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October
VAV
Midsomer, England
V
Coco idled on her laptop as she waited, doing her best to ignore the happy couple doing homework in the room with her. Even if they were her best friends and happily chaste about it all, she would be lying if she didn't admit to jealousy over their blissful times.
She said she would call this "Ren" guy from the forum fifteen minutes from now, and she already was wishing she hadn't agreed to the video chat. The emails had explained that the forum preferred video calls due to his own deafness and another member's blindness. Considering she didn't know any sign language, and they would have to use text for the interview anyways, she still didn't understand it. But growing up, her parents had always stressed the important of making the right impression. Everything about a person, from clothing, to posture, and voice could drastically change how you interacted. If she wanted to get anywhere in life, she had to learn how to create a sincere image for others to see.
That meant a carefully selected gold, ruffled blouse and brown vest, complimenting her black slacks and boots for an image of reserved class. Never gaudy, always impeccable in taste. Instead of curling up on her bed, she managed to use her desk for its intended purpose for once. Allowing her to square up her shoulders and sit properly. She even made Velvet clean off her desk so the background of the video would keep up the image of dependable student that she wanted the interview to have.
And when the clock was just about to reach the 7:30 appointment time, she clicked the button and waited. The dialing tone rang, and then kept ringing for almost six tones before someone picked up. It didn't take long after it picked up for her to realize that the man on the call with her wasn't Ren, because she had seen this face before.
"Arslan? What are you doing up? You said you'd call at after midnight my time, it's not even eight."
Okay, so the blind vigilante guy from the article had picked up the phone. She had five-seconds to come up with something or this was going to look bad quick.
VAV
Newton Haven, England
V
In more ways than one, Fox was a lucky guy. Being born with cataracts took away what was for most people their principle sense long before he could ever develop the others. And it's not like being blind took away from his quality of life, even before Mouse he was perfectly capable on his own. His only issue had little to do with anything physical, only a mental block until he found that he only ever excelled in one field. On the mats or in a pub, he was one of the best fighter in the isles.
He'd be lying if he said he didn't like it, but the problem with that was that it didn't pay. Not for a blind guy who could never turn professional. Even after he came home with the medal, the only way to make money for an athlete like him would have been to get into sponsorships which wasn't going to happen for someone who couldn't fake a smile in any way.
The only reason he could afford his small studio apartment was because one of the coaches had offered him a job out of high school. He wouldn't call himself a good teacher, he just knew martial arts and apparently wasn't too bad at explaining it to others. His recruitment had only been for the gym's prestige, and he didn't care. He did his job well and it paid the bills, it was fine for now.
So, that was his life, teaching what classes he could at whatever times worked. Given his minimalist living, it worked. Even if he did have his doubts about the future, for the time being he could just focus on training and helping others train. Including one such student over in Turkey who was practically his best friend. They had a weird schedule if they want to chat. Considering she was basically his only friend these days it was worth his late nights to meet her early mornings. So usually when he came to his room after the run from the gym was when he showered and had a late dinner, and after a while answer the call and shoot the breeze to a half awake Arslan. That was still hours from now, which meant something must be up, usually nothing good given teenage drama.
Sitting down at his laptop, he started taking off Mouse's vest and hit the enter button to answer the call. "Arslan? What are you doing up? You said you'd call at after midnight my time, it's not even eight."
No answer. "Something up? Did you have another fit?"
Then a voice answered him. Not one he recognized; it was too confident, coming out as a local accent despite the twinge of French on her r's, and with a husky sound like she was leaning across the bar, drink in one hand, trying to flirt with him. Her voice bled a tone that would make Helen of Troy jealous, and even cheap microphone and speaker wasn't going to make that every bit clear to him. "Well, this is a pleasant surprise."
"Do I know you?"
"Not yet, but I'm looking forward to changing that."
And that was his cue to hang up the drunk dial of whoever this was. Sexy as she may sound, he just wanted dinner. The only problem with that was the forty-pound dog climbing into his lap and eagerly pushing him away from the desk as she maneuvered herself to look at his screen. He did his best to reach for the escape key, however at this point Mouse was bridging the distance between him and the desk, pawing at his lap trying to keep stable. Any movement on his part could send both her and his laptop crashing.
Instead all he heard was the voice on the other side laughing and taking on a lighter tone over his dilemma "Hello, you must be Fox's brother. What's your name?"
Fox said, fighting to bring himself back to his own desk despite his chair's new passenger. "Her name is Mouse, and how do you know who I am? Or have this number?"
"I got the number off Semblance of Qi's About page, it said I could call here for questions. Though it was supposed to be with the Admin, Lie Ren. I was scheduled to meet him."
"You're the research student then, what was it, Chanel'sGAU8?"
"Yep." Popping the P as if she was still grinning over something. "Nice abs by the way. The picture of you in the paper did not do you justice."
In his defense, he had just come back from a run and it wasn't like Arslan cared one way or the other. "Look, the website must have been wrong. Ren's computer guy is apparently a bit of an airhead. He must have mixed them up. Let me just give you his number, okay?"
"You're not going to ask for my name? Something?"
"It's Chanel'sGAU8, all I need to know. Look, I'm hungry and need a shower, so unless you need something I'm going to hang up."
Fox hadn't meant to make it sound angry or bitter, but he could do nothing about the exhaustion in his voice. Just by nature he had an angry looking face, and times like these it was hard to make his voice sound any different. And whoever this woman was, it was like he had stunned her with that. Not that he knew why, it was late for a dinner and he clearly had just worked out. So why did that have her on the back foot? Enough that the background chatter on her side, the kind he wasn't supposed to be able to hear and always did anyways, had went dead silent.
"What?"
"I'm just not used to being turned down." The caller said.
"Turned down? All I want is food."
"And I just wanted to have an interview for this bloody paper. Instead of some Norse guy, I get the bloke who's article convinced me to even do this in the first place which is completely different. So, you'll excuse me if I'm still trying to figure out what to do with this situation."
"I told you, I can give you his number."
"Alright then."
"Okay. It's…" Fox started to speak, while in his mind, he was still stuck on Chanel's voice. The husky demure that had turned maternal as soon as Mouse had poked her head in, and now had its own bite that he couldn't understand. Something about that sound just made him wish he wasn't hanging up on her, even if it was the right thing to do. They never stayed anyways. "Anything else?" Time to move away from this.
"One thing, actually. How do you do it?"
"Do what?"
"'Blind to Danger', knockout two gunmen, fighting off eight hooligans. I'm not some idiot. No one does that in real-life. Someone starts swinging and everything turns to chaos. One guy doesn't pop out of a movie screen and win the day without a scratch."
"To be fair, I have gotten plenty of scratches." Fox almost moved to indicate his chest where he had the scars to prove it, only to hear her voice come back with a tight sound like she was smirking.
"I can see that. Still doesn't answer how you do it."
Fine. She was committed to this rabbit hole; he might as well help her dig it out like a good fox. "Can I at least make food while we talk? I'm still starving."
"Sure."
Mouse had to be shifted off his lap before he could go anywhere. Not that she complained as soon as she saw him heading towards the kitchenette. He wasn't the only hungry Alistair in the apartment after all. Dishing out her food and retrieving his own ingredients, he started to explain to Chanel'sGAU8 to the sound of Mouse's happy munching.
"When it comes down to it, you're right. One on one, your odds are usually as good as flipping a coin. You hear about all the stories of one fighter taking on a small army. The reality is that even an idiot can figure out how to flank, or hit at the same time, or take the opportunity to find a weapon. Honestly, no matter how much training you have, I'm still going to bet on two people beating a loner."
Fox shut the door to the microwave with his shoulder as he stirred the salad of sorts he had made. It wasn't a gourmet meal, but it had the calories and healthy stuff that he needed. In his experience, when it came to healthy food bland tended to be better than flavorful anyways.
"So instead you have to learn to stack your opponents. You hear about keeping your back to the wall which is good advice. Just keep going along those lines. I've trained in Judo almost all my life, if I want to keep a hold of someone I can. Meaning that it becomes a question of putting the guy I'm holding between me and his friends, and since I have the clinch1 I know exactly where I'm hitting."
"What's a clinch?"
"That's when you grapple with someone, tying them up so they can't use their strikes properly. Boxers do it when they want to stop being hit, but most martial arts used them as a way to fight armored opponents. Which after moving in, and even If my grip's not the tightest, I can still use whatever part of the body that I can get a hold of combined with some leverage to move them around. Bash them into walls and what not, which keeps me from breaking my hands like punching blindly would. With the kids I like to steal one of Jackie Chan's quote, 'When fighting angry, blind men, best to just stay out of the way.'"
"So that's it, that's your kung-fu secret. Back to a wall and human shields is all you need. Sounds like bullshit. And you really should try that dish with lemon pepper."
"I don't keep spices around, takes too long to catalogue them all. So, you really do want to write a paper on… how'd you describe it? On the forum?"
"'Kung-Fu Going Beyond the Impossible in History'. It's a working title."
"Definitely needs some help. Do you even know what kung-fu means?"
"It's the Chinese word for martial arts, right?"
"No, that's wushu. Well, kind of, but kung-fu better translates to dedication to a skill, which in this case is more accurate. I've been blind from birth. That's why I first got into martial arts." No need for him to add that the training also helped reign in his rather notable temper. "The training allows me to have a stronger sense of where my body is, where others are with just a touch of their skin. And just that, training and discipline only goes so far. But I knew I could do more, and as a kid read about elephants communicating through seismic waves2, so I thought why not me?"
Fox continued uninterrupted as he sat down on the counter. "The correct answer that both my sensei and doctors told me is that the human body is simply not designed for that purpose. I make it work, somehow. Not that it helps most of the time. It gets all muddied up what with cars and crowds. And it's completely useless when it comes to furniture. I swear half my scars are at home for the dumbest shit, nothing to do with fighting in the slightest."
"Oh? What about the other half then?"
Fox had never learned how to handle other people's sense of sight. It was a foreign aspect of society that he lived within and did his best to ignore. As far as he was concerned, Mouse was his eyes. However, he still had to develop a sixth sense when it came to other people eyes on him. Even if he wasn't terribly good at it, anyone could have felt the way this woman kept her eyes on him. That tone of hers had come back, the one that had started all this tonight. He still didn't know what was up with this girl, but he was ready for some of it at least. Best he could do was cover up and be prepared for what strikes came his way. It wouldn't be his first set of scars.
"Wouldn't you like to know Ms. Chanel'sGAU8."
"I would. And call me Coco."
VAV
Commorragh, Indonesia
V
The Warehouse that served as their little base was kept dark during the day, the contrast serving to keep inquisitive eyes outside their windows. Even if they had entered, whoever it was would find only shelving units, unmarked crates, and an open staging for trucks that so rarely seemed to come. Cinder Fall, his boss and the leader of their little operation was the exception to the standard. Her office, tucked back in the corner of the building and away from said windows, was always kept brightly lit and neat for her work, as if she expected legitimate business to occur here.
To be fair, at least today she did indeed have a visitor. Some Italian fop with a taste for budget cigars and unending tirades, who apparently still thought he could define terms for their illicit contract. Mercury had learned quickly to take the boss at her word; after all, she had guys like him to handle her troublemakers.
"Bet you a beer she gets the contract unedited."
Mercury paused his wide legged pushups, holding the downward dog so he could look up at where she lounged on the crates. "No deal. Cinder always gets her way. No way you're catching me on that."
Emerald nodded along to that comment and left him to return to his workout. Only this time punctuated by a new sound, the soft click of heels on the bare concrete. Quieter than Cinder's dominating steps and somewhat duller in pitch, which was evidently due to the blockier heels that had stopped by his head. Close enough he could almost kiss the toes of the smooth, off-white leather. He'd have head-butted them or something instead on principle, if he hadn't spotted the telltale ridge of steel toes.
[I'll take that bet.] was typed on a brightly lit phone and shoved into his face where it glared harshly in the dark. Contrasting nicely with the dark glare of his own that he sent up at the owner from his position on the floor. Smirking as he did so over how little he had to tilt up to see her, as she bent over in a bow that also gave him a rather lecherous view of her blouse.
"What does she want Merc?"
"To take your bet apparently."
The phone moved back up near its owner face, bringing attention to the half of her head dyed bright pink and the finely tailored jacket that matched the boots. [Roman's not a weakling when it comes to this stuff. 3% won't cover our side. Nice to finally meet you Greaves.]
That had Mercury on his feet much more quickly than he cared to admit. Only a handful of people would call him that, and only one of whom would be here today. Ren's new plus one policy for the forum had given Cinder her chance for recruitment, using Emerald as her spokesperson. That had allowed her to get in touch with IceCreamQueen, the forum's resident crazy, who happened to be working as a bodyguard for the kind of tech and logistic expert that could use a 'bodyguard' when dealing with his customers. Assuming the meeting didn't go to hell in there, their old friend Tukson would probably be given his termination shortly and Cinder would have a chance at getting a new star fighter in the process. Which did nothing to deter him from the fact that IceCreamQueen here was nuts. Silent thus far, pretty, flaunting a decent rack and ass to boot, but in forum full of dedicated martial artists she was the only one who seemed like a killer by nature. Certainly, not one to turn a blind eye to.
He ignored Em's background questioning chatter and stayed focused on the pink and brown eyes as they held out a new message. [I saw your last fight, against the Russian. You're good. Might even land one if we ever spar.] Her smirking face made it clear she doubted it, but Mercury's confidence rose as soon as he read spar. In the cage, he didn't have to worry about her umbrella, a custom built, carbon-fiber 'unbreakable'3 weapon designed as a openly concealed self-defense weapon, deadly in the right hands. Or for that matter the stiletto that she claimed was sheathed on the shaft, when she had talked about it on the forum.
"I'm sure it won't be just one, queenie." Thankful he hadn't just called the sociopath in the room pinkie instead.
"Ah, Mercury, Emerald, I see you've met Neo already. She and Roman will be helping us with the server upgrade. I'm sure you'll all get along just fine."
Emerald eagerly agreed to Cinder's barely veiled order, just like she always did, while Mercury managed a half-hearted shrug. Something about the way Neo was keeping her eyes on him had him worried still, but the boss lady knew what she was doing. At least she was still better than the lot up at 'Headquarters'.
"For now, Emerald, if you could help us alter our draft of the contract, Neo and Mercury can go handle our prior employment problem."
Cinder went back into her office after her short announcement, closely followed by his besotted coworker, and leaving the Italian to trail behind where he could better leer over his retreating boss. Only after he had his fill did he turn back to Mercury and Neo, giving the younger man a more practical once over before turning back to his resident 'bodyguard'. "Play nice with your toys, Neo."
She gave Roman a nicer smile and nod than the smirks she had been throwing at him before turning her phone's screen back towards him with a new message. [Looks like you owe me some beers.]
Mercury looked down at his new charge and realized her weird look was directed at him, only this time it looked rather more like the one he got by the girls after his fights. And compared to the last couple hook-ups, she was hotter and somewhat less crazy. Or at least a different kind of crazy, which still had him interested if nothing else. "Tuckson lives up north of here. If we take my motorbike, we can stop at a bar on the way back. Not my usual place, but it's not bad."
[Sounds good.]
VAV
VAV
"English", [English on phone]
1: Clinch: refers to clinch fighting, a form of stand-up grappling that uses holds such as bear-hugs to control the opponent's movements and minimize their ability to use strikes or weapons.
2: news. stanford .edu / pr/ 01/ elephants37. html
3: unbreakableumbrella .com
{I'm really trying to get these links to work, and their not working :/ }
V
Mercury meets Neo, realizes very quickly that she is every bit as scary and psychotic as her internet persona implies, and then takes her out for drinks. This is when it's sad but true that I chose him and Fox for my POV characters based on similarities to me.
Fox almost lived on the Island of Sodor, but he needed ready access to a pub more than he needed good public transportation (even though he can't drive). Likewise, Indonesia was a tough choice, as Cinder's lot I always imagined living in Oceania, hiding their operations in places where money can buy anything. And while I could have made political statements, I would think my lack of any real-world places would make my apathy for politics apparent. Indonesia was instead chosen because of its 6-religion system (because it was interesting to read about) and the horrible internet service. Because what better way to hide a black-market internet operation (to be described in more detail later) than in a host country with no ties to the major business. I chose Commorragh specifically because it is a city, and could fit the martial arts Hong Kong/Shanghai movie image that I have in my mind. Admittedly, I'm not sold on the idea since it has no ties to well… anywhere really story wise, so they might just ship somewhere else later if I think of something better.
