"I complete the puzzle better than she does."
I couldn't agree more. Yet, what happened after that amazing dreamlike moment at the restaurant is still hard to piece together. I felt so free of a pressure - an uneasy emotion - that was stuck in me & choking me quietly before.
After that first night, I remember little things. My new girlfriend agreed to visit the next day. The night passed, & the following morning flew by quickly. No memories of that. Zed found me with Mich in the living area later on, where I'd been giving Mich the tour. Hot fiery words were flying across the room, & all I have is a memory of Azula leaving us finally. I had defeated her in the argument & was savouring the victory. She sobbed as she left, & as I looked to my girlfriend who smiled. I think I did the same, then we did a lip kiss.
Mich told me she'd "always take care of it." She didn't complain about a thing - compared to Zed. She'd tell me great things about myself. Stuff I could believe so much that I wanted to kiss her again. The rest that I can remember from then on were a burning motorbike, many children & people running away, & Sue telling me off for something she said about the news on national TV. Reed brought up something about suspecting an attack on Diablo, but I heard the old man hadn't broken outta the Vault once since we nabbed him. I didn't spare a moment to care for this stuff; Mich was all the oxygen I needed.
"Tonight, Johnny, is just gonna be fun & games for us," she wrapped herself around my arm on the way to dinner on the third evening. She said it'd be a surprise.
"Whatever you say," I said. There's a memory of us walking down a quiet street.
The same street had a nightclub with inviting lights. We stopped at the end of a looooong line leading up to the doors. "Great…just what we need. The hundred mile walk," Mich growled.
"Not for Torch & his girlfriend," I smiled, enjoying the luxury of using my superhero title to cut the queue. I wanted to laugh at the voices of ticked off people.
"Watch it!"
"Hey!"
"We've been waiting here an hour, man! Back in line, Torch!"
One guy blocked the way after he saw me, "You have any idea what you did to muh bike? Even the news is startin' to give you a bad name."
"Shut it. He had every right to do that," Mich backed me up.
"You watch yourself, chic. Or you may just deserve second place." The guy was pounding his hand with his beer bottle, like he was about to whack me or something. He was pretty much brawn & I thought he had no brains. He added, "Didya hear they may snatch back the licenses belongin' to 'Top Six' if you keep this up?"
I refused to care.
The nightclub's bouncer gave the green light, "Mr. Storm? Nice to…see you. Uhhhh…go right in."
Someone in the queue expressed himself, "Yo pal, I stand here for sixty & I get this?"
"Yeah. You callin' this justice when you 'n your buddies go out saving people?" a second punky guy butted in my way. He glared at me.
I snapped, "Don't know. Don't care. Now, Michelle & I wanna dance." I turned to the bouncer, who looked nervous & said, "Gentlemen, Mr. Storm has always had access to -"
"Hey! Aren't you supposed to be dating Blue Dragon?" a lady a little behind in the line shouted.
"Yeah, where's Azula?" said another chic.
"What happened between you two? You were the perfect couple!"
The action was just starting. "I think she's better off without you!" the first punk roared out. I was kicked suddenly in the back, & I flew to the concrete. Some other man picked me up wildly, "She should start off by replacing you, Torch!"
"PUT…ME…DOWN!" I fought tooth & nail. There were kung fu moves I pulled off: Zed's famous mid-air spin, & a couple of punches to two more men who were charging for me. None of it was working.
"YOU JUST LOST ALL THE RESPECT YOU DESERVE!" the second punk was bursting his own lungs, yelling behind me. A loud smash! Clear green pieces of glass scattered around. Many many times I was thrashed about, like a punch bag. Unseen but painful blows coming from random directions, each one catching me by surprise. I couldn't do anything to bring myself up again. I was losing touch with reality itself. Felt something horribly ice cold in the back of my skull.
All of a sudden, the next second, cold turned to killer heat in the same spot - & this cycle of hot & cold was confusing me. In fact, it made it much more painful coz the feeling spread to the rest of me. My eyes searched frantically for Mich, but there she was, running from where she should be standing. What was that all about? My heart pounded & hammered & called out to her.
At last I surrendered. The side of my head hit the cool stone with a dull thud. I heard murmurs of the people who were watching; soon I couldn't see a thing. The strongest pain was in my chest.
Someone announced. "It's her!" It sounded like they made way for somebody who was approaching. I heard a roar. & sirens. Then nothing.
It happened so fast; too fast. Under the confusion, I knew somehow about a sure truth. The angry faces could truly remind me that I was deep in trouble.
What did I find out much much later? The 'her' had been Zed. The roar: Leopard X. The sirens: cops who'd been hiding & watching from the dark nearby alleys. If I had harmed anyone, they'd come out of hiding for me. I heard that the media had even stopped by the terrible scene to try take a peek for their latest story, but Leopard X protected my bashed up body from the cameras.
The real problem: I wrecked so much stuff in New York that the city had loads of money to pay up. They'd had enough of me…I imagined how battered I now looked. I had nothing to attract anyone to me; even scarier, nothing in my appearance that anyone would want me. I would come to my own family(meaning the FF) & they wouldn't accept me. Officially…
