2018-06-30: Pursuing an Assassin

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  • Log: Pursuing An Assassin
  • Cast: Pearl, Fei Fong Wong
  • Where: Meribia - Sewers
  • Date: 30/06/2018
  • Summary: Fei goes hunting for a group rumoured to be operating beneath Meribia. He finds one of them.

=============================<* Meribia - Sewers *>=============================

Visitors to the sewers of Meribia are advised to keep their torches well lit, for their halls are dark and full of terrors. Blue Master Lunn offers a healthy bounty for monsters, but while martial arts students regularly delve into the catacombs, they never seem quite able to wipe them out entirely.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yawlRq0VMss
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.

    The sewers of Meribia are generally considered to be the most dangerous place in the city by the citizenry. Monsters roam the dark corridors, preying on those foolish enough to enter without protection. And that's not even factoring in the smell.

    That said, for someone suitably skilled, the individual monsters are no real threat. And if they were the only things lurking in the shadows, one could possibly consider themselves relatively safe. But other things roam the sewers. And they pay very close attention to anyone wandering around Meribia's underground. And, if necessary, they make themselves known.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei Fong Wong punched a dinosaur in the nose so he's not inclined to be absolutely stymied by a sewer, though he does know it can be pretty dangerous in this sewer in particular, but he knows in this situation there's also the Shadow Dragon Cult to worry about so he certainly tells Hammer that if he doesn't come back out of the sewers soon to go to the Black Wolves for help.

But Fei isn't intending to get caught. He lurks through the sewers, searching for the cult focusing on evading problems rather than confronting them, skipping adventure rather than engaging it. If he can learn a little more about what they're doing, maybe Jean won't have to get involved in this mess.

That's his hope anyway.

<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.

    Fei's method works well for sneaking through the sewers, as monsters tend not to attack what they don't see. This gives Fei a fairly clear run through the labyrinthine sewers. But he does not go unnoticed. Fei may have the sense of being watched, after a short while. But whoever is watching is only content to watch for so long.

    There's no warning when the attack actually comes. A figure bursts from the shadows of the sewers, clad head to toe in black. The attack is swift, but simple, aiming to drive the heel of their palm into the back of Fei's neck as they rush past. An arrogant attacker might expect the fight to be over after an ambush like that, but the attacker slides forward they turn around, dropping into low stance with their weight over their back leg, arms up and palms open, waiting to see what happens next.

GS: Pearl has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Shadow Assault!
GS: Pearl has completed her action.
GS: Fei Fong Wong critically Guards a hit from Pearl's Shadow Assault for 19 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei Fong Wong went into this expecting he'd get ambushed so when the figure comes to ambush him--it's only the timing that's likely to be a surprise. He is clearly the sort that's looking for something and that's likely to draw attention of neverdowells...especially when the Cult knows he's been in the area and fending off some members of the cultists already.

There's no warning. Nevertheless, Fei is prepared for it, twisting around and raising both arms to block the palm strike and being thrown back in the process by the attacker's power. He flips back himself in midair and lands on his feet. He exhales once when this is over and looks over their attacker.

"I don't want to hurt any of you," Fei says. "But so long as you kidnap children, I won't feel too bad about it." If he can capture her, Fei thinks, maybe they can interrogate her, learn where they keep the kids they take. Rescue them.

Fei may hate gears and fighting but he is very fond of self defense. Even if, okay, he kind of lured the fight to him.

Fei darts in with several quick palm strikes of his own before following up with a kick that the palm thrusts are designed to hide coming!

GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked Pearl with Hoten!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
GS: Pearl takes a solid hit from Fei Fong Wong's Hoten for 125 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.

    The attacker's grey eyes lock briefly with Fei's, but they betray no emotion at his words. There's equally no response coming from the assassin, even as they prepare for Fei's attack. She manages to evade the initial palm thrust, but the kick comes in unexpectedly, and catches solidly with the attackers side, and she is knocked off her feet. She quickly recovers with a roll, coming back up to her feet with a grunt. A solid hit.

    "Not bad. Show me more." Apparently, if you want to get her to talk, you have to hit her hard. Still, she doesn't appear intent on giving Fei a chance to press his advantage, rushing forward at the martial artist with a palm strike of her own, before aiming to close with an elbow aimed for Fei's throat. She almost seems to blur as she does so, striking out with speed and strength.

GS: Pearl has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Umbral Blitz!
GS: Pearl has completed her action.
GS: Fei Fong Wong critically Guards a hit from Pearl's Umbral Blitz for 22 hit points!
GS: Riposte! Statuses applied to Pearl!
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei Fong Wong says, "What..?" That's the sort of thing one might expect from a sparring partner not from an assassin! Though, Fei thinks, it's altogether possible that their spars are more like fights. He has to hop backwards this time to avoid getting clobbered by the palm strike but when the elbow in he is a little slower to respond. The elbow strikes against Fei's throat, almost breaking it--but at the last moment Fei is able to grab ahold of the hand whereupon he starts throwing kicks for Pearl's solar plexus, trying to knock the wind right out of Pearl. The longer this fight goes on, the more likely Pearl's 'friends' will show up to give her a hand. He has his own taunt back this time.

"Is this the power child abuse bestows upon you?" Fei asks. "If so, then it's not worth it!"

With the mask on, he can't read reactions but there may be a tell within the assassin's movements even if the face is guarded.

GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked Pearl with Hagan!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
GS: Pearl takes a solid hit from Fei Fong Wong's Hagan for 117 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.

    The assassin doesn't seem to be prepared for Fei's quick reactions, and receives several blows knocking the wind out of her before she manages to brace her stomach muscles for the rest. Again, solid hits, and something that would be getting cries of pain out of a normal person. The Shadow Dragon cultist barely lets out a gasp. Her eyes, the only part of her face visible, remain unchanged. Still, she's trapped in close combat, which seems to be Fei's expertise.

    In reaction, she channels the dark purple ki of the Shadow Dragon style into her free arm, and suddenly rakes at Fei's face with an open handed claw strike. The ki around her hand is sharp, and cutting, existing solely to rip and tear at the opponent physically and spiritually. The goal is to either take Fei's face off, or force him to back off and fight at more of a distance. Both are good outcomes.

GS: Pearl has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Inverse Claw!
GS: Pearl has completed her action.
GS: Fei Fong Wong critically Guards a hit from Pearl's Inverse Claw for 27 hit points!
GS: Fei Fong Wong enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei hesitate when the assassin gasps. A weakness? Perhaps. Pearl lashes out at Fei's face with dark purple ki and rakes it across his face. Fei does not guard in time which, on reflection, may be one good reason to wear a mask. He stumbles back from the burning wound. He knew that Jean could do stuff like that. He's seen her do it. But Pearl had held it back long enough that it still caught him off guard. A well timed pained gasp (even if it was unintentional) lowered Fei's guard just enough.

Fei stumbles backwards slowly, placing one hand to his face. It's hard to tell what's going on 'spiritually', but whatever it is--Fei seems to be able to deal with that aspect of the strike at least. Going to a place with purpose helps him stave off the badfeels that he'd normally be having.

Fei doesn't lower his hand from his face, He darts in with a pair of quick strikes from his fist before trying to kick Pearl so hard she flies into the air!

And he'll even follow up with a flip kick if Pearl doesn't avoid the c-c-c-combo in time, perhaps purely to go for extra air time.

"Where are they?" Fei asks, perhaps uselessly.

GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked Pearl with Senretsu!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
GS: Pearl takes a solid hit from Fei Fong Wong's Senretsu for 105 hit points!
GS: Disrupt! Statuses applied to Pearl!
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.

    The assassin backs away when the opening is created, but not fast enough. Fei's sudden flurry of strikes catches her off guard. The kick has it's intended effect, as she is knocked airborne, and struck several more times before sliding across the ground and into the shadows. After a moment she stands, and lets out... a low, wolf like growl.

    "Fine then. You want to find them? Just follow me."

    Well, that was easy.

    Then, in the shadows, three more Assassins appear in formation around the Shadow Dragon Cultist, blurry but otherwise identical. They suddenly launch down a corridor of the sewers as one, rapidly changing position with each other as they do so. "If you can."

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei says, "Come on, I'm just trying to--"

Suddenly there's MORE assassins and now they are running down the sewer together, swapping between the three of them. And in the darkness of the sewer, he doesn't know who is who. He's going to have to try and take them down or otherwise force Pearl to reveal herself before they split into different directions. At the very least they are running rather than ganging up on him.

He says, "Hold up...!" Fei shouts as he runs after the trio, cursing himself for lowering his guard long enough for her to bring in this help. If only hurting people didn't...hurt them! He could have just gone through this without any second guessing.

But it's too late to fret about that. Fei launches a blue chi blast for the ninja on the left as he guns it. It's one armed so the aim isn't perfect, but it isn't going to slow him down too much either.

"Adults have more body mass!!" He shouts though this is more out of general frustration than a genuine attempt to >convince the ninjas to give up.

<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.


    The bolt of blue energy connects with the assassin on the left and it... dissolves into nothingness? Three ninja remain, however, heading for a T intersection.

    "You truly do not understand." The female assassin's voice calls back. "Adults are too slow to learn. This method is superior."

    At the intersection, one ninja breaks off to the left, while the other two head right. Fei will have to make a call. Or he could try vaporising another one before they escape, I guess.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"Ugh!" Fei says because unfortunately he isn't actually NINJA class. He's MONK class! It's a similar field as ninja but one of the key differences is the delving of the mighty ninja into fields of stealth, subterfuge, and mirror images.

"But if you kidnap them they'll get a vendetta against you and all that does is perpetuate a cycle of violeeence!"

One splits off at the left, the other two go to the right. The left seems a little too hopeful so Fei relies on CYNICISM and he chases after those two.

"What is the point of making people strong in such a way??"

<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.

    The two assassins continue down the winding paths of the sewers, making sudden turns, possibly in an effort to confuse Fei's sense of direction and lure him deeper into the sewers. They switch positions as if two horses jockeying for first place, as they keep just out of Fei's reach.

    His comment on the cycle of violence is answered only by a cold silence. Did he strike a nerve? But the question about strength... "Strength is it's own point. That's all that matters."

    The assassins finally stop running, as they come into a dead end. "This should do." One of them says, standing near a large grate. A grate that looks somewhat corroded. Like something's been eating at it. A swift kick has it dropping to the ground, noisily. The sound echoes through the corridors.

    The 'two' Cultists wait for Fei to arrive, waiting in combat stance.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"Why does everybody say that??" Fei complains.

He's panting for breath by the time he reaches the grate and the two assassins. Well it actually is just two assassins and a hole now, right? Fei rests his hand against the wall to calm down and it's starting to dawn on him that even if he could beat this assasins up, it's not going to get him anywhere. If they're even real.

"Strength... isn't worth much." Fei manages. "But I'm startin' to see how you're able to avoid being caught by the authorities."

He straightens after a moment and adds, "Either of you the real deal?"

<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.

    "Possibly." One of the assassins responds. "But I rather doubt that will be your main concern in a moment."

    Something starts to ooze out from where the grate was kicked down. Something corrosive, acidic and smelling of alchemical waste. And it's slowly gaining speed. Still, this slow moment allows Fei a second to see the assassins. And the fact that the assassin on the left is looking at him with empty black eyes, while the other's steel grey eyes are burning into his face. The same grey eyes that locked with his earlier.

    The assassin launches herself into the air, as the clone rushes forward at Fei. The alchemical sludge creature starts making it's way out towards the only targets it can see. Fei and the clone.

    In the air, shadowy magic emerges from the hands of the true assassin, extinguishing what little light remains in the dungeon. "If you survive this, you might be worth my time." The voice echoes off the walls, as the assassin disappears into darkness.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei Fong Wong sweats faintly as the corrosive ooze starts to make itself known. "Ahh...." Fei says. "Um..."

Honestly, if it was some folks they would have cottoned onto this trap in an instant but the fact is...Fei can be quite the dumbass sometimes.

"Gaaahhh...!" He says as the light vanishes from the room. "Shadow Dragon...!!!"

And that's when Fei learns a valuable lesson about being extra careful when diving into enemy territory unaccompanied. The slime and the false assassin charge after him. The slime does so as well. In the darkness there is a sudden blooming of fire that lights up the room like an explosion had suddenly gone off before there's darkness again and an agonized scream.

LATER

Fei trudges out of the sewer grumpily, a thin later of slime having burned away his shirt and, frankly, a fair chunk of his pants. He is also still a ltitle bit on fire. He ignores it.

"Next time..." He heaves a sigh. "Definitely bringing Jean."