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	=Log=		=Log=
−	<div></div>	+	<div></div><br> <br>Even as the evening approaches, the sun beats down on the pavement of the city. That's probably -why- the canopy was erected in the first place. Sitting behind the stand and dishing up a few bowls of noodles for anyone arriving to answer the call was a female tanuki dressed in a simple brown robe. Aside from her, the street was vacant, not a feral in sight on this particular stretch of road.<br> <br>Fenris saunters happily up to the little canopy, bowing before plopping his plush butt down on a seat and accepting a bowl of noodles. "You are the one who called for help, Miss?" he says to the pretty Tanuki working the stand. He felt so much more open and helpful since embracing the Tanuki way of life. And had an unquenchable hunger for Asian food, but that might have just been the new addition of his round tummy.<br> <br>Morten wanders up through the street, quickly running up as she notices the scent of food~ she walks up and waves "Howd-...Fenris?" she blinks, blushing a little under her fur "Well-... hello again, your not the one who called right?" she asks before turning to look at the Tanuki woman "Oh hello!" she smiles, waving a paw.<br> <br>Technetium approaches the stand, a small positioning unit in hand. About 2 meters away from the stand she turns off the unit, and sticks it in one of her back pockets. She takes a seat, but doesn't eat any of the noodles yet. She gives a slight nod to both Morten and Fenris, although the nod seems to betray a corrosive motive behind it. "Hello, madam. You had called?" She asks politely, unfocusing at times to interpret notes from her comm unit.<br> <br>Eager to remove himself from the torrent of solar rays, a silver lion strolls down the street with a slight hint of haste. Nothing like a heavy mane in California heat, and the black tuxedo around his body doesn't help either. Eventually, he makes his way towards the other group members and dips into a deep and formal bow. "Greetings, ladies and gentleman," he claims in full and proud baritone. "I do hope everyone is well in the tail end of the afternoon. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dio and I have come to answer your call."<br> <br>A long howl is heard before a jackal shows up on all fours, it slowly get up on his bipedal form, looking around for those who arrived before him, the jackal is wearing only a old looking egyptian skirt, and an ankh necklacd "So... This is the place? Huh... I did expected something worse than this..." he says before adjusting his clothes
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		+	"Oh? I there are thee of you... I wasnt hoping to have more than one tanuki here... Anyway, who was the 'nuki who called for help?" he takes a seat, looking over the three raccoon like creatures, and slowly over the others two residents, his eyes locks upon the feline mutant. How could such a /person/ wear a touchedo in days like those? It would simply get all damaged and dirty.<br> <br>The tanuki woman claps her hands together as she looks over all the arrivals. Other tanukis, to boot! This was likely to be interesting. "Ah, good! I am delighted to see so many people respond in a timely fashion. Yes, I am the one that was asking for help. Please, feel free to help yourself to a light snack while I explain." She takes a step back and sets out a counted number of waterbottles to go with the meal before speaking again. "When I arrived, some uncouth individual took something important from me. A box. More specifically, what the box contains. I am not familiar with the layout of this city, or its inhabitants. That is why I come to you! Or rather, asked you to come to me. I would like my box back. I can give you little assistance, save for telling you the direction he went in."<br> <br>Fenris smiles at Morton, sensing his. . . well, not his lover, because they weren't really that. They were all but strangers, really. But they were certainly bound in a way deeper than the ne tanuki could fully understand. He could feel Morton's embarassment though, and he reaches out to squeeze the other tanuki's hand for just a moment before turning his attention to his bowl of noodles. "What sort of mutant stole your box Ma'am?" he asks around mouthfuls of noodles as he shovels them into his mouth with a set of chopsticks he has produced from somewhere. He gives a friendly wave to Dio, recognizing the dapper lion from previous missions.<br> <br>Morten nods to Fenris, smiling shyly as he squeezes her hand, she smirks but stays quiet, moving to the noodles and happily taking a share as she tucks into it happily, ears perked as she explains what she needs and the others arrive and talk, looking at them before tucking into the free noodles provided.<br> <br>Technetium gets out a small, spiral bound notebook, while also procuring a pair of wooden chopsticks, planting them inside of the noodles. She flicks the top open on the notebook and pulls out a pencil, preparing to write/sketch. "Please decscribe the box in as much detail as you possibly can. Knowing what the box looks like will help us find it. Alot." She says.<br> <br>"Fear not," Dio claims with bolstering pride as he reaches out to grab a precious container of glorious hydration. "I shall pay you back for this lovely gift; a respite and salvation from the hot and unforgiving California sun. We shall catch this dastardly ne'er-do-well before you know it and retrieve your precious property." Twisting open the top, he brings the opening to his mouth and takes a giant sip or two before wiping his muzzle off.
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		+	"Ahh. I needed that. Now then, yes. The investigation. Please divulge what information you have so that we may preform our duty swiftly. Each moment lost is potential for our foes to hide themselves further." Noticing Fenris' wave, the lion dips his head and returns the gesture before getting back to business.<br> <br>Mackenzie raises an eyebrow to the tanuki lady "A box you say? Sorry if I'm being a bit invasive, but, what exactly that box of yours keep in it insides?" he politely thanks for the water, opening and right after giving it a small sip "It ia not that I'm curious to know what it is, but, we need to know if we will need to be careful, thought. We dont want to damage it content." he says with a kind smile.<br> <br>Looking over the group, she turns a pensive eye to Mackenzie. "It's nothing fragile, so you needn't worry about harming it. Unless you try to trash it, anyway. Rattling it is fine. But don't open it. If you open it, terrible, terrible things might happen!" Quite ominous! And vague. "It's a long box. With a handle on it. More of a case than a box. Black, and sturdy. Kind of slender, too. I have a feeling you'll know it when you see it." She turns next to Dio and Fenris. "It was a large fox. Male, by the looks of things. They took off down the street and to the left. I chased after them, but they had ducked into one of the buildings. I didn't manage to see which one, but I would imagine it was one of the larger ones. Easier to hide in."<br> <br>Fenris stands, adjusting his newly acquired bamboo hat. "We're on it then!" he says happily. He has done everything happily for the last couple of days. Somehow, in the short interval since he sat down, the round tanuki has polished off FOUR bowls of noodles! He waves and starts walking jauntily down the street in the direction the woman pointed.<br> <br>Morten shakes her head, "You know, while they go off and look for your chest, perhaps i'll stay behind and keep you company... incase those crooks return eh? can never be too sure about the bad sort" she nods, finishing her meal and quickly collecting another "So i'll help hold down the fort, you lads n lasses march on!" she smirks, waving them off before leaning back and happily relaxing.<br> <br>Technetium sighs, flips the notepad cover closed, and takes a bite of the noodles. "Is there anything else you can add? Any clues as to why this box is so valuable to other people? Any signal to the intelligence of the fox?" She asks in a rapid fire fashion, trying to extract as much information as she can without interrogation. "By the way, nice cooking on the noodles."<br> <br>While the client continues on, Dio drinks down the rest of the bottles contents with a relieved sigh. He settles it back down on the counter-top, smiles, and nods his muzzle. "I understand, though it sounds like you wish for us to reclaim Pandora's Box with a warning like that," he says with a jolly chuckle. "When the job is done, perhaps I shall partake in these noodles as a form of payment. But for now, let us depart before the sun falls too far." With one last wave, the lion departs along with Fenris to begin the investigation.<br> <br>Mackenzie nods to the tanuki "I see... I would rather ask what could be of so /terrible/ about that, but I'll just retrive your box" he gives a small wink to the tanuki and turns his gaze to Technetium "So, 'nnec are you comming along? If we stay here any longer they will claim all those noddle before us" the jackal chuckles and gently pats the fennec's back "So? I dont think they will wait for us." he get up and gesture to Technetium to follow him before he starts follow the lion and the other tanuki.<br> <br>The tanuki woman gestures after Fenris and Dio. "Yes, you'd best get going! There's not a whole lot more I could say. But they were intelligent, yes!" A wave is given as she calls after the lion. "The noodles will be here!" Morten gets a quiet nod as she settles back to wait.
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		+	Around the corner, the street in question that had been mentioned was fairly lonely, the occasional feral glancing out from an alley before moving on, not wanting to tangle with a full group. Most of the buildings are in varying states of decay, and only two of them particularly stand out. One being an office building on the left side of the road, and what looks like an old fitness center on the right.<br> <br>Fenris looks back and forth between the two buildings, his ever present smile never wavering. He does not seem too concerned about ferals. "Well," he says, "Let's let chance decide!" He unslings his spear and sets it on end, waiting to see which way it falls to decide which building to explore.<br> <br>Technetium mutters to herself <br> <br>Technetium mutters to herself "Intelligent, huh?" Seemingly subconciously, she pulls out a laser pistol from her internal coat pocket and flicks the charge switch. "Ultimately, we will end up exloring both, you know? Murphy's law dictates that our first choice will ultimately be incorrect." she notes to the rest of the party.<br> <br>"I do not understand this "law"," Dio responds to Tech while looking at the buildings in question. "There's nothing stopping Lady Luck from shining on us and letting our first choice be the correct one. Regardless, let us simply investigate the fitness center first. If anything, I could use some equipment to take back home."<br> <br>Mackenzie shrugs "Nothing to worry about, after all, there is nothing that a group of four cant handle, and lets be honest, a lion isnt exactly the less intimidating ever... Right? So, the fitness center? All right." he says taking a small, but yet, odd knife from a quiver that was hiden by his skirt. "Who volunteers to take the first step inside?" he asks.<br> <br>The spear and voices have largely decided! The fitness center would be first. Whoever approached it first would likely find that the door was unlocked, and the glass front showed nothing immediately dangerous within. Of course, the building was dark, as was to be expected. And without air conditioning of any kind, the air was kind of musty and muggy, but at least it wasn't in the sun any longer.<br> <br>Fenris retrieves his spear, glad to see that chance and the voices of his companions were in alignment. The pudgy tanuki doesn't bother waiting for a plan, but saunters directly through the open doors of the fitness center with his spear in hand. He glances around the abandoned equipment with a contented smile and walks ahead, making way for the others.<br> <br>Technetium sighs and shakes her head. "Sorry, just being a bit pessimistic. Let's move, stay quiet though." She moves to the frame of the door, holding her laser pistol downward. She moves in the door quickly, doing a quick sweep of the area with the laser pistol. "I don't like this. Too dark, too quiet. Check behind you, and stay vigilant."<br> <br>Before venturing into the unknown, Dio reaches back and unstraps the riot shield hanging there and brings it to his front. "Hopefully any ferals in there haven't been training, eh," he jokes with a soft chukle before making his way inside and peering about the room. "Let us investigate the area and find some clues. Do remember that our foes of the hour have been deemed intelligent and could've created some traps for us to stumble into." Ears twitching and nose sniffing, the lion peers about and attempts to find any sort of clue that could assist the investigation.<br> <br>Mackenzie wasnt paying too much attention on the fact that they could be walking into right feral's den. It could be due the fact that they are together in a group, or maybe because the jackal knew that he simply couldnt be killed so easy. "Hhmm... Well, the building reminds me of the museum... Dark, quiet, and empyt." as he steps in right after the three, his eyes get a shinning bright, that was there all the time, but just noticed now in the deep dark.
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		+	How dumb, the jackal didnt waited for the group, venturing himself deep into the building, it was easy to spot him, he was almost like a glowing dot in the darkness that fills the place. <br> <br>From off somewhere behind the group, a tall tigress comes rushing towards them. She's wearing what looks like Zephyr-issue body armor, with a flamethrower slung over her back. "Hey, Techie, sorry I'm late. I was kinda... asleep when you texted me." She looks around at the group, or a least those that haven't already stepped inside, and gives them a smile. "So uh, what's going on here?"<br> <br>The group's caution pays off. Or seems to, at least. The exercise equipment is largely left untouched. Things like that aren't always the easiest to move around and run off with, nor are they the most important thing to be looting when the world has gone to the dogs. In some cases quite literally. There's not a trap in sight, in the main room of the gym, though Mackenzie, in their valiant march, ends up stepping on something that gives a faint click as its pressed down.
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		+	Fortunately it's not a trap, but a weighted disc that had been laying on the ground. Two doors line the walls, one of them shut and marked as leading to the supply closet, while the other is an archway leading towards the locker rooms.<br> <br>Technetium sighs, investigating their options. "Which way? We could always go to the supply closet then turn around. The closet's bound to contain useful chemicals, or even hidden boxes.." She says, ripping open a small pack of pine nuts to snack on.<br> <br>Dio sniffles in the air investigates the area. He walks around, attempting to find any clue he can until he stops and draws a temporary conclusion. "Someone has certainly been here recently. I can smell it. However, I don't think there are any ferals present at the moment despite it being a nice place for a nest, but you never know. However, this contradiction is curious. Abandoned, yet the scent lingers. I wonder if we can follow it?"<br> <br>Grace looks from Techie to Dio, who appear to be investigating the room. And that jackal guy, and a Tanuki that smells a lot like Fenris. She assumes he is Fenris. She walks up behind Techie, and taps her shoulder. "Hello? You here me, Techie?"<br> <br>Fenris follows Dio's example, sniffing the air. "You are right, Dio," he says smiling, "Someone has certainly been through here recently." The new tanuki gives a friendly wave as Grace joins the group, then sets out toward the locker room, carefully using his spear to check the ground ahead as he walks.<br> <br>Technetium looks around suddenly, concentration broken. "Huh? hmm? Ah. Hello." She says to Grace, returning to her concentrated state. "Well, I think we should explore the closet first. Its easy to turn around and come back through, and I'm pretty sure the locker room is going to be a one-way thing." She explains calmly.<br> <br>As Fenris nears the locker room, the scent he and Dio had picked up on grows stronger. Sitting in the doorway to the lockers themselves stands one of those old yellow floor signs, warning of a slippery floor ahead. Now who would go and leave something like that sitting around?<br> <br>Fenris looks at the slippery when wet sign with that perpetual smile. "Not my first thought for a deterent," he says thoughtfully, "But good enough to make one think." The tanuki rambles gamely into the locker room, being careful of his step and keeping an eye out for trouble and his spear out for extra balance and protection.<br> <br>Technetium decides to head towards the supply closet, thinking she can turn around and rejoin the others in a bit. "I'll be with you guys in a second! I want to check the closet out!" She yells, moving her pistol in a scanning fashion.<br> <br>"Indeed," Dio replies. "The scent does seem to lead up to this locker room. Let us take caution and hopefully we shall find our target before it becomes too dark outside." Traveling behind Fenris, the lion holds up his riot shield and awaits for him to open the door.<br> <br>Mackenzie slowly pads after Technetium, it wasnt a good idea exploring the place alone, even if he did walked deep into the building without waiting for the others "Hey 'nnec" he says "Trying to see if you find the damn box? A bit of light might help" the jackal looks to the direction of where the fennec's gun is pointing, making it clear to see whatever there is in there.<br> <br>Grace still doesn't quite know what's going on; the text she had gotten from Techie had just said the Tanuki were back and told her where to meet them. As such, she sticks with Techie and this jackal guy, and follows where the fennec is pointing her gun. "So uh, what are we looking for?"<br> <br>Fenris and Dio quickly discovered that the sign wasn't just for show. The floor has been finely waxed and polished to a slick and slippery level. Thankfully, Fenris is more than capable of standing on it with little effort, but Dio fairs a bit less well, though he still manages to stay standing and avoid a spill. Over at the supply closet door, Technetium discovers that trying to open it yields some resistance given by something on the other side, though just what it is is hard to make out without opening the door entirely, which would probably cause other problems.<br> <br>Fenris slides gracefully around the room, surprisingly agile for such a round creature. He starts to systematically check the rows of lockers, spear ready in case of trouble.<br> <br>Technetium frowns. "Mackenzie, get behind me, and get ready to blast something." Charging a kick, she busts into the room, scanning around her with the pistol to find...<br> <br>Dio takes a few steps into the room and wobbles about, trying to catch his balance by putting a hand on anything solid he could find. "Whoa!" He excliams, finally finding his balance with a relieved sigh. "That was much more slippery than I was imagining it. I nearly injured myself there." Being much more careful this time, the lion presses onwards and continues to try and discover the scent's origen.<br> <br>Mackenzie holds firmly on his knife, standing right after the fennec, he wasnt all scared, but if something was about to jump on them, it was better to be ready "Any feral on sight, 'nnec?" he says putting a paw on her back and looking around, his glowing body shinning and lighting the place around them.<br> <br>Grace has by now pressed herself against the wall right next to the door, brandishing her flamethrower. She watches Techie and the jackal's eyes, wondering what they're looking at. "Let me know if it needs to burn," she says.<br> <br>Technetium barging the door open snaps the tripwire that had been hiding behind it, releasing the 'trap' that had been rigged. It wasn't much more than a large punching bag swinging down from the ceiling like a pendulum, but those things were heavy all the same! Not that it matters, as Tech manages to avoid it by a hair. That seems to be about the only surprise the room has in store for them, as the small-ish area seems fairly innoculous otherwise, and safe for exploration.
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		+	Dio and Fenris have both found what they were looking for in the locker room, though perhaps not in the way they wanted. The origin of the scent almost seems to be the room itself, with how concentrated it is, but, more specifically, the aerosol can sitting on the bench is the most likely answer. Fenris, meanwhile, finds the box behind one of the mesh locker doors. The only problem is that the locker is locked. And the fact that an identical box seems to be sitting in every single locker.<br> <br>Fenris sniffs at the aerosol can. "What IS that?" he asks, picking up the can and examining it. He looks around at the plethora of identical boxes and shakes his head with a rueful laugh. "Kitsune," he chuckles, "You sneaky bastard." He looks around the room for a board with keys or anything that might help open the lockers.<br> <br>Technetium dives upon hearing the pendulum with her oversized ears, barely making it out of the way. She looks around at the shelves stocked with misc chemicals, solvents, and acids, and says to the mini-party "Don't spill anything! It may be the end of us if you do! Now, carefully search for the box or any clues for finding the box. Alright? Go." She begins searching the rightmost shelving for said items.<br> <br>"Oh my," Dio idly comments as he peers into the locker slits. "Quite tricky indeed. An annoying prank and a half. It shall be quite difficult to discover which box is the real one considering we were told not to open it. Worst comes to worst, we may simply bring back all the boxes and allow our client to sort it out herself. But that leaves the possibilty of all of them being the wrong one. Maybe I should give one a good shake and test their weight." Gripping onto one of the lockers, the lion pulls heavily and attempts to force it open with pure brute force!<br> <br>Mackenzie nods to Technetium and slowly pads after her "I wonder... Why they would have those things in a fitness center... Odd, maybe it was placed here after the building was abandoned?" he says looking around, it certainly was a odd room. "Anything there 'nnec?" he asks to Technetium<br> <br>"Don't they keep cleaning supplies in supply closets most of the time?" Grace asks as she pads after them. "What is this box we're looking for? I got here late and nobody's filled me in yet."<br> <br>Fenris has found a can of peach scented aerosol! Might have something to do with why the ferals aren't around. What he doesn't find are keys, though. Dio has proven that keys are just decoration, as the locker door is torn off entirely with a twang of metal. The searching in the closet turns up... Mixed results. Technetium ends up shaking the shelf in just the wrong way, an empty jug of what was once chlorine falling from the top to bounce lightly off their head, while Grace finds a bottle of cleaner that is considerably less empty! Almost full, even! Mackenzie finds the real prize, however, under a traffic cone. A keyring with a single key on it, labeled 71. Whatever could it be for?<br> <br>Fenris chuckles an slips the aerosol can into a pocket of his coat before rambling over to watch Dio. "I hope we don't have to do that with all of the lockers," he says with a friendly smile. The round tanuki continues to search the room for anything useful, or even just interesting.<br> <br>Technetium shakes her head as the bleach bottle ricochets off of it, cursing slightly. "Nothing over here!" She says to the others.<br> <br>After a loud grunt and a flex of muscles, Dio rips the locker door off and tosses it to the floor to retrieve his prize. "That would certainly be a chore. If we get lucky, perhaps the tricksters didn't put anything within the boxes themselves, but that's wishful thinking." Without a barrier in the way, the lion picks up the box and gives it a good shake to hear what could be rattling around inside.<br> <br>Mackenzie curiously examines the key "Hey guys... I've found that k--" he stops talking and eyes the fennec, trying to supress a laugh, but end up failling "Bahahah! W-what did happened?" he asks, still laughing a bit "Well, are you fine? I've found that key... 71, those are the numbers on it. Maybe it is a locker?" he asks eyeing the key closely.<br> <br>Grace nods, then looks back as she hears the sound of rending metal. "What are they doing back there?" she asks as she pockets the cleaning solution. "Maybe they found the locker it goes with?" She takes a few steps back out of the closet, and starts heading back to the other group.<br> <br>It was wishful thinking indeed. The box Dio grabs is heavy. Not ridiculously so, for such a strong lion, but it certainly feels like it was full of bricks, making the idea of carrying them all back a very daunting prospect indeed. It even sounds heavy when he shakes it, giving a few satisfying 'whumps'. Fenris doesn't really find too much else of note. A discarded towel, some shed fur, one of those tiny little floor-grates for water drainage. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary for a fitness center locker room.<br> <br>Technetium quickly runs over to Dio and Fenris, shouting "WE GOT A KEY!" down the hall, not afraid of potental ferals anymore due to the aerosol. Upon entering the waxed locker room, she starts skittering along the floor, falling to her back and launched towards the wall, bouncing off it like a bumper and coasts around the room until arriving at locker 71. "Its the key for this locker!" She shouts and points upwards.<br> <br>Dio puts his ear close to the shaken box and settles it back in the locker. "This doesn't seem to be the correct box, unless our client had a very special brick they wished to keep safe. If these are all filled with bricks, then I suppose we can find the one that isn't filled with one." Hearing quite a loud yell, the lion turns around and observes the slipping and sliding fennec. "Welcome to the party, my lady. And a key you say? Hopefully it shall open up the locker we need."<br> <br>Mackenzie follows just after Technetium, he doesnt even had the chance of saying something about the collapsing fennec when himself colapsed onto the floor and started to slide across the lockers room, bumping on shins and lockers when he finally stops near a old looking locker he eyes it moving forth and back due his /encounter/. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!" he shouts as he tries to crawls away from the locker that is falling over him, what is useless, the waxed ground making it impossible, and soon, the jackal is crushed by the locker, his hand can be seen holding something tightly, the keyring.<br> <br>Unlike the other, the tigress has no trouble crossing over the waxed floor. Must be that feline poise. She takes the key from Mackenzie's paw, and walks over to the locker that Techie is adjacent to. "Lion guy, can you get the locker off of Jackal guy?" she asks as she unlocks the locker.<br> <br>Fenris looks down at Technetium where she lies on the floor. "A key sounds like a very good idea," he says with a warm smile, sauntering over to where poor Mackenzie has been flattened by the fallen locker. "Are you alright?" he asks the canine, seemingly not too worried. It looks like he might be waiting for one more bit of excitement as Grace opens the locker, though. Kitsunes usually wrung all the fun they could out of their pranks, after all.<br> <br>Somewhere in the world, someone was probably laughing at all the mischief a simple waxed floor was causing. Thankfully, those lockers weren't too terribly heavy or dense. In a moment of truth, the locker door... Swings open quite harmlessly. No traps, pranks or otherwise spill out to greet the group. And within sits a box, identical in appearance to all the others, but significantly lighter than the one Dio had grabbed before. From the main lobby of the fitness center a faint clink can be heard, but nothing follows it.<br> <br>Fenris nods and smiles warmly. "That must be the box!" he says, "Now let us hope that walking out will be as simple as walking in!" At least, he hopes that it is the right box. The tanuki makes his way back to the door of the locker room and peeks out, his broad, fluffy tail waving.<br> <br>Technetium chuckles and climbs back to her paws, finally getting some grip with the fennec nails and pawpads. She carefully walks back over to the hallway and picks up the clink from the lobby with her oversized ears. She once again readies her gun and slips around the corner, saying back to the others "Be careful!<br> <br>Dio turns towards Grace and dips down in a gentlemanly bow. "Of course, my lady. Lion guy at your service." Rolling his shoulders, lion guy crouches down and grips onto the fallen locker upon Mackenzie and lifts it up to allow a quick escape before settling it back down. "It could very well be. We shall ask our client. Let's hurry, as it's already gotten quite late. And what a curious sound that was." Curiousity peaked, the lion holds out his riot shield and ventures for the main lobby to investigate.<br> <br>Mackenzie gasps! "Finally free!" he quickly slides away from the locker "The jackal guy thanks you, lion guy!" he says with polite bow of his head "Did we-- Uggh... My back... So, did we found that damn box?" he says carefully and slowly getting up "Damn locker... Damn waxed floor... If that was made by someone, the one who made this will suffer a lot" he says dusting off hia clothes.<br> <br>Grace chuckles softly as she pulls the box from the locker. She shakes it a bit, wondering what's inside. "So, what's in this box, and why are we looking for it? Nobody's explained things to me yet." She noticed Techie getting tense again, and rests a hand on the flamethrower slung over her shoulder.<br> <br>The contents of the box rustles and rattles quietly. It's got some heft to it, but it's not all that heavy. Outside the locker room, the gym has gone fairly quiet again. The light from the windows has faded with the onset of night, but the source of the sound is obvious. One of the weight lifting bars has been placed in the door handles, effectively baring it shut. From the outside. Most curious! Whoever it was doesn't seem to be around, though, and it probably wouldn't be too big a deal to break out, one way or another.<br> <br>Fenris sighs. That didn't really bode well for any of them. "We were asked not to open it," the tanuki reminds his compatriots as he rambles across the workout room to examine the newly barred door. All he wants is to go eat more of those noodles!<br> <br>Dio presses against the newly barred door and grumbles under his breath. "Stuck... Let me see what I can do about that." Taking a few steps back, the lion takes a deep breath and raises one leg before delivering a fierce kick upon the door in an effort to hopefully knock it right open!<br> <br>Mackenzie raises an eyebrow "Are we locked here? Really? Great... What else could happen?" he says, sighing a bit, as he hears the loud sound of metal being hit by something big "What the... Oh... Are you trying to open the door? Great!" he says with a kind and encouraging smile.<br> <br>The poor door and the metal rod locking it shut can't hope to stand up to Dio's might, the bar bending at an awkward angle as the door flies open to permit exit into the street. Outside, nothing seems to be waiting for them, either. Though with how long it has been, who knows how much longer til the ferals start to return. But for now, it looks like the coast is clear.<br> <br>Fenris carefully takes the package from Grace. "Lets get a move on!" he cheers with a happy smile, "Don't want to stick around waiting for another prank!" Especially if it is one of the feral kind. The round tanuki starts trotting down the street with the package tucked under his arm, still on the lookout for the fox who had instigated this whole thing.<br> <br>Dio bounces up and down on his feet for a few moments after landing a solid kick upon the door and smiles. After a nice and long breath, followed by a roll of his shoulders, the lion simmers down and smooths out his formal attire. "Indeed, off we go then. Don't want any ferals getting the wrong idea now. Wonderful work, everyone." With the door now wide open, Dio jogs out and makes his way towards their client.<br> <br>Mackenzie slowly and carefully pads toward the exit, he didnt wanted another close encounter with a locker. "Well, I would try to find another way out, but thats work as well" he says to Dio. "Lets go, kitty!" he says cheerfuly to Grace before gesturing to hir follow them.<br> <br>Grace nods, and quickly hurries after the others, because she doesn't know where to go if she gets separated from them. "So, what's your name, anyway?" she asks as she jogs alongside the jackal.<br> <br>The walk back is quite uneventful, the warm evening rather pleasant, compared to the heat of the day, the starry sky above shining bright without all the light polution. The tanuki woman was still outside the shrine with her stand, a fresh batch of noodles and water prepared and put on display as she gives an deager wave to the approaching group. "Hello! I was wondering if you'd gotten lost!"<br> <br>Fenris trots up with a happy smile, placing the box gently on the counter before plopping back onto the seat he had vacated earlier. "I think it was just a kitsune prank," he offers, "What is in the box, anyway?" The pudgy tanuki reaches for another bowl of noodles, tipping his bamboo hat back and leaning his spear against the wall of the stand.<br> <br>Not far behind Fenris, Dio jogs along and finds himself back at the stand once more. "Hopefully this is the correct box, my lady," he says with another gentlemanly bow. "And my apologies if it took longer than expected. I'm afraid we didn't manage to find the perpetrators, but hopefully having your possession back shall bring relief."<br> <br>Mackenzie eyes the tigress and says "Mackenzie" a simple word and name, saying nothing more than that. He quickly reasumes his pace and arrives just after the chubby tanuki and the gentleman lion "I hope that what is inside the box is really important, cause I kissed a locker for it." he says taking a seat near the noddle-lover, Fenris.<br> <br>Grace sits down on the stool next to Mackenzie, and looks up at the female Tanuki. "Hi. I'm with them, but I missed the whole "what's going on" part. I guess that was your box?"<br> <br>Edel smiles happily, taking the box. "Why, yes. The contents were important! To me, at least." A nod is given to Dio. "Do not worry about it. The box and your safety was the important part!" She flips the latches on the case and pops it open, confetting and springy snakes flying from it for a moment before she withdraws a bottle of sauce. "Quite important indeed!" Pulling the stopper from the end, she reaches out to offer to add some to Fenris' bowl before adding a bit to the rest of the bowls. "Please, enjoy the results of your labour!" Stretching out for a moment, she settles back down on her stool behind the stand. "It was my box, yes. We did not meet originally, but please, enjoy some food, if you wish! You've all done quite well, and your service will be remembered in the days to come!"<br> <br>Fenris applauds the explosion of confetti and snakes before getting even more excited about the bottle of sauce! "Wonderful!" the tanuki cheers happily, holding out his bowl, "Certainly worth the trouble!" The pudgy coon-dog produces a pair of fine chopsticks from somewhere within his coat and digs into the even more savory bowl of noodles before him. The tanuki life was good!<br> <br>Dio<br> <br>Dio's eyes widen as a burst of confette and snakes come flying out, almost appearing defeated after thinking they may have gotten the wrong box. But after the prize is revealed, the lion lets out a soft sigh and a complimentary chuckle. "Well, anything to assist a lady in need I suppose. And I must admit, I am quite hungry. If you don't mind, I shall gladly partake in some of your cooking." Finding a nice spot, he settles himself down and awaits to eat a well earned meal.<br> <br>Mackenzie was about to say something when the tanuki confirmed that the box was this one. "Oh... Food... Why didnt I guessed that... A tanuki's treasure... Duuuhh" he says making a dumb expression "Anyway, if you dont mind I'll have a bowl" he says taking one of the few bowls that are laying over the stand.<br> <br>Grace smiles at the Tanuki, and collects the remaining bowl. They definitely aren't bad people, they just have a delusional leader. "Thank you," she says as she reaches for whatever noodle-eating-implements are nearby. "I'm sure it's delicious!"<br> <br>The woman gestures happily amongst the bowls and seats. "Yes, yes! Enjoy! Eat as much as you like, and go knowing that you've done good work today. I'll confess that there was more to this task than just getting the box, but what it is I cannot say yet. In time you'll see, but for now eat, drink, and be happy!" She does lean forward, though, to look at Fenris. "And you, fellow tanuki... I would like to have words with you, sometime. Come by the shrine tomorrow, perhaps?"<br> <br>Fenris nods enthusiastically as he reaches for yet another bowl of noodles. "Of course!" he says before he sets to slurping again, "I would be happy to stop by! Especially if your noodles are always this good!" The big tanuki pats his round belly, then goes back to eating.<br> <br>Mackenzie rubs his chin "Well, I live to help the others, I only hope that whatever have we done, was a good thing for everyone, oh! Also! Lady! You didnt told us... Your name, exactly... I'm not demanding a name of course, feel free to say or not." he says before returning to his noodle.<br> <br>Grace has a face-full of noodles, which she has discovered are absolutely delicious, so she doesn't really take part in too much of the ongoing conversation. She does smile and nod, though, trying to be as polite as someone with their mouth full can be.[[Category:RPLogs]]

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Latest revision as of 05:25, 23 June 2014

Participants

• Dio
• Edel
• Fenris
• Grace
• Mackenzie
• Morten
• Technetium

Date

23/6/2014

Log

Even as the evening approaches, the sun beats down on the pavement of the city. That's probably -why- the canopy was erected in the first place. Sitting behind the stand and dishing up a few bowls of noodles for anyone arriving to answer the call was a female tanuki dressed in a simple brown robe. Aside from her, the street was vacant, not a feral in sight on this particular stretch of road.

Fenris saunters happily up to the little canopy, bowing before plopping his plush butt down on a seat and accepting a bowl of noodles. "You are the one who called for help, Miss?" he says to the pretty Tanuki working the stand. He felt so much more open and helpful since embracing the Tanuki way of life. And had an unquenchable hunger for Asian food, but that might have just been the new addition of his round tummy.

Morten wanders up through the street, quickly running up as she notices the scent of food~ she walks up and waves "Howd-...Fenris?" she blinks, blushing a little under her fur "Well-... hello again, your not the one who called right?" she asks before turning to look at the Tanuki woman "Oh hello!" she smiles, waving a paw.

Technetium approaches the stand, a small positioning unit in hand. About 2 meters away from the stand she turns off the unit, and sticks it in one of her back pockets. She takes a seat, but doesn't eat any of the noodles yet. She gives a slight nod to both Morten and Fenris, although the nod seems to betray a corrosive motive behind it. "Hello, madam. You had called?" She asks politely, unfocusing at times to interpret notes from her comm unit.

Eager to remove himself from the torrent of solar rays, a silver lion strolls down the street with a slight hint of haste. Nothing like a heavy mane in California heat, and the black tuxedo around his body doesn't help either. Eventually, he makes his way towards the other group members and dips into a deep and formal bow. "Greetings, ladies and gentleman," he claims in full and proud baritone. "I do hope everyone is well in the tail end of the afternoon. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dio and I have come to answer your call."

A long howl is heard before a jackal shows up on all fours, it slowly get up on his bipedal form, looking around for those who arrived before him, the jackal is wearing only a old looking egyptian skirt, and an ankh necklacd "So... This is the place? Huh... I did expected something worse than this..." he says before adjusting his clothes

"Oh? I there are thee of you... I wasnt hoping to have more than one tanuki here... Anyway, who was the 'nuki who called for help?" he takes a seat, looking over the three raccoon like creatures, and slowly over the others two residents, his eyes locks upon the feline mutant. How could such a /person/ wear a touchedo in days like those? It would simply get all damaged and dirty.

The tanuki woman claps her hands together as she looks over all the arrivals. Other tanukis, to boot! This was likely to be interesting. "Ah, good! I am delighted to see so many people respond in a timely fashion. Yes, I am the one that was asking for help. Please, feel free to help yourself to a light snack while I explain." She takes a step back and sets out a counted number of waterbottles to go with the meal before speaking again. "When I arrived, some uncouth individual took something important from me. A box. More specifically, what the box contains. I am not familiar with the layout of this city, or its inhabitants. That is why I come to you! Or rather, asked you to come to me. I would like my box back. I can give you little assistance, save for telling you the direction he went in."

Fenris smiles at Morton, sensing his. . . well, not his lover, because they weren't really that. They were all but strangers, really. But they were certainly bound in a way deeper than the ne tanuki could fully understand. He could feel Morton's embarassment though, and he reaches out to squeeze the other tanuki's hand for just a moment before turning his attention to his bowl of noodles. "What sort of mutant stole your box Ma'am?" he asks around mouthfuls of noodles as he shovels them into his mouth with a set of chopsticks he has produced from somewhere. He gives a friendly wave to Dio, recognizing the dapper lion from previous missions.

Morten nods to Fenris, smiling shyly as he squeezes her hand, she smirks but stays quiet, moving to the noodles and happily taking a share as she tucks into it happily, ears perked as she explains what she needs and the others arrive and talk, looking at them before tucking into the free noodles provided.

Technetium gets out a small, spiral bound notebook, while also procuring a pair of wooden chopsticks, planting them inside of the noodles. She flicks the top open on the notebook and pulls out a pencil, preparing to write/sketch. "Please decscribe the box in as much detail as you possibly can. Knowing what the box looks like will help us find it. Alot." She says.

"Fear not," Dio claims with bolstering pride as he reaches out to grab a precious container of glorious hydration. "I shall pay you back for this lovely gift; a respite and salvation from the hot and unforgiving California sun. We shall catch this dastardly ne'er-do-well before you know it and retrieve your precious property." Twisting open the top, he brings the opening to his mouth and takes a giant sip or two before wiping his muzzle off.

"Ahh. I needed that. Now then, yes. The investigation. Please divulge what information you have so that we may preform our duty swiftly. Each moment lost is potential for our foes to hide themselves further." Noticing Fenris' wave, the lion dips his head and returns the gesture before getting back to business.

Mackenzie raises an eyebrow to the tanuki lady "A box you say? Sorry if I'm being a bit invasive, but, what exactly that box of yours keep in it insides?" he politely thanks for the water, opening and right after giving it a small sip "It ia not that I'm curious to know what it is, but, we need to know if we will need to be careful, thought. We dont want to damage it content." he says with a kind smile.

Looking over the group, she turns a pensive eye to Mackenzie. "It's nothing fragile, so you needn't worry about harming it. Unless you try to trash it, anyway. Rattling it is fine. But don't open it. If you open it, terrible, terrible things might happen!" Quite ominous! And vague. "It's a long box. With a handle on it. More of a case than a box. Black, and sturdy. Kind of slender, too. I have a feeling you'll know it when you see it." She turns next to Dio and Fenris. "It was a large fox. Male, by the looks of things. They took off down the street and to the left. I chased after them, but they had ducked into one of the buildings. I didn't manage to see which one, but I would imagine it was one of the larger ones. Easier to hide in."

Fenris stands, adjusting his newly acquired bamboo hat. "We're on it then!" he says happily. He has done everything happily for the last couple of days. Somehow, in the short interval since he sat down, the round tanuki has polished off FOUR bowls of noodles! He waves and starts walking jauntily down the street in the direction the woman pointed.

Morten shakes her head, "You know, while they go off and look for your chest, perhaps i'll stay behind and keep you company... incase those crooks return eh? can never be too sure about the bad sort" she nods, finishing her meal and quickly collecting another "So i'll help hold down the fort, you lads n lasses march on!" she smirks, waving them off before leaning back and happily relaxing.

Technetium sighs, flips the notepad cover closed, and takes a bite of the noodles. "Is there anything else you can add? Any clues as to why this box is so valuable to other people? Any signal to the intelligence of the fox?" She asks in a rapid fire fashion, trying to extract as much information as she can without interrogation. "By the way, nice cooking on the noodles."

While the client continues on, Dio drinks down the rest of the bottles contents with a relieved sigh. He settles it back down on the counter-top, smiles, and nods his muzzle. "I understand, though it sounds like you wish for us to reclaim Pandora's Box with a warning like that," he says with a jolly chuckle. "When the job is done, perhaps I shall partake in these noodles as a form of payment. But for now, let us depart before the sun falls too far." With one last wave, the lion departs along with Fenris to begin the investigation.

Mackenzie nods to the tanuki "I see... I would rather ask what could be of so /terrible/ about that, but I'll just retrive your box" he gives a small wink to the tanuki and turns his gaze to Technetium "So, 'nnec are you comming along? If we stay here any longer they will claim all those noddle before us" the jackal chuckles and gently pats the fennec's back "So? I dont think they will wait for us." he get up and gesture to Technetium to follow him before he starts follow the lion and the other tanuki.

The tanuki woman gestures after Fenris and Dio. "Yes, you'd best get going! There's not a whole lot more I could say. But they were intelligent, yes!" A wave is given as she calls after the lion. "The noodles will be here!" Morten gets a quiet nod as she settles back to wait.

Around the corner, the street in question that had been mentioned was fairly lonely, the occasional feral glancing out from an alley before moving on, not wanting to tangle with a full group. Most of the buildings are in varying states of decay, and only two of them particularly stand out. One being an office building on the left side of the road, and what looks like an old fitness center on the right.

Fenris looks back and forth between the two buildings, his ever present smile never wavering. He does not seem too concerned about ferals. "Well," he says, "Let's let chance decide!" He unslings his spear and sets it on end, waiting to see which way it falls to decide which building to explore.

Technetium mutters to herself

Technetium mutters to herself "Intelligent, huh?" Seemingly subconciously, she pulls out a laser pistol from her internal coat pocket and flicks the charge switch. "Ultimately, we will end up exloring both, you know? Murphy's law dictates that our first choice will ultimately be incorrect." she notes to the rest of the party.

"I do not understand this "law"," Dio responds to Tech while looking at the buildings in question. "There's nothing stopping Lady Luck from shining on us and letting our first choice be the correct one. Regardless, let us simply investigate the fitness center first. If anything, I could use some equipment to take back home."

Mackenzie shrugs "Nothing to worry about, after all, there is nothing that a group of four cant handle, and lets be honest, a lion isnt exactly the less intimidating ever... Right? So, the fitness center? All right." he says taking a small, but yet, odd knife from a quiver that was hiden by his skirt. "Who volunteers to take the first step inside?" he asks.

The spear and voices have largely decided! The fitness center would be first. Whoever approached it first would likely find that the door was unlocked, and the glass front showed nothing immediately dangerous within. Of course, the building was dark, as was to be expected. And without air conditioning of any kind, the air was kind of musty and muggy, but at least it wasn't in the sun any longer.

Fenris retrieves his spear, glad to see that chance and the voices of his companions were in alignment. The pudgy tanuki doesn't bother waiting for a plan, but saunters directly through the open doors of the fitness center with his spear in hand. He glances around the abandoned equipment with a contented smile and walks ahead, making way for the others.

Technetium sighs and shakes her head. "Sorry, just being a bit pessimistic. Let's move, stay quiet though." She moves to the frame of the door, holding her laser pistol downward. She moves in the door quickly, doing a quick sweep of the area with the laser pistol. "I don't like this. Too dark, too quiet. Check behind you, and stay vigilant."

Before venturing into the unknown, Dio reaches back and unstraps the riot shield hanging there and brings it to his front. "Hopefully any ferals in there haven't been training, eh," he jokes with a soft chukle before making his way inside and peering about the room. "Let us investigate the area and find some clues. Do remember that our foes of the hour have been deemed intelligent and could've created some traps for us to stumble into." Ears twitching and nose sniffing, the lion peers about and attempts to find any sort of clue that could assist the investigation.

Mackenzie wasnt paying too much attention on the fact that they could be walking into right feral's den. It could be due the fact that they are together in a group, or maybe because the jackal knew that he simply couldnt be killed so easy. "Hhmm... Well, the building reminds me of the museum... Dark, quiet, and empyt." as he steps in right after the three, his eyes get a shinning bright, that was there all the time, but just noticed now in the deep dark.

How dumb, the jackal didnt waited for the group, venturing himself deep into the building, it was easy to spot him, he was almost like a glowing dot in the darkness that fills the place.

From off somewhere behind the group, a tall tigress comes rushing towards them. She's wearing what looks like Zephyr-issue body armor, with a flamethrower slung over her back. "Hey, Techie, sorry I'm late. I was kinda... asleep when you texted me." She looks around at the group, or a least those that haven't already stepped inside, and gives them a smile. "So uh, what's going on here?"

The group's caution pays off. Or seems to, at least. The exercise equipment is largely left untouched. Things like that aren't always the easiest to move around and run off with, nor are they the most important thing to be looting when the world has gone to the dogs. In some cases quite literally. There's not a trap in sight, in the main room of the gym, though Mackenzie, in their valiant march, ends up stepping on something that gives a faint click as its pressed down.

Fortunately it's not a trap, but a weighted disc that had been laying on the ground. Two doors line the walls, one of them shut and marked as leading to the supply closet, while the other is an archway leading towards the locker rooms.

Technetium sighs, investigating their options. "Which way? We could always go to the supply closet then turn around. The closet's bound to contain useful chemicals, or even hidden boxes.." She says, ripping open a small pack of pine nuts to snack on.

Dio sniffles in the air investigates the area. He walks around, attempting to find any clue he can until he stops and draws a temporary conclusion. "Someone has certainly been here recently. I can smell it. However, I don't think there are any ferals present at the moment despite it being a nice place for a nest, but you never know. However, this contradiction is curious. Abandoned, yet the scent lingers. I wonder if we can follow it?"

Grace looks from Techie to Dio, who appear to be investigating the room. And that jackal guy, and a Tanuki that smells a lot like Fenris. She assumes he is Fenris. She walks up behind Techie, and taps her shoulder. "Hello? You here me, Techie?"

Fenris follows Dio's example, sniffing the air. "You are right, Dio," he says smiling, "Someone has certainly been through here recently." The new tanuki gives a friendly wave as Grace joins the group, then sets out toward the locker room, carefully using his spear to check the ground ahead as he walks.

Technetium looks around suddenly, concentration broken. "Huh? hmm? Ah. Hello." She says to Grace, returning to her concentrated state. "Well, I think we should explore the closet first. Its easy to turn around and come back through, and I'm pretty sure the locker room is going to be a one-way thing." She explains calmly.

As Fenris nears the locker room, the scent he and Dio had picked up on grows stronger. Sitting in the doorway to the lockers themselves stands one of those old yellow floor signs, warning of a slippery floor ahead. Now who would go and leave something like that sitting around?

Fenris looks at the slippery when wet sign with that perpetual smile. "Not my first thought for a deterent," he says thoughtfully, "But good enough to make one think." The tanuki rambles gamely into the locker room, being careful of his step and keeping an eye out for trouble and his spear out for extra balance and protection.

Technetium decides to head towards the supply closet, thinking she can turn around and rejoin the others in a bit. "I'll be with you guys in a second! I want to check the closet out!" She yells, moving her pistol in a scanning fashion.

"Indeed," Dio replies. "The scent does seem to lead up to this locker room. Let us take caution and hopefully we shall find our target before it becomes too dark outside." Traveling behind Fenris, the lion holds up his riot shield and awaits for him to open the door.

Mackenzie slowly pads after Technetium, it wasnt a good idea exploring the place alone, even if he did walked deep into the building without waiting for the others "Hey 'nnec" he says "Trying to see if you find the damn box? A bit of light might help" the jackal looks to the direction of where the fennec's gun is pointing, making it clear to see whatever there is in there.

Grace still doesn't quite know what's going on; the text she had gotten from Techie had just said the Tanuki were back and told her where to meet them. As such, she sticks with Techie and this jackal guy, and follows where the fennec is pointing her gun. "So uh, what are we looking for?"

Fenris and Dio quickly discovered that the sign wasn't just for show. The floor has been finely waxed and polished to a slick and slippery level. Thankfully, Fenris is more than capable of standing on it with little effort, but Dio fairs a bit less well, though he still manages to stay standing and avoid a spill. Over at the supply closet door, Technetium discovers that trying to open it yields some resistance given by something on the other side, though just what it is is hard to make out without opening the door entirely, which would probably cause other problems.

Fenris slides gracefully around the room, surprisingly agile for such a round creature. He starts to systematically check the rows of lockers, spear ready in case of trouble.

Technetium frowns. "Mackenzie, get behind me, and get ready to blast something." Charging a kick, she busts into the room, scanning around her with the pistol to find...

Dio takes a few steps into the room and wobbles about, trying to catch his balance by putting a hand on anything solid he could find. "Whoa!" He excliams, finally finding his balance with a relieved sigh. "That was much more slippery than I was imagining it. I nearly injured myself there." Being much more careful this time, the lion presses onwards and continues to try and discover the scent's origen.

Mackenzie holds firmly on his knife, standing right after the fennec, he wasnt all scared, but if something was about to jump on them, it was better to be ready "Any feral on sight, 'nnec?" he says putting a paw on her back and looking around, his glowing body shinning and lighting the place around them.

Grace has by now pressed herself against the wall right next to the door, brandishing her flamethrower. She watches Techie and the jackal's eyes, wondering what they're looking at. "Let me know if it needs to burn," she says.

Technetium barging the door open snaps the tripwire that had been hiding behind it, releasing the 'trap' that had been rigged. It wasn't much more than a large punching bag swinging down from the ceiling like a pendulum, but those things were heavy all the same! Not that it matters, as Tech manages to avoid it by a hair. That seems to be about the only surprise the room has in store for them, as the small-ish area seems fairly innoculous otherwise, and safe for exploration.

Dio and Fenris have both found what they were looking for in the locker room, though perhaps not in the way they wanted. The origin of the scent almost seems to be the room itself, with how concentrated it is, but, more specifically, the aerosol can sitting on the bench is the most likely answer. Fenris, meanwhile, finds the box behind one of the mesh locker doors. The only problem is that the locker is locked. And the fact that an identical box seems to be sitting in every single locker.

Fenris sniffs at the aerosol can. "What IS that?" he asks, picking up the can and examining it. He looks around at the plethora of identical boxes and shakes his head with a rueful laugh. "Kitsune," he chuckles, "You sneaky bastard." He looks around the room for a board with keys or anything that might help open the lockers.

Technetium dives upon hearing the pendulum with her oversized ears, barely making it out of the way. She looks around at the shelves stocked with misc chemicals, solvents, and acids, and says to the mini-party "Don't spill anything! It may be the end of us if you do! Now, carefully search for the box or any clues for finding the box. Alright? Go." She begins searching the rightmost shelving for said items.

"Oh my," Dio idly comments as he peers into the locker slits. "Quite tricky indeed. An annoying prank and a half. It shall be quite difficult to discover which box is the real one considering we were told not to open it. Worst comes to worst, we may simply bring back all the boxes and allow our client to sort it out herself. But that leaves the possibilty of all of them being the wrong one. Maybe I should give one a good shake and test their weight." Gripping onto one of the lockers, the lion pulls heavily and attempts to force it open with pure brute force!

Mackenzie nods to Technetium and slowly pads after her "I wonder... Why they would have those things in a fitness center... Odd, maybe it was placed here after the building was abandoned?" he says looking around, it certainly was a odd room. "Anything there 'nnec?" he asks to Technetium

"Don't they keep cleaning supplies in supply closets most of the time?" Grace asks as she pads after them. "What is this box we're looking for? I got here late and nobody's filled me in yet."

Fenris has found a can of peach scented aerosol! Might have something to do with why the ferals aren't around. What he doesn't find are keys, though. Dio has proven that keys are just decoration, as the locker door is torn off entirely with a twang of metal. The searching in the closet turns up... Mixed results. Technetium ends up shaking the shelf in just the wrong way, an empty jug of what was once chlorine falling from the top to bounce lightly off their head, while Grace finds a bottle of cleaner that is considerably less empty! Almost full, even! Mackenzie finds the real prize, however, under a traffic cone. A keyring with a single key on it, labeled 71. Whatever could it be for?

Fenris chuckles an slips the aerosol can into a pocket of his coat before rambling over to watch Dio. "I hope we don't have to do that with all of the lockers," he says with a friendly smile. The round tanuki continues to search the room for anything useful, or even just interesting.

Technetium shakes her head as the bleach bottle ricochets off of it, cursing slightly. "Nothing over here!" She says to the others.

After a loud grunt and a flex of muscles, Dio rips the locker door off and tosses it to the floor to retrieve his prize. "That would certainly be a chore. If we get lucky, perhaps the tricksters didn't put anything within the boxes themselves, but that's wishful thinking." Without a barrier in the way, the lion picks up the box and gives it a good shake to hear what could be rattling around inside.

Mackenzie curiously examines the key "Hey guys... I've found that k--" he stops talking and eyes the fennec, trying to supress a laugh, but end up failling "Bahahah! W-what did happened?" he asks, still laughing a bit "Well, are you fine? I've found that key... 71, those are the numbers on it. Maybe it is a locker?" he asks eyeing the key closely.

Grace nods, then looks back as she hears the sound of rending metal. "What are they doing back there?" she asks as she pockets the cleaning solution. "Maybe they found the locker it goes with?" She takes a few steps back out of the closet, and starts heading back to the other group.

It was wishful thinking indeed. The box Dio grabs is heavy. Not ridiculously so, for such a strong lion, but it certainly feels like it was full of bricks, making the idea of carrying them all back a very daunting prospect indeed. It even sounds heavy when he shakes it, giving a few satisfying 'whumps'. Fenris doesn't really find too much else of note. A discarded towel, some shed fur, one of those tiny little floor-grates for water drainage. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary for a fitness center locker room.

Technetium quickly runs over to Dio and Fenris, shouting "WE GOT A KEY!" down the hall, not afraid of potental ferals anymore due to the aerosol. Upon entering the waxed locker room, she starts skittering along the floor, falling to her back and launched towards the wall, bouncing off it like a bumper and coasts around the room until arriving at locker 71. "Its the key for this locker!" She shouts and points upwards.

Dio puts his ear close to the shaken box and settles it back in the locker. "This doesn't seem to be the correct box, unless our client had a very special brick they wished to keep safe. If these are all filled with bricks, then I suppose we can find the one that isn't filled with one." Hearing quite a loud yell, the lion turns around and observes the slipping and sliding fennec. "Welcome to the party, my lady. And a key you say? Hopefully it shall open up the locker we need."

Mackenzie follows just after Technetium, he doesnt even had the chance of saying something about the collapsing fennec when himself colapsed onto the floor and started to slide across the lockers room, bumping on shins and lockers when he finally stops near a old looking locker he eyes it moving forth and back due his /encounter/. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!" he shouts as he tries to crawls away from the locker that is falling over him, what is useless, the waxed ground making it impossible, and soon, the jackal is crushed by the locker, his hand can be seen holding something tightly, the keyring.

Unlike the other, the tigress has no trouble crossing over the waxed floor. Must be that feline poise. She takes the key from Mackenzie's paw, and walks over to the locker that Techie is adjacent to. "Lion guy, can you get the locker off of Jackal guy?" she asks as she unlocks the locker.

Fenris looks down at Technetium where she lies on the floor. "A key sounds like a very good idea," he says with a warm smile, sauntering over to where poor Mackenzie has been flattened by the fallen locker. "Are you alright?" he asks the canine, seemingly not too worried. It looks like he might be waiting for one more bit of excitement as Grace opens the locker, though. Kitsunes usually wrung all the fun they could out of their pranks, after all.

Somewhere in the world, someone was probably laughing at all the mischief a simple waxed floor was causing. Thankfully, those lockers weren't too terribly heavy or dense. In a moment of truth, the locker door... Swings open quite harmlessly. No traps, pranks or otherwise spill out to greet the group. And within sits a box, identical in appearance to all the others, but significantly lighter than the one Dio had grabbed before. From the main lobby of the fitness center a faint clink can be heard, but nothing follows it.

Fenris nods and smiles warmly. "That must be the box!" he says, "Now let us hope that walking out will be as simple as walking in!" At least, he hopes that it is the right box. The tanuki makes his way back to the door of the locker room and peeks out, his broad, fluffy tail waving.

Technetium chuckles and climbs back to her paws, finally getting some grip with the fennec nails and pawpads. She carefully walks back over to the hallway and picks up the clink from the lobby with her oversized ears. She once again readies her gun and slips around the corner, saying back to the others "Be careful!

Dio turns towards Grace and dips down in a gentlemanly bow. "Of course, my lady. Lion guy at your service." Rolling his shoulders, lion guy crouches down and grips onto the fallen locker upon Mackenzie and lifts it up to allow a quick escape before settling it back down. "It could very well be. We shall ask our client. Let's hurry, as it's already gotten quite late. And what a curious sound that was." Curiousity peaked, the lion holds out his riot shield and ventures for the main lobby to investigate.

Mackenzie gasps! "Finally free!" he quickly slides away from the locker "The jackal guy thanks you, lion guy!" he says with polite bow of his head "Did we-- Uggh... My back... So, did we found that damn box?" he says carefully and slowly getting up "Damn locker... Damn waxed floor... If that was made by someone, the one who made this will suffer a lot" he says dusting off hia clothes.

Grace chuckles softly as she pulls the box from the locker. She shakes it a bit, wondering what's inside. "So, what's in this box, and why are we looking for it? Nobody's explained things to me yet." She noticed Techie getting tense again, and rests a hand on the flamethrower slung over her shoulder.

The contents of the box rustles and rattles quietly. It's got some heft to it, but it's not all that heavy. Outside the locker room, the gym has gone fairly quiet again. The light from the windows has faded with the onset of night, but the source of the sound is obvious. One of the weight lifting bars has been placed in the door handles, effectively baring it shut. From the outside. Most curious! Whoever it was doesn't seem to be around, though, and it probably wouldn't be too big a deal to break out, one way or another.

Fenris sighs. That didn't really bode well for any of them. "We were asked not to open it," the tanuki reminds his compatriots as he rambles across the workout room to examine the newly barred door. All he wants is to go eat more of those noodles!

Dio presses against the newly barred door and grumbles under his breath. "Stuck... Let me see what I can do about that." Taking a few steps back, the lion takes a deep breath and raises one leg before delivering a fierce kick upon the door in an effort to hopefully knock it right open!

Mackenzie raises an eyebrow "Are we locked here? Really? Great... What else could happen?" he says, sighing a bit, as he hears the loud sound of metal being hit by something big "What the... Oh... Are you trying to open the door? Great!" he says with a kind and encouraging smile.

The poor door and the metal rod locking it shut can't hope to stand up to Dio's might, the bar bending at an awkward angle as the door flies open to permit exit into the street. Outside, nothing seems to be waiting for them, either. Though with how long it has been, who knows how much longer til the ferals start to return. But for now, it looks like the coast is clear.

Fenris carefully takes the package from Grace. "Lets get a move on!" he cheers with a happy smile, "Don't want to stick around waiting for another prank!" Especially if it is one of the feral kind. The round tanuki starts trotting down the street with the package tucked under his arm, still on the lookout for the fox who had instigated this whole thing.

Dio bounces up and down on his feet for a few moments after landing a solid kick upon the door and smiles. After a nice and long breath, followed by a roll of his shoulders, the lion simmers down and smooths out his formal attire. "Indeed, off we go then. Don't want any ferals getting the wrong idea now. Wonderful work, everyone." With the door now wide open, Dio jogs out and makes his way towards their client.

Mackenzie slowly and carefully pads toward the exit, he didnt wanted another close encounter with a locker. "Well, I would try to find another way out, but thats work as well" he says to Dio. "Lets go, kitty!" he says cheerfuly to Grace before gesturing to hir follow them.

Grace nods, and quickly hurries after the others, because she doesn't know where to go if she gets separated from them. "So, what's your name, anyway?" she asks as she jogs alongside the jackal.

The walk back is quite uneventful, the warm evening rather pleasant, compared to the heat of the day, the starry sky above shining bright without all the light polution. The tanuki woman was still outside the shrine with her stand, a fresh batch of noodles and water prepared and put on display as she gives an deager wave to the approaching group. "Hello! I was wondering if you'd gotten lost!"

Fenris trots up with a happy smile, placing the box gently on the counter before plopping back onto the seat he had vacated earlier. "I think it was just a kitsune prank," he offers, "What is in the box, anyway?" The pudgy tanuki reaches for another bowl of noodles, tipping his bamboo hat back and leaning his spear against the wall of the stand.

Not far behind Fenris, Dio jogs along and finds himself back at the stand once more. "Hopefully this is the correct box, my lady," he says with another gentlemanly bow. "And my apologies if it took longer than expected. I'm afraid we didn't manage to find the perpetrators, but hopefully having your possession back shall bring relief."

Mackenzie eyes the tigress and says "Mackenzie" a simple word and name, saying nothing more than that. He quickly reasumes his pace and arrives just after the chubby tanuki and the gentleman lion "I hope that what is inside the box is really important, cause I kissed a locker for it." he says taking a seat near the noddle-lover, Fenris.

Grace sits down on the stool next to Mackenzie, and looks up at the female Tanuki. "Hi. I'm with them, but I missed the whole "what's going on" part. I guess that was your box?"

Edel smiles happily, taking the box. "Why, yes. The contents were important! To me, at least." A nod is given to Dio. "Do not worry about it. The box and your safety was the important part!" She flips the latches on the case and pops it open, confetting and springy snakes flying from it for a moment before she withdraws a bottle of sauce. "Quite important indeed!" Pulling the stopper from the end, she reaches out to offer to add some to Fenris' bowl before adding a bit to the rest of the bowls. "Please, enjoy the results of your labour!" Stretching out for a moment, she settles back down on her stool behind the stand. "It was my box, yes. We did not meet originally, but please, enjoy some food, if you wish! You've all done quite well, and your service will be remembered in the days to come!"

Fenris applauds the explosion of confetti and snakes before getting even more excited about the bottle of sauce! "Wonderful!" the tanuki cheers happily, holding out his bowl, "Certainly worth the trouble!" The pudgy coon-dog produces a pair of fine chopsticks from somewhere within his coat and digs into the even more savory bowl of noodles before him. The tanuki life was good!

Dio

Dio's eyes widen as a burst of confette and snakes come flying out, almost appearing defeated after thinking they may have gotten the wrong box. But after the prize is revealed, the lion lets out a soft sigh and a complimentary chuckle. "Well, anything to assist a lady in need I suppose. And I must admit, I am quite hungry. If you don't mind, I shall gladly partake in some of your cooking." Finding a nice spot, he settles himself down and awaits to eat a well earned meal.

Mackenzie was about to say something when the tanuki confirmed that the box was this one. "Oh... Food... Why didnt I guessed that... A tanuki's treasure... Duuuhh" he says making a dumb expression "Anyway, if you dont mind I'll have a bowl" he says taking one of the few bowls that are laying over the stand.

Grace smiles at the Tanuki, and collects the remaining bowl. They definitely aren't bad people, they just have a delusional leader. "Thank you," she says as she reaches for whatever noodle-eating-implements are nearby. "I'm sure it's delicious!"

The woman gestures happily amongst the bowls and seats. "Yes, yes! Enjoy! Eat as much as you like, and go knowing that you've done good work today. I'll confess that there was more to this task than just getting the box, but what it is I cannot say yet. In time you'll see, but for now eat, drink, and be happy!" She does lean forward, though, to look at Fenris. "And you, fellow tanuki... I would like to have words with you, sometime. Come by the shrine tomorrow, perhaps?"

Fenris nods enthusiastically as he reaches for yet another bowl of noodles. "Of course!" he says before he sets to slurping again, "I would be happy to stop by! Especially if your noodles are always this good!" The big tanuki pats his round belly, then goes back to eating.

Mackenzie rubs his chin "Well, I live to help the others, I only hope that whatever have we done, was a good thing for everyone, oh! Also! Lady! You didnt told us... Your name, exactly... I'm not demanding a name of course, feel free to say or not." he says before returning to his noodle.

Grace has a face-full of noodles, which she has discovered are absolutely delicious, so she doesn't really take part in too much of the ongoing conversation. She does smile and nod, though, trying to be as polite as someone with their mouth full can be.