Endgame

"Hold on a second, cousin," Hector said before holding the phone to his chest, muffling any noise coming out of it in response. He looked to the cop. "What have we done, sir? I'm just using the phone."

<What's this nonsense?>

*He gestures between Stefan & Eduj.*

<Whatever you're doing, it's making the public feel threatened. And I'm already suspicious that you 3 are Triple Threats. Move along, & quit causing trouble.>
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*He points a finger in her face.*

<Make no mistake, Noctis, we will be back with a warrant. We've already got Saikhan & Tarrlok at our backs. Your wealth & Council title won't be able to protect you much longer.>
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*Euryale looks around, then points to an "alley" between 2 tents.*

"There she is!"

*Lin Beifong emerges from the shadows, her armor concealed by a large trench coat. She folds her arms.*

<Impressive that you've made it this far. But you should have been able to find me without looking.>
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*She takes some paper out of the receipt-printing machine & writes it down.*

<She'll be so happy to hear this!>
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*The police carry on, mostly ignoring the crowd.*

<Let's see if we can get some cars in here, make it a proper blockade. And someone radio the airship, tell them to keep a lookout, too!>

"I'm glad to see they spend their time attacking political rivals when there is legitimate work to be done," Noctis said, slamming the door on the guy.

--

"It is good to see that you are well, Chief," Mortal said, "But, uh, what exactly is this talk of you working with Senthose?"

*Eve remains in the crowd, waiting to see what happens*
---
*Tirea grins*

<I'll go call her right now. Thank you for everything.>

"We're waiting for him to finish the call...?" Stefan exchanged a glance with Eduj.
"We do plan to move on," Hector said. "Right after I talk to my cousin. Okay?"

<No.>

*He jerks his hand, hanging up the phone with metalbending.*
==============================
"Why do they think you're a criminal?"
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<No, thank you!>
==============================
*Whenever they get some cars, they parallel park them to add to the blockade, that's what.*
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Beifong<Gum-flapping. He boasts about his plans to kill Kane, but we don't owe him diddly. Even though I will say he's proven that he's involved, so the Bloodbending leech wasn't lying about that.>

*Eve continues to wait around, having nothing better to do*
---
*Tirea smiles and exits the store, carrying her little buddy on her shoulder. She heads for the nearest phone*

"Jerk," Stefan grumbled as they set off in the direction of Astarte's place, Hector looking out for another telephone and occasionally looking over his shoulder to see if the cop was following them again.

"It helps my opponents politically if I am," Noct said, "And apparently they have witnesses."

--

"I still don't like this. It feels wrong," Mortal folded her arms, then looked around, "Wait, where is he now?"

*Ven's lip quivers.*

V"How could they have witnesses if it isn't true?"
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*She points over Mortal's shoulder. Senthose waves from the edge of the pipe.*

Beifong<I've been keeping an eye on him, though I don't know why. I can't very well arrest him. I tried attacking him anyway, but Gommu would have none of that.>

*She gestures towards the hobo, who also waves.*

Beifong<He claims he used to be a telegraph operator for the United Forces. I can neither confirm nor deny.>

E"...So they made you sit on opposite ends of the room, like children?"

Beifong<Watch it. But yes, I suppose that is one way to look at it.>
==============================
*He is not, but an airship makes a pass overhead.*
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*When she finds it, the weaselsnake jumps on the wall & starts climbing up.*
==============================
<They've escaped, Sir!>

<How could they escape!?>

<They appear to have hidden accomplices, Sir. Someone opened the gate, and that same someone probably helped them to disappear.>

"I am unsure," Noctis said, "Rest assured I will be looking into this." She then put a hand on Ven's shoulder, "Don't worry, Ven. Everything is going to be alright."

--

"Well, if you two haven't gone at each other again, I suppose it worked," Mortal said with a shrug, trying not to look at Senthose. Shen then looked over at Gommu and said, "Thank you, Gommu. You helped us a lot back there."

*Tirea tries to grab her weasalsnake, and if it's too high up to grab with her hands, she opens her flask and sends a waterwhip to grab it*

*She is successful, but the Weaselsnake tries to wriggle out of her grasp.*
==========================
Lin<Our next step should be the train station. Zolt is our star witness, we need to get him to a hospital out of the city. We might even consider contacting the United Forces.>

"Wait, if this is big enough that the whole city is against us, & you were forced underground, that means they might go after our friends next!"

Senthose<Go on, try to do it all without my help. It'll be funny, & I wouldn't mind seeing some of them go the way of the Lion Turtles.>
==========================
"I don't know...."

*Tirea holds him him against her chest which one arm, while fumbling with the phone with the other. She calls the number given to her*

They continued walking along the path, looking for a second telephone to use.

Astarte was at home, boiling some water and writing a letter.

Dalia sat in her hospital bed, gazing out of the window.

"Shut up, Senthose," Mortal said, getting annoyed.

--

"Don't know about what?" Noct asked.

S"Ah, yes, sorry for not letting you handle it without my unwanted input. I forgot how well you handled this to begin with, what with preventing me from killing Zolt months ago, & solving this problem before it even began. Or, when I called to warn you that Kane would be trying to assassinate you, & you just hung up. Your group also almost prevented me from doing away with his accomplice in the Council. Yes, you just have everything under control, you don't need my help at all."
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*She stares at a spot slightly to the left of her feet.*

V"If everything will be alright."
================================
*They don't find one before they reach Astarte's house.*
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Rin<Hello, this is Rin.>

"Yeah," Noct said, noticing that only just now had she thought of Senthose, and was more concerned with keeping Ven happy, "I... I'll try to fix this."

--

"It is almost as if you ruined any trustworthiness you had by being a criminal or something..." Mortal said, "Funny how that works out."

After banging on the door and announcing themselves, Astarte let them in. Hector immediately went for the telephone while Eduj apologized for their intruding. Stefan lingered near the door, only nodding at Astarte, who was becoming increasingly flustered.

Phone<What is it NOW?>
============================
S"Ad hominem."

E"He's right. Well, not about not letting him get away with murder. We're going to need more help, since we can't count on the police department. We've gotta get Zolt to the train station, we have Astarte, Noctis & Ven, Tirea, & Roatha to worry about, & of course the cops will be trying to arrest us. They've probably already taken our car into custody. We don't have enough people."

Lin<But we definitely can't trust that leech.>

E"Oh, of course not."

Gommu<More bad news: No one really has all of these tunnels mapped out. You're going to have to go above ground to do any of this.>
=============================
"How?"

"Great..." Mortal said, letting out a sigh of annoyance, "This just gets better and better."

--

"Euryale, and Mortal are police officers," Noctis said, "They can help, I'm sure."

"We got cut off by cops before, sorry," Hector said. "But I think Zolt's in big trouble. While we were on guard at the hospital we got attacked by cops and locked up in a Triple Threat hideout. We only got out because the Red Monsoons raided the place. I really don't think they're our cops any more."

{Um, this is Tirea of the Dancing Dragons. I heard you are a good firebender.}

<O-oh! Oh my word...I don't know what to say....>
===========================
Lin<The only way to do this is to split up. Where are your friends now?>

E"Well...Roatha should be at his job, at the factory...Astarte, Noctis, & Tirea are probably at home, with Ven at Noct's. Gabby might be at our apartment complex."

Lin<I'll go to the factory, & take Zolt to the station. You should go see to your other friends. You might consider calling. The wires are tapped, but it won't matter if they're already making their move. And I guess you should take that leech with you. I don't trust him on his own.>
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<We knew it. And collaborating with our other suspects, no less.>
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"They only gave us the number for their home phone. They aren't home right now."

{So, like, would you like to meet up and we can talk? My weasalsnake is doing his best to escape at the moment, so it's kinda hard to talk.}
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*Eve starts heading to the Jasmine Dragon, as usual*
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*Monu heads to the park, carrying some bread for the turtle ducks*