Scene #9276: Market Scuffle-1

Owner	Pose
Distortion Dets.	Tres Association Northwest's Spring Expo, Later In The Same Day: With a lot of business successfully out of the way, and Ezra's (sort-of) tour over, there's plenty of time afforded for checking through interesting stalls, checking off remaining shopping list items, or checking out for a rest on the numerous sitting areas afforded. Once enough time has passed that she won't have to bump into any Trideag business, Detective Moses makes a rendezvous with her assistant, keen on picking up the few bits and bobs the pair both need and can fit within their budget. One way or another, with business zeroing in on complete, Moses and the Watch acquaintances that heed her suggestions to accumulate in the expo's outdoor sitting areas, can find ample seating flanked by the mobile food stalls (selling Every type of food one can put on a skewer) that the convention provides to squeeze every second and Ahn out of visitors. The Detective 'Mm's and 'I see''s a lot of Ezra's eager explanation of what she missed- Berislav, once he too wanders into aggro range, gets waved over for chit-chatting- ambushed by "Chamomile, they interested you, Mister Berislav? I'm surprised Ezra didn't try and sell you on shops closer to her own interests," and Odette, she gets funny glares from the Detective at whatever amount of struggle the EMT has carrying her purchases from earlier. Idle chit-chat isn't really the Detective's favorite activity, but outside in this area, it seems she's allowed to smoke at her pipe without much complaint. Maybe that's why she's parked herself here. ----- At some point throughout all of this, Ezra, intrepid assistant that she is, has slipped off somewhere. That's somewhat to be expected- there's lots of stalls to see, and Ezra would be the first to tell anyone that she hasn't gotten through all she'd like to do. But as time goes on, Moses, sitting on her awning-shaded bench, grows visibly nervous. Numerous times, she's fiddled with a pager, of all things, to try and touch base. Finally, the pager dings- and Moses scowls. "That's not our code..." can be heard from her, mumbled through chewing on her pipe's mouthpiece. There's a small tremble to her hand. "Complete gibberish? No, she wouldn't forget. Something must be up." Moses clears her throat, and stands up, "Excuse me, did Ezra tell any of you where she was headed?" A worried tone from her is weird. "I should see to finding her- so if you have, tell me. Oh, she'll be the death of me, wandering off... she's foolish as any, but this isn't like her. I- Mmmm. Excuse me." As a matter of fact, Ezra didn't tell anyone where she's headed. Uh oh. But at least she stands out easily in a crowd- physically, and in her general appearance, so she can't be that hard to find, right?
Father Berislav	Chamomile, they interested you, Mister Berislav? "And Allas, too," he says, taking a seat after a good bit of walking around. "There will likely come a time in the next few years when there's a need for a lot of simple, dependable easy-to-use equipment." He pauses, then elaborates, somewhat, looking out over the pavillion with a meat and veggie skewer in hand. The two goobers who have snuck out, who have gotten caught and who he's taken under his supervision also have food, courtesy of him, whether it's skewers, the little sword waffles from before or whatever else they might have cajoled him into getting. "People who profit from certain states of affairs have an interest in maintaining those states of affairs, and, of course, people who don't have an interest in changing them." --- Excuse me, did Ezra tell any of you where she was headed? "I'm sorry, Detective, but if she did, I don't remember. I was preoccupied with making arrangements, and then with Chance and Gamble." "But if you're worried, we can look for her. Right?" he says, gently prompting Chance and Gamble to come with him. "If we split off into groups, we can cover more ground, and each other, just in case something untoward happened." That's a subtle hint for the kids not to wander off.
Rena	Rena hasn't actually met Moses before but showed up with the Watch gathering. She introduced herself as "Rena. Bounty hunter. This's Pochi." And, perhaps more reassuringly, she actually had one of the symbols the Watch used; an eclipsed moon, which she'd had on a small token hidden in the wrappings of her arm guard that she'd slid out into her palm, for a moment. She's an ally! Promise! Rena had ended up buying only one thing: a combat knife of a better grade than the one she was using. Her favourite one was lost a while ago and the one she'd picked up to replace it wasn't exactly top quality, though it got the job done. This one is a lot better-balanced for her tastes and also was guaranteed to hold an edge better, though Rena takes advertising of that sort with a grain of salt. Well, no. She bought some other things too, if you count food. She bought two skewers of meat, potato, and vegetables. Pochi is getting about half the meat and is pretty happy about that. Rena is keeping all the vegetables (and potato) and it seems to meet with her approval. She hasn't had green pepper before. It also helps her destress a little bit, because by Rena standards this place was crowded. She was happy to be here, but she'll be happy when the day's done, too. There's a reason she spends a lot of time out in the wilderness hunting bandits and monsters. Of course, you can't leave without Ezra... "She was looking at weapons before," Rena volunteers, which perhaps isn't the most useful bit of information given Moses almost certainly knows what Ezra likes to look at. "She didn't mention, but maybe she went back to see one of the ones we didn't stop at. She was going to look for signatures, but I think she got the one she was aiming at. Nester Workshop." A momentary pause. "Want me to look? Pochi can help. Especially if you've got anything of hers, I don't think he knows her well yet." Pochi, on hearing his name, perks up.
Odette Raskins	To her credit, Odette didn't... Okay, she made a lot of purchases today. The fact that she packed light for the expo isn't really visible anymore with how packed her duffel bag looks now, looking about as bulky and full as it usually does. Being able to buy some of the Fanar Workshop's fancy bandages and high-tech tools with her Fixer commission certainly helped influence her purchases, but she's going to have be a little more frugal for the next few weeks. Her wallet needs to recovers from buying THAT much extra stuff, an extra carrying case from Stigma Workshop to hold it all, and doing so on her own dime. No wonder Moses is giving her funny looks. She's walking somewhat oddly with her usual bag on one side and the smaller case on the other, but Odette still looks pretty happy overall. Not only does she have new gear, but she even has two new people to share food stories with! Ezra just so happens to disappear while Odette's making her wallet cry even more, too easily tempted into trying even more skewered foodstuffs that look interesting even if they might not actually be tasty. Returning to where Moses is fiddling with her pager, Odette also starts looking a little anxious as she hears the detective's own worried tone. "No, I thought she was still here. I picked up an extra thing of... Um. I forget which workshops's mascot skewers, too..." She looks at the skewers in her hand, both of them lined with uniformly confusing fried shapes that smell vaguely of meat and fruit. Luckily, she's got a little paper bag to keep them safe in, and she tucks that into her pocket before nodding at Berislav. "Don't worry, Miss Moses. I'm sure we'll find her." She tries to reassure the Detective, then glances around a few times to scope out the area for good vantage points. There's all those stands around, but surely one of them must be taller than the others, right? That's where Odette's going to start climbing, so she can get a higher view and try to pick out where Ezra is from a distance.
Angela	So. Jack of the Yurodiviye had come to the expo looking to gear up members of the Yurodiviye. Typically, the Yurodiviye prefer gear that is utilitarian and can be used for more than just battle (because that way they can say it's for that non-violent thing if someone gets suspicious at them) but it's also just a way to make the most of their money, that means at events like this, they usually are milling around the Workshops that build tools used by Workshops. Giant wrenches, impact hammers, those sorts of things. Sonya couldn't come today but he had sent Jack and because Chance and Gamble really wanted to check out the Expo--a relatively safe place!-- they were sent along with Jack acting as a babysitter even as he was supposed to go around and obtain some gear for the Syndicate. Unfortunately Chance and Gamble slipped away at the earliest opportunity to INVESTIGATE so they could find more MATERIAL for their newsletter! Fortunately, Berislav was able to wrangle them back with stall food (presently spicy fried chicken skewers). It seems that these journalist shave a price and the price is cheap stall food. ''I should see to finding her--'' "A scoop..." Chance whispers before gulping down the rest of the chicken and tossing the stick away carelessly so he can get his hands on his notepad. "The Five W's... Why do they want Ezra, Who is on her case, When did she go missing, What is their deal, and Where is she...?" He snaps the notepad closed. "Well she's real tall so if we find her, maybe the other questions..." He dramatically pushes the cap up on his head. "...Will reveal themselves...! Let's go Gamble!" "'Kaay." Gamble adds, taking her time. "You're gonna choke if you keep doing that one day and then you're gonna die and I'm gonna have to tell everybody food killed my brother." "Nuh uh no way!" It seems that Berislav doesn't have to work too hard to get Chance and Gamble to follow along beside him. They're invested so they won't wander off either. For now.
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki is now the proud owner of Knives. Kitchen knives, but they're really damn good kitchen knives. Even color-coded for both her and Miku, they'll be certain to be a fine gift to bring back. And a useful one, too! Today has been a pretty big success, she thinks... even with some unexpected clashing between the 'tour leaders'. By the time Moses eventually joins in, she takes it in stride, enjoying more sightseeing than she's gotten to do in a while. It's not as if she usually visits the City for this. ... "What? Ezra is gone...?" When Moses asks, concerned, Hibiki immediately /also/ gets concerned. They've settled into a relaxed enough vibe - when business isn't on the menu - that she hadn't actually noticed right away, but now Ezra's absence and lack of constant chattering is extremely apparent. Making sure her newly bought acqisitions are well secured in her pack, she shakes her head quickly. "...We'll help find her. Don't worry. It's not like she's hard to miss." On that note, she slides free of the crowd herself to try and get a general look at everybody nearby, before anything else. She should be standing head and shoulders above most, and also, be audible well above any normal background noise... where...?
Liza Grier	'Nuh uh no way!' "Nah. I saw it happen one time." says Liza to Chance, in the steely deadpan that comes to her slightly more easily than 'conversational'. Watching Moses nervously fiddle with the pager with slightly unnerving focus, she adds "Was actually my target too. I just walked out of there." as if to clarify, or like it's a joke. With no reply from Ezra forthcoming, she stands up, puts her hands in her pockets, and says with a back-stretching sound, "It was kind of embarrassing." Motivating herself to a casual saunter, it's indistinct whether Liza doesn't really believe Ezra can be in much trouble, or is simply planning to blent into the crowd. She doesn't give a lot of hints, saying only "Well, she was right. The waffle was kind of shit." at first, until the group that plans to go exploring has more or less assembled itself. "Given, actually everything about her, it's not like someone would disappear her without a sound. It's a crowded event, too." Being a crowded event makes most of her ways of finding people borderline useless, though, much to Liza's mild irritation. She doesn't need any of her gear to tell that everything will be one giant thermal smear and five trillion esoteric energy signatures if she tried. Right now, picking a direction and just Going, asking people if they've seen a completely gigantic blonde with a head like a cloud as she goes, is her best bet. "You see the Detective's hands?" she radios Berislav, only once they're somewhat apart.
Distortion Dets.	'But if you're worried, we can look for her. Right?' Moses nods. Realistically, should she be worried? It's unclear- Ezra is quite a competent, in pretty much any regard. Is Moses worried? Absolutely. "If you would, yes. I'll follow along with you, Mister Berislav." And the kids, as well, given that they're with him, but Moses doesn't much acknowledge either yet. Anxious chewing on her pipe is quite the different set of mannerisms than he'd have seen before, and it'd be easy to guess she's chosen him to tag along because he's somewhat more familiar than the others here. 'The Five W's...' Moses swats the base of her pipe against a nearby object, irritated. "I can't imagine it's anything like that. No, no, she's probably lost, or something hit against her pager. 'They'? 'Who's on her case?'" It doesn't sound like she believes something Isn't up, though. 'You're gonna choke if you keep doing that one day and then you're gonna die and I'm gonna have to tell everybody food killed my brother.' "She's correct. Mind your manners." Moses can't avoid taking that half-scolding instructive tone towards the Kids, it's cooked into her nature, and unfortunately, she's also Grouchy right now. 'She was looking at weapons before,' Not only is that not particularly helpful knowing Ezra's tastes, the entire venue is first and foremost hosting a Weapons Exposition. Moses glares- "I don't find you funny. As for items of hers, I have..." The older woman wrinkles up her nose. Extracting a bit of wrinkled wax paper, "A food wrapper? That can't do for your hound, I'd assume... she'd discarded it on the table. It's trash." Frankly, anything in Moses' possession likely smells too much like tobacco to be of any use to any tracking dog, but it's offered anyways. 'I picked up an extra thing of... Um.' "If luck is on your side, maybe that will lure her here," Moses mumbles- again, uncharacteristic. Is she cracking a joke? Moses bites her thumbnail, jaw tight, staring somewhat past Odette. 'Given, actually everything about her, it's not like someone would disappear her without a sound.' "No, most definitely not. She's loud. And yet," Moses trails off, distractedly catching back up with the people she's following. <Tac-Watch> 4 Father Berislav says, "Detective, you mentioned earlier that you were surprised Ezra didn't try to turn me towards her favorites. Which would those be?" <Tac-Watch> 4 Distortion Dets. \| Moses exhales. "Whatever has the highest price tag, usually. No, maybe..." <Tac-Watch> 4 Distortion Dets. \| Moses says, "There's a smaller artisan..." Unfortunately, in Berislav, the Kids, and Moses' searching, no roster of venders mentions that workshop- and the luxury pavilion is sans one blonde sidekick. Hibiki should spot Ezra if she were around- she really is that distinctive, but she Truly Doesn't Appear To Be Around. Nor does her voice ring out anywhere. Bright, goofy, that's the kind of tone that should pierce right through the mass of Suited Guys Shopping, by any right! Odette gets So Many Looks, trying to scramble up to the flimsy tops of the stalls- nobody really stops her? Everyone is eager to assume it's someone else's business to say something, most of the onlookers are visitors, after all. One of the outdoor stalls is tall enough to actually give her a pretty good view over the other outdoor grounds, but nothing within the big warehouses the main stalls all occupy. That's enough to spot something really curious, however- a decent ways away, a large section of the chain-link fence that surrounds the area is missing, in the least-trafficked corner of the zone. Dropped conspicuously near there, is Ezra's hard-sided carry case, gleaming slightly in the late-afternoon sun. Uh oh.
Rena	Rena wasn't deliberately trying to make a joke, but, well. It was what Ezra was here for. Personal weapons, as best as Rena could tell. (As opposed to, say, Lilian, who was there for bulk purchases but not for something special for herself, or Hibiki, who wanted kitchen knives.) Rena takes the wax paper, but she apparently isn't holding out much hope. When she offers it to Pochi he sniffs it obediently, looks around a little, and focuses on Moses... it really is the smoke he smells, and not much else. "It's not going to work," Rena agrees. "Which means it's up to walking to find her." Fortunately, despite Rena's discomfort with crowds she can put that aside for a while; walking out into the place, checking here and there, asking a few people. She's good at descriptions and she's good at working through people who are actually helpful versus people who just want her to go away and will tell her anything to do that. If Odette points out the carry case, Rena will have Pochi check that, though. That's a lot more likely to provide some sort of useful scent!
Distortion Dets.	Moses insists to check out the area as soon as Odette's finding gets announced- the tone she takes might make Berislav feel as if she'd grab him by the ear and pull him along to investigate if he didn't follow. Crowds part in front of her, the short woman staring absolute daggers at anyone in her way. Nothing dangerous appears from the woodworks when people approach the case, even if an ambush would be convenient for answering questions, but a string of alleyways extend just beyond the missing fence, out into thin industrial streets, lined by ominous warehouse buildings. Liza's thermals are far more useful here- the nearby warehouses don't have walls thick enough to obscure whether anyone lurks within, and for the most part, no one does. However, a decent way down the narrow alleys, there is a strange, muffled thermal smudge, a loose crowd of people perhaps? The clang of metal rings out if one were to approach, and the closer one gets, it's possible to confirm that yes, amongst that smudge is Ezra- her tone audible, but whatever she's saying is too muffled to make out easily. Moses can't help but call out, "Ezra! You're fighting-?" "Mmph!" Another Clang. Moses takes off, sprinting, far ahead- and yet stops not much further ahead. Catching up to the Detective quickly reveals why. Ezra, Fixer Grade Three, Big Ole Badass, Diligent Sidekick of the Distortion Detective herself, is under attack by a swarm of teddy bears. A cluster of ruffians cut the alley off behind her, but a half dozen person-sized red teddy bears are wrestling Ezra to a standstill, surrounded by tiny ones bonking at her like she's a boss monster. "Detective- Mmph---shit! You should've stayed put, they-" Whatever Ezra would say next is muffled by a (albeit fuzzy) jaw punch. The few bears that Ezra isn't occupying turn towards the newcomers, and charge- along with, far more hesitant, the armed goons behind them.
Distortion Dets.	Liza's thermals, additionally, give her early warning on the fact that near this scuffle, are the signatures of a bunch more people clustering behind and within the warehouse doorways.
Angela	Chance frowns because 'Ezra bonked her pager' is the least interesting option it could be. He is also frowning because Liza Grier AND Moses AND his sister is telling him to mind his manners and that he can die if doesn't eat at a reasonable pace--even when a CASE is on the line. And a case is on the line, he's sure of it! ... Even if it's a completely plausible theory that it's just a bonk. Then he feels a little guilty because wanting a teammate to be in danger because it makes a better story is a little messed up. But then he assures himself that it's Ezra so she can probably handle it just fine. Then he feels bad again because what if he's wrong and it haunts him for the rest of his days. "W-well... If you're both saying it I'll be more careful and only eat two chicken bits at once instead of three." He says like it's a great big compromise. IS it a joke? He doesn't know. Whuh!! Needless to say, he and Random follow along the group, if at a distance. Learning that Ezra lost her case makes Chance really worried. Maybe there's things more important than THE case. Like friendship. Like teammates. With every moment, Chance's anxiety grows, fearing that he made a terrible mistake by wishing for something exciting when he could have wished for something safe. Ezra seemed really nice, he'd hate for something terrible to have happened to her. And something must have, right? And as everybody passes through alleyways and across warehouses--Moses sprints ahead and the kids follow along (again, some distance behind) only to find... Armed goons! But even more relevant, an army of giant teddy bears? Nevermind, Chance thinks, journalism is wonderful and he should be thrilled to see this sort of weird nonsense at every opportunity. "Woah... are those bears??" "S..so many Kkomis..." Gamble says, eyes sparkling with wonder in her heart. "W.wait but... Kkomi's a good bear... Kkomi wouldn't do this...!" "Maybe someone is trying to ruin Kkomi's good name." Chance adds grimly.
Father Berislav	"Well, it would seem like Ezra's favorite workshop is a dead end," Berislav says to Chance and Gamble. "So, where should we start next?" He is a little worried, but he's putting on his most bright exterior for the benefit of the kids, to make this a fun activity for them instead of a mildly stressful search. "What about Allas? They came with a personal recommendation from her. Maybe she stopped by to check out the latest?" You see the Detective's hands? "I did, yes," says Berislav, letting Chance and Gamble lead so that he can both keep them engaged and keep them in his field of vision. "That's why I'm hoping we'll find her quickly." In the short time he's known her, he hasn't known Moses to display that kind of anxiety. "Ah," he says, taking his hand off of his ear, speaking up so the kids will hear. "Odette found something. Let's not keep Moses waiting, shall we?" The priest gently ushers them both back towards the group proper. At some point down the alleyways, Berislav softly ushers them with his palms, as much to comfort himself by keeping them close-by as it is to comfort them. In sight of the bears, his gentle guidance turns to a firm stop. He kneels, and turns them around, so that they're looking him in the eyes. "I can't make you go back to the Faded Print. Please, please, don't make me have to patch you up. Do you understand? Tell me you do." Only then does he let them go. "If you have to report on this, stay where I can see you and where they can't reach you." He musses their hair, then stands up. "And if they try to get you, run and don't stop running until you find Jack." He rises to his feet, dusts off his khakis and enters into the alleyway. Compared to the charge from the bears, his approach is confident and measured. As the first one crosses within distance--a lot of padding, and, so far, a preference for punching--Berislav steps into their dominant hand, encouraging a blow to the jaw like Ezra took, brings his arm out from the side to the center, fingers outstretched, catching the attack with the other arm after his sweeping motion stripped its momentum. His outstretched fingers form a fist immediately after, and that fist crashes in an explosive counter into where he supposes the jaw to be. In the same fluid motion, as his rear leg catches up to his stride, he strikes out with it, aiming for the knee with a straight kick, planting his leg after, stepping forward and circling around with the other to bring it sweeping upwards and sideways into the solar plexus. Doing so also puts Chase and Gamble in his field of vision, which is more important to him than keeping the other onrushing bears and their hooligan friends in it. "Who are you? Want do you want with her?"
Odette Raskins	EARLIER "The waffle was kind of shit." "Right?! It's amazing how a waffle could turn out so bad..." Odette sounds way too amused by that. She still made it a point to finish the one she bought earlier. NOW "If luck is on your side, maybe that will lure her here," "Hehe... Maybe! For all we know, maybe a dog just stole her phone or something." Odette comments, still trying tor eassure Moses even while scrambling on the stalls and swinging her legs up to get onto stable ground/top. After a bit of doing, she spots the case near that chain-link fence, and she fumbles with her headset briefly before reporting back in. "I.. I think I see her case." She squints, slowly making out that familiar case and taking a moment to confirm it's the same one by sight before nodding slowly. "The big one, with the tags and everything? Near a fence. Seven o'.." Another pause, as Odette looks up at the sky. "Wait. North is...?" She remembers hearing that north is at zero degrees, so seven'o clock would be seventy degrees? That doesn't sound right. She grumbles and messes with her hair in frustration, then just points towards the case and the missing fence section. "Geh. That way!" After calling out the location to her companions, Odette promptly drops off the stall, then offers the stall owner a quick "Sorry!" before starting to run off towards that same fence. She takes full advantage of the path Moses clears by virtue being scarier than everyone else in the way. She struggles a bit to keep up at first thanks to being unbalanced with bags on each side, but she soon settles into a comfortably quick jog by the time Moses starts sprinting. As Odette sees the swarm of bears and ruffians, she slows down a bit and braces herself against a wall to not topple over before even finishing the whole run down the alley. "Miss Ezra! Who are... Bears?" They're teddy bears. Odette wants to aww at them, but she already knows better than to underestimate something that could stop Ezra here for so long. Instead, she just goes 'aww' under her breath quietly to get it out of her system, then goes 'AAAAH' when the bears start rushing at the group. With her bags still on, Odette gets piled on pretty easily, and only manages to slip out after thrashing around using her bag and carrying case like flails until she can get some breathing space. "L-let go! Get... Back! Who...?" Sounding and looking more frazzled than actually injured, Odette finally manages to slip a hand into her bag to retrieve one of her purchases from the Fanar Workshop: A medical injection gun! She loads it with several syringes filled with a mystery fluid (tranquilizers), then slips underneath another bear's swing and rams into it with her shoulder before shoving the injection gun against a leg and firing the first of those syringes in at point-blank range. "L-let's just settle down and talk this over, okay? We can still sort this out without anyone else getting hurt!"
Hibiki Tachibana	No Ezra here-- but Ezra /there/, with Odette's callout eliciting further surprise. For the simple reason of, "There's no way Ezra would leave her weapon case just sitting around here unless something happened...!" Which is true. She actually can't imagine it being anything than encountering trouble. It's down the alleyways she sprints with the rest, and that much faster when they barely pick up Ezra's voice. "Ezra! Ezra--! Hold on, we're coming! Just hang on!" She didn't know Moses could move so quickly. But working to keep up, she skids to a stop next to her-- "...Huh...?" Teddy bears? They're not even the gigantic, abused teddy bear that Lobotomy Corp kept. They're just, admittedly still large by virtue of being person-sized, teddy bears... and smaller companions. Actual teddy bears? Huh? Huh? By the time she's still processing this, they're already running them down. "Kkomi!? Wait, isn't that a mascot or something here!? --J-Just stay back, you two!" Hibiki calls back to Chance and Gamble, stepping forward with fists raised to meet their assailants halfway. She's not transformed right now - but that doesn't mean her actual skills go anywhere, just the obscene amounts of physical attributes, leaving her still plenty capable of bracing up against an incoming extra-fuzzy punch with the back of one forearm, then knock it aside and duck low and around to sweep low with a snap kick meant to sent them tumbling over. And let her briefly turn her attention to one of the thugs right behind them. "And why the heck do /you guys/ look like you don't want to be here either!?" Said while very much intending to slip past his guard and attempt to floor him with a rising, teeth-cracking uppercut to the chin.
Rena	At least having Moses around means that Pochi can follow a trail without people getting in the way. Not that Rena wouldn't have pushed her way through if she had to, but she doesn't have quite the intimidation factor Moses does, especially here. Her reputation hasn't exactly carried over! She hurries up at the sounds of violence, then slows for just a moment. "Pochi, guard," she directs, pointing him toward Chance and Gamble. He barks; rather than following Rena in, he falls back slightly, ears perked with alertness. Nobody will get past him! At least, not without being noticed. Plus, it means Rena probably doesn't have to worry about him quite as much, either... he's not exactly heavily armed right now, by her standards. Nor is she. She has two guns and two knives, and only has the second knife because she just bought it. Which is fine - it's the way she's used to fighting, but she does wish she had some kind of heavier weapon for backup against the... ...teddy bears? Perhaps surprisingly, this is not the first time that Rena has fought aggressive toys. Even militarized toys. Her eyes widen in slight surprise but that's as far as it goes. She shifts her gaze between targets, seeing Ezra back there, and makes up her mind quickly. With a smooth movement, she draws her pistol - the actual revolver, not the weird sonic gun - and fires it at the bears menacing Ezra, three shots - one two three, all at different targets, the third of which is aimed at one of the bears advancing on her to stop it before it gets to her... hopefully. Even in a confused situation like this, Rena's aim is sufficient that she's not going to hit Ezra by mistake, the bullets aimed to skim past her even if they miss. Then she points the revolver at the thugs behind them, even as they hesitantly advance. She can provide the threat. Someone who actually knows what the heck is going on in this City can provide the questions. "Step away from her and freeze," she says, sharply. "You only get one warning."
Liza Grier	The group is barely into the alley before Liza puts her hand up. Without the same drilling as her, that doesn't really mean much except 'the lady with the slightly menacing goggles just held up'. The couple of casual signals might at least make sense to Berislav, possibly, as 'right and left' amidst the rest. She stops just shy of the warehouse doors to flip her goggles back, half-succeeding in scrunching her hair against her brow. The second visual scan is slightly more intentional than reflex. 'S..so many Kkomis...' 'Maybe someone is trying to ruin Kkomi's good name.' "Mascot? Cartoon?" Liza says, with grim serious, to the pair of kids talking about a teddy bear, as if it's critical tactical intel (it is a tiny bit). "Domestic droid? Workshop brand?" Ah. That's why it's relevant. Barely, albeit. Her wrist works its way into her hand as if twisting it were a nervous habit, but she's watching Berislav as she talks. It's only when he throws a fist instead of a slug that she makes a noise, says "'kay. Same page." and thumbs the button that spits fractured telecrystal onto the asphalt. Liza likes teddybears, but not so much that she'd hesitate under fire. There might not be anything she likes enough for that, actually. The weapon set she chooses is obvious by the glow and noise, activating the e-shield at the moment she swings it at an approaching kkoni, and the ruby red energy sword with the gass-hiss sound that precedes being hit with it like a spring lock knife pressed to the stomach. She steps back once while sweeping the blade at knee level, shifting her center of gravity back and forth as she tries to figure out how she wants to defend that low, then catches a leaping kkoni right before it hits her face with her arm over face, spinning and slamming it against the wall next to her with the weight of her arm and shoulder locked into it. The second backhop, followed by a partial turn behind her shield, is conservative. She's fighting without armour on, which means less than one might hope, but Liza is nothing if not crucially aware of her unzipped rain jacket and torn jeans in place of reassuring ballistic plate. And yet, still, the relative hesitance of the identifiably human attackers is something she takes as an invitation rather than a question. Leaning one way, then the other, feeling out the target of their charge, she hunkers down with her head behind the translucent screen of the shield, and counter charges into the first guy she can get, sharply ducking below his center of gravity at the last second to toss him over her back, then skewer him in at least one arm and leg with sharply practised motions while he's dazed from hitting the ground. "Tell someone to stay put once you can get yourself out of a mess of this level." Liza says to Ezra, trying to provoke a little more context. "Stay put if you can't handle it."
Distortion Dets.	"It's not what it looks like, Detective!" "Excuse me??" "All these guys, they're aftegrrrrrghn-!" Evidently, the teddy bears really hurt when they slug you! Whatever confusion made Moses falter fades quickly, though- this is a fight, and Ezra does seem swamped by having to deal with this many weird stuffed animals. Does she seem hurt? Not really- but the goons carry wicked looking weapons, spiked wrenches, evil hammers, characteristic Nefarious Thug types, and they seem eager to jump in swinging at whoever gives them an opportunity. With a crimson-stained exhale, the ornate pipe Moses holds is replaced with the smoky phantom of a single-edged sword, which the Detective quickly starts to use in order to disassemble one of the charging bears. The heavy, stubby arms of the teddy bears don't touch her, as she ducks and weaves in heels, moving circles around the mascot figure. As her cuts rip into fabric and cleave parts off, it becomes clear that these aren't some sort of robot inside, it's just stuffing. Also curiously, one of the thugs, keeping a bit of safe distance, holds up a camera, snapping a bright-flashed picture of the whole scene- quite illegal, and quite brazen, but it's also more or less illegal to try and gank someone in a back alley of a Nest, too, so the ruffians are probably on pretty thin ice already. Odette is also quick to find out that there just ... aren't people within the bears? They're, against all reasonable assumption, animated fluffy teddy bears. Her injection gun just kind of sticks in and sits there, with no skin, blood, organs, flesh, the usual things you'd Inject Into. Odette looks an easy mark- some of the goons do, actually, rush to attack her! There's a split second halfway through swinging where they almost pull back, as if expecting her to just run away- as if wanting her to just run away? But the strikes still come! A careful eye might spot one of the tiny teddies hunkering away, holding a matching pager to the one that Moses was fretting over before- source of the signal found, apparently? It must have gotten taken from Ezra.
Distortion Dets.	'And why the heck do /you guys/ look like you don't want to be here either!?' "Huh, you crazy? This freak broke my fucking arm with one hand, no way am I getting close when the bears can! She'll kill us, she will!" "Mrhph!!!" The goons also seem a bit avoidant of the bears? Are they not theirs? Still quite bogged down, Ezra's attempts to shoulder-check the bears away, or just pick them up, are stifled by the fact that there's so little solid she can impact. 'Tell someone to stay put once you can get yourself out of a mess of this level.' "But it's the-" The bears coordinate with an eerie synchronization to cover up Ezra's mouth- they really don't want her saying anything. More than them hurting her, more than them even trying to capture her, is Ezra bait? One of the bears is twisted, tossed, even, bowling over a couple thugs, but the only progress that's being made is from the Elites actually dispatching them. "Not your place," Hisses Moses, occupied still by the fighting, but apparently not too much so to glare for a moment at Liza, and how she talked towards Ezra. 'Step away from her and freeze,' 'L-let's just settle down and talk this over, okay?' The bears glare with beady eyes at Odette and Rena, and their embroidered little smiles, but don't say a word. Is that less creepy than if they did? The goons, however, do- there's a bunch of murmuring, but a few get shoved closer to the front of the Pack. Murmers of uncertain disagreement emerge. "Nah, nah, no fucking way, we're paid good for this, and we're probably in real bad trouble if we fuck it up. You don't want to even know." Paid for what, exactly? More photo flashes pop up from the gathered goon swarm. The goons are... clearly just Hired Guys With Weapons. Ranks break the second she flips one of them to the floor with a scream- but nobody actually runs, still hedging, still trying to keep ground. Though- with Moses cutting through big and small teddy bears, and with the ease Liza is rendering goons and bears unable to fight, the demeanor of the thugs shifts in the opposite way it should- a desperate resurgence of will to fight. Except, every one of them, their eyes fix on Moses. Including finally, the groups clustered within the warehouse. Liza won't be surprised by them- but it's another press of bodies, and scarily more aggressive than the first. With finally, finally, a spare chance to talk, Ezra shouts- "Detective! You shouldn't have come! They're trying to steal your pipe!"
Angela	Chance and Gamble don't stray far from Berislav. Chance had many fantastic guesses as to where Ezra went (she just vanished, she became invisible, we all imagined her and she existed through the power of Moses's belief like some kind of magical giant, ''we'' were actually figments of ''Ezra's'' imagination and when she woke up we got left behind. They seem more inclined to throw out these wild takes instead of just saying something much more plausible. ''Wait, isn't that a mascot or something?'' "Yeah! Kkomi is a famous mascot from around... I dunno... They got discontinued I think... but I used to have a Kkomi plush until it got stolen..." Gamble says. "It's...fine. I mean, mascots are ''kids stuff'', and I'm not a kid anymore." Gamble is definitely still a kid which means a dog is sent over to protect her. Rhyme immediately starts petting Pochi, distracted from the battle. Unfortunately Chance is no longer there to be guarded. Chance is brave AND a little bit stupid AND, unfortunately, sharp-eyed and that's the sort of combination in a sassy rapscallion of an urchin boy obsessed with THE TRUTH that leads them into getting into trouble. He HAS spotted that tiny teddy bear and he's already halfway on top of it when he says, "Hey! That belongs to the Detective...Kkrimey!" "Chance--don't--Ahh!" Random is interrupted when she sees a camera whereupon she immediately ducks down and tries to hide behind Pochi but Chance keeps running on, heedless, as he attempts to leap into the air and tackle that tiny teddy bear in the ground. Those big Kkomis--even Chance knows better than to try and pick a fight with one of those--but he can surely handle this small creature! "You w-won't escape ... bear!" Chance says, flailing his hand to try and grab the pager while using his body to try and pin the bear itself. ''They're trying to steal your pipe!'' "Don't you mean pager??" Chance shouts.
Odette Raskins	Odette's expecting the bear to fall over a few seconds following her impromptu injections. Even thick costumes have to have some amount of flesh underneath them, right? Except... The bear isn't falling over at all. She keeps her gaze focused on that same teddy bear for several seconds as it continues moving around just fine, and it soon dawns on her that these costumed attackers might actually just be costumes! It helps her in the sense that she doesn't have to worry about hurting them, but it also sucks because she doesn't have a reliable means of doing anything to them in return. To make matters worse, she keeps getting periodically blinded by the camera-flashes from the thug snapping pictures of everyone. "Hey, cut thatut! This isn't a show, and you could get hurt if you keep this up!" Although it probably sounds like one, that last part isn't intended by the medic to be a threat. She knows just how much damage everyone else here could do, and she's not confident that the thugs are fully aware of that. "I maen, I did just get those new medical supplies, so this might be a good cha-AAAH" If the goons were trying to freak Odette out by swinging at her, they're definitely succeeding if her stepping back rapidly is any indication. She does notice just something odd about their swings as she backs up, though, and she holds her ground momentarily while adjusting her hold on the injection gun again. "You're being paid fort his? Who paid you? I-if you answer quickly, you might still get out of this safely!" She vaguely threatens, bracing her new toy against her chest again like she's actually trying to return the threatening aura. "I can't promise how much I can fix if you don't start answering my friends, though... S-so give it up!" And then Ezra mentions Moses' pipe. "The cool one?" Odette blurts out as she looks over towards the detective, then to Ezra, then to the thugs all staring right at Moses. Not one to let a chance slip by, Odette breaks off from the middle of the group to try and get out of the thugs' direct line of sight. She shuffles around awkwardly while waiting for a good opportunity to get back in, and when she thinks she sees most of them looking elsewhere, she rushes in to make her move! Said move: bumping into the thugs with close-range jabs from the injection gun to try taking their legs out right from under them. She can't really afford to stay in place with those bears in the way, and trying to catch the weapon-swinging thugs while they're distracted is far better than coming from straight ahead when they're liable to bash her over the head with all those things.
Father Berislav	Nah, nah, no fucking way, we're paid good for this, and we're probably in real bad trouble if we fuck it up. You don't want to even know. "Then I guess you're in trouble," says Berislav, without turning to face the hired hand that said it. Doing that, would, after all, take Chance and Gamble out of his vision. "It's up to you how much, but 'none' isn't an option. Not with your choice of target." The distinctive click-whine of a camera narrows it down to two possibilities. "It isn't just the pipe. This is either information gathering or a smear campaign," he concludes. "Neither of which you're going to accomplish." His eyes scan through the alleyway. Chance is chasing after the tiny bears. He sighs sharply, then his silver eyes settle on Liza. "Liza, tilt your PDA or your head towards me just a moment? Thank you." As the reflective surface of either tilts towards him, he makes a lightning-fast twist draw and procures one of his huge revolvers from a subspace tear, aiming down the alleyway seemingly at the grille of a parked car. "That won't be the end of the world for you, though." Three triggerpulls, three deafening barks, three screaming richochets of hollow-point bullets off the old car. Deformed bullets smash into the lens and into either side of it, from lateral angles that seem to mercifully spare the life of the person looking through it. Two more form a protective helix around Chance after his landing. Berislav drops the gun, a tear opening beneath it as it falls back into where it came from. He turns before the barrel has cleared the mouth of the tear, lowers his profile, and launches himself like a bullet in a low tackle. Father is a spiritual title--but the way Berislav scoops Chance up from the fracas, one could be forgiven for thinking it's literal. Tucking the wayward rapscallion under one arm, he plants his foot down on the bear. "Thank you, for helping, Chance. I can see we're going to have an eventful working relationship." "Now," he says, in the same tone as somone returning from an eventful day running errands, hefting Chance to sit on his shoulder, "Names, please. If I have to find out using my people, I promise it'll be much worse for you than going back to your employers empty handed." "I can also promise you places to escape their notice, if you're willing to make some lifestyle adjustments."
Hibiki Tachibana	Huh, you crazy? This freak broke my fucking arm with one hand, no way am I getting close when the bears can! She'll kill us, she will! "I'm talking about with the bears!!" Hibiki sounds slightly aghast she even needs to emphasize that, especially when they don't seem super fond of the fluffy assailants themselves. "W-What's this supposed to even be about!?" Detective! You shouldn't have come! They're trying to steal your pipe! Huh. "What?" What? "Who the hell hired you to do that!? The-- same person who sicced these bears on us!?" Are they... did whoever did that send goons /and/ the bears? That's the only explanation as to why these guys are so uncomfortable with it. Wait, hold on. "Why would they want a pipe of all things, anyway!?" In the middle of the thugs getting their second wind, and bears still coming at them even amid many of them getting put out of the count, she's so confused yet simultaneously frustrated at this situation that she takes the nearest big bear and makes to judo throw it halfway back down the alley, into several incoming armed combatants. This really isn't where she was expecting today to go.
Rena	Pochi is a good dog - and one who's apparently had this job before. While he is ordinarily fine with being pet, right now he's more alert, less willing to sit around, and that means when Chance ducks out, he barks to draw someone's attention to him running off. Unfortunately then he's torn between staying with Gamble and Rhyme and chasing after Chance. Quantity wins out; he remains protecting the ones hiding behind him, barking up a storm so that Rena notices Chance going away from him. Pochi doesn't have a gun! He can't cover him! Rena, however, does have a gun, which she's using to cover the other Watch members' movements, taking a shot when she can. They're paid for this - no surprise there, though that they're taking pictures is a bit of a surprise. But... steal a pipe? Who'd want to do that? Though it does appear to be a special pipe - in Rena's experience most of them do not turn into swords. So she believes it. Hibiki asks the question she wants to, and might even recognize some of the names she gets in response (if she does), which is all to the positive. She fires a couple more times and then pauses to reload, which is about when Pochi starts barking. She drops the speedloader back in her pocket, says a foul word under her breath, and runs forward. She takes two steps, leaps, momentarily grabs onto the side of the alleyway and comes down, her brand-new knife in the hand that doesn't contain a pistol. She drives it at one of the teddy bears, takes a solid blow from another (aren't those things supposed to be made of fluff?? Rena thinks to herself, as it drives one squooshy hand into her face with enough force to stop her forward movement dead), twists around in a spinning slash, fires the gun once more at another bear, and then tries to stab downward to pin the one Chance is wrestling with while Berislav tries to scoop him up. "Stick with us, if you don't want to stick with Pochi," she says, spinning with a swirl of tattered red duster to fire again, emptying all six shots. She skims the bullets off the ground, shattering them into a low spray of fragments to seriously menace what remains of the little bears (and the shins of the bigger ones).
Liza Grier	Liza figures out that the bears are trying to keep Ezra quiet around the third time they leap at her face rather than the fifth. About one second later, she's fully verified that she still can't read minds, and doesn't know what Ezra could be trying to communicate. Her noise of irritation is mild enough to be easily lost in all the chaos. Her-- 'Not your place,' --Eyebrow goes up a little. It's hard to see, disappearing under her goggles. 'Nah, nah, no fucking way, we're paid good for this, and we're probably in real bad trouble if we fuck it up. You don't want to even know.' "Dumb fuck amateurs." Liza groans on autopilot, not quite under her breath once she has to buckle down and actually brace to absorb the bizarrely jarring impact of the teddybear attacks. "They always offer a fortune for jobs that are gonna kill you anyways." She turns a recoiling stumble into an alley wall into a rough and sloppy yet undeniably effective reversal with a blade through the middle. 'I can't promise how much I can fix if you don't start answering my friends, though... S-so give it up!' "Pick one to save. Ignore the rest." Liza says to Odette. Far from 'dry' or 'deadpan' or 'resolved', there's a careless kind of incidental menace to it. Like she's already made up her mind on something. She watches Berislav for the instant he has Chance, flicking down her goggles with a casual snap of her head to get just what he wants, and in the same motion-- Slapping on the chin-clip rebreather palmed into her hand. A sharp clink hits the ground between her feet, and skitter-rolls towards Moses, where a cloud of smoke that has nothing to do with her pipe erupts in the epicenter of where the thugs are converging. Technically fast-vapourizing foam, breathing it in is a step and a half below Liza's personal 'bioterror blend', and she is fully and entirely crazy enough to be expecting that Ezra and Moses will simply protect themselves from, intense nausea, partial blindness, and acute onset respiratory failure.
Distortion Dets.	Moses takes a defensive posture, the red blade she's holding twisting, and- with a gesture, where the blade once was is just a linear flash, bursting through a goon's leg with a sickening crunch. Another bloody-red exhale, and Moses, furious and reckless, once more has the sword in hand. That same technique is repeated a few times, leaving groaning enemies on the ground around her, but it's curious- with the smoky blade in hand, there isn't actually even any sign of her pipe that she'd been holding earlier. Shreds of bear-fabric and fluff pile up, and some of the downed thugs- they really don't look well off, how Moses leaves them. The bears seem supernatural, but Moses hasn't taken any interest in them at all- does that mean these aren't Distortions? Hopefully, or she's done a decent bit of murder today. Finally breaking free of where she'd been pinned at the wall, by the refocus on Moses, and the Elites themselves, Ezra bodily lifts up one of the Kkomis to use as a weapon, swinging the flailing bear around like a log. With how the hired thugs get plowed over, the weight of the giant bears is sympathetic-wincingly illustrated. "Guuegh, I thought these were cute, at first! Take 'em back, see how you like it!" Not the most intimidating battle banter. "My pipe? What could anyone even want with that?" Well, it seems to be doing somewhat magical tricks. While talking, angry, breathing hard, and all-together supremely irritable- Moses kicks at one of the already downed goons, for seemingly no other reason than because they were underfoot. "Who? Who wants it?" For the few times the thugs give her space, she twists to face a different one of them each time, repeating the demand, fearless as she is furious. As others of the Elites similarly do, there's a surprising amount of resistance to answering- there's some other present sense of threat keeping them in on this. The thugs keep nervously glancing towards the remaining bears. 'Why would they want a pipe of all things, anyway!?' Goons answer that from Hibiki much more willingly than from Moses- "She- she's always paying for info on impossible things like this, items that don't make sense. She wanted this one! Just look at that shit she's been doing! That's magic, if I've ever fucking seen it!" The thug backs up, scared, nearly apologetic Moses' way- "Look, I'm sorry, lady, I don't know you! It's all her idea!" Interestingly, the bears that get thrown far enough away (By the likes of Hibiki Tachibana, notable punchgirl, famed thrower of plush bears)... just don't return to the fight. If you stop looking at them, they slink off. Most get destroyed, at least- but it's kind of scary to see some escape, given how the thugs have been treating them as Overseers. As the hissing grenade stops near Moses, she's already lunging away, reflexes as quick as her movement. Not taking any chances whether Ezra noticed, too, Moses pulls her by the shoulder away and back- Ezra complies immediately, no hesitation despite not a word shared between the two of them. Neither have any sort of specific protection from an attack like that, but both are plenty smart enough to know that means they should stay the hell away. 'If I have to find out using my people, I promise it'll be much worse for you than going back to your employers empty handed.' With Liza's horror-gas deployed, words like that ring a whole lot more true. Coughing, clutching at eyes, the goons that can run, run. The ones on the ground just whither.
Distortion Dets.	Assuming Odette does pick her one to save, once Berslav applies any sort of pressure to them, the goon blabbers out, "Okay, okay! It's- YuRia, her and her horrible workshop, that's who the fuck! We're... oh, I'm so doomed, she'll know we failed, I'm screwed, aren't I..." "... Excuse me? Really? Of all the syndicates, or anything else..." Moses stops, releases whatever holds the smoke of her sword together, and returns it to her pipe. She needs her nicotine! "Hwuh-Really? You mean I got attacked by YuRia Atelier....'s mercenaries?" Ezra, a little nicked and bruised by... frankly well-deflected blows from anything that wasn't the bears, goes right back from combat-mode to excited-mode. The thug backs even further against the wall Berislav has him at. "Not the time, Ezra-" "But if could go and find her, get her to apologize, then mmmmaybe we could wring her arm into-" "She put a hit out on us. I want nothing to do with her, and if she's after me, why make it easy on her? 'Impossible things'? Please." In the middle of their bickering, there's a faint rustling noise, from atop an alley-side trash bin. One of the tiny bears, good at keeping out of sight, jumps at the frustrated Detective- and pulls the pipe from her mouth, mid-air, before immediately scampering away as fast as its stubby little teddy bear legs can take it- pretty damn fast, actually! -right down into a storm drain. "Detective-" ". . ." "Does this mean we can go visit her-" "Would one of you ask the idiot you captured where their employer is? Painfully, if you can?"
Odette Raskins	"Pick one to save. Ignore the rest." A chill runs through Odette's spine as she hears that, and just like with Moses and Ezra, she doesn't wait to actually see what Liza means by that warning. She just ducks down, throws the nearest downed goon over her shoulder, and books it as fast as her legs can take her. She doesn't leave the alley outright, but she's definitely giving that gas grenade plenty of room to spread way over there while dropping the goon off all the way over here. "Y-you're really lucky, you know that? Your friends over that might... Might really suffer for a while because of who all of you decided to take a job from." She scolds, trying to sound stern and soften that one up for Berislav's interrogation. She can't hold it for long while seeing all those less lucky goons coughing and withering at the gas, though, and she grimaces at the sight and sounds before long. "YuRia Atelier, huh...? Darn it. I might've seen that name once before, too. Someone good at mixing chems, doing this type of stuff..." The EMT groans lightly while slipping on a breathing mask of her own, then hooks it up to a small oxygen tank that gets hooked onto her belt. She doesn't head into the gas cloud right away, though, as she gets distracted by the tiny bear snatching Moses' pipe in the wind-down from that fight. "Ah... Um. O-on it." She answers that last request with a nod, although she isn't going to question that first goon. Berislav's already working on them, after all. Instead, Odette picks a second downed goon at random, carrying them to the opposite side of the alley and setting them down on a pile of abandoned bedding (or what she hopes is bedding). "Can you hear me?" She whispers in between treating them, relying on old-fashioned methods rather than busting out the fancy new stuff she'd rather save for people that didn't just try beating her up. "Who's your boss, and where are they?" It's very much an attempt to try and corroborate the group's leads. She still doesn't fully trust that either one of them might just be making things up to save their own skin, fater all, so she might as well try now!