Description:
It had become apparent when Tessa called Aranha about Naerose, that Aranha's previous baggage would affect team. And when he found out that his own team mate Rylee would be taking on one of his most hated enemies it only served confirm that fact. As a result, Aranha gave Rylee a bit of this info before her match with Ayame but not /all/ of details.
Afterwards Aranha would call a meeting to at his apartment, which looks a whole lot better than it did after his first fight with Ayame. He had to make sure his team mates, Rylee and Tessa had to know what they were getting into by being on a team with him. The apartment is clean and no one else is home yet and there's a pair of folders on the coffee table.
Aranha for his part is pacing back and forth. This meeting was difference between his own redemption and damnation. He had every right to be nervous.
Tessa isn't exactly late, herself. In fact she had rushed to get away from Naerose after saying she had something really important to take care of. Which thankfully, was not a lie at all. Aranha had made this all sound rather serious over the phone. She was smart enough not to tell the witch who she was going to meet with, too, otherwise she would doubtlessly have begged to come along since she's been dying to talk to the other two.
But yeah, the Strolheim fighter shows up on time, knocks politely and waits to be let in. She doesn't really know what she's in for here, but hopefully it's not more yelling and cursing like that time when she first called the guy from the jailhouse.
You learn some of the strangest things about people sometimes. When Rylee first met Aranha she didn't peg him as the type that people might dub as bad news. Sure he seemed rather streetsmart and he had some interesting tricks, but in the fighting world who doesn't at least have the latter? Still the fight that had pitted the Canadian to be partners with Ayame caused Rylee to find out at least some of Aranha's past.
It was something she took surprisingly well. After seeing how Ayame acted during the fight the redhead felt rather justified about sitting out and let the match turn into a one on one with her would be partner getting seriously thrashed. People can change and at least Aranha has done her no wrong so she will trust him for now. Of course a watchful eye is going to be kept on all her new team mates till she knows full well they don't have any bad intentions.
Plus this gives Rylee the chance to finally meet this Tessa girl she had heard about that was joining up with the team. It doesn't sound like the other girl that joined up is with her, though. Oh well, she will meet Naerose soon enough she supposes. In fact she has to guess the woman standing at that door would be Tessa as she lumbers over with a case of beer in hand. May as well make this something of a housewarming party as well, right?
The moment there's a knock on the door Aranha takes a deep breath, preparing himself for what must be done and then he opens the door to see both women at the door and opening it to let them in. Relatively surprised that they arrived almost simultaneously but at the same time he's relieved that there wouldn't be an awkward moment waiting for the other person to arrive.
"Come in, sit down. I'm glad you both could make it." While he's completely nervous, Aranha is fairly good at bluffing that laid back state that has become part of his persona when he's not dealling with specific groups. Aranha gestures to the sofa with those folders on the coffee table in front of it. His glance drops down to the case of beer then back up to Rylee. "Should I grab some glasses for you?"
While he's making himself ready to go to the kitchen to bring out some glasses in addition to the snacks he has there. "I figured there were some things I need to let you know if you want me on your team. Recent events have made it clear that it needs to be out in the open. By the end I will have given you enough to put me away, and rightfully so. If you want to do so, I will go peacefully and if you want me off of your team I will accept that fate, gracefully."
The shieldmaiden should be pretty easy to spot, yeah. She's got the same dress on as when Aranha met her, and she's got her trademark shield strapped to her back so as long as he gave Rylee any kind of description of her at all it's a no-brainer. Similarly, he didn't really have to tell Tess much about Rylee for her to be able to recognize her on sight.
Either way though, she waits until they're inside for the introductions, giving little more than a smile and a wave before entering the apartment since their partner is quick to answer the door and invite them in. "Thanks, good to see you again." she replies as she passes, heading over to the couch and sitting herself down. ...after taking her shield off and setting it under the table out of the way, that is.
"I see, well I kind of wanted to hear the whole story after the thing over in Metro anyway. So I came ready to listen."
The Canadian grins a bit, though doesn't say much when she eyes Tessa as if sizing her up. "Eh, interesting." she finally says while her gaze travels to the shield. So many interesting styles around this fighting circuit. Even so the shield one has to be one of the more intriguing ones to her, though after seeing Nagare fight the other night she has to say that one really takes the cake as the more unique one she has seen.
She lazily salutes after slipping into the apartment. "Rylee." she says to the shieldmaiden and then looks to Aranha and lets that salute turn to a wave. "And I seriously doubt you'll be kicked off." The guy is trying to reform so she is really giving him a big benefit of doubt. Unlesss something stunning and shocking that might be fitting for a soap opera climax she doubts she is going to be too bothered by things.
She settles down on the couch and drops the case of beer down while leaning over to open it up. "No glass for me. Cans are just fine." she replies and finally settles back with her beer and gets nice and comfy with a arm draped over the back of the couch and propping her feet up.
Aranha goes to the kitchen and brings out a couple bowls of snack foods. He looks like he's about turn to the kitchen for something else but he pauses for just a second before turning towards the two women. Deciding to start with the story. "Rylee, to you this might be old, but it'll be new to Tessa plus it leads into the things that I haven't gone over with for either one of you."
Makes a sweeping gesture to the folders. I used to be a thief. Started out as a pick pocket, learned parkour which allowed me to get into more places, and then became a cat burglar." The folders start out with Metro City articles collected from the online archives of various robberies. All robberies he committed. And each one leading up to the the final one where nothing was stolen and a criminal was caught but there was one who got away. A shadowy figure who seemed to bounce off walls.
Aranha moves to the kitchen and comes back with a glass of ginger ale. "I was even to try out for Blackjack as their thief. I got the thumbs down. Apparently I had too much of conscience for them." Aranha shrugs. "In the end, I'm glad they gave me the thumbs down." He sits down in a chair of his own and reaches out for one of the bowls of snacks and begins munching. Though he seems to have to more to say once he's finished stuffing his face.
The Canadian sits up a bit more when the snacks are brought out and she reaches out to take some for herself before leaning back and dropping the snack across her lap as she picks at it to eat a bit. "Yeah, I don't know much about that group, but if the rest are anything like that Ayame bitch you are definantly better off with us." she says while nodding and that grin of hers widens.
She does try to take a more serious demeanor thoug. she knows this is tough for Aranha to admit, but then again perhaps being nonchalant about it and trying to be a joker might make things a bit easier for him. Too bad that bimbo Tiffany isn't here. She seems to be the best at trying to cheer people up and keep them in good spirits. She does stay silent though as she idly glances to Tessa for a moment to see if she has any reaction to what is being told to her before her attention returns to the snacks she is picking at.
Tessa doesn't seem very interested in the snacks, being as she's into healthy diets and exercise and all that. Plus, well, there's something she's pretty sure she hasn't told Aranha yet. The thing about her being a former police officer. He might have some idea given the kind of strings she pulled to get Naerose out of jail and all that, but they really weren't able to speak much over the phone given the way he reacted.
In any case, due to her own background, she's of course really interested in rooting around through the folders, and she does it all methodically just like a cop or a detective would. "Oh, so that's why some of your style seemed familiar. I remember hearing about that Parkour stuff." More like the precinct forced her to watch videos of people doing it on youtube but let's not go there.
After she's finished looking through stuff and passing it on to Rylee, the Roman woman sits there kind of silent for a moment, crossing one leg over the other and holding her chin. "Before you go any further with this, I should probably tell you I used to be with the police in Italy. I hope that doesn't make you start to feel uneasy about whatever else you're about to say, but you ought to already have some idea I know a lot of cops as it is anyway after what I told you while I was with Naerose over at Metro PD. But... If you were a thief, rather than some other kind of criminal, I think I can probably let most of this go. You don't seem like a bad person to me. And besides, I was a spy for a lot longer than I was a cop, so I might actually feel a tiny bit of respect for your skill if you were this good at sneaking around on your own."
Aranha lets out an amused snort at Rylee's comment. It's hard to say if he's amused at the fact Rylee has as little regard for Ayame as he does or if he's just playing the role to keep things light even if the things he talks about are serious. To be completely honest, Aranha himself isn't even sure. Afterwards he listens as Tessa puts in her two cents before he responds to both. "I came into this knowing that being arrested was a strong possibility. You being a cop doesn't change it. Anyway, Blackjack is a group of mercenaries. They were major players in the Jinchuu tournament, first fighting on the side of the ninja and then switching sides to Rugal Bernstein's invasion force. Tiffany might know about that, she might not. Not many of the fighters were as heavily involved as I was."
He realizes he's digressing and then he brings it back to the subject at hand. "Actually Ayame's their second thief. Their first thief had an attitude just as bad. Did a few public fights and then he just dropped off the map. Probably why they hired her."
Aranha then reaches for the bowl of snacks again. "I had the pleasure of meeting Ayame when she tried to rob me. Had it been a normal robbery and I couldn't have turned the thief away I would've taken it on the chin, and chalked it up to karma. But in addition to taking my belongings, she sought to humiliate me in the process. It didn't help that she did this while my younger sister was there. Even still it's bad enough that you're taking their things but do you have to take their dignity as well? I wrecked everything here just so she couldn't get anything off of me."
He takes a few bites of food before chasing it with a sip of ginger ale. "Needless to say," he continues, "I probably went too far when we happened to be matched up in the Seventh Circle at Blackjack's Casino. After I won our fight, I used Ayame's very own knives to etch a spider on her stomach. I may become more methodical in a fight when I'm angry but when the fighting stops all logic is thrown to the winds. I admit that I shouldn't have done that. I found out Ayame was working with Blackjack after their leader Elle showed up to beat me up and let me know that my sister was kidnapped. I was forced to return to the Circle where I fought again. Even though I lost after taking down Ayame and nearly taking down another member of Blackjack, they returned my sister. AS far as I was concerned they shouldn't have involved my family."
Rylee brushes crumbs off her lap and she leans forward, elbows resting on knees as she clasps her hands together and rests her chin on them as she listens to a more in depth explanation of what had happened and tries to see if she can place some names with faces, though she can't say that Elle sounds familiar to her. She seems to not be too shaken by the news up till the mention of kidnapping is brought up. That is when the redhead starts to look rather ticked.
"Fucking trash. I really don't regret sitting out now." she grumbles as she sits back up with a sigh. "As I see it I don't really see you in the wrong here at all even if you did disfigure Ayame a bit. From the sounds of it you need to be careful of her showing back up again." She tells him and then she tilts her head while looking thoughtful before grinning. "I am probably marked as well since she doesn't seem too happy. If that happens I'll be sure to give her a nice cunt punt for messing with someone's family."
Tessa nods along as she listens to the rest as well, glad that her police career isn't being made into a big deal. It was just something she wanted to get out there, after all, so that it wouldn't come up later and cause the others to question what they know about her.
"Mm... I don't know, I've got nothing against vigilante justice myself. I actually quit the force because they wouldn't let me seek my own revenge for what the Syndicate did to my father. So if carving this bitch up made you feel a little better then the only part I think I'd regret is the fact that it means she'll probably never leave you alone as long as she lives. But you know, Ayame is the only one I've even *heard* of lately. Are these other girls even still alive?"
The two things that could tarnish Aranha in the eyes of his team mates were taken surprisingly well all things considered. Which is a relief but Aranha has yet to drop /the/ bombshell. Aranha decides to wait on this instead choosing to answer Tessa's question instead. "Of the members of Blackjack still around," Aranha reaches for one of the folders and opens it to the Blackjack profiles before continuing, "only Ayame, Naerose Delphine, and Richard Tran are the only ones still active. Most of the others either disappeared either before The Capital Seven incident in Metro City or just after."
It's worth mentioning that out of the profiles in there Aranha's more detailed about Naerose and Ayame's fighting styles than any other members of Blackjack except for possibly Elle's. Ayame's in particular is incredibly more detailed than any other showing that they've fought each other more than anyone else.
"I am sorry for your loss and I probably should mention that I did work with the Syndicate but it was only during the Jinchuu tournament. They had me investigate what was going on with the tournament but other than obtaining documents in relation to the tournament that was the limits of my involvement with them." Aranha inhales deeply. This wasn't exactly a topic Aranha had planned on touching upon and he's a bit worried about it. And it may be this unplanned confession that might undue him rather than the ones he planned on.
In the long run Rylee is starting to think perhaps Aranha is worrying too much for his own good. He should be careful about such things. It causes wrinkles and balding really fast. Of course it is the uncaring and easy going philosophy that has allowed Rylee to be rather understanding of what is being told. To Aranha this is really important stuff and to mock it would be uncouth to say the least.
She grimaces some as more stuff she really doesn't know too much about and she reaches up to rub at the back of her neck as she looks between Aranha and Tessa. "Look, I don't know many of the names other than Naerose is supposed to be on our team and we are going to get her reformed or something. Don't know much about this Syndicate or Black Jack stuff, but I don't see where you are doing much in the wrong that you aren't trying to atone for." she says to Aranha and smiles widly. "That's good enough for me, eh?"
Tessa looks over the profiles in question when they're indicated and nods. "Yeah, this Tran guy seems pretty popular too, but that's why I said girls specifically." Still though, she's never met the so-called doctor personally, nor Ayame, so she focuses a little bit more on the one for Naerose than she probably ought to. This isn't really the time to be laughing, is it? "Ahh... *ahem* Sorry, but it's kind of amusing how similar this document is to the one we keep where I work. I'm with Strolheim, where I work for the head of security there, Eiji Kisaragi. He keeps files like this on a lot of fighters. ...mostly girls though."
The Italian then gives a little shrug to the capoerista's latest admission of guilt. "That really doesn't surprise me, and I don't want you to go around feeling bad about it either. The Syndicate has its hooks in pretty much everybody in this entire city in some way or another, and if they just had you scout something for them then that sounds like really small change. They would've used someone else if not for you, and it's not like I was involved. I really only want to hit their enforcers in particular, but we don't really need to talk about any of that right now. Unless the Syndicate turns out to be big into this team league stuff. In any case, though, I kind of feel the same way as Rylee here on the subject of your past. I keep telling you, you seem like a decent person to me, and if you're not planning on going back to your old ways then I'm more than willing to give you a chance. Just like the one I'm trying to give Naerose. I just wish you'd try and give her the same kind of consideration, is all. I know she's annoying, but there's no way she's as bad as people say she is."
Aranha breathes a sigh of relief when they both say that. It means he won't have to drop /the/ bombshell though by this point Tessa has been flipping through the folder enough to get hints about it but nothing damning. Article an about his older sister committing suicide, his parents being murdered. They are there but without Aranha to give voice to the admission they really circumstantial at best.
"You know it's funny you should say that. I never wrote any of the profiles down until someone hired me to get information on Blackjack. Apparently Ayame wronged someone else. Needless to say I gave them a discount on that."
Aranha finally begins to smile and for once it's not an elaborate bluff like it usually is. He's glad that they still want him on the team. "Actually I have been doing a little soul searching." By soul searching we mean beating up Tran(who was hardly fighting back) while getting berated by him. "And I admit I may have been too hard on Naerose. She didn't have anything to do with my sister's kidnapping. I still don't like her and I still won't work with her unless she cuts her ties to Blackjack. I won't pay for her food and if she attempts to reach for the food on my plate, I'm snapping her wrist in half. That said, I will allow her to be on the team."
Now that is more the spirit that Rylee wants to see. Aranha finally getting a smile seems to make the redhead happy as she raises an opened beer to her team mate and then chuckles. "Yeah that is what I am saying. Give her a chance even if she is a bit quirky. I mean she can't be that bad, right?" Oh how nice it is to be naive to such things when dealing with Naerose. Poor Rylee will have to learn soon enough.
She lowers the beer after taking a big drink from it and then she raises a brow. "So is that all you had to say? If so I think everything is starting to work out nicely. We all know you better and in my book you still ain't a bad guy."
"Well there you go, maybe that scouting stuff actually did you some good after all. So like I said, no real harm done. I still think most things happen for a reason." the shieldmaiden says, before finally reaching for a beer and popping the tab.
Of course, as she's drinking it though she ends up getting a little surprised and some of the alcohol ends up going down the wrong tube so she sputters a bit. "R- really? You will? That's all I could really ask for. I'm totally fine with that. Although... Could one of you guys at least help me try to get her a job or something? I can't keep paying her way everywhere we go and if she tells one more vendor I'm the one paying before I even catch up to her I'm gonna have to jam her hat down her throat."
Aranha shakes his head and raises his glass of ginger ale before taking a sip and quickly swallowing before he can follow suit with the sputtering. As he lowers his glass he begins to laugh himself. He takes a breath before he responds. "I think we have to establish some ground rules to make sure she doesn't drive us crazy..." There's a slight pause as he glances to Tessa. "Crazier... We have to make it clear that kind of conduct is not tolerated. As for the job you're lining her up with more fights and announcer gigs, right? All that by itself /should/ be reasonably good for comfortable living. We need to figure out why that money isn't enough."
Wow, the reaction that they give in response to Naerose does make Rylee raise a brow and she gets a bit of an evil grin. "We can make Tiffany take care of her. She's rich, right? She won Jinchuu and all that." she says while rather liking this devious plan. Even if they are team mates it still seems that the redhead and blonde might be clashing here and there even if it is in a less physical confrontation than it was when they were in the ring.
"You know...." she finally speaks up while reaching to set down an empty beer and go for a new one. "I think the three of us should also think of a team name since we are here." She then casts a glance towards Aranha. "Or was there more you needed to tell us, eh?"
Tessa tilts her can up to drink a bit more before nodding firmly. "Sounds good to me. I could really use a little time to go try and win some of my money back, whether I do it fighting or doing something else. I still haven't paid off my Ferarri yet." See? She used to be doing pretty alright in the money department. But oh well.
"Hey, yeah, I would have totally forgotten that." Not that she has any ideas right now. She's kind of drawing a blank.
Aranha does not talk about his scars. Whenever asked, he avoids the subject. But then there's a case where he ultimately has to make an exception. He feels they need to know because his skeletons may turn around and bite them in the ass. And it's not fair to either Tessa or Rylee.
"Well there is one last thing." Maybe Aranha would have to drop that bomb shell after all. "You mentioned vigilante justice right? How do you feel about vigilante justice when it's directed to your own flesh and blood?"
Aranha takes a deep breath. "I became a thief because I came from abusive home." He places the glass of ginger ale on the coffee table removes his shirt to show all the scars he's covered up in "My parents beat all three of us. Extension cords, switches made from tree branches, wire hangers, a clothing iron. Considering that I have fought lots of fighters who use bladed weapons, I've been in brawls consisting of glass bottles and other improvised instruments of destruction, the fact that a majority of these scars came from my parents says a lot."
He pauses for just a moment turning away from the other two before continuing, "My older sister Karen couldn't take it any more and she ended her life so she wouldn't have to feel any more pain. I stole money so I'd have a way get my younger sister out. I took beatings meant for her to protect her and eventually I had killed my own parents. Ultimately I had to make sure my younger sister ended up in a caring home or at the very least, a better home than how we were living. If you can still call me a friend and team mate after this, you have my loyalty to the end."
There is a looooooong pause there for a moment. Now that was one of those things where it is a bit hard for someone even like Rylee isn't sure how to respond to. That sounds like something almost out of a Lifetime style movie, not something you'd expect to hear coming from the mouth of a person you know. That is why the Canadian is looking a befuddled and perhaps a lost for words.
Her silence is broken while she slumps back against the couch and squints a it. "Hey....I don't know what it is like. I don't really can't judge you for those sort of actions, yanno?" Really she doesn't know what much else to say. She isn't really good with words anyways so trying to say something in response to that kind of confession has left her sort of silent which is a rarity.
For her part, Tessa kind of winces just a little at the sight of the scars. Sure, she's seen worse in her lifetime but that doesn't mean it keeps her mind from imagining what it feels like to be given the kind of wounds that would leave those sorts of scars. "Yeah, you've made your point already, you can put your shirt back on."
The security officer sighs then, before going on to add, "But I meant what I said. And just because they were your parents... I can't really say that makes that much of a difference to me anymore. When the Syndicate killed my dad, I saw him accepting a bribe. They shot him as soon as they noticed me and the SWAT team I was with, thinking he'd tipped us off. So... I'm not going to say something stupid like "your parents are always right". If they were abusing innocent children, then they deserved to die. I'm sorry to hear that it had to be you who... Just, don't even say murder. You stopped them. You ended it. That's all that really matters. I don't know how many times I have to say it tonight, but things happen for a reason. If it wasn't meant to be then you'd be rotting away in jail as we speak. So I'm not going to condemn you for it."
Log created on 17:41:38 05/12/2008 by Aranha, and last modified on 14:59:32 05/23/2008.