progresscity | The Power of the Press

Entry tags:

pete

The Power of the Press

Who: Pete and you!
What: Catch all for August. Also, tabloids.
Where: See prompts!
When: August 5th - August 18th
Warnings: None right now! Will match format!

A is for Animal Kingdom (August 5th - August 10th)

[To be quite honest, Pete hasn't exactly been enjoying his work as security. Ever since he tried beating up that blonde kid (whatever his name was), the higher ups have been keeping a closer eye on him. Never mind the fact that he was not on duty at the time, nor had he even realized that he had been assigned a job in the first place.

So he can't go around just beating up people without reason. And, unfortunately, they don't count "being too nice" a reason to sock people in the jaw. It's killing him that he can't even do what he was supposed to do--but, hey, at least he can still insult people if it suits him. But all that pent up anger means that Pete is dying to leap on anyone that even remotely looks like they're committing a crime, so you might be confronted by a large cat with a smile a bit too wide.]

And what do you think you're doin'?

B is for...uh...Bad Ideas All Over Progress City (August 11th - August 18th)

[Since they started distributing those cellphone things from Ellen's Lab, the gears in Pete's head have been turning. With the introduction of new technology comes new ways to be mean to people, of course. With social media, it's far too easy for misinformation to spread.

Which is exactly what Pete wants. He's busy putting up posters all over town that read:]

WANT TO HELP CREATE A RELIABLE NEWS SOURCE FOR PROGRESS CITY?
JOIN "THE CAT'S MEOW" TODAY, THE BLOG THAT ONLY REPORTS THE TRUTH*

CONTACT PEG-LEG PETE @ VISTA WAY FOR MORE INFO
*truth is subjective

[If there's anything that Pete loves more than beating people up, it's spreading lies and defaming people. You might catch Pete putting up these posters around town, or maybe you wanna help out in his quest to spread the "truth"? Either way, he's got a whole spiel ready for you.]

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[Truth be told, Snake doesn't like working with Pete either. Especially with situations like this, when he just wants to relax.]

I'm taking my break.

[That clearly makes him exempt of the no smoking rule as he lights up.]

Is that so?

[Pete's grin seem to grow sharper as he jabs a finger at a conveniently placed "No Smoking" sign.]

Rule 4.20b--no smoking within the confines of the park! Yer breakin' a law, and you know it! I'm ashamed--I expected better from a fellow security officer.

[He says, as he takes out a box of chewing tobacco and starts gnawing on it. Where did he get that? Don't worry about it.]

[He takes a drag and stares at Pete.]

Gonna do something about it?

Well, if it means I'm doin' my duty as a security officer....

[He spits out a nasty glob of tobacco onto the floor and digs it into the ground with his foot. Then, with a loud HAH!, Pete winds up and goes to punch Snake straight in the jaw.]

[Man, he just can't catch a break.

As Pete throws his punch, Snake side-steps it and grabs his shoulder with a practiced precision, grapples under his other arm, and, rather impressively, turns around and throws the cat man over his back.

With Pete on the ground, Snake taps the ashes from his cigarette.]

OOF!

[Pete goes down hard, causing stars to appear out of his head. It takes a minute or two before he staggers back up onto his feet, spitting out a tooth onto the ground. His face looks contorted with rage.]

Rotten trickster! Why, I oughta--!

[He tries charging at Snake again, arms outstretched to throttle him.]

[Snake goes for his arm again, this time grabbing it with a sidestep and wrenching it behind his back. He hooks his other arm around Pete's neck, trapping him in a chokehold.]

Are you done?

[Pete yelps in pain, his free arm flailing about and scratching at Snake's arm to no avail. He tries to sputter out a few words, but no sound escapes his throat.

Out of nowhere, he pulls out a tiny white flag and starts waving it around frantically, trying to signal for Snake to let go.]

[He relaxes his grip, letting Pete out onto the ground.

With a grunt, he relights his cigarette, leaning back against the wall as if nothing much had happened.]

[Pete scrambles to his feet, scowling and rubbing his throat. He glares daggers at Snake and opens his mouth to insult him, but then freezes.

After a moment or two, he keels over onto the ground, birds springing into existence and flying around his head, tweeting. Looks like he's out for the count.]

[He takes a drag on his cigarette and watches the birds flap around him.]

Toons, huh?

[Plankton's willing to admit he's not exactly Pete's number one fan or anything, but it's hard to dismiss the posters as soon as he sees one regardless. Subjectively reliable journalism sounds right up his alley-- he's already great at taking things other people say and repeating them in a way that makes him look good, how much harder could it be to rewrite it in a way that makes them look bad?

It's easy enough to follow the trail of posters to where Pete is still putting them up, and as soon as he does Plankton sidles up and slams the paper down in front of him (as if he really needs to see it).]

Elaborate.

[Pete looks down at Plankton and grins widely. Perfect. Pete still hasn't forgotten about the pizza-stealing incident. He couldn't have asked for a better first victim--er, reporter.]

Just th' man I was lookin' for! [He slaps Plankton on the back a little too hard.] I'm sure you're aware of the terrible job Rod Serling has done so far in office, yes? I've heard from a little birdy that he even got you impeached from office over some silly little incident.

[He straightens up a little bit, taking out a communicator that he took from Ellen's Lab earlier that week.] Remember those dinky lil' communicators that they's was givin' out before? Well, "The Cat's Meow" is gonna be usin' these to spread th' truth about Progress City's "finest" individuals. Best of all--

[He leans in close to Plankton now, lowering his voice to a whisper. His breath is absolutely awful.]

--all posts are completely, one hundred percent anonymous.

Of course I'm aware.

[Everyone's aware. Some of them even think it's his fault he got impeached, probably because they couldn't handle the genius of his long-term plan. Still, he has many things to say about Rod. And most of the city, now that he thinks about it. Olaf ranks pretty high on the list. For once, he listens with close attention, and he's surprised to find that he doesn't... mind the idea. He'd even call it a good idea, though if he had thought of it first it would have been much better. Anonymity is something he could use.]

...But you have my attention.

[Not that he likes the idea of working for Pete. He instead chooses to think of it as working with Pete for the purpose of reaching a larger audience. He leans back as soon as Pete leans in, crossing his arms.]

We will be getting paid for this, won't we? Truth doesn't come cheap, you know. If I'm going to be spending my time shedding light on the actions of high-profile individuals for your blog, I want compensation. [A beat.] And also a debate regarding the blog's name.

[Pete smiles, crossing his arms. He's 100% planning to throw Plankton under the bus once this whole plan falls apart. If he could just get a few more nasty people working for him, he'll be able to let them do all the hard work of tearing each other apart.]

Of course, of course! You'll be paid four times one-eighth of what Rod is payin' you right now. Sounds like a deal to me, eh?

[...Hm. Maybe a change in name wouldn't be bad if he ever wanted to claim ignorance in the situation. But...he also wants to receive recognition for his villainy. Hmmm.]

That depends. What's goin' on in yer brain, punk?

[His knee-jerk reaction is to ask just how stupid Pete thinks he is, but a) he doesn't really want to know the answer and b) he doesn't entirely want to blow the opportunity straightaway. He decides to just let the matter of pay rest for a while.]

You know what? We'll negotiate prices later.

[At the latter question, he gives an over-exaggerated shrug before clasping his hands behind his back, feigning some look of thoughtful innocence.]

And I don't know. The whole cat themed name thing is just so... you-centric. I was thinking maybe something slightly more us-centric. Me-centric, if you will.

[Listen, Pete doesn't have the same business-oriented mind Plankton does. He's just here to slander people and be nasty.

Pete squints at Plankton, frowning. After a feigned thoughtful pause, Pete crosses his arms, puffing his chest out.]

Don't push your luck, rookie. We'll talk about the name after you've written a few exposés. I expect a decent article by th' end of th' week. You'll give it to me, and if it's good, I'll post it on th' blog.

...And don't try anythin' funny, or you're toast. Got it?

Fine, fine. [That's fair, he guesses. Still, he weighs things over. He doesn't trust Pete as far as he can throw him, but it seems straightforward.] An article about... anything. Whatever I want. Just has to be true.

["""true"""]

A week sounds reasonable.

[Pete nods.] Write about anythin' you want. As long as I like it. If ya don't gimme that article by next week, you're out. Got it?

[He's gotta make sure that Plankton proves himself to be an actual worker...and then maybe he can move forward with a few more plans.]

Stealin' a frog.

[just casually has her fist in an exhibit while a frog screams]

[He glares menacingly down at the frog and Freddie. On the one hand, it would probably be wrong to beat up a child, and stealing a frog is probably something Pete might do and he wants to encourage this behavior. On the other hand, he needs to antagonize someone immediately.]

And whyyyyy are you stealin' that frog, missy?

I'm either gonna sacrifice it in a ritual or keep it as a pet. Haven't entirely decided yet.

[holds out screaming bullfrog]

How 'bout you decide for me, big man?

[Pete winces, his ears twitching. That bullfrog is loud and annoying, and therefore, he hates it. The kid would be doing a lotta good for his eardrums if she sacrificed it, but...punching....

There is possibly one thing he could do.]

You know what? Give it here.

[And he tries to grab the frog from out of her hands.]

Now, I do not recall giving that as one of the options. [and she just sorta. dips back until the display is between them.] But, if your plans are either hilarious or evil, I might be convinced. There's some tree frogs in another exhibit I got my eye on.

[He grins.]

I'm gonna punt that frog all the way to the Magic Kingdom and add a stain to Cinderella's castle.

[Just. Gonna say it outright. He doesn't even care anymore that she's trying to do a crime.]

[CONSIDERS...]

Well, I reckon if you can actually do that, that'd be pretty wicked, but you're also pretty old... I'm gonna try out that whole "trusting people" thing and see what happens. [which is definitely not what anyone meant by that but okay.

she holds out the frog, which is probably trying to defense-pee at this very moment.]

[Joshua, from where he's been hanging out in this spot with his own tabloid magazine in hand to read, looks up with some amount of curiosity when he spots Pete putting up his posters near him.]

Dare I ask what kind of advertising you're putting up here?

[Pete glances over at the anime teen, slapping a bunch of posters onto a nearby wall. Oh. This guy. The person who said he'd never heard of Peg-Leg Pete.]

S'for a news blog! Ya know those fancy cellphone thingies they gave out? Well, I'm thinkin' it's a good way to keep everyone updated on what goes on in and around the city. That way, the people know the truth!

[AKA, what Pete wants people to believe.]

You interested in bein' a writer?

[He thinks about it--he doesn't trust Pete at all, but then, Joshua honestly trusts very few in this place. He very highly doubts that whatever news the guy wants to spread is the truth.

... Luckily for Pete, that's perfectly fine with Joshua, who absolutely loves gossip and rumors as he smiles.]

As a matter of fact, I am.

[Pete crosses his arms, grinning. He doesn't know how to feel about Joshua yet, but...hey, the more reporters, the better. Joshua doesn't seem to be the type to pledge his loyalty towards anyone, especially his boss, but Pete'll work on that later.]

Well, ya gotta write yerself an article to prove yerself, first. Can't just hire any old person off the street, y'know? Why, we'd have dishonest reporters right and left! We wouldn't want that, would we?

Oh, absolutely. One needs to have ethics in journalism, after all.

[he lies, like a liar]

[Let's be honest, everyone in this thread is a liar]

Exactly! This guy gets it! [Pete slaps Joshua on the back a little too hard.] You'll be paid, of course, depending on how many articles you write. Can't be havin' people on the books without 'em doing any work, hm?

So, if you wanna prove yourself, you gotta write yourself an article and give it to me. All posts are anonymous, of course, for yer own safety. If I like it, you're in. You answer to me, and me alone, got it?

[pete you are so lucky right now he doesn't have his powers here or he would smite you for that]

Sure, sure. [A pause] At least, when it comes to working for you and your paper. Outside of that, I can't promise anything.

[please smite him]

Of course, of course. [Pete grins harmlessly as possible.] And don't forget to send me that article once you've written it up. I'm expectin' only th' best from you!

[Which is a complete lie.]

As you wish.

[In fact, he's already set down the tabloid he had been reading and appears to be typing something up on his phone here. He doesn't even look up yet when he speaks again--]

So how much are you considering offering as starting pay for writers anyway?

Easy--two times one-eighth of the pay that Rod is givin' ya!

[Puts his hands behind his back, grinning way too widely.]

Whatcha thinkin' about writing?

Well... given how uninformed people were about it when the subject about Walt Disney came up, I feel perhaps it could be important to get the facts out there on that matter.

[And by that it's probably a scathing exposé about him being the worst ex.]

Otherwise, fashion advice is another idea, because lord knows some people need it around here.

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The Power of the Press

A, 5th

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B, 12th

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