OPEN LOG; The Masked Man

[pushtheboundaries]

CHARACTERS; Yokai and YOU!
DATE; Throughout the month of April. [Mostly at night.]
LOCATION; All about Keeliai!
SITUATION; A certain old man has terrible coping methods when it comes to dealing with racing thoughts and stress. A certain masked man finds himself exploring Keelai through yellowed eyes, and may or may not be running in to trouble in the meantime.
WARNINGS/RATINGS; Possible violence. Otherwise, nothing past PG-13.

---

See me, the red lines cry. See my role in this story, see that I have a wrong to right; see that I am power and that I will not be denied.

Callaghan hadn't chosen the mask without being ignorant of its meaning; he had, however, chosen it for a multitude of reasons. All symbolism aside, it offered full-face coverage, and hardly blocked his peripheral vision. Secured with the ski mask underneath, it would take (and had taken) a heavy strike to knock off, but since arriving here in Keeliai, he'd made a few further tweaks to ensure that if, for whatever reason, he had to don it again...

To be fair, he hadn't considered donning it for the freedom it offered. Dressing in the outfit again felt inherently good, as did running along the building edges with the microbots enhancing his movements. He did not know parkour, per se, but he didn't need to - not when the microbots were there by his feet to give him the push or pull he needed to cross an alley, not when they could toss him in to the air and his own strength could grab on to a protrusion to haul himself in to another position.

God, but this felt good. It felt right. And as long as he could keep himself out of view, the microbots next to him, and the terrain itself from betraying him...

He just had to be careful, was all. Without nearly as many microbots as he had before, he tried to keep to the shadows. And if that ended up with him overseeing a few gang members or so...?

On one hand, it wasn't any of his business.

On the other, there's something to be said about getting carried away.

((Over the course of the month, rumors will begin to spread regarding a mysterious figure, some mugging incidents [unclear as to what side they were partaking in], and some thefts as well. feel free to put a general time period/area in your first comment, or PM/plurk me and we can do something specific!))

Comments

Probably earlier in the month, before the rumors get really started

[needmetoo]

You'd think a (physically) fourteen year-old girl would be more uneasy about running around a city they only half-know at night. But then again most fourteen year-old girls - or most fourteen year-olds in general - aren't able to create their own magical getaway doorways, nor summon weapons out of nowhere in their hand.

Callaghan may have been trying to stay out of sight, but walking back streets was - after spending most of her life in an undercover organization - second nature, as was paying attention to her surroundings.

Not to mention that when she does spot him, his appearance... definitely catches her attention. The yellow eyes, cloaked in what looks - to her - like Darkness, including the microbots. They move a bit strangely compared to what she's used to, but it's hard to tell exactly what they are at a distance, especially by someone who doesn't know what they are.

A Heartless? But... she couldn't see an emblem anywhere, and she hadn't seen any in Keeliai yet. He could be a Pureblood - one she hasn't encountered before, but the fact that he'd be the first she'd seen...

Instead of moving straight to the offensive, she hung back, didn't even summon her Keyblade yet. It'd have been too much of an encumbrance at this point. Instead she tried to tail him, doing her best to keep from being noticed. She could keep an eye on him, see what he did - if he attacked anyone, like a Heartless would. More than anything though, she tried to see if she can get a closer glimpse of the mask - the most likely place for an emblem to be, if there was one.

Which unfortunately also might have made her more noticeable, if nothing else.

[pushtheboundaries]

Callaghan - Yokai - seems oblivious, at first. He dropped down to the ground in an alley, taking a moment to catch his breath as the microbots swarmed around him. After that moment, he began to walk, the metal responding to a few gestures of his hands. They followed so closely as to be upon him, directly, but with the shadows and folds of his coat- it was difficult to tell where the metal ended and the fabric began.

Then, abruptly, he halted. A slight tilt of the head, as if listening for something- and then he began to walk again.

And then he spun around, throwing his hands behind him as he thought he heard the footsteps again.

[needmetoo]

And he wasn't wrong. The footsteps turned into a startled yelp, accompanied by a flash of light bright enough to illuminate her briefly as Xion summoned her Keyblade at last. There wasn't enough warning to dodge properly, but she does dart to the side, while bringing her Keyblade up into the guard position.

Between the two, she's able to miss or disrupt the worst of the blow, though there's still enough of it to slam into her side and knock her off-balance, stumbling and trying to regain her footing. . She's able to catch a glimpse of the mask properly now though. No Heartless emblem, though it certainly didn't matter much now that whoever it was was on the offensive.

[michaeljangelo]

Callaghan isn't the only one running across rooftops and dodging down alleys in the night, and certainly not the only one donning a mask as he does so.

Though, truth be told Mike's serves more as a stand-in for the eyebrows he doesn't have than as any disguise. No for that he'd rely solely on the shadows and his skills as a ninja to conceal himself within them.

Some nights this works better than others. Like tonight, when he's worried less about, and more about getting from A to B as quickly as possible. Free-running as meditation, not as exercise. Getting from A to B in as smooth a series of motions as possible, regardless of what obstacles may happen to be in his way...

[pushtheboundaries]

It's in one of those alleys that Yokai finds something catching his attention; crouched in a shadowed nook, he watches a group of kedan discuss what sounds like 'protection' and 'insurance'. Normally such a thing wouldn't be too important, if not for a couple of facts-

One, they're clearly one of the unaffiliated gangs.

Two, there's some of the aforementioned 'insurance' in crates only so far away from them, but there's only one four-armed member keeping watch. One set is folded across their chest, the other resting behind their head as they lean against the wall, only paying so much attention to the conversation at hand.

All heads, however, turn towards the sound of motion only so far away- a body quickly moving through the area, and they go quiet as they try to decide whether or not it's something they need to worry about.

And it's at that point that Yokai risks dropping down, landing in a crouch again, the microbots remaining above before slowly trickling down after him.

tnk.tnk.tnk.

[michaeljangelo]

It's the sound of the Kedan talking that prompts Mike to come to a sliding stop at the edge of one roof. The sword is still missing, and because of that he's still itching for as much intel as he can get his three-fingered hands on.

Mike crouches low, still like a gargoyle, neck craning...all in an effort to hear what they're saying.

If only that slow trickle of water would still.
...
Wait...that's not water it sounds almost like...metal?

Early in the month

[irishthor]

It felt good to be able to free run.

He selected the rooftops in the Metal sector, jumping and climbing around the futuristic-style buildings. It's a far cry from New York or Albany, even Paris, but it gave him a good chance to explore and get some perspective.

It's dusk, the best time for him to be running, the dark cloth of his outfit blending in well with the fading light. He's selected the tallest building and is sprinting along the adjacent rooftops, before swinging and starting to climb the tower.

He finds it better to be as high as possible.

[pushtheboundaries]

When he finishes climbing, he'll find that he's not alone- but on the bright side, the company doesn't seem to have noticed him yet.

Yokai is taking advantage of the height mostly for the view it offers, crouched at the far edge with the microbots securing him to the roof and negating a risk of fall. Or...at least significantly limiting it. As long as no sudden movements are made, they're more than capable of supporting him- that said, he hardly expects anything to startle him in to a dangerous fall.

On the bright side, if that sort of thing does happen again, there's no team of students to distract and/or outmaneuver him.

...at least, he doesn't think so. Callaghan grimaces behind the mask, briefly reaching under it to rub at his face. That's all he needs, another threat to what he's done here...

[irishthor]

Shay pauses before he reaches the top, keeping to the shadows as he sees and senses the figure. Looking around, he notices a rooftop nearby that's taller than the others. Shifting around, he kicks off the wall he's clung to, landing with a roll on the flat top of the other roof.

And he makes sure to do it within sight of Yokai.

i accidentally a tl;dr

[bigdamnhiro]

[Hiro hasn't a clue how the one microbot he has left is becoming more broken as time passes in Keeliai, but it is, aggressively tnk-tnking against the edges of the petri dish at all hours, especially night time; maybe it has something to do with the magnetic resonance of the turtle after dark (is that a thing?) or maybe it's just that the invention is a woeful failure. He's taken to keeping it in the workspace in the garage, actually, since he's working in there anyway, because it's a pain to try and sleep with the stupid thing going all night like a mouse in the cupboard.

At least he's getting regular sleep, now. Tadashi would never let him go on like he did his first week or so on his own. Being restricted to something like a responsible routine is annoying, on the one hand, but on the other - Hiro's just glad he has his brother.

He's packing up for the night, now, already up later than he should be, getting tools out of the way of passersby and that dumb Bentley when the microbot - sitting on a workbench - rattles so violently it falls off into the floor.

Hiro rolls his eyes and stuffs it into his pocket, then sidles out the open garage door to pick up a toolbox he left outside. Which is when he hears the faint hiss and rattle of something and notes a shadow vanishing around a corner at the end of the block. He feels a corresponding jump in his pocket, and maybe he imagined it, but maybe it felt like that general direction.

Hiro pulls the microbot out again. Steady as a compass point, it rattles against the walls of its plastic prison in the direction of the vanishing shadow.

What?

Nah.

It's probably nothing, a coincidence, a figment of his imagination. Not anything he should be worried about. He's supposed to be in bed, not out in the streets in the dead of night, and yet. Curiosity.

He glances back toward the garage. He shouldn't.

Curiosity gets the better of him.

He'll just be gone a second. Just to take a look.

One last glance back, and then he follows the microbot, setting off down the street at a jog; microbot in one hand, armed with a monkey wrench in the other, and carrying a tool belt full of miscellaneous items that'd probably be useless in a fight unless he throws a handful of lugnuts really hard. But that probably isn't gonna happen. Probably.

He rounds the street corner and...nothing. Probably just his imagination. He thinks that, until he passes a narrow alley between two buildings and hears something - sees something - swarming distantly at the other end. Not like shadows, but like insects. An almost-familiar movement pattern, like something similar he'd memorized from a few weeks of practice -

He sucks in a breath and backs up around the corner, out of sight, clutching the petri dish to his chest with both hands to muffle the sound of the moving microbot inside.

No, not possible.

But then Tadashi wasn't possible either -]

DELICIOUS

[pushtheboundaries]

[if Yokai's realized that he's being followed, he's shown no sign. instead, he's focused on keeping in the shadows, following the by-now memorized path through the streets. when he arrives at his destination- on the outside of a storage facility- he's then focused on guiding the microbots through the cracks between door and wall. pressure, applied correctly, forced through and through and through and

krk

a clench of upraised hands and the door's pushed open just enough for him to slip inside. it's closed a few moments later, and while it's hardly locked, it at least looks secure enough.

it'll give him the privacy he needs to sort through the goods in peace, and salvage anything useful]

[bigdamnhiro]

[Hiro's eyes gradually adjust to the low light, and when he peers around the corner again, what was indistinct shadows and movement before becomes a human-shaped figure with its back turned to him, surrounded by seething microbots. His microbots. The ones that were scorched to nothing in the fire. The ones that shouldn't even be here, separated by a wall of time and dimension from Keeliai.

And yet, here they are. Wielded by who (or what) he doesn't know, nor how they got here. His first guess would be that someone from home brought them, but nobody he knows is here makes sense.

Nothing makes sense and he can't assume anything with certainty anymore in this place.

Once the door is shut, Hiro edges out of his hiding place - and against his better judgment, sneaks down the alley and approaches the storage facility. He doesn't dare try opening the door himself. Too much noise and he doesn't know who or what he'll find on the other side.

There are windows, though, and a stack of wooden crates piled up by one he can use to get a better view. Biting his lip and stepping carefully, he climbs the stack, wincing and going dead still when one creaks underneath him - and then moving again when nothing happens.

He wipes a grimy window pane clean with his sleeve and peers inside, trying to see where his cloaked microbot wielder's gone.]

first week-ish of the month, after the rumours get going?

[windbreak]

A flicker of movement high above the pavement and a glimpse of red don't make for a breathtaking picture in the clouded-over night, but it's amazing what a few snatches of hearsay can fill in for the eyes of a teenage boy. If the mutterings elsewhere in a market square this morning about a break-in somewhere-or-other had retreated from the forefront of Yosuke's mind by now, they've elbowed their way back in the half second it takes him to wrench his scratched headphones down and look up. A... cat burglar? An honest to god cat burglar, in a place like this? Seriously?

Probably not seriously, his battered common sense hastens to remind him. No, suspension of disbelief is one thing, complete and utter lack of practicality is another. Those streaks of red don't belong on the face of anyone who legitimately doesn't want to get noticed. And then there's the way they were moving, more in a wave than in strides. Somebody's trying to show off... ugh, but that's even less plausible at this time of night, when basically the only light to see by is -

- the eyes. Gleaming eyes, a mask, a pitch-black body that flows.

"Hey...!"

Yosuke's common sense isn't fast enough to cut that unfounded connection as soon as he draws it. His curiosity is. Heedless for now of the rest of the street, he bursts into a sprint along the foot of the wall before the dark shape can vanish from his sight entirely. A voice in the back of his head, almost unheard over the pounding of his unsubtle feet, murmurs as he runs: well, why can't this time be it?

sounds good!

[pushtheboundaries]

He's heard some of the rumors himself, and can't help but roll his eyes at them; all told, though, he can't say he's displeased. Better they not know what he's up to than being insisting on one thing or another, and if he has to 'help' that confusion by going against the grain...well, fine. He can do a bit of that.

Yokai's allowing himself to be seen. Just...slightly. In sectors other than Metal, just to keep the information flowing, just to keep it all going to...

Plan? No, there isn't a plan. Not yet. Not this early. But there is an understanding that unless he plans to give up immediately, he needs to adapt, and right now he needs to adapt to what looks like a young man running down below?

Human, if he has to guess. Or- kedan masquerading as one. Either way, he only looks down for a few moments before making a sharp turn, outright leaping across they alley, the microbots securing him on the opposite side before he risks a fall.

[windbreak]

If the figure had slipped just then, it would have landed exactly where Yosuke skids to a halt. Only when it touches down does he realise he'd been holding his breath for a second. Why didn't it fall, though? Apart from a Shadow, or maybe a shapeshifter even more eccentric than the ones he's already met, what kind of creature could flow from wall to wall like that? "Uh, I meant - excuse me...?"

...Dammit, what's he thinking? This is no time to be worrying about how appropriate his language is! This is the time to dart around the next street corner that comes into view and keep going, on the minuscule chance that the masked silhouette isn't already out of sight, that it'll lead him to proof of something other than his being left behind.

Mid-month or so, after the rumours have become commonplace.

[skeletonenigma]

Asking Skulduggery not to notice whispered rumours of a masked man roaming Keeliai at night was like asking the sky not to be blue.

Kedan, some of those whispers said. It shapeshifts. It has to be.

Skulduggery wasn't so sure. Kedan didn't wear masks. They were shapeshifters; they didn't need to. Any kedan belonging to the three major families certainly wouldn't be going around hiding their identity, and if it was anyone else... well, they weren't really getting much done. A thief in some stories, a vigilante in others? A man made out of metal, if you believed everything you heard?

It was a dark, cold night about halfway through the month when Skulduggery began walking around the Metal Sector after dark. He didn't expect to find anything the first time he tried, or the second, or even the third - but detective work was frequently about being very patient and extraordinarily lucky. He would spend his nights walking around the Metal Sector after dark until he found something.

Or, hopefully, someone.

[pushtheboundaries]

The rumors are doubleedged; on one hand, he's starting to get a few people taking the sound of metal as reason to move away from an area. On the other, some move towards, and when he's trying to be stealthy...that's not necessarily the best thing.

So he's taken to actually wearing the things, carrying their weight as best he can. And with the exertion of the past weeks, he only notices them so much- oh, if he needs to move quickly they move with him and more often than not for him, but when he's moving through shadow, slipping in to a building he's been scoping out for some time-

-he needs to be careful. He knows this. But the andrenaline high is practically a drug, by now, and so he takes the risk because this one, here-

-this one has supplies.

Yokai takes a look around at the shadowed supply area, noting that his overheard information seems to be correct; the patrol is focused elsewhere for the moment. He only has so much time to slip in and out, so he immediately moves for the crates on the right, microbots draped over him like a mantle and cape.

[skeletonenigma]

If there's one thing Skulduggery's learned in centuries of detective work, it's to avoid where the patrols go. Manhunts are loud and noticeable; no one goes near them if they can help it, much less the criminal in question.

Which is why, on his fifth night of walking around the Metal Sector, Skulduggery decides to try a warehouse nice and far out of the patrol's path.

Not quite a warehouse, to be fair; it's not big enough. More of a small storage facility, probably only belonging to one local business. Skulduggery tries the doors at ground level and discovers they're locked, though the sound of them rattling in their frames echoes through the darkness. Inconvenient, but not surprising. He pulls the air in around him and flies up onto the roof of the warehouse, searching for another way in.

Where are you on the evening of April 10?

[theideaguy]

The rumours hadn't started flowing yet in earnest, but there has been a fair bit of discussion about someone lurking around in the middle of the night. Sokka had originally ignored the first of these because, let's face it, the tensions between the kedan and the foreigners have always seemed to be at a boiling point. Though when one person had mentioned that there was this flowing sort of black water that this guy could control, ironically that was the point at which Sokka started paying attention.

And so, perhaps purposefully one night, he actually stayed at work late. After returning with his daily reports to Stark Industries, he remained working in the lab, doing a little bit of personal research late into the evening before deciding to go home, oh, something like 10 o'candle o'clock in the evening. He didn't know if he'd run across the guy in question, but he would certainly be on the outlook.

Space Sword was a little difficult to justify at Stark Industries, but Boomerang never left his side (and was easier to hide), and so he would be armed, so to speak, on his nightly foray back to the Midnight Hotel. And instead of taking the quick way back, he would go lurking through the city as if it were enemy territory. Probably a little more dangerous than he'd like to risk, given the state of the kedan, but it wasn't like Sokka wasn't willing to volunteer for dangerous tasks. He had a knack for finding his way out of them.

OUT CAUSING TROUBLE well stopping it here

[pushtheboundaries]

This night, Yokai's in a mood.

His past couple of forays have been frustrating at best, and the attempt tonight has led him in to trouble with a local gang- ones who aren't taking his attempts at intimidation in the way he'd like. As such, when the four sweep around him, drawing upon aggressive forms of their own...

There's something to be said about taking out trash.

The muffled shouts and grunts will probably attract Sokka's attention first; by the time he gets there, three of the kedan will be on the ground, only the biggest one still standing. And currently fighting against that 'black water', which alternates between trying to wrap around and restrain him- and flowing with him as he tries to shift his way out of it.

Everything moving. Everything shifting. Yokai's hands themselves are practically molding invisible clay, his attention fully on keeping the microbots one step ahead of the proving-tricky threat.

Goddammit, Leeroy.

[theideaguy]

Muffled shouts could be the result of just about any sort of trouble. It's impossible to say for sure if it's the result of the man in a kabuki mask or not, but no matter the source, it's definitely trouble. And that's trouble with a capital T and that rhymes with B and that stands for Boomerang!

Sokka starts running in the direction where the sounds are coming from. He's not sure yet who's getting the best of whom or even if there's a foreigner in the mix, but he's going to be off just in case he's been given a lucky break. Thankfully, it's not far, and a few around a corner and then into an alleyway.

And that's when he sees the aftermath of three kedan collapsed on the street. Alive? Maybe? And then there's a fourth that looks like he's sinking in a black substance that's splashing around like a violent sea.

Hot diggity, Sokka's found himself his mark.

Yokai might be taking out the trash, but Sokka's going to one-up that. He's going to do some recycling. You know, because it's going to involve his Boomerang spinning through the air. Cycling around. In a circle. Cycling. It's funny. Geez.

Sokka's going to start running after him. "Hey!" he calls out to the man just... standing there, watching it all. He... wasn't sure what he was doing there, but he certainly was looking on. "What in the world do you think you're doing?!"

Perhaps a bad call to announce his presence first without attacking, but you know... it's sportsmanlike.

Mid-April-ish

[kreitech]

He's gotten complacent.

It's night and Krei is out in the streets of Keeliai, heading over to the market to see about finding a specific part for something he's working on with Akito. It's a very specific part, and there's not much chance he's going to find exactly what he wants, but there's a good chance he'll be able to find something close enough that he can jury-rig it to work. That's kind of how his entire life feels lately--jury-rigged. Making himself fit in where he doesn't. Finding a way to do without all the little conveniences and comforts he's so used to. Making do without his assistant, although he finds himself forgetting things often enough that he's still not sure about this one.

But he's gotten complacent over the last couple of weeks. Ever since he ditched his tailored suit, shortly after his arrival, the muggings have stopped. He still gets looks now and then, he's noticed, but some of the kedan seem to have a problem with all Foreigners in general. If he leaves them alone they seem to leave him alone, and Krei is just fine with that.

And if there's a certain masked man roaming around tonight, he doesn't notice. He's focused on finding his way around the city--although he's getting better at this--and avoiding the very large spiked kedan passing by him. Ouch. He's also pretty sure he just got propositioned by someone on a street corner. Maybe.

...come to think of it, Keeliai can be a lot like San Fransokyo at times.

[pushtheboundaries]

Callaghan could hardly comment on its similarities. He didn't often view San Fransokyo from higher ground, but he's becoming familiar enough with Keeliai by now. There's a few paths he prefers, whether they be on foot or from above- a few that he prefers because they're well-traveled, a few that he prefers because they're less so.

It's one of those that he starts noticing a few kedan moving in what almost looks like a pattern- like they're steering someone. As a spiked one moves around and catches the eye of another, the second nods slightly and moves, and Yokai can't help but glance to see whom they're trying to herd in to an alley-

You've got to be kidding.

April 15 go. Not a soul gem mugging, just regular type.

[makesright]

Backed up against an alley wall, being mugged. This was not how Thomas had been expecting his day to go. Yet given everything else, this was probably the most normal thing to happen all day.

Thomas had been drawn to the Metal Sector from the moment he'd heard of it in passing. While not quite the technological haven he'd hoped for, it was certainly a step up from the rest of the scenery he'd encountered.

He explored late into the day, wandering the streets in the sunlight, but as the sun dipped closer to the horizon Thomas' mind finally wandered to what accommodations he'd be making for the night. The Midnight Hotel, he'd heard someone say? He could barely complete the thought when the group of thugs attacked him, and here he was now.

"I have credit cards," he offered, opening his wallet, sifting through the contents. "And cash, but -- I'm not sure it's what you use here." He glanced between his attackers, nervously eyeing their knives. Cash, cards, receipts, pictures of his children -- "This is all I have."

somewhere in keeliai; sakura blossoms exist

[pushtheboundaries]

It's intended to be a short night. He hasn't the will to do much more, not after the talk with Tony. He's probably tempting fate as is, going out when the youth so clearly has his eye on him, but- if there's ever a night he needs to clear his head, this is it.

He just won't cause trouble.

Won't make a mess.

Won't...

"This is all I have."

...god damn it, that's trouble right there, isn't it. And, from his vantage point, what looks like a man being cornered and- mugged.



He's pretty sure that if he is being watched, Tony won't mind him acting here. In fact, this may actually be an opportunity to prove that he is still very much a 'good guy'.

The microbots assist in his moving in to position, just as one of the kedan move closer- there's abruptly the sound of rustling metal above Thomas, like the sound of a hundred metal rattlesnakes hissing a warning, and to those looking up?

There's a looming shadow, whose vicious gaze is only for the kedan. And though he says not a word, every part of him screams threat- a promise which at least one of the thugs pick up on, taking a few steps back, stammering something about oh, man, it's this guy-

(Meanwhile, Yokai notes that the rumors do, in fact, sometimes work in his favor. That's a nice sign.)