12360/Recruiting

Recruiting
Date of Scene:	09 August 2022
Location:	Adive bar in a bad part of New York
Synopsis:	Cheshire sets up a recruitment 'interview' and meets Lobo instead.
Cast of Characters:	Jade Nguyen, Lobo

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Jade Nguyen has posed:
Word was leaked to sources in the know that a high-paying contract killer was recruiting for a job. Something big. The meeting place was a rough bar just outside New York City; the sort of place that only served bikers.

Word was leaked to not one source but a few of them. And in this case two of the groups beginning to collect outside represented rival gangs.

Inside, the regular help called off tonight, leaving a new girl to cover the tables. Asian, she's wearing well-worn jeans and a flannel shirt with the tails tied up halter-style.

Lobo has posed:
    Lobo definitely stuck out like a sore thumb. Even among the bikers. Which is saying something in a world where the abnormal is normal.

    It could be respect, it could be fear, it could be that he is the picture perfect representation of 90's era biker thug that liked heavy metal music. Being 7' tall and having blood red eyes probably adds to the genuine terror of being in his proximity.

    From the first day he set foot in this dive, he was given a wide berth by the bikers. He had a special table reserved for him, back in a dark dank corner. The bar staff and management "knew" Lobo. Knew his type. The type you don't want to have a bad time. So he was given his run of the place. He was provided all the booze he could want (before he even had to ask for it). And, surprising enough, he paid. Most of the time. And when he didn't pay, no matter how rare it was, questions were asked.

    That said, he had been frequenting this bar often enough to recognize the change in staff. Attractive asian girl. Didn't matter to him as long as the drinks kept coming and were strong enough to at least taste passable. But, being as old as he is, and having wisdom enough from his dubious background and profession, he could tell almost instantly that something was off about this new girl. He couldn't put a finger on it.

    Or he just didn't care.

    The massive Czarnian was seated at his usual spot, on an obviously reinforced wooden chair that, despite the steel bolts and bracing, creaked every time he made a move.

    He also didn't have any glasses to speak of... no. He had pitchers. Literal pitchers of stout. And he looked to be 7 pitchers deep already.

    His deep, gravelly voice speaks out, and a natural quiet comes down over the room as everyone present generally knew to keep quiet when he was talking.

    "Hey, new girl! I'm runnin' low over here!"

Jade Nguyen has posed:
Jade Nguyen actually doesn't make a bad waitress. The secret is to keep moving, of course, and to dodge the slaps and pawing. She's also smart enough to realize that the big guy with his own table in the corner could be just what she's really here looking for.

No, the verbal advertisement didn't specifically -mention- Cheshire, but all the signs were there between the lines. And Cheshire paid well, when she recruited help.

Perhaps she's a little -too- good... too good for this place, at any rate.

"Coming, big guy!" she calls back, making a detour from some of the new arrivals towards the bar, where another two pitchers are waiting. One in each hand, she weaves her way between tables and doesn't quite manage to sidestep a swat on the ass.

Lobo's pitchers are deposited a little heavily onto his table and the door opens again. Guys in rival gang colors start filtering in. The waitress slows a little, taking in the signs. Neither gang has reached double-digits yet, but it's still early.

Lobo has posed:
    As his empty pitchers are taken and replaced with fresh new ones, he can't help but give a solid grin, showcasing perfect white teeth that seem like they would be out of place on a big thug like himself.

    "Thanks, toots. You'll last a long time here." He cuts her a big, stupid grin, his pupil-free eyes no doubt casting slow glances over her form as she walks away.

    He definitely heard the advertisement for recruiting it. That wasn't what he was here for, unfortunately. Although, being the business-savvy entrepeneur of a bounty hunter that he was, he would obviously hear any serious offer. And he might even accept it, depending on the pay and the nature of the work. He was a bounty hunter after all, not just a common merc.

    So as the bikers start to come in in droves, he pays little heed to them. If they get to close, he only has to set his pitcher down loudly enough for them to get the hint.

    Eyes still on Cheshire, he creaks his seat as he leans back and reclines. A cigar is pull out and lit, and with a pitcher of stout in one hand and the cigar either in his hand or hanging between his lips, the Czarnian sits back and just watches.

Jade Nguyen has posed:
Jade Nguyen isn't moving so quickly that she doesn't pause long enough to flash a grin in return. And not just -any- grin... it's her 'professional' smile. Then the girl is off again, in a whirl of denim and black-and-green flannel.

The bar keeps filling up, tables with blue gang colors interspersed between tables with red gang colors. Cat-calls are traded, language turning steadily uglier as tempers heat up. Where was this contact, anyway? Weren't they supposed to be there by now? Beer flows and a little time passes.

Then it happens.

After being smacked on the rump all evening, one catches the waitress -just right- in passing. She stumbles. After moving with the grace of a dancer all evening, she stumbles. And to make matters worse she is carrying a tray full of open bottles. Up it goes, then down again with a crash. The guy who swatted her ass is wearing red, and the beer lands on a table full of guys wearing blue.

The last maneuver happens too quickly for almost anyone to realize. As the beer falls and the waitress goes down, her foot -catches- an open bottle and propels it towards another table of guys in red. It's quick and discreet. Easy to miss if one isn't a professional.

Gangers stand, one table at a time, and the shouting escalates quickly. Yes, there's going to be a fight.

Lobo has posed:
    He saw the smack on her ass. He wasn't the chivalrous type by any means, so it didn't bother him. All that beer going up and onto the bikers caused a bit of a frown, but... he had plenty of it in front of him.

    And while in some pretenses he was definitely a "professional", he was nowhere near the capacity to catch that subtle move of hers to kick the bottle towards the opposite gang, drenching one of them as well.

    Their reactions caused him a grin, though. The groups begin to literally lunge for one another. An old fashioned knock-out drag out brawl. And, given the nature of the gangs involved... it could prove deadly. For some of them at least. And maybe the waitress, unless she stands close to him or ducks for cover somewhere.

    Lobo simply grabs a pitcher and chugs it down, taking another big drag off his thick cigar as he does so. Simply watching.

    A couple of the brawlers come close to his corner. A thick cloud of smoke blown from his face has them quickly directing their fight in another direction.... course, since the fight was still early, a couple of them still had the sense to keep clear of him. For now.

Jade Nguyen has posed:
Fists and bottles fly, not to mention a chair here and there. So far, at least, things haven't escalated to knives or worse. But it's still early.

The waitress is nowhere to be seen in the melee. Probably on the floor somewhere. A few minutes go by and the fight seems to be pretty evenly matched.

Then -somewhere- near Lobo's left elbow the waitress rises again, brushing herself off. "You good over there? Ready for another?" she asks, casually.

Lobo has posed:
    The waitress appearing next to him nearly startles him into dropping his cigar, but he manages. Flashing her a cool grin, he gives a slight nod. He still had 5 full pitchers in front of him.

    He reaches for one of those pitchers, bringing it to his lips and taking a huge chug that empties a third of its contents. Another drag from the cigar.

    He turns his head to speak to her. He sets the pitcher down, still keeping it in hand.

    "You come here of-..."

    Just as he speaks, there is a loud crash. A chair had been either knocked over really hard, or downright tossed, which causes it to careen over into his corner.

    Onto his table. Smashing all those pitchers and sending that swill all over. All over him. All over her, provided she doesn't move out of the way... and killing his cigar.

    The grin dies off. He takes the damp cigar, its ember having killed off and giving its final vapors.

    He sighs, and slowly stands.

    And in a second, at unnatural blinding speed, he is no longer in the corner, and now standing a good 15 feet away.

    "Wha- what?! NO! I DIDN'T-"

    The random red-shirt biker finds himself at the center of Lobo's wrath. It was a quick thing. Very scary. Lobo didn't even bother to stand there menacingly for very long.

    With a single hand, he punches through the man's gut. Literally through it. Massive light-grey fingers have disappeared into his torso in a literally gutwrenching sound. They haven't come out the other side, either, having wrapped tightly around the man's lower spine.

    The biker, screaming in pain and for mercy at the same time, is lifted up off the floor. Lobo simply stares menacingly at the man for a moment, that dastardly grin returning to his features.

    "Nobody fucks with the Main Man. More importantly, nobody disturbs his drink."

    And with that, Lobo is moving again. Only this time he is swinging that man -violently- around. And his swings weren't at random. No. He was using that man's entier body as a handheld weapon. He swings it to the left, clashing against a blue-shirt and sending him flying painfully backwards against the wall, likely into unconsciousness. He then swings him to the right like a makeshift club, catching a red-shirt and another blue-shirt in the middle of a grapple, sending bothing of them tumbling violently to the floor, knocking over tables and other fixtures... hard enough for one of them to break his neck on the edge of a table on the way down, and the other one just crumples lifelessly on the floor.

    And the man-weapon he was wielding? Yeah. He was gone too at this point.

Jade Nguyen has posed:
The waitress gets doused with the same beer deluge that soaks Lobo... and kills his cigar. She blinks, and then the unnaturally big biker is just... gone.

The woman shakes the beer from her hands, looking around for a pitcher. She hears the scream from across the bar and her gaze shifts.

Oh there he is. The woman doesn't scream or become hysterical as Lobo just casually murders the gangers in his way, swinging one corpse as a club. She whistles shrilly, getting the bartender's attention. Holding up an empty pitcher in one hand, she raises two fingers.

Things are flying everywhere around the bar by now. A tilt of the head, a shift of her stance, and the bottle what was sailing towards her head misses cleanly.

Lobo has posed:
    If Lobo -really- wanted it, everyone in here would be dead or maimed by now. Of course, noone in here knows that but him.

    For now, he was just ever so mildly annoyed. And that caused for a bit of a ruckus. Three were dead already, and only a handful of the bikers seem to have noticed this over thrashing each other.

    The corpse-club adorning his hand is unceremoniously dumped. That is, it gets tossed... and a toss in this instance is the equivalent of turning that corpse-club into a corpse-rocket. He tosses it with enough velocity that when it hits a nearby group of five... it just obliterates itself with the force. Killing two more quite grotesquely and sending the others flying... into walls and tables, grossly injuring themselves.

    And now there was blood all over the floor and walls in an amount that could rival the amount of spilled beer.

    It was then that EVERYONE in the room had taken notice of what happened. Lobo just stands there, his outstretched throwing arm lowering to his side as the blood just drips off it.

    The fighting seems to have come to a complete stop. And people start to literally RUN for their lives. This little gang fight? Yeah, it was done. Nobody wanted to get pasted like some of the bikers already have.

    As two are passing by him, making for the door, they are both grabbed. A red shirt and a blue shirt.

    "Oh, nuh-uh. You dweebs ain't leavin' JUST yet."

    hey both look like their souls had already left their body. One actually pisses his pants, wetting them with thoroughly.

    Lobo releases the petrified bikers, and begins to idly wipe his hand clean on their shirt, using them as an impromptu napkin to wipe clean the blood of one of his fallen comrades off Lobo's hand.

    "Clean this place up." He makes a thumbjerk motion towards the mess. Broken chairs. Bodies. And all the blood.

    He turns to head back towards his table, and the now thoroughly drenched Cheshire, speaking in that deep gravelly voice as he does so.

    "And make it snappy. As much as I enjoy the sight of blood and broken furniture... it's killing my vibe right now."

    With a heavy creak, he sits back down on his chair, looking back to Cheshire.

    "Now, Toots. As I was sayin'..." He reaches into his pocket to pull out and light another cigar.

    "You come here often?"

Jade Nguyen has posed:
Jade Nguyen watches the big guy move... she knows a trained killer when she sees one, and this guy is completely in another league.

The bartender has one pitcher filled and is working on the second. Jade brings the first as a peace offering, snatching a bottle as well.

The beer-soaked woman sets the pitcher down, stepping up onto a chair before perching her rump on the back. Gazing at Lobo, she grins and takes a swig of the bottle.

"Actually, I just quit."