Description: A late night of drinking leaves Daniel Jack on the bad side of Southtown, but what finds him isn't locals out for a quick score...and the savior he finds is even less expected. But is anyone really on the side they say they are?
What a day.
In this late hour, Daniel Jack stumbles back down Gedo Street. Dressed in the tatters of his Orange Zoot Suit, he was a very clearly plastered. After all, he came across an old friend, and old rival, and one of his least favorite people in the world. Roland Brown. The old con man was back in town, and after a spar, the two spent the rest of the afternoon and evening drinking at Daniel's tab.
Of course, Daniel could spare for a tab.
Staggering down the street, Gedo Street was clear. Clean. And why not? The Gedo High students did a great job of keeping them clean of streetwise thugs. With the Syndicate driven out of the city to boot. Southtown was a whole lot safer. Daniel Jack wasn't too worried. Worst comes to worst?
Diesel in a set of frilly lingere in his apartment.
Demanding Snoo-Snoo
Safer? Southtown is never safe, even when you think it is. Just when you think it's safe enough to go walking through the city at night, suddenly...
*KRRRKRASSHHHH* What is that, thunder? Artillery? Raiden looking for his next me-"Mrrroowwwwlwlllll!!" Oh....just a cat. That's all, huh? Yep, the night is danerous alright, never know when those packs of feral cats might jump out of a bush and strip you to the bone. After all, this is Southtown, you need to expect those sorts of things.
And other things you should expect, especially on this dark side of town, is folks stepping out of the shadows, confronting you with imposing looks and ill intentions. And that's just what happens as Danny stumbles drunkenly past Gedo Street, two men dressed in dark body suits and caps. No apparent insignias, symbols, markings, or any other descriptors on their suits, just black with silver trimming. One is a...big guy, at least 6'7" and quite broad, while the other...well, he's smaller, just under 6 feet himself, but he looks wiry, and something about him screams 'threat' more than his bigger companion.
"Daniel Jack, I presume?" the smaller one asks, hands behind his back as narrow, beady eyes focused on the detective in the torn up zoot suit.
The crash.
Daniel Jack's guard is up, the drunken haze falling away to dead focus. Throwing up his guard, he brings up his hands. HIs legs spread out to a horse straddle stance. The defensive stance of Aikido, modified for Todoh-Ryuu Kobojutsu. Eyes burning, he scans the area. An attack? Juri in heat, ready for a rutting partner?
Oh, wait, it was just a cat.
But thank god for that cat. Daniel Jack doesn't drop his guard immediately, which lets him be ready when the two brutes show up. His bleary gaze turns to stone as he fixes on the brutes. "Well, scuzzies. You got a lot of gall to come out to Gedo Street at night. You must be on special business for me. Come on, which organization is it. Black Dragons, perhaps? Or maybe something new." For someone jumped on the streets, Daniel Jack seemed.... unnaturally calm. Even confident. Watching the pair, he seems to be growing impatient.
"Spit it out, scuzzies, I got a hangover to be getting to!"
The larger of the two is the first to move, stopped only by a raise of the smaller one's hands, gesturing for him to stay back. "Who we represent is of no concern to you. We're here with a message." The smaller, wiry man steps forward, beady eyes narrowing even more in focus toward the drunk detective. "Step away, or there will be consequences. You have no idea the powers you are dealing with."
The bigger one finally speaks up, a hand at his compatriat's shoulder. "Warnings are lost on fools like this," a deep, but surprisingly formal voice intones. "I doubt he even knows where he is right now." Odd that the more brutish looking sounds the most refined, but hey.... "Do us a favor, and step back. See if you don't want to rethink your well being looking into things you don't understand. Don't sell your life short for zeal."
Looks like the conspiracy thickens.
Daniel Jack sighs.
"Look, for the last time. Diesel asked me to go on a date with her. Have you tried saying no to that dame? I promise I won't seduce her away from the Doll Project, honest. I mean, what the hell guys, have you tried having a date with her? Or what, are you from Juri? Look, I told her it wouldn't work out between us either." The detective pauses, mulling for a moment.
"Or maybe this is something else?"
Daniel Jack flashes a grin, backing up away from the men a bit. "See, brothers, I got to lay it straight to you. There is a HELLA lot I need to back up on. But I know one or two things. Shadaloo is on standing orders to give me some space. So, uh, how about you guys tell me who you are with right now. Because I think I can put my hangover on the side..."
"And beat the answers out of -you-"
The two dark-suited goons look at each other as Daniel starts to blab along, before they both turn in unison back to Daniel, stonefaced as ever. "Shadaloo is the past. And the future doesn't include you," the smaller of the two says, slowly starting to advance upon Daniel even as the detective is jovial as ever. As he steps forward, an insignia on the cap finally comes into view, hidden mostly due to the same coloration as his cap: Shadaloo's winged skull...with a deep cut etched horizontally across nearly the whole length of the symbol.
The bigger of the two starts to step forward too, cracking his knuckles as he comes in behind his smaller comrade. "I will enjoy tenderizing you like so much veal," he sneers, as he starts on his neck as well. Looks like the time for words is over....
COMBATSYS: Daniel has started a fight here.
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Daniel 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Fat Man has joined the fight here.
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Fat Man 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Daniel
COMBATSYS: Little Boy has joined the fight here.
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Little Boy 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Daniel
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Fat Man 0/-------/-------|
Daniel Jack studies his opponents. The big guy was the brawn, but the little guy was the brains. The faster, likely more skilled of the two. As he looks at the caps, though, he comes to a quick conclusion.
"Ex-Shadaloo."
Daniel Jack grins.
"That saves me a lot of overhead, scuzzy."
As the duo begins to move in towards Daniel Jack, the drunk detective immediately begins with the small guy. Launching out with a fast palm strike with the left, he follows through with a hand chop with the right. Shooting out a straight kick to follow up, he finishes with a round house kick. Smooth, simple. Daniel Jack might have been tanked earlier.
But that only made him even harder to shut down.
COMBATSYS: Little Boy blocks Daniel's Zoot Suit Riot.
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Little Boy 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Daniel
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Fat Man 0/-------/-------|
Daniel's impression of the two seems quite dead on, as his sudden combo finds a surprisingly stout guard, palm strike meeting the heel of a palm, the hand chop stopped with one of the Ex-Shadaloo fighter's own, and the roundhouse meeting two palms deflecting most of the kick. "You're most definitely in over your head..." he says....
Surprisingly, it's the big man who moves in first, trying to clamber in and suddenly wrap his arms around Danny's neck while he's busy with the lither fighter. "You need to be shown respect," the sneering, upper-class voice intones threateningly. While that goes on, the smaller soldier suddenly charges in, trying to drive in a cross-armed chop rush straight into Daniel's stomach. "Your fate is sealed."
COMBATSYS: Fat Man successfully hit Daniel with Guillotine Choke.
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Little Boy 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Daniel
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Fat Man 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Daniel blocks Little Boy's Pincer Movement.
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Little Boy 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Daniel
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Fat Man 0/-------/-------|
Daniel never was good at double teams.
Daniel could fight one person pretty well. But when fighting two? That was always his bane. Needless to say, as the last kick of his combo comes in, the big guy gets a clean grapple. Choking, the detective struggles against the big guy. "GGGACK" He gags, as he tries to keep up his guard for the chopping frenzy rolling in from the little guy. With one hand on the neck, and the other out to catch the blows, the guy was right.
He WAS over his head.
Daniel Jack waits until the man slows down his chops before he reaches behind him. It was time for some classic Todoh-Ryuu Kobojutsu self-defense techniques, with the Daniel twist. LIterally. With his other hand free for a moment, the detective attempts to slap down his hand, and grab the bigger man HARD by the testicles. The hand around his neck would then rise up to grab the bigger man by the hair, and Daniel would draw in, trying to hurl him off and on his back. If successful... he would then begin the Crack part on the Mad Jack. On the head? Oh no.
By the BALLS.
While it seems like Daniel might be in a lonesome fight tonight, suddenly.....
*KRRAKRAAAAASHHH!!!* "MRORRRWWWRLLLLL!!!*
Yeah, looks like Daniel is alone tonight. Wait.....that didn't sound like a real cat. It actually sounded like a....bad cat impersonation? That...just who is that. Well, it's certainly SOMEONE, as a figure in a grey hoodie suddenly leaps above from a nearby fence, diving toward 'Little Boy' with some sort of battle cry, something that might sound familiar to Daniel. And if it's not? Well, when the unknown tries to smash 'Little Boy' with the flying elbow, the hood falls back, revealing a telltale Green Mohawk....
COMBATSYS: Vyle has joined the fight here.
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Daniel 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Little Boy
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Fat Man 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Vyle
COMBATSYS: Vyle has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Daniel 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Little Boy
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Vyle 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Fat Man
COMBATSYS: Daniel successfully hits Fat Man with Mad Jack Crack.
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Daniel 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Little Boy
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Vyle 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Fat Man
COMBATSYS: Little Boy endures Vyle's Quick Punch.
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Daniel 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Little Boy
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Vyle 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Fat Man
The struggle continues, as 'Fat Boy' tries to keep that choke hold locked in, allowing his friend to tee off, despite the best efforts of Daniel to catch the repeated chops. "How does it feel...to know that this night is your last?" that superior tone intones once more, trying to lock on the hold tighter....
Until some maniac suddenly leaps out from above, trying to tackle 'Little Boy' with a flying elbow shot. The sudden blow does manage to plow him down into the ground, but from there, the soldier simply glowers. "I don't know who you are, but you have interfered in things above you," he sneers, trying to smask a palm strike into Vyle's nose.
As for Fat Man?...he ends up lifted up during the distraction, the attack on his...vitals helping freeze the bigger man up until he's thrown down, and his 'vitals' attack once more. "HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHHH!!" The upper class voice suddenly turns falsetto, rolling over in pain. "Y-you...." he groans, voice finding its normal pitch again, before he tries to rise up and slam a rising headbutt into Daniel's chest.
COMBATSYS: Daniel dodges Fat Man's Head Bomber.
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Daniel 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Little Boy
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Vyle 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Fat Man
And then, a hero.
Daniel Jack turns to look as an unexpected friend comes launching in. He doesn't recognize him at first... until he spies that mohawk. "Vyle!" He exclaims. As the wrestler distracts the little guy, Daniel gets his opening, to slam the big guy down HARD. Wrenching his groin, he pulls back, his guard returning. As the brute rushes in with a headbutt, he parries the rush, side-stepping the man as he raises a hand up high. As it burns with energy, he flashes a grin to his new partner. "Vyle! Glad to have you in the neighborhood! Got some ex-Shadaloo here! Wanna take the little guy?" The detective slashes down hard at the brute, unleashing a wave of energy.
"KASANE ATE!"
COMBATSYS: Vyle blocks Little Boy's Quick Punch.
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Daniel 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Little Boy
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Vyle 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Fat Man
It really is unmistakable, that mohawk, isn't it? As Vyle manages to plow the smaller 'Shadaloo' fighter down, he's forced to contend with a palm strike to the face, one he meets with his forearms and only manages to deflect a little bit. "What do you think I'm doing, giving him a deep tissue massage?!" he snaps, trying not to give quarter to the 'Little Boy'.
"Ex-Shadaloo, huh?" he asks, sneering and smirking before trying to twist around and lock one of 'Little Boy's' arms into a good ol' fashioned cross armbar.
COMBATSYS: Little Boy Toughs Out Vyle's Medium Throw!
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Daniel 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Little Boy
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Vyle 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Fat Man
COMBATSYS: Fat Man interrupts Mikansei Kasane Ate from Daniel with Chin Music.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Daniel 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Little Boy
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Vyle 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Fat Man
Unfortunately, just because the odds are evened doesn't mean that the fight has turned their way. Even as Vyle tries to lock onto 'Little Boy's arm with that armbar, the wiry man shows just how much core strength he has by pushing himself up, despite the pain surging through the arm, and firmly wrenching the limb out of the grasp. It hurts, mind, but not enough to prevent him from trying to lift a leg up, and crash it down in a nasty looking axe kick. "Die."
And 'Fat Man'? Despite moving from bass to tenor with one strike, he's still a tough bastard. The wave of energy Danny tries to crash down is blown through like a rhino through a water hose spray. "FALL!" he shouts, barreling through with a compact hook straight across the jaw.
They weren't Shadaloo for nothing, it seems.
"I wasn't gonna ask what you do in the off-hours, Vyle!" The detective snaps, as his smaller Kasane Ate is unleashed. It was great luck that Vyle was here, ready to bail him out. The detective continues. "Yeah! I thought they were on to me about that Diesel date, but these guys are wild cards. Shadaloo and I are cool n-" The detective is cut short as Fat Man comes piling in RIGHT in to his face.
And Daniel Jack rolls his neck.
"Fall?" The detective chuckles, rubbing his jaw. "How about we Jack this up a notch." Stomping a foot down, he glares at the brute of a man, raising an arm high. Burning with Chi, he aim right for the center of the giant's chest. Unleashing a flawless Hand Chop, Vyle might remember that hand chop all too well. The Hand Chop that could shatter skeletons. Break entire bodies. And ultimately, destroy all of time and space.
"HIYAAA!"
COMBATSYS: Vyle counters Human Wave Attack from Little Boy with Antidote.
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Daniel 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0 Little Boy
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Vyle 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Fat Man
Vyle ends up rolled up on the ground as the Shadaloo grunt grinds his way out of the armbar, leaving the luchador on the ground on his back, and facing down a confident, and dangerous looking soldier, leveling an axe kick that would likely cave in another man's chest. So...what happens?
Well, the luchador ends up kipping up and catching that leg before it can come back down, catching it right below the knee and forcibly pinning it to 'Little Boy's own chest. "You first, mm?" he sneers, before lifting up, and slamming the grunt down with a leg-hooked side slam. "NGHHhhhH!!" It took a lot from Vyle to pull that off, you can even see surprise on the luchador's face as if he wasn't expecting to pull that off!
COMBATSYS: Fat Man blocks Daniel's World's Greatest Hand Chop.
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Daniel 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Little Boy
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Vyle 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Fat Man
The World's Greatest Hand Chop may be impressive...but 'Fat Man' is solid enough that he manages to brace against it, and take it without his body breaking. In fact...he stands up pretty damn well against it. Sure, little rivulets of blood trickle down the lead forearm he used to block it, through the black bodysuit, but surely he's not broken. "I've had stronger Jack offered to me in a mixed drink," he gloats, glowering Daniel down.
'Little Boy' is not so lucky, his axe kick caught, and the man hoist by his own petard with that counter slam. COughing up painfully, he rolls to the side and glowers, between both Vyle and Daniel. "Fall back..." he orders Fat Man. "But..." "No buts....fall back," he snaps, before backflipping onto the corner of a low rooftop. Snorting, Fat Man reluctantly complies, a slow backstep away, before he too leaps onto that rooftop, not quite with the same grace, but still up just the same. "Enjoy your trip down the rabbit hole...just remember what fate awaits," 'Fat Man' sneers before giving the both of them a cutthroat gesture before the two disappear into the night.
COMBATSYS: Little Boy has left the fight here.
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Daniel 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Fat Man
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Vyle 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Fat Man has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Vyle 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Daniel
And Daniel Jack stands tall, arms crossed, his opponents successfully driven away.
"Hmph! Assholes!" The detective belts out, before turning back towards Vyle, a winning grin over his face. "Vyle! Buddy! You saved my bacon back there!" The detective gives him a friendly slap on the back. "How the hell did you come out here?" He states, utterly trusting of Vyle.
And why shouldn't he be?
Why shouldn't he? Has Daniel not WATCHED Saturday Night Fights before? The NDP fights? CWA Riot, for god's s-
"Bartender called in a favor," he insists, dusting himself off as he finally gets back to his feet. "Can't believe that freakin' worked," he mutters under his breath. He then looks over to Danny, eying the torn up zoot suit non-plussed. "I see why he got so worried about a good customer."
Certainly a more understated rudo than he is in televised fights, isn't he?
The detective gives another pat on the back. "And you put on that show of being a tough guy who doesn't care about a damn thing other than himself." Daniel Jack shakes his head. "Man, I can see you got my back. Are you having second thoughts about breaking up that gang of schoolgirls? Cause I might have a friend you got to meet."
The detective pauses.
"An acquanti- Okay he is an asshole. But he is a good asshole."
"Just like you, Buddy."
Vyle continues to dust himself off, jostled a bit at the pat on his back as Daniel seems to jovially treat him as a friend. "...considering you seem to have gotten yourself into some deep shady shit? Someone's got to watch you before you end up like those poor saps in Thailand," he says, flipping the hood back up on that uncharacteristically drab sweatshirt.
And when Daniel offers to introduce him to another friend of his that wants in on this little mission, the wrestler can't help but raise an eyebrow. "You have a lot of friends like that, don't you?"
Daniel suddenly laughs.
It's not a good laugh. It is a downright creepy laugh. A laugh that says, well. How about I let Daniel himself put it clearly. "Oh, I got all kinds of friends like that. You know what they see. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. Besides, in my line of work? Keeping troublemakers in your back pocket gives you a handy reference when they want to rat out about their rivals. I'm not a cop; I have nothing against turning criminals against each other. I get paid in the end, and hell, might even turn a few away."
The detective lets loose a winning smile. "I'll arrange a meeting. Let me get your number again. I'm going to scout out Seijyun High, but I probably won't need you until I really hit the gang. You diggin' me?"
The detective seems to have an almost manic presence with him now.
What did Vyle just get in with?
There's...a sudden look of regret crossing Vyle's eyes as he hears that laugh. "Riiiiiiight. You know, maybe we should talk about this when you're not sloshed out yer head, huh?" he says, shaking his head and writing down his number again quickly on a card. "You're really gonna make me regret this, aren't you..." he mutters, tucking the card into that outrageous hat. "Now call a cab or something, I don't want the bar to lock me out because you ended up head first in a gutter tonight, after all this."
Daniel just Lauaaaaaghs.
"Nah, I am just around the corner." THe detective was in his neck of the woods, after all. And while he looked trashed... he felt great. Of course, if he was playing Vyle, or if Vyle was still playing him, it wasn't clear. But Daniel knew the truth: Everyone was playing him! So just play your game as if everyone is playing you. It is a great game of life, where you run the numbers against everyone. Winner takes all, after all.. but only after the house gets his cut. The detective begins to stumble away, before stopping short. "Vyle. Hey, hey. 'Vyle,' Since it is private, buddy. I gotta ask."
"What is your real name?"
Vyle just shakes his head. "Whatever you say, man," he says, slowly walking his way back to the direction of the Sports Bar. "Long as I don't see you on the morning news how you were found drowned in a litterl box or something," he says, waving a hand away as he starts off. He pauses and looks over his shoulder, though, when he hears the request for his name.
"Trade secret," is all he says, before recinching his hood over his head and walking off again.
Daniel Jack just shakes his head. "That Vyle. Crazy scuzzy, but deep down..." Daniel Jack pats his chest. "Deep down, I knew that it was all an act. Deep down, he is a real good guy, just looking out for himself, like everybody else."
The detective rubs his jaw a bit. Eh. He wasn't even gonna feel that in the morning. Staggering back down the street, he soon reaches the front of his apartment complex. "Roland is gonna get a kick out him, though. I dunno, the two are pretty similar. And hell, I know I am gonna need them backing me up, when I take on Aoi Himezaki and her gang of schoolgirl gangsters." The detective sighs. If only he could find Rust.
He is an expert in beating up schoolgirls!
Once he's out of range, Vyle's step hurries, making sure his hood is nice and an cinched tightly. He keeps walking and walking....until suddenly the same two Ex-Shadaloo soldiers that had attacked Daniel stepped into his path. "...is he gone?"
Pulling down his hood, Vyle stared the two down...and sighs. "Yeah, he is. But he knows more than he lets on, I'm damn sure of it. He's not going to be as easy to play as I hoped," he mutters. "I'm on his good side, and he bought the gag, but he's got something up his sleeve. Diesel's gonna want to know more soon."
He then stared the two down. "You did good. He bought the fight at least. Now head back before someone gets suspicious." The two end up saluting to him, before they disappear into the shadows again. The same shadows that hide the rudo's face underneath that hood as he walks back. "There's gotta be better ways to wring information out of people...."
COMBATSYS: Vyle has ended the fight here.
Log created on 19:52:20 05/15/2012 by Vyle, and last modified on 10:04:59 05/17/2012.