Log:Over Before It Could Begin

Hope Must Die 2015/04/05 Despair Lightning 2

Late. Again. How is it that someone so fast can always be too slow when it comes to dates? Because Lightning gets distracted by fighting crime all. The. Time. He raced home, showered super fast, styled his hair, went through several shirts, grabbed roses, and then took the slow route (i.e. human speed) to the boardwalk to meet his date.

Only she's not there. Ian's shoulders slump. He hears a beep go off in his pocket and pulls out his qPid to see an angry text. Scratch one potential girlfriend off the list. Ian sighs. . o O (Why can't I just pull my normal life together?)

Rachel walks on the boardwalk as well, she see's a pretty good looking guy, at least to her tastes, and can feel something different about him. She's drawn to him...so she approaches, timid, seeing the flowers, she taps Ian on the shoulder. "..Uh Excuse me.." she seems nervous, like this isn't really her style.

Rachel is in her early 20s, blonde, slim, with a decent..uh rack, pretty in the face, and seems to be moderately fit without being muscular. She wears a form fitting aqua blouse with a short pleated white skirt with lace trim, and black stockings, a practical purse with a pair of mary janes and a belt that hangs loose on her hip, more for looks than holding anything up.

Ian blinks and spins around with some flare with the bouquet held up and a bright grin, thinking his date reconsidered. But then he remembers they can't react and return as fast as he can. "O-oh! Hey. Sorry, thought you were...someone else," he says sheepishly.

Rachel pouts, "Oh..too bad...I.." she stammers, "I..um..was hoping you were single..I'm sorry to have bothered you." she blushes deeply, she steps back and trips over her own foot falling....

Ian watches Rachel in slow motion and tries to react fast, but now too fast. He reaches out an arm to catch her.

Rachel reaches out for his hand but only hopes, that he will be able to catch her.

Ian catches Rachel in as dashing a manner as he can, with one arm slid around her waist, and the bouquet still grasped in the other. "Uh, actually. I am. Recently. Very recently."

Rachel's eyes flash first with fear, then with relief, then admiration, and a smile comes over her face..but it disappears just as quickly, and as she remains in his arm, she says.."Oooh!....oh..wow, thank you, I..Oh recently?.." she seems crest fallen.."Oh..ok.." she rights herself and stands on her own two feet. "I'm sorry to hear that, you must be heart broken..." she she gives him a smile, "Still..you're a hero."

Ian blushes a bit. Once she's stable, he lets go of her. "Well, we only just started dating. Can't say we were officially an item..."

Rachel brightens up again, "Oh really!..I mean..oh..really, I'm sorry it didn't work out for you.." but you can tell she's really happy..."Um..well..with the roses in your hand were you going to be meeting her tonight?"

"Was. But...work kept me. She decided not to meet up tonight after all. Or ever again." Ian sighs, then pushes up a smile. "I'd hate for flowers to go to waste." He holds them out to her. "If you'd like, you can have them."

Rachel beams, "Really!? I..um.." she smiles and the world lights up, "My name is Rachel Stanski!" she takes the proffered flowers and smells them "Thank you so much! I hate that she did that, if you still want to go out..I'm sure I'm not as pretty as her, but if you still..um..want to..uh..go out...and maybe have dinner..or um..something, I would be happy to go out with you?" she stammers a bit, "Was that too forward?..I..I've never felt drawn to someone like this..." her tones a little fearful of rejection.

Ian isn't worried about things going too fast. That's just his life. "No. I mean yes! I mean...no, she's not prettier. Yes, I'd like to have dinner. No, it's not too forward." Usually he's not at all this lucky. "Er...d-drawn?" Well, he tries to be smooth, but that usually always backfires. Usually. "Where would you like to eat?"

Rachel smiles, "I don't know..um..where were you going to take your date?" she seems really happy, "I don't know what it is about you, but you just seem...Special! I felt..like a shock when you caught me.." she stammers, "I'm sorry..does that sound stupid?..its true though.."

"Well, I'm told there's a fancy italian seafood restaurant nearby on the pier. There's also a tapas bar along Oceanside Drive," Ian suggests helpfully. Ian's eyebrows raise a little at her rambling. He didn't think he charged up too much to catch her. "Probably static electricity? Heheh. Sorry about that."

Rachel shakes her head, "You're my hero, I'd like to think of it being kysmette fate or something!" she giggles softly, "Italian sounds great! I'll pay my half of course, it wouldn't be right to allow you to buy for me...I mean we only just met...uh.." she pauses and giggles cutely, "Um..what's yur name?"

"Ian. Ian Matheson. That's probably good to know, right? Names," Ian laughs nervously. "What's your name?" he asks as he walks along side her to guide her towards the restaurant.

Rachel frowns, "I already told you my name..am I not memorable enough for you to...uh..remember me?"

Ian is known for his bad memory with names. At least half of his being dumped was because he couldn't keep all the names straight. "Sorry, er. Rachel...Stanski. Usually I do introductions in that order." He's not even sure what city he's in by name, but he recognizes this area because he had planned a date ahead of time.

Rachel pouts.."Are you a player?" her tones are a bit hurt

Ian cringes at the term. "No, I'm not like that. I only date one person at a time!" he swears. They just go through him really quickly.

Rachel eyes him down, "You're sure you're not a player?..You're not a heart breaker are you?"

"Usually, I'm the one getting heartbroken," Ian admits with an awkward grin. "Work kinda has strange hours. Overtime. It's just hard on girls is all."

Rachel nods slowly.."o..Okay, I'll take your word for it. We can still have dinner..but now you're treating to prove good will." she grins as she says it, "Player's gotta prove himself."

Ian laughs. He intended to pay anyway. "No problem. I gotta prove myself, after all."

Rachel offers her arm, "Then lets go Hero." she says to him with a warm smile.

Ian takes her by the arm and escorts her along. "Aww, I'm hardly one of those." When they get to the restaurant, he holds the door open for her. "Ladies first."

Farfalle e Pesci is a trendy Italian restaurant boasting nouveau seafood and a fancy mixologist bar. "Totally fine,"

Ian smiles. He looks to Rachel. "So what do you like to do, Rachel?"

Rachel leans over and gives Ian a peck on the cheek, "You saved my day...that makes you my own personal superhero." When they get to the restaurant she enters first and walks up to the greeter, "Hi..party of 2?"

The greeter nods, but the place is busy, "Its going to be a few minutes before I can seat you, will that be ok?"

Rachel nods, "Sure thing." she says with a smile, turning to Ian she says, "That's ok right?"

Rachel smiles back and seems to be completely enamored with Ian, "I go to CBSU, I just started my masters in Molecular Biochemistry, and I work full time at Covington International as a lab assistant. I was an intern, but they took me on after my internship ended, and have told me if I get good scores on my first semester, they will consider a contract where they will pay my schooling for a 4 year commitment to Covington after I graduate. I thought that was pretty awesome."

Ian isn't used to this level of attention outside the suit. And her academics record has him intimidated. "Wow, you've really accomplished a lot." He almost asks how old she is if she's working on her Masters, then realizes that is a deadly mistake. "That's so arid."

Rachel grins, "..Arid..wow..no one said that about me." she blushes again, "I..I've always been sort of a geeky..I mean I graduated high school early, and got through college, and being 21 and in my masters..its sort of scary with all the older people in the program..." but she puts her chin up. "I'm determined to make it though!" she says with a smile.

Ian grins back. "If an international company is hiring you already and considering paying for your school, I think you won't have any problems. Heck, with skills like yours, you might change the world."

Rachel smiles "You think so?..Really?" she seems to think this is a new idea for her. "I'm nothing special..I have a guilty pleasure.." she giggles, "Do you want to know what that is?"

Ian blushes a little. "Er, s-sure," he tries to act suave and fails.

Rachel whispers, "I love metas..I love superheroes!" she blushes again, "Its silly right?..I mean..I find them fascinating. Amazing..selfless.." she seems to swoon over the idea of superheroes.

"Oh?" Just Ian's luck. A meta groupy. And once again, he meets them as mild mannered Ian Matheson! "Lots of people dig superheroes." Just not when he's around as one.

Rachel smiles and is about to go on when the hostess says, "Ma'am? The table's ready." she waves them over and leads them to a table overlooking the water. It seems the restaurant itself is partially overhanging the water of the pier, and they seem to have a pretty prime table. Out the window the full moon shines over the ocean, and the reflection of it glimmers on the lapping surface of the waters. "Wow..great table! See..you are my superhero!"

Ian pulls out the chair for Rachel. "Thanks. Apparently getting lucky with seating arrangements is my super power," he jests.

Rachel grins "Making my day seems to be another one." and she sits "Thank you by the way."

Once Rachel is situated, he sits across from her. "Thanks. I think you've got a superpower, too, because you saved my day. So have you gotten to meet any heroes?"

Rachel shakes her head, "No...I've only seen one in person and she left before I could try to say anything, plus they're all business you know..I don't know if they would like it if someone came and talked to them. The one I saw was Paragon, do you know her?"

"Paragon?" Ian asks with some surprise. He knows her from way back, from when the Guardians first called for outside aid to deal with Mechaneer's minions. Since then, he's had a professional acquaintance with her, but mostly he associates with her teammates on occasion. "I...know that she's in this city."

Rachel nods, "She's great, a real hero! You know she donates her time in Harrisburg to help with the needy? And she always offers quarter, and she's just so great, I wish all of the meta's in this city were like her. We need more heroes who are role models you know? Good people who do good things for others."

Ian grins warmly. "Yeah? She sounds pretty amazing. A real humanitarian." He grins a bit more, if only because he's thinking of how she's inhuman. "There are a few out there still trying to do good ."

Rachel nods, "I've heard some good thing about that speedster Lightning, he seems like a good one too, I'm sure there are a lot of good ones out there, like in the old days..you know what I mean?"

Ian tries to look busy with the menu to hide his embarrassment. "Yeah, he sounds like he's trying to live up to the old heroic standards of the old heroes. Most heroes you see now are just about the fighting."

Rachel nods, "But at least they are fighting for whats right?..right?" she sounds like she needs you to support that statement. "I mean..they live to give people hope right?"

Ian looks up at Rachel, then nods. "Right. I suppose they live to give people hope. Make things a little brighter. Or, y'know, to save the day."

The waiter comes over and says, "Evening folks, have you had a chance to look over the menu yet? We have a couple of specials tonight, we have an Osso Bucco, which is a veal shank slow cooked for 9 hours by our chef, served with a side of lobster infused risotto, and rosemary infused grilled vegetables, and we also have a cioppini seafood dish served on linguine, it is a fresh catch, which today includes atlantic sea bass, salmon, clams, and mussels. That dish comes with a side of garlic bread and a salad with your choice of garden or ceasars."

Rachel reaches over the table to hold your hand, "Thank you..I needed that." she says before the waiter arrives, and at the sounds of the specials, her eyes go wide, "Those both sound delicious! Im going to need to look over the menu, but if my date will let me, I'll probably get one of those two!" she says excitedly to the waiter. The waiter nods, "I'll give you both a few more minutes, can I get you something to drink? we do have a fine wine selection, and I can make some pairing suggestions for you if you wish based upon your dinner decision."

Ian peers up from his menu, trying to hide that he realized just how much this meal is going to set him back. "Yeah, sure, you can have one of those."

Ian glances at Rachel. "Needed that? Really? Well. Glad I could help?" He looks back to the waiter. "Just water for me. But if my date would like any wine," he looks to Rachel.

Rachel smiles, "Do you have a nice red bouquet? Perhaps a nice merlot? I'll have water for now, but if you could bring a pairing out with dinner?" The waiter nods and leaves the table, she turns back and says, "Yes..I've been reading some of the things that have been happening, and I've been losing hope.."

Ian's brows knit together. "Aww, things aren't so hopeless. What has you so down?"

Rachel sighs, "Its just..a lot of heroes now are so dark..they do things that help, but then they...they do things that hurt too. Like that Pelana woman, she stops villians, but she also destroys city blocks, then there are those vigilante types..I can't even tell if they're good guys or not...then there's starguard who is so secretive that you can never tell who they are trying to protect or what their agenda is..." she sighs, "In this day an age, we need heroes that we can look up to..who are transparent..you know what I mean?" she squeezes your hand, "I..I don't know why, but I feel like you are like that." she smiles and blushes again, "I know..its crazy right? we don't even know each other.."

Ian frowns a little. "Well, there are some dark heroes out there. Mainly cuz there are dark villains. But you shouldn't lose hope just because of how heroes are dealing with things. For the most part, it won't really affect your life." He squeezes her hand back. "But I do know what you mean. Just not why you get that vibe off of me. I'm just a guy."

Rachel shakes her head, "You are a guy, but not just a guy..I've never been..like this before." he takes the roses and smells them again, "When I saw you I couldn't stop looking at you. I thought, 'Wow..what if he were my guy..and he was standing there waiting for me..to give me those roses..' and I couldn't stop myself from coming over to you." she smiles widely, "And..well, look at how this day is turning out! That can't be just coincidence right?"

Ian says, "Well, it could be coincidence, good timing, good luck..."

Rachel frowns, "Aw..why can't you just agree with me? No wonder your single!" she says with a laugh, "You need to know when to just agree!" she squeezes your hand again. "Oh well..we'll just chalk it up to chance...luck."

Ian grins uneasily. "Well, I guess it's no surprise." She insists on him agreeing with everything? She's a little bit crazy. But also gorgeous...

The waiter returns with the water, and in the slight reflection on the glass, a figure can be seen floating over the water, he is within 100m of shore, he wears a black coat that seems to float behind him like a cape. He is of medium build and of generally nondescript looks....

Ian notices the reflection as he watches the waiter setting the glass down in slow motion. He reaches for the glass, then casually attempts to glance over to the figure with his eyes alone, trying not to get noticed.

Rachel reaches over, "Have you decided what you're going to have? I am def having the Osso Bucco. That sounded amazing didn't it? Slow cooked for 9 hours!"

Ian blinks and looks back to Rachel. "That really does sound amazing. I think I'll try that, too," he grins.

Rachel nods "I'll give you a sip of my wine, I know you said you didn't want any but I've found the right pairing makes it even better." she smiles, "If..you don't mind sharing a glass with me that is?"

Ian smiles. "I don't mind at all." Just a sip won't hurt. "The, uh...reason I'm not ordering any is I'm under twenty-one," he admits.

Rachel looks surprised, "Oh..well, that's ok, I mean..uh..you're legal right?"

The figure over the water approaches closer he's only 50m off the restaurant.

Ian blinks at Rachel and smiles roguishly. "What do you mean? Not to drink, but that's about the only thing," he grins as he looks out the window to enjoy the view. And notice that weird person getting closer. He's got a really bad feeling about that. Hopefully that guy just really likes Italian food?

Ian thinks. o O (Yeah, that wishful thinking ain't happening probably...)

Rachel smiles and blushes, "Ah..um..good." she says reacting to his rogueish look. "You keep looking out to the wat..." she turns and her face lights up, "Its Porter! Paragon's partner!" she seems very excited, "I didn't know he could fly though!" at her outburst others start to look out the window.

"Paragon's...partner?" Ian murmurs. Paragon has a partner? And it's not someone from the Guardians? "Who's he, exactly?" he asks as he turns his head to look towards Porter this time. "Never heard of him..."

Rachel smiles, "He's like..um..totally unassuming, but is supposed to be the luckiest man alive." she thinks about, "And some say the unluckiest..but I don't know he's done a lot of great things with Paragon and even before that! Its kind of beautiful the thing those two have. If you could be a superhero which one would you be?"

"Totally unassuming? Well...he'd have to have done something right for Paragon to partner up with him. Never heard someone call parnters in heroics a beautiful thing, but...I suppose so? What do they have, exactly?" Ian is clueless. He hasn't caught up with Paragon much in years beyond heroic duties. "If I could be? Well..probably any of those classic sorts."

Rachel nods and smiles, "Like who? I don't know what I would like..maybe to fly, or to be super strong..Or maybe like..mind powers..I don't know." she looks over at Porter who seems to be getting closer.

"Invulnerability would be pretty nice. Super strength? Flight would be good. Maybe I'd like to be Captain Amazing," Ian ponders, then follows her gaze to Porter. "Wonder what he's doing out there. Maybe there's trouble?" He looks a little puzzled. "So if he's the luckiest guy, does that mean he lucked out getting flight powers?"

Rachel giggles, "Good one. Captain America..he was a great one wasn't he?" she says, and it seems like she was about to say something else when Porter shouts outside, "Oh ho..so we have a couple here folks! A couple who loves heroes!" he smiles as he looks into the restaurant drawing everyone's attention, somehow his voice is amplified so everyone can hear. "You love Paragon and I" he smiles and draws nearer to Ian and "We had a beautiful thing you said." somehow his voice, while friendly in tones seems..not friendly at all. "Come on everyone! Give these two a hand, they love a heros's hero!"

Ian winces a little. "The guy's got superhearing, too." That IS lucky. And this is super embarrassing. And something feels really odd, because he's getting the vibe that maybe this is one of those embarrassing bad dreams. He tries to accept the attention in stride. "Right. Thanks. Please, you can go back to your meals now," he grins to the other patrons, then looks to Rachel and asks in a whisper, "-This- guy and Paragon? Is this normal? He seems a bit...alpha male to me."

Rachel frowns, "This isnt like him..at least not from what I've seen."

"Huh..." Ian responds simply. "What -is- like him, then?" he keeps to whispers.

Porter shakes his head, "Oh..but to be a hero means you save lives right?" he asks the audience, who seem confused by the behavior, "I mean, Heroes do their best to save people..avert disasters. Those who kill people or cause disasters are what then?"

Rachel makes a face.."Uh..not this..this is weird.." she looks at Ian.."I mean its wierd right?"

Ian doesn't get what the deal is with the pop quiz. "Totes weird," he replies. "What's with the leading question to get the villain answer?"

Porter pulls a gun from his belt, "No one?..well, I guess I'll answer for you." it looks like a six shooter with an over sized cartridge for bullets. "The answer is: Villian. You!" he says pointing the gun at Rachel "You thought Paragon was a real hero right? She's a liar and a child killer. So..by definition she is a? Right again! Villian. She killed love, so I killed hope. And I will continue to do so. You seem like a nice girl, Your boyfriend seems like a nice guy."

Rachel leans back..a frightened look on her face when the gun gets pointed at her, "W..what are you doing!? You're a hero..you're not supposed to do this!" she overleans and falls from the chair, abject fear on her face. "Ian..help me!"

No one pulls a gun on Ian's dates! He still needs to process the whole 'Paragon kills children' bit, but what matters is he processes the gun first. "Rachel, stay down!" he shouts as he gets up and flips the table on its side for some cover. He tries to put the table between them and Porter, and himself between Porter and Rachel.

Ian says, "Everybody, run! He's got a gun!"

Porter laughs, "Now here's a real hero! Save everyone Hero! Wait did you forget about your date?" the gun fires..it is a magic bullet it fires leaving no hole in the table but hits Rachel square in the chest none the less. Rachel hits the ground hard, her eyes are gray..unresponsive before she loses her final breath.

Ian's eyes go wide as Rachel dies right in front of him. "No...Rachel!" It doesn't make sense...the table didn't help. It's his fault she's dead. His hands ball up into fists, which will soon find their way into that villain's mocking face!

The crowd starts to scream and even those lookielous who were recording this begin to scramble out of their seats and run for exits.

Despair says while laughing, "Well...ultimately that is what heroes do! They act bold and people die.all you had to do was go along with it, instead you went and played hero. Too bad. Bad choice." he shakes his head and touches his belt. As he begins to lose cohesiveness he says "All hope shall die."

As fast as the blow comes, a seagull was flying, disturbed by the loud noise and is struck by the invisible fist. it explodes in a cloud of feathers and blood. Gross..and now Ian's fist is covered in seagull parts.

Despair laughs, "You're a gross kid, but I've got my eye on you. I see what you did there..well sort of.." and he's gone.

Ian zips back behind the table so fast no one else sees it. Except Porter. Ian's teeth are grit and he's seething. "Got my eye on you, too. And I'm taking you down, no matter what it takes," he swears as Porter vanishes. He flicks off the seagull bits from his hand and wipes it off on the table cloth. Then, he picks up Rachel and starts to run out the exit, trying to find a place isolated enough to kick it up to super speed and take her to the hospital.

There is grand chaos everywhere..it will not be long before you can get up to speed."

Once he finds that blindspot, suddenly he kicks to full speed. It only takes him about four seconds to get to the emergency room entrance with Rachel, and dressed as Lightning. "Hello, I need help!" Lightning shouts to the nurses and doctors as he zips into the ER.

As Lightning pours on the speed, Rachel..deteriorates in his arms, before he's gone even a second so is she. Perhaps it was the magic bullet..but she dissolved in his arms, by the time he reaches the hospital, there is no trace of her.

Doctors, nurses and other personnel look over to the young man and says, "What is it! Whats the emergency, they've seen it all and while it was a quiet night until just now, they are ready to fly into action.

Lightning is left standing there with empty arms and a blood stained hand from that unlucky seagull. He...wasn't fast enough...? Damn him! "I...sorry. I guess...I don't need help," he says thickly, then turns around and turns into a bolt of lightning, zigging and zagging out of the hospital and stopping once he's back at the restaurant and the scene of the crime, where Rachel was shot. He stares at where she was laying on the ground, dying. Then looks back out to where Porter was floating. His hands clench so hard the knuckles turn white beneath his gloves. "I'm going to find you. It's only a matter of time."

[[Media:Billionaire Goes Mad]]