Don't Come Easy

Just as she planned, the idiot let his guard down and actually looked down to examine his zipper. Kassandra felt a sly smirk tug across her lips; she couldn’t believe that he had been so foolish! Almost like a professional football player, with a powerful lunge the headstrong woman slammed her shoulder into the gut of her enemy and took him down to the cold hard rooftop. Immediately she jumped on the opportunity, rising to her knees and nearly straddling her enemy. “I’m through playing around!” She barked out as she dropped her right fist with all her strength down onto his face, slamming the bottom of her hand into his nose. Her cocky, sly smirk grew even larger as she felt his nose break just in the slightest beneath her hand. Kassandra’s left hand moved in for the next attack as her right lifted up over her head, a small trail of crimson dripping from it.

Unfortunately, Mister Reaper was far from defeated and was able to put his forearm up to block her second punch. Kassandra growled out in pain as they collided, everything she had was put into it, she could feel the damage she dealt to his skin, but she feared that she may have bruised herself as well. The whole bottom of her left fist ached, but she had no time to examine the minor injury. Before she could make her next attack, Mister Reaper turned everything around on her. When she felt his tight, powerful grip on her wrist, she knew she was in trouble, but still had a chance of escape. It was only until his boot was placed on her midsection, then she was screwed. She had been too slow, and as much as it infuriated her, he had proved he was the superior in martial arts. Though that didn’t mean he was better, or going to win this fight!

Kassandra glared down at Mister Reaper as he said his ‘good-bye’, the fury obvious in her light brown eyes. If he was smart, he would’ve finished her when he had the chance, but he didn’t take it and instead flung her. Kassandra was not by any means a heavy woman; she was rather light and easily tossed by the powerful Mister Reaper. She was sent hurling through the air, went straight off the rooftop, and began quickly plummeting down the alley towards the hard cement. No way was she going to let herself die here! Kassandra grunted as she spun herself around and reached for her grappling device, her eyes now fixed on the rooftops which drew further and further with every millisecond. She had little time to react and make a decision, but for her that wasn’t a problem.

Kassandra was able to come up with a scheme in the brief time she was falling, and it was much better than anything that stupid ape could come up with, or so she was convinced. With a pull of the trigger, the gadget fired off towards the rooftop Reaper stood on. The wire was thin and barely noticeable, so unless he had been looking closely off the edge, he would have no idea what she was up to. As the device connected with the roof, a quiet clicking nose was made, and instantly she stopped falling. Gravity had been harsh on her, feeling the pains throughout her body as she came to a whiplashing halt. Kassandra was forced into a swing, swinging forward into the building and planting her feet onto it. The fall had not been great enough to cause anything more than some minor pains, though it hadn’t exactly been pleasant on her legs. Now she looked as if she was walking up the building, but that was far too slow for her style.

With a simple press of a button, another silent click was made and Kassandra began swiftly reeling up the building. A fierce look of determination clung to the woman’s face as her dark blonde hair was tossed around by the wind gusting into her. As she drew closer, her determination grew stronger. This wasn’t about getting away or staying alive anymore, if that were the case she would’ve ran away just then, but instead she went head on back into the danger. Kassandra was determined to kick this guy’s ass!

Just before she reached the top, Mister Reaper leaned over the ledge, searching for a sign of her. Using the momentum she had gained from her zip lining, Kassandra flung herself up to the rooftop into a front flip. She easily and skillfully flipped over the surprised Mister Reaper, landing on both feet just inches behind him. With the grappling device still in hand, Kassandra growled as she tried to lunge forward into him. If successful, she would slam her left shoulder into his back, sending him over the ledge and plummeting towards the ground; returning the favor.

((OOC: Again as always, let me know if anything needs to be fixed.))

Mister Reaper walked over to the ledge, with Edgar staying only a few steps behind him, and looked over it with a feeling of dread. How could she not be dead? That was a fairly long fall and would be lethal to anyone that was not a superhuman, although she did have powers, maybe she was beyond mere mortals and had only been playing with him. The villain refused to accept that possibility, no one was a better fighter than him and this woman would be dead in a few moment if she was in fact alive, which she most likely was not.

What he saw once he could see down the side of the building was not what he had wanted to see; the woman was using the same ‘zip-line thing’, the one she had used before, to pull herself back up faster than even he could have climbed. In one swift motion she was doing a flip over him, the man turning around at roughly the same speed so she would not be able to have the advantage of being behind him, and landed neatly in one little spot, barely a single flaw in her form. This woman was beyond the skill of many fighters, even among the ones that the villainous man had killed himself, but he would not allow her this victory. She would be nothing more than a bloody pile on the sidewalk in the morning. In the meantime, as all these thought went through his head, only taking about four quick second, Mister Reaper after all was not nearly as stupid as most people thought he was, a steady stream of blood landed on the ground from his nose, making a small red puddle.

The woman moved forward to push him over the same ledge he had thrown her over only moment before, a typical move. Mister Reaper tried to brace himself for the attack and to deliver an attack of his own at the same time, attempting to punch her square in the jaw, wanting to give her a face to match his own. When he pushed his fist forward in the style he had chosen, one that was well known for its extreme tactics, the woman ducked down and hit him with her left shoulder, but fortunately he had braced his feet and would not fall, then his foot slipped on some gravel he had failed to notice.

He was falling backwards faster than he liked and he did the only thing that even remotely came to his mind; he grabbed for the nearest thing so he would not continue his downward plummet. Unfortunately the only thing that was available to grab was not the most sturdy thing in the world either, grabbing the woman by the same shoulder that she had pushed him with, it being the part of her body still close enough for him to grab, and pulling her into a tight bear hug then quickly said, “Come back here, girlie.” The villain was completely willing to do whatever he could to make a bad situation better, so he would take her with him if that was an option.

‘Dumbass, you should have grabbed the ledge of the building and pulled yourself back up,’ the crow screamed from somewhere on the building. ‘I sure hope you survive the fall. I can’t do much if your dead,’ the unapologetic avian fez wearing blow hard finished. If Mister Reaper lived through this he would kill that damn bird.

Things hadn’t exactly gone according to plan, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t improvise! Mister Reaper was quick enough to turn and face her before she could make her attack, but he was not quick enough to counter it. A mighty punch flew towards her and over her head as she lowered herself, using her great leg strength to propel her into a lunging shoulder ram; Kassandra was known for her extraordinary acrobatic feats. The fearless woman was able to slam her left shoulder into her foe’s midsection, and luckily it was enough to knock him off balance. Mister Reaper was hit hard, and unknown to Kassandra also slipped on some gravel, causing him to fall backwards off the ledge.

That should have been the end of the fight, but her crafty adversary decided to prolong his inevitable defeat. Kassandra was confident she had this fight, well until he made his next move that is. As Mister Reaper fell backwards, he was able to throw a flailing arm at Kassandra, gripping her thick combat gear by the shoulder, and when she heard his taunt, she knew she was in trouble. It was not the most secure grip, but it was more than enough to pull the off guard light woman down with him. “Shit-“ Kassandra growled out as she was forced to join him in his plummet to the alley below.

Unfortunately there was little she could do, she didn’t have nearly enough time to react and escape falling into his bear hug. Surprisingly, despite falling through the air, Mister Reaper had a powerful and agonizing grip on her. Not only was it painful for her, but rather uncomfortable, she had no desire to be this close to the freak, even if he was handsome; especially not when plummeting to her death. “Dumbass! You’ll kill us both!” Kassandra struggled in his grip, but to no avail, she did not have the physical strength to overpower this man. If the two were face to face, she could have put her power to use, but instead her head hung over his shoulder, growling and groaning out in agony as he applied more pressure.

With every passing millisecond the pair drew closer and closer to slamming to the cold hard ground, and that thought actually struck fear into Kassandra; she did not wish to die here by any means. “Let me go, idiot! I can save us both!” The woman frantically attempted to reason with him, but she had no time to waste. If he did not release her immediately, she would have to resort to drastic measures. Kassandra’s pretty little left hand pulsed with power as it opened up like a claw, the veins in it swelling to twice the size. What she had planned was brutal, especially to a man, so for his sake he best he comply. Kassandra was not about to end up as a bloody pile on the floor!

They were falling and there was nothing the villain could do to stop it from happening. This time his lack of thinking had really done him in, he was about to die and he could not stop it, he was as good as dead, but he would not accept it. Despite everything in his last moments he did not want to be alone anymore, wanting someone, anyone, to be with him in the last moments of his life. The only person present to do so was the woman in his arms so for a time he held her as close to himself as he possibly could and waited for the fall. They would die together, something Mister Reaper had truly never wanted to happen. He killed plenty of people but he had never wanted to endure the same end as the rest of those people.

“I don’t want to die,” was all he said. He for the first time in many years felt the emotion he had worked so hard to distance himself from, fear. Then to his amazement the woman spoke too but she was not nearly as accepting of the fate dealt to them as the villain was. She said something about being to save herself and him together. Mister Reaper was not sure how she could do that but he wanted to live and did not at first even think to question if he could trust the woman. But then it happened as if a light had been flipped on with a switch.

“You save the both of us?” Mister Reaper asked with a scared tone to his voice, if this could be happening on a level surface he would be shaking in his boots. “How am I supposed to trust you? We were just trying to kill each other,” he screamed. This was truly a bad time to for his brain to be kicking into high gear and questioning everything. But then almost without even giving to woman a chance to speak he let go of her and put what little trust he had for anyone in her, something he had never done before his entire life. Reaching his hand out to the woman and waiting to see what exactly she would do to save herself and if he was lucky him too, he did not know what else to do.

All he could do now was hope that she would not allow him to die as well.

To most, their deaths were unavoidable at this rate. Not to Kassandra though, she was not ready to die here, not now. She shared the same fear for death Mister Reaper had, but she did not lack the courage to face it. Kassandra never expected such vulnerability from a man like him, he seemed so impervious, so dangerous, but deep down he feared the very thing he did for a living. It made him appear more human to her, and in that brief moment of vulnerability, she saw a piece of the man he really was behind that costume.

Kassandra didn’t bother to answer his questions, there was no time, she was about to give him the terrible ‘grab and twist’, but then he willingly released her. Mister Reaper placed his trust in her, essentially putting his life in her hands; not like he had a choice, but it still showed her something about him. He wasn’t the hardcore psycho serial killer he made himself out to be, no, deep down he was just like the rest of us. For that, he deserved a chance to live, and he was a little interesting too, so she’d keep him alive for now; it’d be a shame to see him end up as roadkill so soon.

The light woman did not fall as quickly as her heavier male adversary, causing her to gain some height on him. It may have seemed like he was going to fall to his death, but she had no intentions of letting him fall any further. One hand still gripped her grappling device, managing to hang onto it despite their plummet to the alley below. That hand flung itself upwards, activating the gadget with a push of a button and a flick of the wrist. The opposite hand was thrown down to Mister Reaper, catching his large hand in her surprisingly powerful tiny one. It was all one fluid motion, adrenaline coursing through her veins and empowering her, possibly the only reason she was able to react so quickly. Gravity was harsh on the two of them, but mainly Kassandra, coming to a sudden halt like that caused some serious pain to her; especially since she was the one to stop them. At the moment, Kassandra could barely feel the crippling agony she would soon endure; if it wasn’t for her super human body, she’d surely have broken something.

Kassandra was a powerful, strong willed woman, capable of holding both their body weights up with pure physical strength. They were suspended in the air, only about five or six stories from the alley below. Small beads of sweat dripped down her forehead as her light brown eyes looked up at the rooftop above; that was one hell of a fall. She grunted through the pain, and refused to let herself give in, holding up Reaper with one hand, and both of their weights with the other. The woman’s light brown eyes left the rooftop and looked down to the man hanging in her grasp. She felt her grip on him slipping in just the slightest, and she had to act quickly otherwise Reaper was in for a fall. ”Hang on- I’ve- Got you.” Kassandra growled and grunted out through the strain she felt, forcing her thumb up to activate the grappling gadget once again. This time, she made the gadget descend them to safety, sending the pair slowly down to the alley below.

When they were only a few yards from the ground, Kassandra released Mister Reaper, simply because she had done him the favor; that was enough. She wasn’t going to softly drop him, check if he was okay, and all that crap, she wasn’t a super hero, he was lucky he even got that. Besides, her body was really, really sore after that.

Kassandra landed skillfully and gracefully beside the man who just clumsily fell to the ground; almost like a ballerina. The grappling device was quickly returned to her utility belt, and surprisingly she did not draw a weapon, or make any attempts to assure her victory. Instead she simply stood over him, looking down at him as if she were superior. “Get to your feet.” The woman’s bold, powerful voice demanded as she crossed her arms over her chest. Kassandra didn’t even give him a chance to respond to her demands, immediately questioning him with a threatening glare. “You’re a real idiot, you know that? Just who the hell do you think you are?” The woman held a fierce expression upon her soft featured face, one that was capable of striking fear into just about anyone; something she was great at. Funny thing is, this was all bluff, nothing but a poker face she was putting up. If he were to challenge her right now, she would more than likely lose due to that stunt she just pulled. Kassandra needed to make sure to not let him know that though…

Mister Reaper fell for what felt like an eternity with every second brining him closer and closer to death and there was nothing he could do to stop it from happening. When he let go of the woman so that she would have a chance at saving him like she promised she would all he could think was that he had made a mistake somehow. If he had to die he did not want to die alone for some strange reason he did not completely understand. True he had been trying to kill the woman before but he had no negative emotions towards her, after all he was simply doing what he did best, exactly what he had always been trained to do. Kill.

He had reached out to the woman before him in the slight hope that she would in fact keep her promise that she would save him, something the villain would most likely never do himself. Quickly enough the woman grabbed his hand and squeezed it hard than he had thought possible of the little girl, he kept himself from moving too much since they were still a good ways off the ground but that would not be the case much longer as they began to slowly descend. The villain now had a good bit of time on his hands given that he had nowhere to go. He was not sure what he should do for the girl but one thing was certain, he could no longer take her life in good conscience. She had risked her life to save his own and he would return the favor in due time.

Once they got close enough to the ground she released him, unexpectedly too, and he fell to the ground and stumbled against the alley wall next to him. The girl hit the ground shortly behind him and said a few words of advice or something the man really did not listen that closely since he now had a lot on his mind. But once the girl finished what she was saying and seemed ready to go Mister Reaper leapt into action, pinning her small frame against the wall by the neck, cutting off her wind pipe for a short time. “You think you have me beat?” he asked her in a low growl, losing was something he did not take lightly. “We’ll just have to wait until next time won’t we?” he then took a moment to apply a little more pressure to her jugular before continuing, “Don’t worry, there will be a next time because I don’t intend to kill someone that just saved me, might not look it but I have some sense of honor.” With his words said he let her go, standing over her for a second and knowing that he could easily end her life right there, he had made a vow and he would keep it.

Taking a step back from the woman and giving her enough room to leave, the man held back enough anger and hatred it seemed unreal, all of it for himself. The woman made him feel weak and he did not like that in the slightest. Although the fight had been a good one and the villain was quite certain he would run into her somewhere down the road. He then looked up to the ceiling above and realized that he had left his mask up on the roof. “No better time to get it then the present,” he said with a small smirk.

Kassandra kept her triumphant pose over him, looking down at the man as if he were inferior while he pulled himself together. Her fierce expression would not waver, popping her shoulders as she awaited a response from her ‘defeated’ adversary. She was not given a verbal response, but instead a physical one. Her agile adversary was capable of lunging into her and pinning her against the wall by her throat before she could even attempt a counter. He’s just lucky she was off guard!

Kassandra hadn't at all expected that from him, she was confident she had him on the ropes. His threatening low growl frightened her at first, but she wouldn’t let it stop her from fighting. She might have been staring death in the eyes, but that didn't stop her before! The courageous woman was struggling for oxygen in his grasp, and as she felt his grip tighten, her legs kicked in retaliation, but to no avail. It was made obvious he had no intentions of killing her when he mentioned a ‘next time’, him applying more pressure and explaining himself was just unnecessary, but it gave her the perfect amount of time to make her move. Even if he had no intentions of killing her, she was no fan of losing either.

While he went on about ‘honor’ or some crap, she was able to silently slip one of her J-941’s out of its holster which rested on the back of her utility belt. Kassandra pushed it into his stomach and slyly smirked at him, managing to cough up before cocking the gun ”Yeah…I think I do.” She coughed up a laugh at him; this woman wasn’t as helpless as the rest of his targets!

Despite her tough act, being strangled really didn’t feel good, especially by a man of his strength, and when he released her, Kassandra fell to the floor gasping for the oxygen she had been lacking. Despite her dizziness, she caught herself on her knees and one hand, making sure to keep the other up and pointed at Mister Reaper. Her firing hand had been rather shaky from what she had just endured, but she refused to take it away from him. She needed to maintain control over the situation, and pointing that gun at him made her believe she had it. “If you think I’m weak, if you think you’re sparing my life…" The stubborn tough woman forced out the bold words despite being out of breath as she pushed herself back to her feet.

Kassandra managed to get back to her feet, standing awkwardly with her knees bent in towards each other. Her firing arm managed to stay straight, but the opposite hung lifeless at her side, the muscles nearly drained from saving his life. “Then you’re wrong.” She huffed out as she viciously stared him down with her light brown eyes, that same determined scowl sticking to her face.

“You’re not going anywhere pretty boy, not til’ I’m through with you.” Kassandra threatened boldly despite her condition, perhaps it was foolish, but she was far too stubborn to give up; she was confident she had this all under control. The woman wanted answers, mainly wanting to know just who the hell this guy was, and why he attacked her. Was it bad luck? Or was this guy sent to kill her?

The woman behind him refused to give in, seemingly to anything, no matter how suicidal it was. The girl had a way of impressing the man though even still he could not help but completely ignore his slight, very slight, admiration he had for her. It was a marvel that after everything that had happened to her she was still able to stand, not a very easy thing to do after the night the two of them had had. Mister Reaper was still looking up to the roof and only half listening, if he was even listening at all, to the woman until he heard her refer to him as ‘pretty boy’ which caught his attention right off the bat.

Looking over to her, Mister Reaper had a twisted grin on his face as he said, “So you think I’m pretty? That’s got to be one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me, don’t think for a moment I can’t tell you’re totally checking me out.” He began to walk back towards the woman as though they had never so much as tried to kill each other and had instead been long friends that had accidently bumped into one another after many years. “You know if you didn’t scowl so much I might actually think you’re pretty enough to go out with,” the villain said with a dry laugh. “You’re too serious. All work and no play makes for a very boring date you know?”

Then turning back around, as though he was already not paying attention to whatever the woman had to say and began to walk off again. Slowing his step for a moment in thought until he began to speak to the woman, as he walked slowly, “I wasn’t sent to kill you or anything. Me running into your fine butt was simply a really crazy accident. You should really think about not being so paranoid,” and with that said the man stopped. “Though I guess I’m not much of one to talk since I haven’t slept in the past two day or bathed in the last three since I’m afraid of someone trying to kill me,” though he acted as though everything were alright his voice dropped an octave or two as though his voice revealed what his body, and his mind, would not. Sadness.

The evil man then began to walk away again as though he were on top of the world and waved his hand to the woman. He never looked back to see if she were still there with a gun trained on him, not like she would even be able to hit him with how badly she was quivering from fatigue. As he rounded the corner he felt something hit his shoulder, looking over he saw that it was his mask. The same one he had taken off in the center of the building. Looking up he saw Edgar perched on the ledge with his typical cocky expression, flapping his wings the bird was gone. Mister Reaper began to walk faster, he would need a new home for the night.

When he began to walk backwards towards her, her body told her to pull the trigger, but she hesitated. Something in her head wouldn’t let her kill this guy. She hated that stupid thought and wanted to kill it, but clearly couldn’t. This Reaper guy sure talked a lot, and what came out of his mouth always seemed like stupid rambling. Kassandra could barely muster up a laugh, coughing it up as she forced out the words. “Like I’d ever…date a freak- like you.”

When the creep spun around to look her in the eyes, the stubborn woman weakly pointed her gun towards his face. She breathed deeply through her nose, trying to get some strength back, but despite her frail state she believed she had the power to end it. Kassandra still chose not to blow his face off, something kept telling her to keep this idiot alive. She had no words to say to him, all she could do was scowl and flare her nostrils, frustrated that she couldn’t understand her own thoughts and emotions, frustrated that she couldn’t just kill his ass. Killing him seemed so much easier right now.

“Shut up already…Just…Get out of here- before I change my mind…” Kassandra said as she cut her eyes away from him and lowered her gun to her side. She looked pissed, the kind of look that you ran away from when you saw it on a woman. Reaper complied to her wishes, whether it was for him or her, at least he was gone now. When he rounded the corner, she fell down to her hands and knees, not wanting to force herself to her feet anymore. Kassandra was a tough woman, she’d recover quickly, she just needed a little time. She fell back onto her bottom, sitting there for a moment looking down at her gun. “What the hell is wrong with me…?” Kassandra closed her eyes and shook her head, she was disappointed with herself. At the very least, she got her gems, and that idiot didn’t.

The tough woman returned the gun back to its holster and gave herself a minute before bringing herself back to her feet. Now to go ‘home’, wash up, and get some well deserved beauty sleep.