#4 December 2006

"You will cower in fear of Hook-Fist!" the costumed man exclaimed. Ben held back a laugh, but found it hard to choke away. The laugh spit out of his lips and filled the small space of the alleyway.

"Dude, just say 'bub' and you've got Wolverine nailed!" He lifted his palms towards the man, still laughing. He fired two weblines at the wannabe villain, but missed as a result of his laughter.

"I would have missed too," Julia Carpenter said in his earpiece.

"Hook-Fist?" Ben said, half to Julia, half to his adversary, “And that line? Talk about cheesy seventies movie! Tell you what Hooky? You surrender, I help you find a new name so you don't have one of those awkward moments in the Vault that I'm sure all lameoids have?"

"I'm not going back to the Vault!" he growled, swinging at Ben again. He jumped and kicked Hook-Fist across the face, then landed and spun around, extending his left elbow and catching Hook-Fist in the nose. He dropped hard, blood splattering out of his nose and against the wall.

"Good move," Julia said.

"Thanks," Ben gasped. "Now where's that clown that was with hi-"

A sudden thunderclap from directly behind him nearly deafened Ben. He dropped to the ground and covered his ears. He held his eyes tightly shut in pain.

"Ben!" Julia called. "Ben!"

"I-I'm okay," he muttered.

"Sorry about that," a slightly accented voice said from above him. "I didn't have any time to warn you." Ben looked up and saw a human shaped bolt of lightning descending from above the unconscious clown. He landed in the alley and congealed into the shape of a younger Hispanic boy, probably in his early twenties. "My name's Living Lightning." He extended his hand to help Ben up. He nodded and accepted the offered help. Ben steadied himself and brushed himself off.

"Thanks," he said. "Scarlet Spider, but I'm sure you knew that."

"Yeah, welcome to LA," he said. "There's not many of us out here. Except the Wackos, at least."

"I've heard," he replied. "And I guess LA's kind of been off limits to SPB's or some shit like that."

"Yeah," Lightning said mournfully. "It sucks. I need to run, but I'm sure we'll run into each other again." The young man smiled. "Glad I'm not alone here any more."

"Me too," Ben said. "See you around." Before he finished the statement the former Avenger was gone. Ben frowned.

"A little weird," he muttered.

"Yeah," Julia said. "I'd agree. Come on in. Good job tonight."

"Thanks," Ben said, jumping into the air and firing a webline. "You know you don't always have to be on the other side of the line. It's late. I can patrol myself, especially when it's quiet like this."

"I guess I'm just nervous," Julia said. "After finding out Wilder knows who you are..."

"That's scary stuff," he said. "More to me because of the how, not the who."

"When you get to know Wilder, it'll be both."

---

"It's a nice place, Mister Kaine," the realtor said. "It's got a great view of the city, and it's central to most everything. Do you like it?"

The scarred man nodded, his ponytail bobbing up and down. He walked up to the large picture window. The realtor followed, prattling useless factoids about the place. Kaine sneered and turned to him.

"I'll take it," he grunted. He turned, grabbed the man by the throat, swung him around and slammed him through the glass of the window. Sharp shards fell to the street as the realtor struggled and flailed in vain.

"You have the deed in the briefcase?" he asked.

"Y-yes," he choked.

"And it's signed, correct?"

"Ye-es," the realtor choked again.

"Good." Kaine pushed the man away and released his grip. He flew away and landed on a rooftop nearby. He felt his neck snap immediately before the blackness set in. He was dead within seconds. Kaine smiled.

"Good morning Los Angeles," he said.

---

"Why do I feel like I'm walking into an ambush?" Ben whispered to Ezekiel.

"Because you are," Ezekiel muttered. "Wilder's dangerous and I have the feeling he's not going to be alone." Ben nodded and took a sip of water. He had a Dr. Pepper on the way, but he was unsettled. This meeting had scared him since the moment he found out about it from Ezekiel a couple days before.

"There he is," he declared. Ben jerked his head up to see a large black man, accompanied by a very pretty African woman and a woman he recognized as a B-list movie star. Ezekiel stood.

"Geoffrey, Catherine and Leslie," he said. "Good to see you as always." He shook each of their hands respectively then turned and held his hands towards Ben. "This is Ben Reilly."

"A pleasure," Ben said, popping up out of his chair. He shook each of their hands, trying to summon as much sincerity as possible. The truth was, they scared him. There was a quiet menace about each of them that created a sinking feeling within Ben's stomach.

"It's very good to meet you in person Mister Reilly," Catherine Wilder said as she sat down. "I've heard a lot about you."

"I imagine you have," Ben said. Catherine smiled.

"So, what can we do for you?" Ezekiel asked, a false smile plastered on his face. "I mean, you did have something on your mind, didn't you?"

"We'd like to speak about Mister Reilly's... place in Los Angeles," Leslie said. Ben recognized her now. Last name of Dean, frequently played the other girlfriend or best friend roles in romantic comedies. She was starting to get a bit old for that though, and was gaining fewer and fewer roles.

"And what place do you see that as?" Ben asked. The waitress arrived and set several glasses of water in front of the newcomers.

"Not in Los Angeles," Geoffrey said. "We've had things here well in hand for quite some time." He took a sip of water and licked his lips. "The city doesn't need a full-time superhero."

"Back up first, Wilder," Ezekiel said, more than a little contempt in his voice. "First, how did you know that Ben is the Spider? Second, do you have a better reason than 'I said so'?"

"We have our ways, Sims," Wilder said, echoing Ezekiel's tone. "And 'I said so' would be enough for almost anyone. Except apparently-" He took another sip of water. "-you."

"Don't insult my intelligence," Ezekiel growled. "We are here. Even if you have things 'well in hand' here, that's not good enough. Los Angeles is a large city. No matter how benevolent you claim to be, you don't have a handle on this city."

"Good point," Catherine said. "But we are taking care of those things. We're not simpletons."

"And neither are we," Ezekiel stated. "We're doing our part in LA. Please let us do so." Ben held his hands out.

"I'm enjoying the tension as much as the rest of you, I'm sure," he declared, "but I need a break for a minute. I'll be right back." He stood and walked towards the restroom. Neither Ben nor Ezekiel saw the glances Wilder shot to three other diners. One by one, they stood and followed Ben into the bathroom. Wilder smiled and picked up the menu for the first time.

"I'm sorry, I've lost my manners," he said. "We're here to have lunch. How is the fried calamari here?"

---

Ben closed his eyes and leaned his head back. What a terrible lunch already, and they'd only been talking for about five minutes. Why did Wilder, and by extension the Pride, want Ben out of LA so badly. It was a very large city and even if he had doubts about their intentions, there was more than enough room for him and them to operate. He heard the door open to allow two other men to walk inside. One of the men began washing his hands; the other went to the urinal next to Ben. A third walked in just as Ben zipped his fly up and flushed the toilet. His spider-sense flared, screaming at his senses.

The man at the urinal suddenly grabbed the back of Ben's head and slammed his head against the tile wall behind the urinal. Stars exploded into his vision and Ben cried out and stumbled backwards. Someone stopped him, grabbed him around the jaw, and held a dagger against his throat.

"Mister Minoru, please lock the door," Ben's captor said.

"Already done, Yorkes," the other man replied. Ben blinked twice heavily, then panned the room with his eyes. It was just him and the three others he'd heard enter behind him. He stood up suddenly, surprising Yorkes and forcing him to lose his grip. He spun and punched him across the face but turned to find one of the men enveloped in a rainbow-colored energy aura and the other aiming a glowing antique staff at his chest.

"Son of a bitch," Yorkes muttered as he stood up. "I think he broke my nose." Ben wiped a trickle of blood off his forehead where he hit the tile and glared at him.

"Eye for an eye, buddy," he growled.

"Calm please, Spider," said the rainbow man.

"How do you people know who I am?" he growled, balling his fists. A fourth man suddenly shimmered into view.

"Telepaths Mister Reilly," he said, his eyes glowing pink. "Now we have a counter-offer to Sims'."

"And what's that?" Ben said, his tone still low.

"Come to work for the Pride," Minoru, the man with the staff, said. "We match your salary from SimsCorp and everyone's happy."

"You have a telepath," Ben said, "why don't you just brainwash me? Why are you offering?"

"It doesn't work that way," the telepath muttered.

"Never does," Ben said. "I'm going to have to say no here, on the grounds that y'all are, you know, evil. And ganging up on me in a bathroom is very cliché. Now, if you'll excuse me..." Ben shoved past Yorkes and walked back out of the bathroom, ignoring the small trickle of blood on his forehead.

"Damn," Frank Dean muttered, replacing the bracelet that inhibited his natural powers. "Hayes, tell Wilder-"

"Already done, Mister Dean," Hayes said with a glare. "I told him what a damn shit-storm you've stirred up."

---

"Is there anyone else?!" the Scarlet Spider cried over the roar of the flames. He shielded his eyes from the blaze that had enveloped an apartment building. Los Angeles firefighters were working diligently to put out the flames, but the size of the blaze demanded their attention to spread to the neighboring buildings as well to prevent other fires. The assistant chief glanced to another firefighter who nodded.

"We think so," he said. "The third floor. An older Hispanic couple that is still unaccounted for. My people got cut off from that point, but maybe you could..."

"On it!" Ben exclaimed. He jumped into the air and fired a webline onto the structure. He pulled himself to the building, landed on one of the walls and crawled to an open window on the third floor. He jumped inside. Flames leapt at him and he recoiled in surprise.

"You there, Wonder Spider?" Julia's voice said in his ear.

"Yeah," Ben said. "You been watching?"

"Sure have," she replied. "I'm turning an infrared function on in your lenses. It won't be like having night vision, but it'll help you see some of the hotter spots before you reach them."

"Got it," he said. "Thanks."

"How was lunch today?"

"Not going there," he said. "Zeke didn't tell you?"

"No," Julia said. "That bad?"

"Wilder threatened us and then I was attacked in the bathroom," he said. "After that, it all went downhill. I had a damn good Chicken Theodore sandwich though."

"Funny," she replied. Ben smiled and saw two firefighters standing near a chunk of burning rubble, apparently waiting for him.

"Which unit are they in?" Ben asked.

"Three-J," one of them replied. "You move the rubble and move in, we back you up!"

"Got it!" Ben crouched and wiggled his fingers.

"Julia, the suit is insulated, right?"

"As long as you don't juggle it won't do any more than warm your palms."

"Okay." He grit his teeth and grabbed the burning planks and beams. He grunted and lifted them off the ground, then turned and threw them out of the way. He broke into a sprint and headed for 3-J. He heard the two firefighters directly behind him. He reached the door and stopped. The heat sensor in his lenses showed a very hot spot on the other side of the door.

"Let me see one of your axes," he called, holding his hand out. One of the men handed him an ax. "Thanks!" He waved then back, took the ax in both hands, pulled back and slammed it into the door. The hallway exploded into flame and Ben jumped back. After a few moments, the oxygen starved flames were satisfied and it was easier to get inside.

Ben ran into the small home's living room and looked around. The two firefighters followed him inside. They each began looking in the rooms of the apartment. As Ben entered the bathroom he saw two lumps huddled under a wet blanket in the bathtub.

"I found them!" he called. Ben hurried to their side and lifted the blanket.

"Habla ingles?"

"You mean speak English?" the man said. Ben grinned beneath his mask. "The masked man said you'd come. He was looking for other people, but he said the Spider would come." Ben raised an eyebrow.

"Masked man?"

"Yes," the woman replied. "I think he said his name was Kaine." Ben's eyes widened in shock.

"Kaine?" he asked. "He said his name was Kaine?"

"Yes," the man replied. The two firefighters joined Ben in the bathroom. He turned to them.

"We need to get out!" he called. "NOW!" He helped the older couple up and took each of them under his arms. He ran to the door, the two firefighters close behind. They ran to the apartment at the front of the building. Ben glanced behind him and then at the four people with him.

"I need you each to hold onto my neck," he said. "I'm strong enough to hold all of you, but you need to hold onto me tightly. Got it?" They each nodded. He held his arms out and they each took hold around his neck.

"Who's Kaine, Ben?" Julia asked.

"Not now Julia," he whispered. "I'll tell you when I get back." He turned, closed his eyes and muttered a silent prayer. He then lifted his passengers and sprinted for the window.

"Heads down!" he screamed. They all ducked and he jumped. As soon as they were clear he fired a pair of weblines and slowly descended to the street. He could see Living Lightning below, assisting the firefighters and displaced tenants. The young man rushed to his side as soon as he landed. He helped the older couple as the firefighters dropped to the ground.

"You okay?" Lightning asked. Ben nodded and spun around. He caught a glimpse of the cloaked figure three buildings away. He started to run towards him, but realized Kaine would be long gone before he got there. Ben frowned and slumped his shoulders.

"Shit," he muttered.

---

In Web of Scarlet Spider #5: Ben tries to track down Kaine, the Pride makes a move, and Ezekiel receives an interesting offer that will send Ben Reilly across an ocean and directly into the Web of Scarlet Spider Annual #1!

---

 

---