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"You Will Not Talk About Fight Club" (Spycraft/SFA) Updated 3/18
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<blockquote data-quote="Papercuts" data-source="post: 1432029" data-attributes="member: 17172"><p>Part III</p><p></p><p>After the final match of the night, Sting hurried through the departing crowd to Tai-Pan's private locker room. He found him laying on his back on a bench, his hands and face wrapped in ice packs. Worm kept watch by the door. </p><p></p><p>"That was a close one out there," Sting said. Through the ice pack, Tai-Pan nodded. Sting turned to Worm. "You didn't do much good though." Worm managed a smile and stood. </p><p></p><p>"You know me and luck. It always seems to be bad for me. What's our next move?"</p><p></p><p>Before Sting could answer, the door was thrown open. Moy barreled in, with Flashfire following closely behind.</p><p></p><p>"Here you are, Flashfire," Moy said over his shoulder. He turned and nervously darted out of the room, never making eye contact with the German. Tai-Pan quickly sat up, pulling the icepack from his face. </p><p></p><p>"Pleasure to meet you," Sting said, extending his hand to shake. Flashfire pushed past him and moved directly in front of Tai-Pan. </p><p></p><p>"You put on a good show tonight. How come I never heard of you," he asked. </p><p></p><p>"Don't know," Tai Pan shrugged. "I did Abu Dhabi a couple years ago. Been fighting mostly in Detroit. No one's been able to put me down for three years straight."</p><p></p><p>"Is that so?" Flashfire moved closer to Tai-Pan. "We'll see about that. I've got my eye on you." He turned to leave the room, but stopped in front of Worm.</p><p></p><p>"I saw what you did tonight, too," he said, clapping him on the shoulder. "That was pretty funny."</p><p></p><p>"Uh thanks," Worm said with a nervous laugh.</p><p></p><p>"Yeah. Yeah. Funny." Flashfire laughed loudly and then abruptly stopped, his face suddenly stone cold. "You do that while I'm fighting your guy and I'll kill ya. I'm serious. I'll fry the skin off your little body. Try it and see."</p><p></p><p>"Y...yes...yes sir." It was all Worm could manage as Flashfire stormed out of the room. After a long, uncomfortable pause, Sting sat down.</p><p></p><p>"Tomorrow night, we're going out on the town. We've got covers to maintain," he said.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">•••</p><p></p><p>It was the line of cherry red crotch rockets parked outside the club that drew Tai-Pan's attention. The three men had been driving around the area for about twenty minutes, looking for a club that would get them noticed. Most were too seedy or too upscale for Tai-Pan's careful taste. But this club, called Wayward, with its techno bar meets roadhouse vibe was exactly what he was looking for. And the fact that it was currently filled with a youth biker gang -- commonly called bozosuku -- made it perfect. The minute they stepped into the club, all eyes were on them. Tai-Pan stood there for a moment, silently looking the patrons over, and then moved to the bar. </p><p></p><p>Before he was able to sit, a young bozosuku blocked his path. He was short, with spiky bleached-blonde hair. He wore a black leather jacket over a silvery t-shirt and leather pants His gang's emblem was on the back of his jacket. </p><p></p><p>"I don't believe you paid the cover charge," he mumbled.</p><p></p><p>"I didn't, because there isn't one," Tai-Pan said, glaring at the punk.</p><p></p><p>"No, see, this is the Cruiser's bar," he said, pointing at the back of his jacket. "And all non-cruisers have to pay. Since you and your friends aren't cruisers, you need to pay." He put his hand out, expectantly. </p><p></p><p>Defiantly, Tai-Pan slapped the punk's hand away and started to move towards the bar again. The rest of the gang gaped in shock.</p><p></p><p>"I don't think you heard me," he said as he grabbed Tai-Pan's right arm. Tai-Pan turned and grabbed the punk's hand, twisting it backwards. There was a loud popping noise. The bozosuku cried out in pain, his eyes going wide. With his right hand, Tai Pan delivered a palm strike that sent him to the floor, skidding into a pool table. Embarrassed, he struggled to his feet. He looked over each shoulder at the other gang members behind him. </p><p></p><p>"C'mon," he shouted angrily, "Let's show 'em what we do to people who don't pay the cover."</p><p></p><p>In all, six bozosuku moved on the agents. One of them twirled a cue stick, hungrily eyeing Worm. Sting grabbed a beer bottle from the bar and shattered it, holding the neck with sharp angles jutting from what was left of the body. </p><p></p><p>"Don't kill 'em," Tai-Pan said, barely loud enough for his partners to hear. </p><p></p><p>The punk with the cue struck first. He moved to swing the stick over his head until Worm caught his elbow and quickly disarmed him. Worm clutched the stick by it's narrow end and swung it sideways like a baseball bat. The thick end connected with the punk's left jaw, drawing blood and sending him to the floor, unconscious. </p><p></p><p>"Now why couldn't you do that during the fight," Sting said as he casually tossed the beer bottle to the punk in front of him. Instinctively, the gang member caught it and looked at it, confused. Expecting this, Sting grabbed a barstool and swung it over his head. The punk went down in a heap of broken wood. The gang's leader angrily charged Tai-Pan, who swatted him away, sending him crashing into one of his fellow gang members. The two punks smacked into another pool table. Seeing the opening, a third gang member advanced on Tai-Pan. He swept his legs out from underneath him and disabled him with three rapid knuckle punches, knocking the wind from his body.</p><p></p><p>Another gang member had grabbed up the broken bottle and lunged at Sting, catching him in the side with the broken glass. He then kicked Sting in the face and sent him staggering backwards into the bar. Worm turned and swung his pool cue again, landing it squarely in the back of the punk's head. Dazed, he hobbled forward a bit and then whirled, advancing on Worm. He swung the cue again and the punk ducked this time, following up with a blind charge. Before he could land a blow, Tai-Pan delivered a flying kick that took him down, sending the broken bottle tumbling across the floor. </p><p></p><p>That left the leader and one remaining bozosuku. The leader pulled a gun. Somewhere in the bar, a girl screamed. The gang member next to him backed up, shock crawling across his face. </p><p></p><p>"You're gonna pay now," he spat. Tai-Pan shook his head, disappointed. With one deft move, he disarmed him. The gun skittered under one of the pool tables. He delivered a roundhouse kick that dropped the gang leader where he stood. The punk behind him ran for the door. </p><p></p><p>"Anybody else," Worm called out, trying his best to sound threatening. Another gang stepped forward, his hands up. He was tall and thin. He was swimming in his jacket, it was so large. He moved toward Tai-Pan.</p><p></p><p>"Uh, sir, I...uh...sir," he said, timidly. Tai-Pan glowered at him. "Since you beat our boss...our leader...that means you're our leader now. Rules are rules."</p><p></p><p>Tai-Pan paused for a second. He looked at Sting, silently questioning the decision he had to make. Sting nodded. </p><p></p><p>"All right," Tai-Pan said, flatly. "All right." The punk moved to his former leader's fallen form and pulled the leather jacket from his limp body. He stood up and handed it to Tai-Pan. </p><p></p><p>"What do we call you?"</p><p></p><p>"Beast. I'm the Beast." </p><p></p><p>A few members of the gang began to move forward, less afraid of the three men than they were before. Two of them took jackets off of two of the fallen punks. They gave the jackets to Worm and Sting.</p><p></p><p>"What should we do, boss," another punk asked Tai-Pan.</p><p></p><p>"Clean this place up. Get those guys on their feet. And get me and my partners a couple beers," he said. The punks went to work immediately. The gang member that gave Tai-Pan the jacket didn't move.</p><p></p><p>"I'm Sammo," he said. "I'm your lieutenant. If you need something, tell me." Tai-Pan regarded the man carefully. He glanced at Sting.</p><p></p><p>"I'm okay. It's a small cut. I just need a bandage," Sting said, checking his wound. Tai-Pan nodded.</p><p></p><p>"Okay Sammo. Here's my cel number." Tai-Pan wrote a number on a corner of a napkin and tore it off, handing it to the man. "If you see or hear anything...interesting...about Arena around here you call me and tell me. Understand?" Sammo nodded. "You know what Arena is, Sammo?" He nodded again. "Good. I'm a fighter in the circuit. I want you -- all of you -- to show up at the next fight to support your leader." Sammo nodded again. "Good man. Now where's my beer?"</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">•••</p><p></p><p>Returning to their suite, Sting noticed the message light flashing on his phone. He dialed in and played the message. Tai Pan flopped onto one of the beds.</p><p></p><p>"McDermott, this is Xian. Moy wants to meet with you tonight about some pressing business. Call me as soon as you get this." Xian left his phone number and the message ended. Sting scribbled it down on a message pad the hotel had provided and then dialed the number.</p><p></p><p>"This is Xian," a voice said.</p><p></p><p>"This is Alex McDermott. What can I do for you tonight," Sting said.</p><p></p><p>"We need you over here at the restaurant as soon as possible. Moy wants to talk to you."</p><p></p><p>"We'll be right there," Sting said. He turned to Tai Pan. "Don't get comfy. Moy wants to talk with us."</p><p></p><p>"Any clue about what," Worm called from the bathroom.</p><p></p><p>"Didn't say. We'll need to get over there as fast as we can. Worm, call Toil and Cowboy on your secure phone and let them know what's going on."</p><p></p><p>"Will do," Worm said, closing the bathroom door behind him. </p><p></p><p>Sting sped across town, cautiously checking for tails, deathly afraid their cover had been blown and they'd been made. For all he knew, they could be driving to an execution. On a secure line, Worm advised Toil to abort if they hadn't heard from the three of them in 24 hours. When they arrived at the restaurant, Sting parked the car in the same spot he had a few days ago. They walked around the back of the building, carefully scanning their surroundings. At the top of three concrete steps was a white door clearly marked "office" in black stenciled letters. Tai-Pan banged on it fiercely. The door swung open and Ko emerged, silently. He motioned the men inside. He led them down a short hallway to Moy's office. He opened the door and again motioned them inside. Moy was there, again behind his makeshift desk with four chairs in front of it. He was wearing a red and white Hawaiian shirt this time. Xian stood to one side of the door. Ko entered and stood opposite them. </p><p></p><p>"Sit," he barked. All three men did so. </p><p></p><p>"Evening, Moy," Sting said, smiling.</p><p></p><p>"You should know I don't quite trust you yet. Call it instinct. At the fights the other night, I planted some of my associates in the crowd. They're out there to listen. And what they hear, they report to me, you follow?"</p><p></p><p>Only Worm nodded.</p><p></p><p>"My associates heard two individuals in the crowd talking," Moy continued. "I believe they were cops looking to shut us down." Worm strongly resisted the urge to glance at Sting. "To prove yourselves to me, I want to you to go to their hotel room and bring them back here by any means necessary."</p><p></p><p>"What are you going to do to them when we get them here," Tai-Pan asked. </p><p></p><p>"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, Beast."</p><p></p><p>"Where are they," Sting asked, suppressing his nerves. He was well aware that the entire situation could be a set-up -- they could be going right after their fellow agents.</p><p></p><p>"Their hotel and room number are here." Moy slid a folded slip of paper across the desk to Sting. "Be discreet." Sting palmed the slip and stood up, moving toward the door.</p><p></p><p>"C'mon guys. Let's go to work."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Papercuts, post: 1432029, member: 17172"] Part III After the final match of the night, Sting hurried through the departing crowd to Tai-Pan's private locker room. He found him laying on his back on a bench, his hands and face wrapped in ice packs. Worm kept watch by the door. "That was a close one out there," Sting said. Through the ice pack, Tai-Pan nodded. Sting turned to Worm. "You didn't do much good though." Worm managed a smile and stood. "You know me and luck. It always seems to be bad for me. What's our next move?" Before Sting could answer, the door was thrown open. Moy barreled in, with Flashfire following closely behind. "Here you are, Flashfire," Moy said over his shoulder. He turned and nervously darted out of the room, never making eye contact with the German. Tai-Pan quickly sat up, pulling the icepack from his face. "Pleasure to meet you," Sting said, extending his hand to shake. Flashfire pushed past him and moved directly in front of Tai-Pan. "You put on a good show tonight. How come I never heard of you," he asked. "Don't know," Tai Pan shrugged. "I did Abu Dhabi a couple years ago. Been fighting mostly in Detroit. No one's been able to put me down for three years straight." "Is that so?" Flashfire moved closer to Tai-Pan. "We'll see about that. I've got my eye on you." He turned to leave the room, but stopped in front of Worm. "I saw what you did tonight, too," he said, clapping him on the shoulder. "That was pretty funny." "Uh thanks," Worm said with a nervous laugh. "Yeah. Yeah. Funny." Flashfire laughed loudly and then abruptly stopped, his face suddenly stone cold. "You do that while I'm fighting your guy and I'll kill ya. I'm serious. I'll fry the skin off your little body. Try it and see." "Y...yes...yes sir." It was all Worm could manage as Flashfire stormed out of the room. After a long, uncomfortable pause, Sting sat down. "Tomorrow night, we're going out on the town. We've got covers to maintain," he said. [center]•••[/center] It was the line of cherry red crotch rockets parked outside the club that drew Tai-Pan's attention. The three men had been driving around the area for about twenty minutes, looking for a club that would get them noticed. Most were too seedy or too upscale for Tai-Pan's careful taste. But this club, called Wayward, with its techno bar meets roadhouse vibe was exactly what he was looking for. And the fact that it was currently filled with a youth biker gang -- commonly called bozosuku -- made it perfect. The minute they stepped into the club, all eyes were on them. Tai-Pan stood there for a moment, silently looking the patrons over, and then moved to the bar. Before he was able to sit, a young bozosuku blocked his path. He was short, with spiky bleached-blonde hair. He wore a black leather jacket over a silvery t-shirt and leather pants His gang's emblem was on the back of his jacket. "I don't believe you paid the cover charge," he mumbled. "I didn't, because there isn't one," Tai-Pan said, glaring at the punk. "No, see, this is the Cruiser's bar," he said, pointing at the back of his jacket. "And all non-cruisers have to pay. Since you and your friends aren't cruisers, you need to pay." He put his hand out, expectantly. Defiantly, Tai-Pan slapped the punk's hand away and started to move towards the bar again. The rest of the gang gaped in shock. "I don't think you heard me," he said as he grabbed Tai-Pan's right arm. Tai-Pan turned and grabbed the punk's hand, twisting it backwards. There was a loud popping noise. The bozosuku cried out in pain, his eyes going wide. With his right hand, Tai Pan delivered a palm strike that sent him to the floor, skidding into a pool table. Embarrassed, he struggled to his feet. He looked over each shoulder at the other gang members behind him. "C'mon," he shouted angrily, "Let's show 'em what we do to people who don't pay the cover." In all, six bozosuku moved on the agents. One of them twirled a cue stick, hungrily eyeing Worm. Sting grabbed a beer bottle from the bar and shattered it, holding the neck with sharp angles jutting from what was left of the body. "Don't kill 'em," Tai-Pan said, barely loud enough for his partners to hear. The punk with the cue struck first. He moved to swing the stick over his head until Worm caught his elbow and quickly disarmed him. Worm clutched the stick by it's narrow end and swung it sideways like a baseball bat. The thick end connected with the punk's left jaw, drawing blood and sending him to the floor, unconscious. "Now why couldn't you do that during the fight," Sting said as he casually tossed the beer bottle to the punk in front of him. Instinctively, the gang member caught it and looked at it, confused. Expecting this, Sting grabbed a barstool and swung it over his head. The punk went down in a heap of broken wood. The gang's leader angrily charged Tai-Pan, who swatted him away, sending him crashing into one of his fellow gang members. The two punks smacked into another pool table. Seeing the opening, a third gang member advanced on Tai-Pan. He swept his legs out from underneath him and disabled him with three rapid knuckle punches, knocking the wind from his body. Another gang member had grabbed up the broken bottle and lunged at Sting, catching him in the side with the broken glass. He then kicked Sting in the face and sent him staggering backwards into the bar. Worm turned and swung his pool cue again, landing it squarely in the back of the punk's head. Dazed, he hobbled forward a bit and then whirled, advancing on Worm. He swung the cue again and the punk ducked this time, following up with a blind charge. Before he could land a blow, Tai-Pan delivered a flying kick that took him down, sending the broken bottle tumbling across the floor. That left the leader and one remaining bozosuku. The leader pulled a gun. Somewhere in the bar, a girl screamed. The gang member next to him backed up, shock crawling across his face. "You're gonna pay now," he spat. Tai-Pan shook his head, disappointed. With one deft move, he disarmed him. The gun skittered under one of the pool tables. He delivered a roundhouse kick that dropped the gang leader where he stood. The punk behind him ran for the door. "Anybody else," Worm called out, trying his best to sound threatening. Another gang stepped forward, his hands up. He was tall and thin. He was swimming in his jacket, it was so large. He moved toward Tai-Pan. "Uh, sir, I...uh...sir," he said, timidly. Tai-Pan glowered at him. "Since you beat our boss...our leader...that means you're our leader now. Rules are rules." Tai-Pan paused for a second. He looked at Sting, silently questioning the decision he had to make. Sting nodded. "All right," Tai-Pan said, flatly. "All right." The punk moved to his former leader's fallen form and pulled the leather jacket from his limp body. He stood up and handed it to Tai-Pan. "What do we call you?" "Beast. I'm the Beast." A few members of the gang began to move forward, less afraid of the three men than they were before. Two of them took jackets off of two of the fallen punks. They gave the jackets to Worm and Sting. "What should we do, boss," another punk asked Tai-Pan. "Clean this place up. Get those guys on their feet. And get me and my partners a couple beers," he said. The punks went to work immediately. The gang member that gave Tai-Pan the jacket didn't move. "I'm Sammo," he said. "I'm your lieutenant. If you need something, tell me." Tai-Pan regarded the man carefully. He glanced at Sting. "I'm okay. It's a small cut. I just need a bandage," Sting said, checking his wound. Tai-Pan nodded. "Okay Sammo. Here's my cel number." Tai-Pan wrote a number on a corner of a napkin and tore it off, handing it to the man. "If you see or hear anything...interesting...about Arena around here you call me and tell me. Understand?" Sammo nodded. "You know what Arena is, Sammo?" He nodded again. "Good. I'm a fighter in the circuit. I want you -- all of you -- to show up at the next fight to support your leader." Sammo nodded again. "Good man. Now where's my beer?" [center]•••[/center] Returning to their suite, Sting noticed the message light flashing on his phone. He dialed in and played the message. Tai Pan flopped onto one of the beds. "McDermott, this is Xian. Moy wants to meet with you tonight about some pressing business. Call me as soon as you get this." Xian left his phone number and the message ended. Sting scribbled it down on a message pad the hotel had provided and then dialed the number. "This is Xian," a voice said. "This is Alex McDermott. What can I do for you tonight," Sting said. "We need you over here at the restaurant as soon as possible. Moy wants to talk to you." "We'll be right there," Sting said. He turned to Tai Pan. "Don't get comfy. Moy wants to talk with us." "Any clue about what," Worm called from the bathroom. "Didn't say. We'll need to get over there as fast as we can. Worm, call Toil and Cowboy on your secure phone and let them know what's going on." "Will do," Worm said, closing the bathroom door behind him. Sting sped across town, cautiously checking for tails, deathly afraid their cover had been blown and they'd been made. For all he knew, they could be driving to an execution. On a secure line, Worm advised Toil to abort if they hadn't heard from the three of them in 24 hours. When they arrived at the restaurant, Sting parked the car in the same spot he had a few days ago. They walked around the back of the building, carefully scanning their surroundings. At the top of three concrete steps was a white door clearly marked "office" in black stenciled letters. Tai-Pan banged on it fiercely. The door swung open and Ko emerged, silently. He motioned the men inside. He led them down a short hallway to Moy's office. He opened the door and again motioned them inside. Moy was there, again behind his makeshift desk with four chairs in front of it. He was wearing a red and white Hawaiian shirt this time. Xian stood to one side of the door. Ko entered and stood opposite them. "Sit," he barked. All three men did so. "Evening, Moy," Sting said, smiling. "You should know I don't quite trust you yet. Call it instinct. At the fights the other night, I planted some of my associates in the crowd. They're out there to listen. And what they hear, they report to me, you follow?" Only Worm nodded. "My associates heard two individuals in the crowd talking," Moy continued. "I believe they were cops looking to shut us down." Worm strongly resisted the urge to glance at Sting. "To prove yourselves to me, I want to you to go to their hotel room and bring them back here by any means necessary." "What are you going to do to them when we get them here," Tai-Pan asked. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, Beast." "Where are they," Sting asked, suppressing his nerves. He was well aware that the entire situation could be a set-up -- they could be going right after their fellow agents. "Their hotel and room number are here." Moy slid a folded slip of paper across the desk to Sting. "Be discreet." Sting palmed the slip and stood up, moving toward the door. "C'mon guys. Let's go to work." [/QUOTE]
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