Library: The Brick and Bat

It was dusk. The hour of gloom was at hand. Rays of sunlight glinted thur to the city streets as huge glowing orb in the sky vanished. Debris could be seen floating down the side of the streets and finally vanishing into the gutter. This city had become hell on earth and this was the good side of town. Any respectable citizens were inside behind locked doors. I suppose that is why you could always find me at 'The Brick and Bat', a local bar, at this beautiful hour. This is my office. My business is anything that pays. These days you take what you can get or you hire someone to do it for you. The name is Tulio and this is my bar. My partner, Vincent, and I have come a long way from selling drugs on the street corner not far from here. He is the brain and has been blessed with the gift of gab. Me, well, I'm the muscle. We have made our mark in the community and we have the street rep to back it up. That is why this bar is our office and safe-haven. If you come here looking for trouble, you are likely to find more than you bargain for. Sitting at the corner booth in the back of the joint, Vincent and I were working up a plan. We were on the job. Seems some Armani-suited CEO desired some information from a competitor that had been cutting into their profit margin, a dangerous move. As we discussed our plan of action and pondered the thought of bringing a couple of heavy hands in for crowd control, a shadow grew across the table. Before us stood 5 asian men in custom made black suits and black shades. The mood of the room changed instantly. The hustle and bustle of the bar came to a dead stop as patrons cleared away from the 5 men as though they were a bomb waiting to explode. The leader of the group took at step forward and placed a note on the table. It's writing didn't concern me. When you been at this game for as long as I have you can sense death and the still calm that proceeds it. Besides, no one sends 5 trained men to deliver a note. No, they were here to deliver a message! Typical of the Yakuza. Not wasting anytime and wanting to seize the element of surprise, I took a drink of the vodka straight from the bottle. The leader withdrew his hand from the table, leaving the note, as he spoke. "My boss demands a tribute as your business has grown too big to go unnoticed" Vincent pulled out a cigar and trimmed the end as we listened. All the years and hard work building up our 'business' just to have it taken over by some stiff in a suit, I don't think so. I snatched the already flaming lighter from Vincent's hand as he was bringing it towards his cigar and spewed the contents from my mouth towards the group of men. Bringing the lighter upward the flying liquid combusted into flames and the men shrieked as they guarded their faces. The next move was more instinct than thought. I 'bull rushed' from the booth and slammed my left palm into the center of the leader's chest. Debris and red mist followed as the Errata impact shotgun went off. Not exactly street legal, but with money and blackmarket connections I had cybered up. As the body of their leader flew past them and a red mist floated in the air, they draw concealed katanas. The first to leap towards me tried to spear me with a quick thrust, such a fool. With a white flash like a wire moving thur the air, his arm disconnected from his body at the elbow with surgical cutting. As I made another pass with the monofilament whip his body separated into 2 pieces and the final pass took his head. Seeing movement in the corner of my eye, I side stepped his friend only to see his left arm rip apart as a lot bang was heard. The gushing of the blood and shock of seeing his limb fall freely to the ground sent him into a frenzy. A sweeping kick took me off my feet and the room went a blur. More blasts were heard from Vincent's gun as I made impact with the ground. My dermal plating absorbed the impact of a katana as this one-armed demon tried to turn me into a pin cushion. I bought my hands together and snapped the blade into. Just then the frenzied man collapsed onto me as if finally having found peace. The blood had pooled around the bodies and slowly flowed across the tavern's floor, like lava, as if in search of something else to consume. Vincent had finished off the other two attackers while I battled the enraged one-armed man. As I stood up, making sure not to slip in the pool of blood, Vincent emptied the slugs from gun and reloaded with an eerie calmness. Our job would have to be put on hold. Seems other business needed to be taken care of. Vincent and I had a message of our own to deliver.

Login to BatWeb

Forgot your password?

Library: The Brick and Bat