I'm the fox you've been waiting for [o, joining]

[OCTANE.]

Making the decision to leave behind his adoring fans was difficult, Octane had lived in the spotlight for so long, camera attached to his body to stream each rush of adrenaline for his fans. Octane was born riding a grenade blast to victory, and had never left the camera since. Each match was a new high to chase, new fans, new victories.
Octane didn't mind the dying part. All his fans got to watch it happen, and the extreme rush of battle with a swift, painful death was its own high. That was why Caustic and Octavio had gravitated towards each other. He didn't know Caustic's real name, no one did, but Caustic had always called him Octavio, never shortened. He was sure Caustic's true identity was somewhere out there, and possibly in the files for the Apex Games, but asking for that invasion of privacy officially or unofficially from Crypto would cross boundaries. The man didn't love him, not in any capacity, but Caustic was a high of danger and a promised death.
They needed each other to test their limits. Caustic's gas and Octane's heart. It was a mutually assured destruction. Caustic's need to watch things die, test and observe like the calculating wolf he was, Octane's desire to go beyond.

When Caustic went missing, and Wraith had to explain herself, solutions had to be devised. Blisk had spent too much time and money on each legend, saving their bodies and resources used upon each respawn. Maybe it would have disgusted one of the legends- each one was an asset and Caustic was expensive by nature. He was a villain in the games and the company needed their villains. All for show, all for fans and marketing. When they devised which dimension Caustic had landed in, the next point of contention was how to get him back. They thought about sending in grunts, anyone less expensive to grab the toxic trapper and get out.
Maybe it was Octane's persuasion, or giving them a blank check for damages if he didn't return in proper time. Losing one legend was enough, but two? All of his fans would cherish his disappearance. Octane's mind swirled in the idea of postmortem fame. Memorials, interviews with his family... he wouldn't be around to see them, but it was a last glimmer of fame.
He wanted this new adventure, and he fantasized about the new ways Caustic could kill him here. They gave him the proper supplies, and uploaded his subconsciousness into a fabricated cheetah. It was two feet tall, most of height taken by legs, and with a Mohawk to match Octane's, dyed green, and his tattoo printed on its foreleg. It was missing its hind legs, as requested. That's what Octane wanted. It was his trademark. They gave him legs, a running mask for his face, a box with new toes for Caustic, and the teleporter. They, with the help of Wraith, explained very carefully to him how it worked. Don't get it wet. Don't damage it. That was critical above all. They fitted the legs to the cheetah, and watched as their million dollar asset leaped headfirst into the portal.

Pain registered to him first, landing on his feet, slipping and tripping. Octane rolled, landing on his back and hearing a crunch under him. "Oh no, no, no-" He flipped onto his stomach, shaking himself, staring at paws and scraping his metal legs together. He released the harness from himself, staring at the crushed teleporter. A string of cursed left him in spanish, as he removed and opened the box strapped to his shoulder. Cautsic's prosthetics were fine, but the teleporter? He strapped it back to himself, and pressed the button with his eyes closed.
It fizzled near lifelessly.
"Carajo!" He kept cursing, pressing the button as if it change anything. Octane gave a heavy sigh, pounding his paws into the sand, a chitter leaving his throat. Okay, okay, he just had to find Caustic, and he would fix it, and then they could go home, together. Easy. Okay.
Now.... where was he? Forepaws dug into soft white sand, bad for running, as brown eyes looked across the Barracuda Bay for other signs of life.

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[roan ;]

[align=center][div style="width: 45%; text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -1px; font-family: times new roman;"]♡ — Roan had never thought about what it would be like to have fans. For one thing, he didn't really know about the concept of fans. He had read about characters in his little bedtime storybooks that were heroes, and they had things like fans, he supposed. People who followed them around, and praised them, and worked to help them in any way that they could. However, the concept of fans like the ones that Octane had once had? It was completely foreign to Roan, who didn't see how following one person while they did something could be so exciting. Sure, the boy often wanted to make people proud of him, and he certainly wanted to impress the rest of the Typhoon like his mama and his cousin Goldie, along with Ahab, but he didn't consider them to be his fans. They were just his family and friends, and they wanted to see him do well because of that. He wanted to put smiles on their faces, and make them feel good about the boy that they had all ultimately helped raise. Ultimately, if Roan had known what Octane's life used to be like, he would've thought it to be a rather lonely existence. Sure, he had his fans, but did he have the family that Roan was so delighted to have with him? Did he have the friends who would stay by his side no matter what? Roan didn't know, but if the answer was no... well, Roan was always willing to make new friends. And he'd be happy to act like an encouraging force for Octane. However, he probably wouldn't approve of the things that the other used to do. Mama had always taught him that life was precious, so killing yourself just for the show of it? That seemed heinous, at least to Roan's young mind.

All of this aside, Roan felt pretty curious when the loud exclamation of one particular Spanish word reached his ears. It was a word that his mama had tried very hard to keep him from learning, but he had picked up on the meaning of anyways. Carajo, or put a different way, shit. Roan had learned it by extension from his mother because it was what she often blurted out when she was feeling frustrated with something, and Roan wasn't a stupid kid. He might've been a bit innocent and gullible, but he wasn't stupid, and it wasn't hard to make the connection between the two words. Because it was usually something his mother hissed out in times of stress or hardship, the young draconic feline frowned as soon as he heard it, his head turning back and forth as he looked for the source of the word. It must've been someone in trouble, so perhaps he could help them in some way. Pushing himself to his feet from where he had been sitting in the sand, Roan found himself padding towards a new and unfamiliar scent, along with where the curse word had bounced off of the walls. He was flanked by Kal and Brunhild, the two large crocodiles following along obediently and occasionally butting their heads together as they walked. Their jaws snapped menacingly behind him, but Roan found himself utterly unconcerned, very used to their presence around him at this point.

When Roan eventually came upon Octane, his eyes widened immediately. For one thing, this newcomer was a new and very interesting animal to Roan – a cheetah. Roan found himself wondering, distantly, just how fast this guy could go if he tried hard enough. On top of that, Octane had a bright green mohawk and odd, unusual looking back legs, which made Roan's gaze light up with curiosity. Roxie's crocodiles still following, Roan slowly made his way down to where Octane was near the bay, hesitating for a moment before he spoke, "Hola, mister! You look really cool! I like your fur! And your weird looking legs. Are you okay? I heard lots of yelling from over here, and usually yelling isn't good... do you need me to get our medic? Oh! I should also ask what your name is too. Mama always asks people's names..." The boy's words left him in a flood of excitement and questions, mixed in with the occasional compliment. He still hadn't exactly gotten the hang of welcoming others in, and often found his mind getting off track despite his best efforts.

[OCTANE.]

Octane shook himself, getting the sand off his fur, briefly looking to the nearby water. At least he didn't get it wet. Maybe it just had some wires disconnected- yeah, he could probably fix that. Although, maybe it would be safer just to take it to Caustic. He had to find him first, and it crossed Octane's mind of how much a task that would be. Caustic was a known recluse, and if he had ended up around here, he was probably hunched over his work in a cave somewhere.
The sound of jaws snapping behind him made his head turn, legs scraping against each other. Octane's ears flattened at the sight of two crocodile approaching him, quickly slithering back into the harness and looking at the baby who approached him. Okay, so this dimension was definitely a little strange. "Hey hey hey, el niño, mind keeping your friends back?" Octane bounced back and forth on his legs, getting a feel for them, and more precisely, getting ready to run, run, run if the kid siced the beasts on him. He was positive he could outrun them, but from there? Octane would just have to start his hunt. "Eh... I'm fine. I'm Octane. Say, you- ah-" Hm, should he really start off by immediately asking about Caustic? Where was he anyways? Octane's mind mixed in a soup of questions, trying to figure which to ask first, how would the new legs do on sand? He hummed at the thought, eyes casting over the shore.

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[salem]

[div style="width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 1.4;"]SALEM | A softly stepping shadow, the dark furred feline appeared behind the massive reptiles.  Behind the carved sockets, dark eyes locked ahead on the unfamiliar cheetah.  Barely, his head tilted to the side.  Considering the stranger silently before deciding to raise his soft and muffled voice.

Wrapped in vines, his paws halted besides Roan, conscious of the boy's oblivious excitement and curiosity.  The cheetah carried none of the crew's scent -- a trespasser, albeit one without obvious hostility.  "You are on Typhoon territory... Do you have business here -- or need help?"
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[ROXANNE R.]

[glow=white,1,400]I LOVE YOU, CANNIBAL QUEEN ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Approaching with both ears perked forward, the small draconic feline would notice both of her crocodiles from a distance following behind her son as they usually would whenever they weren't too busy feeding themselves or basking in the sun whilst Roan played. It was such a nice sight, it always made her heart feel warm knowing that both of her cold blooded darlings had grown soft towards Roan, especially the large Kalayavan. Kal hardly ever left Roan's side if he could help it, other times, he would be too big in which cases he didn't have the ability to follow. Roxie would pick up the pace noticing that the cheetah was rather spooked by the sight of both reptiles, she hummed with a bit of amusement as she would brush up against Roan hearing the cheetah refer to her crocodiles as her son's friends which was a lot nicer in comparison to what other people called the large reptiles. "Don't worry, they won't eat ya. You'd probably be too small and stringy," The draconic feline said with an amused purr, her ears twitched taking in the name of the stranger. Octane. Huh, she would have said something else but Salem said everything that needed to be asked and such. [glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

[roan ;]

[align=center][div style="width: 45%; text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -1px; font-family: times new roman;"]♡ — Often, Roan found himself forgetting just how scary Kal and Brunhild could be to newcomers to the group, just because he was so used to their presences being ever-constant. He considered them to be his friends and protectors, and as a result of such, he never felt scared or intimidated when they were around. They did, of course, have an exact opposite effect on any stranger that could possibly represent a threat to he or his mother. The small kit blinked at Octane for a moment, confused by the request, but then Salem came up beside him, quickly flanked by his mother. When he heard his mama's words, his eyes widened in realization, and he turned his gaze back to Octane, saying reassuringly, "Oh! Yeah, don't worry Octane! Kal and Brunhild are real friendly once you get to know them, and they won't hurt you! Right guys?" He turned to both of the crocodiles with a bright grin, watching as they blinked back at him and grunted in response, which was more than enough confirmation for him.

[OCTANE.]

Octane bounced back and forth on his legs as more greeted him. The next to approach was strange enough to pull his eyes away from the shoreline, and the cheetah's head tilted, tail going still. What a costume! Certainly wasn't the time of year for it, but it was a costume none the less. He wondered why they wore such a thing, maybe they hid their identity like Bloodhound? "Sort of? Yes to both, though." His fore paws tapped against the soft sand, unable to produce a proper noise and causing the sand to push around his feet. He feels Wattson told him something about that, volume or matter or whatever.
He should probably go ahead and tell them what he wants. "I'm looking for someone, if you've seen him. Big guy, chemist, talks about death a lot?" Maybe Octane should have tracked him down before jumping the gun and coming here like this... Oops.
The cheetah's tail started waving again, another approaching. Oh! How weird- they were the natives all right. Briefly, Octane imagined the field day Caustic was having with all the weird people. A cat with horns and wings? Octane wondered if she could fly faster than he could run. "Haha, yeah, small and stringy." A little sarcastic laugh left him. Octane's brain switched topics again, wondering how fun it would be to die to one of the reptiles. Maybe not the best, but a little adrenaline rush.

"But uh, other than looking for my friend, I might need a place to crash for a bit..."

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[bubblegum]

[OCTANE.]

Octane sat up a little and stopped bouncing for the briefest of moments as the tiger approached. She looked important, pretty nice too! He tried to return a smile, but the resulting face was his lips pulled back, an open mouth of teeth and a tilted head. He stopped trying to smile, already feeling awkward.
"I get a bracelet and a ritual? Sounds fun! What's all that entail?" He started bouncing again. "And uh, like I said, I'm Octane! You can also call me Octavio though."

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