One Punch Man: Attitude Adjustment
Ch.14: Down in the Dumps
A mint condition, state of the art, silver Lamborghini drove down a private road. Both sides were fenced off with finely carved, Victorian style stone walls. After a small drive up-hill, it approached an extravagant gate that opened up for the driver automatically. On the other side was a massive piece of land with Topiary statues and lush gardens that surrounded a mansion made for only the most elite, mostly because they were only ones who could afford it. As the car pulled up to the mansion, it past multiple vehicles that were parked on the side left side of the massive driveway.
"How was the morning drive sir?" A classically dressed butler asked the owner of the car as he got out.
The man was middle-aged, tall and looked like he kept himself in good shape. A short, slicked back mane of silver hair matched his goatee. His designer buttoned-up shirt, trousers and leather shoes cost more than most people spent on their entire wardrobe. When he smiled, a set of perfectly white teeth were easy to see.
"Perfect Jerry, not a cloud in the sky." The man replied before handing the keys to his butler. "Feel free to take a lap before you park it." He said jokingly.
"Thank you Mr. Irwin." The butler said in a well-mannered way, he parked the car among the rest as his employer went inside.
"Honey, I'm home!" The man said like a character in an old sit-com, his voice echoed throughout the house.
"In the dinning room dear." A woman's voice answered back with a stressed tone.
Noticing the stress behind her words, the man walked into the dinning room to find his wife sitting at the far end of a rather long table. Like her husband, the woman wore a yellow dress that was made by the worlds most exclusive fashion designers. She was slim, fit and still quite beautiful thanks to years of taking care of her body with the best help money can by. Her white hair was tied up in a small bun, it matched the flawless pearls hanging the woman's neck. As her husband walked in, she was sitting down with a glass of wine and a very concerned look on her face.
"Everything alright sweetheart?" The man asked, noticing his wife's expression.
"No Isaac..." The woman said while shaking her head. "It turns out you were right."
"Well to be fair Amelia, that tends to happen often." Isaac said with the charming smile he always used to cheer Amelia up.
"I'm referring to Kathy's new "friend"..." Amelia replied somberly.
Suddenly, Isaac felt his good mood wither away. Dozen's of possibilities went through his mind at once, all of them made his body tense from anger. Now that he realized how serious she was, Isaac took a seat next to his wife and gently put his hand over hers.
"So...what happened?" Isaac asked, preparing himself for a very unpleasant answer.
Mia waited patiently outside her home for Kathy to arrive. She looked back at the house and saw a lone figure standing on the deck, looking down at her. She knew it was just to keep her safe, especially after what happened with Kathy. Despite that, Mia still wished her father could realize the difference between caring and overprotective.
"Hey, how bout a high-five?" Kathy asked after parking the Bulldog and walking out of the back, she waved at Mia with her fully healed arm.
"Are you sure it's ok?" Mia asked after the high-five.
"Yup, all good." Kathy replied, smiling like she was good as new. "Oh, hi Master Wing!" She said after noticing Mia's father watching, waving to him as well.
After a moment of silence, Mia's father opened the door to his dojo and went inside. Kathy knew what that meant, so she got into the Bulldog with Mia and drove away.
"I'm guessing he didn't take the news well." Kathy said awkwardly, keeping her eyes on the road.
"That would be an understatement..." Mia said with a very tired sigh. "At this rate, he might run off to hunt Spade down by himself."
"To be fair, that would our job easier." Kathy replied, knowing how effective Master Wing was at fighting. "Oh! I never asked, how bad was the talk about Randal?"
"Umm...about that..." Mia answered with a guilty look on her face.
"You told him...right?" Kathy asked, her eyes shifting towards Mia for a moment.
"I just don't know what to say. Remember what happened when my father found out about Jeremy..?" Mia said, showing her anxiety.
"Yeah...still can't believe he didn't get arrested for that." Kathy said as she recalled that unusual day. "Well, it's your call. But something tells me it won't be any better if he finds out on his own."
"I know..." Mia said with both palms in her face.
Jeremy was the next to get picked up, Kathy noticed some of her families security team patrolling the neighborhood. They wore civilian cloths and drove normal cars to stay inconspicuous. They stopped at the Lacroix's house, and Jeremy walked into the Bulldog with a very tired look on his face.
"So...how did it go?" Kathy asked.
"Three hours..." Jeremy said, yawning as he rubbed his eyes. "That's how long it took before they calmed down."
"Sorry to hear that.." Mia said with a sigh. "I know that feeling all too well."
"It's alright, we managed to sort things out. Carter just arranged to work at home for a while and Sadhil's got a weeks worth of sick days." Jeremy replied.
"Sounds good to me." Kathy said, trying to perk everyone up as she started the Bulldog again. "We won't even need half a week to put Spade behind bars."
"I'd like to believe that..." Jeremy said, trying not to be too pessimistic. "But we still don't even know where to look for him."
"Oh ye of little faith..." Kathy replied with a playful smile. "Turns out Child Emperor's been doing his part, he might have found someone with information and I made sure that we're the ones who get to follow the lead."
"Is this lead going to cooperate with us?" Mia asked with intrigue.
"Of course!" Kathy said with the utmost confidence. "All we gotta do is find them first..."
Randal was standing outside, leaning on the wall of his apartment building with his hands in the pockets of his jacket. He didn't bother tying his black bandanna around his neck and let it hang out of the collar of his shirt. The flask was empty, now didn't seem like the time to drink. Too many things were on his mind, which is why Randal said nothing as the Bulldog pulled up and he got to his usual seat in the back.
"Get enough sleep big guy?" Kathy asked, noticing Randal's tired appearance.
"No..." Randal replied, not wanting to say any more.
"No..." Jeremy said at the same time, not realizing she was just talking to Randal.
"Right..." Kathy replied after rolling her eyes. "Well, now that we're all here we can go over the plan. Child Emperor got a lead about Candy, the woman from the bank robbery. Just before her gang was recruited by Spade, they were fighting some kind of turf war with another small group that calls themselves "The Scrappers." " She explained while driving.
"Okay, so did these guys join up with the Crime Association to?" Jeremy asked, still trying to make the name stick.
"Apparently not, Child Emperor's info said The Scrappers have one the lowest threat levels when it comes to gang activity." Kathy explained.
"So...you think Spade didn't bother with them?" Mia asked, trying to figure out Kathy's train of thought.
"Bingo. If i'm the leader of a gang that got shot down by Spade's new crime syndicate...I'd probably be willing to screw them over, especially if the right price is involved." Kathy said, clearly pleased with her plan.
"Makes sense to me." Jeremy said, shrugging his shoulders.
"How bout you Randal?" Kathy asked after looking through the rear-view mirror.
"Could work...only one way to find out." Randal replied with a solemn tone.
It was easy to tell when the team came to the neighborhood they were looking for. It was one of the more poverty stricken areas of City-T. Trash was all over the cracked and unmaintained streets. The Bulldog passed by dozens of homeless people, some were sleeping with cardboard blankets and others were crowded around oil barrel fires. Those who did have a place to live were usually petty crooks or people working back breaking jobs at one of the nearby factories. The buildings were filthy, half of them looked like they should be condemned. As they parked the Bulldog and walked out, Kathy could see some shady characters eyeing their ride and double checked that it was locked before they left.
To be safe, Kathy parked a couple blocks away. During their short, but unpleasant walk Randal noticed the smell of garbage hanging in the air and it was getting worse with every step they took. A sign ahead of them said "North T-City Landfill" was on the next left.
"Please tell me we're not..." Mia said, covering her nose from the smell.
"They're called Scrappers for a reason..." Kathy replied with no joy in her answer.
"Wonderful..." Jeremy said sarcastically, his painting mask already on.
A large, rusty chain link fence topped with bard-wire surrounded the junkyard. Several small mountains of trash could be seen, Mia noticed how they were piled in a way that looked like they were surrounding a rather large area in the middle. The team was about to approach the gate, until something unexpected held them up.
"Oh what is this?!" Jeremy said, disgusted by what he saw.
The others turned around and noticed Jeremy was looking at a wall. Specifically, he was staring at big and poorly shaped skull that was painted on it. Kathy and Mia had the same look of exasperation, they knew what Jeremy was going to say.
"I mean look at this! The skull is lumpy, and the eyes aren't even symmetrical!" Jeremy said, getting ready to go on a rant until he felt a finger tap his shoulder.
"Is now really the time for you to be an art critic?" Randal asked coldly, not in the mood to deal with any silliness.
"I just...well...umm..." Jeremy said, snapping out of his diatribe as he realized everyone was watching. "No..." He admitted, his head hanging low as they walked to the gate again.
"To be fair, it is pretty bad." Mia whispered to Jeremy so he wouldn't feel too embarrassed.
On the other side of the gate was a run-down shack, it was set up like a toll booth with one man operating it. He was short, pudgy and wore blue overalls that were covered in various stains. He was sitting in the shack, eating a hot-dog as he watched a T-City Titan's football game on a small T.V before noticing someone was approaching. He quickly finished his meal and used his overalls to wipe the mustard off his fingers before standing up.
"You dropping something off or want to pick something up?" The man asked.
"Actually, we're hoping you can help us out." Kathy said politely. "Have you heard about anyone that goes by The Scrappers?"
"You mean the weirdo's?" The man asked, sighing like someone who had this conversation before. "Right inside, just try not to make a mess." He said before opening the gate.
"Was that a joke?" Jeremy asked himself as they walked into the junkyard.
There was one clear path through the trash at first with a few small trails that went off to different types of garbage piles. It wasn't long before the team saw ramshackle signs that said things like "Scrapper Turf, Keep Out." and "Go Home or Get Scrapped." with half of them not even spelled correctly. Eventually, the path opened up into the center of the junkyard with tall pillars of junk surrounding it as Mia noticed before.
There seemed to be a shanty-town set up in the area. Multiple buildings and shelters sat next to each-other like a poor intimidation of a neighborhood. All of them were built with scrap bits of wood and metal, most of them looked like they could collapse at any moment. Despite noticing enough places to sleep for at least two dozen people, Randal and the others did not see or hear another soul.
"Somethings not right." Randal remarked as he looked around.
"Yeah..." Kathy said in agreement while taking out her revolver. "Let's be careful."
As they kept moving with a more cautious pace, they started to hear the trash rustle all around them. A few shadowy figures watched them from high up at the top of the trash piles. When the team got into the center of the settlement, a loud horn was blown that echoed around past the junkyard and into the surrounding city streets. Suddenly, thirty people emerged from their hiding places in the trash. To no ones surprise, they were filthy and did not seem like people who cared about hygiene. These men and women were dressed in homemade armor made out various things found at the landfill. Some had washboards for chest plates, others had worn out hockey pads. Some had pipes for weapons and others had makeshift spears. A dozen of them had bows and slingshots that were also homemade, all of them were aiming down at the Heroes below.
"I-Is everyone else seeing this?" Jeremy asked, baffled to the point where he wondered if he was hallucinating.
"Yup, looks a bunch a people playing Mad Max." Kathy mumbled so the people watching them didn't hear.
Mia was ready to act if they had to fight, Randal just stood with arms crossed. He wasn't scared of a bunch of scrawny, dirty losers trying to act tough. As their leader stepped forward and stood on top of the tallest junk building, Randal wondered if this was all just a bad prank.
"You made a big mistake, thinking you can just waltz right into the home of the mighty Scrappers!" The man bellowed as he tried to make his voice sound deep and intimidating.
A pale man looked down at the Heroes with his right eye, the other one was lazy and partly closed. Bangs of greasy black hair covered his forehead and his face was covered in patches of stubble. He was tall but also skinny, which did not make him a very imposing figure. To get around that problem, the man crafted his own form of samurai armor with welded bit of the best metal he could find in the junkyard. It looked less like traditional armor and more like something you would see in a cheesy, low-budget marital arts movie. His Kabuto helmet was made from an old kitchen colander and was wrapped up in several layers of tinfoil to make it look "better."
"Now you must face the wrath of the great and powerful Junkblade!" He said while unsheathing his katana, the handle guard was chipped and a dozen small spots of rust could be seen on the blade.
Randal wasn't sure what was more sad, the fact that Junkblade thought he was being intimidating or the fact that his goons were cheering and hollering to hype him up. Jeremy was still wondering if all this was a weird dream and Mia was staring to feel something similar.
"We didn't come here to fight!" Kathy said loud enough for everyone to hear. "We just want to ask some questions."
"Ha, you think we can be so easily fooled?" Junkblade replied like he was in complete control, his confident smile showed off his bright yellow teeth.
"Without a doubt..." Randal muttered under his breath.
"I'm serious, we want to know what happened to your old rivals; the Daddy-Os." Kathy said.
"Ahh, so you want to hear our epic tale of conquest! We fought our enemies for quite some time, clashing for control over places like the mall and the bowling alley down the street. After a long, brutal campaign we managed to push those hair gelled assholes out of our turf. Now the Scappers reign supreme!" Junkblade explain like someone telling a grand fable, the crowd of Scrappers cheered when his story was over.
"Oh really?" Kathy asked with a knowing smirk. "From what I heard, Candy and her gang got an offer to join a much bigger operation. Any chance you know something about that?"
"Th-That doesn't change anything!" Junkblade said, trying not look flustered. "Candy knew she couldn't win against us, so she ran off to join that Spade guy for protection."
"Oh...so you do know about him." Kathy remarked, her smile getting bigger.
"I...umm..." Junkblade said, his good eye twitching in frustration.
"In that case, how about you tell us what you know and we give you a nice payday." Kathy said, pulling out five thousand dollars that was was kept together in a big money-roll.
"You think money is enough for us to give into a Heroes demand? You must be joking." Junkblade said, regaining his composure. "Besides, you've brought us something much more valuable." He said while pointing his blade at Kathy.
"And...what would that be?" Jeremy asked with a concerned look.
"Four prisoners we can bring right to Spade's front door." Junkblade explained with a self-assured smirk. "He may not have seen our potential before, but that's going to change after we show that we can take down a bunch of Heroes."
The Scrappers were getting more confident with every word their leader said. It looked like they could attack at any moment, making Kathy put her finger on the trigger of her revolver just in case.
"Maybe this wasn't the best idea..." Mia said anxiously.
"We didn't come here to fight!" Kathy shouted.
"Too bad! You're on Scrapper turf, that means you have to deal with us." Junkblade said, pointing his blade down at the Heroes.
"That's a load of crap and you know it!" Randal yelled as he stepped forward, no longer holding back how agitated the Scrappers were making him.
Half of The Scrappers jumped back from the sudden, deep voice echoing throughout the junkyard. Kathy and the others looked at Randal like he had just lost his mind. Junkblade's teeth were grinding before he growled with embarrassed rage.
"What was that?!" Junkblade yelled, his voice cracking involuntarily. "D-Don't think you can just run your mouth old man, there's thirty of us and only four of you."
"Numbers don't matter if you're an army of wimps." Randal said, staring up at Junkblade with his arms crossed. "You're not a gang, your a pack of idiots who roll around in dirt and crap because you have nothing better to do."
"This is not helping!" Kathy said as she tried to pull Randal back.
"Grrr...Be quiet!" Junkblade yelled, starting to lose his composure. "You don't know a thing about us, but thanks to our expert level intelligence gathering we can know more than enough to take you down." He said while trying to look cool again.
"I'm calling bluff on that." Jeremy remarked while raising his hand.
"Oh really?" Junkblade asked, smiling like he was waiting for someone to question his gangs abilities. "Poindexter! Give me their stats!" He said while pointing his sword to one of the smallest members of the Scappers.
"O-Okay...just a sec!" Poindexter called out in response, adjusting his cracked glasses before he starting to rifle through a book-bag hanging off his shoulder. "Aha! Found it!" He said while holding up a copy of the Official Hero Guidebook. "Hmm...let's see. The one in the hoodie is Tagger, Class B Rank 66. Specializes in acrobatics that are used for effective hit and run ambushes. The shorter girl next to him is Lady Crane, Class B Rank 43. A martial artist known for the precision and grace of her techniques."
"Oh god...that book really is a bad idea." Mia said, acting like she discovered something that should have been so obvious before.
"Yeah, who would've guess?" Jeremy muttered sarcastically to Mia as Poindexter kept reading out loud.
"The older man apparently just got promoted to Class B, that's why he's the lowest ranked at 102. His name is...hehe...Savage Senior." Poindexter said, trying to hide how he giggled at Randal's Hero name. "Specialties are listed as brute strength, resilient body and unorthodox experience."
"Nice way to sugar-coat it..." Randal mumbled, imagining someone in the Association's H.R department writing that list.
"Last but not least and highest ranked at number 31 is...Outback Girl." Poindexter said, looking at like he was love-struck. "An expert level sharpshooter and the woman who got fourth place in the "Heroic Cuties Countdown" list."
"Fourth?!" Kathy said in disgust. "Who the hell was keeping me out of the top three?"
"Oh, you're actually right behind...Captain Mizuki." Poindexter replied, looking at Captain Mizuki's photo in the guidebook with the same affection he just showed to Kathy.
"Well that's...just...I...damn it! That's actually kind of fair..." Kathy said with a pout of defeat, she had met Mizuki a couple of times and had to admit that girl knew how to keep herself in amazing shape.
"Umm...am I on the list?" Mia asked in a shy way.
"Yup, tied for number seven with Pink Hornet." Poindexter said after looking at the list again to double-check.
"Really?" Mia said, blushing as she smiled.
"You're stupid Hero beauty contest doesn't matter!" Junkblade yelled to get the attention back on him. "We've got you surrounded and we know how all of you fight. If you're smart, than give up now and save yourselves being in a world of hurt!"
"If we fight, the only ones that are getting hurt will be you and your friends. So how about I offer something that makes things easier for all of us?" Randal suggested.
"Why should I take any kind of offer from you?" Junkblade asked indignantly.
"Because I think you wanna show Spade and all the others gang leaders that you're tough enough to be part of their little club. So how does this sound? You and me, one on one. If I win, you tell us what we want to know and then let us walk away. You win, I'll let you give me to him." Randal said, his eyes locked with Junkblade's.
Just liked Randal hoped, the offer got the other Scappers to start whispering with each-other. They wondered if the Hero was being serious and more importantly, if their leader would actually accept the challenge. Junkblade noticed this, making him all the more stressed as he thought over Randal's words.
"Who said you could do that?!" Kathy said, furious as she made Randal turn around to look at her.
"Who said I couldn't?" Randal snapped back with a cold expression. "You're plan got us into this, mine's gonna get us out. If a miracle happens and Garbage Knight up there wins, you accept the loss and just walk away; got it?"
Kathy looked like she was ready to slap Randal as hard as she could. The problem was that part of what he said was right. Kathy thought they could just walk in and wave enough money around to get what they want, now they were surrounded by Scrappers and the overwhelming stench of rotting trash.
"Why fight for only one, when my Scrappers and I can just capture all of you right here and now?" Junkblade asked, thinking he found a fatal flaw in Randal's plan.
"With or without me, I know these guys can fight their way out. Your gang is pathetic but if you're more then a just man-child playing pretend, you'll want to show Spade that you can hang around with the big boys. What better way to do that then say you brought down a Class B Hero all by yourself?" Randal yelled with a complete lack of respect, trying his best to rile Junkblade up.
"Fine then!" Junkblade screamed as she snapped from the pressure. "Y-Y wanna go old man?! I'll cut into a million tiny pieces!"
As Junkblade jumped down to the ground in front of Randal, the other Scrappers looked in complete and utter shock. They were used to harassing store owners and outrunning the occasional cop or Class-C Hero. Now they were watching their leader get in a real-life duel with a large man who looked like he knew how to fight. Junkblade was nervous, feeling goosebumps all over his skin but did his best to hide it. After all the posturing and insults, he knew that Randal along with his gang would not take him serious unless a stand was made.
Randal looked back over his shoulder, waiting for the others to give him space. They did, but Kathy was not happy about while Mia and Jeremy just hoped that Randal knew what he was doing.
With that done, the fighters stared each-other down. The Scrappers watched on the edge of the seats as their leader held his sword with both hands, holding it in front of him with a sloppy Kendo position. Randal kept his arms folded waiting to see if his opponent was willing to take a swing. Seeing Randal be so casual made Junkblade even more angry, his voice cracked again as he tried to let out a battle-cry. He rushed forward, ready to bring his katana down on Randal's collarbone. To his surprise, the older and bulkier man was able to easily dodge by stepping to the side. A sharp pain rattled in Junkblade's head as Randal slapped the back of it hard enough to make Junkblade fall into the dirt.
"Wanna try that again?" Randal asked, not even looking at Junkblade while he wiped the dirt off his hand.
Junkblade slowly got back to his feet while holding the back of his head, seeing Randal still standing like that made him absolutely livid. He got back into his Kendo stance again, slowly stepping towards Randal before coming at him with a flurry of slashing. Randal was able to back away, ducking and dodging every swing without much effort. He could tell Junkblade used the katana before, but he seemed less like a master swordsmen and more like a child that was used to playing Samurai in their backyard. Junkblade tried to stab Randal in the chest, but Randal stepped to the side again. His large hand grabbed Junkblade by the wrist to pull him into a stiff backhand. The gang leader stumbled back, his legs shaking as he used all of his strength to stay on his feet. He feebly tried to raise the sword again, but was hit with another slap that was hard enough to make him spin before hitting the ground.
"Is this even a fight?" Jeremy asked, almost feeling bad for how pathetic Junkblade looked.
"At least he's winning..." Kathy said, frowning with both hands on her hips.
After trying as hard as he could, Junkblade managed to get himself up to his hands and knees. The left side of his helmet was dented into his cheek and his nose was bleeding badly. He shook his head and weakly tried to pull away as Randal's hand grabbed the back of his armor. He was pulled back up to his feet, face to face with Randal. The old man didn't even seem angry, he just looked like someone ready to put down a wounded animal.
""Ready to talk?" Randal asked after kicking the katana away from it's owner.
"We don't even now that much man..." Junkblade whimpered, tears of fear starting to form in his eyes.
"Then I guess we can wrap this up." Randal said, his eyes showing menace as before pulling his arm back to punch Junkblade in the face.
"Stop! Please! I'll talk, I'll talk!" Junkblade said frantically, using his arms to cover his head.
After letting the leader drop to the ground again, Randal looked around to check the other Scrappers. Some were dejected at their leaders defeat, others looked at terrified of the man who beat him into submission. Randal couldn't care less about they felt, he just wanted to be sure none of them would try to jump in.
"We...we knew that Candy got some kind of offer, but didn't know who it was from. So I sent two Scappers to stake out their home base to try and find something out." Junkblade with heavy breaths, still holding up his hands in case Randal wasn't done hitting him. "They said some guy in a trench-coat came by. Didn't say much, but apparently he mentioned something about meeting up at the power plant."
"Anything else?" Randal asked while loudly cracking his knuckles.
"No, that's it! I promise man that's all we know!" Junkblade said, practically begging as he spoke.
"Fine then." Randal said as he let his arms drop to his sides. "Get a job kid, you're not cut out for this." He said with a look of pity before walking away.
Junkblade sat on his knees, tears streaming down his face from being scared and from being emasculated in front of his entire gang. As Randal walked back to the others, he could see the sour look on Kathy's face and was expecting to get an ear-full.
"Don't even start with me." Randal said as he pointed at Kathy, beating her to the punch. "We got what we came for, let's get out of here and find a place where I can shower."
Kathy kept quiet, but was coming up with more than a few nasty things to say later. Jeremy was glad that they were done and was already turning for the exit. Mia couldn't help feeling sorry for Junkblade after what she thought was an unnecessary display. As she watched him slowly stand back up, she also noticed a hand reaching behind his back.
"Randal!" Mia shouted while pointing at Junkblade.
"Get scrapped!" Junkblade yelled spitefully before tossing a CD sized buzz-saw at Randal's head.
The warning let Randal look back and jerk his head to the side just in time. The blades grazed Randal's cheek enough to cut across it, leaving a shallow but noticeable cut that made trickles of blood start to run down into his beard. Kathy and the others were revealed that Randal was okay and Junkblade was impressed with his own throw. Randal was still, taking heavy breaths through his nose. His fingers brushed over the cut so he could check how much blood was on their tips.
Hefty burdens were on his mind before they came to the scrapyard. He tried his best to hide how infuriating being stuck in such a position was, but he spent the day feeling like he was on the very edge. Dealing with complete fools like the Scrappers didn't help and as Randal looked at the beads of red on his finger tips, all he wanted to do was relieve his severe level of stress.
"Okay..." Randal said, almost whispering as he turned to face Junkblade again with a callous look in his eye. "I'll treat you like a man."
Junkblade's heart pounded in his ears as Randal started getting closer. The way he methodically moved forward combined with his expression made Junkblade realize he wasn't playing around anymore.
"Hey...fight's over big guy!" Kathy said, looking concerned as she tried to call Randal back.
"Apparently not!" Randal loudly replied as he started walking.
"No...get back...stay away from me man!" Junkblade yelled, scared for his life as he tossed three more buzz-saw's in quick succession.
Seeing them coming made it easy for Randal to dodge and step out of the way, barely breaking his stride all the while. With no weapons left, Junkblade's last resort was striking every Karate and Kung Fu pose he had seen throughout his years of sneaking into theaters to watch movies. It didn't faze Randal at all, which forced him to start backing away.
The feeling was familiar, being able to scare someone enough to want to get away but also not want to take their eyes off the man who might be the last person they see. When it happened, it usually ended in the poor sap trying to back away until they end up stuck against a wall. The exact same thing happened to Junkblade when he was stopped by a broken-down car. Before the frightened man could run, Randal had one hand wrapped all the way around Junkblade's slim throat. No matter how much he struggled, Junkblade could not wriggle out of Randal's grasp.
"That's enough!" Kathy yelled as she stepped forward.
Randal looked back for a moment, he noticed how distraught she was along with Mia and Jeremy. Then he looked back to Junkblade, watching him desperately plead for life through his gasps for air. A moment of hesitation curbed his intentions, but it left as quickly as it came once a mental image of Spade sitting in his apartment crossed his mind.
In one quick, brutal motion Randal hoisted Junkblade into the air by his neck to choke-slam the younger man onto the car behind him. The armored body hitting the cars hood made a loud, metallic crashing sound and the wind shield was covered in cracks. He was concussed and unconscious, but still alive. As Randal looked Junkblade battered body over, he knew the wanna-be super-villain was not going to get up anytime soon.
Jeremy's mouth was hanging open is disbelief, Mia turned away with hands covering her face and Kathy just shook her head with her eyes on the ground. Randal knew he was walking back to an unhappy team and seeing their faces after what he just did took away the brief feeling satisfaction it provided. It seemed too late for an apology, so Randal just stood in front them all and waited to hear what they had to say.
"So...can we go now?" Jeremy asked, hoping that Randal was done.
"Sounds good to me..." Kathy said softly, looking up to give Randal a quick glance before turning her back to him and walking away.