forum Sliding into the roleplay forums

Started February 23, 2018 by @_sleeby_rat_

tune

"He's one of the richest people in the country. He actually owns this land, and the only reason he didn't kick us off it was because I offered him a pretty good deal. None of us can stand him, but he has wealth, power, and influence, and we'd still be living in tents right now if it weren't for him."
The helicopter's engine was beginning to roar, and Jacob waved at them from the cockpit. "We're clear to take off," he yelled. "Sure you don't want to take anyone else?"
"Nah." Mike climbed into the back, helping Red up after him. "I've got these guys, and anyway you're all plenty busy. Let's go."

Pluto hopped into the helicopter, dorky grin plastered on her face. "I've always wanted to ride in one of these."

Jacob grinned at her. "You like them too? I used to be a military pilot, for a while. Then I crashed in the wilds of Mongolia and they pronounced me dead, so I came to work here when I got back. Plus," he added, "My husband lives here and I've spent way too much of my life away from him already."
"I'm glad you work for us, Jacob," Mike said. "We'd have wrecked this machine years ago without you."

"Yeah, aircraft related things are a hobby of mine. I've flown a few bombers before, but never a chopper."

"Bombers, huh? Nice. I had some good friends who flew bombers." He paused a minute to adjust the controls. "So, just straight to the estate and back, right?"
"Yep," Mike replied. "Hopefully we can be done with this little job before dark. I don't want to be chasing a couple demons around by moonlight."
(I gotta go have lunch, see ya in a bit)

(sorry that took so long, a bunch of other stuff had to be done after I ate that I forgot about)
They flew for a couple hours, passing over vast tracts of forest and prairie with only the occasional tiny settlement or cracked highway to break the monotony. Much of the land looked like it had been burned or bombed at some point, and many of the forests were made of very young trees. Once they passed over a vast city, or at least the wreckage of one. The skyscrapers had fallen and been overgrown with greenery, and the streets looked completely deserted.
Mike gave a cursory glance out the window. "There's Detroit. The estate's not much farther."

(It's ok lol) Pluto frowned down at the city. It looked a lot like the ruins of the small town she had lived in as a kid. "What happened?"

"Some folks from a rival political party let loose a hundred crazed fire demons on it. It was a massacre, almost nobody got out. The blaze wasn't fully put out for months. That was almost thirty years ago, and it doesn't look like anyone's coming back." Mike's eyes were hard. "It was like this for almost every major city during the war. I was lucky to grow up in Nebraska, where there weren't many military targets. Still, we saw a lot of stuff like this."

"God that's…That's really awful."

He shrugged. "Yeah. But what are we gonna do? Might as well adapt to our new lives and make the best of it. That's the best tactic, in my experience. Clay, now, he's what we call a 'denialist'. He's convinced that with enough money and speech-making, he can put the country back where it used to be. It's never gonna work, but we humor him. Speaking of…" He leaned forward and squinted at the trees below. "…look's like we've reached his property."
Sure enough, the forest was neatly sliced in two by a tall, thick fence, going off in wide curve in both directions. Tiny figures could be seen patrolling the border. There didn't seem to be any man-made structures inside the property, though.

"Ugh. I think I already hate him."

Red's body visibly flinched as soon as she saw the landscape. It seemed off to her. Like a pattern that's not quite right or a sort of hidden truth behind this odd veil of the real 'truth'.

Pluto turned, noticing Red flinch out of the corner of her eye. "You alright?"

"By the way," Mike was saying, "if Clay asks, you guys are trainees of mine that need more experience. Hopefully he doesn't ask about your wings, Pluto."
"Landing now," Jacob called, and the helicopter began to sink. They dropped until they were hovering over the only clearing in the entire forest, then touched lightly down and cut the engines. There was no sign of a building or human in the vicinity, but Mike opened the bay hatch and hopped out. "We'll check with Clay to get the situation, then find the demons and get them back where they belong. Jacob, you wait here."

Pluto hopped out after him, already trying and failing to get her wings to look smaller. "I hope he doesn't ask too, because these things are impossible to hide at this point."

Rather unexpectedly, a turf-covered hatch was lifted in the grass nearby, and a soldier in a dark uniform beckoned to them. "There you are," he said sharply. "Clay's been getting impatient."
Mike walked by him down the stairs, unperturbed. "I'm not a superhero. Be thankful I could come at all."
"Who are these people?"
"Trainees. Now quit acting like you're more important than me and go back to doing your job. Come on, guys."

Pluto followed Mike, shooting the soldier a glare as they walked by

They followed the staircase down a long way, until it opened out into a vast, sleek-looking underground vault. It was very luxurious, considering it was obviously a bunker: chandeliers hung from the ceiling and all the floors were either carpeted or tiled in marble. There were guards and various servants all around, but none spared Mike a glance as he walked briskly down the first hallway leading out and found a door labeled "Office".
"Now, I'm going to ask that you're all polite to him," Mike said quietly before they entered. "He's got what you might call a quick temper. But coming from a world filled with irresponsible gods, I'm sure you're used to that."

Pluto rolled her eyes. "I'm sure he won't be as bad as Damascus. I hope."

"I'll let you be the judge of that." Mike knocked on the door, two times.
"Come in," came an angry voice. Mike did so, waving for the rest of you to follow.
The office was spacious and somewhat garishly opulent, with red velvet curtains over the windows and gleaming mahogany bookshelves on all other sides. There was an oversized desk in the center of the room, and sitting behind it was a thin blond man in a grey suit who seemed to have been in the middle of a frustrated tirade. He sat back as Mike entered, smoothing down his neatly parted hair.
"Mike," he snapped. "About time. It's been nothing but insanity here for hours, and for no reason other than your incompetence!"
Mike helped himself to a chair. "Explain what happened. I'll do my best to get this figured out."
As Clay launched into a long speech about the events of the day, Pluto (probably) noticed another man sitting in the corner of the room, casually leaned back and watching the conversation. He was a tall man with dark hair and sharp grey eyes, and something about him seemed….not quite human. He considered Mike's companions with mild curiosity.

Red stayed close to Mike and Pluto, confused as to the customs of interaction changing intermittently. She shook her head, realizing she had been scowling this whole time. Through her nervousness, she barely noticed the red colouration in her hair reach back up to the half-way point.

Pluto squinted at the man in the back, tuning Clay out. Something was off with him, and had she not been worried about being careful she would have switched to soul vision out of curiosity