RUN! Don't walk! 👻

[datmass]

During the conversation around him, Max was trying to keep silent enough so that he could hear the other side of the line properly while paying attention to the room, as well. So, he gave sort of a skeptical look at the thought of gaki actually haveing taste. When the idea that they'd just prefer meat of any kind, he nodded and pointed at that, confirming his suspicions with them. He DID break his silence and covered the phone to say "Go for it. The drugs couldn't hurt to try." before listening again and putting together the fishing gear, eventually testing for strength.

Yes, that might do it. It's at least good enough for ACTUAL fishing, so it ought to attract hungry fools.

The answer from dispatch was enlightening, though not exactly heartening. They didn't know where the hell the things were coming from. Best guess was just 'somewhere in the sewers', which didn't help a whole lot. The man, Nishimura, asked for his proper ID so he could claim this hunt as his own and reap the rewards, and Max provided. Then, right in the middle of everything, Max had a thought.

"Alright, I dunno if I'm gonna get a chance to implement this, but let's say I were to thin things out, and then perhaps meet an expert in purification. It just occurs to me that if I hit like a reservoire that could empty out all through these lines, and the expert blessed the freakin' water, that suddenly the tunnels would be full of burning to these guys. Is that at all possible?"

Well, it was a KIND of idea. It was plausible enough. The question was how plausible, though.

[mermalaide]

"Alright, I dunno if I'm gonna get a chance to implement this, but let's say I were to thin things out, and then perhaps meet an expert in purification. It just occurs to me that if I hit like a reservoire that could empty out all through these lines, and the expert blessed the freakin' water, that suddenly the tunnels would be full of burning to these guys. Is that at all possible?"

Nishimura sighed. "I have been trying to raise those folks at the shrine for a hot minute, they mostly have initiates near. Those folks are more likely to make it worse than better. I think I managed to get a few better trained people, but it's going to take another two hours before they can get to us." You could hear him frowning on the other end as he exhaled his smoke. "I think there is a nun that is part of the guild close by, she usually hunts vampires, but she ain't shy. Let me try and get her on the phone an I will call you back. Gimme twenty minutes." You could tell he was doing his best to gather you something. 

When Make gave them the go ahead, the two teens were making busy.   Our friend in the work smock was heating up some BBQ style sauce and dissolving a bunch of sleeping pills into it. They used apple sauce to cover the possible taste or smell and started dipping all the meat into it. The results were pretty savory looking. If you didn't know they were drug meats! Ms. Baseball Bat was attaching lines to some of the meat in a bucket. While he was talking, they had made a few buckets of this meat, all ready to carry to the roof and try this out.

Even the father was helping, showing his daughter, Aki how to carefully set up the bait style hooks. Though he did all of it really, letting her just hand things though oversized gloves. It would have been very endearing if it was normal fishing and not fishing for feral Gaki. ""Do you think they will bite Daddy?" The little girl had crouched next to the bucket. "You bet I do. Gaki are always hungry." The teens were listening in the back while they worked.

"Daddy, what are Gaki? They are kind of gross." She looked really concerned, and he struggled for a moment to explain it in a somewhat child friendly way. "Well honey.. Gaki were people that were really terrible in life. They would steal, hurt others, were greedy, you name it. They died before they could mend their ways, and became Gaki. It's why they are always hungry, why they are so mean, stuff like that. We shouldn't let our guard down, because they are dangerous, but it's important to know why they exist." It was actually kind of sad really.
---------
Meanwhile, a woman in a full habit was getting onto mass transit, apparently, according to the metro staff, downtown was closed and some of the stops leading there were quarantined due to an outbreak of Gaki. The young woman smoothed a chestnut brown lock of hair back under her habit. Her riffle was rolled up in a tarp and slung over her back. The phone in her robe went off and she sighed and took out a flip phone. "Sister Agnes here." Her words were a lovely Texas drawl. "Agnes, there is a situation downtown, one of our hunters is stuck in a building with survivors-" It was Nishimura. She knew him from the Guild. As he described the situation, her jaw clenched and she fingered the ash wood and silver cross on her neck.

"Well, Nishi, you see the Lord's work is never done. I would be happy to help. You are pretty lucky I just topped off my ammo. Which combini was it?" She listens and opens up a little notebook from her pocket, to mark where she needed to go. "I see." She looked at some armed Shinsengumi and Hunters getting ready to board a train. "I think I just found a ride. It might be dicey coming out of the subway, but we will be coming right out of there onto the middle of Hachiko station. I will have to fight my way out, but I should be near them in about fifteen."

She stood up and approached the men. "Good day to you, mind if a humble sister rode with you all today?"

[datmass]

One of the things you never want to hear in the business is that when you really need support or an out or something that your own two hands and ingenuity can't solve...is that nobody else is available to help you out. It means that the problem is not solvable to an adequate degree, leaving things to potentially go from bad to worse before they can get better. When that happens, you start having to consider the consequences, counting the number of probably deaths, determining what has to be sacrificed now to save the rest, and definitely trying very hard not to think about what horrors you're probably going to have to live with. Max was a problem solver, and had a pretty good track record. Not a perfect one, mind you, but a decent one that allowed him to live with himself and only the occasional regret where things didn't work out right. This was starting to look like one of those times where he'd have to tell himself 'I did all that I could.'. He might have to, anyway, as people definitely died, already. The problem was that they didn't have the people, and that put a furrow of the brow and a frown on Max's face. However, after a bit of looking around, it turns out there was a vampire huntress nearby they could tap for this...

"That's good. I'll take 'Not exactly my wheelhouse' over nobody, any day."

...and that put a smile back on his face. He resumed getting to work as his friends in the store to setup the bait, the lines, and drugs, saying "Alright, Nishimura. I'm signing off to go do some fishing. It'll get some of the numbers off her back to join in. If she needs to contact via phone instead of shouting over the noise, just connect her to my phone. Max out." before hanging up and pocketing the phone, then turning to the rest. He saw how well-prepared everything was, and needed to speak up on it.

"Alright, here's how it is: Dispatch thinks they're nesting in the water lines, as I thought, and they're having loads of trouble finding that. They're sending in a nun to help with purifying the water down there, though, so I can flush them out, almost literally. Our plan here is to occupy and destroy what gaki that we can by essentially fishing for them with this bait. You're not trying to catch them. You're trying to keep them interested, which this all definitely will. The drugs are in case they DO get a bite, and pull it down. That way, at least we knock some of them out. No one is to get near the edge at all. I'm going to beat any down I can to keep this whole thing going as long as possible. If any of you are holding the lines and you feel a sharp tug, let go. Do not struggle to keep hold of the line. I'm glad for your help, but I don't want you risking your life for a pound of beef. Now, if everybody's ready, let's get to the roof."

Of course, even as this was going on, Max was giving Takashi an obvious 'Not Aki' look, explaining with just a glare that, obviously, she wasn't getting involved with this, as it was still a bit risky. This was Tremors movie franchise level of dangerous, which is pretty bad on folks, especially since his name wasn't Burt, and he didn't have explosives.

[mermalaide]

"That's good. I'll take 'Not exactly my wheelhouse' over nobody, any day."

Nishimura was glad to hear that. Some hunters could be picky. Which was counter productive. He glanced at the big clock near the bounty board. She would be pulling into station about now. It had been ten minutes since he spoke to sister Agnes. She was tough. Some of the other hunters were a bit put off by the loud voice and laugh she had, Agnes was from Texas, wielded guns and was loud. Bloodsuckers heard her coming a mile away. He shook his head while he typed in Max's number. He wan'ted everyone that was having to deal with those awful things to get credit. Periodically, the city had outbreaks of things like this. Sometimes it was toad yokai, sometimes it was Kappa (although they were a very divided lot, some being smarter than others), and then there were Gaki. Those things were never smart, and tended to crop up during the worst times. Mostly when people did not expect them. 

Max would likely hear Agnes before he saw her, and it was not lost on him that she would draw the attention of every critter in the place when she got there, due to the nature of her guns.   


"Alright, here's how it is: Dispatch thinks they're nesting in the water lines, as I thought, and they're having loads of trouble finding that. They're sending in a nun to help with purifying the water down there, though, so I can flush them out, almost literally. Our plan here is to occupy and destroy what gaki that we can by essentially fishing for them with this bait. You're not trying to catch them. You're trying to keep them interested, which this all definitely will. The drugs are in case they DO get a bite, and pull it down. That way, at least we knock some of them out. No one is to get near the edge at all. I'm going to be any down I can to keep this whole thing going as long as possible. If any of you are holding the lines and you feel a sharp tug, let go. Do not struggle to keep hold of the line. I'm glad for your help, but I don't want you risking your life for a pound of beef. Now, if everybody's ready, let's get to the roof."

For the most part they were following him up there with Takashi and and Aki leading up the rear. Takashi was hesitant to expose Aki to anything more than he had to. So, when they started up the operation, Takashi stopped Aki. "No no. Let's let the bigger kids handle that." She wanted to pout, however before she could protest, her stomach growled. "Why don't we go get some lunch? Hey Daisuke? Would it be okay if we got some lunch down stairs while you guys fish for Gaki?" Daisuke looked over his shoulder. "Yeah, there are some kid's bentos that we didn't scoop up, and some juice I think. Can't sell the display bentos now anyway, so they shouldn't go to waste." He knew his parents wouldn't care, and part of him was glad they were not home, one of them could have been hurt or both. "Go for it!"

Atsuko was getting ready to cast out her line to trap and distract the little creatures. She thought about what Takashi had said. A lot of Japanese were Buddhist. She wondered if any of the Gaki down there had been, but struck the thought out of her mind when they started fighting over her line. They were getting riled up and were fighting each other for the sloppy, drippy piece of BBQ meat. The meat slapped against the concrete side of the building with a wet slap and they were all on it, pulling it down. The whole thing was kinda nightmare fuel, and she was glad Aki wasn't there. It reminded her of that anime Attack on Titan. Those things seemed like giant Gaki, thought they weren't exactly. "Atsuko, hello. You okay?" Daiske brought her back to earth and the two of them started working on another line. "Cripes, those things are nasty."

"Yeah, kinda." She gulped. "I was thinking about what Takashi said, and it made me think yanno?"

"See anyone you think you know?" He was joking, thought, it was the kinda joke someone would either laugh about or slap him over. "Dumbass." She did laugh though. "No, I haven't, but you got me, I thought I would see a friend in that crowd."He shrugged. "I know what you mean." He cast a line out. "Hey, Max, how are you doing over there?" They were drawing a bit of a crowd. Gaki were fighting over the meat, the ones that ate the lion's share were falling asleep, injured Gaki were getting eaten by others. It was pandemonium! And it only got worse when gunshots erupted from up the street. 

Emerging from the subway tunnel was a woman wearing a variation of a Catholic nun's uniform. It was a shorted version with boots and a habit covering her hair. The big rosary on her neck could be seen from across the room, as could the massive rifle she was carrying. A group ran at her and she dispatched three before throwing herself a bit back to get some distance. She ran up and to the right of the street, moving towards them. It would take her a bit though. Some of the ones being distracted turned and looked like they were going to rush her. Takashi picked up one of the buckets and hurled it over the side, onto the side walk. That caught their attention, and hers. Some of them went after the bucket. "Shit! What do we do Max?" The woman was blasting the hell out of anything that came near. It was like the old west had come to life in the middle of a busy Tokyo intersection.

[datmass]

With Takashi keeping his daughter well out of it, they would proceed, and that left them to their devices, for the time being. It was like dealing with an entire legion of cats, ugly cats at that. They had to be kept at attention with the dangling toy for as long as possible. Some of them were getting at the food, but it was frankly better that they did than getting any person. Of course, Max helped this out with a series of small attacks. You see, that glacial pathway he made before was alot of ice creation, but when he used it sparingly, it wasn't nearly as bad. Case in point, the ice daggers he began to fling at the various gaki to stab them in the chest or in the head were part of the secondary goal here. With alot of them distracted, there was no time like the present to reduce their numbers. And so, for those dangling the food, they were seeing daggers, shurikens, Tron's disc, Metalman's Metal Blades, etc. being flung down there, hurting or killing Gaki to an extent.

It wasn't at the level needed to get rid of them all, but less is less. So, when they asked how he was doing, he just said "Making progress!" and kept at his work. Any that actually jumped high enough for him to swing a sword at would definitely get a quick slash. Of course, some of the dynamic changed all of a sudden when the shots rang out. Max expected a nun, but...nuns with guns?! Who figured on that?! This had to be Agnes that was wielding that assault rifle. Heavy duty, but there was a problem. There were still alot of gaki, and the noise was starting to draw them over. Guns were loud, and could be heard for a solid mile, if not longer. So, unless Agnes was secretly Doomguy, she was going to get overwhelmed as the numbers thrown at her would increase. Oh, what do they do, indeed? Max assessed this situation, and realized that apart from just trying to alot of gaki off of her from a distance in an increasingly difficult manner, there was only one way to counter this.

"I'm gonna have to do something stupid. Get her to run for the store while I distract them."

Relying on his powers to get them out of a jam wasn't the right answer. That was the answer you resorted to when your real answer fell short. Max had an idea that put him at risk to get the heat off of Agnes without having to summon a great deal of ice. What kind of idea? It went like this. Suddenly, from a rooftop, the nun would see a man with a sword on his back holding up what looked like a cooked rotisserie chicken jump off of the roof as he created just a small slide to catch his fall. The slide essentially changed his downward fall into forward momentum, which he used to break into a run and shout "CHICKEN!!!" about as loud as humanly possible. Max needed to be more attention-grabbing than a woman with a rifle. The only immediate way to do that was to behave like live bait, running around while raising delicious food on high as he made for another building. You may be asking how Max was going to get up that one. Well, now that it's just him, technically, he would be generating ice steps attached to a wall to jump up that would detach said wall very shortly after he ascended. Of course, he'd also drop the chicken, for good measure. The whole point of this was to give the nun the chance to run, and they all congregate on high rooftops, where she would have the chance to coordinate with him...probably via phone.

[mermalaide]

Agnes was secretly Doomguy.

Well the Texas version of Doomguy anyway. Rank B Ability: ‘Vaya con Dios’ Go with God. The Gaki converging on her in the middle of the street began to get pelted with a maelstrom of bullets. The bullets caused a incinerating effect against the Gaki who were very close to ghouls in their typing. Some fell and burst into flames or crumbled to ash, screaming in agony. Some still ran at her. Their ranks were thinning, but there were still many on the street, some still attracted to Max's shouts of chicken. She heard him before she saw him. There was also movement up there on top of and around the side of what looked like a combini. "Well hotdaaawg!" She gave a bit of a laugh, a loud one too, and started sweeping the street like something out of House of the Dead.  It was like watching someone play on one of the shooting machines for Club Sega. She was unloading and running towards where Max was playing chicken. If she could get to him, they could make a brilliant stand.

"Well hey there! Yer Max right?" She reached her gun behind her, not breaking the conversation. "I'm Sister Agnes Francis, from the Hunter's Guild an' the Church of the Immaculate Heart." In between talking to him, she would fire a bit, then plug a new set of rounds in. Her riffle was pretty basic, but the way she loaded was so fluid. She raised her riffle up to use the sight. Some of the Gaki stopped to eat compatriots.

"So ah, where to? I was told you had a general idea of where you wanted to seek these things out, unless you want a little retreat before then?" She had a sharpened cross on her belt. It looked like some kind of knife. "Hey!" It looked like Atsuko and Daisuke were trying to get their attention, likely trying to first get Agne's attention, but she seemed to have made a beeline towards Max. Her Southern drawl was a little thick and  a stray lock of hair had squirmed out from under her habit. "No need to go it alone on my account, we're both hunters and I aim to pitch in!" 

[datmass]

With that accent, she might be closer to Earthworm Jim, to be honest.

Nevermind that, for now. They had a job to do, and unfortunately, while the nun was very good at combat, she was also doing exactly what he had been in danger of doing, which was wearing herself out on all these gaki, individually fighting them. Now, Max had made it to another roof with his temporary steps and - to be clear - would have attracted a bunch of gaki to him. Why not? It was chicken, after all. So, he'd be dispatching several by getting them wounded with projected icicles, ice daggers, and so on - thus causing their friends to eat them - and giving the nun here a chance to do something. Unfortunately, she wasn't taking the bait to the combini, where someone would've no doubt let her in. Instead, she want over to HIS position to introduce herself.

"Yeah, I'm Max. I'd prefer it if you were out of harm's way for a second while we decide where to proceed, so if you don't mind..."

He would press his hand on the edge of the roof to produce new handholds in the general form of a ladder, so she could get up here. Afterwhich, he would break it down to make sure the gaki couldn't come up after then, and turn to Sister Agnes to explain things.

"Sorry, I just figure we could save it for when we make the push to where we need to go. Dispatch said the gakis are nesting somewhere in the sewers and waterways, but they haven't pinpointed exactly where they're spawning, though it must be pretty big. We need to get down there, preferrably close to a reservoir, because if you can bless it and we flood it, their habitat becomes much less habitable, and we can clean up whatever doesn't burn up."

He looked around, checking to make sure those over at the store were okay. He trusted Atsuko would keep them safe enough, but better safe than sorry, especially if she was perhaps someone from a noble family trying to keep a low profile.

"What I don't have for that is a map, though maybe I can get one on my phone, or maybe one of my new friends over there can help with that."

[mermalaide]

She did not mind in the least. Agnes kept up with him and followed the lead to climb. When she got up to the top, double time, to which she was used to having things give chase. "Not at all. Appreciate ya comin out here to greet me, Max." She watched him break the stairs he made easily. Cryomancy. That would be useful. Heat might be an issue though. Not somethin you see a lot of.


"Sorry, I just figure we could save it for when we make the push to where we need to go. Dispatch said the gakis are nesting somewhere in the sewers and waterways, but they haven't pinpointed exactly where they're spawning, though it must be pretty big. We need to get down there, preferably close to a reservoir, because if you can bless it and we flood it, their habitat becomes much less habitable, and we can clean up whatever doesn't burn up."

"Mmm." She was listing to him carefully. "Well, if that's the case, it's likely there's a nest. I have found these nasty thang are a bit like ghouls. Got an idea." She took out her phone and crouched down with her rifle. "If I kin get a signal, we can see a map of the main sewage drain around here. Those things tend ta gather where bodies are dumped." She did a bit of searching. "Well.. I can pray and I can turn things away, it ain't exactly a bless though." She looked apologetic about that. "But have hope, I did bring somethin' with me that should bless the water  if I toss it into the middle of something." Her strength was more or less fighting vampires and ghouls. Werewolves if they happened to show themselves, though, these were pretty unheard of outside of America and Europe. 

It took her a bit to find a decent enough map, it was a little old though, so it might not be the most accurate. Which did not fill her with the best confidence. "Looks like there's a water collection  for this area under Shibuya Station's East exit. It's huge. That would be the place I would bet on. A lot of water is collected for rain and anti flooding measures." She paused, trying to think of if she had blasted any more than usually, but remembered that she had mainly come out of the western side of the exit. Agnes showed him the article on her phone. 

"Room for a whole mess of somethin'."

She looked at him with a twinkle and went through the bag she had. Most of it was ammo, a few church things, and what seemed like some magnesium sticks. "I have a flashlight on my scope, and I think a little one in my bag. You have a lighter? We can divide these sticks up. They burn hotter than hell."

[datmass]

Sister Agnes seemed to be the obliging type of Doom-Nun, certainly enough to be able to help out his mostly-a-plan with its missing factors. She wasn't inherently a blesser of objects, but apparently she had something that would work once if it was tossed in somewhere. Max nodded as she said this.

"That should be fine. Finding a large amount of water to dump at them would be ideal, so a simple device like that is perfectly useable. Incidentally, Plan B would be where you open the floodgates and I freeze up all that I can, choking their place and them with a hideous amount of ice."

Obviously, that kind of expenditure of his power was a little dicey for him, but freezing a load of water that already exists was at least easier than just creating it wholesale. Anyway, all this was going on while the nun was looking up on her phone for something, and in just a few short minutes, she got it. There was a big runoff chamber for rain water and such-like all prepared for this and everything on the east side. It was perfect! Now, Agnes was going through her pack and getting what lights they might have. When she brought up the idea of a lighter and flares...

"Uhh, sorry. I haven't had much use for fire on these jobs, and I don't smoke. More to the point, I don't do well with fire, so maybe the flares should be yours. I mean, I know we're gonna need more than my cellphone light, but heat will be a detriment and- Hold on."

He pulled out his phone and dialed the shop. Whoever he got - be it Aki at first, or Daiske because it was his story, or whoever - he started talking to about the plan, detailing the idea to get down there and use their combined power to push towards the flood facility.

"But before we take off, got any flashlights to spare? Preferably something that'll wrap around heads or attach to the front of a belt or shirt?"

While he waited, he turned to the nun for a second.

"By the way, if you have spare earplugs, give 'em. I know it's gonna get loud, down there."

[mermalaide]

"That should be fine. Finding a large amount of water to dump at them would be ideal, so a simple device like that is perfectly useable. Incidentally, Plan B would be where you open the floodgates and I freeze up all that I can, choking their place and them with a hideous amount of ice."

"You gon be okay puttin that much out?" She didn't know much but that seemed like a strain. They could do it though. But she would need to stick near him closely. It would be all for moot if someone didn't make it back because of these filthy things. What kinda nun would I be if I let one of the good guys drop in a storm drain? All of us or none of us. She took a deep breath. "Hey now, don't be! There is a first time for everything. It's like a muscle. I bet power's like that. I only got my own damn stubbornness and a gun." Her smile was big and she was kind. "God gives us plenty of things, pardon the sayin' we just gotta figure out how to use all of it."

She pulled the flares back. "Ah, shouda figured! Fire vs Ice an all that!" She gets up from her squat. "More then fer me!' She gave a wink. He pulled out his phone and she waited. Patience was a virtue. 

A little voice answered the phone, and clearly Takashi had not gotten it away from her fast enough. "Hiya! I'm Aki and I'm at the combini!" She sounded so cheerful. Takashi had to get her to give up the phone and she pouted, almost hanging up. "Sorry about that. Aki got excited. Oh! Max! "

He listened to the plan that was rolling out from Max and was mentally taking notes. 

"But before we take off, got any flashlights to spare? Preferably something that'll wrap around heads or attach to the front of a belt or shirt?" He had to walk over to one of the isles, preferably the one that had emergency and automotive stuff. " I see a few lights and batteries. I can open and put together some if you want. Just give me a sec. We could probably get Daisuke and Anri to lower them."

He seemed startled by the need for earplugs. "Yeah I can get some, Aki will likely need them the most. They are in this isle too." On the other end there was a little of a commotion. He put his hand over the phone and it sounded like he was arguing with Ms. Baseball Bat. "Well, if you do go out, it could leave us less defended. They are professionals." There was the sound of clenched teeth and teen angst on the other end of that. "Put me on, I want to talk to Max." 

[datmass]

The only answer Max could really give on the question of whether he was good to produce that much ice at once, water availability notwithstanding, was "In theory.". He didn't actually know, because this wasn't the sort of thing he bench-tested, usually. People could complain if he, say, froze up an entire swimming pool, just to see if he could do it without ill effects. It just didn't come up. The most he really knew was that doing this to a glass of water felt less involved than creating ice wholesale. So, a sink-full, for instance, felt a bit more like he'd created a solid ice ball from nothing. What the 'exchange rate' on this was wouldn't be easy to calculate, even for his father, a man who knows his numbers. It was the science of a magic power, where exponential reactions of expanding water into ice was involved. Nevermind. That wasn't important, at least not so long as Plan A was intact. Yes, Plan A had a habit of NOT ending up so, but that's life, now move on!

The phone call was productive enough. They could get extra gear for going down, which meant more light, and in a hands-free kind of form that would make life easier. Getting them lowwered down would also save alot of time. He gave Sister Agnes a thumbs-up to indicate that what he asked for was available, so they'd be good to go on that front. Even the earplugs seemed available, though...we must confess...Max was actually asking the one of the nun. He knew that with that gun of hers going off, there'd be a ringing of ears and a damaging of senses. Right after confirmation, though, he heard...a commotion. It sounded like Atsuko, and at a guess, she wanted to come with them. He wanted to just outright say no, partly because of her safety and the safety of the others, but also because he didn't want to put what was likely a young clan member in undue jeopardy. That being the case, though...there was one thought that crossed his mind about her. So...

"Put 'er on, Takashi. You've got stuff to do."

[mermalaide]

"Righty."

He all but had the phone jerked from him as they were making a supply box up. "Hey, listen, you guys are going to get overwhelmed. You know what I can do. Let me come help." She sounded intense. In the background flashlights, batteries, earplugs, Vicks rub (Takashi thought it would block the sewer and carrion smell, he remembered something like that in anatomy anyway), a few Gatorade like drinks the combini sold. It was loaded into an empty backpack they found in one of the isles. "Hey," Takashi says in the background, do they want anymore bait meat?" He looked at her with worry. "I can carry the pack and help keep them back." She tilted her head, waiting for max's answer.

On Max's end, his new companion was reloading everything, that included a side arm, she checked a knife she had and made sure these things were easy to pull and use. The flares were at her belt. She listened quietly for noise around them. They killed enough of them to make a dent, but who knew what was down in the waterway. If she was a smoker, she would have needed a light. That was more the Padre's style, not her's. She crouched and watched. Max was still talking to the combini folks. Her heart beat was steady. The streets was nearly empty, save for the ice tunnel that Max had made and all that gore and ice. The sound of scurrying was heard somewhere and she took the safety off her gun.

[datmass]

He didn't like this. This was a crossroads, the moment where a highly-important decision must be made, and two very different futures appear, as a result. On the one hand, taking Atsuko down into the sewers - down where it was most dangerous at this time - was a very bad idea, because it could get her injured or killed, with some potentially powerful family looking to take his head, as a result. On the other hand, their rebellious daughter was right about things. They were undermanned, risking the possibility of being buried under a pile of Gaki, and Atsuko had at least some fighting ability along with combat-boosting power. Max didn't like this, because the girl was right and he just didn't want her harmed. Plus, there was every possibility that she would follow them, anyway. With the Yokai number thinning out here - Yes, he heard the same movement from the shadows. - there'd be little to stop her. Putting his hand over the receiver, he turned to Sister Agnes.

"Sister, we're taking on a novice. I want no argument. We're short-handed, we're dealing in multiple nests, and she has abilities."

Letting off a sigh at his own statement, he took his hand off of the receiver and spoke to Atsuko.

"Alright, you've made your point. Make sure the combini is secure, prepare the stuff, and arm yourself the best you can."

Then, his expression turned hard as he spoke more forcefully.

"However, I expect you to follow the commands of me and Sister Agnes at all times. That includes when I tell you to get out if I think you might be chewed to bits in the next three seconds. Is that clear?"

He would start moving back for the combini as soon as Sister Agnes was ready. They needed to hit the ground moving on this, literally and figuratively. If they could get there by rooftops to avoid having to fight more on the way, then good, but even if not, Max was putting the intensity in his voice to remind the girl whose authority needed to be followed. IF Atsuko couldn't follow orders, she wouldn't be much use to them down there. There was no room for hotdogging. This was kill or be killed, and he was pretty sure she knew that. Honestly, a part of him wanted to see what she could really do under fire, anyway. If all went well, they would meet a ready, willing, and able Atsuko at the Combini. If she had any reservations or arguments with his terms, then it would be the two professionals, this day.

[mermalaide]

Sister Agnes looked pretty surprised. "Not that I mind any help, but this is a bit fer seasoned folk." She sighed and shook her head,"Well, don't that beat all, okay then. I'll split up my flares with our friend then." She was putting the flares that Max passed up for the girl, who was definitely getting the status of The Kid in her mind now. She said a prayer over everything just for their sake, it couldn't hurt could it?

Atsuko huffed on the other end and you could hear her grin. "Alright! That's what I am talking about! You won't be sorry!" She stopped short and listened again. Her tone became serious. "I can do that. It's not a field trip." There was an exhale on the other line. "I watched a mob of them eat a classmate you know. Before we got to the combini an' all that." There were some sounds of her putting things into the bag she had. "I'll listen."

After getting off the phone with Atsuko, they would be squading up.

When Atsuko met them, she had a backpack that had some items in it that they had asked for. What she was mainly going to do was vanguard what she could and hand them supplies, as well as carry them. That would be her main job. Her bat was over her shoulder. "You commin' with?" Agnes put out her hand in a friendly way, shouldering her own rifle. "I'm Sister Anges. I'll be our guns this evening." She gave a grin with that southern drawl of hers. If she had a hat she would have tipped it.

"So, we could try to get closer using the roof that I see you gazin at." There were a few buildings straggling near the entrance they needed. There seemed to be a few fire escapes, though not all of them were down. They were in varying stages and one was broken slightly. "I can reach that one and pull the others down." Atsuko volunteered. "What do you want to do?" The street seemed to be sparsely populated now, but who knew where things were hiding. It was up to Max, they would follow him.

[datmass]

He was aware that this wasn't the greatest of ideas and he might get alot of heat for it later, but it is what is. As for Atsuko herself, yes, he knew that she would take this seriously, having seen people die right in front of her. This was about fully-engraining in her head the need for his authority to be key. Nothing could be allowed to happen to her, and he wanted it established that if push comes, her part in this could be ended swiftly to save her life. So, a little while later, and it was the three of them in the combini, flares being divided up as they got ready to go. As they made ready, there was some question on the best method to proceed. Not many Gaki out right now...but Max knew it wouldn't stay that way.

"We're being watched from every nook and cranny they fit in, the ones that are still around. We've put a dent in them, and they hate it, so they're sizing us up, looking for weakness."

Staying out in the open the whole way was a fool's errand. It was a trap. He could feel it. As soon as they were in a place where escape was not easy, the numbers out there would dramatically increase. So, the further rooftop action was the best way. Frankly, why use up the excess energy that they're going to need for the underground? Max looked back at Atsuko.

"You'll grab the ladder and make the roof accessable to us. We'll give you the time to get up there and book for whatever ladder you bring down. Once we're somewhat secure, we can get to the underground entrance and proceed."

It was a perfectly straightforward plan that had a margin for error and chaos that they could hopefully manage. Per said jaunt for the further fire escapes, Max was going to make sure to look his absolute menacing, so the Gaki think twice before attacking...