Game-Changers & Grudge Matches

Noctis explains how carbonated drinks work, "So, when you shake it, it will more or less explode when you open it."

E"Yeah, that's why I have to open my cap slowly, like this."

*Euryale twists her cap a few times to let off a little whistle of CO2.*

V"Then why did you shake it in the first place?"

E"This contains ingredients that have to be mixed up. You've got pop, it doesn't separate out in solution."

R"You can have mine, since most of yours is now on the floor. But it's grape, so I'm not sure if you'll like it."
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<Mm-HMM...well, Sir, what our investigators have actually found is that the explosives were probably firmly planted inside of the building, at strategic locations. That seems a little odd, doesn't it?>
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<Well, that's very unfortunate, but at least you're all better now.>

*He stands up, the water no longer glowing. He deposits it back into the bucket.*

"Well, lets get over to the river I guess," Gabe said.

Astarte nodded.

Hector furrowed his brow, "No, it doesn't. They wanted to destroy my shop, so they effectively planted explosives. I'm no expert, but I doubt it would be hard to find the weak spots of a little place like that."

"Thank you very much," Dalia nodded to him.

<Why wouldn't they just throw the explosives in through the windows, from the street?>
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*As promised, after he knocks, & the officer opens the door to allow him to leave, said officer comes in, closing up the wall & sitting down with a pen & a clipboard.*

<So, what is your story?>
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E"One second, I want to find a park official, and make sure it's okay. Wait for me by the riverside."

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Astarte set off towards the river.

"They wanted to be thorough?"

"I went for a job interview at Future Industries, and on the way back a Purist attacked me," Dalia responded. "When the police turned up, she bombed the vehicle and fled."

Everyone follows, but Mortal suddenly feels cautious about going to the river.

*Eve nods, and takes the money out of her wallet*
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*Monu gets the order out of the kitchen and sets it on the counter*

<That will be 60 yuans please.>
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*If she hasn't done so already, Tirea passes back the signed contract*

<Yay for water!>

<Anything else?>
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*He puts the money on the table, then they each start taking some of the bags that the orders have presumably been put in.*
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*Euryale comes back a moment or so later.*

E"Okay, he said he'd let us do it because I'm a cop. But we have to throw the rocks back into the river, and no aiming for the turtleducks."

*Euryale points to a trio of animals swimming by, ducks with turtle shells. Once they're past, she stomps on the ground, causing a dozen fists sized rocks to fly out of the water & pile at their feet.*

E"So, like this."

*She swings her left arm, causing one of the rocks to shoot out, flying behind her, skipping across the river twice, & splashing back into the water.*

E"Now you try."

*Ven swings her arm & one of her rocks kind of rolls over. She stares at it.*
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<So why did they put so much effort into destroying your shop? They smash up shops all of the time.>
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*The officer looks highly concerned by this news.*

<Give me one moment.>

*He heads to the phone & spins the dial a few times, before taking out the ear & mouth piece.*

<...Yes, I was wondering what you've found about the cause of the explosion? ...And the bomb, was it Purist-made? ...Yes, that will be all.>

*He hangs up & comes back to sit down.*

<It seems we have some evidence to suspect the Purists. Can you tell us any more about this one who attacked you?>

*Tirea takes off her shoes, and roll up her pants before putting her feet in the water*

<SO CUTE! I wish we had brought some bread.>
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*Monu takes the money and smiles*

<Thank you and have a good day!>
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*Eve shakes her head*

<That will be all, but can you package the lens so it does not get smashed before I get it home?>

Mortal tries not to laugh at Ven, and distracts herself by telling Tirea, "Watch out for river monsters."

Astarte knelt down by the side of the river and lifted up a tendril of water, which she turned to a finger-width serpent with wings. She made a second, smaller one out of the iced tea that she hadn't finished and had them fly around before her.

"I don't know," Hector replied. "A bunch of them came around to coerce me earlier that day, telling me that soon Dragon Flats was going to be 'their territory'. They proceeded to shoot up my store with arrows, and I retaliated unsuccessfully. Maybe they just held a grudge?"

"She has attacked me before while I was fetching groceries," Dalia said. "That confrontation was broken up by the police as well. I don't know her name or anything, though."

E"Okay, not bad, but I think it goes without saying that it takes more force to move a rock than it does to move sand. Try giving it a bit more oomph."

*Ven really pushes against the air, even saying, "oomph." The rock flies up in a knee-high arc & drops weakly into the water. She furrows her brow.*

E"Hey, don't be upset, you're picking this up pretty fast."

*Roatha sits down next to Astarte, watching cool water constructs fly around.*
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<Do you want the eclipse glasses packaged as well?>
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<That's not really much to go on. Does she seem like she would have a motive for attacking you, specifically?>
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<Mm-HMM...another thing, Sir, is that we've been told that the bombing occurred around closing hours. Where were you when all of this was going on?>
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*They take their stuff & leave without saying anything.*

Astarte brought the iced tea dragon back to her and drank away about half of its body. At the same time she looked sidelong at Roatha and had the water dragon pass by close to his face and loop around him a couple of times before heading back out over the water.

"Being attacked by a Waterbending thug, possibly a Red Monsoon," Hector replied. "My employ--, or ex-employee now, can vouch for that. It has been a bad few days."

"I'm a wealthy Firebender and she is a Purist, so I guess she just saw me and decided I was a worthwhile target," Dalia shrugged slightly. "I don't think she could have another motive."

Gabe and Noct both say, "Good job," at the same time when Ven launched the rock. Gabe chuckled at the coincidence.

<That story seems rather far-fetched, Sir. The Purists AND the Red Monsoons attacked you on the same night? First the Purists shot at you, then the Red Monsoons attacked you and freed up your shop for the Purists to show up again a scant few hours later, sneak in, and plant bombs? Why would they have even been planning to do that, if they knew you might put up a fight? That just makes it more likely that they would wreck the shop from the street.>
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V"Thank you."

*Ven continues to toss rocks into the river, with mixed results, although they now generally seem like they're being thrown. Once she's out, Euryale claps her hands.*

E"Good, good. Now, we should probably try drawing some towards you."

*She stomps on the ground, as she'd seen Euryale do, but nothing happens.*

E"This exercise is a little harder."

R"That's really cool, where did you learn to do that?"
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<And why do you think that?>

"I'm not much of a combatant, as you probably know," Astarte replied, making the water dragon chase the even smaller iced tea dragon. Her cheeks were a little pink. "My Bending has mostly gone towards Healing and messing around with things like this."
The iced tea dragon finally returned to her mouth and was finished, and the water dragon landed in her cupped hands. She began freezing and shaping it into something new. She smiled.

"Excuse me, but you assume a little too much," Hector said, letting his irritation bleed into his voice. "I did say that I retaliated unsuccessfully. I have the shoulder wound to prove it. Those Purists could have murdered me if they wanted to, which might even have been their plan. The encounter with the thug was just bad luck, I guess. And as I said, I have a witness who can confirm this."

"Because I have no idea who she is."

Noct, Gabe and Mortal watch the goings on while enjoying the weather.

*Tirea splashes Noct, Gabe, and Mortal. She giggles while doing it*
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<Yes please.>
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*Monu waves before putting the money in the register*

Noct catches the water, then removes her glasses to give Tirea the full brunt of her scowl, "If I wanted to get wet I would have gotten in the water." She tosses the water back into the river and puts her sunglasses back on.

Noct's mood lightens considerably when she looks over to see a splashed Mortal and Gabe remove their soaked shirts, and begin to pull down their pants.

Gabe, smiling, says, "I'm going to get you for that, Tirea." True to her word she wades into the water, and tackles Tirea into the river.

Mortal just wades into the water then starts swimming around, figuring 'why not' since she was wet anyway.

*After being tackled, Tirea swims out and sends a wave at Gabe*

<I shall not be caught!>

Since it wouldn't be smart for Gabe to boil the water she was swimming in, she is simply thrown around by the wave. "Hey, that isn't fair," Gabe said, swimming after her.

*Tirea giggles and stops the wave, letting Gabe have a fair shot*

<You still can't catch me!>

"Wanna bet?!" Gabe called out.

Mortal tried to avoid swimming next to them, not wanting to get trapped in some lesbian whirlpool with them.

<I'm sorry, Sir, but we can't give you the insurance until we've confirmed what happened to the establishment.>
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*A rock rises up, gently bumps into Mortal's stomach, pushes against it for a few seconds, & then falls back down. The turtleducks from earlier fly off because some jackasses keep throwing water around. Roatha looks at Mortal swimming for a few seconds, then sighs & looks back to Astarte.*

R"Well, I'm no Waterbender, but I might be able to show you something. You know, just in case."
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<I see.>

*He waves his arm, opening the wall.*

<If you can't give us any more details, then you are free to go.>
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*Now is about the time the cafe goes on break.*
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*And so he wraps them up, & begins putting each in a box, stuffing them full of paper.*

<Will you need anything else today?>