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 angrily, 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 murmurs 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.
"You'll get used to the muck on the ground, don't worry." Clock said, slipping on some trash and landing face-first into a puddle. He pulled himself off of the ground, his quite ridiculous perm now sopping wet. "Alright, maybe that was an exaggeration. But the entire city isn't this bad, trust me."
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. Splice just sighed, not even going to bother saying anything.
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.
"Me too," Jewel said, standing up and brushing off the back of her pants. "I may be a bat, but I like to use my flying skills for combat more than transportation. And by the way, it's 'Jewel', not 'Gem'."
"Joel?" Mimic asked coyly. "I always thought that was a boy's name."
Jewel tilted her head slightly and replied, "It's 'Jewel', not 'Joel'."
"Stop talking to him." Splice advised in a deadpan tone.
Reens gently pushed trash out of her way with small streams of water. This city isn't all bad. Maybe when I move out from Grandpa, I'll find an apartment here. "You guys stay down here. I'd rather avoid dumpsters." She climbed up a fire escape and jumped onto a roof, walking across it to keep the pace.
"Just don't stray too far!" Splice called out.
"Actually, yeah. Rooftops aren't a bad idea," Xavis said, "At least they're not cramped like these alleyways." He gave Melissa a look, as if he was asking for her permission. "Fine," the female avian said. The two then disappeared in a flash of red light, instantaneously reappearing just behind Reens.
"Oh, hey guys," Reens called over her shoulder. "Teleportation, huh? Cool. Wish I could do that..."
"Eh, I'll be taking the scenic route." Mimic said.
Static sighed. "Just don't cause any trouble, okay?" he said.
"Me? Cause trouble? What ever gives you that idea?" he asked innocently. He then shapeshifted his legs into springs and bounced to the rooftop, landing behind Xavis and Melissa. He then shapeshifted his legs back to normal, proceeding to follow close behind the trio.
BOOOOOIIIIING~! Jerry gleefully sings, adding some onomotopoeia.
"Oh, isn't everyone cool, jumping and teleporting everywhere." Clock grumbled. He had pulled a towel out of one of his inside coat pockets, and was drying his hair with it. "Meanwhile, some of us mortal folk just do this thing called walking."
"Hey I can do that too." Splice said, "I'm just being normal."
Eventually they came out towards the residential area. It was still pretty busy with people hurrying to get home, but you could still walk around without bumping into anyone. At this point it would be rather unethical to jump across people's homes.
Reens stopped on the roof she was on, then started sliding her way down it. She made it halfway until she lost her footing on the guttering and slipped. "Whoa shoot!"
Suddenly, her fall was halted by something wrapping around her. Mimic had stretched his arm to ridiculous proportions and wrapped it around Reens, catching her so she didn't fall. "Next time watch your step, rainbarrel." he said.
"That's the best you could do, Mockingjay?" Reens blushed. "You can put me down now. I'm a little uncomfortable."
Mimic loosened his grip, letting Reens down gently before landing next to her. "If you say so, Bubbles." he replied. "So, that bat-girl." he began. "What's her name? Jelly? Suspicious character, eh?"
Reens shrugged. "Eh, she could be worse." She started walking again, but a bit slower.
Meanwhile Xavis floated down from the rooftop, the soles of his shoes ablaze like rockets. Melissa held tightly onto his back as the two gently descended, eventually reaching the pavement.
Jewel watched all this go on and chuckled. She continued to walked down the alley.
"Not trying to sound impatient or anything, but are we almost there?" Static asked Splice, glancing at each house they passed by.
"Actually, yeah!" Splice answered with enthusiasm. "It's just a few blocks over on the next street. It's a left turn, by the way!" He began to pick up the pace. "C'mon, the sooner we get there the sooner we can sit down and relax a bit!"
"Agreed," Xavis and Melissa said in unison.
Jewel said nothing, and continued walking. It only took a few more minutes before the group arrived at the front gates of a large mansion.
"Here we are!" Splice exclaimed. The gates were already open, and there was a clear pathway through the courtyard leading to the front porch. It was a bright and cheery looking area, despite the chaos in the city around it. The white gates were decorated with flowers and a large trimmed hedge arcing over it like a door frame. There was a large fountain to the right; although it was inactive with only lightly frosted water sitting still in it. Nearby there was a white table with a few chairs under a large parasol. To their left was a fairly large flower garden. The flowers didn't seem to be doing too well in the cold. Near the side of the house, there were a few black garbage bags; the small amount of leaves around them implied that they were full of them.
A sort of melancholy expression replaced Splice's smile as he looked around. "It's only been a few months since last time." He muttered to himself. He shook his head lightly, trying not to dwell on the past as he marched forward. "C'mon, this way." He lead them all to the front door and gave it a few knocks to the tune of "shave and a haircut".
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't cha?" 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, but not from catching her attention.
"Did I just what?" Platinum asked, tilting her head to the side. After a moment, she realized what he was referring to. "Oh, you mean the quills! Yes, sorry about not explaining this to you sooner! It's kind of a strange thing, so keep an open mind!" She stood up from the bed, and placed one of her hands on her chest. "I am Red!" Her quills shifted to blue, and likewise changed in style. She made a peace sign. "And I'm Blue!" Finally, her quills returned to how they looked when the group had first met her. "We've already been acquainted. I am Silver." Each voice, while sounding similar, all had slightly different pitches, with Blue being the highest pitched, and Red being the lowest. "Together, we are Platinum."
Smash blinked a couple times. "That's...an interesting quirk. Nice to meet you...all?" He said, almost unsure of how to respond. "Split personalities...I won't press on that right now." After a sheepish cough, Smash 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." He 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....
Max was tired of listening. After thinking he heard enough, we walked next to them. "Six crystals, eh? I thought we were going to take down a criminal, not go treasure hunting." Max smirked and chuckled as his eyes glowed red. "I'm in. Platinum, Mr. Corliss, when are the others going to get here? The sooner they come, the sooner we can start searching, and the sooner we start searching, the sooner we can stop all this nonsense."
Smash buried his face into his palm; "First of all, do something about those manners, kid. Most people don't eavesdrop and barge into rooms in other people's houses." He scolded, "Secondly, we didn't even say we were going treasure hunting. We didn't even come up with a plan; stop jumping to conclusions. And finally, I don't know when they'll be here. Probably soon." He leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Though looking for them ourselves isn't such a bad idea, how on Mobius would we know where to look?"
Max grinned in an especially giddy manner. "I can sense energy, y'know. Assuming it's similar yet different to Chaos Energy, I just need one to become familiar with. The sooner I get a taste of Symphony Energy, I can just be a living radar. Makes it a lot easier, doesn't it?" Max laughed. "And two, if you're going to talk about something someone's involved in, I wouldn't just hide the info from them because of their origins. I find that rude, also." With a "Hmph," Max stopped himself from rolling his eyes.
Platinum was about to say something, but she decided not to, as she saw Smash was about to say something.
"I don't trust you. That's all the reason I need to hide info from you." Smash stated bluntly. "I don't need to hear you talking to me about rudeness with you sneaking around behind my back, like that. You're damn lucky I didn't kick you back out the door you waltzed in from."
Max thought for a second, and then spoke in a fierce tone. "Or would you rather have your radar actually waltz out the door it came in. You have to admit; without me, your plan is going to be a lot harder. But hey, if you don't trust me, I guess I could just report to GUN and tell them everything I heard. I could say I found another possible weapon, you guys become outlaws, and I track you down, since I've already locked on to your energy." Max shrugged. "I mean, I could always do that."
Smash stood up, "So is that how it's gonna be?" He asked darkly. He walked slowly over to him, with a very hostile feeling emanating from him as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "Listen, and listen good." He said, tightening his grip. "We'll let you help us out. But I'll be watching you. If you do anything suspicious, give me any reason to believe that you'll put me or my friends in danger, and you won't have to worry about ending any nonsense. Because I will end you, right then and there. Got it?"
Max sighed and gave a smile, a murderous glare coming from his eyes. "Got it. I don't want to end up like Agent Frederick, now."
Before the situation could escalate, there was a loud knocking coming from the front door. Max was this close to just firing a laser at it. He looked at Smash. "Do we open it?" He shrugged and began to walk over to it, but Smash pulled him back by the shoulder.
"I open it." He corrected as he walked out the room.
The Meeting
The front door opened wide to reveal the tired blue echidna. "Yo. What took ya?"
"Sorry about that," Splice grinned sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his quills, "We wound up picking up a few more along the way." Behind him was the gang Smash had been "recruited" alongside, as well as a handful of other figures he only caught a glimpse of once--if at all. "Can we come in?"
"Sure, sure." He stepped aside to let the group in.
"Nobody's killing anyone while I'm around, got it?" Xavis quietly said to Smash as he and Melissa passed by. His irises seemed to redden as he spoke.
"Hey, Blue, where's the kitchen?" Reens asked politely.
"Uh, it's Smash, by the way," He said before she continued.
"These guys might be hungry and I wanna cook a good meal." She walked forward a little until she saw it. "Never mind, here it is." She walked in, still slightly limping.
"Hey, want some help?" Splice offered, walking up beside her.
"Wait hold up." Smash called back. "I don't exactly have a lot to go around...really, I wasn't expecting to have guests at all." He explained, "So I ordered pizza."
Reens popped her head around the door. "Oh, alright then. Can I at least make dessert?"
"If you can find anything in there you can use, sure." He said with a shrug. He walked back into the living room, gesturing everyone else to have a seat.
"Thanks, Smash." Reens whipped her head back around the door and hit her head on the door-frame. "Ow. Sheesh, I didn't even look. Oh well, let's see what I've got to work with here. Let's see ... flour, a few eggs, some milk - should I use that? - vanilla flavoring ... yeah, I think I can do something with all this."
'At least I don't have to be the stove...' Xavis thought to himself, walking over to a couch and plopping down on it, with Melissa soon snuggling up next to him.
Static, not really knowing what to do, hung out near the entrance leading to the living room, keeping to himself. He didn't know anyone there, and thus felt out of his comfort zone. He casually observed the people in the room, seeing who seemed nice and who seemed like he should avoid.
Mimic, on the other hand, was anything but shy. He walked in without hesitation and proceeded to help himself to a small chair next to the couch, using a small coffee table as a footstool.
Transford entered the home soon after rubbing the back of his head. He didn't say anything, but it was obvious he was aggravated as he walked passed Smash without bothering to hang up his jacket (or even remove his mirrorshades) and slumped down on a chair adjacent to the couch that Xavis and Melissa were sitting at.
"Hey, what happened, man?" Smash asked, surprised to see him here. "Weren't you going off to do your own thing or whatever? What changed your mind to come out here?"
"I was planning to follow along with the other members of the group while you and Xavis had the meeting." The black hedgehog replied, "I didn't expect you would be inviting them here."
Smash suddenly noticed Mimic's lack of manners and shot a hard gaze at him; "Get your feet off there." He demanded in a harsh but hushed tone.
Mimic did as he was asked, but stayed where he was. He pulled out what appeared to be playing cards and was practicing sleight of hand tricks with them.
"Hey, Reens was it?" Melissa called to the female hedgehog in the kitchen, "That was a pretty hard hit. Are you okay? Plus, you're limping."
Reens popped her head back from the doorway. "Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine. It happens all the time," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Was I limping? Guess I didn't notice. Now where's the mixer?" she muttered, going back into the kitchen and hitting her head on the door-frame again. "Holy mackerel."
Melissa was about to get up to do... something to help Reens, but not knowing what, she decided against it.
"Need some ice for that?" Splice offered, holding up a hand. "You should take it easy and slow down a bit." As he spoke, a frosty aura surrounded his hand, solidifying into a block of ice.
Reens smiled and grabbed a washcloth, wrapping the ice in it. "Thanks, Splice," she said, holding it on her temple for a little bit.
Having watched Reens smack her head twice, Static decided to go into the kitchen to check on her. "You okay?" he asked, concerned. "Kind of hit your head hard there."
"Um ... now I'm not so sure," Reens admitted. "Would you mind setting the oven to 350 degrees? I still haven't found that mixer." She put her icepack down and placed a glass mixing bowl on the counter top, adding the dry ingredients she had found together. "Whoops, forgot the salt. Now for the wet ingredients..."
"Oh, sure." Static answered. He proceeded to the oven and set the oven to preheat to 350 degrees. Thankfully, the oven used digital. Analogue controls weren't as easy to read.
"What'chu making?" Splice asked curiously.
Reens looked over and grinned. "I was thinking of a souffle, but I'm not sure now. Maybe a cake?"
"Sweet. Maybe I can help? I've been trying to perfect a personal recipe lately." Splice said, "Though we probably don't have a whole lotta ingredients for that one."
"Sure, we can try it," Reens said with a shrug.
Max looked around at the party of anthromorphs, sighing. So... these are his friends? Guess I should start getting friendly. I don't want to get on that guy's bad side... Walking over to Mimic, Max smiled. "Hello! Who are you?"
Jewel had been silent the whole time. She sat down on the nearest couch, irritated. She glanced at Clock-Work and asked, "So... uh, where do you come from, Clock-Work?"
"It's Clock-Watch, actually." Clock replied. He began to wonder if everyone in the universe was chronically incapable of remembering names. "But what do you mean by that? If you mean where I live, I live right here in Station Square; I work as a defense attorney here, mostly criminal stuff. But if you mean where I woke up without my memory, I came from the dumpster about five blocks that way" He explained, pointing out towards the center of the city, where the Hyper Division headquarters were located.
"Oh. That's interesting," Jewel replied.
Mimic glances up from his sleight of hand and looks at Max. "No one of consequence." he answers. "Weren't you that guy who got his butt whooped by Smite over there?"
"It's Splice, darnit!" His voice called out from the kitchen.
Static frowned. "Might as well get used to it." he suggested. "He does that to everyone he meets. Unless you plan on duct taping his mouth shut."
Max rolled his eyes. "I'd call it a tie. Aren't you the guy who's gonna annoy us all to death?"
"If that's a challenge, I'll certainly try." Mimic answered.
"Not us, we've dealt with worse," Xavis commented.
Melissa scoffed. "C'mon, Alice is not that bad."
"That's only 'cause she plays nice whenever you're around!" the brown hedgehog retorted.
"Alright alright, now." Smash said, taking a seat closer to the unlit fireplace. "Let's remember what we're here for. We got a problem to deal with. But first, let's start with introductions, if you don't mind." His face relaxed as he spoke in a calmer and friendlier tone, "As some people already know, I'm Smash the Echidna. The red and blue guy over there is my friend Splice. We're from Greenflower. We know Xavis here, and Transford there. How about the rest of you?"
Before anyone could begin, Xavis looked to the unlit fireplace and- deciding that it wouldn't cause anyone any harm- snapped his finger, with the fireplace roaring to life a second later.
Melissa cleared her throat. She might as well go first. "My name is Melissa Craw," she started, sitting upright, "I'm a princess from Alcrade, which is an island in the Atlantic Ocean. I'm an Umbrakinetic and a minor Chaos User; and as you should all know, Xavis here is my boyfriend- so don't get any ideas."
As Melissa finished, Max put his hands behind his head and started talking in a slightly irritated tone. "Name's Max Irvaron." He introduced himself with his eyes closed. "I'm an agent for GUN, but currently, I'm having an alignment change. I'm here to stop all this chaos so that Station Square can get back to normal."
"Well, some of you already know me," Reens called from the kitchen. "My name is Rain Maricina, but everybody calls me Reens. I live in Eurish, but I only came here to get some parts for my grandpa. I've got aquakinesis and my heart powers, along with my robotic arm." She poured the smaller bowl into the larger one and grabbed a wooden spoon. "Oh, well. Guess we can do it the old-fashioned way. My hand can't turn into a mixer..."
"Here, I'll--"
"Want me to mix that for you?" Static offered, unintentionally cutting Splice off. "I'm Static, by the way. At least, that's what everyone calls me. Except for a certain mockingbird I could name."
"I think there's starting to be too many cooks in the kitchen." Splice muttered under his breath as he located the cake pans and oven mitts.
Reens nodded and handed Static the spoon. "Sure, let me know when it's thick enough," she added, looking through a drawer for some oven mitts.
"Here," Splice said, handing her a couple mitts after putting down the pans next to Static.
"Thanks," Reens said, placing one on her left hand.
"Hey!" Jewel, still sitting on the couch, shouted towards the kitchen. "Is there a coffee maker in there?!"
Static looks around and sees a coffee maker. "Yeah, there is." he called back.
"My name is Clock-Watch, and I'm a PI-slash-Defense Attorney. I've been looking into some cover-ups recently, and I have reason to believe they have a connection to the events currently transpiring." He was still running the towel through the poofy perm on his head.
Platinum decided to join the group, dashing into the room, holding some sort of crystal in her hand. Her quills were all blue, styled to match. "Hiya everyone! My name's Platinum!" She gave a goofy grin. "But those people over at G.U.N. like to call me Granite."
Xavis gave Platinum a strange look. This was not the same girl he had met earlier. But he decided to ignore it for the moment.
Jewel was startled by Platinum's sudden appearance, but said nothing. Instead, she walked into the kitchen and started to rummage through a cupboard, looking for some coffee beans.
Reens' ears perked up at Jewel. "I thought I saw some coffee beans the next cabinet over when I was looking for the vanilla."
"Thank you," Jewel replied, headed over to the cabinet Reens mentioned. She looked inside and grabbed the coffee beans. Then she set about putting them in the grinder while getting the coffee pot itself ready.
Static took the spoon and began stirring. He was stirring the bowl very quickly, possibly as fast or even faster than an electric blender would have.
Mimic stopped his sleight of hand to look at the group. "Name's Mimic the Mockingbird." he said. "Shapeshifter and thief extraordinaire." He then casually points his thumb towards the kitchen. "My orange compadre in there is Sparky."
"My name is Static!" the orange cat called back. In his annoyance, he began stirring even faster, causing some of the batter to spill over a bit. Upon noticing that he was starting to make a mess, he slowed his speed down.
"Tomato tomahto." the mockingbird shrugged.
Back in the living room, Smash began to speak. "I know what some of you are thinking," He started, "Granite. That's the name of the red and blue quilled echidna that G.U.N. tried to recruit us to kill. That's the name of the one responsible for this whole mess. Is this person the same Granite that G.U.N. is after?" Smash stood up, "The answer is yes, she is the one they want. But no, she is not the one behind the attacks on Station Square. As for the obvious question that comes next, Platinum can explain what she does with her quills in her own time. We don't know who the real culprit is, but here's what we do know."
Smash placed his arms behind his back as he recalled the conversation he had with her earlier. "A certain government group, known as the Hyper Division, is desperately trying to kill off the powerful individual supposedly behind all these attacks. It's true that whoever's behind these attacks is incredibly dangerous, but the one they described as Granite here, has been falsely accused. Splice also landed in some hot water back by the bank, 'cause apparently someone missed the memo that the target was an echidna."
He shook his head, "At any rate, I have reason to believe that there's far more to this case than meets the eye. I have reason to believe the Hyper Division is aware that Platinum is not the one causing this, and there's someone in this room who caught my eye earlier." His gaze locked on Clockwatch. "You said something interesting earlier, Mr. Clockwatch; something about cover-ups that may link to this case. Kiko and Hikari seemed to actively avoid you, too." Smash then sat down, "Let's hear what you have to say."
After hearing all of this, Mimic messed up one of his card tricks, sending cards flying about and drifting down to the floor. "Whoa, wait a minute!" Mimic interrupted, getting up out of his seat. "So we've got ourselves a real circus here. Princesses, cyborgs, gumshoes, and, worst of all, a G.U.N lackey. Oh, what a hand to be dealt!" he chuckled almost in disbelief before he continued. "Of all the G.U.N agents we could have been stuck with, we had to get a kid. He doesn't even look old enough to drive a moped, let alone be investigating a string of bombings!"
A small crater appeared in the wall Max was laying on as his eyes turned into a crimson hue. His gaze became a lot more fierce; very murderous, in fact. He was so aggravated, so mad, that he started speaking in Spanish in a tone that he only used when holding in a berserk attack. "Una palabra más ... y te haré arrepentir, beakface."
"Now let me see if I've got this right." Mimic turns to Smash before continuing. "You're telling us that a super secret part of G.U.N called the Hyper Division is pinning the attacks on her (Platinum) when they (Hyper Division) might actually be the ones behind these attacks? At they very least, they know she's not the bomber, but want her out of the picture anyway. Blowing up buildings and blaming it on someone else seems a tad extreme, even by G.U.N. standards. Is there something else we should know about? Because if all they want is one person taken out, they wouldn't have to be blowing up buildings to do it. They'd send lackies like tanning bed over here for a hired hit." he said, pointing to Max.
That was it for him. Max's hair instantly turned sharp and yellow, and his eyes were blood red. He gave Smash a daring glare, before looking directly into Mimic's eyes. "Listen here, Featherbrain. I don't take too kindly about people insulting me, ya hear? So unless you want y'all to become outlaws, I suggest you shut it."
"Hey, you need to calm down, alright?" Xavis said to Max, standing up from the couch and giving the human a glare of his own, "We have more important issues than your petty feelings that we need to focus on right now." He then turned his attention to Clock-Watch. "Anyway, I believe Smash asked you something?"
Max grunted deeply before sighing, his appearance back to normal. Mouthing Deal's off to Smash, he walked over to the door. "Once you're all in cells, just know that Carbomber sealed your fate." and with that, he opened the door calmly, walked out, and slammed it.
Hearing the commotion from the kitchen, Static flinched as he heard the door shut. "Oh, for crying out loud!" he sighed, stopping what he was doing with the bowl; it seemed finished anyway. "I'm so tempted to kill that stupid bird right now!" he muttered. "Please excuse me." he pardoned himself to Smash as he headed towards the door in an attempt to persuade Max to change his mind.
"Don't bother." Transford said to Static, "If he's going to be like that then he's just going to slow us all down." His tone shifted to a slightly amused one before continuing, "And besides, how much harm could that kid really be able to cause?" Transford shrugged as he said this, but then folded his arms and his tone again shifted to a much more serious one as he finished, "Regardless, we have more important things to take care of, and Clockwatch, if everyone else is done interrupting, than we can start with you."
Static frowned. He was about to object, but Transford had a point. There were more serious matters to attend to. He was about to take a seat, but then remembered he had offered to help in the kitchen. He then proceeded to the kitchen to continue helping, but stayed close to the doorway so he could continue listening to the meeting.