2014-03-08 - Guns and Roses
| Title: Guns and Roses, or, Shadowy Protector Gambit Pileup | |
|---|---|
| Summary: So Tuxedo Mask's following Sailor Moon. But, uh, so is Mami Tomoe, and heck if she knows who Masky is. HILARITY ENSUES. | |
| Who: | |
| Where: Outside OSA-P! | |
| OOC - IC Date: ICly just before Starfall - OOCly 3/8/14 | |
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"
It's been a long night. It's almost over.
After the frequent vending machine visits, the regular stops to take a picture of something and then mess with her phone, and the literal hour she spent posing and rehearsing speeches atop a building, Sailor Moon has found a source of dark energy rumored to be in the area. It initially appeared to be a woman, but now it's something inhuman and shrieking.
The lights flicker wildly inside OSA-P as... something happens. It's difficult to see anything from out here. The details are just barely lost through the windows, even if the streets are completely empty at this hour. It's a quirk of the trade.
Unbeknownst to the fair and gentle (for creative values of gentle) Sailor Moon, there are masked eyes fixed on her from the shadows of the moonlit night. A long black cape, lined with the red of blood, of a rose, wafts in the darkness like a silken flag; a tophat shadows the face of the man who wears it, only the bright white outline of that mask visible beneath it.
He's not crouched, is this watcher; he's on one knee on the corner edge of the building opposite that window, white gloved hand propping his chin, elbow resting on the other knee.
He'd cruised past a couple of jewelry stores on his way, pausing to look through the cage-grated windows at the displays therein; always, he moved on with the bodylanguage of irritation. Then he thought of Sailor Moon, and inevitably, that's the direction in which he found himself heading.
Now the lights flicker in the room the Sailor Soldier had been mucking about inside, and the man called Tuxedo Mask stands suddenly, frowning. The cape billows.
Inhuman, shrieking things happen. It's a hazard of seeking out sources of dark energy. But nearby...
Also likely unbeknownst to the sincere and enthusiastic Sailor Moon, eyes set in gold peer out from the darkness towards the building, and towards that same sailor-suited warrior. She wears no mask, though Mami, too, is noted for her hats. The black, white, and yellow of her attire manages still to blend with the darkness, mostly because she knows where to step. ...For making an entrance, of course.
Mami Tomoe is standing, the Puella Magi on a building diagonal, high up and a perfect vantage point for her favored weapons--and to make her observations. Her patrolling has given way to something else, tonight. A different sort of patrol. Her fine boots have been hitting the pavement. And right now, she sees a billowing cape, a stylish hat--
A man following Sailor Moon? ...Could it be one of the ones who appeared that night she'd heard about? They too were dressed formally...
Moments later, there is a click, from a short distance behind Mamoru. Mami's puffy sleeves rustle slightly in the wind, but the beautiful silver gun pointed directly at the man does not so much as waver. Her finger is on the trigger, the barrel's length casting an even greater shadow.
"Who are you," a chill female voice demands, "And what is your business with Sailor Moon?"
"A locally owned business isn't just the pride of its owner, it's also cherished by the surrounding community! I won't forgive anyone who threatens the precious creation of a hopeful entrepreneur! I'm the sailor-suited pretty soldier of love and justice, Sailor Moon! And, in the name of the moon, I will punish you!"
Thump thump. Scream. Thump. Shriek. Crash. Thump.
That click is a thunderous thing in the still of the street; a bubble of tension where the air is suddenly thick makes the sounds in that space seem to echo in the vastness of a cathedral.
The figure in the top hat half turns, lifting his white-gloved hands and putting him in profile (narrower target, too! so subtle), but his gaze is still directed downward and to the side, at that flickering window and the screams.
"You may call me Tuxedo Mask," the man says, preoccupied with the goings-on below and across. "My interest in her is my--"
Thump thump. Scream. Thump. Shriek. Crash. Thump.
The masked man's eyes narrow, before the moonlight glances off the lenses and obscures his gaze. "I don't have time for this," he says harshly, worry and frustration crowding his voice. He turns his back to the girl and the gun, glancing back at her once, and then his flickering movement and shift of body weight send him toward the edge again; he starts to leap off th building.
A narrow target by far compared to Mami's usual, but she seems to think it may be enough; her weapon remains trained quite firmly on the man, even as she, too, listens to the screams. 'You may call me Tuxedo Mask,' he says, and--
Thump thump. Scream. Thump. Shriek. Crash. Thump.
Tuxedo Mask moves to leap, and Mami springs into action--or rather, her arm springs into action, as she flicks her wrist and her magic comes to bear. From nowhere, bright cloth appears to hook straight towards Tuxedo Mask, aiming all about him but particularly for his legs.
"Didn't anyone tell you it's rude to turn your back on a lady?"
Wha--? Tuxedo Mask was certain he'd be fast enough, but even though he saw the cloth headed for him as he glanced back, he was the opposite of fast enough. He abruptly finds himself tangled in clingy dayglo, tripping and rolling back down onto the flat of the roof. His hat, alas! His hat's gone rolling off in another direction entirely, but his mask stays on like it's part of him.
Rolling closer to Mami. The eyes behind the mask are a bright, accusing blue, indignation and frustrated ire roiling in his expression; as he comes to a stop he glares up at Mami. "If you care about her at all, why are you wasting time on me?" he hisses.
What IS her deal? Mamoru's thoughts are layered: beneath the riot of aggravation and the calm game of Throne War he's suddenly found himself playing Florimel in, there's the analysis going on. She seems protective of Sailor Moon, but she could be an enemy! She was watching her, too, after all. And she's more interested in stopping me than making sure Sailor Moon doesn't need backup-- does she even know about the other Senshi? This can't go on: I have to stop this, now!!
One arm whips out from inside his cape; hurling himself up to his knees and bringing his arm down and across, he's suddenly possessed of a cane that aims to tangle Mami's legs and bring her crashing down too. "How dare you put your thirst for combat ahead of the safety of a soldier of love and justice??"
Mami stands as if she'd done nothing more important or difficult than fetch a cup of tea, peering down towards her new captive as he rolls her way. She stops some distance, however. She is wielding a ranged weapon, and more to the point...
Well, she does not wish to stand over him in the best of circumstances.
"Because I do not know who you are," Mami replies simply, her own expression much more pleasant, even conversational. "But I do know Sailor Moon."
His cane moves quickly, too quickly for anyone to reasonably evade--but the powers of a magical girl go beyond the reasonable. Her booted feet lift nimbly from the ground as if the air itself picked her up, and she keeps going, flipping backward and landing in a dancer's crouch on the other corner of the roof. She fires her weapon, and twirls as she fires another, and another, and another in return, each seemingly appearing out of nowhere and being discarded with a clatter after each shot.
...But surely the noises inside will drown it out.
...What Tuxedo Mask may or may not notice is that her shots are aimed for the cane, for the folds of his tuxedo, and other places meant to make him move and test him out, rather than to actually perforate important organs.
"Her safety is foremost on my mind right now, Tuxedo Mask. I know she can handle herself for a while--but I don't know if she can handle a strange man following her around. Unless you'd rather stop and explain to me your thoughts on the matter?"
On the surface of the roof, lectured like an elementary school child, tied up in bright cloth, there is not a lot of dignity in Mamoruville. And yet-- and yet! He is still the phantom ally of the Sailor Senshi, who moonlights as a thief in a tuxedo. Mami's got her guns out and there's ever-increasing craziness sounds below, and she's being as much of an ass as he is, if not MORE, he thinks-- so.
Bullets fly around him, coming perilously close but perforating only fabric-- this is intended, he can tell; his eyes narrow again-- and reasonable words coming out of an unreasonably well-armed mouth, and it's really time to stop this.
Tuxedo Mask disappears his cane into his cape somehow, and pulls a rose out of his tuxedo jacket, then throws it stem first at the barrel of one of Mami's guns. A petal flutters down as the rose settles. Somewhere, a spanish guitar plays, accompanied by castanets. "I am her ally. You can ask her if you want. Can you stop shooting me now?"
Mami Tomoe continues to stand gracefully, looking at the man who may briefly be her captive, seemingly possessed of no end of dignity for her part. ...A magical girl must always maintain her composure. Her hat remains perfectly perched on her golden hair, the pin shining in the evening light. The sounds continue. There is much to be done below, and yet--
The rose slides neatly into the gun's barrel, and Mami halts before pulling its trigger, peering one at the petal that is falling. "...You gave Annette a flower," Mami remarks thoughtfully, looking between the barrel and Tuxedo Mask himself.
A moment later, she lifts the firearm, no longer pointing it at him. "Hmm, well you handled that well, at least. You can believe that I will ask her. For now, though, I'll take your word for it." Beat, "Since it's not as if I can complain that you were following her around, considering."
Internally, the Spanish guitar is still playing in Mami's mind.
"Moon Tiara!"
The windows light up as the moon is briefly shining from inside the jewelry store.
"ACTION!"
As Mami lifts her weapon, Tuxedo Mask stares at her for a moment -- frozen he stays as she makes her observation of the gifting of flowers to a named weapon -- and then lifts a solitary eyebrow right up over the mask. It's then that the ribbons suddenly fall off him, puddling on the rooftop to his sides.
He's on his feet again in a split second, and jumps to the edge, balancing on it for a moment as he looks down and back at Mami.
The wind blowing his hair all up lends a gust to his top hat, and he reaches out a white-gloved hand to catch it and put it back on his head, all in one smooth gesture. His cape -- now sporting a couple of holes -- billows around him.
"And you, miss, comported yourself well enough that I have no objections to you also watching her back. Provided, of course, she names you ally to me." The corner of his mouth quirks up, and then he's gone off the edge.
Sometime in the moments where Mamoru is standing and then putting back on his hat in such a wonderful way, Mami's weapons simply disappear--along with the rose. The blonde makes no mention of where they've gone, and makes no gesture to imply she's done anything about it, much like she didn't motion to undo her magic and yet did it, all the same.
Her vision casts over the side, where she can see the light and hear the sound, but then moes back to focus upon Tuxedo Mask again.
"Ah, well thank you!" she reports back pleasantly.
Then he jumps over the side.
"What an impatient boy." She leans over the edge, "We'll have to talk another time! Ask Sailor Moon about Mami." She stands back up, again, and turns right around. There's a rose in her hand. "My, my."
