2012-10-15 World, Rocked

"I'm telling you, it was that singing kid! The one from that concert!"

"No way, that guy was a fake. They just made him up for the show."

"That's not right. He's been around before. I don't know his name though."

A small group of people is gathered and chatting excitedly tonight on the lower east side. They'd just witnessed what could qualify as a super-battle. Only barely. A man in a suit of medival armor with a flaming sword and shield had tried to rob an art gallery only to be stopped by a young man in blue and white...who won by tipping him over and getting him stuck in a hole in the sidewalk. Not the most spectacular battle but a win for the goodguys anyway. And where is Axiom right now? On a nearby rooftop and flopping down to rest. "Man...that g-guy was more dangerous to himself than anyone else..."

"I saw, I would have jumped in but the only help it looked like you needed was in saving him from himself." A voice says from not far away from whre Axiom has choosen to flop over. "Looks like i spent all that time lookingf or a safe place to get into costume for nothing." Stepping out where he can be seen easier, at least by Axiom, the spell slinging teen hero Wiccan moves to look over the edge of the building to the ground. "I hope is not about to start fighting with the cops now that he is cuffed. Although, a shock form a tazer might nock sense into him."

There was a little on-the-scene coverage at the gallery, in fact. One of the local stations had picked it up, just as one Robbie Baldwin was cooling his heels, waiting for his dinner of Chinese Food to finish being prepared. The kid really can't hear what's going on over the sound of the stove and the restaurant workers chatting it up in Mandarin. But what Robbie does see, a big guy in armor facing off against a familiar blue-and-white costumed person is enough to make him fidget, shuffling his weight from foot to foot. Jeez, does Superman ever get a cry for help while waiting for takeout. Man...

It takes another minute or two before the paper bag-in plastic bag is slid across the counter Baldwin's way, which he offers up a quick thanks and bolts out of the place. One alley and a forceful jump later, and Speedball is back to the rooftops, bouncing with his kinetic field and trailing bubbles which soon fade.

By the time he gets to the gallery, the lights are flashing on the cop cars, and from his vantage point of a few hunderd feet up (and upside-down for the better view), Robbie can see where Axiom is. There's a familiar 'SPROING!' noise as Robbie touches down on a rooftop a few buildings down to redirect his path, coming to a touchdown on the roof where the boys are. "I missed it already? Aw, man," he says, coming to a stop, still holding the plastic handles of the bag of food.

Axiom jumps and lets out a little squeak when Wiccan appears, calming when he see who it is. "Sorry. If I knew you w-w-were around, I would have saved him for you," he says, smiling at his friend. "He might. Unless he got knocked out when I knocked him into that hole," Axiom remarks, peeking over the side of the roof.

The SPROING catches Axiom's attention and he looks around. Speedball gets blinked at before Axiom smiles. "You didn't miss much."

Wiccan spins and drops into a fighting stance as he hears someone land on the roof top, but goes back to a more relaxed stance when he realizes its not an enemy attacking but another hero. He gives a smile too Speedball and a small wave. "The action was pretty much over with by the time I got here too. axiom tripped hi into a hole and he pretty much took himself out."

Since Axiom is relaxing and not starting a tussle with the other customed kid that's already there, Speedball is going to assume that Wiccan's a friendly, but the commentary makes his eyebrows perk behind those goggles of his. "He what?" A small grin blossons on his face as he looks over the edge of the rooftop where the cops are, below. From here, he can see the hole in the sidewalk, and he starts laughing in low tones. "Oh, that's great," he says. "Freakin' fantastic," he declares, and turns around, holding up the bag. "Hey, I've got plenty on here, Ax-man," he adds. "Dumplings, won-tons, some chow mein...it all smelled good," he explains.

"His sword wasn't even m-magic or anything. He just set a normal one on fire," Axiom remarks, pointing to the blade which is stuck in a sewer grating. He blinks a few times at the offered food, smiling Speedball's way. "That s-sounds pretty good if you don't mind sharing. I kind of skipped lunch," he admits. "Oh yeah...um, Wiccan this is Speedball. Speedball, this is Wiccan," he introduces the two.

Wiccan grins at Speedball and starts, "Hi I'm..." But Axiom gets in the introductions. "Yeah, what he said." His stomach takes tha moment to make a noise that should just about be audible. "Heh, was going to grab streeet food as a snack on the way home when I saw the news mention the robbery. Hate when I forget lunch and all the serve at school is stuff I would not feed to a Super villian..."

"And the fire...didn't damage the sword? After all those cereal box tops he sent in for that armor? From ninteen-ninety-eight?" Robbie was born in ninety-six, so he's really just making it up. The blue-clad kid her surrounded by the bubble-field makes a sketchy bow as introductions. "Speedball, at your service. Friend of Ax-hero's is a bud of mine." He crouches to open the bag. "If I wasn't in the lab when it happened, I would totally blame my powers on my school's mystery meat. I swear, school food has to be a supervillain plot." Beat. "Or a supermodel plot, because it makes me want to not eat ever again. Dinner is this; mom's working late and is all here's some cash. You burn leftover pasta one time..."" He peers into the bag, and frowns. "Good news, I have enough for everyone, and the food's all right. Bad news: plastic-containers of sauce and bouncing powers apparently do not mix."

"Hey, don't knock school lunches. All the ones that got thrown out mostly whole were decent finds," Axiom replies, half joking. He chuckles softly at the mention of burnt pasta, moving closer to the others. "I don't think bouncing is friendly to sauce powered or not."

Wiccan nods and follows along with the slightly hyper way Robbie bounces the conversation around. "Nice too meet you, any friend of Axiom's is good to meet. Obviously you never ended up near my school on spaghetti day. That meat sauce they use is vile." He peers over into the bag of yummy Chinese foods and winces seeing the destroyed sauce containers. "Yeah, bouncing and sauce are definitely not friends...but thankfully I am here. Iwantthesaucesfixed, Iwantthesaucesfixed, Iwantthesaucesfixed!" He chants a few times and a bluish white glow covered the foods and then poof, the sauce containers are magically whole again...but the sauces appear to be all mixed up. "Hmm....well...it almost worked."

"I saw you on the tube in the restaurant, and I was in a rush," is Speedball's excuse. There's a sidelong look at Axiom's joke about the food thrown out, and he almost asks a question he's not sure he wants to know the answer to. "I have some of the packets that didn't bust open..." He pauses as Wiccan starts speaking, and he just /stares/ at the glowing bag of food. "What did...woah!" he says, and is't obvious that he's impressed. "You fixed it by talking to it?! Wow, that's cool!" he says, and picks up one of the containers. It's the flatter one that contains the sweet red sauce that goes with the won-tons, except that there's a thick vein of the watery brown sauce for the dumplings shot through it. "Almost...well," he says, putting it down as he fishes out food. "I'll try anything once."

"I just sort of ran into this all on m-my way home," Axiom replies. "I almost thought it was a j-joke or ad or something until the guy started yelling about wanting money and all the art," he says. If he notices the sidelong look, he doesn't say it. "Not spagetti day b-but I was there once for pizza," he chimes to Wiccan. The other hero's display of power gets a smile and Axiom claps when it finishes. "It worked well enough if you ask m-me."

Wiccan shrugs a little and gives an appologetic look. "Magic is not an exact science...although I wish it was. I do really well in science." he gives a small slightly emberassed look to Axiom thanks to the clapping, it's not like he did anything Zatanna worthy. "Ok, the pizza is decent. Also used to be the most dangeous day too since the bullies knew everyone brought cash on pizza day."

"They use Celantano's or Elio's fresh from the freezer for Pizza fridays where I'm at." Speedball opens the containers of food, and it would appear that his eyes are bigger than his stomach, or he has a teenager's average appetite. Possibly both. He slides them first towards the other two boys, waiting his turn. He sits cross-legged on the rooftop, with less bubbles than he's used to as he listens. "Ow, dude. I'm sorry to hear you have to deal with that crap," he says, as Billy speaks up.

"They d-didn't have pizza days back where I used to go to school," Axiom remarks, taking some of the offered food for himself. He gives Billy a sympathetic look at the mention of the bullies. "And you magic is c-cool even if it isn't exact, Wiccan."

Wiccan mutters something to himself for a bit and with another slightly bluish glow summons...a pair of chop sticks into his hands. He is polite enough if he is going to take food from a box he is using utensils instead of his fingers. "Yeah, it sucked. Although, this year is shaping up so things are a lot better than the past. Name calling and stuff still but no activy bulling, not after what happened at the end of last year." He shakes his head to dislodge the memory of the first time he ever used his powers and sits down, floating a few inches above the roof, to try some of the offered food. "Not as cool as being able to copy other people's powers though."

"Axiom's right, man. Like, are you new to your powers too? I guess it just takes practice. Still," he says, taking one of the pair of chopsticks in the bag, twirling them in his fingers. "It's better than messy sauce all over everything." Speedball waits until the other two have gotten food before snagging a dumpling. "So, what happened last year?" he finds himself asking, before turning his head back to Axiom. "That's your power? I just thought you were all kung-fu whupass and all that. Just..." He looks around. "Don't copy me. I barely know what my powers do."

Axiom blushes as Wiccan mentions his powers. He's resorted to using the chopsticks as spears because well...he sucks at using them normally. When Speedball asls about what happened, Axiom turns a little concernd look Wiccan's way. He knows what happened. And then he's getting asked about his powers and blushing again. "I um...n-n-not exactly. Its easier to show than explain...um...Wiccan, can I...?"

Wiccan gives a shy smile and rubs the back of his neck. "I...well first time I used my powers was just before summer break started. Kinda ran into the biggest bullies in the school while they were given a kid a swirly...and sort of wished myself extra powers which I promptly lost control of. There was wind and lightning the floresent lights exploded and there was a fire. No one remembered exactly what happened, and it all got blamed on faulty wiring. The guy getting a swirly though spoke up about what was happening though, and the other guys all got bounced out of school thanks to the no tollerance policies." When Axioma asks Wiccan shrugs and nods, he knows exactly what he is in for when Eddie does his thing.

There's a bit of a wince as Wiccan tells the tale. "Everyone got out okay, though, right?" he asks. "Because if they did and the bullies got foiled, than that's pretty cool," Robbie might...not be the best influence for power propriety, sometimes. Still, there's a mouthful of Chinese food to be had, and a power demonstration to watch, which he does, tilting his head to one side for a moment.

Axiom smiles and sets his food down. Hopping to his feet, he steps back and concentrates. The teen's eyes light up bright blue as he firsts boosts Wiccan's powers. "The first p-part of my powers is making someone else stronger. Wiccan's a lot more powerful right now than he was before. And now I can do..." he trails off, mimicking Wiccan's powers. With a little flash of light, Axiom's costume becomes a fusion of his own and Wiccan's. "And now I can do magic too."

Wiccan looks rather emberassed and sighs. "Kessler...er...the main bully in the group kinda ended up with a light concussion but he was alright. I have been much more carefull with my powers since then...although I still blow up the occasional lgihtbulb." On the up side he has not exploded his phone in over a month, but he is not going to mention that. when he feels himself get boosted he shakes his head a little and his eyes glow just a tiny bit. "It's a serious rush too, when he boosts you. Feels like you can do anything..."

There's a mix of reactions on Speedball's face when he gets the explination. "Dayam," he whispers, absently rubbing his chin, and getting some stray red sauce on his glove. He looks up on reflex, imagining a boosted bounce and general height concerns. "That's scary and awesome and potentially addictive all at once," he says, not one to mince words. "But how come every superhero or group of them in New York isn't knocking down your door to beg you to be one of them?" And, he thinks, not just the heroes, which is not a good thought at all.

"My p-powers aren't addictive," Axiom pouts a little. Sitting back down, he lets the boosting and mimicking fade and returns to normal. "Umm...well...I'm n-not really well known and until recently I didn't actually have a door," he says, blushing furiously.

Wiccan grins and laughs a little nodding at Speedball. "You said it." Of course he is reffering to the bit about Axiom's powers being scary addictive and awsome, especailly since he feels that way using his own powers before they get boosted sometimes. "I know the answer. It's because they are not paying attention and he has a couple of Gods looking out for him."

"Didn't have..." Speedball trails off, and the pieces fit. The joke about dumpster diving, and... He just sits there, stupidly. For one of the few times in his life, Robbie Baldwin's at a loss for words. And it actually is Robbie, because he's been at rest for a bit and surprised all around. There's no field, no costume, and Robbie seems a little smaller than Speedball; the body dimensions are slightly different. "Wait..." Wiccan gets a glance. "Okay, mind, blown. What..."

Axiom just blushes even more when Wiccan speaks. "Man," he shifts a little, embarrassed. And then he sees that Speedball's not only gone Robbie but figured things out. After a moment, Axiom gives a little sigh. "Yeah...I...used to be homeless. Things with my family were...r-r-really not good and when they were goin to get worse, I ran," he explains quietly. "I ended up living on the streets for a couple years...and then one day the Goddess of War finds me in a dumpster and next thing I know, I'm living with her and Thor and I've got a new family."

Wiccan blinks a little at Speedball ending up without his normal heroic look. He tosses an arm around axioms shoulders and gives hima quick squeeze. He really does not know what to say.

The look on Robbie's face is enough to show that he is shocked way out of his comfort zone. In his own self-centered way, he just figured other teen heroes were just like him, and this shows how deeply, deeply wrong he is. He almosrt makes a comment about his family drives him crazy too, but what common sense he has stops him cold. No, Baldwin, you do /not/ compare stories. Not on this. You do not know, and you are not to act like you have any damned clue what Axiom has gone through. No. He does blurt a word or two out. "Is there-" Is there anything I can do to help? But the rest of Axiom's story...one can almost see the precise moment where Robbie's brain breaks. "You. Live with Thor." Pause. "The god." Another pause. "The one with the big hammer? That Thor?"

Axiom leans into the little side-hug from Wiccan. He appreciates the comfort. The teen waits quietly while Robbie processes things. He nods to the question though. "The one and only. Thor, god of thunder, defender of midgard," he rattles off several more titles but Wiccan probably knows more. "He's a r-really cool guy."

Wiccan grins when he does see Speedball's brain hit that barrier that realizing yes Axiom lives with Thor is. "Yes, that Thor. Tall, blond, increadibly good looking, God of thunder Thor." He stops himself from listing all of Thor's titles, but only just. Robbie is not the only one that finds Axiom living with Thor impressive, even Wiccan who shows up to hang out often still has difficulty wrapping his brain around that. although, that might be because he is probably the biggest Thor fan boy in the 9 realms, one just has to look at his hero costume to see just how much it was influenced by Thor. "Really cool and he loves coffee, both him and Sif."

On his part, Robbie won't process the hug thing until much later on. And Wiccan's costume. His brain is way out of gear at the moment. "Wow," he says, his voice a little flat. World, consider thyself rocked. "No, wait, I mean, I totally believe you, it's just..." He tries to get his thoughts together. "You're a good guy. You derserve to have cool family like that," he finally says to Axiom. "And Sif." Oh, he knows about Sif. Insert mental wolf whistle here. "Well, yeah...wow." He does believe the boys; he just does. He taps his palm with the fingers of his opposite hand. "That's really..." And then he realizes, he feels his own skin. He looks down. No costume. "Oh..." He chuckles. "Robbie. My name's Robbie. After what you've told me...I can give you that."

"If you want, you can come over and meet them sometime. They love visitors," Axiom offers. He just smiles more as Robbin goes on. At the introduction, Axiom looks to Wiccan. Shrugging, Axiom reaches up and peels his mask off. A hand is then offerd. "Nice t-t-to meet you, Robbie. I'm Eddie."

Wiccan can't help but grins and shrug. "Billy. And he is right, the love visitors, it's kind of a cultural thing. If you do show up unnanounced bring a small gift too, part of the manners and ritual that goes with the culture." Billy is a geek on the whole Norse myth thing. He does not have a mask to peel off like Axiom but he does take off the silver circlet on his head and...his face is a little different. Nothing obvious, or even describable, like there was just something about it before that anyone who had seen it would not really recognize it was Billy without it.

Taking the hand, Robbie shakes it. "Nice to meet you too, Eddie. Cool name. I was running out of Ax-puns," He smiles, just so. "And it would be awesome to meet them sometime. But, dude, I'm your bud because of /you,/ and not who your friends are. Get that out in the open now." He chuckles, and shakes the mage's hand also. "And you too, Billy. Man, that's a lot of 'ee' sounds. And-" Suddenly, there's music. A certain memetic Korean pop song that has been popular in the States as of late. "Oh, man..." Since he's in regular clothes, he can actually get his phone. He puts a finger to his lips. "Hey Mom," he says. "Yeeeah, I know. I was just wandering 'round, the usual." Pause. "Yes, I ate. Pretty awesome meal, actually." A grin is flashed towards Eddie and Billy, then his face falls. "But..." Pause, and Robbie nods. "Got it. There in a bit." He hangs up, and when he puts the phone away, he slams his open palm on the ground, which reactivates his powers. "So, small gift, they like coffee, got it. Made friends with Billy and Eddie, much more important," he says. "But, I've been summoned home, so I gotta bounce."

Eddie nods, chuckling quietly at the mention of Ax-puns. He's secretly glad they're running out. That song just gets a slightly confused look but he goes quiet. After the phonecall ends, he nods. The reactivation of powers gets an impressed little look and Eddie grins. "Have a g-g-good night, Robbie. Me and Billy will clean things up here."

Wiccan can't help but smirk a little listening to Robbie on the phone. He leans over twords Eddie a little as he finishes up and asks, "So this is what its like not to be the one being summoned home? Huh, feels kind of odd." Before he can say anything there is the first few strings of Carl Orf's O Fortuna comming from his pants. After quickly digging out a very cheep phone that is in a rubber armor cover that has to be twice as thick as any normal person would have he sighs while checking it out. "Rule's one, three, and twelve. Don't tempt fate. Looks like Dad just got a called in for an emergancy surgery on someone and I am on babysitting duty again." He shakes his head and grins at Speedball. "See you later man."