knowhen | EVENT ONE: JUNE 21ST-28TH

... What the hell is an Avenger's Mansion? Is this like some weird sports metaphor that I'm not getting. Atlanean? Is that another team. Avengers vs the Atlanteans?

[She liked to think she was pretty up to date on current affairs, but literally everything that was tripping out of his mouth was making her feel like some slack-jawed yokel. All she needed was to chew on a stalk of grass and doff her straw hat. Maybe spit out some chaw.]

Right. Kree. Pink sleeping gorillas. Okay. So... you wanna tell me when the wake up call back to reality is? Because I think I missed that.

[And he has to laugh, although he tried to hide it in a cough. The thing is...]

That's h-happened, actually.

[He got ahold of himself and put on a more serious expression, after only one additional escaped giggle. Cut him some slack, he doesn't work with people who don't know what he's talking about.]

I... think this is reality. It's not exactly easy for me to work with either. Can we start at the top? My name's Robbie Baldwin. Aliens exist. Go with it. The Avengers are a U.N.-charted team. You've really never heard of them?

[Sure, yuk it up, chuckles. She'd be keeping her eye on you.]

Right. Um... except this is the first I'm hearing about aliens outside of sodomized rednecks trying to explain why their asses hurt and why they were MIA for a weekend.

I'm Veronica Mars -- please don't make any sort of space joke about the last name. I'm not telling you where I'm from or it's just going to get worse. And no, I have never heard of any... team called the Avengers. It sounds like a kid's show.

[She can get in line behind Namorita.

He considered what she said and thought about the ramifications of telling her that aliens were abducting humans and replacing them on Earth. Something's told him it was a bad idea.]

I'm not trying to tell you that President Lincoln was from outer space or the pyramids were alien antennae. You're on a space station.

[He gestured towards the window, inviting her to look again.]

You see Earth anywhere out there? Or the moon? Orion's belt? I've got it on good authority that we aren't anywhere near Earth.

No space jokes, I promise. [Beat.] How much trouble am I in if I say that your family makes my favorite candy bar?

[Was this guy for real? He seemed to be. She actually leaned in and gave his shoulder a poke, just to be sure. Huh. Okay. Real then.

That got an eyeroll and she fixed him with a look that pretty much said everything her mouth didn't need to. But her mouth opened anyway and words came out of it.]

Trust me, if it was my family making that kind of money, I think I'd be driving something more sporty than a Satur-- You know, how about we just leave off all space sounding names?

[All she needed was for him to find out she was from Neptune, CA and her life would be complete.]

[When she poked him, he stared at her finger and then her quizzically. Did that just happen? He had, admittedly, considered poking Nita, but that was because Nita was supposed to be dead. He couldn't figure out why he was getting poked, aside from picking on her name.]

It's better than a Toyota. [He shrugged, wondering what had her so keyed up about her name.] Whatever floats your boat. I think it's stel- badass. Sorry, I go for puns. I think I'm good now.

So, you say Earth doesn't have the Avengers, Atlantis, or aliens. Mind sharing what it does have? 'cause I'm really trying to figure out how you're here if you're not from there.

Let's see; bad politics, war, pollution, horrible movies made by Michael Bay... I think that about sums it up. Though, we do have an excellent fried chicken franchise and I hear our pizzas are the best in the universe.

[See? She could do this. This was a piece of cake. Kidnapped by aliens? Pff, who hadn't been?]

[Counting them off on his fingers, he went through the list. Everything sounded similar, nothing about the sky raining donuts or snake tongues. Thanks a lot, Simpsons, for adequately preparing him for this.]

"Yes unfortunately, we've got those too" to the first three. I'll come back to four. KFC? And you better mean New York Style.

[But back to what's most important.]

What do you mean, horrible movies by Michael Bay? His stuff is great! Bad Boys? Armaggeddon? Total classics, I can't b-

[He cut himself off at the sound of heavy footsteps running into the area. Robbie turned to see a pair of armored lizards charging at them. It was hard to tell, with all the teeth, but he didn't think they looked happy.]

Run, I've got them.

KFC is certainly one of them, but there's a few good runner ups that make the fried chicken industry a tasty motley of competition.

[She just rolled her eyes at him, clearly putting him in the 'boys who have no hope' category.]

Boring blowing up boy stuff. Movies with actual story lines are better than eye candy.

[The cut off of his words and the stomping had her turning too, eyes going wide at what were obviously not humans running at them. Maybe they were in costume? She could hope...]

You've got them? How have you got them?

[She was already digging in her bag for both her mace and her taser, hoping she could get them out in time.]

Oh, you know.

[With an outstretched hand, he fired off a stream of orange energy that was comprised of small spheres. It caught the closer of the two, knocking him into the other and sending them both back several yards.]

Boring blowing up boy stuff.

[The things were getting back onto their feet and screeching like raptors. He wanted to tell her run again, but the way she's digging in her bag wasn't inspiring confidence that she wouldn't run straight into more of them.]

Veronica! Angry aliens? Let's not stay here in the middle of a big open space where everyone can see us, please?

[The finer points of Michael Bay's works could be discussed later. Robbie went to grab her by the wrist, intending to make her run with him. They could head - he really did need to find a map.]

[She was about to say something, but the whole shooting things out of his hand incident sort of actually shocked her into silence -- a feat all on its own. There was an almost laugh at him parroting back her words to her, but then she was being yanked to the side, her hand coming out of her bag with her mace in it, the other one still digging for her taser.]

Okay, how about you explain to me what the hell that was? And maybe what those are?

Kinetic energy. I can - does it really matter right now?

[He didn't take his eyes off their new 'friends', who seemed to be sizing up the situation. He wondered how long it would be until they decided two versus two wasn't the worst odds and attacked. Probably not as long as he would like.]

Those... aren't human. Actually, I can't be positive on that. I've seen a human that looks like a giant armadillo. We're going to go with aliens.

[He waves over at them with a forced breeziness.]

Hey, guys! If it turns out you actually belong on the station, no hard feelings, right?

[Probably not too long, considering one of those two was barely over five feet.]

Right. Armadillo people. Okay.

[No, not okay. But she was watching the scaly guys with a mix of apprehension and a sort of 'this can't be happening to me' mantra that was running over and over in her mind. This couldn't be happening to her, right?

She jerked when one of the creatures hissed, then both of them started charging at them again.]

Remember that plan we had that involved running?

It's a good plan. One of my best. Go, I'm right behind you.

[He wanted to tell her to go ahead, that he'd catch up to her, but he can't help feeling responsible for her. He met her; ergo, he had to her get away clean. It was a compulsion.

Pushing her lightly in the direction he'd originally came from, he blasted them again before turning and running. Robbie wasn't about to wait to see what they did this time.]

You sure you've never done this before?

Done what? This? Ha, no. No, I can safely say that running for my life from angry Geico representatives is not on my list of things I've done. Running, however... I'm good at that. In short bursts. I'm a sprinter.

[She had her taser out and on and had her finger on the mace, ready to spray anything that didn't look human that came close enough. So far, his weird... whatever they were seemed to be keeping them at bay.]

I take it by that look on your face this is just an every day thing for you?

Huh. You're doing great so far! You should consider a career in superheroing or at least join the track team. This way!

[Robbie ducks down a corridor that splinters off from the Observation Deck and runs until he hits a forced right hand turn, but, instead of making the turn, he grabs onto wall and slams on the brakes.]

Woah. Hey - the Earth that your from. Did Disney make Aladdin in it?

[Because this hallway ends in a balcony, and the drop is a good fifty feet. There's no one in the room below, which has lots of huge metal containers, support beams, and alcoves. If they get down there, which isn't a problem for him, the odds are pretty good that the Geico dudes won't be able to get at them, even if they have guns. He looks back at her and takes a deep, calming sort of breath. Just planning on tossing a girl off a balcony. No big deal.]

Yes, they di-- Why are you asking me that?

[She looks where's he's looking, then gives him a 'hell no' look.]

Look, unless you've got a magic carpet rolled up somewhere that I don't even want to know where that might be, no. No way. No way in a thousand universes. If you start singing at me to convince me, I will kick you in the nuts.

I swear that you'll be absolutely fine, and you'll -

[No, that's the wrong way to argue this. He doesn't know if Earth-lizard rules apply to alien lizards, but, if they do, it doesn't matter if they've temporarily lost their pursuers. They will get tracked by scent, because most lizards have a phenomenal sense of smell. He needs an argument that works faster.]

Go ahead and kick me in the nuts then, or else I'm gonna sing. I'm serious. I dare you to do it, and I've got a twenty in wallet that says you won't.

[She was tempted to just because of the dare, feeling that familiar sensation of being underestimated because of her size and gender. If he thought she wouldn't do it because she was tiny and a girl, he was wrong.]

Tell you what, you sing and I reserve the right to belt you in the nuts at any point in time in the future when we're not potentially about to be mauled by giant lizards. Okay?

EVENT ONE: JUNE 21ST-28TH

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Just ignore the icon's costume, #comics RP problems

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