Description: There appears to be a variety of ways aboard the Black Noah, but being launched via cannon is becoming increasinly popular. One such fighter finds himself having to get by during the night of the 'R' invasion using his wits, speed, and a bit of luck. He gets away from a chance encounter with the tyrant of 'R' with nothing broken but his glasses.
Aranha spent a few moments unconscious after his fight with Tran and Himeko. It was a miracle that Aranha that wasn't found in that time between unconscious and conscious. It was an even further miracle that Aranha was able to remain undetected all this time.
The dancing spider understood the importance of laying low. But he also needed to make sure he kept himself fed. Understanding this he felt bad about resorting to this tactic but it was a necessary evil for his continued survival.
He kept to the most out of the way places with the stealth from his time as a thief. He did explorations of the Black Noah attempting to locate food stores. He stole food trying to keep the amounts he stole minimal to keep most people from looking too hard for the reason that things were missing.
Needless to say the thief wasn't stupid. He knew that it was a matter of time before he was found. Actually he wouldn't be surprised if he was already found but it was all an elaborate game to see how long he could be strung along before the glass jar comes down on his head. He wanted to get away before that said jar came down.
During Aranha's time on the boat he might be surprised to find that there aren't that many personnel aboard the Black Noah. Perhaps most of them are busy with the raid on the Suiryuu. Or maybe rumors as to the number of people in 'R' were exaggerated and there just aren't that many men to go around period.
Oh, sure, there's the occasional guard near key hatches, and the sea-level bay for boats to dock is quite busy with the back and forth traffic to the assaulted People's Boat. But all in all, the carrier is strangely quiet, other than the steady, ever present rumble of huge generators and air moving through air ducts.
But how long can he get by? Even if he manages to outlast the seige aboard the carrier what will he do when the Black Noah sets sail and stays in the middle of the ocean for months on end? What hope does he really have of getting out of this unscathed?
All of his caution certainly delayed the inevitable, but eventually the hour of reckoning comes. One perceptive guard picks up on the idea of another presence aboard, and pulling some of the others to him with sounding an alert, it isn't long before Aranha finds himself unfortunately surrounded by a great number of those 'R' soldiers not unlike the one he fought against the Black Noah. Just as armed as Crusher, though maybe not quite as resilient as he was, the young ex-theif would be very bold or very suicidal to take them all on at once.
But there is a protocol to be follwed when it comes to finding stowaways. Rugal has insisted that all fighters found on the boat be reported to him immediately. After all... there are a few in the ranks of the Jinchuu participants who are actually allies. But with the need for secrecy being what it is, not all the rank and file men have been trusted with the identities of who these allies are.
He appears not long after the guards have Aranha surrounded. Tall, dressed in an exquisitely expensive suit, the one eyed German approaches the scene of commotion with an impassive look on his face as he studies Aranha at a glance. "Well, well. It seems we have been taking on quite a few passangers these days." Aranha isn't the first to have been caught. The man takes a step closer, one hand raised to wave the 'R' soldiers to the sides, though they keep their weapons drawn all the same... As if Aranha could possibly be a danger to the tyrant of 'R'. "And tell me, young man, who do you believe yourself to be? A soon to be dead hero hoping to make a difference?"
Aranha isn't stupid. He has calculated his odds of getting away and while he's fast he's obviously trapped. He has taken notes and with his estimation of soldier reaction times based on his fight with Crusher, he's certain that any attempt to escape will cause him be filled with bullet holes even if he has dodged bullets in the past.
This isn't a time for the Dancing Spider to fight. It's more appropriate to engage in the act of parley. Aranha begins to laugh low at first before it begins to gradually pick up volume. "Hero? I don't think that's an accurate description."
Aranha doesn't quite look at himself a villain or a hero. He isn't exactly sure what to call himself. "I'm not exactly here on my own free will here. First I'm fighting my match then I'm getting fired out a god damn cannon." He reaches into his pouch and pulls out his Oakley Thumps and places them on his face. "While I'm not too enthused about those ninjas, to be honest though I'm not to appreciative of your men stopping me while I was about to get some information on what was going on here. Shame too... I could've been adding to the chaos that would've helped you guys out though it wasn't my intent."
There's a pause while Aranha searches for a song on those mp3 sunglasses of his, before he speaks up again. "So as it stands, I'm not on your side or theirs. I'm in the tourney for my own reasons." It's an open honest declaration of his neutrality in this. He's only here to gather information and bounce what happens afterwards isn't his concern(unless Mr. Big gives him some orders). Of course depending on what happens here this could all change. Not that he's going to voice that it's up to Rugal to find out his motivations..
"A cannon?" That's an odd way to show up. Rugal's left eyebrow quirks slightly, his human eye narrowing on Aranha. But that isn't the eye that matters. It's his right eye... that cybernetic replacement for that which was stolen from him years ago, that does the real scrutiny. Everything about the young man is analyzed. His weight, general health, strength... how he moves his muscles, how swift he can probably move in a pinch... how flexible he is, and on some level, how nervous he is.
Calmly, the crimelord raises his right hand, palm forward, then lowers it, gesturing for his men to lower their guns. Aranha poses no threat to the likes of /him/. If only the reverse were true. If only. He is silent as Aranha continues to speak about how he ended up here and how he seems to feel about things regarding the tournament or the struggle taking place over the future of the Suiryuu. He doesn't even look impatient as Aranha seeks out the music best suited for him in this situation he finds himself.
"Your own side, you say..." the man repeats back, his voice almost gentle at first, but rising in tone toward the end. And then he lunges at the capoeirist, his right hand slaming out to grab Aranha by the face before the fighter can even react before turning around planting Aranha's head against the thick metal wall of the command and control structure nearby. Holding the smaller fighter by his face for a few seconds, eventually he presses his left hand, palm open, against his chest, literally pinning him in place while releasing his face with is right, regarding him with the curiosity a child might have for a moth he just pinned to a corkboard.
"Then you are irrelevant. Neither side to call your own, neither side to mourn your loss. Your passing will be as insignificant as a stray dog struck in traffic, ignorant of the power that ended its life." His right hand reaches forward then to pull the Thumps from off Aranha's face, allowing him to look into the younger man's eyes and giving Aranha a close up look at his own visage as he slowly crushes the eyewear then drops it to the metal ground beneath them.
The calm surface is merely an illusion. Up close and personal as they are now, he can better see the quiet rage that burns in that single human eye of Rugal Bernstein. A monster kept barely at bay by willpower that seeks to serve the bigger picture. "You have never stood in the presence of TRUE power, have you." he states. "If you knew how out of your league you were you would be mewling like a newborn kitten in desperate search of its mother."
He leans in slightly, applying more pressure with his left hand against Aranha's chest, staying just shy of the bone breaking point. "Perhaps it's time you picked a side." his mouth curls into the faintest of smirks.
It's a good thing he didn't wear the Thumps that Mr. Big gave him because quite frankly that would've been a crappy situation. "Awww. Now that wasn't necessary," said as he bemoaned the loss of his sunglasses. Under normal circumstances Aranha would react poorly reacting with a cold rage as he performs with more efficiency and brutality. But the fact remains he's pinned in by the much taller and stronger fighter.
Aranha doesn't need cybernetic eyes to understand how out far out of his league Rugal is. Any lay man can see it. Any fighter of Aranha's level would have a better idea. Aranha on the other hand probably has a better idea of this than most fighters on his level. His analytical eye picking up the nuances of Rugal's bearing even as he's pinned against the wall.
Needless to say Aranha's instincts are first and foremost directed to towards survival. Aranha's first thought is directed to escape and to do that he reaches into his pouch to grab a small manila envelope setting it on fire with a lighter. Both objects held behind his back and tossing it up into Rugal's face as he turns to avert his eyes as the thermite mixture explodes. Due to the small amount, it won't carry a big kick as far as fighters are concerned but the flash would ideally temporarily blind him. Of course he's not exaclty sure if it will buy him time to escape but the situation was desperate enough that he atleast had to try it.
"Maybe you don't quite understand your predictament... Or perhaps it's just that you're tired of living." Rugal growls, some of that surface patience starting to give way as the seconds tick past. Truth be told, he expected the young man to crack by now. Maybe he needs to start breaking bones to get his point across.
"But it's not too late... maybe a neutral entity like yourself could prove useful..." he begins, almost not even paying attention to the younger fighter he has pinned against the wall, the effort it takes to do so literally being trivial for him.
It's perhaps this indifference that buys Aranha that split second he needs as he throws out that flash powder envelope of his. He doesn't exactly get to blind the tyrant as he might have hoped, as Rugal releases his hold on Aranha's chest with his left hand in order to snatch the small explosion out of the are and squash it on reflex alone. But this does mean Aranha gets his break, momentarily released from Rugal's grip, no longer suspended against the wall.
A break that lasts... actually longer than he might expect as Bernstein does nothing to halt his escape. The guards at his sides raise their guns and start shooting after Aranha, but so startled at his sudden action, they're way behind and their odds of catching up with the boy so skilled at scaling walls to get away are slim.
Rugal merely watches him go, lowering his left arm against his side, chuckling darkly. "Yes, a purpose indeed."
Aranha didn't get the exactly what he wanted but far be it from him question winning(the fact he managed to get out with his life can be considered a small victory as far as the capoeirista was concerned) with muck cards while Rugal is holding a pair of jacks.
Aranha begins his nigh suicidal run as he charges the soldiers leveling their guns at him. He leaps up onto the shoulders of one of the foremost soldiers and begins his run from shoulder to shoulder of soldier after soldier until he has cleared them all. After that it's a mad dash for freedom as he dives from the carrier.
Aranha has survived for another day. But how long can that last? He managed to escape Rugal but how long will it last and there's still a question of what side he'll pick or if he'll even pick a side. For now, who knows?
Log created on 23:45:26 10/13/2007 by Rugal, and last modified on 06:09:44 10/20/2007.