Failing to locate any sort of identification on either the box or the letter that accompanied it, Balsk figured it would be in everyone's best interests if he removed these potentially dangerous items and dispose of them.
The chocolate smelled real good, too.
Pushing open the front door with his hip, Balsk stuck the box of chocolates under one arm and proceeded to slice open the letter with one talon. He glanced up at Lieutenant Bear, nodded once, and started walking down the street, preparing to take out the letter and read it.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
Kipland Durj stared out over Skyway City from the top of the concrete spire that marked one of the mystic nodes in the city. His day had been... odd... and he'd finally figured out why.
"Cupid put a hit out on me," he muttered.
First, there was the team that practically fell apart when all of the female members suddenly started swooning at him. At the time, none of them had any idea what was going on, and the girls were starting to argue with each other. Kip was worried that the conflict would cause some villains to get the drop on them, especially when the healer decided to stop healing the tanker because she'd had the guts to ask Kip to a dance at Pocket D...
Later, he was strolling through Atlas Park, and a couple female heroes started trailing him. Every time he turned around, there they were, and giggling.
"I chose a helluva time to start being polite," he grumbled.
Then there was when he went to Pocket D to make good on his promise. He rolled his eyes at the memory.
"It was like a damn Hatchet commercial."
Sighing, he emptied his mind and tried to find a part of his soul that was largely disused since coming to Paragon. He hoped it would work... Then, there was a twitch in the air in front of him. He shot hsi hand out like a blur and caught a hold around the throat of the Cherub.
"Tryin' to get a point-blank shot, huh!?" he hissed at the angry little celestial
"Gachk! Clathk!"
"Alright, sit down!" Kip set the little angel-like critter next to him on the top of the spire and was half-surprised the little guy stuck around.
"Ugh..." he finally said after a few seconds of coughing, "Cripes... What gave me away?"
"Nothing on your end," Kip replied darkly, "There's hsitory to me unlike anything anyone's likely to believe. Not that they're supposed to... I just tapped into something primal I haven't used in a very long time."
"Oh... Kay..." the cherub rolled its eyes and gazed about for a few seconds.
"So, what's your name?" Kip asked after a minute.
"Steve," the cherub replied.
"What the Hell kind of name is..." Kip glared at Eros's assistant for a second, then turned back to his glowering at the War Walls to the south.
Steve was content to give him a minute to continue moping, but he had a schedule to keep. When he reached into his quiver to simply stab the young scrapper with an arrow, he was stopped by Kip's deft swat.
"You guys don't quit, do you?"
"Look, kid," Steve put the arrow back, "Why don't you tell me what the Hell is wrong with you? People, Mortals especially, aren't supposed to be able to resist the direct will of a God. That is, unless of course, there's some loophole being exploited... So what's yours?"
"You really want to know?" Kip's eyes got a faraway look as he started dredging up long ignored memories, "It's not pleasant."
"I need to know," Steve shifted uncomfortably, "Hey, you know, I'm kind of tired of this form... This isn't my normal gig, you know? Mind if I take my normal appearance?"
"Go ahead," no sooner than the words were out of Kip's mouth, the cherub had turned into some sort of six-foot-tall dog-faced demon, "Figures you're frickin ugly..."
"Okay," Steve rasped, "Spill it."
"The secret is... I'm still in love. With someone who... probably died."
Steve shook his head as he figured it out, "Makes sense. You mortals tend to some peculiar attachment behavior like that..."
"This girl... she was... beautiful, to say the least. She was also having a hard life. In high school, she had seen an equivalent amount of horror to what I'd seen by that time, and I'm sad to say, I treated her rather callously. Still, she chose me. She came to me because she felt that I could help guide her to be better than she had been. I won't go into detail as to the kind of life she'd been leading up to that point, but rest assured, there were few who looked up to her, if any. I wasn't kind at first, as I was a suspicious little cur at the time, but her inherent... friendliness... wore me down. We grew closer as the weeks went by, and eventually, I felt something better than my normal nothing at calling her my girlfriend. I felt happy."
He paused for a moment. Steve could have sworn he saw the boy's eyes slightly more moist than normal, but it was hard to tell with the odd energy tendrils flickering in and out of them.
"I never knew what her father was doing to her. The night I did find out, though I'm glad my father was there. The [censored] would've killed me or put me in a hospital... and maybe worse to her. Instead, my dad ripped him a new one and then some, and she was free. Her life started getting better, she moved in with her aunt who helped her get started on a modeling career... I was bummed I wouldn't get to see her in my school anymore, but I was going to graduate after the next year and we already had plans to go to the same college."
"Then the Rikti attacked in your senior year," Steve grumbled, "That's rough, son."
"Only my dad can call me that... Anyway, I had some hopes a few weeks back when my supergroup rescued a group of refugees that were stuck in Baumton... you know, that I might find her among them..."
"I see... She's probably dead, Kipland..." Steve started scribbling into his scroll, "Okay, I'll take you off the list. You've probably got another year where grief will count for your behavior... But it's been a long time, boy."
Kip simply nodded.
"I'll..." Steve rolled up the scroll and reverted back to his cherub form, "I'll leave you alone to your thoughts now. Kipland, things can be better... Don't close off your heart because of your tragedy. Your suffering will only grow worse as time goes by."
"I know."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sarah Grey beamed into the base. Her brothers and a group of their friends were holding a Valentines Day party. She just had to tell them the good news, then she'd be getting back to Joe so they could go to a party in King's Row being held by some of the police. Then, she intended to keep the night going when they got back to her apartment...
"Hey, HEY! SNUFFY!" Cedric hollered as his sister walked into the central workshop chamber, "How're you doing?"
"Joe proposed!"
The room suddenly got deathly quiet. The stereo had simply kicked off when the words left her mouth and even the conversations being held in other rooms stopped.
"Say that again," Cedric's eyes got a peculiar glint into them.
"Joe proposed!" Sarah hopped up and down happily and showed her glittering engagement ring to her brothers, "Isn't it pretty? He said it wiped out four months of his salary!"
"That was smart," Roland chuckled.
"Congratulations, Sarah," Dustin "King Slater" Simms raised a glass of whiskey to her, "Joe's good people."
"Yeah," Cedric grimaced, "That's too bad."
"Why?" Matt McGinty asked worriedly.
"Because I gotta go kill him, now," Cedric replied as he started walking toward the teleporters.
"Cedric..." Snuffy groaned.
"Are you sure that's wise," Roland asked lazily, his face held in a mask that was a blend of a grimace and a smile, "I mean, isn't that something dad should do?"
"Roland..."
"Yeah, dad should," Cedric replied as he grabbed his axe, "But he's not here right now, and he'll be busy all night with mom..."
The siblings shuddered simultaneously.
"...So, this responsibility falls on me."
Cedric started plugging the coordinates into the teleporter so he would be well on his way to King's Row and officer Joe Durnan's apartment.
"Cedric!"
"Relax, Snuffy," Levi Baker handed her a cup of soda, "I cut the power to the teleporters."
Cedric promptly disappeared.
"Oh, I MEANT to do that..." Psycho13 winced, "Don't kill me... please?"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOE!"
"I guess Snuffy told you the news, huh?" Joe said calmly as he pressed his foot against the base of the door.
"I will kick this door down, man! We both don't want it to come to that, so get out here and take your whoopins!" Cedric screamed, "I was trained by the Marines, man!"
"If you were your dad, I'd be more afraid," Joe calmly adjusted his black bowtie, "And good luck kicking the door in, man. I know how to do that, too, you know."
"GRARGH!" Cedric pounded his fists agaisnt the door.
"Aw, now you're not even trying."
"Come on, Joe! You used to be so scared! Where's your fear!?"
"I proposed to your sister," Joe replied, "Man, I feel better every time I say that. I proposed to Sarah..."
"GRAAAAAAARGH!"
Another flurry of wailing on the door made a tune for Joe as he finished his tie and turned to putting on his jacket. When the pounding stopped, he stepped back to admire himself in the mirror.
"Hm... Sarah's right, I do look almost handsome..."
The door opened and Cedric rubbed his bruised knuckles in Joe's plain sight as the officer stepped into the hallway. They gazed at each other for a few moments, sizing each other up. Joe looked to be dressed for a night on the town, Cedric was in his amouflaged pants, combat boots, and green T-shirt. Joe shook his head sadly at his future brother-in-law.
"So... You and Snuffy got more plans?"
"Yeah, one of my co-workers is throwing a party."
"Hm... Nice... You know, if I was my dad, your head would be mashed into that wall by now."
"Yeah..."
"And I really shouldn't be treating you any better..."
"Uh-huh..."
Cedric drew his axe and admired the edge on it for a second. He could hear his Praetorian screaming at him to cleave Joe's head off. Oddly, it was actually getting easier to ignore the guy. The brandishing of the weapon wasn't doing its job, though. Joe was on Cloud 9, and it would have taken a very specific Rock tanker to drag him down.
"Joe, I know we gave you a hard time, but..." Cedric threw the axe into his left hand and held out his right for Joe to shake, "Welcome to the family, man."
"Thanks," Joe shook Cedric's hand and the two gave each other a brief hug before parting ways.
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Bear stared a gaze into Balsk's back that could, quite honestly, cause any normal human being to [censored] himself.
"Drop it." He commanded in a voice that Lord Recluse would be a bit uncomfortable with.
"Or you are going to be a splatter on the wall."
To prove exactly how far his willingness went, he fitted a grenade arrow to his bow.
"I don't know where you're from, freak, but where I come from, doing that gets you very, very dead, very very fast."
"Now, now, Mister Bear." suddenly came a voice from behind the Elite Raptor Agent, "I was told this isn't a day for fighting."
The voice was that of a creature which most closely resembled some sort of anorexic Warwolf. Clad in a simple black uniform that seemed able to double as a light vacuum suit, Allen of the Fang Clan seemed to just have appeared right out of thin air.
The appearace, however, was quite misleading. Anyone who knew anything about Allen or his people knew they were a fair bit more than they appeared - and to few did this apply more than to Allen himself...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Balsk sniffed loudly and looked over his shoulder, shifting his wing a bit so he could see while obscuring the odd blue scale set inbetween his wings, sticking out against the bronze scales. Seeing the grenade arrow, Balsk turned all the way around and kept his free hand away from the sword sheathed at his side. One eye ridge crooked up as the draconian looked Bear over.
"There a reason why you're menacing a registered hero with an explosive arrow or do you just enjoy getting into hopeless situations?" Balsk asked. "And I've read up about this country. Opening an unmarked letter delivered to my place of work doesn't seem to be against any laws."
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
((OH. THAT'S the Outdoing Hal Division. I hadn't read that post before now. XD))
"And I would mess with some crap pile of metal why?" Hal muttered to himself, turning to Experiment and sighing. "She's just stressed, Experiment. She has people come and bug her all day about Valentine this and Valentine that. Actually, I think I'm gonna leave now. Might as well lighten the load a little."
He grinned at Experiment and vanished completely, the teleporter activating shortly after with nothing visible inside it.
"Oh, I haven't met you yet, dear," Salia said, smiling at Experiment. "What's your name? Are you another one of the rabid hordes who know Essex?" Her voice was cheerful and teasing.
A short beeping, going at regular intervals, preceded a shuddering motion from Essex.
"Wha?"
She blinked momentarily, glancing around. Card stuffed with money and a gold brick, over a cute looking card. Hal was gone, and so was Reikoff. Delphi was nearby admiring her gear, and Experiment was still there, as was Salia.
"....<_< What happened?" she fretted, shifting your footing."
"You lost your [censored]." Delphi said cheerfully, slipping the gear on like a bracelet and admiring it for a moment, before her gaze turned sour and she slipped it off.
"Ahh..." Essex worried, her face turning to a frown. "I -always- freak out on Valentine's Day! T_T Aaaaaaah, now I've offended Hal-chan and the Commander...and I didn't even get to give them my gifts..."
She sighed, going over to Experiment and hugging him around the waist. "I'm glad to see you though, sir. Don't let me freak out all over you, too. Happy Valentine's Day."
Essex looked to Salia, tilting her head. She knew this woman. But...The name was eluding her for the moment.
---------------------------------------------
The border collie obligingly got off Kathode. She'd lost track of the other dog somewhere back there, but when she recognized who she knocked down, the dog's tail began wagging furiously.
A poof of smoke, and Rosie was back in her humanoid form.
"Heeeeeey!" she said cheerfully. "It's Kathode! What's up, cat?"
Folding her arms, she wrapped the scarf around her neck again, it having come loose in the transformation.
"I was just out chillin'. I hate Valentine's Day. It always sucks. <_< What're you doing?"
Rosie's tail was still waving easily. She was happy to see Kathode. If anyone would have a rational view of this stupid holiday, it would be her.
--------------------------------------------------------
"Oh, I...Oh, dear, I ...My goodness, how am I going to..."
Truefeather had changed into her heroing costume and was now in something of a fix. She was still smiling genially, but her eyebrows were tilted up ever-so-slightly in a very mild expression of distress.
"What in the world am I going to do with..."
In retrospect... she thought, Perhaps it was a bad idea to take the shortcut home past the Longbow base.
True's arms were full of little boxes and cards from various Longbow agents. She really had no idea why they liked her so much.
"Oh dear...Who are all these from... Scott, Jason, Chad, Dan, Keith, Matt, Rob, Drake, Shi...sh...Shigetsugu?, ...Melanie?"
True sighed again. "Oh dear, dear." she cooed.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
((. . .))
((BAHAHAHAHAHA. XD Well, now they'll know each other again! Fancy meeting in a Valentine's thread. XP))
"Oh, he seemed understanding enough once he calmed down," Salia said helpfully. "And oh, yes! You are Essex, aren't you?"
She began sifting through the pages of her book, which she had managed to read the whole time.
"Yes, yes, here it is! Reploid S6, Essex to her friends, the replicated daughter of Dr. Daniel West. Nice to meet you, dear. I do believe I have been supposed to be your guardian angel for some time. But I'm afraid I never got around to it. Sorry about that!"
She smiled sunnily with this last, clearly not at all concerned about her prospects as a guardian angel based on that statement.
"Going somewhere, Durnan?"
Joe whirled around to the dark alley, terror draining the blood from his face. The massive shadow stepped forward, revealing Randall Grey. Joe was still amazed someone as beautiful as Sarah could have come from someone as grotesque as that.
"Mm-m-mister Grey!" Joe stammered, "F-funny meeting you here..."
"I hear you have some good news..." Randy rumbled as he stepped more into the light, revealing his bare chest.
Oh, please tell me he has pants on... Joe thought to himself.
"I... I love your daughter, sir... And... I asked her to marry me."
Randy's eyes narrowed, "I know."
"How?"
"Sarah called her mom, asking her to stop our eldest son from kicking the tar outta you. I asked why he'd want to do that, and Char told me... the news..."
Joe waved his hands up defensively, "Now, sir, I swear, I had every intention of letting you know..." I just expected Snuffy to be there so she could protect me from the rampaging beast that is an overprotective Randall Grey...
"I know," Randy growled, "I'm not angry that you hadn't told us yet."
"Then..." Joe gulped, "Why are you here?"
Randy extended one of his hands. Inside the meaty paw was a flask.
"Char's dad gave this to me when I proposed to her," Randy tossed it to the smaller man, "Well, the giving came a bit later. I had to fight him when he heard the news, and you'd think a wiry man with a bad liver can't put up a fight, but this guy took a couple rounds outta me. After ward, we shared a drink."
Randy produced a pair of plastic cups in his other hand.
"Joe," he proceeded to open the flask with his thumb, "You're a good guy. I know I scared ya, boy, and you toughed it out. Despite your debilitating fear of me, and you were right to be afraid, you still pursued your relationship with my daughter. On top of that, you got yourself a good job and have proven that you're more than capable of handling yourself. I don't think I'd be happier if my little Snuffy was marrying anybody else."
Joe accepted his cup in stunned silence. Filling only to the bottom ring of the cup was a thick brown fluid. He figured it was more than enough to knock most people out.
"Uh... Thank you, sir..."
"Drink it quick," Randy warned, "The stuff's potent, and you want it all in ya before it takes you down."
Joe turned the cup upside down and swallowed the contents. It was maple syrup, watered down slightly. Randy laughed boisterously and swatted him on the back.
"You're alright, kid. Welcome to the family!"
"Thanks," Joe coughed out, "Nice joke..."
"You and my daughter still have plans for the evening," Randy smiled briefly before he drank straight from the flask, "I'm not going to be risking ruining that by K-Oing you with liquor. Now, get out there and hit the town with my daughter!"
Joe pointed at the flask, "Was... Was that safe?"
"Hm?" Randy looked at it without concern, "I don't know. Char just says it makes my kisses taste better."
"I see..."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Experiment raised an eyebrow toward Salia, just about to go into his usual, bragging introduction before Essex hugged him. He froze, and simply waited for her to let go before continuing with what he was about to go into.
"I am Experiment 2.0," he bowed deeply, pulling yet another sigh from PDA, "Technological extraordinaire, and also, enjoyer of Valentines day. Speaking of which..."
He began reaching into his belt, and finally pulled out a card, pink and red, and held it toward Essex. "It isn't filled with money, nor does it hold anything similar to gold, but I like it. Jenny made it." The cover was decorated with all types of sparkly objects, all pink and red, with string pulled together to form 'Essex'.
Then, he turned yet again to Salia. "And yes, I am a friend of Essex, while I am not as you described... I'm special, y'see." He grinned stupidly, before reaching into his belt again. He pulled out a small stack of cards, each seemingly unique with the string naming each member of Essex's 'family.' "You mind giving these out, Ess? I have a few more places to get to."
Poe stormed into the nearest cafe. He marched right up to the counter, (cutting everyone else in line) and was met with several grumbles and protests, until everyone noticed the various weapons and pryo-tech he had. That shut them up real good.
"Give me something. ANYTHING. As hot as you can possibly make it." He snapped to the register. The poor girl hesitated, and nearly fainted after catching a look of pure murder from beneath Poe's goggles. She dashed away to the coffee machine.
Five minutes later, she came back with a very large tub of coffee. The air above it appeared to literally have its own atmosphere, the moisture and steam from the bubbling and boiling coffee hot enough to incinerate a tank.
Poe handed the register a twenty, took the tub in both hands...
And chugged the entire thing in five seconds. He tossed the tub across the room into the nearest trashcan.
"Don't you have anything hotter?" He asked.
Most of the customers decided to leave about then.
-----
A few dozen minutes later, Poe left the mostly scorched remains of the cafe. He had kept ordering hotter and hotter drinks, until they had decided to give him something COLD without telling him. He stormed down the street, generally lowering the property value of the place and lowering the tone with the metaphorical cloud of gloom and doom above his head.
Then he made the mistake of walking into a local park.
Bad move.
He saw no less then fifteen couples walking around holding hands, sitting down on benches, making out in bushes...
He gritted his teeth. 'Self control, self control, self control.....'
He heard a moan of pleasure.
He snapped.
Lord Poe faded from view as he activated his stealth generator.
-----
Several minutes later.....
-----
Another couple decided to sit on a bench...
When they did, it exploded beneath them, and carried their sorry selves into oblivion.
A few others pairs, seeking a bit more excitement, wandered into clumps of bushes, and immediately ran back out again, barfing, puking, and some even growing boils by the second.
Lord Poe faded back into view, with a small smile on his face as he exited the park.
Then then he saw the ten dozen other couples on the street. Anger consumed him for a moment...
Then was replaced the empty feeling he had felt before. He sighed, and walked down the street again, shoulder's slumped and a gaunt look on his face.
He was hopelessly rebelling and fighting a situation he had no control over, and Diov's words kept coming back to him. "There is no love for we who are immortal." Poe finally began to understand. He himself had become ageless as part of his incentive to join Husk Corporation. He had only pursued a relationship ONCE before, but she had withered away like a flower during winter and died.
All the while, Poe had never aged by a single day, watching his love die slowly, bit by bit. Now he despaired as he looked around him, and saw everybody experiencing something wonderous and amazing...
That he could never have.
"[censored] Valentine's Day..." He muttered.
Valentine's morning was just like any other morning for the red-skinned Kosunn alien named Tomanton. He had risen before the sun, lit the candles, and was meditating on his apartment living room floor. He had already done his morning exercises, so now was the time he laid out the logistics of the day. Eyes closed in concentration, his thoughts echoed crystal-clear in his own mind.
"Valentine's day... a human holiday celebrating love and togetherness. Though unconfirmed, I believe I have heard somewhere that the man from which the holiday draws his namesake was Saint Valentine- a convicted and executed prisoner, an unlikely candidate for sainthood to be sure. How does this affect me?"
....mmmmmmmmm.....
"Greater stock will be placed today in crimes of passion than of any other, so I will be able to make more money from contract killing that I would for any other sort of criminal act. As far as money is concerned, I'm also fairly sure that Valentine's day is commercialized by way of candy and chocolate- thus, when the price falls tomorrow, I will invest in a large bundle to give to Kaloa as a gesture of appreciation for his patience and diligence while I--"
..Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..
Tomanton opened his eyes, staring down at the floor crossly as if he expected to magically see through it to the source of whatever was generating that godawful noise.
-------
"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm..."
One apartment in the otherwise filthy neighborhood of Mercy was kept almost obsessively neat and tidy- the various pieces of kitschy furniture and appliances were squeaky clean, and just about any surface in the apartment was sanitary enough to do anything you pleased with. This morning, 'anything you pleased' for the apartment's sole occupant happened to be rolling around the apartment wrapped up in a big, fluffy white blanket and humming like an idiot. The only visible clue to the person's identity was a slim red tail poking out one end of the mess.
"Mmmmmmmmmmm*bump-thud-crash*.. ...Oh, bother. Now I'm quite awake."
With a slight pout, Anarhis poked his head out from the ball of blankets to see what had brought his juvenile amusement to a premature end- in this case, it was a leg of his coffee table. Looking around to see what had knocked off, he soon found it- his "Paragon Heroes" table calendar. The hero of the day was Xenon Blue, some metal-clad shmuck he'd never heard of- and the date was February the 14th.
"Valentine's day..." He said aloud with a neutral and placated look on his face. As it was with someone who'd been around for awhile, the date evoked many memories, love, reminiscense, longing... jealousy, denial, bitterness, apathy. He soon got a hold of himself, shaking his head with a smile. "Why, I shouldn't be getting into a funk like this", he exclaimed. "There's no better time to be out looking for love! I am a teenager, after all."
Anarhis was a 'teen', all right- four hundred and seventeen, to be exact. But he was never one for the details. With a smirk and a snap of his fingers, his red skintone changed to a healthy tan, his white hair turning black and a set of black leather clothes with blue trim appearing on him.
"I'll go to the Pocket Dimension and see if I can't find anyone willing to amuse me."
-------
With his pointed elf ears twitching and a disattisfied frown on his face, Claude Carentyl sighed as he leaned over the Pocket D railing and looked down at all the couples on the dance floor.
How long had it been now, since his last and only relationship had utterly crushed any desire to get close to someone again? And here were all these people mixing, mingling, and having a good time. Sure, relationships turned bad sometimes, but it seemed like everyone else was willing to pick themselves up and try again, no matter what the... no. None of them were put through anything remotely close to what he endured. But what if... Claude let out a long, drawn sigh. If everything in the world seemed to be coming at him, maybe it was high time he accepted that he was the one going in the wrong direc-
"Why hellllllllo there."
He turned slowly around to see Anarhis staring at him up and down with an amused smirk on his face.
"...Can I help you with something...?" Claude frowned. This one had pointy ears too, but he wasn't an elf...
"...I was just wondering if you'd like a drink."
"Are you a waiter here?"
"No, but I definitely wouldn't mind waiting on you-"
"Then no." Claude cut him off with a frown.
Anarhis was undeterred. "Oh, come on. Just a drink and a chat."
"No."
"Why not?"
"I don't drink."
"Do you chat?"
"Listen, you stupid-" Just as Claude was about to unleash hell on the being, his cell phone rang. "...Hold that thought." He flipped it open, taking the call. "Hello...? No.. No. No, you've got a wrong number. My last name is 'Carentyl', not.. whoever the hell you're looking for. THIS number? ...It's 555-67-Alright you can stop undressing me with your eyes now please." He shot an icy glare to Anarhis, who smirked and looked away, as he realized that he probably shouldn't have said that pretty much right into the phone. "...I didn't mean you, but you still have the wrong number. Hello?" After a pause, he flipped it closed. "They hung up." He said that to no-one in particular, but it unintentionally kept Anarhis in the conversation.
He grinned, his tail flicking from side to side amusedly. "Well aren't you polite. And here I thought -I- did a bad job of picking up..."
"How about go die in a fire. I don't have time for this." Claude stiffened up, and stormed past Anarhis down to the hero elevators. The sad truth was on a day like Valentine's day, he had all the time in the world.
-----------
"...'555-67-Alright you can stop undressing me with your eyes now please'...?"
"I think you dialed a wrong number, sir."
"No, really. What gave you that idea?" Bryce Masters, the CEO of Equinox Laboratories' Paragon City division, didn't let holidays get in the way of his work. The rest of the staff in the building was on the lower floors, enjoying a nice catered lunch for the occasion- the only absentees from the event being himself and the company's artificial humanoid, Ozell One, who was standing before him. "Who was it, pray tell, who decided to buy those awful cinnamon hearts for everyone in the building?" Hanging up the phone, he lifted a small plastic bag filled with the little candies and tied with a white ribbon and cast Ozell an accusing glare.
The artificial being shifted nervously in his bodysuit. "I... um.. I may have.."
"You may have?"
"What? Yes."
"...Yes what?"
"..bought those cinnamon hearts for everyone in the building, yes."
"Dammit, boy!"
"W-What?"
"I hate these!"
"It could be for your laptop.. You know, as a decoration."
"What do you expect me to do, glue them to the monitor so it dosen't close properly? Company property does not need gifts, we have been through this before. ...Argh! Do you have any idea how terrible the lab is going to smell for the next few weeks?!"
"...I like cinnamon. D:"
"How much did you pay for all of these?!"
"I-I bought them in bulk. It was like thirty dollars, sir."
"And who wrapped them?"
"I-I did, sir. The ribbon only cost about five dollars. I put them together during some downtime at the Repliforce Paragon base. I left them a few bags, too."
"Robots don't eat candy, you fool!"
"W-Well... okay, you're right. My bad."
"Wasteful! Where are you getting this money to squander?"
"My part time job."
"Dammit, Ozell, we didn't give you a day off so you could -work- some more. You're our product. We want our product to look its best. You use that day to rest."
"W-Well... maybe if you actually gave me some spending money.."
A pause.
"...Forget it, I'll write off the god-damned candies as a company expense. Did you save your receipts?"
"You don't save receipts for gifts.."
Mr. Masters sighed and groaned at the same time. "You are hopeless, Ozell One."
"Don't you have anyone you could be spending Valentine's day with, sir?"
Another pause- but this one was longer, more drawn out.. and slightly painful.
"...That's a loaded question."
"Well..."
"You know I'm divorced, Ozell."
Ozell polished his silver tonuge. He'd have to word this carefully. "...You seem like a committed person, Mr. Masters. And you're obviously real rich. What could have gone wrong...?" He was met with a harsh glare. "...I just want to know, then I won't ask ever again. Instead of the rumours that fly around the building, I want it straight from you." More glare. "....Uh.. p-please?"
"...It was over a disagreement."
"A disagreement...?"
"A disagreement over the family we wanted to raise," Mr. Masters said flatly. "She didn't want children. I wanted two."
"...You couldn't reach some sort of comprom-"
"By god, Ozell, what do you think I tried to do? It took years of convincing before she'd even consider the possibility of ONE child- even then, she wanted to wait until she had firm traction in her business career, never mind the fact that I make enough to support a family ten times over. When she was thirty-five, it seemed I had finally gotten through to her, she was willing to have a child.. but she didn't seem to be able to concieve."
Ozell had been about to ask if that was when he divorced her- but seeing the downcast look on his face, he realized that both it would be a really stupid thing to say and that Mr. Masters wasn't done.
"She refused to get help or go see a doctor, claiming she was too embarassed to admit she was infertile... I trust my gut feelings, Ozell. I hired a private investigator, who soon caught her buying contraceptives."
Ozell bit his lip- that was one thing he didn't need spelled out for him.
"Are you happy now?"
"Yes. ...! I-I mean, no! No I am not happy with--"
"Get over it. ...I did." He tossed the bag of candy to Ozell, who caught it and compulsively tucked it in his cowl. "You got your story, now get back to work. The first thing I want you to do is find out the new contact number for this company. I'm looking at the registry, and I didn't dial the number wrong."
"Understood. ...What company is this, sir..?"
"Greensryche Industries. From the sounds of it, I wound up dialing Angry Elf Incorporated."
"I got it. Um... see you, Mr. Masters." Ozell pushed open the oak doors to the office, stepping out into the hallway- and, after spending a moment glancing in the direction he thought he had heard the sound of rapidly retreating footsteps, decided it was just his imagination and went on his way.
-------------
Tapatapatapatapatapa-- click. There, that was the last of them.. finally.
Deep inside the Greensryche Research base, Unit Lyden backed away from the data entry terminal he had been using to update the Greensryche Industries direct assosciate contact number in all files in which it was present. The process was tedious, redundant, and no doubt a bit awkward when someone inevitably called the new owner of the old number, but it was worth it: In changing his contact number frequently, Lyden's master Redd was able to maintain a good sense of privacy as well as weed out old assosciates who he didn't do business with anymore. With a few extra keystrokes, the new number was forwarded to everybody who was deemed worthy of it. Lyden shut the computer down, and sighed- there was one more thing he had left to do.
Opening up one of the lab drawers, he crouched and pulled out a plush kitten- then turned to look over at the stasis capsules where the other units currently 'slept'. Walking silenty over as if it mattered, he set the doll on top of the tank marked 'Locria'- it would fall down and land infront of it the next time that capsule opened. Lyden then turned, walking out of the room and down out of sight.
((That was a bit longer than it needed to be. >_> Edited for word wrap great justice))
Kipland Durj arrived in his apartment and saw the answering machine displaying that there were many messages eating up its memory. He hit the play button and headed for the bathroom.
"Kip? KIHHHHHHHHHHP!" Cedric's voice bellowed from the tiny speakers, "Where the Hell are you, man!? We've got a roarin' party goin' on down here!"
"I just found myself on the wrong end of a Malta Herc' Titan," Kip answered as he popped a couple aspirin tablets, "A lot of the city's villains didn't quit just because it's Valentine's Day... Though, oddly, the Carnival isn't quite as active tonight..."
He could hear the drumming sound of a couple other parties going on on other floors. He could even hear some in other buildings. Next door, there was the deep bass of Larry Black rumbling.
"I never should have moved into Skyway," he turned on the hot water and prepared to wash his face, "People in King's Row knew how to keep quiet..."
"Hey, Kip!" Mattock's voice came on in the next message, "What're you doin' workin' today? Come on down to the base party, man... I assure you, man, Cedric's too drunk to mess with ya because you don't have a date!"
Kip missed most of the rest as he showered off the dirt, grime and pain he had accumulated through the day. His right shoulder spasmed harshly suddenly under the hot water, and he collapsed to the floor when his left leg gave out to a cramp. Lying there, feeling the hot water scald his skin, he struggled to get his left hand to the cold water valve.
"Cripes, if it isn't one thing, it's another," he spat as the water cooled down, "What did I do today to make this so harsh!?"
First, there was the Nemesis troops that ambushed him outside the Peregrine Island bar. Then, there was the Council troopers who shot him out of the sky of Brickstown. Oddly, a couple Freaks helped him off the ground after that, but then he got assaulted by Malta Group agents jsut outside his apartment!
"What did I do to tick them off lately?"
He finished his shower and took a look at his injuries. Little more than bruising was evident, and it was rapidly fading. He shook his head at the restorative capability of his powers, and turned to getting dressed.
"...so... I was thinking you could maybe grab a pizza or two..." Cedric's voice slurred over the phone, "Oh! And we're running low on beer! We need a couple cases of- HEY! There will be none of THAT on the conference table! Oh, okay, just a little more... See you soon, man!"
*BEEP*
"Hey, man," Nester's voice called out, "I know you're having a rough day, bro..."
"Uh-huh," Kip hit the fridge and popped open a can of soda, "Rougher than normal in fact."
"And I want you to know that I feel for ya, man. Valentine's Day was rough on me for years, and that was before I had a girlfriend to spend it with. But, brother, I'm single now, but I'm still hangin' out here with our friends. We miss you, man. You shouldn't be alone tonight... I... Wait... How much ti-"
*BEEP*
"Okay... I was out of time," Nester came back on, "Look bro, just come down and hang out for a while. And, if you can, could you snag a couple pizzas on the way? Pepperoni is fine... We're all a little hungry here is all..."
The machine beeped and buzzed after that and clicked off. Kip hit the delete button and grabbed his wallet.
"To Hell with feeling sorry for myself," he barked, "I'm done with burying myself in bad guys and all of this emotionless killing machine crap! I'm going to that party and I'm going to enjoy myself, dammit!"
His stomach growled.
"I know, I know! I'm getting pizza, okay!?"
And he bolted out the door.
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"See if I give a damn, you idiot. Drop the [censored] letter." Bear snarled at Balsk, completely ignoring Allen. "Hopeless situation? You don't know hopeless. Hopeless is what will happen if you don't drop it. You'll have to prove to me you work here, otherwise I'm considering you to be committing a federal offense."
"Lieutenant William Bear," Allen's lupine eyes narrowed, but his voice stayed open and gentle, "I would duly appreciate if you didn't take that tone with Mr. Azurebound here. Whats he done to you ?"
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
"Get out of my business, [censored]." Bear spat, "You wouldn't know. And you happen to be threatening a Wyvern, which is a bad idea, ESPECIALLY THREATENING ME."
The Archer seriously looked like he was going to blow Balsk away if he didn't drop it.
Kathode sighed as she saw that it was Rosiland. "Figures it'd be you."
She continued to talk as she straighted her leather jacket and brushed the dog hair off of her black miniskirt. "I'm off on my own. Anna's out on a date with you know who and last I saw she had that red dress on. I don't know where Cobalt ran off to."
"Anyway, what was up with that other dog? Do you were-creatures always swing towards both species that you resemble?" The catgirl asked devilish smile.
Without waiting for an answer she continued on. "I was heading to the D myself. I figure with all the guys who have that catgirl fetish at least a few of them are bound to be cute and available. Thanks to you though I gotta change again."
Kathode pulled out the remote for the base teleporter but then another evil grin appeared on her face. "You wanna step in for a bit? I'm sure Cobalt would like you to meet her new pet."
"By Takhisis, man, if you sent this package to a girl that works here then you should expect something like this to happen if you don't put her name on it," huffed Balsk as he closed the letter and extended it and the box toward Bear in one hand. "And if I trusted you to not blow me away if I reached for my card then I would show you some ID, but I don't."
"Thanks for the back-up, by the way," Balsk said to Allen, craning his head to the side to look past Bear's head. "But I'm pretty sure I could've handled him on my own."
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
Poe finally wandered over to an entrance to Pocket D.
The Succubus at the front door frowned at his approach and stopped him.
"Oh HELL no you Don't. I saw what you did to that poor door attendant! Leave your weapons here!" Poe rolled his eyes, and proceeded to rid his form of all malevolent devices.
Five flamethrowers, sixteen gas canisters, two hundred packets of powdered essence, twenty two gas mines, five hundred forty two landmines, (Poe had finally been forced to hand over the pocket dimension filled with the mines is his pocket over) three combat knives, twelve phosphorus grenades, forty six sticks of dynamite...
*Quite some time later*
...and finally, his stealth generator later, the assistant Succubus, (the first one had drowned in his mountain of weaponry) reluctantly admited him into the elevator.
Five minutes later, Poe was leaning on a railing on the center platform, wistfully staring out the see-through wall. He looked down, and saw several people dancing together.
He began to snarl.
It turned into a sigh.
He gloomily predicted what the rest of his day off would be like. He'd probably stand around here for a few hours being miserable, get drunk at the bar, watch the Rikti Monkey fights for a while, scorch his name into a wall somehwere with the lighter he had managed to sneak in, force open the door into the Ski Challete, and because it wouldn't be there, he would sky-dive into oblivion for the rest of the day until he was auto-matically rifted back to the Husk Corporation tower.
'Way to spend Valentines day...' He thought.
He glanced down the railing, and saw a couple making out. He took the oprotunity to spit.
"EWWW!" Poe quickly made himself scare from that particular side of the platform, headed to the other side, and leaned against that railing. He watched the gas jets outside the windows, which made him feel a little better. But they wern't buring anything, so it was a temporary relief at best.
Finally, he could stand it no longer.
He was going crazy. It was driving him insane.
He would crack if it went on for a moment longer.
It was DEVOURING HIS SOUL.
He lept off the rail, and kicked the speaker-phone operator in the head, knocking him underneath one of the ramps without being scene. He then changed the freaking music to something else.
That done, he went back to his position on the rail. He glared down at the couples on the dance floor. The very action hurt him, but he couldn't look away.
"If only...If only..." He muttered.
Kipland balanced the five boxes on his left and and stared at the situation in front of him. A Wyvern agent of some sort was aiming an explosive-tipped Rambo arrow at what looked like a human-sized dragon. Behind him, a werewolf stood glowering. It appeared the mercenary hero was quite outnumbered.
"Hey," he called to them as he reached for the top box of pizza, "I think you guys all need to calm down... Here, have a pizza. I ordered on an empty stomach and I think it might be too much."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Allen couldn't help but give bear a toothy smirk. Humans, go figure...of course, the Wyvern agent deserved a category of his on, and Balsk wasn't remotely human...well, scratch that, very human in his mindset, anyway.
Of course, this didn't exactly seem strange to Allen. He'd met Bear under interesting circumstances, and the Raptor Agent likely didn't remember him, but then not many of the peope who'd been at that far-off place could.
Balsk was another story. While Allen kept up with what the SPC was up to (after all, they often worked closely with Portal Corporation, and Vern thought it wise to keep an eye on all their affiliates), he'd never actually met the draconian in person.
Thus being, he was torn between challenging the guy to a sparring match and questioning him about the odd blue scale on his back. Having next to no idea about Balsk's culture and customs, of course, he toseed about the possibility that either could be offensive to the draconian - and one of the last things Allen wanted to be thought of as was rude.
"Threatening?" he therefore questioned Bear with an innocent grin, "I've done no such thing. The Doc just told me today was a day celebrating love an friendship here on Terra, and your behavior seems odd, if I do say so myself."
"And I don't doubt it." he then replied to Balsk, "But I'd prefer you two not slug it out right now, as I'd like to know if either of you knows where Rosalind is? And...I apologize if this is offensive, but I guess my curiosity's gotten the better of me - that scale on your back...why blue?"
[ QUOTE ]
"Hey," he called to them as he reached for the top box of pizza, "I think you guys all need to calm down... Here, have a pizza. I ordered on an empty stomach and I think it might be too much."
[/ QUOTE ]
"You are expecting more visiors...?"
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
"Nah, I'm on my way to a small party, and I kinda' overestimated how much we'd need..." Kipland replied with a grin, "I'm in an odd mood right now... For once, I'm feeling good, and it makes me feel kinda bummed to see anybody not playing nice, so... here..."
Balancing the other boxes against his shoulder, he held out the one he had grabbed from the top. The smell of Canadian Bacon emanated from within the box.
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"Of course you're special, dear," Salia said, beaming at Experiment. "And that's very nice. But, you know, Essex may well have a lot to do at the moment, actually. I seem to remember that was why she shut down in the first place. ^_^ Why don't I deliver them?"
She had snatched them out of Experiment's hands the next moment. She was amazingly quick. Perhaps her skills had been honed by firing arrows and turning pages at once.
"No need to thank me, dear!" Salia called, flying off through the base to distribute the cards in question. "After all, nobody asked for my help and I'll probably screw it all up." She sounded almost pleased at the prospect.
* * * * * *
Interestingly enough, as Truefeather continued along her way, a letter with an ornate seal in the shape of a crescent moon managed to blow toward her in such a way that it landed in her arms, directly on top of everything else she was carrying. The odds of that must surely have been astronomical.
"Mr. Poe! H-Hey there!" Ozell's cheerful voice called out to him in the club from a ways behind. He recognised him on sight- and while he was sure Poe probably hadn't heard his voice ever before, his oft-mocked ghostlike appearance was memorable enough. Yes, Mr. Masters had given him a job to do, but he hadn't exactly specified how Ozell was supposed to do it- and as it was when he was sent off to the goal without the ball, Ozell did what he always did: run off and hide somewhere to dick around.
"H-How are you today? ...And where's Mr. Diov and everyone else?" A pause. "...I like the music they're playing right now."
((Wait a minute, I thought I burned the dog chasing Rosie?
Maybe it was some other dog...))