[Day: Monday, June 18th. Time: 12:00 p.m.] (Wow, it's been June 18th for a long time.) ... [Day: Monday, June 20th. Time: 12:00 p.m.] ( The GM is just trying to avoid my birthday. ) [After a megamegareallybig fight at the first Emperor's tomb, you were too weak to follow Virgil through the portal to the happy land. Or maybe to hell. Maybe both, depending on who you ask. Anyhow, being unable to reopen the portal, you retreated to Shanghai to rest.] [Xu Ren came with you! Ain't it great? You're currently in the Interpol office in Shanghai, tired, injured, and probably not too happy.] [Session Start] * Shigeru is sitting at his desk, typing away. And, incidentally, doing his best to ignore everyone else in the room. * Chie eyes the bandages on her arm and sighs. She then looks over at Ren. "" * Maria sits in a chair, curled up on herself. She tries not to scratch at the bandages wrapped around her side. * Chomei sits, lying back in his chair. He winces when he moves, and... he's not letting an eye off of Chie and Ren. "Stupid bullets..." * Rei bursts into the office. "Guys. Guys! I just found out that I can do the second coolest thing ever after turning people's hair into frogs! Well, maybe third coolest thing. Lizards are kinda... hmm. Fourth? Let's see." * Lazar lays on the floor, muttering softly in Hebrew. He hasn't turned his illusion back on yet, and everyone can see the large gashes and holes all through his torso, arms, and legs. * Ren nods to Chie. "" * Maria looks up and blinks ar Rei. "Huh?" * Chie looks back at Ren. "" * Rei thinks. "Maybe fifth. No, sixth. Uh... oh! But anyway, it's really cool!" * Chie then looks over at Rei and blinks. "What?" Can you make this pain go away? 'Cause that'd be cool. I just need a vict- volunteer! A volunteer. * Chomei eyes Rei. "... right." * Rei beams. "" ...volunteer to do what? * Makoto looks up at Rei when the girl comes barging into the room. He spins his yo-yo once, but slowly, and lets the toy whirl in place at the end of its string. "What will I-- the volunteer be doing, cutie?" [About now Eoi and Peter come in.] * Chie is trying to keep her attention on both Rei and Ren. "" To help me show my really super cool new ability thing. And look, Maria just volunteered! Isn't that sweet of her? ...wait, I did? * Rei runs over to Maria. "Yeah, you did. Aren't you lucky?" ...all things considered, no, I'm not. * Lazar remains oblivious, laying on his back. * Makoto relaxes against the wall, since he's standing with his back to it. He tugs the yo-yo back up to his hand and grins at Rei and Maria. No, actually, you are. Now stop whining. You're not being a very good victim person. I meant volunteer. Yeah. * Peter walks in, followed by Eoi. He looks rather haggared. "" I'm telling you Prof, if you just chisled the stone into a Naginata shape, everything would work fine. * Shigeru glances over at Rei, amused. * Chie waves briefly at Eoi. "Yo, Eoi-sensei." * Maria sighs and stands. "Okay, okay. I'll be a good victim, then, as long as this doesn't involve stabbing." And mornin', prof. * Chomei pauses. "... Right. So, what are you gonna try on your vic- I mean volunteer, Rei?" I'm afraid I've been able to find no information about how to re-open the portal. * Chie turns back to Ren. "" * Rei pulls up Maria's shirt a bit (not *that* much, Makoto) and puts her hand, which glows faintly, over the bandages. * Lazar waves at the newcomers, then goes back to being all motionless and chanty and stuff. "" * Peter stares at Rei. "What on earth?" * Makoto turns his head again when Peter and Eoi show up. He doesn't really react to Peter's announcement about the portal, though he does belatedly remind Chie that it's not morning any more. Details, Makoto. Now shush so I can watch Rei. Right, right. [Maria's wounds close almost (but not quite!) all the way.] * Makoto looks at Rei and Maria again, just in time to see the effects of Rei's fancy new powers. * Chie blinks. Then blinks again. "Did you just heal her?" * Rei pulls away. "There? Better? See! Isn't that cool!" ...wow. Cool! ( "That's so cool!" ) * Rei beams. Her tail twitches happily. (You know it.) * Lazar stops chanting. "... nifty." * Chomei blinks. "That's... Wow. Nice." That... that's *awesome*! * Maria grins. "Yeah, that *is* almost as cool as turning hair inta frogs!" You gained the power to heal? When did this happen? I ain't no fancy supernatural professor guy, but I'm gonna bet when she got the tail. * Makoto smiles faintly, but for a wonder he doesn't really have anything to add to the general congratulations and queries. * Chomei leans back. "I... Is it because you're part Smorfy Rei?" Overnight! Well, pretty literally overnight, actually, or I would have used it before and saved myself a lot of bruises. You like the tail, don't you? * Rei shrugs. "I dunno." Love the tail. Can you do me, too? 'S a cool tail. ...hey, does hairdye work on it? Excellent question, Maria! * Rei clutches her tail. "Heeeey." * Maria grins as she thinks of the possibilities! "We could do it in stripes! It's look so cool!" * Chomei rolls his eyes. We should find out when we go back to Japan! So long as Rei agrees. Which it looks like she isn't. Darn. Nobody wants to let me play with their hair. * Makoto grins a crooked, doppelgangerish grin. * Chie mock-pouts. ... if possible, would appreciate healing. Stupid cursed sword cut through golem skin like stupid cursed sword through golem skin. You can play with Makoto's hair! * Chomei smirks. "Gee. I wonder why." * Rei runs to hide behind Makoto's hair. But Makoto can just change his back. It's no fun that way. * Makoto moves forward enough to give Rei some room to hide. If you color my hair, I promise I'll leave it that same color for a whole day... * Chie grins. "Really, now?" ( Eight years from now. ) ( Heh. ) Oh, yeah. Rei, can ya' heal a golem? Or... hm. Really. No matter what color. I don't know? I guess I could try. * Chie rubs her hands together. "I'm gonna hold you to that, you realize." Help Chie and Chomei first. Then see about golem. * Chomei glances at Makoto, but leans back again. "I think he just wants you to masage his head." (Is Chomei hurt, or is he just tired?) [Chomei is hurt, but it's minor] * Makoto rolls his eyes in Chomei's general direction. * Chie just laughs. * Ren poses whilst this is going on. Well, it's a little draining, healing people, you know. Kind of like giving blood. Though I really can't give blood anymore because it's toxic and yeah. * Chie nods. "Fair enough. Don't want you to knock yourself out fixing us. That'd be rather counterproductive." But then you could carry me around on a hammock! I never got a hammock. Why didn't you ever get me a hammock, Dad? * Maria nods. What's a hammock? * Shigeru keeps typing. "Because it was that or a trampoline, and your brothers wanted the trampoline." It's like a net you sleep in, Maria. Oh. Cool! * Makoto chuckles and gives his yo-yo another spin. * Chie turns back to Ren. "" * Rei stays behind Makoto. She puts her chin on his shoulder and watches the yo- yo. Up and down and up and down... * Lazar pulls himself up to a sitting position, with an obvious degree of difficulty. He idly pokes at one of the large gaps in his chest. "Wow, I really get ass kicked..." So... There's nothing we can do now? * Lazar grins slightly. "Good thing I golem, or this would really hurt bad." Not until we actually get a lead on that stone, no. * Makoto threads the yo-yo sring between a few of his fingers and tilts his hands. The yo-yo skitters across the floor a short distance and patters against Rei's shoe like a tiny puppy. We all did, man. But yeah, you look like... uh... y'know, that cheese with the holes? Swiss cheese, Maria. * Shigeru glances at Chomei, disproval plain in his voice, "You went and killed nearly everybody. That doesn't leave much for questioning." * Rei grins and tries to snatch the yo-yo. Right, right. ...what kinda' name is that, anyway? * Makoto gives his hands a slight twitch, so that the yo-yo bounces just out of Rei's reach. Uhm. Swiss like from Switzerland, Maria. The country. * Chie waits for an answer from Ren. * Ren stops in mid pose and looks at Chie. It's amazing how long he can stand on one foot. <"Well, one of Master Wei's students came by and asked me to join. He said I could have the legendary ax of Xu Huang after the job was finished. But the more I stuck around those guys, the more I didn't like what they were up to."> It's just a little hard when they're trying to kill you back, you know. * Rei bites her lip, then waits for the yo-yo to come near again. * Ren finally puts his other foot down. " I know. But actions have their consequences, don't they? "" * Maria blinks. "Swizzarwha? ...oh, uhm, right. The country." She blushes some. "" "" * Rei gets impatient and tries to snatch the yo-yo again. "" Is okay, Chomei. When being chopped to bits, is hard to pull punches. * Chie blinks. "" * Chomei looks down. "Yeah..." Hmm. "" ( Yes. There's also Mai Hat and Mai Sok. ) * Eoi is busy playing with a Rubix Cube. Where the hell did he get that? ( And Mai Tai! ) ( Oh goddess. Please, please tell me you're not bringing Tai Mai Shu into this. ;_; ) ( Yeah! ) ( Peace outside you know what I'm say! ) * Makoto allows Rei to catch the yo-yo, but since it's not the mechanized one it simply stops moving when she grabs it. "" Victory is mine! ( Tai Mai Shu? Ha! ) ( Blastin on dem! ) * Rei powerposes, but then is yanked down by the yo-yo string. "Oof." ( Tai Mai Shu is a real Hong Kong rapper. ) * Chomei looks up. "What are you talking about, anyways?" ( Well, as "real" as a Hong Kong rapper can get, anyway. :P ) * Makoto reaches around with his free hand and ruffles Rei's hair. "Silly." "" * Rei giggles. ( So, a real Hong Kong wannabe rapper? ) ( "And I'm going to rapping for you today, just a little bit of free stai-yoh!" ) "" * Ren nods. * Maria watches Eoi play with the Rubix cube over his shoulder. "" * Chomei looks at Chie, scratching his head. "Um, what are you talking about Chie?" * Chie blinks and looks over at Chomei. "Oh. Well, Ren here and I studied martial arts with the same guy, Master Wei." " And I wanted to find out how he got involved with Dimitri and company. * Makoto takes his yo-yo back from Rei and winds the string around the toy again, effectively 'resetting' it. * Chie turns back to Ren. "" * Chomei blinks. "Oh, um... Okay. What's he say about it?" * Lazar grunts, and tries to pull himself upright. It takes a few tries, and some really unpleasant stone-on-stone grating noises, but he manages to do it. * Rei just stays sprawled on the floor. "Wow. We have a ceiling in this office? How come I never noticed that before? I think there needs to be stickers up there. Maybe those glow in the dark Kirbies I saw in the store the other day would do the trick..." ... okay, that no fun. Nah. If you start putting stickers on there, you ruin all the good walking space. * Chie swivels back to Chomei, getting the feeling that she's watching a tennis match or something. "Some guy named Mai Shu, another student, asked him to join up and promised a legendary weapon. Which is not good. But Ren saw the light and now he's on our side. Or, at least, not on the other one." You're just weird, Maria. And he's gonna warn everyone else, too, so we don't end up having to fight an army of Master Wei's students. Which would be bad. And Master Wei probably wouldn't be too happy about it. * Maria pouts. "I am not." * Chomei chuckles. "Ah... I'd be careful around him anyways, ya know, but since you're always careful, I have nothing to worry about, right?" * Chie grins at him. "Exactly!" Rei, Maria, there's no need to bicker. We're all weird here. * Lazar starts to stretch, out of habit more than anything else. That ends quickly when a small chunk comes loose from his chest and rolls across the floor a bit. "... freaky." * Maria grins at Makoto. "Sez you." * Chomei grins back. He leans back again. He drones to no-one in particular. "Everyone is created weird. Only some are more weird than others." * Maria blinks at the chunk that rolls 'pon the floor. "...ow?" * Chie turns back to Ren. "" You people are very strange. * Makoto sticks his tongue out at Maria, then glances at Chomei before turning his attention to whatever Maria's looking at. Hey, cutie... you gonna try healing Lazar? Huh? Oh. Yeah, I guess. * Maria picks up the chunk and tries to fit it back into Lazar's chest. "Uhm. Here, lemme see if I can help. Or something." * Lazar eyes his torso. "Stay. No go anywhere. Bad torso." * Rei rolls onto her stomach and gets up, then walks over to Lazar. She hesitates for a moment, but her hands glow and she sets them on his chest. [Lazar is healed!... but not very well.] * Rei takes a moment to yawn. She blinks a couple times. "I guess it doesn't work too good on rocks." Poo. ( So the gaping gashes are now just Really Big Gashes? =P ) * Chomei looks over at Lazar still while leaning back. "Yeah... Maybe you should check on Chie too?" ( Yep ) Let's just hope that Chomei doesn't suffer any head wounds, then. * Shigeru keeps typing. That's it. From now on, Laz, you stay behind Makoto in a fight! You can just reach over him to hit people. He probably got a bunch of them when he was really little. Like his mom dropped a bowling ball on his head! * Chomei glares at Makoto. * Lazar eyes himself. "Well, at least I no longer falling apart. Feel bit less tired, too. Thank you, little one." *ruffles Rei's hair* * Rei gestures. "And then out came this biiig bruise. And that's what we call his hair. Oof. Not you too Rei... * Makoto grins cheekily right back at Chomei. * Chie looks over at the group in general and rolls her eyes, then turns back to Ren. (There has been a *lot* of eye-rolling going on tonight.) Huh. I didn't know bruises could be thay spikey. * Rei lets Lazar ruffle her hair, then wanders back to her sprawling place and sprawls. That's 'cause it's special. Bowling ball bruises are spiky. Ah ha. Are you sure about that, Rei? * Chomei shakes his head. "My parents never hit me with bowling balls..." ( I KNOW that leaves him wide open. ) Sure! How about Christmas ornaments, Chomei? I've heard some of them can leave the most interesting side effects... actually, I think I should conduct some experiments. All in the name of science, of course. * Maria giggles. * Chie looks over at the group. "Would you guys just lay off for a bit? You're giving me a headache." * Chomei rolls his eyes. "No, I didn't get hit in the head with Christmas ornaments either. Or any other objects..." Aha! And now Chie gets hit by the virtual bowling balls that are virtually there! She has virtually spiky hair. * Chie grins and runs her fingers through her hair, trying to spike it up a bit. "Ohh, the pain. And the agony." Haven't we had enough virtual anything for a while, this week? * Chomei shakes his head. * Lazar goes back to sitting down, reactivating his human illusion. "Looking at big holes getting bit depressing." * Makoto spins his yo-yo again. * Chie nods at Lazar, then turns back to Ren. "" "" * Maria looks confused. "" * Rei reaches over lazily and pokes for the yo-yo. ( No, but there was Luau! He was a real party guy. ) "" (*snerk*) "" * Maria fidgets, and then stands. "I'm goin' out fer some air. * Rei looks up, peering at Maria upside down. "Are you okay?" 'M fine. Really. Just need ta, y'know, stretch my legs. A lot. Okay. Well, if you're not okay, let me know. I have all sorts of cures for hiccups, and maybe they work for leg stretching, too! * Maria heads over to the door, and grins. "Will do!" * Chomei yawns. * Maria exits, stage up. * Chie watches Maria go, then turns back to Ren. "? * Makoto moves his hand so that the spinning yo-yo touches the end of Rei's nose and skips harmlessly away from her face, swinging back and forth a few centimeters away. "" * Rei yelps, her eyes going wide. She claps her hands over her face. * Chie nods at Ren, then whirls around. "Rei? What's wrong?" Yo-yo! Yo yo yeah? Yeah! I mean, no! I mean, yo-yo! * Chie then sees the yo-yo. "Oh." She grins. "Don't scare me like that." * Chie turns back to Ren. "" * Ren shakes his head. "" * Makoto smiles down at Rei and takes a care to keep his yo-yo far enough away not to threaten her personal space again. It likes you, cutie. "" * Rei eyes the yo-yo. "Are you sure it's not gonna eat me or something? Because I don't think I taste very good. Probably like cucumbers and ketchup." * Chomei makes a face when Rei mentions cucumbers. "" "" (The Tournament of Champions!) (The Tournament to determine... The King of Fighters!) "" (Or is it The World Martial Arts Tournament.) "" "" Hey, Chie! You could try for that. You'd kick butt! Cucumbers? No more cucumbers. "" * Chie turns to Rei and grins. "Yeah, bet I would." * Chomei snaps awake when Rei blurts that out. "Huh?" "" * Rei gives Chie a thumbs up which looks more like a thumbs sideways, then puts that hand back over her face. "" I'm sure it won't eat you, Rei, no matter what you taste like. It doesn't have a stomach. * Ren nods. I don't know. It could be a were-yo-yo. Yeah, but Kirby arguably doesn't have a stomach, either! He's a marshmallow with a mouth! And beedy eyes. ... were-yo-yo? That just silly. And feet. His feet are pretty cute, actually. Makoto, can you make Kirby feet? * Chomei chuckles. "Yeah, I know they don't really exist." * Chie looks over at Chomei. "Martial arts tournament for those trained under the Tsu school, which my style falls under. If we're not too busy savin' the world, I might try for it." * Chomei nods. "That might be interesting, but... yeah. We're a bit busy right now." Quite. ... there was story about yo-yo what posessed by evil spirit, whacked many people in head. It's not until August anyway. And Seki-kun'd probably throw fits if I took too much more time off. * Chie sighs. Still... it'd be fun. * Lazar shakes his head. "Very tragic story... well, no really so tragic." Kirby feet? * Makoto taps his chin thoughtfully with his free hand. * Chomei chuckles. "It sounds fun, but you don't need to go there just so you could humiliate everyone." He smirks at Chie. Kirby feet. That's something else I'd have to work on. Cool! * Chie grins back at Chomei. "You know it." * Chie winks. * Chomei winks back. "He say anything else?" * Chie turns back to Ren. "" * Chie looks back. "Oh... be with you in a sec, Chomei." * Ren nods. "" * Rei turns on her side and looks at Ren. "Hmm. He needs a mirror." * Chie scribbles something on a piece of paper and hands it to Ren. "" Mirror? * Ren nods. * Makoto arches his eyebrows, immediately curious. Why does he need a mirror? So he can watch himself pose. And then I can watch him watch himself pose. I think there should be a game where you pose. Pose Pose Revolution? "" * Chie grins. Pose Pose Revolution? That's not a bad idea. * Lazar does his best impersonation of The Thinker. "Like this?" * Lazar flips off his illusion to complete the effect. * Chomei looks over at Lazar. "Um, like that, just without the holes." "" ... does kind of ruin effect, yes. * Chie waves, then turns back to the others. "Hey, nice, Laz." * Makoto grins at Lazar. * Ren takes that as his queue to leave and... leaves. It still works, though. * Lazar stands up again, and palms his pendant, reactivating said illusion. * Chie lets out a breath. "Well. Good news is that I think I've convinced Ren to warn most of Master Wei's students away from the dark side. Bad news is that at least one of 'em is already there." Yeah. Yeah! Pose Pose Revolution! I'll write it up, then maybe do the beginning specs. Market it... man, there's my first couple million. Right there. Blech. That can't be good. Guy named Mai Shu. Don't suppose we could look for more info on him? Why don'tcha ask our resident psychic about him? If find, we just have to convince that he on wrong side. I can loom if needed. * Makoto nudges Rei with the spinning yo-yo. "Lend me some of your millions, would you? Just a couple hundred yen would be fine." Looming is good, yes. I don't know how much skill that guy has, but at the very least we should assume that he's as good as me. What am I being asked about now? * Rei eyes Makoto. "What're you gonna use them for?" Bah, nobody's as good as you Chie. * Chomei winks at Chie. * Peter sits here, being boring. Blah! He's probably reading or something. The weirdo! * Chie stands up and starts to walk over to Shigeru's desk... then stops when he asks. "Um, excuse me, Mr. Ueda, but are you busy right now?" * Shigeru looks up and chuckles at Chie. "I haven't been busy this entire time." * Makoto gives Rei a sly grin. "It's a secret to everybody." * Lazar lumbers over to Peter. "Hey, Peter... you have idea why I healing slower here in China than when I in Japan?" Yeah, well, I didn't want to interrupt or anything. Could you run a check on somebody? I think he's with those guys we fought yesterday. Even... you? * Rei points at Makoto's nose. * Shigeru nods. "Who?" * Chomei glances over at Rei. "Before you do that, though, don't you still have to make that Maria Cam so we're not left in the dark when she runs off somewhere?" His name is Mai Shu, and he's studied martial arts under Master Wang-Ling Wei. * Makoto crosses his eyes as he attempts to look at his own nose. "Well, maybe not me. So it's a secret to everybody but me?" Oh yeah. Oh yeah! Sure. I just need to grab the parts and things. I mean, I would have done it last night, but I was too busy being in pain. * Rei waggles her finger at Makoto. * Shigeru hmms and nods. He turns his attention back to the computer and starts typing. Thank you. * Chie looks back at Chomei and grins. "Thanks. But, y'know, it never hurts to keep tryin' and gettin' better." No problem. I was getting bored, anyway. No it doesn't. 2d6-7 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Shigeru (2d6-7) and gets 0. I'm not sure why exactly.. * Chomei glances over at Peter. "Most people get bored reading books, you know." * Lazar frowns. "Is odd. Normally, would have been fully healed before going into tomb. But was still injured." I can't imagine the Professor getting bored with a book. * Chomei pauses. "Maybe that's what's weird about him." Yeah, he could probably even be entertained reading the dictionary. * Shigeru frowns. He presses a few more keys. d12 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Brett (d12) and gets 7. This is interesting. What is it? Mai Shu, right? Yes, that's what Ren said. He was hired by Kanghua Enterprises seven months ago. They're located in Shanghai. * Makoto looks up at Shigeru, though a strange expression flickers across his face as he does so. Kanghua Enterprises? Let me guess, they're related to Asahara somehow. Good guess. They're a branch of Asahara, actually. * Chie sighs. "It's *always* Asahara, except when it's Kirby." * Rei winces. "Yeah, it is." So, what does he do? * Shigeru looks vaguely amused. "He's a trouble consultant." ... he beat people up? * Chie snerks. "Bet he causes more trouble than he fixes." Hey, it doesn't say if he fixes trouble. That's very true. Sounds like he's just one you 'consult' about it. Or he consults you about trouble, whether you want the consultation or not. There's a synonym here. It's on the tip of my tongue. What is it? What is it? Oh yes! Thug. Maybe he consults you when you're in trouble and then laughs and says, "Ha ha! You thought you were free of trouble, but I brought more!" and then he floods the room with kung fu turtles. I like kung fu turtles more. * Makoto chuckles at Rei. * Rei pouts. * Chie laughs. "I do, too." How about kung fu turtle thugs? King Fu... turtles? Ninja Turtles? Okay. I guess I could deign myself to compromise. * Shigeru grins and shakes his head. ... did no we already fight kung fu turtles? They were turtles, but they did *not* know kung fu. Yeah, can't wait to talk to Master Wei about this. Hey, Master Wei? I went to China, and I stabbed one of your old students and found out another one of them's a corporate thug. Is *that* why you left China? * Makoto snaps the yo-yo back to his hand and bows gracefully to Rei. "Thank you for your gracious compromise." How you know? We knock them out before they could try. * Rei salutes, since she's on the floor and can't really bow. ... that was first time I punched through door. Was fun. Good memory. * Rei muses. "I wonder if he wears a pinstripe suit." ... That, I don't want to know. * Chie laughs. "Oh, yeah. I can just see this guy charging in, sword drawn... then he stops to adjust his tie." * Makoto snickers. That would rock! And a fedora. A fedora with a tree sticking out. Tree fedora! Okay, I was with you right up until the tree part. * Chomei blinks. "... Right." The tree! In the hat! Makoto knows what I'm talking about. Right Makoto? That would be nice. While he adjust tie, I put in pretzel hold. * Shigeru sighs dramatically. "And my daughter loses it again." Right! I think. Possibly. I'll just smile and nod for this one. * Chie does so. Yeah, see! He shares my vision of a once and possible future involving tree hats. * Chomei just nods. Oh yes! Now I really do know! Somewhere along the line, I missed something, but that's okay. Not gonna worry about it. Is there anything else, Mr. Ueda? * Shigeru shakes his head. "Sadly, they've kept a clean act. I don't have anything else on them." * Chomei frowns. "Makes it hard to rightfully suspect them then, doesn't it?" That's the idea. * Chie sighs. "Drat. Was hoping there'd be something. Well, hopefully we won't be encountering him in person anytime soon." It Asahara. Need reason *not* to suspect. Tell that to the officials. [Session End]