Players:
Summary: After inconveniencing the Yakuza, Cloud is offered a position as a hired killer by Eris.
Log Title: The Offer
Rating: PG-13
NYC - Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Station is one of the main hubs to get in and out of Manhattan. The main concourse is vast with marble covering the floor and walls. Looking up at the ceiling is looking at a piece of art, mapped out is all the constellations in gold on a blue background. In the center of the main concourse is a circular information booth displaying departure and arrival times of the various trains. Once you leave the Main Concourse there are many expensive shops to be found. There is also a major food court within the Station, where visitors can feast and chat before their train arrives.
Scene
Grand Central Terminal is less busy now than it was earlier. Most of the rush hour traffic has passes by this time and many of the weekenders won't be coming in or out of the city until tomorrow afternoon. There are still several people walking around the station in a hurried manner, trying to get to their trains on time.
There is a conglomeration of Japanese men walking briskly through the station, speaking in an intense manner to a woman in a black outfit. Eris nods as she listens to the man who appears to be in charge, taking notes on a pad and responding occasionally in Japanese. The men on the outside look almost like body guards, and the police in the area seem to be purposefully not paying attention to the group.
Cloud was supposed to be heading make to the mansion after meeting up with a friend of his cousin's, however he seems to have made somewhat of a wrong turn on the way to pick up his car, he's dressed in jeans, black sneakers, a white t-shirt, black jacket and a dark grey baseball cap, "Ok, so if thats the Grand Central Terminal i need to go…", he has yet to spot Eris or the bodyguards.
The men and Eris walk straight through the center of the concourse. They pause near the clock and continue speaking. After a few minutes another Japanese man walks up to the group, hands Eris an envelope, and walks away with half of the group. The remaining group with Eris move toward the exit, walking directly toward Cloud. If he does not move out of the way the guards in the front will attempt to move him out of the way.
Cloud is still trying to figure out which direction he's gotta go so he has yet to move, as one of the men tries to forcibly move him, he doesn't react well, "Dude piss off!", if they keep trying to move him he'll start pushing back.
The man who tried to shove Cloud out of the way gives him a quizzical look and turns to say something to the woman in Japanese. She glances over at Cloud and says something while waving a hand dismissively. The man will try to more forcibly shove the boy out of the way as the group attempts to move forward, but when Cloud starts pushing back the entire group stops moving and just looks at him. Eris speaks in English now, this time to Cloud. "Get out of here, you insolent child. We're not the kind of people you want to start something with." Though she is speaking to Cloud she does not look at him. The woman continues to look over her papers, acting as though Cloud is a passing inconvenience.
Cloud stands his ground, "If you wanna keep going, find away around, cos you're not that intimidating", he probably should move but he's in a bad mood and the way Eris is talking to him isn't helping, defiantly he goes back to what he was doing.
The important looking man in the middle of the group frowns at Cloud. The Yakuza do not walk around people, people walk around them. This blatant show of disrespect has the man looking even more stressed than he was. He makes a gesture and the two men flanking him move forward. The one on the left moves to grab Cloud and the one on the right attempts to punch him in the stomach. Eris continues to appear disinterested in the situation, as do the police very few police in the area.
Cloud is winded by the punch to the stomach and to avoid any further attacks tries to make skin contact with the man holding his wrist, not in anyway what he should be doing but Cloud's gonna try and drain the guy enough for him to let go, not that it will help much as he'll need a chance to recover slightly from the blow to his stomach.
After punching Cloud the man says something to him in Japanese and turns to walk away, looking back when his partner makes a noise of surprise. The man that was holding Cloud staggers back suddenly and slumps down against a pillar. He points to Cloud and says something in Japanese that causes the other men to reach for their sides and Eris to look up suddenly. "Oh?" She pushes her papers into the hands of one of the men next to her. "Mr. Tanaka tells me that he suspects you are not entirely human?"
Eris holds up a hand and gives the other men a command that seems to calm them slightly. They watch her as she steps forward and walks over to the man, bending down to inspect him before turning back to Cloud. "Interesting." She stands again and moves toward Cloud. "What specifically did you do to him? And don't try anything funny. I work for them, they don't work for me. I can't stop them if they decide you're a threat."
Due to the extra amount of life force in his system Cloud recovers more quickly than he should, standing up he shrugs, "I have no idea what you're talking about", sadly it has slipped his mind about the physical changes from using this aspect of his powers, black blood vessels fill his face while his eyes and nails are turned black.
Eris nods. "Right. So your veins look like that naturally?" She walks around him slowly, looking him up and down. "And your eyes…Your nails?" The woman smirks and glances over at Tanaka, exchanging a few quick sentences with him in Japanese. "You did what exactly? Made him tired? Took his energy? That could be a useful ability." A crowd of people is coming toward the group, apparently a train just came in. The crowd avoids coming near the group, though a few glance over with mild interest. Eris smiles. It is a cold smile. "They are interested. Mutants are highly sought after by those who work in the underworld. You could make a good living."
"Err, yeah it's a skin condition, rather not talk about it", ok, even Cloud wouldn't buy that in this woman's position, maybe the truth will freak her out enough to back off, "I absorbed his life force, he's lucky much longer and he would've gone into a coma", it's just now he notices the crowd nearby, "Hey, no one said I was a mutant, no need to be talking about that".
Eris chuckles and claps her hands together. "Absorbed his life force? That sounds very interesting. Tell me, if you'd continued holding past the coma would he have died? And what would that look like to the coroner? Could they trace it back to you?" The man who punched Cloud walks around him and moves over to his partner, bending down and speaking to him. Eris continues. "There's no need to deny that you are of the greater species. Why hide such a fact? I certainly don't."
Cloud sighs, "Yeah I guess, and i have no idea what it would look like I've never done it, and to trace it you'd have to know what I can do", looking Eris straight in the eye he answers, "Cos people are scared of mutants, and fear becomes anger very quickly".
Eris taps her fingers idly against her chin as she ponders for a moment before pacing in front of the boy. The important looking man behind her says a few things and she nods, responding in Japanese and holding up a hand to him. "It could be useful to have an assassin who is difficult to trace. Have you ever thought of a career? The Yakuza pays well." She smirks at his comment about normal people fearing mutants. "Yes well. The rabbit fears the fox, doesn't he? Why should it be different for humans?"
"You're asking me to be an assassin?, who the hell are you people?", knowing he's gonna have to get outta there pretty sharpish Cloud slips a hand into his pocket, he's gonna need a couple of tricks just in case.
Eris stops pacing and quirks a brow. "I already told you who they are. They're the Yakuza. Most people just refer to them as the Japanese Mafia. But I am acquainted with many such groups. I could get you a good job." She holds up a hand as the man behind her begins to speak again. "I can see that you need some time to think about this." She holds up a hand and a small card-like object appears in her hand. She passes it to the boy. The card appears to be made of ruby and has some information etched into it. "Here's how to find me if you decide you'd like to be rich. Go to that bar, speak to Lucinda. Tell her you would like to speak with Envy."
The Japanese Mafia just offered him a job?, whoa how much would that pay?, wait no it doesn't matter he's not doing it, still Cloud takes the card from Eris, he should show it to a staff member at the school, sadly part of him can't help showing off and he absorbs from the ruby-like card, his hair, clothes and body taking on it's properties, it's at this point he remembers some resent news broadcasts with the name Envy, and mentions of Iron-Man trying to stop her, he should show this to Theo like now, "Right, well I'm gonna go…"
Eris narrows her eyes with interest at the boy when he absorbs the properties of the card. "Also interesting." She turns back to the men she is with and bows to them, saying something pleasant sounding and motioning to the man who was drained. A couple guards walk over to him and help him up, letting him lean on them as they walk forward. Eris nods to Cloud. "Yes well…I have work to do myself. Keep out of trouble…Unless you're going to get paid for it." She flicks something off her thumb to the boy. If he catches it he'll discover that it is a small emerald. Probably worth a bit of money.
Cloud catches what is thrown to him, he may not be the smartest guy out there but he's a great catch, he doesn't look at the object yet he just slips it into his pocket, "Yeah bye", screw getting his car he's just gonna find the nearest electrical outlet and run to the subway, with that he turns and leaves.
As soon as Eris turns away from Cloud it is as though she forgot that she had even met him. She holds out her hand for her papers and takes them, looking over them again and moving on with the group toward one of the train terminals. No one else seems to get in the groups way as they move.
~ Fin ~
