Randa and Tanta looked at each other one last time before the raccoon turned, baseball bat in hand, to open the door, letting it stop at the chain. He peered out with an inquiry: "Who is it?" he said, bracing himself in case it was the SWAT. But the only thing he could through the door was a pair of comically magnified cloudy eyes.
"Data!!" Akma said happily as he tried to get in the door, not understanding it was chained and only jostling it a bit. "Em.. Hrm..." He said, trying again.
"Dammit, Akma, stop." Tanta said, eyeing him suspiciously still. "What the hell is that on your head?"
"Oh! OH!" He said, getting visibly excited. "That is why I am here. I have found someone you might want to talk to, aaannnddd~" He said, with a dramatic wave of his hands, tapping them at the very end. "They're magic. Its not a big deal though." He smugly stated.
Tanta wasn't visibly amused. "You know, you were about to get your bell rung, Akma." he said, raising the baseball bat into view. Akma, either not understanding or not caring, simply smiled and shrugged. Randa, all the while, was intently watching the door, ears perked towards it. Shooting Zonia a glance, he gave her a reasurring nod, letting her know that everything seemed to be okay. Randa approached the door, peeking over Tantas much shorter head. He had seen the bat before, but only staring into the abyss, holding signs with incoherent words on them.
"SO! Come onnnnnnNNNN!" Akma said, again trying the door, adding to Tanta's suspicion about his motives. "Let me introduce you to my friend!" He obviously thought there must be some other reward in his escort quest other than the pride of knowing he helped. Perhaps, he wanted a bit more of Tanta's food. Eying the bat, Tanta slammed the door, leaving Akma to retract his long snout before it was slammed in the door. Turning to Marshall, he gave a nervous shrug. "Maybe... He went to get us snacks...?" he said, hopelessly optomistic.
On the other side of the door, Randa was colored unimpressed. "A homeless bat?" He snorted, taking out a cigarette and lighting it up. Tanta turned, looking down to the floor as he cupped his chin in deep thought. "He could be useful. He helped me a lot with data collection, witting or not when we still worked in the Tinderbox together. And he has never sought me out, so whoever this Dim is that he brought must be very important, or at least he thinks..." he stopped mid sentence, as he turned around to glare at Randa, stomping up to him and taking the cigarette out of his mouth, stomping on it with his foot. "Smoke is hell on electronics!!" He exclaimed. "Oh, and your lungs, or something. I don't know. "
Randa was obviously perplexed, but listened silently to Tanta's commands. "Well, come on then. We'd better not keep them waiting." Randa retorted. Tanta nodded, and walked back to the door.
Akma stood patiently, still at the door, hoping against hope these few minutes passing was just a friendly conversation inside. Suddenly, his ears perked up as the sound of a chain sliding off its hinges clattered into the alleyway. The brass handle began to turn and the door opened, three perplexed inhabitants inside, all looking towards the bat, and Marshall. Suddenly, the large Maned wolfs ears shot back as he darted towards the door. Pushing Akma aside, he grabbed Marshall by the collar and dragged him into the Room, surprisingly stronger than his tall wiry frame would lead on. Using his non bandaged hand, he pressed Marshall up against the wall, glaring into his eyes as his snouth almost touched his nose. "Close the door!" He barked at Tanta, which he dutifilly did, but not before Akma was able to slide in, looking truly confused. "What are you doing wolf man??" he exclaimed, running over to help. Randa simply shot Akma a glare, that froze him in his track, his large eyes blinking as his ears drooped.
"Tanta, the fuck?? You just let your people bring humans here??" He said, to which Tanta responded with a stutter and a shrug, looking completely amazed at the scene unfolding in front of him. "I, I, I mean.. L-l-ook, I didn't know this vagrant was bringing pinkies here! But look... He's not SWAT... Hes a.. He's a civilian! On this side of the wall!!!" Tanta exclaimed, rubbing his hands together in fascination. But Randa's paranoid mind would not let him off the hook that easily. He glared into Marshall's eyes, growling softly before setting him down on the floor, but keeping a grip on his shirt. "You have thirty seconds to convince me you're not a spy." Tanta and Akma both grew silent, slowly moving toward Zonia close to the computer desk, watching the scene unfold. The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Everyone's eyes were on Marshall, and everyone's next breath hung on his explanation.