Jack seems to get the silent begging as he chuckles a little, grabs his staff and raises it up to make it start snowing.
"That ought to do it."
"I see. I suppose it makes sense that you'd at least want to prevent infighting over bounties."
He tilts his head a little.
"I usually scan the corpses to register and confirm their matching DNA and leave them behind afterwards. But I'm not opposed to dragging one with me for physical proof either. ... in that case I have one more question."
He sits more professionally now. While his eyes aren't visible, Monster may get the sense that the mercenary is narrowing his eyes.
"Say that, for whatever reason, I am required to leave this realm for a long time, or perhaps permanently. Would I be able to quit without having to worry about... 'consequences'? Or does joining or registering meaning that it's permanent?"
Edited by DevilPsyco on Jan 11th 2022 at 1:52:30 PM
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Bridge
The scan will reveal nothing out of the ordinary with the car. As for the man, his abilities are enhanced by the demonic guitar, which contains the souls of the poor NPC's Lourent dwellers.
As expected, the tires got blown by the shots, but the musician is still playing his song... Whistlings tries to steal the guitar with his Far Reach, but he and Ulala are starting to feel their effects.
I... Can't... Control my... Muscles!
"Whatever you are trying to do, do it now!"
Three freaking ghosts!Cyber-Refia suddenly divebombs the Guitar Guy, creating an explosion of green light on impact as the gold of her White Magic mixes with the blue of her cybernetics!
Majima calmly follows 'Nelson' in.
The most disturbing thing is, when they're in private, he doesn't go directly into his infamous crazy act. His voice remains calm and buttery-smooth, his expression neutral at worst. "I see you made good on your vow of escape, Tahn-san. What a coincidence that we would run into each other in a circumstance like this."
However, a moment later, he's the Majima Tahn knows again. "Ain't that a coincidence? And here I was ready to buy the place and make it the best in town just for old times' sake!"
"Nobody should be forced to do anything. And yeah, I know, I'm half the reason your 'number nine' was on our side for a while because she was forced to help us in the present, but that me never found something to care about until you. And then she stopped caring."
"I guess... you can learn to care about and protect things without becoming a little bitch. If I'm really your mom, you better not bend to anyone, got that? "
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."That definitely catches Ken Tahn off guard for a bit. He tries not to let it show, but Majima will probably notice. And probably be a little amused by it too.
"I had to take advantage of a big opening a few months back, but yeah. I've been in hiding ever since in case they went looking for me, if you're wondering why I didn't send you any clues yet. I was gonna do so soon from now, but you found me early."
He looks more comfortable when Majima goes back to his usual mannerisms.
"You can still do that.", he says, shrugging. "The cafe is just a front to me. You'll own it in a minute, so you can make it a legitimate business if you want to."
The reach the bottom of the staircase and Ken Tahn opens the door, leading into a surprisingly big room. It has some tables and chairs in it, nothing special. But there's multiple doorways as well, suggesting that this place is rather big.
There's a noticeable dried bloodsplatter on the ground close to the stairs. It's not big, and it's clear that someone had badly tried to clean it up before.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay."To be frank, not every possible target here may have DNA."
Monster sits up as well.
"You would be expected to at least remain aligned with our interests as a matter of courtesy. But so long as you do not expect to continue to receive the benefits of active membership after your departure, you are free to withdraw your service."
/\。。/\"..."
He sighs.
"There are some things about this arrangement that aren't my kind of thing. However, I can't really afford to be picky in this place. I'll register under your guild. But for the sake of my personal freedom, registering is as far as I'll go."
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Emma was caught off guard by Refia's sudden attack, prompting her to delay the attack. But she isn't really a patient type.
"Damnit that girl is in the way!"
More of the radius' heat got absorbed, her body glowing like a lamp now as Emma teleports above the man. Her laser cannon suddenly bursting a relatively large and continuous flow of destructive blue energy towards the guitar man. Flint meanwhile goes invis and flies to Emma's last position.
realGlacies adds in her snow as well, hoping to engulf the street in snow at least. Can't have a battlefield for a snowball fight without ample ammo, right?
...
.... Yeah. I won't let the world make a bitch out of me. I'll do what I'll always do and I don't care if folks try to shut me down over it. Her self-hyping done, Eleven shrugs.
Well, I'm going to punch number nine... both of them, in the face then. Maybe three of them? Either way, I want to wipe away those smug smiles of theirs. And if their friends jump in the way, well, that's more challenge, and I like a challenge, see?
No killing them though. It'll suck more for them if they get punched like that but not finished off. Eleven holds up her index when making the distinction, and smirks. Feel free to try and stop me, by the way. I like a challenge.
...
Sanji shrugs and agrees with Tonio. The test it is!
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitter"That should do it. Now then..."
A mischievous smirk appears on his face as he lands and conjures up a snowball in his hand.
"Time for battle."
"That's acceptable.", he says, now getting off of his chair.
"Tell me where that building is. Or bring me to it, I will follow you."
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay."For this pressure test, you'll have to cook for all the same people again. You'll be making various sushi rolls under a strict time limit, and you'll be rated on how neatly made the crowd thinks the food is."
"... I am not well-versed in sushi," Tonio says.
"I'm gonna be honest, me neither. I can't make a proper roll in two minutes, but Japanese chefs can, so that's the benchmark you're aiming to meet! Get started deciding what you're gonna make!"
Majima follows Tahn, chuckling. "Back in my prime, they called me 'Lord of the Night'. I was so good at my job, I could make an unruly drunk repent, and make everyone he upset forgive him, with only my words and dodging skills. Guess I've still got it if it took you that long to figure me out."
He looks at the blood splatter. "... Welp, time to get to work. Where's the nearest mop? Can't have a mess like this, not even in your private rooms."
"Finally, a fight." Katre rolls her eyes. "Talking philosophy was getting boring."
"Ah-ah-ah-ah!" Deut and Troa finally arrive.
"Katre, you better not have..." Troa stops and looks all around. "Why is everything around here destroyed except you two?"
"We ended up talking things out. Funny how that works. But now I've got energy with nowhere to release it, so can you guys just let me have this one?"
Deut gives Eleven a raised eyebrow, silently inquiring whether she's up for that.
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."Oh hey, it's Mom and number 2. What, do you switch handlers? Like number... five is next on it?
Eleven does a smug smirk, and then looks back at Deut. ... What? You think I'd back off? I was bred for war. I'll accept any fight, so long as the other guy can make it worth my while. I'm not like you not accepting what I am.
With some renewed confidence, Eleven cracks her neck and stand up, before doing the same with her knuckles. But can you make it worth my while, mom?
...
Glacies likewise grab a snowball and... make sure there's no rock in it or whatever. She likes being prudent.
Ladies first, right?! She yeets it foward.
Edited by Bolded1 on Jan 11th 2022 at 2:59:14 PM
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterMonster nods.
"I can bring you there."
There's a sort of 'reverse flash' of darkness, and then - fuckin - they're there. The building is rather nondescript, other than the sign outside ("AGARTHAN BOUNTY HUNTING GUILD HEADQUARTERS").
"Simply walk inside and talk to the person manning the front desk."
/\。。/\Jack dodges the snowball and grins.
"Yep, but that privilege has now expired." , he laughs before throwing his back and conjuring up another one.
"Really now? You'll have to tell me how you did that one of these days. It sounds handy. ... that's also a kick-ass name.", he says. He then looks at the blood splatter as well.
"Right, I forgot about that one. I thought I'd gotten it all. Just a moment."
He walks to one of the doorways, then suddenly yells into the hallway behind it.
"New guy, idiot trio, get over here! There's someone here you have to meet!"
"And one of you bring a mop!"
Majima will be able to hear the sounds of people rapidly stumbling about, as if in a hurry to meet Ken Tahn's demands.
Then, out of the hallway, the
◊ so-called
◊ idiot trio
◊ falls through the doorway, hitting the ground and groaning.
Ken Tahn says nothing, just crossing his arms. The three immediately scramble back up on their feet, and Majima will be able to note that they don't just look nervous, they look genuinely afraid.
"W-we're here, boss!"
"Sorry, boss!"
"We were busy s-setting up the pool table, boss!"
Ken Tahn raises an eyebrow.
"... the mop?"
The three start to sweat nervously. But then-
"Here.", a voice says as someone else now walks out of the hallway. The 'new guy'
◊ appears, tossing Ken Tahn a mop, which he catches.
"At least you're efficient... er... Bakura, right?"
Thief King Bakura nods wordlessly before his eyes fall on Majima. He looks curious and confused, as if he doesn't know what to make of him.
"I'll mop in a moment. I want to introduce my associates to you.", Ken Tahn then casually says to Majima, the more friendly tone he uses for him seemingly surprising the bandit trio.
"The white-haired guy is Bakura.", he says, pointing at him. Then at the other three.
"And those three are my slaves."
... he says as if that's a normal thing to say.
The mercenary seems to have been caught off guard by the transition. The first showing of emotion from him so far.
He nods before he just walks inside. Seems like he's gone back to being quiet.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Bridge
The guy, after those charged attacks, is miraculously alive!... But the guitar is no more.
Suddenly, over all of Lourent, small light are flying like shooting stars, and the kidnapped people are appearing at the same place, without memories of whatever happened when they started to dance.
And, next to Whistlings and a Ulala, Blippi and Ran appeared!
Huh? What are we doing here? And who are those guys?
Blippi! Nice to see you fine again! Those guys: Flint, Emma and Refia, saved you and all of the kidnapped Lourentians from the guitar guy!
But the emotive meeting got interrupted by yet another guy, walking from behind the car, clapping sarcastically.
"Bravo, muchachos! You just thwarted the perfect plan to dominate the Arena!"
"So, you are the man behind all of this?"
"...Of course. My name is Juanes, and that isn't over yet. We'll be back... Someday."
He goes with the man and the dancers, and they... Dissappear.
"They... Teleported away?"
That was... Strange.
"Anyways, thank you for stopping them... By now. And now, time for your well deserved reward. What do you want from the Detective Agency?"
Three freaking ghosts!Cyber-Refia waves her hand. "I don't need a reward. But thank you for the offer."
Troa scoffs. "As if Cinke wouldn't let us completely loose for fun. No, Deut's the only handler."
"I sure can. Hell, you wanna 2v1 me and Slimy?"
"You and who?"
"I'll be sure to show you the ropes of a professional."
"Heh. Nice," Majima remarks upon Tahn referring to the recurring trio of bandits as his slaves. "So anyway, I'm now the official manager of this bar," he says, introducing himself to the bandits (and Thief King Bakura). "Tahn runs the show in the back while I keep people happy up front. You will address me as Majima-buchō! It means Manager Majima!"
Edited by KiriK on Jan 11th 2022 at 9:11:36 AM
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."Bridge
"er... Anyway I guess some cas-" Flint interrupts her to add his reward.
"Polishing equipment and money." He hands a card to some address in hub centralis and walks off afterwards to get it ahead of time. He expects Emma to follow suit, but she has other things in mind as she turns to Refia.
"Hey can we talk elsewhere? I have a few things I'd like to ask if you don't mind."
Edited by BoniniBanana on Jan 11th 2022 at 11:16:18 PM
realThe four look confused, then look at Ken Tahn for a moment as he moves to the blood splatter.
"I sold him the bar for a million bucks.", he says as he starts to clean it, shocking the three bandits. They look at each other.
"W-wait, what are we supposed to call him?"
"Majima... busho?"
"No, I think it's pronounced bucho?"
"It's Majima-buchō, you fools.", TK Bakura says, pronouncing it flawlessly. Seems like he knows his Japanese.
The three slink towards him sheepishly.
"Can you... tell us later how to pronounce that?"
TK Bakura sighs, then nods.
"Fine."
"If you three are done yapping, I need you at the bar. I'm gonna show Majima around so I'll need someone to fill in."
"R-right!"
The three immediately head towards the door, only stopping when Tahn clears his throat.
"Uniforms.", he says when they look confused. They quickly remember they have to be seen in decent clothing for the bar's reputation, so they run back into another room to get ready. Tahn sighs.
"I almost regret scaring them so much. Their fear makes them more incompetent than they normally are."
He then stops swabbing the floor. The stain is gone.
"And that's that.", he says, smiling. He then turns to Majima, about to ask something, but TK Bakura suddenly walks up to him with an inquisitive and wary look.
"So, Majima-buchō. I've got one question that'll decide whether or not you and I will get along or not.", he says while putting his hands in his pocket.
"Clearly you're rich or you wouldn't be spending that much on this dump. So are you a decent guy, or are you that kind of rich asshole who does whatever they want, blames poor people for everything and then gets pissed when those people bite back?"
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Majima puts a hand over his chest and bows, reverting to his Lord of the Night persona. "Bakura-sama," he begins. Due to his possession of/merging with a Japanese kid, TK Bakura knows that 'sama' is an honorific that would not be used lightly - to the point that 'okyaku-sama' is the traditional term for a customer.
"The notion that I am anything less than a man who serves his people is offensive. Though I may sometimes appear to be a cackling loon, that is only a release of my inhibitions, and even in that state I never hurt someone who doesn't deserve or expect to be hurt. Money is a tool used to serve other's needs. I work tirelessly to make the common man happy."
He winks with his good eye. "Do you?"
Edited by KiriK on Jan 11th 2022 at 9:25:39 AM
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."He does look surprised for a moment when referred to with the 'sama' honorific. He hears Majima out, and while his expression is still the resting bitch face expression, as it often is, he eventually lets out an amused huff and shows signs of a grin.
"I guess I'll get to see for myself whether or not you're speaking the truth, boss."
Ken Tahn, who's known enough people with TK Bakura's kind of demeanor to know Majima gave the correct answer, smiles at Majima. He seems to have faith in this now.
The three then return to the room. And to their credit, despite their rugged looks, they somehow manage to look like genuine waiters for a fancy, high-class bar.
"Alright, up to the bar with you three.", Ken Tahn says, gesturing to the door. "If you don't know how to mix a requested drink, there's a menu hidden under the counter that tells you what you need to do. If there's any problems, come back down here."
The three nod and walk to the door, passing Majima on their way and doing a quick little bow as they do. Whether it's out of respect, fear of Tahn's reaction if they do otherwise or both isn't clear.
One of them stops near Majima for a moment though and whispers.
"If you're really intending on going through with this, then just heed this advice. Be careful of Ken Tahn. I don't know what side of him you've seen, but he's genuinely dangerous. There were thirty of us two days ago. Now there's three. Just keep that in mind, Majima bus... buch... manager Majima."
He then quickly hurries after the others.
"I'm gonna be guarding the door again I assume?", TK Bakura asks.
"Yep. Don't worry, you'll get more exciting work once we get this place properly running."
TK Bakura shrugs and goes to stand next to the door. This job is boring as hell, but after spending 3000 years in a cursed artifact, doing this for a few days isn't the worst thing in the world.
"Anyhow, I'll show you around now if you want!", Ken Tahn says to Majima, looking eager. He already starts walking before Majima can even respond.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.I'd have an idea, don't worry! Sanji casually pulls out a little white list and scroll down at inhuman speed, handing out the almost smoking paperto Tonio, with the instructions
◊ on what food to fetch in which quantity.
Meanwhile, Sanji hurries himself to prepare the kitchen in anticipation. He'll need to be fast!
...
Glacies barely ducks under that one, laughs, and sends a snowball. It's fun to do so after a day of boring bureaucracy!
...
Eleven looks confused for a moment, but then smiles confidently. You sure you want me to beat your ass while you have help? It'd only make you look worse.
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterWith Jack having done nothing but either float around bored in an Assassin base or having been sent out for recon, he also great enjoys getting some time to let loose and have fun. He air-hops over the incoming snowball this time and laughs happily.
He quickly creates a wall of snow to function as a protective barrier before he throws another snowball. And he keeps things fair, because he creates a snow wall for Glacies too. Though of course his throw is aimed so that it'll go over the wall.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Tonio reads the list and sprints to grab the ingredients, calling forth Pearl Jam to help him gather them all up. As soon as he's got everything, he brings it all back to Sanji.
Majima listens to the man and silently shakes his head. He's learned how to be trustworthy while still keeping his guard up around others. If Tahn tried to backstab him right now, he'd eat shoe before he knew what hit him... but that isn't gonna happen.
He turns to Tahn, nods and follows after.
"I'm not worried about who's going to win and who's going to lose anymore." Katre pounds her fists together, then reaches for a pants pocket and pulls out a Premier Ball, throwing it to release a Purified Dragonair!
"Oh that's Slimy."
"Let's go!"
Time to Make History - Persona 4: Dancing All Night
Katre leaps towards Eleven, stops in front of her, then rears up and delivers a mighty stomp kick! Meanwhile, Slimy slaps its tail against the ground and sweeps it in an arc, sending a wave of water at Eleven with Aqua Tail.
Edited by KiriK on Jan 11th 2022 at 9:50:29 AM
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."Bridge
Whistlings takes the card with the address.
"Alright, we'll send you the equipment and money there in this week."
I hope to see you later! Bye! And thank you again!
They leave the battlefield walking through the bridge.
Edited by BombonBombin on Jan 11th 2022 at 9:56:50 AM
Three freaking ghosts!

"That's quite all right. If you were to fully join, your responsibilities would be on an individual basis towards other members. It is structured as something of an inter-member support group - each full member submits their primary goal for review, and the others do what they can to assist them in achieving such. This is, of course, a two-way street."
"If you were to simply register, you wouldn't even be obliged to do that. We would just need a record of your assignments - to ensure that there is no unfortunate conflict of interest between registrees. Say for example, making sure that two registrees, whom did not intend to work together and split the reward, end up signing on to the same bounty."
"For the most part, your targets and missions may be chosen at your discretion; however, you may receive bounty requests from guild leadership. These are technically optional for each individual, though we would need someone to pick up guild bounties eventually."
"The primary requirement for both states, however, is simple. When casualties occur, which is very likely in work such as this, it is highly encouraged to retrieve the cadaver for guild leadership to... inspect. Bodies may be brought to a marked location on the guild map, or left within the city."
/\。。/\