Scene #1600: The Union Elite Meet'n'Greet

Owner	Pose
Kazusa Ujikane	Sea Breeze Mall. A spread-out mall with several shops out on a strip that runs parallel to the sea, giving shoppers a rather nice view and a cool, well, sea breeze. The mall was scheduled for an event in half an hour or so from now; it was chosen as the site for a delegation of Union Elites to come and talk to the press, the citizens, whoever might care to show up and meet amazing people from outside their world. Apparently, some terrorists wanted to meet amazing people from outside this world. The police have cordoned off the mall, and an armed military response is on its way through the city, but the city is crowded enough right now that even though they weren't slated to be here just yet, the Union's Elites will STILL probably be the fastest responders. The terrorists themselves are currently holed up in one of the larger indoor mall areas, with the hostages seated in a big circle, but little more intel than that is available from the police just yet.
Amalthea	And what should appear at the police cordon but... A unicorn. A full on honest to goodness unicorn comes trotting right up to the police line, silvery cloven hooves clicking lightly on the pavement with barely a sound. It is probably the most awkward thing ever, when the rainbow-maned beast simply canters right up to the officer in charge. "Hi. I'm with the Union." She chuffs, motioning to jangling dog-tags hanging from her neck denoting rank, name, and myriad other information. "Isn't this just a peachy meetup? I'm going to need a detailed situation report now, please."
Yuna Kagurazaka	Like any young woman, Yuna wanted to take the chance to go shopping, so she came by the mall ahead of time - checking in with mall security and the event organizers, then starting to make the rounds and look for stores which caught her interest; she'll probably make the rounds again later for actual shopping -- or at least, that WAS her plan before terrorists happened. She managed to avoid being picked up as a hostage, mostly thanks to Elner warning her and finding a convenient restroom to avoid them in. On the other hand, that means the hostages are still in a fairly considerable amount of danger, and as much as Yuna wants to go charging to their rescue, there's a lot she doesn't know about how the terrorists are going to react if surprised ... The end result of this is that Yuna gets Elner to teleport her out to the police cordon, while Elner itself finds a good spot to watch the terrorists and hostages, the tiny robo-faerie taking advantage (as usual) of its small size to elude notice. A potted plant or a convenient ceiling beam or rafter should be plenty of concealment. This leaves Yuna walking up to the police, holding her left hand up and empty, her right hand holding her Union ID card. "Count me in to help with the rescue ... Elner doesn't think anyone's been hurt yet, but hasn't had time for a detailed scan of the mall." Of note, Yuna isn't even transformed yet; she's still in her civilian clothes, mostly sweater and jumper.
Lyria Mason	So she had been up to come for the event, she thought it would be a good way to help out, right? Also it's neat going to extraveral worlds she haf found. It was always an adventure to her, however the time for fun was not now anylonger. There was a problem there had been terrorists of some sort and they had taken hostage and well? THat didn't sit right with Lyria and reminded her too much of the problems back home with the Shivans looking to make war over any reason, such as the multivberse. The woman doesn't look like you'd expect of an elite really. Well an elite soldier, she was young, wild blue hair, a tattoo streaked across her face and wearing clothing whigh might be closer to beach wear, either way she arrives just behind Amalthea and says. "Ma'me I'm with you." She knows Amlthea's more experianced than she is and will default to said experiance at this point. She also takes amoment to fish out her ID card from her vest to show the police.
Brooklyn	There is some other mythological creature on his way to the police line that has been set up. Brooklyn, the red skinned gargoyle, wearing his modernized police vest, seems to be lugging something heavy under him as he flies in. It's slowing him down and he's trying to glide above all of the gathered people without dropping what he's holding. Landing next to Amalthea, Brooklyn slams the shield he made down onto the pavement. It looks like he tore up some kind of stone structure and then bent a couple of metal bars into the stone to make it so it would have a way to mount it onto Amalthea's arm, "Hope this'll work." Brooklyn offers, as he stands up next to the shield. It's big and heavy and really brutal looking.
Staren	Staren was on his way /anyway/, curious to see this new world. Upon learning that terrorists had taken over the venue, though, his thoughts turn to how to neutralize them without hurting the hostages. Of course, when he hears one of his allies isn't equipped for a combat op, he's happy to help... Staren teleports in in a nearby alley, then pushes his way through the crowd, flashing a badge to get people to part ways. Although, he's dressed in a labcoat, not a police uniform... When he arrives at the cordon, he holds out his Union ID and the badge he's been flashing. It's very official-looking and inscribed with the initials 'LDF' -- sharp-eyed folks might make out the words 'Lazlo Defense Force' and 'Tactical Response Unit'. "I'm here to help. Do we know anything about these terrorists? Who they are, what they want, how they operate? ...How likely they are to kill the hostages if we do anything the least bit suspicious?" He frowns and his tail flicks in annoyance. So, Amalthea needs gear! He turns to her and starts pulling things from his bag. "Would you like a forcefield armor potion? For weapons, I've got my spare pistol -- the regular non-laser kind -- my missile pistol -- the blast radius on these is just a few feet -- some grenades, Morg's Rattler, I've got this gunblade, let's see, what else could you possibly use..." he produces each item from the bag as he mentions it, either handing it over or putting it back in his bag if Amalthea isn't interested.
Kazusa Ujikane	The OIC to whom Amalthea speaks looks a little flabbergasted, to say the least. But he marshals himself admirably, offering intel for both her and Staren. "Ah, w-well, we don't know terribly much ourselves yet. This was planned and coordinated well enough for them to swiftly take control of the crowd, but they have yet to establish any line of communication with us. They seem to be staying in the atrium for now, with all the hostages in a circle, according to some of the people who got out." Elner will find that the best place to watch what's going on is, quite literally, from above. The Sea Breeze Mall's atrium is domed with reinforced glass, granting a nicely clear view of the group of people inside. There's a good 40-50 hostages, and 10 or so terrorists, most of whom are keeping either branch of the mall covered, a couple of whom are on the hostages themselves, and a couple of whom are covering the seaside exit. Indeed, no one has been hurt, aside from perhaps a bruise or two from rough handling. Things are beginning to develop now that the Elites are here, though. Elner will be able to report that one of the terrorists has moved away from the group and towards the Atrium entryway, and that's about when the Elites will be able to see him leaning out the door with a megaphone. "SEND THE ELITES IN. WE WANNA TALK." The others don't seem to be terribly foolish, though; with the one spokesman yelling out the door, the rest of them are on even higher alert for the moment, sweeping the mall around them for any sign of an attacker taking advantage of the distraction.
Yuna Kagurazaka	Yuna nods to the officer in charge, then tilts her head slightly as Elner fills her in. "Only ten to a dozen terrorists, something like four times that many hostages ..." She pauses, looking towards the main door as the 'spokesman' issues their first demand. "... huh. I wonder if we'll have to negotiate, or whether all they want is a chance to chat and get to know us?" Yuna looks at the local officer-in-charge, then at Amalthea. "Guess we just head in for now - in noncombat form, I would think? I can transform pretty quickly, and I don't think we want to put them on the defensive ..." Ultimately, she's deferring to Amalthea, but Yuna's perfectly willing to go in and smile and be friendly. Heck, if that's all it takes to get the terrorists to stand down, she'll be perfectly happy to go in and talk, maybe even sing for them.
Amalthea	With the arrival of the other elites, Amalthea lightly taps one hoof on the pavement thoughtfully. Lacking her normal equipment she's forced to rely on the charity of her compatriots, and they don't disappoint. While she listens to the officer in charge, one loppy ear lifted to tell the man that she's paying attention, she shifts, plating and configuration altering from quadruped, to humanoid. Having hands makes it easier to hoist the huge slab of stone that Brooklyn provides her with, gripping the rebar and testing the weight of her new shield. "Huh... Not bad. Thanks." Okay, she's got an idea of the count of terrorists and hostages now, but getting in presents a conundrum as she pores over Staren's offer. Simple is best, and she settles on the normal spare, which she clips onto the back of her waist, hidden in her hair. A means of entry provides the biggest conundrum. Until the megaphone speaks up and says to just file on in. "... Well that was easy. Let's not keep them waiting, folks." Amalthea is perfectly fine with just walking in.
Staren	Staren is rooting around in his bag trying to think of anything else when the terrorist spokesperson shows up. ...Huh, okay. And Amalthea's up for just going in... Hmm. Well, they can do that... Tiny rotordrones that could be mistaken for insects at a glance fly out of his bag -- one glies around the outside to help Elner scout, a few others land on his person and hopefully look innocuous. He buttons up his labcoat and then follows Amalthea in.
Kazusa Ujikane	The man with the megaphone is very careful to be well back from the doors by the time the Elites actually come in. And all of them are definitely being covered; no fewer than four assault rifles are trained on the door, though none of them open fire unless the Union folks present decide to do something particularly rash. This close, though, it becomes evident that 'the elf with the megaphone' would be more accurate. The terrorists are a mixed bag; three elves, five humans, one dwarf, and what looks to be a half-orc, all of them pretty evently spread out, and all of them using bog-standard 20th-century automatic weapons. The elf that called out previously lowers his weapon, and sniffs once before speaking. "So you're the Elites, then. Look, I'm going to level with you lot, this is all a pretty colossal mistake. Our now-former planner somehow completely missed the fact there was a big ol' Elite gathering in this mall today. We'd just planned on police and soldiers. Don't suppose you'd be willing to negotiate for us to just get out of here, we all pretend none of this happened?" There are a couple of irritated looks from other hostage-takers. But none of them seem inclined to question this particular direction of negotiations. None of them in particular seem to notice Staren's drones under the labcoat, and none of them at all are looking upward.
Lyria Mason	Lyria Mason is listening anf she wonders just whom is behind this. She gets the intel and she nods she wonders about how to deal with this. She pauses as they wnat to talk to the elites? Okay she thinks they could take these guys, however how many bystanders would die if they just bullrushed in humm. She wants to make a name for her self long term and have it be a good one. So perhaps the talking is the best thing she does look over Amalthea and she falls in step with her. She doesn't /seem/ armed. She just kinda listens and she has to wonder is this seriously for real? She keeps an netural exptession as she listens and she can only guess how this is going to go it's not her call after all. Still she has to admit they seem both dimmer and yet brighter than some she's encountered they seem to get they are very likely out classed here.
Brooklyn	The gargoyle follows the rest of the group into the building once the hostage takers invite them inside. It's a bit weird for Brooklyn to be entering via a door, because he's far more used to finding alternate ways in through rooftops. He was considering it now, but since Amalthea seems to think the situation is in hand, he's just following her lead for right now. At the revelation that the bad guys kinda messed up, he scoffs a bit, but doesn't say anything outright yet, since he figures Amalthea is going to be the one to want to handle the negotiations.
Yuna Kagurazaka	After following Amalthea into the mall, Yuna has to fight the urge to stay behind the unicorn paladin when she sees the rifles being pointed in her direction. She's acutely aware of how unprotected she is right now, but just transforming could be considered hostile, so she keeps her civvies on ... And then has to fight even harder against the urge to facepalm. There are so many things she COULD say about the terrorists' plans and intentions, but she stifles all of those comments, just looking over the terrorists - focusing on their FACES rather than their guns. Then she looks at Amalthea again, then back at the elf who spoke. "You haven't hurt anybody seriously, right?" she asks the elf and his allies. She's still deferring to Amalthea as far as what's going to actually happen; however, Elner is preparing to activate Yuna's Light Suit if something starts other than a peaceful withdrawal by the terrorists.
Amalthea	Being let right in without getting shot is a plus. The unicorn's lone eye takes a quick scan of the myriad elves, orcs, and dwarves that have picked the wrong day to try what is now a botched heist. Now, Amalthea has never once claimed diplomacy to be her strong suit. Let it be known she has always said she was terrible at it. But, if anything, an expression of almost complete and utter incredulity flashes across the mechanical mythic's face as the designated spokesperson for the group asks to call quits. She is really tempted to just let them do it and call it a day. "Are you kidding me?" Is what comes out of her mouth. The filters are kind of off, there. Yuna already asks the major question, if any of the hostages are hurt, so she doesn't repeat it. "Did you even think this shit through, because if it wasn't for all the hostages here, I'd order everyone to beat your asses and slap cuffs on you on PRINCIPAL." She says before hissing a breath through her teeth. "What were you even starting all this for? Now that you've gone this far I can't make promises like that and we all know it."
Staren	Staren's eyes widen a bit as the terrorist explains this was an 'accident'. He opens his mouth to let them have it, then stops and closes it, letting his officer speak first. After all, she might be able to handle it more diplo-- Staren sighs. Perhaps in relief. "So what you're saying is, when you set out to threaten people's lives," he waves a hand in the direction of the hostages, "you didn't /expect/ a bunch of superheroes from other worlds to show up, and therefore you should be exempt from the consequences of your actions? Come on. Look, if you give yourselves up now... well, I don't know what the local laws are, but I'm /sure/ the consequences if you give up now aren't as bad as if you kill innocent people and make us take you down. So it's probably the best option you're gonna get. If you wanna talk things out reasonably, how about accepting that?"
Kazusa Ujikane	"That would be why we have hostages, then," the elf replies to Amalthea in a slightly dry tone. "Completely unhurt hostages, I might add," he says with a glance to Yuna. "Couple of them might have hand-shaped bruises on their bicep, 's about it." His eyes sweep back to the robotic unicorn with an expression that's almost lazy. "This world's pretty spiritually rich, love. And no locals to contend with over it. We were gonna push the government here for access to some o' their 'restricted land' leylines where it's pretty good, then store up there and take some back home. But SOMEONE," he says loudly, causing one of the men covering the hostages to flinch, "Is about as observant as a rock. And now here we all are, having a lovely little chat. Look, we're about as happy about all this as you are." He gives a shrug, then turns to Staren and gives a shake of the head. "You let us go, we let the hostages go. That's what we're offering. We might keep one or two, but as soon as we're clear we let them go, no ransom, no harm, no foul, even send you the coords to pick 'em up. I got no desire to be on the Union's most wanted list." The man who flinched makes a rather irritated noise. "Firanthel, we /got/ them, right where we want 'em. The hells aren't you pushing them for more? /We/ got the power, right here!" He gestures his rifle at what appears to be a group of schoolgirls. They shrink back in fear, one of them spreading arms as if to protect the rest. The elf, Firanthel it would seem, grunts, shaking his head. "You don't get it, do you, lunk? They're apt to clobber us the second we make a move." "Then we show 'em what happens if they try! I don't know who stole your guts, point-ear, but-" Trouble in paradise, it seems. The other thugs are looking a little uneasy about the whole thing right about now.
Brooklyn	The gargoyle frowns a little bit as he listens to the so called offer, "So you want us to just let you go, no harm no foul? And you'll just get to waltz out of here, past all the cops...So what, you can plan another terrorist attack?" He doesn't like that idea at all. But he's not the one negotiating with them either, so that's on Amalthea. At the moment, Brooklyn is looking up above them, for anyone who might be out of sight. A sniper could really mess up any attack plans, and would have to get taken down first if they're going to rescue these people.
Yuna Kagurazaka	Yuna nods to Firanthel, smiling in relief. "Good ..." Then the argument starts, and she sighs quietly. "Yes, you have weapons and prisoners," she concedes to the hotheaded man (and the rest of the terrorists). "And you could start killing hostages. But you don't want to do that." She holds her hands out in front of her, palms up and empty, then brings her hands up to her chest, crossing her forearms at the wrist - first showing that she's unarmed, and then, since magic is clearly a thing in this world, positioning her hands so that there's no way she could throw a spell or anything without forewarning. Then she takes a couple of steps forward, keeping her arms across her chest like that. "Firanthel is right. As soon as you try to kill a hostage, even just to 'show us you mean business,' at the very least you will have forfeited your freedom and your ability to leave without further incident. At the very least." Yuna swallows quietly, looking among the terrorists again, her gaze resting last on the hot-headed man. There's no anger or hostility in her eyes; she's tense and anxious, of course, but she genuinely doesn't want anyone to get hurt - not even the terrorists. And if any triggers get pulled, there will be no way to avoid a lot of pain getting handed around, even if the Union Elites who are present could easily subdue all of the terrorists. But for all her anxiety and tension, if Yuna can make eye contact with the hothead, she offers a warm, friendly smile. "Please, stand down, and maybe we can make this easy. I don't want to do this the hard way, and neither do you."
Amalthea	Beratiations aren't going as planned. As the apparent leader explains the exact reason for pulling this stunt, Amalthea's focus is elsewhere. On the other man, brandishing his rifle at -schoolgirls-. Though her focus dashes to the one trying to protect the others with her body. "I'm apt to kick your ass right NOW if you don't stop waving that gun at those girls." The unicorn notes with a very un-gentle growl. But believe it or not Amalthea reins herself in. "You keep none of the hostages. Drop your weapons, put your hands up and walk out and you have the highest chance for lenience here. You guys are obviously trained and equipped, you might even get probationary jobs or something." Though she eyes Yuna, with a quiet whisper of 'Don't start giving them any ideas'. That's about the best offer she can make on her own.
Staren	Staren frowns. "Sooo, let me get this straight. You 'have the power'" finger-quotes, "and want to make demands. And you want to demand that we set a precedent that tells all criminals everywhere that all they gotta do to get the Union to do stuff for them is threaten some lives. You really think we're gonna do that?" He glares at the group for a moment. "Okay, look. It's true that a lot of us are nice. We /don't/ want to see people hurt, and /some/ of us are inclined to let the bad guy go rather than kill them. And guess what? I'm gonna tell you how to appeal to that side of us right now!" He smiles and points at the terrorist who was giving orders. "You gotta convince us that if we let you go, you're gonna get your life in order and /help/ people. That the future where you go free is better than the one where you don't. I have no idea /how/ you can prove that, but if you've got some ideas, let's hear it. You want us to work with you, you gotta /work with us/."
Lyria Mason	Lyria Mason listens so they wanted land for a ritual of some sort she also gives the elf a bit of a look at this point she narros her eyes for a moment. Still they are willing to Parlay right? She's not the diplomat here so she's keeping quiet as she attempts to think things over at this. She's clearly looking over the mall and it's makeup she gets there's maybe two things she can do with terrain like this. "Did you ever consider tradtional negitations for access to the leylines that you needed?"
Kazusa Ujikane	There's a pause in the bickering just long enough for a gargoyle to get the elven spokesperson's attention. "Yeah," Firanthel replies to Brooklyn and Staren with an arched eyebrow. "That's about the size of it. We got no plans of 'going straight' or whatever it is you people want. We got our own troubles, an' all." The 'lunk', on the other hand, is looking at Yuna with increasing agitation. "Hey. Hey /watch/ it, girl, don't you step any closer. I know you Elites got all kinds of tricks! You don't think we'll put a hostage down if you push us? How about this, huh?" He turns and brings up his rifle - something which immediately has Firanthel turning. "You idiot, no, put the fucking thing dow-" The rifle is pointed at one of the nearby schoolgirls, and pretty blatantly being ready to fire. Firanthel is lifting up his /own/ rifle, about to point it at the idiot in question. But before either of them can squeeze a trigger, one of the schoolgirls lunges up. "HEY DON'T YOU DARE POINT THAT THING AT HER-!" She's no more than 14 or 15, scrawny, wearing glasses and a sweater jacket, but she's grabbed hold of the gun and struggling with a much larger man without any apparent concern for herself. It takes only a second or two for the struggle to play out, and it ends with the rifle firing exactly once and the girl yelping in pain, dropping to the ground and clutching at her thigh. Firanthel tosses his gun down and puts his hands in the air immediately. He's the smart one, it seems. The rest of the thugs turn and run for the only exit that's not directly covered - the seaside exit. Nothing out there but a few boaters who had the brilliant idea to drive on up to the boardwalk and try to get a look inside. Idiot, as it so happens, grabs the arm of the girl he had intended to shoot, and /hauls/ her to her feet. "You're my insurance, girly, get running!" All of them but the elf are now in retreat.
Brooklyn	Well you wanna know a real fast way to piss off a gargoyle? Because idiot just hit the jackpot if that's what he was going for. Brooklyn's eyes flare bright white as he suddenly goes into action. As soon as the shot goes off, he's moving. The guy who's already shown he's willing to shoot somebody is the most pressing threat, and that's the one he's going after. Gargoyles are known to have pretty strong hind legs, and he uses that to his advantage as he leaps, catching his claws on a second floor balcony and hauling himself up onto it. If that guy's headed for the back exit of the mall, Brooklyn wants to get there first, so he can drop down onto the terrorist as soon as he emerges onto the boardwalk. Getting that girl out of his hands will be the top priority. Then the gun. Then making breaking a limb or two. Brooklyn sprints on all fours as he tears towards the back of the mall, since his wings won't help him much inside.
Lyria Mason	Lyria Mason oh hell things are not going good at this point, they got through to one of them who seemed willing talk it out b ut then sokmething goes bad. Firanthel attempts to try and top it, yet it happens. The girl comes out of nowhere she gets shot and things just goes to hell, Firanthel does the smart hting and surrenders right there on the spot, while eveyrthing else goes to madness. She knows what to do one thing at a time she moves to take the elf who has surrendered and moves to take him in. She'll pull what seems to be something akin to a zip tie to more or less restrain him and she's gong to move to guid him out of this madness to the cops, she has faith in the others but one less thing to worry about at the time, the moment the elf is in the care of the cops she's going after the rest. She also puts in a call for a healer for the wounded girl.
Amalthea	That did not go planned at all. Tensions running higher and higher, it was no question that someone was going to snap. Be it either Amalthea getting fed up with the situation, or one of the gun-toting men. Unfortunately it goes south when it happens. And for Amalthea, it is as though everything happens in slow motion. The bickering hits that peak, topping off to a lethal boiling point when the girl suddenly interposes herself in the fray and daringly attempts to wrestle the gun off. It is a terrible idea, but a ballsy one, and when the sharp cracking report of the rifle goes off, Amalthea flinches. That's when the world returns to normal speed. And as soon as Firanthel has dropped his gun, Amalthea is tempted to do the first thing she's wanted to do since walking in through the doors. "Deals off." She simply grunts at hum, throwing herself into motion past the elf. Like a flash of silver, she appears, skidding to hald in a kneel at the injured girl's side, staring intently with an eye as endlessly deep as the sea. "Why did you do that."
Staren	He tried, okay? When the terrorist says he has no plan of going straight, Staren sighs and considers further contingency fans. /Could/ he save some of the hostages if they got shot? Maybe he could use telekinesis to yank the guns out of-- oh shit! He tries to use it as they wrestle over the gun, but with two people grabbing it, his telekinesis can't really help... BANG! Staren looks at the girl. Thigh shot. Might bleed out, but not instantly. He looks at the fleeing terrorists. Considers throwing explosives their way... no, if any live, they might shoot back, and his hostages. Nonlethal methods? He could shoot with his phaser, but again, they might not know what it is and shoot back. He'll let his allies handle it. For now, he rushes to Kazusa's side, pulling a roll of bandage from his bag and wrapping it around her thigh. The bandage itself has antiseptic and pain relief chemicals in it, and there's a plum-sized bump attached to the bandage -- it begins releasing nanomachines to repair damaged tissue. The bullet will still need to be removed the normal way, but if it grazed an artery or the like, they can fix that up. Then he's up and off like a flash. His armor activates and he charges after the fleeing terrorists. As soon as the hostages are out of the line of return fire, he opens fire with his plasma cannons. If these terrorists get away, they might kill other innocents, after all. ...Still, after an initial volley or two, he switches to his phaser. In this situation, it seems he can probably /try/ for stun without risking anyone's safety further.
Yuna Kagurazaka	At the very instant that the gunshot rings out, a swirl of wind and light erupts at Yuna's feet and rises up around her body; in its wake, her civilian clothes are replaced directly by the sleek white-and-blue (with gold highlights) of her Light Suit. And no sooner is Yuna's transformation complete than a second flash of light starts up, like she's summoning a weapon ... But the light dissipates again, Yuna's hands remaining empty as she surveys the mall, starting to jog in the direction the terrorists took their hostage. "Elner, get ahead of them and see if you can separate captor from hostage," she instructs - not even shouting. Elner hears her anyway, though, and the robo-faerie vanishes in a blink of light, reappearing outside the mall, ahead of and well above the fleeing terrorists. If it's possible to force-teleport the captive schoolgirl, that's Elner's first inclination - but if the terrorist's grip is too tight or he's exerting anti-teleportation measures of some kind, that option's out. Yuna actually lets the terrorists gain a little bit of ground before she really starts running; it's better if they don't hear armored boots clacking on the ground in pursuit. And she's still angry enough to consider shooting the gunman with a stun blast from one of her weapons - but she wants to make sure an errant twitch of the finger won't end an innocent life. If the terrorists are at a full run, though, there's very little way that he can be holding the prisoner at gunpoint along the way - nobody's arms are THAT stable.
Kazusa Ujikane	Lyria has herself an easy arrest. The elf seems smart enough not to struggle in the least. More than anything, his expression seems to say, 'well, shit. I'm screwed, may as well go along with it to make things easier.' The injured girl has moved from curling on the ground to a sort of half-sit, half-lean with her left leg against the ground, making her right thigh easier to get a look at. It's a deep graze, but the bullet didn't even properly penetrate, and despite visibly being in pain when Amalthea reaches her, she can only give the unicorn a half-hearted, self-effacing laugh. "I... I dunno, he was just pointing a gun at my friend, and I didn't want to let her get hurt." She shifts where she sits, letting out a little hiss of pain, then turns to look at the fleeing goon that still has that very same friend hostage. "...fat lot of good that did, huh." She shakes her head. "...I-I just wish I had power like you all do, so I could actually save someone instead of just getting shot..." This time it's a rueful sort of chuckle. "Kinda feels dumb, getting myself shot stopping someone else from getting shot." She's putting on a brave face, but she's not that good at hiding the pain. Thankfully, Staren shows up at just that moment to... wrap some kind of bandage around her leg and then run away, without saying a word? Blink blink. "Ah... thanks...?" At least the pain subsides quickly. The men that were with the hostages have the advantage of a head start, being a lot closer to the seaside exit than the Union elites - the parking lot exit is right on the other side of the atrium from them. But Staren's weaponry is a lot faster, and one is down in the initial volley of plasma, on the ground and unmoving. Three more go down from good phaser shots, stunned quite effectively, but the man who actually has the hostage is still on his feet and retreating. Speaking of which; Brooklyn is fast, and Triggerhappy is starting to worry he won't get out the door in time. So the first thing he does is turn, putting the girl between himself and the gargoyle, with the barrel of the rifle jammed right in her back. The second thing he does is hook a leg and trip one of the other terrorists running by (the half-orc, in specific) to offer up a distraction and/or free arrest. The third is to kick the door so that it ceases to be held open, letting it swing shut behind him as he hauls her out onto the boardwalk. And after such a brilliant display of pragmatism, he yells over his shoulder, "OI, FUZZY, GET THE GODDAMN BOAT MOVING!" One of the boats among all the rubberneckers suddenly roars to life, swinging around and pulling up beside the boardwalk for the remaining armed goons to pile in. Counting mister hostage, there's only four, but he's slowed down enough by his 'insurance' that he's noticeably lagging behind the others. They're already hopping on the boat, but he's... not.
Amalthea	A wish is it? A funny way of wording things, around Amalthea, but the girl, a mere child compared to the centuries old unicorn, seems to have the attention of that lone blue eye. Almost as if staring into Kazusa's very soul as she gives her answer. "That was very brave." Amalthea murmurs. Before she snorts. "Also incredibly foolish. You could have been killed." The unicorn bites. But then she tilts her head, outright focusing that eye on the girl. "But is that what you truly want? I can feel the greatness within you. Your selflessness proves it as much. But..." That eye closes. And for a moment it's as though the unicorn is speaking to herself. "But in doing so, I would do you a great evil." Before her focus returns. "Is that what you would truly want? To consign your life into eternal sacrifice for the sake of others. To live not for yourself, but in the name of all that is good and righteous?"
Staren	Staren gives Kazusa an odd look when she expresses her wish for power. He takes a second longer to hand her a business card that says 'Staren - Union Research & Development' and multiversal contact info. "If you really mean that..." well, there isn't time to stick around, he has terrorists to chase. They can have the 'be careful what you wish for' talk later... or Amalthea can have it right now, that works. And chase them he does! Downing some, he ignores the tripped one and now starts chasing after the one with the hostage. Okay, how can he get her away... Stun? No, the guy might panic and shoot the hostage. The others are taking to a boat. Sink it? Hmm, they might start shooting. /GAH/ this is a pain... He hesitates, looking between the ones escaping and the one staying...
Yuna Kagurazaka	This is not going well, but Yuna pauses to give the injured girl a reassuring smile, "You saved a life, don't discount that! We'll bring her back safely!" Now she just has to do her part of suiting reality to words. Easy, right? If only it WERE that easy. Yuna heads out the waterfront door as well, scanning for Mr. Triggerhappy; she shouldn't have to look very hard. "Is this how you want the public to know who you are?" she calls out. "A group that's willing to theaten innocents and commit murder to get what you want? Your government will never agree to give you what you want if you come to them with blood on your hands - they'll hunt all of you down, and throw you in the deepest, darkest cell they can find! Let the girl go and give yourselves up! You AREN'T going to get away!" She glances up briefly, checking where Elner is ... not that she sees the robo-faerie, but Elner's up there somewhere. And she has one idea to work with at the moment ...
Kazusa Ujikane	Not just a weird bandage, but a business card. The girl looks between it and Staren for a few seconds in confusion, but by then he's already taken off again. She looks as if she'd ask a question, but Yuna comes by with reassurances before continuing on, and then Amalthea starts talking. And there's something about it that shuts her up entirely... at least until the offer is made. And that, she actually stops to consider, looking down at her thigh. "...heh... I don't think I've ever been so scared. Or hurt. A-and I know this is the least of it if I say yes, right? But I... I don't think I'd be able to look myself in the mirror if I turned it down. If I've got a chance to help people..." A bit of resolve slips into the girl's voice, her eyes surprisingly clear. Captain Hostage is currently backing slowly towards the railing nearest the boat, which has already been boarded by the other three; Yuna has the bulk of his attention, thanks to Staren hesitating. "You think we're from /this/ world, girl?! You think we give one dire rat's ass what the government here has to say? I ain't letting go of this girl, and if you wanna see her home alive, you better just TAKE A DAMN STEP BACK AND-" Behind him, the boat revs. One of the thugs can be heard saying, "Fuck it, get movin', Fuzz, we're done! Let /him/ deal with the problem he started!" The boat turns and peels away from the docks, accelerating. Triggerhappy turns to look behind himself, completely incredulous.
Staren	"If you're from the Multiverse, you could have found magic anywhere. You didn't have to risk these people." Staren focuses on the one with the hostage. "Alright, buddy, how do you think this is gonna end, now?"
Yuna Kagurazaka	/Elner, NOW!/ There's a blink of light - well, technically two of them: one where Yuna was standing, and another right next to Mr. Triggerhappy and his hopefully-soon-to-be-former hostage. Yuna moves immediately to push the rifle away from the captive schoolgirl, and if he can wrestle his grip off of the other girl, all the better. And for all Yuna's normal gentle nature, she is currently pissed off at this guy. She's not being any more gentle with him than is required to protect the hostage - and if she winds up getting shot at herself, well, the Light Suit is closer to bulletproof than your standard-issue school uniform. Just so long as the girl gets away safely.
Amalthea	For a long moment, the entirety of the situation is now lost on the unicorn. Her attention and focus wholly on the girl before her. Mechanical or not, she dips her head with a slow, soft, sigh that vents steam from her nostrils. "Kazusa Ujikane." She speaks, turning that deep eye upon the bespectacled girl again, even though she had never spoken her name. That golden horn comes aglow, flickering with a shivering, shimmering, seashell butterfly light, gently tapping once over the girl's heart, as clumsy as a first kiss. "I grant you what your heart desires." Murmured, just barely audible over the shiver of power palpable on the air, and the thump-thump of a single heartbeat.
Brooklyn	As soon as Yuna moves in to get the gun off of the girl, Brooklyn dives in, roaring out as he tries to grab for the gun. His plan is pretty simple, grab the gun, wrench it out of his hands, and break it in half. Superior gargoyle strength should be able to free the weapon without issue, and breaking the gun is really just to send a message to the guy that he should really stop resisting. The others that are getting away in the boat, he hopes the local police or coast guard can deal with them.
Lyria Mason	With the elf handled Lyria is off like a shot, she doesn't say a thing to him but she wasn't rough with him either. AS she now attempts t catch up she deeply wishes she'd brought her drones with her but there's no time to worry about. She now off going after them. She knows the girl saved a life but she's also got several people looking after her. She only now with high speed is able to catch up to just see what's unfolding with mr triggeer happy, she's looks at the situation on the boat after calling in she can maniplte the water she makes the call and prays to Levithan that it isn't hte wrong one she shifts her stance moving her body and then the water in the path of the boat curns and starts to turn agianst it flowing the other way it should at fairly high spee not enough to sink it but it is going to cause it problem and possibkly mess with it's propulsion, hopefully stopping it or slowing it down.
Kazusa Ujikane	Triggerhappy is utterly dumbstruck at being so completely abandoned. This leaves him easy prey for Yuna to jump in, and in the blink of an eye the girl is free and moving away, while the terrorist attempts a futile struggle with Yuna - only for Brooklyn to sieze the assault rifle and wrench it free, completely uncontested in the guy's sheer, panicked surprise. Disarmed and without hostage, all he can do now is slump to his knees, and put his hands over his head. The boat falters the instant it hits the patch of water being shifted by Lyria, its engine groaning mutinously as it struggles to move on the unexpected ocean current. But whoever was driving the getaway boat is apparently their trump card, because almost immediately, countermagic begins tearing at Lyria's manipulation, weakening it enough for the boat to break free. It banks to one side and starts accelerating, making its way for the open ocean- That's about when the door to the mall atrium more or less shatters open, and Amalthea comes charging out at full speed, shield-first, her Rocket Knight armor gleaming in the sun. ...Wait, didn't she come without her gear? And did she somehow get six inches taller in the past two minutes? ...and cut her hair? The robot unicorn knight veers right around Staren, Brooklyn, Yuna and Lyria without stopping, reaches the edge of the walkway, and leaps up, her jetpack kicking on and sending her hurtling across the water at full speed, trailing a glimmering rainbow the entire way. It doesn't stop until the moment she /slams/ down onto the back of their getaway boat, and drives Faith down into the engine hard and quick enough to utterly wreck it. "Coast guard. This is a snap inspection for illegal jerkass smuggling." They all open fire. She hunkers down behind her shield and just lets it happen.
Yuna Kagurazaka	Yuna doesn't USUALLY deck people in the face, but she's angry enough to make an exception for Mr. Triggerhappy Jerk. Fortunately, he's already surrendering, and his gun is smashed by Brooklyn, so she suppresses the desire - Oh hi Amalthea. Wait, that's not Amalthea? Well, whoever's doing an absolutely perfect Amalthea impression, Brooklyn points out on the radio that she really could use some help. Yuna moves to the edge of the boardwalk, the Matrix Divider materializing in her hands, and she takes aim ... and starts shooting at the terrorists. As usual, her weapon is in non-lethal mode. She may be putting more force behind each energy bolt than she technically NEEDS to in order to incapacitate them, but she's making a very conscious effort not to kill them. VERY conscious.
Amalthea	Well this went in a direction the unicorn did not forsee. Because after Amalthea smashes out through the door... Amalthea comes shuffling out as well, stone shield in one hand, a pair of glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. She just kind of pauses to watch, scratching at the back of her head. "Well shit."
Staren	Suddenly, Amalthea! Except not. Staren turns to stare. Amalthea's on his radio saying it's not her. "I, uh what?" Then he turns towards the hostage-taker. "Well, that happened." He pulls cuffs out of his bag and walks around Triggerhappy to clap them on his wrists.
Brooklyn	That's not Amalthea...Brooklyn doesn't know Amalthea well enough to know that from looks alone, but the fact that it's confirmed on the radio a couple of seconds later is enough for him. The gargoyle turns and leaps up off of the boardwalk, scaling the sides of the mall. Reaching the height he thinks he needs, he releases and kicks off from wall and sails through the air. Once he's airborne, he uses the distraction the girl is making to dive on the boat. But then he misses. The gargoyle dives full speed into the water, missing the boat entirely. Well that is until he reaches the bottom of the boat, intent on digging into the hull with his claws and ripping huge chunks out of the bottom of it. Hard to get away when you're sinking.
Kazusa Ujikane	Staren has himself an easy collar now that the guy knows he's pretty much completely beat. He does look a lot more disgruntled than the elf did, though. The thugs in the boat are entirely focused on the armored unicorn in front of them, trying to figure out how to safely get around that shield. That leaves them easy prey for Yuna to take some long-distance potshots with impeccable aim, and then the boat starts to shudder and sink as it's shredded open from below. All three of them completely incapacitated for the moment and their escape vector out of commission, the girl who is not Amalthea apparently decides to show them... well, some semblance of mercy, at least. Which is to say, she reaches down, tosses all their rifles into the water, and then lifts back off the boat so that her weight doesn't sink it any faster. Of course, it's also because she apparently wants to get back to the boardwalk, where she can set down and check on the girl who'd been used as a hostage. "Hey. Nanako. You gonna be all right?" Now that she's not charging full speed, it's a lot easier to get a look at her; it's definitely the girl from the atrium who took a bad graze to the leg, but she's got Amalthea's metallic skin, her hair has adopted the same rainbow shade, there's a horn in the middle of her forehead, and... well, that's definitely Amalthea's armor and sword, though sized for someone 5' even instead of four-foot-six. "Thanks for holding on to my glasses," she adds in Amalthea's direction. "Normally can't see shit without 'em. But right now I don't think I can see shit /with/ them."
Lyria Mason	Lyria Mason had forgot the off worlders were magic users and that lets them make a break for it she did slow them down long enough for Amalthea to make it with her parrenger, wait? What just happened there she stare at eveything tht unfolds She an Elite? Wait did she mean made? naw that's just crazy talking there. She stops for the moment and just stares at everything well it seems to be done already, she shifts her stance again ready incase she's needed again however it seems the young lady doesn't need that. "An elite? What? Do they mean...?"
Yuna Kagurazaka	Yuna lets the Matrix Divider disappear again once the goons are disabled; if Marina were here she'd be diving in to help make sure they don't drown or anything. Elner's monitoring, though; she trusts the robo-faerie to continue doing so, and to teleport them to dry land if push actually comes to shove. Then she walks over to the two girls, having recognized the voice of not-actually-Amalthea. "I'm sorry, I didn't have a chance to introduce myself yet," she says to the two girls before bowing politely, Japanese-style, and straightening back up. "I'm Yuna Kagurazaka, idol singer, Savior of Light -" She still doesn't like waving that title around, but it seems like she should introduce herself by it this time. "- and Union Elite ally. I don't think I caught either of your names ... ?"
Staren	Staren stands up, but he's not really sure what to /do/ with the guy. His having the cuffs is a formality. Yes, he's part of the Lazlo Defense Force Tactical Response Unit, but his specialty is going out in his giant robot and fighting monsters that threaten the city. He doesn't really make arrests. He's confronted with Not-Amalthea, who turns out to be the girl from before. "Congratulations on getting your wish! So, um, you're a robot unicorn girl now. Seems you take to it like a duck to water, though."
Brooklyn	After a few minutes, the soaking wet gargoyle crawls back up onto the boardwalk, and shakes himself off, far enough away from the other Elites so he doesn't soak them down. The dripping wet gargoyle makes his way back towards the group, "That's all of them, right?" He asks, making sure that they managed to get the whole group of terrorists.
Amalthea	Amalthea clears her throat and sheepishly tugs off the glasses and hands them over to... Amalthea. "... Yeah. No problem." This is going to be a doozy to write in the report.
Kazusa Ujikane	The girl is careful about taking her glasses from Amalthea, but lacking anywhere else to put them, just kind of... holds onto them for the moment. "What, this?" She looks down at herself, then back to Staren. "Nah, this is temporary. It's some kind of funny card... thing... look, I don't really get it myself just yet. There's some kind of off switch, but, like... it's not working yet. Fucking thing is stubborn, I don't know." It's definitely the girl from inside, but the way she talks is like someone spliced in some of Amalthea's personality and word choice. She does give Yuna a relatively friendly look, though. "Kazusa. Ujikane Kazusa. This is my classmate, Nanako." She puts an arm around the somewhat flabbergasted-looking Nanako, and gives Yuna a thumbs up. But Brooklyn has a question that she answers pretty readily. "Pretty sure, yeah. There were only about ten of them, and I think you guys got 'em all-" The half-orc comes stomping out. Kazusa turns to stare at him, then hands her glasses to Nanako. "Hold these a sec." Without so much as skipping a beat, she marches right over and, before he can react, hops up to headbutt him as hard as she can.
Staren	"Nice to meet you." Staren replies. "I'm--" and then, orc. He quirks an eyebrow and watches Kazusa headbutt. "Hm. A funny card thing... What do you know about what happened? What's happening? Anything at all?"
Kazusa Ujikane	Kazusa gives Staren a little shrug, seemingly unconcerned about the now-comatose half-orc. "Dunno. Amalthea- I guess that's her name? Amalthea, she granted me a wish. It turned into cards. I used one of them to copy her, and it gave me all this shit." She indicates her armor. "And I know how to use it all, too. Kinda weird, but kinda cool."
Staren	Staren nods about the name. "One card to copy her... how many are left? Do you know how long it lasts? Is it permanent? Anything else?" Ah yes. Union /R&D/.
Kazusa Ujikane	"Yeah, well, I do look pretty sweet, but my leg still hurts like a bitch," Kazusa says, glancing down at her right thigh. The armor there is rent and the leg plating underneath damaged, just as if she'd suffered the gunshot wound from earlier in THIS form. Staren's questions prompt her to look thoughtful for a moment, then perplexed. "I dunno. I mean, I know, but I don't /know/. It's... instinctive. I need a while to sit down and think about it when I'm me again. But I think the cards are reusable, and I know I'll be able to turn back sooner or later." She works her leg a little. "Hey, can we go? I think I need to get to a hospital before I turn back. Unless you've got more of that crazy bandage on hand."
Staren	Staren follows her gaze to her leg, and quirks a brow at the damaged armor. He starts to squat down to look, then stands up as she speaks. "Huh. Well, I guess I hardly know how this stuff works..." At her question, he immediately pulls another nanobandage from his bag and hands it over. "Just in case. Uh... yeah, I guess." Beat. He reaches into his bag and pulls out a tablet. "Hold onto this. We'll contact you if we need to follow up on things. Um... Good luck, I guess. I mean... not that I don't want you to have good luck. Just that... man, I have no idea what's going on here. I mean, I know what's going on, you got a wish, but exactly /how/ it all works, uh... sorry. Yes. Good luck. You should go to the hospital in case that turns back into a fresh gunshot wound when this wears off. Like I said I have /no/ idea how this works."
Yuna Kagurazaka	"Not sure where the hospital is from here, or I'd offer to take you there myself," Yuna says with a wry grin. "I think there were some ambulances on standby outside the mall, though -" Or if there weren't, you would expect them to have been there. "Shall we go and find one for you? I can come with you if you'd like ..." She looks towards the mall. "I think the meet-and-greet may be getting rescheduled as it is, so I don't think I'll miss much."
Brooklyn	"I don't know much about magic." Brooklyn says, as he listens in to everything that's been happening, "Most of my experience with it has been...Less than plesant." This doesn't seem nearly as bad as the magic from the grimorum
Lyria Mason	Lyria Mason does notice she carries the same injury still and wondera about that. "Knowing Staren? He likely has more." She looks over to Staren for a moment. "I admit I don't have much experiance with magic of the sort you seem to have I'm afraid if it is even magic. Also Yuna's right I think they are going to have set up a new event after this."