milliways_bar | (no subject)

Entry tags:

agent k,
ray stantz

(no subject)

(Continued from here.)

Proton pack on his back, black rubber gloves safely pulled on, Ray pushes the back door of Milliways open and strides out in search of devil bunnies. "I could, of course, test this on one of the rocks for you," he says, "but I don't think that'd have the same sort of effect you're looking for. Unless you routinely use your energy weapons for renovation and urban clearance, that is."

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"Well, not intentionally, but you know how it goes. Half a city block here, small burger stand there."

"Left a kid back there who took out half a semi and jewel store in under fifteen seconds. God only knows what he's done by now."

"Devil bunnies? What are they, good eating?"

"Oh, yeah," says Ray, who knows exactly how it goes. "We blew up the better part of floors twenty-six through twenty-eight of 55 Central Park West at one point. Covered most of the street outside Tavern on the Green with molten marshmallow, too. Wow, what a mess that was."

"Nah, not that I know of- but they're the only thing alive around here that we're really allowed to shoot at, since they're not patrons and I don't think they're particularly sentient or anything."

"Well, have at it, son, let's see what that beauty can do."

Since we're now outside, K, of course, whips out the shades and has them over his eyes in a motion so swift and fluid it's as if they simply materialized there.

He also pulls out a PDA-sized gadget which Ray can see if some kind of monitor, though it doesn't seem nearly as elaborate as the PKE Meter. Still, it's a gadget. He's looking at the little screen.

"Ok, Ray, ready when you are."

K is an eminently sensible man. Ray has to dig his ectoscopes out and pull them on, though he doesn't especially need them. It just seems appropriate, somehow.

Though they do make certain things easier, like finding demon bunnies.

"There's one," he says, flipping a switch on the pack that sets the device's lights to cycling and a whrrrrrm noise to rising. "Aaand... now."

He brings his thumb down on the button, and the proton stream leaps forth in a great blaze of orange-and-white fire. That bunny doesn't stand a chance. Though, being demonic, it does scream most impressively.

There is silence.

And a Man in Black with his mouth hanging agap.

And then...

Wait for it...

It may never happen again...

K roars--he ROARS--with laughter. Ray could almost swear the man is bouncing with delight.

K can't seem to breath for a while. He doubles over and grabs his gut from laughing so hard.

"Doitagain! Ray! Doitagain!"

Easing his thumb off, Ray grins- as who wouldn't? Both pride of workmanship and pride in effect achieved are at work here- and nods. There's another of the demon bunnies, staring in shock-

BZZZZZZZARP!

Another one, yes!!

K doesn't fall down. That would be uncool. But he comes as close as a Man in Black possibly can.

Finally, he wipes the tears from his cheeks, and gasps for breath.

"That was--." Howl. "That was--."

"That was a beautiful thing, Ray. That was a *beautiful* thing."

"Think I could give it a try?"

Ray just smiles.

Ceremoniously, he peels off the gloves one by one and hands them over to K. "These are important," he says. "You saw my hands- the one time the thrower overloaded, it melted through the set I had at the time. I've got better ones now. Put those on, and I'll get this off and you can try."

"Flip the gold switch, but none of the others, to arm it. I've already set the intensity at half-stream, since we don't need more than that on a target the size of the bunnies. To fire, you press this button right here."

K pulls on the gloves. They're still warm to the touch, and his fingers heat up as the gloves fit snugly over his hands. He opens and closes them a couple of times to make the fit as tight as possible. He doesn't want that wondrous invention slipping out of his grip.

The proton pack is definitely a kit-bashed creation, but there's nothing amateur about it. K knows well that look of carefully thought-out design.

K takes his time, checking every read-out, examining every switch, all the while letting out low whistles of admiration and nodding his head. He's not sure what all of the parts do, of course, but by the time he's done, he at least has a good guess about most of it.

Finally, he hefts the apparatus onto his back. The straps make perfect sense, fitting the pack tight to his frame, but leaving him plenty of flexibility to move with the thrower.

The thrower itself is a marvel. Shaped and fitted to the human hand with a grip his palms and fingers just right into.

He stands for a moment, legs spread slightly, feeling the heft of the pack on his back and the direction of the thrower in his hands.

He looks over at Ray. "How's it look?"

Ray looks K over thoughtfully, having quite forgotten his goggles pushed up on top of his head. Eventually, a smile spreads across his face. "Good to go, big guy," he says, offering a thumbs-up. "You're a natural."

The shades come down again, fitting tight to K's nose, and he gives Ray a grin.

"Get those goggles on, now," he says, and waits for Ray to slip them down. Then, almost as an after-thought, K tosses him the little PDA-sized gadget he was looking at.

And now, it's Bunny Time.

Behind the shades, K's eyes go cold as steel as he scans the nearby brush, looking for the slightest trace of movement. The shades appear to go darker to Ray, but in fact, they're brightening and shifting to a slight yellow tint that brings out the details of the moving scrub.

K gets a firm grip on the thrower, not too tight, just enough to ensure it won't slip. He hefts it a bit, and waits.

And then, a sudden burst of movement. Seconds slow to a crawl as K sees the flop of an ear and a tuft of soft, cuddly fur--BLACK AS PITCH AND QUIVERING WITH LEPORIDIAN **EVIL**.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAARP!

The thrower kicks like a godless Mother, but K's grip is sure, and he feels a surge of satisfaction deep in his gut as the satanic Lepus explodes in a blast of Righteous Protons.

Nodding, Ray yanks the goggles down. They'll be recording their own scans of the energies involved in any case. The gadget, now- that's... hm. Interesting set of energy readouts- oooh, that looked like the ionization rate there, albeit not as precisely measured as on the PKE meter-

But there are other things to watch. He wants to see this. And oh, is it ever worth it...

He jams the PDA into one of his pockets- he's got enough of them- and applauds. Honestly, he's never been so proud of his creation in his life.

Silence returns, and K holds his stance for a moment, feeling the proton pack wind down smooth as a silk (by *his* standards, anyway).

He lowers the thrower to his side, lifts the shades, and takes a bow.

Then he strides over to Ray, grabs his hand in a hearty handshake and claps him on the shoulder.

"Genius, kid!! Pure genius!"

Ray beams, just absolutely beams, and shakes back. "Thank you, sir!" he answers. "I can't claim full credit for the design, of course- the actual accelerator was my colleague Dr. Spengler's design- but the rest of it's my work. Glad it meets with your approval. It's the best we could do with purely Earth-based tech as of late 2002."

"Beats the hell out of my 2002 Earth-based tech, Ray, I'll tell you what. Might have some Off-World tech for you to check out some time, though."

"But this," K touches the proton pack almost lovingly. "This is something special."

He slides it off his back and hands it gently over to Ray. "An honor I won't forget."

That devil bunny won't be forgetting it either...

Ray accepts the pack back and slides it on; it's just easier to carry that way. "Glad to be of service," he says with a smile. "Any time."

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