Description: The Capital 7, once the home of the criminal group known as Blackjack, is now under new management. However, there are some last holdouts--and so the new owner, and two of his friends, come to serve the eviction notice.
The deals had been inked earlier in the day, Li wearing a very proper business suit and a predatorial smile. The Capital 7 was his... or, in essence, his. Of course, he couldn't bankroll such an operation -himself-... not yet... but with the resources that he could call upon, he had at least a part stake in it. And Geese didn't want to get involved directly... so much the better.
It's Li's chance to make his first real public strike. But, of course, the Capital 7 wasn't -just- a casino... it was more than that. There, once upon a time, had been a sort of criminal venture known as Blackjack. They'd worked out of the casino. Blackjack was long gone, its members scattered to the four winds, but that doesn't mean that some diehards--and hardcases--didn't leave. After all... they had nowhere else to go. The Capital 7 had been shut down for a while, not quite to the point of full urban decay but... it wasn't -operating-, not in the sense of a business. But Li? He knew. Knew that there were people there, that they were still running small-time through the casino--not the casino itself, but the lower levels of the casino.
Enough people to cause him problems directly... and his men, by and large, were already occupied. With... other interests. So The Serpent put out a call. He wouldn't need an army. Just enough people to -destroy- an army. And it is with those people that the Serpent--in his ludicrous disguise, vocodered mask and all--has come to the bowels of the Capital 7. He strides in, confident, smiling, his short-staff already in hand. "Ladies and gentlemen," he announces, in a pleasant voice--as pleasant as a digitally-filtered voice can be, that is--"I am here to inform you that the Capital 7 will shortly be undergoing renovation and will be reopening for business. That means that, as of ten o'clock this morning, you are all squatters." In an instant, the voice drops around fifty degrees, revealing the steel-like menace hidden within.
"If you wish, you may leave quietly. If you do not... well... my associates and I will force you out." Of coures that'll get some to leave--the weaker-stomached, the ones who were never -fighters- in any sense... but there are, to be sure, more to take umbrage. And yet he stands there, the Serpent, staff in hand... smiling behind his half-mask.
Smiling and waiting.
COMBATSYS: Li has started a fight here on the left meter side.
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Li 0/-------/-======|
Bethany is not normally what one would call a team player. However, it is likely that her own actions are going to be coming back on her in the near future. If things go terribly wrong, it could be that she faces the wrath of Ken Masters himself! And Beth is not stupid enough to think that if that happens, just saying 'but I'm on your side' will get others rallying to stop him ruining her good looks. No, if that happens, she's going to need to be able to point at something and say 'there, I did that'.
So it is with a certain lack of enthusiasm that Ms. Cale has come to the Capital 7 in support of the masked Li. She herself is not wearing her usual stunning dress. Instead, she's dressed more casually. Her stunning figure wrapped in a glistening black leather trenchcoat, and underneath that, a shirt (straining though it may be) for an old Black Sabbath tour. She's even wearing a pair of shades, to help keep up the illusion that she might not be who she actually is. It is unlikely that any of these lowlives know who she is... but she does make SOME effort to keep her criminal activities separate from her glossy media lifestyle. She's kept the boots, though, and as Li makes his offer... she just remains to the back, nodding.
Actually, behind the shades, Beth's eyes are closed and, slouched against the wall, she's taking a little doze. She looks decidedly indolent, uncaring and uninterested. Due to her natural ability to appear completely in control... this probably means most people have pegged her as one of the really dangerous sorts.
She might not be making a super great impression on her colleagues, admittedly, but she is awake enough to be ready for action when things kick off! She's just... not that enthused about the thought of getting her hands dirty tossing scum out on the streets. This is almost *heroic*. So not her scene.
COMBATSYS: Bethany has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Bethany 0/-------/-------|
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Li 0/-------/-======|
There might be a little bit of trouble. Or so he was told. One of those that have come along in support of Li hopes there is more than just a bit of trouble or else it isn't exactly something he was wanting to deal with. He still had some other loose ends to tie up that both Duke and Geese requested that he could be doing right now. If this ends up being simple to where everyone just trundles on out it will be a big disappointment and something of a waste of time.
Of course there is also the intimidation factor that might come with the large masked wrestler known as Raiden when he looms behind the other two. Instead of his tights that he wears when performing he is dressed more like he came out of a biker rally with the big leather jacket, black boots and beat up blue jeans. In this case he might look more menacing than normal all things considered. A man running about in tights no matter how big can be laughable at times. Taking care of business in those things always just seemed silly to him anyways.
"You heard him. Start filing out people!" the Aussie barks as he pounds one fingerless gloved hand into the other and he begins cracking his knuckles. "Of course if any of you are feeling froggy just take a jump at us. It will be your last."
COMBATSYS: Raiden has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Bethany 0/-------/-------|
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Li 0/-------/-======|
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Raiden 0/-------/-------|
MERE MOMENTS AGO
Inside the main floor of the casino's underbelly lie the current occupants, or at least the bulk of their fighting force - along with a few hangers-on not currently out patrolling the streets and making life worse for the poor of Metro City. Or getting themselves under the feet of Li's allies. The Blackjack remnant have been quite pesky. Which makes their actual operation look pretty dreadful. Spread out amidst repurposed gaming tables are a collection of skinny junkies, a fair few probably prostitutes, and five people of any real note...
Oh, and their dog. His name's Turner. He's quite friendly when he's not biting your face off.
The central, human corps of Blackjack is for the most part laughing and joking when the Syndicate cadre approaches, cracking banter to a backdrop of amateurish light jazz. Two are clad in the sort of low-budget black suits, ties, and white shirts that every other wannabe top-flight criminal seems to wear.
"Play it again, Sam!" Cackles a woman in her early thirties as the dusty piano keys are released from their dischordant melody. It's not that the player is bad - Shady Sam provided much of the musical backing for the entertainers here in the Capital 7 during its heyday - but the instrument hasn't been tuned in years, and there's a lethargic quality to the man that he didn't used to have. A half-empty bottle of liquor atop the grand piano hints as to the precise reason for this. It doesn't take a detective to work that one out.
The woman has a similar quality to her, but seems more belaboured by time and its trials than fixated upon a harmful drug. Beautiful in that downtrodden fashion of her kind, she used to be an 'exotic' dancer, and has tended to thousands of excited men in her time upon the stage. Like everyone else here, she was a standing member of Blackjack too, and her limbs carry a toned quality still. She moves like a snake with long, dirty blonde hair and silicone breasts. Okay, so it's kind of an unusual snake.
"No!" Barks a figure toward the back of the room, feet perched upon the outer edge of a roulette wheel and hands occupied flipping through a stack of papers. A battered filing cabinet behind him holds many more, and a table just beside that is littered with drug paraphernalia; including what looks like a very classy chemistry set until the contents are inspected. "No more interruptions. We've got to get this batch on the street by tomorrow morning, and make sure it's not traced like the last lot. You idiots keep it down, alright?"
They actually seem to listen, all apart from the dog, who /literally/ barks.
"Shut up!"
"N-No, boss, I think he's trying to..."
"What, Hugh?" The apparent leader narrows his eyes and begins to stand, slapping a fist down onto the discarded sheaf of papers. He has a palpable aura, that one-- and he is indeed the leader, an ascended thug who goes by the name Black Briar, after a humorous incident involving his real name and a pen that very suddenly ran out of ink during an important signature. He's more capable than this makes him sound. Really.
It's in this instant that Li makes his entrance, which brings us to...
RIGHT THE HELL NOW
Briar narrows his eyes as the request resounds forth, seeming to ponder the request for a long, intensely awkward moment as Raiden follows up with his own entrance-- incredibly intimidating if only for the sheer bulk of the man. Turner goes wild, growing and yelping, but his leash - held by Hugh - gives him in place for the moment. Hugh's buddy Pugh reaches slowly for his jacket pocket, and withdraws a pair of shades.
If they're going to go out fighting, they need to look cool.
"/Force us out/?!" Snarls the flashily-dressed, maniacally-coiffured Black Briar, raising his other, non-table-punching arm to thrust an outraged finger toward the Serpent. Where he's calculating and graceful in his forthright manner, the man at the back of the room acts like little more than another fancy brawler. Which is, of course, precisely what he happens to be. "We'll see about, Syndicate trash. We owned this town before, and we'll own it again. You know who trained me? You know who my superior was?" Of course he does.
"I'm better than she ever was. Pugh! Hugh! Shoot these idiots!"
It's all he needs to do, for two Glock automatics to be levelled and emptied to either side of Li.
Meanwhile, the washed-up dancer peels off to one side after a meaningful glance to the pianist-- who's busily gulping down the last of his whisky and paying absolutely zero attention beyond this, apparently knowing where his own priorities lie. The lady - one Ms. Cocoa - is making to flank the incoming group. Smart one, she is.
COMBATSYS: BlackBriar has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Bethany 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 BlackBriar
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Li 0/-------/-======|
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Raiden 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: MsCocoa has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Bethany 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 BlackBriar
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Li 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 MsCocoa
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Raiden 0/-------/-------|
Billy says, "join right"
COMBATSYS: ShadySam has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Bethany 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 BlackBriar
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Li 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 MsCocoa
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Raiden 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: Hugh has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Bethany 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 BlackBriar
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Li 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Hugh
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Raiden 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 MsCocoa
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: Pugh has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Bethany 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 BlackBriar
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Li 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Hugh
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Raiden 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 MsCocoa
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: Turner has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Bethany 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 BlackBriar
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Li 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Turner
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Raiden 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hugh
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 MsCocoa
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: BlackBriar assists Hugh.
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Bethany 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 BlackBriar
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Li 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Turner
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Raiden 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hugh
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 MsCocoa
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: Turner focuses on his next action.
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Bethany 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 BlackBriar
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Li 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Turner
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hugh
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 MsCocoa
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: MsCocoa focuses on her next action.
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Bethany 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 BlackBriar
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Li 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Turner
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Raiden 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hugh
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 MsCocoa
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: ShadySam takes no action.
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Bethany 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 BlackBriar
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Li 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Turner
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hugh
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 MsCocoa
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
The guns being emptied at Bethany and Raiden don't make Li flinch. Hell, he's been shot at. If they were aiming for -him-, they're so piss-poor that he isn't gonna worry. If they're just drug-addled... well, maybe some Valium would help. It did for Solid Snake. It's easy to see who's the leader of the gang, and Li focuses on him, his lips quirking upwards. "You," he says, pointing at Black Briar with the end of his staff.
"I suppose if I shut you up, the rest will fall in line? I could use more help," he says, conversationally, "and you look like you've got good, strong legs on you... of course, I'll have to toughen you up first." Ah. The flanker. No, can't have that, can we? Method. That's how Li works... and so, it's with a shocking abruptness but smooth, easy grace that he suddenly lunges--without having transitioned from his casual, standing, 'by the way I'm here to dominate you' speech stance to a fighting stance, the staff in his right hand drawn back as he leaps at the dancer, drawing his weapon back--and then slamming it -forward-, aiming to stun the woman with a swift strike to the temple.
He doesn't need to give orders to Bethany and Raiden, and, anyways, 'giving orders' to Raiden, at least, will probably get him caught in an attempt to merge his head with the ground. He knows better. Bethany is an unknown factor, except in as much as she is a Syndicate as well, and that's all he needs to know for now. If they don't know their jobs... well.
If they didn't know their jobs they wouldn't be Syndicate, would they?
COMBATSYS: Bethany slows Covering Fire from Pugh with Black Magic Woman.
Glancing Hit
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Bethany 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 BlackBriar
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Li 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Turner
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Raiden 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hugh
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 MsCocoa
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
Oh hey, she's being shot at.
Amazingly, hot lead being directed at her in copious quantities does wonders to wake Beth up. She's not particularly interested in what these idiots have to say, but she is interested in making sure she doesn't get gunned down. So when the order is given, Beth detaches herself from the wall, and steps forwards. Dark blue energy is already starting to swirl around her left hand.
"Why do they *always* have to step?"
The bemoaning is done partly because it is important one keeps up the banter and doesn't seem intimidated by the fact they are outnumbered two to one (if you include the dog. Which Beth does. Ugh, animals.) And partly because it helps to hide the effort that this actually is. Chi is *hard* damnit, but perhaps a flashy demonstration will help to break their will.
"KIYAH!"
The shout is coupled by her flinging the energy forwards. Its a wave of dark blue power that rockets forwards into the wave of bullets, and does its main job of protecting Beth from being gunned down totally. Unfortunately, it splutters out into a disparate wave of sparkles before it actually reaches the ground, and the gunman. But Beth is still quietly happy with how that went!
Perhaps nobody will notice that one of those bullets got through and grazed her. Yeah. That was convincing.
COMBATSYS: Raiden endures Hugh's Covering Fire.
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Bethany 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 BlackBriar
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Li 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hugh
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 MsCocoa
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
Guns? They are hoping guns would really do anything other than piss off the members of the Syndicate? Of course Bethany handles things her way and they seem to work out well. Raiden has his own way of dealing with them. That is just moving forward and not really caring about the fact he is being fired at. There are a few that graze the big man as he barrels forward, but there isn't anything that is slowing his forward momentum. He is glad they decided this isn't going to happen the easy way. Now the big man can cut loose and have some fun. This is the part of the job he likes.
Hugh seems to be the unlucky one that the large instrument of destruction is heading for right now. No one else seems to really on his radar at the moment. Then again no one else has shot at him just yet. Rearing back one mightly fist he looks to bring it forward as he closes in and connect with Hugh's chest with all the force he can muster. A powerful strike that if it connects full on will probably take the poor guy right off his feet. If he is lucky it might send him through a wall and out of the casino.
"You kids asked for it! I'm the welcome wagon for the new owners! I AM RAIDEN!" he barks loudly as he just gives a rather menacing grin.
COMBATSYS: Li successfully hits MsCocoa with Quick Strike.
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Bethany 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 BlackBriar
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Li 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Turner
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Raiden 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Hugh
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> ////////////////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 MsCocoa
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: Hugh dodges Raiden's Giant Bomb.
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Bethany 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 BlackBriar
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Li 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Turner
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Raiden 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Hugh
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> ////////////////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 MsCocoa
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
"Good luck with that," grunts Briar in response to the announced machinations of the Serpent. It's uttered with the sort of desperate conviction that reveals a grain of truth; Elle's former pupil, with his mane of red hair and unnecessarily flamboyant black-and-scarlet attire, really isn't certain of anything. He's just got a few dollar bills in his pocket and an array of people worse than he is ready to follow along. If they can't follow any more, what WILL they do? He doesn't intend to find out. "Crush him, Cocoa!"
With a snarl on his youthful lips - he's all of twenty, at a guess - Briar slams his feet into the ground, dropping to a reasonable facsimile of a horse stance, fists pounding the air near his hips. To his credit, the resonating corona of red-white chi that appears about his ankles is quite reasonable. He's no mere amateur.
Ms. Cocoa might not be quite as good, or so it seems as Li cuts her off with expert precision, drawing a spray of blood from the side of her head as he soundly impacts with his trademark rod. She staggers, throwing the blood off with a wipe of her hand that leaves it stained across her well-brushed hair, as she rights herself on her high heels - really, it's amazing she can move at all - and throws herself into a cartwheel, hissing between her teeth as she strives to bring one fishnet-clad leg overhead and onto /Li's/ head.
"This is our territory, you son of a bitch!"
Wait, is Li her /son/?
The actual dog can't contain himself any more, turning to nip at the leash still trailing from Hugh's hand. He needn't bother - the man is plowed through by the catastrophically gigantic Raiden, the leather grip falling away along with the gun he was attempting to keep handy in the opposite hand. It's hard to do much of anything when you're trying to evade a monster. Hugh yelps as he throws himself to one side, dropping into a roll over a nearby blackjack (tee hee) table, coming up on the other side with something in each hand.
"Fire in the hole!" Oh shit, is that...?
Pugh almost flinches as glass shatters not too far from his own location. But he's a professional. With his Glock emptied and a need to reload, the suited and shaded enforcer reaches across to pop the clip in his firearm and exchange it for a fresh one, keeping his dimmed vision on Bethany as much as he can. Not because he's especially worried - Blackjack always did pick the cocky ones - but because why the hell wouldn't he? Besides, with a name like Pugh, and a friend called Hugh, you need to do all you can to be an Alpha Male.
Shady Sam has since found his bearings, seeming a lot more well-adjusted with the whisky inside him. His hands aren't shaking more than a little as he darts forward to capitalize on Raiden's hopeful over-extension with a thudding hook to the behemoth's body. It may be like punching a giant bear, made of steel girders and jelly, but he gives it a good ol' college try-- appropriate, considering he's a former collegiate boxing champion. Hos professional career never caught on, but he knows Big Bear well enough.
"You and me, buddy! Let's go! This ain't fake like your 'wrasslin'!"
As he barks the insult, another bark rings out, reminding all and sundry that someone's been forgotten...
Darting through the fray, Turner goes for a leaping nip at the back of Li's ankles. Teamwork.
COMBATSYS: BlackBriar gathers his will.
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Bethany 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 BlackBriar
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Li 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Hugh
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> ////////////////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 MsCocoa
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: Pugh focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Bethany 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 BlackBriar
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Li 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Hugh
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> ///////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 MsCocoa
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: Li blocks Turner's Pack Tactics.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Bethany 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Hugh
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> ///////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 MsCocoa
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: Li interrupts Cartwheel Kick from MsCocoa with Serpent's Sting.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Bethany 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Li 1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Hugh
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> //////////////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 MsCocoa
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
Dogs. The pup getes a nip in, before Li literally shakes it off--tossing it aside, no damage done to the dog, but it'll not be there for now. Just in time... for him to face off against the aging, old bustedness. He sneers, and in one, smooth motion, stops that kick high--before it can really get started. That's done with his left arm. She might be a former dancer--okay, employed in some sense as a dancer now--but Li is miles above her in terms of grace.
And, it seems, in viciousness, as he doesn't just stop that kick, but smoothly pushes it to his right--exposing Ms. Cocoa's chest as a target. And it's that target he strikes with the end of his staff, thrust outwards, the clenched-claw end of the staff blazing with bright orange-white energy as it slams into her sternum. Possibly hard enough to break it, painful in any case. It might even be enough to fold her like a top.
Li's voice calls out to Blackbriar again, sardonic and malicious. "You know, a man should have more care for his toys. If you keep throwing them around, they're -bound- to get broken..." He turns aside from 'Ms. Cocoa', dismissing her already. Perhaps even to his detriment. If the dog comes at him again... well. Maybe he'll toss it Raiden's way. He hears that Aussies'll eat damn near anything.
Bethany is well aware that she's being watched. But for once in her life, being the center of attention is not her primary motivation. Instead, she is watching her ally's backs. She might not be the most caring person in the world, nor the best team player, but she can appreciate the virtue in having these people around. Raiden... Raiden can take care of himself, but Li has (understandably) made himself the primary target. It is time to show that she's more than a pretty face.
"Don't worry, boss." She says to Li, "I've got your back."
And with that, the young woman advances to grab the dog by the scruff of the neck. There's probably people who would think twice about picking on a poor widdle doggy.
Not Beth, who aims to pluck it up, and then deliver a powerful roundhouse kick to boot the mutt over the balcony. "Bad boy. No treats for YOU." Hey, her style might not usually concern itself with animals... but if it has all gone according to plan, the self-satisfied grin on her lips implies that kicking puppies might just be the next big trick on her list to master.
... you can take the girl out of Mad Gear ...
COMBATSYS: Raiden just-defends Hugh's Molotov Cocktail!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Bethany 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Li 1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Hugh
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> //////////////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 MsCocoa
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: Raiden fails to interrupt Hook Punch from ShadySam with Bearhug.
- Power fail! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Bethany 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Li 1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Hugh
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> //////////////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 MsCocoa
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
That fist ends up not hitting the intended target, but that doesn't seem to stop phase Raiden. For him all he needs is to connect once. Be it a stiff kick, a powerful punch or just finally getting both of those big meaty hands of his on a person. Usually once that happens things go south for whoever his opponent is fast. With all the chaos happening around him he manages to keep his focus rather well on Hugh as he watches the man dive behind a table and soon pop out from behind it. "Oh rich." he says with a laugh and doesn't seem intimidated at all.
So much the fact he perhaps should be paying more attention to things other than what is being thrown at him. He does swat away the molotov's before they ever have a chance to shatter against him or even around him. One goes sailing back over Hugh's head to shatter behind him while another goes off to the side and closer to where Boss Dinglenutt is busy trying to act badass.
It is out of the corner of his eye he catches Shady Sam coming his way. He turns about and his arms are outstretched as if ready to snag the guy right out of his strike. That punch nails him and Sam must have found enough force to actually get lucky and hit Raiden enough that those grabbing arms don't catch him. "I hope you can hit harder than that. I have had midgets hit me harder than that!" he says and he glances in the direction of Hugh once more just to be sure they aren't trying to catch him in some sort of sneak attack.
COMBATSYS: Turner fails to interrupt Improvised Throw from Bethany with Go For the Throat.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Bethany 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Li 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Hugh
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> //////////////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 MsCocoa
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
Turner's a good dog, really. But a 'good dog' is fashioned by the educational whims of a human master, and the Blackjack pup has been raised as something quite other than a playful scamp. Tossed away by Li, a whimper rising quickly to an aggravated growl, the hound rallies itself on long limbs and gives a shake of its head before offering up another, higher-pitched and more alarming snarl as Bethany closes in.
Whatever the dog is attempting, limbs bunching, dies whimpering as he's lifted and booted, flying to the ground and bouncing several times before coming to a halt. He might need a moment-- there's a reason there's so many sayings about kicking a dog. Shit hurts. It's a dog's life.
Meanwhile, the exotic and beautiful Ms. Cocoa - who used to be called Miss Cocoa before she lost an implant and her innocence in a shocking accident involving a loose bra wire and the Blackjack coffee machine - is handily dispatched by Li, at least for a few seconds, flung back against the wall hard enough to take her breath away, and almost rupture her other breast. It might help; she does look a bit lopsided right now.
Briar isn't taking that insult lying down, though, nor the others, and he's ready to charge into the fray in her wake. Uttering an incoherent cry of chi-driven rage, he leaps from behind his vacated roulette table, papers scattering in his wake as red-white pseudo-flame dances around his body. One arm is thrust out, driving into an arcing overhand haymaker as he flies, using his less-than-impressive bulk to push it home. "If you can't stand the heat," he barks, landing in an unruly crouch, his ridiculous hair falling in waves around his narrow shoulders, frame quivering with unrestrained excitement, "Get the hell out of our casino!"
Back in the middle of the room, both Hugh and Pugh have time to reorganize. One with gun already reloaded, the other trying to throw off his alarm at seeing Raiden basically /eat/ a high-impact explosive, but both have a chance to act fairly freely-- and like twins, they turn as one toward the animal-abusing woman. As has already been mentioned, it's hard not to notice her. It's apparently a bit harder to shoot her, but Pugh at least is willing to try it again, opening fire with a second barrage as his chum springs onto the table and then...
Well, he basically throws himself at her, seeking to drive her to the ground just as Pugh stops firing.
"I love it when a hot woman's beneath me!" He guffaws, drawing an echo from his similarly-suited friend.
Oh, frat boy criminals.
Their elder, better and drunker, is still occupied with a different kind of bodyfat...
"Oh, I can hit harder, fella," grits out Shady Sam, winner of the Metro Correctional School for Young Boys' Pyrite Gloves trophy three years running, as he retracts his horny fist from an impact that would have been excruciating on anybody not made of reconstituted whale meat. Dancing on his feet momentarily, he manages to do so without overt swaying, giving Raiden a couple of seconds to recover his mass before darting in again. "They say the bigger they are, the harder they fall--!!" He springs in with a jab straight to the nose, before ducking away under an estimated counter response and following up with a second, driving it with full weight.
"When /you/ go down, casino's gonna be a crater! Dumb Syndicate lardo!"
"Yeah!" Pipes up a sudden voice from beside him, revealing a woman cradling her assets and looking rather drawn as she nonetheless appears to have found time to slip around like the wily vixen she once was, coming up on Raiden's flank with an aggressive step forward and a raised heel, seeking to just drive it into his face to complete a trifecta of blows to the snout. "/Lardo/! This is for that time you forgot to tip me!"
Oh snap. As if it wasn't a grudge match before.
COMBATSYS: Li blocks BlackBriar's Awesome Chi Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Bethany 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Li 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Hugh
> //////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> ///////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 MsCocoa
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
Surprisingly, Blackbriar -does- know a thing or two about hitting, apparently. The impact is pretty good, even defended as it is, by Li's forearms. He'd stagger, but instead moves back a step, smoothly. "The 'heat'?" he asks, as if trying to determine the nature of some odd colloquialism, some form of speech 'the kids' use. But of course he knows what it means. "You have no idea what 'the heat' really is..." And Li's weapon separates, a short length of chain running between the two joins... and he begins flourishing it, whipping the nunchaku about his body, almost casually, as he advances on the 'boss'. The skill with which he brandishes the weapon is, perhaps, shown most in the casual way he -does it-... not having to concentrate at all.
And then he whips the weapon low--looking to hook it around Blackbriar's leading leg. From there he'd lift, tug, and kick the other leg out from underneath the man. As Blackbriar would fall, Li would unentangle his weapon and, just as Blackbriar would hit, he would flick the weapon out, and down and it would stretch just a little--extra chain, perhaps--to impact, knobbed-end-first, into his stomach.
Right where an alcohol-fueled, drug-addicted wannabe is softest. Still he's calm, collected... almost as if he's not taking this seriously. It's just a fun bit of play.
COMBATSYS: Bethany blocks Pugh's Covering Fire.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Bethany 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Li 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Hugh
> //////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> ///////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 MsCocoa
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: Hugh successfully hits Bethany with Shoulder Check.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Bethany 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Li 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Hugh
> //////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> ///////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 MsCocoa
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
Beth ducks down, and crouches to avoid the worst of the rain of gunfire. Her jacket takes the worst of it. It is still going to be a while before she gets used to being shot at, though. This stuff bugs the hell out of her. And to make matters worse, she realizes when she looks up at the guy, that she's just in no position at all to defend from a guy throwing himself on top of her. The young woman gives a grunt as she is hit, and exhales long and slow. Aggravating.
"That's funny." She says, reaching up for a moment to just, brush her fingers against the idiot thug's cheek.
"Because I prefer to be on top."
And with a sudden motion, she brings her hand around to *SLAP* him square across the cheek. This is followed by two more in rapid succession, and, if she's got him dizzied, she will grip the thug by the hair, and twist, throwing him down into the ground as she gets back up to her feet, and dusts herself down. Hmph.
COMBATSYS: MsCocoa successfully hits Raiden with Strong Kick.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Bethany 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Li 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Hugh
> //////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> ///////////////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 MsCocoa
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: ShadySam successfully hits Raiden with Rapid Combo.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Bethany 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Li 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Hugh
> //////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> ///////////////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 MsCocoa
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
What a bunch of overconfident jerkoffs these people seem to be. They got numbers, but that really don't mean squat. More people would have been sent if it was thought that these people would be any sort of trouble. Or maybe it is Raiden that is overconfident in the fact he seems to perhaps be toying and taunting too much and not paying enough mind to actually be getting his job done. Even more so he seems to only be egging on Sam to try to hit him again. He leans forward and he taps at his chin. "Go ahead. You ain't bothing."
Those jabs seem more effective than one might think. Hitting Raiden does stagger him some as he straightens back up, but he is still grinning despite the bit of blood dripping out from under his mask. Of course he was giving too much attention to Sam that he soon finds the Hooker McGee has come after him and she drives that heel into hsi face and it snaps his neck back as he staggers away.
"Tip you? Honey, I never been drunk enough to ever lay something that looks like her beef curtains have been run through a blender." he says and he reaches to just grab her by the face and pick her up high. He looks to just slam her straight down into the floor. "So don't accuse me of that sort of stuff, you dirty cuntflap."
COMBATSYS: Li successfully hits BlackBriar with Lashing Tail.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Bethany 0/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Li 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Hugh
> //////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> ///////////////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 MsCocoa
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: Hugh blocks Bethany's Talk Dirty To Me.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Bethany 1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Li 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Hugh
> //////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> ///////////////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 MsCocoa
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: MsCocoa fails to interrupt Medium Throw from Raiden with Takedown Sweep.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Bethany 1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Li 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Hugh
> //////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Pugh
> ///////////// ]
|=======\-------\1 MsCocoa
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
Growling in a way that - more than anything - suggests he may be on some relatively non-lethal dose of Glow, Briar watches the oncoming Li's technical display with a simmering jealousy that he's desperate to hide. He does by behind his anger, clenching both hands before him, hard enough to cause more, seemingly instinctive bursts of that red-white chi to erupt about his nicotine-stained digits. He can hit. He's just probably not sure why, or how. It's just something he's been taught to channel. Elle wasn't the keenest teacher.
Certainly not good enough to evade what comes his way. He's grabbed and flipped, growling a protest and hauling his shattered dignity together enough to compose an 'x' block to the strike that comes his way. It impacts still-smouldering forearms with a hearty thunk, but the worst of the actual pain isn't diverted at all-- he actually exacerbates it, getting bruises on his arms which immediately part to let the strike slam his gut too.
"This," he sneers breathlessly, choking in a breath and struggling to rise once before simply giving up. Li had his number from the opening, of course, but he might just contain a surprise yet. Just when the wannabe crimelord seems to be down and out, he lifts his shrill voice to a /scream/, "THIS IS /THE HEAT/!!"
Boom. A localized blast wave of energy simply erupts around him and Li, throwing several tables clear and leaving Black Briar, née Brian, in a small crater of ripped carpet and splintered floorboards. Whether Li gets free or not, the leader of the Blackjack remanant is going to end up gasping after this one. It's impressive.
But it does nothing to interrupt the action elsewhere. Hugh, adjusted to his boss' displays, is calm and collected as he smirks against Bethany's teasing caress-- then immediately catches her incoming slap in his upraised hand. It stings still - he may have the higher ground but she is better and stronger than he is, but he keeps his composure as she struggles to get out the following blows, smothering them well enough that he emerges still unrattled. It's quite disheartening. A fact he's relying on as he leans in...
"COme on now, beautiful! Can't say no to a man like me... especially when he's not giving you the /choice/." Baring his teeth in a leering grin, he suddenly slams forth with a headbutt, releasing Beth's hand as he attempts the strike, using it to stun her before rearing up and using his free hand to give her a slap of his own. He'll keep that up until she breaks it, slap after humilitaing slap. If she lets him get that far.
His comrade-in-assholism has meanwhile shifted his aim, tracking in on the aftermath of Briar's asplosion to train a single, rather expertly aimed bullet down the approximate line of Li's hopeful retreat. He's working partly on instinct, but his accuracy might see him rewarded-- it had better, the clip's almost empty.
Raiden meanwhile is rewarded at last for his efforts in tanking the largest part of the Blackjack offensive, and though Shady Sam is himself given another pair of strikes - dancing back in another smug shuffle - the huge wrestler is able to use the opening that follows to send poor Cocoa scattering over the floor, bouncing off tables and through chairs that shatter like props, before she hits the wall and falls momentarily still. Whether she's unconscious or merely dizzy, she won't be bothering anyone for a second or sixty.
"Sonuva--" Utters Sam as he darts in to try and make a save far too late, eyeing the big man with a drunken fury before he falls to a knee with a sudden cough. It's a feint; whoever Sam was in a former life, he's a sneaky little bastard, and puts more of his demonstrated strength behind a rapid, double-fisted blow that seeks a twin target... right between the gargantuan legs of Big Bear. "Small target! Wonder if I can hit 'em!!"
And lest we forget, don't count out the mascot animal. Turner has recovered, and comes winding in underneath the tables, frothing at the mouth and quite possibly set to give a shot or rabies to the woman who wronged him as he comes bounding back up the steps and darts in to sink his teeth into Bethany's thigh.
You know, as if being on the receiving end of an attempted rape wasn't enough.
COMBATSYS: Li blocks Pugh's Medium Shot.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Bethany 1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Li 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Hugh
> //////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> ///////////// ]
|=======\-------\1 MsCocoa
> //////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: Li reflects Point-Blank Chi Blast from BlackBriar with Grand Serpent's Refusal.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Bethany 1/-------/=======|=======\=======\1 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Hugh
> //////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> ///////////// ]
|=======\-------\1 MsCocoa
> //////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
Pugh's shots... Li dances, in a sense. They tear clothing, mark flesh--but they don't find their mark square-on. Being shot is so -tedious-. Really, and they thought guns would help... however. The man has a wild talent for chi, and that, that just will not do. No, no. Li fades back a halfstep, switching his weapon back to its staff configuration as he does so--and then, just as that wild chi surges...
He strikes. Strikes right into it, his orange-white energy flashing out along the staff as he arcs it from floor up in a great uppercut--cleaving that burst of chi right in twain and striking 'Blackbriar' a blow.
But he isn't done quite yet, as he then steps in further and strikes downward--creating another crescent-shaped arc of energy that slams into Blackbriar along with that staff, one more time.
"If that is 'the heat'," he informs his opponent, with not a little disdain, "Then I have even less use for you than I may have thought. You woul do well to leave this place... and never return. I tire of this." Li takes a stance, finally, left leg forward, right back, right hand back with the staff held parallel to the ground, left hand out.
"if you persist in this... you won't leave with your life." He doesn't want to kill. It's messy, and troublesome, and even though these are the dregs of the earth, -someone- might notice them missing, eventually. It'll be extra work to dispose of the bodies, perhaps in Metro City's famed harbor, or simply buried into the new construction that will go up.
But he'll do it. It's out of convienience and ease that he prefers not to kill, not some misguided ideal.
COMBATSYS: Turner successfully hits Bethany with Bite.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Bethany 1/------=/=======|=======\=======\1 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Hugh
> //////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> ///////////// ]
|=======\-------\1 MsCocoa
> //////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: Bethany interrupts Snag and Beat EX from Hugh with Rock You Like A Hurricane.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Bethany 1/-----==/=======|=======\=======\1 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Hugh
> //////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> ///////////// ]
|=======\-------\1 MsCocoa
> //////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
Bethany gives a delicate hiss as the dog bites into her leg. That actually really smarts. The teeth chew through her jeans, and *that* just cost her more than she was ever going to make on this ridiculous little job. This is rapidly becoming far more effort than it is worth. Geez!
"Honey." She says, to Turner, as the would-be rapist tries to headbutt her. She lowers her skull, and comes up hard to smack into his nose instead. He raises his hand, and her hands clasp tight onto his backside. What? Did she... change her mind?
"You wouldn't survive the ride."
And suddenly she's swinging around. Three full times, she sweeps the man with her, until Hugh is dangling, truly out of control. At that point, she lets go, and he is flung wildly across the room. No matter how he lands or whether he gets up, she comes to a sharp stop after it is done. She now turns her attention to the dog.
"... Well, at least you're not so hard to look at." She muses, fixing her hair and looking down in distaste at the torn jeans and damage to her outfit. A vague look around seems to indicate that the others are doing pretty good, too! Who knows, maybe if Li kills that loud idiot, the will of the rest of them will break. It'd be nice to be able to call it done before her *whole* outfit is totally trashed. This shirt is vintage!
COMBATSYS: Raiden endures ShadySam's Rabbit Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Bethany 1/-----==/=======|=======\=======\1 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Hugh
> //////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> ///////////// ]
|=======\-------\1 MsCocoa
> //////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 ShadySam
Just a few seconds. That is all it took to silence at least one of them. He isn't sure if it is permanent or not, but Raiden is fine with his actions. He isn't against hitting a woman when they actually become malicious and he would count being kicked in the face as a malicious act. Then again he is pretty sure that is no lady. The dog might not be the ugliest thing in the room.....or Raiden for that matter for once. His attention shifts back to Sam now that they can take time to get acquainted on on one again. It is perfect timing because as he turns he soon finds that kick slamming in between his legs where there is a thunk.
"Heh, used to ladies trying that shit. Guess that means you don't have stones of you own." he replies and he reaches down to adjust things. He has been on the streets and dealt with enough idiots to know when to wear a cup. This just happened to be one of those times where it shows he is smater than he looks.
Stepping back he grins and he rears back before returning the favor and he looks to slam his old steel toes right in between the legs of the old drunkard. "MY TURN!" he shouts and looks to put enough force behind it to probably lift the guy off his feet from impact.
COMBATSYS: ShadySam blocks Raiden's Medium Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Bethany 1/-----==/=======|=======\=======\1 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Raiden 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Hugh
> //////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> ///////////// ]
|=======\-------\1 MsCocoa
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 ShadySam
There's no preparing the flashy, desperate Black Briar for what happens following the release of his shockwave. He's been punched in the face, he's had all manner of weapons affect him in a number of interesting ways, had blows stopped and countered, evaded and stuffed through sheer iron-willed grit. What he's never encountered is someone who could turn his own energy against him-- and it's enough to cause him to quite literally choke, blown down into his own crater hard enough that splinters pierce through his flamboyant attire with the power behind that second strike of the staff. But it's more than just pain he's hit with...
And it's the sheer embarassment of the assault that drives him back to his feet. Warm from exertion and flushed with shame, smoking gently from the after-effects of the reversed blast, it's all he can do to simply lunge forward - trying to keep Li between him and the wall - a spittle-flecking roar on his lips.
"My 'life'?" He rants more than talks, flexing his hands and twitching from head to foot, "This place is my life. "If you're serious about this, you fucking slime, I'll give you all I got!!" Suddenly he plunges back in with several fast, straight punches, no chi behind them now; flicking a jab, a cross, and a pair of wild haymakers that lack any form of real technique. But he's still got power, and he's got determination. With a second roar he tries to capitalize on the hopeful proximity he's gained to unyielding stone, darting in to slam Li against the wall and then half twist, half push him to the ground as he seeks to gain a fair imitation of a mount. "It's only a matter of time before the boss comes back, and /she'll/ kick your ass if I can't..."
Hugh fares even less well than his erstwhile employer, considering the position he had. Bethany's technique is flawless and brutal besides, wrenching the sleazy black-suited form around and around before depositing him frightfully close to the stairwell leading, conveniently, to the exit. Perhaps he'll just leave. Turner at least escapes the pain, and is able to round quickly from the delectable nibble, taking a moment to savour the morsel as he's offered a compliment. It's even better than being called a 'good dog' in his book, and he barks favourably... almost apologetically, really, before going straight for the ankles. But he's not biting this time, twisting his canine body to slam into Bethany-- striving to bring her back down to the ground.
The best meals are eaten off the floor!
It also helps the recovering Hugh, who crawls to his feet with a glinting object in hand, muttering something about 'dumb bitches' and 'exactly like fucking highschool' as he scrambles back toward the fray and seeks to unceremoniously insert a bladed object into any part of Beth he can reliably reach - seemingly uncaring of fine fashion or any damage he might cause to the things that /really/ matter. What a guy.
Across the room, Shady Sam isn't sold on playing 'roshambo' with Raiden. Snorting at the accompanying comment, he throws his hands down to catch the incoming blow. It makes a slap like a slab of beef hitting the butcher's block, and he leaps about a foot off the floor. Trying to no-sell this fact, he recovers and raises his guard. "I just prefer to stay potent, fella," he quips, half-mumbling and losing some of the effect as the heady sting from blocking the Incredible Jelly Girder Bear works its way up through to the nerve centre. He's swaying slightly, and not just from the alcohol, as he backs off a couple of steps.
Ms. Cocoa is back on her feet, and tottering about as Sam eats his humble pie. Her eyes are glazed, but this is nothing unusual among the lower criminal element-- and she has at least better steadiness than she had after almost losing her precious bosom. Psychological damage can be the worst. She puts that to the test as she enters a quick, three-step sprint to cover the ground back to Raiden. Sam sees the attempt and moves in simultaneously with the not-at-all-a-stripper-you-stop-being-so-mean as she bends into an acrobatic forward flip, hands striking the floor and propelling her high enough to strike level with the huge man's head.
Her right lashes out, but she keeps turning into the blow, writhing the left up and reversing her momentum with outflung arms-- seeking to use gathered momentum and a hopeful stunning of Big Bear to bring him with her into a flying headscissors, /slamming/ him down into the casino floor.
She'd probably fail, but Sam helds her along with a huge running haymaker to the back. Ka and pow.
Oh, and Pugh's had enough of being tactical and smart. He just throws his goddamn Glock at Raiden.
COMBATSYS: Li blocks BlackBriar's Takedown Rush.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Bethany 1/-----==/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Raiden 1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Hugh
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> //////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 MsCocoa
> ///////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 ShadySam
Li hits the wall, alright, borne there by Blackbriar's desperate rush--but when he looks to throw him to the ground, that's when Li takes action, literally kicking out--wrenching his body in a graceful, but abrupt manner that breaks Blackbriar's hold and doesn't allow him that mount position.
Somehow, he keeps hold of the weapon the entire time. "Ah, yes, your 'boss'..." he says, with a private little smile. "So you think she'll come back... oh, is that it? You don't want to realize that you've been abandoned. That 'the boss'... is not coming back. That this is all you have left... petty drugs, petty whores, petty lives. I understand. It takes a greater man than you can be to reach for more."
Li moves forward, as if to help Blackbriar up. "I understand," he repeats, as he grabs for the man's shirtfront, and seeks to haul him up... and then, again, with that abrupt grace... to hurl him into the wall that he just slammed Li into.
"So I'll make the humiliation as complete and painful as possible," he says, smiling that smile of his, "so that you can finally understand your place in this world."
COMBATSYS: Turner successfully hits Bethany with Furious Charge.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Bethany 1/----===/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Raiden 1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Hugh
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> //////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 MsCocoa
> ///////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: Bethany dodges Hugh's Shank.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Bethany 1/----===/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Raiden 1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Hugh
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> //////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 MsCocoa
> ///////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 ShadySam
Bethany is being forced to actually give a damn about this fight. It is an uncomfortable realization, which doesn't really hit home (despite the /guns/) until the idiot she had tossed away comes at her with a knife. This is actually a pretty dangerous place to be right now, who would have thought it?! The dog and thugs hadn't really seemed like much of a threat to her. It isn't like they can actually hurt her.
But as Turner sends her crashing to the floor, she hrmns. Okay, maybe it is time she started to get... serious, here.
Beth rolls away from the knife wielding Hugh, and casts a dark look towards Turner. The full force of her personality comes to the fore, and she issues a single command.
"STAY."
Her back has been turned dismissively to Hugh, but if he thinks that this means she's forgotten about him, he's wrong. Her finger wags warningly at the dog, and then suddenly she is on Hugh. There's a certain... energy, in Beth now. A seriousness that wasn't there before. The time for games is over, and the grab she gives him isn't sexy, or provocative. It is just skilled, a bread and butter move that she mastered years ago.
Both hands grip the front, and she goes around, using her full momentum to swing him up, around, and down. Through a nearby table, and crashing into the floor with enough force to shake it, and, hopefully, warn the dog.
Because whilst she is fairly confident she knows how to toss thugs around... animals weren't covered!
COMBATSYS: Raiden blocks Pugh's Thrown Object.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Raiden 1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Hugh
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> //////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 MsCocoa
> ///////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: MsCocoa successfully hits Raiden with Dance Takedown.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Raiden 1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0 Hugh
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> //////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 MsCocoa
> ///////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: Raiden endures ShadySam's Drop Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Raiden 1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0 Hugh
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> //////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 MsCocoa
> ///////////////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 ShadySam
So they all want to team up on Raiden it would seem. He is fine with that. There are reasons he is sent in and that is because he can just keep going for a long time even when he is taking a good beating. That gun is swatted away to where it doesn't really do anything, but it is enough of a distraction that the woman manages to get her legs around his neck for the headscissors. Raiden thinks he is going to be ill. "It is like someone barfed in you-" POW the blow smacks him in the back of the head to help the the lovely dancer take Raiden off his feet and ground him finally. Maybe just maybe they finally have taken down the wrestler so they can help their friends.
The fact as Cocoa gets up she feels a large hand on her ankle. "No going anywhere now." says the big man as he starts to get up. He releases her only to slam his fist into her stomach and then try to hook his arm around her waist to pick her up. He has an intense gaze focused on Sam now as he starts forward to get steam. The other arm extends as he looks to do the same thing with his free arm and pick him up as well. If he can hook him both he takes both for a ride across the room before slamming them both into a wall. "ALL ABOARD!" The others are lucky to not be in his way to say the least.
COMBATSYS: BlackBriar interrupts Quick Throw from Li with Surging Chi Grapple EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\1 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0 Hugh
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> //////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 MsCocoa
> ///////////////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: Hugh endures Bethany's Power Throw.
# Disabling hit! #
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\1 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/-------|=======\==-----\1 Hugh
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> //////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 MsCocoa
> ///////////////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: Raiden successfully hits MsCocoa with Crazy Train.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\1 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/-------|=======\==-----\1 Hugh
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> // ]
|=======\-------\0 MsCocoa
> ///////////////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: Raiden successfully hits ShadySam with Crazy Train.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\1 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/-------|=======\==-----\1 Hugh
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> // ]
|=======\-------\0 MsCocoa
> ///////////////// ]
|=======\-------\0 ShadySam
Humiliation is a powerful tool. Shame and self-doubt are the weapons Li can turn to his purpose.
Years before, when he was plain and simple Brian, the leader of the Blackjack remnant never believed he could amount to anything more than a two-bit thug under the command of the beautiful, unpredictable woman who first held this casino under her criminal sway. When he happened to prove himself during a raid on a former Mad Gear operation, he was picked up as a promising future lieutenant of his cause, nurtured - insofar as Elle was ever capable of nurturing - and turned into the raving, energy-slinging wastrel now falling prey to a better man.
Calling himself Black Briar, wearing those stupid clothes and dyeing his hair so garishly... all just ways he tried to justify his newfound talent, all means to help him have the confidence to take control of this motley group. He's lowdown and dirty in the eyes of any of the Syndicate enforcers in the room, a chi prodigy who left it too late to be anything particularly great, another could-have-been fighter in a world filled with them.
But as he's seized by the shirt-front, he doesn't want to give up. He doesn't want to admit it.
"My place in this world," he spits out, reddish lines coursing down his arms, erupting in his hands even as he's brutally flung, rebounding off the wall with a shout, "Is on top of PEOPLE LIKE YOU!!" Grinning from ear-to-ear as though he didn't just say the gayest thing ever, Briar seizes Li by the front of his own garb, the other hand pressing down on his face as the chi-hucking brawler channels every bit of his native power into a twin explosion of red-white flame, stepping through to accompany the blaze with a backfirst slam to the floor. In the process, he as good as military presses the Serpent-- alarming power for one so scrawny.
He's never faced a challenge like this before. He's shaking so hard he could burst. "You're /beneath/ me."
For his part, Turner has never faced a challenge like /Beth/ before. After colliding with her body, he was prepared to keep following his master's orders - wait, did anyone even say anything to him? - and gnaw some upon her frankly very, very tasty form. But her voice carries a great deal more charisma and command than any of the wannabees clustered around them in various stats of dissaray. The pooch whimpers, and turns his head this way and that as if following the wagging finger. It seems to work though. He's stopped.
Hugh doesn't have as much choice in his own fate. The media princess is fast and skilled indeed, scooping him into a freefall that sends his shiv spinning away and barely gives him time to submit; which he does, simply falling limp and hoping that will see him through the worst. By luck or design, or a combination of the two, he manages to bounce back up even as fragments of shattered table fall around him.
"Is that it?" He croaks, ignoring the fact he can't actually straighten his back-- probably on account of the jagged hunk of broken table sticking out of the back of his suit, dripping blood everywhere as he lunges forward and attempts to jam an elbow into Bethany's smug, commanding mouth. As he does that, there's a horrible *crack* from his spine, and a gout of blood erupts from his mouth. It still doesn't stop him going for a second and third shot from the striking limb, before swinging up with the opposite knee, trying to grab a controlling clinch to follow up with alternating blows. And finally, another headbutt to remind her who's boss.
"When you're unconscious," he froths, still hunched even if he manages it, "I'm gonna have the pooch screw you!"
Across the room, Sam and the Superhooker-- I mean exotic dancer, are basically screwed. There's really no nice, polite way of describing what happens as Raiden scoops them up and runs them, hell-bent, into a brutal wallward charge. Sam rebounds into a messy heap, before summarily vomiting up the entire bottle of whisky he downed before the start of the fight-- but he's alive at least, pushing himself slowly to his feet as his stripalicious compatriot is... almost literally broken in half, a shallow gurgle escaping her throat as she slides slowly down the wall, leaving a greasy smear something like a squashed moth. But bloodier. Messier.
Something flashes up on the screen, distracting everybody terribly.
Achievement Unlocked: Murdering A Prostitute.
"You bastard," snorts Sam, staggering forward, pupils wobbling in his eyes, "You jusht killed my wife!"
At which STUNNING REVELATION he tries to plow a big ol' fist into Raiden's saggy left breast.
It would be a heart punch, if he didn't have to make his way through twelve inches of flab first.
COMBATSYS: Turner takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\1 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/-------|=======\==-----\1 Hugh
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> // ]
|=======\-------\0 MsCocoa
> ///////////////// ]
|=======\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: MsCocoa takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\1 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Hugh
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> ///////////////// ]
|=======\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: MsCocoa can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\1 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Hugh
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> ///////////////// ]
|=======\-------\0 ShadySam
Bonus pose: fuck Pugh. Nobody cares about Pugh. He gets to do some serious shoe-gazing and think about his life.
COMBATSYS: Pugh focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\1 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Hugh
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> ////////////////// ]
|=======\-------\0 ShadySam
Oh, really? Well. The man finally shows some -spirit-. Too bad all it does is... enrage the opposition. Li slams to the ground, tumbles... and comes up, his eyes ablaze behind that mask. "Beneath you?!? BENEATH YOU!?!" He's a good distance away from Blackbriar now, at at least ten yards, -well- out of range, isn't he? And yet... he takes his weapon in hand, shifting it once again to the nunchaku form, whirling it.
"I know my place in this world... where I am, and where I want to be, and -none of it involves -YOU-!! Now... GET THE HELL OUT OF MY PLACE!!!" he roars, the vocoder only barely keeping up with the volume, lending The Serpent's voice an even more unearthly set of tones. Twirl, twirl, twirl... -flick-. And the end of the nunchaku reaches out for Blackbriar's face. It stretches across that impossible distance, whistling with an unearthly sound, and if it strikes, it'll strike dead center of Blackbriar's head--enough to stun the man.
With another flick, the weapon is returned to The Serpent, only to lash out again immediately... this time seeking to wrap the chain around Blackbriar's throat. From there?
From there, The Serpent will use every trick of leverage and strength to literally hurl the man off his feet, swing him around twice, and then -slam- him into the opposing wall... and then, with one final jerk of the chain, down onto the floor, face down.
"_That_ is your place in this world, scum..."
COMBATSYS: Hugh successfully hits Bethany with Savage Beating.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\1 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Hugh
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> ////////////////// ]
|=======\-------\0 ShadySam
"Good dog."
Beth's voice has a tone of regal command to it that is not diminished at all by the fact that she flinches from the sheer volume of Li's rage. It is an impressively loud speech, if nothing else. She's actually somewhat surprised the other would-be boss is still alive at this stage, but, she'll take it. She is actually clearing out her ear with her little finger when she turns around to see the enraged thug coming back towards her, staggering around half-dead but...
"Oh, you're still alive?"
The dismissive wit is cut short when her attempt to turn aside his blows is unsuccessful. She can tell she's wounded him badly, but it doesn't seem to have slowed him down *enough*. She manages to stay standing through the onslaught, and even keeps her dignified bearing, with her lip split. The final headbutt has broken her sunglasses, which is the more aggravating thing to her, and turns that carefully bored expression into an irritated sneer.
She aims to grab hold of the wounded thug's arms, and bring him down hard onto his wounded back, stabbing those sharp implements further up into him. She'll come down with him, but, if she has him where she wants him, right next to Turner, she won't be looking in his eyes, she'll be looking in Turner's.
"Now Elvis." Because Elvis, as everyone knows, is a far superior name than Turner for a dog.
"Kill."
And she'll give a sharp nod downwards to indicate the beast's (former?!) master. There is nothing in her tone which will even *begin* to brook argument. Threaten to rape her with a dog, will he?! Beth does *not* think so.
COMBATSYS: Raiden interrupts Body Blow from ShadySam with Powerbomb.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\1 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Hugh
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> /////// ]
|=======\=======\1 ShadySam
There is a problem about getting Raiden worked up when on the job. There is a reason why he was banned from professional wrestling matches for a good long while. And more importantly there is a reason Geese keeps the big man under his employ. TImes like this he isn't afraid of doing more than just maim someone. Trash like this often needs to be taken out and he will show no remorse in removing them if they really want to put up that sort of resistance. All those insults and all those blows aimed at him came with a price. That price so far has been one life. It may soon claim a second.
"Keep this up and I will be happy to let you join her, mate." the Aussie responds as he steps forward to grapple Sam as that punch nails him in the chest. If anything that blow just seemed to annoy him more than anything else. The adrenaline might just be kicking into full gear now and even a solid punch isn't really affecting him. All he knows is he now has Sam in his clutches and it is time to teach him a lesson.
He pushes down on the shoulders to bend Sam forward before big arms wrap around the man's waist. He then hefts Sam up wards and steps forward a few times before violently throwing the man down Hard into the ground and on top of his wife's corpse. "There. NOw stay with her and let me go do my job."
COMBATSYS: BlackBriar blocks Li's Threshing Tail.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\==-----\1 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Hugh
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> /////// ]
|=======\=======\1 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: Bethany successfully hits Hugh with Medium Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\==-----\1 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ///// ]
Raiden 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Hugh
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> /////// ]
|=======\=======\1 ShadySam
"You're wrong," replies Briar, actual honest-to-testicles steel in his voice now as he squares his narrow shoulders and tosses his head. Stepping up like the hero he clearly believes himself to be - albeit in the most twisted possible sense, to the worst possible people - he waits for that eerie voice to be done without so much as a sneer more. His eyes-- they're not watching Li himself, but the whirring staff.
"Your life started involving me the second you stepped through those doors!" He snaps up a bruised forearm as the Serpent's unerringly quick sting veers toward his face, baring slightly yellowed teeth as a flash of innate chi bursts through his flesh. The blow strikes hard, and it stings unbelievably, but he stops it well enough. When it comes back in, seeking his throat, he's able to get both hands up and keep it from tightening. But it chokes even so, his cheeks puffing out as he hurriedly attempts to keep breath. This is his only chance...
"No," he grits, honouring a hundred thousand Internet chat-rooms as he adds, "YOU!!"
He staggers with the final swipe, is flung only enough to send him staggering past Li before he recovers and uses the momentum to /flip/ back in the opposite direction. It's the most gainly thing he's done, but the moment is right for it. His spirit mounting in the form of waves of faint, barely-reddened chi rolling off his shoulders, the leader of the Blackjack remnant makes his final stand. "This is /my/ life! My HOME!!"
With a stamp of both feet he thrusts his arms forward-- he's near enough to not need what ensues, not really, but it comes anyway, as every last bit of energy stored in his unsuitable frame explodes into rampant life. In a singular encroaching blast it sweeps toward Li, red-white and raging, screaming, even as the cry of the Black Briar joins it in concert. He collapses as the last leaves his surging palms, panting, barely held up on wobbling legs and one outthrust hand. He can't even see what's happened, hearing the interior wall give way nearby but not able to discern the location or status of his foe. What matters is, he gave it his all.
"And..." he gasps, shuddering, adrenaline threatening to tear him apart, "It's the boss' home too..."
Meanwhile, Bethany's opponent seems to have mounted his own, final defiance. With his jubilation mounting in the face of it, but his back ravaged and his frame giving way to natural weariness besides, hapless Hugh can do nothing about the simple, effective grapple that brings him to his back. He ends up winded, more blood erupting from his throat as he frantically tries to inhale around a heaving coughing fit. Almost hyper-ventilating, he doesn't move any more for the moment, spasms running through his spinal column...
Which is a shame, because he can't do much as the newly-christened Elvis happily barks.
He can do even less as the newly-christened Elvis springs at the bidding of his new mistress.
(Who smells even better than she tastes, by the way. FYI, guys in the room.)
And absolutely nothing as he starts to be eaten. Elvis is a good dog. Elvis is a /hungry/ dog.
Speaking of spinal impacts, though less of being eaten - we hope - Sam has his own share of problems. As the forgotten man in the middle of the room moves quietly to capitalize on the fact he has a fucking stupid name and nobody likes him, except for the guy currently screaming as his spleen is devoured, the former boxer and soon-to-be former pianist is being brutally slammed by the biggest and baddest man ever to enter a wrasslin' ring. At least until Hugo tries to say something about it. Yeah, you heard me. YOU HEARD ME.
It's horrible, though. Sam can barely feel it through the liquor and the misery and the rage, but the impact leaves a dent in the floor and destroys just about every disc there is to destroy. He's limp as he rolls determinedly to a crouch, and moving like a mannequin as he rises and 'dances' forwards.
Grace there isn't, but the muscles in his arm are bulging as he step-stride-falls into a frontal assault, dropping low in some semblance of his former dodge-y boxing grace, before rearing up with a gigantic uppercut, twisting into the blow like he were Mike goddamn Bison, throwing astonishing power behind it-- and managing far more speed than a half-dead man should ever be allowed to possess. He's got nothing else left.
"Your job," he burbles through a mouthful of bloody phlegm, "Is to eat things, fatso..."
But Shady Sam can still throw one last hell of a mean punch.
"EAT THIS, FELLA!"
That would seem to be everything...
Until a *click* sounds from behind Bethany. A discarded weapon has been retrieved.
It's been reloaded.
*bang*
And Pugh tries to shoot her in the back if the freaking skull. LIKE A GENTLEMAN.
COMBATSYS: Turner successfully hits Hugh with Devour.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|==-----\-------\0 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ]
Raiden 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0 Hugh
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> /////// ]
|===----\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: Hugh takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|==-----\-------\0 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> /////// ]
|===----\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: Hugh can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|==-----\-------\0 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> /////// ]
|===----\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: Li reflects Big and Slow Chi Fireball from BlackBriar with Serpent's Retort.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|==-----\-------\0 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> /////// ]
|===----\-------\0 ShadySam
Li's having to work. This is unpleasant. The man he's facing is a -joke-... but apparently not that big of a joke. Carrot Top compared to Gallagher, perhaps. "That is where you are -wrong-," he says, and as that blaze of chi comes for him... he makes it look effortless, even though he's breathing hard. The slash of his weapon, glowing with that orange energy, returns the blast back to its owner.
"This is -no longer- your home. You do not understand. I -own- this place, now. This is your eviction notice. But if you would rather be buried here with your dead dreams, -so be it-." He straightens, his mask admirably expressing the narrowed eyes he's wearing. "When your 'boss' returns... I'll bury her with you. Under five tons of concrete. After I show her how small-time she was... how little she accomplished... -what she could have done-!!!"
He doesn't even care what Blackbriar does, now--he's following that returned projectile. No matter what, he's going to be -right in this man's face-, panting, lividly angry, and more than willing to just throw down, bash it in, beat the man to a bloody pulp. No one said becoming a crime lord was going to be easy.
COMBATSYS: Pugh successfully hits Bethany with Trick Shot.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|==-----\-------\0 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> /////// ]
|===----\-------\0 ShadySam
Bethany smiles as Elvis gets to work. "That's a GOOD--" She starts, over the sound of mascot masticating flesh. And then her head whips forwards, and she stumbles a step. Did... someone just shoot her in the back of the head?
An eyebrow raises archly.
"Well, that was... brave."
She snaps her fingers, expecting Elvis to come to heel. It is fine if he doesn't of course; he has a meal and... well, it may be a little early for her to be expecting him to pick up on her every whim and desire. As she turns to stalk towards He of the Silly Name, however, those sparkling green eyes of hers are shining with righteous indignation. She's getting real sick of getting shot, and threatened, and beat up.
"Give me a reason here, buddy." She says, as she picks her way through the ground. "Your friend got on my bad side, and now he's dog food. You want to give me a reason not to kill you. 'Cuz I'm struggling. The more you point the gun at me, the more I want to feed you each bullet in it."
She smiles. She might actually look more predatory than the dog behind her, every inch of her screaming that she *knows* what he's got, and that it ain't, worth, shit. "So come on. Punk. Give me a reason. Give me. A fucking. Reason."
COMBATSYS: Bethany focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|==-----\-------\0 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> /////// ]
|===----\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: Raiden endures ShadySam's Hail Mary Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|==-----\-------\0 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> /////// ]
|===----\-------\0 ShadySam
It looks like Sam doesn't want to take a hint. Then again what does he have to lose? His wife is gone now and soon so will be this place if he really did call it home. He probably doesn't even realize how bad things are all around. Sure he may have distracted Raiden for a good amount of time, but it seems like a moot point. Li and Bethany are having a share of problems, but they seem to be overcoming those. It also seems that the blasted woman somehow got that mutt to befriend her. Some people are just effing strange.
The big man also seems to be tiring of the fat jokes as well. He steps forward and he meets that punch by letting it slam into his stomach. Oh he is a big boy all right, but it is probably best to remember there is ALOT of muscle to go with him as well. "That all you got!?" he shouts and he grabs the man by the head with both hands. "THAT IS ALL YOU HAVE?" he asks and he then just looks to start bashing his masked head into the face of Sam over and over. He doesn't stop for quite some time either. The end result more than likely is going to be a very bloody smear all over his mask and face and Sam not having much of a face at all by the time he is discarded.
COMBATSYS: Li successfully hits BlackBriar with Reflected Big and Slow Chi Fireball.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|======-\-------\0 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> /////// ]
|===----\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: ShadySam fails to interrupt Head Crush from Raiden with Cross Counter.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|======-\-------\0 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Pugh
> / ]
|=====--\-------\0 ShadySam
COMBATSYS: ShadySam can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|======-\-------\0 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Pugh
COMBATSYS: ShadySam can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|======-\-------\0 BlackBriar
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Raiden 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Pugh
The man once named simply 'Brian' is spent. Watching his blast returned, not even seeing the wall of the casino crumble as he'd imagined - as he knew it would, with the power behind his technique - all the spirit dies where it was alreading thrashing into the throes of such. His mind calls back to a thousand memories, small and large, of everything that, indeed, they should have accomplished. As well as what they did. But it's the sweet battles against the bitterness that Li's damning words ignite. Briar raises his head, one last time.
He endures. Because he can. Because it's what she would have wanted. To the last, he /is/ resisting.
It's just that, when all is done, he can't do anything more. A gurgling sort of laughter brooks his lips, his head swimming and body beginning to slump as he matches Li's wrathful gaze through the fading aura of his own returned energies. There's some comfort in what dissipates between them-- at last, in the final moments, it was something of Elle's creation that brought him low. Cast him back to where he begun. To nothing.
He doesn't say anything more, couldn't if he wanted to. But all that Black Briar wants to do is sleep.
This isn't his life any more. His life is gone.
When he hits the ground, he doesn't move again.
Where there is failure, however, there is always success. Though in this case it may quite the misnomer; as Pugh's shot is true, but the bullet is far from as effective as the many others he has drawn a gun against. The Blackjack remnant have dealt with a considerable amount of competition-- but this is the sternest challenge they've faced, and they may all have underestimated their foes just enough to narrow the odds. Or perhaps they were simply better. It doesn't matter-- what matters now is that he has nowhere to run. Nobody to hide behind.
As a henchman, there's nothing scarier than realizing you're the last man left. Elvis doesn't spring to heel, but neither does he break away from devouring his former handler, apparently keen to have found a new, safe home - away from people who keep dying all around him.
"I..." Begins Pugh, before reaching up to whip off his shades, holding them in one hand, glancing from them, to the gun, and then back again to Bethany. She's not attacking him. Briar is felled. Two of his friends are dead. Another may be on his way out as they speak-- it's not looking good for Sam, not at all. And here he stands with a gun between him and one of the more frightening women he's had occasion to meet. Her confidence and poise, he thinks, make her almost the equal of their boss. That makes her better than just about any of them. And Pugh? He was far from the most capable fighter here. He was never going to be.
But while he doesn't want to die, he has loyalties. Even Briar commanded some form of respect.
"I'll give you a reason," he says at last, mouth setting in a grim line as he raises his hand...
And flings his sunglasses, right at the face of the media princess.
"HOW'S THIS FOR A REASON!?" He screams with all the rage he can muster, springing behind them to drive the metal stock of his now-emptied handgun forward in the wake of that unlikely projectile. He's barely tired-- at full force and with every bit of himself free to be lent to the strike. But it's desperate. If it works, he buys himself a few seconds, maybe gets away... but does he want to? He does this so he doesn't have to decide.
It might be wise. Though not as wise as running. Shady Sam is seized by the brutal ferocity of Raiden, subjected to strike after endless strike even as he attempts to jerk his body into reacting, his muscles bunching in a last display of futility, a hand rearing up only to miss by a country mile. He belongs to the big man now - his life is over if the Syndicate enforcer wills it. The only thing keeping him alive will be fortune. The only thing saving his face... perhaps a good plastic surgeon, if Li or Geese fell merciful.
Either way, it's over. Sam won't be playing anything else, ever again.
How could he look at another piano after this?
COMBATSYS: BlackBriar takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Pugh
[ \\\\\ <
Raiden 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: BlackBriar can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Pugh
[ \\\\\ <
Raiden 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Turner drops his guard to recover.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Pugh
[ \\\\\ <
Raiden 0/-------/-======|
Done. Finally. A waste of human life... but then, these people, to use the term loosely, were wastes of human life as it was. So, in the final calculation, no big loss. The Serpent turns, as Pugh fires another shot at Bethany. Well... if she wants to kill him for -that- effrontery, that's up to her. As for him? He kneels by Briar--Brian--and checks his pulse. Academic, really... he can't them live now. They're too much of a liability. Too loyal to the former owner.
And he gave them their chance. They could have just walked away, found new lives. Now? Li reaches into a pocket, pulls out a slender cellphone. Dials it. "We'll be clear in a few minutes," he says, into the phone. "Bring the crews. Yes. Several. The standard deal, standard rate. Of course. Oh, and there's a dog here... I guess it was one of their pets, or something." He glances around, sees the dog still up and running, shakes his head as he tears off a piece of Brian's outlandish clothing, to clean his weapon off.
"Make sure someone kills it. It -bit- me." And he snaps the phone closed. Should Pugh promise to continue being a problem, well, Li will certainly aid Bethany in dispatching of him. But that's Bethany's call, right now.
COMBATSYS: Bethany instinctively blocks Pugh's Long Shot.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Pugh
[ \\\\\ <
Raiden 0/-------/-======|
Bethany snatches the flung glasses out of the air, and, in contravention of all /earth logic/, she whips them around, shattering them on the stock of the weapon, and pressing her palm up against it. For a moment, she holds that. She might be a little scuffed up, but the cold malice that is in her eyes right now... and after so effortlessly (or instictively), turning aside the desperate assault.
"Good enough. You can live."
She drops the shattered sunglasses, and turns her back on the man, grinding them underneath her heel. Hey. She's got a soft spot for the underdog. She actually *liked* Mad Gear, in its own crazy, hedonistic way. They are exciting, they live life for the thrills, and whilst she did not like this guy's friend... /he/, at least, hadn't threatened unwanted sexual contact. If he continues to show such a marvellous understanding of where the boundaries lay (and he isn't suicidal), then he might just live.
There is one problem, however, and that is now Li.
Whilst Beth had been planning on having the dog put down herself, he is now making claim to /her stuff/. It doesn't work that way. "The dog is mine." She says, loud and clear. "Elvis will be coming back with me. You can waive my usual fee. If you're going to punish a fucking /dog/ for being loyal to its masters, well. That ain't going to do much for our working relationship, I'll put it like that."
Her arms fold underneath her expansive chest. Yes, Beth could now easily be cold-clocked by the guy from behind, OR brushed aside by the guy she just helped claim some new territory. But she's holding herself with a casual grace, and she's still feeling pretty pumped up. This little excursion had managed to get her heart racing at a couple of points! It had been... exciting!
COMBATSYS: Bethany takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Pugh
[ \\\\\ <
Raiden 0/-------/-======|
Sam is spared for what it is worth. That is if the bleeding stops in time and he can manage to maybe get to a hospital. In the end is that really a plus? Raiden is breathing a bit heavily as he straightens up and wipes the blood on his gloved hands on his jeans. This is the first time he is really getting a moment to take a look at seeing how the others are doing fully. He turns about to see one man half eaten, the supposed leader down and out and just one of the two goons that opened fire to start this whole mess standing and having to deal with a very angry Li and Bethany.
"Guess that takes care everything pretty much." the big man says while taking a moment to finally catch his breath. He is still standing, but he is sore. He won't admit those mooks gave him a run for his money. That shows some sort of weakness. He can't be doing that now. Instead he just becomes the world's largest cheerleader as he raises his arms and then claps. "Yeah, take him out!" he shouts while grinning some. Sure he will jump in if he needs to. Right now he is fine with taking some time to at least get his breath back so he can properly crack the guy's skull open.
COMBATSYS: Raiden gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Pugh
[ \\\\\\\\\ <
Raiden 0/-------/---====|
Well, Pugh. Apparently that was a terrible reason. Your reasoning skills are terrible like your name.
Unfortunately, the sole standing - and almost the sole /living/ - member of the Blackjack remnant formerly occupying the Capital 7 isn't aware of how much everybody except Bethany hates him. On the other hand, as his brutal assault is so casually brushed aside, as the immediate threat of his presence is disregarded on all sides, perhaps bar the exuberant hollering of Raiden, who at least acknowledges he deserves to be punched...
All of this just adds up to an equation he can't avoid completing. He's not in it. Not as things stand. The beautiful thing about the human condition, particularly for the likes of the Syndicate and their extinguished competition, is that the body and brain both share a keen survival instinct. Young Pugh has one side a man who's handily downed his former leader, on another a behemoth who's soaked enough blows and bullets to destroy a small fleet of battleships, and finally... he has Beth. A woman who's just given him his life as though it were hers to give. He doesn't need to think much longer before he drops his gun and puts up his hands.
"Alright. You people have made your point. But I-- I think I made mine, too. If you'll pay me..."
He leaves the thought there, the last of his bravery deflating. He's the subservient here. He can't demand.
Unlike Elvis, who seems to pick up on what's going on, and briefly pauses his meal to offer a contented 'ruff'.
It's a good day to be a dog.
COMBATSYS: Pugh takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0 Turner
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Li 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Pugh
[ \\\\\\\\\ <
Raiden 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Turner has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Bethany 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|==-----\-------\0 Pugh
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Li 0/-------/---====|
[ \\\\\\\\\ <
Raiden 0/-------/---====|
Log created on 13:16:00 05/13/2012 by Li, and last modified on 09:22:03 05/14/2012.