[Rail IC] Academy City

[Rhydeble]

Katsu, in a surprisingly patient move, skips in at a visible speed and smiles cheerily to Jason.

"Thanks! Why're y'all talking English? Is it a secret meeting? Is it about the earthquake?"

"Well, it's not really a secret meeting, yet, but we're talking in English because Jane and Jason here aren't very good at speaking Japanese yet. And yeah, it's sort of about the earthquake."

[druid91]

Akiyama stoops down to pick up a rock, before jogging back and speaking to tsubasa.

"So... is he finished? Also do you think I did any permanent damage? Aside from the tree..."

[Mina Kobold]

"I see, that's a good reason to speak English"

Katsu nods in agreement, looking absent while he ponders on teh language situation.

"Oh, did you hear from Moreau-san? I'm not sure she'd know where I am."

Katsu seems to have forgotten that Cale wouldn't know who Moreau was, or possibly just assume she had talked with him as well.

He was there after all.

[Bago!!!]

After lying on the ground for but a moment, Goliath lifted his head sluggishly and looked around him, his attention turning from person to person. He noticed a girl call out but stopped trailed off at the entire situation that just happened, as if in disbelief. Goliath was still trying to figure out what was going on when he heard a familiar voice that caused him to seethe with rage and brought him out of his disoriented stupor. He looked up at Tsubasa, the girl who had flipped him, or thrown him or something. Whatever she did, it meant that she was in the way and would not get out of the way. Goliath’s long arm reached out and his large hand snatched at Tsubasa. At this point, the familiar sounds of cartilage cracking, bone creaking, muscle ripping and growing, and tendons stretching started to fill the immediate area again. Whether or not he grabbed Tsubasa, he would rise back to standing position as his muscles started to ripple from the renewed growth that was taking place.

OOC: Sorry this took so long. I've been distracted by work/friends/addictive video games.

[Rhydeble]

"I see, that's a good reason to speak English"

Katsu nods in agreement, looking absent while he ponders on teh language situation.

"Oh, did you hear from Moreau-san? I'm not sure she'd know where I am."

Katsu seems to have forgotten that Cale wouldn't know who Moreau was, or possibly just assume she had talked with him as well.

He was there after all.

"Well that's convenient, because I'm not sure who Moreau is" Cale replied. Thinking quickly, was moreau yamato's first name and were he and Katsu that close? or was it someone else entirely?

[Silverraptor]

Jason watches the two boys chat in japanese. It felt nice that he could exclude himself from any conversation for the moment.

[horngeek]

Luckily for Tsubasa, she was paying attention to the rampaging Esper.

So, she manages to step back in time to avoid the grab. "...that answer your question?"

...what the heck IS that guy?

[Mina Kobold]

"Well that's convenient, because I'm not sure who Moreau is" Cale replied. Thinking quickly, was moreau yamato's first name and were he and Katsu that close? or was it someone else entirely?

"That's weird, she was the police lady who're trying to figure out who the kidnappers are. I told her what happened and helped them make mugshots."

Katsu explains with the same enthusiasm as ever, pausing only to breathe before continuing.

"They said they looked like three studnets that're missing, did you know that?"

[Lillith]

"That's weird, she was the police lady who're trying to figure out who the kidnappers are. I told her what happened and helped them make mugshots."

Katsu explains with the same enthusiasm as ever, pausing only to breathe before continuing.

"They said they looked like three studnets that're missing, did you know that?"

"Uh..." Jane interrupted. "Kidnappers were adults yes? How they able to be students?" She looked at Jason remembering him being an exchange student probably meant he had no clue what was going on. <"Apparently an officer told this boy that she found out that the kidnappers look like 3 kidnapped students.">

[Mina Kobold]

Katsu nods enthusiastically.


"Yup, they looked like older versions of the students. They had the same tattoos and everything!"

Katsu suddenly dissappears and reappears in the nearest chair, barely wasting a second before continuing.

"My bet was that it was Esper powers, like illusions! Or hypnosis. Or maybe transformation..."

He enthusiastically tries to think up various Esper powers that could mae a perso look older.

[Rhydeble]

"or maybe they were mad scientists... the kind of mad scientist that would build an attack-robot, as well as a whole lot of other cliché things." Cale said, hoping desperately that the cases were connected, since one problem was far easier to solve then two or more.

[druid91]

Luckily for Tsubasa, she was paying attention to the rampaging Esper.

So, she manages to step back in time to avoid the grab. "...that answer your question?"

...what the heck IS that guy?

"Hmmm so anything you need me to do? Level 4, Hachiro Akiyama, Atmosheric telekinesis. In short that means if I throw something I can make it really hurt.

[Lillith]

Katsu nods enthusiastically.


"Yup, they looked like older versions of the students. They had the same tattoos and everything!"

Katsu suddenly dissappears and reappears in the nearest chair, barely wasting a second before continuing.

"My bet was that it was Esper powers, like illusions! Or hypnosis. Or maybe transformation..."

He enthusiastically tries to think up various Esper powers that could mae a perso look older.

"But..." Jane interjected. "Why you go to trouble, illusion yourself to make yourself not recognizable while details like tattoos are give aways? Parents and friends might recognize details."

"or maybe they were mad scientists... the kind of mad scientist that would build an attack-robot, as well as a whole lot of other cliché things." Cale said, hoping desperately that the cases were connected, since one problem was far easier to solve then two or more.

"Yes." Jane agreed. "Villains part from a big mad scientist group. Those were mooks, they kidnapped the boy for someone else. They kidnap Espers for something and are kidnapped Espers also. What is connection?" She pondered for a second. "Who are they working for?"

[TARDIS]

And then, just as Leah was coming down from her adrenalin-high, Goliath there lunged back to his feet, his fists barely missing the agile Judgment officer. Leah nearly jumped out of her own skin at the growing Esper's sudden movement, a startled cry just barely caught in her throat, saving her from some embarrassment. Taking a few seconds to compose herself, she raised her fists once again. ["Alright."] she said, a small grin on her face, ["Round two - begin!"]

["And Lev, close your mouth, you look like an idiot..."]

["Wha... hunh?"]

[Mina Kobold]

"But..." Jane interjected. "Why you go to trouble, illusion yourself to make yourself not recognizable while details like tattoos are give aways? Parents and friends might recognize details."



"Yes." Jane agreed. "Villains part from a big mad scientist group. Those were mooks, they kidnapped the boy for someone else. They kidnap Espers for something and are kidnapped Espers also. What is connection?" She pondered for a second. "Who are they working for?"

Katus grins, he had thought of that.

"Simple, they can't make just anything with their powers. Maybe they can only alter them to look older, like an age-ray! Make sa lot more sense than three people who look exactly like older versions of three other people who dissppears when the first three appear. Right?"

Pausing to listen to the mad science explanation he cheerily chippers in.

"Oh you saw the giant robots too? They were awesome. Really slow, though."

[Rhydeble]

"katsu.... is there anything you DON'T think is slow?"

[Mina Kobold]

Katsu nods.

"Yup. Plenty of stuff."

He throws his arms up to underline his point.

"I'm only a little bit faster than sound! We're surrounded by stuff that's hundreds of thousands of times faster than me!"

He gestures around in the room, trying to indicate that he's talking about the speed of light.

[Rhydeble]

Katsu just kept amazing Cale. on first sight he seemed to be an incredibly dense and inattentive boy, but he actually knew some basic physics. how intriguing.
"mehh, just put it in some dense glass and you could probably catch up to it."

[Crafty Cultist]

A scruffy looking young officer with a cigarette in his mouth marches onto the scene, carrying what appears to be some sort of grenade launcher.

"All non-combatants make way for Anti-Skill! Judgement operatives stand by to provide support!"

Frank sighs beneath his confident facade. He had to be the nearest operative on stand by. Hopefully he can handle things until his co-workers show up.

Frank fires a canister of tear gas at the shaved gorilla that has been rampaging in the park

[Lillith]

"So what we do first?" Jane asked. They would have a lot of things to figure out. Were the men actually the missing boys? Where did the kidnappers take the young Espers and what caused them to turn up completely comatose? "What we investigate first? The men who are boys or the coma kids?"

[Anyr]

The battle's end was near. Though this new specimen had put up a good fight, surely even he would soon be at his limit. Now that Anti-skill had arrived to supplement a force which already included several high level Espers, it was only a matter of time before they overwhelmed him by sheer force of numbers. The watcher allowed himself a melancholy smile. It was always a little sad when such wonderful moments drew to a close. His eyes moved to the newest arrival: A stubbled Anti-Skill with a predilection for smoking (such a bad habit). They followed the tear gas grenade as it left its launcher on a collision course with the enemy. All that remained now was to sit back and watch it-

-be abruptly blown apart in midair. The canister's twisted remains flew sideways, spewing tear gas as it went, before landing next to a tree which now had a large bullet embedded in its trunk. This happened so suddenly that the watcher actually deigned to raise an eyebrow in response. He traced the bullet's trajectory backwards with his eyes until...There! A slight glint from a distant treetop several hundred feet away.

"A sniper? How vexing. Too much interference will contaminate the data."

[Crafty Cultist]

Frank's eyes widen as the canister explodes in midair. He looks around for any clue to what has happened, and seeing the bullet embedded in the tree, he immediately looks in the other direction for a sign of what happened. However, his experience with snipers is not enough to spot the shooter.

Frank lets out a warning at the top of his voice "SNIPER!! EVERYONE TAKE COVER!!"

Diving behind a nearby tree, Frank takes a long drag on his cigarette. Here we go again. He should have known. Things like this could happen to him on a routine patrol, so naturally a hulking brute rampaging through the park would lead to some kind of secret plot that puts his life in danger. Why did these things have to happen to him?

[Silverraptor]

Jason thinks for a moment.
"I think now, we should investigate both equally until we have some lead over the other."

[Mina Kobold]

Katsu seems to ponder the question but soon interupts Jason.

"Maybe we could ask if the police found something? Moreau-san said they'd tell us if they found out who the three thugs were"

He pauses and suddenly turn to Cale.

"What happened to... Anthony Jackson, that was it. What happened to him?"

[druid91]

Frank's eyes widen as the canister explodes in midair. He looks around for any clue to what has happened, and seeing the bullet embedded in the tree, he immediately looks in the other direction for a sign of what happened. However, his experience with snipers is not enough to spot the shooter.

Frank lets out a warning at the top of his voice "SNIPER!! EVERYONE TAKE COVER!!"

Diving behind a nearby tree, Frank takes a long drag on his cigarette. Here we go again. He should have known. Things like this could happen to him on a routine patrol, so naturally a hulking brute rampaging through the park would lead to some kind of secret plot that puts his life in danger. Why did these things have to happen to him?

Akiyama looks scared, and throws a rock at the ground full blast. A small cloud of dust shoots up to cover him as he runs like hell.

[Anyr]

A complex melody by Bach started issuing from the watcher's jacket pocket, causing him to sigh. In response he produced a phone from said pocket and put it to his ear, while never taking his eyes off the unfolding scene.

"Is this important, because I have a rampaging behemoth and a sniper to-
...
Oh, that's you? I wasn't aware that you-
...
Really? How interesting. Nevertheless, you do seem to be contaminating my experiment.
...
Ridiculous. The chances of that are extremely low. A mob with this composition will most likely aim to subdue rather than kill the subject.
...
Let's not start this debate again. If you really feel so strongly about this matter, I am quite willing to defer to you. By all means, continue.
...
You're welcome. Happy hunting."

He closed the phone with a click from both the case and his tongue. In truth he had no desire whatsoever to let his colleague interfere with the experiment; However, he didn't feel it wise to push his luck against an angry sniper with line of sight to his vitals. He settled back to watch the scene again, though now with much less enthusiasm.

Once Akiyama's dust cloud had cleared more bullets would enter the fray. One flew past Tsubasa right before her eyes; The twins got one each as well, embedded in the ground at their feet. No shots were devoted to Akiyama, Frank, or anyone else not directly attacking. Only those fighting the behemoth were targeted, and even they didn't actually get hit. Perhaps this sniper wasn't as good a shot as they'd first seemed.

[marcielle]

Not too far down the road is a foreign car. Pure white but for the blacked out windows. Expensive as it looked, no sane person would have risked being so close to a major esper battle so the car was obviously abandoned. Obviously there WEREN'T two people, definitely not an old man and a child, sitting in the car, watching the fight with growing interest. Oh, and the child who obviously wasn't there did not have a cup of bubble tea.

*sluuuurp* ahhh.
*sigh* Looks like the sniper doesn't want to kill anybody after all...
I could still bring down a blackout on 'im just to freak 'im out.
No, not yet. We haven't officially entered the scene yet. It would be folly to ...
The old man who wasn't turned around to find that the child who shouldn't have been in the back seat of the car, indeed, wasn't there.
****

Finishing off his bubble tea, Marc found himself a more substantial meal. The very natural forces around him. A focused field around himself cut off any sound he would have made and severely weakened the pull of gravity on him. Long and silent bounds brought him completely unoticed to the edge of the battle whereupon he drank the light from around him too.

Spoiler

Show

Form of the Voidwalker - Marc 'eats' all the light around his skin and closes his left eye, making him look like a one eyed shadow with a mouth.

ACHTCHUNG! Marc yelled, droping all but the shadow field.

The sudden appearance of somebody whom you were sure was not, in fact, there a moment ago yelling jabberwocky and nonsense can be slightly disconcerting. Even more so when that somebody seems to be shadow come to life.

[horngeek]

Tsubasa knows better. Warning shots.

She tries to think for a bit, diving behind a tree. Dammit, what's this guy trying to do?

If she can figure that out, maybe she can throw off his aim...

[TARDIS]

Both Xaviers turned to look at the Anti-Skill officer as he arrived, Leah with a bit of annoyance and Lev with a whole lot of relief - no getting himself maimed, crippled, or killed today! And that was a good thing.

Lev grabbed his sister's jacket sleeve and started to pull her back from the raging giant, and what was probably going to be a cloud of teargas. That was just a wild guess on his part as to what was in the Anti-Skill officer's launcher, but he did feel that riot suppression manoeuvres were in order here, so it made sense. Of course, whenever things start to make sense, they tend to stop - just for funsies. As Lev was reading to run from the scene the moment he felt his sister give, his eyes were still locked on the conflict, and thus saw the canister explode in mid air. He stopped in his tracks... it shouldn't have done that. Well, not that he knew anything about teargas or its dispersal methods other than what he'd seen on TV, but he didn't think tear gas-

"SNIPER!! EVERYONE TAKE COVER!!"

Lev blinked a few times as he mentally translated the warning. Oh... sniper. Well that would... DAMMIT!

["RUN!"] Lev yelled at his twin, and she almost instantly complied, having caught the warning and come to same conclusion as her brother. Of course, the moment they went to do so, clouds of dirt shot up from their feet - the debris of a bullet hitting the ground. ["Okay... too real now!"] Lev groaned under his breath.

Leah took a sharp breath in and looked around. She wasn't really skilled enough to know where the sniper was shooting from, but any cover was better than none. Her eyes flew to the tree she had been hiding behind before she decided to get involved in the fight. Wasn't very far away... and it might just be enough! It was now her turn to grab her frozen twin. ["C'MON!"] she urged, and the two of them raced off at breakneck speeds, reaching the relative safety of the tree and it's surrounding bushes in seconds, both diving to the ground behind it, opposite of the battle. Not the safest position, depending on where the sniper was, but... well, they were out of the conflict now, so maybe attention would be turned elsewhere.

Lev panted for several seconds, before cuffing his sister on the back of the head. ["Round two? Really?"]

["Not the time, Lev..."]

[Rhydeble]

"Am I supposed to know a mister Jackson?" Cale replied. did he really know such a person? so much had happened these last few days that it seemed like it had been month's ago that he had met such a person.

"[Oh and good idea about chasing both leads there Jason. I wonder if we'll fin the powers of of earthquakes or sound attacks somewhere in the coma-kids, but we'd need to search the system-scan data for that.... does any of you have a friend in Judgement you trust? if not... I might have a way of procuring that information by... less-then-legal means.]" Cale said in English, giving a Japanese explanation at the points where Katsu might have problems understanding.