Description:
Tonight, Mad Gear rules the streets - and they're out in force. One can't even walk a block without spotting dozens of gang members, many of them sporting not-so-concealed firearms. Quite the unusual site, even in the slums - usually the thugs stick to knives and blunt objects to beat up on people.. it seems like their newfound allegiance with the Shank Squad has helped to change their style of operations a bit. Katana, not a terribly large fan of guns, paces around on the rooftops, surveying his men below. They're not doing anything overtly illegal, other than hastling anyone who crosses their path. No shots fired, no dead bodies.. they're not ready for open war against Haggar and the Metro City police. Not yet. They just want to exert a little dominance in the slums.
Behind the cold steel of his ceremonial mask, Katana's face is just as hard - his men carrying firearms in mass. More on the way.. this isn't how he wants to run Mad Gear, but the massive man justifies it nonetheless. It's only temporary. Once the city is firmly in the twin grip of Mad Gear and the Shank Squad, there will be peace.
Dr. Astaire Sine. Or that's the alias he goes by here in Metro City when he 'works' at the local hospice. The unassuming man has changed his appearance somewhat from his normal look. Glasses sit perched on his nose, and his face seems less pallid, and a little more tan, amking him look all the world like a high priced Bevery Hills plastic surgeon rather than a doctor that would be working in a place like the Medical Center. Still, Metro is rife with crime, and the bodies it produces... well, it's all wonderful raw material for NESTS to play with. More than a few Mad Gear members have fallen only to be found working for NESTS... even if they're not really human after NESTS is through with them. Still, the man known as Dr. Sine trots quickly through the streets. He's not after any trouble tonight. There's a lot of things to be done.
Clutched in his hand is a cooler, and within sits a brain. A particularly potent one, taken from the research lab at the local university. Something about creating an unstoppable cyborg from a drug addicted maniac killer with messianic tendencies appealed to the NESTS cartel scientists, and since he was in the neighborhood the Vice President decided to make a trip. A lot of respect is given to him from his subordinates for his willingness to do gruntwork if need be. Zero enjoys that respect. If he waits too long, however, the brain will spoil, and the cyborg will be left without a mind for another year at the rate things were going.
He walks down the street swiftly, trying to avoid eye contact and escape notice from the roving, pistol packing gangs. Not now, not tonight.
On any other night, walking through the slums at this hour would be a dangerous prospect. There'd be a damn good chance that anyone other than Katana or Rolento themselves would be jumped by a pack of Mad Gear thugs. On this night? It's a certainty.
The well-dressed 'Dr. Sine' is noticed rather quickly by a pair of gun-toting punks, and they holler at him from across the street. One, a mohawked goon packing two six-shooters, is definitely the more vocal of the two. "Where you think you're going, old man?" he yells out, laughing as him and his partner begin to cross the street a few dozen feet ahead of the disguised Zero. The second thug, a massive black man clad in army pants and clutching a shotgun, booms out, "Seems kinda dangerous to me.. 'specially for a guy like yourself."
Reaching the other side of the street, the pair quickly stride towards Zero, trying to look as tough and smug as possible. The larger goon takes almost immediate action, aiming to poke the well-dressed man in the stomach with the end of his shotgun.
"Whatcha got in the cooler there?"
"Nothing of importance," Dr. Sine answers quietly. It's not quite as meek as it should be, but it's definitely no call to arms or shout of defiance. Visibly, he seems fairly cowed by the display of aggression, as well he should be. "It's nothing any of you would find even remotely interesting," He pauses, and looks at the two. "If you want money, I can give you that, but I'm in a bit of a hurry, so..."
Zero reaches behind to produce a wallet. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a lot of money on him, or indeed much more than a lot of splendidly forged identification. He doesn't even carry a credit card on him, since that would just leave a conspicuous paper trail that would make the Cartel that much easier to track across the country. NESTS could mask that perfectly, but that would just be hard work, and it's simpler to pay in counterfeit bills and phantom funds.
He backs up, offering what little he has on him at the moment, which would be a total of little more than three hundred dollars, which is about how much it takes to fill up a gas tank nowadays. With gangs crawling along the streets, it's probably all the local shopkeepers can do to keep from going out of business. Overcharging just to stay is probably not entirely good for business, but it's better than bankruptcy, right? Overall, Zero glances at his watch. Time was of the essence, and he could almost feel the brain deteriorating. Gray eyes look at the men in front of him.
Ten minutes tops, if he could make it to the NESTS safehouse and get it into cryostasis. And it would be over if the cooler was opened.
Glancing at eachother, the two Mad Gear goons seem kind of surprised that the man is so casual about the whole thing. He makes no effort to resist giving up his cash - but then again, few people do when they're staring down a pair of gun-toting thugs. Still, they're not -complete- idiots.. if the man is willing to give up his cash so quickly, maybe there's something more valuable hidden in the cooler?
"Are you fuckin' deaf, old man? Big D here asked you what was in the -cooler-.." spits the mohawked punk, his hands reaching towards his belt and gripping the two revolvers - a not-too-subtle visual threat. "Now, you got two choices here, you open that up, or we gun you down and you get to bleed out in the goddamn gutter. What you gonna choose?"
Of course, Katana has given all his men orders to not fire off any of the guns yet. Any resistance is to be met with physical beatings only.. gunfire would only attract the police. Which is a fight that Mad Gear is trying to avoid.. at least, for now.
Ugh. Physical confrontation is the last thing he needs at the moment... but he's going to have to go with option three. He places the cooler down next to him carefully, and pushes the glasses up his nose. This was about to get way messier than he thought it would be. Aggressive animals usually backed down with a show of force, which is going to break character. A quick glance around shows that nobody he knows in Metro City is witness, and is further backed up by data being fed into him by his sensitive combat armor. Very well, then. A reaction could be made, if not with some forced restraint.
Normally, Zero wouldn't care at all about unleashing his full powers on the thugs before him, but some semblance of normality was needed to keep appearances. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to violate the Hippocratic Oath," he says, with a slight amount of irony gracing his normally passive features with a thin smile. And with that? He rears back a hand as if to pick up the cooler again, and then moves for a gut punch.
A hard one.
The blow would have been hard enough to make a seasoned professional nationally ranked fighter double over. On a random thug? It would be a miracle if the punch didn't blow out a few internal organs and shatter his ribcage into powder. The reverberating /SMACK/ echoes through the streets of Metro City, as well as the rather unpleasant splatter of fist on weaker flesh and the sick crunch of bone.
The massive, shotgun-wielding goon catches the punch straight in the gut - the blow possessing more than enough force to cause serious internal damage.. not to mention knocking him straight off his feet, sailing backwards and crashing down into the middle of the street. It's hard to tell whether or not he's still breathing. It takes the remaining mohawked thug a few seconds to realize what just happened, and when he does a look of sheer terror overtakes his face. Stumbling backwards, the frightened punk trips over his feet and falls flat on his ass - pulling one of his six-shooters from his belt and firing wildly at the well-dressed 'doctor'.
And the gunshot is enough to alert Katana, still skulking from rooftop to rooftop, that something out of the ordinary is going down. He certainly hopes it wasn't one of his men that fired off the shot, because he specifically made it clear that the guns weren't to be actually -used-. Taking off in a sudden run, the massive armour-clad gang leader leaps off of the rooftop and lands in a roll on the sidewalk below. He takes a moment to gather himself before he charges off into an alleyway, heading towards the sound of the shot.
And now guns. Zero was sick of those miserable things. Constantly noisy and the bullets were unpredictable if they bounced. This was exactly why NESTS was working on plausible hand held energy weaponry. Still, Zero can counter the random gunfire by raising a hand, and emitting a small, barely visible sheild that bounces the bullets back at the shooter. The 'doctor' looks coldly on as the projectiles fling back at the gunman, perforating the man and sending up small spurts of blood, spraying across the well-dressed man's body.
His outfit shimmers slightly, and the blood disappears. It wouldn't do to look unbecoming. Besides, he would look even more suspicious running through the streets spattered with blood and carrying a cooler. Most contemptuous, evil types would take a moment to gloat, kick the body, or otherwise proclaim their superiority over the fallen men.
Zero isn't that type, however. Business comes first, and to sit there and lord over people that were so far your inferior, it wasn't even funny was very low class. He snatches up his cooler, and instead of walking, starts jogging down the street at a good clip. Fast for an upper-middle-class doctor, but nothing amazing in comparison to a seasoned street fighter.
COMBATSYS: Katana has started a fight here.
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Katana 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Zero has joined the fight here.
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Zero 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Katana
His mouth going wide as his own six shots are ricocheted back into his chest, the punk goes limp and collapses onto the sidewalk. Within a matter of seconds, the 'doctor' has created two dead bodies in the streets of Metro City.. not exactly what Katana had in mind when he told his men to go out on the streets in force.
The massive faux-samurai stumbled onto the scene a few seconds after Zero has taken off running. Katana's eyes widening in surprise, he pauses to stare at the fallen bodies of his men.. the ones who respected and trusted him enough to follow him. There's plenty more where that came from, but the gang leader is still uncomfortable with losing men. He can't justify it as 'casualties of war' like his partner Rolento can.
Glancing down the street, Katana spots the well-dressed man jogging away from the scene, and there's little doubt in his mind that he's the one responsible.. although how he managed to down two armed thugs is a question that nags in the back of the armour-clad man's mind. His massive stride carrying him at a shocking pace, Katana begins to gain ground on the jogging man in no time flat.. and as he runs, he reaches one hand inside his armour, withdrawing a trio of ninjas stars. A quick flick of the wrist sends the items flying towards the well-dressed man's legs. He doesn't want to kill him, yet.. he wants answers first. What happened?
COMBATSYS: Zero fails to counter Thrown Object from Katana with Forcefield.
- Power hit! -
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Zero 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Katana
[OOC] Katana says, "Unh, unh, yeah."
Thunk Thunk Thunk!
Too preoccupied with getting away, Zero fails to activate the forcefields in time, and the weapons slam into his back, cutting through the battlesuit camoflauge. The weapon assault makes him take pause, and he reaches behind himself to yank the blades from his body. This was patently ridiculous. He lets them clatter to the street, and he peers at the incredibly large man in the insane getup that stands before him.
Logical thought flashes through Zero's mind. The only reason you would dress like that is if you were either a superhuman menace, or insane, or possibly both. The idea that the man may indeed be insane seems to settle nicely in Zero's mind. He pauses, looking back at Katana, putting the cooler down yet again, making no motion otherwise. The Mad Gear leader has his attention. Now what?
Coming to a halt a dozen or so feet away from the disguised Zero, Katana scowls behind his mask as he watches the man calmly remove the three ninja stars from his back. It didn't quite have the effect that he was hoping for.. although he should've been expecting it. No one takes out too armed goons, no matter how inept, and then goes down when struck with a few bladed stars.
Standing tall, the massive man reaches behind his back and removes both his wakizashi from their sheathes. It looks like he's not taking any chances with this strange, suited man. "You killed my soldiers!" bellows the massive faux-samurai, twirling the hilts of his wakizashi between his fingers as he stares down at Zero, "Now beg for forgiveness, before I kill you!"
COMBATSYS: Katana focuses on his next action.
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Zero 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Katana
Okay. Zero reminds himself on why he doesn't like America very much. Mostly because of things like this. It was bad enough that he had people that wanted to kill him. It was another thing entirely when they dressed up in museum leftovers, and then ran amok trying to stab you. Any explainations aren't needed. Zero isn't one for witty banter, and at this point, the logical, unemotional man doesn't feel particularly benevolent at this moment. Rather, he walks towards Katana purposefully, his eyes already starting to glow an unpleasant shade of purple. He's neither angry, nor glaring. He's just watching the man as he prepares himself, and the shadows beneath Zero stir.
Boiling to life, the darkness below him seems to writhe with fury as it seeps across the ground at an astonishing rate, seeking out Katana's legs. The dark energy seems chilling, cold to those sensitive to such things, and should it connect, will feel absolutely frigid, nailing Katana to the floor by sending a shock of paralyzing energy trhough his body while Zero finishes up with a devestating series of bone crushing kicks and blows.
COMBATSYS: Katana counters Mabukousou from Zero with Shiraha Catch.
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Zero 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Katana
Katana can feel the chill in the air.. the strange power that the suit-wearing man possessed.. this was no ordinary martial artist. It becomes clear that his thugs had no chance against such a dark, evil power.. but the massive armour-clad man isn't just any thug. Despite his horrid run of bad luck with.. well.. everything, the gang leader is still capable of putting up a good fight when things go his way. The anger he feels over his dead men seem to fuel his strength and willpower, and when the frigid energy reaches up and grabs hold of his legs, Katana lets out a loud grunt.
His feet are trapped, but the energy isn't as effective as Zero might have hoped, because when he lets loose with his first punch, he's stopped dead. Katana, through sheer physical exertion, has managed to force himself into motion - grabbing the powerful man's fist with his massive palm and tossing him across the street with a grunt of effort.
"You will pay for what you have done, foolish man! No one kills a Mad Gear member and lives!"
A psychopath, and a powerful one at that. Very well. Now he'll have to use full force, whether he wants to or not. Zero clambers up from his prone position as his battle suit cacluates, and reconfigures itself with a mental command. The suit swims like mercury on his form, sliding and reconfiguring into the strange NESTS battlesuit, the glasses melting away from his face. The cold, gray eyes assess Katana again. He'll have to be more careful fighting this foe, and he steps forward.
Again, he doesn't answer the man. Talk is useless when dealing with the insane, and really, there's not much he can offer. He grabs the hem of the combat fringe, often called a 'skirt' by some, and with a sharp motion, flicks it at Katana. The initial action seems unimpressive, until the weapon kicks in, and the massive cutting blades arc in a fluid motion, angled to saw through armor and into soft, unprotected flesh.
COMBATSYS: Katana blocks Zero's Ouga.
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Zero 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Katana
Katana's eyes widen somewhat as the man's well-pressed suit turns into some bizarre, caped outfit. It's unlike anything the massive gang leader has ever seen in his life.. technology that surpasses anything in the average world. But the armour-clad man still doesn't seem too intimidated, his rage still overpowering any sense of worry or dread - this man killed two of his comrades. He -has- to pay. There's no other option in Katana's mind, and he plans on showing Zero no mercy.
As the strangely dressed man sends his cape flying towards Katana, he's clever enough to realize that there is likely something more to the attack. Crossing his twin wakizashi in front of his body, the gang leader is prepared wen the cutting blades kick into action, the edge of the cape scraping and sparking against the wakizashi.. but ultimately not breaking through.
"It will take more than fancy tricks to escape the wrath of I, the mighty Katana!" utters the armour-clad man, spinning his wakizashi dramatically as the cape withdraws back towards Zero. "Prepare yourself!"
With that verbal warning, Katana rushes towards the NESTS VP, leading the charge with the tips of both his wakizashi. Unless Zero gets out of the way, he's in for a very painful ride..
COMBATSYS: Zero counters Daikyou Burning from Katana with Forcefield.
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Zero 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1 Katana
[OOC] Zero says, "Pow."
Eyes narrow. Dark arts are not working, and neither are the blades. Very well. He stands motionless as Katana charges him, his arms down, feet spread apart as if to brace himself. At the last moment, a powerful, barely visible energy force is generated in front of him. The shimmering air is charged with power, crackling at the edges. Technology beyond the dreams of most indeed. As Katana closes in ever further, he takes a step forward, to meet the man, and let the suit do it's thing.
The reaction is spectacular to say the least. Upon collusion, the forcefield discharges it's power, blasting at the armored man and sends a good megawatt of energy through the insane gang member's body. The assault is completely without mercy, and indeed isn't even one of Zero's most devestating assaults. The sheer amount of energy tossed into the attack is enough to cause a concussive blast of air to sweep around the pair of fighters, bowling over garbage cans, shattering car windshields, and kicking up dirt, dust, and debris.
That.. was unexpected. Katana is used to fighting typical martial artists.. or at most, people who rely on a lot of chi energy. Forcefields and the like are way out of his league, and when he rushes headlong into the wall of energy, he twitches for a few moments - almost as though he were being electrocuted - being the surge of power sends him flying backwards. Still, even with the sheer concussive force that Zero let off, Katana is still able to land gracefully - quickly rolling backwards and resting on one knee for a moment.
"Hmph. Interesting. I've yet to encounter anyone who had to rely so entirely on technology.." states Katana with a small hint of smugness at the not-too-subtle insult, "But now that I'm wise to your tricks.." he says, standing back to his feet and thrusting the tip of his wakizashi towards the suited individual, "You won't get lucky twice!"
Taking off in a sudden run, Katana spins both his weapons as he rushes towards Zero at breakneck pace. At the very last second, the big man lunges to the left and feigns a jab to the midsection.. just a trick to hopefully distract Zero, as the gang leader suddenly pulls back his weapon and moves to the right - aiming to thrust both of his wakizashi into the man's gut..
COMBATSYS: Zero blocks Katana's Butsumetsu Buster.
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Zero 0/-------/----===|=======\=------\1 Katana
A defensive force is tossed up now, and it buffers the incoming attack. Katana is scanned again, the cold gray eyes betraying nothing. There's hatred, no contept. No cruelty or gloat at Katana's failure to strike him straight and true. Just an analytical gaze and a nod at katana's obvious strength and ability despite an apparently crippling mental problem. The idea that NESTS could help this man crosses his mind once, but is quickly dimissed. NESTS had quite a few crazy people working for it as it was, and those were people they had made crazy on purpose.
Instead, this time Zero moves in close, the hem of his battle fringe being moved in a close up sawing action that would tear across the man from crotch to sternum if it connects. If katana wishes to beleive that Zero's power comes from the suit alone, then let him. Zero isn't about to share the secrets of his training or NESTS technology at the moment, and as such, feels compelled to litter the ground with Katana's internal organs. If the brain has spoiled, maybe Katana's will do nicely.
COMBATSYS: Zero successfully hits Katana with Hankyou.
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Zero 0/-------/--=====|=======\=====--\1 Katana
Once again knocked aside by one of Zero's defensive measures, Katana turns around just in time to meet the bladed cape head-on. The ripping blades make quite an impressive, nasty-looking tear up the man's samurai armour - cutting through to his skin.. but it's not enough to bring the massive man down. Still fighting purely out of rage and hatred of his opponent, adrenaline is clearly the only reason that Katana is still standing.
"DIE, FOUL VILLAIN!" roars the faux-samurai as his nimble hands suddenly spring into action. His arms lash out, wrists twisting and turning as he aims to cut and slice Zero thoroughly with his twin wakizashi. Moving forward as he rather accurately simulates a blender with his blades, the gang leader tries to keep his opponent on the defensive.. if the NESTS VP does nothing to block or dodge the attack, the massive man finishes his deadly combo of slices with a thrusting stab straight for the chest.
COMBATSYS: Zero blocks Katana's Meido no Miyage.
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Zero 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Katana
The flashing blades are met with an adequate defense. Zero tosses up an energy field to help, along with his own powerful arms, blocking and diverting blows expertly, his grim face showing no signs of flagging or frustration. The blades do score a few slashes here and there, but to the NESTS executive, the attack damage is negligable. Granted, it's a good thing that Katana isn't capable of doing the attack forever. With a final shove, he pushes back with a defensive field, and gives himself enough breathing room. The armored man is approached with a single step, and Zero's eyes flash brightly again with the royal purple energy he weilds.
This time, the effect is a little different. Rather than a focused attack, Zero bursts his powerful battle aura in all directions, hoping to freeze Katana into place. If successful, he'll blast at the man with an invisible pillar of force, the thundering waves of unseen energy capable of cracking pavement and destroying almost anything in it's path.
COMBATSYS: Zero successfully hits Katana with Shikka Koujin.
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Zero 1/-------/=======|=======\====---\1 Katana
Katana can tell that the blows he does manage to land are doing very little damage to the powerful stranger, and it's almost a relief when the defensive field forces him back a few steps. Planning on catching his breath and rethinking his strategy, the massive gang leader is caught off guard when his foe's aura freezes him in place - unable to escape the brutalizing pillar of energy. His body smashed and broken by the impact, Katana -still- doesn't go down.. although it's clear that he has little to no fight left in him. At this point, he's running off of pure hatred, something that is quite unusual for the typically calm gang leader.. but it's enough for one last, desperate stab.
Lunging forward, the big man aims his wakizashi for Zero's waist.. if he strikes, he'll bring the NESTS fighter along for one last, painful ride. If it misses, he just stumbles to the ground, completely drained and brutalized by Zero's assault.
COMBATSYS: Katana can no longer fight.
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Zero 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Zero counters Ten Chuu Satsu from Katana with Jagai Kusetsu.
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Zero 0/-------/-======|
A quick hand grabs Katana's incoming blades, and squeezes, crushing them in his grasp. Though much larger and heavier than Zero, he raises his hand , letting go, then snatches the gang leader by the collar. His frigid, emotionless gaze locks onto Katana's mask for a moment, and he flicks his hand, tossing the gang leader to the floor. With a step forward, he stands over his fallen opponent, arms to his side.
"Hakanai mono yo."
The words are spoken cleanly, with a proper Japanese inflection and tone. Apparently, he can appreciate the attempt at the notion, but says nothing more about it. Whether or not the suit can tell him what lurks underneath he antiquated armor or not is something Zero isn't compelled to share. He reaches his cooler, suit already shifting back to that of a reserved businessman, and he scans the vessel. Not much time left. At all. Most likely, it would spoil. He strides back over to Katana, looking down at the man. No. Not enough time to remove his head, either.
"In a way, you may have won. Take solace in that," he says frankly. And then he continues down the street.
His blades absolutely ruined by Zero's iron grip, Katana finds himself gripped by the collar - already passing into unconsciousness as he's lifted up off his feet. By the time he's tossed to the ground, striking the street a far distance away from the NESTS VP, Katana has slipped into total unconsciousness.. He's not cognizant enough to hear anything that Zero said.. a shame, really, because it's doubtful he'll find anything to take solace in. He's failed his dead soldiers.. but he'll get his revenge. Or he won't. Either works.
COMBATSYS: Zero has ended the fight here.
Log created by Katana, and last modified on 12:17:17 07/18/2005.