15474/Meeting Your Spider-Idol

Meeting Your Spider-Idol
Date of Scene:	27 July 2023
Location:	Queens
Synopsis:	Miguel O'Hara meets the Legend.
Cast of Characters:	Miguel O'Hara, Peter Parker

---

Miguel O'Hara has posed:
He's FINALLY getting into the swing of things. (Ba-dumm, tish.)

Miguel O'Hara, AKA Cyber-Spider, is moving into Queens via Astoria Heights. He doesn't know HOW Spider-Man is able to cover the entire city. All five boroughs? A task more Sisyphean than Herculean. But he's doing the best he can, even if he is running a little ragged.
He needs to set up some kind of system.
He continues towards the small 'burg around Ingram Street, wondering if he should grab a burger from that Smash Burger place just south of here...

Peter Parker has posed:
"You know," comes a voice from above, "I don't usually like people stealing my shtick, but-- mad points for style."

Spider-Man swings past on a webline that cuts through Miguel's path forward, briefly arresting the latter's own swing. A twist and a screw in midair and he turns in place as effortlessly as a falling cat, casting out another webline and swinging out to keep his momentum going. "I don't suppose you want to pull over and talk about it?" he asks hopefully. "I'm late for a thing and I don't know if I really have time for the whole Clint Eastwood, 'This town ain't big enough' bit tonight."

Spider-Man's tone is light and jovial, but there's a little angularity to his facemask that suggests a hard expression beneath the hood. A convenient rooftop is nearby and it seems he's encouraging Miguel to pull over and park it there so they can chat.

Miguel O'Hara has posed:
He had expected this to happen. He'd gone over it a hundred times in his mind, what he would DO, what he would SAY...

But now he's face-to-face with The Legend and all his prepared lines, quips, and actions go right into the shocking sub-ether.

He actually stumbles. Well, he lets go of a webline prematurely and drops twenty feet before his brain reboots and he fires another webline, bringing him back up towards the rooftop.
Don't suck don't suck don't suck...
He lands on the rooftop, takes a couple of steps to keep his feet under him.
You STICK TO STUFF. And you can't stick the LANDING?

He turns quickly to see Spider-Man land perfectly on the roof.
Come on. Try hard to keep the code running.

"Uhmmm....hi."
TRY HARDER, GENIUS.
"I'm..." Deep breath. "I'm...you can call me Cyber-Spider." He shrugs weakly. "The good names were taken."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey does indeed stick the landing, landing on an un-used vent stack with that eerie, total negation of momentum of his. He's a little higher up than Miguel, and seems comfortable squatting on top of a 12" wide pipe with hands and feet gripping the metal.

"Names are hard," Spider-Man agrees. "I went through a lot of 'em. Spider-Guy, Webman, Captain Kickass. I think I settled on Spider-Man because it was the best name with a hyphen."

"Though, again, names I'm less concerned with as I am someone else wearing the webs. I'd love to trademark the name but I can't scrape enough money out of the sofa cushions for a bus ticket, let alone a lawyer," he quips with a whimsical amusement. "So I'm my own brand enforcer. Gotta make sure you're not out here kicking puppies and stealing candy from babies, you know."

Miguel O'Hara has posed:
Cy-Spi blinks, tilting his head. "People actually DO that? I mean, that's..." He pauses, then relaxes. "Oh...that's hyperbole. No...no, I'm not doing anything like that. I...kinda took some cash from some bad guys, though. I'm something of an illegal immigrant, basically."

Peter Parker has posed:
"Yeah I had this guy in the Bronx who called himself the Spider-Dude," Spidey confirms. "Not the worst guy but he'd mug for selfies with people, sell merch, and the worst part-- he never cut me in on any of it!" he says with a feigned indignation. "But really, I don't care about the money so much as my reputation. When I found out he was robbing little old ladies, I had to put a stop to it."

Spidey's head cocks the other direction while he evaluates Cyber-Spider. "I'm sorry for the immigration situation," he says in a genuinely compassionate tone. "I know that's a mess and sometimes you gotta do what you can to survive. But stealing from bad guys, that's a really slippery slope," he warns the man. "It's a shortcut from that to extortion. Soon you're beating up anyone with a neck tattoo so you can raid his subway pass."

Spider-Man looks the newcomer up and down and his eyelenses narrow. "That suit of yours, though. That's something I haven't seen before. Where did you even get that kind of tech?"

Miguel O'Hara has posed:
Cy-Spi sighs. "It's either that, or I'm taking up a bed at that F.E.A.S.T. place. As it is, I'm living out of some pay-by-the-week place. I'm...well, I'm from another universe. I got blasted by by a wanna-be time traveler from my time, and boom...bye, Nueva York, hello New York."

He looked around. "Uhm, it's standard UMF - uh, Unstable Molecule Fabric. Kinda rare here, but it's fashionable enough to buy off the cube."

Peter Parker has posed:
"Another universe, huh?" Spider-Man seems a little surprised but not staggered by it. This seems to be a less-than-uncommon experience for the webslinger. "Been running into that a lot lately. One of my best friends is displaced from another dimension. Something about this place, we just..." he shrugs. "Spiders tend to find each other, I guess," he points out.

The lanky webslinger rubs the back of his neck. "Listen, I don't have any room to tell you how to live your life. I can't even loan you any cash for a hotel, my wallet ruins the lines of my suit," he jokes. "But the people at FEAST are pretty good. They'll help you get settled in, maybe even find work. I dig your instincts wanting to knock out muggers but that's only gonna get you so far before you need a falafel or something. Heroing doesn't exactly pay the bills."

Miguel O'Hara has posed:
Cy-Spi groans. "Ay de mi, tell me about it. The problem is, I can't get a valid ID. No driver's ID, no regular ID, no passport...SHOCK, I've got a Ph.D. in Genetics and it won't be valid until March of *2099.* The second week I was here, I was working as a day-laborer and getting paid under the table. Not exactly a wage to live on, and the CHIP with getting an apartment or a decent job. They do background checks for EVERYTHING. I'm spending as little as possible, but that money won't last forever."

Peter Parker has posed:
"Yeah America's immigration system sucks," Spidey agrees. "Especially for time-travelling dimensionally displaced multiversal refugees. Uh..." he rubs his chin judiciously and squints at the sky. "You might try outreaching to the Justice League or the Titans or something," he suggests. "I think they help out people who don't qualify for the normal immigration process. Might even be able to help you with some stable housing and food. I know I can't hero on an empty stomach," he agrees.

"Listen, just-- I can't make any guarantees today, but I'll make some calls when I get home. Back to base," he amends. "Maybe I can find someone who can help you out a little. I can't make any guarantees, but..." he shrugs a shoulder. "Would you like me to look into it from my end, or just steer clear?"

Miguel O'Hara has posed:
Wow. Well, why should he be surprised? The guy is willing to help out strangers with weird stories...and he didn't even hesitate.

Well...that's why he's the shocking Legend.

"Look...Spidey...can I call you that?...I have trouble trusting major organizations, ESPECIALLY ones backed by corporate interests. Where I come from, corps run EVERYTHING. I can't fight the feeling that as soon as one of them knows I exist, I'm going to get shoved into a Spider-proof box while they figure out how I can beef up their Bottom Line. So if you don't mind...I'd like to just...keep a low profile. For now."

Peter Parker has posed:
There's a sense of Spider-Man pursing his lips, then he nods reluctantly. "I can respect that," he promises Miguel. "I don't think it's the best idea anyone's ever /had/," he admits, "but I get it. I wouldn't want to get tied up with that sort of thing either."

He looks at Miguel then slaps his knees once. "As they say in Minnesota, 'welp'," he announces. "I'm not gonna keep you either. Just uh, y'know, serve the public trust, protect the innocent, uphold the law. Queens is-- was," he amends, looking around, "my home stomping grounds. I get out a lot more these days but I still like to keep an eye on it."

With an effortless little hop he frontflips off the chimney stack and lands standing in front of Miguel, offering him a handshake. "And if you get in over your head, don't be afraid to ask for help."

Miguel O'Hara has posed:
Miguel sounds relieved, even through the mask. He shakes the Legend's hand firmly. "Uhm...how would I get in touch with you? Is there a secret phone line or radio or something?"

Peter Parker has posed:
"...Oh, duh." Spidey pats himself down as if looking for something. "I don't have a business card, but my number is--" he rattles off a phone number with a non-NY area code. "It's sort of the emergency line for the whole Scooby gang. I might pick it, or it might be Ghost Spider or someone else. We've got a lot of, um." He gestures back and forth. "Us, running around the area. We all try to keep tabs on each other and make sure everyone's OK. No disrespect, no one's trying to tell you how to live your life," he promises, holding his palms out. "We're just one big happy and dysnfunctional family of spiders, after all."

Miguel O'Hara has posed:
Miguel nodded. "Lyla, you got that?"
A velvet voice says softly, "I have it, of course." A six-inch-tall golden blonde appears near Cy-Spi's shoulder. "I am pleased to meet you, Spider-Man. You may call me Lyla. Short for LYrate Lifeform Approximation."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man does look a -little- surprised by the little synthetic entity. "Holy ghost of Tinkerbelle," he mutters. "Uh... it's nice to meet you too, Lyla," he bids the image. "I hope you two can make your way here in the Big City. But hey, if you did it before, you can do it again, right?" he asks Miguel with a rhetorical, encouraging tone. "Dr. Cyber-Spider, that is. Even if you can't produce the diploma you should check out some of the college campuses. You could breeze through a new PhD in no time. Lots of work around here for aspiring heroes who want to save the world with a cure for whatever and anything." There's a little halting windup and he gives Miguel's shoulder a gentle knuckle-tap. "The mask is pretty cool, but... remember, it's not /everything/ you are."

Miguel O'Hara has posed:
Lyla curtsies, then blows Spider-Man a kiss before disappearing.

"I'll...think about it." He tries not to think about getting a valid degree needed valid ID as much as the DMAV...sorry, it's the DMV now...did.

He DID say his mask was cool, though.

"I'd like to help you with anything that comes up, Spider-Man. Really. And although it's the only valid thing about me right now, I can still use it to help people."