The Year of the Snake (IC)

[Semi-Autogyro]

John gave a look of exasperation when Giang managed to retreat into the enemy ranks. Still he could not leave the other Claremonter to be surrounded he quickly judged the distance and vaulted over the heads of the men that were meant to screen him from aiding. Taking advantage of his inertia while airborne, the clone aimed his body and delivered a knee strike to the ornately armored mans' face.

 

Ordinarily, attacks from above usually caught opponents off-guard, but the man had braced for the impact. The armor, gaudy as it was, probably also blunted the damage as well. Still he had achieved his objective, and was now back-to-back with Giang. "Explanations later," John said. "Survival now."  Which was going to be a bit harder than normal, as he had no time in which to armor up.

[Thevshi]

Giang watched as the ghostly snake rose up over the street intersection, feeling an unnatural feeling of terror reach out towards her.  But the Asian teen gritted her teeth, determined not to succumb to the feeling.  As she was able to resist the feelings of fear as it washed over her, she noted John leap into the fray, landing a blow on the unarmed armored figure behind her, but not appearing to have little effect. 

As he landed behind her, taking a position to guard her back, she nodded as he mentioned focusing on surviving before any explanation.  Giang felt a pang of guilt and regret for having led him into this.  She realized she should have expected her father's agents would look for her in places like this, those connected with her past and culture.  She had allowed herself to believe she was safe here, and now she had placed someone else in danger because of that.

 

Focusing on the ring of armored men around them, Giang took a step forward as she brought her hands together in front of her, palms outward as a blast of water shot forth.  The twisting jets of water streaked across the intersection, slamming into the chest of one of the men wielding butterfly swords.  The powerful jet of water knocked him off his feet, sending him flying backward fifteen feet until he slammed into the side of a building and feel to the sidewalk unconscious.

 

Giang stepped back closer to John once more, taking a crane stance as her hands went out to her sides and she took a defensive posture, ready for the attack that was sure to come.

[Thevshi]

GM

 

As John landed after his attack, four of the armored men wielding butterfly swords moved into action.  Two rushed towards the clone soldier, one to the right, one to the left.  The one on the right arrived first, slashing at John with his matched swords, but not with an intention of hitting him, but instead setting him up for the one following close behind.  Once his feint was made, the armored figure continued on, moving out to the side a short distance.

 

Though the initial pass worked as intended, the second figure tried to put a bit more force behind his attacks, and as a result, his swords just whistled past John, despite the clone's earlier aggressive attack leaving him somewhat less able to dodge.  As his attack missed, the armored figure also continued off towards the other side of the clone soldier. 

 

A second pair followed after the first, following a similar tactic of attempting to set up John for a follow up attack.  Once again, the initial set up worked as planned, but the follow up attack was ill timed, and easily missed John.  As with the first pair, the second also continued moving after their attack, falling back a short distance from John but still facing him. 

[Supercape]

"I vote with my feet!" yelled the Hound in abject terror. Some part of his mind held back from growing four legs - even in the panic, he didn't want to reveal his secret. That would be more dangerous in the long run. 

 

"Aw man!" moaned the Mess, as he started leaning forward, all elbows and pounding feet, turning himself in a powered cannonball hurtling through the crowds - probably causing a little more bruised ribs than he would have liked. 

 

The girl was found, but it looked like she was in trouble. Those martial art guys looked like they weren't going to ask nicely. After being shot at earlier, he was already primed to help the girl they were tracking rather than scoop her up. 

 

Anyway, he was a kind of fists first, talking afterwards guy. 

 

"Gangway!!!" he yelled as he broke through the crowds and launched himself at the golden man. 

 

He had had a few fights with fancy martial artists. In his opinion, it was more show than effectiveness - he preferred brutal efficiency himself - but it would not be like fighting the backyard goons and stiffs that made up most of the thugs of Freedom City. 

 

The man's reactions were indeed better than the Mess had expected. He launched himself straight over a ducking head, sailing over him before hitting a chinese noodle street vendor and collapsing on the floor, his body and face strewn with noodles and sauces. 

[Thevshi]

GM

 

As the fight began in earnest, several of the armored martial artists moved to position themselves around the melee, looking to try to cut off escape routes or to move to assist those that were attacking.

 

Another four of the armored martial artists moved forward towards Giang, this group armed with staves.  As the group that had attacked John had, this group came in pairs as well.  The first swung his staff, not intending to hit, but to position the Asian teen for the follow up.  Giang dodged aside as intended, but when the next staff wielder arrived, she knocked his attack aside with the flat of her left foot.  Both men continued moving, trying their best to maneuver so they were not near those that had attacked John.

 

The second pair followed close behind, the lead once again feinting to set up for the second.  This time, the attacker aimed a well placed strike towards Giang, but at the last moment the Asian teen brought both arms in close to her torso, her forearms blocking the staff and the thin layer of shimmering water around them absorbing the impact.

 

Both men danced away from Giang, positing themselves a short distance away as they waited for any counter attack. 

 

After ducking under the sudden charge from Bloody Mess, the armored leader of the martial artists stood back upright as he quickly considered the potential targets.  Turning slightly to one side, he took a couple of steps forward and leapt into the air towards where Bloody Mess was lying.  As he came down, he aimed one knee at the short private eye's chest.

 

The reinforced armor on the knee drove down into Mess' chest as the armored figure came down on top of him full force.  The figure then stood smoothly back upright and executed a back handspring to put a bit of space between him and the pugilist. 

[Thevshi]

GM

 

The other eight armored martial artists armed with staves spread out around the main melee, trying to cut off possible means of escape while being ready to assist if needed.  Four of the men armed with butterfly swords moved over towards their leader, fanning out to either side of him to surround Bloody Mess in a half circle that was closed off by the wall of a building.

 

The streets and sidewalks had not almost completely cleared of bystanders, the conjured snake having frightened everyone away.

 

The ghostly snake dissipated like golden smoke in the night breeze, as the grey suited man looked out into the intersection where Giang and John were facing off with several of the armored martial artists.  Pulling his left hand back towards his chest a moment, his fingers clutched together, the man made a silent incantation before sweeping his hand forward, his fingers opening.  A burst of golden energy shot from his hand, taking the shape of a serpent as it twisted through the air towards Giang.

 

Though she saw it coming, the Asian teen was unable to dodge the mystical blast, which struck her squarely in the chest.  Giang felt a numb where the golden serpent had struck her, a feeling that was starting to spread.  But the teen clenched her jaw, as she steeled herself against the spreading numbness, managing to halt its progress. 

[Semi-Autogyro]

The problem with springing traps is that there was good odds that you could wind up in the killbox, which is where John and Giang currently were. So a change in venue was needed, especially with what appeared to a mage slinging spells at Giang. He surveyed his the terrain, quickly coming to the conclusion that gaining some height would be beneficial in this case.

 

His dabbling in parkour and free-running came in handy, identifying the quickest and most efficient ways of scaling the nearby structures while having both of his hands encumbered. "Hold on." He intoned, seconds before scooping up Giang and using convenient handrails, window sills, and an air conditioning unit as launching points as the pair left the street-fighting in exchange for roof hopping. Once securely up top, he released his hold on the young woman.

 

Quickly gaining his bearings, he pointed off in the direction of his motorcycle. "That way. If that does not work I could use my armors flight capabilities, but I would question your safety using that method of transportation."

[Thevshi]

As John scooped her up off the ground, Giang wrapped her arms around him to better secure herself and allow him to be somewhat less concerned about her as he began bounding off several parts of the nearby building to get them up on to the roof.  Unlike the earlier unusual feeling of riding on the motorcycle, the Asian teen was perfectly used to acrobatics such as this, remaining relaxed, slightly shifting her weight at the appropriate times to aid John in his maneuvers.

 

Landing lightly on her feet as John released her, Giang looked back at him a brief moment as he pointed off in the direction of where he had parked the motorcycle.  "I am sorry you had to become involved in this."  She stated before she started off across the rooftop in the direction indicated.

[Supercape]

"So that's how you want to play, do ya?"

 

The golden suited man was not ingratiating himself with the Mess. In the back of his mind, he was aware that the whole "find the girl" mission was getting uglier with every day. He wasn't sure what he and Fred should do any more. There was a fine line between finding a missing girl and bounty hunting. 

 

But, right now, there wasn't the time or inclination to work out the why and the wherefore. His adrenaline levels surged, and his fighters pride followed soon after. 

 

Perhaps if this guy had been unarmoured, or alone, he might have come at him fair and square, without his turbo-powered blood. But, not today. 

 

As he stood up, his veins popped out, his muscles swelled to twice their size, and his t shirt ripped. 

 

"You may be fast, but I've fought faster!" he spat, ignoring the crunching pain in his sternum. 

[Thevshi]

GM

 

Down at street level, the sword and staff wielding men had gathered out in the intersection, looking up in the direction that their quarry and her male companion had gone, almost as if waiting for something.

 

The armored leader looked at Mess as he rose up, his body bulging as his muscles expanded.  The man then glanced up towards the rooftop as well, and started off in the direction the two teenagers had gone as he leapt up onto a low wall, using that to spring up to a second story ledge and then continued rebounding and leaping until he landed up on the rooftop  not far from John.

 

Standing back upright, he faced off with the blond haired young man.

***

 

Elsewhere down one of the streets, Harry Hound was running in fear along with other bystanders who had been watching the Lion Dance performance.  Then someone stepped into his path, grabbing a hold of him.  "Mr. Hound!  What has happened?"  It was Mr. Chen, who was dressed in a navy blue suit, his dark eyes looking into Harry's.

 

***

 

Back at the intersection, the man in the grey suit was casting another spell.  As his hands finished outstretched before him, translucent golden forms began to form around then armored martial artists gathered in the intersection.  The mystical energy took the form several serpents, lifting up into the air and carrying the men with them.

 

The man then disappeared himself in another puff of white smoke, only to reappear up on a rooftop near where John, Giang and the armored martial artist were located.

 

The glowing serpents flew up over the rooftops, dropping the armed men down lightly along the various roofs, allowing them once again to generally surround Giang and John.

[Semi-Autogyro]

John thought to himself that he was probably cursed when it came to magic users as the mass of enemies we planned on leaving behind were brought back into play. Magi seemingly crawled out of the woodwork wherever he went and truth be told, he was getting a mite tired of dealing with it. So disabling the man in the suit had become an priority objective to the clone.

 

He charged past the martial artist, rushing towards the suited man. The faint glow of a force-field mean that normally one would have to batter that protection down to reach the 'gooey center' as it were, but John had the forces of gravity and inertia on his side. He grabbed hold of the mans' right arm, his grip making only contact with the force-field which was vibrating wildly under his grip. With a slight pivot and step, he bodily picked up the man and tossed him to the northwest. "Be gone." He stated flatly as he released his vise-like grip. 

 

It would not likely be a pretty landing with the masses of festival lights draped across his flight path like glowing spiderwebs, not to mention the the overburdened and sparking transformer that marked Johns intended goalpost.

[Thevshi]

GM

 

The grey suited sorcerer's eyes go wide with slight surprise as John rushed up to him and grabbed a hold briefly before flinging him off of the rooftop and out into open space.  The man let out a brief cry as his flight path took him through various strings of lights and kites that had been hung as decorations, which snapped and did little to alter or slow his trajectory.

 

The man slammed hard into the transformer that John had aimed causing it to explode.  The clone soldier could see the man's forcefield react to both the impact and the explosion, but the man still seemed to have been at least somewhat hurt by the maneuver as he feel to the ground near the now burning transformer. 

 

Several blocks around the transformer suddenly went black as they lost power.

[Thevshi]

Giang frowned slightly as the armored martial artists were dropped down onto the roof, several of them in her path.  The Asian teen brought her hands up together in front of her as she sent a blast of water towards the closest one wielding a staff.

 

The twisting jets of water slammed into his chest, knocking back dozens of feet until he slammed into the roof access door and crumpled to the ground unconscious.  His staff clattered on the rooftop having been dropped where he had been struck by the water blast.

 

Giang ran forward towards the small gap she had managed to create, cart wheeling as she went and snatching up the dropped staff.  Standing back upright, she twirled the staff around before bringing it up in front of her, ready to defend herself.

[Thevshi]

GM

 

Two of the closest martial artists with butterfly swords rush forward towards John.  The first comes at the clone stabbing with his matched weapons, but John is easily able to avoid the attack.  The man stopped himself from going over the edge of the building, turning to face John as he brought his weapons back into a defensive position in front of him.

 

The second steps up onto a small vent and leaps into the air, bringing both his swords slashing downward at John.  The clone twisted to the side at the last moment, receiving little more than superficial cuts from the attack. 

 

Another two of the butterfly sword wielding martial artists followed after, though they came to a halt a short distance away, spacing themselves out as they did so. 

[Supercape]

The Mess cranes his neck skyward, watching the action fly away from him to the rooftops. 

 

"You slippery son of a..." he shouted, before launching himself into the air to land by his golden nemesis. For all his muscle and bulk, the years of pugilistic practice had made him suitably agile. 

 

He came down on the roof with a crunch, shattering more than a few tiles. 

 

Ok, so I ain't as fancy as you, mister, all backflips and cartwheels, but I know how to fight...

 

With a bust of speed, his massive, throbbing arms gave a jab, a jab, and a powerful smash with his right. He knew now his opponent was fast, faster than him, and he needed to unleash a flurry of blows to connect...

[Thevshi]

GM

 

Bloody Mess' powerful right smash caught the armored martial artist right under the chin, knocking him off his feet and sending him flying backward ten feet.  The man once again demonstrated his agility, as he flipped over in the air, landing firmly on his feet.  Shaking his head a moment, he quickly recovered from the blow, though he clearly had been hurt.

 

But the private investigator barely had time to even savor his little victory, as a trio of armored men wielding swords rushed at him from various directions.  The first man to come at him slashed purposely wide with his two butterfly swords, attempting to set up the attack for man following directly behind.  As the first skipped away from Mess, the second arrived, leaping into the air and bringing down his two swords, but the pugilist turned private investigator was easily able to side step the attack.

 

As the second man back off as well, the third came rushing in, slashing horizontally with his two swords.  Mess twisted aside at the last minute, suffering only a minor cut from one of the blades as the third man continued moving away from him as well.

 

Over across the rooftop, three of the staff wielding men in armor rushed towards Giang.  As had been their tactic, the first to reach her made an attack designed to set up the follow up, as opposed to actually striking the Asian teen.  The man made a downward strike that Giang blocked high with her staff. 

 

The maneuver worked as intended, with Giang being unable to get her staff back down to intercept the follow up attack that was aimed at her exposed left side.  However, the Asian teen was able to bring her left leg up, taking the hit on her shin as opposed to her side.  Once again, the thin sheen of water swirling about her absorbed the majority of the blow's impact.

 

As the first two men continued on past her, the third arrived, making a strike towards her right side.  Bringing her left foot back down, Giang was able to deflect this second attack with her staff, and the armored figured moved back a short distance from her after his attack failed to connect.

 

As the armored swordsmen all moved away from Bloody Mess, the armored leader rushed forward towards the private investigator.  As he drew close, his left leg came up in a crescent kick that seemed to be aimed at Mess' head, but as the pugilist pulled back away, the man quickly spun and delivered a sidekick with his other leg that drove directly into Mess' stomach. 

 

Pulling his leg back, the armored man turned back to face Mess, not withdrawing as the others.

[Thevshi]

GM

 

As the rooftop fight began in earnest, the other armored martial artists began to reposition themselves to assist as needed.  The other eight men armed with staves moved over to the section of the rooftops where Giang was fighting the three similarly armed opponents, spacing themselves around the melee to intervene as needed.

 

The four remaining men armed with swords positioned themselves to try block John or Bloody Mess from the area where Giang was.  Though given their small number and the amount of space involved, at best they were positioned to join the fight if either of the two moved in that direction.

 

Down below, the man in the grey suit climbed somewhat slowly back to his feet.  His once pristine suit was now considerably the worse for wear, dirty and singed in places.  He showed signs of being battered and bruised as well, but clearly was not yet out of the fight. 

 

Looking back up at the dark rooftops above, the man disappeared once more in a swirl of white smoke and was gone from view.

[Semi-Autogyro]

The exploding transformer had changed the battlefield in addition of being a rather potent distraction, casting dark shadows across sections of the roofs.  John took advantage after the pair of swordsmen had attempted to attack him, he moved into into one of the areas of inky blackness and activated his armor. A heartbeat later he was fully clad the scents of the festival fading as he began breathing from his suits filtered air supply. Myrmidon booted up the armor subroutine as he watched the two swordsmen stare uncertainly where he had entered the shadows.

 

Adjusting with familiar ease to the increased mass of the his armor, Myrmidon reengaged the duo with a savage headbutt followed by a elbow strike. He scanned the battlefield; now where was that sorcerer?

[Thevshi]

Giang twirled the staff she had picked up a moment as she shifted into a defensive stance and took a moment to glance around her at the staff wielding martial artists that had gathered around her in two loose rings.  Smiling slightly, the Asian teen dropped the staff as she brought her hands out in front of her and then swept them out to either side, turning ninety degrees and crouching slightly as she did. 

 

As Giang's hands swept around her, quick bursts of water shot forth at various intervals, one for each of the eleven men gathered around her.  The eleven jets of water twisted through the night air, each striking its intended target.  When the torrent of water was over, only two of the armored martial artists were still on their feet, seemingly unharmed.  The other nine were strewn across the rooftops unconscious. 

 

Shifting into a back stance, Giang brought her hands up in a defensive posture as she waited for any counter attack from the two that had withstood her onslaught. 

[Thevshi]

GM

 

As the now armored Myrmidon emerges from the shadows, he easily puts down both of the swordsmen that had rushed him with his powerful attacks.  Scanning the area around him, his own enhanced sense of sight, along with the dark vision of the LACUNA, allowed him to spot the sorcerer.  The man had teleported himself up onto a nearby three story building across a street from the rooftops where the melee was currently taking place.

 

The clone barely had time to consider the new information when the other two swordsmen closed in for the attack.  The first manages to land a hit on the armored hero, but the LACUNA armor deflects the two swords harmlessly away.  The second swordsman misses Myrmidon altogether.

 

Both men maneuvered away from the armored clone, bracing themselves for a potential counterattack.

[Supercape]

The Mess crucnhed his inflated shoulders behind him. 

 

"Jeez, you are one slippery son of a gun..." he moaned, still defiant. 

 

He cast his eyes about to see the frantic whirlwind of melee on what seemed to be every side. He wasn't alone, he knew that much. He couldn't stop to work out who was friend and foe right now. 

 

"Back away!" he shouted at some of the costumed mooks. 

 

"This guy is mine!" he roared, looking straight at the Golden man. 

 

He took a lunge to the left, and to the right, and came up with a mighty hefty uppercut that would have thrown the man to the skies. 

 

"One DAMN slippery son of a bitch!" he cursed. The man was faster, and probably smarter than he was. 

[Thevshi]

GM

 

As Bloody Mess' intended target dodge out of the way of the private investigator's powerful uppercut, he barked some order in Chinese.  The three sword wielding martial artists that had been gathering around turned and ran across the rooftop towards the armored figure that had appeared out of the shadows that were everywhere on the rooftop now and was fighting two of their companions.  This left Golden man facing Mess alone.

 

Regaining their bearings after being struck by one of Giang's water blasts, the last two remaining men armed with staves moved in to attack the Asian teen.  As had been their usual tactic, the first led with an attack calculated to make the teenager an easier target for the second.  As the first martial artist continued past Giang, the second arrived, aiming a strike at her exposed back.  But Giang managed to quickly twist to face the man, her right leg swinging up in an outward crescent kick that she used to deflect the attack.

 

As Bloody Mess tried to recover from his missed attack, the golden armored martial artist sprung into action.  The man launched a quick series of front kicks with his left foot, which Mess was able to block easily enough, but before his left foot even came back down, he launched himself into the air off his right foot, driving his right knee into the side of the private investigator's head.  The force of the blow sent the thick pugilist stumbling backward a few steps before he dropped to one knee, spots flashing before his eyes.

Edited March 28, 2013 by Thevshi

[Thevshi]

GM

 

The man in the grey suit watched the fighting over on the other rooftops, frowning slightly as a number of the armored martial artists were quickly removed from the fight by his target and a armored figure that had appeared in the area where the blond youth had been.  A few quick gestures and a brief incantation, and he sent another spell in the direction of the Asian teen.

 

Above the other rooftop, golden mystical energy once again took the form of a large serpent, which twisted in the air and dove down at Giang.  The teenager tried to dodge aside, but the golden serpent wrapped itself around her, trapping her in its mystical coils.  Then it began flying back through the air, carrying her over to the rooftop on which the grey suited sorcerer was standing.

[Semi-Autogyro]

Myrmidon gave a sidelong glance at the two martial artists before turning his attention back to the sorcerer while simultaneously loosing his sword from his over the shoulder scabbard with a click. The blade quietly hissed as it was drawn, a far cry from the traditional slight ringing of steel. His suit calculated the distance of the gap between buildings, and with enough run up Myrmidon could easily clear the distance. << I will be dealing with you and your brethren soon.  >> Came the modulated tone from Myrmidons external comm-link, directed at the pair.

 

Crouching into a runners' start, he bolted in the direction of the sorcerer and leaped at the last second. While airborne, he angled his body and weapon to strike the suited man when he landed his blade flashing in a vicious semicircle of destruction. Had his target not been protected by the field, it could have easily incapacitated the man. Instead, the edge of his blade met increasing resistance and stopped a hairsbreadth away from the mans' skin before being shunted trailing golden particles from the portion of the field it had shredded through. 

[Thevshi]

Giang was held tight inside the glowing mystical energy commanded by the man in the grey suit.  But she could just make out as John leapt over to attack the man, but apparently not causing any significant injury as she continued to remain tightly restrained. 

 

But the Asian teen was not going to give up so easily.  Focusing past the slight pain she felt from the constrictive pressure being exerted all over her body, she reached out with her other senses to focus on the water inside the man with the grey suit.  Focusing her powers on that water, she began to make some of it evaporate, trying to dehydrate the man enough that he might release her, or pass out.

 

Facing off with Myrmidon, the man in the grey suit seemed a bit nervous to be facing the armored figure all on his own, while trying to hold his target contained.  Then a sudden look of surprise and discomfort seemed to cross the man's face before being replaced by a tired, haggard expression, as his body seemed to sag slightly.  To Myrmidon, the man seemed to suddenly have been overcome with exhaustion. 

Edited March 29, 2013 by Thevshi