[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/190801/51a9a6704cfba23a4183aaf44eaef444.png[/img][/center][sub][hr][/sub][indent][sub][COLOR=slateblue][B]Location:[/B][/COLOR] [I]Hub City, Illinois[/I] - [I]United States[/I][/sub][sup][right][COLOR=slateblue][b]Issue #2:[/b][/COLOR] [i][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNT6bwrvIzY]Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting[/url][/i][/right][/sup][/indent][sub][hr][/sub][indent][sub][COLOR=slateblue][B]Interaction(s):[/B][/COLOR] [I]None[/I][/sub][SUP][RIGHT][COLOR=slateblue][b]Previously:[/b][/COLOR] [I][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4950459]Who Are You?[/url][/I][/right][/SUP][/indent]

[i]As a car pulled through the alley and up to the shack, I ducked behind a garbage can, carefully peeking out to watch. Out of the car stepped an older man, early-60s at least, with slicked back grey hair and a cane. Coming out of the car with him was a man in his 30s with a black crew cut and a rugged face, with a pistol at his side and a cigarette on his lips. The old man took a moment to adjust his suit and tie, before the two of them entered the derelict shack.

I slipped out of my hiding place and leaned against the wall, peeking into the shack. The thugs playing Go Fish suddenly stood up from their chairs and turned to the old man as he walked through the door. The younger guy leaned against the doorway, taking a drag from his cigarette before flicking it onto the wooden floor. Quickly, he produced another from his pack, lit it with an old zippo, and went right back to puffing. God, I could go for a cigarette right now...

The old man began speaking to the thugs. [color=khaki][b]"I take it you fools have been keeping busy waiting for us? How was your card game going?"[/b][/color]

[b]"Uh, it was going good, boss! Real good!"[/b] I almost had to choke out a laugh at the man's forced enthusiasm. This old guy must really scare the hell out of them for a hardened thug to be acting like this.

Old guy didn't look amused. He gave a small tsk, shaking his head slightly, before stepping forward. [color=khaki][b]"Yes, yes, good to hear. Have you made any progress in your search?"[/b][/color] Search, huh? That sounded promising. The only question was, search for what?

[b]"We ain't gonna find the Question, he'd get the drop on us and not the other way around."[/b] That caused my eyes to widen beneath my mask. They're looking for me? I suppose I should be flattered. [b]"So we've been spreading rumors about this place, saying that there's something big gonna go down. Sooner or later, it'll get back to him. He'll come here, and we'll take him down."[/b]

Shit. Roscoe might have had good intentions telling me about the tip he heard, but he'd unknowingly led me right to a trap. It'd be best to just get out of here now, come up with a plan of attack and return later... Yes, that sounded good. Slowly, I pushed myself away from my place on the wall, crouching down to walk past the window and avoid detection...

[b]*BLAM!*[/b]

A gunshot! I whipped around, staring at the people in the shack through the shattered window. The chainsmoking man had his gun out, the barrel smoking, and pointed dead at me. For a moment, he and I stared at each other, while the others looked shocked. Not waiting for him to make the first move, I turned tail and ran. He fired another shot, clipping my shoulder and sending me tumbling to the ground.

Then, darkness.

The next thing I remembered, I was bound up in a dark room.[/i]

[center]-----[/center]

The sudden burst of memory hit me like a freight train, and I found myself gripping my head trying to contain the pain... These guys were looking for me. The question was, why? Why did they want me? Why did they keep me alive? If they wanted to get rid of me so bad, shouldn't they have just shot me dead right there? So many questions, no answers.

Doesn't matter. What does matter is that right now there are thugs making their way to me. As the sound of footsteps approached the door, I slowly back up to a stall, opening it and slipping inside. There, I got up on the toilet and kept my head low, so they couldn't spot me too easily. I heard the door open, and the footsteps were even clearer than before...

[b]"Come on out, ya faceless freak! I won't hurt ya... Much!"[/b] I almost scoffed. Talk about a generic threat. Once he throws this stall door open, he's gonna be in a world of hurt. I listened carefully, holding my breath. He was taking his time, opening stall door after stall door, whistling lowly all the while. I felt the knot of excitement in my gut tighten, waiting for release...

He opened the door, and I reacted quickly. I kept a firm grip on the top of the stalls and swung myself forward, my feet meeting his face. I heard the crack of his nose breaking, felt his shattered teeth digging into the soles of my shoes. He let out an ungodly scream of agony, falling to the ground. My grip on the stall's walls kept me from falling, and I let go once I had good footing on the ground.

Blood stained the once white bathroom tiles, and the thug was squirming in agony, clutching at his messed up face. I heard the sound of running footsteps approaching the bathroom, and quickly picked up the thug. Moving to the door, I stopped next to it, waiting for the others to burst in. Any second now...

I didn't have to wait long.

One of them burst right in, and I threw his buddy onto him. The two of them fell into a heap on the ground. Another was close behind the one who just walked in, and I clapped my hands onto his ears. Disoriented, he tried to raise his gun, but quickly smacked it aside and rammed an open palm into his throat, cutting off his airway. He fell to the ground, gasping for a breath that wouldn't come, and I turned my attention to the one who was still on the ground.

[b]"YOU SON OF A BITCH! I'LL FUCKIN' KILL Y-"[/b] His shouts were cut off by a sharp kick to the face, and he fell limp. The others weren't here yet, must've been in other rooms. I looked around for some sort of weapon, before heading back to the stall. The toilet tank cover. That'll work. I picked it up, grunting a bit at the weight of it, before heading out into the hall.

Down the hall, I saw the remining men fast approaching me. Four in all, no guns on them, just their fists. At least I had a bit of an advantage there. One of them immediately went into a sprint when he saw me, throwing a wild haymaker my way once he was near me. I ducked out of the way of the blow, then swung the cover into his knee. His leg broke like a matchstick, and he fell to the ground, gripping his broken limb and shrieking in pain. One down.

The other three were a bit more cautious, slowly inching towards me and quickly jerking back if I made any sudden moves. Must have been scared. No clue why, I was just a guy in a cheap suit and a cheaper mask. One of them finally mustered up the courage to attack, throwing a punch; I tried to dodge, but he must've been waiting for that, because he quickly brought his hand around to catch me in the side of the head. I dropped the toilet tank cover on reflex, reaching up to the side of my head.

That upped the courage of the other two, who quickly rushed forward to attack. One of them went for a cross punch which caught me in the gut and caused me to bend over in pain, while the other tackled me to the floor. He was right on top of me now, landing hit after hit on my face. Shit, this is it, isn't it? I'm done for...

It was then that an idea popped into my head.

He continued to wail on me for a bit, but after a few more hits I went limp. Slowly, he stopped punching, then got up off of me. [b]"Shit, he's dead. Boss'll have our heads for this,"[/b] the one who was going to town on me said.

[b]"Shit, we'll dump him. Say he escaped. That'll be better than us killing him, boss'll just dock our pay instead."[/b] The second thug paused, picking me up by the legs. [b]"Help me with him, will ya?"[/b] Now two of them were carrying me. This wasn't what I was counting on, but it could help. I waited, that familiar knot of excitement building in my stomach...

I jumped out of their grasps in a flurry of punches and kicks. My foot struck Thug #2 in the jaw with a sharp [b][i]*CRACK!*[/i][/b], while I clamped my hand onto Thug #1's arm. Their grips on me released, and I fell to the ground, dragging Thug #1 with me. Thug #2 was already falling to the ground and nursing his jaw, which was broken judging by the crack I heard.

I quickly released my hold on #1 and got up, kicking him in the groin. His face went red from mingled pain and anger, and I quickly took advantage of his state to deliver a quick kick to his head. Lights out for him.

Thug #3 was watching in terror, quickly reverting to his earlier state of backing away from me in terror. #2 was too busy rolling around on the ground to be a threat. I slowly approached #3 as he backed away, quickening my pace all the while, until I sprinted towards him and delivered a few quick punches to his liver. Then, I grabbed his arm and slammed him into the wall, before letting him slip to the floor.

I walked past #2 on the way to the exit door, kicking him in the face along the way to knock him out. Time to get out of this shithole.

[indent][indent][color=slateblue][b]To Be Continued...[/b][/color][/indent][/indent]