Courtaud

Street Punk Serenade: Delinquent Days

Thank you for saying something.

I think it makes sense to avoid using language like that moving forward as a blanket rule.

Young Justice

---

Talon tossed his Court of Owls styled mask onto a seat inside the jet while the others were strapping themselves in. Rain had quickly taken the pilot's controls (again Talon feeling again his leadership being threatened with these small aggressions.) He turned to look around at the team as they caught their breath. The end of the mission came quite suddenly, as things seemed to be going perfectly fine in one instant, and then absolutely haywire the next. The frustrating part to Talon being that he was certain it wasn't his Squad to blame. Zatara, Mirage and Cybergirl all delivered. Talon took half a step to tell each of them that individually but...the mission was over now. Talking about this sort of thing now would be difficult. He didn't know if he could manage it beyond gruff expressions or anger. And he wasn't angry at them. He was proud. That part of him won out. The others all looked as though they were absorbing the fallout. Metamorph looked rather stricken - it was hard to tell with them sometimes. Weirdly enough, he was stuck to the ceiling of the jet. Meanwhile, Hex looked ill. Something was either on his mind, or he was just as disturbed by the pace of the mission as Talon was.

Finding an easy middle ground, Talon thought it best to approach Zatara. After the training exercises from their earlier days, Zatara had shown a part of himself that was particularly vulnerable. Talon had heard about the violent episode between him and Mirage. Now however, the two of them had demonstrated a really cohesive team. Their quick thinking to create an escape route enabled all of Squad A to get out of the base without issue. Talon opened his mouth to say something to the boy, but hesitated on his words. Instead he furrowed his brow and clapped the magician on the shoulder. That would have to be reassuring enough for now. Mirage meanwhile was sitting not far from Metamorph, likely hoping to get the details of his solo escapade during the mission. From behind him, Talon heard Rain call out to Zatara.

Talon turned his attention to the pilot seat.

In the middle of the mission, Rain had come onto the comms, nearly barking orders at him. Talon knew that Rain had questioned the decisions to put him in charge, whether out of some petty jealousy or some misguided belief in thinking he'd be a better choice in leader. But things ended up differently. Talon felt himself tense all over. The others might not see it, but Rain's holier than thou attitude and judgemental eyes were fixed on all of them. Talon was just susceptible to it due to his own growing inferiority complex. The way Rain silently absorbed the actions and words of the others. Talon knew it came with a harsh critique deep down.

Talon started to walk towards Rain at the front of the ship, with purpose. He'd grab him by his stupid collar and confront him over how Squad B had likely almost gotten them all in deeper trouble. As he walked, he passed a bundle of blankets breathing on another seat. But Talon was almost too distracted to give them a second glance. But he spotted her. The blankets were in fact his teammate, Nymph. Something was wrong with her. She looked pale white, and her breath was shallow - something was affecting her beyond the standard sort of cold weather they were all dealing with at once. Nymph was trying to stay as warm as possible wrapped in her shroud. Talon was of two minds. His raw mind went straight to frustration. The kind of thoughts he'd have from the before-times. Before Nightwing and the others. His second thoughts were on trying to help her. Nymph, as much of a stranger as she was still (and they were all strangers, really) had helped Talon more than once already. She had taken the time to communicate with him, to include him. That spoke to something in Talon he didn't quite know he had. Or had been beaten out of him by the Court of Owls. The boy named Talon felt frozen looking down at her, although not in the same way as she was dealing with. Wishing he could sign something quickly, he took out his phone in order to better get his words across to her while she looked so tired. He typed out the following:

"You have to rub your chest. Your arms will take care of themselves. Something Batman taught Nightwing."

Nymph already had the blankets that were aboard the Jet, there wasn't much he felt he could do for her. And he certainly didn't want to crowd her. Knowing this team, it was likely someone else could check on her in a real way, in the kinds of ways that Talon wasn't able to just yet. Let someone more capable help her. Like Hex, or Cybergirl. Talon had to put these complicated feelings of wanting to sympathize to better use. But of course, they turned into that same familiar anger. With himself. With everyone. With everything.

As Rain was preparing to eat something, Talon stood just behind him.

"Mission Report." He asked, fighting the urge to do so through gritted teeth. He wanted to know what had caused the issue in the first place. Including with what had happened with Nymph...

Street Punk Serenade: Delinquent Days

I’m gonna be straight with you mate, I have no expectations that any of this is going to sync up with real world stuff like that. This is just a student council run meeting/assembly for clubs to meet and pitch like budget stuff and school socials and that sort of thing.

Street Punk Serenade: Delinquent Days

Current Game Breakdowns:

We will be running two separate times concurrently -

While the Student Council Meeting is going on, Yonaka and Li Mai will be investigating the string of attacks at the school.

Later that night, Yuya and Ana will be attending their showdown with Teiko Middle School. While the events will be happening a few hours apart, we will play them at the same time so as to allow everyone to play at the same time without having to wait.

For everyone across the board, you may write in what the rest of your character's nights were like post Rooftop Meeting, as well as your after school day, or jump straight into your current objectives. There will be PM's for some of you containing story information that will help with further story progression as well. If you don't have one in your inbox within the next 30 minutes from this post, assume you don't need one.

If any of this is unclear, let me know! I'll clear things up best I can.

Street Punk Serenade: Delinquent Days

"It's not in my nature to be mysterious. There's just something I want to keep between us three." Minato let the implications that what they were about to discuss was a private matter weigh in the air for a moment before continuing. Of the two of the gang members on the rooftop with him, Ana was a more trustworthy person. She and Minato have been in each other's lives the longest, and of everyone, she was often the only one he could confide in when it came to things outside of just the gang. Of everyone else at Sarayashiki, it was likely that Ana knew him the most.

It was because of this bond that Minato knew that she was probably doubtful that this was the sort of conversation to have in front of Yuya. More than once Ana had not so subtly implied that she thought Yuya was "a shit." Minato didn't exactly agree with her, but knew the sort of thing she meant - he was somewhat abrasive, and someone who furrows their brow as much as they do is apt to give themselves a headache. Yuya might be angry, proud, whatever the case may be - but there was a particular kind of code he carried himself with that Minato saw in small glimpses. With his added physical strength and propensity for willing to slug someone, his role was one that could be honed to perfection. For now, the two of them would have to get along.

"The Diamonds are making some sort of play. Word getting around is that there's been some sort of open invite to a summons of all the gang's. But not by the way you're expecting. Ikebukuro is letting their power plays get out of hand. They want schools to fight." Minato pointed at them both.

"Tomorrow night, you two going to meet at Teiko Middle School, and beat whichever punk they choose as their fighter. There's no telling if they'll be a boy, girl, or whoever else. One of the Diamonds is supposed to be in attendance to deliver the real invite to the summons to whichever gang wins. And that's going to be us."

Minato told them what to expect, how they aren't allowed any additional support, and the same would be expected of Teiko Middle School. He also informed them that since Teiko had a bigger rep, they got to fight on their own turf. It was a challenge that the Sarayashiki Gang would have to step up to. Minato let it known to Ana and Yuya that he was going to keep this quiet for this fight due to not wanting to distract the others from their tasks.

With that, Minato was finished with their instructions. After their reactions, he walks with them down off the rooftop, before they all go their separate ways...

---

The Following Day, after school...

"I'm not sure this is going to go over very well, boss." Ten Ton whispered to Minato, as the blue haired boy put away his bookbag. It had been an arduous school day, slow-moving. Minato had passed the hours barely able to pay attention to his teachers, instead gazing up at the clouds just outside his window. There was a lot of moving parts going on all at once with his friends. Not the least of which being the physical danger that some of them may find themselves in soon. He didn't like the prospect of Yuya and Ana being in the presence of one of the Diamonds, not to mention Li and Yonaka diving head first into an investigation into whatever violent force was disrupting the hallways of their school. But being a leader came with trusting his gang to deliver.

Of course, he didn't know at the time that things were going to get much more volatile, and fast. Could it all have been avoided? Only maybe.

"Ten Ton, don't worry. What could possibly go wrong?"

"We're walking right into the lion's den. You know the Student Council gives me the creeps. And the Vice President is going to be there. Yeah sure, she may be hot and all, but she's scary as hell." Ten Ton looked around with that nervous energy he sometimes had. Minato smiled at him. If people knew that beneath all that muscle and scariness, was actually a really soft-hearted ne'er do well delinquent, they'd be shocked.

"Ikue is going to take care of us getting in, don't worry about that. And with Akina with us we look that much more legitimate. You know she's one of the most popular girls here. Speaking of, she said she'd be waiting for us outside the assembly room."

Minato and Ten Ton hoofed it over to the assembly room, passing by a few of the others as they went. Yonaka was standing alongside a vending machine in the hallway. Minato noticed that the other students were giving her a wide berth as they passed. Li wasn't around her just yet. Minato stopped to say hello, dropping some coins into the machine to get drinks. A strawberry milk tea, a canned coffee, and a bottle of water all rolled to the bottom of the machine after a few button presses. Minato offered one up to Yonaka - her choice. With a smile and nod, the two boys left her and after a few turns in the hallway, made it to the assembly room doors.

Minato stopped. The doorway had a table in front of it, and it looks like two members of the student council were checking names on a clipboard, comparing clubs before letting people inside. Minato didn't recognize them - they weren't any of The Big 4. He looked around - no sign of Ikue just yet. That wasn't totally unlike her. She tended to wait until the last possible moment before making a grand appearance from the shadows. For an information broker, she had a flair for the dramatic.

Then from around the corner, came Akina. Ten Ton waved her over, nervously sweating already at the prospect of crossing paths with the Student Council. Minato meanwhile was leaning on the wall behind him, making himself scarce for the moment...

Ten Ton smiled down at Akina, rubbing the back of his own heaad nervously.

"Lets um...well let's go up there and see if we can sign in?"

Street Punk Serenade: Delinquent Days

A new game post will be up within the next day that will progress us into the next day while finishing up the business on the rooftop.

Just for clarity in the future, if I ever require a player to post, I'll be sure to let them know directly :)

Young Justice

---

Talon listened as best as he could while Cybergirl explained herself. The alarms were blaring inside of his own head, and he could hear Mirage and Zatara blasting away an escape route. As Cybergirl scanned through the digital files on the computer screen, Talon looked up to check on his two magical teammates. Zatara's purple flames were dancing along the walls, burning their way through. The former member of the court of owls was briefly stricken by the sight of them. The mission had quickly descended into a fervor, but Talon hadn't ever seen what it essentially was a private indoor fireworks show. Mirage's contributions at that point were just as impressive and snapped Talon out of his reverie. The Atlantean's magics were an a completely different wavelength than Zatara's - the destructive nature of whatever was emitting from within Mirage's staff were not to be trifled with.

Talon was continously surprised by his teammates, as each of the people he's gotten to know carried themselves almost the opposite of how their powers worked. Metamorph's confidence withheld a wild, untamed style of fighting, Hex's quiet and sociable nature was a counterweight to his necrotic and dark abilities. Mirage was an interesting case. Although Talon had only brief moments with her separate from the rest of the team, she had a friendly personality, what some would describe as bookish, polite, considerate. Despite her quite literal "Fish out of water" existence, she seemed uncomplicated by her situation. Her quick-thinking during the training exercise to save Talon demonstrated a cool head, and it was a large contributing factor to Talon wanting her on his squad. And seeing how powerful she can be under pressure was a glimpse at the potential she had to be a powerful hero. Seeing these two working side by side like this, especially after their less than stellar first day together, was a testament to their strengths as teammates. Talon was glad he got to see it firsthand.

With the two magical beings abilities, the foundation of the wall was weakening enough for Talon's equipment to be really effective. He pulled three sticky Nightwing snapmine's from his belt and called out to the others to retract their torches. He could feel the heat of their strength on his skin, felt the hair raise on what little exposed skin he had. He tossed one of the snaps to Zatara and pointed to an exposed beam. The magic boy would get the message to place it, and after a few blinking light up flashes, the three mines ruptured, igniting and blowing a larger hole for the 4 of them to make their escape.

"Cybergirl, there's no time now. Whatever you've gotten so far will have to be enough." Talon called out to his cybernetic teammate. Assuming his team was behind him, Talon rushed through the smoke and debris of the next room, one with a window overlooking the yard of the base. It wasn't going to be long before the noise from everything happening all at once would attract guards to where they were, and Talon wanted to leave without any fighting. Talon threw one of the modified batarangs that he was given by Nightwing to replace the sharp knives on his person, and the window exploded with a crash. Talon leapt out of the now open window, and using a maneuver he'd seen Dick use across the rooftops in Bludhaven. He fired off his grapnel gun as he arched back, firing upwards at the rooftops. He retracted the device with ease, flying up on the line until he was atop the roof. He started to cross the rooftop and open up comms when he realized he hadn't confirmed the others were truly with him.

In comparison to the old days, the escape from any particular situation or mission was in the hands of the individual. It was an expectation that each person would be able to take care of themselves. But the team here was a far-cry from that. On a team like this, you had to think of the others. The ultimate goal being to work together to support each other - at least according to Nightwing. The mission was more easily handled and successfully at that, when the team worked cohesively. When they communicated and supported each other. This first mission out in the field had worked well, but whatever variable caused the alarm to go off put things a bit more at risk. Were they scrambling? Did the others feel put ill at odds? Talon felt a creeping anxiety - although he most assuredly didn't know that's what it was. Complicated feelings like this were handled incorrectly by someone with Talon's lack of emotional intelligience and expression. More often than not, complicated feelings just manifested as anger, or irritation. Luckily, at this moment Talon was distracted enough to not have to worry about it. Remembering his friends, he pulled a cable from within his equipment and left it hanging down towards the window - he was sure that the others probably wouldn't require something so basic, but didn't want to leave them without the option to climb upwards.

"Rain, we're on the rooftop. What's Squad B's current status? Do you have eyes on Metamorph?"

Street Punk Serenade: Delinquent Days

@sassy1085

Totally!

Street Punk Serenade: Delinquent Days

1.With Ten Ton being a psuedo-founding member, he'd play into the story as an NPC to start before moving elsewhere via plot machinations.

Kevin could more easily lift out of the story and go mostly unmentioned until another time if he decides to join.

2. Slice of life situations can be included by those who wish, as they'll ultimately contribute heavily to character and plot progression in even just developmental ways.

Street Punk Serenade: Delinquent Days

I wanted to have that done on Saturday but then a cold knocked me on my ass. Only today have I had enough energy to sit down and write anything. Apologies.

@pugbutter

Hope you're feeling better, mate. Glad to see you back