(2016-09-11) Back With a Bang
Back With a Bang
Summary: After three weeks missing, Nathaniel Valentine returns— with a bang!
Date: 2016-09-11
Related: None
NPCs: None
Scene Runner: N/A
Social/Plot: Social
Players:
nathaniel-valentine..wonder-man..witchfire..

It's very near midnight in the city of New York. The Upper East side is as quiet as it ever is… namely not at all. New York never sleeps, after all, and there's always people rushing to and fro, trying to get to somewhere in a hurry. Rush rush rush, hurry hurry hurry. So few people taking the time to look around them.

But something's about to make quite the interruption to the night. It happens at the exact stroke of midnight. Just as clocks and watches read exactly 12:00, there's a pressure in the air, as if the barometer's skyrocketing. It only lasts for an instant before…

There is a massive explosion out of an alley! For an instant, it almost sounds like there's a feral screech of something with a high-pitched yowl of a voice under the sound. The belch of flames forth from the alley is mercifully brief, but the flames are purple! People are thrown here and there, particularly those in front of the alley, and there's quite and bit of confusion and panic. And then all is quiet.


Leave it to beginning one's patrol to spot trouble from nearby. Out of the Avengers Mansion, Simon Williams was flying through the city. Sure, he was an obvious beacon of heroism, glowing blue and purple, but that was just as much of a deterrent, in the event that someone had bad intentions!

Then there was the explosion! The superhero immediately made a beeline for the source, descending rapidly after the violet conflagration diminished.

Landing just outside the alley to help a few of the people up, before peering through the smoke with red eyes, as he tried to spy what happened.


Fortunately no one appears hurt by the blast. A few people bruised, and quite a few complaints about trips getting interrupted… but no real injuries, thankfully. And as people start to file away, and Wonder Man peers through the smoke, he catches sight of something.

A figure, revealed easily by Wonder Man's enhanced sight. It's a man with curly dark brown hair and amber eyes. He's in a suit, but what was once probably a really nice business suit is in tatters. He doesn't so much WALK out, as he staggers. And he has a stricken look on his face.

As the man nears the end of the alley, his steps falter… and he pitches forward slowly, falling forward. There's time to catch him, but he's not going to be catching himself before his face hits the pavement.


Seeing the man in tattered clothes and looking as he was, Simon's ionic energy 'switched' off, leaving him dressed in that iconic black tank-top, red jacket, with those red sunglasses. He took a step forward to catch the man.

Simon was tall, strong, and SOLID. The only real benefit between landing on him vs a street floor would be Simon knew how to catch someone!

"Holy crap, are you all right?" the superhero asked. Just recently there was a small, mostly-harmless explosion with purple fire and frightened pedestrians. But Wonder Man was here!


A man collapsing in the street? Ana hurries over, keeping her hood drawn up. The energies in the area initially drew her, they had a familiar feel—though she couldn't place where. "Is that man alright? I know some healing magic." Witchfire stands a little straighter as she rushes to them both.


The only thing solid about the man staggering out of the alley at that moment is the WHUMP that he hits Wonder Man with as he falls. He's really out of it, and his head lolls as his forward momentum is stopped. He just sort of sags bonelessly, and it's pretty clear Simon's the only thing keeping him semi-upright.

Thankfully the awkwardness doesn't go on for too long. After a few moments the man seems to realize that he's basically a boneless lump, and gets his feet under him. At least enough that he's not wholly relying on Wonder Man to keep him upright. His head tilts back, and he looks around… very much like a confused, lost parakeet. He looks between Wonder Man and the arriving Ana, seeming to have trouble keeping his eyes focused. "…Where… is this?" His voice is raspy and croaking; he sounds like he's yelled himself hoarse.


"New York," came Simon's response to the man. "Two thousand sixteen," he added. "Um. I can't specify which reality." He didn't know how to classify those sorts of things.

Then as the young woman came, Simon smiled her way. "Hey," he greeted. "I think he could certainly use a pick-me-up, if you've got the juju for it." Wonder Man didn't know magic, he was a man (and a product!) of science.

What? Mad science is the best science!


Drawing a wand from the air, Witchfire's white eyes tighten with concern. She murmurs some words and castes a healing spell on the lolling man. "Maybe don't worry about realities just yet—that get's sticky." She advises to Wonder Man. She won't reach out to help the man stand though, just magic at him.


The man seems to be getting it together mentally, at least. Wonder Man's assurances that this is indeed New York, in the same year he remembers it, gets a nod. He seems to be calming down some, so there's that. Even better since he's now got Witchfire's healing spell working on him. He's got a number of injuries, including (but certainly not limited to) clawmarks on his face.

The healing spell is beginning to patch those up, so now he's getting it back together physically too. In short order he'll be strong enough to stand mostly on his own! He does notice Ana's magic, so he nods to her, and to Wonder Man. "…Thanks," he offers quietly.

He looks around again, now that he can actually see. "…Fall. It's fall? It was summer… when did it become fall?" Aaaaaaaaand now he's confused again.


"May as well still be summer, with how hot it's been," Simon said as he tried to help steady the young man. "Eighty seven yesterday. Eighty one today, though, it's cooled off some tonight. You okay? Have an extra-long bender? But… I saw an explosion. Purple fire." He glanced to the woman as she worked her magic, smiling, his red sunglasses hiding his expression just a little bit.


"It's September 11th. Strange energies huh? Did you come from that?" Witch fire wonders and takes over helping the man as Wonder Man takes off to be wonderful. "I'm Witchfire. How are you feeling? Can you remember your name?"


In short order, the curly-haired young man will be on his feet again. He jumps a little as Wonder Man flies off. Thankfully his muddled state keeps him from jumping at his full potential. Of course he doesn't know that yet…

He seems confused at Witchfire's mention of the date. "…September? It was August, wasn't it? Three weeks? I can't remember any of it…" Her asking of his name gives him something else to concentrate on, though. He nods. "Nathaniel. Nathaniel Valentine." He looks back at the alley, the scorchmarks. "I… think? I was… somewhere else… It kept chasing me. Hunting me…"


"Hunting? That's no good." Witchfire frowns and looks into Nathaniel's face. "I'm Witchfire….I sort of study and research magic. The red head reaches up and lets her hood down to show a friendly young girl, albeit with white eyes. "Ok Nathaniel. What do you do for a living?"


Nathaniel seems surprised at the white eyes, given the widening of his own eyes. But she did help him. So aside from that, he doesn't have too much reaction to it. But he catches her question. "Real estate. I'm in real estate. I'm a broker," he answers. He's starting to collect himself, it seems. And now that he's settling, so is something else. Some of the same energies as the residual traces in the alley after the explosion. Not just in the alley. In Nathaniel. It feels very new, though, as if the energies themselves are sort of… shifting around. Much the same as one might settle into a chair they've just sat in, to get comfortable.


Placing a hand on Nathaniel's chest, Witchfire frowns. "Did you have powers before?" She wonders. She wants to look around him, study the man, but he's been through maybe literal hell it seems.


Now THAT gets a confused look. "Powers? What do you mean?" Well, that's definitely an answer. He raises his hands and looks at them— for it is ALWAYS the hands people look at when seeing if they've changed somehow. But indeed, it looks like he's changed! He stares at his own fingernails… sharp, pointy things that seem far too sharp under close scrutiny to be normal. And it appears he's noticed it. "…What's the matter with my hands…?" The question's muttered, asked to no one in particular.


Tsking. Witchfire studies them. "You appear to have internalized some of that magic blast, it's clearly left some side effect." She indicates her eyes. "It happens from time to time. As it happens I had a very good teacher, I would be happy to help you…acclimate."


Nathaniel blinks again, looking up from his hands. Still confused. "Internalized? How?" The question's asked automatically; he doesn't realize that there's really no way of telling that without more information about what happened. But they're in the middle of a street, and he's getting looked at funny. A particular look makes him turn his head in the direction of the looker… and it turns out to be an older lady in a blue dress. Though she squeaks when Nathaniel looks in her direction, because… did his eyes just glint? Eyeshine?


"It's hard to say…" Witchfire admits. "I don't have much to work off of." She tries to steer the paniky man some where quiet. "What all do you remember?" She asks, more to keep him talking and not thinking about his body changes.


Nathaniel is easily led to a quieter area. It's likely the police are going to be on their way soon anyway, so getting away from the site it probably a good idea. There are other alleys to talk in, after all. It's only once they're at said quieter area that Nathaniel answers that question. "I was supposed to be inspecting a house my company was trying to sell. It wasn't a bad property, but nobody wanted it. I was supposed to be finding out why. I…" He pauses here, frowning. "…A cat. I found a cat on the second floor. It ran up to the attic. I went up after it, trying to shoo it out. And…" He pauses again, and then shakes his head. "…I remember being scared. Something hunting me. Feels like a long time. And then… here I am, now."


"Hmm. Strange….what did the something look like?" Witchfire presses and keeps a watchful eye for police. "We should see if you even exist here…Where are you from? What city?"


The question of what it looked like…. gets a thousand-yard stare. And Nathaniel looks positively spooked. He's shaking. "…I can't remember." From the look, it's more like he doesn't WANT to remember. In fact, it takes him a few moments to shake himself out of the trance. He looks at Witchfire, blinking, until her other question registers. He nods. "Here. New York," he confirms. "This is where I live."


"Alright." Witchfire's phone comes out and she googles him. Can't hurt. "Let's see about getting you home, and if not home to a good motel for the time being. I work for an agency that researches magic. I'd like to help—will you let me?"


It only takes a bit of searching. Nathaniel's name comes up, just as he said, as a real estate broker for a national real estate company. He's a New York agent, and his work number's listed there. Nathaniel nods to her question. "I'm… I could probably use it," he agrees. "Thank you." He looks at the phone, realizes what she's looking for when he sees the portrait. "I remember where I live," he assures her. The whole 'could be in another reality' thing hasn't crossed his mind, really, despite Wonder Man mentioning it earlier.


"Well, looks like you're from our neck of the woods, that's good news." She slips her phone away. "I'm happy to—as I said. It's my job, we can get this sorted out."

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