8077/Picnic on the Beach

Picnic on the Beach
Date of Scene:	01 October 2021
Location:	Ruby Cove
Synopsis:	Madison shares her ridiculous Deep Fake MST3K video with the Scarlet Spider
Cast of Characters:	Madison Evans, Ben Reilly

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Madison Evans has posed:
    Madison was true to her word - a few days later she sends out a message to the friendly neighborhood Scarlet Spider, inviting him to a picnic on the beach near her place. She gets her mom to pack a lunch for two - sure, she may have implied it was one of her classmates. Sure, she might've implied they were working on a //school// project. But really, what's a teenage life without a little misleading of parental figures?
    So at the moment, Madison has a blanket spread out on the weird red-hued sand - and a cooler with some lightly flavored sparkling waters, and some homemade treats. Included is a pasta salad with a pesto sauce, some plums, and tortilla wraps - with whole grain tortillas, of course, some lean turkey meat, and cheese with mustard sauce.
    At the moment the teen is simply watching the waves, humming cheerfully to herself. Her shirt today is bright green - and has Vader, with a pair of sheers, shaping a Death Star topiary.

Ben Reilly has posed:
It turns out that Ben was in the middle of a delivery run, not terrible far away. Since it's an unlicensed version of Uber, he doesn't bother with a car and it actually tickles people when Spider-Man shows up with their order so he just stays in costume. Tips are tips, right? Is that wrong?

The message comes and Ben checks it with a grin. Sending a reply that he'll be there shortly and finishes up the transaction before making his way in her direction on the beach.

He lands a few feet away and looks at the spread laid out on the blanket upon the red sand, which almost makes his costume camo! Hah! "Well, you're nothing if not trustworthy. Very Jedi of you." He jokes as he drops down on the blanket with his arms wrapped around his knees. "How you doing, Mads?"

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Do or do not. There is no try," Madison counters in a solemn voice - before breaking into a broad grin. "I'm glad you could come! I'd have a hard time eating enough for two, here," she remarks.
    She shrugs, then offers with a broad grin, "I'm pretty good. And I got something to show you! I was working on my computer last night, and totally lost track of time - and stayed up way too late - but soooooo worth it. Do you like tortilla wraps?"
    Really, picnic fare doesn't give a real picture of the sort of stuff Maddie's mother likes to cook - but when it comes to shoving things in a cooler, and eating them on a blanket - it limits your options a little bit.

Ben Reilly has posed:
To say Ben is already eyeing the tortilla wraps is an understatement. His stomach growls loud enough to be heard, but he's waiting to be invited to eat before grabbing food like a fat kid at a buffet table. "Yes, yes I do. I like just about anything that can be digested, if I'm honest, but..." He points over at her.

"Whatcha got to show me? And hopefully you didn't mess up your day.. I'd be a terrible person if I didn't at least pretend to tell you to do better than I ever did growing up." He was 14 when he became-... when Pete became Spider-Man.

in all fairness, Ben is only 1.

That's a lot to take in.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Com'on! Sit! Help yourself, I'll show you," Madiso says in a bright voice. She's already got her phone in her hand, and she's pulling up the video. It's an MST3K style video - but instead of the outline of movie theater seats with robots in chairs - there's a shilhouette of Spider-man hanging from a web in one corner, and another of Captain America - recognizeable only because the shield was done in both black and white - down below him. The pair banter back and forth, with Cap playing the straight man, while watching clips from a movie called 'Surf Nazi's Must Die,' and Cap constantly referencing 'back in his day.'
    And it sounds, for all the world, like Cap and Spidey doing the voice overs. The whole thing's only a few minutes long.
    The jokes are a little forced, but Madison seems obviously pleased with what she made. "Well?" she asks eagerly, as she picks up one of the wraps for herself.

Ben Reilly has posed:
Ben leans over to take a look at her phone, but also so he can grab one of the grapes laid out near the shells. It's tossed at his mouth, but because he really did think he'd put his mask up, and bounces off. "That didn't happen." He says to her in playful caution... the bottom is rolled up, eyes fixed upon the small screen as it begins to play.

And immediately has him laughing.

"Haha! That's brilliant..." And again, "How did you get their voices to sound so close?" Now there's no way he can pretend it's the mask that makes him sound like Spider-Man though is there?

Madison Evans has posed:
    "I told ya - it's a deep fake," Madison explains. "You download footage of them talking, put it into the program. It analyzes their voices, and then you type in a script and it... reads it. There's a few points where it sounds a //little// artificial, but for the most part - you'd think they'd read out the script, you know?" She's all grins. "I'm trying to figure out if there's a way I can turn this in as a school assignment, but I don't have any assignments this fits for - you know. At the moment." But maybbe eventually, right?
    "...you think he'll like it? Spidey, I mean. I'm Cap might not. I don't know him."

Ben Reilly has posed:
"That's pretty impressive." Ben had heard of deep fakes, sure, but never seen any that came out quite this good! This was really inpressive. As evidence by his grin, "I think he'll be amused yeah. He's a MST3K fan, so... this is right up his alley." Nodding to her, he twirls his finger for her to roll it back so he can watch it again. And again laughs,

"Heck, even Cap would probably like it. I doubt he gets the reference, but... I mean it's funny. Why wouldn't he?"

Madison Evans has posed:
    "HA! Is he? I thought so," Madison remarks, all grins as she finally tears into her tortilla wrap. After all - Spider-man was a total //nerd//. Obviously. At his request, she replays the video as she adds, "Well, I worry the choice of video would piss Cap off though. 'Surf Nazis.' You know? ...do you know him?" she asks uncertainly.

Ben Reilly has posed:
"Not really." Know Cap, Ben lounges back to laugh after watching the video again. Shaking his head with a grin spread on the visible part of his face, "That's so awesome." Back to Cap though.. "I've heard he's got a pretty good sense of humor. It's not like he /was/ a nazi.. I mean I read his comicbooks as a kid. It had him punching Hitler and all that. I'm sure he'd appreciate the comedy in it?"

Madison Evans has posed:
    "I dunno. Maybe. I'd kinda like to post it online," Madison admits. "But I figure I better show it to Spidey first - you know? Post stuff about your friends online, without showing them first, and- well." That's how you lose friends, sometimes. She gives a shrug of her shoulders, beaming at Ben as she adds, "I'm glad you liked it. I hoped you would! It was a lot of fun to make."
    Reaching into the cooler, she brings out the two sparkling waters, then remarks, "My mom likes these weird flavors - I mean, they're not bad, just- you don't see a lot like this. Umm, would you rather have lavendar, or lemon grass?"

Ben Reilly has posed:
"I think he'll appreciate it.. I mean, Spidey will for sure." Ben assures her, still grinning. He says this as if he's pretty well confident about that fact at least. "If for no reason than you put effort into it, ya know? It shows that you've got creativity." Pointing at the screen, "That's really good work for just a day. Even if it was a program that largely did the voices, you had to edit it all together."

He, if nothing, sounds impressed.

Dubious about them flavors...

But impressed all the same.

"Huh... okay, I'll try lemon grass. That sounds like it has lemon in it.. Unless it's just the grass that grows around lemon trees or some craziness."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "You don't know lemon grass?" Madison remarks in surprise, as she hands it over. "It's... well, an herb, basically. Tough and stalky. They steep it in broths in asian cooking. Or they grind it up to add to curry pastes. It's used in Thai cooking a lot." What she tries not to show is that he just picked her favorite flavor. Oh well - lavendar's alright. She pulls a bottle opener out of the side of the cooler - popping off the cap so she can take a sip.
    "I mean, the programs do most of the work. And - well, I kinda found the clipart online for the silhouettes..."

Ben Reilly has posed:
"Bah bah bah bahbahbahbahbah." Ben waves his hand at all that at the end, "You worked hard and it shows." He corrects her, pointing a red gloved finger, "Be proud of it. Heck, can I have your autograph? Before you get all big and famous and forget us scrubby low-rent stand in heroes of other, well established, heroes?" A grin remains.

A brow is raised.

"So they took spies from Thai food and put it in water and expect you to drink it?" He stares at the bottle like it might bite him, "I'm going to try this.. but if I die, tell a lot of flattering lies about me."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "I'll tell everyone how you single handedly saved me from a knock-off, fire-breathing, Godzilla wanna be," Madison supplies with a grin. "While fighting of a low-budget Captain Hook with a sword, buckling swashes up and down the street, while slinging webs left and right... It wasn't until the rancor showed up that you were like 'Nuh-uh. Had enough of this nonsense,' and defeated them all with your army of nanites. Who you befriended at Star Labs by feeding them your costume. Oh, hey, the shake washed out alright, didn't it?"
    She looks vaguely concerned as she asks the question, and sips from her soda.

Ben Reilly has posed:
"Your powers of bullcrap are almost as powerful as mine, young padawan." Ben's grin widens with each length of the tall tale being told, "A rancor, that's high praise..." Putting on a semi decent Nick Cage impression for that last. "Don't forget how I did it while enjoying a fat burger from Big Belly's, with double bacon and... ugh.. their fries drenched in warm chedder cheese..." His mouth almost waters.

So he sips ont he lemon grass beverage.

Cautiously.

Swishing it around in his mouth before swallowing. "That has a little bite on it." The bottle's held out to read the label, "Pretty dang good...!" Shake? "OH! Yeah, my aunt taught me some pretty neat tricks on getting all kinds of gross stuff out of clothes. Faded a little, but... you can barely tell."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Oh, sorry, how could I forget about the burger and fries? I must have been distrated by the Sith riding on the rancor's back. You know how it is," Madison suggests. "Or the probe droid wielding a half-dozen katanas." Yes, Madison pluarlizes Japanese nouns. The heathen.
    She spills some of the pasta salad - complete with little cheese bits and tomatoes - onto a plate and starts nibbling at it.
    "You know. I shouldda invited Spidey too - couldda showed you both the video at the same time. But I wouldda had to have my mom pack enough food for a small army, I think."

Ben Reilly has posed:
It occurs to him that there's all this food and he's not eaten any. So to remedy this, Ben reaches out for a plate to scoop up some of the pasta salad. "You know what's amazing and seriously underrated? Cucumber salad. Cucumber, red onions, cherry tomatos, and feta cheese with italian dressing." MmmMmmmMmm.. He starts to take a bite and adds, "Yeah, seriously. You'd have had to bring like four or five of these baskets." Motioning around at her spread.

"But I'd have loved to see his face when he saw the video." The thought of it has him grinning ear to ear. "Except he'd have on a mask, so I wouldn't be able to, and that's unfortunate."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Yeah," Madison agrees. "Secret identities suck, but I get it. I mean - you gotta protect your families and stuff, right?" She shrugs her shoulders. "There's a lot of bad dudes and dudettes out there who just don't get how not-cool it would be to go after someone's sister, or cousin, or kid nephew - or like mother's cousin's roommate's ex's dog, or whatever."

Ben Reilly has posed:
"Spaceballs, nice." Ben upnods at Madison, big grin. "Yeah... I don't want what I'm doing to come back on other people. Just because I have the ability doesn't mean everyone does and while I'm a strong advocate for people standing up for themselves against bullies.. the kind of people who would come after our family? They're not regular bullies." They have powers, or mechanical super legs, or ray guns. Usually a lot of those things and henchpersons.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "That's why I'd wear a mask, too," Madison agrees. She's silent a moment before adding, "And, you know, so my mom doesn't find out. She would absolutely flip. She doesn't want me putting myself in danger, you know. Parents seem to care about that for some reason." She grins wryly, while picking at her food.
    "I mean, you don't got to tell me but- does your family know? About all this stuff?"

Ben Reilly has posed:
Ben's smile becomes a little sad, but doesn't disappear, "No." His family doesn't know. "I lost my parents and .. well I lost everyone. There's not many people in my family that even knows I exist." It's an odd thing to say, plate set down on the blanket beside him. "But I'd like to think that my mom and dad would have approved. I know my Uncle would have." He nods to that, smile becoming less steeped in sadness. "Your mom would too, eventually. Once she got over the fact that you're, you know, putting yourself in danger."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "I dunno - the conversations we've had - she's pretty adamently against it," Madison remarks. "I just - I don't even bring it up again. Though, I'm thinking of telling her I'm learning sword fighting. 'So I can join a lightsaber dueling club. It's exercise!' She's buy that." I mean, it is right up Maddie's alley, after all.
    She shifts a bit uneasily before saying, "I didn't know that something happened to you 'n Spidey's family. I'm sorry. It wasn't because of the superheroing, though? It was something else?"

Ben Reilly has posed:
"You ever watch those lightsaber duel competitions on youtube? There's a whole competition! It's a legit thing." Ben says with just a note of excitement, grin getting bigger. His big bug eyes are turned upwards so the sun beats against his exposed neck. Even if there is a little chill, that sun feels good. "Mm..." Oh right, he'd said they were brothers. "We... well, yeah. I mean, it's more like brothers than brothers. You know> We met when we were much much older. You pick your family or something like that." He's not lying, but still feels guilty because it's not the whole truth. "We do share a lot of common history though. You know, as any good friends do."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "But you sound the same and you have the same powers and stuff?" Madison says in a doubtful tone. They're not brothers? "Cousins?" she suggests uncertainly.
    After all, he's implying they're not related at all. That seems like it'd be awful coincidental.
    "Well. I don't have the training for big competitions, but I did get to use a simulated lightsaber in zero g once... here." She pulls up a video on her phone - it shows her flying through the air at a boy with african skin tones - but with purple splotches on his features, and purple mixed in with his short black hair. Both of them hold lightsabers aloft, swinging at each other for a brief exchange before the continue floating past - Madison tucking into a forward summersault, before reaching out to stop herself against the far wall of the room they were in. Then the video ends. It's only a few seconds long.