[i]Rrrrrrriiiiiiiip.[/i]

The sound of something wet being torn echoed through the chamber. A light giggle sounded once the silence returned, and then another tear. Then a solid thud. Then a sustained splattering, which lasted a full minute before trickling out. Just as the echoes faded and it seemed another sound would come from inside, a sound from outside broke the chain.

[i]Ring ring! Ring ring![/i]

The door swung silently open to reveal a youth wearing safety goggles and a long white overcoat normally seen in chemical labs. A scorpion tail sprouted from the back, and was currently shrinking back into the youth's back. Most striking, though, was that the youth was splattered liberally with a red liquid and seemed ecstatic because of it.

The youth reached toward the only piece of furniture in this next room, a chair, and lifted the ringing cell phone to answer it. "Hiii~ You've reached Scorpio! I'm washing my hair or something right now, so leave me a nice message! Piiii~" Scorpio listened to the agent relay Max's instructions while removing the overcoat and goggles, knowing that the fun was over - for now.

The message delivered, Scorpio began making themself presentable - the chief had chosen a public meeting place that made it easy to set up an ambush, so Scorpio needed to blend in. The red was cleaned from the face more easily than the hair, but Scorpio figured red-streaked  blonde hair would be considered a fashion statement nowadays and so would not be an issue. Somehow, carrying twin silver-edged swords crossed on one's belt didn't seem at all conspicuous to Scorpio's mind, though.

[hr]
[i]Whud.[/i]

The roof beneath Penny shook as something collided with it at high speed. Scorpio had landed with their tail flat on the roof to spread the force of the landing in order to prevent the roof from caving in. Looked at from the side, the position would look like a G on its side, with Scorpio as the hook.

Scorpio turned back to look up at a tall office building a few blocks away, giving a low whistle. As the tail receded into Scorpio's back, they winked at Penny.

"Nice cosplay. How do you like mine?"

The scorpion didn't wait for an answer before jumping down onto the street, landing not far from Max and the gang. Scorpio hurried over to the group with a wave. "What'd I miss?"