[CENTER][SUB][I][COLOR=SILVER]You pray for the storm of your life, it's over and nothing survived...[/COLOR][/I][/SUB][hr][H3][B][COLOR=SLATEGRAY]H A R D C A M E T H E R A I N[/COLOR][/B][/H3][/CENTER] [hr] [INDENT][COLOR=SLATEGRAY][B][I]Time of Day:[/I] [COLOR=SILVER]Late Evening[/COLOR] [I]Weather:[/I] [COLOR=SILVER]Clear Skies[/COLOR] [I]Location(s):[/I] [COLOR=SILVER]Circo del Arlequín, South East Santa Celia & Argyle Street, West Santa Celia [/COLOR] [I]Interaction(s):[/I] [COLOR=SILVER][@Junkmail] & [@Silver Carrot][/COLOR][/B][/COLOR] [INDENT]Regrouping back at the gang’s garage, Vinnie could barely contain himself as he excitedly went through Natalie’s phone for anything he could find. Scrolling through her photos, Monty rolled his eyes as Vinnie narrated the contents, making comments on each dish of food that Natalie had documented before he forwarded a couple of the girl’s selfies to his own device. [color=#b7b7b7]“You’re disgusting.”[/color] Monty muttered as Vinnie gleefully confirmed that he had received the pictures, holding up his phone to show the older gang member.[color=#b7b7b7] “She’s not going to fall in love with you after you kill her pet.”[/color] [color=#999999]“Why not? We keep her here long enough…”[/color] Vinnie muttered as Monty shook his head. [color=#b7b7b7]“You’ve seen [i]Beauty and the Beast[/i] right?”[/color] [color=#999999]“It’s a damn classic, ‘course I fuckin’ have.”[/color] Vinnie replied as Monty smiled briefly. [color=#b7b7b7]“Good, ‘cause you’re the damn Gaston in this story, so get any notion of a happy ending out of your head. We snatched the girl to kill the lizard, she’s cute, but she ain’t going to be wanting to jump your bones after we off her damn pet.”[/color] He stated dryly as Vinnie blinked a few times before responding. [color=#999999]“Fuck.”[/color] Vinnie muttered. [color=#b7b7b7]“I’m glad you’re actually listening to reas-”[/color] [color=#999999]“Huh?”[/color] Vinnie asked looking up, [color=#999999]“Oh no, I just realized I never got to eat my food. Stomach’s growling something fuckin’ fierce.”[/color] With a groan, Monty climbed out of the car the two had arrived in, looking up in surprise to see that not only had Bianca beat the pair back to their headquarters but she had the girl strung up like a marionette. In front of the pair, a bruised and battered Natalie hung from the rafters of the garage, numerous heavy chains wrapped around her wrists and anchored to the steel beams above. Beneath the petite girl was a large pan filled with water as Binaca paced back and forth, a cattle prod held firmly in her hands. [color=#666666]“You two morons figure out which contact on her phone is the lizard?”[/color] The woman demanded as the pair neared. [color=#999999]“She only has one contact, an Ellara and another text from an unknown asking her to lunch.”[/color] Vinnie chuckled. [color=#999999]“I should reply and let the bastard down easy, maybe tell ‘im she’s tied up at the moment.”[/color] Snatching the phone out of Vinnie’s hand, Binaca took a quick look at it as she scanned the recent message. [center][code]______________________[/code][/center] [indent][indent][indent][indent][indent][indent][indent] [sup][i][color=00a99d]7:45 pm[/color][/i][/sup] [code]Unknown: Would you like to grab lunch sometime? [/code] [/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent] [center][code]______________________[/code][/center] [color=#666666]“It never crossed your mind, that this might fuckin’ be your lizard did it?”[/color] Binaca snapped as smacked Vinnie across the base of his skull. [color=#666666]“For someone who wants revenge, you certainly let yourself get distracted by the first white girl with a flat ass to talk to you.”[/color] [color=#999999]“It’s Monty who wants re-”[/color] [color=#b7b7b7]“This was all your fuckin’ idea, man!”[/color] Monty interjected as Vinnie suddenly cowered and stepped back. Opening the message, Bianca began to reply as she typed out a message to the unknown sender. [center][code]______________________[/code][/center] [indent][indent][indent][indent][indent][indent][indent] [right][sup][i][color=00a99d]9:07 pm[/color][/i][/sup] [code]How about a late supper? Pick me up from work? :Me[/code][/right] [/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent] [center][code]______________________[/code][/center] Pocketing the phone as she waited for a response, Binaca turned her gaze towards Natalie as she motioned to Vinnie to follow her as she approached the woman. Studying the woman, Bianca realized the two weren’t so different in appearance. Natalie’s frame was slightly smaller and Bianca’s skin was more tanned, but from the back, the two could be mistaken for the other. An idea began to form in her head as she felt the phone vibrate in response to her earlier message. [center][code]______________________[/code][/center] [indent][indent][indent][indent][indent][indent][indent] [sup][i][color=00a99d]9:08 pm[/color][/i][/sup] [code]Unknown: You work at Freckles right? I’ll head over now. [/code] [/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent] [center][code]______________________[/code][/center] Typing a quick response to confirm the man’s answer, a smile crossed her face as the trap was set, turning towards Vinnie, Bianca spoke. [color=#666666]“Help me undress her, I need her uniform.”[/color][/INDENT][/INDENT] [color=slategray][indent][sub][B]Location[/B] [COLOR=SILVER][I]Freckles’[/I] - [I]Argyle Street, Santa Celia[/I][/COLOR][/sub][hr][/indent][/color] [INDENT][INDENT]Keeping the Freckles’ hat low over her face, Bianca paced back and forth behind the rear of Freckles’ as she waited for Vinnie’s ‘Lizard’ to rear its ugly head. She was confident in her own abilities to protect her should things go South, but what she wasn’t confident in was the fact that there was even a ten foot tall lizard roaming the streets of Santa Celia. The city might have been strange, but it wasn’t that strange. At least it hadn’t been previously. Given her powers, Natalie’s powers and the city’s escalating crime rates, Bianca wouldn’t be surprised if they were just ahead of the curve. The gang, the accurately dubbed the [i]Scavengers[/i], wasn’t exactly a glamorous gig. They lacked any sort of formal leadership and instead they just went along with any get rich quick scheme suggested by an idiot like Vinnie. Of course that did make her something of a hypocrite considering she was currently playing bait for a giant lizard. Nonetheless, Binaca figured that whoever this ‘lizard’ was, didn’t exactly walk around covered in scales all the time. They had to be normal at some point, meaning whoever was going to show up might not look the part when they arrive, but she was confident she could goad it out of them. With Natalie still tied up back at the garage, and her phone in Binaca’s pocket, there was no way to trace Natalie’s location without Bianca’s help, meaning even if this lizard were able to overwhelm her, he’d have reason to keep her alive. And that would hopefully lull the beast into enough of a false sense of security to storm the base and spring the trap awaiting him there.[/INDENT][/INDENT]