Description: The accidental murder of a wealthy codger while travelling through a Russian slum triggers an investigation and a deadly confrontation.
Metro City one day, Mother Russia the next. Seth is a widely travelled man, no mistake it, but abrupt changes in scenery tend to get on his nerves just a bit. More specificly, the planes involved, especially when he can't go a week without being cooped up in one. He only had enough time to gather information from his usual sources for a few days before he received the phone call, and made aware of a change in plans. To receive such a jolting change in his schedule can only mean one thing -- a manhunt.
The dossier didn't reveal anything that particularly surprised or unsettled the mercenary enforcer. A series of serial murders, mostly homeless victims that no one would miss, but it seems like there was one mistake. Someone's wealthy uncle was travelling home after a covert meeting with his mistress and stumbled upon the path of the murderer. A police investigation was silenced with bewildering quickness, but the family possessed enough outrage that they were willing to call 'other' powers.
Seth muses that either quite a sum of money was involved, or his employers are falling upon harder times than they're admitting publicly. Either way, he's here. And it's time to go down to business.
Conventional tactics weren't revealing much about the murders. The bodies were left behind as evidence, but nothing...nothing at all...was available to identify the murderer otherwise. It gave the older mercenary some reason for concern. At a glance, just another chain of serial murders by some nobody killer, but his grizzled old instincts are starting to roll over in their sleep.
It was a use of one of Seth's more unconventional tactics that got him closer to the suspect. He made his rounds at night, making a point to be much less subtle about his inquisitions than usual. He openly visited the crime scenes, he spent more time than usual asking people who couldn't keep secrets things that he shouldn't.
It didn't take long. Just five hours later, roughly three in the morning on this side of the Pacific, that all-too-familiar sensation of being followed started to creep up on him.
The city is dark, as rain falls from the sky. Cold, freezing rain, coating the streets and sending people huddling along their way. A night no one in Moscow would want to be outside. It's nights like this that a predator prowls the city, when there's few witnesses and his prey huddle around makeshift shelters for warmth.
A scream comes from an alley, followed by laughter. There's a dark shape with a dripping claw standing there, silhouetted in the night as the rain pounds on his muscular body. A dying bum lays at his feet, slumped against the alley wall. The figure pulls something on his face up, and slowly drags the claw by his mouth.
...But...that wasn't exactly the meeting that Seth had in mind. Confronted in a dark alleyway by some thug with a switchblade, sure. He was expecting business as usual. That feeling of his from a few hours ago becomes far more intense. This isn't the usual cat and mouse game. Someone knows that he's being hunted, and his response is to kill someone nearby...intentionally? As much as Seth had every intention of being the one to spring the trap, he doesn't have much of a choice. Someone is dead or dying. Time to move.
Wet footsteps echo down the alleyway as a large man races onto the scene, his crisp tie, slacks, and dress shirt an odd contrast to the yellow rain poncho their owner wears.
A single beam from a flashlight travels down the alley, searching, a gun held in the hand of the owner.
"FREEZE!", a deep voice booms.
A pair of kunai fly from the depths of the alley, one aimed for the barrel of the gun, the other aimed for the flashlight. A voice follows, moments later. "He is dying. His intestines have been ruptured, and he'll bleed out within two hours. A quite painful way to go. You may be able to help him...Or you may die. That's the price you pay when you stick your arm into a cobra's lair." Balrog steps forward from the shadows, smirking beneath his mask.
COMBATSYS: Balrog has started a fight here.
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Balrog 0/-------/-------|
A blur of yellow is seen as the figure dives out of the way, but not before the tinkling of broken glass echoes down the alleyway, the useless cyllinder of a ruined flashlight clattering wetly to the ground shortly after. The gun, however, seems to have escaped a similar fate.
This leaves Seth face off against a masked, tattooed man with a claw. Not exactly what the merc was expecting, but seldom things are. That's when it suddenly hits him like a ton of bricks. Eyes widen briefly as their owner recalls a photo from an overexposed reel of film that was supposed to have escaped destruction. This isn't just any murderer, this is a man whose existence is only known of by a select few around the world.
He's on the list of Seth's top twenty, and he's standing right in front of him. Widened eyes give way to a scornful squint as the agent raises his gun and opens fire. "Just try not to slip in the rain, it'd be a poor end for a villain with a reputation like yours." No time for small talk, he's in for the fight of his life and he knows it.
COMBATSYS: Seth has joined the fight here.
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Seth 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Balrog
COMBATSYS: Seth successfully hits Balrog with Thrown Object.
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Seth 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Balrog
Balrog cartwheels to the side, the round grazing his arm and leaving a bloody slash mark on his shoulder. He lands with his feet against the wall and one hand on the ground, the assassin inverted. An odd place to stop, but he does so. "Guns? How vulgar." He leaps into the air, springing through it with speed. He twists around in a torpedo as he passes by Seth, heading to the opposite wall, as his claw slashes out in passing.
COMBATSYS: Seth counters Flying Barcelona Attack from Balrog with Doh-Kuzushi.
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Seth 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Balrog
The gun is quickly disgarded as the murderer lunges from the wall at Seth, an acceptable loss in a battle where his advantage of distance has already been lost. Gloved hands shoot upward with surpising quickness to grab the clwaed out of the air and ruthlessly hurl him back into the wall he sprung off of. "I'll take that as a compliment from a mankiller like you. By the way, you've got slime on your shoulder."
Balrog blinks as he's whipped about, before being planted into the very wall he came from, with a thud. He rises to his feet quickly, shrugging the blow off. He lopes around Seth as he begins circling him, before he leaps into the air. He leaps into one of the walls, crouching against it for a split-second before leaping off. He surges down at Seth as he attempts to plant both feet on his shoulders, forcing him down to the ground.
COMBATSYS: Balrog successfully hits Seth with Light Kick.
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Seth 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Balrog
Sagat heads to Asia.
As eagle-eyed as the larger man in a poncho is, there's something to be said for crazy acrobatics. Grunting with discomfort as his knees are forced to the ground, the delay is only momentary. Forcing his knees to spring the bulk of body right back up, he crosses the distance gained by the ninja in three quick strides and sends his arm quickly crashing down in a Judo chop aimed at the neck.
COMBATSYS: Seth successfully hits Balrog with Quick Punch.
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Seth 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Balrog
Balrog leaps off of Seth as he lands, doing a backflip through the air and landing on the ground. The chop strikes him in the side of the neck with a thump, causing him to step to the side as he grunts in pain. He flips backwards, to get some space, before he rolls down along the ground, stopping before Seth with a downwards claw slash. "Hah!"
COMBATSYS: Seth blocks Balrog's Rolling Crystal Flash.
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Seth 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Balrog
The man is fast, that's for certain. But reallly, considering who this is, that should be no surprise to him. Crossing his arms before him, Seth manages to exchange a ruthlessly torn chest for a pair of shredded sleeves tinged with red that tell of the gashes beneath. "...Feh! I lose another good shirt every time I fight a ninja." Ninja? The kunai were a bit of a giveaway, yes. He has a good eye. As well as a good sense of tactics, taking advantage of his positioning to push back against the claw with his arms while trying to deliver a swift punt to the man's breastbone with a solid dress shoe.
COMBATSYS: Balrog interrupts Light Kick from Seth with Scarlet Terror.
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Seth 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Balrog
Balrog's forearm comes up, knocking the kick aside with a hearty thump that will certainly leave a bruise in the morning. He bursts forward from his kneeling position and launches himself into the air, careening into Seth with a claw slash, before inverting into a flip that sends his legs right at the man's face, smacking him solidly, before rebounding away. "You'll lose more than your /shirt/," he hisses, with a tone of menace.
Seth barely has time to register the searing pain across his chest before he's sent stumbling backward from a sound knock to the skull. Shaking it off, he bares his teeth menacingly and begins pacing forward, cracking his gloved knuckles as he advances. "And maybe I'll just take your braid back with me as a souvenir, freshly cut with a claw stained in my own blood. Yeah, the boys'll get a real kick out of that back at base."
COMBATSYS: Seth focuses on his next action.
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Seth 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Balrog
Balrog smirks beneath his mask. "I'm sure they will." He begins circling Seth, slowly getting closer. "Or maybe I'll keep your hand as a souvenir. Where you're going, you're not gonna need it." He suddenly steps close and stabs forward with his claw, aiming for Seth's right hand. If he can take down the striking hand, he stands a better chance in this battle.
COMBATSYS: Seth endures Balrog's Weapon Jab.
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Seth 1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0 Balrog
As it so happens, when the claw sinks into Seth's hand, Balrog discovers that those meaty instruments of mauling are quite a bit more solid and calloused than he was probably anticipating. The larger man simply bears his teeth and pushes past, the blade of the glaw slipping painfully through the glove as his hands reach up to grab the ninja by either side of his masked head. His own face looms forward to stare into the slits of the mask, his own eyes bulging as his hot breath is suddenly felt through the vents. "The only way you're taking my hand to hell with you is if you have the strength to pry it off your worthless THROAT." Thusly shouted, he uses that grip on the man's head to try and wrench him forward, falling onto his back and delivering a fierce kick to the gut as he flips him overhead.
COMBATSYS: Balrog blocks Seth's Tomoe Nage.
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Seth 1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0 Balrog
Balrog gets flipped over Seth, his knee bending up to block the kick. He bounces off the strike and somersaults through the air gracefully, before landing with his knees bent. He narrows his blue eyes behind his mask, and suddenly charges forward. He leaps into the air, attempting to land on Seth's shoulders. He stays there only briefly, his feet around Seth's head, before performing a sudden twist that threatens to crank Seth's head about.
COMBATSYS: Seth fails to counter Medium Throw from Balrog with Doh-Tori-Shichimonsatsu.
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Seth 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Balrog
A strangled gurgle can be heard as the agent's arms climb upward, deadly fingers searching and hunting for purchase, but not before a suddenly painful wrench sends him toppling off balance and splashing down into the muck below. The sweat on his brow is indistinguishable from the cold murky water that now covers it as he rises up once again, eyes narrowing and focussing on his intended prey. "Heh. Even now, but only one of us is getting out of here without a caved in skull." He extends two gloved hands, beckoning in spite of his blooded appearence. "I'm waiting."
Balrog springs off of Seth as he hits the ground, and turns about to face him. He smirks as he watches him, analyzing his movements carefully. "You're going to die in the gutter, you worthless piece of /scum/. I'm going to personally make sure it takes you a long time to die. You'll have plenty of time to reflect on your shitty life." He stands in pouncing position, ready to move forward at any time.
COMBATSYS: Balrog focuses on his next action.
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Seth 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Balrog
The taunting is met with the sneer of a man who has clearly heard a lifetime's fill of such sniveling. "I've got no regrets, little boy. You've better have what it takes to make good on that promise, or I'll be sending you to the River Styx with no coin in hand." His own stance widens to accomodate Balrog's own, carefully measured and calculating in anticipation of a strike. His breath slows into an evenly measured rhythm, the man not moving a muscle aside from the rise and fall of his torn and bloodied dress shirt.
COMBATSYS: Seth gains composure.
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Seth 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0 Balrog
Balrog suddenly leaps up into the air, emitting a undulating cry as he inverts and twists about. He lands on his feet behind Seth, and grabs at his abdomen, attempting to grasp him firmly. He then springs up into the air if he can grab Seth, doing a graceful arc. It ends with the pair of them sailing at the ground head first, Seth held above Balrog so he's strike first. "YAAAAAH!"
COMBATSYS: Seth counters Izuna Drop from Balrog with Doh-Kuzushi.
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Seth 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Balrog
When a ninja is staring at you, chances are that means he has one thing on his mind and one thing only. He's got your ass in his sights, literally.
As such, Seth's wary stance plays out. When Balrog lands behind Seth, the Spaniard finds his grasp at the agent's abdomen a split second two slow. Clasping hands firmly to both of the ninja's shoulders, Seth uses his longer arms to his advantage and heaves to the side, sending his assailant tumbling through the muck-filled alley once more
"Stupid ninjas. So goddamn predictable."
Balrog is sent to the ground, rolling briefly before coming up to his feet. He shakes his head back and forth, the rain rapidly wiping away the filth that covers him. "You shall pay for that remark..." he growls, before doing a cartwheel forward. He lands at Seth's flank, stabbing at him with his claw, aimed to sheer his abdomen open and dump his guts out.
COMBATSYS: Seth blocks Balrog's Fierce Strike.
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Seth 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Balrog
Once again, Seth's tasty entrails remain safely tucked within their black candy wrapper. You don't want them anyway, they probably taste like gravel and are just as tough to chew. Seth's wrists quickly drop in time to catch Balrog's claw arm by the wrist, the tips pricking his stomach but doing little else. "I already paid your mother last night, I'm afraid I don't have anything left to spend." Thusly said, the larger man clenches his teeth and takes a step forward, hands still on the claw, trying to leverage the ninja's own weapon against his throat. Even he's unable to win in a contest of strength (as fatigued as he is), it should hopefully make the use of those incisors more difficult.
COMBATSYS: Balrog fails to interrupt Random Weapon from Seth with Scarlet Mirage.
- Power fail! -
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Seth 1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0 Balrog
Balrog blinks at this. "My mother...My mother...NEVER INSULT MY MOTHER!" It puts him off guard enough for his own claw to rake at his throat. "UGGHHH!" He staggers backwards, his left hand clasping over his throat as blood drips down between his fingers, the ninja slumping a bit. "Urggh..."
Never one to let an opportunity go to waste, Seth's muscles tense as he forces those blades to remain pressed to the masked man's neck as long as possible, determined to keep the thirst of them quenched now that they've tasted their own master's blood for once. At last the Spaniard wrenches away from him with shaky steps, clutching his lacerated throat, not to see the next attack coming - the best hint of danger is the rapid splashing of Seth's feet through the sludge as he comes barreling forward. "Ora!" A quick swing is levelled at Balrog's gut with Seth's left arm, meant to wind him for what comes next - a follow-up uppercut from the merc's right, accompanied by a sundering surge of his invisible chi from below.
For a single moment, hit or miss, the two combatants are drenched in a twister of water blown about by the force of the attack. "HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!"
COMBATSYS: Balrog dodges Seth's Morote Sho-Yoh.
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Seth 0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0 Balrog
Balrog twists to the side to avoid the punch to the abdomen, before cartwheeling off to the left to avoid the uppercut. His hand touches the ground and he springs to his feet, before leaping into hte air again. He aims to fly right by Seth, slashing at his face in passing. The same attack as before, which gets him mobile, so he can hopefully be in better position to react.
COMBATSYS: Seth fails to counter Flying Barcelona Attack from Balrog with Doh-Kuzushi.
[ \\\\ < > //// ]
Seth 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0 Balrog
Sometimes history isn't destined to repeat itself. So intent on taking down the masked murderer during that window of opportunity, it takes Seth too long to recover his balance sufficiently to compensate for the fact that he's trying to get a hold on a much slippier ninja than the one he was chucking around earlier. The ninja's slash leaves its mark across the man's cheek, an angry howl left in its wake as the agent lurches around on his heels to face Balrog once more.
The two face off in this fashion, panting, sweating, bleeding hulk in suspenders...a man one whose survival would be certainly doubtful if it weren't for the fact that he faces an opponent who is bleeding from the neck. "Let's get this over with...before one of us bleeds to death."
Sometimes history isn't destined to repeat itself. So intent on taking down the masked murderer during that window of opportunity, it takes Seth too long to recover his balance sufficiently to compensate for the fact that he's trying to get a hold on a much slippier ninja than the one he was chucking around earlier. The ninja's slash leaves its mark across the man's cheek, an angry howl left in its wake as the agent lurches around on his heels to face Balrog once more.
The two face off in this fashion, panting, sweating, bleeding hulk in suspenders...a man one whose survival would be certainly doubtful if it weren't for the fact that he faces an opponent who is bleeding from the neck. "Let's get this over with...before one of us bleeds to death."
Balrog lands from the slash, rolling along the ground. Is chest is covered in his blood, as he gurgles irately. His hand drops from his face as he jumps over Seth, somersaulting, before landing behind him and dropping to a crouch, his leg shooting out behind him at the back of Seth's knee.
COMBATSYS: Seth interrupts Strong Kick from Balrog with Fast Throw.
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Seth 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Balrog
The blow lands, but Seth's knee fails to buckle as intended, the man having once again braced himself for an attack from behind once lept over. Spining around with a grunt, he lashes out with a palmstrike to the kneeling ninja's mask that shoves him back into - not a wall for once - the nearby dumpster. The burly man isn't far behind, gloved knuckles crashing into the sheet of metal that the ninja's head occupied a few seconds before. This is a rather good stroke of luck for the Spaniard - there's now a rather sizable dent in the container.
Balrog ducks down from the second blow, not phased by the dent of metal that the fist caused. He jukes quickly out of Seth's grasp, before putting a bloody hand to his mask. It's cracked. "My faaaace," he gurgles, blood bubbling from his neck. He suddenly launches himself at Seth in a spinning ball, aimed to slash him open with a furious claw stroke.
COMBATSYS: Seth counters Hari Tsuki Rolling Barcelona from Balrog with Doh-Kuzushi.
[ \ < > ]
Seth 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Balrog
His muscles are screaming from lack of blood and oxygen. It's hard enough to even move. But Seth didn't come this far from one alleyway just to bleed to death in another. Eyes snapping wide open, he just...screams in defiance at the oncoming foe.
"HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
He doesn't wait for the strike to arrive, he simply charges at the clawed menace in mid-tumble, diving forward and meeting him on the ground. A brief struggle ensues as he holds the man down with little more than his own weight, using it to keep the slick with rainwater ninja from escaping. He uses the only handhold that has a chance of working - the man's braid. He hauls him up by it and meets the mask with a headbutt that sends the skull behind it crashing down hard. At that point, all Seth can do is roll over to the side and lie on his back, heaving with his head turned to the side at his opponent. He's almost entirely helpless now - if the murderer has any fight left in him, he's almost certainly done for. All he can do is gulp down breath after breath of air into his screaming lungs in hope that he has what it takes to see this through to the end.
Balrog shrieks as he's manhandled by his beautiful hair, then smashed in the face. His mask shatters as he stumbles backwards into the wall of the alley, stunned and bleeding badly. With a final grunt of rage and anger, particularly at his struck face, he surges forward with a kick aimed at his foe's chest, before he finally collapses from blood loss.
COMBATSYS: Balrog can no longer fight.
[ \ <
Seth 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Seth blocks Balrog's Cosmic Smart.
[ <
Seth 0/-------/-======|
Seth throws up his forearms and engages in a life or death struggle with...Balrog's heel. For all he knows the man is about to reach down with his claw and end his life. Just when his strength is about to fail, the man finally collapses from blood loss.
There's a long period of silence.
One man finally rises, but it takes every bit of willpower to do so. Seth stands, glancing downward, regarding the fallen Balrog. Neck slashed, mask shattered, the end result of a true fight to the death in every sense of the word. It's been three years since Seth had a fight where he came this close to biting it...but then again, it wasn't the first time. The fact that he's standing here right now is a testament to that driven willpower that has keept him alive to this very day.
There is no time to check Balrog's vitals, no time to be spiteful and dump him in the dumpster that would serve as a fitting resting place in his eyes...he's up and on his feet for one reason only.
The victim of tonight's claw murder might yet survive the night.
Removing the radio from his belt, he finds the electronics completely inoperable from the repeated dunks in the pool of water at the alley's mouth. "...Fuh...", is all the agent can weeze, not having enough in him to even complete one curse word. He'll need all the energy he has for the labor ahead. Lifting the dying man onto his back with an agonizing scream of pain that echoes in the night, the mercenary begins the long trek back to the car parked three intersections away, leaving Balrog dead for the police to clean up in the morning.
Or, at least, so he thought.
Log created on 20:55:35 04/17/2007 by Seth, and last modified on 15:16:20 05/25/2007.