The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo...(For kaz)

Nothing was bringing Bunny as much satisfaction as seeing Kumi receive some well-deserved comeuppance, a glowing grin painted on her face after seeing her fly backwards from a dynamic uppercut to the braided girls jaw. D.B. held a slighter larger grudge against the dragon lady over her seemingly emotionless partner, not forgetting how Kumi seems to have an unnerving desire to feel up Bunny whenever she damn well pleased.

"Come on, get up, that should be nothing for a tough girl like you," Bunny sneered while stomping over towards the seemingly downed dragon lady, imitating nearly the exact same condescending statement Kumi gloated over Bunny with earlier when she was in control. Standing over her briefly with a perplexed look, Bunny wondered if the 1-2 combo may have done a tad more damage than she thought. She honestly thought Kumi was tough enough to take those love taps and be ready to continue their little play date afterwards.

“Tch, youâ€d better not be dead or Iâ€m gonna be more pissed at you now than before,” Bunny stated while bending over to lift Kumi up by her kimono, slapping her cheek lightly to hopefully coax her awake.

Panting on the ground, Kumi rolled her eyes and sighed at Bunny's taunt, although that wasn't really annoyed her. Right now she focused herself more to lure the girl so she could launch her offense. Then she could taunt her opponent. The slap on her cheek elicited a groan from her lips, but that would be nothing compared to what she was planning.

The moment Bunny bent over to grab her clothes, Kumi's eyes widened and her arms reached up to grab the sides of her adversary's head. The tattooed girl would then pull down Bunny's head roughly, before tucking it under her inked arm in an attempt to trap it in a tight headlock. Once she managed to do that, Kumi's legs would try to wrap themselves around Bunny's waist and squeeze in order to weaken the girl some more.

With her attention squarely focused on whether Kumi was indeed knocked out or not, her sudden return back to the land of the living genuinely surprised Bunny enough for Kumi to synch in the headlock and pull Bunny down to her level from her standing position. Even if this was a street fight the dragon lady had proven herself to not be shy when it came to using deceitful tactics.

Grimacing in pain and frustration at having been so easily duped, Bunny flailed her arms briefly in a panicked state before wrapping one arm Kumi's tattooed back and the other around her waist trying to calm her breathing even after she felt the dragon lady's constricting legs squeeze around her waist. On her knees with the dragon lady weighing her down, Death would attempt to send several closed fist strikes into Kumi's side, though if the dragon lady didn't relinquish or ease up on the hold after that Bunny would start to creep forward slowly until she flopped down on the cold ground against Kumi's tattooed body, her punches getting weaker as well from the lack of airflow...

As expected, Bunny wasn't the one to give in even when she's already trapped like this. Kumi grunted as she tried to maintain her lock despite all the punching on her sides. She could feel the strikes were getting weaker, but the damage was certainly stacking.

"Nnngghh..."

The braided girl finally gave Bunny a harder squeeze on both her waist and neck, before she released her adversary and shoved her aside. Kumi rolled weakly to the opposite direction afterwards, and got up slowly to her knees so she could soothe her aching sides.

"Haa... You're... persistent," she said between her panting, before seating herself on the ground with her legs a bit spread. "I could go on until one of us is toast... but perhaps I can interest you... with something else..." her smirk was mixed with her grimace.

Rolling herself away from Kumi after her unexpected release of the surprise headlock, Bunny rubbed the back of her neck with labored pants in an effort to steady her breathing while sitting upright and leaning against the clearly dented sports car. The dragon lady had sold that performance pretty well, it took a great deal of acting chops to fool Death. Things could have gotten even uglier than they already were if she kept Bunny trapped like that, but apparently Kumi had something else on her mind.

“Heh…as much as Iâ€d…like to see…where this was going…ah screw it…humor me…,” Bunny said with a sly and relaxed expression, resting both her arms on her bent in knees taking her time to exploit the momentary breather for a potential Round 2 if this was yet another trick on the dragon ladyâ€s behalf. Curious as to what in the world Kumi could possibly offer Death, her face took on a quizzical expression once she remembered something said way back before their little disagreement took place.

“Wait a sec…was this what you wanted to talk to me about earlier in the bar…before you started this whole thing?”

"Kind of," Kumi replied with a sigh as Bunny agreed to ceasefire.

She took her time adjusting her breath, while also fixing her hair and dress. The smell would still be there until she washed her kimono, but right now that wasn't really important. Slowly getting up to her feet, Kumi dusted herself and looked ath Bunny.

"So after that night, we went for a drink together... and Phantom told me she might arrange a match between you and her in the future," she began. "I don't think I need to tell you what she had in mind, yes?"

The braided girl gave Bunny an inquiring look, wanting to see how she'd react to the news first. While she didn't hear the details herself, Phantom did hint that she's going to embarrass Bunny in the ring for nothing else but her own amusement. With all the photos she had, the masked lady was pretty sure that there's nothing the bunny girl could do to defy her.

"I do have some sort of an answer to your problem, assuming you don't have one..."

Seeing the dragon lady adjust her kimono and primp her pony-tailed hair gave Bunny the impression that Kumi was willing to let be bygones be bygones and end their altercation in a draw. Not exactly the ending she had envisioned in her head, but Kumiâ€s next bit of news drew her attention away from their little spat and brought her back to Earth from the adrenaline filled high after a good fight.

Bunny eyes would widen in surprise initially before regaining her solemnly grim expression and looking towards the ground. “…No…kind of speaks for itself,” Bunny replied with a slight groan, lifting herself upwards while dusting off her own clothes. It was only a matter of time before Phantom started to pull her strings and make use of the leverage she had over her, though an exhibition of that power in front of an entire audience was one of the worst case scenarios she had thought of. Leaning against the sports car with her arms folded and bent low in a defeatist posture, Bunny face would recoil in frustration at the thought of what Phantom had in store for her. “What she has in mind wonâ€t be much of a match, I suspect. Iâ€d be lucky if she lets me get one good swing in at her…” Before Bunny could envision the one-sided humiliation Phantom had cooked up for Bunny, she would be snapped out of her funk once she heard Kumiâ€s bizarre offer of assistance.

“Huh...Whereâ€s this coming from? I mean, I know you and Sunshine were just that bitch's hired help, but why do you wanna help me all of a sudden? I doubt I can pay as well as her...” One of Bunnyâ€s own rabbit ears would unknowingly curl into a question mark curve to match her confused expression.

Kumi let out an amused sigh and smirked at the confused Bunny.

"It'd be a different case if you're just a pushover," she said. "Our little tussle told me that you're too good to be someone's bitch. Especially someone like Phantom. Consider this as a way for me to make up for what I did before..."

Normally she wasn't the type who'd switch side easily, but Kumi had her doubts on Phantom after she watched what the girl did to Bunny. As such, helping the masked girl's foe would probably mark her as Phantom's target as well, but she wasn't afraid of that. Lady Phantom wouldn't be the first enemy she'd make in her life, and she certainly wouldn't be the last either.

"Oh, don't worry about payment," Kumi chuckled as she crossed her arms under her chest. "I don't take money anyways. It's a favor for a favor. Me and my sister can get her phone and erased the photos. It'd take time, of course, but I'll hand the phone to you so you can delete them yourself."

She gave a little pause before smiling at Bunny.

"As for what I want from you in return... we can discuss that when it's done. How's that sound?"

It may have been that extra beer back at the bar, or perhaps that earlier strike to the head had knocked a screw loose and was making her hear things, but there was no way Bunny heard Kumi say what she thought she said. Her eyes widened in disbelief as the dragon lady had essentially offered Bunny a way out of her predicament, for a hidden price however…

“….Well, to be honest, it ‘sounds†too good to be true...and in most cases, it is…” With that Bunny leaned back against the sports car and closed her eyes in contemplation. She had every reason in the world to be skeptical of the dragon ladyâ€s proposal, how could she trust someone who up until a short time ago was working for the same woman who was the source of all her grief in the first place? Amid the storm brewing in her head she realized that Kumi really had no reason to lie to her about something like this, and Bunny actually had nothing to lose if Kumi was unable to keep up her side of the deal. After a few moments of thought and finally coming to a decision, Bunny took a deep breath and opened her eyes with a new conviction before stepping forward until she was right in front of her foul smelling fellow brawler.

“....But….*sigh*….Iâ€m not ashamed to admit Iâ€m out of options, at least ones that donâ€t end with me digging some graves and skipping town...,” Bunny looked into Kumiâ€s eyes to emphasize that point, before raising her arm for a handshake. It would be hard to explain but fighting the dragon lady and recognizing her own strength somehow gave Bunny the feeling that Kumi was on the level with this deal. “If you can deliver on your promise, and get back every picture….I think I can come around to forgiving you.” If Kumi accepted the gesture of partnership Bunny would emphasize this last part with a tighter squeeze in the handshake and a slight squint in her eyes, before releasing it once finished with her statement.“ But whatever favor you have in mind better not be any worse than the mess Iâ€m already stuck in.”

Kumi was relieved that Bunny decided to take the chance. To be fair the girl's options were limited as it was, and Phantom wasn't someone she could take on recklessly by herself. If things went smoothly, she might get herself a strong ally. The tricky part, of course, was to steal Phantom's phone without leaving any trace that could lead back to her.

"Don't you worry about that," Kumi chuckled as she gave Bunny's extended hand a firm squeeze and shake. "I have no interest in making someone my pet or the likes," she winked to the girl.

After they broke their handshake, the braided girl sighed and stretched herself a bit. The smell was starting to get annoying. Fortunately her place wasn't too far out from here.

"Well then, good to see we can reach an understanding," she told Bunny before turning around. "I'll give you a call when it's done," said Kumi as she began to leave the area, waving a hand to the girl.