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, I dunno 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 mispronouncing the hedgehog's name.
"I'm never going to get any answers, am I?" Clock muttered, jogging after the two. "Wait up! I don't even know who any of you are yet!"
"It's Splice!" Splice yelled back, again.
The Park
It didn't take long for the ragtag bunch to arrive at the park. There weren't many people around at this hour. In fact, it was nearly empty save for them and a set few others hanging around. Compared to the tense air on the streets, the park was very serene.
Reens breathed in the sweet air, letting her quills settle down more and placing her arms behind her head. "It's so peaceful here," she murmured to herself. Looking around, she hid her right arm behind her back, suddenly a bit self-conscious.
"Yes, quite." Clock-Watch responded, looking up at the clouds above. He was squinting at something up in the sky. After a moment, he frowned and began to go back to looking at the fairly serene park. "Fairly empty, too. Makes sense, though; I wouldn't want to be outside during a time like this unless I had to."
"Okay, my friend should be here somewhere." Mimic said, cupping his hands around his pure white eyes like a pair of binoculars and surveying the area. "Keep an eye out for a-" he stops himself, seeing someone at a park bench in the distance. "Oh, there he is. Taking a nap." He lowers his hands. "What is it with cats and naps, anyway?"
Not too far from them, an orange feline with a white muzzle was reclining on a park bench, fast asleep with his arm under his head as a pillow. He wore a blue and gold jacket with a white shirt underneath, white gloves, and a pair of blue and gold boots.
"That's him, huh?" Splice asked, watching the sleeping cat with curiosity. "Well, do you wanna do the honors? Dunno how he'd react to a stranger waking him up."
The mockingbird tilted his neck to the left and then to the right, making a cracking sound as he did so before proceeding to crack his knuckles. "With pleasure, Split." he answered with a mischievous look on his face.
"Splice." He insisted again, with a hint of nervousness in his voice.
Mimic walked up to the sleeping cat and cleared his throat. He then shapeshifted his head into a bugle and blasted a wake up call.
"WHAA-?!?!" The cat woke up with such a start that he accidentally threw himself off the bench and onto the ground face first. The pupils in his electric blue eyes were completely dilated from the rude awakening and darted around to see what was going on. When he finally saw Mimic, he picked himself up off the ground and brushed himself off, an annoyed scowl on his face. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR, MIMIC?!" he shouted, blue lightening crackling down his arms.
"For funsies." Mimic answered coolly, his smirk not wavering one bit.
"That wasn't funny, Mi-" he stops short when he sees the rest of the group staring at him. Suddenly a bit more conscious of how he must have looked, he tried to calm himself. "What's going on? Who are these people?" he asked.
"We're uh..." Splice started, but stopped when he realized how awkward his group was.
"We'll explain once we get to the rendezvous point," Reens replied, letting her arm hang back down. "Besides, the info we do have is pretty sensitive, and we don't want any prying eyes or ears around."
"Those agents from before were quite suspicious, weren't they?" Clock remarked. "As much as I'd like to question them, I think you're right; we really should discuss this information in a more secluded area, just to be safe."
Jewel the Bat stood a distance away from the group, listening intently to their conversation. Being a scoundrel, she liked to be sneaky. And when it came to her smuggling operations, she preferred to keep it quiet. Unlike most criminals.
She had a major freak-out when she heard about the forcefield around the city. She had contraband hidden in her apartment and she didn't want it found. She couldn't smuggle it out of the city- not with that barrier up. But she could try to get information on what was going on.
Finally Jewel decided to reveal herself. She would get more information that way. She approached the group and asked in a somewhat coy manner, "Suspicious agents, hm? Sounds intriguing!"
"Who the what!?" Splice whirled around, placing his hands on his daggers in case this newcomer was a threat.
Reens' ears perked up, and she turned around, her quills flared. "See, this is exactly what I meant by prying eyes and ears." She looked Jewel up and down, her eyes narrowed.
"Wait, what's going on?" Xavis asked as he and Melissa walked into the scene. Apparently they had wandered away from the group some time ago, and were only just now returning. The hedgehog looked between Jewel and Static, and asked "Who're these two?"
Static frowned, now more confused. "Mimic, can't I trust you not to get into any trouble for a few hours? Just once?" he asked, shaking his head as he facepalmed.
Oh, it's OUR fault for getting involved in the plot. Jerry said in Mimic's head. We haven't seen him in two years, and this is the hello we get?!
We just saw him this morning. Tom stated.
I'm talking about wiki time, not roleplay time! Jerry answered.
"Don't look at me." Mimic said, trying to ignore Tom and Jerry as they squabbled. "For once, my hands are actually clean. I didn't even take any money from the bank when it blew up."
"A bank blew up?!" Static asked. "Was it another terrorist attack?"
Jewel eyed Reens suspiciously, then looked at Xavis. Then she turned to Static and shrugged. "So what? Who cares about the bank?"
Melissa kept a suspicious eye on the bat, not trusting her at all. The comment she made on the bank ticked the female avian off, especially considering how she and several other people nearly died in there. Splice on the other hand, was immediately set off. "Excuse me?" he glared at the bat, "An entire building full of people blows up and all you can say is "So what?"!?"
The orange cat glares at Jewel. So what?! he thought angerly, practically agreeing with Splice.
Brutal. Tom commented. Mimic nodded in agreement.
Jewel noticed Melissa, the orange cat and Splice looking at her. She immediately sensed their anger and said, "I'm sorry. It's not that I don't care about the people in there, I just don't really care about the bank itself. It's just a building with a bunch of computers and vaults stuffed inside. But that's my opinion. Anyway, was it a terrorist attack?"
Melissa silently accepted the apology and calmed down.
"That's what we're trying to find out," Reens answered, folding her arms and placing one hand on her chin. "We had two suspects, but we've already figured out Splice--"
"That's me." Splice pointed a thumb at his chest, before Reens continued.
"--isn't the culprit, and I'm starting to think the gal with the red and blue quills had nothing to do with it either. The blue echidna's group didn't have her with them..."
"It wasn't her either," Xavis quickly stated, him having met Gra- Platinum.
"There was another person like me?" Splice asked in surprise.
"Huh," Jewel said. "Maybe it's G. U. N. After all, they've had corrupted agents before..." But that was only a speculation. But then again, she wasn't one to put aside a theory right away. "I don't suppose you have any new suspects... perhaps the G. U. N. agents?"
"Wouldn't surprise me." Mimic said. "Though it'd have to be someone pretty high up. Not every lackey you meet is going to be a mastermind."
Splice began to eye Jewel suspiciously. 'I dunno, maybe you?' He thought to himself. 'This lady just kinda forced her way into the conversation. I can understand people wanna know what's going on, but something smells fishy here.'
"They are the prime suspects at the moment, yes." Clock stated. "They've been quite secretive, even before the city was sealed off." He glanced around the park nervously. "But either way, I think it would be best if we continued this discussion somewhere a little less... Open."
"Seconded" Transford said, who had become increasingly impatient with the group and took the chance to get a word in. With a slight bitterness in his voice, he continued, "The sooner we get to the rendezvous and get everyone organized, the sooner we can figure out whats been going on around here and the sooner that some of us can go home."
Jewel raised an eyebrow, but said nothing in reply.
This was a lot for the orange cat to take in, but he nodded in agreement. He wasn't about to sit this one out. Besides, someone had to help keep Mimic in line.
Reens nodded and gave Transford a thumbs up. "If we're all agreed, I think we should go now." She tapped her foot and looked over to Splice. "Lead the way, Splice."
"Sure, I think we've spent enough time already." He said, with a hint of impatience. He gave one last aside glance towards Jewel's way before heading for the exit. As he started to lead them out the park, he said "Hey so uh, seeing how this group keeps getting bigger, I think it'd be nice if I wasn't the only one here with a known name." He scratched the back of his quills sheepishly. "What's your names?"
"My name is Xavis, and this is my girlfriend Melissa," the brown hedgehog said.
"Hello," Melissa chirped.
"I'm Jewel, and that's all you need to know," Jewel simply said.
"Rain Maricina, but everybody calls me Reens," Reens replied. "Not 'Robo', not 'Blaster Girl', and not... 'Mega Woman'."
"Pffft, can I call that arm cannon the "Reens Buster" then?" Splice chortled, "...Aheh, sorry. I'll stop."
"Please do." Mimic said. "Referencing other media is my shtick. Anyway, Mimic the Mockingbird. Professional theif -er, former thief, at your service. And my orange friend here is Spa-"
"Static." The orange cat interrupted, giving a sideways glare to the mockingbird. He was still a bit annoyed with the rude awakening, deciding to ignore Mimic's rambling about 'other media'. Noticing everyone kind of looking at him, he adds "Sorry, but he has a tendency to call me every name he can think of except what I actually go by."
"You too, huh?" Splice said, feeling his pain.
"And I... am Transford the Hedgehog" Transford said, putting on a fake smile as it was obvious he was annoyed. He put his right arm behind his back and offered his left hand, the one that wore a gauntlet, to anyone who would care to shake his hand.
"Well nice to meet you guys!" Splice said cheerfully. He spun slightly and gave him a high five instead of shaking, as he didn't wanna stop walking, and continued to march on ahead out the park borders and onto the busy streets. "Anyway, we're heading up north-east to that residential area. It's not too too far from here, but we're gonna have to pick up the pace if we wanna get there before dark."
Static proceeded to follow, catching up to Splice.
"Right behind you, Sprite." Mimic called.
"SPLICE." Static and Splice both corrected.
Clock-Watch looked up from his pad after writing down everyone's name to see them already leaving. "I'm Clock-Watch, if anyone cares..." He grumbled, jogging after the group.
"Clock-Watch, hm?" Jewel asked. "That's a pretty unique name."
The Streets
Traffic jams, honking horns, blaring sirens, and the restless murmors of the many citizens on the sidewalk; Station Square was in chaos. With two bombings in one day, and no way to get out of the city, everyone was in a panic and pushing past each other to get to where they needed to go. In order to bypass the crowd, Splice lead everyone through a series of alleyways and back streets, shortcuts and detours. The backstreets were still somewhat busy, but the alleyways were quiet. The sun was setting and it was beginning to get dark, when Splice called out "We're about halfway there."
"Right..." Jewel grimaced when she accidentally stepped in some garbage on the ground.
Xavis and Melissa were around the middle of the group, arms interlocked. Xavis groaned, "Uhhhg. I could've gotten there a long time ago, but you've been holding me down!" Even though he was talking to everyone, he was looking at Melissa.
"Hey, you can't just run blindly into every situation with your fists raised," Melissa retorted, "Besides, I'm fairly certain if you were to fly, you'd be shot down."
"Who said I'd fly there?" Xavis grumbled.
Jewel glanced at the bickering duo, but said nothing. And she walked right into a dumpster. And fell back onto her rear. "Owie! Come on, already!"
Mimic walked around Jewel, passing her. "Really should mind where you're going, Gem." he warned. "Personally, I prefer taking the high road." Mimic said. "Why not just jump from roof to roof? There aren't any dumpsters up there to look out for."
Static was near the front, behind Splice and near Reens. Upon hearing the mockingbird's suggestion to traverse the rooftops, he cringed at the thought of heights. "I'd rather stay closer to the ground." he objected.
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 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.
As Max left, Platinum rolled her eyes. "Sure thing," She replied, folding her arms. "What do you want to know?"
Smash shook his head, "Something I'd rather not let a G.U.N. agent hear." He said in a whisper, before leading her upstairs. After a couple moments, the two walked into a bedroom; A girl's bedroom, it seemed. There was a large bed at the end of the room next to the window, a desk and a chair to the right and a couple dressers, wardrobes and a vanity next to the closet on the left. Smash pulled up a chair and sat down after closing the door, gesturing for Platinum to have a seat on the bed.
"Ah, thanks." She quietly replied, sitting down with her legs crossed.
"If we're going to clear your name, and get me outta this city, we're going to have to work together." Smash said, "But we can't let everyone know; Not G.U.N. and especially not the Hyper Division. They still think I'm trying to hunt you down." He leaned forward in his chair, "They're hiding something. There's something they haven't told me or the others they tried to recruit. They're after you specifically, but they're also afraid of you. They think you have the power to destroy entire worlds. I don't know what kind of power you hold but as far as I'm concerned you're not the one behind these attacks. Someone else is, and I think they secretly know that. When I encountered them again, they suddenly became secretive and weary of someone else on the scene; someone trying to gather information and take notes--presumably a detective of some sort. They fled almost immediately after he approached them; and he seemed to know already that you were innocent."
Smash folded his arms, "You can see why I'm bothered by this. They're up to something; there's gotta be some ulterior motive to them hunting you. I have a hunch it has something to do with that period of time that you can't remember. They told me before that they had you in the Hyper Division a while back, but then they lost track of you. Does any of this jog any memories?"
Platinum rolled around on the bed, scratching her forehead. "Hmmm... I do remember a little bit of how I used to be. I really was freakishly strong, just like they've told you. And I was most certainly not a good person. But neither were they! It's foggy, but I'm fairly certain they were just as corrupt as Granite. Whoever's causing the attacks is certainly in on it, though. They're searching for something, I'm sure of it." She sat back up. "And whatever they're trying to collect, I've got something they want in their collection."
Smash sat up in surprise, "Really? Is that another reason they're after you?" He asked, "Nevermind that, what is it? A Chaos Emerald?"
She shook her head. "No, not Chaos. The power they're looking for is more reliable, more... Harmonic." Platinum responded, fiddling with the pendant she wore. It was a small cube of obsidian on a chain, with a tiny sphere embedded in it made out of some sort of metal, seemingly platinum (ha ha) of some sort. "I'm not sure how they got here, but I'm certain that they're trying to gather a different set of powerful stones, known as the Symphony Crystals."
"The Symphony Crystals...?" Smash's eyes slowly widened. "Haven't heard of those. So they're trying to collect all these crystals, right?" He began to stroke his chin, as his mind went to work. "If that's so, then the reason they set up this barrier around the city was to make sure you couldn't run off with one of them. We know that much for sure, but what really concerns me is why the bomber would be working together with them?" He spoke a bit more to himself than to Platinum, before he felt a lightbulb switching on in his mind. "Are you sure the bomber is in cahoots with the Hyper Division?" He asked her.
"I'm not sure, to be honest." Platinum quills had strangely changed at this point: all of them were red, not just the right-side ones. The style of the quills had changed to match that of the other side, as well. "But I'm certain of one thing: They're both after the same thing, and I don't think we want either of them to gather all six."
"Wait did you just--ahem," He stopped himself from questioning her quills, and continued on with his point. "If the bomber wants those crystals, and is frantically destroying everything in the city, I think it's safe to assume that all six crystals are here in Station Square." Smash deducted, "It would also make more sense as to why the Hyper Division put up this forcefield around the city; they don't want this person to escape with them all should they actually manage to collect the remaining five. But if they are in cahoots, then the Hyper Division is putting up quite the facade here." He rose his eyebrow, "It would break G.U.N.'s reputation if word got out that they were responsible for a series of terrorist attacks."
As Max was sitting in a wooden chair he found nearby, his ears perked up at hearing Smash's voice. "...Hmm?" Listening very intently, he even made his breathing so quiet, nobody could hear him. It was obvious that they didn't want him around; too risky, having an agent. The question was - was he trustworthy? Or a better one - did he want to earn their trust?
Max shook his head, thinking about this. Apparently, this girl was also not the weapon (who saw that one coming?), but... at the same time, she was?! Max took a mental note of this. It would be stupid to simply run over to them, pull out a gun and shoot a possibly innocent civilian. Hearing Smash talking about the suspicious GUN agents worried him, and he agreed; he only knew part of the story. Was it really wise to give specific agents all the info and let the others follow possibly misleading orders? Hmm...