(OOC: Rush and I co-wrote this over Discord -- seemed better than mini-posts back and forth.)
"...What do you mean 'what's left' of it?" The mech-armed woman paused. Slowly, a wry, spiteful smirk grew on her face.
"Don't tell me... my old man took a chunk out of you, Vert? Is that how it went down? Well... that's unfortunate -- I was hoping to take the prize intact, after all -- but that's just how my father was, after all: no blow left unanswered. Alright, let's see it then."Juno's eyes flicked to Caja before taking a deep breath and opening the bag, revealing the full suit of armor, along with the somewhat tattered soft layer.
“Consider it a parting gift, I guess. The only thing I could really salvage were the gauntlets and greaves. It should be enough to keep the constructs stable, though.”Gesa gestured to her minions -- there was a clear moment of hesitation on their part, broken when she growls and gestures more aggressively. One of the Fang grunts behind the floodlights jumps down and cautiously approaches Juno, taking uncomfortable glances at Rory's "detonator" as he gets close. Juno took a moment to pick up one of the gauntlets and the corresponding glove from the soft layer before handing both to the grunt.
“Put it on. My partner here isn’t going to kill you.” Rory kept a purposefully neutral but steadfast gaze on the Fang grunt, who seemed less and less sure of this idea by the moment. Still, when the masked faunus looked back to his commander there was no hint of relenting in Gesa's stern expression. Clearly resigned, the thug collapsed his rifle and tucked it away before taking the equipment from Juno, asking "So... how does this work?"
“Weapons are mapped to certain motions. When the system is active, I’ll run you through what the constructs are.” He replied, plucking a small black case from the bag and opening it, revealing a gray chip with faintly glowing green lines.
“There’s a slot in your right gauntlet. You’ll need this to start it up.”"Oh... kay..." The grunt took the chip and inserted it as instructed. The second the hatch closed, the gauntlets sprung to life, glowing green trails materializing upon the metal. After stealing another quick glance toward Caja, Juno took a step back, holding both fists out together in front of him.
“Do as I do.” He ordered before slowly pulling his hands apart.
The Fang grunt, watched closely by the rest of his group, mirrored Juno's movements awkwardly but accurately, eyes fixed on the verdant energy trails flowing from the gauntlet. Even Gesa seemed interested, lifting one eyebrow at the display. As the grunt’s hands drifted apart, the trails of energy began to take shape, molding themselves into the outline of a sword and grip. Once the very top of the blade had been formed, the outline began to fill with small hexagonal shapes until the blade had been covered in its entirety, solidifying in the man’s grasp.
Juno simply looked past the grunt, eyes locked on Gesa this time.
“Anything else?”The Fang grunt seemed impressed, twirling around the hardlight blade with a grin like an amused child. Gesa, unsurprisingly, was less entertained. She silently weighed the situation for a moment and, satisfied that the goods were real, gestured for her underlings to move Caja up.
"So... hand over the rest of the hardware. Once your buddy turns off and discards his kill-switch, you get your girlfriend back. Simple, right?"Juno tensed as he picked up the bag, his lips curling into a frown as he looked Gesa in the eye.
“It was girl first, then switch. Otherwise who’s to say you won’t just kill her?”Glaring, Gesa took a half-step towards Juno.
"And who's to say you two won't blow us all away the moment you have her! I know what her Semblance can do. You three will just--"Before Gesa could finish her thought, the unexpected happened. Without even a struggle, Caja suddenly broke away from her guards and sprinted across the water-logged floor towards Juno and Rory. The stunned White Fang were too slow to react; almost between one heartbeat and the next, Caja went from captive to nearly being in Juno's arms... nearly. Instead she side-stepped and slammed into Rory, pinning him against the wall and -- hands suddenly no longer bound -- seamlessly taking possession of the "trigger" and kicking the shield-fighter to the ground.
"The F~CK are you DOING?!" Gesa shouted, suddenly looking furious.
"This is taking too long." The gravelly, masculine voice that was heard as "Caja" removed the gag was most definitely not the woman Juno knew and loved -- this was an impostor wearing her likeness. The doppleganger tore off the blindfold, revealing gray eyes underneath that examined the device briefly before chucking it aside without interest.
"A bluff, like I thought. Not as smart as you think, kids.""Damn you, this wasn't the plan!""Plan's changing, Gesa." The imposter grinned sadistically at Juno.
"You want your girlfriend back, kiddo? I know where they're keeping her. Let's cut a deal, shall we?"The second Caja had broken from her captors’ grasp, Juno outstretched his arms, expecting to embrace the girl... only for her to shoulder check Rory.
“You aren’t... Where’s Caja!?” he exclaimed, rage written on his face as he flicked his wrists, a razor sharp spinning disk materializing under each of his palms.
The impersonator grinned, glancing at Juno's weaponry with a clearly impressed expression.
"Now may not be --""TRAITOR! You've ruined everything!" Gesa's fists crackled with energy suddenly as she rushed "Caja", swinging with heavy-handed strikes that were just barely avoided by the copycat. Amidst the melee Rory, recovering from getting knocked face-down earlier, made a very concerning discovery about the liquid on the floor (and now all over him). He'd noticed a faint scent of ozone on the way in, but having gotten a face full of it he now understood where that scent had been coming from. The liquid on the floor wasn't water... it was airship engine primer -- lightning Dust suspended in a liquid cocktail.
This room, this whole building, was a
death trap.
"Time to leave, boys!" The fake Caja ducked under a wide swing, kicked Gesa in the throat, and then pulled out and tossed a small device that looked unsettlingly like a grenade.
"Fifteen seconds to boom!""Juno!" The concerned look on Rory's face, combined with his pointing at the soaked floor, made the meaning clear.
(OOC: So, to sum up... the Caja in the warehouse is a fake and a double-crosser, and the building is about to get a rather shocking demolition. Rush, I recommend Juno grab that grunt and
run.
)