Re: Butai High [[Teen/Spy]]

[Polo trapped in an inkpot]

((*Wants to start RPing* ... *Needs an opening to bring characters in* ))

[Dreambug]

((Got an idea. ))

Kinji waited for the firing to stop, and he didn't have to wait long. With a satisfied smirk, he peered around the corner of the shelter, gun still in hand.
The machine lay lifeless in the grass, the wheels still spinning freely despite the absence of power. The machine gun must have run out of bullets, since that had stopped firing, too.
He smiled smugly to himself. That warm sensation in his stomach that came every time he successfully completed a mission made a comeback. He had the face of a little boy that had just been given the toy he'd always wanted for Christmas; a smile from ear-to-ear.
Then the firing began.
Again.
Frowning, he peeked around the stone corner again, tightening the grip of his little, bright pink gun. An entire row of scooters were rolling down the hill, like a mini army of robots. All were armed with heavy, black machine guns, and all were firing at will. People everywhere were fleeing the scene like ants, screaming in panic at the queer sight.
Kinji closed his eyes.
He was running out of ammo – meaning water – for his weapon and it certainly wasn't going to be big enough to fight off a row of at least a dozen of the things. He'd struggled to fight off one, never mind a dozen.
They needed back-up. Fast.

He reached into his bag, fumbled around blindly until he eventually discovered his Butai survival bag. It contained several things, such as a tent-in-a-can, compass, face flannel, whistle and a waterproof coat rolled into a tiny, netted bag. But what he was really looking for was the SOS rocket.
Eventually, he found it. The tiny device couldn't have been much bigger than his index finger, but it served it's purpose well. To the untrained eye it would look a little like a pen or pencil without a nib, but when the string is pulled and the rocket is thrown into the air, it whistled a loud, extremely high-pitched tune only Butai would recognise. It sounds a little like a peculiar bird call, but this is not the case. The rocket then flies into the air, releasing a bright light – the inner body is lined with magnesium, which burns very brightly when set alight – and explodes in the air. The explosion does not create a loud noise, but is just loud enough to be heard from a short distance away. However, the light in the sky remains, for the ashes of the magnesium will remain to burn for at least thirty seconds before sinking to the ground. It's the call Butai will notice: the call for help.

Kinji plucked the string from the cap and tossed the rocket into the sky, crossing his fingers behind his back. The rocket whistled, exploded, and fluttered in the sky like a crisp, white moth before slowly sinking to the ground again.
Please hear us, Kinji prayed. Please. We need you now.

[Polo trapped in an inkpot]

((Superduper! Thank you!

Please excuse the short posts, I am pressed for time right now. :/ ))

Nao's pale blue eyes were locked in sharp concentration - twitchily following the progress a small yellow-green budgie. The bird was a runaway. Or rather, a flyaway - and it was Nao's mission to capture it, and reunite it with its owners.
A pathetic mission, perhaps, but this level was all he could handle in his fragile state of mind. He didn't trust himself to take on anything more challenging.
"It's okay..." Nao crooned softly, slowly extending a hand toward the little bird, "I won't hurt you."
The bird glared at him with a beady black eye, and Nao quailed under the harshness of its gaze. His fingers curled back slightly in doubt, and - sensing his hesitance - the little bird took flight.
Nao sighed, and curled himself into the fetal position - hugging his knees and rocking slowly back and forth, feeling utterly defeated.
Bullied by a common budgie...
Nao sighed quietly, then dusted himself off and stood. He was perched precariously on the sloped, rickety roof of the old church. Some of the tiles were loose, Nao knew, so he proceeded with caution.
He half walked half slid to the edge of the roof, where his grappling hook still held fast. Nao grabbed the rope, and used it to lower himself carefully down.

When he reached the ground, he heard an unmistakable sound: The high pitched squeal of a Butai's call for help. His sharp blue eyes darted instinctively to the sky, and when Nao saw the bright flash, he sprinted full-speed toward it. Any thoughts of doubt or defeat were forgotten now. All Nao was concerned with was helping his fellow Butai... If he didn't panic, he would not screw this up!

He arrived on the scene moments later - and at the sight of the other two Butai. Nao's confidence wavered. He suddenly felt feeble and useless - and he shrunk back into himself - approaching them like a dog with its tail between its legs.
How could he possibly help...? He wasn't ready for something like this. He would only get in the way...
"What... Uh... What can I do to help?" He murmured timidly, glancing rapidly from the approaching robots, back to his fellow Butai.
Honestly, he wasn't sure which he found more intimidating.

[Batcat]

Miranda watched in awe as Kinji took out the scooter with that small pistol. Her eyes narrowed in concentration. Why couldn't she have thought of something like that? But then again, she had the brains. Surely she'd figure something else out.
She glanced around, wondering what resources they had to work with. They had the lake - which would surely be a big help - and they had a couple of building. Maybe those would provide a bit of shelter from - well, they didn't need shelter at this moment did they?
She slapped her palm to her forehead as the row of scooters appeared over the horizon.
Dammit, always speaking - or thinking - too soon, Miranda, she thought to herself.
The lake would be invaluable now. If only she could lure them into the water, they would be completely destroyed... Her subuconsciuos mind set to work on a plan as she watched her fellow Butai fumble in his pocket for something. She grinned when he pulled out the device. Good thinking.
Nervously, she wrung her hands together as she waited, her impending doom closer than ever. Flashbacks from the week before began to take over as she tried to stay calm, relaxed, and focus. But she couldn't. She was about to scream from anxiety just as another Butai joined them. Thank God.
She recognized this Butai - they had a few classes together as well - although he was someone she didn't like to hang around with. Shy and intimidated. Just the opposite of her. She stared at him for a moment - making sur ehe understood he was to follow orders given - and glanced back at the advancing line of attackers. Still closer than before.
Slowly, she backed up until the lake water was lapping at her shoes. This part was more like a beach, which was funny. Beach...
"I've got it!" She yelled out suddenly.
"We have to get them into the water. Kinji, where's their weak-point?" She asked, her body alive and quivering like a bomb about to explode. Suddenly, she felt so much more in control of the situation that the fear didn't even hit her. Which was a good thing. Because there was no knowing if her plan would work...

[[Bahaha.]]

[Dreambug]

“I've got it!”
Eyebrows raised, Kinji looked over to the female, wondering vaguely what on earth she was talking about. Then he realised – when he saw the light in her eyes – that she had an idea.
Well, that made one of them.
“We have to get them into the water. Kinji, where's their weak-point?”
Bullets wafted past him like rain drops on a windy day, he knew he had to be careful as he peered around the corner once more to glance at the deceased robot laying only a few feet away from him. Well, it's weakness had been water, but his fires at the machinery had been the robot's downfall. He glanced back over at the machine, when his eyes caught movement by the wheels.
No... it wasn't by the wheels. It was the wheels. They were still spinning.
It was definitely dead, he knew that. And the gun had stopped shooting. But the wheels were the ones that had caused the robot to fall in the first place.
Still spinning...
His eyes widened as something dawned on him, and he looked round at the army, eyes scanning the large, black wheels of each vehicle.
The wheels...
“Aim at the wheels.” He ordered. “My guess is, one well aimed shot at the centre will drive them off-course. They'll eventually fall over.”
He caught sight of the other Butai who had appeared to have heard his call. His heart sank slightly. Was he the only one who had heard? Weren't there any more?
Plus, despite his strong build and obvious strength, he didn't look all that confident.
Great...
Kinji turned to the girl. “Keep them busy. I'll be right back.” And he ran to the lake, water pistol in hand. He plucked out the plug for the water and quickly filled the toy with water. It didn't take long and soon, he had it filled as far as it would go. He sped back to his base and tossed the pistol to the new Butai.
“Butai!” he shouted to get his attention, as he had seen this one a few times, although he wasn't yet aware of his name. “Get up close and shoot the water at the machine guns. Don't waste it, but use enough to make them spark. It'll weaken them enough for us to shoot without danger of getting shot ourselves.”

[Polo trapped in an inkpot]

"Butai!" The voice grabbed Nao's attention - since he was used to people not knowing his name - and he whipped around. The other boy - who he recognised as the talented Butai, Kinji - threw something to him. Nao knew that he would look like a complete idiot if he missed it - so of course, panic gripped him fiercely. He made a desperate grab for the little gun - causing it to bounce off his fingertips. He made another frantic lunge for it as it fell - then dropped to his knees on the ground, fumbling around in the damp grass for it. He found it, picked it up, then stood again - practically trembling from shame.
He had been in such a complete panic that he hadn't even heard Kinji's instructions - and he looked hopelessly from the tiny plastic water pistol to the fleet of approaching robots.
How was he supposed to-
Wait. Calm down. Think...
Kinji would not have given him such a pathetic weapon without reason.
He glanced toward the robots, then toward the 'dead' one on the ground near his feet. Its wheels were still spinning frantically to the right... Obviously, the water had messed up the electrics, and cause the robot to fall. And after it had fallen, it had been unable to get up... But judging from the evidence, it had continued shooting until out of ammunition.
Nao felt the first ticklings of a plan tickling at the edges of his mind - but he was in too much of a state to grasp it.
For a moment, he closed his eyes - and drew in a deep, calming breath. Then he had it...
The robots were probably all running from one singular program, which meant they would all react in the same way... Indeed, they were all moving in formation. If they could get water into the gears of the robots on the left, they would wall - knock into those beside them, and shoot at their own fleet from the ground. It would just be like a deadly game of dominoes...
The flying bullets would pierce the robot - and since wheels needed gears to function, they would need oil, too. With all that spilled oil, just one match would do... To explode the entire fleet!
Nao's eyes darted back and forth over the approaching robots, and with each moment he became more and more sure that his plan would work.
He turned to consult Kinji - but with one look at the higher-level Butai's face, Nao's confidence left him, and he swallowed thickly - biting his tongue and dropping his gaze to his toes.
Who was he kidding? This was his plan. His plans never worked... He would only screw things up.

[Batcat]

Miranda’s eyes flicked back and forth between the two Japanese Butai – and suddenly she felt very out of place. It was a crazy feeling right there and then, for she was supposed to be concentrating on the battle and not her social standing, but it was still there. She also noticed she was the only female she sighed and looked back at the advancing army of scooters before examining Nao – she remembered his name. He looked intent, like he was thinking of a plan. That was good. She’d already found fault with his plan. Even if they did disable the machine guns, the scooters had a defensive pistol that they used when attacked. She winced and pulled out her own gun involuntarily. It was a reaction she had whenever nervous.
Nervous?! She swore at herself before she heard Kinji’s words.

“Aim at the wheels.”
Miranda didn’t like taking orders – in fact, she hated it – but now wasn’t the time to argue. She had no better plan at the time. Besides, she wasn’t doing anything later. She had enough time for one of her ‘plans’ then. That caused her to chuckle and almost miss his reasoning.
“My guess is, one well aimed shot at the centre will drive them off-course. They'll eventually fall over.”
She nodded and aimed the gun at one of the scooter’s wheels. The uniformity of the things irritated her. She was so used to going after the large, imposing attackers first, but these things were all the same. Like last time. She narrowed her eyes and was about to squeeze the trigger when Kinji’s voice interrupted her yet again.
“Keep them busy. I'll be right back.”
She clenched her teeth. Stop telling me what to do.

With a huff, Miranda turned back to the scooters and shot the gun quickly, hitting the front one’s wheel. It gave a metallic shriek – probably the gears not being able to work right, now – and it rolled onto its side. She grinned as oil began to leak out in rush. She turned and saw Nao examining the situation. He seemed to be very intent on it The she noticed him watching the oil spill out and her face lit up. Of course. Oil. Fire.
She grinned and was about to congratulate Nao – who she was liking a whole lot more than Kinji; this guy knew to keep his mouth shut – when the older Butai came back. The smaller boy’s confidence faltered immediately. That just made him lose some points with her. She couldn’t stand people who were unsure of their plans.
She spun around and noticed that the scooters were closer now. While they were easier to shoot, it meant that she was easier to shoot. With a grunt, she clenched her teeth and fired the gun – hitting six scooter’s and causing them to fall before she had to reload. She fumbled for more bullets in her backpack and realized she didn’t have anymore. With a despairing glance, she realized that there were still more of the unearthly robots heading towards them. She swore and called over to Kinji.
“Yo, Kinji, do you have any bullets for a 9mm?!” She succesfully kept the desperation out of her voice and it held steady. Good. She wanted to seem as unfazed by this whole thing as much as possible. Nothing worse than having people think you were scared. Then they could take advantage of you. She’d seen that happen with people. With Nao, in fact. That caused her to sigh.
There were about 60 scooters left, all heading towards them. A few of the fallen ones were being run over by their companions, and thinking they were being attacked, open fired on them. The ones in the second row fell, and soon the process repeated with the third row. Maybe she wouldn’t need the bullets after all.
She winked at Nao, who she suspected had known this would happen all along.
“You got any matches, Bird-Boy?” Like she knew about his earlier mission. She did – she’d passed him on her way to the café earlier. That had made her laugh as she passed the talented Butai try and catch a stubborn little bird.

[[I love Nao, Polo ]]

[Polo trapped in an inkpot]

Nao watched as the girl - whose name escaped him - fired a few quick shots. He slowly raised the water pistol in his hand, then lowered it again - clearing his throat and feeling slightly stupid.
Instead, he watched with an alert, intelligent expression as his plan - which the girl had obviously worked out, too - was put in action.
Sure enough, when one row of robots was knocked down - the domino effect began.
Soon enough, the fleet of robots looked like little more than a deadly mass of flailing metal, with bullets firing madly in every direction. Nao tensed, then slowly relaxed his muscles so he was sitting back on his heels - light on his feet, and ready to jump out of the way of any flyaway bullets.
“You got any matches, Bird-Boy?”
A voice beside him caught his attention, and at first Nao felt his heart sink at what he thought was mockery. He glanced briefly toward the girl, head low in submission - until he noticed the wink. That was not normal...
Slowly, Nao raised his head, and his back straightened. The effect of one friendly gesture - the gesture of an equal, rather than a superior - on the boy was spectacular. He seemed to swell with newfound confidence - and suddenly he found his voice.
"Sure." He replied, a pleased and grateful smiling turning up the corners of his mouth. "Catch."
He tossed her a box of matches, then took out another for himself.
He lit a match, waited an instant for the flame to gain in strength - then hurled it at the fallen robots.
It landed in a great puddle of oil, with ignited immediately - popping, snapping and sizzling as the cruel flames licked at the tarnished metal of the useless robots.
Nao calmly took a pair of earmuffs out of his bag, pulled them over his ears, and stood back to observe his handiwork from a safe distance.

A massive explosion sent red-hot fragments of metal flying in every direction - the robots ripped apart like paper chains from the sheer force of heat and power coming from the flaming oil.
A few more explosions like that, and they'd have the fleet wiped out altogether.
Eyes shining eagerly, Nao risked a hopeful glance at the girl beside him - wondering if she would share in his success, or if she would shun him like the rest did...
He was actually starting to feel a little more confident after her little friendly wink - thought realistically speaking, he doubted his confidence would last long.

((Yay! Thank you. I am liking him. ))

[Batcat]

[[*wants to reply* *decides to wait for Dreameh*]]

[Dreambug]

((Thanks for waiting Honestly, if I don't reply for a certain amount of time it's because either I don't know how to respond or I'm elsewhere. For either one, just carry on without me. It may not seem it, but my charri is very thoughtful. I'll find something to write about, and I'll catch up at some point if you do ))

Kinji had heard the two Butai exchanging brief orders to one another, but he was concentrating far too much to notice what they were saying. He'd already taken into account the fact that the new Butai was going to be pretty much hopeless when it came to fighting back the armed robots. The poor guy couldn't even catch a plastic gun when given the instruction.
So he'd wasted an SOS rocket for nothing.
Great.

Rolling his eyes, he brought his pistol at the ready and began firing a few immaculate shots at the nibs of the robot's wheels, causing them to fall clumsily at the touch of a single bullet. Shots were being fired in all directions, some hitting his – thankfully – bulletproof uniform.
It seemed he was on his own on this one. The female was too caught up in the apparent cuteness of the new Butai, and he no longer had his water pistol. The only thing he had left to do was hope he had enough ammo left to knock them all down and let them run out of it themselves.
Snap.
Crap, was that his gun?
To his disgust, he realised, yes, it was. And when he fumbled around his pockets for more, even though he knew he carried a box of the stuff with him everywhere he went, he couldn't find any.
Where was that stupid box?
Clenching his teeth in fury he peered around the corner to see the army inching closer and closer to the three of them, and both him and the female were out of bullets.
It's all up to you, Bird Boy. He thought to himself, his heart sinking.

BANG!

What the...?!
Brow creased, Kinji peered back round the corner of the shelter to see the other male Butai throw a match at a giant pool of blood near where the robots had fallen. A great amount were blasted into the sky, a few left simply burning against the strong, hot flames. The park stank of burning plastic, rubber and oil. But he didn't care.
Perhaps that little Butai would be helpful after all.
“It's working!” He shouted with a tiny smile on his Asian face. “Keep 'em coming, Butai.”

[Polo trapped in an inkpot]

Nao gulped and glanced around upon hearing Kinji's voice - but again, it was neither mockery, nor cruelty. Instead, he saw the smallest of smiles on the higher-level Butai's face. Nao's eyes widened slightly, and he stared at Kinji with an awestruck expression.
Am I dreaming?
His question was answered for him when Kinji told him to 'keep them coming'.

Nao's expression lit up - and suddenly his face was alive with eager confidence.
"Catch." He called, tossing a box of matches toward Kinji.
"I'm pretty sure their wheels are set on hydraulic shocks - they've got to be to absorb the shock of this rough ground..." He kicked at a nearby stone to demonstrate.
"If you manage to shoot just above the wheels - like you worked out - it releases the hydraulic oil, so the shocks stop working, and they fall over... And if the oil is spilled, you throw a match, and-"
He lit a match while speaking, then hurled it over his head into the mass of oncoming robots. It struck a slick, dark patch of oil - and another dramatic explosion followed, sending up a cloud of black smog in the vague shape of a mushroom.
Nao never finished his sentence. The match had done all the talking for him.

He glanced eagerly toward Kinji - obviously excited to see what he thought of the plan. As one of very few Asian Butais, Kinji had always been something of an idol for Nao - and now that the other Butai hadn't completely scorned him, Nao was desperate to earn his approval. His half-forgotten talents flourished under the absence of the usual fear and doubt that shackled him - and the transformation in him was remarkable.
That was the first time he had given voice to one of his plans in years...

[Batcat]

Miranda sighed in relief as the first explosion lit up the sky. She carefully observed how exactly the new Butai threw the match and where exactly it hit the oil that leaked out of the wheel. She listened intently to Nao’s explanation, and it made sense. The boy was smart, she had to hand it to him. She ran her eyes over the blazing mess of fire again. A few spectators had stopped to stare, but quickly retreated as more bullets were shots out from the few still standing. They were trying to defend themselves against the fire, she realized. She snorted. Good luck with that.
Glancing around, she saw a few people lying on the ground, and her stomach twisted. She spat out a curse as she realized they were either dead or dying. The bullets were coated with a poison to make sure they finished off whatever they hit. She shuddered, but heard the distant wail of police sirens.
“We should go.” She said, and began walking away purposefully.

[Dreambug]

“Catch.”
Kinji looked up at the other male, reaching out and catching the tiny box of matches effortlessly and pushed the tiny, paper tray out with his thumb. He pulled out a single match and used the sand board on the side of the box to light the flame. As he did so, the Butai began to explain.
“If you manage to shoot just above the wheels - like you worked out - it releases the hydraulic oil, so the shocks stop working, and they fall over... And if the oil is spilled, you throw a match, and-”
To demonstrate, he simply tossed the match over his head. The side of Kinji's mouth twitched upwards with an impressed smirk as the match his the large puddle of oil and another explosion rumbled through his eardrums. Wow, he'd underestimated this male. Perhaps his instincts had been wrong all along...
Nodding – as he'd realised he'd been staring a little stupidly for a too many precious seconds – he tossed another match at a bunch closer to him and covered his eyes as yet more machines were blasted clumsily into the air. After a bit of his own effort – not to mention the help of the other two Butai – the large pack were defeated. But as he looked around the park, he realised there were a large number of citizens that had not walked away unscathed.
Of course... A mix of the toxic fumes of the oil and the poisonous bullets had either knocked them out, or killed them. Which meant...

That army of scooters were not sent from the school. They were not part of some poorly-timed mission they'd been forced to complete.
They had been sent by something else.
Butai High was there to protect the public, not kill them.

Crap.

Sub-consciously slipping the match box in his survival bag, Kinji turned to the other male, a serious expression on his face. “She's right. We need to get out of here, fast.”
He glanced at his watch then, and when he saw the time his eyes widened in terror. 8.10 AM.
Double Crap...
“We're ten minutes late for assembly!” He barked, immediately leaping into a sprint and speeding past the two with a panicked expression on his face. Why did this happen to him? He'd had such a perfect record, but now...

[Polo trapped in an inkpot]

((Feeling lazy, so I may wait for the Batcat. ))

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