Rough and Tumble (IC)

[Tiffany Korta]

Seeing that all their opponents were currently down Lucy decided that now was a good time to make there more. Noding to Diaz she laid out, her admittedly slim, plan to him.

“Okay we’re going to try and get you away from here, follow me and try to stay safe. If I get distracted make a break for safety the first chance you get.â€

They didn’t make much past the door until that distraction came, it seemed that one of those Battle Brother had poor Fred in his grasp. Signalling from the kid to make his break she nonchalantly clapped her hands together as at a job well done before calling out loudly.

 

“Well that was a lovely way to pass the time, more of a challenge that the fight out here anyhow.†there was a risk of getting the wrong one of the pair, or even both of them, but she was hoping that the right Battle Brother would drop fred and instead concentrate on her.

[Supercape]

The mangy mutt up the stairs looked panicked, head snapping left and right!

 

"Gotta get out of here!" it said in a dog's voice, but in perfect English, with a nice Freedom City twang to its accent. 

 

the Hound spared a thought for Lucy and Freddy, and the Crimson Tiger too, although that broad gave him the heeby jeebies. 

 

Then again, most things gave the Hound the heeby jeebies. 

 

He shook his head clear. He didn't stand a chance against the trained fighters down below. If cornered like a rat, he could fight, all desperation and adrenaline. He could handle himself well enough against any two bit thug on the street. But those guys were killers, out of his league. 

 

A pang of guilt hit him, but he quenched it. He would do best by running, maybe getting help, or...or something. He justified to himself. Fearful as he was, he hardly needed the justification. His four legs did the thinking for him. 

 

With a yelp, he darted forward, springing through the door of the landing, and into the office of the manufacturing plant above the fighting ring...

[Thunder King]

Well, Mali had a new plan as she reached Mess. She darted forward and hopped onto a nearby wall. Bouncing off, she came with a mid-air roundhouse to the side of her opponent's head. He just flat didn't expect her to come from that angle. He'd definitely feel that. With any luck, that would scramble his head for a few seconds. Long enough to give Mess room to breathe. She landed and grinned like a madwoman.

 

"Looks like you need a bit of help here, Eddie. Time for this fight to be fair. Dontcha think?"

Edited January 27, 2014 by Thunder King

[Supercape]

"Hey, a dame is kicking your sorry ass!" grunted the Mess, trying to wriggle free from the vice like grip he was caught in. 

 

"A dame!" he added, with emphasis. 

 

His face was red and puffy from effort and pooled blood, fizzing away in his skull. For a moment, he thought he might pass out from the effort, his vision constricting briefly. He was worried he might a bust something in his guy, maybe a hernia. 

 

But his limbs snapped free, like a spring. 

 

"And I'm gonna bust your ass too!" he added, now furious. He swung both arms over head into a piledriver driven by fury. 

 

The odds had evened, the tide had turned. He...they...were back in the game. 

 

Where the hell is Harry? he asked himself as his fists crunched into face. 

[Thevshi]

Crimson Tiger's blow actually managed to knock the blond Battle Brother to the group, although just where he had been standing. With something of an opening created, one of the fighters who had followed her out of the waiting room leapt over the now prone Battle Brother, aiming a kick at the martial artist heroine as he went. But his execution was nowhere near as good as Crimson's, and she easily sidestepped the awkward attack.

Diaz followed after Lucy, ready to make a break for it if he could. There was only one problem with her plan, the only exit he knew of was down the hall past the Battle Brothers and the two fighters grouped around Crimson and Freddy. So, the young man moved over near the fighter that Lucy had knocked out of the room, who was now back on his feet. The fighter started to get ready to face off with Diaz, but the young man delivered a swift right hook that knocked the fighter back into the wall and he collapsed to the ground unconscious.

The second fighter that had chased after Crimson Tiger could not follow after her now in the crowded hallway, so he turned instead toward Freddy. He launched a quick series of jabs followed by a more powerful body blow, but Freddy easily deflected the jabs and saw the body blow coming a mile away and knocked it aside as well.

Another fighter emerged from the room where Lucy had found Diaz, having recovered from Diaz’s hit on him earlier. Not wanting to face off with Lucy, the man rushed over to Diaz, ready to attack him when he had the chance.

[Thevshi]

The blond Battle Brother shook his head, regaining his focus.  With a scowl, he climbed quickly back to his feet to look down at Crimson Tiger.  "Okay then girly, have it your way.   We'll deal with you now."  With that, the large man swung a punch at the martial artist.  At the last minute Crimson managed to twist with the hit, reducing the impact considerably.  She could still feel it, but it was nothing she could not handle.  If it had connected fully however...

 

The second Battle Brother, turned towards Crimson almost as if pulled towards her, swinging a punch at her as well.  But this time she was able to dodge the attack completely.

 

Turning back towards Mess, the second Battle Brother addressed the short pugilists.  "Don't worry, we haven't forgotten about you."  He then delivered a powerful jab to Mess' jaw, a loud *WHAM* echoing in the hallway.  Mess took a half step back as his head was snapped to the side, but then he was able to straighten back up as the blond Battle Brother turned and launched a punch at him as well.

 

Mess managed to get his left hand up to block that second attack, knocking it harmlessly aside. 

[Tiffany Korta]

As much as she wanted to see Diaz to safety she also needed to see that her allies, her friends, were safe and unharmed. Beside the kid was more than capable of looking after himself. She waved at him behind her back trying to encourage him to flee the scene of the general melee.

That done she took off towards the fight helpfully gaining some speed in the short distance between her and the Battle Brother she raced up to the nearest of them before throwing a punch in his direction.

 

“Miss me?â€

[Thevshi]

Lucy moved forward, arriving by the blond Battle Brother to help Crimson Tiger.  The undead lawyer delivered a powerful hit to the already battered Battle Brother, causing him to take half a step back as his eyes unfocused slightly from the blow.  But he remained on his feet, dazed, but not yet out of the fight.

 

At the doorway into the waiting room, one of the fighters Crimson Tiger had knocked down appeared.  But for the moment there was no openings for him to move to attack any of the heroes, so for the moment he held his place.

 

A few floors above, Harry found himself in a dimly lit hallway with several large windows along the walls looking into various offices and other administrative areas for the manufacturing plant.  At the end of the hall was a  door, also with a widow, that appeared to lead out to the top of a stairwell down to the manufacturing floor.

 

Though most details were lost in shadows, Harry did spot phones in some of the offices, if he wanted to try to try to contact the authorities...

[Supercape]

Mind still in a panic, the Hound scuttled into the offices, head low, heart racing. He felt short of breath, sweaty with fear. Adrenaline had fired up every muscle and nerve. 

 

"I hate being punched to death" he muttered to himself, like a mantra. 

 

Seeing the phones, he was tempted to ring for help, but a crazed paranoia hit him. What if they were tapped? or booby trapped? His mind slipped away from coherent thinking. 

 

He also felt a pang of guilt about leaving his partner and Lucy behind. And...even admist the crazed fear, that sense of curiosity he could never quite crush. 

 

"What the hell is going on here?" he asked aloud, ruffling through the papers and filing cabinets in the office with frenzied speed. 

[Thunder King]

Martial arts are nothing but applied physics and knowledge of anatomy and physiology. Knowing how to apply the greatest degree of force to the right places in the right ways. Normally, all that goes out the window. The fighter has to live in the moment, testing strength against strength and reflex against reflex. Muscle memory to learn exactly how to punch or kick to maximize harm to the opponent and minimize the harm to oneself.

 

Every once in a while, though. A hit lands exactly where and how it's supposed to.

 

Mali turned to one of the fighters as he stepped near to her. She twisted and delivered a powerful kick to his abdomen, as strong as she could. It was just the right spot, and he flew through the air. He slammed into the wall and shattered it like glass, then slammed into a wall behind that.

 

She turned to make sure he was still breathing, then turned to the rest of the room who no doubt saw just what she'd done. She hoped it might deter at least one of them.

[Supercape]

The Mess shuddered, his body now free from the awful grasp. THe supercharged blood fizzing in his veins ballooned his limbs now he was free. 

 

He sagged to one knee for a moment. The pressure of the grip he had been had forced that blood to his head, and now it flooded back to his body, momentarily clouding his vision and making him feel feint. 

 

His boxers reflexes kicked in. 

 

One..two...One...two...

 

On autopilot, as he shook off the momentary cobwebs, lefty jabbed, righty hooked. But they were just the spinal reflexes of a fighter, not the focussed attacks of one. 

 

"I got ya, ya bozos!" he muttered as his vision expanded again. It was just trash talk. He had done nothing of the sort. 

[Thevshi]

With no way to get around the melee taking place with the Battle Brothers, Diaz turned to the fighter that had followed him from the room he had been being held in. The young man delivered a solid left upper cut that knocked the other fighter back a step. But this time, the other fighter stayed on his feet and was able to launch an immediate counter attack, which Diaz only managed to block at the last moment, taking the hit partially on his upper arm. But that was preferable to a solid connection with his ribs or midsection.

Back near the entrance to the waiting room, one of the fighters that had followed Crimson Tiger out had a similar problem to Diaz. He could not get around the Battle Brothers or their opponents to try to go after the costumed martial artist. But then, after the kick she had just delivered to one of his fellow fighters, the man was not sure he wanted to. Instead, he focused back on the stocky fighter that was fighting one of the Battle Brothers, launching a roundhouse kick at Freddy’s head. But the pugilist detective caught the movement, managing to duck under the kick and bob back upright, ready for whatever the Battle Brother might launch at him.

[Thevshi]

The blond haired Battle Brother was still reeling from Lucy's latest hit, so he simply staggered back a half step, trying to shake off the cobwebs.

Nearby, the African American Battle Brother dodged Mess' latest attack, stepping to one side and bringing a large fist down onto the stocky private investigator’s shoulder blades with a loud *WHAM*. This time the force of the blow was enough that he knocked Mess flat onto the concrete pavement.

With his opponent lying dazed on the ground, the man the shifted his focus to Lucy, looking to assist his "brother" against the undead attorney.

[Tiffany Korta]

Faced with a real challenge Lucy was beginning to enjoy the melee going on around her enough to make her sloppy, which was almost her undoing.

Over confident in her own abilities she made a ridiculous over extended attack which would left her vulnerable to an attack by either Battle Brother. Luckily for her she realised what she was doing and, with some creative language at her own stupidness, she managed to snap back round and land on blow on her foe as a bonus.

 

Still she had got luckily, next time things could be much, much worse.

[Thevshi]

The blond haired Battle Brother had just recovered from Lucy's last attack, but could only look at her fist come at him as she snapped back around to correct her earlier mistake.  But then, the African American Battle Brother had stepped into the path of the attach, flinching as he took the hit square in the chest with a loud *WHAM* that echoed in the hallway.  But despite the power behind Lucy's punch, the Battle Brother seemed unhurt by the hit as he stood facing the undead attorney.

 

In the doorway to the waiting room near the main melee in the hall, the fighter that Crimson Tiger had dazed before she had left that room still did not see any opening to try to move and help in the fight.  Then he glanced back into the waiting room and seemed to nod to someone and moved out of view.  A few moments later, he exited the other door further up the hallway, coming out near Diaz, who was still dealing with another fighter.

 

 

Up in the offices of the manufacturing plant, Harry was rifling through file cabinets and drawers at a rapid pace.  But as he glanced at the documents he was finding, all he was seeing was purchase orders and shipping receipts, the types of documents one would expect to find in such a place. 

 

Then suddenly, as he just finished with a desk drawer, light from a flashlight shone onto  one of the windows overlooking the factory floor.   

[Supercape]

Harry Yelped, and dove for cover, transforming once more into a mangy dog. No point having hands if he couldn't search through those files. Not that they seemed particular interesting or suspicious. 

 

The cover was pretty solid, he realised. Nobody would know what was happening. Perhaps, with a fine toothcombe they might find some account irregularities. After all, he guessed the operation would have to launder money, or ship things in and out. There were logistics to be dealt with for an operation like this - and whoever run it would need some semi legitimate way of managing those logistics. Unless he was a genius. 

 

In dog form his nose came alive again, and the ground seemed nearer. Frightened as ever, Harry tried to scuttle out of the flashlight beam, and into a hiding place. 

[Thunder King]

Apparently, kicking a man through a brick wall was not enough of a deterrent. Mali turned around to one of the other fighters, raising her foot and slamming it down on top of his head, knocking him to the ground with a loud THUD. Then, she dashed over and elbowed another one of the fighters in the abdomen.

 

She knew, from personal experience, that a gut shot like that was usually enough to knock the wind out of people, even knock them out. Either way, the man's mind was concentrated far more on the pain than her, and she was one step closer to finishing the fight.

Edited February 6, 2014 by Thunder King

[Thevshi]

Diaz watched Crimson Tiger with a look of amazement as she easily took down two of the fighters near the pair. "Wow.." he began to say when he was cut off by the sound of a gunshot and the crack of a bullet as it passed near them and impacted on one of the walls in the hallway.

Glancing over at the sound of the gunshot, Diaz and Crimson saw one of the guys in cheap suits standing in the nearby doorway to the waiting room, a smoking gun in his hand. In a flash, Diaz rushed over, delivering a powerful right cross that caught the thug across the jaw, snapping his head to one side and sending him crumpling to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Over near the main melee, the last remaining fighter in the hallway took advantage of Freddy being dazed, delivering a powerful roundhouse kick to the side of Freddy's head. But even somewhat out of sorts, the experienced fighter was able to move with the hit, and between that reaction and his natural toughness, come out none the worse for wear.

[Thevshi]

The blond Battle Brother managed to refocus, his eyes fixing on Lucy who had stepped up and tried to attack him, with only the intervention from his partner sparing him what likely would have been a very painful experience. "You three are pretty good, but your still not match for the Battle Brothers!" He called out as he stepped around his partner and sent a powerful fist flying at the undead attorney.

The attack caught Lucy off guard, catching her right in the stomach with a loud *WHAM* and sending her staggering backward. If she still needed to breath, she likely would have had the breath knocked out of her from the powerful blow.

The second Battle Brother instinctively sent a follow up punch flying at Lucy, but her backwards stumble had been just enough to cause the attack to miss. But then he stepped forward, closing the distance once more. "As you are quickly learning!" He added, bringing a powerful fist slamming down on Lucy's upper back.

Somehow Lucy was able to move with the impact, falling to the ground. That maneuver just saved her from the follow up by the blond Battle Brother, as he sent a jab at her that just passed over her as she fell.

[Supercape]

The Hounds ears pricked up. His adrenaline flowing, his senses heightened. That was the effect of the primitive flight or fight response. 

 

In Harry's case. It was flight or flight a different direction. 

 

Still, fear also drew one to know what was the threat, even for a craven like Harry. He had heard the creak of stairs, soft but terrible to his ears. Was another fighter coming? or the same one?

 

There was only one thing for it. Scuttle as fast as he could in the other direction. He didn't know what was coming up the stairs, but he decided he didn't want to find out. 

 

Slowly and cautiously, with a low dog whimper, he scuttled across the floor in the opposite direction. 

[Thunder King]

Crimson Tiger decided that standing and fighting the Battle Brothers was asking for a knockout. So, she bolted forward, intending on striking one of them and moving away. Unfortunately, just as she got there the other battle brother stepped in front of her attack and was able to shrug it off. Mali dashed past and turned around.

 

This was getting very, very troublesome.

[Supercape]

Freddy shrugged his shoulders. Damned if everything didnt ache to hell and back. He had been beaten up badly before, but this was going to be on the top ten. His fizzing blood was still engorged, filling him with his full power, but..it would not forever. 

 

No time to consider that, he thought to himself. Time to fight dirty.

 

Turning to Malcolm he muttered, drawled. "Ya...ya...think ya got the best of the mess?" he stuttered, gasping for breath, hands on knees. "I...I can take whatever you dish out, bozo...you and your buddy. Ya don't even fight fair, ya pair of no good scum...two against one....well, I ain't pulling my punches on you two...." he said, gritting his teeth once more, specks of  blood in his mouth. 

 

He spat out a bloody globule in front of Malcom in defiance, and then focussed his power, forcing Malcolms blood up into his head, exploding it, bruising it. 

[Thevshi]

Up in the factory offices, Harry, in his dog form, was hiding under a table as to door to the office opened up and a flashlight shown into the room. The light swept the room, and then there were some soft footsteps on the carpeted floor as someone entered the room.

"I don't see anything up here." A voice said, apparently talking into a radio based on the brief static Harry's sharp ears picked up for a moment after he spoke. The was a brief pause, before the door closed once more and Harry heard footsteps out in the hallway.

---

The Battle Brother that Mess had targeted winced in pain as he let out a grunt of pain. Though he was clearly hurt, he was still on his feet and in the fight.

Out of the corner of his eye, Mess caught an incoming attack from the fighter that had been trying to use him as a punching bag for the last dozen seconds or so. It was a powerful attack, the fighter clearly putting a lot into it, but Mess was easily able to block it.

Further up the hallway, Diaz stepped into the waiting room, were another of the thugs in the cheap suits was standing and delivered another powerful cross that knocked the man flat on his back unconscious.

[Thevshi]

The blond haired Battle Brother turned away from Lucy to face Mess as the stocky pugilist stood back up and did…something to his partner. "Fight fair? You think this is some fighting ring with rules?" He said with a laugh, before stepping forward and swinging a meaty fist at Mess.

Mess was able to duck underneath the powerful attack, stepping to one side, but the dodge moved him right to where Malcom was, the second Battle Brother scowling with anger as he delivered a powerful upper cut that echoed in the hallway with a lough *WHACK*.

Mess' head was snapped back and he was knocked off his feet once more and sent flying back into a wall, even as Jack stepped up to launch another attack, which just missed as the private eye flew backward.

[Tiffany Korta]

Lucy stood back up and literally clicked her neck back into place her body healed from all the damage, even if her clothes were now completely ruined.

“Well that was interesting, is that the best you can do? Hope you’ve got nothing planned because I can do this all day, all night if necessary.â€

 

Truth be told the hit had probably done her a little more harm than she would like to admit, she could still feel her flesh and bone re-knitting themselves back into shape. Unfortunately she didn't really have the luxury of time she knew that she could take the damage better than either of the other two. So as clumsy as her attack was it would at least hopefully keep their attention on her rather than anyone else.