10379/Four Corners of the World!

From United Heroes MUSH
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Four Corners of the World!
Date of Scene: 09 December 2019
Location: Madison Square Garden, Midtown
Synopsis: At long last, the event that brought Katsumi to America takes place! And something both mysterious and troubling occurs.
Cast of Characters: Bakeneko, Piper Halliwell




Bakeneko has posed:
It's finally time. The Four Corners of the World Professional Wrestling Event, live from Madison Square Garden, televised internationally, brought to you by (insert crazy long list of sponsors) and Vance Delaney! Tonight, and for one night only, four proud countries will battle using their best representation for the prestigious title of best in the world! We'll be featuring greats from Mother Russia, the United Kingdom, Japan, and the United States, in a team-tournament style extravaganza!

After a lengthy and compelling advertising campaign, the show is sold out. The only way to find tickets at this point is to catch a scalper, and at an inflated price. But this is history, we're talking about here! Only sort of attempted once ever before, with the great Ric Flair!

The sun is still up, but coursing down to the horizon. It won't be long before it disappears completely. People are still finding their seats, concessions stands are positively hopping, and the air is electric. A few side doors separated from the main flow of foot traffic leads to the backstage area, where a great myriad of grapplers, managers, and staffers are frantically milling about. Katsumi Oshiro, the girl who openly sassed and mocked Captain America on his own home turf, is currently sitting on a bench by herself; rather close to one of those side doors. It's quieter there. She's already done her primping for the show, gotten suited up in her striking-yet-sporty two-piece ensemble of blue and gold. But she's not her typical energetic self. Her eyes are also atypical tonight: full-blown, rich, and eerie magenta. Not a trace of green left.

Piper Halliwell has posed:
Piper's been hired to help with catering. She's a natural cook, andagreed to help out. The money's not bad, either....since it's going to P3 and herself. She's got on her usual clothing, only with an apron on with a large P3 logo on it, as she has a food cart with her. Pushing it, Piper is meeting and greeting, handing out water, and sandwiches, and things like that. Her hair's tied back, and she's looking happy to be here. "Hey, hey" Piper says and comes to Katsumi, "You want anything?" she adds, with a hand on the food cart. There's water, sandwiches, protein bars, and....chocolate. Because Piper insisted on chocolate. Mostly since Piper's got a bit of say over what's on the cart, and she's saving the great stuff for after the matches and everything's been and gone. There's a certain mischief filled look in her eyes, a hint of trouble.

Bakeneko has posed:
Katsumi Oshiro seems to not hear her at first. But then, almost with a start, those inhumanly-hued eyes lift to Piper, wide and embarrassed. "Oh! Uh, sure, what the Hell, right?" Maybe it'll calm her down a little. These aren't pre-fight jitters. She got a good look in the mirror while she was getting ready. Something's not right. It doesn't look like she burst blood vessels or anything, but these aren't her eyes.

"You'll burn off whatever ya eat in the ring, anyway."

Common colloquialism in the world of wrestling. It doesn't matter even slightly what you eat at the craft services table. Cake, icecream, brownies - wrestling is like a two-mile swim. It's all gone by the time the match is done. The only trick is to not eat anything that'll make you sick. To wit, Katsumi has snagged a protein bar.

"You're a pro-active person, huh?," she asks, now with one cheek puffed out as she chews and talks. "Craft usually stays in the room. Delaney got you rollin' around?"

Piper Halliwell has posed:
Piper laughs, "Oh yeah. Volunteered for this to get more money. Got told to stand in a corner, don't talk to the wrestlers, all that. I told them I own a nightclub in Bloodhaven and deal with freaky stuff. So, wrestlers don't intimidate me" Piper shrugs. She's short....ish but she's a snark machine. "Besides, you're not really that bad, we're talking. What're you gonna do, suplex me through the food cart and start an all out war when everyone figures out there's no more chocolate cake?" Piper says with a tap of her nose and a wink. "Seriously though, nice to meetcha. I'm Piper" she says offeringg a hand. "You're not in a suit, so you're a wrestler. Unless wrestling got way more boardroom and less batshit crazy?" she muses with a grin. Piper will just leave the food cart here, one foot shoved in front of a wheel so Piper can lean on it to talk. She digs around and pulls out a stack of toaster waffles. Because /that/ is what catering thought wrestlers needed, though Piper's hunched over them. She sets them on a plate. They are toaster warm. Which is a giveaway Piper's not normal, but she's chewing on them too. "So" Piper points out. "Been in the US long?"

Bakeneko has posed:
That is giving Katsumi way more credit than she's due. Of course she isn't thinking anything of Piper eating waffles. Apart from it just being weird, and totally judging her for it when there's obviously better food present. But no, her mind offhandedly hits the conclusion that it was heated back in the services room. Occam's Razer and all that.

"I'm like the worst one here!," gloats the punkette, cheek still adorably bulged with protein bar. "But I mean," she swallows, "you came at me correct. With food. That's the smart way to do it. Gotta pay tribute to the monster. Anyway, uh, /hello/, look at me." Her hands motion sweepingly over her generously-but-not-licentiously exposed figure, "Only wrestlers dress like this. And sometimes managers. But mostly wrestlers."

Another bite of the bar is taken. Her cheek puffs again. "This is the longest I've been in America. Before this, just a few times for special events. Pop in'n'out."

Piper Halliwell has posed:
Piper shakes her head. "Thought it was a costume party" Piper remarks, revving up her sarcasm. "So you're wrestlers. Okay. Okay, so wrestlers, not managers. Got it" Piper nods. "People not in suits grapple. Suits keep in the back, and fans drink cheep alcohol and cheer. It's simple really" Piper says with a wry smirk. She's simplified wrestling after all that. She looks pleased and decides to add butter to waffles. Shaking her head Piper looks to Katsumi again. "So" Piper nods between bites. "Anything I can do better catering wise? And no. Don't judge me for waffles. I went to college and believe me, this" she says with a gesture to the waffles. "Is the height of sorority quick and easy cooking. Slap them in the toaster, push down the lever....set the fire alarms off because your roomate didn't turn the toaster down, minr problem....but. Waffles."

Bakeneko has posed:
Katsumi Oshiro nods easily. "How the Hell hard is that to understand?" Wrestling ain't complicated. Of course, if she were being serious, she'd have more than a dissertation's worth to say about the sport, its intricacies, what it means to the people doing it, and what it means to the audience. But for here and now? Cheap booze, thrills, and boring people get to sit in the back.

She swallows, then squints. "I /am/ judging you. Like, one hundred percent. You're at an event like this, and you - you /chose/ to eat waffles. Without even syrup? Are you even human? Go on, pull that mask off. But do it like they do on Scooby-Doo. Bottom to top."

Piper Halliwell has posed:
Piper shrugss, "Is there some law in this state against no syrup on waffles? Look, catering didn't give me any. So don't blame me. I just work with what I got. Butter's the best thing I..." she says as she's handed syrup. "Well thanks" Piper huffs, slathering waffles in it. "Let's see. Chocolate cakee not healthy, not healthy sandwiches, can't serve prawns and oh no we can't have our wrestlers eating fried chicken. What the hell's wrong with any of the stuff I just listed?" Piper asks, hands on her hips. "Sounds good to me, but no. Somebody upstairs gave me rules and restrictions on what not to serve. Can't give you guys any of the good and fun stuff. Tell you what. Take your time going through the cart" Piper offers, "And take what you want. I'll say I was afraid to fight you" Piper adds with a quirk of her mouth. "It's a win win. You get the food you really want. The rules go out the windoww. And no, no mask. I just live with my sisters, so I do most of the cooking. But we lived on waffls a lot. Then I went to college and quick n easy was how it was" Piper shrugs.

Bakeneko has posed:
The irony is, they would totally believe that. Katsumi is like a furious pomeranian, but less safe.

"Piper! You need to go to whoever told you that, okay! And you take them by the ear, and you tell'em that food services before a show is more like an /activity/ than a food! It doesn't matter what ya eat! It's all gonna burn in the ring!" She's all steamed now, thinking about what food they /could/ have had. Fried chicken! God, if that doesn't put her in the Christmas mood...

It's a cultural thing.

A well-groomed man wearing a loud, multi-colored tie wanders near them. Piper might recognize him as Delaney, the promoter - the guy who put this all together. She may even have spoken with him a few times. "And how are we doing over here, laaaadies?," he asks, complete with the over-emphasis on their gender.

"B****es told her she can't give real food," Katsumi complains. "And you know what happens to b****es."

"They.. get-"

"They get stitches, that's right."

Delaney blinks owlishly, clearly not sure how to respond. So instead, he turns his attention onto Piper. "How is everything going?"

Piper Halliwell has posed:
Piper shakes her head. "No complaints here aside from this" Piper says, looking to the list. "Read it. Do you agree with this?" she asks Delaney pointedly. When you battle demons for a career....a wrestling promoter's not that scary. Plus, Piper's got her own club. She's used to inane rules. But thhis? This takes the cake. Or would, if Piper was allowed, by the byzantine rules....to touch the frigging cake. Shaking her head, Piper agrees with Katsume by way of a grin. "You know it" she says. "Though if you're going to cut people up, please tell me you at least dissected frogs in biology class?" she addds, just a bit worried about the suddenly agitated woman, giving her the idea of Delaney being stitched up is terrifying and amazing all at once....Piper's all for it. Though she's not saying so. "Delaney. Use your head. The one on your shoulders" Piper says. Low blow but...

Bakeneko has posed:
Delaney might not have even been the one to make those demands. He delegates like a proper leader. So when things seem to turn a bit on the nasty side, his hands raise with fingers splayed. "Whoa, ladies, ladies! Let's take it down a level! No one's getting cut, not until after the show is done, alright?" He tugs his collar, as if letting out steam. "When did it get so hostile in this professioinal wrestling show, amirite?"

Katsumi scrunches her nose up at him.

He suddenly squints at her. "When did you change your eyes? Did you add contacts or something? I like it! I'm guessin' it's got something to do with your matches, so," he cuts off to fire double-thumbsup. He refocuses on Piper. "Here's the bottom line, Halliwell. I don't give two half-hearted farts about how ya do catering, as long as the performers can perform. You don't like those restrictions? Tell'em to write the complaints onto a napkin and put'em in the trashcan labeled 'idea box'. The janitors'll appreciate not having to pick it up off my floor, know what I'm sayin'? What are they gonna do, fire you? I'm the one writin' the checks. Screw'em."

He takes a step back and looks between them.

"Anything else?"

Katsumi offers nothing on her end, just staring at her boots.

Piper Halliwell has posed:
Piper shakes her head. "Tell you what. You point me to the poor soul in charge of catering and you watch the food cart while I go have a nice little talk with them?" Piper offers. It's the sort of 'talk' tat suggests Piper's going to unload her anger and frustration on catering. She shakes her head at the words 'no cake'.

"You know what? I don't care" Piper says. "This lady here can have what she wants from my food cart" Piper starts, looking the catering lady up and down. Mostly up, since she's taller than Piper. "Look, I got it on good authority that Delaney here said throw the rules out. It's what I'm doing. I listen to who writes my paycheck for this gig, you hear me?" Piper says, and looks to Katsumi, "I just figured they were your usual eyes. Anyhow. Take what you want from my cart. I'm going to round up more food carts and make the world's most screw thee rules food tables youve ever seen" Piper nods. "Now to get the food carts here, because I'm not leaving my food cart unatttended. Still waffles and syrup to eat" Piper nods, and resumes munching, her anger sated by waffles and syrup. If Katsumi thought waffles were bad....Piper breaks out pop tarts. Because, yes, those got into the cart. She's not eating them. She's seriously considering the force and angle required to carom it off the head of catering and claim it slipped. Because Piper is not a happy camper. She feels a kinship with Katsumi, though.

"So" Piper nods, leaning on her food cart, because discus throwing toaster snacks can totally wait. "You've not been in the States much, alright, and since I mentioned it...." Piper says and eyes the catering staff. "I need the larggest bucket of fried chicken you can get"

This. THIS is how Piper's going to befriend people. By food. And by personality, but mostly food for wreestlers

Bakeneko has posed:
Delaney is at a loss with this apparently bombastic food services woman. He looks to Katsumi, who yields no answers. He checks his cellphone. And then he's wandering off on his way. He's the head guy around here, he's got places to be and people to shake! Food crises rank pretty low on his priority list.

Katsumi isn't in much of a chatty mood at this point, and it's likely obvious. But she blinks owlishly at Piper, a little taken aback. "I.. I don't need all that right now. Uh, thanks. I need to prep for things coming up, okay?"

She pushes herself to stand, her posture a little more closed off and boxy.

"Try not to get into too many fights, okay? We want the fighting in the ring, not back here." She pokes her tongue out at her, but it's somehow lacking in enthusiasm. She starts to shuffle around the cart to move onwards, and indeed, the show is about to start!

Piper Halliwell has posed:
Piper nods. "Got it. And hey, good luck" Piper says turning her attention to the food cart. Checking everything's in place, Piper's rigorous and fastidious, killing time. No fights. Good idea, but if demons turn up...Piper's going to do her witchy thing. Somebody must be evil to put tofu on the cart. Piper though is settled into cleaning, and moving things around her cart too....mostly to kill time and then some, mostly since she's not got much to do. Instead, she's humming to herself, and looking quietly bored. Kinda a giveaway how Piper's feeling....so she moves on to other areas, leaving a route back she can cover in a dead sprint if needed.

Bakeneko has posed:
And so, time passes! It's expected to be quite the lengthy event, given the full breadth of it. As the sun steadily tracks lower over the horizon, hype is generated, matches are performed. Katsumi goes out, does a match, and returns. She seems to be in a better mood, but as per usual, she's cloistering herself off from others. Another round goes by, and the great city of New York is enjoying its last vestiges of of daylight. Katsumi is called out again.

The audience is having a great time hating her, and who could blame them? She's sassing Captain America on international television. Though from backstage, the particulars would be a bit hard to catch. But other than that, everything is going just fine.

And then there's a bit of a commotion. Delaney jogs past on his way to the entrance ramp. There's a tense stillness among the performers backstage, some hushed murmurs. And then a woman from Team America is rolling through on a stretcher, escorted by a team of medics on her way to an ambulance.

Piper Halliwell has posed:
Piper picks up on the commotion, or, rather, she's a little worried and feels something is off. Stretchers aren't normally rolling near her. Piper's smart enough to get out of the way. She's also smart enough to not ask questions. That one's more out of shock than anything else. Sign on to help cater a wrestling event, sure, but...Pipers maternal instincts are firing up. Oh she wants to help. But she knows she's a caterer. At least for now, caterer. Not Charmed One. She's even still got her apron on, too. Looking over her food cart, there's hat feeling her roaming fhe floor's got her to miss whatever just went on. Great. Just.....great. Piper's gonna have words with the catering people. Or, Delaney. Whichever she gets to first. Both aren't atop her list right now. Finding out what the hell happened, that's top of her list...

Bakeneko has posed:
Finding out what happened isn't exactly a challenge. It's all anyone is talking about. Evidently Katsumi dropkicked that girl in a way one does not normally see a dropkick done. The specifics are sketchy and still being speculated on, but in some way or another, that girl who'd just been wheeled out had landed in the audience seating before the medics were mobilized. And Delaney's voice can be heard vaguely, calling for free concessions on the show's tab while they fix the ring.

Moments later, Katsumi rushes into the back area, eyes wide and mortified. "Is she okay!?," she demands, grabbing for the elbow of a suit she doesn't actually recognize. But suits mean people who are in the know.

"Didn't look good. What did you-"

Katsumi doesn't linger long enough to answer questions. She instead sets to a jog down the hall, intent on finding out where the stretcher went. It's long gone by now, however.

Piper Halliwell has posed:
Piper's on the same wavelength and abandons the food cart finally. She's running now, a full on run. Not a jog. A run as Piper's concerned. She's not ben to a wrestling event before. But she's worried. Worried Piper is not good

Bakeneko has posed:
Worried Piper will have to go unsatisfied, just like Katsumi! Both arrive at the same roundabout destination, with a burly staffworker saying, "She's already gone."

"/WHAT/!?," balks a horrified Katsumi.

"T-to the hospital! What'd you think I meant?"

The next thing out of Katsumi's mouth is a rapid-fire string of Japanese, and judging by the vitriolic glare and tone, none of it is very flattering about the person who just made her believe she killed someone.

Finally, nerve-wracked, she turns to plant her shoulders against the nearby wall and press her palms against her face.

Piper Halliwell has posed:
Piper shakes her head. "What's going on? I heard running footsteps, so" Piper asks. She's just as worried by Katsumi's anger really, only if she started yelling, bits of MSG would combust or suddenly explode. Then again, that'd give a whole new way out of there. Still though Piper's not saying a word to Kats. Lest she turn her anger on Piper. And Piper fire right back. Piper's figuring silence is a good idea. She does though give the Japanese woman a look, as if asking if she's alright. Just not vocalizing it, because she's no desire to get beaten into a pulp for asking dumb questions. Instead, Piper's silently worried about Katsumi. She's seriously debating freezing the poor worker so they can run past. Though, moral dilemmas aside...

Bakeneko has posed:
Freezing the poor worker to reach a parking lot long since abandoned by the ambulance would likely yield no fruitful results, and just confuse the situation further. And Katsumi can't really see any looks she's getting; but that's actually on purpose. She doesn't want to see the looks she's getting.

Rest assured, she's getting /looks/. Steadily more and more eyes are turned their way, keeping their distance, but looking at her as though she were an alien. The worker who'd delivered the information has awkwardly wibbled away from them, having other things to take care of.

Finally, Delaney breaks the silence and waves at the sea of spectators. "Go on, ya bunch've jackals," he chides. "Show's still on, we're just at five!" He pauses upon spotting the catering lady, a little uncertain about her, but puts his focus instead on the girl attempting to minimize her presence. "So, that was a thing that happened, huh? How did-"

"I don't know!," wheezes Katsumi through her hands. "I- it just- I don't know!"

Withdrawing a little at the uselessness of the explanation, Delaney glances around. Once again, he stares briefly at Piper - but quickly goes back to Katsumi. "Well, the GM said to have a talk in ten. Meeting Room A. I'm, uh.. sure it'll be fine." Spoiler: he is so totally not sure it'll be fine.

Delaney moves away from the grouping, and Katsumi somehow manages to bury her face further in her hands. "God, God, God..."

Piper Halliwell has posed:
Silence from Piper. She's not sure what to say, her usual snark's silent. That's rare, somebody mark it down in the calender. The day Piper quit snarking. Whoa. Instead she feels awful for Katsumi and isn't sure what to do or how to even comfort her, if that's what Katsumi's even after. Shaking her head at Delaney, even Piper's sensing he's full of it. Looking to Katsumi again, Piper steps back and leans on a wall. She's running through what went down. And no, she's not giving Katsumie /looks/. Mostly since her eyes are focused on a spot on the wall across from her.

Bakeneko has posed:
And thus, in silence, Katsumi is left to wallow in the anguish of whatever happened minutes ago. How long has it even been? Has it been ten minutes? Is she about to make things worse?

At last, her hands drop from her face. There's Piper, across from her. Katsumi does /not/ want to talk to catering right now. She'd rather not talk to anyone. But that's not really a choice.

Though she doesn't /intend/ to be rude, in this moment, she can't think of anything to say or do that wouldn't make this situation worse, or rope her into a talk she'd rather avoid. So, rather unceremoniously, Katsumi leans off the wall and turns to hurry away towards the meeting room. There may as well be a funerary march following her, for all her evident despair.

Piper Halliwell has posed:
Piper watches her go. She should follow. Do....something. Hell, take the girl to a bar, P3, get her drunk or...no. Bad idea. Bad, bad idea. Katsumi would turn her emotions to anger. And as much as Piperr /might/ want those punk college kids with $5000 shoes and Daddy's little black card knocked the f*** out....Piper has a conscience. So she'll just secretly hope Katsumi ends up pummelling trust fund kids, so Piper can watch them get a reality suplex. She sighs and like Katsumi, pusshes herslf off the wall. Where's her food cart, anyway?