Evils Of Our Time ( Open)

[Smirking Jack]

Within the rebel HQ, in the twisting and labryinthe tunnels which hid and homed the rebels Smirk found himself in a small training hall. It was... primitive to say the least. The floor wand a good few feet of the wall had been padded with reeking foam plate, but it was better than nothing. A few heavy bags and some equipment were scattered around but to call the place a gym would be a bad joke. Still. It now housed some dozen rebels. Well...they were hardly rebels, just scared men and women who had fled Smile contol. They were teachers, clerks, office assistants, dentists, loli-pop ladies. They were dry cleaners and and Triple A workers. They were the plain, run of the mill, unmemorable arseholes you seen in your every day life.


That's who they used to be.


Now they were rebels, by choice or by the merit of having no-where else to turn. Rebels had to be able to fight, and it had somehow fallen to the unhinged Smirk to tteach them how. He had given a few hours worth of lesson and now loosed the people to spar, moving betwee nthe groups and offering direction. His features were painted white, with black around the eyes, as well as above and below. His lips had also been painted black and lines drawn along the unscarred side of his mouth to make his 'smirk' appear more even. He looked ridiculous but this was Smirk's look. One of the ways he fought rebelled against the ideals of SMILE and no-one questioned him on it, for his hair-trigger temper was easy to set off.

" Watch the right. Keep your hands up and light on your toes. Like this." smirk nudged the young man who had been sparring with a bear of a former fire fighter. " See... Keep it tight. Peek-a-boo." He said, his Scottish accent subdued to an understadnable extent. After all he didn't want half these English folks to be going 'What?' or 'Hmm?' at him constantly. " Breath oot when you punch. Hiss if you need too. It stops you from being winded if you catch a body shot on the way out." The lad was urged back in and he kept his hands tight to his chin. " Good... Don't drop you head." Patting the man on the back Smirk circled to the outside of the class. "Keep goin'. Another two minutes then take a drink and change partners." He shouted. He could hear one of the doors further down the hall open and grinned. He was expecting a second batch of new-meat today. That had to be them now.

[Melissa Clark]

Melissa Clark was one of the cheekier Rebels, so when it came to giving a class directions to their lesson, she sent them the wrong way. Off in the general direction of the forest. She had told them that the Instructor, whoever they were, had chosen to give an outdoor lesson, in the nice weather. Foolishly, they believed it. Now they had gone and she was now left with two choices. Neither of them seemed as interesting as she liked, but they were better than sitting on one of the benches within HQ, soaking in boredom. Her choices were A) Investigate the lesson, or B) work. Won't strain myself with that answer, she thought as she stood, entered a hallway and walked down a long corridor. Beeping cameras and various lockers were upon the hall's walls, but Melissa paid no attention to this. Rubber soles squeaking as she failed to notice her undone laces.

As she walked through the doors, into a well lit gym-like room. She peered around, before she took a step on one of her laces. This unplanned move would make any normal, balanced person just stumble, then catch themselves. Though for Melissa, she toppled forward, landing chest first on the floor. She wasn't a heavy person, but the force of the collision let out an almighty slam. A howl of curses burst forth as she hit the floor, in front of a class and their teacher. "Fuck.." She whimpered, bringing herself up into a sitting position, hoping that though she had been in plain view, and extremely loud she hadn't been seen.

[Smirking Jack]

Smirk padded the halls, pushing the approaching footsteps from his mind as he focused on the sparring partners. He smiled as a younger man was thrown over the hip of an older man to land on his back. Tey weren't doing too bad. Hell...They might even make a decent fighter some time in the future. Smirk clapped lightly. " Atta-boy Danny." He shouted before adjusting the tape over his hands.

While most of the class let Melissa slip past unnoticed as she toppled in face first Smirk couldn't help but laugh softly. He had see nher around the place before but had never saw any reason to introduce himself. She cursed and sat herself up. The painted up rebel strolled over and approached with a warm smile on his face. " Nice dive, but the landing hurt your score." He joked, offering a hand to her.

She was a pretty thing, and far too young to be any sort of rebel than perhaps a rebellious daughter railing against her parents wishes. How did she end up caught up in this shit? Ahh well... Rebels came from all walks of life and SMILE was quick to destroy innocence. "You should tie your shoe laces." Smirk pointed out rather matter of factly.

[Melissa Clark]

"Give me half a chance.." She mumbled, tying her laces then grabbing the fellow Rebel's hand with both of hers to get up. Ruffling her hair as she stood at her full height of five two, she rubbed her chest unashamedly. "Broken boobs. Ouch." She huffed, before grinning up at the taller figure in front of her. As far as she could remember, Melissa must have seen him only twice or so around the Headquarters. And so had little to no idea of who he was.

"Nice make up." She beamed, her hair a toss and her clothes creased. "Who are you?" Melissa then asked, still holding onto his hand, as if they were going to shake, but hadn't quite gotten to that part yet. Though she had been quite bold in her question, she was quite pleased to finally get to talk to someone so different. And - she couldn't help but notice, beneath the paint, good looking.

Finally, after a few seconds of looking up at him, she blinked and let go of his hand. She hadn't quite realised she'd been grasping his palm for so long. Still.. She wasn't necessarily complaining, holding someone's hand in the midst of all the death and torture was quite nice. Even if it was with a practical stranger.

"Oh, I'm Melissa," she introduced herself, before waiting for him to speak too.

[Smirking Jack]

She muttured somthing too low for him to catch and he laughed as she took her hand and got up. She didn't look hurt but rubbed at her chest which caused Smirk to...Well to smirk. " They don't look broken to me, They look fine." He stated, offering a grin. He had expected just a hand shake but she kept her hand in his, as if contemplating the exact moment to shake it. He tilted his head slightly as she beamed up at him.

" Thanks" He replied back cheerfully, her next question brought a chuckle to his lips. " I'm the devil, and I've come to do the devils work. Who are you?" He shot the question back at her, trying his best not to steal another glance at her 'broken' boobs. She seemed to awake out of her stunned stupor and drop his hand sheepishly, he had to admit he missed the sensation already. "Melissa huh? That's a pretty name. Ma mither called me Jack, but most just call me Smirk now." He stated, half remembering the class. " Gimme a wee second." He said before detaching himself from her. " Right, that's it for today" He shouted and the class stopped, relieved. " I'll see you guys back here tomorrow same time. Get plenty of water and keep your heads down." As they left Smirk undid the tape around his hands and dropped it in a bin before picking up his long, leather jacket and strolling back to Melissa.

" I was thinking of going for a coffee. You wanna come along or do you have places to be?" He asked, hoping she'd come and they'd get to talking.

[Melissa Clark]

While Melissa's cheeks glowed a soft red, she looked up at him with a small smile. Pleasant, and somewhat shy. Reserved, maybe. "You have a nice name too!" She told him, smiling a little wider as she got into a more comfortable position with him. Not that that thought could be taken naughtily at all...

"So, I take it you're the teacher here?" She asked, finding that he was actually the teacher, or one hell of a persuasive talker if he could just dismiss a room full of people like that. If he was, just that persuasive, Melissa would have been thoroughly impressed with him. Not that she wasn't impressed with him being a teacher to people. It took determination and commitment to come in every day and teach people that couldn't fight all that well. People like herself, for example.

The small blond contemplated asking him to teach her something some time, but thought better of it as he sent out his invitation to her. "Coffee? Ew. But uhm, sure, I'd love to come along with you. I'm done working anyway~" She sang, hooking her arm through his once he was near enough for her to do so.

[Smirking Jack]

Smirk merely offered a grin when she asked if he was the teacher. " Somthing like that." He admitted, offering a small shrug. " Hand to hand is the basis of all combat, so it's a good place to start for our hero rebels over there." He grinned as she looped her arm through his and he placed his hand ontop of her's as they walked. He led her through the winding tunnels, his pace casual.

" So what is it you do around here?" Probably somthing important, she seemed to be someone unique, who could take all the evilsof the world with a smile on her face. Hell by the look of her you'd never know the country was in the grip of an evil tyrant that put Skeletor to shame. " I've see nyou around a few times." He concluded, prefering ot leave how much of her he'd admired out of the conversation.

His walk soon led them to a make shift canteen in one of the larger rooms. Benches were placed everywhere and some people were busy making food. Smirk strolled up to the counter and grinned. " A coffee, White, sugar please... And errm. " He nodded to Mel. " Whatever Mel wants." He replied. When they were served Smirk took his drink and padded over to the a table before scooting up to sit on it and place his feet in the bench.

"Funny...All the stuff we need, and you can still get a good coffee." A grin crossed his lips and he took a small sip of his drink. " Say... You don't have any psycho boyfriends that are gonna go nuts if they see you with me are they?" God...Please let her have psychotic vboyfriends that would go apeshit. After weeks of clean living he was dying for a shot of adrenaline, longing after somthing exciting.

[Melissa Clark]

Melissa rubbed her fingers against his softly, as they moved throughout the dim tunnels, shafts of light gleaming through the winding maze. "Well, that's kinda awesome then." Was all she managed to say, unable to say much else on the subject considering her minimal to non existent knowledge of fighting.

"What do I do? I steal stuff - from SMILE. I don't just go around and pick up stuff from people. Don't judge me though, I'm the reason we have vans, and guns and stuff..." She rubbed her chin shyly, cheeks still burning a soft red. Melissa wasn't really the type of person to open up so quickly, even if it was just about what she did. If someone asked, she'd tell them she just did the odd job every now and then.

"Oh yeah? I've seen you too, never really said anything cause you kinda scared me. Not that you scare me now, you seem really nice. But from a distance, with the paint and stuff, seemed like you wanted people to back off, or be backed off, y'know?" She rambled, before coming to a quiet hush and just blushing softly, staying snug in his side. All while they walked together.

Melissa kept up with Smirk as he ordered his coffee, one of the substances Melissa just couldn't stand drinking. She had enough energy as it was, so she didn't need a coffee to send her up the walls. De-caf was out of the question also, it just tasted bad. Once he'd gotten his drink, she got herself an over sized muffin and a cup of hot chocolate. She followed him over and sat opposite.

"I wouldn't call it a good coffee, looks gross~" She chirped, grinning as she picked out chips of chocolate from her muffin, laying them out on the napkin in front of her. Arranged in a small smiling face. Irony, wasn't it just the greatest?

"Crazy boyfriends? Nah, no one seems to really fancy getting with the 'ditzy' thief, especially during such hard times. I do have an insane ex, but I think he went to SMILE, so..." Melissa shrugged, peering down at the froth of her chocolate drink. "Sorry to disappoint!" She beamed, looking up at him, as if the slight damper that had befallen her for just a moment hadn't existed at all. Still smiling, Melissa picked up each chocolate chip, one by one, and ate it slowly.

[Smirking Jack]

" I wouldn't call it awesome." Smirk mumbled, shifting uncomfortbly. He didn't like the idea of taking people who could help society, Doctors, nurses, dentists, chemists, and turning them into soldiers. Violence had a funny habit of keeping itself going and creating more soldiers only served to extend it. His expression shifted as she told him she was a theif, and the reason they had so much equipment. " I was wondering about that, Guess your a real corner stone. Do they let you go out by yourself? I mean, it's dangerous work and SMILE wouldn't pass up the chance to bag a resistance member." Concern laced his voice, but he quickly pushed it aside.

A tiny smile crept onto his lips when she mentioned the coffee. She was right, it was terribly bitter and completely disgusting but it was better than the stuff peddled at other places. " At least it's real coffee. I hear most places are cutting their supply with sawdust now to make it last." Taking a sip Smirk held his face straight, eeven if he wanted to scruntch it up from the bitter taste. His gaze followed her fingers as they arranged the chips into a smile and he smirked at the irony.

" I get that a lot." He concluded, brushing ah and across his face. " People said I had to smile more, and now look at me." He offered her his best grin. " Now I'm smiling all the time." He was a little bit dissapointed. Boredom was a terrible enemy and it seemed he was being kept on a short leash. Still, he'd get his fix sooner or later. Still he nodded his head. " Thats good. See you don't want to get mixed up with the wrong people. Lot of strange people around, lot of bad folk..." He leaned forward over the table and muttured. " A lot of nutters." He held the most serious expression for a few seconds before he let it slip and laughed. " Relax, I'm fucking with you." Stealing one of her chocolate chips Smirk popped it in his mouth. " You know I'd kill for a little fresh air, You wanna go for a ride after this? Been meaning to steal that flashy little number outside the SMILE office near the square for a week or so now but...never really got down to it."

[Melissa Clark]

Melissa shrugged. "I'd call it awesome, a lot of people around here are after revenge, or just want to hide. Don't blame 'em though," she smiled, then continued to nibble through the chocolate tips until they had vanished and she was left with a muffin. A muffin she chose to pick at and each just as slowly, pecking at the pieces she picked up with her fingers until she'd worked through about an actual bite size amount. Which was when she stopped and sipped at her hot chocolate. "It's not just me, there are other people that steal too. It'd be way too much piled on just one person. Do they let me out on my own? Sure. Do I get caught every now and then? Yup, but with some clever work, you can slip right out.." the blonde explained, blowing the hot drink softly.

Looking up at him as he spoke about the coffee and his smile, she shrugged lightly. "I like your smile, it's different!" She chirped, sipping at her drink and nibbling at her muffin. Melissa was finding Smirk's company pleasant, some people just couldn't hold up a decent conversation. Again, she didn't really blame them, but some people needed to learn to let certain things go. Still, not everyone could do that and Melissa knew that.

A..perhaps inappropriate image flashed through the young adult's mind as he said the words 'I'm fucking with you', which gave her a start. The blonde woman was never really one to think like that, and while that thought and burnt into her conscious self, she had been drinking her chocolate. Bad move, bad bad move. With a startled snort and a noise that could have been considered a choke, she swallowed it down. Her face burned a bright red, as she realised the gross noises she'd made. Looking down into her lap, she wiped away any crumbs and attempted to sort it out with a quiet 'chocolate went down the wrong way...'

Looking up a few moments later, she smiled, hoping nothing big would have been made out of her slip up. "A ride? You mean in .." Another embarrassed cough as she realized she really needed to wash her mind out with soap. "Sure, sounds fun, fresh air and all that." Melissa smiled feebly, finishing off her drink and crumpling up the rubbish from her half eaten muffin.

[Smirking Jack]

It seemed a little odd but then that was the world they lived in now. He hoped he'd never see the day when 'theif' became a profession on which everday life depended upon but there you go. Another wonderful gift from that glorious goverment of theirs. Jack merely smirked. " Mh, Well... I never see any of them around. You don't strike me as a theif, your very...outgoing." He said after a moment to think of a word. " I'd imagine a theif was introverted but then I suppose they are just like everyone else." When she complimented his smile he grinned. " Thank you sweetheart." He murmered, taking another sip of his coffee.

He hadn't noticed her blush untill she made the sound, his gaze flicking to her and a wide grin crawled over his lips followed by a laugh. " Nice!" Laughing over the rim of his coffee he downed the rest, pushing the paper cup aside and shuddering. " That shit will be the death of me one day." He remarked casually, dusting his hands together. " Cool." Popping his rubbish in the bin he waited for Mel before strolling out and down the maze of tunnels.

" We'll take my bike." He said rather cheerfully as they came upon a large tunnel with a ramp leading to the surface that looked somewhat like a garage. A dirty sheet had been left over a form and Smirk pulled it off without a second thought, lifting a can of petrol from the floor. An old Harley Fatboy bike sat propped up A pretty thing and a throw back to days gone past. " Found her in a scrap heap. Spent most of my teen years putting her back together but Smile dosen't allow them on the road anymore." Popping off the cap Smirk poured the petrol into the tank before capping it again and leaving it to the side. " I've got to warn you it's eh... A little bit louder than the stuff today. Not as fuel efficent and the motor makes a hell of a noise. A helmet hung on one handle. Smirk took it and tossed it over to her as he got on the bike. " You can sit behind, or in front. Depends on how brave you are. Just make sure to hold on tight either way."

[Melissa Clark]

"Shut up," Melissa smiled, clearing her throat in embarrassment. She was mostly glad that there hadn't been a fuss made of her slip up. She wasn't a person that enjoyed fusses over little things, she liked to think she was actually fairly laid back. At least on most subjects. "If you reckon it's going to be the death of you, why do you drink it?" Melissa asked with a smile and a small laugh. Why someone would consume something they didn't like she'd never know. Unless she asked, which was why she asked..

Brushing off any crumbs on her clothes, she stood and followed after her new friend. She was merrily trotting along next to him when he mentioned a bike. And maybe a little stupidly, the first thing she thought of was a bicycle, but gathered he meant something else and kept quiet for a little bit longer. Melissa pulled her jacket around her body a little tighter as a chill ran in from the mouth of the tunnel. By this point, he was talking again and had revealed a motorbike. She smiled awkwardly and watched as he did what he had to do.

"When my dad moved into our house when I was little, it came with a shed and there was a motorbike in there.." She told him, finding herself comfortable enough to just say thing and not worry about what he thought. Melissa uncrossed her arms in time to catch a helmet as he threw it to her and looked at it. Well, that's going to ruin me hair, she thought, before popping it on and climbing on behind him. Safety first, right? Only then did she rather slyly coil her arms around his stomach and hold onto him tightly. Though her dad had had a bike, Melissa had never been brave enough to get on with him. Now, with Smile confiscating any bikes they could get their mits on, she didn't think she'd get the chance. Well, yay?