Scene #8632: Work For An Axe IX

Owner	Pose
Zero Kiryu	LAST TIME... You went to confront one of two sisters, and discovered the wrong one... only to end up face-to-face with the one you'd come for in the first place! Now the party is still standing in an arena with a pile of sleeping civilians... and Nikki. Nikki may just remain asleep in some corner or another of the theatrical venue that had to be approached, and now much of the audience is asleep. The woman that had posed a potential threat had said: 'You ruined my sister's audience. If you want my potential cooperation you're going to have to fix it.' This has its own problems, of course... it COULD just wind you up in a 2-on-1. On the other hand, the beast of a woman calling herself Marina didn't really seem like she would approach things by deception, and her primary motivation is something that you know to be support of her sister. Without her sister supporting The Professor, she doesn't either. So there you are... ... with piles of people, asleep in a performance venue, challenged not to battle but to simply hyping up a performer to avoid a fight. NOW... "Hey. Why are you folks even messing about like this, anyway? Why do you care about our little part of the world?" Marina wonders. It is at this moment that you inevitably realize she doesn't even know about the assassination or that anything noteworthy has happened.
Timespace Riders	Sougo chuckles sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "That's all? Okay." He turns around and flags his still-armored retainer down, making a brief request over the radio. "Yes, sire?" asks Woz, clanking over to Sougo on the Kikai armor's mechanized manipulator arms and lowering himself down, to fit in the hallway. "Hey, good news, Woz! Marina here says 'not fighting' might be off the table, if we just help with her sister's fans. Can you get them, um... awake, again?" "..." The retainer sighs. "I shall do my best, my Demon King." Back out, into the venue proper. Woz crosses his arms, surveying the piles of sleeping people. The golden manipulator arms are gentler now than they had been, lifting by collars to shake the fans awake. "Are you prepared," asks the Rider, "For an unforgettable performance? Shake off the grasp of sleep, and proclaim your excitement to the heavens!" 'Shake off' is punctuated with a little shake, as he repeatedly lifts the sleeping audience members, in little batches of several at a time. Back with Marina, Sougo explains. "We care because we want to make this world a better place, for everyone, by getting rid of the secret about vampires. A 'controlled break' of that 'masquerade.' I guess... you haven't heard what happened in Agnafit, huh." He frowns thoughtfully. "To make a long story short, a summit in Agnafit was held--as part of that mission. And the Professor used an artificially-created... well, let's say 'almost-Chevalier,' to assassinate an envoy of Yuuki's." Sougo looks over his shoulder, catching the occasional glimpse of Woz's robot arms, before turning back to face Marina. "And if there's no faith a summit like that can be done safely, then regular people will stay in the dark and the differences between humans and vampires will keep them separated."
Kukuru	It's quite an awkward situation, being surrounded by so many sleeping people and not being asleep herself. Kukuru's almost jealous of all of them, but her actual reason for being here takes priority over how comfortable it looks to just pile on top of these other people for an hour or three. Plus, Marina doesn't strikeh er as the type to just want to lounge around, especially considering the mess that's been made of her show. Realizing that she's missing a lot of context for just about everything that's going on, however, actually brings a sense of relief to Kukuru. "You don't...? Ohhh. Oh, there's so much we've gotta catch you up on, then. Okay, Ma-ri-na!" That usual warm smile of hers appears, and she pats the ground next to her before taking a seat right on the spot, kicking her legs out and getting comfortable. "In that case..." Kukuru pauses first, reaching into her pockets and digging out thermos and several mugs that, as always, are way too big to fit in those pockets. She pours some decently-warm coffee into each of those mugs, offering them to Marina and anyone else who wants some as Sougo begins his explanation. She flashes him a grateful smile, too, since it means less explanation on her part. "Keeping everyone separated like that is too sad, because that's... Um. Half of everyone...?" She guesses, listening and watching everyone to gauge their reactions about her estimate she just pulled out of nowhere. "... Just never being able to interact with each other like anyone else. It's too sad, and things would just be... You knooow. Better and more comfy if they didn't have to stay apart and be scared of each other like that." She gestures at Nikki and the sleeping people, then turns back to Marina. "So that's why we're here now. We were looking for you, but we found your sister, and then we found you! Becaaaaause we needed to find you to... To...." Kukuru trails off and rubs her temples lightly, straining to jar her memory. It's probably not happening anytime soon.
Yuuki Kuran	Kuran Yuuki had come to Paru in a particularly punchy state of mind. She had always dreamed of victory, conspired and counseled and collapsed pieces and parts together so they fit a rapidly approaching design... But she had lost the thread, a little, on the way. It was an easy blindness for Yuuki to have - didn't everyone else understand all the details? She had been collecting details and obsessing and spending all her time on this project to make it right, and she had gathered up all of the people, and pulled the support of the Concord she had nurtured so carefully, and-- --and she had brought everyone to a big stage! And she had not one, but several Kamen Rider, and Vampire Knights, and a Kukuru, and she had thought this so many times, had it thunder in her mind, glowed behind the red of her red-brown eyes... AND NOW . . . Kuran Yuuki, in the same black top, red vest, black skirt, and boots as last episode (see WFAA VIII, dear reader!), stares blankly across the stage littered with sleeping dogs and dozing agents, nap time pile having swallowed up all of the momentum. Eyes aglow, the Vampire Queen squints at Marina, first in annoyance and then in rummaging-dawning horror. Inevitably, having rifled through the drawers and dirty deskspace of the mind across, Yuuki drops her hands and groans audibly. "Wait - you don't know anything at all. There's been-" But instead of exasperatedly explaining the whole plot (again) she has the fantastic performance of Sougo and Woz in both explaining and sweeping up. The ever-reliable Riders 'do their best', and Yuuki spends a moment turning away her gaze to fondly watch them go about reviving the crowd. "What Sougo says is true. It's my intention, as the Kuran Queen, to end the cycle of violence perpetrated by shadow hands. To make better for Vampires and Humans - everyone, together. Because I'm tired of the world of just taking. And I've lived the life of smiling and taking nothing." So she extends her hand out. "If what you want is to be on the map and boost what you're passionate about, we don't need to fight at all." Yuuki smiles faintly, teeth closed. Even if her eyes were a tell, she made it a point of not showing her fangs to the woman. They don't have to fight, even if they just did and she brought some of her strongest warriors. Even if.
Kuroto Dan	Genm is here. Again. For what reason, however, is unknown and kept to himself, up until a simple question is asked. Why does he care? It's quite simple, really. So simple in fact, he shouldn't have to explain it, but he's a magnanimous God, so he'll spell it out, just this once. A treat, so to speak. "Every part of this world deserves to bask in my presence. If you wish to consider this caring, feel free to do so. I however, simply consider it my duty." Genm lazily looks back and motions towards the sleeping crowd, before pointing to himself and slapping the cracked panel on his chest. "If you need a replacement for this measly crowd, I'll gladly fill out this place and then some. I am, after all, the only audience anyone would ever need." He had thought, for a moment, to simply suggest filling the building with Bugsters. It was an idea he had silently discarded though, given that the faceless goons lack any personality, and his named creations like Salty and the like are... Well. No. The power of Level X is all he needs. Alternatively, there is always the option of waking everyone up, which was actually the first thing on his mind, but he liked that idea the least. It's a simple solution for fools that could not think as grandly as him.
Zero Kiryu	"Shouldn't it be?" Marina seems utterly baffled at the idea that 'cleaning up the mess with avoid a fight' is a 'that's all?' situation. Off to the side, a series of vines moves Nikki out of the way of Woz's efforts to wake the audience. No sense in making her wake up if she's that exhausted-- she can probably be safely assumed to have been teleported off to the Grand Dorado somewhere. The regular folks that Woz gets ahold of are woken up easily enough, but... making them lucid is a bit of a challenge. That soporific that Nikki was using is incapacitating in a way, and one of its effects is making somebody not really care what's going on around them. The people being shaken feel almost boneless, they're so relaxed. The passage of time is what will make that wear off-- thankfully, there's somebody here with the ability to tamper with the passage of time to some extent. At the very least, though, they're awake. That's a solid step one. The subject of Agnafit just gets an even more confused look out of Marina. "That's over by headquarters, right? It's a long way. I wouldn't have heard anything from over there unless I really went out of my way to." She doesn't seem like the type that would be TOLD secrets like imminent assassinations of political figures, either. Elaboration on the plans they were helping with seemed to be more understandable, though. "Ohhh, you're with the old President's bloc. You know he's something like two hundred and three, right? Not really... in touch," she meanders, tapping at the side of her head. You've met this fellow in passing-- he certainly didn't look older than his thirties, though he dressed like the platonic ideal of somebody's grandmother. "'Almost Chevalier'...? What does that even mean?" "You didn't find my sister, you found me. And the vampire population isn't THAT high, is it? There's no way..." It wasn't, but Marina didn't really know anything as in-depth as demographics. Given the state of this world, it's possible nobody really knew the true numbers. Though, given how many feral vampires are implicitly around, it might be that the regular ones just fly under the radar for her. Rubbing at the back of her head, Marina follows along with Yuuki's explanation with ... the same confusion she's regarded everything with. Her processing power is higher than Kukuru's, but she's a lot less personally invested in the details, so some of it is sliding off of her. A few key words click, which gets Yuuki an up-and-down look. There's the impression that Marina expected her to be bigger. "Huh. Yeah, I guess your... great... grandfather?" The last Kuran King was only Yuuki's grandfather, but judging vampire family trees was hard enough that this was forgivable. "Was kinda like that. Marita didn't really seem to think so, but you seem alright." Judging by the scan of her mind, Marina wasn't that great a judge of character; or perhaps more accurately, most people who got within striking range of her understood that she'd go with the surface scan and the only thing necessary to avoid conflict was to avoid ending up in a situation where she couldn't parse you as either somebody she had to fight or who she was required to fight. She tapped her radio earpiece, "Uh, speaking of Marita, I think she's just about ready. But we're still dhampyr, so she probably sensed some... stuff... was going on. Don't be too surprised if she comes up with her hammer. She uses it as a prop anyway." Marina shook Yuuki's hand absent-mindedly, not really thinking much of it. Genm is regarded with some measure of confusion. "Uh, okay! I guess it's normal for an associate of that lady to feel like that. You don't seem to be a vampire, though... also, is this broken or is it a style choice?" Marina points at the cracked chestplate. "I kinda like the way it looks... mine's pretty plain. I keep thinking of trying to get Tyrfing to make it look more fancy, but that's not really the point of the armor I wear. Oh, my sister's just about done getting ready, so whatever you're gonna do..."
Timespace Riders	Shouldn't it be? "To be honest," says Sougo, "It's kind of been a tossup, who wants to fight and who doesn't--and that's not even getting into how things are where me and Genm come from." 'Almost Chevalier'...? What does that even mean? "I mean that she was strong, and everything, and felt the hunger, but... well, she didn't have any way to... you know. Drink? She was given an implant by the Professor, and it was pretty clearly meant to make her into a disposable assassin." Near the fans, Woz heaves a sigh, removing the Kikai Miridewatch and detransforming. A flash of green light reveals an annoyed frown, as he takes in the state of the crowd. Flinging his scarf outward, he appropriates a merch table, the grey fabric scooping it up. A Dorado card is seen, held between the index and middle fingers of his free hand, just before the scarf scoops -him- up as well. He reappears a few moments later, flinging the scarf again. It turns out a cleared table, followed in short order by an artful arrangement of the merch, surrounding a carefully stacked pyramid of canned energy drinks. "Hopefully, this shall suffice..." he says to himself, before clearing his throat. "Your attention please! Your beloved idol has generously procured libations for you, her dear fans! Please, enjoy this bounty and let it energize you for the performance to come!"
Kukuru	Genm's boisterous declaration gets a pleasant chuckle from Kukuru, and she waits for a brief lull in the conversation to shuffle beside Marina. "Genm's like that, but he means well." She explains quietly, pausing to watch him as she... Takes the role of the audience? Kukuru claps, but she's looking a little confused there (like usual). Eventually, shuffling around on the floor becomes too uncomfortable to keep doing with so much stuff in the way, and Kukuru relents enough to actually stand back up so she can finish her drink and put all that stuff away. As she does, she hears about the old President, and she hears Yuuki explaining things for Marina's sake. As expected... Yuuki's enthusiasm is infectious for someone like Kukuru. When she states her reasons for being here, Kukuru nods quickly in approval. When she holds her hand out to Marina, Kukuru gets a gleam in her eye. It'd be harder not to see that she's hoping for her to take Yuuki's hand, and Kukuru lets out a quietly pleased noise when that happens, absent-minded though it may be. "Perfect~ Now we can get Marita and everyone else up, so your show can go on! Once.. Um." She turns to look over at Woz as he works on getting the crowd energized with the power of ENERGY DRINKS. Naturally, she starts checkign her own pockets for little snack bags, and starts lobbing them over to add a few actual calories to go with all those drinks. "'Almost Chevalier'...? What does that even mean?" As Sougo explains what that is and how it happened, Kukuru checks her pockets. She remembers taking plenty of those things out, but did she ever keep any of them? She'll probably find one eventually if she did in order to show it to Marina, but she's not too worried about that even if there isn't a spare one in there. "I had to dig them out of a buncha people a little while ago. It's kinda messy to take out, too, like it was.. Um." She gestures vaguely with her hands, and there's nothing resembling what it looked like compared to how her hands are moving. "Eating them from the inside... It was real nasty work. Do you remember seeing anyone else with a weird thingy in their arms? Or... Acting really funny, like they were hungrier than usual?"
Yuuki Kuran	Yuuki's extended hand pumps twice at the absentmindedly taken grip, happy to be normal about it. "I consider Kaien Cross my 'father', the man who raised me. So I was given a certain kind of old-fashioned view of the world. But do you know the difference between most old men, and my father?" She holds there, hand to hand. Despite her pale complexion and slender features, her grip is warm and firm, supportive and intentful in keeping Mariah's attention on the thought of Kaien Cross. "Headmaster Cross puts on a turtleneck sweater and carefully sees to the growth of children. He has a finger on the pulse of things in a pure way - and he wants better. I think that's a very important kind of in-touch-" Yuuki smiles, bright and open (and fanged), head tilted and bangs drooping across her cheek. "Don't you think?" Letting Marina go and stepping back, Yuuki turns to Kukuru and eagerly nods. "That's the spirit! Let's really go all out since we've saved the energy from fighting for something better. You can't break the cycle of violence with violence, but finding something to cooperate over. Like not being used," To Kukuru's point about the devices in people's arms. "-and discarded. That's the world I want to move away from. So instead of discarding you, how about--" Genm's broken chestplate is very interesting, the crackedcore zombie form of the gamer CEO god programmer inspiring the Director to take a second look. "Genm, everyone, since they were going to put on a show, could you help them 'produce' it? Everyone wants a bigger stage, so maybe we can wake up this crowd and get them ready to be the live audience to an exclusive broadcast?" Inspired by Woz's use of the Dorado Black card, Yuuki dreams of solving this problem by putting the marketing and PR teams of the Concord to work paying and signal boosting content creators.
Kuroto Dan	"You have a good eye. An appreciation for fine craftsmanship. This here is my Life Jail Armor. For months, no /years/, I slaved over this detail, finely tuning not only its appearance, but its function. With it, I-" Genm seems to enjoy people taking note of his armor, and immediately busts into tech specs. The topic is thankfully cut short, as Yuuki Kuran asks him a good question, a request even. He sees now. How very narrow minded of him, he could never settle on just being part of the crowd. He should be partaking in the creation of this spectacle. Yes. He's glad he thought of it himself, with just a bit of help from the Director. "To help with the production is but a small feat for me. With but a thought I could conjure up a show that would move thousands to tears. The only thing I need fear is that I don't become the star instead, but there is nothing I cannot do, which includes downplaying my natural charisma!" He's got ideas and tools to achieve this, one of which is unfortunately in the hands of a certain Gamer at the moment. But that doesn't matter. He's got another Gashat in mind, and with it, the ultimate backup dancer, no... The ultimate PERFORMANCE will be achieved. Genm begins cackling at his own thoughts, pacing back and forth as he begins playing things out in his head. He's only ever interrupted by his own coughing, freezing in place temporarily before moving on as if nothing ever happened.
Zero Kiryu	"Well, I mean-- I want to fight, but if I fought every time I wanted to fight I'd just be killing little people," Marina says, shrugging. "Some folks are like that, I guess, but it's sort of the opposite of my business. I guess I could go with fists instead of the big sword--" You don't see a big sword, but given what happened with that one guy's gun there's a decent chance whatever she has is transforming. "But it's not that hard to break a neck, or a skull, or whatever..." The whole almost-Chevalier thing being clarified draws an agitated noise out of Marina. "That's... pretty bad. We've got folks like that now and again. Heck, I'm one of them. Like that Cross weirdo, I'll live a really long time. Doctor's always asking me, 'Feeling any urge to drink blood?', and the answer's always no, but they never stop fussing. Not sure how you'd 'make' somebody like that, though..." There's a decent chance that samples from this woman were used to make the process to start with, even though she's unaware of it. This is basically a concert, and the drinks weren't INexpensive, so the blearily awake people start lining up for the free drinks. These people are going to crash meteorically later, but it does seem to be getting them moving faster and more alert, at least. << Hey, can you hold on a sec? Got a problem with some dogs. >> Marina asides into her earpiece, sidling out to clear the incapacitated regular security. They're not actually necessary members of the audience so she doesn't care if they're still incapacitated. Kukuru tries to show Marina a weird device, which just gets a shrug out of her. "Lady, when I see somebody acting 'hungrier than normal' in a way that registers to me at all I usually kill them. We have a feral vampire problem out here, you know. Can't say I've seen any that were out of the ordinary, though. Just the usual careless bite victims, you know? Playthings of nobility that they didn't care enough to fix up before wandering off." //Do you know the difference between most old men and my father?// "Uh, about 500 pounds per square inch?" Marina offers, blandly. She has no idea, because she lives in the middle of goddamn nowhere. When Yuuki offers an explanation, she looks thoughtfully to the sky. "Yeah, I guess. Teachers are pretty important. The old bat that taught us is a hateful old bastard. Really didn't like me, so I didn't pay him much mind." She might've been a victim of too-close-to-a-vampire racism there. This is around the time that Marita actually emerges from the back-area that Marina was in front of this whole time. Although the family resemblance is obvious, Marita is of comparatively average height -- boosted a fair bit by heeled boots -- and actually dressed for a performance. The hammer that she carries is huge and ornate; almost cartoonish, the striking side has more the appearance of a meat tenderizer than a normal hammerhead. She hooks Genm around the shoulder with it, not threateningly but rather using it as a prop-- like a shepherd's crook, and starts towards the stage. "Your asymmetry IS pretty fashionable," she comments, before releasing him -- the march hasn't stopped, she expects him to go along with it -- and grabbing Marina. "I'm going to need more people with armor if it's going to look like this, though. Come on, Marina--" "Uh, I don't know choreograp--" "I have seen you fight, yes you do, just suit up and provide some symmetry to to Mr. downplay-my-charisma." Marita is ABOUT to hook Yuuki the same way, realizes she would burn her, and just points at her. "Can you do bats? Enough bats could distract from any... mis-steps."
Zero Kiryu	This woman has improvised a routine listening to you through her sister's headset. Marina draws a sword from the small of her back, looking nervous. There's no hostility though, this isn't some sort of planned ambush, she just isn't a performer. "Oh, and about YOUR question," Marita throws an arm around Kukuru's shoulders and drags her along. She's surprisingly strong, though not as strong as Kukuru. Lowering her voice, she explains, "I've got a list of EM-EYE-AYYS that don't involve enough exsanguinations to be normal. Might have something to do with what you found..." Oh, she's also on top of the fact that suspicious shit is happening. If Yuuki happens to give Marita a scan she'll find it's harder than normal-- the hammer seems to emanate psychic power. But as no resistance is being put forward she'll be able to identify that Marita is VERY suspicious of The Professor. Almost as if she has a personal investment in her audiences not turning into zombies, imagine that.
Kukuru	"Well, I mean-- I want to fight, but if I fought every time I wanted to fight I'd just be killing little people," "Oh! I know... Why don't you and your sister come work for us, then?" Kukuru suggests, looking over at Yuuki with a hopeful glint in her eyes. "Then you'd have all sorts of opportunities to do that and get paid for it. And if anyone gets real hurt... Oh. I can take care of iiiit~" She adds without explaining anything as usual, bobbing her head lightly from side to side with that same gleam still present. "We have a feral vampire problem out here, you know. Can't say I've seen any that were out of the ordinary, though. Just the usual careless bite victims, you know? Playthings of nobility that they didn't care enough to fix up before wandering off." That, at least, gets Kukuru to stop being quite as vacant-minded. Instead, she frowns and lets out a troubled noise, then rubs the back of her neck. "That's terrible... Hmm. All the more reason to make sure we get that summit going without aaaany problems, then. If people know, they'll be more careful, and new vampires won't need to be so... They won't have to worry about becoming like that." "Genm, everyone, since they were going to put on a show, could you help them 'produce' it? Everyone wants a bigger stage, so maybe we can wake up this crowd and get them ready to be the live audience to an exclusive broadcast?" Kukuru's eyes light up almost immediately. "Like a... A play? With an audience and setting up all the things and... And...!" Up until now, she's only heard about the production experience secondhand from various sources in the Concord: Costuming, set design, advertising, scheduling, rehearsals, all that stuff. It's never been something she could ever experience herself, though, and she'd always have to settle with imagining herself going through all that... Up until now. Even better, the people involved presumably would even want to be involved, and she's not about to pass this chance up. "I'm going to need more people with armor if it's going to look like this, though. Come on, Marina--" "Uh, I don't know choreograp--" "We can make sure everything's perfect! Genm can get us extra suits, Sougo and Woz already have their own, and... Oh! We also gotta make sure we get the lighting, the sound, everyone in the right places..." She's starting to tear up and hyperventilate a bit already. Kukuru may not know what she needs to do, per se, but she's gone through it enough times in her head that she's already mapping out where the seats and everything should go. Coincidentally, it's lining up with how things were already (more or less) arranged prior to everyone showing up here, but that's something she can keep in her own head. She's so wrapped up in these thoughts, even, that she doesn't even realize Marita's dragging her somewhere until after she's already started whispering to Kukuru. "Huh? Oh." She mouths 'MIAs' under her breath a few times before she actually gets it. "Oh. Yeah, we can help them out, too." Kukuru whispers in return, not quite sure why she's doing it aside from just following Marita's lead. "The more people we help, the fewer attacks we gotta worry about on the streets and around here. That'll help Yuuki's dream come true, and then you can perform in peace, and..." She pauses. "... Oh, but I guess your sister might not have as many people to fight if that happens. Is she gonna be okay?"
Timespace Riders	Not sure how you'd 'make' somebody like that, though... "Woz mentioned something about blood magic," answers Sougo, with a shrug of his shoulders. The second hand on his wristwatch skips, btiefly, as if there were an error with the timepiece. Of course, there wasn't. Was any of Marina's blood used for that? A brief temporal jaunt is made, back to a little before the assassination. Maybe the Professor or someone working with her was shadowing Marina during a fight of hers? In the present, armed with that knowledge, Sougo follows along with Genm, up to a point--he pauses, a little ways before the stage. "So," says the Demon King over the local tacnet, "Marina here was used as a sample for those implants. She doesn't know--I think telling her can wait until after the performance, but she'd probably want to know." He lowers his hand from his ear, and then beckons towards his retainer with a bounding step towards him and an upturned chin. "Hey, Woz!" The retainer perks up, by his 'concession' area. "Yes, sire?" "Could you... maybe... put your Driver in standby, to generate a little hype?" Woz smiles, nods, and refastens the Beyondriver, placing his namesake Miridewatch into the gate at the side. WOZ?! Action! Up-tempo, synth-heavy rave music with a bouncy beat sounds through the air, as Woz works the crowd, striding confidently. He beckons upwards with his hands, as a conductor might, to coax a crescendo from an orchestra, before alternating, pivoting on his feet and gesturing to the stage with both hands.
Yuuki Kuran	All about the arena, where the unroused piles of wolf-shape familiars all shift up, some stolen by vines from the periphery and others shrugging off and rising out of roused fans. Some trot over to Woz's table in ones and twos to retrieve energy drinks. Sniffing out and retrieving any stragglers, standing watch over Nikki's sleeping body, loitering in the shadows as glassy glows of black on black. The normal things dogs get up to! Two at the drink table carefully collect some of the straggling-last cans, sidemouthing the drinks and pulling them off the table to paw at the pulltabs futilely, flick and tap with paws, and then tandem flip their cans up to snap down on them. 'Crunch' goes the metal, punctured by teeth and bursting into mouth. Both familiars foam at the mouth as they gargle fresh energy drink awkwardly. The excitement dies as they both manage to get their cans down, invigorating. . . Yuuki. "A teacher that cares - about what they're teaching, and who they're teaching - makes all the difference. There's a lot of different ways to learn how to hate yourself, and afterwards it's hard to break out - but with help, anything's possible. That's what I've had to learn a dozen or so times to really figure out. Now..." Marita enters with a commanding presence and a smaller stature, and gets to coordinating herself. Hammer as a croup stick, she ropes in the GAMER GOD Genm, and with a knowing smirk at seeing another performing woman rope the purple rider into fully genuine art on the spot. "I can do bats, and fire, and wolves too. Just think of me as your--" Windowframing Marita with thumbs and forefingers in L's, Yuuki's smile carries through. "--eager assistant." Backing off and helping Woz clear the folding table the wizard retainer set up his stand on to get it out of the way, 'Yuuki' makes good on her promise immediately: Another Yuuki, in a white button-down blouse and long black skirt and leggings, appears on the first row of stands, with a laptop settled on her lap. Pushing up a pair of computer glasses higher on her nose, the more 'refined' half of the Queen of Vampires continues arranging for a remote recording setup. Fluttering about and down from recesses in the ceiling, as if all the unobserved space was the roost for an endless quantity of batshapes. Many form a convenient and harmless fluttering field effect, dancing in high energy clouds, and some simply float around. Others land on the shoulders of the three Riders, on the ear-cones of Kukuru, and one on the head of Marina. A dozen effortfully split carrying small flashlights as impromptu spotlights, weighed down. Unlike real bats: Other than the beat of wings, they are rather quiet and not screechy at all. Echolocative verisimilitude is being truncated - for the show.
Kuroto Dan	"That is GOD Mr. Downplay-My-Charisma to you!" Genm complains as he's shepherded behind stage. He doesn't fight it though. As humiliating as it might be, it's within his heart to once again forgive. "So." Once behind stage, the CEO pulls out a black device, which he threateningly points at everyone before removing the Gashat from his belt, before replacing it with the contraption. "Normally, I can only slot in one Gashat with this Driver. And why would I ever need more than one? Dangerous Zombie is the current pinnacle of game design, after all. HOWEVER!" He follows up by slotting the removed Gashat back in, this time into the device he had just shoved in. "Through the power of Lock-On Technology, I can now combine multiple games, just like with my previous work. Now, behold." Genm procures a new Gashat this time, this one encased in a fully pink plastic shell. He presses the button, and the game chimes the words Toki Meki Crisis! in an upbeat voice. It's immediately jammed into the device to join the Dangerous Zombie Gashat, the device now sticking out like one of those tumors bolted onto an early 16-bit console. It works though, and the two Gashats begin play a disharmonious jingle, both fighting to be heard. DANGER! DANGER! GENOCIDE! DEATH THE CRISIS! DANGEROUS ZOMBIE! ! ! A dreaming girl! a lovely simulation! GENOCIDE! The maiden forever in a Toki Meki Crisis! ! ! There's a flash of light as pink armor materializes and incorporates itself into his white and black's suit design, with a boquet of red roses adorning his shoulder. Several other Genms, with the exact same appearance, soon form from the ground behind him, mirroring his every movement. There is nothing I can't achieve. Show me the stage! I will claim the hearts and admiration of the crowd using no contuni- Ah." Genm's feeling himself, before remembering he's not supposed to be the star. Were he a lesser being, he'd have fed into his delusions of grandeur, but he's not. He caught himself immediately. Even if he's deserving of the spotlight, taking it means he'd fail at what he set out to do, which is even more unacceptable to him.
Zero Kiryu	"Uh, 'cause we're not looking for extra work?" Marina looks absolutely baffled by the job offer. "We do fine. We get paid. I kill vampires that have gone off the rails. That's about it. The Professor's just our doctor." It bears meantioning that Marina was meant to be in an entirely different city, 'securing' it for The Professor. What that means is that she's already down (effectively) a stronghold that she thought was secure, narrowing sharply the escape routes. In other words, once this concert is done with you're in a good shape to finish this up at the edge of the world. Kukuru makes some very reasonable suggestions. "We could just kill the purebloods doing it," Marina points out. This is not a person that gets involved in peace summits. On the other hand, she definitely doesn't get involved with sabotaging them on purpose either. She's the local sheriff, and 'local' is wherever she happens to be. In that regard, dealing with her is more-or-less the easiest it's going to get. "Oh, I've got a suit," Marina says, cutting her left hand on her blade. The blood soaks in and the weapon expands outwards into a truly ludicrous and ornate greatsword with a facade on its flat side like a statue from a church, armor seeping onto her form complete with a red tabard as her eyes gleam bright red. This doesn't seem to bother her in the slightest, and the smell of blood doesn't remain on the air long at all. She frowns. "Ah... probably should've saved that for once we were starting..." Marita, on the other hand, knows exactly what she's doing. She asides to Kukuru, "Oh, honey... they're definitely dead or close enough to make no difference." Not knowing about Kukuru's abilities, or how Dan has been saving the victims in REBOOT CUBES, she can't possibly know that she's a little off-base there. IN THE PAST... It's really not as malign as all of that, on the surface. Marina apparently gets her blood drawn regularly, for whatever reason. The Professor is her doctor, but it's a nurse who actually gets it done. The whole experience is so routine that Marina doesn't even pay attention to any of it, falling asleep for a little while. This is, he can verify, not actually a result of drugging of any sort. "Wait, you think I hate myself? I don't hate myself!" Marina says to Yuuki, having to stop herself from whirling with her giant dumb greatsword in hand. This doesn't actually assuage worries, probably; it just means the problem is buried somewhere. Judging by the casual blood-letting it might just manifest in the form of recklessness. Something that Yuuki was more than passingly familiar with. Meanwhile, Woz uses BELT MUSIC to rile up the crowd. It's starting to get mistaken as some sort of weird unique opening act, and there are enough people in strange gear to encourage that perception. The fact that Woz has a way of being elegantly energetic doesn't hurt, either. "I like your dog," Marita asides to Yuuki, completely sincerely. Dogs are cute. Even shadow demon-dogs. Or at least, she seems to think so. She swings her hammer around to gesture at Yuuki vaguely and adds, "Your presence is too big to be an assistant, but I appreciate the modesty~!" A few of the audience members are interested in the dogs, too. Mostly because they started drinking energy drinks. Low-key, those who have received contracts from Zero feel a pulsing in their veins-- a shoring-up. The meaning behind it will remain unclear, for the moment... "Oh-kay sir, Kami-sama sir!" Marita answers Genm enthusiastically, not quite in Japanese but certainly in something similar. She's giving Yuuki a further peek into how alike they are in this specific regard. It's free to entertain Genm, it can be a part of the show, what's not to love?
Zero Kiryu	There's a sparkly-eyed quality to the way she observes the contrast between the two voices coming off of Genm's transformation, tucking her hammer under an arm to press both hands to her cheeks in a theatrically over-the-top expression. "Ah, don't worry, don't worry, don't worry," Marita belts out almost unbelievably quickly, once more hooking the freshly-retransformed Genm by the shoulder as he tries to double back to not taking the spotlight. "This isn't an idol group, there's not just one person playing center! It's time for a little bit of improv; I trust you all to have it together but LISTEN! TO! MY!" She took her hammer back into hand and thrust it into the air, the VOICE! that followed echoing in each of their minds. With that, she drags Genm onstage with her to a now-fully attentive and expectant crowd. What follows can only be described as an entirely improvised performance of something resembling nordic death metal crossed with j-pop, ultimately resolving out to have some of the curious contrasts found in the Beetlejuice musical. In spite of the fact that she's using mind-altering powers she doesn't use them to steer the audience much at all-- mostly she's giving the group ideas of where to go and how to move, and instructions on how not to completely annihilate each other when passing nearby during this not-at-all-rehearsed choreo. In particular, Dan finds himself 'jousting' with Marina, who looks extremely concerned about actually hitting him even though she probably shouldn't. She doesn't, though-- as Marita said to her earlier, she's a lot better at motion than she gives herself credit for. Every single one of you is, at one point, dragged center stage with Marita, who goes from cutesy singing and provocative dancing to something a little closer to artful hoarse-throated rallying cries on a dime. Whether it's intuition or simply cold decision-making she's careful to get Woz and Sougo on simultaneously-- and very insistent on Woz using SCARF MOVES because why the hell else would he have that thing. She purposefully rotates the two Yuukis to draw people's attention to impossibly rapid wardrobe shifts between them, and for the finale... Hey I'm gonna need you all to scream. The bats and dogs too. Okay? Three, two, one... It's a good time. By the end of it Marita has the lights to everything but the exit rows cut and collapses onto her back on the middle of the stage, where she's handed a water bottle, empties it on her face, is handed another, and drinks it entirely before taking another breath.
Timespace Riders	On stage, and sans BELT MUSIC, Woz's scarf winds a serpentine, impossible path through the performance, undulating with the stage lighting to make an impromptu strobe effect that highlights everyone individually before winding rapidly back, looping around everyone at once. It snaps back, guided by motions of his hand, sweeping underneath a startled Sougo to lift him into the air. Nearly stumbling and falling off, Sougo regains his footing and hits the griddy (yes), mugging for the crowd before the group rallies and chants begin. At the end of everything, with the lights cut, Sougo, panting, beckons to Marina and whispers what he'd seen in the past, to her--that the Professor had very likely used one of the many times her blood was drawn for the purpose of making those implants.
Kukuru	<Tac-Concord> 4 Sougo Tokiwa says, "So, Marina here was used as a sample for those implants. She doesn't know--I think telling her can wait until after the performance, but she'd probably want to know." <Tac-Concord> 4 Kukuru says, "Definitely... It's a pretty big deal, yeah. It could be a big distraction, too, so after the show's good." Kukuru's grin grows just a bit wider at being on the same page there, and she even giggles softly at the sight of so many Yuukis appearing to play the role of the ever-present assistant. The bats, too, are a welcome sight, although Kukuru does have to remind herself a few times that they're not for eating, and especially not in front of new friends. Reaching up to pet the ones on her horn/drill/textured cones, Kukuru looks over at Genm as he combines Dangerous Zombie with Toki Meki Crisis, and she cheers reflexively. She's always excited to see new forms that her family can come up with, and she almost starts tugging on Marita excitedly before realizing... She has no idea if she or her sister have ever seen any of these before today. It'd make sense for her not to, considering that Marita doesn't seem to realize what Kukuru and Dan are capable of yet. "Hmm? Oh, that's fine. The important thing is they're not dead and stale." Kukuru clarifies, still managing not to explain anything clearly even though she sounds so confident about what she's saying. She'll probably explain later, but right now? It's time to get a show put together. Kukuru might not know much about proper stage productions outside of what would be appropriate for an elementary school theater, but she does have quite the knack for getting lighting and things set up ahead of time, or even handling dynamic lightning with the power of teleporting to weird places and moving things manually. The part she's not mentally prepared for, of course, is actually taking the stage. Thankfully, having her family around makes it easier to get into the flow of things, and Kukuru's more than eager to bounce around with everyone else and even does a modest job at following those dances before the end of it all. She's also way better at the shouts and screams than cutesy singing, somehow.
Yuuki Kuran	Secretly, when things had turned pleasant, Yuuki had experienced a relief. Bowling through everything, lifting her hand and gesturing, couching Fang - the scythe, Artemis - in her arms as a threat and a promise had become habituated. She brought armored warriors and knights! Thankfully, the girls are also armored warriors and knights. It works out much better when compromise is struck. "Well, you certainly seem to have made the most of it." First Yuuki agrees gently to Marina, getting more context than she's obviously given. People build themselves into certain ways. Having a system of people - a brother, or a sister - can make even the intolerable something that's gotten through together. "And I'm glad you didn't learn hate from a harsh teacher. But we're all a little changed for how we are, aren't we? Changed for having this and that, changed for having armor to call and power to spare." 'I like your dog.' "Thanks!" Second Yuuki looks up from her laptop, the pack and clouds of familiars brightened up by the attention. For all the restrained ferocity and feral wildness of the wolf-shape, Yuuki's canid familiars held much of her. Soft to the touch, sleepily affable and yawning, the dogs do their best to remain modest even as... Both First and Second Yuuki smile in tandem at 'but I appreciate the modesty'. "It's your show." The pair declare, to Marina and Marita, and GENM as he GOD GAMER busts a move with a dual-load of his gamer device. Even Yuuki didn't know he could do that! BY THE END. . . Listening to someone else's voice, while taking some getting used to, was made easier by the exhilarating time shared by all. The 'bats and dogs too' produces a blowout sound, and several windows go out (for show - breaking a few windows was like smashing a guitar, wasn't it?). Yuuki (twice over) pumps her fist and shouts like a cheering fan and member of the ensemble chorus both, and at the end... Well, she wants a different kind of drink than water. But there's dark dogs with energy drinks to pass out. Only slightly teethmarked!