The Bandit's Rest Bar was a seedy criminal haven found on one of the lower levels of one of the many megacities constructed by the all-powerful Aku. It was also home to some of the cheapest drinks on Earth, and a great place to lie low...usually. Among the rough crowd of mercenaries, scum, and criminal filth sat a few oddities, all of whom were given a wide berth by the other patrons.

The human in the suit stood out to many as some kind of police officer or other authority, and was avoided as such.

The other relatively normal-looking human was a known lawbringer, but word of a bounty on his head directly from Aku is all that kept the bar from tearing him limb from limb.

The third human was garbed in the armor and weapons of an ancient warrior. Many of the bar patrons had heard the legends of an ancient samurai that took out the best bounty hunters on a regular basis, and so gave this similar person plenty of space.

There was another that looked like a medieval fighter, but his skin was withered and mummified, making many wonder if he was even real, and what he would be doing in a place like this.

Lastly was the Imikandi. Many had heard the tales of the catlike people being remarkable hunters, but why one would hang out in ANY bar, and why it would be hunted by Aku was a question many of the patrons wondered, but none dared to ask.

The bar crowd acted relatively normal, as far as dirty criminal bars go, but went dead silent when the front door swung open with a slam.

In walked a group of scoundrels, more rugged-looking than even the usual patrons of the Bandit's Rest, each of them armed to the teeth. There stood a cyborg man, whose entire body was almost all machine, with a massive laser weapon built into his left arm, and a retractable blade built into the right. Alongside him was a lizard-like alien, with metal claw-tipped hands, a shoulder-mounted machine gun, and a pair of pistols on his hips. Lastly there stood another human, donned in what appeared to be high-tech body armor, but with no visible weapons to speak of. This group stepped into the bar, and the cyborg, in his modulated voice, spoke.

"We're looking for certain people, specifically you, you, you, you and you." As he spoke, he gestured to the two normal humans, the time-displaced warrior, the mummified fighter, and the Imikandi.

"If you do not surrender yourselves willingly, we'll be forced to return your corpses to Aku for payment." With that, the retractable blade extended from its sheath on the cyborg's arm, the lizardman grasped the grips of his pistols, and the man with no visible weapons summoned what appeared to be a blade of pure energy into his right hand.

Every day seemed to be endless. Five months in this new time period, and there was always something new to see that kept him from his investigation.

Detective Nicky Stars had seen a lot in his time. Cultists, a summoning ritual, spirits, magic itself. His world was like something out of the funnies, though much more grave. His last encounter with the Cult of Aku had sent him spiraling into the future, to where he was now. He was only making sense of it now, after much time in panic about the fate of the world and what he had left behind.

But as the gleam of the new world began to fade, Nick got back to work. He set up a little place underground where some kind people allowed him to rant, rave, and plan as he pleased, so long as he provided them rent money.

Now he was in The Bandit's Rest Bar. One of his leads pointed him in the direction that this was where he needed to go next. He wasn't with the law anymore. Aku was the law, and Nick didn't want to be sniffed out just yet. He needed to hide among criminals and bandits while he prepared himself. They didn't bother him, and he didn't bother them. That was just how he liked it.

He sat at the bar, downing a shot and having a nice conversation with the bartender. His mother's half allowed him to have a nice conversation with less than nice people. He was a people person with a charming smile and a soothing voice, all thanks to the gifts of a beautiful Earth Spirit.

Then the Mercs came in. Nick watched from the corner of his eye as the all filed in. Nick was one of the first to be pointed out, and his hand reached over slowly to the gun in his holster underneath his coat. He almost whipped out the gun, but set his hand back down after seeing the blade of energy sparking to life. It crackled softly, it's bright colors dazzling to Nick's eye. He almost couldn't look away, but he forced himself to look at the other's who had been called out by the Robotic man. Cyborg, they called them now.

"Well, boys." His slick accent, considered strange in this time, rang out clearly as he put his hands in the air. He turned around slowly, dropping off the seat of the bar stool. "You seem to enjoy your second amendment. Flex your guns all you want, but for the safety of the people, let's not use them."

Emon had been following the trail of someone who might be able to get him going in the right direction, towards his goal of defeating Aku and returning home as the greatest hunter that his people had ever known. That was his goal, and that alone. He cared little for the oppressed people around him. Truthfully that was not really any of his concern at all. While Aku had barred any Imikandi from entering or leaving via the spaceports, his short range teleportation could get him onto any ship that was already in the air, in short, Emon could leave anytime he wanted, whether Aku liked it or not.

With superior hearing and eyesight, Emon was gathering all sorts of information from the quiet chatters and boisterous laughter from the various convicts and similar in the room. However, he wasn't hearing what he came here to hear. Either the prey was onto him and had eluded him, or Emon had been tricked into coming here. His catlike eyes narrowed slightly as he began to realize his mistake, his senses started searching for clues to who was hunting him. Raised heartbeats, ragged breath, anything, but there was too much extra noise in the small room on the outskirts of a megacity for anything that specific. Not when Emon wasn't even sure of what he was looking for.

The door slammed open. There it was, there were his hunters. A chill of excitement ran down his spine. The exhilaration of the hunt. While the Imikandi had a strict honor code that prevented them from killing anyone that wasn't worthy, certainly if such a great hunter had failed to notice the trap, then his pursuers must be worthy opponents. His spear was coiled about his waist like a belt, less conspicuous that way. Emon reached for as they said their names, ready to draw it and make ready for the attack, but before he had a chance to, the man in the old suit stood up surrendering. Emon looked at him with surprise, he had the air of someone with something to hide and didn't seem like the type to give up. After all, this is Aku they were talking about, it was die now or die later. Of course, Emon of the Imikandi had no intention of dying this day. But something told him to follow the human's lead. He left the spear wrapped around his waist and similarly put his hands up, waiting for whatever was to come next.

The Lone Warrior sat alone at a table as the patrons of the bar gave him a lot of breathing room which he didn't mind yet did not like either. He hadn't had much motivation to do much of anything lately other than try to track down Aku for one reason or another. Truth be told The Warrior wasn't all right upstairs due to nature of his resurrection and he rarely had moments of true clarity. Unlife wasn't painful when in his dazed state, in fact it was quite enjoyable, but when he became conscious of what he was his only solace came from his small dog that he barely remembered.

This moment in the Bandit's Rest bar was one of those rare moments of clarity so The Warrior reached for his pendant to let out his beloved pet, sweet thing. Suddenly some even less saviourly fellows walked into the bar before Warrior could let his dog out. The newcomers called out himself and a few other blokes whom had been given a similarly large birth from the other patrons. The first two accused that move seemed to surrender themselves to the sinister bounty hunters who looked very dangerous in their own right.

Even in his moment of clarity, The Warrior still wasnt the brightest and as such he decided that rather than be a yellow-belly he was going to do something to make sure he didn't end up executed before getting to Aku.

"NYEEAH!" was all that The Warrior could muster as he tossed his table towards the bounty hunters, giving him enough time to unsheathe his sword, shield and leap over the table at the bounty hunters.

Shaolin Sam erred on the side of caution, agreeing with the suited man's plight, but just as he was about to chime in with his own mediation, a loud war cry droned everything out.

"NYEEAH!"

Sam let out an aggravated sigh as a table arced high towards the group of bounty hunters. He was looking forward to drinking the hot tea he bothered the bartender to serve him, but that was unlikely to happen now. Still, he moved it carefully off to another table where two reptilian women sat.

"Can I leave this here for a second?" Sam smiled. The ladies' fork tongues slithered out from their mouths as they returned the gesture. Sam bowed respectfully before turning around, revealing a very serious face. With lightning fast reflexes, his left hand unholstered the gun on his hip and fired directly above the bounty hunters. Two loud pangs! were heard, followed by the collapse of the rusty chandelier that would fall on the bounty hunters if they weren't quick enough to roll away from harm.

Urshok felt little but disgust upon entering this strange new realm; disgust that an entire world would bow before Aku before accepting death, disgust that true warriors and sorcerers were less valued in this time than armies of fools with guns, disgust in himself that for all of his own efforts he had been little more than a thorn in Aku's side.

But here was something that made his heart soar -- a gang of bounty hunters after his head. Not very good bounty hunters if they believed they could take him (and these other three targets of theirs) on their own.

But it was a start. He was finally making a name for himself among the ranks of his enemies.

The human with no visible weapons excited him most; was he merely overconfident, or did he have spells at his command? Urshok wasn't sure whether his amulet would absorb those spells, but he wanted to find out.

In the commotion of gunshots and screaming, Urshok took up his sword and shield and with a deep growl charged the unarmed man, hoping to tackle him to the ground.

As soon as the fight began, Nick's arm shot inside of his jacket to pull out a gun. finding bullets for a centuries old death machine was hard work, but Nick found a way. A grunt was let out as he took cover, letting out two shots before looking over. Had this been a normal civilian bar, Nick would have taken the chance at taking the aggression so they could escape without harm. However, these were all criminals, and they'd either kill the other mercs for a shot at the bounty, or go straight for the bounty and try to run off with someone.

"So much for a peaceful talk." He let out another grunt, kicking down a table to use as cover. "Nick Stars, detective." He introduced himself quickly, firing two rounds before hiding once more. "We need a way out. Either through them, or through the back. Think they're smart enough to guard both entrances?"

When the table thrown by the Lone Warrior came flying towards the bounty hunters, the Cyborg extended the retractable blade on his arm, and sliced the table in two. As the Warrior came charging towards him, the Cyborg quickly locked blades with him, engaging in a duel with the mummified relic of the past, the Cyborg's attacks focusing more on his enhanced strength and speed than any concept of finesse or martial prowess.

When the two shots from Sam's gun rang out, and the chandelier began to crash down, the lizardman and the human in high-tech armor lept away from the falling mass of metal and glass. The Lizardman quickly drew his pistols, firing one at Sam, and the other in the direction of Nicky, trying to provide some sort of covering fire.

The unarmed human in the high-tech armor was aware of Urshok as he came charging after him, quickly summoning a shaft of light within the palm of his hand, the light quickly taking the shape of a longsword, and parrying Urshok's blade. On the human's left arm formed a similar shield of light, and he quickly took to engaging Urshok in melee combat, his skill and proficiency a stark contrast to the brute force of his Cyborg compatriot.

As the combat ensued, many of the bar patrons fled the scene, either not wanting to risk their lives in such a combat, or wanting to escape lest the bounty hunters target them for their crimes as well. In a matter of moments, the only people within the building besides those involved in the brawl were the owner hiding behind the counter, a handful of the serving staff cowering in various corners and under tables, and a smattering of patrons either too brave or too stupid to flee.

Emon stayed their with his hands held up as the fight started around him. He hesitated another moment more to see if anything was being fired towards himself. He was tempted to leave it run its course and run off, continue following the trail that brought him here, but then these hunters might be victorious and come after Emon again. No, he would take the opportunity now to join the fray and snuff out this threat here and now while he had the confusion on the support of random numbers. Dropping low to the ground suddenly he gave the coiled spear a tug and straightened it in his hands with a quick snap and a twist, the spear head revealing its deadly blade. Properly equipped for the task at hand he leapt over the tables in front of him with frightening speed and agility intending to intercept the next attack from the human with the light sword and shield. He seemed the most skilled of the trio of hunters, and there for the most worthy opponent.

With the attack parried Emon would enter into a series of snake like strikes in which the spear head quickly retracted and attacked over and over again. With his superior agility, it would be hard for most combat veteran humans to keep up.

The Lone Warrior strained his neck and snapped his teeth in the direction of the cyborg. The Warrior wasn't interested in eating the metal man but he was interested in scaring him, using his inhuman appearance to his advantage hopefully. While The Warrior's sword technique gave him enough finesse to match the cyborg's strength temporarily, his strength began to waver so before his arms gave way The Warrior unlocked swords with the cyborg and ducked and rolled under the blow of his. The Lone Warrior sprung up from his roll and got his shield off of his back, ready to take on the cyborg in a more defensive stature. The Warrior once more tried to bring down his sword in order to strike down the cyborg.