Art Pact 8
(For those keeping count, Art Pact 6&7 didn't appear here because they're part of a story I might try publishing. If I fail, they'll be here later!)
Homicide: Titan Squad X
The sky was the colour of Caribbean seas, sprinkled with cotton-wall puffs of cloud that were just out of reach. Detective Gargantua and I stood at the corner of the crime scene and waited while the coroner examined the corpse. We weren't supposed to be there - Captain Megazon had warned us off anything that might be gang-crime in the wake of the Mothilla Syndicate fiasco - but we'd been nearby, sitting in Gargantua's favourite watering hole and discussing who we thought might take over from Sergeant Krong when the call came in over the airwaves: dead body in the docks district.
"What do you think, boss?" Gargantua asked me. She always called me boss, despite the fact that she was likely to get kicked upstairs sooner than me. Perhaps it was because she was bigger than me, so she liked to promote the idea that she was the brawn of the operation. Perhaps she just liked to wind me up.
"I think the captain's going to go ape-shit if he sees us here, so keep all your eyes peeled."
The coroner stood up, shaking his hands so that a few tiny dots flew off them, tumbling to earth with a high-pitched whining noise. In the alleyway beneath his left foot a few little glints of light and smoke flared, and he scratched irritably at his heel. He turned to us, brushing his hands together and then scratching his snout.
"Well-" he began.
"Stop right there, Vore!"
It was Titanus's voice, booming from behind us. He strode past me, giving me the evil eye as he went. I returned the favour. It lacked the same effect - my brother, although not as tall as Gargantua, was a good head taller than me. On the other hand, while our gazes had locked it had distracted him from where he was going. He stubbed his toe on a car-park, tripping forward. The flaky box below him was crushed into so much rubble and metal, but as much as he tried to pass it off as deliberate I had spotted him wincing slightly. I smiled.
"Mind your step," I said cheerfully.
"As I was saying.." the coroner started again, but Titanus held a paw up to stop him.
"You two," he told us. "Back over there. I don't want you getting any ideas, this is my case."
"Fine, fine!" I put my hands up and Gargantua wrapped a tentacle around my shoulder and led me back to the edge of the docks - then further still, when we realised that we'd stepped in a line of tanks. The little green things tried to sting us, but I scuffed a line in the concrete with my toes, collapsing a little row of buildings to keep them from getting too close to us. Gargantua waved her free tentacle in front of her face with an irritated expression, swatting away a little cloud of helicopters.
"Is he still going out with Queen Bitch?" she asked. I nodded, and she growled in annoyance. Gargantua didn't like my brother, but she did seem to be physically obsessed with him.
"Forget that," I warned her. "Listen, what do you make of this?"
By the body, Vore the Coroner was pointing out various features of the corpse - the way it had fallen with its talons outstretched, the cathedral spire protruding from its chest, the pool of blood around it. He began talking in the same low tones as Titanus, barely a mumble from where we were standing, but I could see that he was becoming more and more agitated as the conversation went on. As his agitation grew, so his volume.
"What the hell are you talking about, man!" Vore suddenly yelled, flinging his hands up in the air. Blobs of blood flew off them, splashing into the bay. One of them landed on a ferry, capsizing the tiny ship. "He's had his damn head bitten off!"
The coroner stomped past us, shaking his head furiously and kicking out at the tanks as he passed so that one of the blocky little machines flew off into the heart of the city. Titanus took out his notebook and scratched a few things in it, then walked back to where we were standing.
"Open and shut case," he said with a warning look at me.
"Not a murder, then," Gargantua said.
"Not a murder," he confirmed. "Humans." He pointed his pen at me, then Gargantua, then back at me. "The chief agrees with me, just so we understand where we all stand." He stomped away.
Gargantua wrapped one of her tails around a little road-bridge. She said nothing, but I could see she was frustrated - after a few seconds the bridge's metal frame crumpled.
"Something funny's going on here," she growled.
"You're not wrong," I told her. Brother be damned, there was something to investigate here...
Homicide: Titan Squad X
The sky was the colour of Caribbean seas, sprinkled with cotton-wall puffs of cloud that were just out of reach. Detective Gargantua and I stood at the corner of the crime scene and waited while the coroner examined the corpse. We weren't supposed to be there - Captain Megazon had warned us off anything that might be gang-crime in the wake of the Mothilla Syndicate fiasco - but we'd been nearby, sitting in Gargantua's favourite watering hole and discussing who we thought might take over from Sergeant Krong when the call came in over the airwaves: dead body in the docks district.
"What do you think, boss?" Gargantua asked me. She always called me boss, despite the fact that she was likely to get kicked upstairs sooner than me. Perhaps it was because she was bigger than me, so she liked to promote the idea that she was the brawn of the operation. Perhaps she just liked to wind me up.
"I think the captain's going to go ape-shit if he sees us here, so keep all your eyes peeled."
The coroner stood up, shaking his hands so that a few tiny dots flew off them, tumbling to earth with a high-pitched whining noise. In the alleyway beneath his left foot a few little glints of light and smoke flared, and he scratched irritably at his heel. He turned to us, brushing his hands together and then scratching his snout.
"Well-" he began.
"Stop right there, Vore!"
It was Titanus's voice, booming from behind us. He strode past me, giving me the evil eye as he went. I returned the favour. It lacked the same effect - my brother, although not as tall as Gargantua, was a good head taller than me. On the other hand, while our gazes had locked it had distracted him from where he was going. He stubbed his toe on a car-park, tripping forward. The flaky box below him was crushed into so much rubble and metal, but as much as he tried to pass it off as deliberate I had spotted him wincing slightly. I smiled.
"Mind your step," I said cheerfully.
"As I was saying.." the coroner started again, but Titanus held a paw up to stop him.
"You two," he told us. "Back over there. I don't want you getting any ideas, this is my case."
"Fine, fine!" I put my hands up and Gargantua wrapped a tentacle around my shoulder and led me back to the edge of the docks - then further still, when we realised that we'd stepped in a line of tanks. The little green things tried to sting us, but I scuffed a line in the concrete with my toes, collapsing a little row of buildings to keep them from getting too close to us. Gargantua waved her free tentacle in front of her face with an irritated expression, swatting away a little cloud of helicopters.
"Is he still going out with Queen Bitch?" she asked. I nodded, and she growled in annoyance. Gargantua didn't like my brother, but she did seem to be physically obsessed with him.
"Forget that," I warned her. "Listen, what do you make of this?"
By the body, Vore the Coroner was pointing out various features of the corpse - the way it had fallen with its talons outstretched, the cathedral spire protruding from its chest, the pool of blood around it. He began talking in the same low tones as Titanus, barely a mumble from where we were standing, but I could see that he was becoming more and more agitated as the conversation went on. As his agitation grew, so his volume.
"What the hell are you talking about, man!" Vore suddenly yelled, flinging his hands up in the air. Blobs of blood flew off them, splashing into the bay. One of them landed on a ferry, capsizing the tiny ship. "He's had his damn head bitten off!"
The coroner stomped past us, shaking his head furiously and kicking out at the tanks as he passed so that one of the blocky little machines flew off into the heart of the city. Titanus took out his notebook and scratched a few things in it, then walked back to where we were standing.
"Open and shut case," he said with a warning look at me.
"Not a murder, then," Gargantua said.
"Not a murder," he confirmed. "Humans." He pointed his pen at me, then Gargantua, then back at me. "The chief agrees with me, just so we understand where we all stand." He stomped away.
Gargantua wrapped one of her tails around a little road-bridge. She said nothing, but I could see she was frustrated - after a few seconds the bridge's metal frame crumpled.
"Something funny's going on here," she growled.
"You're not wrong," I told her. Brother be damned, there was something to investigate here...
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