Description: Pantera (1990). Bad intelligence. Crazy decision. Best possible outcome. When Blackjack receives the wrong information about an arms and drugs shipment, they end up facing off against their deadliest opponent yet: Rugal. It's teamwork versus titan as Rugal fails to take the assault seriously and ends up on the (barely) losing end of a spectacular finish! Featuring: Dr. Tran's Peanut Butter Hula Quest.
The outskirts of Metro City are a great place to hand off merchandise. Close enough to the places that matter to be convenient. Far enough away any real populated hub to be left alone generally. The only people arould here tend to be lowlifes with a long enough record that going to the police with a tip is generally completely out of the question. It makes it easy enough when any potential eye witnesses are just as scummy as the no good thugs engaged in the transaction.
The scene is a parkling lot. A truck covered with thick armor is parked beneath the only lamp post that hasn't been shot out, burned out, or vandalized in some other unsavory manner, leaving this sole cone of illumination to do business by. Others will be along before too much time passes. The local pushers needing to restock. Gang members dropping by to bargain for the high powered weapons they have a hard time getting from anywhere else. Others come to buy secrets, purchasing credit card info by the thousands and other necessities for identity theft.
For the one hour that armored vehicle is parked there it's like a one shop stop for degenerates. It's good business, really. At least, it is when trouble makers aren't interferring with it. There's been problems as of late. Shipments have been getting disrupted by violent thugs doped up on some new drug that's hit the streets. Violent and crazed, they come as if to do business, but they're irrational, angry, prone to fits of violence. It's making things overly complicated. Rugal hates complicated when it comes to these mundane matters. After all, how hard is it supposed to be to sow a little crime here and there? Isn't a crook entitled to at least /some/ business that isn't complicated?
Thus it is that Bernstein himself finds himself waiting in this lowly parking lot. He isn't alone. There's a couple of 'R' minions that will take care of conducting any transactions. No... Rugal is here to see if any of those hyped up freaks come by. He'd like to see the effects of Burn first hand. He needs to find out more about who's cutting into his business after all.
He stands waiting beneath the lamp, a pocket watch in his hands that he keeps glancing at. The armored truck has only been here for a couple of minutes, so it's a bit early to expect any of the usual riffraff to come by. But they will in good time, for certain. And maybe some of them will prove his first exposure to the stuff that makes people crazy.
The thing about the mercenary business, is that sometimes you don't get all the information you really need in order to execute a proper tactical decisions. Elle is usually lucky. A meticulous, methodical planner, she tends to root out all the details to an exhaustive extent. Every contingency is usually planned for.
However, when you need money now and you're working on a time table? Sometimes you just have to go for opportunities when they arise.
So when the information gleaned from the documents at Huggy's is plotted out, it's clear that there's supposed to be something at this location. From the preliminary inspection? There's enough guns and drugs here to keep Blackjack running smoothly for ages. What's more, there's a lot of smaller individuals that have put out inquiries and contracts on this group. If she succeeds? Elle will be able to collect on them all.
Hiding in the perimeter, Elle would blend in well with the random thugs, if they were here. With her? A few members of her group:
Tran, the Doctor turned Powerhouse Pugilist. With his steam chi and recuperative abilities, his brawling abilities are matched by few, and his crazy tactics matched by none.
Leilani, the Sultry Shark. Like all beautiful things, she hides a deadly side. The delicate island flow has a bite that few can forget.
And it's with this in mind that Elle reassures herself that this can be done. She presses her fingers to her headset. "This is Elle. This looks like a straightforward smash and grab. I'm seeing one guy. Let's take him down. Nothing facny people!" And with that, she makes a motion with her hand, the sign to deploy.
Game time.
COMBATSYS: Elle has started a fight here on the left meter side.
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Elle 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Rugal has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Elle 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rugal
COMBATSYS: Tran has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Tran 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rugal
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Elle 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Leilani has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Tran 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rugal
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Leilani 0/-------/-------|
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Elle 0/-------/-------|
Real men don't need fancy-pants designer drugs to make them completely crazy. Real men make do with alchohol and enough concussions from the barfights to bring an elephant down. Dr. Tran is a real man, and it's not hard to argue that he's insane at all.
Luckily, today he's not up to anything particularly foolhardy. It's just a smash and grab, essentially, and the doctor is good at smashing. At least, that's what it's /supposed/ to be. Simple, that is.
Touching a hand to his headset, Tran nods to himself, propped up against a dark light post a short distance away. "Got it. Let's rock." Pushing off, he begins to go to the light. Hopefully, this is not some kind of horrible foreshadowing.
Approaching from the side, Tran starts things off quick, dashing forward with his hand stretched out in front of him, bum-rushing through the sparse crowd of thugs. He's going directly for the big man's throat, not that he realizes it's Rugal. And, should that hand's grasp be rewarded, the doctor is going to heave upward, trying to throw him into the air, gives a triumphant "HOO-RAH!" And then finish it off with a spinning roundhouse kick to drive the crimelord backwards.
Alright. So, looks like a nice little easy work, yeah? The way she figures, she do the grabby bit while Elle and Tran do the smashy. But it is never that simple, is it? No, never is. Leilani doesn't have a good feeling about this, but, well, she really hasn't had a good feeling about much lately. One man, with but a few easily removed elements around... In fact, crawling in the darkness, the Shark has already blackjacked one of them before Tran decided to tear off and go after the big kahuna out there.
"Ah, hell," she mutters, keeping to the darkness while Tran charges ahead. Clad in all black, she blends in well, and it allows her to move without notice, using the cover of Tran to prepare her own take on things. Gloved fingertips trace along a crack in the pavement, then fly into the air just as Tran closes the distance and likely into the man's view. Hopefully the sight of an insane nincompoop flying at him will distract him long enough for the geyser of swirling water to catch him in the back unawares.
COMBATSYS: Rugal dodges Leilani's Waterspout.
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Tran 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rugal
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Leilani 0/-------/-------|
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Elle 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Rugal dodges Tran's 3 2 1...Dr Tran.
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Tran 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rugal
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Leilani 0/-------/-------|
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Elle 0/-------/-------|
Sure, Rugal anticipated some kind of trouble makers coming along. What he didn't expect was a coordinated attack from two fronts from two people being directed by a third. An organized assault? What will those crazy hooligans think of next? The suited tyrant would lean idly against the lamp post were it not for the fact that it's quite filthy and he's not really in the mood to dirty another jacket over this late night outing.
And then they come at the same time. A voice to one side, and and the sound of something spashing his way from behind. He can feel the build up of chi of the incoming projectile. These aren't oridinary street thugs. Of that he is already certain even as he steps to the side, allowing the geyser of chi powered water to flying past him, drenching one of his minions and sending the man sprawling in pain. "Feh," he growls, turning around just as a certain crazed, fearless doctor plows through two more minions him, hand outstretched in one of the most brazen attempts to grasp hold of him Rugal can recall in recent history.
An arm brushes forward, knocking Tran's outreaching hand aside before he reaches out with his other hand for the good doctor's face in an attempt to pick him up and slam the back of his head directly into the lamp post. It's with enough force that the poor fixture may very well be bent over courtesy of the impact. "Is this Burn in action? Why else would this craven idiot throw his life away upon my fists?" Rugal sounds somewhat perplexed. But then again, sometimes people just do dumb stuff, mind altering drugs be damned.
Elle's not about to let Rugal get away with avoiding both her teammate's initial attacks. The woman bursts forward, letting the initial assaults sow the chaos and confusion she's looking for in order fo her to get a clear shot on Rugal. Heavy boots rip across pavement like steel-studded tires.
The Blackjack commander starts for a moment as she approaches, however, and her eyes grow wide. She recognizes the man immediately.
She also recognizes that there's really no turning back now.
Fingers place themselves on her radio link. "Boys and girls, we have a problem. That there's Rugal. I don't want you to panic, but if we can't pull this thing off, or think of a good escape route? We're dead meat."
But confidence is where Elle shines. She's cautious, but always confident. The rocker continues her charge. Tran is fearless, and Leilani... well, she doesn't need to see her leader panic, does she? As Elle makes her final approach, she whirls about, and fires of a powerful blast of sonic chi at Rugal, the pulse bursting forth from her hand to bowl him over, if she can manage it.
COMBATSYS: Rugal successfully hits Tran with Medium Throw.
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Tran 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Rugal
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Leilani 0/-------/-------|
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Elle 0/-------/-------|
Thank you, Elle, for that timely warning. Tran noticed right before Rugal grabbed his face, but it's the thought that counts.
For those paying attention, that dawning moment of comprehension went a little like this: "Oh shimmmph!" Then, wide-eyed with surprise, he gets slammed into the lamppost, instantly going limp. Dr. Tran recognizes this man! The reverse may or may not be true, but OH SHIT all the same!
Sliding down onto the ground, the doctor is stunned for a moment, vision blurring. He manages to recover himself enough to scramble around the lightpost, and lean against it with both hands to steady himself. No time to just rest, he needs to do more - he needs to POWER UP. The air ripples around him, a thin layer of steam rising up from the man, only to be immediately drawn back in. It goes on like that for a little while.
COMBATSYS: Tran gathers his will.
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Tran 1/----===/=======|=------\-------\0 Rugal
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Leilani 0/-------/-------|
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Elle 0/-------/-------|
Oh shit.
Oh shit oh shit oh shit.
Eyes going wide, the dark and shadowy figure at the periphery of the visible light once again crouches, lowering her profile from the potential view of the extremely dangerous crimelord. What the hell is she gonna do? What the hell are they all gonna do? Getting out of this is gonna be a task, even more than getting the materiel out of that truck...
That truck...
Hmm.
Maybe the truck is the key. Slipping around the front of the truck, the Shark comes around to the driver's side just as the flunky of Rugal's that was driving opens the door to help his boss. It's a shame, though, that his exit is interrupted by Leilani Ke'ekikolani grabbing his hair and slamming his head in the heavy armored door. It's not a good sound, that's for sure, but the Hawai'ian doesn't really have time to worry about it. Hopping into the front seat, she reaches down... Yes. Score. A turn of the key, and the enormously large engine rumbles to life, and Leilani shifts the beast into reverse and slams on the gas. Glancing in the rear view mirrors, she tries to aim the truck to hit the large German. It might just work, however unlikely...
COMBATSYS: Elle successfully hits Rugal with Metal Health.
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Tran 1/----===/=======|==-----\-------\0 Rugal
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Leilani 0/-------/-------|
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Elle 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Rugal counters Random Weapon from Leilani with Genocide Cutter.
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Tran 1/----===/=======|======-\-------\0 Rugal
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Leilani 1/---====/=======|
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Elle 0/-------/------=|
Even in the midst of so much confusion, Rugal stands tall, calm, perfectly composed. Being attacked by mobs of fighters is not an all together new experience for him. And it is with that imperturbed detatchment that he begins to realize that this isn't a gang of thugs hoping to score some goods without paying the proper price at all.
"Doctor Richard Tran," the man smirks as his hand releases his shorter opponent from his grip. "What a pleasure. You've made quite the news with your public fights as of late. Hoping to prove that they aren't just fixed matches? Crude mockerys of real fights with real men?" He lets him go then, knowing full well he'll need a moment to collect himself. Both of his eyes focus back toward the direction that the watery attack originated. It's still dark where Leilani stands, but with that right eye of his, that black pool of cybernetics where a human eye should be, allows Rugal to see perfectly fine in the absence of light. He recognizes her. The fighter from a while back... not just that. Big's girl. That's right... Is this then a Southtown Syndicate operation? What are they doing out here?
He's still putting the pieces together when Elle comes at him from behind. Her attack finally gets his attention however as the sonic cone strikes the tall man, sending him stumbling forward. Turning around now, his attention fixated on Elle, he glowers at first. Crush the ring leader and you shatter them all. And she certainly seems to be the- "Well, well." He smirks, but there's no time for pleasantries as /someone/ has decided to test an entire armored vehicle against the man.
Turning around as the truck backs his way, Rugal braces himself. Who is trying to steal his stuff?? "A bold plan," he allows. And kind of crazy at that. Unfortunately, if someone thinks they're driving off with his goods, they're sorely mistaken. His foot launches out to strike the back of the vehicle with enough force to penetrate steel several inches thick, "Genocide-" He spins around lashing out with his other leg, slicing, piercing chi lancing along with his foot, "CUTTER!"
And then? The whole thing explodes. Just like in the movies. Amunition inside the back ignites as well, setting off a series of smaller explosions as the entire vehicle is blown to smithereens, ashes and burning debris raining down all around the fighters. Rugal's men stumble backward in a state of shock. Without their ride out of here, what is supposed to happen now? What happened to the poor girl trying to drive the thing over him? Does Bernstein even care? Probably not!
Elle glances at the exploding van with some concern. The fact is, she rather liked Leilani. If Tran was her best friend, Leilani was her best girlfriend. It's not saying much, but it's true. Elle doesn't entertain any thoughts of her death, however.
Leilani's a tough little minx. Elle had to punch her a /whole lot/ in order to make her fall down.
As for being the Ringleader?
Well, as the good Dr. Tran knows... Elle's made contingency plans should she ever be taken down for whatever reason. As Rugal's attention is pulled away, she draws on the Shadaloo training that he haphazardly took while working for Vega. Leaping to continue her assault on the man, her hands go for his head.
If she should find purchase with her steel-claw hands, she'll attempt to twist the man's head off viciously. And that's all there is to that.
Shaking off the last bits of dizziness affecting him, Dr. Tran's vision clears up perfectly just in time to see Rugal kick through an armored truck. Holy crap. That's...holy crap. Dr. Tran knew Rugal was hardcore. Super hardcore, even perhaps. But this? This is seriously too much. It's ridiculous, it's not even funny.
Oh. And he's been recognized. Oh, the joys of fame. May as well make the most of it. "Hello, Mr. Rugal, at this point I'm mostly hoping to prove an uncanny ability to not die horribly!" As he speaks, Tran's head turns upward in a slow arc, and his hand slips into a pocket of his coat. "Excuse me. I need to go cop a feel." Dashing toward Leilani's calculated point of impact, Tran tries to reach the right spot to cushion her impact as best he can, before revealing one (1) tin of Uncle Franco's Miracle Salve, guaranteed to sooth burns, kill pain, and induce a mild euphoria when ingested! He'll simply be rubbing it into the more obvious points of injury, but just in case. He'll have to do a more thorough job later, but for now he simply doesn't have the time to really do a bang-up job of it.
COMBATSYS: Tran successfully hits Leilani with Dr. Tran - Cool Lovin.
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Tran 1/----===/=======|======-\-------\0 Rugal
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Leilani 1/---====/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Elle 0/-------/------=|
Looks like it's gonna go alri--
Kaboom.
"OH FUCKING GO--" she shouts, cut off by the realization that the truck is bent on destruction. Swinging the door open, she doesn't have a chance to get out of the vehicle before it goes up. And it goes up spectacularly. The force of the blast carries her upwards in an arc, and she braces for impact... Only to have herself caught, somewhat, by the good doctor. Before she can say anything, however, she realizes that he's rubbing her ass.
...
The salve feels great, admittedly. It's strange. She may have to talk to Tran about this salve later, y'know, when they aren't in the middle of maybe being killed by an irate, one-eyed German crimelord. "Tran!" she scolds as she stands. "Not now. Later!" Looking down at her burned pants, the Hawai'ian frowns. It's like wearing assless chaps now. She liked these pants... they were comfy.
'Well,' she thinks, looking at Rugal with a frown. 'Looks like this op has gone to shit.' How are they going to get the hell out of this one now? "You are amazing, Mr. Bernstein, sir," she says, looking like she's about to cry. Because she is. She doesn't want to die. And she liked those pants. "Your skill is peerless. To see it up close is nothing short of amazing." Every moment she spends talking is a moment she spends breathing. And breathing, boys and girls, is good.
COMBATSYS: Leilani focuses on her next action.
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Tran 1/----===/=======|======-\-------\0 Rugal
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Leilani 1/---====/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Elle 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Rugal fails to counter 17 Crash from Elle with Medium Punch.
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Tran 1/----===/=======|====---\-------\0 Rugal
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Leilani 1/---====/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Elle 0/-------/-----==|
He lets Tran go completely. Chasing after the doctor with an intent to HEAL isn't the highest priority on his mind right now. No... dealing with that young woman that's just now reaching for him /is/.
Rugal turns into Elle, his fist tightening as he brings it up on an impact course for the sonic chi user's stomach, clearly intending to send her flying off to some place where she can leave him be. But it isn't in time right now as she slips past his arm and gets that grip on his head all the same. If he was a man easily surprised, this would be one of those moments as he finds his neck wrenched by her twisting grip.
His head stays attached to his shoulders, however, and he manages to rip himself free of her grip and take a step back all the same, eying the young woman with new wariness. "Heh," comes the quiet growl. Leilani's oozing compliments go disregarded for now. He'll get back to that cute thing in a little bit. She might just end up wishing she didn't survive that explosion.
"You're playing a dangerous game here. But if that is how it is to be, then I am prepared to take you all on."
"Rugal, you know as well as I do," Elle says, her gravelly voice dropping down in volume as she leaps backwards, her heavy boots sliding across the ground, kicking up sparks, "that this ain't no kind of game."
Stepped up to her knees in it, Elle's prepared to go all out. Whatever it takes to bring down the toughest opponent she's ever had to face yet. Good thing she's got a decent team on her side. She knows full well, however, that Rugal fully intends to focus most of his offensive power on her, now. It's a good thing and a bad thing, really.
The good news it that it takes the heat off Leilani, who, thankfully, stil lives through fate and Tran, who are both equally as unpredictable. The bad news is, she has a very good chance of just dying outright now. The thought corsses her mind, of course, but that's fine. At least she'll go down kicking some ass. Thus far, she's managed to land two good clean hits on the one-eyed titan.
Though her power levels are flagging, she can't really thing about that now. With a crack of thunder, a lighting bolt cascades across her form... and then launches from her fingertips as she backs up, trying to buy the other two fighters time to hit Rugal while he's distracted.
Putting on as innocent a face as he can manage, like that of an angel, Tran notes, "What? I'm just tendin' to your injuries, here...ayup..." He kind of trails off and stares at Leilani's ass for a moment. It's pretty fantastic, even if it's not in the best shape. Except, wait, wait, the sweeping death that is Rugal yet walks the earth. Gonna have to do something about that.
Shaking his head again, Tran sidesteps away from Leilani, turning his full attention upon Rugal once again. "Alright, man. How much concentrated awesome can you cope with?" Dashing in, Tran doesn't actually pull off anything terribly awesome at all, instead just trying to headbutt Rugal in the gut. And probably stagger away dazed afterward, I mean god, look at those abs! They're like a six-pack of steel bars!
Well, yeah. Leilani may later wish she'd have died in the blast, but right now she wishes she'd been ignored after blown up. But that doesn't really matter now, does it? She may not know it, but the best she can hope right now is to either survive or to earn a place in Rugal's trophy room. Preference for survival, sure, but still.
The smart thing to do is run. Leave. She could do it; the Shark is fleet of foot and could easily let the two take the brunt of this and not worry about it. But she likes Elle, and she wants more of that salve from Tran. So that means doing something about this. Rushing forward, just like everyone else has, Leilani decides to finally take the fight to Rugal. The only thing in her sights is the tall man's right arm, and how she really wants to take it and twist it into a poodle.
COMBATSYS: Elle successfully hits Rugal with High Voltage.
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Tran 1/----===/=======|=====--\-------\0 Rugal
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Leilani 0/-------/-------|
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Elle 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Leilani successfully hits Rugal with Kapu Ku'i A Lua.
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Tran 1/----===/=======|=======\-------\0 Rugal
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Leilani 0/-------/-------|
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Elle 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Rugal counters Strong Punch from Tran with God Press.
- Power hit! -
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Tran 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|======-\-------\0 Rugal
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Leilani 0/-------/-------|
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Elle 0/-------/----===|
Having snagged Rugal's wrist, Leilani twists it, locking the arm out. Striking upward at the armpit with an open palm, the blow forces the joint out of socket with a rather loud 'pop'. Wrenching the arm around again, she whips the arm up and down like she was putting sheets on a bed, forcing the joint to slip back into place. Turning and twisting the arm with, she forces the crimelord to stumble before violently yanking in the opposite direction, tearing the shoulder out of joint again. Twisting the arm around, she then steps under the limb and slams her elbow back under the arm, popping it back into joint. Wrapping her arm smoothly around the damaged limb, her armpit forcing Rugal arm to lock out again, she violently leans back and rockets her arms up, again wrenching the limb out of socket. Twisting the arm around, she forces Rugal's own thumb to jab into the man's good eye. Letting the arm go, she suddenly headbutts the injured shoulder, letting the joint set one last time. True, the man may be able to shrug off the injury, but at least it shows that there's some teeth to the Shark. And with that, she hops back and hopes to not die.
It starts with Elle's attack. Bernstein thinks himself capable of moving out of the way and just avoiding having to deal with it all together. Maybe it will end up striking one of her guild members or something equally cute. But he gets hit all the same, the lightning bolt striking him, causing him to stop in his tracks just a little. It singes his coat and he's not too happy about that. In fact, he's half ready to turn around and lay into Elle when Leilani's hand grabs a hold of his arm.
What he goes through next is something to behold as the tyrant of 'R' finds his arm wrenched, twisted, dislocated, and bent right back up to poke him in his good eye. By the time she lets go in the end he's pretty pissed off, to say the least, ready to lash out at anyone and anything, his vision practically blinded for the moment. He extends the arm she attacked out, the sound of bones popping back into place with an audible cracking sound, his wrist stretching and turning, making more popping sounds as he works the kinks out. There, much better. Now all he needs is someone to crush. Oh, hey Tran.
As the headbutt comes in for Rugal's chest the man merely flexes, stopping the attack short as both of his powerful arms come crashing in to grab a hold of the poor doctor. What happens next isn't a pretty sight as Rugal lunges forward, driving the doctor back against the lamp post, this time with enough force to rip it right out of the ground. "RAAAGH!"
Not finished, he turns and runs toward the heat of the burning wreckage, able to feel the direction even though he can't see clearly yet. His victim is smashed into the side of the burning armored truck before finally at last Rugal throws Tran to the ground and stomps him once. He would just keep stomping the man if he didn't think that Tran was probably down for the count by now. As is, he's left to lie there for a moment.
The calm composure from before is lost as Elle's gang is giving him a lot more fight than he had bargained on. Hands clench and unclench as he pants a little, feeling the exertion of the outpouring of power he just smashed into Doctor Tran. "Who's next?" comes the daring question as his vision slowly clear.
Elle watches Tran get hammered with a dispassionate eye. Tran, for all his weaknesses, is not someone you /ever/ want to leave still breathing. Because if you do, he just gets right back up. Sometimes a lot better off than when you left him. Still, the fact that Rugal seems to have smeared one of her cohorts against the side of a burning truck does concern her, and with her energy levels dropping below acceptable levels, Elle's forced to take a different tactic.
Elle reaches back, and pulls out her guitar.
She feels it's weight in her hand, and taps it into her palm. This thing and her, they've been through lots. But now, it's time to use it for something a little more than just bashing people she doesn't like for her own personal goals.
It dawns on her, really, to know that there are people's lives in her hands. Not just 'people', but teammates. Allies. Individuals who, for all their weirness, strangeness, and even faults are giving their all on her say so for more than just money. After all, if that was the case, they'd have fled a while ago. Rugal's not worth fighting for any amount of money. For people like them to throw down against a crimlord of his caliber?
That's asking ants to tilt at God.
No, there's more to it, now, and it's time to step up at take things to the next level. And that means giving Rugal hell with every iota of her being. Even if it means hucking the metal monster that she's known for at his face to just buy some time.
And so she does. The metal guitar is tossed with considerable force, whipping through the air at the crimelord's face so that Tran can get up, and Leilani can take the opening.
Oh, hey, how about that? Elle and Leilani are doing great, hell, they're kicking total ass! Rugal's doomed now, it's just a matter of time! Why, Tran feels like he could conquer the world, so inspired is he by their examples!
Then Rugal grabs him again and pretty much rapes the hell out of him. "OH GOD!" It's all Tran manages to say before he gets slammed about like a ragdoll. Lying still in a Tran-shaped depression afterward (slightly on fire), he pushes himself up laboriously, so that he can look upon the eye-poked face of his destroyer, and faintly mumbles, "Y'momma wan' some o' that, too?"
And then he collapses forward onto his face once more. KO!? COULD IT BE!?
Who knows!? A blast of steam erupts from the ground around Tran, completely concealing him from view for several long moments! What could this mean!?
Okay, so. She didn't die. Tran almost did. This fight is something nasty. Thank god she's got some good life insurance...
OH FUCK. Her life insurance still pays out to Mr. Big.
"Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap," she mutters, thinking about this fact. She's very heavily insured, so her death would pay out heavily to the Syndicate lieutenant. Guess she can't die here. But that doesn't mean leaving... Really, the only way out of here is THROUGH Rugal. Her eyes flicker over towards Elle just before the guitar is thrown, and, as if this was a well-choreographed attack, she flings herself at Rugal as well.
There is a difference, of course. Unlike the guitar, she's not a projectile per se. Her intent is to grab the crimelord by the leg and bowl him over, curling up and using her own momentum to roll across his body and onto her feet. From there, it's a simple (ha ha) act of yanking the man off the ground and overhead, finally spiking him face-first into the ground. Really flowy, actually, but also quite painful if she can pull it off.
Well, maybe not painful for this guy. He's a frickin' monster.
COMBATSYS: Rugal dodges Elle's Large Thrown Object.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Tran 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Rugal
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/-------|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Elle 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Rugal interrupts Kona Wind from Leilani with Scorpion Blow EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Tran 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Rugal
[ \\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Elle 0/-------/----===|
Tran is ignored. That's probably a big mistake, all things considered. But when you have two other people on your case, diving into a steam cloud to attack the guy lying on the ground just doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. Elle's flying guitar is avoided with a step the side as the man focuses on Leilani instead, turning to meet her as she makes a grab for his legs.
Perhaps to her surprise she manages to take the tyrant of 'R' tothe ground, but that might actually be what he wanted to have happen anyway. As she begins to roll over him to follow up with the rest of her attack, that crushing fist of Rugal's grabs hold of her by the neck, lifting her off of him as he slowly and deliberately rises back to his feet, that powerful arm of his having no trouble holding her aloft. Were she alone he could end it now - just squeeze until she has no fight left in her.
But the rest of Blackjack isn't about to stand by (Or lay by) and let that happen. Rearing back his other arm, the crimelord punches forward, bringing his fist to her stomach with incredible force while releasing his hold on her neck to send her flying off. There is an exhale as he finishes dealing with that latest round of attacks. Like it or not, their collective efforts are really beginning to take their toll.
"So, Elle..." he asks with a grunt, turning around to study the woman that runs this group of trouble. "When I decide to end one of their lives, which one would you rather it be?" The message behind his words is obvious. Go ahead, attack him again. He's ready to finish someone for good now.
Anyone that knows Elle at all knows that she doesn't talk much during a battle. She also has very little, if any, need to treat anyone any differently than anyone else. Street thugs get the same exact treatment as overlords. Ask anyone that she's ever dealt with.
So while Rugal blusters and screeches and thrashes her team, all Elle does is ignite her aura, the power crackling over her form as the electrical energy surges around here. This time, she's got to make her shots count. Her people are depending on it, and things need to wrap up quickly.
Because even should she manage to defeat Rugal... somehow, the fact remains that there's going to be a lot of fallout from this little fracas.
COMBATSYS: Elle gathers her will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Tran 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Rugal
[ \\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Elle 0/-------/=======|
RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE! The steam clears, and there is Dr. Tran, standing proud and tall as if nothing had ever happened to him! Well, er, sort of. Certainly he's in much better shape than he was moments ago - joints have been popped back into place, salve has been applied liberally, and the staple of anime protagonists everywhere, bandages, have been wrapped around certain key parts of the doctor like there's no tomorrow. Which, come to think, if this goes downhill...
But enough of that! On to a happier topic! Which is to say, kicking Rugal's ass! ...yeah, crazy though Tran may be, but he's just not feeling it. So far he has managed to accomplish exactly zilch against Rugal. Right? Right. He tried, Rugal got all awesome up in his face, so Tran's just going to stand there and draw as much of that steam cloud back in as he can manage. Ayup.
COMBATSYS: Tran successfully hits Tran with Dr. Tran Sets Them Straight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Tran 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Rugal
[ \\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Elle 0/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Tran gathers his will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Tran 1/------=/=======|=------\-------\0 Rugal
[ \\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Elle 0/-------/=======|
Yeah, that's right. That was surprising. She actually took the man to the ground. However, being grabbed by the throat was even more surprising. Having her throat crushed is not how she wants to go out, so she claws at the German's hand as he lifts her into the air.. only to be used as a literal punching bag. Sent flying, the Hawai'ian rolls on the ground for a long moment, gasping and trying not to cry aloud. Tears are streaming down her face, sure, but all she wants to do is hold in the sobs and try to suck it up.
After a minute, she pulls herself up off the ground and stands on shaky legs. It's been a long time since she's been hurt like this. Soon, though, it's likely that there won't be any pain to be had. Wiping her tears from her face, Leilani pulls herself together.
Face it bravely.
COMBATSYS: Leilani focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Tran 1/------=/=======|=------\-------\0 Rugal
[ \\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Elle 0/-------/=======|
And suddenly everyone has taken a moment to back off it seems. Catching their breath. Regrouping. Pulling themselves together. And it gives the tyrant all the time he needs to perform his next attack. He stands up straight then. Any sign of exhaustion visible in him a moment ago fades quickly as he extends his hands out to his sides and they begin to glow with what begins as a small white spark of power.
But it doesn't last for long, as the sparks expand into small spheres of crackling energy. And the small spheres expand even further as the man pours more and more power into this energy field that now surrounds him - a white, shimmering sphere of lightening-like power. He becomes impossible to see after a long moment, a brilliant beacon of power in comparison to the energy being collected by the members of Blackjack taking him on, pushing him to his limits.
In the end the chi bomb goes off, detonating outward in a bright white flash. Rugal's minions, who have all been in a state of abject panic anyway, are scattered along with the rest of the debris that go flying. The burning wreckage of the armored car is put out and the small metal pieces take to the air as dangerous sharpnel.
And at the center of all that is Rugal, crouching down to one knee, one hand hand pressing against his knee, his other hand against the ground as he grits his teeth. He's not out yet, but he just poured a lot into that attack and it might cost him dearly.
COMBATSYS: Elle endures Rugal's Barrier Crash.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Tran 1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0 Rugal
[ \\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Elle 1/=======/=======|
Here's the deal.
Elle's not indestructable. She's not suicidal. But sometimes? You just got to tough things out, so to sepak. Biting the bullet, she has to make a good showing of herself. She's a /leader/ now, and if she can't show her team that she's capable of taking punishment, then what good is she?
Example. Lead by example.
So when the waved of DEATH blasts into her, she steadies her self... and stands her ground like the perfectly mean, nasty bitch that she is. The blast rips through her, doing more damage than she's taken as or late... although it's nowhere near as bad as some of the worst Vega heaped on her in her little sparring match with the man.
When the smoke clears, Elle's left standing there, smouldering, her clothes a smoking, charred mess. Her hair is burned far shorter, and she's developed a very nasty looking twitch on her face.
"Mother... fucker," she says, a puff of smoke bursting from her lips. "Mother fucker burned my hair."
The woman leaps at Rugal, her hands already blazing with torrential fury as she leaps to grasp him by the head, and blast approximately enough voltage to light up a stadium before heaving him into the air, leaving him to the mercy of her other teammates.
COMBATSYS: Tran blocks Rugal's Barrier Crash.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Tran 1/--=====/=======|=====--\-------\0 Rugal
[ \\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Elle 0/-------/----===|
Oh my word. Tran's actually gone out of his way NOT to provoke Rugal, and this is the thanks he gets? A huge blast of chi, coming right for him and everything else? Well, shit. That won't do. That won't do at all. Raising his arms up to block the onslaught, Tran steels himself, internally speaking. It looks like he's just standing there, but in actuality, all the chi that's pulsing, simmering inside him, it pushes out at just the right moment. The energy bursts against him, pushing him back just a step, but in the end he's standing, and not too terribly hurt, at that.
Dr. Tran coughs, blinks, and then takes a step forward. He was expecting that to hurt more than it did, but he won't complain. Instead, he'll just take the fight to Rugal once more, reaching forward and jumping to try to nab Rugal in a headlock - and if he'll grab it, he's going to hip bump the hell out of the man.
Bam! Into a lightpost! Bam! Into the flaming wreckage! Bam! Into Leilani, maybe? ALL OVER THE PLACE!
COMBATSYS: Leilani blocks Rugal's Barrier Crash.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Tran 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0 Rugal
[ \\\\\ <
Leilani 1/---====/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Elle 0/-------/----===|
She was ready for it. Ready for this to be the end... But no. This is a step in the right direction. Instead of death, she just gets an explosion of chi in the face that not only envelops her, but also her team and several of Rugal's goons. And thus, instead of death, just pain. This is the second explosion she's suffered today, but this one wasn't nearly as bad as that first one. It still leaves her already tattered clothing in further tatters. She needs a wardrobe change, stat, or Tran's gonna lose all focus. But that doesn't mean she doesn't have time to do something to allow her to escape.
Rushing forward, errant threads flying behind her, Leilani leaps up and reaches for Rugal's hair. Now, if his mane is real and she gets to check, then he'll drag him down before tossing him straight up in the air, instead of at the angle she usually would use. If she's able to do that, she'll grab his ankle as he rockets into the air, pull herself up and bound off his spine, letting him fly unguided as she would flip off and make her exit.
Because? Simply put, she can't take a spitball from this man at this point. Best do what she can.
COMBATSYS: Elle successfully hits Rugal with Slayer.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Tran 0/-------/--=====|=======\=------\1 Rugal
[ \\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/----===|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Elle 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Rugal blocks Leilani's Banzai Pipeline.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Tran 0/-------/--=====|=======\==-----\1 Rugal
[ \\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/----===|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Elle 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Rugal fails to interrupt Dr. Tran's Peanut Butter Hula Quest EX from Tran with Genocide Cutter EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Tran 0/-------/--=====|
[ \\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/----===|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Elle 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Rugal can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Tran 0/-------/--=====|
[ \\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/----===|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Elle 0/-------/----===|
The concerted effort of Blackjack ends up being a lot to tackle at once, even for someone like Rugal. Elle comes in first and the man attempts to lift his arms to block her attack. Only, she isn't punching, she's grabbing his head instead, launching him into the air along with a torrent of chi to send him on his way.
Leilani's attack is mostly rebuffed as Rugal shoves her to out of the way, landing on his feet again as Tran comes for him last. Blasted Tran. Rugal is more than happy to give the man what he has coming, lashing out with his foot, "Genocide-" he growls, leading into one of the most dreaded moves in the known world... only to encounter perhaps the NEXT most dreaded move in the known world, Tran's Peanut Butter Hula Quest attack!!
The doctor gets his revenge as Rugal is smacked into the lamp post then into what's left of the wreckage. Everything Rugal has done to Tran isn't enough to keep the man down, it seems. Tran truly IS a man of action.
When it's all said and done, Rugal staggers to the side, dropping forward, hand planting against concret that cracks beneath his clenching fingers, arm trembling with the fury coursing through his battered body. He looks sooooo very close to getting back up, too, but the tyrant of 'R' stays put.
His men scrambling to their feet, realizing that their boss was downed, take off running like the gutless swine that they are. Rugal will deal with each and every one of the useless bastards personally. There is no doubt about that. But that is of secondary importance to the bold, coordinated Blackjack members that he was unable to fell this night.
Elle is still smoking. Her clothes are still burning her skin, but damned if she wasn't all kinds of pleased that Rugal is down. Down.
Unbeleiveable.
The woman watches as Tran beats the holy hell out of Rugal with... his pelvis. That's insane as well. And in spite of herself... Elle does something she never does. Ever.
She laughs herself sick.
The voice is hoarse, and it sounds like she's ready to cough up gravel, but as Tran basically hipchecks one of the most massive overlords on the planet to unconciousness, Elle's laughing causes her to lean on a friendly tree, guffawing herself until she has a stitch in her side.
Even after the cleanup and the gathering of her troops, Elle's going to be chuckling for a while. it'll die down eventually... but hey.
They won, and nobody died. Why not celebrate by laughing a little?
Log created on 01:32:46 07/29/2007 by Elle, and last modified on 13:29:18 07/29/2007.