Confronting Your Demons (Vale)

[Adrian]

Adrian had been out on the town this night, not necessarily for any reason other than face time. As rich as well-connected as he was, he knew that his father's connections could only take him so far, and he needed to begin operating on his own, especially in light of his joining of the Reapers. The more connections he had available to his fellow members, the higher chance of him advancing would be. And for Adrian, he wouldn't be a part of any organization if he couldn't be at the top of it.

And so, here he was, he had been moving from club to club, talking to the people there that looked important, flashing his ID whenever it was needed (he didn't need a fake one, all he needed, usually, was for someone to see his last name), and trying to get information about who in town could supply him with the things he might want or need, as long as the money was good. He wasn't necessarily dealing in real underground shit, like drugs, guns, or women. Mostly the boy was just looking for information. His father was a leader in telecommunications and networkking, and thus, Adrian knew just has valuable information was.

It was starting to get pretty late, and Adrian's car was parked in a garage across the Avenues. He groaned, considering taking a taxi, but preferring not to have to deal with the smell of cab drivers. And so he decided to walk.

[Valekin]

"Been prodding around a bit huh, flashing your name?"

Valekin was one of those people that was connected in a very superior way. He had people, his people had people. All these people told him things. What did he own? Clubs, specifically. Clubs and bars. When a kid comes around prodding, looking for information on anything, even if it isn't underground stuff, throwing some cash around, he's asking for a run in with some Black Hand, or Shadow Knights.

That's how corrupt cops are dealt with.

Valekin tended to handle the kids himself, he was much scarier to a fifteen year old or something, than a cop. A cop's seen all kinds of shit, a cop isn't sensitive anymore. A kid may or may not be sensitive.

Valekin's a scary son of a bitch.

He said it as the young man passed him by on the street. It was enough to make anyone stop. Talking to someone like they're familiar works, try it. The grinning maniac was leaning on the wall of a building made of bricks. His body was covered by a long trench coat with a high collar. He was wearing a fedora. Long black hair tucked into the coat. The monster's hands were stuffed in the pockets.

"Hmmm?"

[Adrian]

The words would cut into the night sky, causing Adrian to stop suddenly. His eyes scanned in front of him for the source of the voice, finding a man leaning against the wall, strangely well-dressed, but emanating a certain violence that even made Adrian feel ill at ease. Whether or not he would show this unease, however, was a vastly different story.

Adrian began walking again, intent on ignoring him. However, when the man spoke out a bit more, as if insistent on an answer, Adrian, who was much closer to him by this point, suddenly stopped and turned, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

"Just who the fuck are you, hmmm?" His 'hmm' would be a direct reply to Valekin's own, somewhat mocking it, but mostly just showing the usual bravado and standoffish-ness that the youngest Hanlon was known for.

[Valekin]

Valekin cocked a brow at the kid as he came back and got in his face. Did this boy want to die? Probably not, he was probably just a jackass. In that case, Valekin would most assuredly punch his lights out. Just for being an ass. The maniac cracked a wicked looking smile, and gleefully chuckled. Then with much swiftness, he cocked his right arm back and would strike forth with it's fist to punch Adrian in the face.

Nothing's a bigger insult to a rich boy than to fuck up their face, and humiliate them in other ways.

Noting that Valekin was the type of information Adrian was looking for, it could be interpreted that when Valekin threw that first punch, that Adrian's mission for information was successful. He found the one person in town that was connected by quite a lot. It just happened that that person was completely nuts.

[Adrian]

Adrian wouldn't expect the punch, and therefore would be powerless to stop it. The attack flashed out extremely quickly, snapping into the boy's face. He managed to lower his head just enough that the punch caught him between the eyes rather than straight on, which, judging from the pain received by the blow, would have surely broken his nose.

Adrian backed up, holding his face for a moment before removing his face and glaring at the man.

"Pretty sure that's not an answer to my question, asshole," Adrian said, fighting back the tears that came as a result of getting punched. "And I can assure you, try that one more time and I'll stuff you into one of these dumpsters faster than you can blink."

[Valekin]

"Oh?"

Valekin said as he took a few steps forward, drawing back that fist again, and then slamming it forth right at Adrian's face again. He wanted to test Adrian's capability of shoving him into a dumpster. Perhaps Valekin himself would shove Adrian in a dumpster, just for shits and giggles. The maniac was like that, he tended to turn other people's promises around on them, then correct their grammar.

Not... I'll cutchu nigga'.

But He cut me nigga's!

You get the idea.

It is useless to say that Adrian probably felt the sheer amount of violence that Valekin radiated, especially when he was in the sort of mood that made him attack first, and ask questions if the victim is still alive later. Why, oh why was Adrian out looking for people, or connections? The boy had talked to quite a few of Valekin's own people. It was a curious situation. Maybe he'd be kidnapping someone else tonight.

[Adrian]

This time, however, Adrian was ready. When Vale drew the fist back, Adrian's arms went into a defensive boxing position, and as he punched, he would take the fist on the left arm, knocking it to the outside of his body with a slight movement.

"Yeah," he said once more, accentuating his point that Vale had contested in his previous post. And with that, Adrian would take the fight to the strange man before him. Since they were in punching range of each other, Adrian would shoot his left fist out in as quick a jab as he could muster, popping his fist out to give Vale a little wake-up before he could retract his formerly punching right hand. Once again, Adrian was throwing himself into something he had no idea of, but, unlike all the prior times, Adrian felt he was a little more prepared, mentally.

[Valekin]

"Really?"

Valekin said as his body moved to the side as quickly as a bolt of lightning. Alright, not that quickly, but quickly enough. He dodged the first, but not only did he dodge the fist, but his other hand came up to catch it. If it would catch it, which was the most likely outcome, then Valekin would proceed to hang onto that fist by digging his claws into the thing (which would cause the boy to bleed). With that he would pull it by thrusting his arm out horizontally, bringing Adrian closer.

Subsequently, he'd be kneeing Adrian in the balls (or a similar area) at the same time if this movement was executed completely. Valekin was a fast mother fucker, but not as fast as he used to be. That however did not stop him from being faster than most of the kids around town.

The arm he used to attack previously would, either way, come back with the claws up and open. So a good slugging didn't take the kid out in one hit. But he was fairly certain that a well placed slash would do serious damage. Enough to make the kid wonder why he even got in the crazy person's face to begin with.

[Adrian]

Valekin dodged incredibly quickly, showing the same amount of speed and dexterity that nearly everyone else in the world other than Adrian seemed to have. As he did, of course, his hand came out towards Adrian's punching hand, once again, just as everyone else Adrian had ever tried to jab at in recent events did as well. The repetition was almost overwhelming, and Adrian would be damned if he hadn't figured it out by now.

Despite this, he didn't have the personal speed to retract his punch faster than the hand would reach out. However, he had figured out a more doable alternative for himself. As the hand attempted to close around Adrian's wrist, Adrian would twist his hand and pull back. The sudden twist would likely surprise the usual fighter, who wasn't used a slightly more unorthodox move, and cause his grip to be split by the movement. This would give Adrian enough time to pull his hand back; however, the sides of his fist would catch something sharp, and when his fist snapped back to its defensive position, Adrian would notice tiny nicks in his leather gloves that hadn't been there before.

What the hell? This kid's got some hellacious fingernails.

Adrian regarded the boy, his eyes moving to the hand. Open as it was, Adrian didn't need to be a genius to figure out what he was planning on doing.

Better make plans to buy some new clothes soon.

With Valekin's right hand open and ready to slash, Adrian decided to throw another punch. This one, a left-handed attack, came in towards the boy's arm. His target? The forearm. If the nutcase was going to hold his arm out like that, Adrian was going to take it way from him, one way or another.

[Valekin]

As the other punch came in, Valekin's body turned, avoiding the punch, and simultaneously sending a kick right at Adrian's stomach. A stomach crusher if you will. It was true that the man was damnably fast, it made you want to blink a few times and shake your head to check if you really saw him move as fast as you think he did. But he does move that quickly. And with speed comes a kind of force that is akin to pure strength and not.

It was a simple retaliation to the boy. It seemed that Adrian was a competent fighter. But Valekin wanted to test how competent he was in reality. Did he just seem that way because he threw his fists around and knew when to retreat, or did he have some brains? Valekin was all about testing his foes.

[Adrian]

The kick came in, faster than the devil, taking Adrian hard in the stomach. Adrian stepped back, crumpling to his knees from the force of the blow. Before he fell, however, Adrian took a few steps back and a few to the right, holding out with what little breath he had left until he fell.

He landed hard on his knees, the open end of the alleyway to his back, and the lunatic before him. His eyes, still having not lost their fire, glared back up at the man with defiance. As he stood back up, Adrian made sure to do so as he stepped backwards, putting more distance between the two fighters. If Adrian wanted to win this, he was going to have to outlast his enemy.

[Valekin]

"You going to stop sticking your nose where it doesn't belong? Or am I going to have to gut you?"

Valekin said as he approached the youngster whom he had kicked. He licked his claws and smiled. The other hand was on the wall as he walked, the claws cutting into the brick, the mortar, the stone. A terrible noise was coming from it. The cuts weren't deep, just short grooves. He wasn't putting much muscle into it. It wasn't anything you couldn't do with a regular knife. But that just said that those things were sharp as hell for claws.

"Maybe I'll remove your vocal cords."

The maniac said, coming closer. The young man started the fist fight by getting in a crazy person's face. You don't do that without being aware that you're going to bear all the consequences. It was entirely up to Valekin whether or not he was going to let the young man go or not. Or get off easy. But then there was the boy's own mind to consider. Would he give up and stop poking around? Or would he continue to pry?

"You found who you were looking for already boy. The man with the power? It's me."

[Adrian]

Adrian looked on with undisguised hatred as the man came forth, issuing threats and promises of imminent danger. Adrian, however, hadn't yet found the man to be as big a threat as he seemed to believe he was. He was trouble, for sure, but the way he was acting, Adrian figured the guy suffered from delusions of grandeur.

"I'm not looking for anything a freak like you'd give," Adrian said, while inching backwards on his knees. Was he afraid? Somewhat, yes, but he wasn't going to outwardly show it. "I'm a businessman, not some slum-lord hood rat. This back-alley shit doesn't do anything for me."

Adrian rose back up to his full height, taking a step or two back to do so and get his full balance. He was preparing to bolt if need be, but, despite himself, something about this man interested him. If his words were true, he'd be a powerful ally.

"I don't know what kind of power you hold, but the only thing I'm looking for is corporate information. Power players in various fields of industry. What they do, why they do it, how they do it better than the others. Knowledge is the only true power in the world, you know."

Adrian let his words fall silent, regarding the man and his strange claws. His eyes narrowed somewhat, and his brow furrowed. He wouldn't spend any more time with this freak than he had to, that was for sure. Even so, he wouldn't leave until he found the answers to at least some of his questions.

[Valekin]

"Lets see, how do I know you. Well... you're one of the kids at that school, 42. If I remember correctly your name is Hanlon, Alan, or Adrian, something like that. Been a while since I've seen the file."

Yes, Valekin's people had files (stolen files) on all the students at 42. He liked to be well informed when it came down to his potential targets. In fact he had information on students of dozens of schools, and information on people that don't go to school at all, but should. Gang violence was what he had a problem with, and this kid right here was poking his nose around in his clubs and his other pieces of property.

"Those were my clubs you were poking around. By the way."

Valekin said as he moved closer to the boy. It was kind of funny, the kid was acting high and mighty, spewing off his philosophy of power. Sure, knowledge was power, but so was skill, and strength. Valekin knew things, that was for sure. But he was also very skilled, and very strong in his own right.

[Adrian]

"You should have said so earlier," Adrian said, tilting his head and daring a smirk. "I would have complimented you on the decor."

Adrian wasn't sure if the man was trying to use his knowledge of the boy's name in a threatening manner or not. After all, Adrian's family was filthy stinking rich, and in the media spotlight more often than people of such inconsequence needed to be. Knowing who this boy was on sight was not so difficult a task, file or no.

"And so you have me at a disadvantage, my tattooed friend," Adrian said, holding his arms out to either side. "You know my name, and I suspect a great deal more, and yet I know nothing of you. Care to even the playing field, so to speak?"