"There is nothing to think about." Vanessa huffs, as she walks toward the door. Marrying Vince would the last resort, if her last resort failed. But the fact that he'd even suggested it meant that he thought she'd agree to it just like that, pissing her off that much more. "Haaahn." Once inside her car, Vanessa lets out a deep sigh. "Bastard." Hissing as she checks her phone to see if Lawrence sent her a message.
"God, I'm really regretting not letting that guy beat the crap out of you." The woman groans in frustration, before raising an eyebrow. "Weird chick? Normally, the only women who hang around guys like this are paid for their time. But now that you mention it..." She frowns. "I did see some thugs in one of the nearby warehouses, around some girl with pink hair. She didn't look like any working girl I've ever seen - though she was scantily clad enough to be one. By the time I'd dropped through the skylight, though, she was gone." The blue haired woman's eyes bore into Valentin's. "Why are you asking? Do you have information?"
"Good. Goooood," Squidlock replies with a grin of his own, "This is only a taste of what you might one day have in service to me and my Master. I'll expect you to do more for me in the future. Bring fertile women you think the city might not miss to us, maybe others who might agree with our cause as well who can be tempted to join our ranks as you have. There are so MANY possibilities." He pauses, pointedly looking at the sorceress as his tentacles release the officer. "But for now... our dear Ellie is already pregnant so there is no harm in letting you keep her occupied by seeing how virile you've become while I start making this a happy little home."
"No. The skank's got purple hair.....maybe it was pink. It was dark." Blinking, he seemed to even convince himself it was possible lead, though a voice at the back of his conscious told him this was probably the wrong track. Still. Eventually, beat the shit out of enough people and the road has got to end up SOMEWHERE. Except....he can't fight today. Hmm. Only really capable of regarding his problems with his violence, he struggled to draw a conclusion that wasn't solved with either or even that such a kind of approach COULD work to solve problems. But..... "That's it!" His conclusion was loud, but he remembered the rumors he heard. Looking at the heroine, something had clicked in his brain. "Some of my friends at school I used to hang out with started getting.....really weird lately. They talked about this pink haired chick with big tits for a bit at first....then they got super weird about it." His expressions were much less comical, taking on a darker tone. "They were just idiots. Last I talked to them, they were...getting involved in serious shit." He didn't give details. He was no snitch, but he wasn't exactly thrilled about what he had seen. "But when they talk about the chick now, it's not just about how hot she is. They've been putting pictures of her in their lockers, and one of them actually came to me in tears that he wasn't selling enough and she wouldn't like him anymore. .....it was actually kind of scary." He just remained silent. His face having completely stiffened. Dark. But his hatred and contempt for this woman obvious, even if he didn't say it outright.
"Yeah... It was great that Lana was...rescued. We're okay, no need to worry about us." Lee smiles awkwardly, before it turns genuine again. "Yeah, it was like that at the beginning for me, too, but I had no doubts. I heard some of your demos - you sound great, and you've got a great look, too. You're definitely going to be a star." Frustratingly, he doesn't stare at her chest - though whether it's due to a lack of interest or just because he's being respectful is hard to say. "Lana and I are going to hang out. Wanna come with?"
"Hell yeah..." The officer nods, flexing his newly powerful muscles as he's lowered to the ground. "Cops have freedom of the city here - I can help you out like that. But, like you said, Ellie first." He grins at the blonde, who looks in horror as she sees that the man she sacrificed herself to save has turned against her.
"It was kinda multitoned, I think." The woman says absentmindedly. She seems a little bored as Valentin starts to talk, but as the story goes on, her knees straighten, plans of jumping away forgotten. "They could just be simps... But the part about not selling enough sounds suspicious. Maybe she's some kind of mind controller... There's been a few so far in the city. This friend of yours, the one who was crying - you know where he lives?"
Seeing that Lawrence hasn't left a message, that means nothing new must have happened. With that, Vanessa drives back home, recalling how she needed to buy Jacob the stuff he requested. I should order that anonymously... but using a credit card could be traced back... crap, maybe I should just give him the money to buy it. She thinks to herself as she drove herself home.
"No. We're not that close. Which made it even weirder." The idea they were just simps who would do anything for any pair of boobs didn't seem wrong. He KNEW it wasn't. That was what he thought at first too. But this....seems different. "I don't know about any of that. But I know where they started hanging out." He knew where and had a decent idea of what exactly they were up to, but he just didn't really see it as any of his business before. But now. It became obvious to him. The smile on his face began to return. "So I'm going to go beat the shit out of them and find that woman. And find out why that crazy bitch gave me-" He stopped himself. He realized it was more serious than he thought. The clues were there. His friends suddenly desperate to spend time with this woman by any means necessary. Sudden surges of drugs on the street. A woman with suspected powers of mind control. He had ended up confused, tired, now having random fevers, and a mysterious growth on his body. It told him enough. He breathed, ready to assert himself with complete seriousness in a clearly not intended as any kind of in poor taste joke in anyway when he told her. He meant every word of it. "She gave me cancer."
Thinking about it, she could probably siphon some funds from the real estate company that owns the safehouse - it's a pretty common practice for rich people to use company funds for their personal whims, she knows from experience. It would be simpler to withdraw some cash and give it to him, though - it depends on whether she trusts him to only buy what he said he would. Heading through the gate to the mansion grounds, the heiress immediately knows something's wrong. On the stairs leading to the front doors, which lie wide open, is one of the police officers from earlier, a bullet hole in his bald head. Looking out at the grounds, Vanessa spots the sedan the cops came in last time, and two large four wheel drives, all three vehicles standing empty.
"No, you're not. If this 'crazy bitch' is that dangerous, the last thing I need is a weakling like you getting in my way." The woman sighs. "Tell me where this hang out is, and I'll investigate. I'll even do you a solid and stop by later to let you know how it went."
"Haah, I suppose I should just give him the money..." I mean, being busy as a superhero should be a good excuse... besides, he doesn't look like a young man who'd be into anything illegal. Vanessa thinks to herself, deciding to play it safe, as she didn't want to do anything that could be seen as her abusing her powers, since she still doesn't know who's gunning for her company. But, the moment she arrived home, "W-what in the world!" She gasped, eyes wide as she saw the dead cop. and the large vehicles. O-oh no, Lawrence! The heiress gasped, taking the collar from her fur coat, she puts it on her neck, and makes it so her coat hides the collar. I can just make an excuse that I've drunk one of those super serums that temporarily gives me powers. She thinks to herself on the off chance anyone spots her. With her preparation done, Vanessa enters her home, listening for anything out of place, and looking for any signs of her loyal butler's whereabouts.
"Yeah...but..." His face went blank. In more of his incredibly clueless mannerism. "It wouldn't be right." He reeeaaallly did not want to have to say it. But it seemed like she failed to understand herself of why her going off would be such a bad idea. Still clueless and with a slightly guilty and apologetic look on his face, he had to point out the obvious. "You're a girl. You can't fight."
Moving into the mansion, Vanessa sees signs of a struggle - bullet holes, drag marks, a wall that's been completely smashed through. She heads through the old armory, past suits of armor, shields and weapons. On the floor, she finds the second of the three cops, riddled by rifle rounds and bleeding on the floor. From the next room, she hears muffled voices. "The rich bitch! Where the fuck is she? I know you pigs know somethin'."
The female hero's eyes widen, and her jaw lowers, mouth agape in seeming shock at what he just said. "I'm a... What the fuck did you just say to me?" Cracking her neck, she slowly walks toward Valentin. "You know what, I take it back. I'm glad I saved you from that thug - Now I get to kick your ass myself."
"Khh." Vanessa winces at the sight of carnage, but as she heard the muffled voices from the next room. She silently walks toward the door, hoping to eavesdrop, and find out who attacked her. But if the wall's been destroyed, with no signs of explosions... that means a villain is with them. She thinks to herself as she tries to spy on the perpetrators.
“I promised my mom I wouldn’t…I can’t hit a girl anyway.” In his own mind, this was supposed to help. But seriously… he tried to think of what he was supposed to do here. If he just stood there and got the shit kicked out of him, that wouldn’t be cool. But he wasn’t willing to hit a girl either. He needed to improvise a solution. It probably….wasn’t the greatest idea, but it had struck him as he took a few steps backs to the unconsciousness thug’s body, keeping eye level with the lady hero. All he had to do was just throw the body at her and that would absorb the impact when she tries to punch him. That made sense…..probably.
Spoiler: Stealth Roll D100: 89 (Success) Looking into the next room, she sees the final remaining cop on her knees, a gun pressed against her blonde head by a dark skinned man. Looking around, she spots seven other men, all holding assault rifles. Given that the four wheel drives outside seat four people each, she guesses that these are all the attackers still present - whoever smashed the wall must have left already. "I don't know! It was just the old man here when we arrived!" The blonde cop growls, before the man holding her hostage pulls back the hammer of his pistol menacingly. "Oh yeah? And why did you come here?" The cop glares. "To get evidence on Fitzgerald - I'm not working with her, and I don't know where she is, for God's sake!"
As Jenny looked at the object she contemplated calling him, but she couldn't. She couldn't even hear his voice after what she'd done. He'd be worried about her, she knew that. He probably hadn't slept a wink since she left and she felt terrible for that too. But she didn't know what she'd say. She had to think but she didn't want to. Thinking made it worse. Instead she put her dress back on and grabbed the communicator. She'd go back home and think of something then.
