xp_logs | Trouble with the Mafia.

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The car pulled to a stop and Warren turned around to
his awaiting car load, "Ok, we're here."

"We're early." Paige, Mistress of the Obvious, looked
at her watch again to make sure. "Yes, quite early. I
sense a very large amount of popcorn consumption and
bathroom breaks at this rate."

"Me too." Marie used her gloved hand to wipe the
window clean where Artie had been drawing in the fog
of his breath on the glass. "And a lot of 'when does
it start?' to replace the 'are we there yet?'"

Shiro had been quiet the entire drive there, and once
they arrived, keeps his expression as neutral as ever.
"There's a tea shop I would like to see while we're
here. That should keep me busy for a little while, at
least. If anyone wants to come with . . ." He left the
invitation, but looked at Piotr.

Artie made a face at the mention of tea but brought up
a rather nice image of hot chocolate being served,
looking hopeful and tugging at Marie's sleeve for an
answer.

Warren saw the cute affection of Artie's tugging and
couldn't resist, "Would you like something, Artie?"

With Warren's attention divided, Piotr decided he
would go with Shiro since he seemed so inclined to
take him along. Besides, he liked tea.

'Yana licked her lips at the delicious image of hot
chocolate floating in the air, "Piotr? Could I please
have some hot chocolate like Artie?"

"Yes, of course you can have some. It'll be my treat,"
Warren smiled at the girl. "Marie, I'll go get the hot
cocoa." With that, he walk away briskly to get out of
the cold.

Paige shook her head finally, as Warren set off,
looking over at Shiro. "For once I am very well
stocked in the tea area. Why don't you take Piotr with
you and Em and I will entertain munchkin one and two?"

Shiro nodded at her, and looked over at Piotr. "Jaa,
it's over there," he said and nodded his head at a
small store a few doors down from the theater.
Without waiting, he set off, hands in his pocket, and
looking down.

Artie bounced up and down and tugged on Marie's hand,
making the sign for her to 'come here'. "I'm coming,"
Marie said patiently. "I'm cold too. Come on, girls,
let's wait in where it's warm."

Paige nodded, rubbing at her arms. "I'm all for that.
I like my limbs right where they are and not
frostbitten."

Following Shiro close behind, Piotr muttered to
himself, "It's so cold. I don't remember it ever being
this cold in Russia...where is this store?"

The tea shop was a decent-sized place, with a low
ceiling barely a foot above Piotr’s head. He and Shiro
had walked there in silence, Shiro ignoring every
questioning glance the Russian had directed at him. He
wanted to make this quick. Just deliver Piotr to his
cousin’s men and leave.

As was to be expected, Keniuchio had not given Shiro
any information about the purpose of this visit. The
few e-mails they traded were brief, their content only
discussing how to set this up. But he knew that this
was not meant to be a reunion full of smiles and
rainbows. At least Keniuchio had given his word that
no one would be hurt, that he only needed to open
communication with Rasputin. And that was, if Shiro
would admit to himself, the main reason he’d agreed,
respect and duty to the family be damned. Although he
had assisted his cousin by acting as a messenger boy
back in Japan, which oftentimes ended up with someone
dead, his faith in Keniuchio had been shaken to the
core after discovering that an innocent, Inochino
Minako, had been brutally murdered. He would not allow
himself to be responsible for anymore such deaths,
especially of someone he lived with.

They browsed around for a few minutes, but Shiro of
course had no intention of buying anything. He kept on
shooting somewhat nervous glances at Piotr, who was
standing beside him and looking at the jars of tea
leaves, apparently oblivious. “There is some more in
the backroom,” Shiro said absently, not looking at
Piotr’s face.

“Is anything the matter, Shiro?” the Russian asked,
but followed him.

“Hmm? No. Just . . . lost in thought, as they say.” He
nodded to the salesclerk restocking the shelves by the
backroom, who stopped to open the door for them.

“Yoshida-san desune?” the clerk asked Shiro quietly.
“Yoshida-san no douryou wa, soko desu.”

“Hai. Doumo.” He stepped to the side to let Piotr
enter first. “She said that they have just received a
new flavor in back, straight from Japan. It’s very
good, she says,” he purposefully mistranslated.

The door closed behind them. The backroom was bigger
than the actual store, lit by a few lamps hanging from
the ceiling, and was filled with stacked crates, most
of them unopened.

“Koko desu,” he called out, announcing their presence.
It’s now or never. Please just be quick . . .

“I’m glad you came with us,” Marie said to Paige. The
two of them stood sipping hot chocolate and watching
Artie and Illyana drink their own. The two children
sat on a bench in the theatre lobby, kicking their
heels and watching the people go by. Warren hovered
nearby, occasionally glancing over the crowd to see if
Piotr had reappeared.

“Well, it was time. Angelo’s doing better and I
figured people would fuss less if I showed my
remarkable normalcy by seeing a movie,” said Paige.

Warren crossed his arms, checked his watch, frowned,
and then looked around again. “They went to buy
/tea/?” he asked for the third time.

“Yes, Warren,” Paige replied tartly. “I’m sure it’s
not a euphemism for anything more.” A smile softened
her words and her eyes sparkled blue and merry over
the rim of her cup as she took another sip of hot
chocolate.

Warren shook his head and grinned back at her. “I
wasn’t thinking /that/ and you know it, Paige. I’m
going to go see where they went. There’s not many
shops down here, they can’t be far. Back soon.” He
turned and, hands in his coat pockets, headed out into
the cold.

“Abandoned,” Marie said with a dramatic sigh.

“You and me both, sister,” Paige said lightly.
“Where’d the kids get to?”

The bench was bare except for the cups of hot
chocolate sitting empty.

“Oh, they probably went to look at that.” Marie
pointed over to a lit display of /Spirited Away/
posters and toys. The lobby was busy, full of Sunday
matinee goers, mostly families. “Come on.”

Unconcerned, the two made their way in that direction,
dodging other children and adults. Out of the crowd,
Artie slammed into them, grabbing franticly at their
coats and making his sign for ‘Yana, a ‘y’ held over
his heart.

“What…?” Paige started to say, looking around for the
little girl.

“…what’s wrong with ‘Yana?” Marie finished, bending to
comfort Artie.

“Oh, /hell/, Em.” A flash of white hair in the crowd
caught Paige’s attention and she grabbed Marie by the
shoulder, hard. Marie stood and rose a little to see
above the crowd, made careless by the tone in Paige’s
voice. She was just in time to see a slender,
dark-clad man push open the first of the double doors,
Illyana clasped tightly in his arms. The little girl
was strangely silent.

“Go.” Marie dropped and picked Artie up as Paige
began to forge through the crowd. “Hang on,
sweetheart,” Marie said to Artie. “We’ll catch them.”
She was only steps behind Paige when they burst out
onto the street.

“There.” Paige pointed as a cab’s horn blared. The
man had stepped out in front of the car and only the
horn had drawn their attention down the street. They
kept to their side of the street as the man crossed,
Illyana clinging to him, and watched him disappear
down an alley.

“I’m going up,” Marie said flatly as, Paige’s mittened
hand in her own, they crossed the street. “I’m taking
Artie to the rooftop.” She nodded toward the building
on the right of the alley. The building to the left
was a tiny, one-story tea house. The two young women
looked at each other, realizing that this was more
than someone snatching a pretty little white-haired
Russian girl.

“I’ll meet you in the alley,” Paige said resolutely,
eyes bright and angry, as she pulled her mittens off.

“Wait until you see me drop, then come running,” Marie
said before she shot straight up in the air, hugging
the side of the building.

Marie landed lightly on the roof. “Here.” She put
Artie down by the chimney stacks and pulled her coat
off, tucking it around him. “Wait here. If I don’t
come back in five minutes,” she took off her watch and
gave it to him, “call Scott. Just press this little
red button.” She showed him the panic button on the
phone. “It’ll be okay.”

Leaving Artie, she flew to the edge of the roof and
looked down. Two men in the alley. The flash of
Paige’s hair caught her attention and she waved down,
holding up two fingers. The men were talking in low
voices and lighting cigarettes. Paige, watching for
her, nodded. Marie stepped out into the air and shot
down, taking one out cleanly with both feet to the
head. She felt the crunch of bone as he went down
under her.

The other man reacted silently, pulling a gun and
aiming it at her head as Marie pulled up again but
there was silver behind him, Paige in her metal husk,
and she neatly slammed his head into the brick wall
and then dropped him. The sound was that of a melon
breaking open and Marie gave Paige a crooked grin.

“Nice.” Marie tried the door only to find it locked.

“Don’t break it,” Paige warned. “They’ll hear us.”
She bent to search the body of the man she’d killed.
“Keys.”

“Smart woman.” Marie did the same, straightening the
body of the man at her feet.

Paige came up with the keys a moment later and they
worked to get the door open. When they stepped
inside, it was into a short, dark hall with a light at
the end and angry voices sounding, including Shiro’s
and Piotr’s. From where they stood, they could see
the white halo of Illyana’s hair and the silhouette of
a man holding a gun to her head.

“Me first,” Marie whispered, pulling her right glove
off. “You’re shiny and I don’t make any noise. I’ll
get ‘Yana, then you come.”

“I can’t wait.” Paige’s voice was flat and angry.
“Someone’s paying for this.”

"Hello, Mr. Rasputin." Walking out from behind a large
stack of boxes was a middle-aged Japanese man wearing
a simple black suit. And suddenly, another dozen or so
similar-looking men appeared, grinning at Shiro and
Piotr, flexing muscles and cracking knuckles.

"So nice to see you. You have a beautiful sister." A
final man entered the room from the back hall, holding
onto Illyana tightly and pointing a gun to her temple.

Piotr expression turned from surprise to a cold
menacing glare at the man that was holding his dear
sister. "What do you want with me?"

"Orders from on high," the first man said as the one
holding onto Illyana tightened his hold around her.
"You cooperate with us, your sister lives.
Wakaru?"

Illyana slowly started crying giving Piotr all the
more reason to skin-up and trash these men, but he
resisted. He couldn't risk getting her hurt, "I
understand."

At the sound of Illyana's sobs, Warren pressed himself
against the door to listen harder.

As the man spoke, Shiro could feel his anger rising.
"This was not part of the deal!" he growled in
Japanese. "No one was supposed to get hurt."

"Shut up, brat," one of the mobsters snapped at Shiro
in Japanese. "You forget yourself." The boss-apparent
just grinned at Shiro before turning back to Piotr.
"Good. Because it would be such a shame for little
Yana-chan here to end up like your parents . . ."

Piotr's eyes widened at the mention of his secret. He
remained still and didn't say a word, his eye always
on the man holding 'Yana.

"You hear that, Yana-chan?" the boss asked the little
girl, ruffling her hair and smiling at her sweetly.
"Your brother values your life more than your
parents'. You won't wind up dead like them."

Illyana gasped and started to cry, staring at her
brother with disbelief.

Flight made Marie soundless and the man holding Yana
had no clue she was coming out of the shadowed hall
until her bare hand closed on the back of his neck. He
was jerked backwards, going limp as his spine was
crushed by the strength of Marie's grip. Her other
hand, still gloved, shot out and grabbed Yana by the
arm, stealing them away into the dark and making way
for Paige to pass her by.

Paige, in her metal husk, did exactly that, entering
the room with a menacing look. "I'm somewhat new to
this but I think this is the part where I, how do they
say, kick your ass?"

The perfect distraction. The second he heard Paige
speak, Shiro was up in the air. He quickly blasted two
of the men unconscious before rushing the boss, his
aura flaring.

Thankfully with Illyana out of the picture and Paige
and Shiro on the offense, Piotr flexed his muscles and
transformed into a steel-skinned battering ram,
running straight for the nearest thug.

Hearing all the fighting in the next room, Warren
decided it was his turn in the action. He swung the
door open and prepared to take flight. Little did he
know that a man dressed in black was guarding the
door. One zap of a tazer and Warren went down hard
and let out a painful scream.

At the sound of the scream, Piotr jerked around to see
his boyfriend go down. With his concentration broken,
the man he was charging shot a few bullets at Piotr's
head. Luckily they bounced off.

Shiro knew that he couldn't take the boss by himself
in a fair fight, so he taps deep into his powers to
increase his speed as much as he could, in order to
fight with a mad flurry of punches and kicks. He even
landed a few.

There was the clink of metal on tiled floor as Paige
chose the man shooting at Piotr as her first target.

Logically, the men with guns were the less prized
fighters and would be easier for someone of her still
somewhat modest skill to compete with. Besides, this
husk could handle bullets if need be.

There was a knee in the gut and an elbow at the nape
of his neck for that one, as well as quite a few
gashes from her now very sharp nails.

"You fucking liar!" Shiro spat in Japanese as he and
his opponents traded blows. "You used me! I'm going to
kill you for that!"

The boss just laughed, easily dodging most of Shiro's
attacks. Spotting a clumsy opening, he kicked Shiro
hard in the gut, throwing him far across the room.
"You should know better by now, brat, or has America
softened you too much so that you've become one of the
gai-jin you despise so much?"

Piotr blinked a few times to get the image of flying
bullets rushing at his face out. Regaining his posture
he found the nearest Yakuza and began to approach.
The guy was quick, but Piotr was determined! With a
sweep of both hands, Piotr grabbed the man and threw
him as hard as he could at the ceiling. To his
surprise, the man broke right through the roof, "Cheap
building..." he muttered.

"Omae wo hakusei ni suru ze!" Shiro shouted. He flew
forward again, but the boss dodged. Body surrounded by
golden fire, Shiro held his hands out in front of him
and released the strongest and biggest plasma burst he
could manage. The boss had no hopes of dodging it, and
was blasted clear across the room, taking out two
others with him.

With the fall of their boss, the rest of the Yakuza
turned tail and ran. Piotr grasped the closest guy and
spoke very clearly, Shiro translated. "Don't you ever
come looking for me again. I know how sent you and I
know what they want and they'll never have me again.
I've already paid too dearly for my mistakes. I hope
we never see each other again."

Tired. Stressed. Hurt.

The rest of the team rendezvoused on the neighboring
roof thanks to Marie. Artie and Illyana were huddled
in a ball trying to keep warm and trying to keep from
crying. Illyana wouldn't even look up when Piotr
arrived. He wasn't used to such coldness from his
dear sister, so he did the one thing he was known to
do and closed off and didn't utter a word.

Then, the limp body of Warren stirred and everyone
turned to see about his state.

"Uhhh..." Warren moaned, "What'd I miss?" He smiled.
His smile faded once
he saw the hurt state Piotr was in and the sullen
faces of everyone else in the crowd. Marie called
Scott to tell him they were safely on their way home.

Marie and Warren gathered the team and lightly flew
down to the waiting car. They silently crawled in
and drove back to the mansion, all the while Illyana
looking out the window. Not only was she ignoring
Piotr, but she seemed to avoid everyone in the car,
even Artie. The silent car finally arrived home to
Scott waiting at the door. He immediately grabbed
Piotr and pulled him aside, while the others marched
to their respective rooms, Illyana lagging behind.
She muttered a small "/why/?" in Russian and
ran into the house. Piotr dropped his head, trying to
hold back tears while he was talking to Scott.
Befuddled by the crying giant Russian, Scott tried to
wrap up their conversation to let Piotr to himself.

Once they finished, Piotr turned from Scott, turned
into his sad steel state and took a walk around the
mansion grounds.

Credit:
Arrival: Group log
To the tea shop: Ben
Losing/finding ‘Yana: Ande
Confrontation: Group log
Aftermath: Chandler