tushanshu | 10° VIDEO

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10° VIDEO

[There's a pause before Johnny's face appears on the screen, bent over to press the buttons. Once he confirms that the screen is on, he straightens and makes sure he's in frame, wearing very basic clothes.]

Aw, Reed. You shouldn't have! It's a little small, but I admit, I like what you've done with the place.

[He waits a beat, as if Reed might actually respond.]

There are two obvious possibilities for why I'm here. One, the Emperor is a crazed fan who abducted me to find out if The Torch is really as hot as they say he is – I am, by the way – or, two, I'm actually dead, they're lying to me, and I have a motorcycle and a pile of women waiting for me somewhere.

[A split-second pause.] I'll tell you what. If it's the first option? You can come find me. If it's the second, let me know and I'll come find you. Until then? This Fire Sector is like home, sweet home.

Johnny out.

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[And then Johnny gets distracted talking to Nita for awhile, so he'll probably leave the kid waiting for a few minutes before he comes back. Because he's so considerate like that.

As soon as he returns to the area, he lands and extinguishes himself, wearing just his plain Fantastic Four suit. Immediately, he's looking around for the guy he told to meet him, walking up to the front door of his suite.]

[Victor wasn't too bothered by the wait. He was a little annoyed but he let it go. He's not in sight when Johnny arrives though. Victor's leaning on the wall next to Johnny's door but he's camo'd up, not eager to attract any attention after what recently happened.

Pushing off the wall, he becomes visible again as Johnny approaches.]

Hey.

[Johnny jumps back with an exclamation as Victor becomes visible, a fireball immediately gathering around and in his hand. Then he puts it out just as quickly with an apologetic smile when the face becomes familiar.]

You shouldn't sneak up on people like that.

[Then the Torch moves past him to open his suite, stepping inside and leaving the door open behind him for the kid to follow. He walks over to the kitchen in search of a glass of water or juice or something.]

So what did you bring and what do you want in exchange, besides an autograph?

[Victor jumps as well, not expecting Johnny to do so. He offers an apologetic smile of his own a moment later.]

Sorry. I thought you'd be used to that kind of thing considering who your sister is...

[He follows Johnny inside, adjusting the bag he's carrying on his back.]

I brought over a pair of shirts and some coffee. And the autograph is fine.

My sister doesn't go.. [He wiggles his hand around a little as if that explains anything.] She prefers being seen.

[Johnny turns back around to face the guy with a pitcher of water and a glass, about to pour himself a drink when he hears the mention of coffee.]

You have coffee in there? [And that would be him setting aside the water, then walking back over towards Victor.] What else you got?

Well, uh...sorry. [He shrugs a bit.]

I do. They hand it out in the rationing but I don't really like the coffee here so I've been building up a supply. [He shrugs again as he takes the bag off his back.] In here? Just the shirts, some paper, a pencil, and a chocolate bar.

Good man. [He reaches out to give the guy a couple encouraging slaps on the shoulder.] What did you say your name was?

[Vic just makes sure Johnny's slapping his normal shoulder and not the spiky one. No need to cut the guy's hand open.] I'm Victor Borkowski. Or Anole if you want to use my codename.

Codename? Is that like your superhero name? I'll tell you something they might not have made perfectly clear: it's not a code. Everyone knows who you are when you're a hero.

[Because all worlds are Johnny's world, obviously. He holds his hand out in a gesture that's somehow both expectant and friendly simultaneously.]

How about that coffee?

[Victor just blinks a few times, not sure where to start with explaining how that doesn't apply to his world. Thankfully Johnny distracts him with that friendly smile. Pulling his backpack around, he opens it up and takes the jar of coffee.]

Here it is.

Thanks!

[Johnny accepts the coffee and sets about to making some, because damn it he needs his caffeine. Still, he's not a terrible host and he continues talking to Victor as he retrieves the necessary filter, water, etc.]

So how long have you been doing the hero thing?

Not very long. [He shrugs slightly.] About a year and a half. [At least that's when he stopped considering himself 'just a student'.]

How old are you anyway?

[There's no pause between question and answer. Johnny is nothing if not a good conversationalist. He continues with the coffee and, once ready, flicks the switch to start the brewing and turns to regard Victor again.]

I'm seventeen. [He pauses, hoping he doesn't start getting the 'just a kid' treatment.].

[Johnny crosses his arms and leans back against the counter, pausing this time to take Victor in. His arrogance subsides for a beat.]

I'm sorry you had to start so young. You don't even get your crazy college years!

[He sounds somehow personally offended by that.]

[Vic's a little surprised but he tries not to let it be too obvious.]

It's alright. We didn't get much choice in the matter. When you're a mutant, stuff comes for you whether you're a hero or not and you're lucky to make it past sixteen...

What the hell kind of a world do you live in?

[The idea of kids being terrorized, especially killed, like that makes him visibly angry. Teenagers can stand up for themselves, sure, but what if they're younger? And even Victor's just a kid, or should be. He must have started at around fourteen.]

And who's been training you?

One where people hate and fear mutants and there's plenty of people who only make that worse. Some with good intentions but bad methods and others who're just plan stupid.

[He sighs, shaking his head.]

The older X-men train us.

So you're a mutant, but you live with the regular everyday citizen and they don't like it. Trust me, I understand that. There are only four of us and we've been arrested more than once. Ben.. He looks like a giant rock thing? I think people are starting to embrace him now, but it took awhile.

[Johnny just looks at Victor, not sure what to make of him and not sure whether to pity or respect him.]

Who are the X-Men?

Most of them hate us even when we live on our own island away from them all. And just try to kill us harder. [He nods.] Yeah, we read about you guys in class back home. We got to meet Mr. Grimm too.

Mutant heroes. They protect humans and mutants alike while trying to promote peace between the two.

That explains why you've heard of us. [He flashes a grin and freezes for a split second, as if posing for a camera. Then he turns to look at the coffee, the anger at Victor's conditions waning slowly out of sheer necessity. Because Johnny knows he can't do anything about it.] But why were you living on an island? And why would you meet Ben and not me?

[He throws a smile over his shoulder, to show he's mostly kidding. Then he's turning to face the kid again, impatient for his brew to finish.]

And how's that whole peace between you two thing working out?

The fact that you're world famous superheroes is why we've heard of you. [Victor offers a smile too, chuckling slightly at the freeze when it registers with him. It was something he noticed from Iceman back home too.] Long story short? The government went into extra-stupid mode and put a lunatic super villain in charge of pretty much everything. He did the crazy super villain thing so all of us mutants left the country to live on an island off the coast of San Francisco that used to be a space station before it crashed into the ocean. And we met him because our world's version of you wasn't there at the time and it was supposed to be some thing about living with obvious physical mutations.

[He takes a deep breath when Johnny turns to face him.]

It's better now than it was before.

Why did you listen? Why didn't you fight back?

[Johnny's listening intently again, liking Victor's world less and less the more he hears about it.]

I'm glad it's better.

[Victor arches a brow.</small.] Listen to what? And we did fight back when him and his goons showed up on our island and tried to kill us all. But they ran for it when they realized that their fake hero act would be ruined if they started killing us on live TV. I am too. It's been so bad for so long...we've really needed better.

Why didn't you fight when they tried to send you to the island in the first place? [He clarifies. The coffee machine behind him beeps and Johnny starts with surprise. Then he turns and grabs a mug, listening as he pours himself some.]

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[Action] Sorry for forever!slow