i don't like being called a child !

“I’m on a creeper under one of Doom’s cars and even though I know what I’m doing doesn’t mean I want to be doing it!” Kitty groaned in exasperation as she came out from under the vehicle on a rolling piece of thin metal. She looked around at the other person in the shop. “This is not how I should be utilized as a ‘tech researcher.’” She made air quotes with her smudgy hands. “What was your original job anyway? Mine was definitely not this.”

stephen wasn’t one for parties unless they were based around himself. unfortunately for him and the entirety of the forced residents of this hellscape, it wasn’t about him, but rather about… doom. the one good and shiny thing was tony was out of the doomgeons and there was what appeared to be free food and beverages. plus stephen could dress up as gandalf. the only actual noteworthy fictional sorcerer in his book. turning sharply, he accidentally hit someone with his walking stick and grimaced before shoving a piece of cheese in his mouth, “i’m so sorry, i have to get used to using this thing, are you alright?”

The stick whacking him alarms the boy — Johnny’s eyebrows knit together as his gaze looks up at who it belongs to. His expression suddenly softens hearing the apology. “It’s okay, uh, no harm done.” The boy has endured many things in his life, and being hit from a walking stick isn’t SO bad. He was trying to wrap his head around what was happening — something changed his costume to make it almost more realistic like part of Nathan Drake was now HIM. 

“This is a wild party, huh?”

( @aflamc​ )

there was something to be said about matching with her boyfriend as video game characters. she had a leather jacket on, her hair in a braid, and combat boots on her feet as her gun holsters were strapped to her thighs; cindy was in full lara croft ensemble. “you’d think doom would at least arrive early in his own party,” she muttered to johnny as she took another sip from her beer.

but something in the air had changed. the webslinger looked around her and it looked as if their powers came back. facing a wall, cindy had immediately extended her hand and out came the webs from her fingers. but there was also something else; holding her guns—which she was sure were just toys—she aimed at a doombot and started shooting on target. “johnny, what the hell is going on.”

cindy moon now knew how to handle a gun.

Johnny was more than happy to wear a costume to match with his girlfriend — having to admit that the two of them are pretty cute. He had a gun holster against this hip too, and pouches for other weapons or necessities. He wanted this outfit to be accurate as possible with what NATHAN DRAKE wears. He has a beer in his own hand, half gone, looking around at the party. “He’s probably planning a dramatic entrance, babe.”

Which makes him roll his eyes, but then he sets his drink down to see what was happening. “I didn’t think they were real?” He tries to use his own powers — fire covering his fingers easily, the happiest of smiles on his face because he has missed his fire. Johnny puts it out, not wanting to burn off his clothes, and takes out the gun in his own holster.

“WOAH! Mines real too. I don’t know how, but I think I know how to use it?” There was also the urge to climb something. 

“i believe some facial hair in the style of stephen strange would truly make a statement.” she mused with a quiet grin. it was a rare time in which she seemed to act her age – as opposed to someone who had to grow up far too soon. “if i had the resources, i would do in rainbow.” illyana didn’t care much for the consequences, in fact, she was rather curious about them. “the power dampeners have been unfortunate. i’m also called magik – i’ve spent some time with the x-men, on and off. normally, i can create portal disks, but i also have an affinity for sorcery. not that it matters much in this place.”

“Now you’re onto something! You could make him look like he’s trying to be Stephen’s number one fan.” Johnny can only imagine how annoyed Doom would be just by the slightest stroke of a marker over his portraits. He was smiling at the thought, the happiness in the atmosphere contagious. He doesn’t let the mention of the dampeners bring down his mood. “I just wish I could destroy them. Oh! Sorcery, huh? Sounds very cool, maybe if we ever get to use our powers again we can show off what we can do sometime.”

“oh yes, he always was. you should ask ben, he knows all about it. always got on his nerves back in university.” it had been a long time since he graduated from university and yet he could never forget how much trouble doom always put him in. frankly because he was always yapping about how inferior reed was to him. it was at times like this did he miss his friend quite a lot. he ruffled the younger one’s hair again, knowing he might get a little annoyed but he couldn’t help it if it meant comforting the young lad. “yeah? i hope that wasn’t any of your faults. i know what you and peter get to when you’re both bored.” reed always did let them off the hook, so fault’s on him most of the time. but he did put his foot down if anything got too serious. “ah yes, ben reilly. the blonde twin, is that right? i’m surprised all three of them aren’t working with you at the cafe. you three seem to be hitting off pretty well. should your girlfriends be worried?,” he teased his brother-in-law.

The mention of Ben really does makes Johnny wish that he was here with them — someone else to look up to even if the boy teases him constantly. He wonders what Ben would be thinking about the whole situation dealing with Victor. “I would like to hear those stories. I bet it was his worst nightmare when you AND Ben were in the same room.” Which makes Johnny smile finally, and a laugh even fills the air at the comment. There was always foolish antics being had when around his best friend, but Reed always seemed to turn the other way. “It wasn’t our fault, the customer did it all on their own which is even better. No, Cindy has nothing to worry about. She’s the only light of my life.”

the possible threat of being thrown in the doomgeuns or pit of doom for defacing the portraits didn’t cause illyana much fear. in fact, the young demon sorceress was curious what the man could possibly throw at her that as if she hadn’t already seen worse. “hm, next time i’ll have to remember to bring one, or perhaps spray paint. i think that would also do the trick.” she mused before glancing over to him with a hint of a grin on her lips before taking his hand in quick gretting. “illyana. you’re the one that can usually burst into flames, correct? i believe i’ve heard of you.”

“I think spray paint would be fun, bring a bunch of different colors to really redecorate his portraits. I think a classic mustache over some of them would be hilarious.” Johnny is grinning at the thought, but he doesn’t really want to find out what’s in the doomgeuns which is why the boy has been behaving himself. “It’s nice to meet you, Illyana. Yeah, I can usually do that. HUMAN TORCH they call me, but with the dampeners around the city my powers only work enough to keep me alive at the moment.”

“I’ll figure something out. I always figure something out. I’m not the smartest person on earth for nothing, Johnny. And I’m going to figure out how we can get our powers back to full throttle.” He could see how devastating it was for his brother-in-law to lose that part of himself when he’s been living with it since he was a kid; something Reed still partially blames himself for. “Don’t worry too much about Victor, okay? He’s still the same egotistic Victor I know from college; it’s going to be his downfall soon enough. Let me worry about him. Focus on yourself first, okay? We’ll be back in the Baxter with our weird adventures soon enough. Now tell me about your day at work. How’s working with Ben and Peter?” Reed still has to work on comforting his family, but he hopes distracting Johnny was enough to get him out of his slump.

“I believe in you.” Johnny knows that if anyone could handle it, Reed would be the one for the job. He has a lot of faith when it comes to his brother-in-law. The boy nods to show that he was still listening, and has to admit that comment made him laugh. “He’s always been like this?” Johnny asks, but maybe it would be better not to worry too much about Victor. He can focus on his friends and spending time with his girlfriend. Ultimately the topic chance was for the better, being the kind of distraction that was needed. “It was BORING. Someone spilled coffee all over themselves though so THAT was hilarious.” Truthfully Johnny misses his cars, and being able to race. “It’s good seeing Peter more often, and getting to know Ben is cool. It helps working with someone I’m familiar with I GUESS.” He looks back at Reed through a mess of blonde hair.

illyana couldn’t remember the last time she’d dressed up for halloween – had she ever? normally, the young mutant would simply decline the invitation, hold out elsewhere but this thing was mandatory. unfortunately, she didn’t have enough access to her powers to drop this doom man in limbo and show him what a true pit of doom looked like, so she’d play along for now. although, lacking costume ideas, she put on a little black dress and topped it with a simple witches hat. it counted, right? she let out a hum as she moved into the party, glancing around. “this guy wasn’t kidding, his face really is on every wall.” she paused. “does anyone have a marker? i’m suddenly feeling artistic.”

Johnny has always enjoyed dressing up — which doesn’t surprise anyone. He raises an eyebrow looking up at all the areas of the room that had DOOM plastered over it. “You know what? I usually carry one around because of my job, but it’s in my other pants.” He frowns at the disappointment, but is quick to smile again before anyone notices. “I’m sure someone has one if you REALLY want to make these paintings BETTER. I’m Johnny, by the way.” He extends a hand for a proper greeting.

mj rarely drank coffee, but she had been deprived of it for months now. she didnt hesitate to pick the cup off the counter. “thank you,” she said, cupping her hands around the cup. “is it the whole powers thing? is it making you feel funny?” she was worried about her friend, and she wasn’t entirely sure how this could affect johnny. “do you want to talk about it?” she offered, leaning on the counter with her elbows. “i’ve got some snacks and halloween movies back at my apartment once you get out of this place if you want to come hang out for a bit.”

“No problem. I’d do anything for you, come on.” Johnny isn’t even lying about that, and he moves over to where he needed to clock out before gathering his things to walk around the counter, standing next to where MJ was. “It feels strange. It’s still burning inside of me, but I can’t get it to come out. I don’t like it.” He doesn’t like feeling restrained. “I would love to come hangout — sounds like exactly the type of thing that I need.” His fingers push back some of his blonde hair. “The only good thing about this place is that I have access to hair products again.”

reed felt his heart broke at how fragile johnny was right now, especially with his powers dampened like that. he couldn’t imagine having something that big suddenly be taken away from you; after all, his elasticity only came second to his intelligence. he left his desk and sat beside the younger male, immediately pulling johnny into a hug. they both needed it, after all. “i’m here, johnny,” he whispered as he tried to calm down his brother-in-law. “it won’t always be like this, alright? it’s just a setback we’re going to have to face but i promise you, it won’t always be like this. just give it time.” but reed himself wasn’t sure when and how they were getting back to new york with all their powers intact.

Johnny has always felt that without his abilities that he was nothing. He missed flying around, playing with balls of fire in the form of jingling, and just knowing it’s there. Although he was scared since if his powers couldn’t keep his body temperature HOT (a constant 110 DEGREES) — and if it dropped down that would be a death sentence. He wraps his arms back around Reed, staying there for a moment, and it was like being that little kid again. “I’m glad we’re here together. I — I wouldn’t want to be doing this alone. I miss being able to toast bread with my hands instead of using a toaster.” He looks at his feet for a moment, and then looks up at his brother-in-law. “How do we overcome this if EARTH IS GONE? I wish everything could go back to the way it used to be. The four of us, the Baxter building, and going on our weird adventures.”

“nobody gets paid enough for any of this,” peter replies as he glanced from the bot and then back to his work, which, at the moment was just packaging cookies. “just be glad it’s not coming in here.” he commented as he closed the package and putting a label on it before moving to the back, taking a seat across from his friend. until the door chimed to signal that someone had entered, peter knew they were fine in here. “you okay, johnny?” he asked, raising a brow. 

Johnny fidgets with his hands, ignoring the sound of someone entering the coffee shop. He needed a break, and there was other baristas able to cover until they went back to it. “You could say that again.” He was used to working, but it was different when you were genuinely interested in it. His races for NASCAR were more enjoyable than this — least he had his best friend here. “I don’t know. I’m okay at the moment if that counts. I just feel lousy without my powers. My body is trying to keep my body the NATURALLY HOT temperature with the power dampening, but what if it stops working? What if the dampeners get stronger and my powers can’t even do that anymore? I think I’d die —“ He puts his head in his hands, and takes a deep breath. “Sorry, I just — I didn’t mean to unload that on you. I’ve just been struggling. I think I just need a distraction.” He lifts his head with a smile, trying to be confident despite how SAD he is. “Are you okay, PETE?”

Johnny leans over the countertop, looking over at his friend with a smile. He pushes the cup of coffee he prepared over to her — that is if MJ wanted it of course. “YET it did go unnoticed. I don’t like the way it all makes me feel — constantly uneasy. I haven’t been coping well with a lot of this. I hope you’re adjusting better than I HAVE. How didn’t we see any of this coming?” He says with a weak chuckle, taking off his apron since his shift was over soon anyway. He turns back to his friend. “Walk back home with me?”