#lapinferno

eyes  draw  to  the  orange  flames  that  suddenly  glew  in  his  fists ,  her  body  tenses  around  the  amulet.  he  was  DEADLY  serious  now ,  probably  as  serious  as  she  was  about  not  handing  it  over.  it's  either  now  or  never.  FIGHT  or  FLIGHT.

another  sigh  heaves  out  of  her ,  body  relaxing  as  she  releases  her  magic  off  of  the  rock ;  exposing  it  for  what  it  truly  was.  the amnesi-ulet.  her   'PATHETIC'  eyes  meet  with  him  once  more ,  playing  the  part  of  that  of  someone  who’s  given  up. she  stares  silently  at  him ,  nothing  but  the  wind  dragging  on  their  heavy  tension  between  them. 

“    okay.    ”    she  finally  says ,    “    if  this  is  how  you  wanna  play it ,  then  fine.    ”    her  paw  holds  out  the  amulet.  a  BAIT  dangling  in  mid  air  that  to  him ,  would  look  to  be  it  was  swinging  teasingly.  there  was  no  doubt  in  her  mind  that  he  wasn’t  letting  this  go ,  one  of  them  would  be  leaving  with  the  amulet ,  and  on  any  other  day ,  she’d  gloat  it’d  be  her.  but  today ,  she’s  playing  it  smart.  let  him  THINK  he  stands  a  chance ,  if  only  for  a  brief  moment.

and  when  his  guard  is  down ,  she’ll  TELEPORT away.  hopefully  close  enough  to  the  volcano…  or  far  enough  away  from  yuck. either  one  should  work.

she  hopes.

" i said i wouldn't fight you for it. it's not even worth the trouble.. "

As if having Brick around wasn't bad enough. Peppino's not about to turn his pizzeria into a zoo, or rescue, or hive for pests, or whatever; no matter if the beasts making their way in are sentient or wearing clothes or not.

     “Heyo, Yuck! Up here!”

     Calls down toward the surface would sound out from one high-flying fox, namesakes losing their twirl as twin-tailed helicopter blades were cut, shoes hitting the ground with a small clomp. But before contact with the ground had even been made, already would there be something different with the fox, particularly in the effects that he toted. 

     It was clear as day, arms filled longways as two boards of some sorts were brought along. One sported a yellow and orange design with clean silver accents lining the frame. And the other... a familiar shade of dirtied green, fire-orange accents taking the shape of flame decals printed on the bottom half of the board. So to was the negative space used in the flashy design, void white space acting as white wind. Curved speed lines as it were, all tracing up and down the board’s body.

    The green board was set down on the ground at Yuck’s front for them to inspect, body then shifting to more comfortably hold his own board. “I got somethin’ for ya!”

     “On our gallivant through the Egg Fleet, you weren’t particularly impressed with our finds after breaking into the flagship’s hull. So I wanted to make sure you got paid your dues too. As well as just sayin’ thanks for taggin’ along when y’didn’t need to. Because let me tell you, it would’ve been a waaaay different story up there if y’didn’t! Heh, anyways... I used some of the finds from our trip to cook up this baby   it’s called an Extreme Gear! Here, I’ll give you a little demo.”

     Alright... much like the other’s gear, Tails’s board was gently placed on the ground. Soon after, shoes would step onto it like one would a surf or skateboard. Wait a moment and knees would give a slight bend, before... a motion quick and swift: a left leg rising in sharp opposition to the right foot’s push downward, knees following the board’s matching motions. To those acquainted with skateboarding, it would look akin to a simple ollie. But for the world of Extreme Gear, this was a beginner’s activation method.

     As force was applied, the motion would spawn forth an unnatural burst of wind. The source? A steady stream of air expelling down and outward from the board, a whine of activated energy sounding as air forced the Extreme Gear to lift from the ground, levitating. Without any further input needed, there would the fox stand a good foot and a half from the ground, Extreme Gear beneath his feet, arms and tails fanned out for steadying purposes.

     Now, don’t get him wrong... sudden excitement and spur-of-the-moment fights were his middle name and favorite pseudonym. But... well, color him flat-out confused this time around! Normally for people to start lashing out, an annoying quip of some sort had to be spoken, or a villainous plan had to receive a wrench thrown into it. Quite literally waving hello and saying ‘How’s it goin’?’ before it’s straight to slinging insults and... magical fire stuff? Whew, talk about a tough crowd!

     “Typically I gotta work a little harder than this t’tick off the people that don’t like me...” And it would seem that the other’s hollered commands were anything but listened to. A nimble form would dart across the turf with speeds incalculable. All without breaking so much as a sweat. “But you, my friend, have just set a new record for zero to a’hundred!” A stop-and-go zig-zag pattern that took the hedgehog up, down, and all around    unpredictable as it was blisteringly fast. 

     “I’d ask if it was somethin’ I said, but all I got out before y’started blastin’ were three words!” Kick the body from the ground for a high-jump, suddenly tuck the spines in for a curled ball to drop like a hammer towards the ground    only to then hit the ground rolling, a dash initiated before his form even landed. No speed lost as limbs uncurled and legs took the wheel yet again, still infuriatingly difficult to hand a proper hit on. 

        But ah! Wait! Dizzying speeds were put on pause for a second, ruby-red shoes digging grooves through the grass as the brakes were temporarily pulled. “Here, now hold on for a second there, Mac... Maybe we oughta just go on back an’ start this whole interaction over. I think we got off on th’wrong foot back there. And since you’re so... mm, let’s say cranky, I’ll go first... Ahem... Hello! I am Sonic! And you are...?” 

                        accepting

thirty’s  a  pretty  big  number ,  though  in  her  experience ,  geese  are  considered  the  way  more  aggressive  bird  species.  however ,  the  idea  of  them  having  to  fend  off  thirty  ducks  in  what  they  called  a  ‘ self  defense  situation ’   is  a  pretty  humorous  concept.  she  doesn’t  outright  express  it ,  but  would  it  be  so  harmful  to  poke  even  more  fun  at  the  idea    ?

      Ambitious in the eyes of someone professional maybe, but to Fern? Yuck was making something out of nothing, creating rather than breaking down, and that was an action he couldn’t help but be envious about. Common sense dictated that he could do the same if he just tried, but the edgy anger-filled idiot that made his dumb little decisions for him said otherwise.

      You could be constantly angry if you wanted to, exhaustion be damned if you asked Fern. Not that that was a good or healthy thing to be, but it did keep some folks alive and going. Having a purpose in life, stuff like that - it was different for everyone. Sometimes you just had to be a violent, angry little creature. Sometimes it was all you could be. Being able to stop? Being able to take a moment and relax and quiet all the constant thoughts? Fern considered that a privilege.

      ‘Course he knew if he just sat there and dwelled on it, he’d get jealous - couldn’t help the abrasive nature - so instead, he tried to focus and make this a learning effort… an effort taken a bit too literally as he started mimicking the carvings Yuck made right into the tree next to him with a practiced hand.

      “ MUNYA . . . ” THAT WAS A BIT OF FALL, THERE. KLONOA’S lucky he could at least soften the landing by catching the wind beneath his ears, but that doesn’t stop them from hurting just a little. In his moment of clumsiness, the youth had accidentally dropped his ring, which landed in the soil a few feet from where he’d landed.

                  ‶  why  do  ya  think ?  ″  just  the  thing  for  his  terrible  mood !  now ,  the  blue  rabbit  hadn’t  had  the  slightest  clue  why  YUCK  of  all  people  would  come  knocking  at  his  door ,  but  yang  wouldn’t  complain .  they  were  probably  here  to  cause  trouble  anyway ,  right ?  that’s  pretty  much  all  they  ever  did . . .

                  assumptions  like  that  forced  yuck  down  a  path  of  villainy  again ,  but  let’s  be  honest  here ---  yang  wasn’t  one  to  think  about  that  kind  of  thing .  especially  with  the  growing  frustration  he’d  been  feeling  throughout  the  day  ( learning  MORE  magic . . .  seriously ,  who  needs  it ? !  he’s  better  off  using  his  fists .  which  he  was  going  to  use  right  now ) .

                  ‶  i  can’t  HIT  you  with  the  door  in  the  way !  ″  fists  clench ,  yang  not  giving  another  second  for  the  other  to  talk  before  activating  his ---