Palace of Greed, El Dorado (Library of Ruina)

[] Mission Improbable. This is going to be tricky – instead of going through the front-door, you and Kai will instead go through the backdoor. Wu will have to move in alone, playing distraction. Or maybe one of you can stay with him, while the other sneaks in? [Negotiation Check to delay time, and Stealth Check to sneak in quietly. Easy/Medium/Hard Difficulty. Degree of Success reflect the result. Do not fail the Medium Difficulty.]

-[] Kai Sneaks (1d10+1). Lily and Wu Negotiates (+2, +1)


You eventually slow down to a stop, frowning – and then grimacing – in thought. It's annoying, and fucked up that you have to do this… thinking, and planning, and all this shit. It ain't for you. Why can't these things just be straightforward? Shut your brain off, and let your body do the talking. Still. Someone has to do it, right? Growling under your breath, you turn around.

Wu stops in front of you, and Kai moves to both of your side, forming a closed triangle.

"We'll sneak in," you say, after a moment. "Me, and Kai," you nod to her. "We get in, take your daughter, and get out. You'll stay behind, outside."

"What?" Wu asks, blinking. You open your mouth – but he cuts you off, a hiss in his voice. "Are you insane? No. No. No," he glares, jaws clenched tight. His voice is firm. Too firm. "This is my daughter's life you're playing with – you are not going to do that. I will not allow it. No," he continues, taking a deep breath. In, out. "We will instead walk in, and talk. Negotiate," he stresses the word. "It'll be a simple trade. I give them what they want," he lifts the briefcase. "And they return what I want."

You stare. You almost – sharp sour bile inside your throat – laugh from sheer disbelief. "What are you, fucking stupid?" you spit, sharp. "Do you think it'd actually be that simple?" Wu stares at you, square in the eyes. Those fucking eyes. "They're double-fucking-crossing bastard, Wu – these people, especially these people, get their jollies off from shit like this. You think they gonna play shit – any shit straight? No. They won't. You should know –" you cut yourself off, shaking your head. Not should. Your glare doubles. "You know this. You even fuckin' asked if they've already killed your daughter!"

"What choice do I have then?!" you almost take step back from surprise. That's the first time he raises his voice. "Yes, I know, but what choice am I left with then?" he presses a palm over his chest, breathing. Gasping. "Tell me, Fixer. Tell me. I hired you for a reason, didn't I?"

[Empathy Check: Medium. Pass.]

You hear – recognize the despair in his voice. Hoarse, and shrill. How long has he been holding it in? Too long. Ever since he realized her daughter has gone missing, ever since the ransom note arrive on his doorstep. Each passing second, minute, and hour, edging closer and closer ever so closer towards the narrow tip of the precipice. Agonizing, and dreading, and fearing. Your words just pushed him over.

You grimace.

Kai steps in. "We can do both."

Wu jumps, looking like he just remembered he didn't hire just you. He frowns. "… What do you mean?

Kai glances to you, before nodding. "Two-pronged approach," she starts explaining. "Someone sneaks in to free your daughter. Meanwhile, others take the front – play distraction."

You purse your lips, before shrugging. "Sure," you mutter. Not like you got anything better.

"It'll still be risky," he whispers, licking his lips. "If we get caught…" he trails off.

We, you catch. He's already in on the plan. "That's why we need the distraction," you keep your eye on him. "Lower their suspicion. Me and Kai will sneak in –"

"Only one of us will sneak in. I will do it," Kai cuts you off. You blink in surprise. "Lily, you stay with Mister Wu. Guard him. This is still our job."

You open your mouth – her face is blank as ever, and at a glance, her eyes are as cold as they are empty. But there's something there. Something hard. Firm. Suddenly, you're back to that late afternoon of your first ever mission. My turn, was that what she said? And you were too… what? Too scared? Too something to stop her.

Atop a rooftop, a Fixer in garish red-and-purple uniform sat before a Fixer in white-and-blue uniform. In her eyes, the Fixer in red-and-purple saw something. It looked familiar, and the answer refuses to even touch the tip of her tongue. It was something soft, though, so she thought it can't possibly be a bad thing.

Now that Fixer in red-and-purple stands here, assaulted by the sensation that this has happened before.

You clam shut. Inhale through the nose. "Okay," you swallow, grimacing. "Fine."

Kai nods, and a word hangs between her lips.

Thanks.

Shoving your hands deep into your pockets, you turn to Wu. "So?"

Wu clenches his jaws, furrowing his eyebrows – for a moment, he looks like he's going to back down, unconvinced. There'd be nothing you could do if that's the case. He ain't wrong in the end: this is his daughter. You'd have to follow his plans. "I –" a word, and just like that, he deflates. "There's no other option, is there? They have the leverage, and – perhaps if I am the man I was, I could have –"whatever words continuing that sentence is cut off immediately. He shakes his head. "Then again, I wouldn't be here at all if I was," he mutters, before taking a deep breath. "Fine then, Fixers, we'll do this your way."




You arrive to your destination. It's a church, you realize, after seconds trying to make heads, and tails of what you're looking at. Old rotten, blackening wood, and chipped concrete, straining under its own weight it's a miracle that it's still standing. This was a church. Any hint of whatever was worshipped here has been scrubbed clean. Symbols defaced, replaced by the Raizers' gang sign: a bow-wrapped serrated knife. Logos vandalized, and inscriptions sprayed over.

They're the new god around town.

You snort at the thought.

"Made by the community, for the community," Wu mutters. You glance to him. He sighs "And abandoned by the community."

"Nothing new, in other words," you shrug. There are hundreds, maybe thousands – who the fuck knows — of religions in the City, and there are hundreds, and thousands more of dead forgotten gods to meet that number. Your mind casts back to Nico. There are also thousands, and millions more to eat up all that bullcrap. It's bullshit that keeps on bullshitting. A neverending shit-tract, cycling and looping. "Fucking shit," you grunt. You turn to meet Kai's eyes. No words here. They're not Kai's thing. Words, that is. They ain't yours either, but Kai takes it to the next level. "Let's go."

She nods and walks away.

Wu takes a deep breath and follow you inside.

The doors screech as you push them open, and you're greeted with an explosion of dusts. Old musty wood assaulting your nose. Broken pews line the church. Few are intact, most aren't. Cut, slammed, slashed, and smashed apart. From the muddy stained window-glasses, light filters in, casting a colorful spotlight on the floating dust particle. Graffities cover the far-side walls, muddled by stains, and splatters of dried blood – cleaning experience tells you that the only way to 'clean' that is to burn it all down. On the floor: more blood splatters. Some old, some new. Scattering of needles, and broken shards of wood, and glasses. You glance up, onto the thick beams holding everything up.

Wu stumbles. "M-Mia," he croaks out.

Your eyes eventually, inevitably, fall to the podium. There she is, Mia – you never asked her name, did you – the Daughter. Wu's Daughter, the one you're all here for. The light casts a spotlight on her. She sits on a chair fancier than the ones in this room, so big it makes the sitter look like a child, all strapped, and bound. Mouth gagged, and eyes blindfolded. She's still in her school uniform – white shirt, and blue skirt. Tattered, splattered with blood, and dirt. Bruises, and cuts run along her skin. Her head lolls. Unconscious.

Wu's face contorts. All those pent-up shit laid to bare – but they're gone almost immediately, back to that firm, flinty look. He takes a step forward.

[Instinct Check: Medium. Pass.]

You bar his path with an arm. He glares, a curse in his lips. "Don't be fucking stupid," you mutter, stepping towards the daughter. Your hand rests atop your crowbar. Wu keeps close behind you, your body as a cover. One step. Two. Three. "It's obviously a fucking trap."

Four.

As if on cue, something cuts through the air. A blade, your body identifies immediately – and then there's a thud. You look down. Inches away from your toes, a knife sinks hilt-deep into the wooden floorboard.

"That's close enough~!"

Shadows – four of them drop down from the ceiling. Two of them land in front of you, off the podium, while the two others stand on the back, lounging over the unconscious daughter. All smirks, and grins, their shoulders relaxed, but ready to snap at any time. Black leather jackets lined with neon purple highlights, and cut-up jeans. Chains, and spikes, and spikey chains tied all around them.

Excluding you, there are five people in this room.

Where's the fifth?

You glance up through the wooden beams. From down here, it feels as though they could go on without ever touching the actual ceiling.

"Eyes down here, sister," one of them – one of the two in front of you – calls out. Black hair, bangs hiding her eyes. Her skin a corpse pale, as though she never sees the sun. She smirks, knives splayed between her fingers, fanning it over her face. "Nothing to look there. Nothing at all," she giggles. "Only nothing, and nothing – what's important right now is down here."

"There is reason why people never look up," the man besides her echoes, voice steady. Blonde hair, tied into a ponytail. Clear blue eyes staring in disinterest. He looks out of place, and so does the sword on his hip. It's a katana, purple floral patterns carved over the hard scabbard. "You look up, and you will only find nothing. An uncaring, unsmiling nothing that does not care. Better just look down, sister," he nods.

These two, you note, are the ones you gotta watch for. The leu-lieu-lue – the right, and left hand man. There's still the unknown fifth person.

[Negotiation Check: Easy/Medium/Hard.

Lily: 4+1: 5.

Wu: 10 + 2: 12.

Pass.]

Still. You've had enough of this bullshit with Nico to last you for a lifetime, and more. "Fucking shut up, you fuck cock-sucking fuck-ups," you growl, spitting. "We're here for the girl. And don't call me sister, fuckers."

"Ah. Tut-tut," the woman shakes her head, pressing her fan of knives to her lips. She smiles. "You might be here for her, but we're not here for you, sister," she tilts her head, over your shoulders.

Your eye twitches.

"Then let's get this over with," the snap in Wu's voice makes you twitch. He steps past you, and you're about to stop him, only for his eyes to meet you. It's his daughter. Gritting your teeth, you relent. "You want money? Here's the money," he lifts his briefcase. "Four million Ahn."

"Hmhm," the woman hums, closing her eyes. "Did we say four million? I thought we said five –"

Whatever she's about to say is cut off as Wu clicks the briefcase open. Money. Cold hard cash. All stacked so neatly. There's a pause, and the man reaches out – only for Wu to turn the briefcase money. Silence descends, and you stare at the money spills down. Each rubber-banded stack thud-thudding against the wooden floor. Five hundred. One million. Two million. Three million. Four million. You have about one million to your name, and it's threatening to burst your wallet open – you'd need to convert it into digital credits, and – the point is, that's a lot of moolahs, forming a mountain of greens.

You stare. Everybody stares.

"Four million," Wu says, breaking the silence. The two snaps their attention back to him. He reaches down into his pocket, pulling out a wallet. He throws it down to the pile. "Six million. More?" he echoes in the silence, and he takes off his watch. "Six-point-five," he pulls out the ring from his finger. "Seven. I have more. Now. Give me back my fucking daughter."

"… Oh my," the woman starts, hand over her lips. She titters. "Our man got an attitude. This is pretty hardcore, brother."

"… Hardcore, brother," the man nods, almost begrudging. "Hard. Core."

You blink. Stare. What in the fuck?

"I don't give a damn," Wu grunts out, breathing out – and you note, visible only from the back, how his shoulders shake. "About your shitty nihilistic non-materialism belief. You haven't answered my demand," he takes another breath, eyes closed. "What do you want?"

"Ooh, you might not subscribe it, but you're already in, brother," the woman nods, almost excitedly. "You get it. Caring, but not caring. There's an uncaringness that is quite hardcore."

"Hardcore," the two men behind echo.

The man frowns, before thumping at his chest. "Respect."

Fuck just happened.

"Now…" the woman taps the flat of her blade to her nose. "We were at first planning to just kill all of you – we would've taken the money, free the girl, but then…" she slides the knife across her neck. She grins, wide with familiar bloodthirst.

"Fucking called it."

"But," Wu ignores you.

"But we changed our mind," she giggles, nodding. "You're a brother, brother. So, we gonna let your girl go."

His shoulders sag. "But?"

"But," her eyes shift to you. "She gotta go."

They all turn to you. You meet Wu's eyes. Firm, and flat. He'd do it, you think – it's not much of a revelation as much as it is the simple fucking fact; the right, and natural conclusion of this shit. If there wasn't a plan before all this, if you had followed his own: walk in, and negotiate, he would've agreed stat. Don't matter if they're lying. So long as there's a chance for it, he'd fucking stab you in the back at a heartbeat. Eyes never leaving you, he leans down, picking up the knife stuck onto the floor. The woman lets out a hum, and the man grunts appreciatively.

Hardcore, you can already hear them about to say.

You take a few steps back. "Fuck right off," you sneer, pulling your crowbar off your belt. "I ain't dying here – y'all are," you snarl.

"It's the only way," Wu grunts, finally plucking the knife off the floor. He meets your eyes again. A blink. Two blinks. "Please."

"Fuck you, asshole."

The woman flits backwards, one, and two steps, giggling.

"Let us dance, sister," the man says, lowering down into a stance: feet wide apart, hands on his sheathed sword. "To the death. It will be hardcore."

[Stealth Roll: Easy/Medium/Hard. Easy Autopass from Distraction.

Kai: 9+1: 10.

Pass.]

A familiar flash of white. Your eyes flicker to the back, and it's difficult to hold your grin away. Kai stands there, calm. Cold. Her eyes meet you, then she nods. On her right cheek, you catch a trail of dried blood. The Raizer on the left gurgles as her blade slips through his neck, his body turning ice, and the Raizer on the right barely reacts before receiving the same treatment. Almost in unison, they topple down, and shatter into shrapnel of frozen flesh. Just like that, they are dead, and you have the daughter safe. Kai spends no time in cutting the daughter loose, hauling her before she falls to the ground.

The two all look back and let out a curse. "Not hardcore, sister," the woman shakes her head. "Doing back-stabby shit like this? Not hardcore at all."

"Softcore," the guy grunts, frowning.

"Don't make me fucking laugh, you bitch," you snarl, grinning. Wu silently slinks behind you, passing you with a nod. The knife drops to the floor with a thud. "Damn shit-scum – you were plannin' the same shit."

She sighs. "Not the same. Not the same at all, sisters. Tim, brother, you handle our hostage," she tilts her head to the back. "We'll deal with this one."

We – "Fucking knew there's a fifth person," you smirk, and your instinct screams at you. You look up. A shadow perches atop the beam, barely visible in the dark. The shape drops down, a blade cutting through the air, and you swing your crowbar. Metal against metal. The weight behind the strike sends your arm trembling, but you stand your ground. The shadow deflects away, skidding to the ground, low on their feet. His feet. He's small, you notice, barely reaching your shoulders, maybe just about your chest-line. Dark eyes, and black hair. His jacket, same as the others, looks too big for him, the collar practically hiding his lower face. You immediately know who he is. "You're the leader, ain't ya?"

He doesn't say anything, instead replying by baring out his twin daggers.

Two-on-one. Barely a fair fight.

You grin. Finally something fucking straightforward for once.

You strike your crowbar onto the floor, breaking, and sending up a cloud wood-shards.

"Come on! Step up, and die!"

Article:

Kayu, Leader of the Raizer Jugglerz. 25/25 HP. 20/20 SP. Attacks Cause Bleed. Attacks Twice. General Tactics: Sneaky Stabby Stab. Cover for Sis – Rayu. +2 Armor. +1 Damage.

Rayu, Right-Hand Woman of the Raizer Jugglerz. 20/20 HP. 25/25 SP. Ranged Attacks. Deal +1 Damage on Bleeding Enemy. General Tactics: Throw Knives in Tandem with Bro – Leader. +2 Armor. +1 Damage. Winning Two Times against her Clash is required to get to her face.

Approach:

[] Focus on the Leader. He's the more dangerous one out of the two. You can feel it. Take him out of the equation, and you can deal with the woman easy. Easier said than done, of course. You'd have to deal with the woman throwing knives at ya.

-[] Melee or Repression

[] Focus on the Woman. She got the range advantage, but once you take that advantage out of the equation, she's gonna be fucking easy to deal with. Of course, you'd still have the leader trying to stab your fucking back if you don't pay attention during the whole process.

-[] Melee or Repression

Spoiler: Ranged and Bleed

Range Attacks Strike from Range. Well, that's obvious. But this means that unless you can strike at a distance yourself, they have free rein on attacking you without fearing retribution. Only way to deal with them is to Advance on them, and this is done by Winning against their clash. How much Wins you need varies on the range itself.

Bleed. Bleed is a Status Effect. It stacks. And if you're inflicted with Bleed, for that "round", you'd be dealt by that many stacks of Bleed as Damage with each Attacks/Defense/Dodge you do, successful or not. Bleed Stacks are divided by 2 for every Attack/Defense/Dodge that you do, until it reaches 1, in which case, it'll go away next "round".

Spoiler: Trying Something New

Timing feels inappropriate, but I want to try changing the dice. Where instead of 1d10, we use 2d6 instead. Everything works the same, though the general difficulties would be balanced somewhat, with an interval of threes instead of twos. (i.e. Easy: 3, Medium: 6, so on and so goes).

I'd understand if people wouldn't like this, so…

Yay

Or

Nay?