Log:Temporal Animal Control

2020/03/20 Arthur Aevus Porter|Jinxy Sinmore Radical

1

Arthur is just leaving Lucky Finds, studying an odd wooden puzzle box he procured from there. In his left coat pocket is a pink kitten with magenta stripes, able to poke its head out to look around. "That proprietor certainly seemed insistent that I have this. But why?" he muses. He can't possibly be talking to the kitten, can he? Not seriously, anyway.

The kitten is listening! Probably. He's also peeking from the pocket. Mostly at the puzzle box that Arthur is holding and also studying. A sniff or to is added to the team analysis.

You know who else is listening?

Talia Sintergaard is listening! She stares blankly at Arthur as he walks past her, kitten peeking out of his pocket as they consult on the mystery of the puzzle box in Arthur's hands.

Arthur twists and turns parts of the puzzle box. It's not a solved piece, not yet. "Maybe if I..." he murmurs and twists it one way. Nope, still not lining up. He halts suddenly as he recognizes something terrible just happened. "Good evening, Miss Sintergaard," he says politely.

The kitted heard that! A click? A snap? Something! He wriggles himself out of the pocket and onto the box to investigate. Surely it did something. (And, yes, he knows that the Doctor's name is Arthur, not Shirley.)

Maybe something terrible didn't just happen? About that time, the kitten hears a new sound.


 * BZZZZOT!*

It's loud enough that everyone else can hear it, too.

Though it's the kitten that first discovers the source of the sound being an energy bolt... as he's BZZZOTTED off of the box.

Across the pavement. Off a fire hydrant. And into a recently-desposited bag of (used) kitty litter.

At least it's soft...ish?

"OH. MY. **GOD**!" Talia shoulders past Arthur to chase down the poor kitty! She goes sliding on her knees across the pavement to protectively scoop up the kitten. Quite impossibly this maneuver does not leave streaks of blood on the pavement. It instead leaves a lot of shreds of her poor, poor skirt on the pavement, but at least she's not hurt?

Arthur gasps in horror as his poor kitten is blasted off the puzzle box. "Jinxy!" he shouts, about to rush to his kitten when Talia shoulder checks him out of the way and sends him stumbling about in a spin to try and keep his balance. Which he finds when he runs into a light pole. "Ow."

Jinxy is ... well, he has bad luck with energy blasts lately. Or was that ripping suction? Fleas? Gravity?

Anyhow, he's had misfortune with this blast. He's singed, slightly crumpled, but still breathing, at least!

How dare that box! Except... it didn't come from the box, really.

"PUT THE KITTEN ON THE GROUND AND STEP AWAY FROM IT WITH YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!" Comes a demand from an amplified, slightly digitized voice behind them. Those two individuals in heavy tactical (powered?) armor weren't there a moment ago. They, and their big rifles, would have been rather conspicuous.

"Did you **SHOOT** this poor, defenseless kitten," demands Talia.

Jinxy and Arthur both can probably feel the temperature rising in the immediate area of Talia's personage. She scoops poor, poor Jinxy up and holds him up against her pale red and yellow blouse as she climbs reflexively to her feet. By the time she's turned around, Talia's eyebrows are knit together and Arthur could swear he saw a flash of green flame in her green eyes as she scowls most severely at the two powered armors.

Arthur must've been seeing things, he resolves. He turns around to look towards the power-armored individuals in shock. "You. Yooou...what do you want with a kitten!?" he demands, hands balling up into fists. No one shoot's his kitten and gets away with it. Just ask the D.A.L.E.Ks.

One weapon remains trained on Talia and/or the kitten she holds. The other is levelled at Arthur.

"PUT HIM DOWN AND STEP AWAY," the one repeats to Talia. The other adds, "ARTHUR AEVUS, YOU AND THE CREATURE KNOWN AS 'JINXY' ARE WANTED FOR VIOLATIONS OF TEMPORAL DIRECTIVE 156 BRAVO, ARTICLE TWELVE. YOU WILL SUBMIT TO JUDICIARY ACTION."

"Answer my question right this instant," demands the petite powerhouse. Talia continues to scowl at the powered armors as her grip remains secure on the kitten.

"Yes. Yes, they did," Arthur answers Talia as he drops his puzzle into his coat pocket and slowly puts his hands up, frowning slightly. "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," he says in a half-truth. He really has no idea what Temporal Directive 156 Bravo is.

Radical was on his way back toward the club where he had been with Mari, after the events of the other night. He appears on top of a building, and he pauses as he hears the threats down below. "Huh."

Arthur mutters to himself, "How could they possibly even know his name yet? I just named him an hour a...a-ha...of course." Because of course he realizes how just after he said it.

"PUT THE CREATURE DOWN. NOW. THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING," Talia receives a repeat, reiteration, and ultimatum. The other assures Arthur, "YOU WILL BE FULLY BRIEFED BY COUNSEL IN DUE COURSE. PLACE YOU HANDS ON YOUR HEAD AND TURN AROUND."

Radical furrows his brow and teleports down to the street level. If this is some kind of time travel police force, he might have some kind of interaction with them...previously? In the future? Hard to say.

Talia sneers at the powered armor that is threatening her and Jinxy. She starts to draw in a huge breath as though trying to puff herself up when a Radical just sort of appears in between both sides of the conflict. Loudly, Talia splutters. There may be little bursts of fire escaping her lips in the process.

"Who are you?!"

Arthur glances to Miss Sintergaard as he places his hands behind his head and laces his fingers with a faint, amused smile. "Go ahead and put Jinxy down." He looks to the armed and armored men. "She has no association with me or the creature--I mean cat. Look, now you have me doing it." He falls silent as he looks to Radical's sudden appearance.

Radical says to Talia, "I go by 'Radical'. I used to be this plane's Cartesian. And I've had some dealings with time travel. But these...folks...are new to me."

"Radical. Former coordinate system. Time traveler," repeats Talia, bobbing her head as the last of her fire breath gets swallowed. Gosh, her tummy's going to hurt later when the heartburn really sets in. "Would you talk some sense into these guys? They SHOT this poor, defenseless kitten! In cold blood, no less!"

They continue their wary watching of the trio of females and felines. That is, until the arrival of another is made clear. The one watching Talia turns to regard Radical. "THIS OFFICIAL ENFORCEMENT BUSINESS. BE ON YOUR WAY, CITIZEN."

Radical sighs a bit as Talia clearly has no idea who the Cartesian is. Fine. He says to the armored folks, "What are they wanted for? What did they supposedly do? As far as I can tell, you don't have jurisdiction here."

It's not like Talia's an active part of the local magical community. Or the time-/dimensional-travel community for that matter. Maybe the Cartesian should hire a marketing agency or a branding company to help out with name recognition.

"Yes, I'd like to know more about the crimes for which I'm --wait." Arthur's eyes narrow. "You aren't wearing uniforms from any of the time policing agencies."

Arthur adds as he unlaces his hands and brings them down. "And those aren't standard issue for them, either."

Arthur adds as he unlaces his hands and brings them down. "And those aren't standard issue weapons for them, either."

Whether they tire of questions, or answers, or due to Arthur's noncompliance... they seem to have the same thought as Arthur.

"I knew no real cops would shoot a poor, defenseless, ki-"

Talia stops in mid-sentence, her eyes crossing as her cheeks suddenly turn a strange color. She meeps quietly before unleashing a tremendous, very unladylike belch. It also unleashes a cone of sickly green fire as Talia's eyes water.

At least she won't get heart burn later.

The gout of green flame scorches them both, or, rather, scorches their armor. Neither appears moved, physically nor emotionally, by Talia's display.

The one watching Arthur fires on Arthur. The other, who was watching Talia, returns to pointing weapon at her immediately followed by firing at her.

Arthur is struck and sent rolling across the pavement, grunting as he ends up face down after he stops.

Radical grimaces and raises his arms toward the armored targets...and fires on one of them. He launches a singularity at the armored 'officer', and he grunts as the shockwave hits his arms.

Talia twists as the weapon comes around. She doesn't get a chance to fully appreciate just how much Arthur helps her out because she's squealing in momentary fright while wrapping her body around Jinxy. Poor, poor Jinxy.

Eventually, Talia straigthens up after a spattering of energy nicks her cheek. She looks over at Arthur and then down at the kitty in her arms.

The singularity blast blindsides the 'officer,' launching him (or her?) into the side of the building. Into which said officer leaves an officer-sized dent and dos not immediately step out of.

Time Cop is suddenly down a partner, and whirls to the attacker from the flank, snapping off a shot at Radical.

Talia draws in a deep breath again, but this time it's more of a calming, focusing breath. She immediately swells upward, gaining mass and height rapidly until she can keep Jinxy safe with one hand. Her hair bursts into flame and her flesh turns to stone as her eyes narrow on the remaining Time Cop. Calmly, Sinmore moves up behind the powered armor and attempts to drive her fist down onto it.


 * THUD*

The armor isn't hollow, so it doesn't make that nice, bell-like *GONG* one might hope for.

Arthur focuses on the remaining so-called Time Cop. "You really shouldn't have harmed my kitten. So who are yo working for, really?" he demands. Meanwhile, up above, people are leaning over to watch the battle from their apartment balcony. And one person leans into a potted plant, knocking it off the ledge.

The falling fern leaves a gully in the figure's helmet. This time there's a semi-hollow *BONG*. It certainly didn't feel good, though the Time Enforcement Agent stays on his feet.

He's on his feet, but he's not stupid; knocked that way or otherwise. The remaining agent lifts weapon arm and...

...presses a button on that forearm with the other hand. Both agents (and their equipment) shimmer and vanish.

Radical raises his arms to fire again, but he's a split second too late...and he holds his fire. He looks over toward Arthur, "You noticed they didn't have insignia? Which organization did they claim they were with?"

"They didn't," remarks Sinmore to Radical as she shrinks back to her normal form. Talia gently cradles Jinxy in her arms as she walks over toward Arthur.

"Precisely," Arthur comments at Sinmore's explanation. He turns to Sinmore and puts his hands on his hips. "Well, young lady, you are more than you seem." Just as he was expecting after the incident on campus. "I suspect they were fakes, trying to get me to comply." He looks over to see how Jinxy is doing.

Jinxy is... jinxed? He almost looks cute while unconscious. Ok, he probably does, just that the singe detracts some. Unlike his encounter with the Daleks, though, there's no nasty wounds.

Arthur takes Jinxy from Talia gently. "Awww, poor Jinx. We need to get you all washed up and get you treats. Yes we do," he says in a higher pitch than usual. Tucking Jinx against himself, he takes out his fog watch and resets the time. With a click, the pair vanish with a FLASHFffzzzt!