darkSpyro

As Araya watched Ray walk out the door, she thought for a moment. It's obvious he wants her, why not use that to her advantage. But there were more pressing matters to attend to, it was the night of the Gala, and she needed a new dress, especially if all went according to plan.

Araya grabbed her keys and purse, walked down the hall, and took the elevator down to the bottom floor, and walked to the parking lot. Since this was Uptown Rowland, not a lot of people were brave enough to break into an apartment complex's parking lot, especially with all these superheroes running around. She clicked the button on her keys. Across the lot, a car let out a beep and flashed it's lights, signaling it was unlocked. It was a 1979 Chevrolet Impala, with a pearlescent white paint job. Inheritance was awesome. Araya opened the door and put the keys in the ignition, and the car roared to life.

---
Once Araya got to the store, she knew it was high end. Everything about the place screamed sleek and stylish, and even with her massive amounts of money she probably couldn't afford anything if it were'nt for her connections. The owner was an old friend of Dr. Andrews, and was the one who tailored her Cell costume. He was a nice old man by the name of Thaddeus Leroy, and he was always willing to sew up her costume, even after hours.

"Araya, my gal! What can I do you for today?" His voice boomed across the room.

"I need something to wear to a Gala tonight, Mr. Leroy."

"Ah, I see. Something low profile again?"

"This time, make it flashy. I have some grand plans tonight."

"I'll go with a nice, flashy crimson, then! Is it for a boy?"

"Well, I do have a date tonight, but not one I'd get a dress tailored for."

"Then I wish you luck! I'll whip something up for you by close, discounted too, of course!"

"Thank you, Mr. Leroy. I'll be back by then!" Araya said, walking out the door.

//Wow. Rood. 'Not one I'd get something tailored for' K I'm not even mad.//

Ray had laid out multiple suits, blazers, tuxes, all things he'd gotten from his father. After Ray's father...Disappeared, Ray was allowed to go back to his home and get some things he'd need, most of the things he decided to pack were of his father's possession. Ray smiled as he look through the clothes.

Ray closed his eyes and thought back to when his father was still with him. The setting was at a park, and Ray was only six. His father was sitting next to him on a bench and in front of them children were playing on a playground, one in particular, a girl in a pretty pink dress.

"Dad." Ray said, his voice high in pitch. "Why does that girl wear such a funny looking thing?"

His father laughed and then folded his arms. "Well RayRay, that's because she's a girl. And when you grow up you'll learn why they wear those 'funny looking things.', And one day, you'll have a girl who wants to dress up for you."

"Why for me?"

"Because....Because you're a special little guy, and you're going to make a girl very happy, and she's going to want to make you happy. But remember, it isn't just about you, you need to treat her with respect. And then you'll fall in love and you'll give me grandkids that you'll explain this to one day."

"Okay....But girls are icky, Dad."

His father laughed and placed an arm around him. "Sure Son, of course they are!"

-----

Ray opened his eyes and wiped away a tear. He finally made his decision, it was a white tuxedo, with a black bowtie. And a white dress shirt. He had picked out black pants and shoes too. "Perfect." Ray said to himself with a smile. "Yea....Maybe this is the girl who I dress up for." Ray stripped down and then started to get dressed, he put on the pants and pulled the belt tight. He then buttoned up the Dress shirt and slung and Tux around, putting his arms through the holes. Finally he tied the bow tie as best as he could.

Ray stood in front of a mirror and grinned. He turned to go for the door but paused. "Hmm...."

Ray jumped out the window, and a few minutes later, he returned to his apartment through the window, with a large bouquet of flowers. He straightened himself and then headed out the door to Araya's apartment where he took a deep breath and then knocked.

Araya started up her car with a mighty roar of the engine and turned on the police scanner built into her radio. She probably had time to help with any threats that might be nearby. Plus she had that spare Cell costume in her trunk. There were only two factors that hindered her. She had no staff, and no where to change. Changing wouldn't be much of a problem if she could duck into a place nearby, but not having a staff was a minor dilemma. She supposed she could take them with her fists, like she did in her awkward first year of heroing.

She turned the dial until she heard something about a gang fight, and sped in its direction.

Ray waited for a few seconds before knocking again. Still no answer. Once more he knocked, smiling widely in preparation for the door being opened, and yet it didn't. "Oh great...This is the first time someone stood me up." He sulked back to his apartment and threw the flowers in the air which he then caught with his tail. He procured a jug of water for the flowers and plopped them in.

Ray looked out to his balcony and sighed. "I could go out and fight crime but....But this is such a nice suit! And something tells me blood is harder to get out than buttered spaghetti." He shrugged and turned on the radio, he had changed it to a station which predominantly featured Classic Rock. "At least you understand me, Radio. We'll be friends forever." That's when irony, being at its finest, occurred, and the Radio short circuited. "My love! Eh, I'm over it." He then ran to his closet and grabbed one of his many hoodies and zipped it up. He grabbed a bunch of wrapping paper and wrapped up the flowers. Ray walked out of his apartment and left the flowers just outside Araya's door, and then he began to make his journey down the flights of stairs.

Araya was probably driving a bit too fast, but what happened next had nothing to do with that. She didn't see the black van coming, and it slammed into her drivers side door, knocking her back in her seat. As she sat there, reeling in pain, she could barely see him. The blood dripping into her eye from her brow, she could barely make out a man in nearly all black and dark navy blue. It was him. The last member of the SWAT team she could never fully kill off.

It was SWAT Captain Nicholas Strong.

Ray had left the building and walked across the street, he thought about taking his car but decided against it as whenever he'd drive in it people would point at laugh. He instead walked through the streets, his ears listening for any calls of distress or ice cream trucks.

Ray was incredibly impatient, he wanted to go to the Gala and have Araya like him again and then have her 'dress up' for him like his dad said to him when he was young. It seemed like forever until the Gala and Ray had nothing to do, the police scanner he had attached to the inside of his hoodie wasn't giving him anything exciting, just a bunch of graffiti cases and littering.

Ray huffed and kicked a can that he saw on the side of the road, it went quite a distance and ricocheted off a garbage bin and back into the streets. He shrugged and continued walking, hoping to find something exciting to occupy him.

****...Araya thought, desperately trying to escape the car. This can't be it. I'm not going out like this...
She had no gear, no weapons, nothing but her powers and her fists. She tried to crawl her way out, tried to crawl through the broken glass and twisted metal, but she was picked up by a strong fist.

"I've looked long and hard for you." He said, lifting Araya up by her shirt. As she struggled, she was raised up to his face, and met with cold, angry eyes.

Ray yawned, it seemed as if the streets were empty, all he wanted was someone or something to punch, he needed to kill some time, and if possible give some hard time to a killer. Finally something came up, he could hear screams for help. "That's my cue!" Ray rushed towards the screams, he wasn't exactly in full costumed considering the pants and dress shoes he was wearing, but he couldn't be bothered to do anything about it.

Ray got to the alley where the screaming came from but there was no one there. "That's...That's not right, I swore I heard someone"

"You did." A slam across the head with a metal bat and then he was out cold.

Araya struggled, but even with her slightly enhanced strength, the man wouldn't budge. She tried a move that, if she succeeded, would break his harm and let her out of his grasp, but he didn't budge at all.

Captain Strong let out a loud chuckle.
"You think I don't know about your abilities? You slaughter my entire force, and you expect no follow up?" He said, tossing Araya back against her car. "The police force has a hell of a lot bigger budget than your little doctor did, did you really think we wouldn't come up with a serum similar to what you had!?"

Captain Strong walked up to Araya and let loose a few split kicks to her gut, making her cough up a little blood.

'Out Cold' was bit of an understatement, the hitting with the bat merely caused Ray's brain to make him fall asleep. He laid on the pavement, snoring as a woman dragged him somewhere. Gently he began to open his eyes. "Mmm....You taste nice..." He mumbled as he was dragged into a corner of a separate alleyway and tied up.

Ray opened his eyes fully and awoke. "Hey whats going o-Oh hey, this is kinky, so have I been a bad boy? Alright, let's do it but then I have to take you to the station." He grinned and then reveled in the pain that his head was in.

"Mutant Scum." The girl spit on him.

"That's no way to treat your escort! Or...Are you my escort? Either way that's rude!" Ray revealed his hands were free. "Ta-da!" He waved them about and then untied the rest of his body. He stood up and approached the girl. "You need to be punished." He grabbed her and sprouted wings, tying her with the rope she'd tied him with, ah irony. When he reached the station he threw her on the front step and knocked a few times. He turned to leave but before he did he saw the same tattoo that the man from the other night had. "Hey, where'd you get that?"

"I'll kill you and spit on your grave! He lives! And he has wonderful plans for this city, you will turn eventually!"

"I'm sure." And then Ray started his flight home, or at least to find something else to deal with.

No way Araya was going down like this. As the captain unfurled another mighty kick, this time she grabbed it and twisted. He turned around to evade the twist, but only to see Araya's small frame vault over his shoulders and into a dark alleyway.

He gave chase, but found himself alone and lost.

"Did you really think you'd beat me THAT easily?" Araya's voice said, echoing off the walls. Strong raised a fist and whirled around, only to find nothingness.

"Even your wimpy-ass sniper was harder to trick than you, GI Joe." She said. Intimidation sure was fun! "I have a big date tonight, and there's no way in hell that you're going to ruin it for me."

She silently hopped down behind him, and clocked him in the jaw with a metal pipe. Araya threw the pipe down, brushed off her hands, and admired her handiwork.

//I wanna be as good at SS at rping one day but it'll never happen ;~;//

Ray flew through the city, the breeze felt nice against his face and his wings. Feathers would sometimes molt and softly flutter down to the city streets. Lights filled the city and made it seem like it was alive, and it was. There were hundreds of thousands of people living in that city, and it made Ray's thoughts of the night turn to that of evil and Emorlus and his 'plan'.

Araya should be home by now....Unless she got herself kidnapped! Haha, nah.

Ray had activated his heat vision, it would help him detect if anyone in the city had firearms and if any of those with firearms had any malicious intent as he could as use his bat ears to hear for heartbeats.

After taking out a few small time thugs and tying them to streetlamps and leaving notes behind to explain their crimes, Ray headed home for good this time. He was starting to feel better, less lazy, more wanting to do good. He wasn't sure why, but it was a good feeling.

Finally Ray reached home, he flew in through his opened window, albeit clumsily due to the tight fit. He tumbled a bit but then got his composure, retracting his wings and then realizing how much of an idiot he was in that his tux wasn't made of the same material his hoodie was and therefore it had two rips in the back. "**** me....Really?"

He sighed and removed his tux and shirt and got to sewing, he grabbed a kit from under his recliner and began to sew the clothing back together.

OOC: Shhhhh you're fine!

Araya stuck to the shadows until she got to a street where nobody had heard the earlier commotion. And dammit, she'd have to fix up her car once she got it back from the government. She placed her hands in her pockets and blended into the crowd, hopefully no one would get too close and figure out who she really was.

Once she got to the tailor's, she exchanged a few bad jokes with Mr. Leroy, paid him for his fine handiwork, and exited the building with the dress over her shoulder. Something like this wasn't very uncommon in Uptown Rowland, seeing as this part of the city was the pinnacle of trends and capitalism.

Araya thought as she walked back to her apartment. She's need to get dressed and do her hair and makeup pretty soon. Galas require a lot of work, and this particular one lasted from midday, to around ten, enough time for people to get drunk enough to blindly hand their money over to Crane and his city-sanctioned hit squad.

//Ummm, I think you meant 'Jackson is the best, im a butt. lmao lmao lmao.//

Ray had turned on the television as he was sewing his clothes, he loved to watch obscure shows such as Bar Rescue and yell at the TV as he did other tasks such as the one he was doing then.

Finally Ray finished sewing. He put all his clothes back on, dusted off his pants and the bottoms of his shoes, straightened his bow tie, and took a look at his watch. "Maybe she's home by now." He said to himself aloud. Ray made his way to her doorstep and noticed the flowers were still thankfully there. He bent over and picked them up and decided to knock once more on the door to see if she'd answer.

As Araya approached the apartment complex door, she heard a ringing from her cell phone in her pocket. She unlocked it and answered.

"Hey, Araya! I got some sweet new tech at the lab to make stuff out of! You want anything?" Connors said. This must be some high end and cool stuff for Connors to VOLUNTARILY make something for her.

"What kind of stuff?" She asked.

"Miniature electromagnets that attract a certain kind of lightweight metal, and a ****ton of that metal!"

"Could you make some baton type things with taser bits? Skip the staff, just the sticks."

"I'm on it! Bye!" Connors said excitedly, hanging up. This new gear would sure come in handy tonight, but Araya already had a special gift planned for Crane. As she approached the stairs to start ascending to the top floor, she wondered if Ray would be ready. Probably not, he's kind of lazy. He probably hadn't even woken up from one of his many naps yet.

//Uhhh, time to make a filler post. Oh boy.//

Ray waited a bit for Araya but she didn't come to the door. Maybe she's blow drying her hair....I bet it smells nice. Ray lifted his arm and took a sniff. Ooh~ I still smell like berries. He grinned stupidly and nodded. Why is it called a Salad? Saaall Odd, Slad, Sal..Sa-Sal...Salad Sal lad...Salad...Caaaeesssaarr MmmmmmSallllaaaddd He started clicking his tongue and making clock noises. Turkeys fighting...WeeooWeeoo His mind was a complex place. If I bit dust whilst alive does that mean I defy death? Huh... He rang the doorbell this time, flowers still in hand.

Ray had styled his hair, it kind of had a Wolverine vibe to it, but he was able to pull it off. He was fairly clean shaven but had a shadow, which added to the sexiness so he thought.

"You're not taking me out looking like that, right Logan?" Araya jokingly said, walking up the stairs. Maybe Ray wasn't as lazy as she thought. He actually looked okay, save for the weird hair.

"I have to get ready still, it's probably gonna be a while. You can come on in if you want to." She said as she unlocked the door. "Just don't break anything or try to choke me out."

"Maybe I shouldn't take you out at all..." He mumbled and then dropped the flowers on her doorstep before walking away. Not like I expected something NICE out of her. He snarled, his teeth sharp and grinding against eachother as he turned away and sat on the steps just a little ways from her apartment door.

He sot on the steps and folded his arms together. "I can wait, your highness..." He said softly, annoyed. He huffed and then tussled up his hair. "Logan....HMPH!"

OOC: It has come to my attention that many of you are beginning to post more actively in other roleplays. Normally I would not find this a problem, however you’re lacking to post in this one. I hope you all realize that this RP is practically dead. Why? Because of your inactivity. I understand that many of you have problems in real life such as exams, family, and even mental issues, but please understand that when you join an RP, it’s your responsibility to post in it. I’m not asking you much, until things die down a little bit, post at least once a day. This way it can keep our agreement on slowing down while keeping the RP fairly active and alive.

tl;dr: Post at least once a day, happy RPing! ;3

OOC: I understand, I'll definitely do that! I've just been busy with graduation and such, but I definitely think there should be more posting. Without the others, it's really starting to suffer because of it.

(Yeah, super sorry about that, I'm just waiting on the people on my end since I can't continue otherwise ')

ooc: Yea, I am waiting for people on my end as well.

//Are we just waiting on MugoUrth to further things? Cuz he's always in the Video Games Thread. Maybe someone should message him.//

OOC: I was kind of waiting for other people to post. I was the last to post on my end, I think.

What's that all about? Araya thought, stepping into her apartment. Why was Ray acting so weird? She didn't THINK she insulted him, right?
Whatever. He'll get over it eventually... Araya left the door open in case Ray still wanted to come in. She walked into the bathroom with her dress and locked the door so she could get ready.

//Bump. will post later//