Trouvaille (Invite)

“You try telling me that's not something.”

Yesterday Hugh had been desperately short of pixels to float. The little squares were hard to keep track of, and the academy knew exactly who to blame if one of their monitors went on the blink. So Pix had to think outside the box. His ingeniousness had led him here, to the junkyard. There were all sorts of television sets lying around that nobody cared about in the slightest. It was rich pickings for him. Though Hugh had not anticipated how intriguing his finds would be.

“And it's hollow. If it's hollow there are things inside. And if it's locked that means it's going to be valuable.” With his case presented, Pix turned to the jury for a verdict. It was a jury of one. After finding this container among the trash heaps, he had returned to the H.I.V.E hideout on a mission. That mission was to see which of his classmates he could drag along on this mystery tour. The lucky winner had been Cheshire.

Of course he couldn't have the girl think he needed her help, no-no. A bit of earnestness was pumped into his voice, “So I thought why not share this gift wrapped treasure chest with the class? They would do they same for me, right? You're welcome. Now open it.” The bit Pix had neglected to mention was that whatever this hulk of metal was, it was air-tight. No way to slip a pixel passed its defences, and thus no way he could get in. He didn't mind sacrificing half of the loot if that was the only way he'd ever reach it.

Galatea was flying back towards her "camp" in the junkyard where she had stowed her escape pod to keep it from prying eyes. The pod was where she stored the various thing she had stolen: money, food, drink, jewlery...whatever she had decided to take was there. She was confident that no one would be able to find the pod, nor would they be able to get inside it.

Apparently, she was wrong on both counts, which she realized as she flew towards the center of the junkyard and decended, seeing two figures standing in front of the opened door of the pod. Galatea was not pleased, landing with a thump and pulling her blaster off her belt. She fired a shot at the feet of the one closest to the door.

"HEY!" she yelled at the two. "What do you think you're doing?!"

For the first time it dawned on Pix how silly he'd look if this turned out to be nothing. As Cheshire set to work on the lock he ran through his list of excuses. It was hopeless. As shrewd as he was, he couldn't redeem a situation like that. He may possibly say it was her idea if anyone asked, but Cheshire wouldn't appreciate those implications at all. ...That actually sounded a fair enough trade. Scapegoat it was.

Returning his attention back to business, the container opened much to his glee. He knew it. Though disguised amongst the bric-a-brac as it was, that hunk of metal was actually hiding something. Cunning, but not cunning enough. He took his cue from his team-mate and stepped towards the pod. With a now open doorway he stuck his head through. It was dark but his pixelated body afforded him the luxury of LED lighting. An electronic illumination shined over the insides revealing the construction detail to the remarkable shell. This wasn't just any container, this was a machine of some kind. Pix was bright enough to tell that, and bright enough to spot the jewellery in the corner.

He stepped inside for a moment, and returned carrying a simple necklace. When you were right, you were right, “A piece of junk, huh? It's some sort of tech. Some sucker stashed all-sorts in there.” Just then 'some sucker' made a pronounced appearance.

Blaster fire interrupted Pix's gloating spree, landing so close as to warm his pixelated feet. Why did people always have to butt in? It would seem the woman ahead was not someone to be trifled with, “Distract her.” Let trifling commence.

The steel of Cheshire's claws did not meet the alien's flesh, however. It only met the blade of her cutlass, which the pirate had drawn in a flash as the masked villianess came at her. Galatea chuckled.

"It looks like you're busy digging your own grave. Let me give you a hand with that!"

Galatea didn't give Cheshire a hand. Instead, she pushed back with her blade and gave her a foot (well, a boot, really), aimed right for her face. She took her attention off the girl as she kicked her, and pointed her blaster at the boy by her escape pod. They seemed to only be kids, teenagers...but they were also stealing from her. That would not stand with her, even if they were just young ones. Plus, everyone knows never to steal from a theif...much less a pirate.

Galatea squeezed the trigger and fired several shots of charged plasma aimed right at Pix's back as he tried to loot her temporary home.

Again it came down to thinking on his feet or losing them. Cheshire was off like a shot, affording him the time needed to pilfer what they could. The benefits of working as a pair. They were versatile in the face of the unexpected. Who'd have thunk a super-powered enemy would have been hiding away in a backwater place like this? Dear Cheshire should have thought of that before bringing him here (scapegoat rehearsal: take one). Nasty surprises were the city motto, they should have set lookouts or something.

In preparation for the relocation of dispossessed goods, Pix glanced at the abandoned and broken screens among the scrap, summoning their pixels to his aid. It wasn't an impressive haul, but it would do. He went to climb inside but was denied shelter by a couple of inches. A barrage of laser fire tore through him. The pixels that constructed his body shattered under the percussion. Hugh felt pain and heat around his insides.

Then he reformed, tumbling face-first inside the pod and it's relative safety. That wasn't suppose to happen. His agony was only interrupted with the occasional thought of complaint. Shouldn't Cheshire have disarmed their foe by now? Or couldn't he trust a person with the power of invisibility to be a suitable distraction? Laser fire didn't just hurt, it burned. Pix's face demonstrated his displeasure (-_-) as he got back to his feet. If his cohort hadn't dealt with the situation by the time he'd packed up... She'd better not do it again. Or else. Yeah.

His insides were char-grilled. Retribution schemes could be thought of later. The collected pixels were fashioned into a box for transport.

Galatea saw the several shots she had fired make contact with their target. The boy didn't seem to have a pleasant reaction to being pumped full of laser. He still seemed to be alive, though. That was a problem the Space Pirate'd fix soon enough. Just as soon as she dealt with the other on-

"Wait...where'd the girl go? Oh, X'hal dammit," she thought, looking around for the green one with the claws. Only an assassin would use weapons like those, and a nice rule to live by was 'Never take your eye off an assassin.'

Galatea looked around, hoping to spot Cheshire before she could do whatever sneaky maneuver she was sure to try. The pirate shut her eyes for a few seconds, trying to HEAR her instead. Surely she'd be able to hear the sound of the girl's claws againsts the rusty metal of the scrap heap she was sure to be using for...something.

Sure enough, she heard something! But it was the sound of Cheshire's feet leaving the top of the scrap heap. A few moments later, Galatea felt a sudden 'thump!' against her chest. Before her body even had time to fully register the pain, she grabbed at the source of the phantom attack. With a quick spin, the Tamaranian released what she thought was her attacker's leg, sending her on a crash course towards the ground.

An assortment of designer jewels, accompanied by polished gems, all dumped upon a bed of pure cash, was stuffed into the box. Whoever this was obviously didn't believe in credit cards. Their loss, the H.I.V.E's gain. Pix held vague concern as to how such a treasure horde had been collected at all, but the character of their victim was his classmate's problem. All he needed to do was shepherd these trinkets to a new home beneath an oil rig. A lid was fashion over the top of his construct, and he rushed outside.

Gauging an engagement from a quick glance was never entirely easy, but two things were evident in this case. First, their gun-totting foe was very much still standing/floating. Second, their gun-totting foe still had a gun to tot, as well as a sword. Cheshire hadn't made a dent? Wow. Truth was Hugh held high estimation of her abilities. The girl was positively lethal. If this stranger could even hold their own against Cheshire, then maybe he should lend a hand?

No. It just meant they had to retreat. As long as he was given a head start, he knew both of them could get away. If there ever was a better justification for abandonment, Pix didn't believe it. He formed a surf-board shape out of the remaining squares and fused the box to its back. Wasting no further time, he threw himself belly first on the platform and commanded it to drift off. His escape vector for the time being was close to the ground, it would be far safer than staying out in the open to get shot down. He beelined for the precarious tyre piles that seemed to mark the extent of this first scrap hill they were enshadowed by.

Faster, dammit!

Galatea grinned as Cheshire reappeared mid toss and hit the ground in a particularlly nasty looking way. Her grin receeded as she saw her get back up. These earthlings were suprisingly resilient. Galatea looked away from the green garbed one to try and find the other one, which she did....and he was on his way out of there. She couldn't say she blamed him for running away. She could blame him for stealing, though. That was entirely his own damn fault.

"What am I? Someone you shouldn't be stealing from, obviously. As a matter of fact, excuse me for a moment..."

Galatea, focusing on Pix, flew in the would be thief's diretction at a blistering speed, passing over him and landing directly in his path. She took aim and fired another couple shots at him with her blaster, since it seemed to work so well last time. Priority number one was making sure they didn't get away with any of her treasure. THEN killing them for even trying.

A shadow passed over Hugh, baring momentary likeness to an ethereal creature of death. He cringed as the unfortunate happened. An exotic yet dangerous woman stood in his way, drawing on her gun. She was quick as a flash! He could never have hoped to out-fly her. Pix still had difficulty standing up as things went airborne. It was a woefully one-sided display. And that wasn't even his only disadvantage.

Blaster fired zipped across the gap, giving mere seconds to react. In fact Pix overestimated how many seconds. His depth perception was acting up, finding him with a face full of laser before he'd even tried to evade. The front of the construct exploded in a shower of pixels, Pix rolled to the ground as his face automatically repaired itself (@.@). This day sucked.

Silver squares danced about his vision as he regained coherency. Who was this that they were stealing from anyway? Collects a trove, stores it in a junk-yard, wields a sword, and flies faster than he can suitably think. They couldn't be blamed for this oversight, because you'd have to be out of your mind to see it coming! It was time for desperate tactics.

Pix reached out with his ability, and flung his box of loot sideways into the tyre wall. The piles of wheel rubber toppled over haphazardly. The HIVE student covered his head and hoped for some respite. If nothing else those tyres would shelter him from any follow-up blaster fire. He sooo did not want to be shot again today.

((OOC: Just in case: ''Firebrand'' is on the bottom of Emblem's application, including appearance and the like.)

''Unworthy kids...''

What sounded like a small grunt changed into a rumble as the ground shook from some force yet unknown. Silence ensued for a moment as all seemed to look around what happened now. The ground itself split open, showing, slowly rising from spilt lava...Firebrand, emerging from what looked like hell's maw.

The HIVE Groundskeeper belched, spewing small mists of thin-spread lava in front of him. This normally indicated the walking volcano had been using alcohol. It was a fun thing really, as alcohol did not have any effect on him. Easily, it was moved through the body to be burned to fuel the fires that kept his violent demeanor together. For violence was a large part of the Firebrand.

He didn't know if the students knew him yet, but he knew them. He had made quick work of remembering all the students and their powers, just in case of them tried something...no student would faze the Groundskeeper unless he allowed it. In mockery, Firebrand talked in no particular direction with his low grunt-like voice.

''Go get the students she says...they can't seem to survive on their own can they? What am I, a frickkin' nanny?''

Firebrand looked around, scratching his rugged outer surface while looking for the students. Not before long, he found most of them. With them, he found a particular interesting space pirate.

''You know, I should just let you die from whatever it is she is throwing at you...''

Firebrand roared as his body glowed up, stoking the violent fire as his hands became encased in fire. With a swing like a baseball player, he threw the fireball at the space pirate. Not that it mattered to him if it hit or not, he just needed a little time to get the rubber tires off of Pix. Firebrand could only imagine Pix fearing him as he was able to desintegrate him where he lay now. It might be wise to increase that fear of him a little, were it present.

''Get up kid...The real pain is here. I can only hope the Headmistress decides to punish you lot severely for this failure.''

As he moved the tires away from Pix, Firebrand noticed some sort of...box. It could only be something the HIVE students wanted...and something this adversary did not want them to take. A nasty grin appeared on Firebrand's face. He kicked the last of the tires away, allowing Pix to freely move about, and turned to face the space pirate who, as he thought, had easily disposed of the basic fireball. Firebrand deemed it necessary to value her worth as a destructive force. She might even be of use to the HIVE....and way better looking then most of what he had seen there..

''Hey you! I am taking these students back to where they belong!''

It sounded more like a command then a statement. But as Firebrand took a few steps towards her, fire once again engulfed his arms. He cracked his neck as he stood to face her.

''..or are we gonna have some fun with you trying to stop me?''

Firebrand did not wait for a reply. With a roar, fire shot from his arms and engulfed the vicinity in flames. Quickly, everything that was able to burn, and some things that were not supposed to, went up in flames, creating what some would call their own personal hell. With the twist of his hand, Firebrand shot a large torrent of flame towards Galatea, an unending stream of pure heat.