Description: Aranha stumbles upon Tran in a coffee shop and releases his rage on him. Tran likewise releases his rage of his own. Unfortunately the whole experience makes him realize to his horror that he's developing similarities to those that he hates.
It's a little known fact, but Chinatown makes the best coffee. At least, it's the best to Dr. Tran's sensibilities. He doesn't know how they do it. Is it the freshest beans, the greatest care and attention to the brew, a pinch of powdered rhino horn slipped in for flavor and virility? It's basically the greatest mystery of our time.
And, being a man of both culture and science, Dr. Tran is sampling it once again this morning, sipping at a cup as he stares tiredly out of the little, cramped coffeeshop's window. He yawns, a mixture of early morning grogginess and early morning boredom, and then rubs at his eyes. "Should've bought a paper or something."
Aranha for his part just happened to be in the neighborhood. Chinatown was also a good location for pasteries. Or more specifically Pineapple jelly filled buns. It was one of those things he just couldn't find in any other neighborhood except for the Chinatown of whatever city he was in at a particular time.
Aranha steps out of the quaint bakery with his own bag of goodies just a moment after Tran pops out of a coffee store and then he sees Tran and he switches to attack on sight mode. Aranha is still not about to risk his food in a fight. So he looks for a fire escape and tosses his bag up there before coming back around to head to Tran.
When he gets there he doesn't say a word. He just stops right in front of Tran and then spins around lashing out with a kick to the torso. Nothing overly complex and no Inigo Montoya speeches.
COMBATSYS: Aranha has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Aranha 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Tran has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Tran 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Aranha
COMBATSYS: Tran blocks Aranha's Medium Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Tran 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Aranha
Truth be told, after a certain point, Dr. Tran starts to zone out. Staring off into space, trying to recall the elusive details of a dream he might have had earlier - something involving something sexy, maybe? He can't tell. It's still not enough to fully distract him when Aranha comes marching up to him, some kind of intent plain in his eyes.
Tran, for god knows what reason, decides to give Aranha the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he just wants to talk? "Hm? Is there soWHOA THERE, CHARLIE!" How foolish of the doctor, to assume that anyone who approaches him while he's having coffee would have any intention that is not a sneak attack. It's basic pattern recognition, at this point.
Thankfully for the doctor, perhaps because of the growing pattern, he manages to at least defend himself from Aranha's kick. It helps that Tran's already sitting; his arms are in good position to take the force of the blow. The momentum makes Tran rock backward, forcing him to stand and stumble over his chair as he tries to find his balance. Find it he does, however, and at that point he's got an irate look on his face for the young Capoerista. "So, tell me right now, are you another assassin? Don't tell me, you know a friend of mine and want to teach them a lesson for god knows what reason by killing me." It sounds absurd, like a joke, but Tran would find it a funnier joke if it hadn't happened a couple of weeks ago.
COMBATSYS: Tran takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Tran 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Aranha
Aranha once upon a time didn't harbor such a hatred that he wouldn't have just randomly attacked Tran like this however, that time long come and gone. And so he begins weaving as Tran sends an irate look in his direction, mirrored by Aranha's own particular irate expression.
"To answer your questions. No I am not an assassin. I'm just really pissed off and you're a convient outlet for my rage. I don't know if they are friends of yours nor do I give a damn but I know you're associated with them and that's enough for me."
Aranha is suddenly on the attack again throwing a series of spinning side kicks punctuating each one with a name. "Naerose, Ayame, Marise, Elle..." And then he backs off before looking at Tran again. "See a pattern?"
COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Tran with Strong Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Tran 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Aranha
"So what you're telling me, what you're telling me here...is that you are here, interrupting my morning coffee..." Dr. Tran pauses to get kicked in the face repeatedly by Aranha in the quickest, most efficient way possible, each impact sending him staggering back until the young man lets up.
Tran wipes a trickle of blood out of the corner of his mouth, then continues on as if nothing had ever happened. "...interrupting me for no good reason because you're feeling a little pissed off? What, are you on the rag? God, who ARE you even?"
But Dr. Tran is just picking up steam, so to speak, although now his jaw's kind of bothering him. He rubs it gently as he continues. "And who are you talking about? I mean, I know Naerose because she's a maniac, but what? Are you going to hunt down my family and maybe beat them to death because they know me because I have the misfortune of being a vague acquaintence of a psychopath? Christ, I can't believe this, I guess I shouldn't expect too much these days, but...alright, this really hurts, hang on."
And then Dr. Tran reaches up with both hands to his own jaw, grips it firmly but gently, and then violently snaps it to one side with a loud crack.
Aranha after dealing with Naerose acting like she didn't know who he was, he's built up a tolerance to that behavior. As a result he's developed a hit it until it stops moving philosophy. It's probably better for what's left of the capoeirista's sanity.
When Tran mentions family Aranha just snaps. The mention of family brings back the memory of what it was like to be left on the ground battered and to then be told that his sister got kidnapped. "Elle and Marise weren't above hunting down /my/ family."
Aranha continues to apply pressure to Tran swinging around a blue glowing roundhouse followed by a spinning jump kick also glowing with chi before finishing with a blue glowing backflip kick to drive his down upon Tran's head. "My beef is with Blackjack and as a result of association with it, you."
COMBATSYS: Tran successfully hits Tran with Dr. Tran - Cool Lovin.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Tran 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Aranha
COMBATSYS: Tran blocks Aranha's Aggressive Dance.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Tran 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Aranha
An important thing to note here is that Dr. Tran isn't acting. At least, not in regards to knowing Aranha. Despite how the two have met once or twice, they weren't terribly...memorable encounters in Tran's mind. The one time he was having too much fun to pay attention, and the next he was distracted by Himeko and also getting shot out of a giant cannon.
But regardless of this, Aranha's not letting up, and Dr. Tran's jaw still feels a little weird. He works it around silently for a moment, letting Aranha get even angrier and try to pound him through the floor of the coffee shop like a giant stake. Of course, Tran crosses his arms over his head to soften the impact, so it doesn't work too well. At the very least, though, Tran does take another step back, putting just a little bit more distance in between him an Aranha.
"Man, I don't even know where to start, really." He sighs, clearly annoyed as hell more than anything else. "You're an idiot, do you know that? I try to be reasonable, I try to solve things in a peaceful, nonviolent manner for once in my goddamn life, but you just keep trying to kick my head in for some reason I don't even understand."
The doctor's hands wander over to a nearby chair, which he proceeds to swing repeatedly in wide, sweeping arcs. "Well, to hell with it! Fine! I don't even care anymore!"
COMBATSYS: Aranha interrupts Random Weapon from Tran with Colossal Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Tran 1/------=/=======|===----\-------\0 Aranha
"In the past it might've actually worked." If anything Aranha from what he's gathering indeed would've been able to be talked down from his insane rage by Tran. Aranha acknowledges that fact however he has been through too much with the organization as a whole to be anything close to reasonable.
Of course Aranha doesn't really have time to wax poetic about what could've been. Tran's too busy swinging that chair in wide, deadly arcs. Aranha doesn't run away from the chair. Instead Aranha moves into the chair taking the chair shot to the torso as he thrusts a powerful kick right into Tran's jaw before dropping to the ground due to the impact.
Aranha's quick to return to his weaving dance after spinning off the ground and back to his feet. "Shame too. You're the only person with them I respect."
The kick to the jaw lifts Tran a solid foot into the air, where he hangs for a moment, as if it were a one-hit KO blow. But then, as it so often does, gravity kicks in, bringing Tran back down to earth, with a jaw that should hurt far more than it actually does. This is not due to a lack of actual head trauma, but rather the fact that every other word out of Aranha's mouth just pisses Dr. Tran off even more.
"For the love of god, do you even listen to yourself talk? I...gh...ghk...ARGH." Unable to contain himself, Dr. Tran hauls back and then punches himself right in the face. Now, normally, it's rather difficult for somebody to hit themself - it's not just that the angles are awkward, it's also that the natural tendancy is to tense up, to flinch, and lessen the force of the impact.
Dr. Tran is way too pissed off for any of that pussy bullshit.
And all that respect Aranha had for Tran? Gone in the instant he sees Tran punch himself. What the fuck? Well if Tran wants to beat the crap out of himself then far be it from Aranha to stop him. In fact, Aranha will assist him.
And since Tran has finally stopped trying to get him to talk, Aranha's going to stop doing so and instead focus on adminstering savage beatings. Aranha takes a couple of steps forward before hopping as he scissors his legs about Tran's and then twists as he attempts to drop Tran face first on to the ground.
COMBATSYS: Tran endures Tran's Strong Punch!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Tran 1/--=====/=======|===----\-------\0 Aranha
COMBATSYS: Tran endures Aranha's Quick Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Tran 1/=======/=======|====---\-------\0 Aranha
When Tran's fist impacts his face, it's pretty clear that it has to hurt. There's a wide spray of blood and spittle, and a nasty gash opens on his cheek. He takes a step forward afterward, pure fury in his eyes. And then Aranha does his thing and Tran just takes it, getting his face slammed into the floor. The doctor doesn't pause for a second, pushing himself up immediately so that he can get right up in Aranha's face and start screaming, sending a fine spray of various fluids in a wide cone in front of him. It's not a pretty sight - at this point, the doctor's face is pretty much coated in blood.
"You STUPID sack of shit! You're here beating the shit out of me because I know some people, I've barely fought back, and you have the fucking BALLS to tell me to my face that you fucking respect me?" Despite his proximity, Tran's still not trying to beat the shit out of Aranha. Somehow, he's become /too angry/ to even try. "At least have a goddamn reason, a goddamn grudge against ME, not some people I MIGHT know who as far as I know killed your goddamn dog to piss you off this badly, before you come in here and attack me without so much as a word while I'm TRYING to relax!"
And then Tran turns around and spits, already marching toward the door. "Congratulations, you've completely ruined my morning, thus seeing that justice was served once and for all. Dumb shit."
COMBATSYS: Tran takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Tran 1/=======/=======|====---\-------\0 Aranha
Aranha probably needed to hear that. Especially in that entire speech Tran has pretty much told him how much of a hypocrite he was being. But he's too enraged to care right now. Had it been anyone else saying those words, Aranha might've stopped to actually consider them the moment those words are said.
Plus there's the fact that there's the whole fact that there's a lack of care for his situation though there's a part of his subconscious that knows that he hasn't given Tran much reason to care. So he doesn't respond. At least not at first. It takes Aranha couple of steps while he lets those words sink in before he's finally compelled to respond.
Oddly enough, even though he wants to beat the living hell out of Tran with every fiber of his being, he stays his hand. It stopped being worth it to him. He accomplished his objective in a way. The fact that he's not so different from Elle terrifies him deeply. He whispers, "As long as you're with Blackjack, I'll always have a reason. It was the collective that has came after me and I'll go after the collective in return." And if one could hear those words, it doesn't quite sound like he even believes them.
COMBATSYS: Aranha takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Tran 1/=======/=======|====---\-------\0 Aranha
Dr. Tran pauses, and then sighs again. Somehow, he makes it convey a wide range of fascinating emotion, from angry to frustrated to impatient to exasperated. It's not a particularly positive range, but it's still a range.
Not moving for several long moments, Tran doesn't even turn around to face Aranha. "You know, I almost want to know what happened to you, but I'm pretty much certain it'd be a letdown unless you're the sole survivor of your ninja clan or something." And then he's on his way again to the door again, mumbling to himself under his breath, albeit unusually loudly for that manner of speech. All that rage doesn't just vanish into thin air, after all. "Goddamn kids, wasting my time, flailing around like they're blind and having a goddamn seizure or something..."
COMBATSYS: Tran takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Tran 1/=======/=======|====---\-------\0 Aranha
Tran probably has no clue how close he is with the sole survivor of a ninja clan remark he made. But Aranha isn't going to comment and instead, he just hangs his head. A look of shame written on his face and with nothing further to say, Aranha just lets Tran leave.
As of now he realizes Tran would probably be too pissed off to allow him to make it up to him now but the young capoeirista does resolve to make it up to him in some way, some time in the future. Taking a breath, Aranha reaches for his cell phone. He has some calls to make.
COMBATSYS: Aranha has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Tran 1/=======/=======|
COMBATSYS: Tran has ended the fight here.
Log created on 08:36:33 05/05/2008 by Aranha, and last modified on 23:28:06 05/05/2008.