Central City: Catching Up

[SHM 128 III]

Axe walked briskly down the sidewalk. As soon as he was out of sight of Lance, Mogul, and their respective entourages, he had picked up the pace a little to make sure he wasn't anywhere nearby when the bullets started flying... and with that Inari guy around, he was pretty sure that was all but inevitable. He secretly hoped that Lance had decided to take up that idea as well.

The hyena was at least a good five blocks away from the whole mess now, and was fairly confident that trouble wasn't going to follow him all the way down here. Looking around, he spotted what looked like a small collection of plants and bushes poking up over the top of a brick wall adjacent to the side of a building. Probably an attempt at a backyard in the middle of the asphalt jungle, no doubt. The brick wall was only about ten feet high, but it surrounded the entire area, save for one opening to the sidewalk that was currently locked with an wrought iron gate. Looking through the gate, he saw that the inside was paved with stone, the plants lining the inside walls, and some patio furnature in the middle. It didn't seem like there was anyone home at the moment.

(it looked something like this, but with the table and chairs in the middle instead of that... sculpture thing)

That would do. Casually approaching the brick wall, Axe sized it up for a moment before taking a single step back and leaping at it at full-force. With his momentum, he was able to effortlessly climb and vault over the wall, bending his knees as he landed with a quiet "thud" on the other side. Standing back up to full height and dusting himself off, he looked around for a moment before walking over to a patio chair and sitting down, kicking his feet up onto the table with a knowing smile.

"Okay, Luna, you can come out now."

[@ Dizzy @]

Luna grinned, then extracted herself from the collection of plants, carefully stretching her tiny body as she rose. "Well, that was close." She pulled off a leaf from a nearby fern and stuck it in her mouth, chewing silently. "You've got some real weird friends, Axe."

Wordlessly, she dumped the rings she'd won on the table, rapidly counting them. Nearly 200.. not a bad haul for an honest day's work.

Semi-honest.

[SHM 128 III]

"Friend. Singular," Axe insisted, holding up his index finger for emphasis, "The only guy in that group I'm friends with was Lance. I don't even know that spider girl or Senior Psychopath. As for Mogul and his band of merry men... The less said about them the better, trust me."

Watching as Luna tossed her rings onto the table, Axe reached into his own hammerspace and pulled out ten wallets, a handful of hand jewelry, and about 50 additional rings.

"I think it's safe to say we were successful, wouldn't you think? Even if it did end in me nearly getting a lot more lead than gold, anyway."

[@ Dizzy @]

Luna grinned as she rapidly started to count and divide their money. "Success is right! Tonight we eat!" She didn't pause in her counting, or look up, simply stating: "So his name's Mogul. He rolls big. Really big. You've gotta tell me how you got mixed up with someone so.... huge." And not phsyically huge, though he was. No, this elephant guy was big in other ways. Those goons, thoes guns... all of it commanded respect. No one would mess with someone like that. Except if they were straight up crazy.

"Looks like 650 in total, not counting the hockable stuff."

[SHM 128 III]

Axe let out an annoyed sigh. He wasn't particularly fond of his history with Mogul.

"I got busted after one of my jobs went south. It happens occationally, but I usually get off because of lack of evidence," he paused and held up his hands which, like most thropes, had gloves on them, "no prints, after all. And, as far as I can tell, all their attempts to go all forensic on my tail and use 'DNA evidence' and other such rot haven't worked for some reason."

There was a pause as he scratched the back of his head.

"Anyway, this time, it seemed like my luck had run out. Apparently, they installed a new security camera between the time I surveyed the building and when I actually broke in, so of course the one camera I didn't think to disable ends up catching me on film. Open and shut case, right? Well, while I was sitting there in the county jail, waiting for them to just hurry up and give out the guilty verdict already, Mr. Large-and-in-Charge decided to pay me a visit. He said he was 'impressed' with how may arrests I've had while having zero actual convictions, and made me an offer: Join his little fanclub more commonly known as the Underground Syndicate, and I wouldn't have to worry about dropping the soap while in prison showers anytime soon. All I needed to do was kiss up to him and occationally take on a job that he gives me. I didn't have much choice in the matter at the time, so I agreed. The next day, a bomb went off in the evidence room, incinerating everything being used in all currently open cases, including my little movie. With no evidence against me anymore on account of it being in flames, I was let off."

The hyena folded his arms and growled.

"... I should've just stayed in jail. Mogul's reminded me of why I prefer to work with partners and not bosses: Get too high on the totem pole, and you just end up with said pole up your rear and an inflated sense of self-intitlement."

He let out another sigh before relaxing a little, taking his feet off the table and leaning over to pick out what jewelery he wanted to keep for himself to pawn off.

"Though I suppose it isn't all bad if you want to get technical... It was in the Underground Syndicate where I first met Lance."

[@ Dizzy @]

"See, this is why I steal from people instead of places. People don't have security. They're too busy with their stupid yuppie cell phones to pay attention to anything around them, and that includes their wallets." HOw many times had she swiped from a guy so engrossed in a call that they didn't even notice she existed. "I mean, I love technology. Makes my job easy. You always did go too serious. I make enough from people... I never want to have to break into somewhere, have to deal with cameras and security and crap. It's just too much trouble." And Axe had proved her right.

"I dunno about being with a group, though. I mean... when things go bad, you want someone at your back who's... you know, interested in your survival. I wouldn't mind having a couple more friends, especially if they can scare off my enemies for me."

[SHM 128 III]

"Pfff... Me? Serious? Never," Axe replied as he took out one of his switcblades and began spinning it around in his hand, "Robbing buildings is just so much more entertaining than pickpocketing people. You'd understand if you tried it, I'm sure."

He began to divide the rings on the table, taking his o325 worth of them and putting them in his hammerspace.

"And having friends is a double edged sword, Luna. Yes, having people willing to haul your tail out of the fire is nice, but it's so very easy to have that used against you. People holding them hostage to get you to do stuff, hurting them to leave you emotionally unstable and easily exploitable, all sorts of nasty things. Plus, you never know if the person you choose to side with ultimately views you as 'expendable.' You think Mogul cares if any of those bodyguards willing to risk their lives for him actually die? I certainly doubt it."

The hyena started pocketing the jewelry he decided was worth keeping as well.

"Only reason I'm willing to admit I'm friends with Lance - besides the fact that we've had plenty of 'male bonding' thanks to all the jobs we've done together - is that we both know we're more than capable of dealing with our own messes and don't need to worry if the other one's in trouble. No one's going to try to threaten Lance to get to me, because Lance would just beat the tar out of them himself. Until you're confident in your ability to do that yourself, avoid making friends in this business."

Having finished laying claim to his portion of the spoils, he leaned back in the chair again.

"Feel free to keep the rest of the jewelry for yourself. Whether you want to pawn it or wear it because it looks pretty is up to you."

[The Huggernaut]

"If you ask me, stealing from people and places in a traditional sense is overrated. Try stealing what officially makes a person who they are, then we'll talk."

The voice would be familiar to both hyena and cat, coming from a spider girl sitting, rather casually, on top of the wall.

Anansi had been walking down this street when she heard familiar voices, catching the debate about what form of theft was better. And she couldn't resist her own input. Beyond that though, she really could care less about Mogul, which meant she had no comment. For the moment though, she stayed safely perched on the wall.

[@ Dizzy @]

Luna grinned a bit, giving the spider a two-fingered salute. "Hey, it's the quick eyed girl! What are you doing here?" Then she frowned, obviously puzzled by what she'd said. "What do you mean, stealing who they are?"

[SHM 128 III]

Axe also looked in the direction of the voice and discovered that, sure enough, it was the same spider girl from earlier. How did she know they were here? Did she follow him? And how much did she hear? However, despite his confusion at the situation, he kept a casual face as he looked up at her.

"You know, when I said 'call me', I was kind of being facetious. If I had known you were going to take me seriously and ditch your mentally unstable boyfriend there, I would've waited for you."

[The Huggernaut]

Snorting at Axe's comment, Anansi hopped down from the wall, and stretches a little upon landing.

"Trust me, I'd kill myself before being anything like that." She chuckles, then glances at Luna.

"Stealing away the information that lets the world know who a person is. Social security numbers, bank accounts, birth certificates... that kind of thing."

[@ Dizzy @]

"...Wow, I didn't know you could do that..." And she honestly hadn't- she didn't have much of an identity to steal, anyway. "...wonder if I have any of that stuff floating around. Who would want to steal a bunch of boring papers and numbers anyway? What do they even do?"

[The Huggernaut]

The spider smiles, rather wickedly, as she looks at the cat. "Well you can get away with things, while someone else gets the flack for it. Or use their money to buy things for yourself. There's really not much you couldn't do."

[@ Dizzy @]

"Wait, you can get money by having someone else's security whatever number?" Luna's black eyes rounded in surprise. "Since when? Why haven't we tried that, big- er... Axe?"

[SHM 128 III]

Axe didn't seem... particularly excited by the spider girl's bold claims. Instead, he just exhaled sharply as he stood up.

"Because that's what we like to call 'Identity Theft', Luna, and it takes considerably more equipment to pull off than a deck of cards and quick hands."

He paused as he proceeded to look the spider over another time, almost like he was checking her out.

"Though I have to say, I certainly wasn't expecting such topics of conversation to come from you. Apparently, there's more to you than the eye-candy, though I suppose that you walking around with Lance should've been a tip-off for that. Girls don't usually hook up with him because he's a sweet guy. They tend to only follow him around if they're partners in crime or if he paid for them, and seeing how it isn't night yet, you are definately not the latter."

[The Huggernaut]

Anansi's eyes, -all- of them, narrow at the hyena, and one hand, her mechanical one, clenches into a fist for a moment, before she relaxes, chuckling a little. "Partner in crime. That sounds about right. The wolf is just pissy that I'm taking over his job."

[@ Dizzy @]

"So what is his job, then? Does he steal people's indemnities too?" Luna plucked up a piece of jewelry from the pile in front of her, twisted it back and forth in the sunlight. After a moment of thought, she put the little silver crescent necklace around her neck.

[The Huggernaut]

"That's not all. Hell, it's not all -I- do either. I'm a hacker. Ask Red here about it if you're curious." She smirks, leaning against the wall. "One of the best, actually. Though not knowing about me means I'm doing something right."

[@ Dizzy @]

"Don't get ahead of yourself, sister. I don't know about a lot of things."

[SHM 128 III]

Once again, Axe appeared less than impressed at the spider girl. Instead, he simply folded his arms and let out a quiet snort.

"Hacker, eh? The geeks of crime. Now, if the media is to be believed, with nothing more than a simple laptop, you're able to break into GUN, spy on anyone, cause train wrecks and airplane crashes, bankrupt entire nations, and practically wipe a person off the face of the earth by zeroing all his identity and credit records... because, of course, paper birth certificates are always null and void," he added that last part with some obvious sarcasam, "if you ask me, however, I find the whole concept dreadfully boring. Anyone can sit at a computer and cause havoc. No risk, no challenge, no danger. Actually going in and doing the job yourself instead of hiding behind a computer screen... That takes a lot more skill. And when you pull it off, it's far more satisfying than hacking could ever be."

[The Huggernaut]

Anansi just frowned at the hyena, and shrugged. "These days, information is absolute. Doesn't matter what it's about. And I'm one of those who control the information." She mirks a little. "And as for the train wrecks and as for all those rumors?"

She pauses, resting a hand, her organic one, on a hip.

"They'd be true if I could -just- find the free time."

[@ Dizzy @]

"...your job sounds kinda boring. Sitting around on your tail all day staring at a screen? If that's the most excitement you've ever had in your life, then that's a little sad, lady. You should get out more." Luna's swift paws started to work, recounting and dividing the rings into two equal shares. She pushed one pile at Axe, then started on the jewelry. "Hey, this is sort of neat. Catch." And she flicked a bracelet with eight stones at Anansi.

[The Huggernaut]

Anansi shrugged, and then blinked, almost fumbling the bracelet before catching it in both hands.

"It can be pretty exciting if you have another hacker or two up against you. And I don't... 'get out' if I have a choice. 'Out' is full of people who just do as they're told, and don't look for facts or make decisions on their own."

[SHM 128 III]

"Of course it is, my dear," Axe replied with a chuckle as he approached her, "why do you think we are able to prosper?"

He took out a ring and began to twirl it between his fingers.

"You may hide from the world because you hate the people that populate it, but I find it far more advantageous to stay in it for that very reason. Learn about 'em, find out what makes them tick. And once you figure out exactly how you can exploit the fools..."

He flipped the ring upwards. As it decended, he snatched it out of the air and tucked it back into his hammerspace in one fluid motion, revealing his now empty hand afterwards.

"You can rush in for the kill."

He paused for a moment, looking her over again.

"Our methods may be different, but I think we both know that when you get down to it, we're really rather alike in our contempt of the ignorant populace. I work in the field, manipulating them directly, while you prefer to strike from the darkness and without warning, Ms..."

The hyena trailed off for a moment before letting out another chuckle.

"I'm sorry, I don't believe I ever caught your name."

[The Huggernaut]

The girl hiked an eyebrow frowning a little. "That all sounds about right. And as for my name..." She frowns slightly.

"I go by Anansi."

[SHM 128 III]

"Anansi, huh? Like the trickster spider from Mazuri legend. How appropiate."

The hyena paused for a moment as he got a little closer to the spider girl before continuing.

"Now, seeing how we already have so much in common, and you clearly don't mind working with others if Lance was any indication... Perhaps you'd like to do a job with me sometime? I could probably teach you a thing or two about robbing people directly as opposed to from behind a monitor, and besides..."

He put his hand on the wall behind Anansi and leaned in, looking her in the eyes with a bemused grin.

"... I wouldn't mind working with a pretty little thief such as yourself."

[@ Dizzy @]

"Hey, you've already got a pretty little thief to work with, Axe!" Luna smirked, giving Axe a not too gentle swat on the ears. Watching him flirt was somewhere between funny and disgusting for her. "You can call me Luna. This fool's name is Axe, like the weapon."

[The Huggernaut]

found herself, quite suddenly, between a wall and a hyena. Her initial reaction would be anger, to get him to back off. But as she was about to bring her hand up...

Did he call her pretty?

"Ah... uhm..." She found herself -stammering- a little. "Y-yeah, I gathered he was a fool..." She mumbles, trying to save face, even as she blushes a little.

[SHM 128 III]

Axe just continued to smirk, even as he got whapped by Luna. It was clear that Anansi had been caught quite off-guard by the compliment.

"Hey now, I'd hardly consider myself a fool for having good tastes in women," Axe retorted in mock defense towards Luna, "You agree with me, right, Anansi?"

[The Huggernaut]

"Uhm..." Anansi was... not all in the conversation right now, staring up at the hyena, and rather flustered.

"... yes?"