Bright Lights (Ch. 2: Day 1, pt. II)

Kazz · Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 8:29 pm

Murdoch cast a curious look at the bird, before he stood and took Rock's comment without a word of his own, barely concealing a smile that was decidedly self-satisfied-- the kind of smile that people would love to wipe off of the wearer's face.
His arms akimbo once more, he stood in place, and a thought crossed his mind-- he almost wished he would be able to face the monkey at some point in this little shindig. He had seemed to the marsupial, and the marsupial's intuition, to be a worthy opponent simply by the way he carried himself... or at the very least an entertaining opponent. There was something to be said for that.

"Yeh, it could 'hurt', birdy," he added after a second, turning his attentions to Ember for the time being. He even made little quotation marks in the air with his fingers. "Far be it from me t'stop yeh, though."

Maren · Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 9:13 pm

"Now... uh... don't mind me asking... but... how do you know who I am?"

"..."

Mary didn't say anything at first. She just stood there, mouth hung open trembling in a mix of shock and rage. Sheffer had just swiped the remaining crystals from off his hand, flinging more chunks of them them onto her shirt and needless to say, she was pissed. 'So much for avoiding anymore levels of awkward,' she thought miserably 'The boy himself was a walking anomaly, and in more ways than one!'. Was he stupid or something? Did he just not give a crap where he shed himself? And just how hard was that rock he was under anyway for him not to recognize she was from the news? Mary may have introduced herself, but that was more out of greeting than in assuming he was ignorant. After all, she was only on every weeknight at 8 for the special report, and on basic cable no less. Of course she'd know who he was darnit, that was part of her job!

And then..

"That yer girlfriend, Sheffer?" Mary heard a girl cut in from behind them. "She's cute."

Oh great. Savvy! More heroes were coming her way now! She looked like an idiot no thanks to that hedgehog shedding his stupid shards all over her shirt, and then as if it couldn't get any worse, they were all assuming she was bozo's girlfriend?

Mary sighed and looked down at her shard-covered shirt again. At least her jewlry collection would get considerably bigger this month. That actually would be kinda 'savvy', wouldn't it?

"Mmm-hmm." Mary muttered to herself aloud; smile forming and mood perking just a little as she unfastened the zipper to her purse. 'Yeah it would be.' She concluded deviously, removing the first shard from off her shirt. May as well get something out of it. She got free jewels to deal with these people, which more than could be said for the number co-workers she couldn't stand at her job.

Meanwhile, Sheffer must have interpreted her outward mumblings very differently, because then he started yelling. "She is NOT." She heard him bark at the griffin in protest, but by then she was hardly paying attention. Mary agreed dismissively, looking up at the girl and giving her a breif remark of "Yeah, what he said." before returning to picking larger chunks of his crystals off and then dumping them inside her glove compartment. By the time Jack drew close enough to talk to (and in an indoor voice unlike some people), Mary had just finished wiping off the the last bit of crystal from her shirt. She actually never remembered Jack asking her name in her preoccupation, but gave it anyway out of habitual introduction upon seeing someone new. "Name's Mary." She quipped, flashing a smile. "And you're Sheriff Jacqueline Clarke. Andy Clarke's girl, right?" she added.

Mie · Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 9:48 pm

"Not a lotta point," replied the reddish monkey with a sniff, as her attention turned to the mole, yet speaking loud enough for their nosy new company to glean the information he sought without directly interacting with him.

"Far's I'm concerned, if Rock can't do it, I sure's hell don't stand a snowball's chance."

After just enough of a pause for punctuation, Jam jerked her head in the aforementioned contender's direction, and amended as she began to dawdle after, "No sense in ruining two pretty faces just fer s**ts and giggles, y'know."

Sheff · Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 10:53 pm

In the absence of an actual answer to his question, Sheffer turned away from Jack, opening his mouth to speak to the lamb, but it immediately snapped shut.

Was... was she collecting his crystal?

Perplexed by the sight as he watched her pick the sizable pieces off her shirt and place them in her bag, he remained silent for a moment. Was the crystal that much of a value to her? Possibly, but he thought suddenly that those crystals could probably be a good amount of powder at any time. He truly didn't know what the stuff was made out of, nor its decomposition rate...

Should ask Henshin about that, he thought.

Returning his attention to the lamb, he immediately took off from what he was originally going to question.

"Um... excuse me?"he said, trying to gain the lamb's attention once more. "How did you recognize me? I mean, I'm not exactly celebrity status."

MuffinUnsane · Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 10:59 pm

"If you couldn't get hurt, where would the fun be? Besides, I've got nothing better to do!", replied Ember with a wonderfully carefree shrug.

Dragging an entry form towards her and snagging a pen from the desk, she proceeded to fill out the form gusto. Not really even bothering to read most of the boxes, she just checked them off. At the bottom, she signed her name with a flourish; making it all but readable. Sliding it over to the lady behind the desk.

"I have to say, I haven't had this much exicment in months!"

Kazz · Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2010 12:12 am

After tuning in carefully to what Jam had to say, but not showing his attention, Murdoch then looked at Ember with an expression that one might use when someone has a third arm growing out of their ear.

"... yeh.. you go an' do that, birdie."
He sounded something between amused and bemused, and at last, he looked to Ace and Caz. He pointed one finger at the mole:
"Don't figure you're gonna," he announced, not so much to her as at her, and moved his finger to Ace... or, rather, the papers in Ace's hand. "An' y'are. Great."

With that, Murdoch gave a big ol' grin that didn't quiiiite reach his eyes, which had a glint of scrutiny hiding behind what may have been lingering intoxication (unless his fur just naturally smelled like cheap beer, it had to come from somewhere!).

Maren · Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2010 12:48 am

"Huh?"

Mary quirked her brow a moment as the hedgehog butt in mid conversation with Jack to repeat his question. 'Wow, rude much?' She thought dryly, Didn't his mother ever teach him to wait his turn, but shrugged her uneasiness off when she realized it could just be her ticket out of there. 'Either I'm an idiot, or something else from those crystals is startin' to rub on me.' Her mind debated. Because why else hadn't she thought of the tactic sooner?

Her puzzled expression quickly transformed to one of bemusement. "Well why wouldn't I know who you are?" She retorted, grinning "I'm a reporter. Knowing these kindsa things is part of what I do for a living, Sheffer." Said Mary, though in reality, that really wasn't the case. She was a reporter on the news, that part was true alright, but her job mostly involved her just being a daredevil; relaying and getting involved with the more dangerous coverage to boost the news company ratings. The big-wigs rarely ever let Mary do the more traditional responsibilities like interviews unless they thought somehow it could garuntee ratings and accumulate a profit. Usually that bit got handed to the veterans of the business who had more experience, which was fine by her. The task was boring anyway, and Mary got along just as easily through getting her info from colleagues, so maybe the statement really wasn't a lie. Either way, it'd be more than enough to shut Sheffer up, which was what it was she wanted. Because If there was anything Mary knew about about heroes -- or even most celebrities, it was that they steered clear the hell away from the press to preserve their privacy. By now, she presumed the hedgehog and Griffon were worrying knots over whether or not she'd badger them for interviews and were already looking for ways to wrap up and beeline it out of there.

Sheff · Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2010 1:15 am

Sheffer seemed somewhat surprised at that answer.

"Huh, didn't know I made the news," he began, scratching the back of his neck. "The last time I actually checked up on it, all it was covering was the emerald going nuclear back in Yellow Desert. Didn't know I had any significance in that..." He then gave a indifferent shrug. "Guess that's pretty neat. Never been on TV before."

"So, uh, I'll just take a wild guess that you're here to cover the tournament?" asked the hedgehog with a bit of sarcasm, not minding starting a conversation. Wasn't like he was in a rush. (He'd already noticed Henshin taking care of the paperwork.)

Maren · Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2010 3:10 am

Mary had an even better question. Why was he still there? Maybe Sheffer was just trying to be polite, she reasoned and decidied two could play that game. She didn't have to like him or any of the other bozos who entered the tournament, but civil and professional she could be -- sometimes. Patience wasn't her strongest point, but Mary would try to survive the conversation long enough to end it. With any luck, they'd be out each other's hair, quills and crystals in no time, their only other conversation come the match she'd slam his face in.

Mary chuckled at the thought of that. "You really oughta tune in more to your tube, Sheff." She said aloud, instead. "'Cause how do you expect to stay a hero when you're not lookin' at the stuff goin' on around ya?" Not that Mary she had a problem with those kinds of people, but suddenly the lamb grew curious as to why he became a hero or hung with these other jokers at all when he didn't appear to care nearly as much for people like they did. "If you took the time to actually watch your world a bit more, you'da known the answer to what you're askin' me, already." She went on. "I'm part of Channel 5's special report," Mary explained. "And on the special report we don't just stand around lookin' pretty to give stories, we risk our lives just like you to become apart of it. I'm coverin' this tourney AND joinin' the matches, so here's hopin' you're a good enough challenge for me to do so much as dance with."

Greens · Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2010 2:09 pm

"Mmmm..." Caz conceded to Jam's point, and dragged another finger through her head while she formed her thoughts. She glanced to the monkey in question, strolling his way out of their general area in a manner she could only describe as 'solid'. Her lungs drew a deep breath, and her tongue clicked.

"Yeeeaahhh," she conceded.

"...Oookay! Add another poor schmuck to the list."

And with that, the cat's form was plopped freely onto the counter, and he spun around to find a grand total of three lovely ladies. His arms opened with a smirk. "Let's go gamble our worries away."

Rachel · Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2010 5:09 pm

Mary had caught Jack off guard, she never expected the girl to know who she was, Jack tilted her head back and scratched it thinking, then the girl mentioned she was a reporter.

"Oh yey the news," she said in a deadpan, her eyes narrowing on Sheffer after his comment. "Just sucha shame Yellow Desert hadda get leveled fer you ta get some fame." She snapped, venom was in every word. Such a nonchalant attitude towards the incident quite obviously ruffled the griffins feathers.

Jack tipped her hat to Mary a turned away to see if they could leave yet. She made her way up behind Mako, putting a hand on his shoulder to relax the clearly stressed out fish. "Relax, you'll be fine. Doc, we all set yet? It's gettin' a mite crowded here."

Kazz · Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2010 1:47 pm

Mako, meanwhile, was babbling incoherently as Jack came up behind him, obviously having a great deal of distress over the turn of events the moth had set him up for.

"But-- I-- wha--"
It all ended with a great, big, "I DON'T WANNA DIE!!" right before Jack laid a hand on his shoulder.

Several employees turned to look at him with cocked eyebrows.
He hyperventilated a bit, twitched his eye a few times, then turned to regard the Sheriff. "... yeah, let's go," he said in a small voice, staring into the distance, images of a hundred grievous injuries flashing through his mind.

He trudged over to Sheffer, and tugged on his arm as if to wordlessly say c'mon, seeming totally oblivious to the lamb's existance.

psikeout · Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2010 2:24 pm

"All finished!" Dr. Henshin happily chirped in a withered, airy old voice, utterly unaffected by Mako's misery as he tucked his fancy pen away (the notion of handling public pens sent a chill down his spine, you see) and and flitted away from the queue.

"Let's get on that monorail and get to our rooms!" he urged excitedly as he dropped back onto his self-propelled luggage, and went cruising ahead. "And hurry! Judging by my fiber intake today, I should have a scheduled movement in fifteen minutes, and I don't want to miss it."

TMI.

Maren · Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 4:03 am

One of Mary's brows lit up in suspicion. Strange how Sheriff Jack barely even reffered to her, yet whipped around instead to shoot Sheffer the nastiest of looks. She snipped some interesting jive his way, something about him and Yellow Desert being leveled shortly before "politely" tipping her hat to the lamb and leaving. That might have left one less hero to pick at her nerves, and maybe she should have felt good about that, but the inner reporter in her started to nag at her that something wasn't right.

Because as far as Mary or anyone knew, Yellow Desert was swanked and trashed by Eggman, so how was Sheffer so important to that? The guy was no Sonic the Hedgehog, or even publicized to the extent as most of the others, but had been reknown enough in his own right before then, whether the two of them had a clue about that or not. Meaning, Jack was either just bitter about her hometown getting trashed, or had something underneath that venomous mouth of hers that implied more than just the press report. It sounded to Mary like the latter, that Sheffer had something to do with it, but couldn't get past why he hadn't been arrested yet if the sheriff knew what it was. Did he have the kinds of connections Vince alledgedly had? No, she deduced, Jack wouldn't have been nearly as friendly with him a minute ago if it were that simple -- though that raised more questions. Why was Jack nice to him at all if she were so sensitive over what had happened? What was their relationship, anyway? Curiouser and curiouser, Mary got no closer to learning a thing, which only heated her frustration. She didn't even have the chance to ask Sheffer, when no sooner had she opened her mouth did someone grab his arm to tug him away.

"What're you-- Wait, hey! HEY!" The lamb exclaimed loudly as a blue and silver shark trudged over towards the two and walked off with him. Leaving was one thing, and something she she might have embraced under normal circumstances, but turning their backs to her like she didn't exist at all and without warning was beyond disrespectful and not something she intended to take lightly. Mary didn't give a damn who these people were, or how many times they saved the world, if they thought that warranted her to tolerate bull%#*$ from them, they had another thing coming.

Bright Lights (Ch. 2: Day 1, pt. II)

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