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[The Riddler says nothing. He only smirks and chuckles to himself, eyes twinkling as if he were Father Christmas.

You're gonna get your own car, all right.]

[Oh wow this is so awesome just wait until he shows up in his very own car.

Luke glances around excitedly waiting for them to come across some kind of car lot...]

[...But Edward seems to have other plans, coming to a halt in front of the Zemekis Corps. Offices and scanning the parking lot for---

Hello. What's this? It looks like a 1955 Porsche Spyder. It's a very dark shade of blue, and the roof appears to be up. More importantly, its drone driver appears to be fiddling with its door in some frustration, occasionally letting out a "Doggone it!" or "Oh, shucks." Eventually, the driver backs off and heads into the Zemekis building.

Eddie turns to Luke, indicating the Porsche with a quizzical tilt of his head.]

Well, Luke? What do you think of that?

[Luke stops outside the parking lot, looking very confused. It's starting to dawn on him what Edward meant by finding him a new car, and because of that his enthusiasm from a moment ago is waning quickly.

It's a gorgeous car, he will admit that much.]

I have to say it's very impressive...

[And then he gives Edward a suspicious glance.]

...but it belongs to someone else.

[Dammit, Luke, this isn't a good time to play the part of "moral conscience." His expression darkens for a moment, but in a matter of seconds, he's all smiles once again.]

It is rather impressive, isn't it? [He'll just... pretend he didn't hear that second part, heading towards the car and peeking in through one of the windows.] Ah! Locked himself out. Clumsy. But common. Happens to all of us at some point or another.

Hold this for me, would you? [He lightly tosses his cane to the boy before continuing.]

Lesson #1. [Eddie reaches into one of his pockets and fishes out a small, thin strip of metal.] Always carry one of these. They call this a "slim jim," Luke. And you never know when you might need one. It's a useful tool to have, whether you've locked yourself out...

[He moves to maneuver it into the space between the driver's side window and the rubber seal.]

...or you've seen something else that's more to your liking. Remind me to stop by the hardware store and pick one up for you on the way home.

Edited 2012-03-22 08:12 (UTC)

We're really going to steal this car aren't we.

[And that's when Luke goes from incredibly enthusiastic to very disapproving. Puzzle!dad this is why you get into trouble and he's pretty sure gentlemen don't break into cars and steal them, even if they do belong to mindless drones.

Still, as much as he isn't thrilled about this idea, he'll still watches what Edward is doing with the strip of metal. Considering he and Slugger got lucky when they just so happened to find a unlocked car while fleeing from the Major and the Doctor, it couldn't hurt to know these things.]

Drone or no, you can't afford to be that careless with something this valuable.

[At one point, Edward will stop what he's doing and frown at Luke in response.]

Don't look so disappointed. You're learning a practical life skill.

[Because that's what parenting's all about, right? Practical life skills. It doesn't take long before the car door clicks and the door opens. Eddie cautiously slides the slim jim out, setting it down in the passenger seat before leaning into the car and unlocking the passenger side door.]

There we go. You see how I was able to open it, don't you? It takes a bit of practice, but you've always been a fast study.

[Luke sighs in exasperation, not thrilled with this idea at all. At least it was a drone car, or else he'd be raising much more of a fuss right now.]

Yes, I saw it just fine.

[And he'll move a bit closer to the car to get a better look. It was a really nice car, wasn't it.]

Good boy.

[He takes his cane back from Luke, sticking it in the backseat before looping around the car and getting into the passenger seat.]

Then let's proceed to Lesson #2. And let's do so quickly.

[Luke doesn't plan on letting this go entirely, but for now he'll glance around quickly before climbing into the driver's seat. He always found American cars so strange, the driver's seat being on the opposite side of what he's used to.

Still, he gets in and buckles up. Safety first, after all. He'll give another glance to Edward, expecting him to do the same.]

All right, we're in. Now what do we do?

Check the mirrors.

[The playfully helpful voice comes from behind. At some point between now and when Edward was jimmying open the lock, Slugger had slipped unseen into the backseat of this very special 4-seated Spyder.

And with the tip of Edward's cane, he angles the rear view mirror down to Luke's level, revealing the reflection of an unexpected third passenger.]

[Good thing Luke just finished putting his seat belt on or otherwise he'd be leaping out of the driver's side right now. That doesn't stop him from quickly twisting around though.]

Oof!

[And then he catches sight of Slugger in the backseat. Well, this is awkward.]

S-Slugger. When did you get here?

[Yeah, Edward isn't quite as lucky, fidgeting in his seat and practically banging his head against the ceiling. But it's a convertible ceiling so that's not too bad. It takes him a moment to recover from his little conniption in the passenger seat but after a few deep breaths, he nods in agreement.]

Slugger's---Slugger's right, Luke. You'll have to adjust your mirrors so as not to have any blind spots on the road. And make sure you're properly seated, so as not to have any trouble reaching the pedals.

[What's invisible but always present? Besides air pollution.

Answer: this guy. He just continues to sit there chilling with a mildly amused expression.]

Need a phonebook?

[Luke frowns, addressing the obviously most important issue here:]

I'm not that short.

[Harumpf.

Still, Luke does as he's told and adjusts his seat and the mirrors so that he can see the road clearly. Not that it will matter here in a few minutes once they pull out of the parking lot.]

Good. In the interest of time, let's keep this next bit short.

[A quick check of his watch tells Edward that it's been little more than two minutes since the car's owner went into the Zemekis building. He buckles up, then rattles into a very rapid-fire explanation of some basic tips for keeping control of the vehicle: hands always at ten and two, only operating the pedals with one foot, checking the car's mirrors religiously, and all that good stuff.]

Now then. Are you ready to start the car?

[Ready. In fact, he's been ready since five minutes ago and is now trifling through some sport and car magazines he's found in the vehicle.]

[Luke listens as best he can, although some of the instructions are a bit confusing. Now that Slugger's busy distracting himself in the backseat, Luke feels a little more at ease with fewer eyes on him.

The car will pull out of the parking lot very, very slowly and jerking from time-to-time.]

So far, so good.

[And not a moment too soon. The door to the Zemekis building still has yet to open and, with any luck, they'll be long gone before the car's original owner pops back out.]

Let's head right on this road. Make sure you use your turn signal.

[He may look as if he isn't being observant with his face hidden behind a magazine, but Slugger is paying attention, particularly to the gear shift. Stick is still something he finds a bit complex.]

[Luke struggles a bit with changing gears at first, but soon enough they turn onto the road, which goes kind of smoothly enough.

The problem? Luke is on the wrong side of the road, facing the oncoming traffic.]

[Yeah... Might want to do something about that.]

Right. Right, Luke. In America we drive on the right side of the road!

[from behind the magazine]

Left side in Tokyo.

W-what, really?!

[He's used to being on the left side of the road as well, but sure enough here comes some cars heading towards them. Not to worry, Luke will handle this problem and quickly swerve to the right side of the road, just barely avoiding the cars in the right lane.]

[Don't mind Eddie, he's just clutching the armrests of his seat for dear life.]

Better. That's---that's much better.

IC CONTACT | mayfield_rpg

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