Beacon Harbor Boardwalk This street forms a long, lazy semi circle along the south east coast of Beacon Harbor Bay. The boardwalk begins just after the long stretch of rubble and boulders that separates the beach and boardwalk from the docks to the west. The boardwalk follows the curve of the coastline, with a number of shops and restaurants scattered among residences. A wild variety of shops, catering to the beach and surfer crowd, begin to pop up as the boardwalk fades into the beach the further to the east one travels along. As the coastline turns northward, the beach becomes more rocky, a wild, and dangerous place for surfers. On a day like this, one can't be too far away from shelter, as the weather seems likely to turn at any second. Jesse stands under the awning of the surf shop, waiting for the rain to stop so she can continue on her way. It seems to let up a little, then start again. She sits down, waiting for the clouds to make up their minds. Leo ahs. This is the life. Nothing like a swim in the rain. He lazily backpaddles along the water. Man, he could really get to like it here. His hair streams out under him, looking like a combination of gold and seaweed. It's a wonder that all the hair-care products in it haven't caused it to paralyze wayward ocean life a la jellyfish. Edward Nigma has wandered up from the docks. He does that, sometimes, and today he's feeling a little..detached. He pauses halfway up the Boardwalk to watch someone apparently going for a swim. Takes all kinds. Hope the crocodile guy gets him. Blake has never really minded the rain. Except perhaps the mild effects it has on his jacket, but he's on good terms with the dry-cleaning people. He strolls along the Boardwalk, watching the gulls circle. Harpo waddles along behind him like a gosling following its mother. Jesse Mayhem idly looks around at the people milling over the boardwalk. She sees one man she vaguely recognizes... but from where? She shakes her head and looks back a little... another person she recognizes, and the critter following him. She grins and waves to Blake. Leo stands up in the water, and stretches. He looks over... and spots people on the beach. Yeek! He can't let them see him naked, with his hair a mess, in the rain! He takes a deep breath, and dives under the waves, trying to crawl beachward without surfacing. Up the beach is an umbrella sheltering a pile of clothes. Guess who's? (No. No. NOT Junkyard's. What is wrong with you people?) Edward Nigma watches Leo with some amusement. He looks speculatively from the place where Leo went down, to the clothes. Which are a lot closer to him than they are to Leo. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he enquires of anyone within earshot. Blake ducks under the awning of a fish n chips dive. He kind of wants a cigarrette but is, al usual, trying to quit. Harpo doesn't join him under there, preferring to waltz around in the rain. Stupid bird. Hey, is that a nurse shark in the water over there or a naked guy? Can't tell. Better not speculate. Blake turns to examine the side of the fish n chips place. Hey the tiger shark mural he did here years ago is still up. That's nice. Jesse Mayhem raises a brow. He didn't see her. Well, she's not exactly going out of her way to be seen. She glances up toward the not-quite- recognizeable guy, who seems to be talking to himself. She follows what he seems to be looking at and blinks as whatever it was submerges again. She stands up and takes a few steps toward the water. Leo can't hold his breath forever. His eyes bulge as he tries to solve his dilemma. (Think! Think! Head... hurts...) He tries to edge up enough so that he can breath without the rest of him being exposed. He spots Eddie near his clothing... eek! Edward Nigma is so absurdly tempted that he actually takes a step forward - then retreats again. No, come on. They lock people up for doing things like that once you get past thirteen. He glances around, spotting both Jesse, whom he fails to recognise, and Harpo, who gets a dark look. Birds. Hmf. He's not getting any further away from those clothes. Blake glances around and spots Jesse over there at the surf shop. What's she doing out here, all alone in the rain? "Harpo! Heel." He starts walking over there. Jesse Mayhem takes another step forward, but just stops. If she did see what she thought she saw, if she gets any closer, it'll make her look like some kind of a letch. She looks at Eddie again, then back toward the water. Things get weirder every day, she thinks, then steps back further under the protective awning of the surf shop. She spots Blake making his way over and smiles. Leo takes a deep breath. Okay, if he does this just right... Summoning up all his speed, Leo races towards his clothes, dives into them, and wraps a towel around his... exposed area... as fast as possible. Speed of cheetah... but the gracefulness? No. Edward Nigma can't help it. He tries not to laugh, but, well...did you SEE that? He dissolves into giggles. Yes, he's nuts. He can giggle if he wants. "Smooth," he comments, then gets to sniggering again. The sudden movement catches Blake's eye and he glances over. "Oh, it *wasch* a naked guy," he mutters, and steps up beside Jesse. "Hi," he says to her cheerfully. "Harpo knock it off," he grunts, nudging the goose away from Jesse's ankle, which he looked about to nip experimentally. Jesse Mayhem looks at Eddie from the corner of her eye, getting the impression that the giggling guy is just a little gone, but keeps it to herself. Who's she to judge, anyway? She looks back to Blake and smiles again. "Hey," she says. "How are you?" She looks down at Harpo and grins, then back up again. Leo growls. Humiliating. A member of the Zodiac... caught skinnydipping. As he tries to get the towel more secure, he growls at Eddie: "What are YOU lookin' at? Huh?" Edward Nigma manages to stop giggling long enough to say, "You, tiny," and then gets going again. Blake shrugs. "Kinda wet," he replies, and nudges Harpo away again. The bird seems infinately curious about Jesse's shoes. "What are you doing out here in thisch weather?" he asks, not at all realising she may ask him the same question. He has come to the concious decision not to look out there to see what Barebottom Pete is doing. Jesse Mayhem makes a judgement call here... hearing bits of what's going on around her, she judges that it was a naked man swimming, and he's just been insulted. She's *almost* sorry she missed it. She chuckles a little at the goose that seems insistent on pecking at her boots, and replies to Blake simply. "It seemed like a good idea to get out. I just didn't know the weather would be doing this all day." She grins. "You?" Leo screams! He leaps up to his feet, drops the towel, screeches, pulls on a pair of boxers, and regardless of Ed's reaction races towards the giggling maniac bent on beating 9 kinds of hell out of him. He may be good-looking, but he doesn't want to show it ALL off. And he doesn't like comments about his looks, no matter what, er, area they might be directed to. Edward Nigma apparently still thinks it's funny, and he doesn't stop with the giggling for one second. As Leo comes charging towards him he pulls a metal sphere about the size of a large marble out of his pocket and thumbs a switch. "If you touch me I'll kill you," he comments between sniggers. It might not work but hey, Eddie doesn't care. Killing the guy seems like a good idea right now. Blake shrugs again. "I juscht needed to get out. Funny, I didn't even notische the rain for a while. When did it schtart?" He leans down and picks Harpo up, clamping him under one arm. Even now Harpo seems intent on getting to Jesse's shoes. His orange feet pedal the air uselsessly and his beady eyes are fixated on the boots. They must look good to chew, or something. Jesse Mayhem nearly jumps out of her skin at the sound of the infuriated scream, and looks toward a longhaired guy in boxers, and the giggling guy now making a threat. Going elsewhere suddenly seems like a good idea, but she remains rooted to her spot. "Um, I think it started about twenty minutes ago this time... been going off and on for most of the day..." she says, her eyes locked on the two on the boardwalk. She looks back to Blake and Harpo and smiles, trying to mask any nervousness about the guys over there. Leo grabs Eddie, making sure that he won't go anywhere, one hand gripping the arm containing what's obviously a weapon. "Ooh! Look! I touched you! But it seems that *I* am going to kill *you*, eh?" Edward Nigma positively *beams* at Leo. This is turning out to be more fun than he'd expected. He's gone from feeling a little detached to skating dangerously round the edge of pure lunacy. "If you make me drop this," he gives the hand holding the Death Marble(tm) a little shake, "you get to kill both of us. And those charming people watching us over there. And maybe half the seabird population of the harbour. I don't know, I haven't tried one out in the open yet. Want to give it a go?" Okay okay. He can't stand it anymore and has to glance over. Blake turns his head, and promptly freaks out. "Crap!" he exclaims, giving Harpo a little toss. The bird honks in surprise and flaps heavily off to land on the roof of a nearby shop. "It'sch the Mad Bomber again," he mutters, and turns to Jesse. "That schort geeky guy over there is dangerousch," he tells her. "Want to hide, run, or try to schave Beacon Harbor?" Because, of course, that is the Basic Superhero Poll. "Crap," Jesse says, still smiling. It seems to be the thing to say. The man holding the thing she can't make out seems to be nuts, whether the thing in his hand is really a weapon or not. She's not sure she really wants to find out if it is... but Blake's question piques her curiosity. She smiles again, this time genuinely. "Saving Beacon Harbor sounds like a good idea," she tells him. "I just hope the hairy guy over there isn't too intent on testing the short one." Leo looks at Eddie, sizing him up. Okay... "Let's... hold off on the miniature armageddon think, kay?" The threat of immediate vaporization has calmed him down a bit. Even if, by some miracle, he survived, Taurus would no doubt slice him in half lengthwise like he did with those Napster guys a while ago. He still doesn't let go, however. Edward Nigma looks disappointed. "Oh, but I *never* get to destroy the world. With some people it's a hobby but I'm always in the hospital or some damn thing. Come on, big guy, whaddaya say? At least this way we can take some innocent people with us." This may be very complex code for 'get off me', but then he might be serious. Blake looks at Jesse. She wants to save the city? Cool. "Okay," he says. "Should we make a plan or juscht run in there and tackle him?" The second Basic Poll. Jesse Mayhem looks at Blake in between glancing at the two. Things seem to have died down over there a little. Good. "A plan would be good," she says thoughtfully, "but do you think there's time?" She looks back to the guys that are presenting the threat, trying to size things up. Leo finally calms down enough. "Okay, I'm going to let go of you, and you're not going to kill anyone. You dig?" Leo represses the urge to lay waste to all organic life in sight. "Okay, on the count of three, I let go. One... two... three!" He lets go. Edward Nigma doesn't kill anyone. He chuckles at Leo, watching him warily. "You're not as dumb as you look. Of course that *would* be difficult." Blake pauses, watching the pair. "Maybe there'sch plenty of time after all," he tells Jesse. "I think they've deschided to play nische." He puts his hands in his pockets. "Now might be a good time to walk away like nothing happened." He looks around. "It'sch clearing up--maybe I schould go back home." Jesse Mayhem nods to Blake. "Yeah... same here." She casts a wary eye on the previous altercation and nods. "I might go to work and try to pull a little overtime after all." She looks back to Blake and smiles. Leo again tries not to go berserk. Leo may be da bomb, but this guy's GOT a bomb. "Just shut up, okay?" He begins to gather his clothing up, muttering curses. Edward Nigma tosses the Death Marble (tm) into the air. It emits a piercing, high-pitched shriek - which stops when he neatly catches it again. "Shut up? I haven't even started. What's your sign?" Blake nods. "Ah," he says. "Okay. Well, don't get into your work...*too* much." He smiles and, waving, turns to go. Harpo sits on his rooftop preening. Oh well, just leave him there. Blake walks off for home. Jesse Mayhem waves as Blake leaves, and decides to stay around a little longer. Something interesting might still happen, after all... how interesting remains to be seen. Leo manages to get all his articles together finally, and as he dresses he glares at Eddie again. "Hmph. You'll find out soon enough." With that, he tries to look dignified as he stalks away. Edward Nigma tsks. "Not Dangerous Curves Ahead, that's for sure. Slippery When Wet, maybe?" He catches Jesse looking in their direction and shoots her a glare.