Description:
It's that one famous scene that almost everyone knows; and if you're not an oldies movie buff, then you've at least seen it once or twice while flipping through the satellite guide of TCM. The sight of a slight, black-clad individual, munching on pastries with one hand, while the cup of coffee is held to the side in the other.
In front of a certain store named Tiffany's.
Well. This sure as hell ain't Audrey Hepburn, and it certainly ain't Tiffany's, but the city's most famous jewelry store just happens to be sitting pretty in this chi-chi side of Southtown's neighborhood. And taking Ms. Hepburn's place? A punked-out teen in the same stylish black, oozing the kind of attitude that would put Ralph Fiennes's John Steed on par with Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols. The smattering of rice flour from the mochi pastry in his hand dusts his lips as he chews, green eyes instantly liquefying at the sight of the display behind the window. Layers and layers of multi-faceted stones cover the brilliant necklace on parade, and as a well-dressed couple pass him by, he points to the topaz cabochons on the other side of the exhibit. "Hey, it's twenty-percent off next week," the tall, sable-haired kid announces, giving them that bit of advice before he takes off. The couple, after taking one look at the lacquered baton under his arm, run off as well --- but in the other direction.
"You, young man. Can I help you?" Is what's basically asked of Reed when he walks into the store, the kid finishing his last bite before wiping his mouth. Scritching the back of his hawked head, baton facing floor like a makeshift walking stick, he turns to regard the inquirer with an impudent look, "Yeah. I'm here to see Max Tadashi, the proprietor. Is he around today?"
"Mr. Tadashi is away on a business trip. I can leave him a message for you, if you wish." After a painfully long pause, the much older gentleman adds, "Is there anything else I can help you with?" Customer service is a bitch, ain't it?
The kid begins to scrutinize the guy. And to him, it's just some stuffy old manager in a khaki suit and tie. Foreign. And judging by the accent, British. "Eh, actually, you can. I want to see that emerald 'n diamond necklace out there by the window." He points to the display with a gloved finger, looking a little too easygoing, even for him.
A jewelry store is not a place Elle normally frequents. Baubles and trinkets aren't usually of any interest to her in the slightest. Sparkly things hold no interest to the mercenary. Only cold hard cash and contracts mean anything to her personally. However, when a client pays her to care? The object of their focus becomes the most imporant thing in the world for her.
And it just so happens that Reed is about to get caught in a situation that he didn't expect himself to be in.
How does the jewelry exchage work? Well, in short, it's a very competitive business in which jewelers compete sight unseen, bidding for the choice stones available from dealers. From the highest paid gemologists from Zurich to the lowliest of storefront discount stores, peices and stones are bid upon in silent auction and distributed about the verious venues.
However, there comes time when competition is feirce, and there's animosity between jewelers over certain stones. Elle, troubleshooter that she is, has been hired by one such jilted jeweler, who had his eye on a certain peice. It would seem that said emerald and diamond necklace acquired by Max Tadashi is also coveted by Harlan MacAffee, of the MacAffees of Boston. An affluent family not willing to let such a slight go unanswered, the Beantown jewelers decided to teach Mr. Tadashi a little lesson in civility and a little thing called 'dibs'.
So when Elle walks into the store, the first thing she does is look around. She's seen the building plan and layout before. She was told to do two things: 1) Get the Item, 2) Teach Them A Lesson.
As her presence trips off the electric door counter with a 'ding' she's already charging her energy signature, her body blurring from the low bass rumble she produces.
The display tables rattle threateningly.
The manager begins to laugh as he makes his way over to the display, "Young lad, do you have any idea what this is?" He picks the heavy jewelry up as though it were the very carcanet that set Marie Antoinette's reputation ablaze back in the late 1700's, the necklace of history.
But, this is not the same necklace that put Jeanne Valois to death, nor is it the same one that graced the dauphin's neck.
Unbeknownst to these two, this just happens to be wanted by someone else, and though the name MacAffee doesn't register in Tyler Reed's brain, it just might in the old manager's.
"Allow me to explicate," Tyler remarks, surprising the older gent with a vocabulary that would have been at home with adults twice his age. His sharp gaze alights upon the monocle prodding out from the man's breast pocket, and deliberately pulls it out by its thin chain. Without even asking. Damn punk. There's a resounding harrumph of protest from the elder of the two, and if only to annoy the man further, Reed tightens his grip enough to send him careening forward, flailing arms aside.
"Now let's see." As the monocle is brought up to eye level, torso bent slightly to survey the fiery stones, the teen grins. Maniacally. "Yep. These are extra fine five-carat Tokovayan emeralds facetted by none other than Munsteiner, considering the unmistakable Fantasieschliffe cut. Two-point-one-five carats of paved diamond inserts in the gilded decor. And, judging by the minute traces of boron in the latter, I'd say that there's a fair chance that the raw materials came from India." He slips the borrowed monocle right back into the other man's pocket, giving it a solid pat.
The starched manager just stands there holding out the necklace, staring after Reed; completely stunned. Until...
Elle's sudden appearance causes the old gent to falter, rattling just-so with the tables. Reed's own eyes narrow at the new entrant, feeling the vibrations just the same.
The woman's face, what can be made of it through the blur, is expressionless. The bass roll starts to rattle all the cases in the store, and objects clatter to the floor. She doesn't seem to care a lot about the occupants of the room, but instead cares more about the collateral damage. Almost casually, she places her hand on one of the display cases. The case seems to simply fall to peices, her dispassionate gaze turned to the shopkeeper.
Alright. Enough dramatics. Time to go to work.
"MacAffee says 'Hi'," Elle says, her voice dry, cool, and devoid of any vested interest at all. Elle sees her work as a necessary evil... not something that she particularly relishes. The rumble then turns into an ear splitting shriek that sounds a lot like a guitar riff. The woman doesn't even so much as make a gesture or raise an arm. Despite having a guitar slung over her shoulder in a weird looking holster, she's not even using it.
The sound shatters glass and rips through weaker objects. bowling over tables and causing people around her to fall over in audio based agony. Let's see if Reed fares any better.
"What the ---" The splitting shriek causes the teen thief to plug his earholes with his fingers, and the only thing that she's ever going to get out of him is the grimace that just about ripples across his face. As for the old man? He's down, doubled over and clutching his ears as though they had just been shot at with a gun.
Interesting. A surge of green energy engulfs the boy's gloved hand as he whips his baton in front of him, pointing it directly at Elle. "HEY! JUST WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Doctrinaire lingo gone...the dark-haired kid showing his true colors, he basically kicks the clattering mess out of the way, looking downright /pissed/.
So far, he seems ok, but that could change in a heartbeat.
She doesn't care. The boy does get Elle's attention, but only because he has power. Even then, there's no moment of epiphany, no moment of admiration or appreciation of power. Elle just isn't the sort. At this point in her life? She practically /expected/ something like Reed to be in the store, and it only gives her the same amount of pause as someone that sees a new brand of breakfast ceral in a supermarket aisle would have.
And frankly, she doesn't even seem willing to buy the cereal.
This is where the bad guy says 'This doesn't concern you. Get out.' But Elle doesn't do any of that. What she does is raise a hand level to the boy's face and blasts a wave of sonic power towards his head, attempting to rupture his eardrums, make his eyes bleed... whatever a force of pure sound and white noise can do to a person. If it seems ultra aggressive? It's because it is. Elle can spend all day chatting, or she can do her job.
Unfortunately for Reed? Ell likes her worka hell of a lot more than she enjoys talking.
CSYS: Elle has attacked you with Metal Health. (#1)
COMBATSYS: Elle successfully hits Reed with Metal Health.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////.........]
Elle 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Reed
Bleed his ears do, and whatever intent he had of getting out of harm's way is futilely dealt with as the full-on collision of Elle's power hits him /hard/. There's just no escaping sonic power, for the pure and simple reason that sound travels faster than a pair of human legs ever will. As a loud, piercing scream ejects from the younger of the two fighting, Tyler rolls back, skidding far from the mercenary while attempting to figure out how to make with the necklace and run. But. Being the stubborn little shit he is, he's not about to go down so easily. At the moment, all he can see is red...
"Alright, you wanna party?" The midnight baton still gleaming olivine from his flow of chi, the young miscreant cracks a smile. "Let's do this."
Sprinting forward, the boy says nothing afterward, only the sound of his baton hitting the floor is heard as a loud *THWOCK* cracks in the air. The teen is sent flying towards Elle in an airborne sidekick, extinguishing light green energy as his body hurtles at high speed. If the kick connects, it'll be one harsh crack to the jaw --- aiming as high as it is.
COMBATSYS: Reed successfully hits Elle with Battere il suolo.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////..... ]
Elle 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Reed
The foot strikes clean across Elle's fact, and her head snaps back viciously. Halted for a moment in her advance, she pauses for a moment. The seconds seem to crawl as she sits and assesses the damage. It hurt, yes, but the fact is that her body is already compensating for the hit. Overall, nowhere near a lethal, body stopping blow. Considerable and respectable, however, which means Elle's manner of attack shifts slightly.
Her body crackles with lightning for a split second, the blue spiderweb of energy sizzling across her sturdy frame, and her head slowly turns back and her hand rubs her jaw.
Without warning, the woman immediately shoots forward, her one arm outstretched. If she manages to grab ahold of the young man, she'll whip him about in a half nelson, and smash his face into a shattered display case before stepping back with a vicious twist to the head. Elle's attacks aren't flashy, just outrageously brutal.
COMBATSYS: Reed blocks Elle's 17 Crash.
Elle does manage to get a hold of him, and whip him around like a rag doll. The smashing his face into a shard-happy display case, however? Likely not, as the young thief manages to keep his pretty head from being pulverized by the vicious oncoming. Instead, he tidily shields his face and body with his shoulder, forearms crossed in reposition before his body slams into glass. This does some damage to his overall frame, but not in the way that Elle had intended to.
So. Not a woman of words, eh? Two can play at that game. Just in the split-second between Elle's attack and his sudden maneuver, Reed takes advantage and crouches low, stretching his armed hand back before swooping it upwards in a harsh uppercut. Conflagrant green energy licks the entire baton once more as he attempts to deliver the blow.
COMBATSYS: Elle blocks Reed's Flaming Lips.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////... ]
Elle 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Reed
Elle's eyes watch the weapon intently, and she raises an arm. The rocker mercenary bats it aside with a disturbing ease, the casual demeanor on her face displaying a cold, clinical nature that most people that deal with her are forced to accept of simply be annoyed. Nevertheless, her rather laconic demeanor kills a lot of the usual nonsense that sourrounds these sorts of conflicts. Jibes and taunts don't particularly work very well on her anyhow.
Circling in a grappler's stance, Elle watches the boy's movements. Her heavy boots crunch against the shattered glass and her motions slide her around an overturned table. Eyes flicking about, she strikes an what she beleives to be an apparent opening. Leaping over the table, she attempts to grab the boy by the shoulder with cold, talon-like hands. With a powerful heave, she'll try to fling the boy face first into the overturned table.
COMBATSYS: Reed endures Elle's Medium Throw!
With all this rough-housing and being thrown about, a dangerous segment of Reed's receptive memory surfaces for just an instant, but just as easily vanishes as ice-cold fingers dig sharply into skin. He frowns but says nothing, feeling the wind flog around him as he's hurtled towards that wooden table. His reflexes manage to handle most of it, however, fists shooting outward to hit shrapnel as she attempts to grind his face into one of its jutting legs. This causes some of the wood to break, and by the end of it? The kid is hit with fatigue, but still moving, looking like utter hell. Blood trickles down the side of his temple as he glares at Elle with those absinthe eyes. "I'm getting out of here with that necklace, whether you like it or not." His baton reels at a frenetic pace, wrists and frame at ease, letting most of the fiery green energy absorb through the long, midnight stick. A whirlwind of dust kicks up as the baton continues its hurtling velocity, not unlike a large and powerful windmill. He pushes it forward to suck Elle in, and if she is indeed caught up in the attack, she'll find herself lifted and brutalized by the forceful power of its whorling ends.
COMBATSYS: Reed successfully hits Elle with Don Quixote.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////...... ]
Elle 1/------=/=======|-------\-------\0 Reed
The baton finds it's mark, and Elle's extremely damage resistant body finds itself being battered about like a boat in a storm, the weapon assault doing considerable damage as it crashes against her face, arms, and ribs. The repeated strikes eventually break her guard down, and smash through, landing enough vital strikes to drive her back a little, her body slamming into a wall after staggering about.
Unfortunately, she's not down yet. His impressive maneuver did only slightly more than his initial kick to the face did. Elle is still quite mobile and while the damage is taking it's toll, the boy's still got quite a ways to go.
Shooting towards the boy with renewed resolve, Elle's hand reaches behind her, pulling the guitar strapped along her back free from it's holster. Her mission orders were clear. Take the place out, and bring back the necklace. The boys words hit her ears, but she doesn't acknowledge them so much as reply with a sharp swing of the metal-plated instrument to the boy's forehead.
COMBATSYS: Elle successfully hits Reed with Medium Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////........... ]
Elle 1/------=/=======|===----\-------\0 Reed
Either the boy just doesn't have enough willpower, or he's too damned exhausted to get out of the way. Whatever the case, it's enough to break him down the point where the instrument meets its intended target in a splatter of bright red. Blood hits the walls as his head is whacked rather messily to the side, and a loud grunt of pain can be heard spilling from the boy's lips. Though a blow like that should have put a kid his age out, he's not going to leave just yet. He'll keep at it until one of them falls, even if...at the moment...he appears to be on the unfortunate side of luck this time. It's obvious by now that this woman is out of his league. With a fierce growl, he charges at her with endless rage, swinging his baton straight for her gut as it sweeps low and hard.
COMBATSYS: Reed successfully hits Elle with Deep Strike.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////............ ]
Elle 1/--=====/=======|====---\-------\0 Reed
Unexpected!
Not expecting Reed to attack her at full rabies charge, Elle halts her approach for a moment, and is lost. The powerful hit smashes into her gut like a freight train, and she lets out a shark hiss of air, her body slamming back down to the ground like so much dead weight. The single hit seems to have put both of them on equal footing. In an attempt to simply absorb the blow and use the momentum to her advantage, Elle has obviously failed.
But still, despite the tooth-rattling hit, Elle's not down yet.
Her body is airborne after she staggers to her feet. Scraping the ceiling of the store, she lands behind Reed, her powerful hands reaching for his arm. If she connects, she'll hurl the boy about like a rag doll, smashing him all over the store like a flail. With every collusion, she'll let off a discharge of electrical chi through his slim frame, manifesting in horrible looking blasts of energy which will cause further destruction to the sore as well as injuring the lad severely.
COMBATSYS: Elle successfully hits Reed with Slayer.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Elle 0/-------/-----==|=======\=====--\1 Reed
..And he's out. Slammed here, hurtled there, smashed over and FRIED, considering the discharge of chi along the way. He can't even gasp properly because of the sheer force in power, causing him to choke halfway then chortle as his battered body tenses, then goes limp from shock, eyes glazed over in numbing pain once the barbaric attack is over. Not a word. And from the looks of things, Elle will probably like it that way.
[OOC] Elle says, "No final action?"
[OOC] Reed would, but it's getting late. :/
[OOC] Elle says, "OK. Hm."
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ..................... ]
Elle 0/-------/-----==|=======\=====--\1 Reed
Elle does like unconcious people a whole lot more than waking ones. There's something to be said about beating people in submission. She draws a strained breath as the boy finally hits the floor. He surprised her, and that rarely happens these days. The woman can appreciate that on some level.
Some level that doesn't really apply now. What does matter is that Elle has what she came for, and has managed to succeed in her mission. It's always good when a plan comes together, as Mr. T would say. She dumps a packet of medical supplies on the boy's chest before she leaves, however, as well as a card. The card just has a contact number. Normally, it's for clients and prospective customers, but this time, it's an invitation for a job itself.
With her prize in hand, Elle strides out, leaving Reed to wake up before the cops show.
Log created on 22:38:50 07/03/2007 by Reed, and last modified on 23:27:40 07/03/2007.