Awakening [CLOSED]

"What do you mean Epsilon is only halfway through the locks?" 

Derry was on the phone with Rik, a new recruit in the Dirty Snakes. Normally, recruitment would be first approved by John since he was the boss, but due to his absence, the Snakes have become desperate. While the briefcase back at base was still being cracked open by Epsilon, the others have been busy recruiting as many street thugs as possible in preparation for getting John back from the Renegades. Unfortunately, Epsilon was taking quite a long time breaking through the various different locks that were placed upon John's briefcase, even with the new computer parts Derry got for her.

"I'm sorry, Derry, but she's taking her sweet time on this thing," Rik meekly responded. Derry pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed to himself. It has been two days since Derry got the computer parts for Epsilon, and it looks like he'll have to look forward to two more days of waiting around for Epsilon to finish. With each passing day, Derry's headache has been steadily getting worse and worse. No matter how much medication Derry takes, the headache remains with him. He needed John, and fast.

"Alright, look," Derry replied back to Rik, "you gotta tell Epsilon to hurry up already. Time isn't exactly on our side right now and I'd appreciate it if-." Derry then stopped to take a gander at a rather unusual sight. A man appears to be standing in front of some sort of hole in the ground, wearing what Derry could only describe as some sort of garb that a birthday party magician would wear. Black suit, white gloves, and he even has the traditional top hat. The man was covered in dirt and appeared to be stunned at the moment. He didn't really seem like the type of guy to run alongside the Renegades, but he'll have to check it out just in case.

"I'll call you back, Rik. Something popped up. Literally," Derry jokingly remarked as he ended the call before Rik could respond. A couple of weeks ago, the sight of some random magician who appeared to have emerged from a hole a couple of minutes ago would've been strange. Nowadays, however, it seemed almost natural to see something so out of the ordinary. Derry couldn't exactly gauge the stranger's strength. Hell, for all he knew, he could be just some random magician wannabe who just fell into that hole. Slowly, Derry approached the dirt-covered man and, while simultaneously pointing at the hole behind the magician, asks, "So, uh, did you make that hole? You do that often?"

After waiting around for a good couple of seconds, the magician finally responded back to him. The man's answer was rather strange, hinting at the fact that he may be suffering from some form of memory loss. Derry goes to scratch the top of his head and replies, "Well, that's not exactly a very reassuring answer."

The man was still looking around as if he was getting his bearings on where exactly he was. The stranger then asked if he knew who Derry was, to which Derry responds, "First time I've seen you around these parts. Never met many magicians here, so I'm pretty sure I would know you if I've seen you before." But then came the magician's next question, asking whether or not it was still June. Upon hearing his question, Derry raised his eyebrow and replied, "June? It's October right now. Have... have you been hanging around inside of the ground for the past couple of months?"

The stranger was clearly confused about a lot of things. From what Derry could guess, the magician has been underground for at least a couple of months, possibly just sleeping there. If that were the case, then the man he's dealing with is certainly more than just a mere human. For now, however, Derry decided to play nice in an attempt to get on the stranger's good side in case he turns out to be a rather powerful fighter himself.

Derry stretches his hand out towards the stranger and says to him, "The names Derrick. Perhaps I could be of some assistance since you're clearly a little confused."

The way the stranger said October pretty much confirmed the fact that he has indeed been underground for the past couple of months. Derry wondered to himself what that would even be like. Having to just lay there, motionless, covered in dirt and rock, with your only companions being nearby worms that just so happen to stumble upon you. 

Then the magician started acting a little funny, shaking a little bit before almost falling forward on his face. The man smiled at Derry, but he could tell that the magician was merely faking it. Something was very wrong with this man. Even if this magician was more powerful than Derry, he doesn't look like he's at peak performance. Derry then relaxed his muscles a bit, feeling that there was no immediate danger.

The stranger was about to introduce himself, but then stopped in the middle of his little introduction. Instead, he reached out to accept the handshake. The sensation that Derry felt while grabbing the magician's hand was... strange. It felt cold, which he expected since the stranger has been stuck in the dirt for the past couple of months. Maybe he contracted some sort of illness while he was underground, but that wouldn't exactly explain the memory loss. But there was something else that he felt. Derry could tell that there was some sort of heat within, although it was rather faint. He felt a fire within the stranger, although it was a fire he hadn't felt before. 

Once the handshake was over, the man questioned what was happening within the city. Derry assumed he was referring to the various amounts of construction that's been going on here. "Well," Derry responded to the magician's inquiry, "about a couple of weeks ago some jackasses thought that Central City would be the perfect place to have a fight. The destruction even interrupted the company I was working with, and we had to temporarily relocate our deals elsewhere."

Derry was, of course, referring to the Dirty Snakes, but he wanted to be a bit vague about his 'company.' After all, what if this was some goody two-shoes who will attempt to stop him in his tracks. With John gone, the Snakes are in a tight spot, so the last thing they need is an unconscious Derry recovering in the hospital because he picked a fight with someone who popped out of the ground.

"It seems as if you don't even know who you are then, huh?" Derry remarks while pointing towards a nearby bench. "There's a bench over there if you need a place to sit." 

Now Derry was even more confused as the stranger asked for a battle that happened in the city in June. Derry pondered to himself for a bit, thinking hard about what was going on in June. Try as he might, there was no massive battle that occured in the city at the time, although there was a bit of a skirmish last year in June. "Wait," Derry realized as he quickly turned towards the magician, "there was no such battle going on in the city back in June, unless you're talking about last year. Have... you've been underground for over a year?!"

That pretty much sealed the deal for Derry. There was no way that the man he was talking to was human. Unless there's some sort of cave system that he has yet to see that is self-sustaining, this is no human. Regardless, the stranger made his way to the bench upon Derry's request, taking off his hat and shaking off as much dirt and dust as he could. Derry kept his distance as he brushed off the dust, not wanting to get his own clothing dirty.

Then the magician asked about his 'company'. Derry hesitates for a moment as he attempts to come up with some way to get away with talking about the Dirty Snakes. Well, the Snakes do all sorts of things: Drug running, scamming the poor, weapon deals, the usual stuff related to the criminal underworld. After a couple of seconds of thinking, Derry replies, "Well you see, my company does a couple of things for the Central City community. We usually run delivery services, typically in the form of medication, and we plan on expanding our reach to the poor communities to offer some financial options. Real boring for anyone outside of that field, but it's honest work, I suppose." 

Hopefully that would sate his curiosity, but Derry's focus now shifted on the stranger's identity. Moments ago, the man didn't even know his own name. Perhaps if he could get a hold on some of his associates, maybe they could jog his memory. Either that, or the memories could start flowing back into him after some rest. "Hey," Derry says to magician while leaning on one of the bench's arm rests, "you remember any names? Perhaps maybe your own? It would make for a good start."

"A lot to take in, I suppose," Derry mentioned to the stranger, "but all the more reason to go exploring. See what's happening, you know?" He's never been in this kind of situation before, so it was hard for Derry to imagine what the magician is going through. To Derry, this little event helps burn away some time until the briefcase is finally unlocked. As Derry was talking to the stranger, however, a rather peculiar creature emerged from the hat that the stranger removed from his head. It looked just like a rabbit, but its fur was colored purple. Derry has seen rabbits with white, brown, black, and anywhere in between, but never has he seen one in such an unusual color.

"My, that's quite the unusual rabbit you've got in that hat," Derry remarks to the magician, "I already presumed you were some sort of magician considering the getup. Although, it's rather strange to see a purple rabbit." Before Derry could further analyze the rabbit, the animal bared its teeth at him, and he pulled back almost immediately. Perhaps this was more than just some mere rabbit. The rabbit retreated back into the hat and the magician began to place it back onto his head while standing up slowly. Derry also noticed that the stranger was now acting a little funny. Before, the man could barely stand on his own two legs, and yet he's standing almost completely motionless.

Then the spasms came. Derry raised one of his eyebrows once again and replies, "Hey, hey, hey, you should probably sit back down. You look like you still aren't feeling well." For a moment, Derry turned his back on the magician in order to think about the name that the man uttered. "Newton... Newton... hmm." Derry whispered to himself in an attempt at remembering anyone named Newton. Before he could think about the name, Derry heard the scraping of shoes on pavement. He turned around and was confronted by the magician, now swinging in a seemingly random pattern.

"What the..." Derry shouted as he attempted to sidestep the assaulter. The attacks kept coming, however, and Derry was forced to block some of the incoming punches. While blocking, Derry shouted at the man, "The hell is wrong with you?!" Knowing that he's basically a sitting duck if he doesn't do anything, Derry blocks yet another blow from the stranger, but then immediately follows up with a punch heading towards the magician's gut. "Maybe this'll get ya to sit down," Derry muttered, "and maybe we'll get to see what's up with ya."

Derry smirked to himself after landing a successful gut punch. The magician staggered backwards gasping for air while Derry kept his distance and prepared for whatever came next. He hoped that whatever was going on with the stranger would wear off after taking the air out of his lungs. At first, it appeared to have worked, but then something rather peculiar occurred. 

The magician collected himself and appeared far more stable than he was a few seconds ago, but he still maintained a fighting stance. Suddenly, the man stepped towards Derry and, before Derry could properly react, threw a punch that landed square in his chest. As the stranger stepped back slightly and prepared for a potential follow-up, Derry was staggered and took a moment to analyze what exactly just happened. Wasn't he acting like himself again? He didn't appear to be under any sort of influence anymore, and yet he took the initiative.

"What's the big idea, bub?" Derry questioned the magician, "I thought you wanted my help." Suddenly, Derry experienced a sharp pain originating from his head. The headache was getting worse. A thought now began to ring inside of Derry's head, requesting, "Burn him down.. He's been playing with fire, boy..." "No..." Derry muttered to himself while grasping his head with both of his hands. Has he heard these voices before? They sounded... familiar. If this little fight continues, the headache would only grow more and more painful and who knows what would happen at that point.

"Fine then, if that's how you wanna play it, kid, then bring it!" Derry shouted as he immediately charged towards the stranger. Derry's goal has now become to knock the stranger down as quickly as possible. Once the threat is gone, perhaps the pain will begin to slowly die down. Upon reaching the stranger, Derry sweeps his right leg in an attempt to get the stranger on the ground. Afterwards, he plans on following up with a stomp directed at the man's head. 

While the sweep was successful in knocking down the stranger, he apparently had a few tricks up his sleeve. After successfully blocking his stomp, the stranger used what appeared to have been some sort of ki blast, and a puff of smoke emerged, surrounding Derry and obscuring his vision. He couldn't see anything, so Derry was forced to either back away or brush away the smoke to clear it. Derry decided to take the latter option and maintain his current position, and once part of the smoke has cleared, he found the stranger's silhouette crouching several feet away.

Derry gritted his teeth in frustration as he wasn't able to end the fight right then and there. This stranger was a rather slippery opponent, utilizing his own ki to create a distraction long enough for him to flee. Before Derry could charge in once again, a voice rang out in his head, this time a different one. The voice called out to Derry, "How could you? After all I've done for you?" followed by tearful sobs. He clasped his hears in a futile attempt to block out the voice. It sounded familiar, yet he hasn't heard it in years. "Please," Derry muttered in a low tone, "I didn't... I didn't do it... I swear..." The voices and the headaches were getting out of hand at this point. If he fell now, what becomes of John? What becomes of the boss? What becomes of the Snakes? If he falls now...

If punches and kicks weren't going to do the trick, then perhaps some firepower can put an end to this fight. Derry brings up both of his hands, creating small, pink fireballs in each one, the flames flickering as the wind around him begins to pick up. "Well kid," Derry growled at the magician, "I'm not exactly a magician myself, but I've got my own tricks." And with that, Derry unleashes a total of four fireballs directed at the stranger. If at least one of them landed, then perhaps the magician would be distracted by the lingering flames on his clothing, leaving Derry plenty of time to close the gap and tackle him to the ground. After all, unless he had some form of teleportation, he can't move out of the way if Derry was pinning him down.