Scene #6805: MajimaEverywhere Staren Edition

Owner	Pose
Staren	2407 AD Lazlo Region NEW BOWMANVILLE INTERDIMENSIONAL MARKET TOWN Stepping out of the warpgate, travelers are faced with the modern-looking town that's sprung up around it. The construction style for the most part looks close enough to 21st century Earth, so that part's not weird, and tonight it's a cool 60 degrees, but travelers from other worlds immediately notice two things: 1. The people around are a mix from all over the multiverse. Humans are the largest minority, but the rest are countless species, everything from plantpeople to tentacled aliens and what not. There's a noticeable number of people going about armed and armored -- adventurers here to buy supplies. 2. The sky is lit up by something like a giant, electric-blue aurora that starts at the ground and goes up like a mile. Surveying the local storefronts, it's an eclectic mix. There are perhaps more adventurer supply stores -- survival gear, guns, and armor -- than most are used to. Also a lot of traders, importers, exporters and such -- the area around the gate is a trade hub, after all. Other than that it's a pretty normal modern mix. Today, Staren is making his way to a grocery store. To deal with the chill, and perhaps to be slightly less recognizeable, he's replaced his labcoat with a blue windbreaker and adjusted his colorscheme, with a grey shirt and green pants and matching sneakers. A few tiny spy drones, easily mistaken for insects, fly through the air above him.
Majima Goro	The Mad Dog of Shimano is perhaps one of the least predictable of the Concord, in many ways. He's known for being expressively violent, while simultaneously admonishing his own allies for not being empathetic enough. He'll non-lethally choke a man one day, and drop by a teenager's house with beer the next to talk over her existential mortal dread. Of course, this only means that when Majima has A Plan, one he has not expressly explained in detail, any variety of things may ensue. Of course, the more clever among the Multiversal may have figured out what precisely Majima meant when he suggested he would assist Staren in fending off further assaults and ambushes. For those who were not aware, perhaps a more vital clue may be in order--a large traffic cone, a startling orange, stands directly in the middle of the road between Staren and his intended destination. Something has weighted it down, because neither the breeze nor casual efforts to nudge it have resulted in its movement. Altogether, the nature of this orange traffic cone might be mysterious and enigmatic, were the following facts not clear: 1: Majima has been transmitting hollow plastic sounds all day. 2: Majima Goro is a known frequent user of cigarettes and other tobacco products. 3: There is literally billowing smoke coming out of the top of the traffic cone, in small, metered puffs. That said, nobody at any point has ever accused the man of being stealthy, or particularly clever at disguises. Still, you never know.
Staren	Species with especially good senses of smell give the tabacco-smoking traffic cone an especially wide berth. Humans and the like avoid it too, unless they're used to it, but are too busy going wherever they're going to stop and do something about it. Staren stops when he smells it and looks around for the source. He frowns at the traffic cone, backing into the crowd and diverting one of the spy drones to alight on the tip, crawl in, and verify if it's Majima.
Lory Thumper	No one really asked her to, but after hearing some rumors and seeing some reports Lory Thumper made her way here to New Bowmanville to conduct some investigations. Staren is only an aquaintance, but he has been amicable enough so far. The bunny cop probably doesn't stand out at all in this crowd, and she is doing her best to keep it that way by wearing some loose sweats that hide her police outfit and belt underneath. And she has to admit, a giant traffic cone that is spouting smoke in small puffs is very unusual. She leans against the corner of a building and watches that drone go into the cone.
Majima Goro	The traffic cone wobbles a bit just before the spy drone enters underneath. It transmits the image of a man in a yellow snakeskin jacket, black leather pants, and an eyepatch, nervously smoking a cigarette. His solid black shoes tap the ground a little, before he shakes his head. In one, violent motion, the cone is flung up into the air! The man slaps at his smooth chin as if to get feeling back into his chin, his solid black eyepatch misaligned. "Boss, noone is coming, this is ridiculous!" Nishida-san's voice is clear, the man waving his arms in surrender. "Boss! Boss, you didn't say I'd have to be here for THIS long! I have to use the bathroom!" While loyal, loyal Nishida bemoans his situation at just the right time, a figure has been working his way through the crowd. If Staren doesn't move, he's going to find an empty bucket of popcorn on his head, and find himself shoved out of the crowd into the street.
Staren	It's not Majima. To his credit, as soon as Staren realizes that he starts looking around. He sees Majima, and starts backing away as the bucket comes down, keeping it from fully enclosing his head, and then smacks it away with his hand. "Okay, pretty good, I guess I should have started looking around for you as soon as I saw the distraction, huh?" He's keeping his distance, trying to stay out of Majima's reach, not entirely sure the lesson is over. After a few seconds he has the drones look for other accomplices.
Lory Thumper	Lory isn't really sure what to expect here. Staren didn't really call her in, after all. But, a guy in a giant traffic cone costume calling out to a boss and someone getting attacked with popcorn are both pretty suspicious. She rushes toward Staren, ready to assist him and looking around quickly for any signs of attackers. And she has pretty good eyes for that sort of thing. But, picking out someone who is doing something unusual or looks out of place could be hard in a place where...everyone is unusual to her.
Majima Goro	Majima isn't in this to assassinate Staren, after all. He does crack his knuckles, the man in the snakeskin jacket--the correct one, this time, taps his head. "Eh? Didn't I tell ya I was gonna help ya learn to deal with ambushes? How better than practical experience, Staren-sama? Hm?" He pulls out a tall can of some kind of drink, downing it in one go. "Nishida, it's fine. Ya get outta here, I ain't 'specting ya to keep up with Staren here. Ain't the leg cramps a bitch?" Nishida very excitedly nods and bows and moves to get the hell out of dodge, right before Majima bends over...before very quickly turning out to be doing a flip off his hands to kick Staren directly in the chest. "I know you're injured, so I'll go easy on ya, but ya still gotta knock me down! We're doin' this till ya get good!"
Staren	Staren grunts and stumbles back. At least Majima isn't a horse. His left hand comes up in a guard, and his jacket explodes into threads and then reforms into the LABSCORCHER'S WHITECOAT, closed. He reaches into his bag, hesitates. Pulls out a closed fist around a short rod. When he thinks he sees an opening, he extends the shock baton and tries to jab or whack Majima with it, but he's easily outmatched in melee. "If this were a real attack I WOULD be shooting. I don't want to make a commotion and get the police involved."
Lory Thumper	Lory...is somewhat baffled. "Staren, you hired this guy to ambush you?" she asks in a perplexed tone. That answer might have to wait though as Majima attacks Staren. She leaps back, then raises an eyebrow in mild confusion. "If this is a training exercise, maybe I should hang back. But then again, having friends nearby during an ambush is important." she says, looking between the two. She stays close, but doesn't actually help unless Staren asks her to. And tosses her own surveillance drone up into the air to keep watch for other ambushers.
Majima Goro	Majima was not expecting interference. But...he considers, as he manages to block the first few attempts with the shock baton, before one of them does finally nail him on the arm. He stumbles back a bit. "...Eh? Ya worried bout the police gettin' involved?" He says, moving to circle back in. "...well..." His gaze moves over to Lory, and then back to Staren. And then he starts to laugh, rearing back and knees bent and all. "Looks like the police're already here, Staren-sama! Maybe ya better take this as serious as the real thing!" For now, a blue fire flashes around him as he gets a terrible idea. Heat Action: Essence of Weapon Steal He kicks forward, but isn't aiming for Staren--he's aiming for Staren's wrist, trying to loosen his grip to snatch the baton out of his hand. "I said I was goin easy on ya, but look! Ya got cop support! You'll be fine!"
Staren	Staren points at Lory. "And that is THE MAGIC OF FRIENDSHIP! ...But no he volunteered to teach me." Staren's left arm is ahead in a guard and his right is behind him and raised to strike, making it a particularly difficult target. Staren dodges, Majima will have to get a liiittle more tricky to disarm him. "That sounds like a yes, feel free to help." He comments to Lory, the baton collapsing and being stowed back in the bag as he pulls out... a Federation phaser and starts firing stun beams at Majima. That's enough to get a reaction from passerby -- those unarmed find somewhere else to be, while adventurers watch from a distance, trying to ascertain what's going on and if they should interfere.
Lory Thumper	Lory blinks a bit at the sudden declaration by Staren, then laughs a bit and smirks. "I'm not an expert in that, but sure!" When both say that she may as well help, Lory pulls out her badge and makes a quick circle around the growing perimeter. "Don't worry! This is just a training exercise!" she says loudly enough that most people should be able to hear her, then she moves to engage Majima. She knows he's slippery, so she has to be more slippery! She actually runs up behind Staren and leaps over his head, spiral somersaulting through the air to try and aim a kick or two at Majima's head. When she lands on the other side she also tries a quick leg sweep!
Majima Goro	Majima's grin only gets wider. The Bunny's joining in! Glorious! That said, he isn't precisely ready for the precise method of her attack--and he keeps reaching in to try to disarm Staren, just in time for her to leap over the boy and kick him directly in the face. On the upside, that means while he's on the ground from the leg sweep, Staren's stunbolts are super likely to just strike Lory instead of him! He doesn't stay on the ground for more than a second, though, flaring up a sudden pink flame as his legs kick out. He presses his arms down, swinging around as he begins to breakdance just a bit, keeping low as he moves to try to trip Lory up as /well/ as Staren in one go. "Nehehe! Didn't think I'd be gettin' my money's worth outta this!"
Staren	Breakdancing? Staren decides that the way to deal with this is to just... stay off the ground? Defending yourself from ambushes isn't /about/ fighting /fair/, after all. His wings appear and he leaps up to get away from the breakdancing. He takes a moment to flash a badge at the onlookers, "Training exercise." to further reassure them, then... hovers directly above Majima and shoots down. It's the most obvious way to avoid hitting Lory or anyone else. "Money's worth? But you didn't pay anything..."
Lory Thumper	Lory leaps upward to avoid the capoeira attacks, but her foot gets clipped as she is going upward and it sends her somersaulting out of control. She lands a bit roughly on her back but quickly hops to her feet. "It's just an expression!" she says to Staren before she pulls out her pistols and flips them to stun gun mode. Instead of the usual gauss rounds a pair of dart-like electrodes pop out of each gun and she fires them at Majima. They deliver a debilitating shock with each shot, and if they stick she can just keep shocking him! "So, someone really has threatened your life, Staren?" she asks. May as well get some information while they fight!
Majima Goro	There we go. Now Majima gets to work with something he doesn't usually get to handle--multiple ranged opponents that aren't absolute pushovers. There's only one useful thing to do in this case. He zigs a little, and zags a little. It gives Lory a grand time to set up her shot, before he jukes to the side, and hops up onto a nearby crate, and... Well, he doesn't quite nail it. Lory's electricity nails him directly in the back, and he vibrates and shouts as he falls to the ground, wobbling. Huh. Majima's surprisingly weak to electricity. He'll be a second.
Staren	"Yeah." Staren replies. "I mean obviously I get in fights all the time, but this was someone specifically ambushing me in a... safe place and trying to kill me. It's because I gave a trained killer who wanted another life, a second chance. He doesn't believe in second chances." Staren's flying around, keeping moving to make it a /little/ harder to throw something at him, because he's sure Majima has SOME plan to deal with this... and then Majima gets shocked. Staren lands on the edge of a roof and looks down at him. "You okay, buddy?" Though he's looking at Majima, he glances around through drones. Just in case.
Lory Thumper	Lory slows to a stop as Majima goes down like that. "Uh..." Yes, that's what the weapon is supposed to do, but it rarely works on an elite so easily. The prongs retract and she cautiously approaches Majima. If he isn't up in a few seconds...well, she is going to cuff him. Because that's what you do after you have apprehended a suspect, even if this is a training session. Her handcuffs clink and clatter as she pulls them out, and prepares to cuff the practice assassin. "That's a tricky situation." she says back to Staren. "On the one hand, he or she is getting away with murder without any sort of justice. But, on the other, if they really regret that life or were coerced or something..."
Majima Goro	It takes a second, but Majima does manage to slowly raise to his feet. He brushes his hair with a gloved hand. "..Heh! Stun guns! Ya never get used to that crap!" He grins again, before looking up at Staren, and down at Lory. "...eh, alright. Runnin away aint a bad plan," He says. But, y'know, he did bring something for this occasion. He reaches behind his back, and grabs at nothing, but--he's got a fish. A fully fledged marlin. Bright blue. And, like most marlins of its size, it has a clear, visible cannon lodged in its mouth, which he hefts. "Arright, I ain't such a good shot, what with the one eye, Staren-sama, but if ya wanna play target practice, I'll play! Nehehehe!" Yes, he's aiming a fish rocket launcher up at Staren. At least the first shot's liable to go too high.
Staren	"They were coerced. Genuine regret is harder to measure, but I've been keeping tabs on her. If she's secretly doing evil, she'll probably get caught eventually. It's always a risk, but I'm not stupid either." Staren explains. "Yeah, running away... I mean, at this point I could try to--" Is... that a fish? The first rocket goes over his head. "Woah! Dude, watch it! We DON'T want to damage the buildings here!" As Staren speaks, he's swapped weapons again. He flies over Majima, now firing bursts of taser gel bullets and riot foam micromissiles. Such small missiles generally can't incapacitate someone in one shot, but a glob of the quick-hardening foam could hit a joint on a lucky shot... or a face, or gum up a weapon if he's really lucky. The gathered adventurers look a little more wary, hands going to holsters and hilts. Some people pull out phones and record.
Lory Thumper	Lory's thought process is much like Staren's. In fact, she even says, "I-...is that a fish?" Her eyes widen as she realizes it is also a rocket launcher. "Hey! You can't use that in the city!!" she exclaims. When that rocket goes too high, she switches one of her guns back to lethal mode and takes aim. She fires a few shots. Shots that should be just about impossible. But, the bunny is able to make those kinds of shots, and if successful she should cause the missile to explode above the city rather than coming back down somewhere and hurting innocent people. Then, she joins Staren in his incapacitation attempt. She throws out several palm-sized discs that explode around Majima, unleashing even more quick-hardening foam. "I know you are doing a job here but take it easy!"
Majima Goro	Lory's shots strike true on the flying missile. It kind of goes 'tink tink' as it strikes the rocket, which proceeds to fall right back down to the street... With a dull thud. It...it's not explosive. He didn't pack explosive rounds into the Marlin Cannon. "...Ya think I was gonna bring explosives to a--you guys are crazy, ya know that?" Still, now he has to run around like an idiot from gel bullets and foam, diving into an alleyway. He realizes, a moment later, that this gives the bunnygirl with the gun a direct line on him, which is absolutely an issue. So for now, he's going to have to bolt, and buy a moment to try to get the drop on one of them again. Aiyah. This gun crap is ridiculous, you know? In the meantime, he's forming a plan...
Staren	Everyone's eyes are on that rocket. Eventually, a man dressed like a WW1 pilot announces, "It's safe. No explosives." And the crowd relaxes. Some start moving on with their day. Staren, for his part, also decides to bolt, because that's a valid response to an assassination attempt. He flies back to the warpgate; He'll have to get his groceries some other way. Or eat 3D-printed food for another day.
Lory Thumper	The rocket...doesn't explode? Lory's ears lay back and she gets a rather deadpan expression at being called crazy by Majima of all people. When Majima takes off for the alley and Staren bolts for the warp gate, she blinks in surprise before training her weapons on Majima again. "Hey, he's gone. Does that mean exercise over, or should we have another hours long fight."
Majima Goro	... Majima rolls his eye, looking back at Lory. "...Nah. ...That ain't 'zactly how I 'spected this to end, was gonna let him knock my ass about a bit once he got back on the ground, but..." He smacks his lips. "Eh, that's fine. Now I gotta figger out what to do for the next time. Maybe do the zombie thing again.." He considers.. And then he looks at Lory. "....Ah. Nah, nah. I got a better idea. Thanks for the inspiration." He nods firmly, turning to leave.
Lory Thumper	Lory shrugs a bit and smirks lightly. "The best laid plans of mice and hens, as they say." she says before holstering her weapons. She looks a bit confused when Majima thanks her for inspiration. "What do you mean?" With Staren gone and the exercise over, Lory makes her way toward the warp gate as well. "See you next time. And...try to stay out of trouble?" she says, waving to Majima.