Plotlogs
Akai Daichi Sr Ritsuka 250303
In the winding, ancient streets of Kyoto, a covert operation unfolds led by Ritsuka of the Tsubaki no Tetsu. Her team, consisting of Takeshi, Lynette, Raina, Edith, and Liam, embarks on a mission to capture a high-ranking Dynasty agent for a sacrificial ritual. The target, identified as Zhao Wei, is known for his cyber warfare skills and divine heritage, making him a formidable opponent.
As the team disperses in their roles, Takeshi, slightly unhinged and overly confident, charges into the operation with a dramatic entrance. Lynette and Raina handle distractions and logistics, while Liam positions himself strategically to intercept the target should he attempt to flee. Edith, the stoic vampire and tactical genius, opts for a stealthier approach, anticipating the possibility of an abrupt escape by their prey.
The old Kyoto streets teem with life, unaware of the covert drama unfolding. Takeshi's enthusiastic albeit clumsy attempts to breach the target's fortified room create commotion, drawing attention from locals, including a particularly concerned elderly woman. Meanwhile, Lynette artfully manipulates bystanders to maintain cover, showing her resourceful and manipulative side.
In a turn of professional precision, Edith single-handedly neutralizes Zhao Wei using a combination of tranquilizers, hypnotism, and physical restraint, showcasing her lethal efficiency and deep understanding of supernatural encounters. Raina, with her calming presence, manages to handle the public's unrest stirred by Takeshi's antics, showcasing her diplomatic skills.
As Edith secures Zhao Wei, Takeshi finds himself humorously stuck in the wall he tried to breach, with Raina coming to his aid. The mission concludes with the team regathering and heading back to the shrine for the final sacrificial ritual led by Ritsuka. The scene at the shrine is grim yet executed with a sense of necessity, underlining the ritual's gravity and the dark undertones of their mission.
The sacrifice is completed with a somber reverence, and Kin’Yoko's blessing is seemingly secured as the camellias bloom more vibrantly, yet ominously, at the shrine. The bloody consequence of their mission is swiftly erased, leaving no trace behind except for the lingering aura of something monumental having transpired.
In the aftermath, the operative team is left to reflect on the success of their mission and its implications. The dynamics within the team, each member's contrasting methods, and the ethical gray area they navigate paint a complex picture of loyalty, duty, and the supernatural politics at play within the shadows of Kyoto.
(Akai Daichi(SRRitsuka):SRRitsuka)
[Sun Mar 2 2025]
On Foothold in Kyoto
Tucked away in the winding backstreets of Kyoto, behind an unassuming wooden gate marked only by a single, weathered camellia crest, lies a foothold in Japan. The air is thick with the scent of incense and the cold outside, the silence broken only by the distant chime of temple bells or the occasional murmur of unseen watchers.
Beyond the entrance, the locations fits into the surroundings, traditional sliding doors conceal fortified chambers, and a garden disguises hidden pathways beneath its moss-covered stones. Paper lanterns cast flickering shadows against lacquered wood, their crimson glow reflecting in the eyes of those who may take a moment to watch.
Power flows like an unseen current beneath Kyoto's ancient streets. Only those who walk the path of along the Yokai may ever uncover this current.
It is about 50F(10C) degrees.
Takeshi does a fortnite dance
In Kyoto, it is an early evening, just after 8 in the evening, and the weather here is... just fine. Even warmer than the negative temperatures that it has been in haven. As before, Ritsuka will lead the path for those who cannot do so, so Edith by now could well find this location and do it on her own by ease, while Takeshi is given leave from the clinic, for now. For him it may yet be an opportunity to regain his honor.
Today, it goes through one of the rooms in the rented foothold, on into another room where a table stands at its center, and a map of the city and its surroundings, finds itself placed atop of it. Ritsuka moves closer to it, waits for people to settle in where they may and glances over Raina and Lynette specifically before she mentions "So... we are sort of in need of finding ourselves a sacrifice for the seed that was recovered last time." She reaches around, under the desk to withdraw a surface laptop from it, turning it on to glance over it "Kin'Yoko did find us three individuals that would work as targets. The problem? We are not too sure where they are precisely located at, so there would be work to get close to it. I have more to handle by one of the shrines with someone from the imperial family, so it will primarily be up to the three of you." She does explain in English.
"The potential people..." She swipes on the surface "To leave it broad. One potential sacrifice is a Dynasty agent, another would be a someone that looks to be affiliated with the Yakuza, and then there is a file here on someone that would well be considered a high ranking political figure. Does anyone have any preference? The Dynasty are our enemies, and the Yakuza have violated our rules lately, even sent a Freed Angel after research we do not wish to share or to leave in the hands of another. The political figure might be the easiest, but it would well ruin some of our relations and that might bite us in the back over time." She looks up, seeing what everyone would prefer here today.
Though, on the belated note she does add again "Yes, it is a capture that person, drag them to one of Her shrines and quite literally sacrifice them. They are all males, of course."
Takeshi takes a stand at the rear of the pack. He was still in his straight jacket, having not had time to change. his arms were undone though, allowing him to move. Mao no Tsume, his cursed demon blade had been returned to him and was strapped to his back. He holds a Yakuza snarl on his face, ready for violence. He lets the thinkers do the thinking, however.
Lynette moves in closer with the rest of the group to get an eye on the map Ritsuka was leaning over. "As long as they're males," Lynette purrs with a small smirk. Having not been apart of the back with the seed gathering, one could say Lynette was a little out of the loop but she caught up quickly.
"I remember Takeshi saying he was that Yakuza thingy and I don't feel like dealing with more than one Takeshi, so we can rule that one out." Lynette takes a moment to glance behind them towards Takeshi.
"if i may ask...how armed are these three targets of ours?" Raina asked, since it is better to face someone who would be an easier target "or possibly more accurately which one will be the least troublesome if we decide to abduct our target?" Raina furthered her question, no point in antagonizing a strong force for now at the very least being a bit pragmatic about killing someone, she didnt even realize that she felt fine with this mission at all "that aside, how much can we rough up our target can we for example break their arms and legs?"
Ritsuka makes to nod to Raina, and places the surface laptop down, her gaze shifts to Lynette. "The Yakuza will likely have a band of his own with him. The high ranking politician would be a lot of talking, but as mentioned, that is not my favored target, it almost certainly means more work for me later, but he would be the least troublesome. The Dynasty agent would be on his own, but you would need to identify him, and then also catch up. Dynasty agents tend to be quite troublesome."
The other question from Raina does prompt the answer "You can rough them up, they just can't die. It is their life we are after, they will never see their families ever again." She makes a point to ignore Takeshi and turns to Edith "Do you have any questions or preferred target, Edith-san? Or advise to offer to everyone else?"
Takeshi(last post I have is Raina's, can I have reposts?)
Before even arriving to meet with the group, Edith was in New York. Someone had been damaging Court property, one of the Court's own, Hilaina Strahd. Edith was summoned to investigate, and that's where the blond has been for the past few hours. Once that was concluded, Edith then took a trek to the forest; Not hunting, but business. Property is inexpensive out there, and Edith saw something very useful to her. Once that was done, Edith began to gather equipment before meeting with Lynette, Takeshi, Ritsuka and Raina. Driving to 60 Suncrest Lane, the vampire entered Camp Whiteoak, traveled, under stealth, through the stable hidden door into the stone passageway and into the Goblin Market of Haven. A few minutes later and the vampire had gathered multiple items; Expendable resources, taserdarts, tranquiliser darts, peppersprays and other useful tools. Returning home to ready for the path to Japan ahead, Edith gathered her taser, tranqgun, weaponry, arcane tools-- Ceremonial blade, candles, herbs pouders, blood and bone, a number of surringes, a number of micro landmines, a few hidden cashes of caltrops and a bola among other items, lock picks and tech disruption items. Once gathered, Edith meets with Ritsuka, Lynette, Raina and collects Takeshi from the clinic; Day release, isn't authority useful for gathering resources, and in spite of his... everything, Takeshi is a useful tool. Once the group have pathed and are all looking over the map, Ritsuka having identified the three potential victims, the blond takes a moment to assess the gathering-- Ritsuka is proficient, but her power set is bright, sun-based as one might expect from a demigod and one who serves Kin'Yoko. Takeshi isn't subtle, Raina is an angel, and they are not subtle, either, and finally, Lynette. All easy to spot. All obvious. There's a nod, and Edith considers the problem for a long moment before speaking, with the professionalism of a long-lived hunter. "The public figure is out. The Hand owns the majority. I am not disrupting my resources at large. We also deliver grand retribution upon those who damage our property, human or not. Too obvious, hidden dangers. The Yakuza is also out. You all have your issues with them." Edith explains to Ritsuka, Raina, Lynette and Takeshi. "That would only create more potential conflict for you all. Undesirable and poor tactics. The Dynasty is the clear choice. The chinese going missing can be blamed on the Yakuza for a start. Secondly, Dynasty are isolated, and their agents, even if set up well are limited numbers, though they have biomancy at their fingertips-- I am immune to biomancy being dead. Takeshi is biokinetic, which means he will be resistant to their efforts. A missing chinese will be put down to simple racism. That is our target, provided no additional considerations." To Ritsuka specifically, Edith asks, "Do we have casework done and potential locations that could adapt what we do, or are we going in blind?"
To Raina's question, Edith answers after Ritsuka, "I am one of the strongest hypnotists in the world. We can likely gather them undamaged, which means more blood for the sanctification to Kin'yoko." - Edith has very little worry over the lives of anyone not her.
Takeshi listens to the discussions with an awkward expression. He was quite aware he was in some deep shit at the moment and was keeping his mouth shut as best he could. For now he was going to fufill his demonic heritage, a weapon created for war, and not much else. "Whichever one we choose not matter. Not one can stand up to Tsubaki" He claims, quite boldly, folding his arms over his chest "You point, I slice."
Lynette breaks a small smile after Edith speaks. "Can't argue with solid logic. I agree, the Dynasty seems like the best choice. Even if they're tricky I don't think we were expecting it to be easy," She pauses however, crinkling her nose at Raina's suggestion. "I think I'd rather the hypnotism too... less bloody the better. I can probably close my eyes during the ritual or something..." Lynette murmurs in thought, shivering as she recalls collecting material in the wilds.
"...i see that is good" Raina replied to Edith with uncharacteristic ruthlessness, it seems she has changed somewhat from the wilting flower from the last time they have met, though she is still a small bit apprehensive deep deep down, she has opted to bury that feeling in order to make this mission a success "then lady ritsuka, i too choose the dynasty" Raina puts down her vote, she is waiting if anyone else has anything to add.
"Young man." Edith explains to Takeshi, as though he were a child- Because to the vampire, who is one hundred and thirty nine, he is. "Political matters should be considered for all of this. You will learn when you are older, though you can make a statement; Tsubaki can make allies, stabalize agreements and remove problems if we do this well." Edith of course means /you/ meaning Ritsuka, Lynette, Takeshi and Raina, not we. She is payed to be here. "The choice itself is issential for success, yes, but also for swelling numbers, secrecy with Venice- Which you have already endangered twice this week already, Takeshi, and for the benefit specifically of Kin'Yoko. Blood- Take it from me is issential for ritualism. We want the seed given the ideal blood. Japanese is lesser in this case as an external source to homeland will be better for Ritsuka's aims."
Liam marches into the area with a look of some discomfort on his face, scanning the crowd of mostly unfamiliar faces with some interest. "Sorry for the late arrivals, gang. Liam McCarthy. Hired muscle from the Forged Fortune. I don't intend to make many waves." Liam then quietly chats with one or two someone's on the side to catch himself up on the happenings to date.
Takeshi looks over to Edith with a frown. It looked like every bone in his teenager body was telling him to make some kind of snarky remark or just to be rude in general, but after a wary glance towards Ritsuka he just decides to keep his mouth shut. "What lady vamp say" He grumbles "I vote for whatever she vote for. Dynasty."
As Liam enters, Edith glances over. Talking with Ritsuka, Lynette, Raina and Takeshi by the table over the objective; One of three, a public figure, a Yakuza or a Dynasty member, her attention is fleeting, a snap of the head, a look up-down, down-up and then back to the map and laptop held by Ritsuka. "I have heard of you, Liam." the blond announces, still standing, arms crossed, inhumanly still, barely-- Or not at all-- breathing. "Edith Rose, arcane consultent, Hand."
An unfamiliar voice perked the attention of Lynette, causing her to glance over her shoulder. Her green locks spill down her back from the motion as the girl tosses the stranger a smirk. "I'm not the newbie in the group anymore," she hums to herself, quickly tossing this Liam her name. "You can call me Muse."
"There is some casework done," Ritsuka answers, picking up the surface laptop again, swiping through a few files "Kin'Yoko has several agents in Japan. The Crimson Veil?" The woman asks, very much with a note of confusion and unawareness - Kin'Yoko seems to have been far more active than she had known, "Predicted that tonight would be where the most opportune moment would be to snatch them. All in the same district here in Kyoto, all in some form, more vulnerable. The Yakuza guy is celebrating something, the political guy is here for some private festivity with a friend- and the agent is interested in their and our activities, he is set due to show up-" She looks down to the map. "Here-" She points at the map, on the Minami ward, and then closer to the Karikiya Kischoin, it is a restaurant. "The- Carnation? And the Wraith of Sekigahara..." Ritsuka gives a blank stare. "I need to talk to the kami later about who they all are." Back to the map "... expect that the dynasty agent will be on the fourth or fifth floor overlooking both of the other locations. He will probably see if you are approaching the building you are in, so it would be best to find an alternative entry-point."
She gives Liam a glance, again a familiar face, must be that the Eidolon hired him, something to worry about another time if at all.
The conversation goes on, outside the night-air settles as it now turns into the proper evening hours of a Sunday, here in Kyoto. "Everyone is settled on the Dynasty agent then..."
Ah, more work as she swipes through the files. "He goes by Zhao Wei, late thirties, definitely falls into the full profile, has a history in cyber warfare, so expect some camera systems to be in place, his favored weapon is one of those chinese swords. Lean, muscular build, dark brown eyes, black hair. He has a scar that runs from the corner of his left eye down to his cheek." She gives someone and Raina a look as they introduce themselves to Liam, and waits for them to finish before adding "Are there any other questions? I trust you can give the brief to Liam-san."
"There is some casework done," Ritsuka answers, picking up the surface laptop again, swiping through a few files "Kin'Yoko has several agents in Japan. The Crimson Veil?" The woman asks, very much with a note of confusion and unawareness - Kin'Yoko seems to have been far more active than she had known, "Predicted that tonight would be where the most opportune moment would be to snatch them. All in the same district here in Kyoto, all in some form, more vulnerable. The Yakuza guy is celebrating something, the political guy is here for some private festivity with a friend- and the agent is interested in their and our activities, he is set due to show up-" She looks down to the map. "Here-" She points at the map, on the Minami ward, and then closer to the Karikiya Kischoin, it is a restaurant. "The- Carnation? And the Wraith of Sekigahara..." Ritsuka gives a blank stare. "I need to talk to the kami later about who they all are." Back to the map "... expect that the dynasty agent will be on the fourth or fifth floor overlooking both of the other locations. He will probably see if you are approaching the building you are in, so it would be best to find an alternative entry-point."
She gives Liam a glance, again a familiar face, must be that the Eidolon hired him, something to worry about another time if at all.
The conversation goes on, outside the night-air settles as it now turns into the proper evening hours of a Sunday, here in Kyoto. "Everyone is settled on the Dynasty agent then..."
Ah, more work as she swipes through the files. "He goes by Zhao Wei, late thirties, definitely falls into the full profile, has a history in cyber warfare, so expect some camera systems to be in place, his favored weapon is one of those chinese swords. Lean, muscular build, dark brown eyes, black hair. He has a scar that runs from the corner of his left eye down to his cheek." She gives Lynette and Raina a look as they introduce themselves to Liam, and waits for them to finish before adding "Are there any other questions? I trust you can give the brief to Liam-san."
"Pleasure, Edith." Liam drawls in response to Edith and Lynette, his eyes trailing over to Takeshi before the respective brows raise. The lost eye goes uncommented on as he offers Ritsuka a lazy salute. "I'm briefed well enough Inthink, Shimomi-san."
Edith quips, "If he has cameras in place, he may already be in a good place for abduction. It would be inadvisable for him to observe me at all via technology."
Takeshi smirks at the mention of their targets use of the Chinese dao. He brings his own blade from his back to his chest, grinning as he holds it to his chest "Heh, no match for Mao." He says confidently "If you guy get me in and stop him from escape, I can handle the tackle."
As Ritsuka goes on, explaining to Edith, Liam, Lynette, Takeshi and Raina about the description, location and known factors of the mark, Edith listens. There's a nod then; A thin smile- Barely more than the flick of the lip upwards before her expression returns to neutral. "A higher floor vantage is ideal. Less escape options for him. More places to hide. The question would be, is he human or do we know nature?"
Lynette would stretch tall after absorbing all that information. "He sounds hot," she hums half to herself. "You know Edith. I think you're the only person who would claim security cameras are good for abductions. You might be invisible on them, but the rest of us will need to be careful not to be seen," Lynette adds.
"To the contrary." Edith explains to Lynette. "If I am captured on a camera, especially a live feed, the person watching it will be driven slowly maddened."
Lynette says "Well... That's absolutely terrifying."
Takeshi says "She keep saying that. I don't believe her."
"Does the building that he resides in have rooftop access?" Liam muses. "Dynasty agents are basically ninja. If he's that high up, its because he's planned to roof hop his way out as an escape route, I'd bet. We should try to block that off."
Takeshi looks over to Edith with a grin as he jabs a finger to his chest "Send me nudes, I verify claims for myself." He says proudly "My mind too strong to go insane!"
"if that is a good question...if he is of the supernatural we may have our work cut out for us if he decides to escape to the nightmare" Raina took in Edith question and looked at ritsuka briefly if she has anything to add, her head turns to Lynette "it is best if miss edith were to be in camera miss muse, it would make our job a whole lot easier...just dont look into his security feed after that though and also burn it for good measure" Raina said to Lynette with a kind smile, honestly with Edith around the messy part of the abduction is almost too easy "...hmm infact, we might actually want to secure any exits he may want to use some of us should cover the obvious exits, but that is a risk as well..."
There's another sligh smirk as Edith's attention sweeps across Liam, Lynette, Takeshi, Raina and Ritsuka now. Another brief consideration and Edith makes an assessment. "Takeshi is nothing but muscle. Raina and Muse are less adept than they might be. Liam and I are professionals-" Pausing to tell Raina, "We can follow him in if he tries to run." Edith explains. "In any case, our plan needs to account for the forementioned factors. Stealth is not happening, but plans can be managed."
After some more swiping on the tablet, followed by Edith's question, Ritsuka answers "Demigod. Divine heritage comes from 'Guan Yu'? Whoever that is. In power he would be up to the level of the three of us." She adds the later part, looking at Edith and then to Takeshi, though the later only briefly. "Does everyone have all the information they wanted to know and that they need?" She asks, her eyes straying to Raina and Lynette, and then settles on Liam. "Can provide you with a vehicle, too, but you will need to squeeze a little bit-"
Ah and then Liam's question, and she makes a nod. "Of course, Liam-san. The building- most of them do not go above the second floor. But he will survive the jump, and I probably could find a way to organize a helicopter, if you wanted to jump from the side of it on top of it, but I should not need to say that that would be a very loud approach. Could perhaps try and encircle him in that way, but that is for you all to find out. I do have enough to cover most of it up, where needed, but even that has limits, so please be a little considerate if you can be." She does give Edith a look on the assessment, and she makes a little shrug and then nods to her specifically.
Lynette says "I'm satisfied with our little meeting. Everything else I feel we'll need to figure out on the field."
"Doubtful the man runs to the nightmare. He'd be offering too much of an advantage to a team of supernaturals chasing him." Liam clicks his tongue. "Edith, if we went with your proposal of enmaddening the man by purposefully showing you off to security, how much collateral damage do you anticipate from the mundane security guards?"
Raina says "a helicopter...that would be quiet the approach would scare the man out of his seat for sure..."
nods to Ritsuka. Another knife is produced- A bane weapon most likely, and it is swapped out with the one already sheathed. "Demigod." the blond nods. "He will survive a jump, though with all of us, he is unlikely to move fast enough to escape us all." At Liam's question, Edith waves it off. "Not a proposal. The collateral would be too much. It was an observation. My suggestion would be blocking stair access, then a number of us blocking the other exits. I can fly up and hide if needed."
"If you can fly, you'd definitely be on roof duty." Liam agrees, nodding to Edith. "Id be best body blocking a stairway, or maybe sitting underneath the most likely side of the building for him to window jump from. Guard and chase duty, should he manage to escape the first group inside."
Takeshi grins at the mention of a helicopter "Ha, that fun." He says, interlacing his fingers and then pushing his hands out from his palms out, cracking noises coming from his knuckles as he takes a moment to imagine the situation. "Heh, how about this ..." Takeshi says running his fingertips through his fair with a confident grin "I go in on own. Challenge man to fight, man to man. Say Dynasty killed my mother, or something" He suggests before looking over to Edith and Liam next "When he start losing, he run. That when you two come in. Tall guy on ground, to run him down if on foot, Lady Vamp in air, to fly if he escapes via rooftop" He claims confidently, looking then to Lynette and Raina "You two keep eyes on civilians, make sure no one walk in at bad time." He recommends for them
"i agree with miss edith, he wont have anywhere to run if we follow this plan, though that is assuming he wont just hop into the nightmare himself...though at that point it would also be easy if we jump in ourselves huh" Raina thinks about it, the plan is really solid unless some complication happens that is, even so, with numbers advantage, it should be easy "takeshi...no that isnt a good plan, he would be alerted immediately, stealth would be for the best, meaning that miss edith would be perfect for this in the first place" Raina said to Takeshi while shaking her head "though the civilians...yeah someone should keep an eye out for them, we dont want to breach anything and butt heads with venice because of it..."
"Great. I love people watching," Lynette says sarcastically rolling her eyes.
Takeshi shrugs "Why he run if only I go in? I only one person. I know I scary and everything, but that should not be enough to set off panic" Takeshi replies to Raina, seeming to be be quite confident in his own plan "He not know he in danger until after I start kicking his ass, then he flushed out like rabbit from warren directly into laid trap" He adds with a self pleased grin
Lynette says "I think the bigger problem with your plan is let's say he doesn't run. Can you be trusted not to kill or injure him? Probably not."
"My bat form is really rather stealthy, so indeed, I can likely sneak up on him and I can be certain to paralyse him- I have paralytics on each of my blades and I have a spirit minion I can have hunt him down." Nodding to Liam, "You would be ideal to hunt him if he runs. Your kind are rather fast. Takeshi may be an insufferable fool, but a direct interaction would draw attention from us and we can put him down and transport him via path to where Ritsuka needs us. Muse and Raina would be ideal deflecting observers. Muse looks are enough to be distracting for the orientals," casual racism, of course. Edith was born in the late eighteen hundreds, "And Raina looks like any other oriental. Perhaps a cleaner." Apparently sexist, too. Ironic, that.
"To be fair, I think I would consider a one eyed man in scrubs carrying a sword a threat, Takeshi." Liam raises his eyebrows at Takeshi, but snorts. "Otherwise, I'm relatively okay with that. Edith high, me low, Takeshi and these two- " Liam hooks a thumb at Lynette and Raina "The capture, flush out, and/or distract team."
"Miss Shimomi or I can hypnotise him before we go in to only engage and not kill." Edith suggests to Raina. "Or Kin'Yoko could. hers are likely stronger than even mine."
Despite disagreeing with Takeshi a moment ago, simply flattery was enough to sway Lynette. She flips her hair smoothly over one shoulder. "Well, I can't deny I would make a very good distraction," Lynette purrs sweetly.
"Alright, I will be back in a couple of hours, will be a couple of minutes later for my own meeting, but it is what it is." Ritsuka says, looking into her own satchel, before making her own way down and to somewhere else - and most of all to switch out into something else, more proper. One of the Tsubaki no Tetsu operatives follows her, her expression hidden behind a full-face masked visor. It is where another operative picks up for the group and says "Follow me please, I will be serving as your driver today." She makes to bow respectfully, and whenever the party is ready, she will lead them out to a vehicle, a car. Neither an expensive nor cheap one, and getting into it would be a bit of a squeeze, how they, Liam, Takeshi, Raina and Lynette will fit into it with four people is up to everyone to find out though the other front seat is offered to Edith, and if asked about, the Operative will say "On Shimomi-san orders."
The drive is running for some time, until the car ends up, eventually driving along the Kubeashi-dori street and it would go on for a good while on that same street. There is a few crossroads in, before the Operative mentions "It is the building to our left just before the next crossroads. Above the Domino Pizza. I could drop you out on the alley before that, but there is usually cars inside it, so I can't drive in there. Can turn to the left and turn an alley on the other side of the building, there is a logistics facility there, from Tsukagoshi Transport. Or we just hold on the parking lot in front on the other side of the crossing? There is a restaurant there, which the political figure is visiting right now. But it would put you into the agent's crosshair directly."
"The alley would be best." Edith suggests. "I would rather shift in quiet without observation, and to fly up, the cover of darkness is preferable."
Takeshi blinks as Edith goes over her plan "So am I going in to fight him, or just create distraction in general?" He clarifies before smirking after a moment as he realizes it probably doesn't matter "No matter what happen I guess, I do something that cause him to run out of building..." He says, opening up the door and hopping into the back seat, arranging his sword in front of him in between his legs with some slight awkwardness. It wasn't easy to fit a 5ft blade into the back of a car! "Okay, someone go over plan one last time before we go in ..." He says. He had said 'someone', but it was Edith he was looking at ...
As Edith, Liam, Takeshi, Raina and Lynette travel with Ritsuka's operative, Edith notes, looking out of the windows, "Oh, a macdonalds-- Oh, a Dominos. Truly, the orientals are being subsumed by the americans of late."
"America, fuck yeah." Liam lightly sings at Edith from where he's been folded into the back seat of a far too small car. "I just need to go and lean against a wall, I guess. And convince any police officers who approach me that I'm just cosplaying or something. Hope they speak english."
"miss edith, we are already steeped with western culture ever since the end of world war 2..." Raina said to Edith who apparently seem to think that japan only has been westernized recently "actually no it has been even longer than that...but that aside" Raina got comfortable in the car "most officers would have a basic understanding of english mr liam, since well...tourist are a thing" Raina answered to Liam "so you would be fine-" Raina said in a sickeningly sweet tone
"Oh, I recognize that moving picture." Edith mentions to Liam in passing. "The Team America puppet show." A self-satisfied nod, and the blond faces forward again. "I doubt the orientals speak english. They are rather rude to foreigners. They all like to look exactly the same as each other culturally, though their suits are rather delightful." Apparently, Edith lacks a filter, too. Especially with Ritsuka's agent, Raina and Takeshi in the vehicle, too.
Lynette pushes her elbow into Takeshi's side trying to get some more room in the back seat. It was just a touch cramped. "I mean, when in doubt at least body language is universal."
Takeshi looks at the yapping and decides it's on him to get this party started. "Suits lame. People who wear suit lead boring life." He sniffs snobbishly before attempting to climb out of the car. Given he was in the back in the middle seat this was an entire process of trying to climb across Lynette and Liam's laps, trying to bring his sword with him as they elbows the face and knees to groins as he surprisingly bony teenager crawls his way to freedom out of the car. He catches his foot on one of the seatbelts as he finally makes his way out of the rear door, hitting the ground with a thud that sent Mao no Tsube clattering across the ground!
He slowly picks himself up, looking a little winded, still rubbing his back as he retrieves the weapon from the ground and starts making his way towards the front door of the building, trying to walk it off "Okay, I go kill things now!" He declares cheerily back to the occupants of the car
Feeling mildly bruised for a moment, Liam winces at the rough exit, but uses the new room to peel himself out of the car and stroll off to take his designated position leaning by the front of the building.
"He," Edith tells Liam, Raina, Lynette and Ritsuka's agent," Is an idiot." Eyes narrowing, there is then something rather abrupt. Edith removes her seat belt, steps out and then bedins to bleed from every orifice.
Raina gets out of the car after Takeshi "ill go be in my post now, miss edith, mr liam i wish you luck on your end" Raina said as she walks to secure the possible area of escape, she is rather leisurely, being panicky right now would be bad overall
Perching up-side down on the car's open windo, Edith(vampire bat) lets out a pip before spreading her wings and taking off, vanishing into the night and flying upward into the sky.
The wheel turns and the operative makes to stop just at the entrance to the alley- sadly there is vehicles that stand in the way of it, but it does offer a view onto the back of the multiple story floored residential building. There are stairs that lead up, but a smaller building also stands between the alley and the target residential building. More fleeting, the operative mentions "I will be driving around and stop over there-" She gestures to the other side of the street, where a few shops have their own parking space.
Regardless, the alley lies ahead, and there was a thinner wall at the end of it, enough space to comfortably pass the parked cars by. So far, there is no camera in sight, and the approach that Liam, Takeshi, Edith(vampire bat), Raina and Lynette would take was up to them.
The weather was fine, and someone was now turned into a bat. The skies are clear of clouds, with a few of the brightest stars that still shine through. There is some people going about, particularly for the nearby dining venues, but most of them are teenager, less the old and less those with a working job - those are on their way home, if they had still been working, as many of them seem to. Some do give the non Japanese in the party a look, and there is some that seem to look for an opportunity to go the other way to avoid them alltogether, even cross the road if they could, if only they could (they can't, it is a two-line street on both sides).
Lynette grunts annoyed as she's climbed over, trying to wiggle out of the way as that stupid sword smacked her in the face. Once Liam had gotten out, Lynette was able to follow, rubber her poor nose from the assult. "I suppose we're starting then," She grumbles, following after Raina. "I suppose if we're keeping watch on the group ill look around the building for another exit." Lynette hums, taking off to the right to loop around.
"busy as always..." Raina mutters to herself as she pretends to play games on her phone to look natural "also miss muse, do be careful, if you get into trouble contact me or liam, as we will be on the same level as you" Raina said to Lynette as she herself got 'comfortable' on where she is waiting.
Leaving Lynette, Raina, Liam and Takeshi behind, Edith(vampire bat) flutters upward, wings extended, body straight, an updraft allowing Edith(vampire bat) to saur higher faster than otherwise she might. Here, behind the building, it is easy to avoid people, the night is Edith(vampire bat)'s home, and a bat is such a tiny thing. Spiraling up-- up-- up-- Edith(vampire bat) doesn't move close enough to find anyone on the roof yet; To the contrary, Edith(vampire bat) reaches the lip of the building and settles in, wings tucked as if roosting below a gutter. Once the bat hears something, that is when she will move again, but she is as the grave, and the undead know how to wait. Liam, Raina and Liam have to find their places, and Takeshi, the sacrificial lamb has to engage and trip any potential traps before all of that.
"Don't worry Raina. I'm pretty good at playing dumb," Lynette purrs sweetly until shes out of sight. She'd take a mention account of the windows, eventually decided standing further away from the building would give her a much better view of multi weak point rather than standing close to guard a specific one was the smarter option. Lynette dart her eyes between windows, a large garage door, and an escape fire staircase while leaning against a far fence, picking at her pretty nails.
(fixed) "Don't worry Raina. I'm pretty good at playing dumb," Lynette purrs sweetly until shes out of sight. She'd take a mental account of the windows, eventually deciding that standing further away from the building would give her a much better view of multiple weak points rather than standing close to guard a specific one would be the smarter option. Lynette darts her eyes between windows, a large garage door, and a fire escape staircase while leaning against a far fence, picking at her pretty nails.
Takeshi would still be going for the front door! Takeshi had a very particular skillset, and his job was perfectly suited to it. The demon was here to make a scene. He marches in through the front door, very obviously wearing the scrubs of an insane asylum, and with a weapon in his hand!
"Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows ..." Takeshi switches to Japanese now as he brings up his sheathed sword in front of him, holding it dramatically out with one hand at the sheath and one hand at the handle "By the contract sealed in my soul, by the price paid in fire ..." Mao not Tsume wanted to be drawn today. The dark chitin that covered the eyelid on it's handle bursting open with a shriek heard only in the mind! Takeshi was grinning from ear to ear now as he slowly draws the blade, inch after inch of the obsidian steel revealing it's self from the sheath, the air filling with dark energy, mist starting to fall from the sheath ominously "Rend the heavens, tear the earth asunder-" He draws the blade fully, dropping into a combat stance as he gets ready for security to tackle him "With claws of the abyss, carve despair into all who stand before me-"
"SHRED AND DEVOUR! MAO NO TSUME!"
Raina can faintly hear the ruckus and wonders to herself if letting Takeshi do his thing is a good idea...well they are committed now, so best to act natural and watch if any of the civilians stray a bit too close to the building for comfort.
Seeing as Edith(vampire bat) has time to kill, she decides to get in a quick snack. Bat-walking along the gutter, she finds another fellow rodent in the night. They interact. They huddle for comfort as bats do. Ah, how Edith(vampire bat) loves the stupidity of fellow animals. They may taste disgusting, but there is no time to find a meal yet. junk food will have to do. So as Raina and Lynette settle in to wait and Liam readies for what he has to do, Edith(vampire bat) casually leans over, catches the other bat's gaze, and starts to drain it... It's killed. Exsanguinated, of course, and still, Takeshi doesn't yet make it up the stairs. No sound of explosions. No sound of triggered traps, so once more, Edith(vampire bat) waits, swinging, now with her little tubby bat body glutted as she swings casually from her perch. This is the good life- Cattle below, cattle to either side, money to come. - Oh, and there it goes, the other bat tumbles away as its body unfolds- Useful that, Edith(vampire bat) thinks, taking its place. This one's warmer. As for the little creature? Well, rodents in dumpsters are nothing new.
Fluttering wings lead a bat that was Edith(vampire bat) to find just the right location for herself, it is really an upside down view on the surrounding, and on this side of the building, it would be visible that the next one and the hump down here would be a longer one, two to three floors, to get onto the other roof, and that one looks stable enough to land on, if it came to it.
Lynette make her way around, finding that there is an opened door at the front, and an over-built way on the side where some motorcycles were parked that would lead to the stairs in the back. The windows are all covered up in white sheets, the balconies are largely empty. The sign at the front mentions 'Retoro Mansion IV'. The opened door seems to have something to do with the domino's, a hallways seems to go that direction and then further back, though it is unclear to where specifically.
It seems Liam and Raina settle in and wait... and then Takeshi would go to the front-way, as a Japanese knowing he has to go through the over-built way, past the motorbikes and then up the stairs- And he just sees a camera there just as he starts his ritualistic sword drawing - and then shouting. SMACK, a window closes somewhere quickly, from a building nearby, and if he was visible, people would look. The neighbors are going to criticize as an old lady opens the door and scrols him "Can't you play your little games elsewhere young boy! You should go home, your parents must be worried looking like that!"
Takeshi and Edith(vampire bat) can smell the food from nearby shops with their sense of smell, and sounds come from the quiet talks in Japanese. Somewhere, a TV is running as well. But for now, there is no sign that anything is happening. This is for the first minute of the approach, as people spread out and begin to do.
Takeshi frowns as he looks around and no visible security tries to tackle him "Ah ... Do we know which apartment he's in?" Takeshi asks, feeling very underwhelmed by the non reaction to the hardest monologue he'd ever given in his life. He walks into the building, looking around for anything that might obviously look out of the ordinary, sword still drawn and in his hand.
Takeshi would have asked that into his comms, to be specific
Lynette would tilt her head towards the motorbikes realizing that may cause an issue in the future. She slowly wanders into the building, tugging out the small pocket knife she keeps around. One by one she'd slash their tires. Less chances the better.
"the one you just entered in, he is on the top floor from what we know of him, maybe it is best you start screaming bloody murder when your up there and not when you just entered the building" Raina said to Takeshi through the comms from the briefing they got he is likely to be up there, which is why someone is ontop of the roof as well.
"the one you just entered in, he is on the top floor from what we know of him, maybe it is best you start screaming bloody murder when your up there and not when you just entered the building" Raina said to Takeshi through the comms from the briefing they got he is likely to be up there, which is why Edith(vampire bat) is ontop of the roof as well.
Disoriented, Takeshi tries to ignore the old lady, but she keeps scolding him "These young children! No respect for the elderly and then they run around with their weird toys and need to play like they are weird characters." And then with something worried, the eldery woman adds "Maybe someone should call the police! I don't know any of you, and you look very shady." Edith(vampire bat) only hears Japanese, Ching Chong, someone and Takeshi understand her very well. Raina speaks in English, which seems to displease the elderly woman even more.
Lynette slashes the tires of the motorbikes, and she knows to be a little discrete, enough so for it to happen quietly and without attracting any more attention. Liam happens to be there and able to see Lynette do as she did while Raina does not notice at all, her focus and attention on her brother, Takeshi.
Lynette feels the hair at the back of her neck stirr and rise up, and more familiar, Edith(vampire bat) gets a sense, something- familiar was happening, in the middle of a process, but she can't grasp her senses around it just yet, she will easily know that soon she will, something exclusive to the supernatural was happening.
Disoriented, Takeshi tries to ignore the old lady, but she keeps scolding him "These young children! No respect for the elderly and then they run around with their weird toys and need to play like they are weird characters." And then with something worried, the eldery woman adds "Maybe someone should call the police! I don't know any of you, and you look very shady." Edith(vampire bat) only hears Japanese, Ching Chong, Raina and Takeshi understand her very well. Raina speaks in English, which seems to displease the elderly woman even more.
Lynette slashes the tires of the motorbikes, and she knows to be a little discrete, enough so for it to happen quietly and without attracting any more attention. Liam happens to be there and able to see Lynette do as she did while Raina does not notice at all, her focus and attention on her brother, Takeshi.
Lynette feels the hair at the back of her neck stirr and rise up, and more familiar, Edith(vampire bat) gets a sense, something- familiar was happening, in the middle of a process, but she can't grasp her senses around it just yet, she will easily know that soon she will, something exclusive to the supernatural was happening.
For Edith(vampire bat)'s part, there is no responce. For one, Edith(vampire bat) is a bat, and therefore cant. For another, speaking into coms would be too obvious and could be overheard from where Edith(vampire bat) is, so she lays in wait.
Takeshi brings his finger to his ear piece "Muse-chan, Raina-chan, shut the lady up" He instructs the two on civilian duty "She's about to call the cops." He says as he sets out into a soft jog to get up the top of the building as quickly as possible, figuring he needed to flush this guy out sooner rather than later, now that attention was starting to be gathered ...
Raina lets out a slight huff and intervenes for Takeshi she walks into the building for a moment and go ahead and talks to the old lady with her usual polite manner of speech "lady, im so sorry for my friends behavior, he is just practicing up and upcoming act he is in, he doesnt mean any harm" Raina said to the old lady, honestly she sort of wished that Takeshi wouldnt go in gun blazing for this reason as well, it is not at all easy to calm someone down.
After slashing the tires, Lynette would stand a little taller, getting a sensation that she struggled to place, but she's certainly felt something like it before. She ignored Takeshi, assuming Raina was a better fit for soothing a Japanese old lady than she was. "Something doesn't feel right. I can't quite place it, but I swear I'm getting the chills," Lynette informs through the earpiece. Not that she knew exactly what she was feeling, so how helpful it was is up to debate.
"I appreciate the gumption in slashing all the tires, just case he was using one of those." Liam comments to Lynette with some amusement, a grin spreading across his face. "Sucks for everyone else, eh?" Liam' eyes then go back to scanning the area, other supernaturally sharp senses working in tandem.
Lynette smirks. "It does. Good thing I don't know them," She purrs to Liam, heading back to her post with a sick sense of satisfaction.
Looking Raina over, the old lady frowns and tells her "I see, but do you need to do it here, young girl! We are trying to go to bed soon, he should be a bit more quiet..." Well, she is distracted enough to not call the police now, but she keeps scolding Raina now, who might perhaps be more accustomed to handling scolding, and she keeps going "What is he doing up there anyway, are you doing some anime performance? It is so popular, you should be at home working hard and studying good instead!"
Takeshi makes his way up to the top floor, to the door without any more problems. It stands closed, and this one looks like any of the other doors, though he finds it locked, and will find that the look is deceptive. It may look like the others, but this door is most definitely reinforced steel, no windows allow access into this specific apartment along the walkway.
For Lynette, she seems to get a sense of it, yes, this feel was familiar, though she was distance... it wasn't quite the same, not at all, it feels... different. The nature is, but it was like when Ritsuka started the way... when she cut her palm into the forest, when she told Lynette, Raina and Takeshi to stay close and not tread from the path... Edith(vampire bat) realizes it far more precise. Someone was trying and working on pathing away, and it was about half-way finished. It was not the same as they do normally, something more foreign, different, but the fundamental was the same. Someone was trying to path, and soon to finish.
Liam looks around, speaking to Lynette on something, but he hears steps as they approach. Two men, dressed in working clothes as they look him over, their intend seems to pass him and Lynette by.
Feeling the sensation of pathing, Edith(vampire bat) follows it. She flies up to where it is, and waits- She needs to know what she can see. If she has a line of sight on the person pathing, Edith(vampire bat) can intercept it directly by pathing in with a tranq.
Takeshi would remain, as always, supernaturally oblivious. Of course he hadn't considered the possibility that the prey they were trying to flush out would simply path! Either way, whether he was aware of the sudden time sensitivity they were working under or not, he wasn't gunna stop and try to negotiate with the door or figure out some kind of high minded plan to get past it.
someone He lowers down into a low combat stance, resheathing his blade. He takes a moment to examine the barrier in front of him, looking it over with narrowed eyes before he grips the handle of his blade and rips "SAAAAAH!"
Takeshi was trying to slice the steel barrier clean in two with his demon blade!
"im really sorry lady, but our other friend is in the building as well, my friend over there is doing a last bit of practice that is all" Raina explains to the old lady to clear anymore suspicions and also...she took the old lady venting at her pretty well "i do agree we should work hard and study, but he is my friend and he sort of roped me into this as well, i sincerely apologize for this" Raina bowed deeply to the old lady, honestly she is being sincere about it, because they are in here disturbing people who arent at all involved "we will be done soon however, again i apologize for our horrid behavior"
Takeshi would remain, as always, supernaturally oblivious. Of course he hadn't considered the possibility that the prey they were trying to flush out would simply path! Either way, whether he was aware of the sudden time sensitivity they were working under or not, he wasn't gunna stop and try to negotiate with the door or figure out some kind of high minded plan to get past it.
He lowers down into a low combat stance, resheathing his blade. He takes a moment to examine the barrier in front of him, looking it over with narrowed eyes before he grips the handle of his blade and rips "SAAAAAH!"
Takeshi was trying to slice the steel barrier clean in two with his demon blade!
The feeling was getting stronger, but Lynette had to assume the others could figure it out. She couldnt possibly be the only one able to sense magic like that, right? For now, she had other concerns. Lynette would push her hands against Liam's chest, breaking out into tears as she runs to the two working men.
"My boyfriend is such a jerk!" She cries, obviously putting Liam on the spot as a villian here. Her dress strap slips, showing off her shoulder with tears in her eyes. "Do you gentleman know where a girl could find somewhere to get a drink around here?"
Liam catches the eyes of the two men with a look of eternal suffering shared through the common headache of men regardless of cultural background: Women. "Ehh... Yabai Kanojo. Take her." Liam shoos the teary eyed girl off, hoping the pair would take the bait Lynette has offered and turn away from the building.
The old lady was about to answer, when the louder sound of metal going against metal sounds from upstairs, and she takes a few steps forward to look upstairs. "What is he doing up there?" She asks, finding some other point to criticize again, but she does not take the stairs up at the least, staying with Raina. Takeshi who is the cause of the loud sound, though he is strong, metal on metal is never a good thing as the blade slices against steel - there is a scratch, he was strong, the blade sunk in half by the blade's width... but this was steel, steel cannot be cut by swords. This was solid reinforced steel, he might just quickly realize that this was not going to be a good idea.
Between Liam and Lynette and the two coming home workers - Lynette finds that they give her a confused look, the look they give to Liam is one where they at least understand the world, but it makes one of them frown at Lynette. They do not want to have anything to do with this, sadly, sexual harassment is quite common and if she's a crazy girlfriend, well, best to keep away from someone so vulgar and troublesome. They try to make their way through, the sound of metal hitting metal does reach all the way down, but does not seem to be odd to the two men.
Edith(vampire bat) on the other hand flutters her wings, she can see quite well in the dark, though sheets cover the window, she finds a crack in it, wide enough for someone to have suddenly turned away from and not seeing, it is slim, and she witnesses a man inside. Black hair, dark bown eyes, wears some sort of modern ballistic armor, a jian style sword at his hip, a rifle slung around his shoulder, lean muscular build - in the middle of the process of pathing out, and he looks like he will soon finish, less than a minute away from escaping.
Lynette blinks surprised. Her? Being ignored? Never. She quickly places a hand on each of their upper arms, batting her pretty eyelashes at the pair. She doesn't go around telling everyone to call her their muse for no reason. "Please? I don't want to be lonley tonight.. at least help me with some directions?" She purrs, knowing they can't understand english, but the obvious flirting should have done all the talking for her. At the very least it'll buy them time.
Kurt Barlo: Salem's lot antagonist, in one scene of the adaptation had one of his spawn grip the edge of a window, manifesting from mist. That is what Edith(vampire bat) does here. The bat flutters to the window, Edith(vampire bat) looks in and in a burst of crimson bloodlight shifts back into a human (esque) form. In the same motion she crouches, suspended in the air for that brief moment, gadgets are deployed; Edith(vampire bat)'s tranquiliser is drawn, a dart incerted and the weapon primed. Edith(vampire bat)'s knife is loosened in its sheath, but not drawn. Then, spotting the mark through the glass, the vampire employs a trick from another property. She paths in behind the man, her taser leaps into her hand, and Edith(vampire bat) lets loose two weapons at once- Selene in pastel pink. Edith(vampire bat) electricutes the man, the tranq flying- Double whammy, wordless and professional, stealthy as can be, a leg sweep coming in next to put him off kilter.
Raina lets out a casual chuckle and waves off the old ladies worry "they are doing a reenactment of a scene, it is usually rather loud honestly, i even told them before they should tone it down but they never listen" Raina explains away to the old lady while faking an easygoing teen who did tell her friends about how bad of an idea their act is in a area with people "i do hope you can understand...they are still at their youth afterall unlike you who has become rather wise" Raina added, praising the old lady for the advice she gave about studying and working hard.
Takeshi was not as much of an anime character as he had hoped. An actual demon would have been able to slice that door, and thus Takeshi was sad. He slumps his shoulders, walking a few feet to the side as he tries to instead to cut through the wall. Given it was an internal wall, hopefully he'd be finding simply drywall and thin structuring. Modern Japanese architecture was not known for it's incredible build quality, most buildings built with a planned obsolescence that was measure in years, not decades. Perhaps their target had been smart enough to reinforce the walls also when he installed the massive door, but the walls were often overlooked as an entry point!
Either way, he'd have to slice it a few times to open up a hole in the wall large enough for him to actually get through, so Edith would be on her own trying to fight this guy for the time being!
More noise reaches from upstairs, now as Takeshi swings his blade against the wall, and the blade cuts... and then gets stuck. If he was any weaker, it would stay stuck, but he also realizes that he could probably just keep smashing at the wall and break it that way withoutt much struggle. The sharp side of the blade would be a touch more blunt until he maintained and cared for it. But this in turn creates a lot of noise - and Raina can see some fear build into the woman's face as she now turns around and tries to walk away, back into her own home. Whether that is to hide or to call the police, she cannot tell.
Downstairs on the ground floor, Lynette's proposition is met with a stare again, and she is starting to realize that they don't understand a single word, as they say "I do not understand english. I apologize." The last was a more familiar word, something like an apology, if someone was watching animes subbed here or there, but this still means they try to walk away again, they just don't know at all what Lynette is saying, only that Liam mentioned that she is a crazy girlfriend, and that was met with looks that said they don't want to be involved with her.
Of Edith, Takeshi sees nothing, but he hears something plummet to the ground a little further in, down into the hallway and into another room at the other side of the building. Edith on the other hand successfully surprises the man, he gets shocked and then is toppled down to the ground. She will likely only have a few seconds before training will pull in and he will begin to fight back, if not look for another way to flee.
A few seconds is all that Edith needs. The man is down, stunned and a dart is flying. Edith meets his eyes, places him into a trance, then as he's under, no glasses, brown eyes, Edith binds him smoothly, produces a neutralizer collar and snaps it around his neck. Still no words, Edith is professional. The tranq should render him unconscious in a moment anyhow, but ropes are never a bad thing- So Edith adds another series of ropes, a set of manacles and finishes by speaking an arcane word, whistling for her hellhound minion to stand over the downed man.
With a slightly frustrated huff, Lynette taps on them once more. "You, me, Sake," she gestures, using a word that they might recognize. She preforms a drinking motion, before patting herself on the chest, as if trying to suggest something.
Takeshi can hear fighting at the door and starts to hack harder! Slice after slice hack into the door "Hold on Lady Vamp!" Takeshi calls out to Edith inside as he tries to force himself through the hole still small he'd created!
He gets stuck halfway, unfortunately, his arm and head inside the hole as he starts flailing "Ah!" He barks out, annoyed as he tries to push himself the rest of the way into the room "Bring him over here! I hit him with my sword!" He tells someone, swiping his sword about in the air!
Takeshi can hear fighting at the door and starts to hack harder! Slice after slice hack into the door "Hold on Lady Vamp!" Takeshi calls out to Edith inside as he tries to force himself through the hole still small he'd created!
He gets stuck halfway, unfortunately, his arm and head inside the hole as he starts flailing "Ah!" He barks out, annoyed as he tries to push himself the rest of the way into the room "Bring him over here! I hit him with my sword!" He tells Edith, swiping his sword about in the air!
Raina shouldnt injure people if they are innocent...but she can do one more thing and that is to give the old lady a rather ominous warning about if she does call the cops on them "lady, if you call anyone, tomorrows news will be quiet a shocking one, so just head home and forget about all of this alright" Raina said to the lady coldly, well she done all she can on this end, honestly she wouldnt be too surprised if the old lady called in the cops anyways, but she feels at this point it is either this or nothing...because her other plan to deal with the old lady wouldve been to choke her out and leave her on the hallway, which would just make a more messy scene "i wish i had hypnotism at this time, there is only so much you can say before it gets ridiculous" Raina whispered to herself as she walks outside the building to wait out the struggle, she wont intervene unless called again.
As Lynette says, trying more clearly, they give a look to the other man that was with her and then sigh, as Lynette kind of coerces them into it, and they seem willing to follow her, at least for a little bit, but they do both gesture to the other side of the street, to the restaurant there, and they will stay with her for up to an hour, unless she chooses to ditch them. Edith was a professional, and it shows as the man does fall into the trance. Takeshi can hear something metallic *CLACK* into place, and then some more shuffling, but no more struggling. Edith on the other hand could hear Takeshi's shouting and a *WOOSH WOOSH* that goes through the air as he swipes it through the air. But he is stuck, and no one else knows he is.
Raina speaks her threat, the old lady gives her a stare, but she already looks a little frightened, and so, she makes her way back inside. Who knows if she will call the police, but there has also been no status update so far. When Raina makes her way down, she can just scarcely see as Lynette is doing what she is doing, which may yet involve leaving from where she was at previously.
Takeshi would spend the next few minutes trying to wriggle the hole he was in larger. It seemed like Edith had this under control. He'd be covered in dry wall whenever he ends up next meeting with the rest of the squad to path home ...
Hooking onto each man's arm Lynette follows their lead into the restaurant, intent on enjoying a few drinks as part of her be a distraction duty.
There's a stare at Takeshi. Edith doesn't say anything, but her look clearly says, "If you punched the door, you would have gotten in with one swing, you idiot." Still, Takeshi is stuck, and Edith hefts the man onto a shoulder- Across it and leaves him unconscious and limp. Edith is not built for heavy things. She's a slight little inhumanly strong predator of the night, and her boobs get in the way if she's trying to be too clever. Beginning to open a path to the status room and where Ritsuka will be meeting the group, Edith speaks over the coms, addressing Raina, Lynette and someone in hushed tones, "Objective achieved. Pathing to rendezvous." As for Takeshi He was a scape goat. Edith leaves him stuck in the wall, and once the time comes, without looking back, Edith paths to Ritsuka's base, dropping the bound and neutralized man beside the table, sitting on top of him with taser held loosely in hand until Raina, Takeshi, Lynette and someone return.
There's a stare at Takeshi. Edith doesn't say anything, but her look clearly says, "If you punched the door, you would have gotten in with one swing, you idiot." Still, Takeshi is stuck, and Edith hefts the man onto a shoulder- Across it and leaves him unconscious and limp. Edith is not built for heavy things. She's a slight little inhumanly strong predator of the night, and her boobs get in the way if she's trying to be too clever. Beginning to open a path to the status room and where Ritsuka will be meeting the group, Edith speaks over the coms, addressing Raina, Lynette and Liam in hushed tones, "Objective achieved. Pathing to rendezvous." As for Takeshi He was a scape goat. Edith leaves him stuck in the wall, and once the time comes, without looking back, Edith paths to Ritsuka's base, dropping the bound and neutralized man beside the table, sitting on top of him with taser held loosely in hand until Raina, Takeshi, Lynette and Liam return.
Raina noticed that it as too quiet, she went up to check on Takeshi, next time around though they are going in with a more concrete plan, because Takeshi thrashing about has basically drawn unnecessary amount of attention.
It would take a solid five minutes of Raina tugging on Takeshi 's leg before he's pulled out of the wall with a messy explosion of crumbly drywall, the two collapsed on top of each other.
"We gotta go Raina-chan, we can't afford to waste time" Takeshi chides Raina as if it wasn't his fault they were both stuck here, Takeshi dragging Raina up to her feet and starting to power walk for the entrance as he leads her along behind him!
"you d-haa lets yeah yeah" Raina is very much unhappy with Takeshi right now but she doesnt have time to indulge, he is right in the regard of not wasting anytime "i am gonna buy a mask later, would be helpful for missions like this..." Raina mumbles as she runs ahead of Takeshi after dusting herself off.
It only takes a little while for the drive back to the foothold the Tsubaki no Tetsu are using, at least for Takeshi, Lynette and Raina, where as Edith is already there. The trip back is more quiet now, and more spacious, now the front seat is also available, if anyone is wanting to take it and Edith's earlier return means that another operative can contact Ritsuka to get the rest sorted, whom very much returns just a little bit ahead of everyone else, bloodied up, with a smile, and some a folder with paperwork in an arm. She says nothing on it, and when Takeshi, Lynette and Raina rejoin her, she mentions to them "Alright, then let's head back to Haven-city. I will handle the sacrifice at Kin'Yoko's shrine."
It goes back to Haven then, after a few more minutes, this time straight to the shrine.
The man is woken and made to kneel before the shrine, his submission is the last and only thing that will be left for him. His breathe would become ragged, trembling, not from any physical discomfort, but the knowledge of what was about to happen. They were the enemies to the Tsubaki no Tetsu, there is spies and observer and it is Ritsuka who walks over to the shrine itself, and then turns back around with a ritualistic blade. She moves towards the man, the blade in hand...
... and does not hesitate.
The steel slashes through flash, blood wells and then spills, painting the altar into crimson and pools at its base. The light ripples and the all too familiar presence of the kami, of Kin'Yoko draws by. The camellia bloom more vibrantly, and their petals darken to a deeper red, as if nourished by the life taken. The last of the man's blood turn into golden motes... vanishing as they are absorbed into the shrine itself. There is no washing away the blood, but those that come and pass here by, will find that in only a few hours, it is as if there never was any blood here to begin with - and yet, the Camellia bloom more vibrantly, and their edges seem just a note darker in heir hue, and somehow, much sharper.
For those who know, the bled out corpse is later left somewhere in China, with a single red camellia left besides him.
Is there any plot awards anyone in the party wants?
As the team disperses in their roles, Takeshi, slightly unhinged and overly confident, charges into the operation with a dramatic entrance. Lynette and Raina handle distractions and logistics, while Liam positions himself strategically to intercept the target should he attempt to flee. Edith, the stoic vampire and tactical genius, opts for a stealthier approach, anticipating the possibility of an abrupt escape by their prey.
The old Kyoto streets teem with life, unaware of the covert drama unfolding. Takeshi's enthusiastic albeit clumsy attempts to breach the target's fortified room create commotion, drawing attention from locals, including a particularly concerned elderly woman. Meanwhile, Lynette artfully manipulates bystanders to maintain cover, showing her resourceful and manipulative side.
In a turn of professional precision, Edith single-handedly neutralizes Zhao Wei using a combination of tranquilizers, hypnotism, and physical restraint, showcasing her lethal efficiency and deep understanding of supernatural encounters. Raina, with her calming presence, manages to handle the public's unrest stirred by Takeshi's antics, showcasing her diplomatic skills.
As Edith secures Zhao Wei, Takeshi finds himself humorously stuck in the wall he tried to breach, with Raina coming to his aid. The mission concludes with the team regathering and heading back to the shrine for the final sacrificial ritual led by Ritsuka. The scene at the shrine is grim yet executed with a sense of necessity, underlining the ritual's gravity and the dark undertones of their mission.
The sacrifice is completed with a somber reverence, and Kin’Yoko's blessing is seemingly secured as the camellias bloom more vibrantly, yet ominously, at the shrine. The bloody consequence of their mission is swiftly erased, leaving no trace behind except for the lingering aura of something monumental having transpired.
In the aftermath, the operative team is left to reflect on the success of their mission and its implications. The dynamics within the team, each member's contrasting methods, and the ethical gray area they navigate paint a complex picture of loyalty, duty, and the supernatural politics at play within the shadows of Kyoto.
(Akai Daichi(SRRitsuka):SRRitsuka)
[Sun Mar 2 2025]
On Foothold in Kyoto
Tucked away in the winding backstreets of Kyoto, behind an unassuming wooden gate marked only by a single, weathered camellia crest, lies a foothold in Japan. The air is thick with the scent of incense and the cold outside, the silence broken only by the distant chime of temple bells or the occasional murmur of unseen watchers.
Beyond the entrance, the locations fits into the surroundings, traditional sliding doors conceal fortified chambers, and a garden disguises hidden pathways beneath its moss-covered stones. Paper lanterns cast flickering shadows against lacquered wood, their crimson glow reflecting in the eyes of those who may take a moment to watch.
Power flows like an unseen current beneath Kyoto's ancient streets. Only those who walk the path of along the Yokai may ever uncover this current.
It is about 50F(10C) degrees.
Takeshi does a fortnite dance
In Kyoto, it is an early evening, just after 8 in the evening, and the weather here is... just fine. Even warmer than the negative temperatures that it has been in haven. As before, Ritsuka will lead the path for those who cannot do so, so Edith by now could well find this location and do it on her own by ease, while Takeshi is given leave from the clinic, for now. For him it may yet be an opportunity to regain his honor.
Today, it goes through one of the rooms in the rented foothold, on into another room where a table stands at its center, and a map of the city and its surroundings, finds itself placed atop of it. Ritsuka moves closer to it, waits for people to settle in where they may and glances over Raina and Lynette specifically before she mentions "So... we are sort of in need of finding ourselves a sacrifice for the seed that was recovered last time." She reaches around, under the desk to withdraw a surface laptop from it, turning it on to glance over it "Kin'Yoko did find us three individuals that would work as targets. The problem? We are not too sure where they are precisely located at, so there would be work to get close to it. I have more to handle by one of the shrines with someone from the imperial family, so it will primarily be up to the three of you." She does explain in English.
"The potential people..." She swipes on the surface "To leave it broad. One potential sacrifice is a Dynasty agent, another would be a someone that looks to be affiliated with the Yakuza, and then there is a file here on someone that would well be considered a high ranking political figure. Does anyone have any preference? The Dynasty are our enemies, and the Yakuza have violated our rules lately, even sent a Freed Angel after research we do not wish to share or to leave in the hands of another. The political figure might be the easiest, but it would well ruin some of our relations and that might bite us in the back over time." She looks up, seeing what everyone would prefer here today.
Though, on the belated note she does add again "Yes, it is a capture that person, drag them to one of Her shrines and quite literally sacrifice them. They are all males, of course."
Takeshi takes a stand at the rear of the pack. He was still in his straight jacket, having not had time to change. his arms were undone though, allowing him to move. Mao no Tsume, his cursed demon blade had been returned to him and was strapped to his back. He holds a Yakuza snarl on his face, ready for violence. He lets the thinkers do the thinking, however.
Lynette moves in closer with the rest of the group to get an eye on the map Ritsuka was leaning over. "As long as they're males," Lynette purrs with a small smirk. Having not been apart of the back with the seed gathering, one could say Lynette was a little out of the loop but she caught up quickly.
"I remember Takeshi saying he was that Yakuza thingy and I don't feel like dealing with more than one Takeshi, so we can rule that one out." Lynette takes a moment to glance behind them towards Takeshi.
"if i may ask...how armed are these three targets of ours?" Raina asked, since it is better to face someone who would be an easier target "or possibly more accurately which one will be the least troublesome if we decide to abduct our target?" Raina furthered her question, no point in antagonizing a strong force for now at the very least being a bit pragmatic about killing someone, she didnt even realize that she felt fine with this mission at all "that aside, how much can we rough up our target can we for example break their arms and legs?"
Ritsuka makes to nod to Raina, and places the surface laptop down, her gaze shifts to Lynette. "The Yakuza will likely have a band of his own with him. The high ranking politician would be a lot of talking, but as mentioned, that is not my favored target, it almost certainly means more work for me later, but he would be the least troublesome. The Dynasty agent would be on his own, but you would need to identify him, and then also catch up. Dynasty agents tend to be quite troublesome."
The other question from Raina does prompt the answer "You can rough them up, they just can't die. It is their life we are after, they will never see their families ever again." She makes a point to ignore Takeshi and turns to Edith "Do you have any questions or preferred target, Edith-san? Or advise to offer to everyone else?"
Takeshi(last post I have is Raina's, can I have reposts?)
Before even arriving to meet with the group, Edith was in New York. Someone had been damaging Court property, one of the Court's own, Hilaina Strahd. Edith was summoned to investigate, and that's where the blond has been for the past few hours. Once that was concluded, Edith then took a trek to the forest; Not hunting, but business. Property is inexpensive out there, and Edith saw something very useful to her. Once that was done, Edith began to gather equipment before meeting with Lynette, Takeshi, Ritsuka and Raina. Driving to 60 Suncrest Lane, the vampire entered Camp Whiteoak, traveled, under stealth, through the stable hidden door into the stone passageway and into the Goblin Market of Haven. A few minutes later and the vampire had gathered multiple items; Expendable resources, taserdarts, tranquiliser darts, peppersprays and other useful tools. Returning home to ready for the path to Japan ahead, Edith gathered her taser, tranqgun, weaponry, arcane tools-- Ceremonial blade, candles, herbs pouders, blood and bone, a number of surringes, a number of micro landmines, a few hidden cashes of caltrops and a bola among other items, lock picks and tech disruption items. Once gathered, Edith meets with Ritsuka, Lynette, Raina and collects Takeshi from the clinic; Day release, isn't authority useful for gathering resources, and in spite of his... everything, Takeshi is a useful tool. Once the group have pathed and are all looking over the map, Ritsuka having identified the three potential victims, the blond takes a moment to assess the gathering-- Ritsuka is proficient, but her power set is bright, sun-based as one might expect from a demigod and one who serves Kin'Yoko. Takeshi isn't subtle, Raina is an angel, and they are not subtle, either, and finally, Lynette. All easy to spot. All obvious. There's a nod, and Edith considers the problem for a long moment before speaking, with the professionalism of a long-lived hunter. "The public figure is out. The Hand owns the majority. I am not disrupting my resources at large. We also deliver grand retribution upon those who damage our property, human or not. Too obvious, hidden dangers. The Yakuza is also out. You all have your issues with them." Edith explains to Ritsuka, Raina, Lynette and Takeshi. "That would only create more potential conflict for you all. Undesirable and poor tactics. The Dynasty is the clear choice. The chinese going missing can be blamed on the Yakuza for a start. Secondly, Dynasty are isolated, and their agents, even if set up well are limited numbers, though they have biomancy at their fingertips-- I am immune to biomancy being dead. Takeshi is biokinetic, which means he will be resistant to their efforts. A missing chinese will be put down to simple racism. That is our target, provided no additional considerations." To Ritsuka specifically, Edith asks, "Do we have casework done and potential locations that could adapt what we do, or are we going in blind?"
To Raina's question, Edith answers after Ritsuka, "I am one of the strongest hypnotists in the world. We can likely gather them undamaged, which means more blood for the sanctification to Kin'yoko." - Edith has very little worry over the lives of anyone not her.
Takeshi listens to the discussions with an awkward expression. He was quite aware he was in some deep shit at the moment and was keeping his mouth shut as best he could. For now he was going to fufill his demonic heritage, a weapon created for war, and not much else. "Whichever one we choose not matter. Not one can stand up to Tsubaki" He claims, quite boldly, folding his arms over his chest "You point, I slice."
Lynette breaks a small smile after Edith speaks. "Can't argue with solid logic. I agree, the Dynasty seems like the best choice. Even if they're tricky I don't think we were expecting it to be easy," She pauses however, crinkling her nose at Raina's suggestion. "I think I'd rather the hypnotism too... less bloody the better. I can probably close my eyes during the ritual or something..." Lynette murmurs in thought, shivering as she recalls collecting material in the wilds.
"...i see that is good" Raina replied to Edith with uncharacteristic ruthlessness, it seems she has changed somewhat from the wilting flower from the last time they have met, though she is still a small bit apprehensive deep deep down, she has opted to bury that feeling in order to make this mission a success "then lady ritsuka, i too choose the dynasty" Raina puts down her vote, she is waiting if anyone else has anything to add.
"Young man." Edith explains to Takeshi, as though he were a child- Because to the vampire, who is one hundred and thirty nine, he is. "Political matters should be considered for all of this. You will learn when you are older, though you can make a statement; Tsubaki can make allies, stabalize agreements and remove problems if we do this well." Edith of course means /you/ meaning Ritsuka, Lynette, Takeshi and Raina, not we. She is payed to be here. "The choice itself is issential for success, yes, but also for swelling numbers, secrecy with Venice- Which you have already endangered twice this week already, Takeshi, and for the benefit specifically of Kin'Yoko. Blood- Take it from me is issential for ritualism. We want the seed given the ideal blood. Japanese is lesser in this case as an external source to homeland will be better for Ritsuka's aims."
Liam marches into the area with a look of some discomfort on his face, scanning the crowd of mostly unfamiliar faces with some interest. "Sorry for the late arrivals, gang. Liam McCarthy. Hired muscle from the Forged Fortune. I don't intend to make many waves." Liam then quietly chats with one or two someone's on the side to catch himself up on the happenings to date.
Takeshi looks over to Edith with a frown. It looked like every bone in his teenager body was telling him to make some kind of snarky remark or just to be rude in general, but after a wary glance towards Ritsuka he just decides to keep his mouth shut. "What lady vamp say" He grumbles "I vote for whatever she vote for. Dynasty."
As Liam enters, Edith glances over. Talking with Ritsuka, Lynette, Raina and Takeshi by the table over the objective; One of three, a public figure, a Yakuza or a Dynasty member, her attention is fleeting, a snap of the head, a look up-down, down-up and then back to the map and laptop held by Ritsuka. "I have heard of you, Liam." the blond announces, still standing, arms crossed, inhumanly still, barely-- Or not at all-- breathing. "Edith Rose, arcane consultent, Hand."
An unfamiliar voice perked the attention of Lynette, causing her to glance over her shoulder. Her green locks spill down her back from the motion as the girl tosses the stranger a smirk. "I'm not the newbie in the group anymore," she hums to herself, quickly tossing this Liam her name. "You can call me Muse."
"There is some casework done," Ritsuka answers, picking up the surface laptop again, swiping through a few files "Kin'Yoko has several agents in Japan. The Crimson Veil?" The woman asks, very much with a note of confusion and unawareness - Kin'Yoko seems to have been far more active than she had known, "Predicted that tonight would be where the most opportune moment would be to snatch them. All in the same district here in Kyoto, all in some form, more vulnerable. The Yakuza guy is celebrating something, the political guy is here for some private festivity with a friend- and the agent is interested in their and our activities, he is set due to show up-" She looks down to the map. "Here-" She points at the map, on the Minami ward, and then closer to the Karikiya Kischoin, it is a restaurant. "The- Carnation? And the Wraith of Sekigahara..." Ritsuka gives a blank stare. "I need to talk to the kami later about who they all are." Back to the map "... expect that the dynasty agent will be on the fourth or fifth floor overlooking both of the other locations. He will probably see if you are approaching the building you are in, so it would be best to find an alternative entry-point."
She gives Liam a glance, again a familiar face, must be that the Eidolon hired him, something to worry about another time if at all.
The conversation goes on, outside the night-air settles as it now turns into the proper evening hours of a Sunday, here in Kyoto. "Everyone is settled on the Dynasty agent then..."
Ah, more work as she swipes through the files. "He goes by Zhao Wei, late thirties, definitely falls into the full profile, has a history in cyber warfare, so expect some camera systems to be in place, his favored weapon is one of those chinese swords. Lean, muscular build, dark brown eyes, black hair. He has a scar that runs from the corner of his left eye down to his cheek." She gives someone and Raina a look as they introduce themselves to Liam, and waits for them to finish before adding "Are there any other questions? I trust you can give the brief to Liam-san."
"There is some casework done," Ritsuka answers, picking up the surface laptop again, swiping through a few files "Kin'Yoko has several agents in Japan. The Crimson Veil?" The woman asks, very much with a note of confusion and unawareness - Kin'Yoko seems to have been far more active than she had known, "Predicted that tonight would be where the most opportune moment would be to snatch them. All in the same district here in Kyoto, all in some form, more vulnerable. The Yakuza guy is celebrating something, the political guy is here for some private festivity with a friend- and the agent is interested in their and our activities, he is set due to show up-" She looks down to the map. "Here-" She points at the map, on the Minami ward, and then closer to the Karikiya Kischoin, it is a restaurant. "The- Carnation? And the Wraith of Sekigahara..." Ritsuka gives a blank stare. "I need to talk to the kami later about who they all are." Back to the map "... expect that the dynasty agent will be on the fourth or fifth floor overlooking both of the other locations. He will probably see if you are approaching the building you are in, so it would be best to find an alternative entry-point."
She gives Liam a glance, again a familiar face, must be that the Eidolon hired him, something to worry about another time if at all.
The conversation goes on, outside the night-air settles as it now turns into the proper evening hours of a Sunday, here in Kyoto. "Everyone is settled on the Dynasty agent then..."
Ah, more work as she swipes through the files. "He goes by Zhao Wei, late thirties, definitely falls into the full profile, has a history in cyber warfare, so expect some camera systems to be in place, his favored weapon is one of those chinese swords. Lean, muscular build, dark brown eyes, black hair. He has a scar that runs from the corner of his left eye down to his cheek." She gives Lynette and Raina a look as they introduce themselves to Liam, and waits for them to finish before adding "Are there any other questions? I trust you can give the brief to Liam-san."
"Pleasure, Edith." Liam drawls in response to Edith and Lynette, his eyes trailing over to Takeshi before the respective brows raise. The lost eye goes uncommented on as he offers Ritsuka a lazy salute. "I'm briefed well enough Inthink, Shimomi-san."
Edith quips, "If he has cameras in place, he may already be in a good place for abduction. It would be inadvisable for him to observe me at all via technology."
Takeshi smirks at the mention of their targets use of the Chinese dao. He brings his own blade from his back to his chest, grinning as he holds it to his chest "Heh, no match for Mao." He says confidently "If you guy get me in and stop him from escape, I can handle the tackle."
As Ritsuka goes on, explaining to Edith, Liam, Lynette, Takeshi and Raina about the description, location and known factors of the mark, Edith listens. There's a nod then; A thin smile- Barely more than the flick of the lip upwards before her expression returns to neutral. "A higher floor vantage is ideal. Less escape options for him. More places to hide. The question would be, is he human or do we know nature?"
Lynette would stretch tall after absorbing all that information. "He sounds hot," she hums half to herself. "You know Edith. I think you're the only person who would claim security cameras are good for abductions. You might be invisible on them, but the rest of us will need to be careful not to be seen," Lynette adds.
"To the contrary." Edith explains to Lynette. "If I am captured on a camera, especially a live feed, the person watching it will be driven slowly maddened."
Lynette says "Well... That's absolutely terrifying."
Takeshi says "She keep saying that. I don't believe her."
"Does the building that he resides in have rooftop access?" Liam muses. "Dynasty agents are basically ninja. If he's that high up, its because he's planned to roof hop his way out as an escape route, I'd bet. We should try to block that off."
Takeshi looks over to Edith with a grin as he jabs a finger to his chest "Send me nudes, I verify claims for myself." He says proudly "My mind too strong to go insane!"
"if that is a good question...if he is of the supernatural we may have our work cut out for us if he decides to escape to the nightmare" Raina took in Edith question and looked at ritsuka briefly if she has anything to add, her head turns to Lynette "it is best if miss edith were to be in camera miss muse, it would make our job a whole lot easier...just dont look into his security feed after that though and also burn it for good measure" Raina said to Lynette with a kind smile, honestly with Edith around the messy part of the abduction is almost too easy "...hmm infact, we might actually want to secure any exits he may want to use some of us should cover the obvious exits, but that is a risk as well..."
There's another sligh smirk as Edith's attention sweeps across Liam, Lynette, Takeshi, Raina and Ritsuka now. Another brief consideration and Edith makes an assessment. "Takeshi is nothing but muscle. Raina and Muse are less adept than they might be. Liam and I are professionals-" Pausing to tell Raina, "We can follow him in if he tries to run." Edith explains. "In any case, our plan needs to account for the forementioned factors. Stealth is not happening, but plans can be managed."
After some more swiping on the tablet, followed by Edith's question, Ritsuka answers "Demigod. Divine heritage comes from 'Guan Yu'? Whoever that is. In power he would be up to the level of the three of us." She adds the later part, looking at Edith and then to Takeshi, though the later only briefly. "Does everyone have all the information they wanted to know and that they need?" She asks, her eyes straying to Raina and Lynette, and then settles on Liam. "Can provide you with a vehicle, too, but you will need to squeeze a little bit-"
Ah and then Liam's question, and she makes a nod. "Of course, Liam-san. The building- most of them do not go above the second floor. But he will survive the jump, and I probably could find a way to organize a helicopter, if you wanted to jump from the side of it on top of it, but I should not need to say that that would be a very loud approach. Could perhaps try and encircle him in that way, but that is for you all to find out. I do have enough to cover most of it up, where needed, but even that has limits, so please be a little considerate if you can be." She does give Edith a look on the assessment, and she makes a little shrug and then nods to her specifically.
Lynette says "I'm satisfied with our little meeting. Everything else I feel we'll need to figure out on the field."
"Doubtful the man runs to the nightmare. He'd be offering too much of an advantage to a team of supernaturals chasing him." Liam clicks his tongue. "Edith, if we went with your proposal of enmaddening the man by purposefully showing you off to security, how much collateral damage do you anticipate from the mundane security guards?"
Raina says "a helicopter...that would be quiet the approach would scare the man out of his seat for sure..."
nods to Ritsuka. Another knife is produced- A bane weapon most likely, and it is swapped out with the one already sheathed. "Demigod." the blond nods. "He will survive a jump, though with all of us, he is unlikely to move fast enough to escape us all." At Liam's question, Edith waves it off. "Not a proposal. The collateral would be too much. It was an observation. My suggestion would be blocking stair access, then a number of us blocking the other exits. I can fly up and hide if needed."
"If you can fly, you'd definitely be on roof duty." Liam agrees, nodding to Edith. "Id be best body blocking a stairway, or maybe sitting underneath the most likely side of the building for him to window jump from. Guard and chase duty, should he manage to escape the first group inside."
Takeshi grins at the mention of a helicopter "Ha, that fun." He says, interlacing his fingers and then pushing his hands out from his palms out, cracking noises coming from his knuckles as he takes a moment to imagine the situation. "Heh, how about this ..." Takeshi says running his fingertips through his fair with a confident grin "I go in on own. Challenge man to fight, man to man. Say Dynasty killed my mother, or something" He suggests before looking over to Edith and Liam next "When he start losing, he run. That when you two come in. Tall guy on ground, to run him down if on foot, Lady Vamp in air, to fly if he escapes via rooftop" He claims confidently, looking then to Lynette and Raina "You two keep eyes on civilians, make sure no one walk in at bad time." He recommends for them
"i agree with miss edith, he wont have anywhere to run if we follow this plan, though that is assuming he wont just hop into the nightmare himself...though at that point it would also be easy if we jump in ourselves huh" Raina thinks about it, the plan is really solid unless some complication happens that is, even so, with numbers advantage, it should be easy "takeshi...no that isnt a good plan, he would be alerted immediately, stealth would be for the best, meaning that miss edith would be perfect for this in the first place" Raina said to Takeshi while shaking her head "though the civilians...yeah someone should keep an eye out for them, we dont want to breach anything and butt heads with venice because of it..."
"Great. I love people watching," Lynette says sarcastically rolling her eyes.
Takeshi shrugs "Why he run if only I go in? I only one person. I know I scary and everything, but that should not be enough to set off panic" Takeshi replies to Raina, seeming to be be quite confident in his own plan "He not know he in danger until after I start kicking his ass, then he flushed out like rabbit from warren directly into laid trap" He adds with a self pleased grin
Lynette says "I think the bigger problem with your plan is let's say he doesn't run. Can you be trusted not to kill or injure him? Probably not."
"My bat form is really rather stealthy, so indeed, I can likely sneak up on him and I can be certain to paralyse him- I have paralytics on each of my blades and I have a spirit minion I can have hunt him down." Nodding to Liam, "You would be ideal to hunt him if he runs. Your kind are rather fast. Takeshi may be an insufferable fool, but a direct interaction would draw attention from us and we can put him down and transport him via path to where Ritsuka needs us. Muse and Raina would be ideal deflecting observers. Muse looks are enough to be distracting for the orientals," casual racism, of course. Edith was born in the late eighteen hundreds, "And Raina looks like any other oriental. Perhaps a cleaner." Apparently sexist, too. Ironic, that.
"To be fair, I think I would consider a one eyed man in scrubs carrying a sword a threat, Takeshi." Liam raises his eyebrows at Takeshi, but snorts. "Otherwise, I'm relatively okay with that. Edith high, me low, Takeshi and these two- " Liam hooks a thumb at Lynette and Raina "The capture, flush out, and/or distract team."
"Miss Shimomi or I can hypnotise him before we go in to only engage and not kill." Edith suggests to Raina. "Or Kin'Yoko could. hers are likely stronger than even mine."
Despite disagreeing with Takeshi a moment ago, simply flattery was enough to sway Lynette. She flips her hair smoothly over one shoulder. "Well, I can't deny I would make a very good distraction," Lynette purrs sweetly.
"Alright, I will be back in a couple of hours, will be a couple of minutes later for my own meeting, but it is what it is." Ritsuka says, looking into her own satchel, before making her own way down and to somewhere else - and most of all to switch out into something else, more proper. One of the Tsubaki no Tetsu operatives follows her, her expression hidden behind a full-face masked visor. It is where another operative picks up for the group and says "Follow me please, I will be serving as your driver today." She makes to bow respectfully, and whenever the party is ready, she will lead them out to a vehicle, a car. Neither an expensive nor cheap one, and getting into it would be a bit of a squeeze, how they, Liam, Takeshi, Raina and Lynette will fit into it with four people is up to everyone to find out though the other front seat is offered to Edith, and if asked about, the Operative will say "On Shimomi-san orders."
The drive is running for some time, until the car ends up, eventually driving along the Kubeashi-dori street and it would go on for a good while on that same street. There is a few crossroads in, before the Operative mentions "It is the building to our left just before the next crossroads. Above the Domino Pizza. I could drop you out on the alley before that, but there is usually cars inside it, so I can't drive in there. Can turn to the left and turn an alley on the other side of the building, there is a logistics facility there, from Tsukagoshi Transport. Or we just hold on the parking lot in front on the other side of the crossing? There is a restaurant there, which the political figure is visiting right now. But it would put you into the agent's crosshair directly."
"The alley would be best." Edith suggests. "I would rather shift in quiet without observation, and to fly up, the cover of darkness is preferable."
Takeshi blinks as Edith goes over her plan "So am I going in to fight him, or just create distraction in general?" He clarifies before smirking after a moment as he realizes it probably doesn't matter "No matter what happen I guess, I do something that cause him to run out of building..." He says, opening up the door and hopping into the back seat, arranging his sword in front of him in between his legs with some slight awkwardness. It wasn't easy to fit a 5ft blade into the back of a car! "Okay, someone go over plan one last time before we go in ..." He says. He had said 'someone', but it was Edith he was looking at ...
As Edith, Liam, Takeshi, Raina and Lynette travel with Ritsuka's operative, Edith notes, looking out of the windows, "Oh, a macdonalds-- Oh, a Dominos. Truly, the orientals are being subsumed by the americans of late."
"America, fuck yeah." Liam lightly sings at Edith from where he's been folded into the back seat of a far too small car. "I just need to go and lean against a wall, I guess. And convince any police officers who approach me that I'm just cosplaying or something. Hope they speak english."
"miss edith, we are already steeped with western culture ever since the end of world war 2..." Raina said to Edith who apparently seem to think that japan only has been westernized recently "actually no it has been even longer than that...but that aside" Raina got comfortable in the car "most officers would have a basic understanding of english mr liam, since well...tourist are a thing" Raina answered to Liam "so you would be fine-" Raina said in a sickeningly sweet tone
"Oh, I recognize that moving picture." Edith mentions to Liam in passing. "The Team America puppet show." A self-satisfied nod, and the blond faces forward again. "I doubt the orientals speak english. They are rather rude to foreigners. They all like to look exactly the same as each other culturally, though their suits are rather delightful." Apparently, Edith lacks a filter, too. Especially with Ritsuka's agent, Raina and Takeshi in the vehicle, too.
Lynette pushes her elbow into Takeshi's side trying to get some more room in the back seat. It was just a touch cramped. "I mean, when in doubt at least body language is universal."
Takeshi looks at the yapping and decides it's on him to get this party started. "Suits lame. People who wear suit lead boring life." He sniffs snobbishly before attempting to climb out of the car. Given he was in the back in the middle seat this was an entire process of trying to climb across Lynette and Liam's laps, trying to bring his sword with him as they elbows the face and knees to groins as he surprisingly bony teenager crawls his way to freedom out of the car. He catches his foot on one of the seatbelts as he finally makes his way out of the rear door, hitting the ground with a thud that sent Mao no Tsube clattering across the ground!
He slowly picks himself up, looking a little winded, still rubbing his back as he retrieves the weapon from the ground and starts making his way towards the front door of the building, trying to walk it off "Okay, I go kill things now!" He declares cheerily back to the occupants of the car
Feeling mildly bruised for a moment, Liam winces at the rough exit, but uses the new room to peel himself out of the car and stroll off to take his designated position leaning by the front of the building.
"He," Edith tells Liam, Raina, Lynette and Ritsuka's agent," Is an idiot." Eyes narrowing, there is then something rather abrupt. Edith removes her seat belt, steps out and then bedins to bleed from every orifice.
Raina gets out of the car after Takeshi "ill go be in my post now, miss edith, mr liam i wish you luck on your end" Raina said as she walks to secure the possible area of escape, she is rather leisurely, being panicky right now would be bad overall
Perching up-side down on the car's open windo, Edith(vampire bat) lets out a pip before spreading her wings and taking off, vanishing into the night and flying upward into the sky.
The wheel turns and the operative makes to stop just at the entrance to the alley- sadly there is vehicles that stand in the way of it, but it does offer a view onto the back of the multiple story floored residential building. There are stairs that lead up, but a smaller building also stands between the alley and the target residential building. More fleeting, the operative mentions "I will be driving around and stop over there-" She gestures to the other side of the street, where a few shops have their own parking space.
Regardless, the alley lies ahead, and there was a thinner wall at the end of it, enough space to comfortably pass the parked cars by. So far, there is no camera in sight, and the approach that Liam, Takeshi, Edith(vampire bat), Raina and Lynette would take was up to them.
The weather was fine, and someone was now turned into a bat. The skies are clear of clouds, with a few of the brightest stars that still shine through. There is some people going about, particularly for the nearby dining venues, but most of them are teenager, less the old and less those with a working job - those are on their way home, if they had still been working, as many of them seem to. Some do give the non Japanese in the party a look, and there is some that seem to look for an opportunity to go the other way to avoid them alltogether, even cross the road if they could, if only they could (they can't, it is a two-line street on both sides).
Lynette grunts annoyed as she's climbed over, trying to wiggle out of the way as that stupid sword smacked her in the face. Once Liam had gotten out, Lynette was able to follow, rubber her poor nose from the assult. "I suppose we're starting then," She grumbles, following after Raina. "I suppose if we're keeping watch on the group ill look around the building for another exit." Lynette hums, taking off to the right to loop around.
"busy as always..." Raina mutters to herself as she pretends to play games on her phone to look natural "also miss muse, do be careful, if you get into trouble contact me or liam, as we will be on the same level as you" Raina said to Lynette as she herself got 'comfortable' on where she is waiting.
Leaving Lynette, Raina, Liam and Takeshi behind, Edith(vampire bat) flutters upward, wings extended, body straight, an updraft allowing Edith(vampire bat) to saur higher faster than otherwise she might. Here, behind the building, it is easy to avoid people, the night is Edith(vampire bat)'s home, and a bat is such a tiny thing. Spiraling up-- up-- up-- Edith(vampire bat) doesn't move close enough to find anyone on the roof yet; To the contrary, Edith(vampire bat) reaches the lip of the building and settles in, wings tucked as if roosting below a gutter. Once the bat hears something, that is when she will move again, but she is as the grave, and the undead know how to wait. Liam, Raina and Liam have to find their places, and Takeshi, the sacrificial lamb has to engage and trip any potential traps before all of that.
"Don't worry Raina. I'm pretty good at playing dumb," Lynette purrs sweetly until shes out of sight. She'd take a mention account of the windows, eventually decided standing further away from the building would give her a much better view of multi weak point rather than standing close to guard a specific one was the smarter option. Lynette dart her eyes between windows, a large garage door, and an escape fire staircase while leaning against a far fence, picking at her pretty nails.
(fixed) "Don't worry Raina. I'm pretty good at playing dumb," Lynette purrs sweetly until shes out of sight. She'd take a mental account of the windows, eventually deciding that standing further away from the building would give her a much better view of multiple weak points rather than standing close to guard a specific one would be the smarter option. Lynette darts her eyes between windows, a large garage door, and a fire escape staircase while leaning against a far fence, picking at her pretty nails.
Takeshi would still be going for the front door! Takeshi had a very particular skillset, and his job was perfectly suited to it. The demon was here to make a scene. He marches in through the front door, very obviously wearing the scrubs of an insane asylum, and with a weapon in his hand!
"Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows ..." Takeshi switches to Japanese now as he brings up his sheathed sword in front of him, holding it dramatically out with one hand at the sheath and one hand at the handle "By the contract sealed in my soul, by the price paid in fire ..." Mao not Tsume wanted to be drawn today. The dark chitin that covered the eyelid on it's handle bursting open with a shriek heard only in the mind! Takeshi was grinning from ear to ear now as he slowly draws the blade, inch after inch of the obsidian steel revealing it's self from the sheath, the air filling with dark energy, mist starting to fall from the sheath ominously "Rend the heavens, tear the earth asunder-" He draws the blade fully, dropping into a combat stance as he gets ready for security to tackle him "With claws of the abyss, carve despair into all who stand before me-"
"SHRED AND DEVOUR! MAO NO TSUME!"
Raina can faintly hear the ruckus and wonders to herself if letting Takeshi do his thing is a good idea...well they are committed now, so best to act natural and watch if any of the civilians stray a bit too close to the building for comfort.
Seeing as Edith(vampire bat) has time to kill, she decides to get in a quick snack. Bat-walking along the gutter, she finds another fellow rodent in the night. They interact. They huddle for comfort as bats do. Ah, how Edith(vampire bat) loves the stupidity of fellow animals. They may taste disgusting, but there is no time to find a meal yet. junk food will have to do. So as Raina and Lynette settle in to wait and Liam readies for what he has to do, Edith(vampire bat) casually leans over, catches the other bat's gaze, and starts to drain it... It's killed. Exsanguinated, of course, and still, Takeshi doesn't yet make it up the stairs. No sound of explosions. No sound of triggered traps, so once more, Edith(vampire bat) waits, swinging, now with her little tubby bat body glutted as she swings casually from her perch. This is the good life- Cattle below, cattle to either side, money to come. - Oh, and there it goes, the other bat tumbles away as its body unfolds- Useful that, Edith(vampire bat) thinks, taking its place. This one's warmer. As for the little creature? Well, rodents in dumpsters are nothing new.
Fluttering wings lead a bat that was Edith(vampire bat) to find just the right location for herself, it is really an upside down view on the surrounding, and on this side of the building, it would be visible that the next one and the hump down here would be a longer one, two to three floors, to get onto the other roof, and that one looks stable enough to land on, if it came to it.
Lynette make her way around, finding that there is an opened door at the front, and an over-built way on the side where some motorcycles were parked that would lead to the stairs in the back. The windows are all covered up in white sheets, the balconies are largely empty. The sign at the front mentions 'Retoro Mansion IV'. The opened door seems to have something to do with the domino's, a hallways seems to go that direction and then further back, though it is unclear to where specifically.
It seems Liam and Raina settle in and wait... and then Takeshi would go to the front-way, as a Japanese knowing he has to go through the over-built way, past the motorbikes and then up the stairs- And he just sees a camera there just as he starts his ritualistic sword drawing - and then shouting. SMACK, a window closes somewhere quickly, from a building nearby, and if he was visible, people would look. The neighbors are going to criticize as an old lady opens the door and scrols him "Can't you play your little games elsewhere young boy! You should go home, your parents must be worried looking like that!"
Takeshi and Edith(vampire bat) can smell the food from nearby shops with their sense of smell, and sounds come from the quiet talks in Japanese. Somewhere, a TV is running as well. But for now, there is no sign that anything is happening. This is for the first minute of the approach, as people spread out and begin to do.
Takeshi frowns as he looks around and no visible security tries to tackle him "Ah ... Do we know which apartment he's in?" Takeshi asks, feeling very underwhelmed by the non reaction to the hardest monologue he'd ever given in his life. He walks into the building, looking around for anything that might obviously look out of the ordinary, sword still drawn and in his hand.
Takeshi would have asked that into his comms, to be specific
Lynette would tilt her head towards the motorbikes realizing that may cause an issue in the future. She slowly wanders into the building, tugging out the small pocket knife she keeps around. One by one she'd slash their tires. Less chances the better.
"the one you just entered in, he is on the top floor from what we know of him, maybe it is best you start screaming bloody murder when your up there and not when you just entered the building" Raina said to Takeshi through the comms from the briefing they got he is likely to be up there, which is why someone is ontop of the roof as well.
"the one you just entered in, he is on the top floor from what we know of him, maybe it is best you start screaming bloody murder when your up there and not when you just entered the building" Raina said to Takeshi through the comms from the briefing they got he is likely to be up there, which is why Edith(vampire bat) is ontop of the roof as well.
Disoriented, Takeshi tries to ignore the old lady, but she keeps scolding him "These young children! No respect for the elderly and then they run around with their weird toys and need to play like they are weird characters." And then with something worried, the eldery woman adds "Maybe someone should call the police! I don't know any of you, and you look very shady." Edith(vampire bat) only hears Japanese, Ching Chong, someone and Takeshi understand her very well. Raina speaks in English, which seems to displease the elderly woman even more.
Lynette slashes the tires of the motorbikes, and she knows to be a little discrete, enough so for it to happen quietly and without attracting any more attention. Liam happens to be there and able to see Lynette do as she did while Raina does not notice at all, her focus and attention on her brother, Takeshi.
Lynette feels the hair at the back of her neck stirr and rise up, and more familiar, Edith(vampire bat) gets a sense, something- familiar was happening, in the middle of a process, but she can't grasp her senses around it just yet, she will easily know that soon she will, something exclusive to the supernatural was happening.
Disoriented, Takeshi tries to ignore the old lady, but she keeps scolding him "These young children! No respect for the elderly and then they run around with their weird toys and need to play like they are weird characters." And then with something worried, the eldery woman adds "Maybe someone should call the police! I don't know any of you, and you look very shady." Edith(vampire bat) only hears Japanese, Ching Chong, Raina and Takeshi understand her very well. Raina speaks in English, which seems to displease the elderly woman even more.
Lynette slashes the tires of the motorbikes, and she knows to be a little discrete, enough so for it to happen quietly and without attracting any more attention. Liam happens to be there and able to see Lynette do as she did while Raina does not notice at all, her focus and attention on her brother, Takeshi.
Lynette feels the hair at the back of her neck stirr and rise up, and more familiar, Edith(vampire bat) gets a sense, something- familiar was happening, in the middle of a process, but she can't grasp her senses around it just yet, she will easily know that soon she will, something exclusive to the supernatural was happening.
For Edith(vampire bat)'s part, there is no responce. For one, Edith(vampire bat) is a bat, and therefore cant. For another, speaking into coms would be too obvious and could be overheard from where Edith(vampire bat) is, so she lays in wait.
Takeshi brings his finger to his ear piece "Muse-chan, Raina-chan, shut the lady up" He instructs the two on civilian duty "She's about to call the cops." He says as he sets out into a soft jog to get up the top of the building as quickly as possible, figuring he needed to flush this guy out sooner rather than later, now that attention was starting to be gathered ...
Raina lets out a slight huff and intervenes for Takeshi she walks into the building for a moment and go ahead and talks to the old lady with her usual polite manner of speech "lady, im so sorry for my friends behavior, he is just practicing up and upcoming act he is in, he doesnt mean any harm" Raina said to the old lady, honestly she sort of wished that Takeshi wouldnt go in gun blazing for this reason as well, it is not at all easy to calm someone down.
After slashing the tires, Lynette would stand a little taller, getting a sensation that she struggled to place, but she's certainly felt something like it before. She ignored Takeshi, assuming Raina was a better fit for soothing a Japanese old lady than she was. "Something doesn't feel right. I can't quite place it, but I swear I'm getting the chills," Lynette informs through the earpiece. Not that she knew exactly what she was feeling, so how helpful it was is up to debate.
"I appreciate the gumption in slashing all the tires, just case he was using one of those." Liam comments to Lynette with some amusement, a grin spreading across his face. "Sucks for everyone else, eh?" Liam' eyes then go back to scanning the area, other supernaturally sharp senses working in tandem.
Lynette smirks. "It does. Good thing I don't know them," She purrs to Liam, heading back to her post with a sick sense of satisfaction.
Looking Raina over, the old lady frowns and tells her "I see, but do you need to do it here, young girl! We are trying to go to bed soon, he should be a bit more quiet..." Well, she is distracted enough to not call the police now, but she keeps scolding Raina now, who might perhaps be more accustomed to handling scolding, and she keeps going "What is he doing up there anyway, are you doing some anime performance? It is so popular, you should be at home working hard and studying good instead!"
Takeshi makes his way up to the top floor, to the door without any more problems. It stands closed, and this one looks like any of the other doors, though he finds it locked, and will find that the look is deceptive. It may look like the others, but this door is most definitely reinforced steel, no windows allow access into this specific apartment along the walkway.
For Lynette, she seems to get a sense of it, yes, this feel was familiar, though she was distance... it wasn't quite the same, not at all, it feels... different. The nature is, but it was like when Ritsuka started the way... when she cut her palm into the forest, when she told Lynette, Raina and Takeshi to stay close and not tread from the path... Edith(vampire bat) realizes it far more precise. Someone was trying and working on pathing away, and it was about half-way finished. It was not the same as they do normally, something more foreign, different, but the fundamental was the same. Someone was trying to path, and soon to finish.
Liam looks around, speaking to Lynette on something, but he hears steps as they approach. Two men, dressed in working clothes as they look him over, their intend seems to pass him and Lynette by.
Feeling the sensation of pathing, Edith(vampire bat) follows it. She flies up to where it is, and waits- She needs to know what she can see. If she has a line of sight on the person pathing, Edith(vampire bat) can intercept it directly by pathing in with a tranq.
Takeshi would remain, as always, supernaturally oblivious. Of course he hadn't considered the possibility that the prey they were trying to flush out would simply path! Either way, whether he was aware of the sudden time sensitivity they were working under or not, he wasn't gunna stop and try to negotiate with the door or figure out some kind of high minded plan to get past it.
someone He lowers down into a low combat stance, resheathing his blade. He takes a moment to examine the barrier in front of him, looking it over with narrowed eyes before he grips the handle of his blade and rips "SAAAAAH!"
Takeshi was trying to slice the steel barrier clean in two with his demon blade!
"im really sorry lady, but our other friend is in the building as well, my friend over there is doing a last bit of practice that is all" Raina explains to the old lady to clear anymore suspicions and also...she took the old lady venting at her pretty well "i do agree we should work hard and study, but he is my friend and he sort of roped me into this as well, i sincerely apologize for this" Raina bowed deeply to the old lady, honestly she is being sincere about it, because they are in here disturbing people who arent at all involved "we will be done soon however, again i apologize for our horrid behavior"
Takeshi would remain, as always, supernaturally oblivious. Of course he hadn't considered the possibility that the prey they were trying to flush out would simply path! Either way, whether he was aware of the sudden time sensitivity they were working under or not, he wasn't gunna stop and try to negotiate with the door or figure out some kind of high minded plan to get past it.
He lowers down into a low combat stance, resheathing his blade. He takes a moment to examine the barrier in front of him, looking it over with narrowed eyes before he grips the handle of his blade and rips "SAAAAAH!"
Takeshi was trying to slice the steel barrier clean in two with his demon blade!
The feeling was getting stronger, but Lynette had to assume the others could figure it out. She couldnt possibly be the only one able to sense magic like that, right? For now, she had other concerns. Lynette would push her hands against Liam's chest, breaking out into tears as she runs to the two working men.
"My boyfriend is such a jerk!" She cries, obviously putting Liam on the spot as a villian here. Her dress strap slips, showing off her shoulder with tears in her eyes. "Do you gentleman know where a girl could find somewhere to get a drink around here?"
Liam catches the eyes of the two men with a look of eternal suffering shared through the common headache of men regardless of cultural background: Women. "Ehh... Yabai Kanojo. Take her." Liam shoos the teary eyed girl off, hoping the pair would take the bait Lynette has offered and turn away from the building.
The old lady was about to answer, when the louder sound of metal going against metal sounds from upstairs, and she takes a few steps forward to look upstairs. "What is he doing up there?" She asks, finding some other point to criticize again, but she does not take the stairs up at the least, staying with Raina. Takeshi who is the cause of the loud sound, though he is strong, metal on metal is never a good thing as the blade slices against steel - there is a scratch, he was strong, the blade sunk in half by the blade's width... but this was steel, steel cannot be cut by swords. This was solid reinforced steel, he might just quickly realize that this was not going to be a good idea.
Between Liam and Lynette and the two coming home workers - Lynette finds that they give her a confused look, the look they give to Liam is one where they at least understand the world, but it makes one of them frown at Lynette. They do not want to have anything to do with this, sadly, sexual harassment is quite common and if she's a crazy girlfriend, well, best to keep away from someone so vulgar and troublesome. They try to make their way through, the sound of metal hitting metal does reach all the way down, but does not seem to be odd to the two men.
Edith(vampire bat) on the other hand flutters her wings, she can see quite well in the dark, though sheets cover the window, she finds a crack in it, wide enough for someone to have suddenly turned away from and not seeing, it is slim, and she witnesses a man inside. Black hair, dark bown eyes, wears some sort of modern ballistic armor, a jian style sword at his hip, a rifle slung around his shoulder, lean muscular build - in the middle of the process of pathing out, and he looks like he will soon finish, less than a minute away from escaping.
Lynette blinks surprised. Her? Being ignored? Never. She quickly places a hand on each of their upper arms, batting her pretty eyelashes at the pair. She doesn't go around telling everyone to call her their muse for no reason. "Please? I don't want to be lonley tonight.. at least help me with some directions?" She purrs, knowing they can't understand english, but the obvious flirting should have done all the talking for her. At the very least it'll buy them time.
Kurt Barlo: Salem's lot antagonist, in one scene of the adaptation had one of his spawn grip the edge of a window, manifesting from mist. That is what Edith(vampire bat) does here. The bat flutters to the window, Edith(vampire bat) looks in and in a burst of crimson bloodlight shifts back into a human (esque) form. In the same motion she crouches, suspended in the air for that brief moment, gadgets are deployed; Edith(vampire bat)'s tranquiliser is drawn, a dart incerted and the weapon primed. Edith(vampire bat)'s knife is loosened in its sheath, but not drawn. Then, spotting the mark through the glass, the vampire employs a trick from another property. She paths in behind the man, her taser leaps into her hand, and Edith(vampire bat) lets loose two weapons at once- Selene in pastel pink. Edith(vampire bat) electricutes the man, the tranq flying- Double whammy, wordless and professional, stealthy as can be, a leg sweep coming in next to put him off kilter.
Raina lets out a casual chuckle and waves off the old ladies worry "they are doing a reenactment of a scene, it is usually rather loud honestly, i even told them before they should tone it down but they never listen" Raina explains away to the old lady while faking an easygoing teen who did tell her friends about how bad of an idea their act is in a area with people "i do hope you can understand...they are still at their youth afterall unlike you who has become rather wise" Raina added, praising the old lady for the advice she gave about studying and working hard.
Takeshi was not as much of an anime character as he had hoped. An actual demon would have been able to slice that door, and thus Takeshi was sad. He slumps his shoulders, walking a few feet to the side as he tries to instead to cut through the wall. Given it was an internal wall, hopefully he'd be finding simply drywall and thin structuring. Modern Japanese architecture was not known for it's incredible build quality, most buildings built with a planned obsolescence that was measure in years, not decades. Perhaps their target had been smart enough to reinforce the walls also when he installed the massive door, but the walls were often overlooked as an entry point!
Either way, he'd have to slice it a few times to open up a hole in the wall large enough for him to actually get through, so Edith would be on her own trying to fight this guy for the time being!
More noise reaches from upstairs, now as Takeshi swings his blade against the wall, and the blade cuts... and then gets stuck. If he was any weaker, it would stay stuck, but he also realizes that he could probably just keep smashing at the wall and break it that way withoutt much struggle. The sharp side of the blade would be a touch more blunt until he maintained and cared for it. But this in turn creates a lot of noise - and Raina can see some fear build into the woman's face as she now turns around and tries to walk away, back into her own home. Whether that is to hide or to call the police, she cannot tell.
Downstairs on the ground floor, Lynette's proposition is met with a stare again, and she is starting to realize that they don't understand a single word, as they say "I do not understand english. I apologize." The last was a more familiar word, something like an apology, if someone was watching animes subbed here or there, but this still means they try to walk away again, they just don't know at all what Lynette is saying, only that Liam mentioned that she is a crazy girlfriend, and that was met with looks that said they don't want to be involved with her.
Of Edith, Takeshi sees nothing, but he hears something plummet to the ground a little further in, down into the hallway and into another room at the other side of the building. Edith on the other hand successfully surprises the man, he gets shocked and then is toppled down to the ground. She will likely only have a few seconds before training will pull in and he will begin to fight back, if not look for another way to flee.
A few seconds is all that Edith needs. The man is down, stunned and a dart is flying. Edith meets his eyes, places him into a trance, then as he's under, no glasses, brown eyes, Edith binds him smoothly, produces a neutralizer collar and snaps it around his neck. Still no words, Edith is professional. The tranq should render him unconscious in a moment anyhow, but ropes are never a bad thing- So Edith adds another series of ropes, a set of manacles and finishes by speaking an arcane word, whistling for her hellhound minion to stand over the downed man.
With a slightly frustrated huff, Lynette taps on them once more. "You, me, Sake," she gestures, using a word that they might recognize. She preforms a drinking motion, before patting herself on the chest, as if trying to suggest something.
Takeshi can hear fighting at the door and starts to hack harder! Slice after slice hack into the door "Hold on Lady Vamp!" Takeshi calls out to Edith inside as he tries to force himself through the hole still small he'd created!
He gets stuck halfway, unfortunately, his arm and head inside the hole as he starts flailing "Ah!" He barks out, annoyed as he tries to push himself the rest of the way into the room "Bring him over here! I hit him with my sword!" He tells someone, swiping his sword about in the air!
Takeshi can hear fighting at the door and starts to hack harder! Slice after slice hack into the door "Hold on Lady Vamp!" Takeshi calls out to Edith inside as he tries to force himself through the hole still small he'd created!
He gets stuck halfway, unfortunately, his arm and head inside the hole as he starts flailing "Ah!" He barks out, annoyed as he tries to push himself the rest of the way into the room "Bring him over here! I hit him with my sword!" He tells Edith, swiping his sword about in the air!
Raina shouldnt injure people if they are innocent...but she can do one more thing and that is to give the old lady a rather ominous warning about if she does call the cops on them "lady, if you call anyone, tomorrows news will be quiet a shocking one, so just head home and forget about all of this alright" Raina said to the lady coldly, well she done all she can on this end, honestly she wouldnt be too surprised if the old lady called in the cops anyways, but she feels at this point it is either this or nothing...because her other plan to deal with the old lady wouldve been to choke her out and leave her on the hallway, which would just make a more messy scene "i wish i had hypnotism at this time, there is only so much you can say before it gets ridiculous" Raina whispered to herself as she walks outside the building to wait out the struggle, she wont intervene unless called again.
As Lynette says, trying more clearly, they give a look to the other man that was with her and then sigh, as Lynette kind of coerces them into it, and they seem willing to follow her, at least for a little bit, but they do both gesture to the other side of the street, to the restaurant there, and they will stay with her for up to an hour, unless she chooses to ditch them. Edith was a professional, and it shows as the man does fall into the trance. Takeshi can hear something metallic *CLACK* into place, and then some more shuffling, but no more struggling. Edith on the other hand could hear Takeshi's shouting and a *WOOSH WOOSH* that goes through the air as he swipes it through the air. But he is stuck, and no one else knows he is.
Raina speaks her threat, the old lady gives her a stare, but she already looks a little frightened, and so, she makes her way back inside. Who knows if she will call the police, but there has also been no status update so far. When Raina makes her way down, she can just scarcely see as Lynette is doing what she is doing, which may yet involve leaving from where she was at previously.
Takeshi would spend the next few minutes trying to wriggle the hole he was in larger. It seemed like Edith had this under control. He'd be covered in dry wall whenever he ends up next meeting with the rest of the squad to path home ...
Hooking onto each man's arm Lynette follows their lead into the restaurant, intent on enjoying a few drinks as part of her be a distraction duty.
There's a stare at Takeshi. Edith doesn't say anything, but her look clearly says, "If you punched the door, you would have gotten in with one swing, you idiot." Still, Takeshi is stuck, and Edith hefts the man onto a shoulder- Across it and leaves him unconscious and limp. Edith is not built for heavy things. She's a slight little inhumanly strong predator of the night, and her boobs get in the way if she's trying to be too clever. Beginning to open a path to the status room and where Ritsuka will be meeting the group, Edith speaks over the coms, addressing Raina, Lynette and someone in hushed tones, "Objective achieved. Pathing to rendezvous." As for Takeshi He was a scape goat. Edith leaves him stuck in the wall, and once the time comes, without looking back, Edith paths to Ritsuka's base, dropping the bound and neutralized man beside the table, sitting on top of him with taser held loosely in hand until Raina, Takeshi, Lynette and someone return.
There's a stare at Takeshi. Edith doesn't say anything, but her look clearly says, "If you punched the door, you would have gotten in with one swing, you idiot." Still, Takeshi is stuck, and Edith hefts the man onto a shoulder- Across it and leaves him unconscious and limp. Edith is not built for heavy things. She's a slight little inhumanly strong predator of the night, and her boobs get in the way if she's trying to be too clever. Beginning to open a path to the status room and where Ritsuka will be meeting the group, Edith speaks over the coms, addressing Raina, Lynette and Liam in hushed tones, "Objective achieved. Pathing to rendezvous." As for Takeshi He was a scape goat. Edith leaves him stuck in the wall, and once the time comes, without looking back, Edith paths to Ritsuka's base, dropping the bound and neutralized man beside the table, sitting on top of him with taser held loosely in hand until Raina, Takeshi, Lynette and Liam return.
Raina noticed that it as too quiet, she went up to check on Takeshi, next time around though they are going in with a more concrete plan, because Takeshi thrashing about has basically drawn unnecessary amount of attention.
It would take a solid five minutes of Raina tugging on Takeshi 's leg before he's pulled out of the wall with a messy explosion of crumbly drywall, the two collapsed on top of each other.
"We gotta go Raina-chan, we can't afford to waste time" Takeshi chides Raina as if it wasn't his fault they were both stuck here, Takeshi dragging Raina up to her feet and starting to power walk for the entrance as he leads her along behind him!
"you d-haa lets yeah yeah" Raina is very much unhappy with Takeshi right now but she doesnt have time to indulge, he is right in the regard of not wasting anytime "i am gonna buy a mask later, would be helpful for missions like this..." Raina mumbles as she runs ahead of Takeshi after dusting herself off.
It only takes a little while for the drive back to the foothold the Tsubaki no Tetsu are using, at least for Takeshi, Lynette and Raina, where as Edith is already there. The trip back is more quiet now, and more spacious, now the front seat is also available, if anyone is wanting to take it and Edith's earlier return means that another operative can contact Ritsuka to get the rest sorted, whom very much returns just a little bit ahead of everyone else, bloodied up, with a smile, and some a folder with paperwork in an arm. She says nothing on it, and when Takeshi, Lynette and Raina rejoin her, she mentions to them "Alright, then let's head back to Haven-city. I will handle the sacrifice at Kin'Yoko's shrine."
It goes back to Haven then, after a few more minutes, this time straight to the shrine.
The man is woken and made to kneel before the shrine, his submission is the last and only thing that will be left for him. His breathe would become ragged, trembling, not from any physical discomfort, but the knowledge of what was about to happen. They were the enemies to the Tsubaki no Tetsu, there is spies and observer and it is Ritsuka who walks over to the shrine itself, and then turns back around with a ritualistic blade. She moves towards the man, the blade in hand...
... and does not hesitate.
The steel slashes through flash, blood wells and then spills, painting the altar into crimson and pools at its base. The light ripples and the all too familiar presence of the kami, of Kin'Yoko draws by. The camellia bloom more vibrantly, and their petals darken to a deeper red, as if nourished by the life taken. The last of the man's blood turn into golden motes... vanishing as they are absorbed into the shrine itself. There is no washing away the blood, but those that come and pass here by, will find that in only a few hours, it is as if there never was any blood here to begin with - and yet, the Camellia bloom more vibrantly, and their edges seem just a note darker in heir hue, and somehow, much sharper.
For those who know, the bled out corpse is later left somewhere in China, with a single red camellia left besides him.
Is there any plot awards anyone in the party wants?