4112/In Pursuit of Justice

In Pursuit of Justice
Date of Scene:	15 May 2016
Location:	The Deeper Regions
Synopsis:	An illegal auction is broken up by Elites at Tomoyo's suggestion.
Cast of Characters:	Staren, Rebecca Chambers, Tomoyo Daidouji, 691, 707, Sanary Rondel, 807, 857, Yang Xiao Long, 941, 984

---

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    The sky above is a dull grey in this city reminiscent of Victorian London. At the very least, it seems that way. But in reality, this whole city is actually underground for reasons not terribly important to the events that shall transpire. Cobblestone streets generate the constant clatter of horse drawn carriages passing over them. Men and woman in dashing suits and enviable dresses walk the streets at a brisk pace, doing their best to not look at the shrouded beggars at their feet.

    The summons put out by Tomoyo lead Elites to a dark alley in between a watchmakers and a bookstore. Another beggar is sitting there, occasionally looking up at passers-by. When it is an Elite they recognize, they lift their head a little higher, revealing dark sunglasses and short black hair. It's one of Tomoyo's bodyguards, who says nothing and only points into the alley.

    It's so filthy that it's pitch black, which means the iron door at the end would have blended in perfectly, making it hard to see if you didn't know it was there. Or if it weren't ajar, like it is right now. Stepping through is like crossing some portal from grimy to glamorous, as beyond it is a room of lavish wood panelling and fine tapestries on the walls. The gorgeous rug on the floor is covered with the muck of the alley, but a sign explains that this is its purpose. There are two flights of stairs going down with signs, one indicating that it leads to the mezzanine, the other stating it goes to the auction floor.

    rAs for why the door is ajar? That is probably due to the doorman being on the floor, trussed up and guarded by two more of Tomoyo's bodyguards, one with long red hair and the other shorter rust-colored hair. They acknowledge anyone who comes through with a nod and a gesture towards the mezzanine stairs.

    It's about 30 seconds of descent, the whole length softly lit by gas lights, until everyone reaches the mezzanine overlooking a grand ballroom, the floor comfortably carpeted and with small tables bearing complementary caviar and fine alcohol. Signs explain that the mezzanine is for observing only, and bids from it will not be accepted. It wraps around the ballroom on the left and right but it doesn't go to the far wall, which is dominated by a grand stage with red curtains that are currently drawn. An auctioneer's podium has been set up, with a neat tuxedo-clad man behind it, his upper lip bearing a rather severe burn.

    Before him sits the bidders, people from all over who have come to try and get a bargain on less-than-legal goods. There's a real mix of the obviously rich and obviously shady in there, along with some everymen and some who are clearly off-world, judging by their untraditional humanoid appearances. The floor under them is polished black stone tiles with golden glue, and is reachable by spiral staircases.

    Tomoyo stands at the railing with her fourth and final bodyguard at her side, both turning to regard the gathering allies. The tailor dressed to fit the function, with a glamorous sparkling black dress with matching opera gloves and heels. On her head is a wide-brimmed lavender hat with white ribbon and rose bouquet wrapped around the crown. A white scarf hangs loosely around her neck and some dark glasses hide her eyes. She smiles weakly at those who arrive. "Thank you all for coming. It means a lot..."

    Turning, she looks out over the auction, which seems just about ready to begin. "I've seen the list of things on sale... no innocent person would be here to bid. But there's a lot of them, and those who can't defend themselves probably have security." She clutches the railings. "It's up to you all if you want to try and stop them all. I understand if you don't want to test your luck."

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    These people are all overdressed.

    That's Yang's first thought as she wanders through the streets, always brimming with confidence in all she does. Any hostile glance earns a big grin in return, and a wink. She's an equal opportunities troll, so if someone's overly hostile, they'll get a little flirting twirl and a blown kiss to boot!

    She nods to the begger bodyguard, then heads down the alleyway, scuffing her boots on the rug before taking the stairs to the mezzanine. "Hey." she offers to those already gathered. "I'm all for kicking ass and taking names, but if anyone's got a better idea for keeping this on the downlow, I'm all ears. If you need a distraction though, I'm your girl." she then deploys her gauntlets, holding them up with a big grin. "I'm all about big and loud."

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Amongst the rich and shadey gathered in this auction? One Yari Takane is already on the auction floor with front row seats. She's dressed to the nines in almost garish dark blues and golds in a suit that's probably cost more than some people's entire life's earnings in this city. The perks of being an Elite! She straightens her cuffs, tail wrapped around her umbrella as the ninja simply waits. She's here to both bid, as well as get in contact with a supplier of very high end items that could well help her in her quest to poison all things magic-or-God to death.

However, as comfortable as she is, she's can't shake off the lingering feeling of something having been /off/ about this auction. Moreso than the mix of powerful and shadey. She raises a hand to a passing servant.

"One more scotch please." At least she can relax while waiting for the show to start.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Xiaomu enters the alley door in her usual vest and qipao, the closest she has to a Shinra duty uniform; she's keeping the rings of her staff fairly quiet, making her way down the stairs. This place feels ...

Maybe 'feels' is the wrong word. She doesn't like the smell of it - although the 'smell' in question is more metaphorical than physical, something you pick up on with your heart and your gut rather than depending on your nose. Or, maybe it's just that she remembers when Edo was getting industrialized, the old getting pushed out of the way by the new, horses giving way to motors, things like that.

Thirty seconds of walking down stairs isn't enough for her to come to many conclusions on that front, though. She finds Tomoyo and her bodyguard, inclining her head politely to the tailor, and then takes a moment to look around. Maybe she should be dressed differently ...

Eh, she's not gonna worry about it. "So," she inquires softly, "who is it in particular that we're looking to take down? Or is it more like 'whomever we can justify removing'?" Tomoyo *did* mention a specific somebody that she wanted to see arrested, after all.

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
"One of these days," Rebecca thinks to herself as she approaches the area, "I'm going to see about getting a better uniform than this one." Her classic medic uniform is starting to get a bit old, and she's heard about the BSAA coming into the Multiverse, but has yet to confirm that. Regardless, she still wears her olive shirt and white vest. Being on duty means being in uniform for Rebecca.

    Upon finding Tomoyo and her bodyguard, Rebecca salutes before looking to Xiaomu and listening to what she has to say. While Xiaomu has plenty to say for the time being, Rebecca just keeps quiet and listens intently for now.

Mel Brock (941) has posed:
    Well, at least Mel doesn't have to come in Victorian dress. She's sure she /could/, but it would be uncomfortable as hell, and more importantly she'd have to leave off her limiter, at least for a while. That more than anything would leave her feeling a bit anxious. But this particular gathering allows for her to show up in a casual outfit involving a turtleneck sweater, a smoke-grey longcoat, and, most importantly, that strip of tech she's always wearing on her right-side jawline.

    She's also pacing like a lion in a cage. She keeps her voice down when she speaks, but it's tense. "You don't know how much I'd love to bust this whole thing wide open. Damn near literally, at that. But I'm out of my jurisdiction, so, uh. I'm taking my cues from you, Daidouji. Biggest question is what do /you/ want me to do?"

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
When word reached the tiny infonet Karal Rei Lin has access to, she pondered. Is this something she should help with? But the info bits she was given suggested this is something she should invesigate. Something deep in her gut wants to do this, though she isn't sure just WHAT that urge is.

    Expose this con, this fraud, this hoodlum. Let him be exposed under the light of the sun, shamed and toppled! That's what it says, if it had words.

    So, naturally, she's come wearing a cloak to hide her flashy getup and decided the best way to fit in is to seem so unapproachable nobody will think to pester her into speaking and revealing her face.

    She finds herself asking similar questions of Tomoyo, now that she's here and has the general idea of what's going on...

    "Gonna need details about this plan of yours."

Alice Margatroid (807) has posed:
    It's rare that people actually seek out the Dollmaker for things, usually its her seeking others. These summons, however, come from a very familiar and very special person to the dollmaker and as such, she's already off and about towards the area. "What could she need?" she questions to herself, her two dolls floating behind her looking in curiosity to each other. Alice keeps herself low to the ground, just floating inches off of it as she moves forward, keeping herself silent moving.

    The beggars get Alice's attention slightly and she gives a brief nod, one of Tomoyo's bodyguards... What in the world is that girl up to here? No matter, she's here and she's going to assist the Tailor how she can, as such she's flying down the stairs at a rapid pace, and floating towards the direction the Tailor is in. But there also seems to be some people she recognizes here other than Tomoyo. Xiaomu gets a bow and so does Rebecca.

    "Tomoyo." she starts, then a look towards the bodyguard, a bow. "Ma'am." she didn't really know the bodyguard's names but she /did/ make a promise to them some long time ago... "I'll leave Shanghai and Hourai to guard you, Tomoyo, just let me know what you need done." a pause, "I'll work with everyone to make that a reality for you." with that said, Shanghai and Hourai move closer towards Tomoyo, each hugging an arm in greeting, only to float back behind her, waiting.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Sanary's heard through the grapevine that a certain staff would be on sale here today. A certain staff with the power to not only move people with but a flick, but being packaged with a lengthy tome on how to achieve the same results! Wearing her best (only) suit and armed with a wallet full of disposable income, the healer finds herself...

     ... Milling around with the other bidders that either couldn't afford or didn't want to pay for better seating. She's only got so much money to work with, and she's not about to waste valuable bidding money on a chair! Besides, it'll probably make it easier for her to catch the other bidders off guard if she's sitting in the cheap seats. Or... However auctions work.

     If nothing else, it'll be a valuable learning experience!

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    Down on the auction floor, the servant nods to Yari and heads off, returning with the scotch while Sanary rubs shoulders with the cheap and late. Everyone seems amicable, like the sort who rub their back about being a better class of criminal, but there's a tangible hunger in the air. Some important things are on sale today, things that they feel would make their lives a lot better.

    Finally, the man with the burned lip pounds his gavel to draw everyone's attention. "Thank you one and all for coming today," he says smoothly to the crowd. "I'm sure you're all aware, but just a reminder as to the rules of the auction. No bids will be accepted from the mezzanine, it is there for observation and relaxation. If there is any argument as to a result, even the slightest hint of aggression that could escalate to violence, you will be removed immediately. Keeping that in mind, let's all try to have some fun and walk away with fine goods."

    Up on the mezzanine, to those Tomoyo barely knows, such as Eve, Rebecca, Mel, Karal, and Yang, she smiles. But not as broadly as those she knows well, or who promised to commit time to helping her, like Alice and Xiaomu. She manages a tired laugh as the two dolls hug her side while the bodyguard bows her head to Alice in return.

    The fox sage's comment about her personal grudge makes her tense. "Yes... he's there." She points down to the seats, at a tall wiry man who is chatting amicably with a woman next to him. "But everyone here might be as bad as him, if not worse. Besides, personal feelings shouldn't interfere, right?"

    Everyone seems happy to let her call the shots here. It makes sense; she's the one who called them. Looking down at them... here to spend ill-gotten funds on ill-gotten gains, Tomoyo's hands grip the railing tighter. "They're the ones sneaking around because they know this is wrong. So we should make ourselves known, because we're in the right. Let them know that there is no hiding from the consequences of their crimes." She turns to smile at everyone... it's not as warm as it usually is. To Yang, she says, "Go right ahead. My guards are covering the exit, so they'll try and nab anyone who runs. You all know your capabilities best, so do what you think is best. I'll back you all up as best I can."

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    Yang seems to light up, in more than one way, the taste of battle whets her appetite for what's to come, and with the go-ahead to just go diving in... that's what she does.

    A loud, boistrous annoucement comes from the overview balcony. "I have a bid to make anyway!" Yang bellows, as she leaps onto the railing, then into the air above the crowd. "I bid, ONE KNUCKLE SANDWICH FOR ALL OF YA!"

    The blonde brawler then seems to stop and redirect downwards. Whether she hits someone or not doesn't matter, as she fires a kinetic shell into the floor, making it ripple out around her like a miniature earthquake.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
So that's their specific target; if only one of these overly-wealthy ne'er-do-wells is to be captured, it's THAT one. Xiaomu makes a note of the man at whom Tomoyo is pointing, recording his features in her memory as well as she can ... even as the auctioneer (maybe) lays out a reminder of the rules. No bids from the mezzanine, no aggression ...

Man. If it were going forward, this'd be the most boring auction ever, wouldn't it?

Xiaomu is tempted to vault over the railing, but instead, she just makes for the nearest stairwell and descends quickly. The rings on her staff probably jingle some along the way - she does need a hand on the railing to make sure she doesn't overbalance or something embarassing like that. Of *course* Yang makes it to the main floor before Xiaomu can finish descending the stairs -

But hey, the sage fox didn't want to steal her fellow blonde's thunder. Besides, attacking from a different angle has its advantages.

And the first advantage that Xiaomu tries to enact is to dash over to one of the other spiral stairs and freeze the floor, and the half-dozen or so steps nearest to the bottom, in a slick layer of ice. It won't last forever but it'll be a good obstacle. With Yang holding attention like that, Xiaomu's hoping to get around to each of the other stairwells in turn and do the same thing ... cycling back to the stairs nearest Tomoyo's spot above, and freezing them and the surrounding floor last. Gotta give her allies a chance to get down here safely, after all!

Unless all of them take the Yang Option (tm).

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
Rebecca listens intently to the others, then frowns a little at the suggestion of a distraction. Personally, Rebecca likes to stay as discreet as possible, but if Yang wants to provide a distraction, then Rebecca will roll with that. Or run with that, as this case may be. Once Yang has made herself appear and Xiaomu is planning to cool things off a bit, Rebecca quickly heads down the stairs before they're completely frozen as Xiaomu intends. She doesn't feel like slipping up during a mission!

    Rebecca makes it to the level where Xiaomu has gathered, and she double-checks her Beretta to make sure it's fully loaded. She then waits for the rest of her allies to arrive before making her next move, not wanting to risk putting herself into the open without support.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
/Blink/! Yang makes herself known by jumping down /just/ as she's gotten her scotch. The ninja frowns, watching briefly as Yang does what she does best: /punching/! Swallowing down her drink, swirling the ice as she dodges a fleeing fellow criminal, she gives one final shrug.

Yari takes the glass into her suit briefly, then pulls it out. It's then flicked directly at Yang! A few handseals, and a fireball zooms out towards the blonde! That liquid in the glass? Highly flammable.

"You should learn a bit of subtlety, Miss Yang!" Calls out 'Chiyo'! Then? She's finding cover amidst seats and the up-front gangsters, her eyes canning the crowds! She spies Sanary in all the chaos! Oh yes, they'll need a healer, and having Sanary around in general is a boost in confidence. Otherwise, she's trying to get closer to the man the group is all after, though she doesn't realize it just yet. That man has her poisons, after all!

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
Lin's all ready to watch the proceedings and judge things for herself, to observe the people here and learn about them before making a move. She returns Tomoyo's smile! But then....

    Then Yang just goes and causes a HECK of a ruckus. The redhead's forced to STARE from her position in the mezzanine... and stare hard.

    Man, and the elders back home say that LIN is hasty and reckless! Whoah.

Mel Brock (941) has posed:
    Mel is... frowning. "Alright, you're probably right, but all the same I'm not real sanguine about beating people up because they /probably/ did something illegal and are /probably/ here to buy goods that are /probably/ stolen. I've seen that kind of 'probably' turn out to be wrong more than once. There's a reason 'innocent until proven guilty' is a thi-"

    Off goes Yang. And Xiaomu. Sigh.

    "Look, the guy we're here to get, you've got proof on him. The rest of the folks here can make a scene of punching people at random if they want. I'm gonna go be a cop." And with that, she takes a quick and easy hop up to the railing, and then steps right off, hands in her pockets.

    One of the chairs from down below rises up to her feet, 'catching' her and then lowering her down into the crowd safely. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Marshal Mel Brock, STA Marshal. I am here to make an arrest. I can't speak to my allies' behavior, but I'm here to take in one person, and one person only. You stay out of my way, I won't have to put you through the nearest table." With that declaration, she starts simply... walking forward, briskly but steadily. Anyone trying to bar her way is going to have kind of a nasty surprise, however.

    The psychic has created an invisible wedge in front of herself; a tall V-shaped barrier of solid force, designed to part the crowd if they don't get out of their way on their own. She's making a beeline for the wiry man that Tomoyo indicated.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Orderly bidding, no violence... Maybe auctions aren't so bad. Sanary certainly looks surprisingly pleased with the speaker's request. After tossing a wave Yari's way in recognition, she lounges back a bit in her chair as she gets ready for what's sure to be a nice, productive, and peaceful night!

     And then a familiar blonde comes in about as subtly as a wrecking ball covered in fireworks. She peers upwards at the balcony towards Yang, squinting a moment before raising her hand in an idle greeting. "Uh... Hey, Yang? I don't think that's how auctions w-"

     And then the floor explodes as Sanary realizes she wasn't being literal with that bid. The healer raises an eyebrow slowly, then shrugs before nudging her seat back some and kicking back to watch. The auction runner /did/ mention that he or his own people would handle removal, after all, and Sanary's not about to get in the way of people doing their jobs.

     Then again, with Yari heading towards the auction... Er? Auctioneer? Auctionman, she might not stay in her seat for too much longer. And with Mel's arrival and announcement, Sanary's suspicion just keeps growing!

     Is this auction not as legal as she was led to believe?

Eve (857) has posed:
    Eve fits in fairly well in this victorian-era criminal auction. Why, she might well be the daughter of one of the criminals. In point of fact if her 'father' were free to act, likely he WOULD be here. She's been more or less flowing through the rooms, not bothering to pretend to be with anyone in particular. It's unlikely anyone thought she didn't belong... just that she was family of someone. If, that is, they even noticed her among the crowd of much bigger, louder folk.

    She just stares when Yang makes her entrance, then shakes her head. This is going to be trouble. Not necessarily for her, but it'll be trouble.

    She makes her way down, slipping aside from any potential criminals running past her. She doesn't really have a problem with criminals. Murderers, sure. Those attacking her friends, definitely. But thieves and the like really don't bother her, and she doesn't bother them in return. She's going against the flow though, and anyone spotting her in the confusion ought to immediately recognize that she's not behaving like an innocent victim here.

    "No one's here for you." she advises Yari, having made her way to the Au'ra after recognizing her. It'd be hard for anyone to escape her memory, and Yari's made no effort to hide. The nanogirl puses, looks down at her fingernails absently. "Well, maybe she is after you tried to burn her. You should probably leave." advises Eve. Some of her words probably don't carry beyond all the roaring and shouting and clash of battle, but her tone and intent ought to be unmistakeable. She doesn't like what Yari stands for, but she doesn't hold any hate for the ninja who probably could have killed her several times before this. If Eve herself deserved a chance to give up life as an assassin, she can offer no less to another.

Alice Margatroid (807) has posed:
    Hmm, so if everyone here, other than the ones Tomoyo summoned are bad... then... Oh, and there goes Yang and Xiaomu. Alice gives a light shrug and pulls out a small card. "Tomoyo, stay behind the dolls." she smiled, floating upwards to stand upon the mezzanine's rails. "Well, if they're gonna go start things, I might as well get myself going, right?" soon, magic fills the air around her and a spell circle comes into view, "Spellcard." she starts to announce.

    A smile comes to the Dollmaker's face, "Dolls. Lemmings Parade." soon, sixty dolls start dashing out of the spellcircle and rain down on everything below, those that hit something like a person explode violently, some hopping up to explode in people's chests. The explosions don't do lethal damage, fortunately, just a lot of loud noise, loud explosions... and a need to make more dolls after that.

    Soon, she takes to the sky and hovers around, providing support for the people that have gotten summoned by Tomoyo.

Staren has posed:
    Staren wears a big billowly cloak over his armor. It's not much of a disguise, really, but it might allow him to pass at a glance for a bodyguard or the like as opposed to 'Guy in immediately suspicious high-tech armor'

    He's standing by the mezzanine railing looking down over the crowd and pondering their approach when Yang decides to punch the entire room in the nose to establish dominance. So much for subtlety! "Why don't we just missile the whole room then?" he mutters, but he quickly discards that option. Tomoyo's claim against them is hardly rock-solid -- At the very least, there could be /other/ people burned by this auction who are here for similar purposes, so going straight to 'kill 'em all' is hardly justified here.

    He does kinda wish maybe they'd just knockout gassed the room /before/ allies headed down there, though. Sure, cuff 'em all and let the authorities sort them out might have worked...

    Maybes and might-have-beens. Staren has to /do/ something, though, so he opts for a relatively lower-key option, for him: He rips the cloak off so it won't get in his way, and draws a phaser in stum mode, trying to shoot Tomoyo's actual target -- and, if he can get /him/ down, fires at other people nearby as well.

    Also, little insect-sized observer robots climb out of his bag and fly out over the room, to give him more eyes on the scene and help track the target if he evades the stunbolts.

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    Tomoyo looks to Mel as Yang makes her move, that off-smile slipping away a little as the officer chides her. She gives a single nod and says, "I understand. Thank you." The ground is slammed with a shell, causing it to ripple, tiles popping free to reveal hard-packed earth beneath it. The chandelier above jangles musically from the impact, but thankfully stays up there. Several of the patrons are flung from their chairs or off their feet!

     The poison salesman looks to Yari frantically as she rushes to his side. "Free poisons for life if you can get me out of here, Miss Takane!" She might have to move fast though, because Staren has him in his sights! Eve tries to convince the assassin to leave, and up on the mezzanine, Tomoyo spies this interaction. The white of her bone starts shining through her knuckles as she grips the railing harder. "It's her..." she whispers, looking about ready to run downstairs, eyes flicking from her bodyguard to Shanghai to Hourai.

    Meanwhile, Mel hovers down and makes her declaration of only being after a single person. Some of the patrons mutter, seemingly quite keen on what she has to offer. At least, until the Lemming Parade begins. Screams ring out as people are knocked down by explosions, several sprinting for the exists, only to slip on Xiaomu's ice! Until...

    "Ladies and gentlemen," the auctioneer says slowly into the microphone. "We have clearly been compromised by people with differing goals. So allow me to make a counter-offer. You may come behind the curtain and claim what you came to bid on, for free, if you assist in driving any who interfere away."

    Dead silence from the bidders. That's a good deal. Immediately, people are scrabbling for the stage, climbing up to get behind the curtain!

Mel Brock (941) has posed:
    Mel is only after a single person.

    And Staren just started shooting at him.

    "God /damn/ it!" Mel doesn't bother to hide her displeasure. She breaks into a run immediately, her PCS-3 leaping out of her coat and into her hand; she lifts this up, pointing it right at the guy. She doesn't open fire yet, though. Instead she yells, "FREEZE! If you do not come quietly, I /am/ authorized to use force bringing you in!" And while she's running after the poison salesman, right hand holding her sidearm pointed at him, her /left/ arm comes up and turns a slight twist, as if flicking something forward.

    That 'wedge' of force she was holding in front of herself? It suddenly pushes forward and outward, becoming an outright 'shove the crowd out of the way' burst of push. She's trying to open up a path straight to the perp. And maybe, put on a show of what 'using force' means.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Between Mel charging for the man, a horde of Dolls coming for them all thanks to Alice, and a freaking giant armored guy shooting a taser at the man she's come here to see. No, she can't have that.

And really, part of her would take Eve up on that offer it weren't for the man's offer. Sigh. She almost looks apologetic to Eve. "I'd like that, but sometimes you have to take risks. You're all after someone I need." A shrug.

Then, with traditional ninja speed, she's over in front of the poison seller and makes a quick series of handseals. Slamming her hand into the ground, the concrete cracks and magical earth rises up in a five foot high wall from where Staren shot and where Mel is charging towards! She'll try to block the shots on the man, even as she herself has to duck a few stray shots. Given how close she is, she might get winged by any subsequent fire from the two.

Then, she's grabbing the hand of the poison seller, and flicking a smoke bomb down. POMF! Time to buy some time.

Then she's over the radio as she tries to find a nearby exit to drag the man towards.

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    Yang racks the slide on her gauntlet, and then gets blasted by that fireball. She's engulfed in flame for a few moments, before that explodes out in an expanding wave of heat and kinetic force. Her eyes are now glowing red and her hair has licks of flame in it too. "... Ow..." she says deadpan, turning to glare at Yari for a few moments.

    As people start running, the blonde makes a pouty face. "Where're you all going? This was just starting to get good!" she says, then spots Sanary. "You again..." she says with a frown. The brawler then turns and starts heading towards the Healer. "Hey, you! I /know/ you were there when those creepy zombie people came to Vale!" Oooooh dear, she saw through Sanary's 'Clever Disguise'... and now she has Angry McPunchgirl coming for her... shoving people out of her way if need be.

Staren has posed:
    When the auctioneer makes their announcement, the missile racks on Staren's shoulders pop up into firing position. He should just blow up everything back there so these people have nothing to fight for...

    Then he remembers that at a place like this there may well be chemical weapons and stuff back there that he can't be sure he'll /destroy/ instead of just /setting off/. "Nngh..." he grunts to himself, and aims his left arm in the direction of the stage. A few micromissiles launch, about the size of magic markers, flying down into the stage and exploding nothing -- but Staren hopes demonstrating that the stage may be a /fatally dangerous/ place to cross will encourage some folks to just run instead of risking it.

    And a wall is rising out of the mezzanine and a lizard ninja is helping the target. "Damn it!" Isn't that someone he's seen somewhere before...? And now he can't even see them anymore... his drones will be on the lookout for the pair emerging from the smoke from any angle, though!

    Also, Staren remembers he's using a weapon with a stun setting and takes a couple of wild shots at the smoke as he leaps down from the mezzanine to ground level!

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
As much as Lin wants to dash in on this - everyone else seems SO convinced these people are up to no good - she's heard only ONE person who's actually selling poison and Staren over there's using some weird BEAM his way! Which leaves Lin still looking over the railing, BEYOND confused. Her eyes are wide and expression is twitchy indeed. She's grinning sheepishly... completely unsure WHAT she should be doing now.

    She doesn't even have PROOF that these people did anything wrong yet because at the moment they're guilty only of defending themselves from an unprovoked attack.

    "Yeah did I ever pick a mess to get involved in here..." Still, with people RUSHING for whatever's behind the curtains, she finally makes a move. She springs up onto the mezzanine's railing and VAULTS over to the curtain behind the scrambling other people. Seems she cleared that distance with no particular effort, a hand on her sword but she still seems more CONFUSED than ready for violence.

    Honestly? Right now she's curious just what's behind the curtain...

Eve (857) has posed:
    Eve sighs, shaking her head dramatically as Yari refuses her offer. She understands, or at least thinks she does. She would never have accepted mere words, not a few months ago at least. She's not sure why Yari would believe the words of the poison-seller anyways. A lifetime supply? The words are incredibly suspicious, and no doubt they're meant only to save his hide. Perhaps he even intends to kill Yari herself later... to ensure he doesn't have to pay more than his life is worth.

    Still, it seems she's the only one who can deal directly with Yari and the poison-seller. Being small and unnoticed has its advantages, but she thinks relying on that much longer would be a terrible idea. Instead she extends her arms before her, forming a shield and hammer combo. A... somewhat familiar shield and hammer, among those of the Union, at least in shape and size. Her nanoweapons lack the traditional markings of the Asgardian hammer and Vibranium shield. Instead they're each marked with stylized wings and feathers, etched white against the mercurical metal.

    Not wasting time, Eve moves in pursuit of the ninja and her escort with her shield before her. Walls don't really bother her; she's almost as agile as a ninja herself. And Yari's weapons don't frighten her... much. As she moves, she slams that hammer into any of the criminals banding together to oppose the heroes. Any that are in her way at least. If they choose to side with the enemy, they deserve nothing less than a good hammering. Fortunately for them, Eve's hammer isn't nearly as massive and deadly as Thor's hammer. Unfortunately for them, it's still at least as massive and effective as a sledgehammer, and much faster besides. It's almost miraculous someone Eve's size can swing a weapon so fast and hard... but then, Eve's not what she appears and never has been.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Gee, that's a lot of people - but not all of them - heading for the backstage area, isn't it? Xiaomu almost takes a moment to rest her staff on her shoulder ...

But she resists the urge to pose and posture. Instead, she slams her staff's butt on the floor next to her, raising her right hand to gesture at the curtain. "XIAOMU BLIZZARD!!"

And waves of ice magic rush towards the curtain, intended to freeze it SOLID. Also to freeze the sides of said curtain to the wall, for a combination of physical support and making sure the edges are sealed up by the ice.

Not a whole lot of point to simply *letting* a roomful of bad guys get their hands on Buddha-knows-what to wield against the good guys, right? And Xiaomu's taking at least some precaution - it'd be awfully embarassing to cover the curtain in so much ice that it collapses under the ice's weight, tearing or breaking free of the rod or whatever, and smashes open to give TOTALLY free access between the auction amphitheater and the backstage area. It's possible that some of the crooks will wind up encased in ice for their troubles, too, which just keeps them out of further trouble.

On the downside, though? This is going to chew through Xiaomu's mana reserves, and she doesn't have many options for resupplying ... unless she gets mean.

Alice Margatroid (807) has posed:
    Well, clearing out some of the rabble helped and now that everyone else seems to be going after some more people... and there's things behind a curtain that needs to be destroyed. Decisions decisions. Very very easy decision actually. She pulls out another card, looking around. Ally there, there, there, there and... there. Perfect. Now that she's got allies marked, she doesn't have to worry about hitting them... or letting her bullets pass through.

    "Warning, everyone. Danmaku incoming!" with this, she pulls out a spellcard and floats around, "Spellcard. Elegant Sign: Spring Kyoto Dolls!" Fourteen dolls instantly spread around Alice and with the spellcard activation noise, various colors of shard-like danmaku come spreading out from her dolls as they work in geometric patterns, spinning around the dollmaker and pulling in to concentrate it some then expanding out to allow more danmaku to spread out.

    This rinses and repeats at least until Alice is hit by something pretty hard, but when that happens....?

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
While Xiaomu does her thing freezing the curtain, Rebecca is using her Beretta and a tactical shield to provide cover for Xiaomu. Granted, nobody's tried to attack them yet, but you can't take that chance when things are getting out of hand. "All right, just let me know what your next move is, and I'll try to cover you."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Free stuff? Sanary loves free stuff! She doesn't love being shot at or being rushed at by exploding dolls or explosive punches. Something's not quite adding up right in her head, but she doesn't have all that much time to think it through before she's confronted with one of Alice's dolls! Kicking her feet up, she puts enough power into her AANS to launch herself back just in time to not get blown up by said doll, and...

     ... Skids on her back some along with the chair she was sitting in. Smooth. Hearing Yang, however, she swings her feet up, then down to get herself and the chair upright again! "Eh? Oh, that. Yeah, that was work-related stuff. No hard feelings, huh?" She offers Yang something resembling an apologetic smile, although it's not completely innocent as she gets up and starts drawing energy into the air around her as those probably-familiar bricks begin to take shape in the air around the healer.

     "So... Uh. Got some new orders, but again. No hard feelings!" As the bricks keep forming, the first few that were created are already slung about the room, whipping about in the air in all their steel-like pointy-cornered glory!

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    The salesman is panicking as Yari steps up to defend him. "Oh god, what have I done to deserve this?..." he moans as Karal leaps the room to land before the curtain. Several who were running for it stop, but others had actually managed to get through. The fact that Xiaomu proceeds to freeze the curtain also helps dissuade them, the bidders backing away.

    But then, a blast suddenly punctures the icy curtain, aimed at Karal's back. It tears a sizable gap in it too, allowing those first in there to emerge. A businessman emerges, wearing a futuristic visor and a metallic glove with a smoking palm. "You punks trying to stop this better get out of my way!" he bellows.

    Next is a typical British punk is first, wearing some kind of silvery diadem on his head. "FFFFFFFFFFUCK THE POLICE!" he screams with excitement at Mel as she blasts the crowd away... before manifesting an invisible telekinetic blade to swing at her! Good thing that telekinesis is her thing too.

    As Staren's missiles streak towards the stage, a brutishly built man with a face only a mother could love emerges with a tower shield on his arm. He raises it as the missiles explode, and... the force is absorbed, making the shield's surface ripple before settling. The stage is unmarred (thankfully so, considering Karal was there too). "It really works..." the thug whispers in awe before leaping from the stage and rushing towards Staren!

    Next is a mousy looking girl in a frumpy dress, accompanied by an intelligent-looking woman who is clutching a syringe. They look to Xiaomu and Rebecca, the older patting the younger's shoulder. "I think they would be good test subjects, don't you?" she asks. Right before plunging the contents of that syringe into her neck. Immediately, a foul yellow pustule begins to form over the puncture. She smirks, and swings her arm as it lengthens grotesquely to swipe at Rebecca, who is probably having a sense of d�j� vu.

    Meanwhile, the frumpy girl awkwardly clutches a bookmark that probably registers as magical to Xiaomu, as well as an older copy of Youthful Leap, the weekly manga collection. "Uh... um, sorry, but..." She suddenly opens the book, reaching a page that practically falls open on its own, a sign of how frequently it has been opened to there in the past. The bookmark it put there, the manga is closed... and in a flash of light, the girl transforms. Taking on the outfit of a certain Xinhua, female lead of West Voyage! "But I'm gonna kick your butt!" the girl yells, immediately as confident as the character. She does a flying kick towards the sage fox!

    Up above, Alice begins her danmaku, bullets floating from her dolls. But then, something skitters from that hole in the curtain. A mannequin, moving around jerkily, one that looks up at the dollmaker and tilts it's blank head. Suddenly, it leaps with great strength, blades extending from its palms as it tries to slice the strings Alice uses to manipulate her creations!

    Up on the mezzanine, Tomoyo looks down at Eve engages Yari, trembling slightly. "I should do something... it might have been her..." she mutters.

Mel Brock (941) has posed:
    The sudden stone wall in front of her brings Mel skidding to a halt. She nearly runs right into it. There's a muttered swear from the psychic-

    And then, with a sudden /CRUNCH/ of cracking rock, it's ripped up out of the ground, and tossed through the nearest wall of the building. "I. SAID. /FREEZE./"

    The Marshal immediately launches right back into a run, choosing to go around the smoke cloud rather than through it. It's not hard to guess that it's going to be a cover for a hasty escape, so rather than dive in trying to grab at nothing, she can come around with her pistol raised, and-

    And apparently be accosted by some two-bit thug with a pretty tiara on. She gives him a look that lasts about a half-second, before flicking her hand and simply hitting him with enough force to fling him across the room. No fancy tricks, no attempts to 'grab' him by his clothes, just a hard and sudden shove. "How about 'no'."

    She's not concerned with him right now - she's concerned with the perp. She means to get around the smokescreen, and try to cut off Yari and the poison-seller... largely by opening fire, with her sidearm set to the high end of 'nonlethal'. The purple packets of kinetic energy it fires hit like a particularly hefty beanbag, but they're not going to cause any lethal or even permanent damage.

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    Yang is a pretty unstoppable force when she gets going, but Sanary's luck seems to swing in her favour, as one of those flying bricks nails the blonde in the back of the head. It doesn't do too much damage, due to the brawler's Aura being intact, but it's enough to send her sprawling off into a random corner of the room. She's out of the fight.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Some of those shots into the smoke come disturbingly close to Yari! She even gets winged on the tail, causing her appendage to go stock-straight in the air, and nearly stumble before she shakes off the tazing blast and keeps going. That tail-tip is sizzling though!

"Think about what you sell. Are you really surprised?" She offers to her new charge, however. There's a brief glare, then it's back to work.

Of course, the chaos behind her is ever increasing. Alice throwing down Danmaku, xaiaomu is freezing dudes solid, Eve has swiftly become a battering ram-hammer of a girl, and even Yari's own smoke is getting to her.

The ninja pulls out a needle from one of her cuffs, and flicks it at Eve! Right for the knee if she can manage it; non-lethal, but should sting like no one's business. Worse still, Eve probably has a pretty good idea it's poisoned given their last encounter. Which it is. More of her trademark paralytics, though with added sedatives. Should Eve not resist, it'll make for an increasingly sluggish former assassin!

Yari's also trying to stay low to avoid accidental brick'ing from Sanary. She's seen what those things can do, man!

"You should be the one getting out of here. This isn't a place for a child." Yari even tries to inject motherly authority into her voice. By now, she's /good/ at it.

And then the entire world explodes in chaos as /more people/ pour in from the busted curtains. Yari takes one glance back, realizes they're not after her or her newfound buddy, and tries to use the moment as she leaps out of the smoke! There she is, Staren!

Also, there's /Mel/ to deal with. Who fires at them, and the ninja decides to very simply tackle her charge, and take several hits from those shots. Poor Yari's suit is being ruined, /and/ those things bruise! The ninja hisses as she pops up. Well, Mel got her to stop for a moment. She makes several handseals, and tries to force illusion magic upon her. Should it work, Mel might get the feeling that the ground beneath her has turned to mud, and she's started to sink in!

Not a hard illusion to break, though, given all the chaos.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Xiaomu wilts a bit as a hole is blown through the frozen-over curtain. This was EXACTLY why she was trying to lock it down - and here come the newly-armed bad guys. Also, there are some kinds of spiky bricks flying around, but she's far enough from their source that she's PROBABLY safe from Sanary's indiscriminate conjuration-lobbing.

Besides, she'd kind of like to get a better look at the bookmark the mousy otaku girl just tried using. Of course, before the sage fox can do that, she has to survive the effects of it.

Starting by dodging away from the flying kick ... and continuing with making sure Xinuha's Number-One Fangirl has a slick landing, my conjuring MORE ice where the kicking heroine is probably going to land. "And here I thought it'd be a boring auction ... !"

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
Lin is FAST, but she's not... THAT fast. The energy pulse slams right into her back! And that... should be that, right? ... Well. It sure looks like it. She gurgle-screams and topples forward onto her knees, her outfit and flesh scorched deeply and back screaming in protest. Were she mortal she might have been left paralyzed, or just dead.

    "Ghhh....!" But she gathers her strength, ignoring the pain and her spasming muscles. Through sheer WILLPOWER she commands her body to move and shoves the pain aside. This leaves her skidding over the stage briefly and flipping around up to her feet as gracefully as a proud crane.

    "Grrrrrr! Shoot me in the back like a dirty coward?! Don't see what's so wrong about all these weapons, but you've all got ATTITUDE problems."

    Golden light gathers in her hands... as she releases her normal sword and instead draws forth a carved, polished, wooden training sword.

    With one angry yowl she ducks down low, dives in and strikes upwards under the man's guard, aiming to get that smoldering glove aimed skyward. Because if she can knock it out of the way...

    She'll proceed to beat the dude black and blue with that wooden sword!

Staren has posed:
    They're not poisons, they're magic and tech artifacts?! The heck? Staren is surprised, but, he has a mission here. He leaps into the air, manifesting his energy wings to fly over shield guy. "Stay outta this, and be glad we're not here for you." He flies off above Yari and their target where they've emerged from the smoke.

    He fires his armor's arm-mounted beam cannons at Yari, since it's clear he's not going to get to the target until she's down. "Why are you protecting him?"

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
The girl injects herself to grow a tentacle, and Rebecca doesn't like it one bit. "Oh no..." She exclaims, believing this person not to be too friendly in the least bit. Although, Rebecca decides not to go with lethal force just yet. She switches to her taser and fires it at the girl, hoping that a little shock treatment might stop her for now.

Mel Brock (941) has posed:
    The illusion causes Mel to nearly trip over her own two feet - but past that, it does little enough to be worrying. If Yari can sense anything from the ebb and flow of her own ninjutsu, she will sense that it's because the psychic's defenses have come up almost reflexively - and her defenses are /strong/. She makes a living out of taking out the kind of criminals that utilize illusions.

    To be fair, though, 'ninja' is a new one on her. She's got a fellow Marshal that styles himself as one, but that's another story entirely. So for the time being, she's just going to stick with tried-and-true methods. Namely, she'll keep putting kinetic shots into Yari's back until either the ninja gets out of the way, or Mel gets close enough to reach out and try to /pry/ her off.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Priorities! Today's priority: Making sure Yari gets out safely amidst... THIS. Bullets flying, magic bullets flying, all sorts of fire and ice... Sanary's addition to the chaos is EVEN MORE BRICKS, the steel-like objects flailing about like a tornado of garbage. It's the perfect cover for the healer to head towards Yari and auctionman, already prepping healing magic in her hand before even reaching them.

     "So... Should we just bust a hole in the wall and get outta here? Because I don't have any other suits, and I don't want to get-" And just her luck, Sanary's arrived just in time to take Staren's beam cannon right to her back! The healer howls out in pain and drops to a knee, letting that healing magic wash over the fresh scorches on her back (and even sending some Yari's way afterwards).

     "Son of a... This was expensive!" She shouts out in anger at Staren, her voice suddenly bellowing out as the brick storm starts centering on the cat science man!

Eve (857) has posed:
    Eve's certainly seen the poisoned throwing-things before from Yari, and she's a ludicrously fast learner. It's really no coincidence she's leading with a shield. Besides having met and admired Sarah Rogers, it's a flexible and effective combat style that suits her far more than blades would these days.

    It's no big deal to dip her shield and cover her knee. Eve intercepts the dart, which might well wing off sideways and pierce some hapless criminal. No matter really, not to Eve. "Women like us can't abandon a fight before trying." she claims. Yes, women. She doesn't look like a woman. Even with her frilly and lacy victorian dress, she's nothing more than a dressed-up child. She takes responsibility for herself though, so perhaps 'woman' is an acceptable title.

    "You're hurt though." Eve notes. It's not quite a gloat. She doesn't seem to be upset over the fact, but neither is she actively taunting. "Would you flee, if I promised you I wouldn't let him be killed here?" she offers the ninja-lizard-woman.

Alice Margatroid (807) has posed:
    Alice is slowly moving around here and there, keeping up her danmaku barrage. People here seem to be good at dodging her streams and this gives the dollmaker a frown, "This is unexpected." she muttered. She perks up just a bit, looking towards the curtain as it shifts around unnaturally. "Eh?" she tilts her head and starts to aim at the curtain.. Though when that mannequin makes itself shown, "Eh... what in the... how do you operate, doll?' she questions towards the mannequin.

    When it launches itself at her, she squeaks and panics, the mannequin manages to cut some of the strings and it ends up getting her as well, knocking her off balance and ending the spellcard! She shakes her head a bit and pulls another doll in front of her, aiming towards the mannequin, sending small bursts of laser and kunai danmaku towards it, "Okay, you're made of evil, so I'm not even going to try to get you into my collection!"

    Meanwhile, Shanghai and Hourai look towards Tomoyo, "Don't do anything that Alice will be upset over. She does care about you." a pause from Shanghai, "Do you still have the dolls and spellcard she gave you?"

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    Chaos reigns in the ballroom as Elites focus fire on Yari. Mel's shove knocks the punk flying back, causing him to slam into a wall, that telekinetic edge he had sent flying at her dissipating. As Xiamou tries to trip the cosplayer, she slips... but lands on her hands, pivoting to lash out with a spinning kick at the sage's head!

    Karal engages with the man with the glove and visor. As she generates a wooden sword, that glove suddenly grows to encase his arm, sprouting a shield that he uses to block the swing. "Hahah! Fairness is for chumps! War is about winning, not honor!" he yells, the glove still expanding to encase his other arm in matching metal, complete with another blaster which he lets loose on Karal!

    The shieldman stares up at Staren, obviously surprised at being let go, but he's not about to pass up the chance. Approching the stairs, he touches the shield to the ice Xiaomu put on it... and all that kinetic force is released, shattering it! Now people can leave scott-free.

    As Rebecca tases the woman, the tentacle goes limp as she spasms. But then, with a sudden burst of strength, she grabs the taser wires and yanks, trying to pull the weapon from the S.T.A.R.S agent's hands! She then grabs a discarded chair with that tentacle and flings it at Rebecca!

    Up on the mezzanine, the mannequin doesn't reply to Alice, having no mouth with which to speak. A slot opens on its body as the dollmaker sends a stream of danmaku its way, a thick cloud of smoke emanating to conceal its exact location. Over by the stairs, Tomoyo nods to Shanghai. "I know, but... I feel so-" She's cut off by a bust of motion, that mannequin erupting from the cloud of smoke to cling to the railing before her, a hand reaching up to grab her by the throat...!

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari grits her teeth as she's assaulted in pairs! Given how she has a guy to protect, things are only getting harder on the ninja! Staren's volley of beam-fire lances across her legs and sides, leaving lovely little burn marks and scorching her scales! Still, she's mostly managed to dodge the more lethal effects of a good microwaving from a guy in armor.

Which is quickly reduced by Sanary's healing. The ninja's already breathing a slight sigh relief, only to hiss as Mel slams even more kinetic rounds into her back after barely being effected by her magic. She looks to the exit, then back to Sanary.

"Captain, an improvised exit would be lovely." She's smiling. By the Empire, she's going to /hug/ Sanary so much after this.

On that note, the ninja yanks out a string of explosive tags, and hucks them at the nearest, thinnest looking wall, in between ducking, dodging, and flipping away from incoming fire. Then she's flicking a grenade at said explosive-covered wall.

"Do you really think I will just tell that to someone who tried to roast me alive?" She quips to Staren. Even blocks her needle. A smile. The girl's getting better.

"Well, I can respect your resolve. About three minutes ago? I might have taken that offer. Too much invested already just to pull out when there's still a chance of victory. Plus I have an ally on the field I need to see safe." At least the ninja's reasonable.

Then? Duck and cover Mr. Poison Seller. She still manages to toss a small flurry of kunai at her assailants. Staren and Mel get a more lethal aim. Eve? More leg and arm shots. She has standards after all.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Okay, thinks Xiaomu as she gets kicked in the head, this is going a LOT worse than intended. She regains her balance quickly, though. "Kiddo, believe me, this is not a good night to get on my bad side. DAKKI NO KATA!!"

And with those words, Xiaomu brings her right hand up and starts trying to leech energy away from not-actually-Xinhua. She's aware that the girl who's playing at being the heroine is, in actual fact, an ordinary girl who probably doesn't have a whole lot of life energy or raw mana to toss around, but she's only holding back to the point of not taking the girl's *life*. Should the transformation collapse, or the girl herself collapse, Xiaomu will cut the draining off right away.

But she doesn't really want to waste a lot of time duking it out.

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
Rebecca thinks she's got this made, until the taser gets yanked from her hand, and she realizes she's up against something far worse than she imagined here. "Dammit!" She swears, drawing her Beretta. "Guess I've no other option," Rebecca says as she fires off a pair of shots at the girl that just stole her taser. "I hate to do this!"

Staren has posed:
    "Rrrgh..." Staren grunts in annoyance as his weapon doesn't take down the ninja lizard and Sanary gets in the way of one of the shots and aggroes on him. Crazy flying brick field is a problem! "Aagh! Come on!" His forcefield comes up, but the brick storm is rapidly breaking through it. After a brief hesitation, he just tries to fly /away/, to get free of the brick storm. It seems he just can't get to the target now. At least his drones can try to follow the group, though!

Alice Margatroid (807) has posed:
    Alice figured the thing wouldn't respond to her... and she doesn't sense magic... or the like but when she does the danmaku stream, that smoke cloud really does obstruct her view... and probably brings down part of a curtain. "Damn. Where did it go..." she looks around and ponders, sending some danmaku down to assist her allies, along with a few explosive grenade dolls to help disurpt a few things!

    "You don't have to feel useless." Shanghai starts to comment, smiling up at Tomoyo. "Alice is stil..." the mannequinn attacks and the two dolls shriek in shock, "Alice, help!" Shanghai shouts out, drawing the dollmaker's attention. "Shanghai?" a less than a second pause "Tomoyo!" a quick turn around and Alice bolts to the mezzanine, sending danmaku here and there towards it. It's not lethal, but it might hurt if someone gets hit.

    Hourai, however, moves to take action and with a small flash, a lance and shield is produced and the doll dashes in mid air to stab at the mannequinn. Shanghai soon follows suit and pulls out her sword to start firing lasers at it! "Let go of my Tomoyo!" she shouts, more lasers rapidly firing, "That is ALICE's TOMOYO! That's MY Tomoyo!"

Mel Brock (941) has posed:
    The first kunai to reach Mel, she avoids taking a fatal hit by sheer reflex. A juke to the side, and what would have gone right into her throat instead ends up embedding itself in her shoulder - a sudden and deep wound that causes her to drop her sidearm and hiss in pain.

    The second, and each kunai after that, glances off what looks like thin air. Another telekinetic barrier. The situation is limiting her options; the ninja's using lethal force, but she can't respond in kind, or she'll hit the perp. The only thing she can really do right now is get in close, and try to separate them. "I'm here for the dealer, I will be leaving as /soon/ as I get cuffs on him, but I swear to /god/ if I have to rip this entire BUILDING off its foundation and drop it on you to get him, I WILL! SO STAND-"

    In Mel lunges, cocking her left fist back; around it, faint and brief shimmers of purple light flicker around her fist, and when she swings it right for the center of mass on Yari, the lizardgirl will find it wrapped in a thoroughly excessive amount of telekinetic power. The kind of force usually delivered by a speeding semi.

    "-DOWN!"

Eve (857) has posed:
    Eve's been training hard, and she's a remarkably talented fighter for her age. Perfect memory and mind-over-body control worthy of envy from tibetan monks make for a phenomenal combination. She's not, however, perfect. A disadvantage of shields is that they can never protect the entire body, since by doing so you blind yourself to your opponent's attack. Kunai slide past her guard, striking her at least one glancing blow. She scowls, more in annoyance than in pain. Perhaps the drugs on the blade might yet put her down... but for now, she's still fighting.

    Eve sees that Yari's likely to escape. That's bad, but not nearly as bad as if their target gets away. She dissolves her hammer, keeping the shield intact. Then, she goes on the offensive for the first time. Swinging her head in a sharp negation, Eve lets loose with a surprising assault. Hair, once no longer than her mid-back, stretches out two meters in a metallic golden rope, sweeping for the poisoner's ankles. If she can knock him down, she might be able to force Yari to choose. If she can actually lasso him, so much the better.

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
When Lin's wooden sword clangs against a growing spread of armor and gear she flinches, bewildered by this sudden change. But DEFIANCE shines in her eyes, in those few moments she has to think fast.

    And think fast she DOES.

    The wooden sword's brought around to parry the blast, which... doesn't really turn out well for the sword, but it absorbs PLENTY of energy before it slams into Lin's forearm and gut. Smoldered and splintered it is, but the wreckage hasn't even hit the floor when a new wave of determination strikes her.

    This is no longer about teaching a lesson or hoping she can disarm this guy.

    This is about survival. "I'm not putting your life above mine!!"

    That hand once again dips down to a weapon, gripping her REAL sword. The metal one. With a real edge.

    Power flows through her in a way that it wasn't before. She flexes muscles beyond human limits, Essence woven through the effort. Her slash is swifter than reason, quick enough that a small gale follows in the wake. Her objective? Well, she's aiming for the guy's legs with lightning speed and superhuman strength...

Sanary Rondel has posed:
"That's one assailant... Not assailing them any more! That's always good. Sanary doesn't have much time to relax even after Staren falls back, though, since with Mel and Eve still trying to take Yari down on the way to the poisonman. As the self-proclaimed defender of her allies, however, it's Sanary's job to make sure the ninja and her charge stay safe!

     "Sorry, but you're not getting to anyone!" It's time to bring all the bricks back out of that storm as she prepares them to take Mel's telekinetic fist blast head on! Unfortunately for Sanary, her bricks are better equipped to handle smaller projectiles than overwhelming force, and the large majority of her bricks are destroyed on impact!

     That leaves Sanary herself to take that hit. She preps her magic energy to boost her endurance, speed up her healing, and...

     Pain incoming. So much pain. At least she can cough some blood out onto Mel while she feels her ribs exploding. On the plus side, it might at least let the ninja focus on her own opponent!

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    Xiaomu starts literally draining the life from her cosplaying foe. As she predicted, it doesn't take much before she's exhausted, slumping down and the transformation reverting. Meanwhile, Rebecca starts shooting the transforming woman, one of the shots hitting that awful blister on her neck. Immediately, it ruptures, spewing foul liquids all over that seems to make her shrivel, slumping down. She still seems to be breathing, but whatever was in that syringe did a real number on her.

    Up on the mezzanine, Shanghai's stab pierces the arm that grips Tomoyo by the throat, causing it to go limp, much to the tailor's relief. The mannequin reels, as if genuinely surprised to lose an arm, which leaves him wide open to eat a flurry of danmaku from Alice while being blasted by her two dolls. It falls, crumbling into splinters as it goes before crashing to the floor, unmoving.

    On the stage, Karal continues her duel with the brash man, drawing a blade and swinging faster than thought. Certainly faster than that armor can grow on his form. It's only halfway down his chest when the blade cleaves flesh and bone, sending him toppling. He lets out a hoarse scream of anguish as blood begins to pool from him, the armor doing its best to staunch it.

    Meanwhile, Yari does her best to make an exit route for her and the target! BOOM! A hole is opened in the wall, revealing a ventilation shaft leading up to the surface. She could probably fit and climb... but the poisoner is likely less acrobatic. And it's so narrow, they would have to go one at a time, so whoever goes second is wide open to being attacked from behind. And with Staren deploying drones, they would be easily tracked too...

Staren has posed:
    Staren's backed off. Now what?

    Since assault's not working, he turns to tracking. He pulls a few more tiny drones from his bag, as well as a spraycan, and sprays them with tracking smart dust before they fly off.

    With the original few drones keeping tabs on the poison salesman, Yari, and Sanary, the new drones join them, one trying to land on the poison salesman. A drone itself can serve as a tracking device as long as it's unnoticed, mistaken for a small insect or something. Even if it's caught and removed, the smart dust tracked onto his clothing would act as a nigh-invisible tracking device -- albeit with the range of a low-powered wifi router, but that's enough to make sure the other drones won't lose him if he runs into a crowd or something.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Xiaomu drops the Dakki no Kata as soon as her opponent collapses, and pulls the bookmark out of that manga, slipping it into an inside pocket of her vest *before* making sure the girl's pulse and breathing are still steady. The sound of something going splorch nearby prompts the sage fox to look up again ... but it seems like Rebecca's taken care of her opponent.

Also, something just exploded over there. Once Xiaomu's made sure not-Xinhua is okay, she goes sprinting across the room, pouring on the speed when she sees Tomoyo's requested target trying to make use of the same exit route. One good suplex should be enough to take the fight out of the wiry dude, she figures ... although that depends on two factors.

First is actually getting to the guy.

Second is being the first one of the good guys TO get to him, and that's by no means a certainty. If one of her allies beats Xiaomu to reaching poisondude, she'll just shift her focus to helping another ally.

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
Even though the liquid smells foul and the girl was just attacking her, Rebecca still feels it's her duty to try to tend to the girl. She rushes over and attempts to get a feel for her vital signs, to see if she's stable. She doesn't want to have to have this girl die if she can avoid it. "Just a moment," She calls out to her comrades.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
"I don't own the building, Ma'am. Do whatever your orders compel you to." Is Yari's helpful advice to Mel before she's then forced to try to not instantly die from a tleekinetic punch from hell. Her leg swings around, taking some amount of force out of the blow, just as Sanary then interposes herself! Still, just being /near/ all of that (and the brick storm!) still has Yari and poisondude pretty banged up. She winces.

"...Be careful, Sanary!" Comes through gritted teeth.

And then, /HAIR LASSO/! Eve gets him right on the ankle, at the pants! Yari is briefly forced to wrap her tail around, and similarly play tug-of-war with the poor man! Given the strength of that hair? The ninja realizes it's a losing battle. So what's a ninja to do?

First, she makes several handseals, then spews a line of oily, slick 'water' towards those ankles and Eve's hair! That spewing too gets aimed right for her eyes, trying to cover the poor girl in gunk! Then? With a flick of her tail, she's trying to detrousers the poor man.

An oily, slick de-pantsing to try to get away! Hauling the un-agile man over her shoulders, the ninja retreats, deaf to any embarrassment on her new client's side! Mostly by having to practically shove him through a ventilation shaft. This is going to be a long, long escape, but it might just work depending on where that shaft ends up.

Yari does not get paid enough for this.

Alice Margatroid (807) has posed:
    Alice quickly lands upon the mezzanine after the danmaku session making the mannequin crumble into splinters. "Tomoyo! Iimori!" making a heavy landing, she looks between the two. "Oh god you two, are you two okay?" she frowns, "I... I don't know why it went after Tomoyo... I'm .. I'm just glad Shanghai and Hourai were here..." Alice bites her lip, looking between the two once more before pulling them in a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay you two..."

    She pulls away just a moment, "I think... I think we need to get you out of here, Tomoyo... they can handle the clean up."

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
"Surrender already or you WILL die facing me!" Karal Rei Lin declares, voice full of anger and a hint of concern. It's not that she really cares about this guy, but she really isn't a fan of klling without some kind of established good reason. If nothing else... nobody wants angry ghosts chasing after them....

    But that blade's soon brought down and held not far from his face to drive home the threat. "Keep those hands pointed at the floor!"

Eve (857) has posed:
    Eve isn't about to let her quarry go. Well, Tomoyo's quarry that is. Same thing... this is the prize she's fighting for, to see him brought down and taken to justice. Her hair is definitely not easy to cut, yes. Strong as weapon-grade steel, or possibly stronger. And once she latches on, there's nothing to undo, no clasp to force open. The collar she holds her prey with might as well be a set of golden manacles.

    Which of course means Yari's methods are just about the only way to succeed. Eve has to raise her shield to protect her eyes, which means she can't see her target. She also can't tell he's slipping the noose, not until he's already free and stops pulling against her snare. She risks a look, wiping slick and disgusting gunk away, to see her quarry being pulled away pantsless. It shocks her, that they'd go to such lengths to get away! She freezes, only for a moment or two, but long enough that Yari can get the man out of her relatively short range.

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    It's been a total nightmare.

    Tomoyo looks to Alice, a little shaken and nodding slowly. "Yeah, let's go..." Down on the ballroom, several people lay unconscious. But the true target, the only one on which things might stick, escaped.

    And it was all at Tomoyo's call. It's all on her.