Endless Blaze

Watching Boubka nudge the red hedgehog made the smallest of smirks appear on Talas face. But why? Why did that amuse her? It wasn't even a funny action in the first place. 

The cyan male did have a point though, maybe being able to haggle that price tag down as much as physically possible would be the most beneficial. Her possibly messing her employment status by saying where she works wouldn't be a good plan. Nobody works with fear anymore, they just shrug it off with a laugh as if it means nothing. 

Looking over the group that had formed in here, there was an unmistakeable lack of space. It made Tala feel slightly uneasy and compressed. Small spaces were never her forté for obvious reasons, but nobody needed to know that. She shook the thoughts from her head and continued to listen to the conversation with no physical input. She wouldn't really know what to say anyway, considering they didn't really understand what the hedgehogs were looking to do. 

Tala had only met Caen and Shrike once, so didn't actually know all that much from them. Being naturally wary around humans in general, it was a miracle that she even stood in the same room as the armoured male standing across from her. He saved her life however, so she was indebited to him. Caen, well Caen was the one to help her distinguish that not all humans are bad. It took some convincing, but he managed to get through to her eventually. Since that time, she had managed to settle in around the city and nobody took much notice of her. 

Well, besides the fact she had a pair of horns, now that was always a conversation starter at work. 

Returning back to reality, the maroon female looked back to the red pair, and raised an eyebrow. The similarities were actually quite scary. There wasn't a coincidence; they had to be closely related. Somehow. 

Tala glanced over to the newest female and lingered on her robot companion for a tiny bit longer than Valtiel herself. It wasn't the most noticeable, but after analysing the small robot, there were slight differences to that of an actual E-Series. The differences were slight, but it was a definite relief indeed. 
She swivelled her red ears to Boubkas question to the green clad human and found herself agreeing with him silently. They needed to know who they could consider allies or not. 

"While you all work this out, I need to go outside for some fresh air. It's too cramped in here."
It may have been quite rude, but frankly she didn't care too much. She walked out the same doorway they all came in, and leaned against the wall just outside, taking a deep breath of the outside air.

The jackal wolf's vicious grin grew twice as large as the fox suggested an even bigger discount than she demanded. That would be a first for her, the people she's been dealing with didn't have an ounce of generosity in them. "My, my. Yer a lot smarter than I expected ya to be, it seems." 


"Actually, Sire Shrike, times have been quite trifling lately. Abundant complications, I'm afraid." Sectus responded to Shrike's comment, turning his helm to briefly scan the individual exiting the crowded building.

Valtiel started to hold out her hand towards the one eyed fox, offering a handshake to solidify the deal, stopping to retract her hand back towards her chest as Shrike started to speak. Her ears twitched and her eyes shifted to him as she heard him mentioning a rip-off. Letting out a deep sigh, her satisfied smirk faded instantaneously. 

There was a catch, of course there was. Not that she actually needed to get involved in whatever was happening, but she couldn't sit back and let Titus swindle her only friend other than Sectus. Despite how self-serving and stubborn Valtiel could be, her sense of loyalty was incredible. Her eyes returned their focus on Titus, their feint glow had left and her stare was intense. 


"Oh dear..." Sectus knew the chances of there being trouble was just drastically amplified. The look upon his master's face became something increasingly frequent in the past month. He knew by now what usually followed was violence or something that could easily lead to it. 

"Ah, so yer rippin' off Shrikester? So ya are as dumb as I thought." Valtiel pulled her duffel bag off of her shoulder, tossing it onto the floor aside her with a heavy thud. "May not look like it, but Shrike, Sectus, and I are part of the same pack. Ya can step on the rest of 'em, but not him." Valtiel took a step forward, eyes looking Titus up and down. "Don't know what he wants, don't need to. He's gonna get it for cheap. It's just a matter of who's gonna pay the price. So how 'bout fifty percent discounts all around? Wait! Don't answer yet." 

Valtiel turned her head to the rest of the crowd, clearing her throat to make an announcement. "I got three quarters of a million with me, each one of ya can make one hundred thousand of it. All each of ya gotta do is name a bone each time I get the wrong answer. That way I'll know which ones ta decimate. " Valtiel announced, way too excited about what she was saying. Her favorite pass-time in the world was tough-talk. She had no real intention of actually going through with what she was saying, she was hoping intimidation would do all the work for her.

"Time for round one! Fifty percent all around?"

Ember just stayed silent at Bou's, still looking down, avoiding eye contact with everyone. 

When Boy questioned Caen on whether or not he was the leader, Caen chuckled "I wouldn't call myself a leader. We're all... Let's say we're all united by a common cause," he said, looking at the two that were accompanying him.
"Still, I can't keep pressuring him to make this information cheaper. I can't afford to lose this information, we don't have the luxury of time, anymore."

He looked towards Shrike, again, who was complaining about the price that Caen was charged, compared to the rather large discount this Valtiel was receiving.

While Caen wished to leave, just like Tala, and take a few breaths of fresh air, things were not slowing down inside the dealership. Valtiel was led to believe that, due to Shrike's outburst, Titus was, in fact, now "swindling" him. She had even offered to break his bones for a better discount!

Titus grinned "lady... You clearly don't know who I am..." He chuckled, his eyes lighting up. "Just 'cause I charge more than most doesn't mean I'm gutless, so if you wanna break any of my bones... Heh. I'd like to see you try," his voice was low, and serious. Unlike Valtiel, however, this was no scare tactic, he was truly ready and willing to fight.

Caen eyes widened, sweat beginning to pour from him, he pushed past Bou rudely and held up his hands "M-miss Valtiel! T-Titus! Let's not do anything hasty, here!"
He sighed "look, I am the one being swindled here, Miss. But this information... I need it more than you could understand. Money is no object. Please, don't hurt Titus, or all is lost..."

Titus laughed, pointing towards the hedgehog "now this guy... He's a smart one. Oh, yeah, and you can screw yourself on that discount, now. You're lucky I'll sell to ya at all after that performance."

-Lots of shouting, debating but nothing was being agreed on, while the gang seem to ramble on about what price is right, or trying to get said price be lower Shrike had remained...strangely silent, some could mistake it for being calm but he was actually loose his patience pretty damn quick. 

Yes it was true they did not have time, but the money was enormous and what if the intel is wrong ? Then what Caen would of been conned out of a whole million right off the cuff. However since he was more then happy to pay the million perhaps Caen had some wealth behind him course that was none of his business from the get go. 

Shrike seemed to be in his own little world in deep thought about something, when he finally came around, Perhaps Shrike could find a means or at least returning some of the money to Caen once this was over, he had some artifacts laying around that could sell for a hefty price, maybe even sell some unused gear. 

Shrike walked turned to Caen.- 

" He is right....we don't have time for this....Caen pay the million I think I might have something...items that I could sell to at least make the cost less of a impact..."

-Maybe he heard the idea maybe he did not but it was clear Val and Titus were not done with their little..who's tougher argument even going as far as to offer cash for breaking his bones, last time she tried to offer cash to Shrike he flat out refused it cause in the end he was in it for the money, he was in it to save the world that was all the reward he needed, well this was Valtiel after all, she didn't just back down or accept any less, not how she worked looks like it was time for Shrike to step in and settle this his way. 

Leaving the side of Caen and placing himself between Val and Titus he knew she would not raise a weapon or punch to him.

"Titus! Val! That is enough! We didn't come here to see who could beat the living shit out of each other better...I certainly did not nor did Caen or Ember..we came here for a greater cause...the world is at stake and this information could mean either things stay as normal...or every thing goes to hell and a hand basket...We will work on repaying Caen but now let's just get this damn intel and get moving...my patience is wearing thin...and my trigger finger is itchy."

-Shrike let off some steam, when he raised his voice it was enough to shut up a room, he felt like he had to take control for a bit and move things along...even if they had wasted mere minutes perhaps those minutes could be the difference between victory or defeat.

To get some fresh air Shrike exited the dealership, however before heading out that side, he looked over at Val for a while before stepping out, there he would find Tala doing the same.- 

" Mind if I join you out here for a while..I don't think they will be to much longer....So I know its been a long time..but I am at least glad to see you still going strong."

After being pushed aside by Caen and blatantly ignored by Shrike, Bou's intent was to follow Tala, seeing as he clearly was not wanted here, until the moment that Valtiel started talking about breaking bones. He stood still just in front of the enterance. "Shit." He said to himself. He summoned his chaos gauntlets, this time for them to stay. He was going to pull them away from each other. As much as he liked the idea of Valtiel. Titus reacted back without any fear. Things are about to go down...

....Until Shrike halted any sense of movement again. "That's enough. Pay him that million, this is getting ridiculous. I'm even getting fed up about this.....bitching around." Yeah he said it. Bou was getting way too confused at the moment. He didn't care anymore. "I'm more as willing to help you out, but standing here and doing nothing isn't going to do anything." He crossed his arms, chaos gauntlets still on him.

(Sorry for the short post but there isn't really much to use at this point.)

Tala leaned heavily against the outside wall, staring at her teal high tops, and absentmindedly playing with her silver bracelets. She wasn't the best at confrontations, especially with matters she wasn't previously informed with. Her job had her to get her hands dirty for her superiors while they sat back and waited for her call. No questions asked. The money was good, but there was no co-worker interactions, and people generally were intimidated by her for obvious reasons other than her resting bitch face.

"Mind if I join you out here for a while..I don't think they will be to much longer....So I know its been a long time..but I am at least glad to see you still going strong."

Looking up at the familiar slightly muffled voice, Tala couldn't help but let the smallest of smiles be shown to the green armoured human. Of all humans, she felt like she really enjoyed this ones company, which was extremely unlike her.
"Heh, its good to see you too, Mr Shrike. After we parted ways back then...I honestly thought I would never see you again. It is good to see that you are well."

Collective raised voices came from inside the dealership area. Tala couldn't help but smirk a little at the commotion. She glanced back over to the doorway, a far away look in her eyes. "I wonder if I called in some folks from my work... I wonder how much illegal goods they would find in there? It clearly isn't being maintained solely by scrap metal and the like. There is obviously a secondary means of business going on." She found herself muttering in a quiet tone.

Valtiel could feel the adrenaline start to ripple throughout her veins, and she could feel the sensation of her brain throbbing against the inside of her head uncontrollably as her festering rage wrapped it's unforgiving grip around her conscious. She wasn't necessarily angry at the shop-keeper, she understood why his reaction was what it was. How could she have expected a different outcome? She pressed her luck, something habitual at this point, and she paid the price for it. The fact that Shrike wasn't even the one paying was just insult to injury. 

Sectus' combat systems deployed rapidly, his optic darting between every single mobian in the room, marking each of them as hostile targets. "Weapon systems online, Miss Valtiel! Awaiting orders!" Sectus stood at alert, taking aim at the blue furred fox and powering on his flamethrower's ignition coil.

Valtiel wasted no time throwing one of her hands into the air, wordlessly demanding that Sectus stood down, which the bot eagerly obliged by powering his weapon systems back down and backing away from the blue kitsune. "My apology, sir!" Sectus made an effort to extend his sincerest apology to the stranger.

 Her misguided attempt to help didn't help a single soul, it only seemed to make tensions worse, much worse. She felt like an absolute idiot as everyone rushed between her and Titus to break up what could've easily of ended up a fight. Even though she didn't intend on fighting Titus to begin with, she would've if Shrike didn't step in between.

She backed up slowly, her eyes drifting upwards to stare into the visor of Shrike's helmet, carefully listening to every word he spoke. Whatever was happening must be really important. She had to find the courage to let go of her pride and her rage. She closed her eyes tight as he walked past to exit the store, trying to think of any way she could try to salvage the situation.

When her eyes re-opened moments later, the sparkle had returned to her eyes, as did her wide smile. "Some people just find flowers more beautiful than fire..." She muttered to herself, as if it were a reminder. "Don't worry, I was just playin' around with ya one-eye, I like yer style too. Gotta poor sense of humor on me." She giggled nervously while shrugging dismissively. "Sorry 'bout that. I'm tryin' to work on my actin' career, guess I'm just too good." Valtiel then locked eyes with Caen, she flashed him a warm smile. "Sorry for causin' some trouble with ya. Lemme make up for it. I'll pay half of yer fee."

Shrike had now offered to sell items to recoup the bill, even slightly. Caen bit his tongue, trying his best to stop himself from screaming at everyone in the building to be quiet and let him pay his damn money. He found himself agreeing with the cyan fox, the constant "bitching around" was getting them nowhere.

Valtiel had, at least, calmed down a little. She muttered something, before giggling, trying to explain that she was only joking. When she brought up the subject of acting, Caen sighed a little to himself "I beg to differ" he thought to himself, noting her suddenly nervous nature. 

Titus changed demeanours almost as quickly as before, laughing and putting his hands in his pockets "well, the eyepatch certainly isn't a fashion statement if that's what you're thinking. Let's just say... A guy tried to steal from me. Shot me in the eye. Barely missed my brain. Needless to say, he's as dead as he could get."

A chill ran through Caen's spine. How could he be so nonchalant about ending someone's life, even if they were a thief? The hedgehog had certainly ended lives before, but he always chose it as a last resort, only when lives were in danger. 

Valtiel, after the stress that she had caused, had offered to foot half of Caen's bill, and his mouth dropped open "h-half a million rings?! J-just like that?!" He shook his head, opening his mouth to say no. Ember stepped forwards, putting her hand on her father's shoulder "Dad, we don't have any more time to waste arguing. Just let her pay the money." 
The hedgehog sighed "fine. I don't know why you'd want to waste your money like that, but it's your money, so I can't stop you."

"Half of the price in cash money? Now that is a sweet deal..." Titus said, rubbing his hands together. 

Caen reached into his pocket, pulling out a checquebook, filling out the necessary details and tearing it out. "Half a million," he said, holding the cheque out to Titus, who snatched it away. 

"And you're still willing to part with five hundred thousand, yourself, sweetheart?" He asked, flashing Valtiel a grin.

-Shrike stood quietly by her side looking out into what ever view was in that direction, he listen to what she said one part he seemed to focus on a lot. " Never thought I would see you again." He couldn't remember how many times he had heard that one before, in fact he did wonder..how did he make it this far in one piece..perhaps it was just sheer luck. He did look worse for wear tho. 

"Heh if I had a ring for every time some one told me that I would of been able to own my own place and settle down for once...frankly I am even thinking how I made it this far..guess it is just blind luck huh...You ? Seems like you are....more or less adjusting to normal life fairly well ? " 

-He said as he looked over to her digging his hands into his green BDU pockets. All the more while the rest were still going on about who was going to pay what and how much but at least it sounded like they had finally reached a deal of some sort. 

Valtiel and Caen had decided to split it, Half a million each. This stupidly expensive payment better be worth the intel or Shrike had a mind of his own coming back and dealing with Titus himself and some times his methods can be...unpleasant. Though a sigh of relief upon hearing there final agreement.- 

"Huh, seems like the have finally decided on something, good we can finally move and find this...Alastor guy..and do what needs to be done....what we should of done when we first encountered him....not gonna lie Tala...we may need help....I know you got away from all that conflict and what not...but the way this all sounds...the world is at stake... every bit of assistance could be needed... I'll let you think on it."

-Shrike left her side with those words, he left her a choice and did not force her to fight this battle, he knew she wanted more or less a normal life. Shrike returned inside just as payment was being made. 

Half a million each, Hell shrike had just enough money to get him something too eat let alone enough to just hand over to pay for intel, Val well she made lots of money, even her home was evidence of it, Shrike was just content he could find a place to see at all. 

He could see Titus was a greedy guy, he just wanted money, guys like him would kill for it in a heart beat, Shrike again seemed to mind his own business, until Titus asked Valtiel for her cut of the money calling her Sweetheart, that caught Shrikes attention quickly shifting his head rapidly to look at Titus, didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out Shrike didn't seem too like him calling her that.-

The fox couldn't believe it. Did that robot just pointed it's weapons at him? His eyes emitted a bright green light. His gauntlets grew slightly bigger and he changed his stance. "What?! What is it doing?!" Why was it targetting him? Titus was the bad guy here? This situation was getting even more confusing.

Luckily Valtiel stopped the E-100 series robot. Bou sighed in relief. "Phew...thanks I guess." His eyes stopped glowing and his chaos gauntlets dissappeared. There was a weird green ooze coming out of his scar on his right hand, however the ooze itself quickly disappeared and soon it stopped with leaking out. He held his bracelet. "You guys finish this off. I'm gonna grab some fresh air as well. I can't take this." Then he walked outside, catching some of the conversation between Tala and Shrike.

"not gonna lie Tala...we may need help....I know you got away from all that conflict and what not...but the way this all sounds...the world is at stake... every bit of assistance could be needed... I'll let you think on it."

The fox smirked as he walked towards them. This day was confusing, but he had to help some people out as it seemed right now. "Sign me up as well. I won't let you guys do this alone. If the world is at stake, you can never haven enough people on your side. Oh and I can fight. That's useful!" Eventhough looking kind of childish, the fox still sounded experienced. "I mean...only if you want my help of course."

He couldn't escape his thoughts anymore. The feeling was back again. Tala. He looked at her. "Say, Tala. Do I know you from somewhere?" He paused for a second, it seemed as if he was thinking throughly about what he was going to say. "Do you...control darkness?" That was random, but he surely had a reason to ask it.

The proposition Shirke passed in front of Tala was a heavy task. She knew that things were looking pretty grim right now. Caen would not part with such a large sum of money if it was just a small matter. She could ask for more details late, but for now, she had to do some serious contemplating on the future. She had managed to find solace here after all, and established some sort of a life in the city; something she never ever believed to happen in her lifetime. She simply nodded wordlessly as the green clad human took his leave to go back inside to check up on the others. 

Boubka had walked outside just as Shrike was disappearing, commenting that he too wanted to assist with this mission. The horned female couldn't help but raise a confused eyebrow when she felt that energy spike coming from him. It was so familiar, but she just knew she never knew this guy before today. 

Those words. They made her heart stop as she widened her eyes as soon as he finished. How... How did he know that? 
In a flash, she lunged forward and made a threatening move to press him against the wall as her hands began turning into shadows. 
"Who are you?  Who gave you your info? And where have we met before, Chaos user?"

Tala was usually rather collected with most things, but that was something that just concerned her. She wasn't aiming to hurt, but the fact this fox knew of her abilities made a shiver travel down her spine.

Valtiel's grin grew once again as the one eyed fox spoke of his encounter with fate, explaining how he got the eyepatch. She's been shot at before, on many occasions. It'd be hard to recall a time a bullet actually hit her. Sectus was good at shielding her from those sorts of things when she wasn't battling it out in the arena for cash. By the end of his short story, she couldn't hold back a small chuckle. "I gatcha. Been there before myself. Shrike, Sectus, and I filled a few graves back in the day." She said, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb. "Bunch of greedy thugs..." She muttered to herself.

Valtiel then turned her attention over to Caen. "Yeah, why not. It's my world too, isn't it? Got nothin' better ta do with it all. Ya owe me though." She knew her money, her possessions, they'd all mean nothing if the world were truly at stake. "Sectus, bring me the duffel bag." 

"Yes, Miss Valtiel!" Sectus gave the blue, chaos wielding fox a polite bow of his helm, as if to give yet another wordless apology before he departed to retrieve the bag tossed carelessly to the floor behind his master. Sectus brought it to his master's side, just as the blue fox passed by to get some fresh air. Sectus had never seen so many mobians in one place before.


"Hold it for me, Sectus." Valtiel unzipped and reached into the bag to pull out her share, handing over the stacks of cash over to Titus, feeling a bit regretful of her decision to pitch in. Not that she knew why. She wasn't even sure what she was preparing Sectus for with all the upgrades she's been slaving over. She didn't see herself as a hero, an anti-hero, or even a villain. In the grand scheme of things, she never really felt like anything. She just existed, survived, and battled to build her robot. For a moment, she wondered if she'd be better off working with Eggman. The daydream faded rather quickly by the sound of the shop door opening up again. Looking over her shoulder yet again she caught Shrike out of the corner of her eye. 


"Hey Shrikester, after this deal, I'm gonna need an explanation for what's even happenin'."

Titus turned his head, noticing Shrike's... Less than pleased look upon the fox calling Valtiel 'sweetheart'. Titus was handed massive stacks of cash, which he quickly dumped on the desk, his eyes seemingly lighting up even more at the mere sight of the cash. He took hold of one stack, flicking through each note "Much obliged... Sweetheart," he said, flashing Shrike a mischievous look. 

"Mr. Magnus, we do really need that information as soon as possible-"
"I know, I know, just let me check the info, myself, don't want my client comin' back demanding his cash back, do I?" Titus replied, almost throwing himself back onto his chair, rolling it across the room, to a computer situated quite close to the back corner of the room. He tapped away, before muttering "interesting..."

As Titus looked up the information, Caen turned to Valtiel, bowing "Miss, if there's anything I can do to repay you, just name it," he said. 
Ember sighed, "I'm gonna go take a breath of fresh air, myself. Just tell me when we're leaving," with those words, she left the building, leaning up against the wall, breathing slowly and deeply. She turned her head to see Tala lunging towards Boubka, and she soon pushed off the wall. Suddenly, her fists were encased in an almost crystalline-like red material. She held up her hands, much like a boxer would "Miss, let go of him." She said, once again acting rather impulsively.

Meanwhile, Titus slid his chair back towards the desk, grabbing a piece of paper, writing on it. "So, we've been shipping most of the goods to an old castle in Spagonia. God knows how he's managed to get hold of that without anyone noticing, but I'm not the guy to ask questions." He wrote down the city that it was nearby to, sliding the paper across the desk towards Caen "good luck with him, though. I hear he's not the most friendly guy. Nearly killed one of my delivery boys, once."
"Trust me, I know that more than any other man," he said, taking hold of the paper. "To make a long story short..." he said, turning to Valtiel again, "Alastor is my uncle. He had burned my home down, making me presume my parents were dead for nearly eight years. I found out a month ago that my father has now been encased in a robotic shell, my mother... well... I still don't know..." He looked down, shaking his head "Ember, she's my daughter. She travelled through time to warn me of how he would virtually destroy this planet. I am going to nip it in the bud. If he dies now, countless lives will be saved. Call me mad, but it is what I must do..."

Titus whistled, leaning back in his chair, kicking his feet up onto the desk "you're a dramatic bunch, aren't ya?"

-Shrike knew the stakes second only to Caen himself, but out of him he knew the kind of odds they were facing what they were about to do. Sure they had done some dangerous things before but this would blow it out of the water...couple of beings is all that stood between him and the death of countless. 

Shrike had at least given the option, with or with out her they still had to go on and face Alastor, as he was making his way back into the dealership he bumps into the Fox before him, he was so in thought he didn't see him till it was too late, he was about to say sorry when it seemed the fox straight away wanted to join in. Zero hesitation, that is the kind of response Shrike had been looking for.- 

" I like your spirit, cause we gonna need every damn bit of help, hope you ready to plan for the best but expect the worst cause that is how we roll..welcome to the rag tag team."

-He patted his shoulder passing by him, seems like the first new member to the gang had been established. Shrike headed inside to see the deal finally concluded and the information being handed over, better be the right damn information. 

Over to his left Val spoke to Shrike about what exactly was going on, he figured now was a good time to explain in a short way, probably leaving the full story to be told either by Ember or Caen. However his tone was one of anxiety and pressure.-

" The world is at stake Val, and I am not over exaggerating, If we fail in this operation to terminate Alastor, by the sounds of it..there ain't gonna be a world left after it.... We gonna need every one's help in this...your's and Sectus. Choice is still yours, but with out with out you guys we still be going in for the kill."

-Shrike looked over to Caen giving him a nod, signaling that it was time to go. Shrike turned back to head for the exit, now it was the time for action, probably the single most important engagement since the time of the Dark Terrarian invasion. When it came too extremely intensive or vitally important tasks that could mean life or death on a massive scale, Shrikes personality would change rapidly, he would become rather with drawn, cold and disconnected probably a coping mechanism to deal with the worst of the worse the situation could throw. -

The fox smiled at Shrike. Right. He was being accepted by the soldier human. Awesome!  "I bet we could do great things as a team, so I'm delighted to be on board." His eyes sparkled. Shrike walked away. Everything seemed okay, until he then got slammed into a wall, but he felt something strange coming over him. Goosebumps.

Bou couldn't help it. Eventhough he had his back against the wall, he smiled. He was right. And although Tala may have looked a bit scary, he could see right through her. She wasn't going to hurt him. There was no way. He could see it in her. "So you do know me huh? I can't remember when we met, but we surely must've met before." His eyes were glowing of excitement, until he suddenly realised in what for dangerous situation he was. "Look. Your suspicion holds no ground. You know I am a chaos user while I never told you. You can sense it as well. I've felt this energy before in others that control darkness, but you seem WAY more powerful. Just...don't blame me for knowing these things. Long story...." Then he felt a bit uneasy, with her holding him. "Could you...could you let me go? I just wanna talk with you y'know..."

As for Ember that just came upon them, Boubka noted his safety in a collected voice "Don't get your fists out just now. Everything is allllright!" That sounded way too ironic to be true. He then looked back at Tala, he was clearly thinking about his decisions here. Would he say something more? Oh why not. "Aaaah I don't want to challenge you or anything, but fighting me isn't the smartest thing to do. People have told me Chaos energy is really strong towards Umbrakenesis, so I don't know if my powers are gonna freak out on your energy." He looked kind of worried. Maybe he shouldn't've said that.

The maroon female had acted impulsively. Of course if he was a Chaos user, so he would be able to determine to an extent what her abilities were. She felt so stupid. Her paranoia hit her like a ten ton truck and she acted like a wild animal. That wasn't her anymore. She was much more respectful than that now. 

Gathering herself slowly, Tala blinked stupidly for a moment before her hands returned to their usual white palmed solid forms. She lowered her head, then turned it to the side a little to give a nervous glance at the cyan male as she turned away. On the way round, she caught Embers gaze and flicked her blue gaze onto the younger females hands. 

"Heh, don't worry your pretty little head about a fight, kid. I acted like an idiot. Nothing more to say on the matter."

She lowered her head to the ground again, and stepped over to the wall of the building to lean against it, exhaling a heavy sigh as she slowly sunk down to the ground. 

Hearing softer voices inside, Talas ears twitched when she heard bets name and that she was Caens daughter from another time. 'Doesn't that sound familiar... ' she trailed off in her thoughts. 

She looked at the brightly coloured fox and couldn't help but smirk slightly. "You... You never let anything stop that smile do you?"
The horned female bright her knees up to her chin and rested her head on top of them. She wondered how long it would be before they were done in there. It hadn't been overly long, but she believed she had her answer to Shrike and Caen.

Valtiel rolled her eyes as Titus called her sweetheart again, this time it was blatantly obvious he was doing it on purpose. She hoped he didn't try to make a habit of it, it was already starting to annoy her. Having paid her half, Valtiel let out a faint sigh of discomfort. She wasn't a fan of parting with her money and getting nothing in return for it, however, she had a feeling that Caen could be reliable. 

When Caen turned to her and offered up his debt, Valtiel felt happier with her decision to help him out. A promising answer. Now, the question was if he was of any use to her. For now, she gave him a friendly smile and a nod of her head. "Will do! I'll find a use for ya, I'm sure. If we survive today."

Casually shrugging off her last comment, Valtiel and Sectus listened to Caen and Shrike each explain. So far Valtiel only had bits and pieces. Sectus was equally curious about the situation. They listened carefully.

The canine hybrid raised her brow, somewhat perplexed. She was having trouble grasping the urgency of the entire situation. It was just one guy, by the sounds of it. She didn't believe one guy could be such a problem, unless he had an army. Even then, he'd have to be something special to pose a threat to the entire world. The most convincing thing of it all was the anxiety in Shrike's voice and the distress in Caen's body language.

"Shrikester, Caen, I'll be honest with ya... I just don't see one guy bein' able to destroy the world. I think yer all soundin' a tad ridiculous. But..." She paused for a moment, her gaze shifted between Sectus and Shrike as she pondered the past. "I miss killin' people with ya, Shrikester!" She leaned forward to hug him briefly. "Plus, stoppin' an apocalypse sounds fun, doesn't it, Sectus?"

"No, it sounds scary, Miss Valtiel!"


"Well... Yer opinion doesn't count anyhow. We're in!" Valtiel spun around on her heel, snatching the duffel bag of what was left of her cash out of Sectus' servo. She seemed excited about the end of the world. That meant she got to fight along side her best friends again, and maybe even make a few new friends too. With the castle thrown in as an extra bonus to it all... well, Valtiel was damn near overloaded. If they lived through the day, Valtiel wanted that castle. Turning back around to face Shrike and Caen, Valtiel held out what remained of her money towards the former soldier. "Caen, Shrikester, listen up. I gotta job for ya both. After we put Caen's jerk uncle into the dirt, I wanna be queen of the castle. That means keep the others from lootin' without my permission. Hopefully we can keep the damage to a minimum... We also gotta figure out how to keep G.U.N from crime-zonin' it. Probably won't be easy. All I ask is that the two of ya try yer best ta help."

Ember sighed upon finding out that whatever was happening between Boubka and Tala was a misunderstanding. She lowered her hands, the crystalline structures around her hands seemingly smashing into tiny pieces, which appeared to soon disintegrate into thin air. "Sorry... I can't tell whether or not a fight's gonna happen, anymore..." Ember replied, before hopping onto the wall next to Tala. "Its refreshing to see someone smile for a change, to be honest," she said, looking over at Bou.

Meanwhile, Caen looked over at Shrike, "Shrike, we can't just expect everyone and their brother to join us-" 
Before Caen could finish, Valtiel had already agreed to come along, even though she had just noted that one man couldn't possibly bring forth the end. One condition was there, though: she wanted his castle. 
"You needn't worry about G.U.N. My... Contact there was only able to find one piece of information- that the metal Alastair was utilising in his robots came from here. I... Can't exactly guarantee the castle will remain unscathed, though."

Caen picked up the slip of paper, looking it over "still, Spagonia's not far, but certainly not within walking distance. We'd need a car, or something similar-"

Titus clicked his fingers "that's where I can come in. For being such great customers, I can let you take a look at some of the cars that people have dumped. Hell, there's some pretty nice ones out back, no idea why they wouldn't bring them to a car dealership, but I can't complain."
Caen sighed "and how much are you asking for?"
Titus replied with a wave of his hand "this one's on the house. Take your pick." He said, pointing with his thumb behind him. 

Caen smiled for the first time in a while, nodding. "Thank you, Mr. Magnus." Before he would go out back, though, he thought it best to tell Ember that they may be leaving soon. He poked his head outside the door "Ember, we're leaving now. Come inside."

Ember hopped off the wall, nodding. "See you all, then," she said, not knowing that either of them planning to join them all.

-Content for the most part that the deal had been settled with out coming to a fight, if that happened they could of forgotten about the deal at all and would be back to square one.

Shrike had a idea to help Val pay back some of the cash, those old lost artifacts he had obtained would at least help to some degree with the price, Val on the other hand seemed more then happy to cover most of it, knowing the amount of cash she earned he was not surprised at all.

Val's response of how one man could not pose much of a threat was probably a typical response, Shrike had learned a very important lesson during his military time and that was never ever underestimate a enemy. If you did you might not live to see your regret upon it, Shrike would go into every conflict ready to expect any thing. Hope for the best prepare for the worst.

Thankfully it seemed like Val had agreed to join then, her skills and Sectus would become extremely valuable in the coming battle, he knew her true strength it was unlike any thing he had seen before. 
Sectus would scorch the ground clean of any enemies who stood before him.

He would suddenly feel a little jolt and warmth from her brief hug, he could tell she meant it, that she was in for the long haul, a small smile grew upon the face of Shrike, not that she could see but he did feel better. 

However Val seemed to want a lot out of this if the battle went in their favor, she wanted the entire damn castle, knowing Val and her famous wannabe ways he would expect as much, as much as she wanted him and Caen to be almost like body guards in a sense, he knew he could not, for weeks now his spirit had been not the same, his constant nightmares of a growing evil had caused him to become withdraw and concern of something terrible in the near future. 

Again Val attempted to give money to Shrike as she tried before, and again Shrike gently shift her hand so it was pointing to Caen, he was not interested in the money just like before, Shrike was here to fight for the greater good and didn't need money to convince him to do it, the safety of the world is all he needed in his mind. 

"Caen will take that money, I am here to do my job and do what must be done...nothing more or less...Let's go guys."

-Shrike walked by Caen as the group were heading to pick up their new mode of transport to head to the final confrontation of Alastor, Now it was time to see who else would join the rag tag fighting force to save the world.-

The fox sighed in relieve, laughing slightly because of it. "Thanks..." He could overhear something in the shop about 'Spagonia' and 'keeping the castle'. That is all he could make up from it. Spagonia huh? He remember something about 'Gaia'. Did a Gaia live there? Mom and dad told him once. Oh well. He may remember it later. He also overheard something about Ember. Apparently she's from the future. Bou was immediately facinated, but kept it undiscussed for now.

He had other things to talk about. Both girls spoke of his smile frequency. "Well I mean, I know I'm way too excited to not be happy I guess?" He grinned. Then he noticed Tala's regret of threatening him. An obvious reaction, but She shouldn't take it too bad. He walked towards the wolf and stood in front of her. "I don't blame you for doing something like that. Don't worry about it. It was actually....pretty thrilling. Now I hope you understand I wanna know somewhat more about you," He pointed at Tala in a joking threatening way. "So don't you dare never talk to me again. I will find you."

Wait hold on the crew was going? He was supposed to be going with them as well right? Maybe Ember didn't know he would come with. "No way that's happening. We're coming with!" Wait. Did Tala actually say she was coming with? He turned his head towards her. "...Are we?" He smirked, holding out a hand for Tala to push herself back up. "I bet they need us out there. Surely, we need some more powers of yours to crack this case. You up for it?" The enthusiasm was making Bou's heart pound. His eyes were glowing green again in excitement.

((Stuff is going on in Foreva's life, so she's given the go ahead to skip her. Just assume Tala is following the group. You're up, Valtiel!))

Valtiel gave Caen a smile, showing satisfaction in his answer. Seemed like he would turn out much more useful than she expected him to be. Goes to show that looks indeed could be deceiving. At the mention of a metal mobian, Valtiel's eyes lit up for a second. She had never seen one in person, and would love to have one for herself. But her only AI core belonged to Sectus, and she adored the E-Series model, even though it was a knock-off. Reaching forward, Valtiel patted Caen on the shoulder while giving him a respectful nod of the head. "Just try yer best."

Shrike's response to her offer, well, it was less satisfying to say the least. On a level it even made her angry at him. It didn't take long for her smile to fade away. She could even be heard lowly growling as he pushed her hand aside. She withdrew the bag away from Caen. He owed her, not the other way around. "Don't know what yer problem is, Shrikester. I offer ya wealth, I offer ya warm food, I offer ya a home... Ya want nothin' to do with any of it..."

Valtiel spoke low, as she walked beside the human, her robot following behind them on their way out the back. Despite being friends with him, Valtiel could never quite figure out what Shrike was all about. Figured he was a hero wearing a mercenary costume.

She tuned back into the rest of the world hearing the heavy steps of her mechanized bodyguard behind them. She looked over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of him, then turned back to scan through the selection of vehicles. "We're gonna need somethin' that'll fit Sectus."

Ember stopped when Bou announced that he and Tala would be coming with the group. She turned around, raising her eyebrow "r-really? I mean, we're gonna need all the help we can get..." she said, before turning around. She opened the door, holding it open for the two following her inside "Dad, looks like we've got a little more help!" She called out, walking towards the hedgehog.

Ember had walked in just as Shrike had turned down Valtiel's money, telling her to give it to Caen. Valtiel reacted to this with clear anger, before withdrawing the duffle bag. Caen agreed with the thought that was probably running through her head: he owed her, not the other way around. "That's pretty much how Shrike is, miss Valtiel. Don't take it personally." Caen replied to her statement, before looking to Ember, Tala, and Bou. 

The small chao perched on Caen's shoulder flew off, circling around the three. He looked at them with a puzzled look, before looking to Caen "this fight could very well lead to our deaths. I'm not stopping you from joining us, Bou, Tala. I just want you to understand the potential consequences. What we are doing is by no means safe."

Titus kicked off of the chair, standing up again "sheesh, you really are a drama queen, aren't ya?" He said, before following Valtiel out back "c'mon, let's not let little missy try to get any more discounts," he continued with a chuckle. 

Caen turned to face the back door, before looking back. "Alright, this is the point of no return. Follow if you are willing to put your life on the line," he said. Almost immediately, Cinder flew forwards, landing on the hedgehog's shoulder. 
"Chao chao." He said, a somewhat determined tone coming from the tiny creature. 

Ember stepped forwards next, nodding her head "let's end this once and for all," she said, passing Caen and heading out the back door.

-Shrike was not a soul driven by wealth, items or any thing in that regard, he was driven out of a need to help and protect, ever since those days where he had been abandon by the world he knew the feeling of being left alone to fend for one self, kind of became signature of him to help when ever and where ever it was needed.

She could be upset with him for all she wanted, Shrike knew what he stood for and would not be wavered by money or any thing else. 

Shrike listen to what Caen had to say, they might all go into together for this fight, but there was no promise they all would come back, Shrike had already accepted that fate as a possibility, and yet was still more then willing to follow through with this battle. 

Too him when a entire planet is at stake, some times the needs of money out way that of the few. At the last words he would say, it was the final call to follow him or walk away right now.

Shrike pulled the bolt back on his rifle and followed in suit, he was in it for the long haul and didn't even hesitate about that choice on the spot. 

"Too the end of the world and beyond I'm in all the way."

-Shrike spoke as he followed directly behind Ember leaving the dealership, hoping the rest would follow quickly.-

The fox waved at Caen. "Yeah I'll come with. Hope ya don't mind." He grinned. He was clearly excited to go on an adventure. He couldn't wait to go to Spagonia. He's heard that the people there were pretty friendly and that the streets were beautiful. He'll surely make some pictures of it.

When Caen noted the danger of this adventure, the fox could only laugh, agreeing with Titus. "Indeed. Calm down. There's nothing to worry about. I'm pretty strong alright. I'm sure I'll make it back in one peace." Bou clearly underestimated the situation. He didn't know what he was up to. If the world was at stake, it should be pretty dangerous, but Bou didn't care. He was going to help some people.

Then he walked over to the chao and gave it a little pat. Just because chao are cute y'know. "I bet you're ready too huh?"

The fox walked over to the cars. "Sweet lord. Those are a lotta cars! Anyone know anythin' about them? I can't drive yet so somebody else has to. Also I don't know which one works and which one doesn't." He pointed at a very large, kinda rusty jeep. It had some grey tones and not a lot of special feature. "I bet that one could fit your killer robot. Can't the robot just tie himself on the roof though?" He said to Valtiel.