He couldn't focus on it, but her hand made him nervous. There was either something about himself that telegraphed his intent to her, or she was just that paranoid about everyone. I guess if every person I ran into was trying to screw me over in some way, shape, or form then I'd be paranoid like her, too. He knew she had an explosive temper, but there wasn't much data elsewhere. In the event things turned to blows and he lived, at the very least he could carry off with some information.

"Passin' through. Was helping a friend with some car trouble on this end of town, figured I'd stop in here for a drink." Speaking off, a bottle was set out in front of him, and after giving a gesture of thanks to the bartender he picked it up. "Still new to Tokyo, and I enjoy exploring places I hadn't been yet. How 'bout you?" He gave her a smile, an innocent one at that. Fishing was going to be a little tricky, but so long as he tried not to force anything it should be smooth sailing.

"Right, I should mention. Name's John. Doooo you do the shake, or prefer the bow?" He held his hand out halfway, looking a little unsure as any ignorant foreigner would.

Bakiri Retsu

The lady was a little odd, he'd give her that. It was rare that a random passerby would engage in conversation like this, and even rarer for one to be so forward. It was jarring enough that it threw him off his rhythm for a moment, though he immediately let out a laugh. "That was almost smooth. Shoulda said something like, 'Yeah, with you!'" It was something he couldn't help but poke at, but such a proposition wasn't something he was against. He looked over at his watch, trying to think what he needed to do that evening. Which...wasn't a lot, if he were being honest, apart from catching some drinks.

"Turns out, was just thinking how nice it would be to have a nice evening with a pretty lady. I'd love to, Miss Kokoro. In fact, there's an eatery not far from here we can check out if you're game to go now." There was a brief pause as he pretended to forget something. "Ah, right, where's my manners? Ya can call me Mark, most people do outside of work." There was something about her that Mark figured she'd enjoy that spontaneous suggestion, which made her even more curious. Out of towner? More than likely. The big city was like a magnet, always pulling people in from the country side. That had to be the most likely scenario...she didn't appear to be that much older than him, but these were questions for later.

Kokoro

Mark had experienced hangovers in the past, and what he was currently feeling was something like it. One moment he was having a heated competition with that asshole Hasani, and the next he was suddenly here. Not only did he feel like hell, his right arm felt like some kind of spike in it. It was very unpleasant.

It was no better when the "cat" made it's appearance. He started to reach for The Carry in its holster, but something about his arm gave him the impression it was best to use his left hand instead. It was awkward, but once he got the gun in hand and in battery he felt a lot better. This forest, if you could call it that, gave him the creeps and even if he wasn't safe having something in hand made him feel safe.

The forest wasn't the only thing that was off, though. Two students, not to mention Recall, was here as well, the latter which was using diction and spacing that was unlike her. What was even more alarming was the fact she didn't have her quirk...and Meika was a rabbit. Was she always a rabbit? She had devil horns before, didn't she? "Questions for later," he says, beginning to scan their surroundings. "You kids keep close, there's no telling what that thing was talking about."

But that's when things immediately went off the rails. Right off the bat hands managed to reach out of the ground and take hold of his ankles, and with grit teeth he aimed down and fired. He had rock salt loaded, anticipating any problems during Dreamworld to be immediately solved with a small shotgun blast that'd sting like hell, and...oddly enough, it was good enough to stun the hands enough to get free. Though once Iphi started flying he'd reach out to try and grab her so she didn't get separated...only as he reached out he flexed something that wasn't there before. His hand went up, and before he knew it his jacket arm ripped as the barrel of some rifle burst through the fabric. For a moment he was stunned, looking at the piece that had made itself aware to him. My quirk's gone, too. And now I've got one of them transformation things...fuck, the timing of this couldn't be worse.

He forced himself free of the hands, aiming the barrel down as he pointed the Carry at the feet of either Meika or Kei, whichever was struggling the most in the moment to unleash the rest of his magazine, beginning to move off where Iphi went. "Don't stand there, move! Full permission to use quirks, but we can't just stay here!"

tl;dr:
-Put a gun in his left hand
-Freed himself from the hands
-Learned of his new quirk in his attempt to keep Iphi with the group
-Helping get the group free so they can get back with Iphi

Kei Hada Meika Hijiri Fanthes Iphigenia Pavlina

Mark could not believe his luck.

Bakuretsu was someone that was bad for business, and to an extent someone he could respect. Well, mostly. The murder and the mayhem were not his speed, but she was a menace that sooner or later had to be dealt with. Tracking was something he was particularly good at back in the states, but this woman was something else. It was a level of paranoia that he'd expect out of his father. Or his brother. Which made him all the more interested in tracking her down, which was proving to be a Herculean task.

Until he stumbled upon the luckiest break in his life.

He was stopping by a seedy bar on the outskirts of Tokyo to check into a different case, but a motorcycle that was oddly familiar from a report attributed to her caught his attention. All he had to do was run his hand over the handlebar once, sift through some memories, and bingo!

This was big, but also dangerous. Baku had at least one confirmed hero kill under her belt, and it was someone that was experienced. He was unsure if he could win a fair fight, but when did he ever fight fair? After returning to his car to retrieve a small explosive, he placed it where the fuel line lead into the engine, hooking it in a crude manner to the ignition. When detonated, it would in theory cause anything combustible in the engine to go off and cause enough damage so the thing wouldn't go, potentially injuring anyone mounting it in the process. He was winging this plan as he worked, he had one shot to try and bring her in.

Leaving his hat in the car, he entered into the bar and kept his hands in his jacket pockets. He did a scan, and finding her silhouette by the bar made his way over and took a seat next to her, flagging down the bartender. "I'll have what counts as a beer 'round here," he says, his accent shining through. He wasn't sure if he was going to catch her attention, watching her in the peripheral. Though once she tilted her head in his direction, he'd give a smile and a, "Howdy."

Bakiri Retsu

He looked at the smooshed remains of the fish he had stunned, glancing over at her with a raised eyebrow. "Well, ain't you demandin',~" he says, injecting more of his drawl as he gives her a flirtatious smirk has he moved the guns between his hands again, though the Carry would be holstered. With no other creatures running out from the sea it stood to reason that they were in the clear for the time being. But there was just one thing that Penny was not realizing.

"You know, you're right. A bet's a bet. I accept the terms of the bet." The Wayward Son made it back into his right hand, but instead of holstering it he drew back the hammer, lining up a shot on one of the fishmen he had stunned. "Word of advice, though. Never count your chickens before they hatch." His expression changed as he pulled the trigger, putting the first fish down as the effects of the stun bullet wore off. It would be here that Penny would see the second one beginning to recover, getting on it's knees. "And more importantly, keep your head in the game."

A second shot, another chunk of hot lead speeding towards its target before passing through the head space, ending it's life. Mark wore a grim expression as he brought the muzzle up and blew what little smoke out, looking back over at Penny. "We're professionals. Let's act like it, hm?"

He stowed the weapon away back into its jacket holster, and the moment he did he seemed to return to his playful nature. "Go ahead and call in the cleanup crew. I'm busy this week, so let's shoot for that little grill place in Shibuya on Saturday, seven o'clock. Think I can clear all my business before then!"

Penny ✾

Mark would be casually eating an apple in a lawn chair some distance from the fire, watching the show unfold. As much as he didn't care to do his job, once he started a scenario like this he knew he was responsible and had to keep an eye on things. Especially since this one couldn't take heat like other students could.

Still, the amount of work Jason had put forth was impressive. Mark anticipated that he would get one, maybe two people out before throwing in the towel before identifying he was out of his depth. He had to admit, he was impressed. Doesn't change the fact that he's dumb. All these kids are. Seeing him get the last body out he stood up, began strolling over to the inferno as he pressed a button, the robots that were in charge of fire prevention beginning to move into action. "Hey, Foxy, you ain't dead, are ya?" he asked, looking down at Jason as he laid there. "If you're dead, do me a favor and stop. That's too much paperwork for me to do."

Kupo

[attr="class","likedo"]