((RP thread for some folks interacting on Formspring...))
Paul watched the video feed as Widow Girl stepped cautiously into the warehouse. Stealthily slinking across the top of some crates she got herself into a vantage point and surveyed the room. There was no sign of Paul Ooshun, just endless uniform packing crates, some dust and cobwebs. No notion of who stored all this stuff in Paragon Citys palatial warehouses. She sniffed the air and caught a scent of crude oil and a lingering greasy stench. Paul had probably been here a few hours ago. No obvious signs of an ambush, but similarly nothing to make her let her guard down either. Hed said he would leave a trail
A glint of light caught her attention. Carefully laid on one of the boxes was a Crab Spider helm. A dim red glow shuddered down the sensors, the last ebb of power from its internal systems. Since Paul has promised to help her hunt down the Arachnos agents who had been involved in the attack on Kyle, this seemed like an appropriate clue.
She dropped down onto the floor and walked over to it. The scuttling noise of a rat made her whip round to look, but she soon relaxed. She took a look at the helmet, first from one side, then crouched down looking at it from the other. No tripwires, hidden bombs or anything that would give her cause for concern. Of course, in her line of work, it paid to be wary. Dumb mercenaries didnt last long.
She picked up the helmet and felt its weight, before turning it over to look inside, in case hed hidden something there. He had. It was a movement sensor.
The movement tripped the nearby delta-pulse EMP bombs hidden in the crates sending a juddering blast of electric energy that Kelly felt more than saw. Her mind went haywire as the specially designed weapons caused havoc with the bits of her brain that Ares had reconstructed with nanocomputing technology. She felt her legs buckle just as the floor shimmered and a portal opened under her.
Bingo! cried Paul with delight, firing up the makeshift portal gate. In his hideout hundreds of miles away, the jury-rigged portal corp scraps thrummed into life and connected the floor of the warehouse with the ceiling of his cave. Widow Girl fell through an instant before the battered technology sputtered and fused, causing the gate to wink out of existence.
With surprising speed and agility for a corpulent blob of goo, Paul Ooshun leapt across to his victim and smashed his huge fist into her face before she could get her bearings. Come into my parlour said the
no wait he paused before hitting her again Thats your line, aint it? Ah well, thanks for trustin' me!
The sludge monster opened his mouth wide and belched a noxious gas straight into Kellys face. Her skin burned and she felt her lungs tighten as she fought for breath. Whaddya think? Terrance Dobbs own special recipe for Arachnoid gas. Hurts, dont it? He belched another cloud of the stuff over her, and she thrashed and then lay still as the fumes overcame her.
Paul turned and looked at his accomplice in the corner. Treat em mean, keep em keen, right Doc? She ought to be out for a few hours. Nothing personal with her, but shes got poor taste in men. Meanwhile Im hoping youre all finished up with our patient? If so, Ill give little Kyle a call and we can get this show on the road!
***
A knock at the door startled Kyle slightly out of his thoughts. He limped over, still nursing the injuries hed recently gotten at the hands
and legs
of Lord Recluse. With a quick check to make sure it wasnt a very polite Longbow assault squad come to call on him, he opened the door and looked around. There was nothing unusual, but a copy of the morning paper.
As he picked it up he noticed the gooey residue that it left behind, sticking to one corner of the paper. He held it a little at arms length, and satisfied that he couldnt see anyone who might have left it, brought it inside and shut the door. The paper was already folded open at page five, and an article circled in red. It mentioned a breakout of some convicts en route between the Zig and a court appearance. One name stood out without needing to be highlighted: Wilson Baratta.
Kyles eyes darted to a piece of paper sticking out of the paper. His heartbeat quickened slightly. He took it out and unfolded it. It was a crude sketch of a woman with four extra limbs, lying in what he assumed was meant to be a pool of blood, nude and posed in an unflattering way. To the side was scribbled in child-like handwriting:
Hi BuDDy,
gueSs Who dropped in on me today? She was even nice enough to pose for a sketch I made of her. We had so much fun I thought we should get another buddy of yours along too, so I broke Wilson outta jail. Hes with her now and theyre both waiting for you. He was a bit beat up from jail, so my doc friend fixed him up with a Dyne pump in his chest. But between you and me, its made him kinda crazy. Dont be mad at me! So anyway I left them alone, but you should probably drop in and see how theyre doing. Two of your lovers in the same room - could be trouble eh?
Your pal
Paul Ooshun xx
PS I forgot to say Wilsons op didnt go so well. Hes overdosed on Dyne and has to burn it off a little, so if you knock him out the stress will make his heart burst. Aint that a pip? Hope that doesnt clash with your no-killing rule.
