493/So many Spiders. A janitor's nightmare.

So many Spiders. A janitor's nightmare.
Date of Scene:	13 March 2020
Location:	Times Square
Synopsis:	Things start tense and awkward, and end with the formation of The Spider Mafia.
Cast of Characters:	Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy, Ben Reilly, Leon O'Malley

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Peter Parker has posed:
"I love to swing-a...in the sun-a and the moon-a and the spring-a...I love to swing-a..."
It's a balmy March day. There is a fog this morning, which cuts visiblity some, so he's not going all-out like he normally does. It's still a good morning. He aced his history test, he faked out the girl bird-dogging his test by filling out fake answers and quickly erasing them in favor of the real answers before she knew what happened. And today, he is running Patrol Route Charlie with Ghost Spider, and hoping her Spider-Sense is adjusting to the fog as he has. He's also trying to work out his complicated personal life.
Gwen is not interested in him...or any guys, really. She was with MJ...which is not all that surprising.
Then there was the Black Cat...who seemed more interested in Spider-Man than him. Which makes sense, but that...yeah. She's trouble.
Then there was the article in the New York Post about him and Supergirl. Which is five shades of crazy.

He shakes his head, then activates the sub-vocalized microphone and earbud. "Testing, testing...come in, Ghost."

Gwen Stacy has posed:
With MJ from another Universe.

This is important for future appers of MJ who may not be interested in being with Gwen.

Gotta leave the door open, you know how it goes.

GwenPool session ended.

Gwen's senses are adjusted to fog, but she's been doing this for a few years. New York here is the same as New York anywhere, except the zipcode is different, which was odd... but whatever. Who is she to judge the US postal service?

THWIP!

"I swear, Spidey, if that song gets stuck in my head..."

TWHIP!

Her legs come up and over a sign appearing out of the fog-of-weather, side flipping into a wall run with her fingers extended out to guide her along the bricks... rounding the corner out with a dive into open air, corkscrew, into double fist webs down the adjacent street to carry her in a new direction.

"Oh right, over."

Ben Reilly has posed:
Times Square is an interesting and crazy place. So many people coming and going. Sure all of New York is busy. But there's certain parts of the city that just scream New York. The New York you see in the movies and read about in the books and the comics. Times Square. Ben finds himself drawn here when the city is quiet. Or as quiet as New York ever gets. So many people to see here. He's sitting on the base part of one of those big electric billboards. Sure there's the hum of neon at his back, and he's rather visible to anyone actually looking at that billboard. But it lets him eat in peace. Mostly. Except for the birds.

A scarlet hand waves at a nearby pigeon who stubbornly refuses to skidaddle. "Bird, if you do not go away I will totally dart you so I can eat in peace. Now begone pigeon." A more forceful wave at least gets the bird to back up a few steps so he can go back to munching on what remains of a hoagie, the paper wrapper helping protect it from the elements. Like the fog. He's humming a song. A rather familiar song, at least to Peter and Gwen as well at that very moment, not that he's singing it but he's humming it as he eats, even though he himself is not swinging. "Huh. That... kinda looks like... oh crap." Ben recognizes the figure swinging through the fog not all that far from where he's at and freezes in place a moment. He's been trying to avoid his genetic counterpart for the time being. But there is literally nowhere for him to go without being seen doing it. So... he sits there, and continues to nom on his lunch. Which is about when he spots Gwen as well and his scarlet head tilts to the side. "That's a new one. I don't recognize her."

Leon O'Malley has posed:
While the Spider-persons thwip-whip around the foggy streets with practiced ease and sleek style, Leon proves...Let's call it less adept, as he barely manages to swing around a corner without smacking into it, only to instead faceplant into a billboard.

    "OOF....Ow, my fragile dignity...." He holds there for a moment before shrugging off the impact and climbing to sit atop the board, "...Stop laughing, you oozy git....What? Yeah, I see em, what about em?...No I dont wanna talk to em, they're busy....Why are you whining about this?...Fine, if we go talk to one, will you shut up?...Alright, good. How bout that one on the board up there? He seems easy to get to...Alright. Now try not to horror movie this one." He argues seemingly at nobody before spurting a black webline to swing over towards Ben's board.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter gets a tickle of the Spider-Sense, but it's...odd. It's weird. Like a radio broadcast where the microphone is too close to the speakers, so there's reverb or feedback...

And then he sees him perched at the bottom of the LED billboard as it cuts from AMAZON PERFUME to OSCORP - ADVANCING THE FUTURE.

It's weird. Like deja vu, or some kind of photograph. The other guy's suit is all red, with some kind of blue hoodie (without the hood - Gwen Stacy stands alone in that regard) but other than that...

"Ghost, 10 o'clock low...we got another Spider-Guy..."
And then another figure in a black costume swings towards the Spider-Guy's billboard.
"WHAT THE...?" Spider-Man hits the wall near the billboard, poised to fire both web-shooters if things go south.

Because they go south ALL THE TIME.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Gwen's senses don't trigger to Ben's presence, so she's unawares of the oddity she's about to swing into until Peter points him out, "Oh hey, look't that." Her palm plants on a cooling duct running between two airconditioning units, her body follows, out to the side and into a running frontflip over the railing that continues as she tumbles from the smaller side building into time-square.

Her weblines fire upwards.

Both arms pull back with a jerk and propel her vertical towards Ben... the Black Suited Leon just visible in her peripheral! "Uhhh... Do you see Creepy Spider over he- Holy crap, you realize if these two are Spiders... we're four-fifths the Spice Girls?"

"Think about it.. It could be a tour sitch..."

Back to business, "How you want to handle this?" Not that there's a whole lot of time to plan, she's almost upon Ben's Billboard.

Ben Reilly has posed:
Ben's masked head lifts to scan the sky. He saw the real deal coming in, but that feedback definitely tells him the other is getting close. Closer than Ben ever got when he was stalking Pete right after his creation. He didn't know proximity would do that. He lifts a hand up to his head and bops his palm on the side of his noggin a couple times as if trying to shake the static out. He lifts a hand to wave at Peter before he sees the black tendril attach itself to the makeshift ledge that Ben is currently sitting on. "WHOAH!"

Ben gets a foot up and uses it to push himself up and off and then up to the top of the big LED billboard where he crouches, two feet planted and one hand, right hand ready with the web shooter, fingers curled in in mirror to Peter's, though Ben's web shooter doesn't activate with the finger press, but he still has to keep those two fingers clear of the actual shooter so the pose remains even if the means of activation is different.

"Hi Spidey!" Ben calls over in a happy tone despite the sudden appearance of what definitely looks like another symbiote bonded individual. "You know this one?" He asks, dipping his head towards Leon. Because he sure doesn't, which would mean he's new. "I'm Sporty. Just saying. And he's clearly Scary." A gesture towards the approaching symbiote, that ends with a little wave in Gwen's direction as well. "He hasn't thrown any cars or threats yet. Maybe he's not hostile?" Ben's voice doesn't sound all that sure though.

Leon O'Malley has posed:
As Spy-Doors P and G take notice of Spy-Doors B and L, Leon grumbles as he hops from the line onto the building side, "YES, I see them. Stop asking that. They dont look too happy, and if this goes badly, I'm blaming you....Yes, we'll still get some ice cream on the way home..."

    And then Ben freaks out, as most people would, "....I blame you." He says as he comes to a stop, looking up at the defense strategizing Reilly, "Yeah, we've met...Like, once, didn't really talk though." The voice that comes out is a hellish amalgam of a human and some sort of growling, gurgling, eldritch monstrosity overlaying it...It's probly not helping things, "...Hey, we're not-Ok yeah, we're kinda scary, fair enough..."

Peter Parker has posed:
A band? Leave it to Gwen to think in terms of music. "I dunno...but let's stay optimistic, but careful. Because when it comes to de-escalating, I Want It That Way."

Because it's more of a boy band now. Maybe the Spidey-Eyed, Please?

He pauses, then says in a quieter tone, "But stay on alert, Ghost."
Spidey jumps from the building to the billboard, landing on the opposite end from Ben. He holds his hands up, in spite of Scary living up to his nickname. "Hey, as the wise man said about trouble...don't START none, won't BE none." He takes a deep breath. "If you don't read the BUGLE...or browse the Internet...I'm your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. And my companion is the Pleasantly Rowdy Ghost Spider." He pauses. "That's not her OFFICIAL title, but I'm trying to make it a thing."

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"So..."

Gwen lands in a crouch, hands down between her knees which are raised up nearly to her shoulders for how low on her hips she's sitting, and her hooded head cant backwards so she can gaze up at Ben.. and over a little to keep Scary Spider-ish in her sights..

"Is this like a family reunion situation..." Moving her hands in slow inclusive circles once she's introduced by Spidey-Original. "It's going to get really awkward really fast if we don't..." White eyes on white mask moves from Peter to Ben and back again, "Gosh, man.. it's like you two are the same person..."

Moving closer to get a better look at Ben, the unknown. "You even have the same bad sense of humor..." Snapping over her shoulder at Peter, "You hear this, Spidey? He's got the same bad dad jokes as you.. I think we found your missing twin."

Thus ends second Gwenpool session.

Ben Reilly has posed:
"Dude. You are ALL the scary okay pal?" Ben's voice isn't shakey or anything signifying fear, but it's clear and alert and ready for the black suited Leon to try anything. Symbiotes can be nasty customers, and damn hard to take down. "Did... did you just... Backstreet boys? Really? Ugh." The fact that that is exactly what was running through his head before Peter said it leaves Ben a little uneasy. It's one thing to know you're just a copy of someone else. And another thing entirely to experience it.

"Ghost spider? That's a cool name. I just went with Scarlet Spider. For... obvious reasons." Considering the bright solid red suit broken up only by the sleeveless blue hoodie and the silver of the web slingers at his wrists. "Nah. Spidey doesn't know me. Though I'm pretty sure he's been catching a little extra heat from Jameson in the news over my crime fighting." The comment about them being like the same person gets a curious cant of a scarlet masked head. "Hey. My sense of humor isn't bad. It's great. Yours just isn't refined enough to appreciate it. Still dig the name though. Ghost Spider. That's catchy." Blank white spider eyes turn back to Leon and focus on him, waiting to see what he does. "Sooo are you hostile?" Ben just comes right out and asks.

Leon O'Malley has posed:
Leon tendril-snaps up to about the midpoint between the pair and the Ben, glancing back and forth at them a few times, "....We're in the way." And then snapping further up the building to hang out above them, "Scarlet Spider?....That's way better than what I came up with...Wait, hostile? We're usually pretty hostile, but we're in a good mood today, and He wants your autograph or something....Dont ask who He is, it's...a whole thing.." The eldritch gurgling REALLY doesn't make the not a monster in need of smashage case easy to sell.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey is about to say something when Scarlet Spider (cool name, gotta say) speaks up and...well, it wasn't EXACTLY what HE was going to say, but it was close. Eerily close.

"Well, when it comes to JJJ's opinion...as long as you are helping people, frankly, Scarlet, I don't give a damn."
He looks over to Wolf, then says, "And what's your deal? Are you helping people, or are you gunning for the boogeyman's job? 'Cause I hear the work's a real scream, but the pay's is penny-dreadful."

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Full head turn, back lean glance at Ben, staring down her shoulder at him. "Dad jokes, man I love'em... Dad jokes, can't get enough of'em.." Gwen says in a deadpan, but still sing song voice. "Thanks.. It was Spider Woman before, but apparently there's already one of them here..." BIG SHRUG! Hands pointed up towards the sky.

"What'cha gonna do, right? Copy righting vigilante names is still pretty far fetched as far as legal branding goes, but this costume? TOTALLY killing it on the market with the licensing company I signed with."

She pushes up from her crouch and full turns towards Leon, head dipping from one side to the other as if sizing him up. "Okay, so you there, has /anyone/ told you how much you look like a Garbage Pail Kid?" One of her eyes gets smaller, the other a little wider, giving her mask the impression of raising an eye brow.

"Seriously, does that suit come with a free My Chemical Romance shirt?"

Ben Reilly has posed:
Ben Reilly eyeballs Leon a moment as he talks and talks to himself and stuff. Ben's head tilts slowly to the side until his body is following with it. "You're an odd one aren't you champ? Autographs and sneaking up on people who are just minding their own business?" There's definite amusement in the voice that comes out of Scarlet Spider's mask. "Sooo uhh. Usually hostile but not today? Well that's good to know. I guess I would have had warning if you had bad intentions." Ben raps on the sdie of his head a couple times with his knuckles. "Well that's good to know. I appreciate it. But still. I felt the apology was warranted. Oh I also met some supermodel in Gotham who thought I was you. She bought me pizza. I told her I wasn't you. But she was pretty convinced. And well... I can't afford to turn down free pizza." Shoulders shrug a little bit, shifting the hoodie around on his upper body.

"Hey. Good Dad jokes are serious business. It takes time and effort to cultivate them. Let alone come up with great ones on the fly. Aaaand what do you mean there's already one of them... here?" The suspicion in his voice would come with narrowed eyeplates if Ben's moved, but he hasn't really had the resources for a more sophisticated suit. "Wait can we copyright our names? I mean not that anyone is going to steal mine. But... maybe I should anyway? Who knows. I could become famous enough for an action figure some day. Might help pay the bills."

"You're big on the music references aren't yah?" Ben asks, tone amused, but he too is more than a little curious about Leon. Three spiders in the air, and one symbiote, the symbiote is definitely the most interesting in that moment.

Leon O'Malley has posed:
Leon looks over Spidey-Classic, "....That hurts our feelings...And the pun just hurts us physically. And we'll have you know we dealt with a bank robbery in Metropolis just the other day...Could've gone better, but I've seen worse."

    And then Gwen starts the fashion war! Turning Leon's head her way, "And has anyone told you that you're one metal arm away from looking like an Edge Runner wannabe? And we'll have you know this comes only in Glorious Black, and Slightly Less Black...." He pauses and looks down to the full chest wrapping white spider design, amongst other white accentuants, "....And also White, but we dont talk about that one." Ben's prodding goes ignored, as there is serious fashion catfighting to do!

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey looks around. "Hey, hey, hey, we were doing so well! No trash-talking other people's designs. Last thing I want to do is fight the superhero fashion wars on this billboard." He looks around. "Look. We all want to do the same thing, right? We all want to help people. Wouldn't it make sense to work together? Coordinate? Share technology, maybe? Stay in touch?

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"Kiddo, I'm one metal arm away from being the drummer from Def Leppard, don't get it twisted... Ask girls between the ages of thirteen and twenty nine which of the two of they prefer..." Gwen makes shoo motions with her hands at Leon, "Go on, I'll wait."

She isn't waiting.

"So, not to be that gal, or nothing, but are we going to talk about the spider in the room?" Motioning between the four of them. "I know Spidey over here is losing it.. up until like a month and a half ago, he was doing the swing fest business all by his lonesome, now we're all standing up here like the High School Musical reunion.. one-" Holding up one finger, "-Sudden song away from a grammy award or... god.. Daytime Emmy... or the Tonys, if you're feeling depressed and want an award for awards sake."

Gwen glances at Peter and bobs her head, adding only, and in a reaaaal quiet voice, "Fashion advice..." When he's discussing all the things they should share. "No, seriously, he's right. We should work together.. I'm thinking a secret handshake and-or a decoder ring."

Ben Reilly has posed:
"Well ... Spidey. Maybe the fashion wars need to be fought." There's an odd little pause before Spider-man's name, as if Scarlet wasn't quite sure what to call him for a moment. He didn't actually start to say Peter. He caught himself first. But there's an obvious pause between the start of the sentence and the word Spidey. "To quote Ket Watanabe in Godzilla. Let them fight." His voice dips into a deeper tone and takes on a very bad Japanese accent. "Coordination is good." Ben's head twists a bit and a hand lifts up to bop the side of his head. "Are any of you hearing that static?" He asks, hand rubbing at the side of his head. "Maybe it's just sitting in front of this billboard too long. Speaking of which. Awww no. Stupid bird." Because the bird has snatched up the remainder of his sandwich and is beak deep in it nomming pieces. "Stupid winged rats getting into everything. That was my dinner." Ben's right hand flexes as if he reeeeeally wants to web that pigeon.

"I feel like I missed most of that reference. Def Leppard had the drummer with one arm?" Ben asks, sounding confused for a second or two. Then she moves on to the spider-phant in the room. "I mean... heroes have been coming out at a higher rate as we go forwards. The more that come out, the more that are inspired to do so. So maybe there's been a whole bunch of his this whole time and Primo here just inspired everyone else to be seen?" Ben gestures at Peter when he says Primo.

"I have made some of my own tech that I don't mind sharing. Though it'd require you guys to mod your web shooters. They get a bit bulkier..." Bens hakes his head to indicate the silver bands around his wrists. "Or maybe you guys could figure out how to make the tech smaller. My resource access is ahhhh limited you might say."

Leon O'Malley has posed:
Peter's logical call for alliance draws Leon's attention away from the battle of the epoch, "Hmm...Well, we dont have any tech...Aside from a flip phone, but that hardly seems like it would count...But, we have been keeping tabs on the local gang activity, a lot to watch, but we've got nothing else going on. We'd be happy to mark some maps for you and coordinate some strikes, got a few planned out already in fact...Just let us know about any anti-mutant related crime, if you would. We dont care for bigots."

    Ben's musical ignorance quickly steals Leon's attention, "He had two, then was in an accident and lost one. The band kept him around cuz he was just that damn good." He snaps his attention back to Gwen, "We prefer Styx, ourself...Usually."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey found the musical interlude interesting, and it gave him time for what he had planned. It was his go-to explanation, and he hoped it would work here.

"I...have a tech guy. He helps me with all the technical stuff, I clue him in on stuff that's happening so he can take pictures of it and sell them. It's a, how you say...a symbiotic relationship." He looks around. "I asked me to work on a communications network, one that anyone in the network can use. Communication links that use cell towers, a dedicated computer for a database, that sort of thing. He's even going to help build a 'wearable computer' into a new version of the suit. Of course, all that requires money."

He takes another breath.

"I can't ask you, any of you, to buy in on this. But if you want to contribute something...then I'm sure he can try to fix you up. We've already got a basic setup between me and Ghost."

Ben Reilly has posed:
Ben Reilly lets out a garbled sound of shock when Leon says he has a flip phone. "A... a flip phone? What... even my broke ass has a smart phone. Not a good one but hey. It's got a sturdy case and has survived so far. Also speaking of gang activity. Has anyone noticed that it... only seems to be increasing? You would think having a bunch of people with super powers running around would put a damper on crime. But it only seems to have escelated since heroes hit the public stage."

Then Pete is talking and Ben hushes up to listen. Which is a miracle in and of itself. "I genuinely wish I could contribute. I deliver pizzas for a living." And built his own web slingers, and additional tech for them too. "I can help build tech. Sometimes I repurpose stuff that the bad guys leave behind. You can do a lot with the guts of a cell phone." Ben's shoulders lif in a quick shrug. "Should get like a corporate sponsor. Someone who's got money and is interested in helping fight crime and bad guys but can't do it themselves."

Leon O'Malley has posed:
At Peter's description of his tech guy, Leon begins snickering, "....Your tech guy is you, isn't it?...Eh, what the hell, not like we've got much to lose. Is fifty bucks enough?" He pauses and glances off to the side, ".....Quit whining, we've still got some at home....Hey, you're the one who wanted to talk to them, this is your fault, remember?....No, we're doing this and that's final."

    He then looks back to Ben, "We dont wanna talk about our financial situation, you haven't earned that yet. And we saw a really interesting documentary just the other day about the superhero/criminal escalation." He pauses then as Ben mentions a sponsor, "...What, like Tony Stark?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey gives Ben a skeptical look. The words, the pitch, the cadence are so eerily familiar. But why?

He looks between Wolf and Scarlet. "Hey...guys? Ramp it down?" He is pretty good at not reacting to Wolf's observation, which would give a little too much away.

"Let's start with this." He takes out a notepad and pencil from the backpack on his back, then writes something on it. "This is a phone number you can use to reach me. It has voicemail, so I can take messages and leave messages to reach out to you guys if I'm in the middle of something. After I perfect the Spider-Comm system, then we can up the ante on it."
He does give Ben a careful look. "I'd...be careful of who might want to sponsor us. Find the wrong sponsor, and they might start telling you to go after the ones THEY think are the bad guys."

He sighs. "As for the escalation, we are helping people. Everyone has their own choices to make. It's not what I do that might make someone a villain, it's how they respond to that. That's THEIR choice. Besides, maybe they are the ones to come first, and we are being call to protect people from them."

Ben Reilly has posed:
Ben Reilly of course has noticed the similarities between his voice and Peter's, but then... he knows who he is. And he knows who Peter is. The reverse is not true. Besides pitching his voice up or down would be rather difficult to maintain. "Yes I know. The similarities are strange. Probably also why people keep confusing me for you. Don't they say imitation is the best form of flattery?" There's a perky tone to Ben's voice that strongly suggests he's grinning behind his mask. "Wasn't asking you to go into your finances there Black on Black." Ben chuckles and relaxes a little, he's been in defense mode the whole time waiting for something to go wrong. The tension eases out of his shoulders though he continues to hang onto the top edge of the billboard.

"That's true. Most people have an agenda. They might not even realize they have an agenda. But they do. They'll have a right way that crime is supposed to be fought in their head. And then next thing you know you've stepped on that, and they yank all your tech support, then you're on the phone for hours on end with guys in Mumbai and it all just rolls downhill from there." Again snarky tone, grin behind the mask. "Chicken. Egg. It's a tough thing to figure out. And yeah. I'm just doing what I can. Which isn't much but every bit helps."

Leon O'Malley has posed:
Leon turns his head to Spidey as the breaks get pumped, "Ehhh, fair enough..." He says with a shrug as a crappy flip phone seemingly rises from his palm like an obelisk, being casually flipped open and readied to number receive. The comments on the dangers of sponsors dont go unnoticed, "...I can confirm, a sponsor is a bad idea. If you're really hard up, stealing from criminals is a grey area. Just dont take anything important to an investigation....And dont ask how I can confirm that. We dont wanna walk about it."

Peter Parker has posed:
"...Yyyyeah, I think we should talk about that sometime. Just not now." Spider-Man hands each of them a slip of paper with a phone number. "Here. You need to know something, you need to share something, you need help, you are available to help...call or text that number. As time goes on, we'll be able to upgrade the comm arrangement, but this should do for now." He chuckles. "Low tech is still better than NO tech."

Ben Reilly has posed:
"Cool." Ben drops from the top of the sign down to where the winged rat is still feasting on his food. He snags a backpack he had resting down there and fishes into it to bring out his phone and punch the number into it. "Got it." He shoulders the backpack and leaps back up to the top of the sign, the move a mirror image for the way Peter moves. Maybe a couple of tiny variations, but damned close. "I'm available... most of the time to be honest. If I fail to deliver a pizza I have to pay for it, so worst comes to worst it costs me a bit to show up. So feel free to call if you need help." Ben texts the number in question after snapping a quick picture of himself waving at the camera, then tucks the phone back into the backpack on his shoulder. "Well it has been very ineresting meeting the both of you. And seriously. Does no one else hear the static? I know I already asked. And no one answered. I just find it hard to believe that no one does." There's also a distinct worried note to his voice as he says it, concern underpinning the question.

Leon O'Malley has posed:
Leon snatches the paper up with a tendril, cuz walking is for chumps, "Deal. But we need to work on a name for those comms of yours. I'm thinking, Spider-Web....Too on the nose?" He asks with a chuckle as the flip-brick and paper melt into his suit.

    "We'll give you a call after double checking some things..." He then glances to Ben, "We dont hear anything...Maybe the voice in YOUR head is stirring. If it tells you it wants nachos, it really means doritos."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man tilts his head. "I'm hearing it, too. Maybe you and I can sort it out another time..." He looks around. "Ghost and I have to follow up on something. But rest assured, we will be in touch."
He reaches to his left and fires a webline, then beckons to Ghost Spider. Ten seconds later, they have disappeared into the fog...but things are different. The farther away Peter gets, the more the static fades untul it is gone.

Yessir, there are a LOT of questions that need answering.