Must be a hundred and nine (1-3)

Diluss · Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2010 8:02 pm

"It's really no wonder nobody's heard from your friend in so long."

Tails looked as if he might be about to say something when Jam exploded. During her tirade, he looked at her, and then Rock, and then at the diner for a moment, and then looked back. She finished. For a moment he stared at her, slightly stunned with that kind of sheepish, wide-eyed shock that children caught in the presence of extreme rage tend to adopt when the rage is also matched by language—a kind of cross between the deer in the headlights reaction and the appalled shock they suffer at the sudden violation of all their naive conversational standards.

Then Jam apologized, which which eased the situation considerably.

"Oh, that's ok," Tails said, magnanimously, and all was forgotten. Equilibrium with his internal standards was reached once again.

"I knew you didn't mean me," he went on, to reassure her.

He turned to see Ace off for the time being with a wave, and then stopped in the middle of another thought.

"Hey, where do you live here?" He addressed the two simian members of the party.

Sheff · Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2010 8:33 pm

"Name's Sheffer," said the hedgehog to no one in particular, just following the pattern of introductions. The group at the table had increased in number fast, space being a little cramped with all the bodies, plus appendages of people (Mako's tail) and their objects (Sheffer's board). He would have been suited with sitting with just Hoji, but he guessed everyone wanted to stick together.

As he waited for his food, Sheffer looked over to the griffin, bringing up something he hadn't bothered asking earlier.

"So, Sheriff... where exactly are we? I have a general idea, but any specifics?" he questioned. "And pointing me to the nearest map after we're done here would be nice too. Don't think I find the desert too homey."

psikeout · Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2010 9:51 pm

Rock accepted the card with a smile and a nod. It was almost awkward, because, to be frank, he wasn't used to... friendly interactions with strangers (and that trend had little to do with Jack or anybody else—It was just a recurring thing with a guy like Rock).

"... Thanks," he said kind of flatly, with a blink.

He looked down at the tickets and wondered to himself if he'd actually use them. By the time he snapped out of stupor of it all, Toby was probably about to depart them.

The simian raised a hand in a "wait" gesture. "Oh, hey, uh. By the way. Thanks. I mean, to you, too, for back there. You did good." He didn't sound like he gave compliments often. Maybe that made it more sincere. "And sorry about your, uh... face. That was me."

And so, with Toby and Ace sent off for free food, and most everybody else in the diner for the same thing, the crowd had thinned out to Rock, Jam, Tails, and possibly Knuckles, if he was still lurking about. Well, the "crowd" of people involved in the adventure mess, anyway—There were still plenty of other people, including a news crew and rescue workers, going about their business.

"I actually haven't been there in months," Rock answered almost kind of sheepishly. "It's just some cheap property I got at government auction, east of here, down around the foot of Pumpkin Hill..."

So that's why Rock ain't scared of no ghost, so to speak—And why he was able to so easily afford to be a landowner, and not even use said land.

Mie · Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2010 11:20 pm

Maybe it was the release of getting such a great injustice off her chest (and so therapeutically, too), or perhaps it had to do the brief moment of time in which no one really addressed her, and the simmering simian had had the chance to cool down, or even still, it could have just been Rock's gentle pat that acted as a subtle tug on her behavioral leash... Regardless of whatever played the part of Jam's personal fire extinguisher, by the time Toby had strolled on over she seemed to be in better spirits, and was able to better appreciate his gesture.

The punch red primate smirked amicably, and sent him off with thanks and a wave (as well as her own small apology for trying to catch him), before the reply to Tails' perfectly innocuous query piqued her interest, and provided a much-needed distraction from fire and brimstone and Chaosol Emeralds.

"I thought you said you were selling it," she half-asked, the slightest hint of amused disbelief to her tone.

Fluttering all ten fingers in front of her chin, she added jestingly, with raised eyebrows and through a poorly veiled grin, "Think the ghosts've raided your freezer while you've been away?"

Evidently, she was never entirely convinced of the decidedly peculiar pest problems he'd written home about..

psikeout · Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2010 11:25 pm

"... You're honestly questioning this after the day we just had," Rock muttered in total deadpan.

Greens · Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 12:47 am

If Jam had been looking up as Rock said that, she may have noticed a red, dreadlocked figure soaring over his head, and off into the horizon.

Rachel · Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 3:28 pm

[]SORRY! I forgot to answer Sheff![]

"Howdy! Howdy! Howdy!" The CT Said, leaning over the back of the booth, hanging over it between Hoji and Ace. "Nice ta meet'cha!" He added, looking over at Sheff, his cheerfulness seemed to have no bottom now that they where no longer considered 'suspects'. "Do you race too?! Duuude! Did you see Toby's last race? He was all like WOOOSH, and the other guys where like O-M-G he's fast! You should stick with'im he's gonna go pro in no time, he was voted most likely by my fansit-er..a site I frequent."

"Well, We're in the smack middle of the Yell'er Desert. 'Case the yella sand wasn't a give away." She said with a bit of a chuckle. "It's 'bout 100 miles in any direction from anythin' else worth while on South Island. Does that help ya out?"

Jack removed her hat, setting it on the table, without the hat, a stubborn bang fell directly in her face as she turned to address the group. "Right, well it is nice to meet all ya'll. Now lets start at the begining. I'm gonna go on a limb as sayyy, this 'bout started when the robots up and slithered outta the sand and dragged themselves off somewheres, right? An' I know the story ends with yall doin' somethin' inna valcano that spilled out inta the square through some crazy portal. Now, can ya'll fill in between Point A and Point C 'ere?"

Diluss · Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 9:29 pm

At that point a barely audible breath of air whispered down from the 'bove. Tails looked up in time to see Knuckles disappearing from sight.

"—Oh," he said, slightly disappointed, after a few seconds.

He turned his attention to Rock and Jam again.

"Pumpkin Hill..." Tails pondered. A few quiet seconds passed while he dredged his memory for information about the place.

"Yeah," he said, "Pumpkin hill is up by an old part of the Sky Rail. It used to be a station before it was abandoned."

He squidged his face up, "Knuckles went there once when he went looking for the Master Emerald; he said there were all kindsa' ghosts up there. Maybe that's why the Sky Rail company left it."

David · Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 10:40 pm

Toby threw one last wave back to the group, tossing a quick "See ya later, little dude!" as he passed by Tails. With that, he was truckin' his way to the diner. It was time to get some food and medical care. The boy tried to recount how many times he'd had those desires simultaneously in the past. The result was... actually a lot higher than it should've been.

Toby yawned as he tugged on the diner door, fighting the urge to transition into a full-body stretch for fear of agitating his burn. The tiny bell on the door frame rung as the kangaroo rat stepped inside the homey eatery. It looked like his kind of place; small businesses almost always treated you like you were a human being rather than just a customer.

"You with them, honey? Can I getcha' somethin' ta drink?" The voice called out from behind the counter, with a head gesture towards the group he was looking for.

"Oh! Yeah, actually. A lemonade would be righteous." The two chao still fluttering behind the boy almost immediately shot towards the table, working together to pull themselves a chair up next to Ace.

"Zi bubu mi!! Oooh!" The first little guy patted at the menu on the table, trying to figure the strange contraption out.

The second of the blobular duo looked up at ace, his face tilting to one side. "Ah, ta tuba eji? Mmm?"

"...And a couple'a fruit punches for those two?"

"Comin' right up sweetie." The woman grabbed a couple fo cups and headed to the soda fountain nearby.

"Thanks!" Toby waved to the woman, and made his way over to the table. Before he could enjoy stuffing his face, Cotton had to take care of the more pressing matter of getting his injuries taken care of. "Hey, bud. Thanks for taking care of my board." Toby set his sights on Target. "Think you can fix me up real quick?"

psikeout · Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 11:33 pm

"Somethin' like that," answered Rock. "I'm pretty sure it isn't dead people or anything, just... a phenomenon. You learn how to deal with'em like any other pest."

Their idle chatter was winding down, and Rock was still hungry, tired, and ready to move on. It occurred to him that Tails was probably in the same state, but...

"... I was gonna say you guys are welcome to stop by for the night, but, it looks like, uh, Knuckles is kinda... movin' on without you."

He pointed in the direction the echidna was gliding off to, and added, "Offer still stands if you need it!"

Greens · Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 3:41 pm

Two seconds later, and the bar-- the diner, suddenly seemed a lot more crowded than it was a bit ago. Not to say this was necessarily a bad thing, but Ace didn't seem to enjoy the assembly as much as he could have.

Toby counted as a three-parter, considering his chao was always with him, and now his chao were two (though he at least offered a half-hearted "Hey" to the one in his face). The sheriff still wasn't anywhere near being considered a friend as much as a ticket to free food (and maybe shelter, if he played his cards right). Not to mention the sparky CT (which he promptly... ignored). And all this topped by an overwhelming desire for one more smoke, that he was forced to overlook.

There were things on his mind besides that as well, but for the most part, the cat tried focusing his attentions on the hockey game shown on the mini-TV in the corner. (Hockey? Really?) But when push came to shove, he had no choice but to answer the griffin's question. "Alright," he conceded, and finished rubbing his brow.

"You know that Eggman guy? Well he's got all kinds of crazy technology. Stuff like... telephones, and uh, horseless carriages, an' s**t like that. So we invade his underground lair, and he whips out a portal that dumps us all in this quaint little town here. That's our story."

Seafarinhare · Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 4:25 pm

Hoji nodded to the return compliment the alley cat gave with a smile, and sat back. He shrugged at the comment about coffee at this hour.

"What can I say? Villainy doesn't sleep... so neither can I." Wouldn't want to tone the camp down too much.

Then came the tale of the portal-people's journey pre-portal. He canted his head, putting his arm up to rest on the back of his booth seat. "That's the shortened version, I take it. I don't suppose that telephones and horseless carriages are the reason you invaded." He asked with a coy grin.

Rachel · Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 6:47 pm

"Sure thing buddy!" Target jumped out of his seat and opened the first aid kit.

"Target, get away from there before you hurt the poor boy." The griffin said as she slid from her seat and approached.

"But... I can do ittt." He whined.

"Alright then, How do you treat a headache?" She quizzed him crossing her arms.

"Pleeezzze. That's easy, With a head wrap!" He said, pulling a ball of gauze from the kit.

"BZZT. Wrong answer thar partner." With his defeat Target stepped aside and let the Sheriff handle fixing up the beaten up rodent. First things first, she pulled out a box of antibacterial wipes, and used them to clean up the boys wounds, and wash off the blood in his fur. "You certainly went threw hell'en back, er'those burns?

"An' Ace, like the playin' card, right? That was more'ah an insult ta my intelligence then an answer, so can some else tell me what really happened?"

Kazz · Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 8:41 pm

Mako chuckled nervously as he looked around at the... interesting seating arrangements. "Actually, I kind of want to know what happened 'fore I got busted out," the shark admitted with a shrug, "in more than ten words."

Diluss · Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 9:28 pm

"Thanks, heheh, but..." Tails looked over to the diner where everyone was, "I think I'll go get something to eat with the others, 'n just, you know," he shrugged, "watch the Emerald in case something strange happens."

"Do you have an address, though?"

Must be a hundred and nine (1-3)

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