The Sound of Dragons Fighting [Night | Case File #40]

Festival floats and jubilant actors with their faces painted pranced by with lanterns lighting the Little Tokyo Strip. Everything continued as normal and as far as anyone was aware, it was. The seedy underground didn't permeate didn't permeate its toxic roots into the hearts of the people. At least so it seemed on the outside. Everyone was preoccupied with the joy and spectacle of the ongoing festival, oblivious to the uncertain ground on which they stood. One caught in a deadly struggle between the crime syndicate and those with a penchant for breaking the rules. The only echo that anything was off was the odd shady individual and the complete lack of costume on a traditional night such as this. Certainly there was electricity in the air, like a powder keg waiting for the spark.

But it was going down, here, tonight. From what the Platinum Playhouse had heard from the thug, the detective, and the people, there was no way this couldn't be it. And if it wasn't it was only a matter of time. Among the biwa and the drums lie a tentative heartbeat on its final tempo, but who or what did it belong to? Only time would reveal, and the time was drawing near...

This Mission would be specifically dangerous for Nadia, who had been searching around in this area earlier in the day. After escaping this district, and rendezvousing with the rest of the playhouse, she had taken a few measures to make sure she could alleviate some of that. She was wearing the Kimono She'd purchased when she had been to the district with Cecil. Looking back now, it could probably be considered their first date, though they hadn't considered it that at the time. It had been the night she'd awakened to her power, and so she knew immediately that Revenant would recognize her when he arrived. She wondered how Cecil and the others would dress for this occasion. In addition to the kimono change, Nadia had purchased a different mask from the one she'd worn earlier in the day. The horned oni mask would likely be one of interest to any authorities in the area, so this fox max would be better, she decided. She was leaning against a wall casually waiting on other playhouse members to arrive before they initiated any search. She was looking over the crowd, scaning it for any specificly suspicious men or women, notably any that were armed or moving with more purpose than the typical rowdy festival goer. If she saw any, she'd try to keep her eyes on them as best she could.

Ground Wire Heels:

Relevant Str/wk:

Right under his terrorist clothing was a festival style fox mask that Gabe wore over his small mask. Thi was for the skae of blending in somewhat while being in full uniform, not wanting to completely risk himself or his identity for the sake of the mission. It was important to save the ninja woman and make sure that she made it back to the playhouse with them in one piece. However,  they had to be smart about this.

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"Where is everyone else?"

This investigation was carried rather loosely, it felt a little disorganized. If that was the case it was his fault for not picking a place they could start neutrally without getting caught.  There was also the debriefing he wanted to give them about the headhunter assassin.

Heading over to a particular wall, he noticed someone waiting there.

"Who are you? No outfit?"

-Just a suit and a fox mask over my real one, but i'm pretty much in my terrorist outfit

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Oh, how he wished this was a usual operation where he could walk about in his terrorist guise. But, alas, that would stand out. Even in this place of masks and atypical wear, somebody walking around in a full suit of black armour was certain to stand out.
So, he had to go more mundane. Loose clothes, hoodie, and a more slouched and lazy way of carrying himself - so much as he could manage, anyway. His hair was tied back, and with the hood up to cover the rest, he doubted any of the group he was meeting with would catch him out based on that.

Mask:

A Kabuki mask did the rest of the job concealing his features.

He spotted a pleasantly familiar kimono, and a less pleasantly familiar profile beside it. He stopped by the group, idly fiddling with his nails. No helmet to do the heavy lifting, this time, nor any of his usual identifying comforts to help him keep peace while idle in this place. "I see we each had varying levels of concern as to whether we would stand out...just so long as we don't draw attention to ourselves, I suppose."

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Trinity showed up in a well made Kimono, and a mask to hide her face, the festival made it not stand out thankfully at least not overly much, she actually had a lot of masks with her, with a quick clasp on them all so she could change them around easily, and without exposing her face if need be, more so she could not be hassled to have to take off and put on different masks, her current mask was rather simple, the other masks were in her kimono sleeves for quick grabbing and changing if she wanted to.

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Walking around she did end up finding the group well..more so from seeing Gabe then anything and so she walked over and bowed to the group her face fully obscured to the three of them, she could only assume the other two were also members of the Playhouse but she wouldn't speak yet as she wasn't entirely sure, for all she knew they were simply standing around Gabe...or Shotaro, at the time she walked up so she simply looked at them.

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Well, the celebration and elaborate costumes on just about everyone about certainly made it quite easy o blend in, though the blonde silently cursed at the amount of effort said belnding in required, as she nearly stumbled ever few steps in her wooden geta-sandals. Thankfully, the stumbling, and her associated arm-flailing seemed to work in her favor somewhat. Layers of black fabric revealed themselves from under sleeves of her red kimono, the flared folds looking almost like feathers at a glance. Meanwhile her legs were concealed under black hakama.

It had taken two full cans of extra-storng hair psray to get her hair done, said hair puffed outward like a great, unkempt, blonde mane. A mane that went quite well with the red tengu mask over her face.

Mask:

Isabella continued to stumble forward in her geta, until her eyes fell upon someone who stood out from the crowd with their complete lack of costume. This had to be the one. As she would approach, some others stood out somewhat as well. It seems she wasn't the first one here. All the better. The woman flailed the feathered fans she held in one hand, the flair masking yet another moment when she nearly tripped.

"Did people actually walk in these things? Or were these just something the japanese came up with so foreigners would make themselves look ridiculous?" The question wasn't really aimed at anyone. Isabella just hoped that at least some of the others would recognize her voice, even with the slight echo the mask brought on.

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It would seem as if the festive nature of the Strip would continue. But that wasn't the reality as Gabriel entered the area in his attire, with only a mask. While his intentions to remain unknown were appreciated, his efforts were not. As a widespread sensation who challenged the Government, everyone could remember what he looked like. And if said disguise summed up of just wearing a simple mask over your widely known appearance, it was a recipe for disaster. Which, it pretty much was now as people began to avoid him with others immediately leaving the area entirely and other stalls beginning to close down or abandoned.

However, there were a group of people walking to approach him. Three, in fact. One including a lanky man with his hands in his pockets with his shoulders hunched over, a woman in a suit with a metallic suitcase, and a young boy with a metallic staff balanced over his shoulders. It would seem the boy was leading the older adults. He seemed smug, but confused. Did he really think a mask like that was going to fool anyone?

Gabe kind of noticed that there were a few people that were moving out of the way or closing up early due to his appearance which made him second guess bring ing it along. Maybe he should have been like the others and brought something a little more alternative to wear? If that's the case, maybe he could have picked up a garb at one of the stalls.  However, it seemed a little too late with how much attention he was bringing to himself when he heard the footsteps of a person and the voice speaking up to him being the public enemy #1.

Gabe slowly turned around and addressed the young man rather kindly, meeting them halfway so that they don't necessarily go any further towards the rest of his comrades. He made a promise to keep them from harm's way, his foolish mistake wasn't going to be the end of them, not if he could help it. However, at the same time, Gabe trusted in their abilities and knew he could count on them. It would be a gamble if he got away in the end, but going for broke was the only role he could count on right now.

"I'm actually confused myself, young man, I figured that the Japanese based festivals were about wearing costumes and enjoying the dance groups move around in those three man dragon units. Or was it Chinese? I couldn't really tell, but everyone was acting strange, so I started to ask questions about what was up. I guess I missed the memo. Or maybe, I completely missed the memo. I don't think this costume is getting a lot of positive feedback here."

However, Gabe did notice that Susan was with them and figured that it was a way to piggyback on the credibility of one of the cadets in order to figure out a way to get out of this. His heart wanted to do something different, it wanted to jump out of his chest and hide in a hole. To be exposed to Susan like this, it saddened him and made him feel nauseous.

"fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck....."

Nevertheless, he used those feelings of embarrassment as he uttered her name and removed the fox mask, the mask under it vanishing in a timely manner to make it seem like the only thing under the fox mask was Gabe's own face.


"Susan? Oi! I was going to invite you out here, but good thing I didn't looks like I had the wrong information about it. Are these your coworkers? "

The gamble was they wouldn't expect the public number, one terrorist, to be so close to their cadets, especially one that was already with them. The second point was Gabe easily taking off the mask, no terrorist would be willing to do that. Gabe was playing out his hand and had the balls to do so.

What would they do? Bite anyway? He was hoping that they would overthink things and figure that they were wrong about it.

The dice was rolled, the bet was Gabe's own bond with Susan. Will it work?

Tonight was a mistake.

It was a mistake to volunteer for nightly patrols after her ordeal in the sands of another land, after the tax it had placed on her energy. Susan was already in a foul mood from her trip being ruined, having spent all day being frustrated with no time to recoup but there was work to be done. Important work that she could busy herself with and she could do it as long as it all held a greater purpose, and she stuck to the ideal that her job was important. Which it was. To keep presence was of the utmost priority and there were too many red flags that she could not be present. A break-in the night before from a violent thief. Someone in a mask harrassing civilians the next day. The businesswoman could see the correlation, she knew better than that. And when it came down to the report that a Terrorist had been spotted, not only a Terrorist, THE face of the so-called Platinum Playhouse syndicate her suspicions were confirmed. They mobilized quickly.

It was auspicious that Susan chose her suit to wear tonight, a full tactical loadout would only frighten the populace even more so. Not that they needed any help with that. It was a simple matter to find themselves to the epicenter of the confusion. Her blood was pounding in her ears despite her stern facade. Susan was well aware of just what the Playhouse gang leader was capable of. Of sorts. It would be unwise to underestimate him, he was to be considered incredibly dangerous. The last time she had faced one she barely escaped with her life and the sweat on her palms was testament to this fact. Her fingers tightened around her briefcase as her mind raced, Alex Tenth taunting their adversary as Cadets... honestly had the problem of doing. She would remain silent, it distracted from analysis. First a combat strategy. Alex was the better combatant here, increasing his potential should be key. Overall she was here for support but would need to defend herself, they liked to prey on the weak. Her approach should establish a defensive wall of gunfire first while moving to assist with her Persona. She could tap into Seshat's power but only for a limited time and whatever moves she made would need to count. But that came with risk. And there were risks involved in taking the situation at face value.


Her instructions were pointed to the other festival-goers in masks at the wrong place at the wrong time. Or the right place at the wrong time. This would establish one of the two. Any that stayed were at risk and a risk themselves in possibly many ways. The man rambled on as the businesswoman flicked her eyes to him and around the area. He was never ever seen alone. She would be prepared for ambush. And it continued in this way as the famous Terrorist continued to act casually about the situation... right up until he removed his mask and called her name.

Time stood still. Her heart stopped. This couldn't happen in reality, it didn't make any sense. It was completely unexpected in a surreal way, like opening the front door of your house and finding everything else to be gone. And it was somehow familiar in a tiny tiny sense, just like every other interaction they'd had. Every surprise. Every handsome smile with a joyous greeting. Every introduction to the start of something fantastical out of a novel. But it was here. It did not belong here. It didn't make any sense. The cogs in her head began to grind together and jam.


Only sputtering came out. Her mind reached for an explanation for the impossible, to find a chain of events that would lead them here. His attire was like that of the Playhouse leader... from a glance. But no different than his outfit as an entertainer, at night, when he was typically arriving to or leaving from work. He liked oriental things, that she had known for some time. And he took the time to speak to simply everyone and take a chance, to do something wild. It was all a misunderstanding. This wasn't wildly out of character. This was all an unfortunate circumstance. She would yell at her quirky boyfriend for being so damn dense enough to wander around wearing a mask without a care in the world and making her worry. It would end in a possible ride to the station or a more than stern warning and a stress headache on her own part.



...that was what she had wanted to believe. That was what she had wanted to believe until she had seen his hair change color. That was abnormal.

The Tell:

Reality was much harsher than fantasy and she watched hers crumble to dust in front of her. Again. The implications were much more bleak and abrupt. This was normal behavior. False behavior. A hustler with his ploy and she was the mark. A stupid, stupid idiotic mark that couldn't put two and two together. Hindsight was 20/20 and all the signs were there. The adrenaline-pumping dates and breakneck pace of the relationship, he had given her the signs himself. It lead to one conclusion:
............that which she could not face. Not here. Not now. Her hands were shaking and she could feel the wetness in her eyes. The feeling was difficult to place but it resulted in immense pain and one she would not undergo. She refused. So Susan did the only thing she knew how to do to continue to function and completely shut down all emotion, taking a shuddering breath. Her eyes deadened and her posture stiffened.

Nightingale froze, and a fresh, sharp pit of fear oozed down her spine like acid. They had all assembled in relatively expected outfits and masks, but somehow no one else was in costume at the whole event. Had there been some kind of recall or something? She thought of her questioning here earlier today and knew that this must be her fault. Her oversight. But what she couldn't have planned for was Shotaro arriving in Terrorist garb after having arrived on live TV not long before. Hadn't they just had a conversation about the difference between playing Terrorist and playing Civilian? The costume oversight was her fault, but this was something else.

Time seemed to freeze as Shotaro was approached by individuals who could only be Cadets. Nadia hung on a breath as she watched Shotaro turn, walk back towards them, affording plenty of space between the group of terrorists and their leader's plight. She understood this signal. He was playing a risky gambit, and someone in their group had to make a gambit of their own.

Nadia looked around. Her first thought was that she needed to find some way to get away and regroup. The Cadet woman had ordered everyone to go home, and people were clearing out, stalls were closing down. Their cover, and probably their mark, were disappearing into the night, far out of her grasp. The mission was failed now, she had little doubt. If they continued now, they would be at more risk.

Her mind was racing. They needed to do something. She remembered the night of their dungeon mission, how she'd confidently called out a battle plan. She'd had fun doing it, even. But this time...She didn't enjoy what she was about to do at all. Her stomach churned, her vision was blurry. She watched as, despite whatever he had said, the woman with the business suit had ordered Gabe rather harshly to get down. She wanted to run to them, to save him, but She and Isabella were fresh faces, and Cecil...The thought of anyone of them dying broke her heart.

She remembered what Gabe had said not so long before to her...

"I want you to be someone I can count on Nightingale, I need you to be ready for everything..whether it...the night as a terrorist..or the day as who you truly are. Take what you learn here and continue to grow as a person, look to your friends and family, you need to survive, because every day they are waiting to see you again."

The words echoed, recalling the conversation, and the resolutions she made there. There was hope for Shotaro if he surrendered, there was hope for them if they let him. He was making this sacrifice for them, and they could not waste it with a reckless attempt to save him. She closed her eyes, took a breath. When her eyes opened, and she turned to face her comrades, her voice was low, sharp, and insistent. "We need to get out of here. It isn't safe, let's go home."


She would turn her back on Shotaro then, as the crowd was moving past them, away and into alleys and buildings. She would move with purpose, but not with any more or less urgency than the people around them. She would lead the team down to an alley that led out of the district, back to Backlight. Don't stand out. Disappear.

We are dust and shadows.

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Trinity was ready for a lot but not for this, the usual festival costumes apparently were not being worn, and then it seemed Shotaro was recognized, though she should have realized that would be the case due to him having been on Television not to long ago, and then a voice rang out calling out to Shotaro and behind the mask Trinity's eyes went wide when she seen the people approaching and Shotaro going out to meet them, she had to fight herself to not reach out and grab his arm and run.

Her arms were shaking, but thankfully the large sleeves of her Kimono hid that, and she simply stood there staring as Gabe talked with the apparent cadets....and then reveled himself to them as apparently he knew one of them, her hearts stopped as she head the order by the cadets for everyone to leave, she hadn't even Registered the order that one of the others said about leaving, she was stuck between wanting to help gabe wanting to run out that, pull out her shotgun, and start firing at the Cadets, to get them to take cover or change targets, anything, the other choice was to leave, in her mind her and her siblings were arguing back and forth, they had a duty to Selenus....but they had to protect Gabe...she was all she had left at the Playhouse the only one left from the original group...the only one that even gave a damn about her....

Her siblings continued their argument and Trinity simply stood there, unmoving, unblinking, frozen in thought as she watched the last friend she had sacrifice himself to make sure she was safe...not again...she didn't want this to happen again, First Selenus died to protect them all.....then Tatsui disappeared...now Gabe was making another sacrifice to save them... She didn't want this, she wanted to be strong enough to help him, to save him from the Cadets...

Behind her mask her eyes were rapidly changing color while tears were gently falling from her eyes, though her face would be expressionless as always, the mask she wore hid all this though as she simply stood there unmoving as the scene unfolded before them.

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Well, this wasn't great. Turns out today wasn't a night for costumes. So they stood out more than anything. Well, it still hid their identities, and the mess up could just be played off with an ignorant tourist card or something. That was, at least, until the next... Complication decided to rear its head. Cadets.

Okay, that was bad, really bad. That would really hamper their operation further. They would have to really be careful One false move and... What was he doing? Isabella could only stare from behind her mask as one of the members of the playhouse, the one she'd come to understand was the leader, took his mask off. Why was he- "Gabriel?" The blonde could merely whisper to herself. Was he part of Playhouse? More importantly, why was he exposing himself to the cadets, revealing his identity? Not good. Not good. Not. Good.

A owman, one of the Cadets from what she could gather, had ordered the civilians to get away. So now not only were they already sticking out, but what visual cover they had was thinning out fast. What the hell were they supposed to do? Fight the cadets? No. The place was already on alert, so not only would they probably get surrounded and outnumbered, that would risk putting civilians at risk. And all that without any kind of guarantee of being able to help Gabriel.


Her eyes jolted about behind the mask, taking in the surroundings. This was so different from what it was like back in the middle east. "Think Isabella, think!" She wracked her brain fro an answer, a familiar low whir starting up in her ear. There was something she was missing. There had to be. IF they fought here. People would get hurt, people could die. There had to be some other way.

But there wasn't. Try as she might, Isabella could not find an approach through which they could help Gabriel and not put the rest of group in harms' way. Damnit. Damnit.

"Damnit." The words were hissed, coming out more like a surprised exhale than anything.

I was Nightingale who would provide the reasonable option, the one Isabella had not wanted to consider. She didn't want to leave someone behind. But at this point, It would have been choosing between possibly helping Gabriel, a big possibly, or the safety of everyone else."You're... You're right. The older female spoke in a low voice. She would kick off her geta, crouching slightly to pick them up. Holding the wooden sandals in the same hand as her fan, Isabella would then reach a hand to the youngest member's shoulder. "Come one, we gotta go."

She could feel how the younger female was shaking. She seemed quite shook up by this. People were leaving fast, and they would really stick out soon. "Be a dear and hold these for me." She spoke to Nightingale, handing her sandals and fan to the other female. That done, she would lean over, and with both hands picked up the younger female, one hand under her knees, the other reaching around the back and wrapping to the armpit. IT was only now that Isabella noticed, or rather felt something unusual. Something long and hard hidden under the kimono. One one hand Isabella wasn't necessairly surprised is she was armed, but... She was clearly a child.

Her heart felt like someone had driven a dozen daggers into it as she gave Gabriel a look from the corner of her eye, and turned to leave. With how dark it was already, and how much the tengu mask on her face covered, many probably couldn't even notice the words she breathlessly mouthed.

I'm sorry.

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The situation was...not good. Everyone recognised Shotaro, and soon enough Cadets were approaching him...thankfully, he met them halfway, but the situation was not exactly ideal.
He recognised the woman among them. Susan. He didn't know she was a Cadet...he filed away the information for future reference, a little tidbit that gave him something to focus on. Shotaro walked forward, talked to them, took off his-

what

why

Gabe?

And-

With Susan, too?

She seemed

Shellshocked.

He supposed he was surprised too.

Unison had frozen.

Nadia was calling for them to leave.

Isabella was carrying the young girl away.

He left with them, eager to do as had been asked of them all of a sudden.

After a while of walking away with the crowds, past the point where the scene they'd left had become impossible to view after the distance they'd walked and the turns they'd taken, he locked fingers with Nadia and gave her hand a little squeeze.

She needed the reassurance.

He...needed to recenter, and reevaluate.

This was absolutely baffling. Seriously, it was. Why would a renown criminal reveal himself without any kind of resistance. Was this some kind of game? Or was this guy this stupid? It was hard to wrap around it for Alex. In his entire career as a Cadet, there was no one who was this bold/stupid enough to just pull off their own mask in front of the faces of their enemies. Perhaps even worse, this guy knew this mousey old hag. Alex was going to demand answers, but she didn't even sound like she was in the state to even explain. Great, he's going to have to deal with a sobbing mess later. But man, this was the worst. The best part of taking down Psyche-Terrorists were unmasking them and for them to do that right from the get-go, it really blew the mood. That and this was somebody close to one of their own.

Shin began to bring out his brush and began to sign what looked like floating lines in the air. They look non-threatening, at least for the moment. Though Alex would command Gabe's attention as the staff that was nestling on his shoulders was lifted and one end hit the ground before a green blade began to sprout out on the other end while pulling out what appears to be his cellphone.


It made little difference to Alex. In the end, a Psyche-Terrorist was a Psyche-Terrorist. If they resisted, it was business as usual. If they didn't, better for them. In the end, it was all a job. Though this could get really personal...

Shin's Human Strengths:

Action:

Shin, Level 10, Mainline:

Meanwhile, the sirens can be heard in the distance. In a fifty meter radius around the current scene, police officers began to arrive and cordon off the area. As they waited anxiously for the conflict to be over. They had their firearms at the ready should it be needed. Many opened the doors and took cover behind them as others kept a dutiful eye into the space that was inevitably going to explode in combat.

"That look on your face, you feel as if I betrayed you?  You being here changed my original action, risking your life under no cover of the face against the menaces to society as opposed to what I'm trying to do. It's different, but you people aren't paying attention. I can't protect you, but the least I can do is even the playing field of exposure.  Now we are finally equal, I know you for who you truly are, and now you the same for me.  So if my words mean anything to your friends on record, the crafty terrorist tricked the poor woman and Susan shouldn't be held responsible, it's all on me. She shouldn't be responsible for my choices. Demonize me as much as you want if it saves her face.  "

As he was talking, Gabe was scoping the place out for possible escape routes in order to get away. If he even could get away that is. However, a lot was weighing in his heart as well.  Gabe was probably doomed from the start, maybe since birth. Maybe there was an original telling of his fortune that led him down this path to continue to make the same stupid mistakes. However, it really destroyed Gabe emotionally to hear her say those words. None of it was a lie, none of it was a joke, but it doesn't matter anymore. She wouldn't believe him, he was just a criminal in her eyes. He still smiled regardless.

"Sorry for earlier. It was a bit of a weak lie, but the truth is, I planned on doing this for a long time. Telling you, but not like this. But I also wanted to show you and your coworkers that people who truly want to believe in something is willing to risk everything for the sake of change and true justice. I gambled away my identity at a moments notice because I really believe in something. I want you to know that you aren't fighting demons or monsters, but people, people that are tired of the lies and oppression.  You know what I'll lose by doing this Susan, and you also know the kind of person I am. But that doesn't matter now, I only need to exist as Shotaro, all other identities are meaningless in comparison to giving hope to the powerless. "

But he wasn't going to let it end like this. As soon as Alex started to make his move, Gabriel changed back into his terrorist uniform. If this was the end, he needed to go out the only way he knew how, as a terrorist.  An impossible gamble with unbelievable odds.

But to bet against that anyway, that was his true PERSONA!


"You are obviously tired of the talking, so how about I entertain you a little?"

With that being said,  Gabe snapped his fingers. And with that, His persona appeared and created an ice wall that was about 10 meters in size, freezing up the narrow strip in order to create a blockade.  They were too close and Gabe needed some more spacing between them. Afterward, Gabe took off running with a shadow accel, covering about 5 meters and turning into one of the many tight corner alleyways that intersect throughout the tokyo strip. Could he lose them and minimize collateral damage at the same time? Was that even a choice at the matter?

No one was going to save him, he had to make his own luck.

Stats

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