Once again. You are standing in the Room with Lotsa Mirrors. Xivilai is there, waiting for you to pinpoint your destination. What you currently see in the mirror before you is an aerial view of Japan. [SUBSESSION START] Okay, where to start, where to start... (Oy, back.) * Rina shrugs. "Didn'tcha say you were going to call in favors, Togo?" Yeah, but it's been some time since I've seen most of 'em. And what with the takeover, I dunno where they are precisely. Military contacts, police contacts, some not-so-bad underworld contacts... I've got plenty of people who owe me... and owed my dad... favors. It's just a matter of figureing out if where they are. * Rina nods and runs her fingers through her hair. Well... hum. That's what we've gotta do first, I guess. Just a matter of where to start... dammit, I know I'm forgetting something obvious... * Rina shrugs and turns to Xivilai. "Maybe you can help us find 'em?" she asks sheepishly. Xivilai raises an eyebrow. "Find who?" I dunno. They're Togo's friends, not mine. ... got it. * Rina blinks. Hasegawa Boulevard. Takeshi's Bar and Grill. * Togo grins. * Rina shakes her head. "I've still gotta get used to that." * Togo turns to Xivilai. "So I just concentrate on the place, and it'll appear in the window?" "No, there's a small bit more to it than that, I'm afraid. The window only responds to users of magic. In this case, I'll have to get the image of the place from your mind, and then impose it on the window myself." ... okay. Do whacha gotta do. And Rina... do you have any dark clothes? Um... how dark? People we're seeing, your usual attire probably isn't the best idea. * Rina grins at Togo. "How dark? Black, navy blue, what?" Xivilai reaches out and grabs the side of Togo's head. Black, grey, dark blue wou- * Togo twitches. * Rina closes her eyes and concentrates. Her clothing shimmers a bit, and then she's wearing black jeans, a dark blue t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. Xivilai lets go, and turns to look at the mirror. An image of a dumpy-looking bar appears there. * Rina opens her eyes. "Is that okay?" ... okay, now there's a sensation I could live without experienc- * Togo blinks. "Yeah, that'll do." * Rina giggles. * Togo reaches into his jacket, and pulls out a pair of dark shades. "Wear these too." * Rina blinks at the shades, then shrugs and puts them on. ... We're going to the grim badass union hall, aren't we? * Togo puts his on, then gestures towards the window. "Too clever by half. Ladies first." ^_^ * Rina smirks. "'Kay. Talk to you later, Xivilai!" She waves at the sorceress before stepping into the window. * Togo steps through after Rina. Xivilai shrugs. "If you wish." You appear on the sidewalk in front of the bar. It's mid- evening, with the red of a sunset still visible above the towering skyline of downtown Tokyo. * Rina looks around. "Wow, we're home." The bar has a sign proclaiming in English that it is open. Another, hand-made sign proclaims in Engrish that drinking here from 5- 7 is a happy good time. * Togo turns around, taking in the scenery. "Haven't been here in two years... GCI wasn't exactly a union friendly workplace." (*snicker*) * Rina shrugs. I guess you'd know. * Togo nods. "Remember, these people are... well, grim. And badass. So try to be dour, growly, anti-social... basically, act like me." A guy in buisness clothes walks past you and into the bar, muttering to himself how much he needs a drink. Oh. Tango with Dejiko? ... we'll work on that part at a later date. ( Wai! Tango with Dejiko! ) * Rina cackles. Right then. *adjusts glasses; scowls* Let's go. * Rina coughs and waves her hand in front of her face. "Grim and dour and picklepuss..." The smile disappears. "Got it." * Togo enters the bar. * Rina walks after Togo. The inside of he bar is nothing special. It looks better than the outside, in fact, which is very, very good. There aren't any grim badasses in sight, although many people are complaining about how times are tough, lately. * Rina refrains from commenting on how stupid it is to wear shades indoors. There is one door in the back, marked 'STAFF ONLY'. * Togo walks calmly towards the door. * Rina walks quietly after Togo, the bounce missing from her step. Someone mutters something into his beer about these trenchcoat guys coming out of the woodwork today. * Togo moves to open the door... The door opens. There's a guy with a club on the other side, but when he notices Togo's attire he nods and gestures off to his right, where you can barely make out a poorly lit stairwell. * Togo nods, and motions for Rina to follow him towards the stairwell. * Rina follows Togo and tries harder to refrain from talking about how stupid it is to be wearing shades in dim light. Rina trips over herself, but manages to avoid a fall. * Rina blushes slightly and keeps going. ( Feh! The true grim badass needs no light! His angst is his guide! ) ( Togo> Damn right. ^_^ ) The stairwell is, as mentioned previously, dimly lit. The stairs are wooden, and creak ominously as you descend them. At the bottom is a solid-looking door with an eyeslot in it. You hear very little sound from the other side. * Togo knocks once. The eyeslot is opened, and a pair of shades appear on the other side. There might be eyes scrutinizing you from behind them, but it's hard to tell. "Password?" ... (*cracks up* Hey, that should be the password!) The head on the other side nods and opens the door for you. (*powerpose*) (What makes you think it isn't? ^_~) * Togo nods and walks through. (Nothing, really. :P) * Rina glances around nervously, then walks after him. Inside is a room full of mean-looking people in black. Shades jackets, trenchcoats, all of them are dressed for bad weather, and all of them appear to be armed. A great deal of ordinance is sitting in plain sight all around. Smoke fills the upper two or three feet of the room. A man with a great many scars tends bar in one corner. They all turn and glower as you enter. Several of them grunt or murmer threateningly. (Note: This is actually a phrase spoken in the ancient and secretive language of the badass. Translation reads as follows: "Hey, how ya' been?") * Togo scowls. (Translation: "I've been.") * Rina rolls her eyes from behind the safety of her glasses. * Rina barely succeeds in stopping herself from facepalming. All in all, there are between thirty and forty grim badasses in the room. There are a few slow nods from around the room, and someone sneers and grumbles. (Translation: "Good to hear, I guess. It's been a while, we'd started to think you mighta' been whacked. Y'know, by that Hayashi bastard.") * Togo grunts. (Translation: "I did. I got better. He didn't.") A few people in the room nod sagaciously. * Togo whispers to Rina. "Sneer back at them." * Rina blinks, then sighs internally and sneers. * Togo mutters under his breath. Some of the people are women. One stands out in particular; aside from having a scar near her right eye, she is pretty, and is actually shorter than Rina. Her jacket is off, revealing a custom gun harness with no less than four pairs of pistols on it. This woman gets up and approaches Togo, looking very menacing as she moves. * Togo tilts his head. (Translation: "'ey boss. Sorry I'm behind on my dues. I'll cover 'em today.") The woman nods. "Sure." (Translation: "Okay, good to hear. What kept you?") * Rina nearly falls over. Her voice is very high and slightly squeaky. She manages to sound mean anyway. The woman looks at Rina strangely. * Togo cracks his neck and his knuckles. (Translation: "Got my eyes blown out. Had to find the guys that did it. Oh, and don't mind her. She's new.") * Rina tries not to fidget. She really does. ^^; Rina manages to succeed. The woman turns back to togo and nods. She sneers, grunts, glowers, and murmurs. (Translation: "Alright. I'm afraid we'll have to put things off, if she's planing to join. What with the latest bit of trouble and all. We were actually planning on doing something about that, fairly soon. Wanna pitch in and die with the rest of us?") * Togo adjusts his coat and his glasses, sneering. (Translation: "She's not joining, and that's actually why I'm here. I'm with some people trying to organize a really big suicide charge. Interested?") The woman grins prettily, showing lots of sharp pointy teeth. There are similar reactions from around the room. (Translation: "Sure.") * Togo rubs his chin. (Note: This is a request to change from GrimSpeak to normal conversation.) The woman nods. "Sure, I'll talk to ya' normal-like. What's the girl's name?" She's Rina. A trainee, of sorts. The woman reaches into a bin near the door. "Alright. Since you say she isn't joinin', I'll have to issue her a safe-conduct pass." She pulls a massive revolver out of the bin and presses it into Rina's hand. "Here, hold onta' this." * Rina bites her lip and holds onto the gun. Her hand shakes slightly. Ah, a visitors union card. The woman notices Rina's hand. "Man, she *is* new. You even tried teaching her to hold a gun yet?" She doesn't use guns, unfortunately. She has... other talents. * Togo tilts his head towards Rina. "Wanna demonstrate?" * Rina shrugs and looks at the woman. "Do you really need this gun?" ( "Nah, we have 6 thousand more in the closet." ) The woman raises a scarred eyebrow in question. "Not really. Plenty of ruger .48's in back." * Rina nods and turns the gun so she's holding it by the barrel, then squeezes. There's a squeal from the gun as it bends in Rina's mighty widdle grasp. The woman nods. "Not bad. Keep it with you anyway, it's still your official safe-conduct." Okay. She's got the raw talent... the attitude is a work in progress. * Rina refrains from commenting. But anyway... I assume you like the recent change in power about as much as we do. The woman nods. "Know how it is. So, what's this plan you talkin' about? And how 'not better' is Hayashi? We'd been keeping tabs on him for a while, but he dissapeared a bit ago." The top 2/3 of his head are blown off, if I'm remembering correctly. The woman nods. "Alright. So, go on." As for the plan... well, after Hayashi got me, I got recruited by some bigshot. Long story short, I worked for them until she realized our employers were working with the I13, and then we bailed. We raided the I13 HQ, just barely missed getting the fuckers, and then we were... incapacitated for a while. In the meantime, that guy took over the world. So now I and the people I'm working with are digging up every contact we have, trying to work out some kinda organized attack. The woman raises an eyebrow. ... so, of course, first place I came was here. The woman nods. You been in touch with the other regional directors? Barely. Lotta conversations are being monitored nowadays, and you know we can't communicate long distance in our private language. All that's left is the old fashioned way, then. You have a sense if they're thinking along the same lines we are? The other directors? Yes. We've had messages sent and recieved by courrier, lately. Good. What about some of our friendlies? Police contact, military... *shudder* the Overly Cheery Sociopath Union... * Rina stiffles a giggle. Police and military are still in place. The OCSU were wiped out when their HQ beneath Sanrio was raided in response to an attack on a 'bot factory. Figures. They never were big on discreetness. The woman shakes her head sadly. Anyway. Who do we contact about this plan of yours? Or will you take the message yourself? Craziest buncha large-metal-object-wielding psychopaths I've ever met. I'll miss 'em. I... we're your contacts. Soon as we have any details, you'll be the first to know. The woman nods. "Alright. I'll send Queitus and Maim out to let the other directors in on it." In the meantime, I gonna need all of your help with the ground- level organization. Get in touch with any reliable friendlies you can, tell the other directors to do the same, and lay low. We'll give you as much warning as we can. She nods. "Sure." And, needless to say, Rina and I were never here. *winks* The woman raises an eyebrow. "Of course. You don't have to do that thing with the eye, tho." She looks suspiciously from Togo to Rina. "Where'd you pick that up, anyway?" * Rina smiles slightly. ... bad habit I picked up. Spent too much time lately working with... cheery people. The woman nods grimly. "Sorry to hear it. Never do it again in my presence." I'd shoot myself before you could. The woman nods. "Naturally." * Rina bites her lip to keep from laughing. Someone behind the woman grunts, sneers, and growls. The woman turns and gives him a mean look, after which time he shuts up. (Translation: "o/~ Togo's godda giiirlfriend! o/~", and "Shut up," respectively.) * Togo takes out one gun and shoots the guy's glass to bits. Then grits his teeth. (Translation: "Shut uuuuuuuuuuuup...") The man mutters something. (Translation: "You're just mad 'cause it's tr... nevermind.") * Rina starts at that. * Togo growls, then turns back to the woman. "Anyway..." * Togo takes out his other gun, crosses his arms over his chest, and recites the Grim Badass Union motto. [...] (Translation:"May the darkness in our souls light our paths and ensure our bullets safe passage into our foes chest cavities.") The woman does likewise. "[...]" (Translation: See above.) "Anything else you need before you go?" Hrm... any intel you could give would help. Key targets, troop sizes and types... anything that could help the planning. The woman shakes her head. "Can't help you much there, although the factories are easy enough to spot. But don't go up against the factories. That'd be a wasted death." * Togo nods. "That's about it, then." ... although... ... can you spare a coupla boxes of Badass Snacks? The woman nods. "Of course. Gone too long without that angsty flavor?" * Rina *really* has to keep herself from laughing now. Damn right. She motions to the bartender, who hefts a box and hurls it across the room. The woman catches it casually and hands it to Togo. "Here ya' go. Four boxes' worth in here." * Togo slings it over his shoulder, and grunts. The woman sneers and growls. (Translation: "May the Force be with you.") * Togo cracks his back, then turns to leave, motioning for Rina to follow. (Translation: "Fuck the Force. I got Angst on my side.") * Rina bows quickly to the woman, then hurries after Togo. The woman grins toothily at Togo. the door is opened again for you. * Togo walks up the stairs, then opens the door for Rina. "So what'd ya think?" * Rina steps out. "Is it safe yet?" * Togo walks out the front door of the bar. "Now it is." * Rina takes off her sunglasses and hands them to Togo along with the gun. (Well, useless gun. :P) * Togo slips both into his coat with his free hand. * Rina smooths her hair, then throws her head back and bursts out laughing. ... figured that'd be your response. Oh my God, how can- you- hee! * Rina goes back to laughing. (Shall I call it hereabouts, or continue on?) (If there's more to explore, I say we continue. If not... well, that's Togo-kun's call. I'm having fun. ^_^) ( A few more minutes of reaction, maybe. Then we'll dial 1-800- XIVILAI. ) * Rina tries to calm herself down and mostly fails. "Sorry, Togo, it's just- how can you guys take yourselves *seriously*?" Because we're all serious people. ... * Rina bursts out laughing again. ( Aww, she's being a meanie!) All those people down there have been through all sortsa nasty crap. Rather than let the depression and the angst consume us... they... we feed on it. Use it. * Rina gasps for breath and grabs Togo's arm for support. "Bu- but- angsty snacks?" ... okay, I'll grant you that. That was a rare bit of self-deprication on our part. * Rina snorts in a very unladylike manner before she goes back to laughing. Badass snacks. With chocolate as black as the stains on our souls! * Rina laughs harder and clutches at Togo's arm. Togo's arm begins to hurt a bit. * Togo winces, but, being a badass, weathers the storm. (Togo loses his arm!) Hey, don't knock it 'till you've tried it. Those guys helped keep me going after Hayashi killed my dad. * Rina gasps out, "Yeah. Yeah, I know, but- that was so funny!" And for what they're doing... we could do worse than getting a bunch of borderline-suicidal gun nuts on our side. * Togo frowns. "If you say so." * Rina finally catches her breath and looks up at Togo. Sorry if I insulted them or anything. I really am. It's just... * Rina shrugs and smiles. "An outsider's opinion, I guess. Shoulda been more intimidated, I know." ... hey, I understand. From your perspective, the dour experessions, the grunting, the glasses... it must be ridiculous looking. Yup. Why'd you people wear sunglasses indoors? 'cause we don't need light. The burning flames of revenge light our path. ... * Rina giggles. ... kidding. Actually, it's just because it looks cool. ^_^ Helps with the intimidating harbinger of death image, doncha know. * Rina considers. No, I don't know. * Rina grins. * Togo snorts. "Right, right. You ready to head back?" * Rina sighs. "Yeah, I guess. That can't be all the resistance there is here, can it?" If there's any resistance around, these guys'll find it. We haev contacts everywhere. And the less time we spend here, the better. We're targets. * Rina nods. "If you're sure." She blinks, then removes her hand from Togo's arm. "Um... sorry if I hurt you or anything. Was squeezing kinda hard." No biggie. A grim badass knows no pain. Or something like that. * Rina smirks and stands on her toes, tapping Togo on the nose. "Liar. Let's call Xivilai, yeah?" * Togo chuckles, and takes out the card thingee. (Call it there?) ... remind me never to arm-wrestle you, by the way. ( Have us appear before Xivi... one last line I wanna use. =P ) * Rina laughs. Okay, don't arm-wrestle me. If you want to win, anyway. The world around you distorts and changes, and you're back in the mirror room in front of Xivilai. Mission accomplished. ... want a Badass Snack, Xivilai? * Rina cracks up. [END SESSION]