Timeline: Current.
Clarice: A pink portal opened on top of a building and Clarice shuck her head out of it, "... Nope, can't see any crimes going on here either," she drew her head back in and closed the portal with a small sigh, glancing at her patrol partner, "This is such a boooooring patrol," she complained.
Melati: "See it from the good side, roomie-o-mine, at least we don't gotta hoof it," Melati said, finally getting the hang out this traveling by portal thing and managing to land with at least some grace when they popped out wherever now. She patted the pink girl on the shoulder. "Besides, how bad can it be when you've got me around to provide the entertainment?"
Melati: "Consider yourself lucky to have me, as I'm not even supposed to be out here with you," she added, the edge of her lip curling in a wry smile.
Clarice: Clarice snorted, "Is there anyone at that school who doesn't have an ego problem?" Clarice checked down some streets, still no sign of trouble, "maybe we should have a cake break and try again in a few hours? Maybe we've got like ... werecriminals? Regular people who turn into ne'er-do-wells once the sun's gone down?"
Melati: "Hey, I have no problem with my ego; it's the other people that do." Mel flashed Clarice a toothy grin. "And you might be surprised to hear that, but most criminals started out as regular people some time. I really like the way how you think about cake, though." She gave her a thumbs up sign.
Clarice: "Cake it is then," Clarice smiled, "there's a place on the high street that's friendly to obvious mutants," she teleported them to the high street, just outside the shop, and paused when she saw the crowd around the bank.
Clarice: The crowd consisted of excited teenage girls and children, and bored looking boyfriends and parents ... wasn't it usually the other way around for trips to the bank?
Melati: Melati turned around when she heard the commotion, frowning at the excited crowd of kids and teens. "Either banks managed to find a way to appear hip all of a sudden, or the place is currently being robbed by a shirtless Jenson Acne or whatever his name is."
Clarice: "Ackles," Clarice corrected automatically, though her eyes lit up immediately at the thought, "Maaaaaybe we should go and investigate? Just to be sure no nearly naked hotties are committing any crimes?"
Melati: "Eh, might as well." She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her pants and trudged after Clarice. "You know, I've seen the citizens of this city acting really idiotic at times, but do you think even they'd be insane enough to rubberneck while a crime is in progress?"
Clarice: "Pffft, of course they are, normally while asking each other 'why doesn't someone do something?'" Clarice said with a snort, "Trust me I know," she started to push her way through the crowd, "Let me through, I'm nosy!"
Melati: "Come on, people, move over and make way Team Awesomo," Melati announced, putting her lizardy presence to good use and push a path through the crows. "That's right, good folks of New York, whatever it is, let the pros handle it from here." Once they got a good view of the bank's large front window, she paused, her eyebrow arching upwards.
Melati: "Now that's not really unexpected," she commented, a perplexed look on her face.
Clarice: "... PIGGIE!" Clarice squealed and dove forwards, there was a micro pig on a leash, grunting happily as children and girls petted it, "Oh my gosh! You're soooooo cute!" Clarice scritched it behind an ear, "He's snuffling me!" She squeaked at Mel in delight.
Melati: For a moment it became difficult to tell apart the squeaking coming from her bouncing roommate and that emanating from the tiny piglet in front of them. "Great, you found pork," Mel commented, squinting as she tried to deal with all the high pitched noise around her. "You might want to watch your blood pressure, though. I think you're close to popping a vein there."
Clarice: "Snuffly snuffle!" Clarice gleed, ignoring Mel. If she wanted to be a party pooper that was up to her, "He's sooooo adorable, you gotta agree right?" She grabbed Mel's hand and dragged her over to be snuffled by the happy piglet.
Melati: "Wait, what about swine flu," she protested, but it was already too late. The miniscule animal sniffed her clawed fingers, before giving her hand a nudge with its tiny head. The small lock of hair tickled her skin. "Eh, I guess it's alright..." Her reputation as a badass was at stake here. Must. Not. Squee.
Clarice: "You're not planning on licking on it, are you? Awwwww! He likes you!" Clarice was doing enough squeeing for both of them.
Melati: "No, not planning on it," Melati replied, while the piglet grunted happily and continued to bump into her outstretched hand. "I try not to make a habit out of licking unprocessed pork." She slightly cocked her head. "What's it doing here, anyway?"
Clarice: "Publicity stunt I think?" Clarice said, "there's people harassing the bored adults with fliers for like ... bank accounts and mortgages," the piglet rolled onto his side to have his belly scratched, "N'awwwww, don't you just wanna take him home?"
Melati: "Yeah, I'm sure the others would love to be treated to some delicious roasted pork, don't you think? Think of how juicy and tender it would be if just done right. Add some cool beers to that, and you'd have the perfect late summer barbecue event." She turned her head to smirk at Clarice, but the other girl's appalled look gave her reason to pause.
Melati: "What, I was joking," Mel quickly added. "I never eat meat that I already petted."
Clarice: Clarice's horrified look continued and she covered the piglets ears as he went back to snuffling Mel, "Don't chu listen to her, sweetie, no one's gonna eat you, you're a petting pig ... the tiger girl did leave the school, didn't she?"
Melati: "I don't know, she might still be stalking the woods around the house." Melati didn't even notice how she had started to scritch the little piglet, her fingers running on autopilot. "Nah, he'd be save." She frowned at the squeaking tiny thing. "You know you're an adorable one, don't you? Try to woo Big Bad Mel with those sparkling eyes and wibbling snout..."
Clarice: Clarice covered her mouth to stiffle a giggle, as the piglet looked up at Mel adoringly and seemed to wag his curly little tail at her.
Melati: "Now don't you give me that look, little one," Melati said, poking the piglet's belly. It jumped back to its feet and nudged his head against the reptilian girl's balled fist. "Dude, did you just fist bump me? Right on, pig!"
Clarice: "Brohoof!" Clarice clapped, "or should that be 'brotrotter'?" She grinned, "Shall I go get cake while you guys bond?"
Melati: A young fellow with more gel than hair on his head stepped up to them, flashing a grin at the two mutants as he tried to shove leaflets at them. He was almost swallowed by his suit, at least a size too large for him. Everything about him screaming bank intern. "Hello, uh, ladies, may I interest you in our super saver loans?"
Clarice: "Do they come with pigs?" Clarice asked with big, green eyes.
Melati: "Uhm, no, I don't think so," the guy replied, shuffling the leaflets as he laughed awkwardly. "I'm afraid our mascot is only for advertisement."
Melati: "Cool, can we have a pig without any loans then," Melati asked. "Don't need one, anyway."
Clarice: Clarice giggled, "I'm still seventeen, I don't think I'm allowed to take loans out anyways."
Melati: Melati made a mental note never to shake the guy's hand after she watched him run it through his gelled hair. "Everyone keeps asking if they can have the pig," he said with another laugh. "I'm really sorry, but we only got this one, and I believe it's already planned for."
Melati: "Oh, really now? How so?" The green girl frowned. "You gonna stuff it into a tiny suit, gel that little tuft on his head, and put it in management? Pretty sure you've already got enough fat pigs up there."
Melati: The young intern forced a smile, not revealing whether he took offense to that or not. "Oh no, as far as I've heard, it's needed for the big banquet with the shareholders tomorrow..."
Clarice: A look of pure horror crossed Clarice's face, and she scooped up the piglet and cuddled it, "Noooo! Why does it have to be this little guy!? Can't you just get pork somewhere else?" Her eyes went wide.
Melati: Those standing close around them had a look of surprise and shock on their faces. One kid asked their parents if they would really eat the cute piglet. "You're gonna do what," Melati asked, crossing her arms.
Melati: "You don't understand, it's a very important banquet, with very important people, and..." The intern trailed off, obviously at a total loss by now. One of his colleagues shot an angry you-were-not-supposed-to-tell-anyone-that look his way, before scooting over.
Melati: "Of course we would never do such a thing to our cute little friend here," he tried to assure the assembled people, putting on a well practiced professional smile.
Clarice: Clarice looked up at Mel with big, green eyes, the pig nosing under her chin and grunting happily, "Mel ... I think he's lying and they're gonna eat the piggie ..." she squeaked.
Melati: "Of course he's lying," Melati affirmed, giving the bankers a stern look. "What you see here is the true face of heartless capitalism, and it's an ugly one." A small girl was pulling on the leg of her pants. "Ms. Lizard Lady, are they really going to eat the pig?"
Melati: Looking down, Melati gave the girl a sympathetic look and smiled. "Not if we can help it, pint." She turned around, pointed at the tall building in front of them, and addressed the crowd. "Here you have it, people! Capitalism is killing the pig!"
Clarice: Clarice cradled the piglet in her arms, standing up, "And the don't even need too, they can just go get pork chops from walmart if they wanted!" The piglet was oblivious to it's fate and was happily snuffling everyone and everything within reach.
Melati: "Miss, if you please would hand over the pig now," the second banker said, holding out his hands to grab the animal back from Clarice. "What do you think you're doing," Mel asked, interposing herself. "Are you really expecting we're going to let you kill porker here?"
Clarice: Clarice held the pig tightly, "This isn't right, you've been letting him out and letting people pet him and stuff and now you're just gonna kill him needlessly?"
Melati: "The hell they will," Melati assured everyone around them, before exchanging a look with her roommate. "How about we do something heroic?"
Clarice: Clarice worried her lip, looking down at the pig, who looked back up at her adoringly. Technically it would be stealing if they took the piggie, but by doing so they would be preserving his life ... She looked up at Mel and nodded, "Well, we are out on patrol."
Melati: "Miss, please, this sure is no reason to make a scene," one of the bankers said, holding up his hands. "We'd hate having to call..." But it was already too late. With a swift swipe of her claws, Melati severed the leash that tied the little animals to the podium. "Viva la pork!"
Clarice: "They can take his bacon, but never his life!" Clarice whooped as the crowd cheered, opening a portal for her and Mel to dive through to make thier escape.
Melati: Accompanied by the upset shouts from the bankers and the cheering of the crowd, Clarice and Melati took their new four-legged friend on its first portal ride, squeaking happily as they landed on the other side. "Woohoo!"
Clarice: Clarice put the piglet on the floor, holding onto the end of the leash so he could wander around and sniff all the things, "... That was the right thing to do, wasn't it Mel?"
Melati: "Absolutely," Mel assured her friend. "You can take my word for it. They were willing to exploit the poor thing's cuteness and kill it once it served its purpose. Not because they needed the food, but only to appease the boundless appetites of their greedy shareholders."
Melati: She gestured at the snuffling animal. "Just look at how happy he is now. Besides, he totally fist bumped me. There was no way I could leave him to his fate."
Clarice: Clarice nodded, "You're right, we saved him from a senseless death," she watched him root around in a discarded french fries packet, grunting to himself, "So ... umm ... what do you think we should do with him now he's safe?"
Clarice: She bit her lip .... he was sooooo adorable and friendly and snuffly, "... Do you think we could keep him?" She asked hopefully.
Melati: Cocking her head, Melati scratched her forehead, while watching the piglet bounce about with its snout inside the empty packet. "Well, I guess we would have to keep him hidden somewhere..."
Clarice: "We could hide him in our room!" Clarice suggested, "until he grows up a bit more and then we could make a run for him and hide it in the woods!" Her eyes sparkled a little, "We can keep him in a box in the cupboard, it's warm in there, piggies like being warm!"
Melati: "In our room?" She gave Clarice a bewildered look. "This is utterly... brilliant!" Melati flashed her roommate a toothy grin. "We can have our own cupboard pig." She bent down and picked up the grunting little thing. "What do you say to that, hm? Do you want to move in with the two most awesome chicks at totally kick ass school?"
Clarice: The piglet let out a happy squeal and nose bumped Mel, and Clarice cheered, "Pigs are as clever as dogs, we could toilet train him and everything," she scritched him behind the ear, "Now we need to pick a name for him ... how about Wilbur? Like the pig in Charlotte's Web?"
Clarice: "Since Charlotte saved Wilbur from being slaughtered, just like we did with this little guy!"
Melati: Melati pondered the suggestion for a couple second and gave the wriggly piglet in her hands a thoughtful look. "Sounds perfect to me," she said. "Wilbur it is then." Handing the newly named Wilbur to Clarice to get her share of cuddling, another idea crossed her mind. "You know, if he befriends Ms. Gallio's turtle, we'd already have a place to keep him when he gets bigger."
Clarice: Clarice took Wilbur back and snuggled him, "Hmmm ... I dunno, if it's Ms. Gallio's pet it might be a carnivorous turtle?"
Melati: "Hm, good point," Melati agreed, nodding slowly. "In that case, we'll just have to build him is own pen."
Clarice: "We can manage that, there's wood and chicken wire and stuff, and we can take him for walks and feed him apples ..." Clarice smiled dreamily, picturing all the fun that could be had with a pet pig.
Melati: "And depending on how big he later gets, ride him out on patrols," Melati added with a chuckle.
Clarice: "... Pig rides," Clarice looked enchanted at the prospect, "Sooo ... shall we take the little guy home and get him all settled in?" She tickled under Wilbur's chin.
Melati: "Absolutely," Mel replied, reaching over to scritch Wilbur's head. "You think we should grab some supplies for him on the way home? I don't know... what is pig-appropriate stuff?"
Clarice: "Pet shop, then home it is!" Clarice cheered, opening a portal, "Come on, Wilbur, home time!"
Melati: "And to porky adventures!" Wilbur let out an adorable squeak as the trio hopped into the portal.