01 : video 🕷 daemon : happyd

[ptrprkr]

[ The video feed starts off shaky, a close-up of the front of a red t-shirt taking up most of the screen while the muffled sounds of sight struggle are heard -- although, nothing serious, it's more fumbling and clearly frustrated sighs. ]

Okay. [ It's the voice of a teenage boy! ] Is thing working? Is it on?

Yes. [ The daemon replies in a familiar older male's voice, sounding clearly Done with Peter Parker. ] Now back up, you're way too close to me.

Yeah, sure. [ He backs up, and who would have guessed that the voice of a teenager was coming from a teenager? ]

Uhm. Okay. [ He straightens his shirt out, clearly he isn't used to addressing any large groups of people... even if he can't actually see them ]

Hi! I'm Peter! [ He gives a quick wave of his hand. ] And, wow, this is a pretty long way from Queens, am I right? [ Awkward laughter. ]

Listen, kid, hurry up and get to the point, okay?

Right. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has any special skills, or abilities, or hidden talents. I once knew someone who was double jointed in their shoulders, they could turn their arms in all these weird directions

[ And, then he starts attempting to do the same..... but, very unsuccessfully. It just ends up looking odd. ]

Okay, they get it, quit it before you hurt yourself.

Okay, okay. [ Nod. Nod. ] So.... Yeah. [ He claps both of his hands together. ] If you do, is that something normal where you're from, or do you have to keep it a secret? Did someone teach you, or was it something you were born with?

Or is it the result of a run in with a radioactive insect?

[ Well, that's oddly specific.... ]

Alright, enough questions already, these folks have things to do. Wrap it up.

Fine, fine. turn off. End transmission. Stop--

[ The video then ends abruptly. ]

Comments

voice; daemon: caind

[estrayer]

[ Okay, so under normal circumstances he would have ignored this outright. But... ]

Why would it be because of a radioactive insect? [ Because, come on now. That's weird. ]

voice ; daemon : happyd

[ptrprkr]

Sometimes that happens to people.

[ People is kind of a stretch. More like person. ]

[estrayer]

[ Uhhh, okay. ]

That never happens to people. And even if it did, how would it give you powers? Radiation sickness, maybe.

[ptrprkr]

It totally happens to people.
Not very often. Literally one in a million.

I don't really know how. I'm guessing something to do with the type of radiation it got exposed to [ A lot of weird stuff happened after those aliens came out of the sky. ] and whatever was in the bite messed around with my DNA.

[ He pauses. And then, like a lightbulb clicking on: ]

Like a werewolf! [ A beat. ] But, with a spider. And I don't turn into a spider.

[ Yeah. just like a werewolf. ]

[estrayer]

[ Stops.

Reconsiders. ]

You're saying you got bit by a radioactive spider, and now you're what, some kind of spider boy?

[ Can you hear the skepticism in his tone? It's dripping. ]

Werewolves are humans who've been infected by something that came from demons, originally. Not from regular wolves. If it doesn't turn you into a spider, what exactly does it make you do?

[ptrprkr]

Well. Yeah.

[ He's fully aware of how crazy it sounds. If it hadn't happened to him, he probably wouldn't believe it either. ]

Spider-Man, actually. That's kind of what I go by.

[ Well. This guy is certainly way more versed in werewolves than Peter is. ]

It gave me spider abilities, you could say. My reflexes and senses got tuned to like a thousand, I can climb walls, I ended up with a little extra strength. Luckily nothing too weird.

[estrayer]

Spider-Man?

[ Jace says, with emphasis that's probably insulting. So is the amusement he's showing. He can't help it, okay, this boy looks like a younger version of Simon.

Granted, Simon isn't completely useless in a fight these days, but still. ]

I'd say climbing walls is pretty weird for a typical Mundane, but whatever you are, you're not that. You don't spin webs to catch people for dinner, do you? Because you seem like a nice kid, and I'd hate to have a problem with you.

[ptrprkr]

Yeah, it's like... [ He pauses for a moment. ] It's just safer than going around using my real name.

[ Yeah. That's kind of the reaction most everyone gives when they find out. (Except his best friend, but what else can be expected from a fellow teenager?) ]

A typical Mundane? [ The confusion is more than evident in Peter's voice. He knows the words, but hasn't ever heard then used in that sense. ]

No, that'd be weird even for a dude named Spider-man. My spider abilities sort of stop at wall climbing and heightened senses. I can shoot webbing, but that's because of something I made. I'm not here to start trouble, I'm usually the one stopping it.

[estrayer]

Yeah. Like, an ordinary human. [ Jace says, by way of explanation re. what a Mundane is. Basically: that's not what you are anymore, buddy.

Still. That makes him feel a little better. It's looking like this kid sees himself as a kind of a superhero, which, you know. Nerdy, but at least it probably means he's not a public menace. ]

That's good to know. Stopping it's usually my job. I'm a Shadowhunter. We protect humans from things that aren't. [ In a nutshell. ] No bugs involved, though.

[ptrprkr]

Oh. [ There's obvious realization in Peter's voice. He's never really thought of himself in that manner -- even if it is a completely accurate statement. ]

Shadowhunter? So, is that what your team is called? [ Which, in Peter's opinion, is a lot cooler of a title than Avenger. ] I've got one of those, too. The Avengers! [ Can you hear the pride in his voice? Because it's surely there. ] We sorta do the same thing, we protect people from aliens and monsters and crazy guys with cybernetic wings.

Do you guys have, like, powers or something, too?

[estrayer]

That's what my people are called. My team can be made up of anyone from my Institute, but I usually work with the same group. We're not--

[ Okay try not to sound dismissive, Jace. ]

We aren't superheroes in costume or whatever, we're just doing a job.

[ Pause. ]

We do have powers, though. We mark ourselves with runes to give us different abilities. Like strength or speed...that kind of thing.