High Kick Rendezvous! (For Acuya)

Asami gingerly patted her taped and bandaged stomach. After only feeling a twinge of pain she nodded to herself.
*Not bad. I can work like this...* she thought to herself, while bending and twisting her torso. The check up done, she began donning her Kunoichi outfit.
It had been nearly two months after her run in with Lash, the Russian enforcer that had injured her badly with a steel edged whip. It was only through Dixie Clemets and her strength that Lash was sent fleeing, and Asami, taken to a clinic. Luckily the doctor on duty was the husband of a woman Asami had saved during one of her routine patrols, and recognizing the vigilante from his wife's description treated her wounds off the books, with the promise he would continue to do so, as long as he could. It was a lucky break, and it spared her identity. But it was an offer Asami wasn't too anxious to take him up on.
As she dressed in her small apartment, she watched the news, with was reporting about the savage beating of a another person in downtown Tokyo, in the Roppongi district. It was the sixth one, and all of them within a radius near where her and Dixie's fight with Lash had taken place. So far nobody had died, and that was a small blessing to Asami, because she suspected it was done to draw her out. Come what may, she had to stop whoever this crazy bastard was....
*Well, you'd better take tonight off, whoever you are...* Asami thought as she put on her mask.
Opening a window, she headed onto the fire escape, and out into the Tokyo night....

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Elsewhere a man and a woman waited in the entrance to a network of alleyways. They spoke in French.
<Elise, we've been at this for days now. I think she's still too injured to be out and about.> the man rumbled to his companion.
<The Russian was pretty descriptive about the wound she gave this...Kunoichi. It's been long enough. She'll have recovered, but not fully. And with all these people we've harmed in her hunting grounds, she'll be desperate to stop us. Even at her best, she couldn't beat the both of us, Marco. And she won't be. She'll find us, and then we'll destroy her, together.>
With that, she leaned over pulling his face down to hers to kiss.
<I hear someone coming. Be ready Marco.> she said, seeing a man walking on the street near their position.
Stepping out, she yelled in English "Help! Please, he's going to hurt-"
Then Marco's hand caught her and pulled her into the dark alleyway....

Dmitri Markov Voronov. Accountant. Straight-A student. Tae Kwon Do practitioner. Up and coming wrestler. Errand Boy.

That last one didn't sit on his tongue nearly as well as the others, but he was having a hard time denying it as a realistic representation of reality. His sister, Ryoko, had fallen sick a couple of days ago, from what seemed to be the flu. Seemed. He had the distinct feeling that she overselling it. He'd had the flu before, and it never lasted this long, not to mention he was sure she wasn't taken her medication like the doctor suggested. Half the time she seemed just fine, and while he initially was more than happy to take off a few days to look after her, that hospitality was starting wear thin. Razor thin.

It wasn't even Ryoko that was making him so testy, that was the crazy thing, though she was definitely a contributing factor. No, what really bugged him was this itch he'd had since the match with Tiffany, this burning little sensation in the back of his skull that was getting worse by the day. He wanted a match. One more good match. It didn't even matter to him so much who he faced, as long as they were competent and would give him a decent challenge. It reminded him of his junior days, fighting in the amateur Tae Kwon Do tournaments. Bristling every day to try his best and succeed, improving all the time.

He'd missed that sensation. It had been gone so long, he almost totally forget it. But it was back now, and all Dmitri could think about was getting back into the mix. So many challenges, so many things to do, so many people to fight...

It managed to put a little spring in his step as he made his way through the Ropponigi district. Not his favorite part of town even during the best of times, and it was currently going through something of a crime wave. Dmitri was dressed as inconspicuously as he could manage - just some dark blue jogging pants and a matching jacket, not much. Still, even if he didn't look like he wanted trouble, that didn't mean he wouldn't find some. All he wanted to do was get Ryoko's medication from the drug store and get home, before something got in his way.

"Help! Please, he's going to hurt-"

Like that, for instance.

She was speaking English, add for someone on this side of town. Maybe a tourist that picked the wrong alley to walk down. Whatever the case, he couldn't just ignore the threat - if someone needed help, he had to provide, and it didn't look like anyone else was around. So.

"Hey!" Dmitri ran into the darkness, trying to hone in on the noise. "Whoever's in there, leave her alone! Now!"

Marco smiled briefly as he heard running footsteps behind them, than concealed it as the man fell for the ploy.
Acting as if he were startled, he pushed Elise forward towards her would be rescuer then turned as if to run away. After a second, he turned back around and ran behind Elise...

Elise flew towards the man, who looked like he was out for a jog.
*Poor luck for you, fellow.* she thought.
In mid air, she turned her body, using the momentum from Marco's shove to add force to a elbow strike aimed at the side of his head!
She would then leap to her right as Marco came in, his leg looping in from her left, targeting the victim's ribs!

It dawned on Dmitri as he ran to the rescue that this was actually a pretty extraordinarily bad idea, even by his typical standards. He didn't know if this guy had a gun, or if he was alone, or...anything. There was no telling what he could be walking into. Like the victim herself, for instance. Literally.-

She came flying towards him, flailing and scared, as the jerk pushed her off, and one of her errant elbows struck him in the head, hitting with surprising for force for an accidental attack. He fell back, his back hitting a nearby dumpster, and he opened his eyes from the pain just in time to the mugger's foot coming towards his stomach.

A well made kick, too. He was no amateur.

He wheezed as the blow knocked the air out of his lungs, and his back slid on down the garbage. 'What, what is-"

Elise watched as Marco struck at their victim again, a side kick aimed at the other side of his ribs.
"<Ease up a bit, love. He's supposed to call for help, remember? He can't do that if it hurts too much for him to even breathe.>" she said, in French, walking over to the stricken man.

Clenching her fist, she drove it across his face with a left hook with speed and power that defied her size and frame, the impact enough to cause him to stagger deeper into the darkness of the alley and it's network of adjoining alleyways. Marco would aid this with a leaping front kick aimed at the Japanese man's chest.
<Remember what Lash said? She and her men would've overwhelmed Kunoichi if their first victim didn't help her fight. I'm just making sure that doesn't happen to us.> he replied to her earlier statement.
<They picked a fight with some tall blonde American who must've been a bouncer or something. She was said that woman also sounded like she was from Texas. All they do there is sit around, drink, fight and eat barbecue.>" Elise replied with the air of knowledge only someone truly ignorant of a subject could have.
They advanced on their target, with Elise switching to Japanese. Marco would hang back a few steps letting her have this round of fun.
"Aren't you going to call out for help? I know in Japan people like to mind their business for the most part, but there might be somebody hanging about who might try to help.." she told him with a laugh.

Dmitri figured out this was a trap a little bit before the two of them intended, because of a small tidbit the two of them likely hadn't anticipated - he spoke French, and understood every word they said, quite clearly. That wouldn't help him take the beating, but it would at least give him some context.

He grunted as the woman smacked him around with surprising strength, and went staggering back into the alley - if he could just get his bearings for a second, he could fight back, at least put up enough of a defense to escape, but they weren't giving him the inch he needed to take a mile. Before he could even get back to solid feet, the man charged in and kicked him hard in the chest, bringing him right back down again.

He grunted and started to slide away, reaching into his pocket when the woman started talking about the blonde Texan - that sounded a lot like Tiffany. How did she get mixed up in all this?

He barely had any time to ponder, as the woman started to advance on him, switching to Japanese to do it. Her sneered back and pulled out his phone, trying to hit 119 on his phone and call the police. <"I'm not your pawn."> He responded to them in French, figuring they might back off if they knew he was wise to them.

Elise went to quickly deliver a wicked looking elbow at the side of Dmitri's head, wanting to stun him so she could knock the phone out of his hand.
"<Well, well. He speaks French.>" Marco shook his head. "<Great. Of course that means he heard us and knows why we're out here.>"
"<Nothing's changed. We'll beat him so bad the cops might think he's just brain damaged.> Elise replied, drawing back her fist...
Her man's deep chuckled made her smile, then he let out what sounded like a gasp.
<Elise, look out!> Marco suddenly called.
The French woman turned around, then her eyes widened as they saw their target, the masked Kunoichi, already in the air before her. The woman's fist swung forward as the black clad woman came in with a hard hitting flying punch that caught her full in the face sending her staggering away from Dmitri before falling on her back, dazed.

Asami had come across this scene while taking a short cut to the alleyway she and Dixie had been attacked at, thinking to start her search there. Seeing two people viciously beating an already battered looking Asian man, she didn't have time to consider option or form a plan. First thing was first, she reasoned, that woman was going to stop beating him...right...freaking...now.
Exploding into motion from behind the bigger man, Kunoichi literally ran right past him while he was laughing at something the woman had said. He called what Asami guessed was a warning, but it wouldn't come fast enough to save his lowlife girl. Throwing herself into the air, Asami cocked back her fist then swung, delivering a superman punch that might have made the Man of Steel smile.

Quickly Kunoichi whirled to face the other man, putting herself between him and the victim, aware of the woman shaking her head as she rolled onto her side.
"[Are you ok?! Can you stand? You need to get out of-]" she began in Japanese, making sure to use her deeper, more dangerous sounding tone that Asami dubbed as her 'bad-ass voice' However, before she could finish the other attacker ran forward, kicking low at Kunoichi's leg. Quickly, she turned it so that her knee joints wouldn't be at risk, and braced it. Despite that she felt it get kicked out from under her, her eyes widening at the power. Seeing her balanced on one leg, the man went into a spinning roundhouse kick. Asami though, simply fell backwards onto her back, letting the kick pass over her grinning at the guy's curse "< -the fuck!?>" in his language, then tucked her legs to her chest and placed her palms against the ground then thrust out with her legs while pushing off the pavement, kipping back up to her feet. While he was still off balance from the kick, Asami struck with a palm thrust into his open chest, and as he groaned, with a quick side kick into his face that sent him staggering back.

Before she could congratulate herself though she felt a sudden impact from behind crying out in pain as the woman's fist slammed into her kidney! Elise had recovered quickly, thanks to Marco buying her the time to do so, and decided to pay that surprise attack with one of her own. Quickly, she dropped down behind Kunoichi, getting on her hands and knees. Marco ran forward, leaping into the air while the black clad woman gasped for breath, and delivered a flying kick. Kunoichi flew back from the impact, flipping over the crouched Elise behind her, who stood while the woman was on her, adding more spin to the fall. Kunoichi hit the ground with a hard sounding thud, groaning in pain as Elise let out a loud "Woooo!"

"<So this is Kunoichi. She's actually pretty good.> Marco commented in French.
"<My ass. She fucking jumped us from behind and got a few good hits in.>" Elise growled back then paused as she heard rustling.
Turning back, she saw Kunoichi rising to her feet, but still shaking her head dazedly....
Nodding to each other, the two began to advance on the stricken vigilante.

Dmitri was, needless to say, a little confused. Being elbowed in the head didn't help matters, that was for sure. The blow stunned him and sent the phone sliding off to the side, right under the dumpster. He could get it if he had time to move the stupid thing, maybe a little help, but he had neither of these things, did he? No, he was completely at their mercy, and it looked like they were running fresh out. By all accounts, it looked like he was about to be mugged by a French couple in an alleyway because they were trying to draw the attention of a vigilante.

And that's when things got really weird.

Out of nowhere - literally nowhere - a woman in black appeared and decked Elise, saving Dmitri from the beating. Dmitri was surprised, but then he remembered what the two were talking about before. Whatever was going on, this was the woman who was at the center of it - they called her 'Konouchi', and he could see why. She definitely fit the bill, looking like a ninja brought right into the modern day.

She went to work, protecting Dmitri as best she could, but it was a losing battle - they had the numbers, and the girl was quickly brought down, stunned at the couple moved in. Dmitri could tell these two weren't just common thugs, even if their attire and accent wasn't a great tipoff - that man, at least, was using Savate, a French art similar to Tae Kwon Do in many ways. Dmitri had always wanted to see it in action, even fight against it. Just not in this way.

Doing something he would never have done before joining the AFW, he charged forward and came at the woman with a side kick, right in the chest. The blow took her off guard and sent her stumbling down the alleyway, but sure enough her partner pulled himself together and retaliated.

He swung his leg around for a roundhouse kick. Dmitri ducked low and caught it with his guard, pushing off at the shouder.

He shot out with a snap kick, Dmitri blocked low and tried to catch him with a quick backfist, barely missing as the Frenchmen backed away.

He came back in with a snap kick of his own, Dmitri raised her leg up and swatted it back down with his heel.

The two back off, both of them moving into their respective fighting poses. The Frenchmen, smirking and entertained. Dmitri, frowning and agitated. <"He's good, Elise.">

<"He's dead, Marco."> Fully recovred, Elise charged past Marco and came straight for Dmitri.

Kunoichi watched as the intended victim began to fight both of his would be assailants. And was doing a good job at it, kicking at the woman and sending her back, before having a fast exchanged with the larger man.

She recognized the dark haired man's movements and attack style as Taekwondo, one of the Asian styles she had dabbled in and learned about. The attack forms of the muggers were familiar but only through movies, instructional videos and books, seeing how Savate wasn't really widespread in Japan. Still, these two beat the hell out of every French action movie Asami had seen.
*Except B13. That movie was crazy good.* she thought randomly.

Reminding herself that she had a mission here, Asami dashed at Elise's back as she ran at Dmitri. Reaching out, she caught the hood of the woman's jacket and pulled, stopping her forward momentum and dragging her away from the victim. Quickly, she bent the blonde back, applying a hold from her wrestling experience, the dragon sleeper.
Switching to English, in case the man didn't understand Japanese, Kunoichi tried again.
"Run!" she called to him, trying to use the voice that had struck fear into the various muggers and street gangsters she had fought. "Get out of here!"
"Fucking bitch!" Elise cursed in English. Then, even from such an awkward angle, she threw an elbow back into Kunoichi's stomach. Blinding pain ran through her midsection as the stitched up wound from Lash was abused.
Then Marco struck from behind, grabbing her arm and pulling her by it, breaking her hold on Elise. Turning he sent her away from the Frenchwoman, putting his back to his lover's.
Resisting the urge to put her hand to her stomach, knowing it would give them a target, Asami did her best to look unshaken, settling into a kung fu stance.
"Go on....get out of here." she added to Dmitri in a quieter tone. "We three have business together....don't we?"
"<Fuck that, Marco. They both go down. Ninja-bitch for the money, and the guy for the pleasure.> Elise commented in her native language.
"<Elise, focus. Together we can take Kunoichi. The other guy isn't a priority. Kunoichi wants him to run, which means she'll keep fighting to cover his retreat and make sure we don't chase him, no matter how badly she's losing.>

Dmitri brutally engaged in mortal combat with Marco, fighting to a standstill as Konouchi took on Elise. Marco was fast, blindingly so, and his kicks chained well, seamlessly moving from one attack to the other. It wasn't a series of moves so much as it was one long move with many different parts, practiced to perfect, each kick setting up the other in perfect rhythm, practically dancing as he advanced.

He swung his leg out in a hook kick, going high, and Dmitri just had time to duck under it - but not enough time to block his return kick, as Marco snapped the same leg at him without even bringing it back down. Dmitri staggered back, almost spun around, but managed to keep his footing and leap in before he could bring the foot all the way down and setup another kick. Getting in close, he shot his fist out in a backfist, coming out in a flash that caught Marco in the face, right on the nose. Marco got his guard up as Dmitri through out another and another another, stepping in with each blow and keeping the pressure up.

<"You're good."> Marco ducked under the last backfist and pushed Dmitri back into kicking range, obviously wanting to keep the fight about their legs and not their fists. <"But I'm better.">

He charged forward, shooting his leg out in a heel kick right at Dmitri's chest - if he hadn't managed to get a cross-arm block up in time, the blow would have knocked him clean off his feet. As it was, the power was still enough to send him stumbling away, quickly getting back into his form and going back to back with Kunoichi as she did the same.

Dmitri shook his head at her request - he didn't go looking for trouble, but now that he'd found some, there was no way he'd just leave her in the thick of it. Besides, from the look of things, he wasn't going to be allowed to leave. Not if Elise had her way.

"Switch."

Dmitri spun around Kunoichi and shot out with a roundhouse kick, cracking Elise in the face as he came around.