2014.04.11 - Don't I Know You, Longshot?

Unbeknownst to the Spectacular Scarlet Spider, the Sensational She-Hulk has had a house guest for a while now. While he mostly stayed in her not Baxter Building apartment that was just few blocks down from here. Longshot had come to visit her at the building today after a recent battle with a numerous foe who had just sort of shown up at the mall.
Honestly, the rumors of Longshot being around are all over his two tumblr pages and his facebook fan page. Pictures of him at malls, foiling bank robberies with Spider-Man, fighting silver wolfmen, all sorts of crazy. But if he was back he hadn't contacted any of his old friends in the Young Allies to even explain his disappearance.
Mainly because he didn't remember them. Wherever he disappeared to had also wiped his memory. And while he still remembered a few things, it all seemed off and wrong.
To the plain eye anyone who knew Longshot well enough would recognize him. He did have a different hair cut now though, a buzzed undercut with long siderburns. He is waving goodbye to Mr. O'Hoolihan, the doorman of the Baxter Building as he walked out into the street, not a care in the world.
Ben Reilly stepped out of the Baxter Building. The sun was bearing down on everyone. With all the cold that had happened lately it was nice to feel a little warmth. Dressed in a "I (The Fantastic Four Symbol) New York," his brown eyes scanned the area. He stopped at a very familiar sight. "I thought they cancelled bad television shows couch potato?" Ben cried out toward the blond haired man.
One of the things Ben never forgot about his frenemy was the day Longshot watched all of the mall televisions. Each screen was on a different station and Longshot absorbed it all like a greedy sponge. Longshot was an odd man with equally strange relationships so the love-hate friendship he shared with Ben was probably fitting for the guy's M.O.
With his hair a little longer, parted and the start of some sideburns, Ben watched his friend curious if it was the same man or some alternate world drop in. The world was becoming littered with those things. Hell, his niece from another place and time lived down the hall from him. Ben knew this Longshot could have been older, younger, easier to tolerate, harder to stand, or someone completely knew. It was really hard to tell who was from where in the hero world at a first glance these days.
Daimon was a bit nervous about some information he had learned about recently while in a divination trance. What he had learned had sort of scared him. And he didn't get scared easy. He went to the office and everyone was out, accept Jamie. Who he waved at made some devilish remarks to and then asked if Rogue was in her room. When he learned that, yes she was. He went up the stairs to her room.
He knocked twice rather loudly, "Oi! You in there, Anna Marie? Need to talk to someone about something. It's important."
If Longshot was any different from the man that Ben knew who disappeared six months ago: There was no obvious tells. He seemed as friendly and naive as the man he had previously known. To a crazy degree. He said "Hello" to nearly everyone he walked by. Waved to the ones he didn't say hi to. He even stopped and break danced with a bunch of "street toughs" for a moment.
When that craziness was over he stopped at a Taco stand just a block away from the infamous Baxter Building, ""Yes. Hello. I would like... lets see. One taco please! Oh and a lemonade! Wait not a lemonade... how about a soda. And instead of one taco how about..."
At this point Longshot looked down at his wallet and saw it was empty.
He muttered to himself, "I've no money. That's not good. I shouldn't push this. I mean, it's a taco. Not exactly pure of heart material there. But I'm also very hungry. And I need food to live, so maybe..."
As a subconcious reaction to his stream-of-though utterances Longshot's left eye started to glow
As it happens, the taco stand is owned by a friend of one Jubilation Lee, who seems to know an awful lot of New York food vendors. Maybe just because they serve awesome food?
And Jubes is a regular customer. Actually, she's there now. She's just getting her own order when Longshot comes over and starts his order. And stuff. The hotness does get her attention...
...and is instantly trumped by that suddenly-glowing eye. The teenage mutant blinks in surprise, then ducks around the two customers between herself and him in a couple quick steps. "Um, hi! I can totally cover that, if you're having money troubles," she offers, her smile friendly but a touch nervous.
She adds in a whisper. "Also, your eye is kinda glowing... might wanna do something about that."
Seeing that Longshot was still the absent-minded, oddly self-absorbed man made Ben feel a little easier. Longshot was still the same man he was, or the alternate world's version was incredibly similar to the old one. Running after Longshot, Ben turned and felt his heart sink.
One of the unique traits about Longshot was his charisma. The man was like a rockstar. Women wanted to drool and throw panties at him just for flashing them the right look or smile. Black Cat gave the blonde David Bowie wannabe similar oogly eyes that Jubilee was giving him right now. Ben's heart sank a little bit...again. At the time Ben did have a little crush on Black Cat, it was the black leather. Now he was in love with Jubilee, who had been busy with school, and she was giving Longshot the same eye as Black Cat once did. Emotions ran through the teenaged spider. Anger, jealousy, happy to see Jubilee and everything in between, the entire spectrum was there. His brown eyes scanned the pair for a second before he turned on his heel to leave. Deep down Ben was afraid of being one of those jealous boyfriends. He trusted Jubilee, but Longshot was a sore spot. Plus the whole rockstar vibe didn't help matters.
Longshot's eyes stops glowing instantly and he gives a winning smile to Jubilee, she looks familiar to him for some reason but he can't place why. But that is the life of the perpetually mind-wiped. Names and faces sound and look familiar, but you can never place them. For all he knew in some other life she was part of a super-hero team that helped him defeat Mojo and saved his people only for him to be mind-wiped and moved somewhere else in time, space and dimensions.
"Hi! Wow! I have to say how utterly and completely nice that is of you," He said to Jubilee, "People call me Longshot. I think I used to live on this world once. But since then I was taken back to my home dimension and mind wiped. Honestly, that happens to me a lot so if we have met before and I seem different or don't remember you, sorry about that."
He looked back over to the Taco stand and said, "Since the lovely lady in the yellow slicker is covering for me. I'll just have the one taco and a bottle of water if you'd please, good sir. Wait! Make that just the taco. Don't want to push my luck after all."
There was one difference in Longshot, he talked a lot faster and a lot more.
It still being cold in New York, and prone to rain without warning, Jubilee is indeed wearing her trademark yellow slicker, over layered tees, shorts, black spandex, pink legwarmers, and white hi-tops. She manages to keep her smile pasted on, a good cover for some very real concern. "Um, okay! I think you do look a little familiar, but it's been a while and a lot's happened, so I could be mistaken. Apology totally accepted. And get the water too, if you want. Mr. Sanchez's tacos are pretty spicy. Good, absolutely! But spicy."
She glances around, just to see if anyone else noticed that glowing eye. Sure, it's New York, but still... Oh, fudge. Is that /Ben/?
It is. And by the look on his face, he just jumped to the worst possible conclusion. And the wrong one! Okay, so the blonde guy is totally hot. She is /not/ that kind of girl!
Balancing her armload of semi-authentic Mexican food on one arm, she slips out her phone and keys up a quick text message, sending it to an address she enters from memory: <TOTALLY NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE! COME HERE ALREADY!>
Seeing Longshot, thanks to inside jokes and insults, always made Ben think of David Bowie songs. "Starman" currently played in Ben's head as he started to cross the street. A vibration against his thigh told him he had a text message. Walking down the street for a few feet Ben pulled out his phone. His brown eyes looked over the message and he responded <Haven't heard from you in a while Firecraker. Last time I saw a woman look at him like that in my company it didn't end well for me. I was lucky to not get knocked off a building. It brought up old memories. Plus don't tell me if you saw me staring at girl like you were Ziggy Stardust there, you wouldn't be jealous.> Ben waited to get a response before slowly working his way back to the taco stand. He leaned against a nearby brickwall. "How's it going you two?" Clearly the man was agitated but he closed his eyes trying to center himself a little bit.
"Oh! You have a Cell phone. Jenny says I need to get one of those, but apparently it's hard to get a good one without a real identity," Longshot leaned in and whispered in Jubilee's ear, "Technically, illegal alien. What with the dropping out of the sky from an extra dimensional portal."
He then saw Ben and looked at him curiously, "I know you don't I?"
Could it be the dense mind-wiped brain of Longshot was making a connection, "You're name is Ben. OH! You work at the Baxter Building with Jenny! She says that she thinks you have a crush on her! Yes! That is you isn't it."
Longshot had no idea on how awkward he just made things.
"Sphone," Jubilee corrects, trying not to smile in front of Ben. There's something endearing about Longshot's full-throttle honesty. Annoying, a little, but endearing. "And one of my best friends was an illegal alien... not quite as alien as you, but same concept. I won't judge. Just glad I was in the neighborhood."
Reading the text, she tries not to grimace, sending back <TOTALLY NOT HELPING! Seriously, I looked. If you see me in a liplock with him, then you need to worry. But looking, no.>
On the surface, of course, she just smiles and half-hugs Ben. "Hey, Ben! I'd hug you for real, but I don't think this burrito'd appreciate that. Was totally on my way to see you, but I got a raging case of the munchies before I got to the building," she adds, giving him a 'what can you do' shrug.
Not asking about Jenny. Nope.
Ben hugged Jubilee back with a similar half-hugged fashion. When Longshot spoke, the teenager's eyes widened. First, how did She-Hulk know?! Ben thought his oogling was a lot more subtle than it actually was. Second, when did Longshot forget to be socially conscious?
Silence hung in the air as Ben wasn't rushing to defend himself. Nothing like hearing, "I team up with a hero that's also a model and looks like she walked out of Star Trek," to really upset your girlfriend. Jubilee was more dynamite than She-Hulk in his opinion. She just needed to free herself from the book she buried herself in, that was all. "Are these burritos good?" he asked trying to avoid the whole She-Hulk thing.
Longshot quirked an eyebrow, "Wait? You're a super hero?" he asked as he picked up his taco and water from the stand.
Longshot tilted his head slightly as he said, "Anyone I'd know? Not that I actually know many super-heroes right now. See it's the memory thing."
He took a huge bite out of his taco and said with his mouth full, "Wmmy mwealmm mun't member m mot. MoWst wee bwits wans meesces were dan mware. Wmy mink mwy muz warried munce."
"Super-good. Which fits, with them being so close to the Super-city of Metropolis," Jubes quips. "Spicy, though. Don't forget to order bottled water!" What a nice, safe topic. And with Mister Sanchez's cooking, good for quite a lot of mileage!
She frowns thoughtfully at Longshot. "So... you've been mindwiped, you said? And that means you don't remember a lot of stuff? Kinda guessing here... I didn't get much of that. Seriously, talking with your mouth full is uncool."
The question Longshot asked went unanswered. Ben thought those words were thought inside, but maybe they were ranted aloud. Working with Dr. Richards saw Ben ranting aloud to help process his thoughts just like Mister Fantastic.
Hearing about the mindwipe caused Ben's eyebrows to furrow, "Then -she- doesn't know, does she? You haven't told Black Cat, have you?" As much as Ben wanted to hated Longshot the jerk was able to ilicit sympathy. The man had a rough life underneath it all.
"You guys look really cute together," Longshot said after swallowing his huge bite of taco.
But he nods to Jubilee afterwords, "I'm from Mojoworld. It's a place where 'likes' are king and video retention decides the world."
Longshot shook his head, "Apparently I'm the leading man so I am trapped in this vicious cycle or views and likes. As far as I can figure, when I meet my viewing goals, Mojo grabs me again, erases my mind and drops me somewhere."
Longshot then looked over to Ben and said, "Who's Black Cat? I think I knew a Black Cat once, she helped me and my team save the mayor of Metropolis? New York City? Are they the same place? You know this gets confusing."
Longshot took a bite of his taco and chewed and swallowed and then said, "The one thing I do know is that Mojoworld is a singular dimensional entity. There's no um... what's the phrase... it's right on the tip of my tongue... No multi-world theory in Mojoworld."
Okay, enough repressing of curiosity. "So you're a TV star? On a world where video rules the world? The world according to Dan Rather would not be cool at all, and it sounds like being kidnapped and having your memory stolen every once in a while would not exactly be the greatest kind of price of fame, either," Jubilee says, putting a sympathetic hand on the TV star's shoulder. "What an awful way to live!"
The other things, she tries to take in order. "Metropolis and New York... they're mostly the same place, yeah. And it sounds like Mojo thinks the rest of the universes are just fodder for his shows." She's heard about this theory, which would make this universe the current show if she's right. "I have a question, too: Who are Black Cat and Jenny?" She looks curiously, if a little concernedly, at Ben.
The sympathy stayed with Ben as Jubilee worked out the horrific details. Longshot divulged some infomration but not all about the experiences in the past. To hear everything explained fully really pulled at Ben's heart strings. What snapped him out of the overwhelming emotion was Jubilee. Her questions made him pull out his phone. A text message went out to her. Attached was a photo of the Fantastic Four with Mister Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Scarlet Spider and She-Hulk. <The Green One is Jenny.> was what the message said. Ben didn't want to oust any heroes. "Black Cat was the woman that loved you before your mind was wiped. You two shared a place, loved each other. You should...see her," the answer was candid and to each of them except the last few bits. The mind was a fickle thing. Maybe bringing up parts of the past could have sparked something. Sadly there was an equal chance the wipe was just too good and would have done nothing.
Longshot put on his best charismatic smile, "I come from a world, or maybe a dimension, possibly a reality, well whatever. That part isn't important. The important part is that where I come from there are the Spineless Ones, who watch the shows and add the 'likes' and the slaves. The slaves are the spined races, the ones who can do something about it. I was genetically made by a rebel Spineless One. He gave me free-will and I lead a rebellion. We almost won... then I was capture and sent to Earth."
Longshot laughed loudly for a moment and said, "And every time I almost win I get sent to some sort of Earth. I was... part of some sort of Men team once. I got pulled out when I hit some sort of judgment device. Then I came back, Then I was gone. Then I came back and I was part of some sort of ninja group. But I ended up being sent to some place where I was part of a detective team and...."
Longshot then looked over to Ben and shouted, "SCARLET SPIDER!"
He then looked back to Jubilee and said, "Jenny is the She-Hulk. She hates being called Jenny. Her real name is an open secret, she's a lawyer too.
The mentions of Black Cat only got one reaction this time. He thought to himself, "Felicia?"
You need to vote for other players before voting for Ben Reilly again.
You need to vote for other players before voting for Jubilee again.
While Jubilee's thinking about this, her phone beeps. She lifts it up enough to look at it... and there are three of the Fantastic Four, along with Good Ol' Ben and someone amazonian, green, and unmistakeably hot. The teenage mutant's eyes widen in astonishment. She's seen the green woman on TV, but it's another thing to find out that her boyfriend has her as a teammate. Longshot's description doesn't help, either. "I could totally see a crush," she says, her smile at Ben a little strained. "Maybe we should talk later... about stuff."
At least she's distracted by that sudden faux pas on Longshot's part. "Whoa. Dude, not cool. They call 'em /secret/ identities for a reason, ya know."
Ben kept quiet about the secret identities. Looking at Jubilee Ben's brown eyes went to his girlfriend, "Should we have that talk now?" the question was full of heaviness. He didn't want She-Hulk to be a threat. Sadly there may have been no avoiding it. Looking to Longshot, "You should find Black Cat. The white haired minx probably misses you more than can be put into words," Ben nabbed a burrito and looked back at Jubilee. IF they were going to talk it should have been on their own with no Longshot.
Longshot smirked at both of them and his left eye started to glow again, "You know, as I sort of wander around and watch your television and your Youtube and your Hulu. Jenny is the type of girl men crush over.""
He touched Jubilee's face for a moment and then reached over to Ben and said, "And apparently, I'm hardwired so that the opposite sex is drawn to me."
Longshot stopped touching both of them and said, "But I'm so not the action hero that girls want. And you, Ben. You're the hero I wish I could be. But I can never be it. I'm the freedom fighter stuck in a TV show. If I win, the show ends."
With his touch he had actually read their past and their future through psychometric visions, "Jubilee. I'm going to make sure you get your money back. And Ben... tell them I'm fine."
He paused as he thought of them, "Actually both of you, tell them I'm fine. I'll be back with the Allies as soon as I've got this Mojo thing is sorted. The Doctor has his Daleks, I've got my Mojo. I'll solve it."
Then Longshot took a run for it, his left eye glowing the whole time. He parkored himself up an alley way. He was gone.
And she's touched. Jubilee's eyes do go sort of dreamy for a second... until the touch ends and she shakes the feeling off, blinking in dismay. Yow. "Longshot... actors do retire, ya know. Maybe there's life after the show," she suggests...
... to empty air. He's gone.
She looks over to Ben. "Ben we... we do need to talk. Maybe not now, but soon," she says softly, repeating her earlier suggestion. Now would not have been a good time, with Longshot around. It still might not be a good time.
"I'm not a hero L.S. If you want a hero look to Spidey," Ben looked down. He knew Peter neversank to some of the depths Ben did in his own darkest hours. Because of that, deep down, Ben would never consider himself the hero. He looked back after all fhte sights and sounds to Longshot's sudden vanshing act. "Is it a good talk or a bad one?" Ben asked knowing there was a twinge of fear in his voice.
Good question... Jubilee winces at it, shaking her head. "I don't know," she replies honestly, looking down. "I guess it's up to you, Ben. I know I've been seriously busy lately, and out of touch, and that you must've been wondering about that. It's totally my own fault; I just let myself get buried."
She gestures to the stand. "Let's just eat, okay? I've still got this burrito I ordered, and you could order something, and we could just talk about nothing for a while." She manages a hint of a smile, even if it really is a weak joke. "Nothing's good. Nothing's just spectacularicious sometimes."
"I'll be honest it left me wondering about us. I work with a supermodel that looks like my crush from when I was five," Ben blushed profusely, "I watched a lot of Star Trek. But...she doesn't look as good as you in a bathing suit." He sat grabbed his borrito that was previously ordered, "You...you have my heart. I will need more contact in the future, but just shoot me a message. Just let me know you're thinking of me. See me when you can," he looked at her. "I love you Jubitation Lee..."
Jubilee sets down her armload of burrito, soda, and Sphone and just hugs Ben. "I was worries, Ben. But I love you, too," she whispers. "I'm not gonna forget again."
She draws back a little and grins. "But you still gotta introduce me to the FF sometime."
"You gotta meet my niece first," Ben said giving a small hint of what happened to him since she got busy with the books. He looked at her, "Down the hall...my niece from another place lives near me. And yes whatever conclusions you're drawing to in your head are pretty spot on. Just look for a female version of someone like me and you're on the right course. Her first words to your picture was, 'I've never seen her so young!'" Ben shrugs and grins at her, "And this is the part where you kiss me. Promise to stay around. Maybe take me out to some place for being faithful despite lots of moaning, complaining and depression, I was still always Jubitation Lee's, then maybe comment on how musculine I am and how I look better than the pretty boy that left" he grins at her. His vocal tones were matching the old jovial Ben.
"This is gonna be totally strange," Jubilee replies, shaking her head bemusedly. "A niece from someplace else, who knows me. Total awkward moment in the making."
She does kiss him, though. Nothing fancy, just a touch of lips to lips, warm and soft.
Ben closed his eyes savoring the kiss. Then he munched ont he burrito. At the moment it was turning out to be a good afternoon.
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