Dr. Horrible: Evil On The Rise (open & accepting!!!)

[SKBCTayuyaFluteofDeath]

((And since DarkForgoten gave me permission to write the first post, I believe I'll start us off now!))


Cold. She was cold. And it was so dark. Where was she? A flash suddenly lit up her surroundings. A cavern completely covered with ice. Ice and...statues? Strange. It was as if someone had gone and carved hundreds of human forms out of the ice, each one with a look of terror on its face. She reached out curiously to touch a statue's face, then jerked her hand away as if bitten. The cold grew worse, and she realized it wasn't just coming from the cavern any more. Her feet had frozen to the ground, and the ice was traveling steadily up her body. "No! No! NO--" Her screams cut off as the ice reached her lungs and kept going until all that was left was another statue with its mouth open in a silent scream.

Kendra nearly flung herself out of bed with how hard she jolted upright, breathing hard. She groaned, pulling her knees up to her chest and dropping her head down onto them. Another of those damned nightmares. Shivering with the cold the nightmares always left her with, the redhead wrapped her comforter around her shoulders and got up to brew herself a cup of coffee. While the coffee brewed, she crossed her apartment to get the paper that some random Good Samaritan neighbour always left at the door in the mornings. With her coffee in hand, she sat at the table in her tiny kitchen space and skimmed the articles for anything interesting. Nothing caught her eye other than the inane funniness of the comics page until she found an article about a new artifact to be put on exhibit at the museum. Along with the article was a full-colour picture of the artifact itself: The Imperial Flame, a piece of imperial topaz as big as a man's head, irradiated to bring out the gemstone's firelike hues and sculpted into the shape of flames. It was gorgeous. She was going to steal it. According to the article, the Imperial Flame was being transported to the museum immediately after closing and would be put on display the next morning. Well, it was a good thing Kendra didn't have work today. She'd have all day to plan her heist.  

[SKBCTayuyaFluteofDeath]

When Kendra had sufficiently warmed up, she dressed and headed to the museum to scope out her target and start formulating her plan for that evening's heist. She wasn't wearing anything that would make her too memorable, and she'd put her hair up with a headband and scrunchie to keep it out of her face.

There it was. The Imperial Flame. And what a gorgeous gem it was, too. Under the light, it shone in a way that looked like the flames it had been carved to emulate. She heard the man's mumbled comment and chuckled, still looking at the artifact. "Actually, what you're thinking of is probably emerald. The most common topaz is a pale yellow or grey. This is an imperial topaz, hence the name Imperial Flame, which are irradiated to bring out the orange and bright yellow hues within them."  

[SKBCTayuyaFluteofDeath]

Kendra stepped back a bit to avoid being sneezed on. She didn't make enough at her stupid job to pay for health insurance--and using what she got from her heists was out of the question--and the last thing she needed was to get sick. She fished a Kleenex out of her pocket and held it out to the guy who looked to be a janitor. Just another schmuck stuck in a dead-end job, just like she was. "Here. What do you mean, 'a girl like me'?That a comment on the way I look, buddy?" she asked, bristling at the question.

Wait. No. She couldn't be starting fights. Not when she didn't want to be memorable.

But...she'd already screwed that up by even talking about the Imperial Flame to this guy, hadn't she? Dammit.  

[SKBCTayuyaFluteofDeath]

While Kendra was never one to turn down a compliment, the blond's explanation of it fell flat. At least, to her ears. She huffed and crossed her arms, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, that's what I figured you'd say. 'Pretty girl like me'. Whatever, man."

Figures he'd be just like every other guy who tried to interact with her. Just paying attention to her looks and nothing else.  

[SKBCTayuyaFluteofDeath]

Well, that certainly wasn't something she'd been expecting to hear. "I..." What could she say to that? 'I'm sorry'? It was such a pathetic and overused phrase, and it didn't mean anything when so many people said it so much. "Um...I..." And why did he have to look at her like that? So warm and gentle, like he thought she was someone special--like whoever he'd apparently lost had been somebody special. "...I'm sorry for your loss?" Oh yeah, that was a great answer. "I should go. Lots more to see, right?"