1223/Midsummer Confusion: Cherry Blossoms and April in June

Midsummer Confusion: Cherry Blossoms and April in June
Date of Scene:	30 June 2017
Location:	An alley in New York near a train station
Synopsis:	April O'Neal and Michelangelo (turtle ninja) find themselves in a surreal art-movie experience ... with ninjas
Cast of Characters:	Yokai (Sakara), Michelangelo, April O'Neil

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Yokai (Sakara) has posed:
In the dark end of a subway station (because a light fixture is not working) a very tall man has been lurking, sketching on a wall in the inadequate light with grease-pencils. A realistic door, where there's normallu only a stretch of wall.

The man is singing a tune in Japanese, in a sort of rock-and-roll pop-tune fashion.

//Jooooo-uuu Nessu noo kaZEei ni sen a ka o sa re teeee, oorei TACHI wa ta orey nahiii dah-ee BO ku SAA....//

He's waiting for someone. They are overdue. He had a client who wanted to meet him here for a magical tattoo. The small animal-illusion that was conjured to watch for the fellow has not come back, and Roark Sakura has lost patience. Either the guy was killed, is too drunk, or just forgot; that's fine. Roary has the deposit. He'll wait in one of his anterooms.

The drawing on the wall takes on a sudden more-than-three-dimensional feel and then there's a slight rush of air when Roary OPENS the door, and on the other end, a rather elegant-looking section of sewer -- a piece of an old, lost train station -- is revealed on the other side.

He steps through, leaving the door open. The three-eyed raven sitting on top of the door will keep out any random janitor or subway cop, of course, but allow in his customer, or possible customers. Roark sits on a tatami that he has placed in the room and begins working on a sketchpad.

Michelangelo has posed:
"I d'no, Ape-" Michelangelo walks around in the darkened station, his 'disguise' covering a good part of him. Wide brimmed hat, trenchcoat. PERFECT disguise, right? Totally inconspicuous. "Rumor has it that the weird dude you've been looking for has been around here, but- really, tall dudes who look weird painting graffiti on station walls? I Mean, that's Tuesday around here."

He's carrying the camera, for the moment the de factor camera turtle, in order to not involve anyone else in this strange caper.

As he steps further down, he frowns. His trench coat flutters a bit, "Didja just feel a breeze?" It's not usual when there isn't a subway roaring through. Due to Mike's position, he doesn't immediately notice the door.

April O'Neil has posed:
April was walking alongside Mikey and she had a flashlight out in her hand. She had a grey/black backpack on and a white tshirt with a STAR WARS logo on the chest along with Chewbacca 'Rrrrroooowwwwling' like good Chewbacca's do, blue jeans and athletic shoes rounded out the reporters attire.

"Yeah, I know." April said to her friend. "But he's supposed to be somewhere in Brooklyn of-late, so its worth a shot, right?" She asked him, scanning the flashlight around.

"A breeze?" She asked, looking backward and then nodding her head. "Yeah, I can feel it in my hair... doesn't smell like, this, stuff usually smells." April showed a little frown then and there. She thought she saw movement up ahead and her beam of LED white light was cast in said direction.

Yokai (Sakara) has posed:
A noise like a murder of crows -- not a flock, an actual plural execution of protesting crows -- fills the air suddenly as the shadow of a monster leaps upon the three-eyed crow on the lintel of the door, attacking it. A pair of shadowy figures slip through the door followed by a man, moving as if he thinks himself regal but actually more like he's gone to Leg Day too many times and he has to swivel to walk. The wind gusts more sharply and the artist in the secret room stops singing abruptly.

The door is still open, revealed by a glint of light from the small LED torch. Trained ears might hear the non-sound of ninja movement as two more figures slip quickly through the door.

Yokai (Sakara) has posed:
A faint breathy whisper of a flute sounds a dramatic note, and somewhere, a pair of wooden swords strike together!

Michelangelo has posed:
"Ape-" Mike says in a quiet hiss, "This way!"

Of course everybody heard the crowpocalypse, and the turtle did see the flash of doorway that was revealed by April's light. He quickly moves into action, activatinng the GoPro that was pinned to his trenchcoat (because otherwise April will lose her stuffing if he forgets) and sets the other, small camera, into his trenchcoat. The nunchuks come out as he darts in the direction of the door, moving at an angle to get a good look in before moving to enter.
5r

April O'Neil has posed:
April would've just kept walking in the direction that they had been, had it not been for Mikey signalling her attention over to where he was and what he was doing. "What?" She whispered loudly at him and then started to crouch walk over toward him, tripping over a discarded beer box that was old and nasty and laying in the subway. "Ewwww!" She uttered with a whiney noise. "It had wetness in it, now my pantleg is gonna have weird hobo beer smell!" All of this was also loudly whispered to her giant turtle friend.

"What did you hear, Mikey?" She asked him, watching him prepare his gear. She shined the flashlight on his face.

Yokai (Sakara) has posed:
Through the open door, shouting in Japanese, and the rattling noise of many wooden swords striking together, while a flute and a tamisen (that twangy-sounding Japanese lute) play a rough counterpoint.

An angled view of the room on the other side of the doorway reveals three things. First, it's impossible. There is no way it fits in the space past this wall, because the train would go right through where it is, and there's no tracks visible. Second, the sneaky blurry sneakers are noticeably NOT visible. Third, the man with the far-too-huge legs is waving his hands and yelling at the tall man who sketched the sketchy door, while said tall man remains in that kneeling position on the tatami, only looking up at the end of a spate of flailing to aim a glare at the intruder that could reasonably be expected to leave a bloody hole, though the cold-pointed look does not actually wound Mr. Legs.

The fourth thing that's revealed is a small portable black and white television on which a movie in Japanese is playing -- something about some fellow called Zatoichi, only distinguishable because a voice yells "ZATOIIICH!!!" before the !SSHING! of a murder-sword. Sound effects are wonderful.

Michelangelo has posed:
Getting a clear view of the big-legged man making threatening gestures, Mikey decides to interfere -from a distance. He begisn to twirl his nunchuk just before April shines that flashlight in his eyes.

THe world goes black for a few moments, getting that blast of white to the face after partial darkness. "Augh! Apethelight!"

He loses his grasp on one of the nunchuks as he reaches to try and cover his eyes. The weapon flies through the door- whom it will hit? Nobody knows.

He totally needs to teach April how to become one with the night, better.

At all.

April O'Neil has posed:
April saw Mikey's reaction to the light and then she quickly pulled it away. "Shit!" She said at him. "I'm sorry! Areyouokay?" She asked, reaching out for him but pausing when that chuk was chucked through the air away from them. April's eyes followed after it and she saw the strange doorway and the... even stranger glimpses of what was going on inside.

"What the hell." April said, standing upright and letting go of any attempt at sneaky crouchy stealthy time. "See!?" April said, back to Mikey in a loud voice and a big grin. "I was totally right!" She pointed at the doorway.

"THATS the kinda strange stuff that we've been looking for down here! Whoever this guy is, he's... totally right here!" April laughed a little, and looked very proud of her investigative skills.

The proud look faded them as she tried to focus on the here-and-now. "Uh... should we go through? I mean, go inside?" She glanced back and Mikey, then back at the door.

Yokai (Sakara) has posed:
Who knows what evil lurks in the darkened corners of long-abandoned underground train stations mysteriously co-opted by secretive street artists? The shadows know! Because it's them!

Shadow #1 also knows what happened to that nunchuk -- it came out of nowhere and cracked him in the face. He is suddenly visible as he slumps forward, and the tall kneeling man squeezes the bridge of his nose with his left hand, as his right hand drifts down to the surface of his sketch pad.

The man with the legs barks out a quick phrase that Mikey is almost certain means "kill the interlopers" and two of the swift blurs appear in front of the turtle. They seem to be ninjas, I mean, if anyone believes in ninjas, which is totally ridiculous, hey wait, the big-legs guy has drawn a ridiculously high-caliber pistol from somewhere in his otherwise skin-tight pants and is pointing it at the artist! And the artist, in the same move, has drawn a ... sword... from... the sketch.

OK, this is ridiculous. What? OK fine, I'll read the narration, but you need to start looking for a new narrator because this bullshi... is not why I went to Julliard.

The sword-draw has cut the pistol in half. Really. Of course it has.

The sound of scuffling comes from the television. //A new narrator voice speaks.// The ninjas facing off against the bulky-coated man who has no nose, draw their own blades. There is no sign of the fourth blur inside or out where the intrepid investigative reporter investigates.

Michelangelo has posed:
"Get behind me!" Mike calls to April. Okay, so now he only has one pair of 'chuks- oh well. He can improvise. "Hey there, tall, dark and shadowy, you guys come here often?"

Mike's chuks move in a blur, describing complex patterns, all intending to discourage a swordstrike for the moment. He takes wide strides back, though, looking for-

Aha. His foot slides under the discarded beer box. It's big and bulky enough for his purpose. A swift, strong kick to toss it at one of the ninjas' head while he dashes forward, trying to entangle his chuks around the other's blade so he can take control of that *and* give his solar plexus some love.

And by love, he means a punch and a kick.

It's tough love, okay?

April O'Neil has posed:
April jumped behinkd Michelangelo when he told her to do so, she'd been taking some fighting classes at the gym for about 8 months now, but in situations like this... she'd best not push her luck by charging headfirst into a ninja party.

Instead, April held her flashlight like a club and was ready to beat anyone that came at her! With a stern look on her face, April held the flashlight with both of her hands, prepared to beat anyone off with BOTH HANDS. (....)

April's blue eyes blinked a couple times and she wobbled back and forth on her brightly colored running shoes. "He's got a gun!" She shouted then, trying to help! April went for the doorway, she couldn't help it, she wanted to cross through it and see how this all worked!

Yokai (Sakara) has posed:
If anyone who was NOT a ninja or a drunken-style master (or possibly a drunken-ninja-style master) had tried the 'improvised weapon beer box distract-attack technique' it would have failed. However, Mikey is at least one of those three things, so it does work: Shadowy Assassin Number Two (note, not necessarily an actual ninja) takes a Schlitz To The Head and worse, attempted to parry with a sword, which means the two hidden, unopened (and skunky) beers inside are cloven in twain, resulting in a foamy spray that gets in his face. He now has suds in his eyes.

Meanwhile, in the room, the television has dramatic sad music as Zatoichi finds the girl whose face he never saw (because he's blind, duh) who has been murderized by the young man who loved her because he found out she was a prostitute. Sixteenth Century Japan was hard on women who had to make a living that way, according to the movie.

The man with the legs and the bisected gun is outraged that his gun has been cut in half by a paper sword and is yelling loudly about that. April, entering the room, feels a momentary disorientation as the air pressure changes and she's halfway across the city from where she started. The fourth Shadowy Blur appears next to her, silently and possibly unnoticed because he's sneaky and shadowy, but doesn't attack her. Instead he's studying her face because he's sure he's seen her somewhere. The kneeling artist leg-sweeps the man with the legs, in a perfectly executed Thomas Flare.

Back to Mikey and the Two Dudes: nunchucks do in fact ensnare the sword, and the one-two-you-cheating-bastard-THREE punch removes "the wind" from Shadowy Assassin Three.

Michelangelo has posed:
Watch closely now, because this is Master Splinter's Combo Number Five:

A little bit of poking them in the eye,
You give a little hand-jab to the side,
A flying elbow sandwich (don't make them bleed!)
Then thrust a flying heel into his knee-

Then push him at the other guy, make him run
watch how they fall down, like, all wrong
You turn to April and grin like a ham,
"Whaddaya say, Mikey's da man!"

April O'Neil has posed:
April rushed through the doorway while Mikey was fighting behind her, she looked around at those gathered within the room.... specifically Shadowy Guy #4.

April smiled at him, giving him a flirty expression and a little shrug of her shoulders. "Hi." She said at him in her sweetest voice possible. Then she aimed the flashlight at him and used the high powered LEDs to blast him in the eyes like she had accidently done to Mikey! Its at this point that she'd turn and try to run to help the 'Artist'. "Come on, we gotta get back to the stinky subway!" She shouted at him, still clutching her beloved flashlight.