Malin - Barroom Blitz
[Toggle Names]Description: Convinced by the ever convincing Malin, Hayley joins in on the high school antics of a girl who finds beating up gangsters as a good extracurricular activity. Taking on a Southtown bar and it's Syndicate clientele, our two heroes brave the streets and a raging storm to deal justice to the unsuspecting criminal element.
[MALIN]
It's a hot night, hotter than most. The last hurrah's of a Summer on the way out in no particular hurry. Outside, the sky is clouded and distant thunder rolls. In this section of Southtown's Business District, on the line where wealth slips to the Downtown neighborhoods, the Syndicate's lower echelons gather. There they're close to where their rackets collect money from the locals, and close enough to the moneyed protection of Geese Howard's power. A band where they feel safe to operate and congregate.
One such place about to be raided by the small blonde teenager who sits on a long concrete planter kicking her legs in a grinning anticipation.
Malin has the night all planned out in her head. And as she listens to the echoing booms of the far off thunder, she just knows it's all going to go according to plan. Days, weeks, months of diversion from school and "home" to watch which places were visited by various syndicate holdings. She's found one, a mid-level manager that fronts himself a humble bartender. One who is about to learn the hard way that his criminal ways weren't going to go unfought.
At least, that would be what happens if Malin's newfound partner in crime does in fact show up at the meeting spot.
Malin's yo-yo shoots down, pauses to spin just long enough to hint at the hidden blades within, and zips back up. Down and up, foot kick out, foot kick in. Pattern going on and on and on as Malin watches ahead. She sees the street, knows the alley, knows the bar where the local Syndicate branch gang hangs out. And she knows that a little disruption is just what the people need to push back against the gangs that grip her fair city.
[HAYLEY]
A hot night that's probably too hot for what a certain Australian is wearing when she arrives to meet up with Malin. Hayley is dressed in a black tracksuit, one of those striped numbers with a hood--and a bandana over her face.
"Hoi," Hayley says, tugging down the latter. "Uh, will this work? I felt like I needed a bit of a disguise." Her eyes follow the yo-yo as it goes down, then up, then down again.
"Any idea what we're dealing with here?"
[MALIN]
The yo-yo snaps into Malin's palm. She leans forward, palm of her free hand pressing on her knee. She grins like a madwoman when she looks over Hayley and her new costume. She giggles happily. "Oh that's a super cool look. Awesome!" she says with a laugh.
Down goes the yo-yo. It hangs low, spinning in the air with a slight hum as it. A flick and the yo-yo flips back up into her hand. "And of course I know what we're up against. This isn't my first time busting up some Syndicate goons. They need setbacks from people like us. They can just pay off the cops. Can't pay us off."
She huffs and hoists herself up onto the edge of the planter. There, she paces back and forth like a general reviewing her singular troop. "There's a bar owned by one of their guys. The low rent goon squads always hang out there because they think it's safe. We're going to break it up, make them know it isn't. Then, we escape, run off into the night, and know we got some payback for all those good people they hurt!"
[HAYLEY]
"T-thanks," Hayley manages, apparently caught off guard by the positive reception. Her eyes follow the yo-yo, then move to Malin's face. THey narrow ever so slightly, as if she were trying to read something unspoken. Whether she does is anyone's guess.
"So it's kind of a gathering point for their..." Hayley looks for the right word. "Leg breakers? Are those guys about like the one I fought at the docks?" The Aussie's hand runs through her hair, twirling blue strands around her fingertips.
[MALIN]
The yo-yo snaps up into hand, Malin curling her arm in as it hits home. Hands on her hips, Malin skips off the planter and down to Hayley's level. "More or less, knuckle-heads and their babysitter," she answers Hayley with an all too devil-may-care shrug. We just need to knock 'em around a bit. They're the kind of guys that don't understand anything but fists."
She stretches, deep knee left, deep knee right. And then a few skips in place. "So, you ready? You want a dramatic 'blam!' right in through the front door? Upend a few tables? Or sneak in all stealth-like through the delivery door and take them by surprise?"
[HAYLEY]
Hayley keeps an eye on Malin. It's not suspicious, or worried. There's just that energy, that lack of predictability that makes it hard not to pay attention. It's a phenomenon not unlike how someone can't help but look up at a loud noise or a bright flash. Malin has such a frenetic energy she's hard to ignore. ... and Hayley hasn't even known her that long.
"Well," Hayley says, "What," A pause. "What usually works best? I mean, I'm not really that sneaky but I don't want to walk right into a trap, either ... "
[MALIN]
And that quick-paced, snapping energy continues to crackle about Malin as walks past Hayley, doubling back like a small orbiting comet as she bands around and around in an elliptic. "Is it a trap if they aren't set up just to trap us and we're expecting them, hoping even, that they'll be there?"
She finally stops and with a flourish, she pulls a short rod from somewhere on her person. Spinning the stick like a baton, she brandishes it with a grin; the tip of the baton snaps and sparks with a small burst of electricity. "No need to be sneaky if we blast in there. Show them they're not safe. Let them know what it's like to be bullied around."
[HAYLEY]
Hayley bounces on her feet, stretching as she follows Malin's movement. There's certainly never a dull moment with this girl, but things seem like they'll soon be even more exciting.
Hayley follows the stun rod as it comes out. The baton gets a look of wide-eyed surprise when it crackles with electricity. Hayley purses her lip and nods firmly anyway.
"Roight," she nods. "Let me them they can't just terrorize people and not expect someone to fight back." She inhales, clenches her fists, and then pulls up her bandana over her face. "So everyone here is Syndicate, right? So we just cut loose on whoever's ready to fight?"
[MALIN]
Malin shrugs, grinning without a care in her gleaming eye and a chipper, "Sure!" She leads on, twirling her baton like a color guard before it, like the yo-yo before, disappears somewhere on the girl's person.
The hot night rumbles with distant thunder growing nearer. Drips and drops of rain start to patter down on the pavement. A glowing neon sign struggles in the dark of night. "Bar" it reads, simple, direct and obvious. No name, no presentation, just intent. That's all it has and that's all it needs. Its door just off the main strip of road. Awnings cover windows painted out face the road. And with all the muscle inside confident in their cloister, nary a guard to speak of.
"Here we are," Malin tells Hayley, barely constraining a giggling cackle. "Time for the best way to sneak past any doormen on the other side. Watch this."
With a swift, bounding leap, Malin subverts any lock or clever protection by kicking the wooden door open with a resounding crack.
[HAYLEY]
The two are practically a study in opposites. Malin's hyperactive confidence cuts a sharp contrast against Hayley's subdued uncertainty. Even so, the Australian follows Malin through the air that's heavy with the coming storm while the approaching thunder provides a back-up track.
Hayley inhales deeply when Malin stops at the door. Her fingers tug at the fabric of her bandana, pulling it up like a mask before adjusting her hood, taking the material between her fingers and giving it a sharp pull forward.
The boom of the door makes Hayley jump, but she springs into action like a trap. Her knees bend and her hips drop as she assumes a fighting stance, falling into position near the door with Malin.
"What?!" Hayley asks, "Just like that??"
[MALIN]
"Just like this," Malin says with a gleam in her eye and a yo-yo in her hand.
The bar falls silent. Rough cut men sit at the counter and at tables placed haphazardly over a floor. Only the sound of a guitar riff playing over the bar's speakers can be heard. The barman looks at the two girls that have just burst into his establishment and goes right back to sorting glasses and bottles without a concern. He knows his customers.
"What the hell is this?" a bald man stands up, the same one that Hayley put a beating to in the tournament.
"It's that girl that ran through the tournament!"
"Who's the other one?"
"Why she got a yo-yo?"
A chorus of indignant, confused, and a little soused voices rise up along with the first. Until one of their number, a red head, steps forward and flicks a knife. "I seen this one before. She likes picking fights. Guess she found a friend."
COMBATSYS: Syndicate Gang has started a fight here on the right meter side.
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Syndicate Gang
COMBATSYS: Malin has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Malin 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Syndicate Gang
[HAYLEY]
Hayley shifts her footing, the door creaking as she steps on and over it to enter the bar proper. Her eyes trace the room. A barman. A familiar bald man. Several others. The wheels turn as Hayley assesses the situation.
And realizes just what she got herself into. "W-what?" she says. "How did he recognize me?!" Hayley moves closer to Malin, putting herself in a spot to go back to back with her if need be. Inexperienced with gangers or not, it only makes sense. There's more of them. That one has a knife.
This is going to be a long night.
COMBATSYS: Hayley has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Hayley 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Syndicate Gang
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 0/-------/-------|
[MALIN]
"Because we're that awesome!" Malin calls out. She's is wrong. The gang had only recognized Malin from her obvious stunting escape from the fighting pit. The flurry of voices, a chorus of confusion, drags another into wrong conclusions.
"Let's go before they know what hit 'em!" Malin shouts, hurling, hurtling herself toward the gang. She moves like a hummingbird, darting this and that-a-way. A low to the ground hurtle with her arms flung back. Down, she kicks up, launching herself to the knife wielder. A perching pounce that follows with a kicking springboard off the red-head's chest to vault away gracefully.
[HAYLEY]
Hayley silence speaks about her confidence in the duo's awesomeness. She instead pulls her hoodie up tighter and moves into action without the raw speed and agility of Malin.
No, Hayley's movements are precise. Swift, even, but more measured. There's none of that raw, frenetic motion that Malin demonstrates.
Hayley closes in on the nearest ganger with a step forward and a bend of her knees as she lowers her center of gravity and braces herself. She strikes out swiftly, sweeping her arm to try and grab his and push it away. Create an opening. What follows is Hayley throwing a short, low jab toward the man's solar plexus, her fist clenched with her knuckles out.
COMBATSYS: Malin successfully hits Syndicate Gang with Malin Rocket.
- Power hit! -
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Hayley 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Syndicate Gang
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Syndicate Gang blocks Hayley's Medium Punch.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Hayley 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Syndicate Gang
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 0/-------/------=|
[MALIN]
In the moment, confidence is king. The manic kind of confidence, near overconfidence, presented by Malin takes her far. The little ball of red and blonde kicks off the knife-wielding Syndicate thug. He hurtles backward, crashing hard through a table, shattering it as he hits the ground with a guttural grunt.
Malin curls back in the air, landing in a low pose, grin halfway between smug self-assurance and mad joy.
Hayley takes up the threat of the very man she's already beaten before. This time, he's not so open. Guarded after his loss in the ring, still nursing wounds. He hunkers against Hayley's measuring fist, wing sucking from his belly as he steps back, his spot to be taken by a wild eyed man with a white mohawk.
The mohawk man screens Hayley, dancing back and forth in front of her, distraction and hold off while the other goons hurl themselves toward Malin. Fists flying the returning red-head teams up in a shirtless man to try and both punch down on the young woman. Nothing held back, they hammer at the girl's defenses.
COMBATSYS: Malin blocks Syndicate Gang's Synchronized Beating EX.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Hayley 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Syndicate Gang
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 0/-------/----===|
So many at once! Malin makes a small 'ulp' in her throat when the gang fends Hayley while rushing down on her. The first hit stings as fist meets wrists. Malin skips back, turning quickly to hold her own against the next blow. And even then she has just a moment to roll with the third. Coming fast and heavy, the gang press Malin back, forcing her to think on her feet.
She kicks back on a table, angling it downward, and uses it as a springboard. A sharp raise up and over as she leaps her opponents. There, she turns in the air, sharply diving through as if she was beholden to no rules of trajectory. A flick of a wrist, a pair of sharp little claws cut as she zips her way past her opponents with knives flashing.
[HAYLEY]
Hayley's eyes dart, first to the man in front of her, then to Malin. Back to her opponent, then back to Malin. "Hang tight, huh?" Hayley mutters, trying to muster enough confidence to be reassuring. It kind of works. Kind of.
But the man in front of her took that blow head-on, which calls for a change of tactics. Hayley backsteps, shifting her footing. Step, tense. She strikes out with both hands, fingers curled tight and stiff as she tries to claw into the man's arms and get a good hold to pull him forward.
If she does, she launches forward into a leap, throwing her feet forward in what looks like a dropkick but swiftly shifts into a leg-scissor as Hayley tries to put both feet past him and pincher with the muscles of her calves and thighs. If she gets her grip she twists at the hip, throwing herself bodily into a takedown.
COMBATSYS: Syndicate Gang endures Malin's Suzume Bachi Kuuchuu EX!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Hayley 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Syndicate Gang
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Syndicate Gang blocks Hayley's Rolling Crocodile ES.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Hayley 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Syndicate Gang
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 0/-------/---====|
[MALIN]
A flickering slash, the gang has taken on knives before. They don't fear any of the like. Cuts land, but the goon struck does little more than back away from the fight to let the other goons fill in his space while he curses and finds some whiskey to pour on his cuts.
The mohawked thug squared off against Hayley holds up his arms, keeping just enough space between his throat and Hayley's prodigious thighs to keep space that when he's turned, he rolls with the throw. Out of breath from the bump, but not down as he kicks himself up to his feet in a spinning breakdance of a move.
Yet while he stands, the bald man Donavon that Hayley fought in the pit, comes up from behind. He grabs for her arms, trying to hold her back while the mohawked man runs up with a ready fist.
Malin's got a moment, she stands up and turns to see the gap she cut in the goons squad closing. With a rethinking of her strategy, she does what she normally does and relies on Malin Style. She lets the goon's come, skipping from foot to foot. One comes in, she skip kicks forward and lashes out with her toe. From the tip of Malin's sneaker comes a short blade with a vicious snick.
In her mind, she's having a joy of a time despite the threats. But she hopes Hayley can hold out. The girl did so well in the fighting pit, and these are just some Syndo-goons anyways. But for some reason, Malin couldn't tell exactly, Hayley seemed like she was hesitating. So Malin helps in another way Malin knows how, but whooping and laughing, taunting the thugs with a stuck out tongue while she kicks with knived feet.
COMBATSYS: Syndicate Gang successfully hits Hayley with Hold and Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Hayley 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Syndicate Gang
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 0/-------/---====|
[HAYLEY]
In this moment, Hayley finds herself caught in a trap. Unable to recover from her own manuever in time to go on the defensive, she gets caught in a grab. She mutters under her breath as Donavon catches her, but continues to squirm like an animal caught in a trap.
"Hey, leggo!" She manages, trying to realign herself somehow. To get an angle to counterattack with an elbow or headbutt.
It's all in vain, however, in stopping the incoming punch. Hayley goes wide-eyed as she sees the fist from the mohawked man coming for her chin. It catches her head on with enough force to knock her senseless for a moment. The world spins as she has to get her bearings. Donavon may notice her go a little limp in the meantime.
But Hayley sharply inhales. Keep fighting, she tells herself. Don't leave Malin alone. You're better than this. Feet slam into the ground as Hayley tries to get a good grip and push back into the man behind her with her hips. With proper leverage, she'd try to hoist the man up with her hip, turn, and throw him over her shoulder toward Mr. Mohawk.
COMBATSYS: Malin successfully hits Syndicate Gang with Improvised Kick.
* Attack Of Opportunity! *
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Hayley 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Syndicate Gang
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Hayley successfully hits Syndicate Gang with Medium Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Hayley 1/------=/=======|=======\=------\1 Syndicate Gang
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 0/-------/---====|
[MALIN]
The fight is on now. Spilled beer and shouting dominate the room. A flash of a kick mars another thug's face when Malin lashes out. Over by Hayley, she finds that base she was looking for and she hurls a man bodily through the air, sending them crashing into his partner. The two slam into a table shortly tripped over by the returning knife wielding redhead.
Malin laughs with this break in the flow of the fight and regroups by Hayley. "See? These guys are nothing against people like us. They're just bullies." She skips from foot to foot beside Hayley, taking position near her newfound partner in crime.
But the Syndicate gang regroups. They're back in their own cluster, reforming, gathering together and staring down the girls. "Get the one with the knife!" they shout, surging forward in a mass. A group charge to dogpile on the suddenly in the crosshairs Malin.
COMBATSYS: Syndicate Gang successfully hits Malin with Gangbang.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Hayley 1/------=/=======|===----\-------\0 Syndicate Gang
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 1/---====/=======|
Not fast enough.
The Redhead lunges forward and takes Malin to the ground. The girl lets out an eep when she hits the floor. The mohawked one cackles madly as he steps forward, ecstatic as he stomps down hard on Malin's stomach. A second and a third kick come from the others as they surround the girl and swing with fist and foot.
Malin cries out in pain, stuck down by the beating force she does what she can to strike back. A flick of her wrist to pull out her claws, she swipes upward at one of the goons, blind striking as she twists to use her ankles to catch another by the neck. Just to pull herself up with her core and yank the man to the ground. To break the holds and the pressure as her body racks with the beating pain.
[HAYLEY]
Hayley is adapting. She moves back-to-back with Malin, but can't help but rub her jaw even if means sliding her hand underneath that bandana. "I--yeah," Hayley says, "that still hurt..." She mumbles, tugging her bandana back in place. A glass, precariously balanced on the edge of a table, tumbles to the floor with a breaking sound.
And it's almost because of it that Hayley doesn't see them close in and corner Malin. Hayley inhales, springing to action in defense of her newfound partner in crime. (Anti-crime?) The Aussie advances with a spin, sweeping her arms with a swift, whip-like motion that audibly cuts through the air. She sweeps once, then back again as her roll of the shoulder and forward momentum combine into a whipping backfist toward the nearest man's jaw.
If it connects, Hayley flicks her wrist to move from backfist to grab, pulling the man closer by applying pressure to his neck. Her other arm snaps out and back with an elbow, closing the gap for a weighty hip smash.
COMBATSYS: Syndicate Gang endures Malin's Armed Combo!
* Attack Of Opportunity! *
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Hayley 1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0 Syndicate Gang
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 1/--=====/=======|
COMBATSYS: Syndicate Gang blocks Hayley's Magpie and Wombat ES.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Hayley 1/-----==/=======|===----\-------\0 Syndicate Gang
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 1/--=====/=======|
[MALIN]
The redhead is the sacrificial lamb of the gang. He's caught by Malin's legs and swung away into yet another table. As he crash lands, thunder strikes outside. But Malin's gotten her bearings, even if it's placed her and Hayley close to the center of the conflict once more.
But there's something about the gang. They watch the door. Their resolve is weakened, torn by the beating at the hands of what seems to be two schoolgirls. They bicker quietly to each other.
"Screw this!" one shouts, grabbing a bottle from the barman and hastily taking a swig. "Let's bail!" he calls.
The gang does such, as a group they hurtle to the door. Some there early enough, swinging the door wide and tumbling out into the driving rain outside.
t One, the bald thug Donovan, looks at Hayley after hearing her voice. "That accent, you're the one from the pit!" he cries out in frustration and anguish. As he runs for the door himself, he swings a bottle for Hayley's head, hoping to get in one last good shot for keeps.
COMBATSYS: Syndicate Gang can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hayley 1/-----==/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 1/--=====/=======|
COMBATSYS: Hayley blocks Syndicate Gang's Reckless Attacks.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hayley 1/----===/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 1/--=====/=======|
"That's right, run!" Malin shouts, laughing it up as the gang makes their escape. She stands, hands on hips, as though she could look down upon the much taller and more muscular men that simply run around the girl like she were a particularly dangerous bollard.
"See what I was saying? Show them what for. And, Iunno, take something while we're here. Then they should learn to pick fights, because weaker people have stronger ones to look out for them." Malin babbles while she catches her breath, grinning happily at how well this all went, despite the bruising and sure to be sore muscles in the morning.
COMBATSYS: Malin awaits the next challenger.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hayley 1/----===/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 1/--=====/=======|
[HAYLEY]
Hayley's words stick in her throat. He recognizes her? What kind of trouble is that going to bring later? Think, Hayley, think.
<What?> Hayley speaks up in Chinese, using it to hide that accent. <I don't understand?> It's a token effort likely a bit too little, too late, but Hayley has never been especially good at improv.
She exhales deeply, stepping around and putting a hand on her hip. "Like what?" she asks. "Are you okay? You took some nasty hits there..."
COMBATSYS: Hayley awaits the next challenger.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hayley 1/----===/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 1/--=====/=======|
[MALIN]
Big breaths. A lot of internal pain at the moment, but Malin smiles to cover the beating she took. As she looks around, she can't seem to figure out just what would be worth taking in a place like this. The stale beer and the broken tables haven't left much of any real value or challenge. The dimly playing surf rock soundtrack doesn't bode well for the speaker system.
"Okay, so we just took their pride, I guess," Malin admits with a shrug. "Let's just get out of here." She puts her hands behind her head and turns slowly toward the door.
Standing there is the very tall bar man blocking the door with his surprisingly tall frame. He tugs the washrag from his shoulder and tosses it aside. His vest he whips off, letting it flutter to the ground. "Come on!" he calls in short, simple challenge before sending himself toward Malin with a sharp kick to the blonde girl's belly.
COMBATSYS: Barbon has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Hayley 1/----===/=======|-------\-------\0 Barbon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 1/--=====/=======|
COMBATSYS: Barbon successfully hits Malin with Medium Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Hayley 1/----===/=======|-------\-------\0 Barbon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|
Malin isn't even close to ready for the strike that's coming. Still stuck in the midst of pulling her hands from behind her head when the barman's foot catches her square in the ribs. She coughs out, bending around the leg as she's lifted bodily off the ground and sent tumbling over the floor.
"Ow, ow, ow," Malin coughs and sputters from the floor, holding her side. That hurt, it hurt so very much. This guy wasn't like a lot of the goons she's faced. She hadn't seen what a Syndicate Manager could do. But she was learning now.
"Gotta pull out the stops," Malin sputters and coughs through the pain, but she picks herself up. She hunches, coughs, and sends herself toward the barman. A leap to the air, rolling and flashing toward the man, her knives come out and she crashes down in a flurry of violent slashing.
[HAYLEY]
It all happens so fast, leaving Hayley caught like a deer in the headlights. First the man fills the door, then Malin gets caught in the ribs hard enough to take her off her feet. When she lands, Hayley's sneaker grinds into the faux wood of the bar floor, then pushes off toward the new challenge.
Malin's on the move. Hayley redirects, planting a shoe with a thud and turning to avoid the flurry of counterattacks. She strafes around, planting a hand on a nearby table and pushing around it to come in from the side. She steps forward with a wide, whipping sweep of her arms, practically wheeling at the new man with a set of chops as she steps into close range.
COMBATSYS: Barbon blocks Malin's Koukou Tenkan EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Hayley 1/----===/=======|==-----\-------\0 Barbon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|
COMBATSYS: Hayley successfully hits Barbon with Descending Magpie.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Hayley 1/--=====/=======|====---\-------\0 Barbon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|
[MALIN]
When Malin strikes against Barbon he puts his focus in holding her off. His deflecting blocks come quick and focused. The barback's handled a lot of inter-syndicate bar brawls in his day, and it's showing here. But with the full force of Malin's assault taking his attention, it leaves him terribly open to Hayley's own assault.
He turns in to take Hayley head on. But he finds her harder to handle with two at once happening. He falls back, grunting and putting his hand out to support himself on one of the remaining tables. He throws himself forward, against Hayley. Closing in with a heavy cross punch toward Hayley's face.
COMBATSYS: Hayley interrupts Black Eye EX from Barbon with Triumphant Wombat EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Hayley 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Barbon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|
Malin has to move quickly. She and Hayley are fighting together, but she can only keep so far ahead of a guy like the Syndicate Bartender. "Watch out!" she calls to Hayley while she rolls behind the barback. She flicks her wrist and breaks out her yo-yo. With a grin, she rolls back, sending the oversized toy hurtling toward the bartender.
The toy hurtles toward the man, as it rolls, blades slick out of the yo-yo. A buzzsaw rolling toward the bartender, blades cutting through the air with a deadly cutting intent.
[HAYLEY]
Hayley shores up her confidence. This guy seems tough, but she's got Malin with her. There may be consequences later, trouble with the Syndicate or otherwise, but for now there's the fight at hand. Finish that, then worry. She swallows, adjusts her footing, and soldiers on. One fight at a time, Hayley, that's how you do it.
The punch comes for Hayley's face, but she's ready for it this time. The bit of blood still on her lip from the last one she took serves as a painful reminder of what that particular experience is like. As the fist closes in, Hayley sidesteps, turning her side to Barbon. His fist impacts with her raised shoulder, rattling it as she redirects the blow away from her face. In the next step she closes in, getting in dangerous proximity. Hayley inhales, focusing her chi into a faint blue aura of gathered power.
And then Hayley snaps forward with one of those power hits. No momentum, no build-up, just well-trained, snapping power from vigorous conditioning.The bluenette's hip smashes into the man's midsection like a wrecking ball, her internal energy combined with raw strength and momentum to deliver the impact with her most dangerous asset.
COMBATSYS: Barbon blocks Malin's Onigumo.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Hayley 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Barbon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|
[MALIN]
A spinning buzzsaw cuts through the air. A sharp cluck of the barman's tongue. His guards against it, putting his body on the line at the biting blades. It's enough to draw all of Barbon's attention. The cuts rack up, the constant pressure pulls down on the Syndicate Manager. It's enough to put him off of his game. To put him off his posture when his attack falters and he finds himself making grave errors against the talented Hayley.
Slammed down, hip checked, air rushes from Barbon's gut. He grunts out in pain and disorientation. He staggers, one arm across his belly and the other pressed palm against forehead. He takes a moment to breath, and only a moment before fighting back. He looks down, the fallen knife that his underling had drawn early on. He goes for it. Scooping the blade up and with one fluid motion, hurling it toward Malin. Focus on the wounded, focus on the weaker, put her down and he can put his attention on Hayley. He could show both of these little girls what it means to mess with his bar.
COMBATSYS: Malin full-parries Barbon's Pigsticker!!
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Hayley 0/-------/--=====|=======\=------\1 Barbon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|
Oh shiz, a knife! Malin blinks herself into awareness when the blade cuts through the air toward her. She knows this has to be handled Malin Style if she can't just block the killing implement from impaling her. She rather than run side to side or back, she goes forward!
A sparking surge as Malin takes to the air, corkscrewing she twirls, rolling toward the much larger barman. And from her hidden stash she derives a pair of rods. Not one, but two of the sparking batons she was playing with beforehand. Only know, the two of them are baring down upon Barbon as Malin grits her teeth and bares the pain of her bruises.
[HAYLEY]
The hip check does it's work, and Hayley adapts. She takes a step back, crossing her legs with her steps so that she never breaks alignment with the bar manager. One palm remains outstretched in a ready stance.
But then there's movement again. The man takes a knife. Malin shifts and twists, steel meeting steel in the parry. "Look out!" Hayley's teeth clench, her jaw tense with the worry of what might happen. When Malin evades the dangerous blade, Hayley moves to close and put a stop to the thread before it worsens.
In one step she's closed in, in another she's on one leg. The other leg snaps out like a shot, swift and sudden toward the man's exposed side.
"Gonna try and stay out of the way of those..." Hayley says to herself, noting the sparking batons.
COMBATSYS: Barbon Toughs Out Malin's Doku Sasori EX!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Hayley 0/-------/--=====|=======\=====--\1 Barbon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|
COMBATSYS: Barbon interrupts Medium Kick from Hayley with Armed And Dangerous EX.
- Power hit! -
*KNOCKED AWAY*
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Hayley 1/---====/=======|-------\-------\0 Barbon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|
[MALIN]
Attacks on all sides. Two children out of their depths. Coming into a Syndicate bar and throwing down with the rank and file. Rile up the patrons, knock some sense into them. Normally, the fights stay out of his bar, but tonight it hit him in his home. He ran a tight ship, tighter lipped and less volatile than some of the other in the Syndicate, the barback didn't like to make too many waves when he could be making money.
But when waves made themselves, Barbon was the rocky shore they would break upon.
The loud little blonde one had weaponry, but she was fragile and ill aimed. She'd also raised a little hell around town, something to remember. The masked one was new, and she was a number for what she did to Galsia and the boys. But she was only a kid, and she needed a spanking.
The blonde one's batons struck hard, but Barbon was a man bigger than he might appear. He'd taken tasers before, even as his skin tightened and his muscles tense, he pushes aside the blonde as a reminder of how she sizes up in this scenario.
He wasn't flinching, and Hayley's kick is met by a crushing, snapping roundhouse of Barbon's. Before a moment is given to recover, he's following it up with a wound-up body blow packing enough force to send Hayley careening off toward the far wall of his bar.
The girls were split up, and he'd bought some time, now to just put the lights out for the blonde one.
This is bad. This is bad. This is bad.
The words thrum in Malin's head when she watches the bartender barely react to her prods. Worse still, when he hammers Hayley halfways across the bar, it leaves her open and exposed near a man with a lot more muscle mass and reach than she had.
But she is Malin. She may have pulled out all the stops, but that only meant that she had to find new stops to pull. Easy as that.
A small grin, self confident, proud, she spins her baton around and disappears them somewhere on her person. "Hold fast Hay. . ." she stalls out on the name, almost blurting it all out. "Okay, big guy, you're tougher than your gang, but can you handle this?"
Malin kicks things into high gear. She hurls herself toward the barman. A leaping assault, a sharp kick, made all the sharper by the sudden appearance of a bladed sneaker.
So fast she moves, a ghost of an image appears to be following Malin, yet curiously acting all its own.
[HAYLEY]
Hayley has no idea what's she gotten herself into. Perhaps it's misplaced confidence from her fight at the docks. Maybe it's a drive to do what's right and put a hurting on some criminals. Maybe she needs to test herself.
But no matter what it is, she seems to have bitten off more than she chew here.
The roundhouse catches her mid-kick. It collides with her chin, turns her head, sends her into a spiral to avoid worse damage to her neck. She feels like she clears half the bar in what feels far longer than it is. By the time she crahses into a table, tilts it precariously, and then tumbles with it to the floor in a crash of wood and glass, she still has no idea what precisely happened. Her ears are ringing and she sees stars. Malin? Didn't she tase that guy?
Gasping for air, Hayley snaps to, rising up into a moment of confusion and disorientation. Where is she? What happened?
Malin's gone back on the offensive. Hayley steels herself, trying to put the brakes on her spinning head. She balls a fist, plants her knuckles against the wood, and stands up. She shakes her with a jerk, clenches her fists, and slides back into a fighting stance. Forward, then aggressive. Her arms sweep forward and down in wide, pigua style whipping strikes. Left, right, then left. The last ends with a sweeping grab, Hayley trying to pull the man off balance. Even a bit of an opening lets her shift into a pull, then a flurry of kicks while the man might be off balance, Hayley holding on to him to commit to them.
And as she batters at that defense, she repositions again, low and tightly-wound. Both palms go forward, chi collaescing into her palms before she thrusts forward with both hands and pushes the energy out into an explosive burst.
COMBATSYS: Malin successfully hits Barbon with Jou Bachi.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Hayley 0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0 Barbon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 0/-------/---<<<<|
COMBATSYS: Hayley successfully hits Barbon with Magpie Swooping Season.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ]
Hayley 0/-------/---====|=======\==-----\1 Barbon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 0/-------/---<<<<|
[MALIN]
Malin's shadow image kicks as hard as the real thing. A surprised Barbon lurching forward into a raking slice of the real Malin's claw knives. Again and again the twin's attack. Cutting heel kicks with bladed shoes, cuts of kunai and claw. Back and forth and side to side. The pair slice and cut as though Barbon struggles against a whole gang packed in one girl.
It ends when Malin slices upward with a short bladed sword. And her shadow kicks Barbon out to the open before sticking its tongue out and disappearing with a cocksure winking grin.
Exposed, open, Barbon barely supports himself on one of his tables. It slips and the table falls, he stumbles aside. He lifts his head enough to catch the forming of Hayley's chi into a burst of energy that hurls him back and over his bar with an echoing, languish groan. A crash of glass and cash rains down around the fallen barman. And all goes quiet.
A crashing, the bar itself explodes outward. Shirtless, bleeding, fire behind those steel cold eyes and steel brush moustache. Barbon launches himself toward Malin with a fierce and killer intent.
COMBATSYS: Barbon can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hayley 0/-------/---====|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 0/-------/---<<<<|
COMBATSYS: Malin full-parries Barbon's Jailbreak!!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hayley 0/-------/---====|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Malin 0/-------/-<<<<<<|
The big man comes running. Malin steps back. She's the target. She looks toward Hayley but it's not with panic, it's with a self satisfied confidence that suggests she's seen these kind of last ditch efforts before.
And so it is with that confidence that Malin takes to the air. A casual jump up and planting her hands on Barbon's head, a playful leapfrog over the Syndicate Manager. A graceful, gymnast's twist in the air before landing with her arms up and chin high.
"Ta-da!" she calls out to Hayley while Barbon continues his stumbling, defeated charge, crashing into table and chair and ending up slamming bodily into the jukebox along the wall. The music cuts out and the fight, it seems, is well and truly over.
"Okay, that wasn't so much trouble now, wasn't it? And that's like, what, size or so guys that are gonna have to take long vacations to make up for being beaten up by some school girls?" Malin asks, chipper through clearly she's being so through some pain and sucking a bit of wind for her efforts.
COMBATSYS: Malin has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hayley 0/-------/---====|
[HAYLEY]
Hayley exhales deeply. Tiredly. While her face is still mostly obscured by her hoodie and bandana, her eyes say quite a bit. Right now? The message is skeptical.
"Yeah..." Hayley manages after a moment, reaching up to slide her hand under her bandana and rub her jaw. "I guess so. I imagine they'll be mad when they get everything back together. ... then again," Hayley says, "Maybe they'd rather no one know about all this, eh?"
COMBATSYS: Hayley has ended the fight here.
[MALIN]
Pained, though victorious, the unending self-confidence of Malin continues to assert itself over the situation. Her hands behind her head, she strolls with broad steps back and forth, pacing amid the rubble of their brawl. Confronting, in a roundabout way, the sowing of destruction upon this bar and her responsibility toward it.
Malin grins. "No way they'll be able to admit it was us. They'll say it's a gang, or some other big strong guys that busted up in here," she dismisses worry about the anger of the lower echelon of the Syndicate with a raspberry and a roll of her eyes.
As she looks to the unconscious bartender sprawled on his belly, near the dent where his head hammered in his final charge, Malin does relent with a short nod. "That said, we should totally book it."
[HAYLEY]
"Yeah," Hayley says, "...yeah." Hayley looks over at the fallen bartender and the damage done. She steps over a piece of broken glass, then kicks another out of the way, causing it to scrape across the floor before making a little 'tink' as it hits the side of the bar and fragments further.
"The sooner we get out of here, the better." Hayley looks over at Malin. "You going to be OK? You took some nasty hits back there." This, of course, ignores the blows Hayley took the jaw along the way.
[MALIN]
"I'm good, I'm good," Malin insists en route to the door. A snap of lightning and a gust of wind blow the door open, letting show the torrent going on outside. That, more than bruising and battering gives Malin pause.
She looks back to Hayley, then out to the storm coming down outside. "Where're you going from here?"
[HAYLEY]
"I don't know," Hayley says, shadowing Malin to the door. "Somewhere to lay low for a while and batch myself up." She reaches to her ribs, touches them, then draws back quickly with a wince. Even with the bandana, her expression is pretty easy to guess..
From there...who knows. I'll figure it out when I get that far, I guess."
[MALIN]
Malin crosses her arms, her feet planted in a steady stance. She nods at the ambiguous future that Hayley paints for herself. Malin seems, as she always is, assured of herself and confident in her situation. "That's a good plan. If you don't have one, they can't guess yours."
She inclines her head to the door and begins to walk. And just before she steps into the rain, out into the storm after bringing a storm down upon the Syndicate in this bar, she speaks. "As for me? I have school in the morning."
[HAYLEY]
Hayley blinks. There's that moment where something sets in. The curtain comes back and the truth is laid bare, and it catches Hayley flat-footed and opened mouthed.
"--huh," she says, "Are you," she swallows, "Are you gonna be OK? No one's going to ask what happened?"
[MALIN]
Malin's grin never fades or falters. And though she's getting wet with the pouring rain, she turns just a bit to give Hayley a dismissing, off-hand shrug. "Of course," she says, speaking loud enough to get over the rain bouncing off her head. "I'm Malin."
[HAYLEY]
"If you say so," Hayley says. Her eyes, the only part that's clearly distinguishable around the hood and lopsided bandana, linger. The rain keeps beating down on them both, but Hayley doesn't immediately take off.
"Just let me know if you need anything ... huh?" Hayley tries to work up her confidence again. Her jaw is starting to throb. "I'll still be in town for a bit, so I guess I'll see you around?"
[MALIN]
A brief twinkle in Malin's eye is hidden by the driving rain. She's gotten someone's attention? Someone's listening? Buuuut, Malin has to swallow the wonder if Hayley's just trying to take pity on her. It worms at the base of her gut and causes no small wound and worry. Even compared to the very literal wounds.
"Yeah, yeah, sure. See you around!" Malin gives a bright forced grin and a V sign before she turns and runs, splashing through the rain at a brisk retreat from the bashed up bar, from the woman she sought to fight alongside, and in no small part from things getting too aware of herself.
Log created on 14:02:31 09/09/2019 by Malin, and last modified on 13:26:22 10/01/2019.