“Recent activities?” Chirp knows exactly what she’s talking about. Considering he was charged with vigilantism and then escaped, she likely didn’t see him as a real criminal. They were in the same boat, anyway. People think they’re so safe inside that little head of theirs. But one peek and Gabe came out with a goddamn essay’s worth of information.

“You were there. You know you did all the hard work!” That’s not entirely true. There was the other encounter, too, with the bomb. But he didn’t want to talk about that one. It still stung. It was the reason he quit that line of work. “But how about a deal, you keep my secret and I’ll keep yours, JoJo.”

He smiles. She can’t see it but he can’t help himself. Uh-oh, maybe being a real criminal is getting to him.

“I’m gonna need a bunch of hair by the way. If you could just…” Chirp points next to the wheel and expects her to grow it and dump it out. The armor was useless. He carried the appropriate materials to turn her hair into a proper suit with him… but it could be useful as, like, scrap metal or something. It could be the payment… hm.

“Plop it.”

---

So, the criminal life wasn’t all that spectacular. Between random encounters with other criminals, vigilantes trying to justify their personal brand of justice, and heroes — the people you’re literally working for — trying to arrest you… it’s a whole lot of stress. Gabriel hadn’t had the luxury of visiting his friends either. It wasn’t yet time for his report so his peers in the hero association were out of touch. And with his newfound reputation, do you think they’d let him anywhere near UAU? Not a chance. Alumni be damned.

Nightfall took hold of Tokyo. He stumbled across a familiar face as he wandered, avoiding the hostile areas, territories he knew better than to cross (they belonged to Retsu).

“Peacekeeper!” Chirp waved. Hopefully, she hadn’t heard the news about him. And had an explanation for all the… stuff… she was lugging around. “Need… uh, help?”

---

[attr="class","likedo"]

“Look at you,” As if he’d be deterred by an amorphous, mercurial snake. Shooting finger guns her way — sparkless, mind you — He finishes. “Brought your own protection.”

As he spun himself around, taking in the mess he made, he knew his calculations were off. Not with his newfound sleeve, but with the hosts’ projected arrival. An alarm like this likely triggered some kind of sensor on their behalf, putting both of the parties at risk. With that snake of hers, and the reputation to boot, Meloria shouldn’t have much to worry about. But Chirp did.

“Shame,” He shrugged. “I wanted a sneak peek of what you were working on, but time’s up.” Not quite. He still had some time once he looked at the photograph later, but he needed to leave immediately. She would not show her hand with him here.

“They’re gonna be back any minute now. Sorry,” He winks. “But it was great meeting you. Here’s to never seeing each other again, right?” Gabriel steps halfway through the door, hanging his head back to give his final adieu. “If we do, hope we can parallel play again. Don’t get much of that anymore!”

---

“Oh my god, Meliora’s hot?” It may have looked like flirting. It may have sounded like flirting, but someone as experienced as Kioko would be able to tell when someone was interested versus filling the air. Gabriel spoke for its own sake, to keep himself entertained, but whatever interest he may have had originally had waned — yes, Meliora was hot but too guarded for him. With her resume, he was sure anything he’d uncover would put him off. Such was the way with criminals. Still, he was undercover… so if he had to cross a few lines to keep his identity a secret… it’s not like he was looking for love.

The snake returned the box and Gabriel fought back the instinct to pet it — by literally using his other hand to restrain the more curious of the two. Instead, he redirected himself to the box. He grabbed some of the supplies in there in one hand and did a series of intricate movements — three shapes — with his hands to activate the first, nonlethal setting.

He tossed a small device in the air. It had a simple design, akin to a calculator, but provided the perfect example of how destructive this arm could be. Until it landed, the gauntlet seemed unchanged. The hand motions hadn’t done anything physically. Not to the naked eye, at least. Then, when the little device landed, sparks flew launching up into the air.

Now, a test of dexterity. Aiming to catch it, he did another series of motions to activate the most lethal setting. While the device had shorted, it was still in one piece. But upon landing for the second time it flew into the ceiling as a charred, black piece of machinery, lodged itself, and caused the sensors to go haywire.

Sprinklers…

“To think,” His mask winks. “I didn’t even touch you yet.”

The implications.

---

Turns out heroes and criminals have a lot in common. They’re both rude, uptight, and don’t know how to have a good time. After all… have you seen this thing? Look at it. It’s sticky. It’s a hand. It’s a sticky hand. Why not live a little and high-five it? Countless ‘no’s’ berated his ears, people even threatening to kill him before the round started.

There was a wave from a mutant and while that was something, he couldn’t believe no one wanted to touch his totally funny prop!

Shplick~

Finally, someone who knew how to have fun. Unfortunately, they were having too much fun. When the bullets started firing, he grabbed onto the sticky hand and pulled them away. Good intentions, sure, but at least take out to dinner first, right?

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” Gabe said, trying to pry himself free. Uh-oh. “Hey, buddy. Let go! You’re gonna get us killed.”

It wasn’t his fault.

The hand was too sticky. It brought him back to his years as an adolescent where he discovered his body and…

An objective.

“Look, I’m not trying to win. I’m trying to survive. Kinda put here against my will.” He lied. “I’ll help you win as long as you help me live. Deal?”

Gabe hadn’t decided whether or not he’d betray him yet. It’s all a matter of ‘Are you gonna be, like, annoying about this, or what?’

In the meanwhile, he surveyed the area. The cat was making a play and if they found an opening for themselves, then he’d press on it to catch up. Now, how that interacts with his potential partner? Who the hell knows?!

---

Tl;dr
Dude wtf we’re stuck
Um team up, taro? (maybe betrayal idk hehe)
Pulls out teleportation hat and clicks ONLY IF Kephri gets through the door

---

“How are you mad that I’m not trying to steal from you?” Chirp was exasperated. Somehow, she was more rage-inducing than the other two who were wholly incompetent. They began to back down from her challenge without a swing. Worse, actually. They started bowing.

“That’s just pathetic,” Gabe said. “Not even a little backbone?”

“Don’t need a backbone. We realized who she was. We’re not lookin’ to die.” The first said, bringing his partner’s head down with his left hand.

“If you know what’s best, you’ll bow, too.” The other said.

“Anyway,” Back to the first. “Ignore that guy. We have a change of heart. We want to work for you. Free of charge.”

They were lying. They had no intentions of sticking around, they wanted to get out of here alive and then make their escape once they were free. Planned to leave Japan wholesale. It was not worth it if they were beefing with this lunatic.

“Okay, so…” Chirp sighed. “You’re prolly gonna mad at this, too, but… uh, why are they bowing? Who are you?”

This might have been the worst vibes he’s ever felt.

---