Following In Her Father's Footsteps ! !

“How do we play?” Bobby asks as he’s already got a hand on the controllers he would be using for Gauntlet II. There was a lot to worry about in the world today, but this moment of fun wouldn’t be so bad. “I’m Bobby by the way, if we’re going to be going on this adventure together we should know each other.”

“I would be honored.” Ted answers with a grin, looking over at the girl as he steps closer. He had came here originally to help someone fix a machine — being a friend of a friend helps in some instances. When you’re a genius anyway, he approaches the game though. He’s never played this one, and he was actually looking forward to it. “It looks like it’ll be fun.”

It wasn’t surprising to him to see others change forms as well, but it was unexpected at times, depending on how they changed. This was one of those times — changing sizes but remaining in a human form was new to him, and he watched in slight awe as she grew, then returned to normal size. Garfield nodded at her words, his hands now resting on his hips. “Don’t worry about it, that’s what I do, y’know?” His tone was just as friendly as it always was, a smile painted across his features.

“A real modern day hero.” Cassie commented with a bright smile on her face,  “Are you out on patrol?” She commented, “Wait, no, that is stupid of course you are.” She kicked herself for having a soft mental lapse.  “Sorry- i’m Cassie- it is nice to meet you.” 

Rictor takes a deep breath to calm himself, looking over at his company. “I have probably met a few people that would agree. I’ve had people throw glass bottles at my head just for being a mutant. The world isn’t kind, but it would be nice if it were, huh?”

“An ignorant but loud few, can drown out the voices of the many very quickly.” Cassie replied, “I think so too, and I still have hope that we can have that kind of world someday.” Cassie added, “Cause if we stop fighting for that, then we’ve already lost.” 

Loosening his tie, Harry stepped into the arcade and took in the sights. It was the middle of the day and there were plenty of responsibilities under his belt, but he needed a break and for once, decided to let himself do just that on his scheduled lunch time. Although it probably wasn’t normal for a guy in a full business suit to step foot in an arcade, he couldn’t bother himself with caring. Nodding, Harry carefully made his way over to the girl who called out the offer. “Sure, but don’t be mad if I suck, I haven’t played an actual arcade game in… forever.” 

Cassie perked up with a smile. “Well we can end that forever right now, cause in my opinion you can never be too old to just pretend to be a kid again..” Cassie always thought it was important to relax, or else the world would begin crushing you and she didn’t think she’d ever escape it.  Follow me.” Cassie lead him to the machine, and plopped in the quarters.  “These are your controls.” She began explaining them all to him, “And you can pick which class you want, except Valkyrie, that one is my favorite one.” She added with a proud smirk even though she knew anyone could play any class, she still liked the diversity of the team comps..

truthfully, felicia didn’t even know why she’d ended up in the arcade to begin with. she wasn’t a connoisseur of aged video games but she’d followed a group of guys in here who seemed a bit… suspicious. she’s got one hand inching near the knife attached to the holster under her skirt when a voice snaps her back to reality. a teenager asking her to play a game with her? her gut reaction was to say ‘fuck off’ and walk away but at the same time, the blonde felt a little bad.  “gauntlet? never heard of that one but i guess i can give it a go…”

Cassie lead the other toward to the arcade station, it was a bright blinking screen with the option of up to four players.  She pointed to the screen, “You can be one of those four classes, Valkyrie, Wizard, Elf or Warrior.” She placed the quarters in the machine, “Attack, move.” She pointed out the controls. “Oh and jump.” She added as an after thought.  “I personally always play a Valkyrie but all the classes  are fun.” She added, selecting her class and motioning for the other to make her choice. “It is really easy when you start playing, I promise.”

Julio signs as he rips off a poster promoting this promise of a cure off one of the walls outside. “What bullshit.” The mutant says as he looks at the words, his eyes looking over at the people that had been staring at it too. “It makes me sick the more I hear about it. What do you think?”

Open Starter

“Hey, do you know if this place has good coffee? i’ve been looking all morning,” Miles said pointing to the sign of the car in front of him.

            “    ———   hoodies are one  of  the  most  powerful  and  underappreciated  articles  of  clothing . cold ?  put  on  a  hoodie .  raining ?  put on a hoodie . nothing  to  wear ? hoodie .  cripplingly  low  self  esteem ?  you  already  know .   so  versatile !  so  multifaceted !      ” 

Harry absentmindedly flipped through the pages in front of him, unbothered when he heard footsteps approaching. Since returning back to his normal life after being put in the care of a medical institution and regular visits with a criminal psychologist for a period of time, his demeanor was…. different. He still carried the weight of his father’s death, but was considered “cured“ from their perspectives. 

“I don’t know what they’ve been saying about me…. but I’m not crazy. It was evaluated.” His tone was colder, his fingers now paused at the corner of a page. In the back of his mind, he wasn’t sure he had anyone left in the world that he had returned to - what had been said in his absence, and what were they saying now? His thoughts lingered, and he wasn’t sure he was prepared for any of the answers about his own return.

In 2019, everything was different. Everyone was different. Scanning the area, Garfield lowered to a squat in the shadows of the tower. The other Titans hadn’t made contact since returning, leaving him wary of their situations. It was never really his intention to be a hero without a team, and he didn’t plan on starting now. When he was alone, that was when his past was able to push through the facade he had spent so many years constructing. His gaze focused on the approaching sentinel, which appeared to be stalking a figure like prey. “Watch out!” The words came out in a choked scream. Leaping from the shadowed area, Garfield transformed while in the air, his hands now large paws that grasped the sentinel with ease. Rip. Disbanded at an alarmingly quick rate. As his body took shape in its human form again, he stretched his arms above his head to help him adjust back. Finally, Garfield faced the figure that was the sentinels prey. “Are you okay?”

At the scream, Cassie shrank down just barely dodging the swipe of the sentinel, before growing bigger then her previous form and stomping on the sentinel with a bit of pent of rage.  Leaving several indented foot marks from her giant form. When the other turned back so did she, pushing blond hair out of her face.  “Thanks for looking out for me, I didn’t even notice it on my tail.” She nodded, “And yeah i’m fine thanks to you..”A grateful look on her face, and a warm smile that glowed.  

“I’m in the mood to go ice skating. I could easily make a rink of ice. It wouldn’t hurt for at least fifteen minutes, what do you  think? It helps me think. Unless you had another idea for a distraction.” Bobby asks as he was tossing a snowball back and forth between his hands.