[IC] Rust and Rain

[Augustine]

Malia

23

5'2

Malia looks to have a very normal body shape with her clothes. Though she doesn't have a phrumpy personality she often does wear kinda a larger black sweatshirt, and looser jeans. She is not really into the boots, just shoes that are comfortable and have good grip and wont soften and kicks she has to offer. Mos of the time she wears black flats, but at times she does wear more capable ankle black boots. Malia has thick black hair. It is long, but not shaped like you might find on girls who visit the hair dresser. Not only is it very thick but it is a tad wavy, giving her a couple split end curls here and there. She then has thicker eyebrows, that at times are covers by her few banks, hair that she just end up cutting one night because they were just getting in her way. At times she puts it up if the fight is getting a little hard for her. Malia at all times carries her sword, it is nothing special, not hand crafted by masters and not even super sharp. She is not amazingly skilled at it but it getting better. Sometimes when you come to a party and are the only one with any kind of weapons, well you just don't want that to happen. Her skin is just a shade darker than the normal white person and she has dark blue eyes. Under her clothes she is not a super skinny sexy beast, nor is she a muscle monster. She is pretty normal shaped beside her more muscular legs, six pack stomach, and stronger arms, but nothing too extreme.

Malia is a very down to earth person. She doesn't have battle cries, or a speech made out for the bad-do-ers. She just goes in, get's it done, and leaves, often very calm. Malina has no real technique in her fighting. She is very good at avoiding getting hit, and good at dishing out a few punches. She is not very subtle or good at sneaking, which has come back to bite her more than once. Everything Malia does is by reaction, she is very good at reacting very quickly and responding with her own attacks. She is not one to complain when hit, but yes she does have nerve endings and feelings. Malia can get scared, and can get hurt.

Malia is without family. Her parents died in a car accident when she was 11 and she ran away when she found out she was being given to her uncle she didn't like. Since then she has lived on her own in the basement of an old apartment, the basement sealed off years ago and forgotten about. There are three ways for her to get in and out of it, all a few blocks from where she actually lives, which makes it hard for bad guys to track her.

---

Late, maybe 12:30am, just the time for the city to really come alive. Malia was used to being awake at this time, heck, this is when things were really exciting! For now however, the thing Malia was most thinking about was her own skill. She had seen it done on plenty of movies so it should't be so hard for her to do it herself right?

The young woman positioned herself atop the apartment building. With her eyes fixed on the next rooftop, Malia crouched down, setting a foot behind her and planting her fingertips in front of her against the floor. She waited for a short moment before leaping forward and running across the roof until she ran out of roof. At the last moment she sprang from he ledge of the roof, and landed just fine on the next one. It went perfectly! So perfectly that Malia found no reason to stop, and she continued to now run across this roof until she jumped to the next one. She just couldn't believe this was happening, and how well it was going. Well, WAS going until the view of the next building came up, a building much to tall for her to jump to leap onto.

Malia realized much to late, her eyes grew wide as the site and the only thing she could do was try to jump higher and maybe just grab onto the ledge. Her feet connected with the ledge of the building she was on and she used all of her strength to leap from it. Now in the air, she reached for the ledge, however, the momentum died down just as it came within two feet of her. Malia watched as her objected once growing close, begun to pull away as she begun to fall. A three story fall, she landed in a very conveniently placed dumpster. A loud smack was heard as she plummeted down and landed in it, pieces of paper being tossed up by the sudden impact before starting to slowly float down to the ground. Slowly Malia sat up, lining her fingers on the rim of the dumpster as she begun to pull herself up.

" Ow.." She commented before half jumping, and half stumbling out of the dumpster.

" At least no one saw me.." Malia breathed out in a sigh. That would have been embarrassing.

[Schradinger]

Bloodshot

25

6'5"

Bloodshot is a tall man by almost any standard with a solid build, and his arms are as long as one would expect from his height, as are his legs. Both sets of limbs are packed with tightly corded sinew, and this evidence of near-constant rigorous activity is no less prevalent on his torso. He has the musculature and conditioning of a fighter several steps above even the best of normal men, and a mind as keen as the most observant tactician. His dark crimson eyes seem to possess an understanding of the world not often found in men of his profession. His head is shaved bald, and his face is one that, while still young, has clearly seen its share of hardship. Numerous scars adorn his body, the most prominent of which include a stab would over his heart, a deep gash across his left cheek, and a severe laceration running across his left forearm. Only the first and third of these three most prominent scars are visible however, thanks to the flannel he's wearing with rolled up sleeves over a white tank top. His legs are clad in jeans, and a pair of hiking boots adorn his feet.

When he was a child, he was raised with the sole purpose of becoming the perfect soldier, and the extremely harsh treatment and training he received produced predictably harsh results. Mercy and compassion are words that have no merit in Bloodshot's view of the world, and while he is not a vindictive man, he is nevertheless a very dangerous one to cross. Something that those who trained him found out the hard way. He was in his late teens when he finally broke free of their control and escaped the compound where he had been created, going on the run and taking on the moniker of Bloodshot the Mercenary in the absence of any real name, owing to the unique coloration of his eyes. His skill with both firearms and melee implements impressed every one of his clients, but it was his peerless intelligence that shone most brightly, exemplified most often in his high risk missions and the equipment he created to aid him.

While he currently carries none of his usual equipment, he is a veritable savant when it comes to improvised weaponry and unorthodox tactics. A skill that has saved his skin on numerous occasions.

---

"Graceful as always, I see." It wasn't often that one found Bloodshot out of his armor, and indeed there were very few who could even say it was him, but today's mission had called for some special circumstances regarding his usual garb. Specifically, he had been unable to bring any of it with him. A great many people knew what he was and could do when they saw the black mask and armor, and for now he preferred the element of surprise. He just wished the air didn't smell so rank around here. He had cut through the alley to beat his target to the next intersection, hoping that it would make this whole tailing thing easier, when out of nowhere who should drop in? None other than Malia. No doubt still just as self-righteous as the last time she'd screwed up his kill. It was too late to back out of the alley without being seen, and too soon to make it past the dumpster with the same effect. "Am I expected to believe that this is a completely random encounter, or have you been following me again?" He stood with arms crossed no more than a dozen feet from the dumpster, staring at the disheveled girl through his blue-colored contact lenses. His natural hue would have attracted far too much attention.

[Augustine]

Malia quickly jumped to attention at the sound of a voice, a voice she very quickly recognized.

"Hello 'BS'" Malia responded with a small smirk, offering him a fun new nickname. Looking down Malia begun to dust herself off, a bit embarrassed that her tumble was spotted.

" Actually, I was about you ask you the same thing. It's a big city, how likely is it that we would just run into each other?" The weirder thing was, it actually happened sometimes because they were both often drawn to the same things. Pushing her hands into her sweatshirt pockets Malia relaxed her body onto one leg.

" If you wanted to fight me, all you had to do was ask." She teased. It was then however when her small smile dropped, and her face pressed into a stern stare, now fixed on the figure behind Bloodshot.

" Hey there Copper, here to join in our friendly conversation?" She asked simply, though her tone was no longer light hearted. The man, about 30 or so smiled widely. Dressed in skater shoes, a dark blue jump suit, and arms with two Kantata's. His hair was a very bright blond, died of course, one ear holding a loop with his muscular arms held a collage of tattoos. His body was skinny, yet lined with tight muscles and his skin was whiter than Snowwhite herself. His face was then lightly dusted with freckles.

Copper might have looked a bit of a buffoon but he was not someone to take lightly. He was the bodygourd/hitman of a very well known, yet very unknown... someone. Honestly Malia had been looking for him for over a year but kept missing him herself. He is responsible for many schemes, murders, and well anything dirty he is somehow apart of it. This guy, Copper is often there to get in the way. He was a skilled man, someone who had nearly killed Malia more than twice. But if he was around, it was possible something dirty was happening around there too. Maybe this was who Bloodshot was actually tracking.

The man scoffed with a smirk before reaching back and yanking out his two deadly extensions, the weapons that had actually killed many people.

" Just here to play tag" He whispered with his nasty smirk only growing.

[Schradinger]

A low rumble began to grow in the depths of Bloodshot's throat, a sound that some would say was almost akin to a growl, when the pale nuisance appeared, obstructing the end of the alley the mercenary had to go through in order to continue his pursuit of his quarry. Now he had to kill this punk AND get rid of Malia before he could get on with his contract. And to think this day had started out so well...

"Tell you what, tiny. You get out of the way and I'll make sure your boss gives you an advance on your next paycheck before I kill him." The little runt didn't back down, and in fact began moving closer, and Bloodshot huffed in annoyance and began backing away as if he'd decided the katana's were too much to handle. "Fine, you just leave us be and you can walk out of here with your head intact. How's that sound?"

[Augustine]

Copper chuckled.

"How about this instead, I kill both of you tonight, and get a HUGE reward from me boss!" With that he sprung forward, leaping, jumping sideways off the wall and landing between Malia and Bloodshot. Within an instant of him landing between the two he whipped out his two swords and swing them with great aim and speed towards the throats of the two.

"Sh-" Malia was barely able to gasp out as she reacted, jolting out of the way, the sword shaving off a few strands of her hair as she ducked backwards. Copper wasn't exactly one for strength, honestly his best skill was his speed, but with two Katana's that was deadly. Stumbling back after just dodging the swing Malia reached back whipping out her own Katana, honestly nothing special, just a sword, but it seemed like she might need it. Honestly though she would love to give him just a proper punch in the face.

[Schradinger]

Bloodshot was ready for the attack when it came, having repositioned himself to be within arms reach of a three foot steel pipe he'd seen leaning against the dumpster, and met the oncoming sword with his own new-found weapon. His counter-swing was hard enough to leave a significant indent on the edge of the no doubt prized katana, and it sent the sword reeling back the way it had come, throwing off the balance of Copper's ever-so-graceful pirouette. Bloodshot followed up with a backswing at the goon's knee, but the assassin had some truly astounding reflexes and had already recovered enough to spin out of the way of the attack, using the momentum of the action to aim another slash at Malia's stomach.

Bloodshot growled again and his face began to twist into a sneer before he regained control of it. What he wouldn't give for a quarterstaff right now instead of this stubby pipe. He didn't relent, however, and continued pressing forward, this time bringing the pipe up and around in an attempt to crush the bones in the other man's shoulder.

[Augustine]

Copper scoffed angrily as the felon dented his precious blade.

" You'll regret that" He hissed under his breath as he reacted aiming an attack towards Bloodshot once more. Malia found her back up against the wall just as Copper aimed another merciless blade towards her. She reacted, jumping up, slamming her feet against the brick wall and again, hardly missing the blade as she launched herself from the wall, over the two men, and landing with a forward somersault to lessen the fall. Quickly spinning around on her knee Malia swung her Katana behind her and positioned herself to aim her own attack, but then wait.... Why fight them both when she could let them fight each other while and go find the big boss man.

"Thank you brain" Malia thought as she slowly stood, and stepped back out of the alley way before turning and running off into the street, now in search of the dirty works that were most likely going on somewhere close to there.

Putting her Katana back Malia moved quickly, keeping her steps as quiet as she could as she kept her eyes and ears open for anything odd, anything at all. Reality was though it was probably not being done out in the open. So what was around there that was sketchy anyways?..hmmmm

[Schradinger]

The smaller of the two men was very quick and exceptionally skilled with his blades, but Bloodshot had the advantage of not being entirely human. The echoes of the exchanged blows rebounded up and down the alley for several minutes after Malia left the scene, and before the end Bloodshot was in possession of several new cuts that would become scars before too long. The end itself, however, had been all but decided from the beginning. Skilled as he was, Copper's speed and agility was merely a match for the other man, who still dwarfed him in strength and tenacity. He had been raised on combat, learned to harness pain and anger and fear, learned to weaponize them and turn them against the enemies that caused them. The pipe in Bloodshot's hand had become just as effective a weapon as the katana's of his opponent, and while Copper didn't yet bleed, he had only narrowly escaped several bone-shattering blows that would still leave sizable bruises.

The battle was beginning to take its toll on both men, though the evidence of flagging stamina shone more prominently in the face and movements of the katana-wielding assassin than it did in that of the mercenary. Copper was outmatched, and he was only now realized the extent to which that fact applied. He had begun getting desperate, taking risks that left him open and hoping to get lucky, but Bloodshot gave him no room for luck. A dual horizontal slash was countered with a solid cross-ways swing and answered with a boot to the chest, and Copper found himself laid out flat on his back on the pavement of the alley, his opponent looming over him as he kicked the katanas away. "You get one chance to walk away. If I see you when I come for your boss, you die." Then he turned and left, snatching up the undamaged katana as he went. "I think I'll keep this though. Might come in handy later." That final insult was tossed casually over his shoulder as he rounded the corner of the alley, and then he was gone.

[Augustine]

For hours it felt like her search had run dry. Something was happening, she knew it but she couldn't find a trace of anything too odd. Hm, she needed to think.

Malia soon paused in the street, and gave herself a moment to think. Okay, where was an abandoned building which might hold something sketchy? Oh yea! There was actually and old mining facility just about a mile from there right outside the city! If Malia had to guess, she would go ahead and put her money on the possibility that it was there. If not, well... then she would probably miss her opportunity to get rid of a very big, badbad, guy. Someone who had somehow managed to be at the roots of every big and little sketchy thing that went on in this city... and state. Maybe this was the night Malia would finally have a chance to see him and if she had her way, maybe even beat him and hand him over to the police. Or... things could go terrible wrong, she never sees him and instead hardly escapes with her life. Hm, she would try to avoid that option.

In just a few minutes Malia was there, crouched down behind a mount of dirt and peering over at the area. Indeed she seemed to be right on the money. There were several large black, armored looking cars parked around, maybe about six, giants beams lights pointing at the area, and of course it was littered with men in black bullet proof clothes, machines guns, and gas masks. Sure Malia wasn't surprised by their attire, but their gas masks were a bit odd. Was there something toxic in the air? Something she should be worried about? Well she would just snatch one when it was appropriate, but now she wanted to try and get in without getting caught. It could prove to be troublesome fighting these 50+ men. Fun, but still troublesome.

Okay, so first, she would use the car's, maybe keeping on top of them to avoid being seen. She was just practicing roof jumping and these cars were conveniently parked beside one another. Then she would take the chance, at the last care, to grab someone, and put on some of their armor and mask. Leaving them under the last car unconscious she would then just walk into the mines. *click*. The cold feeling of metal pressed through Malias hair and into her skull.

" Put your hands up and stand slowly" Well there went that plan. It seemed like she would just have to wing it.

Slowly, she did as told, reaching her hands back behind her head. Then, before the man had time to react, Malia grabbed the barrel of the gun and forced it up just as he attempted to shoot. She then swung around, crouched on one foot, then leaning forward in the same quick swoop and swung a leg under his, tripping him. As he landed back she stood, using this chance to engage forward planning a firm knee beside him just as he landed and giving him a firm punch to the face, knocking him out. Quickly standing, Malia turned to see if anyone else had noticed her... In fact, everyone had noticed her and now were running in her direction, guns aimed and all yelling at her different things. Mostly telling her to give herself up. Well alright, it seemed like she was about to fight a lot more than she was planning on. Bloodshot was right though.... she wasn't very graceful.

[Schradinger]

Mere moments before the gunfire began to ring out, a single black-clad hand reached out from the shadows of a nearby burned out vehicle husk and pulled Malia into cover, saving her from the hail of bullets that immediately followed. "We've got to stop meeting like this." The voice belonged to a face clad in a black armored mask that blended almost seamlessly with the shadows around them, as did the armor that covered the rest of the man. The voice itself, while distorted somewhat by the vocalizer in the mask, was still recognizable as that of the man she had met in the alley only a few short hours ago, though she had never before seen this particular side of him. It was strange for him too, as it was normally this side that he showed to those who knew who he was, rather than the one without armor or weapons or the distinct air of walking death about him. "Oh, and thanks for ruining a perfectly good surprise attack. Have you ever even done something like this before?"

He didn't wait for her answer, instead moving off to flank the approaching gunmen, sticking to the shadows as he moved with a seemingly effortless grace. He did have to admit, albeit grudgingly, that the girl had promise, but promise alone would not be enough to survive in this profession she had apparently chosen. She was going to need help. A lot of it.

For now, though, he had goons to dispose of. It didn't take him long to reach the vehicles the men had arrived in, keeping to cover and staying just ahead of their peripheral vision whenever he moved, and he sincerely hoped Malia was not trying to emulate him. He'd trained since he was a child to move the way he did, predict his opponent's movements and gaze to avoid detection, it wasn't something you could just...

"Over here! I found her!"

Bloodshot would have facepalmed if it wasn't for the direness of the situation. She just had to try and do it, didn't she? He backpedaled to find her midway between one shadowed cover and the next, caught standing in a flashlight beam with a deer in headlights look. Drawing one of his pistols, he took aim at the guard that had trained the light on her and sent a bullet spiraling through his gas mask, then did the same to the two to either side of him. The suppressor he'd fitted to his pistol would conceal the noise enough that the others wouldn't hear the gunshot, but they would still be here in only a matter of seconds. Catching Malia's attention, he beckoned her to join him and when she did pressed his second pistol into her hand. "Gas masks don't have armor plating." Then he was moving again, though this time the shadows were plentiful enough that he was confident Malia could follow without getting caught.

[Augustine]

When something grabbed her, Malia was more than ready to fight this man with all of her strength, that was until he spoke to her in a voice she recognized. What the heck was Bloodshot doing there?! Well it seemed despite her best efforts he caught up to her before she had a chance to even get inside. Now only that...but he just saved her. Great, if this was a competition he would be winning, and frankly Malia saw it as a competition.

She huffed when he sarcastically thanked her for ruining a surprise attack and had just parted her lips to respond when he left, not even giving her a chance to reply. Fine, he was at 42 points and she was at 37, but Malia planned on catching up. She watched him as he glided beside the cars, going seemingly unnoticed. PFT! She could do that! Malia was sure she could! Slowly, she begun to follow, doing her best to move in silence, and keeping out of sight. Well she thought she wasn't doing so badly, that was until someone called out, announcing she found her. Freezing, she stared wide eyed as two men quickly neared her with aimed guns. Great.

Malia had whipped out her Katana and readied herself to try a move she had been practicing for months but hadn't needed to use yet, and that was deflecting a bullet with a sword. The key was not to slash it in half, which would only damage the sword, but to swing her sword up in such a way that actually coughed it and guide it down the blade and then away from her body. However she wasn't feeling too confident in her skill. It was only in an instant after she had been caught when she had taken her sword, and then bullets rang out, killing her two opponents just in time. The breath she held was quickly released a relief washed over her.

Her dark blue eyes then flickered over to Bloodshot, who gestured for her. Quickly, she moved beside him, accepting the gun as it was handed to her. Sighing, Malia lightly shook her head.

" I am not good at this kind of stuff.." She admitted in a whisper.

" I am not a good aim either. I am used to physical fights, taking five people head on.. I can do that... Not all of this sneaking and shooting... " Then a thought entered her mind. Geez, what if this was actually too much for her? What if she ended up...being a burden? God, her stomach twisted up at that thought. No, she was strong, she knew it, but she needed the right situation, and this was not it. This would be good practice though.

[Augustine]

Posted twice...

[Augustine]

And again....

[Augustine]

/: and again...

[Schradinger]

Bloodshot huffed and took the gun back, re-holstering it before he moved on through the shadows, using the cover of the SUV's to get as close to the mine entrance as possible. Unfortunately, most of the vehicles had their headlights pointed straight at it and getting there unnoticed, especially without alerting the two guards stationed to either side, was going to be almost impossible. Checking back the way they'd come, he made sure most of the other goons were still looking for them in the darkness on the other side of the arrangement of vehicles, then stood and walked straight toward the two guards, keeping his path between the headlights of the vehicle he'd started from in order to keep them blinded.

He made it withing thirty feet before they started questioning him, and within twenty before they raised their weapons and aimed at him. His response to this was to simply keep walking as their questions grew more urgent, then raise his own pistol and shoot the first guard in the chest, breaking his ribs and knocking him back in spite of his armor, and the second guard in the head. He caught the first guard before he hit the ground and clamped a hand around his throat, then holstered his pistol to grab the body of the second guard and drag them both inside the entrance. He paused there, listening for any sign that the others outside had noticed his incursion, then turned back and beckoned for Malia to follow him. He had the mask off the unconscious guard before she arrived, and held it out to her when she did. "I think it's safe to say they were wearing these for a reason. You should probably put one on."

[Augustine]

" Don't judge me" She hissed quietly but not venomously, the statement was more light hearted. As Blooshot moved forward, Malia took this time to... well actually just stay where she was and watch him. Honestly she was more of the running in head first type of person, but one for really making plans. But honestly she had never been in a situation with so many armed people before, so maybe it was a good idea to follow this guys lead. She watched in silence as he walked closer and closer, seemingly fearlessly, towards the armed men. Then as it seemed he might get shot, his movements responded quickly killing both the men a bit brutally for Malias taste before beckoning her towards him.

Moving quickly, but as quietly as she could, Malia joined him, moving behind him. Accepting the back, she pulled back her hood, letting it fall from her heat before starting to pull it over her face.

" Thanks." Then, as they moved inside, the door which once led into the old mines, led them into a bit of a narrow hallway like cave, with little light. This was not Malias night, because something else she had trouble with was her fear of small spaces. Honestly, very little scare Malia, but she did not care for being in small spaces, under ground, or in caves. This was all free. Though she did fear it however, Malia did have a way to keep her wits about her. The only way one might be able to tell, was her knees slightly knocking. Soon they came into the opening of the cave, an area with a low ceiling, but a wide area. It reached for maybe 30 feet around with about four rows of tables, each holding plastic square pots with odd looking plants inside. Lights hung above them, but they were also odd, They illuminated a bright, also eye stinging blue, and the plants themselves were a bright like green, with large purple leaves, while the plant were actually rather short. Inside seemed to be about 20 men, but there was something Malia noticed that pleased her, non of them had guns. They had knifes, and some waking sticks. A coy smile touched Malias lips.

" I like it in here a lot more.." She whispered, her eyes looking around for any other parts of the cave, parts that mind hold a certain person she had been looking for. There was only one way out, which means Maila didn't fear that this person she was looking for will take a back door if she haired a ruckus going on. A ruckus she was about to make.

" Time to restless.." She announced, now in a normal tone, catching the attention of practically everyone.

" Intruder!" One yelled but Malia didn't have time to wait any further. She jumped into the group of people ready to fight in a way she knew how to best.

[Schradinger]

Bloodshot sighed heavily when Malia decided to just up and give away any and every advantage surprise might have given them, then rolled his shoulders and stepped out of the elevator behind her. Most of the goons headed for the loudmouth girl, probably sue to the fact that their other option was a huge, heavily armed and armored, ninja looking guy clad all in black, but seven of the men were still unlucky enough to pick him as their target. The first came at him with a sloppy right hook as he charged forward, which Bloodshot caught in his palm and latched onto before sweeping the man's legs with his right foot and then stomping on his face when he fell. The next was a little more cautious, taking a more or less proper kickboxing stance before lashing out with a high-mid-high three kick combo. The mercenary blocked the first with an elbow, and cut off the second and third by wrapping an arm around the leg and trapping it against his body. From there he stepped forward and blocked the man's other foot with his own, then shoved hard on the chest and sent him careening to the ground.

Pulling the retracted bo staff from his back, he extended it right into the prone goon's chin and knocked him out cold as his buddies got wise and decided to come two at a time. One of them had a knife, while another had grabbed an old rusty pipe to use as a weapon. Knifey came first, jabbing at one of the seams in Bloodshot's chest armor, only to realize he'd made a terrible miscalculation when his wrist was caught in what felt like a vice. There was an impact on the back of his hand and the knife went skittering across the floor, and the next thing he saw before blackness was the rusty pipe of his buddy hurtling toward his own face, right through the space where the ninja guy was supposed to be. Freakin' ninjas.

With Knifey out cold, courtesy of mister plumber, Bloodshot grabbed the second thug's throat and began to squeeze on the arteries, knocking him out in roughly the time it would take to enjoy a sip of nice hot cocoa. Give or take a few seconds. As he crumpled to the floor, the remaining three that had picked Bloodshot as their target all charged at once, and this time two were armed with a knife and one with a billy club. Bloodshot retracted the staff and set about the business of dismantling their defenses and consciousness, all the while paying more attention to Malia's fight than he was his own. He'd been watching her ever since she engaged her group, studying and analyzing her skills even as he applied his own. She was good, he had to give her that, but was she good enough to take on thirteen men at once?