RWBYFanon v5

RPG World of Remnant => Everywhere Else => Topic started by: Riven on November 19, 2017, 05:47:46 PM

Title: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Riven on November 19, 2017, 05:47:46 PM
"This is a message for Juno Vert."

With those words, the recording on Juno's Scroll began. The face -- or rather, mask -- of the person speaking was immediately recognizable as belonging to a member of the White Fang, and behind him were several similarly masked individuals bearing rifles, pistols, and blades. Little could be made out of the location due to heavy black drop cloths that had been hung over the walls, obscuring any hints of where and when the video was taken. The speaker stepped slightly closer to the camera. "You might say we've taken an interest in you, especially after your rather thrilling performance at this past Vytal Festival. Shame about the semi-finals -- really, I mean it -- but you showed us just enough to get several people curious. And suffice it to say, the actions you've taken against our brethren in Vale have made you something of a... target of opportunity and interest."

"You have something special, mister Vert. Something that we want."

Grabbing the camera, the speaking White Fang member panned it to one side, bringing into frame a prisoner bound with metal cables to a steel chair. A quick zoom-in and refocus made the details of the captive perfectly clear: she was a Faunus, lean and pale-skinned with droopy canine ears. A blindfold covered her eyes and a length of duct tape could be seen over her mouth, but even with these features covered Juno would recognize Caja instantly. She was roughed up but clearly alive, made plain by her rapid breathing and continual struggling against her restraints. The camera lingered there for a minute before the speaker stepped back into the foreground. "And we have something that you want. Oh, she was a pain to catch, what with that tricky Semblance of hers... but we got her eventually. And now that we have her, you're going to do" He stepped up so his masked face occupied the whole of the video. "Exactly. What. We. Say. Understand? Otherwise we'll start mailing her back to you one small piece at a time."

Stepping back, the kidnapper pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and held it up to the camera. "These are the details of an airship that departs for Wind Path tomorrow, and you're going to be onboard. Bring your tech. Once you arrive you'll get a message on your Scroll telling you where to go. Don't try anything funny, tough guy -- no rescue attempts, no heroics. If you even breathe a word of this to the kingdoms or academies she will die, you got it?"

With that, the message ended.
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Zwei Not on November 19, 2017, 06:40:16 PM
The message replayed in his head on repeat as the young man drove, his heart pounding in his ribcage. It couldn't be possible, Caja rarely ever left the apartment, and if the Fang wanted them, they would have struck months ago. But there she was, beaten and bound in whatever stronghold the Fang had kept her in, and an entire continent away. No... This had to be a trick. He'd get home, find Caja lounging around, and all his worries would be solved in an instant. Caja was fine, she had to be. There was no way the Fang would have tracked them down. Juno kept these thoughts in mind as he parked in the structure, tearing through the apartment complex until he had reached his and Caja's home... only to find that his front door had been kicked in and his apartment torn apart. And Caja...

Caja was gone.

Juno could do nothing but look onward in shock, the reality of Caja's capture hitting him like a truck. He wanted to cry, to scream, to throw up... and in time, he did, gracelessly falling to his knees as his emotional control shattered, tears and cries of fear, pain, and sorrow inelegantly bubbling up from within him. Phi's attempts at reassurance were of no help either, as she only reminded him of his predicament- lose his love, or lose his sister.

It took some time for Juno to find the strength to stand, doing his best to maintain his composure as he pushed the couch and overturned coffee table back into place, only to bury his face in his hands as he sat down. He needed time, a luxury he could not afford, especially with Caja's life on the line.

As Juno struggled to hold his tears back, Phi took the time to forward the video to the remaining members of VCVS, with the attached message, "Meet us at Juno's apartment, we need your help."
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Riven on November 19, 2017, 07:34:55 PM
Rory was brand new to VCVS, having barely had a chance to get to know his teammates at all since being added to the team. Even knowing so little, however, he could tell the moment he pulled up the video from Phi --and he was still trying to wrap his head around her -- that something had gone terribly, horrifically wrong. He didn't know Caja except in passing, but he understood that she'd been forcibly retired due to her injuries... to think that the White Fang would be able to take advantage of that to pull off a kidnapping from inside Vale sent a shiver of dread up his spine. What else were they capable of? That aside, he knew he had to get to Juno's as soon as possible. He couldn't imagine the state Juno must be in from all this...

It was a lucky thing that the city had all-hours bus service for most of the districts, otherwise it might have been hours before the shield-brawler could have made it to Juno's place. He'd only been there once before but, fortunately, had the address stored in his Scroll and was able to find his way. Twenty minutes after receiving the message he finally approached the apartment and saw the state of the door, a physical reminder of the violent abduction that had taken place here. Before that moment Rory had been deeply concerned and worried... but now, as he peered into the violated apartment, a palpable dread settled onto him.

"Juno? It's Rory. I got your message." He carefully stepped inside, avoiding bits of door and broken glass as he did. He didn't know the team lead nearly as well as the moment required, but it was plain to see that the man was in anguish. He wanted to say that it would all work out, that somehow they'd find a way to get her back safe and sound... but in that moment, surrounded by the wreckage of the life Juno and Caja had built together, he couldn't quite muster the words -- at least, not the sincere belief to say them.

Instead he turned to the one thing he could promise with surety. "I'm here for you, man. We'll figure this out together, ok?"
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Glow on November 20, 2017, 09:29:17 PM
Yawning lightly, Samuel then winced as the action brought the welding tool out of place, scoring an unsteady line against the small device in front of him. Damn. He'd have to redo the casing for that component, then. Taking the tiredness as a sign, he put the welder down and then flipped up his mask, flopping down to the metal chair beneath him. He'd taken the opportunity today to get some time to himself, head down to the small armoury there and tinker around for a bit. Admittedly, it was far less high-tech than that of Beacon's own, where he usually roamed, but- well, it was a hell of a lot more quiet, for one thing. The other thing was a better excuse for not being at team meetings or the like; 'I'm busy down at work' generally worked better than 'I'm messing about with volatile equipment'. Speaking of...

Turning the spike-shaped object over, he gently moved it over to the redo-pile; or, well, more of a re-do set. The other six he'd messed about with turned out alright, he mused, as the faunus looked over at the pointed chain-links, thinking for a second before taking out a carrier case and putting them into the safety foam he used to store the more dangerous tests he used. Zipping the backpack-made-explo- he meant perfectly safe experimental carrier-bag- he took the mask off his face, briefly letting his fox ears stretch out and feel the air for a few moments before flattening them back against his hair.

Grabbing his jacket off a hook and returning the apron to it, Samuel blinked as a high-pitched ding rang for a second, before looking down at said hoodie pocket and taking out his scroll. Setting the tone of the scroll's pings to above normal human hearing hurt his ears a little, but he was trying to get used to it; could be useful in combat applications. Maybe. He wasn't just being sneaky about checking game updates in class or anything, that'd just be rude. Opening up the message, Samuel hummed lightly as it loaded, waiting for one of the usual vaguely snarky messages about him being late or something, as he lent against the wall next to the window of the little room.

There was a vaguely awkward, blank silence as the video played, putting his headphones in after the first few lines to stop it playing out loud, then the usual click as the video ended. The silence dragged on a few moments, only a slight but growing ringing noise starting to break it before a series of small cracks hit the window, the noise breaking Samuel out of his staring at the black screen of the scroll before taking a deep breath, the ringing noise stopping as he got his semblence under control.

The man typed out a simply reply of 'On my way' before pocketing the scroll. Reaching into his jacket again, he brought out some cash, putting it on the counter as he walked out. "Kid, told you you don't need to pay me for that anymore, you work f-" The storekeeper started, but the hunter-in-training just walked out, leaving the repair money and grabbing his motorcycle helmet off his parked vehicle, turning the key before starting off towards Juno's flat.
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: SirZinger on November 23, 2017, 02:42:40 AM
Verdant was going around downtown Vale going into various clothing stores trying on different clothes. While he was in a dressing room trying on some new clothes. When he suddenly got a message from Phi. Verdant pulled out his Scroll wondering why she would message him at this time of night. He saw it was a video and turned down the volume before playing it. Verdant watched the whole video and was shaken by this, seeing a video made by extremists was horrifying, but the person they had kidnapped was his friend was much worse. He then read the what Phi had written: "Meet us at Juno's apartment, we need your help." Verdant quickly tore off the clothes he was trying on and threw on his usual clothes of a green dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and open to show a white shirt underneath and black pants. Verdant burst out of the store with him still putting his shirt on and running down the street to Juno's place.

After about 15 minutes of running on that cool night in Vale. Verdant turned the corner to see Juno and Caja's apartment thanks to his semblance he could see some of the windows have been broken. He ran up the stairs to the door of Juno's apartment to find the door had been broken open with glass and other broken things along the ground. Verdant saw the others of team VCVS there as well.
"Sorry, I took me so long I was across town," Verdant said while panting for breath.
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Zwei Not on November 25, 2017, 04:07:55 PM
Juno's face bore little in terms of expression when he looked up to Rory, moving aside a bit to allow the boy a seat on his couch. He needed time, time to process this, time to figure out what to do... There was no way in hell he was surrendering Phi, but he couldn't throw Caja's life away either. Juno's eyes eventually shifted from the broken coffee table and scattered trinkets and decorations, settling on the locked, black case standing in the corner, relatively untouched, save for obvious attempts at busting the thing open. Inside were the remains of the ANUBIS suit, kept more fore sentimental value than anything else. The armor was damaged beyond repair, and at this point, was nigh useless. Granted... The Fang didn't know how Juno's tech worked.

Eyes flicking to Verdant as the young bowman made his appearance, Juno's brow furrowed in concentration as he focused on the case. It was a long shot, but they didn't know how strong the forces in whatever hold they had Caja locked up in were. The best plan they had was to get her back without starting a fight, while giving the Fang exactly what they wanted in the ANUBIS hard layer. They'd have a target painted on their backs for a while, but what else was new? All they needed to do after was secure a safe space to keep Caja.

"We'll get them back for this." he muttered to everyone present, while at the same time to no one in particular, thinking back to the images of a panicked and beaten Caja. "For now, all we can really do is give in to their demands. Follow along until we find something to exploit."

The young man got up as he finished speaking, motioning for the two of them to follow him as he strode toward the case, careful to avoid the scattered remnants of his and Caja's possessions. "I told you guys about the mission that caused Caja's injuries, right?"
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Riven on November 25, 2017, 06:06:39 PM
"You've mentioned it, yeah." Rory fell into step behind the team lead as recollection ran through his mind. It had been a protect & secure mission gone badly south -- defend a White Fang deserter until the proper arrangements could be made, but not only had the defector been killed but Caja ended up in a nearly lethal blade duel. That wasn't the only thing on Rory's mind, however. "Juno, they didn't say it explicitly in the message, but... won't the White Fang try to kill you once they have what they want? I understand that picking a fight with them on their own territory isn't a smart move, but I can't imagine why they'd let you walk away from this -- or honor their side of the deal. They're not exactly upstanding people; they've got no reason to keep their word."

Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Glow on November 26, 2017, 04:48:56 PM
Samuel's bike came to a halt outside of Juno's flat, a familiar dull glow coming from the ever-covered eye as he glanced around the destruction, taking it in slowly. Turning the bike's engine off, he strapped the two blades of Prismatic Performance to his sides, the backpack and an oddly sticking out box-shaped object on his back as he shifted off the seat and just stood there for a second, taking it in. The chains normally wrapped around his wrists were trailing behind him instead, slowly swaying from side to side almost unconsciously as he slowly took a step, paused again, then made his way up to the already open front door.

Pushing it wide again to let himself in, he didn't walk any further into the room, leaning against the door frame with his free shoulder. "Sorry I'm late. Had to pick up some stuff." He stated simply, his tone of voice somewhat hard to read but his expression neutral as he looked around the inside of the tattered room. "So when are we going?" It didn't even seem to have occurred to him to wait about at all, or what they were going to do, considering he was dressed in his combat uniform and his weapon was with him, along with whatever else was on his back.
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: SirZinger on December 09, 2017, 08:57:24 PM
Verdant turned to see Samual walk into the apartment and ask when they would set off to resue Caja. Verdant tried to calm down Samual "Of course, we will rescue Caja but we need to smart in how we do it." Verdant paused to take a breath and contemplate what next to say."We shouldn't act rashly and get Caja into more trouble." Verdant said delicately to everyone else in the room he then turned and looked directly at Juno expecting his response.
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Zwei Not on December 11, 2017, 06:15:01 PM
"Don't you think I haven't thought about that!?" Juno snapped, turning back to Rory as he did so. "If we start a fight, Caja will die! We don't know the location, we don't have any setup, and we don't have any support from the academies." he stated, his rage slowly fading into frustration and desperation as he turned back to the black case, trying to think of any options he had overlooked. The suit was busted, but he had only been on one assignment since then. The odds of him being sighted using hardlight without the suit were slim, but still enough of a risk. If he tried to pull one over on the Fang, the could execute her on the spot... But it was the only real idea he had.

After a few deep breaths, Juno seemed to calm down, opening the case before returning to the couch. "I'm sorry, it's just... It's a lot to deal with." he stated, pressing his fingers to his temple as he sat down.

"Anyway, the mission that retired Caja also destroyed the exterior armor of the ANUBIS suit. I haven't taken many missions in the field since then, so it's unlikely they know that the hardlight works independently of the suit. I don't want to risk a fight, but if it comes to that, we'll need to focus on keeping them away from Caja at all costs. Make me the biggest target."
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Riven on December 13, 2017, 10:34:25 AM
Juno's response was harsh, but admittedly he was right. The WF had a gun to Caja's head and any rescue attempt would be flying dark, without support, at great risk. "You don't have to apologize. This is a nightmare scenario... but we'll figure it out. We have to try. I barely know Caja, but the way you've talked about her I doubt she'd want us to let you both end up in front of a White Fang firing squad."

If the Fang didn't know that Juno's armor was broken, that was something they might be able to work with. Rory stood and thought on Juno's words for a moment, realizing that there might be something they could work with in that. Somehow, he guessed Juno was thinking along similar lines. It was one hell of a bluff, but it might get them one step closer to freeing Caja or at least learning where she was being held.

"... As long as we don't know where Caja is, we're at a severe disadvantage. Changing that needs to be our top priority. I have an idea that might help, but I need to do some research to know whether it will work." He put a hand reassuringly on Juno's shoulder. "However you decide to handle this, I'm with you Juno. We all are."
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Glow on December 15, 2017, 06:30:56 AM
Samuel lent against the wall near the front door, just listening to the others for a while, then starting to try to blank them out as he put two fingers to circle on his forehead while shutting his eyes, mumbling quietly. With a couple of the comments back and forth, he seems to get more agitated, before just dumping his bags to the floor.

"Why the hell are we just... talking about things we could be doing and not describing what those entail, or, you know, doing them?"He questioned, a slight snarl reaching his tone at the end of the sentence as he strided over to the nearby pin-up board before wiping a chain harshly across it, knocking off all the current things on it in a clutter of pins and torn paper. Grabbing a pen and some of the now-ruined notices, he started talking while writing down.

"Look, first thing's first; there's an obvious bloody way to find out where Caja is; it's likely the exact same place they plan to take Juno. They're not going to just take the suit and go 'oh this seems fine', they'll take him along until they can confirm something." He stated sarcastically, before shaking his head and continuing. "Therefore, the most obvious way is by getting Juno on there. Of course, that plan by itself is shit." Samuel was almost starting to talk to himself at this point, scrabbling some particularly bad drawings onto a canvas of post-it notes and torn paper. "Getting us all along in the shittiest way is also simple; it's not exactly the hardest thing in the world to disguise yourself as a White Fang grunt, especially if you just take their scrolls or whatever they're using and find out what they were up to anyways. And Rory could be Juno's plus one to make sure he doesn't get stabbed. Well, that's the reasoning that you could use to bargain for it, though knowing your actions you'll end up getting stabbed somewhere before this is all over anyways."

Despite having referred to the entirety of the rest of his team, he continued to just talk to himself, blanking out the room as he changed to mumbling under his breath, drawing out what amounted to stick figure warfare. Or, well, MSPaint subterfuge in this case. "And that's just the stupid way of handling it, like there's just so many damn things to be doing to make a far better one- why the hell are we just waiting for a White Fang stripper to pop out the metaphorical birthday cake and reveal their plans?" He stated, taking a break from his writing to look around at the rest of them, breathing heavily from the constant talking. He didn't seem done with the whole plans thing if half the board still uncovered was anything to note for, however.
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: SirZinger on December 16, 2017, 09:42:45 PM
Verdant waited for Juno for to his exposition dump so he could comment. "When we go with you to help rescue Caja, the White Fang will assume that we are with you and will be following you all the way to meeting location. So we will need to disguise ourselves."
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Zwei Not on December 18, 2017, 03:34:11 PM
"Disguise yourselves as what? The Fang?" Juno asked, turning to face Verdant. "Only one of us is a faunus, and said faunus sticks out like a sore thumb who constantly demands attention." he finished, pausing for a moment as an idea came to mind. At the very least, it would let him take a second individual on the airship with him, and the remaining two could take another flight. They didn't have intel, but they did have the element of surprise and a competent team. It was worth a shot, at the very least.

"Are any of you fluent in Mistrali?"
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Riven on January 01, 2018, 12:37:10 PM
Mistrali? Rory was fairly surprised by the question and, admittedly, he wasn't quite sure where Juno was going with it. "Fluent? Not precisely. I know some, and I'm sure I can download some decent translation software, but why..." It took a moment to click, but he began to understand what Juno's angle was. "A translator. I see. Could work..." He turned to the other members of the team. "If I'm with Juno, I can stream from my goggles directly to your Scrolls -- coordinate our movements, maybe find a way to turn the tables. The 'plus one' idea might just be viable, even useful."

"Disguises could work, maybe, but you'd have to be careful. The Fang will probably be expecting something to go wrong, after all, and like Juno said you are rather... distinctive, Samuel." He still didn't quite know what to think about Samuel's rant, but the guy did have some points. Still, infiltrating an on-alert White Fang group would be tricky... and if one thing went wrong, it could cost Caja her life.

They couldn't plan for everything -- educated guesswork and improvisation would be called for here. Still, they didn't have much choice...







It had been a scramble to make the needed arrangements. Coming up with an excuse why the entire team wouldn't be in for classes without arousing the suspicions of Beacon's teachers had been a particular challenge; Rory wasn't really pleased with lying to their instructors & mentors, but these were exceptional circumstances. By comparison, arranging airship tickets for Samuel and Verdant on the sly had been surprisingly easy... almost too easy, in retrospect. It was impossible to say for sure how far the White Fang's reach went, but having one private airship pilot under their thumb certainly didn't seem beyond the pale. The flight itself had been quiet with relatively few passengers -- if they were paying close attention, the members of VCVS noticed more than one individual who seemed to be keeping an eye on Juno during the flight, though they never did more than that.

Finally, VCVS landed in Wind Path.


S C E N E ~ M U S I C
Xian (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzCHDKKKVp4)
by Antti Martikainen


Wind Path was exactly what one would expect of a sprawling Mistrali city: eastern stylized buildings with rooftop gardens and hanging lanterns gave way to towering residential blocks that filled out the skyline, wiry cherry blossom trees interspersed the walkways and paths, merchants hawked their goods from booths and carts... and, whispering just below it all, was the wind whistling through the namesake canyon dividing the east and west sides of the city. Under better circumstances, being in such a bustling center of art and culture would've been exciting. The airship landing pad let passengers off near the city center on the eastern side of the divide -- VCVS would quickly find themselves on the edge of a large, open-air market a stone's throw from the canyon's twin bridges.

This, then, would be where the Fang would next contact Juno, Rory surmised. He stuck close to Juno without being too obvious about it, streaming the feed from his goggles to Sam and Verd's Scrolls. It was a safe bet that the Fang knew Juno had arrived and were watching... what happened now that he was here, of course, remained to be seen.



(OOC: A map of Wind Path (https://i.imgur.com/HIcEbJi.jpg) for you all.)
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: SirZinger on January 21, 2018, 02:39:57 AM
Verdant looked out across the city of wind although he had never been to Wind path before the smells of Mistrali food and the sounds of the people speaking Mistrali, brought back memories of growing up in Mistral. A wave of emotions washed over him as he spoke making his voice crack "I'm back in Mistral."
Verdant quickly cleared his throat thinking no one heard that, he had to get it together, this was no time to get nostalgic. He had come back for a reason and he had a job to do Verdant thought.
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Zwei Not on January 24, 2018, 01:46:37 PM
Juno had the sinking suspicion that he was being watched from the moment that he had stepped off of the airship. As unsettling as that was, however, he knew he couldn't allow that to bother him. Any tell of weakness could very well be taken advantage of, and bluffing or not, the Fang was still a threat, and had Caja in their possession. His eyes flicked toward Rory, then to the case slung over his shoulder. He hadn't received any instructions thus far, though whether that was a good thing or not remained to be seen. Nevertheless, he remained outwardly stoic, taking a brisk stride toward what seemed to be the center of the market, with his scroll in hand.

[VCVS, remain on standby. Rory will accompany me when they take me to Caja, Ver and Sam, I'll need you two to stick somewhat close. Ver, find a place to snipe from. Sam, make an attempt to dispatch any guards posted outside once Rory and I go in. Understood?]
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Riven on February 01, 2018, 07:51:22 AM
No sooner had Juno sent his message than his Scroll lit up with an incoming call -- the number wasn't on his contact list, so it was either a random advertising call... or...

Rory looked Juno's way and nodded. They would both have to be careful with what they said and did from this point forward, as any misstep could be fatal -- for Caja, and for them. When Juno answered the call it was an unfamiliar female voice, dripping with contempt, that spoke. "Juno Vert... welcome to Wind Path. I see you've brought a friend along. Caja's replacement?" The woman chuckled mockingly, though the tone of her next words was deadly serious. "Skirting the rules already, are we? You were told not to get any official channels involved, so there had better be a very good explanation... otherwise this poor lost puppy is gonna pay the price for your arrogance."

The next sound over the phone was muted grunting and struggling -- it was impossible to tell for sure, but it sounded like Caja. After a few seconds the hateful woman spoke again. "Start talking, Vert! Convince me you'll play nice, or I'll start cutting little bits off of her ears."
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Zwei Not on February 03, 2018, 01:19:00 PM
Juno's breath caught in his throat as he heard the woman over the scroll, doing his best to collect his thoughts in the face of her threats against Caja. He didn't know where they were. Not yet... But he didn't have to. He just needed to bide time until they led him to them. "...My arrogance? Or accounting for your oversight?" He replied once he found the words to speak, his voice even and calm, despite his anxiety. "I don't know Windpath, and I can't read Mistrali. My associate is here to act as a translator. He's nothing to be afraid of."

Having regained his stance on the exchange, Juno stood up from the bench, bag in hand, and strode toward the edge of the waist high wall separating the east side of the market from the vast canyon. "I'm playing nice for the same reason you should be; because we both have something the other wants, and we could both very easily get rid of said thing. So what's more important to you? Getting the suit or hurting the girl?"
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Riven on February 05, 2018, 04:50:01 PM
The voice on the other end was silent for a moment after Juno spoke, a moment that seemed to stretch out further and further with each heartbeat. Whether it was deliberate and meant to mess with him or if something else was going on was hard to say; finally, after what seemed a tense eternity, the woman on the other end spoke again.

"...You have some serious stones, Vert, I'll give you that. While I would relish the chance to make your lap dog regret betraying her own kind, we do indeed have business to attend to. Your tag-along can stay, for now, but know that we're watching every move you make. Now," His Scroll pinged as a map destination and route were received. "This is where you're heading. You'll receive further instructions once you've arrived -- do not deviate." With that, the call ended as abruptly as it began.





The directions led away from the nicer, more commercial parts of Wind Path and towards the slums. Rory's visor, running a translation software he'd downloaded before leaving Vale, was able to direct them well enough when it came to road signs and the like, but it wasn't long before they were well past the point where any but the barest signs stood to direct travelers. This was the Wind Path not of arts, culture, and mercantile -- this was the Wind Path that worked the Dust mines of the canyon, and here squalor and desperation were the only things to decorate the bleak living conditions. Of course, most of the residents were Faunus; if the Fang was making a statement with their route choice it certainly wasn't a subtle one. Houses rapidly gave way to shacks and run-down looking apartments, and even the pavement of the streets turned to unsteady cobblestone and in some places nothing but well-trod dirt. This wouldn't exactly be a private place for a meeting, but with the Fang's influence in Mistral the difference would be minimal -- few had the luxury to care about what went on back here, so long as it didn't happen to them.

If Verdant and Sam weren't careful, they'd stick out back here like a sore thumb. Juno and Rory certainly did; they could almost feel the eyes on them from half-concealed vantages as they made their way. Most were probably just residents wondering at the "rich folk" who'd traipsed into their uncaring corner of the city, but there was certainly the possibility that some eyes weren't quite so innocent in their gaze. Still, the two were left alone; no one came near them, not even those few who were almost certainly pickpockets. That in-and-of itself left an uneasy feeling with Rory.

Without warning, Juno's Scroll beeped again -- they hadn't even reached the destination but the White Fang were already sending them somewhere other than expected. "They don't trust us." was all Rory said when he saw, but the meaning was clear: the Fang were playing with them, giving them false expectations to see how they'd react. It was a tactic to flush out any help they had along, break up coordination and planning. It also didn't mean much; as long as Sam and Verdant were keeping an eye on their Scrolls the live feed from Rory's goggles would be all the notification needed about the change in plans.

The new path took the students out of the slums and into the older parts of the industrial district. Shuttered factory buildings proved to be just as common as those still in operation, giving a bleak and dystopian veneer to their surroundings. There were far fewer prying eyes and ears here, but arguably even more places to hide. Their new course was far less winding, almost a straight shot in fact... leading to a large mining warehouse built precariously close to the canyon's edge. A text message pinged Juno's Scroll: 'Enter through the second door on the  south side.'

This, then, was it...
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Glow on February 12, 2018, 04:53:22 PM
Sam had separated from the group fairly early on; she'd been away when they were all getting off the airship, getting changed in a local toilet. Not the most glamorous of locations to do so, and not exactly the most glamorous clothes she was getting in to - but certainly a brighter getup. The normally darker jeans were replaced by a pair of slightly ripped denim ones, and a white shirt-skirt combo was over that, along with a roughed-up blue beige jacket. The setup definitely didn't scream 'trendy', but what it was - for her - was perfect for hiding herself in plain sight. Chains wrapped around her legs for once to hide them, rather than her arms, she looked completely different to her normal getup in several ways; the slightly less depressing colour scheme, the slightly more ridiculous set of cheap sunglasses, the fact some pale skin was actually showing for once, and the suitcase by her side.

Oh, and the whole 'actually looked like a girl' thing. That too.

Much as it alternately grated on and amused her that her team seemed somewhat blind to her gender, despite the fairly obvious evidence - she had short hair, but come on, that wasn't exactly rare - the farce she'd kept up out of curiosity proved useful now. If even her team wasn't exactly sure what she looked like when in a- she took a moment to look down at the clothes with distaste smudged onto her expression- then their enemies certainly wouldn't. Hell, she doubted her parents would recognise her at first glance like this. All in all, she'd done her best to look local - more importantly, looking like she was trying to get out of the place. The tattered clothes and off-brand names would hopefully help with that, and the fairly ramshackle looking suitcase would just add to the view, along with containing the rest of her gear. A tourist would have a mini one; the decent size hopefully showed she was trying to make a move somewhere. Perfect excuse for being around some airships. She took a small comfort in replacing her headphones, far too modern-looking to fit in at all, with a pair of earbuds - it's the little things that count.

Feeling the echoes merge and bounce around her, she hummed quietly to herself as she walked through a not quite back alley but not quite main road of the slums, keeping to herself much as she could, scroll feed hotwired to her eyepatch-covered eye - less obvious than the usual bandages, but something she couldn't completely hide in the end - and tried to make her way towards the location from Juno's scroll, but also trying to keep a lookout for any possible White Fang grunts around the place. The key was the whole 'airship' thing - it was probably a fair journey off, or at least enough to warrant the security of a larger craft. As such, one thing they likely needed was supplies, and a light application of her semblance coupled with a handful of headache pills left her trying to listen in to anything sounding like gathering fair amounts of food or water.
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: SirZinger on March 05, 2018, 05:39:09 PM
Verdant composed himself and walk down the street. He figured that the white fang where watching him as he walked down the street. He ducked into a local shop as asked where the bathroom was in Mistrali. The owner grunted a response and gestured toward the back of the store. Verdant thanked him and walked into the single person bathroom. Verdant looked into the speckled mirror of the bathroom and saw himself in his disguise, he was wearing a brown coat with an orange shirt underneath, he was also wearing grey pants with boots. Besides that, he had shaved his head into a short buzz cut and was wearing two small horns that made him look like a faunas.  The horns where plastic and but you could only tell that if you touched them. Verdant looked vaguely like himself but a person could only tell it was him if they really looked.
He then took off his backpack a assembled his bow, he took stock of what he was able to smuggle on the train.
He had ten arrows total, two of which were explosive, one was an ice tipped dust arrow that could freeze a large area, another one was a smoke arrow. The remaining six where regular razor tipped arrows. He would have to be careful not to be wasteful and the retrieve whatever arrows he could. Verdant the put the backpack on and climbed out the window of the bathroom to get to the roof. There he followed Juno and Rory on the rooftops and jumping between the gaps in the roofs.
Verdant followed Juno and Rory from the rooftops watching for any White Fang until they came to a warehouse district. He chuckled to himself at the cliche that the White Fang had a secret hideout in a warehouse district, what was this an issue of X-Ray and Vav? He was wondering why all bad guys did illegal dealing in warehouse areas when he saw a White Fang member a 200 yards out. He was watching Juno and Roy from a distance with a sniper rifle and was probably acting as the White Fang's eyes on Juno. The sniper hadn't seen Verdant because Verdant wasn't dead yet, so he decided to take the sniper out. Verdant went in a wide birth around the block to get behind the White Fang sniper. Verdant made a lot of noise going from roof to nearly falling off at one point until he was behind the sniper who had miraculously not noticed him. Verdant knocked the sniper out then took up the sniper rifle and stole the member's radio.
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Zwei Not on March 12, 2018, 04:52:34 PM
A sigh of relief escaped Juno's lips as the woman hung up on her end of the scroll. Granted, that was likely the easiest part of this mission. Once they were within distance of the Fang, there was almost no telling what they would try to pull once they were in the same room, let alone what would happen when he turned over the suit's hard layer. He didn't have any reason to trust them to hold up their end of the bargain, but it was already clear that too much was at stake. He could only pray that his bluff would work.

While Rory was rather jumpy as shops and restaurants gave way to condemned tenements and run down buildings, Juno maintained an air of stoicism, keeping his breathing even and attention forward as he felt the ever growing number of eyes on him. He and Rory were outsiders, well off in compared to these residents. Not to mention, all the eyes trained on him were of Faunus, and he was an Atlesian walking in on their hood. Nevertheless, his stone-faced expression didn't falter, his pace direct as he continued down the path, only for him to freeze momentarily and glare down at his scroll as the path suddenly changed. "Of course they don't. We don't trust them either." He remarked, simply shaking his head and starting off on the new path. "Stick close. I can't afford to let them get another person I care about."

Juno's eyes narrowed as he looked upon the building they were meant to meet the Fang, noting the dilapidated structure and dangerous positioning. That was... one way to attempt to kill him and Caja, that was for sure. Snipers could have been posted at certain vantage points, too. And who knew how many people were posted inside that warehouse... Juno paused to take a deep breath, waving for Rory to follow as he moved for the directed door, suit bag slung over his shoulder.
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Riven on March 13, 2018, 08:21:18 PM
JUNO & RORY

Spoiler: ShowHide

On the other side of the door, darkness awaited. Aside from a small number of thin, stark beams of daylight streaming down through holes in the roof there was no illumination to be seen -- it was like stepping into midnight with only broken moon fragments to light your way. The air was stale damp, smelling strongly of old wood rot and languishing iron rust... but also a faint hint of something akin to ozone, strangely enough. It was familiar, but Rory couldn't quite place it. Silence filled the air, punctuated only by a steady drip . . . drip . . . drip . . . that might have come from water pooled on the roof -- at least until Juno and Rory took their first steps inside, discovering that the floor had a very shallow layer of water sitting on it. Oh yes, this kind of setup had the Fang's signature written all over it: take advantage of their superior dark vision and hearing to disadvantage the humans from the get-go, a classic Faunus strategy.

Rory was just about to switch his goggles over to infrared, aiming to even the playing field some, when the first floodlight snapped on and practically drowned the two students in sudden, sharp brilliance. Three more followed, all aimed at various spots on the liquid-covered floor in such a way that there was near-total coverage. It was nearly impossible to see anything past the bank of floodlights, positioned as they were atop a metal walkway about sixty feet up that ran across the wall opposite the entrance, though if you squinted and covered your eyes you might catch a glimpse of half a dozen rifle barrels peeking over the railing edge.

"Juno Vert..." It was the woman's voice from before, the one that had taunted Juno on the earlier call. A sound of metal clanging could be heard, then a splash before an imposing figure walked into the edge of the light. The woman was built like a tower, six and a half feet of chiseled muscle clad in a sleeveless white tank top and close-fitting dark gray jeans -- what's more, both her arms from the elbow down had been replaced with brutal-looking mechanical prosthetics. (https://safebooru.org//images/1946/947030ffdc2b42169c4106fcef5f7b36fac31338.jpg) It wasn't Atlesian workmanship, to be certain, but her arms weren't junk either; someone in the private sector, possibly even the black market, had clearly been paid a fair lien to adapt a set of durable, practical, and combat-worthy industrial android arms for her use. Her smoke-gray eyes narrowed cat-like as they further adjusted to the light, a faunus trait to be certain, and beyond a brief glance at Rory they stayed locked on Juno with a glare that was both hateful and expectant. "I believe you have something for us, yes? Hand it over."



SAM

Spoiler: ShowHide

Sam's keen senses and Semblance were picking up a good bit from her surroundings as she discreetly followed Juno & Rory into the industrial area. While White Fang operatives might be trained well enough to avoid detection by human sight and hearing they were comparatively easier to spot by their kin, and Sam was taking things a step beyond even that. She was picking up a scattering of life signs (breathing, pulse, slight shifting of restless bodies) from a handful of rooftops -- and ended up close enough to cleanly make out Verdant's approach and take-down of one particular sniper. If she and he coordinated, it might just be possible to take out the Fang troops positioned outside the warehouse. Doing it undetected... that might be harder.

What she wasn't finding so far were any signs of an airship, strangely. It was likely the Fang had one somewhere nearby, or at least a Bullhead for local short-hops, but there didn't seem to be any indications. A few of the larger buildings possibly had landing pads on the roof, but there was no sound of idling engines or cargo being moved about to suggest a presence. Still, there had to be something -- the Fang had, after all, basically moved Caja halfway across the world. Something was clearly missing...


VERDANT

Spoiler: ShowHide

The sniper that Verdant had taken out had more than just a weapon and radio, it turned out -- the reason he'd been able to make such a successful approach was due in part to a half-finished candy bar that the Fang member had been in process of eating at the time, one of a dozen residing in a small supply backpack laid out alongside where the sniper had been set up. He had likely been so preoccupied with tracking Juno through his weapon's scope that he hadn't noticed how his own chewing left him exposed, something Verdant had inadvertently taken full advantage of. A quick inspection of the bag would turn up a spare ammo clip, a backup pistol, and a flare gun in addition to the aforementioned Pumpkin Pete's ChocoCrunch cache.

The radio, however...

"B-3, what was all that racket? This is supposed to be a stealth op! What's going on over there?!"

... was a bit more pressing of a concern.
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Glow on March 14, 2018, 08:00:53 PM
Sam gave a blink at the lack of airship - she would've thought it'd be somewhat difficult to hide a continental-capable travel vehicle - and then kept moving on. She trusted Verdant enough to get what he needed to do done; and the plan wasn't to ambush them here, anyways. Caja was the main objective, and while one person being disturbed was just happenchance, two people being disturbed one after could be called a coincidence.

Coincidences didn't happen in their line of work, on either side of the coin.

However, one thing she could do was eavesdrop. Moving towards where she would be able to hear the most absent chatter - some of those guards posted together must be getting a little antsy, after all - she tried to gather a bit of information on the situation, keeping one eye on the camera feed behind the bandage of her covered-up eye.
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: SirZinger on April 23, 2018, 06:32:26 PM
As Verdant pocketed all the sniper's items including his white fang mask, he then heard the radio on the man's belt go off. There was a bit of static and then a man's voice on the other line.
"B-3, what was all that racket? This is supposed to be a stealth op! What's going on over there?!"
Verdant had no idea what to say to the man on the other end of the radio so he attempted to bluff his way out.
"Uh, had a slight weapons malfunction. But, uh, everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine here, now, thank you. How are you?", Verdant stammered out.
The other end of the radio is silent for a long moment. "B3, stay put. I'm sending someone to have a look at your... malfunction now." The radio goes silent. Verdant could tell from that way the man had responded that he didn't believe Verdant's bluff and as if to confirm his theory then heard the faint sound of footsteps against the rooftop not too far away. Verdant had messed up big time he knew that if they found out that he was a member of VCVS, Caja was as good as dead. He had to make this look like something else. Just then he remembered that he was wearing a disguise of some poor Mistrali street rat and just then Verdant had a great idea. He looked off the roof make sure he had a way to escape. After he saw one Verdant walked over to the sniper's unconscious body. He quickly searched the sniper's body one more time and found 8400 Lien, this would work he thought. As he was done with the search the group of white fang he had heard approaching made their way onto the roof Verdant was currently on. He then turned to the group of White Fang members that had come to kill him. "Who is this kid?", said one of the female terrorists. Verdant held up the Lien to make them think they understood who he was, "Thanks for the Lien suckers." Verdant said with a grin. He then turned and jumped off the roof with them yelling after him.
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Zwei Not on April 23, 2018, 07:03:27 PM
Just as his violet eyes had begun to adjust to the overall lack of light, the floodlamps forced him to close them, instinctively raising an arm as he directed his sight to the source of the intruding light. He didn't see much, just light, scaffolding, and ceiling, but he was certain that somebody was up there, and so long as that somebody had Caja, they were a threat. However, aside from whoever was operating the lights, nobody else was present. So where was Caja?

They had her. He knew they had her. So where was she?

His eyes narrowed as his name was called, a scowl all but plastered on his face as he got a look at the woman, the source of all his trouble, stress, and fear for the past couple of days. Her imposing figure meant nothing to him. Her arms, a mere liability at best. All he cared about in the moment was Caja, and the fact that she wasn't there...

"Where is she." he stated, cutting the woman off, venom and vitriol oozing from his voice. "You don't get the suit until I get the girl. So where. Is. She."
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Riven on May 03, 2018, 05:26:49 PM
JUNO & RORY


Spoiler: ShowHide
The brutal woman scowled at Juno's response, clearly displeased, though at first she said nothing. With slow, deliberate steps she began to circle both students, keeping her distance but nonetheless maintaining her general sense of menace. "Brash. Direct. Intense. You're someone who hasn't been broken by the world yet -- you've always bounced back anytime you've been dealt a blow, always found a way over, around or through.." The scowl turned into something more primal, a fangs -- literal fangs -- baring snarl. "To think someone like you had a hand in my father's death. It's infuriating." She clenched one mechanical hand so tightly that Juno & Rory could hear the metal scratching and grinding itself, the hydraulics straining at their limits. "I should kill her -- take from you the way you've taken from me. I should make you SUFFER."

She paused, seeming to will herself calm without breaking her stride. "...You realize we could just take what we want from you? You students think you're so tough, but we're the only ones with weapons here. I'll bet you --"

"Deadman's switch." Rory, who'd kept one hand in his pocket since before they stepped into the room, interrupted the woman with those two words. The woman's eyes -- and likely several of the rifles -- locked onto him immediately as he slowly pulled out a device, looking very much like a modified pistol grip or flight stick, with his thumb firmly depressing a large central button. This had been the idea he'd had back at the apartment, and he'd filled Juno in on the details with a paper note before boarding the airship. "Any of you attack us, or so much as whisper another threat against Caja, and I'll trigger the suit's explosive fail-safe." It was, of course, a bluff -- Rory had no idea how to build a detonator and Juno's suit had no such fail-safe. The "detonator" was nothing of the sort; it couldn't blow anything up, but it could detect and trace radio and Scroll signals, feeding the data right into his goggles. If nothing else, it would give them a way to track these White Fang operatives if things went south. Buying the kit from a slightly disreputable merchant in Vale had cost him most of his savings... but there was no higher calling, no greater need, than this.

A long silence passed. The woman glared daggers at the boys but otherwise didn't act, only muttering profanities under her breath. Her next words were directed to her terrorist friends. "Open the crate."

Two additional White Fang members, who'd been keeping out of sight amid some storage boxes along the back wall, stepped into sight. With a crowbar the pried open a large wooden box and dragged out its contents: it was Caja, blindfolded and gagged with her hands bound behind her. The woman with the mechanical arms strode over to her forces and gestured for Caja to be moved forward at gunpoint. "Here's how this is going to work, you bastards: you hand over the suit and explain how to use it. When I'm satisfied, the hostage goes free and you disarm your goddamn switch. Got it?"




SAM & VERDANT

Spoiler: ShowHide
Sam would be just in time to overhear what unfolded in the wake of Verdant's theatrics. The nearest batch of Fang ambushers was laying low and in wait, their radio set low but still easily audible for someone with Sam's abilities. "A1 to all B teams, we have a troublemaker -- a particularly gutsy thief, it seems. B3 is down, B4 and B6 in pursuit. Take 'em out quickly and quietly; don't blow our cover until we get the signal."

"Think it might be one of 'em?" The whispered comment didn't seem to be directed into the radio, as a moment later another voice replied.

"Might be. Betcha B6 is gonna make a mess of it."

"If they do, Gesa's gonna make an example out of them. This'll be, what, three strikes now?"

"Four. It'll be latrine duty if they get off easy... and they won't, not after last time."

"Hell. Let's not get wrapped up in that. You got a bead on this thief yet?"

"Almost... almost..."

Verdant was now on the run from four Fangs. All were brandishing short blades and, despite having pistols at their hips, weren't firing. There wasn't even any shouting, and though they were running at speed it was clear they wanted to avoid drawing extra attention to themselves. One in the lead, the woman who'd spoken up upon finding him, had a somewhat different weapon from the others: a curved claw-like blade mounted to an upside-down T-grip. Not only was she better equipped, she was also a touch faster. Taking aim at Verdant, she practically whispered "Nothing personal, kid." before pulling the trigger and launching the blade, bound to a corded steel tether, at him like a harpoon.
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Glow on May 04, 2018, 11:21:28 AM
Sam gave a light mental tsking at Verdant's exit. He was the one who was meant to be good at this whole kind of sneaky stuff and he's the one who already got seen. Well, at least he was dragging away some manpower - it would make it a bit easier to sneak about that way for herself, though 'sneaking' wasn't quite the right term - more like hiding in plain sight, really. 'Gesa', though - a name for someone in a position of power there. If they're the ones handing out punishment, probably either an officer or the leader of whatever operation this would be called.

The progression of Juno's own situation at the corner of her eye left Sam slightly anxious; she really needed to start getting set up. If they weren't going to have to follow them back - with Caja herself already here, no long term following on the airship back or anything meant that the fight was probably going to take place here. In that case, whatever weapon the grunt was using 'getting a bead' on her teammate probably wasn't a good thing.

Fuck's sake, Verdant.

Using the noises to try and map the two White Fang members' positions, she made her way close as she dared without risking them taking any particular interest in her. Starting to channel her semblance into two of the chains wrapped around her legs, Sam muffled her footsteps and her suitcase as she made her way closer to the grunts, leaning against a wall out of sight from what position she could tell they were facing, and then made her move.

Two chains shot outward, their noise silenced by the buildup of her semblance, and tried to wrap around both of the grunts' mouths - or at least near enough for her semblance to quiet them both. Whatever weapons she could see as she turned around the corner would be next - The chains would hopefully be close enough to silence the weapons if any shots rang out, but she'd still rather not get shot. Hoping it worked, she made to slam the two members' heads into each other and knock them out.
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: SirZinger on May 22, 2018, 05:29:10 PM
Verdant ran down the alley with the four white fang members chasing after him.  "Damn, they're persistent, aren't they?" Verdant said under breath, but he was still glad that they seemed to have bought his bluff; they would chase him and pull bad guys away from Juno, Rory, and Sam.

Although they didn't have to be so persistent. He was trying to give them the slip, but it was seeming apparent that he would have to fight them. He couldn't use his bow otherwise they would know they where duped. If he was going to use his bow he would have to take them all out at once and quietly so they couldn't radio back to their command. Verdant could try brawling with them, he had been practicing his hand to hand combat since the tourney. He knew he could take one mook with hand to hand combat but four at once no way. So Verdant knew he would have to use his bow to try to freeze all the white fang members chasing him.

Verdant his bow from his magnetic holster on his back and drew his only ice arrow while he was running. In one fluid motion, Vedant slid onto his knees and turned around to face the four people who were chasing him. Before they could react to his sudden stop of motion he drew back his bow and let his arrow fly.

As the arrow flew rapidly toward the white fang, the sound of a gunshot rang out reverberating across the metal rooftops of the warehouse district. Lucky the arrow hit its mark and froze the white fang members in their tracks. However, the mass of ice that froze the fangs in place stopped the bullet as well shielding Verdant.

Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Zwei Not on May 23, 2018, 04:23:14 AM
The young man remained tensed, his enraged scowl focused on the metal armed faunus before him. With every word she spoke, he delved deeper and deeper into his rage. Caja was here. But this... this bitch could have her killed at any time. No... not could. This was Cerdic’s daughter. The man who had killed Caja’s father, and who had only been slain after wounding Caja in the first place. The woman before him had to have gone after Caja instead of him for that reason. She wanted blood. This was the risk he was running.

He couldn’t afford to show weakness, to let the slightest hint of his fears surface. He wasn’t afraid of Ms. Pistonfist and her Hoodie and Tunic entourage. No, he was scared of what they would do to Caja. He was scared to see what they already did to Caja. It was clear enough that her aura had been kept low, otherwise he would have been able to feel her. Through what means? He didn’t know, but it didn’t matter.

He would pay them back after this was taken care of.

Thankfully, Rory’s timely interruption in the midst of the woman’s threats to Caja’s life allowed Juno to calm down a bit. They themselves had a plan, and they could very well still execute it, if not work off of it. They had this under control. He had this under control.

Juno couldn’t hide the gasp that escaped his lips as Caja was brought out, her bound and beaten form all but dragged across the wet floor of the warehouse. Quick to remember his own task, however, Juno tightened his grip on the bag, stepping forward to meet the woman halfway.

”I’m going to need one of them.” he stated as calmly as he could, pointing at one of the two guards with their guns trained on Caja. ”What’s left of the suit won’t fit on you. Your arms are too big.”
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Riven on May 28, 2018, 05:54:28 PM
(OOC: Rush and I co-wrote this over Discord -- seemed better than mini-posts back and forth.)




"...What do you mean 'what's left' of it?" The mech-armed woman paused. Slowly, a wry, spiteful smirk grew on her face. "Don't tell me... my old man took a chunk out of you, Vert? Is that how it went down? Well... that's unfortunate -- I was hoping to take the prize intact, after all -- but that's just how my father was, after all: no blow left unanswered. Alright, let's see it then."

Juno's eyes flicked to Caja before taking a deep breath and opening the bag, revealing the full suit of armor, along with the somewhat tattered soft layer. “Consider it a parting gift, I guess. The only thing I could really salvage were the gauntlets and greaves. It should be enough to keep the constructs stable, though.”

Gesa gestured to her minions -- there was a clear moment of hesitation on their part, broken when she growls and gestures more aggressively. One of the Fang grunts behind the floodlights jumps down and cautiously approaches Juno, taking uncomfortable glances at Rory's "detonator" as he gets close. Juno took a moment to pick up one of the gauntlets and the corresponding glove from the soft layer before handing both to the grunt. “Put it on. My partner here isn’t going to kill you.”

Rory kept a purposefully neutral but steadfast gaze on the Fang grunt, who seemed less and less sure of this idea by the moment. Still, when the masked faunus looked back to his commander there was no hint of relenting in Gesa's stern expression. Clearly resigned, the thug collapsed his rifle and tucked it away before taking the equipment from Juno, asking "So... how does this work?"

“Weapons are mapped to certain motions. When the system is active, I’ll run you through what the constructs are.” He replied, plucking a small black case from the bag and opening it, revealing a gray chip with faintly glowing green lines. “There’s a slot in your right gauntlet. You’ll need this to start it up.”

"Oh... kay..." The grunt took the chip and inserted it as instructed. The second the hatch closed, the gauntlets sprung to life, glowing green trails materializing upon the metal. After stealing another quick glance toward Caja, Juno took a step back, holding both fists out together in front of him.

“Do as I do.” He ordered before slowly pulling his hands apart.

The Fang grunt, watched closely by the rest of his group, mirrored Juno's movements awkwardly but accurately, eyes fixed on the verdant energy trails flowing from the gauntlet. Even Gesa seemed interested, lifting one eyebrow at the display. As the grunt’s hands drifted apart, the trails of energy began to take shape, molding themselves into the outline of a sword and grip. Once the very top of the blade had been formed, the outline began to fill with small hexagonal shapes until the blade had been covered in its entirety, solidifying in the man’s grasp.

Juno simply looked past the grunt, eyes locked on Gesa this time. “Anything else?”

The Fang grunt seemed impressed, twirling around the hardlight blade with a grin like an amused child. Gesa, unsurprisingly, was less entertained. She silently weighed the situation for a moment and, satisfied that the goods were real, gestured for her underlings to move Caja up. "So... hand over the rest of the hardware. Once your buddy turns off and discards his kill-switch, you get your girlfriend back. Simple, right?"

Juno tensed as he picked up the bag, his lips curling into a frown as he looked Gesa in the eye. “It was girl first, then switch. Otherwise who’s to say you won’t just kill her?”

Glaring, Gesa took a half-step towards Juno. "And who's to say you two won't blow us all away the moment you have her! I know what her Semblance can do. You three will just--"

Before Gesa could finish her thought, the unexpected happened. Without even a struggle, Caja suddenly broke away from her guards and sprinted across the water-logged floor towards Juno and Rory. The stunned White Fang were too slow to react; almost between one heartbeat and the next, Caja went from captive to nearly being in Juno's arms... nearly. Instead she side-stepped and slammed into Rory, pinning him against the wall and -- hands suddenly no longer bound --  seamlessly taking possession of the "trigger" and kicking the shield-fighter to the ground.

"The F~CK are you DOING?!" Gesa shouted, suddenly looking furious.

"This is taking too long." The gravelly, masculine voice that was heard as "Caja" removed the gag was most definitely not the woman Juno knew and loved -- this was an impostor wearing her likeness. The doppleganger tore off the blindfold, revealing gray eyes underneath that examined the device briefly before chucking it aside without interest. "A bluff, like I thought. Not as smart as you think, kids."

"Damn you, this wasn't the plan!"

"Plan's changing, Gesa." The imposter grinned sadistically at Juno. "You want your girlfriend back, kiddo? I know where they're keeping her. Let's cut a deal, shall we?"

The second Caja had broken from her captors’ grasp, Juno outstretched his arms, expecting to embrace the girl... only for her to shoulder check Rory. “You aren’t... Where’s Caja!?” he exclaimed, rage written on his face as he flicked his wrists, a razor sharp spinning disk materializing under each of his palms.

The impersonator grinned, glancing at Juno's weaponry with a clearly impressed expression. "Now may not be --"

"TRAITOR! You've ruined everything!" Gesa's fists crackled with energy suddenly as she rushed "Caja", swinging with heavy-handed strikes that were just barely avoided by the copycat. Amidst the melee Rory, recovering from getting knocked face-down earlier, made a very concerning discovery about the liquid on the floor (and now all over him). He'd noticed a faint scent of ozone on the way in, but having gotten a face full of it he now understood where that scent had been coming from. The liquid on the floor wasn't water... it was airship engine primer -- lightning Dust suspended in a liquid cocktail.

This room, this whole building, was a death trap.

"Time to leave, boys!" The fake Caja ducked under a wide swing, kicked Gesa in the throat, and then pulled out and tossed a small device that looked unsettlingly like a grenade. "Fifteen seconds to boom!"

"Juno!" The concerned look on Rory's face, combined with his pointing at the soaked floor, made the meaning clear.





(OOC: So, to sum up... the Caja in the warehouse is a fake and a double-crosser, and the building is about to get a rather shocking demolition. Rush, I recommend Juno grab that grunt and run.  8) )
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Glow on June 03, 2018, 06:14:48 PM
Chains slowly choking out the two white fang members in front of her, the other two snuck out and held them still, a mixture of trying to keep them quiet to prevent the others hearing and to narrow her eyes at the goings-on of the video feeds from Juno and Rory. Tuning into the sound, she laid the two knocked-out faunus onto the ground, holding her breath at the exchange before jumping slightly herself at the sudden burst of movement from 'Caja'. Her hands balled into fists as the turncoat kept talking, and she reached to start going through her suitcase and the items within before seeing the grenade and the reaction from her two teammates.

'Fuck.' she eloquently said in her head, grabbing the suitcase back up and quickly wrapping the chains back around her limbs again. She cast one look over towards the two knocked-out fang members, took a second to grab their scrolls and power them off (didn't want them to get tracked, after all) and then made to flee from the bomb-to-be warehouse, leaving the two there.
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: SirZinger on June 05, 2018, 01:18:47 AM
The sound of the gunshot made Verdant jump and made him freeze. Verdant was stunned if the wall of ice hadn't blocked the sniper's shot Verdant could have died right there. Although Verdant had no time to dwell on that he could see with his semblance that the sniper was chocking the rifle for another shot. At this distance, Verdant won't be able to fire multiple times so he had to make his only shot count, he drew a razor arrow and aimed for a killing blow. He drew his bow back and let the arrow loose and then got into cover.

Iason saw the man with the bow get into cover, as he looked for a shot, the sniper heard a whistling sound through the air. Before he could move the arrow ripped into his skin right beneath the collarbone. The pain was immense and the sniper dropped his rifle and fell to roof in pain withing on the floor. Iason knew that even if he died here it would be for the equality of the faunus, but as he started to pass out from the loss of blood, his thoughts became slightly less coherent until he didn't feel anything.

Verdant hated that he had to kill the man but it was to protect his friends, that made it acceptable right? He couldn't dwell on that now,  in the excitement Verdant hadn't been watching the Juno's video feed.
He called Juno to give him an update on Verdant's end "Juno, Sammy and I took out some the fang's back up." Just as Verdant finished his message he heard a massive explosion in the direction of the where Juno was doing the exchange. He turned around to face the direction of the explosion "No," and climbed onto the rooftop to head in the direction of the explosion.
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Zwei Not on June 10, 2018, 11:06:20 AM
That wasn’t Caja.

He had just staked Phi and risked the lives of his entire team for a scam. A con. The young man remained stunned as the person posing as Caja spoke. If this wasn’t Caja, where in the hell was she? This imposter said they knew where she was, but could he trust them?

No, of course not. They kidnapped his girlfrie-That’s a grenade.

A quick glance at Rory prompted Juno to look down to the floor, the impostor’s words ringing in his head. Fifteen seconds, and this warehouse would be a crater. They needed to get the hell out of there.

The young man wasted no time as he dashed toward his fallen teammate, all but scooping Rory into his arms mid stride as he bolstered his shoulder in aura. Ten seconds. He didn’t know what the walls were made of, but at this point, he didn’t care. There was too much activity at the door to reliably exit. As such, with Rory in tow, Juno tore through the thin concrete of the wall shoulder first. Even after he had busted through, he didn’t stop running, his momentum only changing once the grenade detonated, the force of the ensuing explosion ripping him off of his feet and flinging him from his teammate.

Juno landed gracelessly, tumbling against the ground until he came to a skidding stop against a parked car, overturned by the explosion. Nothing felt broken, that’s good, but everything was sore. Rory was... Where was Rory? Where were Sam and Verdant? A brief panic set in as he pushed his back up against the car, using it to steady himself as he got to his feet and started the search for his teammates.
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Riven on June 17, 2018, 06:41:04 PM
(OOC: Sorry about the delay on this -- wrote it up earlier in the week and then forgot that I hadn't posted it yet, so my bad.)


The sharp report of a sniper rifle going off was the first of three -- three sounds that, even each on their own, could've upended the entire situation in moments. As it was, however, they happened in such rapid succession that only the last one truly made an impact. Scarce seconds after Juno smashed through the warehouse's cheap concrete, no doubt drawing the attention of any remaining Fang who weren't attentive enough to be alerted by the rifle fire, the true thunder flooded the area.

Literal thunder.

The ignited primer fluid did what lightning Dust is known to do. At the moment of ignition there was a blinding flash, intense enough that even those looking away and closing their eyes shut still couldn't keep out the light entirely. Under normal conditions the resulting surge of electrical energy would've gone in all directions, at least at first. However concrete, like that in the building's floor and walls, is naturally a very good insulator -- though both, the walls especially, would he wracked by the pressure wave mere seconds later the lightning was orders of magnitude faster. In that opening blink, that minuscule fragment of time, the storm of lightning that Caja's impostor had unleashed had exactly one direction it could go: UP. And up it went, a single immense thunderbolt that literally tore the tin roof off and flung it, in hundreds of charred pieces, high up into the air. For one brief moment, heaven and earth were bridged by a jagged wound of searing white light. Then came the shockwave, pulverizing the walls into concrete chunks no bigger than a dinner plate. What nearby buildings still had windows saw them shattered, and a few abandoned cars ended up flipping end over end... and that wasn't all the damage, not hardly. When the smoke finally cleared, literally nothing remained of the warehouse -- the blast had loosened the stone it sat upon in a chain reaction, the concrete foundation sliding off the edge of the canyon and into the dark below. It was hard to imagine how the White Fang members who'd been inside could've survived.

Rory woke up sputtering and coughing from smoke inhalation perhaps a dozen feet from Juno. He didn't remember when he'd activated both his shields, but apparently he had; shaking loose some of the rubble that had landed on him, he glanced around and saw the state of the area. It really, seriously looked like a bomb had gone off. "Is... is everyone okay?"

"WHOO HOO! Are we having fun yet? Because I sure am!"

Striding out of the haze, Caja's doppelganger strode over to Juno and offered him a hand. "You've got questions, I'm sure. Now's not the time -- the police will be on their way here any moment and, to be frank, the chances of your lil' puppy-dog still being in one piece after you've convinced the cops of what happened... eh, not good, honestly." She -- or he, by the sound of the voice -- gestured towards a relatively undamaged building a good distance from the blast site. "I have a ride prepared, and once we're out of here you can decide if you're up to do business or prefer your rescuing chances as is, hero boy." He turned and began to walk, changing over to a near-perfect mimicry of Caja's voice to add "C'mon Juno, time's a wasting!" Followed by dry, chuckling laughter.

Managing to get to his feet, Rory pinged Sam and Verdant's Scrolls while making his way over to Juno. "Okay, I have no idea what we should do now. Any thoughts?" As if on cue, police sirens could be heard in the distance...
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Glow on June 22, 2018, 06:55:52 AM
The fox-eared girl kept running from the explosion-to-be, cursing repeatedly to herself in increasingly colourful language normally reserved for when she was out of coffee. The sounds of the sniper made her eyes widen slightly, turning back towards the warehouse for a moment bef-

There was a brief pause, like everything was in slow motion for a moment, before an overwhelming thunder-crack filled everything. She shivered for a moment in animalistic anticipation before the entire warehouse went up, the shockwave booming so incredibly loudly, blocking out everything else she could feel. Completely out of character for her, she let out a high-pitched scream, the sound slamming into her semblance and sensitive hearing, everything in her vision turning into a pulsed blur and the hearing being utterly overwhelmed, collapsing to the ground and clutching at both sets of ears despite the usual hatred of anyone touching them, curling up and trembling slightly.

She distantly felt several pieces of shrapnel fly past, but before long she couldn't feel much of anything, the blast having completely overwhelmed her semblance and her senses - and just laid there, practically blind and deaf, holding a hand over her ears and squeezing her eyes shut, chains having quickly unwrapped themselves and almost tried to cocoon around her to shield her from the overwhelming outside world.

The pinging of her scroll went unanswered, though her position was still visible on it.
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: SirZinger on June 25, 2018, 08:54:39 PM
Verdant ran across the rooftops, toward the direction of the warehouse as he jumped between the rooftops to try to get his friends faster, in his panicked state Verdant nearly slipped off the rooftops more than once. Verdant was nearly having a panic attack when suddenly he heard his radio crackle to life.  "Okay, I have no idea what we should do now. Any thoughts?" It was Rory thank god he was still alive.

Verdant quickly responded on his radio.  "Rory, great to hear from you, a small question, what the hell was that?!?" said Verdant with an uneasy voice.
"It was a lightning dust explosion, it destroyed the warehouse. Best I can tell? Our mission just got more complicated. Upside is, if any of the Fang even made it out of there they'll probably be too disorganized to react right away. Juno and I are fine by the way, where are Sam and you?" Rory said with a cough.

"I'm fine, how about you Sam... Sam... Sammy?" 'Something is wrong she should have responded' Verdant thought. He took out his scroll to check Sam's location he could see that she wasn't moving. "Sam isn't moving she may be hurt I'm going to go help her," Verdant said as he turned on his heels and rushed to go help, Sam. He could hear the sound of sirens wailing in the distance heading toward where the warehouse used to be.

As Verdant ran on the rooftops following the tracker, he worried why Sam wasn't moving, whatever the reason was he knew it would be a problem for their escape. When he finally got to where the tracker said Sam was he looked off the edge of the building to find her curled up in a ball. Verdant jumped off the building with a loud thud.

Verdant carefully walked toward Sam trying to make as little noise as possible. As he approached his stunned friend, he spoke in a whisper to try and calm her "Sammy it's Verdant, I'm here to help you, just relax and I'm going to help you."  Sam didn't respond to his speech. When he took a step forward he accidentally stepped on a piece of debris and it broke under his boot. The sound of this caused one of Sam's chains to flinch out at him, trying to ward Verdant. He was able to dodge it because she was just lashing out but this left an opening in her chains that wrapped around her body. He waved his hand in front of her face and one of her chains wrapped around his hand and she opened her eyes. Verdant smiled at her because he was happy she was okay, he stepped back as she started to get up.

He spoke to her as she got to her feet unwrapping the chains from around his hand and her body, "Sam, you had me worried there for a second there," Verdant said in a relieved voice.
She looked at him with confusion, as he spoke, "What?"
"Are you fine,Sam?" Verdant said with a bit more worry this time.
"Why the fuck is it so quiet..." she said with a bit of fear of her own, as her voice trailed off in realization.
"Hey guys I got Sam, but we are going to have some trouble." Verdant said over the radio to Juno and Rory. As if right on queue he heard the sound of the police sirens in the distance.
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Zwei Not on June 26, 2018, 11:17:16 AM
... Whoever this imposter was was going to be a dead man by the end of this trip. Now, however, he couldn’t risk it. Caja’s life was on the line, and this guy was their only current lead. They still had at least one advantage; this guy didn’t know about Verdant and Sam yet. Well... Verdant. Sam was alright, but there seemed to be some trouble on her and Verdant’s end. He’d have to check up on her once this was all over.

Gritting his teeth at the mimicry of Caja’s voice, Juno pushed off of the damaged car and followed, motioning for Rory to join him. As Juno walked, he sent a message to the team via his scroll, his eyes darting between the device and the impostor. Verdant, Sam, stay out of sight. They still don’t know you’re here.

With that, Juno pocketed the scroll and kept walking, a thin lipped frown on his face until he eventually spoke. ”Who are you?” the question was more a demand given his tone, though it was far from inappropriate given the circumstances. ”Who are you and where is she?”
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Riven on July 08, 2018, 10:42:16 AM
Not-Caja chuckled, dipping into and out of mimicry with an almost uncanny -- and truly unsettling -- ease. "Who, where, why, what, how -- all the classics are running through your head right now, along with a hefty dose of adrenaline." The sirens in the background were definitely starting to get closer, though it was hard to say when exactly they would arrive. The impostor turned around but kept step and pace, walking backwards through the scattered detritus while stretching their arms casually. This time their voice dipped down from Caja's tones to match Juno's own, though the casual indifference behind the words couldn't be any further from the emotional intensity going through Juno's mind right now. "I know, I know, this is a very trying time for you... but try to keep in mind, to me this is just business. I'm a mercenary -- the Fang hired me to play a role and then back-stab you, but I opted to back-stab them instead. Why?" They lifted their open palms in a shrug. "Because, obviously, I can't trust them anymore than you can trust me. My back would be the next to get stabbed. This business doesn't run on courtesy, kids -- it runs on convenience. And on that note..."


Reaching the (mostly) undamaged building, the impersonator reached down and pulled up a large garage door. On the other side was a small junky-looking cargo airship the size of a Bullhead, the sort that was likely used for short-trip hauling ore or raw Dust. "Your limousine awaits, lads, and here's the key." The mercenary tossed a key ring with a small control chip to Juno. "Just plug that chip into the nav system you'll have the coordinates for where the Fang are keeping your lil' lapdog -- once I transmit the decryption key, that is. You'll just have to fly manual until then, and I'd recommend getting airborne soon. Once you're in the skies," He pulled out a handheld two-way radio. "We'll talk business. You'll be on your way, and I'll be out of reach for back-stabbing by all parties involved. A fair arrangement, I'd say. Or I suppose you could try to beat it out of me, then explain things to the police." Cupping a hand to one ear, the fake Caja stopped to listen. "I'd say you've got... about four minutes to decide. Tick tock!"
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Glow on July 15, 2018, 09:04:23 PM
"Verdant. Verdant, I can't hear- I can't hear shit." Sam stated, confused and still fairly in shock. Everything was... it was- she couldn't decide whether the silence she'd not known for years was blissful or terrifying, the chains behind her still raised up and wavering dangerously. She blinked a few times, as if trying to get the sleep out of her eyes, before looking up at him in confusion, tilting her head as she saw his lips moving. "I- I can't hear you, Verdant. The fuck's- what's going on?"

For a good few moments, she seemed to be working herself up more and more into confusion, with a faint undercurrent of fright, a rattling sound ringing out from the extra limbs as they poised before all going limp to the ground at once, a long breath being released by the fox faunus, one chain sliding across the floor before gently latching on to Verdant's arm. She closed her eyes for a moment, before opening them again, a blank expression on her face. "Still can't hear you." She stated, not sure if he'd actually said anything for obvious reasons but saying the words nonetheless. "Just lead the way."

Despite how peaceful the quiet was, it was just the same as feeling blind - sure, maybe it hurts a little less on the eyes, but that's because they're not working at all. Not exactly the most pleasant feeling, especially when she knew they were in a dangerous spot. Of course, that feeling had started rising up like sick in the back of her throat, so- well, she just gave in to her instinctual reaction. Just don't think about anything in particular, go numb. Only way to ensure she wasn't suddenly going to lash out around her in this state. Wasn't like she was any stranger to blanking out, anyway.

Gonna be a bitch to deal with the emotional backlash later, though.
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: SirZinger on August 23, 2018, 08:32:57 PM
Verdant stood there with Sam in the alleyway with his hand to his ear listening through his in-ear radio to the conversation Rory and Juno we're having with the mercenary.
 “Damn, he’s really got us,” Verdant said to himself.
“Verdant. Verdant, I can't hear- I can't hear shit.” Sam stated, confused and still fairly in shock.
“Hang on I need to talk to Rory.”
She looked up at him in confusion, tilting her head as she saw his lips moving. "I- I can't hear you, Verdant. The fuck's- what's going on?"
“Rory, stay calm and don’t react so this guy doesn't know your talking to someone.” Verdant didn't hear anything on the other end of the radio other than the sound of Rory's breathing.
“I found Sam but she is in no condition to fight, her hearing has been impaired by the explosion.” Verdant felt one of Sam's chains wrapping around his left hand, he turned around to see a dejected look on her face. "Still can't hear you, just lead the way."
Verdant pause for a moment and felt empathy for her.
“We're heading to you,  you in Juno and Sam can go in the airship while I follow the mercenary.”
Without waiting for a response that Rory Would be unable to give him, Verdant started towards where Juno and Rory were while staying out of sight himself.
Title: Re: The Things We Do For Love [VCVS]
Post by: Zwei Not on October 08, 2018, 08:40:31 PM
[Scripted with Riven]

Juno scowled as the ring was thrown his way, snatching it out of the air with a tad more force than was probably required. A quick visual inspection confirmed that it used the same physical hardpoint connections as most other devices, which thankfully meant Phi would be able to take a better look at it than he would. Reaching behind him as though he were putting it in his back pocket, Juno slotted the disk into the hardlight generator, letting Phi work her magic. “And why should I trust a damn thing you say?” he inquired, a fair bit of venom in his voice.

Not-Caja shrugs. "Because it's your best and only lead, maybe? C'mon, we're just gonna burn through time with the second-guessing at this point. Deal, or no deal?"

After a few moments, Juno let out a resigned sigh. They had a point, and as much as Juno hated the idea, the only thing he could really do was play their game. “... I swear, I will find you one day. You aren’t getting away with any of this.”

"Which part: when I told you that your little puppy-dog is still breathing, or the bit where I turned a warehouse into toothpicks," As if it had been there all along, the impostor was suddenly holding and admiring a small switchblade. "Instead of trying to gut you. You're angry, I get it, and from your perspective I'm just part of the problem -- one of the people keeping you and Caja apart. But am I really? Think about it."

“Oh, you’re definitely part of the problem. How much of it though, I haven’t decide-“

”Pfft... ultimatetacotuesday?” the AI materialized on Juno’s shoulder, sitting down as she did her best to hold back her laughter. The girl’s sudden appearence prompted a bewildered look from Juno, which was quickly refocused to a glare toward Caja’s impersonator.

It wasn't immediately clear which almost caused not-Caja to stumble -- the appearance of the holographic figure of Phi, or the familiar password being stated out loud. Stopping to regain balance, the impostor momentarily fixed Phi and Juno with a blank stare, the kind of non-expression that happens when a train of thought is abruptly and utterly derailed. The next moment saw the face take on an impish, almost embarrassed look. "Weeeeeeell... guess that cat's out of the bag." With the sound of sirens getting nearer by the moment, it was clear that whatever was going to happen would happen fast.

And it did.

The switchblade being thrown at Juno's head was clearly just a diversion; an attack like that, even if it hit, didn't have any realistic chance of breaking his Aura. It did, however, come fast, and by the time Juno responded the interloper was already in a full sprint... towards the edge of the canyon. Every step let off a trail of thick, inky black smoke and Not-Caja seemed to be producing more of it by rubbing their hands together, creating a quickly-growing smokescreen.

Juno was quick to tilt his head out of the way of the knife, frowning as it embedded itself into the wall of the transport. When he looked back, the impostor was running as fast as they could, a smokescreen quickly shrouding them as the distant sirens grew ever closer. It was about time he and Rory hit the road too. “If Ver and Sam are coming, tell them to get here quick. We’re low on time and I’m out of patience.” The young man’s tone was probably harsher than intended as he spoke to Rory and Phi, but at this point he didn’t care. The day’s events were hard enough on him as they were. He just wanted to see Caja again.

Directing Rory to join him with a wave of the hand, Juno stepped aboard the ship, taking the pilot’s seat and plugging the navchip into the center console. However, Juno quickly approached another problem. ”Hey, uh… Rory. Do you know how to fly this thing?”