2014.07.24 - Ice At Fire

Amy Kingsley isn't sure how to feel about recent events. It's all been very difficult. Sos he finds herself wandering into the Baxter building, and going into the cafe to order an iced mocha.
According to the news, Torch is now back to himself. Thus far there hasn't been anything to indicate otherwise. And to say that this has been a very -difficult- situation for everyone involved would be quite the understatement.
Johnny also find himself getting coffee at the cafe downstairs, having not gotten a lot of sleep lately, either. And looking it, too.
Vorpal has been a visitor to the building several times already, but this is the first time in a few months that he has been able to come here. He couldn't simply leave things as they were, without him getting to talk to Johnny after the dam. So, once his patrol was done, the vigilante comes to look for Torch, and is given a general set of directions from Roberta. When he reaches the cafe, he spots Johnny and stays in place for a few seconds, trying to find a good icebreaker.
Sleep? What's sleep?
The blonde who enters the cafe doesn't look like she's been getting much in the way of shut-eye either. Her two tone eyes are slightly dulled from their normal vibrant color. Despite that, she's rather put together.
The sides of her hair are twisted and then wrapped around the rest to form a binding with all of it being held together at the very ends by thin strip of white suede.
She's dressed ina spaghetti strap summer dress that ends between knee and hip and shimmers from dusty blue to copper depending on how she moves. Her feet are covered by a pair of kitten heels of soft blue.
Brushing a piece of loose hair out of her face, she lets her eyes scan the cafe until they spot Johnny. A smile graces her lips and she makes her way over to him. Once there, she runs her hand along his back to get his attention and then lightly taps her temple.
Amy Kingsley of course sees Johnny in the cafe. He's someone who would stick out to her. In fact when she sees him, she's startled, flinching, taking a step back, reflexively looking for an exit, nearly spilling her coffee. Then she takes a heavy breath, and tries to steady herself.
Johnny is eager to sit down with his coffee and drink it down. He probably got like three hours of sleep last night, at most. He smiles up at Onora when she touches his back, but is still unaware of Amy or Vorpal at the moment. "Hey babe." he greets, and motions toward the seat across from him.
Vorpal observes the interaction between Johnny and Onora, and hesitates further.
~Maybe I should wait for another time to talk to him. Bursting in on a moment like that is rather rude.~
~Since when do you care about being rude? You flashed the Joker.~
~...that was different. That was business.~
Onora smiles, leans down to give Johnny's cheek a kiss, and then settles in the seat across from him. The telepathic response is sent to him alone. <Hello, mon amour? How are you feeling?> She'll take a moment to get her coffee in a few moments.
Her eyes catch the look from Amy and the way the girl flinches and then there's the way Vorpal is staring. A brow arches at them both before she turns her attention back to Johnny and she nods her head at them to get his attention on them.
Amy Kingsley is going through a rush of different emotions all at the same time. One plan of action takes hold, though. She goes back to the counter and asks for a cup of ice water, offering to pay for it if she has to. Getting that ice water, she then walks around to come up behind Johnny, and goes to pour it out right over his head.
"Eh...tired." Johnny sighs, but laughs a little as well. He takes another large gulp of coffee. Then he glances up in the direction Onora is indicating. Oh...great. Them. He'd forgotten that there were a few other people besides Onora, Bobby, and the rest of the F4 who had gotten the worst of his problems.
And then Amy goes and pours cold water on his head. "H-hey!" he laughs and wipes his face with a napkin. "Calm down, didn't you see the news? I'm back to myself now." Then he sighs. "Look Amy, I'm sorry. I know it must have been...terrifying for you."
Onora isn't quite fast enough to stop the water from being poured over Johnny's head. Her eyes narrow and harden as she pushes herself to her feet and starts towards the girl. It's odd to see Ona this furious. She's normally so calm. Glaring daggers would be a lot less painful than the murderous glare she's aimed at Amy.
Vorpal opens his mouth, but he isn't fast enough to stop the pouring.
".... well, that was.... right." He stands there still, not quite sure how to proceed, since that other woman is glaring as if at any moment this could turn into Julie Brown's "Girl Fight Tonight" music video (youtube it)
While Atlee has much to learn about a lot of things, there's one thing she did manage to discover, places dubbed Cafe, usually have tasty bits of pastries in them. So when she happened by the Baxter Building and saw a sign for the Quadrophenia which mentioned Cafe, she walked right now with a bright eyes seeking sweet pastries.
Amy Kingsley could deal with a murderous glare, having faced actual murderous actions lately. Not that she's noticing that glare, her focus entirely on Johnny. And it's those murerous actions that have hertaking a deep breath and staring at Johnny, pursing her lips tightly, her eyes welling up but also angry. "You tried to kill me twice, and I don't even know who saved me the second time" she says slowly, her mouth hanging open after that, as though not sure what to say that follows from that. It's just a statement.
Johnny looks up as Vorpal finally speaks up. Then Onora is glaring daggers at Amy, and he looks to each of them, and sighs. "Look guys...let's just all chill and sit down for some coffee or donuts or something, okay? Onora, just let it go. I -did- try to murder her twice. Well I didn't, Jericho did. But it looked like me. You didn't answer my question by the way, Amy. Did you watch the news? I've already issued my statement on what happened. I'm sorry that I hurt you. So I guess you can uh...demand compensation, or whatever." He then turns to Keith. "I guess I owe you an apology, too." He looks -really- tired.
"You don't owe me anything, Johnny, I wanted to make sure you were alright. So..." he says, in a way as to include the recent newcomers and Amy, "It'd be nice if no catfights happen. At least not while Johnny is around." He pauses. "Alright. Knowing Johnny, I think the stipulation would be that jello and gogo outfits have to be involved somewhere."
The cheshire grabs a towel from the bar and goes over to Johnny, dabbing at him to dry him up. "If you still think you owe me something, I'm down for a pizza sometime.
A dark, almost black glow begins to pulse around Onora, her chest heaving. Her fists clench at her side. One might get the sense that she'd be growling. If she could. The telepathic communication is left open for everyone to hear this time. <No, Johnny, you didn't. And it takes a special kind of selfish hatefulness to hold someone responsible for something they had no control over or to disregard their own well being. Ignorance but be the most blissful of things.> Her voice, while the french lilt is still there, is clipped and cold and nothing like the soft satin-like feel it normally has.
Someone is feeling very protective.
Atlee approaches the display of baked goods, before she hears someone mention killing out loud, causing her to stop and turn her head towards the people having the conversation. She doesn't quite notice as she moves closer and closer to the conversation to hear better, just in case someone might need saving!
Amy Kingsley blinks when this telepathy comes, it distracts her from going to answer Johnny, and she looks around the room. "Listen," she says with a sigh, "I don't know who you are, but you try almost dying in a fire, going on a crutch for two weeks, then having someone try to burn you tod eath in your own home. I don't know who you are, but it takes a pretty cowardly person to hide beind whatever that trick it is to take that nasty attitude without owning up to it. So jump into the Hudson for all I care, and stay the hell away from me." She then looks to Johnny "And if whoever that is is the kind of person you've got hanging around you and covering for you, then I guess all that talk about being sorry in the papers was a lie. It's like you're in here acting like you're the victim, not me or the poor girl you murdered, or the other people in the train. But I guess you all are calling her hateful too for dying." She then throws the cup at Johnny and turns to leave.
Johnny groans and facepalms, great. Just -great-. "I was TRYING to calm her down, Amy. I mean -come- on." he sighs. "You're just going to piss her off even more. And trust me, you do -not- want to piss her off even more..." He glances frantically at Vorpal with a 'help me' look. He's still unaware of Atlee watching them, since he doesn't know her and he's already got a lot on his plate already...
"Alright, that's enough."
The voice comes out of Vorpal, but it is enhanced by some supernatural quality. It is not loud or angry. The Chehire teleports from Johnny's side to stand immediately in Amy's way, blocking her exit as his two glowing purple eyes fixate on her.
"You are out of line." Then the voice returns to normal, but the feline's expression is stern. "Johnny Storm did not attempt to murder you, nor anyone else. He was possessed by a supervillain who controlled his every body and actions. If you want to blame someone, then blame Jerricurl. Jericho. Whatever his name is. He is the one who used Johnny's body against you and those others. He -violated- Johnny as much as he hurt and killed others. You wish us to undestand your cirumstances but you make no effort to understand his. Johnny Storm is a good, decent man. He may be a pill and a little too fond of himself sometimes, but I'd put my life in his hands any day of the week, as people in this city have done for a long time!"
The feline's voice is measured. "And who are the people he surrounds himself with? Fine. Here's my resume: I am Vorpal, once member of the Avengers by the invitation of Tony Stark. Member of the Justice League of America by invitation of Superman and Diana of Themyscyra. I have stopped the Joker, I've helped to save this city from the forced of Darkseid and I've put my life on the line. Those are my credentials, and by my credibility as a hero I vouch for the fact that Johnny was not in control of his own body when those actions were performed. They were performed by a villain using him, who made him -watch- as he used Johnny's body to murder innocents and cause havok and pain."
Vorpal crosses his arms and stares at Amy piercingly. "While what you went through was horrible... you owe him an apology. His hands are not covered with the blood you are looking for."
Onora's hand snaps out to grip Amy's arm and jerk her around to face her. <I use telepathy because I'm incapable of speaking out loud. I'm mute.> Her eyes narrow as does the telepathic field so it's centered on just Amy. <Jericho did try to kill me using Johnny. Set my body on fire. You have no right to hold Johnny responsible for what was done. Were I to force you, in this moment, to dump a pot of hot coffee over anyone in here, would you be responsible for it? Now imagine being forced to do it, knowing it was happening, and you were powerless to stop it...> Granted, Onora doesn't have that kind of power, but that's not known.
Her eyes snap up to Vorpal. Blue and green pools shine with admiration and respect and slow smile curves her lips. Her head is nodded in thanks. She doesn't even bother looking at Amy again, she simply returns to Johnny's side, silently of course, only pausing to give Atlee a nod of acknowledgment.
Pointing at Vorpal, Atlee states the obvious, "that man just disappeared and reappeared, but you should all probably listen and not fight. Killing people is very bad!" But then Vorpal gives his speech, and all at once Atlee's attention turns fully towards Johnny, she's heard him being called Johnny and figures he's the one, so walks right up to him and reaches to actually poke him, asking, "are you really a pill? You look human to me."
Amy Kingsley glares at the person in front of her now, but isn't entirely paying attention to the talking. "Excuse me?" she says, raising her voice, starting to breathe hard, through her nose, chest heaving as she gets worked up here. "Listen, I don't care who you are, and i don't really care what self-important blather you're ranting on about here, but I guess you people are all alike. You use your powers to push people around who are weaker than you, and then bully us when we speak up about it. Now shut up and get out of my way." Then feeling an arm on her, she jerks at it, and shrieks, her voi ce getting panicked as well as angry. "Oh I get it, you're are all in on it together, picking on me to intimidate me and threaten me into silence about your crimes. Don't any of you dare touch me again or i'm calling the police and reporting all of you. You're all horrible people teaming up against us regular people, I get it now. You're all a bunch of fakes. Sickos. Let me go now."
The Cheshire cat stares at Amy, and frowns so hard that if he were being drawn, his brow could be a simple flat line over half eyes.
"... you're supposed to be a college student, yet you obviously have the processing power of an ENIAC. Whatever." The diplomacy Cheshire is out the window, replaced by Full Diva Vorpal. He snaps his fingers. "You obviously don't want to listen to any facts, you just want to spill your outrage on anyone. Oh, you died sweetie pie? Get in line! Most of the people in this room have been killed, myself included. If you're going to waste my time and your breath spewing your bullshit at someone who had no fault? Get the fuck out of here before I bitchslap your tits and set off an earthquake."
And with that, the anthropomorphic feline disappears, only to reappear by Johnny's side and putting a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Johnny, it's not your fault and you can't fix stupid."
Please page Croyd if interested. [Wed Jul 23 19:29:49 2014]
When Amy has her loud reply, accusing most everyone in the room, Atlee forgets about Johnny supposedly being a pill, and walks right up to her and Vorpal, "hey, I don't use any powers to push people who are weaker then me! I don't have any powers, actually," she recalls the entire purpose of a secret identity, and follows up on the lessons Power Girl taught her. "I'm also not in on it, because I just got here...but if your life is in danger, I know someone who can help! Did you ever hear of Power Girl? She's very good, and a hero..."
It's very likely that nobody is really paying attention to Atlee at all, she is rather small and quite young looking, likely not even of age, but she still tries. She seems to optimistically think she can calm down the situation, that is until Vorpal gives his own speech, which causes her to step right in his face, "I forbid it!" She raises her voice at him, not being too clear on what it is she forbids, but clearly, something Vorpal said ticked her off.
Amy Kingsley takes a heavy breath as the cat says his thing, flinching at the slapping part. Starting to pant, her heart racing, she goes for her phone, and goes to dial 9-1-1. Her hands are shaking as she does this. Atlee gets a glance, but she's trying very hard to focus on what she's doing.
Johnny watches as everyone starts freaking out around him. Ugh, he should have expected something like this...
"Look Amy, I--" But then he's interrupted by Vorpal, and Atlee, and Amy again. Frustrated, he finally just stands up and storms out of the room. He doesn't have the time or energy to deal with ungrateful, smart-aleck people like Amy. Oh and the police showing up all annoyed that someone called them for absolutely no good reason at all.
Vorpal eye Amy. "Go ahead, dial the police. The security cameras will show you walking into the cafeteria, assaulting Johnny, and then be confrontational with all of us. I'm sure they'll agree you're the victim." He looks at Onora with an apologetic look, and then gives Atlee a little wave, as to assure her that no, he's not going to go on a boob-smacking rampage. He remembers meeting her at the Flash's birthday party, hanging out with Power Girl as she was. From what he remembers, she's not very familiar with the culture, so he will probably have to take her aside and explain quite a bit. To Onora he says "Maybe you should go with him... and give him my apologies?" To Atlee, he says, "Why don't I invite you to some ice cream and explain?"
Atlee doesn't quite know what has happened, or what is happening, she does know she wouldn't like anyone to get hurt. But then Vorpal offers ice cream, and she already knows ice cream is delicious. If Vorpal invites her for ice cream, it means he would be too busy buying her ice cream, so he won't have time to slap anyone or cause earthquakes. That seems like a very tasty solution, and so without too much thought she nods in agreement. "Okay! Ice cream is better than violence, I accept!"
Onora quit giving attention to Amy but when Johnny walks out and Vorpal speaks to her, the mute nods. She reaches out to give Vorpal's arm a light, friendly squeeze and smiles gently at him with a nod of her head, narrowing the telepathic field to Vorpal alone. <I will. Thank you. For all of it. Come visit, ok?> He's give the number for her apartment before she smiles and waves at Atlee then turns and makes her way out to find Johnny.
Amy Kingsley glares at Vorpal as she dials, which takes time since her hands are shaking and she's being careful to steady herself. Her voice is uneven, her breaths heavy. "I've been grabbed and threateend since I got in here, and all I did was dump some water. I'm willing to face the consequences of what I do. Clearly none of you people are. Not him, not either of you. So bring it on. Stay her and admit what you did. I will." She then speaks into the phone. "Hello? I'm at the cafe in the Baxter building and there's a disturbance. You'd better send someone right away. People are dumping ice and grabbing and threatening each other."
Keith sighs and taps his earpiece. After a few seconds, he speaks into it. "This is Vorpal, BSA agent number X-2342. There is currently a report being made from the Baxter Building by a woman who irrupted into the cafeteria and assaulted one of the owners of the building. After being confrontational, she is now filing an innacurate report. I'm sure Doctor Richards will release the security footage which will indicate that the altercation and the escalation thereof in minute detail. There is no need to send an agent, as the person reporting is misrepresenting the situation and is under no physical threat."
Tapping his earcom off, he nods to Atlee. "C'mon, let's go get you a banana split, and you'll have to tell me how Power Girl is doing these days." The cheshire starts walking, offering his arm to Atlee.
Amy Kingsley screams. "Please help the man threatened to kill me. Send someone right now."
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