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Sebastian noticed that there was a lack of people as they approached the subway tunnel. That struck him as a bit odd given the time of day. He was going to ask Emily when they passed by a store and she suggested they all go inside.
It seemed to be a specialty store for cheese, sausage, and Wisconsin souvenirs. Sebastian picked up a container of spice, only to find it was imported from the Raltvee.
"Why does it have to be from Raltvee?" Sebastian thought aloud.
"The Raltveech have one of the best trade networks on this side of the sector. It is only natural that they reestablish trade with the mother planet," Renly replied.
"I guess so...what is Angdar doing over there?" He asked. Sebastian and Renly turned to see Angdar was eating the free samples at a high paced speed.
Emily was examining the ice cream section, desperately looking for the Stoyn brand. She was about to reach for the Mango flavored ones when a loud siren was heard. The cashier looked up from where she was ringing up Invisible Brainiac's goods and whispered, "Sounds like it is coming from the game shop across the street."
-------------------- Go with the good and you'll be like them; go with the evil and you'll be worse than them.- Portuguese Proverb
From: Illinois | Registered: Jun 2010
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Invisible Brainiac kept his composure as he checked out. He was not sure how to react. I want to help, but this is a job for the police. He looked over to the others. Renly and Sebastian looked a bit annoyed, but not very surprised. Emily was stocking up on Russian imports and seemed oblivious to the sirens. Angdar looked very agitated as the siren was painful to his heightened senses. After Emily had made their purchases, they regrouped outside of the store. They were arguing about whether or not to enter the game shop.
Emily said, "The police can handle this. Besides this ice cream--"
"Odds bodkins! There may be a life at stake and all you can think about is ice cream?" Renly shook his head in disbelief.
"I agree with Emily. We don't know what is going on, the alarm could have went out by accident!" Sebastian argued.
Angdar said, "The alarm stopped. I think this discussion in over." They all turned their heads towards the game shop and sure enough the alarm had stopped. To their astonishment, Invisible Brainiac was walking across the street.
If the alarm was triggered on purpose, than there might be a need for our help. If it was triggered by accident then nothing bad can happen. This seems like a no lose situation. Invisible Brainiac thought as he reached for the door of the game shop. The chime went off and he entered the room to find the manager of the game shop tied to a chair. He used his powers to assume invisibility.
A young man who appeared to be a typical Japanese businessman entered from the back room. He had in in his hands what appeared to be gun...but something about the weapon struck him as odd.
"You lied to me! Now, tell me where the Golden Helmet of Mambrino is or you will be shot!" He stated in a very rude manner. The manager looked a bit clueless and then replied.
"There is no Golden Helmet of Mambrino. I--I sold it to a dealer in Las Vegas," He said.
"I do not believe you. You are wasting your time, prepare to die," The young man was about to pull the trigger when Invisible Brainiac sneaked up from behind and put him in a head lock.
"The gun vanished!" The man tied to the chair said in astonishment. The dark ropes which held him in place also vanished. It was hard for him to understand hat was going on.
Invisible Brainiac said, "I can only hold him a little longer, please run!" The shop owner nodded and went outside. He knew about self-preservation, that's why he canceled the alarm. He knew better than to anger the yakuza.
The young man used his powers create snake constructs, which forced Invisible Brainiac to let go of his grasp. The contrast between these two was literally that of day and night. Invisible Brainiac was surrounding himself with light and his opponent was cloaking himself in darkness.
"I can't afford to have any witnesses," The opponent said. He constructed a giant wave of darkness that crashed upon Invisible Brainiac, who felt that the light was being absorbed by it's opposite. It was extremely painful but he put the pain aside long enough to split himself into separate forms.
His opponent did not even blink. "You are only prolonging the inevitable. I see that it causes you pain. I love my job, I really do--" The conversation was cut short when all of the Invisible Brainiac entities attacked him at once. It weakened him considerably before a simple construct bubble ended the barrage.
"Give up now," Invisible Brainiac advised. He had surrounded the bubble and was contemplating how much force was necessary to break it when the opponent minimized the bubble into a personal force field and flew to the side.
"This has been a lot of fun. Too bad we won't be doing this again," The opponent gloated. He began constructing six giant gears when something distracted him.
"Hmm...it appears there is a train I need to catch. I suggest you stay out of this business, you don't seem to enjoy it," The opponent said. "But if whoever you are working for ever gives you a hard time, look us up. There may be bonus if you can get us the Golden Helmet of Mambrino."
He tossed Invisible Brainiac his business card; put up a grid construct to impede further fights, and calmly walked out of the building's side entrance and down into the subway station.
-------------------- Go with the good and you'll be like them; go with the evil and you'll be worse than them.- Portuguese Proverb
From: Illinois | Registered: Jun 2010
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posted
The five of them chatted as they descended into the Haunted Railway Tunnel. It was getting a little late and the group came to the consensus to take the subway in order in order to save some time. A faded purple graffiti mark stood out from the pavement, left by a gangster far from home. The group waited on the platform as the temperature continued to drop. Emily wished she had dressed warmer, it was getting very uncomfortable. The subway came and everyone was excited to get on board.
Sebastian grabbed a window seat and Emily sat next to him. "You are smart to wear gloves," She commented.
Sebastian simply shrugged and quickly changed the subject, "The Helmet of Mambrino is a fantasy."
Emily asked, "How so?"
"It's in works of fiction. It is in Orlando Furioso and Don Quixote," Sebastian said.
"Really?" She said, at lost for any other words. However, they reached the stop before he could elaborate. It was cold so they walked briskly to the Sivana Mansion.
-------------------- Go with the good and you'll be like them; go with the evil and you'll be worse than them.- Portuguese Proverb
From: Illinois | Registered: Jun 2010
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posted
Invisible Brainiac sat on the roof of the Sivana Mansion, thinking.
Sebastian and Emily had told him all they knew about the Helmet of Mambrino, which unfortunately wasn't much. They couldn't even be sure if it did exist.
The business card that had been left with him wasn't much use either. So this guy was called Flashend, and he acted as some sort of enforcer. That's all he really knew. He had transmitted what information he could to Legion World, but Earth regulations would mean it'd take days to receive any reply.
There was a lot he didn't understand about his opponents' behavior, and he didn't like it.
Why couldn't it have just been an isolated robbery?
He laid back and closed his eyes. Maybe answers would arrive soon. He just hoped they wouldn't ruin his trip to Earth.
posted
Sebastian woke up to the sound of knocking at the door. He sat up in bed, opened his eyes, and was surprised that it was still dark outside. He looked at the clock and realized it was already 7:30 A.M.
The knocking continued so he shouted, "I'm coming! Please give me a second." He quickly put on some clothes and walked outside of the door right into Renly. Sebastian was a bit surprised and had no idea what to say.
"Emily told me to tell you breakfast is ready," Renly said.
"You could have started without me," Sebastian said.
"No, we couldn't. She insisted we wait until you get up. Rather nice of her, don't you agree?" Renly said, not being able to hold back an expression as they walked towards the dining room.
Sebastian replied, "Yes, it is rather nice." He walked into the kitchen to smell of bacon, eggs, and more. Sebastian enjoyed American style of breakfast, and was happy to see everyone else was enjoying it as well. Meals would be different when they get to Brazil, though he was looking forward to it tremendously. Things had changed a lot in the western hemisphere since politics triggered his homeland's founding, and natural resources triggered massive immigration.
"The cheese and hot chocolate were sent from my daughter's family in Switzerland," Aunt Venus said proudly.
"Fascinating. Is everything here from Earth?" Renly asked.
"No, but I can't remember off the top of my head where everything comes from. Emily bought the coffee--Emily where did you get the coffee?" She asked her niece.
"I order most of it from Salvador," Emily says casually as she takes a sip from her mug.
As these three are talking about food on Earth, the others are discussing what they should do in Las Vegas.
-------------------- Go with the good and you'll be like them; go with the evil and you'll be worse than them.- Portuguese Proverb
From: Illinois | Registered: Jun 2010
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"... and gaudy neon lights all around!" Invisible Brainiac held up his hands for emphasis as he caused a bright multicolored glow to appear. Angdar shielded his eyes, his enhanced senses hurt by it.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize my light was too bright." IB looked worried.
"No, it's not that. I think my eyes are just more sensitive than a regular human's would be."
"I'll keep that in mind, then." IB let the light die down. "So, what do you think of Vegas?"
"It sounds... a little indulgent, to be honest. Like a city of... sin?"
"Yeah, but isn't it great? It's a monument to Earth's capacity for excess! Going to Las Vegas is one way to really immerse yourself in Earth culture." IB's grin indicated he was definitely looking forward to that. "Of course, if that's not your cup of tea, we can hit the Hoover Dam. You might also enjoy the Flamingo Garden, the Southern Nevada Zoological-Botanical Park, and Red Rock Canyon." IB chattered on, listing several options that would appeal to those interested in food, nature, adventure or even shopping.
Angdar nodded in agreement, though his mind was far away.
"You know, Angdar... You still have a day left over, if you want to meet her again. She seems like quite the catch."
posted
Flashened put down the phone and sighed. He did not like the city he was in and was worried he would not like the next one. He could find income and good times anywhere, and right now he would rather be in Japan.
Flashend had no choice but to quickly make plans to journey to Las Vegas. His superior wanted them to get the Helmet before any rival yakuzas get their hands on it. The yakuza he worked for was also interested to see what else Earth had to offer, after all who knows what new products have been created in recent years?
He got a flight booked for Las Vegas the day after tomorrow. Today he would stay inside and get in contact with some business associates. He could not wait to see Nadeshiko again.
-------------------- Go with the good and you'll be like them; go with the evil and you'll be worse than them.- Portuguese Proverb
From: Illinois | Registered: Jun 2010
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posted
Invisible Brainiac hurriedly began stuffing his belongings into his backpack.
Good thing he packed light. Technology he'd acquired on Legion World, such as the portable pocket washing machine and dryer, made it much easier to travel.
Of course, he could go naked and just use his light powers to maintain the illusion, but...
Well, that would be weird.
Sebastian peeked into the room. "Are you good, IB?"
"Almost there! Just looking for my camera..."
"Take your time. We just sat down to breakfast. Knowing Aunt Venus, that could take a while."
Sebastian paused, seeing how frantic IB was. "Here, let me help."
"Oof... thanks, Sebastian. Sorry for the trouble."
"My pleasure. You've been a good roommate, so you've stocked up a lot of brownie points."
IB couldn't quite tell if that was a joke. Sebastian looked serious, as he usually did. "So, how do you feel about Las Vegas being our next stop? It's not exactly a place of high moral standards."
Sebastian merely shrugged. "As long as I can find something for me to do, I am fine with it."
IB grinned. "Glad to hear you say that, because I have a long list of places you might enjoy..."
posted
They went to the airport to board their next flight. The TVs kept showing footage of the bad weather around the Sea of Japan, which was stranding many anxious looking travelers. I am glad we decided to go to South America before Asia because of this weather...though I could think of worse places to be stuck in. Who wouldn't want to be stuck in Osaka?, Emily thought. She got lost in thoughts about Japanese popular culture and accidently bumped into Sebastian in the line.
"Sorry," she said.
"That's okay. I am a little nervous myself," He replied. "Did you know they want to build a casino in Charltonburg?"
"Yes! I heard a report on that on the news. A lot of other town are skeptical because of the crime rates," She said while sitting next to the windows by the terminal.
"I actually think a casino is not a bad idea. I just would never use it, I'm too good at math," Sebastian said.
"Huh? What does that--wait you can count cards? Where did you learn how to count cards?" Emily was a bit surprised. She was drowned out when an announcer began calling passengers to board a flight.
-------------------- Go with the good and you'll be like them; go with the evil and you'll be worse than them.- Portuguese Proverb
From: Illinois | Registered: Jun 2010
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