Kingdom of Madness; Briefing. [Plot]

Kail chuckled lightly "I make my own luck." and turned to leave "The sooner we leave, the sooner this mission's completed."

Lí looks at the strange Faunus that is to be his partner for the mission, and sighs, accepting that he has no choice in the matter anymore. "I suppose we should go, then," he says, making his way to the door. Before stepping out, Lí pulls out his scroll and activates the global tracking option on it. "Should be useful if you can follow us along, sir," he says, addressing Mathews.

Collapsing and pocketing the device, Lí steps out, planning to wander aimlessly until something happens.

Schrödinger agreed with Lí by giving a quick nod, he then followed Lí outside and noticed that Lí pulled out his scroll, when he realised what Lí was doing Schrödinger pulled out his own scroll and did the same as his partner, Schrödinger then collapsed and put away his own scroll and followed Lí outside. When he realised Lí was just wandering aimlessly Schrödinger grabbed his hand and said "I found a perfect place for ze kidnapping, follow me." Schrödinger then began to walk quickly to the spot a few hundred meters down the road, dragging Lí behind him by the hand.

A low mutter escaped the girl's lips, though turned inaudible due to the fact that it was both very quiet and muffled out by the cloth of her scarf. She shifted her gaze between Kail and Matthews as they shared their last remarks, though she brushed it off almost immediately. Her feet began moving soundly after her partner as he began walking off, nodding toward his location suggestion in acceptance. Walking by his side, the Faunus decided to let him lead the way.

Lí is dragged along for a few moments out of surprise, but he wrests his hand out of Schrödinger's, reflexively shifting a short distance away. After a quick, calming breath, Lí says, "I don't like being dragged around," by way of explanation.

After another moment, Lí's leadership persona is back in place. "Explicitly waiting to be kidnapped could tip them off that something's not right. It might seem like a good spot, but it would be better to just go about as if nothing was happening to ward suspicion," he says, walking away from the direction Schrödinger had been pulling him.

Kail thought about where to go. 'C'mon Kail, where would one go....' and then he promptly told Chelsea as they entered a Dust shop and perused magazines "Chelsea, you choose our next destination. Where to next?" He asked, turning a page.

"...U-um..." came the low murmur at the request to think of a following destination. Lavender voids would soon lock earthbound, a somewhat uneasy look spreading across the hybrid's features. Her hands would gently intertwine behind her back, their fingers twiddling together as she began thinking. She blinked, drawing a quiet breath inwards while lifting her head once more to meet Kail's gaze. "...Why don't we try heading toward the...docks...?" she suggested, her tone showing clear unsureness of her pick. "...I've noticed that's it's normally secluded...somewhat. Um...maybe we could...try taking a few shortcuts through the alleys on the way? We may get caught there before we even get to the docks...the area type seems kinda cliched to me, b-but...it's a good spot to pass through when asking for abduction." A pause would be taken before she continued on, uncomfortable with the amount of talking that she seemed to be doing as of now. "...Do you think it's worth a shot?"

Kail pondered Chelsea's words for a moment, before nodding gently and saying "I believe you're right, it is cliché, but it almost always happens. Lead the way Chelsea, I'll follow you this time." And with that, he put the magazine away and smiled at Chelsea.

Relieved of the fact that her idea had been supported and accepted, a small sigh escaped the feline's lips. She nodded slowly at the other's request for her to lead, averting her gaze back toward the ground beneath her after catching sight of his smile. Chelsea being Chelsea, she was often fazed at the smallest thing; thus, it made sense that the faintest tint of a reddish pink spread across her face, paired with a somewhat warm feeling that she clearly felt. Tucking the complete bottom half of her face within her scarf, she kept her gaze down and hands behind her, as they had been, as she turned slightly and began walking toward the store entrance and exit. A slight, gentle shove would be given toward it in order to open it, and her foot would secure itself toward the bottom to hold it, just long enough for the other crossbreed alongside her to walk out. Once the duo was outside, the ebon-haired teen would look look toward both sides silently before beginning to walk a single direction leading toward the docks afar. Eventually she would come across the first, nearest alleyway, giving a quick glance over her shoulder and at Kail before slowly trekking within the sector.

As Kail and Chelsea walk into the alley, a van inches towards the entrance. On the other side of the alley, a shady figure locks a gate, making a dead end.
A man steps out of the van and strolls into the alley. He walks up to Kail and Chelsea
"Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to know how to get to the shopping plaza from here, would you?" He asks.

Kail responded cryptically "Well, that depends on who you are. If you were the shopping plaza manager for example, I'd say Isn't it obvious. But I can tell you're not and....why'd you lock the gate, what's going on?"

The shady man looks quizzically at him
"Lock what gate?"
He shakes his head
"Sorry, I'm just visiting Vale. I wanted to pick up some souvenirs for my family."
He holds his hand out
"I'm sorry if I worried you. I'm Peter Housen."

Kail looked Peter in the eyes, and shook his hand, replying "Kail....Kail Christensen...."

Tilting her head the slightest bit, Chelsea lets her gaze drift quickly from the one locking the gate in the background before focusing her attention upon the man before both herself and Kail --- the one introducing himself as 'Peter.' She blinked, giving a faint, inaudible breath into her scarf while hearing the conversation starting. "E-er...the shopping plaza is...kind of...toward the way we just came... ...We could lead you there...if you want...? ..." the lass began, purposely stuttering and pausing more often in between words...if that was even possible. Her own introductions would be skipped knowingly. Another glance would be taken toward the closed gate in the distance, and then back to the one claiming to be Peter. This would repeat over and over again, the slightest sense of dread knowingly filling the girl's eyes with time. Of course, she was nervous, though this little tinge of fear and whatnot was just for effect.

...If I'm to stage up as some kind of mental subject, I may as well get into the role now...

A pause in thoughts.

And I'd doubt it at this point, but if this guy isn't actually associated with that little group that we were told about...then I will feel awkward for the rest of my life; words won't even be able to express...

"Oh, back this way?" He asks, pointing in the direction with his thumb
"Oh, you don't need to go to all that trouble for me. I can see I'm already making you a little, nervous, for which I apologize profusely"
He turns around and begins to walk off
"Thanks for the pointer"
As he walks away, he drops a small cannister.
When either Kail or Chelsea got closer to it, it would explode into a powerful sleeping gas.

Kail called out to Peter "You dropped something!" but stayed in place for now, knowing roughly what would happen if he went near it.

Peter turned around and looked for what he had dropped.
"Ah, so I did. Thank you once again for your help."
Peter walks to the cannister and picks up a Lien coin behind it and walks off again.

Previously-frantic eyes would soon return to carrying the normal, narrowed, and gentle they often did as soon as they watched the other walk off the first time and, eventually, a second time. They would hover upon the image of the canister before her afterwards, soon shifting over and sending a glance up at Kail. The following words would be spoken within a low, hushed tone. "...Whatever that is, it's probably best to try and pick it up and give it back to him...or try to at least. ...I don't know...or at least try to do something." Taking a moment to process the words that she had just spoken, Chelsea allowed another odd expression to overcome her. "W-wow, uhm...I...can't believe I just said that. ...A-anyways, though...we probably should do it, or at least step closer to it." She looked over her shoulder once more, ensuring that the man from earlier was still cut from view before meeting gazes with the other crossbreed with her. "If we don't sometime soon, they might suspect we're up to something...so..."

Kail sighed "Fine, I'll walk up to something that could potentially kill me." and he did so, walking up to the canister and eyeing it curiously. (When it detonates, Kail's hood will fall off and Chelsea will see kail's cat ears before going night night)

"O-oh...e-er, well, I could do it instead if you want; I actually really don't m-" Chelsea began, awkwardly separating her hands and waving them in front of her chest. She cut herself off while watching Kail step forward, stepping forward after him on instinct. As soon as she did so, however, she found herself suddenly caught within some kind of gas. She inhaled some of it awkwardly, feeling herself begin to doze off a little bit afterwards. Faunus ears of hers began pinning back against the top of her skull as her eyes seemed to strain and attempt to keep open. They would fail in doing so, however, one of the last things seen being the sight of her partner's hood slipping down. It was hard to catch, though she could've sworn that she saw the smallest trace of the tips of the boy's feline auds. Should she have been more alert, Chelsea may have thought about the newfound subject.

However...she hadn't the time to think about anything, really. Several seconds after seeing this, she felt herself collide with the earth beneath her and knock out seemingly instantly.

"damn bro that was some party last night like shiiiit"

Kail held his breath for about 2 minutes and put his hood back on, turning back to Chelsea and, not being able to hold his breath any more, took a deep breath in, then his vision blurred as he stumbled towards Jessica, falling down just a meter from her, unconscious

"Peter" loaded the two into the van, with the help of the guy who locked the gate.
"We got two of 'em here. Any more we need to pick up?" He asked into a walkie talkie

"Good work, Joe. I'm sending you the last known location of two more targets." came the reply.

Byron was enjoying a cup of Earl Grey, looking out into the distance while sitting outside in a local cafe. Finishing the last bite of his cake and washing it down with one last drink of tea, he left the usual amount and left.

"See you around Byron," a waiter waves Byron off and the hatted student replied with a casual wave of his hand.

"Now how should I pass off the rest of my day...?" Byron smiled to himself as he simply went on to walk aimlessly, "Hm... maybe I can pass off some time at the toy store. I could use a stuffed lion, or maybe a stuffed unicorn..."

Byron walked into an alley to take a shortcut he knew. The alley was fairly desert and pretty long.

Taking a stroll late at night for no apparent reason and enjoying the quietness of the nighttime brings a small smile to Celeste's face. She didn't want to sleep any time soon so she decided to sneak out of her room and spend a little time outside, she didn't want the nightmares to come back even though they haven't been showing recently. Sighing at the prospect of having to go back to bed in a few hours, Celeste just shrugs it off and continues her nighttime stroll. She hasn't been to the hospital recently due to her improvement but every now and then she has nightmares when she goes to bed and hallucinations which seem to plague her even if she's awake. But despite all that she ignores it just as always and goes back to living as normally as she can if she can't release some steam by fighting.

That world really didn't exist after all but I still have dreams about it. I've lived part of my life in that world but even if it's just a dream...sometimes if feels like my reality.

Getting lost in her thoughts, Celeste starts being oblivious to the world around her and walks around blindly. Since no one was around she let her guard down but still had her Jabberwocky right where she could easily use it even if she could handle most thugs with her bare hands. Dark places weren't alien to her so she had no fear of them, besides she faces her nightmares every now and then and even uses them to fuel her aura. Passing by a dark alleyway she catches an odd scent in the air and sees a person behind a van throwing something in the back. Trying to get a clearer view she carefully approaches but starts feeling drowsy but shakes it off. She had a feeling he might be up to something.

Feeling quite confident of herself as always she says, "What might a suspicious character such as yourself be doing at such a late hour?" With a smug look on her face she starts walking towards him.

"Hold up, one of 'em just wandered over here" Joe whispers into the walkie talkie
Having loaded just loaded Chelsea into the van, Joe makes a show of acting like he had just lifted the heaviest thing ever.
"Oh, great. Do you think you could give us a hand?"He asks, crouching behind Kail and placing another canister behind him.
"We're the delivery crew for a production company. We're a bit behind on those deliveries, though, so unfortunately we're having to work major overtime. Could you help me lift this one into the van? I'd really appreciate it."

Still not trusting the man she motions her head towards her ax and says, "If you honestly think about even touching me you'd have to say farewell to half of your body." Taking a step closer she starts making light of what seemed to be a large object of some sort but couldn't see well due to the dark. Clenching her fists a bit she questions the man again, "And what kind of stuff are you delivering at such a late hour? Seems pretty suspicious to me." Taking another step closer she readies herself for any possible assault he might do to her.

Joe backs away a little with his hands out
"Hey, I'm not looking for trouble, I'm just tryin' to do my job here. We've got these set pieces we need to deliver. They're meant to be dummies of the actors in the production, so we can have them dead in the shot without spending any extra money on screen-time. Whoever made these things is a damned artist."
Joe looks down at Kail and kicks him lightly in the side
"They look so real, it's weird. They weigh a tonne, too. Like I said, I'm just delivering them."