Are You Free? (Angry Joe)

[Ma-Ti]

(April 23rd. Afternoon.)

Ma-Ti was nervous as he approached Angry Joe's door. He wanted to hang out with him. He hadn't spent much time with him since he returned to his human form. And now that he was no longer avoiding people he wanted to change that. He knocked on the door nervously.

"Joe? Are you free? It's Ma-Ti." said Ma-Ti.

He paused wondering if he wanted to hang out. What if he was busy or just saw him as an annoying kid? He had only hung out mostly with Spoony, Critic and Iheart since joining the war. When he wasn't off being captured, stuck as a horse, losing his memories or hiding from everyone.

"If you're busy I could come back later." said Ma-Ti.

Angry Joe

[Angry Joe]

Angry Joe, due to Ma-Ti's constant chaotic spell, did his best to be supportive from afar. But the guilt and anxiety got to him, so he took it out by going to training and abusing his powers. Of course he did it in the heat of the night so nobody could tell the difference. As long as Ma-Ti healed at his own pace, Joe was willing to put his pain down. Today Joe was focused on trying to at least do something else with his time, when a knock came at his door. Hearing it was Ma-Ti, Joe rushed to clean everything up in his room. Seeing it was filled with used weapons and violent other things. He successfully cleaned and was worried he was going to miss Ma-ti, hearing Ma-Ti offer to come back later. "No! Wait, I'm coming hold on!" He then rushed to the door.

He beamed brightly the moment he saw Ma-Ti. He, as time went on, saw Ma-Ti as a little brother. With pleasantness, he gave Ma-Ti a huge hug "I'm so glad to see you" He then punched the kid's arm softly "It's been a long while, my man. What you wanna do?" He then reserved himself a little, worried his excitement might scare ma-ti off. Unaware that the spell was broken, due to having to be occupied with meetings, he was worried he was going to scare his friend.

[Ma-Ti]

Ma-Ti smiled as Joe opened the door and gave him a hug. Ma-Ti returned it with a grin.

"And I'm so glad I can hug you again. I never got to say thank you for how you treated me as a horse. I'd almost forgotten what kindness felt like until you came. You and Spirit kept me sane when I was stuck as a horse." said Ma-Ti.

He paused for a moment and shrugged.

"I don't know. I just wanted to hang out with you." said Ma-Ti.

He paused deciding to just blurt it before he lost his nerve.

"You remind me a lot of my dad you know. I've always felt safe with you. It makes me miss him less when I'm with you. I still remember the day he and mom..."

He trailed off wiping fresh tears off his face.

"I guess most people probably never saw the show my life was based on. When I was four years old my parents were killed in our home. They were protesting the destruction of the forest and people didn't like it so they killed them. I only survived because I wasn't inside and the village shaman took me in. I barely remember my parents now just that they loved me. I just wanted you to know that." said Ma-Ti.

He paused and hugged Joe again a bit longer this time.

Angry Joe

[Angry Joe]

"You don't need to thank me. Horse or not, I look out for people" Joe replied honestly. Even if it wasn't ma-ti, Joe would've still treated the horse with respect. Joe had standards and a good morale point of view. He cared about his friends and animals that were in his care. He had a high respect for honoring others. Even if he tended to be quite violent with his passions. He then patted the boy's shoulder "Totally, man! I'm free all day! Let's hang out!"

He then sadly smiled as Ma-Ti confessed that Joe reminded him of his father. It was similar to how Joe felt about Ma-Ti. He felt like a older brother who needed to be there for him. He then listened to Ma-Ti's story and held him close afterwards. He replied "I know you had to go through a lot, but I have your back. I've always got your back. And your parents loved you and they're in your heart. They would be proud of you, I know that for sure"

[Ma-Ti]

Ma-Ti smiled.

"I know. You have a good heart." said Ma-Ti.

Ma-Ti's smile grew as he patted him on the shoulder and said he could hang out.

"Really? This is great!" said Ma-Ti.

He smiled as Joe comforted him.

"I know they loved me but I wonder if they'd be proud of me. I've let so much darkness, bitterness, and hatred into my heart. I can't even wear the Ring of Heart that I was chosen for. And Gi she's evil now and is in Facilier's army. She hates me. I let my parents, Gaia, and the Planeteers down. So many times they saved me and I wasn't there for them. Without my ring, they couldn't summon Captain Planet. They were defenseless. I don't even know if Kwame, Linka and Wheeler are even alive." said Ma-Ti.

He hadn't meant to vent but now he was in tears as he hugged Joe wanting someone to comfort him even for a moment.

Angry Joe

[Angry Joe]

Joe couldn't help but smile as Ma-ti told him he had a good heart. Joe certainly hoped so. He felt like he needed to be a good man. Plus he wanted to be a good man. Especially for his friends. He knew in the past he was here and there with violence but he always accepted people's requests for help. Which was why Linkara, Chick and Snob tended to count on him for advice or weaponry assistance. He then grinned as Ma-Ti got excited "What you feel like doing man? Normally I suggest video games but maybe we should blow off steam huh?"

"Ma-Ti, come on. Your parents would understand where you came from. I mean you been through a lot. You've been kidnapped. Tortured. Bad, bad shit. Give yourself a break. And don't worry about Gi, she was probably fed lies by that monster Facilier. We'll make him pay Ma-Ti. Nobody messes with my family and gets away with it" Joe assured, holding Ma-Ti tightly as the boy vented. Joe understood. Ma-Ti was so young. He was still a kid in many ways and had to handle a lot more crap than Joe did in his entire life.

[Ma-Ti]

Ma-Ti smiled weakly.

"Games sound pretty good." said Ma-Ti.

When Joe spoke again he held him tighter.

"I just want things to get better but they keep getting worse. I fear they might start targeting people close to me. Spoony, Critic, Iheart, Spirit and you are the closest I've been to here. I already feel bad about what happened to Goggles. I just don't want anyone else hurt because of me." said Ma-Ti.

[Angry Joe]

"Alright sick! I know a great game that takes out the anger out of me! Two words: Mortal Kombat. It'll be a great picker upper. I'll even let you win the first round" Joe chuckled, playfully ruffling the boy's head. He then held the boy close, understanding how the young man was dealing with it. It wasn't easy going through what ma-ti went through. He went through so much so soon. He had every right to be afraid. Facilier was a bastard and he was manipulative enough to do whatever it took to get under his enemies's skin. Even if it meant hurting those closest to them. Joe looked at ma-ti's eyes "Hey you listen to me. You got so much support. We won't that that punk ass hurt anybody else ever again. Nobody's gonna get hurt. We're more prepared than we've ever been. IHeart and Spoony got backup people, Critic is much stronger than ever. Spirit is hidden away where nobody can find him and I can kick all kinds of ass"

Joe pulled Ma-Ti close and replied firmly "You listen to me, buddy. Nobody is ever gonna leave this army again without my say-so. And if they do they'll come back safe and sound. You let me worry about people getting hurt. You just focus on getting yourself better. And if that punk ass decides to try to scare you you just give him the angry joe middle finger" He then shows a middle finger with Joe giving a close-mouth funny looking angry face, to try to make Ma-Ti at least laugh a little. To raise Ma-Ti's spirits. He then encouragingly replied "Facilier wants you to be afraid. That's the thing he wants. He's a pussy. That's what he really is. Don't let him scare you"

[Ma-Ti]

Ma-Ti chuckled.

"Mortal Kombat huh? Guess it couldn't hurt to try." said Ma-Ti.

He grinned as Joe spoke again.

"How did I get so lucky to have you in life? And so many other good friends." said Ma-Ti.

He laughed as Joe spoke showing his middle finger.

"You certainly have a way with words." said Ma-Ti.

He headed downstairs looking for the game.

"Is this it? There's two of them?" asked Ma-Ti.

Except he's not holding the games but the two mortal combat movies.

[Angry Joe]

(OCC: Hope this is ok, wanted it to be funny)

"That's the spirit, don't worry you'll love it, it's such a cleansing game" Joe replied taking ma-ti downstairs. He continued to chat with ma-ti as they did so, joe smiling softly as ma-ti expressed gratitude "We should've been good to you from the start. You're a good kid that's why. And we all love ya. I love ya, bud. Don't worry about those punks anymore" He then went to search for the games, feeling satisfaction for making ma-ti laugh. He turned to see what ma-ti was talking about and paled up at the sight of the films. He grabbed them and held them somewhere for critic to see and furiously wrote down on a note "BURN THESE!" before turning to ma-ti. He replied quickly "No, no no no no no no no! Those things are abominations. Here" He then showed off one of the more recent adaptations and the more violent version of the game.

[Ma-Ti]

Ma-Ti smiled.

"If you say so." said Ma-Ti.

When Joe said they should have been nice to him he shrugged.

"Well, most of you just mostly ignored me or just didn't notice me to be honest. But I don't know which was worse. Being treated badly or not even being noticed." said Ma-Ti.

He was surprised as Joe grabbed the movies and said to burn them.

"Abominations? They can't be that bad." said Ma-Ti.

He shrugged dismissing the things as Joe showed him one of the more recent games. He decided on Sub Zero as he looked cool and ice powers were kind of cool.

"This is kind of fun." said Ma-ti as he kept playing.

[Angry Joe]

Joe looked down a bit in shame as Ma-Ti confessed it was technically just ignoring him. And that the boy didn't know which one was worse. With sadness, Joe replied "They both suck. We all sucked. Listen that's not me anymore, I'm a bit more, um, restrained since I met you and I'm not gonna let you feel ignored anymore. I'm sorry about all that I promise I'm gonna change" He kept his own guilt in for so long but hearing ma-ti confront it kind of forced his hand. He then turned to ma-ti and held him close "Oh no ma-ti. You don't understand. These films are worse than you think they are. They're unholy traitors to the games. Speaking of which, we're playing em" He then played the games and was pleased that ma-ti picked sub zero, now he could pick scorpion. He nodded as he played as scorpion against sub zero "It is trust me. It gets better"

[Ma-Ti]

Ma-Ti nodded.

"I believe you. You were nice to me as a horse. The first to be really nice to me when I was stuck like that. If I' d been stuck like that would have been okay having someone as nice as you." said Ma-Ti.

He shrugged.

"Alright. We don't have to play them." said Ma-Ti.

He paused thinking one of them probably reviewed them. He could always watch the reviews to get general ideas of how bad these movies were. But for now, games sounded like fun.

"They look like ninjas but have different colors. Are they family or something?" asked Ma-Ti.

[Angry Joe]

"Hey I'm a sucker for animals. What can I say? Besides, it's important I am consistent in what I say" Joe replied. He then sighed relief as ma-ti was fine not watching the movies. He then blushed a bit as Ma-ti asked questions about the characters "Long story but many people think they're family but they're mostly sworn enemies it depends on the game" Joe then turned to ma-ti "Remember, hit is a, kick is b and they'll be some cool fatality if you get enough hits"

[Ma-Ti]

Ma-Ti chuckled.

"And I'm glad for that." said Ma-Ti.

Ma-Ti paused at his words and nodded.

"Why would rival enemies wear costumes so similar aside from the colors? Sub zero's blue, Scorpion's yellow, Reptile's green. Weird. But guess I can get used to it." said Ma-Ti.

He nodded.

"Alright. I'll do my best. Just don't go too bad on me at least until I get the hang of this. Be nice to win at least one of these." said Ma-Ti.