[sup][h1][center][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/82fa3fb006e4a85a60530826f3e0fbe1/5ba732607eca068a-39/s400x600/d4a9d9d820de7c97233fbf8c007097f3049db381.gifv[/img][/center][b][center][color=black] S A R A H  M A R I E  K I N G[/color]
[color=orange]S A R A H  M A R I E  K I N G[/color][/center]
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[center][i]Lucky Noodle, Little Asia; with Ken Shimazu, Kenzo Yamamoto, Julia Kray, & Detective Steven Donahue[/i][/center]

[i]“If you need air, water… whatever helps, take it.”[/i]

[indent]The words from the detective washed over Sarah like a warm shower at the end of a long day out in the cold. The ease of calm that had eluded her through most of the questioning settled in, and she managed a deep breath without Shimazu’s urging. But in sharp contradiction, the relaxation that she had found gave her little in the way of immediate strength to make the beeline through the kitchen she had planned on. Instead, she remained in place, albeit not nearly as agitated by her stillness, which, to that point, she had been held to against her own will. Was that the manner of temperance Shimazu had lectured her about so many times? It was either that, or the simple fact that she realized standing still had left her legs feeling numb. Regardless, she stayed in the dining room long enough to hear everything that Steve had to say. 

Once he had concluded, Sarah turned, and doubled down on her stated intention. [color=orange]“Getting some air.”[/color] She stopped mid-turned and looked at Kenzo as she oriented herself towards the kitchen. She pointed the way with a nod. [color=orange]“You can come along, if you still want to.”[/color] She shrugged. Not waiting for a response, she walked by him and into the kitchen, breaking step only to fill a cup of water as she passed a sink with a filtered tap -an excuse for her going out through the back door-. After chugging from and emptying the cup, she continued through the backroom, and cracked the door into the alleyway open; she checked one way, and then the other, but saw no one. She swung the door open fully, and went outside where she leaned against the backside of the restaurant. 

She pulled the amulet out from her pocket, and resumed examining it, now away from the prying eyes of either the Detective or Julia; it was still directing her in an eastward direction, though how far she’d need to go, the amulet didn’t say outright. [color=orange][i]Just don’t make me have to leave the city.[/i][/color] She tucked the amulet back into her pocket, and placed her head back against the wall. She’d give Kenzo a minute, two tops, to decide if he wanted to stick around for more police banter; if she knew Shimazu, he’d want to have a proper conversation with the detective.[/indent]

[sup][h1][center][img]https://c.tenor.com/Brulmz2N_fwAAAAC/tenor.gif
[/img][/center][b][center][color=black] K E N  S H I M A Z U[/color]
[color=yellow]K E N  S H I M A Z U[/color][/center]
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[center][i]Lucky Noodle, Little Asia; with Sarah King, Steven Donahue, Kenzo Yamamoto, and Julia Kray[/i][/center]

[indent]Ken Shimazu surrendered himself to silent observation after all accounts had been given. He watched with interest as Detective Donahue went to work piecing together the information he had been given. The look on the Detective’s face, and his overall body language was something he was very well-acquainted with; he had seen it in other detectives throughout his years with the police department, and even felt it in himself in his prime. It was the turning of gears, stringing events and clues together. It was the process of making sense out of calamity. Watching it unfold upon Steven brought back its share of memories, for good or ill. For that nostalgia, and the due respect given to the sanctity of that thought process, he kept a quiet vigil, so as not to disrupt the Detective’s train of thought.

When Steve finally spoke again, Shimazu followed his gaze and landed his own on Sarah as well. He was ready to provide additional assurance to her, but was pleased to see that she had calmed herself down without anything further from him. [color=yellow][i]Progress is progress.[/i][/color] A faint smile etched itself across his face, and only grew inward when he noticed that Sarah remained still for a moment longer. When she did finally make her way from the dining room, he acknowledged her stated  intent, though knowing his student left him certain that she’d move on her ulterior motives sooner rather than later. [color=yellow]“Just stick close by the shop for now,”[/color] he reminded her as she entered the kitchen.

He followed his pupil by her energy alone as she exited. Sensing that she hadn’t simply sprinted off, but stayed just outside of the back door, he shifted his gaze, again following in tow with the Detective’s in eying a darkened corner of the room. The thought of more beings like the one from before hadn’t occurred to him until that moment. He was compelled to question why only one of them would have attacked if there were others, but kept that question to himself; Donahue was likely thinking along similar lines without him interjecting. 

Lingering on that thought he narrowed onto the corner of the room he and the Detective were looking at. [color=yellow]“If there are any others like him, I can say with some certainty that there aren't any here at the moment.”[/color]

Hoping he had put that concern to rest for the moment, he turned to face Donahue. [color=yellow]“This is by no means to dissuade you from investigating any connections, but I wouldn’t dwell too deeply on the Blue Dragons’ involvement in the abduction. Xiao Feng has been vying to expand into this part of Little Asia for a while now. His visit was, at least on the surface, for the sake of bringing me and my shop under his influence. [sub]Humph… as if I needed his protection.[/sub] No. It was only a matter of time before that situation escalated.”[/color][/indent]

[CENTER][sup][h1][center][img]https://c.tenor.com/_dREp7THfQIAAAAd/tenor.gif[/img][/center][b][center][color=black] Z H A N G, T A I W U[/color]
[color=6ecff6]Z H A N G, T A I W U[/color][/center]
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[color=lightgray][sup][i]Nighthaven, with The Driver[/i][/sup][/color][/CENTER]

[indent]Taiwu sat himself into the rear passenger seat of the car, and settled in comfortably. As the driver pulled away from the old church, he watched the building fall away into the distance through the side mirror. A part of him wondered if Amara would have him followed; as well as any meetings among the city’s underground had ever gone, the seeds of distrust between the gangs, organizations, and other assorted communities had been planted decades prior. To be certain, he would uphold his end of the bargain, and see to it that anyone that misstepped was punished accordingly. [color=6ecff6]“The conversation was most illuminating.”[/color] He answered the driver while still looking through the mirror on his door. [color=6ecff6]“But the knowledge I seek will require some additional effort.”[/color] Xiao Feng’s plan to strike the Lucky Noodle through proxies seemed even more appealing; one of them could take the blood from the girl, and bring it to him.[/indent]

[CENTER][sup][h1][center][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/fff51bc06d0de75c0c92afc560d30f56/5ee10285e4d49654-8d/s400x600/ceae43f33b978cd2a2c37e1e7846b4f74a7ad550.gif[/img][/center][b][center][color=black] T H E R E S A  T O R R E S[/color]
[color=white]T H E R E S A  T O R R E S[/color][/center]
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[color=lightgray][sup][i]70th Street Hideout, Mapleview; with Fred & Valentina Vega[/i][/sup][/color][/CENTER]

[indent]Theresa took in the growing stack of large bills for a minute longer, absorbing Fred’s assessment that the haul would be enough to turn a profit. As nervous as the dye-stained money made her, she allowed herself to trust in Fred’s accounting skill, and take his word that the heist had been a success; he hadn’t allowed The 70th to operate at loss so far. She took a closer look at the piles, which indicated the accuracy of his statement. “I’ll take your word for it then.” She didn’t make any further comment, and proceeded to the door to Val’s office, making three gentle (for her) knocks. “Val, It’s Theresa,” she said, though announcing herself might have been more of a formality.[/indent]

[center][h1][b][u]Nighthaven - Veridian Technologies; Atrium[/u][/b][/h1]
[i]Katherine Tran, Horace Wolfe, & Greg Vaughn; with Artemis[/i][/center]

[indent]“Glad I could help.” KT spoke with a glaze of uncertainty. She stuck close to her friend as several squads of police and DSHA agents entered the atrium. [i]Don’t worry, I won’t give anything away.[/i] 

“Alright, I need this whole floor secured. Agent Norris will lead the inquiry of witnesses; only question people who AREN’T being seen by medics this time, understood?” A tall, lean man with a clean haircut, a trimmed beard, and glasses had entered the atrium. He was adorned by a navy blue windbreaker with the DSHA emblem on the right side of the chest area. He was flanked by a squad of similarly dressed people, and was directing them with rapid efficiency. When he arrived before the restrained woman, stopped and ordered the agent handling her: “Get her into the containment van; I want facial recognition and an ID as soon as possible.” 

He then looked at Artemis and KT; the surname “Vaughn” became clearly visible as he turned. “Artemis,” he said cordially. “Thank you for your help, as always.” 

“Deputy Director Vaughn.” Wolfe had returned with a contingent of his security team, the majority of whom dispersed to assist the medics and law enforcement. “Good to see you again. Though I hadn’t expected you to be here.” 

“Ah. Of course, Horace; just a shame for it to be under these circumstances. Naturally a blindside attack by a Super on the largest company in the city warrants high level response. I was in the area anyway.”

“Naturally.” Wolfe agreed. “What’s the status of the attacker? 

“Secured and in the process of being contained. Once she becomes conscious we can start the interrogation and get to the bottom of why she targeted Veridian.” 

“She was hired by the Delgatos.” KT had stepped forward and spoken up. “But I couldn’t figure out why they hired her.” 

Vaughn raised an eyebrow at KT. “I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“Sorry. I’m Katherine Tran. KT for short. I’m a friend of Diana Smith. I came here to see her; we were about to go grab lunch together when that woman showed up and started making a mess of things. Mr. Wolfe was able to get Diana to safety. But I… I fell behind and figured I’d help Artemis.” 

“And how did you figure you could help?” Vaughn inquired skeptically. 

“Well, Mr…?”

“Greg Vaughn. Deputy Director of The Department of Superhuman Affairs.” 

“Well, you see Mr. Vaughn, I’m a Telepath. If you check the records you’ll find my name listed; I was trained to control my powers when I was high school. I can communicate telepathically, read minds and such. That’s how I found out the woman worked for Delgato.”

“A mind reader?” Vaughn leaned forward. “Show me.” 

“Uh…” KT blushed. “What do you mean?” 

“I can’t be so sure about what you’ve told me without you proving it. So I’m requesting that you read my mind. Tell me, what I’m thinking.”

“That sounds reasonable.” Wolfe chimed in. “Please, Ms. Tran. Deputy Director Vaughn is only here to help.”

“OK then.” KT focused. Her eyes locked with the Deputy’s for a moment, during which she seemed to go rigid as she probed as deep as she could without violating too much of his privacy. “Right now, you’re thinking about why the Delgatos would want to attack Veridian.” 

“Gonna need something a bit less obvious,” Vaughn replied, not breaking eye contact.

“You’re also considering how to best break the news of this event to the media.” 

Vaughn nodded and gestured for something more. “Better, but still…”

“Aaand… hoping that the fish tacos you bought for lunch are still warm.”

Vaughn backed away. He hid a small shred of embarrassment behind a humored smile. “Well that satisfies me. So we have an electrokinetic hitwoman hired by the Delgatos to assault Veridian Technologies.” He looked around from Wolfe on his right to Artemis on his left. “Yeah… yeah.” He nodded and placed his fingers on his chin. He wore the distinct look of someone whose brain was rapidly connecting dots into a picture. “I’m gonna need all three of you to talk with me in private,” he said at last  

“I think we can arrange that.”

“Right now?” 

“I don’t see why not?” Wolfe looked to Artemis. “If you can spare the time.” 

“Should we wait for Diana?” KT asked. 

“I don’t believe that will be necessary to Deputy Director Vaughn’s intentions.” 

“It’s probably best not to involve the Smiths in this matter,” Vaughn agreed. “Though…” He looked to Artemis with the hint of a dissecting flare in his eyes, and then backtracked to KT, and finally landed on Wolfe. “I don’t doubt that Diana will be informed one way or another.” 

“We can meet in my office then,” Wolfe said, ignoring Vaughn’s suspicious glare. “More privacy there than upstairs; the executives will be wanting to ask questions.”[/indent]

[center][@Nallore], [@Skelm], [@Silver Carrot], [@McNephelim][/center]