tushanshu_logs

Eva had provided them with information, but none of the three men were the sort to leap into action without gathering some intel themselves. Well, Bucky might have been, once upon a time, but no longer. Spending time in the company of a very, very good spy had given him an appreciation for all the data he could get his hands on.

So that's what they started with. Learning what the island was like, and, whenever possible, why.

Hawke didn't like this new body. It was strange to see his reflection and have an unknown voice looking back at him There wasn't much choice in the matter though. It was either this or immediately draw everyone's attention the moment they set foot on the island.

At the moment Hawke wanted to get the lay of the land so to speak. He needed to fit in and there was precious time to do so. More than that, there was a name that had interested him before they arrived here.: Jaitet. She sounded like Hawke's kind of troublemaker and he knew a thing or two about causing trouble.

It didn't take much to get the attention he wanted. A few outspoken words here, a few public outcries there, and he started turning some heads. The irony that he was just copying Anders for much of what he was doing wasn't lost on him. Crazy as he friend could be, he knew a thing or two about getting a revolution started.

For the third time that day Hawke fled the police. It had been years since Hawke had been on the opposite side of the law. The chase felt a little exciting to be honest. Out of the corner of his eye he caught someone gesture to him from an alley and dart away. No time to think, Hawke just took the opportunity. He turned and threw himself down the alley he had seen the Endai go. The police nearly tripped over themselves to keep pace with him.

Seconds after they followed after him into the alley. Clubs swung from the shadows, smashing into their skulls and knocking them senseless. Hawke watched it all from only a few yards away. With the guards taken care of, his rescuers approached him. Hawke noticed that they weren't loosing their grips on their weapons. His hands slid to his own, just in case.

"You're going to get yourself in trouble the way you prattle on like that," one snapped.

"Don't have any sense at all do you?" His partner followed.

Hawke merely shrugged. "Subtlety has never been a forte of mine."

"Tell me about," the first one grumbled. "Come with us. If you mean what you say we know someone who wants to meet you."

"Well I always enjoy making new friends," Hawke replied with a smirk.

The two men led Hawke through the alleyways. He got the distinct feeling they were taking the long way around, as if they were trying to lose a tail. A paranoid bunch it seemed but Hawke couldn't blame them after all they been through. Eventually they arrived at what looked like some kind of workshop. When he entered he saw things that would make the qunari jealous and the dwarves blush. He'd never seen weapons like these before.

Leaning over a desk was a woman. Hawke had a feeling he knew who it was too. She looked away from her desk towards him and eyed him suspiciously. Hawke gave her a roguish smile. She lifted an eyebrow in response. "So I hear you've been causing some trouble out there."

"I've been known to do that now and again," Hawke said.

"My name's Jaitet. We should talk."

Hawke's grin grew a little wider. "That would be lovely."

Edited 2014-04-22 12:27 (UTC)

Upon arriving at the island, Kaine immediately felt justified in all of the trouble he went through to ~~take back~~ temporarily borrow the Scarlet Spider costume. There was no way at 6’4” he was ever going to blend in with these people, and there was no way in hell he was going to be remade by magic, even the temporary, purely cosmetic sort. He was the living, breathing byproduct of mad science and had the added bonus of having some sort of living spider god or monster or whatever inside of his head. No, he was not going to throw magic into the mix.

So that left the Scarlet Spider costume’s stealth function, his personal brand of getting around undetected. He’d hadn’t been caught in stealth mode yet (he vaguely remembered Parker mentioning something about special lenses being needed to see it), and he doubted this would be any different, even with these people’s reported strong magical abilities.

His first order of business saw him swinging around the city, his preferred mode of transportation, to get a lay of the land and see if he could spot anything interesting. Should anything go south, they’d need to know the best way out of there, because now that they were no longer on the safety of the turtle (which, frankly, was a weird thought—the turtle being the safe place), they were on their own, and it was up to them to get back. He made several trips around, trying to familiarize himself with as many of the streets as possible.

As he landed on one of the taller roofs when his arms started screaming from the strain of being up in the air for so long, Kaine was drawn to the sound of someone giving what sounded to be, judging by the reactions of the crowd, a rousing speech. He inched closer towards the noise, taking caution even though he knew he was still invisible to the world around him, until he could make out what was being said.

“—The President only has power because we have given it to him. It is important for both us and him to remember that he is only as powerful as we allow him to be.”

Kaine crawled down the side of the building for a better look at the speaker. There, in the center of a group of young Endai, stood a rather disheveled, older Endai male wearing tattered robes that reminded the clone of a cross between Jesus and a hobo (and he was sure his priest would be thrilled to hear him make that comparison). He noticed that the guy didn’t wear his ears tied in a bow like the others.

“Damn it, now I have that stupid song stuck in my head again,” he muttered, grateful that no one seemed to notice a voice coming from thin air. He cursed “Do Your Ears Hang Low?” again, only this time he made sure to do it in his head.

One of the angrier young kedan cried out “Well then what should we do about it?!”

“That isn’t for me to say, Torris. Need I remind you that I am not actually speaking out against our president, nor calling any of you to any kind of action? I am merely speaking in terms of the laws of our land.”
Kaine wondered if tiny hobo Jesus down there was some sort of diplomat or something, because that was some expert sidestepping there. From the way he was looking around as he said it, he was clearly shrewd to boot.

“But Ke Divan--!” yelled another in the crowd. So tiny hobo Jesus had a name. Good to know.

“But nothing. You kids asked for a lesson in political law, and that is what I am giving you today. Nothing more.”

He’d heard enough. Evastelei’s intel was on the money, a number of these people were seriously unhappy with their president, and Kaine now had a name of one of the major dissenters. Or at least someone who appeared to be a major dissenter. That had to be a start. Now to get back to the meeting point and figure out what to—

Angry shouting erupted from the crow below, and Kaine turned around just in time to see about a half dozen policemen show up to surround the crowd, their hands glowing in what he could only imagine was their equivalent of flashing a gun.

“On suspicion of creating public unrest, you lot are coming with us.”

What to do? On the one hand, Kaine knew he could easily take out 6 guys, magic powers or no. Especially since he had the element of surprise… but that was the problem. If he got the drop on them, it was over. He would all but announce his arrival on the island, and god knows how well the people would take it. Sure, the people who looked ready to fight the cops as it was would have his back, but was he really ready to sacrifice Peter and May’s safety against the asshole they were all apparently summoned for to save some rabbit people he didn’t even know? Because frankly that was the only reason he was even there. To hopefully gather some people who could help keep the kids safe when the big battle everyone kept talking about finally came… because God knew he wouldn’t be able to protect them on his own.

“That won’t be necessary, officers,” said Ke Divan. “I cause the unrest, I shall go quietly.” He looked to the kids surrounding him. “And everyone else will go home. Isn’t that right?”

The young Endai looked torn. It was clear from their body language they were raring for a fight, but the expressions on their faces also made it clear they wanted to listen to what Ke Divan had said. Finally, the crowd relaxed, and several nodded. The policemen’s hands stopped glowing.

“You know the routine by now,” said one of the police officers.

Ke Divan walked towards the officers like he had done it a hundred times—and who knows, he probably did, given the way talking out of turn seemed to be against the law here—and followed the six back towards what Kaine knew from his many swingovers was the palace as the crowd hesitantly dispersed.

Kaine followed from the rooftops as the six started walking towards the palace. Three streets in, the six became four as two left to patrol elsewhere, and then the following street the four became two. Again, the clone debated getting the drop on the guards and saving tiny hobo Jesus.

“And then what?” He thought. “Bring him with me? Yeah, that’d go over great. I can add kidnapping to my interdimensional rap sheet.”

But the idea wouldn’t go away. In fact, it only seemed to get stronger the closer they got to the palace walls. Though he would never admit it, the conflict gnawed at him. He should be doing something. Even if he wasn’t a hero, that damn thought wouldn’t leave his mind… and then he tripped over beautiful, beautiful inspiration. This roof was getting work done. A couple of “accidental” drops of debris from the construction later, the two guards were passed out and sporting nasty bumps on their heads as Ke Divan looked around, bewildered.

Kaine landed on the ground beside one of the guards, as he wasn’t sure if he had actually hit her hard enough to knock her out, and upon seeing he had, said against his better judgment: “Too easy.”

Ke Divan’s eyes went wide. “What…? Who’s there?!”

Shit. Kaine leaped up to the roof of the opposite building and took off as Ke Divan cried “wait!” after him. What the hell was he thinking?! Don’t worry, he kept thinking to himself, the guy isn’t exactly going to go running to the cops about what happened. Besides, maybe it was totally possible for the Endai to have some sort of invisibility spell, and hobo Jesus will think it was one of his friends who saved him.

And maybe the Endai should have created buildings closer together. Kaine was so focused on mentally berating himself he ran out of roofs to run across. With no Spider Sense to warn him he had just leapt off his last roof before the palace (which was just far enough away for him to be unable to grab a hold of, even with his enhanced agility), he simply started plummeting to the ground, barely having enough time to spin a web to cushion his blow. His fast acting may have saved him from breaking anything, but it didn’t stop him from seeing stars.

“Fuck this place,” Kaine groaned, clutching his head with one hand as he checked for broken bones with the other. “I hate it already.”

A high-pitched gasp caused the clone to look up with a start. There, almost right in front of him, was a small Endai girl dressed in rags and looking like she was in strong need of a bath. And she was staring straight at him. He looked down at himself and saw the spider insignia on his chest. Shit. In his panic to make sure he didn’t puncture a lung or something, he had lost the concentration needed to keep him invisible.

“Hey, uh, I’m a figment of your imagination.”

The look on the girl’s face said it all. She wasn’t buying that.

“Uh… I’m a ghost?”

Not flying.

“Some sort of urban legend?”

Nope.

Well, at least she wasn’t screaming. It was only once the initial panic died down did he notice she had a sign next to her, and an overturned hat. He didn’t need to be able to read the sign to know what it said.

“How about this. I go grab you lunch—it is still lunch, right?—and you forget you ever saw me.”

The girl’s eyes lit up. Okay, now he was getting somewhere. One stolen lunch later, he was confident he had bought her silence (er… well, in the “don’t sign anything” sense, he supposed, as it seemed the girl was mute), and Kaine was swinging back to the rendezvous point to meet up with Barnes and Hawke. Hopefully they had also learned something useful.

Bucky opted for the most obvious option. As in, the most visible one. He made sure he let the people who met him know that he was hardly a dignitary - he wasn't used to luxury or ceremony - but he was going to comply with as much of their expectations as he could. If nothing else, they needed to know what lies a visiting important person would be told.

And, if nothing else, he had come to rely, somewhat, on the abilities he had acquired over the last year and a half. He would be able to charm people - thanks to Favrielle and Inara - and, also, slip their observation of him, when he needed - thanks to Rikki and Natasha. He wouldn't have considered himself the proper choice for this kind of role? But there wasn't another, and he did think it necessary.

Of course, he wasn't exactly what the Endai expected. He attended the events they organized for him (bless Steve for talking to him about all the books he'd read, because the story-telling sessions would have been very one-sided without all he'd remembered from his friend) asked them for time to sightsee around the city on his own. He was positive he had people tracking his movements - or somebody was extremely naive, but with executions happening in the streets, he doubted that explanation - but that didn't bother him. He took in the traces of unrest, but didn't push further than those assigned to attend to him were willing to give, in asking about that.

It was during the latest walk that he came across the girl. She gave him a curious look, but didn't say anything, other than reach out her hand, palm out and cupped, in a universal begging gesture. It twisted his heart, a little, thinking of Steve having been so close to doing that, once or twice.

He stopped, and sat with her. Yes, he gave her coin, but he also tried to find out where she was from, whether she had a place to sleep, anybody at all, caring for her. She didn't speak, but her gestures were clear enough, about her parents having been arrested and executed.

He stayed with her for a good while, and promised to return the next day, with fresh clothes and more food. And, in the middle of it all, he talked with her - told her that, between the two of them, he believed her parents were right. (He was taking a risk. But he couldn't just leave her fend for herself alone, in her mind.) He told her about things he'd 'heard' - about blood magic worked by people serving Malicant (not naming him, of course), about unrest, about the great turtles and the one that survived, and about Malicant trying to get him...

The dinner he was treated to that night was just as lavish as the meals before that, but he couldn't get the little beggar, orphaned girl out of his mind. This island... there was something wrong with it. And he needed to know what, and why.

Even though, considering the focus on the excesses of power application, he had a certain guess on the latter.

Once they had the lay of the land, so to speak, they needed to come together and discuss their options. This wasn't an easy situation, and the fact that they couldn't go to the apparent source of the difficulty - the President - additionally muddied the waters. They were resourceful enough, really, to at least give a fair chance of whatever plan they had.

They still needed to reach a conclusion first, however.

[Kaine arrives at the meeting spot first, surprised by this fact as he got sidetracked by a young beggar girl he accidentally showed his face (well, mask) to. But this fact is fine by him, because it gives him a chance to throw on his normal clothes on over the Scarlet Spider costume, so he can talk to them face to face whenever the other two arrive. Should they arrive while he's changing, it looks as though the clothes are floating in mid-air until his jacket is on and he decides its safe enough for the mask to come off.

He finds a spot against the wall, and once the other two return he asks:] Anyone else have as much fun as I did?

[ Bucky arrives at the meeting spot quietly, over the rooftops. He drops in, pulling his dark cloak around him (yes, he has to, even if he finds it ridiculous) but pushing the hood back. ]

That depends on how much fun you had.

And how much fun you find the whole thing with trying to get truth out of people who have no reasons to give you any.

[Hawke's arrival isn't nearly so flashy. He arrives quietly through the alleys with a small pack slung over his shoulders. When he sees them he smirks and takes a moment to shrug the pack off.]

Looks like I'm a little late.

[Without waiting for a response he opens the pack and retrieves an odd looking weapon. It looks similar to a flintlock pistol though the barrel seems to be carved from a light blue crystal with runes etched across its surface. At the back end is a hatch that currently hangs open.]

But I brought party favors to make up for it.

[Well that entrance certainly was something. For what felt like the hundredth time since Eva put this little band together, Kaine has the distinct feeling he should know who this guy is. Like he's seen his face before... but it's still not ringing any bells. Whatever, that isn't the big problem here.]

Why do you think I chose stealth? There was no way in hell I was dealing with that bullshit. At least my way I got us a name...

[Pauses to look up at what Hawke's pulling out of his bag.] ...though it appears Hawke had the most fun of us all.

Edited 2014-04-22 12:56 (UTC)

Well, somebody had to be the dancing monkey.

[ Bucky doesn't exactly grumble it as much as mutters. Because if the Endai have a target to watch, they'll be looking less for other points of penetration. ]

[ But his focus is on the weapon. ]

Projectiles, or energy blasts? [ Beat, and then he winces, slightly. ]

And is it new, or have the Endai had these for years?

Names?

[Now that's something to be interested in. Anything that helps them gather more information. Clearly the focus right now is the weapon in his hand though.]

Magic actually. And freshly made.

[He reaches into the bag and grabs a small cartridge, slapping it into the open hatch in the gun.]

Each cartridge holds its own individual-[Hawke pauses as he searches for the right word.]-spell I guess. Put it in the gun, pull the trigger, and things go boom.

[Well if there had to be a dancing monkey, Kaine is glad it was you.]

I came across a guy who was all but inspiring a riot when I was taking a look around. Judging by the fact the cops seemed to be arresting him for the hundredth time, I don't think it was a fluke. He went by the name of Ke Divan.

Technically he owes me a favor, but he doesn't know I... helped him with his cop troubles.

[Looks the gun over.] Two questions: Where'd you get it, and do we all get one?

Huh. I'll see what I can find about him from the head of the guard. She's a charmer.

[ And he says it non-ironically, too. ]

Again, new, or something that's been around for a while? Because the kedan back home've been developing new weapons, if these've cropped up recently... it might be connected.

[ Beat. ]

And who can make those cartridges? I mean, I'm not big on magic, but that does seem useful. I don't think the official guards use anything like that.

[ He's been keeping his eyes open, yes. ]

[Hawke listens carefully to his companions, remembering the names and the information they toss around. So he's not the only one that's been making friends. That's good.]

Sounds like this city is just full of charming people.

[He opens the hatch again and removes the cartridge from the gun. These aren't weapons Hawke has much experience with and he doesn't want to accidentally fire the thing. Both go back into his pack.]

They're recent contraptions. I ran into a very outspoken engineer named Jaitet, and who do you know, she's been having trouble with the police too. Now she's doing her rebelling in secret, making weapons of magic to use against creatures of Death.

[His eyes turn a little serious now.]

She makes both the guns and the cartridges and has plans for even more toys. This one she gave me as a show of trust. Asking for more seemed pushing it.

[Boo, he kind of wanted one. Oh well. Moving on to the more pressing matter...] So everything the crazy lady who broke into our places said was on the money.

[Closes his eyes to see if the island had any of the spider-like creatures on it, and as luck would have it, they did. He uses his connection with them to make sure there isn't anyone close enough to eavesdrop, and when he learns the coast was clear, adds:] The question now is: what are we going to do about it?

[ Annnd, here they are. Bucky lowers his voice, out of habit. ]

The President wouldn't see me to talk about... any of the situation. No audiences here, I guess.

But I think he's the one who's creating all the necessity for rebellion.

From what I've seen he's an idiot.

[Hawke sighs. Everyone in power always seems to be a moron. How to these people end up in charge in the first place?]

But a rebellion is going to get a lot of people killed. Most of them are just stupid, not evil.

An audience would imply he actually gives a fuck what these people want. And yes, he's definitely an idiot. He's so desperate to cling to the power he has, he doesn't realize that's exactly what's stirring the pot.

A rebellion would also take too long. I don't know about you, but I already miss my bed. [He looks at the other two.] Look, I don't think I have to spell it out for you two, but I'm going to do it anyway. I doubt crazy picked us for our sparkling disposition and sense of diplomacy. If we want something, we're going to have to get our hands dirty. The only question is how dirty are you willing to get and still be able to sleep at night?

[He's got family on Keeliai. That's the only reason he agreed to take this job in the first place. And as for how dirty he's willing to get... he's made deals with far worse people for worse reasons.]

[ Bucky's shaking his head. He's seen enough of the government to know better than oversimplifying the threat. ]

I don't think he's as harmless as an idiot. He's only drunk on power when one thing is concerned - when denying one thing is concerned, and making everybody else deny it.

He'd have no reason to do any such thing unless he's being affected, in some way. And there's nobody that seems to be the shadow behind the throne, nobody that'd have an interest if the President is stupid to grab for power. People want to believe him, or want to be realistic. Chaos, and dissension. I think that's a hand whose involvement seems rather familiar.

[ He looks down at his hands, for a moment. ]

As to that... I don't think there's much that I wouldn't agree to do, short of letting myself be led by that same hand, willingly.

You two are awfully chatty huh?

[Hawke looks between the two of them. They already made up their mind it seems. Unless he can think of something better he can't see himself winning an argument here. Unfortunately any other option would require more time than they have available.]

I'm here to save as many lives as possible. I'll do what it takes to do that.

[He crosses his arms.]

Tell me someone has been thinking of a plan then?

And I think you're giving the guy too much credit. What's to say the guy isn't just a coward? The longer he keeps everyone in the dark about what's really going on, the longer he feels he gets to keep his head. Not everything's a grand conspiracy.

[Shoots Hawke a look.] I'm sorry, was this supposed to be a secret ballot? I've never done this in a group before. [There's no bite to his words; he's only saying it to be a dick.

And technically there was that time he went after Belladonna with Wolverine, but that was totally different. More cut and dry... and he had had longer to plan.]

[ Bucky winces a little, at Hawke's words, even as he rolls his eyes a bit at Kaine. ]

I'm sorry, that wasn't supposed to be shutting you out. There are... rumors, mentions, about the time before now when the big bad was active. He seems to've possessed one of the foreigners, and they killed him. It didn't actually destroy the bad guy, but he did go quiet for a long, long time.

[ Okay, Bucky has some of his facts wrong - they had to trap Malicant in the guy's body, and tear it apart, and each of the parts was kept somewhere protected by spells... but that's what happens when he's working from hearsay. ]

If there's a chance the President here might be in the same predicament...

[ Then he looks at Kaine. ]

It's not about conspiracy. Sure, he may be a coward, but I don't see how hidin' what's happening will make his seat of power safer. It'll just make him deader, in the end.

Either way, though... we might be able to stop the chaos that's about to unfold here if we do nothing. And if we can manage to kick the big bad in the teeth while we're at it? So much the better.

[ Small nod at Hawke - whom he can't quite get used to seeing looking like this, but he'll manage. ]

That's... going off what I know. And what I see is brewing, here. War ain't good to nobody, and a civil war is likely to be even uglier.

[ Beat. ]

And I'd not quite thought about what we'll do, but I've got some ideas. Wish my best pal was here, he's the one who's good with plans, but we'll have to make do.

Edited (added a bit!) 2014-04-22 19:23 (UTC)

[Fortunately Hawke can handle people being dicks.]

Secret ballets, secret meetings, how about we make a secret club with code phrases and everything?

[He smirks and then pauses, letting Bucky finish at least.]

I've seen...well I won't say good people, but I've seen relatively normal people turn into lunatics from fear and paranoia. Right now we're sitting on a powder keg so let's not set it off by jumping on the crazy wagon.

[Hawke stops and mulls his words over again. He's not talking to his friends here. Right now both Kaine and Bucky are relative strangers to him. They won't know what he's thinking. Man he sucks at this diplomacy thing.]

What I'm trying to say is that assuming the worst and being wrong will come back to bite us. This president needs to go. I think we all agree on that. We also need the people here to listen to us more than him. So what if he just 'disappears'. We kick a little dirt on his name afterwards and call it a day. If he turns out to be nasty and evil then we take care of him and life goes on. If he's just scared out of his mind and in denial then we've already made sure no one believes a word out of his mouth.

[Even when he's trying to avoid outright assassination it all comes out with a sinister ring to it. It leaves a nasty taste in his mouth.]

[Kaine hadn't been sure what to think of his, for lack of a better word, co-conspirators, but that response brings out the barest hint of a smile.] Fine, but I draw the line at decoder rings.

[And then they get serious again and the smile fades.] What Hawke said. Some people think there's danger in every shadow. Others delude themselves into thinking the shadows don't exist at all. Either way, at the end of the day, they're still paranoid and an idiot.

[The more they dance around which one of them is going to say "we have to kill the president" out loud, the more Kaine feels that now familiar knot in his chest tighten. Though he knew from the beginning that woman sent them into a no-win situation, the fact that they're reaching the point of no return is hammering that fact home. He doesn't like any of their options, and he hates even more that he barely knows the people he's making this incredibly important decision with. Even if they did seem to be taking this as seriously as he is.]

So we're fucked if we do and we're fucked if we don't, basically. We make a wrong move, powder keg goes off. We do nothing, it'll take longer, but powder keg goes off. With or without us, this place is going to explode.

...The only idea I have is the one we're all thinking of but no one wants to say.

Edited 2014-04-22 20:14 (UTC)

Initial Recon

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Doing the Deed