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John Rizzo Beach City's been pretty weird lately, probably all the more so with the frequent Multiversal activity. Certainly, the fight the other day probably ruffled some feathers, especially with the property damage. Below the street near the boardwark, the vampire John Rizzo has finally replenished his lost reserves, although the damage from the sun's rays will likely take much more time to heal. He sighs, discarding his gloves and ripping the gauze from his face with a wince--no need to bundle up in the moonlight, after all.

     It's time to head home, write a report, and hopefully put this all behind him. He finds a ladder, climbs up the rungs, and gently pushes on the manhole cover, the moonlight rushing in to illuminate him. Popping his head up, he takes a look around. Looks to be the same general area, but thankfully during the night. Without further ado the vampire pushes the lid the rest of the way open and subjects the world to his heavily burned face. "Ugh."
Steven Universe     And with perfect timing, Steven and Connie walk out of Funland Arcade. Steven turns to wave at Mr. Smiley, who waves back. "Two more hours tomorrow and I'll call it even, okay Steven? You're a good kid and you work hard. Also, the insurance came through on the games."

    "Sure thing, Mr. Smiley!" He turns back just in time to see the burned face of a man creeping out of the same manhole a guy dove into after spontanteously combusting... Perhaps the same guy?

    "Hey, Mister! Are you okay? I didn't know Jasper could light people on fire like that, but if you want I can probably help. That looks like it really hurts. I wanted to help earlier, but you disappeared..."

    Connie, for her part, looks horrified with her hands over her mouth.
John Rizzo Rizzo grunts, pulling himself the rest of the way out of the manhole and coming to a rest on his knees. Dragging the lid over, it falls into place with a heavy clang. "Jasper," he says. "That the orange mac truck that threw me into the hot dog stand?" He forces himself to his feet. "It wasn't her that lit me up. That was the sun." The vampire dusts off the seat of his pants, then wipes his hands.

     He furrows his brow, wincing with pain as the sensitive wounds all over his face scream their disapproval. He seems to be scrutinizing Connie and Steven both, making sure they're okay before going any further. The two of them are standing, which is good--Connie for her part certainly doesn't look like she was ever on the receiving end of Jasper's anger.

     Connie's face says everything he needs to know about the wound. "That bad, huh?"
Steven Universe     "Iiiit's... not that bad..." Steven is not a good liar, it is in fact that bad and worse. But he's already hurrying forward. "Yeah, Jasper's big, and powerful, and mean... That's about it, actually. But here, let me help. I have healing spit!" He frowns for a moment, thinking about how he just used that power a few hours ago to heal Connie after Jasper hit her. That had been taking things a step too far...

    Connie nods, still not taking her hands away from her mouth. "Yeah, it really works, even if it seems a little weird. I guess we do a lot of weird around here."

    Steven gives his hand a big, wet lick, and then offers a handshake, chuckling, "How do you do?"
John Rizzo "It's the usual for me, kid," replies Rizzo to Connie. "You can give it a whirl if you want, but I can't say how well it'd work. I kinda got a healing thing of my own, see." Healing spit, healing blood. What's the difference? Having just come from a sewer, he's also not terribly opposed to shaking Steven's hand. His handshake is firm, and brief. "The name's John Rizzo. I recognize you from the radio. When I heard the lady was making trouble I figured I'd come and talk her down. 'Course, then she had to hit your friend here." He nods to Connie.

     "Wish we'd met under better circumstances." With the handshake done, he wipes it on his trenchcoat, more to dry his hand off than anything. "What's your name, little lady?" he asks Connie.
Steven Universe     "I'm Connie Maheswaran. It's a pleasure to meet you. Formally, I mean." She manages to pull a hand away from her mouth to offer a handshake of her own. "You heal on your own? Do you have magical gem powers too then? Or are you from that multiverse crossover thing Steven was talking about?"

    Steven seems a little confused by the way his healing didn't work, but like the guy said it's probably because he has powers of his own... "Yeah, Jasper was even more of a jerk than usual." He seems a little angry, an expression that seems out-of-place on such a joyful sort of kid.
John Rizzo Rizzo shakes Connie's hand. "The other," he says. "I know from nothing about gems, except they hit like a ton of bricks. Me..." He runs a hand through his hair. "I'm just a vampire. Simple stuff," says the burned man matter-of-factly.

     Steven's remark prompts Rizzo to offer an opinion of his own. "Don't be too hard on her, Steven. When somebody's mean, it's for a reason. If you find out why, she might be your friend someday."
Steven Universe     Connie's eyes go starry. "You're a real vampire?! Omigosh, that's why you got burned! Does that mean that other lady was a witch? And those dolls her familiars or something? This is like right out of the Spirit Morph Saga!"

    Steven nods, "Yeah, Jasper's cranky, but I really think she's good inside. She just needs to let herself be good! But she shouldn't have hit Connie." He frowns again, but seems to let it go quickly enough. "Still, we got to fuse again, and fight, and that song was just so much fun!"
John Rizzo "You lost me," says Rizzo in response to Connie. Clearly not a fan of Spirit Morph Saga, this one! He clears his throat. "I don't know that lady from Eve," he admits. "I figured she was just trying to keep people safe, like you two."

     "Speaking of," he says. "I owe you kids an apology. I didn't think you two could stick up for yourselves. That, uh, fusion thing really rates." And, of course, if he'd given them the benefit of the doubt he might not have frenzied, and been able to muster up enough confidence to go into the sunlight and talk to Jasper instead of trying to let her have it... urg. "Why the singing, though?"
Steven Universe     "Well, I mean, if it had been any other kids... well, they probably wouldn't have attacked that maniac. But Steven has magical powers, and I'm getting good at using his mom's magical sword, and sometimes we just... it's hard to describe, but it's awesome!" Connie clarifies.

    Steven grins and nods along. "And music just... I dunno, I like it? I think it helps me fight sometimes, like the rhythm or something. But mostly, it's fun and my dad taught me how since I was really little. One time, I even made a band with 3 time clones of myself and it was really cool, until artistic differences broke up the band."
John Rizzo "I hear you," says the vampire in response to Steven. "I wanted to be in a band when I was your age. Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie. y'know, bebop. That was the style back then, but I didn't have the chops for it. Or maybe it was the patience." He smirks. Ouch. That kinda hurts.

     "Your parents okay with you two, y'know, squaring off with all the wrong numbers in town?" Rizzo has some... antiquated, and interesting slang, to complement his musical tastes.
Steven Universe     Connie looks abashed now, but firms her resolve. "My mom knows I'm training with the Crystal Gems, with Rose's Sword. She's seen the kinds of... things... that can happen. She's not happy about it, but as long as I don't hide things from her, she's letting me help Steven." She winces suddenly. "And now I'm going to have to tell her I got broken ribs. But I'm okay now, so maybe..."

    Steven looks at Connie, "It'll be okay. We can talk to her together if you want. And the Gems, well, fighting people like Jasper is kinda what we do. We protect people." He glances without realizing at Connie, who doesn't seem to notice the look.
John Rizzo "No," says Rizzo with what's likely to seem a... very familiar parental streak, to Connie. "You gotta spill. She'll be mad, but your mom'll understand. Besides, take it from a guy who knows? She'll be madder if you don't." He jerks a thumb towards Steven. "He's got the right idea."

     He looks between the two of them, as if he's seeing something he's seen before, but with his face burnt so badly his particular expression is hard to tell. All that's there is a strange glint in his stony grey eyes, that quickly goes away after he realizes he's staring. "So," he says, banishing whatever spectres were haunting him. "You two are Crystal Gems. Jasper, Peridot, those are gem names. But, uh... Connie? Steven? Are you two, like, honorary members?"
Steven Universe     "Oh, umm, yeah, my name's Steven Universe, and I'm... something different? My mom was-is a crystal gem, and my dad is human. So I have magical gem powers kinda like my mom's. I'm still learning a lot of them."

    "And I'm just a human." Connie says, but with some pride rather than the way someone else might say "just" as a weakness. "But that doesn't mean I'm not prepared to try. That's why I work so hard at sword training. And getting to be with Steven on all these magical adventures... Meeting Vampires, and Gems, and aliens... You can't get that from being safe all the time."
John Rizzo Was, huh? That explains it. Something happened, and the kid's trying to live up to his mother's legacy. "For what it's worth, I think you're doing great," he says to the kids. "Talking to somebody before you start swinging at 'em takes guts." This coming from the guy who went ballistic and threw a hot dog cart at someone. He sighs, remembering his frenzy.

     "That was my plan, before I, uh, lost it. I do that sometimes. Lose control when I'm scared, or angry, or, uh..." Ahem. "Hungry." He seems embarrassed about it. "Sorry if I scared you."
Steven Universe     "To be honest, neither of us really knew what to think of you, or the lady with the dolls. But when neither of you attacked us and Jasper did, well, we were glad you were there to help." Connie says, as Steven nods along.

    "Yeah, thanks, I forgot to say that after you caught fire." Steven mentions, a little embarrassed. Just then, Connie's cell phone beeps.

    "Oh no, it's getting late and I have to get home! I'm supposed to practice my violin tonight! It was nice meeting you, Mister Rizzo! See you later, Steven!" With that Connie turns to make her way to the bus stop. Steven waves until she's on the bus and he can't see her any more.

    "I guess I should go home too. It's been a long day with the fight and working at the Arcade, and I'm wiped."
John Rizzo "See you around," he says, waving to Connie. Steven also gets a farewell, in the form of a quarter. "Next game's on me, pal." He balances it on his thumb and flicks it towards Steven, then turns. He considers the manhole again, but... it stinks. And this is actually a pretty town at night. Rizzo flips up the collar of his trenchcoat, such that it covers the sides of his face. He then just... starts walking. Strange fellow, that one.