Welcome to Beacon: Next 2.0

Evening

Muttering "Next time I'll get the bastard" under his breath as his trash can clattered harmlessly to the ground, Duncan began gathering up both halves of his weapon (which he really needed to get around to naming one of these days) and quickly returning it to it's shield/table form.

Tossing the gas mask back to Gage, Duncan mounted his bike, wincing slightly from what little tear gas was left in the air, but doing his best to hide the pain.

Acknowledging Halle, Duncan asked "Don't particularly care much about the tear gas, but I've got t'ask since you're ridin' on my bike; In your current banged up state, If I end up crashin' am I goin' t'have to spend the next few hours puttin' you back together on the side of the road?"

The Weekend - Near Midnight, Northern Quarter, Vale

Gage was taking the lead this time, taking a round-about route through the tight streets of downtown Vale. With Candlemas Avenue essentially being besieged and their faces fresh on Astral's mind, to be seen anywhere near the tourist districts would invite even more trouble.

Along the way, they had to stop and split up several times. More than a few occasions, did they see the truth to the OE officer's words. Signs of one-sided skirmishes couldn't be missed, along with a greater number of paddy wagons, no doubt filled with teenagers.

And eventually, they made it to the corner of Bell and Bonnet, to a nearby community center where they parked by the covered court. The young man in the bandanna parked first, killing his engine and gunning off his bike. He paced around the dimly-lit area, frustration clear on his features before he took his helmet and threw it as hard as he could against the chainlink fence.

"Bitch," he howled, kicking the helmet as it rebounded.

edited 10th May '16 6:06:36 PM by KR_Vandal

"It's cool, Duncan, most of my damage is internal." Halle said. "My armor will keep me from the worst of it. I assure you, falling off your bike is not the most force I've been rammed with before."

As they rode off towards their destination, Halle recorded the worst of the violence; it wouldn't be anything to get a conviction, but she could sure as shit post it somewhere.

And then, as Gage raged, Halle climbed off and shook her head. "Maybe get some comfort knowing I've recorded all of this. Regardless of how 'legal' this whole shit-show was, they'll still have to contend with the court of public opinion once I post my footage."

Night on the town.

Scarlet parked and deactivated her helmet once again.

"There is something very weird about this whole situation. Queen Bitch Temis loaned out her personal attack dog? Cooperation from the military for gang violence when the military is supposed to be watching the borders? Authority other than the Chief? The night just got a who lot more complicated, information would have been difficult enough. But getting it while avoiding Astra and her goons is gonna be a whole different league of difficult."

Weekend-Morning

Dia had finished her breakfast.

"I'm not sure what kind of new activities we could do... I haven't done that many group activities in my life thanks to being shut in my house a lot of the time."

She would notice the ball that Gage was carrying.

Being shut in her house for most of her life, she wasn't really used to seeing most sports, and would inquire.

"May I know what that ball is for, Gage?"

The Weekend - Morning, Dorm Sakura Kitchen, Beacon

While attempting to improvise a ham and egg sandwich using pancakes, it was only then Gage remembered the ball.

Stamped with a 'Propery of Beacon' sign, it looked like the grown-up version of a baby's squeezable ball with grips and with certain divots that implied it could be broken apart. Only for the grown-up in question, fistfighting was a reasonable way to solve disagreements.

With the sandwich halfway to his mouth, Gage turned to look at his polite partner, his opposite in almost every way. "Huh/ You mean that Griffball? You never saw one before?"

Weekend-Morning

(So THAT's what it's called!)

Dia took a small moment to ponder as she put her utensils neatly into her plate, ready for bringing to the wash.

"I think I might have seen that before. Once. My brother was channel-hopping, and I probably saw a glimpse of it when the sports channel came up for a second or two. Never knew what the sport was called, though."

Clearly, it was obvious that she didn't know any more about it. The Rayfer family wasn't the sort for sports.

The Weekend - Morning, Dorm Sakura Kitchen, Beacon

His meal was forgotten. And Gage looked utterly scandalized.

"You... You don't know anything about Grifball, the greatest sport in the history of sports!?" To say he was aghast was a cutting understatement.

The Weekend - Near Midnight, Bonnet Community Center, Vale

Finally, Gage's helmet was spared another blow. "It'll take us longer, but I think we can get to where we need." But now his suspicions were up. "When she called a lot of us by name, it was like the pig bitch knew you, Red."

Weekend-Morning

Dia was pretty shocked as she almost dropped her plate that she picked up.

It was a clash of culture, or rather, a lack of sports culture vs a sports fan.

Miss Rayfer would reply in a rather apologetic voice.

"I'm... I'm sorry, Gage. My family didn't let me know about most sports, especially violent ones."

It was pretty telling how restrictive the Rayfer household was.

Night on the town.

Scarlet shrugged. "Well that would be because we are acquainted. Astra is...like me, if you removed any sense of restraint and gave me a badge. She's bad enough on her own, but the real problem is her boss. One, Staff Captain Diana Temis. Temis is widely rumored within the force to use Astra as her attack dog and accepts bribes from gangs to keep Astra looking another direction. If Astra has been given free reign by Temis and military backing to boot then things are going to get very ugly very fast."

edited 11th May '16 12:49:06 AM by guyshane

Weekend Morning

"Uh... for what it's worth, I don't know what Grifball is either." Raggy said quietly. Unlike Dia, who lived in a fairly sheltered environment prior to entering Beacon, the gray-hair had little excuse as an ordinary middle-class citizen.

The Weekend - Morning, Dorm Sakura Kitchen, Beacon

Gage's world was rocked. As if from a great distance, something seemed to squeak in unbearable agony. There were people. In Beacon, right this second. Who have never heard of Grifball.

The Weekend - Near Midnight, Bonnet Community Center, Vale

"Son of a bitch, that explains everything!" Gage exclaimed. "It all makes sense now why the cops don't bug the East! The Dragon's in bed with the pigs!"

This didn't seem to have the effect he wanted, so he explained quickly. "There's not a lotta popo groove in the East, meaning the few gangs that wander around have more or less free reign. If anything, what Red said explains why I don't see a lot of the Dragon's kids get pinched."

edited 11th May '16 7:00:02 PM by KR_Vandal

Weekend-Morning

Dia, seeing Gage's rather... stunned look, would talk to her partner in a concerned tone. "Gage, you okay?"

The Weekend - Morning, Dorm Sakura Kitchen, Beacon

Gage leaned back in his chair, clasping his hands over his bandanna and pulling it down. "I... I just need a moment."

And then they heard a ruckus by one of the windows, which turned out to be a few members from Dorm Bougainvillea on the other side of the student's living quarters. That meant that half-time was already over as they crowed and catcalled, looking for Gage so they could resume their game.

The game being 'Get their asses kicked by Gage and his team over and over again'.

edited 11th May '16 7:49:53 AM by KR_Vandal

Morning in Dorm Sakura

Cerise looked up from a small additional stack of chocolate chip pancakes nicked from the plate by the empty seat, half-finished out of concern that getting too carried away with her new-found ability to eat well would ruin her figure.

"Oh please, I didn't know much either until you told me," she said.

Cerise stood, strode over to Dia, leveling with her at a low volume.

"It's real simple. In Grifball, people hit each other with hammers and swords. They also need to score goals, but that's not really important. The important part is that people hit each other with hammers and swords."

Night

The ride away from the site of the scuffle with the Claw Boys, Cerise remained stoic both recovering from the tear gas and observing the boys that Astra's well-armed men locked up. By the time they stopped in the court by the community center, Cerise was fine, though her face still remained a dry mess.

Cerise lazily splayed out on Gage's bike, observing Gage take out his frustrations. She tossed one of her paw-gloves up and down like a ball, eyes staring out beyond them at the night sky. Then she caught the paw and stopped to giggle.

"At least we're honest about our crimes," Cerise said, nodding to Scarlet and then giving Gage a knowing look, indicating she meant him. "Coppers won't even give you that."

Cerise threw her paw back into the air.

"She'll be her own undoing, the way she's carrying on. Though posting the violence for the world to see could speed things along, couldn't it?"

edited 11th May '16 12:23:34 PM by opnerf

"Yeah, if that's the case then it's way bigger than I thought. I'm posting the footage now." Halle declared, pulling out her Scroll. "I've still got reception, I'll just upload it from here and check in on it every couple hours to see if they've pulled it."

She titled it with Umbra 11 Violence towards Claw Boys gang by VPD. No sense sensationalizing it. With another press it was uploading.

"There, now we just give it some time and it'll go viral." Halle said. "That's how this works, you know."

Morning

"Oh if that's the case, I'll just eat it all then, I'm hungry enough for two." He chuckled as he set her plate down on whatever available space he could find. "I figured you'd be here, since you seemed content to be away from the rest of our team this morning."

Morning

Scarlet shrugged. "Well I needed to unwind after the whole thing with the CCT and it was tinker or hit something so I came here." She picked up the plate and began wolfing down the food.

"What about you?" She asked between bites. "Don't think you came out here for the coffee, it's kinda awful."

Night on the town

Scarlet eyed Halle skeptically. "O...Kay....Don't know how much good that will do us since tear gas is an accepted countermeasure against large groups, but it can't hurt. But now we need to figure out how to get the info without attracting the attention of someone who already wants most of us in jail."

edited 11th May '16 6:27:46 PM by guyshane

Ten Days Prior

Aoi stepped up her retreat, so she would have enough distance to get a decent running start. Once at a satisfactory position, she stopped, and, without another word, dashed straight at her assailant. The idea was not to hit Lizzie, or bodycheck her, or even run around her; Aoi fully intended to run directly through her attacker. If the belligerent noble got soaked in the process, that would be just a bonus.

Dork Sakura (Morning)

"Just swords and hammers?" Aoi asked innocently, between mouthfuls of egg, fish and bread. "This 'Grifball' sounds like an interesting training exercise." Seeing Gage's strongly negative reaction to Dia's and Raggy's lack of knowledge regarding the sport, she didn't want to outright admit that she had never heard of it. Besides, her past knowledge of recreational sporting activities is largely irrelevant, anyhow.

Weekend-Morning

Dia sighed in her mind as Cerise explained the sport. Sure, there was a ball, but apparently-

She would reply to both Cerise and Aoi.

"That sounds... like a fighting sport. Could be great at training combat skills."

Of course, what was going through her mind was different.

(That's an awfully barbaric "sport"! What kind of ball sport focuses more on the fighting and wounding aspect!?)

As Dia picked up her plates to bring them to wash, she would also then notice that Gage was holding the ball as he looked out of the window and noticed those guys.

"Those guys also playing it?"

edited 11th May '16 10:14:57 PM by ironcommando

Kitchen.

Normally, the blue-haired boy would've raised eyebrow at the mention of this...'sport' but just shook his head instead. It all sounded less like a sport and more along the lines of some form of violent entertainment. ...Seeing Gage actually stunned was a first. And sort of amusing.

"..."

Quietly getting to his feet and meekly explaining he'd be back after getting either some of those board-games or movies from upstairs, James departed for now, politely giving a weak 'Good Morning' to those just arriving.

The Weekend - Morning, Dorm Sakura Kitchen, Beacon

The look Gage gave Cerise was one of profound disappointment. Then it quickly melted away when he heard the sounds of scrubs what needed another good dunking. So, he stood in a hurry and grabbed his ball before running to the window.

But he stopped halfway when he realized that certain elements of the kitchen were in need of a good teaching. So, he pulled out his Scroll and set it on the table before them. Adjusting it so that it could set into 'Viewing with Friends' mode, which became a kind of holographic projection which didn't necessitate too much crowding around a tiny screen.

Then he chose a video from his memory bank, the scene showing a well-lit arena at midnight. Very simple Grifball set-up; two goal posts on opposite ends, between them, a no-man's land of obstacles, buttresses, walls, and ledges.

"I'll be back!" And with that, Gage ran out the kitchen, taking care to spin around James and muss his hair, calling out "for good luck!" before jumping out another window to finish the current game.

It seemed like a very important Grifball tournament; 5 players on each side, humans and Faunus alike. And for all the fact that it was a brutal sport, there was a timeless majesty in their physical condition, in their coordination as they used the terrain to their advantage in a cut-throat dance all around the arena.

Cerise was rather terse when she mentioned that all they used were hammers and swords. There were a greater variety of weapons, some were unarmed, others even with this odd-looking blunderbuss that fired sandbags at medium ranges. But anyone grabbing the ball dropped whatever was in their hands as they were suddenly lit up like holiday decorations. Or targets.

One side was leaping and ducking amidst the obstacles, inching slower and slower towards one goal until one young man with a rather large nose screamed this strange ululating note as he leaped off a buttress and kicked the ball into a goal, even as their opponents scrambled desperately to arrest the descent.

There was a five second delay. Then an almighty bang from the goal that made the crowd roar... And the latest scorer get thrown like a ragdoll out of sight, all the while he screamed that strange ululating note.

Just outside, they heard more screaming. And the sound of someone being thrown painfully into the bushes. And the sound of ball hitting skull.

The Weekend - Near Midnight, Bonnet Community Center, Vale

Gage had pulled out his Scroll and brandished a map of the surrounding area in regards to how far they were from Candlemas Avenue. "We could split up," he suggested, reaching into a pocket and producing a vial of candy red energy drink.

edited 12th May '16 6:26:27 AM by KR_Vandal

Dia was washing her dishes and utensils when she saw Gage leave, and she did address him with a wave and a slightly louder, but not shouting voice.

"Good luck, Gage."

Then she saw the holographic video of a "Grifball" game.

Now it was Dia's turn to become speechless as she washed her dishes and utensils.

She watched the holographic demonstration of Grifball... and it did not look very civilized in the slightest. People whacking each other, sandbags being launched, the goal scorer themselves getting hurt...

"..."

For a cultured noble like Dia, this was just... not her thing.

Finally, after a pause and cleaning her breakfast dishes, she spoke up.

"...why... all this violence in a ball game?"

And then Miss Rayfer heard the sounds of violence outside, and went to the window to investigate. (Oh for the love of...)

edited 12th May '16 11:15:23 AM by ironcommando

Weekend Night

"No way." Halle said. "We stick together and they can't pick us off. They set up any barricades, the four of us can negotiate them as they come. Have you ever seen that idea go over well in movies?"

Dorm Sakura (Morning)

Aoi was quietly watching the demonstration with interest. So it's like capture the flag, but instead you're delivering an item to the enemy team. Intriguing. Shame you can't bring your own weapons, or I would be all over this... Then again, it wouldn't hurt to take up a backup... she mused.

"I would think of it not so much as a mere sport but as a small-teams tactical exercise," she said to Dia, while still watching the match. Or maybe I'm reading into it too much. Maybe it's just violence for the sake of violence, she thought to herself.