3700/The Big Four Proposal

The Big Four Proposal
Date of Scene:	19 January 2016
Location:	Kawakami City
Synopsis:	Lute comes to negotiate to keep Momoyo from hunting down more Feds. Momoyo brings backup. Since Momoyo wants to fight and Lute wants to get back to business, Momoyo proposes an eternal fighting tournament closed to officers in both factions to jockey for the spot as the strongest fighters in the Multiverse to take the focus off of innocents and sharpen everyone's skills accordingly. The Feds think she's completely insane, but tentatively accept pending discussion with faction superiors.
Cast of Characters:	188, 234, Sarracenia, Nagato, 880, 928

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Momoyo Kawakami (928) has posed:
     The next day.

    Shortly after noon, all of the parties that weren't injured are present in the conference room inside this decent Chinese restuarant. Why a Chinese Buffet? Why not. Momoyo was hungry and it was Lute picking up the bill, whether he realized it or not yet. All the nascent Multiversal ATMs were in place for both factions after all.

    Sitting on Momoyo's side of the table, Momoyo, Nagato and Nero, with Kyra and Kenji lurking outside. On Lute's side of the table, Sarracenia and whomever else he brings for escort, plus whoever else /he/ leaves at the buffet table.

    Momoyo picks her teeth already with a toothpick, leaning back in her chair. It was all but obvious whose side she was on now, but in this case she was in control of the situation so Admiral would have to follow her lead. Nero was almost completely a mirthful neutral observer unless Kyra ordered otherwise. This was now a tense negotiation and the pretenses of where Momoyo stood were all but off as she waited for the 'greasy sleazeball' to speak first. Luckily, Momoyo presented no particular rules about weaponry.

Nagato has posed:
    Nagato's sitting on one of Momoyo's sides, the Admiral is there just in case Lute decides to pull something. She knows that the Trainer has some bad blood with some of her Fleet, but she's going to keep her silence right here, this is Momoyo's show.. she's not going to interrupt it... unless it's nessesceary. She does, however, flag down a waitress, "This looks good, I'll take one. And a parfait."

    Even Admirals have to eat...

Nero (880) has posed:
     Nero is here, sitting on another side of Momoyo, and she is of course, all smiles. Servants have no need for food, though they can taste. But right now, she was more interested in what would become of this situation. She wanted to see just where the next act of this play would take the actors.

     Yes. This was a play.

     And she was the silent observer.

Lu-Mey (234) has posed:
    And on he Confesderate side of the meeting is a dusky skinned woman with a horn. Lu-Mey, despite the bright red skirt-suit she has on, is for once attempting to not be in the way or suck attention towards herself like a sponge. The oni woman simply adjusts her glasses, looks very secretarial, and scribbles notes in a note pad.
    Anyone looking over her shoulder will see most of her notes are doodles of how to torture an Au Ra creatively.
    As a side note the buffet better be all you can eat, because she has already put away about six full plates of food. And is whittling away at a seventh.

Lute (188) has posed:
     Lute is, in fact, aware that he is going to be paying the bill for this. In fact, he plans to put absolutely everythign he can into resolving this.

     Which is why his first course of action, before he even begins to negotiate, is to slide three objects across the table. Three heart-shaped red boxes. Filled with chocolate. For once, he is glad that stock for Valentine's Day is put out so early. The boxes go to, of course, Nagato, Nero, and Momoyo. With Momoyo getting the biggest one.

     ...Aside from Sarracenia's, who he gave to her before they even arrived.

     Lute is dressed as he normally is. White labcoat, blue jeans. No shirt. His arms rest upon the table, to show that he isn't hiding anything. He /did/ bring his Pokemon with him, the Pokeballs strapped to his belt. But, he knows full well that Momoyo is a weapon herself. And, Nagato and Nero are dangerous foes as well. Nagato in particular, he has some bad blood with. He wouldn't put it past them to try and attack first. He even has his I-Class Destoryer waiting outside the resteraunt as well. It isn't a secret, either. He's not going to make any effort to hide it.

     But, he is here not to fight. He is in fact, here to talk. He looks straight at Momoyo, smiling as he speaks.

     "I think, what we have here, is a major misunderstanding. I want to try and clear up a lot of the bad blood. And, I want to make a number of things clear."

     He closes his eyes. A serious look is on his face.

     "First and foremost. Yari, breaking into your clubhouse. This was not, in fact, Confederate approved of a mission. You are not considered a major target by the Confederacy, or considered an enemy. There are a handful of Confederates interested in you for your strength, but nothing more than that. Yari did this for her own reasons. I am not /entirely/ certain why. But. I will tell you what I have gleaned from the conversations I have had with her."

     He smiles.

     "Yari has a bit of a crush on you, I'm almost certan, and did not know how to express it."

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia collected a plate full of tasty food before she sat down, but she is only nibbling at it. She listens to Lute speak, then blinks a bit as he declares that Yari must have a crush on Momoyo. She pauses, then nods lightly. "I think he is right. Her comments during your battle ranged between reverence and hatred at the same time." she says, then nibbles on some kind of meat on a stick.

     "Also, I do not know what happened between the three of you, but Yari started it. Of that I am sure. Whatever she did she did without authorization and without consideration toward the consequences."

     Though she is eating and talking peacefully, Sarracenia has an airship floating around nearby, and has her massive hammer resting against the wall beside her.

Momoyo Kawakami (928) has posed:
     Letting her chair fall to the floor, she leans in a bit, glancing at Nero. "Hah. This guy. Telling me stuff I already know." she sighs turning back to Lute. She didn't trust him, but no one at the table trusted one another.

    "I tease girls when I'm bored. Sometimes they're idiots about it. Yari is a huge idiot about it especially." she shrugs, letting the subject pass rather than having it get awkward.

    "So firstly, why are /you/ hitting on us now?" she asks, turning over the box of chocolates in her hand. "Your operative tried to kill my ex-Admiral, and Sanary opened her mouth. Trust me when I say I knew she had no business in my Dojo but she challenged me and... well, if you put the assassination and her caught more than once sneaking around my private life together, is it really any surprise I decided to make an example of her friend for hurting mine?" She leans in closer. "I'm /not/ done hurting people over this." she continues, ominously. It was a threat, but also a promise. And she had the leverage to back up that half-insane glint in her thuggish red eyes.

    She had more to say, but needed to hear Lute's side of things. And of course, people chiming in.

Nagato has posed:
    Nagato politely pushes the box of chocolates away as Momoyo goes into her tirade. "Yari is her name?" she gives a bit of a nod at Momoyo before turning back to the people before her... "Momoyo has the means to do such and I'm honestly surprised she did not go right after your operative from the get go." as the food's delivered, she listens to more and starts politely eating, all while keeping eye contact with the ones across the table.

Nero (880) has posed:
     Nero picked up the box offered while Lute spoke his piece, and turned it over in her hand.

     "......"

     No, she wasn't disgusted or insulted, or anything. In fact, the look on her face, that smile, seemed to suggest that this was 'an inevitable happening'. She would take this offering, from the common man. There was no need to refuse.

     Momoyo's opening statements are heard, as well as Nagato's comments. But Nero herself says nothing. Not yet anyhow. This meeting was between Momoyo and Lute. She was just an observer.

     One to bear witness to what will happen. Even as Momoyo makes her threat, and her promise, Nero does not speak. No, this isn't considered too far for her. Not in the least. That line was still very much far away.

Lute (188) has posed:
     Lute nods a little, shrugging a bit, "I'm not attempting to flirt with you. Consider it a minor peace offering. Soemthing to break the ice." He makes a motion with his hands, somewhat dismissively. "Don't read too much into it. Not that you aren't lovely, but."

     He smirks a bit, leaning forward, looking between Momoyo and Sarracenia. "Well. We're all agreed, then. Yari did that of her own free will. I am also going to make it clear that Sanary acted on her own as well. I likely should have warned you. But... Her /own/ connection to Yari was what brought her to fight you earlier. She is also going to be punished."

     Lute locks his fingers together a little, smiling still. "One thing I will say, though? There are better ways you could have handled it. Telling her you're not interested. Being more up front and open. Things as such could have made this a /lot/ better. I mean, I'm open with who I am, and it rarely backfires on me."

     With that, he lifts an arm to put it around Sarracenia's back. Yeah, this isn't the sociopathic Lute who was willing to stab Yari the other day. This is his normal self.

     "I will make a note, though. I wanted the violence to end, and the feud to end. We will keep Yari out of your life, unless you find it in your heart to forgive a foolish lovestruck girl."

     He then looks towards Nagato. He smiles, a somewhat jerkish look on his face. Part of him really wants to just attack Nagato right now. He has encountered her so rarely. But.... No. Not the time. "As for her assassination attempt on you? That /was/ Confederate approved. I would ask that you not hold Yari responsible for that. It was, in fact, the Confederacy's will."

     He looks back to Momoyo, "But. If you really need to keep the violence up? Who is it that you want to suffer next for this?"

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia frowns lightly as Nagato pushes the offering away. Well, that isn't a good sign. And a bit rude, to boot. Nero is...a bit of a mystery to Sarracenia. But, Momoyo makes it clear what she wants, and what she is willing to do. It seems obvious to Sarracenia that Momoyo is the irrational sort. The sort who, once she has her mind set on something she isn't likely to change it.

     "What good will further violence do?" she says after a moment. "Do you think you can scare everyone away, and no one will attempt to harm you or Nagato ever again? There is a multiversal war going on. The attempts will never stop. Not until the war ends and either the Fleet Daughters or the Abyssals are finished. Further violence on your part will just bring more and more danger down upon you and the one you are trying to protect."

Nagato has posed:
    Nagato's eyes focus intently on that jerkish face, that smug look, it pissed her off. However, she keeps her facial expressions neutral, leaning back as she takes another bite of the meal. "So, Abyssal lap dog. I appreciate you telling me that." Nagato gives an idle look towards Lu-Mey's notes. Those notes actually give her a brief smile, "If you need help, I have a few ideas for that lizard girl for proper punishment on my end."

    Nagato takes a quick look towards Sarracenia, noticing that frown. "I'm allergic to chocolate. Sorry." of course, that was a lie but.. "While we do want peace, there's just things we have to finish. The Abyssal fleet has to sink, every last one of them and then the Fleet AND Abyssals will know peace as the war ends. As for Momoyo.. I'll let her decide what she wants to do."

Momoyo Kawakami (928) has posed:
     "Heh. So one side wants to keep fighting and the others are ready to stop." she shrugs. "Okay, I get it. You don't have the stomach to cover for her stupidity."

    She slams her fists on the table, standing up. "Do you NOT understand that the fact that you have information about ALL my childhood friends can't be undone!? That's what she gathered! They're in this war now and didn't have a say in it! /I/ did, you know!!! It's /me/ who wants the fights, they didn't get a choice because of HER!!! The fact that she just hurt one of the strongest women I've yet to ever meet doesn't help but it sure as HELL isn't the reason you're sitting here now!!!" she rails at Lute, very likely it would take Nagato to pull her back down, which she would do even mid-speech.

    This was also not the angle she would have taken in this conversation prior to fighting Nagato. The Admiral could see the subtle differences in how she thought between then and now, but kept up the appearance of a monster needing to be appeased.

    "No. I have an idea how to resolve this. I want to beat that smirk off your face too, and you want me to leave you alone so you can hash out your politics. Fine. I know something that will make us both happy." she gestures to the whole room, spreading her arms wide. "I am Momoyo Kawakami Of The North, Goddess of Battle! You have people in the Confederation that wanna face me down. I wanna fight them too. But it's pointless if we don't know who is strongest, and if we don't segment it away from the War, right? So forget having a single tournament." she slams her palms down again on the table.

    "I'm gonna make you a proposal, Lute. We make a 'Multiversal Big Four'. M. B. F. The Four Devas Of Battle." she tosses her hair with a playful smirk, continuing. "That way we don't have people like Yari doing stupid dishonest things to keep an advantage in their back pocket... we know up front who's who and what's what. North. South. East. West. Any challenger who defeats a Big Four Member in a Big Four fight gets their title and their strength ranking. Killing challengers or members of The Big Four disqualifies whoever would have earned or retained their title. No officers allowed, any fighting style, formal matches only. Hmhmhmhm~" she waves her hands grandly. "I think everyone here can agree without making a goal for everyone to get stronger and refine their skills in single combat separate from the war none of us will be satisfied. We can hammer out the details, but that's my baseline proposal. Take that to your Feds and pick two. I am the North. Nero lost to me. So now, she is the South, the second strongest. It keeps everyone safe and I can keep hunting down people to beat up when I'm bored... and so can everyone else. I'm already top of the heap anyway so nothing changes for me, but reputation is huge in the Multiverse."

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia sighs softly as Nagato says that. That sort of thinking is exactly why the war has continued so long. Because the only solution is to completely destroy the enemy, at least in the minds of many individuals. Sarra can't think of anything to say after that.

     And has even less to say as Momoyo speaks up. The princess ends up just staring at Momoyo. "That...while such a society of elite fighters is certainly possible, I...do not see how that will prevent such actions as Yari's theft of your information. Especially if the members of the Big Four are also members of the superfactions. But, even if they are not, there are many less than honorable people in the worlds. Many would pay for such information that could be leveraged for an advantage in combat."

Nero (880) has posed:
     And then Momoyo makes her proposal. And Nero bursts out laughing. "Hah! Ah ha ha ha ha ha! A Multiversal Big Four? I like it! It is appropriately grandiose!" She swept an arm out as usual whenever she had something she was going to give her approval on, and... "Very well! I shall allow it! I decree that it shall be so!"

     Was this a bad idea? Yes! Was it entertaining as all get out? Yes! What mattered more to Nero?

     No need to answer that one.

Lute (188) has posed:
     It is not often that Lute is completely absolutely stunned. But he stops, but for a moment, to consult his allies over the radio. This is, by far, not the best idea. It only risks making the grudge /worse/. Lute sits there for a moment. Calmly.

     "...We accept these terms. I am the East. Another Confederate, Lina Brand, will be the West. And, from this point on, we have no hostilities related to this world aside from this competition itself."

     He holds up a hand, finger up, "Barring, of course, you joining the Union, or if the Confederate's hands otherwise being forced."

     He sighs, slumping over in his chair.

     Facepalming.

Momoyo Kawakami (928) has posed:
     Folding her arms, Momoyo gave her usual smirk. But the tension was completely gone from the proceedings. "Then it's decided, then. Write up the reports, find out if the East and West slots change, let your superiors know, I'll have Nagato do the same, and we'll see what everyone has to say... honestly, if you can't beat Nero, what chance do most people have against me...?"

    She chuckled, if she were any younger she would be giggling madly. But if her proposal worked as planned, it would keep a LOT of conflict centered on The Big Four, limiting a ton of activity to officers only and those involved in homeworlds. Which meant the flow of battle changes a bit across the Multiverse.

    In this way, she could keep her friends safe even if The Fed had information on them already. Likewise, gathering information on Fed Big Four members would be moot... it will disseminate like wildfire.

    There might even be hats, figurines, merchandise... but mostly, Momoyo could keep getting the edge of her seat fights she wanted, and so did many others.

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia shakes her head, her expression clearly saying that she thinks this is not any kind of solution to the problem. But, she supposes if Momoyo thinks it is a solution, then it may be solution enough to put the 'Goddess of Battle' at ease. And, as that /was/ the point of this meeting, the princess is going to count it as a win.

     "Well...I suppose if that is what you want, then there is no reason to say no." the princess says, leaning back in her seat. "But, won't such a thing bring even more attention to you?"