95 Leah

AN: Sorry for the delay. The next arc is a bit more complicated than I thought and I just couldn't put my ideas into words XD anyway, we will soon be entering the Spiderverse arc and all I can say is...ahem Silk ahem.

XD well, who knows.

maybe.

:P

Also, as some may have already guessed, the mysterious figure from before is indeed Leah.

Someone told be about this thing in the early chapters and I knew I had to insert her somewhere but just couldn't find a way in.

I'm also adding a twist to her so she would have a more significant impact on the story. It's not gonna be a major thing, but still important to certain events.

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Meanwhile, swinging through New York was none other than the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!

"Oh man, I'm going to be late for school again!"

Spider-Man cursed at himself for waking up late and now had to hurry in the morning to go to class.

However, just as he was swinging, he saw something strange in the corner of his eyes.

"Huh?"

He quickly landed on top of a building's roof and looked over.

Scratching his head, he muttered.

"Weird. I must still be sleepy. No way I saw a pig dressed like me…"

Spider-Man shook his head and was about to go back to swinging to his school but then saw something in the alley below him.

It was a small figure huddled in a bunch of newspapers in between some garbage dumps.

Spider-Man no longer thought of school as he quickly dropped down to check on this figure.

As he approached, he saw that it was a young girl dressed in rags.

She was huddled under some newspapers with his face on the front pages.

Not only that, on the walls around her, he could see some cut-out pictures of himself from the newspapers.

Spider-Man didn't give it much thought and quickly checked her condition.

"Not good. She's barely breathing! W-what do I do?"

Spider-Man started to panic.

"Hospital. I need to get her to a hospital…but is it safe to move her? Will it be too much if I carry her while swinging?"

He hesitated if he should just grit his teeth and carry her but was also worried that it might worsen her condition as he had no idea what was wrong with her.

"Okay, okay. Calm down. Remember your training. Wait, did I have training? Dammit, why am I still talking like this? What would Capt. Freed do?..."

At the same time, Benjamin felt Spider-Man calling his name and saw the situation. He didn't waste any time and quickly opened a portal to where he was.

"Capt!"

"Give this to her."

Benjamin spoke as he handed a vial that contained a diluted Small Recovery Pill to Spider-Man.

It should be enough to stabilize her condition and heal her.

Spider-Man nodded and quickly poured the contents of the vial to the girl.

After seeing her breath normally, Spider-Man sighed in relief.

Still, he continued to look at the girl in a somber expression.

"She was already unconscious when I saw her…God, I must've swung past this alley a hundred times…if I'd noticed sooner…"

Benjamin smiled and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"She's safe now because you found her."

"No, you don't understand. If I hadn't stopped here because I saw a weird hallucination, I wouldn't have known and it might be too late!"

Benjamin ruffled his hair. Or well, his head since he still had his mask on.

"No need to think about the ifs. You found her and you saved her. That's all that matters."

"But you were the one who-"

"It was still on you."

Benjamin shook his head.

Spider-Man tilted his head in confusion, then remembered something.

"Right, how did you suddenly know and come here?"

"Hmm, I suppose it's fine to tell you. Basically, whenever someone mentions my name with me as their intention, I can feel it and see them."

"That's…"

"Pretty powerful? Actually, it gives me a headache since so many people call my name for various reasons. That's why I only limited it to those who mention my name and truly need it or those who are plotting against me."

Benjamin turned to look at the sleeping girl covered in newspapers.

"This girl has never once uttered my name. To her, you are the hero, Spider-Man. That's why, if you hadn't found her and mentioned me, I also wouldn't have known."

"I see…"

Spider-Man nodded in understanding.

Suddenly, he realized something.

"...You know my identity, don't you?"

Benjamin grinned.

"You need to get better at Uno."

"AHA! I KNEW IT!"

Spider-Man groaned while Benjamin just laughed.

All of a sudden, he remembered his antics yesterday and was even more embarrassed.

"Haha! Don't worry. I haven't said it to anyone. Not even to Natasha."

"Ugh…"

"By the way, who else knows? I don't want to slip up after all."

"Just MJ."

Benjamin nodded.

Then, he remembered.

"Right, what did you say earlier? About hallucinating?"

"Oh that? It's nothing. I was probably just sleepy. It's pretty funny though. I saw a pig dressed like me swinging around too."

"...Is that so?"

Benjamin frowned.

Was he talking about Spider-Ham? Is that pig also here?

It seems something's about to happen.

Just as Benjamin was about to say something, the unconscious girl groaned.

Looking back at her, they saw her eyelids start to flutter as she attempted to open her eyes.

"Ugh…"

The girl slowly sat up and opened her eyes still a bit sleepy.

She looked at the two people in front of her in a daze.

Then, she looked down at her newspaper blanket and one of them had the same face as the one in the newspaper.

She looked up again then down again.

Finally, she realized.

"Sp-S-Spider-Man!?"

Spider-Man smiled and crouched down.

"Hey there, kid. What's your name?"

"L-Leah…my name is Leah!"

"Leah, right? Did you cut up all these too?"

Spider-Man looked at the pictures of himself stuck on the wall.

Lean nodded, not thinking that it was weird at all.

"Un! Spider-Man always saves the day! Paper says it all! Spider-Man is a hero!"

"I-is that so?"

Spider-Man scratched the back of his head.

Ever since JJJ stopped dissing him, he now appeared quite frequently in the papers since he was pretty active around here.

Of course, there's also that annoying Spider-Woman sometimes…

Spider-Man shook his head and focused on the matter at hand.

"Leah, do you mind following good 'ol Spider-Man? I'll show you an amazing place."

"Un! I'll go!"

Leah's face lit up as she quickly nodded.

Benjamin looked at Spider-Man and asked.

"FEAST?"

"Yeah. It's the best place I know."

Benjamin nodded and opened up a portal.

Spider-Man looked at Leah and extended his hand.

"Come. Let's go through the glowing circle."

Leah looked at the portal and hesitated.

She looked at Spider-Man and asked.

"Umm…c-can we swing instead?"

"Uh…"

Spider-Man looked at Benjamin who just smiled and nodded at him.

"I'll see you there. There's also something I need to talk to you about."

Spider-Man nodded and crouched towards Leah.

"Alright, Leah. Let's go swinging through New York! Hop on the Spider-Express!"

Leah giggled as Spider-Man carried her in his arms and swung away.

Benjamin watched them with a smile and thought.

"That child has Inhuman genes…I wonder what will become of her in the future? I'm looking forward to it."

He didn't know of any Leah in the Marvel universe so it would be a surprise to him as well.

Benjamin chuckled and went through the portal.

Inside FEAST, Benjamin greeted May before asking for a quiet room.

May looked at him weirdly before leading the way.

"Here…this place is still being developed so no one should approach here…"

"Thanks."

Benjamin nodded as he went in.

Then, May also followed him inside.

Confused, he was about to ask when two arms suddenly reached for his head and another set of lips touched his.

Surprised at the sudden kiss, he pulled back and looked at May.

"Umm…sorry if you misunderstood…I asked for a quiet place since I'll be meeting some people later and this place can be considered as a…neutral place. So it would be more convenient…"

"..."

May slowly understood that she had completely misunderstood him and became embarrassed.

"N-no…it was my fault for misunderstanding. It's just…it's been so long since and…you kinda remind me of my late husband…"

Benjamin saw tears starting to form from the corner of her eyes.

He smiled wryly and hugged her.

"It's fine. I don't hate it. In fact, I don't really mind. But you need to decide if you really want this. Not because I remind you of someone."

"I understand…"

"Alright, go wash your face. If your nephew saw you like this, he'll think I bullied you or something."

Benjamin chuckled.

May also smiled and her expression returned to normal.

When she left, Benjamin sighed.

[As expected of Host. Not even sparing Aunt May!]

Quiet you!

I didn't expect she would suddenly kiss me!

Benjamin could tell she was sorta interested in him but it was still just the level of interest. He truly didn't expect her to suddenly kiss him.

She must be really pent up…

[Pent-up MILFs are the best MILFs!]

"...System, out with it. Are you really the Ultimate Marvel System!? Why do you sound like a System from an ero genre!? And what do you know about MILFs!?"

[Host is imagining things.]

"..."