Take back the city (1-2)

Mie · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 7:58 pm

"YEAH! ME!"

Jam looked nowhere near as surprised as she should have, given her neolithic means of communication. In fact, when she looked back to Caz, her wordless grin carried all the pomp of something akin to, "See? Just like that."

But just like that, her supercilious smirk fell, and as she shuffled back to the grounded mole, she sighed theatrically, extending a hand to help the apparently accident-prone girl to her feet, before steering her in the direction of their response.

"D'you always hurt yourself this much, or is today special?"

Greens · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 8:32 pm

"Eehhh, heh heh. Uuughh..." The mole could just feel her reputation racing in a direction she'd have to learn to deal with. Nontheless, she accepted Jam's helping hand, and dusted herself off. "You've never seen me get out of bed," she mumbled.

"Well! Alright, I guess that worked, somehow. Let's see if I can make it without tripping over my knees."

And... she did. Go there. Quite enthusiastically, actually.

Mie · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 10:07 pm

Though quite enthused to get back to familiar company, herself, Jam followed the mole at a wary jog, almost as though concerned the gravity-sensitive lass might need peeling off of the asphalt again. Still, at least she wasn't painfully slow, or anything, so in time, the already overcrowded 20-MINIT OIL CHANGE (And Other Automotive Services) garage came into view.

Thankfully, the holler monkey seemed content with her shouting quota for the day, so when she poked her head in the open door, it was with a reasonable-(ish) volume, that she made their arrival known.

"Is this what you been ditchin' me all day to do?" asked Layla in a tone that was obviously only mock-upset, as she skulked inside. "'Helpin' a little kid,' my ass. Since when do little kids need help fixing friggin' pl--"

That was around the time she recognized the "little kid."

*Cough*

"... I mean, hi."

psikeout · Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 11:02 am

Rock was still lingering 'round about the door when Jam made it over. He grinned kind of lopsidedly at her misunderstanding, but didn't comment on it. Instead, he slithered up alongside and slung an arm around her.

He stunk—Bad—and he knew it.

"C'mon, you could act a lil' happy to see me."

Mie · Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 12:02 am

Jam was quite suddenly overcome as the stinky mechanic invaded her personal space (surely from her overflowing joy at their reunion, and not her vehemently protesting olfactory senses); she gasped at precisely the wrong time, and was left coughing and trying not to breathe through the majority of her pathetic reply.

"M'always happy t'see you," she contradicted in a rasp, while jerking the wrong way at an inopportune moment, and turning her bid for freedom into a noseful of Eau de Pit. "OhGodthat'sripe -- Smellin' you -- *Cough* -- Not s'much."

With a final, forceful shove, she planted her face in the crook of her arm, and took a long drag as if it were dryer-fresh linens.

"Geeze, Laz, you been rollin' in jockstraps, or what? Seriously, how d'you reek that bad!"

psikeout · Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 1:55 pm

"Well, lessee. First, I fought algae-covered undead robots in a fog of ash—I think you were there—Then I got thrown 'bout a couple hundred yards in a mini-typhoon, then I had to dig an upside-down airplane outta ten inches'a harbor muck down at the beach, then I had to push it 'bout five blocks through floodwater, and since then, I've been welding in an un-air-conditioned garage." He paused. "Yeah, I think that sums it up."

He was still in good humor, though, and didn't seem to lament his day's experience, rather reveling in its vicious nastiness. Rock was just masochistic like that sometimes.

"What've you been doin'? You look like you been sleepin' or somethin'."

Greens · Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 3:07 pm

"Ah, no, I was the one doing all the sleeping, actually," said one particular mole, leaving the nearby restroom door to close behind her. "But now I'm refreshed and rejuvenated, andoh hey!" She half-jogged over to the paler of simians with a bit of a smile on her face. "You're Rock, aren't you? Yeah, you totally look like a Rock. Don't really smell like one though, God, wow."

"Hello!" she said, and then stuck out her hand, somehow bearing through the shining paragon of stinkiness that Rock had become. "My name is Caroline, but I don't like that name 'cause it sounds all boring and fancy and my mom only called me that when she was about to yell at me, so you should just call me Caz instead since it's easier to say and it sounds sorta cooler too."

She was saying all this with a toothy smile, too.

MEANWHILE ~~IN THE HALL OF JUSTICE~~ ON THE SIDEWALK BACK TO THE GARAGE

"Yeah, I think we both feel like jackasses right now," said the alley cat, chowing down on a pre-packaged fish burger. "The guys were cool enough to rent rods, but they can't skin, gut, and fillet our fish? BS, man. Buncha lazy assholes." His tone seemed to imply that he was just joking around but at the same, he also seemed really convinced of what he was saying, strolling down the sidewalk.

"Feh, after having been here for this afternoon, I haven't since counted on any genuine hospitality, mate," he returned in muffled say-so, his mouth full and crumbs dropping from the edges of his ivory-furred cheeks. Still, this high-cholesterol, refined lil' treat was equally good, if not better than real fish due to the loads of oils and grease that went into making it! No complains came from this porcupine as he stately adjusted his spectacles. "Haha, in retrospect, half of that is meh own damn fault, as I've been a bit of an arse."

Ace didn't say anything, and he didn't quite shrug, either, though his head did tilt a little.

After further silence, chewing, and strolling...

"So how far do you think they got on that plane? We're almost back and I'm seconds from recommending calling my lady friend Janet for some support, she can get us a transport on the double but I'm scared that my suggestion would get scoffed out of the building in light of my more recent... 'ideas,'" he emphasized with finger quotes, "I never did get a chance to ask just WHAT caused all this damn ocean water to flood the city. ... well, logically a tidal wave of some sort, but do you know what caused it?"

"Dunno, man... Some kinda giant-ass sea monster, or something, I don't even know. But... whatever it was, it got the Emerald Guardian." His chewing seemed to slow down with that, and then he finally swallowed.

"Y'wanna know what I think? I think we're best off working with Rock and Tails if we wanna sort out this mess right. Tails is so smart it's stupid, and Rock... he just gets $%@& done. I mean he's an asshole, but he's an asshole you want on your side, y'know? Trust me on this one."

nUcLeArEnVoY · Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 4:59 pm

That last suggestion fell on flattened ears and in reaction, Teck stopped in his tracks. "That's all fine and dandy, m'boy, but that bloke ain't ON mah side and I don't think he really aims to be anytime soon."

"Which is fine by me, as far as I'm concerned - he's dodgy and I can't keep my back turned to him, not after he pulled a knife on me," he followed up, swatting his arms conclusively before reassuming his stride alongside the grungy alley cat. "Tails seems like a right decent chap - some of the stuff he talks about, I can actually relate to, but overall, I think I feel rather out of place as of now. I originally came here on business, but see how that went? Next thing you know, I'm strangled by tentacles reminiscent of only the most pathetic bloke's fantasies, spoon fed a load of codswallop about my 'uselessness' by one very disgruntled military official, and to top it off I couldn't even douse my shame and social faux pas in hard liquor since all the bars were boarded up!"

psikeout · Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 7:47 pm

If nothing else, Rock had the conscientiousness to tug his glove off before shaking her hand—Not that his hands were super-clean underneath, but they at least wouldn't cover her palm with grease.

"Nice to meet you," he replied cordially enough. He remembered her from earlier, and for some reason, his stare was a little hard at first, but it softened quickly. "I can see Ace's taste in women has improved since the last time I saw'im."

A roundabout compliment? Sort of.

Mie · Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 7:59 pm

Jam's overt, background expression seemed to say, "That's what I've been doin'; she's a handful, if you can't tell," invisibly from somewhere over Caz's shoulder.

"Not a exac'ly a high benchmark, there," mumbled the monkey in a wry and dry aside, before brusquely clearing her throat and setting her hands on her hips.

"Also;" blurted the obnoxiously hued primate in a louder, decidedly more meant-to-be-actually-heard tone, as she commandeered the direction of the conversation. "Us poor, defenseless womenfolk've been gettin' armed. Cops gave us pieces."

Greens · Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 12:26 pm

Caz's brows appeared to furrow and cock one at a time as her lips puckered into a tiny o, not entirely subtly. Not because she wanted to make a point with her expression, and not because she had been angered, but because she was never really the best at hiding how she felt, and because what Rock had said was... frankly, a little confusing.

She could already feel her curiosity piquing concerning the relationship between her cat and this monkey. He'd described him as 'an old friend', 'a good guy', and many, many other terms that were not so affectionate (or safe for children to hear), but she didn't really know the first thing about him. And yet, there was this nagging feeling in the back of her head that she knew Rock, and his lady friend from somewhere. Frankly, it was driving her nuts, but her concentration on the matter seemed to be at least broken for the moment upon Jam's mention of their newly acquired firepower.

"Ohoh, yeah. Laser-pieces." she said with a sudden smile, and brandished her own. (Just showing it off mind you, not aiming at anything. "They don't heat sandwiches."

---

And Ace was just... struggling to follow along with Teck's mode of speech. He'd gotten the gist of it for the most part, but something about the length of that last sentence combined with his accent just threw him for a loop. He looked at the porcupine and blinked, and nodded, and acted like he understood most of it. He kinda did, anyway.

"Well, a'right," he conceded. "But if y'really feel like that, I guess you don't wanna follow me in'na there." And he stopped for a moment to point at the nearby 20-MINIT OIL CHANGE (And Other Automotive Services) down the street. "'Cause that's where I'm goin'."

nUcLeArEnVoY · Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 9:26 pm

"Oh please, I didn't say I was afraid of the bah'stud, it's just I'm not going to waste time measuring percies with him anymore. I will admit by your remark, though - the monkey seems to know his shite. In this particular case, he's far more helpful than I'd ever be, sadly enough."

In a rush of convenience, that last remark rolled off of Teck's lips just in the nick of time as he & Ace approached Rock & Tails' technical-talk, having now arrived back at the garage with tummies full o' fish. Only this time the likes of Jam & Caz were mixed in with all the motley crew (sans the guitars, painted faces, and glam fuzzy hair). Having not even realized they left the presidential manor, this particular porcupine was rather pleased to see them, "Ah, you two left the manor! Any souvenirs to remember it by?"

"Ah..." That's when he noticed the guns. Reflex for Teck was to throw his palm to his face, but he withheld it and instead flashed a grin like so. "Very nice!"

psikeout · Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 10:40 pm

Rock actually hadn't been talking to Tails for some time, contrary to what Teck must have thought he heard as he walked up. The monkey had wandered off from the plane at Jam's first shout, and took the opportunity as a thoroughly welcome break.

He was just about to comment—With some measure of palpable concern—on the girls' new toys when said porcupine strolled up and cut in. For once, Rock didn't look at the guy like he was a little green alien; instead, his odd eyes, set high in the grime and grit of his work-sullied face, gazed imperturbably down upon the vainglorious bundle of spines for a desiccated, seconds-long drought of words.

Then, he very deliberately looked to Ace, and greeted him.

"I was wonderin' where you went... to—Why you smell like bait?" he suddenly asked outright, with a barely-hidden smirk in his tone. "Smell like sun-cooked squid." Yeah, Rock had some serious stank goin' on, but nothing punched the nostrils quite like the smell of fishing.

Greens · Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 11:26 pm

"Well--" Ace replied, "...Why do you smell like rotten ass?"

Yeah. Sorry, he was asking for that.

"Me an' Teck over there went fishing for a bit," he said with a cock of the head in his direction.

But no sooner did he say that, then did a cheerful yet placid cry of "Dannyyyy" fill the air. While Caz seemed primed and ready to leap into his arms, she stopped just short of leaping distance, and instead... just kinda strolled over to him with her arms raised high, planting a quick hug on him... before getting a good huff of his scent. And subsequently recoiling.

"Yaaaay, you're baaack, and you smeeell, oooohhhh wow."

"God, you do. What is it with guys and smelling awful?" She asked looking at Jam, but the question didn't seem to be directed to anyone in particular.

"Hey, you keep hurting my feelings like this, and I might get upset and run off with your lunch," he replied, producing a baggie giving off (what else) a very fishy scent.
Her hands folded in front of her. "I'll behave."
"Good girl."

Diluss · Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 8:55 am

Tails removed the headphones he had donned during his interlude with the Tornado's controls and peered out of the cockpit, his chin coming to rest on the plane's flank as he craned his head out to look at the new arrivals. The dashboard had lit up with an alarming array of red lights on start-up, but this was more encouraging than discouraging, as it showed that at least all the systems were working, even if they were reporting trouble. Of all of the problems, all but two of them could wait.

At least this was true in theory. There would have to be flight tests, of course, but the failure of anything to critically go wrong had cheered him up to no end--the introduction of the new faces cheered him up even more.

"Hey again, guys!" He stuck a hand in the air, then turned he turned to the newly-arrived lady-types and re-enforced his hand with a wave, "Hi there!"

Take back the city (1-2)

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