Mistaken Identities

The Crime Syndicate. The largest underground criminal organization in the word; based out of Chicago and led by the infamous Phantom. Or so the stories would have you believe. Most believed he was nothing more than a ghost story. A legend the Syndicate spread around to scare off competition, to keep their rank and file in line. Others still believed there wasn’t really a leader and it was instead lead by a different group of people. Some sort of criminal oligarchy that only answered to each other and focused on their own region of the world. Point is, no one truly knew who or what the Phantom is. Or even if he existed, and that was what the Crime Syndicate wanted.

Whether or not the Phantom existed was not the reason they were meeting tonight, and it definitely wasn’t the reason Romulus was there (that was a mystery he swore he’d eventually solve however). This was a recon mission first and foremost. He was there to gather intelligence, find out anything he could from this gathering and then if possible take out as many as he could without being discovered. That was of course a low priority as if he were discovered than any intelligence he gained prior would be useless. They’d know they had been caught and would change all their plans. Which would result in him being back to square one. Knowing nothing. Romulus Emanuel Mercury did not like knowing nothing. Especially when people’s lives were at stake.

So, there he slinked through the shadows. After sneaking past the guards outside the warehouse he made his way inside sticking to the shadows. These may be professional criminals, the Crime Syndicate only employed the best of the best and a majority had some ability, but he had come across them more times than he could count on two hands. He had figured out their system by now, and if he came across a new one or a change it was simple enough to find the new route. Head always on a swivel, he made his way as close to the circular meeting point and listened in. There were of course the regular talks of shipments, dates, names, places, a new drug that could enhance one’s powers caught his attention. He’d need to learn more about that and how to put a stop to it.

Thanks to either his paranoia, upbringing, or years of training, his eyes would eventually wander upwards to the catwalks and he spotted the outline of a figure. A second more focused glance allowed him to identify that yes it was indeed a person. An individual who could have seen him from their vantage point if they had been paying enough attention. Sure, Romulus knew to move in such a way that he was practically invisible even from above but this was the Syndicate. The person on the catwalk would need to be dealt with quickly and quietly before his position was compromised. Carefully and stealthily moving away from his position to the wall he’d make his way up to the catwalks above, making sure to stay behind the individuals line of sight. Watching their every movement.

Tactically their position was sound. Back to a pole made attacks from behind impossible, body at a seemingly relaxed position one that gave off a sense of boredom. But he knew better, from his new position diagonally from her, as it was a her, he could see she was anything but relaxed. She was watching everything. Completely focused on the meeting down below. That was her mistake. Sentries always thought they had the upper hand. That no one would think to look up and they’d be able to spot anyone dumb enough to make a move on those they were assigned to protect. He’d seen it in soldiers, criminals, agents, and others all the time. Thankfully she was directly above the meeting, thus meaning in the middle of the building and he could come up from behind her and hopefully use her support against her without alerting those down below. Creeping from his position he made his way up behind her and shot his right arm out, wrapping it around the metal pillar and hopefully around her neck. Intending to press her up against the pillar restricting her movement and knocking her unconscious at the same time. Quick and quiet.

He felt the grab before he saw it. Mainly due to the fact that he couldn’t entirely see around the pillar that the unidentified woman agent of the Syndicate was leaning up against. His first instinct of course was to pull back, use his own strength to attempt to pull his arm out or use his training in Hapkido and Aikido to pull her over and down onto the metal beam he was standing on. That of course wouldn’t work in his favor. Even if he had been able to pull the feat off the beam was small, barely enough room for him to stand on let along a body to land on and she’d probably fall off down to her cohorts below. That of course would immediately alert them to his presence and everything he learned would have been for not.

That all of course mattered not as he had not expected this amount of strength from his advisory. He was pulled out from behind the pillar and slammed down into the ground. Rolling with the gained momentum and the felt release of her hands on his arm Romulus was able to take her outstretched hands that aimed for his neck in his own as their positions were reversed. She may have been stronger than she appeared but she didn’t weigh all that much and he had lifted heaver without the momentum from her own throw. Knowing that keeping to the ground would be a ‘death’ sentence for either of them instead of going straight of an elbow or other strike to her face or neck he pushed himself off and rose into a crouched, defensive stance.

It was only temporary of course. No need to stay in one position and allow her to come to him, or to call out to those below. That and he never telegraphed his attacks, one of the main testaments of Jeet Kune Do, that he had been able to integrate with the rest of his fighting styles. During this brief reprieve of him getting away from the Syndicate Agent he was better able to take in her appearance. Blonde hair, blue eyes, lithe and athletic. Wearing a skin tight black suit with a belt that seemingly had compartments on it that held who knows what. Not knowing exactly what this woman could do, but not truly wanting to test it, Romulus exploded his right hand forward palm open, fingers all touching, and the top joint on each finger bent. The bottom part of his hand, closest to his wrist, aimed at her nose intending to knock her over. A follow up punch with his left aimed at her gut to knock the wind out of her was sent out whether or not the first connected if she stayed up.

She was fast. The strike that would have impacted with her nose was dodged by simply rolling back onto the heels of her feet. Moving her quite literally just out of arms reach. The gut punch however did connect like it was intended and down she went. He however did not expect her to be down for long and moved to ready himself to counter whatever she decided to throw at him. Proving once again that he needed to not underestimate this opponent the two heel kicks into his shoulders and pushing him back a bit. Perhaps not as much as she intended but he had anticipated her strength this time. Still anticipating it and actually taking it head on were two different things. Which allowed her to not only push him back slightly but to also connect with the spinning kicks.

Each time her foot connected was a devastating blow. He was able to move his body in ways that allowed him to reduce the force behind each kick which of course allowed him to brace on the last one his arms bent in front of his chest hands in front of his face and push himself backwards with the force of the blow. His body coming to a stop he threw his arms down to his sides and steadied himself. That was a technique he recognized. One he himself had been trained in. This and her use of the throw earlier indicated that she too was trained in a different variety of martial arts. Some of them obviously the same as the ones he was trained in and mastered. He could at least be certain that his training in Roman Spear Fighting and Borjutsu was something she probably could not anticipate but there was not enough room for him to unsheathe his Veretum.

That didn’t however mean he was completely out of options. Hands dropping down to his left side they grasped and brought up his two escrima sticks. No need to be fancy or anything he moved on her position and made four quick strikes two high and two ‘high’ and two ‘low’. The first two were of course sent to hit her head and neck while the two lower ones were aimed as more body shots. Sent to hit right about where one’s ribs would be. None were necessarily deadly strikes, the head and neck could be of course but he was holding back enough, there was no reason to kill this Agent. Unconscious would serve his purpose just as well. Plus, even criminals had family they needed to go home to. For the most part.

She was skilled, there was no doubt about it. His four strikes were all essentially simultaneous. Quick hard strikes intended to do damage and wear down an opponent yet she was able to easily block the first two, the third one hit home and the fourth was caught in her hands. In each block, his tactical mind was working, watching, learning. She was strong surprisingly so for her form, she was skilled perhaps as skilled as he was, and she was determined. A worthy advisory, he would have much preferred to meet someone like her in different circumstances. She could have been an excellent help in making this god forsaken city a better place. But like all things in this world it seemed it was not fated to go in Romulus favor. He’d have to fight.

The fourth strike was caught and he readied himself for the pull, legs shoulder with apart arm ready to tug when she tugged. Ready to keep his ground if she tried to transition this into a flip. Or even ready on the off chance to use his off hand to attack hers if she tried to go in for a punch or grab at him while she held onto the stick. However, it didn’t matter how much you planned or tried to think ahead one could not plan for everything and more likely than not it was all going to go furbar. She used the stick to glide underneath his legs, his arm going with her and before he had a chance to drop the stick it was flung upwards into his groin and thus the cup he wore.

A grunt escaped his lips but little else before he was knocked unceremoniously off his feet from behind going down into her. Using some semblance of his training he was able to use the momentum to push them both down to the ground with a slam. It was not a nice easy fall and probably not nearly as soft as she had been hoping even if she had been able to wrap her legs around his waist and her arm went straight to his neck and mouth. It seemed she was intending to suffocate him. Knock him out in quite the same way that he had intended to do to her at the beginning of this fight. It was smart. On most people, it might even have worked. That isn’t to say it wasn’t working on Romulus but he had been trained to hold his breath longer than normal.

Most people struggled. They fought the inevitable, lashed out and tried in vain to break free from their captive. Sometimes it worked, most times it didn’t. Romulus however didn’t struggle. He knew the hold and with a twist of his right arm was just able to slip it out. Reaching into his pocket he slipped a brass knuckle onto his hand and smashed his fist into her jaw. Quickly after, if she didn’t let go in pain he’d wrap his hand around her own neck and squeeze. “I go down, you go down Syndicate.” He muttered out, emphasizing Syndicate, against her hand that was possibly still pressing against his mouth. However, if the punch was enough to weaken the hold on his body he would attempt to pull himself out her hold and place his elbow into her throat. “You’re better trained than most Syndicate agents.” He’d whisper out in his raspy voice, still applying pressure to the neck while his hands went to hold down hers his legs situated on top of and pressing down her legs.

The blow to her jaw connected and the hand around his mouth and nose came off going not to somewhere else on his body but another place. He wasn’t entirely sure where but it gave him the opportunity to speak. “Cheap tricks from a criminal shouldn’t expect anything else.” Of course, as soon as these words were uttered he heard something glass shatter on the metal grate like catwalk beneath the two of them. He didn’t know what it meant or what exactly had happened but he had an idea. Immediately closing his mouth, stopped breathing in through his nose, and dropped his right arm back down to his side. He wasn’t sure what kind of gas or poison she released into the air but he wasn’t sticking around to find out.

Using his one free arm to help him he attempted to essentially do a sit up with her on his back. Something that was easier than it sounded to the ex-marine. Moving his body into a sitting position he was able to move up into a standing position with some effort. It had been a while sense he had to attempt to stand up with someone else on his back but he knew keeping up with his old marine training along with all the new stuff he learned would come in handy. Once standing up his first thought was to slam her into the metal pole where all this began or jump down onto the unsuspecting group of Syndicate members down below. Hoping the surprise and confusion would give him the opportunity to slink into the shadows and leave as well as get out of the gas.

Needless to say, the universe or whatever god was up there had different ideas. The Syndicate Agent was able to slam her foot down onto his crotch once more before he was even able to enact either of those plans. It didn’t truly matter how trained you were and even through the cup there was only one response when one’s groin was hit. A sharp and involuntary intake of breath was all it took for the anesthetic to work its way into Romulus’ system. Once that happened it didn’t matter how strong his will power was, or how many different kinds of poison he had built up immunity to, he was still human and thus the effects were nearly instantaneous.

His hand went up to attempt to wrap around Valentine’s throat to squeeze the breath out of her as well, and in a last-ditch effort he attempted to slam his back and thus her into the metal pillar. Unfortunately for Chicago’s mysterious ‘Dark Avenger’ it wouldn’t nearly be as hard as it should have been. His mind already groggy and his eyes struggling to stay open. A simple scouting mission had gone total furbar; because of course it did. A quick “Damn criminals.” Was uttered groggily out of his mouth before the man would slump down to his knees and then down onto the metal catwalk with a soft thud. Down and out for the count. His last thought something about getting a re-breather when he got out of this alive.

He wasn’t sure when he woke up, wasn’t sure where he was, but he was alive. However, he knew what happened. He had been taken out by the Syndicate agent. She had used some sort of atheistic gas to knock him out and was now probably in some sort of Syndicate holding cell. Keeping his breath slow and steady to keep up the appearance that he was asleep the man known as Chicago’s Ghost listened to his surroundings trying to get a picture of where he was. He could hear the sound of flowing water, a subtle disturbance in the flow of it and the low breathing of another person queued him in that someone was in the water. However, that was the only sound he heard. So, stream or hot springs of some sort with one person a guard perhaps resting inside.

That done he took the time over the course of a couple minutes to slowly feel around his general vicinity. He was on some sort of tattered mattress, his body bound by various cords and or straps. He was held down as if he was being subjected to tests of some sort. The fact that he was also naked except for his underwear confirmed this suspicion. It made sense tactically. Remove the clothing and arsenal. Made the prisoner less likely to escape or be a danger. Strapping them down to a table though? That meant testing, that meant prodding. He wouldn’t be surprised if they had stolen his blood, hair, whatever they could use to identify who he was. Whether or not the testing went further than that he couldn’t be sure but with the Syndicate you could never know.

The bonds were tied tight and although he was fairly certain he could get out of them if need be it would take too long if he wanted to get out without notifying his captors. Captors who were moving now, movement in the water and someone standing up. He couldn’t hear their footsteps but he could hear the drips of water hitting the ground as they stood up and made their way over to where he was. A foot pushed into his head and a feminine voice accompanied it. Taunting him awake with his last name even. Suspicions confirmed he allowed his eyes to open and take in the sight of the room around him first. As he has suspected he was strapped down on a mattress of some sort and there was flowing water, the rest surprised him. An underground cavern of sorts. He wasn’t entirely sure. Which wasn’t good.

Especially considering the fact that the scantily clad woman in the room with him was no doubt the Syndicate Agent he had fought previously. So, not only was she to be the one who had guarded over the meeting that had taken place prior but she was also the one who was tasked with watching over him? The bikini and spring obviously a sort of seduction technique. Would possibly have worked on most men (women too); Romulus Emanuel Mercury was not most men. Lust was something that could be used against you, it was something that made you drop your guard and got you killed. Definitely not something he needed in his line of work both before and after the Marines. Plus, he never saw the appeal, to either of the sexes. “You know me, it’s only fair I know the Syndicate Agent who finally captured me.” It was a statement, not a question. Also noted, he was no longer talking in his “under the mask” voice but his ‘normal’ voice.

The as of now still nameless blonde sat down beside him on the mattress with her back to him. You never turned your back to your opponent. Unless you were absolutely sure that they had no way of getting to you and even then, taking your eyes off them was unwise. Obviously, she was seriously underestimating Romulus’ skill or she truly thought he was going to be no problem. Either way of thinking was fine with him, if her guard was done it allowed him to gather his strength to make his move. Perhaps try and coerce a location out of her or even a reason as to why she kept him alive. Why the Syndicate wanted him here or what they planned to do to him. Of course, his thought process was interrupted and turned upside down when she claimed not to be a Syndicate agent. Saying he wasn’t one either.

She claimed that she was no agent of the Crime Syndicate. That she had believed him to be one and now that it was ‘clear’ they both weren’t there was only one explanation. He of course didn’t agree. Even if he believed she wasn’t a part of the Crime Syndicate there was still the fact that he was strapped up, stripped of his belongings and in her . . . lair? Had to be. In her lair with no way of knowing how to get out. Admittedly if the positions were reversed he might have left her in somewhat of the same state but he at least would have not had her strapped down. Well okay, at least not after confirming her identity and realizing that he had made an error in judgement due to the heat of battle. Possibly.

“Right. Me being tied down and my identity uncovered and flaunted around doesn’t ease my mind. You may not be part of the Crime Syndicate but obviously you don’t think we’re on the same side.” He flexed his arm against the straps that were holding him down to illustrate his point. But found that he couldn’t; or at least that the effort of doing so was hard. Much harder and more sluggish that it should have been. As if the receptors in his brain that controlled his movement were trying to process the act but just unable to physically do so. His mind immediately flashed to the anesthetic gas used before and this situation now. Obviously, she was a skilled chemist and this was just another concoction to keep him down. “More drugs? Who are you really and what do you want with me?” He doubted it’d be that easy but best to start with the simple questions first.