Bay 12 Games Forum

Sir Blobbington nods along at 42-1's statement in agreement.

"I was gonna say....you guys mind if we tag along? We're heading up that way to get our own Emblem and from there, Kaisei."
Kazuto's voice subtly shudders in horror at the mention of that kingdom.

As they speak about Emblems, a red-faced goblin youth runs up to Keith, a satchel at his side, out of his breath.
"Is....are....you guys....Team F and Great Grandee?"
"Great Grandee, that's us."

Rin frowns, studying Yusuke and Setsurou.

Yusuke, for his part, does his best to pretend that he is, in fact, an entirely ordinary cat, mewling slightly at the ear scritches scratches.
"Well, I don't really want to leave our new friends here, but....a friend of Kazuki is a friend of mine. I'll be happy to come with you and help."

---

Alice, for her part, nods at Nullstar.
"You guys wanna check that out? Seems interesting enough. Might even be a bounty in it."

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Ishim...
Lowell downed another can of Ishim's finest budget beer, Moors Lite. The Hood Street Runners were not known for being the richest of gangs, but Lowell needed the drinks. This had to be the third case.

After all, his last ditch attempt at stopping the Warriors from making it back home had just failed.
"....useless. Absolutely useless."
This wasn't going at all how he'd planned. The Warriors were supposed to be out of commission, Cassius was supposed to be dead, and the Messiahs were supposed to be telling him all about it right now.

To find out that the Starlight Soldiers, of all guilds, was now siding with the Chiefs and the Warriors, was the last thing he needed, on par with finding out that the Heavenly Emperors had shown up again.

Some of the Runners stood near their boss, waiting for orders.
"Not even Oswald....who do these bastards even have?"
"Well, sir, they have that L chick, girl on the pegasus. The big oni, Big Blue, he goes by. The dancer chick, too; supposedly she used to be an adventurer outside of the guilds. The others, we don't know about, not yet. We'll get you more info-"
"No. That information's useless now. If the Chiefs, the Soldiers and the Warriors are getting together, we're not gonna have much of a chance. Not unless we put Cassius in the ground, get those pictures out, and get our scheme rolling. Do we know where in the seven hells he is?!"
"No, sir. Nobody's found him or the girl who saved him. Apparently she goes by Hare."
"Shit."

Lowell rubbed his temples harder, taking another swig. If Hare was involved, it wasn't long before the Boss would be involved. And if the Boss got involved, he might as well say his prayers.

"What forces do we have left on the ground?"
"Some of the Messiahs are still willing to go up against the Warriors, said they'll meet up when they can. The Rogues said the same, and the Orphans and the Furies are still in play. Of course, we got our own group."
"....let me guess, we didn't get the Riffs?"
"They hung our messenger upside down and took his clothes. Walt's okay, but he'll need some time to live down the embarassment."
"....guess we don't have any choice, then."

Lowell stood up.

"Get your weapons. We're going to Wharf Street. Those Warriors aren't making it back, and if I have to do it myself, then so help me Goddesses, I'll do it."

He paused.

"And while you're at it....prep the trump card."
"Sir? The trump card? It....it won't be ready until-"
"If an entire city of gangs won't stop the Warriors, do you really think we will without that thing? Get it ready. Get the team moving it into position. I want this ended NOW."

Rin stands up, inhaling.
"If you excuse me, I'll just go stretch my legs a little before we eat. Work up the appetite."

---

"After them!"
Some of the guards are blocked off by Miyako, her daring gaze posing a challenge to them. After all, the first man to come after her would have to face a Gnosis wielder alone, and none of them wanted to take that risk.

Meanwhile, Setsurou and Traxesa round the building, trying to find an entrance, knocking aside a few guards....

...and find that the front of the building Yusuke slipped into appears to be an eatery of some sort, people calmly eating and drinking with no regard for what is happening.

---

Yusuke slipped into the building, a blur of orange fur looking around. The place was crowded, smelling of ramen, udon bowls and other fine food; the Cat, starved of good food he was except for whatever Setsurou could slip him, felt his stomach rumble.
"Okay. I don't think anyone's going to find me here. Just gotta stay on the floor and..."
"Oh, hello there. Are you someone's cat?"

Yusuke only had a few moments to process what was going on before he felt two hands pick him up. Resisting the urge to yelp, scream or do anything that might reveal him as anything aside from an ordinary cat, the young man came face to face with a brunette woman, wearing apothecary robes, looking at him up and down. She smiled, tilting her head, before looking back towards the table.
"You're a cute cat, aren't you? Kazuki, can you see if anyone's missing a cat? I wouldn't want this cutie to be hurt by someone stepping on him."
Crap.

He produces a large bag, jingling with coins.
"Here's your split. Two thousand, five-hundred rhea, like we promised. That was a good fight. _{Didn' thave to kick our asses so hard.}"

Borea walks forward, frowning.
"Is Serena here?"
"Yeah, what?"

"Unfortunately not, Orrel. I have something to check up on. You remember that man who called himself Justice?"

After a moment to catch a breather, Nico picks herself back up.
"Right, you guys ready? We're pretty close. I'd say if we keep moving, we'll get back to the guildhouse within...an hour."