#mutanix

When she’d caught sight of a flash of long red hair, Harley felt a surge of hope. The past few weeks of being here alone had turned out to be tougher than she expected. Every day, she wondered whether someone she knew would show-- no wait, she would hope that one of her actual friends would show up but more than ever she wished that friend would be Ivy. 

She missed her that much she even got herself a little house plant so she’d be reminded of her even though she knew she would suck at taking care of it.

But as she’d seen this redhead from behind, with no certainty that it was Ivy, Harley followed. Weaving through the crowd, her pace quickening, she reached out to tap the other on the shoulder and even though it wasn’t mean to offend, she visibly deflated when she saw the stranger in question was not her best girl.

“You look really familiar. Do I know you? Recently rebooted franchise? Potential X-Men 3 movie clone? Probably a better actress than Famke Janssen. Probably behind one of many shut doors whenever I wander into the X-Mansion. Anyway. Name’s Deadpool. I’m sure you’ve heard of me. My reputation is pretty well known far and wide.”

{ ✦ } » — At first, as with any number of his grand plans, this had seemed like a good idea. Beautiful sunsets, people, music, dancing. On the beach, no less. Everything about this should’ve spelled out the time of his life. An opportunity to have a couple drinks, try to flirt with someone cute, and finally just let loose. Have some fun, shirk some responsibilities! And maybe, if only for a minute, try to pretend that he wasn’t a million miles away from home.

                Being the life of the party was second nature to him. In Manhattan, it was never a party until Johnny Storm walked in. But, as the island had a way of often reminding him, that didn’t work too well when nobody knew who he was. This wasn’t the same as swinging by a nightclub and having the whole crowd immediately recognize him, and it bruised more than just his ego. Here, he was the same as everybody else; simply another face in a sea of perfect strangers.

                The fun lasts for about fifteen minutes and half a beer before the music begins to feel too loud and he fails to think of any casual lines that might help break the ice, thus halting his chances of meeting someone new. So he steps away from all of the noise and walks further down the beach towards the flames flickering in the distance.

                Funny how even with his restricted abilities, where there was a fire, he was still never far behind it.

                But it isn’t the fire, or even the free offerings of hot dogs and s’mores fixings that ultimately draws his attention. Rather, the girl among them.

                 What’s more, were they actually going to trust him with a gun? Sure, he’d said in the past that he was in possession of a “firearm”, but that was a joke. A play on words. Well, at least it could keep things interesting.

                 Johnny takes a look around, seeing people already hurrying to form teams. Partnering up with friends, people they were already friendly with. And while he had always been accustomed to being part of a team, it didn’t do him much good when none of them were here. It’s only while he’s observing the crowd that he sees the familiar figure and the proverbial light bulb goes off. He wasn’t much of a leader, hell, he wasn’t much of a follower either, but he’d formed his own team before. Why not now?

                 “Kori!!” he calls out, bobbing and weaving his way through the amassed group. When he’s close enough, he reaches out to gently grasp her wrist. “I may not be one of the Titans, but how would you feel about teaming up?”

                 He stands next to her, taking the opportunity to catch his breath, though his eyes continue to scan the crowd. Johnny tells himself he’s just looking, not hoping to see another familiar face. However, he does settle on a particular redhead standing towards the back who appears to be keeping to herself. He’s almost certain he’s never seen her before, yet...something about her almost feels familiar.

                 “And what would you think about asking her to join us?” Johnny slowly looks back to Kori after. “I mean, the more the merrier, right?”

          Much as he wanted to continue to be suspicious of this city and its appearances, Daryl’s stomach had other plans. It was only day two of being here, but he hadn’t eaten for some time back home, and it finally caught up to him. Hence his walking down the street with a jar full of peanut butter, shamelessly (and fairly loudly, all things considered) eating with his fingers.

Fingers pulled the bow taught as she steadied her breath. A moment passed that barely lasted a second, as she concentrated her sight upon the imagined enemy before her.

And then she heard the door handle jiggle just as she let her grip loose. The arrow flew as the target she had been aiming at moved out of the way as the door opened. The moment stretched as time seemed to slow, the twang of the string still resounding in her ear as Wonder Woman jumped forward.

The door had opened slightly too much already.

She reached forward. Fingers gripping against the frame as she, in one motion, slammed the door open and pulled herself forward. The other hand hugged the stranger passing through, and pushed her down as the arrow slammed into her shoulder.

“My apologies, sister.”

munday on memeday  // accepting👍 You’re doing great! Keep it up! 👌 Your character portrayal is amazing.