The Serpent's Offer (For Tali)

[url=http://afwrpg.informe.com/forum/backstage-f67/johnny-higurashi-vs-bree-tassilotte-backstage-brawl-t10106.html:7cz2s2gl]Continued from here...[/url:7cz2s2gl]

Kozue Kaburagi is waiting in the Tension parking lot. Why is Kozue Kaburagi waiting in the Tension parking lot?

She couldn't help but ask herself that question, as she leaned against the back of a van near the entrance, still dressed in her short shorts and Metroid shirt. She knew the answer, actually - she was waiting on Johnny to come out so they could have a little heart-to-heart. She just wasn't sure why that struck her as a good idea. She was doing decent in Tension - not a superstar, not even close, but she was starting to get some real appreciation. People stayed to watch her matches as near as she could tell, not just leaving for a bathroom break while some guy got his balls mauled in the ring. Pictures were popping up on the internet. Some of her moves were finding their way onto YouTube. Kozue didn't want to think of herself as an attention whore, but...yeah, she was a little attention whore. It was nice to be recognized, damn it.

But with Johnny, that all got complicated. After she kissed him, things got weird. The rumor mill was still buzzing, talking about affairs, breakups, even really weird talk of a threesome. She tried to ignore most of it, and since a month or so had gone by without anything really happening between her and Johnny, people were starting to forget it.

Not anymore, though. After Johnny's backstage brawl brought him into the girl's locker room, the mill was back in full swing, and just as annoying as ever. Kozue looked through her phone, checking Twitter and sighing every few seconds as the stream of bullshit just flowed faster and faster - speculation, assumptions, guesses. It didn't matter how true any of it was, people took every little thing and ran with it.

So, this? Meeting him like this? Maybe not the best idea. All she needed was for someone to spot them together and put a picture out there. But Johnny was a nice guy, and she had precious few of those in her life. She wanted to be friends with him, and he seemed to feel the same way. Was that really too much to ask out of life?

Whatever. They'd talk. They'd straighten it out. Figure out a way to set things right, without risking the bitchy wrath of Taylor Parker every time they were in a ten foot radius of each other. In the meantime, Kozue occupied herself with a rousing game of Angry Birds, figuring she might have to wait a little while, still.

Like many others, Dragon had seen what transpired between those two wrestlers in videos and pictures all over the internet. He had seen firsthand just how often those kinds of things happened with Johnny Higurashi, and he was sick of it. So many girls seemed to just fall for him despite his negative IQ. Dragon understood why, he just wished people had a little more self control. He personally knew of two of them, and they both wished they hadn't. And now he knew of a third that could be the same way.

He had seen the girl walk out into the parking lot and noticed her just...standing there. Wearing his dragon mask and matching black outfit, Dragon casually walked out to her. He didn't try to be nonchalant about it. "Well well well, if it isn't the star of twitter for the last fifteen minutes. He crossed his arms and leaned on a green Nissan. "Just another girl swooning to every hunk she comes across? That's a classic, I don't think people ever get old with that."

All right -pull back, just enough to send the red bird over the castle thing and smashed into the pig from the pig on top of the tower. Tricky shot, didn't help that the stupid red bird did absolutely nothing...release, let gravity do the work, and...she missed. For the tenth time. "Red bird, always with the useless red bird..."

She was wrapped up in her game, but not so much that her keen ninja senses didn't catch the sound of approaching footsteps - not that she could have really missed him, anyway. Heavy footsteps. Too heavy to be Johnny, or anyone she knew for that matter.

She looked over her shoulder as the man spoke and found herself staring at his chest, craning her neck up as she turned around in full. The mask. She recognized it. She'd been keeping track of Tension matches, enough to know that wherever this guy went, a lot of pain followed, and that he seemed to have a thing for Johnny and Clyde Gastin. And now she was in the mix, it seemed. Awesome.

"Well, that's not true." She clicked her phone off and stuffed it into her back pocket, wanting to have her hands free. There was something off about this guy, and it wasn't just the mask. "I mean, you're here. Hunkish. Not swooning over you. Mr, ah..." She snapped her fingers a few times, trying to drum up name. "Dragon, right? Black Dragon."

Dragon grinned underneath his mask. She could have been so insulting with her response, but she wasn't. That was a good sign. "You know someone's probably going to come after you for that. There's a certain Mrs. Higurashi that takes great offense to other women touching her man." Probably other men, too. He looked up and down Ninjette with another grin. "Still, I'm sure you can defend yourself. You looked impressive in the match...but..."

"You could probably use a little more, how should I say, guidance if you're going to beat guys like Johnny." He tilted his head and looked at her. "And you'd be welcome member of my group if you think you have the guts." His voice then became a little more dark as he leaned himself up off the car. "Trust me, you'd rather be with us than against us."

He was blunt, she had to give him credit for that. No wine and dine, no bush-beating. Right to the point, which pretty much boiled down to 'join me or get your ass kicked' to her ears. The funny thing was, if he'd made this offer earlier, before she met Johnny, she might have said 'yes'. Having a little backup would be nice. A lot of the veteran wrestlers had connections, people they could call on for help, and being part of her own group would be a great way to rise through the ranks.

But now...

She took a deep breath and folded her arms, taking a moment to really digest everything he'd thrown out. "Okay. Few things." Kozue held up a finger. "First. Taylor Parker can kiss my clearly labeled ass. I didn't touch her man. Not tonight, anyway. If she had some problem with me coming in to help her man out while she's off making t-shirts or whateverthefuck, she can come on down whenever she wants and take it straight to me. Not going anywhere." Up went another finger. "Second. Johnny won our match, but I knocked him out. It was pretty close. Knocked King's ass out, too. For a rookie, that ain't half-bad. I don't need help beating guy's like Johnny, I'm close enough on my own."

She brought a third finger up. "Finally, even if I bought everything you're selling, you kind of ruined it with your George Bush impression at the end. Really, really don't like threats. Hate it. So, with all due respect - go fuck yourself."

She brought all the fingers back down. Except the middle one.

Dragon noted the ninja's body language as she spoke. She seemed genuinely confident with everything she stated. She was strong-willed, well-spoken, and quick. And she had an attitude. She was a lot like Taylor Parker. It made him smile to think there could be someone else like that. If that was the case, things were about to get fun. "Suit yourself," he said quietly and turned as if to walk away.

But after just one step, the man spun towards her with a roundhouse kick aimed at her midsection to catch her off guard. He was a man of his word, and she had brought it on herself. He imagined she already knew that, though. He was more than happy about it too, especially if she was going to be as feisty as the last one was.

When Dragon started to walk away, Kozue expected him to do something - the way he'd been talking, the way he'd approached, he couldn't have been clearer with his intentions if he written to her in advance about it.

She expected him to come at her, she just didn't expect it to be so damned fast. For someone so big, he was ridiculously quick, and the best she could do was get her arms up with a cross block. Even with that, it was still enough to knock her off her feet, her light body going airborne before she came down on one knee, her bare leg scrapping hard along the pavement.

So, recap - what did she know about this guy? Big. Strong. A jackass. Fast - but at the end of the day, speed was her thing, and she was willing to bet she could edge him out. In the parking lot, she had room to move, things to jump off of. It wouldn't be easy, not be any stretch, but if this guy thought she was backing down, then he should've paid more attention to her matches. Not happening.

She ran straight towards him at full speed, looking ready to tackle him in a suicide run - instead, she ducked down at the last moment jerked to the side, looking to roll past him and hit him with a leg sweep when she came out on the other side, swinging a hard leg right into his ankles.

Dragon expected her to block in some way, but he didn't expect her to charge right at him. It was refreshing, though, to see someone so bravely run into his grasp. Not that there was much time to savor the moment. He braced himself to meet the tackle head on with the intention of trapping her between his powerful legs and squeezing the life out of her.

She had other plans, though.

Ninjette rolled right past his grasp and tripped him towards the solid pavement. He landed on the solid ground but managed to break his fall with his arms. Almost instantly, though, he was furious. With his left arm he reached out and gripped ahold of Ninjette's right foot. She probably thought she was being cute trying to take him down. He wouldn't have it for one second, though. He gripped powerfully on her ankle just to hold her in place while he tried to get to his feet.

He was pissed. Even through the mask, she could see that plain as day.

Good.

She started to roll back to her feet after her, hoping put some distance between them - hitting and running would be her best shot, wearing him away with mosquito bites. Not ideal, but the only real choice she had. This wasn't a match, there weren't any rules, and if she tried to screw around with this guy he'd bury in the pavement.

Before she had the chance, though, she felt his powerful grip around her ankle and cried out as he poured the pressure on. He was starting to rise, and a guy like him could break her clean in half if given half a chance. Her mind raced, alarm bells blaring - she needed him off. Now.

Instead of pulling away - which wouldn't work worth a damn - she jerked forward, looking to take him off guard. She reached for his mask, grabbed it from both sides and jabbed her thumbs into the eye openings, poking his eyes before she pulled the mask down his face to obscure his vision. "Having fun, asshole? Huh?"

Dragon knew Ninjette was doomed if she couldn't use her speed to escape his strength. But he didn't expect her to play dirty. She drove her fingers into the eyes of his mask just as he got to his feet. He grunted in pain and the mask pulled down to continue to block his vision. He unintentionally released her ankle. But he was even more furious than before.

He blindly reached up and grabbed onto Ninjette's wrists just as they released his mask. With a firm grip on her right wrist, Dragon reached back with his right hand grip onto her head roughly. Then, by twisting his body, Dragon threw Ninjette's head face first into the door of the green jaguar that he was originally leaning on. He didn't have to see to hurt someone.