Open - Welcome to the Neighborhood

[stupidbutgood]

Who: Peter Parker & OTA
Where: Around
When: February
What: Catch-All for the month.

Warnings: None. Will update if necessary.



Let’s Ride - OTA

Yes, Peter has a van. He could drive it. It works perfectly fine and he’s actually trying to improve it. Gas is expensive though and he’s very careful with his budget. Meaning if he doesn’t have to drive he’s not going to and he is a man with many mobility options.

His current one is street surfing.

Peter has his hand stuck to the back of a car as he crouches low on his skateboard. It’s a thing he does back home too though he usually just sticks to the car directly. That’s best when he can use his webs to change direction quickly. Saving those means he’s adapted the technique with his skateboard.

It’s also fun as hell.

Crazy because it seems drivers here are more insane than in New York and the streets are in very poor condition but he’s in no danger of losing his skateboard thanks to being sticky and his spider-sense is great for pot holes.

It might be the best way to get around and the cheapest. Only a few people have demanded pay after.

When this particular ride stops Peter disconnects his hand and hops off his board. He gives the car a fond pat.

“Thanks for the ride!” he calls to the driver as he skips up onto the sidewalk. “Appreciate it!”

—

Watcher - OTA

Peter sits on the roof of his van staring into the distance. He’s pulled over to the side of the road about halfway between the Scrapyard and the city. Nothing appears to be outwardly wrong with his van and nothing actually is. Peter has stopped on purpose.

In the distance he can see something but he’s been warned not to go on his own. Peter’s still tempted so he settles for kind of a middle ground of watching and observing.

He’s even got a little notebook balanced on his knee and the stubbiest golf pencil anyone has ever seen. The scientist in him demands he record what he sees. He hopes that enough observations and he’ll be able to draw some conclusions that could lead to them either knowing when weird stuff is about to happen or be able to get them home.

Peter’s still really worried about his Aunt May.

It doesn’t surprise him that someone stops and pulls up by his van. Peter waits to see if a tingle builds in the back of his head as they approach his van.

“Hey man,” he says with a little wave. “I’m good. Parked here on purpose.”

Just in case the good Samaritan actually has somewhere they need to get to, Peter doesn’t want to delay them.

—

Escort Service - OTA

Spider-Man’s going to Spider-Man.

Even in this weird dystopian multi-dimensional nexus hellscape Peter goes out every night in his suit to do what he can to tone down the crime problem in the city. There’s a lot of it. He swears if he sees one more corrupt cop shake down a person he’s going to scream.

New York isn’t free of those things but he doesn’t see them as often.

Whether he’s making a difference or not is debatable. There’s a lot going on in the city and Peter’s vigilantism is just a drop in the bucket. It will take a lot more than him to permanently change things. But he’s still got to try.

He drops down from a building but stays crouched to be small and as non-threatening as possible for a guy in red and blue spandex who basically just appeared out of nowhere.

“Hey, hi, I’m Spider-Man.” He puts a hand to his chest as he introduces himself. “And this neighborhood is kinda dangerous. Would you like me to walk you to wherever you’re going? Two people are way harder to mug than just one.”

And he knows how that sounds. It sounds like the perfect set up for a mugging but Peter hopes his genuine sincerity will come through the mask. He is trying to help. A few people have run and Peter gets it.

“Pinky promise,” he says, actually holding out his pinky like the dork he is.

Comments

let's ride

[americassed]

[ Did Steve already see Peter a few blocks away? Yes. Was he tempted to chase after him and tell him this mode of transportation doesn't seem safe? Absolutely. But as he turns around a corner, Peter's already dropping himself off at the next stop.

Look, it's true that these streets aren't exactly dissimilar to some of the streets in New York, but a lot of things here are objectively worse. And not just the drivers but some of the people too. Lawlessness has Steve doing patrols almost everyday whenever he has the time.

As he stops just near Peter, not dismounting yet with his bike's engine still on, he nods. ]

That's one way to get around.

[stupidbutgood]

Captain Coach. [ Peter gives a little wave. ] It works great.

[ Is it safe? Absolutely not. Not for anyone except Peter. With his reflexes and strength it's really not that bad. He can also make a quick escape if someone gets pissed off at him for doing it. ]

Hey, I met your friend Bucky. Serious guy.

[americassed]

[ It's definitely not safe, but Steve also trusts Peter's judgment. Trusts that he'd be fine and that this is something he'd walk away from unscathed. He's just concerned for his well-being and the well-being of others. But with this trust, Steve doesn't come out lecturing him from the get-go, even if he was tempted to earlier. Because, frankly, aside from it looking like it works great, Peter seemed to be having fun with it, too.

So, instead, he turns off his bike's engine (gas prices are skyrocketing and he needs to save as much joolies as he can for him and Bucky's spending) and continues to talk to Peter without dismounting. At this point, Steve's also used to being called Captain Coach. ]

You did, huh? He's a good man. [ He smiles, happy that Peter and Bucky already met. ] What did you guys talk about?

[stupidbutgood]

[ Trusting Peter's judgement is a 50-50 sort of thing. Sometimes he has the worst ideas. ]

Not much. He mostly lectured me about the dangers of trusting people. Not sure how you two are friends since you're all about teamwork and he's expecting a shank in the ribs from... everyone. [ He shrugs. ] But whatever.

[ Peter suspects he annoyed the hell out of Bucky but he hasn't seen the guy since to confirm. ] He said I should ask you about the 1910's.

[americassed]

He means well. He just doesn't trust easily.

[ And the road to that has been filled with so much horror and grief that Steve won't get into. That is Bucky's story to tell should he ever choose to. ]

Don't worry, I'm sure he doesn't think ill of you. [ Steve will defend Bucky until the end of the line. ]

What about the 1910's do you want to know?

[stupidbutgood]

No kidding. [ The sarcasm comes through because that's probably the most obvious statement Peter's ever heard. It took two sentences from Bucky for Peter to catch the paranoia. Of course that comes across as kind of mean so Peter makes a face at himself. ] Sorry.

[ Clearly Bucky matters to Steve and Peter doesn't actually want to be a dick. He just can't help it sometimes. It comes out without meaning to. ]

How do you know about the 1910's? Are you two historians or something? [ Even though he asks it, it's clear Peter suspects something else. ]

[americassed]

It's okay. [ If Steve can reach Peter while sitting on his bike, he would've placed a gentle hand on the young man's shoulder. It's fine. The sarcasm is something he also has in spades. He's also around Bucky everyday, so.

That, and Steve can tell he has heart, much like the Peter he also knows. It's still a bit uncanny but he's slowly getting used to it. ]

Not exactly historians when we lived through those years. [ A beat. ] We were born in the 1910's. Of course, back then, I don't look like this.

[stupidbutgood]

Huh.

[ Peter considers Steve for a second because that's a little hard to believe. A technological world like this one should throw anyone from the 1910's for a loop. He's handling it all remarkably well. ]

I'm guessing there's more to it than that because you are really relaxed for a guy from before the silicone chip was invented.

[americassed]

Well, you're right.

[ Trust Peter to know that straight away. The kid's smart. It's not like he's going to withhold his story, anyway. Everyone and their grandparents back home know the story of Captain America. ]

Back in 1945, my plane crashed into the Arctic. I was frozen for decades until I was found in 2011. You could imagine the culture shock I had. [ Still having, sometimes. ]

[stupidbutgood]

[ Oh, he's so smart. Sometimes it makes him very stupid to be this smart. But his world doesn't have Captain America. Steve Rogers doesn't exist as far as Peter knows. ]

Okay... so you've got some sort of thing going on to keep you alive because that long in the ice should've killed you. [ Not to mention the general way ice can change and sheer off and really there's no way Steve should have survived.

Except some sort of outside factor allowed him to survive like that. Peter wants to say mutation but he shouldn't assume. ]

[americassed]

[ Pretty good with the follow-up questions, Peter. ]

I volunteered for a serum back in the day to help fight in the war. Like I said, I didn't look like this before. I was born small and was sick all the time. The serum enhanced me in many ways.

[ There's a kind of softness that cuts through his eyes as he remembers Dr. Erskine. Remembers that he shouldn't be a perfect soldier, but a good man. Everyday he hopes he's keeping his promise. ]

That's how I survived.

[stupidbutgood]

Hey, at least you knew what was going to happen to you.

[ Peter's enhancements were a huge surprise. He didn't volunteer for anything. He just got bit. ]

And Bucky got the same thing? Serum, frozen, ended up in the future? [ It's got to be at least a similar story because the two of them knew each other back in the 1910's and Bucky talked like he was familiar with the future. ] Unless he's a time machine situation which at this point I would totally believe because why not?

[americassed]

More or less, yeah.

[ Serum, frozen, ended up in the future. There are a lot of things that have been omitted there, far more horrific things he wished Bucky didn’t have to go through, but he won’t get into them. He’s going to protect Bucky’s peace.

So, naturally, Steve pivots by picking out something Peter said. ]

How did you get bitten by the spider that gave you your abilities? [ Is it a common thing to all Peter Parkers? ]

[stupidbutgood]

It was an accident. [ He shrugs. ] I was touring Oscorp and I guess it got out. Wrong place at the right time?

[ He was actually investigating what happened to his parents and his only connection was Oscorp.

He's not going to mention he stole a spot from someone who rightfully got an internship. He doesn't think Steve would approve. ]

Do you guys have Oscorp or no?

[americassed]

[ Steve shakes his head. ] Not that I know of.

[ The mostly dominating tech company ever since he woke up in 2011 is Tony's Stark Industries. The name doesn't really ring a bell, even when Steve briefly searches his mind for companies they've looked into that did some shady dealings.

Come to think of it, Steve never really asked his Peter how he got his powers. Most likely got bitten by a radioactive spider too, of course, but perhaps made by something else. ]

Do you mind telling me more about it?

[stupidbutgood]

What? Oscorp? [ He's never thought about how to explain Oscorp to anyone before because it's so ubiquitous in his world. Everyone knows Oscorp. ] They're, uh, a mega-corp. They do everything from tech to medicine. You know, have government contracts and stuff.

[ He shrugs. ] The spider thing was a project into cross-species genetics for medical stuff. There was another one with lizards to regrow limbs. I... don't know why they changed the spiders.

[ Maybe he knows more than he's letting on. Maybe he's unsure. Hard to say. ]

It's the tech company, you know? And, uh, this girl I liked worked there so I kinda snuck onto a tour so I could, you know, see her. [ Also maybe not the truth. ]

[americassed]

[ So, kind of like Stark Industries, then. That's probably the equivalent of Oscorp in Steve's world. Which, in hindsight, kind of makes sense since his Peter has close ties with Tony. Whereas this Peter has a connection with Oscorp.

He's not going to pry more about this girl Peter liked because that's not his business. So, he focuses more on other aspects of what he just relayed. ]

I wish they were more careful with their genetically engineered spiders if one of them ended up biting you. [ Peter might have benefited from it by gaining powers to help people, but what if it killed him? Safety hazard and Captain Coach doesn't approve. ]

The last thing we need is someone being bitten by those lizards, too.

[stupidbutgood]

[ Close ties to Oscorp is technically true but Peter does not have positive views on the company overall. ]

I don't know. What would my world do if I hadn't gotten bit? We don't have people like you or the mutants to protect it. [ Peter shakes his head a little. The accident led to a whole mess of problems but also it led to a lot of people being saved. ]

No, no, the lizard thing never went anywhere. The first they tested it on did regrow his arm but he also turned into a giant half-man half-lizard creature and tried to turn all of New York into lizard people too.

[ On that he's being 100% genuine. That is exactly what happened. ]

[americassed]

The bite was a benefit to you, but what if it bit someone else and they died from it? All I'm saying is it was a safety hazard.

[ They were lucky it was Peter who ended up getting that bite and not someone who could've ended up killed because of it, whether due to complications from the bite or from using their powers recklessly. Hell, Peter's lucky to have even survived it, much like how he survived the serum.

Mega corporations and their tech. Steve's not a newbie when it comes to technology and experiments going awry. Right, Ultron? ]

Much like that half-man half-lizard creature. When we bite more than what we can chew, things like this happen. [ Again, Ultron. ]

[stupidbutgood]

I think they destroyed the spiders. [ But it did destroy someone's life. He is so mad at Harry and also feels so bad for him. Peter doesn't know which feeling to go with. ] But like... it's a mega-corp, man. They're going to do whatever benefits them most.

[ But Peter's keeping an eye on them. Just in case. He doesn't think it'll stop with Harry. ]

Yeah, it was pushed through too fast before proper testing but like the initial intention was good. It's just, you know, greed getting in the way. [ And he still feels close to Dr. Connors. He wasn't a bad guy. Just.. pushed too fast too hard. ]

[americassed]

Greed always gets in the way.

[ This is sadly how it is every time. Steve sighs. Decades in the ice and the world is still the same in this regard when he woke up. ]

But this is why we do what we do. I’m proud of what you do, Peter.

You stepped up and used your powers for good. With powers like ours, we should be responsible on how we use them. [ When most people who have power gets corrupted by it. ]

[stupidbutgood]

[ Peter really has to fight the urge to roll his eyes at that. Steve is never beating the Captain Coach nickname. He's just... so earnest about it all. Peter really has no idea how to accept mentor figures but he seems to be collecting them. ]

Yeah, I know. With great power comes great responsibility. [ It's something his uncle would say something. Usually related to stupid politicians doing stupid things but Peter kind of took it to heart. It rang a lot truer after he got his powers. ]

So, like, how is your thing different from what the X-Men are doing?