Villain's league (IC)

[Angel]

Before Liz could get his answer, there was a lot of noise outside. "Someone has their panties in a bunch today," he commented, heading for the door - quickening his pace at the mention of unwanted chaos starting.

Crystal peeked out the window. "It's the psychic guy. Can I get a spoon and make him bend it?"

"No, Cryssie, I'm pretty sure he's not in the mood to play Uri Geller," Liz replied, exasperated.

He swung open the door to reveal a very pissed Release. "Good morning to you too, and welcome to my house. I'm Liz, your financier, and you, along with the others will be staying in one of mine and Crystal's basements. It's okay, they're just as well-furnished as the upper levels, and have a good deal more workspace." He grinned, partly to piss off Release, and stepped back to let him in.

[lucas marcone]

Croc was chargeing for Liz's house in a Mustang GT that he had stolen...er.... commendered from one of the locals. He was about ten minutes away.




----------------------------------

"Can we please do away with theatrics? Not sure if you noticed but, you have a tired cranky demon right here." Red said tapping her hoof at a fast pace.

[familyghost]

"Great, wonderful, perfect..." Release half-smiled.  "Got any toast, a squirrel stole mine."  Release noticed simplicity of the place and blinked compared to what he was expecting.  "You have how many floors under here?" He asked as he walked in.  "Ugh, anyway sorry about the threat, my place got giant metal ball put through it today..."  He his smile was a cross of homicidal rage and genuine happy-go lucky smile stupidity.  "So I'm not really in a great mood today... plus that freaking squirrel stole my breakfast..."  He was mindlessly babbling at this point.

[Miaka]

"Release, there is no need for you to be getting this worked up." The Boss shot him a look, raised an eyebrow, and went back to examining his gloves for dirt or stains.
"Can't have you hurting anyone now." His tone was very light, nonchalant, and he flicked a speck of dust from a finger.
"However much you seem to enjoy that, it is not, in fact, was I hired you for." His tail twitched behind him in slight annoyance, and he pulled up one glove just enough to look at the small screen, nodding.
"Croc should be arriving soon. Behave yourself, the last thing we need is two hot-headed men like you in an area this small. We'd be finished before we even stated." He said with a sigh.

[e_voyager]

rue had been running for some time already though he knew he still had miles to cover before he made it throng to the next state let alone the target city. reaching a river Rue decided not to ford it but fly over. in a few moments a blue gargoyle lands on the other side of the river and became a saber ( i forget if it was a tiger or a wolf)  and begins to run again. 

[Angel]

Liz nodded. "Thanks for the warning, sir. Please make sure they don't tear up our home while I'm gone."

He looked back at Release. "I hate to be rude, but I have to meet one of our other coworkers a few towns over. So, I'm outta here. The lovely young lady sitting right there is Crystal; she can show you around," he told the psychic, gesturing to his girlfriend and asking her with his eyes if that was okay.

When she nodded, he turned back around. "If any harm comes to my house, or her, I will allow myself the honor of turning you into a human pincushion - and I'm being very literal." With that, he waved goodbye and walked out the door. Crystal stood up from the breakfast table and walked over to Release.

"Hi there. I'm Crystal, and yes, we do have toast. Please don't try to kill me if you get mad; I'm stronger than I look," she smiled, offering her hand for Release to shake.

[familyghost]

Release was about to respond to the Boss' remark when Liz spoke up.  He was slightly surprised by the threat, but in a good way, the little lizard had moxy and Release could respect a guy protecting something of value.  He gave his own smile and shook the lizard gals hand. 

"Don't worry toots, I can take the anger out on this magic using monkey I'm supposed to test."  Release was interrupted by his stomach's grumbling.  "Eheheh... so about that toast?"

[lucas marcone]

Croc was going so fast when he saw the house he slamed the breaks and it wasn't until a good three houses past Liz's he was able to stop. As he turned around and parked the car in the driveway the whole house could hear Croc's metal music. Then he turned off the car and got out. He strode up to the door and pressed the bell.

[Angel]

Liz was pulling out of the driveway when the heavy-metal blaring vehicle zoomed by and nearly killed Crystal's car. He was tempted to flip the guy off, but once he saw who it was, he resisted and simply pulled out the rest of the way before zipping off to get to Lansing.

---

Before Crystal could make any toast for Release, the doorbell rang. She gave Release the 'one minute' sign and opened the door.

Having never seen Croc or anyone like him before, her eyes widened. "So you're Croc? Wow. I'm Crystal, Liz's girlfriend. You just missed Liz, but the others are here." She stepped back, allowing the fellow reptile entrance.

[lucas marcone]

"Yeah, I almost hit him when I was comeing in. I should apologise later." He said doing the fake scratch on the back of the head routine. "Hm, thought Liz would have a bigger place."

[familyghost]

Release blinked.  Then he blinked again.  Then he blinked for a third time.

"Dude, you look like you could bench press the wrecking ball that tore down my apartment." Release was slightly impressed by the powerful man before him.  Then he did what he naturally did when he met physically imposing men, he tried to scan the guy's mind for any surface thoughts that might lead him deeper into the man's mind.  If he was lucky the guy would be weak enough in the mind to let him get some dark secrets, but knowing this group he might end up busted before he could get a surface thought worth reading.

[lucas marcone]

"Ah, Crystal!" He went to shake her hand. She found his to be like a boxing mit only much harder. "Liz told us 'bout you, dun worry we'll get out of you hair soon as possible." He had a large warm smile on

lucky for croc he had a strong will. lucky for relese it wasn't strong enough. lucky for croc he didn't have much to read.

finnally I'm here. maybe this place has firmer beds than that damn hotel. I'd like that.[/b]

Just after he got done thinking that he noticed relese was talking to him. "Don't worry I ain't decided wedder or not I like you yet. His smile faded into a stoic diplomatic state.

[familyghost]

Release smirked to himself and folded his arms at his chest.  "Well I try to keep things friendly with guys who can turn me into a human pretzel."  Then he took off is shades and let a careful look linger on Croc.  He figured now would be best to lay his cards on the table, the muscle man was strong willed and that could be dangerous if things went south with this alliance.  "As for those beds that so carelessly seep through your thoughts, I probably wouldn't worry too much, the kid looks like he's got a solid enough place."  At that moment Release prepared an invisible barrier just an inch in front of his face, just in case Croc decided to attack.  "Name's Release, by the way and I'm afraid I didn't catch yours."

[lucas marcone]

"Croc." That was all he said before looking for a TV. He never was one for postureing.

[Angel]

Crystal gave a genial smile back to Croc, not batting an eyelash when his hand enveloped hers completely. "It's no trouble to have you here. Though a lot of people seem to say that about the house..." When the reptilian giant let go of her hand, she moved to make the toast for Release. "The TV's in the cabinet on that wall over there," she said, pointing at a cabinet in the room across from the kitchen table. "You can leave your stuff in the mudroom for now, we'll get you set up in a guest bedroom whenever you're ready."

---

About an hour and a half away, Liz was blasting a Nickelback album as he made his way toward the Lansing Marriott. He'd only gotten a few weirded out looks from kids in car seats so far, to whom he had offered a big, toothy smile. They shouldn't have stared anyway. He might have been stared at even more if he hadn't shut the windows when "Animals" came on and he started singing along.

At last, he saw the courtyard in the distance. He smirked, turned down the music, and drove towards the parking lot.

[e_voyager]

Rue had been running for hours stopping only to drink or change into something that would let him  navigation and obstacles better that his saber form. in some places he actually have to become human form a while all this time he was unaware that his bosses mes sager was trying to catch up to him. it had been  almost four hours since He started running and he'd made it into lancing approaching form the south west nearly twenty minutes ago a little asking around had led him towards the food Court and food sound good right now.  all that exercising  could really take it out of some one. as he approached the  restaurant of the food he wondered if his ride had arrived yet and if so were they upset about the wait.

[Angel]

Liz parked his car and locked it. It had a car alarm, so he'd know if anything happened to it, normal or otherwise. Pocketing his keys, he strode towards the courtyard. He scanned the area once with his eyes, and spotted a familiar face near the food court. A smile graced his features as he walked towards a table near the restaurant Rue had chosen.

"Hey there. Sorry if I'm late," he greeted the boy, taking a seat and waiting for him to order.

[e_voyager]

Rue spun around as he realized he was being addressed.  he smiled as he recognized the gecko. it had been a long few months since he'd seen the gecko but he had a good memory for faces if not names. " hi there." he said waving to the lizard as the customer before him finished stepped aside. " would you like something? " he asked needing to know before figuring out his own order.

[Miaka]

The Boss sighed inwardly, trying not to let on to the rest of the room even the slightest bit of reluctance to meet Croc.
Croc struck the Boss as the kind of guy who would care and make a big deal over the Boss' ver, very diminutive height, and he hoped that it wasn't as much the case as it seemed it would be.

"Croc, it's a pleasure to see you again." He eventually said, walking up beside him, and offering a gloved hand out to shake- although, if Crystal's hand was eveleoped completely, his would likely be covered halfway up the forearm.
"Roulette told me there were some issues in Laos with some revolutionaries... Was that taken care of?" He asked conversationally.

[techmaster-glitch]

   Quaddle nodded at Red Anvil's statement. "Well, if there are no more questions or objections, let's go!" Quaddle walked to enter the portal, looking over his shoulder to make sure Red Anvil and Gentan were following.

[lucas marcone]

Croc shook Boss' hand "Well, kinda. We gotta wait n' see if the 'constitution' will be to their likeing. Corse China didn't help anythin' much either." Croc made a real effort not to point out the Boss' height because 1 He didn't want to mock a man with enough man power to put im six feet deep and 2 Dile Lass would really give him an ear full when she found out. Croc opened up the Tv cabnet. "Let's see if the news can tell us anything more." He said turning on the Tv.

The local news station's identification flashed over the screen as a woman sitting at a desk. "President McCantree of Laos relesed in one of our interviews that Her nation is at the moment in a state of unrest. It appears a band of rebels have tried to over throw the new regime. She also says plans are in the works to try and placate these rebels. We wish her luck. Now it's time for our segment 'On the brighter side!' A local boy saved a family from a hellish housefire! We'd like to thank billy for his heroics and sent him a K-R-A-Z Shirt and a copy of this broadcast."

[familyghost]

Release quickly followed after Crystal, even though he was curious about this Croc guy, his stomach still demanded it's daily tribute of toast. 

"Sooo..." Release said as he waited for his toast.  "I got some catchin' up to do, anything I should know about these guys.  And where's the rabbit girl; she seemed like a good person to put the old mental muscle to work decoding."  He smiled eagerly as he waited for his toast.

[e_voyager]

Rue's order was fairly lard and thong he walked it to the table with ease it looked as though there was enough food there to fill a group of 5 or more people. he paid for it using the plastic care that his boss had given him far easier to keep up with the the small paper bits they called money  so long and he read the name on the card before signing. the total order a little over 100 credits contained 6 main dished and numerous sides but only two drinks both of them bottles of water as he did not know what Liz would like and preferred water tainted as it may be to many of the other so called drinks of this place.

Setting down. the tray  he sits across from Liz and nods offering him a water. " so is it safe to tell me what happened to that city i ran through on the way here?  ." he asked a moment before he noticed  the shadow of the table sprouting red eyes. this reminded him of his request for his cell phone but that could wait a bit. new he needed to figure out what to do about the shadow demon and his ally.

[Angel]

Liz watched as Rue bought enough food for a good-size family dinner and marveled that the boy didn't seem to need any help. He thanked him for the water, picking it up and unscrewing the cap.

"If you mean the completely destroyed city, that was partly Anastasia's fault," he told Rue. "She released some kind of virus into the water that turned everyone into mutant-zombie things. Daemon and I were there, and we happened to meet a few members of an... opposing force to the boss. One of them is a completely red demon-woman who's incredibly strong, and the other's a red-cloaked mage named Quaddle. The mage purged the city of the virus and healed all the mutated ones, and the red girl got hurt somehow, so we just left. We've got everyone, including the boss and a few new people, gathered up at my house."

He paused and took a sip of water. "Oh, and before I forget, I did pick up a cell phone on the way here." He reached into the breast pocket of his shirt and pulled out a simple Verizon camera phone. "Hope you don't mind something this basic. I can exchange it if you'd like."

[e_voyager]

(sorry my first response was killed when my computer crash and i need time to make a new one)

Rue was amazed but the phone. It was fare fancier then he'd expected and much more then he needed. As the looked it over he accidentally triggered the camera on the phone starting the shadow demon hiding under the table into vanishing. "This is very nice but I think I'll need help learning how to use it." after a few more moments looking over the phone and dialing his bosses number. His boss wouldn't be in he knew as it was the number to his corporate office.  "My boss is looking into to tracking those people that stopped the attack. He seems worried about the red robed wizard most though and I can't see why. I'm acutely under orders not to attack him if I encounter him except if he attacks first." Rue shook his head. Remembering his bosses orders 'gauge his powers but don't engage him. It's important for us to know what he is and the limits of his ability before we know if you can beat him in a fight. Basil the others out if need be but when the time come retreat if you must. "

With his mind full Rue started in on his fourth entrée. Then the shadow demon retunes and placed a package on his lap. In the packet was a sealed letter form the boss. Perhaps magically sealed he wasn't sure and what looked like and 8 gig computer finger drive. He considered the package and the worked on his food. In the brief pause the fist three meals had already digested and he was nearing full strength again. "We'd better meet up with the others soon" he said pushing his two untouched meals aside. "I have a feeling that I have information to share with the group." He said placing the package form his lap to the table. 
.

[Angel]

Liz was a little surprised at Rue's astonishment with the phone, but then, he was used to the constant updates of technology. When Rue mentioned his boss's worry over Quaddle, Liz nodded. "Well, based on what I've seen, Quaddle's the most powerful of the few people attacking us. He totaled my car; I had to borrow my girlfriend's to get here."

Seeing the shadow creature was something new to Liz, who hadn't really been paying attention the first few times it appeared. That package piqued his curiosity as well, but something told him now wasn't the time to ask about it. When Rue insinuated that they'd better get going, Liz nodded and stood up, snagging a small order of French fries and a burger from the unfinished meals on the tray. "Good idea. My car's this way, unless you wanna get a bag for the rest of that first," he said, indicating the remaining food.

[e_voyager]

Rue taking Liz's meaning nodded and when to the counter for a moment retuning with several Styrofoam packages and a couple of bags. he made short work of packing up the uneaten food before picking up the package. "here. i'd like you to hold on to this" he said handing over the computer thumb drive. he kept the letter planing on reading it on the trip to the base. dispite his hunger being quelled he was still a little tired but them a run of that distance would tire almost anyone. " I think it may be important and you no doubt have some computer somewhere that we can use to read it."

the shadow demon it's task done returned into the shadows dissappering into it's own world again. it was relived to be free of that place of bright light and weird entities but still it's  geis was to be ready should rue need it. It was the bosses insurance on Rue's life. something to make sure rue survived and would in a heartbeat draw Rue and those near him into the shadow demon world if that is what it would take to save rue. that was the bosses command and that's what it would do. slowly the demon drifted to sleep it's ear resin in one of Rue's many pocket.

[Angel]

Liz took the computer thumb drive and examined it for a moment before answering. "Yeah, we have a computer at the house. Long as it doesn't self-destruct after we see what's on there, it should be fine." He watched the demon-creature go away, then turned and headed for the car, motioning for Rue to follow.

After they'd both entered and buckled, Liz asked what had been on his mind for a while. "I don't mean to pry, but what was that shadow-creature with you?"

[e_voyager]

Rue blinked surprised. most people either didn't notice the shadow demons ore convince themselves that they weren't real if they did see them. Rue smiled. "that was one of  my boss's messengers. they pop up all the time with new instructions, information and run errors to keep the boss connected without  the risk or wire taps and so forth."

Rue laughed a little as he thought he heard a slight his. " I'm surprised you noticed on but then we do hang in an unusual crowed."  Rue shook his head. "Spies, deamons and wizards oh my. an they aren't the most unusual of out acquaintances are they Liz?"  he asked thinking of  Sebastian, Mint , Roulette and the one guy that looked like a robot.

[Angel]

Liz listened to Rue's description patiently, hoping that he wasn't in any trouble with the boy's employer for noticing. He nodded and smirked at Rue's final comment. "No, I suppose not," he replied, starting the car and heading home.