Threat Elimination Protocols: Active

[Illidan Stormrage]

Jim's new robot friend was quite something. It was like having a Swiss army knife, but it was alive! Watching it generate a weapon from some sort of advanced alien technology was pretty rad; even though Jim's super suit boasted similar origins, he wasn't aware of any gun production facility inside it. In any case, he didn't need such an ability. His trusty plasma blaster was more gun than most people needed anyway.

"So, my metal plated chum ... I don't suppose you can make cupcakes? I haven't eaten anything since I got here, and all this white's making me hungry."

"I don't see how that makes sense, but OK! Uh ... cupcakes? I don't think Hyperion makes that model."

Jim rubbed at his chin. "I see. Well, I can't have you supplying me with your competitor's merchandise. As friends, that would be unethical."

With no food and nothing to blast, Jim felt his patience slipping. He folded his arms and tapped his foot, looking about the empty landscape. He grated his teeth, tapping his foot harder and faster, but it did nothing to stop the unbearable itch that ran down his body. His eye twitched in chorus with his fingers drumming his bicep, and soon he looked even more the freak show than normal.

"That's it! I can't take it anymore!" Jim said, throwing his hands in the air and marching over to Smith. "Hey! Didn't you promise us that there'd be some avenging to do?"

"Stay calm," Smith said in a low, passionless tone. "You will have a target for your ... blood lust soon enough."

"Well, I wouldn't call it blood lust, exactly," Jim said. "I just like to punch bad guys in the face."

"And your chance will come."

Jim raised an eyebrow. This Smith character was dark and mysterious, and didn't say much at all. Most enigmatic people he knew that dressed in impeccable suits were usually evil, and yet this one claimed a grievance against another. He shrugged. Maybe he was still brooding over his betrayal. Jim could understand that.

"Well, I hope it's soon. My trigger finger's getting antsy."  He looked at his right index finger, reflexively bending. "And not figuratively, either."

Jim looked over the gang assembled at Mr. Smith's behest and decided he'd mingle a little more. After all, he and Claptrap got along like a house on fire. Surely there was someone else who'd love to ally with a giant worm in a super suit?

A glint of yellow stole his attention and he spotted a banana suited man with a pencil moustache. He had appeared earlier, heralded by a yellow nova of light, but Jim had thought he was simply hallucinating from all the white. Once he noticed other people talking to him, it made sense to introduce himself.

"Hello, fellow justice lover!" Jim said to the red skinned man. "I'm Earthworm Jim, Earth's most mighty invertebrate! Say, groovy ring! I don't suppose you have one in green, do you? That way it matches my eyes."