Yuki frowned. "Unfortunately, there's no way to know for sure. Getting our hands on the diadem would help but still won't give any definitive answers."
She slammed on the brakes as the next traffic light changed to red. "Damn lights," she muttered. She ran her hands down her face and sighed. "I suppose the best thing we can do is have a plan in place that can adapt to any of your three scenarios."
No one believes me when I say angels can turn their panties into guns.Alice laughed and said, "one and three, like I said, are easy. We keep a good distance as soon as they try their voodoo bullshit. They leave or die. Thing is... we need to limit how much power they can take. And we should make sure we can do it in a way that won't put us in range of whatever surprises that thing might have on it."
She groaned, realizing this part was way out of her area. "Listen," she said, hesitantly, "I'm just a crazy woman with a growth disorder. You know anything about magic that could help? I get the impression their magic won't play by whatever rules you know, so think general."
Yuki laughed as they got rolling again. "I'm no mage. I know ki. If Amaya was here, things would be different, but..."
She blinked as a thought crossed her mind. "Why exactly is number two so bad? I thought all you wanted was to run some tests? As long as you run your tests before they get their hands on it, there shouldn't be much of a problem. We can give the dried up husk to Shinji to give to that restaurant guy, and all's well, right?"
She gave Alice a pointed look that blatantly asked for an explanation.
edited 11th Sep '11 10:11:31 PM by animemetalhead
No one believes me when I say angels can turn their panties into guns.Alice looked at Yuki very suspiciously, considering. Finally she said, "the plans everyone's hatching to keep that thing out of Kobby's hands? Well, Kobayashi isn't a complete moron. He's probably figured we'll try some bullshit just like that. I'm just gonna play Kobayashi's game for now. Because Shinji and Daisuke will fail. Mark my words. Hell, I'm relying on it." She grinned... she seemed to still be hiding something, but it didn't seem likely she'd ever be speaking it aloud.
Then, her voice growing irritated, she continued, "but if that thing is sucked dry... guess what? Kobby's gonna want to kill us. At the very moment where he knows exactly where we are. Do you see how this could be a minor problem?"
Still smirking slightly, the Irish woman said, "well, that's the thing about terrorist organizations... it ain't brains they put at top but loyalty. Aye, but enough chat, lad." A limo that looked like it could laugh off a rocket launcher pulled up, and the Irish woman said, "we may be meetin' again. Or not. We'll see. Pleasure working with you." With that she hopped in the limo and left.
Asayu raised an eyebrow and said, "terrorist organization?" Then she sighed and said, "oh... forget it, I don't want to know. Terrorists and freedom fighters. Whatever. Get whatever it is you came here for and let's go."
"In other words," Yuki said. "You wanna know what the diadem is capable of and then pass it off safely to the next person, so they can get screwed over for fucking with Kobayashi's plans."
She smirked. "Makes me glad we're not enemies, you and I."
No one believes me when I say angels can turn their panties into guns."No more whiskey for you," Bianca snarls, and drags William away. "So, we get more ammunition. Maybe use one of their guns, in case the ammo isn't happy with ours. A nice meal. We pretend we're going to test Marianne's limitations, which we will. And we get our asses to the casino."
William nods sagely. "You cursed. So you're serious."
"I think I'd know that, too." The couple finds what they think is one of the cars that the heist group used to drive to the restaurant and sit on the roof. "Tonight, then?"
"Tonight."
"And if we run into something... unexpected?"
Other heist members with the same idea, security devices... William rolls his neck around, making popping noises. "Between magic and my healing, we should be fine. We might get beat up, but we'll live to see home. How's Marianne?"
"Lying low. If she makes herself too obvious, the diadem might suck her up. I can use her power, but not as well as I could if she were alert and helping me. And the arm... it better not jam while we're there. That's all I'm going to say about that."
William lights up a cigarette and holds her hand tightly. "Honey... this would be one hell of a place to die."
"How so?"
"It's just... I hate this world. Everything's shiny and fast and it's ugly to me."
Bianca leans against him and half-closes her eyes. "I know."
Warm hugs and morally questionable advice given here. Prosey BitchfestWith a nervous chuckle, Asayu said, "it's complicated. I... uh... last time we met, I put her in the hospital. We... we're what you could call 'trusted enemies'. I don't 'like' Alice. Honestly, the woman disgusts me in ways I can't even begin to describe. But... well, we've been making deals against our common enemy long enough we sort of trust each other when we're not actively working against each other."
She shook her head and explained, "I told Alice I'd talk sense into you under the deal that I'd never have to see her for a month. So... OK, fine. I'll do my best to get you out of whatever hot waters you're swimming in, and show you how this 'diplomacy' thing works. Pay attention. Also, I'll only do this if you promise to try being somewhat polite. Oh, and not running off into the shadows randomly. I gather that sort of gets on their nerves. That way, I get a wonderful, Alice-free month, you get people to listen to you, and both our days are better." She was silent for a moment, then added, "oh, just a question. If I kiss you... don't worry, just a peck on the side of the head or cheek or something, no more, can you pretend to at least not be disgusted? It would be real helpful. But if that's too much to ask, I'll live with it."
Pry one of Alice's most treasured possessions from her? Asayu didn't think this would end well. So she shook her head and said, "OK, fine, no kiss. Why work for what I'm usually begged for?"
Alice returned Yuki's grin and said, "you're a smart woman. Keep it up and we'll not have any trouble. Yeah, sometimes you've got to know when the game just ain't worth playing, and nicking Kobby's little toy? That's one of those times."
"What the hell, man? I'm outside!" William puts the cigarette in his pocket and sighs.
Is this a "No smoking X feet from the building" place?
edited 12th Sep '11 7:15:04 AM by snowfoxofdeath
Warm hugs and morally questionable advice given here. Prosey BitchfestAsayu yawned and said, "OK, kid, start rambling. It's been worth it so far." She wasn't sure how much more time she wanted to spend in this city, but the thought of a month away from Alice's grinning face, even if it meant a brief meeting with the maniac, was enough to keep her near Prisha and willing to deal with diplomatic issues for him.
"Finally," Alice muttered as the safe house came into view. "Anything else you want to say, Yuki, or do we have ourselves an understanding?"
edited 12th Sep '11 9:29:51 AM by KillerClowns
Yuki nodded, parking the car. "Let's meet here, at nine tonight. We'll discuss final plans then."
Preparations had to be made; she needed to make sure she could pull off her end of the plan. She headed to the kitchen and dug out a French press, starting the process of making the strongest coffee one could get.
No one believes me when I say angels can turn their panties into guns.Asayu stifled a yelp at the suprise, then turned to Prisha and said, "I don't blame you if you don't want to deal with Alice, but we're going to have to deal with your 'friends' sometime." And she was a bit annoyed — Alice's companion had caught Asayu's eye.
As she entered the safe house, Alice said, "sounds good. Alright, any ideas on how to kill time until the rest of these morons show up?"
"Watch My Little Pony?" Yuki suggested with a grin. She left the coffee to brew with a note on it reading: DO NOT TOUCH: EXPERIMENTAL POISON.
"I've gotta practice something, and I wanna do a little research on explosives before we just storm off and do something stupid." She started sifting through the fridge, looking for the most calorie-dense foods she could find.
No one believes me when I say angels can turn their panties into guns.Asayu groaned and muttered something — presumably a curse — in her lilting native tongue. Then she hid with Prisha and said, "so... care to explain why you're cower— er, 'biding your time'?" This was going to get complicated, she suspected.
Alice examined the coffee, wondering whether or not to take the cautious seriously. A sniff suggested that even if it wasn't toxic, it might still have unwanted effects on Alice. For the time being, she decided she'd just keep on waiting to see if somebody shown up. To Yuki, she said, "what sort of bullshit do you think that Prisha kid's gotten himself into?" With a smirk, she added, "and ya think he'll be coming back with all his limbs intact?"
edited 12th Sep '11 7:36:08 PM by KillerClowns
"As long as he doesn't interfere, I don't care what happens to him," Yuki answered, sliding her prizes to the back of the fridge. "I wasn't kidding when I said I'd kill him earlier. If he puts my life at risk in this operation, he'll pay for it."
She straightened and shut the door. "A coward like him? Death is probably his single greatest fear. Although," she grinned sadistically. "I suppose we could have some fun messing with his head for a little."
No one believes me when I say angels can turn their panties into guns.

Alice smiled slightly. Her trust had been well placed.
She said, "well, some of our more squeamish members won't like the gas, but who gives a shit? I'll make things sound more dire afterward if I gotta. And as for Bianca and William... you seem like a good person to help me with this shit. We need to discuss them."
She sighed and said, "they're gonna betray Kobayashi and, theoretically, us. They discussed sapping power from the thing to get back home a while back. They might take so little Kobayashi doesn't notice. They might drain so much power it turns the thing into an ordinary bit of jewelery. Or they might trigger some sort of defensive mechanism and get killed. One and three don't bother me, but number two... that could be a problem. So we need to figure out what will happen, or assume the worst is exactly what it will be. Ideas?"