The roar of the engine cut through the night air as it slid down city streets, its single occupant's hair flaring out behind her like a golden cloak. For the rider, it was a pleasant beginning to a hopefully informative night, although she was still somewhat skeptical of the information she'd received. After searching for a couple of years, how was she supposed to believe someone so close to home would know anything about who she was looking for? Still, any leads were better than no leads, and it wouldn't hurt to check things out. Besides, by all accounts, this Junior was cocky, chances were she'd at least get a good brawl out of it. The thought brought a grin to the young woman's face, even as she finally reached her destination and skidded to a halt in front of the building.
As she dismounted from her bike Yang Xiao Long's grin faded slightly, ears picking up the telltale sound of heart thumping music, and she strode off, confidence oozing out of her with every step. Once inside she found herself pausing at the top of the steps leading to the dance floor, eyes taking in the sight before her and scanning for her prey. Not seeing him, she ventured further in, noting absent-mindedly the few thuggish guards she passed. They did little to curb her steadily growing enthusiasm, their presence only confirmed the man she wanted was here. Sure enough, after wandering for a few minutes, she spotted the informant, finishing up a chat with a man she could barely make out through all the flashing lights. She immediately turned to make her way over, but by the time she'd neared the bar he'd taken a spot next to, she found Junior already engaged in conversation with another man, perhaps her age, eyes covered by black sunglasses and sleeve stained red. She frowned slightly a moment, eyes trying to place the somewhat familiar face. She could have sworn she'd seen him somewhere before. She shook the thoughts away as she sauntered up behind Junior, sparing him a glance before turning to the bartender.
"-sure it'll be at the Third Street Branch?"
"Yes, I'm sure. I gave you good information last time, didn't I?"
"I guess."
"Strawberry sunrise. No ice... Oh! And one of those little umbrellas."
"What about the day?"
"Hold on." Junior had glanced over his shoulder at Yang as she'd ordered, and had obviously lost interest in whatever conversation he'd just been having. Instead, his focus shifted to the blonde beauty behind him, which just served to irritate the man he was with. "Aren't you a little young to be in this club, Blondie?"
Yang giggled to herself, right out of the gate and he was already coming up with a lame pick-up line! Still, she relished the chance to destroy the man's hopes, and she turned to give him her full attention. Her eyes briefly strayed to the man who was now on the other side of the informant before returning to her quarry. This was going to be fun.
"Aren't you a little old to have a name like Junior?"
"So you know who I am. You got a name, Sweetheart?"
"Yes Junior, I've got several. But instead of Sweetheart-" Yang stepped a little closer and slid her finger down the front of the man's chest, inching closer to it's destination and pausing just a moment before latching onto the prize and squeezing painfully, a cocky grin spreading across her face as the man's eyes bugged out and a pained squeal escaped his mouth. "- you can call me Sir! People say you know everything. Tell me where I can find her, and I'll let you go."
Yang pulled out her scroll and opened it up for Junior, displaying a picture of the girl she was searching for. The informant barely glanced at it before swearing, voice filled with pain, that he'd never seen her before. Yang, noting the absence of the suggested sir, squeezed harder, eliciting another yelp of pain before he hastily repeated his answer, careful to add a sir to the end. Just as he finished his second reply, the man's thugs rushed up, surrounding the pair as Yang contemplated the answer. Figuring that she wasn't going to get much more out of him, she decided it would probably be best to let the man go, but she just couldn't resist getting in one final jab.
"Hm... Looks like we have an audience. This must be kinda embarrassing for you, huh? Awkward."
"Listen. Blondie. Sir. If you want to make it out of this club alive, I suggest you let me go. Now."
For a moment, Yang's anger spiked, but she kept it simmering below the surface. She'd been contemplating just letting him go and walking out, easy as you please, but getting threatened didn't sit well with the blonde. She kept hold a moment longer as she decided what to do, before letting him go, an evil plan forming. She couldn't pass up the chance to mess with the poor guy some more, and with a brawl sure to follow, tonight was looking to be a good night. Junior let out a sigh of relief before pulling out a pair of red sunglasses, sliding them onto his face as he started to stalk away, Yang moving to keep pace and thugs making sure to keep them surrounded.
"You'll pay for that."
"Oh Junior. I was just playing with you. Don't be so sensitive! Come on, let's kiss and make up okay?"
Junior halted in his movements, turning to face the busty blonde with a look of shock and confusion on his face. Yang giggled in anticipation, then leaned just ever so slightly forward, eyes closing, as if she was perfectly willing to follow through with her suggestion. She waited for a few seconds, and then, when she could practically feel Junior's breath brushing against her face, she straightened her body, fist snapping outwards and connecting with the man's face, sending him through a glass pillar and into the wall behind it. Somewhere nearby, a voice shouted something about still needing him, but the brawler ignored it, having far more interesting things to focus on. A grin formed for the umpteenth time on Yang's face as the thugs started to recover from their initial shock, all turning to face the brawler. She settled back into a fighting stance, Ember Celica deploying from their bracelet form into metal gauntlets, and she snapped off a quick right jab, cocking the shotgun hidden within. The thugs charged en masse, and she leapt into the air, the world seeming to slow to a crawl as she empowered her fist with her semblance, grin growing all the while. The music faded for just a moment, and she could have sworn, from somewhere off to the side, a comment that summed up the situation for the thugs beautifully.
"Aw... shi-"
Then her body was pulled down to the earth, and as her fist connected with the ground, a shockwave of force hurled everyone around her in all directions. Flames seem to envelop her a moment, and as she righted herself, the thrill of combat hit her. This was going to be fun. Then she flew into action, delivering pain to everyone in her path. Thugs went flying as she delivered devastating jabs and kicks, coupled with bursts of gunfire from her gauntlets. She tore her way through the lot of them, and the DJ, likely thinking he was safe up on his balcony, opened fire with a machine gun, only to discover that the bursts of fire and force coming from her weapons of choice could, in fact, push her high enough to reach him. The poor man quickly found himself flying through the air, landing at the feet of a pair of girls, both looking rather bored with the situation.
"Melanie, who is this girl?"
"I don't know Miltia, but we should teach her a lesson."
Yang snorted before thumbing the ammo release on her gauntlets and ejecting the spent "Roar" rounds, as she'd named them. Instead of pulling out similar rounds to reload with, however, she chose to go with what she called her little "Fireballs", the fired bullets leading to an explosive finish and with longer range than those used before. She expertly tossed the banded rounds up into the air, arms snapping out to catch the round just right and load them perfectly into Ember Celica. Then she was back into the fray, leaping off the balcony and firing off round after round towards her newest opponents. They dodged backwards, then split away from each other, surrounding the blonde and using their numbers to force Yang into a defensive position. Yang snapped off block after block, hoping for an opening, but the twins seemed to know how to work together, and they came together for a final devastating kick at the end of their combination, hurling the brawler through the air and over the bar's counter. Yang blinked in surprise, then frowned at the ceiling she found herself staring at. Well, that wasn't supposed to happen.
"Whoa, hey! You come here often?"
Yang's attention was dragged from her surprise to find the man from earlier, the one talking to Junior before her, hiding behind the counter, counting off what looked like lien bills. She found herself staring in stunned silence, before finally responding with something she would replace in later tellings with something far more witty.
"Huh?"
"Oh. Real zinger, that one."
"Wha- No! What are you doing behind the bar?"
"Hiding. Looking through their cash register, too, but mostly hiding."
"You- You're robbing them? In the middle of a brawl?"
"I prefer to call it a 'reallocation of funds', but yeah, pretty much just robbin em. Best time to do it, too. Personally, with the way you're demolishing them, I don't think they'll notice losing... forty... fifty... sixty... sixty-five... sixty-seven lien! And change. Although, do you really have time to be chatting with me?"
The last comment brought her thoughts back into focus, and Yang pulled herself upright and vaulted the bar counter, immediately catching sight of the twins. She took a moment to push any remaining thoughts about the young man behind the bar from her mind before she threw herself forward, delivering a devastating punch to the white clothed one, sending her tumbling away. Without her partner, the red one lasted only moments, managing a few blocks before the blonde smashed through her defenses and demolished another unsuspecting glass pillar with her opponent's body. Then Yang's focus was on the white, and the pair of fighters began trading blows, practically dancing across the floor as gunfire was turned aside and bladed kicks were deflected. However, Yang switched tactics in the middle of one of her enemy's charges, spinning around a kick and delivering an elbow directly to the girl's gut, forcing her to double over and leave an arm in the open. Yang happily took the opportunity, grabbing hold and dragging the girl in a half-circle around herself before releasing and spinning her body the other way, bringing her leg up to deliver the finishing blow to her opponent's face. The satisfying thud was all Yang needed to know her enemy was done.
The blonde straightened up and glanced around, eyes searching for Junior, who was not where she remembered leaving him, only to have a spotlight turn on and direct her attention to the man, now carrying a bazooka on his shoulder. Even after all his thugs and his little girl bodyguards down for the count, he still managed to somehow keep a smug, cocky smile on his face, and he wasted no time in trying to reinforce his image with a bad-ass comment.
"You're gonna to pay for this."
Yang frowned a moment, she could have sworn he'd already said something like that, only for the man to open fire, a swarm of missiles arching out of the front of the weapon to home in on her. The volley caught her by surprise, and she jumped backwards, hurling her body around to evade the explosive projectiles. The second volley she was more prepared for, and bursts of fire from her gauntlets defeated the assault. What she didn't expect was the bastard to come at her through the resulting smoke, bazooka changed into a large bat, hitting her when her stance was already broken and forcing her back before sending her hurtling through the air for the second time of the night, only this time through some glass furniture. She pulled herself to her feet, grinning at the sudden challenge, before she slammed her fist together, pumping herself up and causing her aura and semblance to flair in anticipation. Golden hair glowing as if on fire, she charged forward, dodging a pair of missiles and another pair of clumsy swings before she began to rain fiery punch after fiery punch to Junior's face and body, the last blow in the chain filled with her semblance and snapping his weapon and feeble guard in half, forcing him to tumble back.
Junior straightened himself out, looking a little surprised at the loss of his weapon, but as he glanced at his other hand, the cocky grin came back and he glared at Yang in triumph. Somehow, in the barrage of blows she'd delivered, he managed to rip out a few of her golden locks. Yang blinked in surprise, before her gaze sharpened with anger and she pushed her aura to the limit, an explosion of fire surrounding her and the world seemingly turning white. The blonde brawler, screaming the whole while, charged forward, eyes filled with rage at the destruction of her precious golden locks. Junior face filled with fear, and he started to turn away, likely hoping to run, but by then it was too late. Yang's fist, filled with every ounce of rage she could muster, smashed into the poor man's face, sending out another destructive explosion of fire and force, enough to hurl the informant's unconscious body out a window, and leave every other window in the place shattered beyond repair. Yang leapt out after the destroyer of hair, ready and willing to wake him up just to pummel him a couple more times, only to run into a familiar and much adored face. Her anger was almost instantly forgotten, replaced with a rueful grin.
"Yang? Is that you?"
"Oh! Hey, Sis!"
"What are you doing here?"
Yang paused, wondering how she'd explain this, only to sigh and shrug slightly.
"It's a long story... Hey, wait a minute! What are you doing here?"
"Uh..."
"Aw! Were you lonely without your big sis around?"
"I- I wasn't lonely! I was just... um... wondering where you were! Yeah!"
"Whatever you say, sis. I know you couldn't live without me. Come on, let's go home."
The blonde brawler was already looking forward to teasing her sister about following her. But as they started towards her miraculously untouched bike, Yang paused, turning back to stare at the now decimated club. For a moment she found herself wondering whatever happened to the man from before, but Ruby's voice cut into her musings, forcing her to turn back to her bike and mount up, making sure to force her one helmet onto her younger sibling. Then they were off, any thoughts in Yang's mind about the man already forgotten as they headed off towards home, warm beds, and endless teasing.
Minutes after the club destroying blonde and her sister had left, a grey haired man stepped out of the club, brushing glass from his clothes as best he could. He sighed as he surveyed the damage, dozens of rips had appeared in the cloth, and the boss wasn't going to be happy. Still, a quick glance around found the unconscious informant, and with a sigh of defeat, Asher strode over and crouched next to the body, slapping the man's cheeks to wake him up, even if only a little.
"Hey. Hey! Wake up! I'm not done with you yet!"
Junior moaned in pain, then somehow rose up onto his elbows, eyes swimming in and out of focus. It was clear that Junior wasn't in any state to be doing business, but Asher had priorities, and Junior's health wasn't one of them. The grey haired criminal slapped Junior lightly across the face again, hoping it might wake him up a little more, before getting down to the last bit of information he needed.
"Nice of you join me. You never gave me the day."
"Huh?"
"The day! For the payroll? The one that's supposed to be at the Third Street Branch of the Vale City Bank?"
"Uh... right... day... um..."
The sound of sirens caught Asher's attention, and he huffed in annoyance. He didn't have time to hang around. A run in with the cops wasn't high on his list of things to do, and he certainly wasn't going to be caught along with Junior. He slapped the man again, hoping to get him to focus, before he kept pushing on with his questioning.
"Come on, hurry up, we haven't got all night."
"Day... uh... day... Payment! I need payment!"
"I'll give you everything I got in my last theft. Now hurry up!"
"The 17th! It's supposed to be there on the 17th!"
"Thanks. Here's the contents of your cash register by the way. Hope it helps you get a good lawyer."
Asher dropped sixty-seven lien, plus change, on the man's chest as Junior finally collapsed again, before standing and slipping away. While he questioned the validity of the information, he was sure Slate would have ways of double checking. The cops arrived a few minutes later, marveling at the level of destruction that had been visited upon the building, before taking everyone within the building into custody. As the police loaded Junior onto an ambulance, many could swear they heard him mumbling about a blonde haired demon and the 17th.
Author's Note- I don't know how well I did, or how well my own adjustments worked, but hopefully I did Yang justice. Or at least didn't completely demolish things. Regardless, we'll be getting to the bank job next chapter. We'll see how that goes. I'm still debating whether I should do a Masked Robbers style or a more 1920's fame grabbing style. I'm tempted to do the latter, just because it seems more fun, but it doesn't really make much sense to me in terms of practicality... Eh. If anyone has any thoughts, send them my way. Never hurts to have multiple opinions.
On a completely unrelated, it came to my attention while writing this that Yang does, in fact, have TWO different kinds of rounds. I did not notice that before. Regardless, I took a stab at naming them... something. Can't say how well I did, but I needed a way to differentiate between the two. If anyone has any better suggestions for that to, I'd be much obliged.
As always, comments are much appreciated and, until next time, keep dreaming.