Good Old-fashioned Mutant Manpain

[zerotoawesome]

Characters: Santo and YOU!
Date: Backdated a little from Thursday to Sunday
Location: Outside the city, turtle's head, wherever!
Situation: Santo is in a pretty low place after a certain scarlet woman showed up here
Warnings/Rating: Eeeeeehhh... No warnings other than teenage boy angst.



Of all the enemies to mutants that had to show up here, it had to be her. It just had to be the Scarlet Witch, the woman who wasn't even really the enemy, and still she nearly wiped out their entire species, and made them so weak that other people nearly succeeded in finishing that job. He could have handled Magneto, Mystique, or any other Brotherhood of Evil Mutant that showed up here. He could just punch those problems away.

But not her. All he could do with Wanda was be angry and nothing else, because she was still a "hero", she'd just been manipulated. And this wasn't even the same Wanda, so apparently that meant that he'd lost the right to even be mad at her.

But he could just stop being angry tight now. It wasn't a switch he could turn off and just forget about this whole thing. It wasn't that easy.

How was he supposed to ever be okay with her being here, same Witch or not. Because of the one he knew, it wasn't just all his friends who lost their powers. Because of her an entire bus of depowered students, his friends, was blown up, Kevin went crazy, Laurie was shot, and Cessily was tortured. Because of her, though more of a stretch, Nicky died, Kurt died, Julian lost his arms...

Too much pain that he couldn't even remember all the terrible things that happened anymore.

He couldn't deal with it, and he didn't want to blow up at her or anybody else again because of it. He didn't like having all these feelings, and he didn't want people to know how weak, and sad, and freaking scared he felt just be her existing. So he's staying out of the city for a few days, away from the network, and punching whatever he can find that isn't alive to feel it, before exploding into a million pieces and putting himself together again in a way that will make his body stronger, larger... Anything that would make him more capable of handling this.

Comments

[raptorcanaria]

She's on the Turtle's Head, where she came specifically for the peace. Unlike many people of her acquaintance, Dinah doesn't meditate, not really. But nevertheless she's standing there lost in thought, looking out over the water, her hands in the pockets of her long coat.

It's hard to miss his approach, and she turns to smile at him over her shoulder.

[zerotoawesome]

When Santo had finally had enough of punching things and exploding, which isn't really possible for him, but once it started to lose its appeal and he was getting tired, he tried to go for the next best thing on his list... Which was meditation.

Actually no, Santo's never meditated a day in his life, but the turtle's head was supposed to have some kind of calming effect on people, and when his tried and true method didn't work, he was almost willing to try anything. He didn't think that anybody else would be up here though, but that didn't bother him too much, and he forces a smile when he recognizes her.

"Hey, Canary!" He calls in a cheerful tone, though it's already out of character for him, since he hasn't said anything inappropriate to he yet. "Trying to get all zen up here too?"

[raptorcanaria]

"Well, zennish."

She jerks her head to invite him to come over where she's standing, rather then move herself now she's found such a good place to stand dramatically.

"A much more zen friend of mine would probably say it's cheating to go where your emotions are influenced from outside. How are you, Santo?"

[zerotoawesome]

He walks over to join her for some dramatic standing, hands stuffed into his gray Xavier Institute hoodie. As much as he wasn't a fan of this place, he had to admit that it was kind of relaxing right now, and better than just letting all the bad stuff continue to fester inside him.

"I'd probably agree with your friend. The last time something messed with my emotions, a girl totally made me cry in the middle of a training exercise," Give him a minute. "... That didn't come out right.

"Anyway," He shrugs. "I don't know. I kind of need a little cheating help right now."

[raptorcanaria]

Dinah has many times both cried and made people cry in the middle of a training exercise, for many reasons.

She glances at him sideways as he comes up beside her and lets him find a place to stand before she asks:

"Did something happen?"

Sunday, back at their suites

[alpha_squad_leader]

Victor had been worried about Santo from the moment he saw that Wanda arrived. He knew his best friend would be angry and he was worried Santo would get violent and get hurt. Then Santo went and left the city for a few days. Victor was tempted to go after him but he figured he needed some space. So he waited.

When he heard the door to Santo's suite opening, Vic dropped what he was up to and started over. Not bothering with knocking because Santo rarely did himself, Victor steps into his friend's suite.

"Santo? You back?"

[zerotoawesome]

Santo wasn't ready to come back yet. Not really. He knew that he was starting to feel hungry though, and although he wouldn't admit it, he was exhausted and kind of wanted to be back in his own bed again. He also knew that Victor would probably freak out without him there, so it was better that he came home sooner rather than later.

No sooner did he flop face first in his bed, did he hear Victor coming into his room, and the large mutant just groans into his pillow.

"I'm back, dude. Look, can we save the scolding and yelling for tomorrow? I'm exhausted right now," Because he knows that Victor probably wants to maybe yell at him for disappearing.

[alpha_squad_leader]

Victor is indeed ready to yell. He stops when he sees Santo flopped onto the bed like that. Sighing, he closes the door behind him. Walking over to the bed, Victor watches Santo for a moment before punching his arm. At least it's not yelling or scolding. He then sits down on the edge of the bed.

"Are you alright?"

[zerotoawesome]

Glad that Victor is, for once, forgetting about the argument this time around, Santo just grunts into his pillow as he's punched. He knows that Victor was worried, but he doesn't want to feel any worse than he already has been the past few days, and he's really feeling guilty enough for leaving Victor without saying anything.

"Just peachy," He mutters... "As good as I can be with her around."

[alpha_squad_leader]

"Peachy? Really?" Victor asks, giving Santo a little look. He's just trying to lighten the mood with some slight teasing.

"You know she's not...the one from where we're from, right?" he has to make sure.

WITNESS TO BODY EXPLODING? || like i would pass this up

[seriouslytwisted]

Raphael's been avoiding his home like the plague too. Because the Wood Sector was mostly totaled in the satellite crash, Mikey has been bouncing around amongst the residences of Leonardo, big-Mike and Raphael, but guilt and anger still gnaws at his gut and keeps Raph from eating or even vaguely enjoying the annoying twerp's company. When he doesn't eat, Mikey gets worried, and it's so irritating because Mikey's the reason he can't eat. That, and a few other things.

Seeing that possessed older Raphael was part of it too. Seeing big-Mike possessed...yeah, that was definitely also part of it.

So Raphael does what he usually does when he's bothered; he sequesters himself off from everything that's bothering him and hunts both for things to break and some sort of peace, some kind of serenity that will present itself if he just searches hard enough.

He's on his way up to the turtle head when he spots a familiar back. Santo.

If anything can help him feel better, it's beating the daylights out of some street rat scumbags with Santo at his side. Raphael picks up the pace, works himself up to a jog and heads in Santo's direction, lifting a hand. "Hey-"

And then Santo just fucking explodes-

Literally; he bursts like a live volcano, bits of rock spraying everywhere. Raphael has to turn and tuck his limbs against his plastron so the stones smack off of his shell instead of into his face, and when he turns all he sees is a pile of rubble where his best friend used to be.

"Holy- SANTO!"

[zerotoawesome]

Santo really needs to start looking where he's exploding because he didn't even think that there would be anyone around out here to be caught in the blast or the rock shrapnel that came with it. Sure enough though, it's not until after his body blasts into a million little pieces that he notices Raphael nearby, and just...

Thank god Raph was a turtle with a pretty badass shell, or this could have been a lot uglier. He couldn't remember if he'd told Raphael about his ability to, uh, blow up, but Raph obviously hadn't seen it before considering the way that he was reacting to it. Santo pretty much immediately feels bad, but there's not too much he can do about it just yet.

For a few minutes, it's as if he's not there at all. Santo doesn't know why, but it always takes him a minute or two to recollect himself and build up his new body, but at least he can make a face out of the rocks and communicate with his bro... As mess up as that probably was.

"Jeez, Raph," He calls, looking up from his position on the ground as the stones around them start to pull back together. "What are you even doing out here, bro?"

[seriouslytwisted]

you

what

"Dude that is..." He's a talking head. It's really creepy but he's not going to say that, it's hurtful and Raphael actually likes Santo. Besides, it's probably completely normal for him. Okay, just breathe Raph, Santo is not dead and there is no enemy.

Put those sais away.

"I was just running around." Actually he was going up to the turtle head but he doesn't like to advertise that considering it's his quiet place to talk and be alone and Mike's already jumped him there once. And he doesn't need quiet places to be alone anyway. "Are you- I mean, do you need some help, or...?"

did he just offer to reassemble his friend

[zerotoawesome]

Please, Raphael, Santo can take a little hurtful criticism. He has thicker skin than to be offended by his best friend... Heh, get it? Seriously though, Santo's heard it all before at this point, and he knows that he's awesome. He's not going to be hurt by comments about his appearance... On the outside... Ever... When Raph is around.

"I'm good, bro. Just give me a minute," It usually takes him a couple minutes to start pulling himself back together, but once the process starts, all the rocks in the area that used to be him start to converge on one point and build up, repairing itself and rebuilding.

"You're kind of far out for just a jog, huh?"

[seriouslytwisted]

Sorry Santo Raphael's distracted because you are rebuilding your body.

"I'm not gonna see your guts or anything during this, am I?"

[urbanmagic]

She had been curious about the whole idea of being on the turtle's head. It wasn't like she needed the zen-- not really, even if she was worried about the people she has yet to get back to-- but anything that sounds too good to be true is always something worth checking out.

Which is why she's just there, standing near the edge with arms outstretched, taking in the breeze as she breathes in deeply. She feels more than hears him approaching, and while she does turn around, she does speak out loud.

"One day I'm going to bottle up this air and sell it. I forgot how nice a sea breeze can be."

[zerotoawesome]

Santo usually wasn't a huge fan of the turtle's head. Even though it was a place of peace and tranquility, he didn't like the way that it just kind of happened and was forced upon the people the visited. Not that it was a bad thing, but he didn't like being forced to feel something that he didn't know what wholly his own.

And yet, here he was right now, looking for just about anything that might distract him from all the things that had been going on lately and the insane amount of worry and fear that he totally refused to acknowledge ever having.

"Are you queen of the world too?" He asks as he walks over to Traci, smiling like it's the easiest thing in the world right now.

[urbanmagic]

She honestly can't tell his expressions well enough just yet, not with just a meeting under his wing when it came to him so she can't tell if there's anything off with that smile even if he fakes it. She just lets out a low laugh at that, turning to look at him finally.

"Nothing so grand like that, but the air is a lot fresher than city air, that's for sure. What brings you here?"

[zerotoawesome]

That's probably for the best... And it's one of the pros of being a big guy made out of rocks. He doesn't have to worry about little twitches or wavering in his muscles that would give away that he was anything other than totally okay right now.

"Yeah, it's not bad, but I kind of miss big cities like New York or San Francisco. The air might not be as fresh, but it's way more alive..." Which kind of makes sense since they might all be dead here or something. "This is where you're supposed to go when you wan to feel relaxed and peaceful."

[urbanmagic]

"Oh, I can understand that. The city's the best place for me too." Mostly because her magic relies heavily on being exposed to the urban setting, but she doesn't say that part. She's never shown her magic to him, as far as she remembers.

"And that would explain the sudden feeling of calm I had. I thought people were kidding about that part."

[gathersnomoss]

Zelgadis had taken to the occasional walk around the turtle, because staying in one place was starting to make him uncomfortable and spending a day or so outside almsot made him forget he was still going back to the same house with all his stuff.

Of course, his life is made a bit more exciting when he hears an explosion and comes running. "Hey, you all right?"

[zerotoawesome]

Santo had thought that he was alone outside of the city, so he wasn't really expecting anybody to come running to him after he'd self-destructed. He was just starting to pull himself back together when the guy showed up, bits of rock still collecting and forming around his legs.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" He asks curiously, as if he totally didn't just hear a loud explosion that shattered his body into pieces.

[gathersnomoss]

"There was an explosion," Zelgadis said, staring at the rock reforming. "Even I try to avoid those. They're bad for my skin."

[zerotoawesome]

"Yeah, that was just me. No big deal or anything," He shrugs as if exploding is the most natural thing in the world, and then, because he's the master of tact. "I was trying not to ask, but what's up with your skin, dude?"

[gathersnomoss]

"I'm a chimera," Zelgadis said. "A third rock golem, a third brau demon, and a third human." It was a bit brusque -- Zelgadis isn't happy about not being human -- but pretty straight forward. He's used to people asking, and, well, it wasn't like he had room to throw stones. No pun intended.