MrKrazy

Jake frowned. So he hadn't been fighting the real opponent after all. Glancing around and assuming that the summoner had to be extremely close to have said something after the phantasm was downed, he switched his goggles to thermal vision, as well as the light sensors of his bots, and began to immediately glance around the room, and, when that failed, outside in the hall.

Just to be sure, though, the young mastermind pulled a standard issue Arachnos Web Grenade from his coat pocket, throwing it carelessly back into the room prior. Keeping his minions at the ready, he prepared for the worst should the enemy find it it's been discovered.

Better safe than sorry, I guess. Never can tell if these guys have a duel mutation.

W0-07's sensors weren't fooled, and, as a result, simply kept blasting large quantities of plasma at Odette, ominously stepping forward as it did.

Good luck getting through my personal army, 'witch'. Jake thought, smirking. As W0-07 stepped forward, L3-37 came into view through the door, as well, crowded from behind by U13-3R, 1-14X, and the rest of Jake's poorly named entourage, all waiting at the ready for a strategic time to unleash a maelstrom of plasma on the sorely outnumbered illusionist.

((I'd say .45, and apologies in advance, but my gun knowledge isn't as extensive as yours, Sov, I can tell you right now.))

Gunner, having just pulled himself out of the prison, hastily created a rather large impervium shield, ducking down and putting it up, thereby defending himself from the rounds. He guessed that Famine would take the momentary halt in bullets to charge forward, and, whether he was right or not, planned accordingly. Without thinking, Gunner replaced the handgun with an active grenade, tossing it over the shield without much thought. And again. And again. The man was a walking arsenal, ammunition, or the lack thereof, was not an issue.

-----

Jake, not quite expecting the sudden attack, barely had enough time to jump to his right, narrowly avoiding a signifigant hit and only suffering some singed flesh on his leg. He rolled, his minimal combat training informing him that it would lessen the damage, however, he questioned its effectiveness when his head slammed into a wall. Rubbing his bruised pride, he fired off a rebuttal.

"OK, fine, we could've done this peacefully..." He muttered, throwing his devices to the wall right next to the door, thereby defending it from the immediate threat.

"But if you wanna be a [censored] [If you want a hint, it rhymes with witch and is much meaner.], about it, we can end it the fun way, too."

Before Odette could even think about charging in to get within blasting range, a large, slightly modified, Assault Bot appeared in the door-way, both arm-like appendages outstretched and firing plasma.

"Snarky comment: File Directory, Pop Culture Quote: But how do we know she's a witch?"

"[censored], W0-07. Not witch."

Jake blinked, although the gesture of surprised was concealed by his eye-wear. What just happened, where was the door, and who was this woman? Feeling that he'd been lured into something, he answered, not appreciating the, in his eyes, unnecessary rage of the woman.

"Firstly, I didn't steal anythng. Yet. That all depends on if I find what I'm looking for and if it's worth the effort. Secondly, the element of surprise is generally a good thing, so telling your opponent that you're going to kill them when you could've feigned benevolence is a pretty stupid move."

At this moment, he pulled out all six of his disks, keeping them at his side and ready for action. Whether or not this lady in particular was powerful didn't matter...

Well, I suppose it does matter, actually... He thought, reassessing the situation.

Even if she's not a threat in and of herself, somebody screwed with the corridor. Somebody who's either able to screw with reality or create illusions, neither of which are too appealing to me.

However, despite the battle-ready thinking already going on in his head, his face was calm, and even what one could call at-ease... Or perhaps cocky? Either way, Odette was sure to not appreciate his demeanor.

Jake looked around with some confusion, repeatedly switching between thermal, night, and normal vision modes. Nothing but a few exposed wires and darkness. Needless to say, he was puzzled.

"A porter, maybe?" Stroking his chin in the most cliché'd way possible, Jake contemplated ways that the footsteps could've escaped.

"No, no, traces of energy in the air would leave some sort of heat. Invisibility? But the thermal vision showed... Well, he doesn't have to be warm blooded, does he...? But still, it would create some distortion..."

To put it bluntly, he was befuddled. One thing was certain, something did happen here. The exposed wires and missing door were obvious indicators of that.

I'm wasting my time here. He turned around, and with that same collected stide, stepped out and back into the hallway outside...

"Waitaminnit... Where am I?" In his determination to follow the steps, Jake had actually forgotten to keep track of his footsteps, effectively stranding him in the underbelly of the ship.

"Well, dammit." Cursing, he stomped away, creating more of a ruckus with his feet than he probably should have been.

((I'ma give Sovs a chance to post before continuing.))

((I'ma go with Police are Useless. Except that I have a Justified Trope up my sleeve. Jake, being a known Arachnos operative, simply had a fake ID. His face isn't well known, since many costumed villains are much more entertaining targets for the media, so a basic change in name would pretty much clear him. As for his devices, well, alone they're all pretty harmless, so, if some five-year-old can bring a DS, I'd wager Jake could bring his seemingly harmless crap on board.

As for Gunner, he's in the underworld, and, ergo, not well known. That, coupled with the fact that he materializes his weapons and doesn't technically have them on his person, clears him to go, as well.

So, that's my excuse, anyway.))

((Meh, I say we just chalk it up to experience. Communication is good, assuming is bad. We'll just roll with what we have and try to avoid stepping on people's toes int he future.))

Obviously, the weapon-mad, brawl-yearning, sharp-shooting madman didn't realize exactly what had grabbed him at that moment, and, ergo, took it to signal the start of a fight. Materializing a guns in his left hand, he aimed it at the head of the one he assumed most likely to be responsible, that is, Grey Masque, (He had seen the weapons and obviously not arcane equipment of Famine, and the process of elimination does wonders.) and fired. Repeatedly. Without stopping. The man didn't even need to reload.

All the while, despite it possibly skewering his aim, and ergo possibly skewering his effectiveness, he had materialized yet another sword, only this time it was much thicker, and definately had more weight to it. Without hesitation or taking his eyes off of his target, he jammed the sword into the floor, pulling himself in an effort to release him from the slowing prison, all the while finding time to pop out a clever one liner.

"Ya know, it's polite to wait for the bell."

((Not to fuel an argument, but I reread it as per your request, and what I gathered from your wording was that you were pretty much giving us no choice in the matter and taking it as a given that our characters would succumb to the technique, which many people dislike. If it had been more along the lines of 'She threw her hand up, a glyph appearing in the air, and summoned a portal beneath the feet of Silk and Gunner. The portal wouldn't wait, and would attempt* to swallow them up whole, transporting them right in front of her.'

Personally, I think that would've been much better, as it doesn't assume that the character would go through.

Of course, again, that's what I got from rereading it a few times. I've been known to be thick, so correct me if Im missing something vital. >.>

*Bolded and italicized to emphasize the key-word.))

((Chances to respond to any given situation without assumptions as to the outcome are good, ayup yup.

Alternatively, confused poster is confused.))

((Edit- Also, blargh, I keep forgetting Jake.))

Taking note of the obvious signs of heat application, Jake cautiously entered the chamber, glancing around with his thermal vision and seeking any sign of life.

((Oh, same difference, Bwerp.))

Gunner stepped in much more calmly than one may have supposed he would, his mind already satisfied that it would be getting a fight. Stopping the rotation of his pistol, he held it with both hands and shot at each of the four corners of the top barrier, hitting each one straight in its welding. He grinned, and soon dissolved the gun and materialized what seemed to be a katana, which he used to deliver a two-handed slash to a random barrel, slicing the thing in two equal halves. The man knew how to utilize weaponry.

"My partner and I are ready whenever you gentlemen are." He stated, smiling a smile that could be discerned as either cocky or demented, depending on the viewer's perspective.

-----

Jake wasn't deaf to the sound of fleeing steps, and, rather than adopting a gung-ho approach to things, decided to simply follow at the same slow pace, hoping the catch who or whatever it was in a sense of security, with varying levels of truth to it depending on the target.

A clank was heard. Then another. And yet another. The sound of metal on metal resonated throughout the cool hall-way as Jake descended down a flight of stairs, looking around his surroundings with a sense of boredom accented with a twinge of annoyance. He already has his blast goggles on, thermal vision included. Against the cold metal, any living thing would stand out.

The sound of metal on metal was being caused by his new footwear, which one could describe as a casual version of the Jet Boots every technological meta seemed to be using. They provided much more comfort than their counter-parts, for which the young teen was grateful. His casual T-Shirt was still there, as were his jeans, but each now had a leather jacket covering it, the top half covering his torso and the coat-tail, his legs.

He stepped down onto the floor, instinctively reaching a hand in his pocket and feeling for his teleportation disks. He'd find the box and eliminate any threat in his way, no question.

At that moment, Gunner suddenly appeared on scene, overhearing talk of an arena fight. "Well, if Joe Normal here isn't up for a brawl, I'm certainly game."

Already he was twirling a pistol in anticipation, the trigger skillfully going around his finger without discharging a single round.

"And if it's a two on two, I suppose the beautiful lady won't have any qualms taking me."

For Famine, Silk, Harry, and Gray Masque, Gunner certainly must've looked sorely misplaced here. He wore plain khaki shorts and a white T-shirt, with a pair of flip-flops completing the tourist ensemble. His hair was long and untidy, and almost everything about him gave off the vibe of an obnoxious tourist. However, his eyes gave away his entire demeanor. He had, since entering the casino, shed his sunglasses, revaling cold, hard eyes that showed years of death. The man was a killer, anyone in this business could see that.

"So, are we ready, then?"

"Well, firstly, I'm not a Widow. I could loosely be described as a TacOps, I guess, but regardless, I assumed L3-37 would be able to easily get into range and encase it in a detention field. I've already apologized for trying to do something nice. I'll warn you if a stroke of benevolence decides to cloud my senses again."

The sarcasm in the latter part of his statement was apparent, and he begrudgingly forced the cat into her arms. "Screw it, you probably wouldn't make a competent ally anyway." He crammed his hands into his pockets and began to walk away, but not before encasing the small blaring bell in yet another field, silencing it.

"Noisy [censored]..."

Jake quickly put another disk-shaped object onto the mechanoid, causing it to dissapear in yet another flash of light before any damage that he would have to fix was inflicted. "Relax. The whole point of this was to catch the cat that was running away from you. Figured I'd try to do something nice, although I see that's something I should try to avoid from now on..." He stated, looking up at one of the still blaring fire alarms.

"But fine, here's the cat." He said half-heartedly, cancelling the detention field and picking up the cat from under its front legs, holding it out to Shioh.

"Sorry for trying to do something for my ditzy ally..." He muttered under his breath.

As Jake rounded the corner, he could only stare and blink at the scene unfolding before him. Clearly things hadn't gone the way he'd planned.

"... Huh..." He managed to say, though if anyone else could hear him over the fire alarm, it would be a super power in its own right.

Looking down at the cat who had managed to escape behind Shioh's leg, he nonchalantly encased it in an energy field whilst the both of them were preoccupied with his robot.

"Surprise?" Jake said, walking to Shioh's side. "Looks like my good intentions didn't end up doing so much good.. Sorry 'bout that."

"But, hey, I managed to catch the cat for you, anyway." He said on a more chipper note, looking at the cat floating in a bubble.

((If the cat managed to avoid the bubble by some mystical means, tell me and I'll edit the post.))

What Shioh needed to keep in mind that the robot was going at a quick enough pace to keep a mostly non-aerodynamic and very heavy metal object in mid-air. To assume that this girl was able to not only jump to the robot all the way from the corner, let alone actually land a hit on it, was nothing short of ludicris. She could have all the power she wanted, but it wouldn't help her if she couldn't touch her target.

Regardless, L3-37's effective, if not questionable, strategy worked, spinning around and firing off a Detention Field at the cat long before it had an oppurtunity to run all the way down the hallway.

((I also feel the need to state that this is possibly the most ridiculous IC position Jake's ever been in. Thank you. >.&gt)

Thankfully, Jake was not oblivious to the danger of electrical metas, so his 'bots were well insulated in regards to electricity. L3-37 suffered little if any damage from the shock, and quickly flipped over and lowered itself to the ground, attempting to scrape the feline off of its back, all the while still rocketing along.

-----

Jake, on the other hand, continued to nonchalantly stroll down the hallway, humming the tune to 'Still Alive' and checking his watch as he did so. He seemed very confident in the abilities of his mechanoid, and, considering he assumed his opponent to be a normal house-cat, who could honestly blame him?

Jake stopped and looked in confusion as a cat, of all things, suddenly came running down the hall and through his legs, bolting around a corner not a second afterwards.

"... The Hell...?" He inquired, obviously not expecting an answer. Miranda, while temporarily in his area of interest, quickly dropped down the list as he turned around and saw the same young girl as before bolting after him.

Well, actually, probably the cat... He noted with a twinge of dissapointment. Regardless, he hopped out of the way in order to avoid being toppled over, shrugging and pulling a disk shaped object out of his pocket. Throwing it on the ground, it brilliantly shined for a few seconds before reveaing what looked to be a slightly modified Protector Drone in its place.

"Find a white cat." He ordered, pointing in the direction it had gone. "Once located, encase it in a detention field until my arrival."

The robot beeped in response, and literally rocketed down the hall, its feet spewing a large blue flame. Jake cringed.

Oops. Forgot to take that off the default travel method. Hope the fire alarms don't go off... Again...

Shrugging yet again, he continued on down the hallway at his own leisurely pace.

-----

The Protector Bot, or, as Jake code-named it, L3-37, quickly surpassed Shioh, almost immediately getting within detention field range of the cat. Following its orders, it attempted to encase the feline in his(Her? Jake couldn't care less, but grammar was a sign of intelligence, in his eyes, anyway.) spherical prison until its master arrived. If the encasement failed, however, it would simply continue to fly alongside it, bubbling it until it was captured.

-----

((Dunno if I missed any posts, but so far, I don't think anyone else is in the arena besides Gunner. Please correct me if this isn't true, but if it is, just imagine he's waiting, leaning against a terminal.))

He laughed and left before the performance even started. He was psychologically starved for a good brawl. His psyche screamed for the satisfaction of a fight, and how could he refuse a plea like that? Gunner walked in the direction indicated, never once looking back.

Oh, dear God. I don't even want to imagine the time I'll waste on this. I'll post in a couple of days, after I find all the tropes and catch up on lost sleep.

"But...!" Jake shouted back, throwing up a hand in the direction of the fleeing Widow. "I... Dammit..." He sighed, kicking the ground as he turned back around. "Figures. I get the good luck to find another operative on board and it turns out that she's an uncooperative ditzy moron." The insults may or may not have been true, but, frankly, Jake didn't care, so long as it helped his currently upset attitude. "I swear, the girl knows that if I'm here it's obviously important, but she still blows me off for a freaking luau? Stupid stupid idiot..."

He continued to grumble to himself as he walk down the wall, kicking at the carpet all the way.

-----

"An arena, huh?" Gunner finally said, grinning. "Relaxation's fine and all, but, really, you can't beat a good match. Whenever you're ready, I'm ready." He said to Odette, not really paying much mind to the men in suits, or anything else, for that matter. He was like a kid waiting for Christmas, sans the trees. And presents. And joy. However, to replace it all, there was a rather large amount of violence.

Jake grimaced, obviously not liking the idea of forgoing some back-up. Judging that the girl was ignorant and probably fairly naive and gullible as well, he opted to play a simple word game with her.

"Oh, but it does. How can you relax when a box that could potentially threaten the lives of everyone on the ship is on board? Including yours? It's impossible. Nobody could be calm under that sit-" He was cut-off by the fire alarm, his eyes shooting up the ceiling, specifically the red bell that was producing the blaring sound.

Looking at Shioh, he gave an "I told you so." look and another beckoning gesture to her, already beginning to walk again.

"A Widow?" He muttered to himself, a hand going up to his chin. "And you're on... Vacation... As part of your training? Who the Hell authorized that? I haven't had time off since I joined Arachnos." He suddenly seemed to go from cold to half curious, half confused. "So, you're not here on some undercover covert mission hiding behind my own objectives, then?"

Not waiting for an answer, he continued. "Well then, good. Maybe you can help me then. You see, intel told me about this box..."

((For the record, he explained that the box had seemed suspicious in that, not only was it on a luxury cruise ship, but was also armored. Fortunatas also detected strange happenings in the future involving it. For this reason they sent the first available operative they had, Jake, to investigate. After explaining his objective here, find out what's in the box and, if thought to be a threat, either destroy it or confiscate it, he asks...))

"... So, if you weren't ordered here, this is incredible luck for me. C'mon, while everyone's at the luau, we can scout out the cargo area." He began walking down the hallway, looking over his shoulder after a few steps to make sure she was following.

"Coming?"

((>.> I did, actually, but nevermind.))

"You wish. Now answer the question. Who are you, why are you here, did Arachnos send you, and what branch are you from?"

If she couldn't tell before, she could tell now. This guy meant business, and he really wantd some answers.