InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Ridiculously ridiculous"

Johnny Storm (flamebrain) wrote in silverage,
@ 2011-06-07 01:47:00

Entry tags:

!log, johnny storm, lee scoresby

Who: Johnny Storm & OPEN
When: Friday evening
Where: Midtown
What: Johnny's half-dead and there's no Baxter Building (well, as he knows it) to help him out. :(
Rating/status: TBD, probably PG-ish

-

Johnny had awoken bruised and battered and quite literally burnt out, slumped against a dumpster in an alley. After a momentary panic -- he'd tried to flame on and couldn't, he couldn't, and how was he supposed to defend Earth against Annihilus' forces if he'd used up his powers failing to prevent them getting here in the first place? -- he'd realised ... they hadn't followed him.

They hadn't followed him.

Unsure how he'd gotten back to Earth himself, though, he'd stumbled out of the alley and tried not to draw too much attention to himself (with his scratches and his torn uniform and the bug guts trailing from his boots) as he'd leaned casually on a newspaper dispenser. And he'd peered around at the city that was definitely his city and yet somehow different. And he'd glanced down at the copies of the Daily Bugle inside his leaning post.

And while unexpected time travel was not, in fact, entirely unexpected for a member of the Fantastic Four ... this was unnerving. He wasn't supposed to be here. He was supposed to be in the Negative Zone. He--

He was supposed to be dead.

If he'd been transported back to New York, even Sixties New York, surely at least a few of the others should have fallen victim as well? Ben-- where was Ben? (Johnny knew he'd be able to hear it if Ben were anywhere on the damn island.) Where were Franklin and Val? Alex, Bentley, Leech? But apparently it was just him. And if that was the case, well ... well, then that was the case.

So he'd ducked back into the alley, wiped away the battle debris and tried to make himself at least NYC-presentable before heading out again to walk in the direction of where (he hoped, oh how so desperately he hoped) he would find the Baxter Building.

Not a hint of Reed Richards' work could be found at 42nd and Madison, and while Johnny stared at something that certainly resembled the Baxter Building of his own time, he'd already peeked inside and been indignantly shooed away by the workers of a paper company.

(Was it the same one who'd owned the building before the FF? He couldn't remember.)

He looked further up, squinting against the setting sun in his eyes, and frowned. He could fly up just to check the upper levels weren't already inhabited by Reed, but ... oh, he was so tired. There were no aliens to fight, not right now, not right here. No portal to defend, no kids to save. The mystery of the Baxter Building could wait another few minutes while he sat, regained some energy, and cursed Reed for not making a wallet of unstable molecules so he could buy a cup of coffee when in uniform.

"Least the building's not in freakin' space," he muttered as he rested his head in his hands. Oh, man. This situation? Not good. He'd figure out the degrees of not good in, like ... five seconds...

(Post a new comment)

leescoresby
2011-06-07 02:33 am UTC (link)

Johnny hadn't been the paper company's first visitor that day, though.

Aside from their numerous delivery men, guests of the boss, a passing ex-worker, now pregnant with her first child, there was someone who almost quite literally looked like he was fresh out of a Texan movie.

Complete with the coat, a scarf and a hat, Lee Scoresby came by two minutes earlier than the poor battered man, smiling at the amused receptionist and greeting her a good evening. "I'd just recently dropped by and was wondering if you have any form of employment you could offer to a wayfarer like me."

As for Hester, she was by his feet, head turned to the direction of the young man being shooed away from the building. She tilted her head and twitched her long ears.

"Well, you dropped by too late," the redhead said with a giggle, pushing up her thick-rimmed glasses with sharp peaks at the end. "Try again tomorrow, Mister. Maybe our manager will be willing to see you." She winked at him. "Who knows, at this day and age, we might need a cowboy, after all!" She and her girls laughed among themselves. "But yes, why don't you drop by tomorrow again, hm?"

"I'd be much obliged," Lee said with a tip of his hat. "Good evening, ladies," he said again, was greeted back, and turned to leave. By then, he would have a good view of the other man's back as he followed him out ten steps away and back to New York's evening, his eyes stayed with the young man who sat with his head in his hands.

"Looks like we ain't the only ones looking for employment, Lee," Hester noted to him as she looked up to him from his feet. When she found that he was moving to his direction, though, she'd wished she'd proposed the idea of an inn before anything else. "Noooo, Lee!" she called but would he listen? She figured he wouldn't. She hopped along.

"Good evening, Sir," Lee said to the younger fellow as he came up beside him. "Would you care if I bought you a drink?"

(Reply to this) (Thread)

flamebrain
2011-06-07 07:48 pm UTC (link)

Startled, Johnny blinked and then squinted up at the ... cowboy? For a moment, he thought he'd been a century off -- maybe it was eighteen-sixty-four and he was more screwed than he thought -- but nah. Surely he'd already reached the quota of bad for today; he shook his head, a gesture of frustration rather than a reply.

"Yeah, you know, sure can't turn that down. Kinda left my wallet ... somewhere else."

He pushed up onto his feet, glanced down at himself and grimaced. While the unstable molecules repelled most of the blood, dirt and general otherworldly gooiness, the rips in his uniform were still noticeable enough. And he didn't even want to see a mirror.

"Dude, I look even worse than I thought. Kudos on not just calling the cops. You work inside?" he asked, with a wave towards the building.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

leescoresby
2011-06-08 02:36 am UTC (link)

"Doesn't sound like he's from here," Hester noted the moment the stranger spoke.

On top of that, his was a fashion Lee had never before seen in his entire life. Sure he may have seen something similar in his episodes of adventuring but wow, it's...it was a strange color for a start. He would have wanted to ask Hester's opinion about the matter but he wasn't sure he'd like to be seen asking his shoes where the man may have gotten his clothes. He, after all, didn't look like he had a dæmon. How else did Hester speak so bravely?

"Not yet," he responded as he began to lead the way away from the building. It troubled him to see the man out of his luck -- and without a wallet to top it all off! -- so he produced his warm coat -- black, huge and heavy -- from within his pack and handed it to the younger man. "Here, you look like you could use this. Care to tell an old man what happened to ya?"

For once, Hester didn't protest.

(Reply to this) (Parent)