Summary:Cindy and Peter catch up, share a bit more history, and thoughts with both past and recent events. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Spider-Man is getting a lot done today. He stopped a carjacking, met up with a Valkyrie, fed a meatball sub to a winged horse (they're omnivores. Who knew?)…and now he was swinging his way towards Silk's hidden domicile. Must be nice to have a place to go to where no one can bother you. Even in his lab, or up on the roof of the Trade Center building, he always felt like he wasn't really alone.
Speaking of tall buildings, he stops on the side of one, sending a message through the Spider-Comm system.
«Silk, requesting permission to enter your building. Bleh, bleh, bleh.»
It's a few moments before the door opens from the inside, after a series of electronic and mechanical clicks. Out of costume, no sense in getting in it when Peter has seen her before, Cindy gestures Sipider-Man inside before closing the door behind him, the lock automatically re-engaging itself.
"Funny you should drop by," she says, thoughtfully, "I was going to try and come find you today. Was going to do that the other night - but well, some stuff came up." Spider-Man should know all about 'stuff'.
Since he was last here, the bunker has gotten a small makeover. A few 'new' posters are on the wall, the bedding is new, and the place even smells a bit fresher. "How've you been?"
Spider-Man pulls the mask off, revealing sheepish-looking schlub Peter Parker. "I've been…hey, you've been sprucing up the place. How's the Internet in this place."
"It's pretty decent," Cindy says. "Surprisingly. You'd think the walls would be hard to get through, but I do okay." She half smiles at that, shrugs. "The notepad you gave me has been a lifesaver. And, as you saw, Dead Girl gave me a no-questions-asked job. So I help her out a few days a week during the day. It's not much money, but it helps with the food, and I'm saving a bit for a real place."
She frowns, somewhat, then. "Speaking of Dead Girl. When you dropped by last week, and were talking. Is everything - okay? I mean," she clarifies, "That's - well, I haven't had my abilities changing. At all. But, I got to thinking about it and I also got trained for a few months by someone who, well, clearly knew what had been done to me. He knew everything I was capable of, and pushed me to my limits."
Peter took a deep breath, then sat down, putting the mask down to his right side. "Well, that's the thing. I've noticed laterly that my senses are getting sharper. It's been a very slow progression, but it is progressing. Like my reaction time is now a half-second faster than it was at the beginning." He ponders. "I'm planning on using the time to establish benchmarks on where I'm at right now, and test myself every few months to see if the changes are continuing and at what rate."
Cindy moves to sit near Peter as well, nodding. "That's a good idea," she agrees. "Most people wouldn't even notice that. It's a small change." But, her tone suggests she would as well. The wry smlie comes as she speaks again. "Maybe I should do the same. Just in case. I mean, only ever used my abilities here until recently. But, I have noticed my awareness goes off a bit before yours. And, it's like when the doctor would tap you on the kneecap? Reflex. I have to force myself to not do what my body wants to do, if I want to do something specific. Otherwise, it's just all automatic reflex. For that half-second, it's kind of like someone else is in the driver's seat. It's weird. But you get used to it."
Peter looks to Cindy, smiling wanly. "How I Spent My Summer Vacation. Establishing benchmarks for superpowers to check for changes/increase/decreases." He rubbed his face. "How's that Spider-Comm system working for you, anyway? No hiccups, no loss of service?"
"Yeah? Well, forgive me," Cindy chuckles back, "But, I'll take most times I can get out of this place. For just about any reason. Only just got up a little bit ago. Long night," she admits, pausing, "Had to help sneak a friend out of a hospital before they found out what he was." She doesn't go into further detail just yet, answering, "Yeah, it's been working great. I'm sorry I haven't been in touch for awhile, just - trying to get things sorted out, you know?"
She exhales. Asks, "Is Gwen doing better? And - have you seen Deadpool around at all? I haven't." She's worried. And, likely somewhat justified with the changes he'd gone under, through.
Peter takes a deep breath. "Gwen was doing okay the last time I talked to her. It's been a few days. I haven't heard from Wade yet, but I hope the crazy sucker is okay. The Nightfall messed him up BAD." He pauses. "Run into any of them recently?"
There's a shake of Cindy's head, "No. But, - that friend I mentioned? Soemone put a hit out on him. He was in the hospital because some creeps named KGBeast and Crossbones attacked him." Which leads her to another query that she just now seems to be thinking of. "You wouldn't happen to know any really, really good magicians would you? I mean, the real kind. Not the David Copperfield kind."
Peter looks thoughtful. "I know of two. One of them is named Sarah. She's with SHIELD, or their subsidiary agency WAND. Overheard her talking to Hellboy once. There's another one…Zatanna Zatara. The stage magician. Turns out she actually knows magic.
Cindy nods. "My friend. He's apparently been marked by the Gods as a traitor. And they're targetting him because of it. Someone framed him." She seems certain of this. "I promised him I'd help. It's at least a good place to start." She smiles, then. "Thank you."
After a few moments of silence, she seems to re-examine her house guest. "You sure you're doing okay? I saw the stuff Norman Osborn put out on you. And everything else going on. What happened with Gwen, and Wade. I'm here to talk, if you need a friend. You and Anya are the only two people that know everything about me. And I'll keep your secrets as close as you've both kept mine. We have to stick together." A laugh, "Pun not intended."
Peter chuckles. "Ever heard of the international cat burglar the Black Cat? Yeah. She showed up in town. Three robberies were staged so she could meet me. Apparently she had 'set her cap for me.' After a webshooter malfunction I'm STILL trying to figure out, she had me pinned down. Then she pulled my mask off, saw i was a teenager…and upchucked into my lap and bolted. So, I was pinned there for two hours with a burglar's puke drying on my crotch. It was so…surreal."
"That's - certainly odd," Cindy agrees, blinking some. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but it defintely wasn't that. She grins, somewhat, though. "But hey, at least you'll have a good story to tell your children, right?" Cindy, the optimist.
"Well. I can't say it happens to everybody, that's for sure. But," she hedges, more earnestly, "I'm sure you will figure out that malfunction. And, I suppose it's better if it's going to happen, it does with someone whose not out for your neck and more interested in cat and mouse games. Maybe she'll leave you alone, now."
Peter smirks. "Yeah. Something tells me she's more than I can handle. I think it's meeting someone else that shook me. This girl, Riri. Saw her at ESU. She's around my age. I asked her is she was new to ESU like me. That's when I found out she already has a master's from MIT…and that she's doing grad work at ESU. And then 24 hours later, she flight-tests a complete suit of powered armor and gets herself a job working for Tony Stark. It's a little humbling to find out someone is smarter than you are."
At that, Cindy has to laugh a little, "You're telling me," she manages to Peter and gives him a very friendly, but very wry look. "Between you and Anya, I feel like a dumb jock in chemistry class. With all this crazy stuff you invent. I did okay with sciences, I mean, memorization is really easy for me. I don't forget anything. But. I was always a hockey girl. Mom wanted me in the sciences, but, I thought they were too - nerdy." She lookg mildly apologetic, and laughs again.
"So, yeah. Girl jock here. With two engineers with spider-abilites way too much like her own, inventing all this awesome stuff? It's easy to feel like you're way behind. On the other hand, being a girl-jock did lend a hand in me getting a handle on fighting and my abilities pretty easily. So, there's that."
Peter chuckles. "Another blow to the ego. But like I said…egos heal. But now…now there's something else. There's another Spider out there. And from what I can tell…he's from another universe, like Mayday. But…he called me something, something I don't understand. He called me 'Arachnid Prime.'" He looks to Cindy. "I have no idea what that could mean."
"Well," begins Cindy, thoughtfully, "I suppose it could mean a couple different things. Like, Optimus Prime was the leader of the Transformers, right?" And, who didn't watch Transformers as a kid? "So, either you're, in his universe, the leader of the Arachnids. Maybe it's just a more organized team of Spiders. Like, the Avengers. But with all of us, instead." She furrows her brow.
"Or. It could mean, you're the first. Like Patient Zero. You're like the Granddaddy of all the spider-people, like us. OR. It could mean you turn into a big ugly spider furry, and chase people around at cons. And you're the best at it."
Peter shrugs. "I suppose that, in the end, it doesn't matter. In the final analysis, I just keep doing what I've always been doing. We'll sort it out eventually, right?"
He stopped and paused. "Cons? Conventions…hmmm…had you ever gone to a convention?"
"Used to," Cindy agrees. "They were fun. Haven't been to one in awhile," Cindy admits. Then, mentions after a few moments, "I can't even get used to this reality yet. So, let's you and me make sure we stay in this one. Deal?"
"Deal." He shook Cindy's hand. "And maybe the next convention that comes up, maybe we can go in costume? The Spiders?"
Cindy laughs at that, agreeably. "Sure. We can bring the Sable Spider and - whose the new one? Jeeze. That makes, what - me, you, Anya, Gwen, Sable Spider, May, and the new guy. Wow. Seven of us. That's crazy. One more, for a complete set of eight?" She seems to be half-wondering now if there's something -else- behind it. Eight spiders? Eight legs? Something to chew on, certainly.
Peter hmms. "I think he was using the moniker Scarlet Spider. So we don't have to worry about doubling up on names like the Spider-Girls." He looked around. "Did anyone tell you about Helena Wayne yet, or is that something else I need to update you on?"
Cindy makes a curious sort of face, shaking her head. "No, I guess I'm really out of the loop. What's up with Helena Wayne? Name is familiar. Wasn't she at your high school graduation party when that went south?"
Peter sighed. "I never even got to dance with her. On the upside…" He smiles pleasantly. "…she and I are dating now. Another woman who is CLEARLY out of my league. It's kinda confusing at times…"
"Awesome. Congrats." Cindy smiles warmly. "You deserve someone good. You're a great guy." She looks around at her bunker, and chuckles some more. "It'll be awhile before I date anyone, I guess. Haven't even thought about it."
"Yeah, well, I don't think you'll have too much trouble attracting someone. You're a very lovely young woman, smart, conscientious, and cautious. I think you'll do fine, as long as you can find someone and not worry if they happen to be imperfect."
Peter smirks.
"More worried about finding my parents first," admits Cindy. "Or at least, where they went." She shoulder-bumps Peter, "Glad you're okay, though. Mostly." A smile. "You want to go out and get something to eat? I'm starved. Need a refill before I get the costume on."
Peter nods. "Yeah. Yeah, that's important." He stands up, reaching down to grab his mask. "Maybe I can show you the design of the new suit. And Big Jake has the best chili dogs in the city. His wife makes the chili fresh every day,"