Dino Attack: At War's End

[avmatoran]

IC:As Pierce and Bogart were talking in the medical wing, the cloaked figure came in and asked the same question. The same answer was given, and she moved on.

[that guy from that show]

iC:A tall man entered the infirmary “Ms. Venemosa is no myth Dr. Pierce.” He said darkly. The figure slammed a stack of freshly printed papers on top of the file cabinet.“This woman is not some demon that dwells in the heart of the wicked. No, I assure you that Ms. Venemosa is very real and very much alive.”“Who are you?” said Bogart as he picked up the top peace of paper. “And what is all of this?”The muscled figured casually removed a stapled document and handed it to Pierce. The image on the front was n unfocused snapshot of a women but the likeness was enough to make the doctor’s heart skip a beat.“My name is Commander Pharisee. I am head of D.A internal affairs and I am taking control of this investigation.” It was a clear statement of his apparent authority. “I imagine that face is familiar to you Dr. Pierce. The women you see before you is indeed Agent Claw.”Pierce slowly paged threw the document. “It can’t be.”“I know how to do my research Dr. Pierce. What you see before you is everything that I was able to locate on Mrs. Venemosa. I printed every report, every iota.” Pharisee said. “I know where to look and what I found relating to Claw’s past is disturbing.”“Hay, this looks like Decta Corporation.” Muttered Bogart. “I know quite a bit about this incident.”“I would imagine you would.” Said Pharisee. “The report identifies you as a detective working on the case.”“Why are you talking to us?” said Dr. Pierce. “You certainly seem to know what you’re doing.”“I want you to summarize the events.” Said Pharisee. “Tell me what you know.”“I identified the murder weapon as hers. Agent Claw herself did not deny it.” Said Bogart.“What about an alibi?” Asked Pierce. The doctor was not ready to believe that agent Claw was a mole. “There have been six murders. Someone must have seen her for at least one of them.” “No.” said Pharisee. “I already talked to some agents. Claw has been illusive the last few hours.”The commander turned to the detective. “I am going to go and speak with agent Rex and agent Claw. I want to gather more evidence and hopefully make an arrest.” Pharisee pointed to a very large handgun strapped to his hip. “I am prepared to use force if the creator is willing.”Pierce was looking increasingly uncomfortable. “Lets not be jumping to violence Comma-”Pharisee raised his hand to silence the doctor. “Dr. Pierce this is my duty on this earth. If I want your opinion I will ask for it. My purpose is to expel evil from the D.A. and you will soon find that evil dwells in the most unlikely of places. Do not try and stop me. Do not get in my way.” Pharisee handed the entire file to the doctor. “I hope you read this doctor. It might change your opinion of agent Claw.”He then turned to Bogat. “You have some prior knowledge of the women. Perhaps you would join me.”

[Andrewnuva199]

OOC: Funny thing, Avmatoran, in my half-baked mental reconstruction of Dino Cop as an hour and a half movie, I imagine it to follow similar trends to the plot of Robocop, a movie with a cyborg main character.IC: Dino Cop, in spite of all the acclaim and being directed by Stephen Speilbrick himself, was a pretty cheesy flick that made for great riffing material.So somehow in the middle of nowhere ("Funny, it looks like plain old Egypt to me," Andrew had remarked), Johnny Thunder and Pippin Reed (then during their Hollywood phase) managed to find a flask in an Egyptian temple containing some kind of liquid with concentrated dinosaur DNA ("Now what does this have to do with a temple of gloom?" Joike had said). After escaping the temple's collaspe (Andrew had given Johnny a line of "'I really should expect this more often, this is practically becoming part of the routine.'"), it had ended up in a lab where it would end up in a lab ready to be studied by Professor Genome ("Gee, I wonder what he studies?" Pterisa had joked, getting into the spirit of things. "Hamsters?") and guarded by newly arrived Police Lieutenant Ty Rex with his number one weapon: his catchphrase "Nothing is what I do best." (Laxus, as Rex: "'As opposed to actually doing anything. That I don't do well.'")As luck would have it though, one quiet afternoon during guard duty, the city the lab was in was struck by an earthquake, and Rex was trapped as the lab collasped (Joike: "Oh gosh, why did they use so many windows on a building in an area where a large-scale earthquake can happen, aaaaah!"). As he lay under the rubble, his only concern remained the safety of the DNA as he fell unconscious (Andrew: "'I suppose... getting rescued and being able to see my wife and kids again would be nice too... but the DNA...'") and said DNA dripped over him... (Pterisa: "'It's... so... sticky...'")Later, as rescue crews and officials began investigating the wreckage of the lab, in one of the films memorable moments, a tyrannosaurus rex emerged from the rubble wearing Rex's Police cap, and proclaimed to all "You can call me Dino Cop!", much to the shock of the in-film observers (Andrew (as Mayor Brickman and Professor Genome faint): "Well, they sure took that lying down.")Around that time, Dr. Cyborg dropped in on the moving-riffing party, and paused things to say in jest that the movie could've used more cyborgs, projecting a rather sub-par image on the screen to make his point. The group poked fun at him, but did enjoy the joke."Though I will admit," said Laxus, "a cyborg dinosaur would be something cool to see.""Only in the movies," said Andrew. "If we saw it on the front lines, it would be significantly less cool, to say the least."----------------LEGO City was finally in view. Semick sat up more as he brought the T-1 in for the final approach.He could only wonder what developments he might have been missing in the past few hours. He had neglected to get any updates during most of the travel time, having wanted to take use of one of the few moments he could get for relaxation. But the time for kicking back was over, and it was time to get back into the routine.He switched on the radio, and switched frequency to Dino Attack headquarters. "Dino Attack HQ," he said, "this is Elite Agent Semick, reporting on my upcoming return to headquarters. There are still clear landing pads available, I presume?""We report several clear spaces within the hanger, Semick," said the voice at the other end."Good. How's things at HQ gone? Anything pertaining to our possible next mission?""Well..."

[Atton Rand]

IC: Pierce took a moment to pick up one of the documents and started to read it."Well, at this point I know about as much as you do," Bogart replied. "We knew she was present at Dacta Corp. and Minstorms. I was never really able to get a proper lead. That's how well she covered her tracks. I can tell you in twenty years she was the only case I could never solve, but at this point I'm starting to think that she's connected to these murders. The fact that her knife was in the body of one of the victims should back that up. There was another guy I ran into in the mess hall who claimed to know Silencia, something about her double-crossing him or something."

***

There was a somewhat lengthy walk for Montoya and Schiess as they stepped out of their motel.

"I'm thinking we should do something," Montoya said. "This Silencia betrayed us. I think she oughta pay."

"Indeed," replied Schiess. "Personally, I'd like to put a bullet in her head and be done with it, but in the meantime we can maybe at least get a temporary victory. I got a plan."After some walking they finally reached a gas station. They waited for a few minutes until a car started to pull into one of the pumps. The convenience store was still closed, but that wasn't going to stop them."Montoya, you take care of the car," Schiess said. "I'm going to go and see if I can get a couple cases of kerosene." "Are you doing what I think you're doing?" Montoya asked.Schiess smiled. "Depends on what you think I'm doing," he said as he walked towards the small shop, Montoya drew his gun and walked toward the car.There was a young woman standing there at the pump, she couldn't have been younger than her mid-30's. In the back of the car was a young girl, probably around ten years old.Montoya was not like the others. He had no intention of harming either of these people, but if they were going to finish their job he had to make sure they didn't know that.Quickly he cocked his pistol and aimed it toward the young woman. "Hand over the keys," he said. The woman looked at him in shock. Trying to hide his reluctance and to keep his hand trembling as little as possible, Montoya walked over to the door where the little girl was sitting and opened it, aiming the gun right at her. "Get out of the car," he said. Quickly she complied and ran into her mother's arms."It's alright, Kate," the woman said. "It's going to be fine." She quickly took the keys out of her pocket and handed them to Montoya. "Now finish filling it," he said, motioning toward the gas counter.

***

Schiess was surprised to find that the door was not locked, even though the sign clearly said "closed". Stepping inside, he looked around. There were of course the usual food items, not exactly the kerosene he needed. Then he suddenly heard something. He turned in surprise to see a young girl, apparently trying to hide behind the counter. She couldn't have been more than twelve.

Slowly, Schiess took of his sunglasses and started to approach her. He was tempted to reach for his gun, but decided against it. The girl seemed scared, and it didn't take long for him to see why. She had been stealing various items, particularly snacks.

"It's alright," Schiess said. "I ain't goin' to tell anybody. You got a name?"

The girl looked at him nervously. "Minerva," she said.

"You come here often?"

Minerva nodded.

"You a good thief?"

Minerva nodded.

"I need your help with something, then," Schiess said. He reached into his pocket, removed his wallet, and handed her a 20 dollar bill. "I need a couple cans of gasoline. Do you know where I might be able to find some of those around here?"

Minerva simply smiled.

OOC: I hope I somewhat got her personality right here.

[PeabodySam]

OOC: Darn it, Andrewnuva! When Lieutenant Rex drinks the dinosaur DNA and that somehow turns him into a T-Rex, you missed the perfect opportunity to poke humor at the absurdity of the situation... by lampshading the whole concept of the Mutant Dino Serum.IC: With five of the mercenaries dispatched by her knife and the remaining two undoubtedly having perished in that flaming wreckage on the side of the road, Silencia Venomosa immediately returned to Mindstorms, Inc. Her first goal was to slip into the security office, slit the throats of whoever was unlucky enough to be there at the time, and disable the security cameras. This was accomplished quickly and silently. Once that was out of the way, she was free to finish the job.Along the way, she sneaked up on security guards and slit their throats while making her way to the elevators. As she approached the metal doors, they slid open, and she ducked to the side to avoid being seen as a grizzled elderly man in a longcoat, a young redhead in a nice suit, a scientist with messy hair and spectacles, and a tall, stern man with a nasty burn scar stepped out of the elevator. As soon as they passed, she darted inside the elevator.Just before the elevator doors shut, a voice called: "Hey, you! Stop!" A line of security guards rushed towards the elevator, brandishing their guns.Silencia Venomosa frowned. Even if she preferred to use her knife due to its effective and deadly silence, she carried around a gun of her own, which, while not nearly as silent as she would like, was custom designed by her to greatly reduce the sound of the gunshot. She turned around, drew her gun, and fired at the security guards. She took down three of them before the doors shut. But even before the elevator began to rise, she heard someone shout: "Cut the power!"The lights in the elevator shut off, encasing Venomosa in darkness. As the security guards rushed towards the elevator doors and tried to open them, she knew that she had to act quickly. Leaving behind a little "surprise" for the guards once they entered the elevator, she opened the emergency exit in the elevator's ceiling and hoisted herself out into the elevator shaft. Then, gripping onto the elevator's cable as a rope, she started climbing up the elevator shaft. It was a tedious process, but Venomosa was patient and determined.Silencia Venomosa was satisfied to hear, far below her, as the security guards finally barged into the elevator, were shocked to discover that it was empty... and fell to the floor as they inhaled the deadly toxins that she left for them.

*****

“Are you sure?” Amanda whispered to him, trying to conceal the terror in her voice.“Positive,” Rex gritted his teeth.“It can’t be!” Amanda shook her head.“I would not believe it,” Rex bit his lip, “but then that would mean that I could not believe even my own eyes. Did my own eyes deceive me when Specs came into the room, shot Soldier, stabbed Heavy, and was about to slit my throat?”“Did you hear the way Specs spoke in the hospital wing?” Amanda shot a quick glance over her shoulder. “He put so much contempt and anger into his voice every time he referred to the mole… in fact, I could be mistaken, but I do not even think he ever said ‘mole’, ‘infiltrator’, or such… he always said ‘traitor’.”Rex sighed. “I do not know what his motivations are… But Specs would truly make an effective mole. His balaclava hides his expressions and his emotions, allowing him to masterfully control his own appearance to hide any hint at his true identity. And his position as team leader gives him full knowledge of every action by the Dino Attack Team, explaining why XERRD is always two steps ahead of us, and yet nobody would ever suspect him.”“But why would he leave you alive,” wondered Amanda, “if he knew that you knew that he’s the mole?”“Because he knows that no one will believe me,” grimaced Rex. “He’ll know how painful it would be for me to know such important information and be unable to tell anyone… and watch my friends die all around me at his hands…”Just like the Darkitect said.Rex’s heart raced. He clutched his chest and began breathing heavily.Amanda was immediately alarmed. “Are you alright?” she gasped. “Should I bring you back to the hospital wing?”“No, no,” Rex waved his hand. “I’m fine. But I think we ought to check on the remaining members of Second Headquarters Squad… Pyro and Demoman. They need to be protected.”As they left to look for Pyro and Demoman, Amanda lowered her head and murmured in a low voice, “You know, a lot of people are suspecting that Silencia Venomosa is the one behind this.”Rex bit his lip. He remembered what Spy had said just before he died, that there may have been an unfathomable malicious intent behind the murders of the Second Headquarters Squad that would have been in Venomosa’s style. Slowly, Rex nodded. “I know. It certainly does not help that your knife was found in Sniper’s back.”“But I’m innocent, Rex,” whispered Amanda, looking at him with wide, desperate eyes. “Some people refuse to believe it, but I’m innocent. I left behind that life long ago, and nothing XERRD could do or offer would change that. You believe me, right?” Rex locked eyes with her, letting his expression speak for him. He trusted her more than he had ever trusted anyone before.In actuality, while the lives of Pyro and Demoman were a major concern for Rex, that was not the thought that got his heart racing. Specs likely only needed one person to know who he was, just one person to torture with the horrible truth. Anyone else who knew was expendable and would be better off dead…And now Amanda Claw knew.OOC: I included a minor little shout-out to that one short story of mine about the four guys in the elevator... which reminds me, I've really got to get around to uploading that short story online sometime. I got it published in a local magazine called The Observer, but I also was hoping to upload it onto deviantART or something...

Edited June 24, 2012 by PeabodySam

[Atton Rand]

IC: Montoya struggled to hold his gun steady as he watched Schiess approach the car holding two cans of kerosene. He took a moment to open the back seat door and place them inside. Slowly, Montoya lowered his gun and stepped into the driver's seat, with Schiess taking the passenger side. They closed the doors and drove off, leaving the young mother struggling to comfort her panicked daughter."What exactly is the plan?" Montoya asked."We gotta get to Dacta Corp. Headquarters," replied Schiess. "What?" Montoya asked. "After everything that happened last night?""Yes," replied Schiess. "We're going to burn down that megablocking building, maybe cheat her out of her dough. It'll be a temporary victory, at least until we can find her and deal with her properly. Consider this a simple "znap you" from us."Montoya smiled as Schiess lit a cigarette.It was not long before the car came to a stop outside Dacta Headquarters. Schiess took a moment to cock his gun before opening his door and stepping outside, he picked up the kerosene, and handed the other can to Montoya. As the two of them stepped through the door, Schiess removed the cap to his kerosene canister. Slowly Montoya reluctantly started to do the same thing. A young receptionist was sitting at the counter. She looked up at them. "What do you think you're-"Schiess quickly pulled out his gun and shot her through the chest. She fell down quick. Within the next few minutes, they began to splash kerosene around the lobby before making for the door. As soon as they stepped outside, Schiess took his cigarette out of his mouth, and through back in onto the floor, and within seconds a flame started to burst.Quickly, he and Montoya got back in the car. Montoya hit the ignition and began to drive away as the fire began to spread...

[Brikman McStudz]

OOC: Well Atton, the personality seemed fine. More of the context of the situation that bugged me. I can't bring myself to believe a ten-year-old girl, no matter how much of a "master thief" she may be, broke into a convenience store to steal junk food. Minerva used more of the fact that she was a small, innocent looking ten-year-old to steal things. And she stole actual food for meals opposed to snacks.I might be able to willing suspend by disbelief by saying the Fabellos were running particularly low on food, so Minerva had her "friends" help her break in to the store. And she stole the snacks as opposed to actual food because she wasn't thinking that far ahead because, as I previously mentioned, she was ten-years-old.IC:“It was a normal night in 2004. As normal as it could get at my house," Minerva continued. "Oswald, Tod, and I were all in the kitchen, making dinner. We were having fun, trying to cook and making a mess. Mom suddenly entered the kitchen in a panic. She kept saying that the man that killed Dad was going to kill her next. Tod tried to calm her down, but nothing was working. She was becoming more and more hysterical. She looked at me and her panic...changed into anger. She kept pointing at me and yelling. She thought...I was the man that killed Dad and was back to kill her too. She shoved Tod out of the way and pulled a knife out of the cabinet and started moving toward me. I was terrified. I froze in fear. She almost reached me when Tod suddenly tackled her to the ground.”Minerva paused and breathed in deeply. Zach could see her eyes were becoming damp, but she didn’t seem to notice. “There was short fight. It barely lasted ten seconds. Then they pulled away. Tod fell next to me. The knife was buried into his chest. His breathing was heavy and irregular. He looked at me and smiled at me. A warm, caring smile that tried to reassure me that everything was alright. Then his eyes closed and they didn’t open. Mom broke down. She started crying and screaming Tod’s name. Then...” Minerva paused again and wiped her eyes. Zach was silent, giving her an opportunity to recover. She swallowed once and nodded.“I can’t remember what happened next. I shutdown and went into shock. I think a few hours later I finally came back to reality. Oswald told me Tod was dead and Mom was in custody. There was a big long investigation where the cops figured out that Mom hadn’t been able to take care of us for years. She would’ve gone to jail for that and murder, but she was declared insane. Since they feared she would have another episode like that, she was thrown in a mental institution and Oswald, since he was eighteen, was officially made my guardian. And we never saw Mom again. We both hated her for what she did and wanted nothing to do with her.”Zach leaned back. “Huh.” That’s all he could think to say. Then: “You seem to have turned at fine. What happened was bad, but at least you don’t seem to have serious mental issues after watching Tod die. I’m not so sure about Oswald.”Minerva nodded. “That’s because I wouldn’t allow myself to be ruined by the event. Oswald and I spent a week griefing. I wanted to give up. But then I thought of my mother, who gave up after Dad died. I didn’t want to become her, especially after what she did to Tod. I forced myself to move on, which was harder than I expected. My thieving increased due to my grief and anger and my exploits became considerably less noble. And growing older made me more suspicious to shop owners. And the people I stole from before began to suspected me so they always watched me close. I was arrested multiple times and had to get Oswald to bail me out. I would've gone to some detention center had the police not felt sorry for us. After awhile, I finally realized my stealing was counterproductive. Only after I tried to stop I realized I was almost addicted to stealing, riding on some sort of adrenaline rush each time I swiped something from a shelf.“How did you stop your kleptomania?”“I cut ties to those friends I mentioned, as I had nearly been caught by authorities due to stealing with them and violence. I asked Oswald for help, so he kept an eye on me and I gave him permission to do whatever was necessary to stop me from steal. I suppose it might by comparable to a drug addict trying to break his addiction I was moody, angry, unfriendly, and sick a lot of the time. I took the anger out on Oswald, which often lead to shouting matches. Despite that, I pulled through."Zach simply nodded. “And so what did the illusions do?”“Degrad me,” Minerva said. “Blamed me for Tod’s death, Mom’s insanity, and Oswald’s corruption until I shot them both trying to shut them up.“So that’s why you snapped against Provencal. She convinced Oswald that what happened in the past was your fault.”Minerva nodded. "It was kind of like a punch in the face.” She wiped her eyes again.“It’s not your fault, though.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in tight. Minerva didn’t say anything, only turning her head away. “Minerva, I’m sorry that-”“Don’t be sorry for me,” Minerva snapped, turning her head sharply toward him. “You wanted the story. I didn’t want to share because I don’t want pity. It happened and there is nothing you or I can do to change it. It made me who I am, I suppose.”Zach raised his hands defensively. “Sorry. Though it sounds like the only good thing was that it made the person that you are.” Minerva smiled weakly. Zach rose to his feet. “Now that you have depressed me to a great extent, I’m feeling up for some fresh air. Care to tag along?”“Sure.” Zach extended his hand and pulled her to his feet. As they started walking toward the exit, Minerva spoke again. "Well, I suppose I was more impacted by the incident, in a sense that I promised never to consume alcoholic beverages after watching them steal away my mother's sanity. And while I will use them, I'm not particularly fond of knives. At all."“Well, not drinking isn't a bad habit to pick up. And I can understand the bit about knives. Now enough of your stories. I'd rather not hear another one.” Minerva punched him hard in the shoulder, chuckling as they reached the exit.

[Atton Rand]

OOC: Well Atton, the personality seemed fine. More of the context of the situation that bugged me. I can't bring myself to believe a ten-year-old girl, no matter how much of a "master thief" she may be, broke into a convenience store to steal junk food. Minerva used more of the fact that she was a small, innocent looking ten-year-old to steal things. And she stole actual food for meals opposed to snacks.I might be able to willing suspend by disbelief by saying the Fabellos were running particularly low on food, so Minerva had her "friends" help her break in to the store. And she stole the snacks as opposed to actual food because she wasn't thinking that far ahead because, as I previously mentioned, she was ten-years-old.

OOC: I was basically imagining her as the kind of person who would be willing to take what she could get. A convenience store that happens to be closed means nobody to catch you, and the simple snack foods that can be bought there are relatively easy to carry. I mean I know she stole food but I didn't expect her to go to the extremes of say... stealing entire freshly baked pizzas (at least, not usually).

[Andrewnuva199]

OOC: Darn it, Andrewnuva! When Lieutenant Rex drinks the dinosaur DNA and that somehow turns him into a T-Rex, you missed the perfect opportunity to poke humor at the absurdity of the situation... by lampshading the whole concept of the Mutant Dino Serum.

OOC: Drat. I was writing mostly from the idea of trying to come up with lines you'd expect to hear on MST3K, and the idea lampshade hanging like that slipped my mind, perhaps due to how not-completely-abnormal we've made it in the RPG. Some corny line about the stickyness of the serum made more sense to me at the time, mostly due to using it based on something I heard in a funny video I saw of a guy plaing Half Life: Blue Shift while on caffine.

[Atton Rand]

OOC: Not a whole lot to do at the moment, but I think it's about time I brought back a familiar face.IC: "Hello Pierce," said a familiar voice from the doorway. Pierce looked up in surprise to see a young woman, whose face quickly made him smile."Elizabeth?" He asked. "Look, this probably isn't the best time, I got work to be doing."Elizabeth smiled at the remark. "How'd Adventurers' Island go for you?""Well, from what I saw it was pretty rough," replied Pierce. "A bunch of people died. We probably won't be seeing Zenna for a long time. What about you?"Elizabeth's grin faded, if only slightly. "It was kinda dull," she replied. "We did find a few interesting things, though.""Like what?""You remember that Cam O'Cozy guy who tried to kill us all?""Yeah.""He's a robot.'"A robot?""Yeah," replied Elizabeth. "A mechanical man, a machine made to resemble a-""I know what a robot is," replied Pierce. "We still have the parts actually," Elizabeth said, keenly. "Wrench kept them in his locker. We were going to tell Specs but we never got hold of him."

[PeabodySam]

IC: Silencia Venomosa approached the door to Uærlig Sindstorme's office. She could hear Sindstorme inside, who sounded quite exasperated. "... just been hearing about it on the news." As she swung upon his doorway, she saw that Sindstorme was on the phone and, with an incredulous expression, stammered, "Set up?" Then, Uærlig Sindstorme saw her."Oh, MegaBloks!" he gasped. He hung up the phone and pressed a large red button on his desk. Instantly, a number of large Mindstorms robots that were on display in his office came to life. Gears turned and motors groaned as the Mindstorms robotics inventions stepped off their pedestals and marched towards Silencia Venomosa. "Ms. Venomosa," Sindstorme spoke sternly, "I advise that you put down your knife and your gun immediately."Silencia Venomosa knew that these hulking scraps of metal could easily crush her. While her speed and agility could allow her to dodge their attacks, she was not a fool, and she could see that she was outnumbered and overpowered. So, Venomosa nodded grimly, and slowly laid her knife and her gun down upon the floor. The robots glared down upon her with large, watchful eyes."Now see here, Ms. Venomosa," frowned Sindstorme. "You can't just barge in here with..."As the CEO of Mindstorms, Inc. rambled in a typical large ham fashion, Silencia Venomosa reached into her pocket. The robots observed this action, but did not react when she pulled out a cell phone rather than a weapon. She dialed a number, but before she finished, Sindstorme noticed what she was doing."Put down the phone, Ms. Venomosa," Sindstorme narrowed his eyes. "Not that I can possibly imagine who you would be calling."Silencia Venomosa nodded, and laid the cell phone on the floor beside her gun and her knife, but before she let go, she pressed the "call" button.There came a series of loud rumbling noises, as though a giant was marching through a thunderstorm. As the noises grew louder and louder, Sindstorme's room began to shake. Uærlig Sindstorme himself was rather confused about the source of the noise. At last, the rumbling stopped just outside the door.And then, there was a brief moment of silence before the storm broke.Silencia Venomosa ducked down quickly, just as a huge, metallic fist slammed through the doorway. Uærlig Sindstorme gasped in horror and cowered behind his desk while Venomosa grabbed her weapons and darted out of the way. The metallic fist was followed by a second fist, shattering the door into splinters. Then, a robot that was even taller and more intimidating than those activated by Sindstorme marched into the CEO's office.The latest prototype of the Mindstorms NXT project.Before getting involved with Schiess's gang, Silencia Venomosa's job was officially to investigate the secretive NXT project that Mindstorms had been developing. In comparison to Mindstorms' earlier robots, which were yellow-black and already looking primitive in design in comparison, the Mindstorms NXT was sleek and silver and futuristic. Its programming was far advanced beyond that of its predecessors, and it could and would do far more than any previous iteration.And just before the attempted heist, Silencia Venomosa secretly reprogrammed this prototype to activate when it received her phone call.From the shadows, Silencia Venomosa watched as the NXT tore through Sindstorme's robotic bodyguards. They tried to do their job, but their primitive designs did not stand a chance against the advanced next-generation capabilities of the NXT. Even if it was merely a prototype, it was all that Sindstorme and Venomosa hoped it would be... much to the regret of the former and the pleasure of the latter.It was over quickly. The Mindstorms robots that Sindstorme had activated lay in pieces at the feet of the NXT. The NXT turned its attention to Uærlig Sindstorme, who was desperately typing in commands into his computer. The NXT marched towards Sindstorme and reached for him, just as Sindstorme pressed the "Enter" key. Despite Venomosa's reprogramming, the prototype NXT could still be powered down via Mindstorms computers. The NXT's eyes dimmed as the robot shut down.Silence fell over the office. Uærlig Sindstorme regained his composure and slowly stood, brushed the dirt and debris off his suit jacket. He looked with disdain over the ruined Mindstorms robots that littered the floor, then laid eyes upon Silencia Venomosa. "Well, then, Ms. Venomosa," he muttered. "I have tried to be reasonable and civil with you, but I'm afraid you leave me with no choice."Then, quick as a flash, the CEO of Mindstorms, Inc. strapped a gas mask over his face and pushed another button. The vents opened and began to pour out toxic fumes. Silencia Venomosa raised an eyebrow, but calmly stood there, staring right at Sindstorme. For about a minute, they stood off against one another as the toxic gases filled the room. As Sindstorme became increasingly confused, Venomosa became increasingly amused."You have got to be kidding me," murmured Uærlig Sindstorme.But she was not kidding him. Over the past few years, Silencia Venomosa had trained herself to build up a resistance to the certain toxins that she used in her jobs. It just so happened that one of these toxins was in the last-resort poisonous gas defenses of Sindstorme's office.Sighing in defeat, Uærlig Sindstorme closed the air vents and opened a window, letting the toxic gases flow out of the room. When the air became safe for him to breathe, he removed the gas mask and stared at Silencia Venomosa. "What do you want?" he whispered.Silencia Venomosa walked up to Sindstorme's desk. She pocketed her cellphone and her gun, but as a demonstration, she showed him her hand, laid her knife against her palm, and drew. Since she was wearing gloves and did it lightly, she did not leave a cut, but she wanted to ensure that Sindstorme understood her message.Then, Venomosa pocketed her knife and pulled out two new knives. She laid them upon Sindstorme's desk, but rested a hand on each one to ensure that he did not try to grab one for himself. One knife was twisted and blackened, almost appearing to be forged from volcanic rock. The other knife was a bright golden color, shining brilliantly as it reflected light off its surface. She looked at Sindstorme, glanced down at the knives, and finally locked eyes with Sindstorme once more.Uærlig Sindstorme was silent for a moment. He realized what Venomosa wanted from him, and it was a cruel choice. He knew of her reputation well enough to know that, either way, she was going to kill him. But the manner in which he died was in his hands. He had to choose the knife with which she would cut his hand. But which knife was better? Which knife would show mercy?He stared at the black knife. With its twisted edge, it looked painful just to behold, and its dark color brought forth to mind images of the world's blackest hearts from the depths of MegaBlokLand. No doubt, that knife would bring a terrible death. Then, he turned his attention to the gold knife. Gold was pure; i.e., a black heart versus a heart of gold. That had to be the right choice. He could not imagine any way it could be otherwise. Finally, Uærlig Sindstorme worked up the courage to point his finger at the gold knife.Silencia Venomosa nodded. She pocketed the black knife, took Sindstorme's hand, laid the blade of the gold knife upon his palm, and drew. Sindstorme winced as the knife left a cut and drew blood, but otherwise seemed painless. As Venomosa pocketed the gold knife, Sindstorme stared at her, as though asking, "What happens now?"Silencia Venomosa smiled darkly.Then, Uærlig Sindstorme became aware of a burning sensation that took hold of his entire body. He doubled over in pain and screamed. It felt like he was on fire and burning from the inside out. He fell onto the floor and writhed in agony, his horrid scream piercing the air. And then, Uærlig Sindstorme was silent.As she approached the office's now-open window, her escape route, Silencia Venomosa continued to smile with sadistic pleasure. Uærlig Sindstorme was a gullible fool. He thought that the knives represented hearts, just as she thought he would, but hearts were not Venomosa's style. The knives represented snakes, and to quote D.H. Lawrence's Snake:"For in Sicily the black, black snakes are innocent, the gold are venomous."

[Atton Rand]

IC: Montoya finally pulled the car to a stop outside his apartment and ran inside. Within a few minutes, he came back out with Debbie, who was holding a small briefcase containing her own valuables. She climbed into the back, and Montoya was quickly back in the driver's seat hitting the ignition."What's going on?" Debbie asked. "Where are we going?""Something's gone wrong," replied Montoya. "Look, it isn't safe here anymore. If Silencia finds out we're together she-""Silencia?" Debbie asked, nervously."Yeah," replied Montoya. "The bounty hunter.""Look," Schiess said. "She tried to kill us, and if she learns either of us are still alive she'll continue to pursue us. Our only chance is to get out of town and lay low until things cool off.""It'll be fine," replied Montoya. "I'll tell you what. I'm going to leave my life of crime behind. I got my money from this job. We're going to go to the seaside, find a nice, isolated cabin, and start fresh."Debbie seemed to smile shyly. "What about you, Schiess?" Montoya asked. "You got any plans?""Yeah," replied Schiess. "I'm goin' to get off this planet.""What?" Montoya said, somewhat confused. "I'm getting off this megablocking planet and getting as far away from here as conceivably possible," replied Montoya. "Maybe I can get a job as hired muscle for the space police or something.""A bit excessive, isn't it?" Montoya asked."That's why I like it," replied Schiess.

[Jacks]

OOC: Atton, just hafta say that this whole series of flashbacks was just what Trigger needed in terms of character development.

That's probably for the better. I don't even know for sure what information she'd have anyway.

She didn't; the implication I was trying to convey was that Bogart had been led to suspect that Katerina was the mole, thanks to "Agent Spiral." I imagine that once Bogart found that there was no evidence to support this suggestion, their conversation would not have lasted much longer anyway. Edited June 26, 2012 by Jackson Lake

[Atton Rand]

OOC: Atton, just hafta say that this whole series of flashbacks was just what Trigger needed in terms of character development.

OOC: Does that mean he's becoming a bit more interesting to you guys? If so than I was considering the possibility of maybe doing similar flashbacks with some of my other characters, maybe one about Sarah and Wallace Bishop or something.IC: It had been nearly ten years since that fateful day, the day he made a promise that he had kept ever since. For the past eight or nine years, Montoya had been true to his word, and left any and all traces of his criminal activity behind, if only because was concerned about a repeat of what happened at Mindstorms Inc. that cost the lives of five of his seven comrades.He was now approaching his early 40's, and lived with his still-beautiful commonlaw wife and a few children. They were happy here, and didn't even leave when rumors about mutant dinosaurs started to cause panic. Even when those rumors were confirmed, Montoya and Debbie still remained in that little cabin by the sea.Lighting a cigarette, Montoya would sometimes find himself staring off into the ocean. He was rather surprised when Debbie approached him."Someone from Antarctica called," Debbie said."I thought we already told them, we're not going," Montoya replied."No," replied Debbie. "It was a message. They got a phone call, some guy named Schiess, he said he was looking for you."The name quickly caught Montoya's attention. He hadn't seen Schiess since they parted ways after that heist."He said to tell you "I found her".""That was the message?" Montoya asked.Debbie nodded. It didn't take long for Montoya to figure out what she meant. "Did they say anything about where he was?""They said the call came from Dino Attack Headquarters," replied Debbie.There was a moment of silence as he walked toward the small pick-up truck they kept out front."What are you doing?" Debbie asked."It's just some unfinished business," replied Montoya. "As soon as I'm done, I'll come right back. You take good care of the kids while I'm gone."Debbie nodded. They both kissed before Montoya climbed into the front seat of the truck, and drove away. Edited June 26, 2012 by Atton Rand

[Brikman McStudz]

IC:Before heading outside, Zach and Minerva decided it would be best to pick up some weapons, so they started toward the armory. While walking, they began to discuss conspiracy theories Zach had heard while on Antarctica."Wait, so there are conspiracy theories about this war?" Minerva asked, almost surprised."Naturally, as there have been conspiracy theories about everything that's ever happened ever," Zach said. "I spent some time around those facilities as an Agents and I'd occasionally get some guy to tell me that I'm 'sheep' and 'helping the conspiracy against the people'.""What sort of theories did these people have?""They have a wide spectrum. Here's just a basic one: I had someone tell me the Government (don't ask me which one) orchestrated the Dino Attack so they could dig up all the oil in the world with no one watching so said-government could control the post-war economy or something. There also the one where 'the Government' caused the Dino Attack to ultimately create some sort of unified totalitarian government. Before I left Antarctica for Adventurers' Island, someone managed to tell me that the riots and Greybeard's speech were some sort of test to see how easily the government could manipulate the fear of the populace to their advantage.""That's...strange," Minerva responded. "So how to they explain the existence of XERRD?""Easy. They're scientists (or actors) that were hired by the government to pretend like they started the Dino Attack. The theorists predict that sometime by the end of the war, Ronald Alexander will just 'disappear' instead of actually being killed. They say he will actually get a high sum of money, and identity change, and be forced to move to some exotic, isolated tropical island or something.""They do realize that Dr. Rex is a Mutant T-Rex, right?"Zach shrugged. "I don't know if they ever addressed that. But your right, it's kind of hard to adapt a new identity when you're a Mutant T-Rex.""Anymore strange theories?""Loads. Are the Mutant Dinos robotic, or are they mutated creations of extraterrestrial beings who are using them to weaken are defenses enough so they can invade themselves? Are the dinos in fact just modern military vehicles using some strange cloaking device that makes them look like dinosaurs with super powers?"Minerva raised an eyebrow. "I assume these people haven't left Antarctica since the Attack began?"Zach chuckled. "It's a fair guess. I've also heard even stranger theories like the Alpha Team and Agents secretly created the Mutant Dinos and fight the war pretending to be bitter rivals when they are actually close allies who are actually helping the Mutant Dinos advance. There also something more a long the line of XERRD's thinking: The Mutant Dinos are super-evolved dinosaurs that aren't just a science experiment. Their true purpose is the restore the Earth to a more environmentally friendly state by destroying civilization. Mother Gaia is in slaughter, so she will do whatever it takes to return to her former glory, even if it means the destruction of an entire species.Minerva smirked. "'Gaia?' Bringing up more Greek mythology?""Just a bit. The whole shocking revelation about you and your mother's names are still hanging on in my brain.""Haha. Got anything stranger?""Well, someone told me that Specs was actually a woman underneath that balaclava..."

[PeabodySam]

"Well, someone told me that Specs was actually a woman underneath that balaclava..."

OOC: I think I probably found that theory even funnier than most other Dino Attack RPG players, because it reminds me of a LEGO Studios brickfilm I planned (but never actually made) back in 2005... in which Specs turned out to be a woman, and was the sister of one of the other three founding members (most likely Shadow, but I cannot remember). It was one of those whole big "No, you can't go on the battlefield because you're a woman!" "Well, too bad, because now I'm pulling a Sheik on you all!" types of stories.And speaking of Sheik... almost finished Ocarina of Time 3D!Also, while I know that these flashbacks have taken time away from the current plot, I've admittedly been having too much fun working with Silencia Venomosa's character. Don't worry, because my end of the flashbacks is nearly over. I do have my next present-day IC written up, but given the nature of its subject matter, I've decided that it would be most fitting if it were posted tomorrow. Why? Because tomorrow will be Day 3 of a certain videogame update... and I'm expecting that we'll finally meet someone.IC: "... found dead in his office early this morning. Autopsies have shown that Sindstorme was killed by some sort of horrible venom. Many security guards were killed, with their manner of deaths ranging from slit throats to gunshot wounds to inhaling toxic gases, and many of Mindstorms' creations were found smash and deconstructed in Sindstorme's office. While security cameras were apparently disabled during the time of this heinous crime, recovered footage from shortly before the crime shows an unidentified woman entering the building. Although the footage is too blurry to make heads or tails of her identity, rumors are already circulating that the mysterious Silencia Venomosa is behind this. Mindstorms, Inc. is currently struggling to get back on its feet, and this process could take months or even years before the company has fully recovered from this tragedy, with the rumored NXT project being put on hiatus."As the news continued to play on the television, Bartholomew Enderson poured a drink for the bearded man sitting at the bar, handed the glass to him, and proceeded to clean another glass with his towel in a desperate attempt to take his mind off of what he just heard."In other news, there was a break-in last night at the Dacta Corporation building. Details are still fuzzy regarding this event, but despite the deaths of secretary Ursula Bennett as well as numerous security guards, CEO Edward Korrupte assures us that everything is under control and the perpetrators have been 'taken care of'. This is Lotta Brix, reporting the evening news. Back to the studio!"The bearded man had black hair that was already graying with streaks of white. He wore an expensive gray suit with a blue tie, and as he stared at the television, he smiled with a hint of smugness. "Truly remarkable, isn't it?" he murmured. "It amazes me what one woman can do.""Remarkable?" repeated Enderson, with the raise of an eyebrow. "I would agree, but I would probably use words like 'tragic', 'terrible', or 'horrifying'. I see that you believe the rumors that Silencia Venomosa is behind this?"The bearded man chuckled. "Oh, you know just as well as I do that these aren't mere rumors. She is a rather impressive and gifted individual. In one clean strike, she was able to knock down Mindstorms, Inc. No doubt that they will recover over time, but right now, they're flailing in the seas of marketing and business, threatening to drown them now that their boat has sunk. People say that these corporations are so powerful, and yet, all it took was one person to topple such a great empire as Mindstorms.""I suppose," nodded Enderson. "But, and I just ask this as a mere bartender, doesn't it concern you that a single person has the power to do such a thing? If you don't mind me saying, you look like the sort of person who would be worried by this prospect."The bearded man shook his head, but his smug smile grew. "Of course not. I have nothing to fear from her. While she has remarkable talents, Silencia Venomosa is merely a weapon. If she were not a mercenary and simply hunted down whomever she pleased, she would truly be something to fear. But she's not. She's a weapon. Without someone there to pull the trigger, she is powerless. And whoever pulls that trigger... is the one who holds the true power.""It's a dog-eat-dog world out there," pointed out Enderson. "As a bartender, I have little to fear, but for businessmen like you... who is to stop a competitor from grabbing the weapon and pulling the trigger on you?"The bearded man's expression remained smug, but turned dark as well. "Simple. I grab the weapon and pull the trigger first." He held up an envelope.Bartholomew Enderson's features hardened. I should have known that he was a customer in more ways than one, he thought with disgust. Still, as it was his doom, he slowly took the envelope from the bearded man and hid it in a secret drawer underneath the counter."All the details are inside that envelope," continued the bearded man. "Do not lose it." With that, he paid for his drink and stood to leave."Details regarding your meeting?" inquired Enderson."Excuse me?" blinked the bearded man.Enderson furrowed his brow and bit his lip. "Well, you see, normally, her... clients hand me a letter telling her where and when to meet them so that they can discuss her job in further detail. It's her standard routine."The bearded man raised an eyebrow. "Do you think I am a fool? I know better than to meet her face-to-face. Everything she needs to know about the job is in that envelope. When she succeeds, I'll give you another envelope enclosing her payment. There is no need for us to place my life in danger by putting myself in the same room, or even the same building, as her."Bartholomew Enderson frowned with defiance. "If you don't mind me saying, sir, I hardly approve of this whole business myself, but when you're going to pull the trigger on another man's life and you don't even have the courage to look at the weapon you are using... that is what many people would consider to be cowardly."The bearded man scowled. He leaned upon the counter and put his face in close to Enderson. "Do you know who you are?" he hissed, so close that Enderson could smell his breath."Bartholomew Enderson," he sighed, "a bartender.""And do you know who I am?""Walter Breen, administrator of Brick League United.""There's a difference, you see?" sneered Walter Breen. "There's a reason why I am the administrator of one of the world's leading companies in building and scientific advancement, while you are... a lowly bartender. So, if I were you, I would not question my judgment in this matter. Now, be quiet, do your job, and make sure that letter gets to Venomosa.""Good day, sir," muttered Bartholomew Enderson. Then, Walter Breen turned and left the restaurant. Edited June 26, 2012 by PeabodySam

[that guy from that show]

IC:Pharisee and Bogart walked quickly down the hallways of the headquarters. It was evident he was a man on a mission and agents moved aside to let them pass.“I really think Trigger would be helpful.” Muttered Bogart for the third time, “The man has more experience with agent Claw then me.”Pharisee pushed agents aside as he moved toward where Rex and Amanda were last seen. “Trigger is a pathetic low-life clutching at straws at the end of his menial existence. I know his history and I know that he assaulted agent Claw earlier today. His involment would not be an asset but a hindrance for justice. I assure you detective Bogart that once Claw is behind bars, He will be joining her in the next ceil over.”Bogart bit his lip. “That seems a little harsh sir.”“I feel no sympathy toward the unrighteous detective.” Responded Pharicee. “Only under blind justus from an unprejudiced heart will Trigger earn his deliverance.”The detective whistled slowly but said no more to the commander. Soon the two men had reached one of the lounges in the lower levels of the HQ. Agents had reported that Rex and Amanda had gone there so the two could have some privacy after what had transpired in the infirmary.Bogart prepared to knock on the dour but Pharisee threw it open and stormed inside. The detective’s hand hovered in the air and he shrugged before following the commander inside.Rex sat alone on a couch. The Rec room was vacant aside from two agents playing pool in the shadows. Pharisee made a motion and the rookie agents dropped what they were doing and leaved the room. Pharisee and Bogart were now alone with Rex.“Where is agent Claw?” demanded Pharisee.“She’s playing darts in the back room.” Answered Rex. “What’s going on? Is she in trouble.”“I think you know the answer to that.” Said Bogart. “We need you to answer some questions.” The detective took a seat on the couch opposite Rex and put his feet up on the table.“We are prepared to arrest you’re girlfriend for the murders of the six members of the SHS.” Said Pharisee as he drew his gun and approached the closed dour where Amanda was supposedly playing darts.“We need to know what you told her after you left the infirmary.” Said Bogart. “We have privacy now. You can trust me and the commander.”Satisfied that Amanda was present Pharisee advanced on the elite agent. “You had better tell us what you know Rex. This is your last chance. Ether you come clean or agent Claw will spend the rest of the war behind bars.”“Pharisee,” said Bogart slowly. “You know what Claw is capable of. You read the Venomosa files. We might need backup.”“That won’t be necessary.” Began Rex.“No it won’t be.” Said Pharisee as he cocked his gun. “I am prepared to use force if agent Claw attempt to resist.” He turned to Rex. “You don’t want that to happen do you Rex? Now tell me what you know. I would rather not spill blood today.”OoC:I discovered yesterday that even though Hertz is my main character he really has no back-story. Therefore I have developed a three-part flashback that will debut in a few days. It will feature some adventures in espionage, organized crime, an encrypter, and a hit man.In the meantime I think I set up a nice confrontation in the lounge. Based on what Peabody just posted I hope this does not mess up any planned current iCs. I figured that someone would need to confront Claw and Rex eventually and considering the already high suspicion surrounding Amanda, Pharisee should be the one to attempt an arrest for her perceived crimesAlso, Saran is now open for Jackson Lake’s use. He is ready when you are.

[Atton Rand]

IC: Bogart calmly lit a cigarette as he watched the confrontation, but he lowered his hand toward his gun, just in case something unexpected were to happen."You know," Bogart said. "Even if this Trigger is, as you say, a crook, he does seem to have information. He assaulted this woman earlier today and I'd like to know why."Pharisee turned toward Bogart angrily. "Actually, if my understanding is correct he's a mercenary, a soldier-for-hire. It's a perfectly legal profession, not like her."

[Jacks]

OOC:

Does that mean he's becoming a bit more interesting to you guys? If so than I was considering the possibility of maybe doing similar flashbacks with some of my other characters, maybe one about Sarah and Wallace Bishop or something.

Not so much more interesting, Atton, as more sympathetic, at least in my opinion. All your NPCs are fine as they are, so unless they already have backstories you'd like to share, you needn't make any up.that guy, I had the same realization about Hotwire years ago. IC: Hotwire, Vinyaya, and Mort assisted the rookie agents in transporting the corpses from the safe room to the morgue. Mort very determinedly stayed for the autopsies; Vinyaya and Hotwire were predictably less enthusiastic about this particular stage of the proceedings -- "I saw enough of those poor stiffs sprawled across the safe room," Hotwire muttered as they left. Word was spreading rapidly about the mounting evidence against Amanda, and it was not long before the Space Police officer and the one-legged elite agent learned of it as well."Well, that rules out my theories about Rex," Vinyaya remarked as the group of agents claiming to have overheard the information from 'that detective who must have walked here from the 1940s' moved on down the hall."I have to admit, I hope they're wrong about Agent Claw, for Rex's sake as much as hers," Hotwire said. "He's had a rough enough time as it is without his girlfriend turning out to be a traitor."

[Atton Rand]

OOC: I wouldn't mind maybe writing a Sarah/Wallace Bishop flashback that fleshes their story a little bit, but I'll still need to work out all the details.IC: Montoya slowly brought the truck to a halt as he caught his first glimpse of the building he'd only seen in the news- Dino Attack Headquarters. Slowly he opened the door and walked over to the trailer. Inside he had a shotgun, a few cans of kerosene, and some duct tape.Taking a moment to light a cigarette, Montoya picked up the shotgun and started to walk into the headquarters. As it turned out, blending in was fairly easy, most of the agents there were dressed casually at the moment, so nobody really took any notice toward his lack of uniform. It still did not make him any less comfortable, though. All he wanted to do was find Silencia, deal with her, and then get out.

[Brikman McStudz]

OOC: I don't think Rex and Amanda would be simply "relaxing", that guy. I think they were going to look for Pyro and Demoman, last time I checked.IC:Upon arriving at the armory, Minerva was quick on selecting simply a Sonic Screamer to use. Zach, not wanting to use a Cosmotronic Ray so soon after having one fused to his arm, spent more time looking over weapons. He picked up a long-bladed combat knife and eyed over it."Turning into a Knife Nut?" Minerva asked curiously from behind his shoulder"Just a bit," Zach said, sheathing the knife. "I figure if I can wave one of these things around with my left hand and not get killed, I should be able to handle it as a back-up weapon provided I lose my firearm."He spent even longer trying to find an ideal shooting weapon. He finally laid his eyes on a large, hand-held gatling gun. He grinned like a child on his birthday as he carefully loaded the weapon and moved in toward a shooting range."Really," was all Minerva said, crossing her arms in amusement.He shrugged her away as he threw a long chain filled with bullets over his shoulder. "I've always wanted to use one of these," he told her, taking aim at a target several yards away. His grin widened as the six barrels began to rotate.Then the gun started firing. Zach jumped, but held his ground against the massive amounts of force the weapon as hired at the target ahead. The bullets from the weapon tore apart the target at the other end of the range. Almost as soon he had started firing the weapon, it suddenly ran out of bullets. Zach flipped off the weapon, grinning at the decimated target ahead."Impressive," Minerva said, chuckling. "Watching you jump when that thing started firing was pretty good too.""Shh," he said, walking back over to her."Hey!" a man said, walking over to them. "Have you heard? The Second Headquarters Squad is dead!" Zach and Minerva looked at him, surprised. "Seven o' nine o' them are dead! All o' them offed by the mole!""How?" Zach asked."Engineer was murdered tryin' to catch 'im. Medic was killed 'cause he coulda figured out who the mole was! Sniper was stabbed in the back, n' Heavy, Scout, Soldier, and Spy were all killed at once in their safe room. Only Rex survived in the safe room, n' only Pyro and Demoman're alive.""Rex survived? So did he see the mole?""He claims to've been blinded so he couldn't see the mole's identity."Minerva frowned. "That sounds suspicious.""And now they're sayin' that Silencia Venomosa's behind the murders! And she's also apparently agent Claw! At this, Zach raised an eyebrow. Minerva's face betrayed fear. "Keep an eye out for yerselves, lad and lady. You never know who yeh can trust." With that, the man ran away from them, presumably to spread the news."Well," Minerva said, scratching the back of her head. "I think Zelda's theory was dead wrong. The mole was targeting the Second Headquarters Squad. Doesn't seem to be trying to cover up his tracks or anything.""That bit about Rex seems off," Zach pointed out. "But I'm not willing to go and point fingers at anyone.""What about that bit about Claw and Silencia Venomosa?" Minerva bit her lip nervously. "What if Venomosa is really here and working for XERRD?""It probably wouldn't be the strangest thing to ever happen," Zach shrugged."You're rather calm for someone who just heard that one of the most infamous assassin-bounty hunter-mercenary in the world might be in this building."Zach shrugged again. "I understand she's dangerous. Venomosa and her exploits wer just something I would read in the paper. To my knowledge, she never operated on LEGO Island and probably never had a reason to. I considered myself rather safe, seeing the only threat as a deconstruction-and-pizza-crazed criminal. LEGO City would offer a different mentality than LEGO Island's. Rest assured, I'll probably be terrified out of my wits if I ever actually meet Silencia Venomosa and not Amanda Remous.""Anyway, I think it's time we stop sitting around."Zach sighed. "Yes, I know. The brief relaxation was blissful, but time to get back to work, I suppose. There's a mole running loose around this building and he needs to be stopped. What do you suggest we do?""Find Pyro and Demoman and keep and eye on them," Minerva said, discarding her Sonic Screamer for a more traditional handgun. "Whoever the mole is is clearly targeting the Second Headquarters Squad. If we find Pyro and Demoman, we may be able to figure out who this guy is.""Sounds like a plan." Picking up his own handgun, the two left the armory and began their search for Pyro and Demoman.

[that guy from that show]

OOC: I don't think Rex and Amanda would be simply "relaxing", that guy. I think they were going to look for Pyro and Demoman, last time I checked.

OoC:Darn I thought I might have messed up.I was reviewing Peabody's last post and I must have missed that.where they were going Last i read he did not give a definitive location so I suppose I'll retcon it to some generic room or hallway. If anyone has any ideas to fix my blunder I'm all ears.

[Atton Rand]

IC: It didn't take long before Montoya started to overhear rumors of Silencia Venemosa. Quickly cocking his shotgun, he proceeded down the hall. Stepping back outside, Montoya got his kerosene and duct tape out of his truck before putting the latter into his pocket and walking back inside. Wandering through the halls again, he briefly caught a glimpse of the man he thought he recognized as Schiess, but who seemed to be under supervision from a group of agents. "I wonder what he did," Montoya thought to himself before continuing onward. Finally in the hall he saw what appeared to be a familiar face. There were three men, one in a wheelchair, the other looking like the protagonist of a 1940's film noir, and the third in a trenchcoat. Without thinking, Montoya clubbed the one man in the trenchcoat, knocking him to the ground. The detective turned toward him, but Montoya just raised his gun. "Get the znap out of here," he said. The detective tried to reach for his gun, but Montoya just cocked his shotgun. Reluctantly, the detective turned and walked away."Silencia Venemosa," Montoya said. He noticed one open door into an empty bedroom next to them and motioned toward it. "Get in."Slowly, Silencia complied. Montoya followed her in and then closed the door behind him. She started to reach for her knife, but once again Montoya held up his gun. "Put that down," he said. Slowly, Silencia dropped the knife on the ground. "Sit down."Montoya then took out his duct tape and pulled a long strip. Within a few short minutes he had Silencia tied up. "You remember me?" Montoya asked. Silencia shook her head. "Fair enough," replied Montoya. He took out a pack of cigarettes and held them out toward her. She just shook her head, though a look of uncertainty seemed to suggest that she remembered something."You probably thought I was dead," Montoya said keenly. "I spent a good eight years with a family, sure enough, but I never forgot what you did. I got a little message for you, a sort of "znap you"' from myself, Orange, Scorsese, Verbal, Deniro, and Keaton and... oh yes, President Sindstorme, and Schiess... and everyone else you were paid to kill over the years. I'm going to do the world a favor, and I'm going to make your suffer for your crimes."Quickly Montoya reached for his container of kerosene and splashed it on top of Amanda, chuckling in a slightly menacing manner. "What's that?" Montoya said, tauntingly. "You want more. Okay."When he was through, he started to make a small trail toward the door and stood at the end. He then reached for his own cigarette and took it out. At that moment, he stopped. He knew what had to be done, but there was a part of him that did not feel right about this. He stood silently for a moment with that cigarette, before he finally let go...

[Jacks]

OOC: Atton, I feel very strongly that you ought to wait and see what PeaSam and that guy have in mind for what was about to happen before pulling something like that.PeaSam, before you kill off Pyro, please, please try to throw in something based on the "Meet the Pyro" video? (Though I'll admit it's some rather disturbing stuff; we may need a lot of redshirts)IC: As they passed the armory, Hotwire and Vinyaya nearly collided with Zach and Minerva, who were quickly exiting the room loaded down with weapons."Have either of you seen Pyro and Demoman?" Zach blurted."No luck so far, but it couldn't be a bad idea to track them down," Hotwire replied. "I just hope they aren't dead when we find them."

[PeabodySam]

OOC: Let's just say that they were searching the rec room for Pyro and Demoman...?And so, after five years of waiting, we've finally met the Pyro. And... I'm pretty sure that video raises more questions than it answers. To celebrate, let's partake a little in Pyro's favorite activity, eh?IC: Rex's features hardened. "Now, see here," he gritted his teeth. "In the past year, no one has worked more closely with Amanda or known her better than me. Her intentions are pure, and her brother's death fuels her motivations to help Dino Attack Team win this war. I see no reason to even consider that she is guilty. We're wasting time here; the mole is out there, and you-""I have no such... attachments to anyone in this team," interrupted Commander Pharisee. "Your judgment is hindered, Rex, leaving you blind to the truth.""He's right," agreed Detective Bogart. "It's a necessary precaution when it comes to these investigations to be willing to distrust anyone, even those that you think you can trust with your life."Rex grimaced as he remembered what he saw in the portal operations room. Although Pharisee and Bogart demanded to know what he told Amanda, he barely even knew them, and could not bring himself to admit the truth yet. "I am sure that you are right," muttered Rex, "and that no one is above suspicion when we are hunting for a mole. But remember... I am the only living witness to this mole, and I am certain that he-""You admitted that you could have been mistaken about 'his' gender," corrected Bogart.Rex swallowed. "Well, I do have an idea... an untested hypothesis that probably holds no water and thus I shall withhold said hypothesis until I have more substantial proof-""Even if it continues to put your girlfriend at risk of arrest?" Pharisee raised an eyebrow."It's not like that!" snapped Rex. "I saw Agent Spy's head explode because someone made the mistake of thinking that he was the mole! I'm not going to put any innocent lives at risk by reenacting the Salem Witch Trials with some McCarthyism thrown in! I... I have an idea, but the only way we can get it to work is if he makes an Accidental Public Confession.""We've already had one of those," frowned Pharisee. "From what Detective Bogart has told me, your girlfriend admitted to owning the very knife used to kill Sniper.""But Amanda could not have killed Sniper!" insisted Rex."How do you know?" inquired Bogart. "Does she have an alibi?""Indeed," nodded Rex. "At the approximate time of Sniper's murder, Amanda was looking for Gun." Bogart and Pharisee traded glances with confused expressions, so Rex rolled his eyes. "Some Dino Attack agent who had no imagination when he came up with his codename.""Were you with her as she was looking for... Gun?" queried Bogart."No," Rex shook his head."She was alone?" Bogart raised an eyebrow. When Rex did not reply, he continued: "Then how do you know that was what she was really doing? Look, Rex, this alibi isn't as vacuum-proof as you would like it to be, and there is mounting substantial evidence pointing to Amanda as the murderer. We may have to take her in until such a time that her innocence can be proven, not approximated.""Over my dead body," Rex gritted his teeth.Pharisee cocked his gun. "I can do that."As Rex shot Pharisee a dark glare, Bogart cleared his throat. "You know, Rex, all you have to do to clear Amanda's name is just stick with her at all times to prove that she has an actual alibi. That being said, why is she in the backroom by herself?"Rex gestured towards the wheelchair sitting next to the couch. "She's faster and quieter alone than she is with me. We're looking for agents Pyro and Demoman, hoping to protect them from the mole, assuming that the mole's pattern is killing off the entire Second Headquarters Squad. She went into the backroom to look for Pyro or Demoman, since Elite Agent Adventure told us that he last saw them in here. We both agreed that, if she were to encounter the mole as he tried to attack either of them, she could save them if she weren't hindered by me.""I see," Pharisee nodded. "Detective Bogart, come with me." With that, they turned away from Rex and strode over towards the door to the backroom.Rex paled. "What are you doing?" He struggled to look over his shoulder at the two men as they opened the door. He couldn't believe his eyes; they were taking advantage of the fact that he was crippled so that he could not stop them as they arrested Amanda. "Get back here! As an elite agent, that's an order!""I'm Head of Internal Affairs," shrugged Pharisee, "and Bogart here isn't even working for the team. You have no authority over us, and your orders mean nothing.""MegaBloks!" shouted Rex, seething with fury. His heart pounded madly in his chest, but Rex ignored the drumming as Heroic Safe Mode took over. He reached for his wheelchair, but fell off the couch and onto the floor. Not even bothering with the wheelchair anymore, he crawled with his arms over to the backroom like some sort of vicious wild animal.Pharisee had already opened the door by the time Rex reached them. He rammed his elbow into Bogart's knee and grabbed the pants leg of Pharisee. As Pharisee tried to kick Rex off, Bogart lost his balance and fell into the head of internal affairs, causing the three of them to pile atop one another in one chaotic jumble.Rex, at the bottom of the pile, gritted his teeth and tried without success to shake Bogart and Pharisee off of his body. "This ends now!" he declared, although his voice sounded like a wheeze due to the weight on his back. "I've put up with enough Mutant T-Rex dung throughout this entire apocalypse, and the last thing I need is more pointless fighting inside Dino Attack Headquarters!"There stood Amanda. Her back was turned towards the brawl, and her eyes were focused upon the dartboard hanging on the wall in front of her. As Bogart and Pharisee stood, one of them addressed her by name, and she responded, but did not look away from the dartboard. "I'm sorry to report that neither Pyro nor Demoman are here," she murmured. "I apologize, Rex, for not returning sooner... but I needed some alone time to think.""Think about what?" inquired Bogart."About how Angel Eyes and Maria found my knife in Sniper's back. And about the accusations Trigger has made against me. And about all the rumors that I have heard. And... oh, Bogart, please put out that cigarette. Smoking is not allowed in Dino Attack Headquarters."Rex then saw that Amanda's knife was planted in the center of the dartboard: a perfect bull's eye. As he crawled slowly towards her, Rex could see thin streaks of water on her cheeks, which indicated that she had been crying. She was far better about showing it in public than Kate Bishop or Pterisa, but Rex knew that Amanda was every bit as troubled as they were, and the sight of her in pain caused Rex's heart to ache.Pharisee stepped towards her. "Ms. Remous, you are under-"As though on cue, an Egyptian standard agent rushed up into the room and looked down upon Rex. “Elite Agent Rex!” he gasped. “You have to come quickly! Pyro and Demoman have gone absolutely mad!”Amanda turned around, and Rex's eyebrows raised. “Lead the way, agent…” Rex began, trailing off when he realized that he had never met this particular agent.“Anubis,” the agent quickly introduced himself.Amanda grabbed her knife off the dartboard and sheathed it. Then, she carried Rex back into the rec room, put him down in his wheelchair, and began to follow Anubis. Although they didn't say anything, Rex could tell that Bogart and Pharisee were following them.Then, Anubis led Rex and Amanda to a room which appeared to be on fire. They were hit by a wave of heat, and once Rex adjusted to the new atmosphere, he could see through the flames and, in the far corner of the room, recognized Pyro. Pyro, appearing unaffected by the fire in his flame-retardant suit, brandished his flamethrower and kept shouting something made incomprehensible by his balaclava and helmet.“Pyro!” shouted Rex over the roar of flames. “What is the meaning of this?”Pyro pointed his flamethrower menacingly at Rex and again shouted the incomprehensible message: “Spmm chmmmk!”“Someone needs to keep an eye on Pyro and make sure he doesn’t do too much damage,” muttered Rex, “to the base or to himself. Where is Demoman?”Anubis led Rex and Amanda to another room. Rex’s eyes widened in shock, for the room was filled with explosives. In the far corner sat Demoman, one hand gripping a detonator, the other holding an empty bottle.Demoman sneered upon seeing the agents enter the room and laughed. “If any ah yehs thinks yehr… comin’ an comin’ to… ach, yeh remember? I don’t! I do not, would not, could not… ah train up yehr grass…”Rex held his hands up, attempting to convey that he intended no threat. “Demoman,” he spoke quietly and slowly, “please put the detonator down and-”“Ah, Ronald, yehr ah great pal, like ah bo’le ah rum…” Demoman attempted to drink from his empty bottle. “An if any ah yehs so much as muscles ah twitch wards meh, one lil push… an KABLOOEY!” He waved the detonator over his head, laughing and hiccupping as he did so. “Ain’t no way yehr ge’in meh like yeh got Ronald… they gonna glue yeh back togethah… in MEGABLOKLAND!”“Ronald?” repeated Rex.“Ronald E. Army,” whispered Amanda. “He was good friends with Demoman… I guess Demoman did not take his death well.”“This is not good at all,” frowned Rex. “Pyro and Demoman might be trying to defend themselves from Spe… from the killer, but in doing so they are endangering themselves and others. We need to find a way to stop them.”“Rex! Amanda!” called a familiar voice. Rex, Amanda, Anubis, Pharisee, and Bogart turned to see Ata approach them. “Specs wishes to see you two in private, in his office,” he reported, “as soon as possible.”OOC: ... Well, looks like I got a little carried away with the whole scene between Rex, Bogart, and Pharisee. Just to give you guys a heads-up: in my next IC, I intend to have Rex and Amanda finally confront Specs.Oh, and just to confirm that, at this point, Pyro and Demoman are Story Hooks. Don't wait for me to get them out of their pits of paranoia. Although, I must say, after watching Meet The Pyro... it's awfully tempting to introduce a Red Shirt Army...EDIT: ... Huh. Looks like, while I was writing the scene with Rex, Bogart, and Pharisee, Atton Rand posted. I'm... not sure what to do about that. I mean, Atton, I remember that you proposed this scene to me, but I thought we agreed that it was too out-of-character for both Amanda and Montoya...

Edited June 28, 2012 by PeabodySam

[Atton Rand]

EDIT: ... Huh. Looks like, while I was writing the scene with Rex, Bogart, and Pharisee, Atton Rand posted. I'm... not sure what to do about that. I mean, Atton, I remember that you proposed this scene to me, but I thought we agreed that it was too out-of-character for both Amanda and Montoya...

OOC: Great, now you got me confused and unsure of what to do. The idea was supposed to be that Montoya is interested in revenge like Schiess, but he's much more emotionally driven. Whereas Schiess is the more practical of the group, and he simply has a moral code that involves killing people who double-cross him, Montoya is more angry for the people she killed and doesn't always think things through, like his last method which had a number of problems (including his own uncertainty of whether he could bring himself to do it). Edited June 27, 2012 by Atton Rand

[PeabodySam]

EDIT: ... Huh. Looks like, while I was writing the scene with Rex, Bogart, and Pharisee, Atton Rand posted. I'm... not sure what to do about that. I mean, Atton, I remember that you proposed this scene to me, but I thought we agreed that it was too out-of-character for both Amanda and Montoya...

OOC: Great, now you got me confused and unsure of what to do. The idea was supposed to be that Montoya is interested in revenge like Schiess, but he's much more emotionally driven. Whereas Schiess is the more practical of the group, and he simply has a moral code that involves killing people who double-cross him, Montoya is more angry for the people she killed and doesn't always think things through, like his last method which had a number of problems (including his own uncertainty of whether he could bring himself to do it).

OOC: Yes, but we discussed this scene via Steam chat, and we agreed that it wouldn't work for a number of reasons, which could mostly be traced back to the characterizations of Amanda and Montoya. The scene would require Amanda to be a victim and Montoya to be a cold-blooded torturer. Whether she's Amanda Claw or Silencia Venomosa, it is nearly impossible to victimize her, especially in the way that was just done; she'd be far more likely to fight back than to simply go along with what Montoya tells her to do, even if he is holding a gun to her face. If anything, it's even harder to victimize Amanda Claw than it is Silencia Venomosa, because now Amanda isn't alone; she's surrounded by a team of people who trust her, and (as demonstrated my post above) the mere prospect of putting her in any sort of danger would incur Rex's wrath (one of the major reasons why the scene in Specs's office was retconned).And while Montoya is more emotional and thus far more angry about Silencia Venomosa killing five men, he's also the most moral one of the group. While it's true that he'd probably want to see Venomosa brought to justice even more than anyone else, torturing her doesn't sound like something his character has been built up to. It makes him seem no different from Trigger... or worse, no better than Venomosa herself. This directly contrasts with his established personality, which was done to make Montoya seem more human than any of his colleagues. Remember that, while Trigger swore vengeance, Montoya tried to escape his previous life because he didn't want any more of that.An alternative that you brought up, which I thought would work much better, is that Montoya tries to confront Venomosa only to realize (because he is more emotional and moral than Trigger) that she is trying to reform as Amanda, which would lead to some interesting character conflicts between Trigger and Montoya. Edited June 27, 2012 by PeabodySam

[Atton Rand]

EDIT: ... Huh. Looks like, while I was writing the scene with Rex, Bogart, and Pharisee, Atton Rand posted. I'm... not sure what to do about that. I mean, Atton, I remember that you proposed this scene to me, but I thought we agreed that it was too out-of-character for both Amanda and Montoya...

OOC: Great, now you got me confused and unsure of what to do. The idea was supposed to be that Montoya is interested in revenge like Schiess, but he's much more emotionally driven. Whereas Schiess is the more practical of the group, and he simply has a moral code that involves killing people who double-cross him, Montoya is more angry for the people she killed and doesn't always think things through, like his last method which had a number of problems (including his own uncertainty of whether he could bring himself to do it).

OOC: Yes, but we discussed this scene via Steam chat, and we agreed that it wouldn't work for a number of reasons, which could mostly be traced back to the characterizations of Amanda and Montoya. The scene would require Amanda to be a victim and Montoya to be a cold-blooded torturer. Whether she's Amanda Claw or Silencia Venomosa, it is nearly impossible to victimize her, especially in the way that was just done; she'd be far more likely to fight back than to simply go along with what Montoya tells her to do, even if he is holding a gun to her face. If anything, it's even harder to victimize Amanda Claw than it is Silencia Venomosa, because now Amanda isn't alone; she's surrounded by a team of people who trust her, and (as demonstrated my post above) the mere prospect of putting her in any sort of danger would incur Rex's wrath (one of the major reasons why the scene in Specs's office was retconned).And while Montoya is more emotional and thus far more angry about Silencia Venomosa killing five men, he's also the most moral one of the group. While it's true that he'd probably want to see Venomosa brought to justice even more than anyone else, torturing her doesn't sound like something his character has been built up to. It makes him seem no different from Trigger... or worse, no better than Venomosa herself.An alternative that you brought up, which I thought would work much better, is that Montoya tries to confront Venomosa only to realize (because he is more emotional and moral than Trigger) that she is trying to reform as Amanda, which would lead to some interesting character conflicts between Trigger and Montoya.

OOC: The idea was that Montoya had knocked out Pharisee and forced Bogart to leave, which would have left Rex alone, who has the slight problem of being wheelchair bound (kinda makes it hard for him to fight back unless he's got like, machine guns hidden in the chair) but otherwise that's true, that would make a bit more sense. How about we ignore the last post and I rewrite it? Edited June 27, 2012 by Atton Rand

[that guy from that show]

iC: San Diego, 2008Hertz had been waiting in line for the last two hours dressed as a rebel pilot. In most cases his bright orange jumpsuit would stand out like a sore thumb but at Comic-Con his attire was relatively normal.The reason he was in line was so the actor who played Imperial Pilot #6 could sign his unopened vintage TIE fighter (With starboard wing damage.) This was the main reason he had driven across six states and now stood between an Ewok and Elvis.As he surveyed the crowd of Jedi and overweight basement dwellers it became apparent to him that the most out of place people where the two suits rapidly approaching.They looked far more serious then the standard crowd. One was Hispanic and wore his hare in a tight pigtail. He had a narrow face and a smelled of cigarettes. He ware gold chains around his neck and an expensive watch was on his wrist.The second man appeared Irish. He wore a pour-fitting suit that hung awkwardly around his hulking frame. He also had chains and an earring was on his left ear. Hertz would not have been surprised to see him as a bouncer at some sleazy bar.He hoped the men would pass him by but instead they stopped in front of him. He observed that the Irishmen held a silver Halliburton case, which he constantly checked. Hertz got the impression that the contents were considerably valuable for the man to be looking over his shoulder every few minutes. “Are you Charlie Schultz?” was the first thing the Hispanic man said. “We were on your website and read your bio. We have some work for you and you have a skill set that people in our organization lack.”These were not the sorts of conversations that Hertz liked to have in public. Ordinarily he would motion that the meeting continue in private. However considering the lengths he had taken to hold his space in line instead he said: “I’m busy.”The Hispanic man seemed disappointed. “Now Mr. Schultz, it took quite a bit of effort to track you down and even more so to smuggle these in.”The Irishmen pulled aside his jacket to reveal a holstered gun.Hertz began to sweat but attempted to maintain his cool. He did not like guns and had worked hard to insure he only took nonviolent clients.“Are you with the government?” asked Hertz. “Because I don’t take government contracts.”“Oh no.” chuckled the Hispanic man. He spoke quietly and a softly. The calmness that he possessed frightened Hertz more so then threatening demeanor of the Irishmen. “We work for a very privet man. He likes to be kept informed. Now please lets find somewhere away from prying ears.”“Good luck with that.” Said Hertz. “The convention center is packed. We’ll need to go pretty far.”“We have time.” Said the Hispanic man. He spoke like a life long smoker and the cigarettes had clogged his lungs. “We will pay well of course.”Reluctantly Hertz left his spot in line and followed the two men threw the fray. They walked across the entire convention center and down three flights of stairs before they found a place where they could have a meeting. Hertz felt uncomfortable being alone with them and prayed that the contract would go without a hitch.“Before we get started I need to make sure that whatever you want me to do is legal.” Hertz began. “I try and keep my work legitimist and legal entanglement only complicates things for me.”“Why of course.” said the Hispanic man, “We read that you have experience with cryptology and linguistics. We would like you to translate a recording of ours.”“What kind or recording?” asked Hertz. “How is it encoded?” he was hoping for an excuse to deny the deal before it got dangerous.The Irishmen walked up and unlocked the Halliburton case. Sitting inside a foam lining was a tan plastic box with a keypad, tape player, and real of paper. Also in the box was an old fashioned cassette.“We found this tape awhile back.” Said the Hispanic man. “But it’s encoded. We can’t make heads or tales about what it says. We want you to translate it and return both the tape and encoder to us once you’re done.”Hertz timidly accepted the case and investigated the device. “What sort of things do you expect to find on the devise? Nothing two interesting I imagine.”“I would not say that.” Said the Hispanic man. “We’ll find it very interesting once you get it to us.”The Irishmen spoke for the first time. “You better not tell anyone what you find.”Hertz paled at the obvious threat. “I don’t know if I want this job.”The Hispanic man chucked. “My friend is very rude. What he means to say is that the information you find is confidential. This certainly is not the first confidential work you’ve done.”“I suppose not.” Began Hertz. “But…” he trailed off.“But what?” asked the Hispanic man. “You will be rewarded considerably. We are prepared to offer you 100,000 for your work.”Hertz looked at the encrypter in his hand. “So all I have to do is translate this message?”“That’s all you have to do.” Smiled the man. “We’ll make it worth you’re while.”He held out his hand to seal the deal. It hovered in the air for a moment as Hertz considered whether to accept. He considered the intrigue of the job and the payment he would receive. Finally he took the hand.“I’m glad you’re seeing things our way.” Smiled the Hispanic man. He reached into his pocked at withdrew a note card. “This is my number. Contact us as soon as you’re done.”“Of course.” Said Hertz. “What’s your name?”The man smiled. “It will be best for everyone if you don’t know that. Now be careful with that encrypter Mr. Schultz, you would not want anything to happen to it.”“And don’t tell nobody.” Added the Irishmen.“Yes. Don’t tell anybody. Have a good day Mr. Schultz, we’re sorry for the trouble we caused you.”The two men left leaving Hertz with a Halliburton case and a great many questions.

* * *

When Hertz returned to the convention center he fond that the actor had left, he grudgingly removed his keys and headed out to his car. It was raining hard and he was relived to get into his dry car and go home.As he pulled onto the wet streets to begin his long drive back to LEGO city he did not notice the car the pulled out and followed himOoC:I just want to clarify some things about Pharisee’s character. Although he is certainly known for intimidation he would never directly threaten someone who he considerers to be a good person. His reckoning is reserved for those who create disorder and violence. I would not see him threatening Rex. (But considering that Rex assaulted him and Bogart that may change.)Second, Pharisee tracked down Rex and Amanda to gather information. Although he was prepared to make an arrest he would want to gather information and evidence before he took out the handcuffs. That’s why he sat down to talk to him instead of charging in and slamming Amanda into a wall or somethingFinally I find it hard to believe that a knock on the head would take down 6’9’’, 240 Ib bear of a man like Pharisee. Yes it would knock him down but he would get right back up fighting and slam Montoya into the wall. Thankfully that is now non-canon.I might be nitpicky for a while with Pharisee. He’s in danger of becoming another Carl Lutsky unless I work to define him from every other nasty authoritative figure.I’m going to be at my family cabin on Lack Superior for two weeks. I might have a hard time posting and might not even have Internet up there. Regardless I’ll keep up on my phone and might even attempt some short posts with it. I’ll be leaving Sunday so I still have a few days to post here.

[PeabodySam]

I just want to clarify some things about Pharisee’s character. Although he is certainly known for intimidation he would never directly threaten someone who he considerers to be a good person. His reckoning is reserved for those who create disorder and violence. I would not see him threatening Rex. (But considering that Rex assaulted him and Bogart that may change.)Second, Pharisee tracked down Rex and Amanda to gather information. Although he was prepared to make an arrest he would want to gather information and evidence before he took out the handcuffs. That’s why he sat down to talk to him instead of charging in and slamming Amanda into a wall or somethingI might be nitpicky for a while with Pharisee. He’s in danger of becoming another Carl Lutsky unless I work to define him from every other nasty authoritative figure.

OOC: Okay. I may have taken his aggressiveness a little too far, and that's my fault. I pictured him as a man who, even if his heart was in the right place, wasn't afraid to use his intimidating image to do what must be done, and the last line of your previous IC post made me think that he would be willing to respond to Rex's "Over my dead body" (essentially a threat, i.e. "If you do that, then I'm going to fight you to the death") by cocking his gun. I was also under the impression that, while he wanted to talk to Rex to gather info, he was ready to arrest Amanda if he needed to, and I thought that the overwhelming amount of evidence against her (plus the fact that Rex essentially admitted that her alibi wasn't exactly vacuum-proof) was enough for him to decide to place Amanda under custody until her innocence could be proven; if she is guilty, this would protect everyone, but if she is innocent, this could potentially protect her. As I said, this was based upon my own interpretations of the character, and I apologize if I misinterpreted Pharisee.I understand that you don't want Pharisee turning into another Lutsky. However, here's a possibility: it's not Pharisee who's turning into Lutsky, it's Rex. Since my last IC post is told from Rex's perspective, it's not altogether clear, but... perhaps Pharisee and Bogart weren't really going to arrest Amanda on the spot. Maybe they were just going to ask her some questions, or inform her that she had to stay under Rex's supervision for the time being. Rex, however, could very well be going paranoid due to the whole mole thing and everyone trying to kill/arrest Amanda, and mistakenly believed that they intended to bring harm to her, which caused him to assault them.That's an interesting prospect, I admit. Rex giving in to paranoia, possibly following the path of Lutsky.

[that guy from that show]

I just want to clarify some things about Pharisee’s character. Although he is certainly known for intimidation he would never directly threaten someone who he considerers to be a good person. His reckoning is reserved for those who create disorder and violence. I would not see him threatening Rex. (But considering that Rex assaulted him and Bogart that may change.)Second, Pharisee tracked down Rex and Amanda to gather information. Although he was prepared to make an arrest he would want to gather information and evidence before he took out the handcuffs. That’s why he sat down to talk to him instead of charging in and slamming Amanda into a wall or somethingI might be nitpicky for a while with Pharisee. He’s in danger of becoming another Carl Lutsky unless I work to define him from every other nasty authoritative figure.

OOC: Okay. I may have taken his aggressiveness a little too far, and that's my fault. I pictured him as a man who, even if his heart was in the right place, wasn't afraid to use his intimidating image to do what must be done, and the last line of your previous IC post made me think that he would be willing to respond to Rex's "Over my dead body" (essentially a threat, i.e. "If you do that, then I'm going to fight you to the death") by cocking his gun. I was also under the impression that, while he wanted to talk to Rex to gather info, he was ready to arrest Amanda if he needed to, and I thought that the overwhelming amount of evidence against her (plus the fact that Rex essentially admitted that her alibi wasn't exactly vacuum-proof) was enough for him to decide to place Amanda under custody until her innocence could be proven; if she is guilty, this would protect everyone, but if she is innocent, this could potentially protect her. As I said, this was based upon my own interpretations of the character, and I apologize if I misinterpreted Pharisee.I understand that you don't want Pharisee turning into another Lutsky. However, here's a possibility: it's not Pharisee who's turning into Lutsky, it's Rex. Since my last IC post is told from Rex's perspective, it's not altogether clear, but... perhaps Pharisee and Bogart weren't really going to arrest Amanda on the spot. Maybe they were just going to ask her some questions, or inform her that she had to stay under Rex's supervision for the time being. Rex, however, could very well be going paranoid due to the whole mole thing and everyone trying to kill/arrest Amanda, and mistakenly believed that they intended to bring harm to her, which caused him to assault them.That's an interesting prospect, I admit. Rex giving in to paranoia, possibly following the path of Lutsky.

I just want to clarify some things about Pharisee’s character. Although he is certainly known for intimidation he would never directly threaten someone who he considerers to be a good person. His reckoning is reserved for those who create disorder and violence. I would not see him threatening Rex. (But considering that Rex assaulted him and Bogart that may change.)Second, Pharisee tracked down Rex and Amanda to gather information. Although he was prepared to make an arrest he would want to gather information and evidence before he took out the handcuffs. That’s why he sat down to talk to him instead of charging in and slamming Amanda into a wall or somethingI might be nitpicky for a while with Pharisee. He’s in danger of becoming another Carl Lutsky unless I work to define him from every other nasty authoritative figure.

OOC: Okay. I may have taken his aggressiveness a little too far, and that's my fault. I pictured him as a man who, even if his heart was in the right place, wasn't afraid to use his intimidating image to do what must be done, and the last line of your previous IC post made me think that he would be willing to respond to Rex's "Over my dead body" (essentially a threat, i.e. "If you do that, then I'm going to fight you to the death") by cocking his gun. I was also under the impression that, while he wanted to talk to Rex to gather info, he was ready to arrest Amanda if he needed to, and I thought that the overwhelming amount of evidence against her (plus the fact that Rex essentially admitted that her alibi wasn't exactly vacuum-proof) was enough for him to decide to place Amanda under custody until her innocence could be proven; if she is guilty, this would protect everyone, but if she is innocent, this could potentially protect her. As I said, this was based upon my own interpretations of the character, and I apologize if I misinterpreted Pharisee.I understand that you don't want Pharisee turning into another Lutsky. However, here's a possibility: it's not Pharisee who's turning into Lutsky, it's Rex. Since my last IC post is told from Rex's perspective, it's not altogether clear, but... perhaps Pharisee and Bogart weren't really going to arrest Amanda on the spot. Maybe they were just going to ask her some questions, or inform her that she had to stay under Rex's supervision for the time being. Rex, however, could very well be going paranoid due to the whole mole thing and everyone trying to kill/arrest Amanda, and mistakenly believed that they intended to bring harm to her, which caused him to assault them.That's an interesting prospect, I admit. Rex giving in to paranoia, possibly following the path of Lutsky.

OoC:Funny thing thing, you described my character and his intentions better then I could. You hit Pharisee dead on and said exsactly what I hoped too. Mostly it was the quote "over my dead body" that bothered me and I can see how my last post might have thrown you offRex becoming Lutsky certainly is becoming an interesting notion. I should be noted that the contributing part of Lutsky's downfall was his own paranoia so I might actually see some parallels there

[Atton Rand]

OOC: Alright, this is the Montoya/Amanda confrontation take two... and action!IC: Amanda and Rex were rather shocked as a man in his late 30's approached them armed with a shotgun. He cocked it rather menacingly as he aimed it towards the former."Hello Silencia," Montoya said. His hands were trembling slightly, but he was doing his best to hide it. He may have been a nice guy underneath, but he knew how to at least make himself look nasty when necessary. "You remember me?"Silencia simply shook her head. Montoya reached for his pack of cigarettes and, taking one hand of his gun, slowly started to place one in his mouth. He used the free arm to light it before holding the pack in front of her. "Cigarette?" He asked calmly. Silencia simply shook her head. Montoya cocked his shotgun once more. "I got a little message for you," he said. "From myself, Orange, Scorsese, Keaton, Deniro, Verbal, Sciess... and everyone else you killed; znap you?"With that, Montoya's trembling finger started to pull on the trigger...OOC: Just out of curiosity, I brought up this question on the wiki a while back but nobody ever answered it, there was a note about the races of some of the characters I just noticed again. I guess I can see where That Guy may have intended Dust to be Arabic, and maybe Carver's race was mentioned somewhere and I just didn't notice (personally, I'd always imagined her being a white blonde), but I'm just curious when exactly I mentioned Cabin's race. Not that there's any problems or anything, this is just pure curiosity.

[that guy from that show]

OoC: Remember when I asked what actors would play your characters? You said that you would want Michelle Rodriguez, who is of course, Latino.And if I can now pose a random question: Is Rex a real name or a code name?

[Atton Rand]

OoC: Remember when I asked what actors would play your characters? You said that you would want Michelle Rodriguez, who is of course, Latino.And if I can now pose a random question: Is Rex a real name or a code name?

OOC: That explains it. I never really noticed a difference between Caucasian and Latino, but seeing as they are officially recognized as different races that would specify her race.

[Jacks]

OOC:

...maybe Carver's race was mentioned somewhere and I just didn't notice (personally, I'd always imagined her being a white blonde)

I seem to recall that guy described her as black when she was first introduced. That's how I've been picturing her this whole time, at least.EDIT: Found the posts in which Naomi first appeared. She's black.

And if I can now pose a random question: Is Rex a real name or a code name?

Yes.At least, that's how I understand it. Edited June 28, 2012 by Jackson Lake

[Brikman McStudz]

OOC: Oh, man. Meet the Pyro. I wasn't sure what I was suspected. Regardless, I like that they still left his/her/its background still mysterious. The whole-Sugar Bowl episode thing. I haven't cracked up like that in a long time.Yes, it is deliciously tempting to recreate the video now. May have to jump on it.that guy, I'd say Rex is his name, bestowed upon him by a pilot and Frank Einstein in HTTYML. I don't think he ever had an actual name prior to that, being a T-Rex.IC:After teaming up with Commander Vinyaya and Hotwire, Zach and Minerva started their running of the hallway quickly (as quickly as they could when one of their group was missing a leg). It wasn't long until they found a group of agents standing outside a room. The only ones Zach recognized were Rex and Claw. And one seemed on the verge of shooting Claw with a shotgun."Hey!" Zach yelled. "What in Blue Bricks are you doing?!" The man paused, glancing up at the approaching agents. This distracted gave Rex enough time to ram his wheelchair forcefully into the man's side, knocking him to the floor. Zach, Minerva, Vinyaya, and Hotwire quickly converged on him, surrounding him and pointing their weapons at him."What was that?" Hotwire snapped."She's Silencia Venomosa," the man muttered, clutching his side in pain. Beside Zach, Minerva flinched and glanced at Claw."So?" Zach snapped. "Unless we are on a policy of 'shoot suspects on sight', you have no right to blow out Claw's brain, even if she's Venomosa. Whatever happened to "innocent before proven guilty'?""What are you talking about? I know fully well she is guilty of what she did." the man said calmly, climbing to his feet slowly."Wait, what are you talking about?" Vinyaya said. "We're talking about the mole.""What mole?" The man seemed clueless."I don't think he's apart of the team," Hotwire muttered. A large man man burst past Hotwire and Vinyaya and gripped the attempted murderer arms tightly. A man who looked like an old detective picked up the murderer's shotgun calmly."Alright, so what's going on...whoa." Zach said as he turned around. He was looking inside a room filled to the brim with explosives. "What is...""Demoman," Rex said. "He's have...a bit of a breakdown. So is Pyro.""Where's Pyro?" Minerva asked."Burning up another room with his flamethrower," Claw said quietly, still staring at the man that had attempted to kill her.Vinyaya facepalmed irritably. "Great," she muttered as she peeked into the explosive-filled room and saw Demoman sitting in a corner."Excuse me," a man appearing to be a communications expert said, tapping Rex on the shoulder. "Specs still needs you and Claw. From the sounds of it, its important."Rex faced clearly showed anxiety. He glanced back into the room. "What about Demoman and Pyro?""We'll take care of them," Hotwire interjected. "Me, Vinyaya, him-" he gestured to an Egyptian agent. "-Fabello, and Zach." Rex's eyebrows perked up at the mention of Zach's name."Zach?" Rex looked at Zach and seemed to recognize him. "Weren't you a-""-Stromling?" Zach finished. "Indeed. Thanks to a couple of friends, that is no longer the case." Rex nodded, then he, Claw, and the communications agent left. Zach turned to group of agents."So, how are we going to deal with these two?"

[Andrewnuva199]

OOC: Yes! Finally I found HTTYML! Quite a good start there, PeabodySam.IC: The rest of the movie went by rather predictably and with quite a bit of cheesy entertainment. "Dino Cop" as the character liked calling himself, used various skills and tricks of a T-Rex to (literally) take a bite out of the crime (Joike: "'I one-uped you, McGruff!'") emerging in the city after the earthquake. Stepping on getaway cars (Andrew: "And not crushing the criminals in the process! That takes skill!"), intimidating most crooks just by showing up (Pterisa: "So does his stare make the crooks forget they have guns?"), and somehow being able to "go undercover" by shrinking to the size of a hatchling (Laxus: "Oh, ho, ho, it's magic! You know...").Then there was some weird, contrived business about a corrupt corporate executive using some stolen devices to cause the earthquake that started the whole mess to gain profit (Andrew: "It's all computers! I don't have to explain it!"), which ended up seeming like a tacked on plotline to somehow to make the movie viable for a franchise, likely due to the many leftover plotlines, such as the end of the film being Johnny Thunder finding a tomb in Peru with another flask of dinosaur DNA (Laxus: "'Pippin, I do believe this is the start of a beautiful franchise.'")"More like the start of a bad case of Sequelitis," said Joike as the end credits began to roll."Oh, the joy of cheesy movies," said Andrew as he stretched his arms, having gotten a little cramped from sitting so long. He turned to Pterisa. "Now what do you make of that experience?""It was... quite unique. But definately fun.""Good to hear. When you have a sense of humor, it becomes very easy to interact with others.""Wise words there, my friend," said Laxus, looking at the table full of empty pizza boxes, soda cans, and an empty popcorn bowl. "Let's get some of this food stuff cleaned up and return that bowl to the kitchen. Then we should try to see what's been happening. Maybe Semick is back already.""Betcha that mole everyone's talking about's been active," said Joike as he picked up one of the boxes. "Not a good thing to be losing people, but hopefully the more this guy does, the easier it becomes to catch him.""Hopefully," said Andrew, picking up some of the cans and putting them back into their box for easy portage. "Eh, I don't like thinking about it, especially after such a nice time we had here.""Well, as much as I guess we all want to think of good things," said Pterisa, "we have to accept that bad things will come again quickly.""All too true," said Laxus. "But I say if we can still find something to poke a little fun at, and we still have hope, things can turn out okay in the end, no matter how bad it gets.""Yeah..." said Joike. "But let's finish clean up here before we sound just as cheesy with our philosophy as that movie was, okay?"-----------------Bluetooth watched Semick walk into the base with concern.He had heard everything about the Second Headquarters Squad over Semick's radio chat. It was horrifying, not just the team's deaths, but the fact that there was a murderous mole loose in the base now. Bluetooth himself was barely taking it in, but he could only imagine the stress and horror it must've put on Semick.The Elite Agent had told him before how much he hated espionage, how he was dissapointed to have to realized that some of the men he watched over and fought alongside with in the team actually plotted against him. With the Stromlings, it was one thing, as they were simply part of a force heckbent on destroying the universe. But to know that some of his men actually believed that Dr Rex's ideas were good ones, or at least lacked enough trust in Dino Attack to go and join the "winning side", was a devastating blow to Semick's faith in his comrades.Bluetooth felt very sympathetic with him. Knowing that your best ally could be a traitor was never something pleasant to take in, and something told him that this case would be no exception. He could only hope that the team would be able to handle it well.

[Jacks]

IC: "So...which one of them do we take care of first?" asked the Egyptian agent, who had introduced himself as Anubis.Hotwire was slightly overwhelmed by the whole situation, but, realizing that he was the highest-ranking agent in the group, did not let this become apparent and forced himself to think clearly. "Demoman's probably not quite as urgent, since he did say he wouldn't detonate those explosives as long as we stay away from him. But, left to his own devices, Pyro's likely to burn this whole building to the ground. And I think this place has been razed more than enough times over the course of the war. Too bad none of us are fireproof. Ideas?""I could get to him easily if I still had my armor," Vinyaya grumbled.

[Atton Rand]

OOC: This whole thing with Demoman just gave me an idea for some good comedic potential while also tying up a loose end from the Gold City plot. IC: "We got to act fast," Angel Eyes said to Maria and Clint. "We got to find the last remnants of the Second Headquarters Squad.""Yeah," replied Clint. "Who's left?""At this point," replied Angel Eyes. "There's you, me, Maria-""Do we count?" Maria asked."We helped out enough," replied Angel Eyes. "Ya know," Maria said. "Whatever happened to that one guy, Firecracker, or whatever his name was.""Good question," replied Angel Eyes. "At the moment we'd be-"At that moment the three of them were suddenly knocked back when a large chunk of the wall was blown apart by a loud explosion. As the trio took a moment to come to their senses a man drove in on a motorcycle, crashing it into the opposite wall, before getting off and taking off his bandanna and goggles. Even in all the smoke, they recognized the face quickly."Firecracker?" Maria asked."Did I miss anything?" Firecracker asked. "Just a couple of murders. Maybe you can blow up the mole.""Who's the mole?" Firecracker asked."We don't know yet," replied Angel Eyes. He started to continue down the hallway. Practically right around the corner was a scene of commotion, or at least what appeared to be commotion before the agents were stunned by the loud noise. One tough-looking black man was busy holding one guy hostage, the rest of the group looked rather panicked."What's going on in here?" Angel Eyes asked sternly."It's Demoman and Pyro," replied another man. Firecracker slowly worked his way toward the one room and saw Demoman sitting there, surrounded by crates of explosives. Upon seeing it, he burst into laughter."Erik Paulson," Firecracker remarked excitedly, but without a slight hint of fear in his voice. "You've really outdone yourself now. Our superiors at Reliable Excavation Demolition would be proud."At that moment, there was a certain amount of arguing. "Look," said a female voice. "I really don't think this is a good ide-""Hey man," replied another guy. "It's no problem. I'm gonna sol-" He cut himself off as he approached the scene of commotion, leaving everyone to stare at a man with rediculously long hair, an extremely thick beard and what looked like pajamas. With him was a middle-aged woman."Dude," the woman said. "This is out of your league.""She's right," replied Dude's companion, a middle-aged man with a buzz cut and a thin beard. "Znap it, let's go bowling.""This isn't a znapping game, man," Dude shouted. "Walter, what's your problem.""Oh but it is a game," replied Walter. "You said so yourself.""Look," the woman said, trying to resolve it. "This isn't getting us anywhere.""Sarah's right," replied Walter. "We shouldn't get involved in this mess.""Did I miss something?" Asked a gruff voice from behind. Everyone turned around to see a tough-looking man with an eye patch, holding a gun, who seemed to be looking at the scene with some confusion.OOC: Comic relief to ease the tension. It never fails.

[Brikman McStudz]

IC:Minerva frowned as more people seemed to be joining the hallway. She turned to Vinyaya. "How could your armor help?""It's fire-proof to a degree," Vinyaya said, scowling at the new arrivals. "Heat resistance type stuff. With it, I could probably get close enough to Pyro and take him down.""Don't you have a spare set of armor or something from your ship?" Minerva asked."No. Everything was destroyed when the Enforcer crashed. However," Vinyaya's mood darkened suddenly. Minerva flinched. "My only surviving ally from that voyage, Julius Kelp, happened to be killed while operating in Castle Cove. Presuming they brought the body back, I might be able to take his armor and get to Pyro.""Excellent," Zach said. "Head over to the morgue and see if you can find it. We'll try to stop him from burning down the building." Vinyaya scowled fiercely at Zach before nodding and starting her sprint toward the morgue. Minerva rolled her eyes. Zach had been extremely insensitive toward Vinyaya, who was clearly unhappy that her Space Police ally had been killed. Minerva could associate with the stress of this situation, but it was still insensitive. I don't think those two will ever be friendly toward each other. Minerva thought. Beyond grudging respect."Alright, so while she does that, any ideas on what to do?" Hotwire asked."Some of the population has returned to the city, correct?" Zach asked. He looked toward Anubis, who nodded. "Call a Fire Department, presuming one has been reestablished. They can help us take down the blaze. I also suppose we could find some fire extinguishers and try to handle the fire in the meantime."