|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 5:40 pm
Ah, lunch time. It came right at the right moment in the day, where Tony, a man who absolutely loved his job, found himself needing to just get away from the job for one moment. A short little break to restore his pep, fuel up with food, and just have a piece of quiet before, ironically, returning to the library.
Where things could get quite busy or stressful, if not loud.
He waved to the student worker at the front desk as he left to take his usual break, at his usual lunch diner. He went down to the corner, but found a note on the door saying that the place was closed for the day. An inauspicious start to his daily moment of bliss, to be sure, and for a moment he was put off. What was he supposed to do now?
Looking around, he sighed and decided to skip taking a lunch and just going to the gas station across the street to pick up a sandwich or something. He could eat it in the back room back at the library.
So he did, limping on his cane, entering the establishment and at once feeling silly. He wasn't some teenager or aimless youth wanting to waste some time. And he certainly wasn't casing this place to come back and rob it. Though, the idea was in his head now, and he wondered... no. That kind of 'can I still do that like the old days?' talking was always trouble.
He got some food from the back wall, and opted to browse the candy section, stopping to look at a bright colored gum pack in the numerous boxes of overpriced candy bars.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 6:05 pm
It was Saturday, which meant no work for those employed by the public educational system. Perry Westerman, local eccentric biology teacher at Meadowview High, was therefore not obligated to be at the school today -- however, there was still plenty of work for him to do in the form of running errands. This included picking up more food for his dog, buying a carton of ice cream to surprise Coralie with later that day, and shelling out a ludicrous sum of money at the gas station so his car would continue to function properly.
There was also taking advantage of the gas station's store unhealthy-habit-enabling prices for its fountain drinks. Include the fact that they kept doughnuts under a heating lamp at this particular store, and that meant Perry was walking down its short aisles displaying its candies and chips, the Promised Land of hot food and gigantic plastic cups with which to fill with a mixture of soda and energy drinks in sight.
He got his doughnuts and his 44 ounces of sugar, caffiene and god knows what else, and walked back towards the register -- on the way there, his cup bumped into a man who was bent over some candy packaging.
"Whoa, sorry about that, guy," he apologized, and moved his cup out of the way. "Hey, is that Fruit Stripe? I keep forgetting they still make that stuff."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 6:26 pm
Tony looked up suddenly when he felt someone bump him, rather lightly, and saw that it was just a cup. A cup that was moving away. "Ah," he said, looking at the man steering the cup and shaking his own head dismissively.
"It's okay! I was ah, taking up half the aisle in my effort to figure out what exactly 'Fruit Stripe' was."
He looked down at the package in his hand, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration and thought. He seemed to come to a decision, putting the little package back into the box. "It doesn't look like... ah... like something edible."
Chuckling, he offered his free hand, one occupied with the sandwich and fruit cup he had collected for his lunch, to the stranger. "Anthony Darrow. You seem familiar, have I seen you somewhere before?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 7:09 pm
"It's not edible unless you're a weirdo or too lazy to find a trash can," explained Perry. "Fruit Stripe's a chewing gum that tastes like someone messed up trying to make corn syrup taste like fruit. I wouldn't buy it unless you're easily swayed by bright colors."
And by the look of the person he was talking to, this was not someone with such tendencies.
He had to tuck the cup in an elbow in order to free a hand to shake, but he still managed to return the gesture without any damage to his food or spillage from his drink. "Perry Westerman." No need to bring up the Ph. D in an environment like this. "And that's a good question, I might've spotted you in the hospital a while back when all that coma s**t was going down."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 7:21 pm
Tony listened, then laughed again, this time at the gum itself. "Well then! That makes it sound even less appealing then the zebra and the promise of temporary tattoos makes it sound. I think, working in a library as I do, I can avoid the temptation of bright colors well enough. I much prefer dull things these days." He sighed at that, fixing his dull brown coat.
"Ah. The hospital... right," he sighed, shaking his head, "I'm there a lot, so it's possible."
And he was: he was constantly getting attacked by things, or people, who were not particularly nice. He didn't know why it always seemed to happen. Perhaps he should think about changing his cologne. He hadn't realized he had purchased Youma/Nega attracting ones at the counter.
"Do you work around here?" he asked, moving to the counter. He paused to let Perry go first, polite as always. "Rushed lunch break maybe?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 7:27 pm
"Ah, you're a librarian?" Perry returned his cup to his hand, the ice inside shaking and scraping a bit as he did do. "Might've seen you at your job at some point too, who knows."
At the rushed-lunch-break inquiry, he shook his head a bit to answer in the negative. "Nah, I usually don't gotta work much on Saturdays. I'm just out here taking care of a few errands before I go back home and try to decipher the handwriting of a bunch of teenagers. You know, high school teaching." Not that he minded it, but it rang a bit less impressively than the answer he would have given a couple of years ago. Ah well.
And so they went on to make their purchases and go on their separate ways, possibly never seeing each other again past this batch of small talk -- or, at least, that's how this sort of thing was supposed to go.
Instead their parting of ways was interrupted by a crash, the sound of breaking glass, a car alarm and someone wailing in agony over the loss of their car.
Or maybe the wailing was at the sandworm-like creature that had wrecked the car.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2010 10:36 am
Tony nodded, thinking it was likely that he had seen the man at the library once or twice. He generally assumed he had seen everyone at least once before, but that was silly. Not everyone read books, or cared about the library. Or even knew where it was. The people that did go in there, though, were many and that was enough to justify Tony thinking everyone was familiar.
In his head, anyway.
"Ah! You're a teacher? That's interesting. I used to think I wanted to teach kids, but uh..." he shook his head. But what? It was too late now? That was his usual excuse. Or maybe he just didn't like kids anymore. That wasn't exactly true either. Ultimately, he just loved being a librarian.
He paid for his food and was ready to head back to the library, even saying bye to his break-time companion, but was stopped by the grating sound of churning metal. A shudder went down his spine at the pitch, and he couldn't stop himself from running toward the sound, rather than away from it like any normal human being might do. Sometimes he had no one to blame for the trouble he got into but himself.
He stared at the monster, though, nearly dropping his food. Perhaps this had been a bad idea. But someone was in trouble, and he couldn't just leave them so, could he? So he put his items down on top of a newspaper dispenser, then held his cane like it was a club of some kind as he ran to see if anyone was hurt or needed help getting the hell away from the giant monster sandworm thing.
Just in case he had to hit it or something.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2010 8:08 pm
In normal circumstances, the "undiscovered species!!" and "you could probably get this named after yourself!!" alarm bells would be ringing in his head. However, this appeared to be a malevolent creature actively out to attack people, as evidenced by its cruelty towards cars and their drivers.
Which led to a completely different, but still just as urgent conclusion:
s**t, that thing might wreck my car.
Perry might have been a bit more surprised at Tony heading towards the sound, and towards danger. Hell, he might have even said something. However, that was a difficult thing to accomplish when he was busy trying to do the exact same thing. With his goods hurriedly paid for and his doughnut shoved just as hurriedly into his mouth (it would have been a damn tragedy to end up wasting a perfectly good doughnut), he sprinted outside -- then, realized he didn't have a weapon to fend off the damn thing.
He darted his gaze around in search of something he can use. Anything.
"Anything" turned out to be a spent fire extinguisher lying prone near the dumpster. Perry darted over and grabbed it, rushed back to Tony, and took on a cautious stance as he tried to puzzle over what to do next. Turning his attention over to his companion for a second, he looked more puzzled than genuinely frightened as he asked: "What the ******** is that thing, pal?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 9:41 am
Tony spotted someone who had been knocked over, presumably by the giant worm that was destroying cars and getting dangerously close to the gas tanks of the station, and ran over to help them to their feet. He nearly got knocked over for his own efforts as they yanked on his arm and took off running the moment their own balance was restored, leaving his a bit forsaken. He caught himself with his cane, though, and jerked back upright by the time Perry had joined him.
He was surprised to have company, really. And armed! Perhaps they were both crazy.
"That's a Youma," Tony said knowledgeably. Not that knowing what the monster was called really did anything for him. Hell, he had even 'fought' against a worm like one before, at the library. Though, at the time, his version of fighting had been cowering under the desk and letting the two people with special powers handle things. That had worked out, for the most part, save collateral damage.
It seemed these monsters were good at that.
"I-it's a monster, and it's trying to eat something that's insi- ah, not the time for this, I don't think. We should stop it... right?" He gripped his cane, knowing he wanted to prevent it from hurting anyone, but also knowing that he was a squishy ball of pink flesh with a bum leg. Maybe a senshi would show up?
But they couldn't just hope on that. They had to do something. Anyway, the worm seemed to have spotted them and was heading their way.
"Watch out!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 7:42 pm
Little did Tony know, Perry had been in situations like this before. Or, at least, he'd been in similar ones. Vaguely similar ones. And he'd been equipped with a dart rifle or net gun. And he had a group of fellow researchers backing him up. And the creatures in question were usually large herbivores, and were sedated beyond awareness of their surroundings by the time he had gotten close.
Okay, so he really hadn't been in a situation like this before. But that didn't make it a cue to run.
There wasn't enough time to ask what 'youma' meant, or start a debate on what a monster was or wasn't. At that instant they were in sort of a crisis situation. The creature that was previously wrecking cars was now out to wreck them. It was man versus nature... or man versus something unnatural.
Natural or otherwise, Perry hoped it would still leave a mark to swing the fire extinguisher at the thing's face.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2010 10:15 am
Tony looked at Perry when the monster started to come toward them, thinking the brave man might turn and run. Honestly, he was kind of hoping for it, as it would be what a 'normal' person might do, and it would also give him an excuse to turn and do the same. But he knew that he wouldn't take that chance: if he, they, didn't stop this monster from hurting others, who would?
So they had to be abnormal.
And of course, that just meant it could hurt them.
So the worm thing lunged at them, and they had to defend themselves. Tony's first instinct was to swing his cane as hard as he could. He was glad he had gotten the metal cane, and not something more soft and useless like a wooden one. Not that this one would do much, but it was certainly better than nothing.
So, with his fire extinguisher-wielding partner beside him, he slammed the cane down on the monster's head. It seemed legitimately surprised that it was being fought against, and it certainly didn't seem happy about it, as it's head was surprisingly soft.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 7:53 pm
Surprisingly soft, and surprisingly satisfying to hit. Simple indentations of their makeshift weapons remained on the monster's face for a while, as if its flesh were made of memory foam -- but a couple of shakes of the head later and it was back to its normal shape. With a grumbling hiss that sounded like a run-down air compressor, it coiled back into a defensive stance.
Perry took a second to exchange a glance with Tony before staring back at the sandworm-thing.
"So are these ******** always made of silly putty, or are we just lucky?"
He always goddamn hated silly putty.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 10:24 am
Tony looked a bit disappointed and fairly worried when he saw the youma literally shake off their hits. He had dared to hope that they were getting somewhere, the dents making him feel rather proud, but no.
That was just a false hope. Not only were these monsters difficult to kill and rather terrifying, they were also good at mocking and dashing hopes. Great.
"I think we're just lucky," Tony said in dismay, looking around desperately for an idea. He saw a few cars parked nearby, but not near enough so that the youma could use them as a scratching posts. Unfortunately, as he now remembered a bit late, he hadn't brought his car from the library parking lot.
"Did you bring a car?" he asked, though he was willing to hotwire one if it was needed, "I can break into one, but it might be faster if we had a key. We need something larger to hit it with, if you get my drift. I'll... I'll distract it?"
He sounded like he wasn't quite sure why he had offered to do that. He did not want to get eaten, after all, or lose his starseed. But what needed to be done... he would do.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2010 8:53 am
A car? Perry looked a bit dumbfounded by the question, but indeed he had -- and he gave a nod and jerked his head towards a weathered-looking tan station wagon that was parked a few yards away. Fortunately for Tony, the brief moment of confusion was enough that the mention of him being able to break into cars more or less blew over the other man's head, and he seemed to catch his drift as soon as he finished explaining.
As they sidestepped away from the beast's trajectory of attack, Perry answered, "I dunno if my insurance covers damage caused by creatures from Tim Burton movies, pal. But that sounds better than anything I'm coming up with."
Though it probably would have also done the trick to stuff a gas pump in its mouth and set it on fire.
"Just promise you won't sue me if I nick you with my bumper or something," he added as a final note before rushing to his car.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2010 10:43 am
"If you wreck your car saving our lives, I'll be sure to chip in to cover the repairs," Tony promised with a thin, worried smile. He looked toward the youma and took a breath. He had to make sure the big thing stayed in one place.
Not that it look particularly mobile, but who knew?
He didn't have time to laugh at what could have been a joke, though, as he wanted to keep his attention on the youma and keep his head in the game, so to speak. He ran the opposite way, getting the monster to turn to follow him, so it was in a better position to be hit and killed by a car.
Tony imagined they only had one shot at this.
"Come on, you big, ugly thing," he taunted ineffectually, "let's see what kind of roadkill you'll be, huh? Hopefully the kind that... uh..." He sighed, "oh who cares what I say. Just look over here!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
