2013.12.31 - A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Japanese Society

One of the potential leads that Jeanne Foucault has unearthed about Taskmaster's whereabout points to Japan, to that end she's been brushing up on her already fluent Japanese, as well as having researched more about the region. Today she arrives at the Japan Society of NYC as a kid looking to learn more about the country, but in the process, also getting access to some books that would offer help. Walking in she greets the receptionist before being told where she can find the information she's been asking about.

Well. Lunair does study botany. And bonsai in Japan are fun. And more languages are better. But why not? Lunair will be incidentally visiting, strange fashion sense and all. Probably for the best she didn't turn up in gothic lolita attire. Really for the best. Her path might take her near Jeanne without anyone realizing. But she seems off somehow. A thousand yard stare. Still, polite and well groomed. Oooh, pamphlets.

Cinque is finishing up a meeting with several businessmen. He dips head to the departing businessmen, before returning to his seat to look over his documents. He reaches into his backpack and puts out IPAD, and begins to input the date for the documents into the IPAD.

You know what's great about New York. Really tall buildings. Like stupid tall. You know what's weird about New York? Really short buildings next to them. As he walks through the front door the man, encased in black and gray combat armor that bristles with weaponsss, stares. "Trust the Japan Society to find a teensy building next to a sky scraper and call it home. Seriously. There's a joke in there somewhere." he says as he walks calmly up to the receptionist, who's wide staring eyes and trembling hands seem otherwise frozen in place, "Excuse me," says the even almost cultured tenor, "I'm seeing a girl. She's about this tall," his armored hand comes up to Jeanne's height, "short black hair, athletic build, American, kinda uppity? Seen anyone fitting that description?" the receptionist shakes her head 'no' and her hand darts for the alarm. His moves quicker. A flick of his wrist sends the flat screen computer monitor on her desk smashing against her face knocking her from her chair in a tumble where she lays unconscious on the floor, "Boring conversation anyway." he mutters before looking around the room as a whole. This is when the screams and the running and the panic start.

Jeanne wasn't paying attention to Lunair, much like she wasn't paying attention to anyone else in the room. She was eager to finish her business here and move on, there was still much to do before the trip she's not yet secured. And things like international trips are even harder to arrange when you're underage, still, she has her ways, she wasn't a genius for nothing. But it's the clamor outside the room she just entered that draws her attention first, her head peeking back out into the hallway as she looks incredulously at the geared up man causing disquiet. Unfortunately she didn't get to hear his brief discussion with the receptionist, as she remarks loud enough for him to hear, "if you're looking to make bank, you're totally robbing the wrong building, try the Chase bank across the street."

Well, Lunair is a stranger. But she's interested in this bonsai tour and then - then suddenly, a wild geared dude appears. Something sort of twinges. It's like when one predator encounters another. Bigger and meaner? Dude's geared, but money here? That's not likely. He's looking for someone. And weirdly, she's close enough to hear. The pamphlets are forgotten. An eyebrow lifts. Now people run and scream. So much for her bonsai. "Heywait..." She looks like the lady the dude was describing. Um. "... you should -" Pause. "get - into cover..." Damn you, social disability! Years of training and isolation have left her slightly wanting in the social skills department. And debating if she should pull a weapon.

While other people start to scream and flee from the building, Cinque decides to not to get involved for the moment, and goes back to typing up his paperwork into his IPAD. When a young lady who is running trips and falls on her face, Cinque helps her up and pats her on the head, before going back to his work.

The man calmly reaches down to the desk again and picks up a legal pad of paper and nonchalantly holds it up just in time to block the incoming prongs from a guard's fired tazer, letting the pad take the hit, then he tosses it away. He never even turned to look at the man. That hand falls to his side and comes out with a pistol, which barks with a muffled whump and the guard goes down screaming, a hand clutching his shin where the bullet hit. "Stay." the armored man commands, still not bothering to look at the rent-a-cop. He turns his head to eye Jeanne and his demeanor seems congenial as he reholsters the silenced pistol, "There you are! Wow. I thought I'd have to go through all the floors looking for you. Sweet." he seems youngish, something about his tone, the use of 'sweet', but not //young//. Hard to tell what with the armored helm. He begins to walk Jeanne's way, "So let's make this super easy, where is he?" he asks conversationally as if they were old friends and just chit chatting about Stuff. He ignores the fleeing panicy people completely.

"I should get into cover? I don't have anything freakazoid over there would want to steal," Jeanne replies to Lunair, not quite following why she'd be told to take cover. Spotting Cinque ever so calmly typing and looking all cool, Jeanne points in Cinque's direction, "maybe that's the guy he's looking for? He's mighty calm for this mayhem." But then the guy who looks like he had the wrong address starts to walk towards Jeanne, and she understands the warning she got from Lunair, "I don't have anyone of yours, sorry, you have the wrong person," Jeanne informs the mercenary, and then rushes towards the staircase, looking for the fire escape. No point fighting someone this heavily armed, particularly when she doesn't have her weapons and isn't in costume. She just looks for a quick out.

"No, I mean, - you! He described-" Lunair shakes her head. Crud. Well, at least she's bolting. Lunair's fairly mercenary most days, but some conscience remains. The day it runs out is one of the days she fears most. That day is not today. Her eyebrows lift as the man shoots the hapless rent-a-cop. She's shot a fair few in her time. But - does she risk outing herself? Well, whatever. There's masks, and stuff. She is still relatively unknown. Why does everything seem to happen when she's NOT wearing her armor?

Her power is handy in these sorts of situations. No one expects you to pull out an AAR-12 and take a pot shot at his legs. Which Lunair does to the man. She somehow doubts that he'll get hit - but she's wise enough to move for cover after taking a potshot. It's odd how little hesitation there is.

Cinque finishes typing up his documents, then folds them into a paper hat. He pulls up his hoodie, before turning his paper hat upside down, and placing it inside his hoodie for a makeshift mask. He places his IPAD into his book bag and places it out of sight on the floor as he thinks that he really needs to bring at least some gear, when he is out and about in the city. Cinque kneels down, and carefully rips one of the legs off from the chair, then holds it tightly to his body to hide the object. He pretends to head out of the building along with the rest of the fleeing crowd, as he tries to maneuver closer to the armored guy.

There's a sigh from the man as his target makes for a quick scoot, and he stops walking her way, "Do not make me chase you." he says in a tone of voice that just drips with disgust, "It's so cliche'd and you're not going to get out." Then a bullet hits him in the shin and his leg goes out from under him causing him to fall over. He pushes himself up, his body language more surprised then hurt, "Seriously!?" he asks as the push up turns into a shove that sends him into a standing possition. "This is New York, didn't you know carrying a gun is illegal?" he asks as a flick of his wrist sends a pair of metal cylinders, one to either side, to Lunair. "AND DO NOT MAKE ME CHASE YOU!" he bellows, as he notices she's not stopped running just yet. He's starting to get angry...

A normal 15 year old girl might get spooked into a frozen state, paralyzed with fear from someone like this random mercenary looking after her, Jeanne on the other hand doesn't even stop to look back. Whoever shot at that guy is buying her precious time, and if that person happens to kill that man, so much the better. Pushing past the door leading to the staircase, Jeanne runs as best she can, looking for a window with a view to the fire escape, as soon as she finds one she forces it open and climbs out. She doesn't like being at a disadvantage and being chased by someone she doesn't know, for a reason she doesn't know, makes it a situation to get out of fast! As soon as she hits the fire escape, she starts rushing down, her bike waiting for her by the side of the building.

"... are you KIDDING? You're approaching hipster levels of irony-" Wait. Shit. Flash bangs. TWO of them. Really good ones, too. "I hate you so much." So much. SO VERY MUCH. Even on a metric scale! She's barely got enough time to pull one into existence and fling it back. And while she might have some decent cover, those flash bangs are near enough to send her reeling for awhile. Not incapacitated, mind. She's smart enough to close her eyes, cover ears and hunker down. But even still, friggin' ow. She's down for a little while at least. The world is spinning. She can only hope the other girl was smart enough to bolt. And that person with the iPad... Just - gonna curl up here a moment.

Cinque decides to uses his superspeed to close the distance with his makeshift weapon and super strength to bring down the attacker. Cinque tries to bring his table leg and fists down upon the attacker.

"No fair!" The flash bangs aren't just flash bangs. When the one goes off near Lunair it pops not once, or twice, but 9 times in rapid succession, hammering her with phsycal blows of sound and light. Closing one's eyes doesn't help much when the flashes are that bright, it makes the eyelids little more then pink translucent skin and less opaque coverings. The man reaches up to presss his hand over the slots for his eyes in his helm as he groans, and something like blood seems to be leaking out of the edge on the side of his helm. Sadly... one of these things is not like the others. Cinque's wild rush and the downward arching club meet no resistence as the man that was there is /just/ to the side, of the swinging club. "Cheeky." comes the muffled coment from inside the mask as a an armored knee snaps up towards Cinque's groin in a blur. The guy is fast. Beyond human fast.

While Lunair and Cinque put up a valiant fight for someone they don't really know, Jeanne has made it to her bike and she's speeding away as fast as she can. Her once focus is to get into hiding as fast as she can, and she does so by taking to the first subway station she sees and disappearing from the scene. Even if that mercenary proves better than the two fighting on her behalf, he won't have her this time.