12384/The Truck Ain't Stoppin' Blues

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The Truck Ain't Stoppin' Blues
Date of Scene: 10 August 2022
Location: Manhattan
Synopsis: Teddy gets coffee spilled on him, a truck careens out of control, and two heroes makes friends on a roof. All in a day in the life in New York City.
Cast of Characters: Teddy Altman, Billy Kaplan




Teddy Altman has posed:
Manhattan. What the heck is Teddy even doing here? It's way outside of his usual stomping grounds, and he isn't a huge fan of crowds. Yeah, yeah, what's a guy who doesn't like crowds doing living in New York City? When you're an alien refugee hiding with your mother's nursemaid from not just one but TWO interstellar empires, you take what you can get.

Despite the hot summer weather, Teddy is wearing a tan Carhartt jacket and his hands are tucked into the pockets. Despite his six-foot, firmly built frame he weaves with ease through the crowd. He seems to hold a blackbelt in not making eye contact as he does. Dangling from his ears are the telltale white cords of ear buds. No wireless Air Pods for this kid. If pressed, he'll tell you it's because the ear buds are louder, but really he can't afford the Pods. The sounds of whatever he's listening to through those things helps him keep out the thoughts. Both the Kree and Skrull have come to believe he is somehow still alive and are searching. At all times, 24 hours every day, without respite, his brain detects their probing signals. It's like tinnitus, always going, never giving him a moment of silence. So yeah, the ear buds and the music help.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
~My love is like a hit and run but I come back
Blue eyes and summer fun, a heart attack
It was never enough
The summer of love
It was nothing
It was never enough
The summer of love
It was ah~

Billy is out for a jog. It's not that he is what you might call a 'health nut', but he's always kept himself in decent shape despite not having the greatest of talents for sports. He's a wizard, after all. But he has also determined to be a superhero, so keeping fit is a thing, because wizards who can't run for any period of time often are the first ones to fall in an encounter. Every tabletop nerd knows this!

He's keeping a good pace, and unlike Teddy he is dressed for the heat: tank top and running shorts in muted black and gray. An armband around his bicep keeps his phone in place while his earbuds blast Lucius into his ears. He's been listening to the entirety of 'Second Nature.' Good album!

~Feel like second nature
All this bad behavior, I-I-I-I-I
Know I shouldn't want to
But every time I'm with you
I feel like I could fall apart
Like dancing with a broken heart~

The problem is that he occasionally wants to break pace from jogging to dancing. It's really a lot harder than you'd think, for Billy.

Keep it together, Kaplan.

Teddy Altman has posed:
From across the street, for really no conceivable reason, Teddy's gaze falls on Billy. There's something...something so very odd. Teddy gets this confounding, unrelenting sense of deja vu. It hits him with such force that he has to actually pause his forward movement and battle a brief wave of dizziness. This leads to woman who is carrying a Starbucks cup running right into the back of Teddy. Her hot coffee goes all over the back of his Carhartt and down the back of his jeans.

"What the *hell*, kid!" the woman spews. "Were you born braindead or something? Who's going to pay for my drink?"

Teddy turns to look at her, blinking. "I'm really sorry. I don't have..." He pats the pockets of his beat-up jeans. "I...don't have any money right...right now."

And by the looks of her expensive dress and shoes, she can easily afford another. Of course, this sudden stoppage on the sidewalk is really screwing up the flow of foot traffic, and people are grousing and grumbling New York City style. Also New York City style, someone interjects their opinion: "Lady, you ran into him. Get over yourself." Her embarrassment overcomes her resentment and she finally moves on, leaving a dripping Teddy standing there.

And that's when the noise starts. At first, Teddy isn't really sure the noise is happening. He gets these sounds in his head from the sensor probes and scans he's unable to shut out. But soon enough he realizes it's the sudden sound of screeching tires. A delivery truck blew out a tired and is moving unavoidably toward the crowd. And guess who is right at ground zero of the vehicle's out-of-control path of travel? Yep. Coffee lady. When it comes to public transformation, Teddy relies on two things: A.) finding a reasonably out of the way spot, and B.) people's attention being diverted to something else. So he ducks just a couple of feet into the alley between two buildings that happenstance put right near him. Anyone looking directly into the alley would see him just fine, but Teddy is betting (hoping against hope?) that everyone is looking at the truck. So when he morphs into a muscular green man (still with that signature blond hair, though!) and leaps out of the alley toward the truck, the gawkers and pedestrians and passersby never notice.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
Billy has not learned one of the key rules of being a superhero, though: be alert. This is why walking around with noise-canceling headphones is a no-no, just in case emergencies crop up. This is why he is not glancing at the commotion that happens behind him, and he is free to notice someone ducking into an alleyway (always suspicious) and then... transforming.

Billy's eyes go wide for a moment, and then he watches the muscular green man head towards an out-of-control truck that Billy had completely missed.

His hand extends and he immediately begins chanting:

"StopThatTruckStopThatTruckStopThatTruck-" and then he freezes.

Why /isn't/ that truck stopping?

Today, Billy learns yet another thing about his powers.

Teddy Altman has posed:
The crowd is already scattering but the woman who spilled coffee all over Teddy is lost in her indignant attitude and is using her iPhone to dial her husband so she can tell him about the rude young man who purposefully knocked her coffee out of her hands. Her husband, Phil, isn't going to answer, though. At the moment he's on the couch in his office with his assistant, Shelly, because he's so tired of his wife being a bitch all the time and treating him like crap. So yeah, karma. She's going to get plowed over by an out-of-control truck.

Except, the young man who "intentionally spilled her coffee" is going to save her life. Not because she deserves it but because it's what he does. Teddy is so absorbed into his inner world that some might even label him as being just a little bit on the spectrum. He doesn't hold grudges and he probably barely understands why the lady treated him like she did.

"It's the Hulk!"

"That's not the hulk, dumbass. It's too small."

"Is it Hulk Jr.? Did he have a son? Who...who would the mother be?"

A hundred cell phone are out now, taking pictures and recording videos. And what a time to have your cell phone out. Hulking moves right in front of the careening truck and lets his hit his well-muscled chest. He leans into the vehicle, digging his feet in to stop its momentum. It doesn't take much or long. He's quite strong. But there are two grooves carved into the road about two feet long each from where his feet were pushed into the blacktop.

And that woman? The one who coffeed up Teddy? She just frowns at Hulkling and says, "You sure are ugly." And she resumes walking down the sidewalk.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
Billy quickly yanks his earbuds out of his ears-

"Ow!"

Third lesson learned today.

He runs towards Hulkling, eyes wide in amazement. Despite not being the fleetest of joggers, he manages to get to him before a crowd forms, as it will inevitably form around any scene like this.

"Man, that was awesome!" he says, so excited that he's literally almost on tiptoes, "What do you go by? You must be new!" because if Billy Kaplan, who keeps the superhero equivalent of a pokedex in his mind, doesn't now you, you must be pretty new to the scene. "That was an awesome rescue- I'm Wi-"

Pause. He is not dressed as Wiccan. "Er- Billy. Billy!"

Teddy Altman has posed:
When Billy arrived, Hulkling was just about to leave. He had already morphed wings out of his back and was getting ready to leap into the air. And, in truth, if it was any other citizen he would already be in the air escaping all of this attention. But it's that jogger he saw across the street, the one that had that strange effect that made him feel dizzy for a moment.

Hulkling looks at Billy, holding his newly spouted wings close against his body. Then he looks around and sees that there are dozens of pedestrians all holding up their cameras filming this incident. News outlets pay big bucks for good videos.

"I...uh..." Teddy swallows heavily. Six foot tall, green, very well muscled, and he looks like he's scared to death right now. Why didn't he think about this before? Did it not occur to Teddy that someone might ask him his name while he was shift into his true form? It's not like he can just say that he is Dorrek VIII of the Skrull Empire. He looks like the Hulk, but shifts like a changeling. "I'm...um....Hulkling?" He groans like he immediately regrets that.

"I told you he was Hulk Jr.!"

Licking his lips, Hulkling look to Billy. "Did you...um....did you get hurt by the truck? Do you n-need to go to a hospital?"

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"Hulkling, huh?" Billy says, and then he notices that the poor guy looks like he used to look every time Mrs. Badcrumble sprang a pop quiz on the class and he had forgotten to study. It was the kind of underlying panic that girls auditioning for the cheerleading squad get when they hear that they will now have to compete in the twirling fire baton portion of the interview.

It was the desire you had to just bolt out and take a breather from the crowds. And Billy felt for the guy.

Which explains what happens next.

"Oh yes. I ... er, hurt my ankle ducking out of the way-"
"I don't think he was in the wa-"
"Totally out of the way. Ow. Ow." He takes his foot off the ground, "Coudja, you know, help me get to a hospital somewhere?"

Teddy Altman has posed:
Well there's definitely no way to say no now. There are *literally* a hundred cameras that just recorded Billy asking him for help. Plus, yeah, it would be really nice to get out of here.

Hulkling nods and swallows heavily. "Sure. Um...hold on tight. I promise I won't drop you." The slightest, tiniest hint of a grin kinda sorta touches Hulkling's lips. "I almost never drop people."

Despite his ripped, muscular build, when he picks Billy up it's like he's picking up a baby lamb that is carrying the Hope Diamond. His alien metabolism become very apparently up close to his body. He gives off warmth that, for a human, would seem almost feverish. "Here we go."

Those great, green wings spread wide. With sheer superhuman strength, Hulkling leaps up high in the air, then lets his wings take over. About 50-60 feet up, Hulkling starts to hover. "D-do you have a preferred hospital? Is Bellevue okay?"

Billy Kaplan has posed:
Billy lets out a 'wooop' as they fly up, like any normal civilian who can't fly would totally do, right? Admittedly, he enjoys it- after all, it's not every day that you just get flown around in the arms of some strong alien.

Lois Lane, eat your heart out.
Yes, he's seen those pictures. He might have one in his scrapbook.


"Actually... I'm not really hurt? It just looked like you wanted to GTF outta there. People were getting kinda- you know. Crowd-y." he says, trying not to think too much about being carried now, or how warm the green arms were. It was summer, so the extra heat was noticeable, but they were flying.

That woman was totally wrong, by the way, Hulkling is not ugly. He was just different. That's not something that bothers Billy, the Kaplans have always been decidedly very open-minded. "So... maybe a rooftop? Where we can talk?" He glances up at Hulkling, his blue eyes watching him carefully. "I... kinda saw you in the alleyway."

He pauses. Should he have said that? Would he drop him?

No way. He acted like a hero, so he wouldn't just drop him. Right? Right!

Teddy Altman has posed:
When Billy confesses his fib, Hulkling looks at him with total surprise. As someone who might even have a note or two of what used to be called Asperger syndrome in his personality, it doesn't occur to him that someone might be lying.

"Sometimes people tell innocent white lies, Teddy," he remembers with perfect recall something his 'mother' told him when he was just eight years old.

"Oh!" Hulkling says. He begins to soar quickly toward a roof, one that is high enough off the ground that people won't be able to see them and record with their phones. He's not a magical flyer, it's all physical, so the landing has a bit of a pop to it. But as gentle as gentle can be, Hulkling sets Billy down on his feet. "You were looking in the alley when I changed," Hulkling says in a soft, non-judgmental tone. He shakes his head. "I'm not mad or anything. It was...it was my fault. I was being careless. I only had a few seconds to make a decision."

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"And you made the right decision!" Billy reassures him, reaching out to put one hand on the other's forearm. "I prolly wouldn't've noticed if I hadn't been listening to music, to be frank. But... your secret's safe with me."

He gives the green-skinned teen an encouraging grin, "Is that what you're thinking of doing? Y'know, helping people with your powers?"

Billy takes in Hulkling's frame, and the wings, "Shape-shifter, right? Did you know there's a statistical correlation with the color green and shape-shifters? There's Beast Boy, and Martian Manhunter, and-"

He stops, and then raises his hands, looking a little embarrassed, "Sorry, didn't mean to nerd out, I'll be here all day if you let me," he chuckles.

Teddy Altman has posed:
As Hulkling listens to Billy with no small amount of amazement, his green wings absorb back into his body. "I knew it was a matter of time before someone saw me," the muscular teens says gently. It's curious how his mellow demeanor contrasts with his, well, hulking form. "Please, there is someone very important to me, my mom, who could be in danger if someone connects Hulkling with Teddy...th-that's my name, it's Teddy. I know you could make a lot of money selling that information, but please don't?"

Even someone without much intuition or insight can easily tell that it is not in Hulkling's nature to threaten or cajole. He simply lays it all out on the line and hopes this handsome young man who now knows something very significant about him is a man of good character.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
Bless him. Just bless him. The guy could bench-press Billy and throw him all the way to Metropolis, and instead he is pleading with Billy.

"Te-Teddy. I'm Billy." You already said that, you dork, "I mean... I know how important secret identities are. Trust me. I wouldn't sell you out, you look like a super good lo- good guy. I'm not a scumbag."

He sighs and puts his hands on his hips, calculations going on behind his eyes. This could all be a ploy, a trap, a cunning stratagem to thwart America's team before it's even born! Have him cross paths with a naive-seeming hulking sweetheart, let him slip into everybody's trust, and then turn wolf and strike!

Except the team has /just/ been formed, and nobody knows it is a thing yet. So that doesn't make sense.

Conclusion reached.

"You know, if it'll make you feel better, I'll give you one of /my/ secrets to keep!" he smiles at Hulkling. "And we'll trade phones, so you can keep me accountable."

Teddy Altman has posed:
If Teddy weren't so naive and trusting -- to a *fault*, really, and it will be something that will get him in trouble eventually -- he would also do some calculating. This guys knows my secret and this is a ploy to also get my phone number so he can really put the screws to me later. But the guy said he wanted to trade phone numbers so that Teddy can hold him accountable, and *that* is what our paladin believes.

"Yeah, sure," he says as he runs his hand back through his blond hair. The phone is there, in the pocket of his uniform. It came with him when he shifted, but it's just easier to get at that stuff in his disguised form. So Hulkling flashes Billy a quick smile as he morphs. His height really doesn't change, he stand six feet tall in either form, but a good deal of his bulk reduces and, of course, he takes on the disguise of a human. That lets him tug his phone out, which he hands to Billy with the contacts app open. It seems our alien lives a bit of a secluded life. There is only his mother and some of his college professors in the app.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"That. is. so. cool!" Billy says, now getting a full view of the transformation instead of a hasty glance in the alleyway. He takes Teddy's phone and hasily puts his contact in: BILLY KAPLAN. His phone number. And email. Because you can't be too thorough, right. He hands his phone back to Teddy, and then smiles.

"Okay... so... my turn!" He takes a few steps back and speaks: "ChangeToCostumeChangeToCostumeChangeToCostume-"

His civilian clothes shift, and reality has a moment of uncertainty as to what their shape actually is. Eventually, Billy's version of reality asserts itself and the teen is covered in his Wiccan bodysuit, capped off with the headband around his forehead and the rather fetching, floaty red scarf around his neck. His staff, sparkling with a little electricity at the tip, held in his right hand.

"I told you you could have one of my secrets!"

Teddy Altman has posed:
When he receives his phone back, Teddy replies back with both a text and an email so that Billy also has his info. 'Hi it's Teddy Altman' the cute little message says. Then he tucks his phone back away.

Teddy's eyes widen and his expression takes on a subdued smile. "You're Wiccan," he gasps. "Oh that is so..." He lets out a nervous laugh and shakes his head. "What are the odds that I would end up on a roof talking to *the* Wiccan."

Teddy bends at his waist and rests for a few moments with his hands on his knees. He stays in that position thinking. Eventually he stands straight again. "So were you...I dunno...seeing what I was capable of? I mean, you could have stopped that truck with your eyes closed."

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"Oh, y-yes, totally!" Wiccan says, a nervous smile playing across his face, "I mean, you had that handled like a pro so I didn't think I needed to intervene and all and then I figured you probably wanted to have some time off and all so that's why we're here, right?"

Yes, he said that without taking a breath. This guy knows who he is, and that gave his heart a little skip. Being recognized is kind of thrilling, and he hasn't quite gotten accustomed to it. "But, y'know, I figured you'd also like to... network? Connect? We're both the same age, so we should get to know other... heroes our age?" He grins. "It just so happens we just formed a team the other day... maybe you're looking for something like that?" He tilts his head.

"Unless you're the solo operative. Lone wolf. Er. Hulk. 'Cause that's cool too...?"

Teddy Altman has posed:
There can be no denying the excitement on Teddy's face when Wiccan mentions the team. He blink-blink-blinks a few times as he tries to sort this out in his head. Sure, Wiccan being recognized is thrilling, but so is being asked by *the* frickin' Wiccan about maybe joining a team. As someone maybe on the low end of the spectrum, Teddy rarely has the wherewithal to be coy or subtle. It's immediately clear that he's interested.

"Solo operative?" Teddy says with a small laugh. "I'm not *any* kind of operative. I mean, I'm a college student. I work part time at an ice cream shop. I'm no superhero."

Billy Kaplan has posed:
An eyebrow raises, and Wiccan leans in, one hand on Teddy Altman's shoulder as he pretends to come close to reveal a big, world-shattering secret.

"Teddy... I hate to tell you this but... college student ice cream baristas don't, as a rule of thumb, stop speeding trucks in their tracks to save endangered pedestrians." He smirks a little, "You might have gotten the job descriptions mixed up."

He takes a step back and gestures to Teddy, "And besides... you had a suit on. You know, like mine?" He gestures to his bodysuit, "Why did you get that if you weren't planning to go out there and save the day?" He pauses, and grins, "Do you have a yoga class with a very strict dress code?" he says. He is teasing, but only gently so, not in a mocking way.

Teddy Altman has posed:
"That's my...that's the clothing that my people wear," Teddy explains. "It's not a costume or anything." He draws in a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "I mean, I'm not from Earth. So...gods...I don't even know how much I should be talking about. If it was just me, I'd tell you everything. But I have someone else I protect."

Teddy sits down on the rooftop with a sigh. "I mean, you're like, WICCAN, I've seen you on the news. This is your jam. All I meant was that I don't go around doing superhero stuff. Don't you have to, like, go through I dunno, some courses or something?" He laughs suddenly at how stupid he sounds. "I don't know what I'm even saying." He looks up at Wiccan and then just blurts out, "You really think I would someone a team would want?" Again, clearly, the idea excites him. Our paladin wears his heart on his sleeve, for sure.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
Billy walks over and sits down next to Teddy, one arm going up and around his shoulders.

Well. Part of his shoulders. Teddy is taller and /much/ broader than Billy. It's a good effort, as far as comforting goes, under the circumstances.

"You don't have to tell me everything, Teddy. I just saw you save a person, you can change shape and you're amazingly strong. The last two wouldn't matter at all without the first one and that's definitely what a team would want."

Perhaps, as a way of encouragement, he says, "Our team? It's being put together by Miss America Chavez! You know- she's with the Titans. And Troia of the Titans was there at the meeting... looks like our teams are going to be friendly and linked with each other so... maybe they will come visit and you'll get to meet, like--" try to think: which Titans did straight boys fawn over at school? "Starfire! I hear she's pretty nice. Or Caitlin Fairchild, who I think is even taller than you!" he chuckles, "or Raven-" he pauses. Suddenly, he finds himself not knowing exactly what to say about Raven. She's a mystery, even to /him/. "Or Hawkeye. You know, the /other/ Hawkeye."

He gives a shoulder a gentle squeeze, and then stands up, "Don't decide right now. Just... go home, think about it, give it a good think, and call me, maybe?" he says.

Teddy Altman has posed:
Teddy quirks a grin as Wiccan sits next to him. "Yeah. I will do that. I need to talk it over with my mom." He sighs and rolls his eyes dramatically. "I don't mean that to sound as lame as it did. She's not even actually my mom. She's one of my people, and I do my best to keep her safe. I need to make sure she would be okay with it. And I trust her advice."

Teddy gives Wiccan a little elbow nudge and then he stands up. "It was seriously amazing to meet you. I'll call you soon, okay?"

Then Teddy transforms again into Hulkling and once again sprouts wings and shoots off into the air...