2009-02-13: Something Wicked This Way Comes

Players:

Eddie_icon.jpg Kalindi_icon.jpg

Summary: Eddie and Kalindi meet in Central Park and have a showdown after a chat.

Date: February 13, 2009

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Rating: PG-13


NYC - Central Park

Central Park is a large public park in upper Manhattan, largest areas of green with people reading, having a picnic, or playing Frisbee. Walking paths can be found all around the park. In-between the large area's of grass, the park is shadier with many trees. A large road circles the park where joggers, bicyclists, and inline skaters are commonly found.


It's a nice, cool Friday night in Central Park. Early evening around nine-thirty and a certain young student from Xavier's is out and about. Eddie Parker-Mayfair has stopped at a bench to tie his shoes. He's in jeans and a 'Young Avengers Assemble!' t-shirt and has a few bags on the bench with him. By the looks of it, he's been to a costume shop, a fabric store, and a chocolate store as well as some place that only gives plain black paper bags. He's humming a tune as he works the laces, not paying much attention to what else is going on. Central Park is his old turf so he's not that worried.

The sound of teeth chattering is fairly audible as Kalindi walks through the park. She wears a sky-blue jacket and a pair of black mittens, but apparently this is not enough to keep all the heat in. Even though she appears to be rather cold, she looks about with a glint of wonder in her eyes. It seems that everything she is seeing is being confronted by the teen for the first time. She pauses upon passing Eddie, eyes narrowing as she tries to read the writing on his t-shirt.

After a moment, Eddie finishes with his shoes and stands back to stretch. The words 'Young Avengers Aseemble!' reside in a speech bubble on his t-shirt over pictures of Patriot, Speed, Hawkingbird, Stature, Vision, Hulkling, and Wiccan. The scarred mutant wearing the shirt turns slowly and jumps when he sees Kalindi looking at him. "Umm, hi," he greets, a tad embarassed to be startled like that.

After Eddie jumps, Kalindi raises her arms as if to protect her face. When she realizes there's no need to do that, the arms lower and she stares blankly at Eddie for a second or two before saying, "Hello. I did not want to make you frightened." Her accent is virtually unplaceable, a mix of an Indian accent and a demonic one, and her English does not seem particularly strong. "I was looking at your shirt," says the teen, jutting her index finger towards the picture of the Young Avengers.

Eddie blinks a few times then offers a nervous little laugh. "It's okay. Just startled me a bit is all," he says. He doesn't seem to mind the accent, used to having to deal with differnent ones. "My shirt?" he looks down. "You a Young Avengers fan too?"

"Ah, no. I think they look very nice on your shirt but I am not a fan of them. I do not know who they are," Kalindi explains before giving a baffled shrug. "I have only been here for a day. Maybe not even a day. I am not sure what the time is. Who are they? Are they important?"

Eddie frowns a bit but it passes quickly. "New to the city?" he asks. "The Young Avengers are great. They're a bunch of heroes our age that are working to be the next Avengers and they defend the city and stuff."

"Yes, I am very new to the city," says Kalindi, nodding once emphatically. It takes a few more seconds for her to mentally translate the last couple of sentences, but once she does, she notes, "The Avengers? I do not mean to be wasting your time, but who are they?" She shifts her backpack slightly so that it rests heavier on her right shoulder than the left.

Eddie stares at Kalindi as if she just crew another head. "You'd don't know who the Avengers are?!" he asks, astounded. He glances back and forth quickly. "I'm sorry if I'm asking a bit much but umm…are you an alien?" he asks.

"I do not. And I am not. I do not think so. You mean an alien from space, yes?" Kalindi points upwards, to depict what she means. "I am not from space." She stares blankly for a few moments, and then pretty much contradicts her previous statement, "I am just not used to the Earth-world, I do not know much about it. It has only been a day."

Eddie blinks. "Y-y-you're not from Earth or space?" he asks, wondering if he should call for backup. "Umm…I'm sorry if I'm prying but where are you from?"

"I was born in India, but then I left," says Kalindi, meaning that she left Earth. She then narrows her eyes slightly and tacks on the question, "Am I making you nervous?"

Eddie swallows slightly. "A little," he admits. "Umm…where did you leave to?"

"I do not know." Beat. "I know, but I do not know what it is called." Another beat. "In your language." Kalindi bites her bottom lip for a few seconds in frustration, pronounces a couple of syllables in demonic and adds, "The realm of Umbalificos. It is where I grew up. It is not like here." She slides her backpack off of her shoulders and rests it on the ground.

Eddie stares a moment. "Wow…" he eventually says. "That…that sounds bad," he says, unsure of what to say to such a thing. "You're from another dimension?"

"Yes, maybe that is the word I am looking for. It is another dimension," says Kalindi, nodding her head once quickly, satisfied. She pauses and then says, "I have answered your questions. The Avengers, who are they?"

Eddie bites his lip. He's gonna have to talk to Mr. Summers about this later. Taking a deep breath, he forces a smile back. "The Avengers are the world's greatest heroes. They're a team that works together to defend the world from threats too big for one hero."

"Oh, I see," says Kalindi, satisfied at getting an answer, "Very good for them. If they are heroes, then I will have no problem with them." But then, the teen thinks her goals are much more pure than they actually are. "And you, you like these… Young Avengers?" She looks back down towards the t-shirt, "Do you want to be one of them?"

Eddie nods. "Yeah, I'd love to be an Avenger one day…or one of the Young Avengers. I met them once. The Young Avengers. They're really nice," he says.

"They look weird," says Kalindi, looking back up towards Eddie's face. "It does not mean that they cannot be nice, but they do." She rubs her arms for a few moments to try and warm them up. "It is so /cold/ here… what would you give to be one of them?"

Eddie blinks a few times then frowns. "What do ya mean weird? They're in uniforms. Ya know…costumes. And they have some of the coolest ones. And don't blame poor Vision, he's a robot," he says. There's a slight pause as he looks around. "Cold? Really? Huh…guess I didn't notice," he pauses again. "What? What would I give?" he's confused. "What do you mean?"

"What would you give? I am just asking. How much is it worth to you? To be one of them?" says Kalindi, shrugging. "And maybe they are wearing uniforms but… they are weird. They do not /match/."

Eddie chuckles a bit. "They don't have to match to be a team," he says. The scarred teen then shrugs. "I'm not sure these days. I may just be this scrawny little guy," he gestures at himself. "But I've always wanted to be a superhero. And there's a lot I would give to be one."

"They don't have to match, but it would not look weird. I do not think they are bad because they look weird." Kalindi tilts her head at the latter part and notes, "A lot? Like what? Would you give this finger?" She points towards Eddie's pinky. "They would not want it, I think. It would not be very useful."

Eddie makes a face and looks at his finger. "I don't think anyone would want my finger. And I still need it…" he trails off. "Who's 'they'?" he asks cautiously.

"The Avengers. They would not want your finger. What would they do with it?" says Kalindi, an eyebrow slightly raised. "But what if they did? You would give it to them to be one of them?"

Eddie blinks then laughs a little. "The Avengers wouldn't want anything. It's not about giving money or items to be an Avenger. It's being a hero. They select the greatest heroes to join their ranks and help defend the world."

"Oh," says Kalindi blankly. "What do you have to do to become a hero that they think is so great? There is always /something/ you need to do, some price that needs to be paid, yes?"

Eddie looks up thoughtfully, crossing his arms. "Being a hero…is complicated. You need to stop bad guys, rescue people in trouble, be a responsible role model for the people that look up to you…" he trails off.

"Ah, I see, so it is work that you need to do. Do you do this work?" says Kalindi, cocking her head slightly in curiosity. "To be one of them, I mean. Me, I am overwhelmed by the Earth-world right now. I need to learn more before doing /my/ work."

Eddie blinks then blushes. "Who? Me?" he laughs nervously. "No, I'm just me…a small and scrawly little wimp. I don't have powers or ninja training," he chuckles. "I try to be a good person though," he says. There's a pause as Eddie blinks. "Your…work?"

"I trade things. I give things and get things," says Kalindi, "That is my work here for now." She lips her lips slightly and notes, "And you, you think you need to be big and strong to be able to be a hero? Or have powers? Or be a… a ninja?"

Eddie tenses right back up, every alarm in his head going off at once. Supressing the sudden 'RUN!' voice in his head, Eddie takes a deep breath. "To be a super hero one typically needs some kind of super power or skill. Like Stature can get really big and small and Hawkingbird is an amazing archer and martial artist," he explains.

For the first time in the conversation, Kalindi smiles, though it is more that of a salesperson who thinks they have found a mark than genuine emotion. She asks, "If you could do anything, what would it be?" picking up her backpack once again, and throwing it over her shoulder. "You say that you want to be a super hero. Like the Avengers. What kind of powers would you want? What kind of skills?"

Eddie's hand slips into one of his pockets, the mutant a bit more edgy now. "There are a bunch of powers I've always wondered what it'd be like to have…superspeed, magic like Wiccan, being all pyrotechnic like the Human Torch or cryokinetic like Iceman…way too many to decide on."

From her backpack, Kalindi calls forth a little bit of gold. It wraps around her arm, forming a gauntlet. She looks at her hand for a moment and then looks around to make sure nobody is watching the conversation, "You know, these are things you might be able to get. But they have costs… There is a price for everything. Now I am serious when I am asking. What would you give to be a hero?"

Eddie glances around as well, checking the landscape and available terrain. His hand in the pocket slips into a weapon and the young mutant watches the gold. Taking a step back, he nods. "What kind of costs?" he asks, pressing the panic button on his cell phone just in case (and it's school rules).

"I am not familiar with this Earth-world, like I have said," says Kalindi. Even though the gauntlet appears to be solid gold and seemless, it moves with her hand as if it were fabric. She gestures towards Eddie and says, "What are you willing to let go of? You will be who you want to be. What is that worth? Is it worth your money? Is it worth your memories? Is it worth your soul? This is a negotiation."

Eddie takes a deep breath. "I was afraid you'd say that, miss," he says, putting up a much more serious facade. He lets his scars (the one on his head and the ones on his arms visible right now) flicker bright blue for a moment as he takes his hand from his pocket. Now it's covered in an odd blue glove. One of the Goblin Gauntlets and he's apparently dyed it blue instead of orange. "I'm not entirely sure just who you are or which demon dimension you came from but making offers like that is going to get you into a lot of trouble very quickly, miss. And right now well…I may not be an Avenger of any kind but let's just say I'm not as helpless or puny as I mentioned before. Now…wh-what is that on your arm? Some kind of magic tool?" he asks.

The girl's pleasant expression quickly becomes a scowl, and she draws more gold forth from her backpack, until it covers her whole body in a thin shining armor, with the exception of her head. Her eyes begin to glow an eerie black, pulling surrounding light out of the air. "It is gold. Just gold. And now you are making me angry. I am just making you an offer, I am not forcing you to do anything. What is wrong with that?"

Eddie forces a smirk, hand going into his other pocket and coming back out with the glove's partner and a small red ball with a yellow X painted on it. "Gold? So you have power over metals or just gold?" he inquires. He's keeping his practiced act up but inwardly getting rather scared. He's never gone up against much alone before let alone someone he thinks is a demon. "I'm sorry I'm making you angry, miss but I'm afraid there's no other choice in that matter," he says, shrugging his backpack off and dropping it on the bench. "But that kind of offer can lead to all sorts of trouble for this world. So, please…go back home and tell Mephisto or Dormammu or whoever sent you to Earth that they and their servants are not welcome here and consider it lucky you ran into me and not someone like Dr. Strange," he goes on as he settles into a defensive stance.

"I will just keep in mind that I should disclose less to people now. It is a lesson that I am glad to have learned early," says Kalindi. She finally draws a helmet from the backpack, in order to protect her head, just in case. She is dealing with an unknown. "I will not go back. I am here to stay. I have the right to be here, just like you do." She concentrates a bit and starts to float off of the ground. "And if you think you want to hurt me, I will not tell you all that I can do."

Eddie reaches back and unzips his own bag. He'll leave the Glider in there for now. "I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't like to fight but if it means defending people from being corrupted by a demonic influence, I'll fight," he says, scars lighting back up. "The name's Faith," he introduces himself.

"Faith? Just call me Kali," says Kalindi, giving a bit of a smile. She opens her arms wide, prompting Eddie to attack, "And if you do not want to hurt anyone, that is fine. You can still walk away. I will stay here, I have no need to harm you now. But if you come too close, I promise that I will defend myself. If you are stronger than me, I will lose. If I am stronger than you, you might die. And then you will never be an Avenger."

Eddie closes his eyes and lets out a little laugh. "Man, Kali…you might wanna work on your villain banter if you're gonna stick around," he says. "Cause I've fought Scorpion, Dililah, Nanny, Orphan-Maker, three of the Four Horsemen and a lot of random thugs by now and I know full well how somebody can die in a fight," he says, reaching back into his bag. He withdraws an odd looking metal device and with the flip of a switch it unfolds into the Goblin Glider. Eddie pulls his backpack back on as he steps on and revs the engine lifting off a few inches into the air. "And you should know, Kali. There's more to a fight than being strong," he states. And with that he flings the red-ball towards the ground infont of Kali. On impact with something it will unleash a thick cloud of pepper-smoke as a distraction. Eddie snatches up his bags and kicks the glider into gear, heading for the sky to get out of there. He's no dummy, he knows he doesn't stand much of a chance against a demon alone.

"Argh!" shouts Kalindi as the pepper-smoke appears once the ball hits the ground, she begins to cough, but quickly backs out of it to help herself recover. She looks up at the sky and narrows her eyes slightly. Well, at least there were lessons learned tonight. She mumbles, "I am -not- a villain," though she isn't really talking to anyone in particular. She returns to the ground and reforms the gold of her armor into a ball, putting it back in her backpack and walking away.

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License