The Wertheimer Institute IC

[Tengu_temp]

September 4th 2041. Wednesday. The weather in Tokyo is moderate - neither too hot nor too cold, almost any clothes are good for it. It rained yesterday, but today is pretty sunny. It is late afternoon.

Tokyo Psi Academy
The ordinary classes, at least for the majority of the students, are already over by this point - but some of them still have special psi training. For example, Yuri Zolnerowich, Alan Wainwright and Fujiwara Yukina all have field training schueduled for today. To learn the details, they are to meet with their instructor at Lecture Room 4A in around five minutes.
There are some bad news, however. Some people already occupy the brightly-lit corridor leading to Lecture Room 4A, and not just ordinary students, but Akimoto Naoko and a few of her friends, though subordinates might have been a better word. A high school senior, this girl transferred to the Tokyo Academy a few months ago, and thanks to a pretty face and wealthy family, she quickly became very popular and a self-proclaimed queen of the school. She is also a huge bitch.

Library
Today was a very quiet day, with few visitors. Tyler's shift is almost over and nothing wrong should happen if he wanders away from his desk for a few minutes, for whatever reasons. When he returns, however, he finds that someone took his chair. It's an old man, with a grey moustache and a short beard, wearing a long, brown coat, and old-fashioned hat and glasses. He's reading a chess magazine and seems to be completely absorbed by it.

Alright everyone, time to introduce your characters! The students don't have to know who else is scheduled to have the field training at this time, unless they did some research into that. It helps if all the independents are in the library at this time, but it's not strictly necessary.

[SuperCracker]

Alan was currently wearing a black version of the academy clothing with red trim, untucked.

Alan walked down the hallway with these other two. Neither of them had been in any of his previous training sessions. He wondered why the school was switching it up. Ultimately, it didn't matter, though-- Alan could get along with most of the students... except Naoko. She was uniformly horrible to most of the younger students, and Alan couldn't stand her because of it. He said quietly to the other two, Yuri (the younger one) in particular, "See that girl up there? Ignore every word that comes out of her mouth. I'm serious, her voice makes people dumber."

As he approached that group, he didn't particularly veer off-course. By now, it was pretty well established that he didn't take any s*** from this girl.

[Cubey]

Yukina hesitated. The corridor had obstacles. She could probably recognize some of them from past, unpleasant experiences - if she paid any attention to them at the moment. She didn't. Not only was she in a (relative) hurry, she was listening to quiet music on her earphones. That was much more important and interesting. It also explains why she doesn't say anything as of the moment.

She looked around - is there any way to pass the group without having to push any of them out of the way? It doesn't necessarily have to include maneuvering between or aside them. Yukina is levitating a foot in the air or so already (it's a necessity if you don't want hair as long as hers to gather all the dust and trash on the floor, and also useful since she doesn't wear any shoes - again). Getting even higher to pass the group from above is not a problem for her either.

[Tengu_temp]

The girls are not really blocking the way, and Yukina can pass without any obstacles on the way - physical ones, at least. When she gets close she can feel their judgemental eyes on her, and when she passes by, Naoko opens her mouth loudly.
"See? I always said the Institute is so open-minded! They even let monsters from old horror movies in!" Her comment is accompanied by shrill laughs from her posse. "They're not good students though. I've heard this girl failed to pass to the next year not just once, but twice! I guess you can't expect someone who looks like that to be talented."

[SuperCracker]

Alan was going to just walk on by, but no... Naoko couldn't keep that big yap shut. Alan paused in mid-step when she made her cruel little comment, then he calmly turned around and said. "Oh! Naoko. You're here. I didn't know they were holding special ed. classes in this part of the school. Have they taught you how to spell 'cat' yet? Oh wait... sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. You and your little gaggle of skanks have to learn how to not drool on yourselves, first." He glared at her. "Now shut up."

[Cubey]

Yukina's music was quiet enough to listen to others, but that didn't matter - the girls were annoyingly loud and their shrieks able to pierce through even the loudest theme.

"I have yet to fail a semester." She explains, mildly confused. Monsters? She didn't see any around yet.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri Zolenrowich walked a few steps behind the other two students headed to 4A, her steps quiet as she went. For the most part, she kept her head down, watching her own steps. Truth be told she was a little nervous to be called to a field exercise with two other students that she barely knew, and both of them much older than her. She had to look way up to even talk to the tall boy and the thin, levitating girl that preceded her. Already she was starting to slightly worry about the upcoming exercise; what if she messed up, and they all failed because of it? She glanced up at her fellow students briefly. The American seemed confident, cool, composed. Yuri didn't know much about Americans. To her, he seemed like one of those ultra cool, rock steady, "don't-tread-on-me" types you saw in the American action movies. Yuri certainly didn't want to do him wrong.

The older girl, on the other hand, was a bit... odd. What with the levitating, and the almost painful thinness of her body, she seemed so tall... and with her quietness, and her focus inward, she seemed like something otherworldly. Yuri wondered what she was thinking underneath those headphones. What was she listening to? Was it music? What kind of music did such a person listen to? Was it as otherworldly and strange as she seemed to be? Or... what if it wasn't music? What if that had something to do with her psychic powers? Like maybe she could her the dead speaking through static or something. It always amazed Yuri what people could do with their psychic powers. All Yuri could do was make things normal again.

Yuri pushed aside her increasingly escalating conjectures and idealizations about her two fellow students. Obviously, they were two advanced, experienced, and powerful psykers. As old as they were, they were maybe even close to graduating! Yuri couldn't let them down! She had to do her best for them! She'd give a 100 percent! No, 110 percent! No, even that was too little! 120!

Yuri clenched her fist excitedly, caught up briefly in her own little mental psyche up. She was up to 210 when Alan's words suddenly caught her offguard. Looking up, she was surprised and a bit intimidated to see another group of older students in the hallway.

The other tow kept going, but Yuri stopped. For the most part, she'd been keeping to herself and keeping her head down since she got her. In all honesty, what Yuri would have normally done was to merely find another way around or just wait until they left before trying to go by. She'd heard things about Naoko that made her not want to get her attention. But the other two were going on, and they really didn't have any time...

Yuri paused to straighten her appearance, smoothing out the wrinkles in the blue uniform, trying to look as neat and clean as possible. Finally she straightened the bow holding her pony tail in place; a rare gift from her father, it was rather large, ornate, and frilly thing. From a certain angle, it looked like a huge butterfly was perched on the back of her head. Finished, she steeled herself and began walking towards 4A.

Maybe if she just made sure everything was in place, and didn't give them any reason to notice her, they would let her by without incident. All she had to do was walk by; they were even more focused on the two older students. She just had to avoid doing anything noticeable. Like tripping and dropping one of her books right at the feet of one of the other students. That would be bad.

[Tengu_temp]

Alan's response meets with offended gasps from the posse. But, unfortunately, Naoko wouldn't hold her title if people talking back to her discouraged her.
"Oh? A white knight, how romantic! Are you protecting your princesses in hope of getting favours from them, because you can't get any normally? And apparently the school's 'big brother' likes crazy witches and girls much younger than him! Good to know."

[SuperCracker]

He smirked at that one. "Well if you want to talk about witches, your personality has more in common with the Wicked Witch of the East... who, coincidentally, had a house dropped on her. Remember that, and keep an eye out above you." He made a motion with his hands like something falling on something else. He then turned to walk off towards the meeting, singing, "Hey, ho, the witch is dead, the witch is dead, the witch is dead. Hey ho, the wicked witch is deeeeaaaad."

[Cubey]

Yukina wasn't sure what the girl wants now. Princesses, favours? She is talking about her, but she doesn't have any favours to give. It's something like a ribbon to give to a knight to attach to his lance, right? She does not wear anything like that. The other, smaller girl, on the other hand...

But she knew one thing. Naoko is loud. Loud, annoying and unpleasant. She should stop acting like that.

So Yukina extends her arm and points at Naoko's forehead, at her psi-amp. There is still a fair distance between her finger and the forehead - no touching involved.

"What are your psychic abilities?" She asks.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri had paused partway past the group, listening to Alan trade words with Naoko. She was a bit confused at the exchange of words; it wasn't how she had imagined an American would speak. It was disappointingly... like how everyone else would speak. With a slight start, she realized that in her pause to think, Alan had started walking towards the class. She started to step off, but Yukina was still here... weren't they supposed to go together? She stopped mid-step, uncertain if she should follow Alan or wait for Yukina.

[Tengu_temp]

"Why should I tell you that?" Naoko sounds more annoyed now. "Maybe you will find out one day, unless you drop off in the meantime. Let's go girls, I don't want to waste my time with these losers anymore." She and her friends leave, letting you enjoy an annoyance-free corridor.

If Yukina paid any attention to it, Naoko's psi-amp has the shape of a circle, with a square cut out in the middle. Whatever is this supposed to mean, you can only guess.

[SuperCracker]

As Naoko walked away, Alan hummed the victory theme from Final Fantasy 7 and half-a**edly pumped his fist into the air.

[Cubey]

Yukina had an ambivalent expression on her face. She wanted to know, but she was happy the annoyance is gone. She didn't even have to consider throwing them away with her own telekinetic powers.

"I will enter room 4A now." She says to no one in particular. Dealing with other people is tiring.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri stood by as the little confrontation finally broke up. She let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, giving a sigh of relief. "That wasn't too bad. I wonder why..." Yuri couldn't really imagine why anyone would want to be so nasty, even though she'd had to deal with this kind of thing before. Of course, when it was her, there usually seemed to be a reason... "Must be having a bad day or something..." Yuri entered 4A after Yukina, looking for the instructor supposed to meet them.

[Tengu_temp]

The lecture room is pretty small, at least by university standards - there are places for around 50 students. Currently, however, the only person here apart from you is a refined-looking woman of around 30 years of age, wearing an Institute uniform and with light blue (an implant, most likely) hair put up in a bun. You might recognize her - her name is Yoshikuni Kumiko, and despite her appearance she's one of the Academy's combat instructors.
"Ah, here you are! Good. Please, have a seat. Is everyone feeling fine? Bear in mind that the field training might be dangerous, so if or something is the matter or you're not feeling up to it, you need to tell me right away. There is no shame in that."

[SuperCracker]

Alan walked over to one of the chairs and sat in it, leaning back. He grinned when she was asking if anyone needed to back out. This lady must not know him very well if she's asking that question. "No complaints here. I just hope this one's exciting enough to be worth the time." He flexed his fists a couple of times.

[Cubey]

"I feel fine." There was no need to say anything else. Yukina is ready for anything. The Institute wants her to do something, so she will do it - what else is there to do?

She looks at her seat with hesitation, but finally floats to the ground level and sits down. The floor feels a bit cold for her.

[Poison_Fish]

Elisa sits at her desk with a book on court cases within Japan from 1998-99. She doesn't seem to be aware of what else is around her as she is fully absorbed in her book.

[Tengu_temp]

"I am sure it will be exciting enough for you." The instructor smiles at Alan's eagerness. Unless Yuri raises any doubts or objections, she continues.
"Do you remember your theoretical course on taking recon photos? I hope you do, because it's time to put those skills to use." Indeed, you had something like that as part of the combat training. The screen behind her back, previously blank, flashes and starts showing a map of the ruined part of Tokyo. "Your task is to embark to the Zone, locate the ruins of Haneda Airport, and take photos of them. Move as a team and stay cautious, because there might be dangerous creatures around. I will keep radio contact with you all the time - you must keep your status updated all the time, and listen to whatever instructions I have for you - including the order to abandon the exercise, though I hope that won't have to happen. Well then... Any questions?"

[Cubey]

Yukina understands everything, so she sits on her chair, still and quiet. She's good in sitting still, unless there is a music piece playing that she really likes, which causes her to sway lightly. But that is not the case now. The details of the operation do not bother her. She will move forward until she finds something that looks like the airport, then she will take its picture.

And then she realizes a logical error in the orders she just received.
"What are these photos for?"
She looks and sounds concerned as she asks that. The error really starts bothering her now.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri had no objections, at least none that she would voice. She was still determined to impress her instructors and her fellow students, and to make sure that none of them were slighted by failings on her part. She didn't want to shake her resolution in even the slightest, and so merely smiled and took her seat. "I'm ready for anything, ma'am!"

Yuri listened with her hands folded primly as the instructor detailed the assignment. When Yukina asked her question, Yuri glanced at her nervously. She was curious about that too, but she would have asked in a less direction fashion. "Ma'am, are we looking for anything in particular in the airport? Is there a particular objective, like the control tower, or are we to get information on the whole field? And do we need to get in the photos? How close do we need to be?"

[Tengu_temp]

"Their only purpose is to grade your ability to gather recon data that can be analyzed back at the base. This is just an exercise, after all, not the real thing - Tokyo has enough airports, we don't need to reclaim the old one." Ms Yoshikuni seems to be slightly amused.
"You need to take pictures of the whole airport area. Your distance should be close enough to catch all the details that might turn out to be important - just like it was said in the theoretical training."

[SuperCracker]

The Zone. That got his attention, quick. He perked up, now actually paying attention to the mission details. When the instructor made it sound like the photos didn't matter, Alan gave a "Tsk" and folded his arms. "You're kidding me. Why can't we go and recon something that actually matters? There's plenty of stuff going on in that Zone that we don't know about." Now he was fitting his reputation. Alan believed that the Invaders were still out there... up to something. It might have been a byproduct of his childhood trauma, but he fiercely believed it.

[Tengu_temp]

"Don't forget that you are still just students." The instructor's tone becomes more strict. "Inspecting lairs of the mutated wildlife, and other similar locations, is highly dangerous. It's a job for professionals."

[Neon Knight]

Although the strictness wasn't directed at her, Yuri still flinched slightly at the reprimand in her tone. "Y-yes, ma'am. I understand. We'll... I-I'll be careful and do my best."

[Cubey]

Yukina calms down. She doesn't really understand the motives - she knows that she can do something like this, so why the test? She can just tell Yoshikuni that she can do something like that and she should believe it.

But on the other hand, Yukina wants to see the airport.

"I can do this." She says.

[SuperCracker]

He grit his teeth, but didn't say anything else. At least it was better than sitting here in the Academy. He just gave a nod and waited to be dismissed.

[Ishikar]

Approaching the gentleman Tyler addresses him.

Excuse me sir, this desk is for use by the people who work at this library. I had to step away for a moment to sort the shelves a bit but if you need assistance I can help you now that I've returned. Otherwise I would have to ask you to please move over to the reading section, we have several empty desks there for use.

[Fri]

As tyler tries to assert his place in the library, a girl with long black hair and simple plaid dress enter the room. She put her frilly parasol at the currently empty umbrella stand, and walks toward Tyler's desk with a stack of books.

"Good afternoon, Nakaoka-san." Yuuna tilt herself sideways to get herself a clear line of view around the old man. Her voice is soft and rather singsong-y. "Sorry to bother you at the end of your shift. I just want to return these books," she smiles.

"I'm sorry, I'm not interrupting things right?"

Yuuna's choice of books are rather eclectic. Beside some old gardening magazines, she also drops victorian and thriller novels, medical anatomy book, knitting pattern collections, and even an old encyclopedia.

[Poison_Fish]

Suddenly noting the arrival of her two favorite regulars, Elisa gets up after bookmarking her case files with a "smiley greeting kitty"® bookmark. She steps over to the work desk, book in arms, with a bemused look as she notes the amount of books Yuuna has dropped.

"Good afternoon Nakaoka-san, Yuuna-san. Yuuna-san, I hope you enjoyed Jane Austin. She's excellent pre-victorian literature" Elisa smiles to both of them, only giving a tacit look at the older gentlemen who Tyler is fussing with.

[Tengu_temp]

Lecture Room
"Alright then! If everything is clear now, please take your equipment." The instructor's mood returns to its previous, content state. She gestures towards the desk in front of her, which contains three specialized cameras for military use, head-worn radios, and a flat, electronic map. "You can upload the map to your phones or computers if you want to. For this exercise, you have the permission to carry weapons as well. The exercise begins in 45 minutes, at the location marked on the map." It's on the edge of the Zone - 45 minutes is more than enough to arrive there by train. "Make sure to be there on time. See you until then, and good luck!"

Library
"Oh, I'm sorry. Here, have your desk back." The old man gets up from the chair, but instead of stepping away he looks at Tyler. "How was your latest expedition, young man?", he asks in a conversational tone. "Not very successful, if I recall correctly. I'm sorry to hear that. Tell me... Would you be interested in going to the Zone and doing something there for me? In return, I will share some information that I believe you will find very useful."
He's not saying loud enough for anyone but those close enough to hear, fortunately. It still means Elisa and Yuuna did, though...

[Neon Knight]

Yuri took her share of the equipment last, not wanting to be improper or somehow slight the other two students. She wasn't planning on taking anything other than mission essentials into the zone, so she didn't copy the map. The one provided should be sufficient.

Yuri was unsure as to whether she should leave. Maybe the other two wanted to talk, to discuss the exercise before they split up to gather what they needed? Yuri needed to get her sidearm from the armorer at the very least before she was ready. But they didn't know each other very well, and they didn't know each others capabilities. That was actually a point Yuri wasn't too eager to discuss, but she knew it was inevitable. Of course, she wasn't sure if she should bring it up herself, so she just pauses near the entrance of the room briefly, glancing briefly to the older two.

[SuperCracker]

Alan stood up and walked over to the equipment. He picked up his headset, downloaded the map to his phone, and took a camera. After waiting for the other two o get their gear he said. "Go get whatever you need. I'm all set." No armor... no weapons. It may have been starting to be clear what his capabilities related to. He walked over to Yuri, who seemed hesitant. Alan thought it might be her first trip into a Zone. "It'll be alright. I'll have your back out there."

[Neon Knight]

Yuri was a bit unsettled by Alan's words. They were meant well enough, and kindly said, but it gave her the impression that already he assumed she would need to be watched, that she was dead weight. A brief flutter of despair arose in her chest, but she pushed it down. "T-thank you for taking care of me. I'll watch your back too! You can count on me!" She bowed politely, forgetting for a second that as a fellow foreigner the gesture might not be expected, and then quickly left, not wanting to disobey the instruction to collect her things. Besides, Yukina didn't seem very talkative, and was unlikely to speak to her.

Yuri stopped by her room briefly, to record the events thus far in her journal. She had a rather large filing cabinet filled with journals recounting past days in quite exquisite detail. It was a requirement for all nulls, but Yuri found the practice so beneficial that she would have kept records without prompt. It helped to piece things back together when her memory got leaky, or after... well, after an episode, or after her powers exacted their cost. She'd been to a Zone before... the Tunguska Zone in the Krasnoyarsk Krai. She didn't remember anything about it, though, although she was given limited access to the after action report and to the reports of the other students on that operation. She knew what had happened, but she couldn't remember in-between exiting the helicopter and waking up in the hospital bed. Yuri hoped that this exercise would turn out better than that one, although no one had died.

After that, Yuri went to the armorer and got her sidearm released. It had been a bit of a hassle to get it over here, but it was worth it. She'd trained and worked with this weapon for so long that it was like an old friend to her. It was a comfort to her that in this unfamiliar place, with unfamiliar allies, she at least knew her weapon.

When Yuri arrived at the designated point a while later, she wore a shoulder holster rig supporting a very large and intimating handgun. It looked like a Walther P38 on steroids, hearkening back to the days of the Soviet Union in its style. She looked around quickly for her fellow students.

[SuperCracker]

Alan arrives shortly thereafter, wearing nothing different, save for tape around his wrists and knuckles. He'd brings a pair of binoculars with him, and that's all. The rest, he trusts to his powers... himself.

He catches sight of Yuri and walks over to her. His eyes catch sight of that giant handgun (made even more giant by virtue of her size). He looks visibly impressed by the firepower. Whereas he had thought she was young and probably not combat experienced, this... seemed to point to at least some combat skill.

"Nice hand-cannon you've got there. I bet that thing could do some damage." He gave a small grin, "I tend to get up-close and personal, so it's nice to have a shooter with me. Compliments nicely."

[Cubey]

Yukina slipped out of the room wordlessly, carrying a camera in one hand and the comm in the other. She glanced at the map, trying to memorize it, but didn't download it to a cellphone or anything like that.

She's the last one to arrive at the meeting point. She's almost late - in fact, she came there exactly 45 minutes after the briefing was over. What she was doing in the meantime is a mystery, but it couldn't be anything of any importance whatsoever because Yukina looks and carries exactly the same things as before. She even didn't find it sensible to bring a bag or anything along, the necessary equipment still clutched in her hands.

"Hello." She says, like if it's the first time she met the two today.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri smiles brightly at the compliment in Alan's words and countenance. "Thank you. I've been using this gun for a few years now, ever since my first exercise at the Institute back home. I'll do my best to keep you covered."

She turned slightly as Yukina walked up, automatically incorporating her into the group and the discussion by her body language and facing. "Hello." She smiles in a friendly fashion, but it falters at the slight strangeness in Yukina's tone. "Oh, um... I-I guess we haven't been formally introduced to one another. I'm Yuri Zolnerowich, a recent transfer from the Moscow Institute. It's a pleasure to meet you both." She bowed again; before coming to Japan, she'd spent some time studying and practicing some of the local customs. She hoped she was doing everything correctly.

[SuperCracker]

"Uh... yeah. Hi." He replied to Yukina. Then the introductions began. He nodded to Yuri, and introduced himself, and went ahead and told them his abilities. They'd have to talk about it sooner or later, anyway. "Alan Wainwright. Combat Specialist. I have a skin-tight field of TK around me that helps me fight and makes me faster and stronger, and I can explode things at range or project a shockwave... It's not precise, though, so you want to get out of the way if I have to do it."

[Cubey]

"Yes." Yukina agrees - they weren't formally introduced yet. She nods as everyone says their names, and will try to remember them.

Then she realizes something may be expected of her. She looks around the both of her companions.

"Should I say my name now? I am Fujiwara Yukina. I am a psychokinetist. This means I can move and affect physical objects with my mind." She is floating in the air, bobbing up and down gently, so the last statement was redundant. But she feels like she should say something more. Small talk - not a strong point. Yukina will try, anyway.

"I am happy that we can see Haneda Airport." Well, that's a start.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri pays attention as both of them give their names and specialties. She'll do her best to commit them to memory- but she'll also make sure to record as much as she can about them, just in case. There wasn't a pattern to her power's cost, and she never knew what she might lose.

Of course, Yuri hadn't mentioned her specialty, and wasn't planning on bringing it up. Pouncing upon the opportunity provided by Yukina, she decided to pursue the small talk for as long as she could. "Oh, really? Is Haneda Airport really famous?"

[Cubey]

"I don't know." Yukina wouldn't recognize fame if it came straight to her and hit her in the nose. She is interested in the airport for different reasons: to see a place so full of activity, that served thousands of humans everyday. Now mostly devoid of life, ruined and left aside to degenerate, but also to develop in a different, more biological way... and also with the Zone's supernatural elements. The picture that this image paints is most fascinating for her.

"I think it will be... very interesting."

[Neon Knight]

"O-oh." Yuri's not really sure what to say at the moment, nor is she sure what is going through her fellow student's head. Truth be told, she always felt a bit of trepidation about the Zones, and it wasn't just her bad past experiences with them. She couldn't remember most of those anyway. They just felt.... bad. They made her feel weird. To see what was once a normal place, changed in such a way... She imagined the airport, once bustling with activity. Transport, commerce... filled with life. And now, the Zones made it silent. Still. A zero. All that the airport had once provided, had once been, had been rendered... null.

She hated that word.

Yuri shook herself a little bit. "I bet it will be. All the Zones are really unlike anywhere else. And we'll get photos too. Maybe they'll let you keep some if it turns out to be really neat." She smiled again, trying to suppress her morbid reaction under a slightly forced cheeriness.

[SuperCracker]

"It's just another lost scrap of Japan. You heard the instructor, as far as they know, there's no real significance. It's pointless. But, at least we're getting to go to the Zone in the first place." Alan relished every chance he got to go there. Every time he went, regardless of how silly the reason, there was a slight chance he could discover something about Them. He was raised hearing that psychics were the answer to Them. But here we sit, and let the Zones fester.

He shook his head. "Either way, the Zone is still dangerous, but it's nothing we can't handle."

[Cubey]

"Oh." Yukina looks down on the camera she still carries in her hand, like if she just remembered about its existence.

"I should take the photos back then." Was she intending on just leaving them on the airport?

"We must start before it gets dark. Is this mission timed?" A surprisingly lucid question, but asked a bit too late. Fortunately, there is the head-worn radio.

So she floats down to Earth, puts the camera on the ground, reluctantly removes her headphones, puts the radio's headset on - and then the headphones back atop of it. That can't be too comfortable.

"Is this mission timed?" She repeats the question, this time directing it at miss Kumiko who should be, hopefully, listening to the transmission on her side. At the same time, Yukina glances nervously at the grounded camera, like if making sure it doesn't disappear when her gaze is focused elsewhere.

[Tengu_temp]

"You don't have a time limit, but the faster you finish the objective, the better.", Yukina gets a response. All of you can hear it, of course. "Is everyone prepared? You can start when you're ready."

There is a belt of no-man's land between the actual city and the Zone - it's covered in rubble from bulldozed buildings that nobody bothered to clean, a half-destroyed ruin here and there, tall fences, barricades and barbed wire - your starting point was chosen not without a reason, though, and there's a more or less clean passage nearby. What lies beyond is the Zone - a labirynth of dilapidated buildings and crumbling scyscrapers, some covered in greenery as the city's arbor areas have grown beyond any reason under the Zone's infleunce. Apart from you there's no living soul around, neither animal nor man - the Zone is not a very popular place among law-abiding citizens.

[Poison_Fish]

Elisa raises an eyebrow at the old man and looks to Tyler. oh ho. She then looks around to see if anyone else is observing them, then listens intently to what Tyler may say next.

[Cubey]

"I don't know..." Yukina mumbles. She looks at her teammates.

"Are you ready?" She asks them. The surroundings do not bother her, even if there was no clear passage into the Zone. She can always fly above the rubble... or clear the way for her teammates.

[Ishikar]

Taken aback at the mans words Tyler glances at the two girls who are standing within earshot of the man. As he pauses for a moment torn between this new potential information and the need to keep his secret before speaking again.

I'm terribly sorry sir but I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. It's illegal too enter the zone without permission and it would be entirely to dangerous for a regular person to enter. He takes Yuuna's books and scans them into the computer as he speaks to her.

Alright, there doesn't seem to be any issue with this except that you continue to call me Nakaoka-san when I said you could call me Tyler. I did live in America for several years, it's something that I grew accustomed to.

[Tengu_temp]

"Oh, I see. Please forgive me, I must have mistook you for someone else - someone who needs help finding his missing sister, the whereabouts of whom I happen to know. I should find that young man quickly, I think he needs my help." The old man prepares to leave.

[Ishikar]

Dropping the encyclopedia he's holding which lands on his floor with a very loud thud Tyler freezes for a moment before he speaks, his blue eyes beginning to glow slightly as the air around him grows heavier.

Very well old man, you seem intent to make this into a scene. You very obviously know who I am and what I want with the ease at which you push to the direct heart of the issue so you have my attention. I'll hear you out but you had better be clear, if you play around with this and I find out you were lying things will likely get unpleasant. I'm off shift so we should go elsewhere to discuss this.

Tyler turns away from the old man and happens across the two girls. Pausing he shrugs his shoulders and speaks to them.

No use crying over spilled milk as they say. You guys obviously know a bit more about me and that I've got my secrets. I'd ask you to please let things lie as they are, I'd very likely get in a great deal of trouble and draw the ire of the institution if they found all this out. If you want I'll let you know the full story later but for now I've got a bit of pressing business with this gentleman.

[Fri]

"Oh, right, Naka.. I mean Tyler... And nice to meet you, uhm, Miss Elisa" she struggles to keep herself from referring her with her last name. "Thank you for your recommendation. Northanger Abbey is particularly fun. Though I think I still prefer Mary Shelley."

There are no discernable change on her emotion at all when she heard what the old man says. Her only response is this.

"I thought you said that you have a deceased sister?" She tilts her head.

[Poison_Fish]

Elisa nods at Tyler "Perhaps later... maybe over some tea, there is a nice tea place that I imagine you'd like" she smiles at Tyler, then realizes she's still carrying a collection of papers and fumbles around to balance them before they hit the ground. In the bustle of papers, her glasses droop from her face and she looks back up, her glasses poised to fall. "but uh... could I check this out first?" she points to the case files she's carrying.

She then looks towards Yuuna "You can just call me Elisa if you'd like. I don't really care for the formality"

[Tengu_temp]

"Don't worry. I have no habit of lying, and I do not plan to start anytime soon." The mysterious old man follows Tyler wherever he leads him. He doesn't seem to mind if the girls decide to join too (though Tyler might), and upon reaching the destination, he proceeds to explain.
"Since you requested, I will keep this simple. Before the Tall Men attacked, Haneda was the biggest airport in Tokyo. What I'd like you to bring you is an item that's kept in one of the airport's security lockers, and spent the last fifteen years there. In exchange for the item, I will tell you where your sister is. What do you think?"

[Ishikar]

Taking a moment to process the files that Elisa wanted Tyler clocks out of his shift on time and follows the man. He nods at the girls briefly and occasionally checks over his shoulder but he's more interested in the gentleman before him and is too distracted with his whirring thoughts to keep an effective watch against being followed.

After hearing out the gentleman's request he nods slowly before speaking.

It seems a fair deal, though I'm surprised that you were willing to leave something sitting for 15 years that was important enough to go back for. As I recall I can get within site of the airport without getting too close to any big nests, though expansion and wandering beasts can be an issue. The airport itself is a different matter entirely though, I don't know what kind of infestation it will have and with it's size and the typical layout of an airport there would be some good nesting spots. Well the lead is the best I've gotten and I'll take the job. Just tell me what you want picked up, which locker it's in, and if you have a key or not.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri checked the radio headset quickly to insure its complete and total proper function, and then drew her sidearm. With quick, drilled, and precise motions she inspected the weapon in the same manner. Not a single aspect of the weapon was left unchecked; after finally inspecting the chamber, she slid a wide magazine into the grip and released the slide lock, chambering a high velocity 9.2mm hardball slug. "Yuri here. I'm ready!"

[Fri]

Whether Tyler agrees with her following him or not, Yuuna popped out from behind him.

"If what he's saying is true, isn't this a happy occasion, Tyler-san? Your sister might be still alive after all! But why are you asking this to Tyler, hmm? I bet there are countless professional private adventurers who got this as their daily job? Tyler is just a librarian. As beautiful the zone is at this time of the year, I' won't like it if I heard that Tyler got hurt because of some irresponsible old man sent him onto a nest of overly friendly mutant dogs..."

[SuperCracker]

He nodded once he received the instructions. This was a useless mission, but hell if he wasn't going to go all-out anyway. He looked back to Yuri and Yukina. "Alright. I'll take point. You both keep a safe distance back and keep an eye out. If you need me, say it and I'll get back to your position as quickly as possible." He looked at both of them, nodded, then started to head into the Zone.

[Ishikar]

Sighing at the inquisitiveness of the flower girl Tyler begins to address her without turning.

I have reasons for asking you to refrain from following me Yuuna. This is going to be a somewhat dangerous task but it's something that I've prepared for. I can appreciate your concern so I'll be frank about the situation. I'm certain you know at least in passing the events of the day my sister "died", it is a common story here and it did take the institute considerable effort and a scapegoat to repair relations between psychics and normals. He gives her a moment to nod before continuing

That night there was another figure flying with her, hidden somehow and nobody would believe what I said as there were no other reports of such sightings. I think someone or something has taken her for their own interests and have prepared for years to look for her. The truth is my latent psychic abilities aren't nearly so latent as others have been led to believe. I had a rough thesis of the institute's program through the prep courses. I just worked on them obsessively for years and now I can do this. He points his finger out the window towards a small tree branch. Taking a moment to focus the branch snaps like it was torn by hand but the edge of the break is clean like a knife cut.

Flaunting my abilities is hardly something I enjoy doing, the institute would likely have even greater words with me if they found out that I was a practicing Esper. i have other abilities to help me keep a wide watch, move, and protect myself. This shouldn't be a problem. Now I appreciate your concern Yuuna, but will you please go home, for your sake? Even knowing what you know now is too dangerous, if you get caught as party to this the penalty is severe and I can't ask you to risk your livelihood for my sake.

[Poison_Fish]

Elisa on the other hand chooses not to follow, respecting her friends wishes. However, on her way home she writes out an email on her phone addressed to Tyler: Hey Tyler :smallsmile: :smallsmile: I hope things are going ok and that old man isn't some creepy stalker :smallannoyed:. I would love to talk to you before you wander off. The tea place isn't far from my home. If you want to meet, it'll be my treat :smallredface:. Seems you were pretty stressed at the end of the day there :smallfrown:. I'll hang out there for a few hours going over this case file, but I can certainly take a break :smallwink:. Content with her text full of smilies she hits send.

[Cubey]

What do you say in situations like these? Ah yes.

"Okay. I will do that." Yukina's camera floats back into her hands, small distortions of visible light around it betraying that she's using her psionic powers. After the camera is safe, she lifts herself up and starts levitating in the air again. She is not sure what a "safe" distance is so she'll start advancing forward when Yuri does. Also, she was told to keep an eye out but nothing about hearing, so the music in her headphones is back on. It's much more interesting than the Zone's lack of sounds.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri's reply, on the the other hand, was a quick, sure, "Roger!" She lets Alan get some distance to put a proper interval between them and then follows, keeping close enough to stay in contact and to move quickly to reinforce, but far apart enough that an attack isn't likely to catch both of them with one blow.

Her companions might be surprised at how well versed and practiced she was in military proceeding, but then again neither of them knew that she was the prototype for a new breed of Russian anti-psyker death commandos. The frilly bows would probably be cut from the final version.

[Tengu_temp]

The Zone
You make your way through the no-man's land without much difficulty, and enter the actual Zone. So far you don't see any irregularities - just faded and rusted ruins, still similar to the rest of Tokyo despite the bombardment and fifteen years of neglect being merciless for them. Using the fastest route towards the airport you pass several streets, avoiding piles of rubble and wrecked cars...
And then it's time for the first weird thing. There used to be a park nearby long ago, and within fifteen years the mutated plants have spread, covering most of the walls and pavement of the street in front of you in green leaves and moss. And all this greenery is perfect food for the less aggressive local wildlife - huge, brown slugs, each a few feet long. They're not aggressive, but several dozen of them are all over the street, covering both the ground and the walls in slime trails.

Library
"Oh, believe me, if I could retrieve it sooner, I would." The old man pulls out a key, with a small plaque - the faded number can still be read as 38. "Here, take it. There should be a briefcase inside the locker - please don't open it, but you have my word that it doesn't contain anything illegal, dangerous, or glowing with golden light." He smiles slightly. "Before I go, let me give you two pieces of advice. One, you shouldn't go alone - as you said yourself, you have no guarantee what creatures might you meet there. Two, be quick - it would be bad for both of us if it turned out that someone else took the briefcase before you. It would be best if you got it before sunset."

[SuperCracker]

He slowed down for a brief moment to survey the area. The slugs may not be aggressive, but what about creatures that feed on the slugs? He radioed to Yukina. "Gain some altitude. It'll give you a better vantage point and you can provide overwatch. Yuri, I'm going to try and find a clear route through." Alan then started to run through the area, doing his best to avoid the slime when possible, whether he had to jump up onto obstacles or not.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri nodded. "Copy. Command, this is Yuri. We've encountered a patch of mutated vegetation and some wildlife. Big slugs. They don't seem to be aggressive. Alan is going to try to find a way through." Yuri glanced back over to the creatures and shuddered a tiny bit. She didn't like slimy things.

[Cubey]

Yukina's vector of direction changes. She indeed starts floating up, higher into the sky. But she also slowly but visibly moves towards the slugs.

"I want to touch them." She states clearly.

[Tengu_temp]

Alan gets through the area, though he has to jump over a few slime trails.
(Roll Notice if you're looking for anything unusual or hidden.)

"Understood. These slugs should be harmless, but stay cautious in case it's a recent mutation. After Alan is done, get back together and proceed to the airport again.", Ms Yoshikuni responds.
One of the creatures starts to slowly crawl towards Yuri. Maybe it's curious?

[Cubey]

Visual light distortions appear around the Yuri-advancing slug. Yukina lifts it from the ground - with her mind.

"It's harmless. It won't hurt you. Unless its skin is corrossive, I suppose..." She wonders loudly while the slug levitates about three feet in the air.

(I assume my Str 40 Psychokinesis is enough to lift something like that)

[Neon Knight]

"Copy. Wilco." Yuri was more than bit surprised at Yukina's statement. "W-what? You want to touch them?" Yuri looked up at her comrade in disbelief. "Why would you- eep!" One of them was coming towards her! Yuri's hands begin to shake slightly. She swallowed nervously and shook herself. No, she couldn't freak, not in front of her fellow students, not on an exercise. She forced herself to be calm. Just act like everything was normal. "Um, Alan, are you done yet?"

Yuri started a bit when the slug started floating. "Um, of course!" Yuri gave Yukina a rather fixed smile. "Of course they're harmless. W-why, did you think I was nervous or something?" Yuri gave a little laugh of mock bravado.

[Cubey]

"I want to touch it because I want to know how its skin feels like." Yukina explains in a slightly impatient tone. Wasn't her intention obvious? She also sounds impatient because she is interested in the slugs, but she was told to be a lookout. So that's what she does for the time being - look out for trouble, movement and additional interesting things. She's about 15 feet in the air, should be tall enough to get a good look at her surroundings. At the same time, the levitating slug floats towards the rest of its kind, where it is unceremoniously dumped on the ground.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri collects herself and also maintains overwatch, scanning the surrounding buildings for movement.

...and keeping an eye on those slugs out of the corner of her eye.

[Ishikar]

Tyler nods before standing.

I've made most of my forays before now during the night, it will be nice to have the benefit of increased visibility. He pulls out his phone at the message tone and after reading it sighs and shakes his head. Well Yuuna, Elisa wants to discuss the situation as well. I have to go by my house to gather the items I'm going to need so we may as well arrange to meet her and fill her in. Honestly, you guys can be a little too inquisitive for your own good. The slight grin on his face takes the sting out of his discussion. While he's walking away Tyler pauses turning his head towards the old man.

I never did get your name, I'll just have to get it from you find me to get the case back, it should be easy enough for you.

[Tengu_temp]

The Zone
The slug, discouraged by some mysterious force lifting it and then dropping it somewhere else, shifts its attention to some nearby fern leaves. The rest of its kind is absorbed in equally innocuous behaviour.

Library
"Ah, of course. My name is Atsushi Yama****a. To make contacting me even simpler, here's my phone number." The old man hands over a piece of paper. "If you'll excuse me now, I'd better get going. I wish you luck." Putting the magazine back on a nearby stack, he leaves the room.

[Cubey]

"Do you need a clear route?" Yukina asks as Alan proceeds with his scouting operation. If the ruins in front of him are blocked by rubble and impossible to pass, she is ready to throw some rocks around.

(Speaking of which, do we have a relatively clear way ahead of us or not?)

[Neon Knight]

If there aren't any further disturbances, Yuri will move up and rally with Alan once he gives the all clear. She doesn't want to mess around with those slugs more than she has to.

[Tengu_temp]

There is a more or less clean path, though it requires walking through plants and/or slime trails at a few points.

[SuperCracker]

Alan easily leaps over any obstacles he needs to get over (via leaping power), and in the mean-time, is attempting to thoroughly scout the area for anything unusual or interesting.

(Rolling notice)
[roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

The ex-park (because it resembles a literal urban jungle now, if anything) from which all those plants came is further away, but it's to the side and not on your route to the airport - it leads through more standard ruins again, though ones in much worse state. You will have to climb over piles of rubble a few times.
Alan notices some movement in the window of one of the nearby destroyed scyscrapers! It was only for a moment, on the second floor. What might that be, he can only guess.

[SuperCracker]

Through the radio, to his team, "Stay sharp. We have movement in the second floor of the building at 2 O'Clock. Yukina, clear a path for Yuri if it becomes necessary."

He waits for a moment, taking one last look around before he leaped to the next clear spot. He particularly watches the angle of the building. He could have just fired ordinance onto the floor, but he'd prefer to keep quiet until something actually happened.

[Cubey]

"Movement... exit stage left, pursued by a bear." Whatever was that supposed to mean, Yukina is already on the ground by Yuri.

"We must advance forward. I do not want to die here." She sounds strangely calm, and the cliche line sounds like if she was quoting something rather than really saying like she means it. Yukina will move forward, not paying any significant attention to stealth but not getting stupidly out in the open either. She will try to follow Alan's path. Her preferred method of travel leaves trails of slug-slime and other obstacles outside her realm of caring. But if any of these will bother Yuri, then... well, Yukina already showed she's more than capable of lifting and moving around living beings.

[Tengu_temp]

"Can you see what caused the movement? If not then be careful, it might be an aggressive mutant. Get together quickly, don't move separately.", Ms Yoshikuni states clearly.

[SuperCracker]

Thanks for telling me what I already know. He thinks to himself. He moves back to the other two with surprising alacrity. "I'm betting it is an aggressive creature. Something feeds on these slugs. Stay sharp, it shouldn't be much of a problem." He advances closer to the girls than he had before, bringing his hands up in a fighting position.

[Poison_Fish]

Elisa heads over to the tea shop and orders some basic apple cinnamon infused tea while reading over the case files. She makes sure to grab a spot near the back in a corner that gives sight of everyone who comes and goes while having her back against the wall/booth.

[Neon Knight]

When the report of movement comes in, Yuri sharply turns to that direction, her weapon snapping up in line to cover that angle. She watches tensely, eyes scanning.

Yukina's sudden arrival next to her surprises her, a nice setup to her next startling words. "D-die?" Had the situation gone that far south already? Under the pressure and distractions of keeping her awareness up, she missed the lack of emotion or duress in Yukina's voice and took her seriously.

As Yukina moved forward, Yuri tried to follow- but of course, she could only clamber over piles of rubble and other obstacles as a normal 15 year old girl would, and she wouldn't step into any of those slime trails, not willingly. The going is much slower for her than it is for the leaping Alan or the floating Yukina.

[Cubey]

Yuri is too slow for Yukina's tastes, and it starts to annoy her.

"Do not be afraid." Not paying attention to protests, she psychokinetically lifts Yuri off the ground, making the girl float in the air right next to her. They both maintain the same speed.

(100 feet/round is how fast Yukina can fly taking only a move action per round, since the standard action is required to move Yuri around. The telekinetic top speed is way more than that, but the group should stay together rather than throwing one helpless Null way ahead.)

[SuperCracker]

Alan smirks a little as Yuri was lifted into the air. It's kind of funny. At any rate, it fixes the group's mobility problem. Alan matches pace with them (move action speed is 25mph, so he'll slow down to keep up with the others). He keeps watch for any mutant threat. To be honest, he is spoiling for a fight. Something to make this mission at least a little exciting.

[Neon Knight]

Ignored though they be, protests do come as Yuri is suddenly plucked off the ground by an unseen hand. "Ah! H-hey!" Yuri twists a bit, confused and trying to find the ground again. The complaints arise more from the suddenness and surprise of it, and once Yuri has a moment to re-orient herself, she falls mostly silent. Mostly because she's afraid of how fast they're going, and of motion sickness.

[Cubey]

"Do not be afraid." Yukina repeats herself. She misinterprets Yuri's struggles as not having a stable psychokinetic grip on the other girl, for some reason - so she remedies this. Yuri's position switches and she's now being carried like a bride by an (invisible and sometimes apparently flying) groom.

"I will destroy whatever attacks you."

[Ishikar]

Dropping by his apartment Tyler very quickly grabs and packs his equipment before going to the tea shop. Pausing momentarily in the doorway he sees Elisa and moves quickly to take a seat. Ordering an green tea he settles and looks at her ready to answer her questions.

I figure you're bright enough to have guessed most of what's going on Elisa. I need to hurry a bit so for now why don't you just ask about the parts you need to clear up the most and then we can discuss this in more detail when I come back.

[Neon Knight]

"...eh?" Yuri looks at Yukina from her new orientation, a bit surprised at her words. She implicitly trusted the older girl's experience, and the promise of her protection broke through her confusion and fear to bring a modicum of calm. She relaxed, now just being carried gently through the air. With maybe a teensy bit of a blush to her.

[Cubey]

For better or for worse, by now Yukina is fully focused on observing the surroundings, and she doesn't pay any attention to Yuri and her actions.

[Poison_Fish]

"Well, I figure your going on into the Zone. So I'm quite concerned for your safety. If you'd like to tell me what's going, I imagine I can help." She sips her tea.

[Ishikar]

Tyler looks at Elisa again and shrugs.

You are correct that I am going into the Zone, which I've done about two dozen times already. I have abilities which help and I always keep plenty of supplies with me in case of emergency or for use in trade. I'll be going to the airport this time which is further in than I've been before but I'll have the advantage of it being light out while I travel. Many of my past visits were at night and even with the city lights and any moonlight it is still somewhat difficult to get a good situational analysis. I carry two weapons with me at all times and I have my powers should noise or numbers be an issue.

Tyler pauses while his tea is served and he takes a drink before continuing.

I appreciate your concern for me, but I'm not so under prepared as my typical daily life leads others to believe. I try to maintain a low profile mostly because the institute already has a profile on me from my youth and they would pressure me much more to join if they knew the full depth of my abilities. After what they did to my sister and family, I have no desire to co-operate with them as an organization.

[Poison_Fish]

"oh...." Elisa stares at Tyler for a moment as her glasses slip off her face. She clears her throat and picks them up again wiping them with a napkin. Her voice is quiet but sharp "Your still going into an area you haven't explored. I can help you at the very least" she pauses her glass wiping to stare intently with determination at Tyler. "I wouldn't want to loose my best helper with all the homework I have to do, and I can also take care of myself."

She then puts her glasses back on her face and smiles sheepishly. "I'm no fan of the institute myself as well, considering how often they let those from such institutions get away with all sorts of violations."

[Fri]

If Tyler's act of psychic power surprises her, it doesn't show. She just says "I always know you can defend yourself Tyler. Anyway, I guess I should prepare myself then." she continues. Before you know it she's gone through the door.

....
Later at the meeting place.


"I'm sorry, have you guys waited for long?"

Once again Yuuna pops out without any sound behind Tyler and Elisa. Sheesh, if you don't know better, you'd think that she popped out of thin air. She still wears her plaid dress, but now there's a straw hat on top of her hat. And... is that a picnic basket she's holding?

"I had to prepare some things first. So, are we going soon?"

[Tengu_temp]

The Zone
The scene is interrupted by loud screeches! Two shadows emerge from the rooftop of one of the ruined scyscrapers (a different one than the one where Alan noticed something moving) and head towards the floating girls! Those creatures are birds, similar to ravens but much larger - with a wingspan of over 10 feet each they're the size of Andean condors! This size is not the only result of their mutation - the black feathers that cover the birds' bodies grow in irregular tufts, and everywhere else they have exposed, unhealthy-looking grey skin. Only the wings look more or less normal.
(Enemy initiative: 8 and 9. If you roll above one or both of them, you can move before them. They're not minions.)

[Neon Knight]

Yuri's head snapped as the air was filled with the sounds of their approaching enemies. "Contact! Up high!"

From her position, it is difficult to get the proper posture for firing. Nevertheless, Yuri aims down the sights of her handcannon and pulls the trigger.


Initiative 20. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9308609#post9308609)
[roll0] No modifications for distance; 40ft range increments.
DC 19 if it connects.

[Cubey]

"They look so sad..." Yukina gazes up, towards the gigantic mutated crows.

"I cannot let you come any closer." Her grip on Yuri is released, and the girl falls to the ground - hopefully she manages to balance it out and stand up rather than tumble to the floor.

"Violence." More visual distortions are temporarily created, this time around Yukina's body and mostly her head - it almost looks like a halo. An invisible kinetic force slices across the giant birds.

(Reflex DC 18, toughness DC 23/19)

[SuperCracker]

Alan quickly looks up to see the mutated birds coming after his team-mates. Ranged combat... he isn't very precise with it, but he can effectively fire a mental flak cannon into the air. He squeezes his fists and concentrated at the point where the birds are in the air. Space seems to distort around his psi-amp for a moment, which is quickly followed by a violent explosion in the air, the radius large enough to catch both of the birds within it.

Shockwaves ripple back towards Alan and the others, kicking up dust and sending debris flying.

Got a 20 on my init.
Using "Kinetic Explosion", 80ft range and 40ft radius burst (though my progression feat of 3 could let me modify that larger or smaller if I need to). Aiming to hit both the birds without catching any of us in it. If it's not possible, I'll just get one.

Reflex Save: DC18, Damage: DC23

[Tengu_temp]

Struck by both telekinetic blows, one of the birds falls down limply and crashes somewhere in the ruins, away from you. But the other one circles around all attacks, swoops towards the only target left in the air - Yukina - and slashes at her with its claws in mid-flight! Her telekinetic shield deflects the attack, however.

More screeching marks the sign of two more birds coming, from the same place!
(All three remaining enemies move at initiative 8.)

[Cubey]

Yukina's eyes gaze around as debris flies around her. Debris, and a giant bird soon after it. But her multi-layered kinetic force field protects her well, and there is no effect other than her clothes and hair blowing in the shockwave-caused wind.

"Why are you doing this?" She asks, like if expecting answers from a non-sapient mutant. Without turning or making any kind of physical movement whatsoever, she aims a psychokinetic stab at the bird's weak point. There is no visible outside effect, but if her knowledge of mutant anatomy is correct, there should be lethal inside damage. Lethal and hopefully instant. Yukina is interested in removing obstacles that want to harm or kill her. Not in pain.

(Toughness DC 23)

[SuperCracker]

As Yukina fired on the closest bird,it seemed less prudent to jump up and punch at it. Therefore, Alan once more looks up to the sky, taking aim at the two birds that just joined the fray. And once, more, he projects another explosion out at the two.

Reflex DC-18; Damage: DC 23/19

[Ishikar]

Pausing to look at the two women he was speaking with incredulously Tyler composes himself and begins to speak.

This isn't going to be a walk in the park you know. I appreciate your concern while I can take care of myself but I can't protect you while I do it. I know you're both very capable in your own ways and sometimes a little puzzling, he glances at Yuuna's hat and picnic basket, but that doesn't mean that you're prepared for something like this. I have my powers to use to ease the passage but I've never seen any such indication of the two of you having similar powers. I can't in good conscience repay your concern with the wanton endangerment of your lives.

[Tengu_temp]

Yukina strikes the mutated raven right into the heart, killing it instantly. Alan does no worse - the explosion takes down one bird and throws the other one back, stunned - it barely manages to stay in air.
(Last remaining bird: 1 wound + stunned. Man, those things rolled really bad on toughness.)

[Poison_Fish]

At the mention of powers, Elisa looks around to make sure they aren't being observed and sighs

Notice [roll0]

She then leans forward so to make sure it's hard for everyone but the other two to see and pours hot tea on her hand, scalding it. She winces in some pain. She then quickly moves her other hand on to a small tea cake she had but hasn't eaten yet. A small barely noticeable heatwave distortion forms around her hand and the tea cake crumbles into tiny bits that swirl around her hand. The heatwave distortion quickly slips to her scalded hand, dragging the tiny particles of the tea cake with it. They dance around her fingers and then seem to vanish along her knuckles. The red irritated part of her hand quickly forms completely back to normal. In a matter of seconds her hand has went from burned to perfectly normal.

"Is that good enough?" she whispers quietly while pushing up her glasses, the reflection catching the overhead lighting, making them gleam. "If you can help make some notes for me in the future, say during a term paper, I'd be glad to make sure you come through whatever your about to do safely." she flatly states, her glasses starting to slip off her nose again.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri manages to land on her feet, but she grimaces none the less because of her missed shot. Once back on solid ground, Yuri watches in a bit of awe as her teammates rip into their foes. Yuri makes a quick radio report. "Command, we've encountered a group of avian mutants. Really big crows. We've got the situation well in hand."

Yuri takes aim at the last bird and fires again.


Attack: [roll0] DC 19 Toughness if it connects.

[Tengu_temp]

The Zone
The shot only grazes the bird - it causes some feathers to fly into the air, but no noticable damage. The giant raven screeches and circles around, starting to flee.

Tea Shop
No third parties seem to be interested in your conversation. You can talk freely on whichever topic you want.

[Cubey]

"Hmm." Yukina's sight follows the last remaining crow. She would finish it off, if it was seriously wounded. Major injuries for a natural creature mean only a slow death. It'd be an act of mercy. But the mutant didn't seem that injured. How did it feel about losing others of its kind? Happy that there's less rivals for food? Or sad that it lost its friends? Maybe it didn't notice at all?

Friends, huh?

"How do you feel?" She asks, the question seemingly not aimed at anyone.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri stood for a moment, watching the bird flee after her second shot. A sinking feeling was in her stomach; she was 0 for 2 now, and her two companions had been much more successful.

Yuri was brought back to Earth by Yukina's apparent question. Being the only one close by, she said, "Um, I'm alright. I'm not hurt."

[SuperCracker]

Alan grins as the last remaining foe begins to flee. It isn't worth the concentration or the time needed to take it out. He turns towards the others, raising his fist to the side of his head. "Good job, team. We can talk on the way to the airport. Let's keep moving." Without skipping a beat, he turns and starts going in that direction. He seems very satisfied by the fight. In truth, he's hungry for some more excitement.

[Cubey]

Without a word, Yukina floats down closer to ground level (but still not quite standing), and then continues on the journey to the airport.

She is not starting a talk on any topic, but that doesn't mean she won't respond to others.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri follows her two teammates closely, switching a fresh magazine into her weapon with a slight sigh. She had a glum look on her face as she trooped along after the two. After a moment, Yuri glanced at Yukina. "Um, Yukina? Thank you. You were amazing back there."

[Fri]

Yuuna sighs.

"I know I should've waited until you guys are already inside the zone... Hm... what's the simplest way to say this? I've been in the tokyo zone. I don't think I can show fancy things like what you guys have shown me though, but in the least I can show you this."

She pulls a fork from the table and twirls it between her fingers, as if she's studying it. Then, without warning she extends her hand and flicks it toward her face. The fork flies toward Yuuna's eyes. But a split second before it actually touches her, somehow, you're not really sure how, it turns back. At one second it flies toward her, and the next second it flies from her. Yuuna easily catches the reflected fork.

"There, we all have shown our secret, haven't we?" she smiles

[Ishikar]

Chuckling to himself Tyler places his forehead into the crook of his thumb with his middle finger splayed out to his temple.

Well it would certainly seem that we are birds of a feather. I'm starting to expect we should have a red string somewhere around here. I always did think that there was something more than ourselves that shaped the paths we follow in life and I can't really argue against it now. If you want to come then I'll be glad to have you, just don't get yourselves by refusing to run if the situation calls for it. Yukiko would never be able to live with herself and I would be haunted by it for the rest of my life.

With that he finishes his tea and rises. Dropping the smallest note he has that will cover the bill he begins to move.

Well, come along then. If we want to be back by tonight we'll need to catch the next train and we don't have much time to dawdle.

[Poison_Fish]

Elisa smiles and collects her stuff in a backpack. She has everything she needs and is ready to get going.

[Cubey]

"That was..." Yukina is searching her mind for an appropriate word. The encounter ended with minimal effort on her side - but she didn't like effort.
"Efficient."

[Neon Knight]

Yuri swallowed nervously. Efficient? Was that a dig at her? Two missed shots couldn't be called efficient. She decided to change the subject. "How far is it to the airport?"

[Cubey]

"I do not know. If our direction is correct then we will eventually reach it." Yuri's nervousness goes over Yukina's head. Her answer is sincere - she didn't copy the map and didn't really intend do, other than remembering the general direction which they should all follow.
"The journey matters more than the destination." She repeats the phrase often found in many books she has read.

[Tengu_temp]

Academy Students
A quick look at the map will show that you've covered more than half of the way already. It didn't take so long!

"What is your status?", Ms Yoshikuni asks. "If you have fought off all the birds, get away from there as fast as you can. They sometimes form large colonies and if you stay there, you will have more on your back soon."
Indeed, you start to hear more distant screeching coming from the direction of the building...

Independents
Arriving at the edge of the Zone is not much of a problem. The much bigger problem is getting in undetected - patrols aren't common, but they happen occassionally, and if any of them finds you, you'd be in trouble. Fortunately there aren't any in the close area, but if they there are few covers in the belt of no-man's land that could hide you from incoming ones. Another problem is actually getting through all the obstacles on the way. Of course, Tyler has been here so many times that he might have made his own way in that solves both problems...
(For a longer description of the area around the Zone, go here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9296604&postcount=46).)

[Neon Knight]

"M-more?" Yuri looks back over her shoulder with trepidation. "Roger, Command. We're moving!" Yuri is quick to get moving, and hastens to put some distance between her and the bird colony.

[SuperCracker]

"Targets eliminated. We are moving." Alan responds over comms. He isn't very enthusiastic about command's baby-sitting. He waved the others forward. "Let's hustle, team." He proceeds forward, taking point once again.

[Cubey]

Yukina moves with others. Her method of locomotion is different but she tries to stick to the ground and close to them.

"They are angry at us." It seems the bird do worry about having their friends killed after all. She starts to feel a little sad.

[Tengu_temp]

You quickly leave the building behind before more mutant birds emerge. None do so, though - maybe they weren't that angry after all?

Alan, Yuri
You notice another shadow moving in a ruined scyscraper, this time on the first floor. If one follows your path, then it's one the same side as the one where Alan noticed some movement previously, and there's high chance it's the same creature. Your group moves faster than it though, and this time this building is behind you.

[Neon Knight]

A flicker of movement behind them catches Yuri's eye, and her head snaps in that direction, gun raised. "There! I saw something! Command, we've got movement in one the buildings, ground level."

[SuperCracker]

"Yeah. Same thing I saw before. Command, should I initiate a pre-emptive strike?" He asks. Being in the Zone could make him be a little twitchy on the explosions sometimes.

[Tengu_temp]

"Do not investigate for now. Stay cautious and aware of the potential danger, but currently your task is more important."

[Neon Knight]

Yuri nodded and kept advancing, but her eyes kept wandering back towards the vector of the last seen movement.

[SuperCracker]

He shrugs and continues to advance, starting to push it and go a little faster, now. Stay frosty.

[Poison_Fish]

Elisa looks around for roots they can go, but realizes she knows little about the zone herself. She looks to Tyler and motions in the general direction. "Well, after you. I'll just follow, since you seem to know the area"

[Ishikar]

Looking at the two girls with him Tyler begins to speak.

Well there are a few ways around the fence. About 500 yards down that way there's a smuggler's tunnel and if we go about 1000 yards the other way there's a tree that the roots of have broken the fence enough to worm through. In this case though the coast is clear enough that I'd just hop the fence. You girls would likely have trouble with one that high so I'll just give you a hand.

Tyler quickly lifts both the girls with his telekinesis and flies them over with him to land on the other side.

We should probably move quickly, the next patrol is coming by in about 30 minutes waiting here won't do us much good. With that Tyler heads to a ditch formed by a collapsed sewer line where it is just deep enough to mask a person lying down and surface of the road that ran over it is still in decent shape.

This route will cover us long enough to get out of sight of the gate. There's a reason the tunnel I mentioned was as close as it is.

[Poison_Fish]

Elisa nods and makes sure to follow Tyler's moves while keeping an eye out in unfamiliar terrain.

Notice [roll0]

[Fri]

"You don't have to do that... Thank you though!" Yuuna says as she holds her strawhat down and floats gently toward the ground with Tyler's help.

"I think my unordinary talent would give me the advantage. Let me scout the way ahead, won't you?"

When they need to move between places with little cover, Yuuna puts one step ahead and takes another step right after. But her second step doesn't land directly on front of her. Somehow she keep ends up behind hiding places many, many steps ahead. And just like that, she then frolick back and appears on Tyler's and Elisa's hiding place to report about her findings. Slowly but steadily, they move toward the airport.

[roll0]stealth
[roll1]notice

[Cubey]

Yukina continues forward. She doesn't say anything over the radio... but she starts to bob slightly in the air as she levitates forward, along the rest of the group. If anyone stays close to her, they can hear that audible music is coming from her kitty headphones.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri starts at the sudden sound of music. She looks over towards Yukina, a bit baffled. Why would she impair her own awareness in such a situation? She shouldn't do that, but it was above Yuri's place and standing to reprimand an older student. Yuri bit her lip and just prayed everything would be alright. She would have felt better if this was going like she had expected it to; but then again, when did it ever?

[Tengu_temp]

Academy Students
You leave the mysterious observer behind, without investigating. What might that have been? Maybe leaving it alone wasn't the best idea... In any case, you proceed forward, without getting bothered by any of the local fauna - you mostly see other, non-giant birds, flying up in the sky. After climbing a tall mountain of rubble, it turns out that the airport is close - you can see it from here! It's still too far away to take good photos, but the buildings are hard to mistake for anything else, and in case anyone had any doubts, there is a giant wreck of an abandoned plane on one of the airstrips as well. The ruins of the airport are bare, not covered in any plants.
A helicopter passes some distance away from you, flying from east to west. Seems to be an Institute machine.

Independents
Passing through the no-man's land wasn't as hard as one might have expected, and you enter the literal urban jungle behind - literal, because this part of the Zone is covered in green plants, moss and lichens, though not as thickly to let you forget that there are ruined buildings below. No creatures bug you, or even are present - it is indeed a safe route Tyler chose.
You move through the area towards the airport, and slowly the greenery disappears, making room for barren ruins, and piles of rubble, concrete and twisted metal. It still looks like a street though, a street that was abandoned 15 years ago, with many car wrecks left behind. It's almost unnervingly quiet.
Suddenly, you hear a rotor! A helicopter is arriving from the east, and it's going to pass over your heads soon! Better hide quickly!

[Neon Knight]

Yuri radioed in. "Command, this is Yuri. Objective sighted. We'll proceed on our approach and then begin completing our mission objectives."

[Fri]

[roll0] stealth

"I think we're not supposed to be seen, aren't we?" Yuuna folds her parasol and hides herself under the nearest cover without too much hurry.

[SuperCracker]

Alan Wainwright

He grins as he approaches the airport. Good, almost finished with this joke assignment. He glances up to see the helicopter. It didn't seem to be going in the same direction he was, though. "Just patrolling... or are they on a real mission?" Either way, it's nothing he's going to worry about at the moment. Alan starts to hop down the mountain of rubble, keeping up the speed as he heads towards the airport.

[Cubey]

Two mechanical clicks come from Yukina's direction. She took photographs - one of the airport that appeared in the distance. And the other of, for some reason, the helicopter.

"This will not be adequate, will it?" She looks down on her camera - she didn't even bother rising it up to her eye to take any of the pictures, just pressed the appropriate button while somewhat aiming it at what she wanted to take the picture of.

[SuperCracker]

Alan Wainwright

"Afraid not, Yuki. Besides, you have to think about things like composition." He grins back at her. He's almost certain the joke would be lost on her, but he tries anyway.

[Cubey]

Predictably, the joke goes above Yukina's head.
"Composition..." She starts floating towards the airport. And because everyone was atop of a mountain of rubble, this means she soon starts levitating high in the air.

[Neon Knight]

It shouldn't have been surprising that Yukina had odd standards of photography, but somehow Yuri was caught off guard and gave a little giggle. Of course, she had some interest and practice in casual photography. Pictures helped you remember things- days, places, faces...

"Hey, Yukina, have you used a camera much? I could, um, show you how to take a better picture. Or at least one Command will like more."

[Cubey]

"No, I did not." Yukina floats down to Yuri. She looks a bit saddened, unlike her usual expression which betrays very little if at all.

"I believed only a single set of photos is necessary for the mission to complete. Should I take photos of my own?"

[Neon Knight]

Yuri is a bit taken aback and her reply is a bit frantic and apologetic, scrabbling to reassure. "No, I mean, um... you can take pictures if you want. I mean, I'm sure Command won't mind a few extra pictures. And I bet the more pictures we have, the more thorough we'll document this place, and the happier Command will be! And, um, if we all have a set of pictures, that means if one of us drops their camera or it gets damaged or something, we'll still have the other two. But, um, if you don't want to, then you don't have to. I-I mean, this is just a dry run." The above came out as a fast, hurried jumble, and once could be forgiven for having difficulties fully understanding it.

[Cubey]

"Oh." Yukina's gaze moves from Yuri down to the camera she's holding, then the one Yukina clutches in her own hands, then back to Yuri.

"Yes, that is sensible."

[Poison_Fish]

Elisa heads into cover using the ruined wrecks of cars and staying low. If one is sizable enough and doesn't seem to have creepy crawlers under it, she'll roll under.

Stealth [roll0]

[Neon Knight]

"G-good! Glad I could help." Yuri smiled and tried to break off the conversation before she said something else that might offend.

[Tengu_temp]

Both groups
Suddenly, the helicopter's tail starts to smoke! The more perceptive of you might have noticed a small, very fast projectile hitting it right before that, coming from the ground... The machine starts to circle in the air as its pilots tries to fruitlessly regain control! Those of you who have radios with them can hear a panicked male voice.
"Mayday! Mayday! I'm hit, attacked by an unknown target on the ground!! The chopper is damaged, I'm going to crash! Aaargh!"
The machine crash lands in the ruins, to the southeast from you! You can see the smoke from here, it can't be very far away!

[Cubey]

Yukina was visibly startled. This is not how helicopters should act. And she is almost sure that no natural creatures can shoot missiles.

"I want to go there." She says, looking in the crash site's direction. Not waiting for confirmation of others, she starts floating towards her destination.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri watched the whole awful scene, her face frozen in a sickened mask of fright. Possible even before Yukina started to move, Yuri started to run in the direction of the crash sight, not even bothering to radio in.

[Fri]

Yuuna puts her hand on her chin and ***** her head.

"Hmm... isn't this a good turn of event? If there are anyone surveying the area, their attention must be focused on that helicopter now. This is a good chance to do our business unnoticed. Even local wildlife must be more interested in all those noise instead of us." she says matter-of-fact-ly

[Poison_Fish]

Elisa rolls out from under the car "Yes, it'd be best if we don't get caught by a recovery team, let's keep moving"

[SuperCracker]

Alan Wainwright

Alan followed the crashing helicopter with his eyes. Like the others, he started to move in that direction. This time, he ran at full speed. These people might be in danger, so he can't lag behind. He radioed in as he ran.

"Command, a chopper went down near our location. We're going to check it out."

He said nothing else, and left no room for debate. People needed help.

[Tengu_temp]

Academy Students
"Roger. A change of objectives - abandon the airport for now, your task is to make sure the pilot is alright! Be careful!"
Alan is the fastest and he quickly gains lead - but his speed means that he barely has time to react when something drops off the wall, right into him! He manages to jump back, avoiding the attack by the intruder - it's a lizard, covered in thick, irregular scales, colored in the same grey and rusty tones as the ruins. And it's huge, at least 10 feet long, not counting the tail! The creature hisses, showing a maw filled with needle-thin teeth and a long tongue. You can almost see the crash site from here, but this creature is in the way!

Enemy initiative 14. Everyone roll initiative, as well as Notice.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri skids to a halt at the sight of creature, her gun coming up. As soon as she has a shot, she pulls the trigger.


Init: [roll0]
Attack: [roll1] DC 19
Notice: [roll2]

Also, I'd like to note that Yuri can detect psykers within 100 ft of her mentally as a free (passive) action.

[Cubey]

Yukina doesn't like the way the lizard hisses. Her reaction is immediate.

Stab! An invisible force thrusts into the giant lizard from above, sending nearby dust scattering in all sides.
(Psychikinetic Stab)

Initiative: [roll0]
Notice: [roll1]

Whoo, good rolls.

[SuperCracker]

Alan Wainwright

Alan quickly tumbled backwards away from the large beast's attack, back-flipping and coming skidding to a halt in a three-point stance, not far from the beast. He clenches his left fist, then springs forward, bringing that fist towards the creature's head with powerful force.

Init: [roll0]
Notice: [roll1]
Attack - All-Out Attack for 2: [roll2] DC 23 + however much I beat his defense.

EDIT: CRIT! (Yuri, too.) Also, if it's dead before I act and I notice another creature, I'll use that attack on the new creature instead.

[Tengu_temp]

Academy Students
The lizard, hit by Yukina's telekinetic blow, turns its head towards her and does something unexpected - it spits a glob of nasty, corrossive and slightly bloody ooze at her! Fortunately she avoids it.
The impact of the bullet creates a bloody burst and makes the lizard stumble, letting Alan hit it with full force. The last hit knocks it back into a building, causing a pile of rubble to fall on it and raising a cloud of dust.
He sees two more though, hiding on a nearby wall! One of them spits ooze at him, but he manages to dodge in time. The other one drops to the ground, landing atop Yuri!
(Grapple attempt - Attack roll 20, grapple check 23.)

[SuperCracker]

Alan

His one punch seemed to hit the beast like a flak cannon, with what seemed like hundreds of additional, powerful punches slamming into the creature with lethal force.

After he dodges the ball of glob, he sees Yuri pounced upon. His eyes widen. "YURI!" He shouts out, before springing towards the lizard that was holding her, unleashing a vicious left hook at the creature.

All Out Attack x2- [roll0] DC 23 + how much my attack exceeds its defense (Autofire 2)

[Neon Knight]

After the first creature was quickly dropped, Yuri felt a surge of confidence. She looked ahead, unaware of the danger above her as lizard dropped down. Caught off guard, the lizard landed onto of her, pinning her to the ground. It happened so quickly she didn't even have time to cry out. Panicking, she started to struggle.


22 on the grapple, which fails. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9363604&postcount=31)

[Ishikar]

Stepping out from the shadows of the alley he had ducked into Tyler nods at the others before continuing.

I feel a little bad about not helping but it is a fact that if we went over there we'd be in a great deal of trouble. We'll skirt it on the way back out and I'll use my powers to get a better look and see if they still need help.

[SuperCracker]

Ugh. Terrible roll. Alan needs to save Yuri (who has appeared to be helpless and powerless so far), so he's going to throw a hero point into it to re-roll the attack. [roll0] +10 = 27. With my improved critical feats, that's a critical threat. Autofire 2 is still going. DC 23 + bonuses.

[Cubey]

It's not that Yukina dodges the nasty ooze. It just stops a foot or so before it could hit her, deflected by an invisible shield of force. And then, it just slides harmlessly to the ground.

But then, more lizards appear and one of them pounces on Yuri.
"No, you cannot do that!" Yukina cries out, sounding more desperate than she ever did. Her reaction is sudden and violent. Multiple distortions appear, and judging from their location, she tries to crush the grappling lizard's skull with psychokinetic force.

(Toughness DC 23)

[Tengu_temp]

Academy Students
The lizard is very heavy for something that can walk on the walls so swiftly - not only does it press Yuri down to the ground, but its claws also press into her flesh!
(Toughness save DC 20, Concentration save DC 15 to regain bonuses from Defensive roll.)

Yukina's attack seems to distract the mutant, but nothing more. It lets Alan land a very strong hit though, which knocks the lizard over and makes it fall down limply to the ground with a loud thud! Yuri is free again...

But the last enemy still remains! The creature leaps from above towards Alan, biting into his arm with its saliva-covered, pointy teeth!
(Attack roll 22, Toughness save DC 24. Also Nauseate, Fortitude save DC 16.)

For a moment, Yuri feels some presence! A small group of other psychics, roughly towards the direction of the Haneda airport. But just after a moment they're gone from her range...

Independents
You ignore the crashing vehicle and head towards the airport - and soon enough, you can see its ruined installations, far away! No people or creatures seem to be around, so all that's left is to enter the main building and find the lockers. That's simple, right?

(In what order are you moving forward? Also, feel free to roll notice.)

[Neon Knight]

Yuri cried out as claws sank into her skin, piercing her flesh painfully. Then the weight of the creature was gone suddenly, the pain receding. The sleeve of her blouse and jacket was turning red, but she got to her feet anyway. Her gun was close by, she snatched it up, the grip feeling good against her palm, the weight in her hand reassuring. It helped her get a grip on herself, to stop freaking out and refocus. One of things was still up; Yuri raised her gun and fired.


Concentration 27 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9372464&postcount=38)

Toughness 17. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9372469&postcount=39)

Yuri takes 1 injury.

Attack: [roll0] DC 23. +4 Power Attack Tradeoff.

[SuperCracker]

Alright. Here's hoping I don't botch both saves.

Toughness [roll0]
Fortitude: [roll1]

Well, I'm not nauseated, but I do get injured and stunned. (Failed by exactly 5).

The lizard's teeth seem to be repulsed by something as they try to bite into Alan's flesh-- and while the TK field does protect him from the worst of the injury, the teeth still rake across his arm, spilling his blood and throwing him off balance for a moment. However, he seems to have resisted whatever venom he was hit with.

[Poison_Fish]

Elisa holds back towards the middle of the group, keeping an eye out behind them while trying to cover as much as possible.

Notice [roll0]

[Fri]

Yuuna politely curtsies at her acquintance and smiles.

"I'll look ahead, if you'll excuse me." (yuuna would be in the front)

[roll0] stealth
[roll1] notice

[Cubey]

"No. Leave them alone. Go away." If her words weren't so calm, you could swear Yukina was freaking out just now. A telekinetic force rips through the air, making a cut in the ground, nearby objects... but straying away from her friends. It does try to slice through both of the lizards, though.

And Yukina herself stays perfectly still while focusing her psychokinesis. She does not even turn towards the mutants.

(Reflex DC 18, Toughness DC 23/19)

[Tengu_temp]

Academy Students
Hit by the bullet, the lizard lets go off Alan to turn towards the creature that spilled its blood - but before it can do anything, Yukina's power leaves a long, bloody gash in its body and cuts off one of its forelegs!
(1 injury from Yuri's attack, stunned+staggered+disabled from Yukina's attack.)

The telekinetic wave slices through the other mutant without any resistance. If it wasn't dead before, it is now.

Independents
Short before the airport appears in your sight, Elisa hears the sound of combat coming from afar, from the direction of the crash. Someone is firing a gun, but mostly heavy objects are being tossed around with a lot of power. Are there any psychics there?

[SuperCracker]

Alan

He shakes off the shock from being bitten and glares at the heavily injured lizard. Alan's slightly angry-- not to mention the fact that he severely dislikes zone creatures. He jumps up high into the air, then flips once, extending his right leg and coming down with an extremely powerful hammer-kick.

All-Out Attack for 5: [roll0] DC 23 + autofire bonus

Edit: Another critical threat.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri drops a spent magazine and pulls out a fresh one, the practiced reactions only slight thrown off by the wince she makes when the motion pulls at his injuries. Instead of her initial load of high velocity rounds, these were larger, heavier grain jacketed hollow point rounds that packed a bigger punch.

Yuri chambered a round and took another shot.


Attack Roll, +/- 5 Tradeoff: [roll0] DC 24.

[Poison_Fish]

"Come on guys, let's get this over with and out of here, I don't want to be dragged into whatever is going on there" Elisa adjusts her glasses as they move hurriedly.

[Tengu_temp]

The attacks down the last lizard - it might have been a bit of an overkill, in fact. No other enemies are present anymore, and the crash site should be very close!

[Neon Knight]

Yuri tried to catch her breath and get her heart rate under control. As rationality took a more firm seat in her mind, she realized something- back during the fight, she'd felt something, the presence of psykers other than her friends.

"W-wait! I f-felt-!... There's someone here! Someone other than us!"

[SuperCracker]

Alan

Alan's definitely intrigued by Yuri's discovery, however, there were people in that chopper who needed help. "Yuri, remember which direction they're in. There's no time to check right now. We have to save the people in the downed chopper."

[Neon Knight]

Yuri nodded. Alan was right - those people needed help, and that was more important than whoever else was here.

[Cubey]

Yukina is not surprised. This place is fascinating, of course there are people around. Wild animals are here, so why not humans?

Something else worries her though.

"Are your wounds life-threatening?" She sounds more concerned than usual. She would ask if they're alright, but that's a stupid question - her friends were attacked by giant lizards. Of course they're not.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri reached back cautiously with a hand, feeling around the torn edges of her uniform, wincing a bit. "Ah, I think I'm okay. The bleeding doesn't seem to be too bad, and it isn't very deep."

[Cubey]

Yukina turns to face Alan. She expects his answer now, apparently.

[SuperCracker]

Alan

"It's fine. Just a gash. Let's keep moving." He says before starting to take off in the direction of the downed chopper once again.

[Cubey]

Without saying a thing, but with visible relief on her face, Yukina follows Alan. She stays close to the ground.

[Tengu_temp]

Academy Students
Less than a minute after the fight with the lizards, you arrive at what used to be a large square, surrounded by shops, and which now is filled with wrecked cars and shattered glass from the broken windows, glass which nobody bothered to clean. More importantly, however, the crashed chopper is on the opposite side of the square! It seems that the pilot managed not to hit any of the buildings, at least, and landed on the pavement, judging by a long trail behind the machine.

Independents
You soon arrive at the Haneda airport. No enemies so far, you pass by the ruined control tower and the rusted remains of an old jet on a cracked airstrip without being attacked, or even without observing any creatures. Was it necessary for the old man to hire you, anyway?
The main building stands in front of you, a pale ruin of a once colorful and lively place. You are currently at its side, and spot a rusty and closed personnel-only door. Is this a good way in? Or maybe the main entrance would be better? There are windows as well, most of which still have the glass in them.

[Fri]

Yuuna first peeks through the windows first. Then she tries to open the personnel door slightly as silent as possible to peek through it. It's not that she done this often, right?

[Poison_Fish]

Elisa waits a bit back, looking over the windows and glancing behind her shoulder.

[Cubey]

Without consideration of anything else, Yukina flies to the helicopter and takes a look inside, through the canopy.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri strives to keep up with Yukina, obviously not willing to let her approach alone even if she would prefer to approach more cautiously.

[SuperCracker]

Alan

He keeps pace with Yukina and Yuri, racing towards the chopper. He quickly begins to check and see if anyone is here and alive.

"Is anyone here? Hello!"

[Tengu_temp]

Academy Students
The helicopter is pretty small, and the only person inside is the pilot, slumped over among the bent metal and broken glass that used to be the cockpit. He's still wearing his helmet and pressing his hand to a bleeding wound on his chest, and he's still conscious, as hearing Alan causes him to look up slowly.
"Are you... The rescue team...?"

Independents
Taking a peek into the dirty window shows a dark, moist and filled with trash inside. Apparently someone or something damaged the airport's waterworks 15 years ago and more water still keeps coming in, because all the rooms you see have a thin layer of water in them, and you can hear it dripping in a few of them. As for the door, its rusted lock stopped functioning over the years, and it's stuck now.

[SuperCracker]

Alan

He kneels down and starts removing some of the debris to let the man breath a little easier. He nods to him. "Yeah. Getting you out of here safely is the priority. What's your name?"

He looks to Yukina and Yuri. "Either of you know how to patch him up?"

[Cubey]

"Yes, I can do that. I will heal you." The last sentence is aimed at the pilot, at whom Yukina is staring all the time.

"I do not have any bandages..." She looks around thoughtfully. It is not something you normally encounter in places like this, in her experience. So where should she find any?

[Neon Knight]

"I know a little about first aid too." Yuri tries to look for a way to climb into the wreckage. "There is probably a first aid kit with supplies somewhere in the helicopter. If we can't find it, we'll just have to make some."

[SuperCracker]

Alan

"Alright. You two help him. I'll keep watch."

And so he does, getting on top of the nearest chunks of rubble and keeping an eye out for any incoming mutants.

"Pilot, what happened to your chopper?"

[Tengu_temp]

"My name is Shun..." He coughs. "Listen, there is a briefcase in the cargo compartment. You must... take it to the Academy. It's very important...!"
The door is still possible to open and you can enter the cockpit, where a first-aid kit is sitting under the passenger's seat. And yes, there is a mysterious black briefcase where the pilot mentioned it would be.
"Someone shot at the helicopter from the ground... I didn't see who, I don't know with what. But it wasn't a gun..."

[Cubey]

"Are the other psychics aggressive? Maybe they did it. It is dangerous. In a dark mansion where murder took place, everyone is the potential killer." Despite her distracting speech, Yukina already opened up the first aid kit. Its insides made her feel happy, for some reason.

"I have bandages now. And other medical supplies, too! I will help you now." She says to Shun.

Diagnosis: [roll0]
Healing whatever wounds the pilot has, possibly Stabilize Dying: [roll1]

[Neon Knight]

Yuri also sat down with Yukina, trying to assist as best as she was able to.

Medicine: [roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

Shun's injuries are not as grevious as they seemed at the first glance - he suffered a few broken bones and shallow wounds in the impact, but nothing life-threatening. Whatever force hit the helicopter, it didn't target him.
"Thank you. I should be able to walk, I think... We need to get the briefcase to its destination. It's urgent."

[SuperCracker]

Alan

Black briefcases traveling through the Zone? He doesn't like the sound of this very much. He speaks into his headset, "Command, we've found the pilot. He's alive and requesting that we bring back a briefcase. Do you have information on this situation?"

[Tengu_temp]

"It is just as I thought..." Ms Yoshikuni makes a short pause. "Yes, this is a delivery the Academy requested. Escort the pilot back to the city and take the briefcase with you - it's absolutely vital that you don't lose it! What is the pilot's status? Do you need backup?"

[Neon Knight]

Yuri looked up from where she knelt next to the pilot. "He's okay. We've managed to get him patched up. He shouldn't fight, but he isn't in any danger." Yuri looked curiously at the black briefcase, but knew better than to ask what was in it.

[Fri]

"I wonder... where is the security room?" she ***** her head.

She checks the door and the windows. the years and the water seems to have rusted them shut.

Humming, Yuuna pulls a duct tape from her picnic basket, slather it all over a glass window, and applies pressure over it until the glass breaks without making any sounds.

She cheerfully handpicks any remaining pieces of glasses that might hurt them, and climbs over the windowsill. "Come."

She then starts to look for signs of the security room, or anything interesting at all.

[Cubey]

"I do not need backup." Yukina sounds wary. She does not like touching other people very much. It is not about the sensation, but rather that she is forced not to maintain the barrier for a while. She does not feel safe.

Regardless of that, she helped the pilot as well as she could. It was Yuri who did most of the work, but she could still bandage or disinfect visible wounds.

"What happens with the mission?" She is still uneasy, glancing at her camera nervously.

[SuperCracker]

Alan

He looks at Yukina, Yuri, and the injured pilot. He's seen Yukina carry Yuri easily, so moving with the injured man wouldn't be much of a problem. They should be able to take on any creatures they should encounter on the way out.

"We don't need any back-up. We're oscar mike. Let's go, team."

[Neon Knight]

Yuri nodded, picking up the black suitcase, her gun in the other hand.

[Cubey]

"We are Oscar Mike? This cannot be right..." Yukina starts to float away. She will not lift Shun telekinetically unless someone tells her, or if she sees he cannot walk anymore.

[SuperCracker]

Alan

Alan grins rightly and says to Yukina. "It's an American thing. It means we're 'on the move.' And could you help carry Shun-san if he needs it? We need to move as quickly as possible." He looks at Yuri and contemplates giving her a piggy-back ride.

[Cubey]

"Oh..."
The pilot is lifted up into the air. Yukina will keep him at a close distance to the group. Everybody should move together, after all.

[Poison_Fish]

Elisa shrugs and follows Yuuna in. "Let's hope the way is direct and nothing makes its home here".

[Ishikar]

Following the other two in Tyler merely shrugs as he makes his way through the window.

I'm not certain we should be overly worried about finding the security room, by now most everything would have shorted out or been chewed apart by the typical pests that will work their way into derelict buildings. I think the lockers would be near the baggage claim but I think a map or sign would be the most beneficial thing for us.

Tyler follows Yuki but keeps an eye out for the very things he mentioned.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri notices that Alan is looking at her, and gets nervous, worrying that she's doing something wrong. She fidgets for a bit, trying to pretend she doesn't notice the consideration as she keeps watch on the surrounding buildings. Finally she blurts out, "W-what is it?"

[SuperCracker]

Alan

The way she fidgeted made him grin, and helped him make a decision! He crouched down in front of Yuri. "Hop on. We're going to move as fast as we can."

[Neon Knight]

Yuri hesitated for a moment before climbing onto Alan's back, holstering her large hand gun. She thought about how high Alan could jump and swallowed nervously. "D-don't drop me, okay?"

[SuperCracker]

Alan

He grins a bit and stands up once Yuri has hopped on. He's looped his arms at his sides to hold her legs. He lifts her easily, then nods to Yukina. "Alright. Let's go. Keep an eye out, the chopper made a lot of noise coming down-- and we still don't know what took out the chopper."

And he starts moving.

[Tengu_temp]

Academy Students
"Woah, what the..." Shun is surprised when Yukina lifts him. "Right, telekinesis. Thanks, that'll be faster."

You head out, but when the group is about to leave the square you suddenly hear some loud rumblings in the ruins on the other side! Whatever causes this sound, it's huge, and it's closing in... How fast, you are not sure.

Independents
You enter the building through the window Yuuna broke - the air here is soggy, rather stale and unpleasant to breathe, and your soles are almost constantly in water. At least you find a plastic plaque with a faded map of the airport in the next room. It's fairly simple, but it shows the locations of both the baggage hold and the security room - the latter is closer, but they're on the opposite directions, the baggage hold in the west (also the direction of the main entrance) and the security room to southeast.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri feels the pit of her stomach drop out when the rumbling started. She tried to peer around Alan to see what was going on. "W-what is that? Command, there's s-something big out there..." She wrapped her arms around Alan's neck, holding to him tightly.

[SuperCracker]

Alan

"Yukina, gain altitude." Alan said, immediately approaching a dilapidated building and trying to jump up into various busted-out windows, hoping for both some cover, and a way to get up even higher.

[Cubey]

"Someone is coming to say hello." Yukina sounds amused, for some reason. Maybe she came to an interesting conclusion in her mind again? But regardless, she starts floating higher into the air, and so does Shun. The faster, the better - she wants a better position to see what is approaching.

[Poison_Fish]

"Let's get the stuff and get out of here. Who knows what dirty things are crawling through this water". Elisa winces at her imagination as they continue to trudge through water.

[Fri]

"If you say so then." Yuuna shrugs and moves toward the baggage room as with Tyler's suggestion.

[Tengu_temp]

Academy Students
"Big? How big? We don't have any data about creatures much larger than a human living in the zone." Ms Yoshikuni starts to sound tense. "Get away from there!"

And then something crashes through a wall on the other side of the square! In a cloud of dust stands a mutated lizard, but around three times bigger than the ones you've encountered before, and even more misshapen - it barely has any tail, its neck is thick and bulbous, and you don't even see if it has eyes. Despite that last fact, the creature looks up, and you can't help but feel that it's watching you! A few smaller lizards, similar ones to those you fought before, emerge through the whole the big one left behind.

And there's one more thing Yuri notices. The lizard's presence feels weird in comparison to humans, but there's no question about it - it has psi powers!

(The lizard is around 100 feet away from you, on the ground. Enemy initiative 15.)

Independents
You head towards where the lockers should be located, but before you reach there, you encounter an unpleasant surprise on the way. What used to be a waiting room for the passengers now has a rough pool in one of the corners, filled with slightly brown-colored water. What lies in the pool is a long, white creature, its body thicker than a human arm - is it some kind of a snake? No, it has short, stumpy legs, it's closer to a newt, though you'd have to approach it to see any details. The creature seems to be asleep, but you'd have to get close to the pool to get to the other side, or you'd have to look for another way.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri's heart froze in her chest as the sensation hit her. It was a presence unlike any she'd ever felt.... but what it was and what it meant was undeniable. That... thing was like them. It was a psyker.

"A-alan... that thing has psi powers." The hoarse, frightened whisper from behind him sounded like it came from someone who had just seen her worst fear. Inside, Yuri steeled herself for what she might have to do...


Initiative: [roll0]

If I beat the Lizard's init, I'll ready an action to counter any psi powers it uses with Nullify. If not, I'll probably refocus to get higher init so I can do that.

Possible Nullify: [roll1]
Possible (self) Drain Will Save: [roll2]

[Ishikar]

Pausing for a moment Tyler looks over the floor of the room. Noticing the general disrepair with rubble and pooling water he sighs and looks to his companions.

It figures that things wouldn't go as easily as a leisurely walk to the lockers. I think if we just have the one creature we can get by without disturbing it but if there are more than it may become too troublesome to rely on flights, telekinesis and Yuuna's jumps. Give me a moment to look ahead and then we can decide on how best to proceed.

As he begins to turn to look past the creature he reaches into his bag and pulls out his pistol.

Do either of you know how to use one of these? I'll be vulnerable as I won't be able to watch my surroundings while I do this and that creature may attack if we're unlucky. If you need me to come back immediately then just shake my shoulder. I'll describe what I'm seeing as I scout so you'll know fully what's up ahead.

[Fri]

"What do you... oh, I see. I never knew that you can do that. It's really an interesting ability to have...

And, I do believe we have things more potent than simple projectile weapons... Don't worry, Tyler-san, we'll make sure that no harm will come to you.."

[SuperCracker]

Alan

Even Alan, who is fearless, widens his eyes at the sight of this hulking creature. Yuri sounds terrified-- so he has to stay strong. "Just hang onto me, Yuri. I won't let anything happen to you."

Initiative: [roll0]

[Cubey]

"This is not normal... stay away. Stay away." Yukina is whispering loudly. She looks at the huge lizard with strange fascination. This is dangerous, and very aggressive. Did it come here to avenge the fallen lizards?

A burst of wind emanates from Yukina. All of her allies are now surrounded by dampening fields. The fields themselves are invisible, but their effects are not - even dust slows down and stops before it can touch them.

Initiative: [roll0]

Local Kinetic Reinforcement, +8 Force Field (Toughness won't go above cap though) on everyone in the range of 40 feet. Which I think means everyone in the group. Selective so it only applies on Yuri, Alan and Shun.

[Tengu_temp]

Academy Students
The large lizard takes a few steps closer, with four or five smaller reptiles skittering on the ground around it. It does not open its mouth wider, it does not hiss or roar, it just stares with its eyeless face at you - and suddenly you see distortions in the air around it!
"Oh crap!", Shun utters.
A raw shockwave of telekinetic force, without any precision or finesse to it, rushes into your direction, crushing the roofs of the nearby buildings and raising dust!

(Everyone: area attack, Reflex save DC 20, Toughness save DC 25/20 on passed reflex. Power check 17, in case Yuri wants to counter the power.)

[Neon Knight]

Yuri felt as if time was moving very slowly as the wave approached. Inside,s he was afraid.

Do it.

There was an imperative, a command, voiced by some inner facet of herself, to react as she had been trained. Even so, she hesitated for another fraction of a second.

You must.

In Yuri's mind, pressure began to build, synapses firing, neural pathways alive with unfathomable energies. It was a Pandora's box of roiling psi energy, ready to be unleashed by a careless hand.

You can't let it hurt them. You can't let it hurt the others.

Yuri's eyes snapped shut, her arms tightening around Alan's neck with the strain of concentration. Finally, it was unleashed. Pandora's box opened.

From around Yuri a sinuous coil of energy was unleashed, its color and hue unearthly. Like a striking serpent it sprang forth, colliding with oncoming wave. The two met like a heated iron dropped in water, like a rushing wave of lava meeting the sea, like matter and anti-matter colliding.


Natural 20 on the hero point re-roll, whoo! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9410773&postcount=62) Yuri takes 1 Charisma damage.

[Poison_Fish]

"I shouldn't need a pistol. Those are quite noisy as well, where as my powers are fairly silent." Elisa keeps an eye out as Tyler prepares to look for another way, shaking her hand a little in case she needs to do something.

[SuperCracker]

Alan

He braces for the impact of that incoming wave of TK-- when Yuri... stops it. Null! He doesn't have time to remark on it or talk about it, however, as there's still a matter of the giant lizard and its lizard kin.

Alan focuses on the creature, and a distortion appears around his forehead as he unleashes the largest blast he needs to to catch all of the small lizard and the giant one in a powerful TK Explosion. Buildings shatter and debris flies high into the air. (progression 3 on the AoE)

DC 18 reflex save, DC 23/19 damage.

He then calls out to Yukina, "Keep moving! Don't let them get close to us."

Alan then moves through one of the ruined buildings. Even though he's good in hand-to-hand combat, he doesn't want to get swarmed by them.

[Tengu_temp]

Academy Students
The explosion raises a huge dust cloud, obscuring the reptiles from your sight. For a moment, everything you hear in the square is the sound of falling rubble... And then the gigantic lizard emerges from the cloud, completely unscathed! It goes after you, not paying any attention to any ruins on the way, and spits a huge, nasty glob at Alan and Yuri! Luckily they manage to avoid it, and it hits the wall of a building instead.
The smaller lizards emerge from the cloud and follow their leader, but they're slower and less eager. Some of them are injured, too.

Independents
Tyler doesn't see any more creatures in the next room - it seems that the one in the pool is the only thing you have to sneak past. Actually, there are even some lockers in the walls over there! It seems you're close to your destination.

(Do you also check the pond? And sorry for the late post.)

[Neon Knight]

Yuri clung to Alan, her cheek resting against her back. She opened her eyes, her mind briefly blank. She couldn't recall anything... who she was, why she was here, who she was holding on to... it came all back to her in a rush, and yet she knew that something was missing, some piece of her memories gone. Was it the scent of a flower? Someone's name? The taste of her favorite food? The sound of someone's voice? She couldn't say.

A sense of wrongness radiated off of Yuri, the normally subtle impression enhanced by the recent display of power. She half-wondered why Alan... his name was Alan, right?- hadn't dropped her. She lifted her head from his back, looking down into the clearing dust to see their foes emerging. "Alan, I-I'm going to take a shot." Yuri unwrapped one of her arm's from his neck and drew the heavy pistol at her side. Angling around Alan, she lined up a shot and fired.

Attack -2 Power Attack Tradeoff: [roll0] DC 21

[Cubey]

"Disappear." Yukina whispers. Shun is floating away from the lizards, up and away - but Yukina herself is not. She has to stop these creatures. They want to kill everyone, and why? Only because they stepped here. That is not fair.

A telekinetic thrust attacks the large mutant. And then another one, and another.

(Move action to move the pilot away, Standard for Psychokinetic Stab)

[Tengu_temp]

The bullet hits the giant lizard right into the head, the force of impact causing one of its huge teeth to fall out, leaving a bloody trail behind in the air. Each of the telekinetic blows leaves a bruise, causing the mutant to back down a bit - but that's all.
(2 wounds)

[SuperCracker]

Alan

Seeing that the beast can be hurt, Alan renews his attack, unleashing another giant explosion of telekinetic force on the Lizard and its progeny-- if for no other reason than to try and take down the smaller lizards and thin out the crowd. After attacking, Alan continues further into the ruins, constantly moving from cover to cover. They need all the defense they can get.

Another DC 18 reflex save, 23/19 toughness save.

[Neon Knight]

As Alan started to head deeper into the ruins, Yuri spoke. "A-alan, Yukina isn't moving. W-we can't leave her!"

[Tengu_temp]

"Don't stay behind...! This thing will... ugh..." Shun tries not to throw up from all this sudden and rocking movement. It's not easy in his state.

Once again, the giant mutant seems to shrug off Alan's blast! The smaller ones are less lucky, though, and the impact throws them back into the ruins behind. They won't bother you for a while.

The huge reptile creates another burst of raw telekinetic energy! This time its target is Yukina alone!
(Reflex save DC 20, Toughness save DC 25/20.)

[SuperCracker]

Alan

"Yeah. I know. . ." The situation is bad. His ranged attacks are doing nothing to the beast. Screw it. He sets Yuri down behind some cover. "You stay here. If that thing gets any closer, you run."

Alan then turns and makes his way towards the large lizard, using the fact that it's distracted to his advantage as he comes in, giving a roundhouse kick at one of its forelegs-- the monster should be relatively easy to hit, so Alan should be able to put a huge amount of force into the strike.

Tactile TK Attack: [roll0] DC 23 + Autofire 2 bonus

Epic fail.

[Cubey]

Evasion 2, ho!
Reflex: [roll0]
Toughness: [roll1]

"No." Multiple fields of telekinetic force materialize in front of the psychic blast. But they are not supposed to absorb the impact. The fields are angled, and their mission is to deflect it.

The burst of energy slides by harmlessly, avoiding Yukina by a wide margin. But she does not pay attention to it, as she is fully focused on the lizard. She applies force, trying to crush its head with psychokinesis.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri is set down, finding a bit of shelter behind some rubble. She nods to Alan, but quietly inside she promises herself that she won't run if that means leaving Alan and Yukina behind.

Bracing herself on her makeshift cover, she decides to take another shot at the monster.


Attack, +/- 5 Power Attack Trade Off. [roll0] DC 24 Toughness.

[Tengu_temp]

A rippling, psychokinetic field appears for a moment around the lizard, which repels all the attacks, rendering them harmless! The creature raises its front legs and slashes at Alan with its claws, trying to pin him down to the ground.
(Attack roll 20. Toughness save DC 21, and grapple attempt: 44.)

[Cubey]

"No. No. No. No." Yukina repeats. She does not like what she sees. Nobody has the right to act so violently, least of all mutated lizards. She focuses her full power as small uncontrolled vectors of force scatter light objects around. Her aim is at the lizard's skull - a powerful, centralized stab. And then again, and again. She will not stop until the lizard stops moving, or at least grappling with Alan. Her gaze is not easy to capture by anyone from the present position, but it's not a nice one. These are the eyes of someone wielding killing power, and more than aware of it.

(Psychokinetic Stab, extra effort for standard action, and the same thing again)

[Tengu_temp]

The telekinetic blows throw the lizard's head around, and each subsequent hit draws more blood! One of them pushes it backwards, forcing it to take its claws off Alan, and the following few ones turn its head into a nasty, bloody mess. The mutant falls on its side loudly, and you can feel a psychic ripple in the air. The other lizards back off and disappear among the ruins.

[Cubey]

"Are you injured?" Yukina floats down. She looks worn out, both physically and mentally.

"Oh. I dropped it..." She looks at her hands, probably meaning the camera she was carrying - because indeed, it is not there. Do not worry about the pilot, though. She maintains a steady, but gentle grip on him.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri ran out from her cover. "Alan! Alan!" She slid to a stop, clearly worried. "Are you okay?"

[SuperCracker]

Alan

He had a gash in his shoulder from the lizard's foreleg smashing into him, but he looked okay-- if slightly ticked from getting punked by the creature. He pushes himself up onto his feet. Note to self, get better at being an escape artist.

"I'm fine, but we need to get moving before something else happens." He said, regaining his confident composure.

[Neon Knight]

Yuri had to restrain herself from hugging him in relief. Looking at his shoulder, though, made her think it was best to move on her own, rather than potentially paining him by carrying her. She quickly refreshed her weapon and set out, hoping that they could leave this terrible place quickly.

[Cubey]

"That's good." Yukina takes what Alan said at face value. He looks wounded, but he said he is alright, so he is.

"I don't want to be here anymore. I want to sleep." She sounds disappointed. The trip was not as fun as she expected. Too little sightseeing, too much death and mean, aggressive mutants. She continues the evacuation, moving both herself and Shun with telekinesis.

[Poison_Fish]

Elisa looks around poking Tyler lightly with her finger "So, does it looks good? Shall we move on?"

[Tengu_temp]

Academy Students
"You've really done it...", Shun says in disbelief. "You killed that thing! The Academy students here are really something, aren't th... ugh..." He cringes in pain for a moment. "I'm okay... I'm okay..."

"What's the situation? Report!" Ms Yoshikuni sounds rather worried.

(You should reach the border of the Zone without any obstructions now... Unless you want to do something else on the way.)

[Neon Knight]

Yuri held a hand to the side of her headset. "We beat the lizard. We're coming home now, as fast as possible." Yuri wants to head straight home, with no delays.