[Bakiri Retsu]

What goes up has got to fall and Bakiri Retsu had most definitely been on the rise since Operation Babel. Unfortunately the fallout meant she had to stay away from her usual haunts for a while and wouldn't you know it, that just happened to be where most of her stuff was. Which sadly included her wallet and meant she was armed with nothing but her knife and pistol so leaving an electronic trail heroes could follow wasn't the best idea.

So here she was, Director of a villain organization with hundreds of people under her command and responsible for turning part of Tokyo upside down yet still having to rob a convenience store if she didn't wanna go to bed hungry. Which also reminded her she had to find a bed somewhere if she wanted to do that at all.

"T-the money's- Just don't shoot, please, I hav-"

"Ah said put the fookin' corn dogs in the bag you idiot!" Retsu shouted angrily while pointing towards the hot snacks display with her gun before pointing it back at the clerk. "Gods, it's lahk ah'm talkin' to a fookin' wall. Hurry it up."

Absent-mindedly she cast a glance at the other shoppers she'd herded into a corner near the register. While she didn't exactly intend to harm any of them she couldn't risk them making a call or signalling for help before she was out of here. The last thing she needed was for her to be left high and dry if some nearby pro arrived sooner than she could handle. With that thought in mind she grabbed a bottle of water and cracked open the cap to make sure her throat didn't go dry either. Before she could drink however she was once more distracted by the cashier.

"Karaage too. Come on, ah dun' got all day!" She yelled while putting her finger near the trigger and pushing the front of her pistol against the unlucky employee's head.

With some luck she'd be out of here without having to shoot or stab anyone. She almost flinched as she had that thought. Why would a thought like that pop into her head? Now stuff was bound to go wrong...

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Tags: Arataki Noa

[Arataki Noa]

She was in the middle of running an errand when Noa decided to stop by a convenience store to pick up a few things. On a normal day, a health nut like her wouldn't be caught dead with snacks and convenience store food, but she had remembered she was also running low on sports drinks and this was as good a place to buy them as any. She gently pushed open the door which had a chime that would typically alert the cashier that a new customer entered. But before Noa could take one step further inside, she quickly spotted the scene at the counter and turned right around closing the door behind her.

A robbery? At this time of day? She couldn't believe her luck. She immediately pulled out her phone and sent a distress message to alert the police. At the same time with her other free hand, she had taken out one of the water bottles she carried and splashed the contents all over floor outside the entrance to the store. Rescuing hostages was not something she was properly trained for, but maybe she could keep the thief from escaping before the proper authorities arrived.

Well, they already knew she was here cause of the door chime. She was going to have to be careful. As long as the target stayed inside, she had a lot of options. There was no shortage of water and water-based products in a convenience store after all.

Bakiri Retsu

[Bakiri Retsu]

People said it's best to enjoy the small things in life. A cold breeze on a hot day, a good meal after working or a pleasant symphony in the distance. Unfortunately for Retsu 'a door chime in the middle of a robbery' was not one of those small things that could be viewed positively. Or at all for that matter, she grumbled as she tried to look towards the door and found a shelf blocking her line of sight to the entrance of the store. Just her luck that she was standing at the one angle where she didn't have a clear view of the door.

"Dun' move and dun' make a sound. Ah dun' reckon ah need ta tell ya what'll happen if you do, right?"

Retsu instructed the hostages while keeping her voice down. With soft steps she crept towards the nearest shelf, leaning against it and peeking around the corner. Empty. Unless whoever came in was behind the other end of the row or could move through solid objects they weren't this far in yet. One more between the register and the entrance. This was it then, make or break. Well, provided they hadn't decided to sneak around the other way but at least she'd be cutting off their escape if so. Raising her gun to head height she prepared to pop out of cover when she had an idea. Whoever came in was much less likely to react perfectly if she added in a distraction.

She moved the bottle around in her hand so that she was holding the cap between index and middle finger she threw it into the row at head height. A second later she burst out of cover with her pistol aimed one handed in front of her. It was only then that she noticed the obvious. The person that'd caused the chime to go off hadn't even entered. Her eye narrowed even as she lowered her weapon. Deciding to ignore how dumb she must've looked doing all that within plain view of the door she hadn't bothered to check a second time due to assuming whoever caused the chime went inside, Retsu's gaze flicked towards Noa's hands before she made eye contact once more. She let out a sigh. 

No weapon but the police was probably already on its way. She briefly considered calling in support through the ENKI system before discarding the idea. The fewer people knew about this the better. Instead she made sure to keep her gun down and sauntered over the door, the infernal chime ringing once more as she pulled it open.

"Look, kiddo." She said to the woman that was roughly her own age. "No one's gotta get hurt here. Turn 'round and walk away. Ya didn' see shite, this ain't y'r responsibility."

Tapping her leg with the side of her pistol her voice took a more serious tone as she leaned against the door.

"Or we do this the hard way. Bullets'll fly and you dun' look bulletproof. Your call."

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Tags: Arataki Noa

[Arataki Noa]

Naturally the target would try to find out what caused the commotion. Noa was watching their every move. It seemed like they didn't realize at first that the student didn't actually enter the store. Noa took this opportunity to snap some quick photos with her phone and sent it to the police too. Even if the thief escaped, at least the authorities would now know their face.

Now Noa wasn't exactly hiding, so the woman with the gun eventually noticed her standing outside. Frankly Noa was half expecting to be shot at on sight. She had her own water bottle prepared but the woman didn't raise the gun at her at all and was instead trying to go outside? Not on her watch.

As the thief walked down the aisle, every water bottle, energy drink, soda can, and the like would start audibly vibrating to catch her attention. And then without further warning, they would launch straight at her like rockets from every direction. Each one was packing the type of punch that would knock an average person out if they got hit in a bad way. A few of the makeshift projectiles were also aimed at the thief's hands in an attempt to deprive her of her weapon.

If Noa was lucky, that would be enough to stop the thief in their tracks before they could reach the door. But the types of villains who would be willing to commit crimes so openly like this were typically confident in their Quirks. This was probably not going to be that easy.

On the plus side, the culprit left the hostages at the counter. That was the only reason Noa was even brave enough to try attacking. If the woman brought a hostage with her, Noa would probably not take the risk of innocent people getting hurt.

Bakiri Retsu

[Bakiri Retsu]

Retsu had an entire speech planned, ready to mouth off to the unarmed girl that didn't seem equipped to take her on in the slightest. But no, the one time she tried to solve something before bullets started flying it came back to bite her. Earthquakes weren't exactly uncommon around here so it took a moment for Retsu to realize it was only inside the store that things started had shaking. In fact, she only came to the conclusion that something was off a mere moment before everything went to hell. The girl standing outside of the store didn't seem the slightest bit out of balance and neither was she herself. This was no earthquake.

Almost out of instinct she threw herself to the floor right before she was pelted by half a beverage rack. She was halfway down when the first containers started hitting her. A bottle struck her shoulder with far more force than anything made of soft plastic should have leaving a nasty bruise and a can of diet coke hit her hand in such a way that her pistol went off a single time before it was knocked out of her grasp. Retsu only vaguely registered the sound of shattering glass and had neither the time nor capability at the moment to check whether her stray bullet had hit the girl outside or not. 

Covering her head with her arms as she crashed to the ground she weathered the blows with stoic grit, biting down on her cheek to stop a shout of pain from escaping when she felt one of the things hit her in the side with a crack. She hoped the sound came from whatever had impacted with her ribs but given how painful trying to breathe was afterwards she doubted it. 

With adrenaline roaring through her system she managed to wrench herself upright the moment the assault died down, scrambling for her gun and hoping the distraction caused by the gunshot was enough to buy her the time to grab it and maybe get a few more off. 

Should she manage to reach it Retsu would grab her pistol and fire three more shots in Noa's direction before trying to duck into the next row to remove herself from the girl's line of sight.

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Tags: Arataki Noa

[Arataki Noa]

This was why theory was never a substitute for experience. Knock the weapon out of the bad guy's hand before they could use it? It sounded 'simple' yet it was anything but easy. More often than not, their fingers were already on the trigger and would get a stray shot or two out before any proper disarming could happen. And that was exactly what happened.

Glass shattered in front of her before Noa could properly move out of the way but she was able to protect her head and face with her arms thanks to her fast reactions. She had no idea where the bullet went, but this was no longer a quiet incident. The gunshot and breaking glass panel was heard all over the street and people outside were starting to notice. As she was just a student, this was not the kind of attention Noa wanted.

Her first response after recovering from the initial breaking glass was to duck to the side such that there were shelves between her and the thief inside the store. Noa would lose her line of sight, but she had a relatively good idea of the villain's position thanks to her Quirk.

A few more shots rang out but she was much safer at this point. Now she had to make a decision. Follow through or stand down. The crook was probably panicking now as well. The commotion could no longer be ignored by the people outside and several of them were already likely calling for help too.

Time was on Noa's side but after weighing her options, she decided to back away. At this point, she figured the thief must be thinking of how to get away and cut their losses, assuming they weren't some psycho who just wanted to hurt people. The robbery was stopped. Goal accomplished. She would quit while she was ahead. Noa would scramble over to the building next door while still trying to avoid being seen by the villain. It was a bookstore. Surely she won't be followed right?

Bakiri Retsu

[Bakiri Retsu]

"Fook, fook FOOK!" Retsu grumbled under her breath, each word sending another spike of pain through her cracked ribs. With her left hand clutching her side she squeezed the grip of her pistol with her right hand and bit her cheek to bear the pain. "Shoulda fookin' grabbed the bag and left but nah, jus' had to ask fer some chicken too didn' ah?"

Like the very blood running through her veins anger roiled through Bakuretsu, each heartbeat thumping loudly in her ears and agitating her further. This whole thing was just the cherry atop the pie and she'd had enough. To be beaten like a dog, hounded into hiding and trapped in a small store after everything she'd accomplished was too much for her to deal with and Bakiri Retsu only handled inconveniences in one way. By making them much worse for everyone else. Hissing through gritted teeth with a manic look on her face she once more arrived at the counter and waved her gun at the terrified hostages.

"Listen 'ere fuckers! Some two-bit kid thinks they're up for playin' hero and guess what? Y'all are gonna be the ones that pay the price." Ignoring the sobs and terrified whimpers she snatched her food-filled bag from the clerk's hands and motioned with her gun. "Everyone around me and start fookin' prayin' they don't try ta pull shit again 'r y'll be the one ta suffer."

Certainly Retsu could be said to be reckless, easy to anger and perhaps even foolish but suicidal? No, there was a reason she'd made it this far. She wasn't about to walk back out within the hero's range without having something between the attacks and her in all directions and as luck would have it she had several 'volunteers'. Five of them, in fact.

"You, up front." She said to the clerk and waited for him to get in place before she pressed her gun to the back of his head and started walking. With one person in front of her, one on each side and two behind her Retsu doubted the girl would try anything but she'd keep her eyes peeled nonetheless, scanning the vicinity as her little group stepped out of the store and over the broken glass. She knew far too little about her opponent and her abilities. As far as she could tell it was something along the line of telekinesis which was incredibly problematic. Retsu could only hope her reactions would be fast enough this time and that the girl couldn't just pluck the gun straight out of her hand.

Her motorcycle was parked in an alley right next to store. She had mere meters to go before she was home free. As she took another raspy, painful breath Retsu just hoped she'd get there without any further problems, as unlikely as she thought that was.

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Tags: Arataki Noa

[Arataki Noa]

Of course Noa wasn't there to hear the declaration inside the convenience store. She was continuing to monitor the villain's movements from the building next door but she didn't get an actual visual until they personally stepped outside. Learning from her earlier mistake, Noa was definitely watching from a very hard to spot angle this time as she didn't want to be shot at.

Unfortunately for the student, the thief was also learning from their mistakes. She almost let out an audible sigh when the gunman stepped out of the store flanked by hostages on all sides like a human barrier. They were being overly cautious as even with just one hostage Noa wouldn't have risked attacking. She was a far cry from a professional hero after all. Speaking of which, where the heck were the heroes and police? It had been a good few minutes now since this incident started. Tokyo's response time was starting to feel very disappointing.

Noa would continue to watch as the villain headed for a motorcycle parked in the alley next to the store. In hindsight, Noa should have also looked around for potential getaway vehicles earlier so this was a big miss on her part. Now she only had one last chance to try and stop this villain from getting away.

A motorcycle was not the best for taking a hostage for a ride, so in Noa's mind the villain would make the getaway by themselves after they safely got to the bike and leave the hostages behind. Getting out of this alley meant driving past the convenience store that, conveniently, had its glass panels shattered by the gunman earlier.

Noa prepared herself. Should the villain drive by alone without any hostages, she would use the full extent of her abilities to pelt the villain with cans and bottles from inside the store to try and take them out that way, bike and all. If on the off chance, the thief decided to carry hostage on the bike with them, then Noa would give up on the notion. She was not going to risk hurting an innocent no matter what.

Bakiri Retsu

[Bakiri Retsu]

She was almost home free now. The whole hostage solution seemed to have worked, which would've been a relief to Retsu if she didn't get the distinct feeling she was about to be screwed over. She didn't know how but something told her this wasn't over yet, it was never that easy. The question then was what the hell the telekinetic menace was planning next. Her eyes flicked to the ground. The one covered in enough glass to make several large windows out of. Which, coincidentally, was exactly where the shards had come from. Funny how that worked.

"Fook."

Yeah, she wasn't getting past that unscathed. No way in hell was she going to try that, no thank you. Turning into a glass pincushion wasn't on her bucket list and she had the feeling that if it came to that she wouldn't exactly get to make a bucket list anymore either. Given that she didn't know whether she was dealing with a hero, vigilante or fellow villain Retsu wasn't going to risk doing so and dying. She'd have to make utmost use of her meat shields and speed advantage to get out of here in one piece. 

"All right fookers, looks like the wanna-be hasn't 'bandoned their senses. Good for y'all. Ya might get to live. Now ere's how dis is gonna go.  Y'all are gonna line up nicely in front of the store with y'r hands spread ta the side so the cops dun mistake ya for a threat and off y'all after ah went through all this effort a sparin' ya. Move, chop chop!"

Sitting down on her bike she kept her gun aimed at the hostages and her eye peeled for a possible threat. Albeit with an entire windowed corner of the store in between the barrel and their bodies as well as wherever her opponent had run off to. Retsu waited until the five were standing spread out at arms length from each other and more importantly, standing atop and in front of the majority of the glass shards caused by the abrupt opening of several new entrances into the store. With some luck it'd prevent her opponent from shredding her or tossing too many of the store's contents at her. After all, hostages get panicky when shit's being flung past their head and might just move in the way.

She just hoped it'd be enough. Either way she didn't have more time to think about it. It was do or die. Already sirens rang in the distance, the whole place would be swarmed by cops in moments. So without further ado she revved her bike and sped off with screeching tires, pistol in one hand and bag hanging from the same arm. Whether or not she'd make it out only time -and her opponent- could tell.

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Tags: Arataki Noa

[Arataki Noa]

Noa couldn't believe her eyes. Either the thief was somehow reading her mind, or they were just that lucky at setting things up in a way that made it difficult for her to respond. Well, honestly it was a good thing that the armed woman didn't kidnap anyone to use as a hostage. But having them line up in front of the store meant she couldn't use the store's 'resources' to haphazardly attack with.

Noa paused for a moment to think about her remaining options. It was probably not going to be enough to stop the speeding bike so she would have to narrow down her objectives. The more specific and precise, the better the potential result. The villain was highly likely going to get away regardless since they couldn't afford to spend any more time there. The cops were closing in. So rather than be overly ambitious, she would aim for a smaller target.

Right before she attacked the thief inside the store earlier, she had prepared a little insurance of a bit of water spilled at the sidewalk in front of the store. It was a small puddle so the civilians probably avoided stepping on it directly. A bottle's worth of water wasn't much but it would be enough for what she wanted to do next. As the thief drove away on their bike, she would manipulate the water on the sidewalk to surge forward like a bullet and attempt to cut the bag hanging from the villain's arm. If she was successful, then she could at least prevent the thief from getting away with the things they stole.

Bakiri Retsu

[Bakiri Retsu]

It was working! Either that or her opponent decided Retsu wasn't worth her time and just left. She'd give it fifty fifty odds, something that pissed her off to no end. Definitely learning from her mistakes her mood was high as she reached the halfway point of the store and cast a quick glance at the entrance. A bit late, sure, but better late than never right? Doing so gave her quite the realization.

It wasn't telekinesis.

A realization that once more would've helped her a lot more had she had it a bit earlier. This time actually learning from her earlier mistake she moved her arm so the pistol wouldn't be knocked out of her grasp a second time only to realize moments later as plastic ripped that this wasn't Noa's goal.

"Oh you absolute bi-"

A trail of fried food marked the first few meters of her flight as her continued swearing faded into the distance. Whereas before she tried to get dinner she was just hungry now she was hungry, had at least one broken rib and was probably gonna spend the rest of the evening on the run from the cops. 

This really wasn't her day.

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Tags: Arataki Noa

[Matsu]

☆ MISSION SUCCESS ☆

7.500 EXP!

Retsu 10500//7750
Noa 0//7500

tag: Bakiri Retsu Arataki Noa