Getaway (Maple)

The man would remove his hand from his brow, looking up towards Sen as he approached, wearing a tired expression on his face. He'd take a deep breath, as if attempting to calm himself; a smile came to his face as he began his customer service persona. Before he could say a word however, to the far left of the counter tucked away in the corner of the store would come a sudden crash from behind a shelf.

"Sorry!" A higher pitched voice of a girl would call out, eliciting a heavy sigh from the man, presumably not the first he'd had.

"How many time's must I say it? This isn't a play ground for children!" The clerk would shout from his place behind the counter, looking incredibly unenthusiastic about the whole ordeal.

"And how many times must I say, I'm not a child!" The girl would say, her words accompanied by the sounds of metal being tinkered with.

The man would give another heavy sigh before turning his attention back towards Sen. "My apologies sir, I'll need to check my inventory over-" he'd say as he began to type on the computer in front of him, "-please don't mind my mood, I wasn't expecting to need to BABYSIT today." She'd say, yelling once more towards the girl to emphasize his annoyance.

"Not a child, NOT a baby!" The girl would yell back, while the curious sight of a small blue drone would hover up above the shelf, meeting eyes with the clerk and quickly ducking back down in a panic.

"It'll be just a few minutes sir, I've been having trouble with my systems." The clerk would sigh as his computer seemed to forcibly reboot, with the quiet sound of a bit of laughter coincidentally coming from the girl at the same time.

Beneath her white hood, sat upon the floor casually with her legs in an open circle around a rather large, low quality looking chunk of machinery would be Maple. The girl would noticeably flinch upon hearing Sen behind her, vocalizing a soft squeak but quickly regaining her composure as she acting unaffected, focusing instead on her work. "Hehehehe, those odds would be laughably low I'm afraid!" The girl would giggle as she leaned over to her left to grab more parts from the shelf beside her, "Maaaaybe if you were dealing with some other small brained nerd, only an idiot would have a physical connection running on such a rudimentary system." She'd explain arrogantly, pointing with her thumb momentarily to direct Sen's attention to the red winged drone beside her; its eye flashing as it wirelessly targeted the poor store clerks computer, holding control over it.

Grabbing a few more parts here and there, Maple would quickly jerry-rigging a likely familiar device to Sen within mere seconds before leaning backwards with a smile and offering it to the man.

"Hehe, don't tell and I'll let you have this!" She'd bargain, holding out a power controller for the class of attack pod he desired, "I've removed the limiter AND added an overclock function, this'll be WAY cooler than wasting your money on any of this guys junk!" She'd say, ignoring the fact that the device was made using the very junk she was telling the man no to buy, "I'm afraid you're not going to find anything for the propulsion system though, he barely has the parts for me to finish this security bot here." She'd finish with a sigh, giving a slight glance to the machine still in front of her.

The man was quick to accept the offer Maple had man, bringing a smile to her face before she would return to her work with the security bot in front of her. For a brief moment, the man would return to the clerk by the counter, though Maple wouldn't take any notice of the actions Sen would take to disable the clerk. Upon returning however, Sen seemed infected with the bug of curiosity as he began to ask question after question. Just above the shelf would float the blue winged bot, keeping a close eye on Sen; while the situation may have been a bit suspicious, Sen showed no obvious signs of hostility, so both of the little hover bots would remain in a close observation mode.

"Maple, Hatchi, and my father-" She would answer casually while she continued her work, "-well, I believe it prudent to say he taught me the basics. Beyond that is my own knowledge of course." She'd explain, clearly quite proud of herself if only a bit arrogant in her tone, "Hehe, I'll have you know my father's a robotics engineer in the military, and rather high ranking I would say!" She'd explain smugly, "He gets final say on PLENTY of the defense projects that defend Hatchi!" She'd finish proudly, still never losing focus on her work despite her explanation.

While she felt proud of her fathers work, it was difficult to find the truest form of pride in the machines he made considering how poorly the defenses of Hatchi compared to that of the Super Saiyan. A twinge of annoyance at the mere thought would cause Maple's arms to noticeably twitch, but she would do her best to suppress the thought. She considered her skills that this point to vastly surpass her fathers, but with how invested in his work as he was, there was no real way to prove it, especially when she lacked a Super Saiyan in which to test her little bots against.

"And you-?" Maple would ask curiously, leaning backwards again to look up at the man, taking a brief moment from continuing her work, "-you seem awwwfully curious for an inhabitant of the mentally inept world." She'd remark rudely with a giggle, "Is this a moment of "stranger danger"?" She'd question with a slightly smug expression as the LED's along the machine she'd been working on lit up, signifying its boot up sequence before the security bot would rise. Swiveling on its axle to face Sen, the two arms on the side of the machine with drop forward, aiming at Sen as if weaponized and prepared to attack, with only a flashing yellow light atop the bot acting as a warning.

The man seemed oddly... worried? It was hard to tell honestly, but the way he spoke certainly seemed to have an air of concern. It wasn't something Maple was really concerned about, more importantly, that concern turned to annoyance and possibly hostility once the man took notice of the activated security bot. His tone was like that of plenty of the other adults in her life she'd met that would always tell her to behave, rather than express any annoyance of her own however, Maple would find herself more curious than anything to find out that the man was a Tuffle like her!

"Hmmmmm, yep, definitely stranger danger!" She say somewhat playfully, sticking out her tongue as pressed a button on a remote she had hidden in her hands.

The security bot would emit a whirling sound akin to a gattling gun spinning before it would unleash its fury. The flashing yellow light would change to a flashing red as the bot rose a few inches up before suddenly firing upon the man-! Except, what would be fired would be nothing more than a couple rods, one from each arm; the rods wouldn't even eject entirely, merely popping out of the turret arms before a piece of cloth would unfurl from each rod, with the word "bang!" written upon them both.

"Hahahahahaaa! Bang! Your power level didn't help ya there, did it?" She'd say as she fell onto her back and kicked her legs excitedly, laughing at the practical joke she'd played. It was clear that even if she might have been aware of the term, she'd wasn't entirely knowledgeable on the concept of power levels, nor could she sense them. "I knew there was something different about you, the way you speak has a certain... je ne sais quoi that the rest of these brain dead nerds don't." She'd say, calming down her laughter as she sat back up; standing fully and looking up at the man, "But why are you so tall? Like, I've met tall people back home, but you're like... REALLY tall!" She'd question with a small pout, before quickly realizing she hadn't even answered the man's question, "Oh! And I haven't been here long, the shuttle I snuck on landed only two days ago." She'd say, leaning against on of the shelves, her expression becoming incredibly annoyed, "I'm on a mission to find the stupid Saiyan that blew up my home and make them pay!"

"J- psh- d'yeah, duh, of course I'm aware of that." Maple would stammer, clearly flustered by Sen's accusation as she averted her gaze from him, "I was just curious of the EXACT genetic mutation." She'd continue, attempting to hide the fact that her knowledge on anything other than robotics and code was more than just a bit lacking.

Sen went on to explain the situation revolving around a man named Lottus, apparently the name of the one who'd destroyed her home. Rather than leave well enough alone however, Maple felt challenged when Sen tried to deter her from getting involved with the Saiyan. It was clear Sen had a lot on him mind by the way he spoke, a point made even clearer as he mentioned his own failed encounter with Lottus. Logically, if an elder of superior intellect and ability couldn't stand against the Saiyan, than a precocious youth would have no chance... but that was only IF the man before her was truly so superior.

"I don't know about you, but I refuse to stand idly by while that brute continues to wreck everything around him!" Maple would exclaim with a determined gaze, "Lottus you say, I've now committed it to memory! However you chose to engage with him was clearly wrong! If you were really a Tuffle, you wouldn't meet his muscle with more muscle, you'd meet it with the superiority of your mind!" Maple would say proudly as she tapped a finger to her temple, "And you might think I'm just some weak kid, fine, thats fine, think whatever you want! I don't intend to throw a fist at a Saiyan so it doesn't matter how weak I am-" She'd say, grinning arrogantly as she backed away from Sen, "-but Molassus Mk I is another story!"

As if on command, the strange metallic backpack the girl wore would sudden extend a pair of wings with turbines on the end, clearly giving away its utility as a jet-pack. The transformation wouldn't stop there however, as the harness that wrapped around Maple's waist would unlatch and the jet-pack would take on its true form. With a quick change, the Molassus would take its robot form and strike a dynamic pose as it hovered down between Maple and Sen, with Maple clapping to encourage her little bot.

"Support Unit - M001, designation, Molassus engaged. Awaiting instruction." The bot would say as it immediately took to scanning its surroundings.

"See? What do you think of THAT?" Maple would say proudly, before rushing Molassus with a hug, "If anyone can teach that Saiyan a lesson, Molassus can!" She'd say before rubbing her cheek affectionately against Molassus, "Isn't that right Molassus~?"

"Insufficient data-"

Maple would disregard the response of her bot, addressing Sen once more with a smile. "You could help if you want! You said you already engaged the saiyan once already, right?" She'd ask curiously, "Did he destroy your home as well? We could teach him a lesson together!"

Maple's face reddened with frustration as Sen seemingly lorded his knowledge over her, at least, that was how she saw it. She refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing how upset she was becoming however; at her age keeping her emotions in check was rather difficult, but other than a stubborn pout and averted gaze, Maple would keep herself otherwise in check.

As luck would have it, Sen didn't seem to keen on dwelling on matters unrelated to the Super Saiyan either, though his arrogant tone didn't waver as he explained more of his experience. He was older, and likely wiser even if Maple refused to accept that. His many years of battle dwarfed and completely overshadowed Maple's otherwise peaceful upbringing, but she wasn't about to let something like "experience" hold her back! Then Sen chose to strike where it really hurt, criticizing Maple's skills in robotics, the one thing she took the most pride in. He went so far as to challenge her to attack him, something that caused her other two drones to come down to Maples level defensively, hovering just above her shoulder.

"Attack you?" Maple would comment as she pet her blue winged drone, raising an eyebrow at Sen's remark, "But we're in a store-" She'd remark slowly, narrowing her eyes mischievously on Sen, "-how could I possibl- MOLASSUS, BLAST CANNON!!!"

"Order received."

Acting at first as though she had no intention to fight the man in the store, Maple had hoped to lower his guard before suddenly ordering Molassus to attack. The robot would react instantly, its weapon systems already primed before Maple could even give the order. Raising its left arm up, the harness latch would retract and in its place a customized blaster would quickly form together before the bot would unless a quick energy blast without hesitation.

Syrup and Sappy were quick to react as well, one bot pushing Maple aside while the other quickly moved to carry her to a safer distance backwards. Molassus sudden blast cannon attack would cause the shelves to the left and right to be pushed aside, and the poor joke security bot to be launched flying by the surrounding force of the shot.

Maple was taken aback, her mouth agape as what bit of smoke there was would clear to reveal Sen to be mostly unharmed. He continued to poke fun at Maple's mechanical abilities and the capability of her bots. Her face amply flushed with anger and annoyance in equal measure, she refused to accept anything the man would say.

"No fair, you cheated!!" She'd exclaim, stomping her foot with a pout, "The wasn't even Molassus' BEST attack!" She'd say before throwing out her arm and pointing towards Sen, "Sappy, Syrup, suppressive fire! Molassus, mode Alpha, hyper charge!"

The two hoverbots would quickly follow Maple's order, dashing from her side and b-lining it towards Sen. The red winged Sappy would place itself between Sen and Molassus, giving Molassus a chance to back away and begin charging up. Meanwhile, the blue winged Syrup would rush around Sen to strike from behind; bot bots would begin unleashing quick continuous blaster fire, unfortunately much weaker than what Molassus had displayed moments prior, but hopefully enough to keep Sen distracted.

Molassus on the other hand would switch to Mode Alpha; his wings extending as a green line of energy began to brighten through the crevasses of his form. His energy core would glow greatly as his output increased five fold; at the same time, sparks began to discharge from the bot, a sign of it possibly taking damage as it began to transform both its arms together into a massive blaster.