Masquerade [Adventure, NDE, Hard, R]

[Nathaniel Tan'O]

The man that approached Hotaru and Vannan turned and walked away without another word. He had nothing else to say, and it seemed that Vannan didn’t have any plans to get the party rolling. It’s a shame, but the masked man didn’t mind. When the timing is right, then everyone’s going to have a blast. Now, who could these strange people be? Brothers, perhaps? Vannan and Hotaru should be able to recognize some obvious similarities between the two. It wouldn’t be surprising if they were on edge. After all, it seemed like combat could spring up at any second with civilians caught in the middle. This wasn’t the best situation for noble Shinigami and Quincy. And if they hoped to catch a glimpse of the two strangers who approached them earlier, possibly to keep tabs on the potential threats, Vannan and Hotaru would find that they had vanished from sight.

---

Now that Wayne became aware of a connection between his guest and an important business associate, then it was time to put the wine and food to the side… well, maybe not the wine. “Ah, so you’re a representative of Uzaki Enterprise? It’s a pleasure to meet one with such a high position in that organization.” Culrin’s face lit up with pride and self-satisfaction upon hearing that Kazura had mentioned him directly to his ambassador. “Yes, of course he should view me in the best light. After all, I do own a significant portion of his company and provide as much funding as I can for any of his brilliant projects.” It was Wayne’s turn to lie, that time. After all, he only owned five percent of Uzaki Enterprise, just enough to give him a notable profit while not putting all his chips into one play. But he wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to make himself seem more important than he really was.

“I’m here on business. I was tasked by my company with surveying things here in California.” Culrin sipped from a new glass of wine that he had grabbed. It must have been his fifth, and to say that he was buzzed is a bit of an understatement. “I hope you enjoy your stay then, Mr. Kira. If you explore the city between your appointments, you may find Los Angeles to be very entertaining.” Wayne downed the remainder of his glass of wine in another gulp as Okami addressed him. “Someone you might want to meet? Er…” The wealthy manned scanned the room full of his masked guests. “It’s difficult to recognize too many people, but if you’re in the mood, I’m sure you could meet a couple of nice women to take to the back rooms. I wouldn’t mind”

---

"Yea, you caught me; I got the ganj. Let’s go." The man stayed right behind Rose as she led them to a nearby bathroom. He followed silently and his ear-to-ear grin didn’t waver at all. Rose was definitely casual and came to the party to enjoy herself, which was just what he was hoping to see from her. As she sat on the bathroom counter, he hopped up besides her, leaning his back against the mirror behind them. They were side by side, and he would watch as she pulled the drugs out of the patch she kept on her thigh. She came prepared.

The man’s face didn’t change at all as his eyes followed the joint from Rose’s pouch to her lips. The smoke would normally gather in the top of the bathroom, but the fan would disperse it and make enough noise to keep them from listening to what was going on outside. After taking the joint from Rose, the grinning stranger would put it up to his lips and slowly take a single puff. His smile would quickly resurface as he turned to face the Captain. “How does a Shinigami get her hands on this high-quality kush?”

(( OOC: Sorry for the meh post, things should get rolling after this though ))

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru was enjoying dancing with her friend. She was a little surprised that nothing new happened in his life, but honestly, he didn't have to tell her. But, when the man started to talk to him, she kept her eyes locked on Vannan. It seemed that this man was saying something odd towards Vannan. When the talk was over, at least when it looked to her it was over, Vannan said that he was just going to spend some time with his girlfriend.

Before she could even correct him, Vannan grabbed her hand and they walked towards a wall. She was wondering what was going on. He stopped them, and gently pushed her against the wall. She looked at his face and saw a worried look on it. She was starting to get worried now. He leaned up against her to the point where his lips were next to her ear. When he told her to keep a smile on her face and pretend he was saying sweet nothings.

She started to smile and do as he asked. He apologized but when he told her that the man knew about them, what they actually were. She panicked in her mind, but kept the smile on her face. He then told her to keep an eye out for him and that something off with him. She had to agree. She had her eyes roaming around the party, trying to look for them, but having no luck in seeing anyone. "Vannan, I don't see them anywhere in this crowd. I don't like how this is turning out. I'm bad with sensing reiatsu, so keep your senses on alert."

[Deleted]

Vannan was relived that Hotaru followed his orders and she didn't freak out while he was this close to her without telling her what he was doing. What did upset him was the fact that she lost the trail of the two men and that they had vanished. Whatever was going on wasn't good. There wasn't a logical reason for those two men to know that they were spiritual beings in nature, however he knew he had more than a few different tricks to use when it came down to fighting, but sensing foes wasn't one of them. He didn't have a way to track people like others did, which meant right now they were in the dark.

What was he to do? Should he stay like this with his back to everyone while he waited for something to happen and have Hotaru be his eyes or was it better to be on the lookout himself as well? Would it raise too much suspicion to have the two of them just walking and holding hands while most people were dancing? No, he had to get the two of them out of there. Leaning away from Hotaru he grabbed her hand and looked onward trying to find an open spot to be able to spy on everyone in the party. He would walk around keeping a firm grip on her hand.

“Don't let go.”

ooc: Brain fart sorry for the bad post

[Nathaniel Tan'O]

The party had been progressing normally for all other than the spiritual beings present who had alternate motives than socializing for being there to begin with. The orchestra’s music was still playing wonderfully, the rich were talking amongst each other, and Wayne Cullridge was still divulging in nearby food and drowning himself in French wine. All was as it should be, correct? In fact, the only suspicious activity came from the mysterious men that approached Hotaru and Vannan. Rose, of course, would realize that the stranger she had met knew about her spiritual background. However, the setting itself seemed as calm and social as ever. No one could have expected the sudden events that caused the tone to suddenly take a complete one hundred and eighty degree turn for the spiritual beings in attendance.

The suddenly shut off, the music stopped playing… Black, black everywhere… thump... thump… people were falling… thump… thump thump thumpthumpthumpthump and…

SPOILER: Click to show

{Play This}

Suddenly the lights flashed back on. Rose would find that the man she had been speaking to recently had suddenly vanished. All of the ordinary human guests would be passed out on the floor due to a powerful gravitational pressure flexed when the lights shut off. In fact, the only people on their feet would be Rose, Hotaru, Vannan, Okami, and… one of the mysterious men, the one who appeared to Hotaru and Vannan first wearing the crimson and gold clown mask. Although his face was hidden, the smug expression on his mask matched his amused an arrogant body language. He stood tall and comfortably, like he owned the place, while the real owner law unconscious by the buffet.

“Ladies, Gentlemen… my dear friends,” he gave a polite nod to the three people standing nearby. His voice was loud so Rose would hear it from the bathroom, but the man wasn’t screaming. No, he felt like he was in control. He had the attitude of the host of a game show like Wheel of Fortune, but there was a hint of dramatic irony in his voice. He acted although he knew something that they didn’t. “My name is Mischeif and I bet you’re wondering why I gathered you all here today. Well, the answer to that really doesn’t matter. The point is that you all have a task ahead of you.”

The man would turn his head a bit to the side, specifically facing the hallway where Rose had been in the bathroom. “Hey, beautiful blondie, please step back into the ballroom and join your teammates. Try not to step on my hosta- err, my sleeping guests on your way out.” This was all a big joke to the man, and the participants might even here him cackle quietly to himself if they listened carefully. “Yes, you are all going to be a team for this game, so you will win, or lose, together. I have four bombs hidden around the property, and you must locate the bombs to move onto the next portion. Try to run away, and bad things will happen. Attack me and bad things will happen. Try to disable a bomb when you find it and you’ll pay for breaking the rules. Please, let’s try to have fun. The game starts when I finish telling you the riddles.”

The man drew a piece of paper, examining it for a second with comically exaggerated interest before acting although he was reading the wrong side of the paper. He promptly flipped it to the other side, and all the spiritual beings would notice that both sides were blank. He was only pretending to read his ‘prepared’ riddles. “Let’s start with the first one. ‘I am the first you ever saw, what greets you every morning and what you see before the finish, but I go out at the end.’ Hmm, yes, that one will do. Now take a look at number two. ‘Look not for a snitch, for no one knows me but Mischief. I am the most rich, you can find me by the biscuits.’ You must love my riddles almost as much as you do me, so here comes riddle number three. ‘The man who makes it doesn't want it. The man who wants it doesn't use it. The man who's using it doesn't know he is using it’ And before you all begin to score, listen, oh listen, to riddle number four. ‘I am mother and father, but never birth or nurse. I'm rarely still, but I never wander.’ “

Mischeif ripped the paper to shreds with a sudden motion, continuously tearing apart the little bits and throwing the paper over his head like graffiti while dancing with an uncontrolled joy. “Let the games begin!” he screamed with glee. “Oh, this is just so much fun, so much fun…”

(( OOC: You’re on a time limit, and I won’t tell you what that time limit is. Good luck finding the bombs, use your heads. Most of the riddles are fairly easy, but they don’t give the direct answer away so think about it. ))

[Deleted]

The moment the lights went out Vannan tightened his grip on Hotaru, not wanting her to get pulled away, she was his friend he wanted to protect her. He heard loud thumps as people fell to the floor. The moment the lights went back on he saw that only a few people were still standing. Vannan didn't know who the others were but one person he did notice it was the same fellow who had tried to steal away Hotaru for a dance. There was one other man standing near the buffet table who he had no idea who he was.

That's when the man in the clown mask started to talk, my god was he even more annoying now that he was barking out orders and talking about riddles along with bombs. Vannan was quite annoyed that this guy would so easily take everyone hostage just for a sick game. A person's life wasn't something to be toyed with. Vannan wanted to punch the guy in the face and call it a night, but he held back because the man right now held all the cards with there being bombs.

If this guy was going to treat this like a game, Vannan would do it as well. He pulled out his phone and typed in the riddles the man said into Google. Sadly only two of them came up with answers. The one about what a man uses, that was a coffin, the other one that he had gotten an answer for was the one about the mother and father. It was a tree.... Vannan had remembered seeing a lot of trees as he entered into the building. “Hotaru, one of the riddles the answer is a tree. Go look around at all the trees. While I find the coffin.”

Vannan bit his lip as he started to scan the room, a coffin? Where in the world where a coffin be? He looked at the table where the biscuits were, there was a few items of food still there along with a lot of wine... .wine... biscuits ... could that be another answer? Vannan didn't want to waste time, there was apparently four of them so they could each find a bomb. Vannan looked up to see the rose shaped chandelier. It really was pretty, but it wasn't a coffin. Where in the world was a coffin?

As Vannan's eyes traced away from the double doors he saw a sarcophagus... it hit him then. A sarcophagus was an old coffin from a time long ago. He started to run towards it, as he passed the table with the wine he took another look at it wondering if that was where another bomb was. He made sure not to step on people as he ran. He stopped in front of the sarcophagus and turned back to the man in the clown mask. “So clown boy I found one bomb. Now what?” Vannan had a smirk on his face making sure not to touch the sarcophagus as he stood in front of it.

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

When Vannan grabbed Hotaru's hand and told her to not let go, she didn't plan on it. He was the only person she knew here and now, with the strange people in the crowd, he was the only person she could actually trust. Then, when the lights went out, she felt Vannan grab on tightly to her hand and she did the same back. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew it had to be something pretty bad. The only thing that she actually heard was loud thumping. She held on tighter when she started to hear that.

Once the lights came back on, she saw that most, if not all, of the party goers were now passed out on the floor. She looked around and it seemed like there were a select few that weren't effect, including Vannan and herself. She looked around and noticed that the same man that had approached her at the beginning of the night was still standing and noticed another man standing by the food. She recognized the man, only because she had seen him in Third Seat meetings. It was Okami Shihoin, head of the Shihoin family.

It surprised her that he was actually here, but she nodded her head in his direction to acknowledge him here. She might not know him personally, but he deserved the respect of the head of a noble family all the same. She then looked towards the clown and he started talking. It turns out that he had put bombs around the entire property for some strange reason. She had no idea why someone would do this to innocent people like this, but she would make sure that he wouldn't get away with it.

When the man started to speak in riddles, Vannan took out his phone and was typing something into it. Hotaru stood there and tried to think on what the answers could be for riddles. She honestly really wasn't good with riddles, so she hoped that Vannan would have better luck than she would on this. He turned to her quickly saying that one of the answers is a tree and to go find the bomb outside. She nodded her head and quickly ran outside.

Once she reached outside, she quickly tried to look around. Since it was dark outside, she didn't get a good look in the trees. So, what she ended up doing was climbing a tree and looking that way. She climbed up the first tree, looking through all the branches, not finding anything. She then Shunpo'ed off to the next tree, looking the same way and still finding nothing. She continued looking through all the trees until she found some kind of mechanism in a tree in the rear of the property. She grabbed her cell phone out of her purse and texted Vannan, saying she found the bomb.

[Nathaniel Tan'O]

(( OOC: So, I know that this has been moving slowly and it seems that it has pretty much died out. Sorry if anyone's disappointed, but I think I'm just going to turn it in for grading since it has progressed at all in the last month or two and has pretty much dragged along prior to that. I've lost interest as a DM, to be completely honest. ))

[Katekarin Mekatoku]

80,000 Ryo to Participants or 800 Tp

1,400 TP to DM or 160,000 Ryo