ZippyWharrgarbl

IC: Gyro - Gyromobile

Gyro set the ship down skillfully, and mentally gave himself a pat on the back for the nice landing before disengaging the door lock. "Okay, here we are! Careful not to trip on the end of the walkway."

~

IC: Rotor and XPlode - Villain Friend Ship

As Rotor grumbled to himself and readied the landing gear, XPlode turned to Morphos, eyebrows raised. "Why, chum, I would have thought Voltix would have explained this to you all beforehand! Ah, apologies, my friend. We received intelligence that was originally taken from a call from the Star Whale to the Hero Factory, and so the Hero Factory has been informed of the Star Whale's issues. However, we don't know whether the Star Whale is on its proper course, or whether whatever has befallen it has warranted it to change this course. We are here to gather information; perhaps, for example, someone had seen it recently adrift, or give us an idea of where to start looking."

IC: Timothy Gyro - Gyromobile

Gyro glanced back at Flames. "Not much longer. A few minutes, maybe?"

~

IC: XPlode and Rotor - Villain Friend Ship

XPlode responded to Thak. "You're a new face, right? I'm sure you could join the others if you don't currently have a warrant. Or, if you would prefer, you could join I and my fairly ill friend here in less social endeavours. A shame, really. I do prefer the idle chit-chat."

"We're comin' up on Antropolis," Rotor remarked.

"Thank you, Rotor." XPlode turned to the others. "Well, whatever you do, just remember not to draw attention to yourselves, or our goals here. Except you, Rotor. I would like you to stay with the ship."

"Aw, what?" Rotor groaned. "C'mon, I'm already gonna have to sit around in one cramped spaceship when we find the Skywhale."

"It's the Starwhale, and you know you're quite easy to spot, with your blades. You can't very well hide them under a cloak. Besides, we may need a hasty getaway, if those accursed Heroes catch wind of our presence."

"What're you gonna do without me to bail you outta trouble, eh?" Rotor shook his head. "Whatever. Fine. Just make sure you jokers hurry it up, I get antsy cooped up in here."

XPlode asked the villains, "Are there any remaining pressing questions or issues before we arrive?"

OOC: Huge apologies for the delay! I was doing exams, and really had to study.

IC: Ken Render and Mara Quiver - Jade's Ship

Render shrugged a little at Gorn. "She's fine, pardner. Mara ain't th' best with meetin' people."

Quiver gave a polite nod to Gorn, and mumbled, "S-Sorry."

It was getting a little loud, but she did her best to tune it out.

IC: Ken Render and Mara Quiver - Jade's Ship

Render squinted at the weapon, chewing his wire. "Rifle, eh? Mara here's got wunna those herself. Ain't that right, junebug?"

Quiver nodded stiffly, trying to resist the urge to huddle behind Render. He was keen on the idea of encouraging Quiver to come out of her shell more, so to speak, but she still found it very difficult. Render wrapped his arm around her shoulders in a comforting fashion, still grinning lazily at the other two Heroes in the conversation.

"Her energy rifle ain't got a farm tool on it, mind," Render said cheerily, without skipping a beat. "Neither've us have much t'do with fightin' up close and personal-like. Looks like you two'll be more th' people t'call fer that."

~

IC: Timothy Gyro - Gyromobile

"Bwuh?" Gyro looked up, and then grinned sheepishly. "Oh. Sure."

He pulled back on the wheel, and followed the other ship towards Antropolis.

IC: Mara Quiver and Ken Render - Jade's Ship

Quiver shrunk into herself a little, surrounded by so many people. Render patted her head and decided to make conversation with a Hero sitting nearby. "Howdy. Y'all prepped 'n ready fer this?"

OOC: This can be any Hero on the ship, I don't mind.

~

IC: Timothy Gyro - The Gyromobile

Gyro started warming up the engines, his embarrassment bleeding away to be replaced with excitement for getting to fly a ship for the first time in what felt like forever.

IC: XPlode - Villain Friend Ship

To Whipcrack, he said, "There are other ways to find information, friend. We'll be landing in the docks, at the far outskirts of the city. Lots of shady establishments to question people, and no doubt there will be shipping warehouses with some record of where they've sent their cargo. But, that is only a suggestion. I am sure you have plans of your own."

Then, he turned to Morphos. "Of course you aren't. It was simply a suggestion."

OOC: Let's hope Blink doesn't fall asleep on the ride over, in case she teleports just outside the ship or something.

OOC: Just a reminder: I'm pretty sure it was confirmed in Morphos' approval that rudimentary scans would expose Morphos' shapeshifting (so not facial recognition software, but, say, a security scanner for a building or something), and I'm pretty sure we confirmed that he couldn't mimic colour? I was asking Nato about it and he mentioned there might have been something about only having three colours, but that doesn't make any sense given the nature of how he shapeshifts. I dunno. Just remember the limitations on that shapeshifting.

Oh, and pluppies are Blink's race, mentioned in her profile.

EDIT: Just found the three colours thing. Apparently I forgot to remark on it at the time? I don't know. That's on me. Still, it makes no sense to me, but unless it becomes a serious problem I'm just gonna avoid the whole headache that is resolving that. Also you've said that high complexity forms would take about fifteen seconds, not a few seconds, but that's inconsequential and whatever. Just remember your character's limits on his powers.

~

IC: XPlode - Friend Ship

"Very cute," XPlode said. "And a very handsome choice of visage. But unless you also have a shapeshifting identification card, I'd still steer clear of the authorities, if I were you. Just in case, you understand."

IC: a duck - With Heir

Two steps. She held back an angry snap of the beak. It was an improvement, certainly. She had to be patient. Not all beings were hatched from their eggs as ferocious and perfect as she. Why, even those who shared the nest with her were much weaker, and if those who shared her very bloodline could not compare, then how could she expect this youngling to do so, without time and dedicated training?

The tall ones were leaving, so she decided against bothering them for their due offerings. Her youngling responded well to positive reinforcement, and so spreading terror would have to wait. She shot one last, longing look at the bumbling, monolithic creatures and their unpecked feet and ankles, and waddled back into the darkness. She navigated the spines and blades of her heir's hide and settled in a safe spot, absently preening at the young one's feathers to calm their nerves. Well, as fearful as her heir was of the tall ones, they were... tolerable. She felt comfortable treating them as her own flesh and blood. Fears and insecurities could be quelled with her care and training, she knew this. And what a hunter they had proven to be, when the tall ones had disappeared into their stupid-looking tall, hard nests! This phobia, it was but a stage, she was sure.

~

IC: Rotor and XPlode - Villain Friend Ship

As Rotor flicked switches and pressed buttons, XPlode directed his attention to the other villains. "All right, I'm sure Voltix has given you a reasonable summary of what to expect, but I'm going to go over some details. First of all, we are headed to Antropolis, and we're going there to find information. Not a fight. And, we don't want people to know what we're doing. If someone hears we're finding a ship to loot, they'll want a share, or to take it off our hands, or to alert those confounded Heroes to our doings. The Heroes are already going to be looking for this ship, and I'd rather not clue them in to where to look for it.

"You two," he gestured to Blink and Morphos, "You look fairly unnoticeable. Pluppies aren't a rare sight around Antropolis, as I recall, and civilian models of your build are very common. Avoid the authorities and any recognition software, but I would say otherwise you two would be the wisest choice for asking civilians for information. But be discreet."

He glanced to the sickly, coughing, possibly dying, Whipcrack. He said, "You... should avoid people, I think. Else you may be put in quarantine as well as prison once they identify you."

OOC: I checked to make sure I had the right rough idea of what everyone looked like this time. Whipcrack, according to his bio, used to be a civilian, but I'm guessing there's going to be concern if this guy hacking up a lung stumbles into a bar- not for him being a criminal, of course, but for making sure he's all right. That said, if he's good at playing it off as a cold and not drawing attention to himself, then feel free to disregard XPlode and go into all the public places you could possibly want. I mean, in general, you can disregard him. Villains don't play by no rules. Just be aware of how bystanders will react to your doings.

Also, if you have a Villain character you want to start playing but you didn't make it to Voltix's meeting or to boarding the Villain Friend Ship, worry not! You can just post like they've been there the whole time if you like. Maybe add an OOC to say that's what you're doing just in case of confusion, though.

IC: Rotor and XPlode - Berth 17B

"Was he the 'they' you were talkin' about?" Rotor asked with a grin, which earned him a roll of the optical units from XPlode. Rotor climbed on board, sitting in the pilot's seat, and XPlode went in the back with the other villains.

~

IC: Timothy Gyro - Dropship

He thanked his lucky stars that, not only had at least one of the rookies who had climbed on board apparently not noticed him, but their arrival meant he had stopped horsing around when Bulk climbed on board. He scrambled out of the panicked, attempting casual position he had flopped into and manned the controls properly, clearing his vocal unit.

~

IC: a duck - With Underling

Ah, she had their attention this time. She glanced back at the tunnels her heir had carved, which was unusual behaviour in and of itself. She waddled a few steps out of their hideout and quacked again, inviting them to follow. Her heir's phobia of the large, clumsy creatures was better resolved in baby steps. Stepping outside for a moment might be too large a jump in progress, but she was game for trying, anyway. They should know that she would protect them. But, if they chose to remain inside... there was always another day. She ruffled her feathers. Training an heir was hard work.

OOC: Sorry on being mixed up about Morphos! Can't believe I forgot about him.

IC: Timothy Gyro - Caught

At Flames' and Shard's entry into the ship, Gyro froze mid-explosion noise, releasing the wheel in a panic while internally screaming. A little too loudly, he said while grinning a little nervously, "Oh hey there new guy! And uh... Shard, right?"

~

IC: a duck - Hidey Hole

She really needed to have a talk with her heir. They were worrying her a little... was this what the little ones were meant to be like? She quacked firmly, but not roughly, to get their attention.

~

IC: XPlode and Rotor - Berth 17B

XPlode raised his hands. "Friends, friends! We're all Villains here. Why, we don't want to be in bad spirits when we arrive, do we? That is the very thing those Heroes prey upon, you know!"

Rotor regarded Blink. After a second, he shrugged. "No harm done, pal. But next time, keep up with the program, capisce?"

XPlode sighed. This would be a long flight. He thumbed over his shoulder at the ship. "Well, get on the ship, I suppose. Time is money, as they say."

IC: XPlode - Not Fully Convinced

"Good to hear. Seems like we have an oddly high proportion of organics with us today. I'd hate to arrive at our destination with a severe drop in numbers." And, he added to himself, sick organics tended to produce all sorts of disgusting slime, none of which he was keen to deal with.

He paused, looking over the villains. "Speaking of... is this everyone?"

OOC: So far, we seem to have three Villains with XPlode and Rotor, so correct me if I'm wrong on that. By a weird coincidence, all three player characters present are organic and are also going to be in an enclosed space with Whipcrack, whose disease is contagious through close contact. HMMMMMMMMMMMMM

OOC: Sorry for the delay! I've been super busy.

IC: Timothy Gyro - Trendsetter

Gyro, seeing Jade's ship was full, climbed on one of the two heading for Antropolis. To his utter delight, it was completely empty- pilot and all. He immediately vaulted into the pilot's seat, narrowly escaping slamming his face into the controls in his fervour when his blades nicked the roof, and fastened his seatbelt with some difficulty. He grabbed the steering wheel and turned it around, making spaceship noises with his vocaliser as he mucked around with it before anyone got on and saw him.

He loved flying ships, not as much as he loved flying on his blades, but close. It felt similar, at least. Usually there was someone else manning the controls when he went on missions, and he figured that'd be the case this time around, especially with him being a little delayed in arriving because he had to charge first. This must have been his lucky day!

~

IC: XPlode and Rotor - Berth 17B

XPlode took a subtle step back from the sickly villain. Voltix sure could pick 'em. Hopefully this one was not going to keel over on the way; dead organic smell was hard to get out of the upholstery. "... Good. Well, you're sure to get your fill on this trip. Say, chum, are you all right? You sound a tad... ill."

Rotor frowned at Blink, the soundwave-looking jagged line on the screen where a mouth would be curling downwards as a result. "Henchman? Me 'n XPlode're partners, ya doofus."

XPlode scoffed at this, but said nothing, still facing the sickly villain.

 

How old's Erudite, Kovsorr? If you don't mind me asking. And also you don't have to be specific at all; as a measure, the absolute oldest Heroes- the original Alpha Team- are a hundred years old, so a rough range between one and a hundred works.

Erudite's about 64.

 

Still young enough to party, then. Cool. Thanks for clarifying- I thought I'd ask, since everyone's definition of veteran seems to be slightly different.

Also, sorry for the delay in posts! And if Cor and Dallior aren't back soon, I'll PM them about their characters.

How old's Erudite, Kovsorr? If you don't mind me asking. And also you don't have to be specific at all; as a measure, the absolute oldest Heroes- the original Alpha Team- are a hundred years old, so a rough range between one and a hundred works. And I do mean one and a hundred, since Heroes are created as adults so you can easily and viably have an experienced ten or twenty year old Hero. If you don't know or haven't decided, that's fine!

This is more out of interest rather than any issue, though. In terms of the profile, he seems a little vague. Not problematically so, though. Approved (1/3), but if his mobility and endurance is played as OP then I'm gonna ask you to specify abilities more and ask you to tone it down.

IC: Mara Quiver and Ken Render - Jade's Ship

Quiver went to retrieve her wallet, but Render stopped her. "It's a joke, junebug."

"O-Oh. Um, s-sorry."

"No need fer that, y'didn't know." Render boarded the ship, Quiver shuffling in after him, embarrassed. They both sat down and strapped themselves in. Render said to the pilot, "Thanks fer th' ride. Our usual ride's awful busy with somethin'."

IC: XPlode and Rotor - Berth 17B

Rotor leaned down to whisper in XPlode's audial receptor, "Does this guy have superhearing or somethin'?"

"If he does," XPlode replied, "Why are you bothering to whisper?"

That was a good point. XPlode turned to the villain before him. "Please excuse my friend. I assume you overheard our mention of Heroes; we are expecting them to try and interfere. From that look on your face, I assume you are keen to meet them."

There were more villains arriving behind this one. Rotor glanced to the smaller one who'd sauntered in and was standing close by. "And what're you s'posed to be?"

OOC: That'd be Blink that Rotor is talking to.

~

IC: a duck - Hero Factory Grounds

She ruffled her feathers with a growling quack, as if to say, "I should think so". She gobbled up the offered squirrel in a pretty disturbing fashion.

~

IC: Timothy Gyro - Hero Factory

Shoot, he'd forgotten to charge. He did a loop back to the Quaza Chamber before heading back down to the ships, fully charged.

~

IC: Mara Quiver and Ken Render - Hero Factory

Both Quiver and Render were nearly fully charged, and so they headed straight to the ships. Render glanced around. "Can't see Quark around. Wonder what's takin' her so long with them Heroes."

"I h-hope she's a-all right," said Quiver.

"She'll be fine, junebug. In the meantime, we'll hitch a ride with some other cowpoke." He led the way to Jade's ship and stuck his head in the door. "You takin' passengers, pardner?"

Yeah, any one you want, really. Jade's there, ready to take people, and there'd be a couple of pilotless ships owned by the Hero Factory you could borrow to take others on. There's also Nimius' ship, I'm sure he won't mind random Heroes climbing in.

IC: Dorothy Quark - Okay Then

Quark frowned slightly as Beemer failed to respond. "... Right."

She led them both inside. "Remain at the Hero Factory unless otherwise instructed by a mission manager aware of your situation. Trying to lie will only get you in more trouble."

~

IC: Timothy Gyro - Hero Factory

He stood, stretched his blades, quickly pulled them in and smiled sheepishly at the Hero he knocked upside the head with the action, and followed after the others.

~

IC: Mara Quiver and Ken Render - Hero Factory

"Welp," Render said. "Best we get along, li'l doggy."

Quiver nodded and followed him out the door, staying close.

~

IC: a duck - Hero Factory Grounds

Irritated at being ignored, she pecked her charge's foot and quacked crossly and sharply.

OOC: I nearly forgot the duck tried to talk to her baby ages ago. Also, I'm not sure if they'd be able to see the Heroes? Unless we have the docked ships outside, on the ground floor. Actually, we probably do since the upper floors probably aren't stable enough for ships yet. Never mind.

~

OOC: Also now I get to Live The Dream

IC: Rotor and XPlode - Berth 17B

Rotor hefted a crate into the back of their ship. "You plannin' on helping out anytime soon?"

This was directed at XPlode, who was leaning on the last crate. His friend placed his hand over his faceplates dramatically. "Oh, but Rotor! I'm afraid I just don't have the brutish strength you do. Why, were I to attempt to lift this crate, I could very well bust my motors, and then where would we be for this grand escapade?"

"Ha. Ha. Ha." On the last 'ha', Rotor yanked the box from under XPlode's elbow and carried it to its brethren in the ship's cargo hold. "Whadda we even need these for? We're just droppin' off Voltixx's punks on some ship, right?"

"And joining them," XPlode corrected. "We are joining them on the ship."

"Why?"

"Because, dear friend, this ship allegedly has a good deal of treasure on board. Guarded by pirates. Where is your sense of adventure?"

"Back home, next to my common sense, 'pparently," Rotor grumbled, setting the crate down. "Remember what Voltixx said? The info was from a broadcast to Hero Factory. That means there's gonna be Heroes crawlin' all over the place. I ain't too keen to be in a metal box with no flyin' room against those chumps."

"Scared of a few Heroes, Rotor? Goodness, what has become of you?"

"Shaddap. I ain't afraid of no Heroes. Just doesn't seem clever to follow a bunch of chumps Voltixx picked up into this place."

XPlode patted his back with a knowing smile. "Oh, Rotor. When will you learn? See, best case scenario, we have a share in some impressive loot. If we fail, we have a-"

He was cut off by a loud cough and a shout from across the room. He and Rotor turned to see a sickly-looking Villain, who had called to them. Rotor turned his gaze to XPlode with a smirk.

"Your friend's callin' to ya," he said bluntly, still smiling. XPlode grunted.

To the Villain, he gestured for them to approach. "I assume Voltixx has briefed you. We've just finished loading supplies."

Sorry for the quiet time, everyone! As I've mentioned before, most if not all the GMs are in some form of school or uni. Currently, I'm in crunch time with a lot of stuff due in in a small amount of time, myself. I'll start PMing around reminders to players for replies soon. Remember to check if you have something being waited on!

IC: Wilbur Flood and NPC Security - Arena, Backstage

The newer guard frowned. "Sure. And my guess is your 'important business' is autographs or something, right?"

"Hold on, Bill," the older guard said. He looked to Flood. "You're Flood, right?"

"Yes, I am. If I'm not mistaken, you are Rick, correct? I believe I met you last time we had to collect our friend for Hero business."

Rick clicked his fingers in realisation. "That's where I saw you! That team leader of yours didn't come this time?"

"Quark was held up with something at the Hero Factory, unfortunately. That's why we're here."

"Sure." Rick turned and knocked on the door. "La Puño? Flood and, uh... His friend? They're here to see you."

From inside the room came Thumper's cheery voice. "La Puño just left, but I'll talk to them."

Flood sometimes felt that the hubbub that went into the whole luchador alter ego thing was a bit much, and he didn't see much of a point when everyone knew who the alter ego was anyway (as was the case for most of the luchadores), but it was rarely a big inconvenience, and he knew it meant a lot to Thumper- he'd even seen her put her mask on to take phone calls to La Puño. Rick held the door open for him and Wolfe to pass through.

Thumper waved from the other side, grinning brightly despite the massive dent in her jaw. "Hey, guys! Thank you for coming to see my match! I didn't know you were coming, too, Wolfe; I would've gotten you a seat reserved!"

~

IC: Dorothy Quark - Hero Factory

Quark walked back over to the pair of Heroes and spoke to Beemer, "You'd best stay in the Hero Factory, too. Speak to Zib; I understand you were extremely confused about the situation, and he may give you permission to assist this mission, since it's high priority and so long as you take care not to break any further rules."

OOC: Beemer's so quiet, I keep forgetting he's there. Whoops

IC: Dorothy Quark - Hero Factory

"What? But you just told her-" She paused, frowning, when Helen expressed a need to leave. "At least tell her she has to stay here first. It will make my job that much easier. Else I'm sure she will ignore me and fly off home, since you have only told me in private to keep her here."

OOC: Sparrowhawk would only have heard part of the exchange, by the way. It's been specified that Helen switched to a private feed, and Quark stepped away so only Helen could hear.

~

IC: Timothy Gyro - Mission Control

This mission sounded pretty awesome, though he hoped it was one of those ships with big rooms. He didn't really like being stuck in cramped, small hallways.

~

IC: Wilbur Flood and NPC Guards - Arena, Backstage

Flood easily kept up with Wolfe, with his innate ability to part a crowd.

When they reached the guards, the two Heroes were looked over with a professional gaze. One said, "This is La Puño de Hierro's room. No Thumper in here at the moment."

The other, a newer guy, said, "Besides, you don't think we've heard the ol' song and dance about knowing a wrestler or being here by appointment before? Granted, ain't exactly common at La Puño's level, but I don't know yer life. Got any proof?"

OOC: Luchadores are often fairly serious about maintaining their alter ego, from what I've read. In HF RPG, I tend to treat it as more of a tradition that people treat them as two separate entities. When she comes out of the room they'll probably just act like she's a friend of La Puño or something.

~

IC: Mara Quiver - Mission Control

She was glad they weren't late, and was happy to spot Render in the crowd, smiling warmly and gesturing for her to come over. She mumbled a 'goodbye' to Forticus and headed over before listening to the briefing. The mission sounded very high stakes, and very close quarters. It made her nervous. Render patted her shoulder.

"Well, how 'bout that?" he said with a lazy smile. "Good ol' info-huntin' t'find a runaway ship. Reckon we can do this one with th'whole team on board, even. I'm likin' that more 'n more."

Quark used to hesitate before bringing any of the kids on the team with her. Ever since she was forced to take Thumper and Quiver along on the Mekron City mission, she seemed to be getting back into the habit of team missions. It started small; bringing Quiver along to deliver aid to natural disaster areas or other non-combat missions, watching Flood in the field and offering real-time advice on dry land fighting, having Thumper tag along if she suspected there'd be something big and heavy involved. It was starting to feel a little more normal on the team, like before the incident that changed them both.

Render chewed his wire thoughtfully, his smile fading just a little but not disappearing. He tried to not dwell on his memories too long, instead resigning them to the status of a lesson learned and never to be repeated. He brought the corners of his mouth back up to their previous state. "Could be that you get t'watch Quark shake some answers outta bar patrons like a wolf lizard shakin' th' fight outta a rattler. Metaphorically speakin', of course. 'Less they try and get rowdy."

His smile grew wistful. "Ain't seen Quark in a bar fight fer years. She'd always be the one to finish 'em, mind. Always some joker who thinks pickin' a fight with a Hero's th' smartest thing since canned oil. You can guess how that goes."

Quiver giggled quietly, with a small but genuine smile.

IC: Wilbur Flood - Makuhero City Arena

"Oh." He nodded to himself. "Yes, I suppose we'd be better off waiting and taking Ellie with us. But if you'd like, you can join the others. I can handle fetching her on my own, and unless this particular mission is underwater, I'm sure my presence won't be needed."

He glanced back to the ring, smiling. "Of course, staying is fine, too. Ellie's quite the fighter, and I'm sure she's going to be finishing up here soon."

~

IC: Dorothy Quark - Hero Factory

"Tomorrow?" Quark frowned. "I was told to bring her back tonight. I missed supporting Thumper at her match tonight to bring these hooligans in, because they were posing a threat to innocent people. I understand that a Priority 1 mission has just come up, and I would allow Beemer some leniency- he seems to be confused about the entire situation, but I think he is aware of his mistake- but Sparrowhawk has shown nothing but an uppity attitude about being stopped from attacking civilians, and no apparent regret or recognition of her actions as inappropriate. If you deem it safe to have her left alone to her own devices until tomorrow, then I suppose I will put up with her attitude in leaving. But I would not recommend it."

She stepped away from the other two and lowered her voice, so only Helen could hear. "Thank you for changing to a private feed to give me a reprimand- you would not believe the attitude on that rookie- but I don't think you fully understand. Sparrowhawk started a brawl with two civilians without any cause for doing so, except she thought they 'looked suspicious'. I've spoken to her about repercussions, about what she did, and she honestly thinks we're in the wrong for stopping her before she seriously hurt someone. Report me to Mister Makuro if you must, but she was very lucky she wasn't brought back in Hero Cuffs as it is."

~

IC: Timothy Gyro and Ken Render - Hero Factory

He grinned and patted Flames on the back, seeing his expression. "I'll see you later, bud. Zib doesn't like Heroes chatting through his briefings."

Render moved past the two Heroes standing just inside the room, nodded to Zib with a "Chief" in greeting, and sat down next to some other Heroes.

~

IC: La Puño de Hierro - WRESTLEMANIA PART IV

La Puño's glee in finishing the battle so quickly was cut short as Tiger Stripes got up much faster than she expected, tackling her into the corner of the ring and managing three strikes to her face before she kicked him off. She brought herself up and stood on the ropes, and was ready when he recovered and came at her again, catching him in a headlock and jumping into a diving bulldog, landing on her back and driving Tiger Stripes' face into the mat.

"Kissing the ground I walk on is a bit much," she laughed as she rolled to her feet. He staggered, but climbed to his feet to face her.

He spat oil and glared at her. "We'll see how your attitude is after I've sent you to the scrapyard."

He feinted a kick and when she went to block, he instead twisted and grabbed her around the middle, using her momentum to lift her off her feet, over his hip, and slam her into the ground. He had her pinned before she knew it, and she could hear the referee counting and the subsequent bang as she hit the mat in time with the counts.

"One!"

La Puño tried to throw Tiger Stripes off, but he was holding on tight.

"Two!"

There had to be a way to force him off, she had to get up... Or take him along.

"Th-"

She jolted to her feet, Tiger Stripes still on her back, and fell backwards to land on him. He shoved her away immediately, but she was no longer pinned. Better yet, the move had put her close to the ropes. All she needed was to get up there, and get him close enough to pull her move.

She allowed him to hit her and took the excuse to stumble back to the ropes. As he went to club her with his forearm, she grinned, facial plates grinding where he'd given her a dent in the cheek.

He didn't expect her forehead to make contact with his, and stumbled back, dazed. This was her chance! She climbed the ropes, took a second to rile up the crowd with a pose, and leaped.

Her newest move, 'La Pandeo Huracanrana', was something she'd been practicing for weeks. She caught Tiger Stripes with her legs, used her hands to swing him over her body with a handstand-like position, and slammed him into the floor, landing perfectly, sitting securely on top of his back. She reached back and hooked his leg in a leg-lock for good measure.

The referee counted, but Tiger Stripes couldn't get free, incredibly dazed as he was. The bell rang, and once it did, La Puño de Hierro jumped to her feet, cheering with the crowd and flexing her incredible arms. Tiger Stripes groaned loudly and put his hands over his face, lying on his back, as the referee lifted La Puño's arm in the air.

"THE MATCH GOES TO LA PUÑOOOOOOOOO DE HIERROOOOOOOOOOOO!" The announcer shouted into his microphone. He'd been commentating on the entire match, but La Puño hadn't been paying much attention, too focused on the match. "THE IRON FIST OF HERO FACTORY HAS CRUSHED ANOTHER OPPONENT IN HER WAKE! BUT CAN SHE KEEP IT UP FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIPS?!"

She'd done it. She'd won. She laughed, loud and bellowing, and finally turned to offer Tiger Stripes a hand up. He waved her off with a scowl, jumping to his feet and shoving roughly by on his way out of the ring.

Once he was far enough away, he turned and pointed to her. "This ain't over, luchadork! Just you wait- I'll face you again! And next time, you'll fall to the Tiger's claws!"

"Fists beat tigers every time!" she shouted back. "Nothing beats Makuhero City, especially not on our home turf!"

The crowd roared in agreement, with some boos tossed in from Tiger Stripes supporters. She could hear people yelling her name. She thumped her fist against her chest, just beside her Hero Core, and raised her fist to the crowd. Some copied her. On the outside, she kept herself cool, but on the inside she was barely holding herself back from hugging herself in glee.

She left the ring, signing autographs and posing for photos as she went, until she reached the exit and headed for the changerooms. Her two security guards joined her, and she greeted them warmly and thanked them when they congratulated her for her victory.

~

OOC: I was informed that a regular match lasts about 15 to 20 minutes, but I've taken up enough time with WRESTLEMANIA so I figured I'd try and wrap it up. Sorry that there's a lot happening at once- I don't think anyone was doing much in the arena except for cheering. If you wanted to do something in the interim, let me know and I'll divide the post where you need it divided.

EDIT: Also forgot to mention but Thumper's move is named 'The Warping Huracanrana' and is dedicated to the time Thumper and Kavok Quake broke the space-time continuum with a huracanrana. A beautiful time.

Shoot, I forgot to clarify this here, but off-site Scorp and I went through what bail even was and he's decreed that the money probably instead goes to a fancy lawyer.

I'm not sure what definition of bail you're using and I'm not well versed in law anyway, but according to an official Australian guide to it, bail is when you pay money to not sit in a cell until your court date. It doesn't need a retrial because it's before the trial itself, and you can't do it if your crime is serious enough and you have no reason that you shouldn't be locked up until the trial. You might need a hearing to give a reason for getting bail, if your crime is serious enough to warrant that or I guess you have a history of not going to the trial date or something. Sometimes you don't even need bail, if your crime is minor and some other factors that come into it like not being a threat to society and junk.

I don't think it needs a retrial? Excuse me if I'm wrong on that though. I'm a biologist, not a lawyer.

So, basically, we found out it'd do little for Thak to post bail to get out of jailtime, because he'd still have to go to trial for his crime.

IC: Timothy Gyro - Hero Factory

Gyro grinned and stepped through first. "It can take a while, but don't worry if it does. Doesn't mean nothing. I had to be on some boring team for ages before getting on a proper flying team with Kat!"

~

IC: Dorothy Quark - Hero Factory

She returned Sparrowhawk's stare. "Well, I am glad I managed to convince you. Else you would be learning just how unpleasant it is to be Hero Cuffed mid-flight."

Then I'm not sure how he's getting out of jail time using his money. I'm really confused now. The profile suggests he's loaded and that's how he pays his way out of jail, but if he's not rich, then I'm not sure how he's regularly not only getting very little prison time but also not getting warrants, which suggests he's not bribing guards to let him slip out and escape and is instead making bail or has a really good lawyer- but if he breaks the law regularly, he'd need to be loaded to regularly make those payments. I'm really confused now.

Are his crimes just really minor and only require him to pay fines? But even in that case, if he kept doing them I think they'd start giving him harsher punishments like jailtime because he's not showing any will to stop, but the profile mentions he gets little if any jailtime so it can't be that unless he's not done that many crimes. I'm racking my brain for an explanation but so far I'm coming up blank. Could you go into a little more detail about Thak's situation, Scorp? I think I must be missing something.

I guess if he's doing very minor crimes either infrequently or only started recently that might be a bit easier to understand, but that's not going to last him very long. And it can't be infrequently because it mentions he does them very frequently, so I guess he must be a new villain who does minor crimes? He's still gonna run out of money pretty fast.