ic Bad Beat

[Thunder King]

John spotted Vassily with his gun, and growled. He ran forward, charging as fast as he could, closing distance quickly. He smashed his hand into Vassily's chest, sending him sprawling back. "This isn't going well, for you, Blowfish." John said, looking at the assembled goons, sprawled and trying to stand. "Cut your losses." 

[Supercape]

GM

 

"You pay for that..." spat Vassily, on his backside, the gun lolling to one side. When he spat, he did it with blood and a solitary cracked tooth that rattled on the not so clean Hospital floor. It was specked with blood. 

 

"You...you...Get him!" ordered Blowfish, with at least half a tactical head on his shoulders. Given the intelligence of his goons, he had little competition. Two of the dutiful thugs got up and rushed towards John, getting to a few feet of him and pausing, blocking his way...

 

Blocking his way back down the corridor, where Blowfish and his other four men had reached Jane's room, with her nurse inside. Screams were coming from the nurse, and Jane was trying, weakly, to get out of bed and pull her drip out. 

 

"Honey...hwfff....I'm hoo-oome!" sang Blowfish, delighted at the opportunity to scare Jane. 

[Thunder King]

John roared in frustration and took off like a shot, charging almost blind at Blowfish. He knew punching the man in the head might kill him, so he aimed for his chest. He closed distance frighteningly fast, slamming his fist into Blowfish's chest. The boss flew back, skidding across the hospital floor before slamming into the wall, slumped over. 

 

John hoped that, maybe, his superhuman feats of strength and speed might dissuade them from continuing, but he was prepared to make them all guests of the hospital if that's what it took.

[Supercape]

GM

 

Blowfish had landed onto a wall, and then onto the Hospital Trolley below it. This was poetic fortune of a sort. He was out cold. 

 

The goons looked at each other. 

 

It was a tough call. On the one hand, Blowfish had a reputation. Cross him and die. And Blowfish was a cunning operator, an astute judge of character, with fingers in more pies than he had fingers (as contradictory as that assertion might sound). On the other hand, the Tattered Man had just knocked Machine Gun Vassily, the toughest Russian in Bedlam, to the ground, and thrown Blowfish thirty feet down the corridor. Nobody was that strong, not even Vassily. 

 

In the conflict of fear, Blowfish won out, but their nerve was beginning to break. Four of them jumped onto the Tattered Man, trying to pin him to the floor. 

 

"You'll pay for that, mister!" said one. But the well of confidence was running dry. 

 

The other two thugs ran into Jane's hospital room, guns at the ready. To execute or to take hostage?....

 

And meanwhile, in a puff of gentle smoke, a tarot card came falling out of Blowfish's jacket. 

 

A burning card...of the burning man!

Edited June 12, 2017 by Supercape

[Thunder King]

John easily burst out of their grip. He punched the first man in the face, elbowed the second man in the stomach, and backhanded the third man. They fell, crumpled to the hospital floor. He gazed over to Vassily and charged. One more, he thought. One more and this night was over. At least, he hoped. He was tired, he was sore, he was angry, he was pretty sure at least some of his clothes were ruined. But, not that coat. The coat was never destroyed, yet always ruined.

 

A perfect metaphor for Bedlam.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"I shoot you! I shoot you so bad you die!" roared Vassily, clumsily lifting his minigun. 

 

He did entirely lie. He opened fire. 

 

The Hospital resounded with the sound of his huge gun clacking away, echoing through the hospital. Bullets flew everywhere, in a ballistic torrent of fury. Walls were punctured, glass was shattered, and machines shredded. A few stray bullets hit some of the unconscious thugs. What damage they did, who could tell?

 

But Vassily was broken, tired, and for all his strength and determination, it was a damn big gun that he could not entirely control. His tired arms sagged, and he clumsily used his body weight to lift it up, ripping the ceiling lights. 

 

Sparks flew, and the lights went out, plunging the corridor into the dim light of the medical machines around them and a few flickers of half destroyed bulbs. 

 

But the Tattered Man was unhurt. 

 

In the ambient lighting, the two last thugs came out of Jane's room. She was defiant, but in no shape to be defiant. Her captors were wheeling her out and held a gun to her head. 

 

"Let it go, man! Let us go!"

[Thunder King]

"I've had a long, crazy night." John admitted. "You want to go? Fine, let her go, that's all you have to do. Just walk away and I'll forget you exist. Take her with you, or hurt her?" In the shadows, he was a mass of tattered cloth, shifting subtly in height and weight, could have been a trick of the lighting, could have been real. "I'll remember you, I'll find you, and you'll never see me coming. Do us all a favor, and get the hell out of here."

[Supercape]

GM

 

There was a pause. 

 

A shattered light fell, swinging on its cord. The light flickered throughout the dim corridor. Nobody spoke. 

 

The two men were sweating, mulling over the awful roads. Neither appealed, but the more visceral threat was the Tattered Man, And so, their nerves crumbled, and they ran. 

 

Down the corridor they went, passing Blowfish, who was twitching his lips in an unconscious sleep. Beside him, the burning tarot card. 

 

And it appeared that the tarot card was equally as prophetic in this case as it had been with the Tattered Man. For the two running thugs ran headlong into somebody blocking their path. 

 

The Burner. 

 

Decked in his flame resistant armour, his helmet like a welding shield. In his hands, an ignited flamethrower. 

 

He grunted through his damaged voice box. Like toxic waste on gravel. 

 

"Where do you think you are going?"

 

The corridor was a line of violence. 

 

At one end, Vassily, gasping for breath, leaning against the wall, his machine gun still in hands. 

 

Jane, fighting, unwisely, to crawl out of her hospital bed. 

 

The Tattered Man, betwixt them all. 

 

The two last thugs, pondering which way to turn, for alas, there was none. 

 

And at the other end, the Burner, ready to live up to his name...

[Thunder King]

"They are leaving. This is a hospital. This is not the place to do this. Or do you care so much about your revenge that you don't care how many people get caught up in your flames?" John didn't want the thugs to die, not like that. Burned alive was a rough way to go, nobody deserved that. More to the point, fires could spread. He had no trust in the fire safety measures of the hospital. He did have a plan. Charge the Burner, disarm him, get rid of or destroy his flamethrower. That big, stupid, dumb device that nearly killed a hundred people, and was even now threatening more.

 

"Is your revenge really worth all these innocent lives? You think this is what Amber would want, or Vanity? Big hero, lights up a hospital." He was beyond playing nice. Kid could have waited, could have kept to the shadows. Could have pounced on Blowfish on a night John wasn't around.

[Supercape]

GM

 

The Burner lifted up his flamethrower, his face unseen behind that scratched, carbonised mask of steel and dark glass. Even the pilot light was a source of light in the flickering destruction around them. 

 

"I'm no hero. I'm finished. My body ruined. Ill be lucky to hit fifty, and it sure won't be with any girl by my side" he growled, a raspy breathing. 

 

"You know what they did. Set me on fire. I wished I had died. But I didn't. I survived for one thing, to extract justice. Did anything stop them? No? Where were you, hero?"

 

"Is anything going to stop me now?"

 

Maybe in answer to his own question, he started looking around the destroyed hospital. 

 

"Pspah!" spat Vassily, behind the Tattered Man. His finger was on the trigger, but he wasn't pulling it. Not yet. 

 

"You and me, Mister Cripsy! Lets see who is man!" he goaded the Burner. 

 

 

[Thunder King]

John ignored Vassily for the moment. "Not going to pretend your situation doesn't suck, or that you don't have a good reason for hating Blowfish."

 

He looked at Vassily, then the Burner. "You wanna fight? Kill each other? Get the hell out. Do whatever you want, pistols at dawn, swords at sunset. I don't give a damn what you do, just don't do it here. I can't pretend you have a heart." He glared at Vassily. "But if you don't leave you'll be staying as a patient." He hoped they left. He would rather Burner listen to reason, but, barring that, at least he didn't want to have to deal with him. He had his fill of tonight. He just wanted to make sure Jane was safe, and go home.

[Supercape]

GM

 

The Burner paused, contemplating. 

 

"Its true. This Hospital is not the place for fire" he said, almost reluctantly. 

 

"You are being the coward!" said Vassily, through bleeding lips and bleeding gums. 

 

"Coward. Brave. Hero. Villain. Empty words" replied the Burner. He somehow seemed to glare even through his mask. 

 

"All that matters is fire. Cleaning up the trash. Its about the only pure thing in this town. And you'll feel its embrace, Russian" he finished. His voice was weak but his intent strong. 

 

His semi-truce semi-agreed with Vassily, he pointed his flamethrower at Blowfish. 

 

"But this piece of scum. He will burn. The cancer behind it all. The merchant of misery. He burns, because otherwise, he will just return, one way or another..." he said, looking at the Tattered Man. 

[Thunder King]

"That's not going to happen. Not here." John said. "You're going to walk away. Now." He was tired of this kid. He wanted him gone, he wanted to go home. He knew he'd go after Blowfish eventually, but not here, not tonight. "I don't give a damn about Blowfish, living or dead, but you're not burning him here, you're not burning him now." He was prepared to take this kid down, he was prepared to put him in the hospital. He wanted to take that flamethrower and destroy it. 

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Hmmm...." came the barely audible wheeze from the Burner. 

 

Vassily interrupted. "I'll see you corpses later" he spluttered. It was half a cough, half a chuckle. He was in bad shape, even if he didn't want to admit it. His Pride was limping as bad as his body, as he dragged himself away. 

 

"You have a habit of getting in my way. But a habit of getting in my enemies way, even harder" conceded the Burner. "I guess I owe you. But your deposit in my bank of goodwill is thin, mister. Real thin. And you just took out your savings..."

 

He clicked of the Flame thrower pilot. 

 

"Right now, you owe me. Just remember that. Remember what I could have done. What I should have done. And  remember I did this not because you are right, because you are noble, because you are heroic. But simply this; you saved Amber. I'm not any kind of man for a woman like that. Breaks whats left of my burnt heart. But it does mean I can deal fair and square with you"

 

He turned to leave. 

 

"Just remember what I did because you asked me. Remember it, for when I ask something of you..."

 

And with that, he left. 

[Thunder King]

John called for help. Jane was still not back in the room, the area was in chaos. He hoped they'd admit Blowfish. Not because John cared, but to tie him up in the hospital for a day or two to let Jane get some time to recover. He slumped against the wall. He was exhausted, running on fumes. But, things seemed to finally calm down, somewhat. A night club fire, a car crash, a fight in a hospital. He needed to reconnect with Fat Joe and go off the radar for a few days. 

[Supercape]

GM

 

Jane was trying to get her drip out. She was trying to get out of her bed, to comfort John. But she was too broken right now. She collapsed back into her pillow, sweaty and faint. 

 

"Sheesh...is it...is it over?" she asked the broken ceiling. She asked the world. But most of all, she asked John. 

 

Around her, security and medics started cautiously approaching, guns and tasers at the ready. The place had been ripped apart by a minigun and nearly burned to a crisp. One could appreciate the fear. One could smell it. 

 

Dull sirens could be heard amongst screams and shouts. The hospital was getting ready to evacuate. Not an easy business. 

[Thunder King]

"Its....over." John said. "I'm okay. I heal fast. Mostly, I'm just tired." He admitted. "Blowfish is out cold along with most of his goons." He gently helped her back to bed and leaned against the wall. "I'll be fine." He said with a shrug. "A few days, at worse. I'll wake up better than I am now, that's for sure. I'm sorry, I got you hurt. Wasn't my intention. I really should have gone to the site alone." He shook his head. "I'm just glad you'll recover, honestly." At least, he thought, Vanity was avenged. Somewhat, kinda.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Out cold? That's too good for him. Maybe the Burner...or whatever his name is....maybe he should have heated him up...."

 

She frowned at herself. 

 

"No. I can't think like that. Bedlam, getting to me. God I feel like that. But I can't drown in this city" she said, trying, weakly, to muster resolve. 

 

"Ill get better. Don't you worry. Only a couple of broken ribs and a pneumothorax. And yeah, you busted my arm pretty good, didn't you? Damn, I would have fainted from seeing that if I wasn't already seeing double from concussion...."

 

"I don't know quite who..or what you are. But if you ever need a lawyer with a few scars...."

[Thunder King]

John would have laughed. "I don't exist." He said, flatly. "Legally, I'm a non-entity." He shrugged. "Who I was died, and who I am doesn't exist in the legal books." He did look into it, Stephen Chambers was not yet legally dead, but wasn't exactly being looked for either.  "Arrest isn't likely, but I appreciate the offer." He figured if he did get arrested, he could probably escape. Especially given his police background. 

 

"I'm going to keep an eye on you and the Bad Beat, but I'm going to go quiet for a while. A couple of weeks or so. Let the heat die down a bit." What that meant, obviously, was that The Tattered Man simply wouldn't appear anywhere for a while. John Smith, however, would go on about his business. "I don't want to make too many waves right now." 

[Supercape]

GM

 

Jane sighed. She winced from sighing. She started to laugh from the irony, but that hurt too. 

 

"I'd appreciate an eye on me. I got a feeling my life would be short otherwise. This is Bedlam City, the heat never really dies"

 

She turned, slowly to face him. "And I think the waves will find you, whether you want them to or not..."

 

She closed her eyes, thinking. 

 

"But before you go. Before they arrest me and question me and hopefully give me a big short of morphine, what are you going to do if...when...you see the Burner again?"

[Thunder King]

"Stop him." John said. "Destroy his equipment, see if I can't get him arrested, or institutionalized, or something. That kid needs off the streets and in a therapist's office." he sighed. "I need to get going, we both need rest, you more than me." He stood up. "I'll keep an eye on things. I have to disappear. I can't afford to answer questions." He chuckled. "Not that they could hold me long, but I don't want the hassle, not after tonight." He looked around. He could vanish, disappear from sight, and leave. That seemed best. 

 

The Tattered Man must remain a myth, but he'd already found himself connected in too many ways. He couldn't afford to let Jane get burned, literally or metaphorically. He questioned whether he wanted to see her again. Questions for another time, tomorrow, maybe. He slipped into the chaos, into the shadows, and on to the streets of Bedlam.

[Supercape]

And so, the very next day...

 

The hot dog had not much improved. But perhaps Fat Joe was getting better with the fried onions. He put a double helping of said vegetable on the unimpressive dog. 

 

"So, it all went to hell. Up in smoke. I heard about the Bad Beat. Not many tears spilled over that, I can tell you. Not after Vanity..."

 

He was still sad. So were a lot of people. 

 

"At least, no tears from regular eyes. Still a lot of scum in Bedlam. Not you though. Bet you got a few more friends today. Saw Dick Young chuckling today whilst he was reading the paper. And he used to visit the joint. For Jazz, you understand. He is even thinking about how he could scrape enough cash together to buy the place. As a tribute to Vanity..."

 

He smiled at the thought. 

 

"Mind telling me what did happen? Did you really torch the place?"

[Thunder King]

"Arson isn't my style, and besides, I'd have done it while the club was empty anyway. No, turns out there was a boyfriend. Got burned up, decided to use fire himself. The other girl, Amber, was in on the plan. I sent her packing out of town. Took Burner's toy away from him and evacuated what I could." He sighed, burning alive and smoke inhalation were nasty ways to go. "Then, well, Blowfish kept going after me." He left out a lot of details. Jane in her entirety, the car crash. It wasn't that he totally distrusted Fat Joe, it was just better for everyone if those were kept secret.

 

He took a bite of the hot dog and shrugged. "To his error. Ended up in a fight in a hospital. Let's say Blowfish is going to take a long time before he can recover from last night. The Bad Beat might survive, and Blowfish did, but it hurt him, a lot. He's in the hospital, his club is in ruins, and he's gonna need to do some serious climbing to get back to where he was." 

He shook his head. "He took her life, and lost his livelihood. It's not fair by any measure, but it's something. Sometimes the best you can do to injustice is spit in it's eye." He hadn't intended to make an enemy of Blowfish, his arsenal of freaks or the Burner, hadn't meant to make any friends, but that's what happened. He was declaring war on Bedlam's crime. Might as well start somewhere.

 

"I need to go rest." He admitted. "Last night was rough. Rest, keep under the radar, keep out of the spotlight. I'll see you around." He finished his hot dog, threw the wrapper in the garbage by Fat Joe's hot dog stand, and walked off down the road.

Edited June 14, 2017 by Thunder King

[Supercape]

GM

 

Epilogue

 

Some time later

 

In a dusty southern border town...

 

"I don't want to set the world....on....fire....."

 

Jazz wasn't really the flavour round here. And Amber's heart wasn't in it. But she had the voice to make a living, and she wanted to lay low. Had a few admirers. Had a few drunk admirers. Had to kick one really hard yesterday, in a very soft place. That got some cheers. 

 

She finished her set, and quickly scuttled off to medium applause. She pulled out some whisky and drank. She was already drunk, but not drunk enough for the memories to go. She was never drunk enough for the memories to go, but she drank anyway. 

 

She just had to lay low, till the heat settled. Then...

 

Well, what then? She hadn't though that far ahead. 

 

There was a man backstage. Mexican, short, like wire. Like hot wire, with black shark eyes behind tinted glasses. Mexican gangster. 

 

"Great set" he said, with that serpentine threat. 

 

"Sure, sure. Want an autograph?" she asked, not looking at him and trying to keep calm. 

 

"That would be great" he answered without any implication it would be great at all.

 

He sat down, and lit a languid cigarette. 

 

"And then you can tell me all about Blowfish...."

 

~ Fin ~