fandomtownies | Wellspring Arms and Meditation Center, Friday

She's here! She'll probably bounce if distracted enough.

"Rikku."

Cable was all business coming down the stairs, baby and dog and all; his face creased with a slightly, almost invisibly heavier frown than usual.

"Yes," she said, drawing herself up and snapping to attention. Something in the way he said her name made her want to salute. Weird.

"Everything's been normal so far. Any news?"

"News," Cable repeated, in affirmation. "I received a message from Madrox a few days ago. A former associate of mine has been confirmed as being on the war path."

A few more paces, and Cable found himself in the room-- and his attention found Rikku. "It doesn't change much," he continued, "As I'm fairly sure the location of this island is a little hard to determine."

Which didn't mean it wasn't important to go on higher alerts, here.

"But not impossible." Rikku nodded. "Madrox, like Jamie? I didn't know he was a friend of yours."

Her eyes dropped to the little one, and she swallowed with some difficulty. "War path ... meaning he wants to find her."

"'Friend' is a big word. Madrox is from my universe." A very big word. Cable was, in fact, shooting the baby's pouch on his chest a look and wondering vaguely if there wasn't some way to armor it...

Nevermind. He glanced back up at Rikku. "His name is Lucas Bishop. We've got something of a disagreement on the matter of the baby's future."

"One of those multiple-dimension things again," Rikku nodded. Okay. Yeah. Lots of it going around, some days.

She didn't have to ask what kind of disagreement. Some people wanted the baby to live, and some didn't. So Lucas Bishop went in the 'enemy' column.

"What does he look like?" she asked. "Would he come himself, or send people? What kind of weapon does he use?"

"Same dimension," Cable returned, vaguely. "It's a long story."

Which, if nothing else, was the story of his life in three words and a contraction. Nevermind; he didn't really have the time (or reason) to elaborate.

"He's on his own. Uses guns, and is now apparently in possession of a bionic arm; his mutant power involves absorbing and release it in the form of his choice." And a beeline for the security system. Not quite a hurry, but the news had put the urgency back in his steps. "African-American male in his prime with an 'M' tattoo over his right eye."

Quick, concise information; all she needed to know.

She was nodding. Bionic arm, M tattoo, he'd be easy to spot. Guns meant range, and the absorption thing sounded like he'd be pretty dangerous to go up against. On his own meant they'd have the advantage of numbers, at least.

"Any known weaknesses, or vulnerabilities?" she asked. "Do we have a signal or some kind of a plan in case he shows up?"

Somehow, somewhere, Auron would be proud of her.

"A well-placed shot will take him out as easily as anyone else," Cable replied, running his sequences on the security panel. He'd been on red alert since the news came in-- it just wouldn't help anyone if he let down his guard again. "If all else fails, I have the technology to secure the baby. If he attacks within the store, the security system will take care of his firearms, but not his powers-- so don't unload unnecessary energy on him. Don't try to take him out on your own-- restrain or chase off, but don't hesitate to shoot to kill if you have to."

He slammed the panel shut. "And make sure I'm contacted." He'd get Wade in. The two of them should be able to dispatch Bishop, if they had to.

"Shoot to kill," she echoed, nodding. Nervous, terrified even, but resolved. They'd taken out Seymour, deliberately, planned, because it was the only way to protect Yuna. Her only regret was that he hadn't stayed dead. If it came to it ... she'd aim for a headshot and deal with her own feelings later. He didn't get the baby.

Guardian, dammit.

But only if it came to that. Right. Okay.

"Is there a way to contact you without -- you know. Coming upstairs, or picking up the phone? Something I can do if he's right there."

"Set off the silent alarm," he said, after a moment; and nodded back at the desk. "And hope for the best. I'll be trying to keep a telepathic lock on the building, as well."

It wasn't a perfect guarantee. He should consider a solution to that.

"Okay," Rikku said. "I'll do that. Especially the hoping for the best."

That one she could do a lot, in her spare time.

Well what do you know. There was somebody he actually knew here. "Hey Rikku," he grinned, walking up to the counter. "You work here?" Like that wasn't obvious.

"You bet," Rikku grinned. "Welcome to the Wellspring Arms and Meditation Center. Isn't it neat?!"

"Looks pretty cool. Ain't seen much of it yet, though. Dropped in yesterday and met Cable. Gave me the ok for the range."

She might notice the rifle hanging from his left shoulder.

"He did?" Rikku bounced on her toes. "Dude, that's awesome. He doesn't usually let people use it. Maybe it's just that it's a lot of students that ask. We, uh, don't really sell many guns, either? I think that's on purpose."

Somehow, it made sense to her, that she was mainly employed to hang out here and not sell guns to people.

"Yah, he sure did (http://community.livejournal.com/fandomtownies/2825482.html?thread=122319370#t122319370). Personally I'd be a bit leery of lettin' kids in there too. No offense," he added quickly. "Just that kids with guns," a shoulder shrugged slightly, "don't seem right to me."

"No worries on the sellin' either. I got my own." He patted the butt end of the stock behind him.

"No, no, it's okay," Rikku said, flashing him a quick smile. "It's ... lots of places, kids don't need to know stuff like this, so it's kinda ... weird for adults, I think. Where I'm from ... you had to learn to defend yourself, that's all. There are fiends waiting at every corner. It's just life, you know?"

She smiled. "I have one, too. Uh. From Deadpool, I don't think Cable would sell me one, you know? And did he show you the shooting range and all?"

Just life. Sure. The way she'd put that however...didn't exactly spark a good feeling in him. He'd seen first hand some of the effects of the 'fiends lurking' and the kids... He shrugged that off and focused back on Rikku's words.

"I ~~handwavily~~ took a peek in there yesterday. So I know the way an' all. Deadpool. Sounds familiar." And why on earth he'd give Rikku a gun... Maybe he didn't want to know that.

"Deadpool's my mentor," she said, smiling. "It was my Christmas present. Kinda went along with the ice-cream pony, but that was when I got dumped."

All of those things made perfect, logical sense in Rikku-land, which was a pretty scary thing to consider.

"Okay. If Cable said you can use the range, you head on in there and hop to it. Lemme know if you need anything? I'll just be out here, puttering around. Probably upgrading some stuff. Oooh, if you ever want some upgrades on your rifle, lemme know, okay?"

"A gun and an ice-cream pony. Those are unusual gifts." He scratched his head a little. "I know I should know that name. Or at least that guy." He frowned a bit, glancing at Rikku. "Unless Deadpool happens to be a gal?"

"Upgrades? What kind of upgrades are we talkin' here?"

"No, he's a guy. Uh. You'd know him to see him, I bet? He wears bright red pajamas, and has lots of weapons. Oh! He was at MercCon. He also teaches here."

Rikku chewed her lip, considering. "Firestrike, poisonstrike, neat things. Strength boosts or initiative, which means you usually get the jump on enemies. It's kinda what I do, I upgrade weapons and armor and stuff like that. It's just a matter of having the right items and knowing how to mix things up."

As soon as she said bright red pajamas, his memory finally kicked in and he grinned. A lot. "Deadpool! That guy! The superhero dude. Yah, I remember him. Not sure if I ever caught his name at the con, though. Cool guy. What's he teach?"

He was so lost until the 'get the jump on' bit. But he tried to act like he knew what she was talking about. "That...sounds cool."

"This term? I'm not sure. He had Driver's Ed and Feminism and some criminal justice stuff before, he teaches all sorts of things." Because he was awesome, that was why. "I'll bring stuff to class next week. Upgrade-things, I mean. To show you what I'm talking about. It's seriously awesome."

"Good to have options, yo." He smiled. "That'd be great, Rikku. I look forward to it. Reckon I'll let you get on to work." He started to walk off, turned and waved, kept going to the shooting range (http://community.livejournal.com/fandomtownies/2829921.html?thread=122448481#t122448481).

"Rikku!"

Dōjima came into the store, flailing slightly as she tried to balance a shoebox and a cat carrier. "Help!"

Rikku was around the counter and heading for Dōjima a second later, gaping.

This was not the sort of emergency she'd been worried about having, today.

"Whoa! Hey! What's going on? Are you okay!?"

"I broke him!" she wailed, looking rather frantic. "There was kissing, and then there was a noise so no more kissing, and then he changed!"

Yurika set the cat carrier down so she could cradle the shoebox protectively and show the other girl its inhabitant (http://fair-montague.livejournal.com/15607.html). "Help? Can you watch Alea for me until he turns back? Please? Pretty please?"

"Oh kuso, he's gonna turn back, right?"

The shrew pulled itself up by its front paws to see over the rim of the box, and made a little squeaking noise at the girls.

"Oh! Oh, oh, oh. Breathe!" There was now a reassuring sort of squeezy embrace for Dōjima. "Breathe, you didn't break him, I promise, this happens a lot. All the time. Jude turned into a cat on me twice. Lasts like a few days and then poof, he's back. Honest."

It was so weird how Fandom strangeness became routine, just a list of instructions. Which reminded her. "And he's gonna turn back naked, so keep some clothes around."

She knelt down. "Hi, Romeo! Are you okay?"

... Not like he could answer. Still.

Edited 2008-05-31 03:01 (UTC)

The shrew wiggled its nose and stared at her. Was there food? He wanted food. Maybe some nice corn.

Edited 2008-05-31 03:04 (UTC)

"If he'd gotten naked in the first place and not been playing with things that didn't belong to him, this wouldn't have happened in the first place," she grumbled, leaning her head against the other girl's shoulder. "Which, is probably TMI, but still. He can tun back naked and deal with it."

Rikku was fishing through her leg pouch. Beef jerky? Did shrews eat beef jerky? She held some out tentatively to see if Romeo wanted it. Cats were way easier, seriously.

She gave Dojima another squeeze. "TMI is A-OK," she reassured the other girl. "Maybe that's why it only hit with Jude, we were taking too long to get there. I mean, Reno hasn't ever been zapped into anything. We should do some kinda science investigation on this."

The shrew took the beef jerky and evidently deemed it weird but acceptable, as he dragged it to a corner of the shoebox and started working on "burying" it.

"Trust me, normally that is not a problem," she said dryly, watching her shrewish boyfriend 'bury' his food. "We were interrupted because the cabin is really not the best place for fun and games."

"Besides, Reno turned into a toy. I don't think the theory quite applies."

"Hmmm. Good point." Rikku considered. "At least we weren't, um. You know. Wow, that's awkward, kissing and suddenly, boom, there's a cat on your stomach, just purring like crazy, and it's so weird, you know!?"

She shook her head. "At least I got some good blackmail footage out of that. The doll-thing, I mean." Somehow, somewhere, Reno was shouting ACTION FIGURE, DAMMIT and didn't know why.

"I can totally take your cat. It's not a problem, seriously, I just hope Petey doesn't get stupid at her."

Which ... he probably would. Petey was like that.

"She's pretty mellow," Yurika said, looking down at the kitty carrier. "I put one of her toys in there, and I think she can probably hold her own against Petey. I'm just afraid someone- " here she glared down at the smaller box - "Doesn't have the sense God gave most mousies. He kept trying to play 'tag' with her earlier, and while Alea is a very sweet kitty, I'm sure he looks quite yummy."

"He's not violent," she said quickly. "I mean, he wouldn't attack or anything. Um. Just really stupid. Stupid. He thinks everyone wants to play and chews on other cats' necks as a greeting. He ... has less sense than the mousie, right now."

He really, really did.

"Hear that, Romeo?" she asked, lifting the box to bring him closer to her face. "You aren't going to be the dumbest critter in the dorm."

Romeo was unimpressed, and hunkered over his food to try and protect it from the Big Lady.

Ohmmmmmmmmm.

If you have permission. Hint: you probably don't.

After chatting with Rikku (http://community.livejournal.com/fandomtownies/2829921.html?thread=122419297#t122419297), Murdock finally made it to the range. As he loaded the rifle, he couldn't help thinking about what she'd said. About kids. About defending against fiends. Kids doing the defending. Kids most likely doing it with guns. Or possibly any other weapon that came to hand. Kids shouldn't have to defend themselves. Not like that.

When he finally got it loaded, he took aim and fired off several rounds. All of them hit their mark. Dead center head. One might think he was a little irked about something.

Friday! Woo!

Wellspring Arms and Meditation Center, Friday

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The Meditation Room

The Shooting Range

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OOC