Elario, Lykaios & the Painted Lady(Live the Creed)

[Lykaios]

The boys were feeling quite up to a good outing into the city for a good time doing what they loved to do: freerun. They'd not had the spare moment for quite some time, so they had organised a full day of it, so they could get back into the swing of things. It was a Saturday, and there was a high number of people in town, but that wasn't going to stop the two from having their fun. Lear was waiting for his buddy, Kayle at the train station where they'd chosen to meet up. It was a fairly decent day, with some grey cloud looming overhead, but not an immediate threat to their plans. He was wearing black runners with black laces (as normal, tucked into the shoe, so he won't trip), mottled black and dark grey pants (loose enough fitting for ease of movement), a black tank top and a plain black hoodie with three-quarter length sleeves, and black fingerless gloves.

He had been waiting for about five minutes when Kayle's train rolled into the station, and he watched him walk off the train. Lear smiled inwardly as he saw what his partner was wearing: his own rendition of Il Assassini modern day Assassin robe. They'd both naturally assumed the rhythm of their assassinish clothing when going freerunning, and picking each other out of a crowd was simple enough. He had his sunglasses on the top of his head and slid them down to his eyes. He pulled on his hood, smoothing his hair beneath it and waited for Kayle to get closer.

"Knight!" he called, raising his hand in greeting.

[Elario Luminus]

Kayle gave his short saluted greeting as he walked over to his friend from the train, glad to finally be free of the pure boredom that was a train ride. When he reached Lear, Kayle winked and grinned as he slid his hood off. "Hey man, how's it goin'? Before we start, wanna catch some food? I haven't eaten since last night, and that wasn't probably the best thing for me late at night."
As he talked, Kayle had begun walking towards the escalator that took him up out of the Perth Underground, and was now walking out of the station after slipping past the guard, using someone else as an unwitting distraction.
"I've always hated paying for the train nowadays. It's so damn expensive..."

[Lykaios]

"Haha, yeah I know what you mean. I had some two-minute noodles at I dunno...one am? Oh, I woke feelin' like crap, hey. Living alone is so worth it, though." he chuckled, swiping his card and doing his best to look inconspicuous. He glanced at Kayle as they moved ahead, and when they reached the escalator's, he gave a fiendish grin and whipped up the smartrider. His expression said it all.

"I uh...retrieved this card from some unwitting douchebag who was too busy trying to bludgeon some sucker at Greenwood station. I stepped in, nearly took a hit, but his buddy made him think twice. When he wasn't paying attention as they walked off, I grabbed it. Free ride? Hell yeah." he smirked as they got upstairs.

"Where do you wanna eat? Maccas or Hungry Jack's?"

[Elario Luminus]

Kayle laughed at the story, feeling almost sorry for the bad guy. He shrugged at Lear's question, though, and simply made his way towards the nearest McDonalds. On the way he could have sworn he'd seen a group of guys in suits watching them from across the busy road, but it must've been his imagination, because when he looked again, they were all talking with one another animatedly. Kayle raised an eyebrow at that, and made sure to try and find a seat where he could see them at all times. He was looking for a logo, or symbol, anything that made them normal, but he quickly shoved it back into his mind when the smell of food wafted out to him.
"I've been so desperate for food!"

[Lykaios]

As they'd walked, talking about random stuff, as they usually did, he briefly noticed Kayle glancing at a group of guys repeatedly. Following his partner's gaze, Lear too noticed the group. Clustered across the street was approximately five guys; four of which were wearing business suits and for all intents and purposes looking like they belonged in the city during the regular working week. The fifth however, was wearing semi-casual clothes; buttoned t-shirt and dress jeans. The group seemed a little too normal for him and Kayle to be drawing their attention, but unfortunately; he recognised they were wearing pretty punkish clothing, looking ready to rob a bank or something. He shrugged it off, as he and Kayle placed their orders.

Picking out a place to sit, Kayle kept an eye on the group as they ate and caught up on old times. In other words; the things of interest over the previous fortnight. Not really much to talk about besides, they ate fairly comfortably, though, he was unnerved by the fact that the group hadn't moved on. He tried to ignore them.

"So, Played Darksiders II yet?"

[Elario Luminus]

Kayle shook his head after taking a bite of his burger, chewing and swallowing it.
"Nah, not yet. As much as I love the game, I'm not as big a fan as you are. I'll either get it myself when the price comes down, or just borrow it from someone."
He drained the last of his strawberry shake and dropped the empty cup into the bag his food came in. Standing up, he grabbed the bag of rubbish and put it in the bin. Brushing the crumbs and salt from his hoodie, he glanced out at the men across the road to see them still there, talking to each other, but they all kept looking over at the two companions.

Sighing, Kayle returned to the table and toyed with his phone while he waited for both Lear to finish eating, and for the group to do something interesting.
"By the way, I've been working on some modifications for those homemade hidden blades of ours. One of the mods should allow us to sheath it using the same system as we do to open it. The second mod is a prototype of the hidden pistol. Cool, huh?"

[Lykaios]

Frowning, as his comrade denied to playing Darksiders II, Lear sighed and shrugged, as there was no real way to force it on him. He knew Kayle wasn't as intent on it as he himself was, and that was just how things were between them. They were ready to leave, depositing their rubbish into the nearest rubbish bin, they moved to leave, but not soon enough for Lear to alleviate a tremendous belch just at the doorway. Looking somewhat embarassed, Lear replaced his sunglasses and raised his hood, attempting to look innocent of the act. As they made their exit, Lear breathed a sigh of relief, and wandered into the street.

"That is cool." he agreed as Kayle mentioned the hidden blade upgrades, "But what are we gonna do with hidden pistols? Resheathing them will be easier, though." he nodded, agreeing. Realisation struck him all at once.
"Oh, dude! You know what I wanted to tell you?! I passed my grading. I'm next belt up, now!" he slapped his forehead, wondering how he'd forgotten to share something so important to him, with his best friend. Since moving back to Perth, Lear had been taking classes at the nearest Ninjukai Taijutsu dojo to where he lived. He'd constantly made note of being the 'Ninja God' to his friends, but now he was actually heading in that direction, when he wasn't at work or with friends.

They started walking, not really following a general direction, as was their norm. But, not long after leaving, did Lear feel ill at ease. He glanced at Kayle, clearly sharing his discomfort, and looked behind them.

"Dude, am I crazy? Or are they actually following us?"

[Elario Luminus]

Kayle nodded to Lear, but shook his head discreetly to indicate a "stay casual" persona.
"Hey, guess what? I just recently ordered the Desmond hoodie and the Assassins black cap from the UbiWorkshop. Should arrive in a couple of days." he announced proudly as the pair headed towards James Street. The suits were still following them, but at a more discreet distance this time.

[Lykaios]

Lear narrowed his eyes in suspicion, making sure to keep his senses attuned to their presence. It was unnerving being followed by a group of suits, when they'd not done anything wrong, nor had they any plans to. He smiled at his friends reveal, and gave him a thumbs-up. "Nice, man. They did look pretty sweet." he dropped his hood, and looked around, as they crossed the street.

"Where to? Tokyo Underground? Empire?" he asked, and adding in an untertone; "First right, back-street, up the wall and over the ledge?" his favourite move, utilised as an escape route. He didn't need an answer, having already made the sub-conscious decision to take the lead, and they rounded the corner, and as he did so, Lear broke into a sprint, threw himself up the wall, and grabbed the ledge to pull himself up and over.

"Have we lost them?!" he asked, as he dropped his head down, should they follow around. Kayle was at his side, and he hadn't quite heard what he'd said previously, having been too focused on their escape. He poked his head up, just enough to see, and saw the suits standing in the alley; some blocking the entrance they used to get in, and one looking up at their hiding place. Lear quickly ducked back down and swore under his breath.

"Dude in the regular clothes? He's a runner. Damnit! How didn't we see that sooner?" he whispered in anger. And as soon as his words were out; they heard what he'd feared: the running steps and the grunts of effort as someone reached their level and swung himself over. Lear jumped backwards, ready to run, for all the good it could do.

"You've gone far enough, assassin's." the man said, drawing a shiv from his belt. Lear was taken aback. He was sure he'd just called them assassin's.
"Whoa, hey. We aren't assassin's, man. Chill. We haven't done anything." he responded, eyes widening with something just shy of fear. He had yet to see -or care to look, honestly- Kayle's response, but he was worried it would come down to a fight.
"Not assassin's? I'm not an idiot. Who else dresses like that, moves like that, and runs like that? Young assassin recruits, if anything. Don't have the skills to stay discreet, so there's no way you're qualified. Young blood. And your days are now over." he responded coolly.

Lear wasn't computing what this man was saying. It was too unreal, but what he could compute, was that this man seriously wished them harm. Lear watched as he spun the shiv in his hand, and tossed it from one to the other.

"I'll handle this, Knight. I'll try to handle it bloodless, too..." he whispered to his buddy.

But he'd spoken too soon. For the second time in the span of five minutes, he'd jinxed himself. From surrounding buildings and the alley below, four more runners showed up, moving to encircle them.

"Ah, merda." he groaned, taking a few back-steps and getting into an unarmed fighting stance.

[Elario Luminus]

Kayle had easily followed Lear, and seemed calm when they were surrounded. He had so many emotions were raging through him at that moment. Confusion at the Assassin remark, anger at the fact that these lunatics wanted to kill them, wonder at what fate had brought them into. In response to Lear, he fell into a fighting stance, ready for any coming attack.

One of the runners charged at Kayle from behind and swung his makeshift blade. Kayle had heard him, and leaned out of the way of the weapon. Now off balance, the runner couldn't recover quickly enough, so Kayle grabbed his forearm and flipped him. As the guy hit the ground, Kayle knelt next to him and punched him hard in the jaw, rendering him unconscious.

Kayle spotted a shiny object around the guys neck, so he quickly reached down and pulled out a necklace...of the Templar cross. He didn't have time to react to that, as another runner attacked him, this time unarmed.
"Phantom! They're Templars!"
As he said that, he copped a foot to the chest and fell onto his back. The runner jumped onto him and started to strangle Kayle at arms length. Groaning, Kayle managed to get a foot between himself and the runner and kicked as hard as he could, launching the runner back into a wall.

[Lykaios]

Lear parried the first man's jab, and swung the man to the side, kicking him in the back to get some distance between the two of them, and a second ran at him; and leapt into a leaping kick. Lear dodged to the side, and grabbed the man's leg, spinning him back into one of his companions by using his own momentum. Lear bounced back as he heard Kayle's voice.

"They're Templars!" he heard him say. A quizzical expression briefly countered his otherwise stoic, combat-blank face as the fact stunned and dawned on him simultaneously. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be. But they were? What a dream to have. But he couldn't dwell on the scenario. Dream or not; it was a fight, and he fought to survive, if not to merely win.

"Impossible, Knight!" he called back, parrying, blocking and counter-attacking against a man's swings, and finally disarming him, kicking his kneecap and as he fell; kneeing him in the nose. He now bore the man's shiv, and his remaining companions began to act more cautiously. One man was out of the fight for good, having had Lear shatter his knee and break his nose. More damage was possible, but he wasn't going to check him while four others readied to assault the pair once more.

Standing side-by-side with his partner, Lear studied some of the competitors. One had a slight stagger as he'd been kicked into a wall earlier by Kayle. Two were otherwise uninjured or harmed, having only been thrown at each other and the last was only bruised. Glancing at his friend, he nodded slightly. Lear had a weapon now, and he was dangerous enough without one from his Taijutsu training, but now; with weapon in hand -particularly small and edged in variety- he was more in his element.

"We're not assassin's." he repeated once more, taking an armed combat stance for wakizashi. He modified it, as he wasn't exactly holding a wakizashi, but it was fairly similar, if not shorter.

The group chuckled, and one took a step forward, glanced at his heavily wounded buddy and back to Lear.
"Those skills of yours tell me otherwise, assassin. You trounced him. Only an assassin has your skillset."
"No, I'm training in Ninjukai Taijutsu; the way of the Ninja. Freerunning is a hobby."
"Keep trying; you won't convince us otherwise." he responded.

Lear was tired of this. These guys were insane. He was done, the gloves coming off, so to speak. This was no longer simply self-defence.

This was survival.

"We ready, Knight?"

[Elario Luminus]

Kayle glared at their attackers with pure anger and hatred, then took a casual stance. He slumped forward a little, then resignedly walked towards the runners.
"Okay, okay. I surrender. Take me, but leave my friend." The runners were shocked at first, but seeing Kayle do nothing hostile, they grabbed him and turned him around. One of the runners kicked him fiercely in the back of the knee, forcing Kayle to the ground, and grabbed his hands and placed them behind his head. He leaned in close to Kayle to talk.
"Now you get to watch as we kill your friend, foolish rookie."
Kayle narrowed his eyes, then looked forcefully at Lear.
Trust me.
"Is that so? Maybe so. He's got a lot of kick in him, that guy. Haven't you, mate? Besides, sometimes you've gotta be a little..."
He wormed his sleeves halfway down his arms, revealing dual hidden blades. He smirked to Lear.
"Sharper!" He launched out of the position, swiftly swinging an arm towards his assailant. The blade sliced through the sleeve and flesh of his arm, causing the man to fall in agony. Before he hit the ground, Kayle was up and attacking the next guy, who had no time to block or dodge the incoming blade to his leg. Having now carved a gap in the runners, Kayle reached into his back pocket and threw a satchel to Lear. Kayle backed away from the runners in a low, hostile stance. "Open it. You'll like what you see."

[Lykaios]

He was shocked by Kayle's sudden acceptance of their situation, until he saw the glimmer in his eyes, asking him to trust him. Lear was accustomed to maintaining a steady gaze from his acting, so it wasn't difficult for him to continue looking blank, all the while, inside he was smirking crazily. He knew his partner well, and his partner was up to something crazy. He watched as Kayle unsheathed dual hidden blades, and his eyes went wide with shock, like the runners. He watched as Kayle slashed and thrust at them.

He stood, mouth open and shell-shocked as Kayle tore the mans muscle in his leg, and then mind returned as he caught a satchel out of the air from his buddy. With a 'you'll like what you see', Kayle retreated a few cautious steps. Lear shrugged and opened it up, to reveal a hidden blade and throwing knives on the leather belt.

"For me? You shouldn't have. And I didn't get you anything." he responded, smirking and removing the weapons from the satchel. He quickly moved the hidden blade over his right forearm and did up the straps; flexing his hand to unsheath it and flexing again to sheath it. He grinned a vicious, bloodthirsty grin his sensei knew meant danger and he moved the knifebelt to where he was going to place it, only to be interrupted by a runner and another -who was aiming to distract Kayle- move to block him from getting organised.

Lear pounced back, evading the attack and narrowly avoiding falling over the side of the building, and dodged to the side, evading another strike. The runner aimed a kick straight up, and Lear used the man's own momentum to fling himself higher by jumping from the man's leg. In mid-air, they watched almost in slow-motion as Lear slipped the belt over, locked it in and drew one of his knives.

"Let's play." he said with that twisted smile still twisting his features.

What none of the assembled knew, was that there was a figure on an adjacent roof and an extra storey above them, watching the display. A hood hid his features and a cloak of some kind silhouetted his shape roughly. They couldn't see the forms shadow, but it was there. They just didn't know yet.

[Elario Luminus]

Kayle only had time to be briefly concerned for Lear when the other runner came at him, swinging his flick knife everywhere. Kayle ducked under a head strike and carefully nicked the runners shin as he rolled past. Blood came welling from the wound, but the runner didn't seem to care as he turned and chased after Kayle again. This time Kayle blocked a chest slash with one of his blades and plunged the other one into the runners free arm, through the bicep. Screaming in agony, the runner fell back and clutched his arm, trying to stop the flow of blood that was running regardless. Smirking, Kayle beckoned to his opponent.

In a fit of desperate rage, the runner charged at him without thinking, which Kayle used to his advantage. He placed a quick punch to the runners jaw, briefly stunning him, and vaulted him. As he came down behind the runner, Kayle held onto him, placing his feet on his enemies calves, and pushed as hard as he could. Kayle backflipped and landed on the ground without a problem; the runner, on the other hand wasn't so lucky. The force of the push had dislocated his knees and forced him, face first, to the ground. Kayle brushed the dirt from his clothes and watched on as Lear finished off his own target.
"Well then...now what?"
Kayle sheathed both his hidden blades after wiping the blood on the now-unconscious runner with the destroyed knees.

((Introduce this watcher.))

[Lykaios]

Lear held the throwing knife in a sturdy grip - loose but not too loose - ready to strike any who attempt to assault him. There was a severe reduction in the numbers of the runners, having now reduced their active forces by three. Three completely out of the game - two with shattered knees and one suffering heavily from the punctures in his heel by Kayle's blade earlier - and only two remaining. Neither of the remaining runners were in peak condition, while Kayle and Lear remained more or less unharmed. They had to be worked up and frustrated by that fact alone, Lear knew. He ejected his hidden blade and kept his throwing knife firm in his left hand; prepared for any attack. He'd tucked the shiv into his belt earlier, and was sticking to the throwing knife and hidden blade out of preference. At least he knew how to effectively use the two weapons. Well, more to the point, the throwing knife.

"You've had your fun, Knight. Ultimi due sono mie." he grinned viciously, ready to do some damage to those who had gotten him all fired up and feeling vicious. He was leaning more towards Constantine's way of thinking at this point; done with pointless garbage, and willing to destroy that which was standing in his way.

He threw the knife up and caught it's handle as it came back down, then tossed his hand in a fashion that said 'come at me, bro' to one of the runner's. The taunt was successful, as one rushed towards him; shiv raised. His movements were overly-aggressive; uncontrolled and undisciplined. His attacker had lost all focus by allowing himself to be taunted, which worked perfectly in Lear's favour. As he swung for Lear's face, Lear dipped, ducked, dodged and dove out of the way of his attacker's swings; cleverly moving to further aggravate his assailant. The other runner sighed; knowing Lear's strategy, and not falling into the trap himself while watching his comrade waste his time and energy. Lear grinned as he continually avoided the runners strikes, and when he changed tack - attempting a thrust at Lear's stomach - Lear was ready for it; parrying the strike away, and kicking the weapon from his hand while simultaneously breaking his fingers. From there, Lear slashed the man's arm with his hidden blade and drove the knife into the man's shoulder-blade. He screamed in pain, and attempted to pull the blade out with one hand. He'd managed to get a hand on Lear's throat in the process and Lear kept his dangerous grin; saying he wasn't afraid he would die.

In laboured words he spoke: "You won't kill me, Templar...I'll kill you first." and drove his right arm up; hidden blade extended into the base of the man's jaw and through his skull. Lear had just effectively killed his first man in a fight that was easily fair. But he'd had the better equipment, and the advantage of a stronger mind. The man's hand on Lear's throat dropped in an instant, and as he removed the blade from the runners skull; the last stepped up and spoke:

"You say you aren't an assassin, but the use of your 'new' hidden blade tells me otherwise, apprentice. My masters will reward me well when I bring them your heads." and he withdrew a silenced pistol and took aim on Lear first. At this time, a new pair of runners arrived on their roof. An outcome Lear prepared himself for: his own death by crazy extremists. He shrugged and said aloud to his friend:
"Well Knight; looks like we'll be playing with these babies more in hell, than above ground. Sorry pal. Maybe I'll give them a parting gift!" he finished with a shout, and prepared to throw his last throwing knife.

At that instant, all hell broke loose as the two newcomers were flattened into the roof of the building, by a lone man. His clothes suggested to which organisation he belonged, but Lear scarecely believed them at that moment. The man's hood finished in an eagle-beak point, and his robe ended just above the ground. The two men he'd landed on were bleeding onto the roof; their faces seemingly mangled beyond repair at the man's use of them as a landing mechanism for his rooftop dive. The last and lead runner quickly changed direction of his gun, to target the newcomer, and Lear's instincts sent the knife flying into the man's head; catching him in the eye socket. Outrage and pain tore his cry and his arm flung up as he pulled the trigger. The Assassin didn't even move to dodge the already missing projectile and drove his own hidden blade deep into the man's chest. Taking him to the ground, the Assassin rested by his side and spoke.

"Requiescat in pace." and closed his eyes. He repeated the process for the other dead men, and finished off the rest of the broken but not slain Templars, then stood and faced the pair transfixed in his wake. He drew back his hood and allowed them to see his face.
"You two, were lucky." he began, watching their faces. "Impressive skills you both have. I'm Anthony, and I'm your new best friend. That is; if you don't want the next bunch of these pricks to kill you, of course."

Lear was gob-smacked. "You're an...Assassin?" he had trouble saying.

((Translation note: 'Last two are mine'.))