Upgrades People Upgrades!

[Bobbie]

Simon was almost stripped down when she so graciously offered him the chance to hold onto his dignity. In response, he narrowed her eyes at her and muttered, “I intended to,” in a quiet tone, as if raising his voice loud enough to be heard clearly could cost him his life. Perhaps that wasn’t too far from the truth anyway… the woman certainly seemed to possess a lot of power. She could possibly even drown him in chocolate, which, contrary to what many chocoholics may think, really sounded like a horrible way to go to the off-duty officer.

“Okay. How messy is this going to-“ he started to ask, aiming to mentally prepare himself for the sticky mess that he was about to be encased in, but before he could finish his question, the chocolate was blasted his way. His eyes closed by natural reflex and he pressed his lips together as he held his breath, preferring not to get any of it in his lungs. The force at which the molten chocolate was shot at him caused enough spray to prompt the man to tilt his head back and crane his neck, raising his chin as high as he could to avoid getting the chocolate splashed on his face.

As he tried his best not to move so as not to mess this up, he couldn’t help focussing on how weird it felt to have the warm viscous fluid dredged all over his body and slowly drip down before it would promptly set to prevent too much spillage. “This feels so weird…” he muttered as he started to breathe again, but it wasn’t necessarily a complaint. It was somewhat comforting to be packed up so tightly, compressed within a chocolaty tomb, but also unpleasant when the heat started to kick in. With more and more chocolate piling up all over him, he could feel his body rising off the floor and he tried to move his arms, but he couldn’t. It might have lasted only a few moments, but the whole process felt unbearably long to her victim, who was starting to feel nauseated with the strong smell of chocolate and the thought of it getting into every little space on his exposed body where chocolate would usually have no business going was slightly disturbing.

Once it was over, he let out a sigh of relief as he was pulled out of the mould. “Phew… thought I was going to cook in there!” he laughed, the simple transition from that situation to his freedom being enough to put a smile on the young man’s face again as if all troubles were forgotten.

“You did… it’s alright. That felt so weird though.” He looked down at his body and wiped some of the chocolate off his stomach with a look of combined disgust and fascination. What a uniquely disturbing ordeal. “I like chocolate and all, but I feel like I’ve just starred in some adult-rated movie… do you do this with a lot of your clients?”

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Simon: #d2ce2f

[Kami-Gaz]

Once Simon had been pried from the mould the inventor quickly closed it up and sealed the crack that was needed to create the contraption in the first place. In moments it became one piece and she smiled. All that was left to do now was to fill it with plaster and let that set before breaking all the chocolate off. It was amazing the things that could be done with a devil fruit like this, the scientific applications that could be used. In that moment she lost herself in thought with a big smile on her face, her horns pushing the rim of her hat up so anyone could see it shining bright.

“Wah? Oh yeah, Leon last night loved it…” She absent mindedly joked, having only half heard what the man said. “You’re the first to get a full body mould though, not many people come asking me to make them powered battle suits that can let them survive getting punched by a shichibukai.” The fox noted before turning around to pull her hat off to bow with a flourish to Simon.

“Now, I have a shower around the corner… it’s a shower just in case I spill chemicals on myself so it’s a bit utilitarian… there is some nice scented shampoo and body wash I’ll let you use though.” Fleur said as she stood up straight and gestured towards a room at the back of her workshop then a cheeky grin spread across her face. “You can either leave commando or take a spare pair of underwear… I’m not one to judge.” She teased, out right joking to the man before spinning around on her heel to start getting to work on filling the mould and creating the mannequin she needed.

[Bobbie]

Simon stared at the woman. How could anybody love this? It was messy and sticky, and just unpleasant all around. The sheer look of horror on his face was enough to indicate that he was picturing what she hinted at. When she continued to explain why he was the only one to get a full body mould, his eyebrows raised and he began a very slow nod, his head slowly tilting backwards. “I… what?” his nod soon became a shake of his head.

With a frown, he narrowed his eyes and puffed his cheeks as he exhaled through his mouth. The situation was complicated and he was now the most confused person in the room. “I don’t… I mean, I don’t recall asking for that... specifically…” he muttered, before reaching up rub his temple and as if on command or by magic, a smile graced his lips despite the situation, his dimples all the more accentuated by his confusion as he let out a laugh. “What’s a shichibukai?” Completely clueless, the officer was... and with the next gust of wind came a cruel reminder that he was heavily underdressed, which was followed by a kind offer from the inventor before him, and then cruel one. This woman was like a rollercoaster of qualities – one minute she’s brilliant and awe-inspiring, the next she becomes a terrifying force from which he would like to be as far away as possible.

She did have a sense of humour, however. His cheeks were burning as they became flushed with embarrassment due to the implication of her offer. Surely, she doesn't mean... I think she does.

The young officer let out a hearty laugh, before he started to pick up the clothes that he had left at a safe distance from the chocolate blaster. “Thank you, but I don’t think they would really be my style, assuming a lot of the stuff in here is yours…” he held his clothes in front of him, self-conscious of the lack of clothing on his body, and looking for some kind of barrier to separate him from this crazy fox-lady. “Which way-“ his voice came out as nothing short of a squeak and he cleared his throat to correct it. “Which way is the shower?”

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Simon: #d2ce2f

[Kami-Gaz]

“What’s a shichibukai?” The fox-like vixen echoed as she spun around on the spot again to face the man that was before her in the most compromised of positions, he had asked the question some moments ago but she had gotten lost in her own theatrics to pick it up. “Oh… wow, you genuinely don’t know.” She spoke, a look of surprise on her face. Fleur let the tail that was behind her swish for dramatic effect as her boots made a dull thudding noise. She was approaching.

“Simon, you really are Cute and Naïve. I can see why little Miss Anni likes you now.” She mused, getting within arms reach of the chocolate smothered man. She pulled her hat off and placed it to the side before hooking a chair with her foot and pulling it away from the work bench to sit on it. She then gestured for him to do the same, this was going to be a lecture, and now he had to endure it whilst chocolate covered and in his underwear.

“A Shichibukai is a powerful pirate. One so strong and badass that the world government pays them to do stuff for them and ignores their crimes whilst they are paying them.” She started, forming a chocolate figure in the shape of a man in her hand. “They are big bad pirates that are given immunity from the system in exchange for doing shady things. There are supposedly seven of the buggers”. The figure hadn’t set so it moved about as if it were a doll, moving with no strings and taking a villainous position.

“These guys are strong and practically impossible to take down. If one rocked up here and caused a fuss because one of the shipyards annoyed him, well then your job as a cop is about to get very dangerous and I hope you have fantastic life insurance.” The talk was dramatic, but the figure almost hardened into a post before a bubble of pressurised liquid chocolate built up inside making it explode into pieces.

“When I eventually set out to sea again, I hope I can crew up with some hunk with a golden heart and a big dream. I don’t want to be rocking up to an island and hurting people for no reason, ya know?” She asked before standing up off of her stool and leaning really close to Simon, her lips almost brushing his ear. “And I’m sure when Little Miss Anni goes on her adventure, you’ll protect her then too right?” She asked softly, her words being an almost whisper in his ear. She was fond of the little miss, she challenged her inventive ability, and it was wonderous, if she got hurt pursuing her dream then she’d likely join the long line of people that would go seeking vengeance.

Then she stood up tall again and picked up her hat in one hand, the other pointing past the man to a door at the back of the lab in the right most corner. “The shower is back there, take as long as you need.”

[Bobbie]

The closer Fleur got to him, the more uncomfortable Simon felt. It wasn’t because she was unpleasant or anything like that, but, quite simply put, he was terribly intimidated by her, and there wasn’t a single hair on his body that didn’t reveal it. Each thud of her boots hammer onto the floor tiles caused a tremor in his bones, until she was finally up close to him. She, fully clothed, authoritative, and a giant of a woman, within arm’s length of him, scrawny, chocolate-covered, and almost naked.

Smiling nervously, his back arched slightly as his body moved involuntarily to create some distance between him and the mad woman, the very sound of her voice making every hair on the back of his neck stand on its end. “A-Am I?” he asked before letting out a soft chuckle.

It seemed this was going to be a long talk – or perhaps a monologue, based on what he has already seen of this woman. Theatrics were clearly a strong suit. With a gentle sigh, he moved to the chair close to hers and pulled it out as he dared not go against her will, then sat down and held his clothes all bundled up in his lap to cover himself as best he could. It didn’t take very long for the man to start squirming, his skin uncomfortably sticky in some places because of the chocolate that hadn’t set yet, but itchy in the areas where it had set and formed solid chunks of chocolate that would crackle with his movements. The most unbearable of all was right in between his shoulder blades.

As she explained everything that there was to know about a Shichibukai, he actively listened, nodding every now and then to show his interest in what she was saying, even if he was a little distracted. “Oh… Well, I hope I never get to meet one then.” He mumbled in response to her hypothetical situation as he eyed the chocolate figure in amazement, “I do not have fantastic life insurance, coincidentally, so…” he let out an awkward laugh before she went on.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I know-“ he started his reply, but was taken aback when she stood up and leaned closer to him. Before he could react, he felt her warm breath in his ear. As the blood drained from his face, the young man became as white as a ghost as his lips instinctively curled into a lopsided smile as one corner twitched to go higher than the other, the dimples on his right cheek burrowing deeper than his left. “Y-Yes ma’am.” He uttered in a small voice that took a lot of strength to maintain at a steady and unwavering pitch.

Simon watched her straighten up again and stand so tall as the colour slowly returned to his face - much to his surprise, it was actually his cheeks that warmed up first and then the rest. He stood up, his clothes held securely between him and her to conceal the little bit of clothing that he was still only dressed in. “Thanks… I’ll uh… I’ll just get going then.” His nerves were jittery as he slowly inched away from the crazy lady. Too embarrassed to turn around and walk away from her, dressed as he was, he remained facing her and walked backwards in the direction that she pointed him toward. It was impressive that he lasted a solid three seconds before bumping into one of the benches in her workshop. “Whoops, sorry!” he glanced behind him to see that nothing had fallen on the floor, luckily, and so he merely arranged the things on it with one hand and continued to reverse his way into the shower area.

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Simon: #d2ce2f

[Kami-Gaz]

With her explanation given and threat delivered she stood tall and turned to return to work, as she did her tail brushed the man on the face. Everything was fun when they were as easy to push around as this man… still he was ballsy to ask Oleg to get something this powerful made. Oh well, what was set in motion was set in motion and she was not one to cheap out just because she found the guy a bit too wimpy for her tastes.

There was a bump behind her, and she slowly shifted her gaze to look and see Simon double checking to make sure he hadn’t broken anything. Which he hadn’t, which was even luckier given that bench held the prototype shock gun that she and Palchi Falcone were working on based off of his adopted daughter’s plans. Though the current issue was how to power it without said daughter around. If that had broken… Simon would have been in another chocolate cocoon until the old man came back.

“Get to showering! That chocolate must be uncomfortable!” Fleur spoke, waving her hand as she returned to getting the mould set to be filled with a cool plaster mix that will set in it, then when heated the chocolate should just melt away. That should take a few hours… all that was needed was for Fleur to get the ingredients needed to craft this and remember how to reshape Wapolmetal, that was going to be a crash course.

[Bobbie]

What Simon saw on that bench was yet another thing to shock the man to his core – what on earth is this woman building? Why does this family ask her for such things that look so… deadly? He couldn’t help but wonder, thinking anything of a corrupt nature to be inconceivable of this family. They truly were the sweetest bunch.

With the woman’s word, he nodded and laughed nervously, “Yup, I’m on it! It is uncomfortable– b-but I’m grateful to have you working on this for me.” The man stuttered, before he frowned at his own poor performance and slipped away faster than she could reply.

The water jets could be heard flowing as Simon enjoyed a nice hot shower to remove all the sticky and solidified bits of chocolate from his body. It was a longer shower than his usual ones, as it really demanded a lot of careful scrubbing and attention to get all the chocolate off him… all the chocolate in all those difficult places. “Never again…” he sighed to himself as was confident that he got it all off his body and he was now spic and span, squeaky clean. “I bet it’s some sort of immobilising weapon to use against criminals… Annika is going to be fighting crime now, so I guess that makes sense.” as is tradition, shower time is when one has their deepest thoughts, and so Simon contemplated what he had just witnessed and experienced, along with all the mysteries of the universe, his career choice, and possibilities for his future.

“Maybe one day she could build something like that for me. A net gun of sorts, bring in all the bad guys… or a crime scene tape launcher.”

Simon stepped out of the shower with the utmost care, being extremely cautious so as not to slip. He had already slipped once while he was following Fleur to her lab, he couldn’t afford to do it again. Slipping once is just an accident, slipping twice is… well, it could mean one of two things: you’re a clumsy buffoon, to use Miguel’s words as they rang in Simon’s mind; or the earth’s gravity is at odds with you.

Eventually, the mighty survivor of Fleur’s chocolaty wrath emerged from the bathroom, seemingly fully dressed in the same clothes he came in wearing – denim blue jeans and his dark button-up shirt. Despite having had no chocolate squirted into it, it seemed that he also washed his hair and took full advantage of Fleur’s offer of the magnificent-smelling shampoo and body wash. As he stepped out of the shower and back into the lab with the used towel in hand, not quite sure where he should leave it, all he was lacking was his shoes.

Barefoot, the accident-prone man made his way across the impeccably clean and polished floor-tiles, the damp soles of his feet squeaking as they lacked the friction to provide the solid grip of rubber-soled shoes that were waiting for him on the complete other side of the room. "Ah, there you are."

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Simon: #d2ce2f

[Kami-Gaz]

The plaster had been poured into the mould and the entire thing has been wheeled into industrial scale cooler for it to set. This was going to be a lot of work for a single proof of concept battle suit… but it would be amazing if when in use Simon could do some amazing things… Oleg might ask her to make more, maybe she could sell the designs on to some big people for a lot of money… Oh the possibilities.

The foxy inventor moved to another part of her lab to start stockpiling the material needed to make the base layer of the suit. A simple nylon fabric under the initial weave of wapolmetal should do wonders for comfort. Her hat twitched as the ears inside of it caught the squeaking sound of bare damp feet on tile. With each step there was another twitch all until the young woman turned around and let her gaze fall on the man. It was a scene similar to a hero trying to sneak into a dragon’s hoard and the dragon looked larger than life and surrounded by a dark and intimidating aura.

“All done Simon?” She asked menacingly as she approached, holding a hand sized shell in her hand. “Do you want to see what I am going to be using for your battle suit?” She asked with a pleasant smile once she was close enough, holding out the shell that had a button on the top of it. This was an impact dial… and it held a charge.

“Press this button to your chest.” She said sweetly, so sweetly in fact that it made her chocolate taste bitter in comparison. Luckily the impact should push him far closer to his shoes than he already was.

[Bobbie]

Simon paused and stared at Fleur with sheer fear in his eyes. She was approaching. Why? What did he do wrong? What was she going to do to him now? He looked at her hands, is there going to be more chocolate!? “Y-Yes… all done. Why?” The panicked look on his face soon subsided, however, once she got closer and the menacing tone was replaced with a sweet one and a pleasant smile.

His gaze fell onto the shell that she held out to him as he gently picked it up, taking it from her grasp as it was offered to him. If you drop this… he swallowed nervously as he considered all the possible endings a man could face at the hands of this witch. “Uh, yeah. Sure, I'd like to see. What is it?” he asked, inspecting the item as he gently put the towel down on the floor by his bare feet. He didn't quite understand why this had to be so intricate or complicated. All he wanted was a bodysuit to wear under his uniform, he wasn't asking for any fancy armour or anything like that. A simple thinly padded suit, that will now be fitted, thanks to the chocolate mould, was enough to spare him of a few bruises. “To my chest…” he moved the suspicious item to his chest and watched her closely. Was this a trick of sorts? She seemed genuine enough and quite nice. In fact, she seemed nicer than he has ever seen her be so far, so maybe they just got off on the wrong foot. In her defence, he did accidentally yank her tail almost immediately after they met.

“Like this?” he glanced at her once more, before he pressed the button to his chest. “What’s supposed to-“ before he could finish his question, the impact dial would be in effect as Simon once again became Fleur’s unwitting victim.

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Simon: #d2ce2f

[Kami-Gaz]

There was the raw thudding sound of pure kinetic energy pulsing right into the man’s chest and knocking him for six across the lab, a few feet in the air and the rest of it sliding over the pristine marble floor with his rear. When the man came to a stop it was just by the door where his shoes had been left unattended and unmolested.

As this happened there was pleasant cackling coming from Fleur, a soft laugh that rang with her silky voice. That was far funnier than she thought it was going to be! He was so gullible he made puppies seem like hardened cynics and it was just amazing to mess with. Her laugh came to an end moments after the sliding did. As she wiped a tear from her eye and walked over Fleur offered a hand to the man, her tail flicking side to side wildly behind her. “That is an impact Dial, that will absorb all the bumps and impacts you take while in the suit.” The witch explained as her other hand pulled the dial from his hands and placed it on the stool near to the door.

“Watch.” The chocolate witch stated before spinning and delivering a full power axe kick to the dial that was on the stool. On the second of impact… nothing happened, her foot came to a perfect rest. She knocked the dial to the side where it hit the floor and as the button pressed the impact from her kick was unleashed into the floor causing the marble to crack under foot. “This will make your armour insanely protective and a devastating weapon too.” She explained, she had her fun now, the man had been hazed. Simon was now in her books as a good man.

“Any questions?”

[Bobbie]

The energy hit Simon’s chest like a sack of bricks, knocking the wind right out of him as he flew across the inventor's lab. As he was flung into the air, the man’s arms flailed as an expression of pure terror fell upon his face, until he hit the ground and he slid across the polished tiles effortlessly. The movement was so effortless, in fact, that any attempts to bring himself to a stop were futile.

The poor man spun uncontrollably for a few seconds before he could at least balance himself to slide more gracefully in a more linear motion. Finally, his body came to a gradual stop and he just sat there on the floor, his eyes wide in horror of what has just happened. It was like being on a fancy ride – one of those rides that he would never dream of getting on precisely for this reason: his stomach began to churn.

Sitting upright, he rooted his feet to the ground as if to stabilise himself and placed one hand over his mouth for a moment, his face turning a light shade of green. Once it felt safe and his face was slowly returning to its natural colour, he removed his hand and revealed a wide grin, “W-Wow!” was all he could manage at the time, before reaching up to take her hand and bring himself up to his feet again, with her help. “That was… unpleasant, but really something.” He muttered with a little nod and a soft chuckle. “An impact Dial? I’ve never seen one in action before, but I’ve heard about them.” he crossed his arms for a brief moment before tapping his chin with a finger, contemplating her explanation. “That’s really interesting.” He watched her place the dial on the stool, fascinated.

As the witch demonstrated her witchcraft, Simon was once again amazed, his eyebrows raising in an instant as she slammed her foot into the dial. Is that it? He wondered to himself, before she carried on with her demonstration, knocking the dial off the stool and onto the floor. As all the force stored in the dial came out in one sudden expulsion, Simon’s shoulders shuddered and his entire body staggered back, frightened by the sudden burst of energy. He laughed nervously, embarrassed about getting a fright, but was an expert at playing such a clumsy demeanour off.

“Wow, that actually gave me a scare.” He tapped his chest, making no effort to hide it and laughed again. “That’s amazing. You made this? So it’s going into the suit…” he muttered, crossing his arms once again, in thought. “Questions? Oh, I have so many.” He laughed, clearly having very little experience in this sort of weaponry, if any at all.

"Does it come with a manual?"

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Simon: #d2ce2f

[Kami-Gaz]

The way Simon got up from the demonstration was quite impressive! Despite a little green wooziness he was carrying on like a real trooper and showed a gumption. This was why Annika liked him, he was someone that could keep up with shenanigans. With a foot the fox hooked the shell and kicked it up to her hand where she caught it and chuckled. “Yeah, I’ll write one up for you, man.” Fleur spoke with a kinder inflection to her voice.

Her tail was swiping from side to side now, turning her back to her new client. This was going to be a good challenge, one to really test her ability to work with the raw material… A great smile came to her face before she looked over her shoulder and shared the smile with Simon. “You’ll get the best damn armoured wetsuit money can buy.” She promised, if only her tutor could be here to see what hairbrained scheme she was planning to make this work.

Fleur returned to heading to the desk where a pen was picked up. “I’ll get it delivered to you within the month.” Fleur spoke, raising the hand that held the dial high up into the air as a sign of that promise. The other hand was frantically writing down equations and everything that was coming into her galaxy sized brain, all the stuff that would be needed to make this work. Her hand was a blur, which eventually moved away from the paper and onto the desk itself as some of the notes seemed to go on forever.

“If you ever need anything else.” Fleur spoke, stopping for a moment to catch the officer, if he hadn’t already left. “Hit me up, okay? You’ve got a good mind for potential inventions.” She spoke with a warm smile, breaking through that tough and dramatic visage.

[Bobbie]

Simon instantly caught on to the softer tone in her words and was very taken aback by it, but he couldn’t complain. This foxy woman had a very specific allure that it seemed she only showed on rare occasion, and it made her seem sweet, rather than devious, for a change. “Thank you, that would be helpful.” He replied, quite possibly more eager for the manual than the actual suit itself.

As she turned around, his gaze dropped lower to her tail, so luscious and fluffy. Annika sure does have an odd bunch of friends around her.

The officer looked up to meet her gaze as she looked back at him to flash a smile and his face instinctively offered one in return – if it hadn’t been doing that already, it was like an automatic reflex at this point and he was often unaware when he was smiling. “I have no doubt!” he blurted out in full genuineness to the genius, though a little bit mad, inventor before him.

“Alright, within the month sounds reasonable.” He muttered, knowing deep down that he would have settled for anything that she proposed – a week, a month, a year, they were all reasonable. “Oh, wow, that’s… that’s a lot of notes…” he mumbled as he watched the woman’s hand glide across the paper and her pen scratch across its edge and onto the desk as well. With a little squint, he tried to make sense of the words she was scribbling, but her hand moved ridiculously fast and there was no way to make out any of the words.

“I’ll just…” he gestured toward the door, but the woman seemed so lost in the moment that it elicited a gentle lean to try and sneak a peek at her face and make eye contact – to no avail. “Thank you.” He tried again, “I’ll leave you to it then.” It was like speaking to a machine, programmed to complete a task and stop at nothing – perhaps one without any speech recognition to pick up Simon’s words. “Okay. Within the month, then. I'm leaving now.” Realising that this was hopeless, he finally turned and started to leave.

He was almost at the door when she spoke and he promptly turned to face her, once again catching a glimpse of a gentle and warm expression on the lady’s face, which was enough to crack the man’s mouth into a big grin. “You will definitely be the person I come to!” he replied from the other side of the room. “Thank you, again!” he felt the need to thank her one more time before he left her lab with a single thought buzzing in his head for another day.

My pistol could probably use a little work too.

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Simon: #d2ce2f