's in the closet, along with your 'coat and stuff'
(Ben slumps against his pillows)
Ben: How long was I out?
Wilson: Three days
Ben: THREE DAYS?!!
Wilson: Just messing with you, it's only been a few hours
Ben: I hate you Wilson.... What have people said about my little debacle here? Did it spread fast?
Wilson: Ben, it’s Midtown High, it spread faster than my dad on the newest Playboy bunny; everyone knows what you did to bust up your ribs like that
Ben: Oh?
Wilson: Yeah, you saved this kids scrawny ass from a bunch of muggers or something, no offense.
Connor: None taken?
Ben: What about the smoke smell?
Connor: You ran into a trash can fire left by a hobo
(Ben raises an eyebrow to Connor who just shrugs)
Wilson: That explained the scorch mark on your bag
Ben: There’s a scorch mark on my bag?
Connor: A small one…
Ben: A small one?
Wilson: It’s on the ENTIRE right side of your bag!
Ben: THE HELL!? Connor! Get my bag!
(Connor goes and gets Ben’s bag, which doesn’t have a scorch mark on it)
Ben: You’re a JACKASS Wilson!
Wilson: Let’s go kid! The chariot a waits!
Connor: I’ll be right there Wilson
Wilson: See you tomorrow Ben!
Ben: Jackass!
(Wilson laughs as he leaves the room, leaving Ben shaking his head at Connor)
Ben: Really? Muggers and a hobo fire?
Connor: It was either that or you fell down the stairs doing a Rocky impression and into a hotdog stand
Ben: Thank God you went with the first one…
Wilson: Come on kid! I'm not waiting on you!
Connor: Sure I'm coming! See you around Ben!
Ben: I hope not kid… I hope not…

Underneath Warehouse 32D, 8:04 AM (Scene takes place before the Hospital Scene)  

(Sandman stands along the beach, desperately trying to remember what happened since his reformation, and he flashes back to 'Spider-Man' [really Scarlet Spider Sr.] with a sonic resonance device)
Flint: Spider-Man… It’s ALWAYS SPIDER-MAN!
(With that, Flint Marco begins to absorb the surrounding sand into his body mass)

Parker Family Apartment, 3:15 PM

(Connor walks up the stairs to his family’s apartment, while Wilson’s car drives off down the road)
Wesley: Hey there kiddo, what's up?
Connor: Uh nothing, just visited my friend Ben at the hospital
Wes: Is he ok?
Connor: Yeah he'll be fine; he saved some kid from a gang on the way to school. Got his ribs cracked pretty bad though… Then he passed out in the hall
Wes: Well, that’s not good. I hope he recovers quickly <Sniff > Connor, why do you smell like smoke?
Connor: Uh, bad peer groups?
Wes: Connor?
(He crumbles as his mother walks in from the kitchen)
Connor: OKAY, OKAY! I got grabbed by this Vulture guy this morning and landed on the Scarlet Spider. He was chasing him and I made him let me help. We fought him in this big old warehouse by the beach and it went up in pumpkin bombs
Mayday: Connor, we've talked about this…
Connor: No! You've lectured and I've had to sit through it! I understand how dangerous it is! But this is something I was BORN to do!
Peter (walking in from the other room): You weren't 'born' to do anything except to live; what you do in that life is your choice... But in this case, the choice has been made for you
Connor: I...What?
Peter: There's too much pain involved in being a superhero than anyone should ever have to face
Connor: But I want to be able to look back on my life and say that I did everything in my power to make this world a better place! I can’t do that in good conscience knowing that my powers put me in a position to help!
Wesley: There's other ways to help people than to put on a costume and punch out people
Connor: Then why did you do it Grandpa!?
Connor: If there are so many other ways then why didn’t you take the advice you’re preaching?
(Looking to Mayday)
Connor: Or you! You heard this whole story already! Why should I listen to you giving rules that not even you followed!?
Peter: That's enough out of you! You want to hear why? Well, it goes something like this: When I first got my powers, I wanted nothing than to use them to get rich quick, I made a stupid choice and then Uncle Ben was dead. Flash forward a few years, and my girlfriend, another person I loved was killed by the man I hated the most, and the next day, he died. Not to mention the countless friends who were hurt over that time. Your mother nearly died when she was a superhero and not to mention...
Peter (continued): ... Not to mention your Uncle Ben...
Connor: I have an Uncle Ben? Why haven't I ever heard about him?
Mayday: He died a long time ago, saving people as Spider-Man... He was 15 when he died...
Connor: I… oh God…
Peter: Now do you understand?
(Connor nods in defeat)
Peter: Good. Well May, I've got to be going now, Mary Jane's waiting for me at home
Mayday: Of course dad, we'll see you soon
(Connor puts his head in his hands)
Connor: Mom… Dad… I’m so sorry…
Mayday (Goes to hug Connor): It’s okay honey, you never knew, and we should have told you sooner…
(Connor later walks into his room, sees the "Powers That Be" list and the Scarlet Spider clippings hanging on his wall. He tears up and takes them down from the wall and puts them in his desk)

Outside Midtown General Hospital, 9:15 AM

Ben: Man, not only is it great to be out of the hospital, but it’s Saturday AND it’s FREAKING AMAZING  how good it feels to NOT BE FRIGGIN INJURED!
(He raises his arms and immediately puts them back down, holding his side)
Ben: Never mind!
(Walking down the sidewalk)
That accelerated healing factor is total bull, but then again, it is called 'accelerated healing' rather than 'instantaneous healing'...
(HORRIFIED SCREAMING, CRASHES, AND STRESSING OF STEEL)
Ben: Life's never gonna give me a break is it?
(Ben slips into an alleyway and gets into his costume, ignoring the pain of his sides)
Ben (internal): If whatever's going on ends me back up into the hospital, I'm going to have a conniption
(Ben swings into time square, finding the entire place covered in sand. along with several windows shattered
Ben: What the hell happened here?
Sandman: YOU!
Ben (internal): Oh boy (to Sandman) Captain Sediment I presume?
Sandman: DON'T ACT LIKE YOU DON'T REMEMBER ME SPIDER-MAN
Ben: Spider-Man!? OH COME ON! I AM SO NOT SPIDER-M-
(Ben is smashed in the face with a fist of sand)
Ben: OW! This is going to be more difficult than expected...

TO BE CONTINUED…