15285/A meeting and more than expected.

A meeting and more than expected.
Date of Scene:	03 July 2023
Location:	Small park in New York.
Synopsis:	Two Alpha Flight girls get together only to stop a gang beat down along the way.
Cast of Characters:	Scarlet Witch, Firestar

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Scarlet Witch has posed:
It's not every day Wanda Maximoff finds herself with a moment to enjoy sunshine and birds chirping, families milling about, all the wonderful things that unfold on a weekend in one of New York's many parks. But she's got so many plates spinning, that she has to overlap her schedule sometimes. And occasionally, she can manage to fit 'Catch up with a fellow member of Alpha Flight' and 'Enjoy an afternoon out' in the same timeframe.

Certainly, some might take exception to her using a low level of her chaotic magicks to fog the minds of those leisurely families, but it's really quite minor. Just a little whisper in everyone's heads to ignore that the auburn haired woman in a red sundress and strapped sandals with a slight wedge heel is in fact the Scarlet Witch. Really, it's nothing compared to her usual uses of eldritch power, but she's always a little nervous that one casual spell will lead to another and so on until she's... rewriting reality or something.

These are the sorts of thoughts Wanda Maximoff deals with as she glances around, eyes darting upwards now and then... after all her teammate might be arriving by flight and she doesn't want to miss it.

Firestar has posed:
Probably a little disappointing, Angelica walks into the main entrance of the park. She doesn't want to draw too much attention to herself and she still gets a few stares, but that is more of a late teens, early twenties crowd checking the red head out when she arrives.

She doesn't indulge the stares so much as she is a little embarassed by them. She self conciously pushes her hair back behind her left ear and moves on.

She spots the one she is looking for and smiles for her, warmth obvious,"Wanda." she says as she gets within comfotable conversation distance,"It's been too long. How have you been?" So uneasy around strangers turns into comfortable conversational mode.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
If Wanda's disappointed Angelica comes walking into her view, it's absolutely hidden behind a bright smile and a lift of her left hand and a little wiggling of fingers... all attention focused on Angelica. Certainly, she does glance at the attentions being paid to the young woman, lips quirking slightly.

It's an almost sympathetic little smile as she chimes out. "Angelica! I'm so happy you could make it!" Her eyes narrow playfully and she stage whispers, "Do you want me to make them ignore you a little? I mean, I don't think they're staring because they realize you're /heroic/..." Her eyebrows perk downright playfully.

But she's all too happy to sweep in and fall into step alongside her teammate, voice dropping to a stage whisper, "I've been alright. Nothing's tried to eat the world recently... or if it has, someone else has handled it well enough for me not to notice it. Which, really, is the best we can hope for isn't it? I haven't had a chance to catch up with my sister in the last couple weeks, but no one's wiped all my fridge magnets of their charge so she must be at least a little happy with me. And how have you been doing?"

Firestar has posed:
The mention of making them ignore her gets a smile and she stage whispers back,"If you could only teach me how I could do that all the time." She winks and keeps walking,"I am afraid you are right. The only way I get away from staring sorts if I am with Jimmy. There is something about the mountainous Apache that makes me far less interesting."

She laughs softly and continues,"I'm doing pretty well. Getting settled at Xavier's. They actually asked me to take over the Psysics class within a week of stopping by. I haven't been able to get back up to Canada, so it is good to have another family in the area."

She laughs softly and adds,"I have talked to Lorna a time or two since I have been back in the city. It's been nice, but I have missed you." Another stage whisper adds,"Don't tell you that, it'll go straight to your head."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
There's a soft little laugh from Wanda, her eyebrows perking higher, eyes glinting playfully as she murmurs dryly, "I am /pretty/ sure the morals of many fairy tales about witches teaching young women such spells are that it is not an offer to be taken lightly, dear!"

She bobs her head and stifles a laugh. "Yes, well, I imagine it is easy to be overlooked when you can quite literally hide behind the mountain of a man, yes?"

She whistles out softly and grins impishly, "I am sure the students will delight in just how easily their teacher can provide practical and entertaining demonstrations of physics." She sighs out and shakes her head slowly, "I'll admit, I feel like I haven't been being friendly enough! I mean, I don't think I've had a chance to even catch up with most of the Avengers. I suppose that's to be expected. And with you being up in Westchester, well, we can arrange all sorts of meetups and get togethers, can't we?"

Firestar has posed:
A smirk touches her lips and she nods,"Well, I am not up to date on magic things my friend, so I will have to rely on you to make sure I don't do anything dumb." Her attention moves over the park for a moment and she mutters,"My dad used to bring me here when I was little, before my powers manifested themselves." The memory is a bitter sweet experience it seems.

She smiles again at the mention of the mountainous man,"Jimmy Proudstar. I think we were both too young to understand things when we first met. Now we found each other. It's complicated, but we found each other."

"Oh yes. That has already started. I get stared at in the halls, whispers, and at least nobody says anything. I refer to to the afore mentioned man mountain. He's not jealous, but maybe a little territorial."

Shaking her head Angelica adds,"You have a life like everyone else Wanda. Then again you have a life not like anyone else at the same time. I know when the fall gets here and I am teaching as well as going to college my avaiablity might suffer." A nod and she adds,"I'd very much like that though. A chance to get together more often. I know a place that has the best steak sandwich and home brew you can imagine. The guy that brews it sells it warm, but otherwise."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda offers a soft little laugh, "Well, that's good! If you /were/ up to date on magic things I'd have one less excuse for you to reach out for me! So I'll quite happily be your go-to magician for..." She tilts her head and hums softly, "Well, anything but pulling a rabbit out of a hat. You'll need Zatanna for that." She trails off with a ghost of a sad smile and murmurs softly, "You know, it never occurred to me... growing up around here, you /would/ have memories of places, landmarks. I'm used to all of mine being far away."

She nods solemnly, "Oh, I think that's how things often go. We meet one another, and only later do we realize just how important that meeting is."

She grins impishly and hums out, "Well, fortunately, between living at the Avengers Mansion and my unique talents, I suppose I can always just host get togethers and bring everyone to my place! Really, if anything, it just means it's even /less/ likely the mansion will be in danger if a bunch of powered individuals are having movie night, yes?" Her eyes widen and she hisses out a soft breath, "Oh! The /best/ steak sandwiches? Well, you've sold me, dear!"

Firestar has posed:
"I'll always need you around Wanda. You're not getting rid of me that easy. I have heard of Zatanna, but I haven't had the pleasure as of yet. I guess I don't need too many rabbits in my life."

She looks over the place again and she nods,"There's a lot of good memories and a few bad ones. Just have to take them all." She shakes her head and moves on.

A chance to talk about anything else is great,"Yeah. We were in a bad place and didn't know it. I think we took care of each other without realizing it too. One day I finally got up the nerve, corndered him, and told him what I was feeling. We've been fairly insperable since then."

She smiles, listening to the stories about the Avenger's mansion,"Someday I would love to see that place. I mean I know it's about like bringing visitors to Xavier's, so I put it on the back burner for another time. A wink and she tells her,"I'll tell you what. If you want I could take you there later this week or next weekend. I mean we could go now, but it is a little way from here."

Angelica frowns and looks at a few of the people in the distance. She had been mostly ignoring them as most have lost interest in them, but she raises the hand closer to Wanda, back of it touching her shoulder,"Does that look like a group about to put a beating on a few kids for the fun of it to you?"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda's shoulders rise and fall in a breezy shrug, "Oh! I mean, I'm sure there are rules about taking people into the labs and the like. But also, I'm sure I can just go 'But Tony, that one time you...' and trail off and he'll just agree I have a good point."

Wanda offers a playful little wink of her own, only her eyebrows to perk up, glancing in the direction the younger woman is gesturing. "You know what? That does look like trouble brewing." She chews her lower lip, glancing sidelong and murmuring softly, "Do you think if we just fly over there and land they'll /run/? It would serve them right... and I'm sure we can scare them without hurting them... well, they might trip trying to run... but that's an object lesson! And you /are/ a teacher now and I'm sure... this all means we /definitely/ have to intervene."

Firestar has posed:
She smirks inspite of herself when Wanda talks about going to Tony and talking him down a road she wants,"I would like to see that." she admits softly.

She nods and agrees,"I think if we dropped in the middle of them they might run. You think you can keep the rest of the people uniterested in both of us so I can shift without too many onlookers trying to remember us later?"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda's fingers are moving, intricate, arcane motions as they glow with faint crimson light, her head giving a little nod, her sundress seeming to ripple and flicker, flowing like liquid and spreading out, tightening... because flying in a sundress seems like a /bad/ idea.

"Oh, absolutely, I'm going to make sure everyone but them is going to ignore what's going on and purposely keep out of the way..." She glances sidelong and murmurs dryly, "I suppose it might not be quite so melodramatic as if they paid attention, but I also imagine that would lead to swarms of selfies and autographs."

Her outfit finishes flowing into her one-piece bodysuit and tiara... no /wonder/ she's changing her costume so often! She cheats using her magic!!

Firestar has posed:
Angelica doesn't have the benefit of the magic, but she waits until she knows Wanda has things in place and changes her own outfit. A soft sound and then a flash of light and where Angelica was, Firestar stands.

"I haven't had a chance to drop in on anyone for a while." she admits and floats into the sky,"If they get aggressive, we can start hanging them from tree limbs on their stomachs and come back for more. If they have guns, well we will have to attend to that at the time."

The thing about Angelica when she first came to Alpha Flight, she was shy, withdrawn, and not one to take control of a situation. After time there and time among the X-Men she has gotten a lot more assertive in potenial conflict.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda has to fight back a broad, almost goofy smile. Angelica's clearly growing into her own in regards to powers and heroics. And look at her! Coming up with a plan, even remarking on the contingencies they'll need to react to if the bad guys have guns.

Once the hex is in place for the civilians to be helpfully, happily oblivious to the ongoing dramatics, and Firestar appear in all her glory, Wanda lifts up to join her in rising into the air.

And, really, with Wanda finding herself /less/ self-confident of late, she's more than happy to let the younger heroine take the lead and provide moral support.

Also, possibly strand some delinquents in trees if it comes to it.

"Well, we'll try not to hurt them too badly. Maybe they'll realize that they're /horribly/ overmatched and they could just go home and behave." She heaves out a loud sigh. "I mean, one of these days it's bound to happen. One of these days."

Firestar has posed:
She's learned a lot of lessons the hard way and it is made her a lot more competent. Whether she liked the results or not, part of what forged her was the teachings with the Hellions. Alpha Flight has refined them and made her more concious of things that Emma Frost missed.

She starts towards the group, knowing it could be anything over there, but unwilling to let those kids get hurt. She flies at the same speed a Wanda until she rises a little higher and drops in the center of the group. She stops just short of hitting the ground.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda floats further up in the air, letting Angelica swoop down... and bracing for a thud, a crash, some sort of dramatic impact only for the young woman to pull up short in a display of self control and mastery of her powers. Really, Emma Frost misjudged this bright young woman. Or at least undersold her. Then again, she has a feeling that's common for Miss Frost to do with anyone she's looking at... unless she's looking in the mirror.

As the small crowd of ne'er-do-wells react to Angelica's presence, Wanda can't help but call out in her accented voice, "I believe you were all just planning to vacate the park, yes? Important errands to run? I suppose if you want you /could/ insist upon a..." She frowns for a moment.

"Oh, Firestar! Would you say this would rank as a 'tussle' if they insisted on causing trouble? This feels like it would be quite... tussle-y." She frowns and crosses her arms over her chest sternly, "I do not think you all would enjoy that."

Firestar has posed:
The aura around Angelica makes the area uncomfortably warm for everyone. Unfortunately that is the kids being bullied too, but it's just enough to make everyone sweat. Her eyes find the one seems to be the leader and stares him down, still just off the ground.

"A tussle seems to be ther right phrase. I don't think we can call it violent because it won't last that long." The thugs hesitate and it gives the kids time to make a run for it. It's now the two heroes against about a half dozen street thugs. The one that moves like he might chase the kids gets a shock with a commanding tone escapes Angelica,"Don't even think about it. You have real problems."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
As the kids make their escape, Wanda slowly descends until she comes to a smooth, fluid landing and sighs out, head tilting, eyebrow arched, cool eyes /glaring/ at each miscreant in turn as she sighs out. "Really, gentlemen. You are not, in fact, Mindless Ones from the dark dimension, or..." She frowns and glances sidelong at Angelica, "Futuristic killer robots? Space aliens that want to devour humanity? Time travelling conquering despots? I'm not precisely sure /what/ my friend has most recently been dealing with."

Her gaze sweeps back to the thugs and she taps her toe sharply, "But whatever it has been has not simply been bullies. Bullies, are, I hear, quite susceptible to microwave radiation /and/ magic. I would simply accept this loss and find a better use for your afternoon. Perhaps see a movie and enjoy the air conditioning." She points a single finger, "Or anyone she does not strand in a tree or leave worried about microwave exposure? I shall turn into a duck."

Is that a bluff? Maybe. Maybe it's not. There aren't any other Avengers around to tsk and tut at her for turning them into ducks. She /could/ probably get away with it...

Firestar has posed:
Angelica resists the urge to smirk as Wanda talks about the things she might have seen recently. She isn't about to disagree because it makes her look meaner and it isn't all untrue.

One of them reaches into their shirt for something and Angelica lets a burst of energy destroy the ground infront of him and melt the soles off of his shoes.

"That is what you call a..." she starts to say warning shot, but the bullies discover the better part of valor and they make a run for it before the flying women can really do harm,"...warning shot. I guess they understood."

She shakes her head and rises into the sky a little more and looks at Wanda,"I was wanting to throw them into the trees and see what you were going to do." she teases lightly, winking,"We'll have to do this again soon. It's been a while. You want to do a high recon and make sure they get out of here?"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda's face is a stoic, serious mask, intent eyes locked on the thugs... only for Angelica to give them an /object lesson/ in why tangling with superheroines and ignoring helpful warnings about being turned into frogs or microwaved is a bad idea. She heaves out a sigh, "My my. Not the brightest bulbs. We /should/ follow them to make sure they don't cause any trouble for at least a few minutes."

She pauses and hums out softly, "And then ice cream? Milkshakes? I would say we have earned a reward for our dedicated, timely intervention in potential crime! Also it's quite warm out."

As Wanda lifts up into the air she chimes out sweetly, "And oh yes, we /will/ be meeting again soon! This was too delightful! And next time we will... gossip I suppose? I do not gossip nearly so much as I should, Lorna says!"