The Hands of Justice: What is id?

[FireKat]

It had been her favorite haunt for the past five nights, and she had no idea why. How do you go from gardening, travel brochures, and yoga, to the seedy world of underground brawling? It was a major paradigm shift, to say the least. This far down on Coruscant, a mish-mash of aliens went about their business in seedy dives. Whenever they weren't working, they were in hell-holes like "Jak's Speakeasy", a decrepit hole-in-the-wall bar, with a decorum style of peeling paint, rust, and garbage. On any other day, she would have run away from such a place shrieking. But all that was before Firekat.

....yyyyyyaaaaAAAAaaaaaaawwwn....

She stretched, a movement starting in the tips of her toes, and running up her lithe body in waves until it dead-ended in the tips of her fingers, which she laced around the chain-link fence that made up the cage she now stood in. Under her skin-tight jumpsuit, toned, lean musculature could be seen, flexing and relaxing in synchronization.

-BLOOD-

She whirled around, nose sniffing at the air, until she found the source. The Wookiee still moaned a bit, keeping a thick gauze pad pressed at his neck. Glancing down, she spotted a few speckles of deep red on the filthy floor. Staring at the bested Wookiee, she squatted down on her haunches, and lazily dabbed a finger into the spilt crimson, before licking it off her finger. She smiled, dagger-like teeth making such a smile an uncomfortable thing for the Wookiee, who decided to just walk away, and drown his sorrows at the bar. Springing back to her feet, she paced, eyeing the throng of onlookers around the cage, before resting her gaze on a man in a horrible, rented tuxedo.

"Fjirekat jisss thjirrrssstjy. Brrrjing herrr a drrrjink!"

He stammered, nodded profusely, and hurried away to the bar. In his place, a large, muscular man stepped up to the cage. At six and a half feet tall, he was 275 pounds of muscle. She eyed him up and down, noting his bald head, leather jacket, and visible scars. Somebody that looked like they knew what they were doing.

She purred, leaning close to the fence, so that her face was close to his.

"Fjirrrekat thjinksss ssshe ljikesss jyou. Fjirrrekat wantsss to plajy"

[Rick Wright]

An injured wookie sat himself down beside one man at the bar, who quite surprisingly didn’t move – unlike most who would have shied away from being within a hundred metres of an angered wall of fur like the one currently beside Rick Wright. Of course, Rick wasn’t like most people. He hadn’t been for over fifteen years now.

He looked over his shoulder, to try and spot what scuffle could have occurred to injure the creature within him noticing – he considered himself to have a keen sense of observation – and yet could see nothing. What he was drawn to look at was a large cage within the bar. As he rose his pint to his lips, he examined what was inside of the chain bars:

A figure clad in skin-tight something, of feline origin. He smiled to himself, and thought how if this hadn’t been such a sleazy dive, the woman could have quite easily passed herself off as one of his and Chiru’s cohorts.

The former Republic Captain turned to look back at his reflection in the mirror behind the bar, though continued to watch what was going on behind him – there were a number of burly looking men who had drunken a large amount of alcohol, just waiting to break into a riot.

[FireKat]

The man in the tuxedo returned with the drink...a rancid, low-quality rum in a plastic cup. She snatched it up when the door was opened, and began to chug the unpalatable liquor, dribbles of which escaped the corners of her mouth and down her neck.


(glug...glug...glug...glug....) AHHHHHHH

She tossed the cup over her shoulder, and idly strutted over to the far end of the cage, taking a leisurely seat on a wooden stool in the far corner. The big guy stepped to enter the cage, and was stopped by the man in the tuxedo.

"You got the entry fee of 100 credits?"

The burly guy slipped a chit to the man.

"What's your name, big guy?"

The bruiser spoke in a deep, gravelly voice.

"Panka"

Pocketing the chit, the man in the tuxedo smiled.

"Alright Panka, just a few rules. There aren't any! Anything goes! But, if I could recommend something...don't hit her in the melons."

He gestured back to the moaning Wookiee.

"It'll hurt her feelings, and hurt you more."

With a grunt, Panka stepped into the cage, which the man in the tuxedo closed, and locked with a padlock. He then brandished a microphone.

"Ladies and Gentlebeings, boys and girls, audiences of all ages and species, Jak's Speakeasy is proud to present another great street brawl. In the blue corner...he's big, he's mean, and don't call him ugly, or he'll break your face. HEEEEEEEEEE'SSSS PAAAAAANKAAAA!!!"

Some applause sounded in the bar from various areas. The announcer gestured to Firekat.

"The fighter in the red corner needs no introduction. In her week of undisputed dominance, she has broken, dismantled, annihilated, and destroyed....everyone in her path. WHO is the mysterious fighter in the red mask? She goes by only one title.....FIIIIIIIIIIREKAAAAAAAT!!!!"

Applause of much larger magnitude filled the bar, and after it died down, the announcer continued.

"Both fighters know the rules. This is a street fight. Anything goes. Victory is awarded when one opponent taps out or begs mercy, if one opponent is knocked out....or worse. Until then, the fighters are sealed in, until the issue is no longer in doubt. Two men enter...one man leaves!

ARE YOU READY?"

The audience cheers wildly. The announcer repeats.

"ARE...YOU....RRRRRRRRRREADY?"

The cheers double in intensity. The announcer pauses, and speaks once again.

"Then, on behalf of Jak's Speakeasy...Ladies and Gentlebeings....LLLLLLLLLLLETS GET RRRRREADY TO RUMBLLLLLLLLLLE!!!!!!!"

The entire bar explodes in wild, rabid applause, as the rusty bell in the corner sounds with a "ding".

[Robin Dunmir]

' Aww man!...' Robin had done it yet again. The very thought of walking back out into the bar now was embarrassing but somhow he had to make it back to Rick without anyone seeing his little mistake. Robin zipped his flies up and stepped up to the wash basen. A bit of water on his head would put his hair back into place and he would have a excuse for the...mark down by his crotch.

Robin quickly opened the door and poked his head, looked both ways and then edged out out of the door pulling his t-shirt down to conceal his erorr of judment. Dunmir had a nasty habit of doing this everytime the bar was full and loads of pretty ladies were about. Of course he had never had a girlfriend but the very thought a women may look at him and then seeing the mark would leave him in another bad luck situation.

Dunmir had not time to loose and with a hop,skip and a little sprint he was back at his stool at the bar in no time, a half smile on his face. "Coke please" He said to the barman before turning to Rick. "Sorry about that...had a little...accident..." A sheepish smile spread across his face.

[Rick Wright]

Rick looked down and shook his head, laughing as he saw what his friend had done. What was hard to understand was that one moment Robin could be performing amazing feats of grace and the next he would being a clumsy oaf – maybe it was putting on the costume of The Chiru that suddenly gave him grace and confidence.

“The fight’s just started,” Rick nodded over to the cage where the costume-clad feline were tearing into another opponent.

As he lifted his drink as though to take another drink, Rick wrinkled his nose.

“…You recognise her from anywhere?”

By anywhere, Rick meant crimes – their were only two types of people who wore costumes and fought; heroes and villains.

[FireKat]

*DING*

Firekat and Panka moved toward the center of the ring. Once met, Panka introduced Firekat's face to his fist, sending her across the ring. She bounced against the chain link fence, and recoiled into another powerful haymaker from Panka. The vastly larger humanoid connected in a left-right, left-right combination, unopposed and unhindered, pummeling Firekat without relent or mercy. He wrangled her by the head, and flung her light body over his shoulder, to the mat behind him. Bouncing off the chain link fence, he charged, diving into the air, and splashing Firekat with a devastating bodyslam. Getting up, Panka hefted the female fighter up, and slammed her over a bent knee, pummeling her repeatedly.

[Robin Dunmir]

Robin looked over towards the cage reluctantly. Although he was a fighter himself he thought he did it for the right reasons, the people in the cage were doing it for money and so he did not like watching such blood sport. He had never seen her before but instantly knew that she was some kind of Hero or Villian, etherway he had no idea who she was.

"No idea Rick but she really looked quite impressive before the big guy smashed her up..." He said in a bunged up sort of voice. Robin always had a stupid cold when he was not in his Chiru suit and always sounded bunged up. Taking his vapour spray from his pocket he snorted twice from the small mint cilinder and put it away. " Do you know her?..." He asked finaly.

[Rick Wright]

“No – and that’s what worries me.”

The feline looked as though she was being pummelled severely by the man, but was putting up a good effort at fighting back. Rick looked away back at Robin; deep down he felt the same way about combat now. After so many years serving in the force he had grown resistant to the blood and gore, but was still emotionally raw at the sight of innocent death.

Mentally drawing himself a conclusion, he put his glass down and headed off towards the bathroom. His rucksack was over his shoulder, and Robin knew this meant only one thing.

When he emerged, he was in the Captain’s suit and strode towards the cage – tossing his bag of plain clothes to Robin. He then stood in line behind the others waiting to fight, a look of resolve on his face.

[FireKat]

Panka continued his relentless assault, with not so much as a block or a counterattack from Firekat. Apparently she was vastly overrated. The big guy smiled, and unloaded a left cross at her chest...

<font size=5>RRRROOUURRRR!!!!</font>

The previously-docile Firekat came alive in a spark of anger. Clawed hands dug into Panka's forearm, making any retreat a gruesome prospect. With a crescent kick that nearly defied flexibility, she brought her left leg across the big fighter's hyperextended arm, snapping it at the elbow. Still holding onto his arm, she kicked her knee up towards her chest, and pivoted out, driving a brutal side-kick beneath his jawline. The impact threw him back, but not much, as Firekat still held onto his forearm like a vice. The action dislocated his shoulder. As he came tumbling back from the recoil, the feline fighter pounced on him, legs straddling his chest and clamping on with an iron grip, leaving her arms free to deal out punishment, which was done in a series of one-two rapid fire punches. Snarling, Firekat arched back, and rammed her forehead onto his in a headbutt. Panka's legs wavered, and she repeated this again, and again, and again, each successive blow causing Panka to sink lower to the ground. When he was on his knees, she pressed against the right side of his face, forcing his left side flush against his shoulder. She leaned down...and bit his ear off, to the gasps of the audience, and the wail of the assailed Panka. Leisurely, she hopped off his torso, ear still in her mouth, and as Panka wailed, she spit it in his face, whirled around, and delivered the coup d'egras, with a knockout roundhouse.

[Captain Coruscant]

The bloodied head of the fighter smacked against the floor with a wet thud as onlookers watched in horror – the previously composed and respected man now reduced to unconsciousness.

Two men entered the cage and hauled the body out by its shoulders, dragging Panka by his wrists and leaving a small drip trail along the way. It reminded Rick of his time in action, of days in the war when he had watched friends and enemies alike dismembered and catatonic with fear as they were hauled off to almost certain death from blood loss.

“Hey bub!”

Rick was pulled from his thoughts by a weasley looking man grabbing his arm. With a shabby smart suit on, he looked more the type to be managing fights than partaking in them.

“You’re up next… what’s yer name?”

“Captain Coruscant.”

“HA! Nice one buddy. Alright, when we call your name out, you go in, you fight miss Firekat and then you come out on a stretcher – unless you get lucky, which I can’t see happening,” the man said, with a once-over glance at Rick Wright’s costume-clad form.

Rick nodded and within a minute was being announced as the next fighter and being thrust forward into the lions den.

[Robin Dunmir]

Robin quickly finished coke and nodded for a refill. The fact the big guy in the cage had been wiped out in a matter of moments made Robin a little nervous towards The Captain. She looked pretty good and of course nothing like the recent problems with the likes of the Skull Cult. But Robin had his rucksack right next to him if the Captain needed help The Chiru would be right on in there without a shread of a doubt.

"COME ON CAPtain!" Shouted Robin as it had just got silent after the Captains name was announced, his voice faded off at the end of his yell. Robin jumped out of his chair as he said it. Everyonce glanced at him and he sat down nervously. He KNEW the guy could teach her a lesson or two..he just knew it.

Robin looked down to view his back pack and then back up to the cage as his coke came. DING! DING!

[FireKat]

Firekat strutted about lazily, tossing her hair aside as she licked at the corner of her mouth, where some of Panka's blood remained. She eyed the new contestant, and crossed her arms over her chest.

Hmph. Njice outfjit. jIf jit'sss parrrt of a barrr bet, jI'll let jyou go now. jYou can tell jyourrr frrrjiendsss jyou lasssted jin the rrrjing wjith Fjirrrekat, and ljived to tell the tale. jI'm sssurrre thejy'll all be jimprrressssssed.

Yawning, Firekat turned her back on her adversary.

[Captain Coruscant]

Pulling at the top of his gauntlets, he tightened his fist within the glove as he watched the woman strut back and forth.

“Nice outfit you have too,” he remarked, before settling himself into a defensive stance, with his hands raised in an upper body guard.

Now he had two options – go for an all out offensive on the woman and show her who was in charge within the cage, or simply sit back and pull for the sympathy vote.

[FireKat]

Arrre jyou ssstjill herrre?

Firekat turned around, genuinely suprised.

jYou actualljy want to fjight Fjirrrekat? ....HAHAHAHA!!!!

She clutched at her stomach, and doubled over, slapping her knee for emphasis.

jYou've got to be kjiddjing me. Nobodjy'sss beaten Fjirrrekat, and nobodjy wjill!

Putting her hands on her hips, she continued.

Fjine. Have jyourrr ssshot, but jyou won't get a sssecond chance. Herrre, Fjirrrekat wjill even let jyou have the fjirrrssst punch.

She stepped next to him, and leaned forward, exposing her face for a perfect shot, if her masked opponent was crazy enough to take it.

[Captain Coruscant]

Rick wasn’t going to give the cackling woman a moment to reconsider her decision – though he didn’t imagine her battling ego and pride would ever allow that anyway. He drew back his fist and cracked his knuckles against her cheek. The impact made a faintly metallic sound, as each of the strips of reinforcing steel in his gauntlets grating against one another.

No sooner had the shot connected did he follow with another, this time an upper cutting swipe with his left hand.

[FireKat]

The first shot rung her bell. The second shot completely derailed it. Firekat was launched off her feet, and slammed against the chain link fence with a loud rattle. She bounced off the fence, and tumbled forward, eventually rolling to her knees. She didn't get up, instead, looked up at the blue man with large, blue eyes, rubbing her face as she did so.

Hejy! That actualljy hurrrt! That'sss not funnjy!

Blinking, she continued to rub her face, and sneezed.

[Captain Coruscant]

Taking a few steps forward, Rick looked down into the face of the woman as the crowd around the caged whooped in surprise, cheering for the man who had just floored the dervish that so many had been unable to stop.

“Get up and hit me,” he muttered – Coruscant had no intention of ruining the woman’s reputation. He was fairly certain that he’d gotten what he needed from this fight already.

[FireKat]

RAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Firekat exploded, bounding up from her submissive position, and driving a haymaker toward the blue fighter. To her shock, it was blocked. Snarling, she withdrew, only to spring up in a leap, coming down on him with a shower of downward snap kicks, aimed at his head and torso.

[Captain Coruscant]

Rick crumbled under the assault, falling with the barrage of kicks and punches to the ground. His arms, locked in an ‘X’ formation over his face, provided amble protection, however there was no way to slow the clawing at the rest of his body without retaliating. To do this he simply raised his knees upwards and drove both feet up into Firekat’s gut.

At ring side, someone was chanting about a ‘steel chair’, while others jeered and waved banners reading things like ‘Here kitty kitty’ and ‘Firekat = Purrrfect’. As Rick managed to push away his opponent, he caught a momentary glimpse of Robin on the far side of the cage, as the boy stared through the fence watching the fight.

[Robin Dunmir]

Robin winced at ever blow delt out towards the Captain and everytime he hit back a small laugh came from Robin. To be honest the rest of the night had been boring the cat had smashed them all into a bloody pulp. THIS however was much better because somone was finaly smashing her ego from her and people with big heads always needed a good smacking.



"Hey dude..." He called the barman to him. "Would you mind turning the music you have on now...and...play this?...loudly" He took a CD from his backpack and gave it to the barman. The Barman read what it said, the CD was named "Styx – Captain Coruscant". He nodded with a smile and ventured off to put it in the player.

[FireKat]

Oomph!

Firekat was sent skyward by the double press kick to her abdomen. Reaching up, she grabbed hold of the chain link on top of the cage, and twirled her body up so that she was flush with the ceiling, and out of range of any more punches. With a twist of her body, she dropped downwards, landing on the blue fighter's head...where her powerful thighs began to squeeze together.

[Captain Coruscant]

The hold around his throat was incredibly strong and it took Rick a moment to yank himself out of shock. He struggled with his opponent by clawing at her knees, and eventually came up with the idea of simply toppling forwards towards the canvas floor of the cage – face first.

[FireKat]

WHAAAAAAA-OOMPH!!!

Captain Coruscant came down hard, but Firekat came down much harder, smashing into the mat with a loud thump. Her vice lock on the blue fighter's head lessened slightly in the aftermath.

[Captain Coruscant]

With a quick push at the soles of Firekats feet Coruscant was freed, and rolled from beneath the felinoid. A quick shift in power took place as the red, white and blue avenger seized his opponent’s arms behind her back, locking them in place tightly.

[FireKat]

rrrr....OW! Let go..rrrrr!!!

Squirming on the mat, Firekat soon found that she didn't have any options from her position. The blue man was nearly as strong as she was, and from this awkward position, not even she could work her way loose. She floundered on the mat, his knee pinning the side of her face flush against the floor.

jIsss thjisss rrrealljy necessssssarrrjy...jI mean, thjisss jisss cheatjing...rrrr!

Boiling off her impotent rage in a temper tantrum, Firekat screeched on the mat, legs flailing as the referee began the three count.

[Captain Coruscant]

ONE!

Quite clearly he had won this bout and the crowd around the bar were ecstatic about the results – many had taken the chance to bet on the costume-clad man and were now about to cash in on Rick’s victory. Just for a little extra emphasis Rick shoved his knee hard against the woman’s back on the umpires count of two.

TWO!

For Rick, however, there was also gain here – beating the woman would put her out of the competition (as far as he was aware) and therefore give him time to speak with her outside of the confines of the cage, to find out just who this woman really was.

[FireKat]

AAHHHHHHH!!!!

Firekat floundered about in her tantrum, unable to move, being pinned quite expertly against the mat. The referee finished the count...

THREE!

The pressure on her face and back relented, and Firekat turned over, to see the referee holding Captain Coruscant's hand up in the air.

jI....lossst?

Big blue eyes welled up with tears, and Firekat was out of the cage in a dash, bawling.

jI...LOSSST!!!! :cry :cry :cry

[Captain Coruscant]

A roar of appreciation went up as Rick stepped out of the ring, quickly following behind the Firekat. Many tried to tug him aside to congratulate him, or to find out who he really was, but he was too determined in his stride to be halted. Within a minute he had caught up with the Cizerack, who was still sobbing to herself in the bars deserted cloakroom.

“You put up a good opposition,” he complimented, a smile showing through the hole in his mask.

[FireKat]

Sniffling, Firekat looked at the masked man, her eyes narrowed in anger.

Fjirrrekat can't beljieve ssshe lossst to jyou. Who arrre jyou? How could jyou beat Fjirrrekat...tell me!

[Captain Coruscant]

“Just a man.”

Rick folded his arms over his chest as he got a good look at the woman, in clear light, for the first time.

“… Where did you learn to fight like that, then?”

[FireKat]

Firekat opened her mouth, prepared to deliver a pompous, boastful, and long-winded appraisal of her martial arts, but she suddenly hesitated. The man in blue wasn't buying it. Her shoulders slumped, and she looked at her feet.

Frrrom a Tae-Bo holodjisssc.

With a heavy sigh, she looked at the man who had bested her.

...but jit ssshould have been morrre than enough forrr Fjirrrekat to defeat a perrrssson ljike jyou! Fjirrrekat jisss a sssuperrrjiorrr Cjizerrrack Huntrrressssss! Ssshe cannot lossse!

[Captain Coruscant]

“I was in the Republic army for 10 years,” he replied calmly.

“I don’t know much about … Cizerack culture, but I imagine our training was more rigorously aimed at close, hand-to-hand. Hunters usually specialize in stealth, which is no good in a cage like that.”

Against all of his best judgement, he thought about removing his mask. This woman evidently didn’t know what Captain Coruscants real place was, and so wouldn’t be liable to spill the beans. Perhaps, he thought, just perhaps she would think about helping out Coruscant and the Chiru.

So he did it, pulled off his mask and smiled, holding out a still gloved hand.

“…Rick.”

[Taataani Meorrrei]

The color rose to her face...and she slowly...very timidly...removed the mask from her head. Tufted ears fell to each side, as she blinked, looking anxiously from side to side, and obviously uncomfortable with having her "true identity" seen by anyone.

"...Taataanji."

Ducking into a corner, she quickly put her mask back on.

[Captain Coruscant]

“That wasn’t so bad.”

Following suit, Rick pulled the winged mask back on, smiling.

“So Taataani,” he whispered, so no one would hear her name,

“Have you ever thought of using that talent of yours for anything other than entertaining barflys?”

[FireKat]

"Fjirrrekat doesssn't carrre what ssshe doesss, ssso long asss ssshe'sss the bessst, and wjinsss all the tjime!"

Firekat pouted a bit.

"And then...jyou come along...and rrrujin jit all!"

[Captain Coruscant]

“Well, what I do, we don’t exactly win… but we get a lot of praise for it. It’s a tough job, though someone has to do it.”

Rick rubbed the back of his neck as he smiled to himself, a small smile of contentment.