Pilatus

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Joel Nicolosi

They had an Audi Sport Quattro kit car back at the team garage that Joel was thinking about as he leaned against the back of the GT-R breathing in the cold night air stealing a brief glance up at the clear sky where the light dissipation from the city wasn’t as great and some stars were visible. The car was a shit-ton of fun to drive and was completely old school with a traditional clutch pedal, basic round steering wheel and an H-gate shifter that felt like cycling a rifle bolt. He’d only got to drive it once as it was only for “promotions” as he was told. He let his mind wander briefly giving a few nods and waves to people that recognized him and looked a little surprised to see him out at the old stomping grounds before casually easing back into reality as he heard Sio describing her apparent stalker across the way and attempting to hide under her hood which seemed rather odd.

“Nope, no hiding now.” Joel said pulling her hood back and letting her red hair fall. He knew she was worried about the media and her image otherwise she was never one to shy away which annoyed him a little. “We came out here for you.” He said resting one arm over the rear-wing and letting his eyes scan past the person she described, but not settle on anyone particular. “No one here is going to say anything.” He continued leaning over to talk in her ear enjoying the smell of her coffee scented shampoo. A small cylinder engine fired up across the lot filling the air with a high-pitched exhaust burst. There were bets going around on the first run of the night and he smirked with some amusement at the scene thinking most everyone out there had probably watched too many movies or just had more money than sense- while some had neither. “I doubt anyone out here even reads that rag they circulate around town and no one for sure is going to say anything.”

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Paige Kennedy & Milo Ventri

“StarBank, Millenium, First National…” Paige crossed her arms and looked at the markers on the screen of her laptop. She’d said the names of Sol’s three largest banks to herself so many times that they just flowed together in her mind like a song. “All on the same side of the river…” She continued. “And this Friday will be the first time in three months that the there will be a truck run on all three in the same day.” She looked on at the screen resting her chin into her palm as she ran the scenarios over and over again through her head. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever think she would be potentially making the biggest score of her career in the cold and dark winter of Sol City.

“Why don’t they just go for the trucks?” Milo asked. He tossed another cut log into the small wood fireplace in his shop. Despite how much he had restored the rest of his place into a modern living-space, Paige always gravitated back to the workshop, back to the same table where they lured the gangster, Jackie Costa, into a trap.

“The cash is laced with dye-packs.” Paige said tapping a few keys and moving the map around. “Guards have Uzi’s, it’s just like the old days.”

Milo snorted a little in amusement and sipped a little at the small glass of high-end scotch that Siobhan had managed to liberate from the Olympus family at the Art Showing. Paige’s custom of simply taking whatever she wanted, wherever she wanted, seemed to be rubbing off some on the younger redhead. Though he still wasn’t consuming like he’d been before the assassin’s attempt against him, he accepted the bottle a little curious how the girl had managed to acquire such exotic tastes in spirits at such a young age. Out of habit, the glass rolled slowly in his hand as he watched Paige and thought of the night that the bottle was claimed while another sip slowly burned down. He was officially done with the Romus/Olympus clan. Without a word, Paige had allowed them to prove her right and he had to give her credit for keeping quiet when he knew she was burning to tell them what she thought. Looking at her wearing one of his HEMA t-shirts that she had cut-out to hang loosely off one shoulder only further confirmed that he had made the right decision, but a slightly serious expression drew across his face at the thought. Seeing the ferocity of determination in her face reminded him that she would do anything to get back to Florida and he knew she believed taking down Nikki would be a step in that direction. For him, it was only a step into the past, he had no desire to return to Delta City and had put it all behind him. It was the only unsaid thing between them.

Paige relaxed some and leaned back in her chair resting one arm behind her and sensing his gaze. Unlike him, she could never become immune to the scent of molten metal and gun cleaner that hung in the air within his workshop and was glad of it. The smell was intoxicating. She locked her eyes with his as the fire snapped across the dried wood behind him. Her green orbs searched into him. It was the same look he’d given a few moments after she told him about Ana coming to Sol City and she still couldn’t believe the naivete that she allowed within herself. In her mind she tried to think that things would be the same as they had always been between the three of them, but in her heart she knew that would never again be the case and in those dark echoes she knew that if he still loved Ana, she would never be able to compete. The moment passed without a word and she turned back to the screen and small coffee cup he poured for her.

“The distraction is the wildcard…” Paige said breaking the silence that followed.

“It’ll be on the westside,” Milo said. He walked over to his work bench and examined his rifle in a state of partial deconstruction and cleaning. “They’ll want to use the bridge traffic as a barrier.” He truly didn’t know what she had in mind for him, like she had just put aside the fact that he wasn’t a cop or a soldier he was just a man. He looked at his hands steadily working, thinking about what he’d done with the man who’d tried to kill him. Sure, it was good to talk about it with her and she was probably right that it would get easier with time though he wondered if she really was proud of her body count. “What do you think they’ll hit?”

Paige brushed some of her hair aside; by the end of the day of the day much of it hung loosely from her regular braid and covered much of her exposed shoulder. “Probably just blow up a car or something, it’s the oldest trick in the book.” She shook her head. “It just seems too simple though, it’s not their style.” She sighed and found his hand suddenly resting on her collarbone massaging the back of her neck with his thumb. She let her head fall over as his touch took some of the tension away feeling the roughness of his hand against her skin. Her exhaustion was evident, but she picked up her phone and started typing out a few messages as her eyes were heavy. Milo watched not saying a word as the screen was clearly visible.

Text to Marlin

Are you working with the helicopter this Friday?

Text to Dustynn

Has your boss received any more offers on the Club that you know of?

@MissCapnCrunch@PrinceAlexus@RoccanIronclad@Almalthia

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

I wont get to it until tonight, but i see it's already been moved over.

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Joel Nicolosi

Joel wasn’t in a particularly good mood in the days following Siobhan’s art showing. He wasn’t visibly upset, but he was irritated and he knew Sio could sense it and the fact that she knew it, irritated him further. The painting that she had done for him now hung proudly in his living room above the shop among his other motorsport related pieces. It was definitely the most thoughtful thing anyone had done for him and far and away the best gift any female had ever given him. No, it was the family attached to the McLaren/Senna F1 steering wheel that hung alongside of the painting that was, again, the source of his irritation. When Sio first told him about the words spoken at the Gallery relating to himself and Marlin he merely pursed his lips in annoyance and let it go. No, it was when the gossip column was published that he was officially pissed and the fact that Sio had attempted to take up for him just made it worse. He seemed to live rent-free in the minds of those people and he was sure that aggravating him had become a source of pleasure for the whole nutty-bunch.

The drive along to the west-side had been mostly quiet as the sound of the GT-R’s engine tended to make a steady conversation difficult. The gauges cast a dim light over Joel’s stoic expression while his right hand rested over the center pillar on Siobhan’s blue-jeaned leg. He glanced at the few sparse changes in the landscape under the floodlights that spotted through the darkness of the night. The landscape south of Old Sol airport was as cold and barren as it ever was, only marked by the occasional shrub or tree line and a couple newly built warehouses. The roads were a long grid that dead-ended in a few places and were straight and flat. In his younger days, when it was much less developed, it was a regular spot for to meet up, hang-out and of course, race. Being on the far outskirts of Sol-County, the police rarely paid any attention until someone occasionally rolled a car. A few memories popped up as he watched brake-lights blinking in the distance where cars were lined up on the roadside. He hadn’t been back in several years and honestly felt like he had outgrown it.

Joel checked his watch. He would be due back on the mountain again in the morning for another shakedown as they got the cars ready for Jamaica. Then everything would go on a plane and everyone would fly down for the season opener. If it weren’t so much fun, the rally team might have felt like work he thought as he glanced around unamused. “When I was a kid, this was where everybody came to run,” Joel said with a slight yawn. “I never raced here though, too many people just out to see what ya got.” The sleek, stealth bomber-like lines of the GT-R drew sharp stares and gawks from onlookers in the assembled crowd as they pulled up. Joel had no doubt some, if not all of the people gathered would recognize him, though they were only there looking for one person in particular. Joel scratched at the significant stubble that had grown across his face and pushed some of his hair back behind his ear as it curled out from under his cap in waves.

One of the smartest pieces of advice anyone had given him after winning the Grand Prix was “market yourself” and just for fun, he decided to have a couple caps made that simply said apex across the crown in a simple font: one that matched the more subdued blue, white, red and silver of the rally team and the other that matched the bright red, white and blue of his 300ZX. Each sported his regular #75 on the side and either the VW/Rebellion or the Nismo logo. Every time he was in the public-eye he tried to wear one and sure enough the emails and social media requests started rolling in as to where fans could buy one. On this particular night he was wearing the latter along with the matching jacket he brought back from Japan and it was cold enough for jeans to be appropriate. He glanced around at the cars and people gathered around amidst puffs of breath in the night air then over at Sio as he very casually unbuckled his belts watching her do the same unsure of who or for what he was supposed to be looking. “Seen him yet?” He asked.

@Almalthia@PrinceAlexus

X-Men: The New Era

Coleman St. John

Glancing over the layout of the outer wall and the iron main gates, Cole found it interesting that even though the school was all new construction, the entire campus seemed to have been built to look aged, like it had always been there. His eyes were scanning steadily when he saw a woman approach on the other side of the gate amongst the regular flow of students and staff. Instinctively, he knew it was Miss Everose as soon as she turned into his line of sight. Her appearance was just about in line with what he expected from her voice on the phone. Fit and serious, she had a youthful and determined stride that he liked and he had to remember for a second that he was there for an interview.

What he didn’t expect as he caught her piercing glance with a cordial smile was her temporary loss of footing and even though he was on the opposite side of the closed gate, he almost involuntarily adjusted his stance as if to catch her, but she recovered, seemingly a little embarrassed. As she typed a code into the other side of the stone pillar he listened for how many digits she pressed and how quickly, noting that with the right amount of reach and the correct tools, someone with the code could let themselves in the front gate fairly easily from the outside. He met her warm greeting with a firm handshake and was a little amused with her academic tone, though he was immediately skeptical of her wanting to do a tour of the perimeter rather than get to the scheduled interview.

Why the hell would she want to do a tour before I even answered any questions? He thought to himself keeping an indifferent expression across his face as the gate closed back behind her. On top of that, she’s willing to get in a car with someone she has never even met… Which was a massive, waving red-flag. He gave a light shrug, though inside he was more than a little cautious about it himself and glanced up briefly to where he thought security cameras might be watching along the sides of the buildings and fence-line. “Ok, sure thing.” He said turning back and leading her to his car, even politely opening the door for her. When he got in the driver’s seat, he very casually let all of the windows down so that anyone watching could see them both easily and was thankful that it was a nice day.

@Almalthia

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Expect to see a formal skip notice coming pretty soon. We have been on this event for a LONG WHILE (I suspect a Sol City record has been set on the Art Gallery/Showing)and it's near time to bring about the finale for Chapter Two. Stay tuned. We'll at least do one more skip before we announce the finale.

~P

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Joel Nicolosi

Joel was pulling the tab up to let the rear seat down when he had a sense that he was being watched and glanced back over his shoulder from underneath the clear plastic rear window seeing Siobhan standing with the wrapped painting in front of her body. He locked eyes with her for a moment and smirked. Her hair looked great in the style she’d chosen and when she handed him the canvas, the rest of her ensemble went right along with it. Sweet Jesus. He thought to himself as his eyebrows noticeably raised a bit taking in her ample figure. When she posed her question, a quick movie quote that he knew she would instantly remember flashed through his mind: “Yea, it should be a dress or nothing, fortunately i have no dress onboard.” He said before easing the canvas carefully on top of the rear seat and closing up the back of Jeep.

It looked like they were going to make an unnoticed escape. No Marlin, no Victoria and none of her crazy family had noticed him, yet and if they had, no one had followed Sio out with any snooty remarks. He’d had a long enough day of practicing on the mountain with the rally team that his fuse for drama was about a fraction less than a centimeter. He was tired and glad to see Sio. Whatever happened after picking her up was just bonus and he grinned a little at the thought as he watched her backside when she stepped up into the passenger seat. The valet swiped up the stool as soon as he closed the door behind her and passed it off to Joel as if they had practiced it earlier that night. He dropped it into the rack behind the spare tire and jumped up into the driver’s seat pulling the door firmly closed behind him. Anyone that got in the way was getting run over.

“Smooth, huh?” He said letting the clutch out and giving the gas a couple taps before they were on their. “We seem to have a talent for making swift escapes.”

X-Men: The New Era

Coleman St. John

After the accident, the doctors at the clinic told him certain things would come back quite naturally while others may take time or even have to be relearned completely. Things like remembering where things were in the grocery store, the channels for the news or how to shift the gears on his bike came very naturally, like nothing had happened, but even over a year later he couldn’t recall where the title to the bike was or who he had bought it from. Driving along he glanced at the passing cars while the station played a song he knew he was tired of hearing, but still liked just enough not to change. The GPS in the dash gave a chipper reminder that his exit was approaching and his hand rolled over the turn signal as he left the freeway, thankful to exit the choked artery of afternoon traffic.

The cases over the last several months hadn’t been anything particularly exciting, but the folder in the passenger seat next to him represented solid casework- something else that came back as naturally as hitting the ball with the bat. He was proud of it and derived a certain level of satisfaction just glancing over briefly at the size of the neatly tied legal file as he drove along. The Los Angeles area was never short on work for a private investigator and the pages therein included recommendations from lawyers, clients and police as well as meticulously concluded files that covered everything from cheating spouses to the run of cigarette boats coming up from Mexico. The money wasn’t making him rich, but he was getting along well enough to eat out at places that didn’t include a drive-thru when he wanted. With the inevitable Fall slow-down approaching, he was thinking about expanding his scope of business and was the reason for his current drive.

The ad placed by the Ashford Institute wasn’t particularly large or attention grabbing and seemed, at first glance, a little out of place when Cole first noticed it in the local paper accepting resumes for a “Security Analyst”. Not thinking he’d get any sort of reply in light of the numerous ex-military types and more established offices in the area, he went ahead and sent in his CV just out of curiosity and to his surprise, received a call back from a Professor named Everose who wanted a face to face interview. Something about her voice through the phone felt searching as if she was gathering some sense of him just between their voices. He hung up the line at the end of the call with slight reservation, but decided to go to the interview nonetheless. The Institute had developed a particular sort of mystique around it in the local community. No one really seemed to know a lot about it, though everyone knew the name.

One thing that was for certain, by all accounts and research, was that they were very particular about their screening process and the “gifted” moniker was a catch-all for their particular clientele. He nodded to himself with a tiny smirk thinking about it as turned off a few surface streets towards a long rural stretch, he could be rather particular himself. It had been over a week since he last made a ride, but over the course of several months, the feeling became more like an instinct or a calling. He could feel it in his chest, like a fist reaching and grasping the inside of his heart, tighter and stronger with each moment he held back. Embracing it felt completely natural. The rush of wind over his shoulders, the unbridled focus, like his whole aura was pouring out from his soul in a path of fire and scorched earth. He wasn’t expecting anything too exciting from the school or a bunch of stuffy academic types, but as he approached the gate, he couldn’t deny the distant flame of suspicion in the back of his mind.

Cole placed the legal file in a small backpack and thumbed the keyfob a couple times giving the alarm a couple short notes as he stepped away from the completely inconspicuous grey Explorer he used for his PI work among the other cars in the small lot. Miss Everose had told him to call when he arrived and she would let him through the main gate. Looking around at most of the fairly new construction, he made a few mental notes to himself as he pulled up her number and sent the call.


@Almalthia

X-Men: The New Era

Coleman St. John

PIC

Name: Coleman Lee Queen/St. John

Nicknames: ”Cole”

Aliases: the Ghost Rider

Gender: Male

Age: 33

Occupation: Former ATF Special Agent, Currently Private Investigator

Hometown: Miami, FL

Birthday: June 3, 1985

Weight: 195

Height: 6’1”

Eye Color: Left is Green, Right is Brown, not starkly different, but noticeable

Style: Very Simple t-shirts, polos, jeans, riding boots, leather jacket, whatever is appropriate for the situation, never flamboyant

Relationships: Karina (wife), Tyler, Reese & CJ (sons, from a year old to eight), Sarah (sister) and his parents are still alive.

Likes:
+Coffee / Energy Drinks
+Books
+Heavy Metal / Metalcore
+Machines / Anything Mechanical
+Competition
+the Outdoors
+Cigarettes, the smell, not smoking them

Dislikes:
-Telephones
-Slow Drivers
-Bad Grammar
-Gothic Themes
-Politics
-Gambling
-Conspiracy Theories

Personality

-Quiet+Serious-Strong+Loyal-Covered+Raging-Restrained

Much the same as before he became the Rider, Cole presents a very reserved personality that many take, on mere appearance, as dark or brooding, but behind the outward layer of seriousness and oftentimes sarcasm, is far from his true self. He is actually very kind and compassionate person though has found himself shaped by his past, chosen profession and now, appointed position.

Powers:
As the Ghost Rider, Cole serves as the Heavenly avatar of Vengeance giving him extremely heightened reflexes, super-human strength and near invulnerability to physical attack. As a supernatural being, Cole is able to traverse both mortal and immortal realms and bring forth powers therein, the primary of which being the projection of Hellfire, which he uses as a his central mode of offense and defense imbibing objects with spiritual power to suit his needs; most commonly seen as a motorcycle and/or a chain. The spiritual nature of the flame burns toward the mind and soul of his target, but can also cause physical damage.

The central manifestation of the Ghost Rider’s powers is the Penance Stare and is the focused culmination of all his powers, ie.: the paid retribution of wrongs and misdeeds by the target of the stare. Like the rest of his powers, the effects are primarily felt by those that have inflicted harm on the innocent. By locking eyes with the Rider, victims are forced to endure the agony and distress they have inflicted upon others as well as whatever additional measure of pain he determines is necessary for justice to be satisfied.

Bio:

Following in line with his interests, Cole was tasked primarily with gathering information and building casework against South Florida’s biker gangs, namely the two rival organizations: the Templars and the Aztecs. At thirty-one years old, Cole had been undercover for nearly three years with the Templars and risen from initial placement as a Prospect to a Full-Patch member of the Club, eventually being appointed to the role of Treasurer giving him access to a multitude of information from which to continue to build the ATF's case against both gangs.

Home life was never easy in light of his chosen career path. Cole married when he was twenty-four while his wife was barely twenty. They had their first child only ten months after the wedding, the other two following only a few years apart. Being away and on no set schedule made parenting and being a husband difficult, but he did the best he could manage and remained faithful trying to set an example to his boys while at the same time playing the role of an outlaw biker.

Nearing the end of the investigation was where events turned awry. Cole’s case against the Templars was solid and he would soon have to reveal his identity and pull out of deep cover before arrests could take place, however a confidential informant within the Aztecs betrayed the ATF at the critical moment and once the word spread from the rival club, Cole was setup for ambush and killed. The ATF came down on the Templars in Miami in force, but the damage was already done. No body was ever recovered.

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Joel Nicolosi

The big knobby tires of Joel’s Jeep squeaked over the stone of the manor driveway amidst what was becoming a steady, cold rain. It had crossed his mind to drive through a giant mud hole and then track it all over their pristine driveway, but he had thought better of it considering the letter he just composed to Maxmillion and he could see the event staff that were stuck outside handling the valet service were thoroughly freezing their asses off underneath the awning setup to protect the more distinguished guests from the weather. They would likely be the ones tasked with cleaning up the mess. He switched off the stereo leaving only the steady thrum of the Wrangler’s ample heat running as he pulled up.

The staff seemed completely unphased by his arrival and he figured Sio had let them know to look for a red Jeep to pick her up. He would’ve preferred to have arrived in the GT-R, but that didn’t get driven in the rain. Luckily however, there was still something almost as undignified about the Jeep. He shot a quick glance through the front doors as a few guests stepped out, but not spotting anyone familiar or even much of a look at anything. One of the staff came around to speak with him and he cranked down the window tasting the coldness of the night.

“Good evening Mr. Nicolosi, Miss Murphy will be out shortly,” The young attendant glanced around before speaking again, more quietly: “Nice Jeep.”

“Oh, well thanks.” Joel replied slightly surprised. He looked back towards the door hoping to find Sio approaching, not wanting to stay any longer than required. He could feel eyes on him as soon as he pulled in the driveway. He glanced down at his phone wedged in the cupholder and could easily read the text that beeped in. “Can I just sit right here and wait?”

“Not a problem, sir.” The man replied. “Do want to warn you that Miss Murphy is bringing a piece with her, we’ll just need some space to load it.”

Well shit… Joel thought to himself. Now I’ll have to get out. Which he acknowledged he was going to have to do anyway to help Sio get in gracefully wearing a dress. He glanced down at the small fold-out stool he had brought along that could be opened with a flick of the wrist and drummed his fingers over the steering wheel for a moment considering how quickly he could load one of her paintings in the back and be gone as soon as possible. “Alright, I got it.” He said pushing the door open and hopping down. Wearing his regular shorts the cold air immediately bit against his skin “Just put that stool in front of the passenger door.” He said walking around the back and swinging the spare tire holder open. The back of the Jeep was a collection of various decals acquired over the years: A couple surfing companies, a Winter Soldier roundel, an SR-71 diamond, a few others and the latest, a black Rebellion “R”. He popped the soft top window away from its channel and opened the tailgate hoping she would be out quickly.

@Almalthia@PrinceAlexus