Bordertown, Sunday

[anarchist_queen]

"Orient," Tick Tick said warningly, "What are you doing?"

She was still recovering her strength, but a walk from her place to his had felt like the thing to do. She was after all, keeping an eye on him for Momoko. Not that she was certain just what Momoko could do if Orient got into trouble again. Leda had assured her she could help, which was good enough for the Ticker.

She had arrived just in time to see Hawthorn, one of the higher ups in the Silver Suits exit the apartment. And she had seen the look on her friend's face. It was a look she recognized.

"You are not going after him." she said flatly.

"I just need to be sure." he said absently, heading for the stairs.

"Sure of what? Orient what's going on?" The Silver Suits had found the lab that was making the drug. They were on to one of their own that was working with the villains, but they still did not know ultimately who was behind it.

"It would take too long to explain. I have to leave now if I'm gonna-"

"I'm coming with you." she insisted, but at that moment her legs gave a complaint and she had to lean against the wall. Still not at 100 percent.

"No you need to rest." he said, getting on the motorcycle. Then he swore and got off. He checked to make sure nothing had been added to the vehicle. "See? I'm not falling for the old bomb on the bike trick."

"No you're running off after the bad guy alone." Tick Tick muttered as he took off.

She promised free repairs for a month to one of Orient's downstairs neighbors who owned a bike, and they took her to the border. It was closer than the World. There she made use of the alert system she and Leda had worked out. This close to the border, communication was very reliable. The scrying mirror got through to her friend, who then got in touch with Momoko.

[For Blossom!]

Comments

[heromaniac]

Momoko wasn't sure if she was going to meet someone or not, so she hadn't yet transformed into Blossom, but she landed on the Bordertown side of the portal with her compact in her hand, just in case she needed a quick change.

As Leda had said, the portal did indeed drop her off at the border and Momoko took a moment to get her bearings.

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

Tick Tick had actually spotted her bike on her trip from home to the Elfland border, so even though she had pretty much exhausted her store of physical strength getting here, she could provide Leda with an approximate location for Orient.

Leda called Momoko to relay that info to her.

"Hey Momokochan, the signal's not gonna last once you get into the Borderlands, so I'm gonna have to give you directions to the place."

Fortunately one of the places they'd been in town was in the area of town that Orient had gone.

[heromaniac]

"You totally need to have someone work on making phones work here." Momoko nodded, a small sigh escaping her. She was going to perform a rescue in a world she had only visited once, where there were no other superheroes or police, and the person she was rescuing only knew her as Momoko. AND she was hoping to save Orient, stop the bomber-people, and make sure all the drugs were off the street in enough time to get a portal to El Paso?

She reached into her pocket for the arm brace she'd gotten from Rikku for Christmas. Protection from poison and magic. "I should probably transform while I'm here at the border, right? We never did test to see if it worked in town. Okay so is there anything I should know? Who do I turn the bad guys over to?"

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

"A women named Sunny Rico will hopefully be on her way too. She's the equivalent of a cop and Tick Tick's trying to find her. She's the one researching the case.

"Tick said she saw Orient's bike on Handwave Street up on Dragon's tooth hill. It's about a block away from the Gaiman Mall."

It was near the neighborhood Leda had handwavily shown Momoko around as the one she had grown up in when she lived the high life.

"I have a directory of the area, and I think he's gone to confront a guy named Hawthorn. He lives at Blah Blah on Handwave Street."

In that area of Bordertown the streets and houses were set up like any upper middle class semi-urban area. It wouldn't be hard to find.

[heromaniac]

Momoko wasn't sure if she should be happy to hear someone else was going to be there or not. "The 'equivalent'? Does she have any training or is she just interested?" Was Momoko going to have to watch out for her too? "And will she know I'm coming?"

Momoko looked about for an alleyway to transform in. Sure there was magic here, but a hero couldn't be too careful.

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

There weren't a lot of people willing to live this close to the border so finding a place to transform shouldn't be difficult.

"Tick Tick will tell her someone's coming yes. From what I hear all sorts of fun stories about Fandom have been circulating around town, so I have no idea what she'll be expecting. No idea about formal training but she has a good rep about town in that regard."

[heromaniac]

"Right." She found a suitable place and ducked in between two buildings. "I'll transform and head out there, then. I'll contact you after, okay? Ah! Since she has a second name, is Sunny Rico a human or an elf? So I can recognize her."

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

"Human, wearing a silver trenchcoat. I hear she wears these mirrored sunglasses too. Good luck! And be careful!"

[heromaniac]

Momoko gave the phone a V-sign, not that Leda could see it. "I totally will. I've got a party to go to after this!"

After hanging up, she quickly transformed into Blossom and secured her arm brace. Hopefully it would work here as well as it had in Spira.

She was in the air in a moment, and was soon over the mall she and Leda had visited a few weeks prior. An easily identified landmark from the air. Blossom scanned the area, looking for what was hopefully an also easily spotted human in a silver coat.

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

From Fandom Pics

"This is, this is the part where the villain tells the hero the entire plan, because he's going to kill him anyway. Only I can't think of any more questions." Orient said, realizing coming here by himself was a remarkably bad idea.

From Fandom Pics

"You aren't the hero. You're a pawn. And I tried really hard not to have to kill you. Sit down on the bench."

When Orient didn't move, Hawthorn grabbed his arm, twisted it behind his back, and forced Orient to the bench, which was fully visible to anyone who might be flying by the greenhouse on the top of the building.

[heromaniac]

Okay, Blossom was not finding a silver coat, but she did find a greenhouse! And a man forcing another man somewhere. She couldn't be sure it was Orient, from this distance, so she landed a few feet away, just in case.

"If this is just an argument," she muttered softly, trying to get close enough to see who the men were. "I am totally going to just tie them up and go."

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

Orient leaped up from the bench and tried to flee, but Hawthorn grabbed his arm and yanked him back to the bench, eliciting a scream of pain from the young man.

When he did, Orient's face was facing the windows, and easier to recognize.

Oh and on closer scrutiny there was what might look like a bomb taped to the back of the bench.

[heromaniac]

Blossom sighed in relief. This was the right place all right. She stepped closer, now in plain sight, and threw her yo-yo at the man holding Orient, aiming for his head and hoping for an easy knock-out.

... It could happen!

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

The Yo-Yo smashed through the window of the greenhouse, and Hawthorn caught it just before it could hit his head.

He stared at the yo yo, and then up the string towards Momoko. His deadpan expression meant that he was completely baffled.

"You failed to mention the flying Japanese school girl." he chided Orient.

[heromaniac]

Whoops. So much for the easy.

"And here I thought I was unforgettable!" She yanked on the yo-yo. "But then, I am new in town. My name's Blossom, and I believe you have some things I want."

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

Orient had no more clue what was up with the unexpected arrival than Hawthorn. He did grasp that she was one of the good guys though.

"The bench is wired to blow!" he called out, again diving off the bench. This time Hawthorn let him go. He also released the yo-yo when it was tugged on.

A yo-yo?

"And what might those be?" he asked Blossom.

[heromaniac]

Okay, changing priorities a bit. Blossom wasn't sure when the bomb was going to go off, but she now added that to her watch list.

She retrieved the yo-yo and floated into the air enough to keep the bench and Orient in view as well as the villain. "Well, the first was my yo-yo. But also the gentleman over there, and, of course, you."

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

"I'm afraid you're a little young for me." he said, resting one hand on the bench. This was not how he'd hoped this would all go. He was already improvising, now it seemed he'd have to do a bit more. "And I have pressing business with the Finder."

Then swiftly, he picked up the bench with one hand and heaved it at her.

[heromaniac]

"Ew, gross! I mean, as a criminal. I have a boyfriend!" Blossom jumped to avoid the bench, tossing her yo-yo after it.

And the yo-yo fell to the ground. "Eh?" She pulled it back and threw it again, this time it flew as expected and caught the bench just as it hit where she'd been.

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

And boom goes the dynamite.

Hawthorn took the opportunity to dash after Orient, who had lost himself in the forest within the green house.

[heromaniac]

Blossom had glass shards to worry about for a moment, and she checked to make sure nothing was falling off the building before rushing after the two men. She had the advantage of being in the air, so she could see them, but the plants meant she couldn't do more than that until she caught up to them.

And she was worried about her yo-yo not working. She was probably going to have to do this the hard way. When she got close enough, she aimed herself at the bad guy (she totally needed to get his name) and tried to tackle him.

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

Hawthorn had good reflexes, which meant that even though Blossom was able to catch him off guard, he recovered quickly. He aimed a punch for her face, and cast about for something heavy to hit her with.

"Who are you?"

[heromaniac]

Blossom took the punch and frowned. "Hey! That hurt!" Then reached for his wandering arm to pull it back; hopefully she didn't wrench too hard.

Okay, that punch had totally hurt, so she wasn't really hoping that.

"And I told you my name is Blossom. Do I call you evil drug bomber guy?"

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

He grunted with pain. "My name is Hawthorn. Pleased to meet you." His pointed ears marked him as an elf, though he had no accent to speak of.

His next words were in Elvish, and sent a powerful jolt of electricity into her even as he tried to throw her off of him.

It was risky, such spells here on the border. This one however worked just as it should have. Or would have if Blossom was as fragile as most people were. It was supposed to kill her.

[heromaniac]

Well, it definitely tossed her off him and she could definitely feel her bones tingling. It kind of felt like when she'd first been hit with the white light, and she checked to make sure she hadn't de-transformed.

She hadn't, but now she was in the air again and sending her yo-yo after him again. Hopefully.

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

Hawthorn was losing patience with this. Orient could still implicate him if he didn't stop him. He needed to finish this soon.

The Yo Yo left a nasty bump on his forehead, but he managed to push through the pain, and cast a fire spell on the bushes just behind Blossom. Then he threw two trees at her to knock her into the fire.

[heromaniac]

"Alright. That's it, Mr Hawthorn!" Blossom pulled her yo-yo back, cracking the trees into pieces before they smash into her. "I'm totally adding arson to the list of reasons to take you down." And with that, she flew at him feet first, aiming for his stomach.

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

Hawthorn brought his clasped fists down on her just as her feet connected.

He wouldn't be getting up again soon after that.

From Fandom Pics

"Well damn." a woman wearing a silver trenchcoat said, having just arrived on the scene.

[heromaniac]

And thank you Azula and Dinah for teaching her to move with an opponent's attack or her legs would probably have been broken, judging by the bruises she did get.

And no, he wouldn't be getting up. Breathing was something elves had to do too; he'd be gasping for a while, not that Blossom wasn't busying herself by tying his hands.

She looked up. "Ah! Ms Rico? Sorry! I got here a little early. If I gagged him, could he still cast spells? Leda didn't say."

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

"Gagging him would be a good idea. We can get a mage to keep him from doing any spell casting later too. After all I think we want him to be able to talk."

She pulled a pair of handcuffs out of her pocket. "Need these?" She studied Blossom. "You're from that island right? The one Leda lived on?"

Sunny had never actually met Leda, but the girl was kind of a celebrity around here.

[heromaniac]

Blossom sighed. "I totally need to get some of those." Her string worked, but it looked more professional when there were handcuffs! "I am, yes! Well, sort of. I mean, that's where I am now. Hold on a second."

She pulled a few hairbows from her pocket, waving one in the villian's face. "Mr Hawthorn? Please watch?" She charged a small bit of energy into the hairbow and sent it flying into a piece of tree, exploding it.

"Understand? Now. Please let me gag you." She stuffed his mouth with a hairbow, then tied it in place with another she had untied. Hopefully she'd made her point that he shouldn't try to undo the gag.

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

The fight was largely taken out of Hawthorn already. That display of power rather helped too. As much as a respecting that she did so, as much as believing she'd do it again, this time to him.

So he did allow it.

"Orient says he has an accomplice in an apartment downstairs. He's watching the door now." Sunny said.

[heromaniac]

Well, except that she hadn't charged the other hairbow? She was totally using strategy and psychology! And it was working! Her teachers would be so proud!

"Is Orient okay? I lost him in the chase." Blossom frowned. Losing track of a rescuee was not a good thing and she was not happy with herself. "Do we know anything about the accomplice?"

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

"He's okay, though his arm's a little sore. If the accomplice is the owner of the apartment then she's Secretary Leigha. Very high up in one of the noble houses."

[heromaniac]

Blossom scratched her head. "Another elf? Why would they be selling drugs that hurt elves?" She would understand it better if the drug hurt humans, really. "Should we get Leda involved in this, then, if it involves nobles?"

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

"The typical penalty for fucking up this big in Bordertown is deportation back to wherever you came from, so chances are Leda will get involved." Sunny nodded.

And actually the drugs were hurting humans. The fact that Elves were getting sick was just an unforseen side effect.

They soon came upon Orient standing guard outside an apartment door that was flanked by two small trees in large pots.

[heromaniac]

"Hi!" Blossom waved, fully knowing that he wouldn't recognize her as Momoko. "Glad to see you're okay! Leda was worried and asked me to come make sure you were okay."

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

Orient regarded her with a bemused expression. "Glad you showed up when you did." he said. Orient was not used to other humans having super powers. In the world, so far as he knew he was the only one.

"So you're from, Fandom right?"

Sunny sighed. "Kids, we can all go out for coffee later and get aquainted, but right now there's a bad guy to stop yeah?"

[heromaniac]

"Yes I'm from Fandom," Blossom chuckled and nodded. "And Ms Rico's right, we totally should make sure all the criminals are secure. Do we know if that was the only bomb?"

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

"Ask me where the bomb is." Orient suggested.

[heromaniac]

Blossom was confused, but complied: "Where are the bombs?"

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

Orient looked distant for a moment, then sighed. "Nothing. There's no bombs."

That was something he could explain later when there was time.

"Good." Sunny said. She knocked on the door, then tried the knob. Unlocked. She didn't know if that was a good or bad sign, but they had to confront the bitch inside, so she went and opened it.

"Secretary? We need to talk."

[heromaniac]

Blossom made sure she walked in after Ms Rico, despite how much it actually hurt. She didn't know what this 'Secretary' could do, so she wanted to have that as a surprise if she needed. She stayed a step behind Ms Rico, letting her lead the conversation.

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

Orient started to follow them in, his face grave, but Sunny ordered him to go down to the lobby and send up the other Suits. He started to protest, but she insisted that his job was done.

Then she turned to Secretary Leigha of the House of the Weeping Birch. "We've got Hawthorn. I have a feeling he's going to cooperate. Care to confess now? The judges will be nicer if you do."

The woman didn't actually sneer, but her tone of voice made it clear that's what she was doing inside. "Whatever I say they will be nice. My house will see to it. Just as it will see to breaking you for your presumption."

[heromaniac]

Blossom raised an eyebrow at the way the conversation was going. "I don't really see that we're making any presumptions? We're totally going to tell what we've found and what happened out there."

She ran a hand down her arm, Leda's gift clearly visible against the cuts and bruises. "The truth is the truth, no matter what your family name."

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

Secretary Leigha's face betrayed none of the shock at the sight of the Queen's crest on the girl's bracelet.

"Besides," Sunny added, "We both know your House couldn't even break wind in this town these days."

[heromaniac]

Blossom had to turn and look at Ms Rico for a moment at that statement, because, really? That was totally a rude thing to say and not at all helpful that she could see.

She slowly turned back to the elf. "Madam Secretary? You should cooperate. Peacefully, please. Preserve what honour you have left; you totally don't want me tying you up and dragging you out of here."