Realistic or Modern Great Ganbatte!!!

[druidquest]

Mergo stepped back into the lobby in sweatpants, a short silk bathrobe, and nothing else, brushing at her long hair with a fine-toothed comb. Mama’s eyes flicked over to her briefly as she made an appearance, but otherwise preserved their eagle-eyed watch of the television screen.

There were a few customers hanging around, waiting for rooms to open up. A pair close to her stood as Mergo entered, eyes bouncing down the lining of her robe before darting over to Mama, who caught their gaze with a light shake of her head. A look of disappointment populated itself across their faces, and they sat down with a huff.

“Busy night?” Mergo asked, leaning on the side of the counter.

Mama grunted in affirmation. “They passed out flyers to the contestants at the hotels. “Between them and the tourists flying in to watch, the whole district has its hands full. I had to call in three girls on their rest days just to meet demand.”

Mergo crossed her arms, looking smug. “Need me to get to work, then?”

“Sure,” the older woman said, reaching under the counter. She pulled out something small and thin, holding it in front of Mergo’s face before her eyes could start to wander toward anyone on the benches.

“What’s this?” Mergo asked, flinching back to see what Mama shoved in her face.

“Your first job,” she replied, setting it on the counter. “There was a kid sleeping in here earlier. He forgot that.”

Mergo blinked once. “You’re having me return lost phones?”

“Think of it as a trial run. He still needs to pay for his friends, anyway.”

Mergo bit her lip, staring down at the smartphone with her arms crossed. “I mean. I’m not exactly saying no-”

“Of course you aren’t,” Mama interrupted, eyeing Mergo with a withering gaze. “Consider it payment for your first night here. I don’t need another bouncer, mija. Maricela does her job fine, and the customers have been behaving themselves so far. But we’re both stuck here, and you aren’t. So if you’re going to do work for me, I’m going to have you running the errands I can’t. Understand?”

“...Understood.” Mergo heaved a sigh, grabbing the phone off the counter.

---

A quick change of clothes later and Mergo was out on the street, bouncing between every bar and bathhouse on the block. The first few were all duds - they didn’t remember anyone matching the description Mergo had gotten from Mama, and with how many customers they’d had in the past few hours alone, none of them would.

Honestly, Mergo didn’t get the point of trying to return this guy’s phone to him anyway. They had his phone. If it was money Mama wanted, they could just have someone break through the lock screen and have access to every piece of personal or payment information they could ask for. Maybe the kid had an important daddy or something.

Mergo pushed her way through the crowd of the next bar down, making her way up to the counter and coming to ground next to some short guy in a suit and a stupid hat. “Oy, amigo,” she called to the bartender, waving him down. “Puedo hacerte una pregunta?”

The bartender gave her a long look, then yelled down to the other end of the bar. “Luis! Hablale inglés a esta maldita gringa!”

“My accent is not that bad!” Mergo protested as the bartender turned away to help someone else.

---

Sir loin of beef

 

[obscured_light]

There they were, having a nice conversation, when bullet fire sounded nearby. Donavan asked her if she was joining and like him, she took a swig of her own drink. Well, a chug rather. There was no way she had just spent money on a drink she wasn't going to finish. Fights however were a whole other thing. Rivera was pretty certain he was going to be someone to watch out for unless he was just spouting words to sound tough. He didn't seem like the type of guy but it could have just been a really good first impression. A dangerous situation could give her a bit more information however.

"Lead the way," she said though she was already heading towards the exit herself.

BakaTheIdiot

 

[Wing06]

"Man, i'm gonna need a fucking drink." Johnny said to himself.

Taku smiled politely at the man beside him, "I can help with that!" He began, calling over the bartender. "What would you like?" He asked Johnny.

Before Taku could get the bartender's attention, a young woman came in asking to ask a question. "You're right. Your accent isn't bad. I guess he's just having a stressful night." Taku offered, smiling at the young woman. He'd already noticed the two were combatants in the tournament, but he could sense neither was actively looking for a fight.

druidquest Sir loin of beef

 

[Sir loin of beef]

Johnny looked at taku "Gimme a Rompope on the rocks. Man this tournament is friggin nuts! Did ya hear that? I think some guy just got whacked on the street. I tell ya whoever did it got sloppy if we managed to hear it."

druidquest Wing06

 

[Shotgunpenguin]

Connor wandered aimlessly down the city street, hands in his jacket pockets and eyes firmly glued to the ground in front of him. After he retrieved his card, a wave of emotions had washed over him. Relief that he got his card back, anger at those people who had taken it from him, guilt for causing so much trouble for both the bartender and that nice lady at the bathhouse. But what had hit him the hardest was the disappointment in himself for almost fucking everything up. How could he be so stupid? Without his card he would be screwed, he probably couldn't even have gotten into his hotel room to get his stuff. He gave all of his money to that lady at the bathhouse, and at some point in the night he had also lost his phone. All he had to him now was his card, his literal lifeline in this city, and he couldn't help but remember what the bartender had told him about it.

"Maybe he was right" He thought, looking at the card in his hand, "Maybe I didn't deserve to get this back." He stared at it for a few more seconds before sighing and stuffing it back into his pocket. "What am I eve-" His thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang, and then a volley of similar bangs that rang out into the night.

"Were those gunshots?" Connor's heart leapt into his throat as he flinched, quickly looking around the area. When no more shots rang out relaxed a little, releasing the breath he was holding. They sounded close, close enough that a few of the other people on the street were moving towards them. Against his better judgement, he found himself following suit. Eventually, he came upon what looked to be a crime scene. The police were already there, cordoning off the alleyway against the growing crowd of onlookers.

Looking for more information, Connor looked around before he noticed a man approaching the crime scene. He was an older looking man, dark skinned with a head of white hair, and he positively reeked of booze. The smell alone was enough to bring back his experience at the club, bringing forth a wave of nausea. It was a long shot, but maybe he knew what had happened, or even seen something.

"E-excuse me. Do you know what happened? Is someone....." He trailed off, leaving the obvious question to hang in the air.

Mentioned: PiePillager

 

[druidquest]

"Not our business," Mergo shrugged, reaching over the counter and grabbing a bottle of tequila. One bartender was ignoring her and the other looked like he had his hands too full to come over just yet; what was she supposed to do, just die of thirst?

Oh right, she was working. Eh.

Mergo flipped around to lean against the bar, pulling the cork out of her pilfered bottle and flicking it off somewhere into the crowd. "Still, pulling a gun on someone this early? Wish they had that kinda spice in the opening. You know there's this one guy floating around with like twenty people tending him? What is he supposed to be, some kinda prince?"

 

[PiePillager]

Kipsang turned around and glanced over his shoulder toward the direction of the voice speaking to him. His baggy eyes narrowed and studied the young fighter. It almost seemed as if his drunken demeanor belied some sort of hidden wisdom. Instead Kipsang, eventually cupped a hand to his ear and bellowed, "WHAT?!" loud enough for two of the cops stationed at the crime scene to turn their heads in surprise, before grumbling to themselves and returning to report in to their superiors. "You must speak up boy, there is too much noise!" Kipsang waved his other arm to motion to the crowd around them.

"I don't think this is a good time for questions anyway, someone's been shot!" Kipsang continued. "But I don't think he's dead..." he continued, leaning forward to peek his head a bit further than the police were permitting down the alley. He would've ceased poking around right then if he hadn't noticed something flashing in the victim's hand. "His card..." Kipsang turned to Connor and noted. "He's in the tournament. If he passes, I assume we will hear of it soon..."

It was then that the two nearby police on the scene seemed to show some visible distress. "Hey, if you don't mind, we'd like all civilians...and competitors to give the crime scene a wide berth. One of our detectives will be here soon to help us conduct the investigation and we'd like as little trouble as possible. Please, clear the area and try to go back to enjoying yourselves," he said in an hurried tone.

It was then that the other officer turned around in surprise at a suited man approaching the scene. "Oh, detective!" she greeted. Perhaps it was something about the nature of the suit. Far too expensive on a police detectives salary even in a country with a booming economy such as this one and perhaps it was his general demeanor...but this man did not seem like a detective.

"Let me in on the details..." he told the officer who had addressed him as the other continued to try and wave the crowd back.

"Best we get a move on, boy," Kipsang nodded at Connor. "Things will be a bit tricky if one of them's involved."

Shotgunpenguin

 

[Jagson]

Cullen walked up to the crime scene. Seeing the body laid out he frowned. He had seen too many crime scenes. First his parents, than Greg, and finally Jo. He was sick of death after this tournament ended he wouldn't have to worry about it any longer.

Looking at the detective his frown depend. He knew the type. Curropt, wanting to show his wealth, pretend he's better than the lower class. He was probably in the pocket of some mafia. "Wonder how much blood money that suit costed you." He said under his breath

He turned his attention away and spotted a young man and an old drunk exiting the crime scene. Seeing as there was nothing he could do he fallowed them at the distance staying to the shadows.

 

[egglover]

"Well, that's not - hic - not what I had in mind but sure!" Min-Ji stumbled over the two unconscious men, being careful of her old friend Jose, "Sorry man. No hard feelings, yeah?"

As she opened the door to the bar and was about to follow her new friend, Min-Ji heard gunshots not far from the bar. She swore to herself. This could complicate things. Still, she muttered under her breath, "Good distraction, I guess."

***

The club was filled to the brim with patrons dancing and drinking to loud music. An MC stood above the crowd, swaying to the beats that he strung together on the sound board whilst a few drunk women tried to clamber up on the strange with him. Min-Ji was shoved into the hot, sweaty mess before her, pushing against naked skin as she attempted to weave through the club. There was no sight of Musashi, the man lost in the chaos as much as she was. A few times she peaked atop of the heads surrounding her, standing on tip toes as an attempt to see where she was going. A stairwell leading up to the balcony was blocked by security. Bingo.

"PLEASE WELCOME TO THE STAGE INTERNATIONAL LEGEND FAT CHUUUUU!!"

People cheered around her. A plump rapper began to spit some bars and the crowd went wild. Min-Ji approached the stairwell like a lion hunting its prey and nudged some young kids beside her, pointing to the railing of the stairwell and grinning. They seemed to understand what she was saying and the group began to climb it to get a better look at the stage. It didn't take long for security to spot them and yell at them to get down. While he was distracted she pounced.

Min-Ji slipped through the flimsy chain and ran up the stairs. For a brief moment she thought she locked eyes with Musashi within the crowd before she disappeared to the second floor. This was where the gang members would be. Fantastic.

DarKnight36

 

[BakaTheIdiot]

Had he made himself sound tough? Perhaps this Rivera character was beginning to size him up. In his experience, most of the men in the underground scene tended to be real meatheads, and while he prided himself in being a bit more composed, maybe that influence was rubbing off on him. On second thought though, maybe that was a good thing: he had meant what he said, but if she didn't believe Donavan, that only led to her underestimating him. That was something he could use.

Where was all this strategizing coming from? He was just trying to make a friend. Damn, Bella would be proud.

Once they had made their way out, there was already quite the commotion surrounding the gunshot. Even with the arrival of the police, quite the ellipse had already formed around the supposed crime scene. Now, Donnie was too short to see over the waves of shoulders, but with a little maneuvering and a carefully almost-planned hop, he caught a glimpse. He didn't see much, but somebody was definitely dead. Right? Definitely. Definitely. Why else would the police be here?

Maybe this Rivera fellow could see something he cou- Oh. Same height. Right.

"Welp," He cleared his throat. "I mean, I'm pretty sure somebody got got, but I can't see anything. Unless you wanna give me a boost or something I think we might have to muscle our way through the crowd a bit... ok, muscle sounds strong, we'd just ask."

They weren't the first, either. From his periphery Donavan swore he saw what appeared to be some kid and - was that the old man from earlier? Was he a Ganbatte fighter too? Maybe they knew something. "...and it looks like we're not the only Curious Georges down here."

obscured_light PiePillager Shotgunpenguin

 

[obscured_light]

Gunshots, cops, a crowd of spectators. It was a sight Rivera was used to and none too surprised to encounter here. She noticed Donavan trying to get a peek and chuckled at the idea of boosting him. He was correct in his assessment they would likely have to muscle their way through but a couple people were already beginning to disperse. The cops needed their room after all and they were starting to shoo away onlookers. This also included the people Donavan was looking at who seemed to be going away from the scene.

"Might as well see if they're also Answer Georges," Rivera remarked before heading over to the old guy and the younger looking fellow.

"Hey, were you guys able to see what happened?" she called out to them, approaching them with a friendly smile and a small wave. She indicated to Donavan, adding, "Me and my friend here got here a bit late and couldn't really see anything. Don't wanna get hassled by the cops either."

BakaTheIdiot PiePillager Shotgunpenguin

 

[Shotgunpenguin]

Connor cringed, the older man practically screaming into his ear as he waved his arm around. Covering the affected ear he watched as the man leaned in through the crowd for a better look at the scene. From what the man said whoever had been shot wasn't dead yet, "That's good. whoever it was wasn't dead, but if they were still alive why hadn't anyone called an ambulance?" It wasn't until

"Wait, he was a competitor?! B-but the rules explicitly prohibited killing. Who would do something like this?" His shock did not go unnoticed by the crowd around the duo. Already he could hear people spread the news, with one or two expressing concern over how this would have never happened last year. It seemed like whatever had happened, it was entirely out of the usual for the competition. The old man spoke once again, this time suggesting that the two of them get away from the scene.

"Wait, if one of who gets involved? Why would it be tricky?" Connor wanted more answers, but judging by the old man's tone it seemed like it would be better to continue their conversation elsewhere. Before he could get a move on however, a woman's voice called out to them. Turning his head, he saw a dark skinned woman and a rough looking man approach from outside of the crowd.

"S-sorry, we didn't see anything until after the police arrived." Connor took a cautious step backwards as the man and woman approached. In his head he knew that they were just curious about what had happened, same as everyone else in the crowd, but the fact that it was a competitor who had been shot had him on edge. He looked towards the old man and nodded his head before continuing."But he says that he saw a competitor card on the guy who was shot. And that things would get tricky of "one of them" were involved. Whatever that means."

Connor looked around the area, noticing that most of the crowd was starting to disperse into the night. Who was that suited man, and why did it seem like the police were afraid of him? "L-look, do you think we can take this somewhere else? I really don't feel comfortable sticking around here for any longer."

Mentioned: PiePillager BakaTheIdiot obscured_light

 

[DarKnight36]

Musashi watched Min-Ji slip upstairs to the second floor, but his interest was held elsewhere for the moment. No, the rapper on stage, the one introduced as FAT CHU. Truly the gods must have forsaken this land.

Musashi moved closer. The lyrics were indecipherable, the music holding nothing of the symbolism and humility that were so calming in his first life. It made his lip curl. He was at the front of the stage now, just behind the line of guards.

Musashi's eyes locked into the rapper's for just an instant.

"An oni I must slay!" Musashi cried, leaping onto the stage with ease. "Prepare thyself, troublesome demon. I will exorcise thee!"

 

[PiePillager]

As Min-Ji descended towards the second floor, she would hear several voices speaking. They were gathered around a pool table, the smell of cigarettes permeated the air. There were several ashtrays, nearly overflowing with them. Around twelve people were gathered talking hurriedly amongst themselves.

"There's gonna be a lotta shit going down tonight," one shook his head, a large bald man. "How the hell can he be so reckless. Word is, higher-ups in the organization are starting to investigate...if they do and they find out....and then word gets back to Cassanova..."

"So, we got people who'll handle it, right?" a thin rat-like man spoke up.

"Word spreads too fast...by the time our people clean this up, top brass'll have their hounds turning the whole fuckin' town over. Shit....we might even have Cassanova himself sniffin' around at this rate. Or maybe that girl of his, not that that's any better."

"You think one of 'em will show up for real?" the rat-faced man snapped in alarm.

"Trust me..." another mafioso in sunglasses spoke, "This whole thing blows up loud enough, ain't none of us comin' out of this unscathed. Honestly, boys....now's lookin' like a good time for us to pack out bags. After I whoop Kenny and Anna next game..." he chuckled, grabbing a pool cue fro the wall.

egglover

***

"I can't hear a damn word from any of you!" Kipsang exclaimed cheerfully. "As we are all competitors, perhaps we can speak somewhere more quiet, such as a park?" Hopefully one with a liquor stand of some sort. "But please...let's take a leisurely pace. I think I pulled a muscle back at Nido watching Marissa..." he rubbed his back with a pained expression, scrunching his face.

As he did, he turned his head ever so slightly. Something behind him had caught his ear. Snippets of the conversation the two cops were having with the man in the expensive suit. "So, what's the holdup on the ambulance...?"

"Busy the last hour, thanks to Bek..." one of the officers spoke, as the crowd muffled him slightly. "-at's that guy's deal anyway?"

The man in the suit, sighed and pulled out a lighter for his cigarette. "Right...well, let's talk about things not above your paygrade, huh?" the suited man smirked. "Alright...no ambulance, no problem. He's a liability any-"

The other officer began to wave off the crowd, and began to shout for them to disperse as loud as she could, perhaps to ensure absolutely no one caught wind of anything else being said after growing uncomfortable with the amount of people still sticking around. The suited man gave a whisper to the cop and a nod to the victim and the cop he spoke to gave a small nod in return.

Kipsang sighed and try and hurry along the youngsters now traveling alongside him to somewhere a little less chaotic, eventually finding a small bench near several food trucks. It was still somewhat crowded though not as much as the heart of the red light district where all the clubs were located.

"Well, that wasn't how I expected the first night here to go," Kipsang noted. "Exciting, ain't it?" he chuckled, before pointing towards one of the food trucks. "I know you youngsters all have something to say, but would one of you be so kind as o get an old man a tequila? I feel parched after all that walking!"

Shotgunpenguin BakaTheIdiot obscured_light Jagson

***

Fat Chu raised an eyebrow as a man suddenly approached the stage in a violent fervor. Lowering the mic, he raised a hand and glanced over at his manager from behind the stage curtains. His manager shrugged and shook his head rapidly. "Hey uh, hey can I help you, man? You know the rules. No fans on stage." Fat Chu noted, almost laughing at the audacity of the moment.

DarKnight36

 

[Sir loin of beef]

"Not our business," Mergo shrugged, reaching over the counter and grabbing a bottle of tequila. One bartender was ignoring her and the other looked like he had his hands too full to come over just yet; what was she supposed to do, just die of thirst?

Oh right, she was working. Eh.

Mergo flipped around to lean against the bar, pulling the cork out of her pilfered bottle and flicking it off somewhere into the crowd. "Still, pulling a gun on someone this early? Wish they had that kinda spice in the opening. You know there's this one guy floating around with like twenty people tending him? What is he supposed to be, some kinda prince?"

"I dunno lady, but i don't like how's he's strutting about like he owns the goddamn place!" Johnny responded to Mergo "besides he's a threat to my chances of winning the prize if he is as tough as they said he was, im half tempted to have him whacked. on second thought, nah it'll draw too much attention."

 

[egglover]

Interesting. Very interesting. Min-Ji stood in the cover of darkness, the scent of cigarettes and alcohol wafting around her as she eavesdropped. The men turned to a different conversation, about not wanting to miss the tournament, but her thoughts were caught on the name Cassanova. Shit. Cass was in trouble. Maybe she would have cared a decade ago, perhaps even shot the guys right then and there, but now a different, more ugly feeling bubbled up to the surface. Hurt. Satisfaction. Surprise.

Did he have a new girl? Or had he not told them about her? It had been so long.

A voice boomed from the stairwell. Min-Ji was snapped out of her thoughts as she realized the music had gone quiet and the guard had returned to his post. Crap. He yelled at her to get down from the top and she briefly saw several heads around the pool table swing toward her direction. Time to go.

Missing a few steps on her decent to the party, the woman swiftly dodged the guards attempt to grab her and disappeared into the crowd once more. She noticed her newly acquired friend was starting to beef with a famous rapper! People were booing him to get down, throwing drinks toward Musashi which he narrowly missed. A pang of loyalty shot Min-Ji in the heart. This drunken Japanese man had helped her get in here, she couldn't exactly allow him to get arrested. With a deep sigh the crowd parted as she shuffled her way toward the stage, squinting at the bright lights that haloed Fat Chu and Musashi, and yelled out, "Hey old man! Time for ya meds!"

With a few hurried apologies she climbed onto stage and put on her sweetest smile. "Gosh, so sorry, Chu! Grandpa here gets a bit wild this time of night. I'll get him back to the hotel so he can get some rest."

DarKnight36 PiePillager

 

[DarKnight36]

"Oh?" Musashi squinted at Min-Ji. "It's been a while, Ms. Dynamite Sexy." He glanced at Fat Chu. "If you want to take her, now is the time."

PiePillager egglover

 

[druidquest]

Mergo raised an eyebrow at the short king. "Is he supposed to be tough?" she asked, tagging a swig out of the bottle. Her face pursed in on itself, and she offered it to the Japanese guy.

Come to think of it, he had been one of the last ones standing in the airport brawl. She had figured the guy was just hiding the whole time, but in retrospect the tournament kept cameras rolling on the fights the whole time. Maybe they'd broadcast his victories at some point?

...

"Are they saying anything about me?" she asked, smoothly sidestepping her conversational companion's suggestion of murder. She pointed at herself. "Mergo Brennan," she added by way of introduction.

---

Sir loin of beef Wing06

 

[Wing06]

Taku listened attentively as Mergo and Johnny talked, taking the bottle Mergo offered and drinking deeply. "Anyone here with a team is only trying to prolong their inevitable demise. Anyone who may be using others to help themselves gain rank is unworthy of such a competition." A few seconds of silence passed between the trio, the weight of Johnny's threat of murder lingering in the air. Given the recent shooting, Taku couldn't help but feel it was a joke made in poor taste. At least Taku hoped it was a joke.

"Taku Saito," He stated before taking another sip and offering the bottle back to Mergo, "Pleasure to meet you. I apologize, but my flight was delayed, so I've not actually had a chance to do much research on the current rankings. How about you?" He asked Johnny, "I do like to know the names of those I drink with. I find it enhances the experience." He said with a smile.

Sir loin of beef druidquest

 

[Sir loin of beef]

Mergo raised an eyebrow at the short king. "Is he supposed to be tough?" she asked, tagging a swig out of the bottle. Her face pursed in on itself, and she offered it to the Japanese guy.

Come to think of it, he had been one of the last ones standing in the airport brawl. She had figured the guy was just hiding the whole time, but in retrospect the tournament kept cameras rolling on the fights the whole time. Maybe they'd broadcast his victories at some point?

...

"Are they saying anything about me?" she asked, smoothly sidestepping her conversational companion's suggestion of murder. She pointed at herself. "Mergo Brennan," she added by way of introduction.

---

Sir loin of beef Wing06

"You can call me Johnny but my paisano's call me, the tiger shark. Ive heard some things about you, though i am currently unaware of anything being said about you miss Brennan." Johnny said to the woman who was named Mergo. "The same can be said of the other gentleman next to you. What are they saying about me exactly?"

 

[PiePillager]

Chu did a double take between the woman suddenly coming onto the stage, acknowledging the man who challenged him as her 'grandfather' and that same man suddenly labeling her. "Ms. Dynamite Sexy." Chu raised his other eyebrow and shook his head, "'Ey look shortie, I don't know what the deal is with you and uh...'grampa' over there, but you let him know not to fuck with Chu!" Fat Chu stated, flashing his GG Card.

It seemed that the world-famous rapper was also a competitor in the Great Ganbatte!

DarKnight36 egglover

***
"Bek! Bek! Bek! Bek!" a crowd of voices chanted outside the venue Mergo, Taku, and Johnny were currently seated in. At first, they seemed distant but with every passing second, the voices grew louder. "BEK! BEK! BEK! BEK!"

If one were to look out of the window, they'd see Bek's entourage clapping and celebrating as the man himself danced to the beat of their claps in victory. Indeed, if one were to look at the rankings, Bek would rank number 5 currently. He seemed proud to be doing so well for himself.

Wing06 druidquest Sir loin of beef

 

[egglover]

"O-oh!!" Min-Ji said in surprise.

The crowd was invested now. A wave of loud oooo's passed through the many people watching on. Then it began.

"Fight!" someone shouted. Others joined in the chorus.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

"Beat their asses, Chu!"

"Fight, ya pussies!"

From the stairwell the gang members that had gathered around the pool table were beginning to descend. The guard was pointing toward the stage directly at Min-Ji. Panicked, Min-Ji yanked on Musashi's arm violently, almost begging him to leave, "Listen, you old shit, if you don't come with me now I'm gonna just leave you here. See those motherfuckers over there? They're after me and I cant afford to get in a fight so early on, ya hear?" she saw the gangsters weave through the crowd toward them, "C'mon man, I owe you one and I don't wanna see your ass beat on the first night!"

DarKnight36 PiePillager

 

[BakaTheIdiot]

Jesus, did they really start that young? The kid with the old man, just by his voice, couldn't have been older than 20. Tops. Maximum. Practically fresh out of grade school and already looking to get the piss beat out of him by the nasties at the Great Ganbatte. Poor kid, Donavan could relate: he too started that young. Maybe he shouldn't have. Either way, seemed the little crowd he had found his way into didn't have much of an idea as to who the guy was.

Except for one small detail.

"But he says that he saw a competitor card on the guy who was shot. And that things would get tricky of "one of them" were involved. Whatever that means."

The guy was Ganbatte. Definitely not a good look. That helped explain all the fuss. These Mafia fools were loaded, so he thought, so why - scratch that, how - did some nobody slip in and pop a fighter? Even if the poor shmuck wasn't dead, it's an insanely risky venture. Gutsy, he had to admit - but definitely stupid.

The kid had started protesting, clearly shaking from the nerves. The old man wanted a drink - he already reeked of alcohol, how much of a tolerance did this guy have? - and the police were coming to shoo them away. All signs pointed to a tactical retreat. Couldn't be that bad, anyway: the night was still young, mostly, and he didn't exactly have any outside reservations waiting to be met. A little drink couldn't hurt, right?

"What's the matter, Kid? Scared?" Donavan chuckled, giving the youngster a little shove for emphasis. "Just fuckin' with you man. With the cops crawling all over this joint probably best not to stick around. After all if the guy's Ganbatte, you better believe the Mob's gonna be all over this 'fore long. Wouldn't wanna wind up a suspect, would ya?" He let out a hearty laugh, marking the end of his sarcasm.

Meanwhile, another bar, not too far from here, seemed to suffer from a growing commotion. There was that "Beck" guy again, an army of groupies trailing after him spilling outside the door. All this shooting and murder - OK, not murder - stuff was a real drag, and frankly none of Donnie's business. He had virtually unlimited money for the next little while, and it was time to start having fun.

Besides, a replay of his airport brawl was flashing on a nearby TV, and he wanted to get as far away from that as possible.

"That Beck whatshisface is supposedly top of the board. Or at the very least close to it." Donavan pointed over at the chanting group, as the last few slipped inside. "Personally, when I see somebody with that much clout... Silently pray somebody gives what's coming to him. Or somebody ruins that hair. Both would work."

And with that, he started off, turning to face his little assembly of fighters.

"Kid, Grampa, Rivera, this mafia money ain't gonna spend itself. Let's go have some fun, maybe start some fights, and try not to get kicked out." He let out a cackling grin. "I wanna see this guy's moves!"

obscured_light PiePillager Shotgunpenguin

 

[obscured_light]

"Wait, wait, wait," Rivera protested, hands up, skepticism out. "By 'this guy's moves', who are you referring to? Cuz if it's Bek, I'm out. I'm not a coward so don't start that shit but I'm also not stupid."

Rivera hadn't seen Bek personally fight. There were rumors since his fights were always off screen that usually went two ways. Either he was a cheater, which is why he never showed his fights, or they were just so unimaginably gruesome that it was for the public's own good they don't see. Rivera didn't like either option.

Just like she didn't like the fact that a competitor was dead through bullets. Bek's presence and the snatches of conversation she had overheard from the cops also didn't help. It leaned her over to the cheating train of thought concerning the rumors but coincidences were possible. She just wasn't a fan of them.

"A drink and a fight do sound good though," she added with some thought,

 

[Shotgunpenguin]

Connor sat on the bench with his hands stuffed into his jacket pockets as the group discussed what to do now. He honestly didn't know what to make of what was happening, or of who these apparent competitors were.

The old man seemed nice enough, although Connor wasn't sure if him claiming to be a competitor was true or not. If he was, he obviously didn't worry too much about how much he was drinking. The man smelled like he had bathed in a barrel of liquor, woke up, and then did his laundry in the same barrel. Still, he apparently knew more about the tournament that Connor did, and that was something that he desperately needed right now.

Which brought him to the other man, younger by a considerable amount, but seemingly just as knowledgeable. He came off as a bit aggressive from their first interaction, and envious of a competitor named Beck. Connor remembered the name from earlier in the night, back when he was watching tv back in his room. He was apparently a top contender and a fan favorite to take the crown, but beyond that little information was actually provided.

Finally was the woman, who seemed to at least be as lost as he was regarding the competition and it's supposed connection to a mob of some sort. She shared his hesitance to try and take on Beck, although she was more than up for a brawl if the opportunity arose according to her.

"I haven't heard much about Beck, other than that he's one of the top five in the competition. I don't like my chances if I'm being brutally honest." Last time he checked, Connor was ranking around the mid hundreds, although that may have changed since the afternoon. To try and take on one of the favorites this early would be suicide, even if he wasn't in a bad condition.

He couldn't hide how his face blanched at the mention of more drinks. Connor held a hand over his mouth to try and stifle the wave of nausea. Tonight had completely ruined drinking for him, but if everyone else wanted to drink they could help themselves. But if he tried to drink anything alcoholic he would probably lose it all over the floor and himself. No, no more liquor for me. Way too much tonight. Be right back."

Connor stood and approached one of the food trucks where a gruff and honestly scary looking man eyed him up. The truck had a few different options, thankfully both in Spanish and English, although a few he was unfamiliar with. Sliding his card onto the counter top he spoke "H-hello, can I get an order of nachos and a ginger-ale? And three tequilas for my f-"He caught himself at the last second, not feeling comfortable to call them his friends after what happened last time. "Three tequilas. Please"

After a short while he returned from the food truck, balancing the cardboard container of drinks in one hand while holding his steaming order of nachos in the other. Sitting down, he passed three of the cups filled with tequila to the others and rested his own cup on the bench.

"Maybe we should try and not cause any trouble. I'm still kind of shaken up after what happened." He wanted to approach the group about what they said before, about how a mob was somehow caught up in the tournament, but he couldn't muster the courage to ask. Instead, he opted to introduce himself.

"I'm Connor, by the way. Connor Davis. Nice to meet you all I guess."

Mentioned: PiePillager BakaTheIdiot obscured_light