7155/Kai and Shadow-Spider: Claremont Park

Kai and Shadow-Spider: Claremont Park
Date of Scene:	31 July 2021
Location:	Bronx
Synopsis:	A RunAway Van, a Shadow Spider, and a Ninja Dog walk into a park...
Cast of Characters:	Kainashi, Miles Morales

---

Kainashi has posed:
    CLAREMONT PUBLIC POOL, CLAREMONT PARK, THE BRONX.

    Situated between Teller and Clay ave is the roughly triangle Claremont Park, complete with its basketball court, playground, and public pool -- just the perfect place for kids to be involved with swimming lessons earlier in the day. Lifeguards wearing TEACHER T-shirts over their red one-pieces and board shorts are working with various groups of eight to ten students in different age groups. Some parents and/or guardians are with younger siblings over in the park or taking refuge under the trees from the summer sun. It's all relatively peaceful -- until a police blotter reports an unmarked white van with faked municipal plates is weaving along Clay avenue, which then crosses two lanes of traffic, causing a fender bender, nearly runs over someone renting a bike and begins to careen down the paved path towards the pool, with what looks like a kid in a hoodie clinging to the top of it!

Miles Morales has posed:
     So far it's been a pretty slow day. Two muggers and an old lady who needed help carrying her bags home. Miles is bouncing from rooftop to rooftop through the Bronx, keeping his camo powers active as he does. Then his head tilts as he hears loud vehicle noises different from the usual traffic around NYC, and he stares briefly when the white van come careening into sight. Oh crap. That's not good. He immedietly starts moving to try and cut it off, racing along the roof top and then down the face of a building to give him a push off point to jump in front of the van. Not RIGHT in front of it, of course. That would be nuts. Far enough in front that he'll hopefully have time to thwip off a quick web to act as a stretchy roadblock for the vehicle, anchord to buildings on either side. Either way, he'll then leap into the air in a graceful arc, moving to land lightly on top of the moving van as it passes under him. "I thought the unmarked vans were suppossed to wait for the kids to come to THEM."

Kainashi has posed:
    It is, admittedly, hard to see the younger Spider when there is already someoe clinging to the front of the van (that doesn't even have Free Candy written on it!), and there's a moments pause when the web catches, between two trees and an outbuilding in the park, and the roadblock catches the van, making it pause, with a degree of stretchiness trying to get the web to give way -- but it holds against the van. The white van hits the breaks then -- and then throws everything into reverse!

    "That's when the 'kid' in the hoodie looks up at the 'thump' of the spider person on the roof of the van, and her tail gives a momentary wag.

    "Aren't they supposed to have the dog on the inside, too?" she questions, ears coming up beneath the hoodie before she gives a shake and back to business. The 'hood' of the van is actually wrinkled where it looks like someone had grabbed on and actually managed to dent the metal for handholds.

    The driver of the van is apparently not a fan, of kids on their van, and makes a sharp left to attempt off-roading on the park's lawn!

    It even runs over a KEEP OFF THE GRASS sign in the meantime.

Miles Morales has posed:
     Miles notices the surprising face underneath the hood, but this isn't the time to react to a doggirl. "I'll admit this van looks suspicious as heck, but do you have a particular reason you're riding on it?" The van seemingly trying to barrel into a pool full of kids certainly doesn't make him inclined to assume they're the victim here. When the van makes its sudden sharp turn, it... does nothing to dislodge Miles. Spiders are made for clinging to things. He leans over the side of the van, and knocks on the driver side window. "Excuse me! I'd really appreicate it if you stopped! You're driving pretty recklessly!" He keeps a firm grip, ready to move if the driver tries one of the usual tricks like attempting to scrape him off with a tree or the like. He calls out to Kainashi, "By the way, I'm Shadow-Spider! Nice to meet you!"

Kainashi has posed:
    "Oh! Nice to meet you Shadow-Spider! Are you related to Spider-Man and Mania?" the dog-girl inquires as politely as y ou please in spite of the fact that she's clinging to the front of the van. The driver doesn't look thrilled, and does attempt to dislodge Miles and the dog on the hood by making a sudden break and then a hard left to try and go back towards the pool! There's a muffled yell from inside the van, and the canine with the scarred-up face gives an eye narrow.

    "They grabbed someone off the street!" she calls back, and then she reaches back and beneath her sweatshirt, pulling out what looks like a Naruto-style kunai, and she embeds it in the van. There's a bust of fire and steam and the smell of burning oil as she does so.

    And the driver's side window comes down, with the passenger attempting to stab at Miles with a sword!

Miles Morales has posed:
     "Yep! We're all buddies!" Miles replies cheerfully to the canine kunoichi in training, through he frowns beneath the mask when a hostage is mentioned. "Alright guys. I kind of like the outfits, but that's not cool at all. I'm going to have to insist that you pull ov-" And then a sword is being stabbed at him. With his reflexes and Spider-Sense, it might as well be going in slow motion, and he casually moves out of the way of each stab. "Okay, so it's gonna be like that." The next time the blade is thrust at him, he grabs the blunt side of it with a hand, and lets out a strong pulse of bio-electricity that shoots down the metal and hopefully into the person holding it. It should be enoguh to at least stun the guy, and if it does he'll toss the sword away in a direction there are no people, then reach in to grab the wheel and try and steer it safely. No doubt whoever is in the passenger side won't like this, but he's hoping his nice new dog friend will take care of that.

Kainashi has posed:
    "It be like that!" the canine confirms, though her ears prick up as the electricity crackles through the air, making her hackles stand on end as the blade is thrust out -- and the passenger feels energized in all the wrong ways, stunned and letting go of the sword. The item is tossed away, and Kainashi uses her new hand-hold to swing herself around and knock in the window with both feet (lookit those paw pads!, switching her hold to the large passenger-side mirror as she kicks the passenger into the driver, and the driver is forced to reckon with Shadow-Spider, and foolishly attempts to smokebomb the inside of the van.

    They may not be dispatching the brightest the Foot Clan has to offer.

Miles Morales has posed:
     As smoke billows out of the drivers side window, Miles wrinkles his nose. The mask largely filters it out but that probably doesn't smell great. He reaches in, and grabs the Foot Ninja by the front of his costume and pull him out of the window. Tossing him through the air and shooting off a few web-lines that connect between a pair of trees and end up with him dangling about twelve feet off the ground. Slipping into the drivers seat, he'll attempt to block any blows from the other ninja with one hand while he hits the brakes. No doubt the van is going to skid a good way on the soft ground, but once it does stop he turns the vehicle off. Then he'll turn his attention to Kai and the ninja she's presumably subdueing beofre checking if there's a viewing window to the back, trying to spot who they kidnapped.

Kainashi has posed:
    There is a cartoonish yell as the driver's pulled from the seat and thrown through the window, and he ends up dangling upside down between two trees, attempting to cut the web with a knife (which he drops), and is stuck reconsidering his choices in life that have lead him to being beat by a couple of freaks of nature.

    The passenger foot (perhaps there were two Left Foot here?) was busy attempting to recover from being accosted by a slightly overheating ninja pooch, and doesn't seem too thrilled about his chances either before Kainashi carefully applies sudden and halting pressure to his forehead via a smack to the dashboard and knocks him out. He'll have a hell of a headache.

    As Miles goes to check on the person in the back -- he would find two people! One appears to be trying to hold a bunch of medical items together, the other is a well-dressed person who looks very, very ticked off.

    Who then yells in Japanese at Miles in a very harsh tone of voice before realizing that Miles isn't wearing a Foot Clan gi.

    "-- who in the Hell are YOU?" he asks incredulously.

Miles Morales has posed:
     Miles peers curiously at the two of them, noting the one with the medical stuff and the rich looking person. "Me? Call me Shadow-Spider! I was going to go by Spider-Man, but somebody beat me to that one. So, I take it you weren't driving around with the guys in pajamas willingly? Any idea why they grabbed you two in particular?" While he waits for the guy to answer, he slips out of the van and moves around to the back of it. Examineing the doors there before just pulling them open with the ole Spider-Strength. He might not be as strong as some spiders, but he's strong enough. "I'm sure you want to thank me, but you should really thank this nice lady over here. I wouldn't have known anything was wrong if I didn't see her on the van. I didn't catch your name by the way."

Kainashi has posed:
    "... ugh. It's a hero." the one holding the medical items rolls their eyes, and the well-dressed man looks alarmed as he rips through the lock on the door and flings the back doors open.

    "... uh. Shadow-Spider?" the dog girl says from the front seat -- but doesn't catch him in time after she thought about what was being yelled back there.

    Miles' Spider Sense might be tingling though, because as he asks their name, the one holding the medical supplies slings a flashbang -- the whole area lights up brilliantly, and the loud sound deafens the canine in the front, who as she was sliding out of the seat through the open window, covers her ears through her hood!

    And with the assumption (how rude are they to assume that it would work?!), someone's trying to get their hands on Miles!

Miles Morales has posed:
     Feling that familiar buzzing in his head, Miles turns his head to the side just before the flashbang goes off. This doesn't help with the bang, but the flash he's able to avoid. Ears ringing, he focuses on the scientist again just before they grab at him. Or whoever does it.. He slips to the side avoiding the grab, and tilts his head. "Oookay. I might have misread this situation a little." He takes a quick hop back, in case they have any other hidden weapons, and crouches low on the ground. "Hey, uh. Dog lady. You mind explaining what's going on here a little clearer? These two don't seem like they're prisoners." Were the ninjas guys driving the unmarked van around not bad guys? That would be pretty surprising, what with them attempting to kill him and all. So who are these two? Really, who are any of them? He wriggles a finger in his ear through his mask. "Ugh, still smarting."

Kainashi has posed:
    Hello yes, this is Dog. Dog is having a hard time hearing at the moment, ears still ringing something awful and she looks like she might be sick. She's pulled back her hoodie and is trying to shake it off, ears flapping. Miles would now be able to see that her face is a mess of scarring ranging from burns and chemicals to what look like old knife wounds in the red-and-white fur on her face, and she yells loud enough that the whole park might be able to hear it:

    "THEY'RE FOOT. HE THOUGHT YOU WERE ONE TOO WITH A STUPID MASK."

    "... sir. That's The Traitor's pet; it appears to be able to talk now." The Medic states dryly, stepping out of the van. They now have what look like a Freddy Kreuger glove on streoids on.

    THe well-dressed person narrows their eyes at Miles.

    "Well. It talks now. Kill it. You, however--" he states to Miles "I would be interested in studying--"

Miles Morales has posed:
     Oh, okay. So THESE two are the actual threat. Or at least the scientist guy is. Though as soon as 'Kill it' comes out of the well-dressed mans mouth, Miles is moving forward. He's fast, even for a spider. And it'll be hard for human eyes to keep track of him before the teenage superhero is rising up from below with a punch. Carefully controlled so that it's not strong enough to kill or even permanently injur. But tapping him right on the button, as boxers were wont to call it, if it does land. That spot on the underside of the jaw where if you hit it right they'll just go down.

     Whether that works or not he'll then be moving towards the scientist. "The Traitor, just kill it. Yeah, okay. I've heard enough villains talking to know what's what now. Do you want to just surrender, or would you rather we do this the hard way? I'm good with the hard way." He launches a few quick punches towards the man with the claw glove, more trying to feel out what his abilities might be than actually trying to hurt him. He belatedly calls out to Kainashi, "AND IT'S A COOL MASK!"

Kainashi has posed:
    Spider vs. Foot Lieutenant. FIGHT.

    The well-dressed man narrows his eyes and shifts his body around, avoiding the tap to the button. He ducks down turning, and tries to plant the back of his well-helled heel to Shadow-Spider's side to sent him into the back door of the van.

    "I am fine with the hard way as well." he states, providing cover for the subordinate, who brings the glove up to take a swipe at Miles's arm!

    The dog seems to recover, and the other back door is ripped off the van, and she just attempts to smack Doctor Claw-Hand with the door itself!

    "Pet? /Pet?/ Konoya/ro/!" she snarls, visage is way less cute with those lips pulled back and the teeth showing. "I didn't say it was stupid! He did!"

Miles Morales has posed:
     Miles really didn't expect the guy in the suit to be that fast, and the guy in front of him with the claw was already activating his Spider-Sense. So he's caught by the blow to his side and thumps into the back of the van. Swaying to the side to avoid the follow-up blow from the other man, just barely making it and getting a small cut in the material. He moves away from the back of the van, giving some proper focus to the two of them. Since Kai seems to be going after Dr. Kreuger, that leaves suit guy for him. He makes a 'come at me' gesture at Suit Guy. "Lets see what you can do, Mr. Fancypants! By the way, Foot is a dumb name for a group." This has been a somewhat odd little encounter. Especially the talking dog. Mostly the talking dog. The rest of it is admitedly pretty standard shady criminal stuff.

Kainashi has posed:
    Fancypants seems content with the situation, and takes a measure of Shadow-Spider a moment.

    "So, faster than a normal human. Presumably some sort of mutant, mutate? Or are your powers mystical in origin? Hm." he questions a moment, stepping away from the fight between Claws and Kai as calmly as one would step away from a crying toddler. "Or is it the costume that gives you that... certain something extra? Come now, Boy -- don't be dumb. You can come along with us, and we will make something out of you -- or are you going to be rolling around with the refuse?" he questions openly, pointing to Kainashi.

    There's a group that's assembled to watch the fight at the pool. The lifeguard-teachers are trying to encourage the kids to get away from the fences!

    "Is that Spidah-Man?"
    "I think it's one of them!"
    "I LOVE YOU SPIDER-MAN!" a little kid calls out "COME TO MY BIRTHDAY PARDY!"

Miles Morales has posed:
     Ugh. One of thsee guys. "Nah, none of that. I just trained really, really hard. Impressive, right?" He moves further away from the other fight as well, keeping his attention primarily on Fancypants. Okay, so. Martial artist. Probably a normal human going by that kick, but can still be dangerous. The shouts from the kids by the pool fence are a nice change from some of the things that get yelled at Spiders. He absently waves towards them, then he's coming at Fancypants. Launching off a quick barrage of punches and some kicks, testing his defenses and trying to keep him from launching any unexpedted offensives. "So, what sort of badguy stuff were you guys up to anyway? WERE you going to abduct somebody? The unmarked van thing comes off as kind of creepy, you know." Then he raises his voice and calls out to Kai, "Anything I should know about these guys?"

Kainashi has posed:
    "AH, I see. What a waste then."

    Fancypants then pulls a long knife from his jacket, and takes the fight seriously, studying MIles, and going to try and cut the Spider off at the one part Spider's don't generally regrow -- the head! "Oh, well."

    CLANG!

    Metal hits the van door shield, and Kainashi appears to be handling the fight all right, judging by the fact that she's struggling only a little with the heat! Doctor McClawsonhands is having a much harder time getting through the door, and one of the claws is very bent!

    "-- ah they fight dirty? No honor lost? He's not wearing a cup?" She responds back between blows, and then she goes in low, sliding low beneath claw and manages to get Claw up on the door -- and then kicks. HARD.

    "AARUGH!!" Claw yells, getting sent upwards. "Service!" Kainashi calls out, and as Claw and the Door come down, she volley-ball punts the door and claw towards Shadow-Spider!

Miles Morales has posed:
     Miles ducks beneath the swipe at his head, then shifts around avoiding follow-up blows from the blade. "Okay. Sounds about right for bad guys. Now how should I..." And then there's the sound of a doctor being slammed towards where he is, and he ducks down, twhiping out a couple of lines to catch the door as it comes near him and pullng hard, aiming to have it and Professor Presson hit the guy he's fighting, flipping backwards to avoid the projectile in question either way. "So what sort of stuff do these guys usually get up to?" Maybe it says something that he seems comfortable having this conversation in the middle of a fight. He apparently doesn't take thesed two as much of a threat. Or at least, wants them to think that.

Kainashi has posed:
    "Uh... I dunno, but they once locked me in a basement and fed me rotting bacon for two years after taking me from my family and mutating me? Does that count? And I mean, they're crime with theft and stuff too, drugs, animal trading." Kainashi watches as the twipping action takes place, the door and doctor are used to pick up the Fancy pants, and they're sent scuttling forward together, hitting a coincidentally placed playground slide on the back of a workman's truck, which tilts and lands on top of them, pinning them in place with the door and slide.

    "Huh. Chutes /and/ ladders." Kai states.

Miles Morales has posed:
    Quickly leapping over to where the two of them are pinned, Miles quickly webs the door into place so they can't escape. Hopping up onto said door, he peers down at them. "That's...I'm sorry to hear that. Mutating you? So you're not a natural mutant?" He tilts his head as he considers Kainashi. Now that he has time to think about it... a dog girl. Alright then. It's not like he hasn't seen weirder things around. "The police are likely going to be here soon. I don't know how much you'd want to see them, so maybe we should continue this talk somehwere else?" He jumps back over to where she is, and asks, "Mind if I pick you up?" If she agrees to this, he'll scoop her up with one arm and then quickly make his way out of the park and onto a rooftop with a series of high, long jumps. Once there he'll keep on bouncing until they're well away from the site of the fight, and then finally settle her down.

Kainashi has posed:
    One ear perks. "YEah, they're coming up Clay now, probably going to turn at the McDonal--DS!" Kai was momentarily distracted, giving a small nod, and then picked up.

    She's mindful of her clinging -- she could squeeze Shadow-Spider, but she just loops her arms around his neck as she closes her eyes, grimmacing momentarily.

    And as she's set down, Kainashi wobbles a moment, and then crouches, rubbing the back of her neck a moment. Her hood's all the way down now, and Miles would be able to see all the scarring about her head and neck, and the fancy Kanji tattoo inside one of her ears. She gives a small huff of breath. "Ah... yeah. They kinda made me. So we have standing beef. They want me and my friends dead, and we kinda wanna stay alive. Y'know?"

Miles Morales has posed:
     Miles settles into a comfortable crouch, as spiders are wont to do. As he observes the now unhooded dog girl, his fingers twitch with the natural desire to rub those pupper ears. But, this is a person. So he controls himself. "So... have you tried going back to your family now that you're free? I'm sure they've missed you." Though considering how normal mutants sometimes have to deal with prejudice even from their own family, somebody as obviously non-human as this... well. It's worth a try anyway, right? "I never did get your name by the way."

Kainashi has posed:
    "... Kainashi. It means useless item. Most everyone just calls me Kai." she explains, and she frowns a moment. "Ah... well. I was a dog before. I don't... know where they got me from. I think somewhere in The Bronx, but..." she trails off, and then she flops down in a splut instead of a crouch. So stupidly hot. Stupid summer time. Stupid daytime. "I lied. I didn't have a family. My owner never came back for me." she explains, and then rubs her face a little.

    "So instead I hang out with a bunch of people who are like me and sometimes I pick fights."

Miles Morales has posed:
     The lanky teen blinks a few times. "Oh. I see." It hadn't occurred to him that she was an animal made more human rather than the other way around. He scratches his chin thoughtfully, then hops a little closer to the splut'd doggirl. "I'm sorry to hear that, Kai. And...you know. You COULD change your name." He reaches out, and lightly rests his hand atop her head. "A bunch of people like you? Other mutant dogs? You'd think I'd have heard about something like that if they were very common." Where would they even hide? Or find food? He can't help thinking about it.

Kainashi has posed:
    "Oh, no, they're not dogs. I'm the only dog. The others... ah..." her ears turn pin a little bit. "We're not supposed to talk to Strangers. But I've met Spider-Man. And Mania and I are friends." she explains, "But I have to get the OK from my new family to talk about them. 'Cause we only have each other. We can't hide among humans -- unless it's Halloween. Then everyone just says I have a great mask--" her tail starts wagging "And I can eat all the churros and caramel and empanadas I can eat and then there's all the hotwings and I'll trade candy in for stuff since I can't eat chocolate and then there's the Fuego Diablo Sauced Chicken Tenders--" she states, her tail wagging back and forth as she thinks about food.

Miles Morales has posed:
     Miles nods his head. "I understand. I don't reveal my friends identities either. Well, not their private identities. I'm friend with Spidey and Mania too. You don't have to tell me about anybody else right. I ma curious, I'll admit. I wouldn't mind talking some other time." He smiles as she gets lost thinking about food and starts to wag her tail. The hand on her head moves, fingers rubbbing her ears reflexivly. She IS a dog, after all. People can't help it! Is the excuse he's giving himself because admitedly just rubbing a person you've just mets ears is pretty weird.

Kainashi has posed:
    As the ears get rubbed, the tail gives a harder wag, though she is trying SO HARD to look cross. She pauses a moment, her eyes turning up and looking to the Shadow Spider, and she opens her mouth, and then closes it, and puffs out her cheeks a little bit.

    And then she reaches up with both her hands, and rubs approximately where Miles's ears are.

Miles Morales has posed:
     Miles looks briefly startled when she does this, then grins. She can see the expression in the shifting of his eyes. "Fair." He leans his head to rest forehead to forehead, looking her in the eyes as he keeps on rubbing her ears. Using both hands now and gently massaging the bases. "So is there any way I can get ahold of you some other time? I am curious about you and your family. You could see if they're okay with you talking about them. Or even if they're okay with me meeting some of them."

Kainashi has posed:
    "Why is it people always want to rub the ears?" the canine states plaintively. "It's weird! You don't walk up to human people and just rub their ears! And I have a bite that's worse than my bark!" she complains with a laugh, though she's not precisely moving away from the massaging at the base. Her 'fur' at the top of the head is much longer, and she has a serious case of hood hair. "Oh. Uh. I have a phone. You can send texts too it and there is a voice on it that reads them." she explains, and rubs the back of her head with one hand, lifting it from Shadow-Spider's head, and she gently lifts her head from his hands, giving a head shake to recalibrate, and then takes off her hoodie.

    She's wearing a guy's tank beneath it, and there are more scars visible on her shoulders, leading to her chest.

    "They're very private." she pauses, and then flattens her expression "Most of them are very private." she ammends, and then she takes out a sketchbook.

    When she opens it, there are sketches of people from around the city -- Superheros doing superhero things, normal people doing normal people things, and some shakey, awful, kindergarten-level letters. One spells out P I P P I L U.

    She flips the page, and there's a number. It's not a normal cell number.

    "There! That's the number."

Miles Morales has posed:
     Miles shrugs a shoulders, "Sorry... I guess that's peoples instinct around dogs." He lets his hands fall away eventually, resting his arms on his knees. He leans over when she opens the sketchbook, studying the drawings he's done. "Oh hey. Those are pretty good. I do some drawing myself. Mostly more abstract stuff. But some like that." He studies the number in question, noting it not being a normal one. After a short time he says, "Okay, got it." He leans back. "I understand if they won't want to talk. Sooo. What do you usually do when you're not jumping onto vans driven by ninjas anyway?"

Kainashi has posed:
    "... drawing. People watching. Patrolling. Sometimes throwing bad guys out of subways. Sometimes tracking down people?" she states, and looks up in thought, her head tilting slightly.

    "I rollerskate? I tried skateboarding but it's weird going sideways." she explains, and breathes out.

    "What about you? When you're not being Shadow-Spider?"

Miles Morales has posed:
     "Similar really. School. Art. Hanging out with friends. Practicing this whole spider thing trying to get better at it." He tries to imagine her on rollerskates. It's an amusing mental image. "Listen to music too. Just chill out at times. This life can be pretty stressful. You gotta relax at times."

Kainashi has posed:
    "Especially when you fight crime. So much stress." Kainashi admits, and she gives a brief wag of her tail, and pulls her backpack out. It makes a solid THUMP on the rooftop they're sitting on.

    "What kind of music?" she asks curiously.

Miles Morales has posed:
"Mostly hip-hop and rap. But I like all kinds, really. Depends on my mood." He rests his chin on his hand. "What about you, Kai? What do you listen to?" What kind of music WOULD dogs like? Probably not anything excessively loud. So no death metal or screamo stuff.

Kainashi has posed:
    "Mostly symphinic metal and pop-punk, girl-lead hard rock bands. Nu-Metal and Japanese Rock." she explains, and she pauses a moment. "Do you do the lo-fi thing?"

Miles Morales has posed:
     Miles nods his head. "Yeah, I like that too. Sounds like you have a definite type when it comes to music." He smiles over at her, then there's a ringtone. He pulls a phone from somewhere and checks it. "Ah, I need to head out... it was really interesting meeting you, Kai." He reaches over, and lightly ruffles her hair and ears. "Call me if you need to catch any more cars, alright?" He produces a pen and paper also from somewhere, and writes down a number she can reach him at before handing it over.

Kainashi has posed:
    Kai gets head ruffle "Aiyaaa! Hey! Hey! My hair!" she protests, though the tail wags.

    She accepts the number, and gives a smart salute with her hand "All right, Shadow Spider -- stay safe!" she states, hopping up to stuff the notebook and the paper into her pack, along with her jacket as she lifts the pack, swings it over her back, and gives a smile. "Say hi to Spider-Man and Mania!"