The Ever Lasting Chill (open)

[Johnny Storm]

Even dispite the pain in his arm Johnny continued to fight off the practice drones that he had set up for himself. He continued to blast them until they sparked up into flames and eventually fell off line. Once he repeated this, he continued to finish up what he was doing as he finally came to a stop. He found himself panting heavily from the continued training. Johnny had been doing it roughly every day now as he tried to keep himself together and have something to take his rage out on. But now it had started to take an affect on him as he stood up seeing that he needed a break. 'Will I always be like this? Always upset and alone? Never to have anyone........' He trailed off, as he sat down on one of the tiled walls as he put his head on his arms to try and get his breathing back to normal.

Finally after what seemed like an hour he got back up and felt his legs wobble but ignored it as he went. As he hat sat there he was thinking about his life. Most of it had been nothing but sadness, dread, and depression. "That's it, if no one wants me anymore, in this world I'll do what everyone knows about me." Johnny said as he was referring to his weakness he turned into his flaming form and headed out to where the closest water source and dropped himself down as he felt his feet falling and it continued to fall.

As he braced himself he felt himself drop into the water. The icy coldness was so unbearable, it reminded himself of the time that he had spent in the icey cage that had been specifically built for him. And with even a minute under the water as it collided with him, and the loss of air Johnny blacked out. But his last words were one step closer to what convinced him that death may be the only way out of this, 'To see my mom and my dad again, that would be nice..." Even unknown to Johnny that someone may have been watching him as he attempted himself. Or if some way of fate he still hung on.

[alizebethe Panera]

Alizebethe lifted her head from the water, currently in her dragon form to move more easily through the waters. Having managed to navigate her way through South America, despite the dangers she had faced, she had faced the issue of traveling to the North American continent due to the water wall. The only option had been to swim and she had done so, though it had been difficult since she could only hold her breathe for a few minutes at a time and spent most of her energy manipulating currents of water to drive her there faster so she was getting pretty tired.

But it was just now a few hundred feet that she could see land, sweet sweet land that she could finally take a break. Though as she was drawing closer to enemy lines she saw the glow of Johnny's plasma for in the sky, making her freeze up slightly since she half expected him to be patrolling and looking for foes in the water. Instead Johnny had just dropped himself in the water and after a few minutes of him not coming back up Alizebethe realized he might likely be drowning, unknowing that he was purposely trying to do so and steam had already cleared away by then. But she quickly swam closer to where the young man had disappeared before taking a deep breathe and diving down within the water, using her strong legs and lean form to move swiftly, using her tail to grab hold of Johnny before coming above water with a loud gasp of air.

But it took her a few strong strokes to finally reach land, lying Johnny down and seeing he was no longer in his plasma form to which she could perform CPR. Turning to her own human form after shaking dry she kneeled beside Johnny and leaned down, beginning to give him mouth-to-mouth to give him some air before using both hands to push on his chest and get his heart going, hoping that she wasn't too late for him to cough up the water. But to make sure he would be revived she did the same process a few times over until she heard that first cough, a sign that he was alive.

[Johnny Storm]

It wasn't long before Johnny started to come back. He coughed up a bit of water but his voice was hoarse so he wasn't sure if speaking was the best idea. He coughed again to try and clear his throught again but once he was able enough to open his eyes he noticed that someone was nearby. At first he thought it was someone like Jenna but shook his head. No it couldn't be her, he left her months ago and hadn't seen her since. So he was wrong on that one. He was also startled that someone had found him. A mixture of emotions, were in him right now like the unhappiness, the freezing water, and his exhaustion from earlier as he had been practicing his fighting skills.

He rubbed his eyes a bit as he tried to see who it was. As his vision cleared he realized it was a girl for sure. But still not sure on exactly who. "W-Who are you?" He asked hoarsely as he whiped the water from his mouth that he had coughed up. He also couldn't light up his body, since the water was so cold from earlier he felt stiff and freezing. His plasma form was put out from the water and the severe cold. He would have to find some way in order to keep warm and let his plasma form return. Though he felt that would certainly be awhile before he could gain the warmth that his plasma form always had.

[alizebethe Panera]

Seeing Johnny finally come around ALizebethe leaned back on her knees, letting him come around before she spoke. But from the looks of things he was having a hard time really doing much from exhaustion and severe cold from the water,"My name is Alizebethe and well I saw you fall in the water so kind of saved you,"She told Johnny while using her elemental manipulation to help dry him off, seeing as this was the main cause for him to be cold and shivering, it'd likely give him ammonia if he didn't warm up soon.

"And who might you be?"She asked before gently blowing a small flame near enough to begin warming him, hoping this would help and not accidently burn the mutate. Of course she wondered if it would, seeming as minutes before he had his whole body covered in flames before they were out from the ocean water. None the less she continued to use the flame, manipulating them to move around other places to warm Johnny up a bit more.

[Johnny Storm]

"My name is Johnny Storm." He managed to say with his hoarse voice. And not at all minding the fire that was near him. He was use to it at this point, as many would flinch seeing how close it was. Being that he was used to being under extreme heat, and according to his powers anything underneath his heat source that he gave out was not that affective when it came to burning him. "I am also called the Human Torch and known by that by many." He added to her as he finally looked up.

"But as for falling in the water I meant it, drowning seemed like an option for me as I am not happy with my life." He said with a sigh wondering if Alizebethe would understand what he meant. If not he wasn't really in the mood to talk about it. And for saving him, what else could he do now? Be miserable under Apocalypse's rule? And when was the last time the hunk of metal armor sent him an opportunity to go out and do something. It seemed like never at this point.

[alizebethe Panera]

"That explains why you were on fire then earlier and why this isn't making you flinch away, but certainly helps to warm you up faster."Alizebethe said finally letting the fire vanish, a small bit of smoke lingering for a moment before vanishing as well. Though she was tempted to ask what was causing Johnny to feel so depressed or even attempt to end his life like this he didn't seem up for talking. At the same time she wasn't quite sure what to say about the situation since she wasn't the best to give advice.

But she finally attempted to say something,"Look Johnny, whatever may be causing this it isn't worth it to just throw your life away. There is always something that can change it for the better, even if it doesn't reveal itself right away."Alizebethe said while standing and offering a hand to the mutate to help him to his feet again.

[Johnny Storm]

"Maybe, I'm not sure at this point." Johnny said with a sigh as he took Alizebethe's hand. He wasn't sure how to explain her the situation that he was in. Like being trapped under Apocalypse's hold and not even getting a chance to say yes or no. It was a matter of life and death and it costed him his family and Jenna But the two have since drifted apart since then, and it was odd by now as a few months have passed as he hadn't gotten over it. Well they had only been boyfriend and girlfriend for a week. So how hard had it been? He had other relationships that were longer. But he sighed sucking in some warm air that wasn't as bad as the cold water from the ocean.

"I guess I could just say I feel like half my life was ripped away from me. Apocalypse made it so I can't see my family and if I do try it, I'm sure they won't give me a warm welcome." He said starting to feel his legs shaking again. "I-I have to sit down, I'm sorry." He said as he let his body drop to the ground but his hands were there to catch his weight. Like he hadn't fully recovered from the chilly water.

[alizebethe Panera]

Wait had he just said Apocalypse was responsible for this? Alizebethe was now on alert and caution, realizing she had met someone who could very well turn her in if Johnny knew who she really was. Though due to her job for the Human High Council she would have to take the risk, even at the cost of her life. But the hybrid couldn't help feeling sorry for Johnny when he had to sit back down, seeing that he was still recovering from the drop in the water which was no surprise to her.

"I'm sorry things have been so difficult for you Johnny and I wish there was a way to help with that, I really do. But all I can say is keep trying to find something that will change that for you."Alizebethe said to him, kneeling beside the former hero and resting a hand on his shoulder to offer comfort but she didn't think it would help much.

[Johnny Storm]

"Maybe." Johnny said knowing that all enemies that he had once thought were friends could now be enemies towards him. But for some reason he did like the idea that Alizeabeth had been trying to help her. He wished maybe one day she could come back and visit him-and he could and would have to sneak away from Apocalypse's watch but he knew it would work. He had done it several times in the past and it would happen again.

"But I am glad I had someone to talk to...do you think we could talk again? I understand if you can't, Apocalypse prevents me from doing a lot of things." Johnny said as he felt himself reaching out to touch Alizeabeth's hands and held onto it gently. He let his hand warm up a bit wondering if Alizeabeth would even feel it since she too seemed to have some fire powers of her own. Plus it helped him keep himself warm if he felt the cold breeze of the ocean come through.

[alizebethe Panera]

Alizebethe smiled at seeing Johnny was beginning to recover more then earlier, but at the same time she truly hoped the mutate wouldn't give up so easily. She herself had faced the dilemma of not knowing what to do after she had lost her family a few years ago. Thus how she managed to eventually find her way to Europe to start a new life and wound up being a agent for the Human High Council. It was a risky move on her part but it had worked to her benefit of not losing her life and giving up hope as Johnny was now.

Gently taking his hands in her own, using her fire abilities to warm up her body to help the man in front of her to do the same she smiled."Well I don't see why not Johnny though I will abbey around for a while if you want to travel with me to clear your thoughts. But it is merely an offer."Alizebethe said, secretly wishing he would agree but she didn't know why part of him wanted to stay and another part told her it would be dangerous. Though problem was Johnny was the only way she might get in close to Apocalypse and his army;her mission was to get into the eternal mutant's operations and she might have found that way.

[Johnny Storm]

Johnny seemed unsure at first as he looked back at Alizeabeth still unsure of what to do. A part of him wanted to race back into the water and make sure that his life did end here and now. But the other part wanted to at least befriend one more person, he honestly didn't care what happened to Apocalypse at this point. He was tired of being one of his 'pets' and when he wasn't around there was nothing to do.

That wasn't like it back at home were his family did care for him and something interesting was always going on whether it meant beating his family at video games or even working on his cars, now he wasn't even allowed back into the maintence area of the buildings just to find something to work on. "Between you and me I don't really care about Apocalypse anymore. No matter how hard I am bound to him I'm always more loyal to my family. But that bind I know is tight since he expects me to do his every move and I know what he had said earlier about me trying to resist..." Johnny said as he shuttered at the thought. The icy chamber brought nothing good to his thoughts as he remembered trying to warm up his body but it only brought the thousand like knives back to his body where he had nearly passed out.

As the thoughts of the icy chilling tank that he was forced to be in disappeared he felt Alizeabeth's warming touch. It felt like his own in fact when he was in his plasma form. "Okay...do you think you can be around tomorrow or even the day after that? As in three days from now? But really any time in my book works well, since he hasn't gotten me to do anything. And it's so boring there." Johnny said almost sounding like he was complaining.

[alizebethe Panera]

Alizebethe looked towards Johnny when he was saying this, wondering if maybe she could turn Johnny back to the 'good' side of this war. If he could maybe she could even make him a temporary helper for her and the Human High Council, get him away from the influence of Apocalypse so he could live his own life again. It was worth a shot and better then him trying to commit suicide again. "Alright I shall work to try a be here Johnny. It won't be an easy task but I think meeting back here should work."

Though she didn't seem to mind his complaining attitude. Having been around enough of her own teammates back in Europe who complained about everything it really didn't faze her anymore so she merely shrugged it odd. "Remember just endure this a little longer Johnny, have some hope that you will have a friend here for some time. You may have to kind of show me the ropes and how things work but I catch on pretty quickly."Alizebethe assured him, giving him a slight smile as she stood. Though now she knew she would have to be going before someone arrived and questioned them.

[Johnny Storm]

"I'll try to explain everything, but it may take a while, I barely know the ropes myself. Being an 'undering' I'm not even permitted into half the buildings that Apocalypse has." Johnny said with a soft sigh, as he rubbed the back of his head finding a bit of an awkward moment as he tried to think of something to say. He knew Alizeabeth probably had to leave soon and he did as well before he was going to be noticed by another member of the army after noticing his firey form fly by. Maybe no one noticed? He certainly hoped that was the answer.

"But I'll keep my promise on coming back." Johnny said. "I guess though we better get going on our own separate paths." He added as his body burst into flame again in order to use his powers. After the warmth returned to his body, so did the fire return to it as well. It at least made him feel better at one thing. But over all, he was still pretty down about what had happened.