Interlude in the Ballroom A Side Story by MokonaChiirushia and Hokuto Kuzuki *The scene opens in the lush, crowded ballroom of a luxury hotel. Two or three hundred well-dressed people mingle, aided by tables of hors d'ouevres and champagne served by tactful, silent waiters. The greater majority of the crowd is tied to the shady side of the law in some way, helping to explain the opulence. And among them...* Tetsuya: *dressed in a nicer, more formal version of his usual high- collared suit, stands around looking perfectly at ease* Tetsuya: *is, however, fingering his prayer beads* Joker: *is standing nearby, trying to look unobtrusive but mostly appearing nervous* Joker: *is not used to formal functions* Tetsuya: *aside* Stop fidgeting, "Joseph." Joker: Yeah. Sure. No problem, bo- uh, "Ueki-san." Tetsuya: 9.9 *Meanwhile, Kanoe is standing at the other end of the large room, in a stunning red Chinese sheath dress slit up both sides, with a gold, green, white and black dragon embroidered in a wraparound design. She's talking to a man of about Tetsuya's age, who seems to think she's an expensive hooker, and is offering a job, disguised in polite language, of course.* Kanoe: *spots one of her bounties* Oh, excuse me, Nakamo-san... *walks after the fat old guy who happens to be her bounty* Tetsuya: *casually mingling in the general direction of the fat old guy* Joker: *follows, still looking uncomfortable* Look, bo- Ueki-san, this just ain't my scene. Joker: Why'd you have to drag me along? Tetsuya: *calmly* Because anyone else would be even more obvious. Kanoe: *gets stuck behind a REALLY old guy in a wheelchair, curses under her breath as her bounty walks away* Irish Mobster: *making a fuss at the bar because it doesn't have some obscure Irish import beer* Mobster: *is, of course, a wanted person* Kanoe: *decides the bar is a good place to start, goes over and notices the mobster, gets a sly grin* Mobster: *gives Kanoe a cursory glance, goes back to arguing* Kanoe: *goes over to him* Hey, handsome. Mobster: *stops arguing instantly, gives her a good appreciative glance* Yeah, cutie? Tetsuya: *drifting through the crowd, ears open and mouth shut* Joker: *gets lost* @.@ Kanoe: I noticed your fine taste in drinks, and I had to talk to you. Mobster: *puffs up* An' it's a pleasure to meet ya, gorgeous. Kanoe: My name's Nikki, what's yours? Mobster: I'm Tam. Tam: *giving the bar a dirty look* This place ain't civilized enough for us - why don't we go someplace where we can get a real drink? Kanoe: *walks her fingers up his arm* I think that sounds like a good idea, Tam. Tam: ^___________________^ Tam: *takes her arm and tucks it into his, walks her out of the ballroom* Kanoe: ^__^ *is secretly counting to ten every five seconds* Joker: *wandering around, looking for Tetsuya* @.@!!! Joker: *sees the two leave* 0.0! Joker: *looks for Tetsuya harder, figuring that this is important* Tam: *blathers on about various beer-related things, like hops and malt and barrels* Kanoe: *agrees with him on all of it, has almost no clue* Tam: ^__________________^ *pleased to have found a woman with such good taste* Kanoe: *can't wait to lead him into a secluded somewhere* Joker: *finds Tetsuya standing near a group of Italians who are associated with the organization* Joker: Bo- Ueki-san! Tetsuya: *annoyed* What is it, Joseph? Joker: I just saw one of those bounty hunter chicks! Joker: Um - the one with the roses! Tetsuya: *startled* Kanoe-san? Tetsuya: *touches his pocket, wherein lies one of the rose's petals* Joker: Yeah, whoever. Anyway, I just saw her walk out with one of the Irish guys. Tetsuya: *thinks* Tam: *leads Kanoe to his apartment, where he has his private stash of the import beer* Tam: *just chatting away* Kanoe: *nodding and agreeing* Tam: *at his apartment, opens the door for her with a grand flourish* Tam: *with a really fake accent* Welcome to me 'umble abode. Kanoe: *smiles and walks in* Tam: *breaks out two bottles of beer* Kanoe: *smiles sweetly; as he has his back turned she brings out her knife* Tetsuya: *stays at the party and continues to listen, but not quite as intently as before* Joker: *follows him more closely, determined not to lose him again* Tam: *turning around* Well, beautiful, let's have us a drink to - Tam: 0.0! Kanoe: I think not. Kanoe: Were you aware you have a bounty on your head? Tam: WHAT?! Kanoe: *still smiling sweetly* Tam: *scared silly* Whatever it is, I'll pay double! Triple! Tam: Just - just put the knife away, and we can make a deal... Tam: *is backing away from her slowly* Kanoe: Are you one of Miles's enemies? *asking in a threatening voice, as if “yes” would be a very bad thing* Tam: Miles? Miles O'Hanessey? Kanoe: Yes. Tam: No! Of course not! We used to drink together all the time before he got busted! *begins to relax* Tam: Good buddy o' mine, was Miles... Kanoe: *with a flick of her wrist, the knife is buried up to its hilt in his chest* Oh, wrong answer... Tam: 0.0 Tam: *sinks down and dies, still looking stupidly astonished* Kanoe: *Carefully pulls her knife out, then goes to the sink and rinses it off. Takes out her datmarker, a little device kinda like a tattoo needle, and puts her personal bounty signature on the body, so there's no mistake as to who killed him. Then walks out of the apartment, heading back to the party.* Tetsuya: *still listening to the various conversations, looks up and sees Kanoe entering the room* Joker: *right behind him, sees her too* There she is! Tetsuya: She's quick... no wasted time... *sounds rather admiring* Tetsuya: *touches his suit pocket again* Joker: -.- Bo- Ueki-san, I thought that bunch were OUT. As in OUT. Tetsuya: I did not invite her here. Don't give me that look. Joker: *eeps inwardly and decides to shut up* Kanoe: *smiles at the old fat guy, who just walked up to her* Old Guy: *strikes up a polite but rather inane conversation, mostly about the weather* Kanoe: *nods and smiles at him* Old Guy: *keeps chatting, glad to have attracted the attention of such a pretty young woman* Kanoe: *acts interested and chats back* Old Guy: ^-^ Old Guy: So, young miss, I didn't catch your name... Tetsuya: *just "happens" to be wandering by them at this point* Tetsuya: *pauses, ostensibly to listen to the group of Russians next to them* Joker: -.- *doesn't say anything* Kanoe: Oh, my name is Hanako. Kanoe: *decides it can't hurt, since almost everyone in this city who knows her knows her as Kanoe anyway* Old Guy: I'm Reiji, Takamoto Reiji. A pleasure to meet you. Kanoe: And you too, sir. *Suddenly, at the other end of the room, the windows explode. Screaming and such are heard, and an enormous, apparently terrorist vehicle is seen right outside the window.* Reiji: !.! Joker: *curses viciously under his breath, moves to stand between Tetsuya and the window* Tetsuya: -.- *tries to look over his shoulder, which is difficult since Joker is about half a foot taller than Tetsuya* Head Terrorist: *with an amplifier* Hello, all you nice rich people! Tetsuya: -.-!!! *is not currently carrying any money, and in fact does not have much; puts it all into the organization* Joker: 9.9 Christian Jesus. Head Terrorist: We want all your money, so if you cough it up quickly, we won't have to kill anyone! *points his gun upwards and fires a few shots* *Various bodyguards of the crime bosses reach for their large stores of weapons.* Joker: 9.9 Well, SOMEONE ought to do their research... good grief, what kind of idiot attacks this sort of convention, anyway? Joker: *pulls out his own gun, a semi-automatic pistol* Kanoe: *while Reiji is gaping at the terrorists, slips away, nearer to the terrorists, and, unknowingly, nearer to Tetsuya* Tetsuya: -.- This is not our business, Joseph. Put it away. Joker: Yeah, but protecting you is MY business. *keeps the gun out* *Snipers from the vehicle are now busy picking off all the bodyguards.* Tetsuya: 9.9 *doesn't protest further* Bodyguards: *fire back en masse, but have little luck against the armored vehicle* Kanoe: *unlike most of the female people and crime bosses, who seem to be running away, is running forward* Tetsuya: *sees Kanoe running forward* !.! Tetsuya: *begins heading for her, shoving through the crowd* Kanoe: *trying to get closer to the vehicle* Joker: *curses under his breath, but follows* Tetsuya: *yelling* Kanoe-san! What are you doing? Kanoe: *turns around, surprised, and almost gets knocked down by a scared fat lady* Tetsuya: *helps her up* Joker: 9.9 Tetsuya: What are you trying to accomplish? Kanoe: What am I doing? *furious* Tetsuya: Yes. Kanoe: I'm trying to get up there and kick their asses! Kanoe: I was doing well, had one bounty down and many more to choose from, and then THIS happens! Tetsuya: -.- I am not pleased either. But trying to attack them is foolish. Kanoe: Well, it isn't a living for you, now, is it?! Tetsuya: -.- As a matter of fact, this is. Kanoe: I meant bounty hunting. Tetsuya: True. But they outnumber you greatly, and have the advantage of weaponry. Tetsuya: You would most likely only get yourself killed. Kanoe: I have weaponry. Tetsuya: Not enough to take on a tank like that. Kanoe: How do you think I managed to not get my dress stained? Tetsuya: -.- Joker: Geez, lady, take a step back. Joker: You have a death wish or something? Kanoe: No, what I have is a need for money! Joker: 9.9 I think that's worse. Kanoe: This is my livelihood that's being threatened here! Tetsuya: *sighs* Joker, give her your gun. Kanoe: ?.? Joker: ?.? Tetsuya: It's one more weapon, at least. Joker: -.- *hands it over grudgingly* Kanoe: *takes it, grins* All right... Tetsuya: Now, gather those who are associated with us and get them out safely. *They're pretty much the only ones in the room now, except for dead people. And injured people who can't leave.* Tetsuya: *looks around* Or - just leave. Tetsuya: Return to the office. I will meet you there. Joker: ExCUSE me? Tetsuya: Gather those of us you can find and leave. Is there something about that which you don't understand? Joker: But boss... Tetsuya: Do it. Now. Joker: ;.; *goes and begins sorting through the injured people* Tetsuya: *turns to Kanoe* Now... did you have a plan? Kanoe: *looks up at the vehicle, calculating distance, speed, air currents, and other stuff in her head* Kanoe: Not really. Kanoe: Basically just go and kick ass. Tetsuya: *sighs heavily* Very well. On the count of three? Kanoe: One. Tetsuya: Two. Kanoe: Three! Kanoe: *practically launches herself towards the thing, firing rapidly* Tetsuya: *starts running towards the tank, smoothly dodging everything that it fires* Tetsuya: *keeping a close eye out to make sure that Kanoe is dodging all right, too* Tetsuya: *not carrying a weapon, as usual* Kanoe: *is dodging fine* Kanoe: *managing to shoot a couple snipers* Tetsuya: *reaches the tank, virtually walks up the side, and snaps the head terrorist's neck* Kanoe: *manages not to stare and shoots some more snipers, who just stare at Tetsuya* Tetsuya: *turns to another sniper and reduces him to a pulp after taking away his gun* Tetsuya: *goes through the snipers methodically* Joker: *leaves with the two or three people he could find* Kanoe: *shoots guys who comes out to stare at Tetsuya* Tetsuya: *finishes the snipers, begins dealing with the people who are coming out to stare* Kanoe: *deals with anyone Tetsuya isn't dealing with* Tetsuya: *finally finishes killing people, leaves any remainders for Kanoe* Kanoe: *shoots them all* Tetsuya: *stands still in the midst of the destruction, calm* Kanoe: *finally stops and blows the smoke away from the barrel* Tetsuya: *has blood on his suit, which isn't as neat now, but personally doesn't have a scratch* Tetsuya: You are quite good, Kanoe-san. Kanoe: *doesn't have blood on her, since she wasn't in the thick of it* Thanks. Kanoe: I practice as much as I can. Tetsuya: It shows. *hops down, trying to dust himself off and mostly failing* Tetsuya: I think this suit is ruined... Kanoe: Well, unless you get it right to a drycleaner’s. Kanoe: When the blood dries, it's ruined. Kanoe: Before then, there's hope. Tetsuya: I can do my best. *begins walking away, headed for the restaurant* Kanoe: Hey... Tetsuya: *turns around and looks at her* Yes? Kanoe: *really smiles for the first time that evening* Thanks. Tetsuya: *nods to her* You're welcome. Tetsuya: It was the least I could do. Kanoe: *winks* And if you ever need any gardening tips, give me a call. Tetsuya: ~.- I certainly will. Tetsuya: *walks away* Tetsuya: *touches his pocket one last time* Kanoe: *looks after him for a minute, then looks up at the armored vehicle* Hmm... Yah know, it's been a while since I owned a decent car... Kanoe: *looks it over* I wonder how much it's worth... Maybe this wasn't such a bad night after all... Credits: Tetsuya: Hokuto Kuzuki Kanoe: MokonaChiirushia Joker: Hokuto Kuzuki Head Terrorist: MokonaChiirushia Tam: Hokuto Kuzuki Snipers: MokonaChiirushia Takamoto Reiji: Hokuto Kuzuki Crowds/Bodyguards: MokonaChiirushia/Hokuto Kuzuki