I cheered internally even as I groaned and stretched my slightly aching shoulders. I had been at it for hours!
But I really wanted that level up!
Looking around for the first time in a while I relaxed as I was alone and I took a moment to start packing up.
I thought of the implications of these lines, and this happened.
The Waiting Game
Just as the sun reached the highest point in the sky, a car came to a rolling stop and three tattooed men climbed out of their vehicle and looked around.
"This it?" Junpei asked his leader.
"Should be the Quadra," Takeshi nodded, waving his friends forwards.
The group checked their weapons, each with a pistol and either a knife or club, and then took a solid ten seconds admiring each other's outfits. And yep, they were the most Tyger Claw Tyger Claws that ever Tyger Claw-ed.
"So preem," the third member said with a smile.
"Dude," Junpei shook his head, "you're not supposed to say it out loud."
"You know I've heard that before but I don't actually know why," the man admitted.
"Because Derek," Takeshi sighed, "We look awesome, and everyone knows it, but if you say it loud then it seems like we want people to know. And yeah we do, but then we just seem desperate."
Derek nodded for a few seconds before stopping. "Yeah no I still don't-"
"Watson Whores season 3 episode 4," Takeshi cut him off, "the scene right after Gibson slams his hand in his car door."
Derek paused for half a moment before a smile bloomed on his face. "Ooh, now I get it. Okay, that makes a whole lot of sense now."
Junpei gave Takeshi several tiny claps, the leader giving a tiny bow in return, and the three finally stood in front of their target's car.
"So this is the Onryo's ride," Junpei whistled. "She's a beaut. Think we can get her to work on our stuff?"
"Nah," Derek shook his head. "She's a Claw, so she probably just gets it done by the Mitsuhashis like everyone else, just with that Kamikaze bonus."
"Yeah," Junpei sighed, before popping himself up onto the hood, the car bouncing on its suspension for a moment, and the other two quickly followed his lead and relaxed against it.
Takeshi checked the time and nodded. "Right, so she went in about twenty minutes ago. Should be out soon. Just act natural, and let me do the talking."
The other two nodded, and the group set in to wait.
"Are you sure she's in there?" Junpei asked. "We got the right car?"
It had been an hour since they'd gotten there, and the Onryo, Motoko Kusanagi, hadn't appeared yet.
Takeshi licked his lips nervously "I, uh, I think so. One of us should go check."
The trio nodded, thought about the situation, and then as a group slapped their fingers against their noses simultaneously.
Almost simultaneously.
"Dammit!" Derek hissed, shaking in irritation at being slower than the others, and let out a sigh. "Okay. You're staying on the line though."
A second later and a call was coming through for the other two, and Derek was walking to the range.
A minute after that and he was striding back out, a mixture of annoyance and relief on the faces of all three.
"How the hell isn't she done yet?" Takeshi muttered. "And she was just standing there? Shooting?"
"Yeah," Derek said, "like she was possessed. Which matches the ghost theme I guess?"
"What?" Takeshi asked, before his face brightened up. "Oh yeah! Eyyyyyyyy."
The other two shot finger guns back at him. "Eyyyyyyyy!"
"Turns out she wasn't pregnant," Junpei gestured to his stomach. "It was a tumor the entire time."
"A tumor?" Takeshi laughed. "You serious?"
"I know right?" Junpei laughed. "But it actually was. Here, check it out."
There was silence for a moment before laughter filled the area.
"That's amazing!" Derek wheezed.
"An actual- A doctor's note..." Takeshi choked out.
"Foods up!" Derek held up the cartons of noodles.
"Finally," Junpei whined, "I'm starving over here."
"You used the boss's card right?" Takeshi asked.
Derek wiggled his eyebrows, and pointed his fingers at the two, then all three of them pointed their fingers into the air.
"Biz-ness. Ex-pense!" the chanted as they did a little hip wiggle to the beat.
"And one more fold along the middle," Takeshi said, the other two following along. "Aaaaand there we go! Raptor F-5, factory fresh."
"This is the greatest thing I've ever seen," Derek smiled.
Junpei smiled as well before his eyes brightened. "Oh, can we fold up the wings a little?"
The three stared at each other before quickly doing so, and stared at their creation.
Derek nodded solemnly. "I was wrong. This is the greatest paper airplane I've ever seen."
They spent the next half an hour trying to see who could get theirs the furthest, before they had to hide them in terror when a strong draft sent one of the airplanes into a loop-de-loop straight into, out of, and then back into the open window of what they immediately realized was a Tyger Claw executive's car.
"So both in the morning and at night?" Takeshi asked as he and Derek stared intently at Junpei's face.
"Yeah," Junpei said, gesturing to his cheeks. "Toner affects the ph level of your skin, so it helps reduce oil buildup. Really good for keeping your skin looking soft and lowering the chance of pimples."
"Huh," Takeshi whispered. "Does it go bad?"
"Three to six year shelf life if you get it from the right corp," Junpei said.
"Biotechnica?" Derek asked, lightly poking at Junpei's face.
"Nope," Junpei said with a smile. "And not Arasaka either. It's gonna sound crazy, but honestly? Zetatech."
"What?" Takeshi whispered again, "why?"
"I have no idea," Junpei shook head slightly as he stared intently into the empty air.
"Got any fours?" Derek asked.
"Shit," Junpei cursed, handing the card off.
"Okay," Takeshi said, turning to Derek. "What-"
He cut himself off as he got a message, and immediately forwarded it to the others.
"She's coming!" Derek voiced the message out loud as they all scrambled back to the Quadra from where they'd been lounging at a hotdog stand fifty meters away.
Even as they knew Kusanagi'd soon be in eyesight, they quickly tried to get back into position and-
"I'm in the front!" Takeshi hissed a moment after they'd began posing, and he and Derek quickly switched positions.
"You good?" Junpei asked.
The other two glanced at him, glanced at each other, nodded, and then turned back. Then a second later Derek tapped Takeshi on the shoulder gestured to his mouth, and the group's leader quickly cleaned the ketchup off the corner of his mouth.
"Thanks," he whispered, returning to his pose, and pulling up the script they'd worked on during the wait. Goddamn it sounded cool.
It was a long stakeout, but their target was finally here. Now all they had to do was show the girl who was boss, drive her to, uh, their boss, and they just might get a promotion.
Yeah, this was gonna be great!