Ben Lockwood | werewolf OC | slave AUwerewolf_hackerOctober 12 2012, 05:51:38 UTC
[Ben isn't allowed a last name anymore. However, he's held onto his very Particular Skill Set, which is kicking the asses of opponents much larger than he is. And it's on display for all and sundry in the fighting pits, in front of a boisterous crowd. The betting windows are doing booming business, because he has also garnered a Reputation, and there's not an empty seat in the house, not for this one.
He's up against a pair of werewolves; one has stayed human, and the other stalks around him in wolf body, nearly five hundred pounds of teeth and claws. Ben is still human, at least for now, sizing up his adversaries and the appalling odds. He hates this, hates hurting other slaves, but it's not a fight to the death (this time), and they heal, after all.
The two he's up against, however, look like they'll actually enjoy taking him down a peg. His chin comes up. Well. They can try.]
in which we get wibbly-wobbly with timelines? :DinwhichwarOctober 12 2012, 15:19:17 UTC
[Kati has no great love for the pits, even if she holds no real opinion on slavery as an institution. It's been a thing for as long as she's been alive, at least in the parts of the world where she has spent her time, and she's as blind to it as a fish would be to seaweed. Perhaps it's a hideous institution; so are most of the institutions she's dealt with. So is the institution she's part of.
The Organization has their hand in the slavery game, of course. There is little in the U.S. and much less in Europe that they don't have their hand in, at least in a small way. Particularly if it's nasty and brutish and lucrative, the way slavery is -- the way the Pits are.
Which is why the small contingent of Organized men and women with whom she's currently assigned to work are here; they have business with the man who owns the place, a fat, greasy, piggish little bureaucrat who has not been forthright with the Organization about his profits. It's a nasty job, coming after a nasty man in a nasty way in a nasty placeAnd it doesn't bother
( ... )
It is an AU. We can do what we want. \o/werewolf_hackerOctober 12 2012, 17:16:20 UTC
[The pit owner has his own stable of fighters, and Ben is one of them. The man used some of his profits, a few months ago, to surgically correct the damage the Hellhound did to Ben's leg--they'd grown him an entire new calf muscle from his own stem cells and replaced the damaged one.
He's as whole as science can make him, which his opponents find out to their detriment. The human comes in from the right and the wolf from the left, and Ben, who is not an idiot and knows better than to let a larger opponent close with him, slides away from both of them. He delivers a kick to the human's knee and scores the wolf's back with his claws in passing, but they don't touch him.
[The Organization's people are watching the whole thing from the owner's private box, much to the fat little man's disgruntlement. Kati isn't dealing with him directly -- she brought an Organization accountant with them for that. He's a tall, cadaverous man with long, narrow hands who gestures in an exquisitely threatening way while he talks, and he's very, very good at convincing people of the errors of their ways with regards to trying to shortchange the Organization.
He's doing all the talking, pointedly ignoring the match going on in the arena below. Kati, on the other hand, is keeping an eye on all of their surroundings, all the various ways things could go badly for them. That keen eye is what's kept her alive and made her so good at what she does. The fight draws only a fraction of her attention, which is also caught up with exits, entrances, weapons, men, bystanders, the best place to start a fire or an explosion to bring the place down on the fat man's head if needs be
( ... )
[They're all fast, but the human is limping now and the wolf is bleeding. The wolf snarls and lunges, and Ben plays him like a toreador with a maddened bull, dodging aside and missing getting bitten by a hairsbreadth.
That slight distraction gives the human an edge, however, and he aims a hard punch at the base of Ben's skull, from behind. Ben sees it coming barely in time, and the blow nearly takes his ear off instead. Ben follows through with his duck by delivering a spinning kick to the human's solar plexus, driving him back a couple of steps. And then the wolf is at him again.
Ben fights with a calculated grace honed by decades of demon-hunting and PI work. And the only reason he's fighting to win is because he doesn't enjoy getting hurt. He's seen the odds, up on the scoreboard. And he bares his teeth in a feral grin. He knows which way his Master bet.
[The fat man gestures in dismay, trying and failing to crane his neck so he can see past the accountant and watch the match unhindered. "It's all very well for you people to say that, but you don't know the workings of my business . . ."
"We do, in fact." The accountant has a lovely voice, Kati reflects distantly; sonorous and soothing and beautifully even in tone. It manages to make him all the more frightening, which is also a benefit. "We've taken very careful notes."]
[It's almost like a dance, what they're doing. Strike and parry and dodge, and blood flies and bruises bloom. The sand in the arena gets sticky in places, and the crowd responds with oohs and ahhs and ouches when one of them gets a good strike in.
[There's a collective gasp and the owner of the place all but surges out of his seat, although he reconsiders the wisdom of that when one of Kati's men makes a warning noise and his wrist flexes, ever so slightly, towards his gun.
Kati, on the other hand, neither gasps nor starts. She just tilts her head slowly to one side, watching closely.]
[Ben's adversaries aren't slow to follow up on their advantage, and as he rolls to his feet the wolf hits him in the side and sends him sprawling again. Huge jaws snatch for his shoulder, and Ben tucks it away and rolls more. He's badly bitten anyway, and blood is running freely down his arm when he manages to stagger to his feet.
Oh, he's making this look very good. His teeth are bared. Only a lunatic would mistake the expression for a smile, but that's exactly what it is.
[Kati's expression doesn't change; she doesn't look away from the arena, even as the accountant calmly goes back to enumerating the many ways in which the fat man will be well and truly screwed if he doesn't pony up what he owes them and stop holding out on them.
It's a substantial amount of money, and given the way his fortunes are currently going? The fat man is not sanguine, obviously, about paying it out.]
[The wolf finally gets the hold he wants on Ben's hip, and fangs as long as thumbs sink down to the bone. The wolf flings Ben to the sand with a casual flip of his powerful neck, and Ben tries to roll with it. But the human is right there, pushing him back down to his stomach by grabbing Ben's wrist. He twists it up between his shoulder blades and shoves a knee into the small of his back while grabbing his hair and wrenching his head aside, exposing Ben's throat.
The wolf is there, too, huffing his hot breath into Ben's ear, jaws an inch from his carotid artery. "Well?" the human says.
And Ben nods once, jerkily, while the crowd groans in disappointment.
[Kati turns, finally, from surveying the rest of the place, while the accountant makes a blatantly unsympathetic face at the fat man. "Bad luck for you. Nowhere as bad as it could be if you continue to hold out on your benefactors, however."
The owner of the Pit spreads his hands. "Do you know how much money I've just lost, money the house has to pay out? Aren't you going to take that into any kind of consideration?"
The accountant's placid expression does not waver. "We are all businesspeople here, sir. We take into account the risks of business. We expect our debtors to do the same."
And Kati finally speaks up, her voice equally placid, equally threatening.]
We will take what is owed us, domuz. And the wolf down there, we will take that also. And you may thank us for being so generous as to not kill you or to bring down the place about your ears for cheating us, are we understood
( ... )
[The wolf wranglers hustle Ben and the other two out of the arena and into the infirmary, where their injuries are tended to. At least Ben's not too damaged this time; none of his bones are actually broken, although a couple of ribs might be cracked and he'll be moving carefully for the next couple of days.
He just cost his Master, whom he doesn't like, a shitload of money.
[Said Master blanches and stammers and protests, and Kati regards him with a cool and distant sort of interest while he does it.]
Am I understanding, then, that even after Mister Phillips has been so very patient in explaining to you why it is you owe us money, you still are refusing to pay it? That seems to me not very wise, but what is it I know? God knows if there are men who enjoy suffering I am not so cruel as to protect them from it.
["That wolf is a valuable asset to my business!" Besides, if these people confiscate Ben, then his Master won't be able to take that humiliating loss out of his hide, he can't say.
Phillips just raises an eyebrow, and the pit owner throws up his hands. "Fine! Take it! Even though it's worth far more than what you think I owe you."
Ben, meanwhile, is escorted back to his eight-by-eight windowless cell. It's equipped with a frictionless toilet and a rough blanket and not much else. He's unaware that he's about to change hands, yet again.]
[Instantly Kati is all smiles. It's actually a little unsettling, honestly.]
Sehr gut. Marvelous. I told these fellows you were a reasonable man. Matthieu and James, you will be so good as to go downstairs and take delivery on our new property while this gentleman pays Mister Phillips what is owed us.
He's up against a pair of werewolves; one has stayed human, and the other stalks around him in wolf body, nearly five hundred pounds of teeth and claws. Ben is still human, at least for now, sizing up his adversaries and the appalling odds. He hates this, hates hurting other slaves, but it's not a fight to the death (this time), and they heal, after all.
The two he's up against, however, look like they'll actually enjoy taking him down a peg. His chin comes up. Well. They can try.]
((OOC: 'Verse info here.))
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The Organization has their hand in the slavery game, of course. There is little in the U.S. and much less in Europe that they don't have their hand in, at least in a small way. Particularly if it's nasty and brutish and lucrative, the way slavery is -- the way the Pits are.
Which is why the small contingent of Organized men and women with whom she's currently assigned to work are here; they have business with the man who owns the place, a fat, greasy, piggish little bureaucrat who has not been forthright with the Organization about his profits. It's a nasty job, coming after a nasty man in a nasty way in a nasty placeAnd it doesn't bother ( ... )
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He's as whole as science can make him, which his opponents find out to their detriment. The human comes in from the right and the wolf from the left, and Ben, who is not an idiot and knows better than to let a larger opponent close with him, slides away from both of them. He delivers a kick to the human's knee and scores the wolf's back with his claws in passing, but they don't touch him.
The crowd roars its approval.]
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He's doing all the talking, pointedly ignoring the match going on in the arena below. Kati, on the other hand, is keeping an eye on all of their surroundings, all the various ways things could go badly for them. That keen eye is what's kept her alive and made her so good at what she does. The fight draws only a fraction of her attention, which is also caught up with exits, entrances, weapons, men, bystanders, the best place to start a fire or an explosion to bring the place down on the fat man's head if needs be ( ... )
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That slight distraction gives the human an edge, however, and he aims a hard punch at the base of Ben's skull, from behind. Ben sees it coming barely in time, and the blow nearly takes his ear off instead. Ben follows through with his duck by delivering a spinning kick to the human's solar plexus, driving him back a couple of steps. And then the wolf is at him again.
Ben fights with a calculated grace honed by decades of demon-hunting and PI work. And the only reason he's fighting to win is because he doesn't enjoy getting hurt. He's seen the odds, up on the scoreboard. And he bares his teeth in a feral grin. He knows which way his Master bet.
And now he's got a way of sticking it to him.
He'd better make it look good, though.]
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"We do, in fact." The accountant has a lovely voice, Kati reflects distantly; sonorous and soothing and beautifully even in tone. It manages to make him all the more frightening, which is also a benefit. "We've taken very careful notes."]
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And then Ben slips.]
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Kati, on the other hand, neither gasps nor starts. She just tilts her head slowly to one side, watching closely.]
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Oh, he's making this look very good. His teeth are bared. Only a lunatic would mistake the expression for a smile, but that's exactly what it is.
It's a terrifying expression, actually.]
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It's a substantial amount of money, and given the way his fortunes are currently going? The fat man is not sanguine, obviously, about paying it out.]
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The wolf is there, too, huffing his hot breath into Ben's ear, jaws an inch from his carotid artery. "Well?" the human says.
And Ben nods once, jerkily, while the crowd groans in disappointment.
His Master has gone positively gray.]
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The owner of the Pit spreads his hands. "Do you know how much money I've just lost, money the house has to pay out? Aren't you going to take that into any kind of consideration?"
The accountant's placid expression does not waver. "We are all businesspeople here, sir. We take into account the risks of business. We expect our debtors to do the same."
And Kati finally speaks up, her voice equally placid, equally threatening.]
We will take what is owed us, domuz. And the wolf down there, we will take that also. And you may thank us for being so generous as to not kill you or to bring down the place about your ears for cheating us, are we understood ( ... )
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He just cost his Master, whom he doesn't like, a shitload of money.
It's as happy as he gets, anymore.]
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Am I understanding, then, that even after Mister Phillips has been so very patient in explaining to you why it is you owe us money, you still are refusing to pay it? That seems to me not very wise, but what is it I know? God knows if there are men who enjoy suffering I am not so cruel as to protect them from it.
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Phillips just raises an eyebrow, and the pit owner throws up his hands. "Fine! Take it! Even though it's worth far more than what you think I owe you."
Ben, meanwhile, is escorted back to his eight-by-eight windowless cell. It's equipped with a frictionless toilet and a rough blanket and not much else. He's unaware that he's about to change hands, yet again.]
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Sehr gut. Marvelous. I told these fellows you were a reasonable man. Matthieu and James, you will be so good as to go downstairs and take delivery on our new property while this gentleman pays Mister Phillips what is owed us.
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