War On Crime

*She hangs up, & starts looking up where the mayor lives on her phone.*

L"Unsurprisingly, they're closed. We should check his home next."
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*Aroma blushes again as Taiyo thanks her, presumably for offering her hand/help out of the cab.*

A"Y--you're welcome. And yes, thank you very much."

Cabbie<No prob. You kids enjoy yourselves tonight, & stay safe.>

*Once the cab drives off, Aroma presumably leads Taiyo inside. The cooks appear to be Asian, but the servers are hipsters of various ethnicities. Some Hispanic dude with his hair combed back & a dinky little mustache who probably isn't old enough to buy beer asks them if they want a table, booth, or bar seat.*
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*I haven't specified recently, but traditionally I have their phones on vibrate when they go on patrol, so let's say it vibrates & she pauses briefly to check who's calling.*
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*Meanwhile, Ven is near the window to Binah's room, so she strains her ears to see if she can detect anything before taking a peek.*
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Art"That's what you say now, but when you break your heel in a back alley fleeing from the Hash-Slinging Slasher, you'll cry out to the night, 'Artemis, please come save me!" & I'll whisper down, 'No.'"

*She uses a super high pitched & super gruff voice, respectively.*

E<Right...well, it was no trouble at all.>

S<Take care.>

*After slinging her backpack over her shoulder, Artemis exits the front door without waiting for Amanda, because she's a teenager & therefore an ill-mannered little shit.*

Eve:<I have a sneaking suspicion that we will end up framed for what is about to happen, but I think we have to try to save him.>
---
Amanda:<Thanks again for dinner! See you guys later.>

*She grabs her backpack and exits after Artemis*

Taiyo looks to Aroma, arm linked with hers as it does not matter where they sit to her.

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It is an unknown number. To make matters worse, she can hear the hammer of a gun cock. Ven might hear it, I don't know how good her hearing is supposed to be.

She's probably out of time.

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There's some conflicting information about an actual address, but the only consistent thing is he's in a gated community some ways away from where they are. It probably won't be easy to get there and even if they do, it'll still be a hassle.

L"Lovely. Do you think you could get us onto a bus headed in that direction?"
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Art"There's a park nearby, I usually start my patrols there."
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Aro"I think a booth sounds the most romantic."

*So the guy leads them to a booth, appearing utterly disinterested in their life story. I say we timeskip past the ordering, because it's boring, so now Aroma has vegetarian sushi rolls with sides of duck & teriyaki sauce. Not wanting to get her gloves dirty, & possibly trying to impress Taiyo, she opts to use bamboo chopsticks to consume them. To drink, she has a glass of pink lemonade. After eating a few bites, she starts staring at her food as if contemplating the nature of existence.*

Aro"...I'm really sorry about the cabbie. She asked me what I was doing out, I said picking up a date, then she started asking me all these questions about if I was being safe and remembered to bring condoms. I figured it'd be safer than taking a bus, with people like the Tyranno Boys out there."

*She occasionally glances up as she talks, probably checking Taiyo's reaction. By the time she mentions condoms, she looks like she's morphing into a beet.*
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*She decides to stow the phone without reading the message. Hoping her powers haven't somehow been deactivated, she commands specialized moss to grow on her feet & mask the noise of her running up the stairs. Ven decides to roar at the window to blow it out, climbing into Binah's room. If she sees an aggressor, she super speeds up to him, forcing his weapon arm up to the ceiling & punching him in the face. If no one's in there, she superspeeds out into the hall.*

Eve:<Excuse me, but I'm a little confused. How can we ride a bus like this?>

*Eve gestures to her clothes*

<Unless you have something else in mind.>
---
Amanda:<...Are you trying to get me interested enough to want to join you?>

It's kinda funny, but Taiyo doesn't laugh as it'd be really awkward when Aroma starts crying if she did.

Taiyo: "You're safe though and that's what's important."

=================================

Roaring and breaking glass aren't subtle, so they're gonna be attracting some attention, but it ain't likely to be from who they're hoping for. They should be glad they don't hear the sound of a gunshot already.

L"ON the bus. Not inside it."
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Art"Well, what did you come for, if not that?"
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*Ven sniffs out someone who smells like Thiera but not quite & starts following the trail. As it doesn't take that goddamn long to climb stairs, if they haven't encountered anyone yet, they should be seeing each other & anyone else in the hall.*
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*Aroma fixes on Taiyo with a sheepish grin.*

"I really meant for both of us."

Eve:<Right. Then, yes, I believe I can do that.>
---
Amanda:<I don't know, I didn't have anything better to do!>

Taiyo: "Oh."

Now it's Taiyo's turn to be awkward and nervous because she's bad at conversation, but so are most people. They should switch to communicating only in grunts.

==========================================

Sure enough Ven does come face to face with someone. Not quite Wyatt's height and build although their armour is the same. Their face is barely visible under long, scraggly, and unkempt hair as if they were kept in a cage for some time.

In their hands is a rectangular like contraption made of real sleek and high tech looking plastic and circuitry as if that's what things in the future are supposed to look like. It's pretty apparent it's a weapon of sorts which is aimed at Ven and fired, but rather than fire, bullets, lasers or whatever, but like a soundwave. Like that thing Stryker's men used when they stormed the Xavier mansion in X-Men: Apocalypse.

*Ven claps her hands over her ears & collapses to her hands & knees. Meanwhile, ostensibly behind him, Thiera whips out with a vine to try to grab the contraption .*
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Aro"Oh--I hope that's not too overbearing. I didn't mean you can't take care of yourself, it's just--I wanted to make sure everything was as wonderful as you make me feel."

*She fiddles with her fingers.*
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Art<Great, so it's decided, you're comin' with me.>

*I guess I've decided she's going to try changing behind a dumpster like in the new Spider-Man movie.*
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*Setting out to search for a bus.*

Amanda:<But I don't have a costume!>

*She follows Art*
---
*Searching*

Taiyo: "Oh, um...thank you."

This is probably the most embarrassed Taiyo has ever been next to that time at the skating rink. What are they even doing?

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It hurts and she doesn't feel quite right. Not deaf or anything, but something is definitely off about her after getting hit with science so advanced it's indistinguishable from magic.

Thiera's vine passes through the contraption when it and the person holding it turn transparent becoming tangible again when he turns to face Thiera, ready to pop another one off.

=====================================

It'd probably help if they knew bus routes. There's probably a stop near city hall as that is where they're at but as for when a bus arrives there is another story.

A"So--"

*Aroma coughs slightly & downs a fair amount of her drink to dispel the nervous crack her voice just did.*

A"How is your food?"

*She herself takes a bite, & seems to be concentrating on her next one.*
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*Ven tries to jump on his back, while Thiera whips the vine back to coil around her arm, forming some kind of dual funnel shape.*
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OOC: They probably do know bus routes? Also, there's usually a sign posted at the bus stop?
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Art<We'll make you a mask out of a paper bag, or something.>

*As funny as it would be to have her stripping behind a dumpster, I never specified what she was wearing, so she could just be sliding her costume on over jeans & a t-shirt, or something.*

*Amanda crosses her arms, then pauses*

Amanda:<I guess I can make a barrier around myself to reflect light. That should work...>

Taiyo: "Really good. How about yours?"

Neither of them are good at conversation. Of course the food is good, sushi's delicious.

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The times on the sign are pretty worn out to indecipherable levels because I have never seen a pristine bus stop sign before in my life, so I assume all bus stop signs are in bad shape.

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Ven notices she's not as strong as she usually is as if whatever hit her sapped her of her strength and possibly other traits and abilities, making it less of a challenge for the assailant to back her into a wall while he blasts Thiera with his gizmo.

*Seeing Ven be overpowered & reasoning that this thing removes powers, she does her best to dodge while drawing a match & a knife in one hand, & an aerosol can in the other.*

Th"Fine, we can do this the hard way, if you insist."

*Meanwhile, Ven grunts & tugs on his hair while trying to cover his eyes & overall be a nuisance.*
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*Artemis turns around, putting her helmet on.*

"You mean like a disco ball?"
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*Looking up bus information on a smart phone, I guess.*
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A"Mhm...oh, & I'm glad to hear it."

*Presumably, she's close to finishing, & the bill is brought over. She looks at Taiyo as she grabs it.*

A"Are you still hungry?"

Amanda:<It’s your fault for making me due this on such short notice!>
———
*Eve also looks stuff up*

Being a hormonal teenager, Taiyo looks at Aroma, blushing a little before politely declining, probably not even sure what the question is actually about.

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They're in luck. Busses are still running if only for one more go around before returning to the garage/depot/whatever for the night. It'll be a few minutes before it gets to where they're at which is plenty of time for them to contemplate getting their own wheels. They could even carpool.

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Ven's efforts may have been successful until he goes transparent again although rather than her just falling through him, she finds herself holding his weapon which would be pretty cool if she had control of her body and instead wasn't seeing herself point it at Thiera.

L"So, when it gets here, we get to the roof & lay low until we come close to the mayor's community."
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*Since she was never hit, Thiera stomps, vines protruding from the floor beneath Ven to root her in place & snatch away the weapon. Turns out the floors under the carpet are made of some kind of wood.*
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Art"We can call you The Funk."
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*And so Aroma pays the bill, nervously choking on her words as she starts to stand up.*

Aro"So--now th--the beach--right?"

Eve:<Right, and then what? We don't want to end up getting framed for this ourselves.>