Rough and Tumble (IC)

[Supercape]

Freddy frowned as the Man stood up to his assault. He would have preferred this was shorter. Perhaps not to short - he was to put on a show after all, but short nonetheless. He wasn't liking it. 

 

He took a more agressive stance, advancing steadily but not without caution. Bam, bam, bam...a short but sweet series of blows to the man,  to the side, chest, and head. But the man had a steel jaw today. 

 

Dammit...

 

He advanced once more, batting aside some ineffectual blows from the man, who perhaps was a little shaken. Again, he struck a series of three blows - hard and fast. He could have winded the guy, or kicked him, but he played fair. If he was boxing, as opposed to fighting, he would box. 

 

The man was impressive, he gave him that. Not as skilled, or strong as he was, but he didn't back down. By the time he finally sunk the man to his knees, the Mess was breathing hard. 

[Thunder King]

Ah, now Crimson Tiger knew what was really going on. the mafia were connected, and that was never good. That, and people dying in the fights. That meant improper care, and often bad refs. That shed new light on the fights. Fights needed precautions that protected the fighters. Fighters still got badly hurt or died sometimes, but she doubted the mafia would do much to protect the fighters. She wanted to shut these guys down, hard.

[Tiffany Korta]

When Lucy had given up the street’s to pursue education, she had put aside the violent part of her life aside. But multiple time since her return she had learnt that she never really left it behind. And she knew better that to blame her own origins for such things, it had always been there.

So whilst she enjoyed watching the fight’s she also kept in the mind the brutality and the potential dangers, if she hadn’t know that Bloody Mess could take the punishment, and they wouldn’t have believed she could fight let alone let her in the ring, they wouldn’t be doing this plan.

Still something felt off about the fight, and she couldn’t put her finger on it. It didn’t help that since her return she occasionally got strange feeling about thing about to happen, normally they suggested the plotting of the Master, but this just didn’t feel like his sort of thing.

All she could do for now was watch and observe and hope the answer’s would be made clear to them.

[Supercape]

The Mess strolled back to his corner, wiping his brow with offered cloth. He did not pause long before stepping out of the Arena, ignoring the crowd and the referee. 

 

He couldn't wait to leave the dirty business. 

 

Sure, he had been a boxer growing up. But street fighting mainly. Something about this made his skin crawl. The baying for blood. Perhaps a "normal" fight might have been less toxic, but the mood here set his teeth on edge. Something unpure about it. He may have had a gladiator's heart, but it was true to its nature. Something about this wasn't. 

 

He nodded to Revenant and the Hound as he stepped out. 

 

"Show's over folks. Can't say I enjoy fighting like this. Fighting's not for sport, its...well....I dunno. It's not this..." he said, short for words. 

 

"It's better than this" he explains, in a simple but true statement laced with bitterness. 

 

The Hound stepped up to the nearest and most important official he could find. 

 

"See what a champion I have here! surely there is something...bigger...more spectacular?" he asked, oozing insinuation. 

[Thevshi]

As Bloody Mess managed to put his first opponent down after a number of solid hits, there were some cheers from the crowd, but it appeared that more of those watching had placed their money on the larger man, and were not happy about his loosing.  Mess made his way out of the ring as some people came in to help the defeated boxer back out as well, and the next pair of fighters made their way out.

 

Up near where Crimson Tiger had now moved, people were swarming over to the bookies to place bets for the next fight, so the two men had not time for further ideal conversation at the moment.

 

Down underneath the platforms occupied by the spectators, Hector looked over at Harry as the rumpled private investigator lauded Freddy's fighting skills.  "Well, he won his first match, but he could have just gotten lucky."  The Latino man stated with a bit of smirk.  "Still, if you're really keen to prove he's got what it takes, I think I can fit him into one of the later fights tonight."

[Supercape]

NPC

 

Harry nodded enthusiastically, oozing. The Mess just grimaced, his face furrowing into a veritable knot, whilst his teeth ground together. 

 

"I don't like the sound of tha..." he started. 

 

"My man will be more than happy to take on anybody!" interrupted Harry, tapping - a little harder than necessary, the Mess' shin with his shoe. 

 

"But tell me, what is the show here? I only heard bits and pieces, here and there. I got wind that this place is a bit more than your regular pugilistic arena?"

 

He waggled his eyebrows as he brought out a cheap cigar, lit it, and offered one to the man. 

[Thevshi]

Hector took the offered cigar, allowing Harry to light it for him.  He gave the undercover private investigator a small smile.  "Well, for most this arena is as good as it gets.  They can win some money, particularly if they are willing to places bets as well, but they either don’t have the skill to move on, or get injured."  He stated.

 

"This is just the stepping stone for bigger opportunities."  He then paused, regarding Harry with a cool look.  "But I can't just send anyone on to the next stage.  Besides having to prove they have what it takes, and your boy might, I need to have some assurance you are not more than you seem."

 

 

[Supercape]

NPC

 

Harry almost fumbled over his words at Hectors last statement. 

 

"Yeah...sure..." he gabbled, puffing away at his cigar, hoping the profuse exhalations of smoke, in the dim light, would help conceal his face. 

 

"I can dig that, for sure. But, that's a hard thing to prove to you, isn't it?" he explained, airily tracing his cigar around in expressive circles, and giving Lucy a desperate eye. 

 

"What's the deal? a palm greased with silver? a secret handshake? the right school tie?" he asked, as politely as he could, hoping he wouldn't be asked to do something he shouldn't - or wouldn't. 

[Tiffany Korta]

Lucy as gently as she could took the cigar from Harry, giving him her best “I know what I’m doing†face. She then out her arm around Hector whilst puffing away on the cigar like a pro, it helped that she didn’t need her lungs having never really smoked during her lifetime.

“Look Hector I think you’re missing a trick here, what you’ve got here is a goldern opportunity to make some serious money. Our boy here is as good as we say, better even, and as an unknown people our bound to bet against him.â€

She poked him with a finger, cigar still in hand.

“Except us and you, and we’ll clean up.†she stepped back and looked like she was seriously considering something.

“Look we’re confident he’ll come through, so here’s what we’ll do we’ll front his entry money plus of course your finders fee. So if we’re wrong you lose nothing, if right you can make quick money on the fight. So all you really gotta do is introduce us to the right people...â€

Hopefully his greed would overcome any fear of whoever was running this little outfit.

[Thevshi]

The next fight had started in the arena, another two MMA fighters.  The crowd was once again focused on the fight, leaving the bookies with less to do for the moment, but they did not seem intent on talking any more about the larger scale operation run by the mob.

 

Down below, Hector had just been about to respond Harry's question on how he might be able to prove himself when Lucy stepped up and joined the discussion.  The man listened to her, not taking his eyes off her as she spoke.  He then gave a somewhat sardonic smile.  "I wish it were that easy mamacita."  He replied.  "You see, I just pass those that prove themselves along to my contact.  I have no idea where the mob operates out of or anything like that."

 

He looked like he was about to say more when one of his nearby bodyguards came over and grabbed his arm.  "Hector, just go word from one of the lookouts.  Looks like the police are here!"

[Supercape]

NPC

 

"The Police?" yelped Harry, accidentally flicking ash on Lucy in surprise. 

 

Truth was, it was indeed surprise - and annoyance. And a touch of fear. He had a few friends on the force, and a few enemies. They could easily recognise him and blow this. And if one of his old "pals" was feeling particularly vindictive, they could even implicate him. 

 

"That's not good, my friend. Not good at all...what's happened? they busting the joint? do we need to make ourselves scarce?"

 

Unconsciously, the perpetual coward's eyes started darting around the building, looking for places he could run too if things got dicey. And they avoided meeting the gaze of Harry or Lucy. 

 

Well, I gotta know my escape routes! he justified to himself. 

[Thevshi]

Hector's face showed as much surprise and worry as Harry's did, the Latino man glancing around a brief moment before focusing back on his bodyguard.  "Have the word sent out to the others to make themselves scarce."

 

Looking over at Harry and the others, he gave a small shrug.  "Sounds like a raid, not sure what tipped them off, but was bound to happen at some point.  Sorry it is spoiling your boy's chance to fight again tonight.  This place has a lot of exits, so unless the police are here with a lot of guys, there is no way they should be able to have them all covered right away.  If you hurry before the spectators upstairs hear what’s going on, you might be able to make it."

 

With that he turned away and started towards where his other bodyguard was waiting.

 

Up above, the crowd was still focused on the fight taking place in the ring.  But from where she was, Crimson Tiger saw signs that something was going on.  One of the guards she had spotted while up in the rafters came running over to the two bookies she had moved near, a pistol in his hand. 

 

She was just barely able to hear what the man said to the two over the noise of the crowd.  "The police are here." 

 

The two men froze for a brief moment, then started gathering up the money boxes that were set up near them while the guard waited for them to be ready to leave.  Glancing to one side, Crimson Tiger could see two other guards, also with guns drawn, standing at a doorway, apparently watching for any sign of the police.

[Tiffany Korta]

Despite the many, many strange events she had seen over the year or so Lucy never seemed to be phased by the events. And compared to some this was quite a normal day. Without missing a beat she assessed the situation and worked out what she thought needed to be done.

 

“Okay here’s what I think we can do. Harry follow Hector out in case he knows more than he’s saying, Fred go with the fighter’s someone might know something.†She stuck the cigar back in her mouth “And I’m going to see who leading the police. Let’s say we might up at the office in a couple of hours?â€

[Supercape]

"That sounds like a plan" said the Hound, somewhat jealous that Lucy was much cooler at smoking Cigars than he was. 

 

Dammit, and she ain't even got working lungs...

 

"A damn dangerous plan, mind you..." he added, as the realisation of the danger this would involve set in. 

 

"Hellfire, I feel like a rat caught in a trap" he cursed "there ain't any safe way right now, I guess..." he said in an irritated tone, throwing his cigar down and stamping it out. 

 

"I got Hector. Freddy, you follow the fighters like Lucy says. And try to keep undercover, you know, like I told ya?" he said, hoping his partner would keep his rather slow-witted head on this time. 

 

The Mess nodded, disliking the situation as much as his partner. 

 

"Sure, Harry. Just stay safe, huh?" he said, concerned that his less resilient friend would keep his nerve. And head. 

[Thunder King]

Crimson Tiger decided that if the police were here, she'd do her best to help them out. She dropped down silently behind them and delivered a fierce elbow to the side of one man's head before kicking the other in the head. Both men collapsed easily.

 

"Damnit, I still don't know where the hell the other fights are." She mumbled to herself. Well, the situation was already collapsing. Best to help the cops clean things up. She moved near the entrance and figured she could probably help make sure none of them escaped the long arm of the law.

Edited April 25, 2013 by Thunder King

[Tiffany Korta]

Stubbing out the cigar, it was a filthy habit anyhow, Lucy made her way back towards where she thought that the Police had entered. It was time like these that her small stature really helped, she could weave through the fleeing crowd without attracting too much attention.

Her own worry, though that was probably too strong a word, was that if she got into another fight her dress would be ruined. She lost most of her clothes this way, it was a pain but as much as felt comfortable in old suit she really couldn’t wear it all the time.

Knowing what kind of trouble raid’s could cause she was ready for whatever trouble came her way.

[Thevshi]

As Harry, Freddy and Lucy conferred briefly about what course of action they should take, Hector wasted little time, starting off through the area under the viewing balconies with two bodyguards, being joined by another thug as they went.  The word of the police arriving did not seem to have been passed on to the other fighters, who were either watching the fight currently in progress or busy warming up for their own fights.  Some of the people accompanying the other fighters  (trainers, managers or the like) seemed to not Hector's passage, but did not seem to grasp the significance of it, as they continued on with their tasks.

 

Quickly making her way upstairs to the upper level, Lucy found that the general crowd of spectators were similarly unaware that the police had arrived, as they were still focused on the fight taking place in the ring below, the sounds of cheering making it hard to hear much else.  Just as she reached the top of the stairs, Lucy spotted a young woman in a red body suit and mask, with small black markings similar to those of a tiger, knock out two of the toughs who had been guarding the entrance through which Lucy had arrived with Freddy and Harry.  She also spotted another tough who was leading two other men around the edge of the crowd, as he spotted the woman in red.  The tough had a pistol in hand.

[Tiffany Korta]

Living in the city as long as she did it didn’t take much for her to figure out what was happening. And her first thought’ weren’t about a ruined stake out it was to try and help the hero. She picked out the most dangerous of the group, the gunman, and with a burst of speed was beside him in an almost instant. To draw his, and the other’s, attention on her she put her fingers in her mouth and gave a loud whistle.

“Did no one tell you it’s rude to try and harm a lady? Well lucky for you I’m no lady.â€

Maybe it was watching the fight below but she felt the urge for a straight out fist fight throwing a straight forward punch towards the man, though she held back from the full force of her blow.

[Thevshi]

The man with the gun had had his gaze fixed on the costumed heroine that had just taken down two of his companions, and thus hardly registered Lucy's approach.  When she spoke up, he glanced at her with surprise, just in time to catch her punch under the chin. 

Even holding back some, Lucy's superhuman strength lifted the man up off his feet and sent him flying a good fifteen or more feet to slam back down on the ground.  It was rather evident that he was out cold.  The punch seemed to have attracted the attention of a few people that were in the crowd of spectators on one of the other balconies, as they had stopped watching the fight below and were looking in that direction.

 

The two men that had been with the thug froze, both apparently unsure what to do.  Lucy could see they were carrying what looked like cash boxes, making her assume they were likely bookies.

 

Near the doorway out of the main factory floor, Crimson Tiger could faintly hear voices shouting from the area beyond.  During her prior observation in the rafters, she had seen other guards around the perimeter of the crowd of spectators, but it was hard to tell where any of them were at the moment.

[Thunder King]

Crimson Tiger spotted the bookies and, deciding they shouldn't be allowed to run off with their ill gotten gains, ran over and knocked each one out with a simple blow to the head. She watched them fall over and looked at the woman who just sent a man flying fifteen feet. Something was obviously odd, even she wouldn't be able to knock someone around like that with ease.

 

"Hi, I take it you're one of the good guys?" She said. "I'm Crimson Tiger, and I'm trying to help the police and figure out what's going on here. Do you know?"

[Tiffany Korta]

Lucy relaxed and gave the other woman a friendly smile and relaxed a little from her combat stance.

“Well I like to think so. I’m normally known as Revenant.†she moved her sunglasses to the top of her head showing her deep black eye’s obvious even in the rooms low light

“But you can call me Lucy.†Whilst she got the whole secret identity thing it never seemed to be something she’d needed to maintain.

“I’m here with friend’s of mine from the Bloodhound Detective Agency we were looking for someone who was a fighter here and went missing.†she offered up one of the Agencies Business Cards as evidence.

“We know there’s a second fighting ring feed from this one, we just don’t know where it meets. Maybe we should combine our efforts?â€

[Supercape]

NPC

 

With the fighters not going anywhere, the Mess clenched his fist and waited for the inevitable fallout from a police raid. He was having flashbacks to his past, underground fighting and police raids a think burnt into his bruised brain. 

 

"This ain't good" he muttered to himself. 

 

Meanwhile...

 

The Hound, with a few choice elbows throught the crowd, started to follow Hector, only to be blocked off by some of the guards. 

 

Damn goons with guns...he cursed to himself. 

 

"Hey guys! Its time to move. C'mon! We got to hustle. I'm with Hector, y'know? and the Police are breathing down our necks. It's time to cut our losses and scram, yeah?" he said, all bluster, with fear wet on his forehead. 

[Thevshi]

As Revenant and Crimson Tiger briefly spoke, the two spotted some other thugs and bookies moving along the outskirts of the crowd of spectators.  These four men were further down the platform the two heroines were on, coming from a different direction, but headed in the same general direction that the group that had just been knocked out had been headed.

 

The two thugs accompanying the bookies spotted the two women standing near the unconscious forms of some of their compatriots in crime, tensing up as they did.  Both had pistols visibly in hand.

 

Even as some of the nearby crowd had shifted their focus to what was going on with the two women and the bookies, a shout from somewhere managed to ring out over the cheers of the fight taking place below.

 

"RAID!"

 

The shout had the effect of stopping most of the cheering, as people began taking a look around, trying to get their bearings on their surroundings and figure out how they might try to make a run for it.  Some of the spectators that had already been watching what was going on started running, generally away from Crimson Tiger and Revenant, but apparently without any real thought of where they might go.

 

Down below in the "pits," the shout caught the attention of the fighters still waiting for their matches, who began looking around as well, several of them noting that Hector and his people were busy making their exit.  The two fighters out in the ring were still focused on each other, and had not yet quite realized what was going on, but those waiting began grabbing their gym bags or coats and otherwise preparing for flight.

 

The bodyguard that had stopped Harry scowled slightly as the private investigator tried to talk his way into joining with the ring leader of the operation.  "Really?  We never saw you until tonight.  How do we know you're not responsible for the police showing up?"

 

Hector and the other bodyguard kept on moving at a quick walk, making it to a door along one of the back walls of the area.

Edited May 9, 2013 by Thevshi

[Supercape]

NPC

 

"Hey if I was the police I would be on the raid, wouldn't I?" explained Harry, opening his arms and eyes wide. 

 

"Do I look like I am on the police? Am I running towards the raid, or away from it. And running fast too. C'mon, every second we delay is a second closer to a pair of handcuffs. For you and me both, pal!"

 

He wiped his brow and showed the man his anxious sweat. "Do I look scared? You bet, pal. I'm not too fond of the slammer. And I'm dead fond of staying out of it? What's the worst that could happen? The police catch up with us and they cuff me, giving you a chance to escape? What ya got to lose?"

[Thevshi]

The bodyguard hesitated a moment, appearing to be trying to come up with some hole in Harry's argument.  Apparently unable to do so, the man simply scowled slightly before he moved to the side slightly.  "Fine then.  But don't expect us to wait up for you.  You fall behind, you're on your own."

 

With that, he turned and broke into a slight jog to try to catch back up with Hector and the other bodyguard, who had just disappeared through the door they had been heading towards.  From what Harry could hear now, it sounded as if chaos was just beginning to break out up in the crowd of spectators.