capeandcowl | permavid; only registered name on the comm is "spider-man"

[ The video is up-side down. It's hard to tell, because the guy in the video is also up-side down, sticking to the shiny, windowed side of an office building by his hand and feet. He looks distinctly spider-man themed, but the design is different and so is the voice. He sounds awful young. ]

Okay. Okay. I'm not freaking out but- [ A pause for some quick, audibly shallow breaths. ] -uh. I might be freaking out? Uh. There's- there's someone else living where my house is supposed to be which is really not cool, and I can't figure out what happened to the Triskelion. I'd like to help y'all out but.

If I had- uh, I don't know, directions maybe I could... knock on the door and get you some r-real- some better heroes. I kind of know Nick Fury? Sort of.

And it sounds like you need that. I-I mean, I can stop muggers and stuff, and I guess like The Ringer and Kangaroo (I'm so not making that up, there's a dude that calls himself "Kangaroo"), but this whole-- this whole alternate dimension thing is way over my head and-

[ Hitched breathing. ] And I'm still... working on it.

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[He snorts.] Well, that's what happens when you finish puberty. [Of course that makes him grimance under the mask -- it's not actually that funny, that his other self died so young he hadn't even finished growing yet.

Which only underlines the problem at hand. This kid, whoever he is, is obviously even younger, and there's no way that's going to end well.]

So, are you going to give me any hints here, or should I start guessing names randomly?

[ Miles winces a bit. He doesn't even have anything to say about that.

He does about the second thing, though. He takes a step back as far as the bridge supports will allow, which isn't very far mind. ] I-I-- what? I can't, uh- I can't just tell you! [ Right? Right?? Look Miles is just really bad at this. ]

Kid, I get it. You're all alone in this new place, away from your friends and family, and the only people you kinda-sorta recognize are guys running around in masks, one of whom is supposed to be dead. [He holds out his hands entreatingly.] I want to help you. I want to watch your back, and make sure you know everything you need to know to keep yourself safe. If there was any way I felt I could do that without horning in on your privacy, I would. Believe me, I would. But I really don't think I can.

[He sighs, and folds up into a sitting position. Deliberately making himself smaller.]

Look, you already know, but maybe seeing this in person will help.

[And he pulls off his mask, revealing the face of 29-year-old Peter Parker.]

[ Miles stays quiet, but he does react when Peter's mask comes off. There's a difference between saying it, and seeing it; it's older, and more filled out, and - frankly - not beat up and dying, but it's definitely the same face. Definitely Peter Parker's.

And he realized it was probably a bit unfair, to know Peter's name and then not share his. He had wondered about this for so long, after all; what the real- what the first Spider-Man had been like, and how he did all the things he did without getting caught or messing things up and-

After a few seconds, he reaches up, tugging at the fabric of his own mask and nervously balling it up in his fists once it's off. They're so far up, he's not all that worried about being seen. ]

Um. Miles. [ A beat- ] I mean, my name's Miles.

[He smiles.] I figured.

[And then he leans forward and up to offer his hand.] Nice to meet you, Miles. I'm Peter.

[ The last of Miles' nervousness wanes as his hand shoots out to shake Peter's, and he accidentally lets out: ] Oh my god. [ Because this is cool. ] I- I always wanted to, uh.

[ Meet a dead guy.... ]

Well, I can't say I'm used to getting that kind of reaction, but I can't say I'm complaining.

[He motions for Miles to sit if he wants, and then gestures at their costumes, first his own and then Miles'.]

So tell me, Miles, how'd you end up with this gig, anyway? I mean, did we know each other at all, or --? [He's pretty sure not, but the pieces he has are so fragmentary...]

I was, uh, bitten by a radioactive spider.

[ Miles laughs awkwardly and then follows suit, folding in on himself so he can wrap his arms around his legs and put his chin on his knees. ]

No. I--I never met you. I was-- [ Too busy being afraid to be a hero. ] --uh. And then you died...

Bitten by a -- [He snorts.] That doesn't sound familiar at all.

[But his brief surge of amusement fades when Miles continues. Peter hasn't let himself think too much about this younger, unluckier counterpart of his. He's all too aware of how close he comes to death on a regular basis -- every month, every week, sometimes every day -- and his mind skitters away from the thought that of the two of them he's the Peter Benjamin Parker who's a statistical outlier (or would be, if such a concept existed in the infinitudes of the multiverse). It's easier to comfort Gwen, Jess and Johnny in their mourning as though he's one step removed, like the other Spider-Man was a friend of a friend.

He's not sure whether seeing Miles in this uniform makes it easier or harder to come to grips with that other reality.]

I died, and you had spider-powers ... still a pretty big leap from there to being the new Spider-Man, though. Even by our standards.

[ Miles ducks his head. There are some things you just don't tell a guy - or the alternate reality version of him, anyway. Hi, you've never met me before, but I blame myself for your death! That's weird. And more than a little awkward. But no matter how irrational he knows the feeling is, he hasn't been able to shake it since seeing Peter Parker die. That sinking sense that he should have done something - anything - before it, to help.

He smoothes the mask out between his fingers, staring at it for half a second too long, before he glances up at Peter again. ]

Why did you become Spider-Man?

Back at me, huh? Can't say it's not a fair question... [His voice trails away as he looks off into the middle distance. His secret identity is an open book compared to what he is, much to his own surprise, contemplating telling Miles now. Even many of his closest friends among the other superheroes don't know how he got into crimefighting, and origin stories being what they are, none of them have asked. He's not even sure if he would tell them if they did -- not the whole story, anyway. But with Miles it just seems right to come clean. Necessary, even.]

I got my powers when I was a few years older than you -- a little younger than Spider-Woman and Gwen, maybe. Bit by a radioactive spider, same as you. But I didn't even consider using them to help people, not at first. More like the exact opposite. I'd been having a rough time fitting in the past few years, which -- [sighing] -- isn't any kind of excuse. But back then it felt like there were all these rules about how you were supposed to reach out to other people, how you were supposed to care about them -- and yet most days it seemed like only two people on Earth really cared if I lived or died. Total bullhockey, but that's what I thought at the time.

So when I got my spider-powers, I thought, you know, screw being the nice kid everyone walks all over. I'm gonna take what's mine, I'm gonna pay back my aunt and uncle for everything they've done for me -- everybody else can go to hell.

permavid; only registered name on the comm is "spider-man"

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