*Oh that better not be permanent, or that ring will suffer*
*Waves to him*
"Nighty Night, I knew it was wise to not trust you. Sleep tight."
Jhiaxus
He falls at your feet. His ring glows malevolently, of course. The thugs are backing up, weapons in hand.
*I take the ring off his finger and put it away*
"Again surrender, or suffer what happened to Rubbermaid"
*Motions for them to come at me*
Jhiaxus
They run.
'Rubbermaid' shrinks losing height, and mass, and menace until he looks like a 110 pound wimp.
The ring is of course, making offers, sending ideas into your brain, taunting you with never giving back your strength...until you regain your strength. Then it sulks.
*Sighs not worth going after them out of costume, tying Robberhood up with something while finding a callbox for the police*
"Wait there for the police to arrive" *Finding a piece of cloth to wrap the ring in, knowing no one should have access it to it again, and someone needs to make sure that it doesn't*
*Gives statement to the police, and when done, head back to the dojo to begin today's training*
J
You make your way back to the dojo, and clean up. Silent wants to know what fun you've been having.
You get the two fighting brothers, and they love their new gi's. About two hours later, you start getting a steady trickle of interested people. It turns out that kicking in Robberman's head in your gi is good for business.
You see...
1. A security guard eager to do his job without killing thugs. He has nightmares. "Like my job, but well, I had to shoot some young guy two years back cause he had several friends with him. Like to avoid that again if I can."
2. A skinny kid eager to deal with bullies. "Um, Mr. Jhiaxus, sir, could I maybe pay you like a half for the lessons, and do the other half in cleaning?"
3. The businessman, older, who clocked Mr. Bad Acne with the briefcase. "Marvelous. Never seen anything like it. I have to travel to some pretty dangerous places, and my boss won't let me hire a bodyguard, so..."
4. An older female diner owner. "I just bought the QuickEats, and now I gotta lotta punks, thinking I'm a woman and they can mess with my waitresses, not pay for their food..."
5. A half-dozen punks eager to talk smack, and then brag about how they stood up to you. "Yeah, its Big Man Mac himself. Woohoo, trashed Robberman and all. But I could take him. Even with my eyes shut. I'm a bad, bad man."
6. Mr. Smith.
7. Nautilus, but in his secret ID as Nathan Stream. "Yeah, I'd like some lessons. Heard you were pretty good."
Second post.
The difference between punks and goons or punks and thugs is that punks are the late high school version of thugs. They wanna grow up to be thugs, or are just getting in trouble for now.
*Mentally to Silent*
"Robberman decided to try to steal a armored car in front of me in street gear. I had to deal with him, without using any of the abilities Midnight is known for. It's good you were here, I doubt that there are many heros with a normal guy with the same kind of dog with them. I am trying to keep things as low profile as I can, but that was too much."
*gives him some meat*
"I don't try to get involved out of costume."
================
*To the security guard*
"I understand completely, also you could get rubber bullets, but having both the ability to disarm them and using just your hands is a good reason to learn."
*Hands him a Gi*
============
*To the skinny kid*
"No charge kid, if you want to help out around keeping this place clean, that's enough for me. Just promise you won't use what I teach to get revenge or go after anyone, but just to defend yourself, ok?"
*Hands him a Gi*
================
*To the businessman*
"You did good out there today, let me deal with the threat without having to worry about hurting that girl. That is as good of a reason as any."
*Hands him a Gi*
================
*To the older female diner owner*
"I can understand that, make sure you tell your waitresses that we teach men and women, in case they want to learn how to defend themselves. I'll teach them at a discount and reduce prices due to numbers for all of you."
*Hands her a Gi*
===============
*To the punks*
"Did you guys see what Robberman's punks did, they ran. When you are a flunkie of a gangster or a supervillan, you are expendable. When you are caught, you will do hard time, and become the girlfriend of a meaner older man in jail. As tough as you are, if you expect to learn from me, you will change your ways, or I will find you and you can join Robberman in jail got it?"
*I will wait for their answer before making a decision*
============
Mr Smith didn't want a Gi, but I am teaching him when he has time
============
*Looks Nathan up and down*
"You look like you have fighting experience, you are big enough. So tell me in your words why you want to learn from me."
*Read his mind, I want to find out if this is chance, if he knows who I am, or if he was send by someone who knows who I am*
=============
Other than finding that woodworker, I have nothing planned tonight, so I guess if no new information comes in, just patrol
Jhiaxus
*We go fight later, then?* Silent wags his tail hopefully. *You smart, boss. Stay hidden. Death from the shadows!*
The punks laugh at you, and sneering prance out.
Nathan's mind is focused on how he wants to learn to fight better. He's gotten beaten twice in the last two months, one by that new guy, Midnite, and once by Red Bear. At least Midnite did not spend thirty minutes lecturing him on the inherent justice of Communism and dialetical materialism.
He heard about your place from some guys in a diner who saw the fight. Its an accident.
"I'm mostly used to brawling, and a bit of wrestling. I thought I'd like to have a bit more skill involved, y'see" *And I better make sure not to hit this guy too hard. Hard to get someone to teach you after you've thrown them through a wall.*
You do check in on the woodworker's place in passing,a nd somone is inside with the light on.
*To Silent*
"Can't promise a fight, but we will get suited up and do what we can. Remember not every situation is resolved by fighting."
=================
*nods to Nathan*
"Your words say, you wish to learn more skill, but your spirit is asking for help. You have been attacked and beaten by both good and evil, and you are at a crossroads. With what you have now, you can continue on the path you are walking, one that you know, you are not the strongest on. If I teach you what I know, it comes with the stipulation that you listen to what your spirit says. You are lucky, you have a friend, or an enemy who owes you a debt for what they did to you, or we would not be having this conversation. I also sense a woman involved somewhere. So Nathan, perhaps you should be a bit more forthcoming with how you were beaten, so I can help you. I promise, what is said here stays here."
============
*I take a peak in through the window, to see if everything is alright, or not.*
Jhiaxus
"Listen to my spirit, eh? My mind always feels clearest when I'm standing by the shoreline, looking out over the waves."
He shrugs.
"Well, one I doubt you could help me with, but the evil jerk, always prancing about how wonderful he is, I decided to get him to shut up. So I told him to meet me outside...and I went, but he hit me in the back of the head, slammed my head in the door....I'm just getting mad, about to whale on him, and he's in my face, and pounding me to the ground."
*Nods my head*
"I won't lecture you on how evil turns on itself. Honor is something that is lacking among many. I am going to accept you as a student, knowing I may be making the wrong decision. A debt is a debt, and honor must be repayed."
*Hand him a Gi*
=============
*Checking on the light and person in the apartment*
Jhiaxus
"Hunh." Nathan says, listening. Its clear this whole business about honor is a new one on him. He lives it, but he hasn't really thought about it.
You start practising, and its not hard for you to tell the difference between Nathan and the others. He's trying to pull his punches and blocks without being obvious, but you can feel the jolt all the way to the shoulder when he gets excited or forgetful with a block.
You look in on the apartment, and see a blunt-fingered man precisely picking up items, sweeping, and cleaning up.
The next day, you hear the newsboys shouting over the huffs and puffs of a couple of your students practising.
"Gang war between the Irish and the Italians! Gang War! Mr. K Murdered in Jail! Good riddance to bad rubbish. Mr. K Murdered!"
*I work with him, better to try and guide him, then have yet another enemy gunning for me out there, at least working with him should be increasing my abilities as well. How long have I been here now?*
==============
*With his fingers, he works with his hands, sounds like the right guy, no reason to bother him*
==============
*Pretends not to pay attention to them, getting annoyed that it seems nothing I do gets me closer to Tessa*
Jhiaxus
About two weeks...
The gang war continues. Blackjack comes in and confesses that he's been working overtime to stop the gang war.
Two days later, Countessa walks in to the dojo. She phases right through the wall, and she looks frightened. She looks over her shoulder as if pursued.
*sighs*
"Someone wants them to goto war, I found a body at one place, done up to look like the Irish did it, I redid it to look like the Chinese. I think it is a setup, since I made sure to spread the blame around to get the information I needed. With that said, if you need help, I will help you out with whatever you need. My leads have dried up anyway."
==========
*Looks around to see if students are here, if they are, tell em to take a 15 minute break, if not will begin*
"I can see now is not the time to play coy, or have a witty/sarcastic remark ready. Do I need to suit up to meet the real you? Or is this the point where cover identities don't matter since everything has gone to hell? If you can't speak, hold up one finger for 1, two for two, or three for other and let me know what is going on."
Jhiaxus
She holds up her hand for 3 for the first question, and a bit tentatively for 2 for the next question.
The two brothers and the kid are staring in shock at her appearance.
You hear a scream from downt the street, and a sound like a car crash. Countessa looks even more frightened.
*Sighs and grabs Chainbreaker off the wall*
*To the students*
"You are probably going to want to leave by the back door, business is about to pick up."
*Whistles for Silent*
*To Countessa*
"Do you really think that I am going to let you go anywhere without me again? Nothing to be frightened of, if you hold up 4 fingers, I will teleport your body to me, and we will either live or die here together. I did not spend a week in Hell, and two here not having you speak one word to me, to be separated anymore."
*Heads outside hopefully she gives me some indication of what is going on*
"I am Jhiaxus, Chosen One of Odin, and you have made an unwise choice today."
Jhiaxus
The Kid waits for a half second, then bolts. The two brothers look at each other, and then laugh.
Silent leaps over the counter, and comes to your side, all his hair on end.
*badness coming boss. nasty, evil, bad.* He growls very softly, and slips to in front of you. The brothers take up your wingman slots behind you.
Countessa looks desperate for a second, and then holds up four fingers. You yank her here, and her mind joins her body. She jumps on you, hugging and kissing. Then she breaks away.
"I sensed something coming your way. It saw me,a nd tried to eat me. Its not human, not even remotely."
You step out the door, and you see tottering up the street a man in a prison uniform. His body is decaying, his eyes don't move. In his chest are two holes with dried blood.
But over that, more clearly, is an image of a man in a business suit, holding a pistol, surrounded by a dozen thugs. The man looks healthy, and powerful, except his eyes glow orange.
And then towering above the man, and around the images of the goons is a orangeish giant cockroach, a faded ghostly image.
And all three speak to you...
Brains, brains/You piece of slime. You made the unwise choice. Got me killed. Well, I'ma gonna deal with you. Yeah, I am. I'm Mr. K, and I don't take garbage like that from anyone, y'hear me?/Chosen One of Odin. Spit. Foolish follower of a god who says he will lose. How dare you speak of wisdom? When your master is dead at Ragnarok. My kind will have the world. I am Vendetta. I will destroy you, and suck the tasty marrow from your bones. The soulprice has been paid, and you will die.....
Previous post, mildly edited.
*I return the affection*
"I have our rings around my neck."
==========
*Shakes my head*
"You sold your soul for revenge, a vandetta, and you called evil to this world that should never be. I have gone from Hand, to Chosen One, with all the privileges that rank bestows apon me. You disrespect an elder God, you doubt his wisdom. Let's see what his eye says about that. Odin grant me the power to drive this supernatural creature from this place"
*I will look at all of them with my eye, and do a M1@10, Torture Spirit Power, Eye is my focus, this is a Holy power, TF 3 Seconds, Words Spoken "Odin grant me the power to drive this supernatural creature from this place.*
My Bias is a 9@1-20 for the skill, 2@9 bias, Doubleing is an 18, example, Exorcism spell in Hackmaster, should give me a over 100, before maybe 10 or 20 for the actions and foci. Assuming you wish to give me any penalties.
My purpose of this skill is to cause it sufficient pain to get it to go back to where it came from, releasing the body from it's animation, and getting rid of the spirit visages.
Jhiaxus
"Brains. Brains."
"Kill him boys." The image of Mr. K and his dozen thugs open fire with spectral bullets at you. They tear into you, ripping holes in your mental image of yourself, shooting great jolts of pain with each bullet (and there are a lot of bullets.)
"Tasty..." Vendetta begins as it reaches out a claw that extends from its massive immateriality.
And you open your eye, and lightnings, both black and white leap from it. Some of the thugs just evaporate when struck, but Mr. K surges forward with a grim hatred on his face.
Vendetta leans back, writhes to avoid the pain, but still reaches for you. Tessa slumps at your side in a boneless fall, and Countessa leaps out of her, and grabs the tentacle arm about its wrist. Power pulses down it, and meets Countessa's blue energy, and something happens, and one of Vendetta's arms evaporates.
"Aiiieeee." Vendetta wails.
Meanwhile, the Fight Brothers are wading into the ghost goons. Each kick or punch takes a goon out.
You're staggering on your legs, seeing everything with a halo around it, and trying not to throw up, or fall down.
*Grimaces at what happened*
"Every strike upon my enemies in Odin's name, brings vigor and renewal of body and mind to myself!"
*Do a M2@7 Unlimited Damage Repair Spell, 3 seconds, Holy, Only can be done in direct service to Odin, Words spoken forcefully "Every strike upon my enemies in Odin's name, brings vigor and renewal of body and mind to myself!", use of both arms. Odin's gift eye is the Foci.*
Using the numbers above, just 8 down in terms of base numbers, you assign bonuses and penalties accordingly.
*Mentally to Silent*
"Protect her body, that is your number one priority"
*Leap into the fray (Not Silent like), swinging Chainbreaker, getting into style, and putting up defenses*
"Chainbreaker lives for challenges like this, every challenge increases this gift from Odin's power. It has been far too long since I heard her sing to me."
*My goal is to engage both Mr. K in battle and distract Vendetta as Countessa fights him on her terms*
Jhiaxus
As you slip into style, you hear Chainbreaker singing...
"Another one bites the dust! Another one bites the dust!"
"Be quiet, Sword!" Vendetta shrieks and the windows near you all shatter including your dojo windows. The Fight Brothers stagger too. Silent is standing over Tessa an dhe whines.
You attack, and everyone else does as well, and you feel strength flowing into you as they attack. Tessa materializes a bolt of impossibly bright light, and jabs with it, keeping Vendetta on the retreat. The Fight Brothers clear off the thugs, and you face Mr. K.
He shoots, and shoots again. A thug appears out of nothing in front of him. You slice it down, and then follow through with a slice through him.
The zombie lunges, and one of the Fight Brothers kicks it in the face. It falls,a nd is just a dead body. Mr. K and Vendetta are gone, like they never were there.
The people on the street are looking at you strangely, as if they are perplexed at your behavior.
*Smiles at the results, happy he is alive and that everyone else is as well*
*Placing my duster on Tessa's body before addressing them*
"I am sorry for disturbing you, I think the former Mr. K is going to reinburse all of us for the damage. Let's also thank Countessa for coming out today."
*grabs a tarp or cloth for Mr K's corpse, and has the brothers carry it into the dojo, as I pick up Tessa and carry her inside as well under my duster*
*When we are inside*
"You brothers fought well, now maybe you understand what I was saying when you joined up, about using your abilities to help others. I trust you two to not reveal what you saw here today, and perhaps if you wish to help out more, if you were to show up in costume, at night, you might meet someone in costume as well."
*When the coast is clear, take the duster off Tessa so she can rejoin her body*
"I do believe we have some catching up to do, I want to know everything that happened since we last spoke to each other in Valhalla, and I will do the same."
*Hugs and kisses her deeply*
*Very happy*
Jhiaxus
You see the people looking at you strangely. When you reenter the dojo, you see the windows are not broken. However, you do see Mr. K's body, and Tessa's.
The Fight Brothers are wildly enthused, and agree.
Tessa rejoins her body when they're not looking, and the Fight Brothers don't act quite like you think they should.
"Oh, Darling. In the first world, it was awful. Snakes. Snakes on top of snakes on top of larger snakes. I lived for six months alone with snakes." She gives a little sob. "But shouldn't you send me back." She bends over and whispers in your ear. "We still can pull of my plan to take down Mr. Big."
*To the fight brothers*
"Give me a moment, then we can talk further about your situation."
===============
*To Tessa*
"I am sorry for that, I am sorry for letting that woman and gold man take me out. I was trying to appeal to her to stop what was going on, but only gave her the opportunity to do me in. I don't like that plan, I don't like that you know who is the only one who sees or talks to you, and that he has a crush on you, and hates me. With that said, you were here before me, and it would be selfish of me to pull you away, and leave everyone exposed. Go back, know that I love you, and I am true to you. I'll do my best to keep myself alive so that when he does go down, we can reconnect."
*I give her a passionate kiss goodbye*
Edit
Go back to the brothers and mindread them to find out what is off about them.
Jhiaxus
"I'm going to find that woman again, and kick her teeth in for her." Tessa says. "I was worried about....that." You know she means your being true to her.
Her eyes widen.
"I knew he had a crush on me, but I didn't know he hated you. Are you sure? He's never said anything bad about....course he's never said anything good about you either, which for him is unusual. He and Blue Ace are the reason I told people I was waiting for my superhero boyfriend, Dr. Future to show up. That's you, in case you didn't know."
She leaves.
The Fight Brothers are excited to fight which they love, and to be able to whale unrestrainedly without worrying about how much damage you do is great fun. It takes you a while because what you're looking for is an absence of something. If you'd been in their shoes, you'd have noticed Attractive Blonde KO'ed, and Attractive Blonde Superheroine who look very much alike, except for the face mask and the dress. And yet, the question never enters their mind even whimsically....Could Tessa be Countessa?
*Smiles to her*
"He doesn't like not being the most powerful, and twice now I have either beaten him directly or have showed him up. He is jealous, envious of both your love for me, and my ability to have arms and legs and beat his robot body. It might not be hate, but it is dislike for a number of reasons. I thank you for that, keep yourself safe, remember that the mission can be done in a number of ways. I'm trying to bring him down another way, I hit a roadblock, waiting for information on where his money comes in, but you need to go, leave by the back, and you should have no problem explaining that a woman needs some private time to herself once in awhile."
*Sighs as I watch her go*
=======================
*Considers, might just be this place, that no one questions the superhero identity, unless you are a superhero yourself, or perhaps supervillain.*
*To the brothers*
"We all wear masks in our daily lives, there are some who wear masks at night, to keep those lives separate. If I were you, since you don't have powers, that you go the tech approach, perhaps forge some armor. Bullets hurt, and you will usually be fighting 3-1 odds. Just a suggestion, if I were to do such things myself."
*I will continue the lessons as normal today*
==================
*I and Silent will suit up for tonight, I think his armor should be oiled enough and broken in, so that it won't hurt his sneaking, and it would make me feel better when he is in the middle of things to have some protection. I will wait to see if the fight brothers show up, and give Blackjack a call (I am assuming he did give me a number, since he asked for help in the gang war).*
Jhiaxus
Tessa nods. She grabs your bicep, and gives it a squeeze.
"My man, the baddest of the good."
The distinct possibility is that Tessa's going to give her would-be boyfriend, a piece of her mind, occurst o you as you watch her stalk out of there.
Blackjack gave you one of his cards. Toss it in the air, and it floats away. Fifteen minutes later as you patrol past an alley, you see a guy sitting on the roof ahead of you, amusing himself with card tricks. He flashes you a smile, which illuminates his dark face.
*I would feel bad, but it's better that she tells him the score in no uncertain terms. I don't dislike the guy, just dislike he put himself in a position that he and only he talks to her*
==============
*Nods as I jump to that roof*
"You needed some help with the gangs, and since I helped cause it, I'm here to help.
Jhiaxus
post above^
And again
And again
"Okay, well something got them worked up, and things kept going from bad to worse. And now we've got a fullscale gang war about to break loose. We could break in at a big meet they're having at the Conquisador Hotel, or we could grab a weapons warehouse, or whell wale on some bad guys as they do bad guy things."
*Nods*
"Well we could take away their weapons, but they would just beat each other with pipes and bats. So lets head to the Hotel, and see what they are up to."
Jhiaxus
You head over to the Hotel. It takes up one city block by itself, with the bottom floor, facing the four downtown streets, being upscale shoppes.
You see guys lounging near each entrance. Each group looks like a different group of Ethnic Representatives for an Appropriated Property Society. The Irish, the blacks, the Italians, and the Chinese are in residence.
You see a couple guys lounging on each corner of the roof of the building too, with rifles and cigs. Its not like a modern view of security with layered sniper teams, but they've got the lines of sight covered most of the time, and on an unpredictable timespan as people turn their heads to glance that way or that every so often.
"A meeting of the Council of Crime. Perhaps to pick Mr. K's replacement, and to put a stop to the gangwar." Blackjack says as he points out a garish green, yellow, and pink Duesenberg parked illegally in the street in front of the hotel. "The Big Mobile."
*Grins*
"I think we should get a say on who gets elected. I mean we put in the hard work getting shot at by these buffoons, cracking their heads, busting them. We deserve a seat on the Council of Crime.
*Laughs*
"Ok so we know that won't happen, and that we will get shot just by getting close to the front of the building. It wouldn't be hard to take out the roof guards with two of us. We each take a opposite corner and more counter clockwise. We aren't dealing with semi automatic rifles, these are bolt actions, without variable power scopes. They are good for long range, but pretty hard to get a bead for someone rushing at you. This is your plan, however you want to go about it."
*Pauses*
"I saw her yesterday, she probably saved my life, warning me about something, and after it was over, she went back to follow through with her plan. She wants to do this her way, and I let her go back and do it. I found out for myself that she is herself and she is doing this of her own free will, so who am I to stop her from doing it? Anyway, so I am good there, I know where I stand, so whatever you want to handle this, I will have your back."
Jhiaxus
He grins....evilly.
"You want my plan, eh?" He waves. "Follow me."
You follow him down to the street, and before he gets there, he changes into an ordinary working clothes along with some string, mascara, and few odds and ends. Looking at you, he takes you through a men's store, and buy's you some clothes. At a nearby bar, he buys a bottle of cheap whiskey.
He leads you to a nearby section of town and around some guys who make your thug detection instincts kick in.
He takes you into a dark alley near the criminally oriented bar, and pours alcohol all over you.
"You're an Irish arsonist planning on burning down one of the Brothers bars. Despite the truce. I caught you, you escape toward the thugs...." He smiles evilly. "I chose you as the arsonist because you can take a beating better than me."
*Sighs*
"You are just d*mn lucky, I am half Irish by birth so I can pull off the part. Luckier still, I can use my god given name and it too is an Irish last name."
*changes but leaves my armor on underneath, it doesn't look like armor, more like thermal underwear to them*
*To Blackjack*
"Best give me a punch right here, where it's flesh and bone" *just below one of my eyes* "Any higher, and it won't give you the desired effect, and you will break your hand. Don't bother punching my body either, too many hand breaking places as well. If we are going to pull this off, I need to look injured, and it's hard for me to look injured."
*sets off running to the thugs, Blackjack following close behind*
Jhiaxus