Put on (Ch. 2: Day 11, pt. II)

Sheff · Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 12:10 am

As the proceedings of the sudden appearance of the lanky doctor occurred, Sheffer's expression changed dramatically. At first, it was surprised, but soon fell into a deep resentment, his eyes looking as though he was attempting with much willpower to resist punching the person before him square in the jaw with considerable force. Already his fists were clenched, dangerous spikes of crystal jutting out around his hands.

"Be good idea to answer her, doc," he growled, taking an aggressive step forward. "Would just love to hear how you ended up down here."

NPC · Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 12:26 am

Eggman eyed Jam for a moment. Sheffer's comment changed the mood considerably, though, and a certain darkness covered the doctor's face, as sinister lines etched their way outward from his eyes and the corners of his increasingly grinning mouth.

"You're not going to play Sonic with me, child," he hissed, pointing the Laser Hunter arm boldly at the hedgehog. It hummed and whirred, vibrated and glowed, and generally looked like it was going to overload. "Do not think for a moment that I won't remind a cocky, insolent little hedgehog hero wannabe of that—even if it costs me my escape, and you your head. You just back off, and I'm sure we can all come to an accord." He tilted his head slowly, still grinning hugely. "I have something I'm sure you all want, anyway—something you'll have no chance of getting without my help."

Greens · Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 7:40 pm

"Gaaa-auh, d'th'f**k!" exclaimed the serval intelligently, caught off guard not by the sudden retaliation, but the sheer absurdity of the surrounding circumstances. Eggman's embarrassingly effective belly-flop was similar to a full-body tackle from nearly any other being on the planet, so it should have come as no surprise that it ended with Ace falling flat on his bum. But it did anyway.

"D'alright," he blurted, eager to wipe the proverbial egg off his face as he hurriedly stood himself up. "Well, then, go, f**kin' ahead and tell us then."

Mie · Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 9:23 pm

Though lax in her posture now, her arms had at some point folded themselves over her chest as she silently observed the progression of the situation with increasing scrutiny behind her terse gaze. What, precisely Jam thought of either Sheffer's intercession, or Eggman's unwillingness to take it went unsaid and unreadable to most people, but it was fleeting, regardless; a blip across her face, before her focus shifted succinctly to Ace with a shaking head.

"If he 'ad information he was just waiting to bestow on us, he'd've done it already," she said matter of factly with an air of trepidation to her tone. Her head dropped to one side as it swiveled toward the rotund captive. She fixed him with an appraising stare.

"What d'you want?"

psikeout · Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 10:25 pm

Rock remained on standby. He didn't need the feel to jump into the fray, although for whatever reason, he drew a little nearer to the action, watching a couple of his own brash teammates more distrustfully than Eggman.

NPC · Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 10:41 pm

"If I had information to 'bestow on' you, I'd bestow it when it was advantageous to me," he corrected chidingly, then straightened up with a breath. He still clutched the modified Hunter arm, but not quite as defensively. "A Chaosol Emerald is locked in that vault," he said with a casual gesture across the room. It was a silvery, rectangular, armored door so large that it might have been mistaken for a section of wall prior to his mention.

There were gunshots and explosions in the distant background, getting nearer, but Eggman kept speaking, unaffected.

"G.U.N. has had me at work for a while now. They want to replicate my portal technology," he further explained. "Of course, I've run into innumerable obstacles along the way to getting them what they want..." He grinned tellingly. "They have a much more dangerous project taking up all of their resources now, though; and if you want at it, I'll open the way for you. You just have to let me go."

Mie · Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 12:30 am

Jam thoughtfully listened to the good doctor's leverage and stipulations, but didn't speak for a moment or two upon his conclusion. Her palms cradled her elbows, as she lifted her gaze to the ceiling, crossed her legs at the ankles, and made every other outward physical cue of consideration culminating in a long, drawn out, "Hmmmm...."

When at last she looked back to Eggman, there was the smallest, most subtle of smirks playing at the corner of her mouth, yet her tone was perfectly flat and business-like when she spoke.

"So, let me get this straight," she began, pursing her lips briefly.

"You'll show us the big bad they've been trying to shoot the crap out of us over. And your only condition is that we 'let you go.'"

It wasn't a question; this was not the part she wanted clarified.

"But," she continued, her posture slacking, and her smirk becoming just a little more pronounced. Surreptitiously, her hand found her firearm grip once more in a gesture that was meant to be casual, but defied it in nature.

"The problem with that, is that you recognize us as a big enough threat that you need to bargain with us for your freedom."

Her gun raised, and the hammer clacked tellingly in one smooth motion as the muzzle was leveled right between the considerably taller human's eyes. "So how about we change the terms to, 'You show us, or we do what Sonic should've done a long time ago'? Then we'll talk about where you sleep tonight."

psikeout · Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 12:34 am

Rock had enough of hearing them talk. He unceremoniously stepped up, grabbed Jam's gun by its slide and barrel, wrenched it with the torque of a jet engine, and yanked to pull it away like he was seizing a toy from an unruly child, likely interrupting her spiel before she could say anything about what "Sonic should have done" as well.

"Shut up," he hissed. "Everybody just shut up. I'm running this %#$*in' show, and you agreed to that when you signed on. Settle down or I'll settle you all down myself. This isn't your call to make."

Sheff · Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 12:46 am

The green-hued hedgehog was mildly surprised at Rock's sudden interference, having been approving of Jam's own threats only moments before. He felt some shame as to the realization of how enforcing they were being, but some of them had their reasons (the image of his destroyed home still burned in his mind). He blinked once before regaining his composure, his anger ebbing off a bit, but he still held a irritated frown as he glanced back to the doctor.

"Alright..." he muttered, looking between the white monkey and the rotund doctor. "Alright, fine."

The steady cover of crystal broke from his hands, falling to the floor.

"If you want to go with his offer... sure, whatever. We've come too far to leave empty handed... Chances are he'll just get riddled with holes out there from the sounds of it." He nodded in the direction they had came, still looking a bit POed, but seeming to at least give Rock the leverage he wanted.

Even though it was against his wishes, he'd let the doctor go. They'd at least be getting an emerald out of the bargaining, and running into Eggman again seemed inevitable. He would only be another side trying to seek out the destructive stones, so paths were bound to cross again.

Greens · Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 1:06 am

"Wh-"

Ace had let out a groan-sigh at the good doctor's offer, as it was an obvious introduction to another heaping helping of Eggman-flavored BS. But he was taken aback when, of all people, Jam was the one who pointed her gun at his head.

The tone had gone from serious, to comical, to dead serious in about ten seconds, and Ace stood at attention with that furrowed, focused look about him he didn't often show.

NPC · Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 1:07 am

"When did the 'good guys' become such a nasty little bunch?" mused Eggman in the background of the dispute. "The quality of heroes has really gone down ever since Shadow..."

psikeout · Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 1:30 am

Rock motioned toward the vault door with Jam's gun without deliberation. "Open it," he said plainly. "We can verify whether or not you're tellin' the truth about the emerald in the meantime," he also added, with a glance toward Sheffer, AKA Mr. Radar.

"And our deal?" asked Eggman in response, grinning all the more.

"Done," replied Rock. "I don't play games and double cross. Just do it and go."

Without another word, the doctor plodded over to the console and started working his magic.

Rock meanwhile turned back to the others. He turned Jam's gun grip-upward and foisted it back into her possession once more.

"I know this ain't makin' me popular with anybody," he explained, caught between apologetic concern and exasperation, "but we don't have time for threats and drama, and if this is our lead, we can't pass it up. And even if this guy gets away, and we don't get squat..."

He glanced back over his shoulder at the doctor, then continued in a low voice.

"... we give the world its common enemy back. And better him than the people who've started poppin' up since he's been gone."

Speaking of which, the noise of the firefight had grown to the point where it sounded like it was just down the hall.

Sheff · Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 1:40 am

"Okay, you've made your point," grumbled the hedgehog, busy with digging into his side pocket again. "But I swear, if he's lying about that emerald..." Insert some half thought threat involving lots of rock and possible broken limbs.

Sheffer now held the radar once more in his hand, and already knowing that it'd call every robot that could possibly be in the vicinity right to that spot, he flicked the switch anyway. Sounded like they were awfully close in the first place.

He felt the jolt from before, his eyes glued to the screen, preparing to either relax and believe the doctor's claims or to lay down a heavy beating for false offers.

NPC · Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 1:44 am

Eggman would live to see the light of another day without pieces of crystal sticking out of his noggin (or elsewhere). Surprisingly, he was telling the truth. The radar indicated not only a Chaosol Emerald, but a regular Chaos Emerald, as well. In addition, there seemed to be innumerable smaller CE sources beyond the door. The screen showed them as rows, upon rows, upon rows of small signals—too many to fit on the screen.

Mie · Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 5:10 pm

Obvious though it was that she had much more to say, after a brief flicker of her eyes around the room, Jam rigidly reholstered her pistol with a jerky incline of her head, and a low, but bitingly clear, "Yes, sir."

With a deep breath through her nose, she turned on the spot, and marched back towards the door from which they'd come in, where she stood in wait, looking distant, but unemotive.

Put on (Ch. 2: Day 11, pt. II)

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