Crackdown in Chicago (closed to Sadico)

A small figure huddled in the alley under an old, crumbling blanked that smelled oddly like potatoes. Renata liked this alley at least as much as any other that didn't smell like old garbage. Then again, the alleys behind restaurants often had food that hadn't started to rot or grow mold yet. It was a toss-up, but she had chosen this one for now.

Her hands were trembling again. This wasn't good. The last time this had happened, she'd gone mad until she started moving again. Maybe this quiet alley wasn't such a good idea after all. She needed one with noise.... no, music! She missed music. The dull murmurs she heard from inside the insulated buildings didn't count, either.

Then the noise came very suddenly. It came to her like the rhythms of a deep bass drum echoing off the walls of the hallow alley. Then screaming. Whose screaming was it? But it did not matter any more. Renata's hand stopped shaking as soon as she was on her feet again. Her eyes dilated until there was nothing but black pits within. Adrenaline pumped to her heart to make it match the rhythms of the drum beat.

As soon as the potato-drenched rags flew off of her, she was on her feet and the cop was on his ass. She rocked back and forth in her hypnotic, trance-inducing ginga motions. She did not know who she was fighting. But at last... the fight had come to her.

It had been the attacking police officer that she had hit first. And in doing so, she had chosen her side in the fight. It had not been a conscious decision, but sometimes fate made choices when we cannot do so for ourselves. Renata was not in the best state to make her own decisions anyways, which was why she released her mind to the endless beating drum of her heart.

More cops were down, but some were still standing. The uniforms were a clear target for her now, as the first blow she had landed was on one of their own. A shot was fired her way, but the deceptive movements of her ginga threw off the aim of the hands holding the pistol.

Renata performed a series of confusing flips and lunges to position herself before the cop, then extended a long thorn from her arm into his shoulder. He dropped his pistol right away and fell to her mercy. Renata was not finished though, as another cop was still conscious of his own actions. Her thorn withdrew and pulled the cop into her, who was then thrown towards Mack and the cop he was facing.

The two cops collided and found a nearby dumpster in one fluid motion. They passed out... she kept moving. She did not want the trembling to return to her... and one man was still standing. But he wore no uniform.... who was he?

The girl knew how to fight. "That was a good move there. What's your name?". Mack was curious. He had met all sorts of people, but she was different. "Call me Mack".

((Sorry for short post))

Thump, thump, thump... the beating drum in her heart kept beating and urging her to continue dancing to its beat. She continued to sway back and forth in her ginga like a coiled snake ready to strike. She heard the words from the last man standing, but they were easily muffled behind the endless beating that dictated her mind, body, and soul. Only the pain of several thorns ripping through her own flesh from within registered to her senses. Sweet, glorious pain.

Why does he just stand there? she thought to herself. Come at me! Why aren't you finishing this?!! "WHY?" The last word was vocalized as a sudden shout. It had nothing to do with anything Mack had said and everything to do with her own inner thoughts. Anyone not privy to her dysfunctional mind would be terribly confused at her single shouted word.

Her eyes twitched away from Mack momentarily at the sound of the distant sirens. Her attention was quickly back on him though as quickly as someone could blink their eyes. She shuffled up closer to him in a smooth weaving series of motions that placed her right in his face. The madness in her eyes was no longer hidden by the gloom of the night and glared menacingly into him. At her disturbingly close proximity, the deep beating of her heart reverberated out of her body and into his ears. Now that she was standing still, each beat of her heart caused her limbs to twitch.

Renata cocked her head to the side. "What is it you know? You one of them?" To punctuate her anxious question, her arm twitched out to the side and pointed at the alley. The sirens grew nearer as if summoned by her motioning arm. "Won't find me again... no. Now I go by Sadico." Her mouth curled into a wicked grin that showed off the surprisingly bright whites of her teeth.

Mack may be quick, but Renata was an unmatched acrobat. Her silent form scaled the side of the buildings with effortless leaps and weaves. She continued to throw herself along the sides of the buildings without seeking the roofs until she was on a ledge right beneath Mack. She sprung herself into a one-armed handstand on the ledge before him and held the position as if she were standing on even ground with her two feet.

"And where are you going? Was not done with you." She arched her back at an extreme angle until she was once again on her feet, just inches from the ledge behind her. "You and them..." she gestured to the cop cars that raced by the streets beneath them to the scene of the crime. "They do not like you. Who are you?"