4266/One Man's Trash Is Another Mutant's Toolcrib

One Man's Trash Is Another Mutant's Toolcrib
Date of Scene:	01 December 2020
Location:	Sally's Automotive Shop
Synopsis:	A bit of friend bonding between Raphael and Sally while she's cleaning up her area of the mall lair.
Cast of Characters:	Sally Pride, Raphael

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Sally Pride has posed:
"Cripes," Sally muttered as she dropped a box down on what had once been the auto shop's checkout counter. "It's like they locked this place up without actually clearing anything out." She flipped open the top flaps, and pulled out some old crumbly sports car magazines. "Alas. Might of had some nice pics at one point." Tosses them over her shoulder into a large bin that's had a paper with 'Garbage' scrawled on it taped to the front. After a bit more rummaging around in the box she finds an old car stereo. "Huh. Just random things in a box." Pinches one of the wires between her claws. "These are probably shot, but the interal electronics might be salvagable." That goes back on a shelf so she can pull it apart and fiddle later. If nothing else is technical bits she can give Donatello to find something to do with.

Raphael has posed:
The sporting goods store slash gym Raphael took for his own was coming around into something he was pretty satisfied with. Much of the main floor had been cleared out so he could actually put a small boxing ring together, something that never seemed feasible in the Lair. There was also an area with a speed bag, a heavy bag, and more training gear. Beyond that, other bits and pieces he found and set up to make it more his, including an area sectioned off in a back corner that served as a private space with a bed and other stuff.

But, enough about the part of the mall he's not even in right now. He was on his way past a few of the shops that remained closed up, though they'd been checked for anything useful already, the stuff nobody wanted yet left behind for the time being. In passing, he heard a sound from within the auto store. Oh, right. Sally had made it hers. Something about that didn't surprise him, based on what he'd learned of her so far. Seeing the gate isn't down or otherwise closed, he steps inside. No pockets to stuff his hands into, so they rest at his sides. "Hey."

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride looks up from having her arm halfway in the box again when the Red One wanders in. "Hiya Raphael. Looking over some other parts of the mall?" She pulls out a little square doodad, which she snorts at. "These things are such a ripoff." She shakes it vagely in the turtle's direction. "You're suppose to plug it into the diagnostic port to troubleshoot without paying a shop to use their -professional equipment-, but the readouts are usually misleadingly simple and vague to make you feel better about wasting money on something that's probably going to make you waste more money to fix the bigger problem you make listening to it."

It goes over her shoulder and into the garbage bin.

Raphael has posed:
Raphael is kitted up, in the form of his belt and sai tucked in place, but his mask is left down around his neck, loose. "Just checking some stuff out. I still don't like not being home, but until we find the Rat King and kick his ass for good, it just ain't safe." His expression gives away the fact this has been on his mind, probably ever since they got to the mall. "I ain't sayin' living in a mall sucks. There's some cool stuff around, even if a lot of it is old and there's a bunch of junk. We're kinda lucky some of this stuff didn't get completely wiped out by looters."

Or simply removed by the businesses that closed up, but who can say what led to things going the way they did before the turtles and crew wound up here?

"Heh, yeah. There's always a sucker, right?" He looks around at what /is/ here, crossing his arms as he rests part of his shell against a support column. "So..does this mean you're sort of staying around here now, or what?"

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride picks up the box and flips it over, dumping the rest of the assortment of tools, magazines and some novelty decor items out on the countertop. "Aha!" Her mood brightens as she snags a pair of fuzzy dice out of the pile. "Figured there would be some of these in here somewhere!" Then holds it out at half-arm's length. "Need a wash first. Look intact otherwise though."

The fuzzy dice are set aside with the stereo. "Hey after what this group has gone through together later why wouldn't I? Besides," she chuckles a bit as she leans on the countertop on her elbows. "Finding that rat weirdo means going to Gotham, and I'm one of the few people with an actual vehicle." She pauses. ".. Not that it seemed to be a problem for your little foray previously."

Raphael has posed:
Raphael steps aside to root through a few things as well. "I don't see much that'd go with a motorcycle," he says off-handedly, shaking his head before she comes up with the dice. "Yeah? You got a muscle car for those?" A hand is held up to signify he's quite all right with them just being shown to him, then he frowns.

"It ain't been easy," he admits, something he doesn't usually do around a larger group made up of the turtles and other mutants. "And I dunno what he's doing out there, but we're gonna give him some payback." Without missing a beat, he adds, "I got my own ways of getting around if I need to."

Sally Pride has posed:
"What else would I have? I can't drive a military class vehicle casually around the city." Sally smirks a little. "Well, that is the second time I've heard you mention motorcycles." If there was a doubt she pays attention to what others say around here, that would probably dismiss them. She does nod a bit though. "Seems like your style, though. Tough, loud, but still exceptionally agile with the right skills."

Raphael has posed:
"I dunno. Some people still drive Hummers. I see them once in a while," Raphael answers, moving behind the counter for a better look at some of what's been left behind, only the top of his head poking up above it, along with his eyes when she remarks that he's brought bikes up before. It leads to a short grunt as he turns his attention back to what's closer to the floor, then at the end of what Sally mentions, he says a little suggestively, "Wait. We still talkin' about motorcycles?"

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride leans against the end of the counter as she laughs. "Yes we are. But I appreciate someone not having accidental funny alternate context go over their head!" She gives her head a light shake to get hair out of her face, the mohawk she'd originally had has been left to slowly grow back out, and now draped a bit lopsided as it was too heavy to stand up straight. "Well cars are just my personal passion. I was trained to drive and maintain all manner of motor vehicles, cycles included."

Raphael has posed:
Raphael doesn't reach the point of laughing yet, himself, but he stands back up to his full height, which still leaves him shorter than the lioness. He might not be the smartest one around, but he's no idiot.

"Anyway, yeah. I got a chance to ride one last year and that was all I needed." He /seems/ to clam up a bit when it comes to details, perhaps realizing he may have slipped with something he ought to have kept to himself.

Resting his hands against the counter, he has the image of a very green cashier right now. "So that's what they had you guys doing? Working you to be soldiers? I guess it ain't that different from what Splinter was teaching us, but I don't think he was doing it for..well, whatever they had you learning it for. I don't really know a whole lot about your place."

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride starts shuffling through the other stuff that was dumped on the countertop. "Yeah." Most of the old paper and manuals and jump are tossed in the trash bin, but there's some tools and smaller gadget she sets aside. Can never have too many USB charge plugs for the lighter socket in this day and technically advanced age. "I'm pretty sure Splinter just wanted you boys to be able to take care of yourselves. Null Group was trying to turn the process into producing genetic super soldiers and selling them like weapons." She snorts softly as she twirls a wrench by the socket end around her finger. "Probably still are, if Ballista is any indication." She turns to lean back against the counter. "With all the -other- crazy shit and super beings running around the world these days? Probably a black market just teeming for that sort of thing too."

Raphael has posed:
Raphael pushes away from the counter and turns around so Sally has a view of his shell, complete with all its little nicks and cuts from one thing or another. It squarely shows he's not one to shy away from danger, least of all a fight.

"He was training us to kill the Shredder and take out the Foot Clan. I get that, but..yeah. He wanted us to be able to look out for each other. I know he didn't think we'd be having to leave our home like this so soon, though." Or maybe it's something the old rat always had in the back of his head? How much does Raphael truly know, compared to what he thinks he knows?

Shaking his head, he admits, "The first time I saw you guys, I wasn't sure what I was seein'. I never thought there was anyone else out there like us, not to mention being made for all that shit. They don't care what happens to you, do they? You're just a thing to them, something to make money off of and fuck whatever else happens? And I really don't get how someone would actually volunteer to get turned into that just to come after you."

Some of the things Null does, it's a struggle for him to grasp. Maybe more than just some of it, and what Sally can see of his expression from a side profile as he looks back over a shoulder toward her? It's troubled. Bothered.

Sally Pride has posed:
"Miss Collateral Damage was never the sharpest knife in the drawer. I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't realize just how deep a pile she's gotten herself in."

Sally stops spinning the wrench, flicking it off her finger and then catching it in her hand. She's no ninja but she's got some pretty precise dexterity there. "To be fair, the project that created me, Ray and her is just a small piece of Null's corrupt operation. But they hide it behind that fascade of being an upstanding industrial corporation and find the right back pockets to pad with some extra cash to keep the tarnish hidden."

Sally really only understands it because of first hand experience. But you don't have to understand it to be bothered by the implications, which even the tough boy of the quartet shows if you know how to look.

Sally reachs over to pat a shelled shoulder. "Someday they'll all get their comuppance. Null, whatever is left of the Foot, and that freaky ratmancer." She makes up a nickname on the spot just to make more distinction fron Spliter. Not that anyone would call the old wise one freaky in that regard.

Raphael has posed:
"She's an idiot, and I'd love to knock some sense into that stupid dino brain of hers," Raphael says in that way he's got, full of bravado but also pride and a little..protectionism?

He goes on, "And it sounds like the whole place needs to get shut down one of these days. We could run into another one of their toy soldiers any time." That alone is enough cause for concern. It's not like Ballista is a pushover, either. Raptors are dangerous. "I hate places that do that kinda shit, fucked up experiments and this and that, but they pretend to be all nice an' shit an' probably even give a few bucks to others like they're so generous." He isn't buying it.

Initially, he reacts to the contact by tensing up. Might be opening himself up to others isn't exactly something he's used to, given the gruff exterior. But, it's a temporary response that follows with him letting out a slow breath, his mouth shaped into a thin line. "Yeah, all of them. Especially that dick that made Splinter attack us. I got a little somethin' for him. He's why Donnie got hurt, too."

As sort of an afterthought, he adds, "You ain't so bad, by the way. For a big cat."

Sally Pride has posed:
"He hurt -all- of you." Not just physically. Forcing father to fight sons, forced them to abandon what had been the only home they'd known until then. But Sally politely doesn't elaborate. "When we do finally track him down, you boys can line up and take turns at him like a pinata." She tries to put a bit of humor back into the matter as she withdraws her hand again. "Not that I'd want to eat what comes out of that rat! Even if I am feline."

Raphael has posed:
Raphael nods, just one time. "Yeah." There's a moment or two where he seems about to say something else, but the body language again gives away just enough of what she's thinking about that she could probably tell this has been weighing on him quite a bit. "Believe me, we're gonna make sure he doesn't do anything like that again. You can count on that."

After the hand of the lioness has shifted back to her own space and away from his, he faces her again. "I don't think anybody'd mind if you had a bite or two." But the Rat King became what he did through the same ooze, presumably, that made Splinter and the turtles. What of that, then?

"Anyway, I better get moving. I got more spots to look in on and Mikey's busy playing King of the Food Court again. I dunno what the others are up to." Probably what one would expect. "Maybe when we've got some more of this stuff worked out, we could go for a ride somewhere. And if you ever wanna use the gym or spar and shit, just come by."

Finally, by the end, he offers her a grimace of a smile. At least it looks genuine.

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride doesn't need to say 'again' because the way she rolls her eyes says it all. "If this keeps up we're going to have to go remind him that kings tend to get overthrown." She chuckles a bit, giving some of the longer strands of hair a flick out of her eyes again. "That does sound like a good time though. I promise I'll only throw elbows and punches, no wrenches. One way or another, I'll catch ya later."

Raphael has posed:
"Or it leads to food fights," Raph remarks, giving her a wave on the way out of the shop that's still in need of some tidying up. "And I heard if you can catch a wrench, you can catch a dodgeball." With that, he's out and heading to the left of the exit. Not so much as a 'goodbye,' but he expects they'll be chatting again before long.