Description: A crack team of "R" operatives release the organization's own little WMD, Cody Travers, from incarceration the Southtown Penitentiary. With his help, they incite a riot in the prison cafeteria, intending to release the prisoners into the city to cause trouble for the Southtown Syndicate. At the behest of the Syndicate, Ayame and Nagase arrive to thwart their efforts. Meanwhile, the enigmatic Dr. Tran has only one thing in mind... REVENGE.
SOUTHTOWN PENITENTIARY, SOLITARY CONFINEMENT CELL 3, TWENTY MINUTES AGO
Cody Travers sits on the lone bed in his windowless cell, staring at the featureless wall. His eyes are sunken and glazed; a tray of food sits, untouched, on the floor in front of the enormous, concrete-reinforced door. He can barely manage the energy to move, let alone eat, ravaged as he is by a mixture of Glow withdrawal and plain old lack of delicious, delicious adrenaline his body craves.
Suddenly, the door lets out a hydraulic hiss and slowly creaks open. The blonde's head swivels slowly towards the opening. A few seconds later, a man in what looks like red and black SWAT gear and a balaclava appears in the doorway, holding up a syringe full of glowing green liquid.
"It took you... long enough," Cody rumbles, rising to his feet.
SOUTHTOWN PENITENTIARY, CAFETERIA, FIVE MINUTES AGO
Cody Travers, eyes glowing green, stomps into the fully packed cafeteria. He is followed by a team of men identical to the one who released him, "R" operatives sent to retrieve the organization's own personal WMD. Every head in the room swivels to look at the American man, locked up a few weeks ago.
Very deliberately, the blonde approaches an empty chair and wrenches it off of the ground, the bolts connecting it to the concrete floor stripping their heads away. He lifts the chair into the air, turns, and throws it almost lazily into the wall, where it crumples and falls to the ground.
A riot starts.
SOUTHTOWN PENITENTIARY, CAFETERIA, NOW
Cody Travers, roaring, throws a screaming prison guard across the cafeteria, where he crashes into a crowd of grappling men, guards and prisoners alike. It is one of the many throughout the cavernous room; the riot is in full swing, and supported by "R" they're actually overwhelming the guards.
Cody turns and grabs a nearby rioting prisoner, next hauling the unfortunate man above his head. He laughs, this time, and hurls the man upwards, where he crashes into the railing of the catwalk that circles the cafeteria.
"Hey, you Incredible Hulk motherfucker, we're supposed to be getting these guys out to the city, remember?" scowls one particularly lippy member of Travers's "R" entourage, turning away from stomping a mudhole in a security guard's face.
Three seconds later, the man crashes into the concrete wall of the cafeteria hard enough to leave a crater, and drops to the ground, limp.
Six people initially escorted Cody, a man valuable in terms of creating a loud, annoying scene. Such a function could be accredited to anyone within his group, really, but not as many are already placed where they can do the most damage. Top-end gear and weaponry made it trivial to extract Cody, and give him the serum to boot. But in the mix, things started to go downhill. One operative had been lost to the general hustle and bustle as they broke into the cafeteria, digging down and beginning to escalate the riot. Another made the poor decision to talk towards Cody, and is now a heap on the ground. That leaves four, spread out and aiming weapons in a menacing fashion, picking off guards in the confusion with a focused burst of fire when opportunity presents. From here, the heart of the prison, they can begin pressing out, and send a wave of horrors to sweep over the city... assuming nothing goes wrong, of course!
"You know," Ayame has that tone in her voice - the tone that suggests she's going to say what she's going to say, whether or not her partner in 'uncrime' already knows or not. "The numbers don't look good if you do the math." She plants the sole of her foot into a prisoner's gut, sending him stumbling backward into three others at such velocity that they all collapse into a heap. She makes the twirl of the six foot long metal staff in her hands look easy as she brings it crashing into the neck of another prisoner three times her size, robbing him of the capacity to speak without squeaking for the foreseeable future. A second sweep drops him to the ground as she calmly paves a path through the commotion raging through the prison hall.
"I don't mind this," she continues as she ducks under a haymaker punch meant to knock her block off before shoulder checking the man back and tripping him over the back of her leg in one quick flurry of motion. The staff clangs down against his cranium, switching him off like a light. "I mean out there." She gestures lazily with her left hand before leaning around a hook aimed for her nose and retaliates with a crushing knee to the prisoner's stomach, sending him crumpling to the floor in pain.
"The war, that is." She's been a Syndicate scout for weeks now. She's seen the exchanges. She's gotten glimpses as what Howard's cartel is up against. "If there weren't so many people unwittingly fighting on his side slowing this invasion down," A crouch leads into a rising snap kick and subsequent horizontal staff bash, "It'd already be over by now. Your loyalty's going to be put to the test before too long," she grins to herself faintly. Many suspect the strawberry-blonde doesn't have a drop of attachment to the Syndicate herself. They would mostly be right.
Ayame had always suspected prison might play a part of her future, but never like this. Sent in to get things under control; to stem the tide of hardened criminals from pouring out into the streets... an ironic task in her mind. She's always been trying to stay /out/ of prisons and now she's walking through one like it doesn't even matter. "Have you figured out where this all started yet?" she asks, sparing a glance over shoulder to make sure her cohort is keeping up. "Gotta be a ground zero. Let's find it and shut this mess down."
A glance toward the end of the hall, one narrow eyebrow arched as a man comes flying through the double doors marked Cafeteria, sliding several yards before coming to a rest unconscious. "Bit rough for a food fight."
Loyalty?
Giggle.
"Oh, you know how it is..." Nagase says distractedly. She and Ayame have been making their way in to 'quell' to riot, and there's just so many targets^H^H^Hrioters out there to choose from! Big ones, small ones. Short ones, tall ones! All hurling pieces of furniture and shouting about The Man(tm) and overwhelming the guards and in a few cases firing guns into the air like this is a Wild West saloon and they've got something to prove before sundown. "Dictator A doesn't like the cut of Crimelord B's gib," the Iga ninja says as she walks, suddenly whipping a hand around and burying her panda-hilted ninjato into a rioter's stomach practically to the hilt before slipping it out again and sheathing it in one quick motion. "Moustache Boy C reads Dictator A's Twitter about it, they start defriending each other on Facebook, then you get... this!" she finishes, waving her hand around as if to encompass the entire affair.
The handwave, toward the end, becomes a knife hand chop into the throat of a rioter sneaking up behind her with a chair; he crumples to the floor in a gurgling heap.
Schoolgirls these days. Seriously.
For a moment, the fox-haired Iga ninja regards Ayame with a cool expression. Nagase isn't exactly high up in the Syndicate hierarchy, per se... but that's because she's a contract worker, just like the staff-wielding lass at her side. As far as the technoninja is concerned, she's entirely outside petty concerns like pay grades and chain of command. A detached attitude is so *useful* in this sort of scenario, which is why Nagase decides for the moment that she actually LIKES this snide young warrior. Besides, plaid skirt AND the Christian iconography? It's very hip, in Nagase's Shibuya-fueled fashion opinion.
There's a pause as Nagase steps up to the cafeteria, and blinks at Ayame. "Oh! Or did you mean THIS little fracas? Feh, who knows. Maybe it'll be like that scene in 'Watchmen' and we'll see someone get his hands chainsaw'ed off." Grinning like crazy, she then turns and cups her hands to her mouth and yells into the din: "EVENING, MUPPETFUCKERS! IF YOU'D BE SO KIND AS TO HEAD BACK TO YOUR CELLS, THAT'D BE SUPER. OTHERWISE YOU CAN STAY HERE ON THE LIDO DECK FOR YOUR COMPLIMENTARY SHUFFLEBOARD AND ASSWHUPPIN'!"
When Nagase enters the cafeteria, Cody has another guard held above his head, this one in full riot gear. He was only a heartbeat away from flinging the shouting man at full force into the back of the nearest "R" soldier - because it would be hilarious - but the arrival of the ninja catches his attention, especially when she starts shouting.
He listens patiently to the entire spiel, ignoring the pleas for release of the man he's still holding aloft. The new arrival has caught his interest, more for her ridiculous hair and even more ridiculous getup than for her words; he may be listening, but in truth it's all going in one ear and out the other. One word in paticular, however, catches his interest...
"Ain't nobody calls me..." Cody snarls, rocking backwards in preparation to throw. "... a MUPPETFUCKER!"
The American throws his prison guard. Screaming and thrashing, the man soars across the cafeteria straight towards Nagase, just barely clearing the heads of the throng of fighting people. The human torpedo gets the idea to shield his head with his arms about a second too late.
COMBATSYS: Cody has started a fight here on the right meter side.
> //////////////////////////////]
|=------\-------\0 Cody
COMBATSYS: Invader has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
> //////////////////////////////]
|=------\-------\0 Cody
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Invader
COMBATSYS: Nagase has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Nagase 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Cody
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Invader
COMBATSYS: Ayame has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Nagase 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Cody
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Ayame 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Invader
The heads of the four armed men shift, all of them glancing towards Nagase, who decides to make quite the scene. Gaining the wrath of Cody isn't particularly advantageous to anyone here, as it distracts him from wading through the guards. Nagase is certainly not a guard, information transferred through radio to each of the heavily armoured men in particular, and with a mild nod, they level their weapons at the ninja, bracing themselves behind staggered tables and garbage cans. Before the sharp crack of gunfire fills the air, molten lead flinging past the thrown guard, similarly trying to hit home on the lithe opponent. Ayame, being prudently silent, is as of yet unscathed. Maybe there are advantages to not yelling out your location...
High atop the merciless spire of order and justice that is the West Watchtower B, a figure stands. Brave and bold, standing strong against the tides of chaos boiling within the prison proper. This man, this /dashing man/, does not care for it, looking down disdainfully as his coats whips about behind him. What does he care if these prisoners riot? What does he care of the plans of dictators and kings? Such things are beneath him.
No, the mysterious man known only as 'Dr. Tran' has only one care in his mind, a thought that comes into crystal clarity as the shouted conversation between Cody and Nagase rings out down at the cafeteria entrance. A fury wells up inside his breast, and without a second thought, Dr. Tran raises a megaphone to his mouth.
"NOT A MUPPETFUCKER, HUH!? WELL HOW ABOUT A PANTS THIEF, YOU DIRTY SON OF A BITCH?"
Not even waiting for a response, Tran turns and crouches down and swings into the actual inside of the watchtower. He raises the megaphone again. "STAY RIGHT THERE, TRAVERS, I'M COMING FOR YOU AND NOTHING'S GONNA GET IN MY WAY." Except for maybe the ladder leading down. Tran starts climbing down furiously, occasionally pausing to turn and glare in Cody's direction.
Ayame is patiently quiet as Nagase replies. The terms, the jargon, all easily understood by the weapons maven, still doesn't address her original question. A point driven home as she rests her right hand at the back of her head after sweeping a charging thug to the ground and deciding to plant her right foot on his face. "Sure, sure," she finally allows, "But that doesn't get us any closer to being done with-"
But Nagase figures out what she's getting at in short order, "Chainsaws, eh. Guess they need something to make it a fair fight." Her thoughts are drifting elsewhere, the girl turning to pay closer attention to the ebb and flow of the mob; trying to spot where the movers and shakers of the pandemonium might be. The riot itself seems to have taken on a life of its own, growing well beyond the capacity of any one person to drive it one way or another.
And in the next moment, all eyes are on Nagase. And then back on Cody. And then on Tran?! One flagrant distraction would be enough for a rogue like Ayame. Three, on the other hand, makes it all too easy. She all but disappears, moving across the cafeteria with great ease, eyes on the young man with the uncharming green about his eyes. Cody Travers, she muses, well read in the rosters of the invading organizations. The symptoms aren't unfamiliar to her. That guy is going to be a problem.
"Hey there," she'll offer as a perhaps to-late warning as the girl steps from the crowd and aims to kick one of the 'R' soldier gun barrels up at a bad angle. A follow up knee and painful twist of his gun-arm to try and drop one of the three to the ground would be her idea of saying hello. "Guess we found the source!"
COMBATSYS: Nagase dodges Cody's Large Thrown Object.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Nagase 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Cody
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Invader
COMBATSYS: Nagase dodges Invader's Strong Shot.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Nagase 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Cody
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Invader
He who laughs last, laughs best? Something like that. Nagase is bringing her hands down and about to turn to Ayame and fire off some witty comment when three things happen: Cody hurls a prison guard at her, someone with a machinegun opens fire on her, and Tran appears and throws everyone for a loop. Oh, well isn't this just ducky! "Clearly: I just did, muppetfucker!" the Iga ninja grins, watching the projectiles sail at her. The nice thing about cafeteria tables nowadays is how sturdy they are, especially here in a prison where they need to really stand up to some abuse.
And for all her diminutive size, Nagase's cyber-enhance frame can really pack a wallop when she wants it to. Grinning madly, she shouts "Going UP!" and, bringing one leg up high, SLAMS it down onto one end of the table nearest her. The result is that it flips, going completely vertical... and provides a handy shield against all these nasty bullets and people that Cody and company have thrown at her. The bullets crack into the heavy plastic and metal frame and, owing to the sheer might of Cody's manly thews, the prison's guard head slams right THROUGH it.
Nagase gives him a sheepish smile as he makes a D: face, then both he and the table assembly crash to the ground. That little defense cost the fox-haired ninja some momentum and effort, but on the other hand, she's, you know... not pulling bullets out of her shirt.
A hand comes up, and invisible to all but her, a tap of the finger turns on Nagase's HUD inside those amber lenses. Cody Travers... oh dear. A fine, fine figure of a man (not). And someone with a history that the Syndicate has well documented indeed. "What do you think?" she throws out to Ayame, jumping up and bounding across the tables toward Cody, lightly stepping on rioters' heads before jumping up and making one attempt to land on Cody's head, both feet first, and then jump away. FROG NINJA WHAT WHAT WHAT. "Does he like the full firm flesh of Miss Piggy, perhaps? Or are you into the wiggly kind like Kermit?"
COMBATSYS: Cody endures Nagase's Light Kick.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Nagase 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Cody
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Invader
The moment the prison guard leaves Cody's hands, the blonde's attention is diverted once again by the arrival of the mysterious man of action, Dr. Tran. The man's brow furrows in surprise. He knows for sure he's no muppetfucker... and he's fairly certain he's not a pants thief, either. He vaguely recalls an Incident with that one Japanese girl, even through the Glow haze, but he's almost certain that the man shouting at him and the girl in question aren't the same person.
Oh, well. If he wants to fight about it... the more, the merrier. The blonde shrugs and turns back to face Nagase... just in time for her to crash into his forehead feet-first. Startlingly, he hardly reacts. Oh, sure, there's the solid THWACK of impact and a bruise forms almost immediately, but the man's only real response is to sway slightly backwards.
As the ninja girl attempts to spring away, Cody's arms suddenly snap upwards, hands reaching out to grab ahold of the ninja's ankles. Should he manage to get a good grip, he'll lean back again and whip the girl forward in an attempt to slap her straight through the middle of the nearest cafeteria table like a big fleshy club.
This time, his only response to the quip is to roar wordlessly. Cody Travers is not very good at banter.
COMBATSYS: Ayame successfully hits Invader with Random Combo.
- Power hit! -
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Nagase 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Cody
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Invader
A schoolgirl onslaught was certainly not expected. Nagase is good at being very loud and distracting. Ayame is good at taking advantage of that sort of thing. The end result is a head turning at the nearly cheerful greeting, before the hapless minion gets his weapon kicked up as he attempts to twist it around. His stance broken, he's kneed right in the jibblies, doubling over with the beginning of a hiss of pain before he's spun around, crashing face-first into the floor hard enough to crack the visor of his helmet. His gun goes sprawling, and he only writhes in a somewhat pathetic manner. Not out, but he's not an immediate concern. What happens to be is how the other three turn to stare towards Ayame, her surprise ruined! One of them rushes forward, hefting up the butt of his gun and attempting to introduce it to the side of the skirted terror's face, skidding his booted foot to then try and flip her forward with a growl. The other two flank, beginning to approach with guns leveled. They are well trained, and as a team, not COMPLETELY trivial to brush aside... At least, compared to the sea of mundane guards and desperate prisoners!
Pushing off of the ladder a little further from the ground than is strictly healthy or neccesary, Dr. Tran lands in a crouch, his coat billowing out around him in slow motion. It makes the burst of speed he puts on moments later seem all the more speedy.
Making a beeline straight toward Cody, Tran roars, /enraged/ by Cody's lack of anything coming near a proper response. By god, when Dr. Tran makes a ruckus, people are supposed to /pay attention/!
"ARE YOU STEWING IN YOUR OWN GUILT?! OR ARE YOU TOO MUCH OF A GOD DAMN PANTS STEALING ANIMAL TO EVEN FEEL SHAME ANYMORE!?" Ducking past several prisoners, Tran takes to the air like Nagase did, except while she flitted about like a gentle little girly fairy who can't get anything done, Dr. Tran stomps a dude's face in order to launch himself like a torpedo at Cody, feet-first. "TASTE MY HOT STEAMY VENGEANCE, FOOL!"
COMBATSYS: Tran has joined the fight here in the center.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Nagase 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Cody
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Invader
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 0|-------|-------
COMBATSYS: Invader successfully hits Ayame with Bonesmasher.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Nagase 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Cody
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Invader
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 0|-------|-------
Her introductory combination of attacks delivered, Ayame steps back, left hand resting on her staff, the long weapon tucked under her right arm. "Looks like a grouchy sort to me," she answers Nagase's random question, inspecting the condition of the soldier she took down. He'll be back up in a bit, but that leaves time for-
Getting a rifle butt to the side of the head apparently! The blow catches her as she turns, stunning the girl long enough for him to close distance and flip her to the ground on her back, a soft grunt escaping her lips as she lands. These guys are kind've good, she muses. "You guys suck."
So this isn't just a random occurance but rather a part of the greater sea of warfare washing over Southtown she muses as she immediately kicks into action, planting one hand and foot against the ground, and spinning up quickly, her staff clearing a six foot radius around her as she sweeps it over her head while rising. Quelling prison riots she was on board with. No one said anything about tangling with 'R' units though.
"Gonna want hazard pay for this one..." She holds her ground, staying put, her staff held in front of her at a defensive angle as the three men approach with drawn guns. "All right, who's up next??" A quick glance to the side to check on Nagase is all she can spare as another loud mouth enters the fray. A brief squint of skepticism before her eyes widen just slightly. Oh shit, it's Dr. Tran!?
COMBATSYS: Ayame calculates her next move.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Nagase 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Cody
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Invader
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 0|-------|-------
COMBATSYS: Nagase fails to interrupt Strong Throw from Cody with Nagase Spiral.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Nagase 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Cody
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Invader
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 0|-------|-------
Dr. Tran can only make everything worse, muses the leader of this attack band. However, extensive information assures him that it will make things worse for Nagase and Ayame, too. He can just hope his random rampage inflicts collateral damage as well as Cody. After she got staggered, the three remaining men fan out, surrounding her. There's nowhere to turn without a blind spot, as the downed man drags himself to his feet, snatching his weapon and lifting it up. The only benefit to a truly tactical brawler is that they can't simply open fire in tandem, without a high chance of cutting each other down as well. Each make sudden, suspicious movements. Which one is going to attack... which one...
That one.
The fighter presently at her back shoots forward, one clenched fist whistling through the air as he tries to hit a blow to her kidneys, trying to stagger her and interrupt her focus in one fell swoop. The others positioning themselves to take advantage of the situation, whichever way it falls. Let the gangbang commence!
Ninja grab attacker! Ninja send attacker headfirst into floor, leap away, make 'HaHA!' noise like Daffy Duck in 'The Scarlet Pumpernickel' and then disappear into the distance to strike fear and quack in the night or what the hell ever. INSTEAD Cody, who has played far too much 'Rampage' in his day and is clearly scarred by it, swings Nagase into a table so hard it SHATTERS. Apparently ferocity counts for more than speed at this juncture; Cody's grab and slam is simply too much for Nagase to handle.
She stumbles out of the wreckage of the table, muttering "...didn't hurt," just in time to see Tran literally sail over her head and toward Cody. However that ends up is not her problem, mostly because her ears are still ringing from being slammed into the table so damn hard. "What's the matter, Travers..." she mumbles, squinting her eyes and trying to make her double vision stop. "Isn't touching underage girls what got you in here in the first place?"
COMBATSYS: Cody endures Tran's Strong Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Nagase 0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0 Cody
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Invader
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 0|-------|-------
Cody Travers has never played Rampage once in his life, and that's a basic scientific fact.
Cody snorts as Nagase crashes through the table, releasing the girl's ankles. He looks up, once again, just in time to see someone flying at him feet first. This time it's Dr. Tran, Real American Legend, coming in with a missile dropkick. Unlike the first time with Nagase, however, the American has plenty of time to get out of the way.
He doesn't.
It's a lot like kicking a wall. Oh, sure, underneath Cody's orange prison jumpsuit, the flesh again bruises dark purple almost instantly... but once again, the blonde merely sways backwards. This time, however, he also takes a step back, rocking his weight back onto his right foot.
It takes him about as long to go on the offensive, too. As Tran hangs in the air after delivering his kick - before he can even be reclaimed by gravity - Cody springs forward off his right foot, ducking forwards into a crouch underneath the mysterious Doctor. His right arm swings upwards in a vicious uppercut, fist twisting suddenly to the right halfway through the swing.
The blow, unfortunately for Tran, is aimed right at the Doctor's ass. Even worse, a split second after Cody reaches full extension on the strike, an eight foot tall whirlwind, laced with streaks of sickly green chi, erupts into being just in front of Cody, threatening to engulf the tiny America!n fighter and send him flying into a nearby mass of sweaty, grappling prisoners.
COMBATSYS: Cody successfully hits Tran with Criminal Upper.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Nagase 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Cody
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Invader
[ |||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 1|-------|=======
Dr. Tran's eyes widen. The world feels like it's slowing down, giving him ample time to see his fate coming. Cody's fist winds back and then rushes upward, an inexorable force of destruction. It hits Tran right in the butt.
The doctor literally goes flying, the force of the whirlwind blasting him upward like a rag doll. Limbs are extended and Tran's entire body is rapidly spinning and dear god it's like he just got hit in the ass by a train. He lands rough, in a broken heap, scraps of black cloth gently raining down around him.
But Dr. Tran is no wimp, nosiree. Pushing himself to his feet despite how hard his knees want to buckle, Tran forces himself into a pose worthy of an international action star/hero/doctor/archaelogist/storm trooper. Flinging his coat to the side, Tran spreads his legs and points with all of the drama he can muster, right at Cody. "Don't think you've won just because you got a lucky shot in on my ass!"
Behind Tran, several inmates stop stabbing each other with sharpened spoons in order to point and giggle at his ass, bared and naked for all the world to see thanks to the basketball-sized hole in his trousers. The doctor whirls on them, steadily growing more and more furious, and also giving pretty much everybody a great view of his ass. "What's so funny?! I am THIS close to losing my temper, I swear to god!"
Judging by the rosy hue rising in his cheeks, Dr. Tran's probably already lost it.
COMBATSYS: Tran switches his Mindset.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Nagase 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Cody
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Invader
[ |||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 1|-------|=======
COMBATSYS: Ayame blocks Invader's Quick Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Nagase 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Cody
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Invader
[ |||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 1|-------|=======
With the wild-Tran-card in the mix, Ayame isn't taking anything for granted at this point. Fortunately, for reason she can only surmise has to do with pants and the theft thereof, Tran seems fixated on the biggest threat in the rioting cafeteria, and that's Cody Travers. Or, well, maybe the biggest threat is that hole burnt into the pants of the good Doctor. It might be a tossup at this point.
Falling defensive has forced the 'R' soldiers to be more wary in how they deal with the girl, buying Ayame time to devise her next step. That doesn't meen the red-and-black clad girl is oblivious to the exchange going on elsewhere. That table didn't just smash itself, after all. "Ah! Your profile didn't mention your age," she remarks in response to Nagase's gripe against Cody, shifting her posture slightly to close up a defensive gap that might have otherwise been taken advantage of.
She risks a swift glance Tran's way only to regret it immediately, deciding instead to focus on the trio surrounding her. The soldier behind her aims for her back, but it isn't anything she can't address with a timely shift of her staff, inserting it into the path of the blow and leaving him to slam his knuckles into unforgiving metal. "All right, looks like you volunteered," she notes, her tone neutral with just a slight edge of excitement.
Whirling around, she aims to slam her staff horizontally under the guard's chin while simultaneously springing up and over him as to land behind him. The weapon itself flares to life with a crimson hued color as the girl aims to keep the weapon held against the man's throat while she positions behind to use him as a shield from his two standing partners while simultaneously seeking to cut off his ability to breath!
Nagase is front and center for Tran's (literal) asswhupping.
It's a good thing Tran and Cody are focused on each other, and Ayame is dancing with the 'R' soliders, because the fox-haired ninja, having observed these events, starts laughing so hard her face turns red. She leans forward onto a nearby table, pounding the top with her right fist... the one with the big metal protector on it, so the sound is a really loud *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* that is only barely audible under her cackling laughter.
And then just as suddenly she stands straight up, glancing over her shoulder at Ayame. "I never said *I* was underage, just that Mr. Travers here likes to dip something in the cradle, if you know what I'm saying." Does anyone? You never make sense, Nagase.
But seeing her partner in crime in trouble -- and knowing that if she turns and looks at Cody or Tran again she'll start cracking up a second time -- the Iga scion leaps into the fray at Ayame's defense. In fact, she appears to be able to coordinate her assault relatively well; while the others try to give Ayame the 'business', Nagase attempts to leap onto the shoulders of two standing near each other and putting one leg on the outside of both of their heads, suddenly brings her legs in together and effectively slams their heads together, giving the Syndicate contract ninja a chance to leap away to safety!
By the time Dr. Tran is pointing at Cody and shouting about his ass, the blonde has already lost interest. In fact, he lost interest almost as soon as the Doctor was out of arm's reach, turning back to face Nagase... only to find her in hysterical laughter. For a moment, he almost seems confused, glowing green eyes narrowing into a squint.
When the ninja leaps away, Cody turns to follow her jump, reaching behind his back. They took away his assortment of knives - fixed-blade and otherwise - when he was arrested... but he's been in prison before, and he's learned some very valuable skills during his time there. In fact, the skill in question is what got him into solitary confinement.
SOUTHTOWN PENITENTIARY, EXERCISE FIELD, FOUR DAYS AGO
Cody Travers approaches an enormous bald man, one hand clutched tightly around a small object. He clears his throat, and the man turns to face him expectantly. Grinning broadly, Cody opens his hand; clutched in it is a shank, made using a cafeteria spoon, Cody's fingers and teeth, and about an hour of elbow grease.
"I challenge you," Cody tells White Power Bill, eyes and weapon gleaming in the sunlight, "To a battle of knifes."
SOUTHTOWN PENITENTIARY, CAFETERIA, NOW
Cody tears his shank from the back pocket of his jumpsuit; retrieving it was the second thing he did after being released from his cell, right after beating the first man he saw to within an inch of his life. Unfortunately for the "R" soldier who let him out, he was that man.
Cody twists the shank around in his hand, shifting his grip on it to hold it like a dart, and hauls his arm back. He takes a moment to line up his shot, and then snaps his arm forwards, hurling the shank through the air like a dart...
... straight at Ayame's side. So what if she has a human shield? Worst that happens is some "R" schmuck gets stabbed instead. Boy, wouldn't that be a catastrophe.
COMBATSYS: Ayame successfully hits Invader with Nocturnal Solitude.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Nagase 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Cody
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Invader
[ |||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 1|-------|=======
COMBATSYS: Invader interrupts Combo Attack from Nagase with Suppression Fire.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Nagase 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 Cody
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Invader
[ |||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 1|-------|=======
Well, Ayame is doing much better on her own then Nagase might care to give credit. They may have been focusing on her to the exclusion of most things, but they are hardly in a vulnerable position. Tran is ignored through a large amount of effort. Cody is waylayed sadly, and this crack team of invaders doesn't have the resources to take /two/ young girls. But they can try! Ayame cracks one in the chin, although he had braced himself; not enough to defend himself, but enough to dull the blow. Although he's neatly burned, one hand grasping Ayame's weapon as he tries to aim the weapon backwards, firing blindly. It won't hit her, but it's rather damnably loud!
Nagase manages to perch, but both men had a hair trigger. As one, they level the weapons straight up, and unload, firing into her before she can do more then slam them awkwardly together, sending them to the ground in a carnal-seeming embrace. They manage to separate, only to realize Ayame is thoroughly strangling one of them. The fourth is moving to try and butt her face with his gun though, so hopefully that will be short lived!
COMBATSYS: Ayame fails to reflect Knife Throw from Cody with Midsummer Fantasy.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Nagase 0/-------/-======|=======\==-----\1 Cody
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Invader
[ |||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 1|-------|=======
So that's how it is, is it? As the rage continues to rise in his gut, Dr. Tran slowly turns back toward Cody, who is basically completely blowing him off. The prisoners behind him start to ogle and advance, intent on doing what dudes in prison do. Tran barely notices, intent on his pants-stealing nemesis. It is easily the most infuriating insult that Tran has received in 2, three hours tops.
TWO AND A HALF HOURS AGO
Dr. Tran sits with his legs crossed on an average Southtown rooftop, a McDonald's bag resting in his lap. "Dessert first~" he says to himself, sugar in his voice. He reaches into the bag, searching. After a moment, he frowns. "They couldn't have..." Approximately five seconds later, the bag goes flying off the roof, and a scream echoes throughout the city. "MY APPLES PIES! SON OF A BIIIIIIIIITCH!"
THE PRESENT
Dr. Tran, now riding a prisoner through the air like a surfboard, bears down on Nagase, a thick cloud of steam surrounding him. "IF NOBODY ELSE IS LEFT, YOU HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO FIGHT ME!"
The gun fire of her stubborn human shield is more than just mildly distracting to his captor as Ayame keeps trying to edge backward, hoping to force the other two to stay in front of her while also affording her a line of sight toward whatever it is that Travers drug addict is up to.
The glint of a shank being being aimed is noticed in the sea of confusion. Dealing with something like that should be no problem, and it's with the utmost in the way of confidence that she shoves the soldier forward, and sweeps her right hand out, leaving a swath of almost rose-colored energy in its trace. A simple matter of deflecting the threat-
She lost track of one soldier too many, however, the fourth she had ambushed earlier managing to catch the girl off guard with a rifle butt to the back of the head. Forced into a forward stagger, her tool against that flying weapon fizzles from lack of concentration, leaving the sharp object to spear into her side as intended, provoking a startled grck. Her left hand keeping a grip on her staff, her right hand drops to her side to draw the knife free with a hiss between her teeth. "Prisons and I don't get along," she mutters, keeping Cody's weapon between her fingers for a moment.
On the other hand, Tran seems to fit right in and he's storming right on by. Shaking her head, the girl whirls around to keep her from leaving her back open to the soldiers. "You... okay?" she hazards Nagase's way, not sounding terribly optimistic.
COMBATSYS: Tran successfully hits Nagase with Aggressive Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Nagase 1/------=/=======|=======\==-----\1 Cody
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Invader
[ |||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 1|------=|=======
Did she just get shot? Rolling across the ground to a stop, Nagase has about enough time to grit out "Fine, th--" before she turns and sees Tran bearing down on her like some sort of short, stupid-looking, not-a-real-doctor steam meteor who is not a real doctor. Nagsae really wants to employ ninja training and just disappear on the spot, but the prisoner surfboard gives him extra reach and that much more priority! And weight. Important, the weight, because Tran drives the Iga ninja into the ground so hard the concrete floor cracks around it like somebody dropped an elephant on top of her. Apparently steam translates fairly well to gravity.
There is a moment of terrible silence. Once it passes, Nagase explodes out from under Tran, hurling him AND the prisoner off the side and taking nice deep breaths. "You know what? To hell with this. They don't pay me even remotely enough to put up with you!" she snaps. Oh dear, she lost her composure? Maybe? With a meaningful glance at Ayame, the fox-haired girl makes a complex series of what seems like... Three Stooges-style face mugging. A couple raised eyebrows, a lip twist, some neck jerks. They're all in Cody's general direction.
Then she vanishes.
No, seriously. She absolutely, 100% vanishes completely from sight. Where did she go?! Where will she reappear?! NOBODY KNOWS D:
(PROTIP: Ayame knows and maybe Cody)
Cody grins again as his shank buries itself into Ayame's side. It isn't the grin of a predator or a psychotic, startlingly; just the grin of someone having a hell of a good time. This image is reinforced when he straightens up and begins a casual stroll in the direction of Ayame and Nagase, whistling happily.
The whistling falters when Nagase disappears. That's probably not good. Despite the worried crease that appears on the blonde's forehead, he keeps walking, leaning down and casually wrenching another chair out of the ground with one hand. He swings his new toy up to rest on his shoulder, bouncing it up and down nonchalantly.
Nor does his stroll falter when one of the "R" soldiers is unlucky enough to be between him and his intended target, Ayame. Frowning, the American hefts the chair off his shoulder, swinging it far out to the side. "You're in my way," he informs the soldier before him. He doesn't bother asking him to move.
Cody swings the chair one-handed, slamming it in horizontally at the side of the man who is supposed to be his ally, in an attempt to club the soldier out of the way. Hopefully, it'll be enough force to knock the man out of the way, so Travers can continue his amble towards Ayame.
COMBATSYS: Invader dodges Cody's Random Weapon.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Nagase 0/-------/------=|=======\==-----\1 Cody
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Invader
[ |||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 1|------=|=======
Well thank goodness for small favors. The poor manhandled man that Ayame opted to get warm and cozy with is finally released when she gets a hot helping of Cody's practiced penetration. Yet this put him between Cody and his goal, which is a precarious event in the best of circumstances. Through a practiced hand, he hurls himself to the ground, the chair swishing a scant inch over his head; and then he begins to roll in a less then fluid manner, clearing Cody fully. "Sh,shit..." he hisses out. The other three know better then to attack Ayame at this point. Cody will just get more annoyed. Tran? Who wants Tran on them? For lack of a better target, they level their weapons towards Nagase, managing to unload a volley of lead. ...that quickly cuts off, since she then vanished. They then gape jaws, utterly bewildered, but hopefully they totally shot her first.
While Tran has wrecked many a sucker, felled many a fool, and ruined many a face, this is probably the first time he's ever actually beaten someone straight out of existence before. He may have overdone it.
Or maybe causing Nagase to disintegrate was the single awesomest thing Dr. Tran's ever done. History will have to decide, because he's way too busy moving on to the next target. Stepping off of the hapless prisoner who he so rudely used, Tran takes a moment to check and see where everybody is, so as best to tactically position himself.
He gets about as far as seeing Cody, and in short order decides that planning is for pussies.
Moments later, the doctor is hurtling through the air again, at Cody. Again. Except this time is /different/ because he's leading with the other end! And, if by some miracle he actually knocks Cody down, he will punch the considerably larger man. Punch him with /steam/ and /explosions./
No, Nagase is decidedly not okay. Somehow the fox-haired girl ends up in the path of Tran's path of destruction and that proves to be unfortunate. Bleeding from a painful stab and worried about dropping her guard to help the girl only to get mobbed by the soldiers, Ayame holds her ground, twirling her staff quickly, ready to throw that angular momentum into an attack or shift to defense at an instant's notice.
As Nagase gestures toward Cody Ayame glances that way, only to notice him bearing in on her... or, rather, through the soldiers who spring out of the 'R' enforcer's way. "All right," Ayame remarks, the spinning titanium at her side beginning to glow crimson once again as she empowers the weapon with another dose of precision tuned chi. "Just you and me." she smirks Cody's way. Tran goes flying by. "And that guy." she amends quickly.
One sweeping spin of her glimmering taff is utilized to force the 'R' soldiers to back off for a split second - long enough for Ayame to bolt for Cody. "Actually," she adds as her weapon begins to glow brighter, infused with even more chi that begins to concentrate at the ends, collecting into the shape of a vorpal edged axe blade, "Let's fit one more in."
Here's hoping for Nagase's participation, the girl muses, not entirely convinced that the other fighter didn't take her opportunity to split all together. Cody would find himself the target of furiously fast, vicious chi-laced strikes the instant the moment seems ideal. This might be her best shot at trying to drop the 'R' threat all together... and to that end she invests all her strength and precision!
COMBATSYS: Nagase blocks Invader's Medium Shot.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Nagase 0/-------/-----==|=======\==-----\1 Cody
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ayame 0/???????/???????|======-\-------\0 Invader
[ |||||||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 1|-------|=======
COMBATSYS: Cody endures Tran's Dr. Tran - Man of Action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Nagase 0/-------/-----==|=======\=====--\1 Cody
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ayame 0/???????/???????|======-\-------\0 Invader
[ |||||||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 1|-----==|=======
COMBATSYS: Nagase and Ayame successfully hit Cody with Pleated Skirt Fury.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Nagase 0/-------/-----==|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Cody
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0 Invader
[ |||||||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 1|-----==|=======
It's a bit like watching a magic lantern show: the 'R' gunmen open fire at random at where Nagase was, and even her path considering where it looked like she was HEADING. There's flickers of black, and off-white, and even a little red as the bullets make a series of *SPANG!* metallic noises, bouncing off Nagase's drawn, panda head-hilted ninja sword as she rushes Cody at the speed of ninja. Sadly, one -- ONE -- bullet penetrates this defense, slamming into her calf and causing her to grunt in pain...
...but it's not enough to stop her. As Ayame sweeps in for her series of ridiculously fast and well-aimed strikes, Nagase almost literally pops out of nowhere on the opposite side of Cody, one ninjato drawn... and the blade glistening with a nearly liquid-looking pale orange color. "Tag!", the fox-haired ninja says cheerfully, before laying into Cody from the *other side* with her own series of superfast weapon strikes, before leaping out and away, her last shot a trio of poisoned kunai that bury themselves in Cody's meaty, meaty back.
As for Nagase? She looks... tired and hurt, but determined not to show ANYBODY, EVER. "I could seriously go for a Red Bull right now," she mutters.
COMBATSYS: Nagase takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Nagase 0/-------/-----==|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Cody
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0 Invader
[ |||||||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 1|-----==|=======
Dr. Tran's flying tackle does not end well for the Real American Legend. He crashes into Cody's chest when the blonde is but a few steps from Ayame, with enough force to send even the largely immovable Travers stumbling a few steps to the side. He does not, however, fall down, despite the loud *crack* upon impact that was, more than likely, one of his ribs.
"You little..." Cody snarls, grabbing Tran by the scruff of the neck and hauling him into the air. He hauls back his other hand, clenching it into a fist...
... and Ayame's energy blade crashes into the arm clutching Tran. There is no visible effect at first, save for an involuntary muscle spasm that happens to force his hand open, dropping the good Doctor to the ground. Cody turns to face Ayame, raising his already-clenched fist, and eats another strike across the chest.
About then is when Nagase reappears behind the blonde, laying into his back with her own, much less energy-based blade. The two girls unleash a flurry of cuts into the American's chest and back... all apparently to little effect. Not even his jumpsuit appears to be seeing any real ill effect by the blows, even if they are causing Cody to jerk back and forth like he's doing the Truffle Shuffle.
That changes when Nagase's kunai bury themselves into Cody's back. The innumerable cuts all process at once, and his prison jumpsuit explodes into orange shreds. A heartbeat later, the blonde drops heavily to his knees, and his flesh follows suit, over a dozen extremely thin cuts appearing in the flesh of his chest, back, and arms.
They all spray blood like something out of a Goddamn samurai movie. Cody's apparently extremely high blood pressure, however, is not the largest cause for concern. For a moment, the blood Travers sheds is red... until, all of a sudden, it turns blight, fluorescent green, the same color as his eyes.
Cody throws his head back and roars, an inhuman, modulated wail. He raises one hand and slams it into the floor in fury and pain; the concrete craters underneath the blow, spraying dust into the air. Snarling, the American hauls himself to his feet like an enraged animal, snorting.
Unfortunately for Ayame, she's the first thing he sees. His eyes narrow, and both of his hands clench into fists, knuckled popping audibly. "Tonight," the blonde man rumbles, voice still modulated by the effects of the Glow in his system, "It glows for you."
That's all the warning Ayame gets. For a millisecond that seems to stretch far longer than time dictates it should, sickly green light flashes at Cody's feet, the room around him dimming. There are action lines, too. It's great. It lasts only a moment before time catches up with itself and Cody springs forwards, moving with surprising speed; so fast, in fact, he trails hazy, translucent green afterimages.
Cody sets upon Ayame like a berserk animal, fists a blur. He snaps out two quick jabs, and then suddenly turns back to face Nagase. Maybe he's making sure she isn't leaving; maybe he's just retarded. Who knows. He whirls back to face Ayame, and... repeats the process, snapping two more jabs out at her face and then turning to face Nagase again.
He repeats the process twice more before, finally, following up the second jab with a left hook, and then swinging his right hand down and up towards the girl's chin in a vicious - and ridiculously powerful - uppercut.
The hapless invaders have little clue what is going on. Things have gone chaotic and confusing; Cody seems to be wading through assaults capable of killing a bull elephant and still trying to bite the head off Ayame as if she were a pigeon in Ozzy's glory days. They hunker up together, all four of them remaining upright in various stages of injury, trying to maintain an iron defense as they raise their weapons. Nagase seems to be the weakest at the moment, although chances are they will need to retract before this combat ends. "End her!" hisses the team leader, as another scouring wall of lead is launched in her direction. This band of ruthless thugs is tenacious if nothing else, the ground pattering with the hissing steel of spent shell casings.
BONK. Dr. Tran runs into Cody like a race car runs into a brick wall, complete with horrific explosion and mourning widow. Indeed, it seems like it's going to be the death of the doctor as Cody picks him up, murder in his eyes.
But then salvation! Sweet, glorious mercy from on-high! Ayame and Nagase aren't exactly angels, but Dr. Tran will take what he can get. Truly, his gratefulness knows no bounds. "You girls are annoying, go play with some dolls or something and stop butting in." The face of gratitude can be an ugly one, as Tran turns away from all of the other REAL fighters here, once again showcasing his wounded, but still amazing, buttcheeks.
He has a pretty good view of the "R" squad, doing their gunning thing with the noise and the interfering and whatnot. Truly, they are a pain in the butt even greater than the uppercut that Cody delivered not long ago. "That goes double for you jokers! STOP MESSING AROUND, YOU...YOU...AQUA MANS!"
On that confused note, Dr. Tran charges forward again, throwing himself toward the center of the grouping, not even bothering to note how many of them are even hanging around anymore. It's not really a detail of note when the doctor slams his hands down into the ground and is quickly surrounded by a massive wall of steam, writhing and boiling the air in all directions around him.
COMBATSYS: Ayame blocks Cody's Final Destruction.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Nagase 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Cody
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Invader
[ |||||||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 0|-------|-----==
COMBATSYS: Tran has left the fight here.
> /////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Cody
> //////////////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Invader
COMBATSYS: Cody has left the fight here.
> //////////////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Invader
COMBATSYS: Invader has joined the fight here in the center.
[ |||||||||||||||| ]
Invader 0|-------|-======
COMBATSYS: Invader has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Invader 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Invader has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
> //////////////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Invader
COMBATSYS: Invader has ended the fight here.
The two girls dish out their attacks in perfect unisen, trapping Travers between the dangerous duo. Sharp chi bladed axe strikes combine with a storm of swift, poisoned slashes to form a maelstrom of pain intended to take the drug empowered brawler down. By the time Ayame slides to a stop, kicking back a half step, she's practically exhausted. The last traces of chi glimmer along her staff before fading out as she starts to adopt a more defensive posture.
A practiced analysis of Cody is executed, the girl expecting the man to crumple as the magnitude of the onslaught takes its toll at last. "Lights out, big-" she begins to declare as he falls to his knees, his prison suit in tatters, blood leaking from the thousands of cuts and scrapes painted across his flesh.
And that's when he begins to bleed green. That must be some nasty Poison Nagase was using there. That's her first thought. That's before his fist sends powdered concrete flying into the air and he rises back to his feet. That's not the poison, that's... "I didn't know Glow could do this..." she murmurs, hands now white-knuckle tight on her six foot long polearm. Those inhuman glowing eyes in her direction and Ayame takes in a breath. He isn't slowed at all. If anything, he seems faster; stronger!
The girl tenses and within a moment, he is upon her with an attack almost too fast to follow. Timing born of desperation has her shifting her staff into the path of the first two punches. The second series is met by her shoulder as she recoils, trying to correct for the strength of the blows and regain her footing. Her staff is back into position for the next flurry of rapid strikes, the metal strained under the strength of each blow. And when the uppercut is unleashed, she shifts the weapon into a horizontal position in its path.
The last hit is too much, however, and the young man's fist sends the girl's staff spinning off into the cafeteria behind her as Ayame is sent stumbling, arms flailing, her hands stinging from the lingering pain of blocking such an onslaught. "Che," the girl grunts, whirling around to spot where her weapon had landed. "Be careful, Nagase. We've got a live one here." And with that, she bolts back away from Cody, charging directly for one of the 'R' soldiers in her path.
Springing into a quick leap, she aims to plant one foot against the man's shoulder to use as a spring board off to where her staff landed... "Excuse me, coming through." Of course, she won't hesitate to take the opportunity to kick him in the back of the head when she springs off!
COMBATSYS: Nagase fails to slow Power Shot from Invader with Unrelenting Fire.
[ \\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Nagase 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Cody
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Invader
[ |||||||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 0|-------|-----==
COMBATSYS: Nagase can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Cody
> //////////////// ]
|=======\-------\0 Invader
[ |||||||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 0|-------|-----==
No more "DBZ Abridged" for you, Nagase; it gives you ideas above your station. The adorable panda head on the hilt of her ninjato sticking out of one of the two sheaths strapped to her back is the only indicator that there was anythying in her hands at all. She hops back a step or two because Glowsplosion or not, Cody is a dangerous sort. "Haha, a little too slow there, Pedobe--" is all that comes out of her mouth, however; like Ayame, her taunt is cut short by Cody pulling a Square-Enix boss transformation to his TRUER AND MORE POWERFUL FORM in a... really fascinating and terrifying sort of way. The readouts on her amber lens'ed HUD go through the ROOF, and despite her typical sarcastic detachment that makes her mouth open in surprise. "A little... over spec, don't you think, chemists...?"
Then she processes that there's gunfire to her right with her proverbial name on it. "...oh, *fuck*."
Her hand glows red; she has every plan to burn through them with amazing chi fire and then have it out with 'R's Human Resources department later in the week with sharp objects. Sadly, she's distracted too long and this just isn't going to happen; the shots slam into her side with considerable force. Not enough to KO her outright or do considerable damage, but certainly enough -- combined with Cody's sudden WTF flipping out -- to make her reconsider the tactical usefulness of staying her, compared to the likelihood of real physical harm if she sticks around, which is... a lot.
"Crouching on the floor a few yards away from the action, Nagase stands up and gives a little shrug. Cupping her hands to her mouth again, she yells for the benefit of all: "I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU ALL KNOW I'VE TRIGGERED THE SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE ON THIS PRISON. ONLY IN SOUTHTOWN, RIGHT BOYS?!" She is ALL :D as she says that, before turning to Ayame and giving her a pointed look, with much mugging and raising of eyebrows, adding: "If ye don't want to be baked, then best ye baileth."
Then, in a shimmer of fiery haze, she's gone. WTF ninja!
Cody continues spraying green blood all throughout his assault on Ayame, and only when his final blow sends the girl staggering away to the geysers all over his body finally lapse into more traditional bleeding, blood streaming out of his wounds and down his body. With Ayame having been beaten away, all targets are once again out of arms reach...
... so, once again, the man throws his head back and roars. As he screams, he reaches up and rips away what remains of the upper half of his orange jumpsuit, tearing the shredded cloth off of his body and tossing it angrily to the floor. When he lowers his arms, he seems to have bulked up a little, and even grown an inch or two. It's probably just a trick of the light.
Having screamed to his heart's content, Cody takes a lumbering step forwards... and then falters as Nagase's poison hits its stride. His second step becomes a stumble, and the man collapses over a nearby (and until now thankfully unmolested) table. The steel surface bend slightly as the man collapses onto it.
Snarling in pain, Cody slams a fist against the table's surface, pounding a large dent into it. Even for a man rapidly approaching 'totally berserk' levels, being /fucking poisoned/ is extremely distracting. Dick move, ninja girl. After a moment, however, he seems to regain some of his wind. The burning sensation spreading slowly through his muscles is distracting, yes... but it won't be enough to slow him down.
And, hey, there's a table right here. With another shout, Cody grips the edges of the already mangled table and rips the piece of furniture out of the ground, lifting it above his head. For a moment, weapon held above his head, the blonde glances between the retreating Ayame, the enigmatic, steam-shooting Dr. Tran, and the "R" soldiers at their mercy.
He can't make up his mind, so he does the only sensible thing; he closes his eyes, leans back, and chucks the table in that general direction.
Unfortunately for Ayame, she is almost directly in front of the Glow-crazy American, and given Cody's remarkably straight throw - considering he's throwing what amounts to a lump of twisted metal with a pole sticking out of it - she happens to be the one in the path of the object.
COMBATSYS: Ayame successfully hits Invader with Light Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Cody
> ////////////// ]
|=======\-------\1 Invader
[ |||||||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 0|-------|-----==
COMBATSYS: Invader blocks Tran's -Q- is for Dr. Tran.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Cody
> //////////// ]
|=======\==-----\1 Invader
[ |||||||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 0|-------|-----==
Damn that Ayame. Going for one of the weaker fighters when she gets temporarily over her head. Not like it's particularly bad a plan; her weapon is retrieved with ease, managing to thoroughly disorient the man and then deliver a swift kick to his head. He was reasonably sure he saw a glimpse beneath her billowing shirt, which certainly lead to his not completely unhappy expression when he's floored on the ground, removed from the fight. But Tran's explosive onslaught can only be weathered, arms brought up and body hunkered down. Given the R' soldier in question is still sent sprawling, knocking over a chair before crashing to the ground. "Ha... ha..." Only one of them remains upright, the other two in dubious working order. "We're going to take one of them out..." the leader demnds, as they bring up their rifles, ejecting spent clips and slapping in new ones. They are prepared for their grand finale...
COMBATSYS: Invader focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Cody
> //////////// ]
|=======\==-----\1 Invader
[ |||||||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 0|-------|-----==
Okay, good. One of them left. Although she said some weird things on the way out. Self-destruct? "THAT'S DUMB, YOU'RE DUMB, AND YOU SHOULD FEEL BAD!" Tran cups his hands to his mouth to make the shout as loud as possible, as he seems to have lost his megaphone at some point in the scuffle.
So that just leaves Ayame, and then Cody will be in a prime position for a hearty venging. Tran tu-"Wait a minute." He blinks, then looks around, his train of thought interrupted by the "R" squad, sort of battered and beaten but still intent on interfering.
"Didn't you dumbasses hear me?" Despite his recent outpouring of energy, Dr. Tran still seems lively enough. "I said!" Steam begins to coalesce around his hands, trails of misty whiteness streaming by as he starts to gesture animatedly. "Get the fuck out!" Tran really explodes into motion, arms blurring as he slashes through the air in front of himself, the chi around him forming into blades with every chop of his hand.
A small part of Dr. Tran's brain tries to tell him that he's forgetting his priorities again, but is quickly silenced by loud accusations of cowardice and pussitude.
COMBATSYS: Ayame dodges Cody's Huge Thrown Object.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Cody
> //////////// ]
|=======\==-----\1 Invader
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 0|-------|-----==
Having kicked the soldier to the ground, Ayame lands on a distant table before finally skipping down to the floor to retrieve her dropped staff. By the time she turns around, Nagase is shouting something about a self-destruct device. o O ( I didn't get a memo on that... ) and Cody is sending an entire table flying her way after pulling himself back to his feet again!
The wall behind where she was standing is crushed by the weight of the impact, but Ayame has already darted to the side, having avoided the wreckage all together. By the time the dust clears, she's three feet to the side and showing no signs of charging back into the heat of battle. She's already invested a lot of effort into trying to wear Cody down but at this point he might be on borrowed time. While his strength and vigor have not diminished, attentive eyes have noticed the poison left by Nagase's assault sapping is strength. Perhaps... she just needs to wait him out.
A knowing smile crosses her lips as the girl holds her ground, gripping her staff in front of her at a defensive angle, deciding to take the opportunity to build up her strength. The air is full of it - that energy bleeding off of Cody; the fervered, exhausted strength of the prisoners still brawling in all directions, and even Tran's incredible releases of destructive power leave it easy to sense. From that abundant chi Ayame draws heavily.
A red aura at her feet rises into violet and light blue whisps of gathered power. Energy that she takes in, mending her tired muscles and sharpening her reflexes. The concentration required is difficult in this zoo, but she manages, teeth gritted, eyes fixed back on Cody, worried about another missile possibly sent flying her way. The swirling energy whips at her hair and loose bits of clothing, her hands gripping her staff tightly as she rapidly calculates if she should follow Nagase's lead and make her break or weather this out just a little... bit longer.
COMBATSYS: Ayame gathers her will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Cody
> //////////// ]
|=======\==-----\1 Invader
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 0|-------|-----==
Cody opens his eyes again just in time for his table to crash into the wall as Ayame nimbly leaps out of the way. He takes two more lumbering steps forwards, intending to take the fight to the girl... and then stops, faltering again as her chi manifests itself as an aura of light. For several long seconds, he stares at the lightshow, remaining perfectly still. He almost looks contemplative.
Eventually, he seems to put two and two together. Grinning broadly, the blonde plants his feet, puffing out his chest. He lifts his hands, both clenched into fists, and slams them together in front of him. The impact is enough to puff up a tiny cloud of dust at his feet.
"Come..." the man rumbles, voice distorted by the drugs in his system. His tone is practically maniacal. "Come and see." He lifts his fists in front of him, in a ready position, and gestures invitingly to the girl. Nagase's poison is still ravaging his body - the muscles in his back are all but unresponsive, by now - but Cody has never been much for showing pain... or stopping for it.
A light breeze rolls into the cafeteria. Considering the rapidly increasing amount of damage being dealt to the prison's walls, doors, and everything else, this isn't terribly surprising... but as the wind rolls past Cody, a few tiny, sickly green sparkles shimmer very briefly in the air around him, almost like embers.
The light, it seems, is full of tricks today.
COMBATSYS: Cody focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Cody
> //////////// ]
|=======\==-----\1 Invader
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 0|-------|-----==
COMBATSYS: Invader fails to slow Oh Shit It's Dr. Tran from Tran with Disaster Area.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Cody
> // ]
|=======\-------\1 Invader
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 0|-------|-----==
COMBATSYS: Invader can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Cody
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Tran 0|-------|-----==
An onslaught of bladed chi bears down on the assembled men. They made the mistake of grouping together, but they have the foolish belief that this is under control. The raised weapons twist to aim at the ensuing vorpal chi, firing. Like some greedy whore, every blunt projectile is absorbed and disintegrated, doing nothing to halt the blaze of death. One man backs away too late, another starting to move to dive, but in a flash myriad roars of pain and horrible, horrible regret leave them. They are cut raggedly, and fall to the ground one after another, only the leader impacting his knees, kept up only by a table. There is a lone prospect for surviving this. One method that might cause Cody to escape, adn the operation not be ruined. "D... Dr. Tran..." he hisses out, raising a shaking hand towards Ayame. "She said... your fighting style... was gay..." Then he collapses, defeated.
"Ha ha HAH!" Take that, pathetic highly trained squad of mercenaries! You're nothing in the face of some guy who is freakishly powerful for no real good reason! Tran laughs an exultant laugh, but also a /tired/ laugh, because that was a slightly tremendous amount of output in a relatively short timespan. Even the latent chi in the area can't keep up with that sort of pressure.
But then, in the blink of an eye, everything changes. Such a simple series of words from the enemy leader have such a huge effect. His fatigue forgotten (or at least ignored) Dr. Tran springs into action, which is really less of a spring and more of a rushed limp. "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" The steam begins to grow thick around Tran again, begging the question of where the hell all this energy is coming from.
And then Tran trips, flailing forward, desperately trying to grab ahold of Ayame to keep himself up. And if she's not quick (or at least not slow), he'll let out a low, tired chuckle that's only a heartbeat away from a cough, and then /explode./
Whatever the outcome, he collapses afterward, weakly adding, "Just because it's kind of dumb, you don't have to be a bitch about it."
COMBATSYS: Ayame blocks Tran's Dr. Tran Visits Satan.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Ayame 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\0 Cody
[ |||||||||||||| ]
Tran 0|-------|----===
Power swirls around Ayame as she draws upon a technique observed in other fighters. That ability to amass potential energy in preparation for something big; to extend her ability to fight beyond her previous capacity. It's risky and takes concentration and deep focus - things in short supply admist this pandemonium, but she manages it all the same. She's only vaguely aware of the beating the 'R' soldiers take at Tran's hand. Good riddance. That leaves her to deal with the weakening Cody and nothing else. She can handle that, she thinks.
Cody beckons, holding his ground, ready for her to do her worst. With the chi she's drawn upon, that's certainly on the menu. "What makes you think I'm coing over there?" she asks back. "Or are you too sick to make it this far? What's the matter? That drug of yours not all it claimed to be on its label? You running out of strength, Travers?" She smirks, looking confident, hoping, perhaps, that he won't have the capacity to even cross the room.
Normally she wouldn't have heard the last utterance of the collapsing soldiers. But in her current mindset, focused as she is, she perceives a bit more accurately the words spoken. "Huh?" she blinks before glancing back toward Tran even as she begins to draw the last of her newly gained potential within herself. "Come on, he doesn't even HAVE a fighting style!"
A split second later she's got Tran hanging off her shoulders as she tries to back away only to get trapped against the wall, "Hey, man, not on the first date, keep your pants on or get some new ones at least!" Bringing her foot up she shoves with both her staff and the sole of her foot to drive Tran backward before all that pent up energy in him is released in a destructive blast. Once again Ayame is treated to a punishing assult that she's forced to weather.
Scalding chi-steam washes over her as she bunkers down against the wall, scorching skin and burning her even as her own internal aura tries to fight back against the entire terrible ordeal. Teeth gritted, she just barely manages to keep from crying out as at last the explosion passes and she's ultimately left standing. "That does it. Time to get this..." Her staff flares to life again, imbued with more of her crimson chi to a degree beyond anything she had accomplished thus far.
Igniting her corner of the room in that deep red color, she spins the staff rapidly in front of her at an angle, building more and more of that chi until it blurs, forming almost an opaque barrier of power. "Over with!" She steps forward, swinging the staff out hard horizontally in front of her, unleashing all that energy into a crescent wave that screams across the room back toward Cody, flying clean over the collapsed Tran, leaving him unscathed.
Ayame spins out of the attack back into a ready stance, exhaling. She really needs to consider a new career path, she muses.
COMBATSYS: Cody interrupts Final Sunset from Ayame with Criminal Upper.
[ \\\\\ < > ///// ]
Ayame 0/-------/---====|=======\===----\1 Cody
[ |||||||||||||| ]
Tran 0|-------|----===
COMBATSYS: Cody has reached second wind!
[ \\\\\ < > /////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/---====|=======\====---\1 Cody
[ |||||||||||||| ]
Tran 0|-------|----===
Cody waits patiently, staring Ayame down. He doesn't flinch when she offers a retort to his invitation. He doesn't flinch when she looks away, startled by the desperate misdirections of his 'allies' from "R". And he doesn't flinch when Dr. Tran, his ass hanging out, throws himself onto Ayame and starts spraying chi steam everywhere.
The girl makes it through the exhausted Dr. Tran's final assault, and when the steam clears Cody still hasn't moved, staring straight at her, awaiting her assault with an eerie calm that is even made more disturbing by his berserk behavior mere moments before.
Finally, Ayame rids herself of the annoying pest that is the all-powerful Dr. Tran, and Cody moves for the first time since offering his invitation. Finally, she'll show him what she can really do. He braces himself for the attack, feet digging into the ground. And it's...
...
... a fireball.
Cody Travers /fucking hates fireballs/.
With a blood-curtling scream, Cody throws himself forwards, straight at the crescent wave of chi crashing across the room towards him. He runs, in fact, right into it. His bare chest sprouts a huge, horizontal burn, flesh turning black and, frankly, 'totally grody' almost instantaneously. The force of the impact comes with another pair of loud cracking noises, undoubtedly more of Cody's ribs.
But, as they say, you should see the other guy. The crescent wave explodes into sparks as the American bursts through it, vanishing into nothingness a moment later. Despite his injuries, he keeps going unhindered... at least for a few steps. And then, suddenly, he falters, gradually slowing. It's a lot like watching a tranquilized rhino still trying, desperately, to keep charging.
Gradually, Cody's run becomes a jog, which becomes a power walk, which becomes a stumbling walk... his last few steps bring him to directly in front of Ayame, swaying dangerously. Ponderously, like a falling tree, the blonde collapses to one knee, head and shoulders slumping forwards. For a moment, it seems as if his wounds have finally caught up with him.
If only Ayame were so lucky.
The light breeze still rolling through the cafeteria suddenly increases in intensity, a surprisingly strong gust of wind blowing through that whips rioter's jumpsuits and knocks over the one empty cup in the room that is still standing on a miraculously undamaged table.
Cody lifts his head, looking upwards at Ayame, and grins wickedly, glowing green blood flowing from the corners of his mouth.
Then he punches her in the stomach. His fist twists viciously halfway through blow; half a second later, the wind in the room stops dead. Another half a second, and it's replaced by an eight-foot tall tornado that erupts into existence around Ayame, laced with thin lines of green chi.
Down on the ground by this point, Tran mumbles, "S'my greatest strength...or...whatever..."
Rolling onto his stomach, he summons up the last of his strength to point at Cody, unmindful of the energy roaring back and forth over his head. "Don't think this is over...pantsthief." Then he groans and collapses, completely spent.
Tran, on the ground, is determined to be no further threat and Ayame writes him off accordingly. A mental note in the back of her mind has already been made to make his life more of a living hell than it typically is at some point, but that's neither here nor now to worry about. The crecent wave of chi hurtles off toward Cody, leaving her staff a glimmering red, heat waves rising up off the ends, the tips glowing just a little bit from the magnitude of power unleashed.
She has to brace herself with her staff against the floor in the aftermath, spent as she is after such a grueling fight. She watches Cody make his charge. It won't matter, she tells herself. He doesn't have it in him. He doesn't have it in him. The wave crashes against his chest, leaving even more damage in its wake than he had up until now. It's practically overkill, in her mind. But best to certain in these things. As Cody draws near, Ayame stands up straight, becoming more guarded, "Heh. It's over. Time to report back what this whole mess was even about," she continues, sounding a bit bored now.
Cody falls forward, dropping to a knee, then slumping even further. What caution Ayame had a moment before melts away, the girl hefting her staff up to her shoulder, "Going to lie down or do I have to put you out of your misery?" she asks, shrugging a bit with her right shoulder.
And that's when he answers with a blood leaking grin. She realizes a split second too late; whipping her staff down off her shoulder, intending to crush it into the side of Cody's skull and put the man down completely. She doesn't get the chance as he burries his fist into her unguarded stomach. The force alone crushes what little existed of her resolve to see this through as her breath is forced from her lungs and her staff swing goes high.
The tornado of chi that explodes up around her more than seals the deal however as the featherweight is taken clean off her feet and smashed up against the wall behind her back with a crushing thud. By the time the windstorm of chi passes, she has slid down to the floor with a weak gasp, right hand resting over her stomach, her left hand gripping her staff still. Breathless, she stares over at Tran, then back at the maniacal 'R' 'project' looming in front of her.
"H-hey, that guy said you hit like his grandma!" she spits out quickly, gesturing quickly toward the collapsed real Doctor. She doesn't really waste a split second then before kicking herself to her feet and sprinting to the right, following Nagase's lead. She hasn't read up enough on how to drop zombies to deal with this guy. If Geese wants the prison riots squelched, he can send in an army for all she cares!
COMBATSYS: Ayame takes no action.
> /////// ]
|=======\====---\1 Cody
[ |||||||||||||| ]
Tran 0|-------|----===
COMBATSYS: Ayame can no longer fight.
> /////// ]
|=======\====---\1 Cody
[ |||||||||||||| ]
Tran 0|-------|----===
Cody Travers is not a hard man to outsmart, even on a good day.
When the cornered Ayame redirects the blonde's attention to Tran, he swivels to face the collapsed Real American Legend. As opponents go, Tran does not seem a very fun one, right now; what with being on the ground, and passed out. Cody is, briefly, confused.
The sound of footsteps turns his attention back to Ayame... or, more accurately, to the empty corner where Ayame was a moment before. This confuses him even more, and he turns to survey the cafeteria. He finally finds Ayame a moment before she disappears from sight.
Technically speaking, he could give chase. Instead, however, he turns to survey the ongoing riot. Once again, a grin spreads across his face... finally, a chance to stretch his legs, without interference from any real threats, or the looming threat of "R".
Why should he chase one girl? It's so much more exciting right here.
SOUTHTOWN PENITENTIARY, CAFETERIA, FORTY MINUTES FROM NOW
Technically, the riot has been quelled. The ground is littered with the unconcious - and mostly broken - bodies of prisoners and guards alike, and the room is silent, save for the occasional groan of pain. Every once in awhile, someone tries to get up. Some make it as far as their knees before they collapse again.
Cody Travers is on all fours, in the center of the room. He stares down at the floor, sucking in deep, heaving breaths. Before the eyes of the few people in the room still awake enough to watch, the blood still flowing from his numerous cuts slowly changes from bright green to a more natural... well, blood red.
After almost ten seconds, he looks up; his eyes have returned to their normal color, as well. Shakily, he climbs to his feet... he seems smaller, somehow, than he was just a minute ago. The light in this room, it's /extremely/ tricky.
Cody looks down at himself, frowning. His prison jumpsuit is almost entirely ruined... he can hardly go out like this. He lifts his head again, and slowly surveys the innumerable fallen men throughout the cafeteria. Finally, he finds what he's looking for.
Smirking, the blonde approaches the fallen form of one Dr. Tran.
SOUTHTOWN STREETS, SEVERAL YEARS AGO
"A little tight... but they'll do."
SOUTHTOWN PENITENTIARY, CAFETERIA, FORTY TWO MINUTES FROM NOW
"A little tight... but they'll do."
SOUTHTOWN PENITENTIARY, FRONT ENTRANCE, ONE HOUR FROM NOW
Cody Travers strolls out the front door of the facility that, two hours ago, held him captive with little hope of escape. He has clumsily bandaged his wounds... and taped up his hands, as he is wont to do. More importantly, he has found new clothes; a white, short-sleeved t-shirt, a pair of boots, and a prisoner's jacket in 'jumpsuit orange.'
The piece de resistance, however, is his pants. The legs are too short, and the waist is too small; they fit him extremely tightly, and leave little of his figure to the imagination.
There is also a basketball-sized hole in the seat of them.
The blonde walks right out to the street, and stops on the sidewalk. He looks left, looks right, and then punches a hand into his palm and nods.
"First things first," he says aloud, turning and walking away from the prison.
"I gotta get me some Glow."
Log created on 22:13:33 04/17/2009 by Nagase, and last modified on 04:33:55 04/19/2009.