Chapter Seven: Spin

The Daily Bugle

"All right!" For a fleeting moment, J. Jonah Jameson was very pleased as he looked over the pictures from Bayville. He was certain that Randy Green would have extorted the hell out of him for the first hard pictures of the Bayville Spider, but Green had actually been restrained in her negotiating so the pictures hadn't actually been too overpriced. It was; indeed, a good thing he hadn't sent Parker out there. The kid was a master at making him pay excessive amounts for his pictures, although to be fair a part of him actually understood where Parker was coming from: A kid desperate to help his aunt keep their home.

Finding talent and working it while still going to college and working on making something of himself was a work ethic that Jameson admired. It was the same as the determined way a young JJ Jameson had worked his way to the top in the vicious world of public media. So he cut Parker a little extra slack, as opposed to what some would when faced with such a situation. Because the kid worked hard, he produced results and Jameson sympathized with him. Hell. I kinda even like the kid... God help me if he ever figures that out... for the two shared something in common. It was something that arrogant, grandstanding Spider-man could never understand.

But for now, it was back to the Bayville Spider... No... Jameson corrected himself. The Scarlet Spider... And he's a Bugle Exclusive! So far; aside from a couple of blurry and grainy pictures that had shown up in one of the local papers, only Randy Green had yet managed to get shots of him. That gave Jameson a great deal of leeway on how to shape this for public consumption. On the one hand, he was a costumed showoff. On the other hand, he definitely was NOT Spider-man. Jameson had to wonder at what the webhead might think about this copycat running around in a nearby city. It must gall him. Jameson thought. And THAT was the clincher. This Scarlet Spider had given JJ the priceless gift of being able to stick something hard and fast in Spider-man's craw. After that, the decision tree got much simpler.

"Ellis!" Jameson barked.

"Yes, Mr. Jameson?" Ellis said getting up and wondering if he has forgotten one of Robinson's Laws for keeping Jameson happy.

"I want a front-page piece on the Scarlet Spider. Call it 'Scarlet Spider: Hero of Bayville!'

"Yes, Mister Jameson."

"Good! Now, what do you have on these Bayville Sirens?"

"Not much... Just what I'm getting from Randy Green sir. She says the Sirens are actually just a biker club. Probably just trying to make a name for themselves."

"Well not with MY paper they won't!" Jameson declared. "From here on out, drop the Sirens. From now on the Scarlet Spider is the only thing in Bayville that matters!"

"Yes, Mr. Jameson."

"Good! Now get typing!"

Xavier Institute

That morning, another set of photos sat on the desk of Professor Charles Xavier. These had arrived by Same Day Mail and were addressed to him directly with only a short note:

What are your students doing in their free time?

Although the unnamed source (he had some guesses whom that might be.) was hardly above suspicion, the implications were plain enough and not to be ignored if there was any chance they were genuine. To date, there was no real damage done, but the potential for serious trouble was very real. He sat considering exactly how he should handle this. If he was correct in his conclusions, he knew very well the faces hidden behind those sunglasses. He was torn between stopping them from getting into serious trouble and confronting them with their secret. Xavier understood one thing, this was the sort of problem that could prove very fractious to the X-Men. He certainly planned on avoiding something like this if he could, but since it happened, it now had to be approached delicately. On one hand, to confront the girls with unsubstantiated proof could be a very bad choice. While on the other, if they had no time to indulge in such pursuits... could very well drive them away altogether. The only thing he could think to do was to wait for an opportunity to present itself.

Peter Parker's Residence Queens New York

Peter Parker looked unhappily at the latest edition of the Daily Bugle. Splashed across the front page was a full-color shot of the Scarlet Spider.

"That's just not fair, pickle puss?" Peter complained. He was a little upset by the fact that ol' brillo head decided to praise this other spider when all he ever does was call him a menace. But if he guessed correctly Jonah had put that in the paper to spite his least favorite superhero. What worried Peter most was this new spider... Who exactly was he?

Was there another clone running loose out there, or was this person just someone with similar powers? Is this another game by Miles Warren? He had to find out what was going on in Bayville. Tomorrow he would go talk to Mr. Jameson.

The Attic bedroom of Ben Reilly, Bayville

"Scarlet Spider?" Reilly groaned looking at the paper. "Who comes up with this stuff?" Still, it was a nice change that he was not being vilified at every turn. In the meantime, he wondered just how someone had managed to get that good a photo of him. It did make him feel a little vulnerable. It was something to ponder over as he got ready for tonight's patrol. He also wondered if he was going to run into the Sirens again. It was interesting food for thought.

On Lookout Position Three, Bayville

Rogue and Kitty were bored. Bored as hell. They would have preferred to be out as the Sirens, but they had no time with Xavier putting a priority on finding this Scarlet Spider.

It disappointed Kitty just a little that it wasn't the real Spider-man they were looking for. THAT would have been such a thrill! But then, on the other hand, she and Rogue had seen the Scarlet Spider and even if Spider-man was more famous, the Scarlet Spider was monumentally cool in his own right. It DID help that they had convinced Tabby to join their stakeout. Xavier had allowed it and the girls hoped that Tabby might yet choose to rejoin the team. Maybe it was too much to hope for but it seemed a step in the right direction.

Speaking of which...

"Man... No sign of that tight butt anywhere." Tabby said with a sigh.

"What makes you think he'd be interested in you?" Kitty teased.

"Hey... It's Boom Boom! What's not to love?" Tabby replied.

"Yeah? Maybe Rogue is more his type?"

"Ah doubt it, Kitty," Rogue answered dismissively. Rogue was always so dismissive when it comes to boys it was starting to worry her a little. It wasn't just boys, it was relationships in general her lack of caring was the issue. But no one could really blame her if she had gone through life unable to touch anyone she just might feel the same way.

"Or maybe it's Kitty that has a crush?" Tabby joked feeling relieved that they were alone with the other X-men and even some of the New Mutants also being dispersed into teams of three. Jean was with Amara and Rahne. Scott was teamed up with Kurt and Bobby. And Logan was with Ray and Roberto while Beast had Spyke and Cannonball with him. Storm patrolled the skies on her own. She wasn't sure she was ready to come back to the Institute yet... But she did enjoy hanging with the girls at least.

Kitty blushed.

"Pay attention y'all..."

An undisclosed location...

Magneto looked thoughtfully at the picture in the paper. One of yours Charles? He wondered though doubting it. It wasn't really his style. If Charles had his way mutants would remain a secret for many years to come. The fool. Erik wanted to believe in such an idea too... But it just wasn't realistic. There was a war on the horizon and someone needed to prepare to save 'their' kind from destruction. No, this Spider person wasn't one of the X-Men... at least not yet. Exposing themselves wasn't in Xavier's plan, Erik almost wanted to laugh when he thought of his old friend stern face when he found out about this Spider. So he was a new player, maybe it's best to test the spider a little... he might prove worth investigating.

"Sabretooth... I have a task for you..."