- Job deets:
The Steel Blooded mage flashed his badge in an instant and watched as two of the thugs went pale, “I feel like we can do this a very non-violent way.” He said, “Or I can call in healers to meet us on our way to the local station,”
“Alright,” The salesperson said, “Let’s say we’re willing to talk—“
“We’re not willing to talk,” Mace said, “Don’t forget who pays you!”
“You don’t pay me enough to deal with the Knights!” The salesperson shouted in return.
Rather than respond verbally, the leader smashed his (former) crony’s head with the mace, causing a spray of blood as the latter fell to the ground. There was a cry of surprise from the aisles and the bat-thug ducked under Kameyama’s metallic limb, heading in. Kameyama jerked backwards to attempt to follow him, before two of the other thugs rushed at him. Shoving two of his limbs under the ground, he sent them to finish the fight before it started.
“Run!” Kameyama shouted, turning to face his own combatants, “Don’t try to fight him, just run!” He turned towards the assailants and said, “Under capacity granted by the Rune Knights of Fiore you are hereby declared under arrest. During this time you may be placed under protection and security by the Rune Knight forces for the safety of yourself and citizens of Fiore. Counsel may be necessary and provided on a case-by-case basis. Resistance is inadvisable and could lead to further disciplinary action. Do you understand your current situation?” His limbs returned to him.
One of them kicked him in the face.
“Good,” Kameyama responded as he picked himself off of the ground with all four of his metallic limbs. Not since the fight with the former Thunder King had the Steel Blooded mage used all four of his metal legs for aggressive purposes. He grabbed the two thugs that had advanced on him, taking each one with two limbs and lifting them into the ceiling, before slamming them back into the ground. He released them simultaneously, lowering to the ground and conjuring a web of metal that trapped them into the ground.
Unfortunately as he did, the final thug, who had taken the store clerk’s knife, stabbed Kameyama in the shoulder. The mage let out a pained cry.
“Kameyama!” Mizuki shouted.
“There you are!!” The thug chasing her shouted.
Kameyama turned around to face the scene and just barely, instinctually missed the second knife going for his back. Jutting above the racks was a small feminine hand. Mizuki shouted, “Gimme some of that metal stuff!”
Kameyama obliged, sending a coil of metal in her direction which broke off from his main form. Two of the limbs jammed themselves into the ground in search of replacement ore. This worked for Kameyama’s advantage, as he leaned back onto them in order to kick the assailant off of him. The wounds were hurting less and less as his body had toughened against the various types of damage throughout his adventures, but that didn’t necessarily stop the bleeding. As he slapped his hand over the wound, however, he left a trail of viscous metal over it, acting simultaneously as a bandaid and panacea to aid the healing. “Okay,” He said with conviction, “Let’s finish this.”
“Hey jerk!” The voice from the aisles shouted, “Long live metal.” There was then a booming sound of electric guitar so loud that it shattered the windows of the shop front, no doubt the force of the sound taking out the thug chasing Mizuki. As the final thug tried to rush past Kameyama, the temporarily deafened mage grabbed him by the arm and sent an electric pulse through him. He collapsed like a sack of potatoes.
Mizuki came from the aisles and ran up to Kameyama, “Did you hear what I said? Wasn’t that cool?” She took off her headphones to hear the inevitable praise.
“Yes,” Kameyama said, way too loudly, “If the ringing in my ever ears stops I’ll give you a commendation for cool catchphrase.” He turned back to the Mace-wielding leader and said, “And you. How about you tell us what’s really going on here in exchange for the antidote.”
“Antidote?” The mace wielder said, “What do you mean?”
Kameyama pointed to Mace’s shoe and said, “You felt a bug bite at the beginning of this fight, right? I sent my arm to deliver a quick shot of poison into you. It should start feeling like acid rain is flowing in your veins in about ten, nine— oh wait my counting is off.”
Just like that the boss dropped his weapon and collapsed in a fit of agony. For someone of Kameyama’s caliber, the poison was designed to be painful but not debilitating. However, as Mace had proven his instinct towards self preservation above all else, Kameyama didn’t want to take any chances. Instead, he walked to the salesperson and checked his vitals.
“Is he dead?” Mizuki asked. The sound of several voices outside could be heard.
“No. But he’s bleeding a lot,” Kameyama responded gravely. “Now, put your hands up and do what I do,” He stood up, raised his hands and showed his badge as the door was kicked in. Rune Knight officers rushed in the building.
Mizuki held up her badge as well. Hers was created my Kameyama, slightly altered from his own to not include a rank, and did not include the official seal.
“Raiji Kameyama, I’m a recruit. These six are suspected of theft, possession of stolen goods, and an intent to sell stolen property, in a robbery scheme that’s been going on in this town,”
“And who’s this?” One of the officers said, inspecting Mizuki’s badge.
“She’s with me,” Kameyama said. “This is my assistant.”
——
The next morning Kameyama and Mizuki appeared for a debriefing. As it finished, they were brought into the office of the local officer in charge.
“I’ll keep this brief,” He explained, “These guys were an important part of a huge theft ring, and these collars will put a real thorn in the side of that group. Thank you for your assistance. There is one more thing. The salesman, Ernisto Fincente, decided to speak with us after his assault. He’s flipping in exchange for immunity and protection.”
“Flipping?” Kameyama leaned forward, “What information could he have that would be valuable for us?”
The officer leaned forward as well, lowering his voice as he said, “What do you know about a drug called LacTaffy?”
“We’re not really involved in any narcotics jobs,” Kameyama said, “Do you have any suggested reading for us?”
The officer nodded and handed off some files to him “That’s everything we know. Protected things will burn if they fall into the wrong hands,” As Kameyama flipped through it, the officer seemed ready to call the conversation to a close before he saw a post-it note on his desk that seemed to remind him of something. “Oh right, you’re Kameyama aren’t you? I’ve got a notice for you… There was an incident in a small village near the Phoenix mountains. Right under headquarters’ nose. Apparently it’s big enough to investigate but not big enough to send someone from headquarters.”
“Got it. Please send the message that we’re on our way,” Kameyama said. He knew where headquarters was, and was thus certain of how far away they needed to travel. Walking would no longer suffice. As he and Mizuki were dismissed he remained silent as he calculated how he would do this. He’d worked on a type of magic in concept but wasupcertain as to whether or not he could construct something of this magnitude without additional materials, let alone two of them. He decided to take a bus to a local scrapyard, making a deal with the employees there. For a stack of jewels he got free access to raw materials.
Within two hours, he’d completed two motorcycles, using various spare parts as a base, but welded together with his metallic magic. If given sufficient time he could likely have done it himself, but the two of them had been summoned nearly across Fiore as quickly as possible, and thus needed to travel there in as quick a manner as possible.
As he loaded his things onto the back of his futuristic black bike, he looked at her, “I know I said this before, but this is the big time now. You’ve seen what I do first hand. If you want to come with me, I’ll teach you how to fight, how to use your magic, and how to work for a living.”
She sat in her motorcycle. It was less aerodynamic than his, looking somewhat like a compact car on two wheels for her protection. “I would like a better motorcycle.”
“When you’re older.”
“Hey if we’re starting for real right now does that mean any laws I’ve broken in the last twenty four hours are forgiven?”
“What did you do?”
She got out of her motorcycle and walked over to him, “Your glasses are dangerous in fights.” She presented him with a set of goggles which looked somewhat like a mix between steampunk goggles and futuristic binoculars.
He put them on and shook his head. “The hell…”
“They should match your prescription. They can see in a bunch of different kinds of light and have a few other features I’ve been messing around with.”
He took off his glasses and put them on, more than slightly amazed by her skill, “They’re perfect. How’d you do that?”
“It’s just a machine,” She shrugged. “Anyway hopefully this is proof that I’m old enough to—“
“No.”[/color]
1609/1500.
Finished
