Alert!: Last Resort (Row, Zonkey, Woof)

Lukas took his bag off the baggage carousel, slinging it over his shoulder as he made his way as inconspicuously as possible to the security check in area. He had just arrived in Tokyo after what was quite an exhausting flight. 'It was bad' is all that really needs to be said. Bad food, bad service, bad sleep, made multi-media (because it was in a language he didn't speak), and bad claustrophobia. A laughable experience, really. I'll spare you the airline jokes, though.  I'm not that cruel.

The security guard looked through his bag, shrugged, and handed it over. The Japanese Government had signed an order into law allowing many things that really shouldn't be on planes on planes, temporarily of course. Still, It was an unprecedented and risky move, but they were on the brink. They needed heroes. Even the small amounts of military that were so far brought in were having trouble containing this while also minimizing casualties. Apparently the Japanese figured this was the only way to get a handle on things without declaring Tokyo an active war zone. Either way, Lukas sighed in relief at not having to deal with normal airport security. He even brought a full size tube of toothpaste, just for the occasion!

........I lied about the jokes, sorry.

Luke had booked himself a hotel room in advance. It was rather expensive, but necessary. He needed a high vantage point to set up his antennas and get a survey of the city from above. Plus, they had free beer, so that was a plus. After being dropped off at his hotel and brought to his room, he sipped some random Japanese lager and got to work unpacking. He set up terminals, wires, dishes, and all manner of other tech. By the end of it, the place was unrecognizable. A Hacker's Heaven, just like back home.

"Alright, what's the word on the street?" Stoic asked himself, typing away on his desktop. He had turned the lights off, and the light from his terminal reflected off his pale face as he smashed the keyboard. He wasn't coding like in the movies though, just chatting at several different Darknet rooms he knew about. He wanted to see if any of his contacts had any information.


KidCaesar99: What's happening in Toyko?

B3n3d1c7: Spark's happening, Drifter

KidCaesar99: No shit Sherlock. You must have a Master's in Common Sense. I mean what's really going on? Do you guys have anything for me?

PrinceOFDarklight: Someone's clearly playing a 'Chaos is a Ladder' Littlefinger move. All I've heard is whispers. Lots of the street rats are talking about some kind of meta takeover. They think they're Lucius Alba, apparently.

KidCaesar99: The guy is insane, but he's too much of a control freak to just dump this shit all over Tokyo. I doubt Rise has anything to do with this. Anything else?

NevermoreAgain: There have been some hacks of the water system lately. And this isn't the usual trolling. Somebody has been switching out lines. One main one covers a thirty block radius. Instead of getting it from where it usually does, it's been switched to an old water tower. Probably worth checking out.

KidCaesar99: Location?

NevermoreAgain: 札幌市中央区北4条西2丁目5番地. About thirty meters from that building. Shouldn't miss it. Also have an IP from the dude who did the hack. He used a flawed rootkit and didn't know I was snooping. 217.253.120.236. Happened a few days ago at about 9:00 your time.

KidCaesar99: Thanks Never. Stay out of trouble.

System: KidCaesar99 sent 0.344201 Bitcoin to NevermoreAgain's Wallet


With the information he needed gathered, Luke quickly tracked down the IP. Whoever did it wasn't that great at it. They didn't opt to use a proxy or anything. Instead he apparently just did the hack from a coffee shop. Not a home location, but it was something to work with. Maybe he could get the footage and see who was on a laptop acting suspiciously during the time of the hack, do a correlation attack or something. Either way, it was probably best to go take a look at this water tower first. Priorities.

He put his gear on, mask and all, and headed to the fire escape. He'd specifically chose this room for access to the ground without having to go through the building. Once his boots hit the streets, he was off.

How had all of this gone so poorly? First, he had to fly through Japanese airspace, which despite the need for so-called "heroes," still didn't want people like him flying through and disrupting airplanes. Frankly, it was annoying, to say the least. After paying a significant fine in yen, Brainstorm was forced to walk around airports instead. Humiliated, Brainstorm was surprised by the sheer amount of people in capes. Some stared at him and his brain case. He needed to find a better way to fit in.

After a quick trip to the airport shop, he came out wearing a black fedora, a "fake" neckbeard glued to his glass braincase, a Hatsune Miku t-shirt, and a pair of black sweatpants. Now if only he had AXE body spray or sweat glands. Then he'd fit in perfectly with the average American tourist in Japan. After a few giggles from the surrounding crowd, and a person giving him a trench coat and katana, he guessed as a gift seeing as the man had 19 katanas in his briefcase, and a superior trench coat, Brainstorm was ready to get moving. First things first; finding a hero who knew what the hell they were doing. He followed a man with blonde hair and an impeccable sense of dress. If he weren't so obviously inferior, Brainstorm might've respected him for his taste in fashion. It was almost as good as his own. He stroked the new facial hair he had stolen from the cashier.

Brainstorm moved behind the man, much like a shadow. If a shadow were an over seven-foot tall robotic monstrosity with a brain for a face, currently performing his best impression of a basement dwelling nerd. He flew to the top of a building across from the building the blonde man was staying in. Just as he realized how silly he must've been for thinking that the man was some hero; the man reemerged. This time wearing a mask and everything. Perfect!

Brainstorm quickly scanned his mind, trying to figure out his next move. A coffee shop and a water tower, eh? Hm. He supposed it wouldn't hurt to check out the water tower first. Besides, he wanted to meet the stylish man who had led him so far. With the whirring of motors and the creak of metal; Brainstorm jumped from the roof and began to fly towards the water tower, hopefully without the interruption of the Japanese air force...again...

"Maybe it was a bad idea to come to a place where the language barrier is so bloody insane." Huffing out a breathe of pure annoyance, Ashford moved between people that were on edge or uncaring. Course, they had their reasons. Life was that for many of these very business like people but clearly the past events had made some- nay, most of these fine citizens wary. Who could suddenly explode with mutant powers? Was it really safe to walk these streets?

Frankly, Ash was starting to think the same thing. Didn't help that he looked very out of place in this street of normal dressed people, with his less then clean attire, scabbards containing both his rather evil looking dagger-sword thing and the one for his rapier. Or maybe it was the eye, plenty of people were giving him one for it. Maybe that was something he could fix with this world. His eye, they'd have the... Whatever it is these people do. Only thing from him would be the coat. That'd be a fun conversation.

But it was then, when all hope was seemingly lost in what direction the man would choose to take, salvation came to the one eyed man in the form of smell. Delicate smells... Coffee. "Oooh yea. That's what I need right now. Coffee." With that on his mind, Ashford would let out a satisfied sigh as he walked into the one coffee shop he just had to walk into.

Inside, he was already feeling the stares... No. This was different, he noticed it on the person with the open square device. Laptop, if he remembered it correctly. That one gave him a intense stare, an almost panicked stare, only for a second, but when they seemed to have deemed Ashford as something not to worry about, they went back to that laptop of theirs. Curious. Now, the man was torn between a curiosity for this suspicious person... Or Coffee.

The winner decided, Ashford walked up to the barista, catching her attention with a wave of his bandaged hand. "Hi, you speak... Umm. English? Yea. That." He asked, expecting his luck to be dry, but thankfully, he was wrong.

"Yea. Plenty of customers who require that I do. What will it be?" She asked, giving him a smile he was all too use too now. Baristas and their need to be friendly. Except when they aren't.

"Just a black." He ordered, shifting so that his one good eye would be on the mysterious person of interest. Maybe he could do both. Drink coffee, and be a curious cat, that was the plan at least. Until he heard the price.

"2, 000 yen please." The barista asked, and Ashford turned around so fast he had to hold back his arm from gripping the table and giving it a few scars from his claws.

"Two what? Umm. Never mind, like an idiot I forgot that you all have different currencies," Apologizing and turning away from the barista, Ashford was now without coffee, and still a curious cat. An annoyed one at that.

Luckily, he had something to sate that curiosity, pushing away from the counter, Ashford did his best to move discreetly, as much as he could really, and he got far enough to see the screen of the laptop... And he had no clue what the hell was on it. What looked like a bunch of lines and images. Something he decided had to be something worth looking over... But what to do with the man? Actually, Ashford had an idea.

"Looks interesting, mind explaining the lines-" Ashford started, loud, close. Ether the guy would look at him weirdly, or he would do what he was doing. Stabbing Ashford.

Trying, at least. The small knife was caught between the robotic fingers of Ashford's hand, his good eye staring at the dainty little thing before he used his knuckles to pressure the knife into snapping. "Right, why don't we try something else." With a jab to the hackers gut to make him focused on something else, Ashford brought his metal hand back and banged his fist against the man's temple turning them into a unconscious heap.

Looking to the now rather scared patrons and barista, Ashford glanced back at the laptop and the hacker, before pointing towards the barista. "Hero business... yea?" He poised, and it seemed the woman understood enough to tell the other guests to calm down. With that settled, he looked back to the man and frowned. "Right... The void do I do with you?"

Couple days prior~

Spoiler:

Present~
Emerl dashed off the plane holding her ears while reeking of a cinnamon scent. It was her first experience on a flying carriage and a painful one at that. The escort did not even care about her plight, only offering her chewy candy. Before long, the woman escorting her finally caught up to the hooded girl.
"Ms. Please wait up. We have to get your stuff, and I told you to let down your hood."
Emerl clenched her teeth at the woman. Why did she not understand that people on her world did not like her antenna? When she looked around though, she saw dozens of people dressed up in weird outfits.
"As long as you're wearing that eye mask, everyone will think you're costume playing." The woman pulled back Emerl's hood, revealing red antenna and a dark green eye mask.
Emerl released spicy scent as she turned to the woman but the awes of dozen or so Japanese boys and girls quickly encircled her.

"She looks like a hero," was mixed in between the many shouts of Japanese. The woman stepped away promising to return with their bags leaving the girl alone to fend off the kids. Lucky for her a few adults peeled away exit quickly apologizing and complimenting her outfit consisting of a short sleeve unzipped black leather jacket, green crop top, dark green cargo shorts with a red belt that had her symbol, a metal in the shape of a insect head with green triangle eyes, as the belt buckle. Metal bracers attacked to her wrist, above her ankles, and her neck had metal teeth dig into metal pads hiding that they dug into her skin. Emerl was shocked at the attention. There was no scorn, hate, or fear despite being different. Everyone thought it was all decoration meaning, she could let them hang free. A grin grew on her face as she brushed back her hair and antenna to let them hang high. This was already a turning in her favor, as long as nobody tried to make her wear shoes.

With her stuff aka, her cestus and black knife at her hip, she was ready to explore and help this city. After running off, she heard a voice out from the masked.
"If you need any help ring me on this. Be sure to report back before nightfall else, the boss will get angry. Over."
Emerl responded to the voice however, there was no respond.  
"I see you forgot all ready, press down on the spot right above your ear. Over."
"Like this? Hear? You hear?"
"Roger. Get to work, remember to use your code name over the line Red Ant, and don't take off the mask. Over, Out! "

The girl was completely free, out of the hands of those people in black. Now she had to look for trouble and oh my Tyrus, that person so tall! Emerl's eyes widen like a child seeing chuckle cheese for the first time. She ran over to the being that clearly towered over the population. He had this sharp hat and a ball of spiders on his face, which she would assume was a beard... of spiders. The man also had a mysterious black coat and a thin curved sword. He looked like a mysterious cartoon man or those "defective" people who carry that weird glass tool that makes their eye look bigger. It was such a fun outfit though he was not crowded with little kids. Those defective people were always smart on the moving picture box so he was too. As she closed the distance, she noticed something weird.

He smelled like burning or energy like golems of this world. He did sort of smell human but it was hard to tell since she did not know what to smell. If was wearing something that another person wore then it would fool her but she had no way of knowing that at this time so she had to assume he was human. Still it was completely weird and stopped her from advancing too close to him. She had to figure out what he was first or catch him moving into a more crowded area so she could get closer. However, the man just suddenly flew off into the sky. Her jaw dropped as her mind struggled to piece something meaningful together. He could fly. That meant he was a meta-human. He could be hero or worst, the bad guy she was suppose to fight. Looking up, the man was gone. She could try following his scent but then she would reveal herself to him and the rest of the city. She had to remain quiet in case he did not see her. It was her defeat this time, but next time she saw spider beard, she would engage him and give him a good Swarm Tactic hello.

She was at a loss with no spider beard to follow and no sign of people to suppress. This was a boring mission, something someone with brains should tackle. She could send out her drones, but then she would get hungry. She has not had a good meal since the flight, so she could not weaken herself just yet to blindly search the city. Her mind drifted more toward food, sending her antenna's on search mode. They sniffed out different smells like fish, chicken, Japanese "jelly donuts," but none of it seemed appealing. This was until she found something she recognized. A bitter smell of beans meant only one thing, COFFEE SHOP!

The girl released a fruity scent as she followed her antenna and found a group of people startled and scared. The store clerk was speaking to everyone in a different language so Emerl did not understand the situation. All she saw was a man roughing up a guy with a black device. This was it! It was trouble. If she stopped it, then maybe she would be free from the people in black.
Emerl marched over to the two despite the calls from the clerk. Even if she did understand the warnings, she was not afraid. People of this dirt world were weak.

"Hey you! People in black send Kaiju to settle down trouble people. Look like trouble people. Hope have good excuse!"

Stoic weaved in and out of alleyways, onto rooftops, and through shadows. It could have been force of habit, since he really didn't have to do this with all the heroes being allowed in the streets, but then again he didn't exactly want to draw too much attention to his new persona—not yet, at least.

Whereas Drifter had been a symbol used to justify murder and revolution, Stoic was supposed to be a symbol of enduring virtue and will in the face of malevolence and suffering. He didn't want to expose himself too much without controlling the situation. Otherwise, it was possible they could get another LA.....

That could never happen again.

Stoic shook the thoughts from his head. Not the time. He jumped from one of the roofs onto a taller building's fire escape, then began to climb upwards until he reached the top. Once on this vantage point, he saw the water tower below.

It was a rusted out, disgusting old thing. It was a wonder why the city hadn't taken care of it yet. Even the access ladder was eroding away. Anyone who wasn't careful could easily fall to their death on that thing. Was this piece of shit still connected to the water system due to incompetence, or special interest?

It was time to find out.

But, just when Stoic was about to make his decent, he felt something. It was a familiar feeling. He'd been possessed twice and had his mind invaded by a telepath at least double that. It was a subtle skimmer. Almost as if his thoughts had a filter put over them, one looking to catch all the useful, conscious bits while disregarding the 98 percent of his brain function that was subconscious, and ultimately confusing and useless. Someone was peaking into his head. No doubt about it.

I'll assume since you aren't trying to force me to your will right now you don't mean any harm. That or you've just been sparked and have no idea how to use telepathy. Either way, show yourself. Let's get this over with. I have a job to do. Stoic thought, hoping to send the message to the telepath. After hearing a response, he'd bring his mental defenses up, actively trying to resist any further snooping. He wasn't a superhuman, but he had a powerful will and experience dealing with mental abilities.

Not waiting for whoever just jumped into his head to show up, Stoic tied a rope to the top of the building and propelled down it. Once at the bottom, he made his way to the water tower. Climbing it was like crawling up barbed wire, but his armor did the trick in protecting the one hand, while his robotic hand..... No need to explain.

Stoic reached the top, swinging the tower door open. What he found was what looked to be a recently refilled water tower. Interesting.

What was more interesting, however, was the smell. Strawberries and chemical. There wasn't any doubt. This tank had been jacked with some street Spark. It's natural chemical scent was cut with flavor and fragrance. Say what you will about dealers, but they at least wanted their customers to enjoy dosing themselves with a chemist's cocktail.

Stoic removed a metal vile from his jacket's pocket, and dipped it in the water, making sure not to touch it. He had no plans on drinking this stuff, but of course, he needed a sample. Maybe he could figure out what gang or organization this stuff came from by looking at it closer, with the proper equipment.

Stoic slammed the door shut and got down from the tower. By this point he was sure the one who had invaded his brain would approach. If he did, the vigilante would speak up.

"So, do you want to help save this city, or..... Should I roll initiative?"

Brainstorm was no coward — however, the man realizing that Brainstorms superior intellect was invading his consciousness was slightly disconcerting. Nevertheless, Brainstorm would continue with his disguise until the man decided to address him. Of course, Brainstorm couldn't smell the spark in the water below him. However, he had guessed it very quickly. As soon as the man hopped down from the water tower, Brainstorm was quick to follow; landing just out of sight.

Then, he finally asked the right questions. Brainstorm hopped out from behind the garbage can that, despite its best efforts, couldn't hide the large robot body. "Fear not, friend. It is I, Doctor Aloysius Brainstorm. I am here to assist you in your endeavor." Said the cyborg. "No need to "roll the dice," as they say. What is it that you found in the water supply?" Already knowing the answer, but he was trying to suppress the urge to show off.

As this was going on, Brainstorm was also scanning the minds of nearby citizens. Especially those foolish enough to be running when he was here to help. "Actually, never mind. There seems to be a disturbance at the local café. Should we go assist?"

Ashford stared at the intruder, if that was the right word for the being that had found itself in his sight. Masked, strange looking and speaking the common tongue, the being seemed to think Ashford creating a disturbance for a reason it had been told to look out for, and deal with.

But with a shrug, Ashford would pick the hacker up and sit them down back where they were before the man decided to attack him, not sure what to do with the laptop, and not willing to take a guess as to why the screen was dimming, he brought his attention back to the masked being.

"Look, you can ask the barista. This man attacked me, and I defended myself... Kinda. Not sure if that knife of his could really be called a weapon." He frowned, looking about for the snapped blade before giving up. Must have fallen under a chair or something... Actually, a kid could find that, maybe he should look.

"Look. I'm guessing you're here because of the drug thing right? So am I. I didn't think I'd find something so quickly... Got lucky I suppose. But ah. We're all good here. I might take this in to local guards- Authority's." He continued as he knelt down to look for the knife piece. Giving little attention towards the strangely dressed being otherwise.

It wouldn't have stopped to chat if it was a real threat, most things tended to just... Attack. So he felt safe enough to let his guard down a bit... People in black.. Sounded rather suspicious if you asked him, but it was something he'd keep silent on that anyway for now. Could be nothing. Could be something. But it wasn't a thing to ask a stranger... Most certainly one as strange looking as this one.

Emerl watched as the man put the other man down in his seat. The man claimed he did not cause trouble and that the guy sitting down that was the problem. This Barista would vouch for him but Emerl had never heard of a barista before. Her antenna twitched, inspecting the different scents in the room for anything weird with no luck. The man even looked for the weapon to show her. The crowd seemed to be safe and nobody was leaving. Maybe he was telling the truth. So she smiled and threw a thumbs up while releasing a floral scent from her body unconsciously.
"Good Job not being hurt. Knows people are fragile so nice everyone safe."

Emerl started walking closer to him eyeing the man sitting down. He seemed scared, which only further sold the other man's story. Her eyes shifted back to the man who had what looked like two swords. Base off her observations of the people on this Dirt World, they did not carry weapons unless they were in a violent job, a criminal, or a hero. Given the situation he was presenting, she felt like she could make a good guess.

Emerl giggled after the man miss said "guards." It was not a common term used in this world and reminded her of home a little bit. However, the talk about drugs opened some old scars. She rubbed her lip, "People in black not mention drugs. If drugs causing problems, then I help. I can take trouble person to All-thor-ah-tea with drone so we can look for drugs. This country has people in blue?"
She closed her eyes, wondering if she needed to get food or if she would be okay without it. She was in a coffee shop and they had food so it would be a good idea to get a drink at least.

Emerl opened her eyes and another girl, who looked similar to her, stepped out from behind her. This girl had red antenna too but only wore a long cloak like garb. Her white eyes turned to Emerl only to be bathed in a sweet fruity scent. Emerl held out a couple of bills, more than enough for a drink before saying "cocoa." The girl's white eyes turned teal and then she walked off to the counter to buy a drink.

Meanwhile, Emerl turned back to the man. She slipped her hand into her Cestus and then held it across her chess while standing straight to salute her new ally.
" Am Kaiju. May know your name?"

If the man would allow Emerl to deal with the hacker, the drone would spawn chitin on the top of her hands. Her eyes would turn red. Then she would grab the man's shirt with incredible strength and effortlessly dragging the man out the establishment, willing or not. She would look for the nearest police officer to hand him over before disappearing.

Lukas sighed. This.....thing, was one of the goofy types. A brain in a jar disguised as a thirty five year old loser. Stoic had seen Wardens, existential beings, and evil clones, and yet the world still kept finding ways to surprise him. But hey, at least the thing actually wanted to help, and wasn't trying to kill him. The Doctor instead opted to ask about what Luke had found in the water tower. Although the vigilante would normally be reluctant to share mission information, he just shrugged internally. What harm would it do?

"Spark. Strawberry flavored. Not sure why it always seems to be strawberry, but, yeah... That's what it is. Messaging a buddy to fix this," Stoic said, tapping on his wrist computer. He messaged the darknet rat that had given him the info about the tower. He assumed since his contact had been sniffing the network that he would still have access. Turns out the hunch was correct, and for a small fee the changes to the water system were remedied. There were probably more breaches, but you had to start somewhere. For the time being, the tower was out of commission.

"Oh, and where are my manners? The name you can use is Stoic," Luke said when he looked back up from his device, realizing the brain guy had introduced himself. He'd shake the being's hand if he could, but it seemed the time for pleasantries was over. Things were going down at the cafe, without him.

"Fuck.... Really? I was just heading there. Why does shit always have to hit the fan before I show up?" Luke asked with a sigh, mostly to himself. "Yeah, let's just go. We'll just have to hope whoever got there first didn't damage the situation too badly. I still need intel."

Stoic would then move to go to the cafe, running at full pace and using freerunning techniques to maximize his speed. He wasn't tiring out, either. The cafe was easily five blocks out, but the fit vigilante didn't stop for even a moment, even after vaulting obstacles the whole way. Whether this Doctor Brainstorm could keep up was unknown, but Stoic didn't really care. Brainiac knew where the place was. He'd catch up.

Once Stoic arrived, he drew Namos. He didn't know what he would find inside, so it was best to be cautious. He kicked the door in and looked around, gun rested on his shoulder and pointed towards the ceiling. There were a few individuals inside. A couple had obviously just been in some sort of scuffle, but one was simply standing there. Stoic assumed this person wasn't a civilian, because the rest of the cafe was scurrying away and hiding.

Even though he had identified at least three person's of interest, he had no clue what was going on. Looks like it was questioning time.

"Alright.... So let's take this slow," Luke said, one hand on his gun and the other on his knife, Nightshade. He was calm and calculated in his speech, but there was an underlying cautiousness. It was as if he might pounce at any moment.

"I'm following a lead on some Spark contamination of the water system. I traced the hack back here. I only want the computer and the one responsible. If that sounds reasonable, we can all walk away just fine and dandy. If not, well.... I think you know." Luke was sure that a couple of these people were on his side against the drug peddlers, but he couldn't take any chances. Plus, they had sorta screwed up his plan, hitting the place prematurely. Who knows what data they could have lost.

"So what'll it be?" the man with the expressionless, white mask said, blacked out eyes staring blankly at the people in front of him.

Confirming his suspicions, the man named Stoic, though he was sure it wasn't his real name, said that there was Spark in the water. Brainstorm decided that it wouldn't be right to pry into his mind, at least, not now. Not until the man became an enemy.

"I was afraid of that, yes." Brainstorm went up to the water and quickly retrieved a... sample. The spark was something he could use at a later date, no doubt. He looked around to realize that the man had already left. He dropped the heavier of his disguise, though kept the shirt and the facial hair; even if it was peeling. He then began flying into the distance towards the sounds of fear in his mind.

The first thing he did as he entered the door was start to throw rocks at people in black. He would've read their minds, but he figured he would let the others have their fun. Besides, ending this too quickly might not be... beneficial to his plans.



"Please do understand, my friend. That if you do not cooperate with the man with the sword, I can just peel your psyche apart and... make you talk."

"Ashford. And I think I'll keep him. Or more. I'll take him, I don't know you... What the hell." Ashford grunted as the door was kicked in and a second masked being walked into the cafe store, then a third.

Honestly, he was happy with the second one. Weird mask, but he looked human. And that was the important part, the third however... He didn't have any words for the third, except to catch and drop a stone that was thrown at him by the third, a weird thing in a glass... He didn't know, with what looked like a fake, peeling beard. Weird. Very weird. "Someones already done that friend, never again. You try. I'll smash that bowl head..." Ashford stated to the one who threatened him, before pulling his attention to the masked man, who seemed more reasonable in his want...

Yet Ashford had found this bounty. And it wasn't one he wanted to just give up... But he wasn't unwilling to share it... Not that he wanted to share with whatever the hell stone thrower was.

Using his gloved hand, he poked the hacker in the head before pointing to the open, but now black screened laptop. "You're quite free to take that. Had quite a bit of things on the screen, things this fellow attempted to kill me over seeing. But this fellow... Only way he goes is if I go with. Not exactly sure about this spark stuff, but it isn't good, and I feel like smashing whoever decided it was in the face... Does the weird thing behind you have to tag along?" Ashford asked, hoping that this didn't dissolve into something worse... Perhaps he wasn't helping, jabbing at the metal thing behind the masked man.

But then, it did threaten him. "And uh, is this one with you? Cause we could take her with us. She seems to have her own information that needs more details." Ashford said, pointing a clawed metal hand at the small one in the mask, she seemed eager to help, but he wasn't sure what exactly to do with her, or if he should leave her to her own devices... Frankly, he wasn't entirely sure about any of this.

But adapt on the fly was a motto of his. A motto when it needed to be, sure. But it seemed to apply here. His single eye looking to the masked one as he waited for a reply. Fight or deal... Which one would he take.

Emerl was disappointed that the man did not want to hand the troublemaker over to her. Despite her wish for a easy completion to please the "people in black" and be let go, she understand mercenary rules. It was his catch, so she cannot take it, not without an unneeded fight.

Before she could wish him luck and safety, Another person barge into the room. Her drone, which was readied to be dismissed, went into a defensive posture between to entrance and Emerl. Its eyes glowed red, ready for the signal to unleash its frenzy. Emerl however, was not bothered by dramatic entrances only shifted her head to get a glimpse of the commotion.

"Troublemakers?" proposed, reaching her hand into her Cestus.

A rock darted passed her from the next figure to enter sending a wave of mixed emotions through her head. She was happy to see the spider beard man since she was tailing him most of her time here. However, she was upset that he started causing trouble. Should she engaged? He maybe tall, but so was everyone compared to the girl. She tensed her hand in her cestus, forming a scythe like mantis claw which extended from the cestus before a green chitin grew over her cestus and forearm. The claw dug into the floor as it reached it's full length, the length of her arm. She was not the only one with this idea. The first person to enter had his hands at his waist, probably where his weapons were. This spider beard was making threats to tear a Psyche apart?
"Uh... Ashford was it? What is this Psyche? It sounds important to protect." She whispered back to the only person who she could tell was not a troublemaker. Another drone formed next to Emerl, forming a 2 person wall of drones with eyes glowing red between them and the 2 new comers. Everyone wanted that person at the device. This was so interesting. Emerl could only giggle. All these fragile people itching to fight and break each other.

Then Ashfold made an suggestion for everyone to work together. Emerl was not sure of such an idea. The people seemed like trouble makers even though they had... a fruity smell? Her antenna's started twitching searching for the smell. Why did they smell like fruit?
"Wait.. new people have weird scent on them. Like tiny red fruit with seeds in skin. Can't remember name. Sure not Troublemakers?"

"Now let's just...... Calm down, shall we?" Stoic said after one of the individuals seemed to command a couple drones to form a defensive barrier. They also drew a strange weapon. Stoic wasn't interested in dealing with such a person without a plan. He sheathed his knife, holstered his gun, and put his hands up in a peaceful gesture. He hoped by this point the defensiveness would cede.

Besides, he only had interest in one person in the room.

The culprit of the hack had apparently been caught red handed, and his computer was free for the taking according to the one who had caught him. Stoic opened it up and quickly scanned the hard drive, porting it over to his wrist computer in seconds. There was plenty of data to analyze in the laptop—terabytes of it, in fact. The vigilante would most likely need to return to his room to see the full picture, but it was likely he'd get to the bottom of this soon. Good thing too, because Tokyo was quickly degrading into a state of anarchy, judging by the news reports scrolling across his wrist computer's screen.

The on who had subdued the hacker seemed like he wanted to 'keep' the man. Luke sighed. He didn't have time for this. Why did people have to be so petty? Weren't the people who came there to help supposed to be heroes? The vigilante took a step towards Ashford, blacked out eyes staring intently into the peculiar man. You could tell Luke wasn't amused.

"I assure you, there are bigger fish to fry. Japan doesn't take too kindly to cyber crimes or accessory to mass murder, anyway. He'll get what he deserves. I'm going to handcuff him to one of the tables and send the contents of his hard drive to law enforcement. He's no longer a threat. It would be inappropriate to use further force against him. We'll leave him to the fate he sealed for himself. If anyone disagrees, you're welcome to take your best shot at him. I can't say I won't step in," Stoic said, handcuffing the hacker. This man had been incapacitated. He was no longer an active aggressor. To attack him now would be totally unjustified, in Stoic's view. The vigilante believed force against another was only right in defense of self or others, and adhered to that principle as much as possible.

"Now, if that matter is settled, we should get going. Anyone who wants to come can come, so long as they do things MY way. No killing, no excessive violence, and we always prioritize the safety of others. Just give me a moment to look through his files, and we can go. There's a lot of them, but I can already see I can get a location from the IP addresses of some of his superiors. Apparently he decided it was smart to message them from the same machine he used for his hacks," Luke said, tapping on his hand's computer. There was certainly a lot of information to go through, but the next step was pretty simple: A warehouse about five miles out. Almost all his orders came from that one building. It wouldn't be unreasonable to assume it was also where the Spark came from.

It was at this point that the water tower hacker started laughing maniacally. The goon acted like he wasn't surrounded by several obviously enhanced individuals. He looked at Stoic specifically, but spoke to everyone in the room. The knowing look on his face made it seem like he had some big secret.

"Hahahaha! Y-you don't know what you're doing, Idiots! This goes way, WAY UP! Why do you think the government, right after an election, would call for heroes to join an already chaotic war zone? Don't you see? This is their doing. It's all just a small move on a bigger chessboard. Stop the Spark, don't stop the Spark. They've already got what they wanted. After this, their grip on the country will only increase. They'll use it..... You better believe they'll use it," the man hollered, cackling the whole time. Stoic sneered from under his mask. So this was a political move? Was this guy just talking nonsense? Would the government really do this just to justify tightening their control? Whatever the truth was, this guy was getting annoying. Stoic threw a knockout dart at him to put him to sleep. He figured it would keep him there long enough for the cops to get there.

"Alright, so, government conspiracy. Excellent. Anyone here have a car? We can get to this guy's bosses a lot quicker if we drive...... I didn't have the money to ship my ride overseas," Stoic said, looking around the room. He really hoped someone there did have a means of transportation. A few blocks was fine, but five miles with such a large posse would both take too long and draw too much attention. He wouldn't mine it if he were alone, but it was now clear he was far from it.

Ashford gave the man in the mask a strange look at first, taken aback by his words, his meanings. The one eyed man had no interest in torturing the idiot that attacked him, he had just assumed that the idiot was important. Turns out the cu- laptop was even more so. Besides, he got what he wanted, that being someone who had more information regarding the situation.

Helped his rules were something Ashford could easily follow. Sure, he couldn't promise to keep following them depending on the situation, but the masked man should be smart enough to know that. "Sounds good to me." Ash nodded, his acceptance of following Stoic, the mans way. For now. Hell, he felt a little worry about making bad with this masked fellow, the way he dealt with the idiot so quickly was partly intimidating. Mostly it was the dart. Ashford didn't like small things like them. Terrible weapons. No honor... Not that he had anything to say.

That left the strange girl and... Hmm. Odd. The other thing had gone? Shaking his head, he put his focus back on the small one, who seemed a little lost, in all things. "Girl? Girl. I'd suggest you ether follow us, or go your way. Things could get dangerous... And ah, I wouldn't trust these people in black if I was you. They send you out here with only one mission. Watch for people. You didn't know about the gas stuff right?" Nodding his head in her direction, Ashford stood upright and cracked his neck, before shaking it towards the vigilante.

"More a horse guy myself. And I forgot to bring money. Less the small one has something, seems we're running." Ashford stated, before letting out a grunt as he bent down to pick up the shard of a broken knife, placing it on the table before walking up towards Stoic.

Emerl let out another round of insect clicks over her attempts at groaning. The man put away his weaponry and raised his hands. Even Emerl could recognize it was an attempt to show he was not a threat. This combine with the other man's desire to work together only meant one thing. Emerl let out a powerful wood-like sent which turned the drone's eyes white. As the man walked towards the formation, the drones all glared at him. There fist were raised ready to attack but their eyes never shifted back to red. Emerl stood up with her scythe-like claw still dug into the ground and watched the man safety walk through her formation. After the man handcuffed the prisoner Ashford had. It was clear no more fighting would take place so Emerl dismissed the drones, allowing them to just disappear into energy that would return to Emerl. Emerl would also dismiss her Hymenopus Soul Gem form before returning her Cestus to her hip.

The man was a talker, a long talker. Emerl hated people like that. It was hard enough learning and speaking. It was even harder understanding of these new world words, slang, and idioms. For example, what was a cyber crime? Lucky for her, everything else seem was easy to piece together and he was just being wordy. Feeling safe to finally respond, she just scoffed.
"Dirt world people never threat. not-dirt world people only threat." The girl folded her arms disappointed she wasted energy for a nonexistent fight.

Now came the next long-winded speech. Kaiju put her hands on her temples in her best attempts to focus. This is how Emerl took it.
It's time to go.
Team up if you want and follow his rules, which were stupid so she did not listen.
Then he did weird Mechin magic on the black box thing. After that, he just spoke more Mechin talk. It was way to advance for a Turman girl like herself to understand.
"Don't understand. Don't understand. What is IP address? How box used to cut things? Is box weapon or Golem? Should break box! Want to break Golem now!" Before Emerl could enact on her wishes, the prisoner start his long-winded speech and Emerl understood none of it. Still, it seemed like this was very important. Maybe it was safer to work with the weaker dirt people.

Ashford made some comments, which shocked the girl. To think someone from the dirt world would think so lowly of her. In her world, just mentioning her race was enough to cause panic among the population of Aurians. Her mother, who was not even a warrior type, easily beaten more trained knights. Emerl had to set things straight.
"Name is Kaiju not girl! Kai-JU!" a Spicy smell flooded the small room, "Not Weak! Not Afraid! Dirt people Weaker than Turmans! Dont Forget!"
Emerl raised her foot as chitin encased it. Then she stomped and the floor bended under her rage. Then she dismissed the chitin
"Does not know gas drug stuff but Forced work with people in black. Will be arrested if failed. No choice. Will work with Ashford and eye patch man. Want to know name. Am Kaiju."

"Does not own wagon or horses. But am strong. Carry team there," Emerl ran outside and stretched out her arms. Suddenly a charm around her neck glowed and large red composed eyes covered her own eyes. They were see-through but the girl's pupil stopped moving and centered. Large nearly transparent wings, which shined in the light as if they were wet, sprouted from her back. Her Anax soul was fully activated. The girl hunched over and the wings batted the air. Then the wings starting beating until they disappeared leaving only a loud buzzing sound. The girl slow rose into the air. Then she jumped up several feet and flipped upside down, holding out her arms. "Hold hands. Will carry squad. Direct where to go!"