Bear looked down at his gifts and blinked.
"Eheh, I'm, uh, glad someone's thinking of you, sir, eheh, I'd, uh, I'd be at home myself, but you have me wor--" Bear turned around, his cybernetic eye glowing menacingly.
"S-sorry sir..." The Talon agent sighed meekly.
"Ten laps around the perimeter for trying to feed me that [censored]."
The Talon Agent turned around and got set for his run.
"..."
"And then clear out of here."
The Talon Agent was so stunned he made a triple-take. "Uh...Y-yessir! Thank you, sir!"
Bear nodded to the Agent and sighed. Maybe there was something to all this Holiday crap, after all.
Balsk rolled his eyes when Allen pulled him back and then shrugged the hand off when Rosie suggested they go inside.
"Brilliant idea boss," he said without a hint of sarcasm. "Just give me a moment to salvage some pizza. I'm hungry."
So before the trio went into the SPC building, they had to wait for Balsk to pick through the several boxes of pizza, tossing those slices that he deemed too dirty and sticking the ones that passed his test in a random box.
"Mmmay," Balsk said with his mouth full of a mildly dirtied slice of cheese pizza. "Mets 'o minside."
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.
"What the Hell?"
Kip stared down at the boxes and splattered slices. It looked like somebody had been picking through them.
"I guess they weren't a total loss, then," Kip shrugged, and knelt down to set to work, "Damn cheese... Stuck to the asphalt... Man... Why did so many slices fall facedown!?"
He started shovelling the pizza slices into a box. The other boxes he just mashed together. A few minutes later, he had just about all he could clean up done with. After tossing the refuse into a nearby dumpster, he headed to the SPC building's front door and hit the buzzer.
"Hello! Hello? Is anybody there? I had to use your dumpster!"
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
OOC: Oops, I should have said that Balsk had thrown them away. Oh well.
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.
((It's fine. Kip feesl better it turned out he had to clean up his own mess :P Though he would've preferred making two particular Malta Agents do it, but he doesn't know who the Hell they were, so he'll have to chalk it up as a loss.))
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"Sure, why not?" Allen nodded, taking Rosie under one arm and Balsk under the other, "Not safe out on the streets on this planet. I can't stay long, though. See, the Doc got us onto the idea of actually celebrating today in the first place...and well, here I am. So she's your 'boss', huh? How's that working out...?"
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
((I guess I'll have to assume Kip's arrival occurs after the SPC and Allen enter the building :P))
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
((Well, you did say he hit the buzzer, implying there was no one there anymore for him to talk to. 
))
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
"Hahaha." Rosie giggled. "Technically yeah, the Dread Trio is in charge of this branch of the Soul Police, but --"
The buzzer rang, and she blinked behind her at the door.
"Gimme a sec, guys, I'mma get that."
With that, she neatly ducked out from under Allen's arm and went to the door, opening it and leaning on the doorframe.
"What can I do for ya, bud?" the were-human asked genially, arms crossed and her human face in a light grin.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
"Just wanted to let you guys know I had to use your dumpster," Kip replied, "See... there was this firefight out here... and I left before I remembered the pizzas I'd dropped in the course of it..."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"Dumpster? Eh?" Rosie's wag picked up. "AWESOME! I'll probably find it tomorrow. <3 C'mon in, man."
She opened up the door wider for Kip to come in. Behind her, he could see the printing presses of the tabloid, along with several cubicles. Balsk and Allen were inside as well, and the girl with dog ears and a tail seemed awfully friendly.
"We picked up some of the clean pieces and are havin' lunch." she said with a grin.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
Kip's face screwed up in astonishment when he saw Balsk and Allen (with the gaping hole still in his chest, no less), his lips pursed in a pointed "o" to the lower left corner of his mouth, and his right eyebrow raised slightly.
"I didn't realize you guys worked here..." Kip turned to see Rosie handing him a slice and he waved it off, "No thanks, I got some from my buddies just a little while ago. Dastards sent me to get pizza when they knew full well they'd be getting delivery..."
"Okay..." Kip glanced around, "What do you guys do here that would cause a couple of Malta agents to be picking off your employees?"
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"They do." Allen motioned to Balsk and Rosie in his answer to Kip, "I'm in a different line of work, though it's got similarities."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
"What's Malta?" Balsk spurt out before putting two and two together. "Oh, those two spec ops guys. I have no idea, figured they were after you for some reason and the rest of us just happened to be in the crossfire."
Turning his head to the side a bit, Balsk hastily wolfed down the half pizza slice he was still holding in his hand. His tail thumped the floor once as he looked back at Kip.
"If nobody knows why they singled us out of the city, then I guess we can put it down to bad luck. From what I've been reading, this sort of stuff happens on almost a daily basis around here."
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.
"Well, I know they weren't after me... We dealt with whoever among them's been assigned to us last week... And they're a tad paranoid to be ready to hit my crew again already."
Grimacing, Kip slammed his fist into his other palm.
"See... this is why I hate those murderous trolls. They're too stupid to get anything done right, but just smart enough to be dangerous. Who sends two guys to attack a crew of heroes?"
He rubbed the bridge of his nose and turned to Rosie, "Still... That's a valid point Balsk... But that one guy didn't know anything about me... He seemed surprised to see my Nictus Armor... Ugh... Now I've got a new problem to wrap my head around... I really wish my brother or somebody would start gobbling up clearance so I can work with them on cases like this..."
He looked up to see he was talking to Rosie, "Oh yeah.. I don't know if your friends here have told you, but we had a tad bit of excitement earlier... Hence the pizzas on the street... Hence the... uh... hole in Allen's chest..." he blinked a couple times, "Oh yeah, my name's Kipland... Kipland Durj. My friends call me Kip, Kippers, or Loudmouth."
He extended his hand to Rosie for a friendly handshake.
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"Well, I got a confession to make." Allen grinned, "Technically, I'm not a hero...and I've run into those guys before. So they could've been after me. Kinda unlikely, though, as neither of them should remember me or have known that I was gonna be here today."
Allen had indeed recognized the Elite TacCom and Gunslinger by their voices and demeanor. There was no doubt - that had been Curtis and Reikoff.
And it was always possible that someone who had it out for him could've restored their memories, then told them where and when he'd be.
"Sorry, I'm being silly and paranoid again." Allen shook his head violently to chase the thoughtful daze away, "Anyway, so the Doc says here on Terra today ya celebrate love and friendship and what-not. He also told me ya give special people in your life presents. So..."
He reached into a pocket and pulled out a small blue stone at the end of a silvery, yet rather plain-looking necklace. It seemed to refract any light that hit it a thousand times, glowing faintly like Luna in Terra's night sky.
The reference was quite close.
"It's a piece of our moon." Allen told Rosie as he wanted to hand it to her, "I know it's not much, but it's always given me the feeling of being connected to...well, everyone. I want you to have it..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Balsk let out an admiring whistle when Allen took out the moon shard necklace. It was indeed quite pretty.
The draconian also hung back for now, figuring that Rosie had more than enough attention directed her way already.
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.
Rosie shook Kip's hand with a grin.
"The name's Rosalind. I'm a cop. Well...uh... more like a detective that gets to impale things. Spirit things, anyway...It's good to meet you, man!"
Turning back to Allen, she was about to make a dry comment about the Malta when he presented her with the necklace.
"...Wow." she said, her eyes widening. Carefully holding it, she looked over it in surprise, how it seemed to glow serenely all on its own.
"...Y'know, Allen..." she said, her grin softening into a little smile. "This reminds me...of my Equinox moon. When I became a were-human. It hung in the sky just like this...and watched everything happen below."
Rosie strung the necklace about her neck, letting it hang down as a second layer below her collar, and turned to her visitor with a smile. She tossed her arms around him, hugging Allen tightly.
"Thanks. It's beautiful." she murmured. "It means a lot that youre here."
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
Kip grimaced suddenly and started scratching his chest. Wincing, he looked down the neck of his shirt. His face turned to a mask of shock.
"Those sons of... I can't believe this..."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"Huh?"
Rosie released Allen, and looked over to Kip quizzically.
"Whassamatter?" she mused. "You allergic to dogs?"
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
"Heh, I got a hug." Allen smiled broadly, then looked to Kip as well, "And no, we're just really good friends. The whole romantic involvement thing didn't really work out."
An eyebrow cocked quizzlically as he noticed Kip seemed to mean something else entirely, "Lose something...?"
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Kip pulled up his shirt for them to see. It was a little rough, but it was clearly a dark purple and blue heart-shaped bruise pattern across his chest.
"I guess it's nice to see those Malta goons have a sense of humor!"
He made sure Balsk could get a good look, then pulled the shirt back down.
"Sonova... what a day..."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
((If there's one thing I hate about myself, it's how unreliable I am. The last Locria/Walter post was, what, the 23rd? Christ, I need to kick up the pace...))
Walter smiled--well, he didn't so much as smile as he did smirk. He crossed his arms, the edge of his mouth rising ever-so-slightly in amusement, entertained by the expression on Locria's face. Emotional suppressants were suppressants, not removers, and it was always...brightening to see the GSR units have an emotion powerful enough to overcome the suppressants enough to be shown. It showed that they were still human, and could still think, act, and do things of their own free will.
It showed that they were still his "children", as well as his soldiers.
"Of course, Locria. Feel free to get dressed in whatever you desire." He lifted up his hands to adjust his shirt, starting to head out of the room, hands entwined behind his back, eyes staring straight ahead as he went his way.
"I'll see you outside in half an hour."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Radio. Radio! RADIOOOOOOO FREE OPPORTUNITY, your one source of information for villain inclination! And right now, now now now, this second now, have we got the best information for you!"
For some reason, the Radio was in Paragon. Or, rather, its station was--blaring across radios all on the street and boomboxes, it was heard by both heroes and villains alike...and even civilians. Though the Radio in Port Oakes usually only was able to be tuned in by people who were searching for information, this time, everyone was able to hear it--and it certainly got quite a few stares and more than a few adjusted dials. A villain radio station in the city of heroes?
"According to our sources from WSPDR, there seems to be a villain running amuck in Paragon City, gasp, shock, and alarm! Ah, and I know what you're thinking--'Radio, this doesn't matter to me, because I'm not a loser and I always know when my fair city is being invaded!'. Of course, this is always despite the fact that your police officers get piled up in the morgue higher and higher daily, but details are details.
ANYway! There is, in fact, a villain running amuck in Paragon City. Dubbed as the Romance Ravager (cool choice of words, huh? I came up with that myself, hahaha! Anyway), this villain is apparently stalking the streets for couples that are in the act of being romantic! How sweet, catching people right in the process of making out with each other--unfortunately, the Romance Ravager quickly cuts this apart, as whoever he and she come across vanish out of thin air! Poof, gone, kaput, no more!
'But, Radio, why does this matter to me, I'm not gonna grab my hot girlfriend's [censored] while on the street!'
Shut up and listen, punk. Anyway, the only clue that's been left behind at each scene are two dolls, one male and one female, each gripping a heart that are sewn into their hands. The dolls seem to be made in a japanese style, each wearing a kimono and with anime-style faces, as well as random japanese symbols on the heart. Finally, there's also been a few shurikens and poison darts found imbedded in the walls--perhaps there's been a struggle?
Whatever the case, people, keep it off the streets and in the bedrooms! And if there are some heroes listening to this...gee, I don't know what you would possibly be doing here? I mean, what do we have to benefit from this for, huh? After all, you guys are the good guys, and we guys are the Radio guys!
Not just any Radio, though. We are...
Radio. Radio! RADIOOOOOOOOO FREE OPPORTUNITY!"
And with that, the broadcasts promptly shut off, leaving people back with their old 90s songs by a random artist nobody would remember in a few years.
Ozell frowned a bit as the police band broadcast regarding a kidnapping he had been listening to was finished by the time the pirated broadcast was over. Oh well.. they probably would have just advised all units to let Unbelievable-Man handle it. Still, this about a couple-vanisher was quite disturbing. And the dolls left at the scene of the crime. Shurikens, poison darts? Who would do such a thing?
Human faces!
Ozell blinked and quickly shook his head. No, it couldn't be Kairaishi. ...Could it? There were as many signs pointing to yes as there were signs pointing to no, after all. Yes, he could enter Paragon City when he pleased. No, he wasn't a mass killer. Yes, he was capable of the dolls left at the scenes. No, just about anyone could be. Yes, he and the ningyo used all the weapons described. No, he wouldn't be so clumsy at the scene of the crime, and if there was that much violence used there'd at least be the traces of the people.
Could his personal thoughts be affecting his judgement? ..No, of course not. It couldn't be him. What was important now was knowing where the criminal would strike next- and the most couples furthest away from radios at the moment would be... Prometheus Park. Hopping off the Yellow Line, he began in bounds down to the scene. He had heard other radios going off as well, so other heroes would be starting on this for sure. This would be his part.. he hoped. He settled down on an awning of a nearby building, which had the only good view of the park around. It was the place to be to scope the place out, after all.
Kipland and Nester arrived in the Grey's Army base with Irish punk rock blaring loudly. Shrugging to each other, they joined their friends. Kip let them know about how his day went (or tried to, the msuic was quite loud), and Nester watched a game of beer pong between the teams of Draven and Slater and the Kingdale Ref and Psycho13 (still afternoon, and here they go...).
Cedric pointed his friend to the pizza boxes and Kip dug himself a slice. Staring at it, he realized something.
"Oh man! I left those pizzas on the street!"
"So?" Matt McGinty skewered himself a slice with his sword, "It'll be fine, there's a shortage of things for inmates to do when put to work by the city..."
"Regardless..." Kip started munching on the slice he had taken, "I'm gonna have to go back... It's just something that has to be done, you know? My mess, my responsibility and all that..."
"But you said Malta guys were shooting at you!" Nester shouted to him.
"Well, I can handle it, now," Kip made it to the base portal, "At least I don't have to key anything in... I'll be right back!"
"Is that a promise?" Cedric asked with a grin.
"Hell no. You can never promise anything in this crazy city! Look what happened when I promised you guys pizza!"
"But we got..." Cedric stopped, "Alright... I get what you mean. Good luck man. Hopefully, we see you later."
"If not, I'll see you tomorrow."
With that, he was on his way back to the SPC building...
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.