One Hell of a Town: Main Thread [Exploding Cars And Whatnot]

[Flummox]

Heads turned and people murmured as a man pushed through the crowd at the park. He was disheveled and dirty, quite obviously homeless; it was a wonder the park security hadn't noticed him already.

"You." He said to the man with the sword, with as much of an intense stare as he could manage. He stepped up to Barbam pointedly and put his hand on his chest, shoving him a little bit. "I challenge you."

"I am Ashur, the God of War. None can declare they are the greatest warrior and get away with it in my presence. You will be dead in the blink of an eye."

This is not actually what happens, but Mr. Rodrigo is of course led to believe this because there seems to be no lapse in time between when he blacks out and when he regains memory.

[Travosh]

Through the guise of Mark, Silas watched the security force miserably fail.
'Looks like I consumed this guy for nothing. Though I suppose I can drive a bus now.'

Before he could make another remark about the stupidity of it all, A bedraggled man appeared to challenge Barbam for real. Something at last to spectate, Silas/Mark hopped themselves up on a bench to get a clear look at the crowd, Marks lifetime of smoking to cope with the stress of his life doing nothing against the internal chemistry of Silas' body, whom was in possession of many a smoker before.

[Nameless1]

Perrenia watched the spectacle from a park bench, didn't these people have any sense of subtlety? She didn't mind the fight all that much, but could they at least murder each other silently? They were scaring away the birds.

"Warlords, they're all the same."

Perrenia picked an apple off the shadow of a tree. Security was, predictably, making a mockery of itself again. She felt content to sit back and watch the show, no need to get mixed up in all the commotion at the moment. Besides, this was pretty damn amusing to watch.

[Sylvetic]

Elise watched, shaking her head with disdain as events unfolded in the park. The shining warrior was approached by a group of security figures, whom she wasn't sure even had jurisdiction over this area of the City. She couldn't hear much of what they were saying, but instead of anyone heeding or obeying whatever commands they had to offer, Glado had disarmed and humiliated them with ease, bringing their competence to question.

"This is going to be a problem, I can tell."

She still visibly bore the effects of her recent transformation, and jumped from her perch on Yggdrasil, gliding vertically above the path to a settling point just outside the park square, in front of a group of park benches. Elise remained ready to step in if someone was visibly threatened; people gathered around the shining warrior, trying to urge one another away from him, silently contemplating accepting his challenge, or approaching with hands on clubs and tasers.

[The_Codfish]

Simeon felt a shudder come over him as Barbam battered the two security guards. Fear, anxiety, surprise; Simeon could feel these emotions flooding out from the two hapless men before they were quickly replaced by anger as the two hapless men recovered from the affront. As a meal, their emotions were quite disappointing to Simeon; he'd feasted on far too many to be amused on only this level of agitation. But if Barbam was as reckless as he showed himself to be, they would just be appetizers to a full course.

Since he was close by, Simeon approached one of the fallen security guards and helped him up, although the man was anything but grateful. Embarrassed, more like it, at having a civilian like Simeon help him up. The guard roughly pushed Simeon away and ordered him to clear out of the area before he returned his attention to Barbam. Which was quite fine with Simeon, since he got what he wanted; the man's billy club, a pepper spray can, as well as the man's radio, just because of how rude he was.

There was going to be a brawl, Simeon could feel it. The guards were itching for a fight after how Barbam treated them. And Simeon would feel much better watching how things went with a weapon in his hand.

[Pharmacy]

Shannon was never really a good at keeping attention - and track of things even, which is saying something considering what species she is (man, how could she even stay on her job). All in all, while the circumstances were unusual thanks to these visitors, the span of time was mostly uneventual - although the whole security hullabaloo was kind of concerning. Regardless, the outsider tourist kind of zoned out a bit.

While in another world, Shannon would have been mugged or her luggage stolen and disappeared to god knows where, but fortune forgave her shortcomings for now in the form of a certain man with a razor.

"Oh boy, I sure do like full tours!" To be honest, Shannon had never experience an "full tour" before, but she knew everything about it! After all, she did looked it up in Tikipedia page. As Shannon knew, the internet was always, always right.

[~|CptPorkins|~]

"Alright, Perfect." Todd said, eyeing the situation at hand cautiously. "We'll Start right now, Follow me thanks." He said, backing away from the others, watching them with wide eyes. Not wanting to waste any more time, he linked gently grasped Shannons arm, and lead her through the crowd of people, trying to get away from the fight before security's reinforcements arrived. After getting a decent distance away, he decided to fufill his end of the bargain. "Okay, May as well start this tour. Sorry about back there. The local security doesn't take to kindly to trouble in their area, so getting out of there was prioty number one." Taking a step back, Todd flung his hands wide, head back, pointed upwards towards the sun. "This, my friend, is The Park. It's one of the greatest features of the city, containing many things to do, from the cafes to the largest tree in the park, referred to as 'Yggdrasil'. Some say that it's distantly related to the actual tree of life, which is a bit far fetched." Todd finished, Twisting the lens of his goggles. "Oh, shoot, almost forgot," He said, putting his hand to his forehead. "I'm Todd. Todd Perkins. And you?" He inquired, gesturing slightly with his hand.

[~ATH]

Finally finished with his brutal, bloody, and yet delicious meal, Caganiel decided to wander some more.

That situation in the diner was a scarring one for him, the moment when everybody got terrified of him. Why were they so afraid? He just wanted a meal. Okay, yeah, he accidentally destroyed their door, but he was genuinely sorry about it! Mistakes happen, you know? Still, that head chef was pretty nice. He gave him a meal, even if he was a horrible monster. Wait, no.

He wasn't a horrible monster, people just thought he was at first glance.

Maybe... he just had to be more friendly. He could show people that he was really a nice guy.

Yes! He resolved to make more friends, and to stop being so timid.

Confidently, he strolled around the block. His sensors immediately picked up an anomaly. A... non-human. He got closer to this anomaly, and found a girl, all wrapped up in clothing. No matter what Caganiel saw, this girl had the smell of a monster, a very dangerous predator. He hesitated. Somehow, his instincts were telling her that the girl wasn't dangerous at all, but his senses were telling him the opposite thing.

What to do?

Stop being a scaredy-cat. That's what he needed to do.

He approached this girl, and said,"... Um. I. Er. Hi?"

Oops. Far too late, he had noticed that she was talking with another man. He hoped he wasn't interrupting anything. Social etiquette was such a difficult subject for him, the lab had never seen it fit to teach him these niceties.

[Pharmacy]

Despite all her excitement for this vacation, Shannon was not exactly an expert at the art of being a tourist. Everything her impromptu tour guide said kind of muddled into a droning noise for her. She was far too busy looking at everything else, while Todd Perkins kindly lead her on mumbling something about "security" and "parks" (although "Yggdrasil" sounded positively interesting).

In the end, they stopped, which really disappointed Shannon, who was pleasantly drifting along with her daydreams. Of course, knowing the amount of attention the tourist had held, her sad state immediately made a 180-degree to typical excitement.

Ohh, he was waving his hand! Shannon totally knew what he was doing. As it was cultural norm, the nice man was clearly holding his hand out for a handshake from her! Shannon totally was prepared for this strange custom! After all, she did practice in front of her mirror. She always had a keen-eye for perfection - so she thought.

"Hiiiiii!" Shannon elongated that word as she grasped Todd's "offer" of handshake with both of her appendages, immediately shaking it with much gusto. "I'm Shannon. That's what everyone calls me, so you should call me Shannon too!" She started to giggle happily.

Then she noticed a certain shark with limbs.

"LOOK TODD!" Shannon dramatically gasped. "A SHARK! With arms! Is that normal?"

She turned Todd Caganiel-wards and excited waited for an answer in high-strung anticipation.

[Dragon Fogel]

Barbam Gladio thrust his empty hand towards the disheveled stranger's throat, paying more attention to the oncoming security guards than his delusional challenger. He prepared a sword strike with the other hand.

In a swift motion, the Zesto blade struck the ground. The sheer force caused the ground to shake and the pavement to crack.

"Hey! That's defacement!" one of the security officers shouted, just as the tremor knocked him off his feet.

But Barbam's attention was not on the security guards - they already seemed highly incompetent. He was more interested in the self-proclaimed God of War who was firmly holding his other hand in place.

"You might be an interesting opponent after all," Barbam said with a smirk, kicking "Ashur" in the shins as he did. "I accept your challenge."

[~|CptPorkins|~]

Todd turned, coming face to face with what looked like a land shark. Vaguely, he heard Shannon ask wether a walking, talking shark was normal. Taking a step back, he looked at the biped with confusion, awe, and ever so slightly, interest. "Not at all normal. What's even weirder is it-He, can talk." He replied, correcting himself. It seemed like a good idea to keep the...Man? Shark guy? Happy and calm. While it was unusual to see a shark, it wasn't the weirdest or scariest thing on the street, it did hit the higher rungs of his list. "Hey. Can we help you? I was just taking Shannon here around the city." Todd directed at the shark in fron of him, tilting his head down slightly to allow a better view through his eyewear. In all honesty, Todd would've been more then happy to walk the city with the Mutant. At the very least it would keep the usual muggers and thieves away. They may be dim, but even a half blind lunatic would think twice about attacking a walking shark.

[~ATH]

"...Oh. I was just... new to this city. I'm trying to make some friends here, but uhh... it hasn't really worked out that well so far."

Caganiel was happy he had just eaten, because food makes him content. If he hadn't eaten, he was pretty sure he would have been much too jittery and nervous to even continue. At any rate, these seemed like nice people, maybe he could tag along for a bit? He didn't really have anything to do now, and maybe he would find some cool places? He still didn't feel all that comfortable in the city, what with the blood and all. But his predatory instincts were pretty low at this point, so it wasn't too much of a big deal for him.

"Um. Do you mind terribly if I tag along? Since you're giving a tour to this lady and all..."

Todd raised an eyebrow just then, and Shannon giggled.

"Oh! Not that I was eavesdropping or anything! I just kinda heard from a while over. I have pretty good hearing, I think. Um but I understand if you don't want any... uhh... interruptions."

Where the hell was his tact? Idiot. Dummy. Moron.

[~|CptPorkins|~]

"Nah, It's cool. The more the merrier. What's your name?" Todd asked, Brushing a stray locke of hair out of his face. He patienly waited for the shark to answer, listening to the sounds of the city around him, and occasionally casting a wary glance in the general direction of the park dispute. They were a fair distance away, but you never know when park security would show up. He'd been avoiding them for a while on a littering charge, which for them was akin to beating the pope with his own heart. It was understandable why they took their job so seriously though. From what he'd heard, a fair few of them were dryads. Of course, this was just rumor and ridiculous superstition.

[Pharmacy]

Shannon was not really good at paying attention - or keeping herself busy at least. Immediately, her emotive state steeply dropped to pure, distilled boredom - not that she had not been bored before, of course. It was just that every time she felt bored, it felt like she was bored for the very first time. As such, that type of boredom was incredibly potent for her brain.

Shannon was rather oblivious with the local customs. Consequently, her boredom flowed into her actions. She was on a patch of freshly manicure grass, lolling around like a lazy Labrador. Oh mannnn, the grass smelled so green...grassy even! If she could, she would totally go naked and prance about in the fields. Too bad her true appearance tend to illicit revulsions from people.

Suddenly, a flower caught her attention. It was a simple flower - five lobed petals, delicate leaves, and a yellow center full of adorable pollen. An stellar species of Asteraceae! Shannon proudly thought to herself. Compositae even! The daisy calls for her. She had to pick this plant.

With one fell swoop of a gloved hand, she pulled out the daisy so violently that the dirt still clung on the roots. Oh my gosh, the flower looked even more pretty up close! She had to share it with everyone, especially with that nice guy and the shark dude! THE WORLD SHALL KNOW OF THIS BEAUTIFUL PLANT.

"Hey look at this!" The tourist stood up and waved the uprooted daisy around to Todd and Caganiel, spraying gravel and fertilizer granules everywhere.

[Agent1022]

As if to add insult to confusion in the increasingly bizarre circumstances, Colleen got a faceful of flying dirt.

"Oops! Sorry there!" Shannon bustled over to help the woman in overalls brush soil and fertilizer out of her face! This was shaping up to be an exciting vacation, oh yes!

As her vision cleared, Colleen looked appraisingly at the huddled group. A young man, somewhere in between lean and skeletal, a bundle of excitable clothes and...a shark. With limbs. She boggled for a bit.

The young man picked at a rash on his arm as he cleared his throat. "A-hem...if we'd like to keep up the tour..."

Wait, tour? "Excuse me..."

"Todd. Todd Perkins."

"Sure, if that's your real name." She rolled her eyes expressively, making sure the clothes and the shark could see her. "How do we know you're legit? How do we know you ain't gonna slit our throats the moment we step into some dark alley?"

[Nameless1]

Perrenia quickly moved her attention to other parts of the park.

"-how do we know you ain't gonna slit our throats the moment we step into some dark alley?"


Someone certainly has their priorities straight. She took another bite of her apple before leaving the bench, she approached the peculiar group, taking care to stay out of the paranoid girl's sight.

"If any tour starts leading you even remotely close to the back-alleys then I'd say your tour guide is missing the best parts of town.

Arina managed a little smirk at the way the girl spun around to face her. She knew it was cruel, but she couldn't resist messing with people sometimes, it was all in good fun anyways.

"I'm Arina, and no, it's not my real name. I have reasons to keep that to myself if you don't mind." She said with a smile, extending a friendly handshake.

[Pharmacy]

Shannon did not even respond.

Despite the assertiveness of the fantastic mechanic and the shadow girl, the tourist did not quite listen - unsurprisingly given the resume of Shannon's attention span. Currently, she was focusing all her attention on the daisy she uprooted, dotingly scanning every detail with her eyes...petals cozying from a pleasant purple to a white fringe, leaves that were the perfect shade of green. Yes, yes, this daisy was perfect.

So she decided to eat it.

Immediately, the flower disappeared into her hidden maw - petals, potassium, and all. The only evidence of the flower previous existence being the audible chewing noise and some plant-y leftovers on Shannon's otherwise meticulous clean-kept coat. Her gourmet exploration of park horticulture had gave her a discovery: daisies were fucking delicious. It tasted so, so colorful. She had to eat more. Luckily, there were a nice set of daisies just nearby.

Like a voracious shopper at a sample tray, Shannon began to rapid decrease the local population of park daisies.

[~|CptPorkins|~]

"Firstly: Todd is my real first name. The latter is not. Secondly:" Chase grasped Arina's hand, and held out his other to the girl in overalls. "It's nice to make your aquaintances." He wasn't lying about his last name not being his. It was that of his foster parents, since his real ones had either forgotten about him, or decided to bother. Not that he really cared about it much. On his list of things to not be worried about, his real parents topped the list, beating out when he was going to sleep next and the fact he has begun hearing a voice (Singular). "Sooo...Either of you plan on following a-" He stopped himself, and watched as Shannon begun destroying a small patch of daisies. "Uh...Erm...W...Hm." He stammered out, not sure of what to do in the current situation.

[Flummox]

"Ow! Goddamn! You must be stronger than I thought, swordsman. Perhaps you will be a worthy opponent after all."

Mr. Rodrigo has not transformed yet. It seems that the kick in the shins was not enough to activate the parasite.
He attempts to push Barbam's hand away, but he isn't quite strong enough without the parasite's help.

[Travosh]

Silas heard the vague sounds of eating in the background as he watched the duel between Rodrigo and Barbam gather up its beginnings. Surprisingly, he felt a small amount of pity towards Rodrigo's small frame being stupid enough to try to pick a fight against someone like Barbam.

'Then again, half the people in this town are supposed to be powerful nutjobs... So maybe big things will come in small packages? I certainly don't look threatening at a glance... Though he designed me that way.' Memories of his days as Project 12 passed through his mind, giving his stolen face a frown.

[Pick Yer Poison]

The relative peace in the park was shattered as a sofa jumped through the storefront window of a furniture store. A woman dressed in pink spandex jumped through after it, hitting the ground running and somehow not dropping the sack she was carrying, dodging past stunned pedestrians and looking behind her as she ran. She looked forward just in time to see the security guards standing there confusedly, and beat executed a neat eighty degree turn to avoid them. "Sorry, coppers, today Animus gets away with it!"

Although truth be told, she was actually running from someone more dangerous than a cop.

[AbsolutlyAngelic]

As was just relaxing in the park. There was a boy offering tours and then a woman ran through saying something about coppers. She seemed worried. She smelled like fear. As jumped over and headed towards her, but not close enough to be actually accused of following. A security guard looked at her, then said something to another guard. As froze for a minute. She looked over her shoulder to find a place to run. The guards recognized her now. As sighed and started running.
"Stop!" They called, "You can't run away from the law!"
As laughed, "Watch me!"
Really, they were dumb. She could outrun them any day. Actually, she ended up outrunning them most days. It occurred to As that she should stop causing so much trouble. She made a mental note to be less noticeable

[Travosh]

Security everywhere, people robbing stores and genociding daisies, Silas was becoming irritated with it all. And when Project 12 got irritated, he got peckish. Security was never a favorite of his, and girl with the peculiar body temperature seemed to be in need of assistance. So with a blink and a few seconds of plotting, Silas came up with a plan of action. He dropped his disguise, as he couldn't do much more than basic shifting with one on and took off at the gaggle of guards chasing down As, his leg muscles shifting and foot warping for maximum running efficiency, causing his sprint to be more like a motorcycle taking off as he threw himself into a flying tackle at one of the security team with all the force of said automobile.

[AbsolutlyAngelic]

As heard a noise as she ran. The security guards were being troubled by someone. There was a shout, a noise, and As turned around. She saw Silas and crowd of unconcious guards. Well, they were probably unconscious. They might be dead. Some were missing, or maybe that was her imagination. As took a mental picture of him and a thought flitted through her head about how similar his sent was similar to one she encountered earlier. Was it the same person....? In any case, he was definitely responsible for what happened.
"Thanks," As grinned, "You were the one who got them, weren't you? I guess I should do something for you, so we're even."
She tilted her head, curious, "Have I meant you before, by the way?"

[Travosh]

Silas turned to face the girl, a wayward tentacle retracting into his body with what might have been a foot, or was that a hand? Who could tell these days. "Hi. No, you haven't. You don't owe me much, security annoys me, even if they might have had a valid reason for chasing you?." He managed to greet, answer a question, and send one back within the space of a single line of conversation. Looking around at the small amount of carnage he had caused, it became apparent that it definitely wouldn't serve his purposes to have a crime attached to this form so early in the city, and decided to relay to As "We should probably not keep standing in a pile of corpses."