2013.09.23 - Eddie and Kwabena in the Park with Storm

He'd gotten the idea from Thor and it was the best lead he had for now. Eddie Thorson aka Axiom, was trying to find the mutant known as Storm. The only problem was that he didn't really have a way to contact her. One of those bits of knowledge he didn't have. He asked a few of his mutant contacts in the city if they could help with no real results. But then he heard about a fight that had taken place between some heroes and the Weather Wizard earlier in the day in Central Park. Remembering what Thor told him about how Storm was fixing disrupted weather patterns like those the villain would create, Axiom set out. In costume, he's currently perched a top a streetlight in the park scanning the sky for any sign of a flying woman that can control the weather. "Maybe I should j-just go up there and ring the doorbell or something..." he mutters to himself.
Pack your things. We ship out in 24 hours.
Those words echoed in Kwabena's mind during the long drive from Westchester County to Metropolis. His affairs were already in order. All he needed from this evening was to get away from the X-Men base and find a place to think, quietly.
Of course, he'd gone to ground some time ago, and leaving the protection of the Xavier Institute was risky. Still, to hell with warnings. Shift was a loose cannon, and he had his own way of doing things.
Having parked the motorcycle along Central Park East, he'd already spent three hours walking through Central Park, accompanied only by his thoughts, a bottle of water, a pack of smokes, and a flask full of bourbon. He's donned a pair of baggy jeans and an oversized, dark colored, plain hoodie, which he wears in such a way that it covers most of his face. It doesn't matter if he looks like some kind of hoodrat... the X-Men uniform worn beneath it all will mask his genetic signature, and the outward attire ought to ward off even the most prying of eyes. Of course, what he doesn't really expect is to walk, unaware, just beneath one of New York's many costumed heroes, who happens to be perched atop a streetlight casting him in a brief glow from above.
Just beyond the scope of the light, he pauses. Did he hear something from above...?
Storm is, apparently, predictable. Even if the news had not reported the incident in Central Park on the 11pm news, she could feel the disruptions in the weather patterns all the way in Westchester. And for them to be felt from that far away, the disruptions had to be severe. Thus, at an hour that she hoped would mean Central Park was as close to deserted as possible, a woman younger than her completely white hair would imply arrives over the park by air, wisely concealing the X-Men aspects of her outfit by wearing civilian jeans and a tank top over the costume. It makes for a ... slightly strange silhouette. But then, she's not here to impress anyone.
Eddie isn't aware he's been overheard yet, still scanning the sky. He glanced down at Shift when he heard someone walking by but didn't linger. And then he spots someone flying. It's an odd look but he's pretty sure the white hair and flying confirm it's who he's looking for. Taking a flashlight from his belt, he shines it in Storm's direction and waves his free hand trying to get her attention.
This isn't the night to bother with it, Kwabena.
Shift moves right along, only to have his eye once again captured by the sight of a flashlight shining into the sky. Reflexively, he casts himself behind a series of bushes, making not but the smallest of sounds. There, from beneath the low brow of his hoodie, his eyes track the path of Axiom's flashlight into the sky. His neck cranes just so, eyes squinting. It's the shock of white hair that catches his attention and keeps him from just moving along.
Couldn't be...
Storm stops abruptly as someone shines a flashlight at her, one hand going up to block it from messing with her eyes (too late), then hastily drops toward the ground in the hopes that no one else sees her flying about. She debates calling out and berating the wielder of that horrid beam of light, but, well, it's late at night. In Central Park.
When he sees Storm heading for the ground, Axiom winces. Not his best idea but it seemed like a good one at the time. Switching off the light and putting it back into his belt, the costumed teen hops off the street light and rolls with the impact. Once he's got his feet under him, he heads towards where he saw Storm go. "Excuse me, m-m-ma'am?"
For the moment, Kwabena bides his time. Behind the bushes, it would seem he has yet to go noticed. With curiosity in his mis-matched eyes, he peeks around the edge just so, for the moment resigned to merely watch. The voice was familiar, as was the stutter of his voice.
Storm turns when she hears the young man jump down from the tree to approach her, her eyes going solid white and the air building up an electric charge. But then when he addresses her politely enough, the static buildup in the air dissipates just as quickly. "Were you waiting to speak with me, young man?" If Shift had any doubt as to who this was before, he definitely shouldn't anymore.
Axiom raises both hands quickly when he feels that familiar sensation of charged air. Spending as much time as he has with Thor and Billy has gotten him used to it. He's got his staff clipped to his belt and his armor on his arm but he's holding no weapons. "Yes, ma'am. You're Ms. Munroe, r-right? I'm Axiom, with the Young Allies."
It's true. If Kwabena hadn't completely recognized Axiom's voice, he certainly recognized the woman's white eyes and the static in the air. It's enough to send a shiver down his spine. He waits for just those few precious moments until Axiom introduces himself, and that's when a grin curls the edge of his lips. The hood is drawn back to reveal his face, and he casually emerges from behind those bushes. From where he's positioned, Axiom is between himself and Storm, facing Axiom's back. He seeks Storm's gaze, tipping his head slowly toward her, as if granting her permission to acknowledge him if she should choose. After all, he doesn't want to give Eddie a scare, but he's also in one of those "zones".
They say he's almost invisible when he really 'goes to ground'. This is why.
Eyes flash from side to side, searching for curious onlookers, before centering upon Axiom and Storm once more. And yeah... he's still smirking. Just so.
Storm nods once to Eddie, the gesture unintentionally regal. "I am, yes. May I ask why you were waiting for me?" She sees Kwabena over Axiom's shoulder, her no longer white eyes flicking to focus on the man before returning back to the costumed lad. A single slight nod invites the former to step over toward them. She's completely empty-handed as well, but anyone that knows her knows that she is NOT weaponless.
Axiom smiles, relaxing a little at the reply he gets from Storm. The night is going well so far. "Well, um, the other day you were t-talking to my adopted father...Thor," he explains. "And he mentioned something I think you m-m-might be able to help me with," he explains. Before he can explain more, attention is drawn to Kwabena. Tensing, Eddie turns quickly. He relaxes when he sees who it is though. "Uh...hi," he says. Thankfully it's a relatively secluded area of the park and people are mostly avoiding it thanks to the battle earlier in the day.
The moment Axiom spins about, Kwabena's hands are out from the pocket of his hoodie, exposed and weaponless. "Hey," he answers, the slight grin returning to his lips. "Sorry," he says, speaking with a very quiet, very in-obtrusive voice. "Word is I am being hunted by one of de most powahful mutants in de world, so..." His eyes flash whimsically, though there remains a very vigilant undertone to the way his face is drawn. "Kind of being 'sneaky'." His eyes flick from side to side before silent footfalls carry him closer to the two. "Nice to see you, Eddie," he offers, before turning a more silent greeting toward Storm. For a moment, he recalls their late nights over coffee, long before he became an X-Man. There's a different sort of respect when he greets her. "Ororo."
Storm says, "Kwabena." There's similar respect in her return greeting. "I suspect we will need to talk soon. But before that." She looks at Axiom again, her head tilting to one side in a deadpan version of inquisitiveness. "With what did the Lord of Storms suggest I could assist?"
"It's okay. I'm j-just a little on edge. I've got um...assassins after me," he says this with an odd tone. Almost like he's not as worried as he should be about it. "And then there's some d-d-demons around too," he adds with a slight roll of the eyes. He flails a little and points to his mask when Kwabena uses his real name, quickly glancing about just to make sure there's no one around. He may not be too worried about his ID but he's trying to get better at keeping it secretish for his friends. Turning back to Ororo, Axiom takes a deep breath. "Well he mentioned m-meeting you and that you could talk to his mother, Gaea. I wanted t-t-to ask if you could please g-get me in contact with her. It's something very important and I think she can help save this world and the universe itself," he explains.
"I suspect you're right," answers Kwabena, before turning his attention firmly upon Axiom again. All traces of a grin fade when the younger man tells of assassins. "Tell me about it," he starts an empathetic reply, but it's interupted by rapid blinking. "Sh-!" he starts, then clamps his mouth shut and nods his head to Axiom, apology in his eyes.
Stuffing his hands into the hoodie once more, he re-positions himself in such a way that the three are formed into a triangle, which of course will provide a full circle of visual surveillance between the three of them. Going silent again, his eyebrows merely rise when Axiom speaks in such strange ways. Eyes flash over toward Storm, curiously.
Storm blinks a couple of times. Leave to the Asgardian to completely misunderstand. "What you request, Axiom, is not as simple as the Lord of Storms has led you to believe." She watches Kwabena make their location a little more secure simply by stepping sideways a bit. "I do not speak with the planet directly. Instead I ... can sense the barometric pressure changes, the wind currents, the humidity levels. The various characteristics of the planet's atmosphere that create or affect weather."
Axiom nods to Shift's apologetic look. He watches the older man move and then looks to Storm hopefully. When the weather controlling mutant answers, the teen seems to deflate. His expression sinks and he looks down. "Oh," he says. For a few moments he just gives the ground a defeated look. That throws a monkey wrench in his plans. The meta that thinks he's a mutant isn't the type to just give up or linger in depression like that. He takes a deep breath and looks back up, determination back in his eyes. "I g-guess I've got to find another way then."
"Knowing Thor," points out Kwabena, "It might not be just as literal as it sounds." There is a slight shrug of his shoulders. "Pahaps he doesn't really need her to speak with Gaea."
There's a moment where he almost considers that odd. Then again, he knew enough about mythology to swallow that knee jerk reaction wanting him to consider his own words absolute lunacy.
Focusing now more directly upon Axiom, the unusually simple-spoken mutant asks, "Assassins?"
Storm's eyebrows draw together slightly as she regards Axiom for a long and likely unnerving moment. "Another way to do what? Speak with the Earth Mother? Perhaps you should begin at the beginning of your tale." Of course, standing in the middle of the park probably isn't the best place for such a story.
"It's n-not Thor that wants to talk to her, it's me," Axiom explains. He nods to Storm's question. He'll ask Dr. Strange or that Amethyst princess if they have a magic way of contacting Gaea. When Storm suggests starting at the beginning and Shift asks about assassins, Eddie takes a deep breath. "Okay um...the short v-version of all this is...the leader of the Dark Elves, Malekith the Accursed teamed up with the Frost Giants and started a war against Asgard and Midgard...err Earth," he begins the tale. "He n-normally can't stand me but since I got adopted by Thor and Sif, I'm sort of a prince now," just a slightly awkward pause. He's not sure he'll ever be used to that. "and he's sent a couple assassins after me. But then things got worse," he frowns. 
"My t-team and I were looking into a series of kidnappings. A cult was kidnapping sets of twins...and welll...they d-d-d-did a messed up magic thing and my teammate Wiccan g-g-got possessed by a being called Chthon. An ancient elder g-god that's apparently Gaea's brother. And he's m-made things a lot worse. Demon armies and threatening all of r-reality," he explains. He still blames himself for Billy getting possessed. "I was hoping Gaea c-could at least offer some advice with d-d-d-dealing with her brother..."
As the tale is laid out, Kwabena's expression more or less goes blank. Oh, it's not that he wouldn't want to help--even if it were in limited ways--but in less than a day, he'll be throwing his own life to the wolves in his most risky operation yet.
Aside to Storm he looks, speaking quietly. "We ship for Genosha in less dan 24 hours. Do what you can here... and find me before we leave, if you can." He offers Storm a smile, before looking back to Axiom. "I will keep watch over you both for some time."
Closing his eyes, the African draws a breath through his nose. Then, with a quiet 'poof', his body dematerializes into tendrils of black smoke. Hoodie, jeans, flask and cigarettes all fall in a heap to the ground. He'll leave them... a homeless fellow might make good use of them.
The cloud stretches out into the sky above their heads, soon becoming invisible against the evening sky. There he hovers, listening to the vibrations of the air that pass through, and keeping watch over them...
...for a time.
Storm takes several moments to mentally process Axiom's story. "I think we will need to speak with a few others about this." She's thinking Jean or Charles. She doesn't really put stock in mythological beings, so suspects that this Chthon is either a mind control capable mutant or similar. Especially as the Dark Elves and Frost Giants are easily explained as aliens like the Asgardians.
Axiom perks up slightly as Shift mentions Genosha. He hasn't been as involved in that as he'd normally try to be but he's kind of kept up to date on the situation there. "Bye," he offers as Shift smokes out. The clothes get a glance and Axiom makes a mental note to point them out to one of the homeless residents of the area he knows. Shaking it off, he looks back to Storm. "Oh, umm...who?" he asks. "We've g-got Dr. Strange and Daytripper helping out too but more couldn't hurt."
"Some colleagues of mine." Again with the cryptic. Storm doesn't seem willing to elaborate at the moment, though. She glances up at the wisps of smoke that are Kwabena, also making a mental note about Genosha. That is a mess that has been allowed to go on more than long enough. "I will need to speak with them to see how they feel they can assist. How may I reach you?"
"Do you m-mean um...the others from the school?" Axiom asks, making a little X-symbol with his fingers. "I'm k-kind of in on the secret, ma'am," he says. He's missing a lot of specifics and information but he's known for awhile about the Xavier School and the X-men there. Shift's among those that know he knows and now Storm is too. When Storm asks how to reach him, Axiom nods. He takes a small card out of his belt. It's got a phone number for his 'work' phone on it. Axiom checks it quickly before holding the card out to Ororo. "I c-c-can be reached at this number. And I usually patrol around this park so I'm around here a lot."
Storm ahs and nods a bit. "Yes." She takes the card and looks at it briefly even though it's really too dark where they are to read before the card disappears into her jeans pocket. "I will be sure to contact you, then, Axiom." She glances up at the night sky past the wisps of smoke. "For now, though, I have another task to attend to. Until next time?"
Smiling, Axiom nods. "Thank you, ma'am," he says. "And feel free to call if you ever n-need any help too," he adds. "Thanks again for talking with me and have a g-good night."
Storm offers Axiom a small smile. "I will remember. And you are most welcome." Her eyes then turn opaque white again just before a bit of wind kicks up and she's carried aloft again.
Category:Log