Rock Bottom [NOW OPEN]

[telekinetic_badass]

Julian was still irritated to hell and back. Thankfully someone had pointed him in the direction of the Danger Rooms Sensoriums so he could blow off some steam.

He had to be a little more creative about it, though. Without his powers, the urge to fling himself at danger didn't seem particularly smart. So, instead, he had the room recreate his favorite basketball court. It was located on the SoCal coast, just off the beach.

The sound of the waves nearby was relaxing, and he could even smell the ocean as the breeze crossed the waves and on to shore. Normally, he'd be something close to being at peace here, but he was still bugged and irritated.

He wanted to blame the collar. It was heavy, it itched, it was screwing with his jumper. But, really, it all ran much deeper than that.

To say his life had gone to shit in the last few months would be an understatement. Ever since M-Day, every thing he held dear in his life had been slowly stripped away from him. His family abandoned him, the girl he loved broke his heart, his friends were killed, his home was destroyed, his own sense of idealism was shattered, the X-Men, the other heroes were too busy fighting and ignored him, it was currently up for a public vote as to whether or not he should be allowed to have kids one day or be chemically sterilized forever; and most recently, the person who he trusted most to guide him had helped the Avengers subdue him, lock away his powers, then lock him away in 42.

So, now he really had hit bottom, as he was on Stacy with nothing. No money, no powers, not even the clothes on his back. He really didn't even have much of an idea who he was right now.

Hell, he hugged Chamber. That's how desperate and happy he was to have something around that was at least some shred of what he knew. He even sort of latched on to Captain Picard because the guy looked like Xavier, and he barely knew the Professor to begin with.

He was living in the past. And much like this place, it was just an empty, hollow substitute for the real thing. He had nothing, now.

...Did that mean he was nothing?

"Who are you right now?" he asked himself, tossing off another jumper that clanged off the rim.

Comments

[girl-of-steel.livejournal.com]

"Who is anybody, really?" Kara asked. If he cared to look, he'd see a pretty blonde girl sitting on a Sensorium-created bench, her legs crossed, watching Julian with particular interest. There was a churro - also Sensorium-created - in her hand, and she seemed to be snacking on it. Or at least she gave the illusion of snacking on it. She grinned at him. "Talking to yourself, or have you snapped and made yourself an imaginary friend?"

[telekinetic_badass]

He had been so lost in his own thoughts he didn't notice her come in. But once he saw her, he recognized her instantly. Kon's cousin.

"Depends. Are you real?" He smirked at her while he chased down the rebound. "Or did I just imagine the hottest girl in the universe?"

[superminiskirt.livejournal.com]

Oh, smooth, Julian.

Kara's grin grew wider and she stood up. The attention - and the compliment - felt nice. Better than nice, even. Especially since...she wasn't even going to think about it. She approached him, twirling the churro around in her hand like a tiny baton. Flakes of cinnamon sugar lazily drifted off the churro and disappeared into the air. "I'm very, very real," Kara replied, "no matter how much some people may insist I'm the product of a comic book." She tucked back a lock of her hair. "Though if you're dreaming? I'd say you're pretty damn lucky to be having this dream. Or not, all things considered." After all, meatship in spaaaaaace. Was that really anyone's first choice for a dream.

[telekinetic_badass]

It wouldn't be his first choice, but Julian did tend to have rather exotic dreams.

He circled Kara, still keeping just a bit of distance between them.

"If you're part of my dream, I'm not sure I want to ever wake up." In addition to being an asshole, he can be one hell of a flirt when he wants to be. "But how do I know you're really real?" he teased.

[girl-of-steel.livejournal.com]

"Good question," Kara replied. "I mean, with the Sensorium, everything can become physically touchable...so even if I did this," Kara took the basketball away from Julian, making sure that her hand grazed his as she did so, "it could just be that I'm a figment of your unconscious that the Sensorium brought to life." She dribbled the ball and offered him a saucy smile. "Tell me, handsome...how do you intend to figure out of I'm a dream, a hoax, an imaginary girl, or the real deal?" she asked coyly.

[telekinetic_badass]

Already, he liked this girl. He moved a little closer, making a lazy swipe for the ball, but it was more an excuse to let his hand brush against her thigh for a moment.

"I don't know, gorgeous. I guess I'm going to have to ask you out."

You know. For science.

[girl-of-steel.livejournal.com]

True. Biology is a science.

"Huh," Kara replied, grinning. "You want to ask me out on a date? Here?" She let Julian take the ball and circled him slowly. "Clearly, you haven't been to the mess hall yet. It takes cafeteria food to a whole new, much lower level." She made a move for the ball. "But then again," she added as she stole the ball back, "I'm tempted to say yes. Regardless." She pivoted then, and her hair gently hit Julian's cheek as she went for the shot. "What is that, like, two points?"

[telekinetic_badass]

He wasn't playing much defense, but he might start. If only for the excuse to bump up against her.

"Nice shot."

He went to retrieve the ball, and dribbled it as he made his way back to her.

"Well, I heard the media library had something akin to a movie theater." Yes, a nice, private, cozy space. "Maybe you could join me there instead, and we can see if you're real." Preferably by making out with her. Lots.

[girl-of-steel.livejournal.com]

"You, me, a dark room, and a movie?" Kara asked. She makes her way towards him, making sure not to use her superspeed, and tries unsuccessfully to take the ball from him. Her hand grazes his again though. "Tell me, will it be something that'll scare me so I'll have to bury my head in your shoulder, something romantic so I can see you have a sensitive side, or will you appeal to me by making me laugh through a comedy?"

[telekinetic_badass]

"Let's see." He dribbled around her, looking thoughtful as he did.

"You don't strike me as being a girl who scares easily. And I don't think my sensitive side is the part of me you want to see the most." He let that statement hang in the air for a moment. "But you do like to have fun. So I'm thinking maybe something more of an action comedy. Something we can laugh at and enjoy... or not pay a whole lot of attention to." Just in case they wanted to pay far more attention to each other.

[sniff-my-dust.livejournal.com]

Pixie had been passing by the Sensorium when she saw Supergirl - who was blushing quite a bit - dart out of the room. She paused and raised an eyebrow. Getting very curious - she wanted to see who it was who'd made the pretty blonde blush - she stuck her head inside the Sensorium and squeed.

"Julian!"

In the next moment, he'll find himself tackled to the ground with Pixie on top of him, her wings fluttering excitedly.

[telekinetic_badass]

Julian had been busy grinning like a bit of an idiot, so he didn't notice Meg until she had already tackled him. He was actually about to throw her off of him, until he realized who it was.

"Holy shit... Meg!?"

[sniff-my-dust.livejournal.com]

"Yes!" She stood back up and helped Julian up before flitting about the Sensorium basketball court. "Oh my god, it's so good to see a familiar face!" she exclaimed. "I mean, there's been familiar faces, but no one that I know, know, you know? And now there's you, who I actually kn..." Pixie paused. "Did you just pop with the last group? And what's that thing around your neck?"

[telekinetic_badass]

He was actually happy to see her. Which is something he almost never thought he'd be able to say about Pixie.

Then again, he hugged Chamber, so desperate times and all of that.

"How long have you been here? What's the last thing you remember from our world?"

[sniff-my-dust.livejournal.com]

Hilariously, Pixie's thinking the same thing about Julian. Let's be honest here, Pixie was much closer to Hope and Victor and the others than she had been to Julian and his crew.

Pixie closed her eyes tightly and thought back to before the white flash. "Um. The X-Men were moving to San Francisco. All of us. To a new place. The X-Mansion essentially is no more." She opened her eyes and looked at Julian. "It's just a little while after...Magik took a piece of my soul." She was perfectly fine talking about it earlier, in the bathrooms with John and Allison and Paco and Mia.

Now it's a different story.

With Julian here, standing in front of her...it feels so much more real. "I've been here for awhile, Julian. I don't know how long, because I've lost track of time...but it's been long enough, I guess. What about you? What's the last thing you remember?"

[telekinetic_badass]

"I nearly died and the X-Men dumped everyone and moved to the west coast. Then... let's just say a lot of shit happened." Most of which he really did not want to discuss. At all. Ever.

"Last thing I remember is Miss Frost sold out and betrayed everyone to the Initiative. This," he pulled at the collar, "was my reward for not being the governments good little mutie pet."

[sniff-my-dust.livejournal.com]

"Miss Frost did what?" Pixie blinked, shocked. She knew that Miss Frost didn't exactly have the best reputation but... "But, you were like one of her favorite students! She named you Hellion!" Or did Julian choose that name himself? Pixie didn't really remember. "Julian...why...did that happen?"

[telekinetic_badass]

"Cause she's an opportunistic bitch." Whatever level of reverence and affection he held for Emma had been rapidly dwindling since M-Day, and this collar was the last straw.

"Everything's upside down right now." But when was it not? "Even more so than usual."

[sniff-my-dust.livejournal.com]

Pixie blinked. "But...she was our teacher. And she was a good guy. I mean, you don't just..." she trailed off and remembered everything she'd learned while training at Xavier's. "....or maybe you do." She looked down at the ground, which her feet were touching now. "So things just went from bad to worse, huh?" She'd been worried about that, about things getting progressively...not better. "That metallic collar thing. It limits your powers, doesn't it?" It's the only thing that made sense.

[telekinetic_badass]

From bad to worse to potentially catastrophic. "You don't know the half of it. Be glad you missed out on it all."

He could certainly do without nearly being turned into a living bomb.

"This thing doesn't limit my powers, it eliminates them." He looked at his hand, concentrating for a moment to see if he could do something, find even the slightest hint of the power he held. But his efforts were in vain. "Not even a flash of something."

[gogopowersuit.livejournal.com]

Yet again the Sensoriums were occupied. How unfortunate for Samus, who has nothing better to do than train, patrol, and train some more. She had a nice little routine going now, a combination of training in the gym in the precinct and simulations in the Sensoriums. She was finding the the Sensoriums increasingly more frequently in use.

Of course, it was hard to share the room (especially when the first occupant had turned it into some strange sort of arena to play some unknown sport), so perhaps she could just slip away before she is noticed.

[telekinetic_badass]

The odds of Julian not noticing a hot woman are generally somewhere between slim and none. And Samus definitely got noticed. He paused in his dribbling the ball to check out the newcomer.

"Well, hello."

Sure, he had a date with Kara later, but that wasn't about to stop him. He started dribbling the ball again as he walked around a little.

"Something I can do for you, sweetheart?"

[gogopowersuit.livejournal.com]

Ignore it, Samus. It's not worth it, Samus. You already used your warning, Samus. You already have to deal with Grif, Samus. Ignore it, ignore it, ignore it...

That isn't working very well. She stops, turning to Julian, to give him a look. Stern is an understatement.

"No." At least he didn't call her 'sweetcheeks.'

[telekinetic_badass]

He only grinned back at her.

After meeting Kara and seeing Pixie, his spirits were lifted, and he felt back on his game.

"You came in here for a reason, I assume."

He dribbled the ball a few more times, the shot a twenty-foot jumper. It bounced on the rim twice before falling through.

[gogopowersuit.livejournal.com]

"Yes. I wanted to see if the room was occupied and it is."

Samus remains unimpressed. Her displeasure is evident, and she will once again attempt to vacate the room.