[The Antoinette] Where clockwork hearts go to die

Emy

Emy

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Joshua Langford

It was pretty obvious that Niccolò had been around recently. The sweet smell of alcohol in the air gave that away, even before the abandoned empty bottles and puddle of vomit did. Because of how closed the area was to wind, the smell of it all tended to linger unpleasantly, annoying the neighbors and potentially driving away the customers. And potentially driving away the customers.

Joshua didn't really care about what the other salesmen in the area thought of him; they weren't giving him their money, after all. Actually, though, it would be wonderful if they could be driven out so simply. Then he wouldn't have to worry about people constantly complaining about Niccolò. But on the other hand, if there were less people around, the Italian might take that as an invitation to make sure he wasn't lonely or anything stupid like that.

He could at least throw up on Ferdinand's part of the sidewalk, Joshua thought , scowling as he picked up the bottles and threw them into the garbage. He wasn't going to touch the puddle, though, because he wasn't anybody's maid. Even though he still was obliged to clean it up. Damn it, Niccolò.

Fixing his goggles in mild annoyance, the man drew a short line in the air with his hand. Dark matter condensed itself over the puddle, drawing the liquid and bits into its gravity before the entire thing hurled itself in the trash after the discarded bottles. The mass spread itself out again as he put his hand down, gravity righting itself before it could attract anything else.

The gestures were unnecessary, of course, just a placebo to help him map out how he wanted the energy to move. That said, with Joshua's current annoyance at Niccolò -strange, really...he was supposed to be the patient one- it was safer this way.

He scrutinized the area further, looking for things that shouldn't have been there. The smell was really quite awful. Sighing, Joshua went to get rid of that, too. All he needed to do was create a concentration of dark matter just strong enough to get the wind to blow.

Martha probably would have had a fit, seeing him using his powers like this.
 
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Ryu the Reptoid

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The accursed underground, Alice had heard all kinds of rumors about this place, but never dared to venture here to confirm them. She always had an aversion to the place and was quick to send her agents off to take care of business she had here. The whole place was far to dingy, dirty and...low class...for a privileged young lady like Alice. However, with her agents all off on other business Alice had no choice but to drag her pampered self through the bleak landscape that was the underground.

Miss Mordrake was dreadfully out of place among the underground and it showed. The environment around her was disgusting. The air was thick with industrial fumes and the soak of cigars and god only knows what else the residents here where inhaling. The buildings where dingy and ill-cared for, and the streets where so filthy that Alice herself refused to place her feet on the foul, trash-laden ground. Instead, her highness road in the comfort of a small hovercraft, kept safe from the filth around her.

As she road along, she drew quite the odd looks from passer-bys, the shady clientele of the underground slightly surprised by the strange vehicle traveling through the area. However, Alice could care less about them; he was flanked by two intimidating looking robotic guards and her craft had some..armaments..of it's own that where well-hidden, making the young girl feel perfectly safe. Comfortably sitting inside her sealed off hovercraft, Alice casually sipped on a cup of tea as she watched an Summer Wars on a large screen that displayed a small map of her travel progress along with the anime.

However, little did Alice know that soon, her peace would be broken. As her craft passed by Joshua's store, something happened. Alice anime and map immediately cut out and the lights inside the craft flickered off. Shocked, Alice let out a yelp, spitting out some of her tea in shock. What the hell!? Alice thought to herself as the power and screen flickered back on again only to shut down shortly after again. SHIT! dose somebody her have some kind of EMP weapon...or an EMP power!?...Is it one of those former silverhart people!? Did they catch up with me ever since I dismantled their company!? Alice continued to think as her mind began to race with nervousness. The power inside the craft flickered on again, and for a few minutes stayed on, causing Alice to let out a sigh as she slowly started to collect herself. However, as soon as she did she felt something...a sharp pain in her head. It was as if somebody had jabbed a needle right into her brain...she shrieked a bit as the pain worsened, grabbing her head...only for the pain to vanish just like that. She knew..something..was happening, and while she dreaded it, she had to find out what.

Alright, Alice. Don't...don't be afraid. You have your mind hack, that should be enough. It's time to go see what the heck is out there! Alice thought to herself. Taking a deep breath, she swong open the hatch to her hovercraft only to see that there was...nothing. No silverhart reminent fighter. No shady hoods with EMP weapons...just a curious store. Should I go it? It could be a -trap-..but then again if it's a trap they likely already know I am here anyway and if I just wait they'll come for me. Of course, they'd have less of an advantage if fighting out here...but then again I could draw un-wanted attention to myself if I fight here, and that would just make things ten times worse. Looks like I have no choice but to go in... Alice thought to herself nervously as she cauciously approched the door to The Antoinette. Slowly edging her hand towards the doorknob, she grasped the thing and quietly opened it, trying to make as little sound as possible.

However, to her suprise, when she entered...there was no ambush. No enemies. Just a man going about his buisness, cleaning his shop with a strange power. Of course, Alice still played with the posibility that this could be some kind of trap, but it seemed a lot less likely. The man was simply minding his buisness. Deciding to try and question him before resorting to using her powers, Alice spoke up to Joshua as soon as she walked in.

"I don't mean to disturb you or anything, sir, but I have a lot of technology with me and it was acting funny around your shop. I was wondering if you had an explination for that...it's got me pretty scared!....Oh...I'm sorry, I forgot to mention my name. I'm Alice Mordrake." Alice asked Joshua, trying to hide her nervousness. While her tone was calm, in Alice's mind she was a mess of nerves and fears. Part of her still feared a trap, while another feared an enemy attacking while her guard was down...and others drempt up other possibilities that filled Alice with fear. Now I just gotta wait...and see what he says. Maybe he knows...or maybe he's -the enemy-? Gah! Get ahold of yourself, Alice. He hasn't attacked yet...just see what he has to say! Alice thought to herself as she awaited Joshua's response.
 
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Joshua Langford

Since he was already being a little reckless by using his powers to clean up the mess outside -really, he wasn't a fucking maid. He shouldn't have to deal with other people's stupidity- Joshua saw no reason why he shouldn't go right ahead and do the same inside of The Antoinette. The place needed a good dusting anyways and it was so much easier just to manipulate the dark matter around. Then all of dust would just collect into neat spheres that he could toss out into the street. No hassle at all that way, and it gave him more time to get on with other things.

Once he had gone back inside, Joshua dropped the weak guard he had placed over the more irritating part of his magic. The neighbors had complained enough that he had actually been forced to figure out how to do that. What he did in his own shop, however, was his own business and if he wanted to walk around without this itchy feeling from suppressing his abilities, well. He would just go ahead and do it. If anybody had anything to say about it, they would have to go through Niccolò because as much of a nuisance that man could be, Joshua had to grudgingly admit that the Italian was a pretty good lawyer.

Sitting from behind the cashier counter, Joshua directed the dark matter around with a lazy hand gesture. It was a slow day so he amused himself with moving the concentration of dark matter around the shop in different ways. There was always more dust to be found anyways. Always. It was such a pain.

As he was sweeping up shop, however, he heard an unusual sound from the street outside. Not many vehicles came down this way, which was why Joshua had chosen it in the first place. Even though he could hardly care less about other people, that didn't mean he was willing to put up with constant pile ups right outside his front door. Looking out the window, Joshua saw a very shiny and very high tech convoy cruise by before coming to an abrupt halt.

He snorted. Idiot, the man thought in immense satisfaction. What kind of dolt brings something that expensive into a place like this? It did a heart good to mess with people like that.

Joshua peered out the window a little longer to see a young looking blonde haired girl come out of the vehicle. He rolled his eyes. Oh, great. It's a spoiled a brat. Lovely. When he first came to the island, there weren't nearly so many of those. Now it seemed like they were cropping up by the dozens.

He didn't bother hiding his magic as the girl came in. If she was going to be high and mighty with him or anything, Joshua would put an end to that. Maybe not immediately but eventually.

She introduced herself as Alice Mordrake, a name that meant absolutely nothing to the shopkeeper. I'm probably supposed to be impressed by that or something, Joshua thought. This Alice looked a little nervous, too, which made him slightly suspicious. Not in the usual Oh, I see that you're just a little thief kind of way either. Maybe she was worried that permanent damage to her toys would get her into trouble with her parents. It kind of served her right for acting so stupidly, though.

He shrugged at her question about the malfunctions and got right back to nonchalantly dusting the shelves with his magic. "I don't suppose you saw the sign on the door, huh?" Joshua remarked absently. So few people did. "I mean, it's not like its anything big or especially noticeable. Except that it just kind of is."

Seriously, what did he have to do to get people to actually read that thing? Paint it neon colors and glue glitter to it?
 
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Ryu the Reptoid

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Sign? What signs? Alice thought to herself. She didn't recall seeing a sign of any kind but then again she didn't make an effort to look. The girl's mind was too full of nervious thoughts to take time out and examine her surroundings. With each passing second Alice only felt more and more powerless. No longer could she feel her link to the Genesis Network or to Inaba. She was alone, and defenseless..and she had to find out why.

Of course, Joshua's response was in no way satisfactory....but he was not violent, at least not yet. While mind hacking him was certainly an option, Alice was not going to risk it....not yet...after all, if he could short out her technology who knows what else he could do. So she decided to play it safe for now.

"I'm sorry about missing it. It's just I'm kinda scared. Usually my technology doesn't just short out like that. I'm curious about your powers...though. Like, how exactly do you shut down technology? Is it some kind of magic field? Oh...and a name would be nice." Alice rambled onto Joshua, hoping that he'd release some information before she'd be forced to attempt mind-hacking him.
 
Emy

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Joshua Langford

Joshua rolled his eyes as pure confusion went over the face of this idiot girl in front of him. He was half tempted to push her out of the shop before her stupidity spilled over onto the merchandise. It’s really not that hard just to read a big sign, right? he thought testily. I swear, even Niccolò has no problem with that thing. Which was a really, really sad comparison to make. Somewhere, Joshua was willing to bet, angels were crying and nobody gave a damn.

He scoffed at the girl’s worry, though the question about his powers did make him raise his eyebrows. “Kid, if you’ve never ever had this problem before, then you probably don’t get out enough,” Joshua told her, turning his attention back to the ball of dust that the dark matter had collected. There was an old vase on one of the shelves that nobody seemed particularly inclined to buy so he had the mass deposit itself into it for the time. He would go back and properly dispose of the gatherings later.

“I really don’t see why I should have to tell you anything,” Joshua said absently. “I mean, that’s kind of a private thing isn’t it?” Oh sure, kids these days just told everybody what kinds of things they could do like it’s no big deal. But frankly, it kind of was. That was why they were all exiled to this island in the middle of nowhere.

Really, though, he didn’t have any idea why this girl was making such a big fuss over the technology issue. It wasn’t like he was the only person with powers like this. Maybe. Okay, maybe he was but Joshua was pretty sure that people with electricity based powers could cause the same effect if they wanted to.

He’d tell her to look in a phonebook if she was really that interested in learning his name but it’s not like he’d actually be in there, huh?
 
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Ryu the Reptoid

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The dark matter...that was something Alice had noticed. This whole time, Joshua had been manipulating the strange susbstance and Alice could not help but wonder if it was somehow connected to his technology-nullifying powers. Of course...right now, that was the last thing she was worried about. Joshua's answer was the last thing the blond girl wanted to here. No sympathy. No frustration or rage at her. Just casual indifference...and this caused something in Alice's mind to slowly crack. No emotion...no strong reaction...nothing. Nothing she could work with! Even further...she refused to even tell her his name...Alice was disgusted.

DAMN YOU, DAMN YOU! Alice thought to herself when she heard his response. DAMN YOU...you peice of shit. You...you slum-dwelling scumbag...how can you just write ME off like that? I'm so above you...in every way. I'm smarter then you, richer then you, have more power then you ever will...and yet because of that damn power you can treat me like this!? Alice continued to think in her mind as Joshua finisher his statement. That power...that terrible...terrible power. That was the source of all of this. It was because of that power that he could be so smug, Alice thought. She couldn't bear it. She got increasingly more frustrated as she thought about the whole thing. The casual look on his face as he refused to give her any information. The indifference...and most of all that aweful power!

Back in the outside world, Alice's face turned from fear to disgust...while Alice had tried to play nice she just could't anymore. In a fit of rage she let out a frustrated cry and stamped her feat on the floor of the Antoniette repeatedly like the spoiled child she was. "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? DO YOU?" She yelled at Joshua. "I am the richest girl in the world! My family could buy this shitty little store 20 billion times over! I'm smarter then you'll ever be, too! I invented all kinds of technology you could never dream of! My creations have conquered countless worlds! I'm stronger then you, too...and now I'm gonna prove it!" Alice said at Joshua. With those words, she immediately activated her mind hack power, attempting to outright destroy his mind entirely, leaving him nothing but a husk...
 
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Joshua doesn't even notice Alice trying to mindhack him.

Joshua Langford

It was no concern to Joshua at all if he had gone and hurt some kid's feelings. Maybe this girl thought she was doing a good job of hiding her emotions, but the expressions going by on her face told a different story. It wasn't that the man wasn't perfectly capable of being polite when the situation called for it but frankly, this one didn't. Kids had to learn eventually that the world didn't revolve around them and sometimes Joshua was the guy who had to get it through their thick skulls.

Dear God, is she going to have a hissy fit, too? he wondered in distaste. He had just started forgetting about the last technology obsessed kid who had stupidly barged in. At least that one had read the sign, though. But the fact that he had come in despite -in spite?- of that did not raise him very high in Joshua's esteem. Well, whatever. Maybe he should just put the minimum age as sixteen or something. It wasn't like he had that much that would attract younger kids and the things that would were far out of their budget ranges, anyways.

I should start selling alcohol, the shopkeeper deliberated. Then I can legally throw these brats out whenever I want. But then he would have to go and get a liquor license, and Niccolò -Oh, God, no, Niccolò. Never mind, terrible idea. Joshua should never try to sell alcohol. At best, he would give the drunk a reason to always be in the shop and at worst, the shopkeeper would have to start finding some good places to hide a body.

And then of course, the kid did start having a hissy fit. Joshua rolled his eyes as the girl stomped her feet on the ground, with a look of childish frustration on her face. Huh, that's pretty damn spoiled, yep. The alcohol option was suddenly back on the table and looking better with each passing second.

He didn't really pay any attention to what that girl was going on about. Richest girl in the world? Smarter than you'll ever be? Conquered countless worlds? Huh. Okay, granted, the last one was new but the rest of it was just the same crap that he always heard. From the mouths of eight year olds. Joshua was pretty sure that this brat wasn't eight.

"Look," he said, feeling a little magnanimous, "If you're going to have a temper tantrum, could you do it outside? I don't really have the time for it right now."
 
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Ryu the Reptoid

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Today just wasn't Alice's day. Just having to step foot in these shady slums was bad enough for the pampered little princess, but now? She had come face to face with the one thing that could counter her every move. Despite being able to conceal it well, Alice was a prideful girl. She saw herself as being above everybody. Her wealth, her smarts, her manipulative talents, her cute appearance and her terrible magic power...the things she prided herself on meant absolutely nothing before this man and that made Alice's blood boil. The straw that broke the camel's back, however, was when her mind hack failed outright. It was as if this....filthy common swine had thrown an egg right in her face. For the first time in her life, Alice was powerless...a laughing stock. The almighty princess, owner of countless corporations, mistress of billions of planes was now reduced to a sniveling, powerless, bratty little girl who's only response was to lash out.

"YOU! WHY ARE YOU STANDING! DAMN YOU!" Alice shouted, stamping her feet wildly on the ground as she threw her fists into the air. "I MIND-HACKED YOU, YOU SHOULD BE AN EMPTY SHELL! YOU SHOULD BE DEAD! YOU BASTARD!" Alice shrieked. With that she flung her arm to her side, knocking down an entire shelf worth of items causing them to crash on the ground with a deafening "thud." The sound of shattering, fracturing goods filled the store as they shattered into pieces across the floor. Not content with just one shelf Alice kicked another one with all her might, sending more of Joshua's merchandise to crash to the ground and break. "I'LL SHOW YOU!" Alice screamed as she continued on her path of destruction. "I'LL BREAK ALL YOUR CRAPPY JUNK! THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR PISSING ME OFF!" Alice continued to yell as she broke more items.
 
Emy

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Joshua Langford

And then, of all the things she could of done, the stupid kid went ahead and started trashing his shop. "Hey! Cut that out!" Joshua snapped, for the first time that day. "I don't care who the hell you are, I'm pressing charges for that!" Well, he might. The law sometimes took a hell of a lot of time to get to work when the shopkeeper could have gone and fixed all of his merchandise five times over.

In any case, no way was he going to let the kid continue to mess things up. With a sharp gesture, the man created two masses of dark matter, one by the door and one by the brat. It didn't take too much work to get her caught into the gravitational field, though it did take a little to get her about three feet off the ground and safely away from his inventory. Opening the door with the second mass of matter, Joshua promptly threw the girl back out onto the street. The door slammed behind her just seconds after.

Fucking brat. With an annoyed tsk, the man went to inspect the damage. The first three shelves were knocked over but that was nothing too bad. Books and replicas of aurae, mostly. The antiques on the second aisle he had already had the foresight to veil with dark matter, just in case. Most of the broken objects were the aurae from the first aisle but seeing as those were the cheap ones, Joshua wasn't too worried. And well, anyways...

Dark matter did have its uses. So what if a product was slightly broken on a molecular scale? Unless somebody was going to put it under the microscope, his fix would be good enough. Now, smashing things to dust, that was a different story. Luckily, it didn't seem like the crazy girl had been thinking too much about doing that, just causing as much noise as possible.

With another tsk, Joshua began setting up his shelves again. Objects rose up in the air and put themselves back where they had originally been set. It was easy for the things that were whole but for the broken ones, he had to set those aside to look at later. He gave another look over at his things, from the pile of objects needing repair by the counter, to the righted aisles.

In just a little bit of time, he had set up some barriers in front of all of his shelves. He had always known that it was stupid not to have some for protection but certain people kept telling him how customers liked being able to pick things up and look through them. And other crap like that.

Well, they can just go right to hell. Because if there was one good thing that brat had done, it was giving him a damn good reason to make his shop idiot proof.

Then, settling back onto his stool, Joshua began the process of repairing merchandise.

You can continue replying to this thread if you wish, but in case you don't, this seems like a good place to cut off. If you do, however, I'll still reply back. It'll just be slower. For the purposes of my thread tracker, however, this is completed.
 
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