Who: Laurence and T'Challa What: Saving people from killer bunnies When: April 1st Where: Out and about Rating/Warnings: Lowish. Killer bunnies and whatnot Status: Complete
Laurence had always known that the Orange County was strange. He’d started dreaming before he’d ever joined the Network, and the Network had only served to cement his opinion that something wasn’t quite right in this small corner of the US. And if this was the Orange County’s idea of an April Fool’s joke… well, he supposed it could have been worse. He’d spent the morning with a young policewoman and a flock of sentient Peeps, which had, all things considered, been rather droll.
At least, he’d thought so until he spotted a woman being attacked by what seemed to be a… rabbit. As he had never seen a rabbit attack someone with such ferocity, he wasn’t sure if he was entirely correct with his assessment, but he didn’t have time to spend thinking too hard about it. With a few quick strides he was at the woman’s side and pulling the rabbit off her, flinging it with all his might away from her. “Go, now,” he commanded her, and she ran as Laurence squared off to stop the rabbit from coming at her again. The problem was, he had nothing with which to defend himself - something he had never thought he would think in regards to a rabbit.
T'Challa had expected as much on April Fool's. Perhaps not sentient candy but at least some sort of chaos. The few peeps he'd had in his home he had studied until he realized they were multiplying at an astonishing rate. He'd herded them outside only to come across a rather innocuous looking rabbit. When it started attacking the peeps T'Challa realized it wasn't a normal rabbit. He'd had to take advantage of the mysterious supply of hand grenades nearby to kill it. That was a hole in his yard he now would have to pay landscapers to fix, unfortunately.
He'd then heard screaming and ducking into his house he'd donned his Black Panther suit as quickly as possible. He'd headed to the spot in haste only to find Laurence of all people trying to square off with one of the clearly unnatural animals. “Laurence!” He called and with a superhuman leap jumped between them, the rabbit launching at T'Challa and sliding off of his vibranium armor harmlessly. It tried gnawing at his ankle, making a hideous sound as it did so. He stood there, head cocked to one side curiously looking down at it. “Are you all right?” He did not turn around, still debating what to do with the creature. He didn't relish killing animals.
Laurence had braced himself for the attack, prepared to do whatever necessary to defend himself, when, at the last moment, the opportunity was, quite thankfully, taken from him. By… by a fully grown man wearing what appeared to be a cat costume. A fully grown man wearing what appeared to be a cat costume who knew his name. However, there was no need to be ungrateful for the assistance, and so he quickly fixed his expression into something more neutral than the look of shock that had initially crossed his face.
“Yes, I’m unharmed,” he answered, looking down at the rabbit. He was a little concerned about the man’s ankle, but the rabbit didn't seem to be harming him at all. “I must offer you my thanks. It’s a vicious little beast, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is.” T'Challa frowned behind his mask. He bent down and picked it up, holding it by the neck. It continued to gnaw the air with a sort of rabid madness. Looking away T'Challa broke its neck with a simple squeeze. Dropping the lifeless thing to the ground he turned as the mask around his head vanished, the nanobots obeying his thoughts. He smiled a bit sheepishly at the other man. “Hello, Laurence.”
If Laurence had been surprised to see a man dressed as a cat, he was even more surprised to discover that the man behind the mask was T’Challa himself. It was only slightly less surprising than the mask disappeared with only a thought.
“T’Challa!” he exclaimed, and then gathered control of himself so as to not be rude. “I must offer my thanks for saving me.”
“You're most welcome. I'm glad I came in time.” He glanced down at the dead rabbit, then spotted the Easter basket nearby on the grass. It was full of grenades. T'Challa’s brow furrowed. It was just like the one that had been on his lawn. “I can't say I'm surprised chaos once again has erupted in Orange County,” he looked back at his friend with a small smile. “But it is a pretty strange combination of events today. Clearly the universe enjoys April Fool's as much as the next person.” He noticed Laurence’s bewildered look and knew immediately it was the costume. “It's from the dreams. I'm a superhero in them, apparently. Though it is more complex than that.” There was a sudden yell from a block away and with his heightened abilities T'Challa could hear the sounds of the strange rabbits.”Come. I will explain later.” And he headed off towards the commotion at an incredibly fast jog.
“A superhero?” Laurence asked, a little shocked. “Such as Batman and his ilk?” It seemed unreal to him, but he supposed if he could dream of a reality in which dragons populated the 19th century, a man who dreamed of being a superhero could hardly be so farfetched.
Laurence’s head whipped toward the cry, and he took to foot, following in T’Challa’s wake, although he had to manage at a pace quicker than that of a jog to keep up with the other man. His breath came heavy when they arrived at the next scene, a man half-climbed up a tree while a rabbit leapt at his dangling heels. Nearby was yet another basket filled with the grenades, but Laurence paid it hardly any mind. The idea of setting off grenades in a civilian populated city was one that he would not think of.
“Indeed. Though I do not have a cape. Clearly.” He smiled wryly. He had a second costume at home that did have one, that came from one of the two dream timelines.
T’Challa’s armor was essentially invincible, especially in this world where Vibranium did not exist. Arriving at the tree with the clearly terrified man, he walked up to the rabbit who turned its attention on him. It charged and it was then he heard rustling in the bushes nearby where half a dozen more appeared, each one snarling and as wreathed with madness as the next.
“I don’t suppose you have a gun on you, Laurence?” T’Challa asked as he stomped onto the head of the nearest rabbit, killing it instantly. He didn’t even pay any mind to the man in the tree, but made sure the rabbits attention were kept on him. “Here! Over here you little brutes!” Igniting an energy dagger and waving it threateningly at them, he tossed the other one to his friend. “Hit the button!”
“Unfortunately not,” Laurence answered, feeling very useless. While normally he could not understand America’s obsession of carrying their firearms wherever they went, now he wished he had taken up that custom. It was not so unfathomable that the county was frequently overrun with bloodthirsty rabbits.
He didn’t know what it was that T’Challa had thrown him, but he didn’t hesitate to press the button when T’Challa told him to, and it was with no small amount of surprise that he discovered that it fired the energy blade from the end of the knife. He recovered quickly, and aimed the dagger, and this time the energy blade found its mark in the back of one of the rabbits. “This is really quite a marvelous invention,” Laurence said, taking aim again. “From your dreams, I take it?”
“Yes.” T'Challa replied before his face became obscured as his mask re-appeared over his head. “Thank Bast.” He kicked one rabbit that leapt at him. It was sent hurtling so far back and was so stunned he didn't bother to see if it would recover for another go. He sliced at the other rabbits, stomach churning a little at the unfortunate gore as the energy dagger cut through them like a hot knife through butter. When he finally paused for breath, the ground was littered with the small white bodies. There was a sudden lull and T'Challa realized maybe they'd gotten them all. In the area anyway. He looked to Laurence.
One of the rabbits had leapt from T’Challa and had come barreling toward Laurence once it had discovered the threat he and T’Challa’s weapon had made. Laurence raised the knife, and as it came flying for his face he managed to impale it, and he could feel it’s blood splatter upon his face. He looked around them for any more of the vermin, but blessedly there were none in sight. “I suppose that is the last of them,” he said after an instant. “For the moment, at least.”
“Yes, for the moment.” The mask disappeared from his head as he spoke, revealing the concerned look on his face. He looked over at the man clinging to the tree, who was staring at them, mouth agape. T’Challa pointed a gloved finger at the man and said, “Speak of this to no one.” The last thing he needed were people realizing that Black Panther was real and living in the OC. The man nodded and scrambled down the tree with a “Thank you. Thank you both.” before he ran off.
T’Challa turned to Laurence. “Um. You have some…” he gestured wordlessly, indicated the blood spatter on the man’s face.
Laurence couldn’t help but the smile that crossed his face at the man’s thanks, and the feeling of a job well done in his breast. It had been a long time since anyone had thanked him for saving them, and it was a feeling like no other.
His good mood was dampered slightly when T’Challa mentioned the blood on his face. He pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and wiped what he could from his skin, but he looked at dismay at his shirt, the red splatters in stark contrast to the pressed, white fabric. “Oh dear, I’m never going to get this out,” he muttered, more to himself than T’Challa. “After all of this is said and done, what say you to a dinner and a drink?”
“I'd say yes. At this point I've worked up quite the appetite.” He smiled, clapping his new friend on the shoulder.