Scene #8382: The scene where Kukuru steals Watch members

Owner	Pose
Kukuru	In the ruins of New York, Things look rather dicey for those defending the local Watch outpost. The area already looked rather terrible to begin with between the ruined signage, the wrecked skyscrapers in the distance, and the looming head of what used to be an upright Statue of Liberty, but it's worse now. There's flipped wreckages of cars, pieces of guns and melee weapons scattered along the pavement, and a copious amount of blood smeared around the ground haphazardly. Strangely enough, though, nobody in the local Watch cell actually appears to be injured. They're tied up rather snugly in simply loops to hold their arms to their bodies, and they look too worn down to try to fight, but aside from some dissheveled clothes and a lack of weapons? They look perfectly alright. Kukuru's standing among them, though, and her clothes are actually just covered in blood. She, too, looks perfectly happy and healthy, though, as she loops a long length of rope(?) around another person while holding them down in place with her foot. "Easy, easy. We'll be home soon, okay? I just gotta wait for the rest of your friends that come by to visit, and then we'll all be back in time for dinner. How's that sound?" Some of the captives groan tiredly in unison. Others actually seem to be warming up a bit, if in a hazy uncertain sort of way.
Remee Halcyon	Remee's on call. Before she even gets close, she's confused. There was an attack - she doesn't smell any bodies. She barely smells any blood. She hears... yawning? It's not till she makes visual contact that the it all comes together. It's Kukuru. Of course. "Kukuru..." Wait, what's her last name? Remee never asked. "... Um," Remee holsters her rifle. "Kukuru, you gotta leave, alright? This isn't really a place you should be." "I guess maybe you wandered here by mistake? So how about you start, um, heading on back, and I'll catch up, and we'll get some food somewhere, alright?"
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki does not spend much time at all at Watchtowers. This does not mean she doesn't show up when there's trouble for them - and in this case, the panicked warning and the short message they got out fills her with a lot more worry than she otherwise owuld have. Concord? Is it Eggman...? Someone else? Some/thing/ else? Though she only has to wind down from yesterday mentally rather than physically, she's already moving so fast enough that she doesn't think about it at all. Or why that voice near the end of the transmission sounded so familiar. She should know who that is... "--Gungnir tron!" Utilizing the forbidden art of transforming off-screen in a flash of light then running into frame already in suit, Hibiki shows up right alongside Remee geared up for a fight. She may be /too/ on edge, from how trashed the locale is, but it vanishes a bit when she sees exactly what's going on...and who's responsible. "Wha--...K-Kukuru?" Her raised-up fists lower a little bit, as she looks down at the captured Watch members and then back up to her. She is, very patently, confused more than anything else. "Is it just...you here? What's going on...?"
Kukuru	As Kukuru finishes looping that rope(?) around that last cell member, she hears some familiar voices, and her smile grows a bit wider. "Oh, hi! Remee~ Hi-bi-ki~ It's so good to see you both here, too! I was hoping you and everyone else would come." Breathing a relieved sigh, she looks over at the captives, then back towards the pair. "Ah, don't worry about them. I'm just about done here, so we can all head home together." She says with a firm nod and gentle tug of that rope to start getting those captives back on their feet. "They gave me some trouble when I showed up, you know? They said something about not being..." A pause, as though she's confused herself. "... That I shouldn't be here, either. I started asking them some stuff, but they were being rude, so I figured I should bring them home to give them a nice meal to relax, you know? And then one thing led to another..." Kukuru keeps that much vague, but it's kind of clear from the blood and wreckage that her attempts at reasoning didn't go quite as planned. "... But everything's okay now! We can all go home together, and then nobody has to worry about this kind of dangerous stuff ever again." She explains, sounding like she's both scolding the captives and worried about them at the same time. It's clear there's some kind of weaker mental influence going on there since they're actually cooperating, too, but not fully, as though they might be somewhat addled and half-asleep. "You should both come, too!" And then Kukuru starts towards Remee and Hibiki, moving at an otherwise non-threatening pace while reaching out to take their hands. Despite sounding and looking like she's moving the same way she usually does, though, there's a solidity in her movements and in her grip, as though she's not about to take no for an answer this time.
Remee Halcyon	Going home with- A kidnapping? No, no no, Remee's the one who's planning on kidnapping someone else, not the other way around! She doesn't have time for this. Remee's hand nonetheless gets gripped. "Ah - no, wait... Kukuru, you can't-" She tries to wrench her hand away. There's some desperate measures she can take here if she has to, but... well, those are desperate measures. "Kukuru..." She gives it a good yank, trying to twist her hand and get it free. Maybe if she's just insistent enough, Kukuru will get the message. There must be some sort of... miscommunication going on. Also, if she can keep Kukuru's attention, maybe Hibiki can slip away and get help, or act as a distraction in turn, or something.
Hibiki Tachibana	"Home...?" Hibiki is plenty familiar with Kukuru's penchant for family and doting. Well, you can hardly know her and /not/ be. But it's not...what she's used to. And all it takes is a glance over the scenery, noting how out of it the imprisoned Watch-ees are, and the blood splatters on Kukuru's clothing for her to get something of an idea about everything. Still, as Kukuru begins approaching, she clearly hesitates. This is Kukuru, after all. The very same one she still remembers getting some really delicious food from, for her birthday. And she manages to brush against her hand, only for Hibiki to retract it at the last moment and shake her head. The looks on her face is obviously a little pained. "This isn't...y-you can't do it like this, Kukuru. Everyone here already has a fam--" She cuts herself off partway. Not just because of Remee being present, either. "...Somewhere to go back to. And this isn't the way to convince them. Or us. Did you...hurt them?" Kukuru definitely has more resolve than she's used to seeing. What should she do...? She should at least try to free the prisoners, if Kukuru gives her the opening to do it while Remee is doing what she's doing. But...
Kukuru	"Hmm? What is it, Re-mee~?" Kukuru chimes in cheerfully as she turns to Remee, giving her that ever pleasant, if mildly concerning smile. "Sure I can! I know, it might feel a little weird to know your friends are coming back home with me, too, but... It's for everyone's own good, you know?" She gestures at the captives again, necessarily letting go of Remee's hand just to do so. "Home, yep! With me and everyone else in the Concord, so you can all learn better than what you are now." Kukuru clarifies to Hibiki, still smiling like usual while clutching a hand to her chest. She does't even seem to mind that both of them tried to/actually pulled away, either, wrapped up as she is in her thoughts. "After what happened last time at the space station, I... I figured some stuff out." Finally, that smile drops a bit. Not completely, but it's more of a solemn one than her usual vapid smile. "I've gotta be firmer if I want to reach all of your friends in the Watch, and to make sure you all know that I'm doing what's best for you. I know it might be hard to get, and... Sometimes, I do have to do things that might hurt a bit, but it'll be better for all of us once we're together." She totally hurt the shit out of those people. She healed them, though, so it's fine! Maybe. "You two, Beri, Charlie, Liza, Petra, Rita..." There's a longer pause as she takes a look around, finally realizing that nobody else she's named is actually here. She pouts briefly, then turns to Hibiki and Petra again. "... Aw. Were theo thers busy with other stuff? That's a shame... How're they doing, anyway?" Still clueless as ever, she goes right into a rather charged minefield of a topic. "I know Petra's been having a lot of arguments with Lili lately, but I haven't heard her speaking up in a while. Is she okay?"
Remee Halcyon	They're going... to the Concord? "I don't think - I don't think the Concord and I would be a good fit, Kukuru. Like, at all." Her free hand goes into a pocket of her coat. How subtly can she do this... The hand comes back out, and she goes to grab Kukuru's hand by the wrist, and tug on it again. "I know you like a lot of the people there, but they aren't all..." She lets her hand drop to the side, and the tiny dart it was holding drops to the ground. Hopefully she was able to pierce Kukuru's skin just enough with it that some of the tranquilizer would get into her, without it being noticeable what she did. And then Kukuru says that name. "Ah - um, she's, ah..." Hurry, Hibiki. Remee can only keep Kukuru's focus for so long!
Hibiki Tachibana	Judging from the look on Hibiki's face, she's probably not entirely in-the-know on the events of what happened involving the space station and Liza way back when. Still, even just the shift in the expression on Kukuru's own is enough to make it settle in that she's serious about this. "That's not--" She starts, just to stop short when Kukuru begins rattling off names - including one that makes her visibly freze up on the spot. "Petra--...Petra is...s-she's..." Remee might start realizing that Hibiki is rapidly losing the ability to conform to the plan, with the way her hands have balled up at her sides, shaking slightly. 'It's for everyone's own good, you know?' 'And it's for all of your collective goods. Try to remember that.' "Why does everyone keep thinking they know what's best for everyone else!? Who said they do!?" Kukuru doesn't deserve that to be thrown at her. It's barely even angled at her in the first place, honestly. But it still is, just a little bit, even if she regrets it as soon as it's done. She just can't help but spit it out, eyes scrunched up as if to avoid her reaction, right before she tries to move past Kukuru on a clear course towards the captives.
Kukuru	Remee's protests get a curious eyebrow raise from Kukuru. "Really? But.. You're strong. Bikki's strong, too. And I know you both have a love in you, or you wouldn't be so strong. That means you're perfect fits." She states with a confident nod and broad grin, and that only goes wider when Remee goes for her wrist. That's never happened before. It's a good sign, though, since it totally means she's coming around to Kukuru's way of thinking! In her moment of elation, Kukuru doesn't doesn't even notice the needle jabbing into her, and it's unclear at first if it's even working on her. There's a faint green glow around Kukuru's hand shortly afterwards, though, as though something in her is reacting to the tranquilizer. It's those pesky nanites again, attempting to neutralize its effects! Barely, anyway, since Kukuru's naturally sleepy all the time, and it's hard to see an immediate difference here. She yawns a few moments later, though, and it takes her several moments to remember where she is before picking up that rope again holding all those captive cell members together. On closer inspection, it's not actually rope, but some kind of yarn that's more commonly used for crocheting and just fashioned into a really long rope. If nothing else, it's a comfortable binding, and Remee can really feel the quality as Kukuru throws her arm around Remee's shoulders to try and pull her in for a close hug from the side. "Alright, let's go~!" The topic of Petra seems to be getting a stranger reaction than expected, though, and Hibiki's outburst actually has Kukuru flinching. "H.. Hibiki? What's wrong?" She starts, then purses her lips with a troubled frown finally crossing her face. "... did something happen? Did you get hurt, too?" Taking on a more direct approach, Kukuru steps over towards Hibiki, releasing that rope to try and get a firmer hold on her with both hands this time. "You can tell me. I'm here to help, but... But you've gotta trust me, okay? I know I'm not the smartest person, but I know that if you come with me, we'll be able to help everyone. Alright?" She needs that leverage to pull Hibiki in for a full body embrace, after all.
Remee Halcyon	Remee winces a bit when Hibiki says that. It needs to be said, though. It's a good thing Remee's not in the habit of thinking she knows what's best for anything else, so that statement doesn't apply to her. That reminds her, though, she needs to make sure she has a new reservation for the place she's kidnapping Petra off to. "Yeah, um, something happened... we don't really want to talk about it..." Never talk about it, just... push it to the side till it's not a problem anymore. Right? ... Oh, this is nice rope - no, focus. "Kukuru, I think you're just... kind of..." Think, think. Remee doesn't want to resort to violence here... "... You're kind of lost, aren't you? How about you come home with me instead?" Remee tries tugging on Kukuru in the other direction. "Yeah! You can come home with me." Not to the space station, of course, but Remee has other properties. "Just you and me, though, right? Otherwise it'll get crowded." She digs in her heels as she says this, putting more effort into keeping Kukuru from moving her. Maybe she can wear her out...
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki isn't exactly walking with a whole lot of purpose. It's a lot less calculated outmaneuvering to stage a rescue and more like she's storming off and the captives just happen to be in that direction. It also means she's not really in the best position to stop herself from getting wrapped up in an extra-strong hug. "Kukuru...! Let--go of me! I really mean it!" Naturally, she struggles and tries her best to slip out, and she'll probably regret doing that and saying that later, too. It's a good thing she came transformed, because otherwise, she wouldn't even be thinking clearly enough right this second to bother doing it, and would likely be successfully kidnapped. As is, though, she stands a fairly good chance of just brute forcing her way out. Even if she's sniffling a tiny bit. "It's not about trust! And there's no way you can 'help' with this! Don't--don't hurt yourself trying! Just...don't!" She's trying /really/ hard to get free.
Kukuru	'Yeah, um, something happened... we don't really want to talk about it...' 'Don't--don't hurt yourself trying! Just...don't!' "... I see. If you two don't want to tell me, that's fine, too." Kukuru finally relents with a slow nod, actually doing the unthinkable and respecting Remee's request. It does come at the cost of her tightening her hug on Hibiki, though, but not to a bone-breaking extent. No... It's a warm one. One that practically radiates cares and calm, even if Kukuru still doesn't fully know what's going on. Hibiki wriggles out of her grasp, though, and Kukuru actually gives her enough space to start getting closer to the captives. "But whatever happened... Maybe I'm not the best person to help with this, but I want to, even if it'll hurt. What kind of mom would I be if I saw you like this and didn't help?" She pauses again. "If you ever wanna talk about it, let me know, okay? I'm always around." A beat. "... Most of the time." A sleepy lady needs her beauty rest, after all, and she's still feeling extremely sleepy. Rubbing her eyes lightly, Kukuru jumps briefly when she suddenly feels Remee pulling on her from the other direction. "Eh? Oh, I'm not lost. I know exactly where we've gotta go." That is a lie. Kukuru usually gets around by teleporting and ignoring cardinal directions. "I need to..." She holds her ground for a moment, then seems to realize something before she actually starts starts following after Remee and Hibiki. "... Okay! I'll go to your place for now. Then we can figure all this stuff with Petra out, and we can all come back to my place later afterwards!" Another pause, and then she stares at Remee. "Wait, didn't we blow up your...?" She actually remembered something! "Did you find a new place? Oh, but I'll need to get some things ready for housewarming if that's the case. Like snacks and bedding and food..."
Remee Halcyon	> "Wait, didn't we blow up your...?" Remee pauses. Yeah, they did. "Yeah - well, about that..." She trails off. Remembering what happened to her house has her down, but - maybe that's a good thing. She needs to... nip this in the bud, doesn't she? She can't let Kukuru keep on being like this. It's her responsibility. "... Kukuru... Why are you doing this?" "All of - this?" She gestures around. "You know we're not on - on the same side. We agree about a lot of things, sure, but - we're in opposition about a lot of other things..." "... And... bringing people home isn't going to change that. You can't just... force people to see your point of view, start or stop acting like - I mean, just... generally can't force people. You know?" "And it's not something that'll change just because... they see how nice a home you have, or how nice a person you are. I know you have a nice home, you're in the Concord. I know you're a nice person. That... still doesn't change anything." She looks Kukuru in the eyes. "... Go home, Kukuru."
Hibiki Tachibana	"...Ugh..." In the last few moments before she makes it free, Hibiki almost relents to that warm and comforting feeling. After almost everything recently, it's too easy to just want to sink into it. She does still bring herself to escape, although there's wet blotches building up at the corners of her eyes by the time she does. And with her big punch-gauntlets, she can't wipe them away very easily, so she has to settle for gripping at her scarf and using it to do the job. The brief lull gives her just enough time to sort of pull herself together, at least enough that she's not just blurting things out. "...I know. I know you just want to help. But..." She mumbles, trailing off as her still slightly blurry vision goes from Kukuru back to the captives. Partially so she doesn't have to show her face to either her or Remee. Hibiki listens to everything the latter says without moving, and hiding the way her lips purse or she dry swallows. It's only after Remee finishes entirely that she can bring herself to add on anything else. "...You can't be my mom, Kukuru. I already barely talk to my real one," she murmurs, finally starting to move over towards the cell members. She still doesn't want to look at Kukuru, and the guilt from her outburst is beginning to hit her. "And you can't be anyone's by...by making them, either. And especially by hurting them. I...I mean that. It doesn't matter that you can just bring them back. I know you think it's the only way you can protect them..." Her work on the ropes really is pretty slow. "...But it doesn't work like that. And some people...some people don't want to be protected at all." For some reason, saying that makes her feel an awful wrenching sensation somewhere in her gut, like she wants to take it back immediately. "We...we can talk about it sometime later, okay? ...As friends."
Kukuru	"Why? Because... You were there, Remee. You saw what happened." Kukuru's cheery demeanor doesn't return as her thoughts linger on that space station, the captives almost an afterthought to her at this point as she withdraws into herself considerably more than before. "I let things... Go too much. I didn't take charge like I should've. I trusted that you and everyone else would..." She swallows once, and her eyes tear up slightly as she shakes her head. "No... That /I/ could just convince all of you to listen by talking it out first instead of acting like I knew I should have. More people got hurt from all that than if I didn't do anything, and..." She sniffs once and turns away to take a pocket pack of tissues out to dab at her eyes from under her glasses. "I hated it. I don't want to feel like that anymore, and I don't want to let anyone down like that ever again. That's why... Y-yeah, actually. I do have to start forcing people. If it means protecting you from yourselves, I really will have to do some things that aren't so nice." She explains with another tremble in her throat, still struggling despite that resolve audibly building in Kukuru's gut. The captives and all the scattered blood are probably a good indicator of how far she's willing to go already, even if they're physically fine now. "I know they won't like it when it happens, and... And I'm okay with that. They'll understand that the Concord knows what's best once things really do work out. Even if I can't be like my mom, or the mom that gave birth to you..." She turns to Hibiki afterwards, her gaze actually firming up even more than before. "I can still be the one that you deserve. Isn't that what being a real mom is about, anyway? I know we won't always agree, but that won't change anything between us. Lots of people don't like it at first when their parents fuss over them, but that won't stop me from loving all of you and doing whatever it takes to protect you." Instead of moving along with Remee, Kukuru finally stops, and she reaches for their hands once more. It's still a warm hold, but the physical force isn't there any more. It's more like a strongly worded suggestion from the heart as her face starts outright dripping with tears at this point. "Come home with me, Remee. Hibiki. With everyone in the Concord, we can figure this out together, and... We can help everyone even more than we could alone. Petra, too, even if you're not ready to talk about her yet."
Remee Halcyon	Remee takes a deep breath. "My family's..." "... something I've spent years dealing with. I can't..." Kukuru is crying. Remee takes another breath. "I can't." She's willing to go this far. It's... still strange, and wrong - no, who's to say what's wrong, in these days of Elites. Just strange, and different, that Kukuru is willing to go this far, that all of this is because ultimately she cares. ... Why is Remee out here? Why is she trying so hard, not just to stop her family, but to... well, turn them around. If such a thing is possible. Despite what Hiromi's telling her, it might not be. And yet, here she is. For people she cares about. "I can't. Join the Concord. I've thought about it, and it... wouldn't work out. You... don't like how the Watch operates, I know, but... I feel the same about the Concord, and..." She takes another breath. "I can't do that. And I can't... have another mom right now. I can't let someone be... in that position, over me, whether it's for serious or just for fun and good feelings. I'm sorry." "But... I know you care a lot about me. I can, um, tell." She glances down at the blood. "You don't do this for just... someone you're just trying to stop. I appreciate it, honestly, even if I wish you didn't do it. But I appreciate it. I just..." Deep breath. "Kukuru. I can't join the Concord. But. If you'd like to invite me to visit, to talk, to maybe work some things out with... the temperature lowered a bit and a guarantee I'd leave in one piece, then yeah I'd love to visit you and your friends there." "And I can't let you be my mom... but..." Another deep breath. This is... maybe a little impulsive. More than a little impulsive, in the middle of a battlefield. But it still feels... like it's something worth doing, worth trying, even so. "... For someone who cares about me so much... and that I care about..." "... I could use a sister?"
Hibiki Tachibana	More people got hurt from all that than if I didn't do anything, and... That gets Hibiki, not even looking at Kukuru at the time it's said, to flinch. The guilty feeling for lashing out at Kukuru feels three times heavier on the spot, and she lets out a shaky exhale when what makes a good mother is directed at her. Some kind of unsure response is starting to form when her hand is reached for again. And this time, she doesn't pull away from it. Rather, her eyes go wide for a moment before her expression scrunches up with obvious pain. Looking straight at Kukuru crying is too hard, so she turns her head to stare off to the side, even though she's starting to tear up again too. "That's...K-Kukuru...I can't." She thought she already sunk back into being able to keep herself stable, but it's too much, having to look at her like this. "...I wish I could. Help everyone, work together with everyone. I really...really do. That's how I always wanted it to be. Watch...Concord...Paladins. That sort of thing...never really mattered to me. Just people. If it could be like that all the time..." Hibiki pauses, then closes her eyes and shakes her head before repeating herself. "B-But...I still can't. There are things that I can only do here...things I have to do. And a lot of them are...things I should have done a long time ago." What those are, she doesn't elaborate on. She just trails off, bites into her lower lip - and after a second, grips her hand tight into Kukuru's palm. Her other comes around to clasp from the other side a moment after. And she looks Kukuru head-on, even if it's painful. And so is the tiny smile she puts on. "...Plus, I don't really deserve a mom as good as you in the first place. I'm really sorry, Kukuru. ...You went through something awful...that made you think you had to do this, didn't you? But you're not letting me down, at least. Even if I don't think it's the right way, I'm actually glad--that you're still thinking of helping everyone else." "...But I can't let it happen like this. Sometimes...no, a lot of the time, words aren't enough to convince people. I don't know what the right way to do it all the time is...but I just know it isn't...what you're doing now." "...So please. I know you can be a way better mom than one who brings her children home by making them."
Kukuru	Two rejections, one right after the other. Even if Kukuru was already expecting that, knowing everything she does after meeting with and being around these two for so long, there's still a distinct sting in her chest when it's coming from the heart like these rather than just off-the-cuff rejections like the ones she usually gets. That doesn't mean she won't try to find ways to mitigate their concerns, but it's clear as day from her voice that she actually understands. "There's nothing saying you can't have two moms. Or three, or four, or... An entire family of people caring for each other, even. That's what families are all about, you know? But... I understand, Remee. I can't... I shouldn't ask you to leave your own mom. Not without..." She wipes her face off again, breaking into a smile again, tearful though it may be. "Not without convincing her to join our family, too. And Hibiki, even if you don't think you deserve one..." There's a longer pause as Kukuru lets that thought swim in her head some, as she can only imagine what kind of mental view Hibiki has of herself to think such a thing. "... Who cares about what you deserve? I don't. If I did,then I wouldn't be a mom. I'd be a... A calculator or something." She laughs weakly at her own joke(???), then takes Hibiki's hands softly in her own. It's warm, but it's not nearly as possessive as those from before. "I know you want to help. Nobody ever doesn't want to, even if it's all in different ways. I just want you to do it..." Right? What's right? Kukuru knows she's not the smartest person to say what is or isn't right, but this feels right to her, as must everything she's seen of these two, and of all the other Watch and Paladin members she's seen as well. There's a long pause as she eventually settles for patting the back of Hibiki's hand softly, smiling again while looking between her and Remee. "I want you both to be proud of how you're helping people, and not to regret any of it, even if we don't agree on any of it." It's not the perfect result Kukuru sought at the start of all this, but it's still far better than what she expected. Drawing in one more sniffle, she nods and leans in to kiss the side of Hibiki's face softly, then pats her shoulders on each side. "I'll always be the mom you want. No... That you do deserve. You all deserve the best, even if it's me." 'I could use a sister?' Kukuru's mouth goes stiff as she stares right at Remee, looking away after a moment to sniffle and wipe her face again. Her hands are empty, though, so all she really does is just smear some tears around, and her eyes are visibly red as she turns back to her and Hibiki. She approaches them, arms held wide to pull them both in by their head towards her own. "I'd love that. You, me, and...?" Kukuru rubs her face on Remee's shoulder lightly, partially to let herself trail off, but also to sneak little glances at Hibiki '''subtly'''.