10579/A Meeting of Clones

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A Meeting of Clones
Date of Scene: 27 March 2022
Location: Midtown - Founders Island
Synopsis: Kaine goes looking for the Scarlet Spider. Ben finds him first. They learn they both suffer from similar cellular degeneration and agree to work together toward a cure. Original Spidey is not painted in a very positive light.
Cast of Characters: Kaine Parker, Ben Reilly




Kaine Parker has posed:
His search of Spider-man in NYC has proven unfruitful. Thus, Kaine has decided to follow the few leads he has on a different arachnid: Scarlet Spider.

His suit doesn't pay the same homage to spider-kind as his progenitor or fellow clone. In truth, he could easily be mistaken for a member of the Bat family. He wears a suit of solid black, scalp open to leave his longer brown hair whipping in the air as he swings between the Gotham skyscrapers. Like his hair, a tattered red cowl tussles in the night air, the only real dash of color.

While is appearance is unfamiliar, his movement are. The same instincts drive his egress through the city. He swings. He crawls. He perches and surveys very much like a certain friendly neighborhood Spider-man.

Ben Reilly has posed:
Living in Gotham has taught Ben to be more alert to his surroundings. A spider-sense is all well and good but relying on it too much can be dangerous. He hadn't spotted the other webslinger immediately, but when he had he'd kept his head down. The Gotham rooftops were different and full of all sorts of shadowy boltholes, making it easy for him to slink from shadow to shadow. Not so much will ill-intentions, but out of curiosity.

Only now does he swing out of the darkness, matching pace with Kaine as he dangles from a webline of his own. His suit is decidedly homemade, consisting primarily of a sleeveless blue hoody with a spider spray-stencilled on the front and back.

"Hey," he calls out, "I think we have the same wrist-mounted web-launcher guy."

Kaine Parker has posed:
Kaine glances toward Ben, his masked largely featureless. He murmurs, "There you are."

His web seem to come from holes within his suit. He angles to side and shoot a line, tugging himself onto a nearby sky rise. He lands with a soft thud and turns to face Ben.

"Guess that make you the other clone." He assumes and continues on into a very strange conversation. "I've been looking for you, and the original."

He grows quiet, a little shocked that his hunt has so quickly turned up results. "I need to compare notes. Something is wrong with me."

Straight to the point. Kaine wasn't really one to mince words.

Ben Reilly has posed:
"I don't know," Ben says with a faint shrug of his shoulders as he comes into land, "Maybe I'm the real deal? I feel like all that 'golly shucks' stuff has to be clone-itis, right?"

He seems to take it in stride. He perches atop a particularly goofy-looking gargoyle, fingers splayed atop its malformed scalp.

"So ... " he takes a deep breath, "Other clone. So, I guess our erstwhile creator got busy with a test tube more than once. I'm Ben, by the way."

Kaine Parker has posed:
"You could be the original. I'm not even certain how we would definitively determine otherwise. I, however, know I am clone." He frowns behind his mask. "Doctor Miles Warren was a busy man."

He gazes toward the gargoyle and then back up to Ben. Momentarily, he's illuminated in blue and red as a police car races down the street below.

"Ben... I'm Kaine." He doesn't offer a handshake. In fact, at the idea that Ben might be the original. He immediately tenses. "I'm batch number one. A failed test. Either you or the one behind the Spider-man mask is the original. Either way, I need samples from you both. I've got to... find answers."

Ben Reilly has posed:
"Samples, huh?" Ben asks, eyebrows raising behind his mask, "Living in Gotham has taught me a lot about being reprehensive about giving up my DNA to any old so-and-so. But, I think I know what you're talking about."

He takes a deep breath, frowning and staring out at the city.

"You feel like you're falling apart, right? Some sort of biological degradation over time?"

Kaine Parker has posed:
Kaine can't blame Ben for that initial response. Letting someone else get a hold of your DNA is exactly how this whole situation began.

"Feel... Feel?" His trip from Salt Lake City to the east coast had felt like an eternity. The subsequent hunt for Ben and Peter only adding anticipation. There's a degree of anxiousness in Kaine. Anxiousness that manifests in anger.

Kaine reaches up and pulls his mask down revealing the familiar visage of Peter Parker. Except where there is often kindness or concern in the eyes of Peter, Kaine's gaze holds rage.

The left side of his neck, lower jaw, and a little bit of flesh around the eye is mottled. "I can see it. I've been fighting it since I started to exist. This is what branded me as a 'failure'."

Ben Reilly has posed:
"Well, then I guess I'm joining the failure club. Do you have a treasurer yet?"

Ben shakes his head, looking over that mangled face. He reaches up to pull his own mask off. He's in decidedly better shape. His hair is bottle-blonde, longer, and messier than Peter would ever allow. Not to mention his jaw is coated in a line of stubble. From this close, it's clear that Ben is also a little broader than Peter - more time at the gym, maybe.

"It's not quite as obvious for me, but I can feel it, too. I have no idea how long I've got. Some days it feels like years, other days it feels like minutes. But I guess we're in the same boat."

Kaine Parker has posed:
Kaine may have not inherited the sense of humor. The crack gets a tensed jaw from the decidedly serious clone.

He inspects Ben in a similar fashion, grunting. "It really is... like looking in some kind of fun house mirror."

Sighing, he looks away, finding the situation just a little too intense. He tugs his mask upwards. "Do you think that makes you a clone? Or is this just a side-effect of our powers? I have records... But there isn't anything that ties 'who is who' to your identities."

"Well.. Maybe that doesn't matter. Either way, sounds like we are both on a ticking clock. I don't know about you." He pauses for a moment then continues to speak a little more of that anger manifesting in his voice though maybe it was more a sign of determination. "I'm not taking this laying down. I don't care if I have to kidnap every genetic scientist from here to San Francisco. I'm going to survive this."

Ben Reilly has posed:
"I'm still not convinced I'm a clone," Ben admits, nodding his head, "Maybe it's something else entirely. Either way, the guy swinging around as the 'original' right now sure doesn't seem to care much and I wouldn't expect him to help."

Ben nods his head in response, grinning faintly to himself.

"You sound like my girlfriend. She's intent on fixing this, whatever it is. If we can help you, too, then that'll be a plus."

Kaine Parker has posed:
Kaine tilts his head to the side. "Your girlfriend is in the right mindset then. And if the original... or the other one doesn't care... I'll make him care."

He looks in the general direction of NYC. "And maybe you should help me. If he's not willing to give us a sample to work from willingly, I say we hold him down and take one. If he's the original, he needs to check his god damn privilege. If he's the clone and doesn't care, he's either suicidal or is cured. Either way, he owes us."

Contemplating quietly for a few moments, he offers "Give me an email address, I'll send you the files I have on the cloning process."

Ben Reilly has posed:
"I don't have much to do with him," Ben admits, "I've spoken to him a total of ... once? In the last year or so? He's ... I dunno. Busy showing up on Twitter and that damn fail website. The amount of people who have seen me and said 'Hey Spider-Man, do that thing where you fall over!' or some variation thereof makes me want to knock some damn sense into the guy. But hey, if you need me, I'll help out. This impacts me just as much as you."

He reaches into his hoodie, producing a scrap of paper and a pen upon which he writes a phone number and e-mail address before handing it over.

"There you go."

Kaine Parker has posed:
Kaine accepts the slip of paper and stares at it. Something about that information being so willingly given, the offer of assistance, it has surprised him. Even if there is a mutual need, this is going much smoother then he had ever anticipated.

"You are making really hope that you are the original. I'd rather not have been cloned from a douche'. If I get a sample from him, I'll make sure to share." He offers with a grunt.

"Expect an email from me with contact information soon. I'll try to avoid prying into your personal life, but maybe you girlfriend can get on thread anonymously. I.. don't have anyone else that knows." He carefully tucks the slip of paper into his suit.

He scans his surroundings. "Guess that's that. See you around, Ben. I'm heading back to New York to hunt down the 'influencer'."

Leaping off the building, he free falls until he reaches terminal velocity. Casting a web line, he changes his trajectory and traverses down the street toward New York and brewing storm clouds.