video; anonymous location

[unobtainableredemption]

[Kaine was sitting at one of the numerous cafes in the Earth sector, wearing his Scarlet Spider costume and feeling like an idiot in doing so. Unfortunately, he couldn't make this as Kaine, not when he couldn't remember the kid's real name to save his life.

At least this time he knew how to work the damn console.]

If you know who I am, check in. I might have something that belongs to you.

[Could that have been less cryptic? Probably. Hopefully it works.]

Comments

[unobtainableredemption]

It was.... in my world, there was a Scarlet Spider before me. These were his.

He designed his differently.

[spiderkid]

[Well now Miles has a name to put with the costume, at least.

That doesn't really answer his question, or stop him eyeing them.]

So are you gonna tell me what they do different? Or should I just test 'em out and see?

[unobtainableredemption]

[Slides them back into the pocket he found them in.] Why don't we take this outside.

[spiderkid]

[Grabs hold of the bag and gestures to the door.] Fine by me.

[unobtainableredemption]

[Turns the console off, then heads outside and climbs the wall to the roof.]

[spiderkid]

[Right behind ya.]

[unobtainableredemption]

[Pulls out a cartridge.] Here. Put these in one of your shooters.

[spiderkid]

[He does so, aims it at an empty bit of roof, and..... ]

[unobtainableredemption]

[... a small silver ball fires from the shooter. There's nothing unusual about it... until it hits the wall, and tendrils erupt from within it, covering the wall in a tight webbing. Were it a person, they'd be trapped.]

Impact webbing, I think he called it.

[spiderkid]

[Underneath the mask, Miles' eyebrows go sky high.] Whoa! That's awesome!

[unobtainableredemption]

[Gives him a second cartridge.] And this one.

[spiderkid]

What does this one do? [He says as he loads it into the shooter.]

[unobtainableredemption]

He called them Stingers. Causes temporary paralysis. [And they hurt like a bitch.] Nothing major, just enough to knock someone out. [In theory, anyway. They were never strong enough to do that to him.]

[spiderkid]

[AAAAND he'll be taking it back out of the shooter now. No need to fire a test shot when Kaine just told him what it does.]

Good to know. And good to have. Thanks.

[unobtainableredemption]

One more. [Pulls out the last one.] Tracers. Not sure if they'll work, they're tuned to Ben's spider-sense. I have no clue if yours is the same... assuming you have it.

[spiderkid]

Spider-sense... that's that weird feeling you get right before something bad happens? Yeah, I have that. Not sure how we test whether they work with mine or not.

[unobtainableredemption]

[Wow, this kid really had been on his own.] That'd be the one. YOu wouldn't happen to see... never mind. [He was fairly certain he was the only one cursed to see the future. Thank god that was gone.]

And I have no idea. That's a Parker question; mine is gone.

[spiderkid]

Gone? How is yours gone?

[unobtainableredemption]

I died.

When I came back, some of my powers were different. [That's... technically the truth.]

[spiderkid]

Ho-- How did you die?

[Asked quietly, because this is one thing Miles will understand if Kaine doesn't want to talk about.]

[unobtainableredemption]

That time?

Mrs. Kravinoff or wannabe Mrs. Kravinoff or whoever the hell she was stabbed me in the chest with a knife. [He purposefully leaves out the fact he was pretending to be Peter at the time and thus sacrificed himself to protect him, because who would want to hear that?]

[spiderkid]

I don't know who Mrs. Kravinoff is. [Because yes, Miles, that is the most important part of what Kaine just said.]

How did you come back?

[unobtainableredemption]

How about Kraven the Hunter? Does that ring any bells?

[Kaine pauses at that. That... is a hard question to answer. He had assumed his father, the Jackal, somehow revived him again, since he had been waiting for Kaine to dig himself out of his grave that night. But the monster that now resided in his head had told him otherwise. That it was the monster who had done it, that it had wanted Parker but settled for him, and had brought him back to get what it wanted. After all, he always had be someone's puppet, it seemed...]

I don't know. Like all the other times, I just woke up. [Sorry, Miles, the truth is just too personal.]

[spiderkid]

Isn't that the guy who tried to kill Spider-Man on live TV then got knocked out by a single punch?

[Miles accepts that answer, because he knows weird stuff happens and sometimes you just can't explain it. Like "just waking up" here in Keeliai. He also gets the sense that he's asking Kaine a lot of personal questions and it's probably time to back off now.]

Well, thanks for the web stuff. And for this. [He gestures to the envelope with the photograph in it.]

[unobtainableredemption]

What? [He fought Kraven once upon a time, before he blew his brains out or whatever. As much as he hates to admit it, that guy was good. There was no way tiny Parker took him out with one punch... Unless this was just another alternate universe cosmic joke. Fantastic, just his luck.]

I don't use webshooters so they're useless to me, and... something tells me Ben would want me to pass it on. [He kneels down to close the pouches around his ankle. Jesus, Ben, this was a poor design.] I figured you wouldn't want some stranger to buy it.