Sounds plausible.

Even the warriors look huggable

O.o i got a bad feeling bout this.. brand.. don't screw this up any sort of suspicion will alert them

I was wondering when these jerks would show up again.

This isn't good...

uh oh

For a second I had hoped that was Roko.

Me too! ^^;

Suzocon transformed into a Quetz or Mabe it is an illusion

It's an illusion. But one backed with his very substantial knowledge about the quetz. Unless someone blows the whistle on him he's going to be pretty convincing.

Yeah hate to admit it but I didn't catch the necklace the second soldier was wearing was the same suzocon was wearing.

That is, in the ancient folktales, one of the only ways to tell a kitsune, IIRC. Their hoshi no tama (kitsune ball) cannot be disguised or hidden. It's visible in all forms they take. Suzocon-sama is smart enough to keep his small, subtle and generic, but it is still present. It's also one of their two only weaknesses.

What's the other? Tofu?

Inu. Dogs. Kitsune hate dogs, as dogs have been used to hunt foxes since time immemorial, and dogs can smell right through a kitsune's illusions. But the closest thing they got to an illusion-dispeller is Roko-san, and he's a little... tied up, right now.

On the upside, if Suzocon can do it *now*, it’s going to make pinning the theft of the Eye Stone on Suzocon that much easier, especially since Roko wasn’t seen at any point.

why should brand have to listen to that guy?

Because that guy can still erase him with a thought. Not to mention Brand does NOT want to try to convince Vetra he is her daughter.

well for the moment anyway

Yeah. Ironically getting Vetra involved may be Brand's best hope. While her and Suzocon are slugging it out kami to kami over her bauble, Brand can be going to find Roko with Saida.

Very sneaky, Suzocon-sama. With Roko-san out of the picture you are no longer honor-bound to wear your true form. So he shows up as a senior Quetz officer... and that ancient spirit of evil is just knowledgeable enough to pull it off. Maybe. We'll see if Vetra shows up to this party yet.

I would have assumed necessity of dealing with a threat would be an acceptable reason to breach protocol even if he wasn't trying to erase Roko's mind. Honestly pretty sneaky. I kinda forgot he could shapeshift.

If you're tradtionalist Japanese as he is, breaching protocol is as serious as murder. But that doesn't mean something as tricksy as kitsune can't find loopholes.

I think a lot of folks forgot he could shapeshift, me included. Despite the fact that that's what kitsune are most famous for. They often appear disguised as human beings in the folklore! Disguising himself as a quetz officer and fooling some poor guard is exactly the sort of thing a kitsune would do. Though technically it's "rank and division," I don't think this guard's gonna know the difference. 😉

Considering how formidable he looks, and the fact he makes the right mouth noises, would YOU question him if you were a lowly palace guard?

Well, taking on the guise of a superior in a force structure is always a little risky because they may actually know everyone in their chain of command, and that leads to a 'who the heck are you?' kinda moment. But I do assume Suzocon has a functional working of the Quetz as an organization.

If this was one of the birds this would absolutely work.

"If this was one of the birds this would absolutely work."
No

Because that's exactly what happenned
Roko disguised himself as a quetz, and one of the bird did say exacty that "who are you ?"

Suzocon might be more convincing than Roko tho.

That's the key difference between Suzocon-sama and Roko-san. This guy's had over a thousand years to do his homework AND had Saida-hime spill all the beans about her wretched mother. He already had a charging station all set up and ready to go. Plus he was fully expecting Laputa to show up sooner or later once he busted out the Faux Omin's Eye. Is that a guarantee? No. Even demigods can roll a natural one and fail hard. But his odds are a lot better than Roko's were.

Though ETA, he's already proven himself completely dishonorable by trying to mindrape one of own kohai into a Nobody. Kitsune do not do that to other kitsune, no matter how deceptive they are. Using one of your own clan as a guinea pig for a deadly experiment would have him be cast out of kitsune society. But then, he's already exiled to his own island so what's one more dishonor?

In his current state, DOES Roko count as a Kitsune, however? Given that his body has been reduced to ASHES...

Even after death Roko still remains a member of the fox clan, just as an ancestor. Kitsune will trick, deceive and mess with just about anyone else, but not members of their own clan. To do so would be dishonorable and rude at best, but what Suzocon did to Roko is **FAR** beyond rudeness. Even considering he is a kitsune, he has no honor whatsoever. He's a dog.

Don't say such mean things about dogs! X3

Yeah. Calling Suzocon a dog is an insult to dogs. I'm sure Vetra would have no trouble calling him that right to his face, though.

Ah yeah, you're probably right about that!

Oh he's being a trickster
"HOW DO YOU DO FELLOW KIDS QUETZ

Only thing missing is him wearing a shirt that says, "MUSIC BAND GUARD CAPTAIN" on it.

and a skateboard

Gotta love those shape shifting powers

have you everplayed "prop hunt"? It's all fun and game until you try to hide as a bus.

Not in CoD, but I've done in Garry's Mod. And I'm usually the one finding the "Terroriser spots".

Brand got sold out by a 3 tails sold out again by an 8 tails some things never change.

Well there ya go, that covers it.

Hopefully said warrior is not there on behalf of the queen searching for Saida... =^^;

"She" needs to order "Brand" to answer for her because she simply cannot be bothered. I'm sure that will fly well, no pun intended.

*insert Steve Buscemi*

"How do you do, fellow Quetz?"

As above, only thing missing is him wearing a shirt that says, "MUSIC BAND GUARD CAPTAIN" on it.

Oh, ahh.

Odds of this working is very low especially considering circumstances they left during (right before a great banquet) so there no doubt all Quezt know Saida gone missing. Brand will probably have step in in order prevent them from figuring out they been lied to and leaving island before they have successful swapped back to inform others.

No no, Brand, no "I uh...", it's "WE uh". ROYAL WE!

Yeah i kinda saw that coming.