Lazy Days

(Ah. Thought it was inside but works just the same)

As it turned out, neither Alice or Emanulle had to do anything just as the thing turned hostile and was about to attack; Mondo took care of it rather easily.

And did he just use his nails?

Shaking that aside he turned to the man once he got back inside. "That thing has been asking about Alice ever since I bumped into it outside. I'm kind worried there's more of them, or they know where Alice is now because they followed me." He said, feeling a bit guilty.

Mondo shrugs "It's a good bet there Are more out there and that's what this one was about to signal and if this one could transform, it's also a good bet that any others could combine into a much bigger robot." he explains offhandedly.

"Oh there are more of those things." says the disembodied voice of Marcen, who drops a sheet that looks exactly like the wall of the store "I seen dozens of spider-bots wandering around the city. All asking the exact same question. It seems they're programmed to find and follow us." he explains "I believe they were sent by Lexica to find Alice. The manner in which they disappear is a strong indication to that." he points out.

Emanulle frowned slightly. "I suppose the only silver lining is they still don't know where Alice is since Mondo destroyed them, I think. The bad news is, its going to make moving around harder."

Mondo shrugs "No, not yet I haven't." he says as he extends his nails, which are a bit less then a foot long, and the spikes on his arms as well "But give me five minuets and they'll all be gone!" he says as he blurs and was suddenly gone!

Marcen lets out a low whistle "Now That's some serious speed." he says as he closes the door "I'm a bit concerned. If they know who we are, then they must also know who we associate with..." he says, trailing off. He walks over to Emanulle "I think you had better check on your daughter, just to be safe." he says in a low tone.

Alice looks horrified "No. They wouldn't go after her just to get to me, would they?" she asks.

Emanulle barely heard the last bit, his mind instantly drifted to Michru. Parental instincs would have made him running like a chicken with its head cut off but he forced himself to calm down a bit.

He picked up his phone, dialing it. After another moment or two a voice picks up. It was Terra. "Emanulle? Something the matter, its a bit early for you calling."

"No, hopefully not. Is Michru with you? Something seems to be going on."

A pause, then Terra continued. "She's in the guest room. What's going on?"

"I'll explain when I get there, I promise. Just be careful."

"All right, you too."

Emanulle hung up the phone and sighed, running a hand through his hair. He was relieved, but not entirelu and wouldn't be until he got home. "That's it. I'm convinced the collective crap all happening to me at once today is a conspiracy to give me grey hair early."

Marcen pulls out a small radio and hands it to Emanulle "If anything seems out of place, radio us and we'll be there." he says.

He would have felt better accompanying Emanulle. Because of his shinobi training, it would be much easier to spot a faker or someone using a shape changing ability. Still, he trusted that Emanulle had his ways of discerning truth from fraud.

The front door opens and Mondo comes walking back, looking quite pleased with himself "Welp! That's all of the spider-bots." he says, casually walking to the back room.

"That'll make things easier. I'll see you guys later." Emanulle took the radio and left the shop, he was still a bit worried but he would feel better once he got there to check on everyone.

When he did arrive, a worried Terra greeted him but he explained in brief what was happening before going to check on Michru. When Jack came back, he was going have to talk to them.

Nothing seemed to be out of place. No baddies were in the house, waiting in Michru's room. No spider-bots were swarming around the house or even in sight. It seemed Mondo got All of them. If the baddies knew about Terra and Michru, they hadn't done anything about it or they Did know, and weren't strong enough to handle Terra without a serious fight.

Emanulle's radio crackles to life "Manny you there, come on back?" it was Jack and it seemed he was trying to get Emanulle's attention for some reason.

Emanulle was relieved that everything was in place, and he was lucky he had a family to look after each other like they had in the first place. He was thinking that taking that construction job that Tamaki wouldn't be a bad idea. It was starting to get a bit too dangerous for his family for his comfort, that and after Christine it would be best to get away for a bit.

"I'll be there soon." He moved the covers so the sleeping Michru was more comfortable before heading back to the shop.

All was quiet at the shop, only Marcen was waiting there for Emanulle. He looks up from what he was doing "Hey. Welcome back." he says "Everyone's in the training area talking about what to do." he says as he locks up.

"I see. Could you take me there? I've forgotten where it is since been a while." Emanulle said. He had a couple ideas himself but he'd hear whatever Jack had to say first. One of them was to lay low somewhere else for a bit.

Marcen leads Emanulle through the 'special' door to the pocket dimension and to their training room. Which had changed ever so slightly, by having a full super hero base there now!

Marcen leads Emanulle to the briefing room. In there was Jack, Mondo and Alice. Mondo and Jack were talking strategy. If they attacked all out, bring the fight to their enemy or take a different route and try to be stealth-like and lure the enemy into a trap. Mondo was for an all out attack while Jack was for stealth.

"You wanted to talk?" Emanulle asked as he came to Jack and the others. "Luckily no one was hurt or taken away but I might not be as lucky the next time."

Jack turns to Emanulle "Hey, Manny." he says, patting him on the shoulder "It's good everything turned out okay, but you're right. We may not be so lucky next time." he says.

Mondo chimes in "So in order to put a stop to these attacks, we've decided to give this Lexica exactly what she wants." he says with a grin.

Jack nods "That's right. First we'll have who they think is Alice waiting for them somewhere out in the open, and when they show themselves, we pounce!" he says, triumphantly.

Mondo nods "And just incase they can sense energy, I'll have the whole area flooded in a negative energy field, so all they'll be able to sense is their own energy." he finishes explaining.

It sounded like a pretty solid plan from what he heard so far at any rate. "It sounds like a good idea so far. But one thing is, why is Lexcia after you so hard in the first place?" He asked Alice.

Alice starts fidgeting "W-well, I-I-I already told you, when we first met, d-didn't I?" she stutters, not making eye contact with anyone.

Marcen nods "Yeah. You said..." he pulls out his notebook and flips through the pages "That she needed to destroy you, to prove that she's the real one' and that This person is apart of you. Presumably 'the other half', as you put it." he says as he closes his notebook.

Jack shakes his head slightly "I don't think that really matter at this point, Lexica and the organization she belongs to are a threat to this city and the people in it. She's already demonstrated her disregard for the safety of others in her single-minded quest to extinguish the life of an innocent." he says.

Mondo pipes up "And as Super heroes, it's our duty to bring those who do wrong to justice while protecting those who can't protect themselves from people like these." he says, clenching a righteous fist of justice!

"I'm sorry Alice, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." Emanulle said, noticing her nervousness before turning back to Jack. "So it sounds like you have it mostly planned out, is there anything you need me to do?"

Jack nods "Yeah. You and Marcen are going to stay with Alice, just incase our trap doesn't work and the villains manage to find her." he says before hitting Mondo in the arm "Let's get ready." he says.

Mondo pulls out a small device and taps a few buttons, which opens a strange portal "We'll be back in a bit. You guys hold down the fort." he says with a wave as he enters the portal, followed by Jack, and the portal closes behind the two.

Marcen sighs, then looks over to Emanulle "You know, just thinking, maybe it would be best to bring your daughter to the base. Atleast until this whole mess blows over." he suggests.

Emanulle thought about it, it might not be a bad idea considering. "Hm..all right. I'll be back in a few minutes or so."

With that he left the two, for a short time(but was more careful to make sure no one was trailing behind him). But true enough to his words, he did come back. Michru was naturally shy and she didn't know any of these people so she clung more to her father then anything.

"Alice, Macen, this is Michru. She's very shy so give her a moment, and she can't talk. She can write a few things down and she's learning a bit of sign to help out."

((ooc: Question, since when can Michru not talk? She was before.))

Marcen nods at the information given, but generally kept watch "Just thinking, since Mondo destroyed all of those spider-bots, our foes will likely redouble their efforts to locate their target." he says.

A portal opens and Jack and Mondo come back out, both had packs on and were carrying duffle bags "Hey guys, we're back." he says as the portal closes behind the two "And we got all the equipment we'll ever need." he says as he sees Michru "Hey kiddo, welcome to our base." he says, setting the gear down.

Mondo sets his gear down as well "We'll start getting things set up for the ambush and let you know when we're ready." he says as he rummages through the bags and gets out a few pieces of high-tech hardware.

(Since the year I've been gone on other sites, so probably more a habit then anything. It could be discarded then, not that it changes much since Michru doesn't talk much as is)
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Michru had no clue what Jack and Mondo were doing exactly but she watched them curiously for a few moments with whatever they were doing before losing interest for the moment. She noticed Alice and Macen, it was the first time being around them.

Where did Alice get the dress? It was very pretty to her but she hadn't seen one like that, at least not all black. She kept her distance though, daddy said it wasn't nice to be someone's personal space(and she was too shy approaching anyone she didn't know well anyway)

Emanulle was going to say something, when he noticed something or a phrase. "You said foes and not just foe. Is there more then one person now or am I reading too much into that comment? You also mentioned a organization."

Marcen nods "Well, when we fought Lexica the first time, she was talking to someone, so that would indicate, at the very lease, an accomplice and at the very most, a team." he explains.

Jack nods as he powers up some of the gear they brought with them "So in either case, we're not going to take any chances." he says as he hoists a big gun looking device "Ready to get dangerous, Mondo?" he asks his friend.

Mondo hefts an even bigger gun-looking device "Let's go ruin some bad guys day." he says, full of confidence as the two nod to eachother, then to the others and wander out of the base.

Emanulle wondered what exactly what the big gun was but he'd ask about it. While they waited, he decided some small talk wouldn't hurt why they were waiting. "I've been a bit out of the loop with things with my family, so how long have you been working at the shop if I may ask? The mess with Lexica aside, I hope you've been enjoying it."

Alice looks over to Emanulle "Huh? Oh, well, me and Marcen don't work at the shop. We only look after it while Jack is away." she clarifies "He's been so generous with letting us stay here. The base has our own quarters on it." she explains.

Marcen didn't turn to face the others "Jack says that the team that lives together, stays together." he says "I never had to live with my old team to stay with them, but oh well..." he mumbles the last part.

"Heard that term but guess its different for everyone. I guess the most important thing is forming bonds with your team, but I wouldn't know." Emanulle said.

Alice felt small hands gently tug on her dress, it was Michru down below to get her attention. "..Where did you get the dress?" Her voice was quite so it was hard to hear.