ic Bad Beat

[Supercape]

GM

 

There were two men in the SUV. Russians, hard faced and hard nosed. Goergy, JOhn knew from his vision. The other was a large man, a little over six feet and with that solid broad frame that spoke of a little fat, a lot of bone, and even more muscle. Both had tattoos that looked suspiciously military, although others looked just plain nasty. 

 

In the backseat was a huge mini gun. It was doubtful that anyone normal could lift it, but the large Russian was reaching over for it when John landed. 

 

Some Russian swearing erupted from them both. 

 

Georgy kept his hands on the wheel, snarled, and accelerated. the other man, whom it seemed was called "Vassily" pulled out a large hand gun from the glove compartment, and spitting curses from his mouth, spitted lead from his gun, bullets thudding through the roof. 

 

The SUV jumped forward and slammed into Janes care, busting up both bumpers and jarring everybody...

[Thunder King]

John barely avoided getting shot. He was a sitting duck  a more literal metaphor than usual considering how he got on top of the vehicle. He was having a hell of a day. He swung over to the driver's side and, in one motion, kicked the driver's side window seat in and slid inside. He landed in the seat and reached over, punching Vassily in the side of the head. 

[Supercape]

GM

 

Vassily had a thick neck, but it still cracked to one side. His eyes glazed for a second, and his gun fell from his numb fingers. He grunted and turned to John. 

 

"You pay for that, American. Me squish you to goo!" he said, full of arrogant confidence. The guy seemed to stranger to pain, and had "Death Wish" tattoo'd on his neck. 

 

He grabbed John. It was dirty, nasty fighting in the back of the SUV, that swerved this way, and that. There was little time for elegance or skill. It was close quarters, fast and brutal. Vassily caught some of Johns tattered clothes, pulled close and attempted to put his enemy in a head lock. 

 

"Hmmngh...you strong..." he conceded. Vassily had the physique of a steroid loaded body builder, but he knew he was facing someone even stronger. He could not quite squeeze John into his arm. 

 

Georgy caught up with Jane again. Both cars collided, jolting Vassily and John out of their embryonic grapple. Steam started rising from the SUV bonnet. Janes cars bumped was hanging off, and sparks were flying as it grated along the tarmac...

[Thunder King]

John managed to escape Vassily's grasp, pulling back. He growled in frustration and reached forward, slamming his head against the dashboard. He didn't want to kill the man, but he needed him to stop trying to kill Jane, and him. Stop killing people in general if he could. He wasn't sure how he was putting up such a fight, but he was just about tired of him.

Edited May 12, 2017 by Thunder King

[Supercape]

GM

 

Georgy was a tough guy, without fear. But he did have nerves. He was not used to anyone punching Vassily. And Vassily slumped, head falling back out of the shattered windscreen, into the night air. It cleared his head, but he was shaken. 

 

He spat out a blooded tooth that clattered along the tarmac behind the speeding cars. 

 

"You pay big. Going to hurt..." grumbled Georgy, who accelerated once more. This time, with a slick turn of the wheel, he nudged Jane's car, forcing it sideways, and then into a spin. 

 

It was a good thing the street was narrow, or the car would have flipped as it went into an uncontrolled skin. Instead, it spun onto its side, and collided with a broken down brick building. Neither car nor building fared well; the roof crumpled from the impact, and bricks rained down. Windscreens shattered, and the sound of tinkling glass could be heard. 

 

As for Georgy, he put the car into a controlled skid, coming to an elegant stop a few yards from Jane's wrecked car. He made sure him jammed the brakes on to try and send John through the window...

[Thunder King]

John slammed Vassily's head into the dash board one more time and was relieved to see him pass out. While Georgy was distracted, John reached out and slammed his fist into the side of his head, causing him too to slump in the seat.

 

John opened the door of the SUV and climbed out, running towards Jane in her car, hoping she was okay. He cursed his punchy reflex. He second guessed his decision to jump in with the men, but as it was they could only just escape.

 

"Damnit, please be okay." He said, running towards the car.

[Supercape]

GM

 

One look could tell that Jane was not ok. Far from it. 

 

Her arm had twisted, and broken. Worse still, a compound fracture. It was enough to make one faint just to look at, but somehow Jane was still conscious, albeit disorientated. The forearm bones of her left arm were both broken and protruding out of torn flesh to the tune of copious bleeding. Jane was already looking pale from the blood loss. 

 

The rest of her looked in fair shape. Plenty of bruises, cuts, and scrapes. Maybe a broken rib or two, but on nothing more serious, as far as John could see. The compound fracture was bad news, however, threatening exsanguination. 

 

"Huh..what happened....?" asked a groggy Jane as John inspected her. "Oh dear..." she said, dreamily looking at her broken arm and blood. "That's not good is it?" was her calm comment, born from shock. 

 

It was not good. And Jane had managed to bent her car so far out of shape, the door was jammed...

[Thunder King]

John sighed "You broke your arm." He tore the door open, not off, and tore a scrap from Jane's clothing to make a makeshift tourniquet. "This is going to hurt." He said, tying it off. "You'll be okay for the moment, but we have to get you to the hospital." He gently lifted her up. He considered dumping the goons out of the SUV and just taking it for a ride. He could run with her, carry her easily, but that would be bumpy. 

 

So, he walked over to the SUV and dragged Vassily and Georgy out of it. He didn't throw them, they were injured and while they were criminals, he was no killer.  Then, he gingerly laid her in the back seat, and promised to be gentle.

 

He sighed wearily. He was confident that Jane would be okay with a bit of work, but this had been a long, exhausting night. He took off driving. He knew the SUV was in rough shape, and he desperately hoped that no cops would try to stop him. If they did, they might be inclined to let him go.

[Supercape]

GM

 

The night air blew cold through the absent windscreens. John could feel something dragging on the road, sounded like a loose exhaust. Only one headlight worked. 

 

Unsurprisingly, a mere quarter mile to the hospital, John saw the flash of a police car, which pulled up in front of him. 

 

A fat policeman and his fatter buddy came out, hoisting their belts over their girth. They looked like o.k. of fellows, if one discounted the brightly coloured donuts they had in their patrol car. 

 

"Sir....ahhh need you to step out of that their ve-hear-cull" drawled the less (but still palpably) rotund one. He had his hand laid casually on his pistol. This was Bedlam after all....

[Thunder King]

John knew better than to make a fuss. "Of course, officer. I just want to say that I have an injured woman in the vehicle, and she needs help." He said, raising his hands and opening the door. He motioned to the back seat, to Jane laying there bleeding with a piece of cloth wrapped around her arm. He was still nervous. They had him dead to rights on a number of violations, and if they ran the vehicle, well, it wasn't his. He wondered who legally owned the SUV, if anyone. Either way, it would make things difficult for Jane.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Arll be the judge of that, Sir. Now then madam, if you would just let me see what this so called injury is then...Ao Maw Gawds!" screamed the police officer going white at the sight of the protruding bone and blood. 

 

Lamentably, their were casualties. A pink strawberry choco-creme donut slipped from numb police fingers, hit the dirty road, and rolled away to the gutter, soaked in dirt. 

 

"We gotta get her to hospital!" came the blubbered obvious conclusion from his spluttering lips. "Ahmm..gonaa...Ahmmm gonaa....she-oot! Ahmmm gonna drive ahead, you farla me!"

 

He waddled off into his car, beckoning his partner to follow. 

 

"Damn woman had a damn bone stickin' out of her damn arm!" came his mumbled explanation to his partner. 

 

With that he sped ahead of John with lights blazing. 

 

And thus, a mere minute later...at the hospital...

 

The two police officers flapped about, trying to be useful and important, demanding that everyone acknowledged how useful and important they were, and being neither one, nor the other. 

 

The hospital staff were however, a different matter, quickly seizing upon the case, lifting Jane onto a trolley bed and starting to stabilise her. 

 

"What happened?" came the question, from both police and doctor, to John. 

 

"Ooohh...I feel faint...stay with me...." whispered Jane to John, gripping his clothes with now weak hands. 

 

 

[Thunder King]

John understood enough about forensics and medicine that there was no correlation between the vehicle he was driving and the injury. A casual inspection of the SUV would indicate there was no way she was hurt this bad. So, he decided to be honest, to an extent.

 

"Hit and run." He said. "A car ran into her and took off, didn't get the plates or anything. She's lucky it's just her arm." He admitted. "I checked her a little bit but I am not a qualified medical professional."

 

He turned to Jane. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere until I know you're okay."

[Supercape]

GM

 

"What a jerk" mumbled the police officer. "Hit and Run, leaving a girl like that. Could have been a murder..." he sighed. "Look, we need to get a few statements, look at the vehicle. Call it in. We'll try to catch the perp, but...well, this is Bedlam, and without plates..." he sighed, looking a bit shame-faced. "We'll get some paperwork signed off for the insurance, of course" he said, more brightly. 

 

With that, Jane was whisked off to surgery.

 

An hour later...

 

Doctor North came out of the surgery theatre and wiped his brow. He was a tall thin man, approaching retirement with an intelligent forehead marred by close set rodent like eyes. His demeanour was friendly enough, however. "Thanks to you, she is going to be fine. Well done" he said, congratulating John - rather modestly, in fact, given he had just been operating on her for an hour. 

 

"She's lost a lot of blood but we have stitched her back. She is in plaster, the bone fixed. Just had to repair the vascular damage, the only tricky part really. She should be into the recovery ward in a few minutes" he explained. 

 

A nurse came up to Doctor North and whispered something in his ear, looking nervous. 

 

"Oh..ah....well..." he muttered, looking at John, perturbed. "Its not our place to get mixed up in this. Tell the police..." he hissed quietly at the nurse. 

[Thunder King]

John sighed with relief. Well, that was good, at least. She'd be okay. It was going to be a while for her recovery, though, and he felt guilty. He could have gone to the site by himself. Could have handled it without her. He didn't need her. All he did was get her hurt, nearly killed. This, he reflected, was why it was necessary for him to work alone.

 

"Thanks." He said. "I'll check up on her once she's  okay to receive visitors."

[Supercape]

GM

 

A few minutes later...

 

Recovery Suite 2

 

"Mmmm...John?"

 

Jane was awake, although loaded on morphine. She had a drip up her arm. 

 

"Careful" said Nurse Gomez, a pleasant rotund lady with a handsome face and Mexican accent in her forties who still looked pretty. "Her last HAem was 7.1, she is pretty anaemic. She needs that blood!" she said, tapping the bag on a stand that was dripping into Janes veins. 

 

"She was asking for you as soon as you were awake. Sounds like love to me" she smiled. 

 

"What happened, John? I remember seeing you where....where....where Vanity died....then....its all gone black..." she said, drowsy and mumbling, her forehead frowning. 

 

"Are we safe?" she said, more quietly. If it was not for the morphine, she would have been scared. 

[Thunder King]

"Probably." He said. He had to be honest. He knew they could find them if they wanted. He just had to hope that Blowfish wouldn't be stupid enough to attack a hospital. He wouldn't put it past a man who was so short sighted that he'd kill his own top talent, though. He was still ready to fight if it came to that. He was just tired of the whole night and wanted to go home.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"I think she needs some rest. She went through a lot, you know" smiled Gomez, patting John on the back. 

 

She sighed deeply. "This is Bedlam. I doubt there is any country in the world that has more gunshots and trauma than we do. At least, no country at peace". She paused, thinking for a moment. 

 

"But then, I guess Bedlam is at war, isn't it?" she said, opening the door to let John leave. 

 

"Its a sea of darkness, and we are drowning in it. I guess you just threw out a rope to her. Saved her life. Gave Bedlam a little glimmer of light" she said, actually admiring John for a moment. 

 

"So tell me" she asked, walking him out of Janes room. "Do you love her? Her hero?"

[Thunder King]

John had to admit to himself that she was attractive, but he didn't exist. He was transient, a spirit. His intention was to always disappear. The Tattered Man had a name, a face, but he was a ghost. They can't get to the people important to you if they have no idea who you are. That was the plan. Hit Bedlam and not let himself get hit back. He was a ghost.

 

"We've only been on one date." He said with a chuckle. "I really do like her, but we've been through something traumatic. I promise, though, I won't let her deal with this alone. I'll be there for her." He meant that, at least. He wasn't going to abandon her as she was. Especially since this was his fault.

 

 

Edited May 16, 2017 by Thunder King

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Well for what its worth, I think you make a love.."

 

She was interrupted by a scream down the corridor. 

 

Two orderlies were being brutally shoved to one side by Blowfish - or more accurately, his entourage of goons. Six of them, as far as John could see. They weren't carrying weapons openly, but it seemed unlikely they had come unarmed. 

 

"You!" shouted Blowfish at John. 

 

He held up a card, a scuffed, almost charred card. For all its distance, somehow John could see it from a distance. 

 

It was a tarot card. 

 

The Tattered Man...

 

Wait. There was no such thing as a Tattered Man in a standard Tarot deck, was there? But there it was, plain as day. Plainer, in fact. Somehow he could see the detail at a few dozen yards. The Tattered Man.

 

The card was trembling in the hand of Blowfish. 

 

"You! I got friends in high places, I got friends in low places. I got a friend who knows sorcery. Didn't believe it at first, but tried him out. Smokey Ace, master of cards. Now, I owe him, and I don't like owing people. But I needed to know just who you are..."

[Thunder King]

"I have no idea what you're talking about." John said in an even, deadpan tone. He was a bit worried. He didn't know enough about mysticism to determine if this Ace could help Blowfish or not. He knew there was nothing in his past to find, but his present, he considered the owners of the motel he stayed at. He considered Fat Joe. He needed to be able to keep them safe. Oddly, Blowfish had no evidence of anything he actually did, and was holding him responsible for something he tried to stop. John would have laughed.

 

Still, he was tense. If Blowfish opened fire, that would be bad for his business, but even worse for the hospital. John was sure he could survive a shot, or even two. He wasn't sure how much he could take, and six men getting the drop on him was enough to make him cautious.

[Supercape]

GM

 

Blowfish was advancing, with his goons. Not fast, but with full forceful footsteps nonetheless. 

 

The card in his hand started smoking. Not on fire, but slowly smoking. 

 

"Now Smokey Ace, he lets you ask questions. Him and his hwfff...cards never been wrong so far" he said, firmly. "And I'm betting they ain't being wrong now. So I got to asking. He burnt down my club?"

 

He pulled out another card with his other hand. 

 

The Burnt Man

 

"Now him, I want to speak to. Maybe even more than you" he shouted this time. 

 

"But I got to thinking. There was something off, that evening. Amber was in on it, and you best believe I got her card too" he said, threatening. "But somebody else was in that club that night. Some new face, somebody who I wasn't that inclined to trust. Someone disrespectful...So I got to asking Smokey Joe whom that was...and what he wanted..."

 

He once again thrust the Tattered Man card in front of him. "Guess what he pulled out...this damn card. And with it, Ruin!" he almost screamed, livid and red, his tic worse than ever. 

 

"Now I gets to digging, and I hear talk of the Tattered Man in Bedlam. Someone, it seems, I don't want around. Someone who has it in for me. Just because I disposed of some dumb broad who didn't show me respect"

 

He paused, shivering. 

 

"I gets to asking all sorts of questions. And I am goods at getting answered. The Tattered Man, and Vanity's sister. Ruin. And I hear about the hospital. About a car crash. About a little Miss Silverfinger" he smiled. 

 

"And now, I get here and my card starts smokin'" he said, waving the Tattered Man which was now beginning to disintergrate into embers as he got closer. "And I know you are here. And I am guessing your new girlfriend too!"

[Thunder King]

"You finally figured out that I didn't burn your club." He said. His tone of voice had changed entirely, gone was the casual, devil may care amicability. In it's place was coldness, precision, and the eyes of a man with nothing to lose. "Congratulations. Now, do you recall the contents of those rumors?" He didn't really care about his 'secret identity', it wasn't hard to disappear. He could have everything he owned in the world somewhere else in remarkably little time.

 

"You're going to leave." He said. "You have a problem with me, okay. I can deal with that, but there are a lot of vulnerable people here. This is not the place to air your grievance with me." He looked at his men. "We've both had a long night. How about we pick this up another time?"

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Oh I'm going to hwwwfff...leave, am I?" snarled Blowfish. "Look at him, boys, he's telling me to leave..."

 

Instead, he pulled out a pistol. It wasn't big, it wasn't flashy. It was just functional. It fired bullets. 

 

And it was a signal for the others to pull out their guns, too. 

 

"Now if the rumours are true, you are some hard nosed tough guy. Tough enough to beat down my two toughest guys. And perhaps tough enough to beat all of us down. But the other thing is, we are in a hospital. And whilst you got your code of honour, I got my code of survival" he smiled. It wasn't exactly funny. 

 

"And I'm reckoning, from what Vassily said, you got a soft spot in your heart for a certain woman. Well...I do like leverage over someone..."

 

"Go get her, boys!"

 

 

[Thunder King]

John was not thinking rationally anymore. He was tired, he was angry. He was mostly tired of, and angry at, Blowfish. Exploitative, short sighted, stupid criminal, just smart enough to be dangerous, and far too stupid to realize what he was messing with. John would teach him.

 

He ran forward at a shocking speed, closing distance before any of his goons had a chance to take a shot. He slammed his fist straight into Blowfish's chest, hitting him as hard as he could without trying to kill the man. John knew he didn't have any time to spare.

[Supercape]

GM

 

John could feel the THUD! of fist against some kind of bullet proof vest. Blowfish was not stupid. The impact still forced the breath from him, and he stumbled back, his arms reaching out for balance and hence, like the Keystone Cops, taking his goons with him, with all of them falling over in a tangle of arms, legs, and guns. 

 

The front two men had not been caught by the windmilling arms, and, dim of brain and burly of limb, they followed their orders. They both tried to charge past, to get to Jane still lying in the hospital bed. But the corridor was thin, and so where their chances when weighted against the inhuman strength of the Tattered Man. Both men duly ended up flat on their backside...

 

Behind him, John heard footsteps, and a grunt. A Russian grunt. 

 

Machine Gun Vassily was there, bruised, battered, even bleeding. Bandages over his head and one arm. One eye was so swollen and black he surely could not see out of it. But the grim determination was there. Plus, he was now holding a massive mini-gun that most men would struggle to lift...

Edited May 28, 2017 by Supercape