Hysteria! (Open)

[charlotte]

The rhythm of her footsteps upon the paved sidewalk matched her breathing, one deep inhale per two strides, one deep exhale per two strides, and all done in perfect control. Her heartbeat determined the power and space between each breath and the time it took for her feet to push off from the ground. A rhythm built on a rhythm, built upon another rhythm. A heartbeat was all it took and she was lost within it.

She generally kept to one of two different routes while running:
The first taking her past her home, and straight past several city blocks, moving beneath the overpass before circling round the opposite direction, traveling past Hircine High and through one of the numerous trails in the woods, then, completing the trail circuit a few times, heading back home. The second route took her further downtown, heading away from Hircine, and not looping around after reaching the overpass. Most often her second route would carry her past Club Legion and then another circuit towards the waterfront, which she followed straight back home.

Today, a generic, nondescript Saturday, she had decided to take the first route, towards Hircine.

She ran, her legs and stomach muscles flexing and cording beneath her shorts, not taking in her surroundings. An old route, a usual route, nothing out of the ordinary had ever occurred, and as such, she was unprepared for anything to occur at all. She had traveled the same path dozens of times, usually only deviating when she reached the wooded trails, and generally remained detached from the environment, not needing to re-observe an unchanging landscape she had seen all to many times before. There was always a certain peace she found in running - a tranquility she found especially strange whilst running past the high school, a significant source of violence as of late.


Running past the school, she allowed her gaze to travel across the grounds, towards the parking lot, and at the building itself. A slight turn of her head would avert her gaze to look upon the Golden Gate Bridge and the waterfront. However, her path would soon be taking a turn away from the landmark structure, as she skirted the grounds and moved along the length of the school towards the forested areas beyond. Her gaze roving, the dark haired junior registered her thoughts traveling to a particular song she had recalled listening to that morning.


Lips are turning blue,
A kiss that can't renew,
I only dream of you,
My beautiful,


About to make the turn, Charlotte Anders, so absorbed in her thoughts, did not hear the approaching sound of a motor until far too late.


Tiptoe to your room,
A starlight in the gloom,
I only dream of you,
And you never knew.


A black moped swerved before her straight up upon the sidewalk, tail end swinging around and smacking her hard across her thighs. The vehicle was not moving fast, granted, but the speed and the impact were enough to throw Charlotte back, her knees buckling, falling hard to the pavement.


Sing for absolution,
I will be singing,
Falling from your grace.


Groaning, Charlotte rolled over onto her back, sharp pains running up and down the length of her legs and the cool breeze stinging her skinned elbows and knees. She pushed off with her hands, stumbling shakily to her feet to try and get a glimpse of what - or who - had hit her.

To her utter shock, which was soon to be replaced by a slowly mounting fear, the driver of the moped had stopped his vehicle right where he had struck her, barring the sidewalk. The driver casually swung his leg across the seat to stand between her and the moped, shrugging off his helmet and taking a package of cigarettes from his pocket. Charlotte almost did not recognize the face or the plain grey t-shirt as the sophomore placed his helmet on the seat behind him and took a step towards her, lighting the cigarette and slipping the lighter back in his pocket with a smirk.

"You should have known this wasn't over," Grey Shirt said, his smirk transforming into a dark scowl. Though the moped was off and parked in an awkward position, Charlotte knew her throbbing legs would never allow her to outrun him, so she did not bother to try.

"All that shit with the bleachers I don't care about," he went on, taking another step forward. "But being threatened by a pillar is something I don't like. Neither is being kicked in balls by the same chick who got the pillar on your ass."

Charlotte took a shaky step back from him, shooting pain driving up from her foot as her weight was transferred between two limbs and one limb, then back to two. Grey Shirt took another step forward, closing the distance further despite the frightened Junior's backpedal.

"I'm done with people underestimating me ... assholes who try to run the school." Grey Shirt said menacingly. "I'm through with taking orders, laying down for people like the pillars. I'm going to make my name known in this school, but the first steps are always small."

"After I've finished with you, I'm going out to find someone named Kvist ... see if I can join up with him." Grey Shirt smiled maliciously and dove forward, snapping his right fist towards Charlotte. She reflexively shot left, hot knives of pain stabbing straight up her thighs with every motion. However, Grey Shirt proved the faster, his punch missing, but his left arm arcing towards her as he read her movements, grabbing her hand and spinning her back towards him hard.

Charlotte twisted, her free arm snapping out with a speed nigh unregisterable by Grey Shirt's vision - a reflexive feat she had only managed to pull off when her instincts took fully over - her fingers closing into a fist that connected solidly with her attacker's jugular and windpipe. She allowed her hand to open up as she passed his jugular, her fingernails tearing the skin and leaving several small cuts. However, Grey Shirt once again proved to be faster.

His right arm caught hers before she could retract it from the punch, then he yanked outwards in both directions hard, spreading her arms out with a jolt. Pain shot through her joints, both at the shoulders and at her elbows, as if her bones were being wrenched out her sockets ever so slightly, Grey Shirt's wider arm span stretching hers beyond what it should safely be. Then, while the pain from his attack had made her eyes snap shut from the force, he kicked her, full force, in the stomach.

Charlotte gasped, tears stinging her eyes, as Grey Shirt whipped her around viciously, releasing his hold of her wrists and wrapping an arm around her neck, slowly applying pressure, constricting her breathing to a minimum as he leaned foward, hissing in her ear, his voice slightly hoarse from her strike to his throat.

"That little scratch is only going to make it worse for you," he gritted, warm-stale breath combined with his choke-hold making her begin to cough violently. "The name's Aaron Wentworth by the way ... you'll want to remember that!"

Aaron - he who was formerly known to her as Grey Shirt - delivered what felt like a knee into her back, releasing his choke hold as she fell to the ground hard, throwing her arm out to break the fall, but only succeeding in cutting her palm. Her breath came in chokes, spots were flashing before her eyes, and the pain in legs and arms had only seemed to intensify. Charlotte, coughing, clutched a hand to her stomach, her knees bent, legs curled together, while she watched Aaron's shoes move before her tear stained feild of vision. Dimly, she noted them as a pair of White K-Swiss shoes - the same that Leon sometimes wore. He crouched down before her, drawing a finger along her shaking, bare leg, before grabbing her neck in one hand and pressing his thumb into her windpipe, choking her once more, dragging her over onto her back.

Then he hit her in the stomach again, making her coughing intensify, mingling with the wracked sobs that pushed thier way through his vice grip. Aaron's face came close to hers suddenly, sneering, his gaze far more sadistic and sinister than anything she could have assumed this skinny sophomore could muster.

"Don't fuck with me again. Got it?" He spat harshly, his very voice making her recoil. A dim thought occured to her at the moment: it was just like the riot - a sudden and powerful emotion overcoming every other sense in the normally cool-headed Junior. However, rather than a sudden rush of "mob-mentality", "fight or flight", she was merely afraid. Afraid of the skinny coward she had never even considered capable of anything more than a few threats. So she nodded a terrified yes.

Seemingly satisfied, she saw Aaron stand and light a new cigarette, his old one long since lost in the scuffle. She lay on the ground, holding her stomach, curling back into a tiny, sobbing and bruised ball in her t-shirt, shorts, and running sneakers. The thought registered to her dimly: it was almost ironic ... being a stone's throw from the school and no pillar to come to her rescue.

Smoke from the cigarette wafted down to her nostrils; an itchy, suffocating scent, as Aaron merely stood, leaning against his moped, puffing his cigarette leisurely and smirking away as he watched her.

"I never expected you to be one for hysterics," he commented with a brutal sneer, apparantly enjoying watching her cry.

But there was nothing she could do to ignore the smile on his face or the smoke from his cigarette, save to close her eyes as she cried, lying on the ground, knowing full well that he would simply beat her down again if she went to stand or get up.



Sooner or later though, every action warranted a consequence.






(OOC: I'm leaving NPC control to anyone who replies; do whatever you wish with him)

[jdmthe1st]

Antonio was running by the forest near the school for exercise. He was training after his match some time ago. He was thinking to himself while smiling with his mask on.

'Oh man I looked so cool when that guy went down. But then again he whipped me to a pulp which wasnt fun. I need a super move or a finishing technique or something that will end a match quicker. Oh man that will help alot if I can just........."

Antonio heard something nearby and he stopped to listen.

"I never expected you to be one for hysterics," and Antonio heard some crying. Antonio ran over still with his mask on to find out what the problem was.

A young woman was knocked to the ground with some guy in a grey shirt laughing. Antonio couldnt walk away without doing something. It would be against a luchador's code of tradition to not help those who need it. Antonio walked over to the young lady ignoring the grey shirt guy. Antonio said to the Charlotte

"Hey. Hey. Hey. Are you awake? Listen everything is ok. Shhhhhhhh. Shhhhhhhhhh. Its ok. I will........"

The grey shirt guy responded by disturbing Antonio

"Hey why dont you make like a tree and leave! I going to enjoy having fun with her by any means necessary. So why dont you just leave now and save yourself from the beating of your life!"

Antonio turned around and he saw the grey shirt come into full view. Antonio charged and did a baseball slide into the knee of the grey shirt. The guy fell down but he got up and charged at Antonio again. He screamed

"DONT TRY AND STOP ME YOU IDIOT!! AGHHHHHHHHHH!"

Antonio moved out of the way and the guy ran into a tree. The guy kept charging at Antonio and kept missing until Antonio did a backflip and he legs caught the neck of the guy charging and Antonio did a hurricanrana which fliped the guy over Antonios back, head first into the ground. The guy didnt get up but he was struggling trying to pull himself up. Before he got get up Antonio pulled himself up to a very thick branch on a tree and jumped down with a splash, body first.

Antonio was pretty sure he finished the guy off and he got back up to see if the Charlotte was ok. He says the same thing to Charlotte as last time except he finishes his sentence.

"Hey. Hey. Hey. Are you awake? Listen everything is ok. Shhhhhhhh. Shhhhhhhhhh. Its ok. I will help you if you need it."

[charlotte]

Lying on the ground, Charlotte hadn't expected a soothing voice close to her speak.


"Hey. Hey. Hey. Are you awake? Listen everything is ok. Shhhhhhhh. Shhhhhhhhhh. Its ok. I will........"


She blinked once, eyes snapping upwards through the haze of tears and pained coughing - a throbbing ache in her stomach that only intesified each time she coughed, and coughed only more each time the pain increased: a cruel conundrum. But lo and behold, her rescuer, it seemed, was none other than a man in a mask, the sight of which made her instinctively recoil for a moment, startled. However his tone and sincere words allowed her to move towards him, propping herself into a sitting position despire the pain, the elevated position allowing her much needed breath.

However, all was not immediately well as Aaron shouted angrily to the newcomer, and the two jumped into a running-scrap and a shouting match (at least, on Aaron's end), though the water stinging her eyes did little to offer a view of the spectacle. Wheezing and still coughing, she gingerly touched a hand to her stomach, wincing and coughing ever harder as she felt the mark from where the grey shirted sophmore had twice kicked her. Thanks to being able to rise into a seated position her breathing had returned and the pain in her stomach had begun to abate, though her legs were numb from where the moped had struck her.

A dull thudding-squish echoed from a slight ways off the sidewalk where she lay, and Charlotte's head whipped around - the Junior instantly regretted her sudden move as her head swam, only to be joined by a fresh bout of coughing. Apparantly, the man in the mask had preformed some sort of body slam on the over-zealous sophmore, laying the skinny student flat out. Almost comical, but with a reddened stomach and overworked diaphragm, one does tend not to laugh.

The masked one approached again, seeming confident in Aaron's dispatchement, and spoke again the same words he had used before to comfort her.

"Hey. Hey. Hey. Are you awake? Listen everything is ok. Shhhhhhhh. Shhhhhhhhhh. Its ok. I will help you if you need it."


In response, Charlotte groaned and sniffled.

Of course, there really was little else to do, save for nod a yes to each question, which she did promptly. The sharpest pain - in her stomach - seemed to be slowly passing, as did her tears (which she assumed were more for fear of more pain than the pain itself). The tingling ache in her legs, however, was not going away.

Wobbily, she placed a hand on the shoulder of the masked man, trying to use his weight as leverage in order to stand, but only flopping back down to the great displeasure of her stomach, which panged again, as if in anger, making her groan.

"... I ... it's ... it's not to bad," she stuttered and gulped. "... Hard to breathe ... bit. And my legs are ..."

She tried to stand again, but merely flopped back into a sitting position, the landing jarring her further, fresh tears springing to her eyes, though not spilling over onto her face yet.

" ... hurt." Charlotte offered simply to express the feeling in her legs.

She was, of course, about to ask the masked one what his name was (along with "What's the mask for?"), but another sight caught her eye. The grey shirted form of Aaron groaned and rolled over.

In fact, he did much more than roll over: and growling, he struggled to his feet, leaning on a tree for support as he shook his head to clear whatever spots he had been seeing. Aaron took a step foward as Charlotte's eyes widened - she was sure that the sophmore was probably equally as injured and unsteady as she was, with the newcomer being the only undamaged party. Then, the sophmore snapped out something shiny from his pocket.


A spoon?


It was a pocketknife.

With a jolting, stumbling sprint, Aaron scurried around behind the masked man, holding the knife threateningly, and swung into the seat of his moped, starting it up and backing up on the sidewalk at a frantic pace. He backed up, yes, but did not leave.

Instead, he revved the pitifully tiny engine, his helmet lost somewhere, still holding the pocketknife. The moped had been pivoted straight towards the masked man and Charlotte, Aaron's gaze dark and threatening, and instantly she knew what he was planning, though unsure if Antonio would know the extent of his designs.

She opened her mouth to warn him - though he quite obviously would have noticed Aaron getting up, scurrying to the moped, starting it up, and turning it around - she doubted he knew what she knew. Three encounters with the sophomore and one look in his eyes would tell her all she needed to know about his ideas. The newcomer, however, she doubted would be as quick to read Aaron's intents, no matter how obvious. And the worst part was, when she opened her mouth to warn him, all that came out were coughs.


Then Aaron accelerated towards them.







(OOC: Alrighty, this time Aaron's going to be more like a regular PC, with me controlling him. Don't worry though, his "plan" really isn't that startling, and he's pretty whimpy )

[jdmthe1st]

Antonio was still down on the ground and he heard the moped start up. Antonio looked at Charlotte and then at Aaron who then darted his moped straight towards them both. Antonio noticed that the knife he heard click wasnt present in the hands of Aaron. He was using both hands to control the moped. Antonio thought of something clever at the last second. But he didnt want to have Charlotte do anything because she had enough to deal with. Antonio said

"Ok on the count of three, roll away as you can as fast as you can and then you wont have to worry anymore."

Antonio waited then he counted

"1............................2..............................3!"

Antonio charged straight forward and it would look like a dead on collision. Antonio sidestepped to the right while charging, but Antonio stuck out his left arm in order to hit Aaron even though Antonio might risk a left arm injury. If Antonios attack hit he knew that Aaron would be in for a long day and prehaps a long fall. But if it missed Charlotte would be in big trouble and Antonio would have failed to protect someone who did nothing at all. Antonio needed this attack to hit or he was done.

[Leon Loire]

A typically quiet afternoon was the setting Leon Loire needed for a simple walk through the city. The cool breeze, the warm valley humidity... it led to a comforting air to breath. Treading down the distant sidewalk that orbited the school's perimeter, the Senior student kept his hands in his jacket pockets with a mind of only thoughts towards whatever good subjects could come through his troubled mind.

'So much chaos these days, so much to change. It's difficult to keep one's mind in the light.'

Earlier, Leon had decided that perhaps taking a drive through the city was an ideal activity for such a day; just before running out, however, he decided to keep on his feet, and patrol the school grounds. After all, if he were to keep to his ambitions, he'd need to grow used to such movement.

It was difficult to keep focus during such a stroll, and the only thing that could have pulled someone that involved in their own thoughts would be something highly emotional.

Minutes after starting his walk, Leon Loire heard something that could definitely fit such a description.

'A scream? What for?'

Leon found his feet frozen in place to the earth below, ears pricked with attention to the winds of sound. The revved engine of a moped - stopped, then silent, as the rustles of a struggle followed.

'Shit.'

Turning on his heel toward the distant event, Loire kept his focus toward the wavering silence of noise - then felt the need to become involved, predominantly influenced from the sobs floating above the grass.

Jogging, then running, the sprinting man came closer to his destination, navy eyes perked on the scene to come, wonders of who had been harmed, and who had done the damage. Reaching a few yards from the scene, Loire's sight came onto the event of an unknown student - 'Is that a Mask?' - leaning over the wounded woman below, and another individual in the distance stood back up, edging towards the moped that had sounded off.

At first, Leon believed the masked man to be the assailant, and felt a need to charge at him, yet within a few seconds, this perspective changed. The other man soon pulled out a pocketknife from his pocket and soon returned to his vehicle, edging it backwards, then revving the engine once more, before arcing towards the two students lain before Leon Loire.

'You're not serious!'

The masked man suddenly stood up, clearly defending the fallen girl, and charged forth toward the attacking moped as if on a suicide mission. Leon soon found himself charging forward as well, now intent on checking on the fallen girl. Sliding across the ground next to the victim, looking across the beaten wounds, then realized the familiarity of the form.

'No... it's Charlotte...'

Leon's shock was quickly replaced, as his ears confirmed that some sort of conflict had struck between the masked student and the real assailant - a thud of some sort, and since Leon had not seen the clothesliner the Freshman student had planned, the first assumption by his new ally was clearly to pick up Charlotte and escape injury.

The split-second necessary forced Leon to ignore any chance of the action bringing harm to Charlotte, and wrapping his two arms underneath her blackened form, Loire allowed the girl's head to ease on his left shoulder, before strafing far towards the left, hoping to escape the oncoming moped. If this "Grey Shirt" succeeded in surpassing the masked fighter and continue his charge toward Leon and Charlotte, Loire knew his only option was to toss Charlotte aside - yet away from possible death - and attempt to take the attacker down himself.

In the end, however, these options were clearly not liked. Not in the least.

[charlotte]

Roll? On the count of three!?


It took her mind less than a fraction of a second to process exactly what the masked man had said, and even less time to consider if his warning were the right course to take, given the circumstances. As it were, she listened for his count, eyes riveted at the approaching moped.


"1............................2..............................3!"


Charlotte did not roll. Instead, she jerked back in shock, turning to face the source of sprinted footsteps. Shock quickly melted into mixed relief/worry as the dark haired junior realized that it was none other than Leon Loire to arrive on the scene, sliding across the ground towards her as the masked man took off on a collision course for Aaron Wentworth and his moped. Though Loire's arrival peaked a sudden rush of question and confusion, she afforded herself no luxury of unnesseccary thoughts - priorities had to be sorted in less time than it would take to blink.

Staying away from the wannabe-psycho/poser on the moped seemed to be the general theme of the situation: with the masked one holding him at bay, and Leon Loire's sudden arrival and efforts to keep her from harm's way. There came a nagging feeling in the back of her mind at the thought of either of her two rescuers being harmed in an effort to help her - not that she thought particularly highly of Aaron's combat skills (especially due to his easy, albeit temporary defeat by the masked student; and her observation of Leon's own prowess, as compared to Tiao's during the riot). The egotistical grudge held by Grey Shirt - Aaron - was against her alone, and Charlotte distinctly felt deep pangs of guilt at the thought of Leon or the masked one being hurt for her sake in this matter. Independance and introversion, it seemed, were two traits built to travel hand-in-hand; however, in the junior's injured state, she had no choice but to rely on others to save herself from even greater harm.


Funny how fast the mind works.


In less than the blink of an eye, she turned her head to regard the masked student step right and throw his left arm right to closeline the moped driver as, simultaneously, she felt Leon's strong arms curl beneath her. She allowed herself to relax in his grip, the senior's movements easing her head to rest on his left shoulder as he sidestepped left: a move she knew beyond a doubt was made for the single, expressed purpose of carrying the two of them out of the path of the oncoming moped, should Aaron manage to make it past her first rescuer, the man in the mask.

However, with Leon's movement, her gaze was peeled away from the fighting at hand, not knowing the outcome of the smacking thud that had reached her ears as Leon had picked her up.

One way or another, at least, both she and the navy-eyed senior would know the outcome soon enough.

**MEANWHILE**

Aaron Wentworth, the ends of his grey t-shirt flapping behind him as he rode, pushing the moped to the extent of its miserably inpotent - but damaging enough upon impact - speed limit. His eyes narrowed, angling the vehicle straight towards the meddler in the rediculous mask and the young woman he had been after.

His eyes narrowed further upon watching the masked man dash towards him, head on; an insanely stupid move from Aaron's point of view. Of course, the grey-shirted sophmore had heard things about Kvist, and if he wanted to find the elusive man and join the Hand, he wanted to be able to impress the leader. Injuring the girl who had hurt him seemed only fitting, and taking down the meddler would just be good practice. Not to mention a massive relief to his severly strained ego.

Seconds was all it took for the moped and the masked man to close the distance between each other, and as Aaron watched, the mask leapt aside, throwing his arm out.

A split second too late to properly react.

The sophmore, unable to duck in time, threw up both hands in front of his face, the inertia of the moped carrying straight through the masked man's attack. The arm cracked against his wrists, which in turn, mashed against his forehead, though softened the blow.

With his hands off of the handlebars, the moped twisted and skidded across the sidewalk screeching to a halt on its side, only a few inches past where Leon and Charlotte had previously been. Aaron himself, however, was not so lucky. The arm had thrown him off the moped, where he fell back, thudding heavily on his back and cracking his head along the pavement.

Groaning heavily and sputtering blood from his torn lower lip, Aaron scrambled to his feet despite the pain in his his skinned, bruised, and cut arms and knees, fishing the pocketknife out of his pocket once more and brandishing it threateningly.

"You think I'm going to run away?" he spat, glaring at both the masked man, and the newcomer who had lifted Charlotte from the pavement, narrowly saving the both of them from the crashed moped. "This isn't your business, so just walk away!"

The sophmore did not advance however, but remained in the same place, in the same position, blade waving threatingly.

[jdmthe1st]

Antonio thought his attack was going to miss greatly. He didnt expect his arm to have that much power to halt the guy on the moped. The moped went out of control and as Antonio saw the moped go by he thought to himself

"Oh no! That girl is still there! Hang on!"

But Antonio saw it was too late and the moped already went by him. He saw someone else help Charlotte and she was ok. Antonio didnt know who this new person was but from the way he was near Charlotte he automatically assumed he was a good guy. He walked over not knowing the guy got up from the bike. He said to Leon

"Hey thank you for helping me. I didnt think anyone else would show up. I almost thought you were his friend or something."

"You think I'm going to run away?" he spat, glaring at both the masked man, and the newcomer who had lifted Charlotte from the pavement, narrowly saving the both of them from the crashed moped. "This isn't your business, so just walk away!

Antonio looked back and he couldnt believe that the guy still got up. It isnt his business? But when someone screams it becomes your business. Why would Antonio walk away not protecting someone from this guy? He finally spoke and said

"Actually it is my business. You done enough damage already. My business is making people happy and making sure that if they arent happy then there will be something I can do to help. This girl isnt happy and that guy isnt either. But you seem to be enjoying yourself. Why do you enjoy yourself at someone elses expense? Why cant you just leave them alone?"

Antonio expected the guy to focus his attention on Antonio and only Antonio now. Antonio was waiting for a hasty and sloppy attack by this guy. Antonio knew exactly what to do if he needed to react.

[charlotte]

From the point-of-view of Aaron:

Aaron growled only one word at the masked man’s retort.
“Revenge.”

The grey-shirted sophomore, though not the brightest tool in the shed, was certainly not without his own degree of mental faculties. A quick scan of the situation was all it took for him to begin weighing his options and chances.

Charlotte Anders, the one who had humiliated him – bruised his ego – was the target. He wanted her to feel pain, though judging from her seeming inability to stand, he had already accomplished that. Being carried away proved that she was weak; that he had won, and gotten the last word. However, if Aaron allowed himself to be beaten by her rescuers, than she would still win in the end. As much as the sophomore tried to focus elsewhere, he could not and would not ignore his ego’s need for revenge in order to fuel itself.

So, rather than trying to make it past the Masked One in order to get Charlotte or the man who was carrying her, Aaron leapt at the closest – and most obvious – target: Mask Man.

His left arm clasped the knife tightly as he slid his right foot forward, leaning his body weight into a forward jab. However, at the last instant, he reversed his momentum and twisted back – a feint to throw his opponent off guard. The twist carried him far to the right, where he dived low, his right leg extended to collide with the Masked Man’s kneecap.

The move was intended to carry him past the Masked Man – unless his opponent managed to grapple him, rather than a simple dodge or parry. His motion would transform into a roll if Mr. Mask decided to block the kick, or dodge. Although if the maneuver worked it would place him flanked by both Masked Man (Antonio) and The Hero (Leon), he was betting that the suddenness of the move would throw Mr. Mask off guard long enough for him to attack the burdened “Hero Guy”.

[Tiao Lei Shen]

Tiao's eyes shifted around the corner, trying to piece together what the hell was going on. There was grey shirt from the bleachers, Leon Loire grasping some woman, and...a luchadore.

The woman's face was hidden from Tiao's sight, though not in the same way as the acrobatic wrestlers. The moped was knocked from under grey shirt, and he got to his feet. He didn't know the luchadore, or care at all for Leon Loire, but when he saw who the woman in Leon's grasp was, Tiao hesitated no more.

Tiao sprinted forward a few yards, left arm racing out and gripping Aaron's wrist from behind, who's attention would most likely be diverted. With a sharp tug backwards, Tiao would straighten and pull back the arm, throwing forward his right palm against the back of the elbow, providing enough resistance to snap the joint.

Before allowing Antonio any time to react on his own, Tiao would whip Aaron around slamming his right palm into his throat as he gripped the jugulars and windpipe in a tiger claw, choking the student and cutting off the blood flow to his head at the same time. He walk him backwards a few steps, slamming his back into the same tree Antonio had used.

"I warned you Wentworth, and now you're goin to pay. Over. And. Over. Again." Tiao would slam his back into the tree with every pause between words, glaring him in the eyes with the true ferocity few had ever seen.

(OOC: Sorry for the intrusion, it was too good of a thread to pass up. Oh, and I'm not taking control of your NPC, if you don't want somethin to go this way just interrupt my post.)

[jdmthe1st]

(OOC 5/26/07: Hey guys I changed my original response because I thought it was out of character and I could have sworn I looked at the information correctly. I guess not. Sorry about the change. Leon you might want to make slight edits. Tiao ignore my first response and relook the whole thing over if you didnt get the chance yet.)

(IC: He is going to flip out and tell the others to run. I had to change my original response because it was out of character for Antonio.)

Antonio looked to see Tiao Lei Shen slam a guy into a tree with what appeared to be Shaolin Kung Fu. (One of the oldest arts out there too next to Jujitsu I think. Correct me if Im wrong.) Tiao used a tiger form to dismantle the grey shirt easily and thus he was in a tree before Antonio could see anything. Antonio looked speechless and he thought to himself:

'I know Im fast. But is there a different kind of fast out there? Is there a speed so quick that I cant even see it yet? What the heck did he do? I know thats Shaolin Kung Fu and I seen martial artists at my job use it. But I have never seen anyone pull it off that good that it can be a natural reaction. Usually people have to think before they use techniques like that I think. But man he saved my life and the others too."

Antonio had a second thought: "What the heck is he........hes going to kill him!"

Antonio spoke and he said to Tiao Lei Shen:

"WAIT! STOP! Hes going to die!"

Antonio yelled to Leon and Charlotte while running over to stop Tiao Lei Shen:

"Go now you two!"

[Leon Loire]

OOC: The thought of having a relaxed conversation while "Grey Shirt" is getting his back broken is bringing a bit of black humor to me. But hey, whatever works...

IC: The skid of moped tires flew the shred of dirt and damp grass lightly across Leon's chin, the engine whining as it crossed the Senior's sight toward the right, then shifting its balance and fell to the earth.

Loire turned his gaze back toward where the masked student had been, watching as he stood as a barrier between Charlotte and her attacker, who struggled to return to a proper stance. The defender spoke briefly to Leon, and yet his attention was drawn towards the Grey Shirted individual more, only nodding in reply.

Leon was right to keep his attention towards the attacker; he wasn't finished. Releasing a switchblade and threatening the two men to take off, Loire felt the desire to speak, but kept himself silent, soon hearing the masked Sophomore reacting for the two of them. Yet he did not attack, instead choosing to question the weapon-wielding student.

'I'd probably be hesitant as well; I'm not exactly comfortable charging head on with a knife on me.'

Glancing down to Charlotte's head for a moment, Loire frowned; what the hell had she done to this man to deserve such "revenge?"

Grey Shirt eventually struck forth against the defender, attempting a tactic that may have slipped him nearby Leon and Charlotte, leaving Loire in a position of retreat. He was carrying the wounded; he couldn't just drop her. That'd leave her vulnerable, and yet if he carried her, they'd be an easy target to strike.

For Leon, it was a paradox when Tiao Lei Shen attacked. Loire found an anger against the man, for their ideologies were very different, yet Leon had to admit that the man's brutality was more welcome than a knife in the chest.

Shen and Grey Shirt fell against a far off tree, the Pillar cracking the attacker against the hard bark without consideration for his health, and even bringing Loire the desire to try and stop him. Grey Shirt deserved to be punished, but what Tiao was attempting would lead to the Sophomore losing feeling in his legs.

Still, Leon stopped; he had a responsibility to Charlotte Anders. He had to take her to the hospital, and at the same time, stopping Tiao would be hypocritical. Leon Loire knew that if he witnessed Kvist attacking Kira Karyuudo again, he'd have done the same if given the chance.

'For now, I'll make an exception... I'll leave Shen to his sins...'

Turning on his heel, Loire heard the yell of the masked student in response to Shen's decision, and grunted. There was no reason to run; Grey Shirt was no longer a threat, and Tiao would never consider to lay harm against Charlotte or Loire.

"Don't go zealot on me kid; he's just being Tiao Lei Shen. Leave him be or come with me, he's not that much of a fool."

Yes, Shen's choice was wrong, and if he murdered Grey Shirt, then it'd be his tremendous sin; but Leon Loire knew that he could not stand against it.

It was not a just punishment, certainly not for anyone in an equal situation, and in retrospect, Leon Loire realized that perhaps the idea of murdering Kvist for the beating of Kira Karyuudo was wrong, inhumane.

'I'm letting my emotions get to me... I need to ignore them, keep to my agenda, my goals. I've got to get Charlotte help; that's what important at the moment.'

And with that, Leon found the pavement and walked towards the parking lot, intent on driving the girl to the hospital himself. Shen would not slow him down; Antonio would not stop him. He had not fought, so he had to do something.

That was what he intended, and nothing would become an obstacle.

Turning his head back to the girl in his arms, leaning his lips down near her ear and whispering lightly, Leon let her know of the path ahead, "We'll be at a hospital in a few minutes. Don't you worry; everything will be fine. Grey Shirt is... dealt with."

And with that, Leon found the edge of the parking lot, seeing the gleam of the scarlet Mustang in the distance.

Nothing would get in his way; nothing.

[charlotte]

And so it occurred that a new party entered the scene, though by that point, the numbness in Charlotte's legs - particularly her left - had been chased away by a searing, stabbing feeling that ran all the way to her bones. Perhaps the numbness had been partly for the shock of the encounter, or perhaps it had been a result of the amount of blunt-force trauma her legs had endured. Whatever the case, it did not change the sensation shooting up and down her body. She grimaced, offering a sharp, pained gasp of air, tightening her grip around Leon's neck, not enough to hurt or cut off his own air, but certainly enough to signify that she was in pain.

As Charlotte blinked back the stinging in her eyes she glanced up to see a familiar ball cap darting into the feild of combat, slamming Grey-Shirt into the same tree that Mask Man had used to his advantage. There was Tiao, slamming Aaron Wentworth - Grey Shirt - against the tree with unimaginable feriocity and rage.

**ANTAGONIST PERSPECTIVE**

In the mind of Aaron Wentworth, there was an explosion of pain.

Lots of pain.


The initial snap of his arm had caused the knife to fall from his grasp limply, his spent limb flopping grotesquely. Then, faster than his eyes could track, his throat seized up - his gulps for air came useless as Tiao clenched hold of his windpipe and jugular. He did not even register the tree approaching from behind him until he struck it hard.

"I warned you Wentworth, and now you're goin to pay. Over. And. Over. Again."

With every word came a new sensation; a new, wracked bout of tremdous pain, the likes of which could be largely indescribed by the sophomore's rather limited vocabulary. But the cry that escaped Aaron's lips as he felt a crack deep in his back from the last impact was more animalistic than human. It was terrifying.

He remembered the crack and the scream, but the rest faded into unconsciousness.

**PROTAGONIST PERSPECTIVE**

Charlotte cringed upon hearing the scream, but the pain that was slowly filling her senses blotted it out quickly enough. Though it was not as potent held in Leon's arms as it was when trying to stand on her own, the feeling alone was enough to make her muscles tense and relax sporadically as the shooting bars of agony rose and fell in waves.

Barely able to keep focus, she did not even offer a word or notice of the garbled - at least it seemed garbled to her - talk going back and forth between Mask Man and Leon Loire. However, while the conversation was hard to make out, she could easily tell when Leon had turned and headed to the parking lot: a scarlet Mustang parked there.

"We'll be at a hospital in a few minutes. Don't you worry; everything will be fine. Grey Shirt is... dealt with."

She titled her head upwards at that, her face edging closer to his where he had leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"Hospital's good ..." Charlotte whispered back groggily.








(OOC: Provided Tiao stopped pounding Grey Shirt after he fell unconscious, then he's certainly not dead, but only a little more worse off than Charlotte is. He will be out of the picture for a loooooong time though)

[Tiao Lei Shen]

Slam afte slam the intense eyes of Tiao could tell that Aaron Wentworth wanted to scream, to yelp out in pain and plea.

His wish never came upon him.

Tiao continued to slam the weakened body against the tree, the last one creating a resounding crack. Tiao felt the body go limp with unconciousness, fighting the urge to slam him yet again. Tiao dropped the body and turned, not ceasing due to the pointless violence, nor to the pleas of the other students. Above his primal instincts of attacking was the urge to protect. He attacked to protect, and now that the threat was dealt with he looked to which he was protecting. Not the luchador, certainly not Loire, but Charlotte.

Leon was making his way off with her now, towards the hospital if he had any of the smarts he claimed to. After seeing that her safety was assured for the moment, Tiao's brain took over instinct once more, comprehending that the masked student spoke to him.

"You think I care about a life like his?" Tiao snickered, turning his head to the masked student as his heel drove backwards into the ribs of the unconcious grey shirt, giving off a handful of additional cracks to the mixture.

He pushed forward, oblivious to any reply from the luchador, or anything else for that matter. He scooped up his skateboard and jumped on, riding off to where his car waited. He may have entrusted Leon to get Charlotte to the hospital, but he wouldn't give him any more than that. Tiao would get there after the senior, but he'd still get there.

[jdmthe1st]

"You think I care about a life like his?"

Antonio responded back in disgust but at the same time with some relief that he did save his life.

"I dont care about the guy either but you didnt have to take it that far. Thats unreasonable even for a kid who was going to kill me with a knife."

Antonio saw Tiao skate away to his car but he thought to himself

'Wow. He's scary. I better stay away from him for awhile. Hopefully he wont remember this at all. If he does I'm in big trouble. He could probably hand me my butt on a silver platter on a bad day.'

Antonio called up 911 on his cell phone as an unknown caller explaining a guy was attacking a group of individuals and in self defense some guy almost killed him. Antonio hung up and he saw assitance arrive in 15 minutes. He didnt want them to see him so he kept way out of their vision. He didnt want anything to do with this kid. But he did feel bad if he let a kid die. If it was an adult that tried to kill him, Antonio still would have called the police instead of medical assitance.

Antonio ran off in the sunset hoping he could find Charlotte and Leon so he could apologize for no reason at all.