Description: Doon't know when I'll be back agaaaaaaain. o/`
In queue to depart from Seattle's international hub is a very modern, very luxurious, rather spacious private jet. The custom aircraft idles its powerful jet turbines outside the terminal, most of its 'distinguished' passengers already aboard. Geese crosses over the tarmac at an unhurried stride, his pace casual as the business-suited crimelord makes his way towards the plane. The clothes damaged in his battle with Ken are long discarded, along with any forensic evidence that Yamazaki was anywhere -near- that poor janitor that Sean plastered. Of course, just because you're rich doesn't mean you enjoy paying taxes, and Howard amused himself a bit longer liberating choice items from the airport's duty-free options. It always makes these little trips that much more profitable and positive.
Which this journey very much was, in Geese's eyes... he showed up to visit a landmark of fighting, and the impact of just that arrival spurred the kind of paranoid, volatile, chaotic reaction that he was hoping for. It's the kind of sick joke that really touches him in his heart, particularly after the mess left in Masters Stadium thanks to that easily provoked reaction. Good times, Geese. Good times.
Two business-suited men with earpieces accompany Geese Howard, several more waiting at the ramp of the plane. Which seems to be where the Syndicate boss is calmly headed, now.
It all happened so fast -- while Eliza was safe and sound in the end, it was still her fault and Mary still blamed herself for what had happened. Had she been there earlier to watch over her, then perhaps all of this wouldn't have happened. Ken recovered physically from the beating he took relatively fast, but Sean may require a bit more of bed time. At the very least, those events are going to be the first steps toward some new efforts toward dealing with the syndicate in Southtown, and that pleases Mary, seeing how she's been working on that for so long but with so little results.
In the end, the guilt she felt for what had happened lead her to this place. She had to make up for it, right? She could have stayed by Eliza's side always and protect her, but considering Ken was already more or less doing that for the next couple of days, Mary had other plans. With just a little bit of luck, Mary'll be able to pin down Geese before he leaves the United States and actually have a chance to give him a little parting gift.
It's debatable whether Mary's intelligence gathering have given excellent results or if it's just pure instinct that had her find out just where and when Geese'll try to return to Southtown, but in the end, the detective's in the airport, appearing busy reading through some magazines but checking through the crowd. There had one flight here that would potentially be Geese's one, so she had to look out for him not to miss him.
Then at long last, she spots him. Not only him, but the other men in business suits that follows him. A little bit of security, eh? Well that shouldn't be too much of a problem for Mary, at least she hopes. Unfortunately, Mary might be the bad guy here, there've got no good evidences to hold Geese off here and she doesn't really have any kind of authority here... Though it was worth it, if she had the chance to actually do something out of it.
A shame there's more of those goons showing up near the ramp to the plane. No good.
Sakura came here to Seattle to visit a fighting landmark as well! ... Kinda. She's actually been making several trips here to the home of the Masters estate, in order to help her boyfriend, Sean Matsuda, learn the ways of the greatest martial art ever! ... But she's just on her way here after school, to stay for the weekend. With the Neo League supplanting her former need to stick around Southtown on permanent Saturday Night Fight standby, trips to the US of A are just the thing to keep Sakura's attention focused!
Which is totally why she's zoning out the world, walking down the boarding platform with a dual-screen game system in her hands, plunking away merrily, accompanied by the sounds of digitized bleeps and blorps as puzzle pieces slide into position.
So intent is she on completing this level that she just keeps walking... right into the distracted Mary. *ker-WHUMP* The low-speed impact jars the game system shut, as Sakura stumbles backwards. "S-su-sumimasen..." she stutters in her native tongue, before realizing it's the one and only Blue Mary! "Y... you... oh, =hey!= Sorry 'bout that, what's up?" Cheeks still flushed with embarassment, she forges a bright, toothy smile nonetheless!
... Before looking around, and noticing the suits. And Geese. Did she interrupt something? "... Oh. Er." Blinkblink. She scratches the back of her head. "Sorry, I'm a total klutz today!"
As if that excuses =everything.=
Geese's concern over the authorities isn't exactly the highest in the underworld... but then Southtown's isn't the only law enforcement agency that Howard more or less owns. The forensic evidence left behind? Well, that's pretty sparse too, as it is it allll points to Sean, something that one might have a sinking suspicion Ryuji and Geese's testimony would back up. There's always that tingle, particularly in someone with the keen alertness Howard possesses, when someone in his position is being followed. All that becomes clearer when the lone blonde follows his little entourage out onto the tarmac. And queue the arrival of... Sakura Kasugano?
Ryu's student's arrival definitely makes the situation much more immediately apparant, and it stops the amused Howard's journey towards the jet. The crimelord turns, halfway, smirking over his shoulder towards Mary and the addled Sakura. He doesn't say a word, but a subtle gesture of his hands sends the two guards with him back several strides towards the pair, one hand reaching into the jacket of their suits in near-synchronous threat, "Mr. Howard has nothing to say to you." The lead fellow, a thickly muscled oriental man, informs Mary and Sakura rather rudely. Geese stands where he is, though he turns away with a low chuckle, his shoulders rising and falling quickly with the laughter.
That was totally unexpected. In fact, for a second, Mary thought she might have had the courage to force herself upon Geese and rush over to him to stop him but... Before this actually happens, her path seems to cross Sakura's one. While Sakura may be more to blame for not looking where she was going, Mary's not really better since she was too focused on her task at hand to actually notice Sakura came her way.
Caught off guard, Mary's eyes widen a bit and she staggers to the side after Sakura bumps into her. Just a little harder and Mary might have fallen down. So much for grace and not being spotted. At least now she's pretty certain what little cover she might have had has been blown, "Damn it..." Mary mutters under her breath. She glances over to Sakura and, even though she's upset, she doesn't get angry at her, at least, "It's alright, no worries," Mary says with a wave of her hand, as if to tell Sakura to hush it down, letting her gaze wanders off toward Geese to see where he is, just in time to meet his eyes and see that smirk on his face. Looks like she's been seen.
"Nothing good apparently," Mary answers Sakura's question with a faint whisper, her eyes drifting off toward the two men approaching her. Lifting her hands up to try and appear non-threatening to those two, Mary smiles and she says, "Ah come on now, make peace not war. I've just got a little parting gift for him, I'm sure he's got a few seconds to spar, from his good business friend,"
Sakura's good at getting in the way, whether she wants to be or not! But, amidst bowing in apology to Mary, she finds herself approached by the suits, Kasugano wrinkles her nose in disgust. "... If he had nothing to say, then why did he send you guys to come here an' say it?" She pauses, smirking for a moment, then raises a finger. "Oh, wait, I figured it out. 'It goes without saying?'"
She's also good at babbling nonsense, which is why she'd been called 'Almost Philosophical' by Mr. Howard himself in times past.
But really... Kasugano has to wonder why anyone bothered. Saying 'No comment' when none was requested, after all, is akin to claiming innocence for a crime which hasn't yet been accused. The schoolgirl glances over to Mary, raising an eyebrow in skepticism. "... You two got a history together or somethin?"
Sakura's also good at being nosy, especially in times which satisfy the previous two conditions.
Well, Sakura may be able to play the innocence card.. but there's only so many reasons Mary Ryan would be trying to interrupt -this- flight, right now. Right after Geese himself left the terminal. The suits don't seem to be too phased by the pseudo-philosophy... they're paid not to get it. With the mildly confrontational response, both thugs draw 9mm pistols, held at their sides rather than pointed at the fighters, but present nonetheless, "This is a private aircraft." the security informs the pair, as if totally oblivious to the requests and protestations. No, they're not paid to think about it.
Geese, meanwhile... well, he's had his fun tonight, and these two could either compound or complicate it... but in addition to siccing the hired help on them instead of 'honouring' them with his acknowledgement personally... he begins to walk towards the jet once more, as relaxedly as before.
Had circumstances been a little different, Mary might have tried something rash, but thanks to Sakura's presence, Mary closes her eyes and she takes a breath before she heaves a sigh of resignation. There are a lot of things not playing in her favor right now and she doesn't want to push her luck. Causing trouble is the last thing she wants, and the risk of someone not involved into this getting hurt out-weights whatever little damage Mary could do on her own. Clarity of thoughs, before rashness of actions, Mary repeats to herself mentally.
"Right, we got the message," Mary simply says, waving one hand dissimingly at the two men. Her eyes turn over to Sakura and she waves her hand over to her, "Right, we'd better not bother them," She says. She does gesture for her, as if telling her to move out. If something did happen to Sakura because of her, Mary wouldn't really be able to forgive herself.
As if to insist, Mary tries to hook her by the arm and drag her with her a little away, to show their 'good will'. "I guess you could say that, it's a long story, but guess he's going to slip away again, ah.. Not that I really had any good plans in my mind.." She whispers to her.
"And this is a public airport!" Kasugano protests, not taking well to intimidation -- especially not from a guy she =admires= and looks up to! The fact that Mary's encouraging patience isn't really reaching the brash schoolgirl who isn't looking her way. She shies away from Mary's attempt at an arm loop, but =is= close enough to hear the rest.
And the fact that Mary's even =whispering= is suspicious.
"Hey, knock it off!" she barks suddenly, one foot snapping towards the nearest threat's gun, knocking it out of reach. Reflexively, she leans backwards just in time for a bullet to whistle past her chin, slamming into a wall of the private airport wing. The report of the bullet's impact is enough to jar her slightly, causing the girl to shudder with delayed fear as she steps backwards, curling her fists in front of her defensively as she looks back at the guard -- equally alarmed as she is, no doubt!
Pointing her chin towards Mary but keeping her eyes on the guards, she asks, "I don't know what's goin' on here, but you're grown-ups, right? You can talk like adults! I mean, it's not like we're out to kick your butt or anything, Mr. Howard, right?"
It would seem Sakura is ill-informed, to say the least -- as she's 100% serious, standing down from her equal and opposite reaction to the threat. Mr. Geese Howard is a pinnacle of society! She's serious -- no weapons needed!
Hey! That hurts. These guys may be familiar with fighters, but that doesn't mean they're any particular -match- for one of any calibre. His other hand grips the one that had held the pistol, and he staggers back gasping in pain. The second man raises his pistol in-line with Sakura, but a motion from Geese forestalls the retribution. No, Mary would be alright... but he's not going to have Kasugano gunned down for interceding. Bystanders, and all. That, and image is important. It's too bad Sakura's flight wasn't delayed. Geese scowls, straightening his suit jacket as he turns back to face the pair of women, his expression still a firm frown. But hey, he has reason.
"Let us just say that the reception offered here was below reprehensible." Howard explains, and he certainly .sounds. offended. A nod of his head sends the second 'guard' off to one side, while one of the men guarding the ramp goes up it, disappearing into the jet. The Syndicate have professionalism and operating procedure to consider, around Geese, "This woman is no doubt harboring some illusions of taking 'vengeance' for the antagonism of her comrades. I expected a hearty challenge from Masters... but not the paranoid delusions I was greeted with. His -wife- tried to bar us from the arena, and he brought backup in an attempt to strong-arm me.... over -ratings-, he said. Television ratings." It's hard to tell if Geese is more affronted... or amused, now. To him, it all seems so trivial. At least, that's his story and he's sticking to it.
"I accepted his challenge, defeated him, and I have little reason at this point to doubt that the bodyguard of Mrs. Masters..." Geese nods towards Blue Mary, "is here to harass me further. Following in the steps of Ken's student, ambushing my associate." And tragically killing that poor, poor janitor. But we probably shouldn't be talking about that publically, "You'll have to forgive me if my patience is worn thin." His icy blue eyes turn to Mary, and he amends, "If Ken Masters has a problem, tell him he has an open invitation to SNF. He'll receive a much warmer reception." At least before the fight.
Even if Geese hadn't called his men back, Mary would have been there to actually stop the second man from firing at Sakura. The bullet that was shot was enough to alert her, and reflexes just made her more or less blindly attack the second man with his gun. Not in any way to harm him, but more just like Sakura did, a swift way to disarm him before he'd actually fire at the other girl, a kick right to his hands to knock off his gun. Sakura probably has no idea what's going on but she didn't help Mary's case here! At least, Geese's gesture to tell them not to try anything prevented Mary from trying anything else.
Geese's story is a good one -- Mary wouldn't expect anything else from him considering he's as slippery as an eel. She'd believe it, considering what she had seen going on in the stadium, if it weren't for the fact that she trusts much more Ken's words than his.
Mary can't help it but smile, lifting her gaze up at Geese, "It'll never cease to amaze me how things always seem nicer when they come out of your mouth then what they might have truly been." Mary straightens her leather jacket, turning her gaze over to Sakura. Poor girl must be so clueless! She turns her gaze back to Geese and she adds, "I just wanted to make sure you'd be on your way back, for various reasons, just in case. I don't plan to harass you further, have a nice flight.."
Mary turns on her heels slightly and halts midway, before she turns back and adds, "Oh and... If you could tell your men to try not to do anything to Mrs. Masters' wife anymore. It would make my job easier. Thank you," Mary says, lips curling into a wide grin, "I'm sure you can understand that."
Mary then glances over to Sakura and she pats her shoulder, "Come on, let's get going, staying here'll be no good.."
Sakura, clueless? Someone call the tabloids! "... 'scuse me, Mr. Howard, but I didn't think having guns pulled on me was pretty prehensile itself!" Hopefully Geese can pardon Sakura's malapropism, or at least glean some amusement from it -- but she doesn't seem to notice. Kasugano glances over at the guards in turn, crossing her arms as the legendary Geese Howard speaks.
... She isn't quite amused, really. The notion of Eliza talking tough isn't totally out of the question, so she buys his story... at least, until she hears Geese talking about Ken's student.
"... Sean? Ambushing?" She blinks rapidly, finally looking back to Mary. "That's kinda nutzoid..." she muses, scratching at her cheek and only =now= starting to realize that kicking Geese's bodyguards over would be a stupid idea indeed.
The fact that Mary called shenanigans is enough to give her further pause, at any rate. Blanching, she raises a hand in a shaky wave to Geese, thoroughly confused.
"R...right," she mumbles, before chirping, "Have a safe flight, Mr. Howard!" Minding her manners -- except the ones that would involve apologizing for kicking the nice gunman's hand -- she bows once more and backs away with Mary!
"I have no interest in Eliza Masters." Geese reiterates, with a slow roll of his eyes, "You give me so much credit, assuming I flew over in order to rendevous at the arena during its -normal business hours- at the precise time she was there." It was just a happy coincidence, "The high horse you rode in on has long since stampeded off into the night." Howard calmly informs Mary, waving a hand in a dismissive gesture, "If you didn't come here with the will to back up your conviction, I don't have time for this."
"The entire affair..." Geese observes, his gaze drifting back to Kasugano, "Was rather 'nutzoid'." There's a vague shake of his head, and a mild amusement, "Glad to see someone in your little circle is maintaining some sense of purpose, or perspective. Why am I not surprised?" Good Geese, bad Geese. But he is showing a fair bit more respect to Sakura, than to the Agent that tracked him here, "You are always welcome in my competitions as well, Sakura. Ken misunderstands my appreciation of his media competition." Or at least, Big's explanation of it.
Geese does seem willing to turn back towards the plane, however. He's made good on the challenges the he levelled, real or imagined... the ball is in their court, so to speak. That's how the game works.
So that's it? Mary's just going to let him go away with it? Seems like it. She heaves a faint sigh and she lifts her hand up to rub her template a little. It all seemed so clear in her head when she came here, she thought she had some kind of idea but the more she thinks about it, the more the whole Blue Mary justice didn't seem the right thing to do.
There might have been no fight but that was a defeat has a whole. Many times she has desired to see him this close and have a chance and now she has it and what she does? She just ruins it. In a way, it's better like that. She's never envisionned it happening the way it would have. Mary has nothing more to say to Geese. She nudges Sakura as if to have her walk away with her. Once they've made a few steps away, Mary heaves a sigh and she shakes her head, "Let's just say it's a really long story. Though I guess you deserve some kind of explanations..." Mary admits. After all, it's not like she's a total stranger to Ken or that boy Sean.
Sakura just does what feels right! And standing around whispering just didn't feel right at all! Much better to get issues out into the open. ... Right?
That seems to be the general sentiment in Sakura as she turns back to Mary: she seems pleased. Not =comfortable=, per se, but pleased enough to smile.
Maybe she's just happy no one got their ass kicked, despite her throwing a monkeywrench into Mary's planned operation. Sakura doesn't see this as defeat; quite the opposite, as she's received kudos from Geese!
"Oh... yeah, thanks!" she chirps, thrusting a thumbs-up to Geese. "I'll probably come back in a few weeks, yeah! Just gettin' burned out on all the burnination. Kain's pretty tough, y'know!" Of course he knows, Saku's just dense sometimes.
But she's eager to let herself be pulled back by Mary, nodding weakly. "I... yeah, I hadn't talked to 'em lately, I was just here to hang out this weekend... what's up?" She looks back over her shoulder at Geese, grinning madly as she tosses out a fangirlish wave. Such a nice guy, that Geese!
"Were you on your way back to Southtown?" Mary asks, tilting her head to one side. She does give one last glance over to Geese and she simply frowns, before her eyes return back to Sakura, "Wouldn't want to hold you if you've got a plan to catch, but if not, let's have a little walk outside and a little talk," Mary says with a nod. She waves her hand up and she adds, "I can say there's a lot that happened lately," She adds, trying to do as if it was nothing, lips curling into a smile.
"But it's probably not as 'pretty' and 'nice' as Geese makes it sound,"
"Huh?" asks Sakura, the past few minutes having been mostly glossed over in that one innocent question. "N...no, I just got here =from= Southtown, not too long ago!" She grins lightly, hooking her thumbs in the straps of the overstuffed backpack that serves as her luggage for this trip. Her cheeriness takes a momentary downturn as the reality of Mary's words sets in. "Was plannin' on spendin' the weekend with Ken and Sean, y'know, if they're not, like, laid up in some hospital somewhere. Are they okay?"
Folding her arms in front of her chest, Mary gives a nod to Sakura, "Ken's alright," She says. Nothing to worry about the american champ, after all. Her lips curl into a smile and she says, "I think his pride took a little hit though, but I can't really blame him," Mary says. She turns her eyes away, "As for Sean, he's been better... But he'll probably be back on his feet in no time. Let's say he's got beaten badly," At least, her intonation doesn't show anything to say Sean's been critically injuried. Just very badly injuried.
She glances over to Sakura and she smiles, "But that just means they'll be training all the harder for what's to come. Anyway, I'm going to return to the Masters' estate. If you're not too scared of motorcycling, I can give you a ride."
Historically, Sakura never really got along well with Mary -- though that's mostly because Kasugano's barely been able to scratch the blonde's impeccable defense. But if there's one thing, Sakura's finding that the former Interpol agent isn't as bad as originally thought!
"... Oh, okay. Yeah, he... gets a bit ahead of himself sometimes, I guess!" She laughs gently, scratching her cheek and looking aside for a moment. "I wish I remembered how I got to this part of the airport, anyway..."
But with Mary's invitation, Sakura nods eagerly! "Su-sure! I love motorcycles, and, like, I'm headed there anyway!" Kasugano seems more than willing to follow along! "Where's your bike?"
Considering their age differences and the fact that most of the time they've met each other it was to fight each other, it's no wonder why Sakura might have never been able to get along with Mary. "Yeah, I'm not too sure what exactly happened there, you should ask him when you'll be there, he just didn't seem really well both in mind and body, really," She admits, forewarning Sakura.
"My baby?" Mary asks, lips curling into a wide grin, "Oh, just outside, over there," Mary says, gesturing with a motion of her thumb toward her black motorcycle. "Just want to be sure, let's say the last person I got on it kinda got sick, thankfully, not on the motorcycle," Mary says as she looks up for the spare helmet she has on her bike, before she tosses it up to Sakura. Once her own is set, Mary straddles her motorcycle and just waits for Sakura to hop on so they can head straight off to Ken's estate.
"Huh... yeah... I'll be sure to do that. But, um... do you know =why= Eliza got mad at Geese, or whatnot? I mean... she knows he'd kick her butt, it doesn't seem like her!" Sakura pauses for a moment, adding sheepishly. "Okay, maybe it =does= seem like her, but I mean, d'ya know what they were talkin' about? I mean, ratings really wouldn't, y'know..."
She shrugs weakly as she follows along, but luckily, they're almost there! Catching the helmet, she straps it on, grinning like... well, a schoolgirl! "Nah, I love motorcycles! I can't wait till I can get my license back home, it'd be sooooo rocksome!" Yes... she's only driven illegally!
"It's still a bit foggy, it didn't quite happen like Geese may make it sound," Mary explains as she stars the engine. Oh yeah, nothing beats the purring of her little baby. "Well, technically, Eliza got kidnapped some time ago by some of Geese's man. She was rescued shortly afterwards, but you can understand why Ken gave him such a bad welcome," Mary smiles and she says, "Anyway, you'll ask him in person, he'll be able to give you better answers," Mary says, and then off they go!
Foggy? "... Oh, huh." Pause. "I'm surprised no one mentioned it to me!" announces Sakura, tugging on the helmet, and then hopping on!
"Wow. Yeah, this 'baby's pretty sweet! I... whooooa!" Apparently, Sakura wasn't expecting a dramatic takeoff like Mary's! "Where's the fire?" she laughs!
Log created on 18:14:09 10/13/2006 by Geese, and last modified on 17:53:38 11/06/2007.