Description: Queensryche (1999). Sergio appears in the middle of a quiet day for Elle. Rather than go through all the ridiculous semantic claptrap, Elle decides to get the entire mess out of the way and simply punch Sergio until he stops moving. Sergio puts up a incredible fight but ultimately Elle just proves too damn tough to die in the Italian's say so.
The harbor is where Blackjack makes it's bread and butter. It's a pretty simple trade in resale goods. Most of the money is made through storage and distribution. Some of it's legal, some of it's not, but Elle has long stopped counting or caring. After all, it's all the same to her. If there's stuff peopel want, Elle will be there to sell it.
There are other things that happen out here was well. Every so often, an informal fight club gathers here in front of Elle's particular warehouse. Run bu the singular Roberto Gutierrez, the loveable weasel is both slimy and at the same time good natured and easy to get along with. It's a strange mix in personality to be sure, but the fact that he's a scumbag kind of grows on a person after a while. At least Elle never questions where he stands on things, and that makes him a reliable toady that she's more than willing to deal with and protect.
Today's fights are pretty much run of the mill. Two knifefighters, one a Tokyo Splatterpunk, of the East End Splatterpunks, swinging around a thin chain while the other is a dishonored USPL refugee who's just looking for a buck and a bite to eat. The wagering is low and slow, and Elle's just by to make sure the latest shipments of Glow go forward. Burn, while more popular, has more side effects. Some of them just aren't kosher to the more conservative Glow crowd.
So, it's about an idyllic scene as it gets here. Two thugs fighting to near-death while trying to make a coin as Bobbo watches over, marking time, odds, and moving cash between hands as Elle talks with the foreman loading up crates of glowing green liquid onto a freight ship headed to Metro City. It just doesn't get any slower than that.
From what Sergio's seen the harbor is almost always a den of iniquity. It's had to find a time after the sun sets that at least some part of it isn't undergoing some sort of shady trade or deal. Just the sort of thing he loves. Oh, he doesn't actually /participate/ in the sales, it's far too easy to get caught up in a way that's hard to break ties if you do, and he's the type to keep himself free of obligation. But seein' the dirt go down, watching the underground fights where people have far less talent than those on the main circuit, that's all kinds of fun.
It's all kinds of trouble as well, since there's not an organization on Earth that likes some backwoods Italian guy walkin' in and observing their business. Nine times out of ten the bouncers get pissed and try to get him out of there bodily, which is when it becomes even more fun. So just like any other time there's footsteps coming down the concrete lanes, slow and easy. His form comes into view not long after, hands stuffed in his pockets in a relaxed sort of way. If he's not interrupted he'll saunter right up to the ring and take a gander at the fight going on, and then put twenty on the kid with the chain, regardless of odds.
And if he's still left alone at that point he'll turn his prying eyes over to wherever the glow sale is going down. He won't go over and do anything about it or say anything, but the Roberto will sure as hell know he's checkin' it out. If he happens to see Elle and recognize her he'll grin and raise a single hand as a wave.
And indeed, Bobbo does report in. Spectators are never turned away, especially betting ones. However, the ones that linger too long or look odd do get some attention. It doesn't take long for the greasy man to show up at Elle's side, pointing and talking in animated tones as Elle lifts her head.
Oh, that guy again. It always bewilders her why people smile all the time. She's never found anything decent to smile about as of late, and really doesn't expect to be smiling about anything in the future.
Nevertheless, there he is. Smiling like an idiot. She shrugs mentally. It's that type of person that have nother better to do than to make a nuisance of themselves. Her mind cranks over once or twice, and gears set into motion as she determines the best way to get rid of the guy. After all, it's the principal of the thing.
This isn't a walking tour of the Gaslamp District.
The woman's changed slightly. Shorter hair. Different outfit. Glasses on her face. But one thing remains the same. She moves slowly, deliberately, as if the world was supposed to follow suit, and Bobbo trails her like a frantic small dog. "You again, huh? So let's get this over with."
"I'll tell you to get lost, and you'll look at me with a stupid grin and say something so debilitatingly asenine that I'll lose braincells attempting to process the information. Then you'll become a pushy, annoying nitwit, and I'll have to start punching you to get you to shut up. So let's cut to the part where I start punching you. Bobbo. Set me some odds, get the boys to bring their cash, and lay me down some bets."
The woman hen reaches behind her, grabbing ahold of a mace. The heavymetal implement slapping into her palm once. "Let's see if you've learned anything from last time."
Sergio's quite the opposite. Most of the time there's something to be smiling or grinning about. Oh, that doesn't mean he smiles when he's pissed, only that he's very capable of finding the best in a situation. He's no optimist, but it's not hard for him to be happy when fun in the form of alcohol women or fighting is almost always easily available.
Cut of easily before he can get in a word, Elle's little monologue evokes a slight laugh from him, "Haha! I think you've got that exactly right, don't you? Not so sure I'd say something 'asinine' like that, but the rest'd probably go pretty much the same."
"Hmm, lets see about those odds. You beat me last time, but it was still a close fight so what, somethin' like three to two, do you think? Ah well." He reaches into his pocket and hands her lieutenant the equivalent of a hundred dollars, "Put that on me, why don't you. Last time I bet on myself I lost quite a bit, so lets see if I can't make that back tonight."
The mace brings a curious expression to his face, "What, no guitar? Looks like you've gotten a bit more practical- how boring."
COMBATSYS: Elle has started a fight here.
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Elle 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Sergio has joined the fight here.
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Elle 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sergio
She shrugs. "I do what works," she says. Although if he doesn't like the mace, Elle has more than that. The woman puts it away, and withdraws a set of punching daggers. The katars are solid, vicious, and nasty looking. She's clearly not fooling around anymore as the fingers grip easily into the triggers.
As always, Elle's not very interested in talking. She takes a step back, eyes flicking around behind the sunglasses, taking note of her position, her surroundings, the ground beneath her feet, and Sergio's stance.
There's no big sendoff or fighting words from Elle. She's a stoic woman, all business without excess. The silver sheen of the punching daggers start to shimmer brightly and leave afterimages as she charges them up. With a violent motion, she's hurling them forward, both daggers seeking to slam into the man, ram him down to the ground, and scrape him across the concrete before flinging him across the docks into crates and boxes as the circle starts the move, cheering on one person or another.
COMBATSYS: Sergio blocks Elle's Chase the Ace.
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Elle 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Sergio
A quirk of the eyebrows is the response Elle gets by switching her weapons. "Well that's a little more interesting, I guess." Sergio finally drops into his stance when Elle continues to be completely no nonsense, the standard brawling affair that she'd have seen before. There's been no real change in it, no little quirks that'd say he found a better way to put his feet on the ground, or hold his hands to get a quicker release. No, he doesn't look like he's learned a thing.
Getting rushed down doesn't seem to bother him terribly much, either. He simply takes in the fact that she's coming at him and takes half a step back, lifting his arms up to protect himself and letting the blades cut right into his arms, grimacing slightly from the pain but otherwise simply taking it. Another step backwards as an attempt to throw Elle off balance, as he pulls both of his back slightly, his right fist dropping down before swinging forward and up, a small orb of water surrounding his fist, an attempt to simply slam a short uppercut straight into her solar plexus. Simple and powerful, but is it effective?
COMBATSYS: Elle dodges Sergio's Fierce Punch.
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Elle 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Sergio
Not at all, in fact. Elle's eyes fall to the fist as she leaps back. A simple motion with the blades pushes the fist an inch or two off course, and Elle's already rolling to one side, stowing the weapons away as her hands come up again with the mace.
She puts distance between her and her target, circling around with her usual slow movements. Her footspeed isn't much, but her ability to work at different distances is an advantage that helps her out greatly. The mace turns slowly, eyes never leaving Sergio for an instant.
Then, with a quick motion, Elle swings the weapon. However, the distance between them is too far. The fact is that there's no way she can reach him from several meters away. Or is there?
As she motions, the head of the mace disengages, trailing behind it a long chain. The weapon is already crackling with power, the blue lightning shooting down it's length as she whips it about like a snake, sending it to wrap around Sergio and deliver a destructive blast of energy before yanking him to the ground.
COMBATSYS: Sergio fails to interrupt Powerslave from Elle with Medium Kick.
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Elle 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Sergio
As might be expected of the unstrategic fighter, the fact that a powerful blow is coming his way doesn't seem to deter him in the slightest. When Elle manages to slip knock his attack away enough to avoid it he plants his feet to cancel his retreat, and turns in place to match her circling. When the mace is lifted into the air and the beginning of the swing is made Sergio immediately charges, running forward and trying to jumkick Elle in the chest before it can descend far enough to smack him.
But that wasn't the point of the attack at all. Rather than that the chain comes out and binds him before he can make it to her, slamming him into the ground from mid jump and surging electricity through him. "Augh!" The tall man grits his teeth and begins trying to detangle himself from the chains and get back to his feet. Perhaps if he was faster he could have made it to her, but speed is definitely one of his downsides.
With a rapid motion, Elle whips her hand back, the chain whirling through the air to snap back firmly into the pommel of the mace, the energy still dancing across it. It would appear that Sergio's not doing so hot thus far. Time to capitalize on this series of unfortunate events for the Italian.
Elle doesn't waste any time moving forward. This time, she goes to close the distance with the man, narowing it down quickly. Bootsteps crack across the dock as sparks kick up from her feet, residual energy from the lightning licking alon her legs. The mace is spun in her hand, the thrumming of sonic energy being channeled through it fills the air, and the mace itself begins to trail afterimages. As she spins, it looks more like a disc than a mace.
Then she moves the weapon rapidly, swinging it down on Sergio with a sharp, blindsiding attack. The weapon batters around the man's arms and shoulders. not a killing blow, but fast enough and heavy enough for him to know that Elle's not playing around.
COMBATSYS: Elle successfully hits Sergio with Medium Strike.
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Elle 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1 Sergio
Thems the breaks, really. Sometimes you're hot, and sometimes your not. The hardest part can sometimes be keeping yourself going when your not. Everyone can do well on a good day, but you know you've got at least something when you can do well on a bad day also. With the weapon retracted, Sergio's plan of trying to either rip the weapon out of her hands or bring her down to his level with the chain goes completely out the window. Of course this does mean that he'll at least be able to get back to his feet.
But the moment he is back to the feet she's in his face again, swinging that weapon around. This time he's going to try to simply get out of the way, but it's to no avail. He gets slammed in the shoulders, immediately followed up by his arms by the rapidly rotating mace, the sonic energy flowing through it doing all of nothing to help him out. He's certainly bungled this wonderfully, but it's time to try and set things straight. He is at least able to keep his feet under himself despite being beat backwards, so her lunges forward to try and grab Elle by the shoulders and turn her around to try and wrap an arm around her neck and put her in a strong headlock. If he manages it he'll choke her for a few moments before firing water into her back to try and blast her away from him. It's not like distance isn't his friend if he uses it properly.
COMBATSYS: Elle blocks Sergio's Riptide.
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Elle 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1 Sergio
Close, but no cigar. Elle slips out of the powerful grapple hold just in time to take a jet stream of water. The blast of liquid chi knocks her back a little, but recovery doesn't take very long. The woman is fast to regain footing. Boots make for stable platforms, and she instantly settles into her combat posture again, the mace in her hand slowing to a stop, the spin allowing her to catch the weapon easily.
Elle's not taking any chances, though. She knows what the man can do, and how much damage she's capable of taking. Sergio can do egregious amounts of pain if she's not careful. Still mainainting her distance, she extends the flail again, and cracks it experimentally, like a whip. The ripple rolls through the length of the chain, and she's twirling it again.
Though depowered, Elle seeks to whip the weapon about swiftly, and entangle the man's feet again, before hurling him across the docks, flipping him unceremoniously to the ground.
COMBATSYS: Sergio blocks Elle's Quick Throw.
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Elle 0/-------/----===|=======\=------\1 Sergio
This time Sergio isn't going to take any chances either. Rather than risking trying to get out of the way of such a quick attack, he readies himself. The chained macehead loops around one of his legs, but when she goes to tug him from the ground his foot lifts from the ground and then slams straight back down- not this time. And once that's completed he takes a step forward and stomps down hard, trying to trap the chain under his foot so even if it uncoils she won't be able to retract it as easily as she'd hope. Whether or not he manages this he crouches down into a low stance, and pulls his right arm back.
Elle's proven she can be quick so this might be a futile effort, but he's not entirely sure of that. After a short build of power he thrusts his arm forward with a loud, "HAAH!" Nothing happens for a moment save for a strange rumbling, but a moment later the ground in front of him buckles and rends, a torrent of water blasting to the surface and rushing powerfully towards Elle, some ridiculously large chunks of concrete washing along with it like pebbles. It's powerful, but to say it's incredibly telegraphed is a bit of an understatement.
COMBATSYS: Sergio successfully hits Elle with Whitewater.
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Elle 0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Sergio
Elle's chain is caught under Sergio's foot, and she's forced to yank to get it free. But before she can manage that, the ground beneath her feet rumbles. This can't be good. She stumbles a little, her solid footing taken out from underneath her as water blasts out from underneath her.
Flung high into the air, Elle crashes to the ground with a powerful crack, the ground shattering further beneath her as she takes a moment to gether her wits. it's going to take a little recovering to get over that little fiasco. But she can't take a rest. not now, and not yet.
The mace is dutifully stowed away. The links are a little bent, but it's still good for something. The chain retracts quickle as Elle's forced to covere a larget distance to close the gap this time. Her boots pound a staccato beat again as Elle tries once more to slam her twin blades into Sergio, afterimages trailing from her arms. If she takes purchase, she'll use the force to fling him up over her head, and behind her into the concrete in a single smooth action.
COMBATSYS: Sergio endures Elle's Chase the Ace.
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Elle 1/------=/=======|=======\=======\1 Sergio
Success! The water crashes into Elle and flings her away. It definitely changed the course of the fight... but maybe not quite as much as Sergio thought it had. But at least it puts him in some position to start turning things around. He's definitely not the type to do that with many chipping attacks but a few devastating ones.
The knives are coming for him again, though, and as before Sergio holds his ground, but in a much different way. Rather than defending with his arms he lets them simply dig into him hard. The fact that he's tossed away with them doesn't quite go along with what he has planned, but it might actually be to his advantage. Despite the sonic energy that comes with he manages to keep control of himself, and the very moment he's tossed into the air he reaches inside his shirt and flings out a massive twenty foot rope towards Elle, trying to use the fact she's tossing him behind to attack from a blind spot. As the rope flies a large vortex of water forms around it, swirling around and causing the rope to spin incredibly fast. It's not entirely unlike what she was doing with her chained mace, except if it works it'll bind her entire body and not just a few limbs. Meanwhile, Sergio's crashing down to the ground with a loud thump behind her.
COMBATSYS: Elle endures Sergio's Charybdis.
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Elle 1/-======/=======|=======\-------\0 Sergio
Struck with a veritable torrent of water, then battered with the rope, it would appear that Elle's in dire straits indeed. However, there's something odd about how she reacts to the assault. She could try to avoid it. She could try to defend it. Or she could walk straight into it like a soldier facing certain pain for the sake of landing her next attack.
She picks option three.
The rope slams into her, the vortex of water sends her to the ground. But with a swift motion, Elle's rolling back up again, and the force of electrical power surging from her body isn't going to be denied by such a simplistic gambit. The tactical mercenary once again whips out the mace flail, and the weapon goes twirling over her head, body crackling with power as she charges forth once more. Steam rises from her, evaporating the water and leaving behind a slightly bedraggled woman. The hits aren't frequent, but they're lethally powerful. She can't take much more damage like this by any means.
The shocking chain whips around again. The bolt is even more deadly than before as she seeks to wrap Sergio in it's coils, and simply fry him at first. But if it finishes, Elle will whip him around like a fish on the end of a line, smashing him into every available surface before hurling him far out to sea.
COMBATSYS: Elle successfully hits Sergio with Slayer.
- Power hit! -
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Elle 0/-------/-----==|=======\====---\1 Sergio
So far it seems the best thing in the fight has been to simply move with the opponents attack and use it against them. Not only does it work for him, but Elle seems to be having a pretty good success with it as well. She isn't wrapped up like he hoped, so he has much less time than anticipated to move prepare himself when she comes at him. Not only that, but he still has to get up off the ground! That makes trying to evade a pretty silly idea, so he goes with what just worked for the both of them and try and move /through/ the coiling chain and prepare to charge her whether or not she has him wrapped up.
This doesn't work in the slightest. The amount of energy she pours through the chain is enough to quickly put an end to any attempts at immediate retaliation, but that's only the beginning as he is then made to put large cracks in just about anything in sight via bodily bludgeoning. And if that's not enough, he's thrown away like a piece of trash into the water.
And for several long moments, that's exactly where he stays. It'll take quite a while to recover from that beating, especially considering he was hoping to just power through it. For all intents and purposes it'll probably look like Elle has won. But if anyone's watching the harbor they'll notice a change. Suddenly the surface ripples, and a large dome of water rises out of it, rushing inwards towards shore. It crashes onto land and keeps coming, Sergio clearly visible inside of it once light penetrates the water, riding inside of the large wave as it barrels towards Elle. And then when he gets closer another wave suddenly forms out of nothingness, this one behind Elle to try and snatch her up and pull her into a cataclysmic collision of energy and fists.
COMBATSYS: Sergio can no longer fight.
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Elle 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Sergio successfully hits Elle with Unrealized Potential.
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Elle 0/-------/=======|
Something goes right, and Elle is swept up in the water. The large man pulls back both his fists as the two large waves near, and then slams them as hard as he can into Elle's stomach when they crash together, huge eddies forming in the water energy and tearing into the woman, a large splash raising up high into the sky before falling back down, evaporating the moment it hits the ground, along with the rest of the water. Sergio himself collapses to his hands and knees and coughs up sea water, which is of the real variety that he got when tossed out into the harbor. He's... definitely not getting up after that.
Elle has very few qulities the average person can call good. She's mean, no nonsense, almost humorless, and completely uncaring of the basic human condition. There might not even be a reason why, when it boils down to it. Most people are so put off by her horrible personality that they don't care. They just want her gone, away, or whatever is not near them.
But she's got one thing in her corner: she's almost impossible to put down by people. Sergio gives it his all, though. Fists and water and power crash into her mercilessly. The power is overwhelming, and tosses her aside like a rag doll. Her body clatters across the dock, the concrete offering no sense of comfort or welcome, as concrete is wont to do. But the difference between Sergio and Elle become quick to identify/
The difference? Elle gets up.
She's soaked, she's bruised. Ribs cracked, muscles pulled, and her body screams with pain, but her face is frozen and stoic as ever, made only more unpleasant by the fact that she's lost her glasses, revealing the white scars on her face, the claw marks drawing through a white, cataract-covered eye.
She says nothing at first as she strides over. The steps are slow, deliberate as always as the crowd lets out a cheer, money changing hands as Bobbo gleefully picks up the money waved in the air.
Boots chuff to a stop. Then she speaks, her rasping voice as cold and dry as ever. "You lose again. Still strong. Still stupid. I could, however, use you for a few things. Money doesn't appear to be an object. But I think I can find excitement for you. Unless you're too afraid to fight things tougher than I am."
COMBATSYS: Elle has ended the fight here.
The fight clearly would have gone much differently had he not fought so poorly in the opening, but that's simply the way things go. He gave it his all and he appears to have at least gotten close to victory, so that'll have to be enough for now, at least until he finds away to crack open the nut that is Elle, if he even can. Once he's done coughing up water he looks up towards Elle and gives her a rather odd look. "That's a mighty funny thing to come from you, considering you don't seem to appreciate my style." Both in fighting and attitude.
He mulls it over for a moment before stating, "I might be interested, but before you go any further you should know that I'm not the kind to stand at someone's side constantly. I like my freedom, and there's nothin' I know of that can buy that out from me."
"I don't want your freedom," is the response. And Elle doesn't. "I want you to stand in front of murderers, thugs, and killers and make them fall down and not move again on particular occasions. I have enough people loyal to me that actually know how to follow commands and adjust their tactics accordingly. I couldn't teach you all that with three years and brainwashing equipment."
The woman is honest. Just brutally honest beyond all sense of common decency. But it's clear that she's not trying to insult. She's just stating things as she sees them.
"You get a kick out of facing down death. Obviously, you have some kind of addiction to thrills that most of the people that work for me lack. I tend to browbeat a deathwish out of most of my associates, but sometimes it's needed. I'll set you out a contract," she says, motioning for Bobbo to approach. The weaselly fellow runs over, a pad an pen in hand.
"What can I do ya for?" The Puerto Rican asks, looking down at Sergio for a second. "Ah, man. You're not hiring him, are ya? Guy's a douchebag. I'm disappointed in ya, lady."
"Stuff it," Elle replies to her subordinate, who just makes a face. "Here's the deal. We do a limited contract. You make two appearances for me when I call you. If you like it, then we can renew. if you don't like it, you walk off into the sunset, and assed if I ever see your face around here again."
"I don't think you understand my idea of freedom. I'm fine with doin' something like you talked about, but I don't like the idea of being on retainer to do just anything that comes up. Don't get me wrong- I'm not squeamish or anything, but there are some things I don't want to get involved with." He starts to get up, "Let me put it this way. Everywhere I go I've got the cops watchin' me. Even though I've never done anything more than steal a bit of food or out con a con artist they always think I'm a criminal. I get by pretty good since I'm not, otherwise they'd haul my ass in the second they saw my face because people like me really grate on them."
All in all he's definitely having to think pretty damn hard about this, something that might not have seemed possible. "But two jobs? I guess I can stick it out long enough for that. I guess I should just say I'm more the type of guy to work on a job to job basis, whether it's for the things you have in mind or fixin' a leaky roof."
Elle doesn't budge. "You can sit on your ass and waste away and not get used for the talents you have, or you can sign a contract. Two jobs, when I call you. Contract's up, you walk off, or renew." Whether or not she 'understands' what his freedom means seems to be utterly irrlevant to her. She either doesn't get it, or gets it and doesn't care. Effectively it ends up all the same.
It's pretty clear that she doesn't care about police, his background, or anything else of that nature. The reasons why aren't clear, either. Why on Earth would Elle do anything with him? That's a question that's not easy to answer. But the fact remains that while Elle may be a coldhearted and demanding person, she's not utterly unreasonable.
"Bobbo. Get him cleaned up, some basic meds, and a hot meal," she says to the man who's already reacting to his boss's orders. "Take a day or two to get back to me. Bobbo's always around here. Just ask for him if you accept. If not, I'll just keep using you as a training dummy for my squads. And some of them make me look like Princess Diana."
And with that, Elle turns around, moving a little stiffly due to injuries. Still, she's capable of moving under her own power, which means something when you fight with Sergio.
Log created on 00:23:50 11/11/2007 by Elle, and last modified on 04:53:04 11/11/2007.