Marcia listened to the others talk. So, she was going to pretend to be a stupid tourist, huh? That was going to real hard for her. If only her mom didn't waste her magic on all those disguise spells, she would have this down pat. She nervously gulped before proverbially biting the bullet.
"...Well. W-what is the easiest way to l-look silly?"
Iris sighed. "I never said you had to act stupid or silly" she explained. "Just act normal. Like, you're on vacation or something. For me, that means collecting stuff, you know? Just make sure you don't attract too much attention."
A short while later, they had arrived at San Francisco's Chinatown. It was as picturesque as the travel agencies made it look.
"OK, what now?" Alicia asked.
"Well, these people we are looking for, they are like a street gang. Except, made up of Changed people. They probably won't be hanging in the open- but, they will be very territorial. We need to hit the area, talk to people, look for gang signs such as graffiti, those kinds of things. That, we're going to have to do by ourselves, I'm afraid. So, unboard and start acting like a bunch of tourists."
((Players: roleplay a visit to Chinatown anyway you like. And pick up a clue if you think of anything.))
With things clarified for her more clearly, Marcia felt she could take on this task with supreme confidence. They were going ask the people of Chinatown if they saw a group of people who changed into characters from fictional works. Sounds pretty easy, especially since fiction tends to be stranger than reality, right?
With that in mind, Marcia went into the city and began interviewing people in the San Fran suburb. From what she got from the people she gathered her clues from, there was a group of people in black hoodies.
They never separated from each other at all times. Whenever they ordered ice cream, they always ordered a sea-salt flavor Popsicle. The leader talked in such a deep tone, people ended up confusing his voice with that of Norio Wakamoto’s voice. Whoever that guy is must be real famous if his name was mentioned by this guy who was holding up a cute plastic figurine of some girl she didn’t recognize.
"I know, Iris, I know, I'm just jokin'." Jeremy replied with a small smirk as she drove the bus to their destination; Chinatown.
"Welp, time to fish for clues, huh... Alright, I'll be back in one hour, don't get yourselves killed." He jokingly added as he stepped out of the bus, adjusting his cap before shoving his hands in his pockets, setting out to take a while around the neighborhood. The Deathclaw didn't have much to go on, but he decided to test the waters anyways; his horns were still pretty obvious to the casual observer, and he suspected it wouldn't take long until people took notice of it and people started talking about it behind his back, or perhaps even to his face. Either way, he was hoping his appearance would trigger a reaction in the people he met, something useful that his bestial hearing would pick up. Perhaps the rumor mill might even make his presence known to the very gang he's looking for.
Alicia felt uncomfortable. Oh, not for being in a Chinatown- but for being in gang territory. Having grown up in Brooklyn, it had been drilled into her to avoid such places. And this particular gang was made up of Changed People, so who knows how dangerous they were.
On the other hand, it wasn't as if they couldn't take care of themselves. Though she would prefer not to fight here; there were too many innocent bystanders, both locals and tourists.
She looked around for Iris and found her talking with a vendor about a vase. Was she still on track or had their goal slipped her mind? She honestly couldn't tell.
She also spotted Marcia. She decided to walk over to her. "Any luck?' she whispered.
edited 19th May '16 9:38:21 PM by Sijo
When Alicia asked Marcia about any info on the rogue group of changed people, Marcia had a big grin on her face. Boy, did she have plenty to tell.
"Well, I h-heard about, um, this group of p-people... They, um, all h-had black hoodies and they never separated from e-each other. The leader had a s-scary voice. That's, um, all I got so far. What h-have you, um got on that group?"
edited 20th May '16 7:19:12 PM by josh6243
"Not much" Alicia said bitterly, while staring at Iris, who still seemed to be arguing over a vase!
But, she realized it would be up to her to keep up the others' spirits. Iris might the "brains" of the outfit, but a leader she wasn't.
"I'm sure something will come up. While gangs are secretive, it's hard to hide when you have, well, Changed. Either your looks or your powers make you stand out, sooner or later."
Meanwhile, in an alley not far from them, a group of what appeared to be teenagers in hoodies had gathered.
"Are you sure, Blue?" a boy asked.
"Yes" a girl with blue skin responded. "It is them. They are here."
Another girl seemed to recoil at her words.
"Don't worry, Alex! We won't let them take you away!" the boy said.
"Please, Blue" Alex asked, "Tell me what you see"
The blue girl was silent for a moment. "I see... a battle. But, in the end, the choice to stay will be yours."
A beat.
"And if I leave, will I- ever be able to- come back here?"
"No. If you leave, you can never return."
"Hey!" another hooded boy retorted. "Don't be like that to her!"
Blue was impassive. "I'm just telling the truth." She then lowered her hood, revealing her face.
And my visions always come true."
edited 30th May '16 7:51:12 PM by Sijo
"One of them is here!" a really fat hooded boy shouted. He then ran in front of Felix; the ground seemed to tremble as he did. "You are NOT getting Alex away from us, do you hear??"
-Meanwhile, not far away from there-
Iris finally dignified herself to walk over to where Marcia and Alicia were. The latter was about to say something but before she could, the Time Lady said "They are called the Bian. That's Chinese for Changed. It was a small local gang but it grew in size quickly after the Change, it's mainly composed of runaways."
"...How did you find all that out?" Alicia said, amazed.
Iris smirked. "It's amazing what people are willing to tell you when you tell them their junk is actually priceless Ming Dynasty vases."
Alicia couldn't help gnashing her teeth.
Meanwhile, Jeremy was wandering around the neighborhood, searching for clues. As expected, his appearance turned quite a few heads; Plenty of remarks from the passerbys, but no concrete information reached his ears. Oh well, it was worth a try, he thought to himself as he took his phone out of his pocket - crap, almost out of batteries - to enjoy his limited time with human-ish hands to quickly send a couple texts to some people he knew, hoping they would still get through to their recipients despite the warped world the Earth had become.
Putting the device again, He idly glanced around before his attention got caught by a nearby alley, in which he heard a bit of a commotion and heard a familiar voice.
"Let Alex go. Now." "One of them is here! You are NOT getting Alex away from us, do you hear?"
"Hrrrrmgmrmbmphfaitchier..." He groaned in frustration as he walked into the alley, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"I swear, If your shit gets you into a fight, I am not bailing you out." He remarked more loudly, approaching the group.
Suddenly, a girl peeked over Fat Guy's shoulder. "Felix...?" she asked.
But all she could see was some girl, and a somewhat-demonic looking guy.
A blonde guy
◊ suddenly made his way to the front. "This is Bian territory" he spoke with a Chinese accent. "Who are you and what do you want?"
Marcia smiled at Alicia and tried to ignore the spectacle going right in front of her eyes. Marcia would rather talk with Junon than listen to Iris attempt to socialize with the human race. Junon had more tact even though she seemed more idiotic than Iris.
“T-thanks, um, Alicia… I’m sure we’ll f-find them given, um, enough time.”
After listening to Iris’s explanation, Marcia’s jaw just dropped. Marcia wondered if Iris was just pretending to be stupid and wondered if Iris was messing with the group all along. Given Alicia’s reaction right now, this theory has plenty of credence.
Meanwhile on Iris’s bus…
A recovering Junon started to toss and turn, while mumbling in her sleep. Apparently, she had a large doll collection when she was a kid. One day, her parents got a new doll. His name was Yumetarou. Unfortunately, these dolls didn’t like the new competition, and kidnapped Junon. If the dolls can't have her, no one else can have her.
However, Yumetarou saved Junon and got her back before bedtime. When Junon tried telling her parents about this incident, they thought she had a really wild imagination and told her to not make things up.
…And something was off about this dream. When Junon recalled this memory, she “remembered” that she had pink hair, and that she tried to fight them off with her magical abilities that she only got after the Change. Is it possible her "original" memories are mingling with her other self's memories?
edited 3rd Jun '16 11:12:06 AM by josh6243
"Just a group of travelers, I guess. Not the kind that are looking for trouble, despite what some people make it it look like..." Jeremy replied as he stepped forwards before continuing, "Just decided we'd stop by SF so the kid here could see his friend, that's all." He added as his took his clawed, bandaged hand out of his pocket, extending it to offer a handshake.
"What about you all?"
The blonde guy did not shake Jeremy's hand, but he did stare at it. "You Changed, too" he stated. He looked at the others, specially at Blue, who remained impassible. Then he said, "Alex. You know these people?"
Alex shook her head no.
He addressed Jeremy and Felix again. "We know who you really are. You are the ones who come to take Alex away from us. Well, she's here of her own free will. And don't even *think* of taking her by force" he added, in a menacing tone, sparks starting to form in one hand for effect.
"It happened to us too, yes." Jeremy replied to the blond youth's remark, raising an eyebrow at his show of force, without commenting on it otherwise. "My new form's actually even uglier than I am right now, if you'd believe that." He added with a smirk, attempting a small joke to defuse the situation.
"Regarding Alex, I don't give a crap who she's staying with by the end of the day; that's Felix's friend, not mine. As long as she's happy and safe, that's fine by me." He added, letting out a small sigh before continuing.
"... Look, as far as I'm concerned, I just want to talk with you guys; We've had to deal with an army of giant ant people and a pseudo-goddess of death," The deathclaw said, briefly nodding towards his bandaged arm. "You're the first Changed people we've met today who didn't make an attempt on our lives yet. I'd much prefer to keep it that way." He added, still offering his hand.
edited 2nd Jun '16 9:31:59 AM by FokiasTheJester
"Alex said she doesn't know you. And this is our territory. If you have nothing else to say, leave!" the apparent gang leader said.
-Meanwhile-
"So" Alicia asked Iris, "Do you know where Alex is?"
"Not yet. But!" she quickly added before Alicia could roll her eyes, "they definitely added a new girl recently. It must be her. And finding them won't be too hard. Just find the Chinese symbol for Change. They spray paint it around their territory. And don't worry, I know what it is. In fact it looks like... that!" she added, pointing to a black symbol on a nearby brick wall. "Let's follow them!" and she began to do so, without waiting for the others, heading for the alley where Felix and Jeremy currently were.
edited 9th Jun '16 6:59:38 PM by Sijo

Jeremy chuckled silently, burying his head in his arms against the seat's headrest. "Oh non, tu te fous de ma gueule, la..." He muttered before raising his head back up.
"Do we really, really, really have to go with the "stupid tourist" act right now?"