2138/The Bunny Trap

The Bunny Trap
Date of Scene:	01 May 2015
Location:	Ivalice
Synopsis:	Faruja calls friends and allies to save his Acolyte! A plot is uncovered!
Cast of Characters:	Maya, 20, 152, 385, Neuroi Girl, Sanary Rondel, 768

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Faruja (152) has posed:
Mullonde's grand cathedrals, well-kept lawns, and near-constant outward shows of religion are the same as ever. It's the middle of the day, and the weather is mild, a cool breeze slipping through the city and offering succor from the heat. People come and go, priests, faithful of all stripes, knights, and high officials all tending to their duties. Indeed, as those Faruja has called for may not even find anything wrong at first if they've been here before. Those that greet them seem genuinely welcoming, if very quick to push crosses, holy tracts, and insistent blessings.

At least until one arrives at 305 Ajora Lane. Even Mullonde has back alleyways, and while it's far cleaner than most, it's still a magnet for what little crime goes on in the city. The heated voices that emanate from it might add fuel to that, as do the pair of burly human knights that wave the group into the cramped alleyway.

Faruja Senra and a rotund man in equally red robes bearing a cross look about three seconds away from killing each other. A nun's habit-wearing lamia and a green-robed woman nearby share several awkward glances, the duo plantively peer at the group. Their faces scream 'help us'.

"...Remand her to mine bloody custody! By Faram, Gramm! Doth ye truly think I hire Acolytes incompetent enough to leave a murder weapon at the scene of a crime?" Growls the far, far shorter rat at the taller hume.

"Damnit, Senra, ya know I can't do that! Even /if/ she weren't guilty, and the evidence says bloody otherwise, then the High Inquisitor is going to glare so hard down at both of us that we'll be hanging right next to her! Half of the others think you murdered your predecessor anyway! I ain't Cecelia! Hearing's in three days. If ya and those heathens can find evidence, then it makes /all/ of our lives easier. And for the love of Faram, Senra, take a vacation! Ya look terrible!" Comes the rotund man, scowling. The pair of Inquisitors glance at the party. Gramm sighs, and teleports away.

Behind Faruja, there's a single body. A middle aged balding man in priest's robes. His chest is torn open horridly, and a combat shotgun several feet away. Part of the walls forming the alley has been chipped.

Faruja straightens his robes, and turns to the party.

"Apologies for that, Sers and Dames. Right, I shall get to the point. Two days ago, mine Acolyte, the viera Strawberry, was found beside this man, Priest Bennington. The good Inquisitor Gramm thinks she is guilty." He sighs, rubbing at his sleepless eye.

"Stubborn bastard, but I cannot blame him. But I believe Strawberry. All she remembers is waking up in this alley after going for a walk in our park."

He sweeps his hand over the scene.

"I needst ye lot to look over the crime scene and see if I missed something. Mine magic hath revealed nothing. Also, I wouldst like some of ye to investigate the park, I shall send ye the coordinates. 'Tis not far away. Please be on thine guard. I fear there is more at work here than meets the eye."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Upon hearing that Faruja needed some help investigating a crime, Yuna was quick to answer the call; it's been a while since she saw Faruja, too, and this might be a good chance to catch up a little ...

Or at least, that's what she was thinking before she saw the corpse.

She can't help but blanch, trying to avert her gaze from Bennington's body. "Hey Faruja," she says weakly. "Um ... Elner can help me look for stuff in the park, I think. Unless you'd rather I was just looking out for other trouble ..."

She gets another glimpse of the dead priest, winces, and turns away with a mumbled, "Sorry ..."

The little robo-faerie Elner doesn't seem to be troubled by the sight. "Whereabouts is 'Strawberry' right now?" Elner inquires. "The local jail, I would guess?"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Great, just what is going on in Ivalice now? While Toph has many other things on her mind nowadays, she is still Faruja's acolyte. So she actually has a reason to come out here for whatever reason. It's not like him to request assistance for nothing. Though today she has even less patience for all the people trying to push crosses, holy tracts and whatever at her. Quite a few of them might even experience the ground suddenly shifting under them and suddenly find themselves standing several feet away from the blind girl as she marches down the street towards the alley where they were told to meet up in.

    Oh great. It's /him/.

    As Toph recognizes both the shape and voice of Inquisitor Gramm, she can't help but frown.

    "You can't or you won't...?" Toph asks the large man, her tone suggesting that she does not trust the man. He knows what she's capable of, and well, she is not in a joking mood today. Especially not considering the body that's there...

    As Faruja states the facts, Toph can't help but arch an eyebrow. Strawberry is accused of killing somebdy? Is she even capable of doing that? The earthbender crosses her arms across her chest, a pensive look on her face. "You seeing people trust your eyes far too much anyway," she mutters, then turns her face slightly in Faruja's direction. "Could I talk with her? I could figure out easily if she's telling the truth. Or is she locked up for now?" That would make sense if she were.

    As for splitting up, Toph listens to the others. Going to the park sounds like it should be useful too, but where are the others going?

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     So this is Ivalice! Not bad at all, if a little... Too rich for Sanary's taste. The incessant pushing of religious items is also rather off-putting to the healer, but that's not her job today. No, today's job is to help out a... Rat man and a strawberry in Ferham's place. Easy enough.

     Thankfully, the rat man Faruja seems to be giving good enough details that any confusion is cleared up quickly enough. The healer's dressed relatively well for the area, wearing a somewhat old purple three piece suit instead of her usual coat combo. She has to make a good impression so as to not embarrass Ferham or the Confederacy, after all! Her gunaxe, meanwhile, is hanging off an ACTUAL BELT for once, along with a bell on the other side of her hip.

     "Ah, Toph! Even one working eye is pretty nice. Still need to practice not using this so much, actually..." Sanary actually sounds somewhat relieved as she addresses the familiar voice, glancing at Toph momentarily before looking towards Faruja again.

     "I'll go wherever you need me."

Cory (768) has posed:
    Cory ends up arriving via flight, skipping most of the city... but thankfully ends the spectable out of sight of most who'dfreak at someone just flying in and landing in the middle of the street. She's been fairly quiet for most of this mess, arms folded and a sour look on her face.

    So very, VERY out of place is she. Separating her from humes, she has a weird monkey tail - though that might not be easy to tell as it's currently serving a function of 'fuzzy belt.'

    Weirder, she's in a brightly colored orangish-red gi with a blue undershirt.

    Couldn't stand out more, really.

    "So... if she didn't do it, someone else did? That's what you're getting at?" Cory's looking pretty worried now, to be honest.

    This is totally not in her skillset. She KNOWS it's not in her skillset, unlike many, but is just brave enough to power through anyways and not care.

    But screwing up means someone might get killed...

    She scratches the back of her head, then scowls. "Your friends there don't seem to care too much. But here's the obvious question. Who would want this guy dead?" She points at the dead man. "Who knows your... acolyte well enough to easily pin it on her... it ain't some random ruffian. They'd just shoot and run... wouldn't leave a weapon either. Too useful. If this isn't her fault, then it's totally planned from the start..."

    ...

    Not in her skillset, investigation, but being bluntly straightforward and practical might have its benefits.

Maya has posed:
Maya is all right with digging about for clues but she's not the best at it. she know things are a mess for Faruja's comrade however. SO she does want to do what she can. She's got an idea she's better at dealing with people so she's going top start looking about the area to see what she could find. Findinfg people? That's something she's good at, she'll keep in contact with the others however as best she's able.

Neuroi Girl has posed:
     The little Neuroi known as Evangeline hasn't seen Faruja in forever, so when she hears he is in trouble, it is all the more reason to go and try to help. She doesn't know much about the situation, but the black form of the floating little girl is easily noticable.

     She flies up alongside Toph, then looks around slowly, her featureless face impossible to read. She floats there, silent, possibly mistaken for a shadow.

Faruja (152) has posed:
CRIME SCENE

Gramm gives Toph a deep, deep glare before teleporting away! Seems he's still a bit salty after last time.

Faruja, however, answers for him. "...Mine temper is getting away from me. He is correct. 'Tis a conflict of interest, annoying as it may be. 'Twould look as though I were abusing authority, and given the war, the High Inquisitor is in a hanging mood."

Faruja rubs the side of his head. "...Let me call Sister Greenwell. I shall need to, ahem, 'grease the wheels' as they say. In the meantime, see if ye canst find anything suspicious here, Toph."

Then, Faruja steps away, clicking on his radio and is soon in a hushed conversation.

To those with the sense for metals, there's definitely plenty around. Notably, in the priest's body where he was shot. Also the chipped portion of the wall has several bits of metal. Oddly enough, the metal in the wall seems more hot than that in the priest's body. The angle from where the priest is laying seems slightly off, and the amount of metal in the wall and in the priest are roughly the same, if one counts the few bits that landed around him.

But that's not all that's off about the scene. One of the bricks at the end of the wall is scratched. The scratch is circular. There's also some debris: a cigarette package, crumpled, and a butt or two of the same not a foot away.

PARK

"Do as ye must, Lady Kagurazaka." Notes Faruja.

"Inquisitor Gramm's dungeon, three blocks from here. Getting access will take some work." He motions to the radio.

The Park itself is large, with footpaths, benches, several monuments to lesser saints, and a large clearing. The coordinates lead those going to the park to a footpath that's not quite as well travelled. There's no debris, but, there is a man beneath a blanket in ratty clothing. Even here, there seems to be the homeless.

He'll jerk awake should he be approached!

"Ehhhhh! Didn't see nothin', ya hear!?"

GUARD

"Exactly what I am getting at. Bluntly put, Strawberry is not one to slay a person without reason. If she had one, she wouldst hath filed a report at the least."

Faruja takes out a folder, and offers it to Cory and the group.

It lists Father Bennington's life story. Priest, family occupation. No known crimes. Father and Mother dead from the plague. Perfectly average in all respects for an Ivalician priest. No known ambitions, and unlikely to rise further in station.

"As for Strawberry? Mineself and Sister Greenwell of course. Inquisitor Gramm couldst likely do so, but I hardly think he hath a reason to. It would cause us both trouble." Pause.

"None of the other Inquisitors." The rat slowly frowns.

"The living ones, anyway." The rat shakes his head.

To Sanary, Faruja offers a bow. "Give mine regards to Lady Ferham. Guard the area, DAme...Rondel was it?" Then he's back to radio'ing.

Anyone with ki sense, or just a sharp ear, might note the sound of feet scraping on...roof? Three homes away, atop a small church, a cloaked figure watches the party below.

Faruja (152) has posed:
As Maya goes off to canvas the area, she'll find the streets mostly deserted. But a quick look down two alleyways? There's a young girl peering out of her window in the direction of the crime scene! She looks...scared, and worried.

Cory (768) has posed:
    Cory rifles through it biefly. She thankfully does know how to read and read well, despite being so focused otherwise. And hands it off to the next.

    "Well-" Whatever she was gonna say, Cory goes quiet the moment she senses something in an unusual place. There's someone UPWARDS?! "... Who's up there...?" Without explaining to anyone just WHAT exactly she's sensing... "That's way too close for coincidence."

    Instead of flying, cory just leaps straight up onto the roof herself.

    THEN she takes flight, seeking out the out-of-place energy signature.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
    No potential leads on a suspect, the murder weapon left with an easy suspect. "Yeesh. And nobody's even gotten beaten up for it yet?" Sanary actually sounds impressed as she looks over the files, skimming through them briefly before passing them forward. Investigations aren't her strong suit, although she's at least making an effort.

     "Will do. Rondel, yeah, but you can call me Sanary if that's easier." She chuckles lightly and offers Faruja a brief salute as she scans the area, focusing on the ground level for now. Not everyone can climb around on rooftops, after all!

     Bringing her hand back down, her attention shifts to Cory's exclamation about someone potentially climbing around on rooftops. The healer looks up just as she jumps right up there, a low hum escaping her.

     Well, then. Sanary opts for the less jumping and flying method to just run along with Cory, acting as her impromptu eye on the ground. "See anything up there?"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
After nodding to Faruja and getting the coordinates for the park, Yuna and Elner set off for the park - at a very quick walk in Yuna's case, and never mind that she's in her Light Suit right now.

Upon reaching the path Faruja's coordinates indicated, Yuna does indeed approach the blanketed figure, then gives the homeless man a friendly smile as he jerks awake. Now Yuna wishes that she'd thought to get a sandwich or something on the way over - something she could offer the man. Of course, given her stomach is still rolling around from seeing Priest Bennington's remains, it's not a surprise that she wasn't thinking of food in the first place.

"I didn't ask anything yet, and if you're sure you didn't see anything, I'll believe you," she says in a soothing, gentle tone. "But did you hear anything, perhaps? Did something happen to a viera girl who was passing through ... ? She's a friend of mine, and somebody's trying to get her into a lot of trouble that she doesn't deserve; if there's any way you can help me to help her, I'd be really grateful."

She turns her smile up a couple of notches, bright and warm and honestly friendly - like she doesn't even care that she's talking to a homeless guy in the middle of a park. And, well, truth be told? She only cares to the extent that she's wondering how she can help him - but she's not going to look down on him just because of his status.

Elner, for its part, flits up to hover over the park, starting to scan the area ... although what there is to look for is a mystery to the robo-faerie, at the moment.

Faruja (152) has posed:
GUARD

The figure doesn't move as Cory speaks up, but /does/ when she simply leaps to the top of the building. There's a feminine gasp, and the cloaked figure leaps off the building! Mid-air, they toss something at Cory!

A blue ball? That's what it looks like as it goes zooming for the Saiyan's noggin. It crackles, and explodes mid-air in a shower of white-hot electricity!

Only for the figure to land not four feet away from Sanary down below! There's a knife being tossed at the axe-wielding Elite, right towards the leg! Both attacks likely won't be lethal, but seem to be aimed to hamstring. The figure knocks over a trashcan behind themselves before speedily making for another alleyway!

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Teleporting away, are we? Toph snorts and lets out a mutterd huff. Something about 'good riddance' or something. When the others show up Toph is a bit on the pensive side, but she does acknowledge Sanary when she speaks to her. "Keep your eyes, I have never had a need for them." Not with her seismic sense and other senses. When she feels Evangeline arrive and float next to her she does blink though. "Care to help me investigate here, Sugar?" she asks. There's already something that has caught her attention...

    The blind earthbender walks over to the wall and places a hand on it. "There's metal in this wall... but it feels a bit different here," she notes. "And the angle doesn't really match up... was he moved or something?" Toph narrows her eyes slightly. "It's like the metal in the wall is a bit looser, like it's still warm." This seems highly suspicious. As she stands there she does reach one hand out, running it against the brick that seems a bit weirdly scratched. Circular scratching? "Sugar, you think you could search the guy?" she suggests to Evangeline.

Maya has posed:
Maya's no longer with the main groupo as she goes to look about, she does notive the girl and is now curious about the girl. Maya's gong to try to take a look over there and head up to the door. She knos the child seemed scared and that has got her attention.

Cory (768) has posed:
    Cory, unfortunately, is still not quite used to having people with almost NO power to her senses be of any threat. She just extends a hand to catch the tossed bauble and--

    ZOOOOORCH!

    "HYAAAAAAAGHK!!"

    ALL her hair stands on end, even the hair on her tail. The bolts wreathe around her and leave her sizzling, stunned, but... still floating in the air.

    "Grrrr.... jerk! Someone's in TROUBLE!"

    Cory wastes no time powering up. With a shrug and then a show of force, fists clenched and muscles tensing, she flares out with a brilliant white aura then ROCKETS down the alleyway, following her senses...

Neuroi Girl has posed:
     Evangeline watches Faruja walk away, then looks to Toph and nods. "...okay..." she says, then floats over to the fallen priest. She tilts her head in curiousity as she floats on her belly above him. "...he...is dead..." she says softly, then reaches down to start looking through his robes.

     Evangeline isn't sure what she is looking for. She hasn't seen more than one or two humans up close like this, deceased. As she searches, her energy-sensing ability is going, searching for anything out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, she can't really sense metal, or scan things like an actual robot might. She can just look with radar-like sensors.

Faruja (152) has posed:
PARK

Close up, Yuna might notice that the homeless person is definitely older. Likely at least fifty: a rare age for a hume of these times to live to. Moreover, he's heavily scarred: a bandage around one eye the worst of his injuries. They seem old and ill-healed. He gives a sickly cough.

"If ya heard me then GIT!" He practically spits. A moment passes as he hugs himself, before he looks over Yuna again. Some of that fear lessens as she turns on the warmth.

"...Wait. Yer...not from around here, are ya lass? Ain't dressed like a nun." The man grits his teeth, sighs, and pushes himself against a bench to sit up properly.

"Viera...viera..." He mutters. Then, he squints.

"Y...yer promise not ta say anythin', lass? Don't look like no Templar, or Inquisitor. Don't say it was me, alright! Got thrown out a' the Knights Templar thirty years ago after I lost ma arm an' eye in the war! 'Cowardice' they called it! Feh! Ain't gonna take their charity now, rather die old and broken!"

Then his voice lowers. "Somethin' is rotten here in Mullonde, lass. Nobody believes crazy ole One-Eye James! But I'm only half crazy lass! Yeh, I hear the voices. But the ones I hear lately? They ain't in my head. Ain't that far gone yet."

He takes a breath, and composes himself.

"Ya mean the bunny, don't ya? Templar don't come 'round here. Don't think it's necessary. But last few weeks? Been these group o' robed bastards, all talkin' and conspirin'! Tried to tell one of the knights! Heh, they just beat me blue! Threatened to hang me with the rest of the Heretics! Only one that ever stopped to listen to me was the bunny. Never gave 'er name. Didn't push. Naw. Gave me bread, listened when the voices got to screamin'. Good lass. Like yew. Few days ago? Bunny came 'round again. Right when those robed bastards were meetin'. They were arguin'. Somethin' about 'Gettin' back the rat'. I hid before they saw me. Knocked 'er out, they did! Injected 'er with somethin'. Took her gun too!"

"Dunno what happened after that, lass. But...I can show ya where they were meetin'. No one will believe me, else I'd tell 'em! But maybe they'll believe you!"

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Some action already! Sanary watches as the ball heads towards Cory, although her attention follows the cloaked figure instead of focusing on the shiny object. It's not aimed at her, anyway, so it's probably nothing too-

     Okay, so the explosion does draw her attention for a moment. That moment is just long enough that by the time Sanary notices the knife coming at her, she's only able to avoid having it go straight into her leg, and it just nicks her instead along with tearing a sizable hole in her pant leg.

     "... Oh, come on! Get back here, you stupid little...!" And she's off! Even with the pants restricting her movements somewhat, the axe-wielder is fairly fast in her own right, sort of managing to keep up with the fleeing figure.

     "Do you have /any/ idea how long it took me to find replacement pants this color?!" The trashcan isn't an obstacle for very long, getting punted into the air several feet away since going around it would mean yielding to its presence. NEVER.

Faruja (152) has posed:
MAYA

Maya's knocking on the door causes a bit of yelling. A man's voice yells up the stairs, and the little girl yelps. She closes the window. The door cracks, and a man peeks out.

"Oi. What is it, stranger? Who're you? Got some business here?" Comes the man. He sounds oddly nervous, though given what's occured, it might be understandable. Green eyes peer suspiciously out the cracked door.

Faruja (152) has posed:
CRIME SCENE

The shots themselves, as Toph puts her hand on the brick wall, is deeply embedded. A little /too/ deeply embedded, at that, as though it was done at close range. Yet, the shot in the priest's body doesn't seem to have pierced through the man from the feel of the metal.

When Toph touches the brick that's marked? It moves aside. There's something inside a hollow space. A piece of paper, slightly flecked with bits of brick. It feels as though the brick here was broken away, then reset.

r Eva at first doesn't detect much. But if she has any experience with firearms, she might note that the shot to the wall is far more indicative of a close range blast. And would have likely painted the walls with the priest, had he been hit there.

But instead, the man's body isn't torn in half. The shotgun is a particularly nasty variety. On the side-container for shells, there's only one missing. But her scan does catch something strange: though at first glance they appear similar, the shell closest to the missing one is...empty? Unlike the others, it seems to be a dummy shell. Picking or levitating it up would confirm the difference in weight.

Faruja (152) has posed:
GUARD

Sanary's hot pursuit seems to be a problem for the figure, the two evenly matched! Only her head start and the slight delay from her trashcan keeps the figure ahead! Which swiftly ends as Cory comes blasting towards her in a show of power! The figure stops, leaps towards Sanary with another knife drawn!

Only to be right in the air for Cory to intercept. The surprise in the figure's voice is obvious, and she doesn't even complete her leaping stab for Sanary!

Perfect time for Sanary to freeze her! The figure's other hand already has another blue ball ready to be thrown at the duo!

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna listens to the scarred veteran, still smiling - as well as she can, at least; this is not easy stuff to listen to, even before he gets to the parts which she presumes are about Strawberry and what happened. "No, I'm not from around here," she answers. "My name's Yuna; Faruja Senra is a friend of mine. It's good to meet you, James." She smiles, if a bit wryly after hearing his story.

"It sounds like these guys in robes were trying to go after Faruja for something ..." She shakes her head, her smile replaced by a slight frown. "So she had a gun? What kind of gun was it, do you recall? And if you can show me where they were meeting, that'd be great - although ... is there any chance they're actually meeting there now?" She offers James a hand, as to help him get to his feet (assuming he needs the help).

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    As she inspects the wall further Toph visibly frowns, not liking the feel of this. This is clearly suspicious and staged. "The bullets are too deep in. The angles don't match up either, unless they had a boomerang gun or something," she points out to Evangeline. "They must have stood really close to get the shots like this. But that guy was probably shot from a distance. And he was most likely shot before this wall was, considering the feel of the metal."

    When she inspects the brick further and it moves she blinks... then picks up the piece of paper. Huh, weird. Was it left here for somebody to find? Either way Toph rattles with the paper, turning towards Evangeline. "Hey, is there anything on this?" she calls out to her friend.

Neuroi Girl has posed:
     Being from a world where ballistic weapons are commonplace, Eva is pretty familiar with them. She tilts her head in curiousity, then looks at the shells. She picks up the blank one, then sets it down where she got it from. "...dummy shell...but...it is the only one..." she says softly, then looks at the priest. "...if he were shot with this gun at this range...he should look like tomato soup..." she adds.

     When the note is held out, Evangeline looks at it, then floats closer. "...you...will pay...Rat..." she reads carefully, making sure she pronounces the words correctly. She pauses, then lowers her head slightly. "...a...hit...in order to get to Faruja..."

Cory (768) has posed:
    "That won't work on me again!" Instead of TACKLING the airborne perpetrator, Cory does something much more clever.

    With a grin, she extends a hand - and fires a fist-sized Ki bolt right for the readied shock ball.

    Her grin is very triumphant.

    She very much doubts anyone would expect THAT from her in this world.

    "Pretty good moves down there!" She then calls to Sanary.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Sanary seems to have calmed down somewhat by the time the figure's trapped between herself and Cory, although that may not necessarily be a good thing since she has her gunaxe unhooked and ready in her hand. She's been favoring the Ice shell pretty heavily lately, too, so it's already loaded and ready by the time she raises her gunaxe towards the figure.

     "What's that phrase cops use all the time.. Oh yeah. Freeze!" There's a amused grin on the healer's face as she pumps some magic into the weapon and takes careful-ish aim at the figure's chest. Noticing Cory aiming for the blue ball in hand, however, she adjusts her aim downwards to aim for their knee instead, then fires a blast of ice to try and freeze the offending limb. "Good thinking up there!"

Faruja (152) has posed:
PARK

The man freezes as Faruja's name is mentioned. For a moment, there's absolute terror.

"...Ain't he an Inquisitor?" There's doubt, then indecision.

"Whatever, lass. Ye don't look like the type to just toss a bloke into a dungeon and let 'em rot. And I owe it to the Bunny. Big black thing! Lessee...had those funny red things on the side. Err, 'shells' they call 'em. One of 'em was empty on the side, missin'."

"I'll point ya in the right direction. I ain't goin' there again lass! They might be! Jus'...keep followin' the path until ya see a tree with a heart etched on it. Turn left, and there'll be an old statue of Ajora. Always meet there. Be careful. They're bad men, tellin' ya! Real Heretics, thems!" Then, the old man starts to slink behind a tree, shivering.

His directions prove true! Yuna would find the statue swiftly enough. There's a short figure in robes, kneeling, carving something into the large statue of Saint Ajora.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Evangeline's inspection of the shells does make Toph curious, and she steps a bit closer. She herself doesn't know much about various types of ammo, so it's a good thing Evangeline seems to know! "So... he would have been torn up from the blast. And there would be more than metal in the wall..." Ugh, what a grim thought. Not to mention nasty.

    The note seems a bit strange too. Why did they leave that there? Who could possibly use something like that? Is it meant to draw attention elsewhere? Still, Toph can't imagine Faruja being up to anything bad, she knows him rather well she thinks, and when he spoke earlier he was not lying. "But who? Gramm does seem to hate Twitchy, and he's even a bigger fuddy duddy when it comes to rules and such, it seems..." Toph rubs her chin idly. "So we can conclude that the priest was not shot here, and they moved him from somewhere else, and they planted evidence here to make it look like he was shot here. Except they did a horrible job, so they can't be really bright. Or they are underestimating us." Which is also a possibily, and an opportunity for them as well...

    She does turn her attention to the radio when Faruja speaks up, however, and she nods at Evangeline. "Care to join me for a round of good cop and sweet cop?"

Faruja (152) has posed:
CRIME SCENE/INTERROGATION

Eva might note that this gun does indeed have the engravings talked about on the radio.

Soon enough, just as Faruja promised, one of the burly knights from earlier walks over to the two. They'll motion to the girls, and lead them a few blocks away into a nondescript building. Until one comes to a metal door. There's moans coming from within, pained ones. The guards hang a left, away from the horrible sounds, and into a barred cell. Strawberry is in a dirty brown robe, her red hair in shambles, and shaking horribly. She doesn't even seem to notice them arriving. There's bags under her eyes, as though she hasn't slept.

The guards unlock the door, and let the two in!

Faruja (152) has posed:
GUARD

The figure screams as that axe rams into her knee, and freezes her legs together! Dropping her knife, she flails a bit in the air, only to be smacked in the chest by a ki blast! Eyes rolling in the back of her head, the figure falls right atop Sanary like a dead weight.

There's searing leather and flesh from the ki-blast, but with some healing, the figure will survive. Pulling away the cloak will reveal a leather-clad woman somewhere in her twenties. There's a cross on her neck, of some form of black crystal.

And it radiates the kind of ki best reserved for things not spoken of.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Faruja may be an Inquisitor; Yuna herself is not, and even if she *were*, she wouldn't want to throw somebody into a jail cell when he's just trying to get by. She listens to James' description of the gun, comparing notes with her allies over the radio (and checking with Elner for good measure).

She's somewhat more concerned with finding the conspirators, though, and she gladly accepts James's guidance to the statue. She recognizes the statue pretty well - she's seen other sculptures of Saint Ajora, and the sight of somebody possibly vandalizing (or outright desecrating) the statue ...

She may not be an adherent of the local faith, but Yuna takes religions seriously, even when they aren't her own. She moves to sneak up behind the robed figure, as quickly but quietly as she can; Elner switches focus to scan the area around the statue, in hopes of giving Yuna a heads-up if there are any more robed figures - or anyone else generally - in that part of the park.

If Yuna can get the drop on the robed individual, she's going to try and lock her arms around the figure's shoulders - not from below (as you'd get for, say, a full nelson), but from above. This may be a really bad idea, given Yuna's petite build ... if whoever-it-is tries to bolt, Yuna will have no leverage to actually STOP that with, and for that matter she'll be lucky to immobilize his or her arms.

Cory (768) has posed:
    "One day someone'll be a real challenge!" ... But not one able to wipe her off the map like Kakarot, Cory hopes. She's disappointed. After the initial surprise she was hoping for something other than ninja, but...

    She ends up landing near Sanary, arms folded and tail now extended and twitching idly, casually...

    Until, that is, she gets a look at the black cross.

    The cross means nothing to her to begin with, so it's just a weird trinket. Or should be. Fact is though, it gives her enough of the willies to pause.

    All she can do at this point is ask Sanary... "... D-does that thing mean anything to you?"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    When the knight arrives and motions for them to follow, Toph isn't slow to take Evangline by the arm and lead her along to the building. And even as they enter through the front door Toph can hear the pained moans, making her wince in sympathy. Strawberry is not doing well, is she? Sure, she could always bend open the door and get her out of there, but no... that would hurt Faruja even more in this case. Besides, now they only have questionable evidence to why she's here.

    Toph enters the cell first, stepping forward and towards Strawberry, feeling the way the viera is quivering, hearing how her heart beats... the girl is terrified and exhausted. Rather than standing on her feet and appear intimidating, Toph walks over and simply flops down on her ass in front of the girl, reaching out and waving her hand slightly. "Hey. Strawberry? Remember me?" she asks in a voice that's far more soft than how Toph usually speaks around these parts. There's no need to stress this girl out further. Better be casual and friendly, right? And Evangeline isn't going to make things worse, the roughest part of her is the exterior.

Faruja (152) has posed:
Yuna proves more than a match for the person initially! They shriek as they're grabbed, loud enough to carry quite a ways. Elner doesn't spy anyone in the immediate vicinity. The man now locked in a struggle at first tries to elbow their way out, but proves too weak! An arcane chant later, however, and gravity starts to shove Yuna away!

Right about then, Elner catches another figure. It's the homeless man, rushing towards that shriek!

Just as the man begins to bolt, Old One-Eye James thrusts a pitted, rusty old sword in the fleeing robed one's direction! Magic flares.

And another bolt of gravity tosses James to the ground in an 'oomph'! Only for the man to spit, and smirk.

"Yew whippersnappers these days can't even beat an old man! HOLY EXPLOSION!"

The result blast sends the robed man flying back to land in a heap next to Yuna, unconscious. James smiles.

"Alright, lass? Heh, didn't think the ol' Holy Sword still was in me."

Back at the shrine, Elner or Yuna might notice a black crystal half-way stuck into a carved bit of the statue. It feels /awful/ to be around for someone like Yuna. This is evil magic.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     "Hah! Ah, you'll find someone one day. You should come find some of the other Saiyans in the Confederacy if you want a good fight." Catching the figure easily enough, Sanary adjusts her hold on the figure before propping her up against the wall and tugging the cloak aside enough to reveal the woman's face and the cross.

    "That was a pain... So. Who the hell are you? I mean, seriously. Do you throw exploding lightning balls and knives at everyone you meet?" Starting to rile herself up again, the healer steps back to cool down enough before approaching the woman again and tossing some healing energy towards the impact point where the ki blast had hit her. It won't fix the leather, of course, but at least it'll keep the flesh from developing any nasty infections.

     Eyeing the cross, Sanary can't help but feel uneasy looking at the thing despite not really knowing the significance of it. She turns to Cory and gives her a light shrug, pursing her lips after a moment. "Nope. Mm... Wait. Weren't there people pushing these things on us before?" She gestures towards the direction they had originally come from, then turns back to the figure once more. "Now explain yourself. We don't have all day, and if you're good? We might not leave your legs frozen after we're done here."

Faruja (152) has posed:
GUARD: The woman slowly awakens at the healing, briefly. "...Master...follow masters orders...watch the rat. Watch her killer! Revenge! REVENGE!" She screams, before finally falling unconscious again.

Neuroi Girl has posed:
     Evangeline is easily dragged through the air, a slight metallic whisper flowing from her as she moves. "...she sounds...unwell..." Evangeline says softly as she floats around Strawberry, then headtilts and imitates Toph. She floats down to the ground, landing gently on her rear, her propeller plane engine legs sticking out in front of her. "...we will help you...Faruja says you are innocent...we believe him...and...the scene looks staged..."

Faruja (152) has posed:
Toph's voice, and Eva's words slowly rouse Strawberry. She looks to them both, blinking, and gives a pained smile.

"...Toph." There's audible relief in her voice, before the woman sobs. She looks up to the sky, hands folded in prayer. She may not be an utter zealot like Faruja, but today she's been blessed.

"Faram hasn't forsaken me! Oh thank God!"

She fights back her tears, wipes her eyes, and gives about the closest thing to normal of a look as she can.

She nods to Eva. "Alright. Right. Of course he does. I'm innocent, I swear it! I was walking the park to see Joe again. He's a homeless man. Former Templar. He kept saying there was a group of men meeting in the park at night. So I went to investigate. Took my gun, found Joe, told him to hide."

"They snuck up on me. Injected something into my neck. Made me feel woozy. Next thing I know, I wake up in an alleyway. I didn't shoot him! I...I saw the body. Tried to tell Gramm I wouldn't kill a priest without orders!"

Berri's words are absolutely without deceit. Worst still, it matches up with the evidence gathered.

Maya has posed:
Maya listen to them for a moment and pauses at the information the man ahs given her she nods a little bit to him. Pasues to hand the man the promised money. It's a fair bit for normal person in this world.

"I suggest you don't use this all at once and thank you. I will not trouble you again." Maya will then depart.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"That was pretty impressive," Yuna says to James with a grin and a thumbs-up - although she remembers, JUST BARELY too late, that a 'thumbs-up' is a rude gesture in some cultures. Hopefully this isn't one of them! "And really well-timed, too - I would've been in a pinch without you pulling that off when you did," she adds. The gravity spell caught her by surprise, and she didn't have a good enough grip to stay latched onto the gravity/time mage.

"Elner, scan this crystal, see if you can determine anything about it," she asks her robo-faerie companion; Elner flits down to start scanning the shard of dark crystal, although it's also monitoring the subdued individual in the robe. Yuna goes over to help James up - again, if he needs it - and then conjures the Matrix Divider, holding her weapon ready to blast the robed man if he starts to regain consciousness.

"So, James," Yuna asks her unexpected ally, partly to keep her mind off of that bit of dark crystal and the evil power seeping from it, "have you thought about taking up another job? Faruja would be happy to have you working for him - he may be an Inquisitor, but his heart is true and inclined to genuine justice, not just to upholding laws because they're written a certain way."

Cory (768) has posed:
    "Don't touch it, huh." Cory's looking sour with the way the mysterious ninja woman is ranting, but she ain't making a move for that weird crystal. "Who's killer... 'her killer?' Which she?" But the woman's out cold!

    She just gives Sanary a hopeless shrug...

Sanary Rondel has posed:
    Sanary recoils slightly at the order not to touch the cross, having nearly... Well, the important thing is that she didn't touch it yet. "Dunno... Wasn't it a guy that got killed? And Faruja's not a she, either, so..."

     She shrugs and shakes her head. "Ah, we can see if anyone else got better leads on this. Let's just bring her back and let them figure it out."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Unlike Faruja and Strawberry, Toph is hardly religious. Her being an acolyte is merely for the sake of paperwork and to make it easier to help out in Ivalice. But this is hardly the time to call Strawbrry's prayer useless, now is it? The girl is in a tough situation, accused of murder... and if she and Evangeline can help keep her spirits up, then that will only help. Not everybody can be that tough, Toph is well aware of that fact.

    It's a good thing that the acolyte talks on her own volition, and Toph listens intently, keeping a hand on the floor so she can easier sense the vibrations. There's a look of focus on Toph's face, and she clearly pays attention to every word that Strawberry says, listening and sensing as best as she can without saying a word just yet. Let her talk, let her finish.

    And when Strawberry finishes, Toph raises her head with a nod given. "I believe you." And that is good enough for her. Strawberry doesn't strike her as somebody who can lie all that well, and nothing in her words, nothing in her body language conflicted. She does point to Evangeline too. "It all reeks of foul play indeed. Somebody is out to frame Twitchy, and they are using you. Which means that we have to get to the bottom of this and make sure justice kicks the rear ends of the dunderheads who are behind all of this."

    There's a serious look on Toph's face, and she rises to her feet again. "Just hang in there, and we will get you out as soon as possible," Toph promises. Heck, with the evidence being so sketchy they should at least be able to move her to a better place where she can at least get some comfort and rest, right?

Neuroi Girl has posed:
     Evangeline headtilts slightly as Berrie prays, then she reaches out to gently clasp her hands around Berrie's. "...we will not let you be killed for a crime you did not commit..." Even with the softness and usual monotone she uses to speak, there is a definite tone of determination in Evangeline's voice. "...and we will not let..." She pauses, looks over at Toph, then back at Berrie. "...Twitchy...be persecuted either...he is a good rat..."

     She releases Berrie's hands slowly, then floats back into the air.