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 Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 11:21 am
Ulysses sighed silently, but his shoulders heaved significantly. "Something that's operable, with four wheels, four doors, and preferably A/C and heating," he answered simply. and reached for the forms. Looking over his shoulder, he beckoned the boys forward.
He ignored the request for ID, seeing as how he'd long since lost track of it (and his billfold) somewhere in that cabin of his.
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 2:56 pm
When Ulysses gestured Jason stepped forward, Mist beside him and Joy in her pokeball. He'd heard the accountant ask for ID, and hoped he didn't want it too badly; Jason didn't have any. He'd never though he'd need it. He had money from helping out in the towns he'd visited, but not much. "Yeah?" He sad to Ulysses.
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 3:24 pm
Schraeder stepped forward after Jason. Ulysses had a gun and his Pokemon; Jason had his Pokemon as well. But Stetson Schraeder had money and an ID.
He tossed the latter down on the desk, privately amused that he was the only one that carried one. It was possible that the former could get them on the road faster.
"Mr. Sharpe," Schraeder said to the pudgy man. Of course he knew the town's accountant; it was important to know about all of the people who might have some kind of authority over Schraeder at some point or another. "Sir, we're in something of a hurry. This attack on the town - which I'm sure you heard, as it was just outside - was caused by a group of religious fanatics who are searching for something. Time is of the essence, if you'd care to prevent another attack."
He wasn't outright saying that Sharpe would be the cause of the next attack, but Schraeder knew that the man had a lot of devotion to his job, and hopefully just as much for his home. That would be enough to expedite the rental process.
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:30 am
The long period of dreamless, impressed sleep was a void in Toby's mind; in the time that he awoke, his mind blearily tried to reconcile the fact that his surroundings were completely different as well as the fact that even if his mind wasn't aware of the passage of time, his body certainly was. All these facts coalesced themselves around the odd figure before him as he awoke, which his mind didn't even attempt to question, but accepted wholly to dwell on more pressing matters. Knife... flashlight... (don't trust him~) ...food...
He shook his head and the phantoms were gone. Instead, two people were standing in the room that he didn't immediately recognize. Not that that would be a good thing... but come to think of it... What was her name? He had always been horrible with names, and it always led to awkward moments like this one. He could identify her as someone he had seen several times over the past few years, a friend of Shaniah's. He could place vividly her hair, her shoes, where she sat in class and her locker... but why couldn't he think of her name? What made that detail different from any other? Maybe I'm just tired... "Hey...what's, er, going up?" From what Juno and Ryan could infer of his condition from the sound of his voice, they could forgive him for that one.
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 2:06 am
A fat hand slapped down on the papers before Ulysses could get to them. "Mr. Shonevsky, unless you want to completely waste my time and resources, I need to see that ID before we get any further with this."
"He does need ID," crackled Gladys.
"And I don't even see why I should look over what cars we have that fit your description without that."
"Don't see any reason for it at all."
"None at all."
"Mm-mm."
Wide eyes fixed him over the rims of the glasses. Gladys snorted pompously and had to wipe off a booger with her handkerchief.
Jonas regarded Stetson's approach as he might a potted plant that had spoken out of turn. He sniffed in as nonplussed a manner as a sixty-eight-year-old can sniff. Christ himself would have needed three forms of identity before getting a time card out of this man's files. "Religious fanatics," he huffed. "Couldn't find a single one of the names in the registry."
"Not a single one, and the good Lord knows a night in a Cliffshire cell starts anyone telling the truth."
"Don't know what does it but nobody makes it through a night in a Cliffshire prison hiding intelligence." The word was enunciated with pride.
"It's our wardens; you know my son is one of 'em, and we snatch it all up. Were there four of 'em, Jonas?"
"That's what I heard."
"That's what my son said, and not a name they gave in the citizenry." Also a word of pride.
"Not a one; don't know how they expect to find asylum if they want it."
"Ooh, and don't they need an as-Y-lum!" They both burst into a fit of laughter.
As Sharpe conversed, he snatched up the identification, probably a passport, and compared it to Stetson's face, then muttered under his breath about the legitimacy of any identification at all anymore. A rolodex joined the stacks of paper already on the table, and some careful flipping found an ID card with Stetson's name verifying that he was a citizen. It didn't seem to occur to him to check for Ulysses or Jason. More comparing ensued. Finally satisfied, he filled out a few boxes on one of his forms, tore off a carbon copy, and handed it with the passport back to Stetson.
"Well, that's one out of three," he said in an obnoxiously self-righteous tone. "So Stetson, you start filling out these." He snatched two sheets of paper from Gladys as she proffered them and picked out the other three that he had been prepared to give Ulysses. "This is for a vehicle, for a car, for a four-seater, for the condition it's in, and indemnity release form. Sign here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here." He marked each "here" with a sloppy X. One seemed to require family medical history, another an insurance policy, and another the signatures of four witnesses. "And fill in everything to T, if you would please." His lilt on the letter 'T' was nearly as pugnacious as the entirety of the way he had treated Ulysses.
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 10:08 am
Juno was able to ignore the weird stares. Normally she'd feel uncomfortable with being stared at, but she hadn't had any caffeine (yet). She was thinking of getting some coffee after they were done visiting Toby when she heard the scream(s). Coming from his room.
She ran in there in time to hear the Hat Man's parting words and before she could even grab him and ask what was going on, he disappeared without a trace. To be honest, she managed to get out "You--" before it became pointless to continue. It was very much like the night before and a small part of her brain wondered how he managed to teleport. She would very much like that to learn that trick.
When Toby started to ask them questions, she immediately stopped thinking about Awesome Hat Man. "Oh hey, you're awake." Her voice might have sounded lighthearted and calm, but her eyes betrayed her shock and worry. She popped her head out the door and was about to yell for a doctor to check on him when one nearly collided with her face. Good to know that they heard the screaming too.
She walked up beside the bed and watched as the doctor gave him a check up. "Apparently you were found outside the Orphanage dumpster and were in a small coma. No one could wake you." The doctor seemed to have found nothing wrong with him physically - or else he had a very good poker face - and said as much. Once Juno heard that Toby was fine, she smacked his shoulder. She was careful not to smack him too hard; from the way he sounded, he wasn't fit to handle anything too harsh. "You had a lot of people worried about you, you know. Don't do that again."
Now she hadn't ever really talked to Toby. He was a year below her in school and she'd been told that he was rather distant with people. However, she'd known of him. One of her friends had been really good friends with him, and by God, that girl would not stop mentioning Toby around Juno. It was a wonder the three of them didn't ever really hang out together.
In order to avoid thinking about Shaniah, she smiled at Toby and said, "Good to see that you're awake though. You feeling okay?" Either Ramsden would step in and tell Toby about their trip to Glenville or Juno would after she got an a-okay out of him. "Need water or something?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 3:07 pm
Jason knew that Ulysses wouldn't stand for the way Jonas was treating him, despite knowing for less than an hour. Hell, he wouldn't stand for it. "You can tell your son that he's wasting his time," he said to Gladys icily. "They won't tell him anything, no matter how long he keeps them there." He turned back to Jonas. "As for you, I'm part of the reason you could even think about coming to work today. You're lucky the fire didn't get this far." He nodded at the rolodex. "You might want to check in there for Ulysses. I'd suggest you do the same for me, but I was just passing through." Mist floated behind Jonas, grinning. Jason glanced at her but didn't say anything.
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Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 2:00 am
Paul paused on the stairs, bending down so his head cleared the ceiling, while Zoidberg pushed up the bolt and moved the heavy hunk of metal along its rails away from the front door. "Ah, right. The path. Just take the dirt path from the door down to the road, and from there just stick to the road until you cross the yellow line. Stay past the trees with yellow on 'em, too, and you'll be good. And, uh, careful on those legs. You were stumbling around yesterday, I'd hate to have you fall onto a mine today." She'd recovered quickly - she had barely seemed capable of remaining conscious when she arrived just last night, but today she was walking, at least reasonably well. Youth, Paul figured. Did a body wonders. He wondered briefly if she'd be surprised that the path was actually clear of mines. Everyone was, which was why it worked. Anyone who did just try the path was invariably shot, so it was mostly a non-issue.
"I'll do you one better than a choice, by the by, I'll get you both. I've got a Remington that would probably suit you well. As for a handgun, if you're wanting a nine millimeter, there's a nice M9 up there, nearly mint quality, if you want something bigger I can give you a 1911 or a Python. Python's a .357 magnum, big stuff if you like that." Paul wasn't entirely confident that Alyssa could hack the magnum, seeing as the recoil was slightly offputting for Paul himself, but if she wanted it he'd lend it to her. It wasn't like he was going to use it; he had his own 1911 and he was going to stick to that. If she'd wanted a rifle, he'd have offered her the AK-74u he'd picked up off an important looking fellow a month back, but she didn't, so the Remington he'd acquired semi-legitimately would have to do. He had enough 12-gauge to equip her past a reasonable weight limit, he sometimes felt like he was swimming in 9 mil ammo, and he of course carefully preserved and reloaded .45 ACP whenever possible, since it fueled his favorite firearm. The magnum would be more of a problem for ammo, which he realized he'd neglected to mention, but then with a shotgun and the magnum she'd have enough to maximize damage in tight spots. Still, it would be better to give her the M9. He might give her the M9 either way - it was lighter weight, the ammunition was more plentiful, and it wouldn't require the same degree of technique to use effectively.
He'd have to have her show him how well she could use a firearm, Paul realized. Ideally before they set off. That would take maybe fifteen minutes and a painted tree, so it wouldn't be difficult, but it would be important. Alyssa's capability as a gunman was untested, so for the moment Paul decided that, for tactical purposes, she'd be treated as though unarmed. He wouldn't tell her he was doing this, but he would certainly do it.
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Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 9:34 am
[[Stupidity is my middle name, moved to OoC]]
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Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 10:42 pm
((OoC is best reserved for the *ahem* OoC thread, Art.))
Ulysses smiled in that fake but friendly way people do when they're just trying to get through the conversation without an outburst. When they were done, and Mr. Sharpe again addressed him, he leaned forward as though intending to speak softly. It would come as a surprise, then, to anyone expecting such an engagement when he reached over the desk, grabbed the accountant by his collar, and pulled him close.
"Mr. Jonas Sharpe." His tone was firm, his voice loud, his fist a steely grip. "A man of your... caliber, shall we say, I would imagine can understand that when another man of... let's say greater caliber is in a hurry, he tends to make a minor mistake here or there. Well, let's just hypothesize- exercise that rotting imagination of yours- and say I happen to be a man of greater caliber; a man who, in fact, was not only a colleague and partner, but a friend, of the infamous Dr. Beatrice Oak; a man who, in fact, helped iron out all the little difficulties with pokéball and miniaturization technologies, and defined to great extent the extreme differences between the mundane and the etheric creatures living on our planet. Now in our hypothesis, let's assume I've forgotten my identification. Surely a fellow such as yourself would recognize me and take me at my word when I say my name is Ulysses Shonevsky; surely you would take care to aid me and my coterie through every step of the process so that it goes smoothly and expediently.
"Does that sound about right, Mr. Jonas Sharpe, or is my logic invalid?" Dealing with this sort of scummy life form didn't require threats- Ulysses knew from several years of experience these pathetic individuals simply required a reminder of their miniscule existence to follow instructions.
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 12:44 pm
((Please do not ever ever ever ever ever post OoC-only in this thread. Ever.
To clarify for Stryker, Isa, and Wind: the screaming came from the on-staff nurses who saw Terrian teleport in. Didn't mean to imply it had any sort of otherworldly origin or anything.))
Sharpe was a reasonable man, and he knew quite well when the sh!t he shoveled had crossed the line. The number of f**ks he could find to give increased very rapidly, and after staring very, very large eyes at Ulysses' death-dealing expression for no more than a few moments, veritably teleported the papers he had acquired into the appropriate "approved" boxes, all the while clearing his throat and gesturing for the three people to move on through to the garage. "Mr, ah, Dr. Shonevsky, when you've chosen a car, just let me know and I've got the keys right here, or Gladys does. Gladys, you have the keys?"
"I have the keys, Jonas, got 'em right here."
"She has the keys, so you can just tell her; we don't have much of a selection, but it's your choice; just go right on ahead."
He still managed to, in a far less obvious and likely even less intentional manner than before, snub Stetson and Jason by paying them very little heed, but he had the grace to flinch when Stetson reached out to retrieve his identification. Inside the warehouse, there was a collection of about fifteen cars that had been designated as fuel-efficient enough to be worth loaning out, and a far larger collection of motorcycles. The cars were a hodgepodge of hatchbacks, sedans, and convertibles, as well as one Jeep that had been kept for its utility. All had full tanks of gas and were in at least decent condition.
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 10:14 pm
Figuring that they wouldn't get through this interaction without at least one set of complete paperwork, Schraeder took the absurd stack of paper and sat down in a chair across from Sharpe, filling the papers out with rapid efficiency. The pen flew across the paper, though how Schraeder could have committed so many numerical data as his insurance figures, his family's medical records, and the list of his previous employers and wages to memory was a mystery best not thought about.
When Shonevsky grabbed Sharpe by the collar, however, Schraeder's pen paused and he looked up with his eyebrows nearing his hairline. This was perhaps the most interesting spectacle of the night, and that included the attack on Schraeder and the town. Maybe it was the paperwork that he had been filling out, or the obnoxiously overpowering character that was Jonas Sharpe, but it had almost felt like they were back to the way things were.
And then Ulysses jerked them back into the present by jerking Jonas into the desk. Schraeder sat back in his chair and crossed one leg over the other, greatly enjoying Ulysses' monologue. Schraeder could learn a lot from the doctor. He reached for his passport and was greatly pleased when Jonas flinched away. Maybe it wasn't due to his work, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.
"Let's take whatever is most durable," he said, quickly walking down the aisle of the warehouse. He still wanted to take a motorcycle, but the Jeep caught his eye. "That'll do."
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 11:50 pm
Ramsden paid no mind to the stares. He didn't really care. He looked one or two of them in the eye for a second, but then turned back onto his path. When the screams came from his target area, he jumped back a little, and sprinted to the room, pistol already drawn, hammer back. When he got in, he raised it and assumed his stance bringing his gun up to eye level. He saw the man standing there, meeting his gaze. He didn't fire though. He couldn't. He didn't know why, but he just couldn't fire. It was profitably for the better anyway. Who knows what he would've hit if he fired and the man teleported away.
When Juno went over to see Toby, Ramsden put his gun away, and looked for a place to sit. "Hey... what's, er, going up?" he heard Toby ask. He let a small quick snicker from his nose out and looked at him. He waited for Juno to finish her piece, and started his own.
"Honestly kid? No clue. None at all. The only intel I've got is that we have to take you and Juno to Glenville, you have to get some pokemon, then save the world. Once I get you up there, I have to- well... don't worry about what I have to do after that. But when you feel ready to go, we'll head out. I wish I had more for you Toby. I do, but I don't even have anymore for myself." He thought for a minute. "Hey Toby... do you have a gun?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 5:43 am
Jason followed Schraeder into the warehouse. "It looks to be in good condition," he said when Schraeder pointed out the jeep. He went back into the office. "How does a jeep sound to you?" he asked Ulysses. "If you don't like the sound of that, there are plenty of others you can choose from."
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Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 3:09 pm
Ulysses did not smile when Sharpe relented, but he was pleased. He carried himself solemnly into the garage. Only then did he let a smile flit to and from his features in a split second.
Back to business. "I agree. The jeep seems our best option. Jason, you'll ride shotgun with me; Schraeder, I hope you don't mind Gloria keeping you company."
Almost as if she had known her name was spoken, the ninetales seemed to apparate, gently brushing against Stetson's thigh and glancing up at him with a soft stare. Both Djinn and Junior were 'balled for the trip, but he thought it best to have one of his pokémon on hand.
To Sharpe, the doctor declared, "We'll take the jeep."
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