Five Card Stud: Gambler vs Mark

Gambler had been tracking an unknown vigilantly across the rooftops in downton Manhattan. The LeS had taken a special interest in a up an coming team called the Bladed Angles, and Mark1212 was one of their newest recruits. The King of Kings watched as his target gracefully made his way across the Manhattan skyline, careful not to give away his position just yet. Remaining perched in a crouching position his red eyes blazed before dropping down behind Mark1212 and saying,

"Tonight tis your lucky night. Either you survive and become a legend, or you die and no one remembers your name."

Mark had been moving across the rooftops of Manhattan. Along way from Florida. He was here on a mission. His target was supposed to be a rich Mafian with ties of drugs being imported all over the country. Mark was looking side to side looking at building windows. "It's a good place to vacation." Mark said to himself happily as he was in the middle of a jump to a building vertical from him. But this wasn't going to last. From behind Mark heard something drop from behind him,but he never moved his body because the person behind him had spoken.

"Tonight tis your lucky night. Either you survive and become a legend, or you die and no one remembers your name."

That chilled Mark to the bone. He quickly turned his body and took a step back. This strange personlooked like Gambler. A very good fighter. "What did i get myself into " Mark said as he unstraped and pulled out his silver black handled pistols. He attempted shooting gambler three times before quickley duplicating himself ten times. Turning around his duplicates followed him as they ran from the building G was still on. " This was a bad choice in a fight" said Mark smiling to himself as he turned a corner" but at least i get a challange."

The Bladed Angel seemed apprehensive as he took a step back not sure what to make of the Cajun. But then suddenly he displayed the steel nerve that had made him one of the BA’s most highly recruited members. Three shots rang out in the night with expert marksmanship. Immediately Gambler displayed his acrobatic prowess and superhuman speed attempting to dodge the silver streaks cutting through the air. Bending backwards and then spinning to the ground he managed to dodge all but one bullet which fond itself plunging into the right hand of the Cajun and exploding out the otherside.

Not since facing Last Arrow had Gambler been hit by a bullet. It was an accomplishment that he held in high regards. But now that was over as he stared at the tennis ball sized hole in his hand. His anger and disbelief drowned out any pain he was to feel. Mark wasted no time in creating several duplicates of himself and fleeing off the roof and around a corner. Gambler tore a piece of his shirt and wrapped it around the wound before dashing towards the edge of the building. Leaping off in a swan dive position towards the wall of the building across the way, he flipped over at the last minute letting his legs hit and coil like a spring before shooting back across towards the building he had just leapt from. He continued this series of maneuvers dropping lower each time until he was close enough to the ground to freefall.

His blood had been spilled and his arrogance and pride damaged. There was no way he was going to let Mark slip away. As he rounded the corner an oncoming car slammed on the breaks trying to avoid the reckless Cajun. Planting his good hand down on the hood Gambler used it to vault himself up and over in a front handspring landing on the otherside of the car and continuing to give chase. Off in the distance the distinctive sound of Police sirens echoed as they got closer, no doubt the result of the gun play. However Gambler and Mark where heading away from the scene and paid no attention. The Master of Manipulation could see Mark, or at least one of his duplicates up ahead. Without so much as a care Gambler broke from the sidewalk into the middle of the street running up the front of one car and jumping to the one behind it. Drivers cursed out their windows as the assassin ran across the tops of their vehicles closing in on his target.

In one swift movement Gambler cartwheel flipped off a car while reaching into his trenchcoat and removing a kinetically charged card  hurling it at who he believed was the real Mark. As he landed he rolled into a summersault as to avoid the debris his attack caused when it slammed into the wall of a local eatery. Dust and pieces of brick where sent flying. Mark’s ability to duplicate himself was proving useful. Gambler pressed on ducking into a nearby alley after losing sight of his target. A single swinging lamp swayed back an forth as he slowly walked. In a flash he pulled out several charged cards as a bum accidentally dropped his bottle causing it to roll across the ground. A move that almost ended the pathetic bastards life. Angered the Cajun yelled out,

“Dat was a nice shot back dhere. Tis been along time since someone get dee drop on Gambler. Why not come out and try dat again Mon Chere”

PAST
Mark had thought about what happened before the fight." Mark your target is a Mafian drug lord with ties to drugs across the country" said Ruin Cross the BA's leader. Mark had easily started his mission by taking the briefing paper and walked out of the room. Moving to his room he started up gathering two bag's. Grabbig the first one Mark had no thoughts as he quickly grabbed his sword's and uniform."This will be to easy." Mark recited as he looked down and zipped the bag. Taking a smaller bag he filled it with his pistols and started towards a small helicopter on the other side of the island. Walking out the front of the castle Mark moved left walking into a path next to lush green menacing trees."One day we need some dang lights around here it's to dark." Said Mark walking onto the helipad. Grabbing a pair of helicopter key's he opened the door and jumped in. Mark was young so he was inmature with flying as he tilted it to the left and right. Finnaly making it to Manhattan Mark landed on a BA owned building . It was closed to 8 and Mark quickley saddled up grabbing his pistol's and sword's and putting his unifrom on. Jumping of the building Mark quickly made it to where he was about to find his fight. Not knowing that yet.


PRESENT
Mark had thought he was ahead of his target dropping on a car that smashed in from his landing. Running into the street his duplicats had gone in different directions. Mark had gone about a hundred feet from his last sighting with Gambler and already heard the sirens. Holding his guns in his hand's he felt one of his duplicates being  deystroyed. He had the memory and now knew that his duplicate had been toppled in a mountain of debris in a Local eatery."Hmm.... this is  going to be harder than i thought " Mark said to himself thinking. "Well now here we go." As Mark de duplicated his duplicates which dissappered from the earth back to simple eneregy.  The last thing he heard from his fallen duplicate was the voice of gambler"Dat was a nice shot back dehere.Tis been along time since someone get dee drop on Gambler. Why not come out and try dat again Mon Chere." Mark thought the voice was alittle more Italian to him . Changing his directoin towards where the fallen eatery was Mark clicked his gun's ready to take a shot at any cost."I really hit him" Mark said with a smirk.
 

Making sure to put on the BA brass knuckles Mark made it to the spot where Gambler was. Mark was on a building and had seen Gambler put up three telekenetic card's at a bum mark now thought his opponent was uneasy. Making his move Mark attempted at shooting his target four times while moving towards the street. Dropping down mark picked up a car on the side of the road and threw it down the alley he thought his target was in. Making a quick strap and unstrap Mark had been able to take his swords out with ease." To easy" Mark thought doubtfull. Making a jump over the car he had thrown he slashed where he thought gambler was. Making a quick dart in the air Mark stopped at the end of the alley where the cars where. He could here the sirens off in the distance coming closer."Gotta finish this quick " Mark thought as he made 5 more duplicates. That followed him as he moved in a defensive movement crossing his swords.

Screaming defiantly Mark said " You asked for me can you take the heat."
 .

As he carefully continued down the alley the purple aura of his cards illuminated the area. Suddenly Mark began raining bullets down on the unsuspecting Cajun. Luckily the first shot only grazed his cheek allowing him to utilize his superhuman agility to out maneuver the rest. A trickle of blood began to drip from his face but he had no time to worry about it as the superhumanly strong Bladed Angel affiliate lifted and launched a nearby car towards the leader of the LeS. Gambler smirked as he raised his hand causing the car to stop in midair and hover. Surprisingly however Mark displayed uncanny speed springing in front of the vehicle he had tossed and slashing at Gambler with his now unsheathed swords.

The Cajun quickly dropped to his knees losing his telekinetic hold on the car but also avoided the lethal strikes made by his opponent. The car dropped harmlessly to the ground as Mark transitioned into a defense stance, crossing his swords while creating five more duplicates of himself. Gambler rolled back onto his shoulders before executing a no handed kip up back to his feet. As he wiped his bloody cheek with the backside of his hand he could hear the now confident Mark yell out,

“You asked for me can you take the heat."

A slow Cheshire Car grin began to sweep across the face of the now enraged Cajun. Without hesitation he charged towards the five identical looking Marks. Unleashing an offensive barrage that was both stunning as well as breathtaking. He launched himself into a corkscrew butterfly kick aimed for the head of one of the Marks. Unable to tell which one was the real one Gambler simply attacked in one continues motion. Using his momentum he dropped down on one hand using it to balance his body as he swung his legs around attempting to sweep the legs of another Mark duplicate. His body spun itself out of the Capoeira attack and into the patented roundhouse kick of Akira Overdrive. Gambler’s photographic reflexes duplicated the move with ease. Without hesitation he continued, now mimicking the movements of  Last Arrow he vaulted his body upside down into a bicycle kick attempting to tag yet another duplicate.

With his superhuman speed the attacks where coming at almost a blinding pace. Giving himself a running start he charged at the last Mark flipping up above the man who had managed to draw his blood on two occasions. A flick of the wrist produced three glowing cards fanned out between his fingers as he glided overhead. Before landing he rained his kinetically charged cards down on Mark hoping to tag the Bladed Angel.

Mark had been amazed when he saw G levitate the car he had thrown. When he tried to slashat him  his swords had only hit the car. Mark was now dissapointed. Seeing Gambler making lightning speed movements he had been hit by the bicycle kick flying him into a nearby wall. He could still see Gambler Making out like a bandit hitting hit at his duplicates."At least i'm not them " thought Mark as he fell on the floor. His amazment stopped after he saw the finnal blow to the last standing duplicate. The three kinetically cards rained on Mark's duplicate which blew up flying nothing just dissapering. After that the others dissapered."Damn know i don't want to be him." said Mark inpressed
 
        Getting up slowly Mark picked his left arm up and wiped some blood that had splatered from the kick. Wiping it on the wall Mark  continued to get up and whipped his body around causing all the debres dropping on to the floor  from falling into the wall.Laughing Mark said"Nice job but if it was that easy anyone could beat me." Picking his swords up Mark mae 5 new clones to replace the last ones. Two of them were on the roof and the other three where on the ground.As his clones un sheathed there swords Mark said.

"Time to hurt."

Jumping in the air Mark  jumped over his opponent running back to the street. As his clones attempted to slash at G Mark grabbed a Light Pole and pulled it out of the ground. When he came around the corner his clones spread to the buildings. When they were out of harms way Mark started his barrage. Swaying the pole left to right with his super strength the young teenager started to pull towards his target. Slamming the pole 3 times towards Gambler he wouldn't know if it would hit and decided to just go with the flow and dropped it . Leaving the massive pole on the ground Mark telepathicly moved his clones infront of the entrances of the alley.  Running towards G he used his flight abiliaty to move on the side of the wall. As Mark made a giant leap towards the target he felt bad for what his target would feel after this fight. Probably dissapointed said Mark as he attempted to slash his opponents face.

Moving back into the shadow's Mark hoped that Gambler wouldn't see where he had gone. Tapping into his clones Mark spoke in there body's." Your move G."

Gambler had managed to connect sending Mark crashing into a nearby wall leaving behind a small crater. He was disappointed however that his kinetically charged attack had been  wasted upon yet another duplicate. The Bladed Angel had perfected the technique of creating his doubles making it all but impossible for Gambler to locate the real one. The two combatants briefly stared one another down before Mark picked his dual swords back up off the ground. In an instant he created five new copies taking up different positions around the Cajun.

Using an impressive acrobatic feat the warrior flipped over Gambler while at the same time he clones attacked. Caught off guard the duplicates converged and attacked, surprisingly though their attacks where not meant to cause harm. Instead the quick thinking Mark had used them to create a diversion. With his superhuman strength the Bladed Angel ripped a light pull from its foundation frantically swinging it in hopes of clobbering the LeS assassin. Gambler managed to drop to the ground flattening himself out to avoid the first strike, before performing yet another no handed kip up back to his feet. Utilizing his own acrobatic ability the Cajun corkscrew flipped over the second strike mimicking the movements of the legendary hero Kurrent.

But the move had caused him to hang in the air to long allowing Mark to tee off on him like Barry Bonds. Gambler’s body was sent flying down the alley skipping across the unforgiving ground. Slowly the King of Kings tried to get to his feet but stumbled back to one knee, blood flowing from his mouth and nose. Showing experience beyond his years the vigilante gathered his clones at the front of the alley while he himself took the fight to the downed assassin. Springing off the wall with style and grace he slashed the side of Gambler’s face causing even more blood to spray against the alley wall.

By now people in the neighborhood had started to gather do to all the explosions and noise. Police where busy trying to contain the area making sure no one got to close by blocking off the alley and nearby streets. News choppers flew overhead shinning their spot lights down on the dueling fighters, broadcasting the unbelievable story to the world. Mark was giving the arrogant Cajun more then he had bargained for, but the fight was far from over. A blood drenched smirk ran across the face of Gambler as he spit off to the side, regaining his composure and standing up.

The Bladed Angel had disappeared into what little shadows remained, watching and waiting for the Cajun’s next move. Placing one hand on the alley wall it began to glow and hum with energy. Spinning around in a 180 degree turn Gambler ran halfway up the otherside of the alley before vaulting off grabbing hold of a fire escape swinging himself up while simultaneously whipping a charged card behind him at the glowing wall. As the massive explosion engulfed the alley the Cajun dove from the fire escape and into an apartment window. The blaze from the blast was right behind him, shooting over the top of his body as he somersaulted through the window and into an unsuspecting families front room.

“Dat was even a lil to close for me” he said with a smile.

Panic stricken and confused the family huddled around one another hoping the worst was over.

“Keys, give me your car keys” demanded Gambler

Without hesitation the man dug into his pocket and flipped Gambler his car keys. Snagging the keys out of the air the always charismatic Cajun flashed the man’s wife a wink and his trademark smile before bolting out the door. Once outside in the hall he know the elevator was a trap waiting to happing. So placing his hand on the stair railing he hurdled over the side and dropped to the ground landing in a crouched position. Cop cars where already skidding to a stop out front of the building blocking Gambler’s access to the man’s car. After one deep breath he burst through main door windows unleashing the last of his kinetically charged cards sending the cops diving for cover as their patrol cars went up in a blaze. Black smoke was rolling high into the air from to different areas now. Sadly the attack had destroyed the get away car, leaving Gambler without an exit strategy.

Mark had seen Gambler move up the stair case and threw a kenetic card that Mark jumped to the other side to avoid. But the after shock of the blast blew him into the wall and covered in rubble. Before this the last thing he saw was Gambler jumping into a Apartment building. "3rd floor "Mark gasped as he was covered.He's on the third floor Mark said to himself as he moved his clones up into the third floor chase him now! As he saw through his clones they were already on the 3 floor and rushing into the window.Punching into the debres ontop of him Mark slowly got up. He always had blood coming out of his mouth. So he un hesiently wiped his mouth and pulled out a tooth from his mouth that was about to fall out. As he did this a new tooth appeared. "I'm so happy that my WHOLE body regenerats. Best thing that could of happened to me." Mark said as saw police rushing into the alley(What was left of it) As they saw him they all recited at the same time" Get up or be shot. "Mark decided not to listen to them but he got up. Getting up he duplicated himself even more. As he went up the emergency ladder the last thing he saw before he went into the window was his clones apprehending the police" Why do they bother" Mark said tohimself happily that he hadn't gotten shot.

"Where did he go." Mark said to the family as his clones began to form behind him they were 10 in total. "Thh...hh....aa..tt ww.......aa.....yyy." The small daughter of the family said. Mark noticed she looked about 11.Grabbing his wallet Mark pulled out about 4 wades of four hundred thousand  dollars. Throwing it at the child she caught it." Sorry for the interuption" Mark said as he walked out seeing the little girl smile. "He wouldnt take the elevator " So Mark went down the stairs. As he opened the door he saw G right there in the middle of the parking lot completly surroneded in nothing but cars and rubble."Take him out." Mark said with his finger pointed at the lone man. Seeing the helecopter Mark flew straight up infront of it. "Move Downnnnnnnn..............." Mark said pissed off "land on the building or i'll land this for you." When the helicopter pilot had heard this he moved his plane on the building. As the speedwings stopped Mark wrapped them in a small ball so this helicopter could not flly off. Dropping down Mark saw his 10 clones vigorously sliceing at his opponent. Dropping infront of the fight Mark unstraped his pistols and let out a barrage of fire towards hs target. As the guns ran out of magzs
 
Mark threw them to the side and began to attempt a front flip kick towards his enemy . Trying a double kick flip Mark worked galliantly as he knew his skills were no where near this Cajun. Mark had figured he was a Cajun from his learnings at the BA castle. This guy was one of the head honchos. He called himself the king of kings ."hmph not much of a king hahahhahhahha. But I admire his skill in the arts." As Mark attempted to get his enemy on the floor Mark dropped and and side kicked towards his enemy's feet. Hearing the sirens Mark left his clones to do this as he un cluttered a fallen police car. Grabbing it with one hand Mark attempted to throw it at his enemy.

"ci senor find a better way to get out of the hot spot."

As he heard the sirens behind him Mark created 100 clones for a distractioin as he jumped over his enemy. "Fallo me this way i don't like police getting in the way." As Mark landed he took off towards a emergency ladder and climbed up ontop of the building ."Police can't get me here."  As he overlooked this situation Mark would of loved to never have fired those bullets." Now i gatta deal with this."  Moving left a couple of feet Mark watched the emergency ladder. Telepathicly he said to G

" Your move or do you wanna get caught by the POPO."