5181/At A Party

At A Party
Date of Scene:	03 April 2017
Location:	The Tapestry
Synopsis:	Worst. Fundraiser. Ever.
Cast of Characters:	Eryl Fairfax, 20, 982, 983, Kotone Yamakawa, 276, Sir Gawain

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Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    The Cosma Hotel in Uminari City is the foci of much hustle and bustle tonight. Limos, expensive sport cars and strengthened sedans are rolling up to the entrance, with a platoon of valets coming up to park them for the occupants. They come up along a red carpet, all flavours of glitz and glamour. Outside the front door are security guards, who check initiations before allowing anyone inside. To those with tuned senses of danger, the street and hotel practically bristles with security beyond these two men. The street, the buildings opposite, throughout the hotel... something has them on high alert.

    Once inside the building, the guests are ushered to their right, into the prize gem of the structure; The Galactica Ballroom.

    A single, vast room of pure opulence. The floor is done in startlingly colorful tiles of all shapes, depicting the cosmic ballet of the solar system. The walls continue the theme, also done in black with multitudes of tiny lights to depict stars. But the main source of light comes from the single, grand chandelier made up to resemble the sun. A piano on a raised white stage dominates the centre of the room, whereupon a pianist plays a tune for the guests. Orbiting it are the round tables in white cloth, bearing plates and utensils for the dinner to come.

    Much of the guests are currently occupying the balcony that loops above and around the first floor, accessible by the grand staircase opposite the doors. Waiters carry about appetizers and champagne flutes for people to enjoy before the dinner starts. The amount of wealth on display here is almost blinding. Necklaces, rings and medals shine with enough reflected light to count as an aircraft hazard. The combined costs of the fine suits and dresses is probably equivalent to a small nation's GPD.

    What is the event? Why, it's a fundraiser, being run by both the Paladins and the Time-Space Administration Bureau. It's been just over three full months since the Reality Quakes, and there are still worlds that have yet to bounce back from the cataclysm. Even the Paladins don't have bottomless pockets. So they have begun to partner with other organizations to build funds towards both their goals. Appealing to the rich who would like to feel virtuous without doing much is a fine way to gather capital. It smacks of laziness and hypocrisy to some, but all the good intentions in the world can't fix things. They need funding, same as anything.

    It is for that reason alone that Eryl Fairfax is here tonight. He's ditched his cape to wear just his suit, freshly cleaned and with the buttons done up. He wears a lapel pin of the Paladin logo, and a bright friendly smile is practically etched on his face as he walks among the guests, shaking hands and thanking them for their patronage. The only time that his smile slips is when he's standing in a corner, whereupon he produces a piece of paper and reads it. A letter from someone, threatening this event. But who, and why?

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Considering her upbringing as a member of a rather influential family in her own world, not to mention the adopted daughter of a well known billionaire philantropist super hero, it might be fitting that Toph Beifong is here. Perhaps it's a good thing that she didn't bring a date tonight, as the person in question might have a harder time fitting in here. The young metalbender however seems to have gone all in when it comes to effort. Rather than her more practical clothing, Toph is wearing a turqoise dress embedded with gem stones over part of the torso area, her right shoulder bare. The dress is long covering her bare feet, though she's also added a sheer scarf to top it all off. Add in the fact that she's wearing bracelets on both wrists and a simple necklace with a silver heart on it, as well as the fact that her hair has been slightly curled in places, she might be a bit hard to recognise for some people who know her.

    She is here on guard duty as well, so her Paladin badge is fastened on the shoulder strap going over her left shoulder. Guard duty is well enough, but... it won't hurt the Paladins if she actually uses the stuff she actually learned as a child. Taking an appetiser and a champagne flute Toph walks in, taking in the ballroom. Sure, the details and decorations are lost on her, but either way she would focus on the people there. And she notices one familiar person, walking over to him. "Boss." Eryl earns a nod in greeting as he reads the piece of paper. "Are there any particular people here we need to keep in mind tonight...?" Might as well know if there's some people she should make an extra effort to rub elbows with.

Mitsu Mirage (982) has posed:
    Mitsu's at the edge of one of the security posts, keeping herself hidden from a security detail not but fifty yards away. Lifting a finger to her ear, she starts speaking. "Expected. A lot of security. Kari, what's your status? Penelope and I will be entering soon, so get ready for the chaos that's going to come." She leans against the tree and smirks, a chime coming from her massive, clawed gauntlets. "What is it, Kratz? What's so pressing that you need my attention?"

    <Detecting something off in the area of the party. I will keep scanning the area. Shall I set up Shocker Shield for you now?> the German voice comes from the gauntlets as it pings one more time, "Mm, not yet, and yea, keep scanning." she turns to Penelope and ponders, "So, I don't know exactly what you do, Boss didn't tell me much. If you, and Kari can run interference, I'm going to try to seek out that thing Kratzenfaust's detecting."

    Mitsu peeks out of the tree's side again, "Paladins and the TSAB... all in one place... and I have the help to make part of them crumble right now, oh this is going to be sweet sweet music to my ears..."

Anne Blakely (983) has posed:
    Being a girl made out of copper - admittedly, recently rebuilt copper that has her looking considerably nicer than her bedraggled appearance of before - means that Penelope can't just walk into the event without setting some serious eyebrows up. While the Multiverse might make such things happen now and then, it would be different enough to have her questioned. Yet that doesn't mean she is without some vanity, having put on a flowing white dress to flatter her green patina. It hardly looks combat-ready though.

    Hanging out near Mitsu, Penelope is humming to herself in a vague manner and.. apparently trying to solve a puzzle cube of some sort. Got to keep busy sometime. In all that makes her childlike demeanor all the more carefree, and it would take a sharp eye to notice she's paying more attention to the security guards than her little puzzle, even if she were spotted.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
It was to be a night off, Kotone was very happy about this she was getting to go as a guest and gtetting to enjoy food way above her pay grade was something she did have a good deal of intrest in. Given she no longer had to ahem worry about certain problems of flesh. She was in a very good mood wearing a mostly modest jade green china dress and otehrwise dressed up quite well. She was quickly shown into the Ballrooma nd that's when she just kinda stares for a moment this is so above her paygrade it's crazy it's also a goof bit of art too. She has pendant with the Paladin symbol as well. She honestly just here to have a good evening answere questions and generally be social.
She's already moving to try the food and generally just seems in good spirits for once.

Kari Wolf (276) has posed:
    Kari is, for a rare moment, not on an operation with her sister Harriet. The shinki is clambering through the ventilation system, being only about six inches in height in her Howling Armor. Three small mini-machines are floating along with her, acting as eyes and eyes for her as she sneaks in the ductwork. Security? These ducts are only a little taller than Kari is!
    EVENTUALLY, since she moves slower than a person due to being itty-bitty, she finds a grate that looks out on the Galactica Ballroom from above. It's hidden above one of the light fixtures so as to not marr the elegance of the ceiling's appearance. "Man, it's too bright, I can't see anything right now." She radios to her compatriots.

Sir Gawain has posed:
Inside the ballroom, a fine knight, Warden of the Paladins, is chatting with a guest, exuberantly listening to what he has to say and conversing with him. That knight is Sir Gawain, and that guest is Matsuda Kashigawa, someone that the Grandmaster really didn't want to have to deal with, so Gawain is doing it for him. He's sipping on cocktails and eating appetizers as he does so, and may be dangerously in the position of getting influenced by Kashigawa and his beliefs. Let's hope not!

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Within the ballroom, Eryl tucks away the letter as Toph approaches him, putting his smile back on. "Toph, thank you for coming." Considering her question, he quickly goes over the guest list in his head and scans the room. He starts to ask Toph if she 'sees' someone, but stops himself just in time. "Across the room, the woman speaking to the man with the cybernetic arm. Her name is Angela Rosenfaust. She has a soft spot for the young, so you should speak with her. But watch out, I hear she's a cheek-pincher."

    Meanwhile, Gawain chats with Kashigawa-san, a portly fellow of Japanese origin. He's wearing a proud combover with a fine gray suit, while constantly playing with a sapphire-embedded ring on his finger. "So you see, my lad, if you lot were to just apply my business principles to investigative cases, you'll get things done much more smoothly!" Just smile and nod and pretend like several laws don't let you do it like that Gawain.

    As Kotone mingles, the lights dim just a little bit as the pianist receives a message. "Ladies and gentleman," he says. "We are pleased to inform you that the dinner shall begin presently. We ask that you make your way to your seats." Now, with the dimmer lighting and everyone taking to the stairs, Kari has a clear look at the guests. She can likely pick out the Paladins as they make their way down!

    Meanwhile, out in the street, the loitering of Penelope and Mitsu has not escaped notice. One of the hotel guards is making his way over them. "Excuse me ladies. We have a very important function going on tonight, and you two standing around is making us nervous. Would you mind moving along?" The darkness is obscuring the two, which means he hasn't recognized them. Time to play along, or launch the attack?

Mitsu Mirage (982) has posed:
    The loitering hasn't gone unnoticed, and that's perfectly fine with Mitsu and hopefully her compadre in action. There is some radio action in there and a smile upon the woman's face as she approaches, the darkness briefly lit up the Black Rabbit's face with blue lightning from the claws upon Kratzenfaust. "Of course, we'll move along." she comments with a sly grin upon her face, a nod given to Penelope as she hears the request on her radio, responding in kind to her.

    It only takes a second, an orb of blue lightning encompasses the Mage thanks to Kratzenfaust's predictive nature. "See, we don't like you. We don't like anything there. Goodbye." and with those words, Mitsu leaps up into the air, almost like how a rabbit would take off running as she hops over, and punches through things... walls, cars, other people in the way. At least, until she reaches the perimeter of the building.

    <Loading cartridges.> A loud sound follows the reload of the shotgun like shells filled with magic, an orb of lightning appearing in between those gauntlet-cased hands of hers. "Remodeling time, I'm sure an open air space will be good." She launches herself up into the air, it's not flight, this bunny can't fly, as the orb gets bigger in her hands. "Shocker.... Breaker!" she uses the downward motion of gravity, bless its laws, to make a front flip, and launch the highly explosive ball at one of the main walls of the Hotel! Making a pretty light show for those inside if the lights get cut!

Anne Blakely (983) has posed:
    Oh, Mitsu gives Penelope the okay to take care of the security guard. And to have fun with it! That is a very dangerous thing to say to Anne's creations, as few of them have morals at all, and many are insane, sadistic, and violent. Fortunately, Penelope lacks the second attribute and is far more focused on efficiency than her normal partner.

    "Oh, our apologies, sir, but we're here for a reason," Penelope states, stepping forward and performing a curtsey with the clicking whrr of her internals aligning, and the practice motion that hints that the gesture is more preprogrammed into her body than learned. "I'm sorry you have to see this," she says in a cheerful tone.

    It appears that her answer is to go on the offensive though. Her arm darts up, hidden blade springing out to attempt a quick jab into the throat, hoping to cut short any cry of alarm. And apparently hoping to just murder the guy.

    Penelope is not the best choice for a diplomatic entrance, maybe.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "This is important, and I had nothing else to do tonight," Toph says when Eryl thanks her for attending an event that she normally wouldn't go for. As he points out the woman Toph nods, having no problem figuring out who he's talking about. "Rosenfaust... huh. Sounds German." The warning about cheek-pinching is taken to mind, and Toph sighs. "I've dealt with worse, I guess. Pepper's mom wears a really stinky perfume and crushes your spine when she hugs you..." she mutters, then nods and heads on over to the lady in question. Hopefully this won't be too hard.

    "Mrs. Rosenfaust," Toph speaks up, putting on a slight smile as she walks on over to the woman. A slight curtsy is given, and Toph cants her head a bit to the side. "Thank you for attending this fund raiser. I heard there would be several influential guests who might aide our cause. I am Toph Beifong, a squire in the Paladin ranks."

    It does appear that dinner is ready however, and well... maybe she can catch a seat next to the woman or somebody else who it would be wise to get along with for the sake of the Paladins. At least she doesn't have to talk with the guy that Gawain seems to have his hands full with.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone chats here and there for not she moves to try some of the food, well before the big darn dinner and honeslty if very rich people want to donate money to help a good cause? Rather than horde it like Dragons or a certain enertainmebnt compnay on her world and it's IPs? She doesn't mind if they do little work, they enable it to get done which is the imporant thing and she'll be moving to find her seat to sit down and hopefully enjoy a good night off with some very interesting enterainment, right? Also she does want to avoid the guy Gawain is tanking for them. Note to self get him breakfast sometime this week for doing that.

Kari Wolf (276) has posed:
    Kari hmmms... "Cut the lights." She says quietly to herself. The mini-machines flit out from the spaces in the vent, and a trio of little lasers lancing out to cut the light fixture's support beam. They're staying fairly close to the cover of the bright lights, staying above the lights. Kari of course, is busy clambering towards the next vent so she doesn't go down with the light fixture. The mini-machines pop back into Kari's slipway after they finish the job, disappearing with a sparkle of light.
    Kari hopes not too many people get hurt, but... things happen when you're a shinki saboteur. "One light, going down." She radios to Mitsu and Peneleope.

Sir Gawain has posed:
"I see, I see. That is very interesting, Mr. Kashigawa, I'll make sure to pass the information up the chain of command! Oh, right, you were saying about the...?" After some more discussion with Kashigawa, in which Gawain lets Kashigawa do most of the talking, the dinner is starting. The knight bows his head to Kashigawa and offers to escort him to his seat, before moving to his own. He's about to take a seat...but will the lights get cut right as he's about to do so?

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Angela turns and smiles at Toph as she approches. "Oh! You're that earthbender, I've seen you in the WMAT," she says, in an audibly German accent. "My, but you are more darling in person..." Uh-oh, here come those fingers. Eryl was right! But thankfully, Toph is saved by the exterior wall exploding inwards.

    For indeed, Mitsu has made short work of the exterior security and blasted the wall with lightning. She was able to take the guards off-guard thanks to Penelope's silent takedown of the man currently drowning in his own blood. The pianist misses the next few keys from shock, everyone turning to regard the gaping hole in the wall.

    And then the chandelier comes crashing down. Luckily, the exploding wall had the pianist on high alert, so he dives under the piano to shield himself. But the shattering glass does cut those who were too close, and now it's pitch black!

    Matsuda, who had been accompanying Gawain downstairs, suddenly clings to the knight. "Young man! You must protect me, please!" Angela is similarly shocked, looking for Toph in the dark to get behind. Those around Kotone look to her, fear evident on her face. Only now does Eryl speak. "Stop right there!" he barks, stepping out to peer through the blackness at Mitsu.

Mitsu Mirage (982) has posed:
    The lights are off. Darkness permeates through the room and a smile is flashed as the Shocker Shield ups in intensity. To some, the face will be familiar, to others, who knows, but one thing is for sure, the Rabbit's here. THere's a chime from the gauntlets, and another shotgun reloading sound. "Stop?" comes Mitsu's voice, in a tone of 'what?'. "Oh no, I'm not going to stop, not this time." the visible lightning orb around Mitsu gets brighter, showcasing off the Rabbit's form.

    "See, you guys, girls, toys, whatever..." she twirls a finger in the air, "Raising funds so your wallets get fatter... raising funds so you look like you're doing something important. Show off that 'good' side to the public.... and do fuck all with whatever you got. I've seen it too many times before and frankly, it kinda pisses me off." there's crunching underfoot from Mitsu's heavy steps, "Plus, there's something here that belongs to /me/. Now.."

    She stretches a bit, "You have three choices. Hand over /everything/, magical items, logia, etcetera and I'll be off with the people I brought. Stand your ground and I'll have them... and myself, rip this place apart, then you guys apart... or." she smirks, "Do nothing... and we will just have our way here. Either way, we're not leaving until I say." a pause, a general look towards Eryl.

    "We meet again, Fairfax. Fancy yourself a nobleman in a group of sheep clothed pigs?"

Anne Blakely (983) has posed:
    The gurgling guard gets an idle look of curiosity from Penelope, then she wipes her blade off, and the hand, to keep her dress clean as requested. The clockwork girl straightens up after doing that and starts to skip her way along, moving to join Mitsu in a casual pace rather than doing any fancy leaps or gymnastics. She's not a natural flyer, so she'll just head in to join the normal way.

    Though the tinny singsonging voice she has is kind of unnerving. "The sun'll come out, tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar than tomorrow... hmm hmm hmmm..." She's as much here for backup as anything else.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa had been looking for a night off she had wanted to relax for the most part and the multivese is conspiring aginst it. Worse it seems an EX confed seems to be mixed up in it.This was going to be a long night as she now got ready to rise up form her seat she had brought a consealed weapon she doesn't move yet she looks to the people near her and quitely says "I am Kotone Yamakawa and I am with the Paladins. Stay calm and do whgat i say I need you all to keep a low profile."

Kotone attempts to get into the local computers if they are online to tap security and see where she might be able to find a route using any internal camers and other systems, to try to funnel people out of here. She's unaware of anyone focused upon her just yet.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    While Toph had expoected that some people might have known her, to have the lady know her due to her fighting prowess and not due to her social contacts, well... that's sort of refreshing. Especially since she appears to view her in a positive light from it. "Ah, yes. I am an accomplished earthbender, ma'am." Okay, prepare cheeks for pinching... or not.

    The crashing sounds, the vibrations carried out by the people attacking doesn't escape Toph's notice, and she immediately turns around, letting go of her glass and purse as she throws her arms up, erecting a wall from the floor to help shield the other guests around her. "TO ME!" she calls out. She's unaware of it being dark at first, but seeing people tend to move and react the same way when they can't see... so Toph quickly bends at the floor in places. "Go in the direction the floor tells you to!" At least she can deal with this situation easier than most.

    The ultimatum from Mitsu makes the blind girl frown a bit.%

Sir Gawain has posed:
As Gawain goes down the stairs, the lights go out, and the wall is blown inwards. Gawain's immediate first reaction is to grab Matsuda, who in turn clings to him, and pull the man close to him. "Don't worry, sir, I'm always on-duty!" In a flash, Gawain starts pulling the man away, trying to take him /away/ from the voices shouting about violence, while looking for wounded. "Everyone, please follow me, single-file lines! Wounded have priority!"

Kari Wolf (276) has posed:
    Kari muses to herself as she shifts armor to her heavy duty Dire Wolf armor so she can actually see in the darkness now that the ductworks aren't quite as well illuminated by light spilling in from the grates. It also lets her lope along on all fours, claws on all appendages letting her grip better. There's a loud CLUNKING sound going from the duct work, and somebody might actually notice that.
    Eventually she kicks in the vent at the foot of the front desk. She'd heard that hotels keep money in vaults or safes, and Kari thought a good place for that would be near the front office or front desk! She doesn't know who she might run into though.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    When Mitsu finishes her little speech, Eryl sighs. "Oh. It's you." He produces that letter and releases it, letting it drift to the floor between them. "I suppose this was you as well? Regardless, I'm not letting you take a single thing from this place. The only new thing you'll get from here is a pair of handcuffs." And then Penelope strides up to join her. Eryl sniffs, and smells the blood on her. Immediately, his hand has come up, and he's firing rounds from One Hand Clapping at them both!

    Meanwhile, Toph creates a path for the guests to flee along, while Kotone accesses the hotel's system to plot a safe route for the guests to flee along. Given that the guards outside might actually be dead, the front door may not be safest. The best option seems to be going through the hotel basement to reach the delivery entrance around the back. That will require going through the lobby and into the employee's only entrance.

    The guests are already rushing that way, with several actually stopping to go for the coat check-in and get their things. Who says good priorities don't exist? This will, of course, mean that Kari has several targets to choose from before Kotone can get there.

    Meanwhile, inside the ballroom... Matsuda has not fled. Instead, he's hunkered down behind an overturned table and is gesturing at Gawain to join him. "I have a plan, young man!" he hisses audibly.

Sir Gawain has posed:
As Gawain's moving around the room, his charge has not gone to safety like he expected. Instead, he's still there, behind cover, brave in the face of danger. It's truly remarkable - Gawain can't see why this man annoys Eryl so much! Once he's got his current guests out, Gawain moves behind cover, hunkering down next to Matsuda. "You didn't flee, sir? Well, alright then! What's the plan?!"

Mitsu Mirage (982) has posed:
    "Handcuffs? You couldn't do that before, what makes you think you could slap me in easily breakable metal? Are you that den..." then the gunshots have the rabbit hit the floor quickly, though there's a yelp of pain as one of the bullets clips her as she hits the ground. Damn being the only fleshy person on her side. No, focus... Eryl's there... <Master. There's a stronger energy eminating here. I think it may be a Logia.> Mitsu perks at this, a Lost Logia? HERE?!

    Shocker Shield dissipates, mainly because of the proximity she is to her metal friend. Using the cover of darkness, she hopes that Eryl can't see her as she whips the dagger-like claws out from one of her gauntlets, trying to whip it out and wrap around his legs. "SURPRISE!" she sends a jolt of electricity through the lines and tugs them if she's got those legs wrapped up in her tanglewire. "Get on the ground, like me!" comes her shout at Eryl as she leaps up to try and punch him across the jaw, this time with her other set of clawed gaunlets!

    Hopefully now up close and personal with Eryl, she gets in his face and whispers under the hint of anger, "How dare you side with the TSAB... I thought you were better than that."

Kari Wolf (276) has posed:
    Kari hears people coming.... lots of people. What on earth... Oh. They seem to be heading for the coat check, which is pretty near the shinki. Does she risk getting noticed and go for the office door, or play it safe? Well, she /is/ an impulsive shinki, so naturally she leaps with her augmented armored legs several times towards the office door, and removes any doubts of her being unnoticed by launching grenades at the office door. "BANZAI!" She exclaims! Kari isn't going for the civilians though... she's a dutiful shinki and she was tasked with getting loot, and that is what she is going to do.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is generally one to focus on getting bystanders clear, she's unaware about Kari for the moment and she's ot the route now. She's gong to ty to quitely move them there and it's going to be hard to keep things udner control. Kotone is now hearding cats, no hearding cats or union elites would have been easier than this. Oh god it would have been easier than this. She does her ebest trying to keep them on path and using her cyberntic sense to do what she can to make sure they all make it out but Kari is going to have a chance to do what she can to the people who are running such as rob them, hopefully she's not out to kill them and kotone might seme to be another mark, a less panicing mark but a mark none the less.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    It's easy enough to catch the noise from up ahead, and Toph frowns as she works on guiding the guests along. "I know it might be dark, but you'll be okay! I won't leave you and I'll protect you," she says to the guests as she trusts they will gather into the path she's made for them, all while she assesses the situation. "Hold onto the person in front of you, that way we can move quicker!"

    Are the guards dead? Seems like the attack has cost some lives already, sadly. And... okay, that's something familiar she's picking up near the front desk. Heck... it's too bad that there's too much stuff between the floors here, otherwise she might be able to make a hole for the guests. But Eryl won't like that most likely, and the guests are scared now, so a drop in the darkness might not be something that will help keep them calm either. So off to the front lobby they go, and Toph focuses on bending and unbending the floor as they go, creating shields if necessary to protect the startled guests. This means that she puts herself in a more risky position as she lets the guests go before her as she watches their backs, letting Kotone lead them.

Anne Blakely (983) has posed:
    There may be guards left! Penelope is a cold-blooded killer(though lacking actual blood), but she is not one to go after someone just to kill them. She'll disable or allow them to retreat, without any attempt to stop at all unless they go for reinforcements.

    But she's in for a bit of pain after reaching the ballroom with Mitsu. "Hello! Oh, I don't think we've me-" She starts to say, anyway, when the bullets shoot through her. Literally shoot through... she's reinforced copper and all, but a solid hit does penetrate even the mystically-augmented metal, cutting off her ramblings and making Penelope stumble backward. A rattling noise comes from inside her...

    "Pwah!" A bullet spits out of her mouth, and Penelope shakes her head, her torso still rattling and making an awful grinding noise noise. "Ugh now Anne will have to open me up. How embarrassing." Griping about it, she grabs a nearby tray an folds it twice, gesturing wildly. "I HATE Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-"

    Click! A tap at her head fixes the stutter. "Paladins!" Finally stirred into something more than just complaining and dispassionate killing, Penelope starts scampering after the crowd, hoping to grab some of those coats. And because she's kind of annoyed now, Toph gets the crumpled tray hurled at her, sharp end first.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Matsuda has the same 'crafty' look on his face as when he presented his less-than-stellar ideas to Gawain. He holds up that ring on his finger and says, "You produce sunlight, if I recall correctly. If you were to do that, in conjunction with this, we might be able to deal with these rabble. So go ahead and do it!" Boy, he's pushy.

    Meanwhile, Eryl's leg is tangled and electrocuted. The jolt sparks across is metal legs and makes him judder, rendering him only able to raise his arms to try and block Mitsu's punch. It still sends him staggering back, and he takes a second to compose himself. "I don't know what your issue with the TSAB is, but collaborating with local law enforcement to make money for areas still affected by the Reality Quakes is nothing you can make me feel guilty over." His tied-up foot slides back as he assumes a fighting stance, making the wires taut. "And one more thing... that time you punched me?"

    His other foot comes up to stomp on the tightened wires, aiming to make Mitsu stagger forward! "I let you hit me." He then follows up with a fast straight punch, aiming to break the bridge of Mitsu's nose!

    As Toph makes sure the lasts of the guests get out, Angela turns to offer her a smile... that shifts into a look of horror. "WATCH OUT!" she gasps, pointing at the attacking Penelope!

    Meanwhile, as Kotone escorts the guests to the basement, she sees the door to the reception office suddenly explode, thanks to Kari. Thankfully, this scares away the guests who were actually trying to get at their coats, putting them back on the path to the basement. However, there are hotel employees back there, and who knows what the shiki will do to them?!

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    What the... is that a robot coming after them? Toph blinks as Penelope gives chase, then frowns. Okay, time to do what she promised the guests. Even before Angela notices Penelope, Toph quickly turns around, the skirts of her dress whirling about her as she slams her heel down into the floor, raising a wall just in time to block the thrown tray. And immediately after she lashes out with her hands, gesturing for the wall as she begins launching earthen spikes from it towards Penelope. "Step down and keep away, or I /will/ stop you!" she calls. This attacker is made of metal too, but still... using her bending directly on her would only be a last resort.

Kari Wolf (276) has posed:
    Well, Kari cheerfully hops onto the most important looking employee's shoulder and points her shoulder-mounted lasers and grenade launchers at the hapless person's head. "Hi~! You're a hostage now! Everybody else can leave though! I saw some people trying to get their coats, maybe they need help with that?" She's terribly cheerful and polite about this whole thing.
    The poor manager gets her cheek pinched by Kari's big (for a shinki!) claw fingers. Just enough that it might be uncomfortable, not draw blood. "You remind me of my Master! She sometimes has purple hair too!" She points to the vault. "I'd like to make a withdrawal please! Could you open that and stuff an armful of things into that mailbag there?"

Sir Gawain has posed:
Matsuda relays the plan. Gawain...immediately has issues with it, because while Gawain /can/ produce sunlight, it involves creating a miniature sun that then shoots fire beams. He's immediately speaking over the radio, before turning back to Matsuda. "What does the ring do, sir?! I need to know the rest of the plan!"

Mitsu Mirage (982) has posed:
    With an armored gauntlet, her hand doesn't hurt /as/ much as it would have the last time she punched Eryl. Her hand was hurting for quite a while after that too. "Many deep rooted issues you wouldn't bother to care about." comes a scoff, but when the wires connecting the blades to her gauntlet gets stepped on, she wideeyes at the words, staggering forward, "You wha..." she brings her gauntlet up to try and block the punch, but the speed at which it comes in, she can't get to it in time and, with a sickening crunch, the punch lands and sends the rabbit mage flying into a wall with a loud crack.

    The claws retract, or try to, back to the gauntlets, warning sounds coming from Kratzenfaust as she tries to get herself back up from that, wincing in heavy pain as she spits out a few teeth and blood. "Nngh, fucking cheater with your metal body..." she spits again, the sound of shells reloading echo again and the ball lightning starts coming together in between her hands. "I knew there wasn't something right with you. Were you ever human?"

    "Shock Spiker!" the ball of lightning turns into a javelin of sorts as she lobs the thing right towards Eryl, the air crackling with its energy as she chases behind it, slower than normal. "Nngh, status..." <You have a broken rib and fractures upon your arms. If you hit the wall at any other angle, you would have broken your spine.> "So... healthy, yes?" <No.> "Gotcha."

    There's more pinging from the device, the Logia is here somewhere, just where?!

Anne Blakely (983) has posed:
    Earth spikes should shred the copper girl's legs... and they do damage, scraping along them and all. They don't shred though, the magical reinforcement keeping her intact. Penelope does feel pain though, letting out a shrill and tinny whine that doesn't sound like a scream so much as a record scratch meeting a bell.

    Leaping into the air is... not natural in this case. Penelope, despite her earlier casual motions, is an agile and fast fighter rather than a tough one. Blades come out, and then spring-loaded spikes shoot out in a flurry toward Toph. "I JUST got that refinished!"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Okay, having people made of metal feel pain is... new. The blind girl can't help but wince a bit at that, gritting her teeth. She's a fighter, but no... pain isn't part of her deal. Not even inflicting it on others. At Penelope's leap Toph steps forward, and as her foot connect with the floor more spikes shoot up, these ones larger to intersect the blades. One of them strikes her arm though, and Toph lets out a cry of pain, taking one step back before she throws her other arm forward, then brings it down... aiming to bend a large part of the ceiling down in one thick pillar aimed at where Penelope is likely to end up.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    The hostage, a woman with short purple hair, trembles as she is threatened by a tiny robot with grenades! She sniffles as she produces a key from her pocket. This unlocks the keypad so she can enter the twelve-digit passcode to make the heavy door swing open. Now, on top of the valuable coats and whatever lies in the pockets, Kari has access to the proceeds of this event, a sizable sum indeed. Slowly, the woman starts to stuff a mailbag with bricks of cash.

    Back in the ballroom, Matsuda sighs with aggravation, as if Gawain needed more info was a hassle. "This ring is a Lost Logia named 'Divine Rule of Forecast.' When exposed to weather effects, it attempts to multiple and replicate them. Water produces rainclouds, lightning produces stormclouds, ice produces snowclouds! So if you exposed it to your sunlight, the multiplication would make a blinding flash!" He uh. Said that very loud. And didn't Mitsu demand that everyone turn over their Lost Logia?

    Unfortunately, she still has Eryl to deal with. His face is fixed in a stern expression as he grabs a table to throw in the path of the lightning javelin. "It's easy to think that no one will understand you when you never bother to explain yourself," he says coldly as he slashes the ties around his leg. "Even easier to get mad when someone has an advantage that you have no problem exploiting when it's working for you." He gestures towards Penelope. "How many of my men, of the TSAB's men has she killed tonight? Don't think you were complaining about 'metal people' then.'

Anne Blakely (983) has posed:
    Of course Penelope feels pain! She isn't JUST a robot! And she's a lot faster than her weight would indicate, enhanced as she is with magic, so the collapse isn't on-target. Not fully, anyway. It still crashes down on her and pins a leg, partly crushing it to make her let out another strange squealing noise.

    And... she's pinned! Or, well, she seems to be anyway. "Stupid rock-shapers! I hate-hate-hate-hate-hate-hate-hate-hate-hate-hate-hate-*THUNK*" A swat at her head causes another rattling noise, and she spits out Eryl's other bullet. "... I think my vocalizer got damaged."

    As if that were the biggest worry she has, she proceeds to... ignore Toph, suddenly, and fidget with her hip socket. A firm yank pops the leg out of place, where she can turn around and start wiggling it back and forth with both hands to try to pull it free from the rubble.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa Says "Your lives are not worth your coats or whatever is in em. Leave them and lets' keep it orderly."

The explosion worries here the fact someone is engaged in flat out terrorism at this point on this. She could be wrong she could be right either way there's a lot of trouble about here. She now encounters Kari Wolf who has a hostage as people are fleeing she's going to see they get out but now she has a hostage situation to deal with and she lacks her optic cameo.

She gets an idea a very stupid idea but one that she's going after the man whose been taken hostage.

She keeps her hands up at this point and says.

"I am a paladin officer I am far more valuable as a hostage I prepose an exchange, you take me and let him go. Kari Wolf."

Sir Gawain has posed:
Matsuda's frustration is ignored, because Gawain is more interested in what the ring does...and realizes there /is/ something he can do. "I can't create sunlight on a short notice, but if I've got how your ring works right..." And suddenly, Excalibur Galatine is summoned into Gawain's hand, as he places it not far from the ring - close enough to allow flames to interact, far away enough to not set Matsuda on fire. "Please do not jerk away, I am setting this sword alight!"

And with a flick of a wrist, Excalibur Galatine sets aflame, hopefully powering up the ring. It's also making a very clear beacon on where to move, since there's now a light source!

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Rockshaper... she's an earthbender damnit. But Toph doesn't let it bother her, instead she stands her ground, then repeats the movement to keep Penelope's leg pinned... at least until she sees Penelope yank the leg out of her hip socket. "Don't even think about it! You stay back!" Toph commands, then brings the earthen pillar down harder on the leg. Hopefully it will be enough!

Mitsu Mirage (982) has posed:
    "Exploitation? They're willingly working with me." she winces into a smile, "Only four, honestly. Maybe more, though, who knows. I'm not keeping count and I don't think Boss is either." the words Matsuda speaks, however, catches her ear more than any lecture Eryl is giving her. "Oh, so /he/ has it...?" she turns to look towards where the Knight and Charge are... then back towards Eryl. "Mmm, well, you put me in quite a bind here." she ... stops attacking for the moment, limping some.

    She subvocalizes something into the radio... she looks towards the Reception area where Kari is... then back at Penelope. "Look, you and me both know we're almost equal here. Almost." The Rabbit moves around slightly, limping around and around, circling the Paladin's leader like a predator would prey. Every now and again, she looks towards the Knight and Charge. Kratzenfaust beeps wildly as she gets closer. "And honestly, as much jerking around you did to me back then on Eden... you still never let me punch her."

    "But I think...." then there's a nice gout of fire from a sword. Well shit, what the hell is he doing?! Welp, better now than never, right? "I'm not letting you activate a Lost Logia you incompetent, steel encased moron!" and here, the rabbit dashes, visibly in pain as she launches herself not at Eryl... but at Gawain! She has her fists raised up and is intending to slam them, and herself, right into the knight!

Anne Blakely (983) has posed:
    "I just GOT that leg, you bitch!" Penelope screeches, seeing the rubble clench around the captured leg. Now she's left with just one... which makes her plan to dash over to slice off the finger kind of a bad one, now. She can leap with one leg, but her landing would not be graceful enough to continue battle.

    Oh fine. Her arm whips around and the blade springs out again, aiming for the light. Only this time, the blade ejects, hurtling toward the Logia's direction. She said she'd chop off the finger, but she's kind of in a hurry and annoyed, so it's possible she'll miss. Or cut off more than one finger. Or hit the Logia. Or, unfortunately, get intercepted. A single thrown blade is a lot easier to knock off course than if she were right there in combat.

Kari Wolf (276) has posed:
    Kari hmmmmms at Kotone...? "Oh! I'm not keeping a hostage! I just needed somebody to open the safe!" She gives her hostage an adorable (if it wasn't for the fact that most of Kari's armor has weapons of some kind mounted seemingly everywhere) hug near the cheek. "Thank you so much, miss! Now it's time to bark off!" She hops down from the terrified hostage and grabs the mailbag, only able to shift this kind of mass due to the Dire Wolf armor's strength boosters and enhanced grav-assist units. She looks at Kotone. "Excuse me, can I get by?" The grenade launcher ports are open, set for smoke grenades, though there is no outward sign of this. It really depends on what Kotone does next. Or the young woman.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Matsuda nearly does jerk away, but at Gawain's urging, he holds still. As the flames are held to the ring, the temperature in the room seems to spike! It's like a very localized drought, with nearly every drop of moisture starting to evaporate into steam. So now, not only is it dark, it's also humid. And now, some of the wooden furniture, like the many tables and piano, are starting to smoke.

    Eryl is staring holes through Mitsu. "Four men down. Up to four families with a sudden hole in their lives. Because of you. How many will it take until you're satisfied?" He also circles her, keeping a defensive stance as he notes the spike in temperature in the room. Quickly, he tries a different tact. "Whatever the TSAB did to you, do you think this will resolve it? Behaving like a criminal? When they catch up to you, any issue you take with them, no matter how legitimate, will simply be brushed aside as you complaining for receiving your just desserts. Stop this and talk to me, maybe it can be resol-NO!"

    She's gunning for Gawain and Matsuda. With the lines severed, he has no easy means to snare her. So he lunges, aiming to grab at her leg to pull her back!

    Meanwhile, the manager is certainly doing nothing to stop Kari, even as she tries to fly away with a comically large sack of cash. She plans to resign after today. Maybe managing a kid's indoor playground would be less hassle.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Who is she calling 'bitch'? Toph snorts, keeping her hand in place as she wills the earth to stay in place lest the metal girl to head off and do something she probably shouldn't.

    When her ally is threatened though, Toph frowns, then uses her other hand make an spike shoot out of the floor. It's dull, but it's aimed to hopefully knock Penelope's aim off by slamming her arm upwards. "Leave my allies alone, doll!" Toph snaps, her intent to keep Penelope from harming Gawain or the guests. "What's your problem anyway?!"

Anne Blakely (983) has posed:
    Penelope is ALL about doing things she shouldn't. Bad for her that her aim is spoiled this time. The blade whizzes by Matsuda's head instead, granting him what feels like a close call... but it's actually more than a foot wide from doing any damage. Spoiling her aim will do that.

    It also pisses her off! "DON'T CALL ME DOLL YOU LITTLE BRAT!" It's a pretty shrill protest, too! "It's people like you who betray-tray-tray-trayed me and put me in this body! Now you've ruined my apprentice's work AGAIN! I'm telling Blakely on you!" For someone calling Toph a brat, she sure is acting childish.

    A few wires - not electrical wires, but some kind of tension wires - snap and release the leg completely from her hip socket. Penelope proceeds to start crawling away now, seething and also making a disturbing scraping noise along the floor.

Sir Gawain has posed:
As soon as he realizes what the flame is doing (and gets an order), Gawain shuts off the fire. "Well, that wasn't so successful...sorry, sir! Allow me to make it up to you b-" And then Matsuda never gets to hear his answer, because Mitsu comes in and clobbers him in the face. The knight visibly goes flying backwards, but it's brief - within a second, he's back up on his feet, dashing in front of Matsuda with his sword drawn. "Stay back! I am authorized to use violence to protect the people here!" Gawain's manuevers are defensive, but he'll swiftly counter-attack if Mitsu or anyone else targets Matsuda, which is his primary concern. "I won't warn you again."

Mitsu Mirage (982) has posed:
    Rolling after tackling Gawain, Mitsu bounds up again and lands on her feet with a noticable wobble. She's huffing, wincing, holding parts of her body from said pain. "Nngh... that wasn't the most bright idea, but it worked to an extent..." seeing that Matsuda still has his hand... she scowls. "I need to seal that Logia." she states plain and simple. It'll be worse near that knight than it would be in my hands. That sudden drought took it out of her along with all the fighting. She's just about ready to pack up and go home, but that prize... that Logia...

    "I'll make a deal with you. I'll have my associates return the money... you guys do whatever you want with it... and I'll throw some of my personal funds to fixing the hotel. You let me leave with that ring." bartering seems to be the last thing she /wants/ to do but her current state... along with a Knight who hasn't even begun to fight. Eryl and his... Eryl-ness. And who knjows what Kari's wrapped up in with Kotone. There's also Toph.

    She takes a breath... winces loudly... and untransforms from her state with Kratzenfaust turning back into the bracelets. I know if I fight more, it'll be futile." she drops to her knees a bit, catching her breath. "Okay, Mitsu, relax... you'll heal up soon." she looks up towards Eryl, then Gawain. "Do we have a deal?"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Oh man, that sounds like it hit a nerve. "I don't betray people, Lieutenant Dan!" Toph snorts back. Wait, did she say... Blakely? "Yeah yeah, go tell on me if it makes you feel better! Now leave these people alone!"

    She will let Penelope crawl away as long as she crawls away from people, and Toph stands guard, not moving. Though she does wince at the scraping sounds. Ugh. Well, the mechanical girl had bad luck running into her...

    Moving one hand to her ear, she activates her radio and get a status update from the others.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Sees the man is clear and unhamed and Kari's got the donations. She curses inwardly and does the only thing she can she makes a lunge at Kari as she fires the smoke grenade. Not to hit her no. Kotone is going to impact with not the tiny android. No she's going to try and keep her from getting the donation. Seriously robbing a charity it seems a lot of Exconfederates are really running wild now.

RIIIP! SHe ges the bag but not all of it and is able to hopefully prevent Kari from getting all the money at least as she's ripped the mail bag open. She then hits the groune hard with a fist full of dollars as she hits the ground.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Eryl catches up with Mitsu just as Gawain manages to protect the screeching Matsuda from her. She proposes a deal; his Logia for her peaceful exit. He glowers at her. "Is this a joke? You burst in here, threatening lives, /taking lives/ and now you want a peaceful trade?" He sighs. He's not as mad as he seems, but maybe a little disappointed. "I can't accept that deal. You've done too much to let you walk away from this. If you're in such a state, then surrender."

    "Yeah!" jeers Matsuda from behind Eryl, peeking out to hold out the ring-bearing hand. "You want this, little girl? Well, you'll never have it! I got it fair and square, and a little crook like you can't take it!" Eryl starts to chastises him, but the ring-and the hand-is right there...

Kari Wolf (276) has posed:
    Kari ends up spilling most of the money before she can grab enough corners with her big clawed glove hands to carry it off. But she's not going home empty handed. The smoke grenades go off, smelling like burnt oil and spent gunpowder. It quickly fills the office room, leaving Kari's infrared sensors to guide her out. She hopes away, the smaller heavier things falling out of the rip in the mailbag.
    The shinki radios"Need a ride! Big person on my tail!" Well, it's a very pointy tail, and it lashes out at Kotone almost as an afterthought as she leaps by. And onward through the lobby! Where there are surely more obstacles to waylay Kari.

Sir Gawain has posed:
As Mitsu tries to negotiate with Eryl, Gawain nods with him, standing aside his boss to protect Matsuda. While that hand is out poking, that means there's another highly-reflexive guardian for the man...is it worth the attempt?

Mitsu Mirage (982) has posed:
    "On the contrary. /I/ did not take any lives." comes Mitsu's reply, "I figured you wouldn't. Worth a shot, right?" a chuckle... and then there's Matsuda... holding out that hand tauntingly, invitingly. Mitsu makes a few calculations in her head... there was Eryl coming up... there's Gawain right there. Oh she was going to be in a god damn /world/ of hurt if she did this. See, there was something that got her thrown out of the TSAB... the very same thing she was going to do here.

    There's a flash of lightning from her, she's back in her barrier jacket... "I see. Well." she turns to Matsuda. A sly smirk coming across her face. "You sure?" she takes a deep breath. Let's see how reactive they are. "Shocker Shield!" that lightning encasement reestablishes itself and she kicks off the ground, a yowl of pain coming from the maneuver as she bullrushes towards the Knight and Charge. "I still won't take a life, but I'll take his arm!" she will crash herself right into Gawain if nessecary, bursting the shield to try some sort of knockback so she can use the claws of one hand to slice right through that extended arm and her other hand to just take the arm with her!

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Eryl frowns, and starts to step up as Mitsu puts her jacket back on. But as she rushes in to tackle the three of them with her shield up, he's unable to push her back. Knocked away and convulsing slightly from the electricity, he can only watch as Mitsu takes the lower half of Matsuda's arm.

    It's messy. He screams a whole lot.

    Eryl immediately goes to apply first-aid, and shoots Mitsu a lethal glare as she gets away. A large portion of money was taken, a guest was near-fatally maimed... this will undoubtedly go down in history as the Worst Fundraiser Ever.

Mitsu Mirage (982) has posed:
    Mitsu just keeps going and going, arm and Logia in hand... there's a laugh. It's a painful laugh... but it's there. "God I need a medic and bad..." she groans out, making herself dissapear from sight as she leaps into trees and on top of buildings, keeping herself going forward. At least this will be a fundraiser that goes down as a good failure.

    "Heh, I didn't even /kill/ anyone this time. Unlike that framed murder... meh... that Eryl." she looks behind her... "I have a feeling I'm going to see him again..."