April-May 2024 Test Drive Meme

[folkie]

April-May 2024 TDM

Introduction

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This Test Drive meme is open to all.
Welcome to Folkmore's monthly Test Drive Meme! Please feel free to test drive any and all characters regardless of your intent to apply or whether you have an invite or not.

All TDMs are game canon and work like "mini-events". For new players and characters, you can choose to have your TDM thread be your introduction thread upon acceptance or start fresh. Current players are also allowed to have in-game characters post to the TDM so long as they mark their top levels ‘Current Character.’

TDM threads can be used for spoon spending at any time by characters accepted into the game.

Playing and interacting with the TDMs will allow characters to immediately obtain canon items from homes especially weapons or other things they may have had on their person when they were pulled from their worlds! There will always be a prompt that provides some sort of "reward" to characters who complete certain tasks.

Current players are always encouraged to tag new people on the TDM!


🦊 New Star Children meet the Fox still in their worlds, and she brings them into the new realm of Folkmore. As you follow her, your body begins to change and new characteristics emerge. These may stay for a while, or perhaps they will hide away after. And during all of this, the Fox explains to you where you will be going: to Folkmore.

and then... you fall like a shooting star, falling to the land in a burst of starlight.


🦊 Experienced Star Children are already familiar with this time of the month. There are shooting stars all across the sky, and some fall to the land, which means the Fox has brought new arrivals. These newly arrived Star Children will face some tests, but Thirteen wants the more seasoned residents to participate as well.

Perhaps you follow the falling stars on your own, or perhaps the Fox simply teleports you there, but it appears you too will be part of this.

[ Prompt One ★ Prompt Two]

Lost & Found . ★

Content Warnings: Forced Relocation, Forced Sharing, Potential Violence & Harm

New Star Children arrive in Wintermute. Not at the hot springs, the school, or anywhere else near civilization. They arrive in the middle of white, snowy nowhere. The good news is that Wintermute is no longer dark twenty-four seven. There is enough light to avoid crevasses, blocked up wells, and other dangerous features of the landscape. Further, no one is expected to figure out how to get out of there on their own.

Usually Thoth finds the lost travelers in the cold expanse of Wintermute. However, she's busy exploring the multiverse for new and interesting ideas for technology. Not to fret! She hasn't abandoned ye who've entered here. There's a new emergency lost and found network:

The Wandering Dog food carts are now open twenty-four seven! The dogs work in shifts, but the food remains as delicious as ever. When a Star Child gets lost in Wintermute, another Star Child will happen to be buying food from a Wandering Dog somewhere in Folkmore. One such lucky unlucky Star Child gets transported to the School of Thoth. Specifically, to where the mechanical sled dogs hang out. They receive a warm winter coat over whatever they were wearing and another one on hand for whoever they are rescuing. Then it's off across the snow! Don't worry, non-mushing experts, the dogs know what they're doing and lead the sled right to the designated lost Star Child.

The rescuee gets to lay in the sled for the ride back, wrapped up warm and cozy in their new winter coat (it may be spring, but it's always cold in Wintermute). The sled dogs bring Star Children back to the hot springs, so that they can warm up even more. Alternatively, Star Children can explore the Cutting Edge, the School of Thoth, or something else in Wintermute. However, the Star Children cannot part ways or leave Wintermute immediately.

The sled dogs, yes the whole team, will stay with the pair to enforce this. They may surround the pair like a pack, cuddle pile on top of them, or lay around the edges of a hot spring. No matter how long it takes to realize the dogs are doing this and that there's a reason for it, Star Children will eventually find instructions in one of the dogs' collars: Share something that other people have refused to listen to you about. Everyone ought to be listened to.

Only once both Star Children have shared something with each other will the dogs let them part ways and see, perhaps, the rest of Folkmore.

On the walk to Akhlut Station, Star Children will see plain weapons sticking out of the snow: swords, guns, knives. These are simple, non-magical practical weapons. Experienced Star Children may know to suspect such free offerings, but nothing immediately happens upon picking one up. However, once on the train, the train will be attacked by frost spirits. These icy spirits must either be hacked to pieces until they can no longer reform or melted with fire. Innocent passengers who didn't pick up a weapon may be forced to get involved, but the frost spirits will be most focused on those who picked up weapons.

• New Star Children arrive in remote areas of Wintermute.
• Star Children buying food from The Wandering Dog get teleported to the School of Thoth to rescue people with a team of sled dogs.
• Star Children get amazing new winter coats!
• Star Children cannot part ways until they share something others have refused to listen to! The dogs enforce this.
• Simple, non-magical weapons stick out of the snow on the way to the train station.
• Anyone who picks up one of those weapons will see their train get attacked by frost spirits.

No Dumb Ideas . ★

Content Warnings: Potential Forced Participation, Potential Harm

Thoth has been listening to any and all ideas people have had around science in the last few months. Whether they were shower thoughts or a discussion between scientific colleagues or anywhere in between, she's made her list and built every one as an experiment. On a human scale. A human test subject scale. Because every idea has merit. That's right: Thoth believes in you.

Posters saying Thoth Needs You! go up around Folkmore. They offer a reward for participating in an experiment. Simply tear off a piece of paper from the bottom of the poster, and at some point in the future, you're in. Now, there might be a little hiccup here or there. These posters are experimental too! So some Star Children who don't tear off a slip might get pulled into an experiment as well. (Who said Thirteen ought to recruit for her trials? Thoth listened… or she tried.) Oh well, at least it's all in the name of science!

Perhaps Star Children need to sing Baby It's Cold Outside to convince the other to stay (it really will be cold outside). Perhaps they have a choice of spinners, buttons, levers, or other devices to interact with. Perhaps they make their way through a maze. Perhaps they try a new contraption. Perhaps they even recognize their own idea come to life! There's a multitude of new tech to try, and it has not been safety tested.

Nothing will explode. Probably. Maybe. Okay, some experiments are definitely going to have explosions. How about pressing that button anyway and finding out if it's this one?

Once Star Children survive the experiment—and they will, Thoth may be a loose cannon of a scientist, but she's ensured that much—they will emerge from one of the School of Thoth's laboratories. Togo, the grey wolf mascot, waits on the other side with an item for each test subject: an item from home. This may even be a weapon or magical item.

No one is left to the cold to fend for themselves. One of the nearby classrooms has been set up as a first aid center. Dog spirits of all sizes, from the smallest Maltipoo spirit to the largest Great Dane spirit, staff a healing clinic and will treat any injuries Star Children received in the experiments (or already sported). They offer hot lemonade—lemon juice, molasses, and hot water—to everyone to warm their soul. Injured Star Children can find a corner to rest by themselves or company with which to discuss their experiments.

• Thoth has built experiments to bring Star Children’s ideas to life.
• Pick a paper tab off a Thoth Needs You! poster to participate. Or don’t. A mishap may bring Star Children there regardless.
• Do science! Be a human experiment! Maybe experience explosions!
• Togo, the Thoth mascot, will have an item from home for every Star Child who participates.
• Dog spirits man (dog?) a first aid center in a nearby classroom.

Comments

Arrival

[soloacts]

Gwen's already had her adventure of nearly freezing to death in her Spider-suit, so it hadn't taken much convincing to get her on a sled with the robot dogs to go on a rescue mission. She'd been pretty hungry, but the food cart would have to wait. That's just the sacrifice one had to make, being a hero and all. Never mind that this place didn't think she's a hero enough to be a Legend, making her a Familiar instead. She's still working out what that even means.

What did that stupid Fox know, anyway?

Bundled up now in a thick hooded jacket, sweater, insulated snow pants, and boots, she heads out. It's not long before Gwen sees the figure in the distance. The robot dogs don't even need to be told before they are rushing the sled in that direction. Still, she feels obligated to give the reins a little up and down action and cry out 'mush!'. That's just what you had to do, right? It's the rules.

Peeling the sled around to a stop a few feet in front of him, Gwen hops off the sled to trudge over to him. And stops when she sees his suit. "Of course," There's a small laugh under her breath. This is getting all a bit ridiculous at this point. Rescued by a Peter, now rescuing another--

"Hello, Peter." She tosses him an extra coat and gestures to the sled, "Wanna, ride?"

[spideyguy]

Peter's just trudging through the snow, steadily getting colder and wondering where, exactly, his life has gone so wrong that this is his fate. Fitting, his kind of luck; but maybe that's the miserable cold talking. He really doesn't mix well with the snow. The sled, however, perks up his ears; he hears the soft beat of paws and the glide of the vehicle over the ice before he sees it, the driver calling out to the dogs very convincingly (What? That's totally what they do on TV, he buys it).

He's pretty sure Jersey doesn't have sled dogs...right? Maybe he really has been on that island too long. He's such a city slicker, it's embarrassing.

The person driving the sled in question is a girl, oddly...familiar?

And then she goes and says his name. Not Spiderman. Peter. He catches the coat out of reflex, tilting his head to the side in question - his suit lenses don't move, impossible to read for most (but Gwen's not exactly most, is she?)

"Do I - know you?" He's still moving towards the sled though, unperturbed - the coat is gratefully shrugged on, a full body shiver running down his spine when he zips it over his costume. "Thanks. Guy's liable to turn into a spider-popsicle out here, and let's just say, that's the flavor everybody leaves in the bottom of the box."

[soloacts]

She'd made an educated guess he'd be a Peter, most all of them were that had some variation of that suit. There were a few non-Peter's who had something similar, but most were distinctively different.

"Me, specifically? No. But maybe a version of me. That's usually how it goes." Once he's close enough, she might see a flash of sadness that she quickly covers up with a smile. Despite meeting so many of him, it still brings her back to that night in the high school gym every time she runs across another one. Especially since so many of them had canon events revolving around her too.

It's fine. She's fine.

Hopping onto the back of the sled, Gwen gestures to the cargo basket for him to get in. There are also blankets in there, "That does sound pretty gross. Like those suckers with the bugs in them."

Who even bought those anyway? Other than for a joke?

[spideyguy]

"A version of you?" This is not following the plot of any of his regular dreams, and the cold is just a little too uncomfortable to not be real. But then - what the hell was this, then. Something about the blue of her eyes is strikingly familiar, especially when there's that tinge of sadness to them. Sadness that stirs something in him, too, and he shifts his weight uncomfortably - it's always a struggle, when that grief twinges, unbidden. "What's your name? Got me at something of a disadvantage here."

Fine is a relative term where any of the spider-people are concerned.

Transportation via sled dog cargo basket is not the weirdest way he's ever traveled, but its gotta be up there. Still, Peter climbs aboard, folding himself into a pretzel to fit long limbs completely into the basket. Luckily, it's not an uncomfortable position; frankly, he's more comfortable with contorting himself. He never could sit in a chair normally. The blankets are a boon, dragged over his lap, and Peter tilts his masked head back up to the girl. "Eugh, those are real? Not me, that's for sure. Couldn't pay me enough. Well - okay, $100 at least."

[soloacts]

"Mmm, I do, don't I?" There's a teasing grin the covers up any of that lingering grief as quickly as she can manage, "It's more fun that way. But fine. Ruin my fun."

She waits for him to get into the sled before answering, working herself up to it-- the apprehension building about just how he's going to react. All bundled up and ready, she meets his masked face when he glances back at her, "I'll have to find one and start saving up some funds to force you to eat it." Or would it be spoons here? She's not really clear on all that just yet.

"And I'm Gwen. The only and only Spider-Woman... in my universe." And she's just going to avoid his gaze and focus ahead of them, giving the reins and smack as the dogs starts off in the direction of civilization.

[spideyguy]

"That's what they call me. Spidey the Fun Ruiner." Peter punctuates his sentence with jazz hands, because he's a total dork. The lack of an answer, though, ratchets up the tension a little. He's got zero guesses, despite the lingering familiarity - not just in the girl's appearance (or what he can see, with the way she's bundled up), but in the easy banter between them.

"Challenge accepted." He should know better than that, but even though his mask doesn't move, his shit-eating grin is readable beneath it. "I'll chase it with vodka, goes down clean."

But then the girl says her name, and his easy joviality is wiped away. Gwen. Gwen.

To be honest, he barely registers the Spider-Woman part, and that's on him.

"What." It's not a question. His hands, one tucked in the blankets, the other resting on the lip of the sled - his fingers actually dig into the metal, unintentionally leaving imprints behind. Peter's silent for a beat, and yeah, maybe she's right to avoid his gaze, because he's staring.

What he settles on, after a moment, is a measured, deceptively even tone (or, at least, his best approximation of one). "If this is a joke, I'd prefer to wake up now."

[soloacts]

"It's not a joke. And this isn't a dream." Gwen manages, swallowing down a lump in her throat. His reaction is confirmation enough in her mind. But she's not going to ask to be sure. She might not be looking at him, but the tension is palpable, and she hears the way the metal of the cart creaks in protest from his grip. "I'm sorry."

It's not her fault for existing, but she finds herself saying it anyway. Or maybe she's apologizing to her Peter. She's not entirely sure right then. She shakes herself out of it, trying to remain some semblance of composure.

"There's a hot spring up here. That's where I'm taking you. I can... I can explain more when we get there."

The dogs wouldn't let either of them leave without sharing something they couldn't talk to other people about anyway. Might as well be a huge trauma dump. Why the hell not?

[spideyguy]

"Don't - " The laugh that rips its way out of him doesn't sound funny at all, the wrong notes in the wrong order, and his fingers crush the metal just a little more. He has to consciously unclench them, digging them instead into his thigh, as though the pressure might wake him, however vain the hope. " - don't apologize to me."

He's the one that should be apologizing as far as Peter is aware.

"I - okay." Peter acquiesces, tamping down the urge to leap from the sled. He feels dizzy, unable to help the way his gaze keeps flitting back to Gwen - his face is still covered with the mask, but he's sure she can feel it anyway. Seems to...maybe have some idea about why, too. She doesn't look like Gwen - except she does, in the slant of her nose, the color of her eyes. Peter's not sure whether it's the similarities or the differences that disquiet him more. "This is - how?"

Why? he wants to ask, but it's not a question worth voicing. The universe has long been conspiring against him.

[soloacts]

That laugh feels like a punch to her gut, as do his words. If he apologized to her, then they'd both be apologizing to the wrong people. She definitely knows he keeps looking at her. And she's almost wishing she had her own mask on right now to better conceal her own expression. Gwen is trying like hell to keep her face steeled, but it's cracking along the edges.

"The Multiverse. Not everyone pulled here is from the same place, Peter. This isn't my first rodeo." If anything, it's becoming old hat. "Many realities, infinite possibilities."

Like a Gwen Stacy with a punk undercut, an eyebrow piercing... and spider-powers.

[spideyguy]

If Peter were a healthier person, he might be able to admit that it could be a kind of catharsis for them both, being able to speak with one another - but he's not, so he doesn't. He's not sure he could accept it if it was offered which is why it's so great he's backed into a corner. Still, even he can see that this is affecting her, despite the pokerface she's trying to portray.

This Gwen is not the same. No one ever could be. But he knows, as she said, that she is Gwen.

"You gotta be shittin' me." Peter's tone doesn't suggest that he doesn't believe her, but more that he can't believe this is happening to him. About par for the course, really. He doesn't know why he bothers being surprised anymore. "Transversal theory, black hole cosmology - all, uh, all real?"

[soloacts]

She's met enough Peters by now that she'd thought it was getting easier. But the way he's acting toward her is bringing all that pain square back into focus.

Dead in her arms. Her fault.

Her teeth clench at his curse, defensiveness bubbling up in her. It's not fair to get annoyed with him. Still, it's not like she wants to be in this situation any more than he does. She gives the reins another whack in the vain hope that the dogs might move faster to their destination. So when he asks that question, she tries to focus on that instead, although some irritation pokes through, "All real. There's another Peter here, just so you know. He didn't know who I was."

Maybe it's better that way.

[spideyguy]

The tension ratchets up a notch for no discernible reason, but then, do they need a reason? Is this not reason enough? He takes a deep, purposeful breath, fingers keeping pressure on his leg. Real. It was real. She was real.

He's Jewish, but like. Jesus Christ.

The dogs oblige, flying over the ice towards their destination. Peter probably should have been paying more attention to his surroundings, but he was just so thrown that he hadn't. They finally break free from the forest, the last of the scraggliest trees giving way to the blankness of the white, snowy landscape - the small down in the distance across the ice field.

"Oh, well. I, uh, I do. Know. Who you are." That much is obvious, Peter, thanks. His gaze cuts from the horizon line back to Gwen, unable to help it. "Is he...me? Or...different?"

How would she know, Pete, you haven't taken off your mask. He's such a mess, all that awkward messiness he's prone to as his civilian ego bubbling to the surface. It's kind of unfathomable to him that there's a version of him out there who doesn't know Gwen. He's not sure he likes the idea, vaguely ill at the notion.

"Wait - " His brain is finally catching up, and Peter's head whips back up to look at her. " - did you say Spiderwoman?"

[soloacts]

The town is visible, but still way too far away. She forces herself to look at him again and into that mask, "No shit. And here I thought you were just being awkward for no reason at all. Which isn't entirely unlike you, I suppose."

The joke helps lighten her tension, but it's still there, "He's different. Shorter, at least. Different voice. Can't really say about the rest," she gestures to her own face, "With the mask and all."

When he finally catches on to the fact that she'd said that earlier, Gwen laughs softly, "I did say that. Infinite possibilities--" she tugs at her jacket and sweater to reveal the suit hiding underneath, the white and pink webbing, "The spider doesn't always bite you."

It just does a lot of the time. She sometimes wonders if that's why her own Peter had done what he did. Why he'd wanted to be special so badly... like he'd felt something that told him he was supposed to be.

[spideyguy]

Peter's suit, while it looks decent to be sure, is clearly handmade. The lenses are molded from repurposed PVC; the stitching and embossing (because he could never go halfway with anything, and to be fair, he'd been doing this seven years) neat but not machine-neat. He snorts, looking away, muttering to himself though he knows she'll be able to hear it. "No reason, sure."

As if he can't remember every agonizing second in crystal clear detail. Thanks, enhanced hippocampus, he really loves it here.

"...right." Peter doesn't make a move to take it off yet; not with the wind and snow kicking up in his face, sure, that's his excuse. But it is an excuse, and they both know it - but he should take the time on the sled to at least try and control his expression. "Permutations of a mathematically infinite universe."

Peter's eye is drawn to Gwen's suit, the different color-coordination hiding beneath her jacket - and he can't deny that it's fascinating, underneath all the other complicated emotions. "That's - "

"It makes sense, I guess." Peter allows, though he wonders how much of their story is the same, and how much is different. It's not chivalry, but empathy; he hates the idea that she might have had to go through the same things he did. Did her father still die in the line of duty? "You worked for Oscorp, I wasn't even supposed to be there."

This Peter can't imagine having that kind of motivation, but how could he say, one way or another? Infinite possibilities, infinite variations...maybe there's even a world out there where he becomes a criminal. The laws of the universe would point to a strong possibility.

[soloacts]

Gwen's is hand-made too, not that he could have been able to tell that from the brief glance he'd gotten of it. His comment twists at her insides, instantly regretting her attempt at levity.

She'd not been working at Oscorp at the time, but the distinction really isn't important right now. So she just listens and doesn't interject with that tidbit, the town getting closer by every second, "Before here... I'd been to a lot of different universes. Met a lot of different Spider-People. It's slowly getting less weird. Although I don't think I'll ever be used to Spider-Ham."

Peter Porker is her friend and all... but he floats through the air when he smells pie and hits people with an oversized mallet. That's never going to be weird. And, yes, she's absolutely trying to distract him and shift the subject a little.

[spideyguy]

Has she met another Peter who'd known a Gwen? Maybe in the way he had, maybe not, but their stories aren't so different. Or maybe they are - but no matter the details, the result stayed the same. Was there ever a universe where they were okay?

"A - what? Spider-Ham?" Peter repeats, utterly bewildered - he shakes his head with a small laugh, watching the town on the horizon grow steadily closer. Distraction successful, at least for the moment. "Please tell me that's not what it sounds like?"

"So you've been traveling the multiverse?" It's a dizzyingly wide world she's describing, especially to a Peter that's always been alone - but isn't that always the way? Or well, it was. Not anymore. No putting this genie back in the bottle. "On purpose? Or...did something happen?"

[soloacts]

"Peter Porker." she smiles in such a way that Peter will probably think she's just messing with him, "He was a spider. Bitten by a radioactive pig."

The dogs start to slow, coming up on the hot springs, the slide coming to a stop a few yards from them and relative civilization.

"Not on purpose the first time. I was minding my own business, fighting Doc Ock. Then suddenly I was being sucked into a portal and got shot into last week. And... a different universe. The Kingpin there was messing with a super collider, trying to abduct his dead wife and kid from another universe. As you do."

Perfectly rational plan, made by a perfectly rational man...

"The second time. I got recruited by a Spider-Man from another universe and from the year 2099. Miguel O'Hara." she frowns thinking about Miguel. From her expression, she's clearly not a fan. She steps off the sled, "There I met hundreds of people like us."

But no other Gwen. Which had made her feel a certain kind of way. Uneasy, mostly.

[spideyguy]

"Somehow, that's worse than I imagined," Peter grouses, good-naturedly, insofar as he can manage; but yeah, that's got to be a joke, right? It aches, half-good and half-bad, that he can't tell; that her humor is so familiar. "Glad to see my high school nickname survived the multiversal blender."

"Just another Tuesday, then." Did their gallery of rogues ever quit? At least he recognizes the names, although Doc Ock is one that he'd honestly rather forget. "Right, because any machine with 'super' in the name always turns out so well. You'd think they'd learn!"

Peter moves to get off the sled when they come to a stop, unfolding long limbs and reaching over to give one of the dogs a head pat in thanks. He turns back towards Gwen, shoving his hands in the pockets of the jacket and trying not to look too uncomfortable and fidgety (is it working?)

"Sounds like quite the party." Imagine that, Spiderman, a constant of the universe. He's still coming to grips with it. "I think the universe just got a lot bigger."

[soloacts]

She can't help the amused snort at the nickname crack. It's a good joke and a very Peter thing to say. This might be hurting her more if she weren't so used to it by now. Familiar, but not familiar. The same, but not. And his attempts to not look uncomfortable are failing miserably, but she isn't about to call it out. Because then maybe they'd actually have to address the elephant in the room. Or tundra, anyway, "Definitely is that. And now we're here, lured by a fox to even more weird."

Just to add another layer to the absurd cake.

Gwen moves away from the sled, although the dogs seem to have other ideas, circling around to block her path, "Not funny." She glowers at the robot sled dogs, who are unperturbed and seem entirely ready to block her no matter what direction she goes... even upward if she chooses to leap.

[spideyguy]

It's what he does best, especially when he's uncomfortable. At least he has the mask on, which makes it easier to push through the awkwardness. Blessedly, Gwen either doesn't notice or knows not to press - though who is he kidding? Peter can't imagine there's a Gwen out there in the multiverse that doesn't know how to clock his bullshit.

"You're already besties with an actual swine, I guess a Fox is par for the course?"

The dogs press in, herding Gwen back towards the sled. Peter watches, cocking his head to the side in confusion - but when he tries to take a step, too, suddenly there's a dog there, cutting off his path. "Uh...we don't have any treats. Are they, like, expecting a tip?"

What? He doesn't know how any of this works. Is it like doggie sled-cab service?

[soloacts]

She sighs, having been through this once already when she'd arrived. Moving closer to the dogs, she starts searching their collars. Until finally she lands on one right beside Peter. Then she pulls out a piece of paper, handing it to him. On it is written a note, 'Share something that other people have refused to listen to you about. Everyone ought to be listened to.'

"We have to talk, or they won't let us leave. You can make it whatever you want." An out, so they don't have to get too in the weeds with his discomfort, "We could have a long-winded discussion about theoretical physics? Quantum electrodynamics? Who would win in a fight, a caveman or an astronaut?"

[spideyguy]

Gwen leans down to rustle the dogs' collars, finally producing a slip of paper. He accepts it from her with undisguised curiosity, though the message it offers leaves something to be desired. He shakes his head, hiding the paper in his fist instead.

"I'm Jewish. Talking isn't really what we do." It's clear he's interpreting it pretty straightforwardly, despite everything. The lenses of his mask begin to seep orange, though Peter is completely oblivious to it, and he shifts his weight awkwardly from foot to foot. "You really think that would suffice?"

He doesn't know how to tell her that he doubts it, because his Gwen was always willing to listen to him ramble about science. She'd go off on her own tangents, more often than not, and Peter was happy to hear them, too.

"An astronaut, of course. They were prepared to fight moon aliens, they had to be at the top of their game."

[soloacts]

Gwen is staring, the change of the lenses making her frown and head tilt. She's not really sure that that means yet, having only just gotten here recently herself.

"I don't know... it might?" She's grasping at straws here, because what he probably really needs to get off his chest will no doubt lead to her having to return in kind. And that? Well. She'd rather not.

"Moon aliens?" That sufficiently distracted her from that train of thought, "I sincerely doubt that was part of their NASA training. I will admit that they do have to be physically fit. But in straight hand to hand? Caveman has still got it. Especially if it were a Neanderthal. They were much stronger than humans."

[spideyguy]

"Somehow, I don't think we'd be that lucky," Peter mutters; surely she's well aware of Parker luck. Or hey, maybe it's just spider luck at this point, which is kind of - well, maybe that's reassuring, in a way, that it was the spider that cursed him, not just by virtue of being him.

Or maybe not. That would be his luck.

"That was absolutely part of their training. They didn't know what they were going to find up there. They kept them in quarantine for three weeks after the first landing, to make sure they hadn't caught any moon germs. You think they didn't train them on how to stab aliens?"

It's the most he's spoken since arrival, but then, there's that patented Parker-Spiderman-idiotic-rambling. "Brute strength might not be enough to win."

[soloacts]

Considering how he'd faired in her Universe too, maybe it's a combination of Parker and Spider-luck bound together. This conversation reminds her too much of her Peter, but she pushes past that twinge and twisting pain. But it's good, that she's got him talking. Even if it's about something so stupid and utterly irrelevant.

Now, that doesn't mean that she doesn't want to win the debate, of course.

"No, maybe it's not. But it helps! Plus, the Caveman probably kills and hunts every day of his life that's got to count for something, right? The astronaut doesn't stand a chance in a straight-up fight. That's just facts, Peter!"