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November
VAV
Commorragh, Indonesia
V
Rainy days were made for many things when it came down in a steady sheet. Relieving the constant humidity of the region as it pushed people under cover rather than try to swim through normal life. Not that Mercury would ever have called his life normal, and he had no doubt his companion had her own story. But as far as his landlord was concerned, a one Chen Zen was simply a warehouse worker who wanted the rooftop suite so he could train, and whatever girl he brought home was his own damn business. An apathy he guaranteed by keeping his rent payments two months in advance, while staying the hell away from the asshole.
Even on a good day that gave him his privacy, and in the midst of the storm it gave him and Neo a fortified suite when surrounded by the half-flooded roof, which had turned from his training yard into a new moat.
It didn't leave them much to do. Technically, they had gotten together for some training. Cinder was pushing him to get Neo into shape for a match, probably planning on selling her as a dark-horse fighter. A handful of gamblers would bet in her favor, but anyone who knew how these usually worked would easily count against someone with her tiny frame. Unfortunately the boss wasn't listening to him, the guy she hired because he was good at this shit, whenever he told her that it wouldn't work. Neo never exaggerated when it came to her fighting ability, the problem was how she did it. Balancing her slight build with her weapons, something that didn't translate well into a cage. The focus on extra range and striking power so that kicks could remain her chief unarmed weapon also made ground fighting a much riskier prospect than it was for him. Which meant he honestly didn't know if she could beat Em or any of the other serious grapplers once she was limited by the rules. Underground fighting certainly enjoyed less restrictions to dirty fighting. At least half his opponents had been roid-raging, the only real lesson was to remember that sponsors still needed a show from the fights. Something Cinder, the refs, and any savvy participants, the ones who came back, knew very well.
For now at least, he was perfectly content to call his fucking Neo's brains out as rolling1. Laughing when he realized how jealous Em would be when she found out. "Ow."
[Less laughing, more pounding.]
"You know, for a mute you seem really loud.]
[You don't get to say that when you're the only one grunting.]
"Fine then. Turn over." Neo gave him a wide smirk as she tossed her phone away. Giving her derriere one last wiggle before flipping towards him, and locking her legs in closed guard2 so she could pull them even closer together in the process.
V
Neither of them were into cuddles per se, but a couple hours later found them stretched out on his hammock. Capitalizing on the small overhang that made up his porch on the largely featureless moat of a roof. The noise from the sheet metal above them drummed out his voice, and he strongly suspected his companion preferred it that way. Given that the enforced silence also had turned him into her foot masseur, it certainly provided an immediate benefit.
With his eyes focused on the forests at the edge of the city, and his hands occupied by feet so calloused they reminded him of his own be fore the 'accident', Merc would have been content to ignore her phone when it landed on his side of the hammock. Neo's kick to his thigh forced him to re-evaluate. He mouthed "what" at her and all he got in return was her pointed gesture to the phone. [Bored/] Of course she was.
Mercury was forced to type his response thanks to room's noise. Tucking the phone between her toes so she would be forced to bring back her foot to read it, and let his old grey hoodie ride up in the process. The view was almost worth this girl's narcissism. [What do you want me to do about it?]
[Stop just staring. You must have something we can do.]
[Than this? Yeah, but we both said we needed a break after the last couple hours going at it. Plus, we just showered.]
[Nothing else?]
He glanced back through the window to his small, barren studio. All it consisted of was his small bathroom, a kitchen that rarely saw much aside from protein shakes and warming carryout, and his bedroom with little more than a futon and laptop's charger. For an insomniac, he never was good at filling his time. Just trained or put on some kung fu flick3 while he killed time online. Cinder usually came up with some other chore she needed done. Given the weather, his options were limited.
[Not much to do around here. I usually put on something to watch and then try to catch up on sleep. Unless you actually want to train in all that.]
His gesture towards the thick sheets of rain were met by her rolling eyes, only to turn into eyes of delight as rooftop stairs were kicked upon by a gang of young men in cheap, black suits.
[I'm going to change. Kill some time until I can get back.]
Mercury's voice followed her through the window as she jumped inside, yelling over the rain's noise, "Grab me a weapon or something". Hurriedly typing into his own phone as fast as he could manage. [Cinder: Junior's Gang apartment. Ok to engage?]
[Mercury: Get video] Coming back in record time, with zero help offered to fight over a dozen gang members. Who, true to Junior's trope-laden beliefs about organized crime, all carried firemen axes. At least this time he'd be able to one-up FoxGrip for street-fight stories. Shame though, he liked this pair of sweatpants; and a shirt would have been nice. *Hey guys, what's all this about?*4
*Junior sent us to pass a message. Roman owes him, and his cheating girlfriend over there is going to deliver it for us.*
"Wow, okay." Clearly not because Cinder had planned for Neo to face the Korean twins he sponsored. Two easy wins so Neo could be sent up against the big betters, and a set-up she had claimed would be discreet. *You received bad information though.*
*What are you talking about? She's right behind you.*
*No, I meant she's not Roman's girlfriend.* He turned just enough to see the silent woman behind him, already soaked to the skin as he was, yet careful to keep one eye on the gang. Though he did gesture rather pointedly at the disgusted face she pulled at the thought of dating her boss, while he kept his pointedly straight, nonchalant even and hoped none of the gang spoke english. "Weapon?"
A wet towel slapped down on his shoulder. "Really? What kind of psychopath ignores the knife rack?"
Neo didn't take the time to type out any response to that. She was already busy, her umbrella hooking the front man's neck. With a hard groin kick to disorient and a yank, the man was out cold as soon as she switched feet to properly hammer him with a hard knee to the jaw.
Which also meant Mercury didn't have time for chatter. Too busy trying to keep his distance from whichever fireman axe got too close on a wild swing, all he had time for was basic front and side kicks. The kind that were designed to break doors, his kicks were great for knocking out breath and pushing them back, just not for finishing any of them off. If this was just some belt-factory's mob drill, he'd be fine. The first axehead that he half-deflected, and almost broke his arm despite his efforts, made for a painful reminder that he needed to finish quicker rather than later.
Anyone else in the world would have been sent reeling with a useless arm thanks to the micro-fracture and bruise, but for all the height in his kicks Mercury never lost his balance. A reel turned easily into a pivot, and a one legged crane into a steady horse stance before continuing with the momentum to knee the man behind him. At least one rib breaking in his victim as Mercury pushed his way out of the circle.
He took a half second to shake out his numb arm when he brought up the towel Neo had brought him. Risking a glance her way, peering through thick rain gave showed him only a shock of pink. Just in time to see her deflect a basic woodcutter's swing down into the leg of another mobster, and what little force had been taken by her umbrella in the deflection turned neatly into a spinning back kick to the head, leaving both the chopper and the chopped down on the ground. One screaming over the shattered shin bone as he bled out over his concussed friend.
Slipping away from wild side swing, Mercury almost ran into his own woodcutter in the process. Barely catching it with the stretched out towel so he could wrap it up. The mobster trapped just long enough to swing him in the way of his own backup, before taking a round kick to his head that concussed him enough to finally let go of the axe, before the followup reverse round kick took him out of the fight entirely.
There were already sirens in the distance, which was little comfort considering he still had three axemen pressing at him, and at least someone was still yelling obscenities at Neo. It also didn't help that none of his attackers seemed to care about the sirens. Either because they were too concerned over the badass duo, a compliment if that was the case, or more likely they had paid off the cops.
Back-stepping against another two swings, Mercury found himself with one foot against his own apartment's wall. This didn't leave him much in the way of options, and less in the way of maneuvers.5 His luck finally came with a chip in the wall when a axe became stuck for a half second, long enough for him to wrap up the welder's hands with the towel. Rotating them both clockwise allowed him to worry less about his left flank, and a kick to another axeman's knee let him add the right flank's axe to the towel's folds.
With their weapons tied up, and their own bodies in the way of the middleman's help, mercury had an instance to compare them to hands stuck in a pickle jar with hands still keeping their determined grips on the knotted weapon handles. Then he started to chain his kicks. Targeting knees, groins, kidneys, and heads, before working his way back down. Still stacking them against the last mobster, but happily noting that at least one victim had already taken some internal injuries given the blood pooling in his mouth. Even if it meant that the fighting had officially ruined an otherwise good pair of sweatpants.
Finally the kicks ended, two bodies dropped into the moat, and their weapons followed as one end of the towel was let go. Flipping it back into hand as Mercury stared down the last man standing.
Hands and towel covering any head strikes, weight shifting for the next kick, only to tense as he saw another flash of pink. Were it not for the thunderous rain he would have heard the flurry of shallow cuts across an unguarded back. Done for the express purpose of a long, drawn out death. A victim left to bleed out, gasping over what he clearly felt had been a dumb plan in hindsight. Cinder wasn't an idiot. She wouldn't have scheduled Neo to fight both the Malachite sisters unless she was guaranteed to win the first one, and wouldn't have assigned her prized champion as a trainer unless it was worth the man's time. Hell, the first rumors had been that the dark horse was scheduled for a 2-on-1 against them. Only two other fighters had ever even been scheduled for such poor odds, and both father and son were champions of the most cutthroat underground fighting network in the world.
"Still bored?"
Neo's smile was honest, innocent of the victims at her feet. Opening her umbrella against the rain, her eyes were still twinkling as she crouched down and wiped her stiletto off on a mobster's jacket before returning it to it's sheath on the shaft. Her expression changed slightly as she pulled her phone out of skin-tight and gloriously clingy pants. [No, this was much better.]
[Cinder wants us to pack up, head to her safe house north of the city. The police will be releasing a statement with your Chen Zen alias, but she doesn't want us in their system in any way.]
"Not that the two of us would stand out
[Speak for yourself. I'm a master of disguise.]
Mercury gave her a bemused look as his only publicized disagreement over her eclectic outfit and colors combined with quite a few fresh bloodstains, keeping his words to a resigned. "At least packing won't take long. Not like much fits on a motor bike anyways."
VAV
Semblance of Qi
V
JadeUndercurrent: Greaves hasn't been online yet, has he?
LionOfTheRedDawn: Not since yesterday.
MuMuHammer: Why? What's up?
JadeUndercurrent: Some guys were beat up and arrested at his apartment. Still trying to figure out what happened, figured there was a chance he might have come on here to brag.
Ren: Brag?
JadeUndercurrent: News said it was over a dozen guys who work for a local low-life.
Ren: Is he all right?
JadeUndercurrent: As far as I know. If he was seriously injured I would probably be called in to play doctor.
Ren: Please keep us updated though.
FoxGrip: Why did they even attack him in the first place?
JadeUndercurrent: Well… Can't say for certain, but you know how he says he's a bouncer?
LionOfTheRedDawn: Yes
FoxGrip: Big shock, he isn't.
JadeUndercurrent: It is his day job when they need help, and he's bored enough, but he mostly makes his money in the local Smokers6. So if I had to guess, someone bet big against him and lost. He has a bit of a reputation around here as being, well, good.
JadeUndercurrent: I know the guy who runs it, there's a nice profit margin and the regular fighters make a strong living it; a big believer in paying for quality personnel and keeping them comfortable. Can't believe this happened really. The boss is not someone I'd want to piss of.
LionOfTheRedDawn: That's good. Sounds like he's going to need the money if he's hiding from someone.
JadeUndercurrent: Yeah.
JadeUndercurrent: Holy Shit. The dumbass filmed it.
JadeUndercurrent: No idea why, but I just found it on youtube.
MuMuHammer: What's with you guys? He almost kicked one of them off roof.
LionOfTheRedDawn: Seriously cool though. I've never actually gotten to see him fight, but he's good.
FoxGrip: Really?
LionOfTheRedDawn: Oh yeah. There's a lot of rain obscuring the video, but still.
Ren: He has very good speed and power, mostly kicks, but has the balance and training to use them properly.
Ren: Jade, whose the pink girl?
JadeUndercurrent: That's IceCreamQueen. She and Greave's been shacking up since she and her boss moved here with a contract from the company I worked at. Why?
Ren: Because I watched the video again, she never took a hit.
Ren: Greave's is good, but honestly IceCreamQueen went through all of that and made it look easy. I've never seen anyone that good at simply not being hit.
VAV
Commorragh, Indonesia
V
Emerald pulled away from the computer to look up at Cinder as she hovered over her shoulder. Working in the brightly lit office, they had waited late into the night when they could catch as many members on the forum as possible. "I think it worked."
"Oh?"
"Well, Ren was always a long shot. He's always pushing for pacifism even in training, and would have no interest in competing. Which only left the LionOfTheRedDawn and FoxGrip for us to recruit. Lion's young, but she's hungry for something and definitely paid attention when we talked about compensation."
"And this FoxGrip?"
"Fox Alistair, he's paralympic gold medalist from England. Don't know how he feels about money, but he clearly is looking for a fight. You could tell he was envious to not have a better idea of how good Mercury is. I'm positive he's already typing something to Ren to get a better idea of how both him and Neo are as fighters. We could definitely use him."
"Might be hard to bill a blind fighter."
"Have him wear a mask in the ring, maybe?"
"Hmm. A gimmick usually, but at least he won't complain when it slips. And that way we can play it up later if it's worth it."
"Is he worth it though?"
"Mercury believed so. And Fox doesn't need to beat him, only provide a good enough fight without our champion sandbagging for five rounds. We already have Neo being prepared, once we have her competing it will shake things up some more. Just need a couple more fighters to keep the brackets interesting. We'll plan on recruiting Fox, and keep an eye out. I'm afraid Arslan might look too young."
"Compared to Neo."
"Neo looks like a middle schooler, and obviously isn't. Arslan looks like a teenager and acts like one. Mature, I'm sure, given her training regimen, but too naive. We won't be able to use her for a few more years."
"Anyone else then?"
"We'll keep out eyes out for any… promising talents."
VAV
Norway
V
It wasn't even two days after Pyrrha had showed up in their town that she pulled her first late nighter at their apartment. Staying up until two in the morning because Jaune and her wanted to play through a Halo campaign in one sit down, and late enough into the night that Nora had put her foot down about driving back. Hauling out all the sheets she could find so that Pyrrha would be comfortable enough sleeping on the couch. After that, the house that her coach had rented for her quickly became occupied by her training team and them alone. Pyrrha became the fourth roommate without even any effort on her own part, since Nora was the one who shoved the couch, beanbag chair, and dining table out of the way so she could put in a third bed into the tiny apartment without bothering to ask her. Ren was almost surprised she didn't take the cupid's route and tell her and Jaune to share his room, but clearly that was the one path she wouldn't push someone else into.
Sure things were a bit cramped these days. The bathroom, for one, was almost always occupied between three athletes' training schedules. And with the kitchen table shoved up against the wall, dinners were a rather sprawling affair since only two could sit at the table, or two and a half on the couch. Nora liked to say it was cozy, and Ren would disagree with her if it didn't also mean that most of the time she was 'sacrificing' her seat by setting herself up on his lap. A far from uncomfortable prospect, and one that was made more humorous as it forced Pyrrha and Jaune to sit next to each other. Where the alternated between blushing embarrassment over their counterpart's proximity, and the good-natured competing that was more like their usual friendship, now devoid of the geographical issue. Not that Ren or Nora could really be blamed for playing cupid if they didn't like it, as it was hardly their fault that neither opted to simply move.
A half-hour after the most intense sniper duel Ren had ever watched, Pyrrha let out only a single dejected sigh before handing the controller over to Nora who was already hyped up for the challenge. Considering how little patience Jaune had in everything else, he had even seen his roommate eating cold TV dinner's rather than wait to microwave them, it was funny to see him the so far undisputed champion of the night's Halo Sniper Challenge.
Content to let his friends bicker away, Ren glanced over to find Pyrrha on her phone with a shocked expression, out of place on a person who was more a gentile optimist 90% of the time. What's Up?
To her credit, she already spoke fluently in both English and her native Greek, and since moving here her Norwegian was close. Sign language however proved a little harder, no matter how hard she tried for his sake. Friend…Hurt…Hospital Was all she managed before giving up and tilting her screen to show him the article.
[Professional Fighter Hospitalized in Motorcycle Accident: Yang Xiao Long, champion amateur boxer, kickboxer, and mixed martial artist and now the second youngest female fighter in MMA, was admitted to Patch Hospital last night after a hit and run accident. Leaving Intensive care early this morning, her manager reported over social media that Yang was no longer in critical condition. However due to irreparable physical injuries she would be retiring immediately from fighting, and asked for prayers from her fans.]
[Daughter of Tai Xiao Long, a former professional boxer and co-owner of Signal Fighting Academy in Patch, U.S., she has mirrored her father's career in many ways. Including her meteoric rise at a young age, and the controversy with which she now leaves. With the accident occurring just as she was being considered as a potential contender for the Bantamweight title, currently held by Pyrrha Nikos, Yang has in recent become well known for her public work against several hate-groups. Allying herself with fellow young celebrity, Weiss Schnee, she has spoken out against several Neo-nazi and terrorist organizations, most notably a Mexican Drug Cartel named the White Fang. While police reports currently list the incident as accidental, when pressed by fans over social media, the local chief of police stress that their would be a full investigation and that their was reason to believe the accident was purposeful…]
Sorry to hear that. Were you two close? Ren signed.
[We hung out a couple events. I usually sat with her sister and friends when I went to watch her matches.] Pyrrha typed back.
Hopefully her PT goes well.
[Yes, but I'm afraid she's retired permanently. My manager emailed that she lost her right arm in the accident when he sent me the article.]
Ren paused himself there, leaving the conversation with a half hug to tell her sorry once more as he let his eyes glaze over while staring at the Jaune and Nora's game. Coco joining the forum had gotten the debate going once more as to the why's and how's of their powers, and the part of him that wasn't worried about Pyrrha and Yang was already wondering just how to help a boxer get back into the game.
VAV
"English", [English Text], Norwegian Sign Language
1: Rolling- Sparring for grapplers, where strikes are avoided and the goal is to either achieve a better position, pin your opponent, or force them to submit.
2: Closed Guard- A ground fighting position where the defender keeps their hips between them and the opponent. From their the legs are hooked behind the back of the opponent, preventing them from standing up or moving away. It also happens to look akin to missionaries.
3: Mercury is a film buff because I want to talk about movies, and Fox can't do that. Also because he would be the guy who throws popcorn.
4: Mercury is actually one of the most multi-lingual forum members, one of the few life skills his dad ever taught him.
5: Kicks work either through momentum or by 'loading' up the strikes to generate force. Both of which usually require area to maneuver if they are going to be full-force. In contrast Fox uses clinch's which most often work by redirecting someone else's force. In essence, Mercury and Neo both fight better when they keep moving, while Fox and Yang would benefit more from tight quarters. (This is opinion, but I'd like to say an informed one)
6: A term for amateur level and unsanctioned bouts. Either set up in parking lots and basements of bars and clubs as entertainment, or between gyms as a way for new fighter's to gain experience. Think Fight Club, except some people might pay to watch, and less industrialized than Cinder's actual business.
V
This is when their's actually a plot developing, which is probably my fault from the drafting phase. 1-4 was about world building and character's connecting. 5 would be when I have my first real fight scene (which is really weird for a story that's designed as an excuse for me to talk about martial arts) and then get across the idea that Cinder has her own plans for what the Forum should be doing.
Having difficulty with chapter 8, but I figure 5 can go out as Thanksgiving present from me.
