genessia | Yang? Yang! Yaaaaang! [Action for Jaune and Ren! Also open.]

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Yang? Yang! Yaaaaang! [Action for Jaune and Ren! Also open.]

WHO: Jaune Arc and Lie Ren / Whoever else pops up
WHAT: Ruby's got them running around Everglade asking about the missing Yang Xiao-Long
WHEN: Backdated January 3rd - 3PM
WHERE: The Everglade Area

"Man, sorry you have to get wrapped up in this before you can even find a place to stay. But you can totally stay at my place as long as you need to! It's just getting a little full..."

Jaune sighs. Everglade wasn't the biggest place in the world, but searching for Yang has brought up awful little. Honestly Jaune couldn't think of any reason for Yang to have gone to Everglade unless something had happened - there's not much there to draw a girl like her. Still, Jaune's been asking around regardless, with Ren as another pair of eyes. Armed with nothing much else to go on but Yang's picture and where she'd been a couple days back, the whole thing ended in a lot of "have you seen this girl" questions, and lots of shrugging from faceless citizens who had been of little to no help.

But this was the job! Jaune reminds himself of that a lot. As a deputy guardian, that sort of leg-work is just his thing, right? It's just frustrating that its not getting them anywhere, it seems. It's starting to look pretty pointless - it's not like a girl like Yang is ever subtle. If she was around, someone would've seen her.

"But I guess this is just the kinda stuff that happens around here," Jaune says as he walks the streets with Ren, "For a while this place wasn't looking so bad, but now? Ugh... I dunno, man. I just wanna go home already."

Then Jaune pauses as he reaches a particular back-street nestled in the midst of the city: the so-called "Mystic's Alley." Sure, Genessia was the kind of place to make a guy go out on a little faith, but...

"Aw man... Alright, let's try and get through this place quick, okay?" Jaune instructs, "Mystic's Alley is fulla liars who say they can tell the future. I think it's a load of bull."

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"What's wrong with liars?" Betelgeuse asked, stepping out of the shadows. "A good lie is a work of art, pal! Anyway, just 'cause you can't tell the future, doesn't mean other saps can't."

Ren was keeping pace with Jaune when the stopped beside the alley. He's been his usual self, and this mean the response to Jaune's comment is merely a "Thank you", while making a mental note about finding an apartment perhaps.

It makes sense to keep the team easily gather-able in case of an emergency, so it wouldn't have to be too far if he did...

Oh. They're pausing outside this alleyway. Supposed psychics, hmm? He listens to Jaune's opinion on the people here, thinking. There's been various methods over many thousands of years to supposedly tell some form of the future, and while it's undoubtedly a field that's full of people who would lie for profitable purposes... perhaps it's not an entire crock. That said, he's not seen evidence one way or the other, so to know for sure would be impossible.

He's about to say so, or offer some sort of an opinion perhaps - or even just suggest they continue - when the strange man in the striped suit steps out of the shadows and voices his own opinion. There's something about that though, which seems contrary to itself - perhaps the fact he calls them 'saps'. But he offers a total of none of any of these opinions, letting his leader continue the apparent theological debate about to happen. This is going to be one of those times he just chooses to roll with it and not get involved.

"Wah!" Jaune jumps as BJ just shows up out of the shadows - which shouldn't be surprising, but Jaune is one of the few who hasn't yet had the pleasure of meeting the poltergeist.Once it's clear that ol' Betes doesn't intend them any real harm, Jaune calms down a little.

"Bah, I dunno, it's just weird," Or maybe Jaune's just not that open-minded. Raye totally got mad at him for not believing in fortune-telling too, so he's trying to skim the subject. "I just know that if we go in there asking where to find someone, we'll get a few different stories from a buncha crack-pots."

Of course then it'd be up to him and Ren to determine which was best, and that was a lot of work...

"Hey," Jaune regards the strange man in the strange suit, "I don't suppose you've seen Yang, have you? Girl around my age, crazy long blonde hair?"

Betelgeuse shrugged. He didn't exactly disagree. Yeah, a lot of people in that alley were crackpots, including, in his own opinion, some of the ones who really could see the future.

"Yeah, probably," he conceded, cheerfully. "Nah, I've never met the babe, just her sister Ruby. Sweet kid, you know what I mean? If I see her, I'll let someone know. She got enemies? I could scare 'em for you."

...You are exceedingly strange. That's his main assessment of the poltergeist as him and Jaune talk. And the offer of scaring is the strangest thing yet. He intercedes the conversation to ask simply "Scare?"

He doesn't think scaring them will do much. But then, he's never met BJ before either, so he has no idea.

"Sure! I'm really good at scaring people. It's kinda what I do," Betelgeuse assured him. "If you know who her enemies are, I can scare them into saying where she is, if they know, know what I mean? If they don't well, it might make them hesitate to mess with her in the future."

Jaune's not sure that being good at scaring people is really going to help - it sure doesn't sound helpful to him, at least. But whether it's helpful or not, Bete's has him at a disadvantage pretty much immediately.

"Yeeeeah... That's the thing, we don't know who would take her," Jaune mumbles as he rubs the back of his neck, "Except for this 'M' guy that showed up last month to kidnap Ruby. I think there's some other guy, too, that's causing problems."

But wait... What was his name again? Jaune thinks. Then he snaps his fingers as he remembers other video announcements looking for the guy.

"Bison! That's right. Bison's a suspect."

OOC: Just to clarify: With my slow, you don't need to wait for me :D Especially as a great conservationist, this one is not. It's completely fine to assume he's just stood listening If I can't get to posting before you get there.

Ren's also not sure how effective scaring them will be, still, but BJ seems confident enough in his own abilities that it's enough to consider that maybe there's something there. Maybe scare is some sort of euphemism for something else.

On his part, Ren's pretty much looking thoughtful as these two names come up. He's heard the name Bison on that post by the large angry person, but 'M' is a new one on him. And hearing that Ruby was kidnapped last month was also troubling, Earning Jaune a brief look of surprise. It seems he has missed out on quite a lot. At some point soon, he's going to have to get Jaune to catch him up with everything. So there are no more surprises, especially like that.

"Do you know either of the men?"

Betelgeuse sighed, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it with a flame that appeared between his fingers. These two probably meant well, but they didn't seem to know much more than Betelgeuse himself. And apparently Ruby had been kidnapped before? Well, at least he now had a couple of names to go on.

"No, I don't know them," Betelgeuse admitted. "That can change easily enough, though. Question is, who would benefit by taking her?"

Who could benefit from taking Yang? "I dunno," Jaune answers, "But Yang's got shotgun gloves and is really strong. That's useful to some people, I guess."

Not that Yang would just help someone like that.

"Could be that M is still trying to get to Ruby, for whatever reason."

Jaune shakes his head a little bit and sighs. "It's tough to say right now. For now we're just lookin' around to see if anyone's seen her. I guess we can worry about who took her if we actually manage to find them."

This is one of the bad things about not having been around - he has no useful information or theories to volunteer even if he wanted to.

The lack of information so far has been frustrating and concerning, but perhaps if the man(?) in front of them can also help, they may turn up more. Of course, he's not going to be so presumptuous as to actually put that out there... not unless it looks like Jaune is going to not think of it before they part ways. He does seem genuinely interested in helping, at least.

So for now, he just holds his tongue to see how it's going to go forward.

"Well, that's one way to go about it, I guess, since no one has taken credit. What the heck are shotgun gloves? Gloves that are also shotguns? How would that work anyways? I still think ya oughta strong arm some of these guys, though. I mean, just hoping to stumble across her...it's not much of a plan."

"Yes, gloves that shoot shotgun bullets. They're more like gauntlets, actually."

But that's not the important part here!

"Well, I dunno where Bison hides out, and NOBODY knows where M is... And it's not stumbling, we're questioning for leads. Y'know, like hard-broiled cop stuff," Jaune explains, dismissing BJ's jab at their poorly laid plan. Unfortunately, with no evidence, any plan was doomed to be a bad one.

"Maybe Harry knows where Bison hangs out. And, like, if YOU know, then... go scare him! I mean, if you think you can get away with it. He's kinda super dangerous, I hear."

"I'm pretty sure it's hard-boiled, but, whatever," Betelgeuse chortled. "You can cook your cops anyway you want, I guess. Harry? Ppfffft. That guy's a putz. He actually tried to tell people to not help me! For no good reason!"

Betelgeuse choked up a beetle and spat it off to one side. He wasn't hungry.

"Fella, I'm dead. Unless the guy is good at exorcism or something, there's not much more he can do to me."

Hey, Harry is not a putz! At least, that's what Jaune WOULD say if he wasn't recoiling in disgust. Did that guy just spit out a bug? From... where? Guh, gross!

What's worse, he said he was dead! "Wait, what? You're..." Jaune narrows his eyes and peers at BJ curiously, before looking to Ren and blinking a few times. "... He's dead?" Seems Jaune couldn't believe it. One can guess that if he doesn't believe in fortune-telling, ghosts weren't something he readily embraced either. Though that would explain the way BJ looked... guy practically looked like a zombie.

"Well, what do you think?" Jaune asks his not-dead team mate.

Well, it's enough to break his stoic demeanor a little bit and have him give Betes a look of surprise. You looked more than half dead, but.... to actually be a ghost - that's impossible, right? Mind you, the idea of being in a separate world should also be impossible.

Hmmm. Needless to say, his mind is racing on the situation right now. What they really need is proof. "We need some kind of proof."

"Proof," Betelgeuse repeated, sounding unimpressed. He let himself float into the air a couple of inches, then spun around. "What I look alive and healthy to you guys?? Gimme a damn break."

He considered transforming into his snake form, but being magic didn't necessarily make someone dead.

"What do you want me to do--commit hari kari and not die again?"

So Betelgeuse could float... So could, like, Haryr, if he wanted to. Still, Jaune kind of rested his ahnds on his hips and shrugs, looking to Ren again. "I say we just believe him," He says, "Besides, he wants to help, right?"

"Okay BJ. It'd be awesome if you could help, because if you can't scare Bison and his thugs, then at least you could get into wherever they're hiding and back out again without really getting hurt. That'd count for something, right?"

[He considers Jaune's question, and nods. It's very true they shouldn't turn their nose up at the extra hands at this point.

And there's extending the ask for help also, so Lie Ren himself doesn't have to do it. He simply re-enforces the request by adding-] It would definitely be helpful.

"Hey, if I can't scare Bison and his thugs, no one can!" Betelgeuse boasted, annoyed.

Still, the other man had made an offer. Betelgeuse considered the matter. He didn't mind helping Ruby out, because she was cute. These two, however, seemed kinda dorky. Still, he had to admit, he was a bit bored and even Betelgeuse knew that was not a good thing. So, he shrugged, a bit indifferently.

"Yeah, sure, I'll help ya. Spying? Pffft. Couldn't be easier. So, can you tell me any more about this Bison...like maybe name someone who does know where to find him? I mean, I can find out, sure, but that would waste time."

Oh, right. Where IS Bison anyway? "Uh... Only person I'd know who knows where Bison is, is... well... Harry."

BJ already said he didn't like Harry very much. Jaune was avoiding eye-contact at that particular part. Sorry BJ, there's not much Jaune can say otherwise! He doesn't know a lot of people who have been here long enough to know these things!

Betelgeuse rolled his eyes.

"Well, doesn't that just figure," he groaned. "I told ya. I don't like that jerkoff! There's gotta be other people who know Bison."

Jaune's a little surprised that BJ so readily spits on the idea of dealing with Harry. Just what did he DO to that guy?

"O-Okay, okay, uh... Someone who's been here a while-- Oh! Maybe Raye knows about Bison!" Jaune drops his fist into his own hand affirmatively. "Yeah! She's been here just as long as Harry, she'd definitely know! And she totally believes in ghosts and stuff, so you should have no problem!"

"Uh, yeah, about that," Betelgeuse said sheepishly. "I'm afraid little Miss Raye of Anti-sunshine doesn't like me very much. I kinda scared her at the New Years party, then forgot we'd met. So, she's not going to be real eager to help me out."

Jaune face-palms at that little tid-bit. Of course Raye doesn't like BJ. He should have known that, considering the guy's attitude. "Ugh..." He drags his hand down his face a bit to instead rub at his jaw in thought. What the heck is he supposed to do NOW?

For a moment he looks to Ren, but then remembers that Ren just arrived so... he's not going to be of any help.

"... Alright, maybe I'll try calling her. Because I'm sure she'll help me out." He says this with no shortage of pride and reaches into his pocket to get his phone. He quickly dials Raye's number and... well hopes to God she'll answer and tell him something. Anything.

Betelgeuse slipped behind Jaune, peering over his shoulder, trying to see his phone. He hoped Jaune and Raye would talk face to face. Hey, the girl might be a sourpuss and not like Betelgeuse very much, but she was still cute!

"Put in a good word for me. Tell her I'm not that bad!" he instructed.

Lie Ren doesn't move closer, but he's no less intrigued. Not least because of Jaune's pride when he claims she will help him out - their leader is.... not the best with women. This certainly is interesting. And something he may have to ask Nora about to see how much she knows. Wait, no, that could take a while. Hmm.

However, he does look at BJ. "Your presence may be unappreciated at first. I would let him got to you before you make yourself known." You know, we'd like her to help.

It was a while before Raye picked up the phone. The monster fight had taken a lot out of her, but there were other things that had sapped her pretty good afterward too.

She just wasn't sure how to deal with them yet.

When she answered, her voice was thick with sleep. "Hey, hero." She was exhausted, but her affection was still audible. If only she'd known there would be an audience.

Jaune broke out into a little smile and a laugh as Raye greeted him so... affectionately. It actually made him blush. "Uh, hey! You sound like you just got up," He says, immediately feeling bad. He knew she'd been pretty badly injured and needed tons of rest.

... When he's done he ought to go over and see if she's all right. Briefly, he looks up to BJ, who's still standing nearby, and tries to usher the guy away and make sure he's FAR out of frame. "Hey,Raye? I hate to bug you with this junk but I'm looking into finding Yang and the only real lead we've got is Bison... Do you know anything about him? He was here longer than I was, I think."

"That CREEP?"

Welp, she was definitely awake now. Still pretty miserable looking, with her long black hair all messy and her face still pale, but the mention of his name was enough to make her sit up, the blanket falling away from her pajamas.

"Yeah, I know about him. A long while back, before you showed up, he kidnapped a bunch of people and forced Harry and several others to fight in order to rescue the hostages. He wanted to see what kind of powers and fighting styles everyone had."

She'd rescued a bossy talking cat herself, but as Sailor Mars, not Raye Hino.

"You think he took her?" Raye rubbed at her eye, some of her anger fading to be replaced with weariness and concern.

Betelgeuse listened to her from out of sight, wishing she'd cough up something useful. He supposed it didn't hurt to have confirmation that the guy was a jerkoff, but hell. A lot of people thought that about Betelgeuse, too...namely Raye, so far as he could tell. He shifted impatiently, barely keeping from demanding specific information.

Keep your stripey suit on, Beets, Jaune's working on it!

Honestly he's surprised at how spirited Raye gets about Bison. Maybe he shouldn't be so surprised, but he is. "Yeah, we think he took her... Any idea where he usually hangs out?" He gets right to the point then, because BJ is being a little... antsy. "We want to look into what he's been doing. I think we've got someone who can get in there and check things out - we just need to know where to look."

Raye leaned back, looking thoughtful. "I'm not sure...but there's a guy on his payroll that takes bribes. He might be able to tell you. If you can get him an autograph from someone famous, and make it look inconspicuous when you trade it for information, find Balrog. He'll do anything for money."

She still remembered the big burly boxer, who'd intentionally thrown the fight for the sake of Sailor Mars's autograph. A strange fight, but she couldn't rightly object since she'd been able to rescue Salem.

"Wait, this guy takes autographs as payment? Or money... Wow," Jaune didn't even know what to say about something like that. But that left him with some tasks: find Balrog, and have something to bribe him with.

"Well that's something..." He says, looking over to BJ (who Raye totally can't see), "... You know anybody famous?"

"Uh, back home I do sure. I know plenty of famous ghosts. I could forge a signature or two," Betelgeuse assured him.

"Yeah, he's more loyal to his bank account than to Bison," Raye sighed, leaning back again.

Until she heard a certain ghost's voice.

Suddenly she was sitting straight up, covering herself completely with the blanket, and staring DAGGERS at the viewscreen. "That had better not be who I think it is," she growled through grit teeth.

Jaune practically jumped as Raye turned into a ferocious she-beast of rage yet again - this time at Betelgeuse's presence. He looked to Betes, then back to the phone a couple times. "What? Well, I guess it depends on who you think it is--" Jaune began to answer, but then looking to Betes again, he kind of got all flustered. "Uh, hey, look at that! I need to go. Investigating to do. A Guardian's work is never done!"

He smiled brightly and waved to Raye. "Bye! Try not to push yourself too hard!"

He hangs up the call then quickly, and lets out a breath. "Well, I don't know anyone famous here either, really... Since this place is just, you know, it's own place..." He says, turning his attention fully to the ghost. Then he got to figuring...

"Say... you any good at acting?" He asks, cocking a brow, "You might not be famous here... but you can pretend, right? If we find this guy, we can totally lie our way to victory - right?"

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Yang? Yang! Yaaaaang! [Action for Jaune and Ren! Also open.]

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[Ring-ring, Raye!]

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