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darksidevoid Anti-Gnosis Weapon from The Frontiers (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Robosexual
Anti-Gnosis Weapon
#276: Nov 9th 2023 at 5:22:54 AM

Central Park, East 60th

And so, the vagabond hero and the animals were gone, leaving only the hapless, dazed and bewildered police in their wake. But wait...

The glass storefront where the skeleton man had arrived earlier rippled again, then returned to its original state, leaving no indication he'd been there at all.


Southern Manhattan, Urban Outfitters

Skeletor sighed as he stepped back into the dressing room and cut off the connection to the portal he'd just used, then dispelled his stealth magic.

   "What a disappointment,"    he groused, crossing his arms and tapping his foot as he glowered at the dressing room's mirrors. If he still had facial features other than a skull, they would be fixed into a furious scowl right about now. Not only had the recruitment of the wolf turned out to be a bust, but yet another random hero had crawled out of the woodwork! They infested the city like flies on dung! If those lawmen hadn't still had use in the sense that they were doubtlessly going to hunt down the smart-aleck man and the two women he'd rescued from their shootout, he would have destroyed them where they stood, just to vent his frustration.

   "NYEH!"    he spat, pulling out the phone he'd stolen and looking through the new emergency and news alerts that had spawned while he was busy. The purple girl's pursuers still hadn't appeared, and unlike he'd planned, he was without a pawn to throw at the gaggle of superheroes in Opportunity. Which left—

Giant, Fire-Breathing Turtle Annihilating Brooklyn!

   "Myahaaa..."    he breathed, putting a hand to his chin.


Brooklyn, Streets of Rage

A purple-cloaked, skull-faced man carrying a long staff with a ram's head at the end, who looked all the world like an evil barbarian, emerged from one of the few intact glass windows on the street near Bowser.

   "You there, evil turtle creature! You have an appetite for destruction, yessss? Why not put it to more fruitful use? Together, we can do more than obliterate this single, partly neighborhood! Soon, this very planet will be ours to conquer!"    he boomed, gesticulating dramatically as he stared fearlessly up (and up and up) at the much taller Koopa King, then extended his free arm as if for a handshake.

Edited by darksidevoid on Nov 9th 2023 at 6:31:26 AM

GM: AGOG S4 & F/WC RP; Co-GM: TABA, SOTR, UUA RP; Sub-GM: TTS RP. I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new Empire.
Dezmo Since: Jan, 2011
#277: Nov 9th 2023 at 3:03:28 PM

Coco Bandicoot-East Brooklyn-Tell Tale Tail

Coco watched from atop the subway train car as her mark exited the vehicle and disappeared into the shadows.

Because this was an above ground station, Coco decided she wasnt gonna push her luck by jumping directly into the crowd (because let's face it, she was incredibly lucky noone had bothered freaking out about her as it was. New Yorkers, huh), and nstead slid off the the top of the train opposite the landing platform. From there, she then snuck around behind the back of the train and onto the sidewalk.

Now, to recapture the thief's scent trail...

Euughhh. I feel like my nose needs a shower.. Coco had to curse and praise her sensitive nose in equal measure-on one hand, it was picking up every scent the city had to offer, including the not-so-pleasant ones (Which in a city like NYC, was pretty much most of the smells). On the other hand, one of those scents was undeniably the thief's. It was a good thing that this purple-skinned mystery lady was wearing so much fancy perfume. It really stood out in this part of the city.

She followed that floral, perfumey scent right to the front door of a nearby pizza joint. Alright! Their target was in there. She couldnt see the thief up front at a table, so she'd probably gone to hide in a bathroom or something.

Now, how to approach them? Based on her skin tone and her theft of the Crystal of Serefina, the thief was probably psychic. Who knows what they could do if pressed, especially with the crystal potentially boosting their powers. And that was if the thief was even hostile at all.

It'd be foolish to go in without backup, at least.

Taking her tablet out, Coco checked her track me app to see where Crash and Tawna currently were. Seeing their positions quickly moving towards her, Coco nodded, and resolved to wait just a little longer. Only a little bit, though. Coco didn't want to risk the thief getting away, afterall.

Speaking of the rest of Team Bandicoot, let's catch up with them, shall we?

The Rest of Team Bandicoot-Brooklyn is Burning

Once Arachno's collective butts were well and truly whooped, and the museum and it's patrons were safe, Crash, Tawna and Aku-Aku didn't bother sticking around for very long. Seeing Coco's text message-"For someone so smart, her text speech is still pretty bad"-Crash started up Coco's custom built track me app. It seemed she was moving towards Brooklyn's east side at speed, so Team Bandicoot decided that that's where they were heading next.

Hooking one arm around Crash to hold him close to her, Tawna then used the other arm to swing her grappling hook to the nearest rooftop. She gave the rope a quick tug, and then the two flew off into the city, Aku Aku floating after them.

Tawna swung them expertly through the busy streets of Brooklyn, like some sort of fantastical arachnid-woman. With the city blurring by, the wind whistling through their hair and the closeness between them, it was actually kind of romantic.

And then some giant turtle had to ruin the mood by breathing a plume of fire straight into the air. Rude!

"WOAH" both Bandicoots shouted in unison as they narrowly skirted around the jet of fire that had suddenly interrupted their route. Lowering them to the ground, Crash and Tawna turned around to take in the sight of the giant Turtle responsible for nearly frying them, talking to a skeleton faced man.

"You really can't go 5 feet in this city without tripping over some wanna be bad guy just waiting to be trounced, huh" Tawna commented, a little excitedly. "Now this place is more our speed."

Crash nodded his agreement with an enthusiastic "Uh huh!"

What could they say, they liked action.

"So, any idea what we're looking at here, Aku? Mutants like us, aliens, something else?"

Aku gave a thoughtful hum as he listened to the Skeleton-faced man declare his intent to Team up with big turtleman. "I do not sense the same mutagen flowing through their systems that does yours, no. I know not their origins, but I can sense powerful magics from both beings. They can not be allowed to continue wreaking havoc in this fair city."

"True" Tawna agreed, silently apologizing to Coco. She was a smart girl, she wouldn't put get herself into too much trouble, Tawna hoped. She could manage trailing one target while they took the time to stop these bozos.

Back to the matter at hand.

"Honey, if you'd get their attention?"

Crash nodded, a mischievous grin overtaking his snout, and plucked from his pocket a Wumpa Fruit, fresh and bursting with juice. Taking aim aim directly at the Turtle's face, he reared back and pitched the fruit forward with all his might.

Edited by Dezmo on Nov 9th 2023 at 5:59:11 AM

Darkomega245 Since: May, 2012
#278: Nov 9th 2023 at 4:18:06 PM

???- East Brooklyn

Hidden somewhere and out of sight via psychic invisibility, the Night Widows had finally cornered their target, and it seems like the Crystal of Serafina will be in the hands of their organization soon.

Still, one of the furry assailants who crippled their efforts was around it seems....and seems like they were tracking the thief. Perhaps they can use this confusion these two would have meeting each other to take down two birds with one stone....

Scream- East Village
After a few minutes of leaping through buildings and Rivet following along, Scream would hit the jackpot as she found what they were looking for. In a rundown part of the neighborhood was a worn down and graffitied warehouse that had clear signs of being abandoned.

Turning to face Rivet (for all that bulky looking armor, she can keep up with a symbiote!), she would point a clawed finger towards the building.

"Think I slept there a month or two back. Rather dusty, and a bit too dark in the night, but otherwise got plently of space to walk around and a garage. Wanna check it out?"

Enirboreh AKA Nixer from the domain of infinite floof. Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
AKA Nixer
#279: Nov 9th 2023 at 7:39:07 PM

Rivet: East Village

Rivet didn't remark on Scream's method of movement, but she definitely took note of it. While Scream used tendrils to pull herself along and leap from building to building, Rivet nonchalantly activated her hoverboots and began pumping her way after Scream with a thruster-assisted leap; soaring through the air before quickly following suit in rooftop-hopping behind the symbiote. She even got some hangtime with a couple of calculated jumps, pulling off a few tricks on occasion and even grinding along power lines at certain points along the way. It wasn't the most discreet way of getting around, but it definitely looked fun.

Once they had reached the more dilapidated and abandoned part of town, Rivet hit the brakes and cut the power to her hoverboots, skidding to a stop as her armour smoothly retracted back into her telestorage with a holographic shimmer. She shifted into a casual jog to catch up with Scream, before standing beside the symbiote and ogling the old warehouse with a curious look on her face. A smile eventually pulled at her lips, and she turned and nodded happily to Scream with a sense of approval and excitement in her eyes.

"This is exactly what I had in mind. A few touch-ups; some guns, gadgets, and gizmos around the place... it'd basically be just like home. Looks pret-ty cozy too, even now... hmm..." she mused, hopping up towards an empty window frame and vaulting inside; her voice echoing as she called out to Scream from within the warehouse. "O-kay, yup! Super dark in here! You slept in this place- AGH!! TETRAMITES!!"

There was a sudden, loud series of explosive bangs, and if Scream entered the warehouse to see what was going on, she'd spot a freaked-out Rivet clutching an oversized, clearly futuristic shotgun weapon that she'd apparently just been blasting at a swarm of... cockroaches.

Which seemed like a bit of an overreaction but she'd probably just mistaken them for something much, much worse from her previous experiences.

Edited by Enirboreh on Nov 9th 2023 at 3:41:17 PM

bork
Darkomega245 Since: May, 2012
#280: Nov 10th 2023 at 12:14:50 AM

Scream- East Village

Well, seems like they did indeed hit the jackpot! ....Though Scream's blank white eyes widened as she heard loud sounds of Rivet's screams and explosions, and while Andi was glad they weren't the type of loud sounds that harms the symbiote, considering she and her symbiote hadn't fallen to the ground writhing in agony, it still made her wonder what the heck happened to cause...whatever was going down there.

Tetramites?

Hm! Seems like she's not a fan of whatever those are.

Scream followed suit and vaulted the window to get in and be able to get context what was going on...and once she saw what Rivet had fired at, she got a few ideas what caused this whole mess.

Even other aliens can agree that cockroaches are the absolute worst. Somehow I feel at peace knowing that small comfort.

But the little things can be somewhat decent replacement food due to the nutrients they have!

...Except for you symbiotes, I guess. Y'all are just built different, to put it politely.

Scream raised a clawed hand as if telling Rivet to calm down, but one could tell that even with that monstrous face of hers that she was definetely amused by what caused this and holding back from laughing. "Pfffft. I think a few humans would definetely vouch for you trying to exterminate them like that, but don't go wasting all your ammo at once. They're just cockroaches. Harmless, but the humans in this planet considers them ugly and disgusting pests...especially the flying ones." She crossed her arms, looking around the warehouse's inside. Already she got memories of the symbiote and her huddled together in one of the rooms here, Scream using its biomass as a blanket for her to be covered in.

"And yeah, I did slept in here. Not the cleanest, or accomodating place, but not like I have much choice with my current situation."

Enirboreh AKA Nixer from the domain of infinite floof. Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
AKA Nixer
#281: Nov 10th 2023 at 6:00:21 AM

Rivet: East Village

"...Oh..." Rivet flushed, which was barely visible as a pink-ish glow from beneath her fur. The shotgun vanished in a shimmer, as the lombax sheepishly scratched the back of her neck in realisation of how much she'd overreacted. "Harmless, right. Whoops! G-Good thing I took care of... I was... uh, pest control! Ugh, anyways..."

She shook it off, letting out a disgusted noise and shivering upon looking at the gooey remains of the so-called cockroaches, before averting her gaze and glancing back towards Scream instead. So the people here were called 'humans', which was useful information. Not mutant Markazians like Rivet had first assumed them to be. Filing this information away for later, she nodded and began poking around the place to familiarise herself with the building—mentally mapping out where she'd put everything she'd need in this space.

"Eh, it's fine. I grew up in a garage. Wasn't a day where I wasn't covered in grease! I don't mind a little dust or grime. It'll wash off," she shrugged, though she still made sure to brush off a few surfaces before looking too closely at them. "Plus, I think I can still access some emergency vendors for cleaning tools... even long-distance. It's that, or I figure out which galaxy is closest and subscribe to their local megacorp..."

She didn't seem to be too enthusiastic about this idea, but she pulled out her PDA regardless and started retuning it to the nearest galaxy to the one she was in. Bogon. Ugh. She visibly grimaced as she reprogrammed the PDA to hook up to Megacorp's inventories, resigning herself to associating with her least-favourite corrupt tech corporation. She could at least bounce off of their network to hook up a connection with the Resistance's inventory, but using Megacorp as an intermediary just left a bad taste in her mouth.

"...Screw it! Here's a Suck-o-Matic," she sighed, pausing to glare at Scream preemptively. "Blame Megacorp for that name, not me. It was cheap. Just a basic nuclear vacuum cleaner. Should get the job done."

The newly-purchased Suck-o-Matic—which definitely wasn't just a rebranded knock-off of the Gadgetron Suck Cannon—beamed into Rivet's hand with a shimmer, and the cheesy Megacorp 'new purchase!' fanfare played in the background over exceedingly bitcrushed audio. Rivet just rolled her eyes, racked the... slide (of the vacuum cleaner) and turned it towards the scrap and dust in the warehouse before pulling the trigger.

"Okay, here we go!"

A powerful vortex of wind was formed as the device began whirling, sucking everything up that could fit in its maw with tremendous force. With each lump of junk that flew into the end of the cannon, there was a loud grinding sound that suggested that it was destroying everything that was caught in its wake. Soon, the inside of the warehouse—excluding Scream, thankfully, who Rivet had kept her back facing towards to avoid any accidents—was entirely free of junk, leaving it... well, free of junk. It wasn't exactly spotless, but the dust and grime had gone, leaving the warehouse as a slightly cleaner dilapidated wreck.

"Whew! That was fun!" Rivet chirped, lifting the Suck-o-Matic up with a prideful grin on her face. She would've kissed it if it wasn't so disgusting. Plus, it was still a Megacorp product, so that didn't give it any favours. "That was on low settings, by the way. Megacorp's uh... not too concerned with customer safety compared to other corporations. Which is... saying a lot. You could say they suck, but that'd be obvious."

bork
FergardStratoavis A Fluff Ringer from Bellveins (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: A gay little love melody
A Fluff Ringer
#282: Nov 10th 2023 at 7:15:20 AM

Belial On A Smoke Break, Alphabet City

Curious. The tortoises didn't want to admit to being mutants/magic creatures/whatever it was that they were, instead claiming they wore costumes to the red-headed kid with swirly goggles. The why of it, Belial didn't know - but even the fanciest costume couldn't just hide your limbs like what happened with the orange tortoise and the late Tonka Tim. Oh well. They could keep their secrets.

   "It's of no consequence to me."    He shrugged when Wuya mentioned her skills.    "It really might just be some gnats too big for their big tacky coats, thinking they're big shots by raiding this dinky store over there."    He prodded the downed Bluehair with his boot like it was something disgusting.    "Although that would make for a terribly big anticlimax."   

While Jack was busy with the tortoises, Belial offered another cigarette to the redhaired witch with a flick of the pack, making one "IRON LUNG DELUXE" slip out an inch.    "Now, what's a self-respecting Wicked Witch of the East doing in this little cul-de-sac?"   

Darkomega245 Since: May, 2012
#283: Nov 10th 2023 at 12:42:21 PM

Scream- East Village

"Suck-o-Matic? Well, when corpos main concern is making money and only making money, their creativity kinda goes to the dump due to that." When the Suck-O-whatever manifested out of thin air into Rivet's hands, she expected it to work as a slighty more powerful vacuum, and not as...well, whatever she just witnessed.

"Holy-" Scream definetely did not expect it to be a WMD Vacuum edition that's for certain, her blank white eyes as wide as saucers seeing it at work. Andi was just thankful both her and the symbiote didn't ended up being sucked into it, because boy, that would had been awkward as hell.

"Glad my hair and...well, my everything didn't got sucked in. I wouldn't feel comfortable being stuck in there, blob person or not." Scream said, running a clawed hand through her very long tendril hair, and then looking at how the warehouse was..slightly cleaner than it used to be. "What you expect from corpos? Can't give a shit about innocent people long as they get their greens. That's why i'm a big supporter for eating the rich."

....

....You're thinking of saying it, aren't you?

Yep, and I have no shame of that.

"...Sometimes literally." Scream shrugged, a shit eating toothy grin intensifying. Considering the sharp teeth on her maw that could definetely bite through flesh, it would be easy for Rivet to tell what she meant by that. "...Don't go thinking i'll do it to you, or anything. I only do that to assholes who 100% deserve it. And boy does this city have a lot."

PresidentStalkeyes Eats moldy bread and flies into windows from United Kingdom of England-land Since: Feb, 2016 Relationship Status: Do you like me? (Yes ⎕ Definitely ⎕ Absolutely!!! ⎕)
Eats moldy bread and flies into windows
#284: Nov 10th 2023 at 2:23:03 PM

Norma - East Brooklyn (Fake Out)

It was only after referring Agent Forsythe's call to her sister that she took in her surroundings - her claustrophobic, kinda nauseating surroundings. She barely had enough room to turn around in here, and that man at the front expected his customers to relieve themselves in here?!

This prompted her to re-evaluate her current situation. She was being followed, of that she was certain. But by whom? Either they weren't psychic or they were good at disguising it because she couldn't sense anything from in here, though that might just be because she was distracted by the smell. Eugh. Thank God she wore perfume that day.

Now that she really stopped to think about it... regardless of what her pursuer was capable of, she'd have very limited ability to fight back or manuever in this space that she... willingly and enthusiastically chose to hide in, like a scared little girl hiding from the bullies.

'Get a hold of yourself, Agent Natividad. That is not who you are, not anymore. You are better than that.' she tried to psyche herself up, pushing a fist against her forehead. It was so stupid, really. She'd already escaped the Widows at the museum not even an hour ago, what was a lone pursuer? Really, who could it be? More Arachnos brainwashers? She was professionally trained by some of the most powerful psychics in the world, she was more than a match for those amateurs. Especially out in the open, free of any walls or ceilings. And if it wasn't Arachnos, but just some rando trying to meddle in their affairs, even better. Then maybe she could avoid a fight altogether.

She made her decision. She'd backed herself into a corner, and the only way out was the path of least resistance - right back the way she came.

Gripping her bag - and the crystal within - tight to her side, Norma stepped out of the bathroom and sauntered back down the hall as casually as possible.

Not even acknowledging the man at the front (the non-acknowledgement was mutual), she peered outside and - yep, she knew it. That orange mutant rat girl, who she could now see was wearing ratty overalls and had a flower in her hair.

...Was she a rat? Hard to tell with mutated animals sometimes. Some of the other Psychonauts had had run-ins with other mutated animals, and she'd read the reports, seen the pictures. Not to mention what was on the news. Apparently there was a 'new wave' of them popping up all over North America? It was interesting, but right now she had to let her Censors loose on those irrelevant questions.

It seems she'd caught her fluffy little pursuer in a moment of distraction, as she had her attention focused on a tablet in her hands. Bracing herself for any number of surprises, she approached, planting her hands on her hips and shifting her weight in imitation of the villains from countless vintage high school flicks. It was in-character for 'Catherine Schafer'.

"Hey you. What is your deal?" she asked, putting some 'snap' into her words. "I know you're following me, you furry creep. What, d'you wanna kidnap me or something? Or do I know you from somewhere? I might have trouble remembering, it's been a long time since I last went to Freddy Fazbear's," she said, snickering a little.

Edited by PresidentStalkeyes on Nov 10th 2023 at 10:26:22 AM

Those sell-by-dates won't stop me because I can't read!
kagescorpionakki Breath of the Sun from Long Ago Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
Breath of the Sun
#285: Nov 10th 2023 at 2:50:43 PM

Brooklyn

He'd expected some do-gooder to run up and challenge him, so it was quite a surprise when the first person to approach him was another bad guy. Bowser paused in tearing a car in half to eye the man (was it a human? He didn't know humans could be turned into Dry Bones) up and down.

A grimacing skeleton face, a suitably evil-looking magical staff, and a surprising amount of muscle for a wizard-type. Yeah, I can work with this. Also, Kamek really needs to work out more.

"You're speaking my language, skeleton guy!" He chuckled as he gripped the wizard's hand in his own massive claw, squeezing it firmly. "Name's Bowser. King of the Koopas, and the Biggest Baddest Boss you'll ever meet. Kinda got cut off from all my minions, though, so I could use a magic guy to help me conquer this dump and find a way back home."

Yep, things were looking up for the King.

Until a fruit hit him in the face, anyway.

Slowly, Bowser turned to the source of the insult, smoke sizzling out of his maw as juice dribbled down his face, and his eyes fell upon an incredibly stupid looking fuzzball.

"And there's the 'hero'." He groused, releasing skull-face's hand and turning to face the challenger. "'Scuse me a sec, I gotta go kill this guy."

Bowser flexed his legs and jumped, leaving a small crater in the concrete. He flew towards the giant rodent with considerable speed, tucking his limbs into his shell and spinning until he was a spikeball of whirling death, aimed directly at the unfortunate bandicoot.

What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?
Enirboreh AKA Nixer from the domain of infinite floof. Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
AKA Nixer
#286: Nov 10th 2023 at 3:57:05 PM

Rivet: East Village

"Pfft. Don't worry. That's why I kept it pointing away from you," Rivet said with a grin towards Scream, dismissing the Suck-o-Matic back into her telestorage inventory and placing her hands on her hips. "Suck-o-Matic's a pretty obvious knock-off of the Gadgetron Suck Cannon. Megacorp and Gadgetron have basically had this intergalactic one-upmanship going on for ages now. Megacorp rips off Gadgetron, Gadgetron steals back from Megacorp, and it keeps going on forever. It's so dumb! You get cool stuff out of it, though..."

She chuckled to herself, shaking her head.

"I just can't believe Megacorp made it a cleaning gadget...! The original Suck Cannon was a weapon! Something like... no cost for ammo, 'cause you suck it up yourself. So... yeah. Good thing I didn't point it at ya, otherwise you'd be hyper-compressed antiplasma right now..."

Scream's remark about 'eating the rich' caused Rivet to let out a nervous laugh; mostly from the visage of Scream's sharp teeth but also due to something else. Perhaps it was because 'the rich' in her case meant 'oligarchies of mass galactic destruction.' Though, then again...

"Y'know, you remind me of someone," Rivet eventually said, tossing out some bolt crates from her telestorage in order for her to sit on. She did so, not commenting on the sudden manifestation of wooden crates in the room as she hopped up and perched casually atop the small stack of boxes. "Old friend. Angela Cross. She actually worked for Megacorp a while back, and I helped her out with a whole conspiracy thing to do with the upper brass. She called them 'imperialistic eco-fascists.' I think you would've liked her..."

She smiled a little, before letting out a sigh and hopping up from the stack of boxes again. For a moment, there had been a flash of pain in her eyes, which didn't really suit her face. She looked like a cartoon mascot, after all, so that kind of genuine wistful expression only made it all too apparent that she was a person with mixed-up feelings like anyone else. Even though her fuzzy appearance made her more adorable than anything.

"So! Uhhh... guess we gotta figure out what to do with this place. Are you... staying, or have you got someplace to go...?" she asked Scream carefully, looking genuinely curious. "'Cause I don't wanna hold you back or anything..."

bork
klom99 Steams A Good Ham from The Panopticon Since: Apr, 2011 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
Steams A Good Ham
#287: Nov 10th 2023 at 6:43:30 PM

The Master - Knocking On Opportunity's Door

"...Right."

The Master waits until the weird man shunts off before continuing on his way. Something about that interaction bothered him. Not the planned genocide, that was Tuesday. But something about that...thing...irritated him. He couldn't put his finger on it. Was it the voice? Or the pretentiousness? Both?

No matter. He may was well try out this product demo of theirs. Opportunity awaited. He was sure he was the first to have ever come up with that joke. Absolutely.

As he continued his walk, he thought he saw some giant shelled thing in the distance, but that was Earth in a nutshell. He was sure some do-gooder would take care of it. Besides, the more distractions for the local costumes, the easier this would be for him.

Now, he just needed an alibi. Should he just...waltz on in and pour on the ol' Master charm? He did have a very convincing aura. Then again, the crummy hipster sitting at that outdoor table over there with the laptop would work just as well.

Look at that not-subtle gray turtleneck sweater; the tasteful smugness of it. Oh my god, he even has a Pumpkin Spice Latte.

The Master walks up to the man from behind and lightly taps him.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes, actually. Heh. This is embarrassing. My phone's out o' charge and I need to submit my resume today." Master says, really hamming up the desperation. "I have most of it typed up already on my email but could I perhaps use your laptop to submit it to my job? Just take a smidge."

"What kind of self-respecting applicant doesn't have a back-up device for his essentials? As a programmer myself, I keep at least four devices in my backpack. The quintessential digital artiste is never caught unprepared like yourself."

The Time Lord's eye twitches slightly.

"The kind of applicant that has money in the quadruple digits and financial debt forgiveness ridin' on this. Just help a guy out, please!?"

"Sigh...Fine. I'll humor your trivial pursuit."

"Thanks, my guy."

Twit.

"Let me close my tabs."

A few agonizingly-painful minutes later, The Master was at the man's laptop typing away at an abnormal pace. It was probably obvious by now that he'd lied about having the resume pre-typed, but the other guy seemed more concerned with his drink than him. Was the device smoking or was that just him?

The resume was simple enough: Reese Mamoste, 21. Typical resume basics. An actual e-mail (one of many burners), 'cause most jobs ID that now. Specialties: Financial Acumen, Quantum Engineering, Weapons Development and Plumbing. 'Cause everyone respected a humble working background, yeah? Hard work, dedication, zero to hero, zig-a-zig ahh!

References. Dictator's Digest? Megalomaniac's Megalomaniac 6,011 times running?...Nah. Number's wrong. It'd be more like 9,994 at this point, give or take a leap year. Inconsistent references ain't a good look. Galactic Zoo? Nice bit o' humanitarian aid. Found some work placements for unemployed space colonists. The Saber-Tooth Gorillas loved their meal that day. Too foreign? Hmm. MI6 Science?...Nope. Still on their bad side. Did sort of murder one of their prodigies.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Engineering Degree. THERE we go! Not too close or too far, simple, easy enough credentials to forge (on the way) and believable on a planet like this.

The Master finally manages to submit the "resume" to Hyperion's online site, after navigating an obnoxious amount of menus. Typically, these things took days but he'd find a way to make it work. He just had to get there.

"Alright! That's about it. Thanks so much."

The Master gets up from the seat and lets the dim-witted coffee machine sit back down.

"Yes, yes. Just be more attentive next time. Not everyone's as nice as myself."

His eye twitches again. If he'd've just kept his yuppie mouth shut...

"Speaking of nice." The Master says, turning back around. "That's a nifty drink you've got there."

"Pumpkin Spice. They make a fabulous brew. It's as though I'm immersing myself in flavor."

"Hmm. I can help you with that."

"Excuse me?"

The Master takes out the TCE and with a click of the button, the hipster was miniaturized. See, the TCE wasn't just a murder-weapon. It was also a kidnapping tool. Meaning, dolls could be left alive. The Time Lord picks up the tiny little bastard and gently plops him into the half-drunken brew, arranging the 'doll' so that it floats.

"S'like a little Jacuzzi, yeah?" The Master asks tauntingly. "I'll help myself to these devices of yours. They're primitive but hey, 'a digital artiste shouldn't go unprepared' right?"

The Master grabs the man's phone, which he'd been keeping in the satchel.

"Well, enjoy yer bath. Later, sucker."

As The Master walks away, he raises his hand, as if he'd forgotten something.

"I should've taken a selfie, then robbed him. Dammit! Always next time."

A little while later, he realized he was in the general area of Opportunity. A certain CEO's face started covering the walls like a shroud. The name must've been, erm, ironic. He wasn't very handsome. Maybe to his girl self? Who knew?

Edited by klom99 on Nov 10th 2023 at 9:03:43 AM

"Doctor, I did say look for the Spymaster. Or should I say Spy....Master?"
Darkomega245 Since: May, 2012
#288: Nov 11th 2023 at 1:13:13 AM

Scream- East Village

...Scream, I don't suppose you could regenerate me from being hyper-compressed antiplasma?

....We can keep hosts alive from many near death situation, but you and I would be completely annihilated if what she said is true, biomass regeneration or not.

Well then. Andi is even more glad that Rivet made sure not to hit her with that, that's for certain. That'd be an embarassing way for a host and symbiote duo to die. "...And they sell THAT as a cleaner? Fucking hell, I may heal fast, but no way I can heal from that. Another reason to hate corporations, I suppose."

Scream tilted her head as Rivet mentioned he reminded her of someone she knew back in her world, her tendril hair seemingly twitching as if amused by what she heard. "Hah! Haven't even met her in person, and just from that I like her vibe already." She sure as hell would high five this Angela if she ever met her, that's for sure.

Andi could definetely tell that this girl, well....had a fair amount of baggage hidden underneath, which, considering her current situation, well, she can't exactly blame her. Though her next question caught Andi a bit off guard, to tell the truth. She's not sure if it is her cynicism making her assume the worst of people, but she assumed she would had told her to fuck off or something like that now that she had the place she wanted, but she seems to be okay with her? This is, to be honest, the longest interaction she ever had with someone else that wasn't Scream in the past 7 months stuck in this city. A part of her wanted to stay, as if deep inside liking this company after so long but...another feared that maybe Rivet could end up like Flash, Mania or her family if she kept interacting-

Host. It could be worth a try. Don't let your pain ruin something that could be worth it in the long run.

....

To Rivet, Scream seemed to be looking down at the ground for a good while, blank white eyes narrowing, and despite that monstrous face of hers, it seemed like hesitance and doubt was plastered on it, a pause of silence that was even more noticeable than the suspicious pauses she sometimes did. Whatever was going on Scream's mind, she very much seemed to be in conflict. The symbiote took a deep breath, glance finally turning back to the Lombax.

"I...think I'm staying for now. Don't have anywhere to go or rest comfortably anyways. Besides, you're not holding me back, Riv. Actually interacting with someone after 7 months of pure shit is....I don't know how to say it, but it's liberating." The hesitation was still there, but considering Scream was now having a soft toothy smile on her face, it is clear she's very much up for this.

....Just to be clear, not downplaying all you did for me, Scream, even if I was a bitch to you at the start. I'm just-

Oh, puh-lease. If my host is happy, I'm happy. And that's what matters.

Enirboreh AKA Nixer from the domain of infinite floof. Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
AKA Nixer
#289: Nov 11th 2023 at 5:41:07 AM

Rivet: East Village

"R-Really...? You'll stay?!" Rivet jumped up, an excited smile on her face as her ears stood up starkly atop her head. She'd looked genuinely doubtful before, as if expecting Scream to turn her down, but this had clearly surprised her in a big way. "That's great! Thank you...! O-kay then, now we just gotta set this place up some more, maybe get some worktables set up... oh and beds, we'll need those..."

She pulled out a pad from telestorage, which looked like a needlessly futuristic clipboard, and she began writing down a list of things on it using a stylus. The writing was... completely illegible, as one might expect from an intergalactic alien, but it didn't take her long to jot it all down before she dismissed the list again and turned to Scream with an enthusiastic look on her face.

"So. Any good vendors nearby...? Furniture, gadgets, all that stuff...? You've been in this place for a while, right? You've probably picked up on where things are. I'll need to get my Map-o-Matic tuned up to a planetary scale, too... yeah they called that one an 'o-matic' as well. It's usually the cheapo gadgets that get the dumb names..."

She seemed much more bright and energetic now that Scream had agreed to stay with her. Perhaps she'd been in the same boat as the symbiote; left on her own for a long time and unused to being with others because of that. It was probably a mutually beneficial situation to be in, all things considered.

bork
Bored_Man Since: Jun, 2015 Relationship Status: Abstaining
#290: Nov 11th 2023 at 8:28:09 AM

Alphabet City

"Oh, you know. A little of this, a little of that." Wuya replied, accepting the offered cigarette and using a green flame igniting from her fingertip to light it up. "I've been out of the loop for a while, so it's so very nice to see the world, especially with my grand nephew over there."

Even though cigarettes were meant to generate smoke, the cloud that Wuya expelled after partaking seemed a bit excessive...and, well, just a bit spooky, given it was also green.

Meanwhile, Jack gave Leo a flat look, then looked towards one of the disrupted boxes nearby that had been knocked out of its proper place during the scuffle, kneeling down to pick something up out of it.

"That excuse is like this candy bar. I'm not buying it." Jack said, pocketing a mercifully intact Snickers.

Edited by Bored_Man on Jan 27th 2024 at 11:46:07 AM

Proud member of the AGOG community.
G2BattleConvoy The Hope, The Hero from Installation 07 Since: Mar, 2017 Relationship Status: What is this thing you call love?
The Hope, The Hero
#291: Nov 11th 2023 at 3:02:42 PM

Financial District - Optimus Prime - Maximum Overdrive!

"Then we do what we must to end it, with minimal casualties," Optimus says as he transforms into his truck form, his exhaust pipes growling as his "engine" starts. And as Subaru conjures her Wing Road, Optimus starts pulling out of the alley.

"Let's roll."


As the wielder of Mach Caliber adds what she hears on the police scanner moments later, Optimus' mirror looks up in Subaru's direction.

"Understood, Subaru. Arcee and I will continue onto East 60th; we will meet with you again as soon as we are able."

As soon as Optimus says that, the Autobot leader spots what looks like fire from across the East River. Pulling over, Optimus takes a few moments to analyse the situation before issuing his next order.

"Arcee, change of plans. It would appear someone is attempting to start a firestorm across the bridge. I want to investigate this and put a stop to it." He then pulls out onto the road again, before taking a turn onto Brooklyn Bridge, heading down in a south-eastern direction towards another district of New York, which local map data referred to as "Brooklyn."

Of course, after entering Brooklyn, and navigating the district, it isn't long before Optimus sees the giant turtle creature as he begins his spiked spin manoeuvre at the bandicoot. Immediately recognising the threat, Optimus instinctively transforms into his robot form, performing a combat roll mid-transformation to get between Bowser and the Bandicoot squad, aiming for a punch to disorient the Koopa King.

Edited by G2BattleConvoy on Nov 12th 2023 at 9:45:03 AM

"We all fail. We all make mistakes. That is what makes us human."
Enirboreh AKA Nixer from the domain of infinite floof. Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
AKA Nixer
#292: Nov 11th 2023 at 3:08:47 PM

Arcee: Brooklyn

"Got it. Stay safe out there, Subaru," Arcee responded after Optimus, before diverting her course to follow after the Autobot leader; leaving Subaru to take care of whatever else was going on. This city seemed like it was having a hectic day. She wondered if it was like this all the time, or if something else was attracting all of this chaos.

"Heads up!" she warned as she steered off-road to ramp up off of a slanted piece of debris caused by Bowser's rampage, transforming with a gracious flip in midair before landing atop a roof and skidding to a stop. She promptly converted her hands into her blasters, firing rapid Energon shots towards the wicked-looking skeleton creature that was alongside Bowser. "I've got his buddy! Watch yourself, Optimus!"

I don't like the look of him, she noted amidst her firing, ready to dive away for cover should she need it. He's only human-sized, but he looks dangerous. Gotta watch my back.

Edited by Enirboreh on Nov 11th 2023 at 11:11:40 AM

bork
Darkomega245 Since: May, 2012
#293: Nov 11th 2023 at 5:19:44 PM

Scream- East Village

Scream's toothy smile grew further at Rivet's enthusiasm, and letted out a chuckle. Maybe, just maybe, this could work? Yeah, this could work. Time not to be a Debbie Downer for once, Andi. Rivet, her and Scream could survive New York together.

...Still, there was the whole issue of Rivet not knowing the reality of what she is underneath the symbiote. She's not even sure how sleeping in her symbiote form would feel like if she still kept the whole alien persona until night time. Sooner or later she'll have to reveal she's not only human, but that she also got another person that will live with them too. Considering she didnt freak out with the looks of her symbiote form, maaaaybe she won't mind?

"Vendors?" Scream put a clawed hand on her chin, thinking about it for a moment. "There's a few local stores that definetely could work for furniture needs, though you may have to use a disguise if you don't want to attract attention....or use your looks as a advantage so they can give you a discount for 'cuteness'. I'm kinda fucked on that last one due to...well, you know." She pointed to her teeth and face after saying that. "As for gadgets, Hyperion do got plently of fancy tech to play around with. Unfortunately, they're corpos, and like I said, eat the rich with no regrets. Especially their CEO. Man's got the most punchable....mask in the world? Either way, he sucks." Even with her blank white eyes, Rivet could just tell Scream was rolling her non existent pupils.

Edited by Darkomega245 on Nov 11th 2023 at 5:20:09 AM

Enirboreh AKA Nixer from the domain of infinite floof. Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
AKA Nixer
#294: Nov 11th 2023 at 6:13:28 PM

Rivet: East Village

"My looks?" Rivet asked in confusion, before her eyes widened and her face seemed to flush pink beneath her fur when Scream referred to her supposed 'cuteness.' She promptly huffed and turned her head away, frowning slightly and clearly trying to hide her embarrassment behind a look of indignation. "Hmph. Maybe. I've got a hologuise so I can disguise myself if I need it. But maybe I won't, if you think I'm so cute."

She flicked her eyes back at Scream, still glaring a little, before she unclenched her jaw and let her expression shift to a more curious one as the symbiote elaborated further. She looked pensive then, filing the description of the punchable masked CEO figure for later, before shrugging and nodding in agreement with Scream once she'd finished.

"Don't care too much where I get my stuff from, so long as nobody's hurt. If they sell good gadgets and weapons, I'll buy 'em. Or steal 'em, if that's better..." she mused, wavering on her decision for a moment before shaking herself out of her thoughts. She'd leave the whole moral conundrum for Future Rivet to solve.

"O-kay then. Guess we're going out to a store, huh? Lead the way!" she suddenly chirped, her overall demeanour shifting to be more lively as she stretched a little in preparation to head out. "I'll leave the disguise for now: I saw some pre-tty unique-lookin' folks around the place while I was running around. Don't think I'll stick out too much. Besides, the hologuise kiiinda sucks. I'd need to program it first before it's actually useful."

Edited by Enirboreh on Nov 11th 2023 at 2:20:00 PM

bork
Dezmo Since: Jan, 2011
#295: Nov 11th 2023 at 10:43:29 PM

Coco Bandicoot-East Brooklyn-Front Door Confrontation

Well. Out of all the possibilities Coco had thought of, the thief just straight coming up to her of her own volition had been on the more unlikely end of the possibility spectrum. Far, far on the unlikely end.

This... also meant that her stealthing hadn't been quite as successful as she's have hoped.

Whatever, her mark was a psychic. It didn't count.

Coco listened, eyebrow quirked in an unimpressed manner, as she listened to the thief sult her. "Can't say we've ever met before, no," Coco said, as frustratingly mild as she could muster.

"The name's Coco, and my deal is that I'm chasing down a crook who stole a priceless and supposedly powerful crystal from the museum. Probably to boost her own meager psycic powers."

Edited by Dezmo on Nov 12th 2023 at 12:34:33 PM

darksidevoid Anti-Gnosis Weapon from The Frontiers (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Robosexual
Anti-Gnosis Weapon
#296: Nov 12th 2023 at 3:02:10 AM

Brooklyn, Streets -> Urban Outfitters

   "NYEH!"    Skeletor exclaimed as he nimbly rolled out of the path of the oncoming blasts from Arcee's weapon and sprang through the glass portal he'd only just emerged from. Just in case, he cut the portal connection between the glass of the Brooklyn store window and the mirror an instant after reaching the other side. No need to risk that the bot's stray shot might annihilate his makeshift base of operations.

   "O Havoc Staff: So that he need not go through contortions, enlarge these mirrors to Bowser's proportions!"    he chanted, causing the mirrors to grow until they reached the ceiling, the three reflective surfaces nearly spanning the entire wall of the dressing room.

   Myah! You can't go anywhere in this blasted city without running into a band of these accursed hero types! I've retreated to my temporary base; it would be wise for you to withdraw as well, Koopa King. I'll monitor your progress from here, and when you find an intact reflective surface large enough to put your body through, give me a moment to form a portal on its surface from there to here,    he broadcasted remotely to Bowser's mind.

Checking the other mirrors he was using to scry, it seemed the purple girl was being confronted by a furry creature that was eerily reminiscent of the fruit-throwing buffoon from a minute ago. Meanwhile, the heroines in Opportunity were still stuffing their faces with food. That said, Skeletor began to remodel the dressing room space somewhat using his magic, merging it with the other identical rooms on either side so that he and the King would have more space to stand.

GM: AGOG S4 & F/WC RP; Co-GM: TABA, SOTR, UUA RP; Sub-GM: TTS RP. I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new Empire.
Darkomega245 Since: May, 2012
#297: Nov 12th 2023 at 8:56:17 AM

Scream- East Village

Scream couldn't help but laugh at Rivet's embarrasment. It could just be her distorted and echoey voice, but it almost felt like two people were laughing at once. Eh, probably just Rivet's imagination.

"I walked right into that one, eh? I regret nothing though." Scream shrugged, seems like Rivet will do with her cuteness over disguising, especially considering it seems to be a work in progress, and the comment she just did. While she wasn't sure about willingly going to a store while in symbiote form, considering Andi would be scaring everyone and everything with her looks, maaaaybe Rivet could have this handled.

"Fair enough. Only issue would be making sure whatever currency you have could be exchanged with human currency, and you'll have to do the talking. Not as pleasing to the eyes to humans like you are." Once the two would be ready, Scream would leap towards the window they entered from, and once Rivet was following along, leap and tendril-swing from the roofs of building to building, towards the destination where Andi remembered a furniture store in this neighborhood.

You think this will work, Andi? We do hope we won't attract dangerous attention to ourselves...

Like I said, I'll be leaving the talking to Riv here. I mean, come on, it's not like some dumbass got like, what, the fucking Vanguard on speed dial or anything like that. And if what she said is true, maaaaaybe there's already plently of bullcrap happening on the city that a symbiote and a alien furball is on the low priority list.

desdendelle Hooded Crow from Land of Milk and Honey (Sergeant) Relationship Status: Hiding
Hooded Crow
#298: Nov 12th 2023 at 9:58:49 AM

Subaru — Financial District —> East Village

"I'll keep in touch," Subaru promised the Autobots, then she veered off northwards while the latter turned south.

Being able to fly (or in Subaru's case, skate in the air) and ignoring things like traffic and buildings that block the way meant that Subaru could places faster even if she couldn't outrun a car without going into Gear Second, so she ended up in East Village pretty quickly, all things considered.

First things first, she approached the car that supposedly ran over someone. Oddly enough, while the car's grill was dented like it hit something at high speeds, there was no body to be seen. The driver was leaning on a lamppost, babbling at an irate-looking woman. Subaru introduced herself, but quickly gave up on getting anything actionable from him; he kept mumbling about a "white ghost" that got up despite being hit by his car. She did manage to find out where the "ghost" went, though. After making sure the driver wasn't hurt — she wasn't a physician, but she knew enough first aid to check, and Mach Caliber had a decent database of that sort of thing — she cast another Wing Road and went off to search for the "ghost".

She didn't find anything or anybody, and she wasn't particularly good with Area Search (nevermind the Wide Area Search version), so Subaru reported the situation to Dispatch, then resorted to searching the area by grid. Fortunately for her, her vantage point let her spot the tentacle-swinging slash hovering pair pretty easily, once they'd have left the warehouse.

The first thing the Lombax and the Symbiote would see was a ribbon of light blue light snaking by them; soon enough, a purple-haired woman wearing a white jacket, jeans shorts and advanced-looking rollerblades skated by them. She waved at them, her hand covered by a complex-looking, bulky gauntlet.

"Hi!"

On empty crossroads, seek the eclipse -- for when Sol and Lua align, the lost shall find their way home.
Enirboreh AKA Nixer from the domain of infinite floof. Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
AKA Nixer
#299: Nov 12th 2023 at 11:34:36 AM

Rivet: East Village

"So long as they take bolts, it'll be fine. If not, gold bolts are pretty universally valued," Rivet shrugged at this, before parkouring up to the window after Scream and activating her hoverboots to keep up with her. "Wait, why wouldn't people like you? You look fine to me. Is it 'cause of the sharp teeth or something...? I have them too..."

She pondered this for a moment as they ventured towards the furniture store, only for Rivet to suddenly yelp as Subaru made her abrupt entrance; causing the lombax to nearly veer off-course into a wall if it wasn't for her hoverboots kicking up to propel herself away from it. She quickly deactivated her boots, peering at Subaru suspiciously for a long moment before eventually finding her voice again to reply to her greeting.

"Uh... hi," Rivet replied, blinking slowly at Subaru as her stance shifted from one of cautious tension to cautious relaxation. "Nice glove. Do we... know you? What's up...?"

She was a little scrambled at first, given how suddenly this stranger had crossed their path, but she was quickly adjusting to Subaru's presence. In fact, she began circling around Subaru, taking in her appearance from every angle before stopping back in front of her with her arms crossed.

Subaru would probably recognise Rivet as being some kind of feline, but her ears were strangely covered in fur and she was obviously humanoid. Her proportions were a little off; large hands and feet and a very large head, with big blue eyes and a very short muzzle. She looked almost like a cartoon mascot, and was about as adorable as one, though her suspicious glare gave her a certain edge of danger that clashed with her appearance.

"Mind walking and talking? Don't really wanna get hit by a car again," she eventually said, gesturing with her head for Subaru to follow her and Scream. "We were just gonna go pick some stuff up from a store. Caught us on the way."

bork
LilyTheLitten Inspector Irratino my beloved ❤️ from The Investigation Institute Since: Apr, 2020 Relationship Status: Longing for my OTP
Inspector Irratino my beloved ❤️
#300: Nov 12th 2023 at 11:44:20 AM

Alphabet City

"Wh— hey!" Leo snapped. "Don't you dare insult my acting like that! Most people would totally buy it!"

While this was going on, Mikey had recovered (somewhat) and was crawling over to the blue-haired leader, hoping to check on him.

"Look inside yourself and to the stars; there, you will find your answers."

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