Description: After the public announcement of Jinchuu, The Chrome Dome Don decides to holla at the Dancing Spider once more. After shelling out some money and providing some fancy gear Mr. Big sends Aranha to spy on the proceedings of the tournament.
A young African American had been receiving strange notes. First there was the note stabbed into the coffee table with a Kunai, his invitation to Jinchuu. And then there was the strange guy who handed a note to him while he was grocery shopping.
While he had no evidence to back it up Aranha had his suspicions that they were connected but if he was to find out what was going on he'd have to see this through. That was the main reason he was currently in an alley. Of course the moment he entered the alley, he had taken the time to study it. If this is an ambush, he wanted to have multiple escape routes. The key features of the alley he's taking note of are, the dumpster on one side of the alley near the rear and the fire escape near the front of the alley. "Any minute, now," he mutters as he waits for the person who contacted him.
"Along came a spider," speaks a smooth baritone voice from above, which is soon followed by a throaty chuckle. "Oh don't worry Spider," the bald headed man adds as he crouches down from his perch atop the building that lines the alleyway, "if I wanted you taken out then I wouldn't have to trap you in an alleyway, would I?" Smoothly vaulting himself over the side of the building, Mr. Big bends his knees slightly as he lands on the alley floor a few feet from Aranha, the fine Italian shoes on his feet clicking slightly as they make contact with the pavement below. "I just felt like having a little chat," he offers with a fairly friendly, though still quite dangerous seeming smile.
"I figured I might as well take precautions. The note was anonymous, and it could've been from anyone." He shrugs and watches Mr. Big carefully as he lands. His face is as neutral as it was before when they first met but there's not as much fear. Still he has to treat Mr. Big's capabilities with respect. He hasn't pulled out sunglasses but he does speak up. "A chat? It's safe to assume you'll tell me what it's about."
Snorting as Aranha explains himself, Mr. Big waves him off, the large diamond encrusted ring on his pinky glinting brightly even in the low light of the alleyway. "If you were dumb enough to NOT suspect a trap, well let's just say that I wouldn't much use for you," he says with a wolfish grin. Tracing his fingers along his goatee as he watches the capoeirista from behind his own dark sunglasses, Mr. Big smirks and adjusts the lapels of his fur-lined coat absently before continuing. "As far as what this little meeting's about, well, I understand that my own little invitation wasn't the only strange note you've received lately, is it?"
There's a thoughtful expression on his face. A moment of silence that is kept only for dramatic purposes. "Well there was the invitation on the rooftops. It was some type of test given by some weird girl with inline skates." He counts points on his finger one by one. "Then there was an invitation to some tournament called Jinchuu. And then yours."
He looks up at Mr. Big. "The only reason you're here asking me about this is that you think there's more to this tournament than meets the eye." He's definitely not stupid and if someone so high level within the Syndicate wants to know about the correspondence than obviously the invite has to be of some importance. "The girl mentioned a Seishirou. I've heard a few things about him but I hadn't gotten details on him."
Smiling in pleased amusement as Aranha confirms his question, then proceeds to analyze his interest in the tournament, Mr. Big nods and absently flicks a speck of lint off his coat sleeve. "Seishirou..." he repeats to himself, not bothering to confirm or deny Aranha's diagnosis. "...yeah, I've heard of him, seen him fight. I've never bothered to look any closer until now though."
Reaching into his coat, an action that would probably be very threatening to most people who fear guns, and, given Mr. Big's fighting style, would probably be fairly threatening to those who don't, the Chrome-Dome Don pulls an envelope out of an interior pocket. "Here, this is for your trouble," he says as he slides a stack of money out of the packet and tosses it to the capoeirista, a few thousand dollars worth of bills. "If you like the taste of that, I have more trouble you can get in to," he says with a knowing grin and waits for a reply.
Aranha catches the money with ease and counts up the money. "Hmm... For my troubles, eh?" The money pretty much confirms the importance of the conversation but he still can't help raise an eyebrow. "I have to admit I do like the taste, but I want to know what I'm getting into before I agree. In this thing we do, An uninformed man is often a dead man."
He's stares at the money again with a thoughtful expression on his face. The thoughts that are running through his head are of his sister, of his survival and even the amount of money that he'd gain from this deal with after awhile the thoughts are on nothing but suspicions of why such a large amount would be paid. Will he even live to see that money? It is a cynicism born out of being raised on the streets and sent on dangerous heists, "No man offers this much without some catch in mind."
Shrugging, Mr. Big hefts the envelope in his hands casually as he waves off Aranha once more with an 'it's nothing' gesture. "Oh, I'm not looking for much," he replies, though there's probably an unspoken 'yet' in there somewhere. "Just information," he adds. "No one that I'm in contact with knows where this tournament is going to be held, nor what, if any, is purpose behind it. And you can be sure, Spider, that I'm in contact with a hell of a lot of people. That alone is enough to get me interested, not to mention the fact that none of the usual players are involved," he says with a frown.
"If you want to meet that stack's twin sister," he says with a nod to the money in Aranha's hand, "then all you have to do is do a little snooping while you're at this tournament. Gather some information; try to see what it's all about. Learn more about this Seishirou guy and the girl. If I like your work then you'll get to meet her. If not, well at least you have twin brother there to keep you company, right?" he asks with a grin, his bright white canine teeth glinting in the shadows dangerously.
"Oh, one more thing," Big adds as he reaches into the envelope. Pulling a pair of Oakley Thumps, exactly like the pair that Aranha wore the first time they met, from the parcel, the Southsynd Gangster holds up the eyewear for Aranha to see. "I got no idea how tight security is going to be at the tournament, but judging by how secretive it's been so far I don't feel like taking chances. I had one of our tech guys install a transmitter and receiver in the earpiece. It's supposed to be shielded, not to mention water proof, but just in case they manage to jam the comm signal somehow you can record any information you learn on the hard drive and toss it somewhere out of the way when you get the chance. It'll broadcast by itself when it has a clear signal," turning the sunglasses around in his hand and inspecting them, Mr. Big shrugs with a smirk. "Yeah, I don't know how all of this shit works either, but we got some smart dudes working for the Syndicate. Oh, they still play music too," he adds as he presses a button on the glasses, and a tiny James Brown song can be heard coming from the ear bud. Placing the glasses back in the envelope, Mr. Big tosses the package to Aranha. "Be careful with those now, that's some real James Bond shit there, it ain't cheap," he says with a joking chuckle. "So we got a deal?"
"Well if it's just information, I can agree to those terms." He studies the money and then the man who gave him the stack as he listens carefully to the instructions and in them he has his belief in those things being connected confirmed. "More to come if you like the info? Hmmm..."
While Aranha is mulling it over, the Oakley Thumps are presented and he analyzes the sunglasses as Mr. Big goes over the various features of them. The more he hears the more he seems to like them. "James Brown? Good taste. Anyway the terms are agreeable. I'm in." He wears a neutral expression. "Should I expect any further orders or requests in the process of this info gathering?"
Mr. Big smirks at Aranha's reaction to the glasses and the music choice, but the purses his lips as he's asked the last question. "No way to tell now, I don't know enough yet. Things may change when you get some intel. We can discuss any other tasks I might have for you if they arise." He can be a very agreeable person if you keep on his good side, agreeable AND generous. Unfortunately, like most in his line of work, Mr. Big can flip to the bad side in the blink of an eye. He is not so agreeable then.
"If you have any more questions then give my guy a ring on the glasses and he'll relay them to me. We'll keep in touch," Mr. Big says with a somewhat friendly smile and turns to begin walking out of the alleyway. Pausing in mid-stride, the Platinum Player looks over his shoulder at Aranha. "Oh yeah, one more thing. Good luck. I want you in that tournament for as long as possible. It'll be good business for both of us."
Log created on 23:55:28 08/21/2007 by Aranha, and last modified on 15:48:20 08/24/2007.