Description: At the beginning of the Strolheim Team Assignments, Yamazaki meets those fine dandies that would come together to be called Team ... what the hell was his team's name again? We'll just call it the House That Sadomazo Built. Yeah..
Ari 'The Spider' Abraham is outside Castle Strolheim, working on his Harley. He's presently making the muffler as loud as possible, doing the tuning that someone that cares about his motorcycle does. He smokes a high tar Israeli cigarette as he works, wearing a pair of mirrored aviator shades over his eyes. A faint frown is on his grizzled face, the Spider not happy to be in Germany.
Choi Bounge enjoyed his stay at Castle Strolheim. Unlike some criminals, he enjoyed Germany. Well, at least the parts that weren't willing to turn him over to Interpol for that small fire and assisting in a small murder of a small official. People smaller than him.
The Korean scowled at the short joke he made of himself, then shrugged his shoulders.
Being that he was having a casual moment, the little man was dressed in non-combat gear. Green sweater and brown slacks, held up by bright read suspenders. He gripped the updated list of the next fight- or rather, the new teams. Spider. And Yamazaki? Neither sounded very familiar to the little man. But if they were part of Team Bloodshed... maybe they were cutting types too?
A shiver came over Choi's spine as he sat up in a tree outside the Castle. A team devoted to cutting things. It was like the anti-emo. And who could these cutters be? His thoughts were swallowed up by a growling noise. A motorbike? The Korean adjusted his glasses, looking over at the man working on the bike. What was he doing?
The motorcycle revs loudly as Ari gives the gas a crank. He nods to himself in satisfaction, and moves beside the Harley, putting his tools away. He shoves the toolkit in a side pack, then takes another drag from his cigarette. As he feels the pleasant lung burn, he exhales smoke, then looks up, glancing around. He sees oddly dressed Choi in the tree, and narrows his hidden eyes. That's Choi Bounge, his team mate. Plucking his cigarette from his lips with his fingers, he makes his way over towards the Korean.
%Choi squints his eyes from behind his glasses as the man finishes his work. The man looked very familiar, but the Korean didn't know from where. He sat up straight in his tree, looking down from the branch. Adjusting his hat, he grins at Spider, giving a steady wave of his hand to greet him. "Hey there, Buddy Boy. Couldn't help but notice you were working on your motorcycle there. She is a real beauty, eh? It's a Honda, right?"
The Spider frowns as he takes another drag. "Honda? Asian bikes are shit. This is a Harley. Americans may not be able to win a war, but they can make motorcycles." He flicks his cigarette away with his middle finger and thumb, spoiling the natural beauty of Strolheim with litter. Hey, it's biodegradable. "You're Choi, right? I'm the Spider."
"... The Spider." Choi lets loose that last comment as his mind distances itself inward. Before he gets too lost in his thoughts, the little man snaps forward. "The Spider! Well, The Spider, I am Choi! So you are the other student, eh Buddy Boy? A regular gangster, right?"
Choi checks Spider over, concluding he has to be SOME sort of tough guy. The little man drops from the branches swiftly, bouncing slightly before standing upright. Adjusting his tiny fedora, and nods eagerly. "So what is your story? Smuggling, killing, theft, eeeeeh? Or are you just one of those bikers that live on the road or something?"
"Espionage," the Spider answers, pushing his glasses up his nose. "I did my time in the Mossad before I started freelancing for Rugal. What about you? Anything else besides the usual?" he asks, well aware of Choi's reputation, thanks to R's files. He slips his hands into the pockets of his brown bomber jacket, not used to the cold.
A $400 rockport collector's edition captoe boot steps on the cigarette after it lands, grinding it to dust beneath about 200 plus pounds of bottled rage. Dollar fifty-six for 16 oz at the local supermarket.
'Teammate.'
Hmph. Right..
He seems to appear out of nowhere at all, which is an impressive kind of trick for someone his displacement. Yamazaki almost forgot why he let himself fall into this little fruit farm of a tournament. Gillespie was cute, but a hundred years too early to get his attention. Then they gave him a shot at making Robert's day. Made it, he did. And now now he's told about who're gonna compose his teammates. Some soldier-type, and a midget. He slings the black duffel bag off his shoulder and lets it hang from his gloved grip. He's wearing casuals too. Brand new black jeans, and a black pima cotton shirt that seems like it desperately wants to be a few sizes larger to accomodate his frame.
"Lemme ask," the mercenary growls low, "what you think the usual is?"
Espionage. A spy.. for Rugal. The midget nodded. A professional, unlike Choi. The midget flirted with the idea of courting with the big dogs, but disliked the whole... being owned dealie. Even merc worked sounded tasteless. However, what had Choi been doing? That was a difficult question, but, honor amongst thieves...
"Well, if you mean the whole Jiro crap, then-" The stomp cuts him off. Six something of stomp. Choi looks over at the stranger, a scowl coming his face. The man was... something. The skin-tight shirt. The expensive boots. The duffel bag. The growl. There was only one thing Choi could pick up from his presence.
Jackass.
"Hey, Buddy Boy. I don't like your tone, what the hell gives you the right to burst in on our conversation!"
The Spider raises an eyebrow, slowly turning to face Yamazaki. He recognizes Yamazaki from his R intelligence file. High level fixer for Southtown Syndicate. Ignoring Choi's spunky but misguided vigor, he nods to Yamazaki, still dour at hanging out in Bavarian Nazi Hell. "Mr. Yamazaki," he says flatly.
It's unclear if Yamazaki recognizes either of the two from his own intelligence--dubious as such a thing may appear from Yamazaki's look, the mercenary is surprisingly well informed.
The more apropos question: Does Yamazaki actually care?
Staring from a point far over Spider's shoulder to glower intensely at Choi for a period of time long since labelled awkward, Yamazaki shakes his head. "Let me introduce myself, then." without further adieu, he produces a loaded Heckler and Koch MP7A1 extended clip from the duffelbag he carries with him, affixing the submachine gun's barrel at a point somewhere between Choi's eyebrows. The threat value of a sub-machine gun is actually rather debatable to most fighters. Then again, most machine guns are not held by what is apt to be called a walking mountain of meat.
"Ryuji Yamazaki. Most people who know what's good for em call me Yamazaki. But as for you two--for the rest of your natural lives, you're gonna call me number one. As in, the number one person you follow."
He pauses, lifting the weapon only to scratch his head with the barrel.
"... I guess Master, The Coolest Nipponese, or God will do fine too," he notes.
He thinks about it a little longer.
"... Mnghn." No, this isn't gonna work. Not at all.
"Fuck it. Let's start over," he decides happily.
He flicks the switch, drops the bag and proceeds to open fire on Choi.
NOTE: Yamazaki is a hilariously bad shot when he's like this.
Lead sprays... /everywhere/.
Choi's scowl fades, as The Spider spits out the name of the stranger. Yamazaki. Immediately, the little man brings the paper up to eye level. The last member. Master Yamazaki. "Oh, sorry buddy boy, I didn't realize you were a teammate. Welcome a-"
The Korean is interrupted by a submachine gun. After that point, the midget just sort of... stares at the barrel. Beads of sweat roll down as Yamazaki continues his speech. Once he releases the muzzle from the skull of Choi, the man finally exhales. "Oh, ho, oh ho, Buddy Boy, I thought, I mean, you were going to shoot me." The little man chuckles nervously. "Yeah, hey, lets start over. I'm Choi Bounge." The midget sticks his hand out, grinning broadly.
He is still locked into a grin when Yamazaki takes off the safety.
He is no longer in a grin when Yamazaki levels the gun at him.
The dwarf screams as he breaks into a roll, shooting by Yamazaki's feet. He doesn't stop moving. He just bolts. Exploding out from the roll, the little man leaps through the air, right at the trunk of a tree. Normally, he would use his claws to help him climb up the tree. But as he clings to the bark, he decides to ignore the help of his favorite tools and dig his way up into the foliage, desperately trying to get cover, ANY cover.
Though it seemed that Choi confused cover with concealment, at this point.
The Spider raises his brow once more, as Yamazaki pulls out the weapon. Then, smirks as it's fired at Choi. He crosses his arms, watching Choi run for his life. But Yamazaki's doing it all wrong. Short, controlled bursts, not fully automatic fire. That'll just waste your clip. He watches, getting a bit of amusement out of the midget's near death experience.
"Think you can just--SAY UNCLE!!!" Yamazaki shrieks over the din, slowly walking after Choi and doing a handsome job of shooting up turf with SMG pistol rounds as the little guy slips past him and he almost shoots himself in the foot following him--the little bastard is fast. "Hold still and I'll buy you a new hat!!! After I blow your face off!"
And, as Spider so aptly predicted, Yamazaki runs out of ammunition in record time.
It has relatively little to do with experience or any kind of knowledge, and more to do with the fact that as far as Yamazaki is concerned, he isn't missing. See, there's a measured difference between inexperience and psychopathy. Of course, it matters very little when you're cursing loudly, trying to will phantom ammunition out of the mag and only getting a steady 'klik klik klik klik'.
"Sonova.."
He stalks back to the duffel bag angrily, determined not to be defeated. Throwing magazines around, he roots through it enthusiastically. Oh, he has plenty of spare clips. He just wants--aha!
Now. Who in the hell sold Yamazaki an assault rifle? Is that a scope?
...Is that a hundred round drum clip?!
Snapping the C-Mag into the weapon, Yamazaki stands up slow and wavering, dropping the other gun before hefting the massive thing. He has, in fact, just enough thought to propell the butt of the weapon towards Spider's face with murderous speed. He does not have enough thought to think twice about it.
"Wipe that smirk off your face.." he grumbles.
The only explanation he provides.
Provided Spider doesn't give him any guff, it's time to go Bounge hunting.
The Spider turns to look at Yamazaki, only to get the butt of an assault rifle in his face. Yamazaki is pretty strong, the Spider will admit that. His glasses snap in two and fall to the ground as he stumbles backwards, his hands grasping the air briefly, before he falls onto his back, unconscious. He doesn't take abuse that well, apparently.
Klik Klik Klik Klik.
Words to Choi's ears.
The little man covers in the foliage, peering off from the depths of the leaves. So. This was Yamazaki. Combining the worst elements of Kim with the worst elements of Choi, that was what the midge was up against. Being a psychopath was one thing. Being a Psychopath with a fully automatic weapon was another.
The little man gasps as he watches Yamazaki take out his teammate. Of course, Choi HAD to have not bring his gloves. Why would he? Strolhiem was lovely and PEACEFUL. Not a risk of a random attack ANYWHERE. SERIOUSLY.
The little man looked across the orchard. Yamazaki would be opening fire on his tree soon. Whimpering, the little man began to shuffle down the trunk, keeping the tree between him and Shooty McKillu.
Lovely and peaceful.
That's /exactly/ why Yamazaki hated it to no end. It was too idyllic of a country for a house purportedly built on the pretense of survival of the fittest and intense bloodshed by any means or measure. If they'd sent a videotape of what Strolheim was really like to him, Yamazaki might never had come at all.
Yamazaki only sticks around because the organizers don't mind if he gets a little messy.
Rifle rounds shatter the bark of the tree as Yamazaki seems to just try and shoot it down first. Of course, bullets don't work that way, even if Yamazaki severely wishes they did. Visibly distressed, he opens fire into the tree, not achieving much but massacring the branches, causing leaves to rain down. Oh, he's never gonna get more than a hit or two on Choi this way, some higher-thinking part of him knows.
He just needs to hit him once, tho.
And he really, really likes to watch Choi run.
He sighs, coolly relaxing.
Gripping the rifle in his jaws (!!) Yamazaki climbs the tree after Choi. It's notable that Yamazaki doesn't need claws or anything like that to scale it. He just kind of -- sinks his bare hands into the wood and claws his way up there. Once again in disturbing contradiction to something of his size, to boot. It's only when he gets to the lowest hanging branches that he actually notices that Choi isn't in the tree anymore. The rifle drops into his hand. "What the--"
Snif. Snif.
!!
"HEY ABBOT!!!" he calls, almost laughing his ass out of the tree.
--While his rifle spurts a stream of fire at least a foot long expending rounds aimed squarely at Choi's ass.
Ever so carefully, Choi slipped down the trunk. He quivered as the bullets rattled by him, but clung tight. Eventually, he had to run out of ammo, right? Maybe if he lured him away from the duffle bag... he could hold it ransom. Which might work up until Yamazaki RIPPED HIS BALLS OFF AND JAMMED THEM DOWN CHOI'S THROAT, SODOMIZING HIM WITH THE BUTT OF HIS ASSAULT RIFLE ALL THE WHILE.
That was not something Choi wanted.
But then, the endless barrage of bullets... ended. The midget hustled, squeaking likely by impulse. The reason for this squeak. He heard the deep crunch of finger driving into bark on his same tree. The maniac was chasing him after him. Never had Choi experienced such dedication without the spirit of GREAT JUSTICE.
Perhaps this was the fabled GREAT INJUSTICE that Kim had sought to destroy.
Breaking into a run on the ground, the midget was beelining it to the other tree. Maybe this Yamazaki guy wouldn't be so bad. After all, he might undo some of the conditioning that Kim beat into him. Yeah. This won't be such a bad team up after all. And then, the midget hears "HEY ABBOT." Who is Abbot?
And then, in a way that might unintentionally make Yamazaki even more amused, the little Korean launches about 10 feet into the air, gripping his buttocks tightly with both hands as a rifle round drives hard into his firm right cheek.
- Ass shot! -
Oh, you could say Yamazaki is amused. If you count launching yourself bodily out of a tree throwing an assault rifle like a graduate's cap while cackling loudly enough to be heard from the Castle to be 'amused.' If you accept that, then--yeah, Yamazaki is a pretty amused guy.
What can he say?
Those who can, do.
Those who can't, teach.
Those who can but often don't feel like it, beat the hell out of their students.
We are at least mercifully lucky that Yamazaki isn't aware of the connectiions between Kaphwan and Choi. Who knows what he'd be doing now.
It turns out Yamazaki is a pretty good vaulter, his rifle hitting the ground and snapping in two sections as the mercenary slowly air-pumps his legs as he shoots out of the tree. Briefly, he conjures images not of the clever savannah cat but more of a launched rabid bull as he flies. And when he lands, it's of a spot not too far from Choi. He hits the ground like a meteor, with an explosive crash and rolling thunder, "UGH!!"
It takes him only a second or two more to get to his feet.
You can hear the shotgun cock--only this time it's his arm, snapping tight as his hand seems to warp space, crossing an unnatural amount of distance to try and just snatch Choi off the ground as Yamazaki gives chase, mid-run. He'll probably give him a good stiff shake or two if he can get ahold of the buttery bugger.
"C'MERE--ya little--hold still!! Who you think you are, running from me!?"
Choi lands back down, still clutching his buttocks. While the penetration was limited, it still drove in hard. All of Choi's training had paid off there. Most higher-level fighters could handle a great deal of bullet-based beating, and Choi's buttocks were the same way. Hard, mighty, and more than capable of deflecting Yamazaki's bullets.
But they still stung.
Still cringing, he begins to make a staggered run for the tree. But his hams were swollen, all thanks to Yamazaki. Unable to pick up full speed, Yamazaki's unnatural speed overtakes the midget... and he does the unthinkable. The unspeakable. As if he was a faceless foe, or possibly a missile, Yamazaki picks the little man up, and as if he turns into the Ultra Intergalactic Cybot-G Marina Liteyears, proceeds to give him a SHAKE SHAKE.
HEEEELP ME MARINA!
That's one tough ass.
And you know, Yamazaki doesn't really see a reason to stop shaking from that point on. Yamazaki saw it was good, and so it was. Roughly snatching up Choi, Yamazaki then proceeds to shake him like he were baking a chicken (he might be very shortly) with both hands, whipping the little man around with something of the flavor of savage glee on his face. Well, on most occaisions, he'd just eat the offense to his masculinity at this point.
But no, he needs Choi.
Come now, Yamazaki isn't crazy.
Shaking him, shaking him even if he cries, shaking him even if his bones snap, shaking him even if the world ends, Yamazaki's explosive temperament erupts. He might even give him a cat-killing backhand or two depending on how much Choi fights him. "HEY-- HEY!!" he shrieks, his voice almost hitting a girlishly high pitch with his rage, "I'M TALKIN AT YOU!! What kind of Christmas elf do you think you are, running from me?! SHUT UP AND ANSWER ME!"
He seems actually more incensed (and/or intrigued) that Choi ran away than any sort of name Choi may or may not have called him under than his list of preferred misnomers.
Well. Okay. So maybe he is a little crazy.
As Yamazaki both shakes it fast AND shows Choi what he is working with, the midget finds himself treated like a British Nanny. He loses his hat in the scuffle, letting the world see his baldness. The little man is fortunately small enough to resist the whip-lash. However, the pimp slaps are another matter.
Recovering from the hand that sets the bitch, Choi sputters and spits. Struggling to answer Yamazaki's question tastefully, the psychopath just has to go and make a short comment. And in the jaws of the dragon, he goes and complains about the smell.
"You wanna know WHY I'm running from you, buddy boy? Because you are a freaking CRAZY MAN and you are killing your teammates! Seriously, I don't even have my freaking claws on me! And if I did..." The midget glared, leaning himself forward between shakes. "... I would have shanked you something fierce, dude! Something FIERCE!"
And a little crazy? He makes Charles Manson look like Ben Stein!
Yamazaki pauses.
"So you're a clawman?"
"Listen," Yamazaki says, suddenly, amazingly, -chillingly- lucid. It takes him at least three licks to clear the pooled froth out of his mouth in sounds that are almost disgustingly wet. "I told you about this. There is only a few things you two are gonna be allowed to call me."
Choi said something that set him off. Again.
He grins.
"Usually I kill people for fucking up like that. But.."
He pets Choi's freshly bald head.
Yes, in that way.
"Ohhh," he soothes, his voice just shy of quivering with anticipation. "Shit. I'm gonna let that slide. You know why? I think.. we're gonna have some fun together." Holding Choi in a gentle but iron way, much like the way one would hold a loaf of bread, Yamazaki is already on his way back to his duffel bag and the downed Spider. "See, this guy right here?" he explains. "This guy just isn't gonna wanna have any /fun/. He's just a professional. I got use for that. But I can't really /party/ with him. You? See. You're a little crazy. I like the way you scream. And you're just about the right size.."
Leave it to Yamazaki to make judgments superficially like that. He's already emptying out his duffel, revealing a pump action riot shotgun, a baseball bat, a tomahawk pipe and a full length Japanese daito, and a lot of ammunition for all of them. (even the pipe) He apparently hit a weapons minimart or something.
"Yeah. See. They say I'm kind of cursed by this genius of mine." Who? "I got this kind of strategy in my head. Inspired! All thanks to you!"
Isn't that nice?!
If Choi doesn't make a good point of stopping him, Yamazaki is gonna pack his ass up in the duffel bag. The weapons aren't really important--he'll come back for them later. He's on a mission.
"I'll play my part here. I'm gonna show you the ropes, old man! Ohh.. when we're done--"
He might have to actually punch Choi here in a minute.
"I'm gonna have a fucking /excellent/ team..."
The first part unnerves Choi. Yamazaki's shift in personality simply paralyzes him. And then, Choi gets his dome rubbed... lovingly. The midget slowly withdraws psychologically. Yamazaki's insanity was pushing the Korean to his limits. And when he explains he is just the right size...
Choi shuts down.
He doesn't put up a resistance when Yamazaki dumps out the duffel bag. This was Kim. This man was Kim. The anti-Kim. Kim's evil twin brother who was seperated at birth. The one that Kim would fight in the last great battle of Justice. Kim. Kiiiiim.
"NO! NO!!!!" Choi screamed finally, leaving his trauma. The dwarf was panicking, he saw what Krauser was doing. He was being put being part of another Kim arrangement. Not one of the justice, but one of the control, the violence... the insanity. Yamazaki would probably have to punch him once or twice. But now he was struggling. "OH GOD. OH GOD! NO!"
He proceeds about this in an amazingly businesslike fashion. Yamazaki is surprisingly patient about this whole affair, forcing the screaming Choi into the duffel, humming a few bars of a childhood diddy to himself. He gets one limb packed in, only to have another escape, being forced to dislodge drowning midget-hands from his shirt, brow knit in concentration.
This comes from years of doing just this kind of thing.
Yes, you see? They always said Yamazaki was a dirty, godless son of a bitch. But you know.. now Yamazaki's got himself a new kind of class. He's even being compared to some of the most upscale guys around! Not that he really cares. Or even thinks about it overmuch.
"Just shut up and let this happen--" Yamazaki explains patiently, his fist going off like a cannon somewhere in the region of Choi's head. This is an inexorable process. He's tried stuffing Choi into the duffel bag, now he's just going to punch him in. "I have a set of skills--" stuff cram "--In the face of em, you ain't anything but my property. If you're good," punch wad "I'll give ya a little sticker that says so. You're gonna--" struggle crush "--eat when I tell ya." pry elbow "Sleep when I tell ya. Listen--LISTEN!" He tries to reason with Choi. Reason stomp (how did his leg get that high?) "--GET IN THE BAG!!" he seethes, punchuating his words with fist.
The rage passes quickly.
"Thatta boy!" He's calling him God already. "You belong to me now!" This is sort of fun. He might just own Spider too, if that bastard continues looking smug around him. Yamazaki struggles with the zipper and Choi in tandem, slowly zipping the chaotic affair shut.
The beating... well. Yamazaki is far more powerful than Choi. And Choi isn't exactly a meat tank like Chang. The first punch causes him to spasm. But not give up. The wresting and forcing doesn't break him either. But Yamazaki's irrefutable logic is what convinces Choi to get in the duffle bag. With a method that would make Socrates cry out for the hemlock, the midget lets himself be forced into the bag.
Nevermind his suddenly bout of unconsciousness. Choi wanted to go in there. And ownership... well, yes. For the next few team matches...
Choi is going to be Yamazaki's bitch.
Most people disagree.
Yamazaki and logic are not words often mentioned in respect of one another. It's refreshing to see someone who gets it. Lucky, too. Yamazaki was going to hit Choi with the baseball bat if he started to rip his bag. He paid $40 for this at the sports outlet.
"Aaah. Knew you'd see it my way," he states, a chilling calm leaking into his tone.
Then, the retarded lovechild of a giggle and a snicker.
Slinging the Choibag over a shoulder, Yamazaki stands. See, weapons like assault rifles and shotguns usually aren't his style; about as good as a swiss army knife in a real fight. Hence his not caring what exactly happens to them. But the sword--that he gets. It's a battered thing from it's poor treatment rolling around in a duffel bag with other lumps of steel. But he picks it up nonetheless. He takes /that/ with him, leaving the unconscious Spider with the rest. If they're all still there when he gets back, he'll collect it.
Absently, he spears Choi's hat on the weapon as he walks by.
He's gonna need that.
After all. His new toy isn't worth as much without the related accessories.
"Everybody Wang Chung tonight... o/`"
Log created on 20:05:16 10/25/2008 by Yamazaki, and last modified on 18:26:16 12/30/2008.