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In the Garden of Good and Evil [Ivy]
Jean-Paul had never had quite so much free time in his life as he did now. And it sucked. Even when he'd quit Alpha Flight, he'd had his Olympic training and Jeanne-Marie's multiple personalities to occupy him. Now, chances were that Jeanne-Marie wasn't even here, and while the City had proven to be surprisingly accomodating at times (when he needed money, mostly), he hadn't yet found a ski resort.
He had considered getting a job, but nothing around the City held much appeal for someone whose previous occupations had included petty thief, trapeze artist, terrorist (reformed), Olympic athlete and government-sponsered superhero. Mostly, he just didn't have the patience to deal with a high volume of strangers on a daily basis, as he would have to do in a restaurant or retail job.
So he'd done a lot of reading, he'd explored the City, and sometimes, he'd played crimefighter and helped some poor sap who was being mugged. It was fun, and didn't come with any of the bad press he'd gotten at home for being a mutant or a waste of government funds. Something of James McDonald Hudson's annoying self-righteousness must've rubbed off on him, because he actually felt good about helping people (not just good because he got to beat people up).
But most of the time, he just wandered around to try and work off his constant impatience. Today's trip took him past one of the City's gardens. He was sure he'd been by recently, but it was looking incredibly overgrown and untended, as if no one had been by in years. Strange. He paused by one clump of vines and cautiously ran a finger over a leaf. Well, it was real, at least, not just some weird set-up for a photoshoot or an out-of-season haunted... garden.
The torn-up hand and forearm he could see sticking out another tangle of plants looked real, too. Jean-Paul wavered. On the one hand, carelessly-left body parts were usually signs of evil afoot. On the other, it wasn't like he could really do anything for the guy. Oh, but his conscience told him that maybe the plants would kill someone else and then how would he feel, knowing he'd left without at least investigating a little bit?
With a sigh, Jean-Paul wandered back to the entrance gate and a pathway that pretty much disappeared into the new plant growth. Hopefully, he'd at least be able to fly out of this one if he got lost (or trapped, but he wasn't going to think about that yet).
He had considered getting a job, but nothing around the City held much appeal for someone whose previous occupations had included petty thief, trapeze artist, terrorist (reformed), Olympic athlete and government-sponsered superhero. Mostly, he just didn't have the patience to deal with a high volume of strangers on a daily basis, as he would have to do in a restaurant or retail job.
So he'd done a lot of reading, he'd explored the City, and sometimes, he'd played crimefighter and helped some poor sap who was being mugged. It was fun, and didn't come with any of the bad press he'd gotten at home for being a mutant or a waste of government funds. Something of James McDonald Hudson's annoying self-righteousness must've rubbed off on him, because he actually felt good about helping people (not just good because he got to beat people up).
But most of the time, he just wandered around to try and work off his constant impatience. Today's trip took him past one of the City's gardens. He was sure he'd been by recently, but it was looking incredibly overgrown and untended, as if no one had been by in years. Strange. He paused by one clump of vines and cautiously ran a finger over a leaf. Well, it was real, at least, not just some weird set-up for a photoshoot or an out-of-season haunted... garden.
The torn-up hand and forearm he could see sticking out another tangle of plants looked real, too. Jean-Paul wavered. On the one hand, carelessly-left body parts were usually signs of evil afoot. On the other, it wasn't like he could really do anything for the guy. Oh, but his conscience told him that maybe the plants would kill someone else and then how would he feel, knowing he'd left without at least investigating a little bit?
With a sigh, Jean-Paul wandered back to the entrance gate and a pathway that pretty much disappeared into the new plant growth. Hopefully, he'd at least be able to fly out of this one if he got lost (or trapped, but he wasn't going to think about that yet).