Ben Reilly was sitting at a computer setup in his own apartment, courtesy of Elliott Ludwig. The setup had a laptop, some tools, & a suit fabricator (on steroids).
Suddenly, Ben felt a sharp pain in his head. He then brushed it off, thinking it was nothing.
"Hey L.E., can you recalibrate my webshooters, their trajectory seems off." Ben's AI assistant, LE, began running numbers on the computer.
Meanwhile, Ben's eyes wandered to a nearby dresser. Dover's urn & a picture of Aunt may sat on top. He looked at them longingly, reminiscing old memories.
Bleep! An alert on Ben's laptop "Reminder: A's housewarming party tonight."
[Context: A recently got her own apartment and is hosting a housewarming party.]
"Oh shit!!! That's tonight! Maybe I can tell A I can't make it. After all, Dogday will be there." Ben pondered. As if by coincidence, Ben heard a knock on his door. He walked over to it and checked the peephole. After seeing who it was, Ben opened the door to reveal A. "Hey Abercrombie, you still coming tonight?" A asked.
Ben didn't respond at first, until he replied "Sorry A, I don't think I can make it tonight." A just stared at Ben with slight disappointment. "Is this because of Dogday? Reilly, it's been about a month since you two last spoke. I get you guys had a falling out, but I think you could still patch things up if you go." A said.
"We didn't have a 'falling out', I just didn't want the others to choose between me or Dogday. I didn't want to be the reason for the group falling apart." Ben corrected. "Call it what you want, but I'd still love for you to come. Besides, your crush will be there." A teased. "Wait, Leopardaisy's gonna be there?"
"Of course, now you will go?" A asked. "Okay, what time?" Ben asked. "At 8, see you there." A answered. With that, A left to get her apartment ready. Ben closed his door and headed back to his desk. He began to make a mental list for the party. But first, he needed to eat something and decided to go to Kissy's.
Ben sat in a booth and dined alone. He then got a call on his phone, it was Z. "Hey buddy, glad your coming to the party tonight. We haven't hung out in a while."
"Hey Z, I think it'll be great time." Ben spoke. He then heard entrance door open and saw Bubba & Catnap. They approached the bar where Huggy was waiting. The pair were picking up food for the gang. Ben stared at them with a slight smile. Even though he wanted to go talk to them, he didn't.
Z was still on the other end, Ben was completely oblivious. Catnap then noticed Ben and turned to look at him. Ben then looked away, not wanting the attention. The two then left, without saying a word to Ben. Z was still speaking and then got worried "Hello!? Ben? You there buddy?"
Ben snapped to reality "Yeah uh, I'll see you tomorrow Z." He then hung up the call, paid for his food. & left. Ben then went for a walk to clear his head. A little while later, Ben passed by a building with a flower logo. He then entered the store, and the left with a beautiful bouquet of purple roses.
Right around eight, Ben arrived at A's place. It was open house so Ben walked right in. The apartment was almost packed, different riders were present. Some were single riders, while others were part's of team's. Ben began looking around for A, but couldn't find her. After a bit, Ben grabbed a soda and ended up wandering around the place. After a bit, he came across an art piece on the wall. It resembled a beautiful forest, with blue & purple flowers. "Yo abercrombie!"
Ben turned to see A, dressed in a t-shirt & jeans. Another guest was standing next to A too. "Oh, hey A. I couldn't find you." Ben spoke. "Sorry about that, I got caught up with other guests. Nice flowers btw." A replied. "There uh, a housewarming gift." Ben answered as he handed the bouquet to A. She then smelled the flowers "There smell good, thanks."
"Wait, you two know each other?" The guest asked confused. "I'm just her neighbor from across the hall." Ben replied. A then a grin behind her mask "A friendly neighbor." Ben choked on his drink as he sipped from it. "Come on, let's hang." A spoke. Ben bid the guest farewell, and left with A into her living room.
"I've also got you a gift." A spoke. "What do you mean-" Ben asked before he spotted a familiar figure. It was Leopardaisy, wearing a grey tracksuit with pink stripes. "Hey A!!!" Leopard greeted with excitement. "Hey, glad you made it." A greeted back. Leopardaisy then looked at Ben. "Hey, I remember you from the arcade. I'm Leopardaisy, it's so nice to finally meet you. A's told another about you."
Ben only stared at Leopard, not knowing how to respond. "Uh, Reilly you good?" A asked with confusion. "U-Um, h-hi I'm, B-Ben Reilly." Ben greeted nervously. "I'll let you two chat." A suggested as she left the pair alone.
An hour passes, the two are actually having a blast. Ben does his puns & jokes, making Leopardaisy laugh. ""I guess I'm a great quipper, huh." Leopard giggled feeling very joyful. "A was right, you know how make people laugh."
Then they faced one another, feeling a connection. It seemed like they were about to kiss, until Bobby interrupted them. "Eeeeeee!!!" She shrieked in excitement. Ben almost jumped off the couch. "The hell- Bobby!? What are you doing!?"
Leopardaisy only made an "Eeep!" sound. "Oops, sorry. I just got a little excited." Bobby apologized. "A little? My ears are going to be ringing for days. It's nice to see you though." Ben stated. "It's nice to see you too. It's been awhile since we've last spoke. You've been busy with, your 'other activities'."
Before Ben could respond, Leopardaisy asked of curiosity "How do you know about Ben?" Bobby then answered "Ive known Ben for about six months. He became my friend after meeting Z and moving here. He's also became really close to your brother-" Ben then interrupted "Until we had a difference of opinion. So we haven't spoken to each other since." Bobby looked shocked, not expecting Ben to respond like that.
Then as if by chance, Dogday emerged. "Oh look, if isnt the heartbreaker himself!" Dogday shouted. His eyes had fury in them, looking directly at Ben. "Dogday? Look, I know I haven't spoken to you in a while. But I'm ready to make things right." Ben spoke. Tensions began to rise, the atmosphere in the room became heavy. "Make things right? It's far to late for that you filthy pendejo!" Dogday insulted as he splashed his drink onto Ben's face.
A stood in front of Ben instinctively "You need to leave right now asshole!" Dogday smirked "You better leave him while you can. Or he'll break your heart too." Dogday then left without another word. Ben stood there feeling embarrassed as everyone stared at him. "What the fuck you all staring at?!" A shouted. The other guests went back to chatting with each other, feeling slightly afraid.
"You okay Abercrombie?" A asked feeling concerned. "I'm fine A, I deserved it." Ben replied. "Don't say that, I know you two haven't spoken to each other for a few weeks. But what Dogday did was unacceptable." Bobby responded. "Maybe, but still. I'm sorry you had to see that Leopard." Ben apologized. "It's okay, it wasn't your fault. Besides, I had fun hanging out with you. We should do it again sometime." Leopardaisy suggested with a smile.
Ben felt happy, even a little excited. His crush wants to spend quality time with him. "I'd love too." He replied eagerly.
After drying himself off, Ben left A's bathroom and noticed Leopardaisy with someone else. The pair were looking at each other intimately. Then the guy caressed Leopard's hair and kissed her. Ben's heart sank, this was a major blow to him. His dreams of being with her shattered in an instant.
He then quickly left A's apartment feeling a mix of emotions. A then called after him "Wait, Reilly come back!" He ignored her, and continued walking away.
He then retreated to his apartment, crawled into bed, & sulked in silence until he fell sleep.
Ben stood in Ludwig's office, Poppy told him it was urgent. After Ludwig finished a meeting, he entered the room, and sat behind his desk. "Hello Reilly, I'm sorry what happened to you the previous evening. I've reprimanded Captain Dogday for his actions." Ludwig apologized. "What did you need to see me for? Poppy said it was serious." Ben asked without acknowledging. Not wanting to press further, Ludwig cleared his throat. "Poppy's told me that you've had experience dealing with organized crime."
"Yeah, what do need me to do?" Ben asked. "I need you to go after Leo Lynx who goes by the alias 'The Mayor'. He's a local mob boss that resides in Starling Central on Terra Prime. He controls a part of the city known as The Glades. We believe he's in possession of a secret Cult artifact and intends on unleashing it. I need you to locate and stop him. You take out the mayor, and his criminal empire will fall." Ludwig explained.
Ben pondered first a moment, but after thinking about what happened the previous night, he figured a change of scenery was be goid fkr him. Ben stared at Ludwig with a serious look "When do I leave?"
Ben went back to his apartment, and began packing. He only packed the essentials: his suit, laptop, homemade fabricator, & the photo of Aunt May. Before he left, Ben wrote a letter for A, and the others in case they came into his apartment. He placed the letter on his coffee table, and headed of to Starling Central.
Scarlet Spider belongs to Marvel
Space Riders AU @onyxonline
Leopardaisy belongs to TekuManiac311
