2012-11-14 Allies In The Park

The weather's starting to change quickly these days, but to those living in Manhattan they're blessed with a blue sky today. A notable chill hangs in the air, though many choose to ignore it outright as they hurry along from one place to another. Not everyone here has such a luxury, however.
Hunched forward on a park bench is the smaller figure of Noriko, a tattered brown hoodie pulled up over her head both against the cold and to keep much of her blue hair hidden away. Hands are balled inside of pockets, idly toying with various scrap metal trinkets that she's found littered across the city. She sits alone, watching a collection of pigeons that mill about on the paved walkway before her. One of them cocks its head up at her, chirring quizzically as though wondering if she's got food hidden away within those pockets.
"Yeah, I don't wanna hear it," Nori mutters to the feathered one. "You guys aren't the only ones needing to eat."
Even if it is a beautiful day, there will always be some doom and gloom in this town. Some people will try to harm others. Some people will try to hurt, rub, steal, or worse. And because of people like that, there are still others that will be on guard to help those.
And yet today, one of those people who's on guard doesn't exactly look it. Sure she's wearing her trademark scarf and shades, but no bow or arrows can be seen. At least not to most people with their naked eye. Yes, that's right, one Kate Bishop, aka Hawkeye is out and about in Central Park, only she's out and about with a long designer coat, one that has a certain resemblance to a trench coat (albeit a trench coat with style). And on top of that, she's eating popcorn as she wanders close to a certain bench...
Here comes someone that's got their act together, if that coat is any indication of prosperity or power. Nori watches this woman as she approaches, looking rather masked from the outside world in her own peculiar way. "There, why don't you go bug her for something, bird-brain? She's got what you're after."
The pigeon in question just cants its head back up at the girl, expression as blank as ever.
"Look, you're not going to get what doesn't exist."
"Qurrl..?"
Noriko lets out a quick sigh and pulls her hands out, holding them both palm-up at the pigeon. "Nothing, nada, there is no food here..! Go on, greener pastures--" she says with a quick wave of her hand as though it might somehow help to get the point across to the simpler mind before her.
Rather than words getting across, a tiny spark snaps out and connects the tip of her finger to the tail feathers of that bird for one instant of time.
There's an audible *snap!* like someone striking the park bench with a rubber band and the bird in question bolts for the sky, shrilling in stunned outcry. The sudden motion causes most of the other birds in the area to take off after the first, a community immediately becoming born out of survival instincts.
"Ah, -frig,-" Nori mutters through a tightened jaw, quickly tucking her hands back out of sight.
And it's that snap that causes the woman in that coat to spin around. As she does that box of popcorn is dropped, its contents spilling onto the ground by her feat, while her hands instinctively reach into her jacket, as if she's reaching for something.
And yet, as Hawkeye spins, her gaze drifts to Nori, who she silently stares at, as if asking a wordless question...
Those pigeons are going to wish they'd hung around a little while longer.
When the box hits the sidewalk Nori's heart skips a beat, suddenly looking from where the birds had made their great escape over to the mysterious woman in those sunglasses. Who is now staring right back at her, in turn. Presumably. Hard to tell with the sunglasses, but who else is here to stare at? Normally this would be the point where Nori gets a nervous smile and offers some award-winning remark like 'Hi..!' The hands diving into that coat changes the scenario faster than the young mutant cares to admit. The resulting stare lingers just long enough to seem comical in nature, then Nori bolts away from the bench.
If only she could fly, she would join the others up in the sky. Probably a lot more safe up there than down here.
Meanwhile, not too far away...
"Rocky! Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!" can be heard as a guy standing there does a magic show for the random people who are just walking by. One even lets out a faint groan at that bad joke, before the guy reaches into his hat, and pulls out a gun that he aims at the passerby?!?
Hawkeye doesn't notice that. At least not yet. Especially not as the young woman bolts. And while there isn't any sign aside from that odd noise and the fact that all the birds left like that, that she did anything wrong, the woman in the long coat just stands there, her gaze following the girl as she runs off...
Sometimes a series of events triggers in a way that almost seems more like divine intervention than fate or coincidence. The woman with the sunglasses, the street performer about to commit armed robbery (or something worse,) to a paranoid and conflicted mind it might almost seem like it was set up to happen this way. A well-placed ambush. Nori's running from one perceived threat and right into another. It's easy to justify everything fitting together without being tied to coincidence, they really are out to get her. Now, they've managed to find her!
She can't go back to that place.
There's a trick that Nori's been practicing deep within the subway tunnels. One of the reasons why she carries around those rusted hunks of scrap metal in her pockets. She barely has time to stop running when her hands jump out into the open, panic driving her to throw a heavy, street-scarred bolt out at the man that drew a weapon. Electricity likes to follow a path, like lightning to a grounding rod. Linking her hand to that bolt soon after it's thrown is a vivid string of violent blue energy. Like a rock skipping across still waters that current of energy leapfrogs off of the scrap metal and goes for the next best object: The gun in that man's hand. Then into the hand that clutches it. It's over in less than a second, but there's no way to hide a lightning bolt on a day with clear skies.
And that little trick, as it happens...
As Hawkeye watches Nori launch a lightning bolt at the guy with the gun...
As the bolt strikes...
As the gun drops...
The guy falls to his knees, cries out in pain, and clutches his hand.
The archer pulls out a mini-crossbow, and fires it at the gun before it can hit the ground, causing the would be criminals weapon to go flying away from its owner, and into a bush.
And then the female archer just quirks an eyebrow at the electrical mutant.
"Neat trick. I thought it might of been you, but I wasn't sure."
What follows is that momentary flash of time where Nori has to wonder what just happened, -how- it happened, and if it worked.
Apparently it had.
Something else happens, and 'works,' right as she's watching. The gun dropping is one thing. Something striking it out of the air and sending it flying, that part isn't her doing! That instinct to run out of the area is kept in check as widened eyes jump back to the woman with the sunglasses, looking oddly calm about the whole scenario. With a crossbow in hand. "-No way- you just did that..."
Wait, what now? "Have we met..?" Another quick glance is passed behind her to the wounded and now unarmed man. "..I think we should find somewhere else to talk."
There's a smile and a faint, "I did just do 'that'." from the woman with the purple shades towards the younger woman, before she glances at the would be gunman. :one second." is the said before she starts to walk over towards the guy, but before she can even do anything to him, he just passes out.
"Never mind." is then said before she smiles at Nori, and tilts her head down the path a bit, towards another bench.
"Agreed. And we sort of had. I'll simply say it involves the lake, and what appeared to be a lot of electricity being thrown into it..."
The whole thing's kind of surreal now. Did Nori just happen across one of the city's heroes in disguise? It seems like the only reasonable conclusion, not many people carry a crossbow around for personal protection and almost -no- one knows how to use it like that. Two new facts are immediately available. You aren't an enemy, and she can feel pretty darned safe around someone with your kind of skill. It does a lot to settle a paranoid mind. Once you're ready to move on, she's almost eager to follow. Being alone is not something which she desires right now, despite any contrary demeanor she might put up front.
"You..!" Recognition finally hits Noriko, staring back at your partially concealed face. "Two spiders and someone with a bow. You scared me some," she admits while trying not to walk so quickly that she outpaces you. "All quiet and ..calculating and stuff."
Is it strange that you almost amount as a friend by default and she still knows nothing more about you?
"Friends call me Nori," she quickly offers with another lightning-fast glance over her shoulder. "And I really didn't mean to toast everything in there, it's just ..sometimes hard to control."
In disguise? Maybe. But not exactly. Because as Hawkeye opens her coat to put that crossbow away, it's revealed that she's in costume, just under that coat...
Yeah, even heroes get cold, hence the coat! Even if it expensive looking and probably designer.
"At times you have to be cold, and quiet. Especially when you're dealing with people with powers."
Then though there's a slight frown.
"I see... And it's nice to meet you Nori. I'm Hawkeye."
Noriko Ashida just looked at Kate Bishop!
"Seems like a fitting name," the slightly grungy girl beside you replies, hunching further into her very well-worn hoodie. "How'd you learn to do that? You don't even look that old. ..I think?" Hard to tell, and there -are- short women in the world.
Right from one question to another one, "Are you one of the heroes of this place, or something?" Considering how well things went after talking to the spider gal after that night, having another established good-goer to get all buddy-buddy with can't be all that bad of an option. Safety in numbers, and..hey. Heroes! That's kinda cool in its own right.
There's a pause at that as Hawkeye offers Nori a slight glance.
"Practice. A lot of practice." is said before she shakes her head. "And I'm not that old. Just that good."
Then the female archer glances away.
"And you could say I'm a hero. But my focus more often than not right now is Central Park. At least for now."
"It -is- a fairly large park," Noriko quietly remarks while wrapping her thoughts around that idea. Crime has always been an issue in the park. She..might..have added to the problem on more than a few occasions, in fact. So..yeah! Lots better to be meeting on grounds like this than with her doing something decisively illegal. "That's some talent, then. Not too big on words though, are you." The glance she passes back to you has a light smile accompanying it. Heck, she can relate. "Got any fun secret lairs hidden away behind a collection of bushes?"
Is there a chuckle at that..?
Yes. Yes there is.
"Oh, I can be very wordy at times. And yes I have a 'safehouse', but it's not in the park." is said by Hawkeye as she continues to smile. "I do operate outside of the park too. It's just that this is the place I spend the most time 'working' in."
Then she pulls something else from her coat. Something that with the touch of a button that snaps, and unfolds into a bow.
"And if you think I'm impressive, you should see the /others/."
Now here's a person that seems to have everything. Skills, gear, a costume and 'secret lair,' even! And not that old, apparently. It's a sharp contrast compared to what Nori's got to her name, mainly the threadbare clothes on her back and one less metal bolt in her pocket. Weird how two from completely different situations can end up walking together like this.
With the demonstration of the bow being brought out and snapped open she nearly jumps away from the other girl, back to staring with a bit of awe. "You didn't buy that in a store," she simply observes. "I ..um. I zap flying rats," she lamely adds with a sheepish grin.
One thing Hawkeye doesn't have though is powers. So you've got an advantage over her their Nori.
"Actually, you can buy this one at a store." the female archer admits. And as far as she knows, that /probably/ is true.
"Well then, if you're ever in Gotham, Batman should be afraid of you." is said in a kind, and mostly polite, but still teasing manner, even as the bow is folded back up and tucked away.
"Seriously though, you don't need powers, or a costume to make a difference." is said as Kate does something odd. She shrugs off her designer coat, revealing not only her bow, but also a crossbow and a quiver of arrows/bolts, before she offers the coat to Nori."
I think it's warm enough right now that I don't need this..."
And of course if the female archer just happens to forget to ask for the coat back later...
It is a nice day, probably once of the last nice days of the year. So it is a good time to take a stroll through the park and see if someone wealthy-looking is being careless with their belongings. A guy has to eat, and in his case, a guy has to eat like three guys. So far nothing, and then he spots a head-full of bright blue hair. It is New York buuuuut... second glance, right. He knows that particular blue mop of hair. And she comes with a friend in a tight purple costume.
Definitely something more interesting than normal. Tommy closes distances quickly (but not too quickly) and waves to Noriko, offering a friendly grin. "Hey, good day! Nice to see you still around." Yes, all smiles, because he was not a jerk last time they talked or anything.
Speaking of zapping flying rats William 'Billy' Kaplan the teenager, the myth, the living bug zapper is walking through the park all nice and bundled up wth a cup of hot chocolate in his hands. He can't help but grin to himself as he bounces along humming under his breath. The tune, for those likely to recognize it, of all things is Abba's Dancing Queen.
Of course there is a good reason fro Billy to be so happy, everything is going his way. Aced a pop quize, new comics, his magi is back, and the spot on his arm that was turned to stone is all healed and nomal again.
"You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life!" He sings a bit while shaking his shoulders side to side a little before stopping and realizing he just did that out loud, in public. Cough, blush, nope nothing to see here. Move along, move along. Billy hurries on from where he was in case someone saw, or worse heard him, not paying enough attention to where he is going and headed right twords Tommy.
Eddie doesn't live in Central Park anymore but he does still get seen there a lot. Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt with Superman's S-shield on it, he's jogging at the moment. He'd heard that there had been an incident and was rushing in hopes of maybe catching a glimpse of a superhero. He catches sight of Kate out of the corner of his eye and glances back over his shoulder. When he sees who she's with, his eyes go wide. Of course he should be watching where he's going since he ends up tripping and falling right off the path and onto the grass with a thud. "Ow."
As Kate and Noriko are joined by Tommy, Eddie and Billy, one of the trees lining the pathway shudders and drops a dark orange leaf from its barely covered boughs; it dances and twirls in lazy loops through the air for a while before finally drifting to Earth.
Meanwhile, the tree it came from... is shrinking, growing progressively shorter and more slender by the moment. By the time that leaf makes its descent, the strong, bare branches its came from have been reduced to thick locks of black hair, and the tree's thick, stubborn roots and trunk have been replaced with brown skin and slender limbs.
"Good afternoon," the girl who was a tree says as she stretches her arms lazily above her head; after flicking her eyes between the teenagers, she stretches her fingers up to offer them a tiny wave before curling them back up.
"I was napping, but the commotion..."
She glances off towards where the two girls came from.
"Anyway." She brings her hands down and starts idly combing little bits of twig from her hair. "Good afternoon, again; my name is Xavin." Beat. "A pleasure to meet you," she quietly adds.
"You -can?-" Pause. "Wow, I dropped that ball soon as I got it." With that blank expression yet in place, Nori asks Hawkeye "Batwho?"
With Hawkeye on full heroic display Noriko does the only thing that comes to mind, pulling that ragged hood back from the clump of blue hair that's lurking beneath. It isn't something she does all that often, but she's feeling a bit on the safe side in Hawkeye's company. That, and she's getting an extra layer against the cold. It's a really nice coat, too..! For a moment she has nothing to say, not that it stops her from trying. A moment later and she's now wearing Hawkeye's coat. That's..kinda awesome, too.
All it takes is another second's worth of time for her to regret putting that hood down, hearing a familiar but not often encountered voice nearby. "Heeeeey..yeah, of course I'm still around, where else would I be," she calls back then trails off until she's almost speaking under her breath. Ahem. God, Tommy had -so- better not ruin this moment for her! Like that poor kid that just tripped, Nori reflexively wincing. "You okay over there, Superman?"
She's with -Hawkeye!- What could possibly go wrong in her little world?
One of the nearby trees could suddenly come to life, there's always that. Nori stops dead in her tracks, doing her best deer in headlights impression for the third time in the last few minutes as part of the park itself transforms into a person. One hand slowly comes up, completely with a mind of its own, and gives a comically abrupt wave back.
"Thought the park only got crazy at night," she mutters to Hawkeye.
As Tommy greats Nori, Hawkeye can't help but blink at him, and even starts to say, "Wicc..." before she catches herself. But then, before she can even try to correct herself, she thinks she hears someone singing. Thus in turn she starts to crane her head, and blinks not once. or twice, but several times as she notices Billy. Which prompts her to look back and forth between him and Tommy.
Of course she doesn't even have a moment to comment on that as the mutant girl ends up yelling at someone who fell, which causes the archer to blink, and frown. But in turn, before she can even say /anything/ to said person who fell, a /tree/ suddenly starts to move and change shape?!?
"... Hi?"
Yeah. She's more than a little caught off guard by all of this. Especially as it happens at the same time.
"We control the horizontal... We control the vertical..." is even muttered under her breath at one point after she utters that greeting to the 'tree girl' as her brain tries to start working again.
Tommy shrugs at Nori's response. "Well, y'know, with your er..." yeah, smooth there. No, he has tact enough not to talk about Noriko's problems in front of her friends. At least today. Besides, someone that changes shapes just fell off the tree. "Hello," he glances to Nori, inquiringly. Not a friend of hers? Kate's? No? "Have we meet?" Because Kate seems to have recognized him. He turns, very quickly, to see Eddie fall down. Winces. Back to the girls, "I am Tommy, old friend of Nori." It is all true, except the 'old', and the 'friend' parts.
Billy Kaplan is not watching where he was going, which means he is looking off to a side in time to see a tree become ... a girl. Well, thats not something you see every day. Ok, so his best friend lives with a God, he flies and causes his cell phone to explode a couple times a month, and has more friends that wear costumes than those that do not but it's still unexpected. He finds himself already starting to wave at Xavin before his brain has finished a quick review of every shape shifter to show up on the various Hero Blogs and Internet Boards to see of any fit her description.
As he is starting to wave at Xavin Billy hears someone yell something out about Superman which is something guaranteed to get his attention. Turning quickly he sees Eddie, on the ground. Well, at least he is not bleeding. Not watching where your going in a large city is not a good idea, even if your just wandering the park because your bound to run right into someone.
Just noticing he is about to physically hit someone Billy ends up stopping just short of Tommy. "Oh, sorry I..." He stops mid sentence blinking as he stares at his own face. Well, it's not quite his face. It's a little leaner, a bit lighter colored, and the hair is as white instead of dark color.
Rolling over and sitting up, Eddie picks some grass off himself and sighs. "Ow," he mutters. Nori's call prompts Eddie to look around excitedly. Superman? In New York City!? Fanboy mode, go! Of course when he sees no Man of Steel, Eddie looks down at himself and remembers what shirt he's wearing. Blushing a bit, he nods and looks up at Nori. "I'm okay," and then he sees Tommy. "Uhh..." he trails off. Getting up, he dusts himself off and heads towards the group. Seeing Xavin's transformation makes him jump and stare again. Since its a girl and not some tree monster, he relaxes and gives a curious look to the shapeshifter. He starts to say something but the sight of Billy and Tommy right next to eachother makes him let out a surprised little squeak. "Woah..."
Xavin's eyes drift back and forth between Tommy and the two surprised girls as she combs the last bits of foliage from her hair; Noriko's mention of Superman does draw her attention briefly towards Eddie, but as soon as his situation is assessed, her attention is back on Tommy and the girls. Leaning towards Noriko, she murmurs, "I don't think that that's Superman," in polite tones. "He's so /small/, and he's on the--"
Before she can finish her thought, Billy very nearly barrels into them, prompting her to quickly straighten up and hop back a step. Once she sees that Billy is in control - and staring at someone who looks /remarkably/ like him - she watches the pair for a few moments, then shrugs a shoulder and glances towards Eddie.
"Good," she idly says, brow quirking at his surprise, "you didn't hurt yourself. I was wondering."
"My blue hair?" Noriko quickly cuts in when Tommy's remark falls short. "No one's asked me to relocate to Hollywood to be the next big thing, no." Smile. With another glance around at all of the people practically crawling out of the woodwork, all she can do is shake her head. She doesn't know the rest of these guys. They've just managed to find the right place in the park to be, apparently!
"Not the actual Superman," Nori corrects as soon as she realizes what happens when someone calls that name out in a place like this (whoops.) Yeah, really wishing she still had the hood up. Easier to get away with blushing while hidden away like that, as it seems that she's either drawn attention to herself or helped to draw it to everyone else within the immediate area. Including what looks an awful lot like twins with different colored hair? "Okay, this is starting to get a little creepy." Because a tree morphing into a girl happens every other Wednesday around here. "Did..did you just come out of a tree?"
Mouth opens. Mouth closes. And Hawkeye just stares at the tree girl for another moment or two, before her gaze drifts back to Tommy for a little bit. It is another moment of two before she can answer, but when she does find her voice she says, "You look a lot like someone I..."
Or at least she /starts/ to say that as Billy 'notices' Tommy for himself.
Yeah, mark it on the calendar folks, because as Kate lets her drift back to Nori and Xavin she actually admits, "I actually don't know what to say right now."
Tommy smirks at Nori, "sure, right". Then he looks at Kate as he shifts a couple feet left, to avoid Billy bumping on him, the other boy gets a brief glance. Wait! He looks again and the dark-haired Billy and blinks several times.
But Tommy can't be speechless for long. At least not by most definitions of long. "Hah, only in Central Park. Before you ask, no, I had not seen this guy in my life," he points to Billy. "
Billy Kaplan Kate is not alone in not knowing what to say. Billy is doing his best impression of a fish while all kinds of thoughts compeat for a space inside of his brain. After a few seconds one thought does gain enough strength to break out. "I'm hallucinating right? It's an after effect of the whole thing with the magic creatures last week, and Mom threatening me with another paper about imaginary siblings, or someoen slipped something into to the hot chocolate I bought from a street vendor or..." He may not have Tommy's speed but he can bable almost incoherantly with the best of them.
Eddie just blinks at Xavin then ends up blushing and chuckling. "Its okay. I've h-had worse falls," he admits. He ends up blushing a little more as Nori corrects Xavin. He glances at the 'twins' and then Nori and Kate. "No, I see him t-t-too," he replies to Billy, his gaze on Tommy. "Umm..."
As luck...or something like it, would have it, there's a certain bubbly young hero bouncing across Manhattan. Speedball's powers allow for distance-bouncing, but he has to land at times to rebound to get some more lift. That's one issue, but the more important one at the moment is stopping. He's...still working on it. Slowly.
There's no real rooftops in this area of Central Park that Robbie can bounce off of, so he decides to try and land, and hoof it for a while. Maybe use his phone to see where friends are at, that sort of thing. As he's hurtling over the park, he spies a tree to land in to slow himself down. So, he angles himself that way...
...only for the tree to suddenly disappear as Xavin appears. Oops.
Curled up into a ball, the blue-and-orange clad superhuman can be heard muttering as he comes down. "Ohcrapohcrapohcrapstopstopstop." He lands about twenty feet away from the group with a *sproing,* then hurtles into a non-vanishing tree, then off that into another tree where he manages to grab ahold of a branch. Kinetic field bubbles follow his trail before slowly vanishing.
"No." Xavin turns her curious expression on Noriko, now, head tilting a touch to one side as she folds her arms loosely over her chest.
"I /was/ the tree." Beat.
"... am... the tree," she corrects after thinking about it, as if it clarifies anything at all. "I guess." She wrinkles her nose a little and decides to focus on the twins for now, rather than kick herself for her flimsy cover.
"I--" she begins to say to Kate before cutting herself off when a boy bounces off of the ground near them. She slowly slides her mouth shut as she watches poor Speedball ricochet through the park until he finally makes his landing, at which point she calmly turns her head back to Kate.
"Huh," the Skrull/tree murmurs, speechless.
"And here I was going to ask you -all- about your twin brother," Noriko verbally prods back at Tommy with the smallest of grins. It's only after she says it that she realizes pushing this guy might not be in her best interests. Fortunately, there's a very convenient and timely distraction as some -other- guy comes sailing toward the ground then rebounds off into the trees. "It's raining men..!"
..She heard it in a song once. It stuck.
Wince. "Right, -were- the tree, you know what I--is that guy okay? That looked like it hurt."
Of course, Nori's looking back at Xavin a moment later. There's just something sooo peculiar about that girl. Creature. ..Thing. Aside from the morphing act, naturally. Gads. "So, I guess welcome to the first unnoficial meeting of park-goers, anonymous. Like minds, I guess?" Pause. "I think I'm gonna go check on whoever faceplanted into a tree over there," she announces with a quick pointing of two sets of fingers off toward Robbie's landing zone. Seriously, that didn't seem like it was a planned thing.
"This is... The Twilight Zone..." is muttered under Kate's breath before she reaches up and massages her temples. And that's /before/ Speedball bounces around and crashes.
"I think I'll help you." is said by Hawkeye towards Nori, before she heads along after the other girl. All though as she does, she tilts her head at Xavin for a moment, before her gaze drifts to Tommy, Billy, and Eddie, whom she almost says something to.
"I was an only child," replies Tommy to Nori with a handwave. More interesting things are going on, anyway. Like some crashing people. He glances up, to look for the airplane from which Robbie fell. There is none. Twilight Zone. Now he has the theme music struck in his head. Thanks, Kate! "Someone should call for an ambulance," he suggests, following the girls to check the expected mess.
Billy Kaplan is more than capable of keeping up his stream of conciousness babbling and probably would have done so if something had not worked to interupt it. He is going to have to thank Robbie latter for his choice in enterances later.
As the bouncy teen hero crashes into the ground and then a couple of trees Billy lets out an almost squeek like noise and jumps back wards and up...but does not come down for about ten seconds too long. The smell of ozone fills the area as he sparks a little from the surprise as well.
Billy, ever the Geek, can't help himself. "Was is the right word. The past tense shows the state change made since then." Because lessons on propper English are just what this very odd day needs.
"Ro-Speedball? Are you Ok?" He calls out to Robbie. Since Noriko and Hawkeye are headed over there he stays put, but muttes to himself. "Ok, starting to wish I had asked Miss Maximoff how to say a few curse words in Roma...or what ever language they speak in Transval." He looks at Tommy and gives a small smile. "I recognize those balls that were trailing him, probably did not hurt him enough for an ambulance...I hope. I guess what they say about everyone having a doppleganger is true. Um...Hi? I'm Billy."
You have requested YAL Team Forming Plot from staff. Please allow for some time to process it. Please do not contact staff about it unless the due date has passed. If this is an automated Karma request from an event: we will process it accordingly. You do not need to wait for a further reply.
Eddie just stares at everything going on. He's half wondering if he maybe hit his head when he fell and is imagining all this. Billy and a twin Billy, random blue haired girl, Hawkeye...its all a lot. All that would make this crazy day more complete is...oh look, there's Robbie. Eddie jumps at the crash and looks over. "Speedball?" he calls, hoping his friend is okay too. "He's okay," he agrees with Billy. "Speedballs has these r-r-really cool powers that help keep him safe," he explains in a very fanboy way. "Oh um...I'm Eddie. B-b-b-but I'm not anyone's doppleganger," at least not right now.
"Then he /does/ have a super power," Xavin casually remarks with a glance towards Billy and Eddie. "Good; I was a little worried that he'd been hit with a weapon of some kind." She turns to face the pair, then, rather than head off to check on Speedball; there are /plenty/ of people all over that. She's sure he'll be fine, and watching someone recover from a fantastic and colourful accident is moderately less entertaining than watching the accident itself, to boot.
"Xavin," she says, holding a hand out to each boy, "the tree. Nice to meet you." With a small, warm smile in Eddie's direction, she adds, "It's refreshing that you're so sure of yourself, what with the falling, and the gawking; I'm very happy for you."
In order to stop, Speedball grabbed a branch on one of the trees. But, momentum carries him up and over, and he comes to a stop hanging onto the branch for dear life. Granted, it's not that far of a drop to the ground, and he has no real issues with heights, but there's voices, and at least the sound of one familiar voice. His field is still up, so he surrounded by multicolored bubbles, and his voice has that 'speaking from inside a barrel' echo to it. "I'm all right! Didn't stick the landing!"
As the others get closer, Speedball slides off the branch, holding on with his hands for a few seconds before dropping down. This causes another small bounce-and-stumble forward. "See? Kinetic field means I'm just fine." Save for that whole control thing. Eyes behind the lenses of those goggles widen as he sees who approaches. It's...girls! "I'm Speedball, like the good citizen I've never met before ever I swear just said." He's lying, but he makes an attempt to sound smooth. A smile is shot Noriko's way, then Kate, then Xavin's. "But you can call me..." Don't say 'maybe,' Baldwin. Do /not/ do it. "No, seriously, just call." He tries to casually slide his hands into his pockets...which don't exist on this costume.
"Nice to meet-" Speedball stops short when he gets a good look at the male with Nori and Kate. He blinks, then looks at Billy. Then he looks back to Tommy. Then, back to Billy. "Dude," he calls out to Kaplan, speaking between his teeth as if he were whispering, but it'
"Dude," he calls out to Kaplan, speaking between his teeth as if he were whispering, but it's not at all subtle. "What did you /do?"
Hold up... Noriko smells ozone. Not only that, she -felt- something. It's the middle of the park, she shouldn't be feeling jolts like that..! Her next step falls short before she spins around, staring back at the collection of individuals in search of whatever might have created that ..thing. Spark? Jolt? Power surge. "I--" she oh so briefly starts in before stopping herself, glancing back, turning to the others once more, then subtly shaking her head before falling back into pursuit of the newest arrival. Speedball, is it? Yep--Speedball. Sure seems like an appropriate name to her!
"You really -are- okay," Noriko remarks with a touch of awe. The trees didn't take to it quite so gently, but sure enough, the resident skydiver seems to be no worse for wear. "That. Was..-awesome!-"
Quickly the pieces come together in Nori's head, looking around at the others. Some of them already know one another, but there was the one that had been a tree, that spark of ozone in the air, this guy plowing into the trees, and, of course, Hawkeye. "None of us are normal, are we..? Holy wow." This has never happened before! It seems like this group is destined to be together, just need to re-mesh the two splinters of it into another whole. "C'mon, there's more of us over here!" She's certain of it!
And the bouncing behavior of Speedball appears to transfer to how he doesn't stay focused for long. Or at least that's what Hawkeye can't help but think as he fails to complete those sentences he starts, and instead responds to the entire Billy and Tommy thing.
Of course as she picks up that bit related to his powers as it's mentioned by Billy and Eddie, she does quirk an eyebrow as she glances over the top of her sunglasses at him, before casting a sidelong glance at Nori at her reaction to his powers, before she shakes her head and heads along back towards the others. After all, considering Xavins powers, and well... Everyone elses, she is a bit of an odd duck out here. Even if the female archer is in costume.
Tommy snickers at Nori, "yeah, there are more metas and mutants out there every day. Getting hard to keep track of them. Nice to see you again and all that. We gotta race again one of these days, it was fun. Give me a call, willyou? I am still at my old place. But now I have to go, I have a couple folks to check before dinner." He looks at his doppelganger. "I'm Tommy. No idea why we look alike, but I guess it can happen, this is a big city." As for the others, he gives a quick wave. Weird people, but he can't point fingers. "Laters," he walks away.
Billy Kaplan just blinks as Speedball goes from hanging from a tree to hitting on chicks in zero to 3 seconds. He sighs and facplams at his friend as he gets called a good citizen whom he has never met before, oh yes such a good liar his friend is. When Speedball asks him what he did Billy just holds up both hands, "Dude, not me!" Really it wasn't him...probably...he hopes not. Oh, great, now he is going to be worried that looking his powers for a week might have lead to him creating a new person.
Billy rubs his hand on his jeans a little before he reaches out to shake the hand offered by Xavin. He watches her a little warily not sure if she noticed his floating there a second before he remembered to let gravity work right.
Hearing Noriko's reactions he flinches a little and gestures to shush her, "Shhh, don't use the N word." He glances around nervously. "The scary girl that is friends with Superboy mgiht hear you." His one run in wtih Superboy left an interesting impression on Billy, and it was less from Superboy himself than his friend Donna who yelled at him for using the word normal. Billy ends up waving at Tommy, "Bye, nice to..." He starts before the other boy is gone.
Eddie frowns a little at Speedball's switch from hanging to flirting for a variety of reasons he's not going into. He just signs when Speedball teases Billy like that, shaking his head. He doubts Tommy was in any way Billy-created. He just blinks at Xavin before shaking the offered hand. "Um...thanks?" he says awkwardly. He doesn't think he's very sure of himself but then again he has issues thinking much of himself at all. Noriko gets a blink too. "D-d-define normal?" he asks with a shrug. Tommy's departure makes him blink again and Eddie frowns. He'll have to try to track him down sometime.
As Tommy walks away, Speedball just looks after him. "That's a whole lot of questions, right there." And while he might act that way, he has no idea of the answers. However, his attention is snagged by Noriko's praise. "Wasn't it, blue?" Already, a nickname. Some things about her just stand out. "If I had any idea how to control it, I'd be set! Household name, movie deals, and maybe one of those little toys from McDonald's. The field's kinetic energy, so most stuff bounces right off, but then there's all the physics with stored energy and ow my brain hurts," he says, rubbing at the back of his head. When the ladies walk towards the group, he follows of course. Because, well, /girls./ "None of us? You have some mojo floating around, too?"
When he reaches the throng, he smiles. "Normal has its' place," he says. "Tried it once, didn't like it."
"It might help," Xavin idly suggests as she shakes Eddie and Billy's hands, "if you get into the habit of imagining yourself heavier, if you're having a hard time remaining earthbound." One of her fellow Super Skrull cadets shared that pearl of wisdom with her after days of mishaps with her gravity-defying powers. "Think of yourself as a statue," she continues. "Or perhaps just a boulder, if you'd rather not go to the trouble of imaginary sculpting." With that, she withdraws her hands, gives each boy a solemn nod, then turns to greet the approaching Speedball.
"You would be a corpse, if you were normal, anyway; I'm sure you'd agree that this is preferable," she observes with an inviting smile and an outstretcehd hand..
Noriko momentarily looks like she just said something really, truly awful when Billy reacts to her one comment. It doesn't register at first. The 'N-Word?' It's Eddie's comment which clarifies what Billy had meant. Just like that she has to try not to laugh. It only helps to confirm her suspicion!
"Nori," she automatically corrects Speedball. But--is that a tiny smile accompanying the word? It could very well be! There are worse nicknames to be called than 'Blue.' It may not be original, but it's one which she could live with. "Good luck with your whole movie deal, maybe you can get something else to break your way." Subtle motion back to the trees.
Noriko returns along with one group to rejoin with the other half of the group, just in time to see Tommy heading out. That only gives her another reason to relax, though it's short-lived. Looking past the yet sizeable group, she spots a familiar looking figure in another part of the park. He's the kind of individual that would recognize her in turn, and isn't the sort of person that she wants everyone -else- knowing she associates with.
"I--I gotta go." Regrettably. Would Nori ever see any of these people again..? She hastily tells everyone present "I'll be around the park again." Hopefully this isn't the last she sees of them all, but when two different lives are threatening to clash? Something has to give.
Speedy is on routine patrol, and, having talked to Hawkeye a while back, arranged to meet up with her to give her some information about some guys she's been tracking, hoping that maybe with two people keeping tabs on them, she might actually be able to catch one doing something ilegal.
And as Kate rejoins the others as well, she hears Xavins bit of advice, and she tries not to facepalm. Of course between Tommy and Nori taking off, Hawkeye has to fight back several possible comments. Good ones, strange ones, but not joking or insulting ones (hopefully).
"Don't bother trying to define it. There's no such thing." is said towards Eddie, before she just... Quirks an eyebrow at Billy.
Of course if she knew how close to the group Speedy is (and yes, Kate is in costume) she might of said something.
Billy Kaplan eeps and blushes at Xavin as she gives him advice. at the mention of statues he winces a little and a hand goes to his left wrist. He sighs and shakes his head a little. "I...it's not usualy a problem, not as much as not shocking people at least." Which is true, he does nto often have a problem thinking of himself dense enough to stay Earth bound.
He grins a little at Noriko as she fights not to laugh at his reactions to the word normal. "Ok, I tend to be around..." Usually cause the park has always been an easy place to meet up with Eddie and because it always seems to have an odd draw too him that if he thought about he would blame on the whole magic thing.
He does grin at Eddie as he asks for a definition to normal. "Normal does not involve living with a bronzed and blond God." He gives hawkeye his best innocent grin at the quirked eyebrow. "What? She was scary angery, like the Hulk only not as green."
Eddie winces as well at Xavin's advice, looking quickly to Billy with concern. He looks down at the grabbed wrist and gives Billy that worried look again for a moment before attention returns to the girls. Kate and Billy's answers to his request make Eddie blush and smile a bit. "Bye," he offers Noriko. He spends time in the park a lot too, seeing it as sort of his place to protect. Or try to.
"I'm just glad I didn't hit anyone," Speedball says to the blue haired girl just before she takes her leave. "Nori. Huh," he says, before moving his thoughts back to the people there. Speedy goes unnoticed by the bubble-fielded hero as Speedball turns to shake Xavin's hand. "Funny, that," he says. "Not being a corpse is pretty much my short-term life goal. It's pretty flexible, otherwise." He smiles to Billy and Eddie. "How're you two, anyway?"
"Goodbye," Xavin says, nodding towards Noriko even as she firmly shakes Speedball's hand, "I... will also be around; I'm sure we'll see each other."
With a small shake of her head, Xavin glances towards Billy as she pulls her hand back. "If it helps, I'm a very poor conductor, most of the time," she offers the mage, before returning her attention to Speedball. "I hope you aren't planning to develop a death wish in the future," the alien murmurs. "Your kinetic field... it would be a waste."
"Well, I feel overdressed," says Speedy as she comes up behind Kate, with a small red case in her hand. Inside is a cell phone full of contacts she took off a low-level hitter she took down earlier, as well as a few photos, files, and other information on a thumb drive. The situation looks pretty peaceful, so she's not worried. Just maybe... feeling a touch awkward. Like being way late for a party.
The park isn't just Eddies area to protect. It's Hawkeyes too, as she told Nori earlier. She's just never /told/ anyone why. And odds are she never will.
But that's besides the point. Especially as Billy mentions the 'scary angry woman', which causes her to almost chuckle. But while that's an almost thing Speedballs actual thing causes her to rub the bridge of her nose instead. And then, by the time Xavin adds a bit more, Kate is inwardly starting to think about the members of this group, Xavin included, and something another person here said to her a long while back...
Then again, maybe this isn't the time or the place for that. Not even as she (somewhat belatedly) waves at Nori as the blue haired girl takes off.
Of course /then/ she hears her fellow archer, blinks, and spins around.
"Speedy! And I wouldn't call this over dressed. But I'm glad you're here." is said before she reaches into her quiver, and pulls out a smart phone. One that she just hands right over to the other girl. "Everything I have is on there." is said as she eyes that chest, and winces. "Unfortunately I didn't bring the hard copies..."
Billy Kaplan sighs and sees the look he gets from Eddie before the smile he had before nearly running into himself, or a reasonable facsimilie. With a rin he rolls up his left hand sleave and shows off his arm at Eddie. "Was planning on finding you later to show Eddie, see no longer turned to stone at all."
after all thats happened, Billy is gonna give up trying to pretend he has a halfway normal life. Yup, just gonna go wit the flow since everyone seems to be powered or at least heroes here.
when Speedy comes out of nowhere Billy lets out another startled noise. Looking at the costumed Hawkeye, speedball, Xavin, and now Speedy he shakes his head with a grin. "Really? Cause I am kinda feeling underdressed now. Half debating if I should step into the bushes and zap on my costume just to fit in a little."
Eddie lets out a relieved noise as Billy shows off his arm. He pokes the revealed skin and smiles. "I'm glad," he replies. "I'm d-d-doing okay, Speedball. Just had an overly quiet n-night last night," he says. Speedy's sudden appearance gets a squeak out of Eddie too. "Speedy!" he smiles again. Billy's comment gets a bit of snickering, blushing, and nodding from Eddie. "Me t-too. Um...minus the zapping. I'd have to g-g-get changed."
There's just a moment of blinking after Xavin's words. "Death wish? Nah. If I died I couldn't enjoy stuff." His tone is a bit subdued at that; probably has something to think about. But, his mood shifts as Speedy speaks up. "Woah, stealth!" he says, suddenly seeing the red-and-yellow clad archer. "Okay, if I wandered into New SHerwood by accident, I am totally sorry. That's...a lot of bows." His expression brightens as he's given the good news. "No more rock? That's fantastic!" he says, honestly happy for Billy. "Hello, I'm Speedball, and you..." He looks from both Kate, then to Speedy, then to Xavin, then in the direction Nori just left in. "I love my life," he whispers to himself.
"But, I'm off. Nice to meet you all." He stops to clap Eddie on the shoulder. "Ring my cell later, 'kay? Some hang-out time." With that, he jumps, starting the kinetic backlash that allows him to bounce, and bounds out of the clearing.
"Ah!" Grinning broadly, Xavin turns her head Billy-wards as he shares his news. "Then you /have/ tried my method; fantastic."
She turns back to Speedball without waiting for a response, still grinning contentedly. Before she can open her mouth, though, Speedy makes her presence known, and once her initial tension - not to mention frustration at having /missed/ Speedy's approached - pass, she narrows her eyes to closely examine the archer's garb.
"It /is/ a little unusual," she tentatively agrees, glancing down at herself, and then to the costumed Speedball and Hawkeye--even as the former leaves; she manages to wave, briefly, at his back before he's gone, at which point her hand falls.
As to her concern: her bodysuit ripples and twists once her hand drops, until it's a lightweight purple coat draped over a black blouse, black slacks, and black sneakers--lest her attire contribute any longer to the strangeness of their congregation.
"There," she asides to Billy with a renewed grin, "now we're a little closer to... normal."
Speedy's actually a little proud of her stealthiness. Take THAT Bat-Family. "You should see my boss," says Speedy with a grin at the Sherwood Forest comment. She copies the files off Kate's smartphone to her own. "Nice, uh, not quite meeting you!" she calls after the departing bouncy-guy. "...Cool."
She starts looking over the people gathered. "Okay. You sound familiar, and seem to know me," she says, pointing to Eddie. "Hawkeye I know, because archers have our own secret awesome clubhouse," she points a thumb at Kate. No one needs to know the awesome club house is actually the blanket fort she and Lian built the other night with most of Roy's living room furniture. "So, to the rest of you. Hi! I'm Speedy, and to answer your inevitable questions," she says, and starts counting them off on her fingers, chipperly. "No, I'm just an archer, no speed powers. Yes, the previous user of the codename was a guy- one who is nowhere near as cute as me, I may add-" she's about to add something else, when Xavin does the shapeshifting thing.
"Whoa. /Very/ cool."
And maybe it's the display of all the rest of the powers from everyone else, or maybe it's the fact that Xavin trasnformed from a tree to a person earlier, but Hawkeye doesn't even really blink as Xavin changes outfits like that. Instead she just smiles slightly, nods once, then pushes her sunglasses back up with a finger.
Or at least she does that before flashing Speedball an odd look as he takes off.
Of course then she glances at Billy and Eddie and shakes her head.
"I'd change into civies if I thought it'd help right now. But I won't. After all, there's a reason why maybe one person here knows who I am out of costume, and I'd like to keep it that way." Pause. "No insult intended."
Billy Kaplan grins at Eddie and shrugs. "Two costumes are easy as one. It's how we got you the costume in the first place anyway." billy watches as Speedball acts like...well Speedball and ends up bouncing away. "They say that sugar and Red dye number 40 don't really cause the effects that people ascribe to them but...either way that boy needs to cut down on the sugary drinks."
Billy blinks at Xavin and opens his mouth...and decides to close it. No, not worth explaining how he let a soul sucking statue try to turn him into stone. Or how he burnt his powers out temporarily by tying to channel powers that beat out those of a God he knows on pure magic standards alone. He does, however, have to comment on the clothing change. "Ok, that is awsome. I have to chant, and wish, and deal with the whole flash of light and crack of thunder thing that I know is probably all my doing cause it does not happen when I change other peoples clothes or make clothes I am not wearing change."
Billy shakes his head at Hawkeye and grins. "No worries, and no insult. I apparently suck at keeping a secret ID from anyone that is not related to me anyway."
Eddie blushes. "I know. It j-just sounds weird s-s-saying that my best friend and I are going into the b-b-bushes to magic our clothes off," he says, blushing even worse. "Sure thing, Speedball," he replies, happy to hang out with a friend. He watches the bouncy hero go before turning back to the others. "Speedball is really cool," he chimes in reply to Speedy. "Um...well, I'm a hero f-fanboy but we've met before," he says, shifting awkwardly. The outfit change from Xavin makes Eddie stare. "Wow," he eventually says. "That w-w-was really cool," he says. Hawkeye gets a smile too. "I d-d-d-don't mind if other heroes know who I am."
Xavin looks from Speedy to Billy to Eddie, growing progressively more on edge with each one. By the time she makes it to Eddie, she can't help but frown down at herself briefly before sucking it up and putting on a neutral face to look up at Hawkeye. If she's going to be careless with her cover, there are, at least, worse assemblages to slip up amongst.
"There is a lot to be said for a properly maintained cover," she murmurs to the (purple) archer with a fleeting smile. "And that..." She looks towards Billy again. "That is an awful lot of trouble just for a change of /clothing/." By the time she gets that observation out she is regarding the sorcerer with pursed lips and a sympathetic voice.
There's a deep breath as she hears some of what the others say, especially Eddie and Billy.
"You don't have family." is said as she points a finger at the out of costume power amplifying hero. Then she lets her finger drift towards the magic user. "And you might want to be more careful, if not for your own sake, then your families sake."
Then, as Xavin adds her bit, Kate pauses, and tries not to say what crosses her mind at the shape shifters choice of words. Not even as she accepts her phone back from Speedy.
Billy Kaplan nods at Xavin and sighs. "Well, don't have to go through it for any change in clothes...just when I don't have something to change into with me. You know, when I am out in my normal clothes and suddenly there is an army of magic powered robots marching through the Bronx...that kinda thing."
When Kate reacts he purses his lips a little at her. "He does too, even if its just those of us that have adopted him as family, and while there is no one here that would have enough clues to really trace back to mine I have enough warding spells on them and my home to keep out anyone short of Doctor Doom. I may suck at keeping my cover around people that are not attacking me but anyone that comes after my family are going to end up dropped face first into Niflheim or some place worse." Not that Billy can think of any place worse since he has actaully visited Nifleheim.
Enough time has passed from when Noriko pulled her vanishing act that she's decided to return to the area where so many had gathered so quickly. Despite it seeming like a long shot that anyone would still be around, checking things out proves to be worth the effort. It's enough to bring a hopeful look back to her face, once more hiding within the cover of that brown hood as she returns to the group. "Sorry about that," is the only excuse she has to offer.
Eddie's shoulders slump a little as Kate points at him, frowning. He's about to say something but Billy speaks up first. The mage gets a grateful little look before Eddie nods. He stays otherwise quiet, just listening and watching. Nori's return gets a little wave. "Its okay."
"/Really/."
The thus far calm and disaffected alien's eyes light up as she snaps her head 'round to give Billy her full attention. Xavin's made regular trips to New York - along with other citiies near Metropolis - since arriving, just as a matter of course; her powers make it easy to get from place to place quickly and avoid notice provided that she's careful, and there are so /many/ different people to see and things to experience in each place that she can't help but learn /something/ with each trip she takes.
The possibility of routine robot invasions moves New York near the top of her list of places to explore, though, reconnaisance be damned.
"In the... 'Bronx', you say; would you classify them as irregular? Routine? How /many/--"
She breaks her questioning just long enough to turn her gleeful expression upon the returning Noriko, who receives a firm nod of acknowledgement and a quick wave before her focus is back on Billy.
"I'm going to need you to tell me /everything/," she concludes.
Speedy gives Eddie a sympathetic look. She didn't have any family (at least, none she wanted) until GA took her in. She listens to Xavin, then chimes in with a polite suggestion. "Um. Maybe out in the open like this isn't the best place to talk about robot invasions and secret identities?"
There is a pause, then a wince as Billy says that to Kate, thus the wind is knocked out of her sails as she lets out a slight, "Sorry. I didn't think." to Eddie. "It's just to me... People in costumes not knowing not only protects my family, but also protects you guys from them. Especially from my dad."
And yes, yet again Xavins behavior is noted. And if this keeps up, Hawkeye actually is going to ask 'the question'. Which she's been trying not to ask since she's /trying/ to be polite. All though Nori does get a slight nod as she returns and makes herself known.
"Yeah. Your right Speedy. Sorry."
"Aw, crap," says Speedy, putting her hand over the ear she doesn't have her little com link earbud in. "Gotta go. Arrow duty calls. See you guys around, I guess. Hawkeye, you know how to call if you need me for anything!" she says, and starts jogging out of the park at a decent pace, to where she hid her bike.
Billy Kaplan nods and gives Kate a sympahetic smile. "The only reason to protect people from my famiy would be to keep Mom from feeding them." Or psycho analyzing them, but he is going to leave that bit out.
"Your probably right...but its not like the robots were not on the news. They ripped up a lot of stuff. They were not exactly a common thing though, they were kind of passing through our world to attack another reality...which spilt a lot of it's inhabitants into the area. Speaking of which, I kind of have an appointment with someone that was going to help me know where to send them if I find any more fantasy creatures like Trolls, Goblins od Driads...."
His voice trails off a little while looking over at Xavin the girl that used to be a tree. "At least any that are moaking a problem and not being peaceful new immigrants..." He adds quickly, just in case. "Anyway, I need to be going. Eddie, text me later. The rest of you becareful cause...you know magic creatures and muggers and stuff..." He says the last before closing his eyes a second and muttering to himself something about Oblivian...or possibly a bar then heading in a random direction.
Yep, the group is indeed still here. Not only that, Nori's getting friendly acknowledgements as she returns. How cool is that! It's like she never left, almost like she's been part of this bunch for more than a handful of minutes, and she returns just in time to hear Xavin grilling Billy on ..something in the Bronx. Huh. There's one individual that she didn't remember seeing before, which happens to be the same one that takes off as she returns. It's a friend of Hawkeye's so she's -probably- a decent person and all.
"Robots? -Fantasy creatures?-" Nori pauses and looks at those left conversing. "What'd I miss..?"
Eddie smiles again at Billy and Kate. Speedy's speedy departure gets a look, Eddie glancing to the others as if to silently ask if they should offer help or something. He watches Billy go too and then looks to Xavin. Her enthusiasm's been getting him curious but he hasn't been asking the questions that come to mind either. "Umm...okay..." he trails off, shifting awkwardly. "We were um...j-just talking about this big hero battle that was in the news. A bunch of crazy m-m-magic stuff."
And as Speedy takes off, Hawkeyes phone chirps with a very unique ring tone. One that causes her to pause for a moment before she turns to head off as well.
"Sorry to cut and run, but it sounds like I've got to go deal with something as well. Sorry. Later." is said to the trio that remains as she takes off,
"Oh," Xavin says when Billy addresses her. "Yes. Very good." Beat. "They make the rest of us look bad; you wouldn't want to miss that," she quietly tacks on, with a little shooing gesture that turns into a brief wave.
Once Billy is gone, she turns towards Noriko and clarifies, "/Robots/. Powered by magic," a little sadly. "Or so I heard; I can only ima--" Her eyes slide towards Kate and her phone for a moment, and they stay there until the archer leaves; once she's gone, she finishes, "--gine."
She sighs wistfully, then; not only aren't there any more robots, now she's going to have a song stuck in her head.
Then even more people leave. Noriko's left standing there, looking fairly blank. A glance is passed between the two that remain. "I don't smell, do I?"
Xavin's clarification quickly readjusts her attention, mostly surprised to hear about such constructs. Perhaps a little upset that this is all news to her, too. "In the -Bronx?- That's ..wicked." Uhm. "I mean awful. I mean..-robots.-" Sigh. Just stop talking, Nori.
Trying once more, she chimes in with "Does it hurt when you change like that? Couldn't stop thinking about how fluid it was, just can't forget seeing something like that."
Next is a smile passed over to Eddie. "How about you, Superman? I'm betting you have a trick or two of your own."
"No," Eddie replies to Nori. "I think they h-had to do some superhero stuff," he adds. "It w-was pretty cool to hear about," aside from his friend getting hurt. "I k-k-kind of wish I was there," he try to stop said friend hurting. "I umm," he ends up blushing. "My n-name's Eddie. And I um...have one but its not really impressive."
"Mmm?"
Xavin's eyes were drifting after Hawkeye while Kate rambled about the robots, but the question brings her back to reality. She rubs the tail of her purple jacket - which she's wearing with a black blouse and black pants, with no sign of the purple and black bodysuit she wore earlier - between her fingers a little bit, then folds her arms over her chest and simply replies, "No; sometimes, I get hungry, though." Beat. "For..."
Crap, what do Earth plants /eat/?
"... nutrients," she mutters, dropping her eyes to the ground. She clenches her jaw a little before murmuring, "Good to meet you, Eddie, but you really shouldn't sell yourself so short." Beat. "Stutter or no."
"Eddie? Friends call me Nori, nice to meet you," she offers with a proper smile. "It doesn't have to be impressive to be cool or helpful! Can you say what it is, maybe even show it..?"
Weird, so the plant morpher is more of a plant than a person? "There's always Miracle-Grow," Nori offers with a slight roll of shoulders. There's -still- something about Xavin, it's strange... Nori keeps feeling compelled to touch the other's arm or such to see how close to skin it is! "I was kinda wondering about that..thing," she admits while motioning toward her throat. Eddie's stutter. Not really polite to talk about, but could it somehow be related to his abilities? It's really quite hard to tell!
Eddie just gives Xavin a curious look again. He's resisting the urge to ask a few questions. When the stutter comes up, he blushes. "I'm t-trying to get rid of it," he murmurs. Its a psychological thing. He doesn't stutter nearly as much as he used to. "Oh um...I can't really show it here but um...I c-c-can make other people stronger."
"Ah," Xavin says with a slow nod. "Some kind of super cheerleader? A super motivational speaker?" She leans a little closer to Eddie, eyes asquint as she appraises the young man. "Or... a normal cheerleader or motivational speaker, perhaps; either way," She flashes him a smile as she straightens up, "everyone needs to have a thing of their own. It's very good that you've found yours." Following a firm, supportive nod, she turns her head to Nori, and her smile gets a bit tighter.
"And yes," she quietly agrees. "Miracle-Grow is--well. It's--right there, in the name, isn't it?"
Any thoughts about that stutter promptly disappear upon hearing about the power, itself. "Make other people -stronger?- Dude, that's hardly lame. That's awesome! Can you also make them weaker?" Noriko asks, already excited by the possibilities. It'd be neat to take the fight right out of someone! Then to also give it to a buddy..?
And still, she's at a complete loss when it comes to dealing with Xavin. The shapeshifter talks fine, and seems to understand everything properly, but it's all slightly off in a way which she can't pin down. It's also kind of funny to hear, giving her something else to grin about. "Maybe you wouldn't need Eddie's special touch with enough of that stuff. She's right though, it's good that you've found out what all you can do. Is it easy enough to control?"
Eddie just blushes when Xavin leans in, leaning slightly away on reflex. "Umm...n-neither," he says awkwardly. Nevermind that some people have called him a super cheerleader before. He pauses and gives Xavin another curious look at the mention of Miracle Grow but doesn't say anything about it. He's distracted away from any thoughts on the subject by Nori though. "Um, just stronger. I c-can copy their powers while I make them stronger b-b-b-but that's it. I can't make people weaker," he says. "Its easy to control most of the time. I don't lose control much anymore s-since I started training."
"I don't need his touch /regardless/," Xavin indignantly mutters. "I'm--" She shifts her eyes towards him, "--I was--" and then back to Noriko, as her fingertips dig in agaist her biceps for a moment. "--I am a very capable--"
She looks skywards, sighs, and decides to leave it at, "--well. It's moot, anyway. I've Miracle-Grow." Her arms slide down until they're just sort of wrapped loosely beneath her bosom.
"It's a very... useful talent, regardless," she quietly allows, of Eddie's powers. "Very versatile; I can appreciate that."
Nori's still quite impressed in hearing this. "So--wow. You can also borrow another's powers? What's cheap about that, Eddie? You sound like a total powerhouse! That really is useful, I'm not even sure how you'd go about trying to train something like that. Willing test subjects?"
This time she openly laughs at Xavin's response. The prodding of her own biceps, the verbal description, the general idea is together but the presentation still has a few holes in it. "How about you, can you change into anything else? Not that it isn't impressive already, just..y'know!" There's a momentary pause before Nori's excitement visibly deflates. "Hey listen, is..there any way that I might be able to keep in touch with you two? Cell numbers, or anything?" The others already took off but she's determined to not walk away from here empty-handed. Beyond the coat she apparently got to keep from Hawkeye, that is.
"Its n-not a touch," Eddie says quickly, blushing at the thought. "And I don't think anyone ever really n-n-needs it but its a helpful boost," he adds, hoping not to offend Xavin. "Well um, my powers are kind of useless on my own. And I've um...well...yeah. People who let me train with them," he says. When asked about his number, Eddie nods. "Oh, um, y-y-yeah!" he says, taking a bit of paper out of his backpack and and scribbling down a number before handing it to Nori. "I'm still g-getting used to having a phone," he admits with a little laugh.
"Oh," Xavin exhales, eyes widening a touch at Noriko's question. "I--yes." Beat. "Yes. Yes, of course--"
Her whole body - including her clothes, strangely enough - visibly wavers, as if she were made of water rather than flesh(or wood), and then--inches are gained, muscle mass is added...
"--I can."
... and the alien/tree/weirdo's voice drops from alto to baritone.
"I... can also become a male human," he matter of factly says once the transformation is complete. He's easily six foot tall, now, with a broad, powerful frame to go with the increased height; the long, dark hair has been replaced by a few inches of kinky black fuzz.
"A... male human without a cell phone," he ruefully adds after glancing to the well-prepared Eddie. "I've had some difficulties with acquiring one; you can imagine, I'm sure."
What..what's happening, here..? It's like a shadow starts to loom over Nori as Xavin simply ..grows. That's really the best analogy for it, though the shifting of genders is left unaccounted for. In the end she's left standing there, staring, head tilted back and jaw slightly agape.
"..Whoa."
It takes her a moment to snap out of it, muttering "Sorry, pulled a Keanu. That's just -crazy!- Bizarre..but crazy! Alright, I believe ya about being a very capable." It's worded like that on purpose, but her smile is both friendly and teasing in one.
Next, Nori gives Eddie an almost apologetic smile. "Actually, same here." If she can borrow that pencil for a moment then Eddie will be getting her number in turn, that torn scrap of paper torn once more. That's -one- new contact, huzzah! Xavin, on the other hand, "It'd be cool to bump into you again. I'm around the park enough. I'll definitely think twice before leaning back against any of the trees in this city now." Ahem. "Sorry to cut and run again you two, but I really gotta jet. Let's keep in touch, Eddie. Maybe we can help one another out."
"Whoa," Eddie echos Nori. He blushes slightly at the first thought that pops into his mind and shakes it off quickly. "Pulled a what?" he asks, Nori's reference going right over his head. He lets Nori borrow the pencil and smiles. "G-great," he says. "Sure. I'd be happy to try to help out, Nori. Have a nice d-d-day."
"Yes. Yes, see that you--do," Xavin says with a slow nod. "I will be around." Phone or no phone, he keeps a close eye on the paper Nori and Eddie are writing on, trying to memorize the numbers, just in case. He 'gets' telecommunication, certainly well enough to know how to dial in a phone number if he knows it; it's actually having the money to own a phone that's the problem.
"I will see you both some time, I'm sure," he says with another solemn nod once they've finished. With that, he starts heading off in a random direction, towards some trees. Now is as good a time as any to slink off and do a little refactoring with respect to maintaining cover.
"It was very good to meet you," he says, holding a hand up, "But I should go; I've got business. Important business." /Tree/ business.
Category:Logs
Category:RPLogs