The Slums

[yinsukin]

Suerte

Suerte sighed, resting a hand on her wrist.  She met Justice's soft gaze with her own, before returning to the men.  All she could think about right now was the face of that man, the grief that came with it.  There were times when she used the job for her own hedonistic killing, or thrill of a good fight.  It all made her feel so immoral, so villainous.  After all, such sadism was the trait of an evil person right, someone who brings harm to others.  However, in this moment, she couldn't help but push her lips into a meager smile.  After all, if she was feeling so sad, it meant she cared right?

No, it was just because it brought those memories back.

Once she saw the kid again, she giggled.  "I remember him," Suerte said.  "He's a fun guy.  As long as he can take care of himself if things get rough, I think it will be alright.  Don't worry, so long as you have us on the case, fate is on your side."

She turned to Justice, wondering which districts they would investigate first.

[YOLF]

Justice

No, he didn't have any objections. Any that he could have were meaningless to propose right here, and even more helpless to resolve. So he nodded with a curt greeting, and grunted in affirmation to Suerte. Truth be told, her confidence was inspiring. Perhaps the impossible was easier to grasp with an attitude like that.

Justice looked past the leaner of the two men in suits, noticing finally that he was no longer unrecognizably crushed into the pavement, and filed that thought away. He only gave a measuring, momentary stare to his partner, so personally ailed by this case. His gaze came to rest on the brat that looked so much like the spidery nutcase he met before.

"Not many must use weapons like the ones that match the scene, not with such potential, and even less would have the ability to slip by and enact what was done there unnoticed. We'll start there," he declared.

[Kotomine_Rin]

The SPider

"Are you sure about that?" A suddenly formal voice questioned Justice. But the sider soon relaxed and shivered at the big cowboy man, holding his hands up with a sweaty chill.

"I mean, you've already checked that spot, haven't you? It wouldn't be good if the scene got tampered. There's plenty of other places to check out."

As soon as he mentioned tampering, the thin man and the giant glanced at one another. It was the sort of infinitely small detail that could escape someone.

[YOLF]

Justice

Death would be groaning through his mask right in this moment. Justice just shook his head.

"Where would you go if you were looking for someone dangerously good with a specific type of weapon?" He asked. It was only half-dry, to his defense, for there was still a note of expectation that someone who knew this city better would actually know. "Who would know how to tell one such master apart from the others?"

[yinsukin]

Suerte

The little affirming grunt Justice gave her was all she needed.  They were on the same page.  This was great!  Two partners against the world together with nothing but their guns and their wits!  And they were on the same wavelength!  It was great!  Still, maybe she was having a little too much fun, especially considering the circumstances....

Suerte stared at the two, letting them have their little exchange before raising her hand like an eager school girl.  "Oh!  What about the person who made the weapon?  We could also track down some known masters of that particular type of martial arts.  Those type of people tend to know each other."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Spidey

He raised an eyebrow, the one antenna on his air swishing back in forth as he looked at the two with surprise. "Oh? What makes you so confident that it was a martial artist? For all we know, it could've been a space mech from one of those japanese animes. Yknow, like a Bungam or Argnoah."

He was just swishing his antenna, quietly for a moment.

"You get my reference, right?"

[YOLF]

Justice

The hell? The last TV show Justice had watched was Rome, and all things considered, he had to admit it could've been worse - but even with his limited knowledge he felt like the suggestion was quite preposterous.

"I don't think a mech would fit in there," he said. The obvious reproach about jumping to overly complex suggestions aside... the rider looked back at Suerte, imperceptibly clearing his throat. "I believe there's only one district where we'll be able to find all those."

He pointed a testing finger at the spidery fellow. "The dojos. You know anyone there who makes it their job to know things?"

[yinsukin]

Suerte

"Nope not a clue!" Suerte said gleefully.  "The only anime that I watch is one peice!  Oh the freedom!"  For some reason, she decided to sing the next bit.  Her southern accent turned the verses into something of a remix, but she was a good singer.  "Come aboard and bring along, all your hopes and dreams!"

The moment Justice mentioned a dojo, Suerte tilted her head.  "Wait, do you know a specific dojo?  This is a city.  I'm sure there are lots of dojo's."

[YOLF]

Justice

He shook and rolled his head non-committingly. "There's a town made of them. Whole district committed to the aesthetic and whatever fighting ideals you might think of."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Spidey Boah

"OH MY GOSH! YOU WATCH ONE PIECE!?" The spider kid squeed and rushed to Suerte, hopping up and down excitedly before taking her hands and clapping like a kid on Christmas. "Oh! My! Gosh! Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! Did you watch the new episode? The one where Doffy starts to awaken and throws strings all over? Oh man, that was soooo cool!"

Little did he know, it was a rerun.

[yinsukin]

Suerte

Suerte raised an eyebrow at the kid.  "Doffy?  Thats like two arcs behind...."

Wait focus Suerte FOCUS!

Hearing Justice's comment about the town made of martial artists, she smiled and turned to her partner.  "Oh my god!  Really?!  Like a town full of Bruce Lee's?"

Martial artists weren't unheard of in her world, but most prefer to use guns.  Everyone in her town from the old dive bars to the police chief used guns.  Funnily enough, the last true martial artist she killed was a samurai.  He had marched into town, murdered the entire police force and threatened to kill her man at the time.  It was a satisfing kill from a strong heart, truely one of the more satisfying murders she had commited.  Now there was an entire town full of them!  Astounding.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Spidey

Wait what!? 2 arcs behind! Wait no, focus A-70_ , FOCUS!

The spider shook his head vigorously before grinning. "Yep, pretty much! It's a pretty scary place honestly, as far from sane civilization as you get. We have some moles in there though, obviously."

He yawned before giving Justice a good pat on the back. "As it happens, I know just the guy. Follow me..."

With that, he waddled his way out. Just as he passed by the two employees, he sneered in such a way the two's spines ran chills. "Remember kids, behave. And do your jobs right this time."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Slums

11:45 PM NEXUS TIME

The Bikers and the Kidnapped

Pant pant pant pant...

Hurried steps rushed through the filth and the streets. Shaking with fear, a young girl no older than 14 darted left and right, trying to lose her pursuers. Her heart was the one thing racing faster than her legs, and she panted and trampled over the ground. But try as she might, she couldn't escape the dark chills chasing her spine. A motorcycle vroomed with a hellish roar and cut her race short. She tried zipping away to the left, barely dodging a hand swiping to grab her hair.

"Gotcha! Hahaha!" She rolled on the ground, bit her lip and immediately jumped back to keep running, stumbling but racing on with surprising speed. No, it wasn't that. They were all toying with her.

"Oh come on! Wait up cutie!" Another punk on a motorcycle cried out and raced her, circling around her while waving a chain around before whipping her on the leg. "Wohoooooo!" "Hahahahaha!" "Niiiiiice!" She fell down and screamed, and clasped at her leg. That moment was enough for the dozens of motorcycles to finally catch up to her, lights blinking. You see, they were all part of a gang, while she was just the daughter of a businessman. She was worth quite a bit of money, but somehow she managed to escape. That wasn't the worst of her crimes though. She had stabbed one of their own in the eye, when he simply tried to 'get friendly' with her.

Now, they were out for blood.

"Awww~! We're just trying to have some fun! Heheheh, you shouldn't run when you can't hide. Why don't you be a good girl and just give us what we want?" A drooling bandit sporting a pompadour smacked his lips, while another flicked his tongue around for all to see, making some ridiculous cry of war.  A motorcycle quickly zoomed past a few other ones circling her, intending to cut straight into her leg. She turned pale, freezing for a second.

"Haha, we'll make it worth your while! " The bike was just about to rush her when-

She suddenly hurled a rock at the rider's face, causing him to lose control and swerve. The circling bikes didn't move in time, causing a few to run off course and impact. The others lost balance, and some had to swerve away, while many others were still circling but too far to reach her. "Take that, ass-hole!" Her look of fear turned out to be a cocky smile. The girl didn't give up to those creeps, not like she'd give them the satisfaction. But just as she was about to cry victory, a chain was hurled straight at her face. She ducked, and immediately got back up and tried running away, making for as much distance as she could.

She ran. And ran. And ran...

...

"FUCKING BITCH! I'M GOING TO KILL HER!" The punk yelled, wiping the blood off his forehead. "Damn slippery slut, DAMN! I'll fucking gut her like a rat!" He smashed his fist on the ground before getting back up, lifting his bike and making sure it could still run before getting back on it. Soon, the riders recollected themselves, but this time they weren't messing around.

"Hehehe! Oh she fucked up! She done fucked it up!" Another rider yelled out.

With that, 36 riders ran down the streets from all corners, looking for that one girl. As this whole chaos unfolded, the girl so happened to race past a blonde man with a shockingly long mane. He didn't pay this whole scene much mind. Not like it was his business.

"Let's go boys!" The riders screamed.

Okay this was kind of loud. Maybe it was his business.


? ? ? ? ?

36 riders laid bloody on the streets from all corners, their bikes dismantled and their weapons tattered and broken all over. Pistols, shotguns, barbed bats, chains. All rent and useless. Big blue swollen bumps were popping all over their faces, their teeth had been kicked in so bad they'd have to stick in the hospital for months. And what wasn't broken was most definitely on fire right now.

The girl was hiding in an alleyway. Just in front of it, a blonde man was surrounded by all of these bodies. It... definitely didn't look good. But to think a single man did all that... it was almost absurd! There was no way it was possible!

"Welp. So much for my one good deed for the day." He spat on the ground with his hands in his pockets. "Hey missy! You can come out now!" He gave a quick look at the alleyway. But there just wasn't a lot of sound other than the crackling fire and some of the riders groaning in pain.

"Oh good grief." Right, he boinked her on the head when she annoyed him. For being such a considerate guy, the first thing she did when he punched the first punk in the face was complain on and on about how she was going to get killed for this. Big deal. Did she think he was trying to be some big hero or something? They just happened to piss him off, making all that noise.

Not like he needed another reason to punch them. Yep. So much for a good deed. So he walked down the alleyway and crouched down the knocked out girl,  threw her over his shoulder and searched her pockets...

"Oho! Bingo!" His face almost lit up when he felt a big fat wallet. He took it out, opened it up, and almost squeed all starry eyed when the glow of all sorts of shiny cards and fat stacks of cash assaulted his eyes. Huzzah! This should last him about a few weeks...

"Hehe, yep! A good deed goes a long way!"

Oh right, he didn't give her his name. Not that he asked her hers. Oh well. Its not like it'd take much to figure who did this.

Yang Xiao Long. That was the name of one of the kings that ruled these streets.

[yinsukin]

Aruna

If one were to press cotton against a cold floor, there would be the slightest sound, the pushing of cloth against marble.  However, Aruna made no sound, even as she leaped across rooftops.  The moonlit sky cast a spotlight on Aruna's feminine form.  The midnight dance of a thousand demons is what it used to be called, a raid on humans from a small squadron of demons looking to feed.  It was a tactic the demons often used to hunt during the great war, since at anytime they could risk divine punishment from the angels.

It was called the dance of a thousand demons because the lower level demons in the squadren would often cast illusion magic to make it seem like their small squadren was an army.  The humans would point and scream, raising their weapons and preparing magic of their own.  However, the demons were just too strong.  They would completely overwhelm the humans within seconds, rip apart their armor with their bare hands, toss them around like dolls and then consume their souls.  Waking up with a clear mind and renewed energy from their souls being cleansed of sadness, the humans would rise from the dirt, only to realize that something terrible must have happened for their men to be scattered on the ground unconcious.

Someone had to be at fault.

Naturally it was the demons.  When it came down to it, stories spread of the demons who ruthlessly attacked them.  As Aruna lept from one rooftop to the next, she couldn't help but reflect on how those raids became these lonely scanger hunts for food.  If they scared the humans no matter what, might as well have fun with it right?  Now she was alone.  Well, she had Valarie, but the vampire king had gone off to some club or something.  The moment she had that very thought, she heard something a block to the right.

"Let's go boys!"

Diving into the ground below, Aruna hid herself in the back alleys of the city, her demonic eyes peering into the night.  It was over almost as quickly as it began.  Dozens upon dozens of men decended on a lone woman, only for a single man to tear through all of them.  It was a sight to behold.  But the man made one mistake, he took her pray.

It was as fast as anything could be, more silent than any living creature could.  Her dark figure shot towards the man, intent on slamming his head into the ground from behind with enough force to blast a hole in the ground, sending them towards the sewers.  All the while, she uttered a silent chant, the only possible sound being the ever slight sound of her lips lightly making contact, the same amount of sound someone makes when they close their mouth.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Yang Xiao Long

So there he was, just minding his business, being a good citizen, where just by coincidence he had a bad premonition. He couldn't really explain it, but this whole time he felt like he was being watched?

Nah, no way. Wasn't it kinda narcissistic to assume you had secret stalkers or something? His days as a dojo champion were over anyhow, no need to be so hung up. But something tasted odd in the air. Okay, so maybe it was his conscience? Maybe he was feeling weird because he was all guilty about taking that lady's wallet. Yeah, sure, that could make sense!

As if.

So there he was, again, just minding his business, where it  suddenly just so happened that he noticed something move. He didn't even feel the wind change, or hear anything. But just because he was glancing away for a second, he noticed a reflection behind him, dashing unbelievably fast!

Huh?

The rest all happened in but a second.


Time slowed to a crawl. Even the leaves didn't have time to fall. Before he knew it, a hand came to swipe at his head. He barely had the time to feel the fingers course through his mane, when his instincts kicked in. His body swirled and he sidestepped like a whirlwind. But despite turning like that, it barely looked like he moved at all! The only difference was that now, he was glaring behind her.

His eyes seemed to glow red against the moonlight, you couldn't even see his face as anything more than a shadow. A golden lion poised to strike, fist ready to kill, staring down at the girl. You could hear a heartbeat drum with unquenchable rage, booming faster and faster and faster. It was over. His hand plunged down to strike.

Faster than she could reverse such a position, he would surely strike to kill. And yet, at the last second-

The demon's flight stopped. A warm arm wrapped  around her waist, keeping her stopped there. Immediately, with his heart beating with surprise, his face suddenly flushed red, and he looked away. Peachy!

"Woah! Be careful there lady, you could've gotten hurt there!" He smiled warmly, kind of embarrassed to so much as glance at her. He didn't see a thing, totally. But due to his own embarassment, his hold loosened.

Had he been a split second slower, she would've gotten him for sure. Scary, this was scary...