wanted a serious title but i'm wondering which of them is shrek and which is donkey (we know)

[brokeassgoing]

Continued from all this beauty

[He's had a pretty hard time stumbling around after his injury...but that doesn't really stop him. Whiny as he is, Badou had too much to do. Sure, he'd stayed mostly at home these past few days, but he's been very busy. No laying around, no unconsciousness for too long.

He's been developing the film he'd taken during the last job, carefully cultivated in the darkness of his nasty little bathroom, the chemicals would sting his nose if he wasn't used to this already.

So it's no surprise he's been so focused he's forgotten to do some stuff around the place, lately. And will probably not notice a new visitor in the form of his little old man buddy, either.]

Comments

[brokeassgoing]

No problem.

[he gives a confident nod, lifts his foot and gives the door a solid kick. it doesn't fly off the hinges or anything, and Badou looks rattled and pale, but after a second he kicks it again. if anyone is in there, surely they've heard it]

[private_npcs]

[ Luther frowns as he suddenly grabs Badou and pulls him back. ]

I was hoping to cause less of a commotion. He still has neighbors.

[ Luther sighed as he grabbed the door knob and twisted it off clean off. The door slowly swinging open wide enough for them both to get hit with the smell of bleach and ammonia. ]

You don't suppose our guy is just a clean freak?

[ He asks as he lets go of Badou and walks inside cautiously, glancing around for any signs of life. ]

[brokeassgoing]

[well there goes lift off-- nearly of him off the ground and also there goes the door. and you know, the mission.

As soon as the smell hits Badou can tell someone died here.]

Nope. Someone or something died here. The only question is did Five try to clean it up, or did someone get here before him.

[the AC system is up high, too, to preserve any body that's in here presumably. he takes a slow walk around, sniffing occasionally to see if he can smell any underlining scent of rotting flesh.]

[private_npcs]

[ Luther sighs as he looks around. ]

Yeah, I figured...[ He's not completely clueless about these sorts of things even if Diego is more the one who goes investigating things like a wanna be cop. He glances into the bathroom and his face falters.]

I think I found the guy we were looking for...

[ He trails off as he takes stock of the situation. He pulls out a phone and sends a text to Diego to let him know that the aid is "gone". ]

[brokeassgoing]

[he had the feeling he was in the bathroom...whoever did this was a professional, of course, but still. the cliches are there.

he doesn't want to look at the body...there probably isn't much left in there. but Badou strides into the bathroom anyway, holding his breath.

there he is, all flopped in there. but the thing is, from the looks of him, he's been dead way before...]

....If this is who I was tailing, he looks good for a zombie.

[private_npcs]

Well at least we know that Five didn't kill him. He's definitely been here longer than a day.

[ That's pretty much the only take away that Luther has for this. But it still begs the question of where is Five. Suddenly his phone rings, he sees it is Diego and puts it on speaker. ]

Any luck at the library?

No. Five's not here...but we found his phone in the parking garage.

[ Luther looks as though he's been punched in the gut at hearing that news. He takes a deep breath, despite being in an apartment with a dead body. ]

Now what? Should we just regroup back at the Academy?

[brokeassgoing]

His phone...? Shit.

[he drops his head into his hands...what the heck are they going to do?? they've got nothing. should they regroup, or go back to the place he'd checked out and totally got his butt kicked.]

I don't know...

[private_npcs]

Yeah, let's regroup at the Academy. We need to call Allison and Vanya and let them know what is going on. Maybe Allison can help us out with her powers.

[ Diego suggested, his voice sounding strained as though he were barely holding in his anger and pain. Luther simply nodded as he glanced over to Badou with a sympathetic expression. If the kid meant something to his brother than he planned on looking out for him. ]

Okay. We'll meet you at the house. [ Luther said before hanging up. ] Come on, let's meet up with the others. We'll figure out a plan B once we talk to the girls. Maybe with Allison's help we can find Five's contact and interrogate him.

[ Luther suggest, placing a hand on Badou's shoulder and giving it a firm but gentle squeeze. He wasn't giving up even if things looked bleak. They were going to find Five, no matter what. ]

[brokeassgoing]

[he startles slightly at the contact, so trapped in his own head he hadn't been paying attention to anything other than the anguish going through his head.

his shoulders droop.]

Guess we'll go back. If anyone can figure anything out, your sisters can.

[private_npcs]

Yeah, they are good at looking at angles we guys haven't considered yet.

[ Of course, they were also going to have to deal with a pair of angry sisters, but he was ready to cross that bridge when they got to it. He lets his hand drop away as he heads toward the door, he felt bad about leaving the dead body there but they didn't have time to humor police questioning. ]

Let's get out of here before someone calls the cops.

[brokeassgoing]

[a deep sigh. it is what it is...and maybe not being surrounded by death will help him clear his head. then again he isn't looking forward to facing the rest of the siblings, knowing this is his fault.]

Have the feeling palms were greased nicely. But yeah.

[he follows without looking back]

[private_npcs]

I wouldn't doubt it. This may revolve around the Mayor's office, but it is still political.

[ Luther sighs as they head out of the apartment and back to the car. Hopefully they won't have to deal with any cops but he's glad that he still wears gloves, so at least no fingerprints.

By the time they make it back to the car, Luther glances over to Badou before getting into the car.]

Hey man, I get you think this is your fault, but it seems to me that someone has been planning this a lot longer. They wanted Five and sooner or later they were going to come for him. It's probably why he wanted to handle this on his own. He's done a lot of awful things, but we both know that he's still a good person at heart.

[brokeassgoing]

[he settles into the car with a huff....all this stress is not all that great for his already weary and injured body. he feels the tension remain in his body, make his knees turn to jelly. thankfully he's sitting down, huh.

he doesn't bother to give Luther a look, but maybe looks at him out of the corner of his eye just slightly]

They train you on pep talks too or something? [of course he has to have a smart-alec answer]

I know all that. [said softly]

[private_npcs]

[ Luther just shakes his head as he gets into the car and starts it. ]

No, I'm the one who fucks up the speeches. I've been in your shoes when it comes to playing the blame game. It doesn't help anything.

[ He admits candidly as he pulls away from the curb and starts driving them back to the academy. ]

Then you also know that Five's not going to blame you for this. We're going to get him back, you'll see.

[brokeassgoing]

[he knows he's right, Badou knows. he does.

and Five should blame him. he's got in something weird because he helped out. sure, he'd get himself into things like that all on his own, but Badou sure was helpful.]

We've got to get him back. Or else.

[private_npcs]

Or else what?

[ Of course, Luther is also worried for his brother. Whoever got to him had to have known who they were dealing with to get the drop on Five. So he can't see it being Badou's fault really if they knew about Five already. Badou was probably just the bait. ]

Five survived the end of the world all on his own. He's too stubborn to give up without a fight.

[brokeassgoing]

Or else we don't wanna find out what I'll end up doing.

[he's not sure yet but you know. big words.]

He sure is a stubborn old goat, true. Still. He's....really small.

[private_npcs]

Ah, another hot head, like Diego.

[ Luther manages to joke a little. Things are bad, but he's not giving up on Five this time. ]

He was still pretty small as an old man, but he still packs a punch.

[brokeassgoing]

C'mon, I'm way more hard boiled than him!

[seriously, give him some credit.]

I know...still...he's sturdy but...

[private_npcs]

Yeah sorry, I don't know what that is suppose to mean.

[ Luther just shrugs, he's never really been hip on the lingo that the street kids be speaking. ]

I know, it doesn't stop you from worrying. I haven't always done right by Five, but I'm not going to give up on him. We are going to find him and then we are going to have a serious discussion about this need of his to do everything alone.

[ Five's got to know that putting himself in danger like this isn't okay with the rest of them. They already mourned him once, they aren't ready to do so again.]

[brokeassgoing]

You'll learn.

[oh that's ominous...]

Good luck with the intervention talk...but yeah. We're going to find him.

[private_npcs]

Whatever you say, man.

[ He doesn't care. He just cares about finding his brother. ]

Like you aren't planning on lecturing him yourself. You are the snitch here.

[ Not that he minds, he is glad Badou told them what was going on considering how quickly things have turned south. If he had waited, the trail would be even colder then it already is. ]

[brokeassgoing]

[his mouth twitches at the label of snitch...even if he had to tell, snitches wind up in ditches. it's a rule that's been enforced where he's from, from the beginning.]

Maybe I will, maybe I won't. I could just burn all his stupid little hot pants as revenge.

[private_npcs]

[ Luther smirks at that. ]

We've been trying to get him out of the uniforms, but we haven't wanted to push him. Vanya thinks he does it out of nostalgia now.

[ The Academy comes into view and he pulls in behind the building in the back alley as they normally do and parks. He takes note that Diego's car is back, so he probably led foot his way back.]

Come on, looks like Diego and Klaus are back already.

[brokeassgoing]

I guess he's more comfortable with that...

[he can understand it, somewhat. he may not have lived for 45 years in a dead wasteland but he's living in a stagnant past as well. he can't move on.

his stomach tightens again at the sight of the car. As helpful as the peptalk had been, he knows Diego is a little more....more.

he pops his seatbelt off and slides out of his seat and fully into the alley]

Here we go.