Impromptu Chase, (For Good Reason?)

***December 18th, 2018***

“Come on, Alex!” Gwen called out through the falling snow, heaving the strap of a guitar case over her shoulder. “If we want to find more people to play with, we’ve got to look in the small places. All those big venues and band meetup places? That’s just where people hang out who’ve already got a band.” She scrolls through something on her new old phone and mumbles something half-audibly about ‘that’s what the internet said’.

Alex huffs out a cloud of hot air as she pulls a wagon, loaded with a drum set neatly tied together, up and over a crack. Catching up she squints down the avenue of bars, cafes, and glowing signs. "... While I trust your undoubtably reputable source Cap'n are you sure we'll find the right type of people?" She nervously eyes the ongoers and pretends to struggle a bit more with her cargo. "According to the laws of Queen, we'll either need a symphony OR two other equally talented and charming people- a hard line to meet."

“It’s a hard line to be as good at anything as you are with drums, that’s for sure,” Gwen stares through the windows of a cafe, “but I’ve heard there’s some very good musicians that meet up in these places around here.” She pushes open a door, and music and chatter comes flowing out. She holds it open for Alex and smiles with a conspiratorial sparkle in her eyes. “One of them reputedly even has the voice of an angel.”

As the doors open, they are greeted by a warm smile as a woman pets a cat who sits on the counter and a young man dressed from head to toe in clothing not well suited for the cold stands in the back in front of a microphone. As he strums his guitar, he sways his hips and head to the beat, smiling and closing his eyes as his performance continues.

[1]

Chatter dies down and the small groups of people scattered about the cafe sway to the song. Alex watches the performance critically, eyeing Gwen to gauge her reaction.

Gwen plops down on a stool and watches the performance with big eyes and a bigger smile. The bass guitar case slides off her shoulder and she puts it down next to her, leaning against the stool between her legs, unzips her thick coat and shakes the snow out of her uncovered hair, never taking her eyes off the stage. “He’s pretty darn good, isn’t he?” She whispers, leaning closer to Alex.

As he finishes up, he gives a slight bow to the crowd and strides to the counter, his heels clacking loudly and reverberating off the walls. “Thanks for letting me play Sabrina! You sure your aunts and cats don’t mind me playing here now and again?” The pair continued to talk and laugh with each other while sharing a sweet custard dessert and fighting off cats who paw for both attention and food. While adorable, they know what they did.

Absentmindedly watching the performer descend Alex nods at Gwen. "Yeah. Talent to a T. Though charm is yet to be determined." Continuing to watch the pink booty shorted boy she squints “I feel like… I know him from somewhere.” Shaking her head she gets up and gestures for Gwen to follow as she backs up and then walks towards the counter.

Gwen hops off the stool and follows after Alex, demonstrably pulling the bass guitar case along and leaning on the bar a few feet away from the boy. “Hell of a performance,” she started, taking off her baseball cap. She glanced slyly at Alex, then held up two fingers to the bartender. “Two kitty pops,” she ordered, remembering a drink she liked from the last time they were there.

As Angel looks over, his smile disappears and he quickly turns to Sabrina and whispers into her ear. “I’m going out through the back just in case. I’ll be back next week.” He quickly places a $100 bill and goes to pack his guitar up before hastily leaving through the back entrance. “Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck…”

The grin slips from her face as Alex glances over Gwens shoulder and sees Angel abscond in a haphazard manner. "HEY! We- Shoot" She grabs Gwens hand and starts after him. "I wanted my goddamned Kitty Pops. What's got him high tailing it?" Shouldering the door open they see him walking towards the street. “Hey dude! Hold up.”

Gwen runs along as Alex grabs her. “Sorry!” She calls to the bartender, “coming through!” she shouts for the people ahead of them. Outside, back in the snow, she looks around. She extends her other hand and with a whooshing sound a large sword appears in it. Grasping it, strength fills her, coursing through her veins. She grasps Alex’ hand a little tighter. “We gotta go fast, Alex,” she warned her with the usual signal, “Remember to let go.” Stepping in front of her, she swung the other super girl in a wide arc and let go, aiming for her to land in front of the boy.

As Angel looked back, he rolled his eyes at the familiar sight of a girl with a sword launching someone into the air. However, as the other girl approached him, he pointed at her and gave her a wink as blue magic wrapped around her like a spider’s web. It was surprisingly warm and gentle as it wrapped itself around Alex before it emitted a faint glow as it suspended her in the air. She could still move her eyes and speak, but moving was no longer an option. For her at least. Angel turned back and continued to run, pumping magic into his legs for extra oomph.

When the blue magic web wrapped around Alex, Gwen uttered a curse. Seeing the boy run off, even faster, she considered her options. Let him get away? He hadn’t done anything wrong, so she wasn’t planning on hurting him. They just wanted to talk to him, and perhaps they were being too persistent for their purpose. Then again, “persistence” would’ve been her middle name, if it hadn’t been three other things else already. She bent her legs and heaved up her sword and swung it, jumping at the last moment. Without transforming, she couldn’t fly, but this wasn’t flying.

This was self-yeeting.

She flew past Parrot and soared through the air, keeping her eyes on the boy. Where did she recognize him from?

Angel continued to run down the snowy path without looking back. He knew very well how persistent Gwen could be so his best bet was to either shake them off, or to stop and be a decent person to talk.

Hey Gwen! Sorry I webbed your friend, but it’s me, Angel! The guy whose dad kidnapped Rhiannon and the guy who made that contract with the possibly evil, but strangely not too evil Horrorterrors! That same guy. Me! Hi!

*...The more he thought about it the more running seemed like a good idea. Maybe he could try going through walls and make it fun. But, he thought to himself, also not a great idea. Keep running and use magic in subtle ways. Sure. Why not.*

Gwen crashed sword-first into a pile of snow in front of the boy. She rose up, shivering a lot, adjusting her baseball cap. She pointed at him. “Hey, buddy, we just want t-t-to t-t-talk.”

Loud huffing and the crunching of snow follows as Alex approaches from behind the boy. Pretending to be winded with her hands on her knees she chimes in. "This has most definitely escalated out of the proportions. Please, stop running?" Lifting her head towards him she pauses, eyebrows scrunched together, and studies him. "Wait... oh we definitely know you."

*Fuck. Fuuuck.*

“Well, uh, I guess you’ve seen my dad’s movies then. But, I’m sorry, my dog and I aren’t too keen on selfies. Bye!” Angel quickly turned into an alley and ran with an excited pitbull running after him. As he turned in, he threw out a small shockwave to keep them at bay. Khloe, on the other hand, barked as she ran imagining this to be a fun romp through the city. It was kind of fun, but Angel was determined to get away somehow. Or at least get some exercise in.

“Fuck this is cold,” Gwen shivered, shaking snow off herself. “It’s in my clothes!”

She stepped out of the heap of snow she’d landed in with large steps, looked at Alex, then looked at where Angel was headed. Her grip tightened on the sword. She’d already taken it out, using her powers here wasn’t a problem, was it? A flash of light engulfed her, armour appearing around her. With a motion, she used Nimue’s powers to pull the snow out of her clothes and cast it aside, before raising her hand in Angel’s direction and making the snow rise up like a wall in front of him.

Face steamrolled into a grimace Alex gives Gwen an exasperated look, "We are one step away from being charged with aggravated kidnapping, could we all just-" a glance at the face planted Angel "Chill... pun not intended." She starts trudging forward arms held up in surrender and tilts her head at him. “Are you allergic to band proposals?”

Angel looked back at the two girls and held up a finger at them before turning to the wall of snow. The white powder that would soon be water in the heat glistened in the light, inviting him to do what he does he best. Scream. Quickly, he shoved his into the wall and screamed with all his might. **What else would one do in this situation? Play dumb? Too late. Keep running? Tempting, but his heels might break if he kept it up and they were not cheap.** So instead, he would continue to scream into the white abyss as he prayed for the day to end.

“Um,” Gwen goes, walking closer and giving an apologetic look at Alex. “I’m not planning on going quite that far, but… look, we’re sorry if we’re being too pushy. We just want to talk, okay?” She put Nimue on her back, armour disappearing again. “I didn’t mean to scare you, and… okay I guess transforming was a bit much and the powers and…” She just gestured and then looked at Alex. “You’re probably better at this.”

Alex laughs a little pinching her nose. "Yeah, real sorry. This isn't a good first impression on my part." Toeing a bit further, carefully as if Angel was a stray animal, she pats his snow embedded self on the back and says "Uh, you gonna come up for air and talk to us bud?"

Angel groaned into the snow before speaking keeping his face in the snow. “Go away you two I get enough of the yeets and the team camaraderie on missions I don’t need it spilling over.” Although the words came out muffled and his face grew chiller each second, he refused to look at the girls in the eyes.

“Look, I don’t plan on yeeting you or getting you in on team camaraderie or talking to you about whatever shit you’ve got going on,” Gwen starts, sticking a hand in her hoodie pocket and taking out a lunch bag, removing a piece of sausage from it and tossing it at Search. “But you’ve got a heck of a singing voice and play a pretty good bit of guitar. Why do you think we got you that weird-ass alien instrument? All we’re asking is for you to come jam with us. That’s all for now. After that... who knows? We’re looking to form a band, but if you’re not up for it then, that’s fine. We could ask… I dunno, what’s his name.” Gwen snaps her fingers, looks pensive and turns to Alex, “that guy we met in front of Swangin’ Richards.”

Having been nodding along with Gwen she stops and her nose crinkles "That'd be Derek." Alex gestures towards Rescue. "Look I uh- don't know um about weird-ass alien instruments or whatever, frankly I don't know why you were running from us like a dog with his ass caught on fire- sorry Sea- uhh puppy." she pauses and shakes her head. "But yanno' like she said we're just out here looking for people to play music with. And you're very very good. If you want to blow some steam or have some fun it'd do you well to join us."

Angel groaned and turned around as he wiped snow off his face, ruining his makeup. “Let’s get something settled ok. I don’t do friends. All they do is disappoint me.” He walked past them as he spoke while he pulled out some wipes for his face. “People come and people go. People get hurt when I’m around. So, best course of action? Stay distant. Keep people away. That’s my motto. C’mon Khloe your coat is getting ruined.”

“My father’s in prison,” Gwen called out after Angel. “My cousin got kidnapped while I was gone, I haven’t seen my mom since moving here, and my girlfriend is missing. You think nobody gets you? That’s fine. I don’t need to be your friend. I need a guitarist. You don’t have to talk. You just have to sing. Everything is fucked up anyway, might as well use an outlet.”

A little taken aback Alex shoots Gwen a short concerned 'this will be addressed later' look but turns back to Angel. Jogging up to walk in pace with him she takes out a card, black with a phone number and Alex Ramierez in white print. "What she said. This bands going to be something and you don't need to be attached or whatever- hell you can pull a Beyonce and leave to bigger stardom whenever you want. Just consider it." And holds it out to him.

Angel scratches at the marks on his arms as he contemplated his next move. Life is a game of chess and sometimes you have to do things that you don’t like. This is a thing he doesn’t like.

*If I take this card I’m gonna have to deal with these people. I don’t want to deal with people ever again. But, if I don’t, I may be kissing my time with the team goodbye. Is this what I want? What do I want? Who do I want to be. Who am I to me..*

“Look, I don’t care about being a star or anything like that ok. I’m just tired of people getting too close and then disappointing them. It happened with Rhiannon when my dad kidnapped her, it’s happening with Osito and me being a bad hero, and as tempted as I am to try again with music I don’t know if I really wanna take the risk. Plus I’m sure the two of you are younger than me and y’all don’t need a bad influence in...whatever you’re trying to do.”

Gwen had a blank look on her face. “We’re friends with Freedo. You’re good.” She shrugged. “I don’t plan to shoot for stardom. If it happens, it happens. I just want to jam. If you don’t want me close, we can stand on opposite ends of the room for all I care.”

Face softening Alex nods with Gwen and fixes Angel with a look "I'm sorry you're going through the ringer man, maybe pushing this on you isn't going to help- I don't want to make you feel more burdened than you already do." still holding out the card. "But then again it might, help I mean. Sing out your problems, feel heard... And Gwens right- one more bad influence isn't gonna' ruin us." She smiles at him then backs up and stands next to Gwen.

A tiny white blob peaks through the collar of her jacket and stares at Angel sleepily as if beckoning him to answer.

Angel thinks for a moment before taking the card and stuffing it in his pocket. It would be rude not to at least take the card, but this is still a rough decision. “I’ll...think about it and nothing more. And it’s not so much a burden as a decision. Well, and it’s a burden, but y’know we all do things we aren’t comfortable with from time to time.”

“That’s all we ask,” Gwen responded. “And hey, if you’re not up for it, that’s okay too, just… y’know, don’t hog the music room in the base, okay?”

"Yes... I have not been there but I am aware now that there are musical commodities at Gwen's place of work so..." Alex coughs tucks the fur ball back into her jacket. "Thanks for your consideration. And regardless... I'll stay hoping for you. That things'll get better and that you'll lend us your awesome talent so we can blow some roofs off."

“Hey, I’m the reason that music room exists ok. You should’ve seen how it was before I fixed it up it was like an elementary school music room with recorders, those shaking things, and wooden blocks. I love Cyclone and all, but jesus man we’re not ten we need actual gear. Point is, my music room my rules. Plus, no offence, but I don’t really trust a lot of the people in the base to keep the things up to date.”

“Yeah well,” Gwen raised a finger, “fair. But the music room is a team resource. Gotta share.”

"AND I'm sure your fellow team members respect and appreciate what you've done." Alex lowers Gwens finger.

Angel makes a face and shrugs. “Suuure I guess, but I’m also stubborn so like, give me some time I guess. Look I’d love to keep talking,” he says with an eye roll, “but I have something to do and it’s a bit personal so I’m gonna have to like, not be here.”

“Alright,” Gwen nods and puts an arm around Alex. “The two of us gotta practice, so we’ll just catch you later then. Stay cool, Rescue.”

“Cooool now I’m gonna go and...not be here again like I said. And just call me Angel, I guess. Soooo, bye? I guess??” He turns to walk away as he pats his leg for Khloe to follow. As he turns away, he bites his lip and lowers his head in dismay as he lets his thoughts take over.

*Ugghhh way to fuck things up again Angel. You could have made some friends today, but noooo you have to go and be all woe is me and beating yourself about things. No wonder the only other friends you had haven’t talked to you for a while you’re so stupid..*

"Okay! Goodbye!" Alex waves after him as he walks away "Make it home safe! Don't get kidnapped! Pet your puppy!" she continues to call after him as they watch him leave.
When he's gone Alex can't help but grin excitedly at her friend, and at what she has already considered a success, "Okay! Good job team!"

Gwen and Alex share a high five.

"But also are we really going to practice? It's like 9:30 and we only have 3/4ths of a full proof band combo. And we gotta brainstorm band names, discuss the identity thing, figure out how to soften the boy up, meticulously interrogate you about your feelings, get my drums, go to-" she goes on listing off the plans for the rest of the night animatedly to Gwen as they make their way back to the cafe and the back door closes behind them.