8065/The diet coke of trouble

The diet coke of trouble
Date of Scene:	30 September 2021
Location:	Bushwick <Mutant Town>
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Ben Reilly, Madison Evans

---

Ben Reilly has posed:
Scarlet Spider usually doesn't do much in New York on account of it can get a little confusing, but he'd needed to visit a thrift shop in Queens to get the last piece of his new costume. See in 2018 there was a guy who had this bootleg Spider-Man merch that didn't really take off. A blue hoodie with a black logo, people caught on pretty quickly that it wasn't officially licensed by the Spider-Man LLC, so it sold poorly.

Ben had always kind of been partial to it, though.

That and the poorly received ice cream bar that featured his likeness.

Was it going to be on anyones top 10 list? No... but it tasted good.

So here we are. Ben is sporting red spandex, full body, new red mask, and a light blue sleeveless hoodie! He felt good about it. He felt like he'd accomplished something. He felt like leaving before someone started calling him Spider-Man and taking away this sense of accomplishment.

He felt his spider tingles when a car raced through the streets, not obeying the legally posted speed limit. The group cut around through Brooklyn, headed in the vague direction of that way and he took flight! Chasing them, along with the police, all be it up in the air on a webline as they crossed over into Bushwick!

Madison Evans has posed:
    Bushwick was not one of the best neighborhoods in New York, but what did it have that nowhere else in the world had? Mootant Milkshakes. They were just damned good, everyone said so - because it was true. And honestly, that's what brought Madison into the city today. She hums cheerfully to herself as she walks, scooping some of the thick shake out of her cup with a spoon. She's not dressed for superheroing - nope. Instead, she has on a pair of jeans, and a long sleeved shirt, underneath her 'The Ewoks have the phone box' shirt - which shows a bunch of Ewoks carrying away a blue, British Police Box. She seems oblivious to the sound of sirens - I mean, really, you can usually hear sirens somewhere in the city at any given second. She glances up and sees the walk signal lit, so the starts her way across the street.
    The walk signal is pretty much a sacred thing, right? Everyone learns that when they're still too small to read.

Ben Reilly has posed:
It's suppose to be! You're suppose to be able to trust the Walk Signal. At least you would think that if you lived in any Borough of New York City. As soon as it flashes that white walking man, people talk off from the curb without so much as looking up from their cellphone. There could be a truck barrelling down the street at a hundred miles an hour and they'd say Nah, it's fine, I have the light...

The vehicle upon which Scarlet is now perched is doing that.

Going very fast towards an intersection with little to no concern for the fact Madison definitely has the light.

And Scarlet sees it... "Dude, she's got the light, slow down.." Very matter of factly, the response is someone shooting at him?! Through the roof?! What the hell, it's like they're tourists or something!

He leaps off the roof, fires another web off to the left and swings around with the momentum of a speeding vehicle to pull him back forward to land on the hood in a low crouch. Red mask, with white eyes staring in through the wind shield. "Pull over!" Pointing to the left, tap tap tapping the air, "I'm going to need to see your New Yorker card."

They're not having it.

So he has to stop them!

Which he does, by pushing into a backflip that checks the shocks on the front end of the vehicle and sends sparks off the front bumper. As he he's in the air, several webs are fired off to both sides to create a sticky barrier in the span of a few seconds... danger close to Madison!

All so when he lands back on the very end of the hood and the vehicle flips up it's end, it slams against the silky barrier like a fly caught in a spiders trap! "I told them... it's like they don't even listen!" The wheels continue to spin.

Madison Evans has posed:
    It's the gun shots that catch the girl's attention. Sirens, you can ignore. The sounds of cars? No big deal. Gun shots? What the actual-
    There's the sounds of panic - a few screams, people running for cover, but Maddie has no cover. She's in the middle of a damned intersection with a truck barreling towards her. She doesn't even gesture the spider-themed superhero riding on the thing, because her mind is just whirling. Gotta stop the car gotta stop the care, how can she...?
    At just about the same moment the Scarlet Spider forces the nose down, she reaches out with one hand, and gives a jerking motion, managing to wrench the steering wheel out of the drivers hand, and making the car start to swerve, while also accidentally dropping her spoon - at least she still has her shake. Of course, this means rather than being stuck perfectly perpendicular, the truck's now stuck into the webs at an angle, while her heart thuds in her chest. Oh, God, that was close. That was clo- wait, didn't they have a gun? Shit!

Ben Reilly has posed:
They did have guns!

And Scarlet Spider takes that personally.

The scarlet dressed vigilante leaps on the oddly angled vehicles upward facing door and peers down at all the goons huddled together on the oposite side doors. "You know if you wore seatbelts and observed legal traffic laws, this wouldn't happen?" His cellphone comes out to snap a picture of them. "I'm going to air drop your faces to everyone."

A pistol is suddenly pointed at him, but the gun never goes off because he webs it and throws it up into the air. The other 3? They definitely go off. POP POP POP! Spidey moves away from the opening and rolls off towards the back end of the vehicle, peering at Madison still standing in the middle of the intersection on the otherside of his web.

"Is that a Mootant milkshake? Are they really as good as people say?"

The police are catching up, the goons are getting their wits together, and Spidey is moving again. Swinging down beneath the downward facing door to peer UP at them through the window. One hand on his hip, the other pulling the door open to drop them down into the street like sand out of the bottom of an hour glass. The pistol, the one he threw up into the air a moment ago?

It tumbles back down behind him! It's caught with a web and thrown down over his shoulder like a projectile at the first goon to point something at him, "Ahk!" The next, gets webbed in the face. "AHK! Stop it... play nice.." The third... should he let someone else help?

Okay he'll let someone else help.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Umm... yes?" Madison answers - but she doesn't have much time to say more than that, because these guys have guns, and they really don't seem to mind shooting them.
    She holds her free hand out again, and just like Vader facing down Han Solo, the blast- sorry, guns - fly towards her, ending up stuck in the webbing. First one, then a second, while she beams with satisfaction at her success. This Jedi-ing wasn't that hard. See?
    Waving her free hand in the air she adds, "You don't want to shoot guns. You want to go home and rethink your life."
    They probably won't have that option, of course, given the approaching police, but Madison watches intently to see if her 'mind tricks' will have any affect this time. They've never worked before, but why not now?

Ben Reilly has posed:
"Holy crap, she just Obi Wan'd you..." Ben is kind of curious if it's going to work too!

When it doesn't, it's not so much that he's mad, just disappointed. One goon is nursing a broken nose from getting a gun thrown in his face. Another is webbed and the last is trying to take a swing at him?! Suffice to say that he lacks the necessary minerals to catch a spider.

Who straight up Apollo Creeds him.

Duck, weave, dodge, "You were pretty close that time."

He wasn't. Not even the same area code of his face, but it's important not to give them a complex!

Rather than just knocking him out, Ben webs his belt and yanks. His pants are too loose and they slide down around his knees, tripping him up as he scrambles. Both trying to stay on his feet and to get his pants back up!

Except his hands are now webbed to his pants.

So he's just stuck there looking kind of silly.

And Ben is standing there with his hands on his hips looking at Madison. "Did you just pull a Darth Vader?" He's surmissing since she extended her hand and the guns shot towards the webs. The police are still a block away! This is pretty good timing.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "I'm not a Sith!" Madison says defensively.
    "...but yes?" I mean, there's no real point in denying it, he //saw// it happen. Besides - Spidey knows what she can do! And it sure sounds like Spidey, even though - "What happened to your costume, though? Regular one's in the wash or something?" she asks, her gaze flicking from the costumed hero, towards the criminals again, wary that they still might try something.
    And then, New Yorkers being New Yorkers, people start honking to express their aggrevation over the obstruction to traffic.
    "Geeze! Crime fighting going on here, people! Chill!"

Ben Reilly has posed:
There it is.

Ben Reilly this is your life.

His mouth opens behind his red mask when she clearly knows Spidey. "That tracks." He murmurs to himself, nodding. Of course Pete would know a kid who was a Jedi. It makes all the sense in the world, honestly, "No, not in the wash. It was eaten by nanites at STAR Labs last night, also I'm not spider-man." That last part is said quickly, words kind of tumbling over each other.

"I'm Scarlet S-" Honk honk honk!

One car even pulls right up to him and he turns and lays his palms on the hood, "HEY! I'm Crime Fightin' heah!" Lots of explicit language is thrown in his direction. Walmart Spider Man costume... Look like a hero on a Budget. Yadda yadda.

Thank goodness for the police coming to take control of the situation!

Ben jogs over to the sidewalk and kneels down, resting his arms on his thighs.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Patience, you must learn patience!" Madison quips at the New Yorker - earning her own torrent of vitriol in response. Geeze, some people.
    She trots out of the middle of the road, leaving the police to take custody of the guys though - geeze. This means she's a witness, and she's going to have to give a statement, and maybe even go to court, if these idiots don't plead out... What a hastle.
    "You're not Spidey?" she asks in a puzzled tone. "But you even sound like him him - and eaten by nanite? Really? I mean, my friend's dog chewed up one of my favorite shirts once but - //nanites?// Oh - I'm Maddie, by the way. Madison." Might as well introduce herself after all.
    "So are you like... his brother or something? Because seriously...

Ben Reilly has posed:
Spidey points at Madison, nods, and makes a big deal of telling the New Yorkers with social cues that they're being douche canoes. Nothing explicit, because he's a wholesom hero, but he's still a New Yorker at heart, so he's not above a fuh'get'about it brush of the underside of his chin. Or slapping his palm into his oposite elbow with no middle finger raised.

This is just mandatory.

Also he's a teenager.

So here we are.

"Nope. Not Spider-Man. I guess you could kind of call us brothers..." Actually that's a pretty good idea and he's going to suggest it to Peter later. "But really, I think everyone in a mask kind of sounds the same... that's it, definitely the mask."

He tried to change his voice once, but then people thought he was a girl.

Which was awkward for a variety of reasons.

"Nanites, yeah. At Star Labs.. It was really embarrassing, thanks for bringing it up." He's teasing. Probably grinning behind the mask by the way it pulls around his cheeks.

"Hey Maddie, I'm Scarlet Spider."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "I'm pretty sure if I put on a mask I wouldn't sound like Spidey," Madison points out. "Unless it was like - a really cool high tech mask with a voice synthesizer thing built into it. O. M. G., then I could do Spidey deep fakes - did you see the guy who deep faked David Attenburough's voice to make funny nature documentaries?" she asks - giggling at the thought.
    Sure. Her mind wanders, and why not? They're just sitting here watching the police put guys face down onto the pavement.
    "Umm. Do we have to tell the police I Vader'd their guns?" she asks uncertainly. She's not sure her mom would like that very much...

Ben Reilly has posed:
"You absolutely would sound just like Spidey if you put on a mask." Ben says as if he's an authority on the subject, still crouched down bracing his forearms on his thighs. "It's science, which you can always trust. And I'm a masked person, who you can rarely trust, but sometimes trust, especially if they're talking science."

Which is a very poor way to establish trust.

"uh... okay, you wont sound like him, but yes I have seen those deep fakes. And I welcome you to do a lot of them on Spidey. The more embarrassing, the better."

He, like Maddie, is watching the Police work. Waiting for them to come take his statement, "I didn't see you Darth Vader their guns? You did that? Man, that'd be cool. Can you Darth Vader this pen?" He holds up a pen. "Don't ask where I got the pen."

Madison Evans has posed:
    Madison can't help but giggle. "Can I tell Spidey you said that?" she counters. "And if I ever get a mask - well - I'll be sure to record myself reading the Planet Earth script so I can make some Spidey Deep Fakes. Gosh. I'm not even sure what I'd have him narrate. Maybe I'd just have him MST3K some bad movies?" Though honestly - if she just asked him to do that - he might do that. He seemed like that kind of guy.
    As for the pen, rather than answering his question verbally - holds her hand out low at her side, subtle-like, then pulls the pen into her hand, before tossing it casually in the air, and catching it. "Why carry a pen around while superheroing? To like... write down lisence plates or something?"

Ben Reilly has posed:
"It's a trade secret." The pen. That's the most important thing. Ben watches it whirl over into her palm, "Hot. Dog..." He slaps his thigh with a grin behind his mask, "That's a heck of a skill set you've got there and I hope you never turn to the darkside." Wiggly pointy finger at her, "Don't give into your hate."

Wiggly pointy.

"I... hrm... can you tell him I said that..." Ben's wiggly pointy finger turns over to rub his chin, "You know, sure. Tell him his Big, cuter, way more talented brother Scarlet Spider said it was absolutely okay, and completely not at all inappropriate for me to give you my approval to, do deep fakes of him."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Oh, I don't plan on it," Madison says seriously. "I mean, I'm pretty firmly opposed to stuff like choking minions, destroying planets, and murdering younglings, you know? In fact, I'd rather not, you know, kill anyone. Justifiable or otherwise." She tosses the pen back to him, before giving a shrug of her shoulders. "I'm still working on my powers, though. None of the mind-trick stuff seems to ever work. Can't sense emotions, or read thoughts, or influence minds... But I keep trying. One of these days, right?"
    That's her hope, anyways.

Ben Reilly has posed:
The pen is cleanly caught and disappeared into wherever he got it from. All the while nodding his simple red masked head, "These are all very good things to not do. In my humble experience. As one of the members of this particular planet, I am strongly adverse to its ultimate and untimely destruction at the hands of a fully armed and operational battle-station." Nerd stuff is fun and it makes Ben happy to get to say nerd stuff.

"You'll get there." He doesn't know that at all! He couldn't possibly know that. Maybe that's not her skillset. Maybe she's more of a mover of objects and not an effecter of minds?! What if you're falsely encouraging her training into avenues which will bare no fruit, Benjamin Reilly?

"But even if you don't? Moving stuff with your mind is still prettttty cool."

Madison Evans has posed:
    It makes Maddie happy too, as it's clear the quote makes her grin widen. "Remember though. The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force. So I'll be sure to stop any fully armed and operational battle stations that may come along."
    With a shrug of her shoulders she adds, "It's not just moving stuff with my mind. I jump higher and run faster than most folks. And I can heal stuff - I mean, I haven't tried healing anything more serious than scrapes, though. And if I concentrate on it - I never miss a shot. I could totally bullseye a womp rat in my T-16."

Ben Reilly has posed:
"Right you are, young Padawan." Ben dramatically extends his arm out to point in Maddie's direction, "Now if only we could get you a more elegant weapon than a clumsy old blaster, eh?" The cops are staring at them because they're bantering back and forth in NERD, but that has never once stopped Ben and it's not going to start now.

He's use to getting weird looks.

He's dressed like a spider.

"Healing people, you say... and physical augmentation. Okay, so this is kind of facinating. I'm assuming this is a genetic thing given we're in Bushwick, but I don't want to assume anything." He sounds genuinely curious! "I've always been intrigued by the whole process of gene theory as it relates to the mutant population- A word I dislike wholeheartedly by the way. You realize that it's not even accurate?!"

That's stress, not volume in his tone.

"Well, broad stroke it is, but it's more evolutionary mutation. Where as metahumans are more immediate mutation and would be better classified as mutants-" Using his fingers to quote. "So it's just silly rhetorical nonsense naming conventions pushed by a system designed to keep people isolated and divided."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Oh, I'm working on that. Spidey's working on that too - he said he had some ideas. And my sword-teacher has a whole shop full of high tech equipment - I'm trying to figure out actual real-world plans, so I can see if her workshop can make it," Madison says in a bright tone. "I was thinking of making both a real lightsaber - and a stun saber - if I can figure it out."
    She suddenly remembers she's holding a milk shake - and she tries sucking some of it through the straw still sticking into it. It's had enough time to melt, so that she actually has some success.
    "Honestly, I'm not sure why I can use the Force, when it seems like no one else can. But I can. I keep hoping I'll find other Jedi. That like - maybe there's a secret society of Jedi or something. But no luck yet..."

Ben Reilly has posed:
"If there's one, there's many." Ben agrees with a clipped nod, "Imagine being Spider-Man and finding out there's dozens of Spider people? I figure it has to be the same for everyone who thinks they're alone in this great big world." His hands rub his thighs, which would never start hurting no matter how long he remained crouched like that, and pushes up off them. His hands go up into his back to stretch the muscles.

"You've got a tech genius on the case then! I'd offer to help, but whatever he came up with would just be the same thing I did, no doubt." Weird thing to say. "Regardless, it was pretty cool meeting a real-life Jedi. I've waited my whole young life to run into one. I knew they had to exist with everything else going on in this weird weird world."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Well. You'd think that but I ain't found any others yet," Madison replies with a sigh. She brightens a little as she adds, "But if you find any - you could let me know. I mean, I'm on the spidey-comm thing. I guess you must be too?" she asks. "Or you could just you know, pass on the intel through Spidey. Since you're like brothers or whatever."
    Her gaze goes over towards the cops, who are getting the suspects all loaded into different police cruisers. "Man. Looks like they're about ready to talk to us." Fun.

Ben Reilly has posed:
Is he? Ben pats his pockets and comes up with the little thingy Petey had given him and nods, "Oh yeah, right." He wiggles it at Maddie, "I'll do that.. If I run into one. Either way, I'll keep my eyes open. Nobody wants to be alone." The device slides back into his hoodie as the cops begin to approach them.

His hands come together in a quiet clap, alternating foot to foot by lifting his heel off the ground while staying on his toes. "Hello, Law Enforcement of New York. How can we be of assis- okay, yes you're right this isn't it a time for jokes."

Ben gives a pretty thorough recount of what happened, leaving out the part where Maddie did her trick. "The real hero here is you guys." Pointing at the cops. "Seriously, can I get a selfie? So I can tell my kids I met-" Leaning, squinting, "-Officer 117321?"

They are not amused.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "I'll take the photo for you," Madison offers - 'helpfully.'
    Once the officers turn their attention to her, she gives a similar account - again, leaving out any Jedi shenanigans she may or may not have engaged in. Plausible deniability, and all that. She gives them her full name, and her cellphone number, and her address - so they can be sure to contact her as a material witness. But surely these guys'll plead out, right? They wouldn't be dumb enough to want to go to trial - with this many witnesses?
    Once officers thank her for her help, she adds a chipper, "Bye! Stay safe!" I mean. Police officering gets dangerous at time, right? Then she lets out a sigh of relieve. //That's// over.
    "Man. I've never given a formal statement to the police before. Oh, hey! You should really get a milkshake before you go, though. They really are the //best// here."

Ben Reilly has posed:
Even if they Officers don't really want a selfie, Scarlet moves like he's going to make good on taking one, but he doesn't because he's a strong advocate for consent. "Alright guys, happy hunting, glad I was here to help you guys be the best you you can be!" Waving his hand up over his head while they haul off the ner-do-wells and even helpfully brings the car down off the web so that it can be towed.

He's a helpful guy.

Back with Maddie once all that's over. "You know what! I'm going to... I'm going to treat myself." He doesn't have the money for that, but he's not a begger. "Which way?" Pointing this way, then that way, then both arms in the other direction like the Scarecrow from Wizard of Oz.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Well - back the way I came from," Madison points - back across the crosswalk. She hesitates a moment - then grinning broadly she asks, "Can you swing us across the street? I've never tried that before - and it looks //seriously// fun. Then I'll, ya know, buy ya a shake since you stopped me from getting smooshed by a speeding truck and all." Sure, she could have jumped away - probably. But why test fate with such things?

Ben Reilly has posed:
"That sounds an awful lot like work." Ben groans playfully, but shrugs a bounce of his shoulders, "Sure." He holds out his arm, inviting her to step up beside him, and closes it down around beneath her oposite arm to keep her close. "Hold on." It's not a long swing, but it is a quick one.

The web fires from his wrist and with a mighty tug, he pulls them up into the air. The line is released, but he's fired another before they fall very far to swing them in the direction she'd indicated. Depositing them a few short seconds later on the other side! But they were kind of high up for like two or three seconds! At least above the street lights.

"Think you for flying Scarlet Air."

Madison Evans has posed:
    Madison does indeed hold on tight - especially for those brief moments when they went into free-fall as he fwips out a second web. She lets out a gasp - but is all giggles by the time they land. Giddy, nigh-hysterical giggles. "O. M. G.," she finally manages. Yes, she has the horrific habit of actually saying the letters. "THAT WAS AWESOME!" She looks down at her shake - and starts to giggle some more. She'd squeezed it so tight swinging across, that she crushed her cup and spilled shake all over her hand - and the street below. And some poor schmuk's windshield. "Oh man, wasting Mootant Milkshake is a crime. I should report myself to the officers," she remarks, dropping the crushed cup in a nearby trashcan and shaking off her hand.
    "Oh well. I'll have to buy myself another! Com'on, it's just over here."

Ben Reilly has posed:
And all over Ben's sweater, but he's not going to bring it up. Just lament that he's probably going to have to buy a new one if this stains because nobody will take him seriously with a milkshake stain on his sweater, but that's okay.

"If you think that's great, you should see a full on street swing sometime." Walking with her as if it's completely normal for a spider guy to be walking with a jedi gal. Hands in the front pockets of his hoodie, which he's flipped up over his mask. "I call it controlled chaos. Because that's all it really is... swinging, swinging, don't hit that, okay good swinging, oops sorry pigeons, swinging."

Madison Evans has posed:
    It's the cherry swirl you gotta worry about. The vanilla'll come out - but the cherry?
    "...oh geeze, do you run into pigeons a lot?" Madison asks, letting out a giggle at the thought. "That must suck. Hey - do you ever get to take a close up look at those - you know - hawk and falcon nests and what not? The birds of prey that nest on the sky scrappers and feed on the pigeons? Those are so cool." Then she muses thoughtfully, "Though I guess if too many superhero-sorts poked their heads in it would probably mess up their nesting, huh? Probably a bad idea."
    She pushes the door open to the shop, holding it for Scarlet - would it be rude if she called him O'Hara? He's probably gotten that a million times - as she adds, "They make their own ice cream, you know. I think that's part of why the shakes are so good here."

Ben Reilly has posed:
"I've seen a couple." ... Ben furrows his brow, "Pigeons and hawks. A whole dang eagle swooped in and stole my hamburger yesterday. Then a pigeon stole my fries." This is a thing that happens to him, which is why it might not be hard to hear his stomach actually growl when they walk into the shop. Does it have a delicious smell?

He's sniffing to see if it has a delicious smell.

While trying not to seem to eager.

That's off putting.

"Homemade ice cream is honestly the best. My Uncle use to have this old wooden ice cream thingy that he'd make ice cream in... once he figured out the right mix, it was so creamy and delicious and oh my god are those all the flavors?" He's just as easily distracted.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "My mom and I've made ice cream sometimes. We have one of those metal buckets you have to freeze ahead of time, though. So you gotta plan like at least 24 hours ahead," Madison explains, while eyeing the menu. Sure, she was just in here - but why not pick out a new flavor for your second shake? "They do a lot of seasonal stuff, you know? Maybe I'll try the apple pie one this time... Persimmon just sounds- dunno. Don't see how that'd work as a shake." Says the girl who raves to her friends about Salt 'n Straw ice cream.
    "I've never seen an eagle up close. I mean, he should stay the hell away from your burger but - man. That must've been pretty cool, too."

Ben Reilly has posed:
"It was different and kind of obtuse. I blame fate." Ben says of the eagle experience, "I was a lot more concerned about my burger and the fact I was in swimming trunks and goggles on the roof of a building in Metropolis." His shoulders shiver, "It's cold up there. Nips could have cut glass."

He's looking up at the menu, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Okay, I'm going with the salted caramel. I've decided." He clips his hooded head in a nod and returns his hands to pocket.

"My uncles was old as heck. You had to grind up ice for hours because it didn't have a blender attachment, but so worth it."

Madison Evans has posed:
    Madison pulls out a twenty which she puts on the counter - yes, actual cash. Because if she rings up too many transactions at fast food places, her mom gets mad. "A small apple pie shake with extra crumble. And a salted caramel shake - large?" she asks, looking towards the costumed man for his response. She knows Spidey can really pack away the calories. So in theory this guy's the same way?
    "My mom does a lot of home-cooking. She insists on it. She's got a real problem with processed foods, you know? I'd invite you over but- well. Secret identities and stuff. Plus my mom would freak if she thought I was hanging out with super heroes all the time. She doesn't want me fighting crime."

Ben Reilly has posed:
"Medium." Spidey says, already kind of feeling weird about her buying him a shake, "No, small is fine." But he is hungry, "Uh, no medium. Yeah, definitely a large." He hangs his head in shame. Both hands covering his masked face, "This is what I have become."

He absolutely can pack away the calories. Which is proving rather difficult recently. Very few calories.

Except a sarsparilla. Nine of them actually.

That's carried him through the day.

And multiple public bathrooms.

"Probably want to know why you're hanging out with the second rate creepier Spider-Man too. Admit it, I kind of look like I should be living in a van down by the river." He's not going to get into the fact that he has. That would just be too much. "Yeah, I think my family probably would have been upset if they'd ever found out I was doing this, but then I think they probably would have understood too. When you have abilities, you really do have to use them to protect people. I'm not going to say the thing, but..." He pats the air,

"There's a whole thing that we sometimes say about it."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Large," Madison tells the employee firmly, giving Ben an amused but tolerant grin. She doesn't seem to mind the expense.
    "Yeah, that's how I feel about it, too, you know? If I can help people... I should help people. If I just stand there and let crazed maniacs fire off their guns into a crowd when I could've stopped them - I mean, it's not like I'm //as/// responsible as the crazed maniacs, but I'm still kinda responsible, yeah?" She gives a shrug of her shoulders. "But mom worries. Which- I mean, I guess I can get that."
    She shoves her hands into her pockets as she waits for the shakes to be hand-blended.

Ben Reilly has posed:
Ben turns and leans against the counter, looking out of place, but not like it bothers him. This is genuinely sort of his vibe. One foot taps on the tile, nodding with what she's saying, "She's your mom." Understanding, "Far be it from me to encourage someone to go against their parents, but it might be worth bringing up to her an organized, logical discussion. She'll probably not let you go be a super hero, but she might understand if you stop bullies from pushing people around?"

One finger points up, EURIKA style. "Which, is just as important as stopping gun crazed maniacs."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "I'm mean. Maybe not just as important - but still important. Bullies still cost lives," Madisom murmurs. She's heard the stuff about bullying, and cyber bullying, and mental health. "I don't think she'd mind me standing up to bullies. So long as I'm not, you know, starting fights at school. But then- well. I go to Happy Harbor, so most of my classmates have like super powers too, you know? Still. You should stand up to bullies - even when they have super powers. Especially, I guess."
    The shakes are set on the counter, and Madison scoops hers up eagerly, immediately digging in with a spoon before the crumble bits can start to go soggy.

Ben Reilly has posed:
"No matter whether they have powers or not, bullies will bully." Ben agrees, pushing off the counter with his hip when their milkshakes are delivered. He eyes it curiously, "Is this one of those milk shakes that's so thick it'll give you an aneurism if you try and suck it through a straw?" He's already surmissed that this is precisely the case, so he takes it one hand and grabs for a plastic spoon.

"Well, Ms. Maddie. I'm not glad you almost got hit by a speeding car, but I am glad I ran into you. And not just because of the milkshake either. Like on an interpersonal level, you know? You seem cool." He scoops up a bit on the edge of his spoon and pushes his mask up just enough to give it a taste.

MMMMMMing... shoulders going slack, body going all ragdollish as he swallows, "Oh that's crazy good."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "You gotta wait like a half hour if you wanna drink it with a straw," Madison advises. "But that's a crazy idea. Just use the spoon." She takes another bite - then grinning broadly she adds, "I was nice meeting you, too. I mean, it's always nice getting to talk to someone who understand the risk posed by fully armed and operational battle stations. They shouldnt be taken lightly," she remarks in a bright voice.
    In fact, it almost sounds like she's taking them lightly. Hrm...
    "I hope you enjoy the smoothie. And hey - maybe sometime I could pack up one of my mom's dinners like a bento and we could have a picni- aww, shit. Did I spill my other shake all over you?" Yes, she's just now noticed it. "Gosh. I'm sorry." Yes, she really uses 'gosh.'

Ben Reilly has posed:
Someone else that uses 1950s expliniatives?!

Well that's just unheard of.

"Gee golly." Ben muses with a grin, that she can see since his mask is rolled up. "It's alright, I went a whole two weeks with a mustard stain on my old costume because nobody told me." Another inverted spoonful of shake is slid across his tongue with a bemused sigh of delight.

"I tell you what, you ever want to hang out, you just hit me with a pingy thing on that spider web? Picnic or not, we can catch up on the intricacies of galactic politics. Because realistically, you have to stick together in these very important matters."

He leads them back out onto the street and fashions a webbing sling for his milkshake that he hooks to the front of his chest. Careful to make sure it wont spill when he goes swinging. A few steps backwards into a hopping slow jog, "Seeya around Maddie." Pointing at her, he pulls his mask back down over his lower face as he turns and jumps. Leaping a full story before before shooting a web to pull him along.

Smiling feels good!

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Definitely!" Madison promises as she steps outside with him - and then watches with bemusement as he jurry-rigs a drink holder.
    As he swings off she mutters under her breath, "Man, that is so cool..." Why couldn't the Jedi have a power like that? //Force slinging//! ... maybe she'll develop a new Force power. It happens sometimes. Right?
    Pondering this, she strolls back in the direction she'd originally been heading, munching on her shake - and pausing to look both way before stepping out into the crosswalk. Even if she does have the protection of the signal. Apparently that's not sacred anymore...