Apologies to those of you that actually liked this early work of mine, but I'm Discontinuing this story.
When it had ended on such a cliffhanger after Season 2, I thought I could "do it better" with a full Trilogy, but time passed and I lost motivation as I got better at writing and moved on to bigger and better works.
However, since I want those who were with me from the very beginning to have some kind of closure, he's a "How it Would Have Ended" segment, detailing the remainders of Season 1, Season 2, and what I would've done for Season 3.
REMAINDER OF SEASON 1
Chapter 17: Nature vs Nurture
Ben would've sent Peter out the front door to get ingredients for Thanksgiving dinner, he would've had a chat with Venom, and then chided Peter for not "disposing" of the Venom Symbiote properly.
Most of the rest of the episode would've been abridged up until the Thanksgiving Day Parade, only when Gwen falls from Venom's web-line, Venom pins Peter down so he can't save her, but "Iron Spider" does*. Spider-Man tells Iron Spider to stay street-side and protect the civilians while he goes to fight Venom, which goes the same as the Canon.
Peter later on would have Ben chiding him for dumping Gene Cleanser down the sink. Gwen would've kissed Peter, Ben would've felt hurt, end-of-episode.
*Iron Spider of course would've been revealed later-on to be Ben Reilly disguised as a "Spider-Man Robot", working for Tony Stark to "mechanize" the [Spider-Sense] as an early-warning system for Soldiers overseas.
Chapter 18: New Kids on the Block
At the time I was writing SS:ToTS, I'd stumbled across the recent iteration of Power Pack, a superhero team long-established in the Marvel comicverse, but given a new face. The four of them were all interesting characters with great powers and a cool backstory, much more enjoyable than someone like Superman whose only weaknesses are Magic and an obscure magical space-rock.
In-particular, they would've been the art style by Gurihiru, because his style blended the best with the Spectacular Spider-Man art-style.
The chapter would've consisted of Alex, Julie, Jack, and Katie moving into New York like shown in Spider-Man and Power Pack (2007), Julie meeting Ben, some foreshadowing for a pairing in the future, and Power Pack stopping some bank robbers alongside "Iron Spider". This would've happened at the same time as S1 Ep1 and because of the mob money they got last-season, Peter asked Ben to get some Thermals.
SEASON 2
What follows is less-detailed since I never got around to putting any of this down, but here are the footnotes so those of you that read this story have some idea of what would've gone down differently from the Canon.
Episode 1: Blueprints
A continuation of "New Kids on the Block", Peter gets skin-tight thermals, and when it comes to Mysterio, either Ben drills it into Peter's head that his [Spider-Sense] wouldn't have been fooled by what his eyes saw, and/or "Iron Spider" would've participated.
*Holiday Hustle:
A non-Canon chapter, Julie meets Ben at the Daily Grint alongside her siblings, Power Pack and Iron Spider fight together to stop Whirlwind's crime spree, and Iron Spider takes a hit that would've shredded Katie/Energizer to bits. There would've been an adorable moment where Katie thanks "Robo-Spider-Man" with a grateful hug, and an awkward robot-hug in return. Julie would return to the Daily Grind, and she'd brush off up and vanishing on Ben the way she did in a very comic-book-esque way.
Episode 2: Destructive Testing
Peter would've gotten his part-time job back at ESU Labs. Peter would've had some drama between himself, Gwen, and Liz. Ben would scowl at how Dr. Warren shamelessly replicated his parents' notes on the super-spider project, only to make them bigger to compensate for being unable to keep the size down. When Liz went back to Flash after her drama, Ben would doubt if he could continue being Peter's friend with how-callously he "went back" to Gwen like she were his "rebound girl".
The fight with Kraven would go largely unchanged.
Episode 3: Reinforcements
At Rockefeller Center, after Gwen talks to Peter, she chats with Ben about the kiss at the Fall Formal, only to go to Peter during Thanksgiving, and the drama with Liz. Later, Ben chats with MJ, and she helps him get over the drama with Gwen by being a good friend to listen to. When the giant tree falls, Ben would push her out of the way. Iron Spider not being around to help Peter beat the Sinister Six is the first clue that Ben Reilly and "Iron Spider" are the same person. Following this, the Parkers, Watsons, and Ben would all celebrate Christmas together.
Episode 4: Sheer Strength
MJ and Gwen would talk about Ben and go to the Daily Grind, only to see him chatting with Julie, MJ making a joke with Gwen about losing out "to a younger woman". When Iron Spider fights Vulture and Master Planner/Doc Ock tries to wirelessly hack him, a female computer voice (Tex/Alison from Red vs Blue) on a closed-off on-board computer would say "Payback's a bitch and so am I" before dropping a "laughing skull" virus in Master Planner's lap at Tony's behest since he's been trying to get into Stark International servers. At the very end there'd be the scene where Liz and Peter become a thing, and Gwen would ask Ben ambiguously if he wanted to hang out after school.
Episode 5: First Steps
Peter chuckles about Sandman's deja vu. Later at school, Harry would say that Gwen was the only one that noticed he "needed help", only for Ben to "cough loudly" into his hand since he was more-direct about Harry "juicing" on experimental neo-steroids.
After the assembly, Harry asks Gwen if she'd go with him to Flash's B-Day party on New Years. While she says Ben already asked her, Ben made up the excuse that he had a late-family matter to sort through, and that he doesn't like being anyone's "second choice".
Later, Ben would show up with MJ in tow, but as friends, and he'd give Flash a "one-of-a-kind" birthday card with a Spider-Man pic and a recording that he and Peter cooked up that says "Happy Birthday to Flash Thompson from the Spectacular Spider-Man", and a bit of fan-boy-ing from Flash before playing off how cool he thinks the card is.
After Peter gets back from Sandman "glazing" himself, Ben would help Peter smooth things over with Liz, since he can't stand to see Peter "bombing it" so badly, even with how he'd been treating Gwen.
*All-American Hero
A little convoluted. Basically, Ben and Peter are grouped together for a start-of-semester History project from Mrs. Perkins, a woman in her 70s who was still sharp-in-mind as a woman half her age. On his way to the daily grind with Ben, Peter meets up with Captain America who'd just broken out of stasis and mistook him for Bucky. After he, Peter, and Ben fight off Hydra, Captain America agrees to make a special appearance at Ben and Peter's history project, and Mrs. Perkins would give them an A+ since she recognized Steve Rogers from the Propaganda show.
Episode 6: Growing Pains
When Warren states "No wonder this lab goes through funding so quickly." Ben would quip- "Colonel Johnzilla, coming to a theater near you.", and also saying he needs to "pick up that phone" because he "called it" when he said someone was dumb-enough to touch the "alien mud stain" with his bare hands.
When Peter sees Venom again, he just knows Ben will rip his head off for failing to "dispose" of the "alien mud stain" properly a second time. Things with "Colonel Jupiter" more or less go the same.
Some drama surrounding Gwen becoming Harry's boyfriend, and MJ telling Ben he's now a "free agent" and doesn't have to feel guilty about "that cute red-head from the coffee shop (aka Julie Power)".
End of episode, Venom blows Spider-Man's cover.
Episode 7: Identity Crisis
This one would've been a joy to write. Basically, Ben covers for Peter "being Spider-Man" when he gets interviewed by pulling up a picture from the Halloween Party of him and Peter dressed like Spider-Man. When the reporters ambush Peter and Gwen outside ESU labs, Ben dressed as Spider-Man shows up and asks how a bunch of grown adults could possibly mistake "the Spectacular Spider-Man" for "some wimpy nerd" before web-swinging off, putting a giant hole in Venom's claim that Spider-Man is Peter Parker.
The following day when Venom attacks Spider-Man and tries to unmask him, Ben would come out with the "band geeks" carrying the loudest instruments they could find, and blast Venom with soundwaves while Ben helps Peter to his feet. Venom would lash out, break Ben's back all "Bane-style", the fight would go on, and then Ben would be loaded into an ambulance because of the broken spine.
*After the Battle
After Venom's attack, Ben is taken into Stark Industries to have a procedure performed that could restore his mobility after a C7 Fracture; basically a very experimental and very dangerous cybernetic implant directly fusing his spinal cord back together, a reference to the old Iron Man cartoon back in 1995, Season 2 Episode 6 "Iron Man, On the Inside" but less convoluted. After Ben shows his regained mobility for the press, he'd announce that he's transferring out of ESU's internship program since all their runaway experiments almost get him killed, and "that incident with the alien mud-stain" was the last straw.
*A Wolverine and a Sabertooth
At the Daily Grind, Julie talks to Ben about why he still has a Day Job when Tony Stark is giving him his own place; Ben says he doesn't want to rely on Tony's charity "too much". Later, Logan would show up, and since he and the Power Pack met in the past they know one another. Iron Spider helps them defeat Sabertooth, and Wolverine lacking any Tact ousts his secret identity.
*Harpies
Also convoluted. Basically, AIM sends a trio of super-hot girls to infiltrate the highschool Peter goes to because they calculated that Spider-Man "gravitates" towards there. The "Harpy Sisters" (not very original, I know) would attack Iron Spider with an EMP weapon, but it keeps getting back up, and Iron Spider would "molt" its outer shell revealing the Scarlet Spider underneath; of course the joke is it's actually the Stark Spider Armor, but called Scarlet Spider because of the Clone Saga.
Episode 8: Accomplices
Ben's gone from ESU and M3, and Peter begins his falling-out with Harry.
Scarlet Spider tells Peter he'll handle the specs for the Rhino-Armored Super-Mercs. Peter isn't sure about that, but Ben reminds him that he stood up to the Sinister Six, "Black-Suit Spider-Man", and Venom to an extent, but more-importantly he should be a good boyfriend to Liz and try not to overextend his bounds. THIS was one of the reasons I retconned Benjamin Reilly from the 90s Clone Saga and adapted it to Spectacular Spider-Man. Scarlet Spider would discretely swipe the drive, but let Rhino smash the box.
*Speed Devils
A slice-of-life featuring Drivers Ed at M3. Speed Devil attacks, but Power Pack comme to the rescue and make a name for themselves. Because Peter has [Spider-Sense], he's actually a very good driver.
Episode 9: Probable Cause
Peter doesn't end up getting garbate smell on him (again) because he remembered Ben's ribbing about the Arriving-At-School Protocol: change on the roof. No real changes beyond that, other than Harry formally apologizing to Ben for all the stuff he said while "juiced".
*To be Young and, Well... Young, Again
A throwback to Spider-Man and Power Pack, in the issue where Adrian Toomes/Vulture steals age-rewinding serum, only Ben gets exposed instead of Peter. Julie can't help but gush over "Kid Ben" and how cute he looks in a tiny Scarlet Spider outfit with giant mechanical spider legs. At the end, Ben would tell the Power Pack to stay on guard because things in New York are heating up, and the time to put themselves on the superhero map is coming soon.
Episode 10: Gangland
Though Ben and Julie have only known one another for a couple months, they've bonded over their time as superheroes, and decide to spend Valentine's Day together. When Doc Ock suggests to the gangs that they get rid of Spider-Man before ruling the city in parts, Scarlet Spider appears alongside Spider-Man, and the Power Pack join in making "The Spectacular Six" as a jab at the Sinister Six from before, proclaiming themselves "New York's premier crime-fighting team". Some would argue that honor belongs to the Fantastic Four, but they're barely around. Silvermane tries crushing Mass Master/Jack Power, but he "clouds out" while Energizer peppers with him with energy blasts made from converted debris, Lightspeed/Julie Power zipping around and disorienting him while Scarlet Spider rips out the hydraulic controls, with Zero-G/Alex Power helping Spider-Man with his fights.
Episode 11: Subtext
Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider work together to contain Molten Man/Mark Allen, because Ben had the foresight to make flame-retardant webbing, capturing him with little effort. Since Peter has been a "good boyfriend" to Liz because Ben's been covering for him in and out of costume thus-far, most of the drama is nullified.
*House Sitter
Crossover, and convoluted, but would've been fun to write. Basically, Tony asks Ben to housesit his New York mansion for him while attending a conference showing off the Stark Spider-Sentinels he built as crime-fighting/security robots based on Ben and Peter's spider-augmented anatomy. Ben goes into town to get some groceries, encounters a ragged-looking man who he realizes is Bruce Banner, and takes him to the Daily Grind for some coffee because "you really look like you need it". Ross shows up acting the glory hog, Ben sneaks Banner out the back, and when Ben gets shot by one of Ross' men, Bruce turns into the Hulk, and Hulk carries Ben to safety. When Ross gets clearance to storm the Stark Residence, Iron Man and a small army of S3 units drop in and chase Ross off because he always exacerbates things. Tony would give Bruce a place to hide for the time being as long as he agrees not to "Hulk out".
Episode 12: Opening Night
Ben would disguise himself as Spider-Man with a voice modulator to make him sound like Peter in-costume, so that way Ben could go to the school play and stay on good terms with Liz. Since Walter Hardy didn't do anything to Ben, the Canon drama between him and Peter doesn't happen, and Black Cat/Felicia can assume Spider-Man isn't "the same" Spider-Man. This one's less-thought-out, but maybe Felicia breaks Walter out because Ben is more-focussed on keeping the super-criminals in.
Episode 13: Final Curtain
What I'd have been building up to by incorporating the Power Pack into the mix. Manhattan's been overrun by jack-o-lantern-wearing hoodlus smuggling weapons and tech throughout the city. Ben and Peter fight Osborn to the end in a city-wide brawl, and Power Back joins in to help mitigate damage. Harry winds up hating both Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider, and uses guilt to make Gwen stay his girlfriend after signs of her wanting to reconcile with Ben even though he's by-then already dating Julie. At the airport, Ben would say goodbye to the Connors family as they leave, and this is an emotional payoff because Ben and Billy Connors were close.
Ben's [Spider-Sense] would tingle, but doesn't know that "Mr. Romann" is the one to set it off.
SEASON 3
By-and-large, Season 3 would've been a blend of Spectacular Spider-Man and The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, because similar to Gurihiru's style for Power Pack, the art styles meshed together at-the-time. Also, Fight as One by Downstraight was one of my favorite songs back in the day because the animation of the opening just meshed with it so-well.
Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider, and Power Pack would've made their "Avengers debut" in Season 1 Episode 2 "Breakout, Part 2", because Alex Powers aka "Zero-G" fighting Graviton, a villaing that gave even The Avengers pause, was something I thought would be really freaking cool; a teenager battling a mad scientist with similar powers, one who'd been given this power by a talking space-unicorn,the other that went mad with power after an experiment-gone-wrong.
The reason I chose this as the starting point was because, since it takes place in New York, New York, these events hit a bit closer to home.
It'd take me a while to plot out how Spectacular Spider-Man and The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes would've continued to blend in-detail, but I know I would've wanted Norman Osborn to reprise his role as Green Goblin and join Red Skull's Cabal. There'd also be some drama about Gwen growing apart from Harry because he's slowly becoming an abusive boyfriend in the wake of his father's death, but that's all the "rough draft" I can come up with since I don't have the energy to speculate any further.
And... That's basically it. Sorry it took so-long so wrap this show up, but since I have 5 "main stories" (Giant-Slayer, Young Justice: The Hunter, Vigorous Vitality, Teen Titans: Two of Four Elements, and Chronicles of Zhu) I'm juggling, I figure I should more-clearly "close shop" on some of my older works.
Soooo... If any of my long-time readers were still following this, I hope this offers some closure, if anyone still cares.
And this is "The End" for Trilogy of Twin Spiders. At the very least, this "HiWHE" chapter closed the book on it instead of slapping a "Discontinued" lable on it and washing my hands of it.