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Abigail Barton A job posting had been put up on the Syndicate's mission boards on short notice: A VIP needs an escort through a shady part of Chinatown, knowing that he's on the shortlist of people to kill so others can take his position at a tech company. His position is already pretty shaky, but he does actually have enough money to hire Elites, and his hope is to establish some footing by showing that he means to hold onto his position through a show of power and wealth.

The meeting point: A back alley in Chinatown. The VIP sticks out like a sore thumb, between slicked back hair, a clean pressed suit, three popped collars, and shades that don't do much considering the shade going across the entire street. He's pacing around idly while waiting for the Elites to arrive, shooting threatening glances at anyone that so much as looks his way.

Several restaurants are open, and the smell of old grease lingers in the street. Tourists are wandering around with their children, deliveries are being made to various stores up and down the block, and there's even a homeless person sitting not too far from where the VIP is pacing around. There's a puddle nearby the homeless person that the VIP keeps stepping in, but he doesn't seem to notice it. Cars drive down the street occasionally, forcing everyone in the street to move to the sides lest they be run over.
Note     Ever since learning about the Syndicate job boards, Note's been keeping an eye on it. Being as young as she is, thje implications of many job postings are a bit hard to grasp, but playing escort and bodyguard... now that she understands.

    Following the given coordinates and a picture of who she's supposed to find... the youth simply DROPS INTO THE ALLEY from above, landing with a rush of rustling fabric and a light THUMP as her feet touch down with enough of an impact to kick up a bit of wind and some dust.

    And so, the pint-sized martial artist makes her appearance! Note stands... as tall as she really can, for what seems unmistakably like a pipsqueak kid, dressed in red and yellow simple clothes. No armor, no obvious weapons, but the clothes are easy to move in and do seem a bit suited for martial arts.

    The weird thing is undoubtedly the tail that's very visibly swishing about freely behind her as she approaches the over-dressed VIP. "Aha... found you! You're the one looking around for a guardian? I'm Note!"
Link There is an average height young man in a green tunic and hat following the VIP, sword in a sheath on his back, appearing absolutely to be some sort of weird cosplayer at a glance. But his qualifications are real, he's some sort of sword-fighting monster slayer from the Multiverse.

When Note arrives, Link doesn't say anything, just appraising her. After deeming her to not be a threat, he nods, and speaks. "Link." He doesn't say anything else, and moves to continue walking with the VIP. He's been quiet.

The VIP probably likes that, honestly. Link notices the puddle, but doesn't say anything. Where has a little water ever hurt anyone?
Abigail Barton Just about everyone in the valley looks up when a flying girl just descends from the sky, peering at her for varying amounts of time. Some of the tourists clap, but the large majority of people just shrug before going about their days.

It's New York. What else is new?

"Just you, huh? Alright. And we got a..." The VIP tips his shades back to look from Note to Link, looking each of them over briefly before shrugging. "Yeah, you'll do. Alright. This should be an easy job if you're as good as the Syndicate says you Elites are."

He starts walking and talking while the locals are already going about their day. Another truck comes rolling down the street, and it still smells like grease and fish everywhere. "I'm meeting some guys for a deal and grabbing some local shit to eat. I know someone's put a hit on me, so just keep your eyes open and don't make-"

     As he talks, his right leg starts buckling suddenly before the left leg gives out as well. Nothing appears to have hit him, but he's falling into the street right in the path of that truck!
Link As the VIP explains everything, Link nods. He doesn't reply, a gesture in the affirmative good enough for him. As the guy continues talking, Link continues walking behind him, eyes taking notice of things, when the VIP's legs give out. That's startling!

Moving quickly, Link moves to grab the man with both arms and yank him backwards with a surprising amount of strength, the type coming from an athlete. Link proceeds to grab a shield from his bag once the VIP is safe, carrying it with him from now on because strange things are afoot.
Note     "If it's just some guys with guns, you'll be fine. I'm way faster than bullets!" Note exclaims. It's almost a boast, but she says it so casually... IS it a boast? Regardless, Link... Link is worth a peer. She can sense decent power from him. And that getup... he's got a sword on his back.

    In her experience, anyone who carries a sword in that fashion has ALWAYS been tough. So she aims a warm but firm smile at him, accepting his presence when--

    "What the...?!" She has all the time in the world to move. Power floods her limbs and her awareness accelerates. She could cover that distance in under a heartbeat and yoink the toppling guy away from the danger he's in... but Link's closer.

    Her eyes quickly flick this way and that, while she reaches out with her senses...

    There's not really any time to speak up about anything, but... she simply can't help it. A fiercely suspicious gaze is swung briefly at the homeless man in the alley with them. Her teeth are clenched and brow furrowed throughout it! "If you're so tough why are you just loafing there?!" She barks at the 'homeless man'!
Abigail Barton The VIP is easy enough to pull back before he becomes a new decoration for the truck driver's grill. The driver doesn't even stop, yelling out the side of the window about "damn yuppies ruining Chinatown" before drifting around the corner and going on his way.

"Goddamn, Chinatown sucks... Why the hell'd I have to come out here, anyway?" Spitting out some audible venom to try and distract from the shock of nearly getting splattered, he gives Link an acknowledging glance before turning to Note. "I was going to say 'don't make a big todo about this place', but... What, you noticed something weird about this guy?"

Scowling, the VIP turns his attention to the homeless person who's content to just sit back and watch the trio from behind his bundle of coats. "Hey, jagoff! We're talking to you!" Approaching the homeless person, he brings his foot up to kick at his face somewhat clumsily, clearly the technique of someone who's never been in a real fight before.

Luckily for the homeless person, all they had to do was move their head to avoid getting stomped against the wall. The VIP's shoe does catch onto the side of the homeless man's hood, however, revealing that the homeless man is actually a woman!

"... Thank you. I won't feel bad about this one." In one deft move, the homeless woman stands rapidly, draws what looks like a pen across the VIP's thigh, and blood starts spraying while he collapses in a screaming heap. She turns towards Link and Note, gesturing at the VIP with her pen-knife.

"You should go."
Link As the VIP is recovered, Link hms at the 'homeless man', and moves forward with them to investigate. When the VIP moves to kick them in the head, he grimaces, clearly revolted by the use of force first, and is actually about to say something when it's revealed to be a woman.

And then the woman slashes the VIP in the leg, causing blood to gush, and dropping him to the ground screaming. Link's eyes widen, as he considers what to do. The VIP was an asshole, sure...but he doesn't deserve to die for that, does he? And he took a job. He has to see it through. But the woman just has a pen, so -

No. Words ring through Link's head. The voice of his mentor, Rook, reminds him of something important. 'Never underestimate an opponent, no matter how weak they look.' Drawing his steel sword and shield, the Hylian dashes forward, and moves to slash as he speaks. "No. I can't let you kill him."

Not at the homeless woman's body does the sword strike, though. It moves for her hand, trying to cut into it and force her to drop the pen. The mere precision of the strike is insanely accurate, by someone who for wielding a sword isn't wielding a tool, but an extension of their body. It moves through the air gracefully, and isn't a strike that'd cut her hand off - just the right amount of force to disarm her and force her to show any other tricks up her sleeve.
Note     Well, Note would have many things to say about this if the person she's here to protect wasn't such an asshole. She frowns as the VIP AGGROES the one person here she doesn't know anything about. "Hey don't---" Note WINCES when the man tries to KICK the person.

    And what happens is so strange and horrifying that a fearful hiss escapes Note as her whole body straightens out and shivers. "What... what..."

    Just like THAT?! But no, he's not dead yet... "He's not a great guy, but that's a lethal injury... you're one of the ones after this man?! What for? I get he's a jerk already..."

    It doesn't seem like she's going to leave. In fact...

    As she stands there, her twitchy muscles relax briefly... she inhales deeply... and exhales with a sharp kiai! Accompanying this, golden power flares up from every part of her body and ignites into a brilliant upwards-rushing blaze l ike a bonfire. At the same time, her hair's drawn upwards, flashing instantly into a golden-blonde shade and splitting into spikes. Fierce green eyes are now staring down the woman with her weapon. What's more, the alley is now host to a constant pulsing 'whoosh' noise and a warm wind flowing outwards from the now-glowing girl...

    With Link moving in for the attack, Note decides to dive onto the wounded VIP and drag him away from what looks like a bad place to be! "Stop thrashing, it makes the bleeding worse!"
Abigail Barton People are actually starting to freak out now. Some of them are peeking out from apartments, some peering in from around street corners, and yet others are taking videos with their phones. Self-preservation instincts aren't very strong, but someone's bound to get a lot of views with this!

"What a shame." The woman's tone is fairly dull as she replies to Link, jerking back swiftly as his sword glances against her hand and knocks that pen-knife right out of it. She backs up steadily, clearly not of the mind to challenge Link nor Note in a head-on fight. At least, not without some of those tricks, and not without waiting for Note to take the VIP out of harm's way.

Some of those cameras are trained on Note now, of course. She's not quite getting away scot free, though, as a handful of shady-looking men in suits come out of the restaurant to see what the commotion's about with the VIP cursing up a storm over having his leg nearly removed. They seem to recognize the VIP and the opportunity presented to them. Several of them draw handguns and start firing on Note and the VIP, and one of them (a chef) charges at her with a cleaver wiedled with inhuman speed!

Speaking of tricks, though, that puddle's disappeared. Rather, it's growing! It grows into a larger cube-shaped mass behind link, making disgusting warbling noises as it lurches towards him. The woman, meanwhile, keeps her gaze focused on the swordsman as she slips her shades back down over her eyes.

"It's business. Mostly." She doesn't move on Link immediately, instead scooping up a nearby milk crate. She spins it around overhead a few times with some impressive dexterity, stalling until the cube is close enough to fall towards him. As the cube tries to engulf him in its mass, the woman flings the milk crate at Link along with another pen-knife that's hidden in that coat of hers!
Note     Having a bunch of weird people crawl out of the woodwork and start taking pictures is pretty weird! Note looks this way and that, up and down, not at all sure what to make of this attention... but it's only when people carrying weapons show up that she takes action. All her attention goes to the guys coming out of the restaurant...

    "Hmph!!" Guns? Guns, she has nothing but contempt for aiming at her with guns. Her palm blurs this way and that as she simply SNAGS THE BULLETS OUT OF THE AIR... but that chef...

    He's trouble.

    She doesn't like the look of that cleaver... it's enough that she dives up and in to it to catch his forearm on hers, using her tiny body to slip in under his swing. "Eeeeeeiyah!"

    And then put some serious might into swinging about and trying to deliver a driving sidekick into the chef's gut and knock him backwards. She IS restraining herself though....

    "Guh... so for her it's business... What's YOUR guys' problem with this man? Is he THAT much of a jerk?!"
Link Link doesn't respond to the woman, though his facial expressions tell a thousand words. His frown is sharp, and his disapproval palpable, as he clearly doesn't like what she's doing. His eyes narrow on her every movement, but there's one thing Link wasn't expecting.

The puddle. When it starts making massive warbling sounds behind him, the blonde suddenly starts rolling away, trying to keep his eye on both the creature and the spinning crate, when he almost gets engulfed. His shield arm is grabbed, shield easily swallowed up, but before Link can be completely pulled in, he kicks off the ground to roll back, and then reaches again into his bag. His shield is gone, but he has the dumbest idea in the world.

It involves explosives.

Pulling a powder bomb out of his bag, Link waits to make sure Note and the VIP are out of the way, and then throws the head-sized explosive at the Stand. Hoping that it accidentally swallows it up right before it detonates, before it can put out the fuse, and explodes...with enough force to eject the shield.

Maybe even eject the shield into Abigail, though that's not too likely. But Link's aiming for the possibility of just doing something crazy, because he is, in fact, a crazy hero boy. Hopefully he can distract them long enough to get his shield and return to Note, but that'll take time!
Abigail Barton The gangsters with guns take note of Note's ability to snatch their bullets, and they give each other a collective look. How are they supposed to compete with that?!

Feints. And timing. "People like him keep buying up our property! How are we supposed to make an honest living when the rent is so high?!" The chef grunts as she kicks him right in the gut, staggering back with one hand keeping him off the floor and spitting up some blood before rushing back at the Saiyan. He takes a few swings at her with the cleaver, and each one is followed up with a volley of shots as the gangsters work in tandem to keep his more vulnerable side covered!

The blob, meanwhile, doesn't seem to do a lot with the shield besides holding it inside of itself. It seems more focused on just making contact with Link, lurching towards him steadily without any need to pause for things like taking steps or avoiding bombs.

It really should have avoided the bomb. By the time the woman notices that Link's hurled the bomb at the blob, it's already a little too late for her to recall the Stand. She actually looks freaked out for a moment as she holds a hand out.

The Stand retracts briefly, but the explosion blows a nasty chunk out of it. Blood spurts from Abigail's body as she recoils, some of that damage apparently reflecting on herself! A peculiar thing happens, though: The VIP screams out in pain as more blood gushes out of him as well! It's not nearly as much blood as there was when he got his leg carved open, of course, but it's eerily similar to how much came out of Abigail from the epxlosion. Strangely enough, there's also small chunks of orange goop all along his face and arms.

"Using bombs here of all places... Creative, I'll give you that." Abigail brings her hands up to backhand the shield away as it comes flying towards her face from the explosion. The maneuver has her wincing again, and so too does the VIP. It seems he's taking the same hits she is!

"You should keep a better eye on your employer there." Abigail backs off slowly as she leaves the shield alone, Link's defensive tool still covered in some of the Stand's mass. "Otherwise, he'll die without me having to touch him again. Is it really worth the risk of getting yourselves arrested?"

Indeed, there's the sound of sirens in the distance. Explosions are pretty hard to ignore!
Link The bomb works to damage Abigail, apparently linked to the blob...? That's weird. But Link pieces it together quickly, and then she says something, and he glances down the street. The VIP is taking damage too! That's not good. That means Link can't harm Abigail. That means...

Rolling forward, Link scoops up his shield, wipes it off with his hand (and then gives up on that quickly), glances at Abigail, and frowns as he speaks. "You're awful." And then, he starts dashing in Note's direction, unsure exactly what the sirens mean except 'something bad related to the explosion', and sheathing his sword. Drawing his bow and arrows from his quiver from the magic bag that can fit way too much stuff in it, Link starts firing arrows at the gangsters. He's moving to fire into their guns, specifically, and knock them out of their hands, though impaling their hands with arrows is fine too. "Get him to safety!" He shouts to Note, not saying much else.
Note     "Arrested?" Note's heard the word before, but she sounds a bit vapid about the problem. Like it shouldn't apply to her somehow? She still frowns... because the chef's words are more than she was expecting to hear. "Uhhhh...." Her determination falters. She takes a few steps back... and twitches at Link's words.

    He's right. "I'll talk with you guys later... still not gonna let you just kill someone in front of me!" And what's she going to DO about it exactly? Well... In no time at all, she has the bleeding man tossed over a shoulder, and she BURSTS UP INTO THE AIR on a rocket-like stream of golden energy. The trail slowly dissipates in her wake...

    She'll take him to the nearest hospital.
Abigail Barton Indeed, Link's shield is pretty gross and sticky! Try as he might, the little globs don't quite go away. Some of them even stay stuck to his hand now! Abigail doesn't give chase right away, though, and she even chuckles lightly when he calls her awful. "You're too naive. You'll learn." She murmurs quietly, then slips back into another alleyway. It doesn't look like she'll be taking the VIP's life tonight, but sending a message will do for now.

Then again, the temptation to take things just a little farther is strong for her. WIth Note rocketing upwards out of the range of the gangsters' guns and the chef's cleaver by far, she has to make her choice quickly! Slumping against a wall into a seated position in the alley, Abigail closes her eyes, and the clumps of jelly on the VIP begin to move. They slide from his face onto Note's arms and legs, and both the Saiyan and Link can feel something peculiar happening.

Numbness. It's not complete numbness, but their limbs start to feel like the blood flow's been cut off for a few minutes already. Or like someone injected anasthetic into them. Whatever the feeling is, it's incredibly uncomfortable at best and difficult to move at worst, but it only lasts for a few seconds before stopping. The orange chunks disappear entirely after that, and even the gangsters are falling back between having arrows attaching their hands to their guns, broken ribs, and a contingent of squad cars converging on the alley.

Also, there's cops cars converging on the alley. Link may want to leave soon.
Link The numbness has Link leaning against a wall briefly, mouth and bow slacking, but as soon as it wears off and he realizes she said 'get arrested' and attaches that with the sirens, Link books it through side alleys until he can return to a warpgate. Note has the VIP. Link will...not get arrested because that'd be pretty terrible. He only just became a hero! He's not doing a good enough job in his mind, though. He's naive? How? Is that why he almost failed?
Note "Aguhhh....?!" Numbness and an inability to properly control one's limbs is BAD when you're a superhuman warrior who could pop an ordinary person's head with little effort. Note shudders in the air, powering down within just a few seconds of the strange feeling spreading through her body. She goes DOWN atop one of the buildings, collapsing onto it but absorbing the impact for her passenger. "Nghghhhh..."

    Upon having a moment to herself, she can see the cause. That weird goo...

    Sliding thje VIP off, she rolls away from him and then...

    Forcefully channels power through her body with a fierce and loud kiai. Whitish power flares from her limbs with immense force and pressure, in an attempt to simply BLOW the goo off of her and away!
Abigail Barton With the VIP secured, the cops' targets all but vanished, and the gangsters hiding among their own, it looks like things have quieted down! Relatively.

Until the news pundits get a hold of this footage. For now, though, the message has been sent, and the VIP's going to be keeping his head down for a good while.

Probably.