Like A Comic Book City (Private Roleplay with Leeprower1012) (Trisell)

Introduction
A chameleon girl arrived via warp ring into the Mobius zone 4281 called "Tolk". She was in one of the Mebetros cities: an island of sorts very much like the state of New York. The city appeared to be pulled from just ahead of the 21st Century, with rare futuristic or technologically-advanced sections such as some holographic screens about the sidewalks showing ads and such.

She was nearby the local high school, and for the moment, nothing appeared to be going wrong.

Timeline/Continuity Context
This roleplay is set 1 year into the character Jensen's story, and is currently set to be placed in the wiki canon or be non-canon depending on the decision of the participants.

Characters

 * Vane The Chameleon
 * Jensen (The White Jester)

Roleplay Start
Vane looked around, still getting used to this odd city and it's inhabitants.

(I'll reply in-character as soon as I can.  Drawing what Jensen's normal mobian appearance is.)

The inhabitance were mostly mobian, save the rare human or overlander. Bears, lizards, and meerkats were the most prominent. Vane was close enough to the basketball court for a greeting or two as the students bounced the ball about.

She watched the various groups play their game, wondering who had sent her the warp ring that'd brought her here.

One of the teenagers seemed to be approaching her from the other side of the fence: some hybrid it seemed of a gazelle and a lynx. He gave a short wave, and wore a grey undershirt, a pale blue t-shirt on top, and pale tan jeans.

Vane waved back, then looked at her hand, seeing friendliness wasn't something she usually displayed.

"Are you from a different world?" The teenager asked.

"Umm... Yes." Vane answered, even more confused at this situation which made less and less sense as it continued. "How does he know that?" She thought to herself.

"Had a feeling what with the glowing yellow light and then you just appearing there," He nodded whilst stepping out of the basketball area.

"I suppose that'd be.... Abnormal?" She replied.

"You seem a bit lost," He theorized. "What are you looking for?"

"Em... A warp ring?" She asked "Sorry, what is this place?"

"Uh, the school or the city?"

Vane laughed slightly. "The city first, then the school."

"Kary Fritz, and Kary Fritz High."

"Hmm. Umm... I'm Vane." She said, finally introducing herself.

"Jensen," He extended his hand to shake.

Vane shook his hand.

"So you're looking for a way back  home then?"

"That would be preferable." She replied, slightly ashamed at the fact she was admittedly asking to get away from this kind stranger.

"Well I'm not really sure how we'd go about that," He admitted, "but you said something about a warp ring? What's that look like?"

"Imagine a golden ring about six to seven feet tall." She said. "Sometimes they can take you from one place to another, other times across worlds."

"And the one that brought you here just vanished?"

"They tend to do after a use. Jeez! Why did I try to use a random potential dimensional portal!" She shouted, kicking the asphalt.

"I take it you're in a rush to get back, huh?" Jensen took a smell step back from the kicking.

"Yeah....sorta." She laughed in a way that showed her shame. "But I...wouldn't be against you showing me around?"

He paused at this, mouth gaping just a tad before he composed himself again. "Uh- sure!  Do... are you hungry?"

"Some food would be nice, if that's what you're asking."

"Alright, there's a pizza place a few blocks down.  Everyone's out of school so the cafeteria won't be open.  You like pizza?" He started down the street.

"Yes. it is more contemporary than what I usually eat, though." Vane said, Following him.

"Contemporary?" He half-chuckled as they walked. "How do you mean?"

"I eat a lot more noodles and things of the sort where I live." She answered. "I never really had any pizza till I went to Mobotropolis city."

"Well cool to know everyone on your world eats the same stuff as us," He chuckled. Vane could see the pizzeria ahead of them, but they were interrupted when the ground suddenly shook. A boom from the far left and screams sounding.

Vane spun to face the sound, gripping her katana but not pulling them out.

"Great..." Jensen sighed, turning to Vane. "Uh, this... happens a lot- I'll be right back," He started to run down the steet toward the booming.

Vane watched Jensen run towards the source of the excitement, then rushed after him.

Jensen didn't seem to notice Vane running after at first as they turned a corner to show a giant cement-looking monster. He was thirty feet in height with a bulking physique and tendrils on the sides of his back.

The chameleon groaned in disgust at the hideous monster.

It was at this point that Jensen noticed Vane had followed. "W- hey, this uh..." and he immediately ran out of anything to say to ward her off considering his own... being there. "So you ever fight something like this?"

"Not quite this size, they're usually smaller." She answered.

"Yeah, this is... Cementor..."

The creature roared at the two, considering they were the only ones in the area at the moment not in a building. And on that note, Jensen was now swiftly entering one.

Vane ran after him. "Cementor? That sounds like a villain from some cheesy video game."

"Not too far off," Jensen called back, looking back and forth. He stopped at two hallways. "Alright... uh... you go right I'll go left?  The place isn't empty."

She went in the direction she'd been told to.

Jensen ran the other way, and as assumed, there were people on the opposite end of the building trying to climb out the window before the monster crashed against the building.

Vane was running down the hall, when several people shoved past her, heading to the far side of the building.

A sudden blast sound came from the roof as the ceiling started to crack, people dropping to the ground in panic.

The Chameleon opened a portal above everyone's heads, hoping to move some of the rubble outside.

Some of the people looked over to her, gaping in silence. The building was shaking, and outside the windows they could see dripping cement falling down.

"WhatdoIdo?whatdoIdo?" Vane repeated in panic.

The building was starting to crumble a bit but then the cement stopped pouring, a loud crack coming from outside. The people were still trapped, however.

She whimpered, scared of what was happening.

A white-suited hand reached in from the window, forming a strange-looking slide to the exit. "Everybody out!" A voice called.

Vane looked at the ceiling, then at the slide-hand. "You heard it, people!" Moving the group to the exit.

People started rushing through the window at once, getting in each others way.

"Jeez! Single file, people!" She shouted in anger mixed with her panic.

"Hey is that a portal?" The voice asked.

"Don't worry about it!" She replied. "Single file!" She said to the civilians.

"Can you make one of those that go to the sidewalk?" The voice asked.

"Bad things happen when other people try to go through!" She stated.

"Okay, just get them through the hole okay then."

"Got it." She said, continuing to move the group.

The people eventually got outside, with Vane being the only one left now. "Alright, your turn!" The voice called.

Vane jumped into her portal, appearing outside.

A white-suited figure with pink highlights on his suit, wearing a hood with black and green stripes at the back swung around, knocking the cement monster away from the building overhead.

"This keeps getting weirder." Vane said.

The hooded fellow drew the cement monster further away, shooting small bolts of energy into him from above before burrowing inside.

Vane pulled her katana free, opening a portal to the hole in the monster. "Do you need help?"

A hole opened up in the monster's chest. "Uh- yeah, go for it," He called out before the hole closed again.

She did a spinning move, slashing repeatedly at the monster.

The Cementor hardened after a few slashes, trying to strap her arm in the cement in the process. Its head blew off suddenly, flying upward as the hooded figure popped out.

She tried breaking her katana from the Cementor's skin, since it seemed defeated.

The cement was still hardened, though depending on her strength, perhaps she could free it. The hooded figure seemed to be trying to pull someting out from the body: a glowing orb with wires attached. The body began moving again, however, closing up at the top.

Vane pulled a blade handle out at her left glove, releasing her normal katana whilst the handle surged out a glowing blade, and she began hacking her swords out.

The cement cracked open. She could see the glowing inside the monster swimming about, nearing the lower section.

"What the?!" She shouted in surprise.

"Stab the glowing part!" The hooded guy called from inside.

Vane thrust her blade into the orb, curious what it was.

Her blade stabbed through the cement and hit the orb. The hole suddenly widened from her blade's strike, the hooded man jumped outward, dragging the orb out with him. The cords were still holding on to it however, and swiftly he called out "Cut off the cords!"

She lept forward, severing the rope-like strands.

Sparks went off as the orb was ripped free of the cords. The cement around began to instantly liquify. The white-suited man dropped the orb behind himself before quickly stretching his arms around the cement to block it from covering the area.

She opened a portal, moving herself out of that slime's way.

The white-suited skinny figure teleported behind her suddenly with a "You did pretty good out there."



"Thanks?" Vane answered.

"See you around," He gave a little salute motion before picking up the orb and rushing off as the container holding the cement flickered away.

She scratched her head, then began digging through the slime, looking for her katana.

it wasn't hard to locate in the liquid cemente. Soon enough, the door from the building opened up, with Jensen looking about before focusing in on her location. "There you went."

"Where'd you go? She asked him "There was this guy that just kicked the things butt."

"Where did you go?" He asked back. "I was getting people out of the building.  Wait, what guy?"

"He was white, had a hood... That's all I can remember, it was kind of a blur." She answered. "You OK?"

"Yeah, the building shook a bit but the side I was on didn't reall- oh the police are here now," he gestured to the far back behind her.

"Then it's probabaly time to go." She said, turning to run.

Jensen nodded, running toward a nearby alley crossover to the next block.

She followed him into the alley.

They made a few turns about the area. They must had gone about a half mile before stopping finally.

"So... Where to now?" She asked.

"Well," Jensen panted a bit before answering "Do you still want to try for the pizza?  That is if the police don't find us and wonder what that was."

She sat down on the ground. "Sure? It's probably not too bad an idea."

"Cool- uh, do you need a minute to catch your breath?"

She quickly stood back up. "No, I'm good, sorry."

"No problem.  It's still close by thankfully," He smiled before gesturing over as he jogged onward.

Vane smiled before following him.

Now they were finally at the place. The tomato sauce could be smelled easily as they walked inside. It was somewhat small but tables and chairs were seen outside and inside. The menu was at the front counter with a few uniformed young adults behind it.

"Oh, gosh. I'm sorry, I.. Um.. Don't have any money.." She apologized.

Jensen chuckled slightly. "It's fine, I was planning to pay anyway.  Didn't really expect someone from a different world to pay for stuff.  Anyway, what do you want to get?"

"Just some pineapple, please." Vane answered.

"Alright, I'll get a half-and-half," He nodded. "Guess you don't subscribe to the whole 'Evil Pizza' idea, huh?" He pulled out his wallet.

"No, I guess not. Thanks, by the way." The Chameleon replied.

Jensen nodded as he ordered the food before walking over to a table: brushing off some crumbs as he pulled out a seat for her.

"Oh! thank you." She said, setting her sheaths on the ground.

"So you go into warrior stuff a lot?"

"Sometimes, I am a ninja, after all."

"Oh... coool.  Do you have the whole outfit?"

"Yeah, the mask isn't too comfortable, though, so I leave it behind a lot of times." She answered.

"Have you had to kill anybody yet?"

She shrugged. "No, I've managed to avoid that, which isn't to say I haven't seen someone die."

"Right... sorry."

Vane looked around, waiting either for the food or something to happen.

"It'll be a bit," Jensen informed. "They should have it ready in about five minutes though.  In the meantime, is there anything you want to know about this world maybe?"

"Umm.. Maybe what year it is?" She asked.

"3241," He answered. "Not sure if tht means anything though."

"This world isn't too far ahead of mine, but seems a lot more.... Futuristic." She said.

"Really?" He chuckled. "Figured we'd have flying cars by now."

"Most of the people in my home thought that too." She answered.

He shrugged. "Things are pretty steady here.  Most of the futuristic parts come from the super villains and super heroes going about."

"We have more plain heroes than superheroes, and just progidy types that keep the world moving." She scratched her head.

"So not much of the whole laser eyes and flying, huh?"

"Not so much flying, but I do know a speedster." Vane answered. "I haven't seen him in a while, though."

"What's he like?"

"He's... A handful: he's brave, strong, doesn't care what people think of him.. So, you have any friends?"

"A few at school, yeah.  Are you in school or are you mainly into the ninja stuff?"

"It varies, I've gone to school as a cover, but I focus on my training more."

"Sounds exciting.  Very secret-agent."

"Number 49!" One of the employees called.

"That's us," Jensen stood up, walking over to get the pizza.

She followed him, grabbing hers.

They soon walked back over to the table with the respective slices. "So was that you fighting the cement monster earlier?"

"Yes, with the hooded stranger." Vane said, taking a bite.

"White Jester," He named. "Local super hero, you probably guessed that of course.  You weren't in too much danger?"

"This whole city seems fictional almost, but I suppose we all seem like that to someone somewhere." She said, lamenting her own bizzare adventures. "So, how many super heroes are there in this city?"

"Uh... like... three I think just here.  There's a whole team of them that protect the planet though.  Jester's not... part of that team.  They don't trust him or something."

"Hmm. I suppose that's more what I'd like to wind up doing. Who are the other two?"

"Zanni the Masked, and Gatapix... The latter's a little... intense."

"I'm not surprised there's a dark one in the bunch." She said, taking another bite.

"Well not really that dark, just over-the-top.  He looks like someone from a metal-band."

"Does he have an album?" She asking, trying at a joke.

"Probably," Jensen chuckled back, having not tried his pizza quite yet with the discussion. "He's got this weird weapon-appearing power.  He'll say something like 'These hands have been blessed by the power of the wizard's satchel'."

Vane realized he hadn't taken a bite yet. "Sorry if I'm asking too many questions, I'm just curious. This world intrigues me." She said, setting what was left of her pizza on a plate.

"No problem," He smiled. "I'd be upset if I didn't get to be the one to talk about it someone from another world."

She made a slight face. "I suppose that's true. So, do you have any powers?" She asked.

"Me?" His back straightened up suddenly. "Uh... guess it would depend on what you're from, but... no."

"Oh" Vane replied. "Well, I can make portals from one place to another, they just tend to destroy things that go through.. except me."

"Do you know why?"

"I've got some special gene or something that keeps my molecular structure together instead of being ripped apart." She waved her hand dismissively. "Science mumbo jumbo."

"Anybody else do that sort of thing?"

"Teleport? No, that's just me. It's a side-effect to a genetic thing called light chaos, there's a few of us that have it, but mine's special; there's only one other that has an extension." She answered.

"Chaos?" He blinked. "Light Chaos?"

"Chaos is an energy inside everyone on my world, light and dark are two variants. Light is weaker but can give a unique power, dark is... Well, dark." She said, hoping to shine some light on the subject.

"And you can use the Light Chaos," He repeated almost in a question. He seemed a bit more surprised or fascinated with this, evident by him repeating what she already explained.

"Yes, it mainly powers these weapons we received." Vane pulled the silver handle into view. "Like this."

"What's the handle do?" He looked it over.

The same blade from earlier protruded. "That." She said, hold it steady straight up.

He fell back in his seat from the blade coming out. "Whoa!  Nice..." He looked about. "Uh, probably shouldn't show that in here though."

The glowing weapon disengaged. "I am aware, that is why I did not wish to show it. But you asked me to.

"I... only asked what it did- never mind," He dismissed, not wanting to escalate the sudden blame game. "You ready to head out now?"

Vane recoiled, realizing she'd blamed him for something she had chosen to do. "Umm.. Yes, that'd be good.

"Sure," He closed the pizza boxes, carrying them out for her. "So we have to find you a warp ring to get back home, right?"

"Yes. I believe that's what it takes." She said, following him.

"Alright, know where we should start?"

"I....... have no clue."

He chuckled. "Well can't say I expected it to be easy.  Guess we could find a super hero and see if they know anything."

"Well, lead the way." She said, motioning towards the street.

"Right... uh..." He looked about, as if trying to figure out where to find one of the heroes. "Gatapix might be the easiest... there's a music store that might know about him," He started down the streets.

She followed him down the streets.

They soon neared a neon light atop a store building. It wasn't too populated. It was called "Chap's Knocks." It was now that the two noticed the afternoon was starting to near evening. The girl at the counter was a curvy black and orange spider with smiley-face goggles on her face, and a ponytail holding long brown-blonde hair.

Vane looked at the store, then at the manager. She smiled, not sure what to say.

The spider girl waved briefly at the two, giving an open smile. Quite large fangs were noticed inside her mouth.

Vane blinked, then turned to Jensen. "Who's this person you spoke of?"

"Gatapix," Jensen replied as he was turning about, checking who else was in the store. He turned back to the spider, inquiring "Know where he is?"

"Eh..." The spider girl tapped her three fingers on the table a bit. "Not he'ah..." There was a Brazilian accent coming through, though it was a bit hard to tell with how partially muffled her speaking was. Seemed the large fangs gave her a bit of a cotton mouth. "Shomthin' bad haphened?"

"We're looking for a warp ring, miss."

"Was'hat?" She stuffed her iphone from sight, fully giving them her attention.

"It is a large golden ring capable of transporting matter across space and sometimes, dimensions." She replied.

The spider cocked her head to the side a bit, her goggles making it unknown completely her expression, but it was safe to assume she was a tad confused. "An' Gatapi'ch has one?"

Vane closed her eyes for a moment. "That is what we were hoping to find out." She stated after a moment of silence.

"Um... a'kay, lemme ch'ry sh'omethin'," She quickly darted out of the store.

The chameleon spun towards Jensen. "I think I scared her.."

"Hm?" Jensen turned back to her, having been looking about. "Doubt it.  She might be using a phone or something?"

"I see." She answered

"See anything you like here?  Since we're waiting."

"I haven't looked much..." Vane answered, beginning to look around.

There were mostly CDs, headphones, some instruments, candies, and so on. Quite a few rows of posters for bands could be seen.

"Does she own this store?"

Jensen shrugged. "I've seen her here a lot but I don't know if she's the owner.  Guess we could go try to see what she's doing."

"I suppose." She said, turning to the door.

Jensen quickly went out, checking around the area. They soon saw that the spider girl was standing on the top floor of the building.

"Should I go after her? I'm.. Good at climbing." Vane asked Jensen.

"That'd cool to see," Jensen nodded.

She began climbing the wall as if she were crawling on the ground.

The spider girl noticed her after a few seconds, looking down and waving.

"Umm...Hi. Any luck in whatever it is you're doing?" Vane asked.

"Ah' think s'ho," She nodded. "Should be here s'hoon."

"Oh, good." Vane said, standing sideways on the wall.

"You thought ah' was'h bein' s'hneaky?" She chuckled.

She looked down. "Not necessarily..."

The Spider girl started to climb down. "S'ho yer' from anotha' world?"

"Yes, I am." She followed her down, resuming her crawling.

"Wha' kind?"

"A world where evil rises, good defeats it. Not too different from most worlds."

The spider girl nodded. "Like a s'huper hero?"

"Somewhat. More one who handles evil when it comes..." "That's-"

"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Came a... loud voice as a blast of smoke and lights appeared in the middle of the street.

Vane jumped towards the noise. "What is it this time?"

The smoke cleared to the sight of... well he looked like a member of KISS with the Venom Symbiote mixed in. He musthave been a gator perhaps, but his snout wasn't particularly long. A large mouth with a wild tongue and flaming white eys. Spiny flailing hair.

He was quite bulky, wide, with a mostly black form, white overalls and dark pants. A styled belt, and rock music playing out. The... individual's excitement soon vanished, however, as he noticed the rather quaint surroundings, now looking quite confused.

She raised an eyeridge at the ridiculous looking figure. "Stranger! Any chance I can get your name?"

The muscle-bound... person, turned swiftly to Vane, stepping forward with a boastful and loud "GATAPIX!  YEAAAAAAAAH!" He helled out his oversized clawed-hands. "These hands have been blessed by the power of the wizard's sa-"

"Oh there he is," Jensen walked out, interrupting the over-the-top man.

"I assume this is the rock star you mentioned, Jensen?"

"Yeah that's him," Jensen chuckled.

"I see no crimes to be avenged!" The loud super hero called. "What reason have I been summoned?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say the same reason I was.... Which I do not know." She stood several feet from him.

"We need something called a 'Warp Ring'," Jensen explained. "Makes portals to other worlds.  Can you make that?"

"What world would we be travelling?" Gatapix asked.

"My home." She answered sternly, if she were as large as him, she'd be staring him down.

To this he simply rose an eyebrow silently. "A home by any other name?" Was his inventual response.

Vane just blinked at this.

"What's da world called?" The spider girl asked.

"Umm.... Mobius? Or.. I don't know..." She blushed at not knowing what to say here.

"Well let's just make the ring first and see where it goes," Jensen shrugged.

Gatapix gave a long "hmmmmm" before clasping his hands together: a thundering storm appearing overhead immediately as they saw his hands heating up.

Vane looked up, curious.

A glowing white circle began to form out. "Touch the beam," The exaggerated man instructed.

She nodded, placing her hand in the beam as he said.

"Think of your home," She felt a large amount of energy going into her.

Vane focused on her home, everything that formed her: training, heroics and stupidity: everything that made her... Her. "...Got it...."

The circle took on a gold form before solidifying and cooling off.

She blinked at it. "... A warp ring?......"

"A warp ring!" Gatapix declared.

She stared at it. "I see....." She dropped her hands to her side. "I guess this is goodbye....." Vane finished, sniffling a bit.

"Oh... Right..." Jensen stiffened. "I mean... yeah... Guess I just didn't think it'd all get fixed so fast..."

"Does'h it work?" The spider girl asked.

Vane turned to Gatapix. "Will it......?"

"I cannot see why not," Gatapix replied. "Try it."

The chameleon steps into it nervously.

She arrived back at the area she was thinking of, taking a look around.

"... This is it..." *Vane turned back to see if the warp ring was still there.

It remained, the others watching her through the circular portal.

She stared at them. "S-see you.... Erm.... Bye, Jensen, Gatapix and Miss Spider." *She said, waving to the group.

The other two waved, but after a second or two, Jensen decided to hop through the portal.

"J-jensen...!?" Vane shouted in shock.

"Hey, I got to show you my world, so..."

"I suppose that's fair.... Once I figure out where on my world we are..." She replies, looking around at the area.

(Should I do the location?)

(I suppose so)

It was a plains, endless grass in every direction. What seemed to be a house was in the distance.

"I think I put us near my home." Vane said, relieved.

"Very... Irish."

She blinked. "I hope not.... Shall we go?" Vane said, motioning to the house in the distance.

"Yeah," He nodded. "Er, lead the way?"

She started walking that way, going a speed Jensen could keep up with.

He kept up along the way, glancing about until they arrived. "Is it just you here?"

"No, there's Pitch and Shuriken. Light chaos like me." She glanced around like him. "If we're in the Dragon Kingdom, that is..."

"Dra-" He froze, looking up to the sky immediately.

"Oh, don't worry... Not real dragons." She giggled.

"There are fake ones?" He started walking after her again.

"Komodo dragons." She answered.

"Oh," He chuckled. "Bet they get offended by that huh?"

"Probably." Vane said as they reached the house at last.

Jensen took in the view.

The house was... quaint to say the least: small windows, a small rail around the outside and a curiously sized door.

"OK, this is it." She said, stepping closer to it.

"... Oh-" He reached the open the door for her.

A bat and a small spider were inside, they pulled out weapons at seeing Jensen, but dropped them when Vane looked in. "Vane! You're back!" They both shouted.

Jensen blinked at the weaponry. "... You guys see a lot of action?"

The bat stood up. "Sometimes, I guess."

"Jensen, meet Pitch and Shuriken." She pointed to the bat first, then the spider.

Pitch made a slight salute, Shuriken bowed.

"Hey," Jensen smiled, waving. "One spider to the next, huh?  Cool."

"How'd you get another outsider?" Pitch asked, dropping the friendliness.

"I fell into a warp ring, fought a monster, came back and Jensen followed me." Vane replied.

Pitch threw his hands up. "At least you didn't bring Link back."

"Link?"

"The speedster I told you about back on your world." The chameleon answered.

"Oh- and he's not allowed back here?"

"He can come back..." She leaned in, whispering. "But Pitch doesn't like him."

"Why's that?" He whispered back.

"I don't know, I think Pitch just doesn't like most people. "

"That sounds like a challenge," he smirked before turning to the others. "It's nice to meet Vane's friends."

Pitch was swinging a pair of short blades at the air.

"That's personality," Jensen looked about, stepping further in. "Everyone's just hanging around?"

"This is where we hang out, but there's a village nearby if you want to see it." Vane answered. "It's just a bit of a walk.

"I could use a walk," He nodded. "Anyone else coming?"

Shuriken held up his hand, silent as ever.

"Him, apparently." Vane added.

Jensen looked to Pitch, smiling a bit in hope.

Pitch huffed. "Fine, at least something will get done while we're out."

(Headcanon: Pitch doesn't like Link because they both like Vane)

(Headcanon or real canon? @_o)

( Both)

"That's the spirit," He headed out.

Vane opened the door, letting everyone out.

"Alright, which way?" Jensen asked.

Pitch threw a pair of sticks to Shuriken and grabbed two similar objects. "Vane can show you."

The chameleon gave a nervous grin, walking away.

Jensen rose an eyebrow at the two, but followed.

The village was a large collection of huts with other mobians walking around.

Vane was headed for a marketplace.

"Are we buying something?"

Pitch pocketed his sticks. "I said something would get done, remember?"

"So that's a yes?"

"Yep." He answered, walking off towards a stand selling various fruits.

"Oh, food.  Everyone's hungry?  We had pizza," Jensen scratched the back of his head.

"We did, they didn't." Vane said, walking past Jensen.

"That's... what I meant by that," Jensen tried to assure.

"O-oh..." Vane said.

Pitch grunted at them.

"SO you guys like... fruit?"

"We like just about any type of food, fruit is just what we get a lot of." The chameleon answered.

"Any favorites?"

She juggled an apple in her hands. "I like apples, Pitch likes cherries, Shuriken likes bananas."

A ways down the market, a hooded figure holding a crystal scythe shuffled around slowly. The figure would easily be missed in his inconspicuous walk.

"Cool duds," Jensen noted as he watched the figure for a moment before following after. He wasn't exactly sure if this was meant to be normal, and he was currently quite worried about seeming off-putting to these new faces on their home-turf.

The figure took notice of him, but kept their slow walk.

"Do people wear hoods often here?" He whispered to Vane.

She looked at the figure. "Not usually..." Her hand gripped hold of her katana. "I don't know who that is."

"Right... great sign... Should we move somewhere safer?"

"What do you want to do?"

"I don't know?  You think the hood guy will be a problem?  Kind of just walked past us so it doesn't seem so bad."

"I... have no clue."

"Alright, well I'll just keep a cautious look around while we get the fruit then."

"OK." She let go of her sword, walking back to the others. "That sounds good."

Jensen nodded, trying to bring things back to a light-hearted tone by asking "So, any super fruit?  Something alien-like?"

"No, that'd be Mobotropolis City, like the place I found you at, it's high tech. The Dragon Kingdom is more down-to-earth."

"So more... medieval?"

"I suppose you could say that." She replied. "More farming and such than greenhouses or whatever."

"So all farm-grown, huh?"

"Yes, and selling them is how they make money."

"Sounds like economics," He nodded, looking about. "So how long does getting this take?"

"We're about done, you want anything?"

"I don't eat... m-much," He quickly added, facepalming.

"Oh, O-- He's back." Vane said, pointing to several booths over.

The hooded figure was standing there, innocently holding an coconut.

Jensen leaned over, whispering to Vane "An explosive coconut?"

The figure lobbed his coconut at Jensen upon hearing that.

The coconut hit Jensen head-on, making a conk sound. Jensen just kind of blinked for a moment, not appearing to be harmed strangely, before calling out "It was a joke."

The figure then rushed at Vane and Jensen, slinging his scythe.

"Who-Iknewit!" Jensen shoved Vane to the side to avoid getting her cut up: moving back himself.

The figure spun around, running at them again.

Vane pulled her blades out, trying to block. "Jensen, run." She said.

"W- no way!" He took a step back, crouching a bit as the figure approached.

Mr Hood's scythe clanged against Vane's blades, and then he began pushing her backwards, coming closer to Jensen.

Jensen dashed over to the hooded man, aiming to yank his hood back and pull him away from Vane.

He spun around, trying to hit Jensen.

With oddly quick reflexes, Jensen was easily able to move his palm into place to take hold of the fist, stiffly gripping it as he stared at the man.

Vane took this chance to whack the figure to the ground.

He lay there as the chameleon held a sword to his chest.

Jensen attempted to identify the face of the man while asking "So, you come here often?"

He didn't say a thing, just glared at Jensen.

He was a Bushdog, with purple eyes and a darkening scowl.

"Can we call the police?" Jensen asked.

"I don't think there is any...?" Vane replied.

"Oh... Okay who do we get for him?  Or do we just take care of him ourselve- n-not the fatal kind of taking care of him, but the... tie-up king?"

"I'd be OK with tying him up, you?"

"Fine with me, got rope?"

"Give me a second," The Chameleon said, rushing away.

The Bushdog grumbled a bit.

"Nice vocabulary, bud."

"Would you prefer I insult you?" He said in a mocking tone.

"And he speaks."

"And he was under the impression I was a mindless beast?"

"You talk in the third person?" Jensen smirked.

"Not exactly, just trying to speak on your level," The Bushdog smirked back.

"Emphasis on the try clearly.  Impressive technique there.  I rarely attempt to fail miserably but I'll try to note the example."

He went back to grumbling.

"So are you an assassin or something?  Racist against jackalopes?"

"The Chameleon you're with is an ally of an enemy. You got in the way."

"Nice job there."

"Thank you."

Jensen just motored his mouth a bit at this point, glancing about in wait. "... See any good movies lately?"

The Bushdog didn't rep!y.

Then Vane returned, carrying a bundle of rope.

"There she is," Jensen smiled. "You know this guy?"

The Chameleon tilted her head. "No, I've never seen him before..."

"He knows you."

"Umm... I... don't know how... "

The Bushdog shook his head. "I know allies of yours."

"We're tying him up, yeah?"

Vane shook her head, as if returning from another thought. "Uh, yeah." She said, handing Jensen the rope.

Jensen attempted to start wrapping the man up.

The air seemed to turn thick around the trio, but the hooded figure was unaffected.

Jensen... for some reason didn't actually notice this as he continued roping the man up.

With movevent like lightning, the figure gripped the rope, trying to throw it over Jensen.

Jensen looked over as the rope went over himself. "... Oh you were just messing with us."

The Bushdog grinned, grabbing his scythe.

Vane did a backflip over the figure, slicing the ropes.

"Thanks," Jensen called over. "Also... sorry," he jumped at the Bushdog, aiming to grab the scythe.

It became a tug of war over the weapon, the figure trying to take the blade.

Jensen attempted to yank the scythe back, gripping the blade.

Vane grabbed Jensen's side of the item, and after a bit of pulling, the figure let go.

"Alright, let's try this again," Jensen let Vane take the scythe as he went to restrain the Bushdog again.

The figure laughed, speeding up once more. He would try and hit Jensen several times in the gut as his attack.

Jensen immediately took hold of the Bushdog's hands, pressing down to force him on his back by his arms. Jensen's body turned to a complete white shade as a green and black striped hood grew out from the back of his head.

The Bushdog eeped in surprise as he was shoved into the ground.

Vane stuttered at Jensen's transformation. "T-that was you..?"

"Again, sorry," Jensen's hands molded over the Bushdog's as he pulled him up with a smirk as his mask formed over. "Thought you were being clever, huh?"

"Mildly, yes." He grinned back.

The Chameleon continued to stutter.

"Want to see something cooler?" Jensen's tone darkened just a bit as the eyes of the mask narrowed to a red tint. He rose the Bushdog up a bit more, with the tear-shaped marks on the top of his hands began to glow.

"I feel like this is almost time for an exit..." The Bushdog stated, watching the effect.

"Let me guess, an exit like this?" The Jester taunted before teleporting himself and the Bushdog over some dozen or so miles to a higher-ground location.

"Not quite what I had in mind, I was going for something more... spoilers, my enemy, spoilers."

"Right.  Hold on to this for a minute," He dropped the Bushdog with a small disc falling toward him before teleporting back to Vane. When the disc landed, it would swiftly expand into a small spherical cage.

Vane blinked at Jensen. "S-so... You're the hooded hero..?"

Jensen turned his face away slightly. "Uh... guess you could say that."

"I, uh.....don't know what to say..."

"Yeah... w-well I think we might have some more trouble in a second judging by what the creepy guy was saying."

The Bushdog sat in his cage for a moment, waiting either for Jensen to return or for him not to.

Vane, meanwhile, was looking Jensen over, trying to see what exactly he was made of.

He didn't seem to give off any supernatural elements it seemed, his clothing just seeming to look like the typical latex suit. He was however now looking more and more uncomfortable as she stared.

"Er, sorry... I just didn't get a good look at you earlier..."

"Oh... yeah, maybe I should turn back?"

"Eh, you can if you want to... I'm OK with either... Justatinybitweirdedout...."

"Maybe we should check on that guy first?" He gave a little finger snap, teleporting the two to the bushdog.

The Bushdog say pleasantly in the cage, staring at them. "Hello, heroes, come to let me out by any chance?"

"And miss the fun of asking questions?  Speaking of which," Jensen turned to Vane. "You wanna ask him anything?"

Vane leaned in close. "Who are you?"

" Easy, I'm Zero. Zero the Bushdog. "

"Oof," Jensen teased. "Why are you after Vane?  Enemies of enemies?"

"She knows Link, Link is one of the mobians involved in my defeat."

"Y-you know Link?" Vane asked.

"Yes."

"Where DID Link go?" Jensen asked Vane.

"He was in Mobotropolis last time I saw him..." She answered.

"Was that the place we were at?"

"Back there with Pitch and Shuriken? No, that was Chun-an."

"Alright, we should probably go to Mobotropolis then."

The Bushdog made a face. "I said he was part of my defeat, weren't you listening?"

"Yeah I heard ya," Jensen replied. "Just don't trust ya.  Sorry, I just have a habit of questioning people who try to slice people up."

"To be honest, I don't blame you." He said, standing up as best he could in the cage.

"Do you think we should bring him with us?" Jensen asked Vane.

"...what do you think?" Vane asked.

"Well I'd rather not bring him to his 'enemy' and I don't want to leave him unwatched."

"My rear was handed to me last time, I don't really want to face them again." Zero stated.

"Again, expecting that we just believe you on that," Jensen repeated before sighing. "Alright, I can probably keep him restrained unless something happens, so I'll just keep an eye on him while we find Link."

"OK, whatever..." The Bushdog said, grabbing the bars of the cage.

Jensen started growing a small platform below them, turning to Vane. "Alright, ready?"

"As I'll ever be," She answered.

With a flash they returned to the market area. "Alright, we should get the others and head over."