8745/Unwanted in the Undercity

Unwanted in the Undercity
Date of Scene:	16 January 2024
Location:	The Undercity
Synopsis:	Solty Revant and Roy Revant take a few friends down to the Undercity to catch a bounty
Cast of Characters:	Solty Revant, Touta Konoe, 7573

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Solty Revant has posed:
     The City. That's all anyone's ever called it as far as anyone knows. It is a pretty large city, all things considered. The buildings are mostly typical of any city one might see on Earth, but there are some futuristic-looking buildings and a few more gothic looking buildings mixed in. The cars seem to be inspired by classic Earth car designs. More artistic or muscle car than sleek modern, and again with some futuristic types mixed in.

     Solty let a few of her friends know what was happening. Roy, her adopted father and a bounty hunter in The City, was headed into the Undercity to chase a bounty. She was worried because Roy told her that they were expecting Multiversal trouble, and the Undercity isn't the most friendly of areas in the first place. Apparently goods from off-world were being smuggled in and some of the criminal element were starting to carve out a kingdom underground where the city's law enforcement doesn't bother going.

     Add to that the fact that the Undercity receives no utility or other support from the City at all...and it probably sounds like a pretty desolate and dangerous place. Roy and Solty are at one of the entrances, a simple manhole with some inadequate locks on it that look like they have been broken for a long time. Roy is currently checking his weapon, a rather large handgun with a grenade launcher on the underside.

     Solty is just standing near the street where she can be visible so that when her friends arrive they can find her and Roy. His red muscle car is also nearby. She send directions, but she doesn't want them to get lost. She is a bit curious if the same agents from last time will bring Angela.

     Once everyone arrives Roy pulls the manhole cover off and they head down into what seem to be just sewers. But, after a bit of a walk down a long and very large pipe, they arrive...in a proper city. Sure, it is underground. Sure, there are a mix of dugout houses in the rock walls and flimsy metal shacks. But, there are lots of people. The Undercity itself is spread around a series of levels around a central pit that must be at least 20 stories deep. There are a few stalls around with some very basic food and drink on the various levels.

     The people are somewhat dirty, as might be expected, and their clothes are threadbare. But, they don't seem particularly underfed or anything. They do seem suspicious and even a bit hostile toward some outsiders wandering in. Roy scans the area with a sort of dead expression.

     "Hey! What are you topsiders doin' here?" a big burly man with a do-rag asks. Two more burly men join him, apparently what passes for security in this place.

     "Easy. We're just here to catch some scum that trickled down here from up there." Roy says, not seeming like he is even going to stop. Solty looks uncertain, and the men look like they are going to forcefully stop Roy.

Touta Konoe has posed:
    To say it's been a long time since Touta's been in Solty's world is no joke. The last time he was here it was back before he had made his return to the Multiverse after that two to three year hiatus. Even then, compared to the little outing that was done the last time the vibe that's given really is something completely different since that time.

    "Solty, glad I made it, hopefully not running lat--Roy...That you?"

    The one that'd call out to the two was hopefully a somewhat familiar face. Just a little aged up comparatively to what it was before. The person before him and Solty would have seemed as though he was in at least his twenties from the tone of voice and stature alone. Yet, that spikey and jet-black hair, the red and black color choice of his attire, and that small black katana were definitely all likely give-aways. Now that he thinks of it, did Roy even recall if he was immortal or not? Who was to say whether it came up or not? Needless to say the two end up receiving their greeting as he arrives. Albeit, seeing Roy in that equipment definitely throws him off for a moment.

    "Feels like it's been forever. Glad you've been taking care of yourself. Still...Kinda wish it was under better circumstances."

    Looking over at the manhole, and recalling the info that Solty explained beforehand and her concerns about the situation. From what he'd been told, if this was a more usual mission that he was tagging along on with some of the other factions the objective would be to assist with the bounty as it was. While that was certainly still going to be the case, this wasn't just a mission. It was a request from someone who cares about her parent and not wanting them to get hurt, so as far as his thinking went, the thoughts this time around were to make sure that Roy was okay.

    Speaking of manholes and sewers though, there's a familiar group that ends up arriving when there's talks of such things. It brings back instant memories of a recent encounter with turtle-like cryptids, and a pleasant time snagging pizza even. That mood didn't seem to carry over so well though as Touta's gaze catches sight of a certain person within the display pad. That person who he's heard become rather close to Solty, and that alone does bring a smile to his face even when it's been hard for him to show it in the last few times his face has been on the screen.

    "Looks like we have another collaboration in an underground. What are the odds? Still, glad to have some L Corp. Agents to work with too."

    He won't try to force conversation much, even now it feels like he might have said too much to the one through the screen. Also, speaking too much while they're down in the sewers was kind of gross. Still, the differences between the last time they were in the sewers and this time are made apparent immediately. The time before, there were those living within the confines of the pipes but hidden away, but this...This was apparent. Blatant. The dugout houses aren't hidden, and if anything they nearly span out through. "Jeez, someone's trying to build a 'kingdom' here? They must really be trying to hide from top-side. I can't imagine anyone trying to build a 'kingdom' here without trying to make it a proper city first..."

Touta Konoe has posed:
    Touta's words trail off at the sight of the burly men appearing to impede Roy and with it sees an opportunity to get a gauge on the situation. He'd look from Roy, to the Agents as well for a moment seeing if they might let him step in first. "Oi..." Touta steps between Roy and the men, giving the Bounty Hunter more room to pull his firearm if needed, and to show off his blade to the thugs in case they need to get the message across.

    "This is the deal. We heard someone's been screwing around from up top. Now, if that sounds like a familiar pain you're dealing with, then congratulations we're here free of charge to deal with it. All you gotta do is step aside, and if you're feeling generous point us in the right direction."

    Touta stares the goon down, though at the same time he's trying to get an idea of the situation of how bad things have been here. Was this kingdom making a bad situation worse for those down here, or was their influence impactful enough that it had the regular denizens standing up on their behalf.

Angela (7573) has posed:
Angela can't actually visit ....

Look, Angela's home is also called The City. This is a different The City, naturally, but Angela still can't go outside. And so that means she has to send someone OUT to the other The City in order to actually pay Solty a visit.

Who does she elect to send? Which of her team members can she actually trust to not be weird about Solty Rei in her The City, the particularly racist against robots land she calls home?

Ya Boy arrives with the Eggack on his back. The Eggpack has been chosen out of cuation in case she has to choke someone out but Ya Boy is chosen because Angela is pretty sure he doesn't actually give a shit. Neither are armed with EGO Gear, just a combat baton on Ya Boy's back and a suit.

"Hot damn, hot damn hot damn. It's different for sure, way smaller, but definitely feels like a City for sure for sure." Ya Boy says.

Ya Boy hesitates before heading down the sewers though.

"It's fine." Angela says. "Go on.'

Ya Boy heads down, carefully dodging grime the best he can.

What are you topsiders doin' here?

Ya Boy laughs because this is a hilarious thing to say to someone from L Corp. "My good man, I am here ... to visit our adorable robuddy!" Ya Boy winks. "We're guests--and not from around here. You'll be hospital, yeah?"

When one of the men looks like they're going to forcefully stop Roy, Ya Boy immediately places the baton to the man's throat with the ease of someone so accustomed to violence they can treat it as a walk around the neighborhood.

"Ey ey ey... Why are you bein' like that?" He asks. "We're gonna be pals."

Angela meanwhile is wondering why they are coming down here if it has the type of people willing to manhandle Roy's father.

Solty Revant has posed:
     When Touta arrives, Solty smiles brightly and gives him a big hug. "Touta! It's so good to see you! Oh wow! You look..." She pauses, then measures from her head to his. "...wow! Are you taller than me now?" she asks with a giggle. Ya Boy arrives, and Solty greets him with a cheerful smile and a bow. "Welcome! Thank you for coming, and for bringing Miss Angela!" she says, then waves to Angela through the Eggpack. "Hello Angela! I'm so glad you made it!" Although it has been a while for Touta, it looks like hardly any time has passed for Solty and Roy.

     Roy hmphs when Touta talks about a kingdom. "This place has been here forever. We just didn't end up coming this way last time you were here. There's a lot of things underground." he says. When Touta speaks up to the goons, Roy doesn't say anything. The goons though, they see a kid with a sword. They all three laugh and grin. "You think we're scared of some runt with a blade?" the head goon says, and all three pull out weapons of their own. They aren't swords, sure. But, bats, pipes, and security batons are still pretty effective.

     Ya Boy's deft movements give them pause though, especially with that baton suddenly at the leader's throat. "Pals, sure." That combined with the explanation makes them look between each other, then the leader grunts. "Not topsiders, huh?" he says, then looks between them. "Who's a robuddy?" Solty doesn't look like a robot even upon close inspection, after all. If not for the unusual ears she probably wouldn't seem strange at all. Solty doesn't seem eager to reveal that information about herself either, since she is slow to raise her hand. The goon raises an eyebrow, then grunts again. "Hospitable, huh? We don't need outside help here." he says, and all three are slowly trying to raise their weapons. It looks like a fight. That is until...

     "Guys, guys. Relax." a voice behind them says. A young man with long pale red hair approaches, his outfit like that of a stereotypical dashing rogue. His voice is also what one might call edgy.

     And Roy seems to recognize him. "Larry. About time you showed up. Do we seriously have to get hastled by these guys every time I come down?" the big hunter asks.

     Larry just shrugs and chuckles. "Hey, it's practically their job." He looks over those gathered, then pats the lead goon on the shoulder. "Let 'em through. They're here to deal with that problem of ours." he says. The goon grunts and the three burly men step aside. Larry motions for the Multiversal party to follow him. "Come on."

     Roy follows after, and Solty jogs to catch up with Larry. "Good to see you, Larry! Where are Rose and Andy?" she asks as they pass people who still look at them suspiciously.

     Larry smiles. Or smirks. It's hard to tell with him. "They're further in. We'll join up with them later."

     Larry leads the group through the area to another tunnel. As they enter, he lets out a sigh. "It's worse than you thought, Roy. That bounty you're after? He's been juicing with some powerful Multiversal stuff. With the Resemble enhancements and what seems to be magic...well, let's just say it's a good thing you brought backup. And to make it worse, he's hijacked that little gateway. The RUC thinks they have the planet locked down, but they don't know about this one."

     That's all he says for now, and it's a bit of a walk to another section. A long corridor that - to someone who has a keen eye - might look like some kind of hanger. Rose is here, a young woman with blonde hair and a blue dress holding a small pistol. Andy is also here, his own dark spikey hair just a bit lighter than Touta's. He's typing away on a computer.

     Beyond them, past a stack of crates they are using for cover...there's a Multiversal gate. And around it is what is clearly the start of a criminal syndicate. Several men, most with obvious combat augments, are hovering around crates of things like drugs, magical crystals, and high tech weapons. All clearly from outside of this world.

Solty Revant has posed:

     The biggest of them is a man even bigger than Roy, though that is mostly thanks to his mech-like arms and legs. He's clearly the leader, and Roy shows the others his data pad with the leader's picture on it. "That's him. Guess he's been busy." he says in his rough, deep voice. "Maybe Solty was right on this one..." he says, though seems unhappy to admit it. "So, any ideas on how to approach? That's a lot of firepower." he asks the group.

Angela (7573) has posed:
"Solty. It is not easy to obtain permission to send Agents outside of the facility." Angela says. "In order to justify this outing I will have to write a report on my observations of the City." Angela says. She does half-smile at Solty but this is in public and that's about as much as cheer she's comfortable releasing into the wild.

Coincidentally, she hasn't been sure how to communicate with Touta since their last conversation. It was a rather bad day on her part but there were a lot of elements she just hadn't been paying attention to due to being so furious.

"Yeah you gotta make it clear that you're actually willing to get handsy." Ya Boy says.

Angela gives Ya Boy a bit of a glare for revealing the Robuddy part in the first place but--he clearly didn't think it was a secret. Why would he? The multiverse seems fine with AI and he knows absolutely nothing about this world. Neither does Angela, really.

Maybe Solty feels bad for being an AI, Angela thinks. She is raised by a human who loves her after all. At least according to her. She actually isn't sure how Roy actually feels by watching him but he doesn't seem like the guy who emotes too heavily. Angela understands that kind of person.

Ya Boy starts pressing that baton against the leader's throat when--

A young man with long red hair appears!

Ya Boy bites at his lip and lowers his weapon maybe a moment too soon upon seeing him.

"Well!! I guess we really are buddies!" Ya Boy says. "Glad you showed up before it actually got physical because I absolutely will break a neck to avoid getting hurt."

He follows Larry with Angela.

Ya Boy takes a long look around. "If it's Multiversal, it could be anything. There's some serious shit out there!" He seems less comfortable now that he's een a multiversal gate.

Touta Konoe has posed:
    Doesn't have an issue at all with the hug, she quickly gets one back in return before there's a light pat on the head. "Hey, hey, I'm not that much shorter usually. If anything, I'm sure I'm still a little taller. We'll figure that out later though. Though yeah, it's a little magic trick I picked up."

    "I figure, I meant more for the ones that started creeping in here. Solty said it was that someone's been trying to make themselves cozy from outside of your world. Though I didn't hear much more details than that."

    When it comes to the matter of the goons well, the point of this aged appearance is meant to be seen as a more adult figure. Though perhaps a twenty-year appearance wasn't as convincing still. Or...These guys were simply just trying to be condescending. "Honestly, I'm not trying to be scary. But..."

    Touta gets cut off as Ya Boy makes his move. He's not sure if he's familiar with this Agent, but there's one thing that Touta notices immediately. The use of a baton. It doesn't go unnoticed that there's a few implications as to what that could mean. For now though, he's just keen to see what he can do with it before another voice cuts through.

    It's certainly not a face that Touta's familiar with, but from the way that Roy speaks up to him, it becomes apparent that at the very least he's supposed to be making things easier, which calming down these goons does. After all, they do step aside and Touta's just as quick to walk past'em. "Thanks for the warm welcome."

    As they keep walking, Touta's making a point to keep pace with Larry and Solty, but making sure that Ya Boy and Angela are still close by. Though at this point, he figures he needs to ask.

     "Don't think I got your name before. You a new Agent?" It's probably understandable why it's asked.

    Leaving the question at that, he's just trying to make sure he's not missing any details as the three locals converse. A few words are already popping out, 'magic' and 'gateway'.

    "So just to make sure I'm following. RUC is the local enforcement here, right? They thought they have most Warpgates mapped, but the one we're heading to below ground they don't have a clue on? Guess that'd make sense if they don't bother checking. As for magic...You sure it's magic or...?"

    The doubt definitely lingers in his voice a little. He knows that magic can be a blanket term for the unfamiliar and with the Multiverse that was always something to be wary of. It's as he says that he stops to think of Angela's remarks from before they left.

    "Not sure if it'll help your report, but they are using an unmarked Warpgate. Wouldn't be completely unbelievable to hear that while they were smuggling in there was a shipment of potential cryptids coming through that might have potential for Abnormality designation? Coming here to verify that would be justifiable I imagine right?"

    Perhaps it's not the most creative lie, but he imagines it's enough of a viable excuse for the Manager to allow it from what he's heard of the guy.

    A while longer brings them to the crates where the rest of Larry's group is hiding. There's definitely a look of the Warpgate and the group that's decided to monopolize it. Certainly there's a big one, and the augments they have look like they'll definitely be a problem if not on guard for it. Though, Touta doesn't seem too worried as of yet. "Depends. We can probably hop in there pretty easily. Just a matter of if there's anything in there that we have to worry about bringing the underground toppling down on us, or causing something worse to happen. Otherwise, we should just jump in. I'm less worried about what they're trying to smuggle in, as much as where they're getting all this and if something more troublesome ends up finding its way through instead."

Solty Revant has posed:
     Solty seems a bit confused by the conditions needed to send out an Agent, but she nods to Angela. "Once we are done here, we can take a tour of the city if you want." she says with a smile. And to be fair to the robuddy thing, the locals don't seem too bothered by Solty being a robot either. At least, the few that know about it.

     Ya Boy talks about breaking necks, and Larry smirks. "That's understandable. Just, try to remember that most people here don't stand a chance against you Multiversals, so we'd appreciate any restraint you show against the populace at large."

     Touta asks about the RUC, and Larry nods. "Yeah. The RUC controls pretty much every aspect of The City. Water, electric, law enforcement, medical...you name it. We pretty much have to steal or root through salvage every day to make sure we have enough basic necessities." he says. He also looks to Ya Boy and Angela. "If you need anything else for your report, let me know. We're happy to reveal all the dirt about the RUC you want." he adds.

     Touta suggests a few things, and Andy looks up from his computer. "This section of the underground is pretty stable. We should be able to fight pretty easily. I think the harder part is keeping them from just going through the gate when we engage them. If they get away they can just come back with more firepower later. And from what I've been able to find out there's no way to shut down these gates or properly secure them without a lot of resources.

Solty Revant has posed:

     Rose huffs impatiently. "I say we just go in fast and hard. Take them out before they can escape or get all those weapons on us."

     Roy pulls out a grenade shell and loads his launcher. "I'm all for that. Like you said before, Rose...the best defense is a good offense." he says as he clicks the launcher's cover into place. "So, let's get this party started. Just make sure to leave their bodies mostly intact so I can get my bounty."

     Solty's ears lower at that. "Roy..." she says quietly. He hmphs grumpily. "Don't even say it. They wouldn't give it a second thought if they caught us by surprise." He looks the room over for a few more seconds, then takes aim at the crates of weapons with his grenade launcher. "I say we blow that, then mop them up in the chaos. One of you better be fast enough to cut them off from the gate. No telling what kind of reinforcements might be on the other side."

     And with that, Roy starts things off. He isn't sure what will happen if he shoots the magical items, but guns he knows. So, he aims at those.

     The explosion is more powerful than Roy expected, and it shakes the area as power cells and plasma cores explode. A few of the lesser henchmen are caught in the blast.

     Solty blinks in surprise at the explosion, then closes her eyes and her ears vibrate. Then, she gets a horrified expresion and points to one of the larger crates. "Roy! I heard voices in that one! I...I think there are people in that one!"

     Roy's expression, usually hard and cold, goes tense. "What the hell, you three?! You didn't tell us?!" he exclaims, looking at their three Undercity comrades. "We didn't know! We swear!" Andy exclaims. Larry looks as grim as Roy now, and Rose has an expression not far off from Solty's.

     There's already some of the weaker henchmen headed for that big cargo container now. If they get there...

Touta Konoe has posed:
    "I can cut off the path from the gate, that shouldn't be an issue."

    It's the first remark that Touta gives back as Andy starts bringing up the difficulty of keeping them out of the gate. Speaking of no issues though, there's definitely a consensus already coming together as Rose and Roy both seem keen on just jumping right in. To be fair, Touta wasn't outright against so long as they were all sure there was no risk of issue.

    Seeing Solty's face on the matter does have him turn back to Roy's, who his response is... "Not wrong, but...Solty...Just means we gotta be quick to make sure that they don't have to be excessive. Means we have to be quick and efficient, right?"

    It's here that Touta finds himself looking at Angela. Hard to say whether he's asking whether she agrees on the statement alone, or is just asking her to lie, but he asks all the same.

    At least that's how he wanted to start things off till Roy began shooting into the weapons. The sounds of the explosion shaking the room for a moment, and worse than that...Solty's declaration. "Wait, you sure?" It complicates things immensely and with it Roy's looking to the other three. Which at this point Touta does something surprisingly...Call out someone else's misstep.

    "Don't call them out on it, you shot first without knowing the full situation! Just provide cover fire for now!"

    Touta's already standing up, a small bite into his thumb as black miasma begins to seep from the cut. Parts of the cargo area completely lost visibility. The first being the larger cargo container that ends up conceal within a black fog, and as it spreads out the, the luminous pathway that is the Warpgate is solely beginning to get concealed as well.

    It's as this veil begins to encompass the area did Touta just vanish. His body for a moment looking as if it had gone like dust in the wind before they can see him off in the distance jumping out from the fog, starting to slam the back of his blade into the lowly grunts. Intending to knock them out with his blows, or just leave enough of a broken arm or leg that they hopefully wouldn't be intending to get back up again.

Angela (7573) has posed:
Angela doesn't expect Solty to understand this stuff. She doesn't seem inclined to fret about it. "If your guardian feels it is reasonably safe to do so." Angela says.

Ya Boy blinks twice at Larry's words. He seems ... surprised to hear them, actually. "Multiversals, huh..." He says. He isn't really powered by other worlds himself, but it sort of feels like being called a high ranking Fixer--which he decidedly was not.

He listens, but doesn't super pay much attention to the setting details coming out but Angela is listening intently. She still feels she is missing a lot of details but she does nod to Larry, "Perhaps later, when we have a moment free. This is not the best time to bog down the discussion."

Roy does feel like a typical Fixer so far, Angela thinks. One looking after a robot is a little unusual, or even a child at all--but Solty does seem to be a bit of a strange situation.

Stranger still, Angela thinks, is that she is just walking around and people know what she is and nobody tried to kill her yet. What a multiverse she lives in--but she supposes it is less unususal than what is going on with Dragonfly or those Combaticons.

Explosions happen.

"Ya Boy, assist Touya." Angela orders.

Ya Boy nods and starts running towards those grunts. He ISN'T intending to just knock out the goons but he IS only armed with a combat baton so he can't really ensure fataliaties either. Still, getting clubbed in the head can be pretty deadly! It's true!

Solty Revant has posed:
     Roy doesn't seem happy about being called out, but that's because Touta is kind of right. He doesn't say anything back, just grunts in annoyance. As Touta shows off his black mist though, it leaves pretty much all the natives a bit speechless. The darkness closes in, and those henchmen heading toward the hostage container are knocked out before they can reach it.

     The leader though seems amused instead of afraid. "Is that the Anderson Brothers?" he calls out, and Larry, Andy, and Rose tense. Apparently that's them. "Didn't think you'd be brave enough to start something, but we got some hostages just in case. You didn't even know, I bet. Hehehehe...we've been snatching those brats you send up to try and steal food. RUC doesn't care, and you guys don't think much about it figuring RUC got 'em, right? Bet they were in there feeling pretty unwanted, hehehehe. Guess it's just lucky you bombed the guns and not that container, huh? Not that I'd have lost much sleep over it."

     More goons go down thanks to Ya Boy, and it is just the leader and one other goon. A goon that reaches into the magical items box and pulls out a few crystals. Anyone with much experience in magic might recognize them. Single use spell crystals. "Let's see how you like this!" he yells, throwing them at Ya Boy. A lightning bolt hits first, followed by a frost explosion, and a fire blast.

     The leader, a rugged and muscular man who doesn't bother with a shirt aims his arms, one at Touta and one at Roy and the others. And from each oversized arm a minigun pops up. And a thirt rises from his shoulder, aiming at where he's pretty sure the cargo container full of hostages is. "You guys should really get out now. Like I said...I won't lose any sleep over a bunch of brats." he says as all three gatlin guns spin up.

     Streams of bullets almost as constant as a stream of water start flying. Solty is gone in a flash, and the sound of bullets clanging off her can be heard in the darkness while Roy and the others are forced to take cover from the heavy onslaught of gatlin fire.

Touta Konoe has posed:
    There's a pretty disappointed look to Touta as he sees Roy's call out of the kids. Though there's not much time to linger on it as things begin to escalate. And it does begin to escalate.

    One of the goons begin to reach for the magical items and taking note of the energy Touta does call out as he finishes with the Henchmen attempting to reach for the larger cargo container.

    "Yo Boy! Get in the veil!"

    It's not exactly 'assisting' to have him jump in to hide for a moment, but it's the demand Touta gives if the Agent isn't sure that he can handle the attack. Cause whether Ya Boy ends up lingering within it, or he's able to avoid it when the lightning bolt flies through the air, once it reaches the darkness of that fog the sound of static electricity is cut off all at once. In fact, the entirety of those magical crystals are quickly fading into the void as well. Attempting to find them within the fog quickly leading to people getting lost within it, or just outright letting out wails as something within it can be heard wrangling at them before spitting them back out from there.

    At this point the leader makes his appearance and honestly everything he says is just grating. It's not even worth trying to chat with the guy, instead as he sees the guns starting to pull out, there's a moment that he calls out to the one's inside of the container.

    "Oi, if you can get into the middle near the door line up where you can hear my voice!"

    It seemed that this 'brat' was ready to use his body as a shield if that was the case, but, if those hostages were bound in a way that they couldn't...There's little time to think on the matter as the bullets go flying. For the most part Touta's not trying to dodge the bullets at all. He's attempting to deflect most of them with his blade and for the most part for those that are aimed his way it's a job well done. But with the rate of fire, a couple begin to pierce through him and into the black fog that houses the container behind him. Not to mention there are simply bullets out of the reach of his blade that he simply can't deflect.

    By the time that all three guns begin to overheat or run out of ammunition, there's just the look of the young man wielding his blade in his hand with bullet holes in his body, blood running down his frame. It's definitely a moment that rather than losing sleep over, this boss could feel that he was certain that he dealt with the first of these intruders.

    "So tell me...If both your arms are like that, how exactly are you supposed to reload?"

    The standing corpse of the young man that was just littered with holes speaks so casually as he stares into the bosses eyes. The blood at the floor slowly begins to run back upwards into Touta's form before the bullet holes close entirely.

    "Cause you're going to need to. It was one thing to take your potshots at me, but the container...That's off-limits."

    The container should have been harmed, even if he couldn't see the container through the fog. The fact Touta was standing right there was clearly intending to defend it, and the fog itself can't stop bullets. Though something within it could perhaps? For as he stops talking, a shadow does start crawling out from the fog cloud.

    An clasped fist of obscene proportion comes out. The look of it alone makes it appear demonic in appearance. A dark and unusual texture to the skin that seems almost reptilian at first, but much smoother. The fist that comes out, clearly the size that it could grasp at least three fully-grown men at once, arises over Touta's head. As it opens its palm, a rain of bullets come down. It should be clear that this 'brat' should be making him lose sleep, cause what's just come out from the mist is a nightmare. And yet...Just as quickly as it forms it begins to fade like ash on the wind.

Angela (7573) has posed:
Ya Boy isn't even using EGO Gear, he's using base Gear, so he could be in trouble if a goon gets the drop on him. Ya Boy doesn't have experience with spell crystals, but he does hesitate anyway because crystals are spooky shit.

He gets clobbered by the lightning blast and then dives behind some crates to avoid the rest, his body shaking from the serious damage inflicted upon him. He cringes as a fire blast sails overhead. This isn't going to be great for his street cred but Angela didn't think that bringing EGO Gear here would be neccessary (she wasn't expecting violence) and she didn't want to encourage people tow onder about their multiversal weaponry when her only real stake here is Solty Rei herself. Still, Roy dying ignobly against a bunch of punks doesn't really seem like something that would be good for Solty.

Angela narrows her eyes as Solty takes weaponsfire but she seems to be about as durable as Angela is.

"It's Ya Boy!" Ya Boy shouts. Veil?

He looks around and then he runs for it, rolling into the fog moments before he gets ZAAAAPPED again.

"Whew" Ya Boy says in the darkness. He takes a breath. He's going to need this breath.

I won't lose any sleep over a bunch of brats

Ya Boy frowns but he isn't sure he can really...approach a gatling gun wielding dude without EGO Gear, let alone a guy with THREE gatling guns.

Maybe ... he can just poke his head out?

He pokes his head back out of the veil, then swoops back into it.

Then, from within the veil, he rears back with his arm and CHYUUUCKS his combat baton for the leader's head.

He doesn't shout because he's really hoping he doesn't get noticed.

Solty Revant has posed:
     "Reload? I never need to reload. My victims don't last long enough." the leader says with a grin. Though, that grin fades as he realizes...Touta is talking despite being so perforated. That shadow hand comes up, and the leader actually looks a little worried.

     The remaining goon...well, when he sees that shadow hand and how Touta's blood and body just flow back together he just drops everything and runs for the gate, even though it's glow isn't visible through the darkness now.

     All those bullets come raining back at the leader, and he brings his arms up and crouches down. His oversized metal limbs shield his body, but they are steadily and badly chipped away at by the attack. When the rain of bullets finally stops, he peeks out between his arms just enough to see...and gets pelted right between the eyes by a thrown baton. That staggers him backward, and as he steps one of his arms just falls off, sparking and almost unreckognizable as an arm. The other shudders, then goes in operable as well, falling limply at his side.

     "Pretty impressive, I gotta say. Wasn't expecting this much trouble..." the leader says, trying to make his way toward the gate. Rocket boosters pop out of his legs, and he blasts off. "See ya later, suckers! Hahahaha!"

     He is almost there, about even with the last goon when...Solty is suddenly just there, a kick being delivered to the fleeing leader and...

     ...one of her arms is...sticking through the goon's chest. "You...you're bad men..." she says, her voice cold and dark. A tone she has never used before. She pulls her arm free, and the goon just falls over.

     She turns her now cold, deadly gaze toward the leader, who has landed in a heap in another pile of crates. "I HATE BAD MEN! HYAAAAAH!" She flies at him with lightning speed, her fists both glowing brightly with pure energy...ready to deliver another death blow. And if not stopped, she will deliver it.

     "H-hey! Hey wait! You're supposed to be a hunter! Y-you can't just....GAAAAH!" The leader screams, unable to do much but wait for the end coming his way.

     As she flies, there is another scream. This one from a few of the hostages who were able to escape thanks to the damage to the container. They seem unharmed, but they are kids...and they just watched Solty kill one person and she is in the process of killing another.

Touta Konoe has posed:
    To say that there's never a need to reload probably makes sense. In most worlds, probably having several machine guns is enough to mow down someone. Though for the rest of the Multiverse, well...He imagines that's definitely a topic one might bring up on the viability of that later on the radio.

    His punch comes in, and the baton catches the leader in due time and well that seems like that should have been enough till he starts talking again.

    "You keep talking, and all I'm hearing is that I should have broken your jaw..."

    That was the problem with holding back sometimes. Though, it seems that the bigger problem was that even after all that the leader was attempting to get away. Touta's not concerned though, for even now the goons trying to make their way to the Warpgate hidden in the blackfog might find that they're being quickly dealt with. If such a monstrosity of an arm was in there, there might have been other things lingering in as well. So it only made sense that Touta seemed unphased by the attempted escape. Though, something much worse was about to happen.

    Solty's kick comes out of nowhere, and with it sends the leader flying. It actually has Touta giving a bit of a smirk to see her dish out the beating. "Nice one, Solty. Though you didn't have to--"

    His jaw goes limp, incapable of continuing his words. For a moment, he's the one wondering if he's seeing a nightmare. Solty's hand runs its way through a man's chest.

     "Solty...Did you just...?"

    In all the years he's known Solty, he's never seen her like this. The girl that seemed so genuinely, innocently happy to be around people. Not to shy away from a hug, so casual as to run her /arm/ through a man as if it were a weapon. It's mortifying...It's...More painful to watch than taking the bullets that just happened.

    "...Solty...No..."

    The words barely trail from his lips, but no matter how much he wants to deny it, what he's seen...Can't be unseen. Not for him. It's at that time the container is starting to open, the hostages coming out. But they won't get to see what happened. No, they aren't allowed to. For that black veil of fog begins to cover the scene encircling the Elites and the smugglers. Not even Roy or his group get to see what's happening regardless of his position as her guardian. He wants to tell him to go help the hostages, but the words can't escape his lips. Cause all he can see is the look in her eyes. The look that just feels so distant yet so familiar. He's seen that look. The look of someone that he thinks is honest turn to rage, turn to disgust. To the kind that's completely fine with taking one's life and...

    "Solty No....!!!!"

    She comes in like lightning, but somehow he comes in faster. His one hand reaches around her waist to stop her travel while the other struggles at her holding back her wrist as she goes for the killing blow.

    "Solty..."

    His voice is nearly choked up as he speaks. If she can manage to tear her enraged gaze from the leader to look at Touta she can see he's nearly about to cry. "Look at your hand...Are you okay with that stain...? Are you okay seeing that...?"

    He has to make her see it now. It's not just a hand covered in blood. It's...Something more descript. Something that shouldn't have to be described. Though, now Touta has to wonder if she can truly 'feel' the weight of her action.

Touta Konoe has posed:
    "This guy's a piece of garbage...He deserves whatever comes to him...But...Will /you/ be able to sleep at night if you keep going further? You...You have to decide that..."

    It's clear there's already a bias Touta has. And even as he tells her it's her choice, the way he's holding back her arm, gripping at her frame, there's clearly a reluctance. As if his body and his words are contrary to that last remark.

    His eyes turn to Angela, as if there's some sort of plea to them. He's trying to stop this, but the look in his gaze already echoes some level of defeat. Even his arms look like they're about to give out at any moment. When they do, Solty could just go back to delivering the final blow. Touta's /tried/...But he wants there to be so much more than that...

Angela (7573) has posed:
Ah, Angela thinks, maybe Solty and I have something in common after all.

"Ya Boy--"

"Ma'am, I am NOT equipped for that."

Angela doesn't argue and instead says, "Throw me closer then."

It IS the Eggpack, and Angela is leery of putting the Eggpack in harms way, but she has opinions about this and cares enough about Solty, and cares about her a little more upon seeing her hand through someone's chest.

Ya-Boy quickly unshoulders the Eggpack and rather than throwing it--slides it across the floor towards Solty's legs. Angela extends one of her arms and reaches for Solty's arm, relying on the mechanical arm to--

--Touta is already holding the arm back. She just places the mechanical hand on the arm, not exactly tugging it away.

"Solty, I could care less that you killed people trying to harm you." Angela says. "But my understanding of who you are tells me that you will regret this when you've had a moment to calm down."

This isn't exactly too disimilar from what Touta is saying which makes her wrinkle her nose in annoyance. She considers changing her opinion just to be on the safe side but it would be wholly unprofessional.

She isn't as fast as lightning or anything so it might be a relief to Touta that he got there first. Angela can't really stop her from punching physically, however. Not with the Eggpack.

"Also, it would be difficult to enjoy a tour of your home this way." Angela says. "There is a social cost to being too open with your killing."

Is she a little sad, that Solty is a bit like her after all? ... Yeah, she is a little sad about that. It's nice in some ways, but she knows it's nothing to be too happy about.

"Scenes like this I can get back home." She adds.

Solty Revant has posed:
     Solty is grabbed by Touta. He can see her eyes. Something has clearly snapped inside her. Perhaps some sort of programming, but...her eyes definitely seem more dull and cold than usual. She blinks as he grabs her wrist, and that light he is used to seeing returns. "Touta? What do you mean? They are bad. They were going to kill children, and..."

     Touta says her name with his voice choked up, and she blinks again. He tells her to look at her hand, and she does. Her arm is red up to her upper arm. She seems confused. "But...they..." She looks at Touta. She sees he's nearly about to cry. And...instantly her eyes are tearing up as well. "Touta, I..."

     The Eggpack is tossed toward her and grips her arm similarly. Solty stops where she is. She listens to Angela.

     'It would be difficult to enjoy a tour of your home this way'

     Solty staggers back, looking completely confused and hurting. She looks around at the darkness. She suddenly feels very alone despite having her two closest friends outside of this world around her. And yet, after hearing the words of those friends she is glad that darkness is there.

     Roy is the only one who ran through the darkness to see what happened. The Andersons are busying gathering up the children. Roy approaches Solty as tears well up in her eyes. "Wh-....R-roy...why are...I...I don't understand...why are they...?"

     The tears just get bigger, and Solty's big fluffy green ears droop completely before she just starts sobbing like the young child she is at heart, so confused and broken hearted now over what happened. Over the look on Touta's face. Over hearing Angela's understanding of her perhaps being altered.

     Roy stands there looking down at her for a few moments, seeming like he doesn't care at all.

     Then, one of his big hands comes down to rest on her head. He rubs her head like any parent might, which quiets her sobs somewhat. "Let's go home." is all he says. No judgement, or scolding, or opinions. Just the assurance in those few words and actions that she is still his daughter and still welcome in his home.

     Touta might be right. Solty might not be emotionally equipped at this time to fully realize what she did. Hopefully, if she ever does, it won't haunt her as Angela fears it might. But, as they head back to the surface, she looks to her friends and just barely above a whisper says, "...I'm sorry..."