Mission 6c - The blood of the arcane

To the ghoul, Emiko asks, "how did you get infected? Also, I don't know your name, what is it?"

"Sako, what happened to all those paracritters? With that blast to my friends, it looks like you're powerful enough to handle yourself; with your strength and power, I'm not sure you need anybody. What is it you're trying to do?"

To both she asks, "how many more members are in this all ladies posse?"

"Thank you for sharing your story Takako.  Your life was very rough and you've been through a lot; I am sorry you had to endure so much pain and torture.  I'm glad you found some happiness in your sisterhood."

"I didn't have the easiest life growing up, though it's not as harsh as your story.  I don't share this with too many people, but I grew up forced to do bad things for my family's company.  When kids were out playing, I was learning how to be a confidence girl and sneak in and out places.  By the time I was a teenager, I was going into buildings to steal data.  I had cyberware implanted into me to make me more efficient.  Eventually I was caught and spent years locked up.  I too am SINless and can never see my family again."

"But what I can't stand is this bitch over here," Emiko points to Sako.  "This heartless woman has been going around murdering innocent people for her own gain.  She doesn't care about anyone. She even said it just now, she's just using you as backup.  You're a meat shield for her.  She even finds you repulsive and not the beautiful soul that you are. She said," Emiko uses her voice modulator to sound like Sako, "why would you expect her to look like me?"

"Takako, I have heard your story.  I have heard Ms. Gumo's tragic story.  And I would love to hear Ms. Nagakubi's story.  I am interested in what you're offering and you know it's a big decision.  But, I cannot be a part of what nastiness Sako is.  Takako, help me end the reign of this selfish bitch."

Emiko chuckles and says, "can't blame a girl for tryin'"

She pauses for a moment and considers the situation, looking at Kin and Ghost on the floor, hoping that Edison is ok outside.  

"How about this... a counterproposal.  I agree to come with you, I definitely am intrigued with what's going on here.  I just ask that we let these two men go."

"The creepy spiders, Sako's skull face, this dingy store... we've seen enough horror movies to get our nerves up, so you could understand why we were so jumpy."

"That man," Emiko points to Kin, "has saved my ass a few times.  One of the victims Sako killed... his spirit possessed me and proceeded to bash my head into a wall until it cracked.  This guy saved me from an eternity in hell, again. Long story.  The point is, I have to insist he leaves unscathed.. any more than he is now."

"And that poor guy," Emiko now looking at Ghost, "he was our meat shield.  We knew Sako was powerful and, if she attacked us, we needed protection.  He's just a hired guy that was to protect us from Sako's spells.  He has no idea what's going on and I would like him to leave as well."

"If you agree to that, I will pledge myself to you," Emiko says with a short bow.

Kin's been pretty quiet, due to the fact that whatever Sako hit him with felt like a car. His breathing is a bit labored, but he's still able to talk.

"Ladies, I hope you had a nice chat. It appears that you've made my decision for me. There's only one problem. You didn't ask me what I want and it's not to end up a ghoul. No offense, Takako."

Kin raises his Predator, aims at Sako's head and fires.

"It doesn't have to end like this," Emiko yells over the gun shot. "Just let them go!  I said I will stay."

Emiko stands her ground, ready to inject the Blight into whichever girl gets within range.

Unarmed + agility (if needed): 6 hits

Round 1, pass 1

Not willing to start his new career as a superhero by being bitten by a radioactive woman, Kin fires off a shot at Sako's face, tearing off half of her cheek in the process.

"You little bitch!" Sako snarls, clearly in pain as she glares at Kin, her face once again taking on the visage of a skull. He feels his limbs grow stiff for a moment, then everything goes black. While Kin is oblivious to the world, Emiko can see that he's become a stone statue.

Takako looks like she was intending to claw at Kin and rip him to pieces, but instead scrapes her claws against stone, making a teeth grinding sound in the process.

Emiko then plunges the needle into Sako's side. Her face immediately returns back to her human self as the drug cuts Sako off from the manasphere. A look of confusion comes across Sako's face, followed by one of rage as she glares at Emiko.

Emiko says to Sako, "I can tell by the look on your face that you are pissed."

"But," she says now looking at both women, "I offered to come with you!" Her voice starting to rise as she becomes agitated.

Emiko reaches into her pocket and pulls out the other syringe of Blight.

"This has to end. You and I are going to have a conversation about what the hell is going on. Why did Sako steal all of those paracritters and what exactly is this estrogen cult you want me to join?"

"Takako.. if you have any notion of turning me into a ghoul, by the gods I will stab you with this syringe and end you. Put your claws away."

Negotiation: 3 hits

Round 1, pass 2

Sako grips her bleeding face and turns off the light she was holding, plunging the room into pitch darkness once again. The sound of a door opening can be heard as Emiko (who I presume is still perceiving) sees her astral form fleeing the room.

Kin gasps as he is returned to flesh, but sees nothing but darkness around him.

Emiko can see Takako's astral body pounce on Ghost's prone form and rake him viscously. Judging by the yelp he lets out, the paralysis wears off right about then.

Ghost responds with a gout of flame that singes Takako's hair and makes her back up a bit in surprise.

Amid the chaos, Emiko attempts to reason with the crowd, but her words appear to fall on deaf ears.

"... and I'm talking to myself," Emiko says watching Sako run away. She then gasps, "oh shit," as Takako attacks Ghost.

"Ghost, hang in there, we're going to get you out!"

Emiko reaches into her bag, pulls out her ballistic mask, and hands it to Kin. "Kin, you ok? Put your hands out, I've got something for you so you can see." Emiko puts the mask in Kin's hands and says, "it's a mask, put it on. Takako is attacking ghost."

Kin puts the the mask that Emiko gave him and sees two glows in front of him, one standing over the other. Thanks to Emiko, he is able to make out the glow of both Ghost and Takako. He raises his gun toward her head and fires.

Round 2 pass 1

Emiko hands off a mask with thermographic mods to Kin who straps it on and fires at Takako's head again, this time missing entirely as she senses it coming and avoids it.

Takako then lunges for Kin, seeing that he's no longer a statue and is utterly tired of all the head shots. Thanks to his new dark vision, he's able to sidestep the brunt of the attack which only manages to touch his side and does not feel like it did any damage.

Ghost is very much in a mood for murdering ghouls as he lets out another stream of flame on Takako. She screams in pain as the flames sear her back and gnashes her teeth in frustration as she is quickly becoming overwhelmed and out numbered. Her clothes catch fire and begin to slowly spread along her body, incidentally providing some light for the room.

Emiko spins around, looking for her taser. She sprints towards it, picks it up, and unloads the spent darts. Aiming at the flaming Takako, Emiko takes action rather than waste time on words and fires a shot.

Taser: 4 hits

Kin, realizing he could have done some real damage, managed to do nothing more than alert Takako to his presence. Nearly unconscious and in the dark, he may as well have waved his arms and yelled to her to attack him. Feeling a little more like himself, he aims and fires at her head, which is more visible thanks to being on fire.

Round 2 pass 2

Kin fires off another shot at Takako, who is screaming in terror as flames crawl up her body. The shot strikes her in the head, taking off a chunk of skull with it, but she remains standing.

Emiko follows up with a taser shot that sends a jolt through her body, causing her to spasm. She thrashes around, her teeth clenched tight from the electricity coursing through her body. She does not look good.

Kin hopes his next shot is his last, at least as far as Takako is concerned. He takes aim at what is left of her head and fires.

"Damn you Takako," Emiko says as she releases the next spent darts. Her hands shake as she shoots again.

Taser: 2 hits

Round 3, pass 1

Screaming in pain and horror, Takako runs through the door to the main area, patting out the flames on herself, but also accidentally setting nearby webs aflame in the process. The webs seem to spread the flames extremely rapidly along the walls.

Kin has to rush after the ghoul to shoot her. While she is no longer on fire, the rapidly growing ambient flame is enough to see her by and he fires a shot. The shot hits a shelf near her. Though he (thankfully) didn't see them before, the spiders that were in the area seem to have cleared out. There is still a thick wall of webs around the store's interior.

Emiko follows after Kin and fires a shot from her taser. The darts leave a trail of cable to a nearby shelf.

Outside, gunshots can still be heard as the building appears to be going up in flame. Ghost, apparently worn down from his wounds, says, "We should get outside and regroup, up to you how you want to go out but following them's just asking for an ambush." He holds a hand out to a rolling cargo door. Without power it would be near impossible to open. Luckily mages specialize in the impossible as he blasts a hole large enough to escape through in the cargo door.

With a concerned tone in her voice, Emiko asks, "Guys, are you both ok?" She pockets the unused syringe of Blight.

"Takako really went wild at the end," Emiko continues as she loads three darts into her taser.

She makes her way to the new exit Ghost created and texts Edison along the way.
>>>>> What's going on by you?
>>>>> We're hearing gunshots
>>>>> On our way to you now

Kin follows Emiko and speaks, shakiness in his voice.

"That could have went better. It was a lot more than I expected. I didn't think Sako would enlist allies."

He turns to Ghost.

"You did well in there. Do you have any healing magic? I could really use something and would appreciate it."

Kin feels terrible, knowing what he went through is nothing compared to what Ghost went through.

Kin nods to Ghost.

"Thank you. That helped a lot. Should we move around and see what's going on? I'm not sure I want to let them get away, if there's anything we can safely do to prevent it."