[Bakiri Retsu]

{Entry Forty-three, Day Seventeen: Rocket assisted bludgeoning device.}


There is a time when any creator must realize that they have strayed too far from their original goal. That they have become obsessed by whether they could and failed to consider whether they should. Unfortunately for all of Tokyo Retsu was never the most introspective sort and she wasn't about to start today. Instead she made more than a dozen variants of the dumbest weapon she'd ever had the pleasure of putting together so far. A rocket hammer. 

She could justify it so long as she didn't think too hard about it. Dynamite had seen use in mining for as long as it existed and hammers were used to craft with the ores retrieved from mining. Certainly, combining the two took things a bit out of order but was modern technology not all about removing steps of the process, streamlining it all into one thing and getting stuff done? Yeah, so long as she didn't look too hard into it the whole thing made sense and gods knew Retsu was trying her damnedest not to.

That said she wasn't the only ones trying to ignore things that were up in their faces. Both the ENKI member sitting next to her on the bench lining the side of the van and the driver at the front were doing their absolute best to ignore the large amount of unsafe looking explosive contraptions scattered around them. Retsu paid no mind to them and instead put her hand atop her makeshift workshop to stop it from sliding down the middle of the van as they came to a stop near their target.

"So, ya still up fer this?" Retsu asked the one sitting opposite her, Taro, as the engine shut off. "We ken fin' another way ta test dese if need be."

She elaborated while waving her hand at the various hammers littering the floor of the van. One was little more than a shaped charge atop a wooden haft, another just a regular hammer with a packet of sulphur and chlorate attached to the head whereas a third had thrusters not unlike the ones on Taro's boots strapped to the back. That was not to say those were the weirdest designs present however, no, there were others that barely fit the word 'hammer' at all and even then only if you squinted. Regardless of which ones were about to be used however crime scene investigators would have their work cut out for them making any sense of the upcoming disaster of a robbery.

"Alroite then. Plan ain't changed. Should be a safe on the other side of that wall o'er there. Got zero clue about whether dere'll be security this late at night 'r not. Get in, see 'bout smashin that safe 'nd get out. Good luck." Retsu said before cracking open a can she'd grabbed from the mini-fridge built into her 'travel workbench' during the explanation. She had the distinct feeling she'd need some alcohol in her system before the night was out.

------

Tags: Taro Yamada

[Taro Yamada]

GAME ON!

HP: ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ 100/100

Well this was weird.

Taro had never ridden a vehicle before. Usually he was a) breaking them, b) walking on them or c) getting hit by them. The last option was a one-time affair thankfully, knock on wood, but the fact remained that that happened more often than him being driven in one. Until today that is.

Bakuretsu decided their next test was to be run out in the field instead of in a small room, because Taro wasn't the test dummy for once. He was going to wield whatever she made as a weapon instead, keeping his katana in its sheath while the hammer became the star of the show. Which he was honestly excited for. He wanted something more destructive than his dinky little sword.

He smiled at the woman's query, giving a thumbs up. "Yeah. Sounds fun." Strange of her to ask him as if he's unsure really. What's he gonna do, die? "And if I die you're free to drive off. Hopefully it'll be obvious when things went to shit on my end." To think he could say that so casually. But that's just what life was like for him.

Picking up the largest hammer in the pile - he heard bigger's always better - Taro gave a salute to the bomb expert before stepping off the van once they made it to their destination. And well! That sure was a wall! He assumed the safe was on the other side as the woman said, so holding the handle with both hands, he made a few test swings at the wall in the same way a golfer tested their club swings before hitting the ball.

Except one of the swings did hit the wall, blasting it open in spectacular fashion.

"Woops," said the man who totally knew what he was doing.

Bakiri Retsu

[Bakiri Retsu]

Taking her notebook out of her pocket Retsu downed half the can and got to work as well.


“Aite, will do.” She casually replied. Although to be fair regardless of whether Taro could come back from the death or not she’d likely have done so either way. “Off ya go then.”


Popping the half-empty can back into her mini-fridge Retsu started kicking aside hammers until she found the one she was looking for. Promptly putting her under her arm she grabbed a second, third and fourth as well before she stood up and gestured for the other ENKI hireling to follow her out of the van. They got out just in time to see Taro mime one swing before his next hit the wall. 

"Looks loik that one works, naht reusable tho." She muttered while reaching for her pen and nearly dropping a hammer in the process. With a grumble she turned towards the man just leaving the van and casually tossed it his way. "Make y'rself useful and hold this will ya, better yet bring it ta our tester, 'e needs a new one."

Getting a panicked yelp in reply prior to the catch and a hurried nod afterwards Retsu crammed the remaining hammer in her hands under her arm as well -right up against the other two already there- and started writing stuff down while addressing Taro.

"Should be somewhere in dere. Ah didn't get the building plan so ah've got no clue where it is, y'll have ta find it y'rself. 'Fore the cops get 'ere would be best."

Not that she particularly cared. They'd be neat test subjects as well.

------

Tags: Taro Yamada

[Taro Yamada]

GAME ON!

HP: ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ 100/100

Taro waited for the dust to settle before he peered through the hole he made, looking between it and the hammer that was very much out of commission now. If Retsu's words wouldn't confirm it, the crumbling head of the weapon would. "Damn. One use only." Like bombs were, all things considered, but adding a handle to it proved pointless if that was all it did. "That's a shame. I liked the look of this one." He tossed the handle behind him before letting himself in.

It wasn't until he realized the room was empty that the woman's words set in. "Oh, not immediately on the other side." Which was fair. Safes were supposed to be extra secure to keep the contents safe. "Gotcha."

He thanked his fellow lackey as he was given a new hammer, though the man ran back to Retsu's side as soon as he was done. It prompted a pout from the digital being before he nodded at the bomb maker. "I think we're doing good so far on time. No alarm even with that hole I made." A hum escaped him. "That's probably weird though." If this safe had good stuff in it, surely they'd be found out immediately with the entrance he made?

Oh well. That's a problem for future them.

Taro kicked down a door that would open the group to the hall. As he entered it, he turned so he was facing his boss as he walked backwards, testing the weight of his new toy all the while. "So what got you into explosives anyway? It's a cool hobby."

Bakiri Retsu

[Bakiri Retsu]

"Ah guess naht," Retsu replied with a shrug as she peered into the room. "If ah 'ad to guess ah'd say that's the reason."

She continued while pointing a hammer at one of the targets hanging next to the hole Player One had just made. From the looks of it they'd entered through some kind of hybrid firing range and -if the soundproofing on the walls was anything to go by- interrogation room. All in all they ended up getting a pretty good entry point. Now all they had to do was get the contents of the safe and be out before the police arrived to mop up the rest of this rivaling gang. 

Yes, the explosive hammers were definitely a reasonable weapon. Dynamite had always been used in mining and Retsu only had one way to describe the safe's contents.

'Mine.' 

Her eye gleamed. Movement from within meant the building probably wasn't empty so they might have to lay some goons out themselves but hey, nothing wrong with mixing business and pleasure.

His question caught her off guard, never having been one for introspection herself. If she had to take a guess...

"It's what ah'm good at."

She'd started off by trying to put her own tools together and more often than not they'd blown up right in her face. More importantly Retsu had found that even after she succeeded in reliably making things work she still had a pretty good idea of what exactly would need to be changed to detonate them. The advantage explosives gave her in combat meant she'd never looked back once she found her niche.

"Let's 'ead deeper in an' continue testin', ah'll be right behind ya." Retsu said while grabbing hold of one of the three hammers under her arm, ready to either hand if off to Yamada should his current one break or use it herself depending on the circumstances. Not that she was hyped to see what kind of damage they'd inflict of course. Really. She wasn't, if anyone asked. That'd be silly.

------

Tags: Taro Yamada

[Taro Yamada]

GAME ON!

HP: ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ 100/100

Soundproofed walls made sense. Had they broken into any other part of the building instead, they would surely be found out immediately. "We picked a good spot to head in then. Think we'll use the same one to go out or nah?" Taro was hoping for a nah. A nah meant he could make holes in more walls. They'd be more likely to get chased down, but at least they'd be on their way out instead of in.

The digital being didn't expect such a simple answer to his question from her. Usually he'd get a speech when he delved into the origin of someone's interests; maybe a whole life story about how she got a grenade when she was a wee child. But no, it's only because she's good at it.

Taro liked simple though. It's the same reason why he got into demolition. "I'm good at breaking shit. Guess that's why I'm into it."

He decided not to think about how he still didn't get the supposed high you should get from doing what you "loved".

Instead he followed Retsu's orders and moved ahead, eventually swinging his hammer on another wall. Except this time it didn't explode. He swung a second time. Third. Fourth- okay, there was the blast he was expecting, rocks flying to the opposite side of the next room. "This one took a bit, but it got there."

Bakiri Retsu

[Bakiri Retsu]

"Ah dunno and ah dun' care. Depends on what kinda fookin' trouble those arses are aboot ta throw at us ah guess," Retsu shrugged. Not like this was her building. "Lots a' hammers ta test, go ham."

The pun wasn't intentional and the moment she realized it could be interpreted as such her face scrunched. That was the kind of joke Hans would make. There was no way she was going to stoop to his level. The blast caused by Taro's hammer annihilating the wall was followed by a set of surprised and pained sounds from the other side. Idly Retsu tossed another hammer at Taro to make room to pull out her notepad. The triggering mechanism on this one clearly wasn't sensitive enough.

"Catch. Ah'll be right behind you." She explained while jotting down notes, completely ignoring the pair of unfortunate sods looking at them wide-eyed from the other side of the wall. One of them was clutching his arm in an attempt to stop the bleeding from several shards of stone that had found its way through his sleeve. "Looks loik we're 'eading the right way. Reaction's a bit fast for nothin' ta be in that direction."

------

Tags: Taro Yamada

[Taro Yamada]

GAME ON!

HP: ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▱▱▱ 70/100

Taro gave a thumbs up at his boss' answer. "Roger dodger. Maybe if we break enough walls the whole building will cave in." In reality it was unlikely. The place was big and the holes he was making were isolated. He would need a bigger boom if he wanted the structure to collapse in on itself. Granted, probably preferable if his allies weren't inside when that happened.

He could wait til they got out to really go wild on the place.

So his destruction remained tactical-ish for now. Taro accepted the hammer trade from the bomb expert and tossed his second dud to the lackey. "Gotcha," he affirmed, and unlike Retsu's disinterest he waved at who he assumed were the some of the place's guards. "Sup. Just passing through, don't worry about us." With that greeting done he walked past them, one of the guards screaming when he accidentally stepped on their leg buried under the rubble. "Oop, sorry."

Wielding the experimental weapon in hand, Taro whacked the next wall in line with it. The explosion was instant and the device itself stayed in one piece. His interest piqued, he quickly moved through the hole and broke the following barrier as well. He smiled as he looked at the hammer. "This one's got potential."

Then two shots rang and Taro's body turned to static, causing him to trip on the debris in his instability. "W-we also got-t company." Actual moving company, in the form of two more guards with guns raised. They were lucky in their position to avoid most of the blast unlike their coworkers.

Wack.

Bakiri Retsu

[Bakiri Retsu]

"Mhm," Retsu replied offhandedly. It'd certainly be no skin off her back if that happened. In fact the more she thought about it the better of a signal it'd be to other gangs that decided to get in her way. Then again it wouldn't be the most clandestine way of handling this so the whole area would likely be swarming with cops if it happened. Oh well. Whether the building got wrecked or not she'd roll with the punches. With her notebook in hand she walked past the stunned goons as well.

"S-should I take care of them?" Their lackey asked before flinching and nearly dropping the hammer Taro had tossed at him when the next wall exploded.

"De fook else do ah pay ya for?!" Retsu shouted back while continuing to take notes, using her shoulder to bump one of the still confused guards out of her way as she went. "Aight, jottin' that down. Check if it ken go a second tahm." She continued with a slight pause between the two sentences so her words wouldn't be drowned out by the gunfire.

"Yah, ah ken hear that." 

Adjusting the remaining hammers she was carrying so she could throw a new one over to Player One the moment he asked for it she didn't even bother making any suggestions as to how to deal with the new arrivals. The solution was both obvious and simple after all.

Whack.

------

Tags: Taro Yamada

[Taro Yamada]

GAME ON!

HP: ▰▰▰▰▰▰▱▱▱▱ 55/100

The way Taro operated in these fights was pretty simple. If he was hit, he'd hit back. If he wasn't targeted, he didn't bother to make a move. Much like an RPG, he wasn't a threat until he was engaged with, all because of some advice he heard once about never becoming the aggressor. Make crossing him a mistake or something. He didn't quite understand it as acting first would yield a bigger result in his eyes but he saw no reason to change how he played.

Thing was, he just got shot, meaning he was good to react to it. Retsu did want him to test his hammer more either way.

Pushing himself up once his body stabilized, the digital being raced forward, hands gripping his hammer tightly as he swung it towards one of the guards' chest. Another resounding boom sounded. While it didn't rock the place since it connected with human instead of concrete, it still sent the man flying to the wall.

Another shot to his shoulder. It was the second guard, quaking in her boots, likely afraid of meeting the same fate as her coworker. Well she shouldn't be shooting if that was the case.

Oh well. Her mistake.

Taro jabbed the handle of his hammer into the guard's stomach before he turned to bring its head down on her head, knocking her to the floor. No explosion this time. "Aw. Think it's out of juice," he'd comment, showing no signs of remorse towards either of the bodies he disposed of. "Loot's probably through the door though."

Bakiri Retsu

[Bakiri Retsu]

"Only sa much fuel ya ken stick inta one a' those things," Retsu replied with a shrug. When it came to making explosive hammers reusable there was a surprisingly tight margin between fuel capacity and durability. Too much fuel and too little durability and it turned into a tool that blew up entirely on the first thing it hit, too little fuel and too much durability and you'd be left with nothing but a normal hammer after the first strike. Most other engineers would've decried the concept entirely and called it a day after the first few prototypes turned out to be duds or nearly blew their own arms off. Retsu wasn't most other engineers. Especially when it came to explosives.

The fact that she'd gotten a bit too caught up in it and spent more than 48 hours on too many energy drinks and too little sleep had nothing to do with it.

"Oy, go fetch some more hammers from the van!" Retsu shouted to the unfortunate subordinate still with them.

She had two hammers left on her person and from the footsteps she heard rapidly getting closer she'd be needing one of them. Pocketing her notepad and pen she let one of the two drop from beneath her arm and grabbed hold of it in mid-air. With a hammer now in each hand she held both up and looked at Taro.

"Take y'r pick," she said before gesturing with her head towards the approaching footsteps. "Jus' be quick 'bout it. Ah'll need the other one."

In her left hand she held a hammer that appeared little different from a normal sledgehammer, albeit with its wooden haft wrapped in rubber and a fair few weld lines and circular holes across the head. Within said head Retsu had installed several pistons that were part of a small combustion engine. When the hammer hit anything it would trigger and the pistons would add a second impact to the strike right after the first. As if that weren't enough the small circular holes on the sides served as exhausts to vent the heat, likely giving whoever had been hit with it a nasty burn. 

Her right -on the other hand- held a weapon that looked far more like the kind of rocket hammers one would find in a video game. A large haft with a trigger held up a cylindrical head that was mushroomed near the front. The back of the head had four thrusters to quite literally put the 'rocket' in 'rocket hammer' and an equal amount of fuel tanks set into the curved back of the mushroom-like face of the hammer. 

"Just lemme know 'ow it worked after, will ya?" Retsu asked while tossing whichever of the two Taro chose at him and flourished the other one before properly gripping its haft with a fierce look in her eye. With slow, measured steps she walked away from Taro and towards the incoming footsteps. "Ah've got the feelin' ah'm gonna be a bit busy ta pay attention ta what y'r doin' with it."

------

Tags: Taro Yamada

[Taro Yamada]

GAME ON!

HP: ▰▰▰▰▰▰▱▱▱▱ 55/100

So there was a limit to the explosiveness of these things regardless. Which was fair, you could only fit so much fuel into the head of the weapons, and it wasn't like someone could just refill it while it was in use. That would just be too convenient.

Dropping his used up hammer to the floor - with the head crushing someone's hand in the process - Taro had a choice to make. An important one too, given the fact that taking one would mean losing the chance to use the other. Really he was just surprised that Retsu wasn't afraid of the chance that whatever she was left with might blow up in her face. So maybe he should take the one that was more blow-up-in-your-face-y since he comes back whenever he dies.

Thing was, he couldn't judge by looks anymore. The biggest hammer he picked up was a one and done deal. The most unassuming was the most reliable in terms of boom factor. So really, choice was an illusion and he might as well do a coin flip.

Taro crouched to dig into one of the guard's pockets, smiling once he procured said coin. Standing again, he balanced it on his thumb. "Heads say I take the one on your right." He flicked. The coin whirled around until it clattered to the ground.



"Heads." Even luck wanted him to have the videogame-y hammer. Go figure. Once it was in his hands, the digital being sent her a two finger salute. "Will do boss. I'll take what I can and catch up with you." Another door was kicked and he made his way through, grinning as the footsteps came closer.

"Have fun."

Bakiri Retsu

[Bakiri Retsu]

"Try naht ta rek the contents. If there's a folder or some kinda disk in there make sure ah get mah hands on it, ah'll pay extra." Retsu shouted back, making sure her voice was raised enough to be heard over the sound of Taro's percussive unlocking method. Judging by the first reply she got it seemed Taro wasn't the only one Retsu's voice reached.

"Ah fuck it's her. No mercy, lads."

A laugh forced its way out of her throat. Treat others the way you wish to be treated, was it? Well. They'd just made their wishes clear. Retsu's arm reared back before the first enemy even crossed the corner, two half sprinted steps making her nearly run into the man as he did. Unlike the tropes however she wasn't eating a sandwich. He was eating a hammer.

Thu-thunk. Ksssssshh.

The lizard-faced man's wide eyes showed for but the slightest moment in her field of view before a hammer head replaced them. The first impact shattered hastily reinforced scales. The second made sure he wouldn't be getting up again, either because it gave him a concussion or worse. Heated air escaping the hammer with a hiss like a snake in the grass marked her withdrawal back around the corner right before the shocked goons managed to open fire.

"Come on, fookheads! That all ya got?"

A maniacal laugh escaped her. It served as much as a tool of intimidation as it was real. Whoever said work and fun should be separate was full of shit. What was the point of living if you didn't get to enjoy it? She could practically feel their hesitation. Never let it be said she didn't help people get past their traumas. Picking up a piece of debris she lobbed it as far down the hallway as she could while shouting.

"Grenade!"

That got them moving alright. Of course being the good person she was she had to give them a little reward for their courage, didn't she?

Thu-thunk. Ksssssshh.

Right after she gifted a nap to the next person to come within reach another nearly bowled her over. The balls of her feet skidded against the ground while she kept him at bay with the haft of her hammer. With a heave she forcefully raised said haft, knocking his pistol off course enough that the barrel wasn't aimed her way before she swung the back of it into his temple to unbalance him further. A move that put the head of the hammer rather close to the ground. Firmly planting her legs she swung diagonally up, hitting him full force in the side before he could recover.

Thu-thunk. Ksssssshh.

To her surprise he went flying. It wasn't much, in fact flying might be a bit of an exaggeration, but his feet definitely left the ground. Regardless of whether it counted or not it was enough to bowl over the final combatant just as he'd skid to a halt grimacing at the sickening cracks her strike had caused. Retsu wasn't one to turn down an opportunity. Taking a single step forward she turned her hips to add momentum to the strike and swung the still raised hammer down onto the fallen pair.

Thu-thunk. Ksssssshh.

It had only been a momentary exertion but it still left her panting. As she straightened her face scrunched into a grimace. Yup, her back would definitely be feeling that one tomorrow.

Hearing a far more organised -and far larger amount- of footsteps in the distance Retsu made up her mind. It was time to dip. She hoped Player One had managed to get what they came for. If not, well, she'd have to make use of the piece of C4 in her back pocket to get rid of the safe's contents before the cops got here. It'd do no one good for that to end up in the wrong hands. Especially not her.

"Oy! We're leaving! Grab y'r shit and get to the van!"

With that they were home free. Retsu let out a sigh. She just had to think that didn't she? With some luck the only thing it'd bring down on their heads is a traffic jam. A girl could hope, right?

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Tags: Taro Yamada

[Fanthes]

[nospaces]

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✨MISSION SUCCESS! ✨

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✓ Wow these two make a scary team!! Great job you two! [break][break]

+ 7.500 EXP!

[break]
Taro - 0 // 7.500[break]
Retsu - 5.250 // 12.750

---

Tag: Taro Yamada, Bakiri Retsu

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