810/Never Trust a Cat

Never Trust a Cat
Date of Scene:	07 January 2016
Location:	Mitakihara - Downtown Neon District
Synopsis:	Ikuto's at it again. This time he runs afoul of Guardian Sol. Ikuto finds out Sol isn't playing, and Sol finds out how reprehensible cats truly are!
Cast of Characters:	Ikuto Tsukiyomi, Solomon Novak

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Solomon Novak has posed:
    It was nice that they weren't broke anymore. Solomon Novak hardly was one for luxuries, but a person with spending money can do a great deal more than a person without. For instance, they can sit at one of the outdoor tables of a coffee shop with a cup of coffee. This draws much less attention and allows him to hang around for much longer without bothering the staff.

    Of course, he still isn't sure /why/ people drink coffee. Surely there are better ways to revitalize a person.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Just above the typical line of sight, enough that it wouldn't draw too much attention, there's a disturbance. Upon one of the smaller buildings, a shape comes to rest. It's a young man, dressed in black, with blue hair and eyes. And, oddly enough, cat ears and a tail! Yes, it's a catboy.

Trailing him is what almost looks like a tiny doppelganger, though not completely exactly like him. It has yellow feline eyes, and its hands and feet are paws. Two catboys?

Seems as though he doesn't quite see Solomon, because he sets up there on that building with his violin. The smaller of the catboys points down at some of the people. Specifically, two girls, they look like they're about thirteen. Solomon might be able to hear their conversation.

"A jeweler's shop?"

"Uh-huh!"

"But that's really expensive! All the gems you have to buy..."

"But that's okay! I'll figure out how to do it! I just have to keep trying, and..."

Suddenly the boy with the cat ears starts to play the violin. It's incredibly sad. And oddly, it seems to affect the one girl. She stops, seeming surprised, and draws in a breath. Then she seems to just... deflate somehow. As if her spirit has been crushed. "...Yeah, that's... gonna be really expensive," she suddenly agrees. "I'll never be able to afford all those gems... and the work is delicate... my hands aren't that precise..."

"...It's impossible."

"Impossible..."

Most people are going to miss it. But those attuned to the supernatural-- including Solomon-- would see everything that's really going on. A black egg with a white X across it exits the chest of the girl who suddenly seemed so hopeless all of a sudden. And then that girl faints.

As for the egg? It's getting nabbed by the smaller of the two catboys and brought to the violinist cat.

Solomon Novak has posed:
    Some people are gifted with incredibly sharp senses. Others have undergone specialized training to notice when the smallest shadow is out of place, or inherited secret techniques for discerning the location of people just by listening to the wind. Solomon has none of these, and instead does his best to make up for it with sheer paranoia. In addition to watching the people go by, he constantly scans the area with his eyes, trying to find anything strange. Unfortunately, even after four months in the city, a great number of things qualify as strange. Ever since he mistook a shoplifting alarm for a demon attack he has at least trained himself to wait, observe, and consider before reacting to something unusual. Seeing somebody on the roof of a building, while unusual, does not seem like a greater cause for alarm than when one of those accursed flying Science vehicles passes by overhead.

    Now jewelry, that is one of the things that Solomon wants to hear about. It relates to the economy, it's highly prevalant, and for some reason girls seem obsessed with them. Maybe the figure on the rooftop is trying to figure out how girls think, just like he is?

    Ok, the pointing tiny cat person is pretty dang weird, and worth a discrete glance or two... The violin, on the other hand, probably is just some freaky Tokyo custom, based upon everyone's lack of a response. Or at least, Solomon might have concluded that had the upbeat girl not done a complete 180 in her attitude. And then passed out.

    By the time the... whatever that thing is is pulling out of her body he has set down his coffee and is striding around the side of the building that the catpeople pair are on, so that he can transform the moment he is out of sight.

    "To push back the darkness, I am Guardian Sol!"

    Golden armor materializes around him as he clasps his pendant, leaving him a fully armored knight.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Solomon can probably still hear that odd voice from before. "Impossible... impossible... impossible..." It's a tiny, almost squeaky-sounding voice. It's not the girl, and it's not either of the catboys. Since the larger of the two catboys speaks. He has a deep voice for a young fellow his apparent age. "It's not the Embryo. But this'll do."

A higher voice pipes up, "All he wants is X Eggs-nya. We got two more left. Let's get outta here, before--"

And then suddenly that flash of light. Ikuto pauses, and then hands the violin case (the violin is in it now) to the tiny floating catboy. "Hide. I'll deal with this." And then the tiny catboy zips out of sight with the violin case.

For his part, Ikuto waits on the roof, with the black egg. "I know you're down there," he says. "Come on up, I'm alone. Unless you want to go higher, to make sure no one gets hurt." Yes he's done this before, and yes he expects a fight.

Solomon Novak has posed:
    Of all the Guardian Knights, with the possible exception of Gao, Sol has the most combat training. Of all the Guardians Knights, even Hinote, Sol has the least live combat experience. The music stopping indicates even before Ikuto speaks that his transformation did not go unnoticed. Was it the light? The sound of him speaking the Oath? Or something else altogether? Until he can figure that out, that's the last time he'll try to sneak up on an enemy /before/ transforming.

    Answering the invitation, Guardian Sol uses the fire escape as a launch point to leap the rest of the way to the roof, his faceplate slid into the open position. The element of surprise gone, he opts to talk instead of attack first and ask questions never. "What happens to her without that?"

    As he asks, he is simultaneously looking around for the smaller accomplice and edging his way over until he can see the girl who had just been magically assaulted.

    "Will she survive? Recover?" His right gauntlet settles upon the hilt of the still sheathed broadsword. He doesn't like the fact that one of the enemy is missing. Heck, he doesn't even like the fact that the musical instrument is missing. "Can you give me a reason not to kill you and take it back?"

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
The tiny flying catboy is nowhere to be seen as Guardian Sol gets onto the roof. Only the larger of the two, the cat-eared boy dressed in black. And strangely enough, he's missing his ears and tail when Guardian Sol looks back at him.

"Oh this?" Ikuto looks at the egg. "Nothing. She'll wake up without that silly dream, and be well on her way to being just another tired adult who's bored with life." But his tone is bitter, not one of contempt.

As for killing him and taking it back? Ikuto smirks. Guardian Sol may notice something. That smirk doesn't have any fire behind it. It's a mask. "Do you think you can?" He releases the egg and it floats above his hand.

"Ore no kokoro... UNLOCK!"

The egg merges with Ikuto's chest, and his body starts to glow. His outfit changes; now he's in a pinstriped button-down dress shirt, brown tie, a gray vest buttoned over it, gray pants, and black dress shoes. A longwhite coat, almost like a lab coat, drapes over the lot. And finally, a pair of almost arcane-looking jeweler's glasses appear on his face, pushed down low, so he can see over them. And everything seems to glitter!

CHARA NARI: JET RAZZMATAZZ

Solomon Novak has posed:
    Sol has no real knowledge of the situation or the enemy before him. He's not a Puella Magi, not a demon, not a Sailor Senshi - or Tuxedo Mask. He is an unknown. Sol believes his words at least, but that hardly gives him a complete picture. All he has a pieces of disconnected information that he tries to assemble in his mind:

-The smaller catboy is gone, and with it, the boy's ears and tail.
-The egg(?) contains not only the dream but the sentiment of despair of the victim.
-After merging with the egg his opponent has the tool of a jeweler - what the victim dreamed to become.

    A boy who gains powers from different sources. But it hardly seemed like a true endgame. And the bitterness... r
    "I'm willing to bet my life on it," he answers with a small grin. Yet his hand remains unmoving upon the swordhilt. "On the other hand," his grin vanishes, replaced by a mostly stony expression; someone sufficiently skilled at reading people could pick up a hint of regret. "I believe that I have been in your shoes. Why are you doing this? You must be after more than the powerup you received. What goal is forcing this theft?"

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto lands back on the roof again, expecting Sol to merely attack. But when he doesn't... Ikuto blinks over the jeweler's glasses at Sol. He frowns, then, as Sol mentions having been in Ikuto's shoes. "So you've realized these kids aren't going to use these dreams anyway, and have decided to use them yourself?"

...Oh he's really trying. He/s trying so hard to seem evil. And he's putting a bit more effort into it now. He really doesn't know about what Runealy and her Guardians were doing. But this is what happens when one's stuck under an evil corporation...

Solomon Novak has posed:
    "Dreams were never much use for me," the knight admits shamelessly. "And she's-" a glance in the direction of the victim, "-probably not going to use it, whether you return it or not." A font of optimism, he is not. "But maybe she will. Maybe just her hope and determination will be enough to make a difference someday, even if she never becomes a jeweler. In which case you're making this world a darker, colder place."

    "So. Again. Why are you doing this? If fancy gem powers is all you want, then you're pathetic and I'd be doing you a favor by killing you. But I am guessing this is a means to an end; either you're doing something bad for a good purpose, or you're doing something bad because you're too weak to do what's right. Which is it?"

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
That sound. Yes, Ikuto makes that sound. The sound that anyone who knows him realizes is a sound that he makes when someone's confronted him with reason and he can't really deny it. Otherwise it just sounds frustrated. No, he doesn't want to do this. But he kind of has to. Even for this strange fellow's sake.

On the bright side, someone who realizes this girl's dream has a greater chance of never coming true just wouldn't be the type to jump to Ikuto's defense once he finds out what's going on. So he does feel confident enough to let a bit of information go. That information comes in the form of a single statement. "I have my orders."

Solomon Novak has posed:
    Just four words. Though they are not a direct answer to Sol's question, they tell him enough. It's a cause he doesn't agree with, or a superior he doesn't want to follow. The Guardian Knight better understands the other boy and the position he's in, and replies with four words of his own.

    "I see." Guardian Sol gives a small nod of acknowledgement: understanding, though not approval. His gauntlet pulls away from the sheathed weapon, stretching out towards Ikuto.

    "Solar Beam." With the name invoked, the arm that extends towards the thief of heart eggs releases a narrow, coherent beam of energy from the palm of the gauntlet, aimed directly at his enemy.

    "I tried," Sol privately thinks to himself with a mental shrug as the battle begins.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
It's the first pair of words that make Ikuto understand that the fight's about to happen. The second pair only confirm his suspicions. And so when the Solar Beam comes at him, Ikuto quickly raises his hands before him.

"Sharp Reflection," he announces, and a beam fires from one of the lenses of his jeweler's glasses, stopping just in front of his hands. A shield of faceted light shimmers into view, just in time to intercept the beam from Sol. But given the wince and the fact that it pushed him back, the beam wasn't unfelt, even with the shield.

The shield disappears then, and Ikuto turns his head to look at one hand. A beam from those glasses shines into a hand, and a faceted black gem appears in his hand. "Adamantine." And then he aims the gem in Sol's direction. Beams of light shoot out of the gem, aimed at Sol, though they're unfocused. He doesn't appear to have the degree of control over light that Sol does.

Solomon Novak has posed:
    Given the nature of gems, his light based powers are probably not the most effective tool at his disposal. Therefor, even before the shield Ikuto raises disappears, Sol is charging forward. A sharp, well practiced nod of his helmeted head causes the faceplate to slide into place with a snap while he draws his broadsword.

    The counterattack bombards him before he can reach the enemy, failing to halt his charge completely but still managing to stagger his approach. It's a simple, straight-through-the-middle assault, trusting that his breastplate will soak up enough force to keep him from taking any true damage yet. One beam however catches him in the (relatively) unarmored upper arm of his off hand.

    When he gets in close enough it's to deliver a single horizontal slash with end of the blade. "I guess I should ask you now, since you'll be dead later: what is your name?" His voice is flat and even, cold and tightly controlled rather than truly emotionless.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
The thing is, Ikuto has no real combat training. Most of the time he's relying on his catlike reflexes to keep him out of danger. He lacks those in this form. And even as he tries to dodge backwards, the end of the sword catches him in the arm, tearing a crimson line in the sleeve. Ikuto draws in a hissed breath of pain and jumps to another roof. He clasps a hand over the injury, with a wince.

That's... a bit unusual. Most of the time people fight him for a heart's egg they do so with energy and lasers. This... is different. This guy actually wants to hurt him. It's a new feeling. And not a good one at all. Can he afford to just let this one go? Probably not. Still, there's only so much damage he's going to be able to take. And then something else occurs to him.

Mikoto's going to want to punch him over this.

This fellow asked for his name. And surprisingly, he gives it. Not a pseudonym. "Ikuto," he offers. And then he aims both hands at Sol. "Asterism." Black gems with points of light inside them appear in his hands, sending out star-shaped beams of light from the other roof.

Solomon Novak has posed:
    It is the first time that Solomon Novak has intentionally drawn human blood with his sword. Perhaps it should give him pause, to realize that after many years of determined practice he truly might end another person's life. Perhaps. But it does not. Guardian Sol finds, to little surprise, that his feelings on the matter are quite clear and focused. Ikuto might be an unwilling participant, yet he was still a participant, and unless he chose a different path or at least asked for help, that made him an enemy. And Solomon Novak has waited a very, very long time for an enemy.

    "When you die, will it separate from you automatically, or is there some ritual I need to perform?" Why no, he does not reciprocate by giving his own name. He just queries his foe with ruthless pragmatism while dancing across the rooftop in an attempt to evade the latest attack. While it is mostly successful, it is at the cost of being unable to follow, or even approach, Ikuto. Even with his armor being far lighter than it should be, full body plate mail makes acrobatics rather difficult; leaping across rooftops while simultaneously dodging is currently beyond his skill.

    So he cheats. "Solar Flare!" No longer does he just reflect the sunlight - for a couple seconds he's nearly as bright as the sun itself. During those moments he changes his angle and makes the jump to follow the other boy to his rooftop.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
The answer to the question is a smirk and a simple, "You'll see." It won't take killing him to get it back, but he doesn't mention that. he does emit a choked sound of surprise and pain at the sudden bright light. Unable to see, he still knows that the other is coming after him. And with his inability to see all of a sudden, he won't know where to dodge.

So instead he raises a hand, and that black gem appears in it again. "DRUSE!" The gem starts emitting a crystalline substance from all sides. This shimmering dust falls around Ikuto, forming up into a translucent barrier that he can hopefully stay safe behind while he gets his sight back.

Solomon Novak has posed:
    As soon as Sol makes it to the building that Ikuto is on he speaks, no longer /needing/ to keep his location a secret. And it probably won't take more than a couple of seconds for the taller boy to see well enough to notice the person-sized gold shape, regardless.

    "I'll take that to mean it will separate automatically at that point." With the sparkly foe going full defensive, Sol presses the attack by launching another Solar Beam at him, then following it up with a direct strike with his sword. Almost the exact same pattern as before, really.

    "You wouldn't let her dream be lost for /nothing/," he concludes, explaining how he came to his previous conclusion.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Maybe it will. That crystalline shape is kind of hard to see through. And even harder to dodge past. Evidenced when Sol's beam of light starts burning through it. Ikuto's just as much held in place by the protective covering as he is protected by it. In fact, it might be more the former, since the beam burns through the crystalline crust, just enough to allow it to streak across his side, leaving a scorched mark and drawing a choked grunt of pain. And then Sol's attack breaks through the crystalline shell, leaving a line of crimson across his chest. He yelps in pain, and ends up flat on his back on the roof.

"IKUTO!" A tiny, squeaky voice intrudes as the transformed boy falls. Suddenly there is a literal HERD of cats leaping onto the roof and surrounding the fallen Ikuto. Leading them is the blue-haired boy's tiny, feline doppelganger. Hand-paws on his hips, he declares, "That's ENOUGH-nya!" The cats aren't attacking, just making a barrier between Ikuto and Guardian Sol.

And just as Sol thought, the egg begins to separate from Ikuto. He shudders as the black egg phases out of his chest and floats into the air. The black suddenly flakes away from the surface, leaving behind a pure white egg with a golden pattern on on it-- a pair of stylized angel wings with a heart between them. This egg floats back down to the girl it had been stolen from, now being tended by a friend of hers.

As the now-white egg merges back into her chest, the air above her chest rippling as the egg disappears from view, the girl wakes, blinking as if she has no idea what just happened. "Are you okay?!" her friend inquires worriedly.

"Yeah," she says, standing. "I'm fine." She smiles. "C'mon, I have plans to make!"

Back on the roof, Ikuto's starting to stand up. He's back to the appearance of a normal boy, no jeweler's glasses or weird outfit, or cat ears and tail either. He's also got his hand over his chest, precisely where that line of red is.

Solomon Novak has posed:
    Sol had been wondering about that catboy. So much so that he goes practically full defensive just at hearing the voice, very much expecting a surprise attack. It's definitely good for Ikuto, as it keeps the knight from ruthlessly pressing the attack and finishing him off, or at least ensuring that a truly incapacating wound is dealt. Seperated by a moat of felines, the younger boy remains where he is, wary, to take in the situation. The loss of the transformation, yet /not/ regaining feline features; the emergence of the egg, and it's new appearance; the fact that girl's voice has regained its earlier enthusiasm.

    "This is not the part where I let you go because in the end nobody got hurt." Aside from Ikuto himself, obviously. "This is the part where you finish answering my questions and convince me that, one way or another, your future actions are truly for the better." The sword remains out, still more defensively than in preparation to attack.

    "Who are you working for, and why do they want dreams?"

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Two things occur to Ikuto. One, that he's probably bitten off significantly more than he can chew; two, that this fellow might be a good one to protect Tadase. So, he smirks, the expression pained. It might look a bit surreal-- the blue-haired boy dressed in black, standing there with the cats milling about his feet, with an obviously pained smirk on his face. "Find Tadase. Ask him. He'll tell you everything."

Suddenly the cat features return, the ears and tail appearing with a pop and a flash of glitter. There's a chuckle, and then he leaps up to another roof. The tiny flying catboy follows, too. Sol may not be letting Ikuto go, but the boy starts jumping away. He is incredibly fast. And clearly more experienced with his own feline powers than with someone else's strange powers.

Solomon Novak has posed:
    A name. It's a start. But Sol is not content with a lead to chase down when he still has the boy within range of a Solar Beam. "What makes you think-"

    Oh. That's why Ikuto thought he was going to get away. He's /fast/. And rooftop jumping is really not something that Sol has much practice is, be it as Solomon Novak or a Guardian Knight. With a frown, he watches the once-more catboy escape. How troublesome. It almost doesn't even seem worth the bother, given that whatever Ikuto is doing isn't nearly as bad as what the Guardian Knights were doing before the Barrier was restored. Almost.

    "Don't look to me for help getting down," Sol informs the cats testily once it is clear that his enemy had escaped. He then goes to find someplace with a bit more privacy - and out of view of the cats - to change back.