Pandaemonium
Posts 278
Power Level 25
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Post by Limen on Sept 9, 2016 13:58:48 GMT -7
Limen, by circumstances she had come up with and was therefore obligated to hold to, owed Sanduleak a drink. It also rhymed. With a bank account recently refreshed from other, much more wealthy people’s bank accounts, Limen had found, waylaid with a yelled ‘hello’ and attempted tackle hug, and hauled the Grand Living Galaxy with her to a little coffee joint in the horde. What else would she mean by getting drinks? Limen liked this little coffee shop quite a lot. Not because of the coffee (which, from what she had gathered, could apparently be ‘equated to where the sea meets the sewage outlet’, but Limen had personally never understood the sentiment; it was way better than the instant powdered stuff she drank every day), or because of the prices (which were, to quote an angry black market seller, ‘$5.95 for a cup of rotten seawater’), but because the owners and workers were used to serving the more… unsavory folk of the area. They did set up shop in the horde, after all, and so it was one of the few places Limen could walk in, proclaim her name, and get little more than a few odd looks. As they walked in, Limen shouted an order for one large coffee, one large soda, and two slices of the cake they had in the display, and claimed an empty stall surrounded by more empty tables (at this time of day and week the cafe was occupied only by them, the workers, and one other trio chatting loudly about lost bets or something) for the two of them. She claimed hers of the two benches by dropping down in the center of it, and before long the food and beverages arrived. So this was a weird feeling. Limen had no idea how to start this conversation. She took a sip of her coffee, thrummed her fingers along the side of the cup, and tried to look introspective when in fact she was, for once, struggling for words. She didn’t want the conversation to wander off before she had a chance to bring it up, and even Limen didn’t often know where her conversations would end up, so she had to lead with it. Limen considered a couple different ideas, and she considered her coffee, and decided that cleverness was being an ass about helping with this and she was going to have to default to truth. Limen took a drink of her drink and tried to look important. “So, Dukes, now that I’ve properly gloated by footing the bill - order whatever else you want, by the way, I’ve got lots of other people’s money to spend - I want to get to my ulterior motive for grabbing you this morning. I’ve got a something about me I’ve decided to tell you, and I figured shouting it over police fire or while fighting supers was probably a bad call for both of us, so I’m making the most of this wonderful atmosphere.” Sanduleak |
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Pandaemonium
Posts 164
Power Level 28
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Post by Sanduleak on Sept 10, 2016 11:30:14 GMT -7
Sanduleak's day had been interesting enough, making his way through the Horde in search of one particular hyper active member. It had only been because of a yell that Sanduleak somehow, in an instant, turned returned and caught Limmen in a hug. She was a psycho but man was she a great friend to have in this flipping faction. That's how he ended up going to the biggest dive of a cafe he had seen and never been more thankful to have someone order him a soda instead of coffee... along with cake, Limen really knew how to treat her friends. He gave her a few moments to think up whatever she was thinking, there was no way he could guess but at the very least he was curious.
"I think I'll be good, thank you though. And I'll agree that friendly discussions and the like are not handled the best when dodging bullets or whatever other supers will throw at us."
He rolled his hidden eyes before bringing the soda to his mask and somehow allowing it to phase through as he took a drink. Aaaaaaaah chemicals and caffeine, nothing like that. He grinned a bit while resting his head on one hand.
"Welp you got me in a wonderful atmosphere and suspense that's for sure."
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Pandaemonium
Posts 278
Power Level 25
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Post by Limen on Sept 10, 2016 11:49:30 GMT -7
And what an atmosphere it was. The old floorboards creaked with every step and the ceiling above shook slightly with every too hard knock or occasional set of footfalls on the floor above, letting a nice trail of seasoning down on whatever food might be so fortunate to be underneath. The cafe itself looked like it had been recently toss out of the back of a stolen Uhaul truck and dropped down wherever seemed just a few inches off aesthetically pleasing. Which, if the stolen Uhaul truck out back was anything to go by, was probably exactly the case. The workers all wore a look on their face like they’d pulled the short straw for which building they got to set up shop in this go around in the horde migration, and like they were considering drinking the coffee they were serving but knew enough of what went into it that whatever another sleepless day entailed was better than ingesting whatever unholy horror the brown liquid might be categorized as into their bodies. Outside, the occasional fight caused by the unfortunate meeting of a person drunk on alcohol or ego and another person of kind or poor luck could be heard through the thin walls. It smelled like the horde, it looked like the horde, and it sounded like the horde. And thus Limen was right at home.
She was glad Sanduleak had come along, and more so that he agreed that, exciting as it may be, talking while fighting was not always optimal. Limen took a long drink of her coffee purposefully right after he finished his, and watched for him to raise his again before lowering hers.
She waited for him to take another drink. Without a hint of irony, she said, “I’m unpowered.”
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Pandaemonium
Posts 164
Power Level 28
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Post by Sanduleak on Sept 10, 2016 12:17:59 GMT -7
Sanduleak instantly stopped drinking when she spoke, mouth full of soda as his brain attempted to process this very short but important statement. He took a few seconds...then a few more...before finally swallowing. This was something he could understand and also he quickly figured out she had tried to get him to do a spit take or choke on his drink, best way to get her back was to be non-chalant and slightly annoying about this.
"Alright, you're not powered, big deal, but still super considering what you can do. Can I ask why you decided to tell me this or why you act like you have those 'electric' powers?"
He went back to drinking while considering it himself. they were kinda close, she had helped him with his first scheme after all. And maybe the unpowered life was just boring to her, it'd make sense. Or this could all just be because she's Limen...It's surprising how much sense that third one made.
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Pandaemonium
Posts 278
Power Level 25
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Post by Limen on Sept 11, 2016 1:13:43 GMT -7
Her grin grew steadily wider as the silence went on, and she sat back on her bench to wait for his reply. It wasn’t a large and satisfying reaction as she had hoped, but it was a good one in its own way. Limen considered herself content.
“First off, because I think it’s funny.” Limen grinned. “But also because, in a lot of ways, it’s actually safer for me to pretend like I’ve got powers than to go out and about my business as an unpowered. For one, police officers are hesitant around supers. Deadly, sure, but I’ve committed enough felonies by now that they wouldn’t be asking nicely anyway. But see, with powers, I’m not just some random criminal who needs to be stopped. I’m an actual threat to them. Supers are supposed to be beyond what police officers can handle, regardless of what those powers are. Hell, your ability could be to turn into a dog and officers would shake in their fancy police shoes upon meeting you in an alleyway. It’s by no means safe, but by being a super I’m placed in that category of ‘too tough for regular people to handle, so let’s not send police initiatives after her because it’ll be a waste of time’. It’s a great gig. I’m honestly surprised more criminals aren’t doing it.” She chuckled. Bringing her legs up to sit cross-legged on the bench, she rested her elbow atop the seat’s back.
“The same holds for supers. So, imagine this. You’re walking through the docks at night, and this guy decides he doesn’t like your choice of socks and challenges you to a fight. He’s a mob boss; has over a hundred guys he could call at midnight to get him a juice box, and not a single one of them would hesitate for an instant because he got to where he is by beating the crap out of anyone who got in his way. But, he’s not a super. Most supers will think to themselves ‘psh who is this idiot, doesn’t he know who he’s messing with?’ and then go directly on to show him who he’s messing with. Many would do so with their full power and without any worry, because Mr Mob Boss isn’t going to give much of a fight. He’s not going to be able to. Now, imagine it isn’t Mob Boss who challenges you to a fight, but this kid with a hoodie and a mask. You know nothing about this person, how strong she is, what her battle capabilities are, but you do know one thing: she’s a known super. Suddenly things are a little bit more concerning. Sure, she might be a total pushover, one hit KO, but what if she’s not? What if she can turn every ability you have back on you, crush you before you have time to blink? Both are possible with supers, and every shade in between. Caution had better be taken, right? Perhaps combat had best be avoided altogether because it really may not be worth it. Unpowereds, supers can rip their arms off without repercussions. There’s no need to hesitate or hold back because they can’t stop you. You try that with another super, though, and you’re probably going to walk away with as many injuries as you dealt out.”
Limen leaned forward over the table and rested her chin on her hand, her smile becoming sly. “It’s not that I am strong enough to beat you, it’s that I might be strong enough to beat you. Possibly strong enough to wipe the floor with you. It’s one huge bluff, but I hear I’m good at those.” Limen cut herself a large piece of her cake and stabbed it with her fork. She was halfway through chewing it when she began again, twirling the fork absently in the air. “Besides, if I was just another unpowered thug, would supers spare me so much as a sideways glance? I’m one of ‘them’ and a lot of supers don’t really like ‘them’.”
Limen swallowed it down with a long drink of coffee. She dropped the emptied cup down on the table with a satisfied thump, and called for another cup.
Turning back to Sanduleak, she continued with a lowered voice. “Dunno if you know this about me, but I’m a fairly nomadic person. It’s pretty rare for me to stay in one place for more than a few months, and it’s been a good bit more than a few months for me here in Emerald City. But,” she cast a look out the window the stall had been set against, over the ocean dock it had been built atop of, “I don’t know, I like it here. I’d like to stay; settle in, you know? I just need a reason to. Not having to worry about some people, at least, attacking me once the news gets out the taser is a fake is a pretty good one. I’m fairly certain people are starting to figure me out, and it’d be nice to know if some people have my back.” Limen gave him a wink. “So basically you’re my guinea pig.”
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Pandaemonium
Posts 164
Power Level 28
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Post by Sanduleak on Sept 11, 2016 1:42:52 GMT -7
Sanduleak could see the long speech coming a mile away and started taking small bites of his cake while listening. There were a few moments where he glanced up to stare at her. This girl, holy crap...I knew never to underestimate people, it was like rule number one and he had never underestimated her in spite of that silly mask she wore. But these bluffs, this understanding, hell she was more brilliant than any Bulwark or Pandaemonium he had met. Though this wasn't due to just cleverness, she had backed up time and time again that she was a super by taking on the most ridiculous challenges. He took a long drink of his soda when he realized his reply was most likely coming up and then let out a sigh.
"Limen...first of all you are fucking insane, no other way around that, but also one of the smartest and most fun people I've had the pleasure of working with. Personally I'd prefer you stay here, we need your special brand of insanity, it's always useful to have you on the front page. Though I'd personally prefer to be your friend than just a guinea pig, I've at the very least got your back in case shit does go down."
He messed with a small cube of light that had suddenly appeared in his hand, morphing it's shape and color before flicking it away into light particles. He wasn't dictatorial in his hatred of unpowered's, if they show they're not an asshat racist, then he was cool and well Limen appeared to not be one. He let out a chuckle as he glanced at her, he seriously considered the thought of fighting her before shaking it off. With this new info, it was obvious the fight would be in his favor, but by how much? Besides he wouldn't lie she could play unfair a lot better than him.
"Besides Limen I think you can relax, I mean seriously consider your position. You are someone who has gone up against so many supers, myself included, and survived, sometimes even won. You've built up a rep for yourself, do you think anyone'll wanna fuck with you? You were trained by that one guy I think and you are almost the pr like spokes person of Pandaemonium."
He chuckled while finishing off the last of his cake and soda, sugary overload here he comes but first he leaned forward with fingers interlaced.
"I'd also like to know what other plans you got, because don't lie as much as you act like you don't, you gotta have some idea of where you're heading after talking to me."
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Pandaemonium
Posts 278
Power Level 25
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Post by Limen on Sept 12, 2016 15:48:49 GMT -7
The waiter soon came over and refilled Limen’s cup. She took slow sips on it while Sanduleak gave his part, her smile slowly widening.
“Aw, Dukes,” Limen said, “you are my friend. You just also happen to currently be acting as guinea pig. Thanks for these very interesting experiment results.” Taking her renewed drink in hand, she cocked her head to the side and softened her smile. “And for being my friend.”
Limen took a long swing of her new cup of coffee and slammed it down on the table, hard enough to make a loud thump but not so much so as to actually break the cup. She rested her head again on her hand “As much as I like relaxing, now that people are starting to figure me out and I’m telling the occasional wayward soul, I’m going to have to be even more careful than before. Rep or not.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Com’on Dukes, just now, you were wondering if you could take me, right? Don’t tell me you weren’t.” She gave him a toothy grin. “Supers are the fighting sort. Solving all of one’s problems with violence will do that to a person, I’ll tell you from personal experience, so problems involving supers and me will also tend to involve violence. I can also tell you now, one-on-one fight between you and me? You’d win. Hands down. When they say unpowereds don’t have a chance against supers, they’re really not kidding. Yeah, I have won some fights, but that’s only because I either managed to get what I came to do done and ditched before I could get caught, or I had teammates to take the focus fire from me. I haven’t actually beat any supers here in a fight.” She paused. “Well, except for RPG that one time, and I did taser Aurora with Geata’s help, though that wasn’t much of a fight…”
Limen brought herself away from her tangent with another bite of cake. “My point is, if the wrong person in the wrong mood hears I’m actually not strong enough to beat most supers, well, for one my bluff is totally ruined, but they may really try to fuck with me. And if I’ve got an angry super who thinks they can rip my head off and I don’t outrun them, I’m going to get my head ripped off.” She rested the fork on her lip and looked absently off to the side. “Maybe I should change my bluff to the unpowered who can actually beat supers. But don’t tell your friends that. They’ll take it as a challenge, I know I would.” She looked back at him. “Thanks for the sentiment, though. And I would totally be Pandaemonium’s PR agent, I’ll tell you what, but I don’t think Aurora likes me very much. Not quite sure why.
“Speaking of Aurora, in telling you this, I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t go spreading around that I’m unpowered. There’s a couple in particular that’d I’d really prefer stayed out of the loop. Aurora being one of them. I’d also prefer if Bulwarks or hero-types weren’t told, or else I’ll become an easy arrest. And really, anyone with a temper that they might want to take out on an unpowered playing at being a super. It can… strike some nerves that might get my lungs torn out.”
Limen took another long drink of her coffee, and realized she had both finished off her second cup and been talking for quite a while. Before she could toss the ball back his way, there was one more question she had to answer.
“As for what I’m up to after this,” she twirled her fork and stabbed another piece of cake, “well, immediately after this I’m going to go rob another food shipment because I’m low on non-perishables and one of the food banks around here likewise. If you want to come lend me a hand, they usually have these big containers of honey that are the best stomach ache ever. But if you’re talking a little farther reaching than today’s afternoon,” she let out a sigh and gave him another light grin. “I’ll probably be sticking around, Dukes, don’t you worry. I’m not quite ready to hit the road yet. All you Pandaemoniums are either too much fun to tease or perfectly crazy yourselves.”
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