melodiesoflife | Who Knows What Evil Lurks In The Hearts Of Men? [Open]

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Who Knows What Evil Lurks In The Hearts Of Men? [Open]

Who: Jack, Tsubomi, and You!
What: Jack and Tsubomi got carte blanche to go after criminals in Aqures Ixen for a Job quest.
When: After the return from the Lunar Gate quest, throughout the month of May.
Where: The rooftops and streets of Aqures Ixen.
Why: That's the question we're all asking ourselves.

Out from the night from the mist steps a figure...

No wait, wrong intro.

It just takes a minute, and you'll feel no pain...

Let's not, that goes bad places.

I am the terror that something something night?

Now you're way off.

What is for certain is that there is one more person prowling Aqures Ixen's rooftops. With the odd job combination of Dragoon and Archer, hiding his identity by dressing in all black light armor, a hood and mask for his face...

...and a really familiar World War II coat floofing over top of it all.

Jack, what the hell are you doing?

He's up here for a purpose instead of just brooding, for once, as he starts to lightly jump across the rooftops, following someone on ground level. There's a wide, excited smile behind that mask as he leaps the distance of an alley. Dragoon is turning out to be exactly as much fun as it looked.

So, if Biggs wants him to give back in a little service to the city in return for it? Fair's fair. Evil-doers beware.

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This same assignment was given to another of the heroes, one that Jack doesn't think that he's met. But he knows more than people might expect about the Pretty Cure, thanks to discussions with Erika. He will definitely be surprised, and maybe dismayed, about the youth of the other Hero assigned to protect the streets.

Jack is perched on the edge of a rooftop, mask off, but hood still up and covering his head. The long Dragoon spear is tucked under one arm, safely away. It looks like he's balanced precariously, but the Job seems to be giving him more athleticism than he's used to.

"Hup! Geh, so heavy..."

Tsubomi wasn't used to this, at all. Even with her drawing on her Custom Job's power, using the Paladin Job and its armor and weaponry was still heavy on her quite-noodley frame. She came to a stop on the rooftop with Jack, the glistening armor of the Paladin and the more cutesy costume of her Cure Blossom self a massive contrast to Jack's dark and brooding outfit.

Of course, from the back, the figure doesn't seem familiar, which puts her on the defensive here. "You are...?"

Sparks knows suspicious behavior when he sees it. And it wouldn't be unlike Biggs to hold out the information from Sparks that he's assigned some Heroes into trailing some criminals. Those two never really got along. So, when he spots a shadowy figure trailing someone - an armored, armed figure - he decides to cut that figure off at the pass. Suddenly, between Jack and the next roof is a marshal on his rocket steed.

He narrowed his eyes at the figure, trying to figure out who it was.

"So. Hi there."

Jack starts to turn around when he hears someone else up at this altitude. He can't hide his surprise at the girl's appearance, and he slowly reaches up to pull his hood down, give the girl a better look at him, and get a better view of her.

"Captain Jack Harkness." He puts the spear away along his back. "I'm another one of the Heroes of Light." He nods towards her heavy armor. "Paladin?" It's one of his top jobs, one that he doesn't unequip that often.

The rocket steed suddenly appearing in his path is enough to throw off Jack's Amateur Parkour Hour. He throws his arms out to try to screech to a stop, and he no longer feels agile and graceful, soaring on the wind...instead he stumbles over his own feet, throws his balance back to keep from tripping entirely, and skids to a halt at the edge of the roof.

The only thing that's visible of his face are his eyes, and that's still one 'busted kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar' look that he is giving to Sparks. "Uh. Marshall. Hi." In between heavy breaths.

One second. He pulls the mask off so he can breathe easier. Guess who? "This looked a lot easier from the ground level."

Tsubomi opened her mouth, then closed it momentarily. How should she introduce herself as. Despite his appearance, he DID say he was a Hero of Light, if that still meant anything... In the end, she figured out it was best not to hide things from others. At least to those she can feel she can trust.

"Tsubomi Hanasaki... Cure Blossom. And yes, I-it's the Paladin Job. I was asked to help watch over this town, so..."

Yuffie enjoyed hanging out on roof tops in the middle of the night. Tonight she was just eating a snack with her legs dangling off the side of the building. Her eyes glanced around when she saw a shadow jump towards her, her expression a mixture of disbelief and confusion.

“What the hell are you doing?”

It was really obvious who it was, even if Yuffie didn’t know Jack all that well….

Here is one person who does not recognize Jack from the start. Ramza is on street level, on the night patrol, when he spots the dark figure leaping from roof to roof. He guesses it is not one of Kidd's assassins; they rarely allow themselves to be spotted.

It is tricky, keeping up with the rapidly moving mystery person, while trying to find a way up to the roof. Ramza does not have the aid of job skills, so he runs along on the ground level until he finds a low enough building with a high enough stack of crates for him to use.

When he finally makes it to the roof, his heart is beating a little fast and his breaths come in quiet pants.

"Halt!" he cries out, in his best police voice. Who knows, maybe one day, it will actually even work.

Jack lightly lands on the rooftop and looks at Yuffie in surprise. "Yuffie." Hasn't seen her for long since their attempt at hunting down a Raptor. He tucks his spear away across his back, and pulls the mask down off his face so that he can talk to her a little easier. "Are you patrolling here too?"

He wants to ask how she is, but maybe keep the conversation on something instrumental for a little bit. "Biggs put me onto this," Jack explains. "I'm mostly keeping an eye out for looters."

The voice startles Jack but he does actually slide to a halt, dropping the tip of his spear into the stones of the roof to help stop his momentum. He turns around, and, of all the people he might have expected to see up here, Ramza was not on the list.

He almost raises a hand, but stops. Wait. Jack. You have one chance to put one over on Ramza. Internally, Jack is giggling with glee as he decides to see where this is going to go. The mask and hood stay on.

Jack intentionally pitches his voice a little lower. "Well? I've halted. What now?" An eyebrow raises at Ramza. "Need a minute to catch your breath?" The spear stays lowered, and he is leaning his weight on it, propping himself up. He is trying to seem less threatening.

Jack's eyebrows raise at the mention of Cure Blossom. "I've- heard about you." Wait, he should explain. "Ah, I mean, I'm not from your world. But, I talked to someone else who is. And she talked about you. Called you a hero, already, you'd already been doing this saving-the-world business. So, it's an honor to meet you."

Jack means it sincerely. He thinks he has an understanding of the Precure. The idea that power to protect your world could be granted to those who truly have the will.

Jack tries to smile. "Mind working with a partner on this one, then? I promise I can keep up." He taps the chest of his leather jerkin. "Dragoon and Archer."

Ramza straightens up and rests a hand on his sword hilt, trying to convey, 'I have more than enough breath to deal with the likes of you, brigand' without having to say the words. He has his police badge pinned to his breast, and he has to uphold the dignity of his station.

"State your name and your business here," he demands instead. There has been that recent rise in criminal activity, after all, and here is a masked man sneaking about in the shadows.

There's two other people who Tsubomi knows who'd go that far. She'd have to have a talk with Erika again. But, he was a fellow hero and easily seemed nice. Letting out a breath and nodding, she replied. "Sure! I'm used to working with others, so this shouldn't be too hard at all, especially with those jobs!"

Jack breaks into an easy smile. "Good. I wasn't sure if you were used to working alone. I prefer a team anyway."

"You'd think this is an odd combination, but from up here, when I use the basic Archer skill?" Jack's hand briefly glows and he waves it in front of his eyes. Aim. "Now I can see the streets perfectly."

"Would you prefer to head back to street level, though?" Jack gestures towards her heavy Paladin armor.

"I'm usually around here." She took a bite of her snack before tossing the remains over the edge of the building. "Not patrolling. I leave that to the cops." Not that she'll do nothing if she sees trouble but she wasn't actively looking for anything.

"I take it that's what this get up is for?" She waved her hands to indicate his outfit.

Jack shoots Yuffie a playful grin. "What, you dont think I dress like this every day?" Uh, Jack? Yuffie has seen your... off-duty outfit. With the heels.

"If I got full permission to go vigilante, I figured I might as well do this right. Now all I need's a superhero name. Like The Phantom, except that's sadly taken." Jack leans heavily on his spear. "What do ya think?"

Yuffie laughed, her fingers rising up to her lips. She'd never forget when she saw Jack in a dress. It was certainly an interesting voyage.

Nicknames are definately something she enjoys. "What about Black Wing Mr. I have to wear a dark hood and be a creeper in the middle of the night."

Sparks simply raises an eyebrow, somehow surprised yet not at the same time.

"Jack. I'd ask if you were out on a joy ride-- er, run, but ya look like I'm about to ground ya for bein' out after yer bedtime. What's goin' on?"

Jack wasn't the only one on the rooftop. It had long been the domain of the city's Assassins, not to mention anyone who happened to be working on their ninja jobs. In this case, Kidd was back in tune with that job again for the first time in months. Illusionist still needed work but it felt good to have her physical skills amplified again.

However, while the rooftops were no stranger to Heroic foot traffic, the mask that he was wearing set off signals in her mind as he skulked around. The coat certainly looked familiar but she didn't want to take any chances. Between her two jobs she was able to keep pace with Jack, even with his long leaps, and she was able to do so with far more stealth besides.

And if it looked like he was up to no good she would be ready to intercept him.

"Ah. Where'd I put-" Jack starts fiddling in the inside pockets of the coat, before he pulls out the request that he'd gotten from Biggs, brandishing it almost like a hall pass. "Biggs asked for help patrolling the streets." See? Not illegal.

"Law's doing it's job just fine, not trying to step on your toes."

Sparks lands Mercury next to Jack, in order to look over the request. Knowing it came from Biggs doesn't really make him feel better about the stepping-on-toes thing. He and Biggs have never gotten along, from the day Sparks walked in to apply for the police force.

"Hnn. Well. I guess that's okay. What's this all about, though? Why you? I mean, why anyone who ain't a cop?"

Although he has the skills to traverse the rooftops, Jack isn't used to being followed up here, so he doesn't spot Kidd's approach. Besides, he's far too caught up in the thrill of what he can do now. Dragoon, as it turns out, is fun.

He pauses on a familiar rooftop, one that he has been to before, towards the edge of the city. There's fewer people on the streets out here, and he seems to be watching someone in particular. He stops, casts the Archer skill Aim, increasing his eyesight acuity.

He waits for minutes, trying to keep himself hidden by a smokestack, watching movement on the street level. If Kidd stops watching Jack, and keeps an eye out for what he's looking at, there is definitely someone inside that butcher's shop, but all the lights are off.

Don't giggle. Don't laugh. You'll give up the game if you laugh. Exercise the tiniest bit of self-control that you have, Jack. Classics are the classics for a reason, "You can call me The Shadow." Nobody should get the joke, ~~after all, who listens to radio plays anymore?~~

"As for my business," Jack picks up his spear and points with it, down towards the street. "It's the same as yours. Take a look down there." There is a specific man that Jack is following, who is keeping to back alleys and unlit paths.

Jack smiles even more. "Hard to fit that full name on a business card, I think."

"What do ya say? We've got a night to go get in trouble, with a get out of jail free card signed by Biggs, himself." He exaggeratedly offers Yuffie his arm as a mock-escort. "And I've got a brand new job that I want to test out the limits of. Care to go paint the town red?"

The Shadow? He raises an eyebrow at that, but does not contest the name. He lets the Shadow direct his attention to the figure on the streets below, probably more trusting than is strictly recommended for an officer of the law.

"He looks to be up to no good...but I could say the same of you, Shadow. What do you know of him?" He keeps his eyes on the man in the alley.

"You would have very long business cards." Yuffie grinned at him.

She laughed at his gesture but looped her arm through his anyway. She might have exaggerated the motion a little too much but she doesn't care. "With you? Anywhere." Her tone was light and teasing.

"The question is..." Her grin pulled a little wider. "You think you can keep up?"

This. This is what Jack has been needing. He laughs along, and winks at Yuffie. "There's more than one way to find out." Teasing right back, he'll keep this casual.

His other arm reaches out to point towards the south part of the city. "I was headed that way. Well, really, because there's some good roofs to explore over there. But if anything's happening, it'll be further from the center of town."

He's interested to see how Yuffie is going to traverse the rooftops, since he's never picked up Ninja or Thief or any of the more agile jobs, before this.

"If I'm right, he's a refugee. Maybe from the recent influx from Nabila? Maybe somewhere else. But he keeps paying particular attention to houses, places in the reconstruction zone that aren't well-watched."

"Either he's looking for loot, or, more likely, a place to stay. Maybe both." Jack turns to deliberately look at Ramza. "An officer of the law spots him looting, they have to take him in, toss him in a jail cell. That doesn't help him or his situation. A Hero of Light might have another option."

Jack opens his mouth to speak, then pauses, shakes his head and laughs wryly at himself. "I know an answer, but it's very funny that this is coming out of me."

Jack looks past Sparks, down towards the street. "Specifically the assignment was to keep an eye out for looters. Had an influx since we've got a whole new wave of refugees coming in from Nabila. But if you," Jack specifically points at Sparks, "find someone looting a house? Regardless of why they're doing it, what do you have to do? What's your job?" Jack knows what he thinks the answer is, but instead of assuming, he wants to hear what Sparks thinks it is.

"Gotta arrest 'em. Refugee or not, stealin's stealin'. We're doin' our best to keep 'em all comfortable and on their feet, but robbin' people's houses sure as heck ain't gonna happen."

His eyes narrow at Jack as he thinks on what this might really all be about.

"Whyyyy. What're you doing with 'em?"

Jack actually smiles at Sparks' words. Simple, absolute, and he's completely correct. "You're right. Robbing people's houses isn't going to happen. It's worst because the people who have nothing are most likely to take from people who have very little."

"But if you want to see my answer. Well, an answer cribbed from somebody I used to work with? Then follow me. You don't like my answer, feel free to take them in your way." He glances sideways at Mercury. "You got a stealth mode, there, buddy? How quiet can you be?"

Yuffie slipped from his arm with her grin still in place. Their current perch didn't afford a great pathway to where they were heading and Yuffie is going to remedy that. She turns around as if to flash her stunning smile at Jack and then vanishes in a puff of dark purple smoke. She reappears on the rooftop across the street, her feet easily walking the rooftops edge as she calls over to Jack.

"Hurry up slowpoke!"

She turned and made her way to the next rooftop. Yuffie has done this a lot and she moves with the skill of someone who's used to traversing through thick treetops. Her legs push up off the ground and she easily twists her weight, landing lightly on the next building.

She'll have to pick up some speed if Jack wants to see her truly impressive moves but she also doesn't want to leave him behind.

Sparks raises an eyebrow at Jack, very much in a "do you really think I have time for this?" sort of look. No, he doesn't, but he's going to come along anyway, since it sounds more interesting than a normal night of patrols. He hops off of Mercury.

"Yeah, no, I think stealth isn't somethin' you can easily install into a rocket steed. 'S okay though. Head on home, boy, I'll get back to ya later."

After getting a pat on the head, Mercury gladly obeys. Sparks folds his arms and waits for whatever it is Jack has got planned.

"Well? Where to first?"

There's an approving smile, and Jack waves goodbye to the horse. (Still the coolest thing that any of the Heroes brought from home.) "This way." He pulls the mask and hood back on, and heads towards the lower side of town. He hops down off the roofs, to let Sparks follow along easier.

The poorer districts of town have seen less regular reconstruction. A lot has been built back up, but there are some areas where builders decided to destroy what was left before building something new, and the process has been lagging.

Jack hugs the shadows in the side of an alley as they approach a row of houses all crammed next to each other. There we go, the one next to the end. All the lights are off, but there is definitely someone inside there. Jack nods towards it, then lightly Jumps up to the rooftop next door to get a better view. Show-off.

Forgiveness of crimes due to circumstances beyond the criminal's control? That is precisely what Sparks had been working on training out of Ramza since he'd first applied as an officer.

"I understand what you mean...but what reason do I have to trust that you would do better by him, and that sparing this man would not place others around him in danger?" He still does not meet the Shadow's eyes. These are the questions he has asked himself, in Crystallis and back in Ivalice. When he had first started out as a cadet, he had wanted to fight evil...but he had found that there was very little black and white and entirely too much gray in the world.

"What would you do with this man, if I stayed my hand?"

Jack knows these very doubts and questions, they're the exact same sort of thing that was running through his own mind when Gwen was starting to show him to care more about the people behind the Torchwood incidents, not just the cleanup.

"The city has set up charity for the refugees. And a way for people to get work building their own housing, rebuilding the city. I'd lead him there, if not all the damn way to the Village up North, if that helped." Jack crouches down, looks at the man more closely. "He might have been reluctant to take help. An affront to his pride, perhaps. But we need to show him that crime is not an option."

"The Law Enforcement here is not like...some I have seen. We send people to those programs when we are able." Ramza understands the Shadow's concerns, but he will not allow him to act as if the police force locks away criminals with no attempt at rehabilitation or aid.

"If he commits no crime, he will not be punished. If he does, he will have to make restitution before he walks free. We cannot encourage citizens to burglarize innocents in order to receive aid."

He finally turns his eyes away from the man, who was still peeking into various windows.

"If you wish to intervene, I will not prevent you. But if he harms anyone, or causes damage in my presence, I must take him in."

Sparks can keep up with Jack, up until he so deftly jumps on to the roof. The marshal just shoots him a flat look as he climbs up the old fashioned way. His Archer + Chocobo Knight combo didn't really lend itself to leaping across rooftops.

Once he joined him, he squinted through the darkness into that window. He kept his voice as low as possible.

"So? What's this?"

Jack nods severely. "Of course. I'm here to help him, but not at the cost of anyone else. It would cause far more harm if this butcher's stock was allowed to be taken. But I'm betting this man is so desperate he can't see that right now."

But. The best way to convince this man that he's not going to get away with this? Is to make a lasting impression. So, pardon Jack while he indulges his own flair for the dramatic.

The man has found a window that he has been able to jimmy open. He looks around himself again, one way, then the other, before he opens it...but he has forgotten to look up.

Jack takes two steps forwards, right to the edge of the rooftop, and leaps off of it, silently soaring into the air. He rises in a graceful arc, and then dives down straight into the ground not even a foot away from the would-be burglar. There isn't even a sound until he is right upon him, and the man lets out a startled yell as he falls backwards and recoils while his heart pounds in his chest.

Show-off.

The rooftop is familiar to Kidd as well, having spent a good deal of time running around the rooftops ever since her arrival. The best way to learn the layout of a place is to see it from above. While this part of town isn't a particularly crime ridden one, it is far away from the main drags and the prying eyes and that means softer targets.

The hooded man is suspicious, but Kidd finds herself torn in observing him. On the one hand she can't quite judge anyone for using a hood while sneaking around the rooftops, and for all she knows he could be something much like her own brothers for this world. On the other hand it remains suspicious nonetheless.

Keeping an eye on him, she also watches the streets below, trying to see what he might be targeting or waiting for. She catches the movement a few seconds after he does, alert but lacking the powers enhancing his vision. A smile creeps across her face as the pieces fall into place.

It looks like this is about to get interesting.

Ramza follows the Shadow to the edge of the rooftop, but he does not jump down yet. He does not have the same job skills the Shadow obviously has equipped, and he would end up with, at the least a sprain, if not a broken bone if he took the leap. So he watches.

And the Shadow does put on a pretty impressive show.

Ramza braces himself for the jump. The moment the Shadow acts out of line, either by letting the would-be burglar hurt someone or by using unreasonable force, he will be down there, injuries be damned. But for now, Ramza will have a little faith in the masked man.

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Who Knows What Evil Lurks In The Hearts Of Men? [Open]

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