Back to Part One.
Part Two: The Bank
"Well," Clock-Watch said, turning to Splice and the others, "from what I've seen, you guys know more about what's going on than me. Would someone mind filling me in on everything you know about what's happened? I'd like to compare notes, if that's all right."
"Well, iunno man." Splice said, scratching the back of his quills. "I'm pretty much just as in the dark as you are. I've been trying to catch this mad bomber since day 1 but I haven't really had any luck."
"I'll stick around too, if ya don't mind." Mimic added. "Sooner we find this bomber, the sooner the quarantine gets lifted. And the sooner G.U.N leaves." There was a bit of embitterment in his voice with that last comment.
"And the sooner we can leave," Xavis remarked. By now he and Melissa shifted from hugging each other to standing closely side-by-side, his arm wrapping around her shoulders while her arm wrapped around his waist. "Not sure about the rest of you, but I don't appreciate being trapped in a city I don't even live in by the government I've helped for years."
"You can say that again." Splice huffed, "Anyway, if we're gonna talk, we should get outta here first and catch up with Smash. I gotta feeling he knows more about this than most of us."
"Right," Melissa added, then realizing something. "Man, Mom is going to be furious when she hears about this..." she muttered.
"Lead the way, Spice." Mimic said.
"That's Splice." Splice corrected.
"And, eh, on the way, mind if we stop by somewhere and pick up a friend of mine?" he asked.
"I guess so." Splice shrugged. "As long as it's not too out of the way. Where they at?"
"He'll be at the park." Mimic said. "We arranged to meet back there."
"That's not far. Alright, let's go there first! C'mon, guys! And girls!" Splice lead the charge away from the bank and towards the park. He was already full of energy again even after getting his face pummeled.
"Wait up, Slice!" Mimic shouted as he followed, again misprouncing the hedgehog's name.
Part Two: Jenny's House
Platinum had arrived at the vacant manor soon after Smash told her to go there. Waiting for the others to arrive, she simply sat in the front hall, legs crossed and meditating. The mansion was large enough to house a fairly huge family. Although it was vacant, it was very clean and well organized; it felt almost as if people still lived here. Even the lawn outside was mowed and kempt.
Roughly 15 minutes later, the front door opened and closed, and idle footsteps could be heard. "Hey...Platinum, are you there?" Smash's voice called out from the doorway. The echidna took off his jacket and hung it on the coat hanger, and walked into the living room.
"Yeah," she said, getting up and walking over towards him. Now that she could be more clearly seen in the light, it was quite more apparent that she had been on the run. Both her quills and clothes had grime covering them. "Nice place, by the way."
Without the echidna noticing, a tall, lean, Spanish human followed him. When they finally got to the house, Max sighed, his legs tired. "So, you're the B-ranked fighter at The Blitz Pit, correct? I think I've heard fighters talk about you." His tone was calm and his tone was smooth, but suspecting this character, he arched a brow.
Almost immediately after he spoke, Smash's fist was stopped inches away from his face. "Who are you? What do you want with me?" He demanded. His eyebrows bounced up as he recognized this person, "Wait a minute, you're that kid that was brawling outside the bank, aren'tcha?" He lowered his fist, but not his guard. "Why were you following me?"
The air from the fake punch made Max's hair fly for a second. He sighed before saying, "No no no. You answer me first. Are you or are you not Smash Corliss?" Max smirked. "Assuming you are, you'd be a great detective, from the RPs I've read stories I've heard." Max walked in front of him. "My name's Mackenzie. I don't usually tell peeps this, but since you're named Smash, Mackenzie doesn't sound so bad." Max leaned on the wall, seemingly relaxing. "I'm a GUN agent who was invited to take this threat down, and since you're also tryin to find out about things, I followed you. That explains enough."
His cocky attitude was already getting under Smash's skin, but he kept his cool. "Yes, I am Smash." He answered, watching him closely. 'Don't get too comfortable, Kid. I got my eye on you.' He wanted to tell him that he wasn't welcome here, but the more people on this case, the better. He wasn't sure that he could trust this G.U.N. agent, however...
Upon hearing the words 'GUN agent' and 'take this threat down', Platinum immediately assumed a fighting pose, a purple aura flaring up around her. "Is that so? Because I'd like to say hello! I'm your 'threat', mister agent! NICE TO MEET YOU." She growled through gritted teeth.
"Whoa, STOP!" Smash exclaimed, holding both of his hands out.
Max rolled his eyes. "Now, while I was instructed to attack people like you, due to a recent misunderstanding, I won't." Waving her off and rolling his eyes, he said "You're lucky you met me instead of some other agent."
Still wary of him, Platinum's purple aura subsided, and she relaxed her stance. She certainly didn't trust him, though. Not one bit. She leaned back on the wall, not saying a single word.
"Look, if you're here for that meeting, it ain't happening till everyone gets here." Smash told him, getting annoyed. "Why didn't you stick with the others?"
"What can I say?" Max says, getting off the wall. "I was getting an off-vibe from all of them. Plus, I came here to investigate, just like you."
"I didn't come here to investigate." He nearly groaned, "There's nothing to investigate way out here."
Max's eyes opened wide. "wait what." He silently screamed before facepalming. "So I ran all that way for nothing? Just peachy." With a sigh, he shook his head. "Oh, well. I'ma find something to do." And with that, he left to hopefully find a chair.
Smash felt the air hiss out of his lungs in exasperation. Apparently he wasn't listening to the whole conversation back at the bank and only picked out a few key words. He rolled his eyes back to Platinum, "Anyway..." His expression relaxed a bit, "Mind I have a word? Let's talk somewhere else." He added the last part in a quieter tone.