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[waitingforplayer2]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, CHIAKI NANAMI.

FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX

*** galagamer has joined XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
<galagamer> This is Chiaki Nanami.
<galagamer> I'll get back to you as soon as I can!

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[waitingforplayer2]

If you're not okay, we'll get you there right away.

[ She crawls up to Atem and gently takes his hand, looking for a good place to do this. She looks at his palm... winces at the thought, and turns his hand over. ]

Hopefully this won't hurt too long... [ She presses her claw into his skin until it pierces between his scales - a translucent liquid drips from her claw into the cut. ]

[soundsurfing]

[Beat will step aside, keeping a bit of distance to let them do what they need, but keep an eye on things. Be there in case something goes wrong.

It's sort of fascinating to watch, as Chiaki cuts him. It's sort of what he was expecting but also huh.]

[knifemonopoly]

[The only indication of the pain is a slight wince, a twitching of the muscles in one eye -- but that's because he's among friends, and doesn't mind them knowing. He's not poker-facing, not trying to impress anyone with his pain tolerance.

He lets himself be drugged, lets the fluid slip into his bloodstream.]

...

...

[He sighs.]

I don't think it'll work after a--aaaaa--

[His eyelids droop closed, and he goes fully limp. He's out.]

zzz....zzz...zzzz....

[waitingforplayer2]

[ She catches him gently against her, listening to his breathing. It's even; slow, but continuous. She hasn't killed him, thank goodness. ]

I think he's alright... [ She lifts her limp friend easily with her monster strength, and gently places him into the back of Beat's truck. ]

[soundsurfing]

Heh...

[He watches Chiaki place the sleeping Atem into the back of the truck. He could easily take him back upstairs, but he's still leery about entering Atem's place uninvited... Instead he unhooks his cape and drapes it over the sleeping mer, tucking him in gently.]

Poor dude.. How heavy yer sleep stuff? Will the truck wake him up? I can take him back upstairs [And face wrath later] if you think it might...

[waitingforplayer2]

I'm not really sure... [ She shrugs. ] I didn't know for sure I had it until just now.

[ She hesitates and looks back up at the apartment. At least he wouldn't be alone, if they left him there - Ryou's probably around now - but... ]

Let's take him with us, just in case... I want to make sure he's okay.

[soundsurfing]

Aight yo.

[Moving around to the front, Beat opens the door to pull a small travelers pillow from behind the seat. That goes for under Atem's head, so it's not bumped too badly. Then he grins to Chiaki.]

You ready fer some burgers an' watchin' a buildin' come down?? It's already scheduled for demolition, promise yo. They was gonna tear it down cause it was a hazard. After it comes down, Josh gonna make it seem like "villains" [Beat even air quotes the word] did it. Jus' 'nuff to pass rumors to get WEB interested. Then it'll fall off after WEBS had their oh no bad guys time to investigate! fun.

[waitingforplayer2]

[ She grins back, getting into the passenger's seat - a significant task, given how extensive her root system is. She casts another glance back at Atem - yep, he's still sleeping peacefully.

When she speaks again, it's in hushed tones, so they don't wake him. ]

As long as you're ready... to be taken down by the good guys! Your villainy won't overtake Ryslig, evildoer!

[soundsurfing]

[That makes Beat snort softly, climbing into the drivers side beside her.]

You think you brats can stop us?

[He winces as he starts the truck up, glancing back to make sure Atem still sleeps, then pulls out to drive them to...... the soup kitchen. He makes no attempt to hide where they're at, but also makes no fuss about it.

He will leave the truck running as he pops in and when he comes back out? Hello, hamburgers. He will hand the bag to Chiaki, before hitting the road again.]

Hand me the one that says everythin', yo. I dunno whatchu like on yer burgers so I gotchu a few.

[The condiments will help cover the fact it's not a hamburger patty...]

[waitingforplayer2]

[ She peers into the bag, finds the right one, and hands it to him. They smell REALLY good. You can't even really tell what's in the center of them.

She glances back into the back row, ready to hand one to Atem if he woke up - but nope, he's still asleep. ]

That venom really took him out... [ He's still breathing, though.

She rustles through the bag, checking all the labels. At this point, honestly any of them sound good. Her stomach is rumbling.

She unwraps the first one she finds and takes a huge bite. Immediately she breathes a huge sigh of relief - it hits the spot way better than burgers usually do. ]

Thank you, Beat-kun...

[soundsurfing]

[Beat takes the one handed to him with one hand, tail thumping lightly against the back of the truck seat as he slowly begins to unwrap it, never taking his eyes from the road as he does.]

Good, brotha needed it. That no-sleep shit from those pills really fucked a buncha peeps up.

[He only does sort of take his attention from the road to watch her from the corner of his eye as she bites into the burger. Good. It won't satiate her entirely, she will need a full meal for that if she hasn't eaten but... it'll do.]

Heh, you know, you can jus' call me Beat. Nonna that honorific stuff needed! Butchu welcome, squiddles. Focus on eatin', we'll be there shortly. An' eat as many as you want.

[He himself will ... well, you ever seen a dog inhale something and you're not sure if it actually tasted it? Yeah.]

[waitingforplayer2]

... Beat. I'll try.

[ She will fail. It's kind of naturally ingrained in her to use the honorifics at all times, because it's The Thing You Do. But she'll give it her best shot.

Nanami practically inhales the burger also; they're turning down another road when she peers into the bag, considering taking another one.

They go over a bump in the road, and Nanami hiccups. Whoops. Ate too fast. ] What, um... what's the building? [ She's just gonna take one of those sodas to wash it down with. ]

[soundsurfing]

[The hiccup makes Beat blink. That was the cutest sound ever?? Hello?

Her question makes him smile a little.]

Old office buildin'. Was gettin' too dangerous so they closed it up an' planned its destruction. Should be- ah! There it is, yo.

[Pulling over to the side, Beat kills the truck and nods to the three story building a bit away. There's a crowd gathered, eager to see the old building come down. It's obvious the poor thing needs to be demolished; it's already caving in here or there, and there's holes in the bricking. There might be some familiar graffiti scrawled on it too.

Crew are moving here or there, putting the final touches to the charges and making sure the crowd is well away. Beat opens his door with a grin.]

Come on, Squiddles. Time to be evil.

[Which will be followed by Beat exiting the car and...... moving to sit on the hood of it.]

[waitingforplayer2]

Huh?

[ She's sitting in the car taking in the building for a good several seconds before she realizes Beat's out. Then she scrambles out of the car-- quickly enough that she would have fallen over, if not for her roots keeping her stable enough to keep her upright-- and crawls her way over to the hood where Beat is.

(Idly she tries to read the graffiti on the side of the building, but it's too stylized for her to make heads or tails of it.) ]

What-- mm-- huh? Just here? [ She toys with her fake moustache, trying to make sure the glue's still sticking to her wooden face.

(Beat she can't sit on the hood of a car that was just being driven it is HOT for a nymph made of wood.) ]

[soundsurfing]

Yeah!

[He turns to smile at her, then realize she's not climbing onto the hood. He ohs a little... hm. The hood is pretty hot. He likes it but it might be too much for her. Looking around, he slides off the hood and wags his tail, moving over to her.]

How 'bout a better spot?

[He holds out his hands to her, with a grin.]

We can go up higher? Watch from a nearby buildin'?

[waitingforplayer2]

Sure! Um...

[ She crawls up to him and... takes his hand? Is that why he's offering them? ]

Aren't you-- we're-- are you blowing it up? You're doing that, right?

[ She's so confused how is he gonna do that from a distance. Does he have magic explosion powers she doesn't know about. ]

[soundsurfing]

[When she takes his hand, he pulls her closer and flips his other arm under her to lift her up into a bridal carry, his tail wagging hard enough to create a tiny breeze.]

Oh, nah yo, you gettin' it wrong.

[Looking around, he spots a building he can jump to, which he does. Werewolves having the jump makes him feel at home, honestly. And from there, to another taller building, so they can sit and view.]

See those dudes?

[He points to the men in the hard hats and high visibility jackets.]

They the demolition crew, yo. They was paid by someone to take the buildin' down, 'fore I even got the idea to be a villain. It's been scheduled fer a while. Today's the day they take it down. They already got the wirin' set up an' charges ready to go.

[Carefully letting her go, Beat plops at the edge of the roof, legs dangling over the edge.]

The cities known 'bout this fer a while! 'Cept when it comes down, Josh is gonna use his mental thingy powers to make the peeps gathered here an' the crew think they jus' watched a villain take down a good buildin', that peeps was usin' fer homes or somethin'. No one gonna get hurt, but the peeps watchin' will think it's a bad person, an' go oh all no! An' that'll attract Spider-man yo an' yer Webby friends!

[waitingforplayer2]

[ The nymph clings tightly to him when he jumps, a familiar position with the wind whooshing past them, just like when they went skateboarding a couple of weeks before. When he sets her down, she settles in right next to him, roots dangling over the edge of the building, lazily tracing the wall and considering whether to anchor to it. ]

Joshua-kun... he's here too? [ She grins. ] There's so many of you villains... in league with each other! You're like... the Terrible Two!

[soundsurfing]

[Beat tries to give her an absolutely evil grin but it just looks like he's got gas.]

There ain't nothin' terrible 'bout us, girly! We the uh...

[Beat's brain stalls to a halt as he tries to think of something to counter terrible. While he's thinking, there's a sudden blare of a warning horn, a man yelling into a megaphone in a count down and following that?

The explosion that takes the building down is far enough away from everyone safely to not cause injury, but it's still loud enough Beat clamps his hands over his ears and howls to drowned it out and make the air around them tremble.]