Dark Reign: A Snake Enters the Garden

Berenice roamed the haunted house in search for Amber. Given what she'd been told by Hyacinth, the people they were fighting likely wanted to harm either Hyacinth or Amber greatly or worse. She knew she had find the smaller Irish lass. As fiery as she was, she would likely struggle against a strong opponent. She had to find her fast before the wrong person did.

After a few minutes of searching, she rounded a corner towards a staff only area and saw a masked man, tormenting the poor girl. She gave a loud "Ahem" and walked out into the open to face the man.
"Man, Do you guys always pick on those smaller than you? What a bunch of Cowards" she said chuckling as she stared at him.

"Try me on for size asshole" She said, Flexing her arm and suddenly charging at him with violence and retribution in her eyes

Brook...honestly had no interest in approaching Ruvik. Even with Amber in tow, the entire reason for being there, the guy just screamed the words “Bad News”. She had seen a little bit of him around the Federation, and from what she understood, he couldn’t get any matches because he was too dangerous for anyone to fight. Being too dangerous to fight in the AFW was a rather substantial feat, considering some of the psychopaths the place employed. Was her job to take Amber back to Miranda unharmed? Sure. But if it came down to it, she was getting paid the same sitting on her duff eating elephant ears as she would be trying to wrestle around with Amber. Why not let Ruvik do the work?

So, Brook went back to happily munching on her sweets, choosing ignorance and bliss.

__

Before Ruvik could get his...reply? His vengeance? Truthfully it was difficult to say, even for him. Before he could get what he wanted from the poor girl, a new voice jumped in from the background and instantly grabbed his attention. The featureless helmet darted over towards a tanned, blonde thug type of girl. His head tilted in a questioning fashion, but he said nothing as the stranger approached them. His grip held around Amber’s wrist, but otherwise he turned to face the newcomer, his head still tilted as though he didn’t understand.

“...A...nd...Wh..o...might….y...ou...be?”

His tone was different than before...strained almost. He had been quoting things near perfectly beforehand, but when he used his own words, he hesitated as though he was unsure of himself.

“What the hell does it matter, Ruvik?”

This voice made the man jump, his shoulders going from strong and imposing to shrunken and shaking in an instant! The grip around Amber’s arm loosened considerably, and he hunched over to the point where he was almost the same size as Amber.

“She wants the girl, but we got her first! Don’t let her steal her!”

Spoiler:

The woman that emerged from the bushes...looked more like a girl! The small, petite looking girl had sunken eyes that rested naturally in a glare that didn’t match the cuteness of her outfit. She was clearly used to being spoiled, as she sipped on a soda pop and walked right between Berenice and Ruvik, not at all concerned for the violence that would be breaking out soon.

“L...Laura?”

“What? Are you going to let her push your little sister around? What kind of a man are you? You already ruined my life, now you want to second guess everything I say? Huh?!?”

The girl's words clearly affected Ruvik. His head sunk down to the ground, like a beaten dog being screamed at by its master. What events Laura was referring to was only known between the two of them, unknown from the others.

By then Berenice was charging the duo, heading on a one way trip to running over Laura. The woman might have run her over without a care in the world, but that didn’t happen. Before she could do such a thing, Ruvik jolted forward! He carried Amber beneath his arm, and shielded both her and Laura from Berenice’s wild charge! His free arm shoot out, looking to grab one of the fists incoming towards him and hold it back as best he could!

Even with her blood pouring from the wound across her chest, Hyacinth continued to dance about, dodging away from Kassidy's blade as the woman continued to lash out at her. Hyacinth continued her dance, though one slip up would surely spell the end for her. She bobbed and weaved about, the blade always just grazing her as she finally ducked one more swipe and lunged forward, aiming to deliver an uppercut straight underneath Kassidy's jaw, "You know, I can always bank on your quick temper to really stir you up and make you lose focus of your real mission. After all, your anger was always one of your weaknesses." She grinned and lashed out with a few more punches before quickly spinning and lashing out with her leg, aiming to smash her heel into her face and knock her out right then and there before she ran off to try and find Amber.

Meanwhile, Amber cried out in pain as she was dragged along with Ruvik, his grip on her arm beginning to cut off circulation, "P...please sir...you're hurting me." she said, tears coming to her face as she was ripped along with him to stand between Berenice and this new girl that showed up. Though, at the first chance she got, she would rip away from the man and make a run for the parking lot the first second the man's grip on her loosened up again!

It should have all been over! Kassidy would feel only the slightest resistance from her blade before seeing her hated enemy fall to the floor and never fall again! The sweet sensation of silence would envelop her, and Hyacinth would have been no more. It was an intoxicating fantasy, one that made Kassidy drunk in her attempt to fulfill her vengeance! She brought both blades down onto Hyacinth’s form, looking to deliver the lethal blow! But it was already too late. She had been played, and had only just realized it.

Hyacinth was wounded, that was true. But the woman had clever feigned her injury to be much worse than what was actually the case Blood had covered her clothes, but the second Kassidy’s blades came down, Hyacinth disappeared from view! The woman still had her speed, as she weaved around the dual weapons and delivered a surprisingly shocking uppercut to the Crooked Collector’s jaw! The force immediately sent Kassidy for a loop, the hunter dropping her weapons on the floor as she gripped her head in a vain attempt to stop the stuffy haunted house from spinning around.

Kassidy wasn’t too sure what happened next...It sounded like Hyacinth said something. He bitch thought she was so smug! The Hunter cursed her a thousand times, promising to do the worst things imaginable to her loved ones as well as the Frenchwoman herself. She would have made such promises vocal, if not for what came next.

The accompanying punches only served to worsen Kassidy’s vertigo. Fists slammed into her chest, abs, and head in quick succession before a spinning kick turned out the lights. Kassidy’s body flew backwards and smashed against a wall causing a loud CRACK to emit from the plaster. It seemed Hyacinth had managed to defeat one of her cruelest enemies…

But where was Amber?

Berenice stopped her attack and moved to stand between the man and Amber. "Looks like your human shield just got away. Makes my life easier, don't have to hold back when I kick your ass you....Whatever the fuck you are, Freak, Circus attraction..." she said, raising her fists and staring at the strange man and his bizarre helmet.
"You got another friend huh? Doesn't matter though, I'll kick her ass after I'm done with you" she growled charging him and choosing try to try get him stuck in a grapple. If successful, She'd try and thrust her head into his helmet and try to smash her knee into his gut. She knew she had to win quickly and get to Amber. Given how fervently they were chasing her, she had to be the target of this attack.

Ruvik managed to mitigate Bernice’s attack. He allowed the woman’s fist to slam into his palm while his grip was clamped tightly around the young Irish girls wrist! He unintentionally elicited a scream from the young girl. A stab of fear ripped into his heart, his grip faltering as he quickly looked over his shoulder towards Amber! For a split second, he saw Laura there...her face scrunched up tight in pain and misery! The accident still haunted his nightmares, his guilt making him keep track of his dear sister ever since that day. He was frightened of leaving her alone, but terrified of hurting her again!

“I’m sorry!”

In a panic, he released her to try and check the injured wrist. But before he could, Amber quickly bolted away from him! An irritated growl came from behind him, a tone he recognized and relished!

“Laura! I’m sorry, I’ll fix it! Just don’t-”

“Shut up you big Oaf! That girl is a walking blank check from the Wrongs and you let her get away!”

In the middle of Laura’s screaming, Berenice moved herself between Amber and her two would-be kidnappers. Ruvik was once again hunched over next to his sister, and the siblings peered up at the living road block. Ruvik rubbed the back of her neck, but Laura slapped the back of his helmet as a punishment.

“Look at that! Now I have to go off and clean up your mess! When are you ever going to be useful and stop disappointing me?!? Go take care of her!”

With a shove, Laura pushed her brother towards Berenice, the man straightening up to follow his sisters orders. The blonde woman raised her fists and spouted off insults pointed towards Ruvik which bounced off him like pebbles on concrete. It was only when she would go on to threaten Laura that Ruvik noticeably stiffened. He began to march towards her, his footfalls smacking the ground with aggression as Berenice charged him. The two quickly locked up, with Berenice using their close quarters to throw in some quick shots to her foe. Her head bounced off his helmet just before her knee slammed into his abs, but he hardly budged. Ruvik’s fingers were digging into her arms like barbed hooks as an enraged gaze could barely be seen behind his helmet's tinted visor.

“I’ll kill you before I let you touch her...Do you hear me?”

Slowly, he began to push Berenice! His strength was immense, already starting to take a step forward to gain some ground and force his opponent backwards! His manic eyes glared at Berenice behind the strange helmet, sending a chilling feeling through the air.

“I’ll get the girl, you hold this brute off. Think you can do that?”

With her brother holding Berenice back, Laura casually strolled past the two of them. While it was true Ruvik was keeping Berenice in place, he was in the same situation. Ruvik couldn’t move while grappling with Berenice.

“Laura! Please! Just wait-”

“If you’re so worried, then hurry up and deal with that pest! I’m not waiting for that girl to get away.”

And with that, Laura left. Her eyes set squarely on the green haired girl fleeing into the fairgrounds.

Berenice let out a growl of anger. This freak thinks he can overpower her? It'll be a warm day in Hel before she let him think she was that much of a push over.
"I like the anger in your voice, Maybe if I destroy that helmet of yours I'll get to see your ugly face...Try Kill me, cuz I sure as hell plan on doing the same to you!" She said, pushing back against Ruvik, taking steps of her own to counteract him. She decided to anger him more, force him to make poor choices, or so she hoped.
"After I'm done with you, I'll kick your sisters ass so bad She'll need to eat through a tube" she chuckled, an almost psychopathic glint in her eye as she pushed against him harder, her muscles flexing as she put more effort into her attempts.

Before Ruvik could stop his sister from disappearing after her prey he would have to overcome the strange woman that had the guts to lock up with him. It was only just then did he wonder exactly where this woman came from. Was she a bodyguard hired by Amber? A friend? Laura was unable to tell Ruvik too much about what was going on behind the scenes of this operation. That or she simply chose not to. All he knew was that Laura wanted the girl, and he was brought along to help her get what she wanted. Whatever protection of defense Amber had, Ruvik would smash through it!

But that would take time, and Laura had already split away, taking up a majority of the masked man’s attention. It was not very smart to take your eyes off a hostile opponent, but that was exactly what he did. His arms kept pushing Berenice and keeping her at bay, but otherwise did little to actually push her over. He quickly realized he needed to focus! The faster he dealt with this woman, the faster he could return to Laura’s side!

His opponent was stubborn, annoying. He would kill her, if it meant getting to Laura faster...but Laura might disapprove. She never liked it when Ruvik hurt others too much. She screamed at him, said he was too much trouble to clean up after. Hurting her would be fine though, right? The foul words she spoke about smashing his helmet in order to see his face made a very nice case that he absolutely should hurt her…

“Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!” He grumbled, steadily pushing her more and more to try and force her over.

But, the woman seemed to have a grip over his trigger. Once again, she threatened his beloved sister, and once again, the manic eye beneath the visor seemed to shift. The pupils seemed to dilate as Ruvik’s arms became less flesh and bones and more solid stone! They didn’t budge no matter how hard Berenice pushed! His fingers turned into a steel cage that engulfed the woman’s hands thanks to his inhumanly strong grip!

“YYAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHH!!!”

The berserk scream came just before Ruvik moved to throw Berenice! Mindlessly, he moved to swing her to the side towards the brick wall of the haunted house side entrance! He only released her from his grip to ensure inertia would help make the impact that much more painful!

Berenice flew through the air, surprised that the man could show such strength. The bricks in the wall cracked as she bounced off it, cracking her head violently on it. Blood trickled down her back as she got to her feet. She groaned and rubbed her head, feeling a warm liquid cover her hand. "Aren't you a strong one?" she grunted, her vision blurry from the impact. She walked back towards him with a limp, the impact badly damaging her leg. She stared at him with wide eyes and a crazed, sharp toothed grin.
"Wanna try that again? or is you Sister a better fight than you are?" she mocked, having noticed how easily he was riled up whenever she mentioned his sister.

If he charged, she'd try to launch her leg in between his legs, aiming to try and incapacitate him for a short time with a kick to the groin, assuming the freak actually gave a damn about it. Regardless of if it succeeded, she'd Try and smash a knee into his helmet with a jump. This guy couldn't be worse than Ryo, surely? he's beatable, he's Human, or so she thought, for all she knew he could have been some kinda drugged up monster.

Despite throwing a fully grown, semi-muscular woman into a brick wall with tremendous force, Ruvik didn’t seem too tired. If anything, the damage seemed to amp the masked man up! His excited and enraged breaths could be heard through the thin filters of the helmet as Berenice limped over towards him. Despite bleeding from the head down, she still seemed keen on antagonizing him! She was either very stubborn, or very stupid that much could be said. She must have had a death wish, as the woman smiled and got ready for the next round of their fight.

Like a derailed train, Ruvik came charging towards her. No hesitation, no thought...just the desire to silence her nagging trap and deceitful tongue nice and for all! No one would ever touch Laura! No one would threaten her in Ruvik’s presence! Least of all some dye-job punk!

Her leg came up and scored a hit in between his legs. The muffled growl was barely audible due to the helmet the man wore, but even so his arms lashed out to grip a hold of her wrists! His legs struggled to hold him up thanks to the sudden and infuriating pain he was experiencing. A part of him wanted to vomit, but he couldn’t tell if it was from the pain or the anger coursing through his body, pumping adrenaline and stress all throughout his veins. His iron grip squeezed down on Berenice’s wrists, as though he was looking to break her arms through sheer force! But she was at least one step ahead of him, as she suddenly jumped up and slammed her knee into his helmet! The force of which earned a nice, clean crack against his visor as his head swung backwards. He seemed to stumble, his fist swinging wildly in an enraged attempt to hit her! Even in pain, he wanted to attack and hurt! His mind a mixture of blind fury and the desire for revenge!