Description: Alan and Aranha had different plans for Li Hua all along. Recent events have made it difficult to get in touch with those who were trying to protect her on that fated evening, but Aranha - at last - appears to have gotten through at a time that is... is it opportune at all? Is it too late to give the heads up, as Eagle contends with rioters having broken into the Shao Jiao following the end of the King of Heaven's Fist tournament?
Bantiankong Chemical Building, 50th Floor Penthouse:
Aranha is making use of his limited time searching through the camera feeds for something useful. What does the Dancing Spider define as useful? Well first of all, he came to this place to find out what exactly the ninja was up to. The second and most importantly to the capoeirista, was finding out clues to both where the bomb and where the sword that could deactivate it are both located, seeing as self-preservation is very important to Aranha.
The first few feeds end up showing non descript alleys and then open streets where battle rages through the streets. Massive amounts of soldiers bringing down incredible amounts of force and variety of ninkou swarming the area destroying tanks and battering soldiers. Eventually through sheer dumb luck Aranha happens to get a feed of inside Shao Jiao Nightclub and in particular, an Englishman wearing an ascot. It sounded like the description his team mate made of the resistance he encountered at the nightclub.
It reminded him of the opportunity that he seriously needed to take advantage of while he still could. He takes out his phone and dials.
Oh, Eagle's back at the nightclub, all right. The riots outside did a fine job of chasing everyone out through that 'King of Heaven's Fist' tournament or whatever it was called at this point. There's hardly much of a place to stay that could be considered safe. He'd have been more than happy to merely just walk out on this whole mess entirely. It's a wash, he thinks. A complete and utter waste of time - he just has at least a tiny bit of professional courtesy to wait for whomever to call him to tell them about his particular resignation.
He's not alone in that footage. Though still a bit bruised and sore from his fight with the Hurricane of the Gulf, he appears to be making sport of rioting intruders inside the club. Perhaps he is aware, on some fundamental level, that he's on camera? Not many people have ever really seen Eagle 'off.'
Just as he deftly ducks underneath a thrown bottle and sweeps a stick under the leg of a large man for their troubles, he hears a particularly obnoxious ringtune. It's /his/ obnoxious ringtune. Hm, that's strange, he doesn't remember actually receiving a proper cellphone call in some time.
Perhaps when he got tapped on the hip by that other hooligan, it was turned on?
Regardless of the hows and whys, Eagle deftly (and rather playfully, for essentially fighting for his life) fences with a single stick as he tosses another high into the air so he can retrieve his cellphone.
"Yes?" Eagle's voice may be hard to hear above the rioting. "You have reached Eagle, but I am a touch busy, so if you will kindly..."
If you will kindly enjoy watching him deftly disarm someone with a knife, he'd say if he was aware that whoever's calling him now is the person /watching/ him.
"Sorry to disturb you. I'm Alan's team mate, Aranha." It's at that point Aranha has to admit that it is an impressive display. Speaking of displays, Aranha turns the monitor with Eagle on it towards another computer. This makes it so he can continue his own work while watching Eagle on the screen.
He continues to from feed to feed when he picks up something on the monitor specifically with Eagle on it. "Watch out behind you!" While he would've rather not given away the fact that he was indeed watching Eagle, keeping the person that he wants some information out of from getting stabbed in the back trumps that previous desire.
"Like I said, I know you're busy but I may not have much of an opportunity to ask you these questions later." He turns and frowns towards his work monitor.
"Oh?" Eagle's expression hardens just a tad. "Ah yes, the one with the electrical lightshows. He caused me quiiiiite a bit of trouble." Eagle's voice is hard to hear above the ruckus.
There's a sudden call to look behind himself. True enough, with that heads up Eagle manages to get a headlock on the assailant in question just as they go for a lunge from behind - coyly raising his currently held stick above him before bopping the man on the head.
These people are incredibly unskilled. They probably aren't even fight-worthy to begin with, which may... explain why Eagle seems to be holding up so well enough as to make apparent /sport/ out of this, tossing his one stick up to catch the other previously tossed up. It's quite a juggling act. Talking, fighting, and (of course) juggling at the same time.
"Well, out with it then!" Eagle replies as he sizes up the next in the unruly rioting mob.
"Sure'll and to make this mutually beneficial, any questions you may have, I'll answer them as well. While it may not directly help our situation now, maybe information trading might help me solve it down the line." Aranha raises an eyebrow as a ninkou automaton slices through a tank like a hot knife through butter. He then turns back to the monitor he has specifically for watching Eagle's activity. "First of all do you know anything about the person who sent you and Yuri to stop us?"
Even with something so grave and serious, Eagle is still doing those little teasing motions to those just trying to tear the whole place up. Is he just hamming it up now that he knows he's being watched for sure? It's hard to tell. It probably would have been proper if he actually gave thanks for that little save.
"Now, I do not consider myself a gossip, Mister... Aranha, yes?" Eagle says as he bats back someone with a broad sweep of his currently held stick. "Especially not over sensitive employer details. Professional courtesy, you see--"
"Hup!" He ducks underneath a high swing, the previously thrown stick bouncing off their heads as he tosses the stick he's holding for the one that nearly bounces out of his reach. "But I will say, after what you and your partner did, I'm amazed they asked for my services here again." This seems to be something of a bewildering point for him - and maybe a bit of a sore spot, as he remains crouched over. He winces a little as he bends his injured leg a liiiiiittle bit more than he really wants to.
"Awful forgiving of that whole kidnapping ordeal that happened on my watch, I must say, for someone who was the local star attraction."
"I'm going to be real with you. We didn't take her to the person that wanted us to capture her. I had been hoping to get in contact with you before so we could arrange some type of protection for her with your benefactor. However things came up and we had to make changes to the plan. Which is a problem since Li Hua has a bit of a death wish and both my partner and I have a vested interest in keeping her alive."
There's a bit of a pause as he watches the Brit cringe in pain from the injured knee. "To be honest, I'm not exactly sure your benefactor is the same person who called you to be the main attraction there tonight."
Beginner's luck begins to settle in (Eagle would never readily admit to his fatigue in a situation like this) as someone cracks a table leg over his head. By itself, hardly a decisive blow. The strike itself finds decent enough purchase to put a bruise on that forehead - a new one to go with one El Fuerte inflicted when he invoked Dynamic Cooking Time.
Stumbling back at a key moment, the bit of pain is not enough to wash out Aranha getting the important parts of what he has to say here - trying to get in contact with him over arranging a deal? Hostage negotiation or some such, perhaps? Or whatever the bloody show is supposed to be with all this.
"A bit of a death wish, you say?" Eagle asks as the beginner's luck runs out - a sharp thrust to their abdomen and he's ready to count them out of the fight, swinging his stick up so he can catch the descending stick. Considering he moved a fair bit from when he last tossed a stick up, he's either correctly predicting his movements across the club floor in this riot, or this whole thing is just a show. Eagle sure seems to be acting the part of the latter.
"Oh, really, is that so?" Eagle hasn't kept track of who's been saying what other than doing as he's told, making a show wherever he goes. Though... that encounter with those two women, hm, that was a touch embarrassing. They were skilled, certainly, but. "Well, what do you make of this, then-- one moment."
Now there's three guys teaming up to go at him with a very large table, which requires a little bit of fancier footwork than usual as he climbs atop a bar mostly for the sake of a high ground. Though, there isn't anywhere to run - what's he thinking?
Aranha cringes when Eagle gets struck in the face. He seriously would rather have the person he's talking to remain unscathed. After all, getting cut off while in the middle of what possibly could be good information is bad business for this particular capoeirista.
It seems as though Eagle is about to ask his opinion on something when he gets cut off presumably so he can address the problem of those three guys with a table. "Sure. Go ahead. I can see that you're a busy man right now. Though you might want to consider the light fixture above them. Having that fall on their heads my ruin their day... Moreso."
"Now now, Mister Aranha," as if Eagle is in a place to really scold them, "I am a bouncer and a performer. Not a vandal, you see," he says as he seems to take his sweet time just waiting for them to come at him. "Allow me to show you how to properly set the table."
He puts the cellphone away, leaping forward into the air as he catches the second stick, holding it above him while the other end is pointing downwards. This is a very silly and telegraphed way to attack in the air - no self-respecting fighter of world-class talent would throw something so brazenly easy to see coming, so easy to counter.
Not unless you're Eagle, in any case, who brings the stick down on the table with such force that it knocks the three men flat on their backs - all without ever actually breaking the table as it noisily settles against the floor upright.
Tossing a stick up again, he fishes back out his cellphone and arrogantly leans an elbow on it, crossing one leg over the other as he looks out to the rest of those gathered who still probably have an eye on him.
"But I must agree, were I not a man of taste," saying this while he's risking his life trying to clear out rioters from the club, "that would have been a suitable message, yes... now, where were we?"
"Heh. I can respect that. But it doesn't look like those guys in the corner behind you and to your right share your desire for a lack of vandalism. Two plates are on their way." If Eagle looks in that direction, he'll see two men winding back and getting ready to throw said plates for his head.
Aranha after giving the heads up seems content to continue the conversation. "You wre saying, 'What do I make of this,' but you stopped before you had told me what I was supposed to give my thoughts on."
Eagle turns his head at the plates about to be tossed and the men who are wielding them. This seems less of a riot and now more like an organized effort to actually take him down. This just makes things a touch more stressful. Hmph, he should've just walked right out the door and never came back once the patrons were out.
He strongly doubts he's getting paid for any of this additional unspoken work, but, what can you do in such a volatile trade? The entertainment business is cutthroat indeed.
"Right then--" He has to nudge the phone between his head and shoulder in an awkward position as he catches the stick and - moments later - catches both plates with said sticks. This is very difficult and awkward to do when you're talking on the phone and not even able to look at one of the spinning plates directly!
"I apologize for not clarifying, but I'm sure you can... whoo!" He dips a little to ensure he can set this spinning plate down on the table. "I'm sure you can understand the difficulty. But now... ahem, you were saying something about my benefactor being different from the person who hired me this evening and the previous time, you say?"
Aranha nods as the blonde catches the plates and places them down on the table. "Yeah... That's setting the table alright. I just put forth the possibility that if you were here for one reason and the endeavor wasn't exactly the most successful, but called back for something else, it might be possible that whoever was benefactor for this one may be different?"
He goes back to his work monitor so he can get back to searching for a useful feed to help either identify people moving towards the bomb or something to identify the location of the sword to save Taizhou. "I could be wrong and it might just be the fact that your employer knows that you aren't a joke." He carefully avoids mention of Eagle's partner at the time. "Did you happen to pay attention to who called you there in both cases?"
And now they're starting to toss pretty much whatever they can bloody get their hands on, which is mostly at this point glasses and alcoholic beverages of whatever quality. Sure, these people are mad and frightened but surely they could have some class and not waste a good drink?!
It doesn't help Eagle's mood when he manages to catch a bottle gently between his two sticks, only to find out the cap is loose and have something splash all over his suit while Aranha continues to explain the various possibilities of what's going on here.
There is a distinct pause before Eagle actually says anything, perhaps to fume over how his clothes have further been sullied. Do these people know how much money he pays for some of these? How these people he bought them from would weep seeing them treated so (only to smile when he buys something else to replace it)?! Sigh, tough audiences. Tough /times/.
"I had my hands full throughout, admittedly I did not pay much mind except for where to go and what to do," Eagle, obedient but... not quite as capable of reading between the lines? He clears his throat as he futilely brushes away at stains that are not to come out when HE IS IN MORTAL DANGER AT ALL SIDES. "But... if you are suggesting what you are."
He turns to those gathered around him. All that noise! All those people who can't think of anything other than outright panic and disorderly conduct in the face of possible complete oblivion.
"Were you, by any chance, supposedly government sponsored, Mister Aranha?"
At this point, Aranha's focusing more the ever changing feeds on one computer than he is on the one that is dedicated specifically to the Shao Jiao Nightclub. "No. My sponsor was decidedly not government. Though at this point, we can be considered independent due to the fact that we didn't hand over Li Hua to our sponsor."
Aranha then looks back over to his camera feed monitor designated specifically for searching and then glances back over to the nightclub. "Have you noted the uniforms of those soldiers, you've been whacking around?"
Speaking of soldiers, he notices one coming up towards Eagle. "Ok. There's someone coming up to your left. Narrow stance. It offers mobility but not much in the way of stability. Attack his legs and he'll drop quicker than panties on prom night, I trust you'll be able to do so with style, right?"
"...I see!" A shot in the dark, all the same for Eagle, though he wondered to what end they were trying to extract the Silken Blossom for other than their own ends, but it does beg the question as to why - being former opponents - they would have been in opposition to begin with that'd make it so convenient for the two to be on working terms now.
"I tend not to judge the appearance of military uniforms, but... yes, I have seen quite a few." Who wouldn't? The streets have been crawling with them. His neck begins to have a serious crink from pressing his head against his shoulder just to hold the phone. Good timing, too, as Aranha notes an incoming soldier to his left.
"Have you not been watching?" Eagle responds with absolute sass as he tosses up a stick, takes back a cellphone in the free hand and proceeds to trip up said soldier with a sweep - followed up very quickly with the twirl of the single stick of the moment, coinciding the thrust at their prone back with the other falling just right on top of him at the same time.
Sweeping up both sticks in one hand - albeit together almost too thick to hold with a single hand - he looks back up at the ceiling for no particular reason that can be easily discerned. "Since I believe I have not done so, I should thank you for your keen eye, wherever it's... looking from."
Aranha remains quiet as he watches the performer deal with the soldier with flair, a smile creeping up on his lips. "Not a problem." He takes a breath as he continues looking at feeds not really finding what he's looking for. He sees something interesting for a moment but then it ultimately isn't what he needs right now. "Well those uniforms are Chinese military. The fact that you're fighting them now means one of three things. One, you've outlived your usefulness to your government sponsor. Two, your government sponsor is no longer calling the shots. Or Three, your government sponsor is acting independently of the actual goverment. Any information you may have on him, might tell me how to proceed and if I can pick his brain, I might be able to figure out how to keep us all from blowing the hell up here."
That there /is/ a soldier here at all begins to worry Eagle, if just a touch. Because this is in fact a trained soldier and not just a random troublemaker, he has to put his foot down to prevent them from standing up and just continuing to go at him like a trained killer should.
"Is that so?" Eagle has to ask what may already be obvious to someone who has already been well into the system - compared to someone like him whom has, literally, bounced around on the outer edges largely being someone's wind-up clapping monkey for entertainment. Eagle never really treated his role in these things as anything more. After all, he merely wanted in on the latest Seishirou publicity stunt to re-launch his stalled career.
Which has proven more trouble than it's worth.
"Very well." Eagle grumbles as he casts a careful eye around his environs - not for eavesdroppers so much as /opportunists/. Bloody crazy days, these are.
"Truthfully, I know little. He introduced himself as... what was it. Tsang? I did not hear from him much as time went on. Assuming this wasn't some sort of theatrics to begin with," which Eagle has certainly been treating most of it as, "I... oh bloody hell."
One of the people tabled seems to have gotten their second wind, reaching out to grab Eagle by the ankle. He responds largely by one-handedly 'putting' the two held sticks in one hand to their face. "My apologies, false alarm." Oh, Eagle. "Now, yes. Some rot about cooperating with Ryouhara being treated as a terrorist action against China itself after some mishap in the woods with giant bloody harpoons-- ah, please be quiet, I'm on the phone,"
Eagle politely asks as he shoves a stick down at the pinned soldier's head. He knows he's probably not going to hold out much longer inside here, especially with all the screaming going on here.
"Sorry, I have a tough crowd this evening." Eagle bows his head a little.
"While Ryouhara is known for his theatrics, you probably should keep in mind that he is thought of as a terrorist. How this will affect how you treat things I do not know but don't ignore that fact."
Metro City raised fighter returns his gaze back to his designated searching monitor, continuing to frown at the complete lack of useful leads.
"I guess this is it. If you find anything of interest about Taizhou, and in particular either about Kagero, Shiraha or Katsuten let me know and if you have any questions, call me and I'll answer the ones I can. An uninformed man is a dead man was true for me outside of this place and is very true here."
"Yes, yes," of course they call him that, Seishirou is probably the greatest drama queen this modern age will ever get to know. Of course he'll use any obnoxious means to speak out to whomever or whatever - this is what makes... well, okay, past tense - made the idea of jumping in on this utterly dangerous Taizhou thing seemingly ideal for his career.
Sigh.
"Kagero... Shiraha... Katsuten, hm? Very well." Eagle nods. A split-second later, he's already throwing an arm out by reflex to bat back a small thrown object. To his great fortune, it is not immediately overcome by a huge thrown object.
It instead explodes a ways away, smoke rising out of it.
"Oh for... that does it." Eagle at last, on camera, loses it, a growl as he ducks behind the bar. "I draw the line at fucking grenades." There's still some bottles of alcohol there. Hmm, maybe he'll need something to loosen up his partner if he can just find him again.
"...Before you go. May I inquire - I ask politely for a hasty response - who hired you to take Li Hua?" He sets down his sticks for a brief time to dig through his pocket. He's pretty sure he knows the market value of that bottle right there. The chances of the money being claimed by the actual owner, slim to none in the wake of these ruffians. He does not fancy himself a looter.
Another smoke grenade goes off. This place is not going to be safe to hang in for much longer. His injured knee lets him know he's not going to find kneeling down here pleasurable for much longer at that.
Aranha hears and sees Eagle lose it and he has trouble containing his own laughter at the show man snapping on the soldiers. "Be glad you're not fighting Rolento Schugerg. But anyway, I was hired by Ji Zhou a gangster within this city."
A few moments later, Eagle will find a new sfile on his phone. "Anyway, good luck, Eagle."
Eagle's ready to snap at Aranha over what he thinks might be chortling, but it's hard to hear over the yelling.
"Ji Zhou, you say--" Will Tran know anything about this name? Another loud 'bang' goes off, just in time to make out a muffled and good-natured 'good luck.'
"Yes, yes, same to you, now I must go." HE doesn't wait for any pleasant niceties to get off, he turns off the cellphone, places the wad of cash inside a cabinet, and grabs himself a bottle of some brand that may very well read Make Dr. Tran Amusing/Annoying/Incomprehensible/Pantsless (Circle One) and makes his way out the back.
Perhaps he should have given some thought to getting a second bottle for himself. He could use a good, stiff, cold drink of some sort.
Log created on 20:32:03 06/20/2010 by Eagle, and last modified on 20:24:10 06/21/2010.