Just Desserts

[Nobu]

[Continuation of this thread. After Kyukaku posts, (I would say Sathanas as well, but I haven't see him on in a while) it's open to anyone who wants to bust open some Hircinian or Paragonite heads. Starts off in Hircine, but will ultimately end up in Paragon.]

That uneasy feeling Nobu was experiencing had not left him since they had left the scene of the Paragonite beat down; there was something about that phone call that just didn't sit right in the Japanese student's stomach. Uneasiness turned into dread as Kyukaku's sports car pulled into Hircine High's parking lot, and Nobu saw a rather large crowd beginning to form near the entrance of the building, in front of what was once the blank face of a wide brick wall. Now, there was something scrawled out onto the wall in spray paint. Nobu's brain registered all of this at once, and almost immediately, before Kyukaku had even stopped the car, he bolted out of the passenger's door, running directly toward the crowd.

Rage began to boil within the Japanese youth at what was presented before him on the wall. He hadn't even reached the sea of students when he saw what was spelled out in black paint. Panthers... Paragon Panthers? That wasn't even the worst of it. What really sent Nobu over the edge was the shredded royal blue and white Timberwolves varsity jacket pinned up under the graffiti. His eye twitched, and his hands closed into tight, angry fists; his usually calm demeanor was beginning to falter, and he seemed reminiscent of the Nobu of a few years ago.

Violently shoving his way through the crowd, without much resistance due to his strength, Nobu pulled the jacket down from the wall, and picked up a can of black spray paint that was left behind. The jacket had a large tear running diagonally across the back, and the left sleeve was cut up in several places. The rest of the jacket wasn't in good condition, either; it was all tattered with some pieces of fabric hanging loose and flecks of blood staining the front. Now that he actually looked, Nobu noticed that there was blood spatter all over the wall and pavement.

He tucked the jacket and can of spray paint under his right arm and proceeded to scan the crowd for the victims. There were three that he could see; two were being carried into the school on the shoulders of helpful students, and one was being carried away on a stretcher. Like he did a few moments ago, he bull-rushed his way through the crowd, easily breaking through it and approaching one of the victims that he recognized.

"Hey! What the fuck happened?!" Nobu yelled out toward the pair, both the supporting student and victim turning their heads to look at him. The victim was a wide receiver for the Hircine Timberwolves, and he looked pretty bloodied and broken. "What's up, Japan? I see you got my jacket..." the victim replied, wincing at the pain of his broken ribs as he choked out those few words. Japan was the nickname affectionately used by the football team and the wrestling team for Nobu.

Extending the jacket toward the broken wide receiver, he simply shook his head in response, "I don't need it now. My pride's broken, those Paragon fucks." Nobu tucked the jacket back under his arm, and decided that the victim should not speak any more, because he seemed pained every time he did. Turning to the burly student supporting the victim, the Japanese student would ask again, "So, what the fuck happened?"

"I wasn't here for the whole thing; only near the end."

"Yeah, so what? Tell me what you know!" Nobu was beginning to get aggravated.

"From what I heard, a bunch of Paragon students rolled up here and began tagging the wall over there, as you can see," he gestured toward the wall, "and some Hircinians had a problem with that, obviously, so a brawl started. Nick here was one of the first. Word got around quick after another student saw what was happening and texted his buddies. A few more Hircinians joined the fray, and I was one of the last that showed up to the scene. I managed to crack one across the ribs, but they were already retreating when a few others and I arrived, and the damage had already been done."

"And you're not going to do anything about it?" he turned around to face the slowly dispersing crowd, "Aren't any of you going to do something about it?!"

"We gotta take care of our injured soldiers first, dude. Here," the larger student said, extending a wooden baseball bat toward Nobu, "How about you do something about it?"

"Tch," is all the Nobu responded with as he grabbed the Louisville slugger out of the student's hands, and began to walk away. "Hey," it was that agonized voice again; Nobu turned his head to look over his shoulder at Nick, the wide receiver, "The Panthers think they're the bomb. Show them that the Timberwolves are Hiroshima, baby!" A pained grin crossed Nick's face, and he disappeared into the building.

"Will do." the Japanese warrior muttered under his breath, slipping on the shredded Timberwolves jacket and shoving the can of spray paint into one of its tattered pockets. Assuming they followed him, or at least were drawn to the commotion like he was, Nobu scanned the area for his the two fellow Hircinians that had aided him only minutes ago. The first he would spot would be Kyukaku, and he quickly approached, baseball bat twirling in his hand as he did so.

"Are you going to the Paragon Institute, or am I going by myself? I can't let this go without repercussions." Nobu would say, clearly seething. Either way, whether it be in Kyukaku's car or on foot, the Japanese Hircinian would make his way to the Paragon Institute.

The Paragonites were about to get their just desserts.

[Allen Daughtry]

'Less than a week, and Paragon's already making moves on Hircine... what is this, a gang war?'

In his lifetime, Allen Daughtry had grown used to the typical teenage spirit of one high school striking at another through gimmicks and pranks. It was, after all, a tradition in football to try and make the opponent's mascot lose its pride, or ruin the bleachers, or something of that nature. Vandalism and graffiti were nothing new to see. Yet, what was different was to see spray paint used as a sign of territorial dominance, and to see blood and injured Hircinians surrounding that wall art.

Allen had, surprisingly enough, been one of the last students to arrive at the clash before the Paragonians dashed off the scene. He had been traveling through the school halls when he saw a cluster of other students running past him, their faces stern with the look of war, their fists clenched and ready for a fight. Daughtry glanced back with surprise as the flanking boy passed him, and Allen yelled to him for a quick explanation. All he received was "You'll see, now come on! We could use your help!"

Letting his curiosity get the better of him, Allen frowned but nodded, sending himself forward with a dash and following the crowd through the main doors and out onto the front grounds, where he immediately heard the sound of students punching and kicking one another. The mass was impressive for a small skirmish, probably carrying a dozen fighters on each side, with some on the ground broken and others preparing to dart away. As Allen jumped into the fray, though, he was only able to toss in one or two landing punches before the students in blue and black colors made their escape, leaving the Hircinians split between pursuit and remaining to defend.

Allen stood at the center of the group, glancing around at the men and women around him, and noticing three students sprawled across the fight scene with various injuries, their bodily essence spilled here and there on the concrete and brick wall. There, on the wall itself, was the sprayed pride of the Paragon Panthers, and next to it sat the shattered jacket of a football player from Hircine.

'Son of a bitch....'

Daughtry didn't think to pursue the assailants, knowing that it would only help to add him to the list of injured. Those who helped defend the school were busy helping the injured, and with the three on their way to the nurse's office, Allen decided to stand aside and watch the crowd around the graffiti grow. He just stared at the vandalism in bewilderment.

'That took a lot of guts... a whole lot... Paragon's already proving to be a threat to this school, and they just bloody opened...!'

After a few minutes, a tall, lanky dark-haired man shoved his way through the crowd, passing in front of Allen in the process. Quickly enough, he grabbed a hold of the Hircinian jacket as if it were his own, and made his way to speak with the injured. Allen instantly recognized his face as the boy he met in the halls with Stella, and found it interesting that he was so adamant to find out the truth of what happened.

Allen immediately made his way out of the crowd, hoping to eavesdrop on any bit of information that might help him understand the intentions of the dark-haired Asian man, supposedly of Japanese descent. However, when he caught wind that he planned to take the fight to Paragon, Daughtry felt particularly committed to helping him. Yet, to himself, Allen wasn't really sure why he felt so adamant to avenge a school he had just arrived at. Was it some kind of school pride that had already rubbed on him? He had to admit, Hircine had an atmosphere about it that could make him feel at home... Or was it the circumstances? Maybe he didn't like how Paragon attacked Hircine as it had? Maybe he was just being selfish, considering his own experience in Paragon the other day? Or maybe he just wanted a fight?

Allen decided it was likely anything but the latter. He never was one to look for blood. But in any case, he was going to be a part of this raid for justice.

He immediately marched up to the empowered fighter, placing himself at his right side, nodding with a stern determination, "You're not going alone; I was here but failed to stop them in time. I'd like to help undo that mistake, so we'll take the fight to them."

[Kyukaku]

There hadn't been very much small talk on the way to school. Not only did Kyukaku always have trouble starting a conversation, but what was there to even talk about? You're welcome for us saving your life, Nobu. Yeah, the weather is nice...No one felt like talking, and Kyukaku was happy to leave it as it was. Best if they just forgot about it for now and went to class.

"What-"

Kyukaku was broken out of his thoughts as Nobu hopped out the passenger door. Finishing the turn he pulled into his parking spot, throwing it into park before jumping out himself, sliding his seat forward to let Spider out of the car. Unlike Nobu, Kyukaku didn't break into a run as he approached the wall. As he walked towards the graffiti Kyukaku carefully manuevered around other people gathered, though most would step to the side themselves upon seeing who was coming through.

Kyukaku crouched in front of the wall, briefly turning his head at Nobu who picked up the jacket and made his way over towards the injured. The japanese student began asking the same questions Kyukaku would have, so he stayed put. His eyes continued to trail over the painted letters as he overheard every word passed between Nobu at those who were present.

Hircine's had troubles before. Actually, it hasn't been free of them since we came over from Varron. But...so far its all been from within the school walls. Hircine vs Varron students, Order vs the Nameless Masses, Students vs Watchers...now its school vs school. So why is it that a more normal conflict is giving me such a bad feeling...?

Kyukaku placed his thumb and forefinger under his chin, beginning to fall into a deep meditive thought as his eyes repeatedly followed the letter trails. Nobu once again forced Kyu to split from his thought process. Kyukaku turned his head to the right, leaving long enough of a pause for another student to cut in. Kyukaku frowned as he turned towards both of them, exhaling slowly before speaking.

"I'll go." Kyukaku stated as he looked at Nobu, extending his right hand. As Nobu twirled the bat, Kyukaku's hand would grab it and pull it away at the right time to make it easy. He looked at both Allen and Nobu, pausing a moment before turning and tossing the bat to the ground behind him.

"But I'm not looking for vegeance. I'm not naiive; its pretty obvious that our visit won't be a peaceful one, but I'm not going to let you kill anybody either. We'll find out who's responsible, and we'll take it from there, alright?"

Kyukaku gazed over the other two, only half-looking for their agreement, as he had already made up his mind one way or another. If there wasn't an overwhelming protest, Kyu would turn and walk back to his car, expecting that Spider had dispersed into the crowd, likely getting more info for a story. He'd get into the drivers seat of his car, waiting for Nobu and Allen to do the same before throwing it in reverse and heading back the way they had just come. Desination: Paragon.

[Aryck Venn]

The lanky junior Aryck Venn always had a strange quality about him: He was particularly good at remaining invisible in a crowd. Much like an assassin of a popular recent video game, Aryck was quite adept at simply entering a crowd of people and disappearing, even despite his sometimes odd-looking appearance and height. Combined with the soft, sometimes inaudible steps he took, it was very often the young man would sneak up on people, speaking or sometimes attacking before they even knew what was there.

Kyukaku would soon learn this trait about his former finals opponent.

Aryck had been in the original crowd, not necessarily out of a sense of school pride, but to see just what these Paragon students were about. In the short scuffle, he had gotten one of the other few hits in on the vandals, but had made himself scarce once things calmed down, disappearing back into the crowd when the fight subsided. As such, he silently watched, even making no mention of disapprovement as a Japanese student bodily pushed past him to get to the scene. He listened to the young student get the facts of the fight out, even watched as he went back to Kyukaku to ask if he had his support. This was where the whole scene finally started to catch Aryck's attention.

So he's part of this, as well...

The thought brought a small smirk to Aryck's lips as he casually passed through the crowd, breaking from it to come up behind Tyler, not too long after he spoke of there being no killing. He would speak then, likely surprising the senior hopeful for the Captainship.

"I imagine you're going to want one more on this journey."

Without waiting for an answer, Aryck, after catching Kyu's eye as he would turn around in surprise, would turn and head for the senior's rather fancy car, leaning against it and waiting for the three to come as well. Unless he would be outright refused by Kyukaku, an outcome he highly doubted would come, Aryck would open the passenger's side door and pull the seat back, allowing the other two admittedly shorter students into the backseat before he, himself, took the front seat.

[Nobu]

Immediately after approaching Kyukaku and asking him if he was going, a certain blonde student stepped in and gave the Japanese fighter his support. Nobu turned his head and acknowledged the blonde by returning his stern nod, and instantly recogized him as Allen, the new student whom he had briefly met in the halls of Hircine. It was the slick ebony shades that made him so distinguishable to the Japanese youth. The other Hircinian turned to face the two juniors, and agreed to go along with them to the Paragon Institute. Kyukaku also stated he was not looking for vengeance, but not before he plucked the baseball bat from Nobu's hand and tossed it aside, telling him that he wouldn't let the Japanese student kill anybody. "Did I give the impression that I was going to kill someone?" he said, the gentle, yet serious quality returning to his voice, as well as his usual icy-cool rage, as opposed to the fiery anger he had just exhibited.

Nobu figured it would've been easier to intimidate the Panthers if he was wielding a weapon, and although the baseball bat would have given them an advantage over (or put them on equal terms with, rather, given his recent experience with fighting Paragonites) them, he could more than handle himself without it. Kyukaku's gaze seemed to drift between the two juniors, before suddenly, a tall figure emerged from behind him, seemingly out of no where. This startled the Japanese fighter slightly, and his feet shifted into a fighting stance. He soon eased out of it, however, when he realized it was simply another Hircine student, and was even a bit glad when he, too, showed his support for retaliating against the Paragonites.

The new addition to the party briskly made his way toward Kyukaku's vehicle, and Nobu would follow the two remaining Hircinians when they decided to take their leave. Slipping into the back seat along with Allen, Nobu would mutter a small "Thanks" to the tallest of the four Timberwolves. Once all of them were seated in the car and Kyukaku had pulled out of Hircine's parking lot, the Japanese student began speaking to the new arrival. "I don't believe we have even seen, let alone met each other until now. I'm Nobu, and you would be..?"

_____________________________________________________________

Soon enough, the quad of Hircinians pulled into the parking lot of the Paragon Institute, the unfamiliar and flashy sports car receiving some threatening looks from a few of the institute's students. Unlike before, Nobu would not be able to immediately hop out of the car due to being in the back seat, and instead would have to wait for the student seated in front of him to get out before he could. When the they all exited the vehicle, the Japanese student would waste no time, making a bee-line for the main building from the parking lot.

Fortunately for Nobu, there were only a few Paragonites scattered about the expansive courtyard of the institute, doing little but glaring holes through the student wearing a shredded Timberwolves jacket. Nobu was actually surprised by the new high school; if it weren't for the debris, broken teeth, blood, and other questionable stains scattered everywhere, as well as the occasional unconscious body laying on the cold ground, most would say that much more time and money was spent on the Paragon Institute than Hircine High, given the institute's impressive main building and courtyard.

"You lost or somethin', boy?"

Nobu quickly pivoted on his heel, turning to face the voice that had risen from behind him; there stood a student with a few inches on the Japanese youth, wearing a black and blue varsity jacket, a rather sleazy-looking girl standing by his side. Looking back at the building, then returning his icy gaze at the assumed Paragon Panther's team member, Nobu replied with, "This is the Paragon Institute, correct? I don't believe I'm lost."

"I don't think you understood me. We thought you Timberwolves would get the message the first time," a wide, shit-eating grin crossed the face of the Paragonite, "guess I just gotta beat it into you again, yeah?"

That was all Nobu needed, and just as the he finished his sentence, the Japanese fighter's right hand grasped a fistful of the Paragonite's shirt, but not before he received a fist to the side of his face. His head was thrown to the side, and his grip loosened on the other student's shirt. The loosened right hand moved from the shirt to the side of the Paragonite's head, and in one swift, powerful motion, the Paragonite would find his feet kicked out from under him, and his face quickly approaching the asphalt.

After smashing the side of his face on the ground of the courtyard, Nobu continued on toward the main building of the Paragon Institute. The Paragonite attempted to rise, blood pouring down his face from a wound on his head, but only managed to stumble back to the ground, obviously affected by Nobu's attack. His sleazy girlfriend would hold on to his body so he didn't fall again, before laying him gently on the ground and telling him to relax. "Y-you fuckin' asshole! What the fuck did you do?!" the girl would scream, her mascara beginning to stream down her cheeks as tears fell from her eyes.

Her words fell upon deaf ears as Nobu walked up to a large window on the side of the building, sizing it up before cocking his right elbow back and placing his right fist in his left hand. The tattered leather of the jacket's sleeve would protect Nobu's arm as he smashed his elbow through the window, breaking the bottom half of it into several jagged shards of glass.

The shattering of the window, coupled with the blaring alarm that sounded immediately after, masked the sound of the fallen Paragonite's girlfriend's footsteps approaching Nobu from behind, her hand reaching into purse to retrieve something...

[Oh, Paragonites! Come out, come out, wherever you are! ]

[Tai Yang]

[We prefer Paragonians, sounds better then Paragonites.]


What a eventful day Tai Yang had: first getting the high score on the boxing game down at the arcade – located no more then three blocks from Paragon – and then after arriving at school he was showered with applause. Well, not so much applause as fists. Yeah, he was attacked and attacking constantly until the end of second period. He had a really fun morning, and even crippled Paragon’s running back with a hard kick to the outside of his knee. It was most amusing watching the senior rolling around on the ground, clutching his broken leg and crying over a lost scholarship.

Ha, a lost scholarship, such a worthless piece of crap in the eyes of the Chinese-American. Who wanted to play such a boring game of running back and forth down a field while carrying a ball? And to go you’re whole lives trying to live off that, utterly pathetic. To prove his point Tai Yang took the running backs jacket, replacing it for his own and wearing it for the rest of the day. Sure, he got some weird looks, but at the same time people seemed to fear him all the more. There was something about destroying what people called a ‘sure thing’ and ‘the real deal’ that made him reach a state of egotistical bliss.

Just after lunch a few other members of the football team, the quarterback and a few linemen approached him. They all looked angry, all except the quarterback, whom just seemed bewildered by the event and in need of a new player to fill out the team.

[QB] “Look, I know you don’t care for football, so just return the jacket and nothing will happen.”

“Return what now? Oh, you mean this.” Flicking up the collar to the school jacket he put a little emphasis in his movements by leaning back, putting his steel-toes up on the table.

[QB] “Yeah, that. Your not part of the team, so it’s not yours.”

“Well, what if I plan on playing? I broke his knee therefore I get his place. You reap what you sow, as the saying goes.”

[QB] ‘Uh. Fine, I don’t feel like having any more members hurt. The deal is you get to play, cause destruction on the field to other schools, and in return you don’t cripple any more members of the team. Alright?”

“I’ll think about it. See you Friday, perhaps.”

Taking his feet from the table Tai Yang returned to his feet and walked past the ‘trying-to-be-oh-so-intimidating-linemen’ and out the library door. Proceeding outside he walked around the corner, not only to enjoy the view, but to get the most attention from the majority of the students skipping class. Removing a smoke from a metal container he lit up, taking a few puffs before watching the sports car pull in, drawing the attention he obviously deserved away from him.

‘What the hell, why are they so important?’

Flicking the rest of the ash from the end of the cancer stick he started to head toward the group, more accurately to head them off by the doors. He would’ve been right in front of them if he hadn’t stopped to watch the spectacle, which gave him a chance to see one of them fight.

‘He’d angry, which either clouded his sight and let the punch hit, or he feels that he needs to be punished for something. Either way, to easy.’

Scoping out the rest of the group the tall, lanky American, the shorter, more filled out male, and the one with the shades that stood somewhere between the lanky American and the shorter one. Personally, he’d like to fight them all, feeling that each and every one of them would give him that extra boost of adrenaline to push his limits.

‘Exciting.’

Having watched the ‘fight’, if you could even call it that, more like a slaughter, he was momentarily paused from his goals, which made itself clear as he watched the angry one pass by in front of him, just a few steps away, yet still out of reach. Proceeding around the corner he watched the presumable leader of the group, or at least the one that was showing the most hostility, grip his fist and break a window. An obvious sign of hostility one that enthralled Tai Yang to just attack without looking back. But, it seemed that he was beaten to his idea as the girl friend of the fallen player rushed past him.

‘She’s going to ruin my fun.’

Breaking out into his own little sprint the sound of his steel toed boots thumping across the concrete echoed much louder then her flip-flops, though was probably still as silent as a whisper in the night to the Japanese fighter. The others might’ve caught note of his advance, but they weren’t his targets: The bimbo was. As her entered her purse, his grabbed her wrist. His feet stopped moving as he pivoted around on his left foot, swinging her around his body and face first into the near by wall. Her arm was contorted behind her back, and small movement and it would be broken. The sheer scream of her pain echoed much louder then the alarm blaring overhead, which was quickly turned off by the office staff. Seeing as this was the third broken window in a week, they were already calling the glass company, rather then reporting the incident. Leaning in close to her ear Tai Yang’s lips were gently brushing against the back of her ear lobe.

“Tsk, tsk. That’s no way to treat out guests from Hircine, why don’t you go play Malibu slut with all the other whores and leave this to me. Or would you prefer to spend the night in a bed beside your boyfriend at the hospital?” Hoisting her arm up a bit higher he proved his point, and after her second scream of pain she nodded in acceptance. Pulling her away from the wall by her shoulders he pushed her back out into the courtyard before turning to the four Timbre Wolfs.

“Now, what can I do for you fine gentlemen? Tea, crumpets? I don’t have either, but I’m sure the Vice-principle does. He’s a bit of a fag; then again I heard he came from Hircine.”

[Kyukaku]

Expectedly unexpected, Aryck had emerged from the crowd. Kyukaku turned to face his most recent tournament opponent, not hiding the surprise in his eyes. As if already knowing Kyu's answer, which he may very well have, Aryck turned and started right for Kyu's car. Turning and following, Kyukaku assumed the other two would do the same. As Aryck let Nobu into the backseat Kyu did the same for Allen, completing the ragtag team of Hircine students.

All this driving back and forth. Good thing gas prices are so low...or not.

As soon as Kyukaku got out of the car and let Allen out, he'd turn and see that Nobu was already booking for Paragon. Cursing under his breath, he followed after Nobu. Not reaching him until he already slammed down one of the students, Kyukaku's right hand went to Nobu's left shoulder, turning him around after he slammed his elbow into the glass. Looking him in the eye, Kyukaku would place both hands on his shoulders as he spoke.

"Keep going like this, and this won't end well for us. You need to cool down."

Looking past Nobu's shoulders, he caught a glimpse of someone running straight at them. Assuming they were being attacked, Kyukaku side stepped with a duck to the right, pulling Nobu along as Tai Yang blew past them, going for the girl. It seemed chivalry was dead here at Paragon as the boy of obvious mixed decent began attacking the girl.

"That's enough!" Kyukaku took a step forward towards Tai Yang, needing not to do more as he seemed to let go after saying what he wanted to the girl. He listened as Tai Yang spoke, rolling his eyes with a short exhale as he finished.

"Make sure they don't do anything rash, yeah?" Kyukaku whispered to Aryck over his shoulder, gesturing to the other two Hircine students, most notably Nobu. Allen he hadn't seen enough to know how he would act, but it was already obvious Nobu had a short fuse. After acknowledgement from Aryck, or none at all per his usual demeanor, Kyukaku would turn back fully towards Tai Yang.

"Save it. If you want to do something for me, you can start by settling your ass down. I'm not looking for revenge, there's been enough violence today. I'm looking for an end."

[Allen Daughtry]

'Since when was this run to Paragon his vengeance? Who is this guy?'

Allen Daughtry found the self-righteous actions of the other fighter beside Nobu particularly interesting. He held a sort of aged aura around him, as if he were a veteran of the System, and hadn't hesitated to accept Nobu's request for help or his sudden swing to get rid of the bat. What made Allen curious about his attitude, however, was the way he spoke of the attack on Paragon as if it were his to command. And why was it that if Nobu brought along a bat, that instantly meant he wanted to kill someone? If the man as not so naive, then he certainly was assumptuous.

Then came another voice, a cool demeanor from a tall fighter standing a few meters behind the three men by a very expensive looking car. He wasn't even waiting for an answer from Nobu or the veteran; he just opened the passenger side door and waited for the other two students to jump into the back, considering he would obviously want the front seat beside the driver. Through this new arrival, Allen just watched in curiosity, surprised by the neutral attitudes of the new man. His attire also reminded Daughtry of his own preferences.

'Strange... I thought I was the only outcast-looking guy around here. I guess I'm wrong on that.'

Without only a small glance towards Nobu and the veteran to see their reaction, Daughtry shrugged his shoulders under his jacket and briskly marched forward towards the taller Hircinian, nodding to him as he prepared to enter the vehicle. He hesitated for a moment as he stood between the door and the small space where he would practically have to crawl in order to sit behind the driver's seat, then sighed in annoyance and dislike. For some reason, he was never comfortable in a two door car of any kind, especially when he was sitting in the back; in fact, he only felt comfortable in a car if he was behind the steering wheel, and he didn't even have his license yet. It was an odd sensation; not exactly claustrophobia, but more likely just feeling so constrained and vulnerable as he sat in a small, enclosed space and did nothing but lean back and breath.

Still, he was only evading the required action for a moment; after forcing himself to accept the circumstances, he forcibly slipped his way into the back seat and buckled himself in, watching casually as Nobu took his seat besides Allen and the other men entered the car, and a little while later, the driver began their brief ride to the Institute. Indeed, it was only a few minutes later that they were parking and exiting the car, and Allen watched coyly as Nobu charged towards the school and clashed with a local student. After the Panther threatened the Japanese man and found himself crashing to the side walk face first, Daughtry smirked with impression as the veteran ran after Nobu to confront him about aggression, and Allen followed casually as they passed the fallen Paragonian. As their welcoming committee arrived, however, he found his interests not on the strange behavior of the other Panther, but more on the fallen one. Kneeling by the mumbling man and grinning at his wounded, bleeding head, Allen simply nodded his head in a mocking manner.

"Well, you talk hot shit Panther, but I sure don't remember you from a few minutes ago..." Allen spoke to him through a quiet tone, watching as the Football player glared back with a weakened snarl and tried to shift himself back into a standing position. He found the motion difficult, however, as Nobu's swift trip left his mind jumbling.

'No need to give him further injuries. He might know something we want, though. Best to drag him along.'

"You're coming with me... boy." Daughtry continued with a wider smile as his left hand grabbed the Panther by the back of his neck and forced him to swagger forward on weak legs, the two briskly walking towards the meeting place of Nobu and the other two Hircinians as they were intercepted by the other Paragonian. Tossing the Football player to the ground in front of Nobu and the others, Allen kept to the man's right side, but placed himself in a position between the fallen Panther and his classmate, in the event the latter tried to knock him unconscious.

'Never can tell with these Panthers, it seems.'

Allen glanced back to the sharp-tongued Panther and nodded, his eyes keen behind his shades, lips sealed in a frown, "We can insult each other's schools later; right now, we're looking for your graffiti artists. So, unless you know something we want to hear Panther, then move along. We have business with some of your fellow students. Like your boy right here."

[Aryck Venn]

The trip was short, as the school was only a few blocks away. The conversation was kept to a minimum. Aryck, however, mused silently, with a certain sense of bemusement, at Nobu's actions. Passionate, fiery, and hot-tempered, he was seemingly the full antithesis of the rather neatral-demeanored Aryck.

Surely enough, as soon as the car came to somewhat of a stop, Nobu threw himself from the car and ran out, essentially plowing through the student that came to stop him and busting open a window. Aryck exited the car during the student's initial charge, looking on, the only visual interpretations of his opinion on the matter slightly pursed lips and a raised eyebrow.

Everyone else made their leave, moving almost as a cohesive group towards the school, with Nobu in the lead, Kyu behind him, and Aryck close enough behind him to get the whispered message. Aryck, as per his usual fashion, dropped the expression from his face and nodded his acknowledgment. His eyes then began to scan, shooting from Nobu, who was still seething angrily, to the one in the shades, who was pulling the fallen student farther up to the scene. A student from Paragon appeared, cleanly breaking the girlfriend's arm and encountering the Hircinians directly.

Kyu took the lead, claiming his desire to end things peacefully. A small smirk took the lips of Aryck at the thought. Kyukaku might have become stronger, but he had gotten no less idealistic. While most would consider the idea naive, Aryck cared little one way or the other. He was neither an optimist, nor a pessimist, and held no preference for one set of beliefs over the other.

The shaded one came up next, dragging up the fallen football player and furthered Kyu's comment of peace with one of war. It seemed that while the Captain hopeful simply wanted to get the feud over with as peacefully as possible, this one simply wanted it done quickly: Get those responsible out here, so they could beat their asses. While Aryck, practical as ever, would have preferred the latter method, he knew even more so that a division of ideals here could lead to trouble in the near future, and so, he came up behind and slightly left of Allen, speaking to him in his usual nearly monotone voice.

"Let him speak."

Allen wouldn't be pleased, few rarely were, as Aryck completely lacked the capability, or perhaps the desire, to tell people things nicely. As such, it would come out more as a command than anything, but Aryck cared little. He had decided to tag along to see just how Kyukaku would handle the situation, and thus took strides to ensure it was Kyukaku, indeed, who handled it after all.


((Sorry for the delay.))

[Nobu]

As expected, things escalated quickly.

After smashing the bottom half of the window, Kyukaku had stepped in and grasped the Japanese student by the shoulders, glaring at him like he was his parent or something. An arm was brought up to brush the senior's hands off of him, and before Nobu could speak, another Paragonian had appeared from behind him, causing Kyukaku to react. The girlfriend of the student that he had incapacitated just moments ago was now being pressed against the cold brick wall by the new arrival. Nobu held himself back, his muscles tensed, as he watched the Paragonian exert dominance over the girl, despite the fact that he, unbeknownst to Nobu, had just intercepted an attempted assault to the Japanese student's back.

Almost in unison with the slightly taller American's "That's enough!", Nobu yelled out "Stop!", and the dark-skinned student released his hold on the girl, allowing her to run off as he turned toward the trio of Timberwolves, with Allen joining shortly after dragging a stumbling Paragonian behind him to make it a quad. Kyukaku's following words hit home, as Nobu was already aware of his temperament problem, even though he meant well. He, just like Kyukaku, wanted to put an end to this conflict, but Nobu was rather simple-minded, and the only way he knew how to solve things were with his fists. After muttering a quick apology, the Japanese Hircinian glared at the newly arrived Paragonian, whose features seemed to greatly contrast with the tone of his skin. What Nobu was really glaring was the Panther's black and blue varsity jacket, which he was intent on getting a hold of.

The tallest of the Timberwolves' bluntness wasn't surprising, as the Japanese youth was not one for subtleties himself, either. Allen seemed to be on the same page as Nobu, wanting to rough some Panther's up and take names, while Kyukaku appeared to be the more diplomatic and peaceful of the group. As for the tall, lithe fellow.. his motives, at the moment, were questionable. "Who is he?" is a question that had been crossing the Japanese student's mind since the Hircinian had emerged from the shadows at the graffiti scene back at their school.

Squatting down next to the football player he had attacked, he began removing the Panther's jacket from his back. The Paragon student grasped onto the jacket weakly in protest, but Nobu easily pried it from his hands, rising back up and holding it loosely at his side. The sole of his left foot was planted on the Paragonian's chest, and he raised his right hand as if he was going to hit him, causing the Paragonian to whimper and throw his hands up to block an attack that was never coming. His eyes were darting around nervously, looking for an escape from under Nobu's authoritative foot. They first landed upon the dark-skinned Panther that had decided to confront the Hircinians, then at each individual Hircinian. Bullets of sweat began to descend down his face.

Suddenly, the air grew very heavy, and when Nobu looked back down at the Panther, that shit-eating grin was present on his face once again, and he even began laughing. Hysterically. "You guys are fucked! Haha! Hahahahaha!" It took all of Nobu's willpower not to lift his foot from his chest and stomp down on his teeth. Instead, he turned his head and scanned the courtyard, realizing why the air was so tension-filled. Standing around the Timerwolves was a slowly growing posse of Paragonians, all of which did not look very pleased with the Hircinians intruding their territory.

They must've been drawn by the alarm.. then again, it is a high school. Word tends to travel very quickly.

[No problem with the delays; I'm also pretty busy with finals and all, so I can relax a bit while it's not my turn to post. Also, where the hell are all the Paragonians? It's no fun beating up NPCs, so come out, Paragon pussies! :p]

[Kabuto Takada]

Kabuto was wandering around the Paragon Grounds, again.He had taken to the practice of wandering the school,just to see what happend. Hircine had been tamed, so Paragon was the only place for fights, Kabuto's number one hobby. Kabuto has a love of pitting his strength against and opponent to see what he was made of.

It was always a interesting place, lots of fights and breakups, beatdowns and vicious cruelty. Kabuto couldn't help but be morbidly curious. He had been sitting ontop of the brick wall where the Paragonian had smashed the girls face into, and was looking out at the school grounds. Sure, it was a shit hole, no debate there, but it was a damn interesting one, covered in blood stains and littered with unconcious students and discarded books. Cause who needs learning?

Like this for example, 4 fellow Hircinians pulling up in a car,looking for trouble. But then I suppose the Paragon students had done some stupid bullshit and the Hircinians were coming to kick their faces in for it. Interesting, intruiging and exciting. Entertainment out the Wazzoo! ( and Kabuto had no Idea where that was)

Kabuto sighed and stood on the wall observing the events unfolding with a curiousity only suited for the cat. Basically to him, it was 4 angry dudes getting out of a car, beating the shit out of one dude and have another dude beat up a woman like a coward and then have the balls to try and take 4 guys by himself. But I suppose the growing number of students from Paragon Institue would change those odds a little... Hell, they woudl go down like desperado's in a last stand against all odds or come through and ride of into the sunset in that nice car.

Kabuto weighed out the situation.

Pros: Get massive rep for kicking ass, bueno

Cons: Get ass kicked and lose rep, not so bueno

Kabuto looked down at the group and smiled.He smiled like a happy person, about to do one thing he loved. Fight. Damn he loved fighting. It was the only reason he had chose Hircine, for the fighting. You see, he wasn't a malicous or blood thirsty person, oh no. He wasn't baying for blood or attacking random strangers but he was always looking for a fight, to further his skills so that one day he could be come an MMA fighter, his dream job.

Hmmmm

Kabuto studied the growing crowd's angry faces and was damn sure most of em were packing a weapon of some description. He didn't like that, not one bit. He considered his options. backing out wasn't one, he was here to fight, but with odds stacked against him, he wasn't so sure...

Fuck the odds, Risk taking's my damn job!

Kabuto crouched low and launched himself high off the wall. The parkourist curled forward into a frontways flip and landed in a parkour crouch,quickly followed by a roll to release the tension. He stood and found himself in to the side of the 4 desperados. He turned to them and smiled like a maniac. He looked his fellow troops up and down, judging their strength and abilities on their outward appearance.

A fair team.
Kabuto saluted a mock salute and grinned.

" Howdy, name's Kabuto."

He loosend his tie and stood beside the Hircinians, eyeing off the crowd of Paragonians. He grinned and placed a toothpcik in between his teeth.

"Do or die"

[Tai Yang]

“If your looking for an end of violence, I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong place. Or rather, that train set sail along with your old principles life. Violence is what this school’s about.” Tai Yang spoke directly to the leader of the four-man cell, his eyes unwavering from behind his shades. He could feel a group of students advancing upon the scene, most with the same intent as he was portraying, the only difference is he wanted to act along, not in a mob.

‘Stupid mob mentality, its going to ruin my fun.’

Turning his attention to the one that had been dragging his fellow teammate all Tai Yang was able to do was laugh. He laughed right at Allen, pointed and continued to laugh, and even slapped his knee. “Oh, you’re a funny one. Like he has anything to do with graffiti, the bastard can barely go to class let alone another school.” Taking a breath Tai Yang settled himself a bit, still chuckling to himself. “You saw Malibu slut, right? They’re usually connected at the hips, so where do you think they were earlier today? My guess, a storage closet, under the bleachers, and probably a vacant classroom, with the possibility of a cars back seat thrown in there. He’s useless, not even a first string player.”

Glancing around the crowds had gathered even closer to the group of students, and, in one of the most idiotic scene’s he had ever laid witness to, a fifth Hircine student jumped off the top of schools brick wall and joined in the fray. The bozo was lucky that the wall only went up twenty feet, or else his legs would easily be broken at this very moment. That scene of moronic behaviour had nearly deterred his attention away from the advancing crowds, and the hysterical panther, both of which Tai Yang wanted nothing to do with. He had to think quick, or else he’d never get the fun he wanted.

”I have a proposition, you want the violence to end, but that’s clearly not going to happen. So, I say we have a one on one fight, either one of you against me. You win, and you get to go find whomever you want without repercussion from most of the students here. You lose; you leave and forget about this. This is really your only option.” He stated, waving a free hand at the assembling masses. “I suggest your group picks a fighter, or else they won’t care what’s going on, they’ll just attack.”

Walking away from the doors of the school Tai Yang headed past the wall and entered the courtyard. The advancing students stopped for the time being, though continued to find there way to the main entrance, unconsciously blocking the now five cell team of Hircines from entering the building through numbers alone. Though a large influence amongst the school, Tai Yang wasn’t able to control all of them…. yet. So it lead to reason that should they refuse his games then he’d be assaulted by a good portion of the school. They might take down a few, maybe a handful each, but in the end they’d be beaten into the ground.

[Rick Green]

[Another Paragonite joins the scene]

And I thought things couldn’t get anymore interesting here at Paragon. Just when I think I’ve seen all there is to see with the senseless violence, riots, and all out beat downs around school something new happens. This time though things looked like they might get really out of hand.

Word traveled fast amongst the Paragon students that a bunch of Hircine guys had come looking for trouble. At the time word reached my ears I was sitting in some classroom, not sure what the class was, waiting for the teacher to finally break up the current little fight up so we could continue on with class. Sadly it didn’t look it was going to be resolved anytime soon so when the rumor had come around I decided that it would be loads more interesting than just watching a pathetic school room brawl ensue.

The action wasn’t hard to find at all. All I had to do was follow the growing number of students rushing toward the courtyard. More rumors flew wildly amongst a few of the other students, especially the males, and the name ‘Tai Yang’ was dropped a few times. What is with this guy? I’d already heard a ton of things about him in the short time that’d I’d been here. The guy lived on infamy and chaos. Probably more incidents have ended in violence thanks to him, so it figured that he would be involved in this. Just being around the guy could bring on trouble for me. It didn’t matter though; I wanted to see the skills of Tai Yang for myself. Being new to the system and probably one of the smallest guys here I needed to know whom I could associate with to keep myself from getting killed. Despite his chaotic behavior, perhaps he could be convinced to become an ally of sorts.

I was annoyed to find that when I arrived on the scene the entrance to the courtyard was blocked by a mob of students. Damn its annoying with the thick headed crowed together like this. Though the fact that I decided to come see this might make me part of that category. I thought about heading for the roof but I knew that would take to long and the fight might be over with long before I got the chance. Suddenly an idea sparked in my mind. I knew the quickest way to get through was to remove some of those in the way and the quickest way to do that was.

“Hey it’s a trick. There’s a bunch of other Hircine creeps coming in from the other side of the school.” I yelled these words and the reaction was like clockwork. Several of the male students started yelling amongst themselves and soon a large pack of them started off in the other direction. I made sure to stay out of there way as they ran toward the false threat. They didn’t need to see who had given the false information lest that person be the target of a few angry peers.

With that large chunk of the mob gone I casually strolled in to the open gap they had vacated. I wasn’t shocked to see Tai Yang standing in the center of things; it was pretty much to be expected actually. What I was surprised to see was him facing down five other guys who I assumed were from Hircine.

“What a mixed bunch of guys, still they all look pretty dangerous to me.” I said to myself. I was definitly not going to envolve myself in a fight with these guys if I didn't have to. No, if I could help it at all, I would merely be the spectator to this show. Besides, Tai Yang seemed like he wanted this to be a one man show anyway.

I looked around at the remaining mob. Their angry glares and curious whispers ran rampant amongst them. I smirked and leaned back against a wall waiting to see what happened next.

[Seni Kalamafoni]

Seni walked into the courtyard, seeing the crowd of student, Tai Yang standing waiting for the Hircine busters to come face him.

Seni knew his role. He wasn't going to just jump in, but he wasn't going to let these punks roll through here without good reason.

Seni, wearing his big boots and all, stalked across the courtyard and came up from behind Yang, turning his blue LA hat backwards and tucking his bandana in his back pocket. He folded his arms. Seni hadn't burned any today so he was completely aware of what was going on.

"'ey home boy, I got your back in this, just tell me who I need to hit." Seni muttered to Yang. They weren't friends but this was Seni's block and he rode against any who decided to come step up against Paragon.

Seni saw a couple of the Hircine kids. They looked straight punks.

He saw the small Japanese kid, standing near the back. Seni shook his head.

These punks would be eaten alive in hood. The wolves would come through and take all they had. Oh well, the wolves weren't out here, nobody from the block was rollin' through here, just me and the rest of these boys that really hold shit down here.

[Aroon Kamsing]

"...What the FUCK are they doing here..."

"...Dude, Tai Yang's already there, this is going to go off..."

"...Those guys have balls, coming here..."

Lowering the Chem notes from in front of his face as he walked across the courtyard, he shifted his head upon hearing the mumblings around him. Students were gravitating towards one group a little ways away, and though few of them did much to hide their staring, the majority were doing little more than that. A handful had edged closer, still staying their distance from what appeared to be a standoff, of sorts. He couldn't see properly from here, and inevitably found himself drawn towards the centre. Sticking the notes back into his bag, he zipped it over again and slung it over his shoulder, calmly and carefully slipping through the looser-knit sections of the gathered students before finding himself stuck without anywhere to go. Barging through would incite tension and anger in the students, so he stood where he was, thankfully with at least -something- of a view.

Tai Yang. Surprise, surprise.

The others he didn't know, but it'd been made more than clear to him that these were from the other school in the area, Hircine. He'd applied for the place, but Paragon had returned his application first. Fact was, he didn't care either way which one he'd ended up in, but he was here now. At least, he was somewhere. The masses around him had blocked his path to a degree that even the limber Thai couldn't slip through. Someone, however, ended up making themselves useful to the situation, citing rumours of more Hircine students approaching from another direction. Almost immediately after that, a large portion of the spectators began to dissipate, and Aroon was granted passage closer to the conflict in front of him.

He missed most of the conversation as a result of being so far away, and considering none of the main participants were shouting at each other, but as he approached towards Tai Yang and another student who'd done the same, he caught the 'gangster' slang from one of them and sighed audibly.

"How about you go hit yourself, moron."

Shaking his head, he stood a little aways from Tai Yang and the other boy, shifting his head very slightly to the notoriously reputed student.

"I may not like you, but Paragon's my school too. School pride, and all that. Ooh-rah."

That sarcastically delivered assertation aside, Aroon directed his attention to the opposite group, apparently all Hircine students, though one seemed to hold more of an...air around himself than the others. Probably just his imagination or something, though, and he spoke calmly.

"It would be a good idea if you left. Otherwise, more of us are going to show up. You're in our school, remember?", he paused, nonchalantly shuffling the bag on his shoulder to set the strap more comfortably, "Seriously, why not save everyone the trouble?"

Without anything more than a cursory glance, around half of them looked like exactly the sort of fighter Aroon would knock around a ring without making more than a half-assed effort. The other three would be the main troublemakers, but even that wasn't something to be taken at more than face value, and he could credit them with thinking along similar lines. He didn't look like much at first glance, but if it came to the crunch, the young Thai who had earned himself the name 'Muay Tempest' in competitive leagues would not hesitate to make that second glance all the sharper.

[Aryck Venn]

Events began to break down, which caused Aryck to decide not to suppress a tiny smile. This school, this Paragon Institute, it held so much promise, so much chaos. The lanky junior didn't regret his being in Hircine, however, as he'd much rather add to the Chaos whenever he felt, rather than being forced to survive within it. First, a Hircine student leapt from the roof of a building, using some basic moves that Aryck himself had studied during his Parkour phase. He had originally intended on taking up the sport for his fitness, but decided against it due to the nature of most kids, too eager to 'fit in' or 'look cool', starting to take it up as well. It was regrettable, but not a total loss. After all, he could have ended up looking like that guy.

Another student called out about a trap, cleverly thinning the masses around the students. Aryck could not visibly see the one who did so from his position, but he approved, nonetheless. The trick sounded almost exactly like something Aryck himself would have done, had he been working 'from the shadows' where he tended to be most comfortable.

Tai Yang called out his challenge, deciding to turn what would have been a rather all-inclusive bloodbath into a one-on-one to determine the fate of the Hircine students. If Aryck knew that he and his fellow students were highly outnumbered, he showed no signs of it. He leaned in and whispered to Allen, the closest one to him at the time.

"Watch out, the big islander looks ready to cause trouble, and the Thai," Aryck took a pause to point with his head towards Aroon, who was looking on with a slightly more evident interest than the rest by this point. Aroon, soon thereafter, proved his point by joining the rest of the slowly forming team. "Who knows what they'll try. Use this time, this distraction, to find what we came here for." Once again, Aryck found himself using more words than he normally did, but there wasn't any better way, after all, to get his message across.

Then he stepped forward.

His eyes centered on Tai Yang, as the sun coming out from behind a cloud caused his glasses to darken into sunglasses as well. He pushed them up further on the bridge of his nose with his middle finger.

"I'll fight."

With that, Aryck shrugged himself down a bit, lowering himself and loosening his body to deal with what he expected would be a sudden charge or sneak attack from this Paragon student. Hopefully, Allen got the point, and would use this not as a bargaining chip, but as a distraction to get what was needed. Either way, this blonde student held within him an almost endless wellspring of confidence. This likely wouldn't be an easy task.

[Rick Green]

Now things were getting really interesting…

As I stood back and watched the confrontation between Tai Yang and the Hircine students two more guys in favor of Paragon appeared. One of them some tough looking guy with a blue L.A hat. The guy was a new face to me, but I’d seen enough gangster thugs to recognize another when I saw one. This guy walked over to Tai and muttered something. I couldn’t tell as I was to far away.

The second guy that drew my interest came in shortly after I’d spread the rumor of another Hircine assault. This guy I knew a little better, though I’d not yet formally introduced myself. I’d seen him in the cafeteria a few times and across hallways on another few occasions. His name was Aroon I think; I couldn’t be for certain though as I’d only heard his name in passing a few times.

Aroon walked up to Tai and the gangster kid and said something, again I couldn’t hear it. If only people in these situation would talk a bit louder and acted melodramatic, oh well it was just a thought. Anyway Aroon then turned and said something to Hircine guys. Damn I wish I could hear.

It was at this point that I realized that even though I hated being in these major confrontations I might just have to join in after all. Tai Yang could prove to be an invaluable ally but he wouldn’t give his help for nothing, and I didn’t know exactly how to approach such a guy. If nothing else I could garner a meeting with Aroon and possibly befriend him if nothing else.

I was just about to go and join them when one of the Hircine students said something and stepped forward, this made me pause. The guy was wiry and plain looking, but he stood out amongst the others. The guy started stretching and looked like he was preparing for a fight, which made me smile. There might be some action after all.

Now I knew I had to find out what was going on. Keeping my eyes on the Hircine who had stepped out I removed myself from the wall and made my way over to Tai, the gangster, and Aroon. Seeing him as the least hostile and volatile of the Paragon students, and a guy who didn’t tower over me in height, I took up a spot next to Aroon. I gave him a glance then said in a whisper.

“I’m the one who thinned the crowed a little, but I’ve missed a few things. Mind filling me in?”

[Tai Yang]

[Oi, so many posts to read after expecting only a couple Hircine responses. Party-crashing Paragons!]

‘What the fuck am I? Is everyone wearing magnets in their boots or something?’

He didn’t reply to the deep, brutish voice that came from behind, he knew it wasn’t a hircine right away, not to mention the words gave him away as someone attempting to interfere with his fun. And so Tai Yang remained with his back turned to everyone, except the growing crowd in front, and waited with a rather calm demeanour for a Hircine to reply. But, surprise-surprise, another stepped forward to mess with his party.

‘What’s with all these party crasher? Damn!’

This time he peered to the side, barely turning his head as he peered through his shades. He recognized the guy, but the glance was too short to remember from where. Then of course, Tai Yang saw a lot of faces each day, and usually disfigured a few of them as the day drew on. After the familiar voice finished his little speech, and the quite amusing comment to the brute – which made him snicker – the young Chinese-American turned around, looking at the two who had stepped forward to ‘help’ him. Oi, why do people insist on stepping on his toes?

Before Aroon spoke to the Intruding students Tai Yang replied with a quick, short quip:

“You don’t have to like me to serve me.”

Taking a few steps forward he made it a sense to step past both Aroon and Seni, take it as a pride thing or something to do with his massive ego, but he wanted the attention to fall on him while looking like the leader of the Paragonians defence squad. Technically the latter was true, as he had been the first to really confront them, and even came up with a semi-peaceful solution – just one that suited his needs and goals.

After Aroon finished his little speech, and as the tall, lanky Hircine began to talk to his fellow schoolmates the leader of the Paragon squad gave his parting words before stepping forward – he felt that his challenge was already accepted.

“Big guy, speedy Gonzales, you to keep back. I’m the only one allowed to crash parties, but in this scenario I’m the host.” At this point Aryck stepped forward, causing Tai Yang’s smile to grow even wider. “Okay? Got it? He’s mine. But, if the others are so stupid as to want a beating, feel free to dance.”

Rolling his shoulders back he shrugged his jacket off his shoulders, his most classic trademark before a fight. He caught the collar in his right hand, and then tossed it to the concrete near the edge of the crowd. Looking sharply to the crowd he visually told everyone not to touch it, should they wish to remain in tact, then peered back at his opponent through the blood red lenses.

“Your rather skinny for a tall guy, guess you think your pretty fast huh?” Lacing his fingers together he turned his wrists outward, rolling his hands underneath as he his knuckles in a rhythmic pattern from his pinkies down to his pointers. “Lets see if you can keep up, shall we?”

Sliding his left boot across the concrete he kept his foot pointed at his opponent, sinking into a low stance with his weight nearly evenly proportioned to both legs. In truth his right leg had about five to ten more percent of his weight, but the way he set his boot down flat made it look like he was anchored. The toes of his right boot were facing at a ninety-degree angle away from his opponent, but his knee was twisting in slightly. This provided him with a better push for kicking or movement, depending on what he decided to do. Extending both arms he kept his elbows slightly bent, enough to provide for a quick, hard strike, but all while making it seem like he was trying to keep his opponent back – this seeming all the more likely as he curled his fingers into a loose palm-striking position.

“Whenever your ready, though hopefully by the end of this you’ll have a bit more protein in your system. I intend to feed my fist to your jaw.”

[Allen Daughtry]

Daughtry's reception was not what he expected. To start the scene, Allen had the tall, lanky shaded Hircinian stating to let the Paragonian "host" speak. It was no more of a command as it was a request, what with Aryck's neutral tone, but the fact that Allen had been overruled by an ally was painful. He sent a quick glance to the man standing on his left side, opaque sunglasses hiding the brief flicker of annoyance in his gaze, but the sudden frown giving enough of a reply. As he turned his head, however, the boy noticed Nobu holding the fallen Panther's sports jacket, followed by his wild laughter at a new dilemma. It didn't take much for Daughtry to notice the problem itself.

'... Son of a bitch, the fuckers noticed our approach. Now we've got a good twenty guys on us.'

Allen sharply sent his gaze back to the shaded Paragonian "host" with a glare at his supposed gut-wrenching laughter, and Daughtry felt the humor was directed at him. The beast in him, the aggressive id, wanted nothing more than to send a curled fist in the direction of the man. But alas, he was given a reason why the laughter came, and it simply redirected his rage from insult to contempt.

"Well," Daughtry began as he looked upon their host, "don't we know who the local class prick is then, eh?"

The length of the man's explanation for the uselessness of the fallen Panther left Allen suspecting a part of the man's persona, but decided that the time was not suitable for analysis. Instead, the boy redirected his focus to the crowd, but was immediately distracted by the arrival of a new face in the circle - an Asian dressed in a tie and collared shirt literally landing into the area with a roll. And the style of the high-level recovery was familiar to Daughtry.

'Parkour? Certainly looks like it to me.'

Allen watched the other man take his stance among his other Hircinian comrades as if he was one of them, and grinned, assuming that were the case, "Glad to see a friendly face Mr. Kabuto. Nice landing, by the way."

Another voice - the "host," as Allen mentally referred to him - then proposed that one of the five Hircinians fight him in a sort of duel, and the winning side would be given their desired outcome. Allen noted the lessening of bodies that surrounded the five Hircinians as a possible point to the host's influence, though he was more concerned with the idea of a duel itself: influence or not, the Panther wasn't promising them the men that attacked Hircine, and he wouldn't be able to stop the crowd if they took their own ideas or if one of the four remaining Hircinians started a fight. To Daughtry, the planned was either a trap, a flawed idea, a distraction, or simply one way for the "host" to sate his own interests. To say the least, if the five wanted to obtain their goal, they would have to break away from the crowd, fight or not.

'I could fight this guy, but I was at the attack, I'd recognize one of the attackers if I saw him, so I can't. And we've gotta leave at least three of us here in the crowd, one to fight and two to back him up in the event of an attack...'

Then a new problem arose - new combatants. Two men - both of Pacific origin, it appeared - were taking the host's flanks to support him. Allen knew that the danger would be that, in the event of a riot, the two supporters would now have two combatants to deal with as well as the crowd. Daughtry gritted his teeth, attempting to consider the situation.

'I might have to stay behind and help guard one of those guys, considering this is Nobu and the veteran's run. I'd think Kabuto and I could guard those two, and maybe Aryck would be the fighter... that wouldn't solve our crowd problem, though...'

Then Aryck leaned in and spoke a few words to Allen, of which confirmed the strategy. It was clear that two fighters had to remain to guard the main combatant, but now it seemed that Aryck was proposing Allen and one other use the fight as enough time to find the graffiti artists. Allen nodded, and watched as Aryck stepped forward to accept the host's challenge, preparing himself. Daughtry sighed, concerned about the situation, knowing that somehow he would have to break through the crowd and search for their objective.

It would have been difficult, too, had Allen not been given a grand opportunity. Someone in the group's flank suddenly claimed that another force of Hircinians were attempting to flank the school, and it seemed that, upon hearing this, a good deal of the crowd - perhaps a third of them - immediately left to find this other group. Whether the claim was fact or fiction didn't matter to Allen - since he didn't even know if there was another group - but what did matter was that he could search with more ease.

As Aryck and the host began their fight, Allen slid himself to a standing position near Nobu and nudged him in the side, before speaking his thoughts, "Dude, two of us should stick with Aryck to watch his back, especially with the two goons over there. I'm thinking you take Kabuto over there and keep an eye on them, even fight them if you can want. I'm gonna take the veteran there and start searching for our perpetrators. When we've... dealt with the problem, I'm going to pull the fire alarm to let you know. When that happens, he and I will likely scatter towards the car; I suggest you three do the exact same thing."

And with that, Allen lightly tapped the man's left shoulder with his right hand and moved past him, towards the veteran. Standing at the other man's right side, Daughtry glanced around as he made his plans known to the older man, "You and I are going to find these guys of ours while the others make an ideal distraction. Give me a minute to find us a lead..."

A moment later, Allen passed his shaded eyes over the crowd that both flanked and surrounded his position, his eyes shifting over Aryck's fight once or twice, before he finally caught his fish. Standing in the "third row" of sorts on the eastern edge of the crowd stood a grit-covered face with a splash of green paint over his cheek, and eyes that much resembled a man Daughtry recalled.

Nodding towards the veteran, Allen grinned, "There we go; you first?"

OOC: Tyler, go ahead and lead us on to the path you want. I'll be back to post next Saturday night or so.

[Kabuto Takada]

Kabuto looked over to the voice that had welcomed and complimented him. He saw a blonde dude in killer shades, and tried to put a name to the face...

Andrew....Alex....

Allen.

Allen Daughtry,that was it. Kabuto grinned a teethy grin at the ally. He saluted with two fingers on his right hand, the middle and index laughed.

" Why thank you kind sir, but we'll talk more about that later..."

He turned,still grinning like a crazy person, back twowards the Paragon students. It seemed we had been joined by a teen age gangster, stereotypical of course ( complete with retard speak and stupid clothing choice) and a guy who looked Thai and by his walk and legs, Kabuto ventured to guess he did Muay Thai. Sometimes you could just tell.

Kabuto saw Aryck walk forward and accept the challenge of king asswhipe over there and Kabuto blew a strand of hair out of his eye in boredom. He leaned in close to Allen.

" We got a plan,or are we gonna stand around here all day and have a tea party?" he whispered." Cause I prefer that I put my foot in that wiggers arse and leave"

Kabuto laughed under his breath and sat on the grass and turned twowards Tai Yang.

"Well? We gonna stand around all day or what? Make a move already"