A Violent Paradise (Semi-Open RP)

[tomkat492]

Still smiling, Adrian knew he had her number. It was definitely that woman Alice that had managed to get away from that dealer raid a few months back. Her vehicle had been easy enough to track, but after discovering her identity, he had decided to allow her to continue operating. After all, there were a lot more layers to the city than most people-- even those operating on apparently different ones-- would ever know.

As the SUV rolled in, Adrian continued to smile. "Friends of yours?"

Rayleigh frowned and reached for the 1911 that she'd taken from Tosh, but as her hand gripped the handle...

The boy quickly pulled the FAL from his back, got into stance, and switched the selector to semi-auto. Then, he squeezed off a two round burst at each front wheel. Toshiro smirked as he fired. He enjoyed the kick the rifle provided and the distinctive ring it made when shot. He thought the large, 7.62 NATO rounds would surely deflate the tires.

She let go of the gun and crossed her arms, watching the SUV and assuming all should be fine from then on...
...and with a huge explosion the SUV went from upright to on its back in short work...

“Boy, that was a little louder than I predicted.” Alice could hear Adrian saying through the ringing in her ears.

"Did you just...Seriously, is that a Mustang or the Batmobile? It's the Batmobile, isn't it?" asked Toshiro.

Rayleigh raised an eyebrow, then laughed a bit as she shook her head.

Rayleigh then redirected her attention to Alice who was manhandling the former passenger of the SUV, "Haha... poor guy."

[Toshiro Kamata]

Toshiro followed Adrian and nodded as the man spoke. After seeing Alice shoot the man in the leg, he tilted his head slightly. "So much for that polite routine," the teen commented. With that, the young enforcer walked to the wreckage and pulled the handle on the driver's door. The partially unclasped door didnt respond. He then tried to pry open the driver door, straining as much as he could with no luck. Toshiro then kicked out the window and attempted to unbuckle the upside down driver's selt belt, but the angle hindered him.

With a frown, Tosh drew his o-katana from it's scabbard, stuck it in the crack that the loose door provided, and after a bending the blade considerably, forced open the door. After cutting the man's seatbelt with a quick swipe, the boy dragged him next to others with his free hand. He then stomped hard on the driver's gut in an attempt to wake him abruptly.

[T.E.R.R.O.R.IST]

"She means business. You might not want to think about getting off until you're certain you'll live long enough to."

Alice was both relieved and mildly happier that Adrian hadn't berated her about shooting the passenger, and even more so Toshiro commented “So much for the polite routine.” She didn't normally like working with a crowd, but no one seemed to object. She did her best to keep her excitement of new prospects concealed however. She was a professional, not a psychopath. Alice didn't stop to wonder whether she was saying that because it was true, or for her own reassurance, she just got right back to business.

“Listen moron,” she said to the man writhing on the floor “Right now I don't have the patience to deal with you, and my mood would be much better if I killed you right now. So you need to convince me otherwise.”

“Screw you, bitch. I'm not saying anything.” he spat defiantly.

For a split second Alice felt a burning rage. How dare he defy her when she could blow his brains all over the alley with just a twitch of her finger? She was considering doing just that when Toshiro dragged over the driver and woke him up abruptly by stomping on his gut.

“Ungh! What the hell...” he said woozily as he woke up.

“Sid! Don't tell 'em anything!” yelled the wounded passenger. Alice pointed her gun is his direction and ordered him to shut up.

“Ernie? That you..?” said the driver. His vision stopped wobbling and he realized the predicament he was in. “Oh F me.” he said.

Alice now directed her attention to Sid. She might have better luck convincing him to spill the beans. She simply pointed her gun at him and said “Talk.”

“Okay, okay, don't shoot me.” said Sid throwing his hands in front of his face. Alice figured he probably a rookie, just brought into whatever organization he was part of. And now he was deeper than he thought he would be.

“Shut your mouth kid!” snarled Ernie. Alice huffed in annoyance and shot Ernie's other leg.

“God-freaking-dammit!” Ernie screamed.

“If you speak again without me asking, I'll blow your jaw off.” Alice said threateningly. Then she turned back to Sid, who immediately started talking.

“Ok ok, what do you want to know?”

“Who you're working for, and why you're here for starters.”

“I dunno who they are they just grabbed me off the street. They said they knew where my family lives, they told me I had to work for them if I didn't want my family to get hurt. I believed them. I was just supposed to be watching this building, then out of nowhere these people go in and suddenly there's gunshots. So Ernie tells me to get in the truck and drive it by while he shoots. I swear that's all I know.”

Alice felt slightly sorry for Sid, but not much. “I need a name.” she said.

“There was one guy, Jackson he was in and out of here all the time. And there was the guy who recruited me, he went by the name Palmer.”

Alice felt a chill as soon as the name 'Palmer' was mentioned. She knew who he was. The man who had trained her back when she was just an orphan on the streets. Without him she probably wouldn't be the person she is now. She lost contact with him years ago though.

“Do you know where either of them are?” she asked.

“I dunno where Jackson is, but last I heard Palmer got an apartment on the eastern side of the financial district. I don't know where though.”

Alice studied Sid's expression, he was telling the truth. “All right then, you've been very helpful,” she said with a soft smile, which quickly turned into a scowl when she turned to Ernie. “You, on the other hand, haven't.”

Alice said aloud to the others standing around her “Any of you have anything else you want to add before I kill this guy?” Ernie protested but Alice ignored him.

[interim]

Adrian put his hand on her wrist, and aimed the gun away from Ernie. He shook his head slightly, and his grip was only light. "Now, this won't do." He released her wrist as he knelt down before the man. It didn't look like arterial bleeding, so the man would likely survive. He smiled genially. "Hey there, scout. Got a little suggestion for ya." Adrian withdrew his lighter and pack of clove cigarettes. He tapped one out, placed it between his lips, and lit up. He tapped out a second one, touched the end to his own, and extended it to Ernie.

"How about a little deal. If I call you an ambulance, and you and your pal shuffle off into the sunset, I won't come around." Adrian smiled, his eyes closed lightly, and held out his credentials. The Sheriff's Department badge shone brilliantly under the street lamp. "However..." His smile faded into an expression of loneliness, as if one's family had departed, never to return. "If you don't, well... I can't even imagine what kind of thugs are out there, waiting to tear people like you apart. It's..." He paused, looking almost ill. "... well, it happens every day, doesn't it?"

[Toshiro Kamata]

Toshiro's expression looked once again as if something clicked in his mind. No one could have noticed the quick shift except for Adrian, observant as always. The Eurasian was about to protest to murdering Ernie, but Adrian beat him to it. The man had an astute yet idealistic quality about him. Villicana seemed to be able to work any situation to his liking. Tosh didn't see a reason to worry then. He pointed the tip of his sword towards a scared looking Sid. "Don't you go anywhere," he uttered with a bit of menace.

Toshiro's phone's ringtone suddenly rang out, interupting his thoughts. It was "Danger: Wildman" by The Devil Wears Prada. After looking at who was calling, his lips pursed into a hard line. The boy pressed the talk button, put the phone to his ear, and and began a conversation entirely in Japanese.

"Yeah?...I have, actually. It's just as you advised, this Palmer is involved. I pray he isn't as dangerous as you say he is....I think the primary objective has been referenced. A few addicts mentioned him stopping by this drug lab that's just been totaled. He may or may not run the place. Also, it seems that we aren't the only ones after Jackson's cowardly head....Haha. As long as he's dead, right? I didn't do it on my own, though. I've aquired a party. All of them seem to have something against Black Diamond one way or another...Godsend? Yes, very much so... "

Throughout the entire conversation he kept his eyes trained on Alice, Adrian, Sid, and Ernie.

[T.E.R.R.O.R.IST]

Adrian put his hand on Alice's wrist, and aimed the gun away from Ernie. He shook his head slightly, and his grip was only light. "Now, this won't do." He released her wrist as he knelt down before the man.

Alice put her gun back in the holster and turned her gaze way from the group and up to the sky, feeling the cool air around her. Inside she was mad at herself for nearly losing control amd killing Ernie. She knew she had moments when her rage and instinct took over her rationality but that was no excuse. This was the same thing that had gotten her in trouble all the time at the orphanage when she was young, the reason she ran away, and nearly ended up dead, at least until Palmer found her. Alice shook her head to keep the bad memories from coming back. She wanted to talk to Morris again, he always had something funny to say to cheer her up.

Adrian smiled genially. "Hey there, scout. Got a little suggestion for ya." Adrian withdrew his lighter and pack of clove cigarettes. He tapped one out, placed it between his lips, and lit up. He tapped out a second one, touched the end to his own, and extended it to Ernie.

"How about a little deal. If I call you an ambulance, and you and your pal shuffle off into the sunset, I won't come around." Adrian smiled, his eyes closed lightly, and held out his credentials.

Ernie had made the best of efforts to try and ignore the pain he was feeling. The cigarette made him feel a lot better, he had been craving one for hours now. He took the cigarette from Adrian with his uninjured hand and said “Alright, you have a deal.” He gestured at Alice and added “Just keep her away from me.” Alice looked at Ernie and Adrian then simply said “Sure, I got what I wanted.”

Alice pondered her next move. Finding Jackson was still priority and Palmer might help. She might be bale to figure out where he lived, hopefully there weren't too many apartment buildings on the eastern end of the financial district. She was snapped out of her thoughts by Toshiro's loud ringtone. She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he answered and proceeded to have a whole conversation in Japanese. Alice managed to catch the names Jackson and Palmer being mentioned but she didn't understand anything that could put them in context.

Alice's coat began to feel uncomfortable so she removed it and slung it over her shoulder, revealing the blank T-shirt and shoulder holster she had under it. She kept in mind that she'd have to put on the bulletproof vest she kept in her car's trunk in case they got into anything heavy.

[Toshiro Kamata]

Tosh looked around for a brief moment before continuing with his conversation.

"Well, I have to go. I can't help feeling as if someone is listening in, though they shouldn't understand a word. Regardless, there is still much more to be uncovered. Expect me to contact you in the next few days. Goodbye, my friend....We both know I won't die. I hope your having good times in Britain... Hehe, Indeed. Fox out." The teen then pressed the button to end the call, put the phone back into his back pocket, and returned the his o-katana to the scabbard on his back.

After a minute or so of standing there with nothing to do, Toshiro then turned to Alice. "So...What's your name?"

[T.E.R.R.O.R.IST]

After a minute or so of standing there with nothing to do, Toshiro then turned to Alice. "So...What's your name?"

“Alice.” Alice answered. She silently hoped he didn't ask about her surname, because she wasn't sure about it herself. She never knew her parents as she was in the orphanage since birth and Alice wasn't much of a hit with prospective adopting parents given her past. The closet thing she had to family was Palmer and he was hardly a great role model.

“Sorry about trying to trick you earlier.” Alice said to Toshiro. “I'm looking for Jackson and I thought putting on an act would be the quickest way.”

[interim]

Adrian glanced once at Toshiro during the call, but did not otherwise appear to pay attention. He smirked as Toshiro hung up. Standing, he nodded at Ernie and Sid, then gestured at their vehicle. "Sorry about that, by the way. I just had an opportunity to use something I hadn't tested before." He abruptly turned away from them, and walked toward his Shelby. Seemed alright from here. The launch pod doors were open, and the blue smoke still wafted around them. He pressed his hands against them from the bottom, and pushed them up until they closed, then turned, leaned against his car, and observed the people before him.

Alice, definitely not from Wonderland. Toshiro, the troubled but principled kid from the land of the rising sun. Rayleigh, the woman Ace had asked him to find, was contradictory to Ace's worries. What was it she always said? 'Only in San Paro.' Too right.

[tomkat492]

Rayleigh eyeballed the situation through very relaxed eyes. It had happened this way many times before. She'd become used to standing off to the side and observing while all of the gun-toting badasses went at it.

After a minute or so of standing there with nothing to do, Toshiro then turned to Alice. "So...What's your name?"

"I wonder if he's asking her name out of genuine curiosity..." Rayleigh chuckled a bit and said out loud to herself, "She might be a bit too crazy for him, haha."

"Sorry about that, by the way. I just had an opportunity to use something I hadn't tested before." He abruptly turned away from them, and walked toward his Shelby. Seemed alright from here. The launch pod doors were open, and the blue smoke still wafted around them. He pressed his hands against them from the bottom, and pushed them up until they closed, then turned, leaned against his car, and observed the people before him.

Rayleigh walked over to the Shelby shortly after Adrian leaned up against it. She leaned on it next to him and let out a bit of a sigh, "I'm cold... and this damn gun isn't helping," Rayleigh said with a bit of anger in her voice as she grabbed the SW1911 and slammed it down on the Shelby. She then looked up at Adrian, "...sorry. Only in San Paro can you get kidnapped, encounter multiple gun-wielding chavs, and a crazy bitch all in one night."

[Toshiro Kamata]

“Sorry about trying to trick you earlier.” Alice said to Toshiro. “I'm looking for Jackson and I thought putting on an act would be the quickest way.”

Toshiro looked at Alice and didn't smile, but his voice was a bit reassuring. "My name is Toshiro Kamata and I guess the whole tricking thing is okay." The boy looked in the direction of the Shelby. "Frankly, I hope you find Jackson. He and Black Diamond as a whole need to die." With that, Toshiro started towards the Shelby.

The teen arrived in time to see Rayleigh slam his pistol onto the Mustang. He snatched it up, put it into his empty left holster, and gave Rayleigh a look. He then sat on the Shelby's hood and turned his attention to the sheriff. "Where do you get all these car mods from, Adrian? I'd love to get my GTR these kind of upgrades." His boyish curiosity returned.

[interim]

Adrian watched and listened to Rayleigh, smirking as she uttered the line he'd just been thinking. Is it bad that people were sometimes so predictable? He was sure he was predictable sometimes, too. Toshiro approached, and snatched up his Colt. Then, the boy's eyes seemed to sparkle, traveling over Adrian's car with childish curiosity. He had to smile.

"Actually, I do them myself. Well," he laughed, "that's unfair. Wu does them, and I help him out a bit." He scratched a point on his scalp through his hair as he thought. "Didn't I tell you guys to see him if you needed anything? Or did I forget?" Adrian yawned loudly, then stuffed his hands in his pockets.

[T.E.R.R.O.R.IST]

Alice watched Toshiro join Adrian and Rayleigh by the Shelby. At least they were in agreement about Black Diamond. Alice hoped she'd be the one to kill Jackson, he had caused embarrassment for her by being alive. The only problem was Palmer. She couldn't fathom why he would get involved with Black Diamond. He was a killer for hire, but Black Diamond seemed...beneath him, unless there was more to them than what was on the surface. With any luck, Palmer would explain what was going on and where Black Diamond was without having to be coerced into it. She was confident in her fighting and marksmanship but Palmer was her teacher after all. And he knew her one weakness...

Alice readjusted her grip on the coat over her shoulder and realized that the other three had left her alone with Sid and Ernie while they were talking by Adrian's car, a fact that seemed to especially bother Ernie. Alice looked down at him and considered killing him anyway. In the end she decided there was nothing to gain from it and walked over to join Toshiro, Adrian and Rayleigh by the Shelby while keeping and eye on Ernie and Sid to make sure they didn't try to escape before the ambulance came, not that they could anyway.

[Toshiro Kamata]

Actually, I do them myself. Well," he laughed, "that's unfair. Wu does them, and I help him out a bit." He scratched a point on his scalp through his hair as he thought. "Didn't I tell you guys to see him if you needed anything? Or did I forget?" Adrian yawned loudly, then stuffed his hands in his pockets.

Toshiro smiled a bit at the mention of Wu and said, "Wow. Wu's something of a jack of all trades isn't he? I kind of figured Wu is the kind of guy I could see for anything." He then recalled the events that led up to him being in the resturant where he first saw Adrian and Rayleigh.

*FLASHBACK*

It was earlier that afternoon and an injured Toshiro had been pinned down behind a dumpster in front of a large chop shop/car garage for a minute or so. A group of five men were relentlessly firing on his position from an open garage door. He had killed three of the eleven men that were inside and the ones remaining were far from pleased.

One of the now dead men had shot a few burst at him, causing several nasty grazes to appear on his right arm. It also ruined the thick, dark brown suede jacket he was wearing a the time. Toshiro was suprised that the dumpster had held up as long as it did. The teen instinctively held his FAL close to him.

He took his only hand grenade off of his equipment belt and pitched it as far as he could, behind him, without seeing where it went. "What do we do?! Whadda we do?!! Shit!", he heard from one of the men. Seconds after, an explosion much bigger than Toshiro was expecting sounded. "Must've been close to a car," Tosh thought with a smirk.

The sound of the garage door closing told him he had an opening. He dashed out of cover, switched to full-auto, and unloaded in the direction of the door. He saw a man drop lifelessly and another's leg get caught before the door shut completely shut.

Tosh exhaled in relief and reloaded. He then switched to his two pistols and sprinted to a door to the right of the garage opening. With a running shoulder thrust, the door's lock was broken. Toshiro was now in an office kind of room that was on the same level as the cars, with a line of large windows that provided a view of the garage. He had seen a plastic bag full of black-tinted cubic zurconia. "Just as I suspected..."Tosh mumbled to himself.

Before he could finish his examination of the room, the windows were shattered by gunfire. Toshiro was caught in the ribs and the right side of the chest by small caliber rounds as he dived to the ground. He looked at the wounds to see what the damage was. He felt a bullet in his chest and a sharp pain in his lower back that told him that the round that entered through his ribs had went cleanly through while missing his probably contracted lungs.

Tosh was suprised that the wounds didn't hurt so much. Adrenaline had a way of turning the boy into something of an overactive damage sponge.. "C-Check and see if he's dead!", a voice shouted.

"Screw you, Nick! Im not goin anywhere near that crazy bastard!", someone responded.

"It was an order, you dumbass!" Nick replied.

"But..."

"Go!" The fear in Nick's voice was evident.

Toshiro heard a shotgun being cocked and tensed up. He holstered his right SW1911 and place his right hand on the hilt of his blade. This kill had to be quick. He heard footsteps on glass and quickly snuck to a crouch beside the door that led to the inner workings of the building. He held his breath and didn't move a muscle when 5 rounds of shotgun pellets demolished the frail wooden door. The henchman kicked down the weakened door and Toshiro struck.

With great speed, the skilled Eurasian swiftly ran the blade through the henchman's lower abdomen. Gunfire hailed towards them. Tosh then proceeded to use the man's body as a sheild as he laid suppressing fire with the pistol in his left hand and sprinted behind a Pontiac. Toshiro removed the blade from the grunt's abdomen, sheathed it, and pushed him out from behind the cover to draw thier fire. He then reloaded and grabbed his right pistol.

"Reload quick! We killed John!", yelled Nick. "Oh shit! Oh shiiit!", replied a fearful new voice. Toshiro stood and shot a volley of precise rounds in the direction of the visible men. Nick dived behind a car, while the criminal that the new voice belonged to was riddled with bullets. "Fuckin' amateurs!", the young enforcer yelled while ducking back into cover.

A hopeless Nick sat behind a Mazda 3 with an AK-47. It was the same Mazda 3 he and Dan had stolen from Rayleigh. "I ditch one pig...only to be cornered by another. Just great," He sighed. He spotted a discarded, half empty forty oz. on the floor next to him and had an idea. The man opened the Mazda's door and found a stained rag, likely used to clean the vehicle, under the passenger's seat. While picking up the bottle, he called out to two of his partners that were sharing cover behind a rusty minivan.

"Hey, Felix! Throw me your lighter," Nick said. One of the grunts tossed the plain silver lighter to him. He then inserted the rag into the bottle and lit it. "Say goodnight!", He yelled while throwing the molotov cocktail. It had hit the hood of the car Toshiro was using for cover and a small bit of flame caught on the teen's shoulder. Nick took the opportunity and ran out of the back door while Tosh patted himself out.

The only other two able men, one armed with an AK and the other with just a crowbar, attempted to advance on Tosh's position. Toshiro shot blindly over the still flaming car with his right pistol and luckily caught the gun weilding criminal in the chest. The other was coming already around from his left flank, but Toshiro put a round in each arm as the criminal attempted to raise the crowbar above his head. The grunt dropped the crowbar on his own head, knocking him out cold.

Toshiro reloaded once more and placed a pair of handcuffs on the unconcious criminal's wrist. He then searched to find a man in a corner with a nasty lower leg wound. It was the one he shot earlier. The boy remorselessly punched the gangster out cold and restrained him with his last pair of cuffs.

Tosh frowned at his handy work as he pulled out his phone and called the local police to come to the scene. As he returned the phone to his pocket, he felt himself coming down from his adrenaline high. His wounds had begun to throb virulently and his vision would blur slightly every few moments. Toshiro rushed as quickly as he could to his bike and started off in the direction of the nearest hospital.

He clutched his wounds as he drove, feeling that his fading conciousness would be gone soon. It wouldn't be long before his eyes shut and he went limp, momentarily. The youth then crashed to the ground and performed a wild barrel roll for a long distance. The thick suede jacket ripped to shreads as he rolled and rolled, finally coming to a painful stop. His bike came to a stop not six feet away from him. The smell of Chinese food graced his nose. "An odd thing to notice at a time like this," Tosh thought to himself, helplessly staring at a darkening sky.

Toshiro looked to his right after hearing a small crunching sound. Through his heavily blurred vision he saw a middle aged Asian man who had just dropped a trash bag he was taking out. The man hurrying in his direction was the last thing Toshiro saw before his eyes forced themselves shut. He had lost conciousness...

*END FLASHBACK*

Toshiro removed his weapons, his hoodie, and his t-shirt. Then proceeded tolook over the bandages his on his arms and torso.

"The man fixed me up like new. He reminded me of my late grandfather...the way he knew his way around the human body and his use of herbs. Never even asked my name. He just treated me like random people staining the asphalt behind his resturant is a normal thing for him. Then he let me have a free buffet, but he told me i'd have to pay next time, hehe. I think he said I could take these off in 5 hours."

The teen unwrapped his right arm, which was almost completely covered in bandages, and looked to see very inconspicuous dark marks where the grazes had been. He then pulled the bandages off of his left arm, chest and ribs to see some of the same dark marks. The collage of Japanese and Hardcore music culture tattooed on his entire right arm and some of the right side of his chest wasn't obscured at all. "Wow. Whatever Wu soaked those bandages in certainly did the trick." He put back on his clothing and equipment and threw the bandages in a waste receptical not far from the Shelby.

[tomkat492]

Rayleigh let out a huge yawn and then did a quick stretch. She then watched as Toshiro took off his bandages and threw them into the trash.

"Random fact... I've always wanted to drive on a nice huge highway like the Autobahn or the Wangan. The roads out here either tend to suck, or be filled with people who drive like suck," Rayleigh said to the group around the Shelby. "Anyone else feel the same?"