Saints without sparks (Ch. 2: Day 7, pt. II)

Mie · Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 11:48 pm

Wall-eyed, and with a slightly bemused frown, she stared at her victim a moment, muttering under her breath, "Holy crap. An' here I thought I was just bein' a diversion."

At Rock's query, however, her attention moved to him, and for a moment's hesitation, Jam wondered how she could even begin to explain that she'd allowed her trump card to fall into enemy hands. In reality, it was only after a blink's pause that she grinned with an unwarranted haughtiness, and, wishing the implications were true, replied, "You oughta see the other guys."

Diluss · Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 11:52 pm

"Hrrrrgh," said Coop, "grrruuuugh."

One hand flopped out, and very slowly, the bird began to push against the ground, awkwardly rolling onto his side as he tried to get up.

"You…sss—stupid…" he mumbled incoherently, "gonna rip out… your…"

psikeout · Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 11:59 pm

"Zap him for me, wouldja?" said Rock hastily before launching into his phone call. (He knelt and plucked the grenade launcher up so that it wouldn't be... going off as a result.)

"Hey, it's Rock. We got our man—the big bomber guy. Can you call for a pickup out here to the chemical plant?"

Diluss · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 12:03 am

"Nnnn…" Coop groaned, "one of—fff—guhh."

He flopped down, and groaned again, much louder.

"Guh…" he croaked, "one of… ff… your contacts, huh?"

"…should have shot you again."

Mie · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 12:12 am

"Er--!"

An ephemeral wave of panic flashed across the reddish girl's face, as she cast a frantic look to the stirring fowl at her feet. After a split-second glance back to Rock to ensure he was sufficiently preoccupied with his call and confiscated weaponry, Jam launched herself high into the air with a powerful spring off both booted feet, dropping both knees as neatly as they'd fit onto Coop's temple.

While one could hope the chorus of whispered cussing to follow wouldn't garner much attention, the concurrent hopping and wincing likely would...

Diluss · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 12:15 am

Coop stopped where he was, and his face went slack. Very slowly, his eyes closed.

psikeout · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 12:26 am

"Yeah, chemical plant, it's—"

Rock turned abruptly and gave Jam a weird look over his shoulder.

"—it's easy to spot us. There's a lot of smoke and fire and crap."

With little more explanation, the very casual-sounding call ended and Rock stowed his phone. He then turned around... and started fiddling with the launcher, looking down its sights, etc.

"I wonder how hard it is to come across ammo for these," he mused quietly.

Mie · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 12:34 am

Steadying herself with a bitter grimace, Jam rose to a standing position, only the smallest facial twinge to betray her composure. Clearing her throat, she shrugged indifferently, and responded with a "Dunno," that sounded funny to her after the fact.

She didn't dwell on it. After leaning over for a brief respiration check to ascertain she hadn't snuffed their perp, the strawberry simian conversationally added, "I'm sure you know a guy. Or at least a guy who knows another guy."

psikeout · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 12:57 am

"Mm."

The white (or rather, purplish) primate eased back against a warped section of railing. As he cradled the grenade launcher in his hands, his head downcast, he thought for a moment.

"Wish I knew what this guy's deal was," he eventually commented. "He's got temper problems, but I don't think he's insane."

Mie · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 1:02 am

"Yeah," replied Jam absently, looking down at the eagle.

... And then came the record scratch and double-take wherein she looked at Rock like he was purple (which... produced its own second glances).

"What? I mean, yeah, sure, who doesn't, but need I bring up the bag girl?"

psikeout · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 1:09 am

"Y- ... yeah. Well, I mean," Rock mumbled and sought his point clumsily, "as far as I understood the story from her, that was... circumstantial. At least, the guy's not a weirdo or anything."

He rested the launcher back across his shoulder loosely as he continued.

"Maybe I'm empathizin' a little too much because'a ... personal experience," he observed, "but, sometimes people lash out at the government for a good reason, even if they get a little... carried away?"

The white simian looked over to the red one knowingly.

Mie · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 1:31 am

While the great bird's level of weirdness was under question, Jam politely directed her doubtful expression into the hazy sky. As the topic shifted to more significant musings however, she met Rock's eyes with an almost hesitant understanding before expelling a sigh and looking back to the eagle with a shake of her head, and a conceding, "Maybe."

Casually stepping over to stand next to the more-similarly-hued-than-usual simian, the still pinker of the pair added with a smirk, "Maybe in another life I could sympathize with his 'bird to the man' agenda, but I gotta draw the line with his 'you killing' agenda. That's a road block to bro-dom right there."

psikeout · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 5:29 pm

"Yeah," Rock conceded, but added, "he did think I was with... them, though."

His words coincided with a glance skyward. Humming turbine engines heralded the arrival of a smaller transport than expected. The unmarked vehicle was more like a hovering van (or in this case, paddy wagon) than a full-fledged transport. Its passenger door and a couple sliding doors whipped open, and four humans in black tactical gear launched to work, three with guns in hand, one applying a set of very heavy-duty metal restraints. They were definitely GUN operatives, make no mistake. While they chattered among themselves with routine-sounding mission-speak, they didn't have a single word to say to Rock or Jam, though, and barely so much as looked their direction. Within seconds, they hefted the big eagle inside.

Mie · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 5:34 pm

Similarly, Jam had about as much to say to the men in black as one normally has to say to the postman collecting a outbound package. Instead, she watched the former thorn in their sides get hauled away without sentiment, replying rather flatly to her company, "Oh. Yeah, I'd prolly wanna kill you, too."

psikeout · Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 2:11 am

The transport flew soundlessly into the night. Rock stood in quiet contemplation, Coop's grenade launcher in hand. He looked at it a moment, then began visually scanning the terrain, slowly turning and taking everything in with his eyes. His mind was already turning with something; following his line of sight showed that he was locked onto a smoldering hole in a nearby building. But, before moving on, he turned to Jam once more.

"I wanna take a look around before we move out," he explained as he stowed the launcher in his duffel bag. As soon as it was out of the way, he leaned forward and held a hand up to Jam's cheek, moving back some of her hair. He bore a hardened look of concern, probably because of her... rough appearance.

"If you don't feel up to it, though, I'd understand."

Saints without sparks (Ch. 2: Day 7, pt. II)

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