OT3-nanigans!

[phaselocknroll]

Comments

[nostalgiabomb]

[ The funny thing about Star-Lord is that despite the guns, despite the fact that he's frequently out-matched strength-wise (because it sucks, sometimes, being a squishy human), is that he likes getting up close and personal with his enemies.

So he takes out a few dudes at range, hidden under cover from Maya's sniper rounds, but then he's wading in, drawing as much attention as possible to keep them focused on him -- instead of, say, the deadly Siren raining death from above, or the thief, darting in and out of existence. He keeps most of the dudes in range of him, shoving and kicking some one or two out of the small crowd he's assembled to fall victim to a phaselock or an omni-blade.

Between the three of them, it's easy work, and pretty soon Peter's shooting what appears to be the last man with a bolt of electricity from his blaster. As the man seizes, Peter waits for the sparks to fade before kicking him aside, sending his head into the ground with a crack. ]

We good, ladies?

[phaselocknroll]

[ Maya gives one last look around from her vantage point before signaling the all-clear and heading for the elevator.

Funny how this ride seems to take like half the time as it did with Kasumi and Peter, because it doesn't take long for her to join them on the lower floor, stepping over bodies as she makes her way over to where Peter is.

Kasumi is, again, presumably around somewhere. ]

That was cathartic.

[stealwithit]

[ She figures she would let them have another moment or something, but in time she reappears atop one of the (few) desks that didn't end up overturned or blown to bits in the firefight. She sits, her legs crossed over the edge of the desk, upper body leaning over to examine the tech on the table. ]

I agree. This isn't over quite yet, though. Dr. Aenisi must be expecting us by now, yeah?

[ And when they're done, she is gonna come back for this thingy that she's looking at. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

With the racket we made at his doorstep?

[ Peter shrugs, holstering one of his blasters. ]

I think he might have a sneaking suspicion, just about now.

[ He pauses when he hears a groan from the floor beside him, and he knocks the guy out with a boot to the head. ]

[phaselocknroll]

Then let's pay the good Doctor a visit. I'm sure he's eager to research what a phaselock is like from the inside.

... I do promise I won't set him on fire, though.

[stealwithit]

[ She hops off the desk, turning on her heel and making for the door at the far end of the room. ]

And I promise that I won't just zap him on sight.

[ She looks back over her shoulder at the two. ] Shall we?

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He holds up a hand to interrupt her. ]

-- Wait, no, hang on. Pretty sure I have to swear something.

[ A thoughtful pause, then, ]

And I promise I'm just gonna straight up shoot him if you guys don't.

[ He nods, then waves her on. ] Okay, now we're good.

[phaselocknroll]

[ Promises all around! She grins and falls in-step beside Kasumi ]

By the way, was that elevator busted? It felt like it took you two a year to get down to the first floor.

[stealwithit]

[ Kasumi chuckles and shoots Maya a playful little smile. ]

My dear, sweet Maya, that's just how elevators are. Probably so people inside can have a lovely little chat while inside.

[ And what a lovely little chat it was. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Peter's expression pinches behind the mask. ]

Mostly, though, the elevators here just suck. [ Words of wisdom, to be entirely frank. ]

We expectin' any more resistance?

[phaselocknroll]

[ Maya arches a brow ] Did you two have a lovely little chat?

[ oh, right. Probably not relevant at the moment. ]

I don't know. Are you getting any more comm chatter, Kasumi?

[stealwithit]

[ She shoots Maya a little look that says, yep, and maybe even a little wink, in response to the Siren's first question, even though the lovely little chat was only really lovely for one of them. In any case, she pulls up her omni-tool once again and opens up the comm channel.

"You're telling me that all of your men are dead out there?! What am I even paying you for?"

"Hey, Doc, you're the one who managed to piss these three off. Why'd you hire all of 'em if you were gonna get so scared they'd come after you?"

Kasumi nods along at this point, as though to say, yeah, he's got a good question.

"Because I didn't think they would team up against me! I figured they would just kill each other if they found out they were out for the same thing!"

--and that's enough information, Kasumi figures, and she shuts off the channel with a rather bemused look on her face. ]

Sounds like it's just Doc and one other person in there. Probably the guy in charge of the mercs?

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Kasumi can't see it, but Peter glares at her with the white-hot intensity of five thousand suns. But his annoyance is wiped away when she opens up the comm channel, and Boss Hogg is arguing with the Doc. ]

Probably a safe enough guess.

I also solemnly promise I'll shoot him, too, if you guys don't.

[phaselocknroll]

Well, once we kick the door in, I can make sure our mutual employer doesn't make a break for it if you two want to see if our other friend can be persuaded to walk away.

[stealwithit]

[ It's not hard to miss that Peter's pretty livid at all this, so Kasumi just shrugs in response. ]

You know--whatever you two want to do, I'm on board with? Star-Lord seems pretty set on making sure neither of them walks out of here alive.

After all, if you end up killing both of them, I can still get us the money we were promised.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He sweeps out an arm. ] See? It works out. I get to shoot dudes, and we get paid. Lawlessness at its finest.

'Sides. Talkin' reason to the guy whose lackeys we just murdered. [ He makes a sort of dithering sound, like, "ehhhh." ] You think that's gonna go over well?

[phaselocknroll]

I guess that depends on how much he liked his men and how much he likes being alive.

But if you want to go in guns blazing, take-no-prisoners, then just tell me who to incinerate.

[stealwithit]

Then how about this.

[ She looks over at Peter, ] Star-Lord can shoot the merc in the face. You've got some anger you need to work out, Quill, so have at it. Maya, you can Phaselock the doctor, just in case. He might do something rash or have a final plea.

I'll stand back with my popcorn and watch you two kick ass, and by that I mean I'll slip past and get through to his private terminal before he has the chance to do anything silly like wipe all of his drives on command or trigger some sort of failsafe.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ His expression sours again behind his helmet. ] I do not need to work out my anger.

[ He's a liar. ]

But that sounds like a good enough plan as any. After this, drinks are on me.

[phaselocknroll]

[ Once again, Maya goes digging in her digistuct device for a change of weapon (seriously, why doesn't everyone have one of these?) and withdraws her little Maggie pistol.

She turns to Peter with a grin ]

Care to kick the door down, dear?

[stealwithit]

[ Aww, how adorable.

But she is actually just gonna stay silent now, rolling her shoulders back, ready for what's coming next. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Peter similarly rolls his shoulders. ]

Only 'cause you asked so nice, sweetheart.

[ He glances at Kasumi, then Maya, takes a few steps towards the door and, good as his word, he kicks the damn things open, guns at the ready. The two men, having been in the middle of a heated discussion, jump in surprise. Peter spots the merc captain first while the man is reaching for his gun, and the outlaw hits him with a bolt of electricity -- nonfatal, but damn does it look like it hurts. ]

[phaselocknroll]

[ Maya's half a step behind Peter, coming around his right with her hand up, tattoos glowing bright. She sweeps the Doctor up in her phaselock just as he's reaching for a terminal on his desk. ]

Ah-ah. Don't touch.

[stealwithit]

[ Kasumi's half a step behind Maya, slipping past Peter on his left side, ducking out of his line of fire as she goes dark.

She appears again, at his terminal and in his really comfortable office chair (and wait, is that leather? Real leather?) which she diabolically spins to face him just as she fades back into sight. ]

So nice to see you again, Doc. I'm sorry it had to be under such tense circumstances, but I'm sure you understand why.

Please, just let me go. I'll do anything--I'll double your pay! All of you!

[ She immediately recognizes it as a bluff. ] --Tsk tsk, such a shameful lie from a respected scientist. You hired two parties for the job when you could only afford one. You must've really hoped we would kill each other, huh?

[ Kasumi pulls up her omni-tool at that moment, humming thoughtfully as the screen on Aenisi's terminal lights up, signalling that she's hacked through. ]

Sorry, but this deal is a bust. Plus I promised my lovely friends here that one or both of them could shoot you in the face. You know how it goes.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Peter trains one gun on the still form of the mercenary captain, the other on the doctor, and pipes in brightly, ] I'm pretty sure I already called dibs on shooting the doc in the face, right? I'm pretty sure that happened.

I really hate when assholes like you waste my time.