Striking out on my own (John Killroy)

[heroesdreamer]

Juli was majorly discouraged, she'd thought she had it made, what with working for the Collector but he had just vanished out of nowhere! What was she supposed to do now? After thinking about it for a while, she had come to the conclusion that maybe it was time to strike out on her own, be a proper villain in her own right, so she had come up with a plan; she was going to rob a bank. But not a big one, she was going to start small and then if that worked she would hit a larger bank.

Just a few days later she found herself dressed a bit more causal than usual, her hair tied back with a simple black hair tie, as she walked into a bank and conjured behind her what looked like five big, burly men. She also had purchased a small handgun and took classes, claiming a need for self defense, and she showed said gun to the cashier, also using her conjuring ability to blur her face so she couldn't be identified. "Give me the money in your drawer" she said quietly, hoping this would go smoothly.

[John Kilroy]

Gwenpool was talking to the owner of the bank trying to sell him on the idea of Superhero insurance. to be frank, the perk of being able to jump from abandoned earth to abandoned earth meant she had infinite resources and money. The problem was...well what do you spend it on when your coffers are literally infinite? you do some pretty crazy stuff. This time she made sure not to 

"No matter the damage whether due to a street hero brawl or an alien invasion or a demon infestation or bank robbery, I'll cover it. No questions asked."

The Bank owner sipped his coffee. Given the fact that people like Stark were a thing he wasn't completely dismissive. 

"Uh huh and how much will this cost me."


"$1 a month." 

the owner spit his coffee. "What kind of money laundering scheme are you pulling?"

"I'm not my coffers are bottomless. I have more money than I can spend in a million lifetimes. If it's a scam you're out a $1 but if I'm legit then it's the best $1 you'll have ever spent on."

The bank owner sighed and pulled out a dollar from his wallet. "I'm considering this a curiosity fee." 


"Pleasure doing business with you," Gwen said with a smile.  "Yeah, yeah now get..."

They both looked over to see a woman with five burly men behind her. 

"What the??""

Gwen looked over and noticed that the woman's face was blurred almost like there was a conjured film over it. So. it also didn't take long for her to put two and two together that if she could conjure a blur, then chances are were that those goons were not real either. So the woman had super powers yet she was using a cheap handgun? 

She smiled, shook her head and walked over to the woman in question. "First time?" Gwen asked. 

[heroesdreamer]

Juli was pleased as the teller seemed shaken, but she then realized she'd made an error as someone came up to her, asking if it was her first time. Surprised, she spun around and yelped, covering her still blurred face with her hand, however her "backup" dissolved away. The teller, seeing the sudden lack of other people, hit the silent alarm and ran into the back area reserved for tellers. This caused Juli to curse, unsure of what to do next, as she certainly did not want to get arrested!

"Curse you!" she exclaimed to the meddling person before running outside and looking around. Hearing sirens going off, she slipped the gun into her pocket before walking into the alleyway two streets down. There were side entrances to shops and if needed, she could slide into one and just act like she was shopping, totally normal behavior! She wanted to hit herself though, how stupid was she to not check if other people were in the bank? "Collector, I could really use your help right now!" she whispered, hoping that no one tried to follow her.

[John Kilroy]

Gwen found herself mentally facepalmed again. "Way to go Gwen." she thought to herself. There was also the fact that she technically shouldn't have been able to see the illusions. great how was she going to explain how SHE saw them? Magic, a sixth sense, her player didn't properly pay attention to the O.C apps and completely overlooked that fact? (Yeah right, explaining that to her would be a whole other can of worms)

Still reading the girl's app she couldn't help but get excited. A girl with illusion powers like Loki or Mysterio who wanted to be a flashy celebrity villain? Could it be...*Gasp* new blood? WOOOHOO

It didn't take first she'd have to get the police. That shouldn't be too hard. as much as she hated it she quick changed into he Gwenpool costume and started following the direction of the sound she she managed to catch the police cars.

"Hey Hey hey. It's ok. She's a new villain. Think this was her first time."

The police looked at Gwen in confusion. 

"Umm...excuse me mam, who are you?"

"Gwen...*sigh* pool...NO RELATION TO HIM!"

"Uh huh. Are you serious about there being a new villian in town?"

"Well when I mean new I mean like NEW new. I don't think she even has a gimmick yet."

"and is she dangerous?" One of the cops asked. 

"From what I can tell...no she's in this mainly to get into the superhuman limelight."

"Huh...you know it'd be kind of nice to have to deal with knew guys for once. I'm getting real tired of having to deal with Shocker for like the 50th time in 3 months."

"THANK YOU! Someone gets it!"

"Well look seems like you got this handled we'll let you guys do...your thing. But hey if this new girl proves to be one of them dangerous types, give us a call ok?" 

"Will do officer. Thank you for your service." Gwen gave a solute. 

"See you around Deadpool girl."

"...I'M NOT DEADPOOL GIRL!"

By then the cops were well out of earshot. 

Now that the cops had been dealt with Gwen just needed to find Juli which wasin't hard as she was only two streets down from where the bank was.

"Hi there. Uh look didn't mean to scare you off earlier. I took care of the cops. Are you serious about being a new supervillian? Because seriously that's awesome! You have NO idea how much we need new blood around here. I'm not talking like the dark angsty murderous types I'm talking fun flashy types that'd fight heroes and look good on posters and cereal boxes. Like Seriously if you need help building a character from the ground up. There is so much I can help you with, Tips costume designs...sorry I'm rambling aren't I...I'm Gwenpool."


She offered Juli a handshake.  

[heroesdreamer]

Juli heard the sirens and stayed hidden, eyeing the door of this little New Age shop in case she needed to disappear, but then just a few minutes later the cops left. That's weird she thought to herself, giving herself a couple more minutes to make sure the coast was clear. Just as she was about to leave the alley, this gal in a costume popped up in front of her and proceeded to exclaim how cool it was that she was trying to be a villain.

"What, wait a minute? You're not going to take me in to get arrested?" she managed to ask before her jaw literally dropped, this person wanted to help her? Holding up a hand, she then took Gwenpool's hand after she offered it. "My name is Daydreamer" she said, "and yeah, I want to be a villain but this is my first time on my own and I don't know what I'm doing!" Stopping to take a breath as she could feel herself starting to get upset, she asked "You would be willing to help me?" She felt pitiful, but maybe every villain started out this way?

[John Kilroy]

"Well your first problem was you want to be a supervillain, yet you come into a bank waving a handgun like a common thug. you want to know what the difference is between a supervillain and a straight-up monster and thugs. Monsters care about carnage, and body counts. They care about spreading terror. For supervillains it's about the prestige....the presentation. Think of Superheroes and supervillains like wrestlers. People remember them not because they pure sheer violence, but because they have a style that makes them iconic. Now with your illusion powers, you already have the ability to make an entrance, and even that aside your powers on their own are powerful you just have to learn to utilize it effectively. Let your imagination go wild. Make it look like you're riding a dragon or something. Go hog wild!...you also need a costume...what do you imagine yourself being? What screams you in your eyes?" she didn't know if she was making any sense. She was so excited she might have been rambling. 

[heroesdreamer]

Juli listened as Gwenpool told her what she was doing wrong, but she also let her know what she could do to fix it, which made Juli feel better. She didn't have anything to write on but she figured she could remember enough to take notes once she got home. In the meantime, she took a deep breath, exhaled, and then said "Thank you for believing in me! Yeah, I probably should've waited before attempting to start my villainous career, but I used to have a mentor but he just disappeared on me." She was frustrated and yet, maybe she could relaunch her evil schemes.

She also confessed "I don't really know what my goals are, I mean every villain seems to want to rule the world" but was intrigued by Gwenpool asking her what her villain outfit would be like. "Well, in dreams I usually either morph into whatever is needed, like there was one where I was a scientist's assistant, but I kind of like looking like Death, like in a long robe with a hood and fancy it up." she admitted, "also maybe something royal looking, like a tiara on my head. Do you really think you can help?"

[John Kilroy]

Gwenpool grinned. "I have a couple of ideas I can draw up though I will need some time to get it all down. I'm not omnipotent. Do you have a place you love to hang out? A favorite restaurant, a place in the mall. People still hang out in the mall right...PLEASE TELL ME I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE THAT STILL HANGS OUT AT THE MALL!!!"

Gwen couldn't help but be excited. There was no way she could properly express just how much she desperately wanted to see some new blood in the marvel universe. It had gotten tiring to see people fighting the same villains (and even heroes) for increasingly arbitrary and dumb reasons. The Civil war had frankly been the big straw for her.

"I'll get my drawing supplies and I'll draw out some ideas. We can discuss them or scrap them and do something else if you don't find them impressive. I can't wait!"

[heroesdreamer]

Juli laughed as Gwen rather frantically asked if people still liked hanging out at the mall, but answered "I do! I think it's dropped off a bit but I like it cause it's quiet and I can usually get food at the food court. Do you want to go now? Part of her was still surprised that someone wanted to help her, but then the Collector, at least at first, had wanted to help her.

She nodded as Gwen mentioned getting her art supplies, asking "Do we need to stop by your place then, on our way to the mall?" She was getting excited, Gwen's enthusiasm was catchy! She laughed again before saying "Whatever you want to do is fine, I'm just glad someone wants to help!" She was still concerned about the Collector, hopefully he wouldn't be upset about her joining forces with someone else, but on the other hand, who just up and ditches their associate like that? "Oh, do I need to grab something to make notes with myself?" she asked, thinking she could run into a Walgreens or something and get a notebook.

[John Kilroy]

"I'll have you covered. Just get a taxi and head over there. I'll meet you there." Gwen was most certainly excited but she also wanted to make sure to tread carefully, not because she was afraid of doing somthing criminal, but that she didn't want to help create something that would hurt people. For Gwen she was treating this and by extension Daydreamer herself as a Heel Wrestler, and with heel wrestlers sure when in front of cameras and the eyes of crowd of fans they'd act all diabolical do things to get the heat but at the end of the day everyone knew it was as much about fun escapism at the end of the day. But if daydreamer DID decide to go that extra step, to go into the catagory of the likes of Carnage or Ultron...

"Just promise me one thing. Don't take things too far...please. I know you want to be a supervillain for the attention and the cult following so please listen to me when I repeat to you there is a difference between the kind of supervillain you want to be, the kind that everyone loves to hate, and the monsters that kill and destroy like Ultron and Carnage. If you go down that kind of path, you're going to get attention but it's not the kind of attention you want, you'll be known and remembered but it certainly won't be in the way you want to e. Imagine being so feared and reviled that the moment they see you they won't want your autograph or talk about how beautiful you are, they'll mob you and attempt to pumble you to death with bricks and pipes and others things. They'll try to kill you partially out of vengeance, but also partially out of fear for thier own saftey. So please, please please please don't go down THAT path and if you DO decide to go down that path, if you start seriously hurting people with your antics then I WILL stop you. OK?...please? I don't mind helping to create a villain, but I don't want to create a monster."  

[heroesdreamer]

At first Juli was a bit disappointed that Gwen just said she'd meet her there, but then she stopped her and begged her to not become a real evil villain. Juli started to get mad, like that's what everyone wants, she wanted to be feared! But then she really listened to what Gwen was saying, and her mind flashed to the times she'd seen rubble and people screaming and fleeing in panic over some villain just wanting to destroy cities for destruction's sake, and she got it. As much as she wanted attention and as much as she wanted to be talked about in the news, she had to admit that she wanted to be popular, not feared.

Taking a deep breath, she said "I get it, for sure and while I can't promise that I won't ever be tempted to go down that path, for now I just want to have some attention. Heck, I think that's the worst part of my power, at least the dream walking part. No one knows and I can't really visit the same person more than once in their dreams." Especially the person I really want to torment she thought, an image of her father flashing into her mind. Shaking her head, she said "Anyway, if you're willing to help me, I will take your advice and do my best to just be a flashy villain, one who seeks the spotlight. Okay?"

[John Kilroy]

Gwen smiled at juli. It was a warm genuine smile. "Alright..." she then thought for a bit. "You know what? How about instead of splitting up and meeting up we take a taxi and go to the mall together? You know get to know each other better?"

Gwen let out a whistle waving down a taxi.

"Hey Taxi, Taxi!"

After a couple of tries, she finally managed to wave one down properly. Good lord it still amazed her just how rude some New Yorkers could be...and she lived here her whole life. The taxi driver rolled down his window and Gwen gave him as warm a smile as she could give even though the driver himself did not.

She told the driver the location of the mall, open the Taxi door and then looked back to Juli, "After you." She said. "So Juli tell me about yourself a bit. What is your story?"

[heroesdreamer]

Juli was relieved as Gwen said all right and then suggested they go together! "Yeah, that sounds great!" she stated, being excited about getting to team up with somebody. She watched Gwen flag down a taxi and tell the driver the address of the mall, then she slid in as Gwen invited her to. Then she couldn't help but blush as Gwen asked what her story was, but she decided to just jump into it.

"Well, I am the daughter of a scientist who did experiments on me to give me the powers that I have" she explained, giving a quick glance to the driver. "I was originally given powers to spy on the 'enemies of the United States', but quickly decided I didn't want to do that, so I ran away and started working at a pharmacy/store. I had a place I was living with some room mates until I met Dracula." She again gave a quick glance to the driver but he seemingly wasn't paying attention, so she quietly continued. "He financed a makeup store for me, and I was happy with that for a while, but I always wanted to be famous."

Shifting a bit, she then said "The Collector came and had me work with him for a while but then he vanished and I got bored with a normal life, so decided to officially become a villain, and the rest you know." Turning a bit more toward Gwen, she asked "So what about you? What's your story?"

[John Kilroy]

The taxi driver could hear but he honestly didn't care he was one of those background people who managed to witness crap go down every single time something happened in New York... and boy did New York seem to be a hotbed for the weird and the wacky. At this point, punk kids with superpowers were nearly a dime a dozen.

Gwen on the other hand couldn't help but wince as he heard Juli's origin story. "What is with parents in superheroes universes acting like Nazi scientist and trying to experiment on their children and yet they are afraid of mutants for some reason."

She bit her lip. "My origin is.... it's a bit complicated. I come from a universe that exists outside of the multiverse. In my universe this world exists as a thing of fiction in comic boot. It's a variant of the world where all other worlds come from. I'm a variant of the dead daughter of a police captain. Did you hear about the death of a girl named Gwen Stacy? Where things get complicated is that sense I exist outside of the multiverse and I have so much knowledge about the original, this world seems to see me as a placeholder for this world's Gwen Stacy but I'M NOT her. I don't know what you'd call me. I'm not a resurrection, I'm not a clone. I don't know what I am. I guess just to simpfy things I'm a girl from an alternate universe that has way more knowledge than I should have."

[heroesdreamer]

Juli laughed and exclaimed "Yeah!" when Gwen asked what was up with people hating mutants but allowing people to experiment on their own kids. "Speaking of, I had thought about showing up at the big school for mutants but decided against it cause by the time I knew about it, I was already out of high school, and I don't think they'd just take me as a teacher" she explained, listening as Gwen told her story.

"I honestly don't remember hearing about Gwen Stacy, but that sounds both cool and very difficult" she admitted, suddenly understanding as Gwen said the world they were in was seen as comics in her world. "So that's why you have so much knowledge about this world! Am I in these comics?" she asked, wondering what her story was supposed to be like, if Gwen could even say. Would this current action change her story, she kind of giggled at the thought of how the comics would explain the change.