Heart Empire- 12:00AM Tuesday, whatever the year was.
Shadows danced on the edges of dimly lit streets as dames with svelte legs pranced about in their heels. Whispers of danger lingered in the air that there was a hunter in town. A bounty hunter known as the Iron lady. Only a fool would be out an about with a bounty on their head when she was around.
The gentle sound of her armored plates rubbing against each other echoed her determination outward into the night. She was the kind of damed who walked with purpose, power, and hunger. Hunger not un-akin to that of a wolf. Abreast a relentless desire for justice the woman turned the corner into an alley way, the street walks only catching the light reflect off her metallic armor before knowing exactly who she was. Fleeing like scared mice they'd skitter back into the shadows from once they came to alert their masters of her arrival.
It was her 14th job in the bounty hunters guild of Heart Empire and she had quickly become the go-to when the guild needed someone to venture into the dark alleys and track down the worst.
The case was a tough one- a missing ninja from Tea Country, a criminal with a rap sheet longer than the empire's history... which come to think of it wasn't all that long. This wasn't just any ninja; he was a mob boss, a puppet master pulling strings from the shadows. The kind of guy who left a trail of bodies in his wake, but somehow managed to vanish without a trace when the authorities closed in.
Once a detective caught him. The charges didn't stick.
From the corner of her eyes something moved. A man, not quite in his right mind, and not quite quick enough to react and read the air around him. Her purposeful steps changed, their cadence completely different, pitt patt, pitt patt, pitt pitt patt patt, pipat pipat pipat pipa- boom. With rapid acceleration Rio's arm sank into the neck of the man pinning him to the wall behind him faster than he could react.
"Where is he- Farukone" she said as the man rolled his eyes into the back of his head and gaggled. His mind was beyond useless. Perhaps she could clarify things.
Her left hand took hold of his finger and applied pressure ever so slightly till a loud snap could audibly be herd. He had nine more fingers and if the first one didn't do the trick, one of them would. As the man moaned out in pain his regrets surfaced. He whispered something to Rio, inaudible to even us... and then, looked at her. Without mercy the girl dragged a blade against his neck and threw his limp body of her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
He was a wanted man- warm or cold. For the crimes he had committed cold seemed acceptable to Rio. Rio let out a sigh as she made her way to collect on the bounty, then her way back to her temporary office in this hell hole of a town.
Her office was a dimly lit room above a forgotten enka club, was adorned with the trophies of her past victories. Wanted posters, newspaper clippings, and a map with red strings connecting the dots—a cartographer's nightmare that told the tale of her relentless pursuit for justice and the men she tracked down. Carelessly she threw her helmet over to the couch as the door shut before her, it's fuuin auto-locking it.
Approaching the dark, dingy window of her office that somehow shined with the city lights, Rio procured a flask from her desk. It was whisky- Yamazaki malt. The kind her father loved. He always drank it to celebrate a bounty, and in ways, it let her feel closer to him. It wasn't like she could get drunk anyways with her bodies super-metabolism.
Taking a sigh she looked out the window into the streets. A stray dog. A homeless man. A street walker. Two men changing goods in hands.
The Heart Empire was restless, and the underworld's silence only fueled the tension. It was an odd time to be in the rising empire and the edge of Tea Country. The locals were tight-lipped, the streets unforgiving. She packed her bags, a weathered fedora perched on her head, and a trench coat that billowed in the wind like the cape of a dark avenger. Beneath it a red slim dress, form fitting. There were things Rio the Lady of Steel couldn't do, and for those, someone else needed to act.
Moving through the crowded underbelly markets and narrow alleys, her sharp eyes scanning faces for any hint of recognition. It wasn't long before whispers led her to the the hidden dens and secret meeting places where criminals gathered like vultures over a carcass. It was a club- and she knew just the way to get in. Ditching the fedora and opening her trench coat she revealed the woman she had always been beneath the armor. Demure, beautiful. Young. Everything a low-life scum lord would want.
The journey into the club was a maze of deception and danger. One false move and they would figure out who she was. She smiled, batted her eyes, and did everything she needed to make her way through the club.
That was one Farukone's lieutenant spotted her. It wasn't a look outs eye that caught her- it was that of an inebriated man.
The might was young.
---
932
Tea Noir
-
Taiga
- Raikage
- Posts: 11345
- Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2011 8:00 pm
- Location: Database
- User flair: Why saigen people?!?
Tea Noir
The night was young and the pulsating rhythm of enka music seeped through the walls of the club. The belting sounds of a lone middle-aged women and the reverberations of the band that backed her were as thick in the air as the smell of smoke off of the gangsters cigars.
Rio, now in her undercover persona, weaved through the crowd with the grace of a dancer, her red dress drawing glances from every direction. The lieutenant, a burly man with a scarred face, approached with a swagger that matched the arrogance of those who believed they held power in the underworld. Men who thought they were powerful.
He offered her a drink, and Rio, playing the part to perfection, accepted with a coy smile. As the liquid courage flowed, so did the lieutenant's loose lips. While Rio stayed exactly as is, her metabolism destroying the foreign bodies of alcohol at the shores of her gut... the man became worse and worser for ware. He bragged about the missing ninja, the puppet master they all served. The mob boss's name was Farukone, a shadowy figure who controlled Tea Country's criminal empire with an iron fist.
With every sip and flirtatious exchange, Rio gathered valuable information. The lieutenant was too enamored with the charming facade to notice that he was feeding the Lady of Steel the very details she needed. What a useless guard he had been.
She batted her eyes and twirled her hair on her finger, bitting her lip.
"I don't understand, so you work for some kind of boss and move his goods around some warehouse near the bay?" she said coyly with a stupid voice. The lieutenant smiled ear to ear as he grinned, and explained again. Every time. Farukone's operations, his hideout, and the next moves of the criminal chessboard were all laid bare on the table.
As the night wore on, Rio excused herself, leaving the lieutenant yearning for more. She slipped back into the dark alleyways, donned her trench coat and fedora once again, and vanished like a phantom into the night.
She had miscalculated one thing though; this Lieutenant knew her face. While he was drunk- those around him in the club were not, and surely, whether she was a dumb bimbo or not, they did not like the fact he had said so much to this guest. That night, the poor lieutenant, or the pieces of him anyways, would find themselves scattered on the dusty streets of the town to be eaten by sand worms and stray dogs.
Fuck.
Rio awoke to the intense heat that engulfed her room, a orange glow coming in through her window and from the other side of her door, either side engulfing her in it's warm glow. The room was hazy, magnifying the orange light, and proving troublesome for Rio as she coughed. Her building. Her office... it was on fire.
Scrambling to grab everything she could she put her helmet and armor on as the flames began to spread into her room. The door. The bottle of whisky- it exploded from the flames.
No.
Reaching into her desk she grabbed what she could and turned to the window. Lowering her shoulder she lept through it, crashing through it and down three stories to the ground. She managed to roll a little, but not to the extent it would fully block the force of the hit. Luckily her armor did some work. Laying flat on her back she looked up as the windows, the remaining ones exploded, her office destroyed.
And then she saw something- a bat. Before she could flip off her back and into combat the bat came down hitting her on the head and in the side with a powerful thud, and she was dragged off into the night.
A stray dog sat by the corner, whimpering. The hookers? They didn't care. The men doing shady deals? They saw nothing. The city healed as quick as it was hurt and was indifferent to the acts that had transpired.
---
682
Rio, now in her undercover persona, weaved through the crowd with the grace of a dancer, her red dress drawing glances from every direction. The lieutenant, a burly man with a scarred face, approached with a swagger that matched the arrogance of those who believed they held power in the underworld. Men who thought they were powerful.
He offered her a drink, and Rio, playing the part to perfection, accepted with a coy smile. As the liquid courage flowed, so did the lieutenant's loose lips. While Rio stayed exactly as is, her metabolism destroying the foreign bodies of alcohol at the shores of her gut... the man became worse and worser for ware. He bragged about the missing ninja, the puppet master they all served. The mob boss's name was Farukone, a shadowy figure who controlled Tea Country's criminal empire with an iron fist.
With every sip and flirtatious exchange, Rio gathered valuable information. The lieutenant was too enamored with the charming facade to notice that he was feeding the Lady of Steel the very details she needed. What a useless guard he had been.
She batted her eyes and twirled her hair on her finger, bitting her lip.
"I don't understand, so you work for some kind of boss and move his goods around some warehouse near the bay?" she said coyly with a stupid voice. The lieutenant smiled ear to ear as he grinned, and explained again. Every time. Farukone's operations, his hideout, and the next moves of the criminal chessboard were all laid bare on the table.
As the night wore on, Rio excused herself, leaving the lieutenant yearning for more. She slipped back into the dark alleyways, donned her trench coat and fedora once again, and vanished like a phantom into the night.
She had miscalculated one thing though; this Lieutenant knew her face. While he was drunk- those around him in the club were not, and surely, whether she was a dumb bimbo or not, they did not like the fact he had said so much to this guest. That night, the poor lieutenant, or the pieces of him anyways, would find themselves scattered on the dusty streets of the town to be eaten by sand worms and stray dogs.
Fuck.
Rio awoke to the intense heat that engulfed her room, a orange glow coming in through her window and from the other side of her door, either side engulfing her in it's warm glow. The room was hazy, magnifying the orange light, and proving troublesome for Rio as she coughed. Her building. Her office... it was on fire.
Scrambling to grab everything she could she put her helmet and armor on as the flames began to spread into her room. The door. The bottle of whisky- it exploded from the flames.
No.
Reaching into her desk she grabbed what she could and turned to the window. Lowering her shoulder she lept through it, crashing through it and down three stories to the ground. She managed to roll a little, but not to the extent it would fully block the force of the hit. Luckily her armor did some work. Laying flat on her back she looked up as the windows, the remaining ones exploded, her office destroyed.
And then she saw something- a bat. Before she could flip off her back and into combat the bat came down hitting her on the head and in the side with a powerful thud, and she was dragged off into the night.
A stray dog sat by the corner, whimpering. The hookers? They didn't care. The men doing shady deals? They saw nothing. The city healed as quick as it was hurt and was indifferent to the acts that had transpired.
---
682
Last edited by Taiga on Sun Nov 12, 2023 9:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
[Le Other Ones]
Gang Hua, Chihiro
-
Taiga
- Raikage
- Posts: 11345
- Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2011 8:00 pm
- Location: Database
- User flair: Why saigen people?!?
Tea Noir
When the world returned from the black abyss that was her unconsciousness, Rio realized she was tied to a chair. Her face was wet; her head was pounding. Her lip tasted like copper and a mix of metals- and it was then that she realized was was going on. Shaking off the grogginess as her vision came too she could feel the caked blood on her forehead- but only in the way such that her skin felt it. Her hands and legs were otherwise tied and wouldn't feel anything but the colds steel of a folding chair and the ropes and chains that bound them. Shaking her body with all her strength she struggled to do anything.
Looking down she was completely naked, sitting in the chair. Her mouth was gagged. A voice echoed through the building.
"So, you wanted to meet Farukone, huh?" the va thick Tea Country accented voice said. There was a long laugh and some hooting and hollering. "Not bad, not bad gurlie." a voice said as a man emerged from the shadows. He was in a decadent suit and at his belt was a knife, a hammer, and a few other tools. He particularly seemed to have a pliers in his hand as he walked towards Rio. She tried to hold her head up but was a little light headed from blood loss.
Gripping her by the hair he held her head up.
"So you think you're some kind of hero or something?" he said as he pulled her hair back and put her head up. He looked into her eyes with a ferocity as he reached down for her hand, placing the pliers on her nail, either side under her nailbed and over the top of the nail. Her eyes grew large.
She anticipated the pain.
"Not so tough without all that gear, are you Iron Lady?" he said with a wicked laugh. The anticipation grew as she winced, but finally, felt no pain. He released her hair and walked away without harming her, merely saying, "I think my boys will have more fun torturing a welp like you than me." as he disappeared into the shadows once more.
Rio was starting to wake up a little more, and the room of men surrounding her was sending her adrenaline sky rocketing. Oh, these were sick fucks. Taking a deep breath Rio closed her eyes as the first man, holding the thing in his hand, touched the side of her face with his hand gently.
Now.
They hadn't known that Rio was not normal. Whatever drug they had given her was out of her body. Whatever harmed they inflicted on her she'd endure. And, what they didn't know, was her hair was special. The grey hair whipped off her head growing like some kind of monster symbiote. Tendrils everywhere. The first tendril grabbed the stick right from the creep who was touching hers hand- ripping his hand off with it. The immense inhuman strength was her rage. Jamming it up his rear, the guy fell backward as the rest looked on horrified. The next tendril grabbed a guys throat and ripped it out, as the next bit of hair grew out on the ground and to the table of torture tools.
Before long a storm of steel and hair swung through the room as Rio's hair executed every last gangster in the room, and then broke her bindings. Rising from the chair and cracking her knuckles and jaw she looked at the mayhem. She was going to be really rich- cause Farukone was right. She wasn't a hero. She was a bounty hunter and each one of these scumbags had a price on them- cold included.
Stepping through the blood puddles the would be victim-turned-hunter's hair surrounded her body, weaving around it and forming clothing similar to a jumpsuit, before breaking off, and returning to its normal height, leaving her clothed in a strong armor of her chakra-infused hair.
Walking by the table she picked up a hammer and a pick. What a novel weapon. By now, Farukone had heard the screams and mayhem, and predictably, he was running like a little bitch. When Rio turned the corner he was loading up his saddles and his horse with two lackeys besides him.
"Hey Fatso." Rio said, nothing with rage, but with a burning and intense desire for the justice she had sworn to deliver to this sick town.
A bead of sweat rolled down Faurkone's hair as he turned to face her, and his lackeys on their horses turned too. They had been so busy getting the saddles loaded not a single one of them was armed- least not a weapon in hand, their crossbows at their waists.
Rio whistled.
The lackey to the left reached for his weapon and in that very moment with an unbelievable twitch reflex, Rio flicked the pick towards him. In a single motion the needle like point had been turned into a blade of sorts as all the fingers on the mans right hand slid off and fell to the ground as he screamed in horror. The right guy came next as Farukone panicked, turning to try and get onto the horse, but failing to hoist his fat ass up there.
Before he could point the cross-bow Rio threw a hammer at his head. It crushed his skull with a "thunk" as he fell off the horse and the hammer ricocheted off his head and straight into leg of Farukone, who fell to the ground writhing in pain with a crushed femur.
Rio slowly approached him.
Without a single word, she pulled him by his hair and pointed his face to hers, then, sucker punched him, laying him out cold. The horses neighed. Wasn't their fault the humans who rode them were shit holes. Tying Farukone to one of the horses, she took its reins and hopped onto the other one and took off. It was time to get her bounty.
The remaining horse ran off into the night, free of his saddle thanks to Rio of course.
1027
Looking down she was completely naked, sitting in the chair. Her mouth was gagged. A voice echoed through the building.
"So, you wanted to meet Farukone, huh?" the va thick Tea Country accented voice said. There was a long laugh and some hooting and hollering. "Not bad, not bad gurlie." a voice said as a man emerged from the shadows. He was in a decadent suit and at his belt was a knife, a hammer, and a few other tools. He particularly seemed to have a pliers in his hand as he walked towards Rio. She tried to hold her head up but was a little light headed from blood loss.
Gripping her by the hair he held her head up.
"So you think you're some kind of hero or something?" he said as he pulled her hair back and put her head up. He looked into her eyes with a ferocity as he reached down for her hand, placing the pliers on her nail, either side under her nailbed and over the top of the nail. Her eyes grew large.
She anticipated the pain.
"Not so tough without all that gear, are you Iron Lady?" he said with a wicked laugh. The anticipation grew as she winced, but finally, felt no pain. He released her hair and walked away without harming her, merely saying, "I think my boys will have more fun torturing a welp like you than me." as he disappeared into the shadows once more.
Rio was starting to wake up a little more, and the room of men surrounding her was sending her adrenaline sky rocketing. Oh, these were sick fucks. Taking a deep breath Rio closed her eyes as the first man, holding the thing in his hand, touched the side of her face with his hand gently.
Now.
They hadn't known that Rio was not normal. Whatever drug they had given her was out of her body. Whatever harmed they inflicted on her she'd endure. And, what they didn't know, was her hair was special. The grey hair whipped off her head growing like some kind of monster symbiote. Tendrils everywhere. The first tendril grabbed the stick right from the creep who was touching hers hand- ripping his hand off with it. The immense inhuman strength was her rage. Jamming it up his rear, the guy fell backward as the rest looked on horrified. The next tendril grabbed a guys throat and ripped it out, as the next bit of hair grew out on the ground and to the table of torture tools.
Before long a storm of steel and hair swung through the room as Rio's hair executed every last gangster in the room, and then broke her bindings. Rising from the chair and cracking her knuckles and jaw she looked at the mayhem. She was going to be really rich- cause Farukone was right. She wasn't a hero. She was a bounty hunter and each one of these scumbags had a price on them- cold included.
Stepping through the blood puddles the would be victim-turned-hunter's hair surrounded her body, weaving around it and forming clothing similar to a jumpsuit, before breaking off, and returning to its normal height, leaving her clothed in a strong armor of her chakra-infused hair.
Walking by the table she picked up a hammer and a pick. What a novel weapon. By now, Farukone had heard the screams and mayhem, and predictably, he was running like a little bitch. When Rio turned the corner he was loading up his saddles and his horse with two lackeys besides him.
"Hey Fatso." Rio said, nothing with rage, but with a burning and intense desire for the justice she had sworn to deliver to this sick town.
A bead of sweat rolled down Faurkone's hair as he turned to face her, and his lackeys on their horses turned too. They had been so busy getting the saddles loaded not a single one of them was armed- least not a weapon in hand, their crossbows at their waists.
Rio whistled.
The lackey to the left reached for his weapon and in that very moment with an unbelievable twitch reflex, Rio flicked the pick towards him. In a single motion the needle like point had been turned into a blade of sorts as all the fingers on the mans right hand slid off and fell to the ground as he screamed in horror. The right guy came next as Farukone panicked, turning to try and get onto the horse, but failing to hoist his fat ass up there.
Before he could point the cross-bow Rio threw a hammer at his head. It crushed his skull with a "thunk" as he fell off the horse and the hammer ricocheted off his head and straight into leg of Farukone, who fell to the ground writhing in pain with a crushed femur.
Rio slowly approached him.
Without a single word, she pulled him by his hair and pointed his face to hers, then, sucker punched him, laying him out cold. The horses neighed. Wasn't their fault the humans who rode them were shit holes. Tying Farukone to one of the horses, she took its reins and hopped onto the other one and took off. It was time to get her bounty.
The remaining horse ran off into the night, free of his saddle thanks to Rio of course.
1027
Last edited by Taiga on Sun Nov 12, 2023 9:52 am, edited 2 times in total.
[Le Other Ones]
Gang Hua, Chihiro