Description: Kain Heinlein is wanting some answers regarding the Orochi, and is not too particular about how he gets the answers. Kain sends a punk to toss the apartment of one Zach Glen. It ends mostly predictably when Zach comes home to find the unwanted visitor.
Kain R. Heinlein does not like losing. Still, he knows that even in a loss there are things to be learned. But losing and then having someone take advantage of him? Oh, that's a whole different matter. Goenitz's influence on his mind and ability to control him is the weakest Kain has felt since he was a child, and he is not even remotely happy about it.
Although Kain finally managed to throw off the Orochi influence, this matter isn't over, not by a long shot. But Goenitz isn't stupid, and has no intention of letting Kain get the drop on him. And Kain isn't eager to run into Goenitz again until he's ready to control the situation. So for now, research. Goenitz's minions haven't been entirely subtle, and with enough money to grease the flow of information, Kain has started to acquire a bit of the picture of what's really going on. But he doesn't have the whole thing yet, so he has people tracking down any leads they can find. Time is of the essence, so not all of the people employed at this task are quite as professional as would be ideal. But on the other hand, that makes them expendable. And there's enough people with a reason to be interested in Goenitz by now that Kain isn't particularly worried. Especially since they've all, of course, been dealt with through intermediaries.
One thing that caught Kain's attention were some rumors about Ken Masters, and a rather familiar sounding infliction. And with enough digging, one of Kain's agents found someone that tentatively linked Zach to the location of one of Ken's riots. Worth some money to Kain? Maybe. And so a somewhat seedy looking fellow is in the process of stalking Zach, trying to work out his schedule, and maybe an opportunity to search his belongings.
Lately, Zach Glen has not had much in the way of a routine. The Cult of Gaia, and their antics, have sufficiently disrupted what passes for Zach's life. The psion, lately, has been seeking some payback. Or retribution. Or vengance. Whatever word tickles your fancy. What few belongings he deems important are small enough, and small enough in number, that he carries them on his person. Investigating Zach's listed apartment does bear much fruit, other than to reveal that Zach lives almost like a monk in some ways. Few luxury items, servicable furnishings. Definitely not in line with someone who tends to pull solid midcard bookings on any fighting event he shows up at. The mook may be surprised, or frustrated as he searches. Nothing really noteworthy, or even worth stealing.
Zach stops short when he sees the door ajar. He scowls, shoving back purple-tipped blonde hair as he thinks quickly. Given that there's no sound indicating the guy is trying to exit out the window in a hurry. Alright, he thinks, as he reaches slowly for the doorknob. He eases his way in, the door creaking softly as Zach adjusts the wrapped bundle that is slung over one shoulder.
"If you're looking for someone to rob," Zach announces politely, "There are better places. I don't really have a lot in the way of stuff." Maybe Zach can talk this guy down. Maybe there won't be a fight. Zach tries to keep a cool head about this.
It's been mentioned to him that he may have anger issues.
The intruder's head jerks up as he suddenly hears that he's being interrupted. He's a thin guy, with greasy black hair and wearing a worn leather jacket and jeans. He looks a bit sickly, too; possibly a drug addict of some sort. In fact, he was rather hoping that Zach would have some cash, or maybe even a hidden drug stash, in addition to whatever information he might be able to get. Unfortunately for him, he seems to be disappointed all around.
He whips out a switchblade and takes a step back from Zach, twitching nervously. "Stay back! You keep the hell away from me!" He certainly looks genuinely frightened, although his grip on the real world might also be a bit tenuous.
Zach looks a bit incredulously at the tough, one pale eyebrow raised in disbelief. "Okay," he says slowly as he raises open hands, palms toward the punk. "No need to make things difficult," he says calmly. He is backing away from the guy, nudging the door the rest of the way open with his hip.
"I'm not going to say anything," Zach says, "So long as you just leave." Zach would love for this to end quietly. The blade doesn't look like too much of a threat just yet; the guy seems to lack anything that would indicate serious fighting ability aside from desperation.
It's probably understandable why this guy was told fairly little about just what it is that he'd actually be doing. But he's not /entirely/ stupid. He knows there's some strange stuff going on, even if the news reports aren't entirely certain about just what it is. But reports of fighters going crazy and doing bad things to people? Yeah, that's news. Especially when there doesn't seem to be any self serving motive for it. And so people come up with their own explanations. And when you're sent to investigate a fighter and look for anything strange, well... conclusions can be jumped to.
The intruder's hand shakes as he waves the switchblade at Zach. "Y-you can't scare me, just because you're one of them! And you can't trick me, either!" His voice gets louder as he continues. "I've seen what you people have done, and you're not going to get me!" Apparently his addled brain is having difficulty processing the fact that Zach is really offering to let him leave.
Zach freezes as the knife goes swinging wildly. His eyes narrow. This guy is off his rocker somehow. "One of /who/," Zach asks cautiously as he shrugs the shoulder the bundle is strapped to, adjusting the load to avoid the string cutting into his shoulder while also making the contents of said bundle a bit more accessable in a hurry if he needs it.
The punk quickly takes another stop back, the angle of the knife dropping slightly for a moment before he brings it back up to point at Zach. "You fighters! Can't trust none of you! Going crazy, attacking people! Buncha freaks!" His eyes dart wildly back and forth for a moment, while the shaky hand keeps the switchblade more or less pointing at Zach.
He swallows, then takes a shuddering breath. "Well you're not gonna get me! Aaaaah!" And with that scream he leaps toward Zach, stabbing toward him with the switchblade.
COMBATSYS: Zach has started a fight here.
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Zach 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Paranoid has joined the fight here.
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Zach 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Paranoid
COMBATSYS: Zach interrupts Knife Slash from Paranoid with Jab Punch.
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Zach 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Paranoid
"Shit," Zach exhales as the punk charges. Zach pivots, parrying the knife off of his right forearm. The turning motion, plus the shirt, reduce the cut to a scratch. Zach is thankful for the not-as-bad-as-it-could-be bleeding, but doesn't allow the thought to distract him from continuing the movement.
Zach lashes out with a lightning quick left jab, augmented by a faint spark of amber light that adds an addition impact to the strike to the man's jaw. "Look, man," Zach says sternly, "I'd rather not tear my place up. There isn't much here, but it /is/ where I sleep at night." Zach's emerald eyes are locked on the man's torso; that is one part of the body that does not show feints or fakes very well.
Feints are probably not something Zach is going to have to worry about from this guy. Wild swings, on the other hand, might be. The punk staggers back, clutching at his face after the impact from Zach's punch. It looks like he's probably going to have one heck of a shiner later on. The pain doesn't seem to be shocking him to his senses, though. "Yeah, right! The second I turn my back on you, you'll just punch a hole right through me!" It's unclear why Zach wouldn't be doing that /now/, though.
The punk leaps wildly at Zach again, this time aiming to crash into him and bring him crashing to the ground. Maybe if he knocks Zach down, then he'll have a clear escape path in his mind. Or maybe not; who knows what he's thinking?
COMBATSYS: Paranoid successfully hits Zach with Desperate Grapple.
- Power hit! -
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Zach 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Paranoid
The guy /had/ a clear escape path before. Zach /gave/ it to him, for crying out loud. He goes down in a heap under the guys crashing charge. Zach lets out a yell of surprise. As for his reason for not punching a whole in the punk, that could be one of a couple things. Zach's not really into murder, for starters. The other reason has to do with the fact that the /really/ impressive displays of ability generally require some warm-up.
Zach manages one thing correctly, however. The psychic gets his feet under him, between himself and the street tough. "Get offa me," Zach yells as he rolls back onto his shoulders, and drives both feet into the punk's midsection. He uses another liberal burst of soul power to launch the guy into the hallway.
Maybe the punk will get the hint and run.
COMBATSYS: Paranoid dodges Zach's Strong Kick.
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Zach 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Paranoid
If the punk were more skilled, he probably could have made use of knocking Zach down to either sprint for the door before he could get up, or start stabbing while he's wide open. But he's not, and he mostly succeeds in getting himself tangled up with Zach until the psion knocks him off. He scrambles back to his feet just in time to present a good target for Zach's kick.
He manages to avoid it, however, by the time honored tradition of falling backwards out of the way. As he falls, though, he lashes out wildly with the switchblade. He's not really even thinking about the attack, but there's a decent chance he might be able to slice up Zach's leg.
COMBATSYS: Zach blocks Paranoid's Medium Strike.
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Zach 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Paranoid
Zach twists his leg away from the strike, another thin trail of blood announcing a measure of success. The young man hisses in pain as he rolls past the punk, further into the apartment. Zach regards the punk with a scowling face, while trying hard not to simply lash out at this jerk who busted into his home. He considers for a moment, and decides to give the punk a bit of a lightshow. Amber light sheathes Zach's body as he waits for the punk to make the next move.
COMBATSYS: Zach gathers his will.
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Zach 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Paranoid
The punk scrambles to a sitting position after falling down. He might have injured Zach a bit, but he doesn't even really realize it. As far as he's concerned, Zach is an unstoppable monster. So it just takes a little bit more to push him over the edge. His eyes widen as Zach begins radiating energy, and he scrambles back and away from him.
"Oh fuck, oh fuck!" He hurls the switchblade in Zach's direction, tumbling crazily through the air, as he frantically gets to his feet and runs out of the apartment, bumping into the doorframe, bouncing off hard to smack into the wall outside, then racing down the hallway.
COMBATSYS: Zach blocks Paranoid's Small Thrown Object.
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Zach 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Paranoid
Zach whips a hand up, catching the blade in his bare hand. The edge bites into his palm, drawing a little more blood. Zach lets out a blistering curse as he lets the weapon drop. Zach looks down the hallway with a bit of satisfaction as he sees the back leg of the punk as he runs around a corner.
He waits a few minutes to be certain the punk is well and truly gone before looking at his shirt and jeans with a frown. Both were new, and pretty well ruined now, he thinks before turning back into the apartment to get some bandages. Zach frowns some more. He's not even really sure what that was /about/.
COMBATSYS: Paranoid has left the fight here.
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Zach 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Zach has ended the fight here.
Log created on 18:45:26 07/16/2011 by Zach, and last modified on 21:01:26 07/16/2011.