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xp_logsFollowing Marie's misadventures in Chinese food, Shiro calls in Remy and Amanda and a desperate plan is made.
Shiro paced around the playground at Portsmouth Square, trying to gather his wits and think of a way to get out of this. They'd been at a Chinese restaurant. Marie had obviously been kidnapped, which means that either someone stronger than her had subdued her (unlikely as there'd been no signs of a struggle), a psi had influenced her (also unlikely because he was sure that Marie had great psychic defenses between her training at Xavier's and her own messed up head), or she'd been drugged. The only place she could have been drugged was the restaurant, meaning that her food had been poisoned. But she'd eaten his meal . . .
"Fuck," he exclaimed loudly, much to the surprise and consternation of the families around him. They'd walked right into that trap. He collapsed onto a bench and looked up at the large bronze statue of some Chinese goddess gracing the square. "~You couldn't have just stayed in China, could you?~" he muttered darkly in Japanese.
Amanda, rounded the climbing gym, stepping around a pair of pre-schoolers chasing each other without looking where they were going. "Ballistic munchkins," she muttered to herself, rolling her eyes. Spotting Shiro on his bench, she hitched up her bag and headed in his direction, frowning a little. Shiro wasn't exactly a happy little sunbeam at the best of times, but he was out-glowering even Pete before he Happened to someone.
Plopping down on the bench beside him, she dumped the small pack she was using as a student prop beside her, and shot him a glance. "What's up? We weren't supposed to meet until later." She'd only just barely had time to charm her way into the morgue to see the bodies Remy had mentioned - she still had on the thick makeup of a Goth fangirl that had worked so well on one of the junior attendants.
"They got Marie." No sense beating around the bush. "At least, I am almost certain it was them. And I do not know where they took her. To keep her would be an extraordinary effort, but I've little doubt that it is possible." The air around his hands was distorted, like when the sun hits a surface on a hot day. It was a struggle to keep control, as the more Shiro thought about it, the easier it was to blame himself.
"Merde." The voice behind them both came as a surprise, as LeBeau almost seemed to have materialized there. "If dey going to take Marie, den dey already thought 'bout how dey going to keep her."
He lit a cigarette and thought for a moment. "You get anything more on dose symbols, 'manda?"
The witch shook her head. Remy's surprise appearances weren't so much a surprise after all this time, except for the whole unexpectedness of just when he was going to do it. "Some? Nine of them relate to the old Chinese kingdoms, but there's ten symbols. I'm still working on the last one - it doesn't seem to appear anywhere in the old books. Putting the nine together... it's supposed to represent a unified Chinese Empire, but 's not exactly helpful." She turned to Shiro. "Go back to the part where they managed to grab the invulnerable, super-strong girl who can't be touched. What the fuck happened?" Worry was plain on the witch's face.
"We were at a restaurant and they drugged my food, which she ate because I was not hungry. So we must have been on the right track if they were preparing to take me." Small comfort, that. Shiro kept back a despondent sigh.
"Or both of you." Remy took a drag off his cigarette, and blew out a plume of smoke into the cool air. "So why do you capture de superstrong girl in de first place, less you assume dat you got some use for her? Dis whole thing stinks. De San Fransisco underworld is in de process of eating itself 'live, everyone is waiting for de big gang war, but dey got dere knives pointed as demselves."
"So where do we go from here?" As much as Shiro hated it, he had to defer to Remy's expertise. His first priority now was to find Marie, if not for her own sake then because she could surely lead them to the Triads. "Back to the restaurant?"
"Non. We go back to de hotel, find what Betts has come up wit'. I think dat we're playing dis wrong. If dey have targeted us already, sneaking around de back doors doesn't make sense any more. If Betts got de information on de Triad contact, den our best bet might be to move straight to violence." LeBeau considered. For all that Shiro was annoying at times, his powers represented a major threat to any enemies. They might have a better chance going directly to the source, and hitting them quickly could shake loose information about Marie, before the Triad could truly disappear her.
"I could try the location spell?" Amanda suggested, somewhat hesitantly. "Marie's stuff's there, I'm pretty sure I could find something to focus on. San Fran doesn't have the oomph New York does, but there's enough here I think I could narrow it down to a couple of blocks."
"Dat could help, especially if Betts has a couple of possible locations for us. I want to hit dem hard and fast, and dat means we need to be right de first time." Remy nodded.
"Violence, I can handle." The thought brought a brief smile to Shiro's face. Standing up, he offered the goddess statue a final look of contempt, and then nodded at Amanda. "Find her."
Shiro paced around the playground at Portsmouth Square, trying to gather his wits and think of a way to get out of this. They'd been at a Chinese restaurant. Marie had obviously been kidnapped, which means that either someone stronger than her had subdued her (unlikely as there'd been no signs of a struggle), a psi had influenced her (also unlikely because he was sure that Marie had great psychic defenses between her training at Xavier's and her own messed up head), or she'd been drugged. The only place she could have been drugged was the restaurant, meaning that her food had been poisoned. But she'd eaten his meal . . .
"Fuck," he exclaimed loudly, much to the surprise and consternation of the families around him. They'd walked right into that trap. He collapsed onto a bench and looked up at the large bronze statue of some Chinese goddess gracing the square. "~You couldn't have just stayed in China, could you?~" he muttered darkly in Japanese.
Amanda, rounded the climbing gym, stepping around a pair of pre-schoolers chasing each other without looking where they were going. "Ballistic munchkins," she muttered to herself, rolling her eyes. Spotting Shiro on his bench, she hitched up her bag and headed in his direction, frowning a little. Shiro wasn't exactly a happy little sunbeam at the best of times, but he was out-glowering even Pete before he Happened to someone.
Plopping down on the bench beside him, she dumped the small pack she was using as a student prop beside her, and shot him a glance. "What's up? We weren't supposed to meet until later." She'd only just barely had time to charm her way into the morgue to see the bodies Remy had mentioned - she still had on the thick makeup of a Goth fangirl that had worked so well on one of the junior attendants.
"They got Marie." No sense beating around the bush. "At least, I am almost certain it was them. And I do not know where they took her. To keep her would be an extraordinary effort, but I've little doubt that it is possible." The air around his hands was distorted, like when the sun hits a surface on a hot day. It was a struggle to keep control, as the more Shiro thought about it, the easier it was to blame himself.
"Merde." The voice behind them both came as a surprise, as LeBeau almost seemed to have materialized there. "If dey going to take Marie, den dey already thought 'bout how dey going to keep her."
He lit a cigarette and thought for a moment. "You get anything more on dose symbols, 'manda?"
The witch shook her head. Remy's surprise appearances weren't so much a surprise after all this time, except for the whole unexpectedness of just when he was going to do it. "Some? Nine of them relate to the old Chinese kingdoms, but there's ten symbols. I'm still working on the last one - it doesn't seem to appear anywhere in the old books. Putting the nine together... it's supposed to represent a unified Chinese Empire, but 's not exactly helpful." She turned to Shiro. "Go back to the part where they managed to grab the invulnerable, super-strong girl who can't be touched. What the fuck happened?" Worry was plain on the witch's face.
"We were at a restaurant and they drugged my food, which she ate because I was not hungry. So we must have been on the right track if they were preparing to take me." Small comfort, that. Shiro kept back a despondent sigh.
"Or both of you." Remy took a drag off his cigarette, and blew out a plume of smoke into the cool air. "So why do you capture de superstrong girl in de first place, less you assume dat you got some use for her? Dis whole thing stinks. De San Fransisco underworld is in de process of eating itself 'live, everyone is waiting for de big gang war, but dey got dere knives pointed as demselves."
"So where do we go from here?" As much as Shiro hated it, he had to defer to Remy's expertise. His first priority now was to find Marie, if not for her own sake then because she could surely lead them to the Triads. "Back to the restaurant?"
"Non. We go back to de hotel, find what Betts has come up wit'. I think dat we're playing dis wrong. If dey have targeted us already, sneaking around de back doors doesn't make sense any more. If Betts got de information on de Triad contact, den our best bet might be to move straight to violence." LeBeau considered. For all that Shiro was annoying at times, his powers represented a major threat to any enemies. They might have a better chance going directly to the source, and hitting them quickly could shake loose information about Marie, before the Triad could truly disappear her.
"I could try the location spell?" Amanda suggested, somewhat hesitantly. "Marie's stuff's there, I'm pretty sure I could find something to focus on. San Fran doesn't have the oomph New York does, but there's enough here I think I could narrow it down to a couple of blocks."
"Dat could help, especially if Betts has a couple of possible locations for us. I want to hit dem hard and fast, and dat means we need to be right de first time." Remy nodded.
"Violence, I can handle." The thought brought a brief smile to Shiro's face. Standing up, he offered the goddess statue a final look of contempt, and then nodded at Amanda. "Find her."
