2019-11-20 - A Spider With Armor

Summary:

Spider-Man catches up with Armor for some long-overdue gratitude.

Log Info:

Storyteller: None
Date: Wed Nov 20 00:00:00 2019
Location: Manhattan, NY

Related Logs

None

Theme Song

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hisako-ichikipeter-parker

The door to Kinokuniya's flagship store in New York swings open, then slowly closes again behind a young woman carrying a shopping bag. It wasn't Hisako's most successful visit to the store, but she found some good books and she left without spending all of her money; that makes it a decent trip for her. Next stop, somewhere for supper …

Or at least, that's her working plan. You never know what'll happen in the Big Apple.


Spider-Man is doing some webslinging, and is pretty SURE the nightmares are going to stay away this time. He's hoping, anyway. Webslinging through the city is actually quite soothing when no one's chasing you.

He comes around the building, swinging wide but looking down at the people. There are eight million stories in the naked city, Breslin had said once. It is more now, but…
Then one face in particular is highlighted and a word balloon appears in his HUD over her. <ARMOR.>
He stops, swinging over to the side of the building to get a better look. Yep…it's her, all right.
He watches for a few seconds more, then determines where the crowds will thin out. He hops over to a streetlight, then waits for her to get close before calling out. "Hey…up here?"


"Hm?" Hisako pauses, glancing around, then looks up, trying not to seem too suspicious about the voice that just descended from on high. Or, well, not *that* high.

"Good afternoon," she says cordially, offering a casual smile - you know, as if getting flagged down (up?) by a superhero in red and blue tights is just an ordinary thing for her.

At least she classifies Spider-Man as a hero, unlike *some* people. "Is there something I might help you with?" Hisako asks, still good-naturedly.


Spider-Man sounds a little sheepish and unsure, but he presses on."Well…listen, do you have time to talk? There's some stuff I wanted to say to you, and I kinda don't want to do it on a busy sidewalk. There's a little park not far from here. Can we chat there?"


"Bryant Park?" asks Hisako, glancing in a east-south-east-ish direction; she seems to know the place. "I could meet you there, certainly. I was going to grab a sandwich or a gyro or something first, but that's not a bad place to sit and eat."

She pauses, a hint of a smile (or maybe a smirk) lifting one corner of her mouth. "Can I tempt you with a bite to eat as well? It'd be rude to eat in front of you and not offer you anything …"


Spidey looks a little bashful. He probably shouldn't impose…

His stomach gurgled. Loud.
"Uhm…I could eat." He drops down to street-level, then reaches into a belt-compartment and pulls out a $20 bill, handing it to Hisako. "As long as it isn't seafood, use your best judgment. Meet you there?"


"No seafood," Hisako says, nodding. "Give me about five minutes."

It only takes her about three and a half - she knew what *she* wanted, or close enough to find something that seemed appetizing without having to stop and make up her mind. Her chosen meal is actually more of a kebab wrap (certified kosher *and* halal), with a bag of potato chips. She actually has two of each. "Would you like a lamb/chicken combo, or chicken only?" she inquires as she approaches a bench conveniently underneath another light post, somewhere they can see if anyone else is approaching.

… on the other hand, wouldn't it be hilarious if she's asking this around the wrong bench than where Spider-Man is expecting her?


Spider-Man descends from above the streetlight, hanging upside-down from a webline. He gets to about ten feet off the ground, then hops off, flipping over to land on his feet.

Then he walks over to Hisako and hugs her fiercely, almost desperately. "THANK YOU…thank you for being there…for making your stand…for helping me…for saving my life."


"Eep - !"

Okay, that was NOT something Hisako expected to have happen this afternoon. Normally it probably wouldn't be that big a deal if she knew to *expect* a hug like that, but Spider-Man has surprise on his side, and even without super-strength, it's the kind of hug that would likely make anyone's ribs protest. So she does stiffen up, at least briefly. "Ah. You're welcome …"

She tries to hug him back, at least a little bit, but it's kind of awkward with a kebab bag dangling from each hand, *and* while she's reeling from the surprise. "So you recognized me, huh?" she asks in a sheepish whisper. Maybe she *should* take to wearing a mask or a cowl or something when she's out being an X-Man, with or without her teammates.


After a few moments, Spidey seems to realize how odd this looks, and he lets go, looking sheepish. "Sorry…I've been looking for you, on and off, for the last three weeks. I wanted to show my gratitude. And…well, yeah. I had encoded facial-recognition into the costume's suit, but like I said…three weeks." He steps back, aware he is making her uncomfortable.


Yes, she probably *should* start wearing a mask or something, thinks Hisako with a sheepish look. "Well, I'm glad you're a friend, if you were this persistent about looking for me," she says wryly, mustering a smile. "- Oh, I do have your change too … chicken, or lamb and chicken? I usually get the combination, but …"

You can almost see her kicking herself mentally before she pulls herself back to the first and more important topic. "Seriously. I'm glad I was able to help out, even if I didn't fully understand what was going on - and even though I missed the final showdown, or so I presume since that life-sucking idiot seems to have dropped off the radar. And you are, in fact, still alive and kicking. I assumed it was better if I couldn't keep listening in on your network, so I already purged those frequencies, but if you wanted me to keep them - ?"


Spidey blinks. He smiles sheepishly. "Chicken sounds good." He takes a deep breath. "Yeah. Found out his weakness was radiation. Hard radiation in particular. But…well, I was worried that since he had a special weakness, he would be sensitive to its presence. So I had to expose it to him in something he wouldn't expect…namely, in what he ate and drank. So I poisoned him with Phosphorus-33, a very…intense radioactive isotope."


Spider-Man's preference in gyros is met by one of the bags being offered to him; besides the wrapped kebab, there's a packet of potato chips and a handful of paper napkins tucked into the plastic sack. "Here you go," she says with a smile ….

… a smile which is very short-lived, given Spidey's next revelation. "You exposed him to radiation … lacing his 'food' with it - you mean - somebody had to have it in their bodies?!" she finishes, barely keeping her voice down to an alarmed squeak.


Spidey took out the gyro, then produces a bottle of water from his backpack. "Yeah…somebody. The one he was so keen on turning into a meal. It was the only way. Luckily, I had an accomplished healer keeping me ]alive until i could…deliver the poison."


Hisako sits down heavily on the nearest bench, carefully tugging open a package of chips before unwrapping her gyro. "I'm guessing that 'somebody' was a certain friendly neighborhood spider-hero in red and blue, who still gets a certain amount of negative press from vociferous nay-sayers." She shakes her head in disbelief. "I'm glad you had so many friends with you … and I'm a little glad I wasn't there for the finale, I'm not sure if I could have let you go through with it. Unless you kept most of your allies in the dark, aside from the healer?"


Spidey sat down next to her, a foot or so away to give her some breathing room.
"Some knew. I know it hurt them. I am sure some of them would have rather it be them instead of me…but I was the one Morlun was after. And his death was…well, the P-33 worked fast on him, considering how much he…ate and drank. By the time one of them finished him off, he was near death, anyway. Begging for his life. I was in no condition to do anything, but I am pretty sure that if one of them hadn't…killed him…at least three others would have stepped in to do it."


Hisako nods, munching on her gyro - momentarily at a loss for words. To take radioactive material into himself just so it would poison his enemy - an enemy who wasn't just after Spider-Man, but other Spider-heroes as well, and with no compunctions whatsoever about maiming or murdering non-heroic bystanders …

"Are you recovered from all of that now?" she finally asks. "Radiation isn't much of a friend to regular people, let alone superheroes. Even with a healer's help, I'd hope you have somebody who can make sure there are no lingering effects."


Spidey lifts his mask up just past his nose to take a bite. He smiles as he chews.
"I think I recovered because my origin, how I got my powers, involved radiation. So I think that helped me recover. That, and the iodine cocktail with the Prussian blue chaser. And Angel, as well. But I seems to be back at my normal levels, after a few long days of recovery."


Hisako nods, "Good to hear. I haven't spent that much time in New York City, and haven't known you for that long … but I think the city would be that much darker if you weren't around. No matter what some people might say."

She considers a few things as she continues eating for a moment. "So - did you want a way to get in touch with me, for heroic work or just on a friendly basis?" she wonders. "Your secret identity is important to you, I'm sure - and I can entirely understand why! - but it's important to have friends, too. Not just allies you can call on in a pinch. I'm not asking to know who you are, even though you have the advantage of me," she admits with a wry smile.


Spidey smiles wryly. "I do have a phone number. I give it to my friends. I know how to answer depending on who calls. And if you want to get into the crimefighting business…I don't see why we can't make you an honorary Spider."


"An honorary Spider …" Hisako chews that offer over, much as she chews on the next bite of her gyro.

On the one hand? It's kind of flattering to have an offer like that on the table - and it's not something she thinks Spider-Man would hold out lightly. On the other hand, she *does* have her team, even if she hasn't mentioned them - even if she *can't* talk about them, at least not openly.

"Spiders are considered good luck in my home country," Hisako says after finishing that bite of her gyro. "I can't always come to your aid, but I'd be glad to help you and your allies when circumstances allow it. And maybe - if you see fit to trust me further, later on - we could be friends on the civilian side as well. But that'll be at *your* decision, not mine," she reiterates. "You're trusting me deeply enough already, I don't want to stretch that."


Spidey looks thoughtful as he eats. "We can see how it works out. I think you could really help people if the opportunity presented itself. And as time goes on…maybe that can be feasible. But that's in the future. I think we should keep in touch to help people now."
It was getting later in the day, and he could see some of the stars.
"In any case…" Spider-Man points at Hisako, and her phone beeps quietly with a new contact: SPIDER-MAN. Complete with a phone numnber and email address (moc.liamg|9102yedipS#moc.liamg|9102yedipS) in the entry. "That should do it, I think?"


Hisako fishes her phone out, takes note of the new contact, and sends a quick text message with her own contact info - including a Gmail address of her own, plus both mobile (local-ish) and home (international; he might recognize the country code for Japan) phone numbers.

"I doubt you'll need to try the 'home' number to get a hold of me," says Hisako after sending that. "If I don't answer, I'll pick up messages when I can."


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