Intervention [Deep, Zeek]

[Deleted]

"No coin, no booze," the salt and pepper mustache twitched with irritation as the bar keeper stared down a penniless patron.

"Ah come on, I'll pay you back later!" the man pleaded.

"No," the finality behind the single word struck like a blow.

"Damn you!" the man lunged across the bar. But the barkeeper was fast on his feet and his fishman bouncer was even quicker. The drunk didn't stand a chance against the fishman's superior strength, but he made sure to send an onslaught of curses and spittle towards the barkeeper before being tossed out.

Marsh landed back first onto the cobble streets with his limbs sprawled out against the stone. He laid there for a while, his eyes blinked several times as he stared up into the night sky. There were countless stars tonight for the moon was not out tonight. It was dark

"Whiskers" Marsh rubbed his back with one hand as his other helped him stagger onto his feet. "No coin, no booze my ass," the man smirked to himself as he drew a large bottle of rum from underneath his ragged duster cloak. He had swiped it when he lunged across the bar, for that was the real reason he made the lunge. It took considerate effort to protect the bottle from fishman, but Marsh was a bandit by trade and an alcoholic by religion. A dry night to Marsh was more rare than a night with a lunar eclipse. "Suckers," he said into the bottle as he pressed it against his lip and let the bittersweet liquid bring him to life. Or did it kill him?

Then in a rhythm between steps and taking swigs of the bottle, Whiskers began to make his way towards the next closest tavern. One bottle wasn't going to suffice tonight.


Little did the man know, under the starry sky, two shadows stalked him. Tonight was a night for intervention.


Ramza was nervous. Not since he was an apprentice under his former master did he ever have a partner. Most of the time, your partner was more dangerous than the mark. This was one of those times. "The Whisper" watched his newly found partner, Anari the "Swift Kiss" as they moved through the darkness. This would have been easier done solo.

Ramza held onto his collapsed staff in his right hand; he breathed in the crisp night air. Anari wasn't to be trusted.

[Badman Zeek]

[black]

Quietly the two stalked their prey, bearing witness to "Whiskers" Marsh and his tendacies. Of course along with the eerie atmosphere there were slight traces of hostility. The mutual distrust for one another was to blame for the hostility's thickening veil. Under normal circumstance Anari would have merely ignored a person she didn't get along with. Though this time accompanying her was the partner that had been assigned to her. Out of respect for Drake the teen accepted the conditions and sought to complete her first mission as a number within the Creed.

She and Ramza were assigned a target by the name of "Whiskers" Marsh, a pirate who was commanded by the infamous "Big Dog" Alden. Although Anari would have preferred the "Bid Dog" himself, a puppy would have to suffice for now.

Steadily she observered his mannerisms and body language, concluding that he has been living as a drunk for quite some time. Not to mention his skills with his hands, that allowed him to leave the bar with a bottle. But now it seemed he sought to acquire another dosage.

For now Anari would remain idle, only taking in tendacies she witnessed. Hopefully Ramza would behave in a similar manner, and not attempt to comfront the man too early.

[/black]

[Deleted]

Ramza would not make the first move. The last thing he needed was Anari to learn more about him. He didn't even care to take part in the kill, for he was sure that Anari could easily handle the drunk by herself. Ramza decided he would be content to sit by and watch unless he was truly needed. He looked up at his partner as Marsh continued his way down the dark city street. She was watching the mark with a studious gleam in her eye. Ramza couldn't help but smile and reminisce about his own days of apprenticeship. But Anari wasn't Ki and she was, in Ramza's mind, dangerous.

*Crash* The sound of shattering glass cut through the silence.

After finishing his bottle of rum "Whiskers" Marsh had, with staggering steps, chucked the bottle high into the air, forgetting about it as he hunted for his next fix. He actually forgot about the bottle so fast that when it crash into the street behind him, the drunk spun around and drew his pistol. He held the gun with a loose arm as he looked behind him in fright. He was staring right at the location Ramza and Anari hid.

Ramza stood still and extended his power of the Yure Yure no mi to cloak both Anari and himself in silence. Marsh squinted his eyes into the darkness. Could he see the two figures?

However, regardless if couldn't see anything, "Whiskers" Marsh was a man famed for his cowardliness. So like any frightened fool, Marsh spun around and with surprising speed and control for a drunk man took off running away from Ramza and Anari.

Shit

Ramza sprung silently from his perch and took off leaping across the low rooftops of the the city buildings. Quickly and quietly he ran, keeping one eye on his target, and another on his partner.

[darthlegolas]

Leejay Lefray was enjoying a night sitting on a rooftop. Nobody was telling him what to do. He had no responsibilities to take care of. Life was…balanced. This was the life he had missed for the year he had been in the marines. He was still wearing his blue marine pants, only because they were a good pair of pants and it would be a shame to waste them. He didn’t mind the smell of soap on the pants too much, besides, it would fade away soon. His marine shirt, however, was long gone. It had been replaced by a white poncho, which effectively covered the giant yin-yang tattoo on his chest. His boots were gone, too.

Shoes were for the weak, Leejay thought. They were a comfort for the self-indulgent. Leejay hated the self-indulgent, so he hated shoes. His old pair had too many holes anyway. It was better to go barefoot, like he was now.

Leejay heard a bottle shatter nearby, and looked to see a drunk looking around, suspicious. Soon, the man took off running as though he was being hunted. What was his problem?

Leejay soon understood, and his purple eyes grew large as he saw two shadows running on the rooftops across the street. They were following the drunk.

Leejay smoothed back his short, black hair as he considered this chase. The two stalkers were hard to see in the shadows. Leejay wondered why there were two of them after one drunk. Drunks made terrible slaves, had no money, and couldn’t be used for a ransom. He decided that the two stalkers must be out on a killing. They had picked a weak target to kill for their own sick enjoyment. Leejay had done that a lot in the last few years. He had done that a few days ago.

Leejay smiled as he made up his mind. If those stalkers wanted a fight, they were sure to feel unsatisfied with a dead drunk. Leejay needed to be their opponent. He needed to show them a real fight, and he needed to keep his skills up. Without daily sparring practice, Leejay knew that he would need to be constantly picking fights to keep up his technique.

Standing, Leejay started to follow the stalkers at a close distance. He ran along the rooftops opposite them. They weren’t that fast, he thought. Then again, they might be holding back to tail the drunk. Leejay’s smile stretched from ear to ear. This was going to be fun.

[Badman Zeek]

[black]

The observation process that had been initiated was horribly interrupted by Marsh's unexplainable reaction. Even so Ramza giving chase seemed to annoy her more. Anari was reluctant to run after the target and ultimately refused to run. Instead she hung back for a moment, which she was glad to do, for shortly after Ramza departed Anari noticed movement on the roof tops opposite to her partner.

[Teal]"A friend of his...."[/Teal] She qestioned aloud. The new figure did appear to have taken an interest in their activity, which made Anari question his status. Would he be an hinderance to the mission? No, she would not accept that to be true. If anything she would have to prevent any disturbances of any kind.

She started with a slow lurch forward, then within a few seconds after starting her own chase, Anari took off after the unknown person. It was up to her to figure out his motive was. If he were to attempt anything that could possibly ruin her and Ramza's chance of capturing or killing Marsh. For now she would have to leave the target to her partner. Hopefully he would be capable of handling the task alone.

Leaping from roof top to roof top, Anari felt herself shift into a more focused sense of being. A feeling that often took over when she was on a mission. Though the specific task at hand did not pertain to the mission she was on, other than the prevention of failing to accomplish the mission. Which was one of the things she hated most.

[/black]

[Deleted]

Marsh turned a dark corner and then slowed to a walk. Why was he running? Was someone chasing him? The drunk looked behind. No one was there. Marsh shrugged. He didn't care. There was booze to be found and his subconscious has brought him to the perfect place. The drunk stood before Barney's Water Hole, the local day pub that was already closed for the night. Whiskers Marsh drew a small knife and with deft hands for a drunk slipped the blade into the door's keyhole and quickly slipped inside the pub. Tears of merriment filled Marsh's eyes as his gaze fell upon the unlocked bar at his disposal.

Ramza watched as the man disappeared into the building but he hardly cared. What truly mattered were the two figures that followed him. He had expected Anari to follow, but the other person put Ramza on edge. With his devil fruit power he had sensed both Anari and new comer tailing Ramza. Had the bitch hired help to off him?

Rama gripped his collapsed staff as he turned to face a man wearing what seemed to be marine leggings and a white pancho. No shoes. The man was across the street and Ramza's eyes quickly found Anari who seemed to be tailing the man in white. Both were easily visible in the same window of vision.

Marsh could wait. Ramza fought the urge to clench his jaw as he bent his knees slightly in preparation for any oncoming conflict. Fighting both this man and Anari might be beyond Ramza's ability, the assassin's mind drew up plans for escaping.

[darthlegolas]

Leejay stopped his approach as the shadowy figure he was trailing turned around. It was hard to see anything in the dark, but Leejay knew now that the stalker had noticed him. That was fine with him. He had intended for the stalker to eventually see him.

The stalker in front of him also seemed to be looking to the side of him. Ah...so there was another stalker after all. At first, Leejay had thought he had seen two people running after the drunk, but his eyes had decieved him. There was only one. But now a second stalker was behind him! Oh how wonderful this all was!

Leejay shifted so that he could look at both his prey and his hunter. He wondered if they knew each other.

He talked to the stalker that he had been following. "Well hello. Beautiful night for a fight, isn't it? You didn't think that you were the only one having fun, now did you?"

Leejay squatted down on the edge of the rooftop. Both of his new friends were on the other side of the street, and the drunk had disappeared into a bar. "So," he said, "would you two happen to be that drunk's guardian angels? Perhaps his shoulder angels?" Leejay smiled broadly and let out a dry chuckle. "No, I have a feeling you have something more...sinister in mind. Care to let me in on the fun?"

[Badman Zeek]

Trailing behind the newcomer Anari couldn't help but notice out of her peripheral that Ramza had stopped moving. Suddenly, ahead of her, the man she'd been following had also came to a halt. Vocalizing his intentions. However in Anari's mind there was no way to focus on what he had been rambling about. Almost immediately she lurched forward, driving herself to move faster. However there was a change in her direction as she headed towards the ground where Ramza stood.

How could a person be so stupid? She thought to herself. Annoyed by how idiotic Ramza was for allowing Marsh to proceed into the bar without either of them moving with him. It was beyond being a novice level assassin. How could Drake possibly allow such an inexperienced wannabe into the Creed, let alone make such an individual her partner. But for now she would have to hold her tongue. Not that it was hard for someone like her, who chose action over words in terms of expression. What really held her tongue at the moment was the fact that Ramza was no longer a reliable person, though she felt him to be such from the begin. The result being her honed determination focused precisely on "Whiskers" Marsh.

Anari landed on the pavement without a sound, maintaining her silence as she moved past Ramza towards the target's destination. In the back of her mind she hoped Ramza had the intention of dealing with the random man she had left on the rooftops. Letting everything else escape her mind Anari came to a halt before the bar Marsh had broken into. Instinctively she reached into her pouch and pulled out her gas mask. Not that she knew whether or not any pathogens or other air born toxins existed beyond the threshold, she was simply reluctant towards allowing her face to be seen.

Traces of an Assassin's lifestyle.

With one arm raised and aimed towards the door, she used the other to push open the door, prepared for what lay in wait for her.

[Deleted]

Ramza stared at the man across the street who spoke. The man accused the Creed members of exactly what they were doing. By the end of the night, Whiskers Marsh was going to be in a much worst place whether that be on his way to Marine jail or in hell. However, Ramza cared little about his prey for there were predators afoot.

The new man spoke as though he did not know Anari and he asked if he could be "let in on the fun." Ramza opened his mouth to reply when Anari's figured moved; fast. She moved quickly Ramza's direction, and this caused Ramza to extend his staff in preparation to intercept her. But she didn't come to him, but rather dropped to the street below, into the bar Marsh disappeared into. Relieved at Anari's obvious intentions Ramza returned his focus on the stranger.

"Leave us alone. Stop wasting my time and before you recklessly throw your life away," Ramza spoke across the night air. The assassin watched carefully, his body primed to move in an instant.

_-=~=-_

*Thwack*

The sound of lead striking timber rung out above Anari's head. The small metal ball embedded itself in the wooden door after leaving it's former home now a smoking pistol barrel. Marsh frowned as he mumbled to himself, "Not enough," and then drained what remained of a large whiskey bottle. The drunk stood behind a large wooden bar on the second floor of a two story tavern. Another bottle already found it's way to his lips as he looked at Anari. The spirits had dulled his cowardice and therefore had also bolstered his courage.

"Ahh, aren't you the scary looking type," he said before sips, "Well come on now, let's get this over with so I can drink in peace." The drunk took his right hand and aimed his pistol at Anari, and for some wondrous reason his accuracy seemed much better. If Anari didn't act fast, he wasn't going to miss this time.

[darthlegolas]

"Leave us alone. Stop wasting my time and before you recklessly throw your life away," said the stalker who was still on the rooftop.

Leejay sneered. He seriously doubted that this man could actually kill him. Still, the man seemed prepared to fend off an attack, so he wasn't a fool.

Soon after that, the sound of gunfire rang out from the tavern. Leejay pointed his finger towards the sound, but kept his eyes locked on the man standing opposite him. "Looks like your partner's dead." It was a bluff. He actually didn't know if the other assassin had died, or even been hit by the bullet. However, his rooftop friend was intently focused on Leejay, and would have no way of knowing otherwise. Hopefully, the claim would distract the rooftop stalker, or at least throw him off his game.

Leejay jumped down to the street between the two rows of buildings. He then ran inside the building that the stalker was on top of. The door was locked, but he was able to kick it open with ease. Nobody was inside. It seemed to be an old store of some kind.

He had memorized where on the rooftop the man was. If he was still there, then he would be in for a suprise. Leejay jumped into the air and kicked the part of the roof where the man had been. Hopefully, the man would still be there and it would send him flying into the air.

[Badman Zeek]

[black]

*BANG!*

A single shot was fired the moment Anari had opened the door. Though she hadn't been hit. Perhaps it was simply a reaction towards the gingling of the bell the went off once the door had opened. Reaction or not it was a warning that indicated Marsh was armed with a ranged weapon. However it mattered not. For that single shot served a greater purpose than being a simple warning. It acted as a trigger for the Assassin. Her mind automatically precieving the shot fired as a threat, forcing her body to react immediately.

With the door wide open light from the street lamps outside flooded into the bar, instantly revealing Marsh's position that would have otherwise been obscured by the dark. So like a trap being sprung due to the actions of an outside force, Anari's raised hand automatically reacted to te fired shot, with the flick of her wrist aided by her sleight of hand technique, she activated the mechanism located in her bracer. Which in turn fired a hidden blade in Marsh's direction. Her target being the shoulder opposite of the arm raised holding the gun.

She had already made the mistake of taking the drunk lightly, lucky for her the shot had missed. However knowing he had a gun, she wouldn't permit him the chance of firing another round towards her. If he were to be hit, "Whiskers" Marsh would be in for a rude awakening; For the blade she fired in his direction was coated in a black crust.

Komodo venom.

[/black]

((OOC:This is the technique she used in reaction to the shot fired by Marsh. Making her actions extremely fast compared to his.))

• Name: Sleight of hand
  Description: A passive skill in which the muscles within the user's arms are so relaxed that the only resistance acting on them is that of gravity and air. With this and intense focus the user is capable of temporarily moving the limbs at five times their normal speed.
  

[Deleted]

Ramza only blinked as the gun shot rang through the night. He did not believe Anari would go down so simply. If she did, then she was not worth Ramza's concern, and he would hunt Marsh later. Then the stranger moved. He jumped down to the street below and ran towards the building Ramza stood upon. The assassin prepared himself for when the man would jump onto the building, but it didn't happen. Instead the assassin heard the front door being kicked down. Ramza immediately reached out with this power of vibrations and sense the man's heat signature inside the building. He was directly below Ramza already rising to kick the roof from beneath him. There wasn't time to avoid the oncoming kick.

The roof tiles beneath Ramza erupted as a small island of roof raised Ramza up into the night sky. The assassin, with precise balance, managed to stay on top of his roof isle and at the peak of its ascent he jumped off rising high into the air so that he landed neatly on another nearby rooftop. His attacker was strong no doubt about that. Once again dropped into a defensive stance, stretched out his sixth sense of vibrations and waited. What else could he learn about his assailant.

_-=~=-_

Anari's reactions were fast. The plain ol' bandit, Whiskers Marsh didn't stand a chance against such speed and accuracy. However, if as by some strange fate, as the blade approached, the drunk stumbled and fell behind the bar counter; his firing arm aiming far too high so that when he pulled the trigger he shot the ceiling.. The blade passed harmlessly until it shattered a glass bottle behind the counter.

Marsh then clambered over the bar while draining another bottle of whiskey before dropping it. "Now that wasn't *hiccup* very nice," the man drooled as he staggered down the stairs towards Anari's general direction. He held up his hands wobbly before his face like a boxer would, but with his pistol still clenched in his right hand.

"Come'an, put 'em up!" he grinned foolishly.

[darthlegolas]

Leejay kicked through the rooftop tiles and landed on the roof gracefully. He was rewarded with the sight of his target flying into the night sky. He was suprised, however, to see the target land uninjured on a rooftop across the street.

This guy was agile, Leejay thought. A normal person would have fallen to the street and suffered severe injury. Was this guy some sort of acrobat? This was turning out to be a pretty good night. Leejay had found someone worth fighting.

"Hey, you're pretty good. I want to see you do that again."

Jumping down to the street again, Leejay would run up to the building that his foe was on. With a series of leaps, he jumped from wall to window to rooftop. Looking the target in the face, Leejay would smile. He saw determination in his opponent's face, even through the darkness of night. It reminded him of so many young marines whom he had trained with. For a full year, he had trained with those young men. He had eaten with them, laughed with them, and cried with them.

And then he had stabbed them in the back. "The marines could have made something out of you, if they had the chance. What are you anyways, some kind of thief?"

Leejay dashed at his opponent and aimed a mighty kick for the man's stomach. If it hit, it would surely break a few internal organs.

[Badman Zeek]

((OOC:

The blade passed harmlessly until it shattered a glass bottle behind the counter.

Umm, please refrain from dictating the result of Anari's actions. For I had a solution if she were to miss, however in stating this, you kind of prevented my initial plans. No need to edit or anything, just wanted to bring it to your attention.))


[black]

[Teal]"Tch."[/Teal]

Anari's response to what had just occured was all the girl could muster as she watched her blade whizz past Marsh at sixty miles an hour, moving to pierce through a bottle that stood on a shelf behind the counter of the bar. About a half an inch of the blade was sure to be embedded into the wall behind. Though her focus on the blade was removed the moment she saw "Whiskers" falling over the bar. With one blade stuck in the wall behind him Anari would be able to utilize the metal wire that connected the blade to her bracer. She also had the remaining blade on her other bracer.

Quickly her mind searched for a solution, knowing the moment Marsh made his reappearance she would have to react. Flicking her wrist Anari retracted her blade from its position in the wall. By the time it returned to her bracer Marsh had already began making his way down from the upper floor. His hands held before him, in a manner similar to boxing, shook as if he was uncertain if he wanted to proceed. However Anari assumed it was more so because of him being drunk, cause she noticed the fact that he still held his pistol as he spoke.

To bad for him though.

Anari was already set on taking the man's life way before he shot at her. But now her eyes casted a deep penetrating glare towards the one called "Whiskers" Marsh. Once more through the use of sleight of hand she aimed and fired her hidden blade towards Marsh, knowing the closed distance would be an advantage for her. Her target being the upper region of his heart. The color the glinted off of the blade and wire; A jade green.

Taipan venom.

[/black]

[Deleted]

[OOC: Sorry Zeek. I didn't know you still had control over that blade. I usually assume projectiles are mostly out of the user's control once shot. I didn't know the blades were attached to wires.]

The man approached again. As his assailant was ascending up onto the roof, Ramza drew a small pellet no larger than his thumbnail into his left hand. His opponent was soon facing him and took time to speak asking if Ramza was a thief. Ramza didn't spare breath to respond as the man charged. Just as he did Ramza threw the pellet downward at his feet. The pellet was designed to create a massive blast of sound, but no sound was heard. As the attacker's foot collided with Ramza's chest, the assassin's image fractured bursting into many broken copies and pieces of Ramza.

Lee Jay was surrounded by four complete images of Ramza all performing the same act of spinning in a circle his staff out stretched to strike him in the head. Three were illusions and only one was real.

[Spoiler contains which Ramza is real. Read or ignore it, it's up to you.


Fractured Image
In the air are millions of water molecules. These molecules when properly disturbed can refract light causing optical illusions (heat wave and mirages.) Therefore, if there is enough moisture in the air, Ramza can vibrate these particles to fractured illusions in the air. This is most commonly done in the air surrounding Ramza thus tossing and breaking his image into multiple parts and copies. This however has a huge draw back because it also bends Ramza’s own vision because of all the light refraction around him. Thus he practically blind and must rely on his ability to sense vibrations around him which only extends up to 37 meters.]

SPOILER: Click to show

The Ramza directly behind Lee Jay is the real Ramza aiming his staff at the back of his head

_-=~=-_

Again with uncanny luck, Marsh teetered violently to his right as Anari fired her second blade. However, this time at such close range, the blade could not be completely avoided. The blade tore through Marsh's sleeve and cut deeply against his shoulder. Green mixed with red as his shoulder began to bleed.

"Yowwww!" Marsh cried the pain caused him to lose his step and he stumbled wildly down the stairs. The drunk seemed to fall into a wooden tavern chair only to surprisingly keep to his feet, grab the chair, and with a spinning motion hurl the chair at an alarming rate directly at Anari.

Marsh then grabbed his shoulder in a poor attempt to staunch the bleeding. That's when he saw the jade green that was flaked on his skin. "Ha ha ha -hic- ha POISON!" The drunk laughed loudly, "You're going to kill me with poison! I live on poison! Baby, my body is immune!"

Still grinning like a fool, Marsh holstered his pistol and fell into stumbling attempt of a martial art stance. His feet staggered constantly while the rest of his body wobbled. "Why don't we -hiccup- we fight with some honor. -hic- No purty shooting things."