[IC] The Fox and The Jaguar

[Spade]

"They say Thailand is a harsh place, steaming hot and unforgiving. It reaches for your throat if you're not careful. I like this place, it reminds me of the desert I grew up in. Dangerous places breed dangerous men, and dangerous men rule the world."

The night was hot, humid, full of life. The busy streets of Phuket were alive with activity as they were every night. The city could barely contain itself with all of the things it had going on, but the center of the action was the S̄nām rāch s̄eụ̄x, the local arena in the village of Chom Thong. Teenagers from the surrounding area converged on the village for a weekend of fights and opportunity. It was the second night, a night of fierce fighting, a night of bloody elbows. Two young men stood in the center of the ring while the sarama played in the back, fighting to drown out the shouts of the crowd. Neither of the young boys wanted to give up the center of the ring, none of them wanted to show weakness. They knew who was watching.

What was once the press box for the arena was now a lounge, and in that lounge was Diego "El Jaguar" Montenegro, wearing an expensive suit tailor made to his form. Diego got up from his seat and clapped approvingly as the crowed roared at the intense fight. Next to him was Renan
Andrade, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu master and avid bank robber, just the kind of guy Diego attracted. Renan, widely considered Deigo's right hand man was too busy watching two scorpions fight in a glass bowl to notice the impressive knock out in the ring below. The young man in the red corner timed an elbow to the temple of his opponent, making him go limp and collapse on himself.

"I like that kid, I'm gonna make sure he gets some money for that." said Diego, sitting back down as a scantily clad shapely Thai woman poured him another drink and sat on his lap. Renan looked up and scoffed at the sight of Diego.

"A tiger is most vicious when he is hungry, Diego. Besides, shouldn't you be getting ready to recieve our esteemed guest?"

Diego pulled his hand from under the woman's skirt, "What do you think I am doing? I'm gonna shower this guy in so much pussy and gold. This will be like taking candy from a baby. You're gonna like America, my good friend."

The conversation was interrupted by the entrance of the second member of Diego's wild bunch, Bronx native Joelle Acosta, a Dominican-American boxing and wrestling prodigy who reached out to Diego after murdering his step-father. Joelle has spent the last few years at Diego's side embracing the criminal underworld and it's ripe fruit.

"Hey D, I just got confirmation the agent landed just outside of Phuket, here's a picture of her."

The long haired beauty that had been pawing at Diego's zipper yelped as Diego pushed her off his lap, the air was thick with tension as Diego slowly stood up and adjusted the cuffs of his suit. After a moment of reflection, he cleared his throat as the furrowed brow of the Jaguar gave way and a smile spilled over his face.

"Fellas, this just got a hell of a lot more fun for us."

[Bee]

Thailand was not something Zoey had in mind when she signed up for the FBI. When the young agent had signed up, she thought she would be taking care of things on a domestic level. Such was not the case for Special Agent Kessler. She had been everywhere outside of the United States, including places all over Europe, Africa, and especially Asia. Now, the agent had found herself in Asia once again, working with the famed Diego Montenegro. She wasn't sure how it was going to go, but she knew it was going to end with a bullet in him or herself.

Walking through the streets of Phuket, Zoey was looking down at her phone which was directing her to the meetup spot. Based on what she was briefed, it was a cultural center for Thailand. People of all ages engaging in Thai kickboxing, which was sad considering the circumstances the kids were being raised. Some had no choice, and had to put up with a whole bunch of abuse and endless injuries and whatnot. Of course, it wasn't really up to Zoey to judge the Thai culture. For now, she just had to make her way to the arena and figure out what Montenegro wanted to do with her.

She got a lot of weird looks from the locals, considering she was a non-local looking person. As she went deeper into the village she could hear the sound of the traditional muay thai music get louder and louder. Based on the tempo, things were heated and at a breakneck pace. Zoey eventually made her way inside, and she could see the trail end of a match, watching a figure crumple to the ground as the referee started to count down in Thai.

Her superiors warned her to let him come to her first. There was no telling what he'd do if she went up to him. Seeing that Zoey wanted to live and not take any chances with this Diego person, she hung back near the bar. The bartender reached out to her and tapped her on the shoulder, gesturing down to some open coconuts. Since she would be here for a while, and she wasn't even sure if Diego knew where she was at this very given moment, she had to indulge. Thailand was as humid and hot as they got, and any break from the heat was a godsend. Taking out some baht, Zoey placed it in front of the bartender and began sipping on a coconut.

[Spade]

"Diego, just let me put a bullet in her and let's forget we ever agreed to this. We'll hit the Trash Market meeting, cut some heads and that's it man, we get out of there." Renan explained, he was never a fan of the authorities for obvious reasons, but American Federal Agents were always bad news.

"You want me to kill her now? Like right now? Are you crazy hermano? Look at this," he argued, showing Renan the picture that Joelle was sent of Agent Kessler, "You know what that is?"

"Trouble," Joelle admitted "I thought they were gonna send us some ex-Navy seal looking for a vacation or something."

"You're both wrong. This is an opportunity, fellas. We just had an FBI agent delivered to our front door, this is a beautiful thing, think of the possibilities, the doors we could open," he stopped, looking down at the candid picture of Agent Kessler, "Nobody lays a finger on her until I say so. We make sure she's alone, we find out who she is and then we have our fun." explained the murderous mercenary as he took his suit jacket off and rolled the sleeves of his dress shirt up a little, his left arm revealed to be covered in a leopard print tattoo except for a traditionally etched Thai tattoo that occupied the most of his inner forearm. He finished his drink and headed for the door, raising a hand to Joelle and Renan before they could finish getting up, "No need, just make sure she came alone. NFA boys, No Fucking Around tonight. The plan goes as usual, have the plane ready by morning, have a care package ready for her, this outfit just grew by one, let the proper people know we're hot and heading into Bangkok for a business meeting." he finished, making a gun gesture with his hand.

The fight below grew increasingly intense, Diego could sense the fight wouldn't make it past the third round. Word got out that The Jaguar of Bangkok was sending life-changing amounts of money to those who had won in a convincing fashion. The young Thai boy in the blue corner feinted with the left jab before bringing a powerful right knee forward, catching his slipping opponent right on the nose, spilling blood all over the canvas. Where the Jaguar went, blood was eventually spilt.

"I didn't realize the FBI let such beautiful agents come to a place like this." Diego mused as he pulled up a stool next to Agent Kessler, taking out some baht and acquiring a refreshing coconut of his own, "They must not give a shit about you. Welcome to Thailand, agent, I trust your boss let you know who I am." he said, offering a cocky smile. Behind them, the loser of the last bout had to be taken away on a stretcher, as the next pair of fighters began their pre-fight dance. "I hope they told you about all the good things I've done for the people who pay me. Now, I'm being paid by the United States government to let you tag along and take credit for my work. Seems like a fair price to pay if you ask me." Behind them, the mother of the injured fighter was in tears as she was being helped out of the ring, the blood of her son on her cheek and hands. Diego didn't bat an eye, this was another day in Phuket, another day of youth trying to break out of the poverty. They reminded him of himself, the slums reminded him of his home. "Does this place scare you, little fox? Do I scare you? You should see the places we're gonna go, you should see the people we're gonna kill."

Diego lifted his coconut with an eager smile, "To new friends." he menacingly proposed.

[Bee]

Sipping away at her coconut, a figure pulled up aside Zoey. A quick glance revealed his signature dark brown hair and beard. Zoey immediately recognized it. The elusive Diego Montenegro had found his way to her. How, she didn't know, but she didn't really care either. All she knew was that he was here and that things could've gone one of two directions. Either Diego would actually let her work, or she'd be lying on the floor of Phuket with a bullet in her head. Hopefully it wasn't the latter, but she was prepared for both. Death didn't scare her.

She glanced again, sipping on her straw as she listened to his obligatory exposition. Zoey was armed, of course, but she had a feeling she wouldn't last long if she dared to try something right now. He had a point, though. They really must've not given a shit about her if she was all the way here in front of a world-renowned criminal without any backup. Hell, if the FBI were asked about her presence here, they'd probably refuse to comment and acknowledge that she even existed in the first place. This was some movie shit, but it really wasn't. It was real life and anything could've happened at this point.

After Diego finished his attempt at intimidating her, she looked back at him and scoffed. "You don't scare me. I've seen worse." Truth was she was kind of scared, but the situation she was in warranted no margin of error. She couldn't give Diego even a single centimeter, otherwise he'd eat her up alive. Out of all the agents in the FBI, she was the lucky one that got to be in this place next to Diego. Zoey took a large sip out of her coconut, looking down at the fight down below. The tides were shifting very quickly, it was back forth as roundhouse kicks and teep kicks were being exchanged.

However, Zoey had to go along with Diego's toast. She raised a coconut, before bringing it back to her body and clutching it. Watching the fight, both fighters showed no signs of giving up. The smack of shins colliding with ribcages and sweat flying all over the place was a sight that reeled Zoey in. As unethical as this was, the entertainment factor was off the charts. She leaned over to Diego, gesturing at one of the fighters. "I bet you that the kid in the red wins by knockout." She smiled, before continuing to focus on the fight down below. She eyed one of Diego's men glancing at her from time to time, "I also bet that if that guy doesn't stop looking at me he's going to miss being able to use his arm for a while."

[Spade]

"No need to prove yourself right away, agent. There will be plenty of time for that, but I do trust that since you're out here all alone like you should be, you're not entirely useless. The local gang around here just lost their leader to an assassin, my people just told them it was you." he smiled, taking a long sip of his coconut as he looked Agent Kessler in her eyes, "I have a boat waiting for us at the port on the edge of town. If you can make it, I will take you to the Trash Market meeting, it's first thing tomorrow." Diego finished explaining, interrupted by an old Thai woman coming to give him a hug and dry kiss on the cheek. Being a hired killer is easy to sweep under the rug when you're so damn charasmatic, "Anyways, I have a ride wating for me outside, I hope to see you soon, I can't remember the last timeI had so much fun with the FBI, perhaps Sinaloa, I'm not sure." he mused, tilting his head humorously as he got up and left.

Joelle handed Diego his jacket as he took a seat in the back of the SUV that waited for him outside of the arena. The time for recruiting prospects was over, there was business and he was a business man.

"About time you threw her to the wolves, no need for dead weight." Renan remarked from the passenger seat.

"If she makes it, maybe she can handle herself around us." shrugged Diego, taking a relaxed sip of his coconut.

Joelle shot Diego a worried look through the rearview mirror, "Get the fuck outta here my guy, you actually like this broad being around."

"She seems nice, it'll be fun," he mused in response, he was met with disapproving silence, "What? Fucking relax guys, I got it all worked out."

The exterior of the boat was pretty inconspicuous, which was by design, but the inside was much more accomadating. This wasn't some spy boat mobile command bullshit from the movies, but for what it was, it was very impressive. Agent Kessler would be able to put together just how resourceful Diego was. The guys helped the small crew prepared the ship while Diego sat on his laptop. Some people he sent Agent Kessler's picture had sent him what information they'd been able to gather in the short time they were given.

"She's here Diego." Renan shouted from above deck. Diego closed his laptop, grabbed his coconut and reported to the deck to recieve the FBI agent.

"You're still here Agent Kessler, that's good," he said, smiling and throwing his empty coconut in the river below them. Behind him, Renan and Joelle glared a burning hole through Agent Kessler, a warm welcome nowhere to be found, the jungle was warm enough, "Now we can get to work, little fox."

They would be in Bangkok by morning. Inside the boat was a small armory and plenty of tactical gear to choose from. "Take what you need, my little fox, we should be done by lunch."

[Bee]

Zoey learned of the little challenge that Diego had set up and she sighed, finishing off her coconut before throwing into a nearby garbage can. Looks like she was going to have to go through a little test. She didn't want to use her gun, the more attention she drew to herself the worse off she was overall. She stayed where she was as she watched Diego put on his jacket and head to the dock in an SUV. She assumed she'd have to get there by foot. It was like something out of Bloodsport. Having to go through a series of Thai gangsters was definitely going to be a lot of fun.

A few minutes passed after Diego left, and now it was her turn to leave. But, her path would be radically different. Stepping outside the arena, Zoey had already spotted two gangsters eyeing her, both with machetes in hand. As soon as they spotted her in return, they unfolded their arms and stepped toward Zoey, ready to slash. She sighed and prepared herself mentally. They closed into her, and she was closing the distance as she ducked underneath the first horizontal slash at her head. Unloading a quick jab into the gangster's body, she quickly ducked out and fired a cross with her left hand at the angle she was in. Being that she had the superior angle, he was rocked and Zoey finished him off with spinning back kick to his body before moving onto the next gangster.

Shuffling backwards from the next gangster, she dodged his first slash by ducking before leaning backwards as far as she could to dodge the follow up. Raising her front leg, she threw a lunging side kick at him before following up with a spinning side kick from her other leg. Gauging the distance once again she was watching him come forward. As he swiped at her again she slipped the slash to the outside, and quickly clasped her arms around his head and his arm, putting him into a standing arm triangle, before letting it go and moving onto his back. Sinking her weight down, she dragged him down and took his back, hooking her legs and moving him onto his back. She was controlling the knife hand by grabbing his wrist. Zoey then transitioned by taking her hands and moving it over his arm, pinning his head down before creating a hammerlock. She used her legs to kick his body over and she spread her body out making it perpendicular. He didn't want to let go of the machete, so she had to take it to the next level. Stepping over his head, she sat on it and applied an extreme amount of torque to the kimura, breaking the elbow and humerus in one go. The gangster screamed in pain and let go of the knife as Zoey got off and dusted herself off and got on her way.

Walking another two blocks, she encountered a group of three gangsters looking to fuck her up. Luckily, they didn't have knives this time, but based on how one of them was huge and the other two had taped fists, it was going to be way more physical. The fat gangster charged at her and shot into her hips. She immediately dug her hips into the sprawl and applied the crossface on him. Trying to sink her weight down to gain traction, she had slid quite a bit before she neutralized the attempted double leg takedown. Putting her weight on him, she immediately span around and took his back, sinking her legs in once again. But, this was obviously an experienced grappler as he wasn't letting her sink her forearm around his throat. She started to soften him up with strikes to the back of his head, starting to get rather ruthless with them as she rained ground and pound on him. He had to cover up and when he did, she slipped her arm in and sank the choke in immediately. Pressing her weight forward, she rolled him over somehow and bridged as hard as she could and tightened the triangle she had formed around his body. Squeezing the air out of him with her legs and cutting off the circulation to his brain had done a number on the grappler, and eventually he had passed out.

Letting go and tossing him aside, she was immediately met with a flying knee to the body. She was knocked back quite a bit, not having time to regain orientation before she was met with an aggressive blitz full of punches, elbows, knees and leg kicks. She couldn't parry them all and she ate a couple elbows and punches, but once he slowed down, Zoey returned with her own blitz. Checking his leg kick, she returned with an overhand left, before following up with a right uppercut and a teep kick. Staggering him back a bit, she lunged forward with an oblique kick to his front knee, before following up with a roundhouse kick to his torso and a right cross. He was loading up for a roundhouse kick to her torso. Zoey saw it coming from a mile away, and when it inevitably came, she caught the kick and dumped him on his back, before getting into full guard and pinning him down. Posting up, she started to stack on him and and rain down ground and pound. Feeling that she had softened him up enough, she span into side control, before moving into north-south and firing knees at his head. It wasn't legal in the UFC, but you can bet it was very legal in this circumstance. Falling unconscious, Zoey moved onto the last gangster.

He was way faster than the other guys, but he lacked power which was perfect for Zoey. Parrying most of his punches, she countered with a right hook which rocked him immediately. Staggering to the side, Zoey ran toward him and finished him with a spinning heel kick to his head, sending him to the ground and rendering him unconscious as well. Watching one more guy run to the party, Zoey sighed and pulled out her pistol, firing one shot into his knee before holstering her gun and walking off like nothing had happened.

The rest of the way to the dock was relatively peaceful, she had left a wake of unconscious and moaning gangsters in her wake. Walking onto the marina, she was trying her hardest to find the boat. Luckily, Diego had found her, and she was on the boat in a matter of seconds. The first place she was directed to was the surprisingly complete armory. The permissions that Diego had given her had lit a light inside Zoey, but she figured all she needed were magazines for her Glock. She took a couple magazines and stuffed them in her pockets, before taking a seat inside the armory and sighing. "Those gangsters really need to learn how to fight."