A Game of Gods: Exemplar

Tawna (Japanese Historical and Cultural Society)

Once Councilman Dragmire left, Tawna's eyes fell on a woman heading towards a suit of armor...and tapping on the glass, despite the multiple posted notices prohibiting guests from doing exactly that. Pushing herself away from the wall, Tawna oh so casually walked over to the woman, and once she was close enough, she cleared her throat to try and get her attention.

"Quite the showpiece, isn't it? I bet you the museum's pretty dang proud to show this off. They'd be less proud of people's fingerprints on the glass, though. And scratches. That'd put a damper on the display too." While not outright saying to the woman 'no touchie', Tawna's tone was firm enough to where it could be easily inferred.

Edited by Bored_Man on Feb 2nd 2020 at 6:51:01 AM

Gangreen Gang - 7/11

The wires bending and trying to wrap him up came as a surprise, but they're no less of a threat due to his strength. Despite it managing to bind an arm and his legs, Big Billy found enough of a footing to wrench most of them out of him and crush them down to tiny pieces down on the concrete pavement.

Just then, a disgustingly GREEN van came around near him(imagine a run-down version of this, except without the Mystery Gang logo and various graffitis sprayed on it)◊; Lil' Arturo being behind the wheels(how his short stature could operate the van is a matter for another time).

"GrabAnythingYouCanAndLetsScramAmigos!"

Should there be no more interruptions, Big Billy grabbed onto whatever snacks, drinks and miscellaneous stuff still safe from the living shopping cart menace and got onto the van; the two now ready to drive off and reap their (meager) rewards, honking away from the sirens and no-good heroes!

Edited by JustSomeGuy732 on Feb 1st 2020 at 8:04:19 PM

The woman turned around to look at Tawna, still smiling, and said something in a language she didn't understand. She continued to tap the glass while doing so.

Tawna (Japanese Historical and Cultural Society)

Raising an eyebrow at the foreign language, it not sounding like any she'd heard before, Tawna quickly cast a look at 2B...though privately she had her doubts 2B would even notice, given the whole 'blindfold' issue. Her attention turning back to the woman, Tawna tried again.

"Listen, I can tell you're quite fascinated with this piece, but I really am going to have to ask you to not do that. For all we know, that glass could shatter and hurt you." Having a strong feeling that this wouldn't work either, Tawna slowly stepped closer and closer, until she was finally able to move her hand to try and block the taps.

Black Cat - Japanese Historical and Cultural Society

"She's spotted 2B." Not that that was very difficult. Black Cat was also trailing after the target on the rooftop, padding deftly from shingle to shingle "... and she's still going in. So much for deterrence."

She had one of her clones already lurking in a side room near the exhibit, and through it she watched on as Tawna stepped up to challenge the target, peeking out from under a display table of ornamental scrolls.

"Get ready, this could turn ugly any second." Black cat told Medusa. a low urgency in her tone, the clone coiling up to pounce forward if it looked like Tawna was in any danger.

Perhaps to Tawna's surprise, 2B was already looking in her direction, staring directly at the woman tapping on the glass. She gave a nod as Tawna looked at her, signaling she was ready to move. At the same time, over the communications with Pod-

"Pod, scan the rest of the area. This one's being a little too obvious. Something's telling me this could be a distraction for the real target"

Understood

And thus Pod started to scan the area as 2B got off the wall and started slowly strolling toward Tawna and the other person at a casual pace.

Dusk Till Dawn - Sebastian LaCroix

The pale-skinned proprietor smiled. Neither Ardyn's unusually high standards nor Junko's veiled barbs seemed to faze LaCroix.

"Ms. Enoshima's opinion is all too common here, I'm afraid. I used to source my drinks from an underwater winery, where every bottle is aged within a sunken Roman vessel off the Croatian coast for several years. Nobody appreciated the story, and nobody could tell the difference between wine made in such a fashion in Croatia, and wine made by a local trust. I've taken the pragmatic option, I buy cheaper wine and keep the same price, and most won't be able to tell the difference. That's the nature of the industry."

Mr. LaCroix rested his hand on Adachi's shoulder, looking to the off-duty officer with a calm smile.

"Officer. There appears to have been a disturbance here. Look."

He pointed towards Snake and Kiryu, who were now pretty obviously in a fight. A lot of the party goers had given Snake and Kiryu enough space to have a brawl in, but were otherwise indifferent to the violence.

"Normally, whenever there is an incident in my business that I don't approve of, I make a call to the city's police. Perhaps you could go and sort this mishap out?"

"Ahhhhhh."

Ardyn picks up the bottle and looks at it, showing no particular expression on his face.

"So what you're telling me is that you've deliberately swindled me out of my hard earned money because you have low class clientele, but you'd like to pretend you have a high class establishment, but can't be bothered to shell out the money to actually stock high class merchandise?"

He nods.

"I see." He glances over to be sure that Adachi, the apparent cop, is not looking at him, then looks back at LaCroix and smiles.

"I trust that you'll make this right. I'd hate for there to be......"

The shadows fall over his face again, and it suddenly shifts for a moment into something.....else◊

"....a problem."

Then the shadows shift again, and his face is back to normal.

"Don't you agree?"

Edited by Meanken on Feb 1st 2020 at 8:04:21 AM

Adachi, Dusk Till Dawn Club

Adachi didn’t really care if this two guys wanted to fight. Still, joining the fight would be more fun than continuing to talk to this pink haired bitch.

“It’d be my pleasure,” Adachi answered with a smile. He turned towards Snake. “Hey, thief? I’m not one to get in the way of someone’s fun, but if you don’t stop causing a ruckus and leave this establishment alone...”

Suddenly a bolt of fucking red lightning comes out of Adachi’s hand and towards Snake. It’s intensity is comparable to that of, say, a taser at the moment.

“You’ll be in for a shock!”

Adachi didn’t summon Magatsu-Izanagi, but he still had some tricks of his own without needing to do that.

Godzilla, JHCS

“I don’t think you should tap on the glass,” Godzilla said to the glass tappy woman. “Breaking things is the job of people like me, after all.”

It was hard to tell if she was joking. Truly that Zilla is an enigma.

Edited by HilarityEnsues on Feb 1st 2020 at 1:22:59 PM

Ryo Saeba - Dr. Rick Hally's Truthzone - Capitol Hill

Well, Ryo'll be damned. He didn't expect Rick to have photographic evidences and he doubted the guy would falsify pictures. And the sign of a recent death definitely wasn't a good thing to find. Maybe Rick wasn't quite as delusional as he tought. Tough the implication that the Sweeper and the conspiracy theorist belonged in the same category didn't make him feel good. And he would have liked if that person who snuck the card in just directly asked him to help. But regardless, it seemed clear that there was a job to do.

And so City Hunter looked at Rick with a confident smile. "You know what? I can't believe I'm saying it, but I think you're right. Hunting rodents of unusual size is not a thing I usualy do, but protecting this city is part of my job after all. You think you can lead me to the spots you visited?"

Oh? Seemed like this Adachi guy had maybe fallen further in despair than Junko expected, until he came out of the other side. She should look further into the cop later. "Is that so? Well, I do hope you know how to take advantage of that good fortune. You can't be happy with staying a loser cop, after all."

Meanwhile, that Lacroix smileball just basically admitted he was swindling costumers. She once again faked annoyance and glared him. "Yeah, that's basically a scam. There's been lawsuits for less, you know?" There was also a fight going on, but it wasn't that interesting. Even someone without super-analysis could figure who was the obvious winner between the japanese guy who moved like he fought for all of his life and the green delinquent. Especially when the shocking cop made his entrance into the conflict. At least seeing Snake in pain should be a bit fun.

Dusk Till Dawn, VIP Section

As LaCroix admitted to ripping his VIP customers off, there was the sound of someone getting up from the adjacent booth. By the time of Ardyn's demand that things be "made right", another man had appeared just behind the proprietor. He was dressed in a very expensive suit, with dark pants and a very unusual tie. He had dark eyes, short, dark hair adorned with specks of gray, and on his lips was a wide smile. In fact, Ardyn might recognize him from the many parties and high society mixers he's attended.

"Now, now..." he interjected with supreme confidence, his voice tinged with a slight Britishness, "What's a thousand dollars to people like us, hmmm? Pocket change, I say! What we come to this fine establishment for isn't the quality of the drinks, but the quality of the company! And besides, now you know not to order that swill next time." He winked.

"But you know, Sebastian," he continued, reaching out to pat the owner on the shoulder, "I always appreciated the underwater winery story, and I have the palate to tell the difference! It's a shame you stopped stocking the old stuff! It really was better."

Edited by darksidevoid on Feb 2nd 2020 at 5:54:26 AM

Located in a run of the mill four story small office building where the droning of clacking staccato keyboards and lazy computer fan whirring resounded via a haze of nine to five ennui would be a perfectly ordinary elevator. Most people who used it to maneuver between the three floors would be dressed in office attire, their features plain and articles of monochrome shades with the occasional smattering of color here and there via things such as glasses or ties if they wanted to be extra spicy.

Somehow having a solemn and clinical feel to it to the point where even the water dispenser and coffee machine was less conversation spots and more mere pit stops before the ultimate destinations, the place was rather depressing and sterile of anything close to resembling joy or laughter. With an audible ding that was rather easily heard, an occupant stepped out from within the transportation cube and brought with her an eye-catching amount of vermilion shading to the drab area.

Shuddering as she walked with brisker than normal steps out of the positive emotion draining work place with a duffel bag on her shoulders, the eccentrically dressed teen that was half the age of everyone else in the area once more found herself in the outside world upon which a deep breath was taken, the air all the more wonderful despite it being rather urbanized. "Gosh, that place always gives me the shivers..." Rubbing an arm that had goosebumps on them while doing her erstwhile best to put distance between the building and herself.

"We have to make due with what we got. Things here are a lot more archaic and downsized from what we're used to but that just means we have to simply work our way back up again." The svelte words of an older woman could be heard emanating from her earphones, technologically transmitting the message with very little leakage outside of he teen's own range of hearing. "In any case, now that you're done gearing up it's time to send you to the mission destination."

Nodding instinctively despite the fact that it was a sound transmission only, the time-traveler was then waved into a boxy executive sedan that soon drove off courtesy of a staid driver that wore sunglasses even at this time of night. Idly eyeing the layout of the area while drinking a Ramune, Ren's eyes couldn't help but superimpose the memories of New Opulentia's more futuristic architecture to that of Emerald City's, a minute frown coming on her face that slowly deepened as the imagnation soon shifted to burning wreckage that smelt of brimstone that could choke up even the very act of breathing alone.

A whole month had passed since everything happened but even now it still felt very much like a dream that had gone on for much too long, the whole area so wholly alien that the mind still couldn't accept it even now. If there was a positive note to the whole transmigration event it was that the world itself was still at peace, albeit uneasily. Compared to the history that she had been a part of however, there was a certain sense of ironic quaintness that made for a slight balm at the least. Things haven't quite devolved to the point of no return after all.

Closing her eyes to better focus on the various messages that were being picked up on the police channels via the modified radio in the vehicle, Ren slowly took in the current events that were happening as of this point in time. Crime it seemed never stopped even in such a metropolis such as this, especially with so much beings of un-average abilities running around that made it a nest of snakes and dragons.

Every now and then she wondered though what her adoptive parent was thinking to make her a probationary agent and then send her out to do this sort of fieldwork considering how comparatively bad she was at her job in comparison to the personnel that weren't half-baked. All questions regarding that were waved off as it being 'simply amusing' though there was the faintest inkling that the pragmatic redhead knew more than she let on about things behind the scene. Sometimes it sucked working for someone that had so much secrets, especially when they had hacked records into making themselves into her legal guardian.

Still, there was no going against the orders of the elder Von Braun considering how intimately she knew of her adoptive mother's... philosophies and methods. An apt description would be of scarlet-haired demoness, one that exulted in personal self-benefits at the expense of others. Especially if it involved ludicrous amounts of money. Shivering in thought of the strong-arming devil's smirk of personal amusement, Ren mentally prepared an apology for any unfortunate enough to come face to face with the sadistic director while at the same time getting ready to get dropped off at her designated drop-off point.

"Code 000- Ren. T-minus five... four..." Nervous despite all the previous missions accomplished, the natural crybaby once more braced herself to do her job and all that entailed. At the very least there was no need for cocktail dresses here which was a small relief. When zero was achieved and the vehicle rolled to a gentle stop, Ren gulped before grabbing everything to awkwardly shuffle on out of the car that then drove away and left her stranded in the mission area with slightly hunched shoulders while also shivering from the evening breeze. Such was a day in the life of Ren von Braun, the chosen one of the rather picky Ross Grail.

Edited by Makaioh on Feb 2nd 2020 at 8:45:54 AM

Ardyn held up one finger and moved it in a back and forth motion at the newcomer to the conversation who leaped to the owner's defense.

"I will not deny that the money, itself, is minuscule. A pittance. But, this is where you are mistaken, my sharply dressed friend. This is not about the money. I've wasted far more then that on worse. This is about principle. I will not allow myself to be cheated in such a way without some form of remuneration. How would it look, if I allowed myself to be walked over in such a way?"

He shakes his head

"Nay, I say. Once, in a past that feels like it was a lifetime ago, I turned the other cheek. I allowed others all manner of forgiveness for sins that should have seen them castrated in the streets. I played my turn at the martyr. And would you like to know what I got in return?"

He smiles.

"Heartache. Bitterness. The sweet smell of the boots of those who did what I would not on my face. I had......a considerable amount of time to consider these failings. And I came to a conclusion. That it would not happen again. That I would not play my hand at the fool once more."

He looks LaCroix directly in the eyes

"I don't believe I'm asking much. Frankly, I'm being quite reasonable. All I want is for you to admit that you are in the wrong, and take appropriate action to correct this. That's all. You are, of course, free to refuse me, should you deem it so."

His eyes shifted, subtly. It's not something a layperson would catch, but for the two men and the woman in the booth, the unspoken words in his eyes were clear.

Just as I would be free to destroy you at a time and place of my choosing

Edited by Meanken on Feb 2nd 2020 at 9:28:26 AM

Toph, 7/11

There seemed to be a line outside, so I came in another way.

-As she starts turning towards the shelves, someone else speaks.-

Oh? You think this will work better?

-Outside, she feels the shopping cart collapse as the captive breaks free and a large van approaches. Out of time for fine control, she tries to force a dip in the roadway under the van's tires.-

It had started innocently enough, catching movement out of the corner of her eye as she had been leaving another warning mark on an alleyway wall with a can of spraypaint. A symbol that she knew crooks and thugs in the area were starting to recognize as the one attached to her persona. She had just finished it off, when the sound of an engine had caught her attention. Akali had glanced idly towards the street as she'd stepped away from the wall, and spotted an all-black tinted sedan cruise past.

She'd taken to the rooftops immediately, looking to put some distance between her new tag and take a look at the vehicle. Those sorts of cars didn't come through the area too often, standing in the industrial area. At least not ones that were that heavily tinted and spotless.

Sprinting along and dashing over the gaps between warehouse roofs, the ninja managed to keep the car in sight until it came to a stop. Thankfully not far away from where she had first spotted it. Hunkering down in the shadows near the rooftop ledge, and calling on her training to blend in, Akali watched quietly as a teenager in a school outfit climbed out before the car quickly pulled away; Leaving the girl clutching a bag and shivering. Now that was very suspicious, and worrying.

With the car already gone, that left Akali with just the girl to focus on. Sliding away from the edge, she moved quickly to a different side of the building and jumped down. Stashing her mask away, the young woman stuck her hands in her pockets and strolled casually out of the alleyway; Pretending to spot the girl for the first time and raising an eyebrow. "Hey, you alright? This is a bad place to be alone this time of night."

Meeker's Way 7/11

It was… over?

Twelfth wasn’t entirely sure what it was supposed to feel like to properly dispatch a superpowered foe, and he certainly wasn't crazy about watching the man flop about like a fish that'd taken an ill-advised belly flop in the mud. But the general congratulations emanating from the police line only served to cement his victory, and suddenly the asphalt sizzling inches below his feet was nothing compared to the fire roaring within his breast. I... I did it! He thought, the realization snapping into place just as abruptly as the taser prongs into their slots. With these police as my witnesses, I have taken yet another step on my path to—!

Funnily enough, despite the nature of his senses allowing him to "see" the incoming produce from quite a ways away, he was far too distracted by his recent triumph to actually do anything about them until long after they had sailed through the spot where the flaming man had once stood, flying towards Twelfth's unwary form instead.

Despite being relatively small, each individual food-based projectile hit Twelfth in sequence like he was an unwary bystander in a batting cage, the eyeball-masked hero losing his footing fairly quickly as he was barraged and coated with tomato guts and egg yolks that splashed off of him to sizzle onto the still-heated asphalt below him. This heat hit him full-force as he sprawled out across it, before bouncing and yelping like a popcorn kernel in a pan while he rolled desperately in an attempt to escape the heat. Looking past the egg that was on his face both literally and metaphorically, his radar-like hearing took in with a kind of staggered disbelief as two young men of incredibly contrasting sizes went ahead and did the very crime that he had thought he was being called here for in the first place, before doing battle with an attacking shopping cart (?!?) and then getting into their escape van for a quick getaway. Steaming in his costume, his dignity not far behind, but still holding onto his tools of the trade regardless, Twelfth said the very first idea that went through his head as he prompted the Diary of Justice to record. After that was done, he rose the megaphone once more, made sure that the volume was all the way up, and played the message back to say:

"OH MY GOD, A DEER!"

And just like that, there was a deer. The woodland creature bounded inexplicably out of a nearby alleyway, pausing in front of the van once the vehicle got up to speed before turning towards the oncoming headlights and spreading its eyes wide, living up to its namesake metaphor. In that spot it would stay, until one of two things happened: either the van would attempt to swerve, at which point it would find that the illusory animal was inexplicably positioned between a very real lamp post on one side and stationary mailbox on the other, almost as though the animal had taken pains to be as obstructive as possible; or, if the two didn't want to risk hitting either of the objects and continued on their way, the deer would find a way to get out of the way at the last minute nevertheless, bounding once more across the street before entering the alley opposite. From there, it would vanish around a corner, before then vanishing more generally once it was out of sight.

Twelfth wouldn't be able to focus on the result just yet, however, busying himself with collecting his own body off of the ground before attempting to do the same to the man he'd just laid out with several thousand volts. Hoisting the gentleman onto his own back, leaving the man's arms to dangle past Twelfth's neck like the securing rope cords affixed to his mask, he echoed the van's flight by making his own way across the parking lot back towards the police line, moving just as fast as justice, but mostly his feet, could carry him.

Nearly jumping a foot into the air when she was called out to by a very street-smart ninja, the newcomer just barely managed to suppress a shudder before shakily turning to regard Akali with a smile that was all but quivering with taut nerves. Being in the shady part of town didn't really help either and well, the girl knew she was here as bait as it was. Though she had training, it never really helped the more timid side of her nature all that much even when she went up against things much more blatantly lethal and supernatural like Witches.

Taking in a few deep breaths while clasping a hand to her chest even as her nerves grew taut and eyes shifted around to see if there were more people sneaking up in the periphery, Ren kept her back to the walls of one of the nearby buildings at all times so as to prevent easy back attacks while looking up at the taller woman while craning up her neck. "Oh... she's pretty..."

The wariness was somewhat blunted by the fact that the street ninja was showing off a fashion sense that looked like it'd fit in a MOBA. How strange that the taste of a someone that was both a hormone laden adolescent and an epic gamer intermingled together to get sufficiently distracted from her earlier fears as there was a bit of a zone out at this point due to a lengthy mental narration that went on to describe things in a way that only a visual novel protagonist could.

That in and of itself would remain omitted by the writer of Ren von Braun because they couldn't really handle how cringe-inducing such long-winded wordings would result in if physically written. After a good ten seconds of real life blue screening, the girl then got shifted back to reality with a slight cough. "Oh uh... yes. I... I'm supposed to be here for a bit. I'm researching something right now for my... school project?" Just about as smooth as a square wheel there, really.

Dusk Till Dawn Club—Sebastian LaCroix

LaCroix looked to his VIP clientele. Mr. Izunia. A low-rent roboticist who didn't even start the company he takes so much pride in. LaCroix could have sworn he saw dirt and oil all over Izunia's face for a moment... Did he not wash his face after he worked in his greasepit of a business? Disgusting.

Ms. Enoshima. The nouveau riche never could seem to buy tact for themselves, and each generation got more obnoxious and disrespectful than the last. She'd be going through her own mid-life crisis in about six years.

Mr. Silver? Alright... His word was to be considered. He was a cut above the unusual trash that lined up the VIP customers. A kindred spirit of sorts. A possible threat to one's reputation if he wasn't appeased.

"The customer is always right. I've made a mistake, and for that, I apologize. I will make arrangements to restock the vintage undersea wine to suit your tastes, and rest assured, your purchases will be refunded."

LaCroix put his hand on his chest again. "Were there any other concerns you all wished to share with me? I'm afraid I might have to attend to some other issues this night."

Junko Enoshima - Dusk Till Dawn Club

Oh, some other bigwigs arrived and started to clearly manipulate Lacroix. Junko knew him as a seemingly generous philantropist that nobody seemed to know much about (man, there was a lot of these in this city, wasn't there?). The model had a role to play, so she just turned towards him, still annoyed-looking. "Yeah, Mr. Izunia is right! You don't succeed in life by just meekly staying shut when someone take advantage of you. If we all just turned the other cheek all the time, the whole world would go dizzy!"

And then the club's owner showed how stupid he was. Not only did he fall hook, line and sinker for the newcomer's sucking up, he also didn't notice the nightmare show that Ardyn put on for him. Add to that the fact that she could tell he was clearly very angered by both hers and the CEO's disrepect despite his veneer of pleasantry and she had the guy figured out.

He was one of those pompous snobs that figured they were above everyone and untouchable by all. Including most likely the law. Watching one of those schmucks fall from their pedestal was always good for a cheap shot so she'll have to keep him in mind. For the time being, she just smiled when he made his complete bullshit of a promise. "See? Things go your way when you just talk about it like respectful adults."

Edited by Alecoene on Feb 3rd 2020 at 9:38:47 PM

Gangreen Gang - Dusk Till' Dawn

What the- How the heck did he dodge that?! Moving back a bit, Snake had just about enough time to see an officer coming over to them with a taser(?) on hand.

   "Sss oh, c'mon! A two against one? How isss that fai-"   

Whatever he's gonna say gets summarily cut off as he tasted one heck of a knuckle sandwich directly from the ex-yakuza himself. Hitting squarely right in the face, Snake flew back off towards the nearest counter -spilling off any drinks unfortunate enough to be there- before being knocked prone and unconscious, with precious valuables now dangling off and falling to the floor from his pocket.

Ace, for his part, pretends that he has absolutely no idea who he is, seeing that interjecting now that the owner and police starts getting involved would be a heck load of trouble and potentially a world of hurt too. And so, with a chug of his cheap swill, he shift-eyed looked back and away from the scene; leaving Snake's fate to them tasing cop and strong-as-hell Asian-looking guy(at least, for the moment).

Gangreen Gang - 7/11 (Very Brief) Van Chase Scene

*bumped* ".... Ow."

And bumped into the dip, the van did; causing Big Billy to be knocked up momentarily before making a clear outline of his head at the top of the van. Even so, despite swerving for a bit there, Lil' Arturo still maintains control of the wheels and were well along their way to a completed heist when suddenly-

"OH MY GOD, A DEER!"

"HahahaChico!YouThinkWeFallForTha-"

And lo and behold, a deer had somehow mysteriously out of nowhere in the middle of the road! Like MAGIC!

"Ahhhhhhh!!" "AHHHHHHHHH-!!"

And thus, the two wrest control over the steering, with Billy pulling left and Arturo pulling right to avoid the sudden deer. This causes the vehicle to swerve left and right constantly until the big brute pulled a bit too hard...

... and broke the steering wheels off.

"... Oops."

What followed was a magnificent drift and swerve, the van circling 360 degree a few times before firmly hitting onto the lamp post front-first, with Lil' Arturo now flying out through the broken windows and out onto the streets(alongside the now badly-damaged cash register of the 7/11) with Big Billy knocked out besides the driver's seat, tongue now out and stars in his one-eye-hidden-behind-his-hair.

AND THUS, THE DAY IS SAVED, THANKS TO THE POWERS OF THE SENTAI KNOCK-OFF AND THE GRUMPY OLD LADY ON THE STREET!

Edited by JustSomeGuy732 on Feb 3rd 2020 at 7:04:21 PM

Hands in the pockets of her jacket, both to come across as non-aggressive and to keep her hands in quick reach of a weapon just in case, Akali slowed to a halt a few meters away from the younger girl. She looked the girl over casually, able to see more now that she was closer and ground level. She was obviously younger than the ninja, and dressed in an eastern-style school uniform. The girl's hair caught her attention for a moment, the red underside showing in the streetlight and contrasting with the dark top. It was either one of the most expensive dye jobs Akali had ever seen, or natural. Either one was curious.

The girl also looked like she was about to shake herself apart from nerves. The ninja had no trouble catching the obviously worried and searching looks as the girl backed herself up against the wall. In response she smiled and pulled her hands free from her pockets, lifting them up in the air. "I'm alone, I promise."

She waited for a response, as the girl stared blankly at her. Seconds passed as she continued to just stare, and Akali was getting the feeling that she was staring at her; By the look on her face. She huffed in faint amusement, rested a hand on her hip, and waited to see how long it would take for the girl to recover.

"Back with me now?" Akali asked with obvious amusement as the girl coughed and replied, before putting on an expression that said how little she believed that explanation. "School project? Uhuh. Look, I'm not going to pry much if it's not something you'd prefer to talk about, but I can at least help you get somewhere safe for now. And if you need help with other stuff, well..."

"Oh... um... thank you?" Nodding her head like a baby chick pecking at seeds, Ren looked like she was alright with that particular approach since the ninja was a lot easier on the eyes than most people she could have gotten saddled with on her visit to the area. It also meant she could do her mission as directed in an easier manner which would allow for getting the hell out of dodge all the sooner. But not before making acquaintances of course. For the dossiers and paperwork of course not for any other reason.

Judging from just overall appearance, the street smart assassin definitely had the sort of muscle tone that wouldn't be out of place on the teams of full of special forces agents that she had worked with in the past. It was the sort of musculature that one got from being very active and not just heading out into the gym solely. The jacket itself was also taken into account, being rather voluminous and thus a good holding place for various bits of weapons and equipment since the inner apparels sure weren't going to be able to hide much there.

At the very least she had a trained eye that could instantly spot the incongruous hints that lurked behind the overall picture, a skill that was retained and put into use repeatedly (even if sometimes she lacked the overall wisdom to put things together). "S-so... what are you doing around here?" Making small talk even as she slowly extended her hand out so that Akali could grab hold of it for the 'tour', the half-baked spook got ready for the information gathering session.

Dusk Til Dawn, VIP Section

"And we are indeed all respectable adults here! Hmmhmm, quite; nothing but the most respectable members of society gather in this little corner of Dusk Til Dawn!" the man with the strange tie chuckled, then added in a stage whisper, "I'm quite pleased you're choosing to restock! Do let me know when it's back on your shelves, Sebastian."

"Now," he concluded, clasping his hands, "I find myself a bit on my lonesome tonight, so I hope the two of you don't mind lending me the pleasure of your company this evening. The name's Nick Silver. I know Mister Izunia here from a few other gatherings as of late, but I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Miss..." He paused expectantly, looking at Junko.

Edited by darksidevoid on Feb 3rd 2020 at 7:15:31 AM

Japanese Historical and Cultural Society

While Tanya and 2B were busy dealing with the depraved crime of tapping on glass in violation of posted signage, Pod 042's survey of the area would find, among other things, a teen girl who had wandered over to a nearby exhibit of a supposed old yet gleaming katana set tastefully upon a display rack, its wooden sheath sitting just beneath it. Her hair was long and raven-colored, her eyes a dark red, and she wore a fluffy-looking fur-lined hoodie and fashionable fur-cuffed boots. In other words, she looked something like this.

The young lady stared fixedly at the blade with what almost seemed like apprehension in her face, biting her lip and then frowning deeply. Her eyes flickered down to the placard accompanying the display and then back up again, her gaze at once unwavering and lost in thought.

Tawna's furry-ass hand provided a bulwark against the abused glass pane, now irreparably smudged. The target looked up at her, and then at the approaching 2B, and said something that only the latter and Godzilla could understand as being very antiquated Japanese: "[Let it be known to all that I did not land the first blow, here. We shall see what worth you hold!]"

And then, almost too quickly to process, Tawna was physically launched backward and upward! It would be a monumental task to land on your feet, but if she couldn't, she was going straight out the front door in spectacular fashion.

She then tapped the glass one more time for posterity's sake, and looked over to the other supers in the room with the same smug smile. "[Whether you can comprehend me or not, let's hope you're at your peaks, heroines!]"

"Well of course I'm right, the evidence is right there," he said, tapping one of the photos again. "I don't ever show off my theories without some pretty firm backing. Made that mistake during the Lewinski trial...really pissed off the Bundyphiles with that one. Tedheads. Whatever."

Rick slapped the table like a newborn baby, reached down into one of the cupboards, pulled out an M1911^* (with the serial numbers very visibly filed off, naturally) and immediately started to load it with ammunition that he had apparently been stowing in his jacket the entire time. "I'm sure you don't mind if I get at least a couple of my buddies in on this; but this is some pretty big news. No idea who's gonna be up for some spelunking right now...Mickey's on medical leave for his goiter, so he's probably down. Eileen's gonna...HEY SWEETIE PUMPKIN"

"YEAH", a familiar voice said from downstairs.

"YOUR UNKNOWN ARMIES SESH ISN'T UNTIL TOMORROW, RIGHT?"

"YEAH"

"YOU WANNA GO INVESTIGATE THE S.U. SITUATION WITH THE NOT-AN-AGENT DUDE?"

"WHATEVER"

"That means yes," Rick said as a quick aside. "ALRIGHT GET YOUR GEAR ON, PROBABLY WANNA BRING THE SHORTY FOR THIS ONE"

About five minutes later, with at least two new conspiracies revealed to Ryo in that brief timespan,^* "Sewer water's no good until you filter the shit out of it, but the network does a pretty good job of getting rid of the flourides so if you got an industrial-strength sump or four in your house, it's better than tap." the three of them were bouncing up and down the hilly streets of Capitol Hill in a well-loved late-90s minivan. Ryo and Eileen were in the backseat as the Doctor had a decently expensive-looking camera strapped in shotgun.

Other oddities to note: the entire tape deck had been ripped out ("Number one way they track you") and replaced with an analogue boombox strapped to the dash, Eileen let on that she thought the moon landings were filmed in the future and sent back in time because the special effects of the 60s weren't advanced enough, and they had picked up the esteemed Mickey Carpenter along the way. He was an overweight, glasses and skullcap wearing man in his 60s who, aside from his moustache and goatee, had only some pointed tufts of hair on the side of his head to keep him company.

All of his clothes were an odd shade of indigo because, as he said, "it keeps tha waves off ya."

Eventually they had, after more back-and-forth discussion, found themselves in an alleyway next to some local Target and Gamestop branches.

Ryo could see from here, in the thin beam of light coming off of the helmet that Dr. Hally was wearing, a single, rusted door that was strangely alone. In fact, aside from a dumpster at the other end of the alley, this door was the only thing in the alley along with Ryo and his band of heavily-armed conspiracy theorists.

Eileen had an overly short shotgun in one hand as she read her phone, Mr. Carpenter had an absurdly-sized revolver in his pocket, and Dr. Hally was armed as previously mentioned.

"A'ight...just recapping for our new ally, Ryo: this and the other three aren't the only ways to get down to the S.U., but they're the only ones we can find that wouldn't need a huge amount of excavation work. We're not exactly poor, but hiring union contractors is a pretty good way to get Hoffa'd, if you catch my drift."

The three of them lined up at the door with odd precision, and...oh wait, Mr. Carpenter looked behind him and said "Aww shit, we forgaht to give da new guy anything" in his heavy Boston accent. He pulled a small pistol out of his back pocket, and tried to hand it over to him.

With enough distance between the Gangrene Gang and the burning mess of the gas station (the fire department was already hard at work extinguishing everything) created by their short lived escapade, there were more cops on their asses than they had ever seen in their lives.

Tall cops, short cops, boy cops, girl cops, cops in uniform, cops in plainclothes, one cop with a dress, one in a Hawaiian shirt, and a cavalcade of others surrounded the two of them like a herd of puppies with really loud barks and guns and megaphones.

Perhaps Arturo and Billy were starting to have the idea, if they were awake enough to process it, that this wasn't the best move.

"You're pretty good, summoner dude," said a nearby officer, taking the burden of the screaming overly hot guy off of Twelfth's shoulders. "You got a name or something? Can't say I recognize ya."

Meanwhile, the same voice from before whispered into Toph's ear. Its speaker's breath was hot, and it sounded like whoever was with her was speaking with a hissing, thin voice. "I guess you pulled it off. Doesn't it feel like all of this is slipping away with you? Aren't you old?"

Edited by wikkit on Feb 3rd 2020 at 9:11:36 AM