The Cruise Liner of Pride

[foolishjustice]

Who: Akechi, Cordelia, Maverick, Ren, Gunvolt, Jailbreak, Amaterasu
What: A journey to the center of the mind of a corrupt mage.
When: The last week of January.
Where: An otherworldly version of a government building in Tokyo.
Warnings: Selfish disregard for human life, making light of tragedy, chauvinism, people generally being Awful, forced transformation, body horror

[Akechi's Navigator transports the group from the street outside the government building to the deck of a luxury cruise ship, sailing through an ocean dotted with the remains of towering office buildings that are the only thing left of a sunken city. The sky is dark in all directions, the sun blotted out in the sky, and shadows move in the distance. The only exception is on the ship itself, where brilliant lights flood the area and fend off the darkness of eternal night.]

Comments

Entrance

[foolishjustice]

[At the entrance to the Palace, Crow stands in his princely attire, but his expression is grim. He pays little attention to the surroundings, clearly already well aware of what to expect, and instead turns to face the group.]

Since there are a couple people here who might not have the full story here...I want to make sure everyone's on the same page before we begin. I don't want the Shadow here to be able to sow distrust.

When I first came to Daybreak Academy, I was working for the man who owns this Palace. I was sent to sabotage the school, but now I have every intention of stopping him before he can do even more damage. If either of our new additions...have a problem with that, now's your time to speak up.

[fullthrottleammy]

What's that English saying? "Needs must when the devil drives?" I think that applies here.

[buddinghopes]

[Lia, already transformed and wearing the mask that she had donned in the previous Palace excursion as Snowdrop, is quiet as Crow speaks.

She's already aware of the circumstances, so at this point, she's quietly taking in the surroundings. She isn't sure what she was expecting, but this still gets to her in a way she can't articulate somehow...]

[shockingblue]

[When another chance to go through a Palace was offered, GV was at first a little reticent to the idea after the last time. That had been disturbing in its own right, and he hadn't been in a good place mentally for a few weeks after what happened to him. But once he heard at least some of the details... well. He couldn't turn his back on Akechi, even if he didn't really know him terribly well. It hit too close to home, and regardless of circumstances, Gunvolt felt the need to give his fellow student the justice and closure he sorely needed.

Though this time, Gunvolt had changed his costume considerably. He still had some of the old black special-ops gear underneath the cloak, and while his sword was his lightning blade, he preferred the change. It better hid his identity, for one thing... and the second, if anything, the look of a ronin felt apt. He did keep his old callsign of "Wraith," though.

When Akechi started speaking about this, he regarded his fellow student with his attention and a firm nod.]

Sometimes you don't have a choice. ...And other times, you just don't know what else to do. I sorta know how that is. So I don't have a problem with it.

All the more reason to take this one down.

Politician

[foolishjustice]

[The first target within the Palace is a politician, who they must convince to give them a letter of introduction. Passing through a luxurious party hall spanning two floors, with at least three bars on each floor, brings the group to a restaurant the politician is known to frequent. Crow has the required membership card for entrance, but they'll need to figure out a way to get the target to cooperate once they speak to him...]

[buddinghopes]

Any bright ideas?

[She'll be eyeing a few of the tables. If it weren't for the fact that they're here on business, she'd be tempted to try stuff in the restaurant... She's trying not to think about it too much but the food's right there...]

Ex-Noble

[foolishjustice]

[The owner of the second letter of introduction is an ex-noble who spends his time by the Olympic sized indoor pool below decks. He's a portly man, known for having a low opinion of commoners, but a distinct appreciation for the ladies. Unfortunately, as the only ones not in swimsuits, the group is getting a fair number of odd looks...]

[buddinghopes]

[This feels super uncomfortable from the get-go, to be perfectly honest, and Snowdrop's squirming in place as she looks around.

It's less the odd looks that bother her and more the inevitable encounter with this ex-noble that does...]

So, um... does anyone particularly care if I go duck into the locker room or something?

Icon reflects true feelings

[fullthrottleammy]

Go ahead, I can handle this.

[Ammy's posture straightens and her usual smile fades away, a serious look replacing it.]

Akechi-san, what is this man's name?

[Even her tone of voice has changed to give an imperious impression.]

[foolishjustice]

That's Shuichi Shintani. Be careful, he's a lech with absolutely no shame and an entitlement complex on top of it.

[nor_iron_bars]

Go forth and get out of this creeper's range of vision. I hereby give you official teacherly permission and stuff.

[Jail waves in a vague direction, uncaring of whether the locker room is actually over that way, or even exists.]

[She recognizes the kind of looks that guy's giving them, okay. When directed at her, they only inspire mild annoyance at most, but seeing him leer at a teenage girl? Nope, fuck that, not here for this shit today.]

Squeak?

[foolishjustice]

[As the group approaches a network of hallways and conference rooms marked on the map, Crow holds his arm out to stop the group.]

Wait. It looks as if the security in here has been reactivated, which means...

[He steps into the room, and is immediately surrounded in a cloud of white smoke. When it clears, a mouse is standing in his place.]

We'll have to take advantage of these forms to navigate this area, but be careful. We won't be able to use magic like this.

Let me know if this works.

[nor_iron_bars]

[Jail cautiously investigates the effect, moving back and forth to watch it activate and deactivate again. Her conclusion?]

This is just fucking adorable.

[She's not exactly a mouse, per se. Even as a tiny fuzzy critter, she just can't resist being the tallest girl in the room, apparently.]

[foolishjustice]

It's less adorable when you run into a closed door and realize you're too small to open it.

[His ears twitch, and he looks across the room at a patrolling guard.]

And security tends to not recognize me in this form, so we won't be able to rely on my clearance to avoid trouble.

TV Executive

[foolishjustice]

[Third is a TV executive, who spends his days gambling away in the game room. Once the group makes it through the rat maze, getting to the casino is easy...the question becomes, how will they convince their target to give them the letter of introduction they need?]

[fullthrottleammy]

[Ammy steps into the game room... and quickly steps back out, wolf ears flat against her head.]

P-perhaps I should let someone else handle this...

[Anyone who's paying attention might notice her giving the many slot machines in the room wary looks.]

[shockingblue]

[Well, that's not something he'd really expected to see.]

...Are you okay? Is all this too... loud?

[Admittedly, he wasn't much of a mindreader and with the wolf ears pointed downward, his first thought was maybe it was too much of a sensory overload.]

IT Guy

[foolishjustice]

[Next to last is an IT worker, who never leaves his room. Some searching reveals a pathway that will take them to the balcony outside his window, but what will they say to get his letter of introduction?]

[shockingblue]

[At this point, Gunvolt's pretty done playing nice with a lot of this Palace. Though he's still plenty professional and careful, he looks over to his teammates before approaching the window.]

Look, I dunno about the lot of you, but electronics are where I've got a lot of sway. And by that, I mean if this guy doesn't want to cooperate and make it easy, I'm more than willing to fry every computer he's got and tear up his network from the roots.

I figure if there's anything a guy in IT hates, it's everyone calling him and demanding why the internet's not working, right?

[nor_iron_bars]

[Totally serious:] We're also not thrilled about blockchain. [Look, someone decided it was a good reason to let her handle IT stuff for Daybreak, she has seen some shit.]

But yeah, if playing nice doesn't get results, a straight-up "or else" could work.

????

[foolishjustice]

[The fifth, and final, target is known only as the Cleaner, and Crow leads the group to the ship's engine room to find him. Unlike the other targets, he doesn't pause to discuss strategy. Instead, he switches his outfit to something more sinister looking and approaches the suited Yakuza member directly. A brief conversation reveals that the Cleaner has no true loyalty to Shido, and would rather hand over his letter and bounce than fight the black mask on his own turf.]

That's all of them. We can open the door to the Treasure room now.

[But does anyone else think that last letter was kind of too easy?]

[buddinghopes]

So, like... does anyone else feel like that might have been too easy?

[Maybe she's paranoid but this is giving her a bad feeling and she's not digging it. After a few moments, she summons one of her handguns, warily looking around.]

[fullthrottleammy]

[Ammy stops dead in her tracks.]

I can smell you, you know. You might as well come out.

Cognitive Akechi

[foolishjustice]

[Amaterasu's Power Slash cuts the gun clean in two, and Jail's bullet sends it stumbling back. She's right that it doesn't kill it...it just makes it angry.

Black and red energy explodes out of it, changing it into an angelic figure. Its backup undergoes a similar transformation, becoming a spearman and beast.]

In the Captain's name, you will suffer and die!

[nor_iron_bars]

[Jailbreak shoots it again on general principle.]