Participants:
Scene Title | Battle Without Honor Or Humanity |
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Synopsis | Kimiko is kidnapped by Huruma and Jake. |
Date | May 18, 2009 |
Tokyo, Japan
As it would happen, the Nakamura Estate has been watched to establish people's routines. In an age of wireless and bluetooth, it's not difficult for people to stay put wherever they are. But in Japan, some things require a certain amount of face time, and as a result, the Yamagato Fellowship has requested that Kimiko make her way into the office, despite the very early/late? hour.
As such, the gates to the Nakamura estate open, and a single, red clad rider on a Honda VFR800 - also red. It makes its way toward the corporate heart of Tokyo at best possible speed.
Jake's place in this little operation is to be watching a small monitor to track the movements of his quarry. And not just his quarry either. He has a radio headset on and responds to a movement tracker application that alerts him to that quarry's very movement. "Hooma." because he likes to call her Hooma out of some kind of sense of amusement. Jake's decided he kinda likes Huruma. "We got movement. Coming fast past normal traffic flow into Tokyo center. Probably on a motorcycle judging by the path. Picking up this feed?"
He's currently at the wheel of a van parked unobtrusively at the roof of a parking garage so it gets good reception yet is centrally located.
"Huruma." Jake is not allowed to use lovable nicknames, yet he does anyway. Huruma constantly reprimands him by saying her name back every single time. It is a constant and likely unlearnable lesson.
"I've got it." The visor on her black bike helmet is up, and in one hand she holds a small contraption that is receiving the same feed, though marginally less clear. The inside of her helmet is fitted with a radio, to which she replies again. "D'you'ave the roadblocks in place?" Huruma, physically, is straddling a rather monstrous black and chrome motorcycle in a restful by-street; despite her height having to get her used to rides, she seems to have found a comfortable niche with the Rocket III. The duller sheen of leather clothing wraps her in a glow underneath the Tokyo streetlights, and at least a pair of goons for this trip idle on smaller, more colorful bikes at her flank. "If everyone is in place, then they jus'need t'make sure they divert her wit'out a problem…"
It's not unusual for there to be others on the road at this late hour, and bikes are very popular amongst a certain set. Initially, Kimiko doesn't think anything of the first roadblock she sees, and detours accordingly. It'll only take her a few minutes out of her way before getting back and course, she believes.
Part of Jake wonders if Huruma thinks he might just not be able to pronounce her name. Oh, he can. But her insistence makes him grin silently on his end. "Units confirm positions."
One by one about three checkpoints radio back that they do indeed have likely avenues to the Yamagato Building blocked. These are no overt actual ROADBLOCKS, but construction crews manned by paid thugs. Adam's surprising connections in the area allowed for this sort of setup. It's all rather impressive.
One of the crews radios back a description of Kimiko Nakamura and her bike. Jake's on the air immediately after that, "Darlin', we got contact at the northeast block, turned to head along the west route. Intercept when ready." For his part Jake starts the van and starts moving. He knows where he plans to be at the end of this chase.
She knows he can. She knows jostling when it comes up. The two at her flank do the same, and she is confident that any of the others along the way are itching to speed out from respective hiding places. Tucking the little screen into the front of her jacket, Huruma rights herself on the bike and flicks down her visor, picking up her boots and revving the bike alive once again. "Thrusters on full." Huruma's words come with a measure of their own amusement, just before she pulls ahead and out into late-night Tokyo traffic.
The two with her pull far enough out afterwards so that they stay close, but only just close enough to be able to follow and not be left behind. The bigger bike pulls out down the next section of street with a roar, and now they're in business- the three will likely come up to Kimiko's trail within just a minute or so, the first visible one being Huruma, with no obvious goons in sight.
At the second diversion Kimiko becomes concerned. By the third, she's downright suspiscious. Still she presses forward, not without noticing that another bike has come up behind her. For the moment she's wary but not prepared to act in alarm, her face hidden by her visor as she continues to follow the road at a good clip and speaks into her bluetooth: "Dial Hiro."
The phone dials. Rings. Rings. Hiro's voicemail picks up. Leave a message. All that business.
There are indeed no goons in sight just yet, but Jake's coordinating them. Telling them where to go, where to be. The route. He gently steers the van he's in down, down the garage, and punches out at the exit, handing over some yen notes to the parking attendant with a grin and a wave.
It is hard to not become nervous when there is something out of Ghost Rider seemingly following you out of downtown Tokyo. Ahead, behind a few other outbound vehicles, are the bikes that had been behind Huruma before. They came in like little darts from the on-ramps.
A new rumble comes from down the road, and the Rocket trailing behind is gaining some considerable speed, and at a quick pace. Suspicious, very obviously, as now Huruma's presence is like a shimmering inkblot spilling over the middle of the left lane.
"Hiro, it is Kimiko. I've just past the Tendo/Tokugaway overpass, and there are too many roadblocks…call me please! End call." The person coming up on side of her? Yeah, not good. Kimiko shifts her position a little in her seat, changes gears, and ramps up her speed. Even with roadblocks, this is still her city. Perhaps it's just her imagination, but why take a chance? At best, she'll just wind up with a ticket for being reckless. She's had plenty of those, not that Hiro would ever know!
Blithely Jake drives peacefully down the roadway. Doing the limit. Obeying the signs. Singing quietly to himself in the tone of I Love Rock-n-Roll, "…I love hand-to-hand…stab-em-in-the-heart with my ka-bar baby…"
Muscles tensing beneath the leather, Huruma shifts when Kimiko shifts, changing gears in an almost perfect mirror. Then comes the new burst of speed, and Huruma clips up on Kimiko's side like a shadow, lights gleaming off of the malicious V-shaped curve of her visor. Not only following you, Kimiko. Does the rider want a race?
Or perhaps just causing trouble? It is hard to discern Huruma's speeding intentions when all that comes to the ears is the roar of both respective engines.
Normally, Kimiko would be game for racing, except this and the detour and the precarious position she knows her family to be in has her being overcautious. And that results in: even more speed. At her first opportunity, she takes a sharp turn, her bike pitching low to the side before coming up again, as she says through clenched teeth, "Dial Hiro!"
Hiro's phone doesn't pick up. Hiro is no help at all right now. Dammit Hiro, what are you doing?!
As if out of nowhere two goons on motorcycles, not as cool as Huruma's, appear and come up fast behind the pair. Their faces are obscured by black helmets, wearing black leather bodysuits. They're riding black rice-rockets with red detail work. They use hand signals to communicate and one comes up to flank Kimiko on the side opposite Huruma.
Letting Kimiko take the lead for the moment, Huruma has just a little more leeway in turning that sudden corner after her when she goes, the Doppler echoes clanging off of surroundings. The turn takes Huruma a bit more slowly, her and the bike's weight swinging like a roving pendulum; when she straightens, Huruma rockets up after Kimiko once again. Dial Hiro this, Dial Hiro that. Late to be calling for help when the wolf is nipping at your heels.
The colorful darts of the other bikes turn heel when the women behind them zip into that turn, circling around to zoom up parallel roads. One green, one yellow- like signals- as they make sure to cover any more turns that Kimiko might try next, attempting to keep things going in the direction that they all want her to.
Over the radio is a relatively pleased growl- Huruma's headset. At least she hasn't tried anything else- the whole 'Hunt' scenario seems to be getting to her.
You paged Huruma with 'Can I spin out one of your goons? :D'
"Sexy, Hooma." comes Jake's reply over the radio. Yeah, he knew that didn't ask for a response, but he had one for her anyway.
Goon 1 falls back a bit with Kimiko's burst of speed, choosing not to get in Huruma's way as she takes the lead in the chase. He and 2 know their role is support and backup, not headlining. They know what they're being paid for.
Goon 2 produces an object that looks something like a gun, but different. It's a black tactical taser. So for now he's steering with one hand.
"I am being followed - you must trace my signal before it disappears and if they catch me - find me! End call!" It's the best she can do, because having taken a look, the one with the taser kind of worries her. She veers her motorcycle sharply once more, it'll force the goon with the taser to turn and position uncomfortably, and possibly make it very hard to control his bike if he wants to keep hold of his electro-toy. She keeps going at high speed, not waiting to see if she's managed to put him out of commission. Still others to worry about.
She has no time to, anyway; the one-handed driver jerks just slightly as Kimiko swerves at him, trying to turn away and keep the now clicking taser at the same time. It doesn't work out well- rather spectacularly, even. His jerky movement takes his bike into a wobble, which turns into a wild fishtail of the entire bike until the wheels leave the asphalt and the traction disappears. The black bike hiccups and turns over, taking the attached driver for a sparking rollover across the side of the road.
Disregarding the poor fate of taser-goon, whatever it may be, Huruma gives a signal for the other black bike to move ahead of Kimiko, ready to take the other one's place in order to turn the red Honda at the right moment.
Goon, since there is no more Goon 2 and 1 got promoted to only Goon left, spares only a glance over his shoulder at his less-wise comrade. The idiot should've known better than to ride one-handed at these speeds. The goon busies himself helping to herd Nakamura, driving her onward alongside Huruma and following the lady's lead.
She doesn't have much choice now. Kimiko is forced to make a turn whether she wants to or not, from what she can tell, she's going to wind up in a multi level parking lot. The thing about the end of the line is, you can go all the way up, but in the end, you're going to have to stop. Knowing that she's going to have to face these people, Kimiko applies a burst of speed to get some ground before she comes to a stop, regarding those still coming toward her as she takes off her helmet and climbs off her bike. She takes a quick look to see if there are cars parked - but instead takes off her bluetooth and stows it in a pocket as she waits, expression dark.
The first one to arrive and brake to a halt is Huruma, followed by the second black bike, and after a few seconds, the green and yellow. All of them stop the bikes and dismount, and though the first to stop, Huruma is the last to bring herself off of the back of her beast.
It takes a moment for her to situate herself on her feet, and so the tallest of the quartet looms in the night lights for at least two spans of breath before lifting a gloved hand and flicking up her visor. Barely visible under the shadow of the helmet are those white eyes, pupils eerily small and the rest stark against a mask of dark brown skin. She says nothing, watching Kimiko and virtually staring her down.
The goon rides up and deftly hops off his bike, letting it continue to roll off to the side where it tumbles and stalls. Obviously he doesn't care about it. For his part he takes a moment to remove his helmet and toss that aside too, only now producing his own taser (not a dumbass to do this on the fly) and look at Huruma for his cue.
Kimiko simply stands there. She has nowhere to run, nowhere to hade, and the only way she's going to get away from these people is by going through them. She and Huruma are meeting eye to eye - at least until her buddy pulls out his taser, and then, being less interested in a eye-dominance and more in not getting tasered, she shifts her attention to him. The thing about those doohickeys? You kind of only get one shot. So she needs to be ready when he fires.
He gets no cue. At least, not right now. Instead, Huruma hopefully draws more attention when she pulls up an arm to dislodge the helmet from her head, only to reveal a masked face except for that strip around her eyes. She steps forward after putting the helmet down, the thud of the cement below her boots dull compared to the sounds of motors likely still ringing in their bones.
Goon must be tired of waiting because he steps right into action without a cue and fires the taser at Kimiko. Unfortunately he's obviously not trained in taser use because you have to be a minimal distance to get the probes close enough to contact. No matter what Kimi does, dodge or no, only one probe will hit her. And that's not enough to complete the circuit. So his gesture is worthless.
Kimiko shifts her footing, turning to the side to avoid the probes, as one embeds in her riding leathers. The other one misses, and so her glove covered hand wraps around the wiring and pulls it out, then yanks brutally to pull it out of the man's hands. Even as she lets it go, she advances on him, moving swiftly send firsts fists, and then a foot at him and send him sprawling to the floor. Holding her fists up and body in defensive position, she keeps her eyes on Huruma as she aims another kick at the downed man, just to make sure he won't get up, and steps gingerly away from him, holding her upper body defensive decision while watching the tall black woman. Patient. Waiting.
There is a snapping growl, and Huruma rears herself to fix her attention on the man that fired one moment too soon. The sound hisses on the headsets, and the moment that Huruma fixes her eyes on him, she sends the unfortunate man a bolt of terror, hysteria, panic, balled up into one, rattling through his brain and pushing out everything else in a burst- as if his own emotions were a bubble popping. All of this at the same moment that Kimiko attacks him. What a bad night all of a sudden, huh?
Though once that is taken care of- she centers her attention back on Kimiko once it is allowable.
The man gives the impression that he WOULD fight back much more capably except that Huruma's psychic attack completely freezes him. He'd survive that alone, but Kimiko does the physical damage that puts him on the ground in a fetal ball, quite suddenly assaulted from two angles at once when he was utterly unprepared for the battle now going on in his mind. It's one he doesn't even understand. The moaning and shrieking noises he begins to make couldn't possibly have much to do with fists and feet, even if Kimiko is the one that knocked him down in swift efficient manner.
Something Huruma did to that man turned him into that. And Kimiko? Is not a fan. The idea of losing control like that makes her wince on the inside, even as she counts on an inscrutable expression to keep it from showing. Nonetheless, she will not dishonor herself, nor her family. Eyeing Huruma, she once more resumes her defensive posture, hands coming up. Taller. Possibly stronger. The key will be to try and use the amazonian woman's power against her. Speed and agility will be the only things Kimiko has, and even, then she's not entirely sure just how fast Huruma might be. And there's always the chance that she will somehow do what she did to that man to her.
The only ones left until Jake meets them at the rendezvous are the pair of fellows that rode the colored bikes, and Huruma.
In one corner, Kimiko Nakamura, and in the other, Huruma, both ready for the other. It is Huruma that moves first, quick on her feet and moving after Kimiko with an arm drawing back- and once she is close enough, the punch lets out like a snake striking. Kimiko also has a smaller size and more dexterity against Huruma, now that it is clear that the taller woman suffers little for speed and agility.
Kimiko's plan is to keep herself as far away from Huruma's body-mass as possible. Clearly tall woman outweighs her and is stronger, so kicking and if necessary, punching range is best. Grappling is best kept for ideal opportunities . When punches start flying, Kimiko is quick to not so much block as deflect, shifting to force Huruma to misdirect the energy, answering the punch with a kick of her own toward the outside of Huruma's defense. The more she can force Huruma to close herself off, the more advantage Kimiko can take.
It's about now that the featureless white van with dark windows pulls into the lot, not going very fast. Not driving crazy. Just poking along. Jake's humming to himself as he nears the altercation. "Damn Hooma." he mutters to himself, not on the radio, "Got her right here on time."
Huruma swings her hand around to meet Kimiko's leg, possibly latching onto it, her other arm moving inward so that she can try to push Kimiko off her balance with a shove of her side. And along with that, a swift, yet small jolt of fear shivers into the back of Kimiko's brain.
It makes Kimiko gasp, but it does not make her stop. When Huruma latches onto her leg, Kimiko does the only thing she can before can go off-balance. She bends a bit and pushes, using Huruma's grip for support as she launches herself into the air, twists, and sends her other foot in an arcing kick that slams into Huruma's jaw before she falls to the ground. Hopefully it means Huruma will drop her leg, but she may not. She's scary-tough.
The van pulls to a stop a short distance away and out gets Jake, calmly lighting a cigar and puffing on it while he watches. He's in navy blue BDUs with a sleeveless black shirt on, and he looks like he means business. But his manner is such that he seems not to give the least bit of a care what's going on here. There is an interest in watching the fight go down though. Not every day you get to see two hot women who know how to fight actually go to it.
It's right out of Chun-Li's playbook, isn't it? The swift, uplifting kick into Huruma's jaw connects beautifully, arcing the woman's upper torso back as her breath leaves her lungs in an angry hiss of noise. Unfortunately, the very excellent move on Miss Nakamura's behalf does little more than give Huruma a splitting headache and make her own mood spike into rage. Doubly unfortunate is that Huruma's fingers have clamped onto Kimiko's leg like a leopard with a calf. No pun intended.
Heaving Kimiko closer by her leg while she is still meeting the thing called gravity, Huruma lifts her other arm to slam it into the other woman- head, chest, whatever she can connect with.
That's what breaks Kimiko's stoic silence, the painful grip in her calf, as she lets out a yelp of pain. She avoids the connection to her head by lifting her arms to block, but the force of it is going to leav her black and blue. Hissing in pain, she tries to reach around and grapple Huruma's wrist, trying vainly to bend her clasped leg and push it out in a kick so as to be freed. Huruma simply has too much weight and too much reach. Katana: Don't leave home without it.
Jake starts walking slowly toward this debacle, biting his cigar. He knows better than to get in the middle of a heated fight like this, at least not without letting them burn off some steam first. Once he gets close enough that he can be heard though, he takes a single puff and lets it out, standing there quietly to let this play out.
It is the writhing to get away that seals the deal; Huruma moves the hand not on Kimiko's leg up to grab her by the arm, or the wrist- or if luck has it, both wrists, all in order to push her to the ground and pin her under a knee. Along with this comes the thin fabric of her mask stretching around her mouth as it opens in a silent snarl, white teeth barely visible through the weave. Her eyes are crystal clear, now, and the hiss just the same.
Now comes the horrible part. The part where Kimiko's pride and desperation starts to melt into blood-curdling terror. Best part of the fight, for Huruma.
If only Huruma knew what sort of thoughts are going through Kimiko's head. Intellectually? She understands that Huruma is somehow doing this to her. And yet, that does not stop the terror. She loses her finesse, any chance of recovery, as she is counter-grappled and forced to the floor, her cheek pressed against the hard, cold ground. She breathes shallowly, unable to keep whimpers from escaping her throat, her eyes close and tears squeeze out. In her terror, all she can think about is how she's shamed Hiro, shamed her parents, shamed herself…and has nothing at hand to even be able to restore her honor with, so to speak. She freezes like a quivering dear caught in a trap. "Iiieeee!" she screams in terror. No.
"Alllll right." says Jake, taking the cigar out of his mouth. "Let's get her up and in the van." He looks over at the goon still trembling and pissing himself on the pavement and shakes his head at that guy. "D'joo do that to him?" he asks Huruma, as if she's not busy terrorizing their target.
Huruma does not seem to let up even at the scream, though Jake's voice somewhat brings her back to the land of coherence. The woman pushes herself up off of Kimiko into a crouch, turning her head like a bird towards the goon over on the ground. "Yes. I did." Leave him if he doesn't matter. She issues a clear answer for Jake, wrapping gloved hands under Kimiko's arms to hoist her upwards as she stands.
Kimiko is lifted to her feet, held in place by the taller woman. Her eyes are wide with alarm, and the only thing she can do is focus on her breathing as she tries to crawl her way internally out of the pit of terror. They flutter closed, and she begins to count softly, "Ich…ni…san…"
"Huh. What'd he do?" Jake asks, suddenly tensing and giving that silent but subtle sense of sudden heaviness as he wills his body into its dense state. He leans down and picks up Kimiko by the upper arm. One hand on her, and he's being very gentle so as not to break her bones or pinch her arm off. In this state he might as well be made of tempered steel. "C'mon lady. Up you go." He seems only peripherally concerned with Kimiko, instead using most of his words for Huruma. "Damned good job. You got her here right on the dot."
As they get to the van, Huruma keeps most of Kimiko's weight against herself while opening her side of the back doors. "He shot when I did no'tell him t'shoot." As the clang of the door sounds, Huruma fixes her eyes on Jake. There is no 'I had help' or 'I couldn't have done it without you guys' from her, no Sir. Just a leveled and affirmative stare. Of course she did. That was the plan, after all, and Huruma is very good at being on time.
Even as they're hauling her, Kimiko is still whispering to herself: "Chi…go." And with that, despite her fear, she opens her eyes, begins to take stock of her kidnappers. In accented English she inquires, "Who do you work for?"
Jake meets Huruma's look with a grin. "Well he's contract help so he can pick his own ass up off the ground and figure out what to do with himself." With a jerk of his head he adds, "Let's get the fuck outta here." In actuality Jake is very gentle with Kimiko. It's not just because he doesn't have any bad blood toward her, which he most certainly doesn't, but it's mostly because in his state it's incredibly easy to hurt people by mistake. "We're with the Government." he says to Kimiko, offering a wink to Huruma as he closes the van doors on Kimi and then makes his way to the cab.
Huruma hangs a step behind to draw a folded paper out from her jacket, sidling up beside the driver's side door and handing it off to Jake. "Tape her up. Leave her an'th'van at this address and parking spot. Your new car will b'right beside. Th'keys are behind th'gas door. I will come get th'van once you are gone. Leave th'keys in the same place as the car's." Stressing that. Not that she can't try a hotwire. The van will probably end up with a second, more disposable driver to take it while she leads the way. Because alas, Huruma is the only one needing to know where Kimiko finally will end up at.
Jake takes the offered paper and looks at it. Nods simply. All part of the job to him. He looks Huruma and and down briefly and asks, "You okay? I saw that hit she gave ya." Casually he points at her jaw. Grins a little. "Had some fight in her."
Kimiko goes silent, listening to what Huruma and Jake are saying. Jake's commentary is immediately dismissed, as she fights through the fog of fear to try and actually think. They're just going to stick her in a van and dump her somewhere? What's the point of that? But Kimiko doesn't question. If they think she's trying figure them out, they might take further measures. Her bluetooth's still in her pocket, and hopefully it didn't get busted in the fight.
Huruma stretches her jaw under the smooth mask, the gesture itself awfully snake-like. "I'ave taken worse hits. Confiscate whatever you find." The ridge of the mask over her brows lift, and then her eyes narrow. "I will double check her… bu'we need her clean f'when we move her around Tokyo."
"Whatever you say." Jake remarks, his manner clear that he WOULD tack on a 'Hooma' at the end if it wouldn't be overheard by Kimiko. He reopens the van to deal with Kimi and goes to work on her. He's actually easygoing about it. "Gimme your hands. Behind your back." he says for a start. If she doesn't comply he just digs a thumb into a nerve cluster at the base of her neck and repeats the request. Pain compliance. Once she's bound it's to searching, but again he's very professional about it.
The only response Huruma makes is a breathy sort of snort, that apparently doubles as a 'see you later'. because she closes the driver's side door and the sound of her moving can be heard up until a few seconds of silence, followed by the roar of her bike.
Kimiko does not initially comply, but after being hurt, yeah, she can't help herself. He'll find her bluetooth, which is turned on, and hence, trackable. She knows he's found it, and depends on Nakamura poker face to keep him from realizing she was aware of it.
"Sorry it was you, lady." Jake says after Huruma takes off. He even kind of looks in her direction when she departs. He takes her phone and turns it off. Then takes the battery out of it. Then puts the bits in his pocket. He looks her over for weapons, but amazingly he finds none. "Huh." he says to that. Then he searches her for REAL and even goes places that most men do not get to go. The kicking and hitting it earns him makes him warn, "Don't hit me. You'll hurt yourself." And indeed he is that materially dense. But he's not trying to gratify himself or anything. Just making sure this woman isn't hiding something where modesty might protect it. Once that's over with he says, "All right. Get comfortable. I'll keep the air on."