Mafia!

[Gnarlitch]

Mickey gets thrown against a wall before he goes three steps, and a fist planted into his ribs with a resounding *crack*

 

"Well, Mick me boyo, here's the rub. If yer innocent an I kill ye here openly fer yer slander, the other bosses'll likely look th' other way as they'd kill ye too fer the personal attacks ye've made aginst me. However, if yer the connivin' scum we believe ye ta be, then they'll thank me takin' ye down. And, as fer attacking yer men, none o' them has been harmed, 'ceptin fer the one out back who fought back a bit too hard. He'll need some time in a cast I'm thinkin'. Otherwise, no blood no foul. You know the rules. I aint here ta start a blod feud between our factions. I'm only here ta settle sumptin', man ta man. An iffn ya aint got the balls, ye's can just say so, an' we'll letcha beg fer mercy on yer knees after yer confession."

[Merelas]

Molly hands Shamus a phone, quickly. "Deep throat," she says. It was the code name they had given to the informant.

 

"Mickey's moving, and he's moving fast. Pull some strings, Shamus."

 

Click.

 

It was time to make calls...

[Vahktang]

The X notices something in Skin's mouth.

He had assumed it was chaw, but it doesn't smell right.

"What the hell are you eating," he asks, even more insulted that someone brings their own food to his restaurant.

"My own concotion," says the skin, breaking X's hold, with sudden strength, now seemingly unaffected by the narcotic slipped to him earlier.

"Combination of native African plants and local modern pharmaceuticals."

At a nod three of X's men rush Skin.

In a dance that couldn't possibly have been choreographed, all three men quickly lay on the floor, cluching their bellies to keep their insides out.

The smell is horrific but not one person moves to leave or even move, in an attempt to make it so they aren't noticeable, aren't targets.

"Nobody touches me," says Skin, straightening his clothes. "Not the cops. Not the feds. Not the internationals. Not any rivals. And especially not a lieing ass bitch like you X."

"You got any more, is this," he says, indicating the bodies on the floor, "this the best you got?"

"No," says X. "I'm the best I got."

X takes off his jacket, Skin steps back, sucking on his 'chaw'.

The Black Widow hands Heartbreaker off to her men, but his men from outside come up. A moment's tension and he is handed off to be shuttled away in a town car.

The Black Widow looks at the room and the two gladiators. If she had to bet she knew who her money would be on.

"Get out," she says.

The frozen patrons look up.

"Now."

As a mob they move, given both combatants a wide berth.

"Say nothing," she says to their backs.

She watches as do the others on the feed.

X kicks a chair at Skin who dodges under and closes the distance, shoving aside a table on his way.

X backs up, throws a full water carafe and picks up a carving knife.

Now they are both face to face, within hands reach.

The knives flick, in, out, seeking an opening, a weakness, finding none for a few passes.

A moments movement by the Black Widow earns her a thrown knife which she dodges. She decides to leave, to watch on monitors from a safer distance.

Less than a minute passes. X is cut, bleeding from a dozen wounds, weakening.

Skin is smiling, his face a near rictus.

"King of the world," says Skin, and moves in, his knife biting deep this time.

Skin backs off to watch as X bleeds.

X stumbles to his knees. Then falls. Then crawls.

"Yes," says Skin. "Crawl. My organization is in position. I am the boss. Crawl to me and you can live well. All of you," as he mugs for the hidden cameras.

X reaches a table, tries to pull himself up, halfway suceeds, then pulls the trigger of the double barrel shotgun hidden underneath, both blasts going into Skin's body.

[YanYanGanaffi]

*Gives a smile and 'golf clap' as he watches the carnage unfold.* "I always liked his style, very nice."

[Lady Celes Crusader]

Tai Rong Wang arrived on the scene late... obviously she did hurried herself as she was in her traditionnal chinese attire (she never wears that in public), with her portable computer on hand. Everyone who is alived look at her and Tai does realizes that she owns explanations.

 

- So... he was planning to overthrow us all. Well, I am embarrassed to have entrusted him and considered him as a valuable ally. I own you an apology X-terminator for mistrusting you. However, I doubt that he acted alone, on his own. It appears that my informants had been clumsy in their searches or way too easily fooled.

 

Then she subtly hinted in cantonese to her servants that she doesn't want to make them all sushi eaters.

[Gnarlitch]

"X" stumbles to his feet, bleeding profusely where he has pulled Mickey's knife from his chest. He looks down at his opponent who is still struggling for life as his lungs fill with blood. He looks at one of his men and holds out a hand, which is quickly filled with a semi-auto pistol. Looking back at Mickey, he fires two quick shots into his head at point blank range and then waits to make sure the body stops moving. He then tosses the gun back to its owner and walks out the back door, knodding towards Sariah on the way out.

[Vahktang]

The wounds were too much and too deep for X.

His own doctors could not work on him in time.

He was taken to a nearby hospital and operated on immediatly.

A floor was cleared and his people were put on duty.

He remained critical throughout the night.

Moving him the next day could prove disasterous, so his organization hunkered down for a while.

On the morning of the third day, X, finally fully conscious, heard sounds from outside his room.

Eventually the door opened and an old man in a wheelchair he didn't recognize was pushed in by an asian man.

In a thick french accent accent the old man spoke.

"Kato, push me towards the bed."

"I'm not Kato, Inspector," said the pusher. "My name is-"

"Tut. Vinny "The X-Terminator" Nolen? I am Instector Clouseau. You are under arrest. Your men haf been defeated by the martial arts prowess of my companions. You will now be under police custody. Come with us quietly."

X looks at the strange little man, the monitors and equipment attached to his body and snorts in laughter.

The pusher comes forward and pulls a set of cuffs out and attaches it to the bed and his arm.

"That should be sufficient, inspector."

"Yes. Quite."

Armed and armored guards come in, including a police physician, and the crime fighters leave to go after their next target.

Time passes.

[Vahktang]

place holder

Edited October 24, 2004 by Vahktang

[Vahktang]

Any evidence available at 'The Skins' is destroyed when his house goes up.

Authorities believe a 'scuttling' charge, set by his minions upon his death.

Trace evidence leads the explosives back to certain recent IRA bombings, which lend itself to the idea that 'The Skin' supplied the semtex.

 

At Tai Rong Xiang:

Her friend and companion of 20 years is now made out of vegtables.

She looks around the restaurant.

They were, to a patron, and including all staff, her long time people. Trusted. And fearful of her.

And yet, here she was on an unwanted 'trip'.

It was not as if she had not been on a trip before.

She dranks some water from a passing glass, blue, floating in mid air.

A thought occured to her.

'The people who did this must pay. I am not in my right mind now and they must pay for doing this. And who must pay? All must pay. Gator, X, Heartbreaker, Widow, and (the last with a sneer) Shakura.'

 

A report comes out that a number of charities have money discrpencies, that they had been contributing to money laundering and other criminal activities. Those with ties to the money say that they were forced to for fear for their lives of them and their families and point towards recent injuries in their families in the same time periods. Clouseau crime fighters are investigating.

 

At Saria's:

"Mistress, we have news."

"I have already seen the doctored photos of Shakura. Everyone got them. Embarrassing, but without humor. And if I hear of one person commenting along the lines 'an animal lover' they _will_ regret it."

"Not that. Rumours. An affair between you and another."

'So, it is finally out', she thinks.

"It is by now a common rumour that you a linked romanically, uh, sexually, and professionally with Vinny "The X-Terminator" Nolen."

 

At Heartbreaker's, he and his chief lieutenant are looking at some items they recently received. Photos of the Shakura in pornographic positions and with nearly unimaginable partners and devices.

"Sure, those are fake. But those over there are real."

Heartbreaker laughs at the crude joke.

A man enters the study unsent for, sweat poring off of him.

A lieutenant looks at him angrily and barks at him.

"Out with it."

"Well, Heartbreaker, sir, you always said the only thing worse than bad news is not hearing bad news immediatly."

Heartbreaker looks up from his one particularly interesting shot.

"Well?"

"You're sister's been kidnapped."

Heartbreaker stands.

"Molly? Where the hell are her bodyguards? I'll kill them-"

"Too late sir. They're all dead, too."

"Then how do you know she's not dead?"

"This was left at the scene."

The man puts a small paper package down on the table. It's bottom is wet.

Unwrapping it is slow and painful for him, fear of what's in the package, fear of Heartbreaker.

Finally, the crime boss can see it.

"Molly's tattoo. From her back, she's been skinned."

"Death throes from _his_ organization," says a lieutenant. "They'll ask for cash, territory or safety and we'll get her back."

"And then we skin them anyway. Yeah. I like that. They'll pay for touching my sister."

 

The Gator is attacked by a group with ties to the Aryan Brotherhood, a white supremist prison gang. He escapes with two limbs shot, one bodyguard dead, and six dead attackers.

[Vahktang]

For weeks now, X has been supremely sequestered.

A lawyer had been appointed him, competent and above reproach, but not his lawyer.

The guards around him had been transferred from around the world, and none shared a language with X.

He had no contact with his organization.

Finally, he is taken out of his cell out of schedule and led to a interview room.

The door is opened and sitting there is a man dressed in a dark black suit, sunglasses over his eyes, smoking.

The door is closed but X remains shackled.

"Mr. Smith, I presume," says X.

Smith does not smile but does offer X a seat and a cigarette, which he accepts both.

X begins.

"What's the plan? I know this is too public and too much to make disappear. I figure you have a new prison being built somewhere. Send me there and then keep the populatio to a minimal. I can work my organization from in there for a while. Ship in what I need. A multi floor jail cell, that sort of thing."

Mr. Smith is silent for too long, then finally stubs out his cigarrette.

"We're cutting you loose, X."

X stands again.

"What? For all I did for you? After all I gave you? You owe me big time."

Smith calmly lights another cigarette.

"Sit down, X. You didn't do a thing for us that didn't benefit you even more. Even think about making trouble and you'll be released into general population. A lot of people can make a lot of cigarettes by putting a blade in you.

"Just retire. Nice safe solitary for the rest of your life."

Smith gets up to leave.

X glares at him, held down by his restraints.

"This isn't over. I NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER SURRENDER!"

The door closes on Smith. X is alone.

[Tanuchan]

At Saria's:

"Mistress, we have news."

"I have already seen the doctored photos of Shakura. Everyone got them. Embarrassing, but without humor. And if I hear of one person commenting along the lines 'an animal lover' they _will_ regret it."

"Not that. Rumours. An affair between you and another."

'So, it is finally out', she thinks.

"It is by now a common rumour that you a linked romanically, uh, sexually, and professionally with Vinny "The X-Terminator" Nolen."

Saria is so stunned that she actually laughs a full minute after hearing that.

 

"So, that are the rumors? Well, let them go on. But see that you find out who started them, and make sure that they lose their taste for gossip."

 

The man gulps and leaves in a hurry, knowing well the meaning of the cold glint in his Mistress' eyes.

 

"Now, for more important things. Paolo! Mariah! Arlane!"

 

All three enter in a hurry, and Saria stands up.

 

"Our suspicions have been confirmed. My deep network of information, the same one that pointed out Mickey "The Skin" as the one behind all the attacks on every single boss, has found his ally. Find all the bosses. Tai Rong Xiang, The Opium Lotus, is our target now. This," she rests a delicate hand over a thick dossier, "is our proof. She is doomed."

 

"Will they believe you, m'lady? Others have come with doctored proof before."

 

"If I die, the dossier will come out. Then they will believe. Shamus wanted to protect me and come out with the dossier on Mickey; I made him not to. I didn't completely trust X even when it was quite clear from his position against Mickey that he wouldn't be the ally; I hope he forgive me, as I know he also has tried to protect me. I owe both of them a lot. We will be helping Shamus finding Molly, but if you touch anyone involved on that after they're caught alive, I will hand you to him. Shamus is the one who will decide on their fate, understood?"

 

"Yes, m'lady. It will be so. And X?"

 

"See if we find anything about his whereabouts, see if we can help him or if he needs us. Keep the customary channels open for his communication."

 

"The Sakura, who sided with The Lotus?" Paolo snickers.

 

"That is my problem, Paolo. Go, you all know what to do."

[Lady Celes Crusader]

Tai Rong Xiang checks over what drugged her recently. Her long time expertise on drugs made her realized that the substance is PCP, of a cheap quality on top of that. However, the headache was too strong and she have an hard time to think clear. She decides to phone the Widow.

 

- Greetings Widow. I apologizes if I do not sound like myself but I need to talk with you at a neutral place. What about this cafe of yours? As soon as possible. I'll wait for you over there but mind you, I wont be alone and I suggest that you shouldn't come alone neither... we cant trust anyone these days. I'll wait for you patiently.

 

The Lotus hangs up the phone and yells some orders at her servants. She heads for the café.

[Tanuchan]

Saria hangs up with a pensive face, while both Paolo and Mariah wait in silence.

 

"Mariah, I want you and Arlene ready for... battle, let's say. Paolo, I need about 10 of the best guys with me and as many as necessary around the cafe."

 

"You are goint, then. It's a trap, m'lady..."

 

"Probably. However, I am curious. She sounded genuinely ill. She chose a cafe that's pretty my territory, even if we call it 'netural'. It is a public place, so if anything happens, police will be warned quickly by any panicky patron. She even tells me that she will take people with her."

 

"It's pretty uncharacteristic of the Lotus, I agree..."

 

Saria nods to Paolo. "Yes. As I said, I'm curious to know what game she's playing right now. Contact The Gator and whoever's taking care of Shamus' business while he's hunting down Molly's kidnappers. By the way, any news on that?"

 

"No, m'lady. He's uncharacteristically silent."

 

As he should be. Just be careful, Shamus... Aloud, Saria completes, "If anything happens to me, you know what to do."

 

 

Some time later Saria arrives with Mariah, who positions herself in a table next to Saria and Lotus' . Others come soon after, quickly picking several tables around them and near the entrance.

 

Saria sits, examining in silence the very fragile woman sitting in front of her. The Lotus is obviously ill, although trying to hold herself together in her typical Chinese dignity.

 

I recognize at least 3 of her assassins... She glances around surreptitiously, letting her sharp mind register the faces in the shadows. What means that she must have at least twice that humber aroun. Paolo has better have them covered.

 

"Good afternoon, Lotus. So, what did you want to talk to me in such an urgently way?"

[YanYanGanaffi]

*Across the street in a room overlooking the cafe, the Gator places the crosshairs of a silenced SVD sniper rifle on the Lotus' chest. Just as Saria sits down, the Gator fires a paint bullet at the Lotus through an open cafe window, hitting her square in the chest. Pressing a remote control device, a tape recorder that was taped underneath the table plays," Neener-neener-neener!" When the tape finished, Gator pressed another button on the control, setting off the flash bang and the smoke grenade that was rigged under the Lotus' chair. Moving quickly, the Gator runs to a fire escape on the back side of the building, down to a waiting car. Hearing police sirens in the background, he's genuinely impressed at how fast the police reacted to the false bomb threat he called into them involving the cafe right before he shot the Lotus. After calling into his contacts and men, he constructed an alibi that would keep the cops off of him.*

Edited October 25, 2004 by YanYanGanaffi

[Lady Celes Crusader]

(OOC: I'll make a post describing the action before and after Yan-Yan's post)

 

When Saria arrives, Tai knew exactly how many men she brought with her and especially whom she brought along. The Widow started the conversation.

 

- Good afternoon, Lotus. So, what did you want to talk to me in such an urgently way?

 

- Good afternoon, Widow. It seems that whoever is after our skins, is very persistent in his or hers own method. Poisoning my existence while spicing up yours with explosion. I am aware that I unwillingly supported one who plotted against us all. Is my grand archrival is behind this? I can't really tell. However, the other one seems to favor crude methods. Remember the radioactive poison?

 

Saria sights at the thought of the caricatural poison.

 

- Lotus, whom do you think had done it then?

 

Before Tai answers she get shot at the chest and both hears the obnoxious tape. During the rocus caused by the gas, all bodyguards draggued their respective bosses away. On a roof top, away from the Café, both ladies meet up again with all their men along. One of the Chinese assassins express her worries about Tai's health but the Lotus quickly reassures her.

 

- Hum... The Gator have interesting ways of showing me his distrust. I hope that you didn't planned this along with him because his ways are... crude. So far, you didn't dissapointed me.

 

Tai dusted up herself in her typical dignified way.

 

- Widow, I honestly wonder if this chaos will stop with the other traitor's death because. All this costed us a price that only a mad one could pay.

 

Tai grabs her head. Then throws off her cellphone.

 

- My apologies, but I need to rest. As for communication, my men cannot be rigged.

 

Her assassins bows respectuously to the Widow and leaves with Tai Rong Xiang for a safer place.

[Vahktang]

The phone rings and Jackie answers it, speaking Cantonese.

Clouseau looks on.

Finally, Jackie hangs up.

"What is it, Kato?"

"I am not Kato, Inspector," he says, exasperated. "My name is-"

"Tut," says Clouseau, interrupting. "Calm yourself. And tell me what was said on the phone."

"Our informant says that he has another copy of the death of van Rensburg. From another angle."

"Ah, good. We will gladly accept it. It is too bad that with all our efforts the X-Terminator himself has not given us a thing. We have made offers but he seems to rather face the death penalty and stay silent rather than stay alive.

Clouseau rolls himself to a tea service in the room.

"And he will get life without parole. After all these years, hard evidence of 'The X-terminator's' crimes. Isn't it ironic that the man known throughout the underwold for hating informers has, himself, been done in by an informer?"

"No, that is not ironic. Ironic is when-"

"Tut," Clouseau says over his tea. "Listen and learn, Kato. Listen and learn."

The asian man throws up his hands in frustration and stalks out of the room.

[Vahktang]

Shamus was incensed over the kidnapping over his sister.

Despite the predictions, no ransom was ever asked.

But every day another piece of skin was left at one of his businesses.

For nearly two weeks.

He was enraged, snapping at everything.

Analysis showed that she was still alive, and there was rock salt and alcohol at the edge of the skin, meaning they were sometime spraying the raw areas with the astringents, further causing her pain.

[Vahktang]

The Opium Lotus looks over her city, her homeland.

Millions in the city and she had influence with almost everyone of them.

And here she was in 'The Castle', nearly 100 stories tall, a bastion of capitalism.

A massive building, ultimately secure.

The wine in her hand was more per bottle than the average yearly income of the ones below.

"How goes things," she asks a minion.

"Heartbreaker still searches for his sister. He is desolated and impotent."

"Good. And we didn't even do that one."

The Opium Lotus sipped her wine, savoring it. The glass was clear cut crystal, beautiful and functional.

"The Shakura is off chassing her tail. Not on the scope. We believe she is hiding until this blows over."

"Good."

"The Gator-"

"Never mind him. Beneath our notice."

She dips her finger in the wine and runs her finger over the rim. A soft, sweet sound comes forth.

"Yes, ma'am. The Black Widow has been investigating you in particular. We have planted false information, but we fear her resources are too far reaching."

"We must eliminate her as we have the others. One of our artists will meet her personally, maybe a franchise opportunity. Then, our artist will show The Black Widow her heart."

She looks at the wine in the bright sunlight and notices a red line reflected in the glass.

She ponders it a moment and doesn't notice the missle hit the building, oblitering her entire floor, damaging the ones above and below, cause massive destruction in the structure.

The Gator put down his laser 'painter' device that guided the missle into the building, taking off the earphones that allowed the laser to let him hear what was going on inside the building. It had taken him hours of searching and waiting for her to get in the right position.

"That's for beneath your notice."

He picks up his equipment and starts for the way down and out of the city.