Match of the Millennium

Description: Come on Rafferty, come on Gordie! Let's go to the mall, you won't be sorry!

[RAFFERTY]
It's late Friday afternoon and school is out for the weekend. A certain young blond student has only been shopping for half an hour and he already has a full bag, brimming with delights, in each hand. There's a beaming smile on his youthful face and he seems to be relishing in his dose of retail therapy. He's dressed for the occasion too. As usual, the model is head to toe in designer labels. A Prada denim shirt clothes his trim torso, black tapered Alexander McQueen pants cover his long legs and Manolo Blahnik black leather Chelsea boots protect his perfectly pedicured feet.

He waves to some Pacific High classmates, who he spots sitting at a nearby bench and table, sipping on sodas, before continuing on his way. School has been somewhat easier for Rafferty in recent days. A lot of this is down to the fact that his girlfriend, Nena has stated her intention to stand by him, despite his recent internet gaffe. It would be a brave young teenager who risked getting on her wrong side. Since her recent matches in the Ristar contest, she's the talk of school and nobody wants to make an enemy out of a teenage terminator.

Spotting a 'Sale' sign in the window of one of the mall's flashier outlets, Rafferty hones in on it. Much to his delight, a rather striking red suit he's been eyeing up the last couple of weeks, is displayed on one of the male mannequins and there's ten per cent off it, for this weekend only! He heads for the entrance to the store, with an extra spring in his step.

[ALEXIS]
Killasaurus Orphanage was once one of those bands that was Big in Japan, a cadre of rising Canadian stars of the hardcore punk scene. After the great mysterious multi-month disappearance of lead singer Alexis Lovell from the roster, the band's recognizability started to fade.

It's come to the point where Alexis is out once again in public in one of the many copies she owns of her most iconic outfit - a Catholic schoolgirl's uniform, the blouse tied off above the midriff, a red tartan mini-skirt, and black punk-style leather boots and matching fingerless gloves. She's even wearing her black elbow bands.

She's not quite alone, either - a young, hot pink-haired toddler is hanging off her shoulder, getting carried around the mall, one hand stuffed in his mouth as he takes in all of the sights and sounds that the shops have to offer. There are people taking pictures on their smartphones, occasionally, but it's not the sexy-faux-schoolgirl who's getting the lion's share of the attention.

As she's hovering near a bubble tea vendor, the Canadian brunette notices a familiar face seeking in on the Sale sign at a nearby clothing store. She definitely recognizes him from somewhere.

Oh, right - the kid from the water park, whose Instagram she'd checked out afterward in hopes of finding some spicy bitch-talk about the incident. Instead, she'd discovered...

"Hey, Robot Fucker!" Alexis calls out with a teasing sing-song, loud enough to make sure that not only Rafferty, but anyone else within earshot, would be able to catch her call.

"'Ey, wobot Fuckah!" the pink-haired type pipes up, parroting the punk as best as his developmental English allows.

Alexis' smile tightens as she quietly places her hand on the infant's head and pats him.

[RAFFERTY]
"Hey, Robot Fucker!"

The words send chills through Rafferty's body. He was starting to think he'd put all that scandal behind him, but there was always some loser...make that losers! There's two of them mocking him and one sounds like a little kid.

Swinging around in irritation, he scans the crowd, seeking out the guilty parties. And then he sees her, it's the rockstar rebel rouser from the water park and even worse, she's got his nemesis with her.

Ever since that day, there's been a niggle in the back of the blond boy's brain. His first shoot for Southtown Style magazine and he'd been destined to be the cover star. He was the only male model in the shoot and had been chosen to pose with local celebrity, Honoka Kawamoto. He'd been looking his buff best in some terrific tiger swim trunks and was preparing to be the talk of the town, but no, that dumb blue haired kid had to ruin it.

His piercing eyes lock on the daring duo and he starts to head towards them. The teen isn't usually one for confrontation, but he's had just about enough of all the taunting.

"What's your problem?" he questions, his handsome face shifting into a sneer.

"Apart from the fact you are holding a kid with pink hair. I mean, what kind of people use dye on a toddler?"

His angry outburst is drawing stares from some of the other shoppers and this seems to spur him on.

"Oh and by the way, Halloween was months ago. You might want to switch the outfit."

Despite his criticism of the Canadian's attire, it doesn't stop him getting an eyeful. His gaze shifts down her frame, taking in every detail of the provocative ensemble.

[ALEXIS]
"What yo pwoblem!"

The retort comes from the dyed-haired tyke before the young lady holding him has a chance to respond. The kid is grinning broadly as he parrots the phrase, pointing a finger at Rafferty as he says it.

Alexis, for her part, smirks at the outburst, patting the toddler on the back as she levels her aquamarine eyes with Rafferty's.

"Hey, it's not my kidlet, eh?" she clarifies, without offering any other explanation or defense to the tot's mysteriously colourful tuft. She tugs a little on her blouse indicatively as she notices the drift of the blond teen's gaze. "This isn't my Halloween outfit, either. Don't you know who the fuck I am?"

"Dowt you know who da fuck I am?!"

Alexis' hand gently covers the kid's mouth to prevent any more echoed expletives from escaping.

"And since you look like you're wondering, yes, they're real. Sorry to disappoint you, eh? I know you prefer artificial."

She gives a wink to the youth.

[RAFFERTY]
The toddler tyke's curse draw a horrified gasp from a middle aged woman and she tuts loudly, before turning to her adolescent son.

"If you ever have a child that speaks that way, I will disown you, do you hear me, Kai?"

She grabs the youth roughly by the arm and pulls him away from the scene, but not before he can take a quick photo on his cellphone, to capture the drama.

"I know he isn't your kid" Rafferty fires back.

"I met his delightful parents at the water park, very briefly. I never got to properly meet you, but you left quite the impression, so yes, I know exactly who you are. You're the water park wrecking woman."

"I know who you are too" he adds, turning his attention to the little boy and echoing his pointing gesture.

"You're the one who stole my magazine cover!"

Despite his irritation at the twosome, he can't help but soften, as he looks more closely at the kid. He really is pretty sweet, despite his unfortunate hair.

"As for breasts, I've felt plenty of real ones" he protests, earning himself a disgusted look from a passing pensioner.

[ALEXIS]
Alexis lets out a snort as the mother admonishes her child, paying little heed beyond that - although the kid manages to capture her flipping the bird their direction with his smartphone. Whether it's a response to the mother's disdain or a reflex triggered on instinct any time a photo-taking device is active in Alexis' presense is a matter of anyone's guess.

"I didn't wreck the water park, I just gave it a fresh wash," Alexis claims as she boosts the kid up on the crook of her arm, letting him escape from her censoring hand.

"Fwesh wash," the child confirms.

"I guess you must have got pretty soaked, if you're still salty about it," Alexis says as she shifts the boy in her arms indicatively. "And this is Gordie. Don't get bent just because you got dunked on by a one-year-old."

"Dunked on!" Gordie declares, making a motion in the air as if he were dunking a basketball through a net.

"I'm sure you have, buddy. You're lucky, you know - I probably would have stuffed you into that trash can by now if I didn't think I'd have to deal with some shitty fembot showing up to mow me down with her titty-guns later."

"Ti'y gunth!" Gordie says with a beaming smile, thrusting his baby fists into the air.

[RAFFERTY]
"Put it this way, I'm glad I'm a strong swimmer" Rafferty responds, his full lips curling up into the makings of a smile.

"No real harm done though" he admits.

Laughing as Alexis describes the potential robot revenge, he remarks "You've got quite the mouth on you. Do you ever put it to better use than taunting innocent high schoolers out for a shopping trip? What school do you go to anyway? I don't recognise that uniform."

Gordie gets a grin from the older boy and a gentle fist bump.

"Good to meet you, kid. My name is Rafferty."

His blue eyes shift to meet Alexis' aquamarine ones, including her in the introduction.

[ALEXIS]
"Yeah, well, it's a sink or swim business, eh?" Alexis remarks sardonically at Rafferty's comment about being a strong swimmer, though she too seems to warm ever-so-slightly from the Canadian cold she was giving off before.

Her expression, though, seems to take an instant, fiery downturn as he suggests that she put her mouth to better use. Regardless of the lad's intent, she definitely seems to be taking it a certain way, and doesn't appear happy to do so.

"Yeah, well, you can put your lips to better use and kiss my all-organic ass," she growls as she scowls at Rafferty. "And eff why eye, I dropped out of school years ago! It's a fucking fashion statement! You're lucky I don't mess up that pretty face!"

"Meth up that pwe'y fayth!"

Gordie, whose fist is already formed for bumping with Rafferty's, suddenly seems to take a shine to the idea that Lexi has posited - his tiny fist suddenly thrusting right for Rafferty's cheek!

COMBATSYS: Gordie has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Gordie           0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Rafferty has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Rafferty         0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Gordie

COMBATSYS: Rafferty deflects Punch from Gordie with Blue Steel.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Rafferty         0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Gordie

[RAFFERTY]
It's like a slow motion horror movie. The kind that later wakes you up in the darkest hour of the night, whispering in your ear and causing your skin to glisten with sweat.

It all started so promisingly. An olive branch extended from a boy to his nemesis, seeking to end the fashion feud with a friendly fist bump.

It didn't quite work out that way.

Seeing the tiny hand coming towards him, fueled by the threat of his pretty face being messed up, Rafferty's instincts kick in.

He turns sharply to the right, seeking out his attacker. His lips form into a perfect pout, that causes several of the onlookers to gasp and then his piercing blue eyes lock on the toddler. The look is one of such intensity, you'd think this was the destroyer of the model's entire world.

Instead of Gordie's fist hitting its intended target, it deflects back at the infant, resulting in his own cheek being punched. Yes, that's right, Rafferty the 'robot fucker' is now Rafferty the 'baby brutaliser.'

This isn't going to play well on social media.

[ALEXIS]
As his tiny fist thumps off of his eye socket, little Gordie's mouth hangs agape for a moment. He wants to smile. He's trying to smile. After a few seconds of struggling to remain permanently joyous, though, the toddler's tears suddenly come flowing like a geyser.

"Wahahaaaa!"

Alexis' eyes widen as she looks down at Gordie, then back at Rafferty.

"What the - what did you just /do/ to Gordie?!" she shouts at him angrily.

"Wha' do Gordie?!" Gordie echoes tearfully.

"That's it! /Nobody/ hurts my Gordie!" Alexis shouts as she rears back with her free hand, clenching it into a fist, a loud hum building rapidly as sonic energy gathers within it. Then, clutching the toddler against her side, she swings forward, throwing a deafening haymaker toward the model's most prized possession!

COMBATSYS: Alexis has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Alexis           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0         Rafferty
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Gordie           0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Rafferty deflects Strong Punch from Alexis with Blue Steel.
- Power hit! -

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Alexis           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0         Rafferty
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Gordie           0/-------/-------|

[RAFFERTY]
As the toddler's tears trickle down his cherubic cheeks, the shocked shoppers fall deadly silent. They exchange quizzical looks, attempting to understand what exactly happened. Did that teenage boy just punch a baby?

Rafferty is far from silent. His horrified call of "Nooooooooooo!" seems to echo through the area.

"I didn't mean to...I mean, I didn't touch him!" he protests, clearly as confused as the crowd.

He opens his mouth to defend himself further, but before he can, Alexis' angry fist comes hurtling towards him. He covers his ears, attempting to shield them from the sonic sound and then it happens again...

The same look, the same pout and the same result. The Caustic Canadian finds her own hand smashing back into her visage.

The shocked model waves his own hands in the air "I didn't touch her!" he shrieks.

[ALEXIS]
All of that sonic energy that was intended for Rafferty's face (yes, his face) is turned back on Alexis as her fist is knocked back where it came from. She's not even sure how it happened - but the next thing she knows, Alexis is staggering backward and falling bottom-first into a garbage bin, soon finding herself stuck. She blinks a few times in a daze, then lets out a bellow of rage.

"RauuuUUGGGHHH!"

"Waaaaaahhh!"

Gordie, for his part, is still emitting tears like a sprinkler system, though thankfully he's avoided any further harm despite his caretaker's topple.

Alexis wiggles and squirms as she tries to free her butt from the garbage can that it's stuck in with only one hand available for the job.

"You're gonna get it, you little bitch-faced baby-bully!" she warns as she struggles with her captive state.

It's hard to tell which one of them is going to get it worse from the internet after this incident, but Alexis, at least, has been caught in worse situations...

[RAFFERTY]
Rafferty knows an angry woman when he sees one and he's not gonna stick around to face Alexis' particular brand of music.

Holding on tightly to his shopping bags, he starts to back away, weaving his way through the staring strangers.

Once he's clear of the crowded area, he breaks into a run, his long legs carrying him clear of the mall. He's going to have to come back and get that ravishing red suit tomorrow.

Once he's out of sight, muffled murmurs can be heard, soon switching to animated chatter.

"Maybe he's a mind controller or a magician or something. He kinda looks like a celebrity" a stylishly dressed brunette suggests to her beau.

"I recognise her too" he responds, pointing towards the akimbo Alexis. "I'm sure I bought one of her records once."

"Oh! I bet it's all a publicity stunt then" the brunette beams, happy to be part of the action.

This rumour soon spreads throughout the other onlookers and they start to disperse, leaving the furious punk to her unfortunate fate.


COMBATSYS: Rafferty has left the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Alexis           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Gordie

[ALEXIS]
Alexis still can't seem to get her ass out of the can as the crowd disperses. Her face is nearly as red as her skirt, but there's no way that she would consider asking one of these strangers for help. Gordie, at least, seems to have found a happy place by resting his head against the punk's chest.
Grumbling, Alexis fishes around in her skirt pocket, finally pulling out her smartphone and raising it to her ear.

"Hey, Kim? I need you to come to the mall. Uhh, no, don't bring the others..."

Log created on 19:56:02 04/22/2021 by Rafferty, and last modified on 01:47:41 04/23/2021.