| Space Cowboys | ||
|---|---|---|
| Summary: Once again we rejoin Coop as he waits for his giant robot to return to him. Instead we get to meet a new character and a return of some old annoyances.    |
You find yourself standing around a small fountain, surrounded by a small concrete courtyard with paths leading off in each of the compass directions. Spaced around the fountain evenly are benches and lamps; nothing really too elaborate. To the north, kids can be heard playing on the playground equipment. A cool breeze flows in from the east, and the trees to the west provide plenty of shade. Not a bad place to visit, really. Anyone who has passed through the park in recent months has seen it. Like a picture left on a monitor too long, the image has burned itself into the landscape in a way that cannot be unseen. A large fat man in a red flannel vest lounging on a bench beside the fountain with an umbrella setup to offer shade and a mountain of trash stacked up beside him. He's not homeless, he's just refusing to leave. To this end he's even gone so far as to hook up an impressive entertainment center with a maze of extension cords snaking off into the Waiting Room nearby. While the man with the blonde mullet mashes buttons on a controller, he glances over at what looks like a classic television antennae that is rotating atop an oscillating fan. Briefly the man reaches for a massive styrofoam cup with 24*7 printed on it and starts to take a drink. Although he spits most of it out while coughing the second that antennae lights up and starts beeping. "ALLLLLRIIIIIIGHT!!! THIS IS IT!!! THIS IS THE DAY!!" He throws down the controller and leaps atop the bench, fists raised, as he announces to the sky, "COME ON, BABY!! COOP NEEDS HIS WHEELS!!" The sky above the park suddenly seems to rip open reavealing a giant hole in a star filled sky. The stars through the portal are replaced by a blinding light and a large humanoid figure begins to plummet from the hole in the sky. The portal snaps closed as quickly as it opened, the flames from what could only be a cataclysmic explosion contained. The large green man falls like a rock, falling unconscious and landing a short distance away from the man in the trees to the west, sending up a large plume of dirt. The sight of the portal sends the fat man's eyes a sparkling. He reaches out towards the vortex, and sees something green rocket past into the trees. He stands there, frozen, for what feels like an eternity before frowning. "dangit. That's not Megas." He sits down and resumes his game, leaving whatever fell to the elements. He's such a nice, considerate person. A few minutes later he pauses the game to smack his antennae. "Dangit." He resumes his game but pauses again. "dangit." His eyes look to the trees as he considers his options. "Maybe MAYBE it was Jamie and he was piloting a Glorft mech so he can take me to MEGAS! YEAAH!!!" Throwing the controller down once again, the man charges off into the direction the green thing fell. "JAMIE I COULD HUG Y-!" His eyes fall to the small crater that exists where the object fell. "that's not Jamie." Bruce stands awkwardly inside the crater, clutching a pair of shredded slacks about his waist. The man is in his early 40's, dark brown hair beginning to fade to gray. His eyes lock onto Coop as the larger man comes into view. He looks about him for a moment before raising a hand up in an embarrassed greeting, "Hi...uh...I didn't hurt anyone did I?" Coop tilts his head and considers that a moment. The scene replays in his head. The portal. The controller. The game. The controller. His antennae. The controller. "Yeah, you chipped my controller! Now tell me where my friend Jamie is so I can go find Megas and get off this rock!" Sorta one-minded, isn't he? Bruce slowly blinks at Coop before he shakes his head in mild confusion and a touch of sympathy, "I'm sorry, I don't know a Jamie." He looks around himself again, "I don't know where here is either." He looks back at Coop askingly, "I uh....don't suppose there's someplace I can get some clothes?" Coop crosses his arms and sighs. "Probably." Gee that's helpful. At least he offers a hand to help the man out of the crater. "The name's Coop, probably the best damn robot pilot you'll ever meet." He leads Bruce out of the woods and gestures wide at the surrounding park. "And THIS is Nowhereto Park." He stops a moment and considers that with his head cocked to the side. "No where to oh. Oh I get it." He sighs. "Anyways there's some shops and stuff if you head out to the main street. They can probably help you." Bruce follows after the other man quietly, listening to him ramble, though not minding it much. He never quite stops being awkward about holding up his tattered pants though. "I'm sorry, I don't know what city I'm in. This doesn't look like anywhere I've been before." He stops for a moment and turns about, "This is America right, I'm not in Canada am I?" "CANADA!?" Coop stops to ponder that a second. "well, free health care free food in the shops y'know, it MIGHT be Canada. Maybe Toronto?" He strokes his goatee a moment. "I dunno. I'm a Jersey Boy myself. BORN AND RAISED, BABY!" His stomach is given a generous pat for some reason. "All I know is I picked a fight with some crazy red-haired magic guy who didn't talk a lot and ended up here without my ride. I figure the Megas will fall through behind me sooner or later, so I can't take the chance of not being here when it does." He sighs, "It's been a long couple of months." There's a brief silence as Bruce realizes that Coop has no idea where they are either, and he looks around himself a final time as he processes the information available to him, "Uh, Coop was it? I have a hunch this isn't Canada. You said there were shops nearby? Why don't we go and ask someone there?" He mostly does a good job of keeping the sarcastic tone out of his voice. The fat man looks towards his games and back up at the sky several times before coming to a conclusion. "Well I suppose I could use some more snacks." With a lot of force he pats the man on the back. "Why the heck not! All we gotta do is-!" The antennae starts blinking and beeping at exactly that moment of course. "HOLD ON! WE GOT ANOTHER PORTAL COMING IN!" Running at full speed he dashes back to the park bench, resuming his stance from earlier as he looks to the sky, "COME ON, MEGAS! COME OOOOOOOON!!!" Bruce looks at the beeping antenna before turning his gaze back up to the sky, "Does this happen often?" Coop shrugs his shoulders, eyes still sparkling from the rift forming in the sky. "I dunno. About once a week, usually." The heavens scream open with a monstrous roar as electricity crackles across the sky. "ALRIGHT!! THIS IS THE BIG ONE!!!" A portal opens alright, and out pops the heads of a pair of blue and pink unicorns. "WE HAVE RETURNED TO OUR NATIVE HOMELAND!" The other agrees, "YO SOY EL DIABLO, Y ESTOY AQUÍ PARA HACER EL TRABAJO DEL DIABLO!"[1] Coop promptly growls and grabs a rock off the ground to throw into the portal. "QUIT PESTERING ME YOU DAMN, UGLY HORSES!" "El gordo está en nuestro plan, rápido! Para el Batimóvil!"[2] With that cryptic message the unicorns vanish, taking the crazy portal with them. Coop returns to his video game. "Y'know, I think I'll sit the shopping trip out this time, if you don't mind." "Well. I think I've finally gone insane," Bruce clearly doesn't know what to think as he looks back and forth between the game playing Coop and the spot where the Unicorns recently filled, pants held up and barely covering his modesty. He gives a final look at Coop, "No, I can't be insane or dreaming or this would be school." He speaks up so Coop can hear him, "Alright then, uh, Coop. Thanks for the..." He pauses before continuing, his tone shifting to light sarcasm as he decides he doesn't have any other word to use, "help." He finds the direction he thinks is the main street and begins to walk in that direction, pointing as he goes and obviously not really expecting an answer, "This way, to the shops, right?" His voice drops a bit as he walks off, talking to himself, "What's a Batmobile and what would a talking unicorn want with it?" | |
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