7751/Back on the Street

Back on the Street
Date of Scene:	08 September 2021
Location:	King's Landing Scrap Yard, Brooklyn, NY
Synopsis:	Spider-Man introduces Vorpal to Spider-Comm and tries to get Owari to help train Madison with less bloodshed.
Cast of Characters:	Peter Parker, Terry O'Neil, Chizue Nakamura

---

Peter Parker has posed:
It's Wednesday afternoon. The day's classes are over, and it's time to get the old pumps pumping.
As Spidey positioned one flattened car (1.8 T written on the side) on top of another one (3.5 T), he hoped he'd be able to handle the workload. Subatomics wasn't going to be bad, Cybernetics shouldn't be too much trouble. But the Spanish language elective was going to be trouble. Even though he had a translate program, he couldn't wear the mask ALL the time. Knowing Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese...those were important on the street...

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Wednesday was starting to look like a normal day. Yesterday, Terry and a few Titans (plus Harley Quinn!) had fought a giant T-rex made of magical animated yarn that was trying to rob a bank right across the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop.

Today, so far, all he's had to deal with was a purse snatcher. It felt comforting and mundane, in its own way.

After lunch, he checks his messenger bag to make sure he didn't forget to pack The Thing. Good. It's there. Now it's just time to shoot off a text.

<<SPIDEY! It's been too long. How's about I drop by and we can catch up?>> He takes a selfie, giving the usual 'peace' sign and a wink. It looks like he's on top of a tall building, but the picture angle makes it hard to tell where.

<<Just drop me coords and I can be there in a blink>>

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man looks up at the IM appearing in his HUD. This might not be a bad idea. He's still running off the phone number. Maybe now was a good time after all.

<King's Landing Scrap Yard. Before you ask, no, it's not a Game-of-Thrones reference. Along the shore in South Brooklyn. Google it if you need exact directions. I'll be here.>

Terry O'Neil has posed:
<<Be there in five!>>

More like fifteen seconds, really. Once the coordinates were locked in on his app, he could visualize the place without issue.

The Rabbit Hole drops him at the location and he quickly makes his way towards Spidey, with a spring in his step. He's not wearing his usual uniform, but instead he's wearing an olive jumpsuit and matching sneakers, with a messenger bag slung across his shoulders.

"Spidey!" he calls out, waving as he approaches. "So this is where you built that gym you told me about, eh?" he says, taking in the cars and the various features of the place. "Did I interrupt your daily constitutional? I should have ask, shouldn't I?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man is currently doing some benchpressing.
His back is to the ground, with is hard-packed dirt, but meticulously cleaned and bare of trash, glass, and bits of stray metal. But then again, the weight he is lifting is two vehicles...and if the numbers on the side are jake, he's currently lifting 5.3 tons.

As Terry arrives, the flash of light and Terry's voice causes him to lower the brace holding the two cars up, then scrambles out from under the podium where they currently rest.
"Hey there, Cat. How've you been?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Oh, doing okay, just coming by while my friend just /causally lifts five tons/, the usual." He gives Peter a wide grin, "You look good. Well. I assume you look good. Or that you would look good if I had any idea of what you loo-- you look healthy, you get the point!" he chuckles.

The it dawns on him that he knows what Spidey looks like. Sort of. Because Ben took off his cowl for him. However, Terry has never met Parker in person and Ben never said his name, Terry is not interested in finding out identities. It's something that happens with trust. "What have /you/ been up to? I kind was out of the loop for about a month because I spent two weeks recovering from a mortal wound, and then two weeks very, /very/ out of town. As out of town as you can get. Not by choice."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey looked at him. "There is, undoubtedly, a LOT of story in those few sentences. I'll have to ask sometime. Five bucks says it was while you were working with the Titans."

Because it sounds important enough for the A-listers.

Well, let's see...I sweated off ten pounds in this suit...I REALLY need to make a cooling unit of some sort...oh! I did get you set up with a Spider-Comm rig if you were interested. It's more useful now, too. I set up compatible cell connections in Gotham City and in Metropolis, to help with stuff. A few criminal groups are connecting cities with their plans and rackets, so it's not just New York I have to worry about."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Oh, please do set me up! I like staying in touch with you. Mind you, the mortal wound wasn't so much a Titans thing as 'aliens tried to kill someone' and I got lasered almost to death trying to stop it." He shrugs, "Apparently I'm not laser proof. Who knew?"

He approaches Spider-man and reaches into his stachel. "We will definitely work together to smack this criminals. Spider and Cat. Spider cat. Spider Cat. Does... what would a spider-cat do? Hork silkballs? That's one for the theologians, I guess."

He takes out a budle out of his messenger bag and holds it out to him. "I brought you a little something, though. While I was away. Long story short, I ended up in Taratrus, and then in Themyscira. They did let us take some things back with us, so..."

Inside the bundle there is a miniature statue carved out of marble. The craft is on par with that of a Michelangelo, the mark of a master sculptor dedicated to her craft for hundreds of years and the benefit of immortality. It almost looks alive, this small woman draped in robes with a spider silk motif. A tiny yet incredibly detailed spider resting in the palm of her outstretched hand. "It's Arachne. I saw it and I immediately thought of you. This is the first piece of Themysciran art to make it off the island outside of what's in the Art Center. I wanted to say thanks- you know, for always listening. And for beating the crap out of my doppelganger."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man listens to Terry as he talks. Man, he's almost as glib as Spidey in on his most verbose day. The quippery would be truly...

He unfolds the bundle and sees the statuette for the first time.

He had seen the movie THE MALTESE FALCON. He had watched as Kaspar Gutman (played by Sidney Greenstreet) pulling the cotton and cloth from the falcon to gaze upon it for the first time. The look he had given it was so compelling, Peter had found someone selling a replica on eBay and had bought it immediately.
Now...he realized this was how Gutman had felt. This was...
For a moment, nothing in the world existed but him and this statuette. A relic of history, crafted in a world few knew existed until a hundred years or so ago. He spent a year studying archaeology and anthropology after watching RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and realizing you could be smart AND cool at the same time.

"...Wow..." Spider-Man said. The word was a soft breath of awe. "I...wait. The FIRST?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
The Cheshire cat's grin grows wider and he places his hands on his hips, clearly glad that the gift was so well received, "The first. Until now, everything has showed up at the Themysciran Arts Center. But this is the first piece of art out of the island that is not in the hands of an Amazon."

"And it is in your hands." He shifts in order to stand side by side with Spidey, glancing at the statue. "Isn't it remarkable? You go to the museums and see the Hellenistic statues and you are reminded, 'these people are dead', but you see here... how it has gone past Hellenistic into its own thing, with its own mannerisms and sophistication, and you think 'gosh, the woman who made this was alive long before anyone I know was alive, and will be alive long after me,' and it just..." his voice grows quiet, "It's a little overwhelming. That little statue is part of thousands of years of living history."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man nodded, but his mouth is temporarily frozen.

It is hundreds of years old, if the finish on the stone is a legitimate indicator, but it looks almost new. The level of detail is, indeed, similar to Michelangelo's work, but with the strong Greek influence of position and body. Even the net shows a level of skill unimaginable for only one lifetime.
It's PRICELESS. Something worthy of the Louvre, or the Metropolitan Museum of Art if you wanted to stay local. But it was here, in the hands of a schmuck from Queens.

And the thought of putting it up for sale was as unspeakable as having the chance to stop Carradine and letting him go AGAIN.

"Yes...overwhelming. I...I dunno what to say. I don't think I've ever received a gift like this." A startled chuckle. "Me, Spider-Man, Mr. Circle-K Mouth, at a loss for words. Alert the media."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"I'll write up the bulletin right now," Terry says, joining in on the chuckle and putting an arm around Spidey's shoulders in a brief one-arm hug. "You don't have to say anything, you've done plentty enough. In Wonderland, we take friendships seriously. And tea. But I'll spare you the tea party," he grins and steps back "Mostly because infinite tea parties require far more time than either one of us has. So!"

He glances around, "You gonna give me the big tour, do I get to lift cars?" he says that last part with a wink. Because, of course, he can't.

"Okay. How about a baby stroller. I can lift that."

Peter Parker has posed:
"Uhhhhh...right. Sure. Just...let me put this someplace."

Spidey re-wrapped the statuette, EXACTLY the way it had been wrapped before, then placed it inside the office, on the desk. It looked as out of place as the Hope Diamond in a dime-store ring setting.

He stepped out again, taking a deep breath. "Okay...but first..."
He heads over to the iron bench facing the cleared space, opening the backpack left there, and takes out a small red cardboard box. "At least you won't need to carry your phone around to work with it. Do you mind wearing contact lenses?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Not at all. Mom can't stand anything going into her eye- she tried contacts once and she was basically chasing her head with her fingers because she kept ducking out of the way by instinct," he chuckles, "But not me."

He glances at the box with curiosity. You know how i tis, cats and boxes. "How does it work?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man grins. Terry had sufficiently awed him, and it would be nice to be able to return the favor.

He opened the box, naming each item as he does.
A small contact-lens case, normal except for the USB cable attached to it. "Augmented-reality visual HUD. Plug the USB into any port to recharge the lenses through induction. Takes five minutes."
A set of white fingerless gloves. "Saw you wearing something like this. Interface gloves."
Something that looked like a choker collar. "Subvocal microphone."
A small case with a set of wireless Bluetooth earbuds. "There's a few sets of differently-sized ear caps for comfort."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry's eyes go wide and his mouth forms an 'oh'. A few seconds later, he finally speaks. "This is... wow... this is amazing. Can I try the on?" He appreciates that Spidey remembers his glove preference- it's a small detail, but small details are huge for him. He makes note of several ears sizes that would work for him, "Can you walk me through the setup? This is so cool!"

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey nods. "Gloves first, then subvocal mike, then earbuds. Contacts last. Take your time putting them on, especially the last part. Contact lenses are flexible, but need to be taken out and put in the charger/lens case when you go to bed."

He pauses as he watches Terry put the gloves on. "When you have everything in, press your thumb tips to the tips of your index fingertips and hold them there for a couple of seconds."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry follows the directions to the letter. He is very good about following directions since that time when he decided to 'wing it' and ended accidentally frying his mother's brand new sound system in a way that, technically speaking, shouldn't have even been possible. Since then, he's been very much a setup-by-the-book guy.

He takes some time making sure the lenses go in correctly, and once everything is in place, he grins at Spidey, "Alright, here it goes. Ground control to Major Tom---" index to thumb, he holds them there for several seconds without realizing he is holding his breath in anticipation.

Peter Parker has posed:
For a few moments, nothing happens. Then a voice comes, elderly and kind:

"System Startup. Relax, dear."

Peter had not bother to correct Aunt May when she was handling the verbal instructions.

A blue box appeared. It looked like it was about four feet away from Terry's eyes.
Text appeared in the box. <Startup complete, data files loaded.>
Then things began to appear. A window with CHAT appeared at the bottom. A small mini-map appeared in the upper-right corner, a compass heading at the top.
"Okay...everything coming up so far?" Spidey asked.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry stands there for a few seconds. "Spidey, this is amazing!" he says, and begins to turn this way and that, watching the map and compass adjust to his heading. "Did you come up with this by yourself? How does the chat work? Oh! When I change shapes, I actually change bodies... will the system react to me suddenly going offline in a negative way? Just so I know to take the lenses out before I change. I am not entirely sure where my other body goes when I'm transformed, but no time passes for it. So... maybe it stops existing for a bit?"

"But energy can't be destroyed, so it couldn't. Then again, it's magic. The Cheshire Cat thing didn't come with a manual... ooh, how do I chat?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man nods thoughtfully. "Something to test sometime, perhaps. Might have to change, then put the rig on."

He paused, then said, "Well...I sorta had to build it all myself. A lot of my tech is scavenged or I build it myself. Same with the cell-phone hookups. Helps not to have any OFFICIAL organizations build my tech so there are no strings attached. Okay...Say Comm, Chat, Text, Spidey."

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
SYSTEM:Network detected! OWARI77783
SYSTEM:OWARI has logged in as an administrator
SYSTEM:Data transfer started...

OWARI:<<Downloading the new network patch for my network, should take a few hours but fix the random disconnects, Wayne encryption rolled over their keys and it fucked everything up. You want me to look at the repeater packaging whilst I get knee deep over here?>>

    It pops right up in the text window, complete with a little cartoon Tanuki icon and everything. The Ninja in the digital flesh everyone, going about her rounds.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"I am... incredibly impressed. Let's see... Say Comm. Chat. Text. Spid-"

The Cheshire blinks, as the little cartoon pops up. The Cheshire cat glances at Spider-man and raises an eyebrow.

"Did I break it? I bet I broke it. Am I a virus?"

It's not unsafe to assume, considering his history with technology. "Or did my chaos magic make it sentient? It's happened before. Long story." Newsflash: Coffeemakers make for very cranky sentient machines.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man blinked before he saw the cross-connected network. He groaned slightly. <Relax, Vorpal. I happen to KNOW this cyber-ninja. It's not broken...although I don't REMEMBER scheduling any stress tests for my network security. Hello, Owari. Glad to see you around, but you starled one of the new Honorary Spiders. Owari, say hi to Vorpal. Vorpal, say hi to Owari, hacker, ninja, and a few other titles we won't discuss openly....

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    And well so she appears, sliding into the augmented reality interface as only a ninja can. Namely with cell shaded, hand animated twelve frames per second worth of smoke explosion. Revealing the unmistakably animated cartoon Tanuki in it's wake, dressed like a classic cartoon ninja should be in black pajamas. <<Sorry to cause alarm, I was in the middle of a fight when I sent the commands through. I am the digital kunoichi, known as Owari.>>

    She gives a little bow, before rolling back into a casual little slump. <<I could always just patch you through a rootkit next time, but I thought it rude to fix things without leaving a system record.>>

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Honorary spider!..." the hitch in Terry's voice is audible. He is a hugger, and the only reason Spidey doesn't get a hug right then and there is that the Cheshire Cat is completely fascinated with what's being displayed in augmented reality. <<Hello, Owari! I'm the Cheshire Cat. It is nice to meet you. You know, you are now the fifth ninja I know- but only the first cyber-ninja.>>

<<I also understood about one of those words you used. I'm mostly just a slightly savvy user, but you guys are in a league of your own.>>

He mouths to Spidey, 'this is so cool!' with a huge grin.

<<... I wish I were savvy enough to do the cool avatar thing, that's for sure.>>

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man chuckles, then says, <Hold up your hands in front of you. You should then see the virtual keyboard. To activate any of the onscreen functions, just 'tap' them with your finger. The software should detect it. Try looking for the 'Vorpal' folder to find the icon I stashed in there. If you like the icon I made, you can drag it to the avatar window in the upper left corner to make it official.>

Spidey walks over to Owari. "You know, you could...y'know...ASK. Set up a session AHEAD of time. Make an appointment, even. I'm glad to see you, but I hope I'm not a person you constantly feel the need to sneak up on..."

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    <<The Cheshire cat, well goodness gracious had I known I'd have put on a fancier outfit for my little avatar here. I'm honored to meet you, we should go find Renard the Fox and form a team of tricksters or something.>> All delivered with an arsenal of pre drawn mouth animations strung together to approximate speech. Hows that for a throwback?

    "Spider-man, I am a lab grown ninja. I sneak up on everyone, all of the time. The trifecta of ninja is Sneaking, swordplay and dirty tricks at the end of the day yeah?"She gives a plaintive little shrug. "Heck if you had the bandwidth and the encryption in your suit to run it, I'd even let you into my network."hand waving dismissively. "If you'd rather I'll kill the DL and let you crack the new waynetech encryption for yourself?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry ooohs and quickly goes in search of the icon. Once he has docked it, it is received with a cackle: A purple cat's head with a fade cycle, so the smile remains but the face fades in and out. "Oh I love this! Thank you."

Now properly Avatarred, he texts<<If we find Renard, we might also make a detour and get Coyote in on the party bus. But the results might be catastrophic for the world as we know it. >>

<<So. Friday night?>>

He grinsm "I concur with the ninja. My sensei sneaks up on me all the time. Says it's to keep me on my toes and learn how to react. But I secretly suspect he gets a kick out of making my tail look like a feather duster."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man smiled softly. "I actually cracked it already. I detected it being tested a month ago and copied it using my stealthed IMSI catchers in Gotham. I'd never even try to broach your network, it's kinda not my thing. I have enough issues with the mods I have on my own setup to knock on your virtual door. Just...keep me in the loop, but I prefer just talking to you. We haven't done that a lot lately, and I miss it." He glanced back to Terry. "Now, you can also give voice commands, but subvocalize them so no one nearby can hear it. Try Search, Database, Merlin.'"

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    <<Pity but probably for the best, my network is -way- too cool for you anyway.>>shoulders casually dusted as she crosses her arms so as to be as absolutely smug as 2d animation permits. It's incredible, really she hired quite the artist it seems.<<You know you can snag me anytime Spidey, but what with enemy Ninja to slay and a student to train now? Poor girl is starting from the ground floor, as you know.>>

    <<In all seriousness Mr.Cat, I'll drop some deets in your folder if you ever need to get me. I must profess I'm a very busy Kunoichi these days, but I'm always happy to help out another trickster when I can.>>And from thin air she plucks a neat leaf icon, before reaching over to park the thing between the ears of Terry's avatar. <<Just pro tip, and never keep your cell phone on when you're out on the prowl. You would not believe the amount of information they absorb, and fairly casually distribute. When we get a proper evil hacker in NYC, it's going to be curtains for plenty of capes.>>

Terry O'Neil has posed:
<<Oh, trust me, Nightwing and Cyborg have told me to be careful with cells. Mind you, my identity is public so I have nothing to hide. And anyone who tries to go through my search history deserves to be bored by all of the history stuff. Unless we come across the kind of hacker who can weaponize my research of female Scythian warriors in the Black Sea area as vestiges of early Amazonian influences... at which point. I mean. He would have /earned/ it.>>

He nods at Spidey, "Alright, Let's see..." sub-vocalizing with just a wisp of breath, he says 'Search, Database, Merlin' and waits. His curiosity is really getting constantly rewarded. And nothing is blowing up, which is a first.

Peter Parker has posed:
As Terry speaks, the words appear in order. After 'Merlin,' the message SEARCHING DATABASE blinks before a small entry on Merlin appears. It appears to be a reference to the Merlin associated with King Arthur...except there is a picture that is actually a photograph, and a dated entry time of 07-12-2019, 8:43 PM EST.

Spider-Man took a deep breath, then walked over to Owari. "Actually...I wanted to talk to you about your new student. If you have the time?"

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "My Student, is doing quite well. Just had her first taste of costumed crime fighting the other night, in another year or two she should be capable of patrolling the safer neighborhoods on her own."Theres a casual little cartoon shrug there. "She needs to start working on a costume and that side of things in the coming months, but her sword work is quite respectable."Theres a firm little nod at that. "I doubt she'll want to run around dressed in a maid outfit unfortunately, and she's certainly not going to play Ninja without having a clan."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
This should surprise Terry. It really should. "Okay, that tracks. Meggan told me Morgan LeFay is running around alive and well, so of /course/ Merlin is bopping around too." Who was he to judge? He was the Cheshire Cat. "I wonder where I could find him... I'm desperately looking for someone to help me understand my magic..."

He scans the entry to see if there is anything that might help him find him- geotags on the picture, for example. Then he realizes that he might as well find out what Morgan looks like, just so he knows to avoid her. "Search, Database, Morgan LeFay."

Terry had been an Arthurian nut growing up, of course, to the absolute surprise of nobody at all.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man nods. "Yeah...but there are a few things I'd like you to keep in mind..."

As Terry mentions her name, a short, and rather spartan, entry appears for Morgana Le Fay. This is composed of mostly references from Arthurian legend, with references from LE MORTE D'ARTHUS, among others. Only a piece of artwork this time, and no reference of an actual encounter.

"In a lot of ways, Madison is still a teenager, and lived a relatively-sheltered existence. Until she met me, of course. She has some actual supernormal abilities, even if 'The Force' is a fictional concept. But, as they say, sometimes all you need is a nail to hang your hat on."
Another sigh. "But, if you can, try to shield her from the more...TERMINAL experiences? You may deal with it on a daily basis, but she has never been witness to such things, and it scares her. She'll have to come to grips with it eventually, but I think it would be bad to make her afraid of you. She doesn't know you like I do."

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "By the time I was ten years old I'd been awarded my first live blade, and killed a man. She is soft, just like you are Spider-man. The difference is she's not as strong, or as tough, or as quick as you are."Arms folding across her chest in a decidedly huffy little cartoon pose. "She gets it wrong one time, and she's got herself a one way ticket to the afterlife -if- she's lucky and whatever crook she takes arms up against doesn't have darker things in mind."

    "I'm training her to fight on the level she is at, which is -very- different from you Spidey. She doesn't have the margins to get surprised by -anything- and walk away alive from it."And another little shrug, bringing up a still cellphone image. There's a girl in a maid outfit beating the absolute terwillikers out of some poor sod on the ground, with a girl dressed up in a baseball outfit armed with a bat watches her back. "I got her on the horse, and got her feet wet already. She needs reassurance with real world combat, when she sees something unsettling. She needs to normalize the violence, and the death and all the rest."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Huh, that's surprising..." He, of course, isn't listening to the conversation. It would be rude to eavesdrpo since it looks like a personal one, so the Cheshire cat busies himself with the database. "I know for a fact Morgana is alive, so I'm going to have to help update this database after I get some juicy deets from Meggan..." he pauses. And briefly looks up how one is able to update such entries. He's a journalist, after all, he can't resist the urge to fill gaps.

Peter Parker has posed:
The built-in manual has instructions for creating new entries and updating current ones. It's fairly intuitive, plus the option to either type in a virtual keyboard or simply speak/subvocalize the data entry is fairly seamless.

"Just...look. You have a clan who you have support with in case something happens and you need help. Madison has you and me. I just don't want her to find herself being handcuffed because she was at a crime scene and they think she's an accomplice. If you're going to train her, try to train her HERE? Just the basics? We can work with other stuff like tactics and handling combat later. I have a few ideas to create a 'lightsaber' that will stun instead of kill."

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    Theres a slow lift of a hand to stage whisper over towards Terry "If you get me their mobile phone number, I can rip them apart for you. Targeting lists, heat maps, contacts, locations, who they spend time with and who those people spend time with. Unfortunately I've no optical database, so I need numbers and emails and so fourth."Theres a little shrug there. "Trickster solidarity, yo?"And a slow lean to offer over a fist for the bumping, if Terry fancies it.

    "Because you'd break into a police station to free her, or teach her how to escape handcuffs, or lie during an interrogation, or disguise her identity so even without a mask they can't identify her? Those are things you're an expert in now?"Brow raised as she steers back around towards Spidey. "She does not need toys, or gimmicks at this point she needs practice and perspective. Anything given now would merely become a crutch later, and the presentation of a "stun" weapon would imply that this path is more correct than another. She must be free to choose her own path, whatever it may be. Unless we fail her she will fight for good, but it's not our place to decide -how- she does this."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man looked a little pained. "Just...try to keep from KILLING anyone ELSE in front of her? As a favor to me? Give her time to grow without having to deal with life and death? I'd really appreciate it."

Chizue Nakamura has posed:
    "Sheltering is not going to help her."She glances over her shoulder, lifting a single finger in the universal "Pause" motion. "Ahhh, here we go. Duty calls!."And with a -snap-...poof. Owari vanishes off the network, leaving a single cartoon leaf to drift to the ground where she had been.