[Log] VOTE JOKER for MAYOR (?!) Part I
WHO: The Joker, Haruko Haruhara, Tetsuo Shima, Alphonse Elric, Mustadio Bunanza, Ami Mizuno, Makoto Kino, Zatanna Zatara, Light Yagami
WHEN: 01.21.08
WHERE: Gotham City Hall, Gotham City
WHAT: It's time to vote for the next mayor! And if you don't vote for the Joker, you're better off dead. Literally.
WATCH FOR: Multiple scene-stealing entrances, Haruko's imitation of a certain 'Harlequin,' many changes in plans, flying people, a cannon, OTPs?!?, and Light's time to shine (a.k.a. OBLIGATORY EXPLANATION OF PURE AWESOMENESS).
Voting Day at Gotham. It's just as dreary as any other day, but there is visible tension in the air. Security had been beefed up at the City Hall, with police helicopters and cruisers patrolling both sky and ground for any sign of disturbance. The brave or ignorant citizens who decided to perform their civic duty today to vote for the new mayor shuffled about the crowded hall, lining up for their turn at the voting booth.
So far, everything was going smoothly. The Joker rarely restrained himself from putting on a promised show.
Somewhere in the city, groups of punks, skinheads and rebels were beginning to group in gangs, heading through alleys and subways, gathering en masse to see if they couldn't start some trouble with the fuzz at the city hall. It was as if they were just ASKING for a fight -- if something was going to go down tonight, THEY wanted to be there.
Nothing happened, yet.
It was so typical of Joker to do something like this, based on what Bruce has told her - when he spoke to her that is. She'd followed the Joker's exploits, even looked into some of his past dealings - heck, after he'd delivered those 'flowers' to her not so long ago, she'd refused to accept any packages until she'd scanned them six different ways, and even then she wouldn't open them without security measures in place. So this time, Zatanna has stepped in, probably not looking like much more than a regular civilian herself, heading towards the steps of City Hall, keeping an eye out on the crowd. Just another foolish/brave person here to do her civic duty, really! Tum de dum~
He's been here once before. It was an invite from Zatanna. Today just seems a little more...dark. As armor, he would have stood out a lot more than he should, in human form, he feels the chill not just from the weather, but from the underlying the norms of the voting.
The younger Elric finds himself among the edge of the throngs, golden brown eyes scanning over everything within plain sight. He got a message from Mithril to be here, and since he hasn't been doing anything of late, Alphonse may as well put himself to some use. But for now, he'll wander and keep his eyes open.
This super-cop thing isn't so hard, Tetsuo thinks as he drives along the freeway from Metropolis. He leans back in the saddle of the battered motorcycle, aviator goggles over his eyes to ward off the wind. The handlebars twist and swerve on their own accord, weaving through the fading late-night traffic coming out of Gotham's city center. This is probably breaking traffic laws, but he is pretty sure there won't tickets.
He looks down at the wind-whipped folded over sheet of paper with instructions on how to handle this guy. Damn, he thinks, they underlined the lethal force option enough? The buildings get denser around the speeding bike, more like a canyon than a mountain now.
Being a space princess means having a healthy respect for the process of democracy and the will of the people...
Er... OK, scratch that. Makoto is always eager to bash heads in the name of love and justice. Fortunately (or unfortunately) the Joker popped his head up with a diabolical plan, and whenever evil strikes in Gotham a good punching time is to be had. So it was off to Batman's backyard again for the tallest of the senshi.
Running through the Hub as Sailor Jupiter might tip off the bad guys that something was up, however, so she had to travel in disguised as a not-quite-mild-mannered high school student. Only once she's close to Gotham City Hall does she start hunting for a place to make her senshi transformation. The back alleys are too dangerous, the dumpsters are too yucky, but that phone booth will do just nicely.
"JUPITER POWER!!!" Sorry, Clark, but you'll never make the booth like this pretty.
IPA Headquarters. Light Yagami returns to his seat with a cup of coffee, raising his gaze back up from a nervous look at his watch. The ballot boxes open soon. In front of his seat, a bank of monitors viewing security cameras across Gotham City, mostly centered on the ballots at City Hall. He picks up a headset, narrowing his eyes. "Everyone, this is Light. I'm monitoring the voting situation in Gotham this evening." His voice goes out on the IPA secure band; he does sound serious. People could get hurt here.
Wait. What's that? Light leans in, squinting at one of the monitors in a static view of the crowd outside City Hall, as one person in the crowd shifts through it.
"Everyone," Light stresses over the band. "I think we have a situation - beyond the bomb threat. We've got amassing protestors outside Gotham City Hall, but from the research I did on this 'Joker' since his threat last night... suspect, adult Caucasian male, heavy build, leather jacket, bright red hair, ponytail, networking with different parts of the crowd. I'm going to verify..." Click, click... there's the file. "I believe I have an I.D. on Evan 'Chuckles' O'Reilly, three-time past accomplice of the Joker on major incidents, on the scene at City Hall. I don't think their plan is a bomb. Proceed with caution. The suspect has a history of using chemical and biological weapons."
There is a lull, the sound of shuffling paper and people punching their ballots filling the empty space as the crowds outside stop their intermittant jeering and pause, as if waiting for something.
It takes a minute before the silence sinks in and some people appear nervous. It was too quie--
The room explodes with activity, as several holes burst through the floor with a rapid succession of loud bangs, tossing up dust and crumbling marble tiles. From these holes emerges the faint odor of smoke and waste water, and a sea of jeering faces in greasepaint. With a scream that spreads across the crowded room, the people begin to scatter, finding themselves surrounded by Clownz. Security is immediately shot or beaten down with clubs and chains, some managing to fire a few shots, killing some of them before meeting a similar fate.
In the midst of all this violence and panic, emerges a laughing man. Among all the freakishly painted army of thugs is a man is a rich, albiet intensely purple, pinstriped tuxedo, white gloves and a slender cane (atop which is a painted sculpture of what appears to be a female harlequin's smiling head). The man's face is devoid of color - the chalky white of a mime's makeup, his lips a too-red to be anything but cosmetics and a shock of green hair. He throws his hands up in the air and speaks:
"People of Goth-hack hack--" The Joker doubles over, coughing for an uncomfortable 10 seconds before straightening up again, looking less than pleased. Apparently, the dust they kicked up making their grand entrance ruined his plan for an entrance of his own.
The explosion of activity startles Zatanna, but only slightly - she had, after all, been expecting something along the lines like this to happen. Still, even with that, it doesn't prepare her for the mayhem; officers and dime a dozen security guards outclassed and outnumbered in seconds.
'So much for security detail.' Zatanna mutters to herself, backing up into the panicked crowd so as not to draw notice, particularly as the Joker (and Jokerz) enter - and oh, poor Joker's dramatic entrance is /ruined/! Well - that's not going to do anything for his disposition. Turning her attention from the man of the hour, she glances sharply towards the fallen guards. Hrn.
Once the explosions take place, instinct kicks in. At first, Alphonse ducks his head at the sound, feeling the rumblings pass as the people started running. "That must be it," he breathes, eyes darting back in that direction. He, unlike many of the 'normal' ones, decides to stay, running towards the building, weaving and dodging by other citizens. Well, maybe he'll be lucky and catch a few of the Joker's speech lines once he clears his throat of debris. And accidently run into some Clownz or something. Whoops.
Someone with rather blue hair, a school uniform, and glasses is arriving as well. Never having been to Gotham before... and if she had, only for a short time, Mercury found it a bit too dangerous from what she both hears in passing and sees, the IPA radio hanging nearby her ear disguised as an earring. It certainly helps for when she can't simply transform.
Unlike Makoto, however, she doesn't find phone booths to be the best, and Mako-chan is already inhabiting one. She instead used an uninhabited, boarded up building. Not the best place.. but certainly abandoned. "MERCURY POWER!!" is muffled by the explosion of activity across the street, which the senshi, in an effort to get to faster, dives through a rather slim hole in the boarded window. Rolling to her feet, all she needs to do is just get across the street.
The words from Light are kept to her alright, and remembered. Bomb threat.. protestors.. and biological and chemical weapons. Oh how horrible! "Sailor Mercury here.. I'll see what can be done about the protestors." So they don't get hurt! Even if they might be thugs.
Tetsuo adjusts his radio earbud. "Chemical weapons?" he says, looking up towards the looming buildings of Gotham. Too damn fancy, he thinks, as the bike's forward tire turns off with a sudden screech of rubber and desperate honking from a trucker. Stuff's starting to kick in.
He doesn't... really slow down as he approaches the far end of the gathering mob, perhaps planning to run them over. "Hey Yagami," he continues into the radio, "do they need to clear out the crowd?"
And striding right up behind the lunatic, wearing a dust mask over her greasepainted face, is a woman with pink hair, the same insane attire as all the other Clownz, and, unlike the others - no real weapons in sight.
Just a blue, left-handed electric guitar strapped across her back.
She doesn't say anything, merely cocking an amused eyebrow and pulling another dust mask out of her pocket, holding it out in the Joker's direction.
The senshi arrived just in time! Just as they complete their transformations, explosions erupt from the voting station. The brunette senshi, who wears a small tactical headset as she's not replacing her earrings in a million millenia, nods, "Sailor Jupiter here too. So we're facing both delinquents and the Joker? When it rains it pours."
Turning to her partner, Jupiter jerks her head towards the building and asks, "So what's the plan? Do you have something for the Joker, or should we stay here and take care of the jerks outside?"
Light Yagami places a hand on his chin, staring at the screens. It's possible that protesters would be brought out by a public election in a city as ridden with poverty and crime as Gotham. The bomb threat, however, was announced very publicly, and while mobs are a fickle and easily manipulated thing, they're not likely to seek out such an imminently dangerous position as ballots claimed to be wired to explode by a known serial murderer and bioterrorist like the Joker.
The Joker's profile indicates a charismatic sociopath, the kind of man who would understand how to gather people around himself as shields - explaining why he's attained accomplices in the first place given their high fatality rate. He has a history of exploiting hostages and the duty of the police to protect the innocent. And his accomplice on the scene was seen networking between members of the crowds. Therefore, this is probably a feint. The Joker has secretly galvanized the rougher low criminal element of the city into a distraction outside for police to have to push through, disguised as a legitimate protest. At the same time, most of the crowd outside is probably unaware of why they've really been gathered there.
"The crowd of protesters is probably a trick," Light Yagami muses over the police band. "Composed of gang members and petty criminals the Joker has whipped up as an obstacle for us. Push through them, with minimal violence if possible, but don't worry too much about them. They're not the real threat. We should bring the Joker and his direct henchmen in by any means necessary, and the local police are equipped fine to quell the unrest outside."
With a bloodthirsty cheer from the gathered mob outside, the anarchists begin to battle the police in riot gear guarding the city hall. With all the noise they're making, they don't seem to notice the rapidly approaching sound of a japanese-made motorcycle heading their way. They, uh... might want to turn around...
A few of the anarchists notice the girls in school girl outfits approaching and whistle appreciatively. You know, they might not even have to fight their way in... but they might have to fight some of those guys off. But for the moment, they seem to be having a grand old time harrassing the fuzz by throwing glass bottles and debris and throwing punches.
Meanwhile, back inside the hall, many of the people have already began kneeling or laying on the floor, either playing dead, praying for survival or fainted. The Joker looked at the mask presented to him, allowing his half-lidded gaze to slip over onto Haruko's face. His smile returned and he plucked it out of her hand, but didn't put it on yet.
"People of Gotham..." The Joker made sure that he was well away from the settling clouds of dust before speaking again, his mocking voice echoing in the room, "I /do/ hope you weren't voting for my opponents... I would be so very disappointed in you. I guess we'll see, won't we? Once the ballots have been counted, that is..." Apparently, he hasn't noticed Zatanna yet, otherwise, he would be -very- concerned.
Oh, he'd be very concerned, hum? GOOD, be concerned then! SHe's tempted to change the ballots to read something like, 'Allmighty JEebus' or 'Batman' but the last thing she wants to do is antagonize the Joker, while there were a number of innocent civilians in the hall. So, from where she's kneeling behind a few of the wailing 'Oh LAWDY save us' gentlefolk, she thinks. Judging from Joker's words, she hasn't much time. And.. she glances around subtly - most of the IPA folk seemed to be -outside-, weren't they?. Bugger.
Totally Not Haruko grins at the Joker, but she does it behind the dust mask so it's not as easy to see. She shadows up behind the supervillain as he orates, shockingly not even doing anything suicidally crazy like making horns around his head. Instead, she merely hangs back, head nestled in her hands, held behind her head.
She doesn't know who to look for, so she doesn't notice Zatanna either.
Whoa, this is trickier than he thought it would be. The mix in the crowd is really confusing, but surely Alphonse can pick out the civilians from the baddies. At least, that's the idea. And with some already distracted by the oncoming Sailor Senshi (which he has never met, nope nope), he'll be closing in on the building. He leaps onto one of the police cars, unsuccessfully trying to clear it as a hurdle. "Whoops - sorry!" the young alchemist calls back, rolling over the rest of the way.
"He's inside the building," Light Yagami adds over the radio, glaring at that grinning face through one of the City Hall security camera feeds. "The Joker and a number of his personal themed accomplices - I count four or five from previous major incidents... one probable interplanar too, probably not with him. How fast can you push through the crowd outside? There may be fatalities inside; the crowd outside is more likely to inflict injury but not casualties."
Tetsuo smirks as he approaches the crowd. Losers, he thinks, before reaching out with the power.
They told him to be gentle with living people. Nobody, thus, explodes. The crowd in front of him feels pressure, each person leaned on by their neighbor. There is confusion until the leaning becomes a shove, sending the crowd staggering and compressing it against the nearby buildings. Windows get broken and people shout and scream, but nobody's getting /killed/.
Tetsuo rides ahead. From above, it looks like the crowd is parting ahead of him, like some sort of invisible riot-control snowplow. "Workin' on it," he answers Light.
Meeting up with her fellow senshi on such a place made Ami at least feel better about the situation. Looking over the situation, and with Jupiter nearby in matching outfit, Mercury looks close. "The plan... I have an idea of how to distract the group without hurting them.. at least for a short time." But to say our go?
Light's information certainly helps, however. "Right, we should get inside!" And the easiest, non-lethal way usually is water cannons.. which they don't have.
" I think I have an id-" And Mercury watches as the crowd parts due to force. "Maybe before they get up?" OOp!
"Hey good lookin', you should forget your costume party and come with-"
WHAM.
"Holy #### did you just she what that girl in green did to Ernie? C'mon, let's get her-"
WHUMP.
"On second thought, let's let these nice girls pass. Jeez, her heels have spikes..."
The path clear, Sailor Jupiter boldly and sternfacedly leads the way inside. Turning her head to Mercury, she asks, "What idea did you have in mind-" She too catches the odd parting of the crowd, and abruptly stops. "Maybe this isn't the best way. Oh! Over there," she points to an explosion-broken window. "Let's jump through there. They'll never expect us that way!"
The crowds, anarchist and riot police alike, tilt and stumble, parting like a sea of flailing figures. The confusion it created was amazingly effective -- especially considering how unexpected it was. On either side of Tetsuo was a sprawling tangle of waving arms, pipes and nightsticks.
Those who aren't part of the mess Tetsuo created make their way toward the Sailor Senshi... and immediately regret it. The firey brunette makes quick work of the thugs, sending them sprawling with an easy swipe of her leg. The rest of them back off... who knows what the blue-haired girl would do?!
"Man, that hurt, but those girls are /smokin/!" "Shh! She might come back!"
The Joker, unaware of the disturbance to his plan outside, continues to pontificate in his usual, flamboyant manner. The painted girl behind him still on the back of his mind -- how so much more unpredictable this one was compared to his Harley... Still, the show must go on!
"But we don't have to wait for that, my dear friends..." The Joker twirls his cane with a flourish, "After all, I have a much faster way to tell just who voted for me and who's DEAD." Just what is he getting at?
Alphonse manages to get in, quite easily. Because he's short.
And nobody loves him.!
Ah, cool, he can sneak into the place. Thank goodness he's not creaky and squeaky metallic-sounding. The youth pokes his head around a corner, ducking a bit when he sees the Joker, his pink-haired henchwo-man, and all the rest of them civilians stuck and grounded within the vicinity.
Here, he moves silently as possible during the spiel. Of course, this doesn't last for long. While switching posts/large columns, he hits a random easel sign saying 'VOTING - LINE STARTS HERE.' That knocks to the ground, clattering as loud as it can.
Darn, so much for being ninja.
Not being noticed works rather nicely for Zatanna! Why, you might ask? Because it allows her to weave the necessary spell - this one in particular is a teleportation, but it's going to take some time to tag everyone with it. Faintly, she whispers the backwards incantation, mind thinking quickly of a safe place to deposit the citizens.
Well - 'home' is usually safe right? Another quick glance around the room, marking a few of fainted, desperately praying group, and she waves a hand at a group of five near the back of the room.
And someone totally distracts her by knocking over an easel sign - nice one! But if it distracts the Joker and the others as well, that means Zatanna can teleport people out - unfortunately, there's a faint flash of light to accompany the spell.
Unpredictable indeed. The girl with the guitar who is very definitely not Haruko Haruhara continues to linger behind Joker, inscrutable as ever. She just...shows up. She doesn't even coordinate or anything - appears, pretending like she belongs, and really who's gonna mess with someone the Joker hasn't killed yet? Especially when she has demonstrated no apparent hesitation to knock people flying with that guitar.
Besides, she tells dirty jokes.
But she's not telling one now - her eyes dart over to the side, perhaps detecting the madness approaching from outside, or perhaps noticing Zatanna's work?
Well, she doesn't say either way, and since she hasn't taken that mask off yet, who can tell what she's thinking?
The blue haired girl would get them wet that's what! And maybe even ice them off! .. But they're a bit rushed! "We'll have to pass! We aren't interested either!" Mercury comments to some of the thugs, and well, Jupiter's certainly cleared the path!
Ami doesn't have to worry about them at all! The thugs certainly are answered well enough by the other senshi, at least! "I'll tell you later. We'll have to hurry,, but where..." And Jupiter finds one alright, Ami looking up and over, the broken window coming into view. "Good idea Jupiter!"
Running towards it, Sailor Mercury leaps through, although carefully, and climbs if it's a bit up above the ground. Getting in is easy enough, although she does scrape her leg a bit. It's just a danger of jumping into a blown out window.
Alright, she's close.. but not in the room with the others yet.
Tetsuo keeps driving forwards. The telekinetic wave crushing the crowd together fades gradually as he stops paying attention to it. Hopefully they won't kill each other with the thugs getting a decisive advantage due to his stunt; that'd be sort of embarrassing.
He reaches forwards to actually steer the bike with his hands, glancing towards the girls in stupidly short skirts off to the side. Hm. What IS the ideal role here? Maybe he should cause a diversion.
He drives up towards the /steps/ of City Hall, revving the engine and looking back towards the crowd: "What the hell are you jackasses here for?!" he shouts. "Trying to cause trouble, huh!?"
Sailor Jupiter is likewise distracted by the arrival of a boy on a bike. "He- He rides a motorcycle just like my sem-" Blink. "Oh no, not now. Not when there's evil running loose!" Shaking the notion off with a sigh, she takes a running leap through the same window as Mercury, gracefully sailing through much like Superman flying through the air, and landing with a tuck and roll before popping right up and dashing into the main foyer. There's no time to waste, not even to wait for her friend! "C'mon, Mercury!"
The green senshi races into view, coming to a slight skidding stop next to a voting booth to strike her senshi pose: One arm flexing while the other reaches straight forward in a karate punch. "This circus is over, and I don't mean the election! I'm Sailor Jupiter!"
Somewhere in the background, there might be a glint of a shiny barrel seen from a cluster of leaves, or behind some trash cans, or through a hole in a crumbling wall. And a thuggish anarchist or two who are about to lay into Innocent Citizens (TM) who suddenly freeze up in mid-beatdown, looking rather surprised as they get Arm Aimed or Leg Aimed as necessary. Mustadio smiles a little bit grimly as he carefully moves forward toward the center of the commtion, where all the Clownz are running wild.
Amidst the chaos, he's made it over to City Hall and managed to break the latch on a basement window, scuttling in carefully and quietly. Given a bit of careful sneaking around, he soon emerges into the first floor through a rarely used back staircase.
Just as he peers around a corner, he sees a blue-haired girl in a short skirt. And a brown-haired girl in a short skirt, made all the shorter by those, long, long, long le...hey, wait, not the time for that. He drops down, gun held ready in case they're here to cause trouble...but then he vaguely recalls a meeting many months ago.... "Jupiter?" he calls out. "Hey, it is you!"
Racing in after her, both arms at her sides as she speaks up, having followed the speeding Sailor Jupiter into the room. "And I'm Sailor Mercury!" Arms sticking outwards, her elbows at her sides. "AN election is made from the people who trust in those enough to have them protect them, and to do things best for them!" Of course Ami would know more about it and go into detail.
She's right next to Sailor Jupiter as well. "And we won't let you break that trust!" Tough words from a miniskirt wearing short haired nerd.. at least her boots are knee high!
Ami was always good with civics.
Jupiter nods, completely oblivious to whoever's calling her name at the moment, "That's right! In the name of the moon..."
You know those annoying moments where there's that moment of silence in the middle of an intense situation that just seems like it was /waiting/ to mock you by bringing attention to you mistake?
Yeah. That totally just happened to Alphonse.
The Joker pauses, long enough for his eyes to fall on Alphonse before passing him over again. While outwardly, he appears to have forgotten about the lad, his mind continues to turn over just how /wrong/ it was for him to be there.
After all, he was far too young to vote.... and too young to have made it past the riot police and those punks outside... he had been very careful to make sure no one got in. He might have a use for the kid after all... Gotham sure did hate to see a kid die...
Zatanna began her incant, seemingly ignored for the moment, until the Joker manages to aim a sly, toothy grin in her direction. He lifts a finger before his face in a silent admonishing expression. Nuh-ah-ah! A thug in makeup cried out and swung out to slap Zatanna right in the throat, "GOTCHA GIRLY!"
Just then, a blue-haired and brunette pair of girls in garishly bright school uniform attire burst in. Followed shortly by a kid in red leather on a MASSIVE motorcycle. Both groups were apparently mocking him with an even grander entrance than his. What made it /worse/ is that they seemed to be lecturing him with that goody-two-shoes way only superheroes in comics do. Like that spandex-idiot, Superman. The Joker sputtered with rage.
"WILL YOU PEOPLE STOP INTERRUPTING MY GIG?!" The Joker spun around, "HARL-- I mean..." Well, that was awkward. He adjusted his expression of outrage to that of a placating smile. "It's so dull in here, sugar lumps, can't you cheer me up with a tune?" And of course, by 'tune', he could only mean 'bash someone in the head with a guitar'.
Just enough!
"We'll-..." INTERRUPTED!? She doesn't let that stop her! "..punish you!" Ami finishes for Sailor Jupiter, still standing in her position.
Oh my, they interrupted it!?
! Spotted. Zatanna cuts her incantation short, and not just because she got knife-handed to the damn /throat/, which has her double over backwards, a hand at her neck. Sputtering, coughing, gagging - all that good stuff - it renders her incapable of speaking let alone casting a spell for the next couple of minutes. But the baleful glare she casts at not just Joker, but the cronie who laid hands on her - as soon as she can talk - nay - BREATHE again, he was /toast/. "Emo -- E-" Gahgggh. That's right, she's calling the damn cronie an emo. Throat sore, she wheezes, points at the man that whapped her one, and gasps out, "E--Emoceb," Gag, COUGH, "A Guls!" Temporary, but it's revenge nonetheless. Revenge so /sweet/ too, should the spell take effect, the bastard will be turned into a slug. Oh god, her throat; back to coughing with her.
H-hey now, Alphonse isn't /trying/ to become a victim in the situation! He's trying to help! For now, he's still standing there in an awkward pose, half-smiling at the Joker.
And then the senshi girls come in.
And then the crazy motorcyclist.
And more chaos coming from outside.
But - what the heck - multiple entrances, and all of them completely different! What fun! What...chaos. That's it. Alphonse finds himself switching views between each face, trying to keep his head in gear at the same time. His blond-brown head swivels slightly in Zatanna's direction, his voice caught in his throat in order not to call any attention to recognizing her. She looks like she can handle her situation anyway. Now, him on the other hand...
Haruko grins beneath the mask, reaching her left hand back around to grab the guitar off her back...She swings it off her back and down, shrugging the strap off her shoulders so she can move freely, and then she...begins playing as instructed. She's not singing, though, merely plucking out the opening bars to some old song with a vaguely Western tune to it. The guitar's not plugged in, so it sounds about as flat as you'd expect from an electric bass guitar. She closes her eyes, as if getting into the music...
...and then suddenly, just about the time as people ought to be good and confused by her little stunt, her eyes snap open, she grins a crazy look that's visible even behind the dust mask, and then she spins the guitar around so that the head is pointed right at the Sailors Two.
A few things become quickly apparent. One, on the back of the guitar is what looks a damn sight like a pullcord like one might find on an outboard motor or a chainsaw; two, Haruko is gripping the guitar by this like it were some sort of trigger grip for a gun; and three, the head of the guitar has a pair of small tubes popping out of the tip, not at all unlike gun barrels.
And then she laughs, "You heard the man! Sing for me, sweetheart!" and pulls the trigger, and oh look at that it /is/ a gun. Though the bullets are conspicuously nonlethal; they hurt like a punch from a certain Metropolis Marvel, but even on a normal person, they wouldn't be deadly.
Tetsuo's head whirls around to look towards the Clown Prince of Crime. His eyes go wide. Holy crap, he is that ugly! "Goddamn clown!" he shouts, making a sharp gesture with one arm. "You stupid or what?! Rob a bank or something if you're gonna be a criminal!" That's a stirring piece of police talk, isn't it?
Of course, then someone's pointing a gun at girls. He may be too late to keep them from being shot, but he lashes out towards the ground at Haruko's feet with brutal telekinetic force, which may keep her from following up and preventing Tetsuo's chance at "scoring" with the girls in micro-minis later. "Get the hell out of here before you piss me off!" he shouts at no one in particular. Is this an attempt to draw fire?
WHEN: 01.21.08
WHERE: Gotham City Hall, Gotham City
WHAT: It's time to vote for the next mayor! And if you don't vote for the Joker, you're better off dead. Literally.
WATCH FOR: Multiple scene-stealing entrances, Haruko's imitation of a certain 'Harlequin,' many changes in plans, flying people, a cannon, OTPs?!?, and Light's time to shine (a.k.a. OBLIGATORY EXPLANATION OF PURE AWESOMENESS).
Voting Day at Gotham. It's just as dreary as any other day, but there is visible tension in the air. Security had been beefed up at the City Hall, with police helicopters and cruisers patrolling both sky and ground for any sign of disturbance. The brave or ignorant citizens who decided to perform their civic duty today to vote for the new mayor shuffled about the crowded hall, lining up for their turn at the voting booth.
So far, everything was going smoothly. The Joker rarely restrained himself from putting on a promised show.
Somewhere in the city, groups of punks, skinheads and rebels were beginning to group in gangs, heading through alleys and subways, gathering en masse to see if they couldn't start some trouble with the fuzz at the city hall. It was as if they were just ASKING for a fight -- if something was going to go down tonight, THEY wanted to be there.
Nothing happened, yet.
It was so typical of Joker to do something like this, based on what Bruce has told her - when he spoke to her that is. She'd followed the Joker's exploits, even looked into some of his past dealings - heck, after he'd delivered those 'flowers' to her not so long ago, she'd refused to accept any packages until she'd scanned them six different ways, and even then she wouldn't open them without security measures in place. So this time, Zatanna has stepped in, probably not looking like much more than a regular civilian herself, heading towards the steps of City Hall, keeping an eye out on the crowd. Just another foolish/brave person here to do her civic duty, really! Tum de dum~
He's been here once before. It was an invite from Zatanna. Today just seems a little more...dark. As armor, he would have stood out a lot more than he should, in human form, he feels the chill not just from the weather, but from the underlying the norms of the voting.
The younger Elric finds himself among the edge of the throngs, golden brown eyes scanning over everything within plain sight. He got a message from Mithril to be here, and since he hasn't been doing anything of late, Alphonse may as well put himself to some use. But for now, he'll wander and keep his eyes open.
This super-cop thing isn't so hard, Tetsuo thinks as he drives along the freeway from Metropolis. He leans back in the saddle of the battered motorcycle, aviator goggles over his eyes to ward off the wind. The handlebars twist and swerve on their own accord, weaving through the fading late-night traffic coming out of Gotham's city center. This is probably breaking traffic laws, but he is pretty sure there won't tickets.
He looks down at the wind-whipped folded over sheet of paper with instructions on how to handle this guy. Damn, he thinks, they underlined the lethal force option enough? The buildings get denser around the speeding bike, more like a canyon than a mountain now.
Being a space princess means having a healthy respect for the process of democracy and the will of the people...
Er... OK, scratch that. Makoto is always eager to bash heads in the name of love and justice. Fortunately (or unfortunately) the Joker popped his head up with a diabolical plan, and whenever evil strikes in Gotham a good punching time is to be had. So it was off to Batman's backyard again for the tallest of the senshi.
Running through the Hub as Sailor Jupiter might tip off the bad guys that something was up, however, so she had to travel in disguised as a not-quite-mild-mannered high school student. Only once she's close to Gotham City Hall does she start hunting for a place to make her senshi transformation. The back alleys are too dangerous, the dumpsters are too yucky, but that phone booth will do just nicely.
"JUPITER POWER!!!" Sorry, Clark, but you'll never make the booth like this pretty.
IPA Headquarters. Light Yagami returns to his seat with a cup of coffee, raising his gaze back up from a nervous look at his watch. The ballot boxes open soon. In front of his seat, a bank of monitors viewing security cameras across Gotham City, mostly centered on the ballots at City Hall. He picks up a headset, narrowing his eyes. "Everyone, this is Light. I'm monitoring the voting situation in Gotham this evening." His voice goes out on the IPA secure band; he does sound serious. People could get hurt here.
Wait. What's that? Light leans in, squinting at one of the monitors in a static view of the crowd outside City Hall, as one person in the crowd shifts through it.
"Everyone," Light stresses over the band. "I think we have a situation - beyond the bomb threat. We've got amassing protestors outside Gotham City Hall, but from the research I did on this 'Joker' since his threat last night... suspect, adult Caucasian male, heavy build, leather jacket, bright red hair, ponytail, networking with different parts of the crowd. I'm going to verify..." Click, click... there's the file. "I believe I have an I.D. on Evan 'Chuckles' O'Reilly, three-time past accomplice of the Joker on major incidents, on the scene at City Hall. I don't think their plan is a bomb. Proceed with caution. The suspect has a history of using chemical and biological weapons."
There is a lull, the sound of shuffling paper and people punching their ballots filling the empty space as the crowds outside stop their intermittant jeering and pause, as if waiting for something.
It takes a minute before the silence sinks in and some people appear nervous. It was too quie--
The room explodes with activity, as several holes burst through the floor with a rapid succession of loud bangs, tossing up dust and crumbling marble tiles. From these holes emerges the faint odor of smoke and waste water, and a sea of jeering faces in greasepaint. With a scream that spreads across the crowded room, the people begin to scatter, finding themselves surrounded by Clownz. Security is immediately shot or beaten down with clubs and chains, some managing to fire a few shots, killing some of them before meeting a similar fate.
In the midst of all this violence and panic, emerges a laughing man. Among all the freakishly painted army of thugs is a man is a rich, albiet intensely purple, pinstriped tuxedo, white gloves and a slender cane (atop which is a painted sculpture of what appears to be a female harlequin's smiling head). The man's face is devoid of color - the chalky white of a mime's makeup, his lips a too-red to be anything but cosmetics and a shock of green hair. He throws his hands up in the air and speaks:
"People of Goth-hack hack--" The Joker doubles over, coughing for an uncomfortable 10 seconds before straightening up again, looking less than pleased. Apparently, the dust they kicked up making their grand entrance ruined his plan for an entrance of his own.
The explosion of activity startles Zatanna, but only slightly - she had, after all, been expecting something along the lines like this to happen. Still, even with that, it doesn't prepare her for the mayhem; officers and dime a dozen security guards outclassed and outnumbered in seconds.
'So much for security detail.' Zatanna mutters to herself, backing up into the panicked crowd so as not to draw notice, particularly as the Joker (and Jokerz) enter - and oh, poor Joker's dramatic entrance is /ruined/! Well - that's not going to do anything for his disposition. Turning her attention from the man of the hour, she glances sharply towards the fallen guards. Hrn.
Once the explosions take place, instinct kicks in. At first, Alphonse ducks his head at the sound, feeling the rumblings pass as the people started running. "That must be it," he breathes, eyes darting back in that direction. He, unlike many of the 'normal' ones, decides to stay, running towards the building, weaving and dodging by other citizens. Well, maybe he'll be lucky and catch a few of the Joker's speech lines once he clears his throat of debris. And accidently run into some Clownz or something. Whoops.
Someone with rather blue hair, a school uniform, and glasses is arriving as well. Never having been to Gotham before... and if she had, only for a short time, Mercury found it a bit too dangerous from what she both hears in passing and sees, the IPA radio hanging nearby her ear disguised as an earring. It certainly helps for when she can't simply transform.
Unlike Makoto, however, she doesn't find phone booths to be the best, and Mako-chan is already inhabiting one. She instead used an uninhabited, boarded up building. Not the best place.. but certainly abandoned. "MERCURY POWER!!" is muffled by the explosion of activity across the street, which the senshi, in an effort to get to faster, dives through a rather slim hole in the boarded window. Rolling to her feet, all she needs to do is just get across the street.
The words from Light are kept to her alright, and remembered. Bomb threat.. protestors.. and biological and chemical weapons. Oh how horrible! "Sailor Mercury here.. I'll see what can be done about the protestors." So they don't get hurt! Even if they might be thugs.
Tetsuo adjusts his radio earbud. "Chemical weapons?" he says, looking up towards the looming buildings of Gotham. Too damn fancy, he thinks, as the bike's forward tire turns off with a sudden screech of rubber and desperate honking from a trucker. Stuff's starting to kick in.
He doesn't... really slow down as he approaches the far end of the gathering mob, perhaps planning to run them over. "Hey Yagami," he continues into the radio, "do they need to clear out the crowd?"
And striding right up behind the lunatic, wearing a dust mask over her greasepainted face, is a woman with pink hair, the same insane attire as all the other Clownz, and, unlike the others - no real weapons in sight.
Just a blue, left-handed electric guitar strapped across her back.
She doesn't say anything, merely cocking an amused eyebrow and pulling another dust mask out of her pocket, holding it out in the Joker's direction.
The senshi arrived just in time! Just as they complete their transformations, explosions erupt from the voting station. The brunette senshi, who wears a small tactical headset as she's not replacing her earrings in a million millenia, nods, "Sailor Jupiter here too. So we're facing both delinquents and the Joker? When it rains it pours."
Turning to her partner, Jupiter jerks her head towards the building and asks, "So what's the plan? Do you have something for the Joker, or should we stay here and take care of the jerks outside?"
Light Yagami places a hand on his chin, staring at the screens. It's possible that protesters would be brought out by a public election in a city as ridden with poverty and crime as Gotham. The bomb threat, however, was announced very publicly, and while mobs are a fickle and easily manipulated thing, they're not likely to seek out such an imminently dangerous position as ballots claimed to be wired to explode by a known serial murderer and bioterrorist like the Joker.
The Joker's profile indicates a charismatic sociopath, the kind of man who would understand how to gather people around himself as shields - explaining why he's attained accomplices in the first place given their high fatality rate. He has a history of exploiting hostages and the duty of the police to protect the innocent. And his accomplice on the scene was seen networking between members of the crowds. Therefore, this is probably a feint. The Joker has secretly galvanized the rougher low criminal element of the city into a distraction outside for police to have to push through, disguised as a legitimate protest. At the same time, most of the crowd outside is probably unaware of why they've really been gathered there.
"The crowd of protesters is probably a trick," Light Yagami muses over the police band. "Composed of gang members and petty criminals the Joker has whipped up as an obstacle for us. Push through them, with minimal violence if possible, but don't worry too much about them. They're not the real threat. We should bring the Joker and his direct henchmen in by any means necessary, and the local police are equipped fine to quell the unrest outside."
With a bloodthirsty cheer from the gathered mob outside, the anarchists begin to battle the police in riot gear guarding the city hall. With all the noise they're making, they don't seem to notice the rapidly approaching sound of a japanese-made motorcycle heading their way. They, uh... might want to turn around...
A few of the anarchists notice the girls in school girl outfits approaching and whistle appreciatively. You know, they might not even have to fight their way in... but they might have to fight some of those guys off. But for the moment, they seem to be having a grand old time harrassing the fuzz by throwing glass bottles and debris and throwing punches.
Meanwhile, back inside the hall, many of the people have already began kneeling or laying on the floor, either playing dead, praying for survival or fainted. The Joker looked at the mask presented to him, allowing his half-lidded gaze to slip over onto Haruko's face. His smile returned and he plucked it out of her hand, but didn't put it on yet.
"People of Gotham..." The Joker made sure that he was well away from the settling clouds of dust before speaking again, his mocking voice echoing in the room, "I /do/ hope you weren't voting for my opponents... I would be so very disappointed in you. I guess we'll see, won't we? Once the ballots have been counted, that is..." Apparently, he hasn't noticed Zatanna yet, otherwise, he would be -very- concerned.
Oh, he'd be very concerned, hum? GOOD, be concerned then! SHe's tempted to change the ballots to read something like, 'Allmighty JEebus' or 'Batman' but the last thing she wants to do is antagonize the Joker, while there were a number of innocent civilians in the hall. So, from where she's kneeling behind a few of the wailing 'Oh LAWDY save us' gentlefolk, she thinks. Judging from Joker's words, she hasn't much time. And.. she glances around subtly - most of the IPA folk seemed to be -outside-, weren't they?. Bugger.
Totally Not Haruko grins at the Joker, but she does it behind the dust mask so it's not as easy to see. She shadows up behind the supervillain as he orates, shockingly not even doing anything suicidally crazy like making horns around his head. Instead, she merely hangs back, head nestled in her hands, held behind her head.
She doesn't know who to look for, so she doesn't notice Zatanna either.
Whoa, this is trickier than he thought it would be. The mix in the crowd is really confusing, but surely Alphonse can pick out the civilians from the baddies. At least, that's the idea. And with some already distracted by the oncoming Sailor Senshi (which he has never met, nope nope), he'll be closing in on the building. He leaps onto one of the police cars, unsuccessfully trying to clear it as a hurdle. "Whoops - sorry!" the young alchemist calls back, rolling over the rest of the way.
"He's inside the building," Light Yagami adds over the radio, glaring at that grinning face through one of the City Hall security camera feeds. "The Joker and a number of his personal themed accomplices - I count four or five from previous major incidents... one probable interplanar too, probably not with him. How fast can you push through the crowd outside? There may be fatalities inside; the crowd outside is more likely to inflict injury but not casualties."
Tetsuo smirks as he approaches the crowd. Losers, he thinks, before reaching out with the power.
They told him to be gentle with living people. Nobody, thus, explodes. The crowd in front of him feels pressure, each person leaned on by their neighbor. There is confusion until the leaning becomes a shove, sending the crowd staggering and compressing it against the nearby buildings. Windows get broken and people shout and scream, but nobody's getting /killed/.
Tetsuo rides ahead. From above, it looks like the crowd is parting ahead of him, like some sort of invisible riot-control snowplow. "Workin' on it," he answers Light.
Meeting up with her fellow senshi on such a place made Ami at least feel better about the situation. Looking over the situation, and with Jupiter nearby in matching outfit, Mercury looks close. "The plan... I have an idea of how to distract the group without hurting them.. at least for a short time." But to say our go?
Light's information certainly helps, however. "Right, we should get inside!" And the easiest, non-lethal way usually is water cannons.. which they don't have.
" I think I have an id-" And Mercury watches as the crowd parts due to force. "Maybe before they get up?" OOp!
"Hey good lookin', you should forget your costume party and come with-"
WHAM.
"Holy #### did you just she what that girl in green did to Ernie? C'mon, let's get her-"
WHUMP.
"On second thought, let's let these nice girls pass. Jeez, her heels have spikes..."
The path clear, Sailor Jupiter boldly and sternfacedly leads the way inside. Turning her head to Mercury, she asks, "What idea did you have in mind-" She too catches the odd parting of the crowd, and abruptly stops. "Maybe this isn't the best way. Oh! Over there," she points to an explosion-broken window. "Let's jump through there. They'll never expect us that way!"
The crowds, anarchist and riot police alike, tilt and stumble, parting like a sea of flailing figures. The confusion it created was amazingly effective -- especially considering how unexpected it was. On either side of Tetsuo was a sprawling tangle of waving arms, pipes and nightsticks.
Those who aren't part of the mess Tetsuo created make their way toward the Sailor Senshi... and immediately regret it. The firey brunette makes quick work of the thugs, sending them sprawling with an easy swipe of her leg. The rest of them back off... who knows what the blue-haired girl would do?!
"Man, that hurt, but those girls are /smokin/!" "Shh! She might come back!"
The Joker, unaware of the disturbance to his plan outside, continues to pontificate in his usual, flamboyant manner. The painted girl behind him still on the back of his mind -- how so much more unpredictable this one was compared to his Harley... Still, the show must go on!
"But we don't have to wait for that, my dear friends..." The Joker twirls his cane with a flourish, "After all, I have a much faster way to tell just who voted for me and who's DEAD." Just what is he getting at?
Alphonse manages to get in, quite easily. Because he's short.
And nobody loves him.!
Ah, cool, he can sneak into the place. Thank goodness he's not creaky and squeaky metallic-sounding. The youth pokes his head around a corner, ducking a bit when he sees the Joker, his pink-haired henchwo-man, and all the rest of them civilians stuck and grounded within the vicinity.
Here, he moves silently as possible during the spiel. Of course, this doesn't last for long. While switching posts/large columns, he hits a random easel sign saying 'VOTING - LINE STARTS HERE.' That knocks to the ground, clattering as loud as it can.
Darn, so much for being ninja.
Not being noticed works rather nicely for Zatanna! Why, you might ask? Because it allows her to weave the necessary spell - this one in particular is a teleportation, but it's going to take some time to tag everyone with it. Faintly, she whispers the backwards incantation, mind thinking quickly of a safe place to deposit the citizens.
Well - 'home' is usually safe right? Another quick glance around the room, marking a few of fainted, desperately praying group, and she waves a hand at a group of five near the back of the room.
And someone totally distracts her by knocking over an easel sign - nice one! But if it distracts the Joker and the others as well, that means Zatanna can teleport people out - unfortunately, there's a faint flash of light to accompany the spell.
Unpredictable indeed. The girl with the guitar who is very definitely not Haruko Haruhara continues to linger behind Joker, inscrutable as ever. She just...shows up. She doesn't even coordinate or anything - appears, pretending like she belongs, and really who's gonna mess with someone the Joker hasn't killed yet? Especially when she has demonstrated no apparent hesitation to knock people flying with that guitar.
Besides, she tells dirty jokes.
But she's not telling one now - her eyes dart over to the side, perhaps detecting the madness approaching from outside, or perhaps noticing Zatanna's work?
Well, she doesn't say either way, and since she hasn't taken that mask off yet, who can tell what she's thinking?
The blue haired girl would get them wet that's what! And maybe even ice them off! .. But they're a bit rushed! "We'll have to pass! We aren't interested either!" Mercury comments to some of the thugs, and well, Jupiter's certainly cleared the path!
Ami doesn't have to worry about them at all! The thugs certainly are answered well enough by the other senshi, at least! "I'll tell you later. We'll have to hurry,, but where..." And Jupiter finds one alright, Ami looking up and over, the broken window coming into view. "Good idea Jupiter!"
Running towards it, Sailor Mercury leaps through, although carefully, and climbs if it's a bit up above the ground. Getting in is easy enough, although she does scrape her leg a bit. It's just a danger of jumping into a blown out window.
Alright, she's close.. but not in the room with the others yet.
Tetsuo keeps driving forwards. The telekinetic wave crushing the crowd together fades gradually as he stops paying attention to it. Hopefully they won't kill each other with the thugs getting a decisive advantage due to his stunt; that'd be sort of embarrassing.
He reaches forwards to actually steer the bike with his hands, glancing towards the girls in stupidly short skirts off to the side. Hm. What IS the ideal role here? Maybe he should cause a diversion.
He drives up towards the /steps/ of City Hall, revving the engine and looking back towards the crowd: "What the hell are you jackasses here for?!" he shouts. "Trying to cause trouble, huh!?"
Sailor Jupiter is likewise distracted by the arrival of a boy on a bike. "He- He rides a motorcycle just like my sem-" Blink. "Oh no, not now. Not when there's evil running loose!" Shaking the notion off with a sigh, she takes a running leap through the same window as Mercury, gracefully sailing through much like Superman flying through the air, and landing with a tuck and roll before popping right up and dashing into the main foyer. There's no time to waste, not even to wait for her friend! "C'mon, Mercury!"
The green senshi races into view, coming to a slight skidding stop next to a voting booth to strike her senshi pose: One arm flexing while the other reaches straight forward in a karate punch. "This circus is over, and I don't mean the election! I'm Sailor Jupiter!"
Somewhere in the background, there might be a glint of a shiny barrel seen from a cluster of leaves, or behind some trash cans, or through a hole in a crumbling wall. And a thuggish anarchist or two who are about to lay into Innocent Citizens (TM) who suddenly freeze up in mid-beatdown, looking rather surprised as they get Arm Aimed or Leg Aimed as necessary. Mustadio smiles a little bit grimly as he carefully moves forward toward the center of the commtion, where all the Clownz are running wild.
Amidst the chaos, he's made it over to City Hall and managed to break the latch on a basement window, scuttling in carefully and quietly. Given a bit of careful sneaking around, he soon emerges into the first floor through a rarely used back staircase.
Just as he peers around a corner, he sees a blue-haired girl in a short skirt. And a brown-haired girl in a short skirt, made all the shorter by those, long, long, long le...hey, wait, not the time for that. He drops down, gun held ready in case they're here to cause trouble...but then he vaguely recalls a meeting many months ago.... "Jupiter?" he calls out. "Hey, it is you!"
Racing in after her, both arms at her sides as she speaks up, having followed the speeding Sailor Jupiter into the room. "And I'm Sailor Mercury!" Arms sticking outwards, her elbows at her sides. "AN election is made from the people who trust in those enough to have them protect them, and to do things best for them!" Of course Ami would know more about it and go into detail.
She's right next to Sailor Jupiter as well. "And we won't let you break that trust!" Tough words from a miniskirt wearing short haired nerd.. at least her boots are knee high!
Ami was always good with civics.
Jupiter nods, completely oblivious to whoever's calling her name at the moment, "That's right! In the name of the moon..."
You know those annoying moments where there's that moment of silence in the middle of an intense situation that just seems like it was /waiting/ to mock you by bringing attention to you mistake?
Yeah. That totally just happened to Alphonse.
The Joker pauses, long enough for his eyes to fall on Alphonse before passing him over again. While outwardly, he appears to have forgotten about the lad, his mind continues to turn over just how /wrong/ it was for him to be there.
After all, he was far too young to vote.... and too young to have made it past the riot police and those punks outside... he had been very careful to make sure no one got in. He might have a use for the kid after all... Gotham sure did hate to see a kid die...
Zatanna began her incant, seemingly ignored for the moment, until the Joker manages to aim a sly, toothy grin in her direction. He lifts a finger before his face in a silent admonishing expression. Nuh-ah-ah! A thug in makeup cried out and swung out to slap Zatanna right in the throat, "GOTCHA GIRLY!"
Just then, a blue-haired and brunette pair of girls in garishly bright school uniform attire burst in. Followed shortly by a kid in red leather on a MASSIVE motorcycle. Both groups were apparently mocking him with an even grander entrance than his. What made it /worse/ is that they seemed to be lecturing him with that goody-two-shoes way only superheroes in comics do. Like that spandex-idiot, Superman. The Joker sputtered with rage.
"WILL YOU PEOPLE STOP INTERRUPTING MY GIG?!" The Joker spun around, "HARL-- I mean..." Well, that was awkward. He adjusted his expression of outrage to that of a placating smile. "It's so dull in here, sugar lumps, can't you cheer me up with a tune?" And of course, by 'tune', he could only mean 'bash someone in the head with a guitar'.
Just enough!
"We'll-..." INTERRUPTED!? She doesn't let that stop her! "..punish you!" Ami finishes for Sailor Jupiter, still standing in her position.
Oh my, they interrupted it!?
! Spotted. Zatanna cuts her incantation short, and not just because she got knife-handed to the damn /throat/, which has her double over backwards, a hand at her neck. Sputtering, coughing, gagging - all that good stuff - it renders her incapable of speaking let alone casting a spell for the next couple of minutes. But the baleful glare she casts at not just Joker, but the cronie who laid hands on her - as soon as she can talk - nay - BREATHE again, he was /toast/. "Emo -- E-" Gahgggh. That's right, she's calling the damn cronie an emo. Throat sore, she wheezes, points at the man that whapped her one, and gasps out, "E--Emoceb," Gag, COUGH, "A Guls!" Temporary, but it's revenge nonetheless. Revenge so /sweet/ too, should the spell take effect, the bastard will be turned into a slug. Oh god, her throat; back to coughing with her.
H-hey now, Alphonse isn't /trying/ to become a victim in the situation! He's trying to help! For now, he's still standing there in an awkward pose, half-smiling at the Joker.
And then the senshi girls come in.
And then the crazy motorcyclist.
And more chaos coming from outside.
But - what the heck - multiple entrances, and all of them completely different! What fun! What...chaos. That's it. Alphonse finds himself switching views between each face, trying to keep his head in gear at the same time. His blond-brown head swivels slightly in Zatanna's direction, his voice caught in his throat in order not to call any attention to recognizing her. She looks like she can handle her situation anyway. Now, him on the other hand...
Haruko grins beneath the mask, reaching her left hand back around to grab the guitar off her back...She swings it off her back and down, shrugging the strap off her shoulders so she can move freely, and then she...begins playing as instructed. She's not singing, though, merely plucking out the opening bars to some old song with a vaguely Western tune to it. The guitar's not plugged in, so it sounds about as flat as you'd expect from an electric bass guitar. She closes her eyes, as if getting into the music...
...and then suddenly, just about the time as people ought to be good and confused by her little stunt, her eyes snap open, she grins a crazy look that's visible even behind the dust mask, and then she spins the guitar around so that the head is pointed right at the Sailors Two.
A few things become quickly apparent. One, on the back of the guitar is what looks a damn sight like a pullcord like one might find on an outboard motor or a chainsaw; two, Haruko is gripping the guitar by this like it were some sort of trigger grip for a gun; and three, the head of the guitar has a pair of small tubes popping out of the tip, not at all unlike gun barrels.
And then she laughs, "You heard the man! Sing for me, sweetheart!" and pulls the trigger, and oh look at that it /is/ a gun. Though the bullets are conspicuously nonlethal; they hurt like a punch from a certain Metropolis Marvel, but even on a normal person, they wouldn't be deadly.
Tetsuo's head whirls around to look towards the Clown Prince of Crime. His eyes go wide. Holy crap, he is that ugly! "Goddamn clown!" he shouts, making a sharp gesture with one arm. "You stupid or what?! Rob a bank or something if you're gonna be a criminal!" That's a stirring piece of police talk, isn't it?
Of course, then someone's pointing a gun at girls. He may be too late to keep them from being shot, but he lashes out towards the ground at Haruko's feet with brutal telekinetic force, which may keep her from following up and preventing Tetsuo's chance at "scoring" with the girls in micro-minis later. "Get the hell out of here before you piss me off!" he shouts at no one in particular. Is this an attempt to draw fire?