DCW IRL Round 14: Shibuya Infinity

[Misaki-chan 164]

"Your plan is rubbish. He isn't just walking somewhere, waiting for us to see him. We need something he is interested in. How about stole gem?" Aleksander said.

 

Ari nodded, "I nodded with Alek, but we need to do that in stealth."

 

"I don't carry any jewels on me though," Aster replied. "And KID is too OOC - that means out of character - and isn't targeting gems at all. He wants destruction, chaos as per his own character alignment. Skelly did suggest staying together but it would be faster if we went and checked previous checkpoints to see any new flags due to the development that happened yesterday."

 

"I'm cool with it," Azura said, eyes closed. "Just send texts only when necessary, please. And make sure your phones are fully charged. We have a long day ahead of us, so it's best to have our phones' batteries full while we're out. It may be our most convenient way of communication. So, where do we start?"

 

Before anyone could reply, Mari said, "I'd rather not give out my number to all of you. You need not know the reason. But I agree with the plan. I can easily testify that KID isn't after money or riches with my wallet. But KID may be anticipating our plan that does not involve the lure of riches. We can use this plan as a base plan. Well, if you don't want to add complexity to this otherwise simple plan, it's alright..."

 

"Would you like us to get you a prepaid phone then?" Misaki asked. "That way you can stay in contact with us while not giving your phone number out. I saw some at an electronics store nearby."

 

"Anyway, here's my number," Azura said after Mari responded, taking out her phone and repeating the number. Misaki quickly imputed it into her own. Once everyone was done, they went around in a circle repeating their numbers (if the person wanted to) until finally all the numbers were swapped.

 

 "Okay, so like Aster suggested earlier, we should check out the previous checkpoints to see if we can find anything new or perhaps some clues that could help us," Azura said as she glanced over to one of the bedrooms. "Let's decide on who goes where once everyone's awake. I'll be heading down for breakfast. Who wants to come? My treat~" 

 

"I will come. Snacks are not the best breakfast," the singer replied. 

 

Once they gathered everyone who was coming and decided on a place, they headed out. It didn't take them long to reach a small building, with the words Cafe de Fleur curling about on its sign. The store wasn't very full, with only a few people scattered at the wooden tables. The group quickly claimed a table by the window and set their stuff down before heading to the counter to order. As they waited for their food, they started talking, words overlapping with others. As she glanced out the window to watch people walking by, she heard someone say, "Hey, isn't that...?"

 

Looking at them pointing at the door, she turned around to see who they were talking about. 

 

(Leaving who it is vague since we could use some interaction with some NPCs but don't really care who.)

[A L 217]

[You know, I love how Misaki sort of combines everything to make sense. That way I being lazy post only to move the plot \o/]

 

People exchanged numbers and Azura decided to treat people to breakfast ("No meat!" said Aster) and they walked out the hotel ("Roll like a buffalo." Muttered Aster under his breath) and went to Cafe de Fleur.

 

"Isn't that..." Aster said, glancing at the door. Well well, it seemed the magical priestess from yesterday did frequent more than one restaurant. She looked quite sleepy too, or maybe that was because she was always yawning. "I suppose fast food joints would be closed at this time." Should he greet her? Or should he not? Aster was spared from making a decision as breakfast was served.

[Nara-chan 38]

-------------------------

 She was relieved that she escaped the exchanging of numbers, but she didn't know if she could escape Azura's treat. She was alright with not eating (She did that all the time at her school), but wouldn't they take that as a sign of rudeness? But she preferred not to go out and eat at this time of day (since she already went out), so she quickly muttered a, "No, thanks. I have other things to do." and went out the door. She was going out. To Alice's. To get her stuff.

-------------------------

 She got lost several times, but tried to retrace her steps to the ruins of the 101 Building. From there, she could guess her way to Alice's. While she knew she had to get going, she couldn't help but look at the rubble of the building. Just looking at it was quite depressing. "This used to be a thriving mini-haven of fashion. Look at it now..."

-------------------------

*Leaves open for plot*

[Rye 122]

Azura flipped the page of a newspaper she had grabbed on the way to the restaurant, and chuckled as she read the news. "Looks like they're trying to come up with a story that could conveniently cover up what happened to the building the other day. Interesting," Azura shared, flipping to the newspaper's next page. "Looks like that lady really did clean up the mess from last night. Not a word about in the news. Hmm."

 

She turned to the next page which was filled with comics, then closed and folded the newspaper which she then stuffed in her bag. "By the way, let's make a list right now of what places we should inspect later. That way we can decide on who goes where more quickly when we get back to the hotel." Azura took out a memo pad and a pencil. "Let's see...there's the building and the station where KID's attacks occurred. We could also check out the fastfood place where we saw the lady and the police station to see if there's any new information that could help us. Also, I think it would be good to go to Alice's place since some of the others probably left their stuff there yesterday. Where else?" She said, jotting down the places. She noticed that a few others seemed to have their attention on the restaurant's window near the sidewalk. 

 

"Isn't that..." Aster muttered, glancing at the door. Azura realized who it was as the lady went inside, and the faint jingle of the door's bell was heard. The lady yawned. "I suppose fast food joints would be closed at this time," Aster said. Right then, a waiter went over carrying trays of delicious-smelling dishes and layed out the food on their table.

 

"Itadakimasu!"

[tengaku squared 291]

(Since the group seems to have split into two...)

 

For Nara-chan:

"Indeed." Robert was behind Mari.

 

As she turned around, he scratched his head, and had a hint of a remorseful expression. "Ah, I'm sorry. I have a habit of surprising people. It's just that sometimes someone can say something very...interesting." He chuckled. "Ah, that sounded a bit melodic. All those repeating s's."

 

"Don't you wonder what kind of mind it requires to wreak such destruction? Either the mind of a maniac..."

 

He began to walk away, completing his sentence as he went.

 

"Or the mind of a god." Robert turned the corner and was gone.

 

For everyone else:

"It's not like I can't hear you, yeah?" Kyoko walked up to the group's table, stifling a yawn on her way. "Priestess? I'm not a religious figure." She yawned, this time not bothering to stifle it, then continued to talk a bit absentmindedly. "Well, this place doesn't have much to do in potatoes, but I personally like coming here..."

 

"Since you're here, it saves me the effort to send Shell over to give a message. Plus, Shell...can be a bit unreliable, as you know. Anyway, the message." She yawned once more (perhaps you may have begun to wonder how she manages to yawn so frequently), then continued, "You asked me about Alice when I gave you the opportunity to ask a single question. I said that I didn't know any Alice." She cleared her throat.

 

"Well, I lied. If the Alice you know and the Alice I've heard of are one and the same, then it's no wonder that Shell didn't try to eliminate you back there." She noticed a chair by their table, and gestured to ask for the last seat. When your group allowed it, she sat down. "I don't want to elaborate anymore on that matter. And since I didn't answer your question properly back then, I think it's alright to ask another question."

 

To emphasize the amount of questions allowed, she put up her index finger. "One question."

[Misaki-chan 164]

By the entrance was Kyoko, the woman they had met yesterday. Should we approach her? Try and get more answers? Maybe-

 

Before she could finish her thoughts, a waiter went over carrying their food. After he set it down, Misaki glanced over at the woman one more time. Maybe we shouldn't bother her.

 

 

"Itadakimasu," she and a few others said in unison before digging in. As she ate her crepes hungrily, she heard someone say, "It's not like I can't hear you, yeah?" 

 

 

Misaki stopped, looking at the source of the voice. It was Kyoko, holding back a yawn as she made her way over to their table. "Priestess? I'm not a religious figure," she yawned, this time openly. "Well, this place doesn't have much to do in potatoes, but I personally like coming here..."

 

Before anyone could talk, she kept going. "Since you're here, it saves me the effort to send Shell over to give a message. Plus, Shell...can be a bit unreliable, as you know. Anyway, the message."

 

Another yawn accompanied the sentence as she said, "You asked me about Alice when I gave you the opportunity to ask a single question. I said that I didn't know any Alice."

 

She cleared her throat, then said, "Well, I lied. If the Alice you know and the Alice I've heard of are one and the same, then it's no wonder that Shell didn't try to eliminate you back there."

 

The woman paused, then gestured to one of the open chairs at their table. Misaki tacitly gave her permission with a nod, seeing as how they might as well let her sit down. Once seated, Kyoko continued. "I don't want to elaborate anymore on that matter. And since I didn't answer your question properly back then, I think it's alright to ask another question."

 

She raised her index finger. "One question."

 

One question? I don't know if I have one... The others probably have a good question, but I'll try to think of one just in case.

[A L 217]

Aster nearly jumped out of his seat. She could hear him? Of all the times in his life...

 

"Priestess as in the convenient lady helping NPCs in a RPG kind of plot." He elaborated in Japanese, though his first english word seemed a bit out place when pronounced without messing the r and s's in it.

 

"And also you lied. I'll leave the question to others, so you don't regard me as speaking for the whole group if I ask if you like OnePotatoTwoPotato." Aster crossed his arms. He was just itching to dial Alice right now but it would only end with her teasing him again. Instead he focused on the most beautiful, magnificent and enchanting item of food before him: bread <3.

[Rye 122]

One question, huh? Azura thought to herself as she took a bite from her tuna sandwich. A dozen questions immediately raced in her head, and she began sorting through them one by one while eating her food. An invisible light bulb lit above Azura's head as she suddenly had an idea.

Why don't we ask her how to catch the KID impersonator? That would be a good question. Still, maybe the others have better questions to ask. Azura thought. Hmm...

[Henry Gordan 20]

I'm not sure if I've met her before? I think I have. So....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Shell's "friend" arrived to the restaurant. Aleksander gave up his idea because others didn't like it.

 

As she started to talk Aleksander ignored her.

 

Why is she talking Japanese?!! I don't freaking understand it!

 

"And also you lied. I'll leave the question to others, so you don't regard me as speaking for the whole group if I ask if you like OnePotatoTwoPotato." Aster said

 

"Could you please stop talking Japanese. I don't speak it and I didn't understand single word from that?" Aleksander said angrily.

[Nara-chan 38]

 "Indeed."

 

 A man wearing a worn brown trench coat suddenly appeared behind her. What the fudge is this city? A city of teleportation or something? He appeared to be middle aged, and had this feel of...stress? "I..."

 

 "Ah, I'm sorry. I have a habit of surprising people. It's just that sometimes someone can say something very...interesting."

 

 Does that mean the thing I said just a while ago? Or something else?

 

 The man chuckled. "Ah, that sounded a bit melodic. All those repeating s's."

 

 While she just stood there gaping at the trench coated man, he said something very strange that immediately made her jump to a conclusion she had been holding on for some time. "Don't you wonder what kind of mind it requires to wreak such destruction? Either the mind of a maniac..."

 

 The man was leaving, finishing his sentence as he went: "Or the mind of a god.

 

 As he bounded the next corner and disappeared, she contemplated on this theory: every weird person she had met knew each other. Lilliam probably knew Kyoko, and she definitely knew Shell and that violinist. Shell knew Lilliam, and probably Alice...

 

 Oh gosh I need to stop stalling and get my stuff! 

-----------------------------------

 She was in front of the place they had stayed in two days ago (after some blunders with memory), which was some net cafe. She wondered if the keeper of the house, the short-haired Alice,.was there. Oh please oh please don't be I don't want to be target practice again, she thought, going back to the time where she had pointed a gun, just because AL had "knocked incorrectly".

 

 'I told her it should be her to meet you here, but she was too shaken that there were two. Or was it too fascinated?"

 

 It was a feminine voice now, a familiar one. It was the girl back in the chaos of Shibuya Crossing. She was wearing the same clothes as back then: a varsity jacket and jeans.  "So annoying..."

 

 From that hostile-sounding comment, she proceeded, "You've only seen three , but I think there are a lot more. I hope he isn't here."

 

 ...What?

 

 "Ahem. Sorry. Just came to run an errand, which means that it concerns you.You met her there in that alleyway, right? She didn't tell you what it meant. It was, 'God is dead.'"

 

 Alleyway? Oh...that girl who looks like my sister? You know her?! Why does everyone know everyone here except me?! 

 

But out of all her thoughts, this one was the one that made it to her lips: "Gott is tot means God is dead?"

 

"That's what she said. Also, she also said that that girl over there at that place..." she pointed at the net cafe..."...is interesting. Well, that's what she said. Up to you to follow it."

 

 So she was telling her to decide whether to knock or not. She could have said that right away! All the stuff she said, besides the "God is dead" and the knock part, was ambiguous. "Thanks, anyway..." she mumbled, although she wasn't sure if the girl caught that.

---------------

I'll cut here because I'm kind of busy today~

[Rye 122]

"Hey guys," Azura whispered to the others. "Any idea on what question we should ask her? I'd love to ask her how to catch the KID impersonator, but I figured maybe you guys have better ideas~"

[A L 217]

Aster paid little heed to Aleksander, focused on his food. Out of instinct he offered a jam sandwich to Kyoko as well. "See here Aleksander, what I say in Japanese is of no consequence so you need to cool down a bit. And on another note we'd rather have the location of the KID impersonator. For all I know the priestess could tell us how to catch the legendary fish without telling us where it exists." And then he scratched his head. "Did you get what I meant though?" He asked the rest.

[Rye 122]

"So, we're going to ask about KID's location then?" Azura asked the others, her voice still soft.

[tengaku squared 291]

Kyoko yawned. "I like that you're collaborating a bit more. Sorry to disappoint, but I don't know where the impersonator is. So you'll be better off trying another question."

[A L 217]

"Come on folks, I'm supposed to be the stupid one here so rack your brains." Aster tried to encourage. "I'll even make a suggestion for you; What is Shell's goal? No no no priestess-sama don't count that as a question yet." Kyoko seemed annoyed at being called priestess again and again.

[Misaki-chan 164]

The ideas for what to ask bounced between the group as Kyoko munched on a muffin. Asking for the KID impersonator's location wasn't going to happen, since the woman had told them between bites that she didn't know where he was. Mmm, come on Misaki, can't you think of anything?

 

"Come on folks, I'm supposed to be the stupid one here so rack your brains," Aster said. "I'll even make a suggestion for you; What is Shell's goal? No no no priestess-sama don't count that as a question yet."

 

Misaki heard the woman let out a low growl of discontent, but said nothing back. The singer replied, "That works with me. We could also ask how to catch KID like Azura said before or if there is anyone who could help us catch KID."

 

(BTW, Moho, heads up that I'm going to be gone from the 14th to the 20th since I'm going on vacation and will be lacking internet)

[Kaitou Kid Legendary Thief 197]

(Sorry for the MIA.. Had exams! DX final one today! Coming back after that!)

[tengaku squared 291]

Kyoko sighed. "First, I can't tell you what Shell's goal is. So that's off the table."

 

"However, I can tell you how to catch this elusive ghost. Is that what you want to know?" When your group decided not to object, she put down her muffin. She covered up another yawn with her hand.

 

"The impersonator works by remaining unknown. KID just happened to be a really convenient target to masquerade as, but really, the power comes from the Noh mask he (or she, let's not discriminate here) wears. I think it wouldn't matter a bit if the impersonator was wearing a black robe or dressed as a clown. The power is in the mask."

"See, that mask is a great thing to hide your face behind. Can't tell who's behind that mask, so people start making things up. The result is that the impersonator has a lot of power that he or she didn't have before but does now. The impersonator draws power off fear – fear of the unknown."

 

"If this phantom grows strong by remaining unidentifiable, then all you have to do is make the phantom identifiable. Reveal the phantom's face. Then his (or her, discrimination isn't cool at all) powers should wane. Should, at least." She stood up, picking up the muffin and walked out, leaving your group to wonder what to do next.

[Misaki-chan 164]

Before anyone could respond, Kyoko let out a sigh. "First, I can't tell you what Shell's goal is. So that's off the table. However, I can tell you how to catch this elusive ghost. Is that what you want to know?"

 

Misaki looked around the table to see if anyone objected. No one did, so the woman put down the muffin she was eating and covered her mouth as she yawned. "The impersonator works by remaining unknown. KID just happened to be a really convenient target to masquerade as, but really, the power comes from the Noh mask he (or she, let's not discriminate here) wears. I think it wouldn't matter a bit if the impersonator was wearing a black robe or dressed as a clown. The power is in the mask."

"See, that mask is a great thing to hide your face behind. Can't tell who's behind that mask, so people start making things up. The result is that the impersonator has a lot of power that he or she didn't have before but does now. The impersonator draws power off fear – fear of the unknown."

 

"If this phantom grows strong by remaining unidentifiable, then all you have to do is make the phantom identifiable. Reveal the phantom's face. Then his (or her, discrimination isn't cool at all) powers should wane. Should, at least." 

 

And with that, Kyoko stood up, grabbed her muffin, and headed out the cafe. The group sat in silence for a second before the singer said, "Well, we should all hurry up eating so we can get to catching KID. At least now we know a way to defeat them! Since I am guessing we are going to be starting after we are done, are we going in groups or no?"

[Henry Gordan 20]

The group sat in silence for a second before the singer said, "Well, we should all hurry up eating so we can get to catching KID. At least now we know a way to defeat them! Since I am guessing we are going to be starting after we are done, are we going in groups or no?"

 

Aleksander started to eat his food slowly. In fact he didn't like this food at all. Maybe I'll be a little bit hungry. It's easier to think when you're hungry.

"Well when we leave this restaurant I'll... Um forget what I just said." Aleksander said and started to mutter something.

[Rye 122]

"See ya, Kyoko-san!" Azura called out as Kyoko walked out of the restaurant. The group sat in silence.

 

"Well, we should all hurry up eating so we can get to catching KID. At least now we know a way to defeat them! Since I am guessing we are going to be starting after we are done, are we going in groups or no?" Misaki said.

 

Azura nodded in agreement. "We'd be able to get more information if we're to go in groups, I think. We need to be really cautious, though. Who knows what we might bump into while we're investigating." Azura checked her watch for the time. "Let's hurry up and get back. The others should be awake by now."

 

Azura brought out a laptop from her bag and opened it. Her laptop automatically connected to the restaurant's WiFi. She opened Chrome and typed in "Noh mask" with the hope that it was somehow connected to the impersonator's identity. 

[A L 217]

"The question is go where...well let's go to Alice's place. We can get some answers and, I suspect, meet up with Nara too since she's missing. You guys probably have some stuff left there too. A car to be exact, Aleksander." Aster said. Soon they were on their way to mysterious girls' place.

 

On the way they came across some german graffiti. 'Mein Gott!' Aster exclaimed at it but refrained from saying anything further. By now everyone was convinced he was a dunderhead.

 

"But what could it mean?" Neechan whispered next to him.

 

"It translates to God is dead." Aster said in a deadpan. They stopped to investigate the site.

[Henry Gordan 20]

"No." Aleksander said behind the wheel.

"It says more like 'by god' than god is dead."

 

They arrived to the back door of their target location.

 

~~~~~~

 

I don't know what do you want from this

[A L 217]

(Just regrouping us all so people can decide what they want to do.)

[Nara-chan 38]

 I hate decisions like this!

 

 She was alone in front of the net shop now, and she was going nowhere with getting her stuff. The other girl's warnings had shaken her quite a bit. "I'm just going to sit here, is that right?" She shook her head.

 

 The road the net cafe was on was quite silent, so she was startled to see a group of people making a lot of noise walk towards her. With a little squinting, she recognized her group, the always-getting involved-with-weird stuff bunch. Should I tell them? About what she said?