Match of the Millennium

Description: With the madness of the world descending upon the ranks of the Mishima Zaibatsu, it is not surprising that some individuals can fall between the cracks. Trish, having been one of the figures sabotaging the full extent of Lee Chaolan's machinations, now finds herself in Southtown, everything collapsing around her. Moving to eliminate the last of the corrupt technology, there is only one figure left in the path of greatness: Heihachi. Unfortunately, as she moves there, she is intercepted by Mr. Burr, a criminal loyalist in favor of the Zaibatsu. As a strictly business matter, Mr. Burr intends to dispose of Trish, so she'll never reach Heihachi in time. Outcome: If Trish wins, she can support the 3rd wave against Heihachi.

[MR.BURR]
Dusk begins to fall upon Southtown, as the very looooooong day that has been commencing thus far seeks to bring itself to something of a normal close. As the forces of each faction descend upon one another, here the air is rather uneventful, if dusty. Despite all the fighting and battles, this place seems mostly untouched by all the fighting. Traffic on the bridge above is all but nonexistant as most folks stay huddled in their homes, afraid of what the dawn may bring and mean for them. Not even the graffiti artists are brave enough to venture out at the present, making it almost feel like a ghost town of sorts.....

A concrete jungle indeed!

[TRISH]
A screaming golden yellow rocket that travels criss-crossing the city at high speed between the official barricades, swerved around or avoiding. Citizen acting on their own initiative blocking streets hampering travel all while evading or avoiding was setting light and siren blaring official or military grade vehicles off with how suspicious it seemed. A top speed of 363 kilometres per hour tending to facilitate any desire to drop or lose any pursuit at a whim, especially with the maniacal handling and tight corners the driver was pulling. A high stakes pac-man game game afoot across the city where any citizen actually out and about was probably up to no good and arousing the interest of the Zaibatsu troops.

Everything was a trial, there was so little chance to take care of things quietly, or safely! When the entire world had. Gone. Mad! Left to her own devices she would have rather gone running to Mt Fuji to see the damage for herself, it tugged at her or seen what she could do at the damned reactor site. Instead she was hemmed in and barricaded at every turn; she was not a rat abandoning a sinking ship, She wasn't!

This fool corporation was at fault, trapping everyone in a state where they could do nothing but worry and work themselves up without release. A powderkeg.

Trish takes an off-ramp, descending from the harsh neon of the highways and sign into the murky and muddy yellows and whites below. Still moving at speed but looking for a more inconspicuous place to park and get closer to the Zaibatsu building on foot. The Ferrari yellow Enzo glides around corners, slowly crawling now rather than the sprints it has been performing all night, an intruder up to no good and obviously staking out a wide circle around and distance from the complex.

[MR.BURR]
As Trishes car approaches, a figure in a dark outfit walks into the road ahead. As her headlights get close enough to see him clearly, Mr.Burr can be seen standing there, in the middle of the road in front of her. His cane is held squarely before him, with both hands resting upon its head. He is wearing his normal suite and bowler, and he has this calm, slightly disturbing smiiiiiiiile as he locks his eyes with hers even as she comes closer!

There he stands, right in her path! Will she stop, he wonders? Or will she run him down? THIS will be interesting to see!

[TRISH]
The sports car continues at a pace and even growls louder and begins to accelerate. Who will chicken out first? A moment later the Ferrari slams the breaks on hard enough to squeal and slides as the brakes clamp down hard, no anti-locking features here. The road grinds away at the tires as the driver tap dances on and then plunges down hard on the brake pedal. A screeching stop where the front bumper gently caresses the pleat of this obstacles pants, and where headlights are doing eerily haunting things with that smile.

The engine revs threateningly and in the interior a set of lips draw down in a concerned frown.

This was shaping up to be a bad day. Whether this man had business specific to her or not, this was the second ambush in as many days and all at rather inopportune moments and from unforeseen angles. She was stumbling into traps laid for someone else or being played rather well by a factor unknown to her. The later was much more worrying if it was true.

Car door swings open and the woman who steps out most certainly belongs with the vehicle. A pair of strappy heels step out of the car and then a flowing mane of long golden blonde hair falls off her shoulder as the rest of the woman slides herself out of the car, the light down here only picking up highlights in the hair around her like an corona while concealing the face and features. The furry collar around her neck and shoulders part of whatever outer layer of clothing she was wearing the figure makes a show of closing the car door and folding their arms. Engine running still and headlight streaming toward her opponent rather than herself, at least his knees.

"Ara? --If you're a valet then your service is impeccable. ...But I think perhaps not! How can a lady help a /fine/ gentleman such as yourself?"

The style was not lost on her, bowler hat or cane she recognized an attempt at a measure of high-end class. The fine cut and tailoring apparent enough was a nod toward it being a rather expensive kind of tastes, also a sign the stakes might be fairly high right now.

Like recognises the tell-tale warning signs of like.

[MR.BURR]
Stepping back a step only to allow for a small bow, and a tip of his hat, Burrs smile stays constant the entire time. Constantly creepy, that is! "No m'lady, not a valet i regret to inform you. Alas, this is buisness rather than pleasure. Apologies to have to interfere with a beautiful lass such as yourself, but i cannot allow you to reach your....... INTENDED destination. No other path besides this from this direction gets there, which is how i know".

He looks over the car with a nod. He can see she has class of her own, and is completely respectful of this "Surely a lady of your level of station can understand my concen, yes? I do not wish to do you any real harm if it can be helped"

[TRISH]
"It's a large city... I'm sure we can successfully avoid causing each other any distress. For my part, I could just go around and avoid upsetting anything going on in your...lovely... (well it was kind of a slummy area which was only remarkable for the scale of the nature of the graffiti now she looked at it.) ...place."

Not her most glib or in a comfort zone, she was vulnerable outside and without allies who'd even care much or check if something did indeed happen to her. Everything she tried to avoid. All she needed was a good look at the lay of the land, maybe a brief study of Heihachi himself to see if she could spot anything that could be easily weaponized against him. A weakness to any kind of esoteric chi type or make would be almost too much to hope for. It was worth examination or at least trying to go gather some intel rather than sitting on her hands.

Refined as his look, this was not a company man. The mannerisms were too broad and flashy, played up, not the type who relished having superiors or grovelling for a chance to move up the company heirachy.

The fact he was talking about a pity he were stopping her by force or regret at the possibility of hurting her? She would have bet half her fortune that was an out and out lie. The jolt of fear and icy cold running up her spine as he mentioned it almost causes a shudder, instead.. she focuses on remaining composed. A necessary quality in any important negotiation.

"At worst I just want a little sneak peek. You know? With so much going on I just needed to see it for myself instead of out my window or on TV."

Still pleading the reasonable innocent in this.

[MR.BURR]
She is absolutely correct.

Well, maybe only partly.

On one hand, he IS a gentleman. He would NEVER hurt or mistreat a lady outright and without reason!

It's when he has reason that it becomes much worse than she suspects.

He shakes his head, tsking a few times "Unfortunately, that just will not do. For the time being, i'm afraid i'll have to detain you here. Unless, you want to turn around and go back whence you came. It is simply too interesting to see so far to allow interferance"

His eyes narrow like a predator scenting meat, and his smile twists ever so slightly "I AM a sporting man, however, and will allow you to depart unhindered if that is your decision! Even if you were to make this..... more unpleasant! That is......".

His expression takes on a slightly intense mania for a brief moment ".... assuming you still CAN after such.

[TRISH]
Trish respond to the mania with a cheery and noisome.

"Smashing! Thats all too good of you. Really"

All smiles while promptly turning on her heel to open the door and getting back in the car with only barely restrained haste. Fluffing her hair for volume and making a show of checking it and her makeup in the rear vision mirror.

Nope! Nope-nope-nope!! There was a whole lot of crazy and a side of fries standing out there nothing on the other side of him she wanted badly enough to try stepping over that line. She had no intention of deliberately crossing and making enemies of an unknown and getting herself chewed up for no guaranteed gain or profit.

If it were a choice between an agonizing and dangerous street fight or seeing if any of the bars or nightclubs she knew of were still open and serving she'd pick the latter ninety nine point nine percent of the time. Trish could even possibly go home and see if she could fish out a set of binoculars and still accomplish her goal without risking her life. She was NOT exposing herself as an enemy of one of the world's strongest and angriest looking men when there was so little she could accomplish by doing so.

Mayhap even combine these two earlier good ideas and just dig out a good bottle from the cabinet, -- A little ice, a set of binoculars from home (if she could find them in storage) and she'd have a front row seat for what was going on. That certainly had some appeal to it while her other options were all looking decidedly unattractive or painful.

The window of the car winds down and she all but leans out the window to over a single unmoving hand in a wave and start to reverse the car until the headlights are definitely shining in his eyes, high beams now since she'd dialled it up a notch before reversing she threatens Burr with one last growl of engine before the nose of the car turns away and the entire car sweeps away with the crackle of loose pebbles and gravel.

"Cheers then! ...Oh? I never did catch your name?"

The car is paused, rumbling in place as she stops with her widow close but angled away, on the brink of leaving yet looking back at Burr through the wing mirror.

[MR.BURR]
Though the glare of the headlights IS uncomfortable, he does not show it, and to her it would look like it has no effect on him at all, making his expression all the more disturbing somehow.....

He simply stays put, watching her carefully as she repositions the vehicle. Seeing as she makes no threatening moves so far, he makes none of his own either.

He tips his hat again to her as she peers at him, eyes locked on her "Oh, how rude of me. I am Malcolm, m'lady. Though most know me by the name Mister Burr". If she has underworld connections, THIS name she will likely have heard.

He doesn't ask hers strangely enough. He's already memorized her license plate number, and will run a check on that to find out her name later, just out of curiosity.

[TRISH]
The name was familiar, mentioned occasionally and in passing. It was the correct choice to avoid meddling in underworld business when it was already a part of her income. Backdoor dealings and injuries treated off the books it was basically all that Trish as an unlicensed medical practitioner could get her hands dirty with, And-- charge what she liked.

The blonde in the mirror gives an obviously displeased purse of her lips, that was unpleasant information being divulged then since there weren't many degrees of separation between these two people and their chosen fields. She may not know the man personally but some of her custom certainly associated with him. This mutually violence free parting could almost be considered a professional curtesy.

"So that's how it is."

She hated this feeling. The course of action however was clear as she had no fetish for, or attraction to battle scars and pleasure was preferable to pain.

"Patricia, A pleasure meeting you and more so parting so amicably. Perhaps next time will be more interesting."

Nobody she liked called her by that name. It immediately got her hackles up just to hear it. In that sense it was like a bookmark that reminded her just how she was meant to respond. The car pulls away slowly as a small nicety, no shower of stones and little until she was a full ten to fifteen feet away and really put her foot down to rocket back the way she'd come.

Thumbnail pressing against her lower lip her teeth pinch the nail in a state she's near ready to bite or gnaw as the frustration continues to simmer. Most pressing concern however she just kept walking into ambushes, a clear warning sign she was being careless in her movements and objectives. Putting her own life at risk when there was so very much to lose.

"You're being predictable... Calm down."

Mister Burr had given her some important context; he had no interest in snaring or keeping her there. His objective was to bar passage, a little troll under a bridge that exacted a toll in blood to pass him. If these traps were not set expressly to capture her then she was blundering into them where they were set to catch or repel other intruders.

"Take a breath."

A completely unnecessary downshift and the car engine growls in a more angry and buzzing roar as the car leaps forward and the acceleration squashing her back into the seat. A high enough speed she reflexively puts both hands back on the wheel.

There were too many players in this game, whatever move she made there was someone's interests she crossed or defences conceived of in the grip of paranoia which were... in the given situation, reasonable. The only problem was that Heihachi's plans did not clearly involve destroying the gears with the timeframe the gods themselves had laid out. His plans were wasting time rather than gathering strength.

If not Heihachi, if the head of the serpent were cut off, who would head the Zaibatsu next. That fellow Lee? The architect of this whole scenario or at least responsible for the flashpoint which started this chain of events. He was well versed or interested in a technology that needed to be wiped off the face of the planet. He was on the list of people who needed to vanish in order to suppress it.

He was her best hope.

[MR.BURR]
As Patricia pulls off, Burr remains standing there. In all honesty, he stays there for some time after she has gone. (Charming lass...) he thinks to himself (.... if something of a scoundrel in her own right. She can't hide it any better than i can in some ways i suppose). He knows what he REALLY is..... underneath....

Even a demon can have demons, yes?

Despite her, he simply enjoys the night. The scents of the havoc and chaos all around. The noise. The hopes and dreams and stories ended, alongside those started in the same moments.

When he finally does depart, he can't help but smile wistfully to himself..... so many interesting possibilities to come.....

Now, where to begin?

Log created on 00:29:43 11/17/2017 by Trish, and last modified on 00:24:01 12/07/2017.