15398/Spiders in Belfries, Warn the Bats

Spiders in Belfries, Warn the Bats
Date of Scene:	17 July 2023
Location:	East Side, Gotham City
Synopsis:	Cyber-Spider takes a trip to Gotham City and re-connects with Balm.
Cast of Characters:	Miguel O'Hara, Phoebe Beacon

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Miguel O'Hara has posed:
GOTHAM CITY, 10 PM
FIVE MILES EAST OF CRIME ALLEY

What is WITH IT with this city?
He got off the Hyperloop two hours ago to see what all the fuss was about.
The first thing was the FEEL. It felt like night lasted longer here - the sun was out when he got on the Hyperloop, but he stepped into oncoming night. And the buildings...it felt like every Victorian holovid he'd ever seen about England. He half-expected to see Mr. Hyde chatting with Jack the Ripper while Holmes chased down Moriarty.
He ducked into an alley and changed into proper duds, then fired a webline and went sightseeing...

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Crime Alley was on Every Bat's Beat. However it wasn't always on Phoebe's patrols... because some nights it was Bat Time, and other times?

    Lighter armor, faster movements. The whisper of cloth and leather against the night as the weather settled into summertime damp before the storms. Gotham City had some of the most unique weather systems in the United States, it seemed.

    Tonight, though, someone had reported a 'giant spider'. And for the Weird Stuff Sibling, that was her call out, walking to the east of Crime Alley near the dockyard, the mystic hero Balm was keeping a wary eye out as she thumbed through police reports on her HUD.

    "Itsy bitsy spider came up the water spot... down came the rain and washed the spider out..." she whispers to herself in thought.

Miguel O'Hara has posed:
Miriam trudged through the rainy night, grumbling to herself. Five nights, no rain. The first night she walks to the grocery store? Five minutes after she starts shopping, the rain comes.
She hated the rain, and had to double-bag with one over the top to protect the food. How could it get any worse?

The click of a hammer, and a furtive voice behind her. "Gimme yer money."

Oh. Of course. THAT is how.
She is about to turn around and give up her purse when she hears a THWIPP! She completes the turn and the mugger is gone, pulled up into the darkness below the busted streetlamp.

Then she saw him. Some...giant SPIDER was wrapping him up! Surely to eat him!

Then the spider saw her, raised one long leg, and said pleasantly, "Hi. Don't.."

SHRIIIIIIEEEEEEKK!
And after belting out that one, off she goes, clutching the grocery bags for dear life.

Cyber-Spider looks at the wrapped crook, smiled, and then he passed out.

"Geez...Gotham shocking City."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    A scream!

    Balm moved quick, zeroing in on the sound. Up and over an air conditioning unit. Swing around an access hatch, a pop of an awning and grapple-gun across the street, skidding on the cast iron of a fire escape, reaching up to grasp a railing as she regards the crime scene below, with the mugger hanging from webbing.

    Her head tilts, blue optics in her domino mask glowing a moment as she gives a bit of a smile.

    "Nice job. Considering working in Gotham part-time?" she asks of Cyber-Spyder.

    The same vigilante he'd come across fighting the flying goblinoid bad guy. "It's not so bad. Once you get used to the weather."

Miguel O'Hara has posed:
Miguel blinks and looks up at the fire escape, spotting Phoebe almost immediately. "Oh! Hey there, Balm. I hope I'm not intruding...I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I never had a Gotham City, or a Metropolis, in my world...unless you count the 2-d'er film METROPOLIS, but all the pictures show it to be nice and clean and closer to my level of tech. Gotham City..."

Lightning strikes a few miles away and the thunder comes seconds later.
"...Yeah, kinda like that. Like a haunted house. All the gargoyles. Good place to websling around in, though."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Admittedly the locals use grapple lines, but same idea." Balm gives a smile as she regards Cyber Spider with a nod. "I've logged his position for the police. They'll come by and pick him up. Hopefully before he drowns from the rain." she jokes, and she swings herself upwards.

    "So just taking in the archetecture? Gotham's known for its unique dedication to being as imposing as possible and anti-brutalism. Facades, gargoyles, figure heads... you name it, we've got it."

Miguel O'Hara has posed:
Cy-Spi fired a webline, waved to the crook with the free hand, then launched himself up to the roof. "Full-release. Want to chat up here? I think the person behind the window to your left is wondering what's going on."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    POP! goes a grapple gun, and with the flutter of fabric, Balm makes her way up to the roof, popping over the edge, shoulder-rolling and landing in a three-point stance before she wipes off her hands. Three years into superheroing and she's gettin' /Good/ at the landing.

    "We had reports of a giant spider on the loose. Given some of the night life here, wasn't too out of the realm of possibility that it was an actual spider. Must say, kind of glad it's you."

Miguel O'Hara has posed:
Ct-Spi raised an eyebrow. "So...you're telling me that Gotham is the kind of places were giant spiders are not off the table? MAKES PERFECT SENSE." He groaned. "Well, tell whoever is in charge here that I'm not going to EAT anyone anytime soon."

He glances at the grapple gun. "Hunh. That's not a bad design. Your brainchild, or someone else's?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I'm not clever enough to construct this." Balm admits with a small grin. "Mounts to bracers pretty easy, comes off, multi-purpose. Not as handy as web fluid." she replies with a small smile, and she shakes her head "We've had Spider-mans in GOtham before. We know you don't eat the bad guys. Otherwise --" she gives a brighter grin. "We'd be having a very different conversation, and probably not nearly as nice. I /was/ admittedly hoping for some giant arachnids. I was beginning to get bored."

Miguel O'Hara has posed:
Cy-Spi nods. "Well, I'm sure the Legend's been here. I've seen a few articles on-net. But I'm not exactly a playful-looking fellow." He indicated the scary spider-symbol on his chest. "Not exactly a cartoon character."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "You haven't met Batman yet." Balm replies, her arms crossing over her chest as she cracks her neck, and then rolls her shoulder as she gives a smile to Cy-Spi. "They say he's a vampire, and lives on the moon, decending to GOtham to prey upon the fears of those who break the laws, with his servants, the Robins..." she raises one hand to wraggle the fingers in an 'oooh spooky' fashion.

    "But you're right, not precisely the 'friendly neighborhood Spider-Man'. Scarlet Spider operated out of Gotham for a short while. Haven't seen him for a while though."

Miguel O'Hara has posed:
Cyber-Spider nods. "I read a lot about Batman. A lot of people call him the World's Greatest Detective. That's a scary title. And I guess if Gotham has a Sherlock Holmes...admittedly, a powerhouse of a Holmes...then I guess the Joker is his Moriarty. I've read COUNTLESS articales about him, speculating who he is and why he does what he does."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "He is a pretty brilliant person. I've had the pleasure of working with him for more than a year." Balm replies, "And I'd hesitate to compare Joker to Moriarty." she frowns a moment. "The Joker isn't... he's not like a fictional bad guy. The only thing he cares about in the world is Batman." she blinks behind the optics, and shakes her head.

    "And I wouldn't pursue Batman's identity. That way layeth madness, and Arkham's pret-ty full these days."

Miguel O'Hara has posed:
Miguel chuckles. "I'm having ENOUGH trouble with my OWN identity, let alone a major hero from a city I'm only a visitor in. What good will a Ph.D. in genetics do me if my qualifications won't be valid for 70 years? I can barely afford making a living - All my IDs are bogus. I've had to work as a day-laborer to make ends meet...until I came upon some money no one is going to stake a legal claim for. And even then I have to live in a pay-by-the-week apartment because I can't justify how I can afford it." He shrugs. "But, it's my problem, no one else's."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Have you considered going to one of the very many super-groups for help in securing a proper identity? I mean, given the amount of people form the past they've hooked up, how hard can it be to hook up someone from the Future?" she questions, and then she pauses, and leans against an AC unit.

    "So you're Doctor Cyber-Spider?"

Miguel O'Hara has posed:
Cy-Spi chuckles. "Yeah. And it might be a good idea, except for one thing...once they find out I'm from *A* future...not THIS one, I checked...then they are going to ask QUESTIONS. Questions about the future. They'll ask about Lyla, my suit, who I know, what happened in your future but my past...and it won't be long before they stop asking NICELY. They'll use some justification - it'll make this world better, it'll give them advance warning, it'll help them in some way. And sooner or later, I end up in a metal box with a big camera trained on me so every government agency or corporate entity can breathe a sigh of relief."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Having spent time in a metal box hooked up to a bunch of machinery, I can empathize strongly with that concern." Balm gives a nod. "If you hang around Gotham, I'd get in touch with Red Robin. He's a bit more friendly than The Batman. Red Hood can help too." she considers quietly, and then tilts her head back.

    "And there's always the Justice League Dark."

Miguel O'Hara has posed:
"Justice League?" He sounded puzzled. "Lyla?"

A crystal voice says demurely, "They appear to be one of the major superhero alliances in this world. Known members are Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman..."
Cy-Spi chuckles. "Big shock, there."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Big shock. But the League Dark is the... ah... not-as-marketable types." Balm explains, "They generally do their own thing, help out with the weird stuff." she explains. "My ... one of my ex mentors helped found it. I'm not permitted membership." she shrugs.

Miguel O'Hara has posed:
Miguel frowned under the mask. "I dunno...maybe I should get gud before I join any group. Even with my other timeline experience, I've only been doing this for eight months. I'm still a rank amateur. Besides, a group like that...I dunno. Those are some pretty powerful and accomplished people."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "PRetty sure the 'Dark' one takes all sorts of people, but it's up to you. Don't know how good my info is on it anyway. Like I said." she points to herself, and seems wry about it "I'm not allowed in the clubhouse there."

    "I suppose it's just a way of trying to help someone. If you've got a PhD in Genetics, Doctor Spider, I mean, how hard is it to fall and become a supervillain?" she wrinkles her nose. "I've seen some Weird Stuff."

Miguel O'Hara has posed:
Cy-Spi chuckles. "I can relate. Where I come from, a cult called the Church of Thor believes I will be the catalyst of the return of Thor to smash the corporate hegemony. So, imagine being chased by a bunch of people in horned helmets."

He looked around, then said, "I...have an hour until I have to think about heading back. Maybe you could...show me around town, let me know where the hot spots are?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Unsurprising that Thor has a cult in the future." Balm comments breezily, and she gives a soft hum.

    "Well, are you looking for crime Hot Spots, hang-out Hot Spots, or actual Hot Spots? Because there's a bunch of buildings that are still hooked up to a steam system for some of their Art Deco era lifts and core heating systems and the vents are always like, fifteen degrees warmer...?" she jokes.

Miguel O'Hara has posed:
Cy-Spi chuckles. "Let's start with crime hot spots. Maybe we can look for hangout spots the NEXT time I'm in Gotham." He looks to the skyline, then back at Balm. "Lead the way?"