And now begins Level 8... BEGIN (Open)

[scarfandknives]

Characters: Knives Chau 17 years old, open.
Time: Night!
Location: The Bean of Summoning
Content: Arrival of Knives.
Format: Starting in prose, but I can do actiontags...

Comments

[agentphones]

Things had, it seemed, calmed down a smidge in the last week or so, for which Spin figured he should be thankful, but instead found himself growing more suspicious. Calming down didn't seem to be Chicago's MO, as far as he could tell. The conflict of signals kept his guard a little hard to keep fully up, but not enough to let it down all the way. He thusly was still willing to wander at night, though he had Lara's Ring available in case anything got too nasty.

It was through walking near the Bean that he caught sight of the girl--unfamiliar to look at, but not looking quite as lost or confused as maybe he would have thought for the newcomers around here. And she didn't sound like one of the Proto-People around, either, which meant...?

Approaching her, the agent lifted a wary, though welcoming hand. "Hey there, are you--" Oh hello text box. What. "...Uh." He pointed at it. "You have a thing."

[scarfandknives]

Knives gave him a puzzled look before glancing at her Intro box, "Oh yeah, those just happen. I'm Knives, although that's obvious. She smiled, before continuing, "You wouldn't happen to know where this is, because it isn't Toronto... um," she looked around. He didn't have a textbox, well that was weird. Then again they didn't happen all the time. Maybe he'd get one later when he did something awesome.

"Who are you?" He reminded her of a character from Ninja Music Operatives, but he couldn't be because he obviously wasn't a ninja. So she pushed that thought away and just looked around. Her coat tucked away under her arm.

[agentphones]

All right, he couldn't say that text boxes were the weirdest thing he'd seen in his time here. It was kind of like the helpful little labels targets got on mission profiling. "Oh--sorry, didn't mean to..." Recovering from the moment of confusion, he put his grin back on. "Spin. Pleasure t'meet you, Miss Knives."

Adjusting his glasses, he glanced back towards the park. "Hope you don't mind me askin', you wouldn't happen to be, ah, new to the area, would you?"

[scarfandknives]

She tilted her head, 'miss', that was weird, "It's just Knives, I don't think I'm old enough to be miss anything." She stretched, enjoying the nice warmer climate a bit. She considered taking her scarf off but she might need it on hand. Plus she thought it made her look cooler.

"Nope, I just showed up here..." she didn't sound all that worried, "It isn't the weirdest thing to happen lately. I don't suppose Scott is here." She was over him, but that didn't mean she would abandon him if he needed help. He was still the one that lead her out of that life she used to live. She find a new world, filled with fun stuff. And people blew up into coins if they were evil.

[agentphones]

It seemed like everyone he met was rebuffing the 'Miss' and 'Misters' he let out reflexively. Maybe he should stop bothering with them--but it felt rude, otherwise. He shrugged it off. "No Scotts I met, though I can't really say I know everyone who's here..."

It was pretty peculiar, that she was taking this all so much in stride, but again, if she was used to box... pop...things... then maybe this sort of thing wasn't all that uncommon. "I guess if you're not too surprised about it, you got an advantage over some."

[scarfandknives]

She looked a little disheartened, although Scott didn't know everyone. It would be silly to ask if Spin knew Comeau. So she let the subject go, for now. She'd have to make it on her own. She could do that, she was really mature now.

"Well, no, being... wherever here is is very surprising," she was definitely relaxed on all of this. "Just it isn't all that weird. You know?" She was guessing this was North America somewhere... probably United States. But all she could be sure of is that it wasn't Florida, California, New York City, D.C., or Texas. For various reasons, the only important one being if she was in Texas everyone would be a cowboy. And eggs could be boiled on the sidewalk at any time of day.

[agentphones]

Regardless of her ability to take the relative new situation with stride, it seemed that the realization of not being with your friends hit hard for everyone, but again it was a quick recovery. For someone so young (seventeen, if the box was to be believed,) she certainly was good at rolling with the punches.

"Chicago," he offered. "You're handling it better than some others, at least. Seems like everyone got invited to some sorta weird party without any actual RSVP. And the host ain't been to hospitable either."

[scarfandknives]

She laughed a little at his comment on how she took this turn of events, which appeared around her in a series of pink bubbly "hee"s, "Thanks!" She didn't used to be like that, she got completely floored by that punch, and she couldn't handle Scott leaving her with the best attitude. It was a good sign, that people saw she was more than just a little girl.

Well... that's a little rude," at least Matthew Patel (the first Evil Ex) sent an email, at least he said he did. He could have lied, and if he did that would be a horrible thing. Worse than that song. "I don't suppose we can just find our hosts and, um, beat them up."

That's how this worked, work through the level, beat the boss. Okay school didn't work that way, but school was different. If she was getting her own adventure, she'd have a boss fight eventually. It'd really be lame if there wasn't one. "So Chicago..." she smiled, she wondered what she could find here. It should be fun even if the hosts aren't the best.

[agentphones]

Oh look, more, um, text. This was her thing, apparently. Okay, he could roll with that. It was like a comic book, only... a person. "People've been trying, b'lieve me. Closest we get is some real unhelpful emails about the latest party game--which usually involves something with large, pointy teeth." He fiddled with the ring on his finger a bit.

"Speakin' of which, prolly ain't the best plan to keep out here, the skullivans tend to walk in the moonlit night." He tapped at his phones. "Even with a name like Knives, best not to tempt 'em."

[scarfandknives]

"Like... tigers?" Well, they had really large pointy teeth!

"Skullivans?" Knives tilted her head, confused finally by something. However, his comment on her name, she grinned. It was a casual grin of 'I know something you don't know,' and in a quick flash she had pulled out two forearm length blades from the coat she had with her. Casually spinning one in her hand, "I wouldn't count me out too quickly, especially with a name like Knives."

[agentphones]

The agent gave a small chuckle at her moment of confusion; well, if something was to catch her off guard, it of course would be his speech, wouldn't it? "Sorry, it's just a turn of phrase, a habit I fall in some days."

Of course, soon after that it was his turn to be staggered by something about his companion. "Whoa--! Jeez, where'd you keep those things stashed?" He glanced between the weapons and the teen. Apparently judging a person by their age and bubbly demeanor wasn't going to cut it. "Guess I shouldn't be talkin' trash--careful, they could give a nasty gash."

[scarfandknives]

"I've known how to use these since the fifth grade," Knives... wasn't very good at improvisational rhyming so... "Don't worry about me. Fistfighter? You don't seem to be carrying any weapons, fistfighter?" Scott didn't carry a weapon until he pulled the sword outta his chest. But he was a master fistfighter, best in the province. Maybe Spin was like that.

She reached into her jacket and pulled out a belt with two holsters on it. Adjusted them so it no longer fit securely in her right sleeve and put it on. Holstering her knives right after. Good thing to have a spare, since she probably wouldn't need her coat just yet. "So what sorta toothy things am I suppose to worry about, exactly? Are they tigers? Tigers are kinda cute."

[agentphones]

"Well that's... a useful talent to teach your kids." He watched her strap them in with a mild fascination and nerves. He was glad that she was confident in her ability to protect herself, but something about it all still felt wrong.

And her referring to him as a--what? Spin blinked at the younger girl. "I, uh, no, I'm not so much of a... not really a fighter, to be honest." He adjusted his headphones, glancing off. "Kind of at a disadvantage, with that." The added mumble was to no one in particular, and he felt the ring again with his thumb.

"Dunno if there are any tigers; haven't met any yet, but that doesn't mean they won't show up. Had a couple kinds of vampires show up... and, um, I heard something about ogres... on Halloween, there was a hoarde of monsters, but I don't think they were looking for candy." He snapped his fingers. "Also, I hear you're not supposed to talk to fairies. They're sneaky." The agent paused, before tapping at his headgear again. "There's a good paragraph worth of stuff I never thought I'd say."

[scarfandknives]

It wasn't teaching in the usual sense... she just, picked. I mean, if you were named Knives obviously you should pick an axe proficiency. Well, maybe not everyone here was used to how her life was. Her dad took the proficiency thing a bit more seriously than others.

"This place doesn't look horror or fantasy themed, is this a local thing?" Knives pondered, it should make the Boss's hideout easier to spot. So long as they keep it thematic to them. It'd be really lame if they didn't keep to their theme.

[agentphones]

"Well, considering that the city's walled off from the rest of the world, yeah, seems pretty local. Apparently this sort of thing isn't supposed to be all too strange, but there's not usually so much of it." That was, if what he'd gleaned off of discussions from some of the more familiar Chicago residents was right.

He rapped his foot against the pavement, in time with her own beat. "Basically... you should just keep in mind that things might not be the way you're used to 'round here. Been well over a month since I got dropped in, and I'm still gettin' used to it."

[scarfandknives]

Yup, sounds like a 'beat the boss and go home' place. If all of Chicago is walled off from home, well... must be some big boss (METAL GEAR!?) to deal with. But this also seemed like a game of Telephone, as he doesn't sound entirely certain on this stuff.

"I'm pretty good about change... now. Anyway, so long as I can find hot music to listen to I'm good," Knives was pretty good at being mature now that she was over Scott. She let him go and everything. "I mean, has a Vegan ever punched you so hard your hair turned its natural color? After that it's really hard to be surprised."