Racing the Storm

[Nick22]

Marita sat in the back , next to flora. "flora, if you need someone to talk to, i'd be willing to talk.' she said softly as  they were driven back to the SUV that  Flora had stolen and driven them here. ' If i may say a few things Tony ' she spoke up, not yet leaving the car.. ' the truth is, regardless of our personal animosities towards each other, we find ourselves on the same side at the moment. Emilena isnt exactly my favorite person on earth, but unfortunately we're kinda stuck with her for now. our teams.. have merged for lack of a better term. We don't have to like it, and clearly you dont. but..  for now we are going to have to work together. Besides, you and I have some unfinished business between us. before your incident with Rio, you asked me out on a date. And.. I'm holding you to that now. just pick a place for us to go, your choice.' she finished.
_ Kojurro jumped down from the top of the Dusenburg. He had jumped on top of it as the others had climbed in and had ridden on top  along the way.' you lot arent getting rid of me that easily ' he cackled. ' yes, yes, not that easily ' he laughed as he made his way towards the SUV and climbed in, a trail of leaves in his wake.

[Pterano]

"I didn't die..." Tony quickly corrected Emilena. "I was still alive after I hit... THAT I know... you weren't there, moving on." he said, brushing aside her uninformed comment. He stayed silent as Marita spoke before Vergil chimed in. A date? That's right... he'd asked her out that day hadn't he? Well then...

"Yes. I didn't find anything. He's not a clone, he's not a someone else, and he's not hiding anything. As far as his health, he's in near perfect physical condition, from what I can tell. Someone with say... my abilities could've easily healed him... but we don't know many like that, do we? The second option is he was subjected to advance gene and nanotechnology therapy, which is quite expensive. And that's not to say either of you is off the hook." He looked pointedly at Emilena here. "A skilled psionic can easily mask their intentions. Since we know Tony isn't one, and I'm pretty sure you're not, you seem to both be in the clear, seem being the key word... as for anything out of the ordinary with our ferret friend, I detected nothing, but I'd need something specific to look for." he stated.

"If I were say looking for something the size of a cell... I'd need considerably more time. Anyway, he's clean, so far as I can tell. However, it seems SOME of us..." he glanced in Emilena and Lily's direction. "Had ulterior motives they did not immediately make clear to this group that endangered the mission... to say nothing of the needless and stupid conflict that occurred on the North Yungas Road." Something in Tony's recovery made Vergil wonder about things though... like why couldn't the gecko remember his own past? What was blocking it? Why were his memories... incomplete? Why did he feel like two people sometimes instead of one?

"So... rather than waste times in pointless debates while the castle's forces surge on towards us... I suggest we get out of here and unite. It's worth our time instead of what happened in Bolivia." he stated bluntly.

"Wish I could double back to the castle..." Tony murmured, staring at the chrome dashboard. "I'd love to have that Cord and its semi-automatic transmission, as opposed to having to double clutch."

"But you CAN double clutch, yes?" Vergil asked now.

"Yeah, sure I can. I'd just prefer not to." Tony answered.

"So long as you CAN... but I mean... my knowledge of this is like nil but... why is it a problem?"

"It's not." Tony responded now, shaking his head. "Forget it! I just remembered you DON'T have to downshift if you come to a stop. So forget it. It's fine." he said quickly.

[Serris]

Plates of steaming hot catfish dumplings, ha fun (rice noodles wrapped around shrimp and covered in sweet soy sauce as well as a large plate of Buddha's Delight were carried into the room along with plates for everyone. A standard metal teapot and porcelain mugs were next.

Geeming, a large Taiwanese Habu spoke. "We hope you enjoy the meal." He took his position back in the seat.

To show the food wasn't drugged, Rory poured himself a some tea and grabbed some steamed fish balls. He ate the fish ball and drank the tea, loudly swallowing as he did so. "Now then, what information do you want?"

Soren tentatively used his fork (since both he and Anne where non-Chinese, forks had been provided instead of chopsticks) to spear a fish and shrimp ball.

Anne sipped her tea. "We're looking for someone." She reached in her pocket for a picture of Vergil.

Rory swallowed his mouthful of Buddha's Delight. He examined the picture and passed it over to a short but muscular Jinhong Horse. Interestingly, his emerald colored corundum subdermal armor was slightly visible underneath his skin (though that may have had to do with the cosmetic LEDs implanted with the armor. Coupled with the twin "horn antennae" (looking more like Deer antlers than unicorn horns), the equine looked remarkably like the Qilin of Chinese myth.

The stallion examined the picture and then spoke. "What are you exactly looking for?"

Anne refilled her teacup. "We want to know his phone number and address."

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Emilena shrugged. "Getting out of here and uniting with the rest of the team sounds fine to me. Flora says they're at an apartment or something." She glanced at Lily for confirmation.

To her surprise Lily had turned away from the group, trying to conceal a flushed red face. She was doing everything in her power to mask her anger at how flippant Vergil had just behaved toward the topic of Ejlert. Ulterior motives? That's how he chooses to describe an attempt to save her son's life? But she knew Vergil would just insult her passive-aggressively were she to try talking to him, like he always does.

Sometimes she wondered why she's placing all her trust in him...

[Nick22]

They are at the apartment I share with Soren and the girls Marita said. " speaking of which i need to call them to let them know we've found Vergil and are bringing him back. we'll hash out everything over supper. When was the last time you guys ate?' she added turning to Tony, Emilena and Vergil " Rose makes a mean pot pie,big and filling.   we should have enough of them to feed everyone. there's about 20 of us... on second thought, we might have to run to the store to grab some more.. anyway, dinner is on me tonight.." Marita offered.

[Pterano]

"Ahem ANYWAY..." Tony said, idling the car as he pushed the choke in. "We're overcrowded in here as is. That's why I kind of drove up to the SUV you guys arrived in. Those staying can ride with me... otherwise like I said... we're just wasting time and allowing more time for the search patrols to find us. As for when I last ate... I have no idea. I only woke up in this car a few hours ago."

Vergil stayed put, as he'd already stated his intention to ride along. He could sense Lily's... uncertainty bordering on anger over his statement, but knew she'd recklessly endangered his entire team by hiring Emilena in the first place, which did absolutely nothing but contribute to their woes on the North Yungas Road. It was tactically unsound, and given his viewing of looking at the bigger picture, needless. He couldn't fault her of course for wanting to save her son... but not telling them put them all at risk... and nearly cost one of them his life. Trading one life for another was not acceptable, at least not to him. Besides, she should've come to him first and foremost regarding this matter, seeing as how he'd had the only connection to Kalis in this entire group.

He didn't look at her anymore though, instead choosing to rest his head against his hand, the elbow on that arm resting against the door. He stared blankly ahead, knowing this was quite possibly something Kalis could use to full effect against them later on, which made her more of a liability than an asset but... he'd worry about that when and if it came up. Kalis could just as easily kill Eljert as use him against the group... either way, he'd do everything in his power to prevent that... and ensure a mother wouldn't have to see her son suffer grave consequences... he had to protect them all if he could from this point on... no more deaths... everyone had to come home satisfied...

"This morning." was all Vergil said in response to Marita's question. He wasn't feeling particularly hungry though... more nauseous than anything else.

[Nick22]

' fair enough' Marita said getting out of the car ' I'm driving the SUV. Whos coming with me? First call, gets the passenger seat.' She smirked as she headed over towards the SUV, not noticing that Kojurro had climbed onto the top of the vehicle and was holding on to it.

Marita opened the drivers side door, climbed into the seat and pulled out her phone and called the apartment, and in a few seconds  Marie picked up the phone and answered ' Hey Marie, its Marita. We managed to find Vergil. hes safe, we're on our way back. picked up a few guests as well, could you and Rose make some pot pies? We'll need about 20 or so.. Run to the store if you need to, just put it on my credits card. And call Soren if hes out, to let him know we've found him."Marita said Will do ' Marie replied ' I'll do that right after you hang up. Soren's out, where i dont know, but i'll call him. he has his cell phone." See you in a bit" Marita finished the call and put her cell away before  starting the engine and waiting for those coming with her to climb in.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Flora didn't answer Marita's question, just continued staring blankly into space. Lily, however, answered firmly, "I'll drive with you Marita," and left the car without another look back.

Emilena rolled her eyes. "What's her problem?" She scooted over so she could take up two seats and stretch out. "Seriously, let's get this show on the road. Never seen a car escape this slow. You guys clearly have never done a drug run."

[bushwacked]

Following Lily into the second car, Axel pulled the door shut and put a hand on her knee. "Hey, look... don't worry about it, alright? We'll find Ejlert. It doesn't matter what he says." His ears prickling uncomfortably, he glanced out the window at the other vehicle. Something's wrong... He was elated at seeing his friend alive again, but...

He shook his head. "Get us out of here Marita."

In the first car, unconcerned at Lily storming out, Triste slowly pulled her pistol back, not quite confident that Tony was completely safe, but satisfied that he probably wouldn't try anything at the moment. Still... she'd be keeping an eye on him.

"Anyone got a smoke?" Rio complained. "I could kill for a joint right now."

[Pterano]

Tony immediately threw the car into gear, accelerating rapidly down the road. "And YOU'VE clearly never raced a Duesenberg Model J before." Tony replied. "This thing can STILL run up with some of the best modern vehicles. Anyway no smoke... I woke up with nothing on me." he explained. "Though believe me... if I had one I'd gladly surrender them." He smiled to himself here. Anything to kill you faster and shorten your lifespan he thought.

Vergil leaned over the seat to look at what Tony was doing. "So... how do you double clutch exactly?"

"I'll show you..." Tony stated, increasing speed now to the point he'd need to up shift. "So like... it basically means you need to shift into neutral than shift into your gear. So press the clutch once... shift into neutral..." He demonstrated as he began to move into second gear. "Press the clutch a second time, shift into second... and there you have it! We should be good for the rest of the trip since these babies can go up to 95 mph in second gear alone... unheard of even with some more recent cars." Vergil nodded, noting they were cruising along at about 60 for now, as this road wasn't exactly straight, but did bend and curve every so often.

"You know funny you asked... you bring up an interesting point... you can tell a lot about a car like this if you wake up in one suddenly after a month of sleeping. Like for example... when I started it up, I didn't need to use the choke... meaning someone had driven the car recently before I woke up in it." Tony explained.

"How do you mean?" Vergil inquired.

"Well you only need to choke your car if it's a cold start... if the engine's warm, no choking is necessary. So... I didn't just get set in the car... someone drove it with me inside to the alleyway, and left me there."

"I see... any way to check this vehicle?" Vergil asked. "Like trace it?"

"Um... probably not, given that they're rare, but that means they're easy enough to conceal. You pay with cash, forget it. Plus you don't need to register these cars anymore... they're relics. My dad never had to register any of his. So... doubtful, unless it was like a museum piece or something." Tony shrugged here.

"Wonder if I should keep this..." Vergil murmured.

"Eh?" Tony asked.

"I don't have a vehicle at present. I take public transportation."

"It's probably more trouble than it's worth." Tony chuckled. "You have to have a real appreciation for it, and well the gas too isn't cheap. AND you need to know how to drive a manual."

"I'll think about it..." Vergil stated, glancing out the window again as the trees suddenly ended and green fields stretched out on either side of the car.

[Nick22]

Marita pulled the SUV out from where Flora had parked it and  drove off , aiming to get back to the apartment in a decent time. the SUV rapidly gained speed as Marita shifted it into higher gear. Marita tiore through the cornfield ans was soon back on the road. ' How are you guys doing? she asked glancing at the mirror in the middle of the front row of seats which showed Axel and Lily. " well, i didnt expect to run into Emilena or Tony again, but i figure we'll get explanations and stories once we get back to the apartment.  Rose and Marie are cooking dinner, hope you guys like pot pies. they're big, flaky and full of big chunks of meat.' Marita grinned.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Lily took a few deep breaths. "I'm doing...fine Marita." She looked away. Her eyes met Axel's and she flushed red, knowing he'd see right through any attempts he made to mask her anger.

She needed to get things under control. She wasn't sure why she even lashed out like that, it was just...a buildup of her frustration at a seemingly endless pattern of failed attempts to accomplish anything. Emilena's unpleasant behavior riling teammates up didn't help.

She grabbed her husband's hand and silently debated whether they should both just run away and leave Vergil and his team to their fates. After all, who would miss her? Nobody on the team had ever expressed anything beyond ambivalence towards her. Vergil had even denied her the opportunity to heal him, pointing out that he was more than capable of psionic healing himself. To her, that remark was yet another slap in the face.

She was silent for the majority of the car ride. Near its completion, it was only the sour acceptance that she would be leaving Ejlert to his fate that kept her from storming from the car into the night and never looking back.

---------------------------------

"We get it, you have a hard-on for vintage cars..." Emilena yawned. "If I ever start caring I'll go watch Antiques Roadshow. Though I'd definitely watch Vergil try to drive stick shift, that would be legitimately entertaining."

She glanced out the window as they neared the apartment. "So, who on the team hasn't managed to get themselves killed yet? We had a betting pool among the gang, I've got two hundred down that Soren didn't survive Bolivia."

She shifted in her seat and winced painfully. She needed to get Lily on healing her up as soon as possible...

[Nick22]

marita looked back at lily, and a frown spread on her face ' You ok lily?' you've been awfully quiet. is there something wrong? I'm not a psionic like you, i cant tell what people are thinking..you have to tell me ' she added, as she pulled down a street which was close to the apartment. She hadnt gotten back as fast as Flora had gotten them to the forest, and Marita supposed she'd have to spend some credits on the folf to pay up for losing  their bet. marita turned into the parking area in front of the apartment.

[Serris]

The stallion tapped his chopsticks against his chin. "So all you know is his appearance and first name? By the way, that cell phone number you gave me is a prepaid one. It won't lead you to him."

Anne nodded. "That's all we know."

The Equine templed his hands. "Well, with what we have, I may be able to get some information. However, it won't be cheap and I can't garuntee success. If you'll pay the upfront fee of 75,000 credits, I can try. If I succeed, I expect an additional 115,000 creds. If I fail, half of upfront fee will be refunded."

Soren's eyes widened at the cost. What the Triad member was asking was almost literally half a year's profit from him and his roommates."

"50,000 up front. And 95,000 if you succeed," Anne said.

The equine shook his head. "70,000 up front and 110,000 or no deal!"

"64,000 up front. And 100,000!"

The "qilin" smiled. "69,000 up front and 105,000!"

"68,500 creds up front and 103,750 creds for success. That's my final offer!" Anne exclaimed.

"Very well, I accept. Now the cred vouchers."

Soren turned to Anne. "Anne! We can't afford that! That's like half a year's income for all of us!"

Anne's ears splayed in embarrassment. "Oops. Sorry. I just realized we can't afford the cost."

Rory then spoke up as waiters cleared the dishes away. "I see. Then this meeting is over. Please pay for the meal at the register. The Taiwanese Habu passed the duo their checks.

Anne and Soren exited the back room and passed by the patrons. In front of them at the cash register was a Giant Panda with an order of white-cut catfish with scallion and ginger.

-----------

Outside, Marion was eating some rice and soy sauce catfish. A partially empty teapot of pu-erh tea was next to her.

She scowled as she saw a Human and an Augment Shetland Pony pass by her. She discreetly snapped a photo of them with a camera concealed in her clothing.

[bushwacked]

Axel saw Lily flush red as she looked at him, and he squeezed her hand back, trying to offer what comfort he could until they were in more of a position to discuss things. He had no right to say that... he thought grimly, remembering what Vergil had said before they'd changed cars. It's not like he's been the perfect teammate... The rat's stomach tightened. Somehow, they were all going to have to talk things over - there was no way they could continue like this, with all these barriers being thrown up between them. Axel swallowed. Damn it... Since when did this become so hard?

He felt the car slowing, and as he snapped out of his thoughts and looked out the window, he saw they were pulling up outside of Marita and Soren's apartment. "Thanks Marita."

----------------------------------------------

“Mr. Almaya is still alive," Triste said distractedly. “At least, he was the last time I saw him."

“Ha!" Rio crowed triumphantly. “I told you! Pay up, Emi!" Glancing over at her, the boy saw that she really looked like she was in pain - what the hell had happened up at that castle? "Actually... Forget about it. I can just beat you at something else," he said, trying to make her feel better, as ineffectual as it might be.

Trieste leaned forward towards Vergil as they neared the apartments. "The people who kidnapped you... Do you think they could come for you again? The last thing we need on top of everything else is the mob tailing us."

[Pterano]

Tony got onto the highway and drove the roughly 35 minutes it took to get back to Corona proper, though fortunately none of his long term memory had been affected by whatever it was that was holding him in its grip, and he knew the way to Marita's.

"How should I know?" Vergil responded to Triste's question. "I wasn't expecting to get grabbed by them in the first place, nor did it make any sense for them to grab me. I can't answer that." He shrugged, really not knowing what the mob's interest in him was.

Tony took the shortest freeway to the apartment, wondering what he should do with the car. Probably dumping it was the best option... just in case. Who knew where it had come from, or if it was "hot" or not.

He pulled up in front of the apartment, looking up at it pensively. Vergil raised a brow, then exited the vehicle. "I honestly have no vested interest in a group dinner, to be quite frank with you." he told Triste. "But I since I have no alternate plans... unless you can come up with something, I suppose it's unavoidable. To be honest though, I still feel like vomiting."

"I think I'm gonna go dump this car then get a cigarette and go for a walk or something... head over to my father's and tell him I'm alive." Tony stated, staying in the car for now as he waited for the others to exit.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

"I'm sure Marita's cooking will help you in that regard," Emilena remarked over her shoulder to Vergil; she was first out of the car and already bee-lining for the door.

The inhabitants of the apartment were no doubt surprised when Emilena was the first person to march through their door. Wasting no time with pleasantries, she opened their cupboards and began eating whatever she felt like, trying to keep herself from passing out.

Lily, still in the car with Marita, took a deep breath. "I'll talk to you about it later..." she told Marita. "Let's just get inside and recover from tonight."

She walked into the house at roughly the same time Emilena had finished her meal. "You," Emilena jabbed her finger at Lily as soon as she saw her. "Medical. Now."

Lily sighed. "Let's get some privacy." She led Emilena into the back of the apartment, Marita's computer room. "This is going to make you feel sleepy," she warned. "Your body is running almost entirely on adrenaline, and once I level that out..."

"Hold it," Emilena said hastily, glancing around the guest room. "I'm not sleeping with the others." After rummaging through Marita's boxes and locating a superheating conductor plate, she climbed out onto the balcony, hoisted herself onto the next floor down and burnt a small hole in the sliding glass window.

"What the hell are you doing?" Lily hissed, precariously following her patient into the uninhabited apartment. The lack of living materials beyond standard furniture indicated this apartment wasn't currently rented out. Emilena had already stumbled into the shower, quickly turning the water to maximum heat and rinsing her entire body of as much of the grime, blood and filth as possible. She sighed as the scorching water rolled down her fur and numbed her nerves.

"Hellooo?" Lily tapped her foot impatiently. "Emilena, you can do this after I've healed you and gone back to the others! I'm really not interested in your crap right now!"

Emilena poked her head out. "Jesus, what the hell's eating you?"

"I hired you to locate and rescue Ejlert, not drop off the face of the Earth and mess around with Vergil!" Lily ripped the curtain aside and wrenched the shower off. "Get on the bed;" she ordered, jabbing her finger, "you get bare minimum heals because I don't feel like looking as if I went through a wood chipper. Not for you."

"Hey, I was following the best lead I had!" exclaimed Emilena angrily, crossing to the bedroom and flopping onto the bed. "You said Vergil was trying to relocate Kalis, right? That means my best chance at reaching Kalis was Vergil! And still is, by the way, why else would I be wasting my time with these--"

"--No!" Lily shouted, face turning red, "There's tailing someone for info, and then there's raiding their cars and getting someone killed, drugging them on a cruise ship for shits and giggles, and then acting like a prick after they rescue you!"

"Hey, nobody rescued me back there!" Emilena sat up angrily. "Not Tony, not Vergil! I saved my own hide from that mafia dungeon!"

"Yeah?" Lily glowered. "What about the time before that?"

Emilena grew silent. Lily pushed the vulpine onto her back and leaned in close.

"Back in Lanthae, you told me that you had a life debt to me," she muttered darkly, face millimeters away from Emilena's. "Well, I don't think you're pulling your weight. As of right now, you better stop all the attitude, stop horsing around because you like pissing people off, and start focusing on the thing I hired you for." Her hand shot out around Emilena's neck and she sucked the remaining energy out of her body. Emilena gasped but she literally couldn't even lift a muscle.

"If Ejlert dies because of your actions," Lily threatened at barely a whisper, "I'll kill you myself." With a flash, Lily stemmed Emilena's bleeding and reset the sprain in her ankle, but offered no recovery beyond that. Leaving the fox gasping for breath on the bed, Lily crossed to the apartment door, unlocked it, and returned upstairs.

As she approached Marita's door, she regarded her new open wounds, hidden under her layers of clothing. Why didn't they feel like they were healing...?

--------------------------------------

Flora tiptoed into the kitchen. "Wh-where's Emi?" she asked nervously.

[Nick22]

marita entered the apartment after Lilly and Emilena. " Hi girls ' she said tired. ' we're back.  are the pot pies ready?'
_ almost done' Rose said from the kitchen. " they'll be ready in 5 minutes."
- Marie looked at flora.' Is Emi the fox that just went through here? i think shes in the guest room ' she said giving Flora a smile. " dinner should be ready in a few minutes, and if you need the shower, theres one in each of our rooms. So if you need to clean up, go ahead. I'm Marie" she smiled.

[bushwacked]

Triste shook her head. "No, I don't have any other ideas. I don't exactly want to play happy families either but..." She shrugged, looking up to study Marita's apartment block. "At least this'll give us time to get our heads together. Come up with a plan for our next move." She glanced at Tony, her eyes settling on his. "Make sure you aren't followed," she warned.

-------------------------------------------

In the apartment, Rio was busy rifling through Marita's cupboards. "Don't you have any pop-tarts?!" He looked across incredulously at Rose. "The fuck is this?!"

Axel popped his head in the doorway. "Rio! Stop that, they said we'd be eating soon!"

"Goddamn it..." Rio sighed, straightening. "No pop-tarts... Your shitty cigarettes..." He waved an accusatory finger in Axel's direction.

"My..." The rat patted his trousers, ears drooping, then started when he saw the corner of his cigarette packet poking out of Rio's pocket. "Jesus, give those back! If Lily knows I've started again..." Darting forward, he snatched them out of the boy's pocket then held them up, far out of the reach of Rio's grasping fingers. "And apologise!"

Rio stopped trying the snatch the cigarettes back and frowned. "What the fuck for?"

"For acting like a jackass to these guys when they're about to cook you a meal! For them letting you in! They didn't have to."

"So fucking what? I..." Rio stopped, his face frozen mid-scowl. As he looked around at the others, his expression slowly slackened. He sighed, then looked in Rose's direction, his eyes fixed on the floor. "I'm... sorry." The word felt alien coming out of his mouth.

Nodding, Axel turned and grinned at Flora. "You know, he tries to act tough, but the night he stayed with me and Lily, I saw him sucking his thumb in his sleep."

Rio blanched. "I knew you were there, I... I was pretending..." he trailed off, unsure what he could say next.

The front door clicked open as Triste let herself in. Her head was tilted disapprovingly. "This building has extremely bad defences," she stated.

[Nick22]

if you want pop tarts we can get you some " Rose replied to Rio. ' I'll go in the morning and get you some. What flavor do you want?'
_
 this place isnt built for defense. Marita replied to Treiste. "if you want  top end security and defense systems, well we dont have nearly the creds for anything approaching top of the line. if we made more creds, then we could worry about that. In any event, dinner is the more pressing matter."