dojima_hime | Somewhere in Rome: A Warehouse [Saturday Afternoon] (Reply)

The warehouse they had tracked the Amano family to had clearly been abandoned for a long time, with its badly broken windows, leaking roof, and sagging doors.

Dōjima lowered her binoculars and sighed. "Can't see a thing," she complained, "Too many boxes in the way. I'm open to suggestions, people."

Reno	"This thing have a back door?" Reno smirked faintly and shrugged his shoulders. "If we all barge in at once, it's gonna be kinda obvious it's a raid. Flank the place. Cover the exits. Keep your hands on your weapons, zoto. We know they're in there. It's either we go in, or we wait for them to come out." He was starting to sound like Tseng. Weird.
Dōjima	"There's an employee entrance on the east end of the building, towards the rear," she said, hand tapping idly against her leg as she thought. "We've got two hostiles and a hostage, and I'd rather go in and get them before they manage to slip out a window."
Reno	"Then we break off," Reno said. "There's two of them and four of us. Ain't no need for us to clump in a group of four. One-on-two is more'n enough, and if they're together, then it's two-on-two anyhow. Partners is safest, yoto."
Rikku	"If it's two-on-two, the other two will be able to hear and head towards it," Rikku nodded. "Is there anything crazy we need to watch for? What's our priority, getting them or getting the hostage out safely?"
Romeo	Romeo shook his head and checked his gun for about the sixth time. He wasn't much for strategy, and he was content to leave that to the others. "The hostage has to be our priority," he contributed. "She's the innocent, isn't she?"
Dōjima	"No." Dōjima adjusted her earpiece and shook her head. "If we can take the parents out fast enough, that's safer for her. Trying to get her out to safety would just leave us outnumbered, and runs the risk of her getting caught in the crossfire if her father starts flinging things." "If you see a chance to do it, and can do it safely without risking yourself or your partner, then do it. But don't take the risk unless you get that option." She looked at the three of them, and made the hardest decision she'd had to make yet. "Rikku and Romeo, go in through the front. If they're expecting us, they won't think we'd be crazy enough to just go in that way. They're probably watching the back, so Red and I are going to go in through that southeast window over there." She gave them a half-smile and glanced back at the warehouse. "If anyone else has a better plan, speak now."
Rikku	Rikku nodded, once, to Dōjima. "This is your show; you know what we're getting into better than the resting of us. So we follow your plan." And then once to Romeo. "C'mon, let's go make our big entrance. I should've worn fancier shoes."

Dōjima	Yurika let Reno help her down from the window, careful not to step on any of the broken glass littering the area. "Ready?" she murmured, peering off into the darkened warehouse. "This feels like a bad horror film."
Reno	"Always ready," Reno replied with a bit of a nod, his grip tightening around his baton and his lips settling into a smile. "This is what I do, Doji." And then he was walking. No point standing under the window to shoot the shit. Not when there were more important things to do. The dirty jobs. Daaamn, it had been too long.
Dōjima	Dōjima snorted, following lightly after him as she listened for any other movement. "Yeah yeah, my favorite professional asshole," she quipped, drawing her gun to hold it loosely at the ready. "I didn't bring you along for your stunning good looks, you know."
Tony Amano	"Who's there?" a voice called out from somewhere ahead. It sounded a bit anxious.
Reno	"The Easter Bunny," Reno called back, honing in on that voice, moving forward into the darkness toward it, hoping to earn another response. Keep talking, little witch, give the bored Turk somethin' to follow. "Bringin' chocolate eggs, zoto."
Dōjima	Dōjima rolled her eyes at him as she moved around a crate towards where the voice had been, praying he wasn't about to scare off their quarry. At least Reno sounded friendly and harmless? Mostly?
Tony Amano	There was silence, and then the sound of muffled footsteps ahead. "Don't play with me!" the voice snapped. "We just want to be left alone!"
Reno	Reno suppressed a laugh, then, which would have seemed entirely too giddy to be even remotely reassuring. "You commited the crime," he called into the darkness, and then his walk had turned into a run, following the footsteps and the voice ahead of them, "you don't get offa the hook so easy. Sorry 'bout your luck, pal!"
Dōjima	Oh hell. "I can't let you out without a leash," Dōjima grumbled into her headset as she moved around to flank their new 'friend'. "Or a muzzle. Next time, Red, muzzle. In the not-dirty, not-fun way." "Tony Amano, we have a warrant of Inquisition for Witchcraft with your name on it," she called out. "Stand down, or my partner gets to 'play' rough."
Tony Amano	"You're not cops!" the voice was accompanied by footsteps trying to move away from them. There was more than a little fear in it.
Reno	"And if we were, which one of us would be good cop, anyhow," Reno mused into his headset. "You wanna hand yourself over peacefully, there won't be any troubles," he said more loudly, following those footsteps at a flat-out run. Reno was one hell of a runner. "My partner here ain't even lookin' for a fight, yo."
Dōjima	"We're not cops," Dōjima agreed pleasantly. "The cops would have come with a full SWAT team and shot you rather than coming in to talk to you. We don't want a fight, Mr. Amano, that's more trouble than it's worth. We're here as representatives as SOLOMON, and I am asking you one more time to surrender for your Inquisition."
Tony Amano	"I've never heard of anything called SOLOMON." The distrust was obvious in his voice. As was the sound of a pistol slide being cycled and a safety being clicked off.
Reno	"Aw, shit," Reno said, rounding the corner and coming to a stop behind some boxes near where he was pretty sure the witch had parked his ass. "You gotta bring your gun into this? Put it away, Slick. I ain't in the mood." ... Actually, he was. Gun! Gun meant that things were about to get interesting. Good times.
Dōjima	Yurika shook her head and raised her voice to call out to the witch again. "Are you saying you, a good son of Rome and a Seed, doesn't know of Solomon and his judgments?" she asked sweetly. "Gun away, Mr. Amano. You know the Seal of Solomon gives me jurisdiction over Seeds and witches alike. You really do not want this fight."
Tony Amano	"You don't have any authority over me!" he yelled furiously as he stepped out from behind his cover and opened fire.
Reno	Reno swore into his headset, his EMR now by his side as he moved out of the way of the bullets. "Not a good way to convince us you're a friendly, pal," he announced. The kid gloves were off, now. Shots had been fired. Reno was allowed to stop being some kind of ambassador, and he was allowed to start being a Turk. "You wanna find out just how much authority you just gave us?" Reno was dying to show him. He cast a glance at Dojima. Please? Pleeeease? Please? Oh, hell with it! He was going to just run into the thick of it and try to tackle the bugger. It was dark. He was fast. He'd brought potions. Playtime!
Tony	As if in answer more shots rang out somewhere else in the warehouse. Then Tony, as if spurred on by the sound, charged forward shooting.
Dōjima	Shots, and more shots, and Dojima swore violently. Was the man seriously trying to deny he was a witch by using a gun instead of his powers? Something moved off against a far wall, and Yurika's head whipped around. There, the daughter. Maybe if she could get to the girl, she could convince her father to stand down. Another shot rang out, and Yurika winced. A quick solution was seeming more unlikely by the moment, but she had to try. "Reno, take him out. Now," she said into the headset, holstering her weapon to head in the direction the girl had gone. "I see the girl."
Reno	"Anything you say, Boss." The voltage on Reno's stun-baton was getting kicked up a few notches, and, to Reno's pleasant surprise, his materia were in working order just as well as they'd ever been, even so far away from Gaia. "Let's dance, Tony." A few bullets? That was nothing. This guy should have seen the jerks that he'd gone up against a few weeks ago. Bullets weren't so difficult to avoid, so long as Reno kept an eye on where this jerk was pointing. All he had to do was get close enough to swing. Beat on him some, before putting him out of the game entirely. Show him he meant business.
Tony Amano	The bullets kept coming until Tony's gun clicked empty. He pulled the trigger a few more times, then hurled the useless weapon at Reno's head as he continued to charge forward.
Reno	The emptied gun got the baseball treatment, a solid metal rod smacking it out of the way while Reno met his opponent head-on and feet first, laughing aloud and lifting his foot in a high-kick aimed for Tony's jaw. "All outta shots? This is where you try an' work some kinda crazy witch voodoo on me next, ain't it?" Bring it! Keep it interesting!
Tony Amano	Tony just barely managed to throw himself awkwardly out of the way of the kick to reveal a crate hurtling through the air right behind him. Straight at Reno.
Reno	"Just like that," Reno agreed, hitting the floor in a roll. "See, you're catchin' on!" Okay. So the guy could throw stuff. Reno had seen guys throw stuff before. He was more interested in that mind-control crap. He'd seen that before, too. "You know," he said in a somewhat conversational sort of tone as he finished his roll and was on his feet all over again, "it ain't nice to make people do shit they don't wanna." He was now swinging with that stun baton of his. Because sometimes, you just had to go for the sick sound of bones crunching under the force of a metal pipe.
Tony Amano	A crowbar flew out of the darkness to block the swing while Tony spun to punch at Reno. It was a very sloppy punch. It was pretty obvious he wasn't very good at this.
Reno	Painfully obvious. Reno was pretty sure all the sport would have been sucked out of it if this guy didn't have all that magical teleke-whatever junk on his side. The sloppy punch was taken in stride, Reno rolling his shoulder to let it slide past him, and Reno stepped forward then, swinging backward with his elbow at whatever part of the witch's back he could get with it.
Tony Amano	Clearly Tony had thought the rod was Reno's only weapon. He hadn't counted on that elbow, and it sent him hurtling forward awkwardly. When he recovered his balance and spun to face Reno again his expression was one of rage. "I'll kill you, you bastard." Two crates sped along the floor toward Reno's legs and another was headed straight for his face, but those were just to distract him from the huge metal shelving unit coming up behind him.
Reno	"Turks," Reno informed the witch as he moved to dodge out of the way of the crates, "are notoriously difficult to ki-" Ow. Hey. Who put that shelving unit there? Reno was sent sprawling, sliding a good few meters across the floor on his face before he was on his feet again, and this time, his attack wasn't fists or feet or even a metal rod. This time, it was a spark of lightning from the end of his EMR, being flung toward Tony hard and fast.
Tony Amano	... Tony didn't expect that. This was obvious because he stood there until the lightning hit him. Then he started twitching and screaming.
Reno	Reno's lip was cracked and his face hurt, and he was going to grin anyhow, reveling in the smell of singed flesh and the sound of pained screams hitting his ears. This was what it was to be a Turk. And then he was on top of Tony again, wrestling him to the floor without any heed paid to the electricity coursing through the man's body. His armor handled all of that for him, anyhow. Now? He was going to bury his baton in the back of the man's scalp. And he was going to loose another round of lightning, licking the blood from his lips and laughing.
Tony Amano	Tony wasn't fighting back. He wasn't even really coherent. What he was, was screaming in agony. He didn't even hear the laughter. His entire world was the pain of the electricity coursing through him.
Reno	When Reno pulled the baton away and straightened himself up again, he allowed himself a moment to look down at the mess that was on the floor underfoot. And then he spat the blood from his mouth onto the man and gave a shake of his head. "Had to pull out the gun, didn't you, Tony?" He kicked the guy in the ribs. Was he even still breathing? "It's just like I said, Slick. You committed the crime..." His next movement was to lift his foot. And then bring it down, hard, on the back of the witch's neck. He listened for the snap. And then he dusted off his clothing, wiped the blood from his chin, and reported into the headset. "Tony Amano's been taken down. Gonna need a coroner on this one, zoto." Just doing what Turks do.

Ava Amano	"Just leave us alone," a shrill voice screams from around a corner. This is shortly followed by the crack of two shots.
Romeo Montague	There were gunshots, and any fantasies Romeo had of this being a peaceful exercise were gone. He steadied himself, held out an arm to keep Rikku behind him -- damned if she was going into the path of gunfire first -- and went forward, crouching behind some boxes. "Surrender, and we will," he offered, drawing his gun.
Rikku	Rikku talked herself out of shoving Romeo out of the way -- she was littler, he was bigger, she could totally let him go first -- and stayed low behind him, squinting into the dark. She readied her Glock, clicking the safety off. Which was a little unnerving, yes. "Can you see her?" she asked in a low whisper. Maybe they could take her down without ... that. Maybe.
Ava Amano	A dark-haired shape dashed out across an open area to duck behind some other boxes. "I know what you'll do!"
Romeo	Romeo glanced over his shoulder at Rikku as he scurried toward the woman. "Then you've an advantage on me," he called. "I hope to take you peacefully, if you will let us." From the aiming of his gun, it might be surmised he had little certainty that would happen.
Rikku	Rikku was going to try to stay unnoticed. Maybe the woman thought Romeo was the only one after her; that would mean she'd watch him, and not necessarily be looking for someone else. She stayed low, and quiet, as she darted out, moving in a different direction than Romeo had, but trying to stay close. If they could get her between them, maybe one of them could ... knock her out. That.
Ava	The woman laughed hysterically. "I know what you'll do to us," she spat at Romeo, sticking her gun around her cover to fire at him. "I won't believe your lies." She hasn't given any indication of noticing Rikku.
Romeo	Romeo ducked fast behind a carton, feeling the heat move through the air as a bullet missed him by inches. It was hard to keep his hand steady, but he did so as he aimed at the woman's voice over the top of the crate. "I lie not." And then, before he could think too hard about what he was doing, he pulled the trigger.
Rikku	Rikku could see ... the woman's back, as she hid behind those boxes. She dropped low as more shots rang out -- please, please let Romeo be okay -- and switched her gun around in her hand. She held the barrel firmly, and was trying like hell to be quiet as she tiptoed closer.
Ava	Romeo's return fire was followed by a pained scream and then silence. Then piteous moaning. Rikku was at the right angle to see that the woman hasn't been hit and that she was crouching. Waiting.
Romeo	Romeo brought down his gun and gave Rikku a questioning glance. Was the woman hit? If so, the worst of their job was done.
Rikku	Rikku shook her head, hesitantly. She hadn't seen the woman recoil. Either she was way more stoic than most people, or she was faking. A few steps closer, and she raised the gun, then brought the barrel down in a swift arc. Aiming for the back of the woman's head. Hoping it'd be enough to knock her out. Hoping she hadn't heard those last few footsteps.
Ava	The woman twisted with almost inhuman speed. Her lips were pulled back in a furious rictus as her arm swung up to block the attack. She hissed, "Why won't you just leave us alone?" "We haven't done anything!"
Romeo	In one liquid motion, Romeo holstered his gun and sent a firm fist at the woman's face, trying to get her away from Rikku. "We're only doing what we must."
Rikku	"That's not what they said." Rikku kicked out towards the woman's midsection. "Surrender, and this can all be over." She was probably being mind-controlled, but that didn't change the fact that she was shooting at people, and robbing banks, and other bad stuff. She had to be stopped from all that, dammit.
Ava	The woman grunted as Romeo's fist smashed into her jaw, and the coughed hard as Rikku's kick slammed home. "They made us," she gasped, falling to her knees and looking helpless. "We didn't want to." Underneath her she clutched the gun carefully, waiting for the right moment.
Romeo	"Who made you?" Romeo asked grimly, trying not to blink as he held his gun to the woman's head.
Rikku	Rikku's stomach was churning. She held a hand out, pleading. "Give us your gun," she said. "We'll explain. We can sort this out. I know we can." She wasn't sure if that Juliano guy would actually go for it, but they could try. And getting her to hand the gun over helped either way. Right?
Ava	"Don't pretend you don't know," she snarled. "You're here, you're with them." She twisted suddenly, the gun snapping up to aim at Rikku.
Romeo	She had a gun aimed at Rikku, and he had a gun aimed at her, and Romeo was well sick of guns. He brought the butt of his Sword pistol down hard against her temple. With any luck, that would knock her out; if it didn't, they'd have to kill her, something he accepted with a sad flatness.
Rikku	Okay. Big, deep breath. She needed that. Good. "Nice one," she said. "Thanks. Okay. We, uh. Let's ... get her tied up or something and see if we can find everyone else?" One down. Maybe they could make it out of here without having to ... resort to ... anyway. One down.

Dōjima Yurika	There she was. Yurika quietly moved towards the girl, praying she could somehow break the thrall she was under and get her clear of the building or try and use her as a hostage against the two adults, getting them to surrender to SOLOMON's authority. The sounds of violence coming from the other sections of the warehouse made her grit her teeth and start forward. The sooner she ended this, the better.
Julia Amano	The girl was huddled down behind some barrels, curled up to avoid any stray bullets, and she seemed to be trembling.
Dōjima	She looked about as terrified as Yurika felt. "Julia?" she called softly, peeking out from around a crate. "Are you hurt? My name is Dōjima, I'm going to get you out of here and somewhere safe, okay?"
Julia Amano	"Who... who are you?" Julia's voice was soft. Barely a whisper.
Dōjima	"A friend. I'm here to try and help you," she answered, scooting closer. It was true, she wanted to get the girl out if at all possible. "Don't be scared, I don't bite."
Julia Amano	"But... the shooting." She swallowed, "Are... you with them?"
Dōjima	She hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Hai, and that's part of why I want to help you get out of here," she said bluntly. "My friends are very good shots, but I don't know about your family. I don't want you getting hit by accident." "So, what do you say?" Dōjima held out one hand and offered a smile. "You can help me calm your parents down, or I can get you outside and call for a medic team to pick you up. Your choice."
Julia Amano	"Can... can you make the shooting stop?" the girl asked, voice trembling and eyes wide. She made no move to take Dojima's hand.
Dōjima	"That depends on your parents, Julia," Dōjima answered carefully. "They have to stop shooting and surrender, there's people who need to talk to them." Which was a very mild way of saying there was an Inquisitor waiting to have a word with her father, but the girl seemed to be in shock and Yurika didn't want to risk causing a breakdown.
Julia Amano	"T-talk to them?" Julia asked, curling in on herself in apprehension. There was something in Dojima's tone...
Dōjima	"They're in trouble," she admitted, taking a small step closer to the girl. "But yeah, talk first. No one wants any more trouble than what's already happened, okay?"
Julia Amano	"What... what will happen to me?" Julia stammered.
Dōjima	"That also depends on your parents." She was asking a lot of questions for a girl trapped in a warehouse with bullets flying, and Yurika watched her carefully. "No matter what, someone will take care of you. I promise." There was an entire novitiate school at Headquarters, after all. If her parents couldn't be saved, she'd be cared for until she turned eighteen or took vows. Father Juliano wouldn't turn her loose into a foster care system, not if she was a Seed.
Julia Amano	All of a sudden Julia didn't look scared any more. Her posture shifted and her voice roughened. "So you're catching on. Smarter than I thought." She twitched her hand and the boxes behind Dōjima shifted, blocking her exit.
Yurika	Oh. Oh hell. "I hear that a lot," Yurika said dryly, locking eyes with the girl as she took mental stock of the situation. "Put those back where they belong, Julia. Your father is in deep shit, but you don't have to be. Stand down."
Julia Amano	"You can't lie to me," Julia stood up straight, dropping her frightened charade. "I know what you're here for."
Dōjima	"I'm not lying, and you know it," she shot back, pulling together everything she'd learned about shielding her mind from psycho-controllers. Freaking telepaths. "I came to stop a witch. You don't have to be one if you don't want to."
Julia Amano	"You can't change who you are!" the girl snapped angrily, flailing one hand in Dojima's direction. She was too emotional for fine control, so the box she flung wasn't well-aimed.
Dōjima	Dōjima swore, dodging the box as she pulled her gun from its holster. "Yes, you can," she growled, keeping her weapon trained on the floor as she scrambled back away from the girl. "There's plenty of those with the craft who lead mostly-normal lives, because they keep their heads down and don't throw boxes at people."
Julia Amano	"What's an Inquisitor, then?" Julia snapped as she stalked forward, not bothering with cover. "Don't think you can hide it!"
Dōjima	"It's the person who's going to be damned disappointed in you if you fail the test," Dōjima snapped, wary of any more flying projectiles. "The Inquisitor talks to you; finds out if you need training to use your powers right, or if they've consumed you already. There's no reason to be scared of them, unless you've got something to hide."
Julia Amano	Julia shrieked in fury. "Don't lie to me!" Three massive crates rose at once and, one by one, slammed toward Dōjima. At the same time Julia's mind hammered out, trying to find a grip on Dojima's. She'd make a very useful puppet, after all.
Dōjima	She hadn't lied. That was the last coherent, confused thought Yurika had. Everything she said had been true... If Tony Amano was the witch. Not Julia. Oh fuck. Then there were razor-sharp shards of glass digging into her mind, slicing at her defenses, and Yurika screamed in pain.
Julia Amano	Julia grinned darkly as she began savagely sifting through Dojima's brain. They didn't know! She could use this one to get close to the others and then... Her teeth drew back in a hungry expression as her eyes shifted to the pistol still held at Dojima's side.
Dōjima	"Get. Out. Of. My. Head!" Yurika hissed, pointing her gun at Julia. Breathe, don't panic. She gritted her teeth and tried to push back against the girl's mental attack. "Julia Amano, you are under Inquisition by SOLOMON for the malicious use of witchcraft. Surrender, or I will shoot." Dōjima let the full truth of that statement flood her mind as she advanced on the witch, gun at the ready.
Julia Amano	The warehouse was eerily silent for a single moment as Julia and Yurika stared at each other and the gunfire that had been going on behind them fell away. Then Julia laughed. It was a chilling sort of laugh, mostly because it clearly wasn't the sort of sound that sane people produced. "You can't!" Julia screamed. "You're mine now!"
Dōjima	She was a Hunter. Yurika ignored the stabbing claws of pain and the blackness that was trying to claim her vision, concentrating on what she had been taught about psycho-controllers. Picture a mirror; a concave, circular mirror. Don't give them anything to grip. Yurika smiled suddenly; cold and completely devoid of the earlier warmth she had shown. "No. I'm not." She didn't hesitate as she fired.
Julia Amano	The ripping at Yurika's brain stopped suddenly, and all the objects floating around the room froze in mid-air. Julia blinked, stunned. "You... shot me..." The words trailed out in shock as the girl looked down at the blood spreading across her shirt. Then her face twisted into a furious grimace. "You shot me!" she yelled shrilly. And all those floating boxes were suddenly heading straight at Yurika.
Dōjima	The sudden cessation of pain made her stumble, which was the only thing that saved her from having her head taking off by the first crate. Yurika ducked to the side, firing three more times as she took cover behind one of the support pillars. She wasn't shooting to wound.
Julia Amano	It apparently never occurred to Julia to dodge. She simply stood there shrieking in fury as Yurika opened fire again. "I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" The pillar Yurika was using for cover began to vibrate. The reinforced concrete split with an ear-splitting crack. Then Yurika's bullets found their target. Julia's voice got louder. And louder. And fell suddenly silent. The girl and all the objects she had been controlling collapsed at once.
Dōjima	Dōjima waited, counting to five before breaking cover and moving around the pillar towards Julia. She took a moment to kneel down and check the girl's pulse, lips pressed together grimly as she ignored all the blood pooling around them. "This is better than the Inquisitor," she whispered, reaching to brush her hand over Julia's cheek. "I promise." The last gunshot was very loud to her ears.
Romeo	There had been too much noise to hear or process much of what had been going on, but Yurika's scream and Reno announcing, so coldly, that Tony Amano was down had come through Romeo's earpiece clearly as he crouched over the mother's unconscious form, blood going cold from fear for his friends and for what they had to do. Suddenly there was a silence he recognized with his heart -- the horrible silence that follows a fatal fight. As slowly as he could manage (which wasn't very slowly at all) he went over to Yurika. "Is she gone?" He knew the answer as soon as his eyes fell on the girl's body.
Rikku	Rikku was only a step or two after. She flinched at seeing the small body lying next to Dojima. So young. She closed her eyes, taking a very deep breath and willing herself not to lose her composure.
Reno	Reno was the last to join them, a sort of eerie calm in his posture as he took in the situation around them. "We got the cavalry to call in to clean this up? We should get outta here." Everyone here didn't look too hot, right about now.
Dōjima Yurika	Dōjima stood, hand already moving to her headset to switch channels. "Worm to Charlie," she intoned smoothly. "All three hostiles have been subdued - " and was she going to have words with Juliano for that later, "- and we are requesting clean-up and medical support for the targets; two deceased, one wounded." Her eyes flickered over the other three quickly. "Hunters are unharmed and returning to Headquarters. Worm out." She stepped away from the small body, not glancing at it as she headed towards the door. "Let's go. SOLOMON's crews will be here in less than five minutes, and I shouldn't be seen here."