video | 004 | day 54

[retrograding]

[Because the broadcast is a video, Jet Star comes on the screen with his hair somewhat tamed and his eyepatch in place. His expression is as calm as ever, and the video is steady. The only evidence that there might be something wrong is the sound of clattering and a somewhat distressed voice in the background - but Jet ignores that for the most part to address his audience.]

I have one very simple question for the people of this town today, and I like to think it isn’t an unreasonable request. Two friends of mine, Party Poison and Kobra Kid, have not been home for a while. Has anybody seen either of them? They’re rather hard to miss. Party Poison has red hair, and Kobra Kid is blonde, the former is short and the latter is tall --

[Fun Ghoul suddenly appears over Jet's shoulder, scowling at the communicator.]

One's fuckin' stupid, and the other one's twice as fuckin' stupid. Give 'em the real facts, Jet. Two days! [He holds up two fingers in front of Jet's face just in case you assholes forgot how to count.] Never gone this long without sayin' shit, ask that raccoon-eyed piece of work what she did with our boys--

[And he cuts himself off to disappear into the background again, sending something else crashing to the floor. Jet watches Ghoul stomp off with a sort of sad expression, and when he looks back at the communicator, the look sticks.]

We aren't accusing anyone of anything. But if you are out there, either of you - or if anybody knows where they might be, please let us know.

Please. Thank you. [And the feed cuts off. Jet has some calming to do, excuse him.]

Comments

[onteamdyson]

Dude, they're missing? [Don't panic. Do not panic.] Haven't seen either of them. Last time I talked to KK was a couple nights ago. He didn't say anything about taking off!

[actionpants]

[afallenstar]

[ So maybe she should wait a little, because there's someone else there already, but she doesn't. It's happened to Ghoul too, people have gone missing and well...Anna knows first hand how badly that can go when it happens. No one reacts well to loss, and these guys are closer than she's ever been with someone. It stands to reason that he's going to be freaking out at this point, right?

Right. So she justifies appearing at the front door again, and this time she doesn't much care who sees, she just starts walking straight away. ]

Ghoul? Hey, are you around?

[ Crash. So that's a yes then. She sighs slightly and starts moving towards said crash. ]

It's Anna, okay? Don't...shoot me or something.

[ See look, she learned her lesson from Clint! Random appearences - bad, warning - good. ]

video;

[facilitated]

[ Oh no. That's...really not good. ]

Jet? [ She's being really careful and hesitant in this approach, frowning a little before continuing. ] You okay?

[magnets]

[ Jesse's face is a bit squinted, mildly apologetic under that consideration. ]

Killjoys?

[stiling]

Haven't seen Kobra Kid in a while either. [ Or Party for that matter, but he barely knew the guy to begin with. ] Think they took off together for a while?

[ ha ha ha he can be hopeful ): ]

[retrograding]

I wouldn't say missing quite yet. I only know they haven't checked in, and that isn't like them. [ He's extra calm, shh, shh. ] I don't want to jump to conclusions.

[gleans]

They're both gone, huh?

video;

[retrograding]

[ no no no he's not okay He smiles in his weary sort of way. ] I am, Laura, don't worry. Have you seen either of them?

[tooghoulforschool]

[If it helps, Anna, he couldn't shoot you even if he wanted to. Not that he wants to. Not that he'd ever! And if he found out someone did, he'd be more than happy to break a few bones until they learned their lesson.

He's in the kitchen now, leaning against the counter with his face in his hands.]

Not a good time, Chiquita. M'not... not good to be around right now.

[retrograding]

Killjoys, yes. The other two members of our crew. [ He looks worn out already. ] Have you seen them, Jesse?

video:

[charring]

I'll keep my eyes open for you. I promise.

video;

[facilitated]

Yeah, sure, cause that's going to work. [ Please Jet, she's smarter than that. She does pause for a minute though, long enough to answer his question. She's not met either of them, but she has seen them around, and sure enough: ]

Not..for the last couple of days, no. I'm sorry.

[magnets]

[ He gives a shrug. ] Can't really say. I didn't know either of 'em. Saw the red-haired guy on the network a couple'a times but I ain't seen him recently.

How long they been gone?

[retrograding]

That was my first thought. It's happened in the past. But I feel like they would have checked in. [ He's especially worried because he hasn't heard from Kobra since the Hulk. Sigh. ] Stiles, am I right?

[afallenstar]

You don't have to be good to be around.

[ When she finds him in the kitchen she pauses for a moment, watching him quietly. It takes less than a second to decide to ignore his warning, and she just pushes forward into the room anyway. Coming to a stop next to him, there's only a second of hesitation before she rests a hand on his shoulder lightly. ]

Look. It happened to me too. You don't have to be good to be around right now, okay? Not at all.

[ She has to push that concept to him a second time, because it's important. If she was just here for the grins and jokes and smiles she'd be long gone by now, wouldn't she. Anna's here still though, and he hasn't told her to get lost yet so she's considering that a positive sign. She's not sure that she'd listen anyway right now. ]

[onteamdyson]

[Little late for conclusion-jumping, Jet.] OKAY! SO! Wait-- so they're both... gone. Meaning they might be gone together which is less freakifying than them vanishing just one at a time-- Right? Because they could just be on some stupid bonding adventure instead of ... not here.

[The 'don't panic' mantra doesn't seem to be working.]

[retrograding]

It seems that way. I haven't given up hope yet. [ A beat. He's heard about some of the interactions between Galen, Jesse, and his boys. ] I would keep my distance for a while, maybe, Galen. [ IT'S NOT A THREAT HE SWEARS ]

video:

[retrograding]

Thank you, Bobbi. [ Have a smile! ] I appreciate it. I can't express how much.

[stiling]

Bingo. And you're, [ he puts up a finger gun and pchoo points it at Jet, ] Jet Star.

But yeah, you're probably right. Think they got taken or they're in trouble? [ Or both, really. ]

[gleans]

[ Pff. It still sucks to hear. ] Well, no offense, dude, but I didn't really have any plans to hang around your crew. I'll keep my face over here.

[tooghoulforschool]

[The hand on his shoulder registers more than her words at first. Just let him process all this, so many things at once, just give him a second. His hands fall from his face and he nods. When he speaks, his voice is dangerously low.]

These science fucks can't leave shit alone. Always playing god where we can't see and takin' things that don't belong to them. Took Party before, right outta my arms, and I couldn't--

[He couldn't stop it. Tentatively, his arms wrap around Anna's waist and he pulls her close, whispering into her hair.] They could take you right now and I couldn't do fuck all. Could take Jet Star, and where would I be?

Re: video:

[charring]

Don't worry about it. I consider you a friend. Same with Party. I only spoke to Kobra a couple times but he was pretty cool, too. And since it seems like you've known them since forever and they're important to you, it makes sense to help you look.

video;

[retrograding]

[ Worth a shot. ] Don't apologize. I will keep looking. [ His voice is very quiet. ] Thank you.

[tooghoulforschool]

No offense? No offense, you got no plans? Fuck you.

[Who the hell said it was your face in the first place, motherfucker?!]

[retrograding]

That was my thought, yes. All I know is that I haven't seen them, and I am looking for them. [ And Ghoul is not taking it well. ] Kenzi. Miss Kenzi, press pause for a second.